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As a ninja of Konoha--a newly-reinstated one--Sasuke found it wise to always perform his best and complete every mission he received as promptly and efficiently as possible. There was a certain professionalism he worked hard to maintain and he went out of his way to ensure that things would go off without a hitch.
All of this done in order to start receiving more... engaging missions.
He tried not to complain, he really did. After all he was lucky to have even walked away with his life after the war ended, let alone another chance at a new life. A do-over if you will.
So every time he received a C-rank mission, he tried very hard not to complain about it. No matter how irritatingly simple the mission was. He'd complete it, report back to the Hokage, and wait for his next assignment.
Besides, missions were much better than doing what Naruto liked to refer to as "community service" around the village. Sasuke still didn't understand why the Hokage had thought that it would be a good idea to help out in the hospital that one week all those months back.
She would've been better off sending the boogeyman himself to the pediatric ward.
So it was the day where he finally received a nice, refreshing B-rank mission, where he had to remind himself that being assigned the mission was all due to the fact that he'd tolerated all the other ones with such professionalism. Something that he knew he'd need to maintain in order to keep climbing up in Konoha's ranks.
He was even pleasantly surprised when Naruto and Sakura were assigned to the mission alongside him. Sure he'd seen them both quite often around the village, but he knew it would feel good to complete a mission as a team; besides his old classmates, they were some of the only people who didn't cower in fear at the sight of him, or mutter insults under their breath in passing.
And when they took off that first morning, to escort their client to some town near Wave Country, he was optimistic, happy almost, at the fact that things had finally begun to look up.
Yet of course, businessman Ano Hiroki, had to become that thorn in his side that he really, really did not want to put up with...
He'd overlooked all the simple, childish flirting. The man had looked ridiculous, walking alongside Sakura with an air of cockiness around him that just screamed 'overconfidence'. His jokes hadn't been funny, his pick-up lines were truly cringe-worthy, and his tendency to wink at her after he said anything was just dumb.
Sasuke had given Sakura a lot of credit for dealing with the annoying man. She'd smiled, laughed politely during the appropriate times, and excused herself when the flirting became a bit too much for her liking. But she was an adult and could handle herself, so he tried not to worry about it too much.
It was when they were stopped in some small tea house on the way to their destination where he found himself coming to the conclusion that he didn't like Ano Hiroki. Not even one little bit.
Sasuke had been walking alongside Naruto, eyes lazily wandering around as he half-way listened to his friend talk, when his gaze landed on a sight he wished he hadn't seen...
Sure, flirting and lame jokes were one thing, but holding someone's hands to your chest as you kneeled before them was in an entirely different category. That wasn't what had caused Sasuke to get so angry, but the blush that was on Sakura's cheeks, giving her look of surprise that pink tint that he was so accustomed to seeing directed toward himself, that he couldn't help himself when he suddenly stopped walking and stormed off in the opposite direction, ignoring Naruto's confused calls shouting after his retreating form.
It wasn't until late that night, in between watch shifts, when he confronted her about it.
"Oh," hearing him approach, Sakura turned around from her spot on the overturned log to glance at him over her shoulder, "hey, Sasuke."
He said nothing in reply, merely watching as she let her eyes drift immediately back over toward the dying fire in front of her. He narrowed his eyes at her back. Something was definitely up.
Sitting himself a few feet away on the same log, he stared at the same smokey pit, watching as the glowing embers began to darken, turning from red and orange to black and charred.
Remaining silent, he peered at her out of the corner of his eye, only to find her with her head completely turned away from him. His jaw almost dropped. She may have been hiding it before, but now she was being blatantly obvious. She was avoiding him.
"I guess my watch shift is over, huh?" She spoke after another couple minutes of silence, "I guess I'll leave you to it then..."
"What did he say to you earlier?"
She froze before she could stand, sitting herself firmly back down on the log and sighing deeply. "Just," she paused, biting her lip and looking back toward the dying fire, "some stuff."
Suddenly, Sasuke found himself nervous. For a split-second a thousand possibilities ran through his head, all of them having one thing in common: the possibility that she no longer felt anything for him.
The feeling was suddenly so real and overwhelming it rendered him speechless. It wasn't as if she'd notice though. She'd probably take his silence as nothing more than just his normal lack of conversation. But when she sighed again, he snapped out of his temporary haze, looking toward her expectantly.
"I'm being so dumb," she laughed bitterly, shaking her head in frustration, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. It's just--" she paused again, turning toward him fully, even pulling her legs up to rest on top of the log. "Can you promise me something?" He remained silent, only looking at her with a blank look of confusion. "Like, can you promise not to be mad?"
"No." He didn't miss a beat with his reply. But he certainly wanted know know what she had to say, and now. "What is it, Sakura?"
She let out a long groan, rubbing her temples for a moment before taking in a deep breath and locking eyes with him. "So you know how you got this mission kind-of, sort-of out of nowhere from Tsunade-sama?" He nodded. "Well I may have possibly had a say in that."
Sasuke blinked a few times. Oh. He hadn't been expecting that. He then found himself confused again; was he supposed to thank her? Sure, he was grateful, but still confused as to why she'd request him to be on a mission with her.
"Okay."
"'Cause you see like," she inhaled deeply again, "I may kinda know Hiroki." She paused. "Like, personally."
"Okay..."
"He's like," she let out a frustrated breath of air, "the son of my mom's friend and he's been in love with me since we were like fifteen and he requested me for this stupid mission and I knew I didn't want to go on it alone cause then he'd try 'making moves' and doing other ridiculous things like that and of course I was right since he won't leave me alone and it's like, I just turned eighteen! I don't want to marry you I just want to live my life and--"
"What?" Sasuke finally said, his attention suddenly piqued with her last statement.
Sakura's face suddenly went red just before she buried her face in her hands, letting out a pained moan.
"That's what he was doing today, at the tea shop?"
"He literally asks me to marry him every time I see him."
"And you wanted me to be here because..."
"This is so embarassing," she groaned into her hands before lifting her head back up. Her face was still red, as she avoided his eyes, biting her lip as her gaze darted around. "Ugh, fine. I figured that if I brought you along I could, like..." she closed her eyes as she inhaled, "maybe convince him that we were together or something I don't know it was a stupid idea."
She...
What?
"I know! Please don't be mad but I thought that when he was flirting or being obnoxious and wouldn't leave me alone that you might do something."
"Why would you expect that?" He asked, still genuinely confused. He'd never do anything to jeopardize his mission. Even if the client was a pushy asshole.
"Remember the New Year's Eve party?"
"Not really," he replied genuinely. He'd been slightly intoxicated at the party the Yamanaka girl had thrown a few weeks back.
"Lee asked me to dance and you almost broke his arm."
Sasuke's jaw almost dropped. "No I didn't."
"And then," she continued, ignoring his shocked response, "when Kiba brought me a drink you took it from me and threw it in the trash."
"What?"
"He hadn't even left yet--"
"Wait a second--"
"So I figured that when he'd say those things to me maybe you'd step in and say something but I know I know it was stupid to assume that it would happen..."
As Sakura trailed off, he found himself shocked, sitting silently as he replayed a couple of memories over in his head. That night was a bit fuzzy, but it certainly explained the dirty looks he'd received from Kiba for the days following the party.
He didn't look back up at her until he realized she's stopped talking. Noting how her cheeks were still slightly pink and how she looked at him as if nervous to hear what he had to say, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed himself.
He cleared his throat, "Well, uh, I--"
She silenced him by pressing a finger to his lips. "Wait, don't say anything. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have expected any of that. How about we agree to never talk about this again after the mission?"
Stunned, Sasuke couldn't think of any response, and when Sakura stood up abruptly, only to lean over grin a thankful smile towards him, and kiss his cheek, he found himself suddenly sitting alone on the bench, his mind blank and his face burning.
This girl was going to be the death of him.