Sasuke's eyes snapped open just before his head slumped forwards onto his desk. Again. For the third time that hour.

He sighed. The girl he was drawing in his notebook, the one whom Itachi had claimed to be his 'anime character', was almost complete, but he didn't realize he'd fallen asleep and had drawn a thick line through the middle of the paper.

He flipped to the next page in his notebook. He heard the droning voice of his professor but ignored it, mindlessly doodling a person's face, occasionally switching pens for different colors.

He stopped, though, once he picked up the pink pen to draw in some hair.

He wondered why she kept plaguing his thoughts. It had been a week since his near-death experience, and he hadn't been able to forget those captivating green eyes or the pastel pink hair that belonged to the girl who saved him.

The slamming of books jolted him out of his thoughts. His professor adjusted his stack of books in the desk.

"Alright, guys, class is over. See you next week." Professor Hatake picked up his jacket that was draped over his chair and left.

From a couple seats over, his friends, Naruto and Tenten, turned to Sasuke.

"So," Tenten snatched the notebook he was drawing in from out of his hands. "that is what had the great Sasuke Uchiha busy all class. You didn't pay attention at all." She flipped through it, looking through the dozens of pages he had drawn in the past week, the same pink-haired, green-eyed figure drawn on each page.

"Look," Naruto shrieked, hanging over Tenten's shoulder as she snooped through his notebook. "This girl is drawn on every page!"

Tenten smirked. "Have anything you wanna tell us, Sasuke dearest?"

She and Naruto took seats on either side of Sasuke, legs crossed and arms tucked under their chins, poses mirroring each other. Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sasuke sighed, snatching his notebook from Tenten. "None of your beeswax, dumb and dumber," he addressed the two, shoving the notebook into his bag.

The two didn't seem fazed and snickered at his annoyed expression. "Whatever you say, Sasuke." They chorused and high-fived.

He stood up to leave as Tenten and Naruto stood up to follow him, probably planning on pestering him about the whole drawing thing. He didn't expect them to drop it anytime soon, since they were always looking for some dirt on the "oh-so-perfect Uchiha" as Tenten called him.

Sasuke noticed a snoring Shikamaru in the corner of the room. The people next to him had left the classroom by then, not even bothering to wake the napping male.

Sasuke grinned evilly. Might as well have some fun with it. It was his fault for falling asleep anyways, he reasoned and went over to wake up the guy.

He slammed his hands on the desk loudly. Shikamaru jolted upright, his eyes wide open, staring at the human in front of him before his gaze moved up to meet Sasuke's smirking face, and he groaned.

"I hate you," he muttered, pushing the hair that had fallen into his eyes out of his face. His standard ponytail was loosened. He pulled the hair tie out completely, the loose brown strands framing his face.

Sasuke tilted his head innocently. "Why? What happened?"

Tenten held her hand out for a high five, and Sasuke obliged. "Nice one." She smiled evilly, and he grinned back.

"Let's go!" Naruto looped an arm around Shikamaru and pulled him out of his seat, "we don't have school for a whole weekend, let's have some fun!"

Tenten cheered, locking arms with Sasuke, and the four marched out of the deserted classroom.

Sasuke stopped in the middle of the hallway, "you guys can go on without me. I'm going to visit Itachi."

Tenten's face sombered and she patted his arm, "you want us to come with?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. You guys have fun. I'll catch you later."

Shikamaru nodded and the three of them went down the hall, Tenten's boisterous cackling fading as they rounded the corner. Probably to go find Lee.

Sasuke turned around and went back the other way, following the same route he usually did when he was going to visit Itachi. Past the bar, past the coffee shop, and straight to the hospital.

Standing at the corner of the same street he almost died at, he carefully waited till the light was green and crossed, running as fast as he could across the street.

A few blocks later, he looked around the crowded sidewalk to see if she was there.

He'd seen her around the hospital entrance a couple times since his "rescue", but had never said hi. She was always either on her phone or doing something that just made her look unapproachable.

Today, he spotted her sitting on the shoveled steps, seemingly waiting for something.

What the heck, he thought, and decided to approach her.

"Hey," he stood in front of her and she looked up. "Remember me?"

He smiled awkwardly at her confused face before it turned to one of recognition.

"Oh, you're that guy I saved! Hi, I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno." She stood up and offered her hand, "I suppose we never really met, even though I see you every day passing by the hospital or that bar you almost got run over in front of."

He shook it, chuckling, "about that... I realized I never got to thank you for saving me. Want to get a coffee?" He cringed at his awkward way of talking, but surprisingly, she agreed.

"Sure," she picked up the bag on the floor next to her. "Let's go!" She laughed at his shocked expression.

The door to the cafe down the sidewalk opened with a gust of heat and Sasuke's glasses fogged up slightly at the sudden warmth. He walked up to the guy at the cashier.

"Hi, can I get an iced latte and," he turned to Sakura, "what would you like?"

"Um," she looked at the menu for a second. "Forever Mocha, please." She pulled out her wallet. "How much is it?"

The guy's tattooed cheek dimpled as he winked at Sasuke while Sakura busily pulled out her wallet. "It's on the house, Miss."

She looked confused, but nodded, "oh, thank you."

They sat down at a booth in the front of the store. Sasuke watched the busy sidewalk as snowflakes fluttered to the ground.

"So," Sakura set her drink down after taking a sip. "I always see you around the front of the hospital, but you always seemed to be in a rush. What's the hurry?" She looked at him intently, and he shifted under her piercing gaze.

"Well, my brother's in the hospital with brain cancer. He's been there for a while now, and just recently, his cancer was diagnosed to be terminal. I visit him every day since I'm not as busy as my parents are." He didn't usually tell strangers the problem his family dealt with, but something about those green eyes that stared him down compelled him to tell her, "it's brain cancer, and I'm not sure how he's going to get past this. The doctor said that medications would only slow his death. I don't know which would be easier for him, to take it and endure the pain, or just die now." He looked down at the cup in front of him silently.

As he spoke, Sakura's expression changed from comforting to more serious, but he didn't notice. She frowned and he looked up with a small smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down." He suddenly felt the need to change the subject as he studied her face, "you seem around my age. Are you still in college?"

Sakura nodded, relieved the conversation took a happier turn, "I'm currently on the medical track, leaning towards oncology. Pre-med, taking all those super fun anatomy and biology classes. Aside from that, I love writing, so I'm minoring in writing and journalism."

Sasuke nodded. "I see. I'm majoring in Information Technology and minoring in art."

Sakura gave him a peculiar look, "art?"

"Yeah. I've always wanted to be a cartoonist."

Sakura grinned. "Really? Wow, me too! I used to watch this show as a kid: Menma. I loved the art. It kind of inspired me to draw, and I went through this whole anime phase. Kinda silly, I guess."

Sasuke grinned as well. "You watched Menma? Funny, that's what I did as a kid, too."

"Who's your favorite? I personally liked Sakuya. She was pretty cool, and we both have pink hair. That can't be a coincidence." Sakura stirred her drink and took a sip, "you remind me of Menma, really nice and outgoing."

Sasuke laughed, "you're the first person to tell me that. Most people I know call me Charasuke since he was so grumpy."

"He was so moody! I mean, what kind of person goes from 'I wanna bomb the village' to 'I'll be the hokage'? Who does that?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well technically, he wanted to be the Hokage so he could bomb all the villages, but whatever."

They both laughed. Sasuke couldn't help but think that he'd like to spend more time with this girl. To think he wouldn't have discovered a new friend if he hadn't approached her.

Suddenly, the reason he came to the hospital flashed in his mind, and he groaned, checking the time.

"Oh no, visiting hours are over. It was nice meeting you Sakura, but I have to go. Can I get your number so we can meet up another time?" He asked, feeling nervous.

What if she says no? It's weird enough that I walked up to her after only one whole week of seeing each other in passing. What if--

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sakura handing his phone back to him. Saved in it was her number, the name next to it saying Sakura Haruno.

"I never got your name," Sakura told him as he put his phone back in his pocket and saved his number in hers.

"Sasuke." He handed her phone back to her and she smiled at the name he put for himself. Menma. "I'll see you soon?" He began walking backwards to leave.

"Sure." Sakura waved until he left the shop.

He took his phone out of his pocket and texted Itachi.

Me
Sorry I couldn't visit, I met a friend today. She's pretty cool, you should meet her.

He put his phone away, but a second later, it dinged.

Itachi

It's alright, I'm glad you're making friends! Shisui and Izumi came today, so I'm fine.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and continued walking, the freshly fallen snow crunching under his feet. At least Itachi was in the company of his best friends. 

~~~

Written by Lea_Valdez16