Wallet
by Diana-san

Sakura paced back and forth as she contemplated on what to do about this new piece of information in her hand. She bit her lower lip and then she bit her nail as she racked her head for an answer. She would have to return the wallet to him and it would have to be face to face. Of course, she could avoid him entirely and let a friend return it in her place.

But that was not the thing that was bothering her right now. It was the fact that this guy, a stranger to her practically, was carrying a photo of her around in his wallet. She should be freaked out and she was but she wasn't scared which she should have been. It was strange indeed. Even stranger than him having a photo of her.

Sakura sat down in the seat closest to her and the people sitting on the opposite side of the table glanced at her with raised eyebrows. She ignored them as she sighed and opened the wallet again to look at the picture of her again.

She wondered how he got that photo of her. It was a photo she had taken during freshman year and she didn't even post it online or anything. Even she didn't have a copy of it. It was a picture of her during her first day of college orientation. Her father had insisted on a photo and she reluctantly agreed to pose in front of the main campus sign and do the standard cheesy pose. She remembered taking her parent's camera and getting the film developed at the campus store since her parents were the old fashioned type and didn't care for digital photos.

If her mom and dad were the only one to get the original copy, how did Sasuke end up getting a copy of the same photo? That thought was even more perplexing. She took out his driver's license as she stared at his ID photo. Twirling the card in her hand, she absent-mindedly thought of what she should do next.

Was he a stalker? An admirer? A creep? A fan of hers? Maybe he wanted to plot revenge on her or kill her in her sleep. Sakura wondered if she was watching too many soap operas on television. The thoughts cluttered in her mind and made her feel more anxious and aggravated with each passing moment.

She decided that maybe it was best to let a friend return it to him in in her place. Sakura couldn't face the awkwardness of handing it to him with the knowledge that she knew what was inside the wallet. Granted, he wouldn't know that she knew. But she was never good at deceiving others and her face would probably reveal everything the moment he saw her.

The moment he saw her… she wondered what he did think of her when he saw her. He had probably saw her at the coffee house earlier. Was that why he left in such a rush? Was that why he bumped into her? Perhaps, it wasn't an accident as she had thought.

Sakura groaned as she pulled at her hair in frustration. The two students who were sitting across from her glanced at her as they picked up their books and moved to another table. Sakura blew a piece of hair away from her face as she grumbled to herself. She was perfectly happy and content just a half hour ago and now she was driving herself positively insane with the wandering thoughts of who, what, where, when, and why. She wished that a higher power would just drop the answer at her door and tell her what her next move should be.

At the moment, the bell above the coffee shop door chimed as the door opened as someone stepped inside. Sakura was paying no attention to it as she was still slumped in her chair with a dumbstruck expression on her face as she stared at the wallet in her hand that was being clutched to death.

"That's mine."

Sakura glanced up in surprise at the sound of the voice. It was a deep soothing voice that one could probably listen to all day. Her eyes met with his and she suddenly wished she didn't make that prayer two minutes ago for an answer as to what to do. Because fate would have it and brought her Sasuke himself at her table. He said nothing more as he pointed to the wallet in her hand. Slightly flustered by his sudden appearance, she offered it up to him as her eyes stared in wide-eyed at the possibility that he had actually returned to the coffee shop.

It was in the moment of exchange when his fingers slightly grazed upon hers that she moved her hands back as she continued to keep a firm hold on the wallet. She knew it was his wallet but how did he know that she had his. That was the question of the day. "How do you know this is yours?" she blurted out. He glanced at her with a slight confusion before reaching for the wallet and lifting it from her grasp. He turned it over so that she could see as he pointed to the lower right hand corner of the wallet.

"My family crest," he stated matter-of-factly and sure enough, Sakura could see that there indeed was something on the back of the wallet. A small red and white fan was stitched to the corner and she couldn't believe she had missed it the first time. She had been holding it by the corners the whole time so her thumb must have covered it.

"Oh," was all that she could say in response to that. He nodded as he thanked her and turned to leave. Sakura was at a loss for words. Somehow, this was a lot different from what she had imagined. He had barely any reaction to her despite the fact that he had a picture of her face in his wallet.

Without thinking, she called out to him the moment he was a step away from opening the door to leave. "Wait!" she shouted as she stood up.

He stopped as he paused for a moment before turning to glance back at her. His dark obsidian eyes bore into hers and for a minute there, she was too stunned to say anything. She couldn't read what he was thinking behind those dark eyes of his but for a moment, she could feel a slight connection as if she had fell into a new world in the depths of his eyes. It was haunting how drawn in she felt to him despite only really realizing who he was just today, if not just only an hour ago.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned fully around to face her again.

She wanted to ask him about her photo. Desperate almost. But asking him about it would be admitting to snooping through his wallet. It felt like a lose-lose situation if she did ask. But it was going to bug her tonight and the rest of finals week and probably the rest of her life if she didn't ask or find out somehow. Still, she couldn't just go ahead and ask him right then and there. Or could she?

Her mouth felt dry as she fumbled for the right words to form a coherent sentence in beginning the conversation. She came up with nothing except for the feeling of clammy hands and sweat trembling at the back of her neck as she gulped down the nervousness that contained in her fast, beating heart. Why should she be so nervous? Shouldn't it be him who should be nervous for being caught? Honestly, she wished she never knew. He seemed unfazed by her standing there and gaping at him with her large, guppy eyes.

"Never mind," she muttered in defeat when the words failed to come to her. He nodded once more as he turned to leave again.

"W-wait!" she called out once more. "S-shouldn't you check to see if everything is in your wallet?" she asked him.

Sasuke turned back around. "Don't worry. I trust you."

Sakura grew impatient. "No, but you should still check. I don't want you to go back home and find out later that something in your wallet was missing and then blame it on me!" It was a lame excuse to get him to stay just a bit longer but it somehow had worked as he glanced at her curiously before taking his wallet back out from his pocket.

He opened it up as he took out the bills inside and gave it a quick glance. "Everything is here," he murmured as he held it out to give Sakura a glance inside too as if that would ease her worries. He closed the wallet again and moved to put it away once more.

"What about the inner pockets? Shouldn't you check those too?" she blurted out. Great, she might as well just have admitted it to him that she snooped through his wallet. How blatantly obvious was that?

He eyed her but something must have clicked in his mind as he hesitantly opened up the wallet again. This time, he shielded it partly away from gaze so that she couldn't see the inside contents of it anymore. He slipped his finger through the inner pocket of the wallet as he pulled out three photos. Relieved to see them all there, he was just about to put it back inside again when his hand paused in the action. He lifted up the photos in his hand as his other hand holding the wallet fell to his side. All three photos were facing up towards his side and his eyes furrowed at the last photo. The last photo that should have been faced down.

Sakura glanced at him curiously as she wondered what he was doing and stunned by how boldly he had pulled the photos out into the air. It was when she saw the white backs of the photos that she realized her mistake and his realization at her mistake. She had forgot to put the photo of her flipped around to the backside like the way she had found it originally. She cursed loudly in her head as she gaped at him and tried to find the words to explain.

Turns out, she didn't really have to explain. It was he who started to turn slightly red in the face as he shoved the photos into the inside pocket of his coat. He cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to disguise the awkwardness that had now settled in the air between the two of them. Both of them remained silent as they both glanced awkwardly at the floor before somehow bravely looking at each other.

She had snooped through his wallet but he had a picture of her inside that wallet. Sakura wasn't sure which action was more embarrassing to be caught doing but after a moment more of silence, she was sure that his was definitely way more embarrassing. She decided to clear the air and be the first to speak. If she didn't, he probably would never will.

"That picture of me…" she began. His eyes met with hers as her words made the sudden realization become more of a reality to him. "How did you get it? There was supposed to be only one copy… at least… so I thought."

He seemed embarrassed already as he scratched the side of his chin and his cheeks flushed a little red. "I worked at the student campus store freshman year," he mumbled. "You came to us to get your photos developed and… the last photo from your film was developed twice by accident."

Sasuke cleared his throat as he continued on. "Normally, store policy is to throw away any accidental duplicates but it just seemed a waste to throw out a perfectly nice photo…" His cheeks seemed to have turned an even brighter red. "I thought I would have a chance to return it to you if I got the chance and when we ended up being in the same seminar class, I… chickened out."

Sakura listened in disbelief to his story. As it remained silent after his last words, he glanced at her for some sort of reaction. She bursted out into laughter. "Oh thank god! At least you're not a stalker. I think…" she giggled.

He muttered something under his breath as his flushed cheeks dialed back down a bit in color. "Well, I better be going," he mumbled, clearly ready to leave his embarrassing story behind.

"Wait!" Sakura called out. He turned to look at her again for the third time that night. "Aren't you… shouldn't you… don't I get a reward for finding your wallet?" she asked him. It sounded like a desperate attempt to keep him there longer and she knew it.

"I… I supposed I could treat you to a coffee or something tomorrow night after the exams," he said in reply, his eyes surprised that she was still talking to him instead of calling the nearest police station on him.

She smiled. "Okay, I'll call you."

"But you don't have my phone number?"

Sakura chuckled. "From your wallet alone, I got your name, your address, your bank credit card, your family members, best friend, and potential female interest. I don't think it would be that hard to find out your phone number."

He seemed caught off-guard by this. "I-I…guess."

She smiled as she took out her phone. "One sec. Smile for me!"

Sasuke seemed taken aback as he watched her take out her phone and point the camera at him. "What are you doing?" he asked in alarm.

"Since you have a picture of me, it's only right that I get a picture of you," she responded as she pressed the camera button to take the picture. She stared at the photo and smiled. Sasuke wasn't smiling but he was looking her way with a stoic face. "Perfect, for now," she mused.

With a smile, she took a step backwards as she waved her hand goodbye towards him. "I'll message you," she said as she turned and ran out of the coffee house. Clutching her phone to her chest, she grinned. She didn't really understand why but somehow, she couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

Back inside the coffee shop, Sasuke stared at the swinging door as it came to a full stop. He wasn't sure what just happened but suddenly, his mouth felt dry and he needed water. He went over to a nearby counter and poured himself a small cup of water from a pitcher sitting by the napkins and straws. He held up his wallet as he opened it again to look inside. Taking out the picture of her again, he smiled as he clutched the photograph in his hand and his thoughts brought him back to the day that he saw it for the first time.

"Oh, did the customer who picked up her photos just now leave already?" a silver-haired man asked as he peeked up from underneath the counter.

Sasuke nodded as he glanced up from the cash register. "Yeah, I just rang her up about five minutes ago."

Kakashi sighed as he pulled out a photo from the photo bucket underneath the counter. "I'm not sure if this is a duplicate or if it fell out but I guess you should shred it," he said as he handed it to Sasuke.

Sasuke took it as he glanced at it. It was a picture of the girl who was just here a moment ago. "Maybe I can see if I can chase her down. She can't be too far from here," he offered.

Kakashi shook his head as he pressed a few buttons on the photo printer behind him. "Forget it. Just shred it. It seems to be a duplicate." He smiled as he waved Sasuke back to work. "Man the register. I'll be in the stock room checking on inventory."

Sasuke nodded as Kakashi walked off. With a glance back down at the photo, he slowly walked towards the shredder. A paper sign was still taped over the top of the shredder with the words 'out of order.' With a second glance at the photo, he sighed as he tucked it into his back pocket.

The day wore on slowly as it was nearing the afternoon and orientation was already long over. Since it was still summer, there weren't many students on campus to begin with and all the new incoming students and parents who came for orientation had already left. Sasuke yawned as he drummed his fingers against the counter in boredom. He wondered if he should have taken a summer job at a different place but he liked the convenience of being able to work close to campus when school started up.

When he went home for the the weekend, he was surprised to see his brother home too. It was rare to see his brother since Itachi was in grad school and would come home only a few times a year. It was nice though as he and Itachi got to spend a quiet weekend at home with mother and father.

"Sasuke-kun!" his mother had called out to him, with a sneaky smile on her face as she hid something behind her back. He and his brother were sitting in the living room with the TV on and a game controller in each of their hands as they were about to prepare for another epic showdown of Street Fighter. "I was doing the laundry and I found something interesting in one of your pockets," their mother sang.

Sasuke didn't know what his mother was referring to but his mother was always the type to tease him and his brother often. With a flourish, Mikoto whipped out a photograph. The photograph that he had forgotten about and had stuck in his back pocket. Quickly, Sasuke jumped up to tried to grab it from her but she was a lot quicker as she stepped back. Itachi had already gotten up from the couch and ran over to his mother's side as he took it from her hands and laughed as he waved it around in the air.

"Looks like my little brother found a girlfriend!" he teased.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sasuke protested.

"Oh? Not yet, you mean?" Mikoto teased as her husband walked into the living room to see what all the commotion was about. He picked the photo out of his eldest son's hands. He stared at it for a moment and proceeded to hand it back to Sasuke. "Invite her over sometime for dinner," he grunted as he turned to leave the room again.

Sasuke could feel the back of his neck turning a deep red as his ears flushed a hot red. He felt the strong gaze of his mother and brother and he mumbled under his breath and sat back down on the couch. He hid the photo back into the inside pocket of his jacket as he tossed the game controller over to his brother. "Can we just start the game… please?" he begged, hoping the game would be distraction enough from the teasing from his family.

Itachi grinned as he sat back down on the couch. "If I win, can I meet her?"

"Fine, whatever. You're going to lose anyways," Sasuke muttered.

Sasuke smiled. He just remembered another thing from that day. He never did beat Itachi at that game.