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Sakura Haruno was used to being the odd one out. There were so many things he could point out, like his pink hair. It was round on top but had a few spikes at the back. What kind of man had pink hair? People would ask, well his father did for one. Another thing, a lot of girls didn't like him.
“Did you hear? Naruto-Kun and Sasuke-Kun saved the world. They’re so attractive aren’t they?”
“Hey, don’t forget about Kakashi. He helped a lot too and he’s the Hokage now.”
“Team 7 are amazing aren’t they?”
You would think he be jealous of all the attention his teammates were receiving. Not to mention the war had ended months ago now. However, if he was honest, it was not as though he wanted the women to notice him. He just wished they left him out of the conversation in general. Especially as he was standing right next to them doing his shopping.
“It’s a shame they have that pink-haired guy on their team. I mean seriously what type of guy has pink hair?”
“Yeah, and he's the disciple of Lady Tsunade. A woman, I mean how embarrassing."
“And he’s so feminine.”
“Isn’t he gay as well?”
“He probably likes Sasuke, he always has this face when he’s around. A shame that Sasuke is only interested in women. Even if he did like men, I can never see those two working out, he’s way too hot for him.”
The two women giggled and walked off. Sakura just stood there in shock. He couldn’t believe the nerve of them, also what was wrong with him learning under Tsunade. She was one of the Legendary Sannin and he was honoured she had taken him under her wing.
“You did well, I’m proud of you."
The thought put a smile on his face. Then there was Sasuke, as painful as it was to admit. They weren’t wrong there, Sakura had been crushing on Sasuke since Day 1. The only problem, he could have never confessed to him the way other girls did. Sakura didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, he knows by experience how civilians of Konoha felt about his sexuality.
Nevertheless, if they figured out his crush, who’s to say Sasuke didn’t either. They did have their… moments, one could even call them romantic. If Sasuke leaving the village and him begging him to stay didn’t give anything away then nothing would. Although he was never open to his teammates, sure they might have figured it out for themselves. But there was always the fear if he confirmed the 'rumours' that they leave him.
I’m overthinking things again
He knew he had to tell them someday, they were his teammates, his closest friends. Even Ino knew about it and supported him. She was a good friend.
With a sigh, Sakura picked up his groceries and headed to the till. He couldn’t wait to get home and relax. After a tiring day at the hospital, he deserved a treat. Sakura was thinking about what he was going to have for his tea until he spotted his teammates ahead.
“Hey Naruto, Sasuke.” Naruto grinned and Sasuke gave a nod in greeting. “Ah, Sakura you’re just in time. Sasuke and I are heading to Ichiraku. You want to come. It’ll be just like old times.”
At first, Sakura wanted to reject but seeing how excited and happy Naruto would be. Decided better against it. It wasn’t every day they got to spend time together now. “Sure, why not? Just let me head home first and I’ll catch you up.” Naruto gave him a thumbs up and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders. “Sure let’s go, buddy.”
“You don’t need to drag me, idiot.”
Laughter filled in the air as he watched his two teammates make their way to Ichiraku.
That was another reason why Sakura felt insecure about confessing to Sasuke. Even if he was interested in men, Naruto would be the one.
“And then Hinata, oh hey Sakura. You’re just in time.” Naruto patted the empty seat next to him which Sakura gladly took whilst Teuchi was taking his order. "Sasuke and I were on the topic of women."
“More like YOU were talking about women. Hinata to be exact.”
“Hey, don’t get snarky with me. You’re only jealous because unlike you I have a girlfriend.” Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly. Sasuke only rolled his eyes. The three of them sat quietly for a moment enjoying the food. It was nice to be able to sit together like this.
“Well, what about you Sakura?” Naruto turned to him, “has anyone special caught your eye?” Sakura stiffened. Would now be the best time to come out? Now that Sasuke had been back for a while, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
“About that,” well, here goes nothing. “You see… the thing is Naruto. I’m not actually uh… interested in women. I’m… I’m gay.”
There. He said it. There was no turning back now, his teammates would give him the dirtiest looks and pretend they never knew him. They would snitch on him to Kakashi and then he would be banned from Team 7 and fired from the hospital and then-
“Oh really? That's cool, I mean we kind of already guessed. So any guys then?” Sakura blinked, of course, he should have seen this coming a mile away. After everything, Naruto went through there was no way the blue-eyed boy would look down on a friend for their sexuality. Sasuke didn't give much of a reaction either. It was... confusing, to say the least, but Sakura was still relieved.
"Hmm, I have to be honest I expected you would react well differently. Like...grossed out or something." Naruto hummed as he slurped on his ramen, not wanting to be rude and talk with his mouth fall. "What do you take us for? We're your friends, you can tell us these things. Besides, enough dodging the question. Do you have a crush on anyone, ooh ooh do we know him? Is he good looking? Please don't tell me it's Kiba. Anyone but Kiba." Sakura laughed as Naruto animatedly started talking and asking him questions. Trying to figure out who the mystery person was.
Sakura looked over to Sasuke who thankfully wasn’t staring back at him and blushed.
“Well, there is one guy. He's good looking and really cool. But it’s never going to work out,” he let out a defeated sigh. Naruto looked at him and flailed his arms about angry. “Huh? Why not? Come on, you can’t give up on him that easily. Does he at least know you like him?” It was cute at how much he cared, even though it was a lost cause.
“Well for one, their straight and secondly I don’t know I just can’t imagine him liking me back. It would be too good to be true, you know. And no, he isn’t aware of my feelings. Well, I hope not.” It would be embarrassing and awkward otherwise.
For the first time since Sakura first arrived Sasuke spoke out, “how do you know if he’s straight?” At that, Sakura looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”
“You just said he’s not aware of your feelings, so how could you possibly know if he’s straight?” If Sakura didn’t know any better, it almost seemed like it was a challenge. What with the way Sasuke was looking. As if he knew something he didn't.
“I think I’d know if the guy I was crushing on was straight or not.”
“No, Sasuke has a point, why not just ask him. If he rejects you, then hey you can always find someone else. Right. It’s better than thinking about what if. Don’t you think?” First Sasuke, now Naruto. If those two knew who they were talking about, it was unlikely they would be this encouraging.
Nevertheless, Sakura couldn’t back down now. “Okay, I’ll try I guess.”
The two seemed satisfied and continued on with their meal
"But if this ends up being a disaster don't blame me."
Sakura was feeling nervous, before the three of them parted ways Sakura asked if Sasuke would be willing to meet up later. Expecting him to decline as it was getting late, the raven-haired unfortunately agreed and they decided to meet up at 9 PM by the park.
It was getting dark but thankfully, there wasn’t a lot of people. Therefore, in the worst-case scenario, Sakura could just run home, forget the whole interaction, and probably have to avoid Sasuke for the rest of his miserable life. Why did I ask him again? I could have just pretended to. So busy lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the man of his dreams walking right up to him.
“You wanted to see me?” Oh crap, that was the first thought that came to mind. How exactly does one start with a confession, usually a love letter was given to Sasuke? But Sakura had no time for that. And did his eyes really have to be so beautiful?
“Huh, oh yeah” There was no use going back now. If he did, then it’ll never happen. It was worth a shot right. Now getting a good look at him, it was funny how Sasuke was still taller than he was after all these years. His lips could easily kiss his forehead. Taking a deep breath Sakura played with the end of the jacket, eyes trailing to the floor. “You know how you told me to ask the person I liked out.” Sasuke was staring, even without facing him, he could feel it.
“What if I told you that… that the guy I liked is you?”
An awkward silence fell in the air and Sakura wanted nothing more than dig up the ground and bury himself in it. His face was flushed and was preparing for rejection. Risking a glance, Sakura took a peek at Sasuke and noticed the man was… smirking.
Hold on smirking?
“Then take me out on a date.”
Huh?
"What?!"
“I said, take me out on a date. That is what you wanted right?”
“Wait, hold on a sec. Are you saying… that, what I think you're saying?”
Was this a dream, if so then Sakura never wanted to wake up? “But, I thought you were uh you know. Interested in women.”
“I never said anything of the sorts.” Well, that wasn’t a lie. Still, this was too soon.
"Um, this is...not what I was expecting. I'm sorry but uh can we go back a bit?"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow. Say 8, we can go out for dinner," Sasuke was completely ignoring him now as Sakura was trying to reject and come up with an excuse.
"Hey, wait a minute." And just like that, he was gone. Staring dumbly to where his teammate would have been, Sakura tried to process what just happened.
He had confessed to Sasuke, not really gotten much of an answer and now he was going on a date with him.
"That bastard!" Well, at least he got the man of his dreams, right?