title: love month
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ!
rating: T-M

summary: o24; Sasuke was a bad influence. Sakura was a good one. In order to get her attention, Sasuke undergoes a totally different transformation.

.o24.
Influence

Sasuke was a bad influence to everyone he knew.

With his long hair, sometimes dyed blue along with his black, his body reeking of sweat, sex, and alcohol, and the pack of unopened Marlboros in his pocket, Sasuke wasn't exactly the role model that his parents hoped he would be.

On the other hand, Sakura was the total opposite. She was the typical, perfect goody-two-shoes who always followed orders, never spoke out of place, always dressed neatly and answered politely…so unlike Sasuke.

But, as the saying goes, opposites attract.

They just didn't notice it yet.

.

.

.

She thought he was a jerk. He thought she was being too uptight. And the first time that they met didn't necessarily help the situation.

He bumped into her, causing her to drop the stack of papers she needed to bring to the teacher's office. The papers flew all over the hallway, and she bent down to pick them up.

"The least you could do is help me," she muttered. Sasuke, his ears perking up, heard this, and he smirked. As she reached for a paper, he stomped on it before her fingers could touch it, and left a black shoe mark onto the sheet.

"What the heck?" she said, angrily. He proceeded to do that with the other papers, too, laughing as he saw her distress.

"Stop it!" she shouted. "You're really annoying me!"

He hoped to see the girl cry, but instead, after she picked up nearly everything, she looked him straight in the eye (on her tiptoes, nonetheless), and said, "You're just an arrogant jerk."

Before he knew what was going on, he was on the floor himself, his cheek stinging and red, and when he looked up, he saw that Sakura was rolling down her sleeves and admiring the fist that had punched him.

She, too, stepped onto his chest, her Mary-Janes leaving a small shoe print onto his clothes.

.

.

.

He tried to get back at her. But with the teachers and students around her, it was nearly impossible to get her alone when she was so popular.

"Haruno Sakura, huh?" he said, eyeing the girl with interest. "What a girl." For some reason, he remembered how pretty she was when she was flustered, and how her cheeks turned red when she was mad. He remembered her brute strength when she hit him and the feel of her shoes on his torso.

And how tiny she was when she stood up to him, on the edge of her toes, still not able to reach his shoulder. She made that little "I'm ready" face, and before he knew it, she had knocked down all six foot three and 160 pounds onto the ground.

He was surprised, too.

.

.

.

"Get out of here," Sakura said as he walked up towards her after her field hockey practice, seeing her in her small kilt and how her breasts were snugly fit in her uniform.

"Why? I just want to talk," Sasuke said, putting on a smirk. "You know, you're cute in that uniform."

"Shut up." She whacked the stick against his shin, and he cursed in pain. She smirked back at him, and said, "Just leave me alone. You're such a bad influence."

"Me? A bad influence? Sweetheart, you punched me last week and my cheek is still bruised. See?" he turned his head to show her the purple that was still there. "But, you know, if you kiss it, it might feel better…"

"Zip it." She whacked him again on the other shin, and he cursed again, watching as she walked past him, ignoring the very sight of him.

Haruno Sakura sure was something.

.

.

.

Sasuke didn't know what came over him, but he wanted Sakura. Badly. He always watched her after field hockey practice, hoping that she would talk to him, or walked behind her in the halls, watching as she talked to her sempais and fellow student council members, laughing at their jokes and accepting their shy flirts.

However, every time he tried to get near her or talk to her, she would always ignore him and turn away. Whenever he managed to get a word out of her, she would always say, "You're just a bad influence."

For some reason, Sasuke wanted her attention. He craved it like his cigarettes, which he had given up due to her "bad influence" words.

Although, for another odd reason, he gave up everything—he re-dyed his hair black, gave the six-packs to Itachi, threw away all his porno magazines (more like recycled, because of course, that's what good boys do), and forced himself to get rid of the cigarettes.

After he stepped out of the salon, he was a totally different person.

A new person.

.

.

.

"Who's that?" people asked as Sasuke walked down the halls, smirking. "He's so gorgeous."

"Wow, is he new?"

"Holy shit! Guys, it's actually Uchiha Sasuke!"

"No way!"

He heard this all through the day and tried to find Sakura so that she could also be amazed at his transformation, but there was no sight of her. He looked back and forth for the small girl, but couldn't find any sight of her.

"Sasuke-kun," the teachers said. "You've changed so much! What prompted you to do this?"

Sasuke ignored them, asking, "Have you seen Haruno Sakura?"

"Yes, I think she went to the faculty lounge, but…"

"Thanks," he muttered, trying to change his behavior. If he wanted to have Sakura talk to him, he realized that he needed to be a better influence and give up his previously unhealthy lifestyle. He had changed for the better because of her, but still, something inside him wanted to find out the reason why.

Running towards the lounge and opening the door, he shouted, "Sakura!"

She was sorting through files until she looked up. Then, she dropped her notebooks and said, "U-Uchiha?"

"Yeah." Sasuke fixed his smooth hair. "It's me."

"I—I don't…what the…" She looked him up and down. He couldn't help but smirk and add, "You like?"

Sakura sighed. "Still the same pompous ass, though."

Sasuke, realizing his wrongs, said, "Sakura—" he grabbed her forearm and she squeaked.

"Let me go! Hey! Stop grabbing me!" she said, trying to pry away from his firm grasp. She struggled against him, but he held onto her tighter.

"Sakura, listen to me—"

"What do you want?" she asked, yelling at him at the top of her lungs. "Sasuke, I'm sick of you always following me around for no reason!"

"Sakura…" he began. Then, he grabbed her hand. "I like you. I changed for you. I gave up my previous life for this uptight one, in hopes that you would look at me. Ever since you punched me in the face, for some reason…I just couldn't stop thinking about you. I may be a sadist, but…" Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I just wanted you to stop thinking I was a bad influence." He let go of Sakura's hand.

"Well… you still kind of are," she said, blushing a little bit. "And even though I do miss the rugged look, the clean cut one is really cute, too."

"Are you flirting with me?" he said, raising an eyebrow. She pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh, shush." She blushed again. "But your behavior is still the same."

He smirked, pressing his forehead to hers. "I know."

"You're not that bad an influence any longer," Sakura said as she looked at his new clothes. "But you still are an ass."

"But you like."

"I guess." She sighed, and he took her chin to kiss her, but she pulled away. "I have to sort these now," she said, her face red.

"Let me help?"

"No, you're just going to step on them again," she laughed. He smirked as she gave him half the pile and told him what to do.

Maybe it was because of her that he changed himself.

Inspired by Stroke Material!

Slight changes 7.8.14