A/N : I know you've been waiting for him. Here he is.
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Sasuke Uchiha absolutely did not like the idea of possessing a stranger's body in the middle of the night. He might just be one of the rarest people on this planet who thought having a soulmate came with more problems than one. But this was the world they lived in, and this was how it was going to be. And tonight was going to be his night.
He could be smart about it and leave a message beside him on his bed. A name and address to come find him at or something. That was very common practice these days. But still, that was only half the problem. What if he finds someone very unlike him? What if the perfect match is not actually perfect? There have been such cases in history. And boy, did they not end well sometimes.
But if Naruto had taught him anything this previous year, it was that people can change overtime and grow to love one another. Someone had actually managed to induce Naruto to change for the better, and he found his best friend lost in the thought of a certain girl who most certainly was going to knock some sense into him when he finally met her. All because the bastard woke up face first, writhing in pain, the last New Year's Day. And that had only led to one conclusion, that his soulmate fell because of the dump he was living in.
And then, Naruto changed, just because he did not want to hurt that person anymore, whoever she was, someone whom he hadn't even met. Strange, how bonds connected them through time and space. So maybe there was hope after all.
It was five minutes to midnight when Sasuke reached his home. Although he had a flat in the city, he had decided to come here for the night, hoping that his soulmate would see the lush and quiet of nature around them, and understand more about his personality here than anywhere else. It was just enough time to park his car and get inside, and that would be enough.
But fate, it seemed, wanted to play tricks on him, because just when he thought he reached, his car battery died.
"Shit!" he muttered, instantly regretting his plan to reach home 'right on time'.
Now she would wake up in his body and find him in a dead car with no idea where to go to find out about him. Deciding that he could do better, he picked up his phone and set out on foot, trying to cover the last few hundred meters hoping to reach home by midnight. Maybe if he made a run for it, he might just make it inside on time?
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Sasuke woke up in a huff in unfamiliar surroundings. Living it, though, is believing he guessed. Because however many times he saw this whole soulmate fiasco happening in front of him, it all seemed like some stretched out act until this very moment. Until he woke up in a bedroom that was most certainly not his, and a body that was most certainly his soulmates.
He propped himself up on his elbows gently, and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness as he looked around. The room seemed like some sort of dorm room, or maybe it was the bedroom of a flat? He didn't know. But the one thing that left no doubt was that most of it was trussed up in pastel colors.
Well. Certainly not the same color pallet as mine, he thought glumly. How is this going to work again?
But soon, something dangling on the study table in front of him caught his attention. Except for the enormous pile of medical books on the table, there was a badge hanging from the neck of the lamp. The black haired boy found himself getting off the bed and reaching for it, only for the sight to freeze his mind.
Probably the prettiest girl with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen on the face of the planet.
Pink hair, green eyes, the most brilliant smile, and her details written below it.
'Dr. Sakura Haruno
Final year resident, General surgery
Konoha Hospital and Medical University
Blood group A+'
Needless to say, Sasuke's breath was taken away.
Damn! Things just got interesting. She was here. But was knowing that she was a doctor in the same town where he lived and practiced law enough? He still knew practically nothing about her. She could listen to rock music for all he knew. He wanted to know more about her.
Well then, now that he knew her identity, Sasuke decided to look around. You know, try to focus on the things scattered around the room. Maybe this way he could find out more.
The room was a fairly clean space, except for the study table, which was very messy with books and files piled on top of one another. It would be a fair guess in assuming that it was something common amongst all doctors. The room was decorated too, flowers by the dresser, a neat rug on the floor, and a few succulents by the windowsill. Man, only if he could keep plants alive he would not be living in the suburbs. But what was with the alarming number of pillows and cushions on the bed? And heavy duty covers? What, did it snow inside her room?
Yet, before he could think that one through, the sight of her laptop, propped up and open on her bedside table caught his attention. That was… careless. Everything else was so put together, so why was this not on the study table where it should have been?
With that, Sasuke approached the device only to discover that upon the keys lay her driver's license. Sasuke smirked in response as he found a note stuck to it that said, 'Hi, I'm Sakura. Really excited to meet you. Come find me soon!'
She was ready. And somehow, his day was getting better.
I will find you, Doctor, he whispered to himself, as he opened her laptop that was left in an oddly careless place by her. Yet, opening it answered a lot more.
Sasuke found himself facing an open google translate window on the unlocked laptop, with the same message and address typed into the search box, only with an added 'Just in case you don't speak English'.
A chuckle escaped his lips before he could try to suppress it.
She is smart. I like it.
The black haired boy found himself thinking about what else to do. There was nothing much in the room, no special pictures on the wall or table, and he did not want to open her dresser without explicit permission. Only god knows what he might find in there and how angry girls can get if something goes wrong. There were only more books he definitely would not understand on the bedside table. But then, he did not want to carelessly venture around her flat either, not knowing how much longer he would be in her body. Besides, he knew where she was, he would go find her tomorrow anyway. So for now, it would be better to not leave the bed rather than fall face first somewhere, tripping in the dark.
And that was how he let curiosity get the better of him, he told himself as he settled down on her bed and pried open her laptop again. Maybe he could find a few photos of her there. Wallpapers perhaps? Sasuke closed the Google translate window to find generic wallpaper changing in the background. Well. That was not fruitful. So he did something he would probably chide someone else for doing, and went on to open a new window.
'Google…' photos, he was about to type, but autofill did something else that piqued his interest. '... journal', it said. And once more, curiosity got the best of him and he clicked the link open.
More than a hundred thumbnails of videos quickly took over the screen in front of him, each one dated immaculately, and as Sasuke scrolled down, he realized that these might just be a few more than a hundred. Some videos dated back to almost ten years. Perhaps, being comfy in bed was just what he needed.
And so began his journey to travel down the lane of Google journal to get to know Sakura Haruno, his soulmate with pink hair and alarmingly beautiful green eyes, and his heart warmed even more so with every new video he opened, in ways he did not know it could. Little did he know, he had a long time before he went back to his body.
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Sasuke woke up the next morning in his own bedroom. The previous night had been something to remember, and if his guess was right, he lasted a lot longer in the body of his soulmate than the few minutes that was the norm. However, he quickly remembered the events that transpired on his side of the world moments before she must have possessed his body.
Damn it! I didn't not make it to the door, he cursed himself. But he was in here now, which meant his soulmate did possess his body, otherwise he would probably have woken up on the gravel in front of his house.
Sasuke immediately took off from the bed and looked around. A girl who was that meticulous in her own room would find a way to leave him a message too. And just as he thought, his eyes fell on the plain white notepad that sat on his side table.
She had left the same message from her room on this paper too. Only, she wrote a little something extra beneath it this time.
'Hey, I think you might be living far away! So why don't we meet at Blue Bird Restaurant, Sunset street, Konoha, Country - Hi no Kuni, on 3rd January instead? 1 PM local time.'
Of Course, she would think that he lived far away. She probably woke up in the middle of the bloody woods and could not figure out where he was.
But surely, she must have seen his ID in his study? Did she not look there?
Or maybe she tried to but the door to the Study remained locked without the password. Sasuke rolled his eyes at himself, something that occurred rarely, but did occur.
Once more, his eyes darted around his room to see if she left him anything else. Only, everything seemed meticulously clean, so no she didn't.
Did she even get to see his face, a question propped up into his mind, but as he turned to look at the locked bathroom door, the answer was not what he liked. And suddenly, a spark went off in his mind as he turned to look at the drawer on the other side of the bed. And sure, there it was partially open. And if fate was with her, then she might have just seen his face before passing out.
So that was it then… He could go meet her right now, right, to show his face, to see her, and set everything straight before-
Arrgghh! Not before he got his car fixed.
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Sasuke's phone went off just as he reached the parking lot of Konoha Hospital and Medical University.
"What," he uttered a monosyllabic grunt to his blond best friend as he reversed into the parking space.
"I saw her, you idiot. I saw her," Naruto shrieked on the other side of the phone, and Sasuke had to hold it a couple of inches away from his ear. "And she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. And I am going to meet her at Okaeri Club this evening. I really want you to come meet her. I am so excited. Are you even listening to what I'm saying asshole?"
"I'm listening, alright. But I'm not going anywhere. I have places to be", he said, walking towards the reception. This would be a nice surprise.
"What? Where? Oh shit. I completely forgot to ask. Did you find your soulmate?" came a snigger.
I am about to so leave us alone, Sasuke wanted to say, but he remained silent. This was something he wanted to keep to himself for the time being, he realized.
"Naruto, get lost. I'm not coming to the club", and with that Sasuke disconnected the call, approaching the receptionist. "I need an appointment with Dr. Haruno," he said.
"One moment please," she said, checking something on the monitor. "I'm sorry. Dr. Haruno is unavailable today. May I suggest someone else?"
Huh? Unavailable? Why?
"When is she available?" he questioned.
"You can try tomorrow evening after 7 PM" she replied primly.
Was Sakura out of state? But he just woke up in her body last night.
"Is she unwell?" he suddenly asked, concerned.
"I am sorry. We don't give out such information. Should I book you for tomorrow evening?"
Sasuke's hand clenched into a fist. He absolutely did not like this delay. But there was no other way, was there? And if he could wait until tomorrow evening, he would wait until 3rd January.
"Never mind," he said, walking away, as he took a deep breath.
It was his fault anyway to have probably left her in the middle of the woods without making information about him easily accessible. She couldn't decipher his location and hence gave him a tentative date by which she assumed he would reach her, practically speaking. So she could go anywhere on the face of the planet and it would be within her rights. Tch.
Maybe he would take up on Naruto's club offer after all.
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Sasuke walked into the club rolling his shirt sleeves all the way up to his elbows. His brother might not approve of such ungentlemanly behavior in their firm, but that was not a problem in the club.
As his day went by, Sasuke found himself only thinking about Sakura and the three day wait to see her. Was it odd that every thought linked back to her, or every stray look outside his window searched for pink hair, or every Uchiha logo reminded him of her red lips? Needless to say, his work did suffer today.
But however much he did not want to intrude on someone's first moments with their soulmate, Sasuke knew this was some place he needed to show up today. After all, he was going to meet the woman who would take his best friend off of his hands now, and he wanted to know what she was like.
Yet nothing prepared him for the sight that awaited him in front of his loud mouthed best friend on the other side of the club. Because it was none other than Sakura sitting propped up, aww-ing at some anecdote his friend was sharing.
She was wearing the same red dress she wore for her birthday last year, the one in which she was twirling around laughing melodiously.
Apparently the same one which the blond girl next to her, Ino, took her shopping for, if her journal/vlog was to be trusted.
Then there was a black haired girl, Hinata, holding Naruto's hand. Another one of her friends he recognized from a video where they surprised her with orange … ahem… unmentionables. Of course, now it all makes sense. Hinata was his soulmate and had probably told her friends about waking up in Naruto's orange dump.
And then there was another girl whose name he did not quite remember, but the face he remembered seeing. The one with the brown hair, standing next to someone who looked like he was Hinata's twin.
It seemed as if everyone was standing in pairs.
Wait, was that hurt flashing across her eyes? The way she looked away as Naruto pulled Hinata closer. And why did that make him feel like he was punched in the gut? He wanted to be by her side right now.
So, Sasuke made his way through the dance floor to the other side of the club, through the boisterous people and wiggling bodies as his jaw clenched at the delay. Thankfully, soon he reached to catch up with the group. Only to find himself stopping a few feet short when Naruto's anecdote fell upon his ears.
The Kurama plushie story.
If it was not for the fact that the blonde was his best friend, he would have killed him right away.
If it was not for the fact that Sakura had the most beautiful smiled plastered on her face listening to it, he would have at least punched him right away.
But both of those actions seemed to slip from his mind for now, as his gaze remained stuck to the pink haired girl.
'And since that day, he has never let it down, being my friend,' Naruto finished. But it was Sakura that had the the most genuine smile on her face, even when everyone around her aww-ed and ooh-ed. Something that reflected as if she knew more about him than what that story told her and the others around. Something that reflected as if she knew exactly what Naruto was talking about, with the fond smile she wore on her face.
Maybe she did, he gasped in the know as he remembered something from that morning.
The photoframe, how it only ever remained inside the drawer, never on the table. But this morning, he had found it on the table. Which means she saw the photo of the Kurama plushie. She knew what the important people in his life looked like, and that he kept this part of himself hidden. Something that was privy only to Sasuke. Something even the blonde did now knew, which is why he always recounted that story. It was the only proof the blond had of their friendship. Like he would tell the blonde he cherished him so much and let it get to his head.
But that would only mean that she knew who Naruto was, and his retelling of the Kurama story made her happy to have been right about him? But why hadn't she asked Naruto about him yet? Because if she had, he would have received Naruto's call already.
And why was there was a certain sadness spreading on her face even though everyone around her was laughing at Naruto's failure to bring him to the club. Why did that make her unhappy?
"So he lives in this city, huh, and he still didn't come over?" he heard her saying.
Those words hit Sasuke like a bullet train and he wanted to smack himself in the face.
She must have been thinking that he did not want to meet her, because she now knows that he lives in the same city. And he did not even leave her a message because he completely forgot about the state he left himself in when he possessed her.
Wait. Did he just imagine her wiping away a tear. Hell no, his jaw clenched.
No way he was let her going to think that.
With that, Sasuke walked the remaining few steps between them to reach her, and just as she looked up, Jade green bore into Obsidian and it was as if there was no one but the two of them.
"Found you," he said, looking deeply into her eyes, and a smile tugged its way onto his lips from within the deepest darkest chasms of his heart. His perfect match.
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A/N : *squeals in excitement*
