Date: 5/8/13
Rating: T
Genre: AU, Cute, Humor, Romance
Prompt: AU - Sasuke sees Sakura on the train; love at first sight.

***Note: One of my absolute favorite prompts!

-Monday-

Her hair was pink. She was new; she had to be. He would know. Sasuke always took the five o'clock train home on Mondays and Tuesdays; he practically knew everyone. There was the man who constantly glanced at his watch as if he was running late for something; the woman with the incredibly restless five-year-old; the teenager who played his music too loud. Sasuke knew every single passenger down to his or her idiosyncratic tendencies. And this girl—the girl with pink hair, the girl whose back was facing him—was someone he'd never seen before.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Pink. Her hair was freaking pink. Honestly, it's like she's trying to make herself stick out. Sasuke leaned back into his seat. She wasn't facing him, but at least he could stare at her without being noticed. Pink. She was probably someone tacky. Or someone who craved attention. Or maybe she dyed it pink as a distraction. From what? Sasuke wondered. Her face?

And now she was on the phone. Sasuke strained his ears. He heard something about a shift at the hospital? He raised his brow, wondering how any hospital could hire someone with pink hair. Suddenly, the train suddenly jerked to a stop, and the man who was constantly looked at his watch asked if she could please move. Sasuke smirked; she was turning around now. The mystery would finally be solved. He braced himself. She probably was—

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

She was beautiful.

He had never seen anyone like her in his life. Her smile. Her eyes. And her hair—hair that only a minute ago seemed tacky was suddenly so fitting. Pink. He had to meet her. He had to know her name. But Sasuke couldn't move, suddenly nervous. What would he say? She was still on the phone. She was probably talking to her boyfriend. She was—

She was getting off the train.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He stood up. "Wait!"

She was gone.

Pink.

-Tuesday-

Sasuke stepped onto the train and sat down in his usual spot. Nonchalantly, he scanned the train for the girl with pink hair. He looked at his watch—same time, same train. Where was she? The train was leaving any minute now, the attendant exclaimed. Sasuke glanced at his watch again before he sank down in his seat. Yesterday was probably a one-time thing. He sighed and mentally kicked himself. He should have just talked to her. He should have just—

"Wait!"

An arm shot inside the train, preventing the automatic doors from closing just in time. Sasuke held his breath as he waited for the person to enter to train. His heart began to race; it was her.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed to the train attendant. Her voice sounds like music. "My friend, Ino-pig—that's what I call her—held me up at the hospital and . . . and you don't really care do you?" The attendant shook his head as he took her ticket. She blushed. "Right, I'll just take a seat then."

She was sitting right across from him now. Sasuke swallowed and tried to calm the beating in his chest. This was his chance. He took a deep breath. Her stop was coming up soon. The pounding in his ears was getting louder now.

Her phone rang.

Damn it.

-Wednesday-

"Didn't your last class end two hours ago?" Naruto asked Sasuke as they waited for the train. "Why are you taking this train?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Doesn't your class end an hour from now?"

The blonde opened his mouth to say something in return, but remained silent, grumbling incoherent curses at the Uchiha. But once the train arrived, Naruto couldn't help himself as the two of them took their seats. "Seriously, teme, what's up? You always try to take the earliest train home. What—"

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said threateningly as he watched the train door. Naruto made a face and peered over Sasuke's shoulder, about to ask what he was waiting for when he saw her. Pink. Naruto's eyes widened. She was gorgeous. He wanted to say something to Sasuke, but it was like Sasuke was frozen. He was staring at her, his eyes dilated. Naruto smirked. He was taking a psychology course; he knew what that meant.

But Sasuke wasn't moving. Naruto could see that he wanted to go up to her, but something was holding his back. A thought suddenly occurred to him. Was Sasuke—the great Sasuke Uchiha—actually nervous? Naruto choked back a laugh. This was too perfect. "Hey, teme," he whispered into Sasuke's ear. "Why don't you say something?"

Sasuke jumped and turned to glare at Naruto, but when he did the pink-haired girl stood up from her seat and exited the train. Naruto shook his head.

"Chicken."

-Thursday-

He was going to talk to her. He swore he was going to talk to her.

"I'm so sorry! Rika-chan is usually so well-behaved!"

But fate wasn't on his side that day.

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Sasuke said as he tried to wipe the mysterious red juice drink from his shirt. Rika seemed pleased with herself; she discovered what gravity was. What went up had to fall down—and onto Sasuke, apparently.

He wondered if the pink-haired girl was watching. Sasuke paused his attempt to clean himself to glance at her. She wasn't. Sasuke sighed and went back to speaking to the woman with the restless five-year-old. He knew what was coming next. And just as he predicted, the next time he looked up he only caught a glimpse of her foot stepping off the train. Sasuke groaned.

Someone up there must have been laughing at him.

-Friday-

She dropped her wallet.

The pink-haired girl dropped her wallet, and she was exiting the train.

It was a sign.

Sasuke got to his feet. He didn't even care if it wasn't his stop. Quickly, he picked up the wallet and jumped off the train just before it could depart, landing on his knees. And as Sasuke wiped the dust off his clothes his eyes darted left and right for any sight of her. Come on. Come on. Come—

Pink.

"Excuse me, miss!" Sasuke called out when he finally caught up to her. Despite her size, she walked fast. "You dropped your wallet."

She turned around slowly, eyes widening before she shook her head. She seemed amused. "Huh. I didn't think you'd get it back to me this quickly."

"What?"

She laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She even laughs beautifully. "Look inside."

Sasuke looked at her suspiciously but nevertheless followed her instructions. Sasuke's eyes widened. There was no money in the wallet, not even credit cards. Just an expired license—her name was Sakura Haruno, he learned, and her hair was natural— with a phone number tucked behind it.

"You mean—you—?" Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and looked up, but he was met with Sakura's smile. Suddenly, his confusion disappeared. Sakura was bold, and he liked that. He smirked and held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Sasuke Uchiha."