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Chapter Text

"Just set them on the counter top, I will sort them and put them away so you can get started on your homework," Mikoto instructed as she handed Itachi two grocery bags before loading her own arms with the rest of the shopping and closing the trunk of the white SUV.

"Ah," Itachi replied in the minimal Uchiha fashion.

With a brown paper bag cradled in each of his, just beginning to get muscular, teenage boy arms, Itachi proceeded to follow his mother's instructions. Taking the side door that led directly into the kitchen from the three car parking garage, Itachi twisted the knob then nudged the door open with his foot as he stepped into the kitchen.

From infancy, Itachi had always been hyper sensitive to his surroundings. Nothing ever startled him, nor was he often surprised, having been exposed to many unthinkable things that made up the dark secrets of his family. However, when he lifted his charcoal orbs from the package of sweet dango that he had been eyeballing since his mother first handed him the bag, Itachi came to an abrupt stop when he took in the sight before him.

For the first time in his life, Itachi was at a loss as to what to do. For sitting at the counter he was instructed to set the bags, was a fairy nymph.

Bright, ethereally colored rosy hair, contrasted vividly against the pristine white marble tabletop and matching white backwash that themed the kitchen. She crouched, more than sat on one of the tall stools in order to be high enough to reach the small pile of snack cakes before her. At the moment her eyes were closed, a happy smile adorning her lips, as she chewed the mouthful of half eaten swiss roll in her hand. He watched as she paused mid chew and was taken aback when another vivid color was suddenly added to the scene before him.

Lush green eyes, brilliant and as lively as the spring growth they mimicked, snapped open and stared at him. Her happy chewing came to an abrupt stop as she froze like a deer caught in headlights. For the entire minute in which they stared back at each other, the girl did not so much as bat a single eyelash.

It was then that his analytical mind somehow managed enough function, to gently remind him that such things did not exist. Reprocessing what he was seeing, Itachi realized that his mind was right, it was not a fairy, just a girl that looked like a fairy. However this did not cure his stricken stance as now he was trying to figure out why exactly there was a strange little girl sitting at his family's kitchen table.

"Itachi, what are you just standing there for, move asiー"

His mother's voice was cut off when she managed to push him to the side slightly as she herself attempted to make her way to the counter top. It was then and only then, that the little girl moved. Her green irises made the smallest of shifts as her attention switched from Itachi to the woman that now stood beside him. For several prolonged seconds, her large eyes moved back and forth between the two Uchihas as she continued to sit stock still.

"Oh," Mikoto exclaimed with surprise. She blinked back at the pink haired goldilocks sitting in her kitchen. "Hello there, who are you?"

The girl's green eyes moved from Itachi who watched her closely, back to Mikoto. For a long moment, Itachi thought the girl would not answer her, most likely too petrified to move. But then she surprised him by answering.

"Sakura."

It was offered in a quiet tone and muffled from the mouthful of swiss roll the girl had still yet to swallow. Slowly, without taking her eyes from them, Sakura set the half eaten swissroll in her hand onto the table and pushed it away. With slow caution, she sank low into the chair until only half her face was visible as she peeked out at them over the smooth counter. Her small fingers gripped the counter tightly on either side of her face as she did her best to seemingly hide herself from the incriminating wrappers that littered the counters surface.

At the sight of the obviously terrified pixie girl, Mikoto's motherly instincts that had always been her dominant trait, kicked in. Setting her bag of groceries on the counter next to the stove, she took a couple cautious steps towards the girl, stopping when she noticed the girl's eyes widened fractionally.

She surveyed the tiny figure that peeked out at her.

Judging by her size, Mikoto put the girl at around her youngest son's age. Her fluorescent locks, held back by a red ribbon and wide green apple eyes were, in no better words, adorable. It took everything within the woman not to squeal with delight and pick up the little girl in the same manor she would a cute little puppy or tiny kitten. Instead, she offered her the warmest smile she could give.

"It is nice to meet you Sakura, my name is Mikoto and this is my son Itachi," she said pointing to herself then her son who took a curious step closer as well. "This is our home, may I ask what you are doing here?"

The question was phrased so softly that it held no accusation. At her words, green eyes flicked to the right of Mikoto. As if on cue, there was a rustle, followed by the sound of packaging being torn open, then the patter of footsteps coming from the pantry area. Mikoto turned around just in time to see Sasuke walking out with his arm wrapped around a box of fruit snacks as the other hand fished around for a packet.

He stopped abruptly when he spotted his mother giving him a look that demanded answers. His dark eyes flickered to Sakura for a moment before he looked back to his mother and Itachi.

"Sasuke," Mikoto said in a gentle but warning tone. It was not that she disliked her son having friends over, in fact she celebrated that he had a friend over. But she did not like unannounced play dates with strange children that she had no idea to whom they belonged to. "Who brought Sakura over and when did she arrive?" she questioned, casting a quick, warm smile to the small girl before twisting back around to give Sasuke a penetrating stare.

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment. "No one," he answered as he walked past her and began to clamber up onto the chair next to Sakura.

"What do you mean no one?" she asked. "Then how did she get here?"

Sasuke took his time to open a packet of fruit snacks and dump them out onto the table. "I brought her," he answered, not taking his eyes off of the table as he separated the snacks by color.

"And where, may I ask, if it is not too bothersome, did you bring her from?"

Passing on the green and yellow fruit snacks to Sakura, as he kept the blue and red for himself, Sasuke pulled his attention away from Sakura, who was watching all of them in turn. He spared his mother a single look, an annoyance about his face as if his mother's inquisition was indeed, too bothersome.

"Park," Sasuke answered before turning away from her.

Mikoto's brow twitched at the single worded answer. When Itachi adopted her husband's habit of grunts, hums, and single syllable answers, she thought it was cute. But the novelty of it had worn off quickly to annoyance when she realized her second son was quickly picking up the habit as well.

She put her hands on her hips and gave him a hard stare. She cleared her throat, causing him to look back to her, irritation written all over his face. "What do you mean the park?" She demanded as her impatience began to manifest in her voice.

"Found her," he answered with a shrug but after a dark look that took over his mother's usually sweet face, he swallowed and expanded his answer. "I liked her so I brought her home."

Mikoto found herself nodding automatically but then froze when her son's words registered.

It really should not have surprised her all that much. Sasuke was very much like a magpie when it came to bringing home a shiny or colorful trinket that he had found while playing at the park. They varied from soda caps to lost earrings, torn papers to untwined strings. It always seemed so innocent and harmless...until now.

"Sasuke," she began slowly as a sickening feeling filled her stomach. "Does her mother know that she is here?"

Without a thought Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. The reality of his gesture delayed a reaction from Mikoto, and then her eyes widened at her son for a moment, just before she erupted.

"Sasuke Uchiha! Did you kidnap this girl?!"

She held the small girl in her arms as she carried her across the street. It was sweet but slightly worrisome just how easily Sakura had allowed Mikoto to pick her up, her small arms wrapping around her as easily as if she were her real mother. It was no wonder Sasuke had gotten her to follow him home. Did the girl just go along with anything?

She looked down at the girl to find her already gazing up at her. Mikoto could not help but smile as the girl gave her a toothy smile. She then adjusted herself in her arms to peak back behind Mikoto. Mikoto turned her head to the side to take in the sulking Sasuke who trudged behind them.

His face was pulled into the usual sour expression that made him look like his father as he walked with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He shot a glare up to his mother which softened when he noticed Sakura peeking over her shoulder at him. Sakura released her hold on Mikoto's arm and waved her tiny hand. Mikoto could not help but let out a small chuckle as Sasuke quickly dipped his head as the tips of his ears turned pink.

As they finally crossed the street and arrived at the edge of the park, Mikoto's amusement was lost when she spotted two police officers speaking with a frantic woman with blonde hair. Her motherly intuition told her that this could only be Sakura's mother, given the near desperate hand gestures and worried expression.

This assumption was confirmed the moment the woman's panicked eyes were directed at her. They were the same color as Sakura's. She let out a cry of happy relief as she abandoned her reporting to the officers and ran over to her.

Mikoto easily surrendered Sakura as the woman gripped her from her arms and hugged her in relief. "Sakura," she exclaimed, "where on earth have you been?"

"I am so sorry," Mikoto began, bringing the other mothers attention to her. "She has been over at my house. I arrived home with my other son to find her in our kitchen. His cousin is supposed to be watching him but he must have snuck out to come to the park. I fear my son, while innocently well intentioned, kidnapped your daughter." As she said this, she turned to the side and pushed a scowling Sasuke forward. "Sasuke," she prompted.

Sasuke only looked up at her with a frown. And only when Mikoto raised a warning brow did he mutter out a bitter 'sorry'.

Mikoto rolled her eyes and offered another, more sincere apology. With her daughter now safely in her arms, and the scare of absence now subsided. Mebuki gave out a small amused laugh as she set Sakura down on the ground, though keeping a tight hold on her hand.

She waved her hand in a breezy gesture. "It's quite alright, it was not your fault. Really it's mine, I should have been paying more attention and Sakura really should know better. We have talked about it but she is unfortunately a little too trusting." She looked down at her daughter and tugged on her arm to grab her attention. "Sakura what on earth were you thinking? We don't got to strangers' houses." She cast a glance at Sasuke. "No matter how old or young they are."

Sakura brought her lips up into a frown. "But he said he had snacks. They had chocolate cakes, and gummies!"

Mebuki gave her an exasperated look. "Well I hope you enjoyed them because you won't be getting any sweets for a month."

The distressed, followed by the dejected look that washed over Sakura's face made both women laugh at the silent lament of such a thing. As their laughter died down, Mikoto offered a hand to the blonde woman. "I am Mikoto," she greeted, "and this is Sasuke," she added, grabbing a hold of her son as she positioned him in front of her.

Mebuki shook her hand and gave a friendly wave to Sasuke who ignored her.

"Sasuke," Mikoto gritted but she too was ignored as Sasuke wandered over next to Sakura and grabbed her free hand. Mikoto shook her head. "Sorry it's not you, he is like this with everyone. I am hoping it is just a phase. Although he seems quite taken with your daughter."

Mebuki waved her off. "It's quite alright. I am Mebuki by the way and of course you know Sakura already. We just moved her along with my husband. We live in the neighborhood down the block."

Mikoto's eyes brightened at the news. "Oh that is wonderful," she exclaimed. "You know Sasuke's birthday is coming up at the end of the month. We would certainly love to have Sakura. Since you are new to the area it would give her a chance to meet some friends and you could meet some of the other mothers."

Mebuki was more than happy to accept. Exchanging numbers the two mothers broke into casual conversation. All the while, Sasuke dragged Sakura off to play on the playground, tugging her along as they went down the slide and shoving any other child away when they tried to help her get up the climbing wall.

When it came time for them to depart, Mikoto called for Sakura and she obediently ran over to her mother. As she took her mother's hand, she gave a happy wave first to Mikoto, then to her newest friend.

Sasuke, however, was not as compliant.

Wordlessly he walked to Sakura and grabbed her hand as he began to make for his own home. When told that Sakura was to go home to her house, Sasuke gave both mothers a hard look before seeming to prepare himself to walk with Sakura and her mother to go to their house. This only caused Mikoto to pick him up at the waist and carry him off. While he threw a silent tantrum, she began to walk home with him tucked under her arm, his legs and arms dangling in the air as he watched Sakura walking away in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry Sasuke," Mikoto assured him as she continued to carry his defeated form across the street. "I am sure you will see Sakura soon. She's the same age and will be starting school with you in the fall. Won't that be nice? You will be able to introduce her to all your friends and see her nearly every day."

As Sasuke registered this in his child mind, he was torn. Yes, his mother was right, it would be good to see Sakura almost everyday at school. However, his mother was wrong about one thing. He would most certainly not be introducing Sakura to any of his friends. Sakura was his, and like the selfish boy he was, he did not share.

Chapter Text

Due to her family being busy unpacking and settling into their new home and city, Sasuke had only seen Sakura for a few short afternoons at the park when Mikoto, after the constant nagging of her son, reached out and offered to take Sakura for a few hours to let her have a break from the chaos of unpacking.

Each time, Sasuke had been determined to take her home with him and when his mother told him she had to go to her own house, he insisted on coming along to drop her off each time. And each time he had been found trying to sneak out of the car and attempting to infiltrate Sakura's home unnoticed. So long as he had Sakura, he was content with sacrificing his family, even if he would miss his mother's cooking and his big brothers piggy back rides. It would be worth it. At least that was how he saw it.

Unfortunately his mother did not. And each time he was forced back into their car, kicking and grunting, by his unamused mother. Mikoto learned quickly and by the third time she dropped Sakura off, she had activated the child's lock on the door, thus trapping Sasuke from escaping the car while she walked Sakura to the front door. Sasuke had been bitter towards his mother since then, at least until his birthday finally arrived.

After checking with his mother several times on the morning of the party that Sakura was in fact coming, a habit that had been repeated every morning for the past week, Sasuke had softened towards her as he eagerly waited for the festivities to begin. But when his first guests arrived, and none of them possessed even the slightest shade of pink hair, his mood soured.

Balloons of blue and red hovered over tables, chairs, and anything else that Mikoto had managed to tie and anchor the party decorations to. There were a few tables set up where adults were gathered around, while children ran every which way, throwing fake ninja stars that had been given as party favors. Within the bouncy house, it too being themed with ninjas, screams of children echoed from it as the gleeful cheer of happy jumpers escaped the confines of the inflated structure.

Sasuke had managed to climb on top of the stone wall that served as the perimeter of his mother's beloved garden as he looked out across the scene of the chaotic party. His perch was right next to the table that was overflowing with wrapped packages and gift bags with tissue paper sticking out to hide their contents.

Just below, his best friend was busily helping himself to Sasuke's presents, picking them up, shaking them, then moving on to the next as he made a guess as to what was inside. Occasionally he would peek past the tissue paper of the gift bags, either giving out a chirp of excitement or a groan of displeasure, as if it was he who was receiving the gifts and not the current birthday boy squatting above him.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto chimed as he peeked into a particularly large bag and spotted a Ninjago lego set. "Can I play with the present that I got you when you open it? I've been dying to try it out."

"Hn."

While the hum would mean nothing to most people, Naruto had grown up with Sasuke and therefore was fluent in the grunting language of the Uchiha males. He had asked the question, not really expecting Sasuke to agree. Sasuke never shared unless he had two of something, and even then he made it seem like he was making a great and benevolent sacrifice.

He is what Naruto dubbed, a bastard. He didn't know what that word meant, nor was he allowed to say it, at least not in front of adults. But he had heard it in a movie Itachi and Shisui had let them watch one time when Sasuke's parents were gone. The way the actor said it, it just sounded so powerfully insulting at the time. So he adopted it into his insults, right next to poopy head and stupid face.

As Naruto looked up to his friend in surprise, he found that Sasuke was not even looking at him. He was busy looking around the back yard with a frown on his face. Naruto formed his own frown. Sasuke had been like this for the whole party so far, and frankly, it was not very fun. Naruto was just about to say as much, but then he caught sight of an oddly shaped package he had yet to shake and abandoned any care as he started to devise what glorious toy could make such a shape.

"Hey Sasuke."

Naruto paused in his present perusal when Sasuke's older cousin and brother approached them. Shisui wore a mirthful grin, the one he always donned when he was going about his favorite activity: teasing Sasuke. Next to him Itachi walked quietly, his face drawn in indifference.

Sasuke did not even pay them any attention as Shisui leaned up against the stone wall he was perched on.

"Isn't the birthday boy supposed to be enjoying his party instead of pouting?" Shisui continued. Again Sasuke ignored him, which only served to encourage, rather than discourage, Shisui from pestering him further.

However Itachi observed his brother, taking in the concentrated search of his eyes as well as the slight slouch of disappointment in his posture. Knowing his cousin would only continue to antagonize his little brother, Itachi spoke up. "Sasuke," Itachi called, bringing Sasuke's attention from the yard to those present for the first time. "Is something wrong?" he asked in a more genuine manor than his cousin.

While his brother was still very young and oftentimes upset for selfish reasons, Itachi could not help but always be worried. If there was something bothering him, he would do everything in his power to make it right. Shisui said he spoiled Sasuke, but Itachi did not care. When Sasuke was born, Itachi's inherent need to protect his brother was instilled within him. Since the first time Itachi held the little bundle that scowled up at him, Itachi had always vowed to keep him safe and happy.

"Ooooooh, I know what's wrong," Shisui singsonged. "He's just upset because his girlfriend stood him up." He let out a teasing laugh as he looked at Itachi and Naruto. "How embarrassing," he not so quietly whispered behind the back of his hand as he moved to poke Sasuke in the side.

Sasuke shoved his hand away and gave Shisui a dark look. "Shut up!" he barked. "You are just a stupid face!"

Shisui let out a sound that mimicked a cat hissing. "Temper, temper Sasuke," he tsked. "You ought to respect your elders, especially me."

"I don't owe you anything," Sasuke growled.

"Humph," Shisui huffed. "So much for gratitude. You know if it weren't for me you would not have even met your girlfriend. Do you know how much trouble I got in for that!?"

"Eww, Sasuke you have a girlfriend?" Naruto questioned, a wrapped box paused half way to his ear as his face contorted in disgust.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sasuke screamed, his face turning red, and only partially out of anger.

Shisui opened his mouth to say something else but Itachi stopped him. "Letting my little brother wander off while you were too fixated on obtaining the Knife of Kiss Me is hardly a merit worth earning praise for," he said dryly. While he had hardly shown it, he was still slightly bitter against his beloved cousin of a best friend for not keeping a close enough eye on his brother.

Shusui let out a high pitched sound of offense. "It's the sword of Kusanagi," Shisui corrected. "And I will have you know that sword is one of a kind and gives me a +25 attack as well as gives me the power to body flicker! Since getting it I have become a virtual celebrity in the forums, to the point that people have nicknamed me Shisui of the Body Flicker!"

Itachi rolled his eyes. His cousin's obsession with video games had always baffled him. While he himself played them, and played them well, he was certainly not as fascinated with them as his cousin. Shisui was a genius, but he was really good at hiding it with his immaturity. While Itachi was certainly mature for his age, he still thought that any person his age, especially three years his senior, should know that you don't leave a child unattended for however long it took to earn a sword of Kusanagi.

"It still doesn't validate letting a five year old wander out of the house by himself."

"Excuse me but he was four, he just turned five today," Shusui defended.

"That doesn't make it any better," Itachi muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was positive that Shisui was the reason why he was already developing stress lines.

Shisui's antics and Itachi's calm and pacifist tone was tuned out as Sasuke caught sight of a fluorescent color that, before two weeks ago, he despised. The moment he saw Sakura and her mom pass through the side gate of the house, he went straight into action. Hoping down to the ground, he sprinted towards them, crossing the grassy yard as he weaved in and out of adults and children with a skill most toddlers his age did not possess.

"I am so sorry we are late," he heard Sakura's mother say to his mother. "We were just headed out the door when the delivery man came to hook up the new dishwasher and it took longer than expected."

"Oh that's quite alright. Next time just call and I will be more than happy to come pick Sakura up and bring her over," Mikoto said sweetly.

Mebuki gave her a smile. "Oh I couldn't ask that of you! You are the hostess."

"Nonsense," Mikoto countered. "Besides I think Sasuke has been eagerly awaiting her to come." She turned around to look for her son and brightened when she caught sight of him approaching. "Oh Sasuke! Look who just..."

Sasuke did not even give his mother a glance as he snatched Sakura's hand and immediately turned away in a retreat, Sakura in tow.

He kept to the perimeter of the party, the risk of other children spotting them and wanting to join was too risky if he went straight through. And while normally that is what you did at birthday parties, play with other kids, Sasuke was not too keen on giving up any precious moments he could have with her.

Eventually they arrived at the lone table that held the snacks and drinks. A large plastic table cloth hung over the sides, nearly touching the ground. Lifting the red colored cloth with black swirly designs, he pushed Sakura underneath.

"Wait here," he demanded, more than instructed, before going around to the front of the table where he started piling snacks onto a plate.

He was just about to return when his mother called him over to greet some family members that had just arrived. He didn't care for traditional manners, however his mother did. So he was forced to abandon his plate and walk back over to the house to endure pinched cheeks, tight hugs, and to listen to senseless prattle about how big he had gotten.

Under the table, Sakura compliantly waited. Hugging her crouched legs, she let out a small sigh as she looked down at her saddled feet. It was hot under the table with the plastic tablecloth trapping the high noon heat, but she did not dare venture outside without Sasuke. She had been nervous when she had arrived with her mother. As she looked around at the large party, all she saw were strange faces. While around the Uchiha's she found an ease with each member of the family, Sakura was usually shy around unknowns. A feat that was currently manifesting as she peeked timidly out from under the table as she looked for Sasuke.

She spotted him across the yard talking to an elderly woman who looked very much like the rest of his family members. Bright green eyes took in the rest of the party, the bouncy house, the games, the cake, it all looked fun. But as tempting as they all were, seeing so many unfamiliar children intimidated her and she retreated back under the table, determined to wait for Sasuke.

Not much later, there was a rustle of plastic and Sakura turned around to see the tablecloth being lifted. Having been expecting to see Sasuke, she froze when the opposite of Sasuke peeked in at her. Sunny blonde hair and bright blue eyes greeted her as a strange boy bent his head under the table.

"Hi!" he exclaimed loudly, then to Sakura's horror, he climbed underneath to join her, his bright orange shorts and matching t-shirt bringing even more brilliance to his aurora.

Sakura froze, petrified and uncertain as to what to do. She had never done well with other kids at her preschool. They tugged her hair and teased her for her large forehead. However….this kid seemed different. He didn't seem vindictive or mean, in fact he was…

"I'm Naruto!" he declared proudly, jabbing a thumb into his chest as he sat on his knees in front of her. "I'm gonna be the mayor one day, just like my dad! Believe it!" When Sakura only stared back at him, he cocked his head to the side. "Are you under here because you don't have any friends? Wanna be my friend? I've never seen you before, are you new around here?" he rapidly asked.

She silently nodded.

"What's your name?"

Sakura swallowed slightly. "S-sakura," she answered when she finally found her voice.

"Is that your real hair color?"

Dread seeped into Sakura. This was it, this was the moment when this seemingly nice person would turn on her and start making fun of her.

"Y-yes," she said hesitantly.

There was a pause and Sakura's heart counted the seconds until the mocking would begin. But again, this strange boy found a way to surprise her once more.

"Cool!" he said loudly, as he leaned forward.

His face came just an inch from hers as he looked at the pink strands. Sakura leaned back slightly to keep at least some distance between them, but the lack of personal space didn't seem to bother him and he just leaned closer. It was then that the table cloth was lifted and they both turned their heads to see Sasuke looking at them, his dark eyes flickering back and forth between them and his mouth turning downward as he noted how close they were.

He was between them in an instant, shoving Naruto away from her onto his back as he glared at his friend. "Get your stinky breath away from her. Sakura doesn't like you!"

Naruto pushed slightly back up from the ground, a hurt look coming to his face as he looked at Sakura. "Really?" he said, his voice sounding betrayed, as if they had been friends for years instead of minutes.

A sense of kindredship suddenly went out to the poor boy and before Sakura knew what she was doing, she was shaking her head vigorously. "NO!" she exclaimed. "I like you!"

Sasuke's head turned to her with a snap. "Sakura, you don't want to be friends with him, he is noisy and stinky like ramen."

Sakura frowned slightly. She was torn. She liked Sasuke, he was her only friend here and she felt a loyalty to him. He had shared his snacks with her and let her play with all of the best toys he had. However, she liked the other boy too. He was nice to her and didn't make fun of her. Couldn't she be friends with both of them?

"But he is nice," she defended. "And he is your friend too," she said, becoming slightly bolder against Sasuke's dominance.

"We aren't friends, we are rivals," Sasuke defended.

"Then why is he at your birthday party?" she countered. "Don't only friends and family come to birthday parties?"

A grumpy pout came to his face as he failed to construct a counter to this.

"Yeah, you hear that bastard!" Naruto exclaimed as he came closer to Sakura and wrapped an arm around her neck. "You aren't the boss of her!"

Sasuke pushed them apart again before grumpily folding his arms. "Fine," he conceded with a dour expression. He supposed he could share her with, who some would claim to be, his best friend. However, Naruto would need to learn to keep his hands off of her. He had broken too many of Sasuke's toys to be trusted with Sasuke's most prized possession.

"So Sakura, do you like to play ninjas?"

At Naruto's question, Sakura's eyes brightened. "Yeah!"

For the remainder of the party, the three stuck together, playing games, eating food, and running around the bouncy house. By the end of the day, while both Kushina and Mebuki helped Mikoto clean up, the three of them sat in the tree house eating cake and planning out their next ninja mission. As it turned out, Naruto was so wild and loud that most kids tended to stay away from his crazy horse play. And again, Sasuke was hit with the idea that maybe Naruto and Sakura being friends was not so bad...but that would be it, no one else would be allowed. There would be no more sharing after Naruto.

Chapter Text

When Sasuke was woken by his mother that morning to get ready for school, he thought it was going to be the best day. He had watched Itachi come and go from school for years, bringing home exciting projects, learning new things, and getting praise for his achievements. And that was not the only reason he thought it would be great.

He was going to finally see Sakura after not seeing her for nearly three weeks. His family had a week long family vacation followed by a week long family reunion. By the end of those two weeks he was done with his family and ready for Sakura. So when they finally arrived home, he demanded to his mother that Sakura was to come over and play, only to find out that her family had left for a traditional family camping trip for the week. And they would not be home until the night before school started. So it was yet another reason he had been eagerly awaiting school, he just knew the day would be perfect.

Never had he been so wrong.

His mother had told him this very morning that he would never forget his first day of school. Now, as he sat in the backseat of the car, driving home from said first day of school, he wanted nothing more than to forget everything.

Today had not been the best of days. It had not even been a good day nor close to an okay day. It had been the worst of all days. Nothing had gone the way he had envisioned when he was happily eating his tomato omelette that morning at breakfast. He had been so eager, so desperate to see Sakura that morning, that he had not even tasted his usual favorite morning meal as he wolfed it down by the forkful.

To rub salt in the wound, that same girl was sitting in the seat next to him, jabbering and gushing away to his mother, who had picked them up, about how wonderful the day had been.

As she happily reported to Mikoto of the day's events, Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted quietly in his seat, occasionally catching his mother spying on him in the mirror as she listened and interacted with Sakura, he found himself reflecting on everything that had been wrong about the day...

It all started the moment he crossed the threshold of the classroom. It was chaotic and loud. A boy stood near the entrance, crying his eyes out as his mother consoled him, assuring him that he would be fine as she tried to detach her child from her leg so that she could leave. Other kids were banging on their desks while the rest spoke loudly to their newly acquainted classmates, friendships and rivalries being built and formed.

His dark gaze made a half sweep of the room before they stopped, his target acquired. Not even giving his mother a goodbye, he began to make his way towards the pinkette sitting at her desk, only to get blocked by the long legs of an adult. Immediately he scowled up at the man. His brown hair was tied back and a large scar across the bridge of his nose. The man bent down and gave him a wide smile.

"Hello there!" he greeted, far too enthusiastically. "I am Mr. Umino but most students just call me Mr. Iruka, I am going to be your teacher. What is your name?" When Sasuke only continued to scowl, the man straightened and let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Not much of a talker is he?" he said, directing his attention to Mikoto.

"Oh don't mind him, he will warm up eventually," she assured, despite the challenging raised brow Sasuke shot her. "I am Mikoto Uchiha, and this little guy-" she grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and pulled him back as she intercepted his second attempt to make his way towards Sakura- "is Sasuke." She looked down at him to receive a glare before looking back up and smiling at the teacher. "I promise he will be on his best behavior and if not feel free to notify me."

The teacher nodded his head. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I will do my best to be the best teacher your child can have."

Sasuke tuned out their jabbering as he impatiently waited for his mother to leave so he could finally make his way to Sakura, who was still sitting alone at her table, looking nervously around at the wild classroom. When his mother finally left, crushing him with her arms as she got teary eyed and gave him an embarrassing kiss on the cheek, Sasuke made a beeline for Sakura. However he only managed to make it halfway before his teacher called out to him.

Pausing in the middle of the classroom, Sasuke took a meditative deep breath before turning on his heel and looking back to his teacher.

"Your seat is over there," Iruka said, pointing to the table on the opposite side of the classroom.

Sasuke looked back to where Sakura was, his eyes growing wide as a shaggy brown haired boy approached Sakura. Before he could do anything to stop this, he was steered away by his teacher to the other side of the room. There, he was pushed down into his seat and before he could even attempt to get out, the class was called to attention and he was forced to stay seated while the rest of his classmates scrambled to find their tables and assigned seats.

Sasuke had always been proud to be an Uchiha. The family name had been cultivated for generations. When a person heard the name Uchiha, they knew you were, or going to be, someone important. But as Sasuke sat in his seat, looking at Sakura seated farther than his liking, he was currently loathing the name Uchiha.

He had known his ABC's since he was three, but never, since he had finally sorted out that L, M, N, O, P were separate letters, had he realized just how many letters were in between H and U. As it turned out, it was enough that when assigned seating was in alphabetical order, it put them on opposite sides of the room.

Currently she was sitting next to a boy who had introduced himself to the class as Kiba Inuzuka, a dog obsessed boy that was far too friendly for Sasuke's liking. Sasuke watched with narrowed eyes as his blossom friend shared a pack of crayons with the dog she had as a seat mate.

The idiot had not even come to school prepared! Sasuke mentally criticized, as Sakura handed Kiba a blue crayon with a smile that was too wide for his liking.

The hand holding his own crayon to his paper but not moving, suddenly got jarred as his seat mates' wild and frantic method of coloring caused him to bump his elbow. Sasuke turned his head and shot Naruto a glare. Yes, Naruto was his deskmate. Another miss fortune that the Uchiha name had brought upon him today. As it turned out, there was no one else with a name in their class whose last name fell between Uchiha and Uzimaki.

"Well isn't that a vibrant picture! Well done Naruto," commented Iruka as he came around to their table. Sasuke looked down at the picture of the house they were all supposed to be coloring in. It was a scribbled mess of pure orange. "Sasuke, good job in staying in the lines but I think it could use a little more color," Iruka criticized as he moved his attention to Sasuke's page before moving on to the next table.

Sasuke looked down at his page which was still practically only blank with the exception of the red front door he had colored. He had been so preoccupied with watching Sakura and Kiba that he had not gotten any further. Someone had to keep an eye on her and make sure the shaggy boy didn't slobber on her or bite her like the mutt he was always talking about! And at that reminder, Sasuke's eyes darted back up to the other side of the room.

Kiba was currently proudly holding up his own picture to Sakura as she clapped her hands and gave him a praising smile. Abruptly, Sauke stood, his chair shifting against the ground with a teeth gritting sound.

"Hey where ya going?" Naruto asked when he started walking towards Sakura's table.

"Sharpen my pencil," he said in a low tone.

"Huh? But we're using crayons."

Sasuke ignored him as he made his way over to the pencil sharpener which was conveniently located near Sakura's table. As he came closer, Sakura gave him a wave which made his tense shoulder ease, only to retense when Kiba grabbed her attention again to show her the dog he had added to his picture.

Sasuke glanced at the dog boys page and let out a snort as he took in the scribble of multiple colors. Who ever saw a tree with a purple trunk? And the violet color was not even close to staying in the lines. It was preschool level at best. But as he heard Sakura give praise to Kiba's drawing of a dog that only had one of its legs drawn, Sasuke found himself stomping back to his seat where he sat down forcefully and fumed in his chair.

When recess finally arrived, a highly anticipated time because it meant he could finally spend time with Sakura, Sasuke was again greeted with a disappointing outcome. In the rush that followed their excusal to go outside, Sasuke missed catching Sakura before she exited the classroom. This meant that he had to find her on the massive playground before he could even catch up to her, and when he did, his eyes bulged.

Sakura was cornered by a green blob. When he had a moment to register what exactly he was looking at, he realized it was Lee, another boy in their class.

He was standing before her, his arms gesturing wildly as he loudly proclaimed, "Let's go out! I will protect you until I die!"

Sakura's eyes went wide as she backed up against the fence that ran around the school yard. Sasuke moved forward to rescue her and tell Lee that Sakura already had protection, that she was his responsibility and she didn't need anyone else except for himself and he supposed Naruto too. But again, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, his pathway to Sakura was blocked.

Blonde hair and blue eyes gazed at him as his table mate stepped in front of him, and it wasn't Naruto. It was Ino. The annoying loud mouth girl that sat on the other side of the table opposite of him. She stared at him too often with the same look his own mother looked at his father on occasion. He didn't like it at all. But what he did not like even more was when the girl latched onto his arm and exclaimed how much she wanted him to swing with her, he could push her or even sit side by side and hold hands as they….

She had ranted on and on about how they could even go to the teeter totter or merry go round. By the time he managed to fend the yammering girl off to continue his quest to save Sakura, Sakura had already been saved. Kiba, her lap dog of a desk mate, was busy yelling at Lee to leave his friend alone and before he knew it, Sasuke was watching Sakura walk away with him to where a game of kickball was where she was introduced her to even more kids in their class as well as others, some even from the older grades. And Sasuke felt at a loss as to what to do. He had planned to be against his class, not the entire school!

She didn't play kick ball but instead she sat in the grass next to another classmate. As Sasuke sulked on the swings, he watched Sakura and Shikamaru sit together, pointing at the sky as they looked up at the clouds.

He knew Shikamaru before today, they had been in the same playgroup for as long as he could remember. He had even liked Shikamaru, he didn't make too much noise and wasn't an idiot. His only downfall was that the kid was lazy. It took him nearly a year after everyone else to start walking and Sasuke had a suspicion that he had the skills all along, he was just too lazy to bother walking when his mother could carry him instead. Unfortunately as he watched Sakura get along and talk with him so easily, he couldn't help but feel jealous. But he wasn't sure who he was more angry with, Shikamaru or Sakura. As surprising as it was.

It turned out that Sakura's quiet and shy demeanor when they first met was a result of her being out of her comfort zone. She had been pulled out of the environment, leaving her friends and familiarity she had been used to as she was put into a whole new world. A new house, new city, new faces and she had been nervous. At least that is how his mother had explained it to him. But it turned out Sakura was quite a vocal person, much like Naruto. It just took time for her to open up. After a summer of running around with himself and Naruto, as well as being exposed to his family on a consistent schedule, Sakura had come out of her shell. A factor he had not calculated when he had thought about school. She was still shy at first, but she warmed up more quickly.

Another factor he had overlooked was that Sakura was likable, too likable. And she was quickly making friends. Making new friends and forgetting about him. He couldn't help it, he felt betrayed. And because of this, he felt a twinge of anger towards her. It was strange and new and he didn't like it.

The final straw came at snack time.

They had to sit at their desks and while he had to tell Ino for the umptenth time that no, he did not want to share her pocky sticks, he caught sight of the final act of betrayal. Sakura, as always, since the first time they had ever shared a pack of fruit snacks, divided them by color. As always she kept the green and yellow to herself but then, then she committed the treacherous act.

She handed over the blue and red ones... to Kiba!

Those were his colors, his flavors and she was giving them to Kiba! Kiba who had somehow managed to get two streaks of red paint on his cheeks, when they had not even used paints today!

He had not realized the severity of his anger until a sticky wetness spilled onto his hand and he realized he had squeezed his juice box too hard, causing it to spill all over his desk. It was then that he was fully done with the day, and it was only half over.

Now he sat in the car, listening to Sakura going on and on about how glorious the world's worst day had been. He hated school. He hated dog faced boys named Kiba. He hated how Kiba constantly talked about his puppy. He hated seating charts. He hated the alphabet. He hated last names. He hated his desk mates. He hated how Naruto would not shut up about the Ramen he would get as an afterschool snack. He hated blonde girls that would not leave him alone. He hated it all and he was not going back. He was going to drop out and get a job selling lemonade at a street corner. He had made eight whole dollars the day he and Sakura had done that over the summer. If he did it every day he would be rich and then Sakura would beg to be his friend again.

They pulled up in front of Sakura's house and she unbuckled herself as Mikoto came around to help her out of the car and walk her to the door. Just as Sakura was about to jump down from the elevation of the SUV, she paused and turned back around.

"Oh wait!" she exclaimed as she began to dig around in her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. "I made this for you Sasuke."

It took him a moment as he was still mad at her but eventually, he uncrossed his arms and took the folded paper. However she did not relinquish it immediately.

"I-Ino seemed close to you at recess," she began, a small sadness to her voice. "Do you...do you like her?"

Sasuke's face cringed in disgust at the memory. "NO!" he practically bellowed. Her question made him even more angry at her for suggesting such a thing.

Immediately she brightened, despite being yelled at as she surrendered the piece of paper. "I missed you today," she said. "I saw you swinging today at recess, maybe tomorrow we can play on the swings together!"

His head betrayed him as it nodded automatically, causing her face to brighten more as she gave him a wave, jumped down to the ground, and scampered off towards her front door. When Mikoto returned back to the car and started driving to their own home, Sasuke managed to unfold the paper and look at it.

It was the same picture that everyone had colored today. The house was colored in relatively well, only a few spots where she had gone out of the lines with the red crayon she had colored it with. But this was not given much attention has his eyes were drawn to the two stick figures standing next to the house. One with pink hair and a triangle green dress, the other just thin black lines for legs, arms, torso, and neck. On the top of the second figure's head, was a mess of spiky black for hair. Both of them had large smiles on their faces as they held hands.

The happy smile that came to his mouth was not missed by Mikoto in the rearview mirror as she peeked at her earlier sulking son.

She hadn't forgotten about him. Sakura had been thinking about him all along. As soon as he made this realization he felt much better. And as he carefully refolded the picture, his mind whirled. Maybe school wasn't so bad. Except for maybe the seating charts. Seating charts were stupid. Though, they wouldn't be so bad if Sakura's name was closer to his. Then they could always sit together.

However, he was not sure how one changed one's name. His mother once had a different name. It used to be the same as his grandparents from her side of the family. But then she married his dad and she changed it to his. He was not sure why but apparently it was what you did when you got married...

It was like a light bulb went on above his head. In that moment he knew exactly how to fix the stupid seating chart. If he did it, then it would mean that Sakura would always sit by him and never be next to a smelly dog boy.

"Momma," he began, causing his mother to glance at him only to find him making a fist of determination as his face took on a resolute expression. "I am going to marry Sakura!"

Chapter Text

Mikoto Uchiha had just finished dropping Sasuke and Itachi off at school when she got a panicked phone call from her good friend Mebuki. Sakura had the chickenpox.

Having already dealt with both her children, Sasuke just the year before after having gotten them from Naruto, Mikoto calmly assured the less experienced mother that everything would be fine. But then later that morning she got another panicked call from Mebuki.

"I am so sorry to trouble you," she had said. "But there is an emergency at work and they need me to come in but I cannot leave Sakura alone.

Fifteen minutes later, Mikoto had a red spotted and itchy, but otherwise chipper, Sakura in her home with no one else to bother them for an entire day.

Mikoto had always wanted a little girl. Someone who she could dress up and spoil, as well as have someone to share some of her favorite hobbies like gardening and cooking. However due to some complications she had during her pregnancy with Sasuke, any hopes of more children had been taken away. She loved her boys and would never trade them for anything in the world, but on the rare occasion, she found herself forlornly wishing for a miracle. That past summer, she had been granted such a wish in the strangest way.

While she still did not condone the act of kidnapping, she would always be grateful to Sasuke for the results of that fateful day. Since then, Sakura's presence seemed to be a more common occurrence than not. Given her parents' heavy work schedules, Mikoto had offered to watch Sakura any time. Mebuki had been hesitant at first, not wanting to intrude but between Sasuke's constant nagging to have her over, combined with Mikoto's own desire to have her in her house, the Uchiha mansion practically became Sakura's second home. And oh how the dynamics of their house had changed over the seasons.

In combination to perhaps Sakura becoming bolder and Sasuke becoming confident that she would not replace his role in her life with someone else, Sasuke had begun to allow a select group of people to interact with her. And on more rare occasions, be left alone with her.

However any time this happened, he could be seen peeking around the corner and giving a hard stare at such a person as he supervised their interaction. And it was never more than times of thirty minute increments before Sasuke would be coming back to collect Sakura and drag her off to play. The elite group that was granted such a privilege, included herself and Itachi, sometimes Naruto, and surprisingly, Fukgaku was also allowed unsupervised time with her. Shisui on the other hand, was banned from even touching her. Any time he did, Sasuke swatted his hand away.

The first thing Mikoto did with Sakura was make some premade lunches for the week. As they worked together, shaping the Onigiri into triangles, or in Sakura's case misshapened blobs, Mikoto happily listened to Sakura jabber away about this and that. Once finished they went out to the garden where Sakura happily bounced around from flower to flower and caught caterpillars while Mikoto weeded around the rose bushes. Later on, Mikoto found herself bringing down an old box of toys she had saved from her childhood and set them out for Sakura to rummage through while she got a few things done around the house. It was nothing too spectacular. An old tea set with missing saucers and cups, a few treasured dolls, and some old clothes and costumes with a few extra accessories. As she went about vacuuming and dusting the house, she smiled as she heard Sakura occasionally ooh and awe from the living room as she looked at its contents.

Mikoto was just cleaning up the kitchen when she looked out into the backyard to see Sakura dragging the box across the grass to the garden. She had put on an old flapper dress costume and accessorized herself with a long string of pearls and floppy hat with an arrangement of fake flowers decorating the brim. As she pulled the large box, she stumbled in the pair of heels she had borrowed from Mikoto with such a sweet request, that Mikoto would have given all of her shoes if she asked. Eventually she made it to her destination and disappeared behind the large bushes that made up the garden.

After a few minutes, Mikoto had gone outside to check on her to find her with a blanket spread in the middle of the flora as she set up the dolls and set cups and saucers out. Content that she was fine, Mikoto went back inside to finish the dishes.

The slam of the front door followed by running footsteps announced Sasuke's arrival home from school. Given the thunderous sound of multiple footsteps, she could only assume Naruto had followed him home, as it was not a rare occurrence given that he lived next door. Kushina had been the one to pick them up from school today and she could only assume they had both run straight to the Uchiha house as soon as they had pulled into the driveway.

As the thundering of their steps grew closer, Mikoto turned from the sink just in time to see Sasuke come around the corner from the hallway, followed by, as she predicted, Naruto.

"Somthings wrong with Sakura!" Sasuke exclaimed with panic.

For a moment Mikoto was worried, she could have sworn Sakura was still out in the garden and she had not heard her yell out in distress. She glanced out the window into the garden to see the top of Sakura's hat as she wandered around the four o'clocks, looking very much okay. It was then that in unison, Sasuke and Naruto began to frantically tell her that she had not been at school that day and clarity came to Mikoto for their cause of panic.

However before she could even open her mouth to tell them the reason Sakura was gone, Naruto had begun to tell her a fantasized tale that involved Sakura's kidnapping on the way to school and was now most likely being held for ransom by a ship of pirates in the seven seas. By the end of his wild and embellished theory, Sasuke was halfway through dialing 911 on the phone to call in special ops to rescue her. Mikoto only managed to notice and snatch the phone away just as she heard the operator's greeting sounding from the speaker. The operator was half way through asking what the emergency was by the time she hung up. Immediately Sasuke began to yell and scream at her while Naruto began to loudly theorize that perhaps instead of pirates, it was aliens who had taken her.

It was utter chaos as Mikoto held the phone out of Sasuke's reach as she tried to explain over his uncharacteristical shouting, that Sakura was fine and there at the house. In fact it was only when the missing person in question suddenly walked into the kitchen, that they were all rendered quiet. Sasuke and Naruto both froze and stared in disbelief as Sakura took in the chaotic panic that had been playing out in the middle of the kitchen.

Mikoto took in a calming breath to calm the forming headache from stress before she finally explained. "Sasuke, Naruto," she began. "Sakura has the chickenpox. That's why she was not at school. Nor will she for the rest of the week," she added, doing her best to avoid any other future mayhem that could ensue when Sakura did not show up to school again the next day.

It was quiet for a moment before Naruto let out a loud, "ohhhhh why didn't you say so?"

Mikoto's face fell to her chest as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Sasuke blinked at his mother a few times as his brain slowly registered what she had said. And then it clicked. He remembered having the chickenpox. He hated it because it was itchy and he couldn't scratch, putting him in a not so surprising bad mood for a week. Naruto had it worse as his mother had taped kitchen mitts to his hands to keep him from scratching as he had no will power.

He was in front of her in a blur, grabbing her head as he took in the small red dots that marred her skin. "Have you been scratching," Sasuke demanded.

Sakura shook her head. "No," she answered.

Sasuke waited for a moment before nodding and let her head go. As soon as he did, Sakura was grabbing onto both his hand and Naruto's as she dragged them outside, announcing that there was a tea party in the garden.

Left in the still quiet of their wake, Mikoto could not help but laugh, now that she had a moment to find the humor in it. It was touching how worried both of the boys were. It gave her peace knowing that such a sweet girl like Sakura had such dedicated protectors around her. She just hoped it would last long into their lives. It would be a shame if Sakura was no longer around.

She was just finishing the dishes while she listened to the occasional shout or laugh that flowed in through the open window from the back garden, when Sakura came back in to request a package of cookies and tomato flavored chips. The requests she was certain came from the two boys but was being requested through Sakura as both Naruto and Sasuke thought Mikoto couldn't say no to her.

And they were right.

Which was why Mikoto found herself digging through the pantry, Sakura patiently waiting next to her, when her oldest son came home.

"'Tachi!" Sakura exclaimed happily as she held the package of cookies in her hand, waiting for the chips to be handed to her. "I have the chickenpox," she announced as if it was something to be proud of.

Itachi gave her a smile as he placed his backpack on the kitchen counter before kneeling down next to her. "Do you!" He exclaimed. "I bet you're being good and not scratching. Is that why you are getting cookies?"

She nodded her head. "Yep!"

"Can I have some?" He asked, never one to pass up a chance to satisfy his sweet tooth.

Sakura put on a show of hard thinking then nodded. "But only if you come to my tea party," she added, a cunning glint coming to her eye.

Mikoto could not help but smile as she watched the struggle in Itachi's eyes. Playing tea party was obviously not what he wanted to do. However sweets were a weakness of his, as was Sakura herself. As normal as Sakura seemed as any other child was, Mikoto still had a suspicion that the girl was more than what meets the eye. Given her fairy features, it only made it more difficult to not actually believe she wasn't a forest sprite. A fairy child that used cunning and charm to prey upon Uchiha men. Sakura could get them to do anything. It was the reason why Sasuke had been outside for the past half hour playing tea party and why she knew Itachi was going to take her hand and follow her into her little garden kingdom as well.

As predicted, Itachi followed her out to the garden, his hands full of the snacks as she skipped in front of him. Like a fairy pied piper, leading him into a garden of wonders that he would forever be lost in. If Sakura was not so innocently sweet and considerate of her control over them, Mikoto would be worried about such powers over her boys.

She was just turning through her recipe book, deciding on dinner, when her husband came home from work. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he explained he had come home early and would finish his work in their home office. Fugaku had just disappeared when there was a sudden knock from the side door and she looked up to see Shisui letting himself in.

"Hi-ya auntie," he said as he easily entered her house as if he intruded uninvited into other peoples homes on a regular basis, which he did given he lived just down the street. He grabbed a packet of chips from the pantry and started eating them.

"Hey Shisui, school going all right?"

Shisui shrugged. "It's alright. We registered for our classes at the high school for next year so that was exciting."

"High school already," she exclaimed. "Goodness my favorite nephew is growing too fast. Next thing I know you will be driving and dating."

He gave his aunt a wink. "You bet I will! The ladies won't know what hit them."

Mikoto let out a small chuckle as her sympathy went out to all the broken hearts her nephew would be leaving behind. "What brings you over here? I think Itachi is still out in the gardens."

"Cool," he said, heading to the back door. "Oh yeah, and my mom wanted to know if you could bring her over some of your home made rose tea."

"Sure," Mikoto agreed knowing full well she was certain Shisui was supposed to be returning home with the tea himself but she didn't mind. So she paused her perusing if the cookbook, let her husband know she would be down the street, and made her way over to her sister in law.

When Mikoto returned, much later than she planned, the house was quiet and still. She had been expecting to come home to noisy boys playing video games in front of the tv as the norm would dictate. Itachi would be sitting quietly as he concentrated on the game as his fingers vigorously pressed buttons, Shisui would be whooping and hollering with every triumph, and Sasuke and Naruto would be arguing with each other as their controllers were left forgotten. All the while, Sakura would normally be happily moving from person to person, sitting in Shisui's lap before being pulled away by Sasuke, playing with Itachi's hair, and occasionally smacking Naruto upside the head while she calmed Sasuke down with a gentle pat on the shoulder. But when she walked through the house there was not a single other soul to be found. Even when she peeked into Fugaku's office she found it vacant.

Scratching her head she heard a sound coming from the back yard. Were they all still in the garden? She questioned in surprise.

Wandering out to the backyard she made her way to the entrance and walked down the path to where Sakura had originally laid out her tea party. A loud, distinct complaint of Naruto echoed down to her, followed by a groan of pain as Sakura's usually sweet voice lashed out that you drink tea with the pinkie out. When she turned the corner and cleared the large hydrangea bush, Mikoto stopped and stared wide eyed at the scene before her.

The blanket was still spread out along the grass but instead of dolls sitting around the edge, it was Uchihas and Naruto. In the middle, Sakura bounced from person to person, pouring invisible tea as she happily hummed and skipped around to attend to each of her guests. As she did this, Mikoto took in each of her "guests" who liked more like compliant captives.

Naruto was the first, he was currently nursing a goose egg that most likely had been recently earned. Sakura, while small and sweet, could deal out an unnaturally harsh blow to anyone, her usual victim being Naruto. The poor injured boy was currently sporting a frilly frock apron as he took scared sips of his invisible tea with a sure pinkie sticking out each time Sakura looked at him.

Next to him was Sasuke. A sour expression was on his face as a silky scarf hung around his neck and a beret balanced on top of his messy hair of black spikes. A large pair of cat eye sunglasses covered most of his face but she was sure if they were visible, they would be murderous towards anyone who dared laugh at him.

Across from Sasuke sat Itachi with his long silky hair pulled into a messy braid that had been obviously woven inexpertly by Sakura. Attached at various parts of his head, she had secured several butterfly clips and colorful hair clips. His expression was a mixture of concentrated perplexity, as if he was trying to figure out how exactly he ended up like this and wondering why he was still going along with it.

Shisui too was spared any clothing, but his curly locks had been pulled into several randomly placed short pony tails. Unlike his younger cousins and Naruto, he was enthusiastically making roasts as clinked tea cups with anyone close enough before taking a fake swig. Each time he "emptied" his cup, he demanded for more to Sakura's delight. With each call for more, she hurriedly ran over to him and poured him another cup. And each time this occurred, Sasuke gave him a burning glare that even the darkest of sunglasses could not shade.

None of this surprised her more than when he eyes fell upon the fifth and final guest of the tea party. The moment her eyes fell upon her own husband, sitting cross legged and obediently holding a dainty pinkie out as he held a small tea cup that he could barely grip with just two of his fingers, Mikoto had to do everything in her power not to bust out laughing. However, the moment she took in the large sun hat with a silky ribbon securely tied into a large bow under his chin, Mikoto lost it.

It started out as a suppressed snort but she soon lost control and was doubled over in laughter. When she managed to straighten up, still chuckling and whipping tears of laughter from her eyes, Fugaku was frowning deeply at her. It was a look that did not quite look as serious as always when framed with a giant bonnet. However the frown did not last long, for as soon as his displeased look appeared, Sakura was in front of him, giving him the sweetest smile as she tipped her tea pot to his cup. And to everyone's astonishment, the grim man's mouth softened, then turned upward in the smallest of smiles before Sakura skipped up to Mikoto to pull her down to the blanket and serve her some tea.

.

.

.

Earlier:

Fugaku sat at his desk typing on his computer while occasionally flipping through paper work when he heard a light knock on his door. He paused in his typing and frowned. He knew Mikoto had just left and his children knew not to disturb him while in his office. After a moment he went back to typing, hoping whatever was needed would be resolved on its own. He expected as much from his children. Then again, his house always seemed to be full of children that did not belong to him these days. It's things like that, that made him think he should move to the countryside, where dropping by was not a habit. However when the handle of the door rattled before the door cracked open, Fugaku knew his hope of being left unbothered was futile.

He looked up from his screen, ready to tell whoever had disturbed him that someone had better be bleeding from a lost appendage to be intruding, but his gruff voice was halted when a pair of large green eyes peeked in from the crack. Upon spotting him, the door opened wider and Sakura, with her familiar pink head, trotted into the room.

As she came around to his side of the desk, Fugaku pushed his chair back slightly to look at her as she approached. This girl was a strange one. Things around his household had certainly changed since she started coming around and Fugaku was not sure how he felt about it.

She paused in front of him, looking up at him for a moment before taking a few more steps forward, and to his surprise, using the armrest of the chair and his left knee, she climbed up into his lap and perched on his leg. As she settled, Fugaku could only stare stiffly down at her, unsure of what to do. His own children had not sat in his lap since they had learned to walk. Yet this girl made it seem as if it was a regular habit for him to have a child so comfortable around him.

He didn't know much about this girl except that she knew how to sweet talk Itachi into sharing his treasured sweets, Sasuke dragged her around everywhere he went, and his wife treated her like she was her own child, always doting on her and spoiling her with anything and everything. He was not sure how this little girl managed it, but as her green eyes looked up at him as her hands twisted in her lap, he felt a small inkling within him to grant any wish that came out of her mouth.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said in a small voice.

"Hn," he grunted, prompting her to continue.

She looked down at her lap before flashing her green irises up at him timidly. "Will you come to my tea party?"

Before Fagaku even realized what he was doing, or what the consequences were, he found himself being led into his wife's garden for a tea party that he was certain would not have any tea.

Chapter Text

"Oh fuー"

"Shisui, language!" came Mikoto's shout from the top of the stairs.

"Sorry auntie!" Shisui called back, not moving his eyes from the large T.V. screen as he vigorously pressed buttons and maneuvered the toggle. "Damn it!"

"'Tachi, Shisui said a bad word," Sakura said in a quiet gasp, tilting her head back to look at him from where she sat in his lap.

Itachi looked down at her where she was nestled comfortably in the seat that he made when he crossed his long legs. He had grown a lot over the past year. He had still yet to fill out but it would only be a matter of time before his lanky form would not look quite so awkward. In another year or so he would be just like Shisui, except for taller.

While he had only just finished his sophmore year of high school, Shisui looked more like he had finished his sophmore year of collage by the way he had physically matured over the course of the past school year. And just as Mikoto had predicted, Shisui was a heart breaker. His boyish charm but manly form had girls swooning and filling his locker with love confessions. And for a boy who was already insufferably full of himself, it only went to his head even more as it seemed every girl they came across fell in love with him.

Even Sakura had proclaimed him as handsome as a prince. This proclamation had been the final puff of air to inflate Shisui's ego and had triggered Sasuke so much that he did not talk to Sakura for a week. It had been the worst week of Uchiha household history.

Sasuke had been moody and irritant. And it did not help that Shisui had made it his mission to stop by every day just to antagonize his younger cousin by reading the valentine card he had gotten from Sakura that year. It had been a simple homemade card stock card with hearts drawn all over it with a "to" and "from" addressed right above a drawing of Shisui and Sakura as a prince and princess. However, Shisui was a natural born bard who could make up a sonnet on the spot and therefore the "words" that Sakura had supposedly written, became more and more extravagant with each reading. By the third day, Mikoto had banned Shusui from the house until Sasuke finally cracked at day seven and begged for Sakura to come over. Thus curing his insufferable foul mood when she bounced through the door to give him a tight hug.

Itachi let out a sigh. "Yes Sakura he did, and he knows he shouldn't," he said, giving his cousin a hard glare.

Shisui did not even seem to notice nor hear his words as he continued to stare at the T.V. screen. Tongue sticking out in concentration, Shisui maneuvered his character into the blue zone to take out an avatar, causing Sasuke to let out a cry of outrage as his character died by the hands of bodyfl!k3r_ladyk!ll3r.

Itachi frowned then looked down at Sakura who was now looking at the screen as well, her face was pulled into concentration as her too small of fingers awkwardly maneuvered her character, which was currently stuck in a corner, running in place.

"Hey Sakura, would you mind if I help you for a moment?" he asked.

Sakura nodded and Itachi wrapped his hands around her smaller ones and began to maneuver the pink haired avatar that was wearing a purple dress and carrying a bazooka. Within thirty seconds Itachi had skillfully tracked down the ninja avatar, took him in sights, and shot him across the screen.

"NO!?" Shisui let out as his character collapsed and a message ran across the screen, informing him that he had been killed by cherryprincess007.

As soon as Itachi had taken him out he surrendered the controller back to Sakura's full control, who was too busy celebrating that it was her character that killed Shisui, to realize her avatar was back to running in place, this time into the wall of a cliff. Sasuke joined in on the cheering, rejoicing in the death of his own killer.

"Serves you right!" Sasuke declared.

Shisui gave his younger cousin an annoyed glare but it quickly disappeared when a mischievous grin crossed his face. He whipped around to look at Sakura.

"Sakura how could you!" Shisui cried with a fake sniff. "I thought you loved me! Is that really how you treat a prince? Oh to be betrayed by my own love!" He declared in woe as he dramatically laid down in dismay.

It did not matter how many times she had seen this fake act, there was always something within Sakura that drove her to those who were hurting. Crouching over him she patted his curly head with a small hand as she assured him that she still loved him and she was sorry.

Shisui shot up. "Really," he said, causing Sakura to nod her head vigorously as if their lives depended on the believability.

In her urgency she wrapped her small hands around his neck as she hugged him on her tippy toes. Shisui cracked his eyes open and shot Sasuke a villainous grin from over her short head. Sasuke's body shook with fury and it was only a matter of seconds before he was across the room and forcing himself between them.

"Sakura get away from him," he demanded, gently pushing her away as he shot Shisui a death glare, which only made his cousin smirk wider. "He is a slimy liar that smells like dog poop!" he added, making Shisui let out an offended outrage.

"Oi!" he exclaimed in indignation before looking at Sakura. "Sakura, don't believe this little turd. If anyone is a stinky little slim ball it's him."

While Sakura was sweet and caring and had a big heart for anyone and everyone, there was always one person that took precedence when forced to take sides, and that person was Sasuke. Because at the end of the day, when it came down to it, it was always Sasuke that Sakura went back to. As soon as the insult came from Shisui's mouth Sakura was pouncing one him, doing her best to pin him down with her unnatural strength for a small child like herself. While Shisui's face was forced down into the carpet as Sakura pummeled him with a fist that hurt but did no permanent damage, Sasuke, for the first time, did not bother to separate her from his older cousin. Instead he joined in, calling upon Naruto for reinforcements.

As Shisui called out for Itachi to aid him, Itachi deafly picked up the controller that had been abandoned by Sakura as he started a new game. "I told you not to swear," he chided.

As Itachi went about choosing a character for the next round, he couldn't help the happy smile that formed on his face as he listened to the three younger ones squeal with delight as Shisui bemoaned himself. At the end of the school year since Itachi had first started going, he and Shisui had made it a tradition to have a sleepover in the tree house to kick off the summer at the end of the school year. It had always been just the two of them, up until two years ago. Ever since Sasuke officially finished his first year of school, he too had joined them, which also meant Naruto and Sakura joined by default.

Itachi had not minded but Shisui had made a protest that first year. That is until Sakura had been tasked to work her charm. It took exactly twenty-seven seconds before Shisui caved and allowed it. This year, Shisui had not even hesitated. That is until now. Now, as Shisui screamed out in pain as three rugrats gained up on him, Itachi wondered if he was now regretting giving in to Sakura's charms the year before. But then again, it was not as if Shisui would have ever had a choice. At least not when it came to Sakura, none of them did.

"'Tachi."

Itachi started awake when he heard the quiet voice calling his nickname and felt the pudgy short finger dig into his cheek as she poked him awake. When his eyes flew open, he was greeted by the shadowed and wide eyed face of Sakura as the moonlight seeped in through the tree house window. Upon seeing that he was awake, she sat back on her heels as he sat up. Looking around the wooden fortress he noted that everyone else was fast asleep, Shisui's body hanging over the edge of the hammock he claimed in right of being the oldest, Naruto snoring loudly in his corner with his rear end pointed in the air, and Sasuke sleeping unnaturally still by the empty spot that Sakura had claimed earlier when they had been making shadow puppets after they had eaten s'mores.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He inquired in a groggy worry.

She had her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and was slightly shivering. "It's cold," she announced.

Itachi nodded in understanding. Sakura seemed to always be cold. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Itachi stood and grabbed her sleeping mat and pillow before dragging them back by his spot as quietly as he could. Once he had arranged it neatly next to him, he pulled her down and tucked her in before throwing half of his own blanket over her. As he settled down onto his own pillow, he felt her squirm closer and wrap herself around him.

He let out a gasp as the coldness of her feet managed to find bare skin. "'Tachi are you okay?"

Once the initial shock of the cold had been processed Itachi relaxed. "Yeah I'm fine, just got back to sleep."

He felt her nod against his side as she squirmed around again before settling closer into his side for warmth. It was quiet for a moment, and Itachi lay with his eyes closed, listening to the breathing of those slumbering.

"'Tachi?" Came Sakura's quiet voice again.

"Hn?" He hummed.

"Tomorrow will Mikoto make pancakes like last year?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe," he mumbled.

"I hope so," she sighed wistfully. "And maybe we could put sprinkles and whip cream on them!"

"Mmhmm," Itachi hummed, his stomach feeling hungry at the thought of sweet deliciousness.

It fell quiet again and Itachi felt himself slipping into the beginnings of sleep when suddenly…

"'Tachi?"

"Hn?"

"Can we play in the pool tomorrow?"

"If it's nice," he answered.

Again there was a pause before…

"'Tachi?..."

It went on for what felt like all night. Itachi would think he had finally answered all the questions in the universe, his eyes and brain exhausted, but his heart unable to deny her relay of inquiry. So he continued to humor her. Most forms of answers coming out in monosyllabic grunts but Sakura was fluent in such communications of Uchiha males and did not seem to notice or mind.

"Do you like being a big brother?" She finally ended up asking.

"Yes," he answered without even thinking.

He heard her sigh. "Sasuke is lucky, I wish I had a big brother like him."

Itachi smiled slightly and shifted so his arm went around her more comfortably. "Would you like me to be your big brother?"

"Really?" She exclaimed a little too loudly. After Itachi shushed her she repeated more softly, "really?"

"Ah," he sounded in affirmation. "If you would like me to."

He could not help but smile to himself at the excited sound she had made. But he calmed her down when he told her it was time to go back to sleep. For a while she was quiet but her restless moving about told him she was still yet to fall asleep. With every accidental kick to the side each time she shifted, he was beginning to become envious of those sleeping around him. He had an exhausting week of finals and tests as he prepared for his placement tests for high school. He had ended up skipping a grade last year making him not that much farther behind Shisui.

He was just about to fall back asleep when Sakura whispered again.

"'Tachi?"

He let out a sigh and then a hum for her to go on.

He felt her tiny arms wrap around his torso as she gave him a tight hug. "You're a good big brother," She said before turning around and then finally growing still as her breathing slowed down to a restful pattern.

Itachi smiled again to himself. It was funny somehow that Sakura had felt she had needed to even ask him to be her brother. From that first summer two years ago he had always seen her like a sister. It almost worried him just how easily he had taken up that responsibility, it was not one he took lightly. Even at just fourteen years old, he would do anything for her just as he would do anything for Sasuke. And with that thought, he finally drifted off into sleep.

He was not sure how long he had been asleep for before he was rudely awakened again when he felt something, or someone wedging their way in between himself and Sakura. Itachi cracked his eyes open and turned his head to see Sasuke shimmying himself beneath the covers as he slid in between himself and Sakura. Already Sasuke's dinosaur blanket was sprawled out over Sakura's little frame.

Just before Sasuke lay down, he turned his head and gave Itachi a look that spoke of warning and betrayal. Itachi just rolled his eyes as he turned to his side and tried to fall back asleep. He loved his brother dearly, he would do anything for him, but his protective jealousy was going to cause him a headache of troubles as they got older. And Itachi knew he was going to have to be the one who cleaned up the mess.

Chapter Text

Uchiha Corporations was not just a successful family business, it was an empire within the world of business, and Madara Uchiha was its emperor. It was when he took over his father's company at no older than twenty-two years that under his direction he expanded beyond what anyone ever thought possible. Trade, pharmaceuticals, politics, media, military, among other things, were ruled and controlled by him.

Madara lived a life entirely focused and run like a business. Every moment of his time was not to be wasted as time was money. He had little tolerance with people with the exception of a select few that he kept close. While he had no wife or children, family and blood was a heavily instilled value within his beliefs, even with his high priority of work and money. Though it was not in the usual affection, Madara trusted blood and family more than any binding contract he had ever signed. It was one of the reasons why most of his conglomerate was heavily employed and run by members of his family tree.

When Fugaku, a younger cousin to Madara, married Mikoto, Madara put him in charge of the security and law enforcement sector that Uchiha Corporations ran. It was an honor and Fugaku had done well managing the academy as well as overseeing security for most people of importance in the Konoha population, as well as most businesses. This earned him favor with Madara which meant that his household was the one Madara chose to reside in while his penthouse renovations were delayed past his return to Konoha after a month long business trip.

A single, last minute phone call announcing such arrangements had Mikoto racing through the store in a hurry to gather everything she needed for an unexpected and abrupt announcement, that Madara and his brother would be arriving that afternoon for a visit. It was almost mesmerizing how she could make rushed and panicked, last minute preparations, look graceful and as effortless as if she had all day to run her errands.

As she took a sharp turn to go down the spices and condiments section of the store, she glanced back to make sure the nearly seven year old Sasuke was keeping up with her. "Sasuke hurry up," she instructed when she noticed him lagging behind. "Madara will be arriving at the house any time now and we still have to pick Itachi up from practice."

Sasuke sent an unhappy look at his mother's back but picked up his feet a little faster. He let out an unhappy sigh as his dark eyes boredly took in the none entertaining shelves of food and brands as he followed his mother around. It was the first week of summer break and walking around grocery stores and having his uncle Madara come over was not how he wanted to spend it.

Madara was not technically his uncle, really he was a second cousin to him, but that was what he had always called him as did all of his cousins of the families that worked close with the patriarch.

Sasuke hated it when Madara came to visit. He didn't mind Izuna, he could at least sometimes ease up but Madara was all too strict and traditional. When he came, everyone was walking on eggshells. His friends were not allowed over and he was not allowed to go to his friends. That meant no Sakura or Naruto for a week.

Naruto, he could live without, in fact he wouldn't mind a break after sitting next to him for six hours a everyday for the past school year. However, not seeing Sakura? That was unacceptable. An unacceptable feature that he had no choice but to accept, all because of Madara.

The town car pulled up in front of the large mansion and Madara got out. As the chauffeur unloaded the luggage, Madara adjusted his suit as he took in the neighborhood. He frowned when he noticed a small park side event going on as the screams and cheers of children running around disrupted the peace.

"What's with the sour face?" Izuna asked, coming up next to his brother and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He took in a deep breath. "Ahh smell that suburban fresh cut grass, it will be a perfect way to relax after that business trip we just finished. We can sit by the pool and enjoy some sun shine. Gods' knows you could use some color and hey, maybe Mikoto will cook up something perfectly satiable as she always does in the kitchen…"

Madara shrugged his brother's arm off his shoulder. "Coming home from a month long business trip of staying in hotels, to find out that my home renovations that were supposed to be finished a week ago, have been delayed another week, thus resulting in me staying in yet another foreign bed with screaming children under the same roof, is not what I would call relaxing."

Izuna rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Sasuke and Itachi are the quietest children I have ever met, it's almost unnatural how invocal they are."

"Hn," Madara grunted as he glared at the small park fair, as if he could glare away the children running around on the jungle gym.

Izuna pointed at him. "You see that...that is not normal communication."

Madara batted his brother's pointing finger out of his face. "Come on, we can get started on those numbers and review the new contracts with some peace and quiet before everyone gets home."

"What? I thought we were on vacation?"

"This is a temporary relocation," he replied. "And besides, why are you even staying here? You have your own house to stay in. One, I might add, that we could both be at instead of here."

"Hey you know I have that stalker girl right now, it is not safe."

Madara shook his head not willing to point out that his brother had bodyguards for that. At least having him near would mean that they wouldn't have to waste time commuting from the suburbs to the city to get any work done.

Madara sat down in the living room with the TV turned to the news as he watched that day's numbers on the stock market. The house was empty, Izuna had gone off for a run to stretch his legs after the long flight which was fine by Madara. As much as Madara was wanting to start work, he needed a break from his beloved brother.

Izuna Uchiha was most likely the only person who could get away with anything around him without caring what Madara thought. Because in truth, he was immune to the consequences. While Madara kept his family close even to the far extensions of the family line, Izuna was the only one he truly was open with. Izuna was loyal not just to the company's profit, but to him. If he were to fall, Izuna would fall with him, or if given the choice, he would fall for him. Which was why Madara let him say and do nearly anything. However that did not mean Izuna did not push his buttons.

After a fourteen hour flight with no escape from his brother in the confines of the plane, followed by an hour and half car ride in traffic, Madara was done. He needed a break from the constant nagging of how he needed to liven up, how he needed to get out more, find himself a girl, settle down, produce little Madaras; everything that Madara had no interest in doing.

The front door bell chimed and Madara looked in the direction of the hall that led to the entryway. Feeling no obligation to play host in someone else's house, Madara did what he did best with things that annoyed him, he ignored it.

Again the doorbell rang followed by the tapping of someone knocking lightly. And again he ignored it, hoping they would soon go away.

After the fifth round, Madara stood with a huff and made his way down the hall. Most likely it was Izuna coming back from his run and had forgotten the passcode for the lock. With an aura that matched his dark hair and eyes, he wrenched the door open, ready to give his brother an earful.

However, the moment the door opened, he found himself utterly speechless as he found not his brother, but instead a small child with a rainbow backpack and unicorn themed sundress standing on the front door step. At first, all he did was stare down at the head of cotton candy pink. But then her small head tilted up to look at him and he was greeted with a heart shaped face that framed a pair of large eyes. The shock of green in her irises took him off guard and again, all he could do was stare back before her mouth turned up into a smile and she stuck out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Sakura," she said brightly. There was not a single sign of hesitation in her greeting as most children did when in his presence. Most children could hardly utter a syllable in his presence. "May I ask who you are?"

Her voice was still sweet but it held a tone that suggested she was challenging his presence at the house, as if she had more right to be here than him. Madara's brow rose but he found himself extending his hand and grasping her offered hand as if he was meeting with a fellow business man.

"Madara Uchiha," he rumbled deeply.

Sakura nodded her candy colored head. "Nice to meet you Mr. Madara!" She said before entering the threshold, forcing him to take a step to the side as she confidently intruded on his precious alone time. "You know Mr. Madara, my mom says it's rude to take so long to answer a door," she informed him as she took off her shoes and neatly placed them on the floor before walking down the hall. "But maybe you didn't know that so I can let it pass this time."

She turned around and gave him a quizzical look when she saw him still holding the door open as he stared at her.

"Mr. Madara, you can close the door now," she informed him as she pointed to the open door.

Madara broke from his dazed confusion and shut the door closed with a snap at her instruction. She gave him a thumbs up and continued down the hall.

"Who exactly are you?" he finally managed to ask as he followed her down the hall.

Madara sat in the large chair in the living room, his ankle crossed over his knee as he stiffly sat and stared at the girl sitting in the middle of the floor and staring up at the TV screen. The screen, now displaying some sort of documentary about slugs that he found almost perplexing that a four year old would find interesting….or maybe she was five.

"How old did you say you were?" He asked, causing the girl to look at him.

Her green eyes unnerved him. They were too...he wanted to say commanding but that was not quite the right word.

"Seven," she replied before looking back at the documentary on the screen.

He looked at her skeptically, failing to believe that the small child was that old. Then again, he didn't know much about children. He heard the garage door opening and he nearly jumped up from the chair, eager for Mikoto's return. But he was sorely disappointed when a sweaty Izuna walked into the room, coming to an abrupt stop when he spotted the small form sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor.

"Ummm...What is that?" He asked as Madara grabbed his arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

"It's a Sakura," he replied automatically.

"A Sakura?" Izuna asked in confusion.

Madara shook his head. "Some child Mikoto was supposed to be watching today."

"Oh...what do we do with it?" he asked after a long moment of confused observation.

Madara looked at him. "I don't know. There is a reason why I don't have kids." He peeked in at the girl who was still watching the television. He turned back to his brother, only to find him leaning into his personal space to look at the girl as well. He nudged him away with a finger, touching the least amount of his soiled workout shirt as possible. "Is it necessary that we do anything? It has been perfectly fine watching its show for the past fifteen minutes."

Izuna looked at him. "Did you feed it?"

Madara nearly sneered at him. "Why would I feed it?"

Izuna looked at his watch. "Well it's lunch time. Don't kids need to eat a lot since they're growing?"

"Like this one even grows," Madara mumbled under his breath. But all the same, he found himself asking, "What do they eat?"

Izuna shrugged. "I don't know mashed carrots?"

Madara glared at him. "It's not an infant." He at least knew that much.

"Pizza then?" Izuna tried again.

"They have elephant ears at the fair!"

The two older men startled at the sudden high pitched voice that sounded right next to them. They both looked down to find Sakura staring up at them. She looked from Madara to Izuna, then held out a small hand.

"Hello," she said cheerily. "My name is Sakura. What is yours?"

Izuna stared at the small hand before taking it. "Izuna," he answered, looking to Madara with a raised brow.

Madara only shrugged his shoulders. He too had just gone through this not long ago when he opened the front door. She had politely introduced herself, asked for his name, gave him an etiquette lesson, then announced that her mother had dropped her off since Mikoto was going to watch her for the day.

If he were perfectly honest it was quite impressive mannerisms. She had potential for being the perfect business deal closer, even with her pink hair. There was just something about her gaze that Madara just knew people could not say no to. If she kept it up, he might just overlook the hair and hire her when she was old enough.

"There is a fair going on in the park today," Sakura elaborated when neither adult managed to figure out what to do or say next. "I saw it when my mom dropped me off. We can get elephant ears there," she informed them, looking at them expectantly.

Madara blinked at her, ignorant as to what in the world an elephant ear was.

"There is a fair?" Izuna could not help but express hopefully. His habit of procrastination spotting an opportunity to arise, even if it involved a three foot child.

"Izuna," Madara said sharply. "We have work to do."

Madara had already planned to be on the phone by now and go over numbers with his brother in the afternoon when he was back from his run. They had an agenda to stick to and babysitting was not part of it. He knew what his brother was doing by engaging the girl and he was not going to have it.

Silently they had a conversation as they looked at each other, both of them arguing with looks and facial expressions as the girl watched them quietly. After winning the battle, Madara looked down at the girl, ready to tell her to find a snack in the kitchen and not bother them until Mikoto was back. But then he looked into her eyes. Those eyes that he had already decided he didn't trust himself to look into but could not resist.

It turned out that an elephant ear was nothing but a deep fried piece of dough covered in cinnamon sugar with an assortment of toppings that could be added. Madara sat at the park picnic table across from the small girl as she happily sat next to his brother. All three of them sat with a plate in front of them with a portion of deep fried, diabetics nightmare in front of them.

Madara's was left untouched as he watched the small girl devour the piece of fried dough bigger than her head. She had piled whip cream and chocolate syrup on hers which was now all over her fingers as she happily gazed at Izuna who ate his own elephant ear with nearly as much gusto.

Madara raised a brow at her when she finished and gave him a bright smile before asking if he was going to eat his. Madara was able to resist her green eyed stare for a whole three seconds before he found himself pushing his plate across the table to her eagerly awaiting hands.

Again, he was not sure how it happened, but ten minutes later, Madara was standing alone with her next to a stall with games and prizes. He was looking around, waiting for Izuna to finish throwing away the trash before they went back to the house when he felt a tug on his hand. He looked down to where the short girl was looking up at him. As she continued to hold onto his hand, she pointed to the game booth next to them where a large stuffed animal was on display.

"Mr. Madara, I want that," she said.

It was not a beg, it was not a demand, nor was it a plea. She had said it in a plain, factual tone that anyone would comment on the weather with. Yet, somehow, Madara found himself compelled, and before he knew it, he was walking up to the vendor.

"How much for the-" he gave the stuffed animal a dark glare before begrudgingly vocalizing- "teal striped, sparkly slug?" Honestly, what was with this kid and slugs, he thought to himself.

The man shook his head. "You gotta win it. Two dollars per round, knock down all the targets with the ninja stars and it's yours."

Madara frowned. "How about I just pay you twice as much as its worth and you just give it to me."

The man frowned and shook his head. "Sorry but you gotta win it fair and square."

Madara glared at the man but took his eyes away when he felt another tug on his sleeve. He looked down to find Sakura staring up at him.

"I can do it!" She said eagerly. "I play ninja with Sasuke and Naruto all the time! 'Tachi says I am the best!"

Madara looked up at the vendor who was giving him a smirk. Madara returned his smugness with a dark look which caused the man to become uneasy. But even with his dominance reestablished, Madara found himself slamming two bills onto the table before bending down to lift Sakura up onto the stool. The man handed over some dulled and poorly balanced shuriken as he looked smugly at the pink haired girl.

"Oh too bad," the vendor, who was all too ignorant as to how close he was to being pulled over his stall table and being throttled, mocked in fake sympathy. "Maybe this next time," he added holding his hand out for two more dollars.

As it turned out, Sakura was not as great as she made herself out to be, that or her usual competition did not set a high standard. Madara opened his empty wallet then looked to Izuna. He gave his brother a look that had Izuna fishing into his pockets to procure his own wallet and pull out some bills to hand over to the vendor. Sakura gleefully gave him a smile as she was presented with another set of shuriken to throw. Just as she was about to throw the first one, Madara stopped her.

"Remember," he said, fixing her hold and realigning her arm. "Line up the point with your pointer finger."

She nodded, then with a look of determination, she hurtled it into the air. With a loud clang it hit the target and the duck outline fell over. She let out a glee of victory, Izuna cheered, and Madara silently thanked the gods she had finally hit something.

"Good shot," commented the vendor. "Only four more."

It took ten more dollars before Sakura finally knocked four down in a row.

"Common Sakura you have this!" Izuna cheered enthusiastically as she aimed for the last target.

Madara stayed silent but stood behind, watching her proudly as she masterfully gripped the shuriken, aimed, and threw. With precision it flew through the air and struck the final target with a metallic ping. At the sound they all cheered, Sakura squealing gleefully as her eyes lightened as she looked around to her cheer squad. But it was all halted when the target popped back up abruptly as if it had never been hit.

"Aw too bad," the vendor said. "One more try?"

Sakura looked up at the man in confusion. "But I knocked it down?" She said in a small voice, pointing to where the target was still steadying itself after its reset .

The vendor pointed to the target. "Not good enough it seems."

Sakura frowned, tears slowly building in her eyes as she glared at him. "But that's not fair! You're cheating!" She shouted as she slammed her hands on the counter, trying and failing to look intimidating. It was like looking at a fluffy pink kitten trying to look like a tiger with her rainbows and unicorn themed attire instead of fierce tiger stripes.

"Sorry kid, life's not—" The man snapped his mouth shut as he noticed the expressions of the men standing behind her. Their eyes were narrowed, nearly glowing with a dangerous blood thirst that he could have sworn had turned their eyes literally red with rage. "Um, ya know what, you're right kid, you did knock it down. I must have seen it wrong. Here," he took down the stuffed slug and handed it over to her as he nervously nodded to the men looming behind her.

Sakura's expression immediately brightened as she wrapped her arms around the fluffy slug, admiring the piece of sparkly material hanging from its tail to mimic a trail of slime.

"You know what, take this too!" The man added, taking down a purple stuffed snake and handing it over when Izuna pointed to it with narrowed eyes. "It's for um...playing so many games."

Sakura struggled to take the snake, wrapping it over her neck like a scarf as she looked at the man. "Really!" She said brightly. "Gee thanks!"

She gave him a bright smile, which looked angelic and so out of place when grouped with the two demon faces lurking behind her. She turned around to Izuna and Madara, their expressions altering instantly as she proudly displayed her winnings. But then something else caught her eye and she hopped down from the stool to run over to another vendor game.

Dancing on her toes she turned back to the two men. "Can we play this one too?" She asked. "I promise I am really good at it!"

Itachi had just gotten into the car when Mikoto's phone rang. As he slowly buckled himself into the back seat next to an unhappy looking Sasuke, his mother answered the phone.

"Mikoto!" Came Mebuki's voice through the receiver. "I just wanted to thank you again for watching Sakura while Kizashi and I are in the city today. We should be back a little after dinner time. I'm sorry I didn't say hello when I dropped her off this morning but we were running late. Did she get in all right? She hasn't been any trouble has she?"

Mikoto went ashen as she listened to her friend and something dawned on her mind. She had forgotten. She had entirely forgotten that Sakura was supposed to be in her care for the day. In the chaos of the announcement of Madara and Izuna's arrival today, she had completely forgotten to tell Mebuki she couldn't watch Sakura today. And then dread hit her again as she realized Sakura was not just alone, but she was alone with Madara and Izuna! Izuna may be okay but Madara...there was no way the little girl stood a chance to deal with him and his dark personification. And even if she did manage to not be afraid of him, knowing Sakura, she would not know the line nor boundaries in which others were required to skirt around when in his presence. If she crossed the barrier, the poor innocent girl would be eaten alive.

"Mikoto? Hello?"

"Yeah," Mikoto suddenly said. "I mean of course she hasn't been any trouble at all. In fact she is fine…" she shot a glance at Itachi and Sasuke who were looking at her with a concerned look. "Perfectly fine! Anyways I have a cake in the oven gotta go! Take care and have fun!"

Mikoto hung up, quickly hoping that her friend bought her assurance that things were fine. Because things certainly would not be. Sakura was sweet and managed to charm even Fugaku on occasion. But Madara was a whole other level of stoic that when broken, was only in fits of rage.

"Mom?" Itachi asked. "Are you okay?"

Mikoto looked at him. "Buckle up we have to get home!"

Mikoto pulled into the driveway and slammed on the breaks, the SUV only halfway into the garage before she was cutting off the ignition. Sasuke was the first to reach it, quickly entering the code on the keypad, he impatiently waited for the click of the lock before he practically wrenched the door open in his haste to get inside and rescue his Sakura from his uncles.

Mikoto was not exactly sure what she was expecting when they pulled up to the house but her imagination had covered just about everything. From Sakura bursting from the front door, running in terror as if she had just escaped a haunted mansion, to having her still sitting on the porch step, waiting to be let in. Once or twice on her race home, she may have imagined driving up to her find her drive way full emergency vehicles with their flashing lights on and walking in to find a murder scene in the middle of her living room. While those were just wild imaginations, she had expected to at least hear Madara's roaring voice or Sakura crying somewhere in a hidden corner of the house. But she heard none of that when she stepped inside. In fact, the house was rather quiet and calm. A feature that still did not bring her any comfort.

However, as she stepped fully into the house, she realized that maybe the mansion was not quite as silent as she thought. Coming from the dining room area, she heard a low rumble of voices, followed by a higher more cheerful one replying. Immediately Sasuke was moving, having easily recognized Sakura's cheer and Mikoto and Itachi were not far behind.

"If there was a park next to it, people could take them on walks and play with them so they would be more happy and wag their tails more. I think people would buy more puppies if their tails wagged mo一"

Sasuke had just wrenched the traditional shoji doors open that accessed the dining room when he froze. Mikoto came up behind him and took in the scene before her. On one side of her magnificently crafted dining table, were Madara and Izuna as they sat in front of their laptops, typing away as papers, sticky notes and notebooks littered the table surface. Halfway across the table, paper with finely typed lines and calculated graphs transformed into crayola colored drawings and candy wrappers, covering the table where Sakura sat opposite of them. Sitting in the two empty chairs next to her were a handful of variously stuffed animals in all fabrics and sizes, along with a large bag of candy. Sakura herself was holding a large lollipop as she drew what was a crude mockery of a line graph. One axis had a gradient level measured by varying degrees of frowny and smiley faces. On the other axis was a sticker of a puppy while on the actual graph was an exponentially growing line, indicating a correlation between a higher quantity of puppies and more happy looking smiley faces.

At the sound of the shoji door sliding open, Sakura immediately stopped her talking while Madara and Izuna paused in their typing to look up at the Uchiha mother and her two sons. Sakura spun around, her green eyes brightening as she caught sight of Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, grabbing the purple snake in the chair next to her before sliding out of her own chair and running up to him. "I won this for you," she announced as she held the stuffed snake out for him.

However Sasuke, too preoccupied with staring at the two figures who were watching his pink haired friend, Madara with an all too curious expression.

"Sasuke, I really like your uncles! They let me eat anything I wanted and we played so many games, then they showed me the new mall that they are designing and I was just telling them how if they have a puppy store..." Sakura earned Sasuke's usually undivided attention the moment she had uttered her fondness of his uncles, but the rest of her rambling had gone unheard as he frowned at her glowing and happy face.

Taking the snake that she was still holding out to him, he snatched her hand and started dragging her to the door.

"Oh but...Sorry I have to go now," Sakura said, waving her free hand back at Izuna and Madara as she was dragged away from them.

When Sasuke noticed the fond smile Sakura still had when Izuna waved to her, he scowled at them. Never in his life had he ever dared to look them in the eye, but at the sign of fondness in Sakura's eyes, he had to protect what was his. He was already sharing Sakura enough these days, there was not enough to go around to every Uchiha in his family. Especially a greedy Uchiha like Madara.

As he pulled Sakura into the hall, his spiked head turned to look back at Madara who was looking at him with disapproval. Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more as he glared at Madara sitting behind his computer, not happy that his nephew was taking away one of the best idea generators he had since starting this mall project. Then with one final tug, Sasuke pulled Sakura away with him.

Madara stared at the now empty hallway, taken aback by the near hostility in the young boy's eyes. Sasuke had never seemed to be a daring or brave one, always tagging after his brother like a shadow. While Itachi had always been on his list of priority recruitment, Madara had never even considered Sasuke of having any potential in the cut throat world of business. But now, maybe the kid had some potential. It was something he was certainly curious to test and watch develop with the years to come.

"Stay away from my uncles," Sasuke commanded when he had firmly shut his bedroom door, adding another barricade between her and his uncles.

He had not liked that curious glint in Madara's eyes. He was still young, but even he understood that being in Madara's radar was not exactly the best thing. Yes he ran a highly successful business empire, but even in his young age Sasuke knew that there was a dark world being run by the Uchiha head within the shadows of his public actions. One that Sasuke did not want Sakura a part of or to even know of. It might change her opinion of him and his family.

"But I like them," she protested. "Madara taught me how to throw ninja stars and Izuna…" she drifted off as she bit her lip and looked down at her feet. "I like looking at Izuna...he's so handsome."

Sasuke scrunched his nose in disgust. "That's gross, he's old and probably has tons of cooties. Don't look at him anymore."

Sakura peeked up at him as she dug her toe into the carpet. "But he looks like you," she said shyly.

Sasuke froze with his mouth open as he was about to retort when the implication of her words hit him. Suddenly he felt his cheeks warm and his stomach flipped. Not liking this sudden and foreign sensation, he scowled at her.

"Just do as I say and keep away from them," he said, before adding as casually as he could, "And if you like looking at him just look at me instead, you said yourself he looks like me so what would be the difference."

Chapter Text

"...we are going to sleep in tents that we will set up and it's going to be awesome! I hope the weather is nice tonight because then we can have the rain flap off the top and it's like sleeping under the stars, but without having to deal with the bugs because you have the netting in the tent to-"

"I know what camping is, Dobe," Sasuke growled between clenched teeth, silencing Naruto's long winded jabbering. "I just haven't ever gone."

"Well yeah, but you can't know what it's like to go camping until you've actually…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared out the car window as he tuned out his blonde friend's rambling. Ever since Sakura had invited them to come on her family's camping trip, and Naruto found out that Sasuke had never gone camping in his twelve years of life, Naruto had not shut up once, acting like the three times his family had gone glamping made him an expert. Sasuke may have not ever gone camping, but he certainly knew there was a difference between sleeping in a tent on the ground, versus staying in an RV with air conditioning and WIFI as Naruto's family did.

It wasn't Sasuke's fault he had never gone camping. It was just not something Uchiha's did for vacation. They went to lake resorts and ski lodges. They stayed in five star hotels that had Michelin star standard kitchens and world renowned chefs. They went to exotic beaches and fully developed cities all over the world. However, what they did not do was go to the forest to sleep on the dirt and get eaten by bugs.

If he was truly honest, when Sakura first brought it up he was not enthused. Though Sakura hardly noticed given his recent development in keeping his face stoic at all times. In his younger years he had not been as polished in the art of keeping his face emotionless like his brother and father, but recently he had a new drive. As he grew older, he started feeling new things and new emotions that he was not sure how to handle, so instead of dealing with them, he hid them. Unfortunately this new thing called puberty, that had started over the summer, was not helping with keeping some of those feelings in check.

However despite his lack of enthusiasm, he knew that this vacation was something Sakura always held dearly to her heart. Unlike his family, her family did not have money flowing into their accounts like his or Naruto's families. As a small child he had never noticed, but as he had grown older, he began to notice things. Her neighborhood was not as nice, her house was not as large, and both of her parents were always working. This is why Sakura loved this trip so much, because she got an entire week with her parents. And because it was something Sakura loved, Sasuke found himself wanting to be a part of it.

Although the main reason why he was going, was so that it was not just Naruto going with her. If Sasuke was not there, Naruto would end up walking into a bees nest and given his wild nature, would most likely make the bees even more angry. Sakura would end up getting caught up in the swarm while Naruto ran away, leaving her to get hurt. And if not bees, he would somehow manage to get into trouble some other way and the result would be the same, Sakura getting hurt because she would try to help him. At least that is how Sasuke rationalized his coming and enduring the hot and buggy forest, while sleeping on the ground with a snoring Naruto right next to his ear.

He moved his eyes from the blur of trees and rocks as Sakura's dad drove them through the winding mountain road and looked to Sakura. She was happily smiling as she stared out the front window from her spot in the middle seat of her family's outback. As if sensing his stare, she turned her head and looked at him. The moment her green eyes met his dark ones, her mouth split into a wide grin, revealing the metallic arrangement of her new braces.

She had gotten them at the beginning of the summer. At first, Sakura hardly smiled after getting them and Sasuke had thought it was because her teeth hurt from the adjustments. But over time, he realized it was because she was self conscious. Despite his new habit of seeming stoic and brooding, he had done everything in his own subtle way to try and make her confident enough to smile fully again. It had been a long process but after an entire summer's time, she was back to giving him the genuine happy smile that Sakura always wore growing up. And he was relieved to have it back. There was just something about it that made everything seem right in the world.

As he took in the metallic grin she gave him, he couldn't help but give her the smallest of smiles back which she seemed satisfied with. As if his smile energized her more, she sat back against the car seat and looped her arms between both his and Naruto's.

"This is going to be the best camping year ever!" she declared.

"Ahhhh," Naruto sighed in content as he dropped his sleeping back into the center of the tent and laid out on top of it.

"Dobe you're not sleeping there," Sasuke informed as he dropped his and Sakura's bedding down onto Naruto's face.

Naruto began to frantically dig himself out of the tidal wave of extra blankets Sakura had brought for herself.

"What do you mean not sleeping here! I can sleep wherever I want and we already decided in the car we were all staying in the same tent, despite what her dad said!"

"We aren't all going to fit if you hog the middle," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Then sleep outside fatty!" Naruto shot back.

"Naruto!"

The blonde instantly stiffened as the feminine, but oh so dangerous voice of their female friend sounded. Then she appeared at the tent's door flap. Bending as she crouched into the tent, she swung at him. He dodged her fist only to get kicked in the shin.

"That is not okay!" she reprimanded. "We do not shame people for how they look!"

"Sorry Sakura! It was just a joke!" Naruto quickly apologized before Sakura could try and take a swing at him again. "Besides! It's not like it's actually true."

"You don't know how another person feels about their body," she lectured, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You may be joking, but they might actually believe or already think what you are saying."

Ever since Sakura had taken the self defense camp for girls a few weeks ago at the police academy, her already unnatural strength, now paired with accuracy, had become quite powerful. Recently, the two boys had noticed an increase in their beatings as well. There were certain things that they were becoming less and less able to freely talk about. They hadn't figured out the exact reason, but two things they were certain of. It started at the end of the school year when they were separated into two different groups and informed of some changes that were about to take place in their bodies. And the second was when they started to notice the changes that had been happening lately to them and their peers. There were just certain subjects that Sakura shut down quickly and anything on a person's body image was one of them.

"Don't let me catch you saying those things to others!" she warned. "Now both of you finish up here so we can be done with setting up sooner."

They both nodded and she was gone in an instant again. Together they both let out a small sigh of relief. There was a pause, then simultaneously, they both looked at each other and immediately started their quarrel back up, only this time more quietly.

After some squabbling, it was decided that Sasuke and Naruto would sleep next to each other while Sakura, being the shortest, slept at the top with her pillow neatly laid down next to Sasuke's. That last detail resulted from a rearrangement that Sasuke had taken upon himself after Naruto had first arranged her bedding for her.

As Sasuke crawled out of the tent from his final switching of sleeping positions, it was to find Naruto wielding a hefty, staff-like branch. He slammed the end of it into the dirt and propped his foot up on the stacked firewood.

"Let's go on a hike," he declared with a pose.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the suggestion. After the hot car ride then the grueling task of unpacking, all Sasuke wanted to do was jump into the crystal clear water of the lake they were currently camping by. But as soon as he saw the bright and eager look of Sakura, he supposed it would make sense to hike first, swim later.

With Sakura's parents wanting to stay behind and enjoy the lake while her dad fished, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura went out on their own, walking through the campgrounds to where the hiking trails were located, ready to start their week of adventures.

"We're lost!" Naruto cried out with dismay.

Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at him with weary looks as they watched the somehow half stripped Naruto running around. One moment he would be piling sticks together and the next, striking random rocks together as if he were striking flint to steel. Around his head he wore a strip of cloth he had ripped from his now cropped tee-shirt and tied it around his head like he was Rambo in the jungle. When neither of them moved or showed any kind of distress similar to his, Naruto turned to them.

"What are you two standing there for?" he questioned. "Start gathering dry wood! We need to make a fire and find shelter." He pointed a gnarled stick at Sakura. "You know about all these plants, find berries!" He pointed the other, more straighter stick at Sasuke. "Go find some branches to create a roof for a lean-to!"

Again when neither of them moved, Naruto threw his hands up in the air.

"What are you waiting for!? Do you want to die?"

Sakura let out a wistful sigh and looked at Sasuke who was pinching the bridge of his nose now. "Do you want to tell him?" she offered.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he shook his head in disgust.

Sakura nodded and let her head tilt back to Naruto. "Naruto," she began. She had to repeat herself three times until he finally looked at her, paused in digging through the ground as he held up a worm, readying to eat it in the name of 'survival'. She pointed to a spot five meters from where they stood. "The path is right there."

Naruto jumped up as his sky blue eyes were thrown up to the sky. "Oh thank the gods!" he said as he ran towards them.

"We were only off the trail for ten minutes一" Sasuke's low grumble was cut short as Naruto torpedoed himself between them as he ran towards the path.

"We're saved!" he yelled out, knocking both Sasuke and Sakura to the ground as he shoved them aside.

"Dobe!" Sasuke grumbled again. He got back up and stepped over to offer Sakura a hand up, only to notice then that her face was scrunched in pain as she grabbed her ankle and let out a hiss. "Sakura are you okay," he quickly questioned as he kneeled down to her level.

His fingers reached out to touch it but she stopped him. "No don't touch it, I think it's sprained."

"Sakura, you need to be more careful," came Naruto's voice from above.

Sasuke tilted his head to glare up at him. "This is your fault dobe! You pushed her down."

"Oh...hehe, sorry Sakura," Naruto said with a bashful rubbing of the back of his head.

"It's fine Naruto, you didn't mean it. I really should一"

She was cut off when Sasuke gave her a glare. Recently Sakura had been developing a habit of apologizing when it was not her fault. Sasuke didn't mind her sweet nature, in fact it was one of the things that he liked most about her. But over this summer, ever since she had gotten her braces, he noticed her forming a habit of being apologetic and lacking confidence. This he was not okay with.

"Don't apologize to him," Sasuke growled.

"Sorr一"

He sent her another glare which caused her mouth to go quiet and Sasuke silently looked at her ankle.

"I don't think it's too bad," she said, causing him to look up at her. "It's already starting to feel better." She started to get up, grabbing onto Naruto to help her stand. "I think I just twisted it. If I get up and walk on it a bit, I should be一what are you doing?"

While she explained away her injury, Sasuke had grabbed her arms as he spun around and pulled her towards him before couching down to the ground. He twisted his head to look up at her expectantly, her hands on his shoulders.

When she made no move, he let out a grunt. "Hurry up and just get on."

Sakura's face warmed. "Sasuke I really don't think it's necessary. I can walk myself maybe just一"

Sasuke pulled her forward until her arms were wrapped around his neck in a tight hug as he stood up and grabbed her legs. She let out a small squeal and tightened her hold when he adjusted her abruptly.

"It's already late," he argued as he started walking towards the trail. "You will just slow us down if you walk," he rationalized with a monotone.

"Oh, okay," Sakura hesitantly agreed, not wanting to be a burden on any one.

Sasuke kept his face straight as Naruto took the lead. The blonde cast a couple of glances back at him and Sasuke stonily walked with Sakura hugging on to him.

"Sorry if I'm heavy," Sakura quietly apologized.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, "you're not."

"Oi, Sasuke, when you get tired I will take Sakura the rest of the way," Naruto said, flexing the preteen muscles he didn't have yet.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Like he was going to let that oaf carry her. Naruto would probably drop her off a cliff this time.

But any other thoughts of what Naruto might do were lost when Sasuke nearly tripped over himself as Sakura's chin came to rest on his shoulder. Her breath tickled his ear, causing him to miss a step. But he hid it by making a show of readjusting her weight again as he kept his increasingly, reddening face, forward.

"Thanks Sasuke," Sakura said so quietly, only he could hear. "You're the best."

He couldn't help the small smile that came to his face when she felt her arms tighten and loosen in a small gesture of a hug. Yeah, he was definitely not letting Naruto carry her.

Sasuke was laying on his back as he tried his best to fall asleep. Or at least somewhat restful sleep as it was the only kind one could hope for when sleeping on the hard ground. There was a rock sticking right into the middle of his back and it seemed every time he readjusted to avoid said spot, there was just another stick or rock somewhere else to jab into a part of his body. At about two in the morning, he had fallen into what some would claim a sleeping state, when he was rudely woken with a sharp jab into his shoulder.

"Yo Sasuke."

As soon as he heard the voice of Naruto in his ear, Sasuke suppressed a growl of annoyance. Squinting his eyes tight, Sasuke pretended to remain asleep, hoping that the other boy would give up and go back to bed. Unfortunately, this was Naruto he was talking about. Naruto never gave up.

"Teme," Naruto continued with another poke, this time into his cheek.

Sasuke shifted to his side, still not acknowledging Naruto as he mimicked a soft snore.

"Hey bastard."

Naruto gave him a particular hard jab into the middle of his back that caused him to flinch.

"Hn?" Sasuke finally hummed in annoyance as he tried to ignore the ache that was radiating in the center of his spine.

"You awake?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes beneath his closed lids before grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head. "No, go back to sleep."

"Hey!" Naruto practically shouted, "if you're asleep then why are you talking!" And again Sasuke felt a pointy finger dig into him.

Sasuke shot up and glared at the blonde's silhouette as it was the only thing he could make out in the dim light. "Be quiet," Sasuke hissed lowley when he heard Sakura rustle around in her sleep. "You're going to wake Sakura."

"But I have to go to the bathroom!"

"And?" Sasuke drawled before he moved to lay back down. "Thanks for the update, let me know when your stomach growls too," he added sarcastically.

"I don't want to go by myself, what if a bear comes out?"

"Naruto, you stink so much any bear that you come within ten miles of will be running the opposite direction."

"Common Sasuke, it's dark now, what if I get lost?"

"I am NOT holding your hand while you go to the bathroom because you are afraid of the dark. Just hold it until the morning."

"Fine," he heard Naruto say before there was a rustling. Sasuke was just laying his head back down on his pillow after getting re-situated, when he heard Naruto's voice again. "Hey Sakura..."

Sasuke twisted around. "Naruto leave her-"

There was a muffled groan and shifting of a sleeping bag. "N-naruto?" Sakura mumbled sleepily. "What time is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," he heard Naruto begin, "come with me."

There was a tired sigh. "Okay."

Sasuke was immediately back up. Like hell he was going to make Sakura go with the Dobe. Walking outside in the dark with a twisted ankle was the last thing she needed to be doing.

"Fine Naruto," Sasuke snapped. "If you have to go so badly I will go if it will stop your whining." He started pulling on his shoes as Naruto unzipped the tent. Sasuke paused when he noticed Sakura crawling over their bags to the opening. "Sakura you stay here, I will go with the idiot."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't want to stay here alone! You guys are taking the only flashlight and what if a bear comes?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Honestly, what was with these two and bears? He was pretty certain there weren't even bears in this area. He let out a sigh and finished pulling on his shoes and jacket before grabbing the flashlight they both had forgotten and crawled out of the tent.

"This should be good enough," Sasuke said. "Just go behind that tree."

"No that's too close! What if Sakura sees me!"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maybe you should have thought of that before deciding to bring her along," he deadpanned.

"Naruto I can turn around," Sakura offered. "I promise I won't peek."

"But what if you hear me!"

Sasuke let out a sigh, it was going to be morning by the time they got back at this rate. He shoved the flash light into Naruto's hand.

"Just hurry up and go find a spot so we can all go back to sleep instead of baby sitting you because you're too scared to pee on a tree," Sasuke growled. "Honestly, at this rate we should have just walked to the actual bathrooms like I suggested in the first place!"

"Fine, fine I'm going!" Naruto quickly said as he began walking away and muttering something about using nature's lavatory was more manly.

As Naruto's crunching of dead leaves and snapping of branches and twigs beneath his tromping feet died down and the beam of the flashlight disappeared, Sasuke and Sakura were left with nothing but the chirping of crickets and cicadas to fill the silence between them. Sakura fidgeted with the hem of her pajama shorts before wrapping her arms around herself. It had been a hot day but up here in the mountains with the sun down, it had gotten cooler.

"Are you cold?"

Sakura turned her head to where Sasuke was standing a little away from her. The moon light was bright but the heavy canopy of trees above filtered the light so much she could just barely make him out.

"I will be fine," she assured. But even as she said it there was a small breeze that caused her to shiver.

She heard him give out a sigh of annoyance as he muttered something that she believed voiced that annoyance as he shrugged out of his sweatshirt and handed it over.

"Oh I don't–"

"Just take it Sakura," he grumped.

She took the offered garment and slipped into it, relishing the warmth as she zipped it up. However when she noticed him slightly shiver, she instantly felt bad.

She knew that this was not exactly what Sasuke wanted to be doing this week, but she could not deny she had been more than thrilled when he had agreed to come. She would have enjoyed the week with just Naruto but there was just something about all three of them being together that made the perfect dynamic. Ever since she had moved to the neighborhood the three of them had stuck together through thick and thin. If he had not been here it just wouldn't be the same. However as much as she loved his presence she couldn't help but feel like she was becoming a burden on him. Especially after today when he had carried her the five miles back to the camp ground after twisting her ankle and now as he sacrificed his comfort because of her own carelessness to grab her own coat.

His voice suddenly came through the darkness again. "How is your ankle?"

Sakura twisted it around, testing it out. "It's fine now, a bit stiff but the ice pack you made seems to have helped it a lot. She heard him let out a low hum before falling silent again. It was only a moment later when Sakura noticed just how silent it had gotten. The usual nightly chirping of insects had fallen practically silent and there was a sudden stillness in the air. Automatically she began to think of the horror movies they had watched this past summer that all started like this. A group of people standing in the dark woods...right before some killer clown or machete wielding masked man jumped out at them. Just as she was telling herself that only happened in movies, there was a sudden snap of a twig behind her. Instantly Sakura was attaching herself to Sasuke.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, hugging his arm to her chest.

Sasuke did not make a sound, doing his best to ignore the thundering in his own chest. He wasn't afraid of the dark, however, he was wary of the things in the dark that made noises right before they jumped out and attacked you. But of course he would never admit that out loud. And he would never let Sakura know that he was nervous of anything. Wrapping an arm around Sakura and pulling her close, comforting not just her but himself in the process. He took a step closer to the sound and strained his eyes to see through the dark.

"N-naruto?" Sakura called quietly next to him.

When there was no reply, Sasuke took it upon himself to call in her stead.

"Naruto?" He called, keeping his newly changing voice deep and hoping it would not spontaneously crack as he had started to notice it did lately. Just another reason why he had taken up the stoic and more silent roll recently. "Naruto!" He called again. "This isn't funny, you're scaring Saku–"

"What are you guys looking at?"

The hairs on the backs of their necks rose as a chill ran down their spins and they both whirled around as they each let out a dueted scream, which was then turned into a trio as Naruto, who had come up behind them, let out a scream as well.

Naruto's scream soon turned into a groan as Sakura instinctually threw her fist into his stomach, turned on her heel and bolted back towards the camp. Sasuke moved to run after her but was stopped when Naruto latched onto him.

"What's going on!" He said in alarm. "Why is she running!"

When Sasuke finally realized it was Naruto and not a killer clown grabbing onto him, Sasuke wrenched his hand free and shoved Naruto. "Because of you, you idiot. Where have you been! And why did you sneak up on us and try to scare her! You know she doesn't like the dark!"

"The flashlight died," Naruto defended. "I had a hard time finding you guys and then I heard you guys yelling out to me and that's when I found you!"

"Whatever! You were lurking, breaking sticks and making noises to try and scare us!" Sasuke accused, pointing in the direction the noises had come from.

In the darkness Sasuke barely made out Naruto's confused face. "But I didn't come from that way! I swear that wasn't me!" He added when Sasuke gave him a look of disbelief.

"Yeah? Then what was it a bear–"

There was a snap of a large branch followed by a rustling of leaves in the bushes next to them. Both boys looked at each other with wide eyes and at the sound of something crunching they both bolted. Each of them letting out a scream as they ran.

It did not take them long before they caught up to Sakura. Without saying anything, they both grabbed a hand of hers as the three of them continued to run away, none of them bothering to look back and notice that what their imaginations had decided was a killer bear, was really only a large squirrel that had managed to drag a pack of cookies from a neglectant camper.

"I think it was Bigfoot," Naruto surmised.

"You don't honestly think Sasquatch really exists," Sasuke scoffed. "It's just a myth."

"Yeah right!" Naruto argued. "Then how do you explain the Lochness Monster?"

There was a tiny giggle near his ear and Sasuke adjusted his head to look at Sakura as she lay down on her bedding. He could see her looking at him with amusement as she stifled her laughter again as Naruto began to tell them of the time his cousin swore he saw a Yeti when he went skiing last winter. Naruto claimed it was true because he saw the footprints himself the next day when they went back to the place his cousin had spotted it.

"...and then remember that one time when I saw that chupacabra? Sasuke you remember...we were-"

"Naruto, that was a dog," Sasuke interrupted.

"That's not what you said when-"

Sakura burst into laughter causing Naruto to stop as both he and Sasuke looked at her. Having been too spooked from their flee from the squirrel, they stayed up all night talking and keeping each other safe. It was just reaching dawn and the tent was just light enough to see her laughing as she held her sides. As she settled down a happy silence fell around them as they each went into their own sleep deprived thinking.

"Hey guys?" Sakura said as she broke the silence, unsure if either of them was still awake or not. "I hope we remain friends. I heard a lot of childhood friends don't stay friends when they get into the upper schools."

It was quiet again for a long while until suddenly, "Don't worry Sakura, no matter what you will always have us...right Sasuke?"

"Hn."

Sakura could not help but let a bright smile come to her face. She loved her boys and all summer she had been worried that she was going to lose them soon. Middle school was a daunting idea. There would be more students in their grade, and they would be moving around to different classes with each period. What if they had a different lunch? What if they didn't share any classes or teachers? Sakura had other friends, but the thought of not having her best friends was terrifying. However, with Naruto's words and Sasuke's grunting, she felt that no matter how bad it all was, as long as she had them, it would all be okay.

Chapter Text

Sasuke walked through the empty hallways as he made his way to the cafeteria of the middle school. He had been asked to stay behind and go over an assignment with his teacher. After stopping by his locker, he left to meet up with his friends for lunch. As he neared the lunch room, he noticed the unusual volume and energy of the mass of students gathered in the eatery. It was always loud and rambunctious, but there was something different about the atmosphere when he entered the large dinning hall. The ambiance of the cafeteria was exhilarated, but held a certain tension that kept it from feeling like excitement and more like anxiety.  

Upon entering the eatery room, his dark eyes moved about the sea of tables and chairs, searching for his friends in their usual spot. However he detoured from his objective when he noticed a gathering of students that had formed in the middle of the room. Sasuke rarely took interest in the mundane frivolities of his peers, but there was something about the energy of the room that made him curious.

Drawn by the mystery of what was causing such energy, Sasuke moved towards the crowd. As students noticed his presence, their eyes widened and they quickly moved out of his way. A hum of whispers and gasp, along with a couple of giddy squeals of fangirls, followed his wake as he pushed through the group. 

So far middle school had been good to Sasuke. He had always been popular with his peers but there was something about puberty that had taken things to another level. In grade school there had always been a few girls that seemed to take an interest in him, Ino since the first day of school, Naruto’s cousin Karin when she came to visit during summer and winter breaks, but since coming into middle school, it was like a switch had been turned and it was like every girl had found him suddenly interesting. And while his body was still growing, his frame more lean than muscular, his physical abilities in after school sports and P.E. had earned him the respect of most of his fellow boys. That and his tendency to easily solve any differences with his fists. He was not a bully as he only fought with those who gave him or any of his friends issues, but more than once had he made a point that ended in a hot mess with school disciplinary last year.  

His best friend, Naruto, had adjusted to the transition well too. While not quite as popular with the girls, given his tendency to come off as loud and annoying, his jovial and comical persona earned him some popularity. That and his skill at practically any sport earned him favor amongst the crowd. He was friends with everyone, whether they chose to or not. And given the fact that he was Sasuke’s best friend, everyone was willing to overlook his flaws in hopes that they could somehow get closer to the Uchiha, the king of the seventh grade. 

Said king came to a stop when the crowd parted fully and he was able to finally see what exactly was causing such a commotion. As his dark eyes fell on the source of lunch room entertainment, the dining hall fell silent as a tight frown came to his lips. His dark eyes dimming with animosity as he took in the scene before him.  

While he and Naruto had flourished, middle school had not been quite so kind to Sakura. In the summer before they started middle school, Sakura had gotten braces and had also found out that she was in need of glasses. Which her mother, while meaning well but also in a hurry, had bought her the thickest and most unflattering rims that money could buy, thinking that they had been in style. Metal mouthed and four eyed, Sakura had come into sixth grade with all the accessories that most kids their age did not have, nor did they want to have. And while most of the seventh and eighth grade students had wires glued to their mouths, Sakura still stuck out amongst the still bare toothed sixth graders. And even now, even with many of their peers now donning the dental corrections, she had already earned the name of tin grin, magnet mouth, and zipper lips. It also didn’t help that she came from a lower, middle class family that went to school in a district that was dominantly upper class. Her unlabeled clothing and unknown name brand shoes made her look dull when compared to the high end fashion that was bought overseas and specially ordered and tailored to them. And her family’s failure to keep up with their other multi-million dollar family wealth was somehow a valid reason to dislike her. It was unfair and cruel, but prepubescent adolescents usually were. 

And as puberty kicked in, it only seemed to get worse. While most girls their age began to develop and gain a curvature to their bodies, transforming them from child to teenager. Sakura was not given such things. Her chest remained flat, her hips stayed narrow, and the only thing that the teenage hormones seemed to be doing was give her an outbreak of acne. And that was just the physical strikes against her. 

There was something about being friends with the two most popular guys that made girls hate her. And not the kind of hatred where they ignored or shunned her from their groups, that would have been the kind thing to do. But no, she drew their attention and wrath. They made her life miserable. And the unfortunate reality was that it then drew the attention of boys as well, hoping that by preying upon her, they would earn the attention of the girls that seemed to despise her. Making her a victim to practically everyone.  

Sixth grade had been the worst as they had no classes together and both he and Naruto had been ignorant of the bullying as Sakura had hid it well from them. However by chance at the end of last year's school year, Sasuke had caught someone in the act and it had not gone well. Sasuke had gotten himself suspended for three days but it had all been worth it. Since then, Naruto and himself had worked hard to make it known that Sakura was off limits to everyone. Using their popularity and when necessary, their fists, they spread an umbrella of protection over her for the rest of the school year that had continued into the next. This year it had gone well with no incidents, especially since they shared classes with her and were around more often. But it seemed Sasuke had been mistaken and grown too relaxed as he looked at the girl under his said protection. It seemed in his absence, people got bold. 

Sakura stood in the middle of the circle, her eyes cast down to the ground where her tray of food had clattered onto the ground making a mess of cafeteria cuisine on the tile and her white sneakers. But that was not even the worst of it. Piled on top of her hair and spilling down her right shoulder and back was a plateful of spaghetti. Noodles hung from her hair and red sauce dripped down the front of her uniforms blazer and onto the white shirt beneath. 

Sasuke looked at her with sharp eyes and a clenched jaw. Even though her head was hung low and her hair covered most of her face, Sasuke could tell she was crying. He could see the small tears drop from her face every once in a while and the faintest of sniffs could be heard now that the cafeteria was quiet. He was frozen, unsure of what to do. Did he go up to her and comfort her? Did he drag her away from the nosy crowd around them? Or did he give into the bubbling rage beneath the surface of his calm composure and start yelling at anyone and everyone? 

After a long, drawn out silence, Sasuke managed to take his first action. Walking into the center of the circle formed by students, Sasuke sent a dark look around at his peers before putting a hand on her shoulder. Tearing his eyes away from the onlookers, he focused solely on Sakura. 

“Sakura,” he said in a sharp tone, his anger accidentally coming out with her name and causing her to slightly flinch and for him to frown more. 

She did not even acknowledge him. Instead her head stayed hung and Sasuke noticed that a large chunk of her long hair was matted and sticky with what looked like gum. His grip on her shoulder tightened. 

“Who did that to you?” he demanded. 

She stayed silent. 

“Sakura,” he said more sharply, causing her to shake her head quickly. 

Sasuke let out a growl of frustration, his hand moving from her shoulder to run through his hair as he spun around to the growing crowd, his presence drawing an audience eager to see his reaction. His eyes moved about the circular wall of bodies, silently demanding someone to come forward.

“Who did this?” he addressed the crowd. 

The once eager and entertainment starved student body seemed to suddenly become disinterested as his eyes fell upon them. Individuals shrank away to the outer layers of the gathering while others averted their eyes. Some exchanged looks around the room but none defining enough for him to decipher if they were guilty or giving away the perpetrators. He was just about to give up and go back to interrogating Sakura when he heard it.

A small giggle to his right which had him whipping his head faster than the guilty person could suppress their glee. His eyes locked onto a dark haired girl who was laughing behind her hand and something within him snapped. It was like a darkness seemed to spread over his body, burning across his skin and emanating a sinister aura. The girl’s mirth quickly dissipated as his attention was brought to her and the two boys standing behind her.  

Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi, and Dosu Kinuta...he should have known. 

They were all a year older, but they were in the same grade as the trio had been held back the previous year. Given their age advantage, the three of them liked to think that they had seniority over their peers, but Sasuke failed to see what gave them any right to any kind of respect. They skipped most of their classes and cheated through the ones they attended. While he himself was not a model student, not for a lack of brains but more so of lack of effort, these three made him look like the runner up for valedictorian. 

Dosu sold cigarettes that he had stolen to anyone who would buy them and to some more adventurous kids, who were already dabbling in other gateways of drugs, he sold his grandmother's medications. He was always in and out of detention but hardly ever got more than that, given his dad's profession. His dad was the lead singer of some overseas metal band which was the reason why he lived with his grandmother, as his mom traveled around with the band as their manager. If he were not such a dick some would probably feel bad for him given the only attention he received from his parents was when he got into trouble. And even then it was just a brief meeting with the school disciplinary board. Usually a length of time just long enough for them to write out a school donation check that would ensure their child was not suspended. As a result of this parenting, Dosu went about doing whatever he wanted as if there were no consequences, because in reality, there really were none for him. 

If Dosu was a prick, then when lined up next to him, Zaku was an arrogant asshole. He talked big but when it came to backing up his words, it was with a gang standing behind him. He said whatever he wanted, to whomever he wanted, without any regard to the repercussions. And unlike Dosu, he actually had the looks that gave him an advantage in people labeling him as the desired bad boy, instead of just the jackass he really was. 

And finally there was Kin. Like Zaku, she got away with mistreatment of others because of her looks. Her long dark hair and matching large eyes were striking and she knew it. But as pretty as she was on the outside, she was oppositely nasty on the inside. Name calling and shaming was not beneath her and despite her failing of classes, she was highly intelligent in the art of finding a person's vulnerability and exploiting it. She was overconfident but with Dosu and Zaku always at her side, no one ever called her out. It was rumored that both of them were her boyfriends while others said that she dated neither of them. The most accepted rumor was that Dosu and Zaku both liked her, and she strung them along for the benefits that came with having a friend with a famous dad and another with just extremely wealthy parents. 

However, despite the arrogance, the overconfidence, and their delusions of being untouchable, the moment Sasuke’s dark gaze fell on them, there was a visible unease in their faces. They may have been children of famous rock stars, lawyers, socialites, and CEOs of multimedia businesses, but Sasuke was an Uchiha. He was not just high class, he was an elite. And unlike them, Sasuke did not need to lean on his reputation to make people fear him, he did that all on his own. 

“You three,” he said darkly. “Did you do this?” he inquired, pointing to Sakura. 

Both Dosu and Kin fidgeted, but Zaku took a brave step forward. It was an impressive move as his seniority gave him significant height over Sasuke. He squared his shoulders and looked down at Sasuke.   

“And what if we did?” he challenged. “I’m not going to let some short kid tell me what I can and cannot do. Trust me Uchiha, just turn around and walk away. This is not your concern,” he said while flashing him his more muscular biceps.  

“Isn’t it?” Sasuke said cooly, right before his fist struck out and hit Zaku straight in the face. 

Sasuke may have been leaner, but having been enrolled in various martial arts classes all growing up and having been involved in plenty of fist fights, Sasuke knew how to hit fast and to do it hard. The force of his punch caused Zaku to fall back onto the ground and slide against the polished floor of the cafeteria. He came to a stop right at Dosu’s feet, who, in his astonishment from Sasuke’s fast movement, had him take a step back when Sasuke moved forward. 

Zaku let out a grunt as he sat up, holding his nose as a trickle of blood ran down his face. Wiping at the blood, he smeared it across his face as he stood up. 

“I’m gonna beat your ass Uchiha!” he barked. “And after I beat your ass my parents are going to sue your ass!”

Taking a few steps forward to meet Sasuke, he drew his hand back and swung. But Sasuke was too fast. He dodged the swing with a sidestep while simultaneously grabbing Zaku’s hand and twisting. Sasuke maneuvered himself behind Zaku as he kicked out at his leg, forcing Zaku to one knee. As soon as the taller boy hit the ground, Sasuke braced his leg against Zaku’s spine and pressed as he pulled his arm back. 

“You seem to be proud of those muscles,” Sasuke said darkly through his blinding rage. 

Zaku let out a groan. “Stop it!” he managed to cry out. 

Sasuke ignored his plea and pulled his arm more. Even as Dasu and Kin started to petition for their friend, warning Sasuke he was going to dislocate his arm or pull a muscle in Zaku’s shoulder, Sasuke did not let up. All of it fell on deaf ears. Sasuke wanted that, he wanted Zaku to suffer those things and when he was done...he would get the other two. 

“Stop!”

He wasn’t sure if it was the sound of her giving the command instead of others or her physically wrapping her arms around him so he was forced to ease up. But one thing was certain, he had stopped because it was her, and not anyone else. Anyone else would have been pushed away or received their own dosage of his rage as well. But the moment he felt her thin arms wrap around him and her scared voice sounded in his ears, he pulled his attention away from the cowering Zaku at his feet, and twisted his head to look down at her.  

As soon as onyx met jade, Sasuke’s body relaxed. His tense shoulders loosened and his fists unclenched. And then he just stared down at her. The tear tracks from earlier had dried and wiped away but there was now a new wave of tears building up in her eyes. But unlike her earlier upset tears, these were ones of worry and fear for him, not herself. 

“Please, Sasuke,” she begged. “No more fighting. Just let them go.”

There was a long pause as Sasuke seemed to be battling a turmoil within him. But finally, after an internal debate, Sasuke let go of Zaku’s arm as he shoved him forward with his foot, not once taking his eyes away from Sakura. Zaku fell to the ground and Dosu was there with Kin to quickly help him to his feet. All three of them glared in Sasuke’s direction as they looked at him. Kin latched onto Zaku with support as the tall boy grabbed his arm. Dosu stood in front of their little pack of wolves as he pointed to Sasuke.  

“Sasuke,” came Dosu’s voice, causing Sasuke to move his attention to the boy addressing him. “You better watch your back from now on, cause you're dead!”

When he had been looking at Sakura his glare had softened in the smallest of tenderness, but the moment he looked at the three bullies, they hardened. “Why wait?” Sasuke questioned, moving to go forward but Sakura’s arms tightened around him. 

“Sasuke, no,” she protested. 

He looked down at her pleading eyes. “They deserve it, Sakura, they need to learn a lesson.” 

She shook her head vigorously as her watering eyes built up enough to start flowing from her eyes. “I don’t want you to get into trouble. Not for me, not again.” 

He didn’t like it when she cried. He never knew what to do when she cried. When she cried, he would feel so powerless, and Sasuke hated feeling powerless. Not only that but it meant Sakura was hurting and for as long as he could remember, he had always made it his mission to make sure she was safe. It was just unfortunate that as much as he protected her from physical hurt, he had no power when it came to getting emotionally hurt. How could he protect her from what he himself struggled to understand?

“Sakuraー”

“Sasuke please, just let them go. I don’t want you to get suspended again.”

Unlike a lot of the more wealthy students, Sasuke’s parents did not bail their children out from the consequences of their actions. Therefore, Sasuke had been suspended numerous times over the past year, all of them for fighting. His parents had not been pleased in the least but Sasuke had started to not bother caring about that, given the fact that he could be the perfect student and his father would never acknowledge him the way he did Itachi. However, his mother, he did care to not disappoint. That, and the last time he was suspended, his father had threatened to send him to a boarding school if he didn’t start cleaning up his act. It was that reason right there, that he gave in. Because if he was gone...who would protect Sakura? 

However it was not easy to walk away but her arms wrapped around his torso seemed to calm down the monstrous rage that had taken over him. Or he was at least calm enough to now be more aware of the predicament. He became more conscious of the staring eyes, the recording cell phones, and of course of Sakura who was disheveled and still covered in spaghetti. He needed to get her out of there, get her out of the spotlight, and get her cleansed of the humiliation she had been put through. 

Grabbing her wrists, he pried her arms from around his body. Keeping hold of her right arm, he gave a final dark look to the trio that then swept his gaze over the congregation before he began to drag Sakura away to the exit. The students parted without needing telling as he stiffly walked away, a sniffling and shaking Sakura in tow. He exited the dining hall into the front entry of the school then took a sharp turn to go down the left wing and through several other various corridors and up a couple of stairways until he found himself in front of his locker. 

Still keeping a hold of her, he one handedly spun the combo of the lock and unhooked the padlock before opening the door. After managing to unzip the duffel bag that had been stuffed in, he pulled out a sweatshirt before slamming the door shut. In the last moment before walking away, he gave the lock a spin before wordlessly dragging Sakura further down the hall.

To her credit and his relief, Sakura did not question or resist being dragged out of the cafeteria nor give any question or fuss when he led her throughout the school. Be it trust or just used to being dragged around like this for as long as they had known each other, Sakura let him lead the way. That is until he opened the door to the boys bathroom and started walking in. Only then did she dig her heels in. 

“I can’t go in there!” she panicked when he looked back at her with a hard expression that told her to obey. 

“Sakura, it's a bathroom, not the locker room,” he argued. “Besides, everyone is at lunch or in class.” 

“But what if someone comes in when I'm in there?”

“Then I will tell them to fuck off.” 

Sakura frowned at his language. It wasn’t necessarily the word itself that she disapproved of, but what him using it meant. It wasn’t like curse words were no longer no-no words like when they were kids. They felt foreign on her own tongue when she tried to use them and she still wasn’t used to hearing them come out of her childhood friends' mouths either. It was not like Sasuke swore all the time, in fact it was only when he was really angry or annoyed did he use them. Not that was really saying much, given Sasuke’s mood homeostasis was usually ranged between irked and irritated. And she didn’t like it when he was that way. It made her feel burdensome because she was usually the root of the cause. 

“Okay,” she gave in. “But can you go in first and just make sure no one is already in there?”            

He pulled off a spaghetti noodle that had been sticking to her neck as his other hand grabbed for more papers towels. Running the towles under the sink water, he brought it up to her hair and started dabbing at the hardening sauce. As he worked, Sakura silently watched as she sat on the counter. His face was stoney and pinched and he hadn’t said a single word since they entered. 

“I thought you said it stopped?” Sasuke suddenly snapped, his voice coming out harsh in his anger. An anger that was not necessarily unpointed at her, as there was a small part that was furious at her for stopping him. 

“I didn’t want to bother you about it,” she said quietly. “And besides, it was just a misunderstanding, it’s not a big deal.”

Sasuke turned away from her to throw the paper towels away in the trash can. When he turned back around, he was crossing his arms and glaring at her. 

“Not a big deal?” he asked, raising a brow. “Then let me ask you this, had I not walked in the cafeteria when I did, would you have told me?”

She looked down at her lap. When she looked up, he was still looking at her with a hard expression causing her to look back down. 

“I’m gonna beat their asses,” he muttered. 

Her head whipped up at that. “Please don’t,” she pleaded. “It’s just going to make things worse and I don’t want you to get into trouble again.” Sasuke let out a scoff and she grabbed onto his hand. “Sasuke, please. Promise me you will not do anything to them. I can handle it myself. I will go to the principal, I will tell the teacher. Just let me handle this on my own.” 

“Like you said you were handling it last year?” he challenged. Her mouth opened and closed for a moment before gluing shut, unable to come up with a rebuttal. “See! You say you are going to handle things but you don’t! You just let people walk over you and then you make yourself seem even weaker!”

Her face scrunched at his words. “I’m not weak,” she defended, sounding both hurt and angry. 

Sasuke let out a sigh. “I know you aren't. I’ve seen you give out beatings to Naruto and received them myself. But you're too nice and easy about this. You have to stand up to people other than those you are already comfortable with.”  

Sakura opened her mouth to argue again, to defend and tell things from her point but the moment she looked at him, she knew she might as well save her breath. While she would never give Sasuke up in any way, shape, or form, being the subject of having his best interest at heart was sometimes suffocating. And he was so stubborn and prejudiced against other people's opinions of what was best, even for themselves, one could never make him understand. 

She let out a long sigh as she sagged on the bathroom counter. “Can we please just talk about this later?” she asked with a tired tone. It had been a long day and she was not in a mood to get lectured. 

It was obvious that Sasuke did not want to wait until later to handle this but it seemed he was going to take pity on her and show some mercy. “Fine,” he gave in, before giving her a firm look, “but we are going to talk about this later.”

She nodded and he handed his sweatshirt to her. “I can’t wear that,” she pointed out. “It’s not a school approved uniform. A teacher is going to write me up for it.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm. “Yeah, well, while they write you up, maybe that’s when you can talk to them about why your uniform is also covered in marinara sauce because last time I checked, that wasn’t on the list of school approved apparel as well,” he argued sarcastically, pulling her arms through the sweater as if she was a child incapable of dressing themselves. 

He finished by zipping up the front, pausing as his gaze moved up to her frown from being wrestled into the oversized sweatshirt. Lifting his hand, with his middle and pointer finger, he jabbed the creased lines of her forehead. 

“Stop that,” he chastised. “You’ll get wrinkles.” 

Sakura moved to swat his hand away but he was too fast, stepping away with a smirk that made her stomach flip. She quickly hid her face as she made a show of readjusting the sweatshirt. 

“You’re one to talk,” she muttered lowly as she slid off the counter. 

“Hn,” she heard him hum with an amused tone. “Come on let’s get out of here before someone comes in, this is a boys bathroom after all.” 

He grinned as she sent him a look that was supposed to be intimidating but he could not help but only find as threatening as a fluffy kitten. Opening the door, he came to an abrupt stop when he came face to face with a blonde haired and blue eyed girl and his amusement diminished. Sasuke glowered the moment he saw Ino Yaminaka obviously waiting for them outside the bathroom. 

“What do you want?” he snapped, unconsciously pulling Sakura closer behind him as if to shield her. 

“Uh..I ah…” She held up a pair of broken glasses. “I found these on the ground and um…” 

She held the glasses out towards Sakura as she came out from behind Sasuke. Talking them in her hands, the pinkette let out a small sound of dismay as she inspected the cracked lens and missing ear piece. 

“Thanks,” she said quietly, giving the faintest of smiles to Ino. 

It had been a long time since she had really even spoken to the blonde. Back in elementary school they had somewhat become friends. But they had a falling out in fifth grade for, what at the time, seemed like valid and important reasons. And while Ino had never been one of those who had made her life hell since middle school started, she had just been a bystander in most witnessed occurrences. She had never done anything to Sakura, but she had also never done anything to stop something from happening, like many of their peers failed to do. Which in truth, did not make them as innocent as they thought themselves.

For a moment they all just stood there. Sasuke glaring, Sakura fidgeting, and Ino looking uncomfortable in front of the two. In an effort to handle the awkward silence between them, Sakura preoccupied herself with tucking her glasses into the pocket of Sasuke’s sweater.

“You know...I have an extra blazer and shirt in my locker...you could borrow them for the rest of the day if you would like.” 

Sakura looked up at her looking slightly wary. Next to her, Sasuke scowled in full distrust. Ino, noticing both of their expressions slightly fidgeted before suddenly posing confidently and pushing her long ponytail behind her shoulder. 

“Look,” she began, her face looking slightly somber, “I know we haven’t exactly been the best of friendsー”

“You mean friends at all,” Sasuke interrupted. 

Ino’s blue eyes flickered to Sasuke. “R-right,” she stuttered before looking back to Sakura as she reached up to her hair and played with the end of her ponytail. “But anyways...what they did back there was not right. I saw you get picked on all last year and even though I knew it was wrong I never stood up or said anything to stop anyone. I don’t think anyone ever did. Yet despite that, today, when you stood up for that new girl that Kin was bullying. Well...that was...that was really cool of you,” she finished looking up from her long hair to meet Sakura’s green gaze. 

Upon hearing that last part, Sasuke looked at Sakura just in time to see a spark of something in her eyes. If he was not mistaken, it was what he would label as pride. He looked to Ino, his arms crossed over his chest but more in a pensive stance than intimidation. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked curiously. 

Ino’s blue eyes moved to him, a small blush coming to her cheeks as he addressed her directly and without any spite in his voice. “Oh, um...I guess you missed that part,” she explained. “Before...well before the whole spaghetti thing, Kin had been picking on the new girl...what’s her name again?”

“Hinata,” Sakura provided when Ino looked at her for help. 

“Yeah that's right, Neji’s little...sister?”

“Cousin,” Sakura corrected. 

“Right,” she said brightly with a snap of her fingers. “Anyways, you know what Kin is like, totally obsessed with Neji. Well apparently Neji is like, super protective of Hinata and so he has been practically non stop hovering over her and Kin mistook them as more than cousins...”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. This, this was exactly why elementary school had been hell for him. Because every single year, with every single stupid assigned seating chart, this girl was either at the same table or seated at least within a few feet of him. Where he would constantly hear her jabbering away with gossip and never getting to the point. 

“...I mean the girl styles her hair exactly the same way as him. Talk about stalker-” 

“Can we skip the gossip and just get to the point,” Sasuke dead panned. 

“Oh um...sorry,” she let out a nervous laugh as she blushed again. “Anyways, Kin was picking on Hinata and Sakura stepped in and told her to leave her alone. That was when Kin stuck her gum in Sakura’s hair and Sakura threw her into the garbage.”

Sasuke looked quickly at Sakura. “You fought her?” he said with alarm. Not that he was disapproving of Sakura fighting back, in fact he was proud of her. However...what if she got in trouble. Unlike most of the students who had parents that annually donated to the school, Sakura’s parents did not, they didn’t have the funds. If she got into trouble, Sakura could lose her scholarship to the school and the school board would not even bat an eye to the loss since she was what they labeled ‘charity’ not an ‘asset’. 

“I didn’t mean to push her so hard. It was just a reflex,” she said with defense as she wrung her hands anxiously. “I was just trying to get some distance between us. The whole garbage thing was an accident.”

Ino snorted with amusement. “Don’t make it sound like it was a bad thing,” Ino chimed in. “She deserved to fall into that garbage can. Anyways,” Ino continued, getting back to the story, “that was when Dosu and Zaku came up and they all started gaining up on Sakura.” She paused for a moment then a thought seemed to come to her mind. “By the way...were you able to get the gum out of your hair?”

A grim look came to Sakura’s face as she looked to Sasuke then back to Ino. “We tried to get it out but…” A hand went up to her pink locks and lifted a chunk that was significantly shorter than the rest. “We um...just had to cut it.”

Ino frowned but then took a confident step forward as she pushed Sasuke to the side and examined Sakura’s hair. “You know, I watch a beauty channel that does a lot of DIY hair videos...if you will let me, I could totally give you a haircut.” She started grabbing sections of Sakura’s hair as she pulled it up to see what it would look like short, testing out different lengths and styles. “You would totally be able to pull off a bob!” She said brightly. “You have the perfect facial features for it!”

Sakura glanced at Sasuke then to Ino. She wasn’t exactly sure why Ino was suddenly being nice to her. But if there was one thing Ino was...she was genuine. Unlike a lot of the more popular girls in the school, Ino was not one to pretend to be your friend with nefarious intentions. If she didn’t like you, she made it known. She was not one to play pretend nice with ulterior motives.

“Do you think so?” Sakura replied, unsure as she had never had short hair before. 

Ino stood in front of her. “Yes!” she said confidently, before beginning to bounce up and down. “Oh please, oh please! It would look so cute!”

Sakura could not help but smile at Ino’s energy. She had forgotten just how contagious the blondes confidence and energy was. 

“Well I guess it would be better than the half mullet I am currently rocking,” Sakura admitted. 

Ino smiled then cuddled up next to her as she looped her arm with hers. “Totally,” Ino agreed before looking at Sasuke who looked wary in letting her just walk away with his pinkette. “Don’t worry, I will take care care of her.” 

Sasuke did not say or do anything until Sakura gave him an assuring nod. Then, and only then, did he send the pair off. But not before giving a warning look to Ino that she better hold up to that promise of protection. And before Sakura let herself go with her, he was forced into giving his own promise that he wouldn’t do anything that would get himself into trouble.   

Sasuke watched the pair of girls walk away, a small feeling of relief coming to him as he heard Sakura laughing as she walked arm in arm with the blonde. But the happy feeling did not linger long. Soon he found his mood darkening as the memory of her earlier, broken state came back into his mind. Then frustration joined the anger to form rage as he thought about the group who had committed the crime. In the blindness of his rage, he almost found himself hunting them down, and beating them enough to cement the knowledge into their heads that, in the future, if they so much as even think poorly of Sakura, they would pay for it. The only thing holding him back was his promise. 

He could never lie to Sakura. Withhold from to protect her, yes, but never blatantly lie. It just was not something he could do or risk. Breaking promises, in his book, was lying. 

But something had to be done. Which was why he found himself reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Turning around to walk the opposite way down the hall, he began to scroll through his contacts as he found himself a secluded stairwell of the school. Finding the name he was seeking, he moved to tap the call icon on the screen, his thumb hovering over the name for only a moment before firmly taping and raising the phone to his ear. He glared out of the window in the empty stairwell, his eyes catching his reflected dark expression as he listened to the number connect and begin to ring. 

It rang twice before the deep voice of the person on the other line answered, “Well isn’t this a surprise!”

“I need a favor,” Sasuke said, cutting straight to the chase. 

“Doesn't everyone,” came the reply of Madara Uchiha. 

Sasuke gritted his teeth in irritation as he glared at himself in the reflection of the window pane. “Look, I can always call someone else. You weren't exactly my first choice.”

“Yet you still called me first, didn’t you.”

“...”

There was a dark laugh on the other line. “Oh Sasuke, you truly are beginning to become my favorite.” 

Sasuke frowned at that. “Does that mean you’re going to help?”

“It depends on what you would have me do?” he replied casually, Sasuke imagined him sitting back and looking smug in his office chair. “I only have so many strings to pull. Despite what some say, I am merely a man, not a god.” 

“Can you get some students at my school transferred?”

“Now Sasuke, just because you can’t get along with a fewー”

“It’s not me, it’s Sakura. She’s getting bullied and if I get into another-.”

“Consider it done.” Madara responded instantly, his voice having grown chilled. “You just give me the names and I will take care of the rest.” 

.

.

.

Sasuke hung up his phone just as the bell rang. As always, the once vacant and silent hallway was being flooded with students and chatter. He walked down, the sea of students parting like the red sea for him as his dark mood emitted an aura that acted as a physical barrier. He sent a single text with a short list of names and by the time he was sitting down in his history class, the intercom came on. The voice of their principal sounded through the entire school, his voice sounding recently shooken up as he listed off three students that were to report to the office immediately. 

Sasuke caught Sakura, with her complete new look of hair, glance suspiciously in his direction, but he kept his face empty. There was nothing to be suspicious of, he had done nothing...it was his uncle that was doing the dirty work. He had promised Sakura he himself would not personally do anything. If someone else were to have their own reason to want the removal of three students that had been causing trouble for a certain favored pinkette, well...wasn’t that just convenient.    

Chapter Text

Sasuke fidgeted with his yukata as he stepped out of the SUV and glared at the school building. It was bad enough that he had to come here every weekday, but to force him to come on a Saturday? It was criminal.

"Oh my goodness, it already sounds, smells, and looks wonderful from all the way over here," Mikoto exclaimed, as she came up next to him and looked out towards the activity fields across from the parking lot. "The committee sure did a wonderful job this year."

"Auntie, aren't you the president of the committee?" Shisui asked as he came around the other side of the SUV with Itachi.

Mikoto gave a not so humble smile. "Am I? Well, no wonder it looks perfect," she appraised as she looked back to the festivities.

Next to his mother Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked out to the reason why he was here, and not at home playing video games. Towards the end of every school year, the school put on a festival to raise funds for the next year, as if a private school like this was ever low on money. He was pretty sure the festival cost more than it even made because when Konoha Middle Academy put on a festival, they spared no expense.

The field was lit up brighter than a stadium during the biggest event of the year. Music could be heard echoing out from the main attractions that Sasuke could already spot from afar. Several carnival rides had been set up in the middle of it all, and the tall Ferris wheel in the center was already operating as it spun riders around in its carriages. And already his mouth was watering from the aromas of the food vendors wafted over to him.

"Holy fu–"

"Shisui!" Barked Mikoto.

"–fu-udge," Shisui finished, giving his aunt a sweet look which she saw right through. He wrapped an arm around Sasuke's neck and ruffled his hair. "I'm telling you little Saucy, this school is way better than when I went here!"

Sasuke shoved him off and glared at him. Shisui went unphased by the murderous expression being directed at him as Sasuke unsuccessfully tried to tame his hair. Instead, Shisui gazed out at the festival and pointed eagerly to the Ferris wheel.

"Oh look! Make sure you ride that with someone you like."

Sasuke gave him a confused expression. "Why?"

"Because you have to kiss whoever is with you if you get stopped at the top! Otherwise it's bad luck. Wouldn't want to get stuck on the top with Naruto...then again, I heard what happened in your second year, so maybe you do want to ride with him if you liked itー"

Sasuke slapped a hand over Shusui's mouth as he looked around quickly. Shisui stuck his tongue out and Sasuke wrenched his hand away in disgust as he quickly wiped Shisui's saliva off.

"How do you even know about that!" Sasuke hissed in a panic, causing Shisui to grin. "Don't ever tell anyone or bring that disgusting event up again! Do you have any idea how traumatizing that was! I tasted stale ramen for weeks after that." He shivered at the memory.

"Okay then, that's a no to Naruto on the Ferris wheel." A wicked grin stretched onto Shisui's devilish face. "I guess you can always take your girlfriend on the tunnel of loooove," Shisui sing-songed.

"Sakura's not my girlfriend," Sasuke quickly defended.

"Not yet," Shisui winked. "Oh and by the way-" he began as he started to walk away backwards- "I don't recall saying anything about Sakura? But hey-" he threw a pair of thumbs up- "I ship it."

"Shut up Shisui," Sasuke snapped. "What are you even doing here? This festival is for students and their families. You're like some pervert coming to prey on underage girls."

Shisui let out an offended sound. "Since when was a cousin not family?!" he challenged before gesturing to the sign. "And besides, the sign says welcome friends and family of Konoha Middle Academy." He pointed to Sasuke. "You may have disowned me but I went to this school and I fancy myself a very good friend." He let out a proud sniff. "I have many fond memories of this place. I made out for the first time in that abandoned music room in the east wing." His eyes brightened as if hit with an idea, and bent down close to Sasuke's face as he whispered conspiratorially, "Tell me, is that where you and Sakura go to–"

Shisui was cut short as Sasuke's hand went to his face and shoved him away. Adjusting his yukata again, Sasuke stomped off ahead of the group. Behind him, Shisui was laughing like a hyena, Itachi was stoically hiding his amusement, and Mikoto jabbered away about the decorations as they crossed through the gates, into the designated festival grounds.

Sasuke, and every other one of his schoolmates, were dressed in the attire of the traditional festivals. This made it easy to pick out who the students were in the crowded masses. Here and there one could spot some faculty members, parents, or older siblings wearing the traditional attire as well to embrace the theme of this year's school festival of 'insert theme'. The rest of the masses wore their normal modern clothing. However in a way it all blended in with the rest of the modern and traditional aesthetics. The LED lights of the carnival rides flashed with a rainbow of colors along with the golden glow of the paper lamps that lit up the vendor stalls and walkways. Traditional foods like yakitori and dango filled the air with their sweet and savory aromas as they mixed with the more modern offerings of treats such as cotton candy and funnel cakes. Even the game stalls were a balance of traditional and modern, ranging from goldfish scooping to gun-shooting ranges, ring toss to senbonbiki lotteries. All of it was enough to keep anyone distracted and entertained, but Sasuke only had one goal in mind.

"Have you seen Sakura around yet?" Sasuke asked Naruto casually.

As soon as he had come through the main entrance, the blonde had come out from nowhere wearing the traditional black yukata and donning a brightly colored obi tied around his waist. It had already come loose due to the blondes wild movements but he seemed to be either ignorant or unphased by the lack of dignity one gained while wearing the traditional attire.

"I saw her earlier when I first got here, she was doing her shift at our class booth with Neji's cousin, you know that quiet girl that always faints," he rambled off as his eyes stayed glued to a ramen stand that was advertising to buy three bowls and get one free.

"We should find her before going to meet up with the rest of theー

"Sasuke! Naruto!"

Both boys turned at the sound of their names to find Sakura approaching them. Naruto waved wildly back while Sasuke quietly took her in with an odd expression on his face. His head tilted slightly as he examined her, confused. She looked weird. Not in a bad kind of weird, but just...different. He was seeing the same smile, the same bright green eyes, and warm aura that Sakura always had. But there was just something not quite the same.

Her short hair, which had grown a little longer over the past school year was pulled up into a delicate side bun and adorned with a cherry blossom branch ornament. From it, hung a few tear drop rubies by the side of her neck that let out a small tinkling sound as she ran carefully up to them. Like the rest of the students, she was wearing a traditional kimono made of a ruby fabric that had a pattern of her namesake blossom woven into the silk. Around her waist was a tightly, and perfectly knotted obi that was a dark shade of forest green to match her striking eyes. It was then, as she came closer, Sasuke realized just why exactly she looked odd

She was wearing makeup and he could hardly wrap his intelligent mind around such a conclusion, because Sakura didn't wear makeup. No doubt it was Ino's work and influence as Sakura's blonde friend wore makeup like it was Halloween. But Sakura had never seemed interested in such things before. Yet...here she was. Smiling at him with her lips painted a cherry red that made them look fuller as her cheeks glowed with a healthy flush. But it was her eyes that caught his attention the most. They had been lined with a dark and perfectly drawn eyeliner as a dusting of red and gold eye shadow made her eyes stand out even more colorfully and Sasuke found himself unable to look away from them.

After Sakura's glasses had been broken, she had opted for a pair of contacts as she had always been bothered with her glasses always falling down and getting dirty. In the barely over a year's time she had worn them, Sasuke had slightly forgotten just how vivid her eyes really were. He had always found there was a strange power in her eyes that made him want to do anything and everything for her. Now, that power was tripled and he found himself swallowing dryly as she looked back at him.

As soon as she got to them, Naruto wrapped her in a hug before becoming distracted by the ramen stand again. When he released her, Sakura came up to Sasuke and wrapped her arms around him, causing Sasuke to stiffen. Hugs from Sakura were not anything out of the norm. However, like everything about her tonight, there was something odd about the feeling of her arms wrapped around him and her body pressing against his.

He had recently grown another inch, forcing Sakura to stand on her tippy toes in order to wrap her arms around his neck. This resulted in her needing to lean against him more than what he was used to and their chests pressed up against each other as she gave him a tight squeeze. At first he wrapped his arms around her in return as he always did in an act of 'toleration', but he soon stiffened when he felt a slight softness and curvature that he was not used to feeling. And it was not just his mind that seemed to acknowledge this softness pressing up against him, but also his body. His teenage, hormone raging, puberty altered, body.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt his body begin to react and he quickly shoved her away as subtly as he could before she too could feel his own body growing in certain places. She had a slightly confused look but Sasuke looked away from her as he bowed his head and let his long bangs hide his face as it turned the color of his favorite food. He stared at the ground, listing off the different high stances he had mastered in karate. Hoping and praying to the gods that his stupid body would calm down. Thankfully, before anyone else could notice his struggle with puberty, his mother chose the perfect opportunity to notice Sakura had joined their group.

"Sakura!" she exclaimed. "You look beautiful."

Sakura could not help but shyly duck her head in a polite acknowledgement and gratitude of the woman's praise. Tucking her hands behind her back she rocked on the balls of her feet as Mikoto listed things she looked like, ranging from country fairy to empress, then escalating to a spring goddess. With each proclaimed compliment Sakura grew more and more bashful, still not used to Mikoto's generous praise even after nearly ten years of receiving them.

Mikoto let out another squeal. "Oh my goodness we have got to get a picture of everyone! Gods I knew this year's theme was going to be perfect. You three are just darling," she said as she grabbed Sasuke and Naruto and sandwiched Sakura between the two. "Itachi, Shusui, get behind them!"

She opened her purse and dug around for a moment before pulling out her phone and turning on the camera. Holding it up, she focused the screen as they all lined up as instructed. Shisui placed himself right behind Sakura and Sasuke as he wrapped his arms around their shoulders and stuck his head between them. Subtly he turned his head and whispered something into his younger cousin's ear before turning to Sakura and complimenting her outfit, abandoning Sasuke to burn heatedly with embarrassment and rage.

"Sasuke, look at the camera," Mikoto instructed. "And smile. Finals are not until next week, you look like you are in the middle of your college placement exams. Alright everyone one, two, three..."

The phone let out a digitalized snap as she caught the moment.

Sasuke's dark eyes glared up at the camera as he folded his arms. Behind him Shisui was throwing up a pair of bunny ears as he threw a casual arm over Sakura's shoulder and threw up a peace sign with his other hand. Sakura, stood in the center with a wide smile that showed off her metallic braces without any care. Next to her Naruto had caught a whiff of the Ramen stand and was not even looking at the camera. And finally, behind the distracted drooling blonde, Itachi stood with his hands in his pockets, bending slightly so his tall frame could fit in with the group.

Mikoto was not satisfied with just the one and after a lot of rearranging, posing, and complaining, she finally released them to go do as they wished. Thirty minutes later, the trio of young teens were making their way through the walkways to meet with their friends.

From the first day of school, back when he was only five years old, Sasuke had never been a big fan of Ino. However, recently his dislike for the girl had lessened to being tolerant of her as he was forced to adapt to the changes that had taken place over the past several months. As annoying and insipid as Ino could be, he could not ignore how well Sakura did under her care. He both loved and hated this.

Ever since Ino had climbed down from her high horse and offered Sakura a kind gesture, Sakura had in no less terms, begun to bloom. It had been Ino who had suggested she get contacts as Sakura's replacement glasses, while more stylish, still constantly bothered her. And no longer did Ino stand at the sidelines and watch when people started to single Sakura out. Instead, she raged like a wild boar protecting her piglet. Not only that, but Ino's positive self esteem seemed to be rubbing off on Sakura just enough that she had regained the confidence she had in younger years, but not so much she had an inflated ego like the blonde.

But however beneficial Ino's influence was to Sakura, it had taken a heavy toll on Sasuke. It made him feel like he had been inadequate in protecting Sakura. He felt he had fallen short somewhere and failed to provide what Sakura needed to thrive.

He had once brought this up to his mother who had explained to him that he had not fallen short. It was not a failure or flaw, it was called being human. Everyone had strengths to offer but also weakness, and that was okay.

At first Sasuke didn't understand how he couldn't provide everything, but as time went on, Sasuke realized that as they got older, the less he understood about girls. Sakura was going through things, just as he and Naruto were. And that was when he understood. It all went back to this infernal puberty thing again. Just another one of the too many changes they were all going through and he hated it. He felt like he was losing her. The older they got, the more changes occured, and with each change, he felt like they were growing farther apart. And it did not help that a strange, nearly primal instinct within him, wanted her closer than ever.

Speaking of being apart, that was another reason why he hated all of these changes. Their group had grown over the months with Sakura making more friends, and those friends bringing their friends into their ever growing circle. As a result, they certainly spent a lot of time separated. Like right now.

Sasuke leaned against the booth that he, and the other boys in their group were hanging around. Each of them taking turns at the strength tester game as they competed against each other by passing off the hammer and seeing who could hit the lever hard enough to get the puck closest to striking the bell. Both Kiba and Naruto were currently fighting over the hammer, both eager to prove who was stronger. Their childish insults did nothing to make them look like the grown men they were trying to prove themselves to be and the face paint did not help.

Naruto was whiskered with the face of a fox while Kiba was fanged like a wolfish dog. Their boisterous shouts and brags nearly drowned out the rest of the chaotic noise of bells, whistles, music, and laughter around them. Nearby a sleepy Shikimaro let out a groan as he sat at an empty booth with his head down on the table, muttering about what a drag it was to be here. Sitting next to the slumbering sloth was Choji. Having just won a hot dog eating contest, the competitive eater was busy scarfing down an entire bag of cotton candy. After failing to calm down the squabbling pair, Neji joined Sasuke in his silent brooding. Together they attempted to drown out the loud shouting that was attracting far more attention than wanted, especially when Lee began to shout along with them about how they all had the power of youth within them, and were all equally strong if they just embraced their youth.

"Where are Ino and Sakura?" Neji sighed out when settled next to Sasuke. "They would have all of them silenced by now."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed. "Ino had to go to the bathroom."

"And Sakura?"

Sasuke gave him a look. "Ino had to go to the bathroom," he repeated. "Therefore they both had to go together."

"Ah," Neji sounded in understanding.

That was another one of the great and confusing mysteries. For some reason, while boys followed the unspoken rule of not standing next to each other when going to the bathroom, girls seemed to have an opposing rule of law. If one person had to use the restroom, then they all had to go as a group, whether they needed to use the restroom or not.

There was a loud ringing that sounded as a slew of lights began to flash, causing Sasuke to break thought from the unsolvable mysteries and habits of females. Looking over, he saw Choji standing next to the strength test with the hammer in his hands and Naruto and Kiba gaping. Choji gave a half shrug at his accomplishment but perked up immediately when the game operator presented him with a bag full of barbecue chips.

After Choji's second victory of the night, Ino and Sakura returned with Tenten and Hinata, who had each finished their shifts at their classroom booths. Having now all finished their shifts, the group was free to go about the rest of the night, exploring what the other classes and clubs had come up with in addition to the hired carnival attractions that the school had contracted to come in.

They first decided to check out the various rooms that the clubs had set up in the school building. First they stopped by the music club which gave a performance of popular songs played with traditional instruments. After enjoying a exotic rendition of a pop song performed on a shamisen and accompanied with a bow flute and drums, the group moved on down the hall and made their way to the science room where a haunted lab was being promoted by the science club.

As they waited in line for their group to enter, they watched as several other groups trickled out of the exit door of the room, some laughing and giggling with their friends, while others burst out in true terror. The girls stood huddled together, nervously questioning what would be inside each time a scared group walked past them. Hinata was the worst as she was nearly trembling at the knees.

Sasuke watched as Sakura and Tenten reassured her it would be fine and that they would each take up position in front and behind so she would be safe. Ino was already latching herself onto an unfortunate Shikamaru who had been so graciously bestowed the privilege to be the blondes protector. Next to Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba boisterously mocked the groups that came out running and screaming as they scrutinized how scary a group of 'science geeks' could really make a classroom.

"It's not going to be that scary," Kiba scoffed.

"Yeah don't worry, Hinata," Naruto directed towards the raven haired girl, who nearly fainted when Naruto said her name. "These guys are so into science and being smart, they wouldn't have any room in their huge brains to even have imagination as to what really is scary."

As it turned out, the president of the science club just happened to be a horror fanatic and was also a member of the drama club and cinema club, who had all collaborated on the haunted laboratory. Therefore, he had a great imagination and plenty of resources to draw inspiration and authenticity from when it came to setting up the haunted lab.

They started entering the room in a group but were soon funneled into a line as a temporary wall forced them to spread out. It was pitchblack and they all stumbled and walked into each other as they blindly made their way down the first part.

"Ouch," came Tenten's cry of pain. "Who keeps stepping on my foot?"

"Apologies," came Neji's quiet response.

The occasional startled intake of breath or a quick squeal sounded when hanging fake cobwebs and streamers brushed their faces. Every once in a while, a louder yelp could be heard when the group caught up to another and touched the person in front of them as they navigated through the dark. But after a while, once they all got accustomed to the darkness enough to make out each other's faint silhouettes, only the shuffling of feet and heavy breaths of anticipation could be heard. Which made the unexpected loud bang against the wall caused the entire group to let out a unified shout.

As adrenaline spiked, so did the amount of pushing and shoving. The group raced through the corridor only to enter a contrasting bright room of swirled, hypnotizing black lines and white walls as a strobe light flickered on and off. In the center of the room was the only splash of color which consisted of a single red balloon. The group huddled together as they shuffled along the wall as one unit. Disoriented from the flashing light, they tried to figure out the direction that they needed to go, all while they tried to ignore the hovering balloon in the center.

It was then that the wall on the opposite side opened up and a clown that was far too accurately dressed as Pennywise entered and let out a crazed scream of laughter. His scream was echoed by the group as panic flooded the teenagers and they broke ranks. Choji was the first to spot the angled hidden exit and sprinted towards his escape as the rest of the group followed suit. Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba taking up the rear.

Upon their escape, Sasuke the fabric of his yukata being pulled tight and he looked back to see Sakura grasping onto him. She looked sheepishly up at him but did not let go. Sasuke only gave her slanted smirk before reaching back and pulling her closer as they entered another dark hallway.

Through the rest of the science classroom turned mazed house of horrors, they moved from one terrifying experience to the next. After escaping the clown the maze of temporary walls led them into an extra terrestrial set up, complete with jars of aliens on a self, an abducted and tortured human experiment, and an alien that had jumped out of a small space pod. They had run down a narrow hallway which then led them into a typical slasher room that made their stomachs churn, and the candied apples they had earlier threatened to come back up. Finally, after escaping a small herd of zombies from a graveyard themed section and quickly passing through the grand finale of a mad scientist laboratory with all sorts of disturbing experiments, the group poured out into the hallway, half screaming and half laughing as they all shook and recovered from the experience.

In the safety of the hall and their earlier fright now becoming humorous. They all began to calm down and laugh as they reminisced and teased each other of who was scared the most. Even the ever stoic Sasuke had a goofy smile on his face as he listened to Tenten recount Neji's high pitched scream. A scream which the lavender eyed boy was denying no such thing had ever left his mouth and that it was Naruto who had been the one screaming. As Naruto loudly began to defend himself, Sasuke began to look around the group. As his dark gaze bounced from person to person, his smirk faded and the earlier unease that he had found himself feeling in the haunted science room returned.

Sakura was not with them.

She had been right behind him, holding onto the back of his shirt as if it was Ariadne's thread from greek mythology. However in the disorientation and adrenaline rushed sprint through the labyrinth of horror, she had let go at some point.

"Where is Sakura?" he suddenly asked, causing everyone to look around.

When no one gave an answer, his heart sank and he looked to Kiba who had been in the rear.

"You," he said sharply, "you were behind her the whole time weren't you?"

Kiba gave a sheepish shrug. "She was," he admitted. "But I may or may not have pushed past her when that mummy popped out of its tomb during that classic monsters room. You know, the one with dracula and that frankenstein's monster laying on the table…"

Sasuke grabbed onto the front of Kiba's yukata and pulled him close enough to be nose to nose. It had been a while since Sasuke had gotten into a fight, but not long enough for anyone to forget just how merciless he could get when it came to Sakura.

"And you just ditched her?" he growled. "You didn't think to check and make sure she followed?"

"I swear I thought she was right behind me!"

Sasuke let Kiba go and roughly pushed him away. "Some loyal dog you are," he muttered under his breath, as he walked towards the door they had all just burst through.

"Oi! Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked back at the group. "We can't just leave her behind!"

"You want to go back in there?"

Sasuke looked at them all with astonishment. What did they mean go back in there? Where else would they be going? This was Sakura they were talking about, of course they had to go back. But as he looked questioning at them, he realized, it was only him that would be going back. The rest were too scared.

"Just wait here in case I miss her and she comes out on her own." They all seemed much more comfortable with that idea and Sasuke did not even spare them a look as he rolled his eyes and opened the door to enter the haunted room all over again.

One would think that entering a dark lair of horrors from which you had just recently fled through would be terrifying, especially when going about it alone. But having already experienced the spooks and scares of the now familiar layout, going through a second time made things more trivial to Sasuke than terrifying. That and his entire focus was so strictly focused on finding Sakura that he hardly even noticed the ghosts and ghouls jumping out at him as he walked by.

He was already in the haunted graveyard with the zombies meaning the poltergeist room was next, which had come right after the classic monsters room where Kiba had said he lost her. As soon as he entered the next room, his dark gaze swept harshly around the small area. It was set up like an old parlor with cobwebs and candles all over. To his left was a pentagram and ouija board set up next to the fake fireplace and rocking chair. But his eyes had not even taken in the entire room when they paused on a ghostly body who had cornered a trembling figure. A figure that, despite the dim light, had brightly pink hair.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on the ghoul and marched over, grabbing onto the drama club member's shoulder. The kid spun around, his ghoulish face that had been thoroughly entertained with the torment he had been giving Sakura, quickly dissipated as he came nose to nose with Sasuke.

It did not matter how much makeup or special effects the ghostly kid had, for Sasuke held such a diabolical look in his face, that the kid took off screaming about a real demon being summoned. Sasuke watched as the kid fled before looking down to where Sakura was just now peeking through her fingers to look up at him.

The fear in her apple green eyes was replaced when recognition sparked and she leapt up to wrap her arms around him. As she expressed her relief, Sasuke gave her an awkward pat on the back. However Sasuke did not let it last long, not willing to risk his body to spontaneously reacting again. Stepping away from her, he gave her a hard look over.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I just," she began shakily, "I got a little turned around and didn't know which way I had come from."

There were many words that Sasuke wanted to say to that. Why she hadn't just started walking around and figured it out, why she didn't call out to him, why she had let go of him at all. But all of that would not do her any good. She was already shaken and Sasuke found that recently, he was becoming quite skilled with putting his foot in his mouth when it came to Sakura. So he decided to not say anything at all to avoid the risk of hurting her feelings. She had grown a thicker skin since befriending Ino but there were certain people whose words seemed to matter to her no matter what.

He let out a sigh, grabbing onto her hand. "Common," he said, trying to sound irritated instead of letting the insurmountable relief he felt from manifesting in his voice.

Through the haunted sections he led her, sometimes pulling her in closer while other times letting her relax as they went through the less scary parts. But not once did he let go of her hand, even when it had gone numb and started to tingle painfully from how tightly she grasped it, he never let go, determined to not lose her.

It was getting late. Ride operators were calling for final rides, game stalls were closing, and food vendors were peddling the last of their food off to anyone walking by in the significantly less crowded walkways. They all walked in a group, the girls walking ahead arm in arm as the boys followed, shoving each other and wrestling as they joked around. Sasuke walked stoically with the rowdy bunch with his hands stiff at his sides, wishing for pockets. When a high pitched shout of glee sounded from the girls ahead, he looked up to see Ino turning around to them as she pointed to the Ferris wheel next to them.

"Oh my gosh we have to ride the Ferris wheel before it closes!"

"Ew! Ferris wheels are for sissies," Kiba announced.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "It's so lame." He pointed to the go carts. "We should do that instead, it's more fun."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "But it's tradition! You can't go to a fair and not ride the ferris wheel. And it's the last ride of the night, everyone knows the ferris wheel is always best in its final ride when it's dark and all the lights are on."

"But what about the–"

"Ugg what drag," Shikamaru sighed as he interrupted Naruto's rebuttal. "Just forget it Naruto, it's less troublesome if you just let her have her way," he said as he braced his hands on the back of his head and started walking towards her in surrender.

His surrender was a catalyst for everyone else giving up on the fight as Naruto and Kiba trailed behind him and then the rest of the group fell into the line. Sasuke hung towards the back and as he got into the que, he found that Sakura had somehow ended up in the back as well.

"Hey," she said with a smile and rosy cheeks.

The color that had been lost during her abandonment in the horror room was now back in her cheeks after having run around the hall of mirrors. She had been a little shell shocked after her rescue and Sasuke had spent a large part of their evening force feeding her all her favorite treats in an attempt to get her back to her cheerful self. It had been his go to habit of raising her moral since their children and still worked like a charm.

"Hn," he responded in greeting.

This only seemed to make her smile more before turning away from him to move up in line. It did not take long before their group had made it to the front of the line. Given the high numbers of their group they were forced to split up into smaller pairs and trios in order to fit. Tenten and Neji were the first ones to board the ferris wheel. Hinata was about to board with them but the ride conductor had already latched them in before she could even climb up the stairs. This resulted in her getting onto the next cart along with Naruto. Kiba was about to board with them but Ino, ever that match maker, insisted that he needed to ride with her. After the blushing and panicking Hinata was whisked away with the blonde boy, another bench was ready for loading. Ino dragged both Kiba and Shikamaru on the next cart, placing herself in the middle and arranging her 'eye candy' accessories on either side of her. Given his already large size Choji was about to ride solo until the conductor called out for another solo rider. After a moment, a skinny boy with sunglasses holding a bug cage he had won earlier, came forward and joined him. This left only Sasuke and Sakura to ride together.

Once they boarded and the bar was locked into place over their laps, the ride was officially full and it began to rotate without any interruption. As they rose, Sakura let out a small intake of breath which caused Sasuke to turn his attention to her. They were nearing the top and she was gazing out across the school yard. The sun had descended past the horizon but there was a dim light in the western sky that was still a deep shade of indigo before it phased into the black and star speckled night sky. He watched her appreciate the sky then move her wide eyes to the festivities below, her mouth parting slightly with a small upturn as she took in the sight.

As if feeling his gaze, she turned to him. For a moment she seemed to hesitate under his scrutiny but after a moment, she gave him a soft smile. "It's so pretty," she commented.

"Hn," he grunted with a tone of agreement, not really taking in the sights as his attention remained mostly on her.

He was content in this moment, watching her be happy, and listening to her as she occasionally pointed to something she found particularly worth attention or making a comment. The night air had brought about a refreshing cool temperature that was just comfortable enough to not be too cold as the breeze from the movement of the ride rusted their hair lightly. He was so caught up in the moment and feeling relaxed that he had not even registered how long they had been going around when the ride came to a sudden stop.

He jolted forward from the force, grabbing onto the bar as Sakura's body leaned forward as well. She let out a sound of settlement that turned to laughter. Sasuke looked down and saw the conductor had begun the unloading. He looked back up to Sakura to see her smiling again.

"I thought we broke down for a second," she said before leaning forward to look down. "This is always my favorite part. A lot of people always hate the ferris wheel because of how long it takes to get off, but I like it."

As their bench swayed slightly and Sasuke looked around, he could not help but notice and understand what Sakura meant. It was nice. There was just something so calming and peaceful about it. Every once in a while the ride would begin to rotate slowly then pause as another carriage was unloaded. They were in the ascent of the wheels rotation now, giving them a near perfect point to take in the area. There was still music being carried in the air and with the small breeze, the lingering aromas of the food and sweet spring scents filled his nose. And with Sakura by his side, chatting away in her familiar way with happiness, with her face painted and wearing colors to highlight his favorite colorful features of her, he would call this moment almost perfect. Almost being a fundamental word as they moved forward again and came to a stop right at the top.

As always, their bench swung and swayed as the ride was paused and Sasuke was allowed two peaceful seconds in his perfect state before the moment was shattered by a sound. A sound that came from two seats behind them and was produced by none other than a cousin who loved nothing more than to humiliate and antagonize Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" shouted Shisui.

The sound of his name caused both Sasuke and Sakura to turn around where they spotted Shisui sitting on a bench with Itachi. Shisui was busy rocking their cart energetically as poor Itachi grabbed on the bar in front of them, clearly not happy with the teeter tottering of their seat.

"Sasuke! Do it!" he cackled. "You're at the top, do it!"

Sasuke glared down at Shisui with venom in his eyes as he felt Sakura's attention turn to him.

"What is he talking about?" she curiously asked.

Sasuke turned to look at her and jolted back slightly, surprised by the close proximity of her confused face. For a moment, his eyes dipped down to look at her red tinted lips before he quickly raised his eyes back up to look at her eyes. Her brows knitted together in slight confusion but then her attention moved back to where Shisui was shouting up at them. Sasuke quickly grabbed her shoulders and turned her back around.

"It's nothing," he answered. "Just ignore him."

But unfortunately Sasuke's reaction and attempt to not acknowledge his cousin only fueled his older cousins antagonizing.

"Do it, do it, do it," Shisui cheered.

Sasuke felt his face burn a degree hotter with every cheer. When he hit a certain heated level of anger and mortification, it was like the pressure of a volcano hitting its limit. He spun around in their seat, his quick movement causing the chair to rock as he murderously glared down at his cousin.

"Shut up you pervert!"

Shisui only cackled. "Sasuke, it's tradition! You're gonna have bad luck if you don't do it! This hunk of metal is gonna suddenly fall apart and we are all going to die because you can't man up and kiss her! What's the big deal? Not up to date with you cootie shots? I promise you, it's totally worth the risk of becoming infected with them!"

"Shut it, Shisuー"

Sasuke choked on his cousin's name as he felt a light pressure on the side of his cheek, while at the same time felt Sakura press close to him, bringing her familiar scent. He turned his head to see Sakura biting her lip and looking at him worriedly as she pulled away from him.

"Sorry," she said quickly with wide eyes as if she was the one surprised by her actions. "It was just to get him to shut up."

Sasuke swallowed dryly and nodded, his body still rigid and stiff but no longer out of anger towards Shisui. Instead it was for a whole other reason in which he had no fathom of understanding.

For what seemed like minutes they stared back at each other, locked in each other's eyes. But the moment was completely shattered by a cackle of laughter followed by a high pitched squeal coming from the direction of two carts behind them.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Shisui managed in what should have been an impossible pitch to reach for a practically adult male.

With the reality rudely crashing back to them, both Sasuke and Sakura suddenly became acutely aware of their surroundings. Their close proximity to one another. The highly visible point in which they sat for everyone to look up and see. The fact that Sakura had just seemed to cross a line that had never been crossed in their friendship. And then finally, the lack of escape from it all because he was locked in his seat forty feet up from the ground.

And then suddenly they both felt unnaturally hot for being out in the open cool night air. And in two seconds they were both inching away from each other as they pressed themselves up against their own side of the cart, trying to put as much distance in between them. Sasuke gripped the handle bar while Sakura's hands clenched in her lap as they both stared forward, sitting with their backs straight as a ramrod.

It was painfully awkward as they sat stiffly next to each other as their cart swayed slightly in the air. But it only got worse when the signing began.

"Sakura and Saucy, sittin' in a tree…"

Sasuke's knuckles had turned white as his hands clenched tightly to the bar securing him into this inescapable hell. He was going to kill him, he thought to himself. First he was going to kill his cousin then die of humiliation himself.

The rest of the ride remained awkward and stiff and no longer did Sasuke share Sakura's appreciation for how long it took to unload the ride. He needed off. He was so desperate that he was contemplating just climbing down the skeletal structure of the ride if it at least meant he could escape Sakura's overbearing presence and Shisui's serenade. However he couldn't bring himself to move, the chances of him coming into closer proximity with Sakura as he climbed out was too high and he was not sure he could handle that. The already forced two feet of space on the bench between them, as they each pressed themselves as far enough away from the other, was two feet too close.

When they finally managed to have their turn to unload from the ride, Sasuke had practically ran away after a quick mumble and eye contact free goodbye to Sakura and his friends. He then had to endure a long drive home with Shisui in the same car, which took all restraint for him to not lunge across the back seat and strangle the curly haired Uchiha with his own seat belt.

By the time he got home, he was exhausted and tired and barely managed to make it to his bed without passing out. However the moment his head was resting on the pillow and his eyes fell shut, his mind seemed to gain a buzz of electricity. There was a spot on his cheek that suddenly seemed to be over sensitive and it only took him a moment to realize it was the place Sakura had kissed him on the ferris wheel.

For the first time since it happened, Sasuke found himself actually processing what exactly had happened. The peck she had given him was brief and quick, hardly a brushing of her lips against his skin that lasted less than a second. As he contemplated the feel and sensation, Sasuke could not help but think...it was nice.

Chapter Text

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

The mantra of a dozen others chanting together competed against the roaring rush of his own blood as the heart within his chest beat furiously against his rib cage. In the dim light produced by the glowing plastic stars, moons, and planets stuck to the walls and ceiling of the small closet, Sasuke frigidly stared at Sakura who was standing as farly spaced from him as the limited area would allow.

Sakura on the other hand was looking everywhere but at him. With her arms wrapped around herself, she bowed her head slightly as she let her bangs fall in front of her face that was burning with nervous embarrassment. He could tell by the way she vigorously chewed at her lip. He wanted to tell her to stop it, as she tended to always end up gnawing at her skin until it was bleeding. However the chastising words of reprimand lodged in his throat and he suddenly found it difficult to swallow.

He could not think clearly with the infernal cheering, whopping, and cat calls sounding from the other side of the door. In a failed attempt to coach his mouth to move, to say something to break the suffocating tension smothering them, he found himself thinking of how tonight could change everything he loved and cherished between himself and the blushing girl in front of him.

He hated it. He hated how everyone was changing. He hated how life was changing. He hated how his body was changing. It was chaos to what was once a perfect world of his. Sasuke did not like disorder, he did not like disruptions. And this...this was all of it bundled up and packaged with a bright red ribbon that would go with the rest of the pile of birthday presents that were all waiting to be opened later tonight.

And the worst part was...

He only had himself to blame for this mess.

One Day Earlier:

He was standing at his locker, switching out his math text for his science when Naruto appeared in a bright flash of yellow and orange, accented with a white toothy grin.

"Yo Sasuke, you coming to Ino's party this weekend?"

"No," Sasuke replied flatly.

Naruto gaped at him. "What?! Why not? Everyone's going to be there!"

"Not if I can help it," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

While Ino was in the circle of friends, he wouldn't call her his friend. She was Sakura's friend who just happened to hang around. He had a lot of those people flocking around him recently and the numbers were increasing as they got older. It didn't help that he was best friends with Naruto and Sakura, who seemed to have made collecting friends into a group a hobby. He liked them all he supposed, some more annoying than others, but they treated his friends well so he tolerated them.

However there was a down side to him tolerating them. It meant more commitments and more hassle. Like attending birthday parties and finding activities that were more accommodating to larger groups. Hanging out was no longer simple, it required coordination.

"Wait, you mean that's this weekend? As in tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked as he came to lean against the wall of lockers on Sasuke's other side. "Uggg what a drag. I had plans this weekend."

"You had plans?" Neji commented in disbelief as he too joined the growing gathering of young teenagers. "What did that entail? Sleeping in till noon and then taking a nap after lunch?"

Sasuke was not exactly sure why his locker had to serve as the local watering hole before, between, and after classes, but somehow it had just worked out that way. It had started out because Naruto's locker was next to his but as their group grew, they all habitually gathered there. Soon Choji showed up with Shino, an awkward boy that no one really knew how he came to be a friend, he just showed up here and there at random.

"Hey did you guys see Sakura yet!" Kiba said loudly as he bounded up to them like a husky about to get a treat for being a 'good boy, yes he was'. He let his bag fall to the ground without a care to the books inside and leaned against the lockers. "She got her braces off!"

"Bah," Naruto scoffed. "That's old news."

"Naruto you just barely found out this morning on the way to school," Sasuke said, calling him out.

"We still knew before anyone else!" Naruto bragged.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He was tempted to shove it in Naruto's face that he knew she was getting them off weeks ago, but he would not allow himself to sink that low. Besides, Sakura had told him in confidence and had asked him not to say anything.

Kiba shrugged Naruot's bragging off as he continued to look excitedly at the group. "Anyways, Haruno's pretty cute without them now!" Kiba continued. "I mean she might even give Ino a run for her money now. Sure Ino's got boobs but she's too high maintenance."

"She's like a bud that has finally begun to bloom, and will someday be the most beautiful flower in the garden," Lee, who had arrived with Kiba, cried enthusiastically. "When she smiles it is like when the clouds part and the sun shines down on the earth! Warm and life giving!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Lee's antics. However it went unnoticed to the others as he stiffly continued to dig through his locker, looking for nothing in particular as he listened to the group give their input on Sakura's changed look. He was confused, Sakura had always had a nice smile, why was everyone all of a sudden making it a big deal?

"She's going to be at the party right?" Kiba asked. "I mean, at last year's party that Ino had, I ended up making out with that Ami girl. Maybe this year it'll be Sakura."

Sasuke slammed his locker shut and turned around to walk away. His shoulder slammed roughly into Kiba as he walked away.

"Ouch! What's his problem?" Kiba asked, rubbing his shoulder and looking around at the group of boys who all shrugged. There was never telling what exactly Sasuke's problem was.

"Oi bastard!" Naruto shouted. "Where are you going? We were going to shoot hops after school today!"

Sasuke gave him a dark look from over his shoulder. "Hn, I have things to do. I'll see you tomorrow at the party."

"Huh?! But I thought you weren't going?!" Shouted down the hall to him.

Sasuke jabbed the doorbell all too harshly, nearly jamming his finger in the process. Finally after a minute, which was about 59 seconds too long for Sasuke's patience, the door was opened to a very blonde Ino. Sasuke took five seconds to take in the birthday girl wearing a semi formal dress, sash, sporting newly manicured nails, and the tiara resting on her freshly styled blonde head. If there was anything that Ino was, it was extra.

"Sasuke you made it!"

As soon as he got past the glitzy diamond tiara, Sasuke shoved the perfectly wrapped package he was holding into her hands and he wordlessly stepped into the house. Leaving Ino to shut the door behind them he made his way to the basement. Already he could hear the rest of the party invites had already gathered and in full swing.

He hadn't meant to be late, in fact when he found out Sakura was to get ready with Ino before and would not be arriving with him, he had been adamant for the first time in his life that he would be the first to arrive. But then his mother took too long wrapping the present and Itachi had left for practice with his mother's car before she was done. So Shisui had been the one to take him. Driving insufferably slow on purpose all while claiming to be a responsible driver. Despite the fact that he had already accumulated three speeding tickets in the past six months.

As grateful he was to Ino for providing what he could not, they had their different opinions on what was best for Sakura. It was like they were co parenting but co friending and each had their different methods. Sasuke hovered like a helicopter, determined to protect and shelter her from the world. Meanwhile, Ino was all about putting her on display for the world to see and pushing her out to experience that world. It wasn't like Sasuke wanted to lock Sakura away from everyone, he just wanted to keep her happy and safe- and to himself- but that was beside the point. He just needed to monitor Ino's actions, make sure she didn't push Sakura too much. There was no telling what kind of trouble Ino would get Sakura into if left unattended. He knew how teenage boys thought and felt because he was one. He just at least seemed to have slightly more control of said urges.

Sasuke descended the stairs, pausing on the bottom step as he looked out across the gathering of wrestling, dancing, flirting, and gossiping young teenagers. As always his dark eyes found her quickly. However, unlike always, he did not immediately gravitate towards her. Instead he took a moment to look at her, really look at her.

They say a flower will never blossom when someone is watching. It only happens when you look away, and when you look back, it has already bloomed into a full rose. And like her namesake, Sakura was a flower. One that seemed to only ever be a bud. At least that was how everyone else had seemed to paint her over the years. But recently, everyone kept talking about her sudden change of appearance. Sasuke did not understand this at all because she always looked like Sakura to him. He had always liked the way she looked.

However now, as he looked at her, it was as if he had looked away from that flower and looked back. And he understood. Sakura was not the same girl he had always known. She had changed. He now understood why everyone was making such a big deal about her appearance lately. He never wanted to think himself like them, judging her on her appearance. He had always thought her nice looking. But now...now he understood.

He wasn't even sure exactly what the exact change in her appearance was. Everything just seemed...better. Her body had shape now. Not a lot, but enough to make her look more like the woman she was becoming than the child she used to be. Her hair had grown out more and she styled it ever so differently that it framed her face more flattering and it flowed and shined with healthy luster. He couldn't deny it, without the braces, her smile was wider, brighter, warmer. And without the weight of the metal attachments, she seemed lighter in nature, more happy and confident which brought about a shining light to her eyes that made the vivid green even more alive and alluring.

He had always thought her pretty, but now, she was beautiful.

Ino called out for everyone's attention as she stood primely on the stairs. As the room calmed down and all attention was set to her as she always preferred.

"It's time for the games!" She called enthusiastically and smiled widely. With her purple dress and flashy hair she looked very much like Effie Trinket announcing the hunger games in Sasuke's opinion. Too gleeful for what was about to come. "First up-" she pulled out a box of candy from behind her back- "pocky-sticks!"

Sasuke let out a groan, feeling very much like he just entered the hunger games. As Ino began passing out straws to determine who would be each other as partners, Sasuke watched closely as Sakura withdrew a short straw from Ino's clenched hand. Sasuke let out a small sigh of relief, no one had pulled out a short straw and there were only two left when Ino turned to him. Unfortunately it seemed the odds were never in his favor as he pulled out a long straw and the matching one to Sakura's was left for Tenten. He supposed Tenten was safe enough but despite that thought, he could not ignore the twinge of disappointment.

"Ready," Ino called once everyone was paired with their partner. Two parallel lines ran down the room as Ino stood in the middle looking down the middle. "Set…" Ino paused for her signature dramatic effect "...go!"

It was like the butterfly effect. A single word fluttering in the air and causing a chain of disastrous reactions.

*Thud*

A crimson faced Hinata, who was partnered with Naruto, crashed down to the ground. In seconds Naruto was hovering over her as he uselessly fanned her face. However it didn't last long before Neji, who had abandoned his partner, pulled him off to help the fainting girl sit up as she came to. Shikamaru, whose partner was Neji, had already found the closest comfortable spot and shut his eyes for a quick power nap. Party games always were such a drag. All the while, Naruto had lost his footing when Neji pushed him away from Hinata, causing him to bump into Choji who fell forward onto his partner. Kiba, being currently pinned beneath Choji's weight, made a sound like a hurt dog yipping in pain while Shino, who somehow ended up partnered with himself, tried to dig him free.

"Sasuke," Lee cried out across from the ebony brooder, seemingly oblivious to the chaos. "While I had hoped to be paired with my blossom, it is an honor to be your partner. There is nothing wrong as long as we embrace our youth and win this together!"

He gave Sasuke a bold wink before putting an end of their pocky-stick in his mouth and gave him an encouraging thumbs up. Sasuke's brow twitched and his hand came up to break off half of the stick. Crushing the sweet treat in his hands, he let the crumbs fall to the ground from his fist before walking away, leaving a shocked face Lee looking down at the pocky-stick dusted floor as if it were the crumbs of his own broken heart.

After Sakura and Tenten ended up winning by each taking a nibble from the end of their pocky-stick, Ino was determined to rev up her party. They would be entering high school next year and she was determined to have a notable reputation for her parties upon entry. And what better way was there to get people talking, than forcing them into unpredictable and uncomfortable situations. Thus she moved on to the next game: King's Rule.

Ino was busy pulling out a deck of cards as she forced everyone into a circle. "Listen up," she said with a commanding tone, shuffling the cards in her hands as she marched like a drill sergeant in the center circle and eyeing everyone. "This next game is King's Rule. She pulled out enough cards from the deck to distribute among the group and started passing them out, giving out specific instructions for no one to look at their card yet as she slapped Kiba's hand when he began to curiously peek at the card she handed him. "You will all get a different number except one of you will have the king."

She passed a card out to the final person leaving the final card for herself. Taking a seat in the circle next to Sakura, she looked around to everyone, all of them wearing different expressions of excitement, weariness, nervousness, and of course with any group that included a certain Uchiha, annoyance.

"You can all look at your cards now, whomever as the King face card gets to announce what numbers will be involved and what the people possessing those numbers must do."

"Tch," Sasuke tsked. "This is stupid. I'm out."

He moved to stand but something grabbed onto his wrist. Had it been anyone else he would have wrenched himself free but he knew that touch. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let out a long sigh before turning his head and slowly opening his obsidian eyes to look at her.

"Sasuke, it's her birthday," Sakura pleaded in a whisper. "Please, just be nice."

Her head fell slightly to the side, causing her hair to drape over her shoulder like a curtain, blocking off the rest of the group so he could only focus on her. There was that strange churning in his stomach and he became hyper sensitive to her fingers still wrapped around his wrist. He moved his arm to not so subtly sever their connection as he looked away from her bright eyes.

"Fine," he bit out. Knowing full well he was going to regret this.

"Who has the King?" Ino called out.

Naruto's hand shot up. "I do, I do!" he eagerly announced, before looking devilishly around at the group. "And my first command is that whomever has the number seven must sit in number two's lap for three rounds."

"I hafth numbther theven," Choji said through a mouthful of BBQ chips. He stood up and looked expectantly around.

There was a long pause. Some peeked down at their card and let out a sigh of relief while others curiously peeked at their neighbors cards.

"Who has number two?" Ino called out.

Sasuke looked down at his card and silently stared down at the two of spades. A slow groan started at the back of his throat. He was just about to hide the card up his sleeve before a prying Naruto peeked over his shoulder. Before Sasuke could hide the card, the blonde had snatched it from his clenched fingers and was waving it in the air.

"Here! Here," he annoyingly cheered. "Sasuke has it!"

Sasuke's head fell back and he stared up at the ceiling as if praying to the gods to strike him down then and there. Yes...he truly was going to regret this.

"Never have I ever left the country," Sakura said looking slightly ashamed as everyone else put down a finger.

Most of those who went to their school left the country at least once or twice a year. Their families owned property and houses in several different locations around the world. It was not often that Sakura seemed to let the financial divide between herself and her classmates bother her. But over the years, as they had gotten older, Sasuke noticed that Sakura became slightly more self conscious. It was not that she felt ungrateful for what her parents achieved and provided for her. There were things she was far richer in than any number of wealthy students she went to school with. But the older they got, the more she seemed to become aware of just how much less she had experienced than her peers.

"Never have I ever been kissed by a boy," Kiba said, who had somehow managed to sit by Sakura. And with Ino sitting on the pinkette's other side- her ten fingers gone in the first ten nevers- Sasuke was forced to sit apart from her. So he found himself opposite of her in the circle, having about as much fun as he had in their last game.

After the feeling had come back to his legs after Choji's weight cut off all circulation, Sasuke had to endure several rounds of watching and participating in various ludicrosities and humiliations. Not to mention experiencing a bout of blinding rage as he was forced to watch Sakura press herself against Kiba as they wrapped their arms around each other as they stood together on a stool for a full minute, each of them balancing on a single foot. It had not done well for his mood. Now, he was unhappily waiting for everyone to get out so they could finally end this eternal round of games. However the souring events had only just begun for him as another happening took place.

At first he missed it because Naruto was busy elbowing him in the ribs. Looking to his right, Naruto was annoyingly eyeballing his two fingers he was still holding up. Naruto gave him another, not so subtle nudge and Sasuke rolled his eyes, putting down a finger and keeping the remaining one up. It had been eight years since the incident of Shikamaru pushing his chair out and causing Naruto's lips to be introduced to his, and he had still yet to live it down. However, before the full distaste could fully take effect, at the memory, Sasuke was distracted by Kiba's bark of surprise.

"No way Sakura!"

Sasuke's head whipped around and zeroed in on the pinkette sitting across from him. As soon as his eyes landed on her, she averted hers, ducking her head as the tips of her ears began to turn red. Despite her obvious discomfort, Sasuke continued to stare wide-eyed as he noted that she only had four fingers remaining. Finally, his expression shifted into one of confusion. She had five fingers up just a moment ago...yet why was she only holding up four now?

The dawning of what it meant hit him in the gut and a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach began to form. Ino and Kiba immediately began to interrogate Sakura, but she was quick to point out that was not how the game was played. All the while, this exchange was only half way acknowledged by Sasuke as his mind whirled so quickly to devise an explanation, his brain currently short circuiting with the overwhelming information that Sakura had been kissed by another boy. In fact he was so fixated on figuring out how Sakura could possibly be validated to put a finger down for kissing a boy, that he had not even noticed when they moved onto the next game.

It was prosperous. She must have misunderstood the phrasing of it, he thought to himself. Maybe she thought it was 'kissed a boy', not 'been kissed by a boy'. As he sat zoned out, his head began to absentmindedly move up and down in a nod as thought. Yes, Of course, that was it. She had kissed him last year at the festival and mistook Kiba's never.

But what if she hadn't been mistaken, a treacherously slimy voice whispered at the back of his mind.

Sasuke stilled at the thought and his eyes moved up to look at Sakura, who was animatedly talking with Tenten. He watched her for a long time. She would have told him if someone kissed her...wouldn't she? He would have known. He knew everything about her, they didn't keep secrets.

But even as that thought crossed his mind, he shifted uncomfortably, a twinge of guilt taking over the green eyed monster that had been shifting in his belly. Slowly, his eyes moved from Sakura to around the room, looking suspiciously at every other boy in the room, watching, observing, silently accusing as he tried to imagine who would have been bold enough to kiss her.

"Sasuke? Hellooooo…"

Sasuke broke from his thoughts and looked towards an expectant looking Ino. "Hn?" he hummed in question.

"Dude, we are playing truth or dare?" Naruto whispered at his side. "You were picked, you have to answer the question Ino asked you."

Sasuke looked back to Ino. "What was the question?"

Ino was looking at him with malicious intent. "Who. Do. You. Like?" She repeated with emphasis.

"Tch," he scoffed. "That's stupid. What's the dare if I don't answer?"

A look of excitement came to Ino face, one that had her grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Oooooh that means who you like is juicy!"

The room suddenly seemed a lot more quiet than it was two seconds ago. Sasuke scowled as everyone seemed to lean in, even those who were not playing or where playing other games seemed to be eagerly awaiting his answer. Especially the girls which the party consisted of nearly their entire year.

"Tch," he scoffed. "No, it's just a boring question for the game when I don't like anyone."

Everyone, especially the girls, seemed to deflate with the lack of gossip material he provided. Each member of his fan club looked depressed as if they all actually thought he would call out their name and make some kind of dramatic confession in front of everyone.

Across from him, Ino's eyes narrowed as it seemed she was the one who did not fully accept his answer. But Sasuke kept a straight face. Not that he needed to try. It was the truth. He didn't like anyone….didn't he?

Ino's blue eyes darted to someone and Sasuke followed her attention to see Sakura sitting quietly. Her eyes almost intentionally not looking in his direction as she somberly sat at her spot in the circle. Finally, the sighs of heartache and disappointment of Sasuke's claim simmered down and Ino addressed Sasuke again.

"Fine, your turn Uchiha," she said, her tone coming out slightly brash which had Sasuke wonder why she was suddenly angry at him. "You get to choose someone next."

Sasuke looked around the room, his dark eyes skimming over those playing the game, and skipping over hopeful ogling girls. If he gave any extra attention to any of his fans it would be seen as encouragement. Finally, his eyes fell on Sakura and he shifted slightly to look at her more directly.

"Sakura," he said monotonously, causing the pinkette to sit up straight then slowly look at him.

There was a long pause. He had known the question he would ask long before he even knew he was going to pick her. Yet, there was something within him that stalled the words from leaving his tongue. Perhaps it was the wiggling green monster at the pit of his stomach. Perhaps it was the tightness in his throat that made speaking difficult. Or maybe...just maybe...he really did not want to know the answer. It was strange to think how blissful and content he was with how things were when he was ignorant. But now, like many things over the past few years, the situation had changed.

"Who was your first kiss?"

Instantly her face turned red as her eyes widened. Her head moved back and forth slightly, as if pleading him to ask a different question. But for the first time in his life, Sasuke did not even struggle with denying her wishes. He wanted- no, needed to know.

Within the lap of her crossed legs, Sakura wrung her hands as she looked around at all the expectant eyes. She was half tempted to take the dare instead but there was no telling what she might have to do. Why would Sasuke do this? Was he mad at her? If anything this was the kind of stuff he usually protected her from. He knew she did not like situations like this. And why, of all the questions in the world, did he have to ask her that?

"Um...well…" Her mind buzzed for what to do. "It was a boy from my families hometown," she supplied. "Last summer when my family went back we hung out a few times and...um…" She was rambling. She was not even answering the question right. It was who, not when. Her eyes darted to Sasuke which only made it worse. His penetrating stare was hard to read and it unnerved her. "Gaara," she quickly answered. "His name was Gaara."

Sasuke was sulking in a corner, nursing a coke as he glowered at the main group of the party. Several girls had come to approach him, hoping to recruit him for one of their games, or to dance, or take a walk outside by the pool. All of them were rejected without the use of a single word, only a dark glare or a prolonged period of time in which they were flat out ignored and finally took the hint.

Ino had changed up the game again and when she pulled out an empty coke bottle and put it in the center of the group, it was the final straw for him. He was done playing nice and participating in Ino's stupid games. It was like she gained some sort of sadist pleasure in seeing people forced into uncomfortable situations. However, just because he had no desire whatsoever to engage in such activities, his attention was riveted on the dwindling circle as people moved on to dance, socialize, and take a dip in the pool.

Sakura had been bowed out as well and had been in the theater room where a video game tournament was taking place. However, when she had come out for snacks, Ino took it upon herself to reintroduce Sakura into the circle of the game when she had been passing by and the blonde pulled her down to join.

With a smile that Sasuke spitefully labeled as wicked and vile, Ino put the coke bottle into Sakura's hand and prodded her to spin it. Sasuke watched in horror as Sakura leaned forward, placed the bottle on the floor in the center of the circle, and flicked her wrist.

The bottle spun rapidly, turning into a blur as its clear glass reflected the flashing colorful lights that came from the dance corner. Soon the friction of the floor caused the bottle to slow and its rotation became slow enough to count each individual revolution it made. Then the bottle began to approach its stopping point, passing by eager looking boys with their fingers crossed and leaving them disappointed and giving Sasuke a kind of gratification.

And then it hit him. The bottle would eventually stop and whomever it stopped on, Sakura was going to kiss. She was going to add another person to the, all too quickly, growing list of people Sakura had kissed.

His calculative eyes took in the rate in which it was slowing and counted out to the person in the circle in which he predicted it would stop on. When his eyes landed on Kiba's wide grin as he watched the bottle eagerly, Sasuke's stress levels peaked and he was moving before his mind could even register his feet were crossing the floor.

No way in HELL was he letting the mutt slobber all over Sakura.

He arrived at the circle in perfect timing to shove Kiba to the side and take a seat just as the bottle came to a stop...pointing right...at...him. He smirked slightly in triumph.

"What the hell Uchiha!" Kiba protested.

Sasuke could not help but give him an arrogant look.

"Sasuke that's cheating!" Ino exclaimed. "You can't just join in the middle of a round."

Sasuke turned his head to give Ino a smug look. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize newcomers were not allowed...guess Sakura's spin doesn't count." He looked at Sakura. "Common Sakura." He stood, grabbing onto Sakura and forcing her to rise with him.

He had just turned around to walk away when Ino's word caused him to stop dead in his tracks. "Wait, wait. You're right, Sasuke, that wouldn't be fair. But I think we can make an exception for you two…" Sasuke slowly turned back around to look at the blonde to find her grinning all too sweetly at him. "You both can join...you just have to buy your way in with a special round."

"Tch," he scoffed. "Why would we do that? It's a stupid game."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him, her icy glare doing nothing to him until it shifted to Sakura and a small smile came to her red lipstick lips. "That's fine. What about you, Sakura. Sasuke's too cowardly but what about you? Wanna buy in?" she offered. "I will let you take your pick of the group for a partner since Sasuke's out."

"Hold up Ino," Sasuke interfered quickly when he felt Sakura take a step forward. There once was a time when he could hold her back, but Sakura had grown stubborn over the years. She didn't take as kindly to being dragged around nor told what to do. Which left him with no other option. "I said it was a stupid game...not that I wouldn't play."

Ino did not even seem phased. In fact, it was almost as if he had just said exactly what she wanted. And Sasuke was reminded just why he did not like her. She was a maestro when it came to manipulating and forcing people into doing things only she wanted them to do. She was the devil's span. Only trouble was...he wasn't sure of her motive.

"Alright, so you're in?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just spill it Ino. What do we have to do."

Her ruby lips split into an evil grin, making her look like the demon Lilith incarnate. "Seven minutes in heaven. Though for you two I will make it eight," she added with a devious wink.

There was a long pause as Sasuke stared at her, not quite understanding what Ino was talking about. And then the dawning reality of what he had just done and agreed to hit him and he realized….he did NOT think this through.

And thus he found himself confined in a game closet with Sakura and a crowd of cheering peers right outside the door.

With a fidgeting movement, Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know we don't have to do this," she said in a strained whisper. Her eyes were focused on the stack of board games that were on the shelf eye level to her. He watched her head turn as she opened her mouth to speak. "We could just say we kissed. No one would know."

He would know, his mind replied.

And he was not so sure he wanted that hanging over him. Despite how much he didn't want to change things between them. There was something in him that despised the thought that Sakura's first kiss was with some insignificant boy she hardly sees or talks to. Or did she? She had been around for so long in his life he often forgot that she had not always been there. It made him wonder just how different his life would be without her. Had he not gone to the park that day, had he not brought her home, what exactly would life be like?

The thought of is was torture enough. To live it, would be hell.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah...sure...whatever," he said in a low monotone.

Ten...Nine…the group outside the door was counting down the remaining time they had left.

Suddenly, Sasuke's already elevated heart began to palpitate rapidly. Adrenaline rushed through his body and now he felt like he was about to start some sort of race.

Seven...Six…

He looked at Sakura who was looking at him. Her lower lip was pulled back by her nervous teeth as her hands unlatched from their tangled grip to move behind her as she rocked on the balls of her feet.

Five...Four...

He grabbed her face and pulled her towards him. Her lip was released as she let out a small gasp of startlement that was cut short when his lips connected with hers. It was chaste and short. By the time he pulled away the count down was only at three and Sakura's eyes were staring widely at him.

But he hardly paid any mind to her. He was too preoccupied with leaving the suddenly, even more suffocating, confines of the closet as he wrestled to keep his face calm and collected, despite the fact that he was ninety-nine percent sure he was experiencing all signs and symptoms of a heart attack as he dizzily opened the door and walked out. But as perfectly composed his face was arranged, there was nothing he could do to stop the tint of pink that was coloring his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

He had evacuated the closet so quickly that he was gone before Sakura's mind even had a chance to catch up to the events that just transpired. She was left alone in the closet, staring at the vacant space that Sasuke had been standing at earlier. Slowly, her hand went up to her mouth as she touched her tingling lips which still held a warmth from his.

Sasuke had kissed her...Sasuke had just kissed her...She had just gotten her first kiss and it was from Sasuke Uchiha.

Yes, first. Because the truth was, Sakura had lied. During the game of Never Have I Ever, Sakura had lied when she put down a finger. She had been feeling self conscious when everyone else seemed to have done so much more than her. So she had subtly lowered her index finger, not thinking anyone would notice. And of course, someone had but once but she had played it off and it seemed everyone easily let it go. But then Sasuke had to go and target her during Truth or Dare and she was forced to lie again. It would have been even more humiliating to say she lied so she had come up with another lie about her old friend from her trip back to her hometown last summer. It wasn't like any of them would ever actually meet Gaara. Suna was not exactly the hot spot for a vacation. Well...it was hot, excruciatingly so. But that was exactly why no one would go there.

Her grief and guilt over her white lie was lost when her mind suddenly replayed what had just happened. With her fingers still touching her lips, her mouth slowly formed the smallest of smiles. Then it grew and she let out a small giggle of happiness.

"Hey forehead," Ino said, sticking her head into the closet. Her long hair swung from her high ponytail as the blonde gave her a curious look. "You coming out or not?"

Sakura gave her a goofy grin. "Yeah, be right there."

Chapter Text

There was something about nearing the end of middle school that made people suddenly want to confess one's feelings to another as if it was the last time they would ever see their crush. As if they never said anything, they would regret it for the rest of their lives. Sasuke didn't get it.

Not only was the odd need that girls seemed to have was a mystery but it annoyed him tremendously as it was a headache for him. He had intentionally made it blatantly obvious that he had no interest in dating anyone, or having any interest in anyone for that matter. It seemed too soon and pointless. He had watched his peers pair up, break up, and pair up again with someone else in less time than the previous relationship even lasted. Which, by the way, was never very long. And every time there was a break up or new relationship, the school exploded in drama, gossip, and everything else Sasuke disliked.

It made girls jealous, boys fight, and friendships break apart. And for what? Holding hands in the hallways and swapping spit behind the school during breaks for a week? To him it just didn't seem worth it. It was perhaps because he was more reserved, but Sasuke never saw the point in a relationship unless it was going to go somewhere. And right now, none of them were going anywhere. They were still stuck in school, still living with and off their parents, and had far too many more years of it to think that far into the future.

Yet for some reason, girls who he had hardly said a word to seemed to think that if they professed their undying love and devotion to him through a note that was cowardly slipped into in locker or backpack with sickeningly sweet chocolates, he would suddenly be stricken with an infatuation with them. Some were even bold enough to ask to speak with him privately and when he stood them up, they would try to pressure him into accepting their feelings by doing it publicly. It was as if they thought he would care about being perceived as an asshole.

But that's where they went wrong. Sasuke was a natural born asshole from the time he was old enough to frown, which had been earlier than most babies. And he could care less of what people labeled him. If anything he hoped people perceived him as such so they would leave him alone. Unfortunately, his asshole tendencies were never perceived as such. In the crazed obsessed minds of his fans, it just made him look like a bad boy. Which apparently was a good thing amongst his twitterpated peers.

"Sasuke-kun..."

And then there were the girls that trapped him unexpectedly. They waited for him outside the bathroom, cornered him in the courtyard, and trapped him by sitting in the seat next to him during classes. This one had caught him off guard in the stairwell on his way to lunch period after being delayed by a teacher who wanted to talk to him about being distracted in class.

It wasn't his fault he was distracted, he mentally argued. How was he supposed to focus on the history of an ancient group that hadn't existed for centuries, when Sakura was passing notes back and forth with Idate, the new boy in class that she had taken upon herself to befriend because he was quote, end quote: 'new and needed friends'. Why she had to be that 'friend' he didn't know why.

Every time the cursed paper landed on her desk she gave out a smile that Sasuke could not help but follow. This was an action that had become a habit of Sasuke's as of late. Ever since Ino's birthday party, he was always looking at her lips. When she spoke, he read her words more than he listened to them. When she smiled, he memorized the pull of her lips as they revealed her braces free smile that he had still yet to get used to ever since he had noticed that yes, it did make her look different. When she took a drink, when she put on chapstick, when she licked her lips. It all drew his eye.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts, as he focused on the girl before him. Instantly his eyes narrowed and his brows drew together as he glared down at her. It was then he noticed the pink envelope clutched in her hands.

"I-I…" she bent at the waist as she held out the envelope to him as she bowed. "Please accept my feelings for you."

There was a long, drawn out silence before the girl peeked up at him. And then, slowly, Sasuke took the envelope from her hands and looked at it with a bored expression. The girl, interpreting his actions wrong, straightened as a look of hopeful adoration began to bloom across her face and a star struck twinkle in her eyes began to shine. Sasuke had never, never, accepted a gift from any of his admirers. Her heart fluttered as a triumphant smile came to her lips. However it only existed for a fraction of a second before Sasuke tore the love letter in half, not even breaking the seal to read its contents.

When the letter was nothing but scraps of unrecognizable pieces of what it once was, he released them to flutter to the ground like confetti. Only there was no cause for celebration as the girl stared down at the pieces of poetic confession, feeling like it was a representation of the state of her heart. Broken, shattered, and trampled.

"What?" he questioned when she looked up at him with a shocked expression and tears brimming in her eyes. "Did you actually think that I would accept that?"

"..."

"I don't even know who you are? I've never seen you in my life."

"We-we have social studies together," she answered with a broken voice. "And last year I sat right behind you in literature."

"And how does that give you the right to think I would want anything to do with you?"

"..."

Again when the girl failed to say anything, Sasuke had concluded that he had made his answer clear and was no longer obligated to say anymore or linger. "Tch." He stepped around her to continue down the stairs, shoving his hands in his pockets. He made it to the landing with the window before he was prevented to continue down the next flight by the girl's voice.

"It's because of that girl, isn't it."

Sasuke turned around to look up at the girl who was still standing on the stairs where he had rejected her. Only no longer did she look heartbroken and sad, instead she looked angry and jealous. While he didn't show it, there was a tightening in his stomach as an alarm went off in his head at the expression she was displaying and the tone in which she had spoken.

He had seen that look before on other girls in the past. The ones that used to tease and hurt Sakura. The ones who called her names and picked on her because they were jealous of her friendship and closeness with him. It had been a long while since anyone had done that. He was aware of the green eyed monstrous looks those jealous of her gave, but no one had been daring enough to actually do anything in a while.

However, there was something in this girl's eye that didn't sit right with him. She had her immature heart just broken and was looking for anyone else to blame for. Because it certainly could not have been because of her own foolish actions and fantasies. He needed to stop her, stop her right now before she got any notion or ideas to act out.

"Why would I ever have feelings for her?" he said in a cool monotone. "She's a friend. That's all."

"But you don't treat the other girls that are in your group like her. You treat her differently. You treat her special. I remember you used to defend her all the time and get into fights. You almost got expelled because of her."

"And you think that was because I like her?" he sneered, forcing as much contempt into his voice. As if the very idea disgusted him. "We grew up together. If anything she's like a sister. I protect her because she is weak and I don't like cowards who pick on weaklings." He gave her a warning look. "So if I ever hear or even think you are spreading false rumors about my friendship with her, I will make sure that you never set foot inside of any school in this city. Understood?"

The girl, her eyes wide and fearful now, quickly nodded her head as she turned and ran away up the stairs. Sasuke watched her flee before giving a long sigh, shutting his eyes as he leaned against the tall window of the stairwell.

He was irritated at the girl but most of all, he was angry at himself. He hated liars yet he was the biggest one of them all. Never, in the entirety of Sasuke's life had he ever thought or even tried to view Sakura as a sister. She was Sakura and only Sakura to him. However that girl did not know that, nor would she ever understand that. No one seemed to, not even himself. Because the truth was, Sasuke no longer knew how he felt about Sakura.

It had started sporadically and muddled at first. But recently, he found it was everything now. Nothing between them was familiar and no longer felt natural. Some of it he knew it had to do with the physical changes but even then that was not the limit. It was like he didn't know how to act around her anymore. He found himself overthinking his actions and analyzing every reaction that she gave him. And talking to her had become extremely difficult, let alone just looking at her in the eye. Any time he did it was like his mind went blank and could only think about her and him, locked in a closet.

Could it be that he liked her? Like, like-liked her?

He let out a scoff. Of course he didn't. It was the kiss, ever since that kiss, things had changed between them. He knew he shouldn't have done it. He knew it would make things weird between them...but he had been curious. He had wanted to know what it was like.

He felt himself getting warm in the face as he recalled his bold action. Then that pesky thought crossed his mind. What if he did like her? Then what?

The contemplation of such an idea had him opening his eyes and letting out a scoff. What a pointless thought.

So what if he liked her. None of it mattered if she didn't like him back. Why else would she pass around notes to other boys in class? Because she liked them, not him. Why else would she have suggested they just pretend to kiss instead of actually kiss? Because she didn't want to kiss him. No, she would rather kiss that other stupid faced other friend than him. Gaara, Sasuke thought mockenly, what a stupid name. And he probably wasn't even good looking. Probably some freak without eyebrows or something.

It was petty but it made him feel better. And with that happy thought, a fact came to his mind that made him feel better than any loser that may cross Sakura's mind. Because unlike Gaara or any other boy, Sasuke got to see Sakura nearly every day. He didn't need her to like him, he just needed her. And with that thought in mind, he started down the stairs to the lunch room where he would get to see her.

He had just started rounding down to the stairwell when he caught sight of Sakura hurriedly making her way down the stairs.

"Sakura?"

She froze, her foot paused halfway down to the next stair. She looked around with a panicked expression then suddenly jogged down a couple steps without even acknowledging him. Then with a jerky movement she turned around as if to go back up the stairs, taking two stairs before she was retreating down again. Sasuke watched her with a confused expression and she spastically turned in circles before tripping up the stairs towards him.

"OH-Ah…Hey Sasuke, didn't see you there."

Sasuke gave her an odd look. "I called your name...you looked right at me."

"Oh really?" she said, not quite looking him in the eye. "Um...you know my contacts might have fallen out."

"Might?" His brow furrowed. She was acting...weird. "Are you okay?" he asked slowly. "Do you need your glasses? I think I might still have an old pair in my bag." He didn't think, he knew. He always kept them there in case she ever needed them.

"Um...no," she said. "I'll be fine."

He watched her for a long moment but finally nodded. "Well do you want to head down to lunch?" he said, tilting his head to try and catch her still avoiding eyes.

"Uh...no," she declined, taking a few steps towards him until she reached the landing and slinked past him, pressing herself to the middle railing as if trying to keep herself distant as much as possible. "You can go ahead I need to head up to my locker," she said as she waved him off and started heading up the stairs.

"But weren't you already headed there?"

"Yeah but I forgot my math book for next period, just go ahead without me."

"But…"

Sasuke cut himself off from pointing out that they already had math this morning and it was earth science next, when he realized she was already gone. Rubbing the back of his head he started heading down the stairwell, every once in a while he pause to look up and contemplate if he should check on her.

Sakura came to a stop when she reached the roof top and leaned against the brick wall surrounding the edge. Both of her hands came up to her reddening face. Her cheeks burned with heat as she covered her face and let out a loud groan. She was mortified, embarrassed, and felt like an idiot for the way she had just acted.

That interaction had been painfully awkward and she just knew she was not the only one who had noticed. She had seen the odd look Sasuke had given her. And she didn't know if it was because of her embarrassing act of making a fool of herself in front of him or if he knew that she had overheard his conversation with the girl just a few seconds earlier. Or what if it was both?

Another groan left her as she thought about both possibilities. She hoped it was the first and not the latter. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but when her name came up she couldn't help but linger in the stairwell just below and out of sight.

Sakura was no stranger to being a witness to some unfortunate soul who had caught a bad case of the Sasuke-fluenza. It caused them to become delirious with hormones and catch a fever of infatuation that drove them to confess their feelings.

She had seen them come in all shapes and forms. But no matter how they came, they all ended the same way, a harsh and heartbreaking rejection. However, there was something different about this rejection. It didn't seem like another rejected stranger or vaguely familiar girl. It felt personal. As if she herself was being rejected. Because in a way, it was.

And it had hurt.

She had always admired Sasuke. Throughout the years, depending on the point in time, that admiration had been merited for different reasons. When she had first met him, she admired him because of how attentive he was to her...and he gave her fruit snacks. As they grew older, there were times when she admired him because of protectiveness, his loyalty, his sometimes too honest honesty, his dedication, and his motivated ambition. But most recently, she had found herself admiring him for the very same and shallow reason every other girl admired him: his looks. However that admiration seemed to be holding a different meaning lately.

It had started she supposed, in about fifth grade, when every other girl seemed to notice as well. However when she noticed how annoyed Sasuke was by this, she had never dared tell anyone, least he found out. Only one other soul had ever known and that was Ino. She had caught her writing her name with his last name in a sparkly notebook to see what it would look like. They had gotten into a fight which had been the fight that had caused their friendship to fall apart up until year seven when Ino apologized and helped her. But to this day Sakura had still yet to tell another soul. And she had never before planned or even dreamed of doing so.

She had stood by and watched girl after girl bake him cakes, give him chocolates, write him love letters, and confess in person to him. Each time she witnessed it, she dreaded the day when he would eventually accept one of those girls' feelings. She loved and hated the relief she had felt when he sent them off running and crying each time. She felt for the girls as she herself knew what it was like to admire someone so much that you wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But unlike those brave girls who ended up getting burned and their hearts smashed, she remained silent and kept her feelings confined.

For two reasons she did this. The first being that she was a coward and scared of the hurt that would come with rejection. Sure she was miserable in her hiding and keeping her feelings on the sidelines, while practically forever being in his presence. But that was what brought her to her second reason. Their friendship. She cherished it and she knew Sasuke would hate her forever if she ever ruined what they had between them. Because Sasuke valued his friendship with the few people he allowed in his life more than sometimes even his family. If anything, he would see her confession as an act of betrayal to that friendship. He would never speak to her again for such a crime.

It was for those reasons she had been determined to wait it out. She figured if she ignored her feelings long enough, eventually they would go away or she could direct them towards someone else who would be more likely to accept her feelings. She had only been hoping it would happen before Sasuke finally accepted someone else.

But things changed a few weeks ago at Ino's party. The party in which she was locked in a closet with him, where they had kissed. Or to make it more accurate, where he had kissed her. It had been as if her feelings for him were doubled then tripled and there was no more space within her heart to contain it anymore.

She thought long and hard about it and had decided she was going to confess to him. In fact she had just been on her way to ask if they could walk home together after school. She had it all planned and was going to confess to him with a bag of blue and red fruit snacks at the park where they had first met. But then she had come across the unknown girl confessing to him and heard his rejection. Not just his rejection of the other girl's confession but he even told her he did not like Sakura either. It had been a double rejection. A nonacceptance to her confession before she could even admit it.

She was just a friend. A friend that Sasuke cherished and cared about, but not in the way she cherished and cared about him. She had been mistaken. The kiss was just a kiss. It had meant nothing. He had done it because Sasuke Uchiha did not back down to a challenge. It was not because he liked her. Because Sakura was just a friend and you couldn't like-like your friends.

Sliding down to the ground, Sakura tucked her arms around her legs as she brought her knees to her chest and hugged herself. Bowing her head to her knees, she let out a forlorn sigh as tears began to drip down into her lap.

She let herself cry and mourn her little broken young heart. But when her tears dried up, she managed to steadily stand on her own two feet without feeling like a pathetic frail and broken thing. And with a deep breath she started to make her way down to the cafeteria to join Sasuke and the rest of their friends at lunch.

The thought of seeing him, looking him in the eye and knowing how disgusted he would be with her feelings, made her feel weak all over again. But the thought of not having Sasuke at her side was even worse. So she made a promise to herself that she would not let this pain change her friendship with him. She was strong. Yes it hurt and yes things would be tender for a while, but now, Sakura knew why others confessed their feelings even when they knew they would be rejected. Because while it hurts, it doesn't kill. And what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Chapter Text

From his first day of school when he was merely five years of age, Sasuke Uchiha cursed the phrase 'assigned seating'. And since that first kerfuffle of how he envisioned school would go, assigned seating had continued to follow him from one year to the next like the rest of his fellow class members. Year after year, he was forced to sit among the same group of people and be partnered with the same idiots for every group project. All because the teachers were lazy and instead of balancing out each group, they went down the list of last names and grouped them in that order.

By the time he was entering his first year of senior high school, he had gotten used to it. And in a stretch, one could say he accepted that this would be his life, stuck on the other side of the room from the one person he wanted to be near.

However, it seemed there was a change in the karmic winds that came with the transition from Konoha Middle Academy, to Konoha Senior Academy. A change that would shape the future so subtly, that it was impossible to distinguish this event as the catalyst that redirected his life path to, in future years, merge into another's life path that up until now, had only run parallel with his.

The class had been a buzz. The second bell indicating the start of class had rung nearly twenty minutes ago yet the expected teacher had yet to arrive or even show his face. Everyone was chattering loudly, some debating of what to do about the absence of their teacher, others taking advantage of no teacher and catching up on summertime gossip, and a few were leaned over their desks as they failed to acclimate from their summer time snoozing in to the early morning school schedule. Students sat on top of desks haphazardly, some naturally taking the position they had sat in since the start of their school days while others meandered around as they took advantage of the current freedom before they were told their assigned seats.

It was not until thirty minutes after the bell had rung that their teacher appeared at the threshold, causing the entire class to fall silent as they all took in the face of their new homeroom teacher. Only there was not much to see except for the several inches of silver hair that stuck up above the edge of the book in front of his face. With his nose in some questionable reading material for school hours, the man walked to the desk in front of the class, took a slouched position in the chair, and propped his long legs up onto the top of the desk.

There was another long silence that followed once he was settled as he turned a page then finally, shut the book with a snap and dropped it onto the table. With a lazy gaze, the teacher took in the paused chaos of his students who all looked back at him with varying degrees and mixtures of confusion and curiosity.

"Yo," he greeted with a crinkly eyed smile that no one saw as it was hidden beneath the mask on his face. He picked up a clipboard on his desk and gave it a long stare before letting out a sigh. "Everyone to the back of the class, when I call your name take a seat in your assigned seating, starting from the front left."

There was an eruption of metal chairs screeching across the tile floor, desks shifting, the rustle of backpacks and personal belongings, and the scurry of sneakers as everyone hurriedly moved to the back of the class. Sasuke settled in beside Sakura who was hugging her text book to her chest and nibbling at her thumb nail.

"Hey," he said, nudging her in the side. She was always like this on the first day of school. "It will be fine."

She gave him a warm smile and nodded, but the tension came right back when the teacher began to call names.

"Choji," Mr. Hatake called, pointing to the front desk of the first row.

Choji pushed forward, his large mass parting the crowded students as he made his way down the aisle. Sasuke let out a long sigh. Choji Akimichi, of course it would be alphabetical order. Every once in a while, Sasuke had a teacher who would switch things up and randomly place students but of course Sasuke had never been lucky enough to get randomly placed next to Sakura. Most of the time it was classes that they didn't share or they ended just as far away from each other as if they had been sorted alphabetically. One fortunate time he was once two seats back in the same row but even then he had not been satisfied. It was close enough to be close, but far enough away to make in all moot. But in all his years, alphabetically was the most popular. Why he had expected something different, he wasn't sure.

"Chojuro."

A kid wearing glasses and a pair of large headphones with a bored expression stepped forward and sat next to Choji."

"Chuji."

A kid wearing a penguin backpack stepped forward and sat behind Choji, then a kid by the name of Danjo sat next him at the shared desk. This continued until the first row was filled then moved back to the front desk of the second row. Sasuke had stopped listening after the second name was called, as he knew his name would not be until the end. The curse of being an Uchiha.

He was busy staring out the window when his eyes slightly moved to look at another student who was standing next to low shelves beneath the large bay windows of the classroom. The kid was watching a bee tap against the window from outside, his transitional glasses darkened from the sunlight coming through the window as his high collared coat covered the lower half of his face. It took Sasuke a minute but then it hit him. It was Shino Aburame. He and Choji always shared a desk...yet he hadn't even been called yet.

Was he in the wrong class? Did the teacher accidentally skip him?

Sasuke's head whipped back to the students seated and began to name them all off. Choji Akakmichi, Chojuro Furuta, Chuji Doi, Danjo Yasuda….they were all out of order. Were they not being seated alphabetically? Was it actually random?

The smallest of hopes sparked within him, half the class was already seated and Sakura was still standing next to him. He looked at her and then he looked around him, taking note of those who were left. Shino, Shikamaru, Rinji, Sato, Sora, Tanzo...and again he was hit with a realization and he went down the line of already seated students. Choji, Chojuro, Chuji, Danjo…

When the idea popped into his head he dared not believe it. He couldn't believe it. But even so, his mind quietly voiced it and his heart anxiously hoped for it. The teacher was seating them alphabetically...but by first name.

"Sakura."

Sasuke watched as he moved forward and took a seat behind Sajin. Sasuke's heart began to beat furiously. It was happening. There was no one else between hers and his name. Not only would he be near her, but he would be sharing the same desk, he was positiv一

"Sato." Sasuke's heart plummeted as something beneath his skin began to bubble up. His eyes first went to the teacher in disbelief then to the girl standing a few feet away from him. He glared at her with venomous accusation as she took a step forward and faltered when she noticed him looking at her. "Wait一 No, I skipped too far," he heard the teacher correct. "Not Sato...Sasuke."

Sasuke's head whipped around as he stared at the teacher.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" The teacher repeated looking around at the group. "Is Sasuke here?" His searching eyes fell onto Sasuke, a scar marked across one of his penetrating eyes as he took Sasuke in. "You," he said nodding to Sasuke. "You look like an Uchiha...are you Sasuke." All Sasuke could do was nod. "Well then, take a seat next to Miss Haruno...Unless you have an issue sitting next to her and I need to make otherㅡ"

"No!" Sasuke all but shouted, causing a quizzical intrigue to come to the teachers face. Sasuke cleared his throat. "I have no problem with the seating arrangement."

"Well then take a seat Mr. Uchiha."

It felt like a dream. A wonderful dream where he was floating along clouds instead of walking on the tiled floor of the room. But as dream-like as it was, it was real. He was really walking towards her and sitting down in the chair at their shared table. Sakura gave him a large smile and it was then that Sasuke decided, no matter how difficult the teacher ran his class, no matter how late he was, no matter what grade Sasuke received, it would be all worth it so long as this arrangement remained.

"Right," the teacher began, standing from his chair once everyone was seated and coming around to the front of the class to lean on the podium. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, I teach literature and writing in this school but for this group, I will also be your homeroom teacher for the next four years. Any questions?"

There was only silence as the class continued to stare, thousands of questions were building in their minds but none of them were willing to voice them. Why was he late? Where did he get his scar? How old was he to already have silvered hair? Why was he wearing a mask? What was beneath his mask?

The unspoken questions were endless and the teacher took their silence as an affirmation that they were ready. "Excellent. Let us begin." Reaching for a stack of papers, he walked to the front row and started handing out papers to be passed back. "We will begin with a test."

There was a congregational groan from the class, each student moaning out their dismay. At least all except for one.

Sasuke sat at his desk, his body suddenly feeling like an electric current was running through him as Sakura's arm brushed against his had she shifted to dig into her bag for a pencil. The contact giving him an energy and jitteriness that left him unconcerned about tests.

There were a lot of things about the home room teacher that made his students unsure of what to make of him. Be it the mystery of what lay behind the mask that covered the majority of his face at all times, his lack of punctuality, the unconventional lessons, the questionable literature in which he had more interest in than his students, or the laid back, almost lazy approach in his teaching.

Yet despite all these flaws and concerns of his students, he somehow earned their respect and managed to get his students learned enough in the subject, that their minds were molded by the curriculum and filled with knowledge. For while he may have been laid back and lazy, he was hard on his students, challenging them to do what was impossible in their eyes yet somehow getting them to accomplish such difficult feats. Between the tests and quizzes that were nearly impossible, and assignments that never seemed to be done fully satisfactory, he taught his students to work hard, work together, and as a class, they developed a driving effort to excel not only in the subject, but in their lives as well.

Kakashi Hatake was an ex-special ops ranger who had been released from active duty, to deal with some PTSD due to a particularly traumatic mission where he lost a comrade. After a few dark years, he was able to recover enough to function. His therapist told him he should do something constructive and his friend told him to earn a degree. He had chosen teaching because the idea of having several months off during the year for breaks sounded perfect. However, he had not realized a couple important things when considering a teaching degree.

The first being that he didn't like kids. It wasn't that he hated them, he just didn't understand them. And now, he spent his entire work day surrounded by them. He had grown up faster than most so he had a difficult time relating to them and their antics often wore him down. So he had chosen to teach high school thinking that there would at least be less crying, complaining, and more independence. But he had been severely wrong.

While certainly no longer crying over scraped knees, complaining about not getting the right color crayon, and needing an adult to do sometimes the simplest of tasks, teenagers were no different than young children. The only difference was instead of crying over scraped knees they were crying over broken hearts of week long relationships and severed friendships. Instead of complaining about the color of crayons, they complained about the length of their papers and reading assignments. And while they no longer needed to hold a hand walk down the hall, they still depended heavily on their teachers for guidance as to what to do with their lives and function as the soon to be adults they were becoming.

The second thing he had not considered when becoming a teacher was that he had no regard for time. And now, his entire day was based off of a structured and rigid schedule. However even after over a decade of teaching he still had no regard for the layout of his day. He was positive the only reason why he hadn't been fired yet was because the high scores his students accomplished each year for exams as well as his, what some would call a friendship with the schools headmaster.

But despite these reasons, and the many other reasons why he was not traditionally suited for the job, Kakashi Hatake had found himself attached to his work in a strange and obscure way. While he enjoyed the breaks, each time he found himself eagerly awaiting the start of a new term. In a way you could almost say that despite his lack of enthusiasm for being around youth and coworkers who obviously enjoyed their positions far more than him, as the time went on and the years passed by, he had found some of his traumatic wounds slowly healed as he developed a grateful appreciation for his work.

Though he would never dare admit that to his coworkers. If the school faculty actually knew he enjoyed his job, they might actually expect him to put effort and excitement into his teaching. And he would be damned if he would start dressing professionally like Iruka of the civics department or energetically teaching with gusto like Guy of the athletics department. The two most dedicated teachers of the entire school.

Despite the many dislikes and oddities of Kakashi Hatake, as well as his determination to seem as impartial and reclusive as he could. There was one thing that Kakashi had a weakness for, one thing that made him break down, show interest, and even possibly interfere.

And that weakness was...he was a sucker for a good romance drama.

And Kakashi had a gift for sniffing out a budding romance between individuals and spotting every sign of sexual tension. He liked to think he had a sixth sense for seeing the red strings that connect others but it was more or less due to the fact that he had his nose nearly constantly shoved into romance novella and he was desperate to see them played out in real life. As a result, he had become obsessed with the art of "shipbuilding", or as he preferred the more sophisticated and professional term, "naval engineering".

And when there was the potential of such a romance, one that seemed practically derived from one of his many romantic novella, Kakashi could not help but do everything in his power to make sure that ship sailed. Because while he was a teacher at the intellectual level, he was a professional matchmaker at heart. And it just so happened that he found such a pairing between two students that were so bluntly ignorant of the others affections, he was tempted to fail them in his class for being so densely ignorant of their feelings. Unfortunately he was only allowed to grade them on their literature skills, not their romances.

It all started the first day of class when he assigned them to sit together at their shared desk located in the fifth row, third desk back, and he had seen the reaction of the Uchiha boy. The moment the boy had so eagerly and quickly refuted the idea of having a different setting arrangement, Kakashi's radar for detecting such potential vessels of romance had gone off. Had Sasuke been any other boy, Kakashi might have dismissed it. But his closest friend just happened to be Obito Uchiha and while the man was certainly not the standard specimen of the traditional Uchiha, Kakashi was familiar enough with the Uchiha family and their stoic genes to know instantly that something was off.

Several years ago Sasuke's older brother had also been a student in his class and he knew this certain branch in the family tree was certainly one of the more stoic and suppressed of the bunch. Yet he had caught something in Sasuke's face, something strong enough and powerful enough, that it broke through the hard exterior learned and perfected from a young age.

It was then that he began to pay closer attention to the pink haired girl that he quickly familiarized himself with as Sakura Haruno. And it was her he surmised was the reason for the odd behavior. Ever since that conclusion, Kakashi could not help but note and observe their interactions as he began to form a theory as to why an Uchiha would act as such...

It did not take long into the school year for Kakashi to note that Sasuke was not for want of fangirls. They were everywhere that he was. They flanked him in the halls, cornered him for confessions, and found any and every excuse to talk to him, some even daring enough to find reasons to make physical contact. A touch of the hand, a brush of a shoulder, or plucking imaginary items that had gotten caught in his spiky hair. However each gesture was quickly swatted away as he dealt them out a cold look of distaste. It was obvious to Kakashi that no one was allowed to touch or get too close to him. However, like many things in life, there was one exception. And that exception came in the form of a dainty pink haired desk mate.

He had given his students a free day to work on assignments and homework under the guise that they were ahead in their curriculum. Because it had nothing to do with the fact that the newest addition to his favorite Icha Icha series had just been released and he was currently taking this time of not needing to teach to read his pre ordered copy of the book.

As he was finishing his chapter, he peeked over the top of his book to check on his students. Most of them were quietly talking amongst their neighbors while a few were actually working on homework and a handful were laid out on their desks fast asleep. As usual, Sakura among the few who were studiously bent over her school work. Next to her, Sasuke leaned over his desk with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head as it rested on his arms. Kakashi watched as Sasuke shifted and crossed over onto Sakura's side of the desk, making her pause in her school work.

Sakura frowned at her friend's invasiveness. Letting out a sigh, she gave his slumbering form a shove. It was the third time now and she was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose.

Sasuke shifted, turning his head to face her as he cracked his eyes open. "What?" he intoned groggily.

"You keep coming over onto my side of the desk," Sakura complained.

Sasuke shut his eyes. "Hn," he grunted unapologetically, making no move to rectify his trespassing.

Sakura gave him a disapproving look before taking a hold of his hoodie and pulling it away from his head. "And you shouldn't be sleeping, you should be working on your homework."

Sasuke's dark eyes snapped open and gave her a look that at first seemed to be annoyed, but the moment she looked down to her paper, his face softened to a mild affection as he stared up at her. This look was lost to everyone else but the sharp eyes of their teacher who had forgotten about his book altogether as he continued to watch his two students.

Sakura was nearly finished with the math equation she was working on when a heavy feeling settled over her. When she wrote down her answer, she looked up and found Sasuke's dark eyes looking up at her. Immediately she felt her face warm and she quickly leaned forward and let her hair fall down to curtain her face.

Ever since she had been indirectly rejected by Sasuke, she had done her best to not let her imagination or emotions run away from her. She took a page from the Uchiha book of genetics and suppressed them. However, when he looked at her with expressions of such intense fixation, it made it very difficult to ignore those feelings. Determinedly she focused on the next question, mentally reading out the equation as she tried to ignore the accelerated pitter patter of her heart.

Suddenly her shroud of protective hair was pushed aside as Sasuke moved her hair. From the corner of her eye she watched as he held a chunk of her hair in his hand. He rubbed it in between his fingers, testing out the texture and causing her to feel a tug at her roots. Which resulted in a tingling sensation that spread down her spine. In an effort to cover up the shiver that ran through her body, she quickly extracted her hair from his fingers by moving it to hang over her other shoulder and out of his reach.

"Stop that," she chastised, "it's distracting."

A smoldering smirk came to his face at that. "So I distract you do I?" he asked in a teasing tone that bordered on flirtation.

She hated this tone, it did things to her insides that made her feel like instead of sturdy bones, she had jello and instead of digestive enzymes, her stomach was full of a flutter of butterflies. The increasing use of that tone was not doing her any favors in her crusade to rid herself of any romantic feelings for her friend.

Doing her best to compose herself, she turned her head and gave him a stern look. "Yes, you do."

His dark eyes shined with a luster of polished obsidian. "And what about me is it that distracts you?"

Everything, her rebellious mind answered. However she silenced that voice before it could take over and cause her body to actually voice it. Quickly, her eyes moved up to his spiky mess of hair. "This," she said, reaching up and giving one of his spikes a soft tug. "Did you even bother to try and comb this mess?"

He propped his head up, leaning in towards her and giving her a smirk. "Well if I did that, even you wouldn't be able to resist my charms." He finished his statement by giving her an uncharacteristic wink.

Sakura hated the jitter such a gesture caused and she frowned, rolling her eyes in an attempt to cover any signs of what such actions really did to her. "Please," she said sarcastically, running a hand over the top of his head. "If you're trying to get me to admit I find you attractive you can forget it, you already have too much ego."

Sasuke did everything he could to suppress the near purr that almost escaped him from her touch. Last year when they kissed, it was like getting a taste of the most delectable thing he could imagine. Now, in more recent times, he had found himself growing hungry for another taste. And he was worried that soon it would be a craving that someday would drive him insane and do something stupid. For the most part he restrained himself, but there were moments like these, little instances of weakness in which he could not ignore.

Her fingers combed over his head, threading through his hair as her nails gently scraped against his scalp. From an outsider it would have been seen as an innocent gesture that maybe bordered on a flare of flirtation. But to him, even the most simple of things felt intimate.

"Failure to admission is just as incriminating, Sakura."

His words had her withdrawing her hand all too soon as Sakura went back to her school work. He knew he shouldn't indulge his hunger by asking for more, he knew it would only make things worse. But he couldn't resist. Reaching up to his head, he mussed up his hair, immediately earning her attention again.

"Sasuke!" she protested, quickly running her fingers over his hair again. A look that indicated he was pleased with himself appeared as she fused over him and she paused. "You know what," she began, "Forget it, if you want to look like the next duck butt leader of F4 then be my guest," she snapped, ruffling up his hair before turning back to her school work.

Sasuke smirked in her direction before settling back down on their desk with his head propped on his arms. He was so far over that he was again encroaching on her side of the desk. It was almost purposeful as her hand brushed up against him each time she turned the page of her work book.

All the while, Kakashi caught every moment of this small exchange from over the top of his book. Behind his mask, his lips smiled. Everything about it was so juvenile. But it was so innocently sweet that it made him as giddy as any school girl watching a drama series.

Kakashi had just finished passing out their latest test results when the bell rang loudly throughout the hallways of the academy, announcing the end of class and dismissing students for a short break period. Most students escaped the room in masses the moment the bell chimed, leaving a few stragglers behind to meander out at their own pace. One particular person seemed to be taking an unusually long time zipping up his bag as his desk mate finished writing down her notes from class before adding the assignment to her calendar.

"You don't have to wait for me, Sasuke," she said, pausing mid note to look up at him.

Sasuke cleared his throat and quickly unzipped his bag. "I'm not, I just forgot to write down the assignment," he hedged as he pulled out a notebook and pen.

From behind the steamy pages of his book, Kakashi subtly peeked over his reading material to watch the two students interacting. Sasuke was digging around in his bag, his face looking nonchalant as Sakura shrugged her shoulders and went back to finishing her notes. Kakashi watched as Sasuke's pen unproductively hovered over his notebook as he watched Sakura from the corner of his eye. The moment Sakura finished writing and started putting her things away, Sasuke flipped his notebook shut with the page still blank and haphazardly threw his things into his bag as he sprung to his feet, zipping his backpack and grabbing his test from his desk as he followed Sakura towards the front of the class.

As they walked down their row and started for the door together, Kakashi silently watched as Sasuke looked out into the busy hallway and quickly grabbed onto Sakura, halting her from progressing towards the busy hall.

"What are you doing after school?" he asked when she gave him a quizzical look.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Nothing I guess, why did you have something in mind?"

Sasuke looked down at his feet and Kakashi noticed as his hair fell forward the tips of his reddening ears and neck became visible. Sasuke looked back up at Sakura, his face surprisingly well composed despite the obvious jitteriness.

"Let's go grab some food at that new tempura shop a couple of blocks from here," he suggested.

"Okay, but you know Naruto's going to throw a fit if we don't go to Ichiraku's so we might as well just plan toㅡ"

"I don't want to invite him," Sasuke quickly cut in.

Sakura gave him a baffled look. "Why?" she asked. Suddenly a look of exasperation came to her face and she planted a hand on her hip. "Don't tell me you guys are fighting again? Honestly, you're worse than if a drama queen and primadonna were best friends," she bemoaned.

"We're not fighting," Sasuke assured. "I just don't want him to come, I just want it to be the two of us."

"Why?"

From behind his book, Kakashi felt like he could practically hear Sasuke's eye roll. Nosily he peeked out from his book only to feign turning a page when Sasuke gave him a hesitant look and glanced back at Sakura. The words on the book page began to blur as Kakashi stared unfocused at the words as he strained to listen in to the conversation, he heard Sasuke's feet squeak against the tiled floor with an obvious step of nervous unease.

"Well...um...I was thinking that maybe..." Kakashi chanced a glance over his book just in time to catch Sasuke rub the back of his neck and ruffle his already unruly spikes of hair. His eyes were darting everyone but at Sakura who was intently looking at Sasuke with a perplexed expression.

"Yes..." Sakura prodded.

"I was thinking you could tutor me," Sasuke quickly blurted lamely. He looked down at his test in his hand that he forgot to put back in his bag in his haste to follow Sakura. "I did really bad on the last chapter and was hoping you could help me."

Sakura gave him a scrutinizing look. "Really?" He nodded in confirmation which only caused her to raise a skeptical brow. "Let me see," she demanded, reaching for his test.

"No!" he protested, holding it high and out of her reach. She let out a vocal protest as she jumped up and down in an attempt to snatch the paper from his hands. Sasuke only held it higher in response as a look of amusement washed over his face. "I can't let you see it," he said when she stopped her hoping and planted her hands on her hips to pout up at him. "It's too embarrassing."

"Since when do you get embarrassed?"

"Just help me after school and promise you won't say anything to Naruto," he said, ignoring her question. "And the food is on me."

The moment the offer of free food was made, Sakura seemed to no longer be concerned with the why of it all. "Fine!" she said, turning towards the door and making her way to the hall. Just before exiting into the busy stream of students she turned back to him. "But next time you need help with school, try asking before the test, not after."

Sasuke grinned at her before she rolled her eyes and disappeared. For a moment Sasuke lingered in the classroom as he savored the happy warmth of his successful accomplishment.

"You know it's easier to arrange a date without a third wheel if she knows it's an actual date and not a study group."

Kakashi watched from over his book as Sasuke, who had seemed to forget he was still sitting at his desk until he had spoken up, turned his head. The dark haired boy gave him a look not usually presented to teachers.

"It's not a date," he quickly corrected, although the tinge of pink in his pale skin seemed to counter such claims. "I just need some help understanding some of the material. If I fail my parents will ground me. And if Naruto came he would just be loud and we wouldn't get anything done."

Sasuke raised a brow. "Well then by all means, study away," Kakashi said in dismissal as he went back to his book. He heard Sasuke start to walk towards the door before speaking again. "By the way, I didn't realize 98 percent was a failing grade, then again you Uchiha's always did hold yourselves to higher standards."

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he listened to Sasuke stomp away. But as the hallway began to settle and become quiet as the students went outside to enjoy the last bits of temperate weather before the cold winter temperatures set in, Kakashi found himself snapping his book shut and thinking to himself.

While thus far the budding drama of a romance between his two was entertaining, Kakashi felt that if things continued like this it would soon become stagnant. And while Kakashi certainly was in for a lengthy drama playing out through the next several years while the pair remained his students, he was worried that the relationship might not ever be forged. It truly would be a tragic marring of an ode to star-crossed romances.

"O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" Sasuke read in a monotone voice that was drier than the Sahara.

Kakashi all but let out an agonizing groan as he watched the work of one of the greats being disgracefully represented as the dark haired boy, who had been voted into the lead role by unanimous numbers of the female population, unenthusiastically spoke his lines. Not only did his voice lack vivation, but he looked at the twitter pated looking girl with the same passion as he would an eraser.

"Stop, stop, stop," Kakashi interjected before either of them could continue with the scene. He stood from his desk in the corner, his eyes glaring accusingly at Sasuke. "Sasuke, I need more passion from you. Try it again."

Sasuke tilted his head up towards the ceiling letting out an exasperated sigh. This was literature, not drama class, why did it matter how he said the lines. Having already "tried it again" five times with the same lines, Sasuke was done.

Sasuke pulled the renaissance hat, fluffy black feather and all, from his head and looked at his teacher. "Can't you just choose someone else to be Romeo?" Sasuke said. "I obviously lack the ability to meet your criteria."

"Oh me! Me!" shouted Lee. "I will do it. I can give you passion!" He ceased his eager bouncing and waving his hand in the air as he struck a dramatic pose.

The girl playing Juliet looked horror struck, "Mr. Hatake you can't just take Sasuke from the role, he was voted fair and square!" she said quickly as she latched herself onto Sasuke, who immediately pulled himself free of her clutches.

"It's only unfair if I wasn't volunteering!" Sasuke quickly rationalized. "Really, I don't care."

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment and stood up. As he walked past a still posing Lee, he told him to take a seat, not bothering to look at the dejected student as he narrowed his eyes at his dark haired lead role.

Kakashi had taught enough Uchiha's to know that failure to accomplish was not for lack of skill when it came to the family. If driven enough to put their minds to it, they could achieve any of their dreams, whatever the feat or consequences. If an Uchiha wanted it, they would have it.

Some would argue this was an erroneous assumption but he had yet to see any proof say otherwise. As his teacher, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was not stupid, neither was he incompetent. His grades were good and he made high scores on the exams. Like his brother, he was naturally talented. But unlike his brother, Sasuke was lazy. Because things came easy to him he half assed most of his work then made up for it in the exams that contributed mostly to his grades.

Normally Kakashi would not hold such things against such a student as he himself had been the same in his school years. However, Kakashi did have an issue when Sasuke's half assed efforts reflected on other priorities of the more romantic nature. Over the course of the school year, Kakashi had watched and observed this boy try and fail to woo the girl he sat next to with primary school level tactics of flirting and failed attempts of dates cloaked as study sessions. Had it been anyone else he would not have cared but this case was special. From the first day of this year he had been watching their interactions, following the gossip of his young pupils, and even resorted to inquiring of his friend Obito of the relationship. Obito had given him so many juicy details of their interactions that he could hardly read his novels which seemed dimmed by the live action drama taking place in his classroom.

Kakashi Hatake had become too invested in the teenage romance between his two students that he would be damned if he would allow his student to sabotage the fated romance with laziness. Between the broody dark haired boy and the colorful blossom of a girl, there was certainly plenty of heat between the two, however in order for the relationship to be forged strongly, they needed some applied force in order to mold together. Therefore, Kakashi had no choice but to nudge them together, because he was a sucker for literary romance and this story was going to be right there with the greats.

"You are right Mr. Uchiha, it is perfectly fair so long as your volunteering to give up the role-" Sasuke let out a sigh and started making for the desks that had been pushed back to clear a stage at the front of the classroom- "However," Kakashi continued, causing Sasuke to freeze halfway off their makeshift stage. "As your teacher, it is unfair for me to let you give up so easily. If I let you all just give up after struggling I would be the failure.

"Therefore I cannot let you do that. You can do it...you just need..." His slate eyes roved across the room and landed on his pink haired Mecrutio who was sporting a fake mustache. His lips curled wickedly behind his mask. "...the right partner," he finished.

"Sakura," he called, causing Sakura to sit up straight at her desk. "Come here," he instructed, waving her up. "Miss Nanami, please take a seat, Sasuke you stay where you are," he warned when the boy made a move to leave too.

"Mr. Hatake?" Sakura inquired when she reached the front of the class looking nervous when she caught the odd glint in her even odder teacher's eyes. He handed her a new script and she looked down at it. "These don't have any of Mecrutio's lines!" she panicked.

"That's because you will be playing Juliet, Miss. Haruno," Kakashi said, steering her in front of Sasuke. "Seems Mr. Uchiha is not comfortable opening up with Miss Nanami so we are going to give him a little more of a familiar face. Since your 'deskmates', he should be perfectly relaxed around you after a year of sitting next to you, you two seem plenty chatty during break times."

Sasuke looked nearly horrified as Sakura was left standing hardly inches away from him and Kakashi returned to his desk where he could better direct the play. "All right, Sasuke, start from the top. I want you to deliver Romeo's first monologue with passion. Let's hear what he is feeling in your voice, show us the passion!"

"Hn."

Sasuke's hum of lacking commitment caused his teacher to turn around abruptly and give his student a warning look. "Oh, and one more thing Mr. Uchiha, your performance will reflect as a shared marking, so please take this seriously, for Miss Haruno's sake."

It was perhaps cruel and unfair, but Kakashi knew he needed to motivate his student and judging by the terrified look on the girl's face as her grade was put on the chopping block, he knew the Uchiha would step up and save the damsel in distress. If not, he deserved losing the poor girl's dedication. Then maybe she would stop looking at her deskmate with those large eyes and longing looks that pulled at Kakashi's heart string every time he looked up at his classroom. It was agonizing to watch.

"Mr. Uchiha," Kakashi prodded, "whenever you're ready."

Sasuke gave his teacher a sour look who responded with an expectant raised brow. Gritting his teeth Sasuke looked back to Sakura who was not looking like the confident young woman she had developed into. She looked practically terrified at the thought of her grade possibly being in jeopardy. Even if Kakashi failed them in this assignment there was no way it would affect her grade by that much of a degree. Unfortunately that was not how Sakura worked. For her, grades were everything as her future relied heavily upon it for scholarships. And Sasuke would never let such a thing be effected. Sakura's future was bright and promising, there was no way he would allow himself to darken it or hold her back.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he reached deep inside of him. Down to the depths of the deepest darkest parts of him where he habitually shoved every emotion and feeling. It was like picking up rocks from a bed of water, if not done carefully enough, one could possibly cause the settled silt and particles to muddy the waters and make things unclear. Carefully, he grasped onto the pieces he needed to spur him with as much ease as he could. If he disrupted the wrong sediments of emotions or grabbed too much at one time, he could find the waters of his life unclear and murky. Dangerous emotions could float up and taint the cool control he worked endlessly to keep reigned in and there was no telling what the result would be.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the wide eyes of Sakura, whose expression had morphed. He took her in and focused solely on her with a gaze of intensity that seemed to lock them into place, not allowing either of them to look away from the other as the rest of the room became a blur. Soon it was as if they were the only two standing there and they had been transported to a place far away from any other soul to witness their exchange. Gently, he released the emotions he had gathered and let them flow through his blood. Allowing them to take over and letting them lead and prompt his actions as he began his lines.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun...

Three years ago Itachi had to memorize the very same monologue for school and Sasuke had heard him recite it so many times, he had found he had not needed to look at his script at all. Which allowed him to put all focus into Sakura and Sakura alone, which fueled his feeling to come through his voice as he let them come to the surface as he gazed back into her vividly bright eyes and took in the shapes of her face with admiration. Even the ridiculous mustache she still wore from her role as Mecrutio that sat above her parted lips could not distract him from the fact that in this moment, she was stunning.

"...That I might touch that cheek!"

As he finished the last line of the monologue, the classroom was left in a stunned silence. Sasuke was still staring deeply into Sakura's face, his hand at one point having lifted to gently cup her cheek as his feet had brought him even closer to her as his free hand gently held onto the tips of her fingers in a gesture of intimacy that seemed to overshadow if he had just fully held her hand. Sakura stared up at him with an enraptured attentiveness that one would think she had been watching the scene being delivered by Shakespeare's very own original performers. She too had not looked away from Sasuke's intense eyes as her mouth parted slightly in an awed expression, a rosy glow having come to her cheeks and making her look very much like a young maiden worth such poetry to be composed from.

The spell was broken as the audible and sharp sound of a clap echoed loudly into the air. Sasuke blinked and suddenly became aware of the situation. Quickly, he let his hand drop down as he took a step away from Sakura who was still staring at him with an awed expression. Another sharp clap had him looking over her head to where Kakashi was slowly standing as the pace of his slow clap increased, along with being accompanied by several others of the class who seemed to slowly awaken from his transfixing performance and show their support.

The applause died down as Kakashi reached them. "Very good Uchiha, I knew you could do it, you just needed to channel some inner feelings. Mind sharing what inspired you so well?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched his teacher's head subtly nod towards Sakura, who was dazedly standing next to him. Sasuke folded his arms in front of his chest and gave his teacher a impassive look. "I'm just a really good actor," he replied coolly.

Kakashi raised a brow then let out a dismissive huff. "Well then, I hope to see you in the school drama club's next production. I would hate for your talent to go to waste...Until then congratulations, you both get an A on the assignment," he nodded his head towards their shared desk, dismissing them to take their seats as he moved back to stand at his teachers podium.

Pulling out a textbook, he turned open the book. "Every one open up to page 245. Let's move onto our next section of study, Homer. I think it's time we learn about something called bravery," Kakashi said, his slate eyes moving up to Sasuke in challenge, who leaned forward himself, his own obsidian eyes meeting the challenge.

From behind his mask, Kakashi could not help but grin mirthfully. If this teenage boy thought he was going to sink his own ship he was wrong. Kakashi would see to it personally that would not happen. Be it they spend the rest of their school year studying the great romances of literature or making every single homework assignment a group project with assigned partners, it would be done. One day, Kakashi would see to it that, by the time his students were graduating, Sasuke Uchiha would finally admit his feelings to the girl sitting right beside him.

Chapter Text

The summer had been unusually hotter than most years. Normally their long break from school would be spent actively taking the bus or train to some nearby place and doing whatever or exploring wherever Sakura had planned for them that day. She was usually the motivator of the trio, the one who pushed them to do things in which the two boys begrudgingly agreed. Naruto usually complied because he would be promised Ramen, and Sasuke tolerated the crowded tourist attractions because...well…Sakura was there. And he needed to watch over her. At least that was how he rationalized it.

But this summer Sakura had gone to visit relatives in her family's original hometown, leaving the two boys in charge to entertain themselves and keep each other company. With Sakura not there to drag them around, Naruto and Sasuke occupied themselves with playing video games in a controlled environment of cool A/C that had close access to a freezer and fridge of cold beverages and plenty of popsicles. However, after weeks of logging numerous hours in sitting on a couch playing games, with only each other as company-and no Sakura to act as a buffer-, it was only a matter of time before their mothers had grown tired of listening to the constant bickering and cleaning up after them. Thus the two teenagers found themselves banned from gaming and told to do something productive outside. With the heat nearly unbearable, they found themselves camped out in the Uchiha's backyard pool, where their phones could still at least reach the WIFI of the house and the heat could be tolerable.

The floaty Sasuke was sprawled on bobbed and shifted in the pool as he lay with his hands behind his head and a pair of dark sunglasses covering his face as it angled towards the sky. His feet hung over the edge and lazily hung in the water in an attempt to keep himself cool as the heat from the midday sun beat down on them. Next to him, Naruto impatiently shifted on his own inner tub. Each time, wildly splashing and causing a loud ruckus of sloshing water as he moved around on his raft that was shaped like a ramen bowl.

"Dobe," Sasuke mumbled in sleepy annoyance when his blonde friend's shifting caused a raining of water droplets to fall on his heated skin. "Stop moving around so much. You keep splashing me."

Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh of boredom. "I'm just trying to get comfortable, we've been laying around here for hours," he defended. "I'm bored! And why do I have to be careful! We are in a pool! You're supposed to get wet."

"Hn. My house, my rules," Sasuke retorted, not bothering to open his eyes. "If you don't like them then leave."

"Well maybe I will!" Naruto threatened but didn't make a move to leave. When Sasuke himself did not respond, Naruto let out a huff and settled back down on his floaty, the rubber plastic letting out a wet squeak as shifted around. "When does Sakura come back? Ever since she left for the summer you've been a super asshole!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open at that and he glared at Naruto. In the next second, his arm reached out and he was flipping Naruto over. The yellow haired teen let out a wild yelp that was cut off as he disappeared under the water, bright orange board shorts and all. The water had yet to even settle when he surfaced with a loud screech.

"What was that for!?" Naruto sputtered, climbing back onto his innertube.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "For asking stupid questions."

It wasn't exactly the true reason but it was the answer he was sticking to. In reality, Sasuke himself had been asking the same question in his head and was almost to the point of impatient ignorance, that he was on the verge of booking himself a ticket to where she was, and asking her in person. Though by that time, such a question would be pointless because he would be dragging her back home with him if the answer was anything but an immediate departure to go home.

If an entire summer depraved of her presence was not bad enough, not only was she physically gone, but any form of communication was brief and too few. They had video chatted once at the beginning but the bandwidth where she was at was so small, that the video was nothing but a blurry frozen picture of pink hair. Along with a blurry image, the audio was so lagged their conversation mostly consisted of 'can you hear me now?' and 'are you still there?' So instead he got the occasional message or scenic picture of what she had been up to but with her being so preoccupied, it was hardly a conversation.

He heard Naruto's phone chime and the blonde paddled over to the edge of the pool. "Hey, bastard, everybody is going to that new pool park, we should go too!"

Sasuke lifted his head up and tipped his shades down to look at Naruto directly. "Why? We are already in a pool."

"Yeah, but the other pool has girls," Naruto argued. "In bathing suits," he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. As if it was not already common sense to assume anyone who went to a pool wore a bathing suit. He shoved his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose.

There was a time when he could care less about girls. But then, back in middle school, things became a little muddled and confusing. Now that he was older and had a better handle on things, Sasuke would be a liar if he said he did not appreciate such things. However, as pretty as a girl could be or as perfect her body was, Sasuke never found himself truly tempted. Yes he recognized certain features to be appealing but he never quite understood how those features could cause someone to practically start drooling over themselves or act like a complete imbecile like his peers did in order to gain the attention of said girl. To him, there was always something missing. There was a certain failed allure that couldn't draw him in enough to pursue.

Folding his arms, he leaned his head back and gave out a nonchalant hum. "Hn, and it also has crying babies and little kids that pee in the water," he argued. "No thanks."

Naruto gave out a disgruntled complaint. "But we have been in here all day! I'm getting all pruny," he complained, looking at his hands. Suddenly an idea hit him and he was looking over to Sasuke again. "What about the arcade? We could go down there and play some games!"

"Too hot," Sasuke brushed off, just as his phone's ringtone began to play.

"Someone's calling you," Naruto informed when Sasuke made no move to check it.

"..."

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"..."

"What if it's an emergency?" Naruto asked as he began to creep towards the edge of the pool. "Isn't that usually why people call instead of text?" He added as he nosily peeked at the lit up screen of Sasuke's phone.

"Who would call me in an emergency一"

"It's Sakura," Naruto interrupted, picking up the phone as he slid his thumb across the screen. "Hey Sakura, what's up!"

Sasuke was deboarding his flotation device immediately. In his dismount, his sunglasses fell into the pool but he made no move to retrieve him as he continued over to where his phone was sitting at the side of the pool.

"Give it," Sasuke barked as he snatched the phone from Naruto's hands. "Sakura, are you there? Are you okay?" He immediately asked as he threw a jab at Naruto, who dangerously splashed wildly as he tried to dodge the punch.

"...Yeah, I'm here? What's going on? Is Naruto okay? I hear a bunch of splashing?"

The sound of her voice did things to his inner soul that he did not even realize, nor have the capacity, to decipher what those feelings meant. He was too buzzed with an intoxicating high that came with the fact that he was finally hearing her voice.

"Naruto's fine," he said quickly as he raised his fist again, warning Naruto of what would happen if he did not cease his howling. "We are in the pool. What's up?"

He tried to make his tone sound casual as the chaos and shock of her call seemed to settle down with the water in the pool. He leaned against the side of the shallow end, doing his best to ignore Naruto who was practically breathing down his neck to eavesdrop.

"Sakura when are you coming back!?" Naruto bellowed near his ear which caused Sasuke to put a palm to his face and shove him away. "Ouch! Sakura, he is being an asshole!"

Knowing Naruto would not let him have this conversation privately, Sasuke hit the speakerphone button and set his phone down on the stone patio surrounding the pool. The moment he set it down Sakura answered Naruto's question.

"Actually that's why I called," she answered. "I just got back and unpacked. I meant to send you a message earlier that I would be coming home today but my phone died and my charger was packed away. I was wondering if I could come over now, I missed you guys so much!"

Sasuke's heart skipped in his chest. "Yeah," he said all too eagerly as he confusedly rubbed at his chest, wondering why his heart rate was suddenly spastic. "I will come pick you up."

"You don't have to," Sakura protested. "I will just change quickly and head over, are you guys still swimming or are you done? I could use a good cooling off!"

"Yeah we are still swimming but I can just pull a shirt on and walk over there," Sasuke emphasized. "You shouldn't be walking around alone."

"Hey, I am coming too!" Naruto chimed.

"Okay," Sakura agreed.

There was a small tone in her voice that indicated how she felt about them picking her up. Sasuke was certain he could hear Sakura rolling her eyes but he didn't care how unnecessary she felt it was. It was something they always did- and he would always do- not matter how independent and secure Sakura felt.

"How about you guys start walking and I will start making my way over once I am changed and we can meet somewhere in-between. Sound good? Okay, bye," she quickly negotiated, hanging up before Sasuke could voice a protest.

Sasuke let out a groan of frustration and annoyance. He didn't like it when Sakura did this. It was not like her neighborhood was bad or dangerous, but it wasn't as secure or monitored as his. There were too many blind spots, unfamiliar cars, and alleyways between her house and his for his liking. He had already been worried about her all summer walking around in a place where he was not a quick phone call away. But at the moment he could not be too bothered by that anymore, because she was back.

Suppressing the wide grin that wanted to manifest, Sasuke braced his arms on the side of the pool and pulled himself out. "Hurry up, dobe," he called as he pulled on his shirt without even bothering to dry off. "We need to get there before she starts walking by herself."

"...and her house is right next to the sea so every morning…"

Sakura jabbered on about her summer while Naruto walked alongside her, listening and chattering right along with her about his own summer with just as much enthusiasm, filling her in with everything that had happened in her absence. While it had been his idea to come and walk her back to his house, Sasuke walked several steps behind, unusually quiet for even an Uchiha. With his hands in his pockets, he unknowingly watched the swish of Sakura's hips as she walked down the road with a lively stride. She was wearing a new skirt that Sasuke had never seen her wear before, the cut of it not her usual style as it hung off her body in a way he had never seen any article of clothing fit on her. It was as if the fabric was tailored perfectly to her shape to accentuate her best features that, until today, he had never realized existed.

They had caught her right as she was closing the front gate of the small townhouse her family lived in. Her back had been to him and to be honest, if it were not for her unique hair, he would have thought her someone else until she turned around. But even as he took in the familiar pink hair and wide green eyes, he had a hard time believing he was actually looking at Sakura. She was...different, yet not. It was like everything about her was just slightly altered enough that she looked like a whole new person.

Given the activities she was describing she had done, most of her time had been spent outside which had earned her a warm glow to her face and a healthy complexion. Her sun kissed face was now speckled with a light dusting of freckles. They accented her small nose and framed her eyes, making her irises seem richer with color and even more lively with the surrounding constellation of pigmentation. Her hair, which had been growing out little by little with small trimmings in between over the years, seemed to have missed her usual appointment that would delay the progress of her lengthening hair. That, combined with whatever was in the air and food at her aunt's house, had done something to make it grow at a much faster rate. Now it hung down to the middle of her back in smooth, silky strands that swayed as she walked.

The way the petal pink tendrils moved in a taunting allure made him want to reach out and run his fingers through it. And her hair wasn't the only thing that had done some growing as well. Her whole body itself had done some growing in all the right places, her legs had gained more defined muscle and her hips had widened, giving her a more adult-like curvature to her hips where her shape dipped at the waist then curved more. And he hated even thinking it, but her chest- which had once been relatively flat- had gained at least a cup size. He felt like a pervert for thinking such things and noticing the appeal of her backside, but the new outfit she was donning made it difficult not to notice. And as much as he hated to admit it, he could not help but be drawn to this version of Sakura more strongly than he had ever been.

And it was not just her physical appearance that had been altered. She was still the same warm and bubbly girl that had left at the beginning of summer. But like everything else about her, it had been enhanced. Her welcoming hug had felt more comforting when she had spotted them and ran up to embrace him and Naruto in turn. She emitted an aura that was inviting to anyone, but it held a confidence that told people that she was not one to be trodden over. She had turned into a person that leads by example and inspires without being in charge. Admirable and confident, beautiful and strong, that was the new Sakura.

And Sasuke didn't know what to do with himself, he did not understand what this meant. He had thought all of his uncertain confusion would end with puberty when his voice dropped but now, more than ever, he did not understand how his life would be affected by these changes. Wary of the butterfly effect that was on the verge of taking place, Sasuke hung back, taking her in as he silently tried to understand what exactly this new Sakura meant for his future. Since the first day he had ever met her, Sasuke could not think of a time he didn't want her around, but now, her presence was unnerving him. He felt self conscious and far too aware of the fact that he was wearing boardshorts, an old tee-shirt that was half damp, and his hair was possibly a little more unruly than usual as he had not bothered checking himself in the mirror after lounging in the pool all day. Had he even brushed his teeth this morning?

Automatically a hand came up to his tangled hair and he tried to comb it into his usual purposeful messy fashion. However when Sakura peeked behind to check on him as he followed behind her and Naruto, he quickly mussed it up, doing his best to exude cool and collected.

For a moment she studied him with a confused curiosity. But the moment he locked eyes with her, she gave him a warm smile before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and looking forward, a red tint coming to her cheeks. The demure look of her looking away shyly caused his stomach to lurch and churn as his heart suddenly began to pump a rush of adrenaline through his body.

Sasuke faltered for a moment, just as they turned into his driveway. What the hell was that?

If Sasuke thought he was being inappropriately perverse when he was walking behind her and studying her changes, then he was not sure what word would be used to describe what he felt when Sakura shed her clothes into a pile on his pool deck and unconsciously adjusted the red bikini that she wore underneath. He had always prided himself in not being like his peers, who drooled over themselves as they took in those who were physically attractive, but in this moment he was no better. He would like to say that he had the control to not let his eyes absorb every inch of her exposed and toned flesh that was revealed, but at this point, Sasuke was not so sure if he even wanted to try.

He was torn.

Torn between wanting to rip off his shirt and throw it over her so no one else could look at her, or letting her continue to let the sun highlight her features as the spray of water that rained down on her as Naruto cannon balled into the pool, dripped down her chest and abdomen, leaving her skin to glisten in the sunlight. On one hand, he got to look at her, but on the other, that meant others could too. So far Naruto seemed unphased, but Itachi was home from University for the break and his presence increased the chances of Shisui stopping by unannounced. Sure they were both older, but Sasuke was more than aware of Shisui's perverted mind. However, again, if Sakura were to cover up, then that would mean she would be covered from his prying eyes as well. And for the first time in his life, Sasuke was not so sure he wanted to look away.

For not the first time in the past twenty minutes, Sakura looked up to find Sasuke staring. His dark gaze transfixed on what she struggled to believe was herself. Each time there was a concentrated look to his face as his dark eyes held a heated look that she had never seen before. It did things to her and made her feel under the heaviest of scrutiny. And there was something in that gaze that caused her insides to twist and turn with a giddiness that had her body feeling hypersensitive.

She was grateful the moment his eyes broke away from her because the intensity of his gaze was becoming more and more overwhelming. However, as he looked away and started to move to the pool side Sakura found herself becoming overwhelmed all over again, this time for a whole other reason. He made a show of looking at his phone before kicking off his sandals, and Sakura found her own eyes fixated on him, watching every move and action of his muscles.

His hands went to the hem of his shirt and lifted it up slowly. She wasn't sure if time itself had slowed or if it was just a figment of her imagination, but the action seemed to play out in slow motion. Inch by -flat toned abdominal- inch, of lean Adonis muscle that was carved by Michelangelo himself, was slowly revealed to her. With agonizingly slow pacing, Sasuke pulled his shirt up his torso and over his head to reveal the entirety of his chest and upper body which had gained some extra bulk since the last time she had seen him. Unaware, Sakura licked her lips as she watched his cut arms carelessly toss the shirt aside. Then as cool as ever, Sasuke confidently strode towards the edge of the pool and gracefully dove in. He came up from the water, droplets glistening down his body as a hand came up to his hair and raked his bangs back away from his face. Underneath sooty eyelashes, his eyes slowly moved up as his head tilted up towards the sky. His lips partied as he exhaled in satisfaction, refreshed from the day's heat by the pool's cooler temperature.

Sakura swallowed and suddenly she felt like the heat of the day was getting to her, because she was positive that she had just watched the live version of one her aunt's romance novels play out before her.

"Oi! Sakura, you gettin' in or not?"

Sakura just barely managed to pull her hungry eyes that were practically devouring her dark haired and apparently now, smoldering friend, to look at Naruto. "Uh-um-yeah," she managed to stammer out, doing her best to keep her gaze from going back to Sasuke who was now looking in her direction again.

Quickly she finished entering the pool via the steps, in which she had paused on. As soon as she stepped off the final stair, she submerged herself into the water, eager to cool her flushed and hot face that had nothing to do with the sun and everything to with the dark haired boy that had gone from highly attractive to devastatingly gorgeous and mouth watering hot, in what now seemed like two very short months.

Mentally she let out an agonized cry of frustration. She had made a vow over two years ago that she would never let herself jeopardize her friendship with Sasuke by selfishly asking for more from him. It had been hard, but she had managed her first two years of high school to do just that...barely. But how the hell was she supposed to do it now? Now that he was unfairly irresistible that it should be a sin.

And it did not help that each time she recalled and replayed the looks he had been giving her earlier today, a small voice in the back of her mind identified that look as hunger and attraction. It gave her a false hope that made her feel far too eager for the approaching school year where they would be seated together for the third year in a row for home room. At least that is what she hoped. Hatake-sensei had been unconventional in his seating arrangements, constantly changing them up and switching people around. Yet, somehow, by the work of the gods, Sakura and Sasuke always found themselves paired at the same desk. Not even just the desk, but every assignment and group activity, Sakura found herself always in the company of Sasuke.

Itachi stood at the kitchen sink smiling to himself as he watched his brother blatantly struggle with the obvious changes that had developed in his female friend's appearance during her absence from Konoha. They both had been awkward at first but thankfully Naruto was there to act as a buffer and soften the tension that was practically visually manifesting between the two teens. Now they all sat on the lounge chairs, chatting away and drinking cool beverages as they caught each other up about what was happening in their melodramatic teenage lives.

Sasuke, while mutely participating in the conversation, had a shadow of a smile on his lips that was a welcome sight to his older brother. He was not sure what exactly was being said amongst the three but he was certain that smile was only there because of a certain someone else being there.

He had been worried about his brother when he first got back home from University. His little brother had been moody and at times unbearable even for Itachi's golden patience. It didn't take him long after, when he noticed the lack of presence of a certain rosette head of hair and his mother filling him in on Sakura vacationing with her aunt, to realize what the source of this dour brother was. But it seemed Sasuke was cured and Itachi was more than pleased.

Itachi watched as his little brother stood from his chair and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when he watched him obviously flex his muscles as he dried himself off in front of a wide eyed Sakura, whose eyes seemed to gravitate towards the obvious display that seemed to go over her head that was intentionally done for her to witness. Sasuke said something to his friends before turning to the house and entering into the side door. Immediately Itachi made a show of innocently washing the dishes as he watched his brother from the corner of his eye as he gave him a suspicious look then continued on down the hall.

Sasuke had hardly left when Itachi heard the familiar voice of his cousin say something. Immediately Itachi prepared for a growl or snap of response from his little brother but to his surprise, no such sounds of hostility echoed down to him. Instead, the shuffled footsteps of a dazed Shisui neared and Itachi turned around to see his cousin enter the kitchen looking slightly disturbed.

"Should I be worried that Naruto is buried somewhere in your backyard?" He asked, jabbing a pointing thumb over his shoulder in the direction of where Sasuke had disappeared to. "This whole summer his mood has been one straw away from breaking the camel's back that sets him on a murderous rampage. But I swear I just heard him whistling like a happy little song bird when I passed him in the hall. And he...he was smiling...at me," Shisui finished with an unsettled shiver as if he was about to become the next victim.

Itachi gave the smallest of smiles at his cousin's antics. It was true that this was certainly a notable thing. Sasuke never smiled at Shisui. He only scowled and glared, but Itachi could hardly put him at fault for that. Shisui brought that upon himself.

However instead of pointing that out, he nodded his head to the pool patio outside the kitchen window. "Sakura came back today," he gave as an only answer.

Understanding came to Shisui's face as well as relief, as if he genuinely was concerned for Naruto's wellbeing. But soon his usual glint of mischief came to his face and he was at the window in two steps. However when he took in the rosette girl, he came to a halt as a new, disturbed horror appeared on his face.

"What?! What happened to her? That is NOT my sweet innocent Sakura!? That is a seductress!"

"Seems she did some growing up over the summer."

Shisui looked back at him. "A little?" He said dryly, before looking back at her. He took her in, watching her as she talked with Naruto as they sat on the edge of the pool. Soon a frown came to his face. "This is wrong, this is all wrong on far too many levels. It should be illegal for her to look like that...I never felt shame for being a pervert but now I just feel like a pervert. I should not be hyper aware of the fact that she will be eighteen in only two short years and convincing myself that eight years is not that much of an age gap!"

Itachi let out an amused sound. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. She could be the same age as you and you wouldn't have a chance."

Shisui nodded in agreement as he looked back out the window. For a moment it was silent before the older Uchiha pondered aloud, "so how long do you think your suppressed little brother can keep it in now that she looks like that. Bet a million yen, that Sasuke breaks down and proposes by the start of the school year."

"I don't see what the hurry is. They still have two more years of high school."

Shisui gave him a skeptical look. "That just makes it worse," Shisui stated as he turned around and leaned against the kitchen sink. "You're telling me that girl–that woman," he corrected, jabbing his thumb in her direction, "can just go back to high school and you think the hormone raging boys she goes to school with won't notice?"

Itachi had no refute. He could not deny it, Shisui had a point.

The two cousins were still standing in the kitchen, speculating and talking with one another when one of their topics of conversation happened to walk in from the side door.

"Shisui!" Sakura exclaimed, coming around the kitchen island with her arms spread out for a hug. "I feel like it's been forever!"

She had pulled on her skirt before coming inside but her shirt, which was drying out on the patio from a rogue splash of Naruto, was missing. Leaving her with nothing but a bikini top to cover the rest of her body. Just as she was nearing him, Shisui's body flinched and his arm automatically rose up as his palm planted on her forehead. Sakura came to an abrupt stop as Shisui stiff-armed her and she gave him an odd expression. When Shisui seemed to acknowledge what he did, he cleared his throat and gave her a light pat on the top of her head.

"Good to see you too Sakura, you're growing up so fast!" He commented, using a tone used for toddlers.

Sakura gave him another look as the older man seemed to look everywhere but at her.

"Sakura, what are you doing!"

All three occupants of the kitchen whirled around to see Sasuke looking panicked and furious. Quickly he hurried over to her, unfolding the shirt which he had come inside to retrieve for her as hers was still soaked.

"Sasuke, I was just一"

Sakura was cut off as Sasuke pulled the shirt over her head. She let out a sound of protest as she wrestled and struggled to maneuver herself as Sasuke roughly and frantically tried to pull the shirt over her.

"Sasuke I can do it myself!" she objected when she failed to pull the length of the shirt down fast enough and he tugged it over her torso himself, causing her to stumble slightly from the force of the yank.

From over her head Sasuke glared and Shisui, who, now that he had gotten over the initial shock and acceptance that Sakura now looked more like a grown woman than the innocent girl he had grown so fond of, he sent Sasuke a wicked grin.

"I told you I would bring the shirt out to you," Sasuke ground out.

"I know but just wanted to see if you needed help bring out some of the snacks一"

Again she was cut off as Sasuke not so gently ushered her towards the door to the backyard. "I don't need help! You just stay out there and make sure Naruto doesn't drown himself or something," he proclaimed as he shoved her out the door.

As soon as the door was shut he turned back around and stoically walked towards the refrigerator. As he sorted through the various drinks and snacks that were available, he became hyper aware of his older cousin sidling up and leaning against the kitchen wall, his mischievous eyes set mirthfully on Sasuke.

"So when are you going to confess?"

Sasuke stiffened, his arm frozen half way in the fridge as he pulled out a juice. He cleared his throat and finished pulling out another cold beverage.

"Confess what?" he said, closing the door of the fridge as he gave a pointed look to his cousin. "I don't recall doing anything that would merit being worthy to be confessed."

Shisui gave his little cousin a mirthful grin. "I mean when are you going to tell Sakura that you like her...as in like-like her...as in lov一"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke quickly defended.

"Sure you do," Shisui grinned. "You're more than adequate test scores suggest your not stupid, and I know your not blind. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Sasuke turned his head from the fridge and gave his cousin a scornful look. "I think getting promoted to detective has gone to your head. Don't you have investigations to conduct that are actual cases? You're digging for things that don't exist."

"Don't they?"

"We're friends," Sasuke said flatly.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Shisui admitted. "...but you want to be more." Sasuke gave his cousin a dark look. Snatching his forged snacks, Sasuke began to stomp off towards the door. Wrenching it open, he moved to slam it shut. However he did not close it fast enough before he heard the haunting warning of his cousin follow him out, "if you don't someone else will!"

As the door cut out his cousin's cackling voice, Sasuke scowled at him through the window. Through the glass, his howling cousin looked mad with his head thrown back in a psychotic chortle. And as much as Sasuke wanted to believe that what his cousin was saying was in fact complete ludicrousy, as he turned to face his two friends sitting by the pool, he found his eyes focusing on one in particular.

Sakura.

She was sitting at the edge of the pool with her back to him, her feet over the edge as she let them dip into the water as Naruto laid out on a floaty as they talked. Whatever they were discussing fell onto deaf ears as Sasuke was too distracted by something else. Her long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that bounced and swayed with every nod and turn of her head. Each time her hair shifted, it rubbed against the back of the old tee shirt he had outgrown over the summer. And it was that image, the contrast of her pink hair against the black shirt, and the red and white uchiwa fan that was printed between her shoulder blades that caused something within him to lurch.

Suddenly, the idea that maybe his cousin might be more sane than he was willing to admit, left him with a foreboding realization. For the past couple of years he had thought he just wanted to be in her company, that he just wanted to extend and preserve their friendship. But now, as he took in that image of Sakura, sitting in his backyard with his shirt guarding and claiming her, he was not so sure he could endure only being friends with her. And for the first time in his life, he found himself agreeing with Shisui. He wanted to be more than friends with Sakura.

Chapter Text

The loud thunk of the soda bottle falling down had Naruto bending down and snatching the orange soda from the dispenser. It let out a quick hiss as he carefully unscrewed the cap then took a long chug, releasing a satisfied 'ah' he smacked his lips together in contentment before finally moving aside for Sakura to select her drink. As she dug in her bag for her coin purse, Sasuke swiftly reached into his pocket and deposited a coin into the slot for her.

"Hurry up and choose what you want," he said when Sakura gave him a confused look.

"Sasuke, I have my own money," she protested.

Sasuke leaned against the vending machine with his hands in his pockets. "Tch, you were taking too long," he replied not looking directly at her.

Sakura frowned down at the coin purse she was holding in her hand. Quickly she unsnapped her coin purse and held out a coin to him. "Here," she insisted.

Sasuke glared at the coin as if it had just offended his entire line of ancestry. "It's 100 yen, Sakura, it's no big deal. You don't have to pay me back," he remarked, pushing her hand holding the offering away from him. "Besides, I hate having change."

Sakura seemed torn for a moment. Unsure of what to do. While Sasuke always had plenty of spending money, he nickel and dimed Naruto if he so much as borrowed a piece of paper.

"Hurry up and choose," Sasuke prodded, keeping whatever retort she had rising to her tongue from leaving her mouth.

Sakura let out a sigh. "Okay, okay," she said, not bothering to put up any more protest and causing a satisfied Sasuke to push off the machine to stand by Naruto who was leaning next to the hallway window.

To be honest she should be used to it. She had found Sasuke doing things like this more and more often since the summer ended. At first she put it up to her imagination but now she was not so sure. She didn't want to read into an innocent gesture, especially with how Sasuke did it in such a nonchalant Sasuke-esque way. Only he could make a nice gesture seem selfish. Shaking her head to clear her confused mind, Sakura put Sasuke's recently odd behavior aside and focused on deciding what she wanted.

As Sasuke and Naruto waited on Sakura, a group of giggling girls herded past their hangout. A few of them lifted their eyes to peek up at the two boys who stood in the hallway by the vending machine. As soon as either boy so much as glanced in the direction of one of the girls, they were sent into a fit of giggles as they bowed their blushing faces before peeking up at the boys beneath their lashes. When the gaggle of fluttering girls managed to migrate farther down the hall, Naruto shook his head in confusion as another small bunch of girls fluttered past.

"I swear all of the girls have gone mental all of a sudden," he commented. "Did they always flock in herds?"

"It's because they are hoping one of you two will ask them to the dance." Both of them turned to see Sakura joining them, sipping at her green tea as she took her post between the pair.

As she settled between them, they each looked up at each other from over her head in a silent exchange. Sasuke quirked a questioning eyebrow while Naruto shook his head dumbly back at him.

"What dance?" Naruto asked dumbly.

Sakura let out a surprised cough as she brought the bottle of tea away from her lips. "Um...the winter formal that has been announced every morning since midterms, dance!" She looked back and forth between their clueless faces and covered her eyes with her hand as she let out a bemoaned sigh. "Honestly, do you two ever pay attention to the announcements?"

She looked to Naruto who shrugged. "Head master Sarutobi's voice is boring," he complained. "And the morning announcements are too early! Can't he do them in the afternoon? I can't think properly until after lunch."

"That's why they are called morning announcements! They are in the morning!" Sakura exclaimed before turning to Sasuke. "And what's your excuse?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I sleep through them," he proclaimed unabashedly. "Besides, if there is anything important you will tell me."

He flashed her a sly smirk.

"Seriously," she remarked dryly. "You're supposed to be learning life skills. This is an important life skill. What happens when I am not around anymore?" Sakura said, half joking but partially serious.

Sasuke's nonchalant demeanor quickly changed as he looked at her seriously. "That won't ever happen," he said with so much authority Sakura was slightly taken aback.

After enduring a long, hard stare from Sasuke, Sakura finally managed to look away as she shook her head. "...Anyways…" she began, still slightly phased from Sasuke's lack of humor in her joke. "The dance is set for the end of term. It's a big deal because only upperclassmen are invited, which is us this year now that we are juniors. The lower class can only come if they come as a guest...which is why you two have probably noticed most of your new fangirls are all younger."

As if on cue, another flock of girls, obviously all freshman girls now with the notable information, passed by. One girl in particular with long brown hair boldly met Sasuke's eyes and held his gaze as they passed by. She gave him a practiced shy smile as her eyes lingered on him until her group of followers giggled on past him. He looked down at Sakura who was watching the group of girls with a slight frown on her face.

"Tch," he scoffed, causing the perturbed looking pinkette to look up at him. "It sounds stupid." He had meant to try and erase the frown on her face but his words only seemed to cause it to deepen.

"So you aren't going to go?"

He let out an arrogant sounding snort. "Of course not. It sounds annoying."

"Yeah Sasuke's right," Naruto chimed in. "Trust me Sakura, these things aren't fun," he said, putting a consoling arm around her shoulder. "You're lucky your parents are normal, every year my dad hosts this big fancy gala for all the big time officials for some charity during the new year and it is a snooze fest, right Sasuke."

He turned to Sasuke who gave a noncommittal shrug of agreement. "More like annoying," he commented as he folded his arms across his chest. "I hate wearing tuxes."

"Isn't everything annoying to you?" Sakura challenged exasperatedly.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay fine, I agree with Nartuo it's boring," he said.

She turned back to Naruto who was nodding vigorously. "See," he emphasized. "They have all these fancy drinks that come in these hard to hold glasses that no one is aloud to drink except the adults, and all the food is hard to pronounce and smells like feet. And they never get a DJ. Instead they have a live band, which is not as exciting as it sounds, because it's just scratchy instruments with no vocals or bass and they only play stuffy posh music that you can only old fashion dance to and can't drop the bass一"

"Naruto," Sakura interrupted. "I don't think this is going to be like one of your dad's fancy galas. There will only be a few adult chaperons so I am pretty sure any beverages they have you can drink and I know for a fact they have a DJ. Some girls were talking about it and the school booked DJ Killer B for the dance."

Nartuto's eyes went wide at that. "REALLY!" he exclaimed, his voice dangerously pitched in his excitement.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, so maybe it wouldn't be all that bad?" she said with a hesitant shrug, glancing at Sasuke.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed, when Naruto looked at him as well. "Still sounds lame. Isn't it formal? That means you have to wear a stupid tux."

"Oh," Naruto said, his excitement about his favorite DJ deflating. "Ugg, I hate wearing a tux, they're so stiff and uncomfortable, not to mention the bow tie is impossible to tie."

"Naruto, what are you talking about, you wear clip on," Sasuke pointed out dryly.

"But their complicated clips," Naruto argued pointedly. "And they are still hard to get straight!"

As Sasuke and Naruto began to bicker back and forth Sakura lightly spoke up, cutting them off. "I don't know, it could be fun if you went with the right people," Sakura suggested, her eyes darting to Sasuke before quickly looking away to Naruto.

Naruto seemed to think hard and long about it. "I don't know," Naruto finally shrugged. "The tux is kind of a deal breaker."

She looked to Sasuke who did not even bother answering verbally. Instead he gave her a scrutinized look which caused Sakura to seemingly wilt, her face taking on an almost disappointed look.

"...no, mom, I did not spend everything on video games," Naruto said into the phone while guiltily looking down at the shinobi gaming bag. "Yes, I will make sure I find a sweater for the party…" He tossed his empty slushy cup into the garbage as he passed a trash can. "...No mother, I would never spoil my appetite before supper," he defended while simultaneously taking a bite of the sweet dango he was holding.

As soon as his mother was satisfied he was doing the tasks in which he was instructed to do at the shopping center, Naruto pressed the red icon that ended the call and immediately swiped the screen clear as his thumbs searched out the most recent game he had become addicted to. Navigating on autopilot, he made his way towards his favorite gaming store to return, hopefully only one of the games, so he could buy the sweater he had been tasked to acquire. If not, he could always go with the whole, they didn't have one in the specified color, when he returned home to his mother. It could possibly save him from the wrath of the red demon if not, ANBU special ops III would be worth facing his mothers infamous temper.

As he made his way down the line of stores in the mall, Naruto was only half way aware of what was going on around him. With his eyes focused on the screen and his thumbs tapping wildly to destroy the herd of zombies attacking his dragon forest, he failed to take caution of someone exiting a store with a large window display of high end dresses. He was in the middle of frantically collecting all the germs that spilled from the super zombie boss, when all of a sudden he found himself crashing into someone. He lost his grip on his phone as it tumbled to the ground and his arms wildly reached out to grab onto the body he had nearly ran over to keep them from tumbling onto the ground as well.

A high squeak escaped the unfortunate person, and Naruto tightly grasped the girl and pulled her towards him. "I gotcha!" he said loudly, steadying the girl in front of him as he placed his hands on each of her shoulders.

Finally, once she was steady, she looked up. Pale lilac eyes, framed by dark black hair that almost had a midnight blue tone, looked up at him.

"Oh hey Hinata!"

"N-naruto," she squeaked, her face instantly flushing red as he leaned in closer to her.

"Hey are you okay?" Naruto asked in concern, coming even closer to her face and making her turn even redder. "Did I hit you that hard? I am really sorry."

"I-I'm f-fine," she managed to say.

Naruto looked around and found a bench close to them.

"Here come sit down, you don't look too good, like you're about to faint," he said, steering her out of the chaos of the rest of the shoppers to where the lone bench was.

Once he had her sitting down, he quickly ran back to grab his dropped phone and her dropped shopping bags. As he trotted back to a slightly calmed Hinata, he could not help but peak into her shopping bags. A shoe box was inside one bag while another held a carefully wrapped item but through the white tissue paper he could make out the sparkle of rhinestones and a lavender fabric.

He sat down next to her and passed the bags back over to her. "What is with the fancy clothes? Are you going to a party or something?"

Hinata accepted her bags as another blush rose in her high cheeks. "I-its for the d-dance," she explained.

For a moment Naruto blanked but then he remembered, "Oh yeah, that's next weekend isn't," he exclaimed in disbelief of how fast the school year was going by.

It seemed just like yesterday that Sakura had told him and Sasuke about it. But here they were a month later. He had almost completely forgotten about it since it hadn't been brought up since. Not that it mattered since none of them were planning on going.

Hinata nodded. "Y-yes. Are y-you going?" she asked shyly. "I heard a lot of g-girls were wanting to go with y-you."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, Sasuke and I were going to try out the new Ninja's Unknown: Battleground game that is coming out that day."

"O-oh," she responded.

"Who are you going with? It seems everyone got a date to go, not like in middle school when we just went in groups."

She looked down at her lap. "I-I didn't get asked," she said, looking slightly crestfallen.

Naruto gaped at her."Wha-what!" he said in disbelief. "How could no one want to take you!?"

"I-its okay," she said, her face tinting at Naruto's almost offended tone that no one was taking her. "I will just go with N-neji and Tenten since they are t-together."

Naruto scrunched his nose. "Like a third wheel?"

Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "My father is insisting I go s-since it is being hosted at H-hyuga hotel," Hinata explained.

Naruto frowned. While he certainly enjoyed his high society life, he counted himself as lucky amongst his so-called elites. While others may covet their lives, there was a lot asked of them in return. Everything was about the family image therefore everything was practically decided for them, the schools they went to, to clothes they wore, the profession they chose, sometimes even who they married was decided by the elders of the more traditional family clans. While some clans, such as Naruto's had become more relaxed and free, there were still others like the Hyaga family that were very strict and controlling. Even Sasuke often found this happening as the Uchiha's were very much about the rigorous theme of 'what's best for the clan'.

"Well that doesn't sound very fun," Naruto commented, noting how Hinata and folded into herself.

They had been in the same social friends group since she started attending private school instead of being homeschooled back in middle school. But if he was honest, he never really noticed her. She was always so nice to everyone. He knew Sakura often had her over at her house because she was one of the few people Sakura was comfortable with having her come to her family's small town house. And Hinata was always so good to make Sakura feel as though her home was ten times better than the Hyuga mansion. Most likely because that was just it. Hinata didn't really have a home, where love and compassion was warmly given.

And as he looked at her, he realized she was rather pretty too. To which he found it difficult to believe that no one asked her. Then he remembered who her cousin was and he could believe it. Neji, while oftentimes a stuck up prick, was highly protective of his cousin. He was almost as bad as her dad, though he had gotten slightly better since dating Tenten. But despite this, most boys who were aware of Neji, knew to not mess with his cousin. Which was probably the reason why she didn't have a date because seriously...as Naruto's mind proclaimed, she really was pretty.

As Naruto's inner monologue went on, he was struck with a sudden idea. "Hey," he said brightly, causing Hinata to look up at him by his sudden energy. "What if we go together?"

There was a long pause as Hinata stared at him and he was suddenly worried she was going to pass out.

"Hinata?"

"R-really?" she finally managed to stutter, her face turning red but her eyes looking as if she had been hit with a wishing star.

"Yeah!" Naruto said enthusiastically, suddenly finding himself more excited than he thought.

"O-okay!" Hinata brightly agreed, a warm smile of joyous celebration blooming across her face.

Naruto grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "This is gonna be so much fun! Dattebayo!"

It was a drizzly Sunday afternoon as Sasuke glanced across the kitchen table to where Sakura was sitting studiously as she worked on their group project. Either Mr. Hatake thought his students incompetent to finish their work alone or he just really liked teamwork; because Sasuke was confident this was their hundredth group project since they were assigned him for home room. Not that Sasuke was complaining as he always got assigned with Sakura, the perfect partner. On occasion they were given larger groups, such as now, but Naruto was either running late or had completely forgotten.

There was an alert of a cell phone and Sakura dropped her pencil to quickly grab her phone. Sasuke watched as she swiped her finger across to read the message. She let out a faint sound of amusement and she quickly typed out a response, biting at her lip as she set her phone down and eagerly glanced back at it, as if waiting for another alert.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Who was she texting? Ino? Tenten? Hinata? But she didn't exactly exhibit the usual reaction one would when texting a friend. If he didn't know any better he would think it was the reaction one would have when texting their crush. He knew it wasn't Naruto explaining where he was, but for some reason, after witnessing that reaction, he was hoping it was.

"Was that Naruto?" Sasuke asked casually. "Did he say why he is late or did he forget?

Sakura looked up mid check to see if she had missed an alert from her phone. As soon as she met Sasuke's suspicious gaze, a pink tint seemed to surface across her face. "Oh um, I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as she quickly bowed her head and began to seem far too enthralled with her textbook, even for Sakura. "Then who texted you?"

"Just someone from school," she hedged, not looking up at him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more. It was not like Sakura to be secretive. "What did they want?"

Sakura raised her head to give him a look. "What's with the interrogation?" she replied defensively.

Sasuke sniffed and leaned forward to cradle his own textbook sitting on the table. "Just curious," he brushed off casually, grabbing his pencil as he started to flip though his text book, doing his best to not be too concerned.

A loud slam of the side door, followed by the abrupt and wild entry of Naruto fumbling into the kitchen with his backpack saved them from an awkward silence.

"Sorry guys," Naruto quickly said. "My mom made me go get a sweater for our family pictures and then I ran into Hinata and we ended up going to get Ramen and I totally lost track ofー"

"Nobody cares, Naruto," Sasuke said in a terse tone. "Did you do the research?"

"What's up your butt?" Naruto asked walking around the table to sit next to Sakura as he riffled through his backpack, producing several crumpled pieces of paper he had printed off line and what looked to even be a ripped out page from an actual book. "Here," he said, shoving the pieces of paper into the middle of the table.

Sasuke sneered at the pages as Sakura let out a tired sigh and began to look through the mess of papers, smoothing them out and unfolding them.

"Oh yeah, and Sasuke, I am taking Hinata to the dance next weekend so we are going to have to play the new Ninja's Unknown: Battleground II a different day," Naruto quickly added, causing both Sasuke and Sakura to look at him.

"What!" They exclaimed together, each with a different tone. Sakura with excitement, Sasuke with annoyance.

They both looked at each other for a moment before looking back to Naruto.

"That's awesome!" "What the hell!" They responded in unison, again they looked at each other with questioning glances, then Sasuke shot Naruto a dark look.

"You can't just bail on me, we made plans," Sasuke demanded. "And besides, I thought you said you didn't want to go?"

"Sorry," Naruto shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal and after talking with Hinata it actually sounds really fun. We are going to go with Neji and Tenten and I am going to see if my dad will let us use the fancy limo he uses for special events. And Sakura was right! Killer Bee is the DJ so you know the music will be good. I really think it's gonna be fun!"

"And it will be," Sakura quickly said, shooting Sasuke a look. She looked back to Naruto. "So what color of dress is Hinata wearing? Make sure you get her a flower to maー"

"So you are just going to ditch me?" Sasuke interrupted, causing Sakura and Naruto to look back at him.

"Sasuke," Sakura reprimanded. "It's just a game. You can play later or evenー"

"That's not the point," Sasuke snapped. "We made plans to hang out."

Both Sakura and Naruto gave him an odd look, both confused by his outlash. It wasn't exactly like Sasuke to care so much about keeping commitments with Naruto. Sakura yes, but with Naruto there was always an exception in which Sasuke was allowed to cancel without question. That exception was Sakura. Sakura was perhaps unaware of this detail, but Naruto was not. He always understood that no matter how close he and Sasuke were, there was a certain dedication that Sasuke would always have to Sakura that took precedence over Naruto himself.

"Well maybe you could come along instead?" Naruto suggested.

"Tch. And be a third or fifth wheel?" Sasuke said with a scoff. "No thanks."

Naruto looked at Sakura. "Sakura, you're a girl!"

Sakura's excited face slightly fell at that, and she gave Naruto a sour look. "Gee, I never noticed," she said dryly.

"No, no," he said, waving his hands as he eyed her now clenched fists. He pointed to Sasuke. "What I mean is you can go with Sasuke as his date!"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke who was suddenly sitting upright in his chair.

"Yeah, that would be so fun!" Naruto went on. "Then we all can go! Didn't you say you wanted to go anyways?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to concede to the proposal, the idea of attending the dance suddenly sounding quite pleasant. But Sakura's sudden and abrupt answer came faster.

"No," Sakura suddenly said abruptly, causing both Sasuke and Naruto to look at her.

"NO?" Naruto questioned. "As in no you don't want to go to the dance? Or no you don't want to go with Sasuke? You know you don't have to call it a date, you can just go as friends?"

"I mean no to going with Sasuke at all," Sakura supplied, her tone sounding frustrated.

"Why not?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke who had queried the question, his face looking oddly stiff and concentrated as if trying to hide other emotions. "Because I am already going with someone else," she said plainly, looking down at her notes and making a show of adding a thought to her paper.

"WHAT!?" Naruto bellowed. "But everyone knows your off limits becauseー"

Sasuke cut Naruto off with a look that promised a very painful death. He then looked sharply at Sakura, distracting her from looking at Naruto with an inquisitive confusion.

"Who?" he demanded.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but Naruto jumped in before she could say anything. "Is it Lee? I thought he was going with that new weird girl, Fū"

"It's not Lee," Sakura responded. "And Fū isn't weird, she's just overly friendly."

"Then who?" Sasuke pressed again, his tone a dark one that he had never used with Sakura before.

"Well if you must know, his name is Sasori," Sakura stated.

"Saso-what?" Naruto failed to repeat.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sasori Akasuna, he is from the class above ours so you probably don't know him."

"So you're just going with a stranger?" Sasuke questioned, his tone now condescending.

"He isn't a stranger to me," Sakura argued.

"Then how do you know him and we don't," Sasuke accused.

"We have art together," Sakura snapped back. "You know...the one class you guys wouldn't sign up for with me?"

"And you are just going to go with him because he asked?" Sakura furrowed her brow at Sasuke, confused by his bitter tone.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, perplexed as to how Sasuke was failing to understand this. "I wanted to go and I didn't want to go alone. He asked me and I accepted. Why is that so complicated to grasp?"

"If you wanted to go so badly you could have just told me," Sasuke snapped. "I would have taken you!"

Sakura stared at him from across the table, utter disbelief painted across her face. When she recovered, she took in a deep breath. "You said you didn't want to go," Sakura strained to calmly reply. "Both of you said it was stupid and lame."

Sasuke slammed his hands on the wooden table, "Well I would have made an exception for you!"

Sakura's eyes grew wide at his outburst, and no longer able to control her own tone, shouted back, "Why? So you could grumble about how annoying everything was and sulk in the corner the whole time!" Sasuke glared at her and Sakura let out a frustrated scream as she grabbed her bag and scooped everything off the table and into it. "I thought that we came here to work on our paper, not discuss how unbelievable it is that someone would actually want to ask me on a date!" Sakura said, standing abruptly and making for the front hall as she zipped up her backpack.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, his tone hinting that she was being ridiculous.

"Just email me your parts when you finish and I will put the stupid paper together," she remarked, before swinging the front door open and dashing outside into the rain.

Sasuke stared at the empty entryway for one long moment before he ran after her, grabbing the umbrella she had left behind as he chased after her. Running out of his driveway, he crossed through the park in which they had met a decade ago, then took a short cut down an alley to cut her off. He emerged from the alley, his head turning up and down the street until he caught sight of her, her pink hair darker than usual, dimmed by the dampness of the rain.

"Sakura!" he shouted. She did not even turn her head, only grabbing her bag tighter as her pace increased. Sasuke let out a curse and began to sprint down the street, grabbing onto her when he caught up. "Sakura, what the hell is your problem?" he questioned, pulling her into the coverage of the umbrella. "You're going to get yourself sick!"

"Well I bet you would just love that wouldn't you! Then I wouldn't be able to go to the dance" she snapped, turning away from him to keep walking.

Sasuke stared at her back with a perplexed expression before jolting forward to step in front of her and block her way.

"Move, Sasuke!" she demanded.

"Not until you tell me what your problem is?"

"MY PROBLEM!?" she questioned. "What about yours?"

"..."

Sakura let out an exasperated noise. "The next time you want to take me to something, you should just ask and not wait till the last minute! You can't just expect me to wait around! As a friend I thought you would support me on this!"

"Fine!" Sasuke growled out with resentment to her use of the word friend. "I didn't want to go to the stupid dance anyways!" He shoved the umbrella into her hand and turned around into the now pouring rain. "Have fun on your date!" he yelled over his shoulder, stomping away as the heavy downpour soaked through his clothes and weighted down his hair.

"I will!" he heard her shout back, her voice breaking at the end but he refused to turn back around. Not daring to see her cry and knowing he had caused it.

As he stomped through puddles and cut under rain gutters, the anger and frustration he had aimed at her quickly turned around, and by the time he was home he was only angry and frustrated with himself. He had been warned this would happen and it only made him more angry at the fact that Shisui had been right. He had meant to tell Sakura of his changing feelings, he really had. But as it turns out, finding the right time to tell someone you like them is a bit harder than he thought.

He had thought he was safe enough. He had thought their situation was like Hinata with Neji watching over her, most boys were too afraid to even look at Sakura for fear of what Sasuke would do. He had seen to it early in the school year to at least make it clear to everyone in his grade that she was off limits. It was perhaps a bit arrogant and misogynistic of him, like a dog peeing on something to mark its territory, but Sasuke hadn't cared, he knew he was selfish. And up until now, things had gone well. There was just one problem in his plan...he had forgotten about the senior students above him. He was king of the grade but not king of the school.

"...grey skies followed by rainfall will continueー"

Click. The weather man on the screen was replaced by a man and woman dressed in historical clothing as they embraced each other in a passionate hold.

"...I shall love you until the end ofー"

Click. The couple making their romantic vows were replaced with a colorful screen of anime characters as the somber music of the previous show was replaced by the loud upbeat theme song.

"...we are fighting, dreamers takami wo mezaー"

Click...click...click

Sasuke moved through the channels as he blankly stared at the television. After a moment he switched to Netflix and began to scroll through the endless mass of shows, not a single one looking distracting enough from his foul mood.

The week had been horrible and endless, and now that it was finally the weekend, he was ready for it to be over and done with. The weather had been overcast and rainy all week as if to match his gloomy and sour mood.

He was sprawled out on the couch with chip bags and soda cans to keep him company. It was the night of the dance, his parents were gone and Itachi was off at school, leaving him to brood alone without anyone to try to change his dark mood. And he was determined to keep it that way as he distracted himself from thinking about how Sakura would have been picked up by now and was probably currently at the dance wrapped in Sasori's arms as she too clung to him. It was an image in which he was struggling to contain the spiteful anger each time it entered his mind.

In all their years of knowing each other, they had never fought like this before. Sure everyone has their arguments and disagreements, Sasuke could admit that he was not exactly the easiest person to get along with. But they had never yelled and shouted at each other like that. And they for sure had never had an unresolved issue last this long. But currently Sakura had said all of five sentences to him all week and it was taking its toll on him.

Usually Sakura was quick to forgive, oftentimes acting as if nothing had ever happened the next time they saw each other as they seemed to come to a mutual apology and forgiveness. But this time things were different. Sakura wouldn't even give him a chance to apologize. Anytime he so much as turned to talk to her she was either walking away or striking up a conversation with someone else. Mostly she had just been avoiding him altogether.

Sasuke heard his phone buzz on the couch next to him but ignored it, switching from Netflix to the new PS5 he had managed to acquire amongst the first batch. As his game loaded, the phone went off again and he looked at the screen to see Itachi's name lighting up on the display. He rolled his eyes and hit the decline button before focusing back on selecting a play mode. Two seconds later it was going off again.

Sasuke let out a growl, abandoning his game as he jabbed his finger to accept the call and immediately put it to speaker phone. "What do you want?" Sasuke said in an undeservingly bitter tone, grabbing his controller back up as he set the phone in his lap and leaned back into the couch.

"Where are you?" His brothers unusually strained tone demanded.

Sasuke paused and looked down at his phone, slightly taken aback by Itachi's tone. "At home," he replied.

"Is tonight not the big dance the high school puts on?"

"It is."

Itachi was quiet on his end for a long time and Sasuke could only hear what was most likely a wild college party going in the background. While it seemed an odd environment for Itachi, it was his roommate Kisame who was more than likely throwing it.

"Are you not taking Sakura?" Itachi finally questioned. "You should have picked her up by now. It is not good manners toー"

"I am not going to the dance at all," Sasuke gritted out, before adding, "Sakura didn't want to go with me," he exaggerated bitterly.

"Why not? Who is she going with instead?"

"Some senior at school," Sasuke answered, wondering why Itachi always had to be so nosey. Why was it such a big deal who she went with. It was just a stupid dance. It didn't mean anything...right?

"Sasori Akasuna?" Itachi's voice warily asked after a pregnant pause on his end of the line.

Sasuke's fingers slipped, causing his avatar to fall off the ledge and respawn at the beginning. However the misstep went practically unnoticed as he grabbed his phone, taking it off speaker as he brought it to his ear.

"You know him?"

Itachi was unnaturally quiet, even for an Uchiha.

"Itachi," Sasuke said, his voice taking on a tone of worry. "Why do you ask?"

Earlier that week Sasuke had taken it upon himself to search out this so-called senior who had dared to ask Sakura. He had hoped for someone like Lee. Harmlessly bold and oblivious to what was and was not out of his league. Unfortunately Sasori was nothing like Lee. From what he learned from others, he was smart, attractive, and talented in art which of course had all the girls falling for him. The only flaw others saw was that he was a bit on the short side, but it seemed that did not bother most of his admirers. However, from what Sasuke concluded from his observations in the school hallways and his obsessive stalking of his Bingobook profile on social media, the guy was a self obsessed ass hole. Then again his opinion was possibly a bit biased.

'Does he have red hair?' Itachi asked.

Sasuke sat up straight. "Itachi, tell me what is going on," Sasuke demanded, gripping his phone tightly in his hand. "Why are you calling me about this?"

'I am pretty sure he is here in Kirigakure,' Itachi stated solemnly. 'Kisame had some friends come over and one of them brought him a long. I vaguely remember him from my last year in high school and when he was still a freshman. He treated girls like they were puppets, stringing them along, trying to get them to do his bidding. But once he grew tired of them or realized they would not do what he wanted, he would just discard them. I went out to grab something to drink when I heard him talking about some poor girl he had ditched to come to the party instead. I had hoped I had been mistaken by his vulgar description of her and was hoping that I was mistaken. He said she was too naive and was laughing about how she actually thought he was going to go with her. I was hoping it was wrong and it wasn't Sakura, not that I would wish this upon any girl. But I am worried that she might not be aware of his natureー'

Sasuke hung up on his brother as he stood from the couch, his mind whirling as he tried to think over the loud ringing in his ears. All the while his entire body shook with rage. He had half a mind to go to Kirigakure and pummel the heartless redhead but the blood thirsty images were soon washed from his mind as another thought entered his mind.

Sakura.

Sakura brushed what she hoped was the last tear from her face as she sat at the small armoire in her room. Then she looked up and took in her reflection.

The emerald dress that Ino had let her borrow was truly beautiful and like her blonde friend said, would look perfect on her. Even the freshly wounded state of Sakura's self esteem at this moment could not even deny such a statement. And the braided crown of her rosette hair that wrapped around her head before being delicately twisted into a sophisticated knot on the other side at the nap of her neck went perfectly. Her mother had woven it so intricately and delicately that it went perfectly with the neckline and thin straps, showing off the crisscrossed back of the dress. She had even fastned the most beautiful gold branch hair clip next to the knot that added a finished tone to the look. And finally, after years of being under the tutelage of Ino, the next upcoming makeup tutorial sensation, Sakura had managed to make her makeup look flawless for the night.

That is...until an hour passed and the tears had begun to build up.

As she stared back at her red rimmed eyes Sakura grabbed some tissues and started to dab at the running mascara and eyeliner. After reapplying a few strokes to her bottom lashes, Sakura picked up the pen to touch up her eye liner. Her hand lifted up halfway to her eye before suddenly dropping the pen back onto the small table as she slumped in her chair.

Who was she kidding. Despite the numerous times she had told herself he was just running late, and the amount of texts she had sent to friends that she would be there, after an hour had passed with no word from Sasori, Sakura knew better. He wasn't coming. She had been foolish to think he actually liked her. When she first met him he had given her the impression of being a player, but she had seemed to forget that when he started showing her attention.

Taking in a deep breath as she fought off another wave of tears of embarrassment and shame as Sakura reached up to pull the hair piece from her hair. Her fingers had just moved to begin pulling the numerous hair pins that fastened her hair into place. Just as she was about to slide the first one out, she heard a knock at the door.

She froze, looking up with wide eyes she stared at herself in the mirror, her face one of shock and disbelief. He was here! She jolted up and quickly moved from her room to scurry down the stairs as best she could in the dress. Her hand was just reaching out to the door when she suddenly came to a stop.

Why was she acting excited? He was nearly an hour and a half late and he hadn't so much as even bothered to text her to inform her of a delay. In fact she had not heard from him in two days, having every text she had sent him this past weekend left on read each time she asked to confirm a small detail or even tried to just strike up a small conversation like they had just a week ago. And now, after the way he had disrespected her, she was skipping down the stairs to happily greet him? As if all was forgiven? If she let him get away with this, how many other girls would be treated poorly because she just went along with it.

She retracted her hand as it balled into a fist. Her first instinct was to wrench open the door and scream at him. But at the same time, she didn't want to give that arrogant jerk the idea that she had sat around waiting on him, either.

No, she was going to go back upstairs. He could wait all night on her doorstep for all she cared. And let him think she went on to the dance without him. Give him a taste of his own medicine. She turned around, meaning to discreetly go back upstairs but then the insistent and demanding knocking began. On second thought, she didn't care if he knew she was still here, he deserved an ass kicking. He needed to learn that actions have consequences. She had a duty to her fellow girls who had most likely also been duped by the spineless insect that Sasori was.

Whirling back around to the door, she grabbed the handle and wrenched it open, her eyes bright with fury as her fist naturally drew back. However the moment the door was open wide enough to expose said person, she froze.

Sakura blinked, then blinked again as she stared at not Sasori, but at Sasuke. He was standing on her front step, his dark eyes wide, and face startled from her more than graceless and wild greeting of the door.

Quickly she dropped her fist, her face turning to confusion as his dark eyes slowly moved down her body then back up, suddenly making her feel foolishly self conscious and bowed her head as her shoulders crumpled. Of course Sasuke would show up to gloat. How he knew she had been stood up was beyond her. But yet, it did not surprise her. Her head fell forward as she prepared herself for the I told you so speech.

"You look beautiful!"

Sakura's head snapped up so quickly she was certain she gave herself whiplash.

She stared at him, unsure if she had heard him right but his face was nothing of mockery, only sincerity, with a tinge of pink in his high cheekbones. "Uh...th-thank you," she said, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. He continued to, for lack of a better word, gap at her. "But um...Sasuke, what are youー"

He seemed to wake out of a trance and clear his throat, cutting her off. "Sorry I am late, I had a bit of trouble getting my tux on," he said tugging at the suit, which for the first time Sakura realized he was even dressed in.

It seemed a bit short in the arms but looser in the chest as if made for someone slightly shorter with a bit more muscle. The only explanation was that the tux was not his, as any member of his family having an ill fitting suit seemed odd. She had seen him in workout clothes that looked more tailored for a perfect fit on him.

"Sasuke, what are youー"

"I know I should have called," he interrupted again. "And I apologize for my tardiness...I promise I will make it up to you tonight, if you would let me."

He gave her an expectant look and Sakura felt her throat tighten. He wasn't here to gloat, he was here to take her to the dance. Somehow, someway, despite their argument and his disinterest in going, as well as her dismissal of him, he was her to take her anyways.

"S-sasuke," she began, her voice slightly straining. "I'm so sorry, you were right, I never should haveー"

"Are you ready?" he interrupted, yet again. "Because if we leave now, we should still be able to enjoy it for a couple hours."

Sakura looked at him, noting in the rigid way in which he stood, obviously discomforted. Then she noted his eyes. She could see a vengeful storm brewing behind the obsidian glass that made up his irises. Most would most likely not notice, but she had spent years and years looking into those eyes and learning to interpret the seemingly unreadable blackness. She had seen that look before, back in middle school when she was bullied.

"Sasuke, you don't have to do this. Really I am fineー"

"Sakura," he turned to the side and lifted his arm out in invitation. "Come on," he said, a small tenderness and softness forming at the corner of his eyes.

At first she was annoyed by his constant interrupting, but then it hit her. He was ignoring the fact that she had been stood up, ignoring the fact that for the past week she had utterly ignored him, and was ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of the biggest fight they had ever had. He was acting as if they were always going to go together, as if in this moment, Sasori was an insignificant name. He had not come here to mock her or throw it in her face like she had thought, he was here to save her. He was here to be there for her and let her save face.

He was like a prince in shining armor, coming to sweep her off her feet and take her to the ball. Although he did not exactly strike her as the typical image of perfect locks and dashing smiles that the movies always portrayed. He was more like a ninja, sneaking in and intercepting her from the biggest humiliation since seventh grade, ever the dark samurai to her rescue.

Trying to hold back the grateful tears that were building, Sakura took his arm, giving it a warm squeeze as he escorted her down the stairs and to the street. As they exited the gate, Sakura came to an abrupt stop as she took in the large police SUV parked outside with tinted windows. She gave him an inquisitive look but before he could explain, the sound of the power window rolling down had her looking back to the police car to see a grinning Shisui at the driver's seat.

"You're chariot awaits my lady!" he said with a dramatic flare, causing Sakura to burst out into a half cry half laugh as Sasuke opened the door to the back seat and grumble something that sounded oddly like 'should have called Madara instead'.

A few hours later, they were walking up the broken and cracked stone path that led up to her old house. Sasuke could see a light on upstairs, most likely indicating that one or both of her parents were finally home. It gave him a small feeling of relief that he would not be leaving to enter an empty house. She reached the steps that led up to the front door and began her ascent. Sasuke followed after her, not sure exactly why, but he came to a stop on the last step when she turned around.

Her bottom lip was pulled into her mouth as she nervously bit at it. When she released it, it was slightly swollen and red, drawing in Sasuke's attention. After a night of standing in a crowded and noisy ball room, in this moment, all Sasuke could remember of the past couple hours was the feel of her arms wrapped around his neck as they stood with only a breath between them. Even now his fingers tingled with the memory of his hands curving around her hips and lower back as they had swayed to the handful of slow dances the DJ had played.

"Well…" she began, breaking him away from his thoughts as her fingers grasped at each other. She slowly lifted her head to look him in the eye. Even with the advantage of being on a step above him, he was just slightly taller than her. "Thank you...again, Sasuke. While tonight did not go exactly as envisioned..."

Sasuke rubbed at the back of his neck as a small frown pulled at his lips. "Sorry…" he apologized in a mumble, causing Sakura to quickly start shaking her head.

"No! No! Don't apologize," she protested. "What I meant to say is yes, it didn't go as I envisioned but it was surprisingly better." She looked down at her feet as her shoulders sagged. "You were right, I never should have agreed to go with him. His reputation as a player isn't exactly unknown. It should have been you from the very beginning." She paused as she picked at her nail polish for a moment before continuing. "And I shouldn't have gotten mad at you and chosen a boy over our friendship. Forgive me?" she asked hopefully, peering up at him.

There was a time when he valued that word. Friend, friendship...so long as it was attached to one of his precious people. But in the recent months he had found that word slowly grating on his mind each time it was used by a certain one of his precious people. A certain someone who was currently standing before him. Because it was too basic, too wrong of a description for the way he felt about her. Friends did not want to reach out and tuck the piece of hair behind their friend's ear that had come loose just because they wanted an excuse to touch them again, even after an entire night of being pressed close together while they danced. Friends did not want to reach out and uncurl their friends nervous fingers and entwine them with their own. Friends did not want to lean forward and press their lips to the friend's standing in front of them.

And then he was hit with an idea, with a thought. If he said something, that could all change. If he just told her how he felt they could become closer, they could become more than just friends...

Taking a step up to her level on the stairs, he settled in front of her, consciously aware of her turning to him and watching him closely. He focused on the wrist corsage that was looped around her left wrist, something Shisui had managed to put together at the last minute as Sasuke struggled to put on the ill fitting tuxedo he had lent him. Unconsciously he reached out and brushed the pale petals of the lavender rose, again surprised by his cousin's skills as a florist. After a moment of studying the rose and gathering his courage, he lifted his head and opened his mouth.

"Sakura, I一"

The rest of the words became lodged in his throat the moment he met her wide green eyes. They were just so expectant, so open, so...lovely. And his earlier thought finished in his mind. If he just told her how he felt they could become closer, they could become more than just friends...but they could also grow apart. What if she did not feel the same way? What would he feel like after the rejection? But if she knew how he truly felt, what he really wanted, would she even want to be his friend anymore? Could they even be friends? If things remained as they were now...at least this way he could be near her. But if she did...his mind prodded again.

"Yes?" she prodded, her eyes looking eager and hopeful.

Sasuke opened his mouth but suddenly he was reminded of the excitement she had expressed about someone else liking her when she told him of her original date. And soon doubt and apprehension replaced his earlier conviction and courage. Of course she didn't like him, she liked Sasori...undeserving, pompous ass Sasori. Who had just broken her delicate and beautiful heart.

While she seemed to be unaffected tonight at the dance, he knew Sakura. Sakura was the master at putting on a brave face. But in reality, she was still wounded and hurting quietly from the rejection. While Sakura was stronger than she once was, no matter how strong a person was, being rejected by a love interest stung, it was part of being human, part of having emotions and attachments. Something Sakura was much better at doing than himself. It was an ability that while many looked down on, he secretly envied the way she could be so compassionate to others.

And again Sasuke was hit with a realization. Sakura didn't need a love confession right now, she needed a friend while her heart mended from the poison that was Sasori to be healthy enough to be given to another again. Someday, he promised himself, someday he would tell her. And he hoped she would trust him enough to offer up that warmth of hers to him. But right now he could not be selfish, it was not the right time.

"Sasuke, were you going to say something?"

He looked up at her, and suddenly he knew what to do. His hand moved up towards her face where it paused right before her eyes. She went slightly cross eyed, giving him an adorable look of confusion before he extended two fingers and jabbed them into the center of her forehead.

"Hn," he hummed. "Sorry Sakura, next time."

She flinched slightly and her hand automatically went up to rub at the spot as he withdrew his own. And with that, he gave her a smirk and left a speechless Sakura gaping at him, confused as he walked back to the Shisui's patrol car without another word.

Sasuke shut the door of the back seat and glanced back to see her dazedly walking into her door as she rubbed at the center of her forehead. He smiled to himself, pleasantly happy about the night. It was like Sakura said, it did not go the way it was originally planned...it was a lot better.

"So did you kiss her?"

Sasuke's dark eyes moved away from the window and narrowed towards the driver's seat where Shisui was grinning back at him.

"You chickened out, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Shisui," Sasuke barked, kicking out at the seat in front of him.

"Oi watch it! I can have you arrested for destruction of a police vehicle!"

Sasuke only answered with a dark glare that dared his cousin to even try it. Immune to Sasuke's threats, Shisui moved the car into gear and began to drive off. They had hardly turned off the street before Sasuke's quiet voice sounded over the hum of the engine.

"Thanks, Shisui."

In the driver's seat Shisui smirked to himself. "Sasuke, so long as that girl ends up in this family, I will do anything you ask."

The car fell silent for a moment before Sasuke's voice filled the cab of the car again. "Could we never talk about anything that occurred between us tonight?"

Shisui let out a barked laugh. "Oh my dear naive little Sasusy, I am your cousin, not a saint. I will be holding this over your head for the rest of your life," he said, turning around and giving Sasuke a zealous wink before turning back to focus on the road. "Sakura and Sasusy, sittin' in a tree," he began to sing, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Sasuke let out a groan and leaned forward to bury his head in his lap. Just what kind of demon spawn devil did he make a deal with tonight?

"First comes love, then comes marriage..."

Taking off the suit coat he borrowed from the musical performer currently sitting in the driver seat, Sasuke wrapped it around his head in hopes to drown out his cousin's embarrassing serenade. However, it seemed no amount of sound proofing his ears would ever be able to drown out Shisui's enthusiastic ballad.

Bonus Scene (because it messed with the flow but I still wanted to include more Shisui)

Earlier that night...

Once Sasuke had managed to put aside the planning of Sasori's murder his first instinct was to rush over to Sakura's house and see if she was still there, if not he would go to the hotel. But then he realized one flaw in his planning. First off, he needed a suit. With his seemingly endless growing, he knew that the suit his mother had tailored for him nine months ago for a social gathering would be far too short by now. And unless he wanted to ride the bus wearing a tux and Sakura wearing a dress that was in no way shape or fashion, designed for the metro, he had no way to get to the dance. He wasn't old enough to drive, his parents were at a gala with Naruto's parents, Itachi was hours away in Kirigakure, so by the time he could get here, the dance would be over.

Sasuke stared at his frozen hand on the front door handle, trying to think. He could always call Madara who would send him a car but what was he going to do about a suit? Then it dawned on him, there was one person who could help him...with everything. Sasuke slowly closed his eyes before pulling out his phone. Scrolling through his contacts he finally found that said person's number, saved under the name, do not answer.

He let out a sigh and pressed the call button.

It rang out twice before the person picked up and their voice greeted him with an exuberant amount of glee. "Hey Sasucy," came the infuriatingly condescending voice of his cousin.

Sasuke swallowed down the instinctual retort and urge to automatically hang up whenever he heard that tone. His cousin was the last person on earth he wanted to be saying this to, but he could drive, and had far too many suits for even the highest of people in the fashion world. "Shisui, I need your help."

Shisui was driving through the quiet neighborhoods that made up his route in the standardized patrol car as he missed his usual unmarked and customized car that he used when doing his detective work. However tonight he was covering a normal patrol shift as punishment for causing too much calamity damage with his most recent bust. He caught the suspect so he wasn't exactly sure why he was being punished, but apparently causing five car accidents and jumping his own car into the river to catch a perp with an outstanding warrant for a single unpaid parking ticket was regarded as "excessive".

So here he was, serving a month long probation of night patrol and bored out of his mind. Thus when his phone went off and the lit up screen displayed the name Sasucy Poo across the display, he was more than eager to take the call. Grinning widely, he pulled over and put the car into park as he brought his phone to his ear.

"Hey Sasucy," he said.

"Shisui, I need your help," Sasuke replied after a pause, his voice sounding strained as if saying those words were the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

"No can do little cuz. I am on patrol tonight," Shisui answered, watching out the window as a suspicious looking person with a limp and cloaked face crossed the street. Then again, it could just be an innocent old woman with a scarf on to keep off the cold.

"Shisui...please," he heard Sasuke say, his tone almost pleading.

Shisui froze at Sasuke's words. If he didn't know any better he would think Sasuke was begging...which would mean this was serious. Was someone dying? Did something happen to Itachi? Had Sasuke been kidnapped and was now being held for ransom!

"What is wrong?" Shisui asked, his tone more serious than he had ever used when talking with Sasuke.

"It's Sakura…" Sasuke began, before explaining everything.

Shisui was already turning on the lights and siren and he raced across town before Sasuke had even managed to finish.

Chapter Text

One would think that gallantry, courtesy, and heroic gestures would be more than enough to help a knight-who had recently saved his damsel-to give him enough confidence to easily admit his intentions towards the young lady. But like Cinderella's chariot and entourage, the magic of the knight in shining armor effect quickly tarnished with the ending of the ball's night. Then again, Sasuke was not sure why he thought things would suddenly fall into place so conveniently like a story book tale. It wasn't as if he even had a chariot, or fancy outfit tailored out of air, or even a fairy godmother for that matter. He had a police patrol car, a borrowed ill fitting suit, and a Shisui. None of which were exactly Disney™ magical kingdom inspiring.

So when school came back around after the weekend, Sasuke found himself sitting amongst his peers, dressed in the same old school uniform, at the same old desk, and with the same old cowardly anxiety each time he so much as thought about revealing the strange emotions he felt for the pink haired girl sitting next to him.

Sasuke wasn't exactly sure why he thought things would be different. Everything seemed to be exactly as it was. Except Mr. Hatake. Ever since the dance, every time Sasuke looked at their homeroom teacher, the grey haired educator was peeking out from over his very unscholastic reading material. And every time Sasuke caught his teacher peeking over his way, Mr. Hatake's eyes darted from him to Sakura before disappearing behind his book in a fit of giggles. He was not exactly sure what this new development was, but he was confident it had to do with the fact that Kakashi Hatake was more than aware of his secret. He didn't know how the teacher knew, but he did.

All during the dance he had been acutely aware of the grey haired man practically hovering over them as he chaperoned at the dance. Except instead of wedging a ruler between himself and Sakura to insure they stood a foot apart like the rest of the dance attendees, Kakashi had practically tried to glue them together every time he made his rounds. But Sasuke couldn't be bothered by his teacher's strange behaviors nor the inappropriate investment the older man had with teenage romances.

Sasuke needed to get a grip on his own behaviors and feelings. Because if he didn't, at the rate in which his hormones and feelings were growing exponentially anytime he so much as looked at anything pink, he was certain he would erupt like a volcano and profess an undying love for her in the middle of the school cafeteria as he had seen far too many failed confessions go. And Sasuke was not that. He was calm and collected. But his cool attitude was going under some intense pressure. He was only one too many accidental brushes of the arm away from his desk mate before the heat took over.

He had attempted to have a nonchalant discussion with his brother when Itachi had come home for a weekend, having hoped to gain a few tips on how to confess to a girl. It was a discussion which had been interrupted by an eavesdropping, and all too eager to help, Mikoto. Before Sasuke could so much as gleen a solid idea from the consistent spout of ideas flowing from his mother that involved far too many flowers, aerial messages, and the releasing of a flock of doves, the discussion was intercepted by a nosey and unwelcome Shisui. And of course he was absolutely no help. His only advice was to get down on one knee and propose. A suggestion that his mother unnervingly supported all too eagerly.

After that disastrous council of advice, Sasuke came up with his own plan. He would ask Sakura on a date. Then, when he found a quiet and private moment, he would tell her, making sure he had a quick escape should she reject him.

And thus he found himself, standing before her in an empty hallway near the front of the school during lunch, three long weeks following the dance and the start of the new term. She stood before him, wearing her neatly pressed uniform and her long hair pulled up in a ponytail, secured by a familiar red ribbon that she had for as long as he could remember. She looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak as it was he who had texted her to meet him here so he could talk to her about something he refused to specify via message.

The moment her brightly lit eyes fell on him, his heart leapt. What was he doing? It was the middle of the day at the beginning of the week! If he asked her now it would mean that he would have to sit next to her for the rest of the day! And he just knew it would be awkward regardless of the acceptance of the invitation or not! Kami, what if she rejected him! He still had to sit next to her for the rest of the school year! Maybe he could transfer to some school on the other side of the world.

"Sasuke? Are you feeling alright?" Sakura asked worriedly, breaking him from his panicked frenzy of thoughts. "You look like you're about to have an aneurysm."

Sasuke tried to push his frantic worries aside so he could focus panicked eyes on Sakura. And when he did, he felt like he was about to go into full cardiac arrest with how quickly his heart was beating. Somehow he had failed to notice that she had stepped closer to him in concern and was now tilting her head worriedly up at him. Her eyes caught the sunlight coming in through the window they stood next to, causing the rare anomaly of gold flecks to appear around the edge of her otherwise green irises.

He cleared his throat and shifted a bit to put some space between them. "I'm fine," he said, his hand nervously going up to his spiky hair as he brushed his bangs down, as if to hide the faint blush that he was currently fighting off.

Clearing his throat again, he looked back up at her. A determination in his eyes as he realized that he could not wait for after school or the weekend. He needed to get this done and over with so he had enough time to plan what they would do on their date, as well as insure that no other Sasori's came waltzing into his teenage tortured life.

"Sakura, would you–"

"No way!"

Her words hit him like a cannonball to the gut. Sure he had envisioned getting rejected about a hundred different ways, but not like this. In his nightmares he had always managed to at least finish the question before she fully shot him down.

"...Gaara!"

The sore feeling of rejection was filled by confusion. But then he realized, Sakura was not even looking at him anymore. Instead her eyes were directed to the left of him, looking just past his shoulder. He turned his head and found a boy-who had just exited the headmasters office- paused and looking in their direction. For a moment Sasuke thought it was Sasori, with the mop of bright red hair and short stature, but then he remembered Sasori no longer went to this school.

After an anonymous tip of underage drinking at a college frat party got him arrested, Sasori's parents shipped him off to Suna to live with his grandmother. The elder woman was rumored to be a brash and strict lady who was less than pleased to hear of her grandson's behaviors.

Such knowledge caused Sasuke to look closer at the stranger and realize, while still significantly shorter than Sasuke, he was certainly taller than the shrimp of a man Sasori was.

The boy's darkly rimmed green eyes seemed to narrow for a second before suddenly widening with recognition. "Sakura!?" he exclaimed, immediately moving towards them and to Sasuke's horror, received a far too comfortable and unnecessarily lingering embrace from Sakura.

As the red haired boy wrapped his arms around Sakura, Sasuke noticed the tightness in which his arms and hands pressed into her back. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the offending grasp then flicked his eyes up to look at the other boy, only to find the boy was already looking back at him with his own narrowed expression.

A silent challenge.

Sasuke's upper lip twitched before he grasped Sakura's shoulder and pulled her back, all the while never looking away from the boy that was oblivious to what his sudden appearance had just interrupted. Then again, by the way he seemingly glanced at Sakura longingly as she was pulled from his arms, Sasuke's paranoid and jealous fueled mind could not help but think this was no such coincidence.

"Oh my gosh, sorry, introductions!" Sakura began, completely oblivious to the heated glares being exchanged from over the top of her head. She looked up to Sasuke, slightly confused by the dark look on his face. "Sasuke this is Gaara, my friend from my parents hometown, Gaara this is Sasuke, my friend who I've told you about."

If the presentation of each boy was meant to ease the tension that she was suddenly becoming aware of, it was a failed attempt. The introduction of Sasuke only caused Gaara to frown deeply as he looked back at Sasuke, his black rimmed eyes looking Sasuke up and down, measuring him up.

Gaara's lips moved up into a sneer that some could interpret as a smile. "Pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard all about you," Gaara said slowly, lifting a hand in offering.

Sasuke was tempted to ignore it, but he took advantage with a different approach and opportunity. Raising his own hand, he grasped Gaara's and applied enough pressure to be considered a bone crushing tight grip. "Can't say the same about you. I don't think she's ever even mentioned you," he responded, doing his best to not show any sign of discomfort as Gaara returned the gesture with a similar grasp of strength.

To be honest this statement was a slight lie. Sasuke knew he had heard the name Gaara before, but at this moment he could not place why it sounded so familiar. And it bothered him that he could not place it. He felt like it was attached to something of a very important fact.

Gaara. Gaara. Gaar ー

And then it hit him and he was suddenly transported to a seventh grade birthday party in Ino's basement.

Who was your first kiss, he had asked Sakura.

...a boy from my family's hometown, she had replied. Gaara. His name was Gaara.

Of course, how could he have momentarily forgotten such a moment that had haunted him for years. As the memory flashed across his mind, Sasuke reevaluated the other boy with an all new loathing and contempt. This was Gaara, the Gaara with whom Sakura shared her first kiss.

Sasuke hadn't needed much of a reason to dislike the red haired boy in front of him. He looked too much like Sasori which had earned Sasuke's diproval automatically. He couldn't trust red heads since the dance fiasco. But as Sasuke took in the emo looking kid, Sasuke could not help but loathe entirely everything about him. From his flaming red hair, to his jade eyes that looked at Sakura too fondly, to his high top black Converse that had a kanji symbol decal on the sides. Sasuke didn't care if the word was love, this guy was no good. He wasn't Sakura's friend, he was Sasuke's rival.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura's high voice broke through the ringing sound in Sasuke's ears. Scooching closer to Gaara, she all too excitedly bounced on her toes.

"I am enrolling to the school," he explained, giving all of his attention to Sakura and disregarding Sasuke's very presence as the dark haired boy lurked over the girl between them, glaring over her pink head at Gaara.

As they spoke, Sasuke reached out to grab onto Sakura's blazer, his fingers catching onto the fabric to keep her from wandering too close to the red head.

"My father wants us children to study in the city, so Kankuro, Temari, and I are living with my grandmother through the next school year. I was going to call you later this week to meet up this weekend and surprise you, but I didn't realize we were going to be attending the same school."

Sasuke's stomach dropped as Sakura excitedly clapped her hands and leapt forward, tugging out of Sasuke's grip as she flung her arms around Gaara again. As she latched onto him, Gaara gave Sasuke a smug look from over her shoulder, his jade eyes gleaming with mirth.

Sakura pulled away about two seconds before Sasuke lost it.

She continued to hop up and down with glee. "This is so exciting! I can't wait! Do you know where your classes are? Have you been shown around the school." Gaara shook his head and to Sasuke's utmost horror, Sakura linked her arm with the red head and began tugging him down the hall. "Well let me show you around! Are Kankuro and Temari going to attend too?"

They were halfway down the hall before the abandoned Sasuke seemed to be remembered and Sakura quickly turned around. "Oh, Sasuke," she said quickly. "Do you mind if we can talk about whatever it was you wanted to talk about later?"

Sasuke was not even given a chance to answer before she was sending him a sweet smile and a carefree thanks before continuing on, leaving a defeated Sasuke to deflate and reevaluate his plan that was now in desperate need of altering and fast.

Sasuke sat at the usual table that the group occupied during the lunch hour. Next to him Naruto was impatiently drumming his fingers across the bowl of instant ramen he had just purchased as he waited for it to finish cooking. Aside from them and a slumbering Shikamaru, the rest of the group had yet to show up.

"Hey did you guys hear about the new kids?" Kiba asked as he set his food tray down and clambered into his seat.

Along with him Hinata and Shino had arrived. Shino quietly hunkered into an empty chair and Hinata bashfully slid into the empty chair next to Nartuo. Immediately Naruto put an arm around the back of Hinata's chair as he grabbed the seat to pull her closer to him, causing her face to become crimson as she let out a startled squeak as the chair shifted.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, once he was content with Hinata's close proximity. "Apparently their dad is like some high official back in their hometown. I am gonna ask my dad about them when I get home today."

"Whose dad is a high official?" An approaching Tenten asked as she and Neji walked up to the table, hand in hand.

"The new kids," Kiba supplied.

"OH! Yeah!" Tenten responded. "The sister, Temari, sits right in front of me in maths. She seemed cool enough, she sounds pretty athletic so I am going to try and recruit her for the track team when it starts up in a few weeks. I bet she runs like the wind with how long her legs are." She looked at Neji. "Don't you sit next to her brother?"

Neji nodded. "His name is Kankuro but that's about all I know. I didn't really talk to him."

Tenten frowned, unhappy with the lack of information her boy friend provided. She was not usually one for gossip, but as the co-captain of the track team with Lee, she was always on the lookout for potential recruits. She looked to the rest of the table. "What have you found out about the other one? Isn't he in your class?"

"I think so, but he hasn't been in any of our classes yet. I think they are still having him take some tests and doing some transferal paperwork for him," Kiba remarked. Then leaned forward, a conspiratorial spark of intrigue coming to his face. "They usually only do that for kids who have shady school records, what do you think he did?"

Kiba's remarks had the whole table leaning in curiously, each of them giving out their own theories. All that is, except for Sasuke who only frowned at the idea and of course Shikamaru who was still snoozing.

"You know Sakura knows them from back when she was little," Naruto said. "I bet she knows all about them."

"Really?"

"W-where is S-sakura?" Hinata asked, looking around the cafeteria. Her pale eyes fell onto Sasuke expectantly.

Sasuke did not even offer the girl an answer. Instead he glowered around at the cafeteria. He had not seen Sakura since she scampered off to give Gaara a tour of the school at the beginning of the lunch break.

"Oi, bastard!" Naruto shouted, kicking Sasuke in the shin. "My girlfriend asked you a question. Where is Sakura?"

Sasuke kicked Naruto back. "Why are you asking me?" The entire table gave him a unified pointed look. "Tch," he scoffed. "She's giving a tour to the new kid, whatever his name was."

Sasuke knew the name, he just chose to not acknowledge him fully. While the buzzing gossip about the new siblings was burning through the student body like a wildfire, Sasuke found himself unwilling to acknowledge it. Partially out of denial of what had happened earlier-Sakura abandoning him for someone else- and partially out of contempt. There were many names and references Sasuke was using for Gaara in his mind, and the complete disregard of it out loud was perhaps the most polite of his alternatives.

"Really!? The red headed one? You know Ino said that he was Sakura's first love."

Sasuke's head whipped around to scowl at Naruto. "Well Ino is a trouty mouth gossip, who doesn't know what she's talking about," Sasuke sneered. "Don't believe anything that comes out of her big mouth."

"I resent that remark Uchiha," said Ino as she appeared out of nowhere. "I will have you know that my 411 is highly reliable." She sat down next to Hinata. "Now, what am I being accused of not knowing anything about?"

"The new kids," Tenten answered.

"Oh my gosh," Ino gushed. "The new girl is a total knockout babe and I would hate her if she was not so cool. And the older one, did you know he has a car, and I heard he is really talented in thespian arts and has already done some internships over the summer for a drama that is coming out later this year. I guess he wants to go into directing and production. And normally I am not into shorter guys or red heads, but damn, that Gaara…" Ino began to fan herself expressively with her hand. "Total hunk with the perfect mixture of broody edginess. Gods! Sakura is such a brat for keeping him hidden away all these years. That selfish little一You know I have heard her talk about him for years but not once did she think to…"

Ino's flippant droning on and on about Gaara's features and attractiveness did little to settle or improve Sasuke's mood. As the rest of the group began to eat their lunches and talk about the excitement of the day, Sasuke sat beneath a dark cloud of his own contempt and misery while the table around him laughed and smiled.

Half way through the lunch hour Sakura finally showed up, but to his dismay, she was not alone. And as the whole table sifted and made room to allow three more to their innercircle, Sasuke found himself in even more of a grim and dreary mood when he found himself sandwiched between Naruto and Kankuro while Sakura sat at the far end between Gaara and Temari. Gaara, preoccupying all of her attention as Termari was too busy arguing with the sleepy looking Shikamaru whose midday nap had been interrupted with the shifting of seats.

Sasuke's dark eyes stayed focused on Sakura and Gaara throughout the rest of the lunch. He waited for her to look over at him, willing her to acknowledge him and remember that they still needed to talk. But not once did she so much as glance at him as she happily and animatedly talked with Gaara. Even when the bell sounded at the end of their break, Sasuke's eyes stayed locked on the rosette, only to watch her stand and start walking away with Gaara without so much of a pause or look to him that assured him she remembered he had even asked to talk to her.

Insignificant. That was how he felt. All his life he had gone about purposefully disregarding others without so much of a second thought of how it made others feel. Now he knew. And he hated it. But not as much as he hated a certain redhaired new arrival that, at the beginning of their next period, walked in a minute after the bell and was introduced to the entire class as the new addition to their home room and was assigned a seat right behind himself and Sakura.

That plan to talk later never happened. With the excitement of three new students now attending their school, Sasuke had not gotten the opportunity to speak with her during school as each time he so much as turned to speak with her, she was already turned around in her desk speaking with Gaara, who had been assigned the empty seat behind them in class. Sasuke could not help but curse Sato for moving at the end of last term.

And if Gaara was not enough to distract her, it was Gaara's sister showing up in between classes to pull her away, not to mention the third sibling who was old enough to drive and had so graciously offered to take Sakura home after school. Thus keeping Sasuke from catching her after class and speaking with her.

"Was the entire family in love with her!?" Sasuke muttered to himself as he walked home alone from school.

Naruto had refused to walk with him, determined to not catch Sasuke's contagious aura of gloom. The sunny haired boy had claimed it would mess with his inner chakra for his big date with Hinata this weekend. Whatever that meant. It disturbed Sasuke to think that the idiot managed to gain himself a steady girlfriend before Sasuke could even successfully ask a girl out on a date.

The week had flown by and before he knew it, school had been let out for the weekend. Thus Sasuke found himself on a friday evening, walking down the familiar neighborhood that Sakura lived in. He was determined to talk to her and at least arrange a somewhat date with the limited time he had to plan. As he reached her house, he went through the small metal door of the gate before walking up the steps toward the front porch.

It felt like forever when he last walked up this stone path, palms sweating, and nerves wriggling in his stomach as he went to knock on her door and take her to the dance. That night he had not prepared himself for the vision that she would be when she answered the door. Her green eyes fierce with vengeance as her arm was pulled back ferociously, more than likely expecting Sasori at the door instead of himself. And he could never be more proud of her than in that moment. And then that warrioress beauty of hers softened into one of a more elegant charm. And for a moment, Sasuke was worried he would never be able to recover the breath she had taken away from him.

The memory of her was washed away when the front door of the house swung open in present time and he was greeted by Sakura's mother. The blonde woman gave Sasuke a surprised but warm smile as she looked at the surly teenager.

"Sasuke," she said, her green eyes similar to Sakura's but not quite as bright, then again he was perhaps biased. "Are you here to see Sakura?"

"Ah," Sasuke remarked.

Mebuki gave him a smile, used to the boys near muteness when it came to communicating and stepped aside. "Come on in. Sakura's upstairs in her room with her other friend."

Sasuke quickly stepped into the entryway, neatly placing his shoes in the line, next to a pair of black high top converse. Sasuke slightly frowned, the shoes were vaguely familiar and he wondered where exactly he had seen them. Recently Naruto had taken to throwing in some black with his outrageous orange color scheme for his clothes, but he was on a date tonight. As Sasuke began to walk up the stairs, the recollection of where he had seen those shoes before, hit him. And his suspicion was confirmed the moment he reached the end of the hall and peeked through the ajar door to see Sakura sitting on her bed with Gaara perched next to her as they dug through a box.

"Aw, it's Shukaku! I can't believe you still have this!" Sakura exclaimed with glee, pulling out a stuffed animal with blue lines scrawled across its otherwise sandy fur and fluffy tail. It was not exactly what some would consider a cuddly or cute stuffed animal with its beady black eyes and stitched mouth being a monstrous grin of sharp teeth. But it seemed Sakura found a lovability in unfriendly looking things.

Gaara took the stuffed animal and gave it a look over. "He was the last birthday present you gave me before you moved," he commented.

Sakura's response was cut short of even leaving her mouth when Sasuke pushed the door open, causing both of them to jump as it hit the wall harder than necessary. The moment Sakura's green eyes took him in he noticed her quickly give herself more room between herself and Gaara, shifting the box of stuff from their laps to rest between them instead. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, the action was an indication of guilt.

"Sasuke! Hey!" Sakura said, her voice pitched unusually higher. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming over."

Sasuke stepped into the room, his strides purposeful as he came over to where she sat on the bed, his knees nearly grazing her own as he stood before her, hands shoved into his pockets.

"Didn't realize I needed to start making appointments to come over." He sent a dark gaze to where Gaara was sitting at the end of the bed. "I am not interrupting anything, am I? Do you want me to go?" he asked, slightly apprehensive that she would say yes. Judging by the glimpse of Gaara's face Sasuke caught from the corner of his eye, the redhead was hoping she would say exactly that.

"No not at all!" She replied, clearing the box of things away to allow him to join them on the bed. "We were just looking at some old stuff."

Sasuke could not help but give Gaara a smug glance as he moved between them, leaning his back against the wall to let his long legs stretch out and act as a physical divider for keeping a perfect spacing between the other two. As he settled, Sakura readjusted herself to sit cross legged at the head of her bed as she hugged a familiar slug plush against herself. Her happy warm smile wavering as she looked back and forth between them, catching the unwelcoming glare Gaara shot Sasuke as he settled down. And in return, the raven haired boy gave the redhead a smug challenging look.

As silence took over, Sakura began to feel the heavy awkwardness that set in the room as the two boys silently glared back and forth between each other. "So um...Sasuke, Gaara here plays Ninja's Unknown: Battleground," Sakura supplied, hoping to break the tension, it was important that these two liked each other.

Sasuke looked to Gaara. "What system do you use? PlayStation or Xbox?"

"PC," Gaara answered.

"Tch figures," Sasuke remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gaara challenged.

The answer in which Sasuke gave was not the one Sakura, bless her heart, had meant to bring out when she had tried to find a common denominator between her two friends. Immediately a heated discussion of PC versus console gaming erupted. And for the next two hours she tried and failed to bring them together, failing miserably as anything that was brought up, they were on opposite sides. Their opinions were so consistently opposing to the point that Sakura was convinced neither were even stating how they felt, and were just automatically taking the side of opposition, regardless of the topic. And when it became apparent that neither was leaving until the other was leaving, Sakura had to feign a headache so they would both leave her in peace.

And Sasuke, distracted from his original reason he had even come, did not even realize until he was half way home, that he had not even secured a time or even a day in which he and Sakura could do something together.

Frustrated, he pulled out his phone and texted her.

Sasuke:  Tomorrow. Bus stop. Noon.

He was just entering his room when he received her response.

Sakura: Can't ToT. Gaara needs help picking out a b-day present for Temari tomorrow. Won't be back until late.

Sasuke's eye twitched as he read the message, a dozen curses flowing from his mouth, all of them dedicated to what he thought about Gaara. What, the guy can't buy something for his own sister, he thought sarcastically as he typed in a response.

Sasuke: Sunday.

He flopped onto his bed face down and phone in mattress springs had just stopped bouncing when his phone vibrated, causing him to quickly flip over and swipe at his phone, cursing again when the face recognition failed to accept his skewed face of agitation and he was forced to manually type in his passcode.

Sakura: Sunday is the party. Sorry.

"Damn it!" he screamed, tossing his phone across the room where it smacked against the wall and fell to the ground.

He fell back onto his bed after his fit of rage and let out a frustrated groan as he dug the heels of his hand into his eyes, confused as to why they felt like they were burning. After a moment of composing himself, he let his arms fall down to his side as he gazed up at the ceiling of his room. Why was this so hard? It was as if the universe was against him and kami was doing everything in their power to stop him. That, or they were just testing him, like some hero who had to accomplish so many feats before allowed to marry the princess. But it wasn't like he was asking for much, it was just a date, a singled out time with just himself and Sakura when he could address this massive yearning in his chest he was struggling to contain.

She needed to know. She needed to know how much she drove him crazy. How every other thought of his waking mind was about her. To the point that she was plaguing his dreams so often he could hardly sleep properly. She needed to know all of that was her fault! She needed to take responsibility for his palpitating heart, by taking it off his hands and tenderly seeing to it.

In the stillness of his dark room, he heard the muffled sound of his phone vibrate against the carpet as the screen lit up a corner of his room. With a heavy sigh he dragged himself off his bed and walked over to his phone.

"Damn it," he muttered when he noticed the fresh crack in his screen, but it was quickly forgotten when he noticed the name attached to the text alert.

Sakura: Monday?

Sasuke thought for a moment, it wasn't really necessary that they do it on the weekend. It wasn't ideal, there was not as much open and they would have to go later. However, at the rate in which Gaara was obviously trying to occupy Sakura's every free moment, he needed to move fast before yet another red headed vessel of a demon spawn made a move. That gave him the weekend to plan something, he was not sure what but at this point, he didn't care. They could sit on a park bench for two minutes for all he cared, he just needed a moment to finally talk to her without any interruptions. With that in his mind, Sasuke jabbed out a response, his fingers flying and missing the wrong letters and causing him to let out a curse as he had to backspace and retype.

Sasuke: Yes. After school.

He didn't care if they would still be in uniforms, Sakura looked perfect in everything and he could not risk going home separately and then showing up to her house, only to find Gaara sprawled out on her bed doing gods know what! Honestly! How could her mother allow a teenage boy to freely be in her room alone. Did she not know what went on in a teenage boys head? Because he did and if Gaara was in the least bit interested in Sakura, he knew exactly what kind of thoughts were running through his mind.

His phone vibrated in his hand and he looked down to see Sakura had responded.

Sakura: Yay! Can't wait.

Sakura: BTW what exactly are we doing?

Sasuke smirked down at his phone, his heart beating within his chest with a jittering of excitement and nerves.

Sasuke: It's a surprise.

Sakura: :D

Sasuke: Go to bed now, it's late and not good for your headache.

Sakura responded with a gif of someone rolling their eyes. Followed by a cat giving a mock salute.

Sasuke: Night.

Sakura: Goodnight, Sasuke. Sleep well and have a good weekend!

Instinctively Sasuke wanted to wish her that same. But then he remembered with whom she was spending her weekend with. And while it went against everything he ever wanted to wish upon her, he secretly hoped that her weekend was terrible.

Monday came and with it, so did Sakura's presence. It soothed his soul and relaxed his mind to bask in her company as they sat at their shared desk and waited for the morning bell to sound the start of the day. Sasuke leaned forward, resting his head on his stacked arms as he faced her, watching her under his sooty eyelashes as she double checked her homework, occasionally giving him a questioning glance.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm," he hummed lazily, the familiarity of the start of a new week making him content and optimistic.

"What did you get on question thirteen?" she asked, a wrinkle of lines forming in the center of her brow as she looked down at her paper.

Sasuke slowly sat up, rolling his eyes as he let out an exhausted sigh. He always made a show of annoyance when she needed help, but he secretly loved it. She would lean over his arm as he worked out a problem, bringing the sweet smell of her into his personal space, which as far as he was concerned, could stay there forever. Then of course, once she easily and effortlessly showed her how to solve whatever equation, she would give his arm a squeeze and lay her head on his shoulder as she hugged him in gratitude.

Only recently, there was a newly introduced factor that had disrupted their homeostasis, an element that Sasuke had momentarily forgotten about that altered the course of outcome. Though he was quickly reminded when the flash of red hair leaned forward between their shoulders.

"I can help you with that one."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as his hands clenched. Gaara, his mind cursed. Ignoring Gaara's existence, Sasuke not so subtly pushed Gaara's head backwards as he leaned closer to Sakura.

"Sasuke!" Sakura slightly chastised from his roughness.

Sasuke cast an innocent look behind his shoulder. "Hn, didn't see you," he said, not an ounce of apology in his voice. He looked back to Sakura to find her frowning at him. "It was an accident," he emphasized, though the casual shrug did not convince her.

She gave him an incredulous look to which he rolled his eyes and leaned forward, grabbing her pencil from her hand to show her the problem. As Sakura's attention slowly drew back to him and only him, Sasuke felt a twinge of triumph as he intentionally boxed out the red haired boy sitting behind them. All the while, he relished the heavy glare he felt being directed to the back of his head. It was the first of many victories he planned to acquire today.

It was finally the end of the school day and with it, the highly anticipated moment in which Sasuke could finally have some solitude with Sakura. At the moment, the dark haired young man stood outside the classroom waiting impatiently for Sakura. Leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, he tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for her to put away her art supplies and gather up her things.

When she finally managed to come to the door, Sasuke grabbed a hold of her back pack as she pulled it over her shoulders. With his hand grasping at the hand loop, he all but carried her down the hall as he guided them quickly through a side door and across the courtyard of the academy grounds.

He had managed to get three feet out the school gates when a familiar voice called out.

"SASUKEEEE!"

The sound of his name being hollared from across the courtyard had him grabbing Sakura's arm as he prepared to run. Unfortunately, Sakura was not as discompationate as he was. And when her friends called out to her, she acknowledged them.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

The moment her name was called out, Sakura dug her heels into the ground as she turned back to look at the school.

"Naruto! What is wrong!?" Sakura asked, her green eyes alarmed as Naruto came to a running stop in front of them.

Naruto, who was breathing heavily from his sprint across the courtyard, gave them an expectant look. "Where are you guys going?"

"Just the park, nothing you would be inter-"

"Awesome!" Naruto interrupted. "On our way back can we get some ramen from Ichiraku? It's been forever since we have done anything, you know since I have a girlfriend and all?"

Naruto puffed out his chest at the declaration and gave Sasuke a smug look. Sasuke gave him a dark and foreboding look that was enough to douse even the brightest rays of the sun in shadow. But of course, Naruto had long since become unphased by such looks, having built up an immunity over the past seventeen years.

"You're not invited," Sasuke said quickly and firmly.

"Why not, it's not like this is a date and I am third wheeling!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to tell him just how close he was to the truth but then Sakura turned around to him and he suddenly felt the words lodge in his throat. He had not exactly been forward with his intentions and he was not about to inform her of this in such a public space as the school grounds entrance, and especially not in front of Naruto. He would never be able to live with himself if Naruto knew how cowardly he was going about this. He didn't like to think it was cowardly, it was just that Sasuke was just not one to openly talk about feelings and emotions. He was not like Sakura and Naruto who so easily expressed themselves and openly translated how they felt.

"Sasuke..." Sakura spoke his name sweetly, drawing out each syllable slowly as a tone of request rang out with it.

Sakura's plea caused him to refocus and he found her giving him that look that he knew too well. It was the look she got when she was about to advocate for something he had no desire to do but had no ability to deny her of such a thing.

"He can't come," he quickly said firmly before she could finish. Why could this not just be simple and smooth?

Sakura's brow hardened at the terse tone and folded her arms across her chest. "Well I am not very sure I want to go to the park if you're going to be all moody, broody, and snooty. Since when did we start excluding people? Especially our friends?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and let out a growl of frustration. Grabbing at his hair he turned away from her. He took a few paces before turning back to look at both Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was grinning at him, obviously pleased that Sakura was taking his side in the case. It made him want to throttle Naruto. He did not like the phrasing for a situation like this- he respected Sakura too much- but right now, Naruto was nothing but a raging cock blocker at the moment. But there was no way he was going to point that out. In retrospect, it was his own fault for not being completely divulging in the significance of today's activities.

He looked at Sakura, her green eyes fierce and promising that she would make good on her threat. If Naruto did not come, she would not come either. He looked up to the sky, as if asking kami why he was being punished and questioning the universe why it was so against him.

He let out a sigh, then looked back at them. "Fine," he said, not sounding fine at all. "The dobe can come."

"YES!" Naruto cried loudly as he jumped up and fist pumped the air.

"But no ramen," he intoned.

Naruto gave him a mischievous look as he put an arm around Sakura. "Are you sure about that teme?" Then he turned to Sakura. "Please, please, please, its tradition!"

Sakura stared into Naruto's wide puppy dog blue eyes. Sympathy immediately took over and she gave Naruto's head a sympathetic pat as if he really were a dog.

More like a sly fox than a loyal dog, Sasuke thought when Sakura turned her attention to Sasuke and Naruto shot him a machiavellian grin.

"It is tradition…" Sakura commented, tilting her head and giving Sasuke her own version of a puppy dog look.

But hers was more doe eyed and gentle. And unlike Naruto, Sasuke could not say no. He let out a sigh. The defeated sound had both of his companions happily grinning at him. Naruto jumped up again before taking off, slapping Sasuke on the back as he ran ahead.

As Sasuke watched him skip down the sidewalk, his skin prickled on his arm as Sakura sidled up to him, looping an arm though his in a casual gesture. He looked down to see Sakura loosely hugging his arm as she smiled sweetly at Naruto's happy dance.

"Aw look at him, he is so happy."

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed then moved his arm to wrap it around her shoulders and began guiding her towards their bright haired friend.

For Naruto, such a gesture would have been a companionable gesture, but for Sasuke, it was a bold move. Sasuke was not one to usually initiate or allow physical contact to last and he felt Sakura slightly stiffen at the shoulders. He tried not to look into what that could mean as he steered them forward and forced himself to continue the contact, unwilling to let insecurity cause him to pull away.

"Come on, before he gets too excited and ends up peeing on a fire hydrant or runs off chasing a squirrel," he said casually.

Sakura gave a laugh and began to walk along with him. Their date, in which only one of the participants knew it was a date, and now had a third wheel, was now just a friend hangout. Yet as they made their way down the street, making their way underneath the line of ginkgo trees, Sasuke could no longer care as Sakura made no move to free herself from his arm.

Or at least for a fraction of a second he did not mind.

For just as they managed to catch up to Naruto, a black car with purple accents pulled up alongside them. As the car came to a stop, it drew their attention just as the tinted window of the passengers' side rolled down to reveal Gaara sitting in the car with his brother paused at the wheel talking into his phone. Gaara's eyes went first to Sasuke, then to Sakura.

"Sakura," Gaara said in the irritatingly low voice that Sasuke found nasally. "Hop in, we will give you a ride home."

Sakura took a small step forward as she approached the car parked by the sidewalk. As Sasuke's arm fell from her shoulders, his hand instinctively latched onto the hem of Sakura's uniform jacket for fear that she would desert him.

"Oh, thanks for the offer, but I won't need a ride home today. Sasuke, Naruto, and I are all going to hang out at the city park, we usually rent bikes and then get ramen at the stand over by the east entrance, then walk around the-"

Before Sakura was even finished talking, Naruto let out a yelp of distress, causing Sakura to become distracted. They all turned around to find Naruto had somehow managed to catch his bright orange sweatshirt on the metal fencing that ran along the other side of the sidewalk. The blonde wildly began tugging and twisting around like a bird caught in a net, the sound of tearing fabric alerting them all that someone needed to interfere with his wild and fruitless attempt to free himself.

"Narutooooo..." Sakura sighed, drawing out his name with a tired defeat. She looked back to Gaara. "Hang on, I need to go help him," she excused, turning around and running off to help Naruto escape from the fence before he ended up ripping the garment clean from his body.

As Sakura attempted to calm Naruto down enough to gently start detangling his neon sweater from the fence, Sasuke's attention was drawn away from her when he heard Gaara behind him. He turned his head just in time to see Gaara unbuckling himself.

"I will catch the bus home later tonight," Sasuke heard Gaara mutter to his brother as he began to open the car door.

As Kankuro nodded and put the car into gear to drive off, Sasuke stepped forward and pushed his hand against the door, slamming it shut just when Gaara attempted to get out. Gaara looked up at him, his darkly lined eyes narrowed into slits.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "I should ask the same. What do you think you're doing?"

"Coming with Sakura," Gaara said, moving to push the door of the car open again.

Sasuke put more force onto the car door as he glared down at the red head and shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't know how you do things in the desert, but around here, you can't just invite yourself."

Gaara glared up at him and for a moment, just a moment, Sasuke felt himself gain another victory. With his eyes remaining locked into the stare down with Sasuke, Gaara took a deep breath. "Hey Sakura, mind if I join you?" he called out, finally breaking his gaze from Sasuke to tilt his head to the side, looking past Sasuke to where Sakura had just successfully freed Naruto.

Sasuke stiffened, his fingers gripping tightly to the door frame of the car as his dark eyes heatedly glared down at Gaara as he heard Sakura give out her response.

"No, of course not," came Sakura's sweet reply from behind Sasuke. "We wouldn't mind at all."

It was an umbrella statement that Sasuke was not in full appreciation of. He would rather be standing in a monsoon downpour than be okay with Gaara coming along. Naruto was one thing but Gaara...

Gaara's eyes had a glint to them as he glanced up to Sasuke, tilting his head to the side in a smug expression. "I believe I just resolved my ill etiquette," Gaara said quietly up to Sasuke. "Now please remove your hands from the car, it's a classic."

Sasuke continued pushing forcefully against the door frame for a moment longer until he heard Sakura approaching and he quickly pushed off the car, his face failing to hide the dark glare that it had adopted as he turned around to face the pinkette.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, taken aback by his dark demeanor. Her eyes darted between him and Gaara, who was now stepping out from the car.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke parroted, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Is that you keep letting every stray fox and hound that can't find anything else better to do, to join in something they were never invited to in the first place!"

Sasuke had never been one to control his temper. It was a flaw that he knew he possessed but oftentimes relied on people knowing this flaw and overlooking it. It was arrogant of him to assume people would overlook it because of who he was, but no one was without their faults. Sakura was usually the best at tolerating his sour mood swings. And she was always quick to forgive or always gave a wave off when he acted out. However, like even the strongest of rocks and alloys, there was only so much abrasive wear and tear that could be taken before erosion began to occur. Lately, Sakura had been on the undeserved receiving end of his mood, and her patience was being worn thin.

"Well excuse me," Sakura said in a terse tone, however beneath the hardened tone, Sasuke could see that she had been hurt by his words. "I am sorry I didn't realize this was an exclusive walk in the park. Maybe next time you should have been more specific in your invitation instead. But for future reference, don't bother inviting me to your elite events, I am not a fan of excluding others."

"Sakura," Sasuke sighed out as she walked past him and motioned for Gaara to join as she began leading their now party of four towards the park.

He grabbed onto her arm, causing her to pause and look up at him with an angry and hurt expression. He opened his mouth, then caught sight of Gaara listening in and pulled her aside. When he was a short distance away from Gaara and Naruto, he gave all his attention to Sakura, giving her a pleading look.

"Look, I am sorry. You are right. I should have made it more clear that I just wanted this to be you and me but that's usually what people mean when they only invite one person. Had I wanted Naruto to come along, I would have invited him. But I just wanted it to be you."

"What is so wrong with hanging out with Gaara and Naruto?"

"There is nothing wrong with hanging out with Naruto, I just wanted a moment to talk to you without people listening in," he emphasized. "Any other day Naruto is welcome to butt in."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "And what about Gaara?" Sakura questioned, catching on to the specific phrasing of Sasuke's words. "I can't help but notice you are excluding him."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in response.

"What do you have against him?" Sakura pressed, bending her head to catch his eye. "I know you aren't exactly one to roll out the red carpet but common Sasuke, it's like you've gone out of your way to make him feel unwelcome since he got here. You act as if he isn't in the room and when you do acknowledge him it's to say something sarcastic or disagree with anything he says."

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pocket and shrugged his shoulders, looking at her pointedly. "I just don't like him, okay," he defended. "Sometimes that happens in life, people just don't like each other."

Sakura gave him a dead panned look. "Really," she said wryly. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sasuke, you didn't even give him a chance. Since day one you have been acting coldly to him when he never did anything to earn it."

"So," he said with an impassive tone. "I don't need more friends. Besides, why do you care so much?"

"Because he is my friend and you are my friend. You are both important to me and I want the two of you to be friends?"

Friend, friend, friend, friend! Did she know any other word to describe them! He didn't know what Gaara was to her, but he was certain the red head was not using that word to label her in his mind. As for Sasuke, he too did not use that word. He had long since stopped seeing her in that way and now he was tired of her seeing him as only that.

"Sakura, I don't think you understand how-"

"Can you at least try?" she interrupted, looking up at him with beseeching eyes. "Please? It's really important to me that you guys like each other."

Why? Was what Sasuke wanted to ask. Did she want some sort of approval from him that Gaara was okay? There was usually only one reason a person would want approval of someone from their friends and that was a candidate for more than just friends? Why else would she be so adamant?

Sasuke suddenly felt sick to his stomach as something scaled and green twisted in his stomach. If that was what she was seeking, she would never get it. At least not from him and if Naruto did, then the useless dobe would be a traitor. Because no one would ever be good enough for her...not even himself. But it was at least the one good thing about his selfish flaw, he let himself think he could be with her.

However, if she wanted him to try, then he would. Even if he already knew what the outcome of his decision would be. If anything, trying would only cement and confirm his dislike for Gaara.

"Fine," he conceded. Sakura gave him a look that said his tone was not convincing. "I promise, I will give him a chance," he assured, before quickly adding, "but only if we can have some time to talk today...alone."

"Yes, yes we can talk," she said too casually for Sasuke's liking and when she turned to join Naruto and Gaara.

He grabbed her arm gently and forced her to give him her full attention. "I am serious Sakura," Sasuke said firmly. "It is important, no more running off and saying we can talk later or inviting someone else to join in. I am tired of being put on the back burner. Just me and you, alone," he emphasized, forcing as much intensity into his stare and hoping she understood the importance of his request.

He could tell he was getting through to her by the sudden curiosity on her face. He could see the questions rise up and her mouth parted slightly as if to inquire. But as much he wanted her to give him the time now, she seemed to hesitate apprehensively.

"I promise," she said.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, his tone satisfied.

An odd nervousness seemed to take over Sakura. Her green eyes flickered back and forth across his face, unable to steadily hold his gaze as she fidgeted in front of him. She licked her lips and swallowed before quickly nodding as she turned her head, hiding the faint redness that was rising in her face as she turned to join the other two in their group.

Sasuke followed after her, hardly listening as Sakura began to plan out their agenda before taking the lead, Gaara following after her to take position next to her. Sasuke watched him with a cold blank stare as he passed by, his charcoal eyes following after the red head, watching him closely.

"Hey Sasuke," came a breathy whisper as Naruto came to stand by him. "Do you think Gaara likes Sakura? I mean like-like her?"

"..."

"What do you think about him?"

"He is a dick wad," Sasuke replied without a beat. "And does not know his place."

"Yeah, I mean who is he to just decide he can join in on plans that he was not even originally invited to."

Sasuke gave Naruto a pointed look and raised his brow. "Yes, the audacity of him," he said dryly.

Oblivious to his own guilt, Naruto went on. "I don't like it," Naruto said, shaking his head. "She just had that thing with Sasori last month and we don't know anything about him. He just showed up and now she hardly seems to have any time for us. We need to protect her, make sure he knows that Sakura-chan is ours!"

Sasuke could hardly ever agree with Naruto on anything, but in this moment, he was taking the words right out of his own mouth. It was certainly a cold day in hell type of occasion when Naruto was talking sense.

"Ah," Sasuke sounded in agreement, his dark eyes zeroing in on Gaara's back.

Yes, Gaara needed to know. Needed to know that Sakura was off limits. He would still try as he promised Sakura. But he would also make each of their standings in relation to Sakura very, very clear. Gaara would know his place. He was a friend to Sakura, and so long as he knew that and did not toe that line, they would not have any problems.

It turned out Gaara was more than a line toer, he was a squatter. Every unnecessary touch, every excuse to monopolize her attention, every casual remark of flattery. It was obvious as to what he was doing to everyone except for Sakura. Or at least Sakura was just very good at seeming oblivious, Sasuke thought.

It gave him hope, if Sakura was not acknowledging his subtle hints, perhaps it meant that she was not interested but was attempting to preserve a casual friendship. But it also worried him. For as the afternoon went on, and Sasuke "tried" to get to know Gaara, he realized something. He and Gaara were very similar in far too many ways than Sasuke wanted to admit.

The best tactic when facing an enemy is to learn their strengths and weaknesses. But when that enemy is just like you, it's difficult to pinpoint those. There are weaknesses people are afraid to admit are there, unable to accept their flaws. Then there are strengths people are too critical of themselves to see. And their flaws blind them from seeing potential within themselves. And as they went about their afternoon, riding bikes, walking through the botanical gardens, taking in the interactive sculptures, and exploring the small market of street vendors that the park offered, Sasuke had watched and studied Gaara. All the while, unconsciously performing a self reflection.

They were both broody and taciturn in nature. They were both competitive and proud. And they both had a deep infatuation with a certain cherry blossom in which neither could fully express themselves. Sasuke did not like Gaara, it was a plain and simple fact. And the more he learned of their similarities, the more he found himself disliking Gaara even more for being like himself.

Naruto had just accidentally dropped ice cream all over Sakura's front when he had gestured too wildly as he enthusiastically spoke. The three boys had been waiting outside of the bathrooms while Sakura attempted to salvage her uniform when Naruto had caught a whiff of ramen and scampered off to place an order of four bowls.

With Sakura still in the washroom, and Naruto scampering off, Sasuke and Gaara were left alone to stand on the paved path next to the bathroom facilities. Each of them slightly turned away from the other as they each brooded in their own way. Sasuke with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his tall body leaned against a lamp post, and Gaara standing with his feet set apart and his arms crossed. Every once in a while the other would send a judgmental glare at the other, looking the other up and down and comparing.

Finally, after a long moment, Sasuke did something entirely out of character. He struck up a conversation.

"So it seems you only ever spend your time with Sakura," he commented, doing his best to sound casual and mentally telling himself he was "trying" as Sakura asked him to do and not "prying" as he felt he needed to do. "Kind of seems weird that you only hang out with her and your siblings."

Gaara's head slowly turned and he looked at Sasuke beneath his hooded eyes. "I don't see a problem with that. Why wouldn't I spend time with people I enjoy being around and can tolerate."

Gaara muttered something else under his breath that Sasuke didn't quite catch. But given the tone of his voice and the look he shot Sasuke, the Uchiha could only assume it was something insulting on his behalf. Sasuke's aura darkened.

"No offense, but you come off as a bit clingy to Sakura, girls don't really like that. You may want to back off a bit otherwise people will assume you two are dating," he said.

"I don't really mind if people think Sakura and I are dating."

Gaara gave Sasuke a pointed look and Sasuke's face twitched in irritation. Pushing off from the wall he was leaning against, he took a step forward. To Gaara's credit, he did not let Sasuke's height advantage intimidate. Instead he stood just as proudly and determined despite the near half a foot difference in height.

"Maybe you should think about looking for someone else to spend your time with," Sasuke suggested, a tone of dark warning lining his offering of "friendly" advice.

"With who? I don't know anyone else here," Gaara pointed.

"Then make some new friends. Branch out, let more people into your inner circle," Sasuke suggested. "It's always good to reach out and be sociable."

Sasuke was the last person to be preaching such things but in his eyes, he at least had other friends. However, like Sasuke, it seemed Gaara too had noticed the similarities between them and he gave Sasuke a critical look, silently calling him out on his hypocrisy.

"Isn't that what I am doing today? You and Naruto seem good enough friends."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Someone other than us we don't need anymore."

"Naruto doesn't seem to have an issue with me being here."

And it was true, despite Naruto's earlier words and suspicion. As the afternoon went on, Naruto had become more and more enthusiastic with Gaara's presence, which had only served to make Sasuke even more irritated with the red headed infiltrator.

Sasuke leaned forward, his dark narrowing as his voice dropped an octave lower, "Make some new friends. Or don't. I don't really care, just stop butting in with us." Gone was any attempt of friendly advice or suggestion. Sasuke was done playing games and using subtle hints. Blunt and direct had always worked for him when it came to dealing with others. "I know what you are trying to do, and it is not going to work. It is obvious that you and I have very similar intentions when it comes to Sakura. And since we both know it would be a lie if I said I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I am just going to say it plainly. You don't stand a chance, not against me. Sakura have a long history."

Gaara let out a snide scoff. "You wanna talk about history?" Gaara interrupted, a challenge rising in his face as his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Sakura and I have been around each other since we were born. So if you want to judge the successors outcome on history-" He paused to give Sasuke a dark smirk. "I have you beat."

"Tch. I am not talking about the length of time history. I am talking about solid, tangible events and memories," Sasuke argued. "I have been with her all through all of our school years, watching over her, protecting her. I was there for all of the moments, her high and her lows. And where were you?" Sasuke cocked his head to the side in mock thinking, then snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, that's right, not there for her. Which means you and Sakura, have nothing."

Gaara's forehead raised. "Not there for her?" He said in surprise before letting out a barked laugh and straightened up to Sasuke, standing nose to nose with him. "That just goes to show what you know about Sakura. I may have physically not been there, but I have always still been there for her. Who do you think she called when she first started getting bullied? Who do you think she called when she was feeling homesick because her parents were always gone? Who she talks to when she worries about not being able to medical school because she can't afford it? Who do you think she calls when..."

As Gaara's listing lengthened, Sasuke suddenly became slightly uncertain about how well he knew about Sakura. This was all news to him. And by the time Gaara finished, his tone was viciously accusing and his body was shaking with pent up anger.

He knew Sakura's parents' absence was not ideal, but she had always made it out so it never bothered her. That she was doing fine. His and Naruto's homes were practically her second home because of this. But all this time he had thought her comfortable and content. And the bullying, he had always thought she had tried to hide that from everyone. But it seemed it was just him who had been ignorant. Those had been awhile back but some of the others were more recent sounding issues.

"...Who do you think she called when the boy she liked told another girl he only cared about her because he felt sorry for her," Gaara continued to challenge.

Sasuke's brow wrinkled in confusion. Again, another unknown fact about her. Sakura had liked other boys? Sakura's short-lived crush on Sasori was not the scenario Gaara was painting. Which meant he was hinting at someone else. But who? Sasuke searched his mind for everyone they possibly knew, but no one Sasuke could imagine Sakura liking. Was Gaara lying? Or had there really been someone else in the past?

Gaara smiled, mirthful of his higher knowledge.

"You're lying," Sasuke snapped. "Sakura has never liked anyone."

"Oh yeah?" Gaara challenged. "Would you believe me if I said that boy was you."

Sasuke's eyes went wide with shock as Gaara's words hit him.

Sakura had liked him?

When?

Gaara caught the shock and let out a scoff. "Tsk-" his jade eyes ran up and down Sasuke with disgust- "See, you didn't even know. Well guess what Sasuke Uchiha-" He said the name with spiteful hatred that had obviously been slowly building and burning for years- "you had your chance and you blew it."

There was a long pause as Sasuke vacantly stared at the air between them, his mind racing to find answers to the hounding questions in his mind. When had she liked him? Did she still like him?

Who do you think she called when the boy she liked, told another girl he only cared about her because he felt sorry for her. As Gaara's words echoed over and over in his mind. Sasuke slowly pieced things together as a faint memory that at the time seemed so unremarkable he had completely forgotten about it.

It had been back in middle school. He had been getting an increasing amount of confessions and one in particular had dared to threaten Sakura because of his rejection.

We grew up together. If anything she's like a sister. I protect her because she is weak and I don't like cowards who pick on weaklings, that is what he had said.

After he had finished with the girl he had run into Sakura shortly after, who had acted peculiarly. Now he realized why, she must have overheard the conversation. He had said words that, at the time, were meant to protect Sakura. Now he realized perhaps they had hurt her more than protected her. For it was then that a strange distance began to form between them. Back then Sasuke had blamed his own feelings for the change of atmosphere between them, but now he was beginning to think it had been more purposeful. Had she been trying to distance herself? Now that she was comfortable around him again, did that mean she no longer had feelings for him?

Sasuke swallowed thickly, all their interactions over the course of the past three years coming into his mind as he analyzed them. But before he could fully come to a conclusion or full understanding, he was brought back to the present as Gaara shifted and Sasuke focused his attention on the other boy.

"You see, if you really were close, don't you think you would have known all this? You and her, will never be as close as us."

"That was just a misunderstanding," Sasuke quickly interjected.

Gaara shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If you really cared about her一"

It had been a long time since Sasuke found himself throwing a punch. In fact the last time he even took a swing at anyone other than Naruto- which was usually a not so gentle but still friendly slug to the arm- was back in middle school. Sasuke had been about a foot and a half shorter and hardly a hundred pounds soaking wet. But despite his lack of practice, Sasuke found it was as easy as relearning to ride a bike. His muscles had quickly remembered the action and motions so when his temper snapped, his arm moved with a knee jerk reflex. And the fluid movement was far more powerful than he had ever remembered. His fist connected with Gaara's face and the red head boy went straight to the ground.

Sasuke had been in a lot of fights growing up. He and Naruto had been in countless scuffles, sometimes against each other while other times back to back as they battled together against anyone who dared insult or cause harm to Sakura or any of their friends or family. Unfortunately there was one thing about this time versus the others.

In all his troubled and truant years in middle school, Sasuke had yet to lose a fight. He had some close ones back in sixth grade when he took on some eight graders, but between him and Naruto, they had managed to come out on top. Over the years, he had earned himself a reputation and usually it only took one hit before his opponent gave in. However Gaara was new. He did not know of Sasuke's reputation and if he had, he would not have cared. It took Gaara half a second to recover before he was springing up and barreling himself into Sasuke's stomach, taking him down in a solid tackle as they fell down to the ground.

Gaara managed two sharp jabs, one to Sauke's jaw and another that grazed his shoulder as Sasuke rolled and flipped him off. Once he had managed to push Gaara from him, Sasuke was leaping towards his opponent, not taking a moment to register the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Just as Gaara was pushing himself off the ground, Sasuke tackled him, setting his knee against his chest he drew his hand back and hit him square in the nose. Gaara's head snapped back and Sasuke drew his hand back again, readying himself for another hit. But before he could send his fist forward again. A pair of small hands grabbed at his arm as a voice cried out.

"Stop! Sasuke, get off of him!"

He could feel one of Sakura's hands grasping onto his shirt collar. She tugged at him just as Gaara managed to push him back. With the combined push and pull, Sasuke found himself off balance and falling backwards, allowing Gaara to free himself from Sasuke's knee that had been pinning him down. Gaara moved forward as if to retaliate only to find himself restrained as Naruto latched himself around the redhead. Both foes locked eyes and each of them lurched forward, only for their captors to become more forceful in separating them.

"I said stop it!" Sakura bellowed, her voice straining as she managed to pull Sasuke back a few inches.

Gaara was the first to truly give in, allowing Naruto to let go as the redhead focused on wiping the trickle of blood that was seeping from his nose from Sasuke's last punch. With the help of Naruto, Sakura was able to drag Sasuke up to his feet. He fought them both off for a moment, twisting and jerking himself from their holds until Sakura managed to position herself directly in front of him and gave him a hard shove.

"SASUKE! What is the matter with you!?" she said, her voice pitched with a menagerie of emotions. "Calm down!"

Sasuke finally managed to wrench his eyes from Gaara who was still sitting on the ground and looked down to Sakura who stood in front of him. She was glaring up at him. Her small hands pressed against his torso as her fingers clenched at the white dress shirt of his school uniform. Her irises shined like a polished emerald as they glistened with unshed angry tears.

She held his gaze for a long moment before turning around without a word, giving him a short shove as she walked away from him. Instinctually Sasuke reached out to stop her as she moved towards Gaara, but Naruto was latching onto him again, keeping him from catching onto Sakura who moved too quickly out of his reach. He watched as she kneeled down in front of Gaara who was wiping at his gushing bloody nose with the sleeve of his torn uniform. Instantly she was digging in her backpack and pulling out a small pack of Kleenex. Pressing them into Gaara's nose, she looked back at Sasuke.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" she questioned, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke gave no reply, only some heavy breaths as he struggled to keep his anger under control enough so he didn't turn on Naruto. She stood up again and moved towards him. She did not even look at him as she grabbed a hold of his arm. With a quick request to Naruto to take Gaara to the bathroom to clean up, Sakura began walking away, pulling at Sasuke's arm as she began to drag him in the opposite direction.

She did not stop or even look at him until they reached a secluded corner of the park where she finally released him. For a long moment she remained with her back to him, crossing her arms as she stared at the small fountain they were stopped at. When she did finally turn to face him, her face was hardened as she glared up at him. Her eyes filled with accusation, anger, and disappointment.

"What is wrong with you? Why were you attacking him?"

Immediately Sasuke was on the defense. "Why are you assuming I attacked him," Sasuke barked back bitterly. His earlier anger and frustration still brewing, as new frustrations of a new nature brewed within him. If Sakura saw them both equally as friends, then why was it that Gaara was getting coddled and sent off for first aid while he got dragged off and lectured. "How do you know I wasn't just defending myself."

"Were you?" she asked, and when Sasuke made no reply, she gave him a pointed look.

He was unsure of how to truly answer her question. In a way he was defending himself. Preserving his integrity that had been questioned by Gaara's accusation that he didn't care about her. But how was he supposed to make her understand that? She could not even trust him to tell him her deepest woes.

"Of course you're taking his side," he muttered, looking away from her, grabbing at his askew tie. He jerked at the accessory, loosening it enough to undo the top two buttons of his uniform.

"I'm not taking sides!" Sakura defended. "I am just disappointed."

It was worse than being mad at him, and Sasuke felt a churning in his stomach. For a moment his insides seemed to squirm with the discomfort before he pushed away the guilt. "Tch, whatever," Sasuke brushed off, going into his habitual ways when he did not know how to handle a situation. He pushed past her as he started to walk away, ignoring her as she called out to him.

He heard her feet hitting against the pavement as she ran to catch up to him. "Sasuke!" she said, grabbing onto his arm and stepping in front of him. "Don't just walk away from me, what the hell is going on with you? You've been acting weird for weeks now. Tell me, what is going on? What is bothering you?"

Sasuke came to a stop but did not look at her. He kept his eyes set straight ahead, looking over the top of her pink head down the shaded path beneath the trees that would soon be seeing its first budding of fresh leaves in the next month when things would start warming up.

"Look at me." He felt a tug on his arm and he finally looked down at her. Instead of anger, there was concern in her eyes. "Sasuke, talk to me. Why are being like this? Is something else going on? You have been on edge for weeks and you haven't been your usual self. Is it your dad again? Is he pressuring you about going into the family business? Is Itachi sick again?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but his words caught in his throat. He wanted to provide and answer, but it was as if he was incapable of expressing his true concerns when he could not even muster a description of them. Eventually, he shut his mouth and shook his head. "There is nothing going on."

Her face hardened. "That is bull shit!" she rebuffed. "Then why did I just have to pull you off of Gaara?"

"Because I don't like him!" he finally snapped.

Here eyes grew wide, taken aback by his outburst but she quickly recovered. "What do you mean you don't like him? You don't even know him because you have never even given him a chance!"

"I didn't need to give him a chance!"

"But you said you would try!" she exclaimed. "Gaara has been having a hard time since the move. He is not a people person and does not make friends easily. I was hoping to count on you to help him."

"And why would I do that?" he seethed, almost offended by her words. "He is your friend not mine! Why should I care?"

"Because it's a nice thing to do and I asked you to help," she stated, as if it should be obvious. "You're supposed to be my friend, Sasuke! That is what friends do, they help each other out no matter what."

There was that word again. The once cherished and no repulsive word. And it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Sasuke snapped. He grabbed onto her shoulders and slightly shook her as his arms failed to contain his frustration.

"Gods Sakura, what do you not understand! Did you ever think that I no longer wanted to be your friend!" She seemed to physically flinch when his words fell from his lips. Then as a hurt expression took over her face, Sasuke's hand came to his face as he realized how that sounded. He let out a curse for the failure he was having to express himself. "No, that's not what I meant I just-gahh."

His head fell back as he looked up through the tree branches they stood under. Through them, fluffy white clouds passed over silently and uselessly as they gave him no inspiration. "So annoying," he bit out, shaking his head as he looked back down at her.

He caught a pained look on Sakura's face as the whisper of frustration escaped him. Instantly she pushed the remaining hand he had on her shoulder off of her as she took a step back.

Shit.

"Well I'm sorry I annoy you so much!" Sakura said, large tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to cascade down her reddened cheeks.

"No! No! Sakura that is not what I meant. I'm not annoyed with you. I am annoyed with myself! I'm-I'm just nervous."

Sakura brushed away the few tears that had dropped onto her cheeks as her brow slowly creased, looking at him in utter bewilderment. "Nervous? What would you have to be nervous abouー"

He grasped her face and pulled her to him, bringing her lips to his as he breathed her in deeply, savoring the smell of her and the feeling of her warm lips against his. He pulled away, taking in her shocked face as he felt his own burning heatedly. He licked his lips, tasting the cherry lip gloss and finding himself liking cherry flavor a lot more than he had ever before.

"Because I like you," he blurted out breathlessly. "I like you Sakura and I don't want to be your friend because I want to be more than that." She stared back at him in shock. "And I am sorry I kissed you without telling you but I-I just didn't know how else to say it."

Sakura continued to stare at him, shocked and lagging from the rushed stream of words that he had just rambled out at her. She had heard what he said, felt what he had done. All of it fully comprehensible as to what it all meant...and yet... Her brain had short circuited and she was having a problem wrapping her mind around it. She could easily calculate advanced calculus yet at this moment she was straining to just put two and two together.

"Sakura?"

Dazedly her hand went up to her lips and she traced the lingering warmth his breath and skin had left across her mouth.

"Sakura can you please say something?" Sasuke asked, sounding dangerously vulnerable. His chest was rising and falling quickly as he breached on hyperventing. "Because you are usually the one who does the talking and we both know I am not good with words and I feel like…"

He was rambling. Sasuke Uchiha had just kissed her, told her he liked her, and now he was rambling. Surely this was a dream. A most wonderful dream that she had admittedly had numerous times in various settings, but she had always woken up from those moments. And despite the realism of it all, Sakura was expecting to wake up in her bed as this moment quickly faded away from her mind.

Yet here he was before her, still rambling.

"...just say so." Sasuke finally managed to cease his babbling and continued to stare at the shocked Sakura. Shit, he thought to himself. This is exactly why he was supposed to suppress this. She didn't like him, things were now awkward, he had just ruined their entire friendship. "For-forget it." He shook his head. "Sorry, I just…" He let out a sigh, shaking his head again as he ran a hand across his face and turned to leave.

He was not even allowed a step before a small hand grasped into the torn fabric of his uniform near the elbow. He felt a gentle tug and followed the wordless request to turn back towards Sakura.

"I-I like you too, Sasuke-kun," she replied quietly. Demourly she looked down at where her hand rested on his arm. She let it slide down and grabbed his hand. "I've liked you for a very long time."

Slowly, Sakura managed the courage to look back up at him. And for what seemed like an impossibility again, she was finding it difficult to believe what she was seeing.

Sasuke was smiling.

Not smirking, not just a curl to the corner of his lips, but a real genuine smile. Bright white teeth beaming at her as his dark eyes looked at her with not just relief, but adoration. And she could not help but smile back up at him, her green eyes full of tenderness and joy.

Bonus:

Sasuke had just finished dropping Sakura off at her house and was just about to go home when he noticed Shisui's car parked out front of his house. In no mood to spoil what was possibly the best day of his life, Sasuke quickly turned sharply to walk up the neighboring driveway to Naruto's house. He supposed Naruto deserved to know first of the change of status between his two best friends. They had always made a pact to inform the other immediately if they ever caught wind of Sakura dating someone.

Well some one was...and that someone was him, Sasuke grinned to himself.

He let himself into the house, the intrusive behavior not an unfamiliar one when it came to Sasuke coming over or Naruto going over to his house. It was a habit and custom that was accepted from the time they were old enough to walk over to the others house and let themselves in.

Automatically Sasuke made his way up to Naruto's room, knowing he would find the blonde boy plugged into some gaming console as was his usual habit on a school night instead of doing homework as he was supposed to. And as he approached the door and heard the rapid gun fire of video games blasting, and the sounds of buttons clicking away frantically, Sasuke knew he was home and moved to enter the room. Only the moment he pushed the door open, he paused on the threshold when he found not just Naruto sitting in front of the large entertainment system, but also Gaara.

The moment the door swung open Gaara turned around. Sasuke did not even look at Naruto, his eyes falling instantly onto Gaara who was looking back at him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Despite the fact that he knew he had just won, the dislike for the other boy did not just disappear.

"What are you doing here?"

Gaara gave him a smug grin. "Just taking some advice and making new friends."

As if on cue, Naruto turned around and pulled the large pair of headphones off his head. "Oh hey Sasuke, there you are. Where did you and Sakura run off to? We looked for you for nearly an hour but neither of you were answering your phone."

"Ah," Sasuke acknowledged. "We had a talk then I walked her home."

"Oh, well then I guess it was good we decided to give up and come here," Naruto shrugged off, already no longer invested in the topic as a look of excitement came to his face. "Guess what! Did you know that Gaara is ranked as a Kage in Ninja Royale? He even has a special edition weapon called the urn of..."

As Naruto went on and on about Gaara's feats and skills within the gaming world, Sasuke caught Gaara's eye and the boy smirked at him. Instinctively Sasuke's eyes narrowed, he knew what Gaara was doing. If he was as close with Sakura as he claimed, then Sakura most likely already texted him the news.

Which meant Gaara knew he had lost, and now he was looking for revenge by becoming Naruto's best friend. And while Sasuke hated to admit that such an idiot was his best friend, Naruto was his best friend. And no one was going to take him away.

Immediately Sasuke dropped his bag down by the door and was crossing over to wedge himself between them, taking one of the controllers and logging himself in. As the next round began, Sasuke focused himself. The moment the countdown of the game sounded, Sasuke moved his avatar with precision, hunting and focusing, not bothering to take out any of the other logged in players as he sought out for only one specific.

User demonofsand3, was going down.

Chapter Text

"In the car, I just can't wait

To pick you up on our very first date

Is it cool if I hold your hand?

Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?

Do you like my stupid hair?

Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?

I'm just scared of what you'll think

You make me nervous so I really can't eat"

-Blink 182: First Date

The reflection of himself scowled back as Sasuke glared at his spiky hair sticking out every which way on his head. Snatching up a comb, he ran in through his thick locks in an attempt to tame them. However, with every pass of the combs teeth, his unmanageable locks sprang straight back up. Sasuke growled and threw the comb into the sink.

Grabbing at the edges of the sink, he leaned forward and went back to glaring critically at his reflection. From the corner of his eye, he caught something in the background and his dark eyes zeroed in on it. It was a bottle sitting on the shelf behind him and the moment he spotted it, he turned around to look at the real thing. Crossing to the other side of the bathroom he reached up and took it down and read the label.

Shinobi Stylez: For that killer look that's all the rage.

Sasuke examined the bottle contemplatively, chewing at the inside of his cheek. He was pretty certain his mother bought this for him years ago and Sasuke and never bothered to use it. He had never cared or minded what his hair looked like.

He looked back up to the mirror across the room, his dark eyes meeting his reflections as his mind churned. Looking back down at the bottle, he flipped it over to read the directions. Slowly his feet began to take him back over to the sink. He looked back up at his reflection, taking in the spiked hair that went every which way.

He shrugged at himself. Well it couldn't get any worse than it already was, he thought to himself, unscrewing the cap and squirting a generous portion in his hand.

.

.

.

It did get worse. In fact it got a lot worse. Very much so.

"Easy as one, two, sleek," Sasuke muttered darkly as he hung his head under the tap of water, rinsing out and dampening the disaster of a look. "As stealthily natural as the ninja within," he mocked sarcastically as he towel dried his hair.

He stopped rubbing at his hair when it only had a slight dampness to it and lowered the towel from his head to look at it. It looked how it always did and Sasuke let out a heavy sigh. He supposed it would have to do. What had possessed him to think he could somehow miraculously tame his hair after struggling to do it for sixteen years was beyond him. There was just a certain jitteriness that he had woken up with this morning that made him suddenly second guess everything about himself.

If he did not know and better he would have thought he was being insecure. "Tch," he scoffed, shaking his head and trying to rid himself of the feeling. He was Sasuke freaking Uchiha! And Sasuke freaking Uchiha was NOT insecure.

He was the most popular senior boy in the entire school. The entire fellow student body either wanted to date him or be him, What did he have to be insecure about? He had secured a date with Sakura Haruno. Who else had a date with Sakura Haruno? And that hit him. He was about to go on a date with Sakura freaking Haruno! Of course he should be insecure. Sasuke Uchiha was nothing compared to her!

He ran a nervous hand through his hair and cursed as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He needed to change his shirt. He had already changed it three times but this one just wasn't right either. It was too simple and perhaps it was the lighting in the bathroom, but the black contrasted too much. It made him look pale. Too pale as if he were sickly. Pacing towards his closet, he started to unbutton his shirt as he slid the door open and began to frantically riffle through hangers and hangers of greys, black, all monochrome colors.

Did he not have anything with some color!? This was a date not a funeral for the gods sake!

He let out a growl when nothing seemed to be suitable and he kicked at the already rejected and discarded shirts as he threw his hands into the air. He was hot and irritated and he began to fan his shirt in an effort to cool off as he felt his skin become damp as his heated body began to sweat from a combination of nerves and frustration.

Great, he thought. Now he was going to be sweaty and smell like Naruto's room after the dobe forgot a half eaten ramen container under his bed for a month.

He looked at his watch and his stomach did a somersault. He had an hour before he was supposed to pick her up for their first official date. That was not enough time for him to shower...again!

He already had deodorant on but he spotted a small glass bottle sitting on his dresser and immediately went over to it. Picking up the cologne, he sprayed himself, went to set it down then sprayed himself for a second time before sniffing at himself then grabbing for the other bottle of cologne on his dresser.

From the door, a tall figure watched as his teenage younger brother fretted about his room. So torn up and a bundle of nerves, he had not even realized Itachi's presence as he watched him. When Sasuke had made a critical error in spraying himself more than enough times with his cologne and was about to spray himself a fifth time, Itachi knew he had to interfere.

"One more of that and she will smell you before you have even reached her street," he said, causing Sasuke to jump and accidentally press the spray an extra time.

It took everything within Itachi not to cover his eyes and shake his head. Instead, he pushed off from the door frame and walked across Sasuke's bedroom to where he stood. Itachi gently confiscated the bottle, before his foolish little brother dumped it all on himself.

"Nervous," Itachi asked quietly as he set the bottle on the dresser far out of Sasuke's reach.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "Of course not."

Despite the show of confidence that Sasuke feigned, Itachi could see right through the mask his brother often wore. On the outside Sasuke always exuded calm and composed...at least around most people who didn't know how to push his buttons. People like Shisui and Naruto who knew exactly what would make Sasuke fly off the handle. Itachi was more than aware of these buttons as well, but in this moment, like many, he chose not to torture his brother more than Sasuke was already internally torturing himself.

Itachi was actually even surprised that Sasuke had even disclosed the events of tonight. Two days ago Sasuke had stoically called him on the phone when he was still back on campus and informed him that he had a date with Sakura Haruno. It took everything within him to not laugh in the way Sasuke had so formally announced her full name. As if Itachi would suspect he had a date with some other girl named Sakura...or any girl with any name for that matter.

"Of course not, it's just Sakura...right?" Itachi casually said, sneaking a glance at Sasuke who nodded automatically but Itachi could see that phrase did not sit right with his little ototo. Sakura was never just Sakura, at least not to Sasuke. Or any Uchiha for that matter.

The moment of ease quickly passed as a certain, uncertain tension came to Sasuke's face. Itachi let out a brotherly sign and grabbed the tie that Sasuke had tangled around his next like a noose.

"Take off the shirt," Itachi said with a tone that only an elder brother could have as he moved past his little brother towards the closet.

Sasuke obeyed after a short delay, reaching up to undo the buttons. As Sasuke stripped himself of the cologne drenched shirt, Itachi dug around for a moment before pulling out a crisp white button up shirt. After examining it for wrinkles and stains, he tossed it towards Sasuke who caught it.

"Put that on," Itachi instructed before going back to the closest to pull out a light grey sweater. "Layer it with this," he said, not even looking back as he tossed it to Sasuke, who caught it at the last moment as Itachi began looking through Sasuke's shoes. After careful survey, he pulled out some plain black vans.

Itachi dropped the shoes down by Sasuke's feet, who immediately began putting them on without instruction to do so. When he stood up, Itachi was undoing the clasps of his watch and Sasuke stood quietly watching his brother.

"Arm," Itachi instructed calmly as he slipped the watch off his wrist and onto Sasuke as his brother obediently and quietly stood still, absorbing Itachi's calm aura as his brother adjusted and clasped the watch to fit him. "Every man should have a good watch," Itachi commented. "He should not be pulling out his phone whenever he needs the time. Your date won't know the purpose of the action and will think you are more interested in your phone and will feel neglected."

Sasuke silently nodded as Itachi released his wrist and he took a moment to look at the watch. Itachi had gotten it when he was the same age as Sasuke now. It had been a gift from their parents when Itachi had graduated from high school early. Sasuke was confident this was the first time he had ever seen his brother not wearing it since the day it had been gifted to him.

As Sasuke admired the craftsmanship of the Rolex, Itachi reached out and began messing with Sasuke's collar. Pulling it out from under the sweater and straightening it. Then he moved down to the sleeves and rolled them up a couple of times. Once finished, he took a step back and gave a satisfied nod.

Sasuke looked at himself in the mirror and found himself for the first time that day, okay with what he saw. It wasn't anything he would normally dress himself with. But it gave him a fresh look that was still casual but certainly not at the level he would just hangout with friends. Before he had been trying too hard but now he felt like himself. And the watch that shined around his wrist gave him a sophisticated look.

"You should probably get going," Itachi said, grabbing at his wrist to look at the time. "You don't want to be late. But take your time walking over. You don't want to get there too early and rush her. Nor do you want to come off as having rushed over because you were running late."

Sasuke nodded then swallowed, making no move to go. It was then that Itachi's expression cracked and he gave his brother a half smirk of amusement.

"It's going to be fine. Make sure you are respectful and walk her all the way home, no splitting ways at the bus stop or dropping her off at the end of the street. You walk her to the door," Itachi said more seriously, to which Sasuke nodded. Itachi gave his own satisfied nod. "You have enough money."

Sasuke nodded as he patted his pockets and for a moment his eyes went wide as he began patting around his body, including places where he did not even have pockets. He was certain he was about to throw up before he glanced at his desk and spotted his wallet. Quickly he snatched it up and put it in his pocket.

Itachi's mouth twitched in amusement. "Alright, get going."

Sasuke nodded and made his way to his door. But before entering the hall, he paused at the threshold. "Itachi?" he said, causing Itachi to pause in his tidying of Sasuke's earlier wardrobe mess. "Thanks," Sasuke said plainly.

"Hn," Itachi hummed with a nod, watching his younger brother scamper off before he allowed an amused smile to show on his face.

A few minutes later he was interrupted when someone gallantly walked into the room without a care of the strict prohibition of trespassing that had been instituted since Sasuke was old enough to say no.

"Where is Sasuke going looking like a suave dapper Dan?" Shisui said, coming to a halt in the middle of the room as he sniffed the air. "And why does it smell like ten thousand yens worth of cologne in here?" His attention instantly shot to Itachi. "Is Sasuke going on a date?" he blurted.

Itachi cursed his cousin's knack for detective work as he ignored Shisui's question and went back to putting Sasuke's clothes away. He picked up the shirt Sasuke had been wearing before he intervened and shook it out. Immediately he cringed from the overpowering musky scent on it and deposited it into the laundry before taking up the basket and moving to exit the room, ignoring his cousin completely as he walked by.

Shisui gave him a slitted look of suspicion before following him out into the hall. "Itachiiiiiii," he drawled out as he pursued his younger cousin who went about domestically collecting laundry. "I know you won't lie so your silence tells me everything…" Shisui trailed off, waiting for his cousin to respond. When Itachi did not reply, Shisui quickly ran ahead and slammed his hand across the doorway Itachi was headed for, barring him from the laundry room. "Come on 'tachi, spill the beans! Where is he going?"

Itachi gave him an irritated look. "Leave him alone," Itachi said. "Just give them tonight and one of them will tell you."

"Ah-ha!" Shisui shouted, shoving a finger into Itachi's face. "So it is a date! And Sasuke does not…" Shisui drifted off as his mind began to process exactly what Itachi had said. "Wait a minute...Sasuke is on a date...you said one of them will…" His eyes widened into saucers and then took in a gasped breath as he connected everything. "You mean that little pigeon head actually asked her on a date!?"

Itachi knew that there was a high chance that if he did not divulge, Shisui being Shisui, would go straight to the source. And Itachi knew he would not wait for the source to return home, he would search for them. So he took a risk.

"Ah," he confirmed.

Shisui let out the smallest of squeaks, his hands going up to his cheeks as his features formed an unnatural look of excitement displayed by Uchiha features. Then he paused as a seriousness came over him.

"Wait...wait," Shisui reigned back, holding out a hand and suddenly Itachi felt like he was under interrogation by the look his cousin was giving him. "Did Sasuke actually ask Sakura on a date?"

"Yes."

"And she agreed. She was fully aware of what she was consenting to?

Itachi gave his cousin a quizzical look. "Yes."

"As in Sakura actually likes him?"

Itachi gave him a dead panned look. "If you didn't know how they both felt since they were twelve years old, then I worry for our judicial system."

"Hey! Don't go questioning my occupational methods," Shisui defended. He jammed his thumb into his own chest. "I am just trying to make sure we aren't dealing with a Stockholm syndrome case."

Itachi rolled his eyes and Shisui narrowed his.

"Hey, it is a perfectly valid theory considering the grouchy little bastard kidnapped her the first time they ever met!"

Itachi titled his head in consideration, Shisui had a point. However, "Shisui, I promise you, Sakura is of sound mind and of her own free will she has accepted to go on a date with Sasuke."

Shisui was quiet for a moment as he seemed to lag. Then suddenly he took in a deep gasp and Itachi cringed as his cousin let out a high pitched squeal. The moment he finished, he was scampering down the hallway exclaiming his disbelief as he shouted for his Auntie Mikoto and proclaiming he had wonderful news.

Itachi let out a heavy sigh. He had tried. Perhaps he could do better but at the same time, they all knew it was inevitable. He just hoped that his family was dignified enough to at least leave the poor couple alone tonight to enjoy each other before word burned through the grapevine like a forest fire. Because once word got fully out that Sasuke and Sakura had finally begun dating, he was positive neither of them would have a moment's rest. As clan leader, Madara will be breathing down Sasuke's neck and Itachi was positive Mikoto already had three volumes of wedding notebooks and multiple dresses put on hold for Sakura. Again Itachi shook his head at his family's antics but in full disclosure, he understood. Because deep down inside, he too shared an obsession with bringing Sakura into the family one way or another.

With his hereditary fuchsia hair, never ending collection of dad jokes, and the boisterous laugh that always followed his own jokes, Kizashi Haruno was by no means a man of intimidation. At least that is what Sasuke had always thought since he had met the man when he was five years old and hardly four feet tall.

Now, over a decade later and at nearly six feet tall, in this moment, Sasuke felt like he was four feet again as Kizashi stood in the doorway. The older man was looking at him through narrowed eyes as an ominous aura seeped from him that made his family look like softies.

For some reason, as Sasuke had walked up the pathway to her house and knocked on the door, Sasuke had envisioned things to run very similarly to when he had picked her up for the dance. He would knock, she would answer the door looking like a fresh spring nymph, his heart would skip a beat, he would compose himself, and then they would make their way down the steps. He had thought it through and planned for exactly that, rehearsed it in his head a thousand times on his walk to her house.

Which was exactly why when Kizashi answered the door, and not Sakura, he was thrown off.

"Is S-sakura here?" Did he just stutter?

Kizashi crossed his arms across his-what Sasuke was realising for the first time- large and muscular chest.

"So you're taking my daughter on a date?" Kizashi inquired.

Sasuke nodded and gave out a signature 'hn'. And while that kind of behavior had been tolerated and accepted over the years, tonight was different. Sasuke wasn't just a friend coming to hang out, he was a suiter. And no matter how well Kizashi knew the Uchiha's and accepted their odd behaviors, this response did not sit well with him at the moment.

"What was that?" the fuschia haired man said, his tone dripping in a warning.

"Yes!" Sasuke quickly found himself vocalizing. When Kizashi raised a brow, Sasuke found himself adding a respectful 'sir' afterwards.

Kizashi's eyes ran up and down Sasuke, giving him an inspection as if this was the first time they had ever met. Under his gaze Sasuke quickly straightened up, doing his best to not be obvious as he wiped his clammy palms on his jeans.

"And where will you be taking her?"

"The movies?"

"Is that a question or a statement?"

Sasuke swallowed, unsure of how he felt about this new version of Kizashi. "We are going to the movies, sir."

"Which one?"

"Road to Ninja."

"What time does it start?"

"7:00."

"And when will you have her back?"

"11:00."

There was a heavy long pause as Kizashi pulled out his phone and tapped at it for a few seconds. Sasuke, unsure of what to do just silently stood and watched as Kizashi typed, selected, then paused. He seemed to read the screen for a moment then looked back up at Sasuke.

"That movie is only an hour and forty-nine minutes. Which means the movie should be over by nine at the latest with previews. The bus runs every fifteen minutes and the route only takes thirty minutes," Kizashi calculated out loud. "If you get done with the movie at 9:00, you should be able to catch the bus by 9:15 and be back at the corner of the street by 9:45. Walking briskly you could be at the doorstep in five minutes flat." Kizashi took a towering step forward and looked down at Sasuke with a dark menace. "So what exactly do you intend to do to my blossom in that extra hour一"

"DAD!" Came a horrified screech from behind. "What are you doing? I told you I was on my way down when the bell rang."

Kizashi turned around to reveal a shocked and embarrassed looking Sakura.

"What?" Kizashi asked innocently. "Just having a nice chat with your date." Kizashi's large hand came to rest on Sasuke's shoulder, his fingers digging in tightly as he looked at him. "Right Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded mutely.

"And you will have her home by...what time was it again?"

"9:50."

Kizashi gave a nod. "No later than 10:00," he said, tightening his grasp on Sasuke's shoulder. He then looked to Sakura. "Sakura, did you remember to pack that spray? And do you have that whistle that I一"

"OH MY GOSH DAD!" Sakura exclaimed, pushing past him and shoving Sasuke down the stairs in a hurry. "Please just go inside!"

She rushed them down the cobblestone path that led them to the street and did not stop or stall until they were at the end of the street just in time to board the bus, the doors closing shut right behind her as she pushed Sasuke forward. Sasuke glanced back at the last moment to see Kizashi standing at the gate of their house with his arms crossed. When he noticed Sasuke look back, the older man gestured with his fingers that he was watching the Uchiha.

By the time he recovered from his encounter with a whole new Kizashi, they were half way down the road before Sasuke was able to take a moment to actually take Sakura in. They stood in the back, Sakura clutching to the metal pole that ran from floor to ceiling as she stared out the window, her eyes watching the transition of suburban housing turn to city businesses. Sasuke stood next to her as he held onto the rail above them, his chest occasionally bumping into her shoulder when the bus stopped or sped up with the flow of traffic.

His dark eyes ran over her. A loose knitted sweater kept her warm, the red color of the thread's pairing with the charcoal scarf that wrapped around her elegant neck. A black skirt hung from her hips as a pair of black tights kept her legs warm with the pair of boots that were laced up around her ankles. At first glance she seemed calm and at ease, but her knees bent and straightened repeatedly as she stood restlessly while her knuckles protruded out as she grasped tightly to the metal bar she held onto.

There was something calming about the knowledge of not being the only one nervous that gave Sasuke the confidence to chance a glance at her face. Her hair and makeup were done in her usual style which made him feel a bit braver with the familiarity.

"You look nice."

His words caused her to finally break her focus on the moving cars outside of the bus as she looked at him. First startled by the sudden break in silence then nervously as her face turned crimson and she tucked in her chin, biting at her bottom lip. The action had Sasuke's body doing funny things but those feelings were neglected when she gave a response.

"Thanks," she said, glancing at him. "You too."

He held her gaze for a moment as he tried to form a response or some other words. When he didn't, Sakura's mouth opened but was cut off when the bus driver slammed on the brakes and had Sakura jolting forward. Sasuke managed to catch her in his arms at the last moment as her face pressed into his chest. When the bus began to accelerate, Sasuke's footing faltered again and he grasped onto her tightly with his free arm as he braced himself on the railing above them.

After a moment, Sakura pulled away from him slightly, her green eyes looking up at him as her cheeks took on the same hue as her sweater. Automatically he raised his hand and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear which had her biting at her lip again which in turn had his stomach fluttering. Simultaneously they each nervously separated themselves, Sasuke helping her regain her grasp and balance as he focused on the passenger notice overhead as he tried to ignore the thundering beating within his chest.

It was all a blur as to what entailed the rest of the bus ride, their disembarking of the bus, standing in line for tickets, the concession stand, and sitting through the reel of cheesy reminders to silence cell phones. He could have sworn he just blinked and next thing he knew, he was sitting in a dark theater with a tub of neglected popcorn in his lap and Sakura holding a soda sitting so close yet so far away from him.

He was sitting straight backed with his arms to his side as his knee bounced rapidly, the heel of his shoe tapping against the sticky ground of their aisle. The palm of his hand rested on his thigh as he kept his elbows in tightly so as to create space between himself and the arm rest separating himself with Sakura, unsure if it would be rude if he used it or if he would come off too strongly. All of this despite the fact that he went to the movies all the time with her and had never once thought about such considerations.

He had hardly paid any attention to the action packed movie playing before him and when his mind became conscious of the space between himself, his eyes darted down from the screen to the section of space between their chairs. It was then that his heart skipped a beat when he noticed Sakura's hand was resting on the seat cushion when the glow of the screen brightened as the scene displayed an explosion which he hardly reacted to.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke glanced as Sakura, who seemed deeply absorbed into the battle scene playing out before them. His eyes darted back down to her hand and the words of his everly annoying cousin echoed in his mind.

"It's all about being smooth in your moves," Shisui had once told him back when his cousin first started bragging about his lady skills. "Nothing is more attractive when a guy takes initiative and just takes a girl's hand like it's no big deal. It secures a feeling of safety while creating a connection. Chicks dig that shit."

Sasuke was not exactly sure how sound Shisui's advice was but with the vast amount of dates Shisui always had, his cousin had to be doing something right...right?

Sasuke swallowed and stared down at the small space of the seat cushion between them. Regardless of Shisui's advice and proclamation, Sasuke himself wanted to feel that. He wanted to feel a connection wanted to separate tonight from all the hundreds of times they had gone to a movie together. While he had first thought a movie would be good because he would not have to speak, he was finding a flaw. There was no connection or bond that was being formed between them. If anything it was no different than as if Naruto was here.

Licking nervously at his dry lips, Sasuke shifted in his seat. He did his best not to draw attention but also make it seem natural. Bending over, he set the half eaten bucket of popcorn down on the ground then sat back up, dragging his hand across his jeans to rid them of the clammy feeling of his palms before settling his hand down on the cushion next to himself. As he settled he glanced once to Sakura who had glanced at him, gave him a quick smile, then looked at the screen as she too slightly shifted.

She settled down, Sasuke noticed that her hand had slightly moved, just a little closer and was now just a few inches from his own. Ignoring his dry mouth, Sasuke subtly moved his fingers. With his face tilted towards the screen but his eyes focused on his peripheral vision, his fingers crept towards her's.

His breath hitched when his pinky finger grazed hers and he froze when Sakura startled at the contact. She shifted and Sasuke found himself focusing on the screen, not daring to move and certainly not willing to look her way.

Was he moving too quickly? He was tempted to instantly pull out his phone and google at which date it was okay to hold hands, but then that would fall under Itachi's violation of looking at his phone. And it would not exactly be subtle is such a darkened theater.

Just before Sasuke began to wish that the seat would just swallow him after the rejection, there was a bright flash on the screen and he glanced down at his hand. And there he saw Sakura's just an inch away from him, laying at the side of her thigh, palm up and so looking inviting.

Then it hit him. It was not exactly the most comfortable or natural way for a hand to rest and a thought came to him. Was she wanting him to hold her hand?

Sasuke peeked at Sakura just in time to catch her eyes dart down to their ever so slightly distanced hands then he saw her fingers twitch. Looking back towards the screen, Sasuke began to slide his hand across the seat cushion, millimeter by millimeter, until the tips of his fingers grazed against her smooth skin. He froze the moment he made contact and waited with baited breath for her to move. But she didn't. In fact he could have sworn her hand slightly moved closer, her fingers opening up more.

He swallowed, knowing it was now or never. He could not pull away now. Nor could he wait too long and risk her eventually giving up for him to make a move. So he did. Reaching out he moved his hand over hers, his fingers threading through hers lightly before securing more tightly upon feeling her own fingers respond to his grasp in likeness.

He did not dare look at her when her head turned and he felt her gaze fall onto him. Instead he leaned on the armrest, his free hand covering his mouth as he focused on the screen, grateful for the darkness of the theater to cover the burning heat that was rising in his cheeks. The final battle was only a blur of moving color to him as his entire mind was focused solely on remaining cool and collected. All while he ignored the thundering of his heart and hoping she could not feel his racing pulse in his wrist as it rested against her own wrist where their hands were entwined.

To his relief, upon the ending of the movie as they emerged from the dark theater towards the lobby to exit the building, there was a certain ease he felt as they walked together hand in hand. They moved together through the crowd that flowed from their theater, herding down the hall as they passed by a line of upcoming blockbuster posters. When they reached the lobby with its fragrant smell of buttered popcorn and oddly colored floor of crushed candies cemented into the questionably selected carpet pattern, Sasuke took the lead.

Still holding tightly to her hand, he maneuvered them through the crowd of late night showings until he reached the door and the coolness of the night hit him in the face, reminding him of just how overly warm he had been all night. As they waited for the bus, Sakura animatedly spoke about the movie. Expressing how the main characters were so similar to their own friends yet just slightly off. Sasuke, having not gleaned but two seconds of the plot only 'hn'd and ah'ed through their conversation as he always did when he was listening to her voice. All the while he was fully conscious of their entwined fingers and he wondered if the faint pink in her cheeks was from being in the overly warm theater or if like him, had a different reason to be flushed.

Then the bus arrived and at his reluctance, Sasuke had to release Sakura's hand when they boarded to head home. And when the connection of their hands was severed in lieu of boarding the bus, there was a new tension. Sasuke found himself hesitating to reach out again.

As they stood on the bus, grasping onto the handholds to stabilize themselves, Sasuke could not help but be fully conscious that Sakura's left hand remained dangling empty at her side. Unfortunately unlike in the theater, he was not sure if this was in invitation or a natural habit. Regardless, the light strips of the bus overhead made him feel far more exposed and intimidated than in the darkness of the theater. Not to mention the prying eyes of the old woman that was sitting a few rows from where they stood, her withered mouth curling knowling up at them.

He glared at the woman and her assuming expression which only seemed to entertain her, not intimidate, as she chuckled to herself. Sasuke looked away from her, feeling mocked. And Sasuke did not appreciate being mocked. Especially when he was feeling vulnerable like he had all night.

Spurred by the challenge to prove himself, Sasuke reached out and grabbed onto Sakura's hand, lacing his fingers between hers with a firm grip. He did not dare look at her. Not in all this light. But his pulse thudded wildly when in the corner of his eye he caught her looking up at him in surprise.

For a moment he panicked but then she leaned closer, her own fingers curling around his as her hand relaxed naturally in his.

Sasuke could not help but cast a smug smirk at the older woman who merely winked at him which threw him off and he found himself growing warm again as he became hyper aware of every point in which his body and Sakura's were making contact. Their palms pressing together, the interlacing of their fingers, her finger tips curling around to the back of his hand, his thumb which on its own accord was rubbing against the smooth skin of her hand, and finally their shoulders bumping against each other with the sway of the bus.

He didn't risk releasing her hand when they departed. Instead he led her down the stairs, bringing his arm around his back as he led her out to allow the connection to remain, too afraid that if it was severed he would not be able to muster the bravery for a third time tonight.

They walked in silence down her street and when they reached the stone wall that enclosed the front property of her house, Sasuke paused. Sakura halted and looked back at him when she felt the gentle pull of his hand to signal her to stop as well. Sasuke felt his mouth go dry as she looked up at him. He wasn't sure why, he had seen her like this dozens of times but there was just something about tonight that made her even more...lovely.

Sakura looked down at their feet where she shifted and dug the toe of one of her boots into the cement sidewalk. "Thanks for tonight," she said, looking up at him again and making his pulse falter.

All he could do was nod.

Sakura's head turned to the opening of the gate where the porch light flooded the opening, no doubt left on by her father who would be positioned at a window with a pair of binoculars. When she turned back around, she was biting at her lip nervously. Sasuke could read the hesitancy. It was time for her to go, but he could tell she didn't want to. And neither did he want to leave her...at least not just yet. There was one more thing that had been on his mind since earlier this week after the unexplainable success of his disaster of a confession.

He glanced around, finding the darkened alcove created by the wild vines that were slowly overtaking the tall wall that ran down in front of all the homes of the street. Without a word, he moved towards it, gently guiding her into the alcove. His eyes cast around the neighborhood for a moment, surveying for a possibility of prying eyes.

Confident that they had their privacy, Sasuke turned back to her. He gave her a moment of his full attention, taking in what little of her face he could see in the dim light in before raising a hand to her cheek and swooping in to press his mouth to hers.

He was not sure how long or little he let his lips linger against hers but it was not long enough before he was pulling away. His dark eyes studied her closely as he withdrew, looking for any signs that such actions were unwanted. She looked slightly shocked, mostly surprised by his unannounced intention but then he saw the slight pull of her lips upwards he relaxed. He watched her fingers go up to press against her lips, as if savoring the lingering feeling that he himself could feel against his own mouth.

Pleased by this reaction, a confidence overtook him in seeing such a result of his actions and he could not help but smirk. Without a word and feeling much more satisfied with ending the night now, he began guiding her back into the light of the street and through the open gate.

He led her up to the steps, right to the front door just as Itachi had instructed him. For another moment they paused, Sasuke looking down at Sakura who was still blushing faintly. He gave her hand a squeeze, signaling for her attention and she looked up at him.

"Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

She had said his name with the same letters and suffix countless times in his life in just as many different ways. Yet somehow, she still managed to make those syllables tonight sound like they never had before. The musical tone and the way she seemed to sing it out with a warmth he had yet to know. It had his mind going blank as it craved to hear that sound repeatedly for the rest of his life.

And as tempted as he was to beg her to repeat it, instead he released her hand after one more squeeze and slowly began back down the stairs. "Sleep well, Sakura," he bid, his voice creating its own responsive tone when he said her name. And he could see it in her eyes, just before she nodded and went inside that she had heard what he had as well.

It was obvious neither fully understood the depth or meaning of it. Their adolescent and young hearts still not developed enough to fully grasp the concepts of what they would one day feel. But Sasuke felt the humming energy within himself the entire walk home, his body buzzing and wild with enticement to someday learn what exactly this all meant for them.

Unfortunately, such exuberance was doused the moment he walked up his driveway and spotted an unwelcomed sight.

Shisui was leaning against the support column at the front of Sasuke's house, a wide smirk plastered against his face as his eyes glinted mercilessly. "Hey Saucey," Shishui called out as Sasuke's feet faltered at the sight of his cousin. "How was your date?"

In the window, Sasuke could see his mother peeking out, her face one of pure excitement as she failed to subtly peek out at him. He felt his phone vibrate within his pocket and since arriving at Sakura's house earlier that night, he pulled it out from his pocket.

A quick glance at his screen showed he had an unread message from his brother, the preview looking to be some kind of warning message, then another one from Naruto. Above it, the most recent was one from Sakura. However, before he could even open the message, his phone lit up with an incoming call. The name attached was Madara.

Sasuke let out a long sigh, and yet he could not find himself to be quite as bothered as expected. It was all worth dealing with, he thought to himself as the image of Sakura's lip biting smile and the lingering feeling of her cherry glossed lips tingled across his mouth.

That start of something was all he needed to face his family and endure their torture in the best way Sasuke knew how. He pressed his thumb against the decline button on his phone, then walked towards the front porch, passing by Shisui completely ignored as if he was an unseen ghost. The only one he could not completely ignore was his mother. So after slamming the door in his cousin's face and securing the bolt lock into place, he prepared himself for the gushing inquiries of his mother, offering her simple answers that satisfied her just enough so he could finally be released to his room.

It was then and only then, that he was able to pull his phone out again and open the text from Sakura. A message in which he responded immediately and for two hours they texted back and forth about absolutely nothing before one of them had fallen asleep after the promise that next weekend they would be going to the small carnival that was coming to their neighborhood together.

Bonus:

With a large bucket of freshly popped and heavily buttered popcorn in one hand, and a prized movie ticket in another, Kakashi Hatake turned away from the concession stand to make his way to the designated theater for the midnight showing of book-to-movie adaptation of Icha Icha Paradise. Determined to take advantage of his early arrival to choose the perfect seat in which to view what he had already deemed the movie of the decade, he managed to lift his eyes from the ticket stub in his hand to avoid a crowd of people pouring into the lobby from a recently finished showing of another movie as they made their way towards the exit.

He was just about to recheck the theater number when a familiar sight of a certain pastel color contrasting with a midnight shade had him pausing. At first he did not believe what he was seeing.

It was not unusual for him to spot his students at the movies on a friday night. In fact he had seen these particular two students of his several times only usually accompanied with a certain boisterous blonde to form the infamous trio among his students. But it was not the odd absence of Naruto that had him dropping his bucket of popcorn on the floor as he stared at the youth. It was the entwined fingers of the pair that had him completely frozen in shock.

Kakashi did not dare to blink, fearful that he would find his wide eyes were playing tricks on him. But when his eyes began to feel dry, his body involuntarily blinked in reaction and he found his eyes were not deceiving him, he still could not believe what he was seeing.

Sasuke and Sakura were holding hands.

Kakashi watched as Sasuke's dark eyes cast around, sharply looking for a route in which to guide his pink haired companion. As Sasuke's gaze moved around the lobby, Kakashi caught his eye. The young Uchiha seemed to freeze for a moment then Kakashi watched as Sasuke ducked his head down and Kakashi saw the red tint burning in his ears as they passed by, Sakura oblivious as she seemed to be slightly more chatty as she nervously talked about what Kakashi assumed was the movie they had just seen. When the crowd had cleared and the lobby was empty, Kakashi dazedly returned to the concession stand for a refill of his spilt bucket of popcorn.

Once restocked, the mature aged educator all but skipped down the hall to his theater. He settled himself in the middle center seat, assuring himself of the optimal acoustic and prime viewing experience. And as he sat in the empty theater, two and half hours early of the showing, Kakashi giggled to himself every five minutes when a rise of giddiness took over each time he recalled what he had just witnessed.

"Finally," he muttered to himself, mentally rewriting the next week's entire curriculum to better suit the new developments of his students, not caring how irrelevant the materials may be to their actual education. There were more important things at hand.

Chapter Text

It was that time in their final year of high school when students met with their mentors. A time when they sat down and discussed the ominous subject of post graduation life. It was exciting but also a panic driving, anxiety triggering weight that hung over every senior's shoulders. With each passing week and term, it grew heavier and heavier.

And while the adolescents approached the life marker that bridged the gap between childhood and adulthood, it was a teacher's job to help their students prepare themselves for that day. The day when they would cross a stage in front of all of those that had been in their lives thus far, family friends, and mentors, where they were expected to spread their wings and fly effortlessly into the sky and smoothly sail into adulthood.

And while far too many adults were happy to put that pressure of expectation over any barely legal individual, despite knowing that adulthood was no breeze, Kakashi Hatake and a handful of co-workers were not one of them. He was more than aware of the forceful hurricane he was about to throw those his fledgling students into where they would be forced to beat their wings furiously and hope they weather the storm. As an educator and mentor, he was not about to let them fail right off the bat. He was going to prepare them for the whirlwind life was about to throw at them.

Despite his determination to stay as uninvolved and impartial to his teaching and his students, every once in a while, Kakashi found himself more fond of certain students than others. It was never to the point that he showed favoritism or unfair grading on their behalf, he treated all his students equally when it came to academics. However, there were a few that he felt drawn to in trying to help more than others when it came to the guidance into adulthood.

It was always random and various selections of his students in which he did this. He was also very particular when he got involved in his students' personal lives. Normally he only allowed the bare minimum that a teacher should be involved in, like career advice, taking note of students who could benefit from speaking with the school counselor, and making sure that the welfare of his students was being protected both inside and outside of school. At any time he saw something not right, he took action when such securities were being violated.

Those were his strict rules when it came to getting personally involved with students. Being ex-military, Kakashi knew the rules were there to ensure a mission was a success. And for a long time Kakashi had once been firm when it came to following rules. Even when he first became a teacher he had been lawfully obedient to the rules he set before himself. However, over the past couple of years he had found himself realizing that such methods were inhibiting his ability to fully prepare his students for their futures. He found himself preparing them for the journey down a path that would be most beneficial to them, not just scholarly, but in every aspect of their life. For if there was one thing he had learned in his many wanderings of the road of life, obtaining joy was not always black and white.

So when it came that time of the year when he sat down, one on one with his assigned students that he was to mentor in their career paths, he took his position very seriously. Guiding them to their dreams but also keeping them grounded so not as to set them up for failure at the end of their road.

Kakashi sat at his desk watching the blonde boy half seated in the chair. A heavy exhaustion overtook the silver haired teacher just watching the boy fidgeting around in his seat.

He had started as expected of anyone about to take on the responsibility of making decisions that would impact his entire future. Back straight, feet on the ground, hands in his lap. This lasted about thirty second before he began to slouch, then crossed his legs, then turned the chair backwards and straddled it. Now he was currently leaning back on two chair legs with his hands cradling the back of his head as his attention moved back and forth between the window to outside and the school hallway. One second he was watching the gym class outside playing soccer in the field and the next he was curiously watching the student that passed by the classroom as they walked down the hall.

For Kakashi, just watching his student's head moving back and forth made him dizzy.

Shaking his head and looking away from the hyperactive teen, Kakashi pulled out a piece of paper from a folder and began to fill it out.

Name: Uzumaki, Naruto

Age: 18

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 2.5

Advisor: Hatake, Kakashi

Once the top of the form was filled out, Kakashi moved onto the first section: career goals.

"Alright Mr. Uzumaki, today we are going to talk about what you will do after graduation next term. Are you ready to focus?" Kakashi began, causing the young student's attention to snap to him as he tipped his chair forward so all four legs touched the ground and straightened up. It was still not the most professional of postures, but it was good enough. "Let's start with your career interests, what do you see yourself going into?"

"I am going to be mayor of this town," Naruto said, jabbing himself in the chest with a confident thumb. "And then maybe even become president!"

"Alright," Kakashi commented, jotting down some notes. "And what do you plan to do if elected? What are your views and policies?"

"Um...protect the citizens and take down the bad people," Naruto said nobly.

Kakashi raised a quizzical brow. Did this kid think Konoha was Gotham City or something?

Kakashi let out a long sigh. "Yes, protecting the city from bad people is all well and good, but do you know what that would entail for you as an elected official? You're not going to be fighting crime by beating up sketchy people like some vigilantly. Being an official means giving speeches, writing laws, and meet一''

Naruto's eyes seemed to glaze over and Kakashi found himself snapping his fingers to regain his student's focus.

"Naruto," he said, grasping his attention. "What I mean is it's going to take a lot of focus and effort to accomplish this. You will be going up against a lot of high officials and strong personalities. Some good people you can trust and others manipulative and deceiving. You will have to be able to distinguish between them. Anything you say, people will hold you accountable for. You can't just promise things and expect them to happen, you have to plan, implement, and adjust."

Naruto suddenly stood up and placed his hands on Kakashi's desk, his bright blue eyes alight with a burning determination as a resolve took over his persona. "I am going to be the greatest president that ever lived! I'm not going to run away from a challenge. I will never back down on my word because that is the true presidential way! Believe it!"

There was a long drawn out silence as Kakashi looked at possibly his most struggling student in every way, and finding himself already casting his vote for the elections to come. He was easily distracted, struggled with nearly every subject, and seemed to lack any initiative in scholastics. But he had a heart of gold that could be trusted to ensure the wellbeing for everyone.

"Alright," Kakashi said, gesturing for his student to sit back down. He picked up his pencil and looked down at the next section on the form. "Let's talk about your steps of achieving this. What have you planned so far?"

"Get elected," Naruto stated confidently without giving any indication that he knew there was far more to a campaign than the votes.

It took Kakashi everything within him to not facepalm right in front of his student. Why he assumed Naruto would know anything about campaigning and running debates, despite the fact that he knew full well that Naruto attended nearly everyone of his fathers rallies, was beyond him.

"How about I just put you down for getting a degree in political science with a minor in public speech. Maybe doing a summer internship at the capitol building."

"Science?" Naruto parroted dumbly. "What does science have to do with being mayor? And I already know how to speak. Why would I need a class that teaches you how to speak?"

At that, Kakashi slumped forward as his face met his hand. It was going to be a long, long day.

Name: Haruno, Sakura

Age: 17

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 4.0

Advisor: Hatー

"I want to go into the medical field," Sakura proclaimed before Kakashi had even finished filling out the top of her form.

Kakashi looked up, surveyed her for a moment, then nodded. There was not a doubt in his mind that she was qualified for such a career. She excelled in her classes and according to her aptitude test, she fit within the profession. He started writing some notes on her form.

"That is a good choice, it's a growing field and I have no doubt you would excel and contribute to the profession." He looked up at her. "However, it is quite a large field, have you narrowed it down at all to any specific position within that field?" he asked, grabbing a folder and pulling out a few papers.

"I would really like to be a doctor, specializing in pediatrics. I would major in biology for my bachelors while working on any additional prerequisites for medical school. Possibly do a double major in early childhood development or psychology. Then when I graduate I could take the entrance exams and start medical school immediately," Sakura informed without a single hesitation or second thought as to what she needed to do. "Ideally I would like to attend Konoha University but Suna has a good program and I have family there already. But Mist academy in the islands could be an option too if I didn't get into either. It's not as prestigious but still accredited. I probably wouldn't get to work in a big hospital in the city, but I know plenty of small town doctors that make a great impact in the communities that would be just as fulfilling."

Kakashi paused in his shuffling of paperwork and looked up at her. She was seated perfectly in her seat with her uniform looking perfectly in place as if she was interviewing for actual enrollment of Konoha University and not in front of her high school counselor who had not even bothered to change out of his grey sweatpants that morning.

She held a confidence in her posture that had developed and shone brighter over the years. Her green eyes brimming with intelligence and her young face full of enlightened thrill as she discussed her future plans. It made what he had to address all the harder.

"Sakura, I do not doubt you will not be able to get into any school you wanted to. You have an outstanding academic record, your extra curricular activities show you can handle a heavy workload, and you are personable with anyone you speak with." Sakura seemed to beam at his praise which made the next words he wanted to say all the more sour to speak. "However, those schools are extremely expensive…"

It was no secret that Sakura did not come from the same "stock" as the rest of the students that attended the academy. Every year there was a selection of scholarship students granted to attend the school for free. Sakura was one of them.

And while the Uchiha family had a heavy pull in the selection and decision of that pool, Kakashi knew she did not need their connections to attain such a scholarship herself. The school was lucky to have a student like her.

However, university was different. She was competing against a much larger pool of candidates in need for financial aid that contributed and shined just as much as she did. He believed Sakura could accomplish what she needed, but he worried about the financial burden. School was not cheap. And with the extensive schooling she would need, he knew it would be difficult even with scholarships. But even as he suggested such a roadblock in her future, Sakura did not even hesitate.

Immediately she reached for her backpack and began to pull out papers and forms. "I know I will probably have to take out a student loan when I go into medical school, but…" She began fanning the paper out on his desk. "I already called financial aid and I should qualify for a grant each year." She pointed to a stack of papers that looked like various applications. "Then I found all of these scholarships, some of them are not much but if I could get a few of them that could at least pay for my books. And if I go to school here in Konoha I don't need to pay for student housing. I can just take the subway to the other side of the city. I will probably have to leave early and get home late but I can just study on the train ride and it won't be too bad. Even if I get into my second choice I have family there that would allow me to stay with them for at least a cheaper rate than getting an apartment." She unfolded a pamphlet and handed it to him for a certification program at a smaller hospital in the city." I found this program and if I start it right after graduation, I should be able to finish the nine week program before terms start and become a nursing assistant. The pay would be better than a regular job and it would be great experience in the field to see if I really want to go into it before making such a big investment…"

As Kakashi listened to Sakura plan out her entire ten year plan and pulled out more resources that he had himself to help his students, Kakashi realized that there was nothing more he could guide her in. She had already figured it out. And knowing her, she most likely had this all figured out in her freshman year of high school.

"Well it seems like you have everything in order. Honestly, I don't think there is really anything more than I can do for you," he admitted. To his confusion, this seemed to disappoint Sakura, as if she had been hoping for some guidance from him. It was not as if he didn't want to help her...he just didn't think there was anything else that he could offer to her. But then an idea came to his mind. "I have a connection. Are you familiar with Tsunade Senju?"

Sakura's eyes lit up in nearly utter disbelief and he could see a hunger that he was not sure he had ever seen in his student before.

"Of course I know of her. Tsunade Senju is the most renowned surgeon on this side of the globe!" Sakura said, so much sanctity coming through her voice that Kakashi could tell Sakura did not just know who Doctor Senju was, she idolized her.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Well then…"

After promising that he would reach out to her, Kakashi felt much more comfortable with ending their counseling session feeling like he was able to at least help her find a mentor after him. Though he was confident that Sakura would no doubt make herself known to the Senju woman by her own merits without his introduction.

As she exited the room and he finished his notes and paper work before his next student came in, Kakashi found himself not feeling worried for the pinkette what-so-ever, he knew she would make it. She had the perseverance and the resources. Combining that, with her natural talent and intelligence, she would make it. She wasn't just able, but she was a natural for this, just like Naruto. He was not worried about either of them.

Name: Uchiha, Sasuke

Age: 17

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 3.0

Advisor: Hatake, Kakashi

The scratch of Kakashi's pen halted as he finished filling out the top of the form and he set down the writing instrument, folded his fingers, and looked at the unhappy looking student that now occupied the chair across from him.

Tick

Tick

Tick

The clock above the door was the only sound as Kakashi looked over his desk to the dark haired Uchiha. Kakashi had dealt with his fair share of Uchiha's over the years, all of them giving him a varied difficulty. Obito was too energized and never knew when to give up or take a hint. Shisui was too much of a smart ass who could not take anything seriously enough. And Itachi had been a wizened old man trapped in a teenager's body that took things too seriously. However despite their contrasting personalities that hid between near identical family features, when Sasuke came under his tutelage, Kakashi had thought he had them all figured out. But it turned out, he was severely wrong.

Sasuke was highly intelligent like his brother but only ever bothered with the bare minimum, scoring high on his tests but picking and choosing what assignments to do. Yet his grades never suffered because he was so calculative. He was too smart for his own good. He was possibly the most popular kid in the entire school yet probably had the fewest amount of people he would truly claim as friends.

"So where do you see yourself going after graduation?" Kakashi began.

Sasuke was silent. Then shrugged his shoulders.

Kakashi frowned behind the medical mask he wore over the lower half of his face. He knew this interview would not be as easy flowing as his previous ones, but he had expected at least a little more participation from the brooding student. Then again, he had been noticing something off about Sasuke.

Over the past three and a half years, Kakashi had watched the boy slowly open up and develop into a nearly functional young adult. He had looked over his records from middle school and noted the blackened history of fights, failing grades, and reprimands.

The kid had an entire folder full of demerits and disciplinary actions taken from multiple fights and uncooperative behavior as a student. His first year was a little rocky, but by his sophomore year, after sitting next to Sakura and numerous "study" dates, Sasuke had developed an adequate behavior. There had only been one time last year when Sasuke had come to school one day with a bruised jaw, split lip, and swollen knuckles. It had not taken a genius to figure out that such injuries were no doubt also connected to the red haired boy who sat behind who seemed to have matching injuries. It was later that week that Kakashi had been blessed with the most glorious encounter and reason for the jealous glares that Gaara had shot towards the dark haired rival for Sakura's love interest. And now here he was, grades slipping again, uncooperative, frequent unexcused absences, and tight lipped.

After a full five minutes of silence. Kakashi let out a sigh and leaned forward on his desk, giving Sasuke a hard look. "Sasuke, what's going on?"

Sasuke's dark eyes seemed to take on a hard luster as he shifted in his seat, taking on a defensive posture.

"Nothing."

Kakashi gave the Uchiha teen a pointed look.

"Just put me down for going into business."

"Do you want to major in business?"

Sasuke shrugged.

Kakashi sighed.

Kakashi looked into Sasuke's career path file that had slowly become more full over the years. Leafing through the papers he paused at some older forms from the previous year. "I know last year you wrote down that your plans were to major in business. I know we talked about joining the business association club here at the school and signed you up. But the team captain said you stopped coming to the meetings at the end of last term."

Sasuke shrugged. "Wasn't like they ever did anything."

"They went on a ski trip in the winter."

"Selling candy bars so you can go on a sky trip is fundraising, not business," Sasuke said dryly. "How is any of that supposed to help me run a conglomerate that probably owned the ski lodge they went to?"

"It probably doesn't," Kakashi agreed, "but it builds up your college resume. But you don't seem to be fully invested in the idea. You know just because you already got accepted into the business program, does not mean you have to go into business. Konoha University offers a wide selection of studー"

"I didn't get accepted."

"ーdies…" Kakashi seemed to struggle to process what Sasuke's interruption meant. "I am sorry I think I am misunderstanding. You haven't heard back from Konoha University yet? Early acceptances should have been sent out last month. Did you miss the email?"

"I didn't get an email," Sasuke replied. "And I don't expect to."

Kakashi stared at the dark haired Uchiha, perplexed. While there were many variances in Uchiha's there were certain things that were set into stone. They all had hair and eyes in varying shades of onyx, midnight sky, and charcoaled coal. They all had a knack for anything they set their minds to. And they were always the first choice of Konoha University.

"That can't be right," Kakashi said in confusion. "Perhaps there was a mistake, maybe the email was missed...if not, you should be getting your acceptance this week when everyone else does."

"Not if I never applied."

"..." Kakashi blinked at Sasuke, now wondering if he wasn't just misunderstanding but also needed to get his ears checked. Because he was positive Sasuke had said he had not applied to college. "What? But I wrote you a letter of recommendation? I gave it directly to you a week before it was due." While Kakashi was late for many things, he never let his tardiness jeopardize a student's future.

"I never submitted it."

Kakashi's single visible eye widened. "WHY THE HELL NOT?"

There was a short pause that followed Kakashi's outburst and he quickly cleared his throat. He wasn't exactly the best of role models for his class, he knew better than to fully burst out loud. But there was something about Sasuke Uchiha that infuriated him when he seemed to constantly and purposefully sabotage himself with poor choices.

Sasuke was silent for a long time and Kakashi could see the struggle that the surly teenager was having between spitefully staying silent or opening up and confiding. Sasuke shifted in the straight backed chair and shoved his hands into his pockets as he focused his attention on the window as he looked through the large window panes. But it was obvious his obsidian eyes were not focusing on anything.

"It was the day Itachi went to the hospital," he quietly admitted.

Kakashi did not need him to explain any further. This past year Sasuke's ever improving grades and focus took a plummet when Sasuke was pulled early from school due to a family emergency. Kakashi had learned later it was because of Sasuke's brother having collapsed and taken to the hospital.

He had always been aware of Itachi's condition in his lungs because of the school records. However it had been a mild case and Itachi had hardly missed any more school than his other students. It was easy to forget he was even sick with how much he excelled both academically and physically. But it seemed time caught up and things had progressed...quickly.

Sasuke's head turned away from the window and he leaned forward, resting his hands in front of his face. "I overheard my uncle speaking with my father...he wants me to take over the business."

Kakashi raised his brow in surprise. "That is certainly impressive. You must have proven yourself and Madara can see your potential."

Sasuke's dark eyes flickered up to Kakashi and narrowed. "The company belongs to Itachi. It's always been Itachi," he stated, a strange tone taking over. One that was full of anger and frustration.

"Some things are not always set in stone. Perhaps Itachi was always the obvious choice. He excels at everything and his talents are easy to see...but that does not mean you do not hold anything less than him," Kakashi stated. "You have always been just as gifted as your brother and it seems people are noticing. You should be proudー"

Sasuke was shaking his head vigorously. "Well I don't want it. That is Itachi's! They are just...they are just acting as if he isn't going to get better...as if he will…"

Sasuke's mouth clamped shut and he looked down at his hands. Kakashi took in the tense shoulders and tight grip of Sasuke's hands, his knuckles turning white from the strain.

It took one to know one. Kakashi Hatake was never good at expressing himself which made it easy for him to spot the signs. While his past was certainly different from what Sasuke was currently going through, the memory of that lost feeling was deeply ingrained in him. For it was that lost feeling that had brought him down the path he did.

Without pressing the subject further or offering any other words as he knew nothing he could say would alleviate the pain and stress of his student, Kakashi pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out a pamphlet.

"Here," Kakashi said, holding the folded cardstock out to him. "Take a look at this."

Sasuke reached forward and to the brochure that Kakashi held out for him. He watched as the teenager examined the cover page, his dark eyes pinching together before his eyes flickered up to his teacher.

"The military?"

"It's something that you could consider. There are a lot of opportunities that open up with it and it can lead you to unexpected places that are suited for you," Kakashi stated. "I am not saying it's for everyone...you should certainly put some weighted thought into it. But there is nothing wrong with taking an unexpected path. And I don't just mean yourself. Don't let family expectations govern all your choices."

Sasuke's lips thinned and for a moment Kakashi expected him to immediately reject the suggestion. But to his surprise, Sasuke looked back down at the pamphlet and opened up the folds to look inquisitively at the flyer.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

But it was not in his usual dismissal tone but instead that of consideration. He looked up to Kakashi and gave the smallest dip of the chin which indicated his acceptance. Kakashi gave his own nod.

"If you have questions feel free to ask about them after school during my office hours.

Sasuke nodded, then picked up the bag next to his chair and wordlessly made his way to the door, quickly tucking the pamphlet away as he pulled the door open and disappeared into the hall.

As the door shut behind him, Kakashi leaned back in his chair and let his hands drag over his tired face, rubbing at his eyes before leaning forward to collect the littering of papers on his desk and put them into the correct folders. As he straightened and filed away each student file into the bottom drawer of his desk, he contemplated and compared each individual to his most recent interview.

Sasuke was possibly the most set up individual for success of all his students. There were no roadblocks in his path. He had intelligence. He had resources and connections in high and low places. Finances would never be a challenge for generations within the Uchiha family even if the next descendants decided to never work a day in their life. And yet, he was the one that Kakashi was most worried about.

Recently he had noticed Sasuke seemed to become quiet and reclusive, compared to his usual taciturn self. He seemed...lost. And Kakashi is worried for his future. Not just career wise but life in general. He had noticed it with his interactions with his classmates and friends. And while Kakashi claimed to not be involved with student affairs, he had noticed a dynamic between the Uchiha boy and his blossom desk mate. He was becoming distant with her and he was not sure if the pinkette had noticed the subtle change. While they were young and the relationship was innocent enough, Kakashi knew better. That girl was a beacon for the dark boy and he was subtly trying to shade himself from her light.

Bonus #1

Name: Nara, Shikamaru

Age: 18

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 4.0

Advisor: Sarutobi, Asuma

Asuma slammed a heavy book down on the desk, causing the dozing student who had managed to fall asleep in the time it took Asuma to fill out the top section of his paper, to wake up.

"Good morning Shikamaru, now that you are awake, let's talk about your future," Asuma said as the spiky haired brunette rubbed his tired eyes. Asuma tapped his pen against the form. "Let's talk about your career."

Shikamaru let out a sigh as his body slumped in his chair. "What a drag," he sighed again as his head fell back to stare up at the ceiling. "Sounds like a headache. But I suppose if we have to..."

"Well we do," Asuma said bluntly. "Now what do you like?"

Shikamaru's head flopped to the side and he stared out the window. "Clouds."

"Clouds?" Asuma parroted flatley.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I like watching them move by and change."

Anyone else trying to have this conversation with the lazy teenager would be pulling their hair out by now. However, Asuma had nearly four full years of mentoring the sleepy Nara that he had learned to handle the sleepy boys' shenanigans and was an expert in solving how to bring people's interest and make them an aspirational goal.

"Alright, meteorologist it is," Asuma said, jotting down the career joice on the line.

He looked up just in time to see Shikamaru shrug. "Sure, why not. My girlfriend is a weather girl on the local news. So that would be convenient."

Asuma shook his head. Why he thought Shikamaru would have reached some sort of self motivation at this point in his life was beyond him. Especially when he had started dating his girlfriend Temari. She was a year older than Shikamaru and it had surprised him that the kid managed to bother getting into a relationship let alone continue it for a whole year. It was perhaps something that gave him hope that there was at least a little motivation within the sloth of a student.

Bonus #2

Name: Yamanaka, Ino

Age: 18

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 3.3

Advisor: Sarutobi, Asuma

Asuma looked up from the form he was filling out, taking in the next of his students he advised. Ino sat in the chair on the other side of his desk, her long blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail and cascading over her shoulder as her bright blue eyes focused on her phone as her fingers scrolled through the most recent form of social media.

"Ino, mind putting down the phone so we can talk about your future?"

He was completely ignored, the girl entirely focused on the homepage of ChakraSign.

"Ino!" he raised his voice, causing the girl to pause mid scroll and look up at him. He rubbed at his face when she looked at him, a look of teenage annoyance written all over her expression. As if he was the one being rude and interruptive instead of her. "Can we talk about the career you will be pursuing when you finish here? You may find it a little more important than the millionth other teen cranking that soulja boy?" he said sarcastically.

Ino gave him a look that told him she was far too young to understand his reference. But after a long look, she rolled her eyes and locked her screen.

"Thank you," he said. "Now, what career are you going to be going into?"

Ino scoffed. "I don't need a career. I already have one," she said, raising her phone. "I have a channel."

"You can't make a career from posting random videos on the internet."

"I've been making money since I turned 18."

"How much?" Asuma questioned sceptically.

"Like $200," Ino replied.

Asuma rolled his eyes. "And you expect to live off of that?"

Ino gave him her own version of skepticism. "Uh...yeah. $200 a post is like...really good. If my followers keep increasing at the rate they are now, I will be up to $500 a post in six months."

Asuma stared silently at the barley of a legal age girl in front of him as his brain silently did the math. He knew just how often Ino was posting on her phone because every time she did a chorus of alerts rang throughout his class as everyone who was following her got a notification. In a day this girl could make more than he did in a week...Why the hell was he teaching?!

"Alright, fair enough," he said, doing his best to not show that he just found out his student made more money than him with just a click of a button that he did in an entire day's work of putting up with teenage attitudes and hormone drivin adolescents. "Let's just say this doesn't work out, what then?"

Ino shrugged. "I don't know, maybe marketing? I'm really good at getting into people's minds and knowing what they want."

Asuma shook his head. "Alright, marketing it is," he said, jotting it down on the form.

Bonus #3

Name: Akimichi, Choji

Age: 17

Year: 4

Class: A

GPA: 3.4

Advisor: Sarutobi, Asuma

Cruch. Munch, munch, munch...crunch! Munch, munch….

The large boy that sat in the chair that hardly had half of him in its seat, muched away on a party sized bag of BBQ chips as he watched his teacher fill out his form and waited patiently

"So what are your plans for your future?" Asuma asked finally.

Choji paused in his chewing and looked thoughtful. Finally, he dug into the bag of chips and pushed a handful of the crispy snack into his mouth. "I'mft gointh tho be a th-chef," he said with a spray of crumbs.

Asuma did not even bother to press further. There was no need to question that the large boy would need any more motivation than his vivacious appetite to achieve his goal.

Bonus #4: (Because we still need some SASUSAKU)

When Sasuke was twelve years old, he caught Shisui making out with one of the many random girls he seemed to always have on his arm during a party he threw without Itachi's permission when Mikoto and Fugaku had gone overseas for the summer. Despite the fact that Sasuke had just barely grown out of the belief that girls had cooties, he was still disgusted and disturbed by the sight. It looked as if they were trying to eat each other's faces. It seemed the experience would be a wet and slobbery one. Especially after hearing the noise when Shisui pulled away from the girl to give Sasuke a smirk before shoving him out of the pool house in which he had thought he was seeking refuge from the party raging within his home. The slurping sound had haunted him for years.

When he turned fifteen, his peers seemed to become disillusioned with the idea that such things would be pleasant. And while everytime he sat across from Sakura during lunch period, watching her lick her lips when smudge of sauce managed to linger at the corner of her mouth, and he found himself fantasizing what it would be like to lick her lips himself and wondered just how soft they were after she smoothly applied that cherry lip balm across them, he still convinced himself that he would never sink so low.

Now, at the age of seventeen years with an entire year's worth of practice in the art of kissing, Sasuke could not get enough of it. It drove his hormone riddled body crazy and made him feel out of control, but he loved it all the same. The feel of her soft lips and the taste of the cherry had him yearning for a taste any chance he could get. At the bus stop before school, behind the bleachers during lunch, on his couch after school, in the pool house on the weekends. If he wasn't such a private person, he would do it in the middle of class. It wasn't as if their home room teacher would have minded anyways...

It was that time of the year where spring was just around the corner but winter was still grasping to remind people it was still not over by keeping the air frigid despite the green buds that had begun to manifest among the otherwise barren bushes and tree branches. But despite the cold air, Sasuke felt heated and feverish and he sat on the park bench of the dimly lit corner of the abandoned park. It was hard not to when Sakura was sitting on his lap with her hands combing through his hair, giving it the occasional pull as her lips moved against his with heated yearning movements.

And while his elated body thrived from the feel of her as she pressed closer to him as he began to wander down her jaw and nibble at her neck, more recently even his mind thrived for the mindless hunger that took over during their make out sessions. It had been a more recent development that let him forget about everything that was happening and quickly approaching. Everyone kept talking about how much they looked forward to being done with school, for time to skip forward so they could begin their futures. But for Sasuke...that was not the case.

He didn't want to make choices, he didn't want time to move forward. In the future there was uncertainty. And he didn't want to think about what it could hold...so he sought distraction. And this was the perfect activity for it.

He felt Sakura's hand direct his head and soon her lips met his again. And the moment he was tasting that sweet cherry that he had learned to associate with her and breathed in the subtle fresh scent of her minty rainforest shampoo that seemed to just be a part of her, he was lost. He gave into the raging hormones that he so desperately kept at bay and Sakura loved to push. His hand grazed her waist and his heart skipped when he felt the warm smooth skin of her torso when her shirt lifted as she raised her arms around his neck. She let out a soft moan that had his hand moving upward as he dared to venture further up her shirt, a place he had only dared try a few times in their more recent sessions.

His fingers had just barely begun to slip beneath the heavy fabric of her sweater when a flashing of multi-colored lights and the audio bleep of a patrol car rang out across the park lawn. Sakura let out a yelp and wrenched herself from him, twisting out of his lap to face the blinding spot light that flooded across the grassy field.

The sound of a door opening and slamming shut had Sasuke raising a hand and squinting into the bright lights as a silhouette began to walk towards them.

"Hikaru, go ahead and cut off the lights," the figure said into his walkie talkie attached to the shoulder of his uniform.

The moment he heard the voice, Sasuke's thundering heart began to beat even faster for a completely different reason. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura bury her face and let out a mortified sound. And all Sasuke could do was glare heatedly as the figure of his cousin reached them.

"10-4," came a static reply before the strobe of red and blue cut off.

The momentary blindness only lasted a second before the click of a button sounded and Sasuke was being blinded again but the bright light of Shisui's flash light.

"Well, well, well," Shisui sing-songed with glee. "When I got a call that there was fornication going on in the neighborhood…"

Sasuke gave Shisui a sharp look, his eyes watering as he stayed determined to not let his glare falter against the bright light that Shisui was blinding him with. "Were NOT having sex."

"Not yet," Shisui said suggestively. "And you two are far too young to be having little pinkhaired ducklings following you around."

Sasuke looked at him in disgust before grabbing Sakura's hand and began to stand. "Whatever," he shrugged, then looked at Sakura. "Let's go."

He moved to walk away but was met with a stiff arm to the chest. Sasuke looked down at the arm blocking him and with great restraint to not break it, he looked up to his cousin.

"What?" he growled out.

Shisui let out an amused huff. "This is a public park."

Sasuke gave him an annoyed look. "We were kissing," he said dryly. "That's not illegal."

"No...but it's certainly not an appropriate activity for a place for children. I can't just let you guys lurk off to another dark alley." Shisui looked at his watch. "Besides, Sakura's curfew is coming up. It would be against my civic duties if I didn't make sure two adolescents go home safely. Your parents will be worried sick."

Sasuke let out a huff of amusement, not taking his cousin seriously. And again, he moved to depart.

Unfortunately, Shisui was not one to let Sasuke slide...ever.

Sasuke took one step before he found himself locked in the back of a patrol car, Sakura next to him, her face covered in embarrassment as they were chauffeured through the neighborhood, lights flashing and blaring, as Shisui gave them the "dangers being a horney teenager" lecture.

Chapter Text

Sasuke scowled around the area as the cloud of sooty exhaust from the departing bus slowly cleared. The stench of diesel caused his nose to wrinkle in discomfort as the sound of the faulty engine of the bus died down as it moved farther on to its next destination.

In order to catch the cramped and smelly bus to make the four hour trip to the mountains, they had to get up at the crack of dawn. All so that they could spend twenty minutes praying for their fortunes in what Sakura declared a legitimate shrine.

Despite the fact that there was a local one two minutes from their neighborhood, when Sakura found out the Uchiha line had a temple built by their ancient ancestors, she was hell bent on coming here. So here Sasuke was, standing on the side of a dirt road with no cell service within an hours radius and not a single sound of city industry to distract him from that fact.

The chirping of birds filled the light air of the mountainous landscape. Golden rays of the sun shimmered through the surrounding forest, filtering through the leaves and turning them into a vibrant green as they cast a comfortable shade upon them. With the noisy bus gone, the high pitched buzzing of cicadas and the twittering of birds took over. Giving him a loud reminder of how far they were from the comforts of his urban streets that no amount of Haruno camping trips ever helped him adapt.

Sasuke's dark eyes stared up at the branches above and took in the details that nature had shaped. As he did, his mind wandered with every little worry he had tried to escape through sleep on the four hour bus ride it took to get to such a remote place. But now that he was awake, the fresh air unfortunately did wonders for his mind. Invigorating and stimulating it quickly to awaken from the groggy state he had blissfully been in just ten minutes earlier. And already he missed having his head rested on Sakura's shoulder, breathing in the subtle scent of the perfume he had gotten her for her birthday just a few months earlier.

The purpose of today's trip was to pray to their ancestors in hopes of good fortune for their upcoming exams and seek out the old shaman that oversaw the temple for guidance and counsel for their futures they were about to begin.

Three years ago when he, Sakura and Naruto made this pact, he thought it was stupid because he already knew his future. It was already set out before him the moment he took his first breath in this world. He was going to go to business school and Konoha University. Perhaps do a term or two abroad with an internship in one of the multiple industries his family's business ruled. Based on his performances he would be placed in one of the multiple divisions and positions available. Given the strong branch that he descended from in his family tree, it would be expected that he would excel and take said division in full control. Somewhere in those lines he would marry someone just as prestigious and advantageous and sire at least one child to continue the cycle of his family's prestige, honor, and success.

And back then, that was exactly what he wanted.

Now, he was not so certain…

"Oi, bastard! Hurry up!"

Sasuke was broken from his thoughts as he looked to the obnoxious source of the bellowing noise.

"Why do you look like you have a bamboo shoot up your butt?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the blonde that was already a quarter of the way up the long staired path that led up to the Naka shrine. Next to the blonde, poor Hinata was breathing heavily as she held onto her boyfriend's hand, dedicatedly keeping up with his exuberant and unlimited energy.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "Like any amount of praying is going to save your useless ass from passing exams. Why would the Kami bother with such an usuratonkachi?"

"OI!" Naruto let out a protest and started marching down the stairs, only to be anchored down when he reached the end of his tether as his and Hinata's linked hands came to a stretch. Naruto looked down at Sasuke. "You're lucky your name got you automatically into University bastard, otherwise you would be on your knees begging to the gods that you get a score high enough for a second rate school!"

Sasuke stiffened at Naruto's words who was already turning around and marching back up the steps. It wasn't the insult itself that had him flinching. It was the lighting pang of guilt that struck at the mention of University.

"Hey," came a soft tone that came with a similar touch as Sakura grabbed his hand. His dark eyes pulled away from Naruto's bright orange jumper and locked eyes with her jewel irises as she stepped up to the platform step above him so they were at eye level. "Can you try not to antagonize him today? I don't want you two to get us kicked out because you end up in a brawl. You know it is okay for best friends to act like they like each other once in a while."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, we both won't get kicked out," Sasuke said dryly. "My family owns the place," he commented. "Only that useless idiot would get kicked out."

He couldn't help the dark smirk shine on his face, nor could he not appreciate the look of exasperation that appeared on Sakura's face. He would never vocalize it, but he found it adorable the way her cheeks would puff out and her nose would wrinkle just slightly.

"You're insufferable," she said, turning to march up the stairs towards the temple. But not once letting her hold on his hand loose.

"Blood type?"

"I am a B! Believe it!"

The elderly woman raised a peppered gray brow at Naruto's exuberant answer. "Why would I not believe you?"

Naruto opened his mouth then paused as if stumped on how to answer her. "Ummm…"

She snapped her fingers. "Forget it. Birthday?"

"October 10th! Believe it!"

The woman stared at the blonde boy again, then her eyes rolled up to the heavens more in exasperation than prayer as she began to recite a quick prayer.

After a grueling session of patience, the woman had finished with Naruto and quickly breezed through Hinata's readings. Following the soft spoken girl, the shrine maiden turned to the other pair that was sitting across from the table from her.

"And who are we?" she asked.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. Bornー"

"Oh I am more than aware of who you are," the woman interrupted. "Your mother comes here often to check on your path in life. Winding and ever changing yours is." She pulled out some ancient looking charts. "I don't know what you're expecting me to say as you have already made your decisions…" she looked up at him with a sharp eye. "Haven't you?" she said with a final tone. Then she looked at Sakura. "What is your name?"

Sakura straightened slightly. "Sakura Haruno. Born March 28th. Blood type O."

"Ah…So you are the little flower?" The woman said, a certain interest coming over her face as she began pulling out more of her old charts. "Ever the optimist that spreads like the pollen of your namesake. You will be given a challenge of hardship and heartache," Sakura shifted nervously at her words but paused when the woman looked at her. "Just stay vigilant and resilient, all will work out in the end," she assured. "A wilted flower can still be revived."

Sakura seemed to process for a moment then nodded. The shrine maiden then looked back at Sasuke.

"I now understand why your mother was so persistent in your matchings," she said, causing Sasuke to frown and Sakura to look down and blush. "You know she's been having me read them for ten years now. You're a rare breed to read Uchiha. You have a great life yet you have a predestination to sabotage your happiness." She shook her head in annoyance. "I just hope you get your head on straight before you completely squander everything. Just remember to come back."

It was quiet as everyone looked at Sasuke. The shrine maiden looked displeased, Nartuo looking confused, Hinata looking fretful, and Sakura…she looked disturbed and bothered.

Sasuke met her eyes briefly before letting out a scoff. "Tch," he said, standing up. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "My future is already set." He muttered looking in the direction of the others without meeting any of their eyes. "Come on. I don't want to waste the whole day here. Say your prayers and let's go."

Despite the open walls of the haiden, the heavy scent of the incense that they had lit filled Sasuke's nostrils each time he took in a long contemplative breath. He looked around at the others, the three of them all standing around the saisen box. Naruto looked like a spastic heathen as he gave his two bows, clapped, and bowed a final time. With his eyelids shut, his head moved around as if trying to get a kink out of his neck as he loudly muttered pleas under his breath. All the while, he crossed his fingers and danced around on his toes as he gave his prayers. For as desperate as he seemed, his prayer only lasted half a minute. But given it was Naruto, Sasuke was impressed it had even gotten that far before Naruto's eyes snapped open and he tossed his coin into the box. It ratted into the open slot of the wood which was drowned out by the loud ring of the bell at the entrance as Naruto made his way back outside.

As always Hinata was the opposite of her counterpart. She gracefully moved through her motions with hardly a sound before going still for a moment. When her prayer was finished she quietly shifted forward to slide her coin into the saisen box and elegantly glided to the bell where she tugged gently on the rope just enough for it to give out a gentle ring like that of a meditation chime.

By the time he looked across to Sakura on the other side of him, she was already quietly standing still. Her hands pressed firmly together as her head bowed slightly.

Sasuke took a moment to observe her before he forced himself to look away. His hands, having moved to his pockets instead of remaining at his chest, withdrew from their comfortable habitat as he opened his palm to stare down at the round coin that sat in the center of his palm. As he did, his thoughts which had been laying siege to his mind all day, broke through his mental barriers and invaded his mind wholly.

His father had just informed him the night before that after graduation, he was going to intern directly with Madara for the summer. And he would be working within the center corporation of the Uchiha empire each time he was on break from school.

School.

A school that he had still yet to tell anyone aside from Kakashi-sensei that he had yet to get accepted, let alone apply to. He was about to graduate from high school and had yet to set anything up to set his course for the future. But it was not even that fact that bothered him. It was him interning directly with Madara that had him uneased.

It was becoming official. Sasuke, not Itachi, was currently going to be apprenticing to take over the family business. Something Itachi would have been doing in a couple more years had he not had to defer from school due to being in the hospital. Instead, he was now across the seas in Sweden with their mother as they tried out an experimental treatment for his condition.

Before he had left, Itachi had assured Sasuke all would be well. But Sasuke was no longer a child. The past year had aged him far more than most his age. It was what happened when you came home to find your brother collapsed on the floor, when you spend days in the hospital donating samples to see if you are a match, and sitting on the staircase as you listen to your mother sob into her hands while your fathers eyes become bloodshot from his stoic worry. The past year had been hell and Sasuke had done well to hide the effects it was taking from his family and friends.

He knew this wasn't an optimistic doctor's visit. It was a desperate last resort because everything else had failed. And meanwhile, he was being trained as the back up plan for the company.

It was something Sasuke had always coveted about his brother. To be so highly thought of, that people invested and had high expectations of what the potential he could achieve, just like Itachi. Now, he resented anyone who remarked about the things he had yet and might not even do. He found himself only wanting his brother to get better and take over so he could become the forgotten son of Fugaku again.

So he had come up with his own plans, found other options. Ones that he did not need some temple worker to tell him what that path would lead him to. Because Sasuke no longer cared. He would continue to live in Itachi's shadow, even if Itachi wasn't there to cast one. He had not made any indefinite preparations just yet, but the shrine maiden had been right. He had already made his decision.

With that thought Sasuke flicked the coin into the saisen box. He heard the metallic ring as it hit against the metal grate before it slid through the gap. There was a hollow thud as the coin hit the bottom of the inside compartment which told him that his token had been received by the ancient Kami that his ancestors had worshiped.

He strode over to the bell and grabbed a hold of the short rope that hung from the clapper. Looking up across the small building, he saw Sakura still standing at the box. Her hands pressed together tightly. Peaking out of her right hand, Sasuke saw her coin tightly pinched between her thumb and finger as her head bowed slightly, still in prayer.

With her eyes tightly shut, Sakura chewed at her bottom lip. Once in a while she would release it to silently mutter a word or two of her lengthy prayer under her breath. Sasuke took in the deep lines of concentration furrowed on her forehead, giving the impression that she was already taking the exams at this very moment with how pinched and strained her expression was. But as her prayer continued to go on, her expression slowly softened and after a quiet word of thanks, her eyes cracked open and she daintily tossed the coin down into the well. She stood still for a moment with a soft smile on her face. When her eyes lifted, Sasuke was greeted with her emerald gaze and her smile grew slightly as a red tint shaded her cheeks.

It was at that moment that Sasuke knew what his prayer was.

He tugged down on the rope. The clapper of the bell struck against the shell with a striking clang. Give her understanding, he thought silently to himself, his eyes never leaving her as she came around the saisen box and approached him. He stepped back to allow her to take hold of the rope and pull down on it in her turn.

It rang out across the temple courtyard and Sasuke noticed just how quiet it was with Naruto gone and it being just the two of them in the vicinity. He realized his focused staring of her when he felt her fingers weave into his and she gave him a look full of close observation.

"Sasuke," she said, her tone not matching the high energy and anticipation she and Naruto had been giving off since first thing this morning. "You okay?" she asked, anxiety filling her voice. "You seem…off today?"

Only Sakura would be able to distinguish between his usual surliness that was the epitome of Sasuke, and the somberness that he had been feeling with each passing day that brought them closer to their graduation. But then again his whole year had seemed…off.

He took a long look at her with his onyx eyes. Then gave her a wane smile, doing everything he could to cover what he truly felt. So he did what any professional liar would do, told a half truth.

"Itachi," he said with a taciturn response.

Sakura's lips tightened then gave a small understanding nod. "Come on," she said soothingly, giving his hand a small tug as she began to lead him to the main gate of the shrine.

Sasuke stood before the ominous and worn looking building of the recruitment office. Three days ago he had made his decision on which path to take for his future. And now he was about to sign his name and make that commitment.

He had never considered the military until the career expo his school had hosted. They had sat down with their guidance counselor then went to the auditorium where a hundred kiosks had been set up all varying in every career path imaginable. Universities, trade schools, company recruiters, and many others stood at tables giving out free pens and pamphlets as they talked with teenagers. Each kiosk visited by a student had their anxiety of their futures rocket exponentially as their eyes were opened to the overwhelming options life had, with each option making it seem that what they chose to do immediately after graduation would dictate the rest of their lives success.

Sasuke walked through it boredly, stopping briefly here and there until he found himself at a corner booth. Behind it was a worn looking military officer who had obviously seen more active days in his time in service. His uniform stretching across his large belly acting as a testament to that. .

The man was busy talking with a student who Sasuke recognized as the military club president. So instead of asking questions, Sasuke looked around at the display. Looking at the various pictures posted all over the wall and letting his eyes glaze over the laptop screen that was playing a looped video of a recruiting campaign that had been filmed thirty years ago. After watching the second half and part of the first, he went on to grab one of the pamphlets about basic training that was laying on the table.

"Well, well, well," came a slithery voice. "I never thought I would sssee an Uchiha interested in such a division of work."

Sasuke turned away from the booth to face a feline of a man that had a gaze most unsettling. The man smiled widely, his eyes gleaming hungrily as he licked his lips.

"If you are truly interested in such a career," the man went on. "I think you might want to consider a slightly different path from one such as yourself. Sure there is honor in serving your country, but no one ever got rich from honor. If you really want to see action, earn glory, and do something truly worthy…" The snake of a man held out a card. "Come find me."

Sasuke had hardly a moment to take the extended card from the man's long fingers before Professor Serutobi approached the man and had him escorted out, saying something about violating a restraining order and having a record of misconduct with past students.

As the memory faded from his mind, Sasuke pulled the bent up card that had been given to him that day from his pocket. Even now the memory of the man who had approached him gave Sasuke the chills, and yet he still found himself standing outside the very building.

His eyes glazed over the printed letters of the card and symbol of the musical insignia that adorned the otherwise plain card:

Otogakure Special Operations

Founder: General Orochimaru

Sasuke had found a number of information and recruitment packets being sent to his house for the past several months since that day. Some even being sent to his private email which had slightly bothered him on how they even got his personal information. Then again, from what he had discovered from the website, it was a covert operations specialist cooperation. A private military they called themselves, defending the country from the shadows. Kakashi had warned him about it when he had asked.

But as graduation grew closer, life grew darker, and the shadows were calling his name. He was going to be fine, he needed this, needed a separate path from his brother. He had still yet to tell any of his friends because he already knew what they would say. He already knew they wouldn't understand why he needed to do this.

No one would.

With that thought, he put the card back into his pocket and made his way up the stairs, entering the building, prepared to sign in blood if required.

"...without further delay, please congratulate this year's graduating class of Konoha Senior Academy!"

The auditorium erupted into applause and shouted cheers of glee as Iruka concluded his faculty speech. A flurry of black hats dotted the sky that was visible through the large skylight roof of the building before the tossed caps were taken over by gravity and rained back down onto the officially graduated students. But as they cheered and hugged each other, the silk fabric falling upon them was ignored as they were caught up in the moment of achievement.

All except one.

It was as if everything slowed down for the raven haired young man who stood in the middle of the group, his hat still in his hand as he looked around, looking lost amongst the chaos.

Unlike the mass of cheering peers, he had been dreading this day. Dreading the moment when reality caught up to him and he had to go through with all the arrangements and plans he had made over the past couple of weeks. Despite the bright sunlight that was cascading through the window from outside, he felt as if there was an ominous dark cloud hanging over him.

A good conscience would say it was guilt hanging over him but Sasuke was a boy of denial.

And soon Sakura was running up to him, wrapping her hands around him and smiling brightly up at him, casting away the dark clouds and making him forget about everything momentarily. And he committed to doing that.

He was going to give her the best he could this day. He would make it seem as if everything was right with the world. Itachi wasn't sick. They were all going to be starting the same school in the fall. And he was not going to mess up possibly the best thing that he had going for him in his life at the moment. And for the day, as they went to Naruto's house where a large graduation party was being hosted, Sasuke believed himself. They ate, they laughed, they danced, and they dreamed.

He had gotten so comfortable with hiding and lying over the past year that he even managed to lie to himself for a few hours. But then the sun went down, everyone went home, and the shadows called out his name, summoning him to his commitments he made.

He wasn't sure how long he had been standing at his dresser, staring at the contents in the frame. But it was long enough to memorize the old picture flawlessly. It was a picture of himself, Sakura, and Naruto standing with Kakashi during their freshman year. Sakura stood at front, his face full of excitement while Sasuke pouted off to the side and Naruto glared at him from the other side. At this moment he could not even recall what had been the cause of their fight then and for some reason it bothered him. What else would he forget in the coming years?

He tipped the picture until it was laying face down, hiding the captured moment.

Walking across the room, he zipped the black duffle bag at the end of his bed before slinging it over his shoulder and quietly tiptoed out of his room and through his house, only making a small detour to lay a note on the counter top for his mother to find when she made her morning tea.

It was nearly three in the morning when Sasuke slipped out of the front door of his home. Dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie, he began making his way down the now quiet and dark street as he pulled his hood over his head, blending him into the shadows until he passed beneath the yellow glow of the street lights.

The summer air was warm but still, which made the chirping crickets echo loudly from the grassy field of the park on the other side of the street. He had countless memories of dashing across that street to make sure he had first claim to the swing which now hung motionless at the moment. Then he passed by the house next to his, its windows dark as its inhabitants slept but it still held a welcoming aura. It was easy to say he had spent an equal amount of time within that house as he did his own while growing up.

His slow strides took him all the way down the paved street and through the next couple of blocks that made up the neighborhood. Just as he reached the main street that connected to the neighborhood. Making his way towards the stone bench that marked the bus stop, his steady pace came to a stop as his dark eyes caught sight of a figure standing there, waiting for him.

It was a mix of emotions that fluttered through his chest. But eventually they landed on the one that had been his more recent go to emotion.

Anger.

What the hell was she doing here!?

"It's the middle of the night, what are you hanging around here for?" Sasuke said, his tone unfeeling and dull but still holding a slight bite to it.

There was a short pause before she spoke quietly. "This is the only bus stop that runs this early in the morning."

A taxi cab drove down the otherwise empty road, casting them in a bright light and Sasuke could see her expression briefly before it turned down another road and they were left with only the dim and flickering street lights.

After a long pause with only the crickets hiding in the hedges to keep them from silence, Sasuke let out a, "hn." He then took a few more steps until he was standing in front of the covered structure of the bus stop.

He set his bag down at his feet and faced the empty street. "You should go back home."

"Kakashi sensei told me you enlisted with that man."

Sasuke remained silent. So much for speaking in confidence, he thought to himself.

"Why Sasuke?" she said, her question hardly a whisper. "What happened to KU and all the plans we made for this summer? Everything we talked about all year?" Sasuke again said nothing. And after a long pause, Sakura's voice broke through the night air, causing the crickets to cease their nightly song. "Why is it always silence with you now?" She said with frustration. "You didn't say a single thing-"

"Why should I have to tell you anything?"

From the corner of his eye he saw her physically flinch then she stilled.

"Seriously?" Sakura said, her tone holding a hardened attitude that she had developed over the years of dealing with Sasuke's attitude. But even still, there was an underlying hurt in the question and the moment Sasuke heard it, he found his hardened exterior slightly crack.

But it took more than a crack for Sasuke to give in. "You won't understand."

"You didn't even try to let me understand!" she defended taking a few steps so that she was standing in front of him. Her angry face glaring up at him and the unshed tears gleaming in the street light. "Besides, I don't have to understand you big jerk. But I do deserve to be told and given consideration to know you didn't just disappear without a word. Do I really mean that little to you?"

He looked down at his feet. This was not how this was supposed to go. This was not supposed to be happening at all. He had planned it this way because he had played this conversation out in his mind and could never find the right words. It always turned out horribly so he thought it would be easier this way. Every time he played it out in his head, he would yell, she would yell, he would get angry and hurt her and she would cry. Unfortunately he forgot that Sakura was far too perceptive for her own good and far too forgiving for him.

He looked to the side where she was standing. Arms crossed over her chest with a thin jacket pulled around her. Her hair was slightly tangled showing that she had most likely been sleeping just before coming here.

Silently he stretched out his hand and she walked up to him, taking his large one in her small one.

"What gave it away?" he asked quietly.

Sakura let out a huff, looking at the poster advertising the newest skin care product, then looked back at him. "You danced with me tonight."

He gave her a quizzical look.

"And you didn't put up a protest or make it a big deal," she added. "You were trying too hard to make things seem fine. Plus I saw the bus tickets in your room a couple days ago," she admitted. "I just thought you were taking your time to tell me…I didn't think you would go full asshole and try to leave without at least saying goodbye."

Sasuke hung his head. "Sorry," he muttered. "I thought it would be easier," he admitted, then turned his head to look back at her.

With wet tears shining in her eyes, she smiled knowingly up at him. "Come on Sasuke, you know I wouldn't make it easy for you. How else would I annoy you?"

He looked down at her and suddenly she let out a small squeak of surprise as he pulled her in tightly. His arms encircled around her as he pulled her in closely, bowing his head into the top of her head.

"Sakura," he said, pausing for a moment before he uttered his next words. "Thank you."

She was still for a moment before she slowly wrapped her own arms around him and Sasuke began to feel a warm wetness seeping into the front of his shirt where she buried her face into his chest.

"Sasuke please don't go."

Her muffled plea reached his ears and dug deep into his chest, causing his hands to clench in frustration.

"I have to. From this point on, new paths will start," he muttered, trying to hold onto the last shred of resolve he had.

"If you stay I promise I will do everything to make sure you never regret staying. I will make every day enjoyable, I will do everything to make you happy and erase this pain you are feeling. Just stay here…with me." She paused, then as her body began to tremble she spoke again. "I…I love you more than anything," she stammered. Admitting something neither of them had ever officially uttered in their relationship.

Sasuke pulled away slightly, forcing her to look down as he stared at her. She herself seemed surprised but the admission. The words felt so right yet so wrong in this moment. Sasuke's lips parted, unsure and untrusting of what was going to come out. But before he could say anything, the screeching wheels of the bus stopping had them both looking away from each other and looking at the portly old man who was looking expectantly at them from the driver's seat.

Sasuke looked back down at Sakura, his throat tightening when he saw the pleading look in her eyes. His hand came up to her neck and he bent down and gave her a gentle kiss. "One year," he said. "I signed up for one year. Then I promise I will be back. I will find you, I will join you. But I just need…"

A small tear escaped the corner of her eye as she gave him a brave nod, taking in a staggered breath. "I don't get it. But I hope you find what you need," she said.

Sasuke let out a breath but it was not a sigh of relief. Bending down he snatched up his bag and quickly boarded the bus. He took his seat in the very back, determinedly looking ahead and refusing to look out the window as the bus began to move away. But despite his conviction, just as the bus reached the end of the street and stopped at the light, Sasuke glanced back.

In the dim light of the bus stop he saw a lone figure slouched down onto the bench, shoulders shaking and face buried into her hands.

Something within him wrenched tightly.

As the bus began to move again and turn the corner, hiding the last glimpse of the girl he had just broken the heart of, Sasuke himself felt something break. And that dark cloud that had been hanging over him began to swirl and storm. And suddenly he had a feeling that even the brightest of lights was not going to be able to bring him back, because he had just broken the one light that had been giving him any guidance in a long while.

Chapter Text

"I'll find my way back home"

-Way Back Home: Shaun feat. Conor Maynard

6 Months Later…

The bunker was eerily silent as Sasuke made his way silently through the dark halls. Six months ago his footsteps had echoed loudly as he stepped down these halls after his official recruitment. But after six months of rigorous training, each subtle step he took could be easily mistaken as the flutter of a moth's wings.

He had not known what exactly to expect when he first signed the recruitment papers, some physical training and basic combat skills. Beyond that he has not given it any more thought. But that was what had drawn him in. The unknown.

Training had been harsh, grueling, and questionable in ethics and method. But it had produced results.

Sasuke had always thought himself in peak physical condition, but what he had learned over the past months had pushed his body to the extreme, causing it to build and acclimate itself to accommodate the new found lifestyle that he was living. Not just physically but mentally. He was taught tactics and skills along with techniques that gave him both knowledge and mental fluidity to push past moral dilemmas to achieve success in the tasks that would be assigned to him.

At the beginning his phone and all personal items had been confiscated the moment he had signed the contract. And in exchange, he was issued a uniform and ID security badge that he quickly found had very limited access. However Sasuke was smart, there was a reason mastered his training milestones in half the time that most recruits took to be acceptably proficient. Because of his prodigy amongst his fellow recruits, he was granted additional tutelage from Orochimaru himself.

When Sasuke reached the door that would allow him to exit the bunker, he slowly paused, taking a moment to fiddle with the keypad that was more there to keep people in than keep people out. But Sasuke had learned quickly how to bypass the system. Not that it ever bothered him as he never had a need to leave…until now.

Unscrewing the metal covering to expose the wires and circuit board of the security lock, Sasuke immediately went about fiddling with them. Disconnecting and reconnecting before securing the care back and pressing a few extra buttons. Soon it was deactivated and he was ascending the stairs and slipping out the final door into the city streets of Otogakure.

The air was frigid and cold, making him realize just how much time had passed. Six months. He had left at the beginning of summer and now it was the start of winter. He had completely missed an entire season. A fact that disturbed him how easily time had gotten away from him. How easily he had forgotten the outside world. And it made him wonder how much more he would miss or even forget about after what he had to do tonight.

Pulling up the dark hood of his uniform, Sasuke took in his surrounding quickly, making note of everything from where the traffic light was at in its cycle, the amount of time left on the flashing crosswalk, the two windows in the apartment building across the street that still had lights on and the one dark one with the window cracked open.

He took everything in, then began to move. Swiftly and quietly down the street, he started at a brisk walk but was soon sprinting down alleyways and darkened streets of the inner city.

When he had put enough distance between himself and the hidden compound that he had been residing in for half the year, Sasuke began to search out for what he needed. A phone.

He found one in a dingy phone booth set up next to a bus stop at the end of a residential street. It was not the kind of neighborhood he had grown up in. It was a neglected part of the city where it was obvious that government funds hardly stretch far enough to fix a pothole. Overgrown weeds grew up the sides of the structure as broken glass scattered across the concrete around it. Graffiti covered the remaining windows that vandals failed to bust and the door was completely missing. For a moment Sasuke was worried that it would be completely out of commission but when he lifted the receiver a dull tone droned out from the receiver.

Dispensing a couple of coins he had found along his run, he deposited them into the coin slot, dialed the number, and waited for it to connect. The phone rang five times before there was a tired answer from the other line.

"'Ello?"

Despite the groggy tone that told him he had just woken her up, Sasuke was taken off guard by the sweetness of it. He had spent six months hardening himself, because Orochimaru kept saying he was weak. He had excelled in all of his studies with the exception of one thing. He was failing a test and it was because every time he went to do his task there was something that was holding him back. Something that made him hesitate. And he could not do that. Not anymore, not if he wanted to accomplish what he wanted. He needed to cut his ties…completely.

But as he held the sticky plastic receiver to his ear and the rain poured down onto the glass pains of the phone booth, he found something was lodging into his throat.

"Hello?" he heard her ask, her voice sounding more awake and slightly annoyed. "Helloooo?"

All he could do was breathe out.

"..." There was a sudden rustle of a cotton fabric then the squeak of a mattress. Sounds that most would not have been able to identify and separate over the shocked intake of breath he heard come from the other line. "...Sasuke?"

Sasuke stiffened.

"Sasuke is that you? Are you okay? Where are you?..." A tumble of questions steamed from the receiver held tightly to his ear.

"I am not coming back," he interrupted.

The documents had been long and wordy, he had not bothered to read them. Contractually he would not be able to leave in a year. So this was best for her. The sooner she knew, the sooner she could get over the disappointment and move on.

It was perhaps vain of him to assume that she had not already done this given that he had not made any contact with her in half a year. But even if that was the case, he needed this. He needed to move on so he could focus. So he could move forward without hesitation instead of wondering what she would think of what he was doing. So he could finally pass the test and begin his true training and begin taking on missions.

"Goodbye, Sakura."

Sakura sat at the edge of her bed. Her bare legs hanging over the edge as she gripped her phone tightly as she pressed it to her ear. She stared wide eyed into the dark of her room, her chest rising and falling rapidly along with the thundering heart in her chest.

Over the past six months she had spent numerous nights tossing and turning. She had ruined her makeup far too many times whenever she was hit with an immense weight of worry for Sasuke when week after week and month after month she heard nothing from him or of him.

As the dial tone buzzed into her ear, a hand came to her mouth as she attempted to stifle a choked sob, then she remembered she was on Christmas break and in her room at home not her dorm at school. There was no roommate five feet away from her to disturb.

Letting her phone drop into the folds of her tangled bedding, she let the second sob wrench from her, then another, and another.

Hours later, she found herself sitting catatonically on her windowsill, the only evidence of her hysterical breakdown being the salty tear tracks that had long dried up on her face and the swollen redness of her tired eyes. She stared out the window with a large blanket wrapped around her as tightly as she could. It's comforting hug kept her warm and her body from shaking uncontrollably.

The moon was large and heavy in the sky as her eyes stayed fixated on it and as time passed, Sakura's trance slowly began to break and her mind began to sluggishly process what this meant for her. Sasuke was not coming back. Sasuke whom she loved, Sasuke who was always there to make her feel protected and safe…was gone. He had been absent for a long time, but something changed tonight. Before she always had hope that one day, he would come back.

All her life Sasuke was always in her future. She had imagined it in every possible way. In some versions they had remained friends and continued to be. They would have their own families and their children would grow up and forge their own friendships. When they had dated it had changed. They fell in love and went to school together. She had even ventured to imagine a day when they would marry and create a family together. Others were more simple, less detailed. But one thing was always the same, Sasuke was always there.

It was perhaps a silly thing, but Sakura had always planned her life with Sasuke always there in the future. Not necessarily everything was influenced by that fact, but now as she imagined it…her future seemed shadowed. And she would be lying if she said her future seemed a little dimmer and more daunting.

And that thought bothered her. She was young and had her whole life to look forward to, yet at eighteen years old, she was already letting the insurmountable potential be tarnished. Perhaps this was why they said first love was the sweetest and most bitter. Because life had seemed so optimistic, but now it was gone, and she was not sure if she would ever find another like him.

At those thoughts, Sakura's brow furrowed. But why did she need another like him? Why did she need someone else at all? She had herself, and that should be enough…shouldn't it?

Over the years, if there was one thing that Sasuke had done, it had been to teach her how to love herself and see herself in the way that he did. He helped her see what her value was. And for that, she would always cherish him.

But she would not let herself be hung up on him.

She would allow herself to mourn and cry and eat a pint of ice cream every day for the rest of the break. But when she went back to school that would be it. She would not sulk, she would not let her life crumble. She would move on, she would live her life. She would be strong and she was not going to let his dismissal and exit from her life prevent her from living hers to its full potential.

2.5 Years Later

...the hypothalamus plays a significant role in the endocrine system. The function of the hypothalamus is to maintain your body's internal balance, which is known as homeostasis.

Homeostasis is ー The function of the hypothalamus is to maintain your body's internal balance, which is known as ー

The function of the hypothalamus ー

Sakura let out a quiet groan after rereading the same sentences for the past half hour. She took off her glasses and rubbed at her tired eyes, having taken out her contacts when the moon had reached the highest point in the night sky. Leaning back in the uncomfortable chair of her dorm desk, her groan of frustration turned into one of relief as she stretched out her arms and shifted her back around to relieve the stiffness that had developed over the past three hours of studying. She bent her neck to the side until a satisfying pop sounded and she let out another sigh of relief as she shifted upright in her chair again.

She felt ragged and exhausted, but that was how she felt at the end of every term. After she survived and passed her very first term of college exams, she had told herself that from then on it would not be so hard. Her rationale was that university life and the level of demand was just something new and had to get used to. She had hypothesized that she now had the experience and knew what to expect; it would just get easier with time.

Oh how young and naïve she had been. Because nearly five semesters later, here she was. Sitting at her dorm desk hunched over her books and pulling an all nighter of studying.

And it was obvious that it was not the first night of the week she had done it. With her hair knotted into a messy bun that had lost its spunk and was now hanging to the side, she was dressed in a pair of running shorts and an oversized sweatshirt that smelt like the cheese puffs she had for dinner.

She had lost track of time and by the time her stomach reminded her of its need for nourishment, the cafeteria was already closed and the vending machine in the commons room was a lot closer than the grocery store five blocks away.

Sakura's stomach growled, the portion of the small bag of Cheetah puffs and can of coke obviously not having been enough. Too tired and far too lazy to physically walk down the hall again, Sakura opened the drawer of her desk and began to riffle through the stash of snacks that had been recently stocked thanks to a care package sent to her by her mother.

She found a package of fruit snacks first and snatched it out of the drawer. Opening it up she dumped them out onto her notebook then proceeded to take in a deep breath. She let it out slowly before bending over her book and began to read again.

She made it through the section about the hypothalamus and rewarded her stomach with a green gummy. Then she moved onto the amygdala and ate a yellow. The pituitary gland she grabbed another yellow. As she chewed the lemon flavor she read all about the hippocampus before she grabbed another, nudging a blue gummy out of the way to grab the last green. As she was finishing the final paragraph of the chapter, she picked up a red and had it halfway to her mouth before she found herself putting it back down and then realized what she was doing. That was when she tore her eyes from the black and white text to look at the remaining fruit snacks and froze.

At the corner of her note page was a pile of the remaining fruit gummies she had yet to eat, all of them red and blue. Suddenly she felt sweet sick as her stomach churned until it was knotted uncomfortably. It had been a long time since she regularly ate fruit snacks. In fact it felt like a lifetime ago that she had eaten them like this. But it seemed the habit was still fresh. Green and yellow for her, red and blue for the boy she had followed home from the park over fifteen years ago. A boy she had done her best to not think of often but still managed to preoccupy her mind on a far too regular basis. It was difficult when nearly everything triggered a memory of him. Including fruit snacks.

Her roommate gave a cough and Sakura broke out of her trance and quickly swept the fruit shaped gummies into the trash bin next to her desk. She then snapped her book shut and quickly stood. Grabbing her toiletry bag on her way, she slipped out of the dorm room and made her way to the communal bathroom.

She stood in front of the bathroom brushing her teeth as she stared back at her tired reflection. Her blood shot eyes were not really focused as she drifted into deep thought.

Sasuke did not come back after a year…in fact he had still yet to come back, just like he had declared in his phone call. And no one knew if he ever would, despite the many efforts that had been made to find him. Everyone had been worried sick, calling, texting, emailing. They had even gone to the lengths of traveling to the so-called academy he was supposed to be training at but could not find the location. It was almost as if the place was some sort of underground secret fortress.

Finally, six months after he left, she had gotten that phone call in the middle of the night. But nothing since. Even his own mother hardly heard from him. They only knew he was still alive because once a year on Mikoto's birthday, a dozen of her favorite flowers would be delivered without a note. It made Sakura ask the question, did he think about anyone else? Did he think about her when her birthday came around each year?

When she realized where her thoughts were wandering Sakura snapped out of it and quickly spat the mouth full of toothpaste that was now past normal foaming and quickly rinsed out her mouth before quietly walking back to her room and slipping into the covers in hopes to catch a few hours of sleep before her morning final.

The door burst open causing Sakura to jolt from her bed where she had been having her post finals hibernation.

"Wake up forehead!" Ino said as she marched into the room wearing a short purple skirt and matching crop top. "You have been sleeping all day, finals are over, it's time to celebrate!"

Sakura let out a protest and pulled the covers over her head to block out the offending blinding light Ino had switched on when she entered and was now rummaging through her closet.

"Ino, not tonight, just go on without me."

"Oh no you don't!" Ino protested, marching across the room to stand over her. "I listened and respected all your excuses to skip out on parties this whole semester. Guess what, semesters over now. So get out of bed before I pull you out and shove you under the cold shower."

Sakura flipped her covers off of her. "Like your skinny ass could even get me off this bed."

Ino raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow, her lips spreading into an evil grin. Reaching out, she grabbed the glass of water sitting on Sakura's bedside table. "You might be right but I don't need to drag your ass anywhere."

"Don't you dare!" Sakura warned. The blonde began to tip the cup, letting the remaining water begin to move dangerously close to the lip of the glass. "Ino, you put so much of a drop of water on me and I swear, I will use your own hair straightener to straighten out your twisted mind."

Ino's eyes glinted triumphantly. "Then I suggest you get your lazy ass out of bed and turn it into a fine ass. We have one hour before we meet the gang to drive out to Otogakure.

Sakura gave her a wary look. "And what exactly are we doing in Otogakure? That's like a two hour train ride from here."

"There is a hot new club opening that yours truly got us tickets to. And you would not dare let them go to waste…would you?" Ino asked, holding the glass of water threateningly over the pinkette again. Sakura let out a tired sigh but shook her head causing Ino to grin as she set the glass down and clapped her hands together. "Great, I suggest you start with a shower," she said, sniffing at Sakura. "You smell like hot Cheetos and study hall B.O."

Begrudgingly Sakura pulled herself out of bed to jump into the shower. The quicker she finished the sooner she would be able to intercept Ino in choosing her outfit for the night.

The energy being emitted made it seem as if the building itself was alive. The heavy base of the music vibrated within each club attendees chest, pacing along with their exhilarated heart beats. The crowded mass in the center moved together and against each other as the music enraptured their minds and the alcohol they had consumed coursed through their veins making them feel even more free. Each time a beat dropped a light flashed from the DJ's stage and added a rainbow of color to the energy of the crowd dancing below.

At the outskirts of the massive gathering, Sasuke stood at the bar. He leaned coolly against the glass counter that divided the bartender from patrons. His dark eyes loomed across the dance floor as his face pinched in annoyance. The LED lights that glowed from the glass bar counter cast an illumination that highlighted and shadowed the angles of his face in all the right places. Making him draw the eyes of many who in return went unacknowledged by the dark haired man.

A shot glass slid across the table and came to a stop when it nudged his fingers. Sasuke looked down at the blue liquid then looked up to the shit eating grin of his shark looking friend.

Friend being a loose exaggeration of what the pair were to each other. Friends watched movies together and played board games, they didn't go on covert missions and eliminate persons of interest for unknown reasons. These unknown reasons being because you didn't question mission briefings. You were instructed, you acted, and you were rewarded for were comrades. Fellow assassins of the same underground organization.

"What is this?" Sasuke questioned, looking at the drink as if it was poison, which in his profession was not a far off assumption.

"That is what's going to get you to loosen up so that stick up your ass can finally be pulled out," Suigestu replied, throwing back his own shot glass before signaling to the bartender for another.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, looking back out to the room, his eyes unconsciously searching. "We have a mission tomorrow."

"And we had one last night and the day before that too, we will always have a mission," Suigetsu rebutled. "But you know what we won't have? Top shelf bourbon and a mass of sweet hot pieces of ass that you can take your pick of any to take home and fー"

"Suigetsu…" Sasuke drawled, turning back to his teammate. "...shut up and leave me in peace."

"See!" Suigetsu exclaimed, jabbing a finger in his face, "that right there is why you need some of this," Suigetsu said, taking the next round from the bartender and tipping them both back one after another. He slammed the last glass down on the table as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "You're going to burn yourself out. If you don't let yourself let loose you're gonna snap. You've heard the stories, agents snapping and going on a rampage and taking out their teammates instead of the target. And I am not about to let someone on my team do that. You might be Orochimaru's favorite but I won't hesitate to take you down. I have your back out there when it's in my favor, I'm not going to stand around if it means my hide is getting risked."

Sasuke stared back at the man, his body tense and stiff as a tension began to build. Then Suigetsu burst out laughing, sounding as if he was the one on the edge of insanity.

"I'm just kidding," he barked, slapping Sasuke on the shoulder. "But seriously man, you need to lighten up, have a drink, get laid, at least grab an ass tonight. I saw some tasty looking college girls earlier, they had some guys with them but I bet given the choice between those dickless wimps and us we could easily claim their ladies."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and started to walk away. "I'm getting some air."

Sasuke moved to step away but was stopped by Suigetsu.

"Ah nah you don't," he said darkly. "Karin just managed to snag us a booth. I'm not going to force you to hit the dance floor but the least you can do is save our spot and watch the big guy. Not all of us are robots and can just keep going like you."

Sasuke let out a sigh. "Fine, but we are leaving in an hour."

Suigetsu snorted in laughter. "Yeah sure, whatever you say. Let's go before that redheaded banshee loses our spot because some brawny guy looked in her direction and she turned into a ninny."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but let Suigetsu take the lead as they crossed the dance floor towards a less crowded area where some private booths were lining the wall. By Sasuke's calculations it took them much longer than necessary to get there as every other girl they passed Sasuke had to give Suigetsu a shove to keep moving as he stopped to hit on anyone not attached to a male. To be honest, Sasuke wasn't sure if he was impressed or disgusted with the more positive responses than slaps to the face his teammate's perverse words got him. All the same, he wasn't interested enough to watch long enough to figure out if it was just the alcohol in their system or if that was what women actually liked.

"Well hello there pinky…" Suigetsu purred to yet another victim of his perverse.

Initially Sasuke had moved to give his silver haired companion a hard shove so he would continue to move on. However, before he could lift his hand to give Suigetsu a not so gentle nudge, he looked at the girl his comrade was currently trying to pick up and froze.

His heart skipped a beat as his eyes took in the pastel shade of her hair. Then it plummeted into his stomach when her vivid green eyes, which had been glaring at Suigetsu, shifted their admonition onto him. He watched as it took a moment for it to click and then he saw it, the glimmer of recognition and then disbelief. Her painted shapely lips parted open as a breath escaped her lips, along with it his whispered name.

Sakura both loved and hated Ino at the moment. After weeks of hunching over books and staring at her computer screen until she was cross eyed, it felt good to get out and let loose. However, she was not a fan of the heavy crowd that came with the venue of their spring break celebrations. After haunting silent libraries for weeks it was all a little overwhelming.

Doing her best to weave through the dance floor from her trip to the washroom, she stood on her tiptoes, trying to catch a glimpse of someone from her group. After having her feet stepped on numerous times and jostled by crowd of people around her, she finally spotted Naruto's neon jacket and the top of Shikamaru's spiked pony tail. Altering her course, Sakura made her way to the booth that her group had claimed, grateful for the less dense crowd of the private section.

A path opened for her to make a straight shot for the table and she moved forward to take it, only to immediately come to an abrupt stop when a body suddenly slid itself in front of her.

"Well hello there pinky," came a drawled out purr.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked up to the man who was currently blocking her way.

Despite his silver hair, he was not much older than herself, possibly even the same age. His shaggy locks framed his face which held a wide grin and a pair of eyes that looked hungrily at her. It was a look that she had gotten several times that night which she blamed on the dress Ino had forced her into. However, this time it was slightly different. It wasn't just lecherous, it was dangerous.

Eager to escape his stare and get back to her group where there was safety in numbers, Sakura looked straight ahead and moved to slide around him. She was determined to not respond and keep on walking, hoping he would take a hint and move on. However, as she moved to his left, she found her route blocked by another man that seemed to be with him. Thinking this move was purposeful as well, Sakura quickly snapped her annoyed attention upward.

She wasn't sure why it took so long for her to recognize him. It was the same messy black hair, just slightly longer. The same dark eyes that glimmered like polished onyx, only they held an emptiness. The same pinched in annoyance expression, but harsher. Everything was the same but just slightly off. But as she drank in the tall image of him, Sakura soon found herself placing a name to the man who was and wasn't a stranger all at the same time.

"Sasuke," she uttered, not even sure if she spoke it or just mouthed the name. "Where have…why haven't…what…" It was impossible to finish a question as they all flooded her at once, soon rendering her silent as she just stared in disbelief a cocktail of emotions shaking her to the core.

"Eh, well I'll be damned," the silver haired perv exclaimed looking at Sasuke. "You know this chick!?" he asked, jabbing a thumb in her direction, then looked back at her. "Sasuke Uchiha actually has a social life and knows someone!" He stuck out his hand. "Names Suigetsu."

Sakura's eyes flickered to the obnoxious man in annoyance. Ignoring Suigetsu's hand, Sakura looked back to Sasuke, waiting for some form of acknowledgment. However, he was still just looking at her with his frozen and rigid expression. Then it finally shifted, but it wasn't anything Sakura was expecting to receive. It was blank and instead of looking at her, it felt like he was looking through her, as if she was nonexistent.

"No, I don't," he said coldly.

Sakura felt herself flinch from the frigid bite of his words. First she was confused, then the meaning of his denial in knowing her struck. It was hurt that she initially felt, but her long ago vow to forget everything she ever felt for Sasuke Uchiha chased the hurt away, replacing it with anger.

"Seriously?" she questioned, giving him a hard look.

Suigetsu let out a whistle. "Oh that's harsh, what are you two some kind of exes. Don't worry pinky, I don't mind breaking the bro code, we can take a spin around the danceー"

"Oh shut up," Sakura snapped at him.

"Oh kitty got claws, me like."

Sakura ignored his banter and looked back to Sasuke, looking him straight in the eye. She raised an expectant eyebrow, giving him a chance to say something…anything. When he didn't eyes narrowed.

"You know what, my mistake. You just look like someone I used to know. Sorry to have been an annoyance," she put emphasis on her last word, again watching him closely for any kind of reaction but was met with continued stone face. Letting out a scoff, she shoved past him, wedging herself between him and his companion and relishing in the sound of surprise from Suigetsu as he staggered on his feet from the force of her push.

She heard Suigetsu call out to her, but she didn't even register his words as she kept moving forward. Stomping over to her party's table. The moment she slid onto the bench next to Ino, she snatched a shot glass from the line that had just been delivered.

"Oh so miss, goodie two shoes is finally letting her hair down," exclaimed Ino.

Sakura threw back the blue liquid and did her best to not flinch as the liquid burned her esophagus. She distracted herself from the burn by turning her head and peaking over her shoulder.

Her green eyes surveyed the area briefly until she spotted him. He and his group were a few booths over, tucked away in the corner. Sasuke was lounging in the stiffest position she had ever witnessed. Next to him was a large man with bright orange hair and Suigetsu was standing at the edge of their booth, leaning over the back as he chatted with a group of girls next to them. There was a flash of red that caught her eye and Sakura watched as a girl with scarlet hair sidled up next to him. Sakura was not sure given the dim lighting but she swore the girl looked just like Naruto's cousin. She was certainly acting like her anyways as she seemingly cooed in his ear. When her efforts went without any results, with a pout on her lips she slunk away to the dance floor.

As the scarlet haired woman who was now on the prowl for an alternative dance partner disappeared into the crowd, Sakura's gaze moved back to the dark corner of Sasuke's booth. As her eyes fell on him, she found him already looking at her. His dark gaze lingered on her for a fraction of a second before it focused on a glass of liquor in front of him. He put on a show of leaning forward and picking up the glass, swirling the amber liquid around before taking a slow sip, then continued to gaze at it as if he hadn't even noticed her.

Quickly the burn in her body from the shot she had just gulped down was overshadowed by a different heat. A roaring anger ignited within her and Sakura twisted back around to her table of gleeful and smiling friends.

Grabbing another one of the shot glasses, Sakura lifted it up and threw it back. As she set the glass down none too gently onto the table, Sakura looked up to find Ino looking at her with a confused inquisition on her face.

"Let's hit the dance floor," Sakura said without any explanation.

Ino's face split into a wide grin that made even the Chesier cat's look like a mere smirk. "I don't know what happened on your potty break, but I like it!" She grabbed a shot glass and downed it before jumping up and proceeding to rally the rest of their group. "TO THE DANCE FLOOR!"

Sakura followed Ino's lead, taking up the rear of their group. As they herded to the massive dance floor, she was struck with a tingling feeling. It was one a person always got when they were being watched. Ignoring the heavy feeling and refusing to look back, Sakura kept her eyes straight forward and focused on the dance floor.

The clinking of metal against metal lightly filled the narrow alley. It was followed by a spark of light causing the dark corner of the alley to light up several times.

Sasuke flicked the small wheel of the lighter only to produce several small sparks. Cursing under his breath when he failed to produce a flame to light the cigarette hanging from his mouth, Sasuke tossed the lighter in the garbage bin that hid him from most of the view from the street. With a sigh, he slouched against the brick of the building as he tucked the unlit cigarette behind his ear.

He wouldn't consider smoking a habit, but it was something he had picked up over the years and occasionally partook of when he was feeling particularly anxious or agitated. Tonight, he wasn't sure what he was feeling. One thing he did know was that he was not feeling the way he had for the past couple of years, which was nothing. Now, he was feeling everything.

The day he decided to cut ties with everything in his past had been a lie. He had thought it would be easy but despite how much he prided himself in self control, Sasuke had his moments of weakness throughout the years. News reports and gossip columns kept him updated on his family. The family's business empire was doing well, Shisui was still womanizing, his parents had donated a large sum to an orphanage foundation, and Itachi…Itachi was still alive.

During those moments of weakness Sasuke had found himself extending his wandering searches to others as well. Specifically the Instagram account of a certain rose headed girl. A girl whom he found was no longer a girl tonight. Never over the past couple of years had he noticed, truly noticed, the changes amongst the selfies and group photos posted and tagged to her account.

Despite these moments of weakness to look back and seek out information of those precious in his life before, Sasuke had never lost focus. He had seen them accomplish things and live on without him, however there is a difference between observing things through the windows of a screen and seeing them in actual physical form.

It made it real. And it had shaken him seeing her.

The muffled quiet of the alley way was suddenly shattered with a loud metallic bang as the side door of the building burst open and a blonde woman stumbled out in a fit of giggles. Sasuke recognized the sound immediately, his guess being proven correct the moment a familiar pinkett emerged as well.

"I told you this was not the way to the bathroom!" Sakura exclaimed in frustration before letting out a sigh as Ino bent over and began to dry heave.

Sasuke quietly pushed himself farther into the shadow where he stood and watched. Gently, Sakura grabbed onto Ino's hair and held it back with one hand and gently rubbed Ino's back with another. It was a familiar sight, Sakura berating in one moment and nursing in another.

The door opened again, filling the alley with the pounding music from inside as a third person appeared. Black hair and skin that was even paler than his own. Earlier when he had surveyed the table Sakura had stormed off too. He had recognized every single one of her fellow clubbers except for one. This one. In his mind he had labeled him as his replacement. And he immediately disliked him.

"Sai," Sakura said with a warm smile.

A smile that was too warm.

Yes, Sasuke definitely disliked him.

Before Sakura could continue anything or the replacement-this so called Sai- could say anything. Ino was suddenly over her sickness and stood up straight, her face turning to one of hyped enthusiasm.

"Ohmygoshthisismyjam! We need to get back onto the dance floor" she commanded as she latched onto Sai and dragged him back into the building. "Come on Forehead!"

The last of her words along with the music was cut off by a loud clang of the door as it swung shut again. Sakura rubbed at her temples as if the beginnings of the hangover were starting to make themselves known, the cooler fresh air of the outside seeming to sober her slightly. Sasuke heard her take in a deep breath and mutter something to herself, shaking her head as she walked to the door and moved to pull it open by the rusty handle.

Only the door did not budge. She stared at the door for a moment then gave it a yank again, and again. Grasping it with two hands she continuously yanked at it. With no results other than the obnoxious rattling of metal. Letting out a groan Sakura knocked on it, waited, then banged on the door and called out hopelessly. When this resulted in nothing she moved to yank on the door again.

"I think you have already established that it's locked," drawled Sasuke, stepping out from his hiding spot when she ungracefully twisted around.

Her green eyes seemed to struggle to focus on him for a moment, indicating to Sasuke that she was a lot more inebriated than he originally thought. Lifting a hand to brace herself against the door, she seemed to finally register who he was.

"You," she said, almost accusingly. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke raised his brow. "I should say the same."

Sasuke slowly sauntered towards her. With each step closer to her, she leaned back until her back was against the door. He halted, keeping a calculated distance between them as he let his eyes look her up and down, taking in everything about her, acknowledging every change. He used every observational skill he had to gather every piece of information he could. From the small bruise on her left shin, the askew strap of her dress, and the slightly smudged make up and curled hair that had turned into a wave from the length of the night.

"You're drunk," he said, his voice sounding accusing.

She let out a breathy laugh. "And…what's your point?"

"You're in Otogakure," he said plainly, as if it was all the explanation needed. When that answer didn't seem to phase her he added, "this city isn't safe. You shouldn't be here, let alone drunk and by yourself."

She cocked her head to the side, "And why would you care about any of that, you don't know me…remember."

"Sakura."

Sakura's brows rose up. "Well, well, so it seems you do remember."

A glint of mirth graced her face as she looked up at him. It was an expression he had seen her make many times in their years gone by, but this time it was different. Her face was different, her body was different, she was different. Her look was one that stirred things within him. With her lip slightly caught in her teeth wasn't just teasing, it was sultry and seductive. And she seemed completely oblivious to what her look was stirring within him. Thoughts of her going back into the club, being around other men giving looks like that and looking like that.

A familiar feeling ignited within him as he let his imagination run wild. Earlier she had proven that she could handle herself when she was faced with Suigetsu's advances. However, she had been sober then. Now…she was not so clear headed.

"You need to leave this city, you need to go home."

"Tch, you are the last person to lecture anyone on going home."

Sasuke felt his jaw tighten. The past couple of years had made him strong in many aspects, but there were some things that it seemed had deteriorated. One of those being his patience with Sakura. Whatever little he ever had.

He reached out and grabbed ahold of her but instantly she pulled away.

"No!" she protested. Her tone no longer holding the earlier teasing smugness. There was only anger. "You don't get to do this anymore. You lost that right when you broke your promise."

Giving him a scathing look she turned away from him and began to stumble down the alleyway towards the street. Everything that he had trained himself for the past three years told him to let her go. His rules which he had set for himself commanded him to leave it alone.

But as he watched her stumble away, one arm outstretched to steady herself against the brick wall and the other gripping at the thin purse strap that was struggling to hang from her shoulder, he knew he couldn't. She had just reached the street and disappeared around the corner towards the front of the building when he moved forward.

It didn't take long to find her.

She was standing at the entrance at the side of the long line arguing with the bouncer. She was in mid retort when his hand clasped around her upper arm and gently, but firmly pulled her away.

"What the hell! Let me go, Uchiha!"

He wasn't sure why the use of her address bothered him, but he didn't like it. And it only spurred him more to pull her along despite her attempts to dig in her heels.

Stopping at the edge of the street curb, he flagged down a taxi and was forcing her into the cab. In her inebriated state it was not a difficult task. Even when she moved to crawl out it only took a simple push before she was seated back down in the back seat.

Keeping a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from any attempt of leaving the seat, he leaned into the taxi to look at the cab driver. He was a middle aged man with the beginnings of silver near his temples. His face was one of perplex as he looked back at them. His amber eyes flicked back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Let me out, Sasuke!" Sakura said as she struggled to escape his hold.

Sasuke ignored her protest as he continued holding her down. "Take her to the fire district in Konoha, block number 7," Sasuke said, the address rolling off his tongue.

"I don't live there," Sakura interrupted in a drunken slur. She had seemingly realized she would not escape from his hold and had settled back into the seat of the car, albeit slightly askew and looking thoroughly disgruntled. Evidently accepting she was going to remain in the cab.

Sasuke's gaze moved to her, his dark eyes roving over her as she sat sloppily in the back seat. "Where are you living now?"

She crossed her arms and suddenly became interested in her nails, telling him that while she accepted that she was not escaping the taxi cab, she was still remaining defiant.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then grabbed at her purse.

"Hey!," she let out in protest, clumsily grabbing it back but Sasuke only had to pull it behind his back before she gave up. As she flopped back into the seat, he pulled her purse back around to start looking through it. Sakura snatched for it but he easily pushed her hand away and she let out a humph before falling back into place, glaring up at him.

Watching her from the corner of his eye, he pulled out a student ID with a picture from her college freshman year. It was a familiar face of hers that came to his memories, the one he remembered, the one he had last seen. Looking at it now, it contrasted greatly to the full woman that was currently glaring up at him from the car.

"You're an asshole," Sakura muttered.

Sasuke looked up from the card to face the present day version of her. "Hn," he hummed, looking back down at the ID card.

"He's better you know…Itachi." He didn't say anything. "You know your mother still cries…she misses you…even your dadー"

Sasuke's hold tightened but he quickly loosened his grip and extended his arm. "Take her here," he interrupted, flashing the card to the driver, who made no move or indication that he would. Sasuke looked at him, digging into his pockets before pulling out a wad of cash. "If you drop her off so much as a block short of that address I will know," he said darkly.

The man seemed to pale but then eyeing the thick wad of cash, he quickly nodded as he started to put the car into shift.

Sasuke looked back at Sakura who was already looking up at him.

"What happened to you?" she asked, her bright green eyes holding a pain that he had never seen her express. Heart ache.

"I made a choice."

"A wrong one."

"...perhaps," he found himself admitting. "But I've accepted that…and so should you."

He moved to shut the door but her hand darted out quickly as she grasped onto his wrist. Despite the smooth softness of her skin, Sasuke felt as if his own skin itched beneath her touch as a trail of goosebumps ran up his arm. He looked down at her and found it was a mistake as he found himself trapped in her stare.

"Come home with me…"

He felt like a sailor leaning over a boat's edge in siren waters. And Sakura was the siren. She looked like one, with her emerald eyes staring up at him with an alluring look and her hand grasping onto him as if gently drawing him down into the water.

Sasuke swallowed. "I…can't."

Her face fell into disappointment and her hand loosened and began to slide from his wrist. However, before her fingers left his skin, his other hand moved like lightning as he grasped onto her. Her eyes met his and he found himself opening his mouth.

"I'll find my way back home."

"When?"

"I don't know…but I will. I promise."

The spray of the shower head rained down on him. The temperature had lost its warmth a long time ago, but despite the goosebumps rising across his skin, Sasuke remained scrubbing at his body in an attempt to wash off the blood that was never actually there. It was just shy of two hours ago that he had been sitting atop a twenty story building and looking through a scope as he pulled the trigger. His target, a high official who had been giving a speech in the town square.

It was something that hadn't made him even pause without a second thought in over two years. But something about the assasination had been off.

He had hesitated.

For a fraction of a second his finger had flinched when he went to squeeze the trigger, delaying the assasination. The mission was still successfully completed, but it was nearly compromised. It wasn't an instant kill as it should have been had he taken the shot when he meant to. And there was no question as to what the reason was. It was all because of what had happened just twelve hours before, because of who he had run into.

His head leaned back and he let out a heavy exhale as he reached out and shut off the water. Leaning against the cold tile, he let his eyes close slowly. The last droplets of water dripped from the shower head and his body as the gurgle of the drain echoed around the bathroom. When the dripping water ceased, Sasuke was left in a heavy silence that allowed his mind to focus.

Sakura…

He prided himself as always being on guard, but he had not been prepared for that. He had not been prepared for her. And since then, something was off. It was like a hood had been pulled over his head for the past several years and suddenly it was wrenched off and he could see now.

The words he had said to her last night he had said them in a moment of weakness. Or that is what he thought.

He had been seeing things, catching whispers among the dark corridors he roamed these days. After years, he was more than aware that the organization was not what his teenage adolescent self had thought it was. It wasn't a secret special ops that was protecting his country. It was a guild of assassins that went to the highest bidder. What he had done earlier this night was proof enough. His target had been a rising politician of the people who empowered the common folk. Something the more senior and seasoned politicians that were currently in power did not approve of. So they made an exchange with Orochimaru and Sasuke carried out the task.

At first Orochimaru had tried to contort the truth of the reasons why they did the things they did. Fed him lies and excuses as to why certain acts needed to be carried out and what threat it posed to their country if they were not successful in their missions. But Sasuke had learned over the years, and became more fluent and familiar with politics and society. He had become more aware of what was and was not actually worthy of being deemed "for the better of the people." Now, the snake hardly even tried to give an excuse. He just commanded Sasuke, and Sasuke obeyed.

And for what?

While the jobs paid more than well, Sasuke didn't need the money.

He had joined for direction. Seeking that unexpected and alternate path that Kakashi had talked about when he gave him the flier for the military. Sasuke had hoped he would find a purpose of his own and avoid family obligations.

And yet, Itachi was getting better, Sasuke had already known this even without Sakura informing him. Along with the news and tabloids covering his family, Sasuke had hacked into the hospital records, and even watched an event they hosted from far away.

Sasuke had truly meant to return after a year. At least at the beginning he had. But the more he perfected his skills and ventured down the path he had chosen, the more lost he felt. Now, after the missions and deeds, he felt even if he could find his way back, he was not worthy to make that return.

His mind was suddenly infiltrated with the memory of Sakura from the other night.

She looked beautiful. Something that came as no surprise, as her features had matured fully from adolescent to adult. But what consumed the image of her the most was her overall presence. It felt like home. And after what he had just done earlier that night, he was ready to go home.

The only problem was there was no going home. His feelings of condemnation and unworthiness was not the only thing keeping him away. Plan and simple, there was no leaving Orochimaru. Those who did, were eliminated. He knew this because he had been the hunter every time someone thought they wanted freedom.

Sauke's hand balled into a fist at those memories and he opened his eyes to glare down at the broken bathroom tile of the cheap hotel he was staying in.

He was going to do it.

He was going to find his way back home.

But first, he had to take down the organization. And there was only one way to do it, from the inside out.

He just hoped he would not lose himself completely in doing so.

Chapter Text

October Two years later :

The beeping of heart monitors and the squeak of sneakers against the tile floor as nurses ran up and down the corridors were nothing but white noise to her as Sakura stared at the screen on the wall. She had just finished giving an update to a family regarding their grandfather's surgery when she glanced at the waiting room T.V.

Normally she would not have paid it any more attention than a fleeting glance as she walked in and out of the waiting room. She was hardly ever curious about what was playing in an attempt to distract the visitors from worry of their loved ones. Usually it was monotonous news or the occasional rerun of a popular drama.

Today was the news. And on any other day she would have not let herself linger from her rotational duties. However, a certain image being displayed in the top right corner as two anchors spoke had Sakura coming to a halting stop as her eyes became glued to the T.V.

It was Sasuke.

The events of her run in with him two years ago were hazy recollections due to the inebriated state she had been in. Sometimes she often wondered if it had all been a really bad dream. But as she took in the image of him displayed on the screen, she knew it had been real. That had really been him.

It was not the eighteen year old boy that she had watched departing on the bus after giving her promises of return. It was the grown man that she had run into at the club. The one who had looked at her as if she was a nobody one moment then made renewed promises of return in the next.

She examined the image of him provided on the screen. And it was all there but again with the changes of time. His midnight hair was now almost considerably tame as it hung longer than she had ever seen it. Giving him a resemblance to his father and brother even more. Then his eyes. Two years ago they had held such an empty look it had sent shivers from the coldness they held. And while this captured image did not have that emptiness, the dark stare that bore through the screen and into her held something else that still had her skin prickling with goosebumps. Within his dark look was a heated emotion that Sakura could only label as vengeful. Paired with the firm set of his mouth and furrow of the brow, it made for a menacing photo image.

After recovering from the shock of his image, she was finally able to focus on what the announcer was saying.

"And back with an update on today's ground breaking news: Ex military official General Orochimaru, a heavily decorated officer during his service to the country was killed yesterday. His death has been a controversial event as well as shocking. Following his death, an entire block in the eastern sector of Otogakure was destroyed, revealing an underground military force known as: Otogakure Special Operations or OSO.

Sasuke Uchiha, an elite member of the organization for the past five years, was the cause of all of this revelation."

The camera zoomed in on the image of Sasuke for a few moments before the announcer continued.

"For those who are not familiar, Sasuke Uchiha is the youngest son of none other than Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha and nephew to the more well known Madara Uchiha of Uchiha Cooperation. Authorities say that he showed up at Konoha headquarters to turn himself in for the assasination of General Orochimaru and the destruction in the city of Otogakure. Given the evidence provided by Sasuke Uchiha as well as his actions, it is yet to be determined what the repercussions of his involvement with OSO will be."

As the announcer spoke, the screen had cut to a video coverage depicting Sasuke emerging from a police car and being escorted by two officers into a government building. Around him had been a large crowd of news reporters and spectators behind a wall of officers struggling to keep them back. After a brief feed of this, the screen cut back to the two reporters sitting behind the large news desk.

"We are about to go to our break, but up next, a deeper look into Sasuke Uchiha. Was this a noble infiltration mission or a sham act of heroism?"

There was a short pause as the two reporters stared at the camera with bright smiles until the screen cut to a commercial. A blaring advertisement that contrasted drastically with what had just been presented took over the screen. As bright colors and flashing images took over the screen, a spokesperson raved loudly about a new flavor of Ichiraku ramen.

Sakura remained staring at the screen, her eyes not really watching and her ears not truly listening.

She stood there for the duration of the commercial until she overheard a conversation that had struck up between two people that were sitting nearby.

"It takes a special person to be able to do such things," one of them was saying. "The mental state you would have to be in. Did you hear the reports earlier about the training? Practically torture, let alone the type of missions they did. That Sasuke kid clearly knew how messed up the organization is but he went through with it anyways. Do you suppose he was undercover or went in like a vigilante?"

The second person was vigorously shaking his head with a deep frown. He let out a scoff before voicing his disagreement.

"Psh. That kid was just trying to save his skin. You can see it in his eyes. That kid enjoyed the killing. Bet the federals were just onto them and he saw a sinking ship and bailed. Made it look like sabotage from within so they would offer him a pardon."

"Paging doctor Haruno. Please report to the nurses station in the eastern wing."

Sakura broke out of her trance, wrenching her eyes from the T.V, her body somehow responding to the summons as she did her best to ignore the arguing pair as she walked by them.

She had not heard a single whisper of Sasuke since her run in outside the club that night. It had been obvious Sasuke had changed, there had been a darkness about him back then. But never had she suspected he had been involved in something to this extent. Gangs maybe but terrorism? Her mind wandered to the promise he had made. He had said he would find a way back home. Was this it?

"Dr. Haruno!" A nurse was rushed down the corridor towards her when she spotted her coming down the east corridor towards the nurses station. "The patient in room 409 just had a seizure."

The urgency in the nurse's voice flipped a switch within Sakura that Ino had dubbed her "doctor mode". When she was in it, there were no distractions.

It was something she quickly learned and adapted under the tutelage of Dr. Tsunade Senju in the first months of her residency. And tonight, she prayed it would hold fast until the end of the shift.

November:

Sasuke hated the silence of the suburbs. He had never noticed how quiet it was growing up. But now, as he laid in his bed, it felt suffocating as he stared up at the ceiling dreading the moment sleep would overcome him and the nightmares would awaken in his mind.

He lifted his hand and in the dim light from the moon beams that entered through the crack in his drawn shades, Sasuke looked at his watch.

It was the very same watch that Itachi had given him what felt like a lifetime ago. It had been taken from him the first day of recruitment into the OSO and he had retrieved it from a lockbox in the barracks just minutes before the entire place went up in flames.

He let out a heavy sigh when he saw it was not even four in the morning.

It had been just shy of a month since he killed Orochimaru and turned himself in. He spent half of that time locked in a detention center until he was finally released to go home under house arrest. No doubt his family had pulled some strings for such arrangements to be made. And the timely manner most likely from pressure that Madara had put on the public security intelligence agency. Any other person would most likely sit in prison for months, possibly years while they waited for their trial.

While Sasuke acknowledged that his family was doing what they thought was in his best interest, he hated being at home. In the detainment center at least things had felt familiar. The gray walls and corridors, the high security and constant lockdown. Even the questionable meals. It all reminded him of the barracks he had been living in for the past five years. It was his normal aside from when he went abroad for missions. But even then, it was always run down hotels in shady parts of the city that never truly slept that housed him.

Now in his childhood home Sasuke found himself in unease.

The neighborhood was too quiet and still. So silent that when there was something making noise he was fully aware of it. And with his years of training, it was every single thing. He would hear his father rise in the morning, could hear the squeak of the shower head being turned on, the slip of silk fabric as he tied his tie, and the metallic click of the door as he locked the door as he left the house.

During the day he mentally followed his mother around the house as she went about cooking and cleaning.

All of the comings and goings echoed in his ears. Every time he heard a jogger ran by Sasuke found himself watching them from a window, surveying their movements and watching for any signs of infiltration.

The silence was deafening.

And it wasn't just the sounds.

It was the warmth and comfort that his home had. It was the forgotten familiarity of it that made him feel as if he were an imposter.

Perhaps he once belonged within these walls. But no longer.

Each time he walked into the room it was like gazing upon a stage as recollection and memory played across his mind. After years of cutting himself off from all emotion and feelings, it hurt when they suddenly came rushing back into him. When it happened the guilt, loss, and anger became stronger. All of it mixing together and pooling into melancholy. Each time they brought a tightness within his chest and he felt himself struggling to breath.

His court ordered therapist would have fancy words and a diagnosis for it but that would require him speaking during their sessions and voicing this discomfort.

Twice a week he was allowed to leave the premises of his house for a session with her. Which consisted of an hour of sitting in a far too comfortable chair while he and his therapist stared at each other. Occasionally she would ask a prodding question and he would shrug or grunt in reply.

He felt the sessions were pointless. He didn't need someone to tell him his mind was fucked up and prescribe him drugs. Orochimaru had given enough drugs that did strange things to him and altered him. Now he was not so open to blindly just taking what a stranger prescribed. His logic told him that his shrink wasn't a manic terrorist. But the side effects of what he had gone through told him otherwise.

Again Sasuke knew his therapist would have a fancy clinical word for that. But he didn't care to know the clinical term. All he knew was it kept him up at night to avoid the nightmares. As a result the lack of sleep only served to make him more unstable.

Sleep or no sleep, it was lose-lose.

After lying on the bed for a few more restless minutes, Sasuke pulled back the covers and rolled over to sit at the side of his bed. There he waited a moment before standing and walking over to his dresser to pull on a shirt. His family had long gone to bed, he had heard them all each make their individual trips.

Itachi was first, having moved back into the house when Sasuke returned. The medications he took to maintain his condition caused him fatigue as a side effect. Sasuke had listened to him walk past his door to get to his own bedroom, muttering a 'Goodnight, Sasuke' as he passed by.

Not long after Itachi had gone to bed, Sasuke had heard his mother make her way. His ears caught her approach to his room where she lingered. Most likely debating on if to disturb him or not. In the end, she let out a soft bidding of goodnight through the door. She waited a moment for a reply that Sasuke did not give until he heard her feet begin a retreat to her room down the hall.

It was not until late in the night his father had finally emerged from his office and joined his wife in sleep. Unlike his mother, Fagaku didn't bother bidding him goodnight. He didn't bother speaking to him at all. And Sasuke did not mind.

It was during these times that Sasuke liked to roam around, when there was no one to give him looks. Looks of pain. Looks of unasked questions. Looks of worry, anger, and hurt. They were endlessly tiresome.

Sliding on a pair of shoes and coat, Sasuke made his way silently through the house and to the front entryway.

Slipping out the door, Sasuke walked down the driveway until his toes touched the line in pavement that distinguished the driveway of public property and the pavement of the neighborhood street.

It was the borderline of his freedom, dictated by the ankle bracelet around his left leg.

He looked out across the street and was greeted with the dim silhouette of the jungle gym of the park. His eyes traced the slide and the swings as childhood memories played across his mind. So vivid he could have sworn he saw a blur of pink, orange, and blue streak across the empty dark playground.

He had yet to see anyone else from his past other than his family. Not that being on house arrest made it all that easy. But he knew that was just an excuse. He could reach out himself. Hell, Naruto had even showed up knocking on his front door the day he was released from the detention center. However he had not come down and thankfully Itachi's words had persuaded Naruto to give it some time.

At least that is what Sasuke assumed, considering Naruto hadn't just come up and barged in. While Sasuke knew that a lot had changed, he knew Nartuo would always be the same. Something that he took comfort in.

He knew that someday he would have to face Naruto, someday he would have to face the whole world outside the confines of his family's property. However, right now he was not ready and there were certain people he felt deserved to be offered his explanations and answers first. He just wasn't sure how exactly to do that.

Two years ago he had remade a promise to Sakura to return home. It had slipped from his lips so easily back then. And he had thought it would have been just as easy. But reality was much more difficult. It wasn't as if he expected her to wait for him nor forgive him. He was aware he had hurt her and strung her along. His juvenile and selfish decision had hurt many, but he was sure it had hurt Sakura the most. And now, he had gone down so many dark roads he wasn't even sure he had come back whole.

No, that was not right.

He knew he had not come back whole. He was broken and damaged to a point he was sure could never be fixed. He had done things that even if pardoned by lawmakers, would still forever stain his hands. Hands that he did not dare dirty someone's life with. Someone such as Sakura.

However, he still had a duty to at least face her. To at least give her some kind of closure, so she could move on. If she hadn't already.

He let out an exhale which created a cloud as his breath cooled in the air. He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep his fingers from going numb. And looking down at his feet, he toed the invisible line before beginning to walk along the perimeter.

The sun was just beginning to rise when Sasuke decided to go back inside.

As he walked into the kitchen, the smell of fresh coffee and eggs hit his nose making his mouth water. If there was one thing that he did not mind in his current life situation, it was his mothers cooking. His father and brother were already sitting at the breakfast bar while his mother moved around the kitchen.

His mother was the first to notice him and immediately a warm smile graced her face which was beginning to show her age.

"Oh Sasuke, I thought you were still asleep upstairs…" She looked between him and the other two Uchiha men that were seated at the table.

Her acknowledgement announced his presence to the other two and caused them to look in his direction. Fagaku lowered his newspaper for a glance. After taking in his son for a few moments he folded it closed and stood up.

"I need to head to the office early," he announced as he stood, giving his wife a peck on the cheek.

He gave his eldest son a short word of acknowledgment then made his way out of the kitchen. He paused for a short moment, then continued past him without even a single nod of acknowledgment.

"Why don't you come sit down," Mikoto invited, trying to ease the slight of his father and soften the awkwardness in the air.

"Ah," Sasuke sounded.

He took the seat his father had just vacated. Mikoto replaced his fathers half eaten breakfast with a fresh plate fixed with an omelet that was topped with a surplus of tomatoes. Sasuke could not help but give his mother a small smile that felt strained to form. But it brought about a beam from her.

All the while he felt the heavy stare of his brother as Itachi read him.

While Sasuke was the one with the specialized training. Itachi had always had a gift for seeing the smallest of body movements and interpreting them to the deepest thoughts of the person.

"He will warm up to you again," Itachi said quietly enough so that their mother could not hear. "Just give him time."

"It's fine," Sasuke brushed off. "It's not like he ever really acknowledged me before. S'pouse he always knew I would grow up to be the shame of the family."

"You're notー"

He was interrupted by the side door bursting open as Shisui entered the house, taking in a deep breath of the kitchen's aroma.

"Ah, the sweet smell of breakfast!" He swiftly crossed the kitchen and stuffed a fried donut dusted with matcha powder in his mouth. "Mikoto, your cooking is superb as always."

He reached for another, only for it to be snatched from the plate by another. Looking as if someone had just insulted his entire family three generations back, Shisui looked at the offender. A wide grin replaced his shock as he watched his young cousin take a bite then set it down on his plate as he focused on eating the stray pieces of tomato still left on his plate.

"Well hey there killer!" Shisui said, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's shoulders who stiffened upon the physical contact. Shisui looked around to see Itachi's disapproving stare and Mikoto's worried frowning. "What? Too soon?"

"Don't you have somewhere else to beg for food?" Sasuke asked, shrugging his shoulders free of Shisui's arms. "Somewhere like your house, or maybe at your job where you should be? I'm sure they have a box of donuts down at the station."

"Well of course, but I'm a growing boy," he said, slapping his more than well toned and lean stomach.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed his seat back. "Thank you for breakfast," he said to his mother. Then to no one in particular, "I need to get ready for my appointment today."

"Oh yeah," Shisui chimed as Sasuke was about to leave the kitchen. "That was the other reason why I am here. Guess who gets to take you to your shrink today. Do you think she will let me join in the session since I'm family? I've got a lot of questions for her regarding you." He slipped into the chair Sasuke was vacating and leaned back. "It all started when my aunt came home from the hospital and said a grump duckling was my cousin…"

Sasuke grunted, putting on an air of annoyance as he left the kitchen. He heard Shisui's monologue stop when he let out a yelp and Mikoto began to let out a scolding that became muffled as Sasuke made his way down the hall and upstairs.

In all honesty, Sasuke actually appreciated Shisui's antics. He didn't sugar coat or tiptoe like the rest of his family. He was the one person Sasuke felt at ease around. Although that was something he would take to the grave. If Shisui ever thought Sasuke held the smallest of respect for him he would never hear the end of it.

New Years Eve:

Sakura bit at her lip as her eyes moved back and forth between the options. She stood still as she weighed the decision before her. It was a difficult one.

Did she get the shrimp or miso flavor? There was a tempting tempura option, however the flaming label and cartoon shrimp with fire coming out of its mouth warned her that she would not like the spice level.

If it were any other day she would be at Ichiraku and perhaps even invite Naruto. However, given the holiday, most places were already closed for festivities. Which left her at the mercy of the convenience store at the corner of her street.

Her stomach gave another rumble.

Snatching up both flavors, she walked over to the counter where a middle aged, unhappy looking man was perched. He was sitting on a stool watching the small T.V. that was hanging in the corner behind the checkout counter.

When she set the ramen cups down the man did not move, his eyes still glued to the television as he either did not notice her or did not care. She grabbed a few other things and placed them into a small pile on the counter. Strawberry Pocky, a bag of chips, and an assortment of candies. Waiting for the clerk, Sakura glanced up at the screen to see what had the man's attention so engaged.

It was a news report. Covering the top ten biggest news of the past year. Currently they were talking about the downfall of Orochimaru and of course, the return of Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura frowned at the screen.

Whenever it came to the return of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura was conflicted. Sasuke was back, but life seemed just about the same. Not that she disliked her life, nor had the past years been unfulfilling without him. But there was always something poking in the deeper recesses of her mind and telling her that something was wrong.

It was like that sensation of feeling like something was being forgotten but not knowing what it was. Sakura had not even noticed that his absence in her life was affecting her until a couple years ago when she had run into him at the club. Seeing him, hearing his voice, touching him. It had all dug up everything she had worked so hard to bury and ignore to hide away the hurt of his departure.

It wasn't as if she expected him to show up on her front door with a heartfelt apology and flowers. In all honesty she wasn't even sure what she expected. The revelation of what he had gotten himself into and done over the past years had thrown her for a loop.

She didn't pretend to understand the depths of his actions or even what he truly did. But from what was revealed in the news, it wasn't anything good.

Annoyed at herself for dwelling on the subject, Sakura looked back at the clerk. She had promised herself that she would not make any judgements or assumptions of Sasuke until she heard it from his own lips.

Glaring at the clerk whose eyes were still glued to the screen, she cleared her throat, catching the man's attention as he finally drew his eyes away from the screen.

"Oh it's you Sakura," the man said.

Having frequented the convenience store many times over the years since she was old enough to run down and buy a treat. The man had become familiar with her as well as her childhood male companions.

"I don't see you too often these days," he commented as he began scanning the items.

"Yes, I live more in the city now," she explained. "With my hours always changing in the residency program I thought it would be better if I lived closer to the hospital."

"Ah yes." He glanced back at the television, then gave her a quick look before looking down to scan her next item. He cleared his throat. "I heard the dark haired boy you used to hang out with all the time came back…what was his name again?"

Sakura frowned.

She knew he knew Sasuke's name. He was prodding for information, like a lot of people who knew her relationship with Sasuke. No doubt assuming she had plenty of inside information. But even if she had that information, she would not give it.

However, as it was, she had not seen hide nor hair, let alone heard from Sasuke since he returned. To say she was slightly disappointed was an understatement. But she was not going to be the one to run to him seeking him out. If he wanted to see her, he had plenty of resources among his family to seek her out.

Pushing Sasuke out of her mind. Sakura handed over a bill to cover her purchase and took the plastic bag the store clerk handed her in exchange. Bidding him a Happy New Year, she left the warmth of the small store into the brisk cold of the winter evening.

The street lamps were just beginning to flicker on as she made her way down the empty street, the last of the evening light giving her just enough guidance to make her way to her childhood home.

There was a flash of headlights as someone turned down the street and Sakura moved closer to the side to give the car plenty of room to pass by. However, just as the car had reached her, the screech of the brakes and tires rubbing against the pavement filled the street as it came to a stop. Alarmed, Sakura looked towards the car just in time for the tinted window to roll down to reveal a familiar feminine face.

"Sakura!" Mikoto exclaimed. "It is you! What are you doing here? Your mother said they were going to be in Suna for the holidays. Did they come home early? Is everything alright? Were you not joining them?"

Sakura gave the woman a warm smile and approached the car, leaning into the open window.

"They are both well and still in Suna visiting my grandparents. I just came back early because of my rotations," Sakura explained. "I'm just house sitting for them until they get back in a couple of days. Once they get back I'll go back to my apartment."

"So you are all alone tonight? No New Year's celebrations?"

"Oh, we had our traditional dinner before I left Suna. Don't worry, I don't mind a quiet slipping into a new year once in a while. I've still got myself covered. I've got a whole new series on Netflix to binge watch," Sakura lifted her plastic bag of snacks, "and I just got myself all set for food!" she said optimistically.

Mikoto looked at the plastic bag with a deep frown on her face. In an instant she was shaking her head. "Nope! Not happening," she said as she leaned over in her car and pushed the door open. "Get in, young lady. I will not allow you to spend the holiday alone."

Sakura threw up her hands. "Oh no, it's quite alright. I really wouldn't want to impose."

This only earned her a far stronger disapproving glare than her ramen did. No one denied Mikoto Uchiha an opportunity to shower them with nurturing love.

"Sakura Haruno! You should know better that you are never an imposition in my house," Mikoto chastised. "Now get inside this vehicle! If a single one of those Uchihas back home learned I didn't bring you I would be stripped of the name Uchiha without trial!"

Sakura could not help but laugh. Knowing full well that resisting was useless, she gave in and climbed into the car. Instantly she was enveloped by the sweet scent that Mikoto always smelled of as the older woman wrapped her in an embrace.

"Oh my sweet girl, it has been too long!" she said, pulling away and putting her car into drive. "Everyone will be so excited to see you! I think you are just the thing some of us needed going into the new year!"

Unsure of what Mikoto meant, Sakura brushed it off as Mikoto's way of managing to overly complement, yet sound and be entirely sincere. It had been awhile since she had seen most of the Uchiha's. The exceptions being Itachi when he came for his check ups at the hospital and Mikoto when she invited Sakura for lunch every few months. Other than those two it had been awhile since she had seen any of the others. Fugaku, Madara, Izuna, Shisui, Obito….

Suddenly it hit her.

Sasuke.

Would Sasuke be there? Panic began to course through her veins like ice water making her feel as if she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

The thought of him being home did not even cross her mind until now. She had known he was released from custody several weeks back yet never had she thought about where he would be staying!

Sakura peeked at Mikoto who had a conspiratorial smile placed on her lips. And that smile told her everything.

Sasuke was home.

She was just debating on opening the door and rolling out of the moving car when she realized that Mikoto had already pulled into the garage and the door was shutting behind them. It was too late, Sakura's fate was sealed.

Sasuke was in his room, delaying his descent downstairs where the party was just beginning. His uncles had arrived just before his mother had gone out to pick up a few more things despite the fact that she had already cooked enough to feed an army for a week. And by the boisterous laughter that was drifting up the stairs, Shisui had arrived as well.

When he saw his mother's car pull into the driveway, Sasuke knew that he would no longer be allowed to seclude himself. So instead of waiting for someone to be sent up to fetch him, Sasuke voluntarily made his way down the stairs and towards the kitchen where it seemed everyone was gathering as they hungrily waited for Mikoto to allow them to start eating from the buffet she had prepared and set up along the counter.

"And look who I found on the side of the road!" He heard his mother saying just before he opened the swinging door that opened into the kitchen.

Mikoto's words were followed by what could be interpreted as a buzz of excitement given it was only Uchiha's. Shisui's boisterous greeting was enough to make up for the others. However, as Sasuke pushed the door open to enter, the entire room went silent the moment he stepped into the room.

His eyes scanned the room for the cause of commotion only to come to a halting stop when he spotted her. Pink hair covered by the hood of an overly large Konoha University sweatshirt and look of apprehension as her bright green eyes skirted around the room until they fell onto him.

Sakura.

She was standing near the door looking directly at him, shifting from one foot to the other as she grasped a plastic bag to her chest, her other hand in her pocket.

Mikoto wrapped her arm around Sakura in a side hug. "Sasuke!" she said excitedly. "Look who joined us tonight! Isn't it great!"

Sasuke swallowed thickly and managed an "ah."

After a short silence, Sakura pulled her hand from the pocket of her hoodie and pulled down the hood on her sweatshirt. "I brought ramen," she said awkwardly, lifting a plastic bag.

Mikoto let out a click of her tongue. "You have been spending far too much time with the Uzumaki boy."

Grabbing the bag she tossed it onto an empty chair at the bar table.

"Eat some real food," Mikoto said, pushing Sakura towards the front of the buffet set up."You're too skinny."

Still frozen to his spot. Sasuke watched as Sakura's green eye flickered to him, then moved away just as quickly as Shisui swooped in and handed her a plate. Wrapping an arm around her and guiding her through the buffet as if he was a historian giving a tour at a museum.

"And here we have Mikoto's famous rice balls…"

As the awkwardness in the air eased with Shisui's ease, the others began to attack the spread of food. Loading up their plates and settling in the dining room. Eventually leaving Sasuke alone in the kitchen. His stomach churning and for the first time in many years, feeling panicked.

"And how is your apprenticeship going with that Senju?" Madara asked. The rivaled family name said with a tone of loathing and disrespect. "You know it's not too late to take me up on my offer. You would certainly go far beyond in a career with Uchiha than with any Senju."

"Tempting," Sakura tactfully said with a smile. "But I think I want to give medicine a try for at least a few more years."

Madara proceeded to go on about what the Senju lacked before going on a long winded rant on why Uchiha were better than Senju. As his hatred for Senju was no secret, the rest of the table proceeded to let his words go into one ear then the other. Shisui occasionally cut in, praising a recent accomplishment or the Senju or reminding Madara of a time when Hashirama Senju had best Madara in the past. All while Shisui gave Sakura conspiratorial looks as he continued to chaotically provoke the patriarch of his family name.

From the corner of the room, Sasuke picked at his food.

Picked meaning, he picked his food up only to move it to a different part of his plate. It was a task that seemed to take a lot of concentration as he did not once dare lift his eyes from his plate.

Instead he stared intently at his plate, listening to every clink of silverware against china, a scrape of a chair against the floor, and analyzed every word of conversation to provide a picture of what was going on around him.

However, long after dinner had finished, Sasuke found himself so focused on what was going on at the opposite end of the room, that he failed to notice what was happening right next to him.

Shisui.

"So, are you going to talk to her tonight?" Shisui asked, sidling up next to him where he sat on the couch.

It was now ten o'clock and the party had since dispersed around the house. The 'adults' sat in the sitting room. Doing their best to not talk business while the 'children'', who had long since grown up but still referred to as the children by the older generation, had taken over the TV room.

Sasuke shrugged off his cousin's arm with a grunt. "Leave me alone Shisui."

"Common killer, I know they always say every party has a pooper," Shisui sang. "But shit, we don't need two! Madara was enough of a pooper with his Senju hate speech at dinner. We came down here to escape the board meeting he's trying to manage upstairs. You can have a little fun on a holiday."

"..." Sasuke only responded with a flicker of attention to Sakura who was animatedly speaking with Itachi's girlfriend.

Her name was Izumi. And from what Sasuke could tell, she would soon become a part of the Uchiha family line.

He had found a ring tucked away in Itachi's dresser the other day when boredom had him running a recon of his house when everyone else was at work.

Itachi had introduced her a few weeks ago. At first the idea of his brother being attached to someone, and living a life so…fully was strange to Sasuke. In fact seeing him looking so healthy and alive was still strange.

Before Sasuke had left to join Orochimaru, Itachi was hollow cheeked and unnervingly frail. The last memory and image that haunted him for years to follow was of Itachi laying in a bed with wires and monitor hooked up to his body. Now he had color to his cheeks and while still thin, had a healthy physique.

He also looked inexplicably happy. And Sasuke had discovered the source of that happiness when his brother introduced him to Izumi.

From what Sasuke had picked up she was an average girl from an average family. She was pretty but nothing that would set her above most girls. She talked…a lot. Yet seemed to know when to stop and just let silence fall in a conversation when it came to being around Uchiha's. She was kind and considerate but did not allow herself to be trampled by the dominance of his fellow Uchiha family members. And perhaps Sasuke had always thought different, or maybe his family had changed, but she seemed to be easily accepted amongst his otherwise judgmental and elitist family.

Even Fugaku seemed to approve of her.

And this happy addition to his family's life was apparently thanks to Sakura.

Izumi had been a short term patient of Sakura's. And it was through her that Itachi and Izumi met. Making yet another reason for Sasuke to feel unworthily indebted to Sakura. The way she had continued to look after his family, to fight for his family after what he had done.

Sakura glanced over to where he was settled and Sasuke quickly focused his eyes on the ceiling fan above him. Leaning further into the cushions of the couch, he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.

"She seems to be enjoying herself plenty without me ruining her evening," he mumbled back finally.

"Look Sasuke," Shisui began, his voice unnaturally serious and sober of any teasing that Sasuke found himself looking at his cousin. "You need to talk to her."

"I don't think she wants that," Sasuke admitted.

"And you know this because you know so much about relationships and social cues?" Shisui countered.

Sasuke gave a dark look to Shisui. "I can read people far better than most. I spent five years being trained how to read every physical movement down to the faintest muscle twitch in a person's finger."

"Yeah and they stripped you of being able to feel and understand any emotion that you felt," Shisui snapped back, a strange bitterness in his voice.

He leaned up as if to stand and leave. But before he rose, he gave Sasuke a hard look.

"Look Sasuke, I know what it's like to turn off your emotions and turn them back on. I do it all the time in the force.

Every time I enter a house to make an arrest on a druggie and find a kid that has been neglected and left to fend for themself in a house with only alcohol in the fridge and used needles on the kitchen table I have to turn it off. Because if I don't I would end up beating the offender to death right then and there.

And everytime I drop that kid off at an overcrowded foster home I have to turn it off because I know the system is broken and there is no telling if that kid is any better off being in the system then surviving on their own.

Each time I arrest someone barely old enough to be an adult and they are begging and pleading with me to let them go, that they just needed the money for their family, or it was an accident, they didn't mean it, I turn it off.

And everytime I come home, I desperately want to leave it off. Because then I don't have to feel it. But I make myself turn it on. And I feel it. I feel the guilt, the anger, the sorrow. It's overwhelming and sometimes debilitating. But I live with it.

I get that you did some fucked up shit. I understand that you don't feel worthy to have normal in your life and that you don't deserve forgiveness. But in the end, what you did…I read the reports. The sex trafficking rings that you brought down. The child slavery you ended. The shit faces you exposed…I may not understand why you got yourself into that mess, but I sure as hell admire you for what you did in the end."

Shisui stood up and looked down at Sasuke.

"You did the world a favor, now do yourself a favor and talk to her. Let her decide if you're worthy of her or not."

Shisui didn't wait for a response from Sasuke. Instead he turned away from him and walked across the room. And Sasuke watched Shisui, noticing a bounce in his step suddenly appear as his cousin turned back into the obnoxious loudmouth that Sasuke was far more familiar with than the Shisui who had just lectured him.

Then Sasuke looked at Sakura, finding that she was looking at him. And he knew it. Shisui was right.

The smoldering end of the cigarette lit up as Sasuke took in a drag. Tilting his head back he let out an exhale as he looked up at the large moon sitting low in the sky. He hadn't smoked much since coming home as his mother didn't like it. But tonight he needed something for his nerves.

Where he was perched up in the old tree house of his family's backyard, it gave him the perfect vantage point to look out across the night sky, over his neighborhood and down into the valley where the main city of Konoha was built into. As he gazed out, the occasional firework erupted and added a spray of color to the otherwise clear sky.

Sasuke silently watched them for a while before he heard the distinct sound of the backdoor and footsteps. He did not bother looking to see who was approaching.

As his ears picked up the light and short stride he deduced who it was before she even began to climb up the ladder. He knew eventually this night would provide an opportunity for them to be alone. And it seemed the time had come.

It was time to talk.

"One out of three people die from smoking in Japan."

Despite his sulky attitude throughout the night. Sasuke could not help the small curl of his lips as Sakura settled down next to him. He flicked the ashes free as he studied both of their feet dangling over the edge. From the corner of his eye he caught her face scrunching with distaste as the smoldering smoke wafted up into her nostrils. Turning slightly he reached behind himself and crushed the end against the floor of the tree house then turned back to her.

"Is that all they teach you in medical school? Smoking is bad for you? If so, you should have paid more attention in grade three when we watched that "just say no" cartoon."

It wasn't in mockery, only in a slight jest. But for a moment when Sakura seemed to only look back at him he worried he might have sounded offensive.

But then she gave him a small smile. "That's the kettle calling the pot black if you're saying you learned anything from that assembly," she said sarcastically. "And medical school gets a little more complex in the second year."

Sasuke let out a light huff of amusement.

After a short moment of silence, Sakura spoke again, "Your mom sent me out to tell you that the cake is ready."

"Of course she did," Sasuke sighed out.

"I guess you finally found the appeal of sweets."

"I didn't, she just wanted an excuse to bring me back in."

"Oh…"

"..."

A heavy and awkward silence fell between them. And for a person who usually liked silence. It was agony for Sasuke. He was both annoyed and grateful to his mother for sending Sakura out to fetch him. His mother had not been so subtle throughout the evening in trying to push Sasuke toward Sakura. She had made everyone rearrange their seating at dinner. Tried to lure his brother and cousins away when they had been in the living room with various tasks. Even tried to pair them up to take out the trash together to which Sasuke had insisted he could do it alone.

It was on his way back from the curb side that he decided to take a detour to the back yard. But in the moment he knew he could no longer delay the conversation.

"I should have reached out sooner…I meant to but…"

Sakura took a deep breath. "You were a bit detained."

"Hn. Incarcerated would be a better term," he said dryly.

"You could have called after you were released," she softly argued. "It's still the same number."

He was quiet for a long moment before, "I know," he admitted, "but that didn't feel right."

"What would have been better? Randomly showing up on my doorstep? An email? I hear people are trying to bring back messenger pigeons but it gets a bit messy."

Her words, while seemingly comical, had a hard tone to them causing Sasuke to cringe. He had considered many options, but despite that, he was strikingly limited. The monitor around his ankle that was covered by his pants reminded him everyday. He wondered if Sakura even knew. Not that it excused him but if he was honest, he was embarrassed by it.

However, despite that, he knew Sakura deserved truth over his pride.

Lifting his leg he pulled his pant leg up and flashed the black monitor. The little light that told him he was in the safety zone flashed green a couple of times before he let the fabric of his jeans fall over it again.

"I wouldn't get too far if I tried showing up to your door. Not if I didn't want an escort. And all my email and texts are monitored at the moment." He was quiet for a moment then added, "Also we don't get too many pigeons in the suburbs, they seem to prefer the city."

He watched as Sakura continued to stare at his leg for a long while before looking down at her hands in her lap.

"I saw the news…" Sakura said quietly, finally addressing the topic Sasuke wanted to avoid. "Did you…what exactly did you even do for—"

"Don't ask me that, Sakura," Sasuke softly interrupted, turning his head and finally fully meeting her eyes for the first time that night. "I know you don't owe me anything. But if you ask me, I'll tell you. I already have enough to make penance with you and my actions will surely condemn me forever…if I am not already. So please, don't ask me that."

For a long moment, Sasuke watched as Sakura seemed to struggle. He could see it in her face, the debate and temptation for her to ask. But eventually, she nodded although he could still see the craved curiosity behind her eyes.

"Okay," she said. "I won't ask about that. But I will ask why? I deserve that much."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes…you do."

With a deep breath Sasuke looked out across the night sky. Trying to find the words to communicate, despite the numerous weeks worth of long sleepless nights he had dedicated to practicing such an answer.

"I was running away. I didn't want to accept what was happening at home and with my family. Itachi was dying and I was going to be used to replace him."

"And when he got better?" Sakura prodded. "You could have come back years ago."

Sasuke frowned. This was the hard part. "I got…lost. Became someone who no longer cared. I erased myself from everyone's lives and from what I saw things were for better and I no longer had a place with them. Itachi was no longer sick. The business became more successful and the family seemed more balanced. And you…" Sasuke looked to her, and found Sakura leaning forward towards him.

"And me?"

Sasuke looked away from her, unable to keep looking into her eager face. "I figured you had moved on. You seemed happy and I was…lost. And I didn't want you to get dragged down by me. But then I saw you at that club. You, with everyone we grew up with. It was so familiar yet you seemed so different and changed. Stronger. And you asked me to come back and I realized something for the first time in a long time."

"What?" Sakura asked just barely over a whisper.

"I didn't want to run anymore. I wanted to come back home."

He felt Sakura's hand reach out and gently grasp his arm at his elbow. Turning his head, he let Sakura look him in the eyes and search his face.

For a long while he watched her irises, which in the dim light were a deep emerald flicker around as she searched him, her face pulled deep in thought as if making judgment.

Then suddenly, the studious expression faded and she gave him a warm smile.

"Then welcome home Sasuke."

Sasuke smoothed down the front of his shirt as he surveyed himself in the mirror. It was a dark blue. According to a youtube video he had watched, women liked a bright complementary color on a guy. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what the teenager who had over a million followers meant by that, but his mother had always said he looked good in blue so here he was.

He had ordered the shirt online last week since as of yesterday he could not cross over the property line without alerting half the city's police force. And he was not about to allow Shisui another satisfaction by setting it off again.

Satisfied with what he saw in the mirror, Sasuke stepped over the pile of shirts all varying in shades of blue that he had found too bright and cheery. Yes, he wanted to dress to impress but he was not about to become someone he was not.

As closed the door and turned to make his way down the driveway, he ran into Shisui coming up from the street.

Sasuke moved to walk by him but was stopped when Shisui's arm flew up and halted Sasuke with a sturdy hand on his chest. Leaning in slightly, Shisui sniffed at him, his eyes brightening and a sly smile curling at his lips.

"Shinobi no. 5," he commented. "That's quite the cologne for sulking around the house. Where are you headed?"

"Coffee, with a friend."

Shisui raised a brow. "You don't have any friends. Anyone you've associated with in the past five years has been arrested, all thanks to you."

"They aren't a part of that."

Shirui gave him a deadpan face. "You've been on house arrest for the past three months, how many friends could you have-'' Something seemed to click in his mind as his face brightened. "You're going to have coffee with Sakura…aren't you."

Sasuke felt his face warm slightly.

"Oh you like her," Sasuke continued, grinning even more widely.

"This is not the third grade Shisui…we are catching up and having coffee."

"But you still like her."

Sasuke's jaw tightened in annoyance. Was it really all that surprising that he didn't? "And if I did?" Sasuke challenged.

Shisui let out a squeal and Sasuke rolled his eyes. Pushing past Shisui to continue down the driveway.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke stopped at the front gate and looked back to his cousin. Shisui was wearing that serious face again that he showed on New Years Eve and he took a few steps toward Sasuke. Despite how much Sasuke had grown, Shisui was still significantly taller.

"Hn?"

"That girl went through enough pain. Unless you have full commitment to make good on your intentions…" Shisui let out a sigh and shook his head. "Don't screw this up again little cousin. "

"I'm not planning to."

Shisui's serious face did not change. Only intensified.

"I'm sure you weren't before either. So I'm only going to say this once. If you have even the smallest of doubts that you won't make this work you might as well stop now. Because if you hurt her I will break your legs so when the others come for you they won't have to chase you. That is, if she doesn't break every bone in your body before."

Sasuke gave Shisui a shadowed look.

"If I do fuck this up, I'll be the one to give you the sledgehammer to break break my legs."

Shisui studied him for a long time, and Sasuke finally understood why Shisui was still employed as an officer. Anyone with something to admit would crack under such a stare. Finally Shisui's facade cracked and he reached out to ruffle Sasuke's hair then moved back towards the house.

"Have fun on your date Sauce-cakes!" he called out.

Sasuke gave Shisui's back a death glare as he tried to straighten out his mussed up hair all the while doing his best to ignore the childish tune Shisui had begun whistling that involved sitting in trees and spelling out gestures of affection.

Chapter Text

Sasuke wasn’t sure what annoyed him most. The ticking of the obnoxious pig clock oinking each time the long hand hit the top of the hour or the scritch scratch of Dr. Shinzune’s pen on her pad of paper. 

What kind of pig wears pearls?!? And how the hell did the doctor already have a full page of notes when he hadn’t even said anything?

As if she heard his thoughts, Shizune looked up from her notes. She crossed a leg over the other and began to vigorously bounce it as she surveyed him. 

“You're not as chatty today, Sasuke,” she commented. 

The sarcasm was not subtle. Sasuke still hardly talked during these sessions. Usually their hour was filled with long pauses as Shizune scratched away with her pen. The silence was only ever broken when she would pause to ask a question. Sasuke would respond with a simple yes, no, or a shrug of the shoulders, sending Shizune into another frenzy of note taking. 

Dr. Shizune made a show of looking at some past notes. Her black eyes scanned over the paper before she looked back up at him and tilted her head to the side. “Why don’t we start with following up on your assignment from last week. I asked you to meet up with a friend and try reconnecting. How did that go?”

Sasuke’s gaze drifted out the window where the top branches of a cherry blossom tree peaked through the window and waved at him mockingly as a gentle breeze caught its budding flowers. His mind began to recollect said assignment. It was a simple meet up at a coffee shop. He had already seen and talked to Sakura at his family's New Years Eve party, and she hadn’t cursed to hell like he deserved. He had left the house with optimistic intent. Yet what should have gone smoothly somehow turned into a dumpster fire of a mess.  

They had decided to meet up at a coffee shop not far from the hospital. Sasuke had gotten there early and waited across the street. Habitually his eyes had scanned the coming and goings of every patron of the shop, every car that passed down the busy street, and every dog that decided to make its owner stop as it sniffed at every tree and fire hydrant. 

The shop itself was nothing Sasuke would have picked. 

Given its central location in the city and trendy looking sign that announced its catchy name, it was obviously a popular place for caffeine junkies to get their fix. He hadn’t thought anything of it when Sakura suggested the meet up location but now he was not so sure. 

Thankfully, he hadn’t been given much time to overthink the location before he spotted Sakura coming up the street. There was an awkward moment where Sasuke stood stiffly in front of her, unsure if they were supposed to wave from two feet apart or hug. He settled with shoving his hands in his pocket to keep from offering a hand to shake and gave her a nod instead. 

She smiled at him but there was something slightly off, the way her feet shuffled and her eyes darted from him to the coffee shop told him she too felt uncomfortable. 

“Ready?” she offered. 

“Ah.” 

There was a flicker of nostalgia that shifted her smile to amusement. Sasuke gave a small tilt of the head that sent them both moving to step off the curb to cross the street and make their way to the coffee shop. 

“How was your day?”

It was the perfect ice breaking question he needed. Sakura began to tell him about the fascinating procedure she got to observe today. Going into details that went above his knowledge of medicine and leaving Sasuke no room to speak. 

They entered the shop together and Sasuke found the inside was just as trendy as the outside. Sakura continued to talk with the occasional prompting question from Sasuke. It had been his plan, to learn everything he could of this new and strange version of Sakura, and leave as much about himself quiet. And it was working. Sakura seemed to light up with every question he posed to her, only pausing to place her order and letting him give a simple instruction of a black coffee to the barista. 

As they waited near the pick up, Sakura excused herself to the bathroom, leaving him to stand alone in the crowded busy coffee shop as he waited for their coffee. It was then that the creeping unease began to take hold. 

It started with his habitual scan of the premise, noting the entrance and exits, the occupants both staff and patrons, who were together who were alone. He made notes each time. The man in the corner with his lap top who kept fidgeting with his watch as he typed on his computer. The store manager was speaking to an agitated customer complaining that their iced coffee was not hot. 

As he surveyed each table, his eyes met with an older gentleman that was sitting with his wife. The man moved to give a nod but then stiffened as recognition flashed across his face. Immediately he turned to his wife and urgently began to stand to leave, pulling his wife along with him. He whispered something to her which caused her confusion to be replaced with alarm as she looked towards Sasuke. Her once rosey cheeks ashened as she hurried away with her husband, nearly forgetting her purse.

Quickly Sasuke ducked his head and let his shaggy hair veil his face. It wasn’t exactly the first time something like this had happened. Before his house arrest ended, it happened quite often when he was allowed to go somewhere under escort. But with the work the family’s publicist had been doing, his image as a psychopathic terrorist was quickly turning into a national hero. But there were still people who saw past that, people who still saw the truth. 

Immediately Sasuke tried to banish what his therapist would call self deprecating thoughts. Instead he focused on the building, not the occupants. 

The security system was fake, even someone with an untrained eye could see where there were no wires connected to the single camera setup outside. There was only one exit. With this crowded facility any emergency would be chaotic given the size of the establishment. Not to mention the steady flow of pedestrians flooding the sidewalk outside the large bay windows of the shop. Windows that were open and large, letting nearly anyone positioned anywhere across the street free range. Everything about this building made where he stood, a vulnerable spot.  

Something that he had once easily stamped out coursed through his veins. 

Panic. 

He couldn’t do this. He needed to leave. 

He was already halfway down the street by the time the both familiar and foreign sound of Sakura’s voice broke through the city hustle and bustle. 

He came to a sudden stop, his breathing uncontrolled. 

“Sasuke?” Sakura questioned gently, almost cautiously. 

He was tempted to keep his back from her, to keep walking until he could shut himself away at home. This assignment had been a terrible idea. He never should have taken advice from his shrink. He deserved this, deserved to be incapable of functionally normally. But Sakura did not. She had done nothing. 

He turned around and stared at the ground where her sneakered feet were. “I’m sorry Sakura, I just…can’t.” He managed to look up and show her his face. He was dreading to see her reaction. He didn’t want her to see he was so fucked up that he couldn’t even grab a simple coffee.

But when he did meet her eye, they scanned over him with a clinical observance before understanding slowly came to her face. 

“It’s okay,” she said gently, as if he were some cornered animal. “Do you want to go somewhere else? If you wait here I can get our drinks to go and we can go to the park or wherever you want.” 

He didn’t want any of that. 

He wanted to go home. 

As much as he was beginning to hate the walls and the confinement, he was suddenly overwhelmed with how out of touch he really was. During his time with the OSO he wasn’t out in the streets. If he wasn’t on a mission he was holed away in the depressing hole of the bunker the OSO was based in. 

He shook his head, even though it was obvious Sakura had already deduced his answer from his expression. 

“I’m sorry.” He turned to leave but then stopped. If he left like this, Shisui was going to break his legs. Turning back to her, he took a step forward. “Another time, please.” 

Sakura was pensive for a moment then she nodded. 

“Thank you, Sakura.” His hand twitched with reflex and it was like muscle memory kicked in. His pointer and middle finger lightly tapped the middle of her forehead. “Next time, I promise.”

“Sasuke?”

He was jerked out of his thoughts and he found himself back in the office sitting on a too soft chair across from Shizune. 

She raised her brows at him when she gained his attention. “I asked, how did it go?”

It was a disaster. “It was fine.” 

She stared at him for a long moment then gave out a heavy sigh. Uncrossing her legs, she leaned forward to put her notepad on the table that sat between them before sitting relaxing back into her chair. 

“Sasuke, I can’t help you rehabilitate if you aren't honest with me. I know I am practically a stranger and the only reason you are here is because it is court ordered. I am a recent graduate and just freshly stated my practice from the ground up. Meaning I have very few clients and a lot of bills to pay and your family is paying me a lot each week for the extra discretion. So, we can sit here and let the hours pass by each week while my bank account grows faster than I can spend it while making no progress OR I could help you.” Her words began to amplify around the room more loudly as she ranted, her arms and hand gesticulating in the air. “And while I am living in a cramped studio apartment as I drown in student debt and start-up fees, I can’t bring myself to even be tempted to keep you on as a patient indefinitely because -believe me when I say this- I. Want. To. Help. You.” 

Shizune paused for a moment as her last words echoed around the room at an unprofessional volume. 

Clearing her throat, she smoothed out her skirt. “Pardon my outburst. My mentor seems to have left more than her knowledge with me during my time under her tutelage.” She looked him straight in the eye. “My point is, I can’t help you unless you are willing to help me to help you. That means honesty. Now, can you do that or am I about to go from a studio apartment to a penthouse suite next year with a vacation home for each season?”

Sasuke was silent, mostly because he was taken aback by her outburst but a part of him was considering her words. He reflected again on the disaster of getting coffee with Sakura. It was obvious things would never be the same as they had been in the past. But, he had come back for a reason. A reason that would never be possible if he didn’t try. 

He gave Shizune a nod. 

Shizune perked up, her smile returning to her face as she leaned back into her chair and crossed her leg. “Great, let’s start with who you chose to reconnect with.” 

There was a pause of silence, then. “Her name is Sakura.” 

Shizune’s brow raised as if surprised he actually gave a name. “And what is or was she to you?”

There was an even longer pause. After a minute passed, Shizune let out a small sigh and leaned forward to retrieve her pad. 

“We were childhood friends,” Sasuke began, causing Shizune to freeze and stare at him. “We grew up down the street together, and attended the same schools.” Slowly Shizune leaned back, her notepad untouched as Sasuke continued. “We played ninjas with my neighbor in the playground across from my house and had tea parties in my family gardens…I went camping with her family the summer before we went into middle school…She was my first kiss in a basement closet at the Yamanka household…We were desk mates in literature my freshman year in high school…I took her to prom when some douchebag bastard didn’t show up…She was my first girlfriend, my first lo─”

Sasuke cut himself off abruptly when he realized he was spewing out his unfiltered life with Sakura to someone he had said less than a hundred words to in the past several months. A life that felt it was a whole other life cycle when compared to the one he lived the past several years. He cleared his throat. 

“She was everything.”

“And what is she now?” Shizune asked, noting his emphasis. 

Sasuke paused for a moment, not because he didn’t want to answer, but because he didn’t know how to answer. 

“I…don’t know.”

Shizune pondered this for a moment. “Then answer this. What do you want her to be.”

Sasuke looked down at the table where Shizune’s notepad was laying untouched and wondered why Shizune didn’t have every single page already filled with notes and annotations on what she thought was going through his mind. 

“Sasuke,” Shizune prodded. And he looked back up at her.

 “I don’t know. I just know that I want her in my life. But I don’t deserve being any part of hers anymore.” 

The woman tilted her head to the side. “And why do you think that?” Sasuke gave her a pointed look and she waved the question away. “Fine, fine, we will save that for a different session. But let’s discuss what happened last week. Obviously things did not go as you planned.” Sasuke nodded. “Let's talk about it then.” 

For the next half hour Sasuke openly discussed the events of the previous week. Shizune listened, she questioned, she taught him breathing techniques for what she labeled as panic attacks. She walked him through meditation exercises that would help him filter paranoia and hypersensitive instinct from triggering panic attacks. She walked him through what to expect and how to anticipate situations that felt foreign to him and so many more things. 

All the while, not a single note was taken. 

And when the pig began to oink when the minute hand reached the top of the hour, signaling the end of their session, Sasuke found himself for the first time not annoyed. 

Shizune stood. 

“Thank you for talking with me, Sasuke. I want you to take on the same assignment as last week,” she raised her hand in protest when he opened his mouth to reject the idea. “Remember, we are rebuilding your relationships. You have to start small and move forward. Don’t think about where you want to get to. A lot has changed. You have changed, she has changed. In ways you will never get back what you were before. But, on the flip side, you may find things in the relationship for the better because of the trials you have and must overcome. But you won’t know unless you try. Start with getting to know the Sakura now, let her get used to you. Acquaintanceship, then friendship, and then whatever develops beyond that if you so desire.”

Shizune scribbled away on her notepad as Sasuke sat silently in the overly soft chair. Their sessions always started this way. Shizune writes away, as if waiting for him to start the conversation. And he would sit silently, waiting for her to pose a question first. It continued like this until the fifteen minute mark when Shizune would break and give him a question. 

Like clockwork, the minute hand hit fifteen after and Shizune paused in her writing and looked at Sasuke. “So tell me,” she prodded. “How are things progressing with Sakura?” 

“Congratulations…about the fellowship with Dr. Senju.” 

“Oh,” Sakura gave him a soft smile. “Thank you…although I get the feeling your uncle Madara was not too thrilled about it.”

“Hn. He’s just mad that he lost you to a Senju.”

“About that…why exactly does he hate Tsunade?”

Sasuke let out a sigh that sounded more like a chuckle. “It’s a long story,” he said with a shake of his head. “Something happened between Madara and one of the Senju brothers and now we as a clan are required to hate them. Rumor is they used to be best friends but Hashirama married the woman Madara was in love with. Something like that.”

“Really?” There was surprise in her voice. “It’s hard to imagine Madara in love with anything but work.” Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully. “Although he does strike me as the dark, broody type they always cast as the second lead in those historical romance dramas. Then again all of you Uchiha do.” 

Sasuke vaguely recalled watching a drama long ago that Sakura had strong-armed Naruto and him to watch with her. One woman and two men vying for her attention. The blonde knight in shining armor type and the-as Sakura described-dark, broody male. He would never admit it, but Sasuke had enjoyed the complex dynamic and battle scenes of the show. Until the girl chose the blonde guy, Sasuke hated it in its entirety after that. 

“Shisui thinks Madara is just in love with Hashirama,” Sasuke commented, unsure of how to handle the comparison Sakura had just made. “Says he's a little too obsessed with hating him.”

“And what do you think?”

“That Shisui is reading too many boy love fanfictions and it's going to his head.”

Sakura laughed. “Shisui reads fanfictions?” 

“I hacked into his computer a few weeks ago and looked at his browser history.” Sasuke leaned slightly over the table. “And he doesn't just read them. He's got quite the compilation of drabled fanfictions in a folder on his desktop labeled ‘File Not Found’. Naturally I had to look.” 

“Please tell me you got something good out of that blackmail.”

Sasuke shook his head. “Hn…I'm saving it for a rainy day.”

Sasuske watched Sakura from across the small cafe table as she smiled into her coffee. He glanced out the window of the shop, his eyes automatically sweeping the street. However, half way through, he realized what he was doing and looked back to Sakura, his body on edge, but not as much as it would have two months ago. 

“It is…better,” Sasuke finally answered, causing Shizune to smile with satisfaction before he continued. “The breathing techniques are helping.” 

Shizune put the notepad down and leaned back in her chair. “Excellent. Last week you mentioned a job shadowing an Uncle? Which Uchiha is your uncle again?”

“Madara,” Sasuke replied. “He’s been talking to me about taking over one of the departments at Uchiha Corp.” 

“And are you going to take it?” 

Sasuke shook his head. “No…I don’t think I will be taking the corporate route, that is and will always be for my brother, not me.” 

Shizune contemplated his answer then tilted her head. “Then tell me, what is the Sasuke route?”

“You started work this week,” Shizune began at exactly fifteen after. 

“Hn.”

“And how was it?”

The shirt of his uniform was starched and pressed so stiffly he had difficulty putting on the heavy flak jacket that went over it. After twisting and bending his arms he was able to loosen it enough for a functional range of motion. As he zipped up the plated vest it hugged his torso tightly. Again he tried adjusting it but this time it did not give him any more mobility. 

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror before placing the hat of his uniform onto his head. He stared at his reflection for a moment, his eyes taking in the entire ensemble. From the shined boots all the way to where the hat now rested on his black hair. As a child he had often imagined himself wearing the Konoha police uniform, yet seeing it in reality felt more of a dream than when he was eight years old. 

Reorienting his mind to the task at hand, he shut the locker door and made his way towards the front of the building. Earlier he was instructed to wait for his trainer during orientation however, he found no one to be found waiting for him. 

“Officer Uchiha,” the receptionist called out from her corner desk as he reached the lobby. “Your trainer went to pull a patrol car around to the front. He said he would be waiting for you outside.”

Sasuke gave a short nod, the weight of his officers hat making his head feel off balance. 

When he stepped out of the office there was a tinted patrol car pulled up at the curb. Two honks sounded out as he made his way down the steps and Sasuke fought off the irritation of the attention it brought from the handful of pedestrians and fellow officers coming and going. 

Unfortunately any effort in keeping his irritation at bay was proven futile when the driver side door opened and the car occupant stepped out to face him with the all too familiar shit eating grin of his cousin. 

“SasuCAKES!” Shisui sang coming around the front of the car as he pulled out his phone. “You look so adorable in your uniform. Common, give cousin ShiShi a big smile, show me your badge.”

As Shisui snapped pictures faster than a runway photographer, Sasuke’s jaw tightened and clenched harder with each digital click of Shisui’s phone. 

“Your mother is going to love these! Now, give me a Charlie’s Angels pose-no wait-give me an action shot, skid across the hood of the car!” 

He was quitting. Despite having just sworn in less than twenty minutes ago, he was going to quit. Fuck protect and serve. If he had to be trapped in a patrol car with Shisui for eight hours a day he would go insane and be more of a risk to the people of Konoha than he already was now. If he was honest he wasn’t sane enough now. Yet, the department was willing to overlook that. 

But just as he was about to turn heel, Shisui pounced, wrapping his arm around his neck and steering him towards the car. 

“Common cousin, you’ve gone through worse tortures than my presence,” he said, as if he had read everything in Sasuke’s mind. “The force needs you.” 

“I want a different trainer,” Sasuke grumbled as Shisui pushed him down into the passenger seat.

“Too bad, everyone else was too scared, so it's me or me.” Shisui did not even wait for a response from Sasuke before he slammed the door just and hop skipped across the hood of the car before slipping into the driver's seat. “Are you ready to catch the bad guy's partner?” 

Shisui’s eyebrows danced up and down as he slid on a pair of aviators. “Let's ride!” Shisui shouted as he lit up the lights to the car and took off down the road. 

Sasuke pinched the pressure point between his eyebrows as he began to mentally fight off the headache he knew was about to develop. 

“I survived,” Sasuke commented. 

Shizune gave him a contemplative look. “Do you still think yourself unfit for the position?”

“I am sitting on a couch talking to a shrink, what do you think?”

“I think that considering I signed off on your mental evaluation, that should say what I already think about your mental fitness for the position.”

“Seven months ago I was sitting in an isolated prison while being interrogated for murder and acts of terrorism. But my family bought my freedom by paying bail bonds and offering exclusive interviews for anyone willing to twist words and paint a heroic picture on my behalf. I am not a fucking hero.” 

Shizune let out a long sigh, “Sasuke, we have talked about this repeatedly.” 

“It's not imposter syndrome I am feeling,” Sasuke interjected before Shizune could throw the clinical diagnosis at him. He was tired of her always having a term for what he was feeling or acting. “I was a terrorist. I should be sitting in jail for life.” 

Shizune frowned. “Sasuke, you are a very complicated case. What you did was by no means right, but the government has files and notes recovered from Orochimaru’s personal records. The amount of brainwashing and grooming he did was unfathomable. You might have been eighteen and technically legal, but you were barely out of your youth. In fact studies show that most people are not mentally ready for adulthood until their twenties, and the things you went through, are nothing in comparison to what the average adult deals with. And you are not the only person who, as you would say, got away with their actions. Of those who survived the destruction of OSO the majority are in similar rehabilitation programs just as yourself.” 

Sasuke looked at her in surprise, this was not something he was aware of. 

Shizune gave him a look. “See, not so special now are you? Also, don’t say anything to anyone about that. It’s supposed to be highly classified and I would lose my job and license for it. But I trust you wouldn’t like to start over with a different therapist.”

Sasuke shook his head. 

Shizune smiled fondly. “Good, now that we have that settled. Let’s talk about your support system. Your family dynamic seems to be developing well, but how about your social network with friends. How is that coming along?

A hand of creeping fingers inched its way towards a plate of tempura. Without taking his attention away from the miso soup he was stirring, Sasuke moved with lightning speed and smacked the offending hand with the metal spoon he had been stirring with. Naruto let out a yelp of pain as he retracted his hand away from the medley of crispy vegetables. 

Sasuke looked away from the soup to shoot the blonde man a dark look, only to find him eying the grilled salmon. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled. 

“Aw common, Sasuke, I’m starving here.” 

“The food is almost ready, you can…” Sasuke drifted off when his phone started to ring. Wiping his hands clean on the towel that was laying over his shoulder and walked over to his phone. The moment Sasuke glanced at the name he deemed it he went back stirring. 

It was his mother, who seemed to be having a harder time with his rehabilitation into society than he was. He had moved out a month ago for multiple reasons, but the reason he had given her was for the shorter commute. Mikoto had not let a day pass without calling him at least ten times a day to check on him. Mostly to see where he was, as if she needed the reassurance that he hadn’t just disappeared. At first he was patient and answered each time, but now it was becoming tiresome, especially now. 

Sasuke watched as a notification popped up on the screen, telling him he had a voicemail. He set the phone back down, catching a movement from the corner of his eye. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed Naruto’s hand in a firm grip. 

“OUCH!!! Teme!” 

Naruto let out a sound that sounded like a stuck pig as he manipulated Naruto’s hand into a position that gave him easy maneuvering of Naurto’s body. If he bent it just slightly more back, Naruto would be crumpling to his knees. Twist and down would have him turning his back to him. Right now, Naruto was locked in a slight bow before him. After holding him in a locked position for a few delayed seconds, Sasuke released his hand, giving a silent warning look. 

“Damn, teme. How do you move so fast?” Naurto questioned nursing his arm. He gave his had a flick and winced. I think you broke my hand. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Your arm is fine.” 

Naruto sniffed haughtily then turned to Sakura who sat on Sasuke’s couch reading through a heavy textbook as she took notes, “Sakura, teme sprained my arm.” 

“I'm sure you deserved it,” she responded, not even looking up from her book. 

Naruto wandered over to the couch, holding his arm out like an injured cat. Saskue could have sworn he even feigned a limp. Sasuke rolled his eyes but moved around the kitchen island to join them. Grabbing his phone on the way as his ringtone began to sound out. Sasuke gave it half a glance to note his mother was calling again. 

Quickly he sent his mother to voicemail, but as an afterthought he sent her a quick text explaining he had company and would call her back later. 

He slouched on the couch across from where Naruto had successfully pulled Sakura away from her studies as she examined his arm, twisting and turning it. 

“How about that, does it hurt when I do that?” 

“Yes!” Naruto whimpered. 

A grave look came over Sakura’s face, “Oh no, this is more than just a break” 

“What? What is it? Did he break it? Can it fix.”

Sakura shook her head. “I am afraid there is no remedy.” 

Naruto’s eyes bulged then he turned to Sasuke, sputtering incomprehensible accusations. 

Sasuke listened to him with a bored expression then, looking pleadingly at an amused Sakura. After a moment she granted Sasuke mercy and smacked Naruto upside the head. “Idiot, you’re perfectly fine, she grabbed the opposite harm she was examining. This is the arm he grabbed.” 

Naruto tugged his arm. “Well, yeah but…it was radiating pain into this arm,” he haughty defended. When he received only eye rolls he crossed his arms and settled deeply into the couch to pout. “Whatever, you always take Sasuke’s side.” He shot Sasuke with a jealous look. 

Sasuke couldn’t help the smirk that came to his lips. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura looking at him, he moved his attention to her. She flustered for a moment before looking down at her text book, a little too focused on the paragraph. Sasuke felt his stomach churning with an unease he had not felt in a long time. 

He looked back to Naruto who was looking between him and Sakura with a knowing glint. Immediately, Sasuke cleared his throat and mumbled something about the food as he stood to go back to the kitchen. Ignoring Naruto’s dancing eyebrows as he walked by their couch, Sasuke reasoned it was just hunger that was making his stomach feel off. 

“Things are…developing,” Sasuke answered, looking Shizune straight in the eye and knowing he was going to dread the follow up questions she had for what developments he meant.