A Little More Sugar and Fewer Insults Please

Sakura sighed as she finished her shift for the day. She paused in the break room briefly to stretch and roll out the kinks in her muscles. Then she took off the visor and apron the store required her to wear as Ino came in as well.

"Man, it feels good to be done for today," Sakura commented as she tucked her uniform into her locker.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ino agreed. "I'm so bushed."

"Yeah, register can do that to you." The pre-med student reached up for the rubber band in her hair and pulled it out, her short hair falling to her shoulders. She gave her head a quick little shake to get it to lay a little better.

"Speaking of register, what was with that guy?"

"Which guy?" the pinkette asked as she grabbed her bag out of her locker.

"That regular, Sasuke."

"Oh. Him." Sakura's tone went flat as she took a sudden deep interest in the contents of her bag. "What about him?"

"What was with your little freak out earlier?"

Sakura frowned as she finished getting all her things in order. "I just don't like him."

"So you said." The blonde laughed as she grabbed her purse. "But I don't get what you don't like about him."

The two girls left the room and headed down the hall toward the back door.

"He's hot. That black hair and those dark eyes. Not to mention that smirk…" Ino sighed.

Sakura made a face of pure disgust. "He's rude and self-absorbed. Always on his phone like that—"

"He's probably just busy," the blonde protested.

The pink haired girl laughed scornfully. "Busy holding up the line."

"It's not his fault if he's stuck on the phone for business."

"Oh, please. He's just antisocial."

"You know what I think?" Ino interjected. "I think you're just in denial, Sakura."

The pre-med student stared at her for a second in shock before bursting in laughter. The thought of her pining after Sakura and not being able to admit it. Sure, she admitted that she had thought he was handsome when she first met him. But then he had interacted with her and opened his mouth. The pinkette laughed for nearly a minute straight at the thought of her having any feelings for that arrogant jerk.

"Why do you think that?" Sakura managed to ask after catching her breath. She opened the back door and they stepped outside together.

"Because of the frisson you two had today."

The pinkette snorted in a rather unladylike fashion. "That was not a frisson. You probably don't even know what that means, Ino."

"Yes, I do, and I know what one looks like too!" The blonde smiled as she crossed her arms. She jerked her chin at her pink-haired coworker. "And you and Sasuke totally had one today."

"Did not."

"Yes, you did," Ino said. "Admit it, you think he's sexy."

"No, I don't, and like I said, you don't know what that means. Frisson is when you have an involuntary shiver and goose bumps, usually from pleasure. Let me be the first to assure you that pleasure is the last thing Sasuke sparks in me."

Ino turned to face her coworker, but she suddenly stopped, opening her mouth to say something. Sakura didn't notice and continued her rant.

"There is no way in hell I am at all attracted to that self-centered, rude, narcissistic jerk! I don't care what you say, Ino. There is no way I'd let his pretty boy looks go to my head! In fact, I wouldn't date him if he were the last man on the planet!"

"Oh really?" A familiar male voice said from behind her.

Sakura froze with a wince and slowly turned to see the one and only Sasuke Uchiha propping up the wall near the employee entrance. She tried to smile but somehow just knew it wasn't really working.

"Hey… Sasuke Uchiha…"

Crap.

Sasuke had had a pretty great day after his little encounter with Sakura the barista. Sure, he hadn't quite been at the top of his game with her, but he had pulled it out at the last minute and gone on to conquer the day. One little blip did not a bad day make. Plus, seeing Naruto's disappointed face about the blank cup had been pretty nice.

So at four thirty, Sasuke began wrapping up his work and cleaning his desk. He grabbed his coffee cup which he hadn't bothered to throw away earlier despite it being empty due to how busy he had been. Now he reached over to pick it up. As he grabbed the lid and lifted it, the coffee collar slipped. Apparently he had loosened it by accident at some point, and now it fell to the bottom of the cup. He moved to pick it up and noticed some writing that had been hidden under the cardboard grip.

Sasuke skimmed the words written in an all too familiar script. "I spit in it lots, you jerk." He stared at it for a moment then reread it. He felt his temper begin to rise. She probably hadn't done it. Sakura seemed to take her job too seriously to do that. He had watched her refuse to reheat coffee for someone because of a health code violation. There was no way she actually spit in his coffee, no matter how much she liked to mess with him.

Before he knew it, he had grabbed the cup and his things and stormed out the door and down to the café. He quickly looked in the shop and saw Sakura turn to her replacement apparently and say something before heading toward the employee area. He strode over to the back entrance for the employees and leaned against the wall, arms crossed as he tried to rein in his temper so he didn't crush the cup.

He waited there and a few minutes later, he heard the murmur of voices near the door. The door swung open and out came Sakura with that other blonde barista. Talking loudly about him and that moment at the pick up counter.

"Admit it, you think he's sexy," Ino pushed.

Sasuke didn't like admitting it, but his gaze flickered over to Sakura. What was she going to say? Did she think he was sexy? Why did he care?! But he found he did actually kind of, sort of did want Sakura to think he was really attractive. At least, attractive to her. That thought was doing strange things to him like getting his breath caught somewhere in his chest while his lungs screamed at him to let it out.

Then Sakura opened her mouth and dashed away any hope of that attraction business. She did a pretty bang up job of it too. Last thing he sparked in her was pleasure apparently. Her voice dripped with disgust and what little he could see of her face echoed that with a touch of bitterness. He got a little more irritated with each insult she added to the pile. Narcissistic? He was not that self-absorbed… at least, he didn't think he was. Rude? Who was she to call him rude when she wrote all those stupid notes on his coffee every day?! Stones and glass houses!

"In fact, I wouldn't date him if he were the last man on the planet!" Sakura finished, her anger clearly bleeding into her voice.

He couldn't take it anymore. "Oh really?" he said, his voice low and tight with repressed rage. He reveled in every second of her wince and slow turn. He watched her stupid perky cashier smile come out, but it wavered and wobbled.

"Hey… Sasuke Uchiha," she said slowly, awkwardly.

Good. She knew she was in trouble. He ignored that little part of him that liked the way she said his name, that she had memorized him out of all her customers. Right now, he was far too pissed off at the little barista. He didn't say anything though. Let her stew and panic for a bit.

"Why are you here?" she said after few long seconds, an edge creeping back into her voice.

He shoved himself off the wall, uncrossing his arms as he did. He advanced on her, never taking his eyes from her green ones. When he was within a yard of her, he spoke.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." He kept his tone even and threw in a fake smile too. If one didn't know better or just looked at the surface, he probably even seemed genuine. As if he were about to reveal his true feelings for her or something else equally stupid.

Apparently, Ino chose that nice veneer for her interpretation. She giggled a little. "I'll just leave you two alone," she said before sprinting off toward her car.

Sakura's eyes widened at her friend's words. "No, wait! Don't-!" she sighed as Ino's car turned on and pulled out. She cast her gaze at the asphalt with a bitter look.

"…Traitor," she muttered. She sighed before facing Sasuke. Her arms were folded across her body, and she leaned back a bit. "So what do you want to talk about?"

Sasuke chose to match her hostile tone. He pushed the cup towards her and pointed at the note. "What's the meaning of this?"

She stared at it for a bit. Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and she smirked a little. "So you finally noticed. I was beginning to think you never would."

"That's all you have to say?!"

"I didn't actually spit in it. I just wanted to see if you would notice."

"Oh, I did. In fact, I've been reading your stupid little notes for the past three weeks, you little brat."

She at least had the good grace to blush a little at that revelation. "Y-you have?"

"Yeah, I have. 'Ooga Chaka Hooked on His Phone'?!"

She snorted a little. "Yeah, that was one of my better ones." She smiled a little at the memory. She began to walk away toward the nearby bus stop.

"Yeah, my coworker Naruto thought so too!" Sasuke followed her. No way was she walking away from him.

"Wait! He's been reading them too?!" She spun to face him. She looked a little panicked at that.

"He's the one who found them! Not that that really matters! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

She flinched a little at that. "Excuse me?"

"What did I ever do to you? Are you mad that I didn't flirt with you that first day?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times soundlessly like a gasping fish. A flush spread across her face, but Sasuke couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

"I do not want you to flirt with me! I never did, you arrogant bastard!"

He scoffed at her denial and leaned in a little towards her. "Oh, please. You did. You totally perked up as soon as I walked into the café. You looked like a little puppy begging for table scraps."

"I did not!" Sakura denied quickly. Her green eyes sparked with anger, and combined with her pink cheeks, she looked pretty nice. For a barista with anger management issues.

He smirked a little. "Yes, you did. You always give me that puppy dog look."

"I do not and you know it! I think I would vomit if you flirted with me. It'd be unnatural!" One of her bangs fell across her face, and she tossed her head a little to move it. She glared at him over her shoulder. "I wrote the notes because of your lack of common decency."

"Common decency?" he repeated skeptically.

"Yes!" she snapped, turning and taking a step toward him. "Everyone knows you're supposed to hang up your phone when you order food!"

"Please, you should know what my order is by now."

"How can I ask if you want the usual if you can't be bothered to acknowledge me half the time?! Not to mention, you're not supposed to step up to the register if you don't know what you're ordering! It blocks the register and holds up the line!"

"You're just bitter that I've got a real job while you're going to be stuck waiting on customers for the rest of your life," he retorted with a sneer.

"I'll have you know I'm working there to pay for college! Pre-med ain't cheap!"

"Nice career choice. Don't you know the medical field is over-saturated?"

"At least I'll have a sense of purpose, unlike you. You probably got handed your job because of your daddy."

"You know nothing about me!"

"Oh, please. I know all I need to know about you. You're rude, arrogant, and narcissistic."

"Well, you're immature." This was not really playing out the way he had pictured it at all. Not that he had really planned this conversation out, but he certainly had expected to have better insults than that. He usually did. She was throwing him off his game.

"You're no better!" She rolled her eyes. "'Guess they decided to take a risk,'" she said in a rather insulting impression of him. "Yeah, that was so mature of you. In fact, I'm not even sorry about writing that I spit in your coffee. Actually, I wish I had spit in it! It would serve you right!"

"You're just mad that I'm not fawning over you like probably every other guy in your life does."

"Sorry. I have pretty high standards, and you just don't make the cut, Uchiha."

"You mean like your forehead?" he snapped back.

She glared at him. "I loath you."

"I loath you."

She closed the distance between them until they were nearly flush. She glared up at him, her breathing a little heavy from the fight. "I loathed you first."

Sasuke suddenly became acutely aware of her. Of how her hair was down and a little messy from her shift still. The way her green eyes were too bright and too intense right now. How close they were, her breath mingling with his in the supercharged air. Her lips were only a few inches away; if he moved a few inches, he could…

The moment he seemed to think that, Sakura blinked, seeming to become equally aware of how close they were. She rocked back a bit, as if to step back to safer ground. That seemed impossibly horrible suddenly because right now all he can think about is Sakura and how much he wants her. Before he can think better of it, he dipped his head, his hand sliding behind her neck to pull her closer.

Sakura barely had time to think about the fact that she had moved far too close to Sasuke before he pulled her closer. Their mouths didn't meet so much as they crashed against each other, all anger and passion. Her eyes went wide for a split second at this new development. It was a messy kiss, not at all what she expected, and somehow she loved it for that. She found herself responding to it, kissing him back. She swore she could feel all the tension go out of him at that, and she wondered if he just really needed to get his freak on all this time.

But then that annoying part of her mind reminded her of just who she was kissing, and she shoved him away. She quickly stepped away from him, her bag hitting the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" she hissed. "You can't just… kiss me like that!"

"Why not?" Sasuke sighed.

"Because…Well… We were fighting."

"So?" He took a step toward her.

Sakura noticed and quickly put more distance between them. She hated admitting it, but she had liked kissing Sasuke a little too much for her liking. The last thing she wanted to do was give him another opportunity. If they kissed again, she didn't trust herself not to respond, let alone stop.

"So, you can't just end a fight by kissing someone! It's rude and it's not fair."

He made a face. "It's better than some other ways. In fact, I prefer it personally." He tried to close the distance between them again.

"I don't! It's confusing!" she snapped. She scurried a few more steps away. "It's sending mixed messages. It's like you can't decide if you like me or not. Or something."

He took several quick steps and grabbed her wrist to pull her closer before slipping an arm around her waist. Sakura felt her heart speed up at that and just knew she was in trouble.

"Maybe I do like you or maybe I just like kissing you," Sasuke said in a low voice as he leaned towards her again.

Sakura frowned. "Sasuke."

"Yes?" He was far too close for her taste.

"I'm giving you two seconds to let go of me or else."

"Or else what?" His smirk was an obvious taunt.

"I'll scream."

His lips brushed against hers for a brief moment and Sakura realized belatedly that she'd started to lean in too.

"It's going to be hard for anyone to hear you if we're kissing," he said before kissing her again, much gentler than before.

That was when Sakura realized that she was a big fat liar. Because she realized that she didn't really hate him all that much. Or at least, not as much as she claimed. No, truth was she really liked Sasuke, especially kissing him. The screaming threat had been a bluff so she could pretend that she wasn't really weak in the knees about this guy who drove her up the wall crazy but somehow still managed to attract her.

At the same she realized this, she pulled him closer a little harshly, running her fingers through his hair. She deepened the kiss because frankly, she was still a little mad and a sweet kiss was far too tame right now. Sasuke responded in kind and things were getting hotter way too fast.

They broke apart for air for a brief moment, and they both looked into each other's eyes. Sakura made no move to push him away, and Sasuke made no move to step away. They just stayed that way, unable to move.

"Your place or mine?" he finally rasped before kissing her again.

The next day, Sakura worked her shift as usual. Except that she had a few suspicious red marks along her neck that she tried unsuccessfully to hide with a higher collar. Not to mention that when Sasuke came in, the two of them meet each other's eyes for a charged moment before looking away. Even more shocking, Sasuke hung up his phone as he stepped up to the register.

"Is that some common courtesy I see?" Sakura asked as she put in his order. She gave him a flirtatious look from under her lashes.

"Maybe. Are those hickeys I see?" he responded. He smirked as she flushed and clapped a hand over them.

"I think you know the answer to that," she finally answered. She wrote something on his cup and passed it to Ino.

"I'll see you around, Sakura," he said before heading over to the waiting area. After his coffee arrived, he headed for the door. He pushed the door open and held it for a moment until Sakura looked over toward him.

"Later," he mouthed and smiled. She nodded a little in response before going back to work.

Sasuke left the shop then and took a sip of his coffee as he walked toward work. He glanced down and checked Sakura's note. A phone number and "Call Me Maybe" was scrawled across the cup followed by a heart. He took out his phone and started typing in her number.

The End

A/N: This one didn't have a prompt to go with it, sorry. But I had to finish the plot bunnies off. Get yourself some cookies for all the fun little winks and nudges throughout these little pieces. I did reference the Princess Diaries 2 fountain scene a lot. Probably too much, but I really like that scene.

I want to write more for this... but I feel like that's a bad idea.

But yes, Sasuke and Sakura did sleep together that night. I picture it being rather rough at times and lots of denial sprinkled through it still. Probably at some point, Sakura would be really getting into it and Sasuke would bring up the last thing would be pleasure thing and then the two of them would start competing about it. Sakura trying not to moan, him trying to get her to moan/admit that she's turned on, and it would probably be really fun to write. But also way out of my comfort zone/I do not have many ideas for this sex scene other than that and possibly lots of hickeys and some pinning to the wall. So instead, enjoy the hints that, yes, he totally gave her hickeys and wants everyone who can hear them to know that she's his girl now.

I can also picture Ino and Naruto's reactions to finding out that these two finally got their freak on together. Lots of "I told you so's."