So here's a SasuSaku that I wrote the other day. And it's nine pages long! I'm very excited about it. Anyway, another big thanks to my Beta, the ever amazing WinterVines. And if anyone can guess the people that are mentioned without names cookies for them! :D

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Welcome to the Café of Youth!

There was a soft hum of coffee machines mixed amid the hushed conversations within the coffee shop. Mornings were always like this, not that Sakura minded. There was just something relaxing about the small coffee shop in which she worked. Perhaps it was the smell of fresh coffee, perhaps it was the friendliness of her customers, or perhaps the offer of free coffee at six in the morning was very tempting.

Of course, technically speaking, Sakura was working for her coffee, but that wasn't the point. The point was that her job gave her a chance to meet new people, broaden her horizons, and the fact that she got paid didn't hurt either. She was only a college student, after all, and somebody needs to pay off those student loans. Her parents were definitely not going to.

Sakura drummed her fingers on the table irritably. Her parents were set against medical school since she suggested it, so she was obviously not going to be getting help from them. They just didn't understand her. The need to help people was embedded so deep within her soul that she would do anything to answer the call.

So here she was, working early hours at a small, but cozy coffee shop. The job wasn't bad, her pay was decent, her hours (albeit early) were fair, and her boss was nice. Well, sort of.

As if conjured up by her thoughts, a tall man dressed from head to toe in a forest green colour strutted to the counter. He flipped his (terrifyingly) glossy black hair, raised his (terrifyingly) thick eyebrows, flashed a (terrifyingly) bright smile at her and joined her behind the counter.

She nearly sighed. Her boss was here. It wasn't like she didn't like her boss, and it wasn't like he was mean or cruel. He was just a little weird. Understatement of the year, Maito Gai was the strangest person Sakura had ever met in her life.

For a fully grown man to have such a strange obsession with the colour green was unhealthy. Not to mention his random 'Pep talks of Youth!' Sakura often wondered how the other workers managed to remain sane. Not that she knew much about them. She knew very little about the other two people who worked at the café because they only brushed shoulders with her whenever their shifts changed.

Having only met them briefly, she didn't even know their names, only that there was a boy and a girl. Also, that the boy looked disturbingly like Gai. Sakura winced at the thought of a second Maito Gai running around the streets of Konoha. That would be bad.

"Good morning, beautiful Sakura!" Gai's loud voice boomed from somewhere behind her. "You look so radiant today, like a newly blossomed flower on a spring day. And you are so deep in thought, like an otter contemplating its next meal. May I be so bold as to ask what you are thinking of?"

Sakura turned around to face her eccentric boss. "It's nothing, sir. I was just looking around to see if any of the customers needed help." She replied, ignoring his random use of poetic language (like an otter contemplating its next meal? Not flattering at all).

Gai stuck his thumbs up, "That is the spirit, lovely Sakura! You are like a drink of fresh water to a drowning fish!"

He gave her another huge smile before disappearing, leaving Sakura to think about his words. Was that supposed to be a compliment? Do drowning fish like fresh water? She shook her head. She would never understand him.

The bell on the café door tinkled, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts and informing her that there was a new customer. Smoothing down her apron, she gave the man who walked in a large smile. "Hello! Welcome to The Café of Youth, how may I help you?"

The man paused, glancing quickly over the menu. "An espresso and a poppyseed bagel."

Sakura nodded, popped a bagel into the toaster and walked over to the espresso machine. As the machine whirred to life, she noted carelessly that the man's hair was a strange shade of blue. Then, she almost laughed. Who was she to say someone's hair was strange? She had pink hair for goodness sakes.

"Here you go, sir." She handed him his order, "That will be three twenty six."

The man handed her the money, grabbed his food and wandered off to find a seat. Sakura exhaled loudly. She hated it when the customers didn't bother to say please or thank you. Given, she was serving them, but would it really hurt them to be polite?

She sat down on her stool near the cash register and pulled her medical textbook out of her bag. It wouldn't hurt her to do some extra studying when she could. Her teachers were all legendary in the field of medicine.

By the time she had gone through five pages, the café began to fill up with more customers, which forced her to abandon her studying in order to serve them. Before long, the café was buzzing with life, leaving Sakura feeling slightly drained.

There was so much to deal with! Hey, didn't she ask that guy to leave his dog outside already? The other guy over there isn't supposed to bring his experimental bugs into the café either. It upset the other customers! She laid her face on the cold surface of the counter, taking a short break while she could.

"Sakura!" Gai materialized behind her. "I have a mission of youth for you!"

With a great effort, Sakura hoisted herself into sitting position. "Yes sir?"

"I do not trust anybody other than you for this mission. It is of vital importance."

She felt a horrible sense of foreboding. "What is it?"

"I need you to clean the men's rest room."

Sakura nearly fainted. "You what? I'm a girl, why can't you do it?" She was outraged, momentarily forgetting that she was speaking to her superior.

"Because, dear Sakura, I must attend to the customers!" He flourished his arm dramatically, ignoring the fact that there were no customers that needed 'attending to'.

A few minutes later, Sakura found herself dragging a mop, a bucket, and a sign that read "CAUTION: WET FLOOR" towards the men's washroom. She knocked tentatively on the door, praying that there would be no answering knock. It seemed luck was on her side when she found the washroom empty.

Working quickly, she set up the wet floor sign. The sooner she finished, the faster she would be out of the men's washroom. There would be little chance of her hiding if anybody happened to walk in. The washroom was tiny, with only one stall and two urinals. She held the mop out, gingerly cleaning the floor beneath the two urinals. She didn't want to touch those.

After a few minutes, Sakura found herself falling into a pattern. Quietly, she began to hum a tune. As the song developed into a crescendo, she adjusted the movement of her mop accordingly. At the climax of the song she heard a strange thumping noise, followed by a brief gush of air.

She spun around, startled by the noises, and found herself looking into a pair of beautiful black eyes, slightly widened in shock. Perhaps shock of seeing her? Looking into his eyes, Sakura felt her cheeks heat up. Then she noticed the end of her mop wedged into his stomach.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

"Omigosh. I'm so sorry, I didn't think anybody would walk in. I mean, I thought that people were busy right now, and I didn't mean to—" She cut herself off. "Are you alright?"

The only sound she got in response was sound that was a cross between a grunt and a moan. Sakura dropped her mop, and rushed to the man's side. "Can I take a look at that? I'm a medical student, so I can asses the damage."

The man looked at her, and she noted momentarily that he was the impolite guy from before. He nodded, still wincing in pain as he drew his shirt up to allow her to take a look.

The first thought that came to mind was Yummy. The man was built. The second thought was Ouch, which was directed to the spot on his stomach that was turning a strange shade of purple.

"I can help you outside, and if we can get some ice on that, it won't hurt as much. Plus, it won't swell." She told him, as she threaded her arm under his shoulders.

She supported him as he walked outside. Gently, he took a seat on the nearest chair. Sakura rushed off to find ice. Upon finding some ice cubes in the fridge next to a pair of socks (socks? She made a mental note to ask Gai about it), she stuck some ice cubes in a plastic bag and wrapped her apron around it.

She returned to the man and handed him the improvised ice pack. He took the pack from her and held it against his stomach. "Thank you," He scrutinized her name tag. "Sakura Haruno."

Sakura blushed. "Don't, honestly, it's the least I can do. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this position."

The man smirked at her, not disagreeing. She studied him carefully for the first time. Wow, this guy was fine. His blue-black hair was styled in a spiky fashion, his features were structured, and the black shirt he had on really set off his skin tone. Sakura felt even more blood rush to her face as she noticed the way his eyebrow quirked up when he smirked.

She felt like she could have spent forever studying his face. Unfortunately, there was a loud crash in the washroom. "Shoot." Sakura cursed, remembering the cleaning supplies she'd left on the floor. "Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot."

She flew into the washroom, and with a quick glance around, she found the source of the disturbance. Gai had stumbled into the washroom and tripped on the cleaning supplies. "I'm so sorry, sir! I meant to pick those up, it's just that—" Gai held out his hand, silencing her.

"It's okay, dear Sakura! For the washroom looks cleaner than a baby's bottom!" He struck a pose.

Sakura nodded mutely, not knowing how to respond to his mixed up simile. She collected the mop and backed away from her boss slowly. He was really kind, but his erratic personality was slightly alarming.

Once the mop was back in the supplies cupboard, she heaved a sigh of relief. At least that torture was over. Work put such a strain on her. It made her feel tired even though she didn't do much. She felt herself drifting off to sleep. Okay, just a few minutes…

"Miss. Excuse me, miss?" Someone was shaking her shoulder.

Then, the self defense training her parents put her though kicked in. Eyes, nose, groin! She flung an arm out at the voice.

There was a loud "thwack" and a muffled curse. Sakura opened her eyes slowly. As her eyes adjusted to the light, a face came into view. Well, half a face, the other half was covered by a hand. It was a very good looking face, she had seen it before, she noticed sleepily. Last time it wore the same expression of pain.

Expression of pain! Sakura sat up hurriedly. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I guess I should have seen that coming." The man's voice was deep and smooth.

Sakura groaned. "Do you want another ice pack?"

The man smirked. "No, I'm fine. Sort of." He extended his hand. "Sasuke."

"Hi, Sasuke, you already know I'm Sakura. I'm really sorry about injuring you. How about another cup of coffee, on the house?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you can do that?"

Sakura shrugged. "No, but I'll pay for it so they can't complain."

He nodded. "Alright then. Another espresso."

She smiled at him. "Coming right up."

Sakura walked over to the mugs that were on the counter, carefully selecting the largest cup. As the machine filled the cup, she allowed her mind to wander. How long had she been asleep? What was that guy –Sasuke, she thought dreamily –still doing here? So many questions, so little answers.

Once the cup was filled, Sakura picked it up expertly, sticking a small metal spoon into the cup. She walked (sashayed) over to where Sasuke sat and held his cup out to him.

"So, can I have your number?" Sasuke asked, suddenly.

"What?" The question caught her off guard, momentarily disorienting her. As if taking advantage of her moment of weakness, the cup slid from her fingers.

She could only watch in horror as the cup seemed to drop in slow motion. The steaming contents of the cup were emptied. Onto Sasuke's lap. Oh snap.

Sasuke hissed in pain while she stood dumbfounded. She was unsure what to do for an occasion like this. Would ice help? Timidly, she asked. "Ice?"

Sasuke smirked, or grimaced, she wasn't quite sure which. Sakura took that as a yes, and she ran to fetch more ice. When she returned, Sasuke had managed to curl up into fetal position while sitting on the chair.

"I uh…" Sakura handed him the ice pack. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually this awkward."

Sasuke shot her an unbelieving look. Or something. It was hard to tell when his face was scrunched up in pain like that. She stood awkwardly in front of him for a few minutes. When he seemed a little better, she sat down across from him.

"Are…are you alright?" She asked, wincing at her patronizing tone of voice. "I'm really sorry."

Sasuke looked at her. "If you didn't want to give me your number, you could have just said so."

Sakura felt her face heat up again. "No! I would love to give you my number." She paused. "Wait, that didn't come out right. It's just that I—"

"Here's mine." He handed her a piece of paper that seemed to have materialized from nowhere. "Don't lose it."

She felt a silly grin stretch across her face. "Are you sure? I might accidentally electrocute you."

His lip turned up slightly. "I'll take my chances."

She laughed, then made her way back to the counter. It seemed that a number of customers had made their way into the café while she was preoccupied. She helped each and every customer with a newfound patience, occasionally sneaking a look at Sasuke.

He already finished his coffee, and was just sitting at his table reading a book. Sakura wondered what he was reading. Every so often, he would look up at her and she would feel a jolt of electricity flow through her body. Smiling softly to herself, she fingered the slip of paper in her pocket. She had his number! It took all her self control not to giggle like a maniac.

Presently, Sasuke was making his way towards the counter. He seemed to have recovered well from his previous injuries. Sakura smoothed down her hair nervously. "How can I help you?"

He arched an elegant brow. "When is your shift over?"

She checked her watch. "Eleven thirty. Why?"

"We're going out for lunch." Sasuke smirked. "You drive."

Sakura frowned petulantly. "Shouldn't you ask me first?"

Sasuke only looked at her expectantly. "So…?"

"So what?"

"Lunch? With me?"

"Okay!"

He nodded. "Let's go then."

She checked her watch again. "I still have like ten minutes left in my shift."

He rolled his eyes. "Your boss won't care that you skipped the last ten minutes."

"Yes he will!" She insisted, adamantly.

Ten seconds later she was starting her car.

As she changed clutch on her car, she looked over at the man sitting in her passenger's seat. When she got up this morning, she didn't expect to be going out to lunch with a hottie. Carelessly, she hit the gas pedal.

Rear-ending the sleek black car in parked in front of her. "Oh man. I should leave a note for that driver." She dug through her purse for something to write with.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist. "There's no need. That's my car."

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

FML.

And that's the end of it. Reviews = Love. I mean seriously.
Also, I would be very, very grateful if you decided to check my profile and see what other stories I have written. Like the one where Sasuke and Sakura elope? 0:-)
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