nothing on you

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

.:loop00.3_1:.

.:books:.

Sasuke would never publicly admit it, but he loved to read.

He never thought he'd be able to get away from the inquisitive stares of his family. Under the pretense of driving to Ann Arbor to check out the university campus before he completed the paperwork to transfer there in the fall, Sasuke borrowed his mother's Honda and sped off down I-94.

Passing through Ypsilanti, he realized that he could make the most of his day out by making an extended stop at one of Ann Arbor's bookstores. He heard from his best friend Suigetsu, who used to have an aunt in the city, that the biggest Borders in the country was located on the corner of Liberty and Maynard.

Now... to find the place without asking for directions.

Rubbing her eyes, Sakura looked over the document on her MacBook and hit CMD+S with two fingers. It was done—the next chapter of her latest fanfiction. She hadn't had the time to write with studying for finals and taking all her tests.

Her last exam was this morning but Sakura had to wait for Sai to take his last exam at six before she went home to Canton. The twins packed up their dorms the week before, leaving only the necessities to get through the last week of school. Sai had the keys to the Prius, leaving Sakura bored for most of the day.

Borders was her best choice to kill time. She could either sit in the cafe and work on her laptop or read books from the shelves. A small pile of manga and teen paperbacks were neatly stacked on the table beside her pens and papers with scribbled scenes for her story.

She sighed and looked out the window. Downtown Ann Arbor was practically empty. A black Honda slid into a parallel parking spot in front of the store and the driver emerged from the car. Sakura paused, blinked a few times, and took another look at the driver walking on the sidewalk to the main entrance.

"No fucking way."

He finally found it.

After walking around the silent university campus, Sasuke met up with his advisor to finalize all the paperwork for his transfer.

"Are you interested in joining any clubs?" She asked him before he left.

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe? I hadn't thought about it."

Mrs. Jacoby leaned over and grabbed a sheet out of the file cabinet behind her. "You might want to take a look at this." She handed it to him. "U of M has hundreds of clubs and student organizations. The one I think you might be the most interested in is AASA, the Asian American Student Association. They meet regularly and host cultural events on campus that are lots of fun to go to. Plus, if you get involved, it's something else to put on your resume."

He tucked the sheet into the folder she gave him earlier. "I'll look over it. Thank you for meeting with me today."

"Oh it's no problem!" Mrs. Jacoby laughed. "I'm glad you came in actually; most of our transferees don't live in the immediate area and we have to do all this paperwork over email and phone calls instead. Are you planning on going around the city later?"

"Ah... yes."

"Be sure to ask Mrs. Kellen at the front desk for a map of downtown. There's lots of things to see in Ann Arbor that I'd hate for you to miss."

Well, Sasuke smirked. That was surprising easy. And I didn't have to ask for directions.

Even with the labeled map, Sasuke still found himself lost. He must have taken a wrong turn when he followed the construction detour earlier. But it didn't matter; Sasuke was standing on the corner of State and Maynard where the biggest Borders he had seen was located.

He entered the store and walked back into the cafe, intending to buy a drink before he settled down at one of the tables to catch up on his manga. Nursing a cup of coffee, Sasuke scanned the cafe area for an empty table when his gaze stopped on a familiar person by the window.

Sakura Haruno.

The girl was staring at him too, disbelief written all over her face. Making his way towards her, Sasuke said, "Hey."

"Hey, what's up? What are you doing here?" She asked him, closing her laptop.

"I felt like coming here."

"Quite a trip to go to the bookstore," Sakura answered wryly. "You could have gone to the Barnes and Noble in Canton."

"I could have," Sasuke said. "But I had something else to do here too."

She didn't ask why he was in Ann Arbor in the first place and for that, Sasuke was thankful. The conversation would have gotten even more awkward.

"You want to sit down?" She gestured to the empty chair across from her. "I don't mind if you join me."

He sat down.

"You know," Sakura continued. "I don't think we've actually introduced ourselves to each other."

"Yeah?" Sasuke smirked, knowing where she was going with this thought.

The girl grinned and stuck her hand out. "I'm Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you."

He shook her offered hand. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"Coolio. So what kind of books do you like to read?"

"What?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on. You don't think I'd believe you'd come here for a cup of coffee?"

"Maybe," Sasuke shrugged. "Why not? They do have pretty good coffee."

"True," she admitted. "But Starbucks is better."

"Borders is cheaper."

"By like, fifteen cents."

"Touche," Sasuke smirked. "But maybe I want to keep the extra fifteen cents."

"Or," Sakura replied. "You could give that fifteen to the fair trade farmer who worked his ass off to grow the coffee in the first place."

"Or," he pointed out. "It wouldn't matter where I bought my coffee as long as I bought it from one of the two because Starbucks owns Seattle's Best."

"Touche!" Sakura laughed. "I completely forgot about that."

Silence fell between them. Sakura went back to her laptop, furiously tapping at the black keys. Desperately, Sasuke searched for another topic to talk about. This girl, with her observant eyes and witty cynicism, was the most interesting person he had spoken to in months.

"You like Junko?" Sasuke picked up volume 41 of the popular manga series.

"Oh yeah," Sakura grinned. "It's one of my favorites, even if the main character is an idiot."

He chuckled. "Isn't that one of his good traits though? Junko is a positive thinker and believes he can overcome any challenge headed his way."

"It's admirable but stupid. He thinks too much with his heart and doesn't devote enough thought into the possible consequences of his reckless actions. Junko does what he wants without understanding what it means to everyone around him."

"True," Sasuke admitted. "But I think Kishimoto wrote him like that so there could be some real character development, you know?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong—the post-timeskip Junko is tons better than the boy before. It's just... I dunno. Frustrating."

"Frustrating? Why?"

Sakura's gaze shifted elsewhere. "Once upon a time, I knew someone like him. Only," she gave him a doll's smile filled with bitter irony. "He never grew up."

The sun was falling fast behind the trees when he left the warmth of Borders to go home.

As he drove, Sasuke mulled over the last four hours he spent with Sakura Haruno. There was a lingering sadness about her, a cynicism he found intriguing.

He was being ridiculous. A cynicism he found intriguing? This wasn't some damn poetry contest! This was about the quiet afternoon he spent with the most...

The most what? Sasuke couldn't find the words to describe her. Sakura Haruno was simply herself, an amazing girl.

The Honda idled in the driveway before Sasuke had enough sense to kill the engine and go inside. He wondered if he would see her again next week.

What about school? Would he see her there? U of M is a big campus but maybe, just maybe... he'll see her there.

What will you do if you do see her there, Sasuke? His traitorous mind whispered. Are you going to ask her out?

He banished the lecherous thought. More than anything, Sasuke wanted to see that cynicism vanish and for Sakura Haruno to give him an honest smile.

The summer passed in a flurry of activity. Sakura spent most of it working on her competition piece for the cosplay contest at the next con and juggling summer classes. Speech was a complete bore but Japanese I was the easiest class in the world for her.

So what if she's cheating by fulfilling her foreign language credits with a language she could already speak? Sakura took all her exams and did all her homework. The fluency advantage shouldn't be an issue. Besides, if she ever wanted to graduate on time and get out of Michigan, Japanese was the fastest way for her to do so.

She loaded the last box into the Prius and wiped the dirt off her hands on her jeans. Running into her room, her eyes scanned over it one last time to make sure she had everything. Even though she could return home anytime she wanted and pick up whatever she forgot, Sakura would rather move everything while she had Sai to give her a hand.

This year, the twins were sharing an apartment located just outside campus. Her parents, tired of paying two separate and expensive housing bills, insisted on the move. Sakura didn't mind so much, preferring to eat home-cooked food rather than the constant diet of take out. There was more space and privacy in the apartment and having her own shower was a definite perk. Besides, her friend Karishma lived down the hall from them. At least now, Sakura didn't have to walk so far to visit her.

She gave her parents one last hug before starting the car and driving off behind Sai. The drive to Ann Arbor was short but she couldn't help but wonder what the upcoming year would bring.

Karin pouted at him as she hauled the last box into the trunk of the Honda.

"You're actually leaving."

Sasuke sighed and flicked her in the forehead. "You make it sound like I'm never coming back."

"Will you come back?" The redhead pressed. "Don't make too many new friends that you forget us."

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. "You're the type who likes to call and text incessantly. Who could forget someone that bothers them all the time?"

She punched him in the arm before enveloping him tightly with her arms. "I'm going to miss you," Karin said seriously. "We'll come and visit as much as we can."

Sasuke hugged her back and wrestled his way out of Juugo and Suigetsu's bear hug. He waved one last time before Itachi started the car and backed out the driveway.

"Otouto," Itachi said seriously. "Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Surprised, Sasuke wanted to say something but decided against it. Instead, he nodded.

Itachi smiled, satisfied that for once his little brother listened to him.

"Since you're going to Michigan, it wouldn't hurt to finally hook up with that Sakura Haruno girl, you know." He couldn't resist teasing him.

"Itachi," Sasuke glared at him. "I don't mind leaving your body in a ditch and stealing your car."

His brother laughed before turning on the sound system. The muted strings of Itachi's guitar filled the car, the soundtrack to this idle summer.

Author's Note:

A legitimate SasuSaku moment! I've been waiting to upload this chapter since I started this fic! It's short and the end sucks, but now we can start on the real story. :D

Thank you all for your kind reviews! I know I haven't been active as of late, but... the real world sucks. Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me, especially in these stressful times.

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni