Disclaimer: I don't own any video game franchise...or any other franchise for that matter including Naruto. Man...life sucks :/
Timeline: Completely Alternate Universe/Other World
Pairing:SasukexSakura
Author's Notes: Written for SasuSaku Month under the "AU" prompt/"Change" theme.
You know, I was going to write a riveting story of compelling characters who transcended their normal lives in some type of significant alteration from their previous seemingly meaningless existence which would thereby enrich their purpose for persevering in their current predicament. But then my beta read the prompt, thought "quarters", and subsequently said "Pac-man" and I thought to myself: "Oh, yes! That's much better than what I thought!"

Equivocal

"The way to a man's heart is through a melee attack."
-Kevin Butler

"Hey did you see that? I was really grabbing air!"

He made no attempt to look over, fully content with gazing at the clouds. "No."

"Damn it, you bastard! I told you to look. Just watch. I'll do it again."

He watched as his friend grabbed his skateboard and headed over to the ramp. His right foot kicked off the ground bit by bit until his body was moving in a smooth motion on the board. And when he crouched to grab his board in order to make the jump on the rail, he smirked as said friend skidded off and fell shoulder first on the wooden ramp.

"Your grace never ceases to amaze me."

"Well if you looked earlier, you would have seen it!"

"You falling flat against the ramp? Once is enough."

"Damn you! I really did do it. You saw it didn't you Sai?"

"Actually I have been preoccupied reading this book."

He collapsed in defeat on a bump in the concrete floor. Neither of his friends had seen the move, busy with their own activities. Sai was sitting on the ledge reading over his sociology book while Sasuke was leaning against the ramp staring at the clouds.

"You guys suck."

"Whatever. If you're done smashing your head against the pavement, let's get going. We have to meet up with Neji and the others in an hour. If we don't hurry, we'll miss the trolley."

"Fine." He picked up his skateboard and ran over to the group, tossing it on the floor before hopping on and gliding alongside them. "Hey, you think his cousin will be there?" He smiled goofily, baring all teeth and allowing the blush to cover his face.

"Neji better not catch you thinking about his cousin that way. The last guy that tried to hit on her ended up riding the trolley to school for a couple weeks."

"What's so bad about that?"

He smirked. "Because he usually rides his bike to school."

Naruto paled and gulped a small amount of spit, mouth suddenly dry as to the repercussions of crossing Neji's boundaries. He glanced over at Sai who lifted his head away from his reading material to smile at him.

"Don't worry Naruto. Your penis is too small to calculate an accurate aim; I'm sure he'll miss it."

He glared over at both—one continuing his reading and the other suppressing a snort.

"Shut up." He hopped off his board and kicked it into the air before grabbing it and tucking it under his arm. The sounds of a trolley became louder and in just a couple of minutes, their ride was within reach.

The group settled for standing by the edge. Their destination was not too far off and they were hesitant upon wrestling with the inner crowd of the trolley. In the end, it was simply more convenient to wait. And in only fifteen minutes of commuting did their ride stop at their desired destination.

"Approximately how long will this meeting take place?"

"It's not a meeting, Sai. We're hanging out."

"I only ask because I would like to get home in time to finish my homework."

"Same here."

He growled quietly. "You guys suck! Who does their homework on a Friday night? Just wait 'till Sunday night to do it, like me."

"Yeah and fail all my classes like you as well? Forget it, loser. Wouldn't want to pick up your habits and get held back a few years."

"That was only one year! In anyway, the only reason I got held back was because that stupid old hag had it in for me."

"Yes. Never mind all the tests you flunked."

"Again, her fault."

"Actually, I was on the student board that year. I do believe your scores were in fact the lowest in the class."

"Shut up, Sai."

Sasuke turned away and ignored the oncoming tantrum his friend was about to throw. Even as they entered the mall and walked down the busy paths, they continued their banter. It was at times like these he chose to pretend that he wasn't even associated with the two. And so he looked around the mall at the various stores, planning out his route. The only real reason he came was to pick up the newest game for his platform but it wouldn't hurt to indulge in other specialty stores. He did need some new stationaries and a calendar for his mother. There was also the matter of food; with his parents gone until Sunday, he and his brother were pretty much on their own. And he didn't expect Itachi to welcome him back with a homecooked meal.

They settled into the food court and sat at a table, each person ordering from a different store. And when he looked over at Naruto and Sai's selection, he was glad that food courts offered more variety. He could just never stomach anything his friends usually ate.

"This stuff tastes great."

He didn't agree with that; sweets never settled well with him but he didn't press the matter. It would only lead to more arguing and Sai was doing a good enough job keeping up with Naruto in terms of quarrels. They were quite exasperating. He would gladly forego meeting with the others and venture off on his own. He was secretly desperate to run home to try out the new game, the homework from earlier being nothing more than an excuse. But of course, Naruto didn't need to know that.

"Hey look at the arcade. I think I see some new stuff in there."

Sasuke's eyes traveled over across the mall and from a small distance, he could see the arcade they visited since they were children. It was, in fact, different. He couldn't make out any specific games, but the layout certainly was not the same which was a good indicator that the arcade was newly renovated.

"We should head over there and kill some time."

"But won't Neji be upset if we aren't waiting for him here?"

"It's only for a little while, Sai. We can text him where we're going to be."

After finishing up their meal, they strolled over to the arcade. Several other people had already crowded inside, many of them around their age which may have suggested that the games were an upgrade from the childish ones that used to adorn the place.

"Hey bastard, try this one. It's a shooter game so it's right up your alley."

He walked over and picked up the gun, watching as his friend slipped in a few coins into the machine. A few seconds later, several little ships began to fly around the screen. With little effort, he managed to shoot every target and earn the highest score. Something he kept even after Naruto made a failed attempt.

"Damn. I was so close too."

"This game is too boring."

"Yeah but isn't it awesome? The way you shoot with the control and it knows exactly where you're aiming. It's magic."

"It is quite innovative. But actually, Naruto, I believe it's infrared. You see, the electronic device is communicating with…"

"Just please, shut up."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the game was too easy. What's so challenging about a bunch of objects scattering across the screen waiting for you to kill them? If you ask me, its just a waste of money." He sighed in irritation. All technology aside, the gameplay was too bland for his taste, offering little to challenging his skills as a gamer. It was convoluted with mediocre graphics, unoriginal storylines, crappy artificial intelligence and predictable gameplay. It was the exact reason he never played the Wii.

"Then shut up and scoot over. Let me and Sai play."

"Gladly," he deadpanned. And when he moved away from the area, he began to take notice of more people drawing in, the crowded area making him feel slightly claustrophobic. The people from earlier had moved onto a racing game. Similar machines were lined up against the wall. One was shaped like a motorbike, the one next to it resembled skis. More sports related machines trailed alongside them and he noted that even those games were slightly more enjoyable then the shooter he just played. If he could acknowledge that it even fit the genre.

His eyes scanned the room to find another distraction. He then noticed people from his own school gathering around some of the games. There was the blonde girl, Ino, from his art class as well as several other girls from her immediate clique. He sank further into the wall to keep himself hidden. The last thing he needed was to gain their attention. But he did, however, acknowledge their taste in video gaming. The girls were engrossed with what he considered a true shooter game. There was a flat screen television mounted on the wall and his favorite gaming console connected to it. Along with it, one of the best shooter games he had come to know. He watched them for a few minutes, mildly impressed by their skills when he noticed one of the girls in the group leaving and heading over to another section of the arcade—one much more desolate than the others. And he wondered if perhaps the crowd got to her as well.

She began to insert some coins into the bulky machine, a game that didn't conceal its age. He could tell from the obvious faded coloring and worn out edges. On top of that, it was composed of only two handles and six buttons, if even that. He watched her as she stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth and removed some small beads of sweat from her brow. Her hands moved in a rough and swift motion, most likely from the fact that controls that old tended to jerk awkwardly or get stuck if you moved too softly. She jerked the handles back and forth, up and down. So entranced by her movements, he didn't notice when a hand slithered across his neck.

"What are you looking at bastard? Checking out some girl?"

"I'm not you, idiot." He shoved the hand away and kept some distance.

"If you say so. Anyway, Neji just texted me so we have to go now."

"Fine." He ignored Naruto once again, leaving the arcade without so much as a second glance behind. And he ignored the rest of the group during the meeting. After they went to the shop and purchased their games, he could think of nothing else but getting home. And so he bid the group a quiet farewell as he hopped onto the trolley and rushed into his house.

When his feet were a few steps away from his room, he began to hear sounds coming from his brother's room. Wanting to verify that his parents would be gone the next few days which would allow him the opportunity to stay up late and play his game, he walked over and knocked only twice before opening the door. His brother was currently lounging on his bed across from his television with a control held casually in his hands. His companion was seated right next to him and Sasuke immediately recognized this to be his girlfriend. They were never open about the situation, but the proximity of which they were currently situated proved otherwise.

"You need something?"

"I just wanted to double check that mom and dad will be gone all weekend and…" he glanced over at the screen, the images stirring a sudden recognition in his brain. "What are you playing?"

"Pac-man. Want a turn?"

"Why? That game's so old. Our toaster has more technology than that."

"Can't beat the classics."

"Come Sasuke; join us."

Itachi's girlfriend scooted over more, urging him to sit on the bed with them. But this was definitely not a situation he wanted to get stuck in. Far be it from him to interrupt his brother's quality time with the girl.

"I'll pass."

He shut the door behind him and rushed over to his room, sliding the disc into the console and picking up the controller to begin playing. As the screen showed up and played out the opening sequence, he began to think back to his brother's game. The creatures on the screen were very similar to the ones he noticed back at the arcade on the gargantuan machine that girl was playing. And on that very note, he recalled why the girl looked familiar. She was Sakura, her last name evading his mind. She was in a few classes with Neji, none with him at all and so he only ever knew of her. Occasionally she would show up to some of his track competitions, mostly to accompany Ino whose interests were beyond the sport. But why she strayed from her group to play that pitiful game was beyond his comprehension. Technology had advanced, why move backwards?

The game began to play the title screen and he grabbed his controller, completely forgetting all previous thoughts. He marveled at the graphics and relished the gameplay; it was a much better improvement from the crappy one at the arcade. His hands took over and his mind was a blur as he continued to play. He continued throughout most of the night, stopping only when he came to a checkpoint to save the game. He reluctantly listened to his tired body and prepared for sleep, eagerly awaiting the next day to continue his routine.

And so when the sun rose, he quickly threw on some pants and plopped on his chair, ready for more. But when he heard giggles down the hallway, he froze. Itachi's girlfriend had obviously spent the night and they were continuing their activities even into the early morning. The sounds grew louder and he could tell they must have just come up the steps. He was willing to drown out the noise by increasing his television's volume but when heard a bang against the wall, he frowned and shut the system off. He wanted to be as far away from the house as possible.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, he grabbed a pastry for the commute and sped off. The store they visited the previous day still had their console set up for some demos. It would be enough to pass the time until his brother made the decisions to shoo his girlfriend away. With his parents arriving Sunday, Itachi wouldn't risk keeping her another night. And so the afternoon was just a waiting game as far as he was concerned.

His legs moved in careful strides, entering the mall and relishing in the cool air that circulated. He recovered shortly from the heat outside and walked quickly through the food court, intently focused on reaching the game store. But when he glanced over to his left after leaving the area, he noticed the arcade from the other day and with it, the girl as well.

She was still sitting there, at the exact same game with the exact same expressions on her face. In fact, had it not been for the obvious change of attire, he probably would have gone on believing she spent the entire night sitting down and playing that game. He shrugged it off at first, but then quickly turned around. His brother also enjoyed it playing it and he recalled a few of his friends from when they were little indulgin in it on an old console. The curiosity at what captivation could be found with this game became overwhelming, and he found himself walking briskly over to the arcade. He settled on a game near her, an old pachinko machine, and observed her secretly from peripheral vision.

The little yellow figure was running around the screen, gobbling up small dots and either consuming or evading the little ghosts that ran amok. It took him only twenty seconds to understand the concept of the entire game and he frowned when he realized each stage was essentially the same concept. The layout changed, the pace changed and the computer was obviously wising up, but essentially, it was a series of repetitive gameplay—much like the shoddily run game from before. And after losing quick interest, he continued on with his game, losing interest in that as well soon after. He was about to retire from the arcade before he heard that same girl curse.

"Damn it! I should have so seen that coming!"

She reached over to her purse and began to rummage through it. He knew instantly she was looking for change. The screen on the game had a timer and it appeared she only had ten seconds to place more quarters before continuing the game. Perhaps she was one of those gamers who insisted on achieving the highest score possible. He smirked at the fact that he too was one of those gamers.

She picked through the purse and cursed more at not finding her quarters. And when she was only three seconds away from a game over and starting the entire thing from scratch, did he quickly reach past her and slide in two of his own.

"Oh, um…thanks."

"Ah."

The girl immediately ignored him and went right back to the game. He walked right behind her, watching as she continued to play. And she must have either been oblivious to his presence or used to an audience because her concentration did not falter once. That same tongue stuck out and that similar rhythmic pattern of control clanking ensued.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Hang on…just let me...get this…first…"

She maneuvered the character around until all dots were completely consumed. And only then did she turn around.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering, what is so fascinating about this game?"

"About Pac-man?"

"Yes."

"You're asking me what's so great about Pac-man?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Uh, what country are you from? Wait, I take that back since even people across seas enjoy this game."

"I just don't see any merit in the gameplay. It's quite tedious and redundant."

"Whoa, whoa. Did you just say there's no merit in Pac-man?"

"Ah."

She looked over at him and drew her hand to her chin, carefully assessing him. "Let me guess, you're one of those Halo fanatics, right?"

"I wouldn't quite word it that way but, yes. I do, in fact, enjoy that game."

She let out a sharp breath. "Halo sucks. You think Pac-man is repetitive? That series just recycles the same theme with every new game."

"I beg to differ. That game is much more sophisticated than this sorry excuse for a game. It offers much more interaction and strategy in its gameplay. You have to plan ahead and carefully evade your targets in order to make the right assessment when you confront them."

"Oh, please. What's there to assess? You run around shooting anything that moves. I've actually played some of those stages with my eyes closed and still managed to take down the enemy. Bet you can't say the same about Pac-man, huh?"

"I've actually never played it before."

She froze right in front him. Her eyes blinking blankly back into his.

"What?"

"I have never played Pac-man before."

"No. I'm not hearing this. You have never played this game…ever?"

"That's correct."

"This won't do at all." She grabbed a hold of his sleeve and threw him to the game. "Play."

"I have no interest in this game."

"What? Afraid you can't beat my high score? Yeah, it figures. Halomaniacs. You guys just have no appreciation for the classics. But okay, if you're afraid you'll lose, scoot over so I can un-pause this game."

He held his position and firmly stopped her from moving him. "One round."

She smiled. "One round."

He hit the button a few times, frowning when they became stuck and wouldn't allow him to unfreeze the screen.

"You have to mash harder."

"I know that."

"And you have to be firm with the joystick as well."

"I know!" He wanted to add a comment about how he watched her move earlier but debated against it.

Sasuke dove right into the game, manuevering his character fairly well. And he was halfway through eating all the dots before discovering one of the ghosts had suddenly changed back to color. He frowned when it did so at the exact moment he was going to eat it. "That's not fair. It changed back as I ate it."

"It's like it knows, right?"

He ignored the sarcasm and hit the button to continue. He finished up until only one fruit and a quarter of the dots remained. As he maneuvered the character to the right, the pink ghost suddenly jumped a few spaces and attacked him. "What the hell was that?"

"Yeah, you gotta watch out for Pinky. She's a bitch."

"Pinky?"

"Why yes. These are bona fide characters. Doesn't your Halo game have them too?"

"They're stupid."

"I completely agree."

"I meant these ghosts. And this game has one too many glitches."

"All the better to test your reflexes and improvisation skills."

"Whatever."

He went back to the game. He worked around the maze more and was almost successful in getting the last dot until all the ghosts suddenly cornered him by gliding through the barriers. "Oh come on now! They went right through the wall! How is that fair?"

"Yeah, they're assholes that way."

"You know what? This game doesn't even warrant judgment. I'm finished."

"Already? You haven't even beaten one stage yet."

"This is a pathetic game and a waste of quarters."

"Only if you're a loser that keeps getting game overs."

His eyebrow made an involuntary movement at her remark.

"Your loss. But on the plus side, we didn't get a game over…yet anyway. Oh well. Why don't you go back to shooting your little monsters." She cracked some knuckles and stretched before moving over to sit down. Before she could rest on it, however, a firm hand grabbed hers and shoved her back.

Sasuke immediately went back and sat down, angrily tossing some quarters into the slot and going back to the joystick in a second attempt at the game. He played several rounds, losing some and winning others while all the way through, getting yelled at for his wrong moves and decisions. It was like driver's education courses all over again. But despite his sluggish beginnings, he eventually got the hang of it, even passing by all the glitches without any problems. And when he did finally get the dreaded game over, he was satisfied with his results. Until he saw the score chart.

"Well, guess I'm still number one. But you know, six is okay…for a noob."

He could ignore the sarcasm in her voice. He could ignore the fact that, for once, he did not make the top three scores. And he could even ignore the fact that a girl had just bested him in a video game. What he couldn't ignore was that this stupid game seemed to mock at him at every turn. It was almost as if it was challenging him to continue. And as stupid as it may have appeared, he gladly accepted.

She was stopped once again as she attempted to leave. "What now?"

"You…me…battle for the top score."

"I don't have any quarters left."

He reached over to his pocket and drew out his wallet , shoving a few bills into her stomach.

She smiled and ran over to the machine, bringing back several quarters after a couple of minutes.

They began to play again, with Sasuke insisting he go first. He was much more efficient in his movements now and careful to assess everything. Even the random glitches were not a bother. After going through several rounds and getting his game over, he smirked at the score board.

"Looks like I'm number one now."

"Hey, not bad. My turn."

She took over and effortlessly worked her way across the maze. He could tell she had been playing this game for years. The first few stages didn't even require strategy from her part and she easily guided the character around, a second nature movement on her part. After reaching past several stages, the score board reappeared. He frowned as he realized he was no longer on top.

"Yay. I'm number one again!"

"You beat me by a hundred and thirty-six points."

"Yep. All in a day's work." She got up to leave and sighed when she was grabbed again.

"What now?"

"We're not leaving yet."

"Uh, sorry pal. But I've got to get home in time for dinner. My mom will freak if I'm late."

"Then tomorrow."

"Look, I get that your testosterone is doing weird things to you right now and it must be embarrassing and all for your male pride to lose to a girl in video games, but I've been playing this game for years. You can't beat my score."

"Tomorrow," he replied firmly.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Look, if you want to go at it with me again tomorrow, fine. But you should probably polish up your skills first."

"How?"

"Well, you could always buy the old game from the vintage store not too far from here. I would have suggested downloading it on the virtual console on your Wii but my guess is that a Halo freak like you worships the 360 and thus wouldn't have one."

"It's a shitty console."

"As I thought. So just go to the vintage shop and get yourself the original Nintendo system or an Atari. They should have that game somewhere in the store as well."

"Fine."

"So meet you back here at the same time?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. See you then."

She ran this time, most likely avoiding another pull from his end. He watched her leave his vision before doing as she instructed and crossing the street over to the vintage shop. They had several old game consoles and complimentary games. He was quite surprised at how cheap and expensive some were depending on the franchise. Luckily for him, his game was on the lower end of prices. And after selecting the older system as she suggested, he headed back home and rushed up the stairs to enter his room. He frowned when he realized that his station would need a little tweaking as a plug was too outdated for his television. It took a few minutes to adjust and he was ready to play it. The screen popped up and immediately he felt he was taken back a decade as the game had a complete retro feel to it. Highly pixelated graphics, eight-bit music and simple geometric figures to represent characters. Even the buttons on the controller were tough, just like the arcade.

He smirked; she would not best him.

Just like the previous night, he did nothing but play and eat, attempting to figure out every angle to the game. And after spending all night practicing for the challenge, he was completely confident he would be able to defeat her score. Which was why the next day, he was much more composed—his usual cocky self.

"I take it you practiced."

He simply smirked and sat down on the seat. He got through every level of the game and achieved a high score, much higher than he had seen from her yesterday. There was no way she could defeat him. And as he watched her finish through the game easily, he realized that horrible truth.

"Well we tied. Not bad. Let's shake hands."

There was no way she could defeat him.

"We tied."

"Yes."

"Our scores are even."

"That's usually what a tie entails, yes."

"No."

"Well what do you expect? We did everything we were supposed to do and got through all the levels. Naturally, we would both get the highest scores."

"Your name is on top."

"Yep. Alphabetical order."

"Again."

She threw her hands in the air. "Seriously? Look, why can't we just make amends and settle with the fact that we both did good?"

"Hmm."

"Boys will be boys. But okay, if you're that serious about beating me, I've got another game in mind. One with a bit more thinking and strategy required. You up for the challenge?"

"Yes."

She motioned to follow and guided him to the end of the classics section. They both grabbed stools to sit around another bulky game.

"What are we playing now?"

She turned to smile at him.

"Tetris."

Das Ende.

Author's Notes: Huzzah! I be donez. And who will win? Naturally, Sakura. Halomaniacs tend to lose touch with old school gaming the less they play them. I should know, my big brother can't beat Pong to save his life. (Now I can't get the Tetris theme or Pac-man noises out of my head thanks to this fic. And now...maybe you neither! Wonder how many of you will look up Tetris theme A-SSBB Version on Youtube now?).

Hope you enjoyed the story. And as always...

Review if you like

~Icehaze