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These days, a quite morning is the most Sasuke can hope for, and even those are as scarce as it gets. He can barely find a quite place to settle and read in; even the library has become a chaos.
The moment he exits his dormitory he’s either pulled into something unbelievably stupid by Naruto and other boys or being sought after by the hormonal chicks who just wouldn’t spare him. The key difference between both of them being that diving face first into Naruto’s rule breaking (not to mention thoroughly idiotic) antics isn’t half as terrifying as coming face to face with an obsessed female.
A cold sigh is heard as he contemplates about the same. He has hardly stumbled into this school year and he’s being pestered by fangirls already. They just refuse to leave him alone for some God forsaken reason. Not to mention that they are everywhere: Outside the Slytherin dormitory waiting for him, in or outside the classroom batting eyelashes at him, even surrounding the tent before the Quidditch. Dear God. The way they cheer for him regardless of their houses has him pondering if they even posses an ounce of dignity at all.
Life was much undemanding when he didn’t have to care for them. Given, he had his older brother with him the first three years, who happens to be none other than the infamous Uchiha Itachi; a fierce wizard, designated family head and an overprotective older brother. With him around, the only girls who would dare approach him or his friend circle were the ones who were a part of it. It’s been three years since he has graduated, and just as long since the last time Sasuke could sleep with both his eyes closed.
The issue became even more substandard and him even more miserable once the dobe landed himself a girlfriend (that too none other than the Hyūga princess herself, somehow.) Eversince then there has been a massive upsurge in the number of happenings where he has had his rob ripped for them to gather a souvenir of him, or the times he has narrowly escaped being subjected to love potion by some lust filled female, and offcourse the quantity of women stalking his shadow like a baby fwooper chases its mother doubled, since it now included Naruto’s heartbroken fangirls as well. The shear quantity of times he has had to use the stupefying spell in the past years is sufficient to secure him a job as a gatekeeper in the ministry.
His peace of mind from back with Itachi is thoroughly missed, because the moment his ears pick up a feminine voice nowadays, his muscles contract and he prepares to flee.
In all honesty, he feels tempted to let professor Hatake put a curse on him just so the rabid fangirls keep their distance, because he’s knowledgeable that it’s only a matter of time before one of them kidnaps him by drugging his mead and keeps him a prisoner in the shrieking shack.
Right now, he’s sitting beneath a shady tree in the courtyard, concentrating on the book in his hands. Outside the quidditch practice, keeping a perfect academic record and throwing himself into trouble with his best friend, he is a fanatic for some peace and quite so that he could catch a break between being an unwilling highschool heartthrob and the son that his father expects him to be. He can discern the sounds of a few whispers and squeals near by, and naturally fixates a scowl on his face to appear cross and keep them at bay. Professor Sarutobi is settled near by, smoking as usual. His presence might hold them back from downright harassing him right now, but it’s still his job to seem unwelcoming and not have them getting near him at all.
It’s naturally conjectured that his body tenses up when he hears footsteps approaching him. They aren’t swift and loud like those of his idiot friend or any of his equally stupid acquaintances, so he is more than prepared to shut his book and tell someone off. He shifts his eyes away from the text in front of him to take a quick glance at the approaching figure. A mere gaze at her immaculate shoes and he knows who is approaching him. His tension dissolves and he simply waits for her to reach him and share whatever her grievance is.
When he realises that she isn’t getting any nearer and merely fidgeting halfway between the tree and the school building, he aloofly questions, “Would you like me to approach you instead?”
A tiny gasp leaves her lips and Sasuke finds himself holding back a smirk.
“N-no, It’s alright.” She shakily assures and covers the rest of the steps to the shade, and nervously settles down next to him, the length of her cherry blossom hair brushing against the grass. He resolves to keeping to his book unless she says something on her own.
One would assume for Sasuke to have a disrelish for all the girls that have any sort of romantic feelings for him. It is indeed true for most of the context, since he does have a general repellency to most of them, and doesn’t truly care for the girls in his own friend circle. Sakura, however, is a different cause. He generally doesn’t mind having the Ravenclaw around at all. So her peering at him while he concentrates in his copy of Advanced potion making is not a nuisance to him.
If anything, her presence serves as a fangirl repellent, with most of them maintaining their distances when the two are together and simultaneously throwing unpleasant glances and rough words at her. They have been doing this behind her back and right in her face ever since she associated with him. She claims to be carefree of their cavil, since she is more than capable of throwing a sucker punch or casting a befitting spell if the attacks ever get physical, but it never kept him or the rest of their friends from being thoroughly disgusted by their very existence. He believes that they have no right to speak of her in the way they do.
Even now, as some jealous whispers and some truly unholy/racist slurs that are being spewed about the muggle born Haruno reach his ears (he’s going check that he substantiates that to Ino; she will rip anyone trashtalking Sakura with her bare teeth.), he can’t help but shift closer to her and let the wounded gasps of those wretched girls soothe his ears.
“S-Sasuke?” She meekly queries after a while, toying with the grass beneath her.
“Hmm?” He recounts, apparently focused on his book but still listening.
“You’re an expert in potions, right?”
He raises an eyebrow, but continues with intently watching his textbook. “Why do you ask?”
She takes a few seconds before finally requesting. “Can I ask you something? Regarding that?”
This is definitely a surprising entreaty, because not only is she the sharpest girl on the batch, it was her who helped him get hold of potions in first year. If anything, he should be the one going upto her with his queries. Offcourse, this is more or less calling for suspicion.
Looking up at her, he blankly asks “What is it?”
Sakura’s eyes immediately dart downwards and a blush appears on her face. At the moment, she resembles the dobe’s shy girlfriend more than she does herself. Albeit, she’s generally timid around him (he thinks it’s cute), she is never reserved or reluctant.
“It’s...” She fiddles her fingers softly before blurting “It’s about the.... love, potion.”
Sasuke steadily grasps the book in his hands as it reaches his ears. A fresh dose of paranoia seeps in as he stares at her.
“What about it?” He rigidly demands.
No matter how friendly their ties are now, Sasuke can’t deny the fact that Sakura had started out as nothing more than another fan girl to him, and that he paid no heed to her until the day she had walked upto him and cravenly offered her assistance in helping him with potions which he was painfully failing back then. (He had expected it to be an attempt to get closer to him, but was astonished when she proclaimed that it was to simply help him get better.) He knows well that her feelings never changed in all these years. That didn’t bother him, not until now atleast.
Now, she is busy coiling a strand of her hair. She shrinkingly begins “When you put a love potion on someone, they fall in love with you. Right?”
“It’s right there in the name.” He points out.
Is it even possible for her to pull off something like this? Surely not for the Sakura he is familiar with. She, along with the Hyūga’s older brother, is the only voice of reason in their group. She’d be the first one to call out any sort of sham, and drugging someone to love potion is as bogus as it gets. No way on Earth is she scheming for that.
“What I wanted to ask was....” The way she is trailing the question is fulfilling his doubt that she isn’t asking it for academic purposes.
“If you drug someone with love potion and they already love you, what happens then?” She bursts in one go and immediately reverts to being reticent.
He cocks an eyebrow at this question, and it takes a few times turning it around in his head until it finally hits him. Now somewhat fearful, he’s hoping against hope that this request is due to some sort of accident in the potions classroom and not what he believes it is.
“Nothing.” He declares, somewhat insecure. “If the target of any emotion inducing potion already feels that emotion towards the one who brew it, he remains the same. But you knew—”
“Sasuke?” Her sights lift up and she’s looking at him with, determination in her green eyes sending him the required message.
“Why aren’t you acting out?”
The question hits him in the head harder than any knock out spell ever did. Maintaining a neutral facade is impossible at this time, and he doesn’t even bother to conceal his widened eyes and parted lips.
“Sakura, what have you done?” He commands after about five seconds of silence. The fright in his voice is not to be missed, nor is the panic on his face.
She still has the red faintness covering her face, but she appears a lot more resolute than she did before.
“I-” She starts, “I put it in your lunch today. While you weren’t looking.”
The only thing Sasuke finds himself capable of doing is staring in disbelief.
“But I didn’t do that to make you fall in love with me!” She protests instantly, desperate that her intentions are comprehended correctly. “I just did it to see if you loved me as well or not! I swear there was no other reason!”
This time, he moves. Firstly he turns his head away from her and back to the book in his hands, grazing at the text but not quite comprehending any of it. Then his eyes retract to their normal size, and his mouth seals itself shut. He stays emotionless for some time, peeping into nothingness and gravely worrying Sakura who makes countable attempts at calling his name and trying to make him react somehow.
Soon enough, his lips twitch, and as an anxious pinkette watches carefully, they protrude into a full blown smirk, startling her to say the least.
All this while, he has been wary of all the attempts by any of his fangirls, because the use of love potion is common and there had been different times when he almost fell for some random. The only fangirl he ever left his back unguarded to is the one right in front of him, because he has held on to the belief that she wouldn’t break his trust like that. But she did, and uncovered what he has been guarding from her all this time.
He expected to have been feeling betrayal, but the feeling that washes over him is simply the dumbness one feels after being outsmarted. To think that she perceived the truth without breaking a sweat. All the time he has spent maintaining his image to her now comes crashing down.
Sasuke feels defeated, yes, but that doesn’t mean he has to be shameful of it as well. If anything, the circumstances are perfectly aligned to permit him the best out of it if he wants to, and he excessively intends to do so.
“You know, Sakura.” He confesses and she flinches, then puts an attentive ear to it. “I didn’t expect this of you.”
He faces her direction and gawks back at her with interest, and her facial expression morphs into one of shock. He proceeds to extend a hand and push a few strands falling on her face and tuck them behind her ear, taking the opportunity to rest his palm on her soft cheek. She’s wholly aware of his fingers lingering on her the flush on her face spreads avidly.
“You never seemed like a swindler to me, robbing me of my pride like this.” He continues to profess melodically, and in the meanwhile also proceeds caress her with the fingers implanted behind her ear lobe, and takes pleasure in the way her breath hitches. The next moment he advances his upper body towards her, and finds himself bemused at the shell shocked appearance of hers as he gets nearer.
She’s downright quivering by the time his nose is rubbing against hers. Her fearful eyes are staring at his own ebony ones, and she realises that they are set on her lips. Sasuke can swear that he can hear her heart beating wildly at this point.
“S-Sasuke?” She stutters just as he brings his mouth near her own. Her shudders amplify, but she doesn’t attempt to get away from him and he takes the liberty to brush his lips against hers, which results in her squealing. Sakura, comically terrified and highly expectant, braces herself for what is to come next and tightly shuts her eyelids while breathing heavily.
Sasuke runs a carefully eye around the two of them. As he had deduced, all the cursed fangirls are observing them with absolute horror painted on their faces, along with the other by standers who aren’t as dismayed as they are keen. Professor Sarutobi isn’t looking, but the smugness on his face shows that he’s merely giving them privacy. To add onto that, the trio of Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji and Tenten are standing at a distance as well, most probably exhausting a free period to intently watch what he so clearly intends to do with Sakura. The Hyūga looks self satisfied, like he has just been proven right about something, Lee gives the impression of being devastated, which is natural considering his infatuation with Sakura, and buns is practically gleaming with her hands clasped in front of her.
Driving his eyes upwards, he sees his best friend spying down from the balcony, intently watching the scene unfurl with his mouth hanging open and tightly holding his girlfriend’s hand, who is just as invested in the affair beneath as he is.
The opportunity is ripe, and as he looks like he’ll be pushing his lips deeper onto hers, he strictly withdraws his mouth and instead reaches back all the way to her ear, where he whispers a command.
“Get up, Sakura.”
Her eyes snap open and she gives him a look of pure staggering. Disappointment, shame, and every other emotion she must be feeling start to appear on her face. Without another word, Sasuke backs away, and draws onto his feet, only to receive a largely negative reaction from his surroundings.
The act has made sure to drive the obsessed girls speechless, but Sakura’s stare from beneath also confirms that she isn’t genuinely content with what he just did either. From the looks of it, Neji is unimpressed, Lee is in shock, and Tenten is even more dissatisfied than Sakura. Sarutobi has put on a frown even though he still doesn’t have his eyes on them. The most vocal reaction is that of Naruto, who inhesitantly yells “Oh come on! Are you fucking serious?!” at the top of his lungs and almost drops off the balcony. What follows are the barks of Professor Umino who is busy teaching first years in the classroom just behind him. He can hear some other jeers referring to him as a coward and a let down.
Sasuke just notes his surrounding with a bored demeanour, and noticing that Sakura hasn’t budged at all, he supplies her with an arm to grab. She blinks at it and then reluctantly grabs it. Once she is on her feet again, Sasuke uses that very connection to jerk his arm and pull her extremely close to him, so much so that his chest is pressed against hers. His other arm simultaneously moves to circle her back.
This time, he places his lips onto hers before she or anyone else could react, and doesn’t hang back on the fact that he’s kissing her as passionately as one can.
His eyes are closed, but his mouth does feel the vibration of her trying to frantically mumble something. Whatever it was soon melts and he finds her trying to reciprocate his action, something he gladly guides her in, along with interlacing their fingers.
Other than that, he can hear various gasps, many signifying heartbreak while some interpret to pure awe. He hears Tenten squeal in excitement, Hinata calling for Naruto louder than he has ever heard her speak, and then he hears Naruto bellow something along the lines of “Hot Damn! Go for it Sasuke!” followed by the irritated yell of “Naruto!” in Professor Umino’s voice.
By the time his lungs give up on supporting the action and he finally lets go of her, he is sure that he heard atleast two distinct muffled sobs, and that gives him some pleasure.
Now he’s merely gazing into Sakura’s eyes without actually letting go of her, and she reciprocates the action, but unlike him she is quite bashful of what had just occurred between the two of them.
“This was your first kiss, hm?” He inquires in a tone warmer than his usual one.
A shy grin finds its way on her face.
“Well, discounting the ones in my dreams.” She scratches her cheek, but he hardly shows the adoration he feels at this. Instead, he gives her a stern look.
“So you have been having those kind of dreams about me, huh?” He puts forward, and she responds by staring at him guiltily.
He lets go of her waist, and proceeds to pick up the discarded book by his feet. Then, he moves away from the shade of the tree and uses the hand linked with hers to pull her along.
“Come on.” He says. “Let’s go.”
“But, where?” She asks in confusion. He turns back to face her, and Sakura is stunned by the fact that he looks genuinely angry.
“You broke my trust today, Sakura.” He deadpans, and successfully half scares her before adding “I want everyone to see you just for the little trickster you are and what exactly you did to me.”
She tilts her head at this for once, but eases once she notices a flash of smirk flicker across his face. As she gets pulled away by him and she more or less lets him, she finally takes into her surroundings and realises what he means. His fangirls whom he thoroughly despises are ready to break into sobs. Some even look ready to draw out their wands and curse her, the only thing holding them back is the presence of professor Sarutobi, who in turn is giving her a passing nod. Other than that, there’s three of their friends, two of whom are giving them approving looks while third is trying to conceal his upset demeanour as he tries the same. Above them, Naruto is flashing a thumbs up at them while dearly hugging Hinata with his other arm, who in turn looks just as gleeful as he does.
What Sasuke means here is, offcourse, that he wants to officiate him and her to the entire school. That would explain his lack of negative emotion at being affectionate in public. She can hardly suppress her grin as he leads her around the building, and downright fails by the time they come across professor Hatake while turning around the third corridor.
The sudden commotion in students prompts Anko to turn around, and sure enough, she beholds the sight of her house student Uchiha Sasuke strolling hand in hand with the Haruno from her husband’s jurisdiction. As the Dark Arts teacher watches a largely indifferent Sasuke and giddily stumbling Sakura walk by while being gawked on by the entire lobby, a simper forms onto her own lips.
The girls dreamy eyes travel onto her and a large grin bursts onto her face. Sakura nods at her mentor, and gets a knowing nod back. Sasuke just gives her an uninterested glance while Sakura keeps her eyes on Anko until she and her presumed boyfriend are jumped on by an ecstatic looking Naruto and an excited Hinata, shortly followed by Rock Lee and Tenten who run upto them from behind, while Neji follows them gradually.
“Why do I have a feeling that this has something to do with you?”
The familiar voice causes Anko’s smile to grow softer, and she spins on her heels to be face to face with her husband, the charms professor and naturally Sakura’s incharge as her house head. He has a knowing yet loving smile on his face and his head is tilted to the side. Apparently, he must have spotted her while she gave the pinkette important advice yesterday. Or maybe he just put two and two together since playing the Cupid is an habitual practice of hers.
“Why are you so certain that I did this?” She playfully counters.
“Because I know you like the back of my hand. And I know that there’s no one more capable at giving scandalous romantic advice than you.” He replies with finality, folding his arms across his chest.
“Remember that little thing I did to you back in the sixth year?” She questions fondly, and he immediately sets about remembering.
“You mean that thing with the love potion?” He asks and notices her smile grow. “Offcourse I do. That was what obliged me to get stuck with you.”
“Well, I might or might not have told Sakura to try the same with Sasuke.” She hints coyly, diverting her eyes away from his.
“The same thing?” Kakashi raises an eyebrow and she nods with a sweet “mmm hmm.”
He gives her an unconvinced scowl and points out. “As efficient as that plan is, I don’t believe Sasuke is the kind to take being lied to as kindly.”
“Well, that just means nobody tells him.” She suggests cheekily, “ What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, will it?”
“I suppose you don’t have any regard for the poor boy’s life?” He jokes, but she places her hands on hips and gives him a demanding look.
“Are you trying to say that marrying me ruined your life?” She pouts, and that prompts him to shake his head bemusedly and walk upto her.
“On the contrary, my dear,” He professes while bringing her into a hug. “I couldn’t have been happier.” Then he proceeds to plant an affectionate kiss right on her lips, making the girls in the corridor swoon and the boys almost gag. Good. They deserve to be disgusted for all the hectic they put him through during the classes.
Sasuke meanwhile, succeeds in mapping the entire habitable province of the school building with Sakura soon enough, making sure to be seen with her by everyone atleast once. He pays no heed to broken hearts of fangirls and fanboys they are leaving behind; those people need to move on from an unhealthy obsession anyways. The feeling that gives him true glory, however are the looks on the faces of fangirls when they realise that the “mud blood with a forehead” has snagged their sweetheart. In Sasuke’s own thinking, they all had it coming since the day they started bullying Sakura.
The news is generally well recieved by their friend circle; except for Kankuro, who has just lost a bet because of them. The look on his face when he realised that he owed Neji, Kiba, Gaara and Temari twenty bucks each was priceless. Ino jokes about how he has to make do with Sakura now that she has Sai, and a hair pulling fight ensues between the two. Tenten looks just about ready to be writing fanfictions about the two in the gossip column of daily prophet (which was basically all of it), and Lee wishes them all the best despite his obvious heartbreak. He kind of feels bad for the poor boy, but he isn’t going to give up Sakura due to that.
Naruto just envelopes both of them in a bone crushing hug, almost shedding happy tears while proclaiming that he has always known of this happening to occur someday and that those two are made for each other. Even Itachi gives his pleasant approval when he is informed, unlike his father who outright discourages the idea of his pure blooded son mingling with a muggle born witch. He couldn’t care less what he thinks of her, not while his mother gives her a pleased consent.
Sasuke is enjoying the change in his life. Given, he still doesn’t have the time of the day to quitely unwind under a tree, because the banishment of fangirls came at the cost of acquiring a girlfriend, and any time outside Quidditch and studying is to be devoted to her. But he isn’t complaining, because quality time with Sakura is worth more than sitting alone with a dusty old book, and if chaos is the cost of keeping her around, so be it.