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Sakura's about to ask him out again; he can just see it in her gait. She's shooting nervous glances at the floor, with her attention divided between listening to Naruto's ceaseless complaints about the latest D-rank and fiddling with her hair.
Which, he's surprised to notice, is styled differently.
Sakura's hair is always something that never fails to catch Sasuke's eye. He's not deaf to the rumours surrounding him - he's known for years that most of the girls in his graduating class had grown their hair out in an attempt to gain his affection.
The notion's almost enough to make him laugh.
Sasuke hears somebody call his name, followed by another few words that he doesn't register, and he absentmindedly hums with a nod in affirmation before continuing his musing.
He doesn't like long hair at all.
It's inefficient, for one. Taking care of it is a long and arduous process, and anyone with more than half a brain would choose to dedicate that time to a more productive task, like training.
Not to mention long hair is nothing but an inconvenience as a Shinobi. With all the missions you're sent on, there's bound to be an instance where your hair gets snagged on something or someone, and a moment of hesitation is all it takes to get killed by the enemy.
It's impossible to focus on any of the aesthetically pleasing benefits of long hair when there's so much impracticality. Which is why Sakura's hair is far more appealing as it is now.
Simple twin buns, with small tufts of hair framing her face. He can spot small streaks of dirt hidden within the buns, likely from farm work, and he supposes that's the reason behind the change in style. She's always been overly conscious of her appearance, and he doubts she wants people to see her otherwise perfect form marred by a bit of mud.
"Um, Sasuke?"
The feminine voice snaps his attention back to reality, and he notices his entire team stood a few paces behind him, staring with varying degrees of shock.
Well, Sakura and Naruto look shocked. Kakashi just looks bored as ever, but Sasuke can see that he's somewhat amused, if the glint in his eye is anything to go by.
"Kakashi-sensei…can you pinch me?"
The man shrugs dismissively. "Can't be bothered."
Sasuke shifts his attention from the blond solely to Sakura, who looks as if he punched her in the gut. Her eyes are wide, and he imagines she's going to be dealing with a very sore jaw later with all the gaping she's doing.
He really hates spacing out.
"What is it, Sakura?"
His voice is enough to snap her out of whatever trance she's in, so she snaps her mouth shut and averts her gaze to the floor.
"You—you actually said yes." She half-mumbles her words, but a second later it's as if a switch is flipped, and her back straightens up as she shoots him the sunniest grin he's ever seen. "I'm gonna go get changed - I promise this is gonna be the best night of your life!"
Before he can even begin to piece the meaning of her words together, she runs off in the vague direction of her home with a final shout. "I'll pick you up at seven!"
Sasuke switches his focus to a now irate Naruto. "What just happened?"
Naruto huffs and kicks at the dirt. "No need to rub it in, asshole." He then storms off, leaving a throughly baffled Sasuke with his teacher.
He dearly hopes Kakashi doesn't end up storming off either.
The man fishes a book from…somewhere, and presses it into Sasuke's chest with wink. "Something tells me you'll be needing this a lot more than I do."
The bastard then has the gall to leave, with a copy of 'Icha Icha: Young Love' acting as Sasuke's sole guide.
It's been a few hours since the incident, and Sasuke's made good use of his deductive reasoning skills to get a clear picture of the situation.
In the midst of his pondering earlier, he accidentally agreed to go on some sort of outing with Sakura. It's the only thing that adds up, since she's got a healthy track record of asking him out, and it's a perfectly reasonable explanation for Naruto's frustration.
In addition to that, the book Kakashi leant him is a tale of two teenagers from opposing backgrounds finding themselves on a dinner date after a silly misunderstanding.
There are far too many parallels to be a coincidence, and Sasuke's determined to ensure his situation with Sakura doesn't escalate to Icha-Icha levels.
The second she arrives, he's going to put the misunderstanding to bed. She'll probably end up a little disheartened, but it's not like he hasn't rejected her advances before. He'll never admit it aloud, but her resilience is one of the things he respects most about her.
It's at that moment Sasuke hears 3 curt knocks from downstairs, and he makes his way to the front door. The person standing there when he opens the door is Sakura, as he expected, but her appearance throws him for a complete loop.
Her hair's loose, and while it goes against his entire argument regarding inefficiency, he can't muster the energy to be frustrated about it. She's not on the field, and the chances of running into a missing nin in Konoha are obsolete. She can afford to let her hair down this one instance, and besides, her hair's hardly the most surprising thing about her appearance. That prize goes to her clothing.
She's clad in a bright orange yukata, with (ironically enough) pink Sakura flowers on the vines snaking their way around the garm.
He can faintly remember his mother wearing something similar to a festival, and between the long hair and dress sense he can't help but draw parallels between her and Sakura.
"Ready to go?"
Despite having zero intention of leaving, Sasuke instinctively checks over his own appearance, and in the face of her meticulously selected clothing, he starts to feel thoroughly underdressed in his simple black tee and matching shorts.
Sasuke clears his throat. "About that…"
"O-oh…" Sakura's gaze shifts back to the floor, and she's fiddling with the loops of her obi. "Yeah, I get it."
She raises her head to look him in the eye, and Sasuke feels his heart still when she shoots him a shaky smile. "Maybe next time, right?"
Logically, he knows this shouldn't be affecting him. It's one silly rejection among dozens, and it's not like it's going to kill anyone. She'll be disappointed, sure, but chances are that she'll be right as rain by their next mission.
His only goal in this village is to become strong, and if he can't uphold his integrity in the face of one inconvenienced girl, then there's paragraphs to be said about his weakness. He can practically envision his brother's cold glare from that night, and he imagines Itachi would be disgusted by his fragility.
Yet, in spite of all that, Sasuke sighs. "I need to get ready; give me five minutes." He pauses before shutting the door. "This isn't a date, by the way. It's just an outing between friends."
The glee in Sakura's expression is almost enough to purge Itachi from his mind.
Sasuke doesn't change too much about his appearance. He swaps out the black tee for a high collared variant, and the shorts are substituted with a pair of equally dark slacks.
He's probably still very underdressed in comparison to Sakura's getup, but he's at least made an effort, and he doesn't care enough to go further than that. It's not as if this is a real date or anything. He's doing this because…
Well, he doesn't know yet, but he'll think of a good enough excuse reason later.
Sasuke makes his way down the stairs to open the door, and Sakura hasn't moved an inch, looking as pristine as she did 5 minutes ago.
"Ready?"
Sasuke nods and steps out beside her, locking the door behind him.
"By the way, you look really pretty." She says.
Sasuke nearly drops his keys as he's returning them to his pockets, and he feels his cheeks darken a considerable few shades in response to the compliment.
He looks towards Sakura, who's still donning that same sincere smile, and he buries as much of the lower half of his face into his collar as he can manage.
"Whatever." He mumbles, and he begins walking away from his home. "Let's go."
A few hurried footsteps later and Sakura's walking by his side as they make their way out of the Uchiha district.
The majority of the journey itself is spent in silence. Sakura occasionally points things out around the village - the blacksmith's son isn't feeling well, leaving him to man the shop alone, and the girl from Ichiraku ramen is also off sick with a similar excuse, so she hypothesises that there's some secret love story at play.
Through it all Sasuke responds with hums and nods, until they find themselves standing at the entrance of Konoha's library.
"Well, here we are!" She gestures to the building. "Destination number one."
Sasuke holds back the need to raise an eyebrow. He's not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to romance, but he's fairly certain libraries aren't most people's go-to destination.
"Let's go!"
She grabs his hand, and he's a tad too stunned to do anything more than let himself get dragged inside.
Sakura's always been a bit strange in Sasuke's eyes. Anyone who fawns over someone as socially inept as him must have a few screws loose, so he's always expected a modicum of strangeness from her.
"—and the author? Apparently she was an Anbu member, and wrote the majority of the story while on missions! Crazy, isn't it?"
But this right here? This is beyond strange.
For the past hour, Sakura's been lecturing him on her favourite literature pieces. From romance novels, to historical texts, and even advanced trigonometry textbooks. It's like she's able to pick out any story from a shelf, and give him every trivial detail regarding it.
Sasuke feels her tug at his hand for what has to be the hundredth time, and pull him down the aisle to a shelf of biographies.
"Oh my god - you have to read this one!"
He doesn't see the point in doing so. She's already going to summarise all 300 pages in a breathless 1 minute spree of words.
She starts her breakdown of the book, and Sasuke allows himself to space out, just as he did for the dozens of other novels she's spoken about. Instead of paying attention to the words, he finds himself paying attention to her.
The way she animatedly gestures her hand to elaborate her points is captivating, and she hasn't stopped smiling once since entering the library. He can see a faint flush on her cheeks below the thin layer of makeup, and he's certain that she's thirsting for air, but she still prioritises her analysis over breathing.
Sakura's beyond strange, but at the same time, Sasuke can't bring himself to look away from her, so her strangeness has to be contagious. She's so focused that she doesn't notice a small bead of drool threatening to escape her lips, and she's got an almost crazed look in her eye as she delves into the author's masterful use of dry humour.
Sakura, while rambling like some sort of madman, looks devastatingly beautiful.
"—it sounds, like, crazy good, right Sasuke?"
She squeezes his hand lightly, and Sasuke's eyes widen as he's snapped out of her captivating trance and his mind catches up with his thoughts.
He fights down the blush threatening to appear on his face, and responds with an even grunt.
Sakura's smile widens a little at his agreement, before she gets distracted by something a few shelves over.
"Oh! Forget about whatever praise I sung about that last book - this one is a real treat." She begins pulling him further down the walkway, but freezes when a small rumbling noise sounds from her stomach.
Sasuke doesn't hesitate to speak. "You're hungry?"
She responds with a sheepish nod, and he withholds a relieved sigh. Sasuke's very eager to get out of this place, and prevent Sakura from ensnaring him again in whatever S-rank genjutsu she's concocted.
"Let's go grab dinner."
This time, it's him dragging her down the library halls.
(By her forearm, obviously, because Sasuke Uchiha will be six feet under before he's seen willingly taking a girl's hand.)
He brings her to a fast food diner. It isn't too far from the library, and he knows Sakura's not the richest girl around, so her pockets will appreciate something affordable.
Of course, that issue could easily be solved if he foots the bill, but he knows her well enough that she'd sooner chop off a limb than let him do that for her.
"Man, this menu's shitty."
Sakura's blunt statement makes a waitress flinch a few tables down, and Sasuke withholds a snort.
He takes a moment to glance around the room, and discovers that while the restaurant's fairly busy, he doesn't mind it as much as he thought he would. Sakura's large presence makes it all too easy to ignore the fodder in the background.
"I don't think it's that bad." He turns his menu around, and points to his order. "I overheard Naruto saying the burgers here are good."
"You trust Naruto's taste in food?" Sakura levels an unimpressed stare at him. "I've seen him scarf down 3 week old ramen without hesitation. I'm pretty sure he'd be satisfied with a bowl of worms."
Sasuke shrugs. "It'd be hard to mess up beef and 2 slices of bread. I feel like it's a safe enough bet."
"Yeah, I guess." She rests her chin on her palm. "I really wanted to take you on the perfect date, though. It'll be a shame if the restaurant ruins it."
"Outing." He corrects. "This place doesn't seem bad so far. Menu aside, the atmosphere's warm enough, and I don't mind the busyness all too much."
"Wait, really?" She tilts her head inquisitively. "I thought you would've hated it. I only picked the library because I thought you didn't like people."
Sasuke turns the menu over and peruses through the drink options.
"It doesn't really matter." He responds absentmindedly. "We could be in a crowd of hundreds, and you'd be the only person holding my focus."
It's only when Sasuke hears an audible choke that he realises the full extent of what he just said. Glancing up from the menu, he catches sight of Sakura with her mouth agape.
"B-because you're annoying, obviously." His attempt at damage control does nothing to wipe the shocked expression from Sakura's face, and he's certain his wafer-thin excuse isn't holding up.
For a brief instant, suicide becomes a very viable option if only to escape the cringiness of what he just said, but his contemplation is cut short by the timely arrival of the waitress.
"What can I get you both today?"
Sasuke responds immediately. "Two number 15s."
Sakura's still catatonic.
"And 3 waters." He adds on.
If push comes to shove, he'll just splash her to snap her out of it.
Sakura eventually does snap out of her mini-coma. It didn't take longer than a few minutes, thankfully, so they managed to make their way through the meal without any notable developments.
Well, except one. Sakura's smile has graduated from polite to smug. He finds it somewhat grating, if only because it serves as a reminder of his cringey slip up.
The rest of their meal however passes without much in the way of meaningful conversation. There's an offhanded remark or two about the food, a little venting about Kakashi's ineptitude as a teacher, but Sakura thankfully doesn't bring up his earlier comment.
Sasuke would even go as far as to say the meal was pleasant if not for the constant smugness radiating off of her.
Sasuke makes it five steps out of the restaurant before he feels Sakura latch herself into him, linking one of her arms with his own.
It isn't the first time she's displayed this level of physical affection. Lord knows she centred all her academy days solely around him, and he doesn't have enough fingers to count the amount of times he's had to dodge her hugs since they became teammates.
He should be more than used to acting indifferent in the face of her clingy tendencies, but for some odd reason he has to fight off his body's desire to lean into her touch.
Sasuke's clears his throat to fight off what would have been an embarrassing voice break. "Where are we heading now?"
Sakura briefly hums in thought, then responds. "Honestly, I didn't plan this far ahead." She shrugs against him. "I half expected you to bolt before we even made it to the library."
His eyebrows furrow. "I'm not that rude."
She stares up at him dubiously.
"If I was planning on leaving, I wouldn't have shown up at all." He defends himself. "I'm not cowardly enough to run away from a date."
"I suppose you're right. Sorry, I guess." Then, she nudges him slightly. "So it's a date now, huh?"
Sasuke's composure cracks when his eyes widen, and no amount of rationalising can stop him from stuttering through excuses. But just as he starts, he's cut off by Sakura releasing her grip on his arm, and she grabs his cheeks between both of her palms.
"Seriously though - spending this time with you felt really special. Today's been really fun, and the fact that this isn't a date won't change that. I really enjoyed hanging around with you."
He knows she's trying to assure him that she's content with the nature of their outing, but her words are having the complete opposite effect, and he finds himself sort of wishing it was a date.
He keeps trying to tell himself that this is Sakura he's thinking about. The same girl who spends her free time fawning over him; the same girl who spends their missions fawning over him. She probably even has a life plan centred around him, with baby names and all sorts.
But the thoughts aren't doing anything to dissuade him, and if anything, he almost wants to get to know her even more.
"You know, you're extra pretty when you're dumbstruck." She smirks, and he feels bubbles form in his stomach in response.
It must've been the burger - serves him right for trusting Naruto.
The palms on his cheeks feel a lot warmer against him, as if he's only just noticing the intimacy of their position, and the imaginary bubbles pop in quick succession as reality feels a dozen times clearer.
"'Pretty' again?" He scowls through the blush, and since he doesn't really want to remove her hands from his face he settles for averting his eyes petulantly to the side. "That compliment's not really tailored for guys."
"Well tough, cause I ain't gonna stop." Her thumb lightly traces the edge of his top lip, then she learns forward slightly and lowers her voice to a whisper. "Wanna know why?"
The streets blur in his peripheral as Sakura grasps his wholehearted attention, and his throat closes as he chokes a flustered response.
"Why?"
She leans even closer, and his heart's beating a mile a minute.
"Because you lack hatred." She answers with complete sincerity.
It takes a second for the full weight of the words to take effect, but by then he's swathed in Sakura's blood as a Tanto pierces her skull.
Sasuke's peripheral bleeds into a mixture of red and black, and his stomach drops as he realises where he is.
"Foolish little brother."
This time, the voice is deeper and more echoed.
"You're not even worth killing."
Itachi's still talking, but Sasuke can barely hear him over the sounds of Sakura being slaughtered infinitely around him.
"You're too weak."
Sasuke's own screams drown out what's left of his brother's voice.
Sasuke awakes with a start, and it takes all his strength to keep his yell trapped in his throat. He frantically searches the dark room, Sharingan blazing with swirling tomoe, and it's only when he recognises the damp walls of an underground hideout that he allows himself to exhale in relief.
He's not in Konoha anymore; he's with Orochimaru. And for all the man's faults, Sasuke knows that he's safe under his tutelage.
But that still doesn't stop him from double checking his room.
If Kakashi were here, Sasuke wouldn't put it past him to make a 'monsters-under-the-bed' remark, and he can practically imagine Naruto giggling at his paranoia.
He completes his sweep of the room, and upon finding no signs of an intruder, he relaxes. He crashes down onto his bed, rubbing at his eyes before reaching into his bedside draw and pulling out a photo.
The picture's rife with creases at this point, so he doesn't worry about the white-knuckled grip he has on it. He instead focuses on its contents. Sakura, with her arm wrapped tight around his waist, and him, making a show of trying to escape her grip, all the while blushing up a storm.
He can't stand living through memories of Sakura.
The massacre nightmares are bad, yes, but he sees the ghosts of his family so often that the dreams are lucid. As traumatising as the experience is, he knows he's dreaming, so he's not swayed too heavily by the emotions of his past self. It's simply him, a 15 year old man, watching the already deceased being slaughtered.
The Sakura dreams, however, are far worse. He hasn't had years to acclimate, and as such, the dreams are rarely lucid. He always ends up getting hooked into the memories, convinced that it's reality, only to be snapped out of it by the harsh slap of the Tsukuyomi.
He stares at the picture, and his resolve crumbles slightly before hardening tenfold.
Romance is a luxury he can't afford. Not while Itachi's out there, and certainly not while he's this pitifully weak. His family's already been stolen from him because he lacked strength, and he'd be a fool to make the same mistake twice.
Without an ounce of gentleness, he stuffs the image back in the drawer, and faces away from it. He does his best to fall back to sleep, and battles with the flashes of pink hair plaguing his mind.