Work Text:
Sakura slaved away at her keyboard writing and rewriting an email she had to get out in a few minutes. She checked the clock again. Now, she had to get the email out now. It was always nerve wracking writing an email to Uchiha Obito. Not only was he an important person in the company, but he was one for years. Much longer than her, a recently graduated entry level worker. He’d even been there a moment longer than her direct supervisor, Nohara Rin. After checking and double-checking her grammar a million times over, she took a deep breath and clicked send. She watched as it definitely left her draft folder and waited a moment longer to make sure it was sent.
Thank god that’s over with, she sighed to herself. She closed her eyes and let her shoulders slump. Her computer pinged with a new email and her eyes snapped open. It was a reply to the one she had just sent.
Sure
-Sent from my iPhone
Sakura knitted her brows together. He was always like this. She always killed herself to be the most respectful and well put-together colleague that she could, and he just obliterated it all with one word answers. How exactly could she keep it together when he was like this? He was well respected in his job, he always did his best, but his email etiquette did not match her own. He never proofread, sometimes even sending emails out with typos in them. Sakura would never do something like that, she’d never let herself live it down.
“Thinking about something?” Rin asked, suddenly behind her.
Sakura yelped a little, floundering around in the chair. “Rin!” she cried out after regaining some sort of composure. “You scared me.”
“You sure were thinking about something incredibly hard,” Rin jested, smirking at her colleague.
“Just got a response from Uchiha-san about the Suzuki case.” Sakura put her head in her hands as she stared at the computer. “I asked him if he could send some files regarding it since he was the one originally on it, and look what he said.”
Rin leaned over Sakura’s shoulder, squinting as she read the email thread. “What’s the big deal?” she asked her.
“Look at how he words it! I worked really hard to ask him about it, and rewrote, and drafted, and everything! And he just says ‘sure’ with no signature or anything!”
“He put a signature on it. Sent from my iPhone is a signature.” Rin broke into an all out grin causing Sakura to roll her eyes.
“You know what I mean, Rin.”
“I don’t. You seem stressed.” She patted Sakura on the shoulder, peeking up at the break room. “Why don’t you go and get us some coffee. We’ll talk the case over then.”
Sakura let out another sigh. “Fine, I guess.”
“That’s the spirit."
She stood up, smoothing out her pencil skirt and headed to the break room. Her short heels clicked on the hard carpet floor of the office as she ran through her head what all she had to do to prepare for the case. She passed by a sign, probably made by the marketing team.
Holiday party December 24th.
Food sign ups now!
She blinked for a moment, wondering if she should even go to the event. It wasn’t like she would know anyone there other than Rin. If she was bringing Ino, she would know her. But she didn’t know if she could make herself go. She headed past the doorway and past the sign that was making her rethink her holiday plans.
In the breakroom, standing at the pot of coffee that she so desperately needed at the moment, was none other than Uchiha Obito in the flesh. His stupid, perfect, messy hair was tousled at the top of his head. His impossibly large stature was hunched over the coffee machine, making her wonder if his shirt even fit him at all. It stretched across his back muscles in a way that made her head dizzy. She shook the thoughts from her head before they could mix up even more.
It was then that it occurred to her that she had never seen him walk past her desk, which was rather odd considering her desk was almost immediately across the hall from the break room. How did he get in there without her noticing? Maybe the reason she was so discombobulated from seeing him in person was because she rarely saw him in person. She bit her lip. He barely answered her emails coherently, he avoided her desk, just what was his deal?
In a fit of too many emotions swirling around in her head, she tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump. He whipped around and she stood before him, her heels making her an inch taller, causing her to feel like she had somewhat of a chance at holding her ground in front of him. He was not super tall, but he was definitely large in aura. She could tell, even beneath that work shirt, he was built.
He had a donut hanging out of his mouth. “Wha?” he asked, biting off the bit he already had in his mouth and chewing it.
“Why do you always avoid me?” she demanded, her foot tapping in an anxious beat.
“Pardon?” he asked again, finally swallowing his donut.
“You always avoid my desk when you walk here, I didn’t even see you go in.”
He stared down at her, taking in her form. His eyes fell down to her blouse, then almost too quickly snapped back up to her eyes. It seemed that wasn’t much better, so he looked past her, visibly nervous. He swallowed thickly and followed it with a nervous laugh. “Who are you?”
“Hi, my name is Sakura, you actively avoid me. Why is that?”
“Uh.” He was looking anywhere but at her and took another bite of the donut.
“I work under Rin? Your longtime friend and coworker?”
“Ah yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “She said something about a new hire, I think.”
“We’ve sent emails!”
“Oh.”
“Today!”
“Huh.” He took another bite. “Sorry,” he said with his mouth full. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Uh huh.”
Sakura felt all the fury of repressed office emotions and stormed out in a huff. In all her annoyance, she didn’t notice Rin standing by the door, actively watching their conversation go down. “Where’s my coffee?” Rin asked, still standing by the door, a knowing smile on her face.
“Get your own damn coffee.”
If Sakura thought that Uchiha Obito avoided her before, that was nothing compared to the next coming weeks. She went from rarely seeing him around to never seeing him around. She didn’t even catch a glimpse of his messy hair or stretched out shirts. If she was upset about it, well that obviously didn’t show.
“What’s got your panties in a twist?”
“Nothing!” Sakura huffed defensively. “I just- I want to get this done.”
“Uh huh,” Rin didn’t sound the least bit convinced. “And it has nothing to do with a certain guy I happen to know? One that I’m very close to?”
“Who, Kakashi?”
Rin gave her a look, but Sakura didn’t notice. She was intensely focused on the work in front of her. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Can we just get this done? I want to go home and watch rom coms and eat ice cream until I explode, and this conversation is not helping that come any sooner.”
“You’re not coming to the holiday party?”
“Why would I?” Sakura finally stopped typing to look at her supervisor and friend. “It’s not like I’ll know anyone.”
“I’m bringing Ino.”
“Okay, so I’ll know Ino.”
“And me.”
“Right. And you. That’s it.”
“And everyone else you work with. Honestly, Sakura, you can’t avoid your coworkers for the rest of your life. I’m sure they would all love to get to know you! Especially when you’re drunk. Ino has told me stories.”
“Tell your girlfriend to keep her stories to herself.”
“I forbid you to work more.” Rin shut her laptop as Sakura was typing something causing the younger girl to let out a small yelp. “And as your supervisor, you must listen to me.”
“This is an abuse of power.” Sakura slumped back in her chair, sighing in anguish.
“Stop being such a baby. Come to the party tonight.”
Sakura folded her arms. “I don’t want to.”
“Please? For me?”
She finally turned to look at her colleague who just stared back at her with those stupid puppy eyes. The same eyes Ino warned her about. Those eyes could get her anything. “Fine,” she relented. “But I’m going to complain the whole time.”
“Yes!” Rin squealed as she hugged Sakura. “Now go home right now. I order you to.”
Sakura huffed, but complied. Her plan had been to go home and not go to the party, and hopefully when Rin asked her where she was on Monday she could make some excuse. She grabbed her keys and coat and set out to do just that, none the wiser of a hulking man who had been the center of her thoughts just out of eyesight from her, headed towards his longtime friend.
When she got home she tossed off her office attire, throwing it on her laundry chair, and immediately switched to her comfy clothes. She headed to the kitchen where her favorite ice cream was waiting for her, and sat down on the couch ready to binge. As she flipped through the movies, she started thinking about Obito again. Why did she have to go and open her big stupid mouth? He probably thought she was a nutcase for god’s sake. Any sort of relationship she hoped to build with him was long gone now. Of friends. A friend relationship. A friendship. That’s all it was.
She took a bite of her rocky road ice cream. She continued flipping, but nothing stuck. It was always the same thing anyways, and usually the uniformity filled her with comfort, but now she couldn’t bring herself to sit through it. She glanced at the clock. The party started in an hour. She continued scrolling through the movies. She bit her lip and sighed. Rin was persuasive and incredibly annoying when she wanted to be. She turned off the TV and after putting back the ice cream, she headed to her room to get ready for the party.
She tumbled out of her Lyft wearing a dark green dress that Ino bought her last year for her birthday. “It brings out your eyes, dumbass,” was what she said when she asked her why she got it. Ino was always like that. She held her small black clutch close to her and took a deep breath. Well. It was now or never.
She started to walk up the stairs of the hotel that their company rented out, then a tousle of messy black hair caught her eye at the top. He was standing there, a dress shirt stretched across his chest with a suit jacket attempting to do the same, laughing with his friend Hatake Kakashi. She didn’t catch a word he was saying, but a blush bloomed on her cheeks. Lord, was he attractive, she thought. She caught herself staring and immediately tore her own gaze away and walked as fast as her clumsy feet could carry her, past them, and straight to the open bar. Thank god they had an open bar.
She was stirring her second drink, trying to stay out of the way by a few standing tables. After that initial glance of Uchiha Obito at the front, she had to down the first one just to get her nerves to settle. She noticed the silver haired man that was talking to Obito earlier at the table not too far from her. He was talking to a man of similar height with brown hair, and they seemed to be a little bit tipsy already because he was loud enough that she just barely caught the tail end of what he was saying.
“-and he just won’t stop talking about that new hire, Haruno Sakura,” he said, taking a sip of his drink.
“Who won’t stop talking about me?” she asked suddenly, walking closer to their table.
The two men shared a look, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Oops, I wasn’t supposed to say that.” Though his tone didn’t indicate a hint of an apology.
“Who won’t stop talking about me?” she repeated, now increasingly curious. It couldn’t have been Rin, he said “he” she was sure of it.
“Why don’t you ask him?” he gestured to the table behind them and saw none other than Obito laughing with Rin and Ino. Obito was the only one who’d be referred to as a him , so it had to be him. But that couldn’t be right, could it? Just a few weeks ago he claimed to have never met her before in his life, and now all of a sudden he couldn’t stop thinking about her? Just what did he have to think about?
She turned back to the pair to ask them follow up questions, but they had disappeared to the dance floor. She had a sneaking suspicion that they wanted to leave her to her thoughts because she was highly certain that Kakashi simply did not dance. She was ditched. She might as well make her way over there since the only people she knew were her boss and her boss’s girlfriend.
Downing the rest of her drink, she felt firm in her decision. She took a step towards them, waivered a bit, but trudged on. Obito was faced away from her but Rin saw her coming and made a face that almost made Sakura turn around and walk away. There was something devious about that face. Something cunning.
“Sakura!” Rin shouted, coming around the table to pull her into a short hug. “I’m so glad you could make it!”
“I’m here,” Sakura said, almost dejectedly.
“I was just telling Obito here how uptight you’ve been these last few weeks.”
“Rin!”
“What? It’s not anything people haven’t noticed.”
“Still..” Sakura felt a little ambushed and shrunk back into herself, her hand holding her forearm.
“Don’t tease her, Rin,” Obito said in a way that made Sakura’s heart leap. How did he have such an effect on her?
“Aw, but it’s so fun!” Rin protested. “I really am glad you’re here though, Sakura.”
Sakura didn’t like how that sounded.
“I got your drink all ready for you!” Ino cheered, placing down a rum and coke.
Sakura was not going to say no to a free drink, even though all the drinks were free. She downed that one just like she had her previous one, but by the time she put the cup on the table, Rin and Ino were gone, leaving just Obito and her at the table. In the mix of the alcohol in her belly, it seemed to not bother her as much as she thought it would.
“It’s because you make me nervous,” he said, his breath close enough to her that she could smell the bit of alcohol he was drinking. He wasn’t wasted by any means, and he barely slurred his words, so she could tell one more drink and he’d get there.
“I’m sorry?” she asked, not sure if she heard him right.
“You asked why I avoided you a couple weeks ago, it’s because you make me nervous.”
“I make you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well for starters, your emails are perfect. They’re intimidating to look at.” Sakura felt a little pride in that. So he had noticed. “Not to mention your piercing green eyes are stunning and fierce and outright terrifying.”
“Terrifying?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Terrifying! I can’t get past your desk when you’re staring so intently at your computer, I feel like you’ll burn me alive with lasers.”
She giggled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Lasers? Really?”
“It’s good to see you smile though. I hadn’t seen that smile since our encounter in the break room. Sorry about that.”
“What do you mean? I haven’t seen you since!”
“Ah, so you were looking for me?”
“Don’t change the subject,” she chastised, hitting him gently with her clutch.
“Nah, I was there.”
“I don’t believe you.” She crossed her arms, suddenly feeling the brisk air flow of the hotel ballroom.
“Cold?”
“A little, yeah.”
Suddenly she wasn’t cold because he had placed his jacket around her shoulders, shielding her from the light conditioning. She peaked up at him, hoping her eyes were as thankful as she wanted them to be, and not in the least amount of intimidating. The way he held her gaze with his almost black ebony ones helped her feel a little more secure in it.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“Don’t mention it.”
“What do you mean you haven’t seen me smile since the break room? I’ve smiled.”
“Have you?” he asked inquisitively.
“I have! Rin gave me a Christmas card, I smiled then.”
“Was it a real smile?”
“Yeah!”
He stared at her for a moment, and suddenly she wasn’t as confident on her answer.
“Okay, I’ll believe you.”
She let out a sigh of relief. What it was for, she wasn’t sure. A realization dawned on her at that moment. “Wait, if you were avoiding me because you were nervous then that means that you did know who I was!”
“Did I?”
“Yes, because you said you were nervous because of my emails, and we haven’t sent any emails these last few weeks. Not since the break room.”
“Damn, Sherlock Holmes. You figured out all that?”
“You lied to me.”
“Just a little.” He smirked in a way that made her insides twist, but she was beginning to like how it felt. “Anyway,” he started as he placed his cup on the table. “How about we dance, huh?”
“Oh, I can’t dance,” she replied with a blush.
“Me neither.”
She laughed as he tried to pull her with him. She stopped to take off his jacket and placed it on the table then followed after him. They danced as clumsily as they thought they would, but it seemed like the people around them didn’t seem to care. They all danced together, jumping and wildly laughing in a way that made Sakura feel lighter than she had in years. She couldn’t remember the last time she had as much fun as she did that night. Obito was fun .
The song changed into a slower song, one that could hardly be classified as holiday themed, but the people around them seemed to partner off, wanting to embrace in a moment with their other person. Recognizing that she had no place, she started to step away from the dance floor until she felt someone pull at her hand and bring her back. She fell into the person with a light crash and all she could smell was the one that was mesmerizing her all night. He smelled of palm oil, and it made her head dizzy in the way that it had in the break room. And that thought that she had been pushing down all this time clawed its way to the surface. Holy shit, I have a massive fucking crush on this man.
He gazed down at her with those ebony eyes that made her insides twist and she met his. The look in his eyes said dance with me , and so she placed her hands on his shoulders and they started to sway. Maybe they weren’t the most well-coordinated, and maybe they stepped on each other’s toes, but they never strayed away from their stare, locked in adoration. Maybe he could hear her heartbeat, or maybe he could feel the temperature of her skin rising, but it didn’t seem like he cared. He just met her eyes with a stare that said I got you.
After their slow dance, Sakura pulled away from him, giving him a small appreciative smile while slowly walking away. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, and she couldn’t think straight with his eyes on her. He was higher up than her, he was a coworker, a colleague, almost like her boss. He was Rin’s best friend! She made it to the bathroom and stared at her state in the mirror. She looked out of breath, and her face was so flushed, he probably saw it too. She brought her hands up to her cheeks to feel their warmth. She took a deep breath. I’ll have to go back out there, won’t I?
Picking up the last of her courage, she did just that. She went back out there and saw Obito, standing not too far away, but his gaze was fixed on the bathroom. He smiled when he saw her, waving to her. She waved back.
She ran to Ino and Rin on the dance floor and told them she had to leave. Then she booked it past everyone else, including Obito, to make it to the coat check. She grabbed her coat then ordered a Lyft to take her home.
Obito came outside as her Lyft was three minutes away. “Where are you going?” he asked her, a few stairs higher than the sidewalk. He looked impossibly tall just a few stairs up. Her stomach lurched, the alcohol almost completely burned itself away.
“Home,” she answered, turning away.
“How come?”
“It’s late, I have to get home.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“We were having fun in there.”
“We were. Thank you for the dance.”
He didn’t say anything after that, which made her think that he went inside. Well if he didn’t avoid her then, he sure was going to avoid her now. “Good night, Obito,” she said quietly, opening the door.
A hand grabbed her arm and she heard Obito say “Sakura,” before pulling her into him, meeting her with a kiss. She kissed him back, dazed by the fire of his touch. When he pulled away he stared into her eyes with that impossible-to-break-from stare. “Have dinner with me?” His thumbs stroked her cheeks as he held her face in his hands.
“It’s almost midnight,” she whispered.
“A midnight snack,” he corrected.
“Where would we go?” She didn’t think she blinked the entire time.
“A 24-hour diner.”
“Will they be open on Christmas Eve?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Hey lady,” the driver said, startling them out of their embrace. “Are you going to take the ride or not?”
Sakura turned to Obito who just gave her a small smile. “Yeah, we’ll just change the destination,” he told him. He let go of her and went over to the other side, getting in the car. She smiled to herself and got in the car as well. They drove to the diner to find out they were only serving milkshakes. She couldn’t think of a more perfect midnight snack.