Chapter Text
Sakura stretched her stiff limbs as the screeching of her alarm woke her. Muted sunlight streamed in through her sheer, pink curtains. She slammed the button to turn it off and nearly rolled back over to go back to sleep before remembering what day it was.
“I’m getting put on a team today!” She exclaimed, jumping out of bed. If I’m going to be on Sasuke-kun’s team I need to make sure I look extra good today, she thought as she rushed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
She made sure to take extra time shampooing her hair and washing her face. She applied a light layer of cherry lip balm on her lips and pinched at her cheeks to make them cute and pink. After getting dressed she spent quite a long time playing with where to place her new hitai-ate. There had been a lot of talk amongst her classmates in the days preceding the exam about fun places to wear them. Several girls mentioned wearing it around their neck as a sort of loose choker. Ino had been planning to wear it around her waist since before they became rivals. Sakura decided to try it on the traditional way and secretly enjoyed the way it covered her wide forehead, but then she remembered Ino’s words.
They make fun of your forehead more because you try to hide it, she had said. Sakura frowned slightly at the memory. That had been when she and Ino had first become friends, before Sakura had any confidence at all. Ino had seemed so strong and untouchable at the time – sometimes she still did.
She reached up and touched the red ribbon keeping her hair out of her face. Her and Ino’s friendship had already been put behind them. I’ll return the ribbon today, Sakura decided. Slowly she untied the fabric and slid it off her head. Her pink hair shifted forwards, curtaining around her face. She replaced it with the blue headband and gently folded the ribbon before putting it in her pouch. The standard blue of the fabric didn’t exactly fit the rest of Sakura’s outfit, but she wasn’t too worried about it. As long as she still looked cute.
“Sakura,” Her mom called up a warning that she would be late if she kept dawdling.
“I’m coming!” She shouted back, taking another quick moment to wink at her reflection.
“You look so cute,” Her mom cooed at her as she entered the living area. She helped straighten out any wrinkles in her dress and admired the hitai-ate in her daughters’ hair. As she fussed, she launched into a familiar lecture. “It’s important for a girl to make a good first impression, and even though you’ve been going to the academy for a while and know everyone already this will still be your first impression as a proper kunoichi. Make sure to smile!”
“I know, I know,” Sakura rolled her eyes affectionately. “A girl has to be strong and beautiful.”
“Exactly.”
The streets of Konoha were just starting to wake up as Sakura left her house. Vendors were just placing their wares onto their stalls. Shops were opening up their shutters and unlocking their doors. The smell of bread baking wafted down the road from a nearby bakery. Sakura took a longing whiff, but quickly reminded herself that she was on a diet. No bread for her. She ignored the rumbling in her stomach from her small breakfast and continued on her way.
“Sakura-chan, congratulations on graduating!” An elderly woman called to her from her stall. She was a jewelry merchant who frequently set herself on Sakura’s street, so the two of them quickly became acquainted.
“Thank you, Baa-san!” Sakura called back, not breaking her stride. She waved jovially to the old woman from over her shoulder.
Sakura refused to stop for anything. She wouldn’t show up to the academy covered in sweat and panting like she had the last time. It would be a terrible first impression, and would absolutely ruin all of her fantasies of being put on Sasuke-kun’s team. Sakura knew the odds were slim – there were a lot of kunoichi in their class and each team typically consisted of two boys and only one girl – but she still let herself hope. After all, every romance book she’d ever read pointed to her being matched with her love.
“I’m off!” A voice called, before Ino appeared exiting her families flower shop. Sakura stopped in her tracks and eyed her warily, forgetting completely about her plan to not stop for anything. Ino noticed her, a smirk forming on her lips. “Morning, Sakura.”
“Morning… Ino” Sakura hesitated before continuing on her way. Ino waited until Sakura reached her before falling into step beside her.
“Who would’ve thought you’d be able to graduate.” Ino started. She had brought the subject up when their parents brought them together to celebrate as well, but her tone was a lot more condescending this time.
“As of today, we’re both full-fledged ninjas,” Sakura replied haughtily. “I won’t lose to you anymore, Ino!”
Sakura pushed ahead of the blonde, determined to portray strength in front of the rival she admired. Ino picked up her pace as well, pushing ahead of Sakura. Refusing to be beaten, they both continued to increase their pace until they were practically racing to the academy. In the end, they both did break into full-on sprints towards their classroom, slamming into each other as they both tried to get through the door at the same time.
Sweaty and panting. Exactly how she didn’t want to enter the classroom today. The only bright side was that Ino was also in the same predicament. She and Ino began to bicker over who had gotten their first when messy raven locks caught Sakura’s eye. Standing straight and adjusting her clothes to exude an air of calm maturity, she walked over.
“Hey, will you let me through?” She asked the two boys in between her and her crush. Briefly, she registered that Naruto was one of them – standing out in his orange jumpsuit, as usual. Didn’t he fail? She wondered. But her attention was quickly pulled back to the beautifully carved face of indifference behind Naruto.
When Naruto didn’t move – or speak – for a solid minute, Sakura frowned deeply at him. His gaze drifted to the side and a lecherous blush creeped into his cheeks. Sakura’s patience snuffed out immediately.
“Naruto!” She shouted. “Move your ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!”
“Huh?” Confusion was clear on his face. He turned around to see what was so interesting beside him and his whole face fell. Sasuke-kun graced the orange idiot with a sidelong glance, but Naruto bristled at the look.
“What?” Sasuke-kun asked.
“What do you mean ‘what’?!” Naruto growled at him, standing up.
Sakura took that as the perfect opportunity and shoved Naruto down, practically leaping over him. “Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you?” Her voice rose an octave, emanating the cutesy persona she wanted him to see her as.
This was going perfectly! A few girls glared at her and grumbled about her luck – or audacity, in their words – but she simply scooted closer to the Uchiha.
Today I’m going to get Sasuke-kun’s first kiss! Inner Sakura promised, raising a fist in determination.
Without any warning, Sakura’s perfect view of the raven-haired boy was partially obscured as a mass of orange landed on the table in front of him.
Sakura rose in indignation. What was Naruto doing glaring at Sasuke like that? It was just like the menace to pick a fight out of nowhere, while Sasuke-kun was just sitting there, minding his own business, being perfect.
“Hey, Naruto!” Sakura shouted, her voice dropping back down to her natural octave. “Get out of Sasuke-kun’s face!”
Naruto ignored her as Sasuke glared back up at him just as fiercely.
“Sasuke-kun, kick his ass!” Someone shouted behind her.
“Yeah!” A chorus of voices agreed.
They all died out immediately, however, as Naruto let out a grunt and fell forward. Sakura felt her stomach drop and stood frozen as she watched her Sasuke-kun’s mouth be assaulted by the blonde idiot. After a beat, her brain kicked back into gear and she let out a horrified scream that was echoed by the girls around her.
Sasuke-kun hissed something at Naruto, but Sakura couldn’t hear it over the fury rising in her and clouding her thoughts. Naruto froze, a shiver visibly ran up his spine, and slowly he spun around to lock eyes with Sakura.
“It was an accident…” He mumbled, backing away from her.
Sakura cracked her knuckles, not processing a word he said. “Naruto… you’re annoying.”
“Huh?”
“Beginning today, all of you are real ninjas,” Iruka-sensei began once the class settled down. Sakura kept an ear open for instructions but ultimately was more focused on discreetly scooting closer to the Uchiha next to her. On her other side, Naruto groaned, nursing his wounds. She didn’t mean to hit him so hard, but she had seen red and attacked without restraint.
“But you are still merely rookie genin,” Iruka-sensei continued. “The hard part has just started. Soon you will be assigned duties by the village.”
Sakura wasn’t at all surprised to hear they would be put on three-man teams and chaperoned by a Jonin. She had done her research, of course. That didn’t stop her from perking up considerably at the mention of it. I have to be with Sasuke-kun! She thought. She listened attentively as Iruka began listing off the teams. Her anxiety rose as each team went by without her or Sasuke-kun’s names being mentioned.
Finally, after what felt ridiculously long for just counting off names, Iruka got to the seventh team.
“Next, team 7…” He said, as Sakura’s hopes started to dwindle. “Haruno Sakura…”
Her heart skipped a beat. Your team was incredibly important. Even if Sasuke-kun wasn’t on hers, the next two names called would have an enormous impact on her life going forward.
“Uzumaki Naruto…”
Sakura’s heart dropped. Her mother would not be happy about this… For reasons Sakura didn’t know – and had never questioned – her parents did not like the rambunctious blonde. As far as she could tell, none of the adults around them did. It must have been deserved. He did play a lot of pranks, thought secretly Inner Sakura deeply enjoyed his pranks. Her head fell forward in defeat even as Naruto jumped for joy next to her.
“…and Uchiha Sasuke.”
Sakura was out of her seat, cheering even louder than Naruto had been, before she realized what she was doing. Naruto or no, this was the best-case scenario. She would gladly deal with him if it meant spending the rest of her genin days side-by-side with the Uchiha!
“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto yelled, sounding extremely put out. His hand shot out to point over Sakura’s head at Sasuke-kun. “Why does an outstanding ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bum!”
Sakura felt her temper flare once more, but Iruka beat her to the punch. He loudly berated Naruto about keeping the balance between teams, and how Sasuke-kun was the best among the students. Sakura knew he would be. He was so cool!
“Just don’t get in my way.” Sasuke said, calmly. “Deadlast…”
Naturally, Naruto started yelling.
Sakura wouldn’t skip lunch. She had already had a small breakfast of only fruit and she was planning on skipping dinner. Since she actually ended up on Sasuke-kun’s team, there was no way she would put on any weight. She had to be even more careful now than before. She brought her lunch outside, wanting a moment to be alone. Thinking about how she had to be more mindful of her looks sent her spiraling down a self-deprecating line of thoughts.
Even if I go after him using my looks, my breasts and butt are below average. She thought, resting her chin in her hands. She often admired the curves that grown women sported and felt that it would never happen for her. She didn’t understand. Ino’s boobs were already growing! The only thing above average is the size of my forehead. Sakura’s forehead was still a huge sore spot for her. She wished there was a way to fix it, but so far, she only knew of using a henge to slightly change her appearance. Theoretically, she could do it. Ino’s comment about hiding it flashed brightly in her mind before she could stop it.
As she was ruminating on how much it bothered her, she could a flash of blue in the corner of her eye. Looking up, she saw Sasuke-kun leaning against a tree across the path looking directly at her! He’s looking right at me, she thought. And with warm eyes. It feels like he’s looking into my heart.
Sakura’s imagination ran away with the line of thought before she could help herself.
“You sure have a large, charming forehead…” Imaginary Sasuke said, staring deeply into her eyes. “Makes me want to kiss it.”
“That’s what it’s for.” She replied dreamily
She let out a deep, bone-weary sigh. Her daydream took it too far and just made her more depressed. Geez… she thought. Like that would happen.
“You sure have a large, charming forehead.” A deep voice said from above her. Sakura’s heart stopped as she looked up to find Sasuke-kun standing directly in front of her with a smirk lifting at the corners of his lips. “Makes me want to kiss it.”
…
What?
YES! He’s mine! Inner Sakura shouted, drowning out her own shock.
“Ha, that sounds like something Naruto would say.” He deadpanned.
Sakura’s shoulders slumped. Of course.
“Sakura, there’s something I want to ask you.” He said, sitting down. He didn’t seem to notice her roller-coaster of emotions.
“Huh?” She replied, intelligently.
“What do you think of Naruto?”
The question gave her pause. Why would he ask about that of all things? She supposed it must be because they were all on a team now and he wanted to get a feel for how the dynamic would be.
She took a moment to consider Naruto. Her parents wouldn’t approve. Plus, he was always getting in between her and Sasuke-kun. She couldn’t help but remember the kissing incident that ruined her whole morning.
“He’s always getting in the way of my love…” She said bitterly. She was supposed to be Sasuke-kun’s first kiss, damn it! “And he enjoys seeing me struggle. Naruto doesn’t understand anything about me. He’s just annoying.”
Sasuke looked surprised at that. His eyes were more open and vulnerable than Sakura could ever remember seeing them before, so she decided to be brave this once and continued. “All I want is… for you to acknowledge me.”
Sakura was not going to hesitate and lose this chance! Her mom would be so proud. She leaned in closer to him and said, “I’m serious. I would do anything. Because… I like you.”
Sakura closed her eyes, inching closer. For a moment, she was so sure.
This was it!
Her first kiss!
Ino would die.
At the last moment, Sasuke pulled away – a pained look on his face. Without a word, he got up and nearly ran away.
“What’s wrong?” She called. Not now! Her first kiss…
“I’ll be… right back…” He grunted.
Sasuke-kun is so shy, she realized. He must not be ready yet.
Sakura was a little disappointed, but of course she would wait as long as he needed. She’d been ready since before she even liked Sasuke-kun. When she was young and had no friends, she had spent all her time reading alone at home. Mainly she read her mom’s collection of romance novels. That was how she knew that a good husband was the most important thing to a woman. She often daydreamed about a handsome, charming man like the love-interests she read about, and Sasuke-kun fit that to a tee.
It wasn’t too long before Sasuke came strolling back down the path, looking significantly more like his usual cool and composed self. He didn’t look at her. Sakura reasoned that he must still be embarrassed about earlier. She had been so flustered that her lunch still sat on the bench, completely untouched.
“Oh! Sasuke-kun, you’re so shy.” She said, jumping up to greet him. “Are you ready now? I sure am!”
He simply looked past her. She briefly noticed that his face which had been so open a while ago was once again closed off in his usual glare – not that she didn’t like his cool side! She had just been excited to see a new side of him that seemed to care about her.
“It’s time to go,” he said, barely making eye-contact. “Where’s Naruto?”
Again? She thought. Why is everything about Naruto with him today. She mentally berated herself for that thought. A proper woman would never criticize her lover – or so her mom would say.
She chuckled nervously, “Don’t change the subject… Who cares about Naruto? All he does is fight with you.”
As she said it, Sakura remembered her mother’s words from the other day. ‘If only he had parents…’ she had said. Clearly, that was the problem. Her parents had said do.
Intending to look mature, Sakura folding her arms and nodded sagely. “Well, he hasn’t had a normal childhood. He doesn’t have any parents.”
If she hadn’t been so preoccupied with appearing “gown up”, Sakura might have noticed that she had finally gotten Sasuke’s undivided attention.
“He can do whatever he wants.” She continued, following the adult’s logic – which had never steered her wrong before. “If I acted like him my parents would get so mad at me.”
Sakura was getting carried away. Inner Sakura joined in by reminding her how much she wished she could get away with what Naruto could. She would do it too… if… “He’s so lucky, all alone, parents never getting on his case.
“That’s why he misbehaves so much…” She trailed off as she opened her eyes and saw the faraway look in Sasuke-kun’s eyes.
“…All alone…” He mumbled. She almost didn’t catch it.
“Huh?”
“The sadness of having a parent yell at you,” he said, not looking at her. “Is nowhere near what he feels.”
Has Sasuke always been this close to Naruto? She thought, her panic rising. I thought he hated him too.
“What’s this… all of a sudden?” She hated how shaky her voice was as she asked.
“You’re,” he growled, looking up and catching her eyes in a harsh glare. “…annoying.”
.
.
.
Sasuke-kun had left her frozen there without another word. She couldn’t be sure how much time had passed since then, but it was the first time that Sakura didn’t care that she was going to be late. She had felt her heart drop. He hated her… Sakura thought about how often she had uttered that same sentence. Had it always cut like this?
Did Naruto feel like this too? She thought. She knew she flung that phrase at him often enough. How did he still smile at her so brightly after that?
“Maybe next time…” She whispered aloud to herself. “I can be a little nicer.”