Ego Season (Naruto AU)

Chapter 9 - part 1

Sasuke glared back at his own reflection in frustration. He stood at his vanity mirror contemplating whether or not he should wear a casual navy blue dress-shirt or his grey hoodie. Maybe he should throw on some nicer shoes while he was at it. Or maybe some cologne? Would a tie be too much? This was just a lunch out with a friend. There was nothing he had to get dressed up for, so why was he trying his hardest to look so good?

These confusing questions kept crowding his mind and just like his current fashion dilemma, he didn't know why. Sasuke attempted to make slight poses with both the dress shirt and hoodie, failing to find either top suitable enough for her.

"Screw it." He disgruntled to himself in defeat at his botched fancy ensemble he was currently in and decided to just go casual instead. He searched through the forest of grey and black jerseys and bottoms inside his bureau. Sasuke spotted a pair of dark grey baggy jeans and a soft black long sleeve shirt. He threw on his clothing and added a beige bomber jacket to top off the look.

Sasuke looked at the time. It was now 2:15 on the dot and almost as if on cue, he went into his rare, full-blown panic mode. He hastily locked up his apartment and rushed down the flight of stairs. He ran down the steps at such an accelerated pace that he missed a step, almost tripping over himself. He quickly caught his stumble and continued the mad dash down the stairs to his vehicle. It was times like these that living in an apartment further from the garage and his neighbors was a real pain in the ass. Sasuke jammed his keys into the ignition, his Honda Civic let out a low grumble, indicating it was on and ready to hit the road.

Yaki Chazi was less than a 15-minute ride from where he lived. He was glad Sakura had picked such a close restaurant. Any longer and he would have been beyond late. He arrived at the Italian restaurant at exactly two-thirty sharp. Sasuke was dissatisfied with himself for not arriving at least five minutes earlier.

If only he hadn't gotten so worked up over how he was going to be presenting himself. He didn't understand why he was trying to get all dolled up for a lunch out with a friend. What was wrong with him? Had he really sunk this low? If only his father could see him at the moment, he would be disappointed with how his son was currently behaving. This was certainly not how an Uchiha should act. No, not in his family. The men and women were expected to be conservative, expressing one's more eccentric emotions were looked down upon. Expectations were expected to be met and if you were a member of the Uchiha family, everything had to be done with precision and efficiency. Nothing was to be done with clumsiness or intolerance. Anything less than perfection was frowned upon and mistakes were absolutely unacceptable. Sasuke had learned that the hard way back in his last two years of high school as well as going into the beginning of college.

As Sasuke prodded slowly towards the two wide sets of glass doors leading into the small restaurant's tiny, but cozy lobby area. As he entered, Sasuke mustered up all the confidence he possibly could. Straightening his posture and taking a deep breath, his coal-black eyes captured a pink head of hair from his peripheral vision.

Sasuke's mind told him to go to her, but his feet had other plans. He unconsciously started to slowly turn on his heel, wanting to make his way back to the safety of his car. But destiny had other plans for the young man. A voice called his name, it was as sweet as honey and was pure, blissful music to his ears.

"Sasuke?" The woman questioned as her presence seemed to inch closer; "Ah! It is you! Glad you could make it. I got us seats, I'll show the way."

Sasuke turned his body to face the woman. Pink and green reflected in his onyx orbs. His face felt hot and a blush pink appeared on his pale complexion.

"Yes..." Sasuke replied, seeming a bit disoriented.

Sakura seemed to notice his lack of response, he seemed dazed and distracted. This worried the young woman, so she lifted her right hand to his forehead, thinking he was ill.