Work Text:
“—and make sure to get him in the nuts, yeah? I want him pulverized, Sasuke!” Ino says a little shrilly, a little feverishly.
Sasuke sighs, opening his locker. “I know how to fight, Ino.”
The blonde grabs Sasuke’s locker door, assessing herself in the mirror there. She scowls, fixing up her bangs. “I’m serious. This is the ultimate showdown. You’re my trump card. We have to make the most out of that rumor that he likes me, y’know. Sakura’s gonna throw a fit if you fight Naruto for me.”
Sasuke glances at her. “You’re a little obsessed with her, don’t you think?”
Ino shuts his locker with a slam. Sasuke barely avoids getting his fingers bruised. “Shut up. She started it, and you know it.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Sasuke tucks his books more securely under his arm. “After school, in the locker rooms, right?”
“Yup.” Ino looks around suspiciously before taking a quick hit of her vape. “Make a scene—I wanna hear about this for days afterwards.”
Sasuke smirks. “Alright.”
The bell rings, and they separate.
It’s no secret that Ino and Sakura have the school practically split in half thanks to their legendary beef. Although only people from their original fourth grade class are directly involved, people still take sides. And, with them being this year’s senior class, the story’s more known than ever.
Fourth grade, middle of February: Sakura has a friendship breakup with Ino over their crushes on Sasuke. Ino is furious and starts sticking to Sasuke even more, just to get back at Sakura. Sakura retaliates by spreading the rumor that Ino’s dad was torturing innocent people for money (he wasn’t, he’s an interrogator for the Konoha Police Department), so Ino spreads the rumor that Sakura had to get forehead reduction surgery as a baby, then Sakura chops Ino’s ponytail off during one of their exam sessions, then Ino steals Sakura’s dress and wears it to their end-of-year dance, and on and on their feuds go.
Ino had recruited her people to aid her with this beef, as had Sakura. Naturally, Shikamaru and Choji took Ino’s side—their parents being close childhood friends—but Ino had scored a huge victory over Sakura in the eighth grade: Getting Sasuke Uchiha to be her date to the formal.
Now, Sasuke hadn’t agreed because of any fondness for the girl herself—unlike what Sakura and the others in their year had thought and still believe—but because Ino had promised him two thousand dollars in cash. Two thousand is a big number for an eighth grader, even a well-off one like Sasuke.
Sakura’s people supported her more out of opposition to Ino than out of any preference to her, in the beginning. Except for Naruto, the blond doofus who’d had a crush on the pink-haired girl for as long as anyone can remember. Naruto, a transfer named Lee, his sister Tenten, and Gaara were also on Sakura’s side. Lee because he also had a crush on her, Tenten because she had a vendetta against blonde girls, and Gaara because he was close with Naruto.
The fights between Ino and Sakura evolved. Instead of directly getting into catfights after school like they had their freshmen and sophomore years of high school, they now used their friends to one up each other—like chess players moving their pawns.
Sasuke doesn’t care—he finds Sakura and her troupe insufferable. Besides, his uncle and Ino’s dad are good friends, having been in the same department since they were young, and it helps to have those connections.
And, he thinks as he sits down in his Physics class, he gets to fight Naruto pretty regularly.
Usually, when Ino and Sakura move their pieces across the board, a pattern is born. Shikamaru and Tenten face off, Choji and Lee face off, Neji and Gaara face off, and Sasuke and Naruto face off. While some fights are more strategic (Shikamaru and Tenten) and others are more academic (Neji and Gaara), Sasuke and Naruto’s fights are always physical. When they aren’t being chased by school security officers for fighting on school property, Sasuke wins, usually leaving Naruto passed out on the ground. Last time, though, Naruto had managed to pin Sasuke down. And that spread rumors about Sasuke’s abilities, about Ino’s security as the winner of the girls’ beef. Ino wouldn’t let those rumors fester, of course, and had managed to piss off Sakura enough for another match between the two.
Sasuke stares at his phone while his teacher drones on. He watches the videos of their past fight, eyes on Naruto. He watches how Naruto fights, cataloging his moves. He won’t be pinned this time.
“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”
“Fuck him up, Sasuke!” Ino screams.
“Go get ‘em, Naruto!” Sakura yells.
Sasuke levels a glare at Naruto, who stands with his arms crossed next to the locker room door, as he approaches. The crowd of bloodthirsty students parts as Sasuke approaches. He sneers at Naruto and heads into the locker room. A quick flare of anger in those blue eyes, then Naruto follows. The doors are held open behind them, and the students inside swing their heads to look, wide-eyed, at the duo. Sasuke drops his bag on one of the benches. Naruto does the same, a scowl fixed on his face. Already, a few people scatter.
“You ready to lose, moron?” Sasuke taunts, cracking his knuckles. “Like always?”
“I won’t lose!” Naruto growls, like he does every time.
“Yeah, right,” Sasuke mutters, squaring up.
They circle each other for a few seconds, Naruto’s eyes flick around Sasuke’s face, his mouth quirking up into a smirk. Sasuke grits his teeth. He lunges, and they fight.
Sasuke punches Naruto, then Naruto hits Sasuke over the head, Sasuke kicks Naruto in the nuts, making the blond double over in pain and Ino shriek with glee. Naruto rights himself with a dangerous look in his eyes, so Sasuke works fast. He holds Naruto in a headlock, banging his fist over Naruto’s thick skull. Naruto elbows Sasuke in the gut, making him gasp, and twists out of Sasuke’s hold, then swings that elbow right at Sasuke’s face. Sasuke’s cheek throbs, and he grunts angrily.
“Yeah!” He hears Sakura cheer.
“You fight like a girl,” he spits, throwing a kick at Naruto.
Naruto grabs hold of Sasuke ankle and pulls. Sasuke falls to the floor with a shout, and is promptly pinned down, Naruto’s knee digging into Sasuke’s back.
“You scream like one,” Naruto says, amused and out of breath.
“Sasuke, get up!” Ino shrieks.
Sasuke growls, bucking his hips, trying to get Naruto off of him. With a final buck, Naruto is dislodged. Sasuke is quick to stand up again, grabbing Naruto by his uniform collar and dragging him up off the floor. He slams him against the lockers, nostrils flaring.
“Pull that shit again,” Sasuke growls through gritted teeth. “Pull that shit again see what I do to you.”
Naruto’s face is flushed, his eyebrows furrowed in anger, his blue eyes piercing. They’re so blue it pisses Sasuke off. Ino’s eyes are blue too, a pale blue that feels almost unreal. Naruto’s eyes are a different blue—a realer blue: bright, alive, a perfect shade of cerulean.
“The hell you staring at?”
“Shut up,” Sasuke growls, slamming Naruto further into the lockers. He punches him in the stomach. Naruto gasps, body jerking. Sasuke leans in close, saying lowly, “You’re so goddamn annoying.”
“Oh, big talk coming from the asshole to rule all assholes over here.”
“Shut up!”
Naruto tries shoving Sasuke back. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you make me?”
Sasuke inhales a sharp, angry breath, brings Naruto closer by the collar of his jacket, raises his arm again, and—
And he kisses him.
The crowd looking on from outside the locker room goes silent. Sasuke, suddenly realizing what the hell he just did, immediately pulls back. He stares, eyes wide and mortified, at Naruto. The blond’s face is redder than before, is mouth parted in surprise. His eyes are so blue.
Then, Naruto grabs Sasuke by the shoulders, and, instead of flipping him over and beating the shit out of him like Sasuke expects, pulls him into another kiss.
A collective gasp sounds from the crowd behind them, but Sasuke pays them no mind. He shut his eyes, tilting his head with Naruto into the kiss. The fucker’s a good kisser, damn him.
“What the fuck,” he hears Sakura say, and then there’s an explosion of sound.
Sasuke doesn’t break their kiss. He presses harder, his hands slowly letting go of Naruto’s collar. They move up, one holding the side of his neck, the other cradling Naruto’s head. He sighs into the kiss when Naruto’s tongue tentatively traces his bottom lip. He bites at Naruto’s lip, a thrill racing through him as Naruto’s hands come to rest on his back.
They deepen the kiss, and now tongues are involved. Sasuke messily follows Naruto’s moves, trying to kiss well. Naruto breaks their kiss and smirks.
“Who knew the great Sasuke Uchiha was ass at kissing.”
Sasuke growls, remembering all at once why he hates this kid. “Shut the fuck up.”
“You really should practice more,” Naruto teases, smirk widening. He leans in, tilting his head up. “Practice is perfect, or whatever.”
Sasuke raises an unimpressed brow. “Practice makes perfect.”
“Exactly, that’s what I said.”
“No, you said—”
Naruto silences him with another kiss.
Sasuke walks straight home and ignores Ino’s furious yelling on the way. Now more than ever, he hates that they live in the same neighborhood.
“Just shut up already,” he grumbles.
Ino stops walking and looks at him like he’s told her to take the branch lying on the ground over there and fuck herself with it while he watches.
“Just shut up?!”
Oh god.
“Sasuke Uchiha you just ruined my fucking plans! So no, I will not shut up!” Ino yells, her voice getting higher and higher in pitch. “This year was supposed to be when I finally beat Sakura, once and for all, before heading off to college. This was my chance, and you ruined it!”
“All I did was make out with a guy,” Sasuke scoffs. “I didn’t ruin anything. She still hates you and you still hate her. Your beef is still on.”
Ino glares at him. “No it isn’t! Don’t you understand? How will it look if I make you beat up your true love for the sake of my beef? People will think I’m an asshole!”
“True love?” Sasuke repeats incredulously. “The fuck are you on about? That idiot isn’t my true love.”
“I had to pull you off of him, he’s your true love,” she says flatly. Then, enraged again, “You’re still ruining the beef!”
Sasuke rolls his eyes so hard it’s a surprise they don’t get stuck in the back of his head. He stops walking, turning to Ino. “Why don’t you grow a pair and just ask Sakura out.”
The blonde is stunned into silence. “I—what?”
“You’ve been obsessed with her since you were five. Everything you do you think about her.”
“Because I hate her!”
“Yeah, alright. Keep telling yourself that.”
“Sasuke! I do hate her!”
Sasuke ignores her protests and keeps walking. She’s not fooling anybody. His phone vibrates in his pocket. Taking it out, he sees it’s a message notification, but from an unknown number.
Unknown
hey dumbass
wanna hang out later?
at like four tomorrow? after school???
oh btw this is naruto
Sasuke huffs, ignores Ino’s insistence that she isn’t a lesbian—she could never like a girl, the only thing she finds even remotely interesting about Sakura is her beautiful eyes, and her cute hair, and her laugh, but none of those count because she’s a conniving bitch—and texts Naruto back.
You
Sure.