#nobody is beating the uchiha in the love competition

[pinkhairedlily]

perks of a wallflower

for sasusaku shoujo week 2023. prompts: high school, festivals, love confessions, accidental kiss, kabedon, wallflower. sasuke first person pov

here's an accompaniment to your reading

I, Uchiha Sasuke, seventeen years of age, only want nothing but peace in the last year of my high school life. So far, I have been successful ducking away from high-energy (like Uzumaki Naruto who I think takes five energy drinks in a day the way he’s always loud-mouthed and laughing and screaming in the hallways), and high-activity people (like Haruno Sakura, student council member since freshman and is now the current president. She probably has magical time management skills because I don’t know how she can fit everything in her schedule).

I am simply content in acing the expectations set by my family name.

Excellent grades.

First place in exams.

Official representative in academic competitions.

The successor of the alumnus with distinction, Uchiha Itachi.

The official top rank nobody in Konoha High, in other words.

Except I’m not.

Not really.

Not when President Sakura is always near second to me, short only by one point or two. And maybe it’s because she’s juggling everything in those two dainty hands of hers that she can’t be perfect all the time.

It’s not that I pay attention. It’s just that her hands are tiny.

And soft.

She grabbed my arm when classes broke for lunch one time and told me to go to the clinic.

“You’re hot.”

I wouldn’t know how to respond if I wasn’t running a 40 degree. “Gee, thanks,” I sloppily replied.

“No, but really. You need to go to the doctor.” Her face was painted with concern. There was nothing different about it; she dons this exact same expression to all her constituents. 

It was the fact that she saw me, in the midst of class, battling a fever I thought I perfectly hid.

She didn’t wait for my response then. She dragged me towards the room, and pulled me into her orbit.

There’s a phenomenon called Zero Shadow Day when the sun is at the zenith and its rays fall perpendicular to an object. The shadow, usually cast behind it, falls directly under. Being skin-close to her is exactly that kind of phenomenon; I become engulfed in her.

My brother never fell in love in high school, but I did with Haruno Sakura.

xxxx

“Sasuke, you still don’t have a role.” The teacher taps his pen on the bound script. “Naruto beat you in signing up for the tree.”

“We have district finals!” screams the blonde baseball captain.

I clear my throat, but it just attracts even more unwanted attention. “What’s left?”

A beat passes which is more suffocating than the irritated throat I have now. “An understudy.”

“Great—”

“—of the princess.”

I could hear the blonde stifle his laughter behind me.

“Okay,” I sigh, “so long as the real princess shows up.”

After rehearsals, the prince comes up to me and taps my shoulder. I wish she wouldn’t untether me from the ground.

“I know you’re only doing this because they made it mandatory for graduation, but I’m still glad you’re with us,” Sakura says with a grin. 

“Yeah, sure.”

Shouldn’t I have more words in my arsenal?

“Do you want some bread with mulberry jam? I finished half of it already.”

“That’s a lot.”

“I tend to devour food when I’m nervous.”

“Nice.”

That’s a horrible reply, Uchiha Sasuke.

xxxx

It’s a slow rehearsal, but I’m privileged to endure the multiple ‘back-to-the-start’ behind the curtains, against the wall, mindlessly scrolling through pages of dialogue. A big  figure surprises me out of my musings—and oh my God, why is Sakura so close?

“I need my personal space,” I manage to croak out, but that made me sound more like a douchebag than a guy panicking over his crush standing a few inches away from him. It’s hard to breathe but I somehow manage to smell the faint jasmine in her hair and the strawberry on her lips.

Sakura complies in good spirit, rather too quickly for my liking (aren’t you panicking @/self?!). “Just practicing for the last scene.”

“I’m a spare.”

“You never know when it’ll come in handy, Sasuke. Besides, familiarizing this proximity lessens the ick-factor for you eventually.”

I’m pretty flexible when her mouth curls up in corners. The bound papers fall to my side, as a prop, as it should be, and I retrace the steps she took earlier. In my hazy vision, she wavers in her stance when in fact she stays rooted on the floor. It’s me who’s losing footing.

I reach her, approximately three inches away, and I breathe her in again uninhibited, along with her verdant eyes that learned not to look away. It’s a role I’m supposed to play. “This close?”

Her green eyes capture me in still frame. My mind makes up the vision of her throat closing up and her breath hitching. “Closer.”

My foot feels like lead. It’s just one step, I tell myself.

“—Break time’s over everyone!”

xxxx

My luck strikes on the day of the cultural festival wherein our little production happens to be the culminating activity in the gala night. This is so much fun (sarcastic).

Normally, I wouldn’t get too hung up about this, considering I am only an understudy, but lo and behold, the teacher informs me thirty minutes before the second act that the princess is sick.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean by 'the princess is sick'?”

“Her stomach pain has become unbearable so you need to do what you are tasked to do, Uchiha.”

“I am an understudy.”

“Of the princess.”

“....”

“The princess is just lying down most of the time for this act, Sasuke. Your dialogue is literally on the last part.”

Which I didn’t know by heart.

 I swear.

“Okay fine.”

The story is one you are already familiar with. The princess tries to escape her fate by going on an adventure but somehow gets cursed to fall asleep indefinitely until she is awakened by the true love’s kiss. We don’t know anything about the prince, but we know that it’s the person the princess loves the most.

It’s the opposite in my  case, as I lie rigid and stoic against the greatest battle waged in the princess’ journey. No one knows who I am, but I know who I love the most.

Sakura is cool, judging by the cheers and almost-fanchant screams in the audience. I keep my eyes shut (I don’t think I’ll ever recover when I find her hovering above me, inches away), and all sounds fall mute to my drowning ears.

I hear the strings of words I’ve memorized from behind the stage, even the liminal pauses in between where her breath rests. I think of the patterns in her footsteps—ten until she gets to my deathbed on the center of the stage. What I’m not prepared for is the graze of her stray strands against my cheek. I take my fill of her scent and all her emotions suspended in the silence she closes the distance in.

There’s a slight shift in the background. A raucous scraping against the wooden stage, and I zero in on Naruto moving a little earlier than expected, and one of his very very long branches hit Sakura on the back.

A yelp becomes the next line.

I open my eyes the exact moment I taste strawberry.

xxxx

The cultural festival ends with the traditional dance around the bonfire.

It’s momentous in the sense that anyone can get a free pass to spill their guts in the dancing flames to their person of affections and expertly hide their pained expressions in the shadows.

I choose the bright lit classroom on the fourth floor where President Sakura spends the last hour of the night as my tragedy milieu.

For some weird reason, I kept the costume on, minus the hair in case this Ancient Greek montage goes either way. I am Snow White with the same ebony hair and pale skin. I offer an apple sans the poison and apologize.

“The great Uchiha Sasuke saying sorry!” She shrugs and bites down on the apple. “Shouldn’t you be the one who’s angry?”

“The student body thinks I defiled the perfect prince.”

She shakes her head, breaking in a chuckle, “It was theater, and they were just overreacting.”

“Still, I don’t think it’s proper.” I brace for the truth. “It might have been your first kiss and I took it away.”

“It’s all right. Maybe it’s the same for you? Aren’t you bothered by it?”

It’s hard to focus and stay serious when Sakura is ahead of me in her nonchalant grace, eating my attention away in every bite. “I’m all right with you as my first kiss.” Maybe if I tell the truth, she wouldn’t hear it over the mulch.

She wipes the juice from her lips as they transform into a smile. “Then that makes the two of us.”

I’m the one who chokes on the imaginary fruit. “What?”

“I said that makes the two of us.” No more munching this time.

I think I’m having problem swallowing. No way. All those people, and she likes me?

And I think I said my thoughts out loud.

She laughs, and the melody turns her redder than the almost fully consumed apple in her hand.

“Are you still playing along?” I seldom have my heart on my sleeve, but I’m wearing mine on the roses embroidered on the chest.

“It’s not part of the script, Sasuke.” The pale core of the apple makes a stark contrast against her cheeks.

“I like you.” I tell her the lines I rehearsed over and over again this past year. “It’s not part of the dialogue.”

“You look so silly saying that in a princess dress.” She laughs again, and this time she couldn’t stop. I’m not sure if this is going the right way. “You know, I’m not sure if you’d notice, but that only means I did a good job hiding it.”

What’s the proper response for that? “My head hurts.”

My disconnected reply does not deter her own confession. “I like you, Sasuke.” Her gaze lands on anywhere but me. “For a long time now. How else would I know you have a fever that day?”

Actors get stuck on lines. They forget the next words. Some people depend on off-stage prompters, others improvise. I’m not an actor, no matter how much I practice and make up scenarios which I would rather describe as overthinking, but I choose the latter.

My steps are still too heavy for all the nervousness that holds me down, but I reach her soon enough. “I think the student council president deserves a last dance for her last cultural festival.”

She quickly finds her spaces within the expanse of my arms. Maybe that’s what happens when I’ve carved out the place for her.

“This is not part of the play,” I whisper.

“It is,” she replies, “The teacher just cut it out because of the runtime.”

She steps on the hem of my dress, and the resulting sidestepping makes her double down in another fit of laughter. She’s closer to me now, much closer than the three inches we practiced.

“Oh Sasuke, I have another confession.”

I don’t think I’m  ready—

“It wasn’t Naruto’s fault.” She’s breathless. “It wasn’t an accident.”

“Oh.”

I make a step, an attempt at fumbling. She holds me steady at my waist. I learn that my hands can cradle her entire face while hers seep cold against the fabric of my dress. This time, I taste apples as I bend down. “This one isn’t too.”

I, Uchiha Sasuke, want nothing but peace in the last year of my high school life. So far, I managed to find and keep it.

ao3 link | buy me coffee ☕

[ladykissingfish]

On A Cruise with the Akatsuki

Done at the request of @deaththesyd ((I hope I’m spelling that right)) thank you for such a unique ask! This was fun to write😊

All work and no play makes a bunch of killers very dull, indeed. A vacation is absolutely necessary sometimes, and Pein comes up with the brilliant (?) idea of sending them all on a relaxing cruise.

Konan

When Konan hears that there’s a full spa on the cruise, that’s it, she’s sold. She heads out of her cabin early in the morning and spends an entire day basking in much-needed luxury and relaxations. While she chooses to indulge in any and everything, some other members of the Akatsuki choose to drop in and join her for certain elements. For example, Deidara shows up for the face masks (he’s surprisingly fastidious about his skin and almost spends more time on his face than Konan does hers). Itachi comes to join her when it’s time for massages, becoming so calm and relaxed that he falls asleep mid-sentence (and Konan admonishes the workers to be as gentle and quiet as possible, because, obviously, the kid could use the rest). Hidan surprises her most of all when he pops up in time for the manicure and pedicure portion of the treatment, but he makes it a point to say over and over that “I’m not a wimp or nothing; I just like clean nails.” At the end of the day, after being pampered and preened and made even prettier, she finds Sasori sitting on the deck, and joins him to watch the sunset and see the first stars appear in the night sky.

Deidara

Deidara has a mind that goes a mile a minute, and finds it immensely difficult to stick with doing one thing. Therefore, he’ll try to fill his days on a cruise doing everything that there is to go. An on-board pool? He’s the first one doing a flip off the diving board. A mini casino? He’s “borrowing” money from Kakuzu and playing until he goes bust. The thing that appeals most to him, however, are the complimentary breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets. He, along with Hidan, will strike fear into the hearts of all the other passengers, as they load plates higher than the ceiling and scarf down more than seems physically possible. Because Deidara spends so much time eating and indulging in various merriments, towards the end of the day he’s more than likely to sit down in a deck chair to “rest a second” — and end up sleeping there until Sasori comes to look for him and make him go lay down properly in his cabin. Then the next day, Deidara will be the first one up, and his antics will repeat themselves.

Kakuzu

Kakuzu is very much against the idea of the Akatsuki going on a cruise, because you know, money; but Pein offers to pay to send everyone out of his own pocket ... and Kakuzu isn’t one to turn down anything free. Once on board, he really doesn’t intend to do anything other than nap in his cabin ... but that’s before he hears about the on-board casino. A hidden (but profitable) talent of Kakuzu’s is the ability to count cards, making him a veritable nightmare to the dealers working at the blackjack table. But he’s smart; he knows that if he wins too many hands the proprietors will become suspicious and likely kick him out. So he wins just enough to make it worth being out of bed. Other than the relaxation and the gambling, the others can convince him to join them when they eat at the ships buffets or small restaurants, although, as he does on land, he’ll always go for the cheapest thing on the menu. Shockingly, a cruise is one of the few places in the world that he can really get along with Hidan; something about being on the sea brings out more of the calm and quiet side of the Jashinist. The two will spend some time sitting in the deck chairs and having avid, whimsical conversations about life, likely enjoying a glass of wine or two as they do so.

Zetsu

Zetsu goes with at the behest of the others, but doesn’t really want to be there. An endless body of water? Over-bearing sunshine? Happy people? No, thanks. He’ll likely stay in his cabin and sleep ... during the day, that is. Nighttime is a different story. He’ll use his powers of infiltration and camouflage to find his way into passengers rooms, and have himself a midnight snack or two (or six, but who’s counting?). When he’s done with the bodies, if there’s anything left he’ll toss them into the ocean. It’s one thing if a passenger goes missing, but another if they’re found dead. He’ll clean the cabins out too, getting rid of the blood and evidence, so as to lessen the alarm raised when others notice the dead’s absence. He also likes to spend a bit of time with Obito and play cards in one or the other’s cabin.

Tobi (Obito)

Unfortunately (or, in another light, hilariously) Obito gets horribly, horribly seasick. The rocking motion of a ship, or even seeing the water move around outside the ship, has the guy running to his cabin’s bathroom (or if he’s outside of his room, the deck) and puking his guts out. He didn’t really want to come in the first place, but the others insisted and besides, Obito likes to spend time outside of typical Akatsuki businesss with them. Deidara, in a surprising show of kindness, will visit Tobi’s room with seasick medicine he buys at the on-board store, and this will help Tobi to at least get vertical without feeling like he’s dying. After he’s feeling better he sticks to low-impact activities so as not to trigger a relapse, and will likely spend more time with Konan at the spa than anywhere else. He’ll also join Kakuzu for a bit at the casino; like the old man, Obito has a knack for gambling and predicting good odds. Poker is his specialty; the mask he wears makes reading his face impossible to his fellow players, and his goofy demeanor pulls others into thinking they can take this guy … and lose their shirts in the process.

Hidan

Ah; the sea. Being out in the open waters, feeling the sun on his face and the most of water, brings out a side of Hidan that nobody’s ever seen before. He’s calm, he’s quiet, he’s downright friendly. Kakuzu comments that maybe he was a seaman in another life … although “pirate” seems a bit more accurate for him. No matter where Hidan is, however, his competitive spirit never dies. There’s several exercise and game rooms on board that offers table tennis, volleyball, golf, basketball, and a variety of other things, which Hidan takes part of. There’s even a small rock-climbing wall that he challenges Deidara and Itachi to, which he (gleefully) beats them at. When not playing games he also loves to eat, and will join Deidara at the ship’s buffets to stuff himself silly. Normally, as a follower of the way of Jashin, Hidan doesn’t drink. However being at sea seems to be cause for bending the rules, and Hidan will enjoy a stiff cocktail or six while relaxing in his cabin.

Itachi

Whereas the rocking motion of the ship makes Obito feel sick to his stomach, it effects the other Uchiha in another way entirely; it relaxes him. Getting someone who’s as stressed as Itachi to relax is no small feat, but a cruise is one of the rare things that can do this. The first few days on the cruise will likely see the young brunette sleeping as much as possible. He’ll put up the Do Not Disturb sign on his door and nap away his worries. Around the third or fourth day, he’ll wake up feeling wonderfully reinvigorated, and actually have the energy to join the others in their activities. He’ll share a meal with Hidan, he’ll wander into the spa that Konan’s practically made her home and indulge in massages and facials. He’ll even take up Kisame’s offer to participate in the ship-offered scuba diving lessons (although Kisame has been teaching Itachi how to dive for years and neither really has the need for professional training, they find it fun to be around the others who are just learning). Deidara even seeks him out join him in the game room to compete against him (although he accuses him of cheating with his sharingan every time he wins). At night, he enjoys sitting on the top deck with Sasori, and the two have deep conversations about life and culture and art. Sasori doesn’t sleep so he can literally sit up with Itachi all evening until the stars disappear from the sky and the sun comes up over the waves.

Pein

Nagato makes the decision not to send his Pein-body on the cruise. Nagato, like Obito, gets very seasick, and this isn’t a sensation he wishes to experience through the Pein-body. He utilizes Pein’s time alone at the hideout, however, by gathering the other Pein’s together to practice sparring and different fighting techniques. They’ll get the house quite messy, and will have to work together to frantically clean before the others return.

Kisame

Kisame is in his element on a cruise. As could be expected, Kisame tends to stick solely to the activities on board that are based around the water. He’ll be one of the first ones in the ship’s pool when it opens, in fact going so far as to strip completely naked until somebody else comes in and ruins his fun. He participates in the deep sea fishing offered by professionals, although Kisame’s tips and tricks for catching fish far outshine those of the instructors. There’s even a chance for him to be heroic; one day a woman slips and falls over the railing and into the waters below. Everybody panics, but before anyone can make a move towards rescuing her, Kisame is diving into the water and pulling her to the surface as easily as one would pull a sack of feathers. He stays with her until she’s stabilized, and the woman thanks him by hugging him and kissing his cheek, which will have him blushing from head to toe. Besides his water activities, he also enjoys spending time with the others, in particular Itachi and Konan. One thing that these three do together (to the delight of Kisame) is play pranks on the others. They manage to get into Deidara’s room and steal all of his shirts, they sneak black hair dye into Hidan’s shampoo. One particular funny feat involved then going into Kakuzu’s room safe (Itachi was able to use his sharingan to see into the old guy’s mind to get the combination) and replace all of his money with IOU slips. It was funny … until Kakuzu burst into Hidan’s room at 3am and threatened to strangle him as “the most likely fucker who did this”. Kisame loves cruises and wishes the Akatsuki could afford to go on one every month.

Sasori

Another soul who really didn’t want to go on a cruise. He ends up going because (and only because) Deidara pestered him relentlessly until he gave in. Eating, games, swimming, gambling … none of these things hold any appeal for the puppet master. One day he’s walking along one of the lower deck and happens upon a group of ship staff taking a mandatory CPR/basic medical training class. Being somewhat of a medical expert himself, he goes in and offers his expertise, as well as some tips that not even the instructors thought of. Sasori also spends some time with Deidara, as the blonde was the one who made him go in the first place. They find an art class and it offers painting, a medium that neither are familiar with. The subject is a bottle of wine. The instructor is somewhat horrified when he finds that Sasori has painted the wine bottle being smashed into someone’s kneecap; and Deidara has painted it exploding and sending glass fragments into innocent bystanders. On one of their nights, Deidara falls asleep while the two are sitting in deck chairs under the stars, and Sasori manages to pick him up and carry him to his room. Sasori also likes spending time with Itachi; he never passes up an opportunity to get into Itachi’s head a little, as he thinks he has one of the most fascinating minds in the Akatsuki. Sasori comes to enjoy his time on the cruise, and will actually find himself a bit melancholy when it’s over and they return to land.

[kuriquinn]

Cooties

Summary: As the years inch by, the competition between them becomes more and more apparent. It’s entirely good-natured on Sakura’s side, but the same can definitely not be said for Sasuke. He is as intense in his dislike of her as he is in his love for his brother and parents. [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 10 – Prompt: “SasuSaku Rivals”]

Summary: “This is probably the most useless thing you’ve ever done to get my attention,” she informs him later, as the sun begins to set. “And considering you shaved your head that time Chōji told you I liked boys with short hair…” [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 9 – Prompt: “Community Service”]

Disclaimer: This story utilises characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelisations, comics or short stories is intended by KuriQuinn in any way, shape or form. This fan-oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All plot and Original Characters except for those introduced in the canon books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn. (© KuriQuinn 2016- )

Rating: T

Warning: Slight OOC but only since the characters are from an alternate timeline.

Canon-Compliance: None. Alternate Reality / Alternate Timeline (Meanwhiles & Neverweres ‘Verse)

Beta Reader: Sakura’s Unicorn

Sasuke Uchiha is convinced that Sakura Haruno is a demon.

From her ridiculously coloured hair to her too-bright eyes to the way she walks around with a straight back, exuding total confidence in a way none of the other kids do. Unlike the other girls who silently clamour to sit beside him on their first day at the Academy, she chooses a seat at the very front of the class and reads what looks like an instructional scroll until their instructor arrives. When she notices him staring at her, she looks up and smiles in a way that makes the whole room feel uncomfortably warm—like he’s her very favourite person in the world, even though they’ve never actually met.

Sasuke decides right then that there is something about her he doesn’t trust.

It turns out his instincts on this one are good because she’s weird.

Several mornings into the new academic year, Sasuke waits in the classroom, anticipating the moment when the first students start to trickle in and another tedious day of lessons begins. The peace of the morning is abruptly broken by hurried footsteps and a slamming door. Before he can react, he is cornered by a flushed and panting girl who boldly plants herself barely two feet away from him.

He, of course, knows her from class, but they’ve never even exchanged two words before. Yet, she addresses him as if they know each other well.

“Sasuke, there’s something I have to tell you because I might not get another chance,” she declares without even introducing herself. For a moment, she hesitates. It’s like the words are stuck in her throat, but then she squares her shoulders. “I have feelings for you—” Which brings him up short because theirs is a short acquaintance, and it’s the first time any member of the female species has said something like this to him. “—but I can’t spend my time chasing after you. I have to become a powerful shinobi, and if I’m focussed on you right now, it will take me longer. Just remember that, okay?”  

And then she takes off again, leaving him utterly perplexed.

And annoyed.

Sasuke doesn’t have much patience for practical jokes, if this is what her outburst was, and he has even less for people who waste his time. Her little declaration serves no actual point that he can discern, and yet it feels like there is a significance to it. Something beyond the strange confession, like she’s trying to offer him some secret message.

Something more than a notion as ridiculous as feelings.

He spends an entire hour puzzling over it before gravely deciding he’s too important to be thinking of such things. She said she won’t pay attention to him, and he takes that as an indication that he won’t be bothered by any more of her strangeness. The matter is safely stored in the back of his mind, phased out in favour of wheedling training sessions from Itachi and telling his parents about his successes in class.

But Sakura Haruno has the inconvenient, irritating talent of being noticed. And it’s not just because of her hair, but her general temperament. During breaks, she is kind to everyone she speaks to, breaks up disagreements, and quietly re-explains Iruka’s lessons if her seatmate (usually Naruto) begins to flounder.

At first, Sasuke resolutely pays her no mind; she’s no challenge to him, after all. From what he’s heard, her parents never made it past chūnin, she’s not from an official shinobi clan, and being nice isn’t going to make her a good ninja. Sure, over time, he becomes aware that she’s one of the other students Iruka tends to compliment on ability or efficiency besides him—Ino and Shino are as well—but that’s it.

But then Iruka starts to ask her to come to the front of the class to demonstrate problems on the board. Or show other students proper kunai-throwing techniques. In fact, in this respect, their teacher praises her more than he does Sasuke.

And that needles at him.

The fact that it’s someone he doesn’t like who excels as well as he does is vaguely irritating, but it’s still something he can shrug off. After all, he supposes blood doesn’t always determine ability—look at Naruto. He’s the son of the Fourth Hokage and an Uzumaki, a clan known for their immense power, and yet, he’s a talentless loser. And Shikamaru is probably smarter than all of them put together, but he has the lowest scores in the class.

The whole issue with Sakura Haruno is a fluke, nothing worth acknowledging.

Until their first evaluations come in.

Sasuke fully expects to be at the top of the class; in fact, by his calculations, he is. Except when Iruka gets up to announce the results, it’s Sakura’s name that he proudly writes on the blackboard, not Sasuke’s.

It is as if his stomach has turned to lead.

While their classmates congratulate the flustered girl, Sasuke tries desperately to figure out how she beat him. She’s talented, sure, but he’s Uchiha. His father is the police captain, his mother is a skilled jōnin, and his brother was the youngest graduate from the Academy since the hero Kakashi Hatake. The way of the shinobi should not come more easily to her, so why is this nobody proving a challenge to him?

No answer presents itself other than the fact that maybe, just maybe, he hasn’t been putting the right effort into achieving his potential.

From that moment on, Sasuke vows to beat Sakura at all costs.

He flings himself into his studies, something he never expected to have to do, and intensifies his training regimen. He observes her during taijutsu exercises, cataloguing her (admittedly few) weaknesses, and races to complete classwork faster and better than she does. He even takes to sitting up front with her, if only to keep track of her progress in relation to his own. It means sitting with Naruto, too, because for some reason, she’s friends with the loser, but he accepts this as a necessary evil.

It always makes him look better by comparison, so it works out.

At first, Sakura seems confused by his attention, even puzzled. But over time, she starts to react to his obvious ire with something like…delight?

It’s strange and weird, and not knowing why she has that reaction makes him even angrier. He thinks she has an ulterior motive of some kind. Perhaps she isn’t as nice as people think because no one is happy to have someone dislike them.

As the years inch by, the competition between them becomes more and more apparent.

It’s entirely good-natured on Sakura’s side, but the same cannot be said for Sasuke. From a young age, he has a tendency toward grudges, and his feelings radiate from the core of his heart to the tips of fingers. He is as intense in his dislike of her as he is in his love for his brother and parents.

“I don’t get it,” Naruto says one day in class when Iruka partners them together for sparring. “She’s nice to everyone, even the girls who make fun of her. How can you not like her?”

Which Sasuke doesn’t answer, instead he soundly pummels the Hokage’s kid to the ground.

He’ll probably get reprimanded for it later. Father will look disapproving, and Mother will complain that she now has to apologise to Aunt Kushina on his behalf. And the next time Sasuke sees him, Cousin Obito will give him some long-winded lecture about friendship and respect, end with a final, “Try not to kill my sensei’s kid, okay?”

But it’s worth it.

Besides, it’s not like the popular boy can’t take a beating every once in a while. And answering Naruto would mean admitting that Sasuke considers Sakura a rival which would mean acknowledging her existence out loud. He refuses to stoop to that level.

But the enmity is there nonetheless, and the rewards thereof fluctuates between them.

One day, Sasuke is at the head of their class in Kawarimi, but the next day, Sakura produces not one, but three consecutive substitutions during a game of capture-the-flag, thereby securing a win for her team. On another day, Sakura has all her mathematics homework done perfectly, and Iruka has her name up on the board again. So, Sasuke stays up the whole night, wrestling wildly with the confusing symbols and equations until his sums are perfect, earning the coveted spot as top student. He even manages to repeat this for three weeks straight.

The girls praise him and the boys mutter, and he pretends like it was no effort at all. Sakura shrugs, and goes back to whatever scroll she’s studying this week.

Sasuke’s streak comes to an end when they begin learning about chakra control. Here, he finds a difficulty that can’t be fixed by mere memorization and repetition. Here, Sakura is the clear master, and again Iruka has her go around to the other kids who need help; she spends almost her entire afternoon trying to explain to Naruto what he’s doing wrong.

Sasuke resolutely tunes out everything she is saying, insistent that he will figure it all out on his own. When she comes by to offer him assistance, he barks out, “I’m fine. Go help someone who needs it.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she tells him, and then moves on to one of their other classmates.

She doesn’t even get mad? What the hell is wrong with this girl?

By the end of the day, he manages to get a handle on it—not as well as she can do it, but better than the rest of his class—and he feels some small measure of vindication.

Then there’s the day when they both achieve a perfect score on their latest evaluation module: word problems, taijutsu forms, and even a Rope Untying Jutsu. After announcing their joint results, Iruka puts both their names up on the blackboard beside one another. The boys hoot and make catcalls, the girls whisper mutinously, and at lunch, some idiot (he’s pretty sure it’s Kiba) draws a heart around their names.

Sakura appears mortified, and Sasuke is furious.

The girls throw a fit and are quick to erase the offending drawing, turning on Sakura as if she’s responsible. Naruto spends the walk toward the Uchiha Compound (he sometimes stays with Obito and Rin when his parents are away) loudly complaining to Sasuke, as if it’s his fault it happened.

“She’s the only girl in the entire school whose name you actually remember,” he rants. “Of course people are gonna tease you! Which makes it harder for people who actually like her to get noticed!”

Naruto’s crush on Sakura is pathetic, and Sasuke tells him so. Which may or may not result in them pounding the hell out of each other before arriving at his cousin’s house a mess of bruises and cuts.

“I feel like I’m reliving the past,” Obito laughs while Rin heals the worst of their injuries. Sasuke is thankful for this because he doesn’t relish the idea of having to explain them to his mother. “The only thing missing are a pair of goggles and those crappy books!”

“What books?” Kashi pipes up curiously from where she’s playing with a stuffed dog.

“Books you can read when you’re eighteen,” Rin tells her daughter sternly. The youngest Uchiha shrugs, unbothered, before going back to her toys.

Naruto sniggers. “If they’re about girls then maybe Sasuke should read them now. That way, he can learn not to be an asshole to Sa—ow! What the hell, you bastard?!”

“Sasuke!” Rin snaps. “That was utterly uncalled for! Do you think your father would approve of that behaviour? And Naruto, if I hear language like that coming from you again, I’m going to have a conversation with your mother, and I guarantee you won’t like the results.”

Both boys turn pale at the respective threats.

“Oh, I have a feeling this is going to be the norm from now on,” Obito muses, looking both too amused and too knowing for Sasuke’s liking.

But the subject is dropped, and Sasuke makes a mental note to spend less time at his cousin’s house from now on.

In class, his exploits continue.

Every month, they have a progress test to check their skill levels. Waiting for the results always ends up feeling like a week of pure torture. Especially because, for three months straight, Sakura ends up coming out just ahead of Sasuke.

This fact is now a topic of dinner conversations, much to his mortification and fury.

Fugaku has been asking questions, wondering distantly why Sasuke isn’t at the top of his class like Itachi was. Sasuke refuses to use the excuse of a civilian girl being better than him. Instead, he accepts his father’s belief that he isn’t working hard enough and redoubles his efforts. Every day, he wakes up even earlier, forces himself through any subject that he finds difficult just for the possibility of overtaking her in class.

Slowly, it pays off.

More often than before, Iruka stands at the front of the class, congratulating Sasuke on being the top student of the week. Then for the term. And it happens again the next month, and the next, and by the end of their penultimate year at the Academy, Sasuke is named Rookie of the Year.

He is smug and satisfied with the news. Finally, he has done what he set out to do, and expects to be treated accordingly. On the day the news is announced, he expects Sakura Haruno to be devastated.

But his moment of triumph falls utterly flat when, after class, Sakura comes up to him and beams. Her eyes shine with something that looks strangely like pride.

“Congratulations!” she says with genuine and obvious pleasure. “I know you worked really hard for this! You deserve it.”

His chest feels warm and the blood rushes to his cheeks and he is angry.

He expected her to be resentful or even annoyed. Maybe he was hoping she would declare her own strategy to out-do him, or get angry at him, or do something that shows she feels the sting of defeat the same way he does.

But there is nothing there but joy, and for whatever reason, this enrages him and the words are out of his mouth before he even understands what he’s saying.

“Don’t be annoying,” he tells her coldly. “Your congratulations mean nothing to me. I beat you, therefore to me, you don’t exist anymore.”

There’s a long, horrifying beat of silence.

And there it is.

Her face falls, the brightness in her eyes fades, and the smile disappears. For a brief, brief instant, he sees an angry shadow cross her features.

He waits for her to lash out at him—she’s done it before to Kiba or Naruto when they say something particularly obtuse, and she doesn’t hold back on tongue-lashing when it comes to Ino. But then she smiles—an obviously false smiles—and quietly tells him, “I’m happy for you anyway, Sasuke.”

Then walks away.

He tries to ignore the fact it feels like she takes all the colour out of the room when she leaves.

He doesn’t see her for the rest of the day, or the next. She’s not in class or the hallways, and there are whispers from the other kids that he pretends not to hear. A tiny, niggling feeling that might possibly be guilt begins to pick at him.

Even if it didn’t, everyone he’s on speaking terms with seems to have an opinion on the matter.

“I’ve never seen Sakura as upset as she was yesterday,” Naruto tells him that morning. “She didn’t say a word the rest of the day, and she didn’t even wait for me to walk her home like she usually does.”

“That just means she’s finally gotten tired of your voice,” Sasuke insists, but he’s off-balance enough to succumb to a clumsy uppercut from his friend.

Ino corners him around lunch, shoving a finger in his face and snapping, “Just because I like you doesn’t mean you get to be a jerk to my friend! You should apologise to Sakura!”

He turns and stalks away. “Tch..”

Kashi, who’s been attending classes at the Academy now since the beginning of the year, runs into him as he is heading home. With total solemnity, she informs him that he is a moron. Because, of course, Sakura is hugely popular with the younger students.

I don’t care what they say, he insists, even if the words in his head are beginning to sound less and less certain.

He walks home by himself, realising that without Naruto or Kashi tagging along, he’s alone with his thoughts. It’s more than a relief when he encounters Itachi and their cousin Shisui in the courtyard outside the house.

“Sasuke,” his brother greets, a gentle smile on his face. “I heard you made it to the top of your class this year.”

Sasuke’s heart lifts. He doesn’t even question how his brother found out. “Yeah.”

“Well done.”

“Yeah, kid, that’s pretty cool,” Shisui tells him with a grin. “I guess you finally showed everyone that you’re as smart as your big brother, huh? I bet you impressed that crush of yours, too.”

Sasuke’s brief elation evaporates.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growls.

“Your little girlfriend. Aunt Mikoto says—”

“Shisui,” Itachi warns, noting Sasuke’s expression, just before his little brother snaps, “I don’t have time for girls and definitely not for one who’s so weird and smiles too much!”

Shisui sniggers, obviously not taking him seriously, and Itachi offers him a pandering smile.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Sasuke. You could do a lot worse.” He says this with a faraway, thoughtful look in his eyes, and Sasuke realises there’s no point to defending himself further.

So, he decides to leave, but not without a parting shot and meaningful glare at Shisui. “You mean like you?”  

The sound of two chokes of disbelief when he turns his back are totally worth it.

The victory is short-lived, however, because at dinner, it starts again.

“I had tea with Mebuki Haruno today,” Mikoto chats brightly as she doles out second-helpings to her husband and sons. “She’s mending our good clothes for Yakumi’s wedding next month. She was telling me how excited her daughter, Sakura, is for summer. She’s in your class, isn’t she, Sasuke?”

“Hm.” He shoves a tomato in his mouth to avoid a proper answer, but off his father’s raised eyebrow, he swallows quickly and mutters, “Yes.”

“We should have them over one afternoon,” she continues. “They’re such a nice family. And talented, from what I hear. Iruka says she and Sasuke are usually neck-and-neck in class.”

Fugaku makes a noise of acknowledgement.

“That’s impressive for a child without shinobi lineage,” he points out, sipping his tea. “I would hope Sasuke isn’t going easy on her because she’s a girl. That devalues your abilities and hers.”

“Oh, Sasuke would never do that,” Mikoto protests. “I mean, maybe if he liked her, but— ”

Sasuke jumps to his feet at his.

“May I be excused?” he asks but doesn’t wait for the answer before stomping to his room. Upon shoving the shoji closed, he throws himself facedown on his bed in a sulk.

Even my parents!

It’s beyond frustrating that everywhere he turns today, he is destined to be reminded of Sakura. And the expression on her face when he said those words the day before.

Growling, he shoves his pillow over his head, as if that will drown out the memory of it. This is how Itachi finds him ten minutes later. He gently pries the pillow away.

“Are you all right?” he asks, and though his voice is quiet and without expectation of an actual answer, it’s as if he’s given Sasuke permission to open the floodgates.

“I don’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal over this!” he cries, clenching his fists. “Everyone tells me how I feel and they don’t listen when I tell them I don’t like Sakura! She ruins everything! She’s always in the way, and when I finally beat her—when I finally get what I’ve been working so hard for, all anyone can talk about is her! Just for once, I want someone to…to…”

He trails off, words utterly failing him in his frustration.

“Acknowledge you?” Itachi supplies.

Sasuke blinks. “…Yeah.”

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“When you were named Rookie of the Year, how did Sakura react?” Itachi questions. “Was she upset?”

“No,” Sasuke mutters. “She congratulated me.”

“That was rather graceful,” Itachi says mildly. “It’s a measure of character when someone can accept defeat with ease. And even be magnanimous to the person who has beaten them. Can you think of anyone else who would react in such a way?”

“No…but that doesn’t matter!” Sasuke protests. “She’s weird! She never reacts how normal people react! And the whole time, it’s like she was happy that I was beating her, and that’s just not normal!”

“She was happy for you,” Itachi repeats. “Proud, even, would you say?”

“I…yeah, I guess.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted from the beginning? For her to acknowledge you?” Sasuke opens his mouth to correct him, but Itachi goes on, “Acknowledgement doesn’t have to mean ceding to a superior in battle. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a kind word.”

Which Sasuke can’t think of a way to argue against.

Now the guilty feeling is back, and with a vengeance. He shifts uncomfortably. “Hey…Itachi?”

“Yes?”

“Did you ever have this problem before? With Izumi?”

A rare expression of discomfort passes over Itachi’s face.

“That is a story for another time.” He reaches his hand out and waves his fingers, indicating his little brother should come closer. Sasuke frowns suspiciously, but inches forward only to jerk back when—of course—Itachi pokes him in the forehead. “For now, little brother, I think there’s someone else who you owe at least a conversation.”

Despite the last word, Sasuke knows his brother really means apology. The trouble is, he’s never had to give one before, so he’s unsure what to do. Maybe there’s a way he can get around actually giving one, but whatever he does, he’s going to have to face Sakura.

At the brief feeling of doubt, he frowns at himself.

He is to be a shinobi one day, and if he can’t handle talking to one girl, then he might as well give up on the whole thing now.

He wastes no more time slipping out of his room ( he doesn’t think his parents will be so keen on letting him go anywhere given his abrupt departure from dinner) and heads for her house. He’s never been there before, but Naruto has pointed it out to him on more than one occasion over the years, and he’s memorised the location against his will.

When he knocks tentatively on the door, he’s barely given a moment to prepare a story before it’s flung open and a kind-faced woman with blonde hair stands before him.

“Yes?” she asks and then blinks at him. “Oh, goodness! You look just like Mikoto. You must be Sasuke then. Come in!”

Before he can marvel at the speed with which she comes to this conclusion, he’s ushered into the house.

“Sakura talks about you a lot,” Sakura’s mother tells him cheerily. “So, even if you didn’t look the spit of your mother, I’d know who you are. I hear you just got top of the class. That’s great! She was a little upset yesterday—I guess no one likes to be bumped down to second place—but she’s really happy for you. I personally think it’s good for her. She needs to take some time away from the books, you know? Go out and have some fun! But she’s so studious all the time. And she’s always down at the hospital, asking questions, wandering around the library. I don’t know where she gets it from, I hated classes. And her dad, well, he’s brilliant of course, but the attention span of a gnat. Have you eaten, sweetheart?”

Sasuke mouths wordlessly at this. “Uh…yes.”

“Well, you look like you haven’t. Do you want something?”

“I just…need to speak to Sakura,” he manages to get out.

“Oh, she’s upstairs. She should be resting, but I bet she’s studying one of her scrolls again. You go tell her to knock it off,” Mebuki tells him. “I’ll fix up some tea and biscuits for you two, okay?” She nods into the hallway. “It’s up the stairs, second door on the left.” When he continues to stare, she makes a waving motion. “Well? What are you waiting for? Shoo!”

Sasuke decides he doesn’t want to be subject to another barrage of rambling, so he hurries up the stairs, shaking his head.

No wonder she’s so weird with a mother like that!

He reaches the door to Sakura’s room quickly, and for a moment, pauses in front of it. A sudden, overwhelming feeling of doubt hits him, and he wonders if this is what he is supposed to be doing after all. Maybe he should just wait to see her in class…

The idea of being watched as he apologises to her in front of their classmates makes his skin crawl.

No. Here is good. Simple and quick, and then I’ll go home.

And so, he takes a steadying breath and pushes open the door.

There is a brief image of Sakura—her face red and wet—and is she crying? He did not sign up for her crying, maybe he should just—

“KYAAAH! Don’t you knock?!”

A pillow is tossed at him and would hit him right in the face if he didn’t duck.

“S-Sasuke?” he hears her say tentatively. When he recovers himself, he sees her face go from indignant to shocked to mortified. “Oh, my—I’m so sorry! I thought you were my mom!”

“So you threw something at her?” he inquires, studying her. He realises the reason her face is wet is because it’s covered in sweat; perspiration soaks through her tunic. She is also positioning her body in front of something, which he thinks must have held her attention before he entered the room.

When she notices his eyes trying to see around her body, she frowns in consideration then motions for him to close the door. When he does, she shifts aside and gestures to the desk behind her. Or rather, what is on the desk behind her.

Sasuke realises that what she’s been hiding is a bird. A hawk, actually.

Its right wing is twisted at an odd angle and some of its feathers are badly bent. The creature is arranged in a makeshift nest of papers and cloth in a shoebox, and every now and then, makes feeble cooing sounds. When Sasuke takes a tentative step forward, it turns a distrustful yellow eye on him.

“It flew into my window yesterday,” Sakura explains. “I tried to heal him, but I put too much power into it and had to stop before I accidentally hurt him. But that kind of knocked me out, so that’s why I wasn’t in school today. Mom’s been freaking out at me because I wouldn’t tell her what happened, but he’s not back to normal, so I thought I’d try again, only a little less because I really don’t want a lecture again and…and why are you looking at me like that?”

He is staring at her in amazement, the kind that only just overrides his usual jealousy, because healing and medical ninjutsu are incredibly advanced and how does she even know what to do?

“There is something wrong with you,” he informs her.

She tenses up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, how are you real?” he demands. “People aren’t like this! They aren’t so… You’re always nice and helpful and how do you have time to be like that when you’re so busy doing stuff like this?”

He gestures to the bird on her desk which makes a weak noise of indignation.

Sakura smiles now, that odd, almost patronizing smile of hers, like she’s somehow more mature than him. And not just in a four-months-older kind of way, but the way he’s seen his brother and older cousins look at him.

“I study a lot,” she tells him. “Not all of us are born geniuses, right?”

He can’t think of a thing to say to this.

“Was there something you wanted?” she goes on, and then in a sharper tone, “I thought I didn’t exist to you.”

He shifts uncomfortably at this.

“I…might have…I mean…I shouldn’t have…” Sasuke cringes because it shouldn’t be this hard to get the words out. Taking a steadying breath, he blurts out, “I’m sorry.”

An expression of absolute shock overtakes her features, and he finds—oddly enough—that it’s not a bad look on her. When it morphs into genuine pleasure, a sense of relief fills him.

“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” she says softly, a faraway look flitting through her eyes. “Thank you.”

Sasuke can’t help frowning at this because it all feels very backward. He feels as if he should be the one who’s thanking her. And not just for congratulating him the day earlier.

Why does she always make me feel like things are out of order?

Noticing the way he’s watching her, she prompts, “What?”

“You’re not like any of the other girls,” he tells her, a minor accusatory note in his voice.

She smirks at this. “Because I don’t make a big fuss over you?”

“No,” he insists quickly, the back of his neck turning red because he sort of means yes.

She laughs.

“I told you when we started at the Academy,” she reminds him. “I have feelings for you.” This time, hearing those words makes his stomach flip a little. “But I can’t let that get in the way of my training again. I’m going to become the most powerful kunoichi in the world one day. I’m going to help heal people and protect the ones who are precious to me. If I’m going to be ready, I have to put in the work now.”

And that, at least, is something he can understand. The need to become stronger, the need to live up to expectations, either one’s own or one’s family’s. It’s possible that maybe, just maybe, he and Sakura have more in common than he considered.

“Besides,” she adds, matter-of-factly, “if I’m going to marry you one day, I have to be the best.”

Sasuke’s brain stalls at this and he has to repeat her words in his head. “…Huh?!”

“Well, you’re an Uchiha,” she shrugs. “They’re not going to let you marry just anyone. I have to be better than everyone else, even all those talented girls in your clan.”

Sasuke scowls and crosses his arms. “No one is going to let me do anything. I can marry whoever I want. And even if I cared about that sort of thing, it wouldn’t be you.”

She shoots him a taunting look of disbelief, and he straightens up, fists now clenched.

“In fact, I’m going to become an even better shinobi—much more powerful than you’ll ever be. And then you’ll never be able to marry me!”

It’s not his strongest argument, he’s aware, but he just wants to provoke a reaction.

Instead, she considers him thoughtfully, the way his mother and brother look at him when he’s being stubborn or ridiculous. Then she tosses her hair and says, “Well, I guess there’s always Naruto.”

Sasuke sputters out an incomprehensible word and Sakura dissolves into a fit of giggles.

“Your face!” she cackles.

Sasuke’s entire body turn warm, and he should be annoyed, because no one mocks an Uchiha, but at the same time, he likes the sound of her laughter. It occurs to him that he doesn’t hear it very often. She is generous with her smiles, but he’s never heard her actually laugh around anyone in their class.

Slowly, the peals of laughter subside, and she calms herself. “Don’t worry,” she tells him. “I wouldn’t want you to do something you don’t want. And who says I’ll ever get married? Lady Tsunade never got married and she’s one of the Sannin. Maybe I’ll be like her. There are worse things.” Something dark and pained crosses her features here, and in a quiet voice she adds, “I just want the people I care about to be happy.” Then she brightens up. “And that includes you, whether you like it or not.” Without waiting for his reply, she turns around and refocuses on the bird, reaching down with her tiny hands to check its wing.

Sasuke really has no idea what to say to this. This girl—this strange, utterly mystifying girl— keeps tripping him up. Just when he thinks he’s figured her out, she says something or does something that completely alters his perception of her.

It’s still utterly annoying.

For once, he wants to say something or do something that puts her off-balance. She’s always so resilient, always so sure of everything around her, as if she already knows exactly how things are going to turn out.

Perhaps that’s why he gives in to the first rash idea that comes to mind.

“Hey, Sakura.”

“Hm?”

When she turns to face him, quick as a snake, he leans over and closes the distance between them, pressing his mouth to hers. It’s a brief peck, and it’s clumsy—he only catches the corner of her mouth- but she freezes, entire body going utterly tense, and he can’t help do the same because he just kissed a girl on the mouth.

He pulls back, half-shocked, half-impressed by his own daring, and stares at her. Sakura’s eyes are wide, and slowly, ever so slowly, her face turns darker and darker, steadily matching her hair.

“S-Sasuke,” she whispers like she isn’t sure how to use her voice. “Why did you…”

“I don’t know,” he snaps, suddenly feeling the pressing need to get out of there. He backs away from her, narrowing his eyes threateningly. “If you tell anyone…”

“I-I won’t.” Sakura still seems too surprised and disbelieving. Maybe, if he’s lucky, she’ll think she imagined the whole thing.

Just in case she doesn’t, however, he jabs a finger at her when he reaches the door. “And this doesn’t mean I’m ever going to marry you!”

Without waiting for an answer, he yanks open the door and runs down the hallway, nearly knocking into Mebuki as she carries a tray of snacks up the stairs. He is desperate to get out of this weird house with its even weirder women and away from the strange girl who makes him do strange things.

Out the door and down the road, Sasuke coaches himself to run faster, to not stop until he’s back home where things always make sense. His mouth tingles oddly (not unpleasantly) and he feels the blood rushing to his face. He knows it’s not because he is running.

He doesn’t know what school is going to be like from now on. She might not say anything— he doubts she will; Sakura isn’t the type to embarrass people-but how is he supposed to look at her from now on? Was a brief moment of her being utterly stunned worth trying something so…ridiculous?

He casts his mind back, the image of her shocked, flustered expression permanently imprinted on his mind. A wan smirk of satisfaction tugs at the corner of his mouth.

Yes. Yes, it was.

Maybe he has found a new way to put her off balance after all.

終わり

Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome, but if you feel like keeping me caffeinated out of the goodness of your heart, it certainly would be appreciated! I’m also starting to post original works to my patreon.

I’m only able to keep writing as I do thanks to the support of readers like you, so every bit helps!

栗

[sasusakufestival]

Cooties

Summary: As the years inch by, the competition between them becomes more and more apparent. It’s entirely good-natured on Sakura’s side, but the same can definitely not be said for Sasuke. He is as intense in his dislike of her as he is in his love for his brother and parents. [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 10 – Prompt: “SasuSaku Rivals”]

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author’s own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. You will be pecked to death by a hawk should you be found plagiarizing.

Warning:Spoilersfor pretty much everything up to Chapter 699.

Canon-Compliance: Takes place during Part I. Team 7 goes from ages 5 – 10 over the course of the story.

Fanon Compliance: Could conceivably take place in my Meanwhiles and Neverwheres non-massacre AU timeline

AN: This is unedited. I basically powered through it in between interviews with parents tonight and scrambled to get it done. Edits will happen when they happen, maybe this weekend if I and my beta have time.

Sasuke Uchiha is convinced that Sakura Haruno is a demon.

From her ridiculous coloured hair to her too-bright eyes, to the way she walks around with a straight back, exuding total confidence in a way none of the other kids do. Unlike the other girls that silently clamour to sit beside him their first day at the Academy, she chooses a seat at the very front of the class, and reads what looks like an instructional scroll until their instructor arrives. When she notices him staring at her, she looks up and smiles in a way that makes the whole room feel uncomfortable and warm.

Like he’s her very favourite person in the world, even though they have never actually met.

Sasuke decides right then that there is something about her he doesn’t trust.

It turns out his instincts on this one are good, because she's weird.

Several mornings into the new academic year, Sasuke waits in the classroom, anticipating the moment when the first students start to trickle in and another tedious day of lessons begins. The peace of the morning is abruptly broken by hurried footsteps and a slamming door. Before he can react, he is cornered by a flushed and panting girl, who boldly plants herself barely two feet away from him.

He, of course, knows her from class, but they’ve never even exchanged two words before. Yet she addresses him as if they know each other well.

“Sasuke, I don’t have a lot of time, so there’s something I have to tell you because I might not get another chance,” she declares without preamble or even introducing herself. For a moment she hesitates, like the words are stuck in her throat, then she squares her shoulders. “I have feelings for you –” Which brings him up short, because theirs is a short acquaintance, and it’s the first time any member of the female species has said something like this to him, “ – but I can’t spend my time chasing after you. I have to become a powerful shinobi, and if I’m focussed on you right now it will take me longer. Just remember that, okay?”

And then she takes off again, leaving him utterly perplexed.

And annoyed.

Sasuke doesn’t have much patience for practical jokes, if this is what her outburst was, and he has even less for people that waste his time. Her little declaration serves no actual point that he can discern, and yet it feels like there is a significance to it. Something beyond the strange confession, like she’s trying to offer him some secret message.

Something more than a notion as ridiculous as feelings.

He spends an entire hour puzzling over it, before gravely deciding he’s too important to be thinking of such things. She’s said she won’t pay attention to him, and he takes that as an indication he won’t be bothered by any more of her strangeness.

The matter is safely stored at the back of his mind, phased out in favour of wheedling training sessions from Itachi and telling his parents about his successes in class.

But Sakura Haruno has the inconvenient, irritating talent for being noticed. And it’s not just because of her hair, but her general temperament. During breaks, she is kind to everyone she speaks to, breaks up disagreements and quietly re-explains Iruka’s lessons if her seatmate (usually Naruto) begins to flounder.

At first, he resolutely pays her no mind – she’s no challenge to him, after all. From what he hears, her parents never made it past chūnin, she’s not from an official shinobi clan and being nice isn’t going to make her a good ninja. Sure, over time, he becomes aware that she’s one of the other students Iruka tends to compliment on ability or efficiency – Ino and Shino are as well – but that’s it.

But then Iruka starts to ask her to come to the front of the class to demonstrate problems on the board. Or show other students how to perform proper kunai-throwing technique. In fact, in this respect, their teacher praises her more than he does Sasuke.

And that needles at him.

The fact that it’s someone he doesn’t like who excels as well as he does is vaguely irritating, but it’s still something he can shrug off. After all, he supposes blood doesn't always determine ability – look at Naruto. He’s the son of the Fourth Hokage and an Uzumaki, a clan known for their immense power, and yet he’s a talentless loser. And Shikamaru is probably smarter than all of them put together, but has the lowest scores in the class.

The whole issue with Sakura Haruno is a fluke, nothing worth acknowledging.

Until their first evaluations come in.

Sasuke fully expects to be at the top of the class – in fact, by his calculations he is. Except when Iruka gets up to announce the results, it’s Sakura’s name that he proudly writes on the blackboard, and not Sasuke’s.

It is as if his stomach has turned to lead.

While their classmates congratulate the flustered girl, Sasuke tries desperately to figure out how she beat him. She’s talented, sure, but he's Uchiha. His father is the police captain, and his mother was a skilled jōnin, and his brother was the youngest graduate from the Academy since the hero Kakashi Hatake. The way of the shinobi should not come more easily to her, so why is this nobody proving a challenge to him?

No answer presents itself other than the fact that maybe, just maybe, he hasn’t been putting the right effort into achieving his potential.

From that moment on, Sasuke vows to beat Sakura at all costs.

He flings himself into his studies, something he never expected to have to do, and increases his training regimen. He observes her during taijutsu exercises, cataloguing her (admittedly few) weaknesses, and races to complete classwork faster and better than she does. He even takes to sitting up front with her, if only to keep track of her progress in relation to his own. It means sitting with Naruto, too, because for some reason she’s friends with the idiot, but he accepts this as a necessary evil.

It always makes him look better by comparison, so it works out.

At first Sakura seems confused by his attention, even puzzled, but over time she starts to react to his obvious ire with something like…delight? It’s strange and weird, and not knowing why she has that reaction makes him even angrier. He thinks she has an ulterior motive of some kind, perhaps she isn’t as nice as people think, because no one is happy to have someone dislike them.

As the years inch by, the competition between them becomes more and more apparent.

It’s entirely good-natured on Sakura’s side, but the same can definitely not be said for Sasuke. From a young age, he had a tendency toward grudges, and his feelings radiate from the core of his heart to the tips of fingers. He is as intense in his dislike of her as he is in his love for his brother and parents.

“I don’t get it,” Naruto says one day in class when Iruka partners them together for sparring. “She’s nice to everyone, even the girls that make fun of her. How can you not like her?”

Which Sasuke doesn’t answer, instead soundly pummelling the Hokage’s kid to the ground.

He’ll probably get reprimanded for it later – Father will look disapproving, and Mother complain that she now has to apologise to Aunt Kushina on his behalf. And the next time Sasuke sees him, Cousin Obito will give him some long-winded lecture about friendship and respect and a final, “try not to kill my sensei’s kid, okay?”

But it’s worth it. Besides, it’s not like the popular boy can’t take a beating every once in a while. And answering Naruto would mean admitting out loud that Sasuke considers Sakura a rival, which would mean acknowledging her existence. He refuses to stoop to that level.

But the enmity is there nonetheless, and the rewards thereof fluctuate between them.

One day, Sasuke is at the head of their class in substitution jutsu, but the next Sakura produces not one but three consecutive substitutions during a game of capture-the-flag, thereby securing a win for her team. Another day, Sakura has all of her mathematics homework done perfectly, and Iruka has her name up on the board again. So, Sasuke stays up the whole night wrestling wildly with the confusing symbols and equations until his sums are perfect, earning the coveted spot as top student. He even managed to repeat this for three weeks straight.

The girls praise him and the boys mutter, and he pretends like it was no effort at all. Sakura shrugs, and goes back to whatever scroll she is studying this week.

Sasuke’s streak comes to an end when they begin learning about chakra control. Here, he finds a difficulty that can’t be fixed by mere memorization and repetition. Here, Sakura is the clear master, and again Iruka has her go around to the other kids that need help; she spends almost her entire afternoon trying to explain to Naruto what he’s doing wrong.

Sasuke resolutely tunes out everything she is saying, insistent that he will figure it all out on his own. When she comes by to offer him assistance, he barks out, “I’m fine. Go help someone who needs it.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she tells him, and then moves on to one of their other classmates.

She doesn’t even get mad? What the hell is wrong with this girl?

By the end of the day, he manages to get a handle on it – not as well as she can do it, but better than the rest of his class – and he feels some small measure of vindication.

Then there’s the day when they both achieve a perfect score on their latest evaluation module – word problems and taijutsu forms and even a Rope Untying Jutsu. After announcing their joint results, Iruka puts both their names up on the blackboard beside one another. The boys hoot and make catcalls, the girls whisper mutinously, and at lunch some idiot (he’s pretty sure it’s Kiba) draws a heart around their names.

Sakura appears mortified, and Sasuke is furious.

The girls throw a fit and are quick to erase the offending drawing, turning on Sakura as if she is responsible, and Naruto spends the walk toward the Compound (he sometimes stays with Obito and Rin when his parents are away) loudly complaining to Sasuke, as if it's his fault it happened.

“She’s the only girl in the entire school you actually remember the name of,” he rants. “Of course people are gonna tease you! Which makes it harder for people who actually like her to get noticed!”

Naruto’s crush on Sakura is pathetic, and Sasuke tells him so.

Which may or may not result in them pounding the hell out of each other and arriving at his cousin’s house a mess of bruises and cuts.

“I feel like I’m reliving the past,” Obito laughs, while Rin heals the worst of the injuries. Sasuke is thankful for this, because he doesn’t relish the idea of having to explain them to his mother. “The only thing missing are a pair of goggles and those crappy books!”

“What books?” Kashi pipes up curiously from where she is playing with a stuffed dog.

“Books you can read when you’re eighteen,” Rin tells her daughter sternly, and the youngest Uchiha shrugs, unbothered, before going back to her toys.

Naruto sniggers. “If they’re about girls, then maybe Sasuke should read them now. That way he can learn not to be an asshole to S – ow, what the hell, you bastard?!”

“Sasuke!” Rin snaps. “That was utterly uncalled for! Do you think your father would approve of that behaviour? And Naruto, if I hear language like that coming from you again, I’m going to have a conversation with your mother, and I guarantee you won’t like the results.”

Both boys turn pale at the respective threats.

“Oh, I have a feeling this is going to be the norm from now on,” Obito muses, both too amused and too knowing for Sasuke’s liking.

But the subject is dropped, and Sasuke makes a mental note to spend less time at his cousin’s house from now on.

In class, his exploits continue.

Every month they have a progress test to check their skill levels. Waiting for the results always ends up feeling like a week of pure torture. Especially because for three months straight, Sakura ends up coming out just ahead of Sasuke.

This fact is now a topic of dinner conversations, much to his mortification and fury.

Fugaku has been asking questions, wondering distantly why Sasuke isn’t at the top of his class like Itachi was. Sasuke refuses to use the excuse of a civilian girl being better than him. Instead, he accepts his father’s belief that he isn’t working hard enough, and redoubles his efforts. Every day, he wakes up even earlier, forces himself through any subject that he finds difficult just for the possibility of overtaking her in class.

Slowly, it pays off.

More often than before, Iruka stands at the front of the class, congratulating Sasuke on being the top student of the week. Then for the term. And it happens again the next month, and the next, and by the end of their penultimate year at the Academy, Sasuke is named Rookie of the Year.

He is smug and satisfied with the news. Finally, he has done what he set out to do, and expects to be treated accordingly. On the day the news is announced, he expects Sakura Haruno to be devastated.

But his moment of triumph falls utterly flat when after class, Sakura comes up to him and beams. Her eyes shine with something that looks strangely like pride.

“Congratulations!” she says, with genuine and obvious pleasure. “I know you worked really hard for this! You deserve it.”

And his chest feels warm and the blood rushes to his cheeks and he is angry.

He expected her to be resentful, or even annoyed. Maybe he was hoping she would declare her own efforts to out-do him, or get angry at him – hoping she would do something that shows she feels the sting of defeat the same way he does.

But there is nothing there but joy, and for whatever reason, this enrages him, and the words are out of his mouth before he even understands what he is saying.

“Don’t be annoying,” he tells her coldly. “Your congratulations mean nothing to me. I beat you, therefore to me, you don’t exist anymore.”

There’s a long, horrifying beat of silence.

And there it is.

Her face falls, the brightness in her eyes fades, and the smile disappears. Her lips purse, and for a brief, brief instant, he sees an angry shadow cross her features.

He waits for her to lash out at him – she’s done it before, to Kiba or Naruto when they say something particularly obtuse, and she doesn’t hold back a tongue-lashing when it comes to Ino. But then she smiles –

Fake!

– and quietly tells him. “I’m happy for you anyway, Sasuke.”

And then walks away.

He tries to ignore the fact it feels like she takes all the colour of the room when she leaves.

He doesn’t see her for the rest of the day, or the next. She is not in class, or the hallways, and there are whispers from the other kids that he pretends not to hear. A tiny, niggling feeling that might possibly be guilt begins to pick at him.

Even if it didn’t, everyone he is on speaking terms with seems to have an opinion on the matter.

“I’ve never seen Sakura as upset as she was yesterday,” Naruto tells him that morning. “She didn’t say a word the rest of the day, and she didn’t even wait for me to walk her home like she usually does.”

“That just means she’s finally gotten tired of your voice,” Sasuke insists, but he is off-balance enough to succumb to a clumsy uppercut from his friend.

And Ino corners him around lunch, shoving a finger in his face and snapping, “Just because I like you doesn’t mean you get to be a jerk to my friend! You should apologise to Sakura!”

He turns and stalks away. “Hn.”

Kashi, who has been attending classes at the Academy now since the beginning of the year year, runs into him as he is heading home. With total solemnity, she informs him that he is a moron.

Because, of course, Sakura is hugely popular with the younger students.

I don’t care what they say, he insists to himself, even if the words in his head are beginning to sound less and less certain.

He walks home completely alone, realising that without Naruto or Kashi tagging along, he’s alone with his thoughts. It’s more than a relief when he encounters Itachi and his cousin Shisui in the courtyard outside the house.

“Sasuke,” his brother greets, a gentle smile on his face. “I heard you made it to the top of you class this year.”

Sasuke’s heart lifts. He doesn’t even question how his brother found out. “Yeah.”

“Well done.”

“Yeah, kid, that’s pretty cool,” Shisui tells him with a grin. “I guess you finally showed everyone that you’re as smart as your big brother, huh? I bet you impressed that crush of yours, too.”

Sasuke’s brief elation evaporates.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growls.

“Your little girl friend. Aunt Mikoto says –”

“Shisui,” Itachi warns, noting Sasuke’s expression, just before he snaps, “I don’t have time for girls and definitely not one who is so weird and smiles so much!”

Shisui sniggers, obviously not taking him seriously, and Itachi offers him a pandering smile.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Sasuke. You could do a lot worse.” He says this with a faraway, thoughtful look in his eyes, and Sasuke realises there’s no point to defending himself further.

So he decides to leave, but not without a parting shot and meaningful glare at Shisui. “You mean like you?”

The sound of two chokes of disbelief when he turns his back are totally worth it.

The victory is short-lived, however, because at dinner it starts again.

“I had tea with Mebuki Haruno today,” she chats brightly as she doles out second helping to her husband and sons. “She’s mending our good clothes for Inabi’s wedding next month. She was telling me about how excited Sakura is for summer. She’s in your class, isn’t she, Sasuke?”

“Hm.” He shoves a tomato in his mouth to avoid a proper answer, but off his father’s raised eyebrow, he swallows quickly and mutters, “Yes.”

“We should have them over one afternoon,” Mikoto continues. “They’re such a nice family. And talented, from what I hear. Iruka says she and Sasuke are usually neck and neck in class.”

Fugaku snorts.

“She isn’t from any known clan,” he points out, sipping his tea. “I would hope Sasuke isn’t going easy on her because she’s a girl. That dishonours your abilities and hers.”

“Oh, Sasuke would never do that,” Mikoto protests. “I mean, maybe if he liked her, but – ”

Sasuke jumps to his feet at his.

“May I be excused?” he asks, but doesn’t wait for the answer, before stomping to his room. Upon shoving the shoji door closed, he proceeds to throw himself face down on his bed in a sulk.

Even my parents!

It’s beyond frustrating, like everywhere he turns today, he is destined to be reminded of Sakura. And the expression on her face when he said those words earlier.

Growling, he shoves his pillow over his head, as if that will drown out the memory of it. This is how Itachi finds him ten minutes later. He gently pries the pillow away.

“Are you alright?” he asks, and though his voice is quiet and without the expectation that Sasuke will actually answer, it’s as if he has given permission to open the floodgates.

“I don’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal over this!” he cries, clenching his fists. “Everyone tells me how I feel and they don’t listen when I tell them I don’t like Sakura! She ruins everything She’s always in the way, and when I finally beat her – when I finally get what I’ve been working so hard for – all anyone can talk about his her! Just for once, I want someone to…to…”

He trails off, words utterly failing him in his frustration.

“Acknowledge you?” Itachi supplies.

Sasuke blinks. “…Yeah.”

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“When you were named Rookie of the Year, how did Sakura react?” Itachi questions. “Was she upset?”

“No,” Sasuke mutters. “She congratulated me.”

“That was rather graceful,” Itachi says mildly. “It’s a measure of character when someone can accept defeat with ease. And even be magnanimous to the person who has beaten them. Can you think of anyone else who would react in such a way?”

“No…but that doesn’t matter!” Sasuke protests. “She’s weird! She never reacts how normal people react! And the whole time, it’s like she was happy that I was beating her, and that’s just not normal!”

“She was happy for you,” Itachi repeats. “Proud, even, would you say?”

“I…yeah, I guess.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted from the beginning? For her to acknowledge you?” Sasuke opens his mouth to correct him, but Itachi goes on, “Acknowledgement doesn’t have to mean ceding to a superior in battle. Sometimes it can be as simple as a kind word.”

Which Sasuke can’t think of a way to argue against.

Now the guilty feeling is back, and with a vengeance. He shifts uncomfortably.

“Hey…Big Brother?”

“Yes?”

“Did you ever have this problem before? With Izumi?”

A rare expression of discomfort passes over Itachi’s face.

“That is a story for another time.” He reaches his hand out and waves his fingers, indicating Sasuke come closer. Sasuke frowns suspiciously, but inches forward, only to jerk back when – of course – Itachi pokes him in the forehead. “For now, little brother, I think there’s someone else that you owe at least a conversation.”

Despite the last word, Sasuke knows his brother actually means apology. The trouble is, he’s never actually had to give one, so is unsure what to do. Maybe there’s a way he can get around actually giving one, but whatever he does, he’s going to have to face Sakura.

At the brief feeling of doubt, he frowns at himself.

He is to be a shinobi one day, and if he can’t handle talking to one girl, then he might as well give up on the whole thing now.

He wastes no more time slipping out of his room – he doesn’t think his parents will be so keen on letting him go anywhere given his abrupt departure from dinner – and heads for her house. He has never been there before, but Naruto has pointed it out to him on more than one occasion over the years, and he’s memorized the location against his will.

When he knocks tentatively on the door, he is barely given a moment to prepare a story, before it is flung open and a kind-faced woman with blond hair stands before him.

“Yes?” she asks, and then blinks at him. “Oh, goodness, you look just like Mikoto. You must be Sasuke, then – come in.”

Before he can marvel at the speed with which she comes to this conclusion, he is ushered into the house.

“Sakura talks about you a lot,” Sakura’s mother tells him cheerily, “so even if you didn’t look the spit of your mother, I’d know who you are. I hear you just got top of the class – that’s great! She was a little upset yesterday – I guess no one likes to be bumped down to second place – but she’s real happy for you. I personally think it’s good for her – she needs to take some time away from the books, you know? Go out and have some fun, but she’s so studious all the time! And she’s always down at the hospital, asking questions, wandering around the library. I don’t know where she gets it from – I hated classes, and her dad, well, he’s brilliant of course, but the attention span of a gnat. Have you eaten, sweetheart?”

Sasuke mouths wordlessly at this. “Uh…yes.”

“Well, you look like you haven’t. Do you want something?”

“I just…need to speak to Sakura,” he manages to get out.

“Oh, she’s upstairs. She should be resting, but I bet she’s studying one of her scrolls again. You go tell her to knock it off,” Mebuki tells him. “I’ll fix up some tea and biscuits for you two, okay?” She nods into the hallway. “It’s up the stairs, second door on the left.” When he continues to stare at him, she makes a waving motion. “Well? What are you waiting for? Shoo!”

Sasuke decides he doesn’t want to be subject to another barrage of rambling, and hurries up the stairs, shaking his head.

No wonder she’s so weird, with a mother like that!

He reaches the door to Sakura’s room quickly, and for a moment pauses in front of it. A sudden, overwhelming feeling of doubt hits him, and he wonders if this is what he is supposed to be doing after all. Maybe he should just wait to see her in class…

The idea of being watched apologise to her in front of their classmates makes his skin crawl.

No. Here is good. Simple and quick and then I’ll go home.

And so he takes a steadying breath, and pushes open the door.

There is a brief image of Sakura – her face red, and wet – and is she crying? He did not sign up for her crying, maybe he should just –

“KYAAAH! Don’t you knock?!”

A pillow is tossed at him, and would hit him right in the face if he didn’t duck.

“S-Sasuke?” he hears her say, tentative. When he recovers himself, he sees her face go from indignant to shocked to mortified. “Oh, my – I’m so sorry! I thought you were my mom!”

“So you threw something at her?” he inquires, studying her. He realises the reason her face is wet because it’s covered in sweat; perspiration actually soaks through her tunic. She is also positioning her body in front of something, which he thinks must have held her attention before he entered the room.

When she notices his eyes trying to see around her body, she frowns in consideration, then motions for him to close the door. When he does, she shifts aside, and gestures to the desk behind her. Or rather, what is on the desk behind her.

Sasuke realises that what she’s been hiding is a bird.

A hawk, actually.

It’s right wing is twisted at an odd angle, and some of its feathers are badly bent. The creature is arranged in a makeshift nest of a shoebox, papers and cloth, and every now and then makes feeble cooing sounds. When Sasuke takes a tentative step forward, it turns a distrustful yellow eye on him.

“It flew into my window yesterday,” Sakura explains. “I tried to heal him, but I put too much power into it and had to stop it before I accidentally hurt him. But that kind of knocked me out, so that’s why I wasn’t in school today. Mom’s been freaking out at me because I wouldn’t tell her what happened, but he’s not back to normal, so I thought I’d try again, only a little less because I really don’t want a lecture again and…and why are you looking at me like that?”

He is staring at her in amazement, the kind that only just overrides his usual jealousy, because healing and medical ninjutsu are incredibly advanced and how does she even know what to do?

“There is something wrong with you,” he informs her.

She tenses up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, how are you real?” he demands. “People aren’t like this, they’re aren’t so…you’re always nice and helpful and how do you have time to be like that when you’re so busy doing stuff like this?”

He gestures to the bird on her desk, which makes a weak noise of indignation.

Sakura smiles now, that odd, almost patronizing smile of hers, like she’s somehow more mature than him. And not just in a four-months-older kind of way, but the way he’s seen his brother and older cousins look at him.

“I study a lot,” she tells him. “Not all of us are born geniuses, right?”

He can’t think of a thing to say to this.

“Was there something you wanted?” she goes on, and then a sharper note enters her voice. “I thought I didn’t exist to you.”

He shifts uncomfortably at this.

“I…might have…I mean…I shouldn’t have…” Sasuke cringes, because it shouldn’t be this hard to get the words out. Taking a steadying breath, he blurts out, “I’m sorry.”

An expression of absolute shock overtakes her features, and he finds – oddly enough – that it’s not a bad look on her. When it morphs into genuine pleasure, a sense of relief fills him.

“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” she says softly, a faraway look flitting through her eyes. “Thank you.”

Sasuke can’t help frowning at this, because this all feels very backward. He feels as if he should be the one who is thanking her. And not just for congratulating him the day earlier.

Why does she always make me feel like things are out of order?

Noticing the way he is watching her, and she prompts, “What?”

“You’re not like any of the other girls,” he tells her, a minor accusing note in his voice.

She smirks at this. “Because I don’t throw myself at you?”

“No,” he insists quickly, the back of his neck turning red because he sort of means ‘yes’.

She laughs.

“I told you almost the first day we started at the Academy,” she reminds him. “I have feelings for you.” This time, hearing those words makes his stomach flip a little. “But I can’t let that get in the way of my training again. I’m going to become the most powerful kunoichi in the world one day. I’m going to help heal people, and protect the ones who are precious to me, and if I’m going to be ready, I have to put in the work now.”

And that at least is something he can understand. The need to become stronger, the need to live up to expectations – either one’s own or one’s family’s.

It’s possible that maybe, just maybe, he and Sakura have more in common than he considered.

“Besides,” she adds, matter-of-factly, “if I’m going to marry you one day, I have to be the best.”

Sasuke’s brain stalls at this, and he has to mentally repeat her words in his head. “…What?”

“Well, you’re an Uchiha,” she shrugs. “They’re not going to let you marry just anyone. I have to be better than everyone else, even all those talented Uchiha girls in your clan.”

Sasuke scowls and crosses his arms. “No one is going to let me do anything. I can marry whoever I want, and even if I cared about that sort of thing, it wouldn’t be you.”

She shoots him a taunting look of disbelief, and he straightens up, fists now clenched.

“In fact, I’m going to become an even better shinobi – much more powerful than you’ll ever be. And then you’ll never be able to marry me!”

It’s not his strongest argument, he’s aware, but he just wants to provoke a reaction.

Instead, she considers him thoughtfully, the way his mother and brother look at him when he is being stubborn or ridiculous. Then she tosses her hair and says, “Well, I guess there’s always Naruto.”

Sasuke sputters out an incomprehensible word, and Sakura dissolves into a fit of giggles.

“Your face – !” she cackles.

And Sasuke his entire body turn warm, and he should be annoyed – because no one mocks an Uchiha – but at the same time, he likes the sound of her laughter. It occurs to him he doesn’t hear it very often – she is generous with her smiles, but he’s never seen her actually laugh around anyone in their class.

Slowly the peals of laughter subside, and she calms herself.

“Don’t worry,” she tells him. “I wouldn’t want you to do something you don’t want. And who says I’ll ever get married? Lady Tsunade never got married and she’s a Sannin. Maybe I’ll be like her. There are worse things.” Something dark and pained crosses her features here, and in a quiet voice she adds, “I just want the people I care about to be happy.” Then she brightens up. “And that includes you, whether you like it or not.”

Without waiting for his reply, she turns around and refocuses on the bird, reaching down with her tiny hands and checking its wing.

Sasuke really has no idea what to say to this.

This girl – this strange, utterly mystifying girl – keeps tripping him up. Just when he thinks he’s figured her out, she says something or does something that completely alters his perception of her.

It’s still utterly annoying.

For once, he wants to say something or do something that puts her off balance. She’s always so resilient, always sure of everything around her, as if she already knows exactly how everything is going to turn out.

Perhaps that’s why he gives in to the first rash idea that comes to mind.

“Hey. Sakura.”

“Hm?”

She turns to face him, and quick as a snake, he leans over, closing the distance between them and pressing his mouth to hers.

It’s a brief peck, and it’s clumsy – he only catches the corner of her mouth – but she freezes, entire body going utterly tense, and he can’t help do the same because he just kissed a girl on the mouth.

He pulls back, half-shocked, half-impressed by his own daring, and stares at her. Sakura’s eyes are wide, and slowly – ever so slowly – her face turns darker and darker, steadily matching her hair.

“S-sasuke,” she whispers, like she isn’t sure how to use her voice, “why did you…?”

“I don’t know,” he snaps, all of a sudden feeling the pressing need to get out of there. He begins to back away from her, narrowing his eyes threateningly. “If you tell anyone…”

“I-I won't…” Sakura still seems too surprised and disbelieving. Maybe, if he’s lucky, she’ll think she imagined the whole thing.

Just in case she doesn’t, however, he jabs a finger at her when he reaches the door. “And this doesn’t mean I’m ever going to marry you!”

Without waiting for an answer, he yanks open the door and runs down the hallway – nearly knocking into Mebuki as she carries a tray of snacks up the stairs – desperate to get out of this weird house, with it’s even weirder women. Away from the strange girl that makes him do strange things.

Out the door and down the road, Sasuke coaches himself to run faster, to not stop until he’s back home where things always make sense. His mouth tingles oddly – not unpleasantly – and he feels the blood rushing to his face. He knows it’s not because he is running.

He doesn’t know what school is going to be like from now on. She might not say anything – he doubts she will, Sakura isn’t the type to embarrass people – but how is he supposed to look at her from now on? Was a brief moment of her being utterly stunned worth trying something so…ridiculous?

He casts his mind back, the image of her shocked, flustered expression permanently imprinted on his mind. A wan smirk of satisfaction tugs at the corners of his mouth.

Yes. Yes it was.

終わり

I hope you enjoyed the story! As part of the SasuSakuFestival, please go to the ssfest page and vote, like and/or reblog, it would be majorly appreciated!

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