FINISHED. Mwahaha.

Yeah, sorry for taking so long, Bya and Iris. I officially suck at crack.

This is my KisaSaku for the challenge Iris-Eclisped and NadoukoByakugan gave me. My theme was sushi.

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me...

---

Sakura was having the Bad Day of all Bad Days.

First of all, her coffee-maker had died. Caffeine in the morning was a must. No coffee? Cue for disaster.

Sakura, though, was a problem-solver. She loaded everything in her care and drove to Starbucks to get a coffee. Problem solved. She even ended up arriving at work a little early and settled down in front of her computer to check her email. Everything was good and well – until the phone rang.

Sakura was a neat person. She prided herself on always knowing where everything was. But someone had moved her phone from its spot next to the window, so she had to go through the room looking for it. It was already on its last ring when she finally found it behind her computer – who had put it there anyway? – and dived for the receiver, hastily pushing aside her keyboard.

Which knocked into her coffee cup.

Which fell off her desk.

Damn.

No more coffee, and on top of that, a huge coffee stain in her carpet. Luckily, Sakura kept a bottle of carpet cleaner the cabinet under her desk. She wiped up the coffee while talking to Naruto – who, to her disgust, had called to tell her he wanted to start a ramen shop and was asking for "donations towards a very worthy cause" – and afterwards, ate two chocolates to make up for the spilled coffee. Sugar would substitute caffeine for today.

Everything went smoothly until the lunch break, when Sakura walked two blocks to her favorite café, intending to order a sandwich and another cup of coffee (which she would be very careful not to spill). She arrived at the café to find a paper taped to the door, announcing that it was closed for the day.

That was an annoyance, but not a real problem. She walked to the nearest Starbucks for lunch instead.

And found that it was teeming with people.

Customers were waiting in lines that nearly spilled onto the street. Apparently, everyone who normally went to the other, closed, café had decided to come here as well.

Now the lack of caffeine that morning was starting to take its toll. Scowling, Sakura spun around and marched out of the Starbucks. She realized too late that the hem of her skirt had caught on the edge of a table. As she started away, it tore with a loud ripping sound.

Cursing, Sakura detached her skirt from the table. Snapping at a passing waiter that no she didn't need help, thank you very much, she stepped outside. It was too late by now to go anywhere else. If Sakura wanted lunch, she would have to get it somewhere around here.

There was a Japanese restaurant located across the street. Sakura stalked her way across the road, her heels clicking on the pavement. She arrived at the sushi bar and glared at the man behind the desk. "One," she barked, before he could ask how many.

He led her to a table in a corner where she sat down. "The waiter'll be with you in a minute," he droned as he left.

The waiter, a tall man with shaggy blue hair, arrived a second later. "My name's Kisame and I'll be serving you today," he recited, looking down at her. "What would you like?"

Sakura cast a quick glance at the menu. "Ramen." Then, thinking of Naruto's phone call which had cost her her coffee that morning, she changed her mind. "No, not that. Teriyaki. Chicken. And coffee."

The waiter grinned. "We're out."

"Of chicken teriyaki?"

"No. Coffee."

This was not happening. She thrust the menu at Kisame. "Every restaurant has coffee."

His grin widened. "Maybe. But not every restaurant has an endless supply of it."

Sakura's temper was reaching its limit. "Fine," she snapped. "Just get me something with caffeine, then."

Kisame shrugged, though his smile did not disappear, and took the menu. "As you wish, ma'am." He bowed.

A few minutes later, he returned. "Your teriyaki," he announced, setting a dish down in front of Sakura. Then he smirked. "And your drink." He plopped a glass of Coke down next to her plate.

Sakura stared. She twisted around to look at Kisame. "This is not what I meant!"

He laughed. "Perhaps you should have been more specific."

"I was! I asked for something with caffeine, not a soda –"

"I apologize for the misunderstanding. But it just so happens that Coke does have caffeine –"

"No! Argh –" Sakura shook her head wildly. "Just – get me tea or something. Not an iced tea! Tea. Please."

Kisame left, and Sakura pulled out her pair of wooden chopsticks from their paper wrapper. She'd always hated these kinds of chopsticks. They were so cheap and nasty and she hated breaking them apart. She always accidentally broke one in half.

Kisame returned. "Tea," he said, setting the steaming cup down in front of her. Sakura dropped the chopsticks and reached for it at once, taking a sip. "Thank you," she said grudgingly.

"Just doing my job," Kisame replied. He saluted her, almost mockingly. "Let me know if you need anything."

Sakura watched him go darkly.

Her lunch break was coming to an end and she was just getting ready to leave when the last, final disaster happened.

She stood up, pushing in her chair. Then she pulled her purse over her shoulder, turning around –

– and slammed into someone. A rather familiar someone with shaggy blue hair and a tray of sushi in his hands. Someone whose plate of sushi slid off the tray….

….and onto Sakura.

For a moment she just stood there, frozen. Then, slowly, she reached a hand up and touched a lump of sticky rice on her shoulder. She looked up, straight at Kisame, who was staring at her with a startled and slightly horrified and now, bracing, expression.

"Sorry," he muttered.

She would've screamed, or yelled, or slapped him or something, but instead she just stood and looked down at herself. Clumps of rice clung to her skirt. Most of the fish had fallen off already. There was a small cluster of something green on her sleeve. Wasabi.

Kisame moved aside, saying something, but Sakura wasn't listening. It wasn't until he took her arm and pulled her away, handing her a towel, that she heard what he was saying.

"Sushi doesn't stain."

She turned numbly, and walked to the bathroom.

It was, thankfully, empty. She wet the towel under some warm water and wiped the rice and wasabi off her clothes. At least there hadn't been any soy sauce. And at least her top today was blue, not white.

She wondered what was wrong with herself. If anyone else – say, Naruto – had spilled sushi on her, she would've been yelling at them already. In fact, the entire restaurant would probably be watching her scream right now. But for some reason – maybe it was the lack of caffeine – she felt oddly calm.

Kisame was waiting for her when she came out. "You got it off?" he asked.

At first Sakura just looked at him. Then she raised an eyebrow, surprising herself when she said lightly, "Sushi doesn't stain."

Kisame laughed. "It doesn't."

Sakura smiled despite herself. She smoothed her hands over her skirt and glanced at her watch. "My lunch break's over in six minutes. I have to go."

"Do you need a ride?"

Sakura looked up, slightly taken back. "Really?"

"To make up for bumping into you," Kisame told her.

Sakura knew getting into a stranger's car was hardly a wise move. But surely the fact that he'd spilled sushi over her was enough of an icebreaker to constitute for the fact that she really didn't know Kisame at all.

"Okay."

Kisame's car turned out to be a dark blue truck. It was dusty, but not as messy as Sakura would've expected. A keychain of a shark dangled from the rearview mirror. Sakura waited as Kisame cranked up the motor and backed into the street.

Despite the rather heavy traffic, they managed to make it back to Sakura's office in time. As she was climbing out of the truck, Kisame leaned over and handed her a Styrofoam cup.

"Coffee," he said.

Sakura stared at him incredulously. "You can't be serious."

"We had some after all. The cook found it when you were in the bathroom."

Sakura lifted the lid to look at the dark steaming liquid. Finally. She glanced up at Kisame. "Thanks."

He saluted her again, grinning in the mocking way of his as he pulled out of the parking lot. Smiling, Sakura turned away and entered the building. When she reached her office, she carefully set the cup a good distance away from her keyboard.

So maybe the Bad Day of all Bad Days wasn't quite so bad after all.