unedited/ not proofread (4/17/21)

Sasuke

"You know, I get that we're trying to escape prying eyes, but fleeing the city might be a tad bit excessive," Sakura says.

"We haven't left the city."

"Well, we're close to the edge of it," she says, her knife cutting through the steak she ordered. "How did you even find this place?"

"My mother told my brother and me that she used to go here when she was younger. Took us out a few times, and she's right saying the food is good."

"Good enough for you to play hooky for?" She grins before taking a bite.

I've taken her to lunch in a small restaurant barely inside the city lines. If we wanted to be away from nosy coworkers and even nosier bystanders, it was best to be as far from the inner city as we could. Is it a bit much? Perhaps, but I couldn't chance being heckled by readers once seen in public, and I know very well she feels the same.

She hums with delight. "Okay, you're right. This food is worth playing hooky for. Tell your mom I said thanks."

I fight the urge to laugh at the absurdity of her request. "If I did, it'd be worse than having everyone at work constantly prodding us for details on each other."

She tilts her head. "She the nosy type?"

"Only when it comes to her sons' possible romantic prospects."

"So… never."

I spare her a glare and instead sigh to myself. I walked right into that taunt.

Sakura finds it entertaining though, laughing at the state she's reduced me to. "Lighten up. I'm just teasing. Seriously though, speaking of that, have you ever really, seriously dated anyone?"

"Curious about my dating prospects now? Should I call my mother and tell her she's found a match?"

"I'm serious, Sasuke." She takes a sip of her drink before continuing. "Most big writers under the Hokage brand have their dirty laundry aired out. You don't."

"My laundry is clean, I assure you."

She rolls her eyes. "That I never doubted, considering your color palette. Just answer the question."

"Have I dated? On the rare occasion, yes. Have I seriously been with someone? No."

"Hm." She nods to herself, her eyes purposefully not meeting mine. "I see."

"What? You thought I'd be the type to not waste my time on such things?"

"With the way you just said that, yes." She leans closer. "I was going to say you're more the type to be very picky with who you date. Honestly not surprised no one's lasted long enough to be considered 'serious'."

"And how long would you have to date someone to be considered serious?"

"Ino says six months."

"I asked what you think, not what Ino thinks."

She looks thoughtful, lips pursed as she looks for an answer within herself. "My opinion is that it depends on the person. For me, I'd say… about the same time, maybe up to a year."

"Considerably longer than what your 'expert' friend thinks."

She shrugs. "Like I said, it should depend on the person. You, for instance. I don't see you thinking at the same time span."

"Should I even ask?"

"No, I'm going to tell you anyway." Sakura smiles before leaning closer to answer in a conspiratorial whisper. "I say you think a month is serious."

I scoff. "A month?"

"Hear me out, okay!" She puts her fork down. "Because you're the type not to stick around when you know the person isn't right for you, and you figure it out fairly quickly. You wouldn't waste your time knowing it isn't going to be worth it."

"Yet another one of your well-informed theories about me?"

"You're not telling me I'm wrong."

Because she's right. As much as I hate to admit it, her quick evaluation is right. Every possible prospect, though not many even putting into account my age and my mother's insistence, never lasted longer than a month. I know myself better than anyone, and I know when to end things because I don't see it going anywhere, even when the women can be insistent. I've never been one to compromise my personal feelings and at times, that could be less beneficial to me than I'd like, but it remains unwavering.

Yet here I am, with this woman, participating in a job-related relationship. It's unlike anything I've experienced, unlike anything many have experienced. But our situation falls under a new category, a mix between work life and personal life, a personal life I'm sure she'd joke about me not having. And she would not be entirely wrong about that either.

For years, I'd devoted myself to my work, wanting to make a name for myself outside of the name I was born with just for my own pride, and it's worked. I'm successful, I get paid well, and there is not much I want that I cannot get or achieve. And that has been enough for me. I don't force relationships just for the sake of it. It's never been a focus of mine. If it happens, it happens, but it hasn't. Not yet.

I watch as she relishes in her meal, the delight in her eyes from the meal she's eating. Always so expressive. In a way, it's endearing. She possesses something I don't—openness. Sakura has always been unafraid to be unabashedly herself, no matter how irritating or ridiculous she can be. And when she isn't it's glaringly obvious. Her brow would furrow, her smile forced, her eyes the telltale sign. I managed to gather this even before we'd gotten this project assignment.

And while on this project, I've come to know her on a more personal level than I thought I'd ever allowed myself to. But that's what this project entailed. The dates may not be entirely real— being told to have dates rather than go on ones naturally—but that doesn't stop us from gaining a deeper understanding of one another. Evident in her spot-on analysis of me and mine of hers.

But perhaps that is entirely our fault. Would it have been different had we not gotten intimate, had we not had sex that day, had we not decided to continue this battle of wills? It's perplexing.

"And you?" I say to break myself out of my own thoughts.

"And me, what?"

"Why do you need six months to a year for something to be called serious?"

"We're still on that?" She purses her lips. "I honestly don't know. I guess that's the amount of time it'll take me to truly know someone, if they're right for me or if I'm right for them."

"That seems rather long for you to get to know someone."

"Not everyone is like you, Sasuke."

I raise a brow, curious as to why she says so, and her eyes widen, realizing her faux pas. Clearing her throat, she continues, "I mean, not everyone is as upfront as you. You never know what secrets people are hiding."

"And what secrets are you hiding?"

"That's for you to find out." She winks. Something changes in her expression though, a serious thought having flashed in her mind. "Wait, a month, huh?"

"What?"

"We're almost a month into our little project."

Hm, has it been that long already? Perhaps it doesn't feel like it considering I've known her before this, and the fact that this is still more of a work concern. Yet, it doesn't feel like that wholly. Hasn't felt that way in a while, since we both decided to engage in our own game.

"So, what do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Hypothetically, if we were actually dating, would I go past the one-month mark?"

Her smile says she's joking, but her eyes look expectant, anticipating the answer.

Would she? The thought never crossed my mind, but then again, I never thought as deeply about relationships as I have been as of late, both because of the job and because of her. I haven't felt the revelatory feeling of dread when meeting her for our work dates, nor have I felt such about her in general, if I'm being honest. Have I felt annoyed? Definitely. But never dreadful.

"That would depend," I opt to say.

"Depend on what?"

"You've been a bad influence on me recently."

"Me?" She exclaims, laughter threatening to escape her. "What did I do?"

"Getting me to play hooky, for one."

"Hey, I didn't force you to take me out."

"No, but had you not, I'd be in my office."

"Would you have liked to be in your office with Naruto and/ or Kiba slamming your door open for date strategies?"

"Do I look like I want to suffer through that?"

"Then, you're welcome. Besides, they're not going to mind, considering how important we are to the magazines right now."

"I never took you as someone who'd abuse their power like that."

"It's one afternoon! I know you know I'm right."

"And what do you suggest we do for one afternoon. We can't be here the entire time."

"You're the one who knows the area."

"The only thing I know that's nearby is the brewery. Do you like beer?"

"You're inviting me to a brewery tour?"

"You did say we need our afternoon filled. You can say no, Sakura."

"No! I mean yes! Yes, sure, I'd like that." She clears her throat. "I mean, don't expect me to wow you with beer knowledge—knowledge I definitely don't have—but sure, sounds fun. Or at least more fun than what awaits us at work."

My mouth tilts up as I signal the waitress for the check. "It looks like you're as new to playing hooky as I am."

"Looks like we have another thing in common."

"Who'd have thought?"

"Yeah." She shakes her head. "Definitely not me when I first met you."

"Is that right?"

"Don't look at me like that," she says, breaking an oncoming moment. "I'm so not having sex with you just because you're taking me to some rinky-dink brewery tour."

"I don't recall asking you for, or mentioning, sex, Sakura." I smirk before standing and taking the step to wait by the side of where she sits, hand outstretched. "But all you have to do is admit defeat, and we could skip the brewery tour altogether."

Her flustered expression and rambling of words do well to distract me of what's been occupying my mind ever since she mentioned it. Thankfully, she took my conversation switch bait and hadn't asked the question again, hadn't asked if she would pass my one-month mark again. Because, if I'm being honest, It looks like she would, and that's not something neither I nor she appear ready to admit yet.

And that in itself, tells me all I need to know.

Notes:

Hey, sorry for the longer than usual wait, but school has taken over my to-do lists, and, truthfully, I hadn't been in the right headspace to write until recently. But here I am again!

I apologize if it's bad jsdkfhskjf a few months not writing ss may have taken a toll on me