naruto fic: "we have more than simple words"
Written for sasusaku-month. Go check out the comm guys, it's already started!
Title: “we have more than simple words”
Rating: PG-13
Words: 6,483
Characters/Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura
Theme/Prompt: sasusaku-month july 1st - conversation
Warnings/AN: post-ch587 au, fluff and innuendos, maybe? Nothing explicit of course.
Summary: Because their relationship lay within the subtle meaning behind those words
Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda. I own only the plot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sasuke and I… we speak with our fists, that’s how we communicate, that’s how we bond. You, Sakura-chan, you always had something more with him; a special kind of bond.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the end, Sasuke’s return didn’t cause as much of an uproar as she thought. In fact, Sakura was shocked to see the citizens of Konoha ready to put the entire ordeal behind them. It was only natural, she supposed, that after the nightmare the war against Tobi/Madara was, all they wanted was some peace and quiet. And with the strengthened relationship between the main shinobi countries, that wish wasn’t so farfetched. There were still some people who would look at Sasuke with resentment, but with the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre finally disclosed (or, as disclosed as Tsunade-sama deemed it fit) those looks got far and few in between.
Now, with Team 7 officially back together, the only thing preventing them from going on regular missions was the vindictive soul of the Hokage, who was rather intent on showing Sasuke why he should never again think of deserting his comrades for something like revenge.
Although, Sakura was pretty sure Tsunade-sama was only being this vindictive because of the heartbreak they (Team 7) went through after his departure. And while she usually didn’t agree with that kind of behavior, much, Sakura couldn’t help but be grateful.
And only a little bit glad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A light jerk on her hands pulled her attention away from the clouds and back to the boy currently resting on her lap. She blinked a few times, her mind taking in the sight at a painfully slow pace, but finally, it processed the fact that Sasuke was looking at her with a lazy expression on his face and a barely-there smile on his lips.
“Another headache?”
Sasuke shook his head slowly, almost as if he were somewhere between dream and reality, and tapped her hands again. “You stopped.”
Sakura focused on her hands and saw that, yes, she was no longer going through the soothing motions of playing with his hair (she was playing with his hair, Kami, she was playing with his hair and he was letting her). Giving him an apologetic smile, she brushes some hair off his face and starts going over the motions again.
As she watched his eyes drift close, she let the surprise overtake her again, along with the pleasant happiness that came with being with Sasuke.
It had been six months since his return, six months, and after the awkwardness between the two of them became too obvious to ignore it, Naruto and Kakashi took it upon themselves to force them to solve whatever issues they had. Sakura had wanted to scream at them that these issues were far more complex and complicated. That a few moments alone with Sasuke weren’t going to solve them when, as if struck by lightning, she thought that maybe it really was all she needed, a few moments of quiet and peace without the added distractions Naruto and Kakashi constantly posed.
And just like that, a few days after his return, a routine was set up for Team Seven. Kakashi would schedule their training at an specific time, tell them not to be late and disappear, and when the time came, only she and Sasuke would be there, both Naruto and Kakashi arriving coincidentally an hour or so late.
Sasuke never complained.
The hour they had to wait was spent in silence at first, but then not even the Uchiha could take it and he started asking small questions, mostly related to her training and missions, but Sakura was happy to answer. Because he asked first, she thought it only fair that she asked too, about his training and whatever it was he did while he was away. Sometimes he gave her full answers, other times he simply went back to monosyllabic responses, a few time though he refused to answer altogether. Those times, she remembered, were when the questions got too personal.
Sakura had always been a smart girl, a fast learner, so she understood his boundaries and didn’t pry more than necessary. Thus, a comfortable, private routine was established between them. They would talk while waiting for the rest of their team; little by little they would learn small things about each other, going slow, that’s all they needed-baby steps.
This, however, this his-head-on-her-lap-while-she-plays-with-his-hair habit began a mere month ago, when Sasuke confessed of being suffering headaches ever since his chakra was sealed. She scolded him severely for not speaking up sooner, all the while pushing on his shoulder until his head rested on her lap and starting to send healing chakra into his head to soothe the pain.
The fact that Sasuke failed to remove himself from her lap after the healing was over did not went unnoticed by Sakura… or by the remaining members of Team Seven for that matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Your probation ends tomorrow.”
“…Aa.”
“Tsunade-sama said that there were lots of missions awaiting Team 7, but they’re all B or A ranked and she’s having some trouble deciding whether to let us take one or assign another, a better suited for us, you know… after all, you are still a Genin.”
Sasuke felt the muscles of his face begin to clench in an attempt to frown, but he refused to let his expression change, remaining relaxed. Her words were said in a good-natured way, meant to taunt lightly but not to upset; he took it in stride, because his status as a Genin was a running joke among his team, which was fine, really. He, surprisingly, wasn’t bothered by that.
He let out a sigh, enjoying the feel of her finger running through his hair. If Sasuke were honest with himself, which didn’t happen often, he rather enjoyed this moments of privacy with Sakura, letting her act on her innocent and tentative attempts at strengthening their relationship. He learned to cherish these moments, because they helped him fight his demons whenever they decided to come back to haunt him.
Not that he was going to admit such a thing, not out loud, not to her, of course.
Then again, he supposed he didn’t even need to admit anything, Sakura probably knew, and if she didn’t, she suspected. She was aware he was a man of few words, and that he preferred to let his body do the talking. And the sole fact that he allowed her to get this close to him spoke volumes of how willing he was to let her in this time.
Especially now that he knew how much he really needed his friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I like your new outfit.”
The sun was beating down on the training grounds without mercy, even where they were, sheltered under the shadows of a big tree, the heat was unbearable. The hot air surrounding them, coupled with the soothing motions of Sakura’s fingers, was making him feel incredibly drowsy. Even with his shirt wide open, the heat beat at him like the most powerful opponent. It was because of this that he wasn’t sure whether he imagined her words or she really did speak, but when her voice reached him again, he knew she was talking for real and tried his best to pay attention.
“Although, I don’t see why you keep wearing that… skirt-like thingy and tying it with a purple rope, I mean what’s the point of it?”
He didn’t answer, not because he didn’t want to but because he didn’t know what to say, really, he wasn’t sure why he kept wearing these outfits. Other than being the only clothes occupying his wardrobe, he didn’t have a reason anymore. Until now, he thought as Sakura’s fingers trailed over the sides of his face, ghosting over his neck, and settled with playing idly with the edge of the high collar of his shirt.
Really, he shouldn’t be this comfortable with her touching him.
The shirt’s fabric shifted under his neck as she kept playing with it, but suddenly a tremor shot down his spine and he became acutely aware of her curious fingers tracing patterns on the skin of his collarbone. The scars, he realized, she was tracing the scars he’d acquired through the last years.
“Keep the shirt and pants, you don’t really need that thingy.”
He felt dozens of electric jolts running through his body when Sakura let her wandering finders move towards his chest, getting acquaintance with every dip and crevice and rise of muscle she found there, tracing their shape in such a way it made him believe she was trying to commit it to memory. All through this, he’d kept his eyes shut, and though he really wanted to open them and see her face, he also didn’t want his actions be the reason why she stopped.
Her fingers resumed their wandering, going southwards and taking temporal residence on his abdomen, again taking the time to memorize every single muscle. Sasuke could no longer suppress the light tremors that shook his body, but Sakura didn’t seem to notice, at least he hoped not, but he couldn’t tell just by the feel of her hands on him; he had to look at her. By the time she let her hands (it was the whole hand now) smooth over the skin of his stomach, his eyes were wide open and staring at her face. It betrayed nothing, her expression was as relaxed as it was an hour ago, but the look in her eyes spoke a different story.
Her usually clear eyes were clouded with a feeling he couldn’t recognize; this feeling felt oddly familiar to him but he couldn’t quite pinpoint why. And he never got a chance to try, because just then Sakura’s hand reached the edge of his pants and his hands were already taking hold of her wrists, pushing them aside.
She looked down at him, seeming slightly surprised, to which his only response was a deep breath. He sat up, releasing her wrists, and turned around to face her.
The feeling clouding her eyes expanded to her face in a blink, making her look pleased yet troubled at the same time. She was leaning comfortably against the tree trunk, legs folded to the side and arms hanging limply at her sides, breathing a little too fast to seem normal.
Sasuke closed the small distance between them, bumping their knees, and placed one hand next to her head to support his weight, the other hand moved to rest on her thigh. Her breath hitched slightly, her mouth hanged a bit open and her eyelids dropped halfway over darkened green eyes; she looked entrancing, he thought and unsurprisingly he found he liked the sight she presented now. He liked it a lot.
His hand made a slow trail over her thigh, up, up, up passing over her hip and squeezing softly, moving over her arm in a slight caress until he reached her shoulder. Having been leaning forward, he pressed his cheek against hers and couldn’t help he smirk when he felt her tremble.
“I like your new outfit, too.”
She trembled again after he whispered those words into her ear, and again when he let his fingers trail over the collar of her shirt until they reached the zipper. Slowly, he pulled it down, silently enjoying the way she kept trembling and the little noises coming from her parted lips. This was insane; Sasuke knew he should probably stop, but, if she got to touch him, it was only fair he got to touch her too, right?
Right.
Finally, her shirt parted to reveal the creamy skin of the torso, although it didn’t fall completely open. He pulled back a bit to admire his handiwork; her neck, that small dip between her collarbones, the valley of her breasts and her toned abdomen were displayed to his utmost delight, and though his face didn’t show it, Sasuke was rather happy with the sight. A primal need seemed to snap in him and he had to do everything in his power not to let his body indulge into this… sudden urge to do something. He pressed his hand over her stomach, rubbing small circle with his thumb while he used his other hand to push her shirt down to her elbows.
A small part of him told him to stop, that things were getting out of control, but through the haze that surrounded him, he couldn’t really hear or maybe he didn’t really care. Instead, he opted to focus on the small, tempting noises escaping Sakura’s lips; that was much better.
Caressing her exposed skin with his eyes wasn’t enough, he moved both hands up, letting the feel of her toned body engrave itself in his mind, ghosting over her breasts in a barely-there caress before slipping his hands under her arms and to her back. In a rough movement, he had her pressed from chest to navel against him, the skin-to-skin contact sending shivers down his spine and the whimper that fell from her lips echoed his hiss perfectly. And, oh, this was too much, the heat became too much and these urges and-Kami, he could practically feel their sweats mingling.
This has to stop.
The thought lingered for a moment and when his body began to prepare to obey it, Sakura did something that blew his mind. She shifted to sit on her knees, the slight movement rubbing their chests a little but certainly enough to leave his mind reeling, and without giving him time to react, she climbed into his lap, straddling his thighs. The sudden change in height made their chests rub again, this time more firmly, and he just couldn’t stop the deep groan that escaped him.
“Sasuke…” she moaned, wrapping her arms around his waist and clinging to him tightly.
The sound she made echoed within his very core and that, finally, made him snap out of whatever trance he’d been in. He pulled away suddenly, feeling and most likely looking slightly shocked, the distance enough to make her slid off his lap and snap her out of her trance. He saw, oddly amused, how the situation registered in her mind as her eyes widened and her face reddened at an alarming pace. She tried to avoid his eyes, looking at the small portion of ground separating them, and quickly began to fix her state of semi undress.
He was still feeling too hot, not knowing if it was because of the freaking summer heat or the raging inferno inside his body, but he had enough control to notice her failed attempt at zipping up her shirt. So, taking a deep breath, Sasuke inched forward and grabbed her trembling hands, looking steadily into her eyes as he pulled up the zipper resolutely. She gave him a tentative smile, one he returned at the best of his capacities by lifting the corners of his mouth briefly before standing up and turning away from her.
It was too hot, the air felt too thick around him, sweat clung to his body and his shirt was annoying him so much he dropped it at his feet and stalked towards the center of the training ground, determined to sweat out the tension coiling around his body. Naruto and Kakashi were sure to arrive soon (a very good reason to stop what they’d been doing, God knew what those two would’ve done to him if they had caught them in such a compromising situation), so hopefully they’d prove to be enough of a distraction to get his mind off… off whatever it was this thing happening with Sakura.
Unfortunately, life seemed to be out to get him. He sensed her movements somewhere behind him, casting a brief glance he caught his pink-haired teammate picking up his shirt and then folding it gently on her lap. That wouldn’t have been relevant to him, if it weren’t for the fact that she suddenly got this faraway look on her face while her hands traced the embroidered symbol of his clan. His cheeks burned red and he hastily turned away from that scene, trying to valiantly ignore the excited fluttering of his heart.
He didn’t know where he stood with Sakura now, but suddenly it seemed that looking for the answer to that enigma was turning out to be much more enjoyable than he could’ve possibly thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura stared pensively at the symbol of the Uchiha clan, proudly displayed on the back of the shirt.
It’d been five months since that fateful summer afternoon where things with Sasuke… had gotten a little carried away. And nothing had happened since then. Nothing at all.
Frowning, Sakura didn’t know if she should be glad or disappointed (though her hear kept inching towards disappointment), she supposed it was good that things between them hadn’t turned awkward again, but for some reason or another she felt deeply offended. She knew, of course, that that feeling came from her reasoning that, if Sasuke felt anything at all for her, however small, he should be slightly awkward around her now.
Then again, maybe the fact that she had practically harassed him the rest of the summer, taking advantage of their daily routine to try to have a repeat of that afternoon, made more damage than good. But… no, that couldn’t be. Sasuke had reacted, every single day, she’d seen the clench of his jaw, his fisting hands and the relentless way he sparred with Naruto. No, if he were unaffected and annoyed and had wanted her to stop, he would’ve said so. True, Sasuke was a man of few words, but he never hesitated in voicing his discomfort.
And there was also the fact that the guy had the will of steel; nothing could possibly break it, and Sakura knew, she’d tried.
Wrapping a scarf around her neck, she made her way to the training grounds, thinking resolutely that she would keep trying and trying, until either Sasuke told her to stop or… he gave in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being winter, the skin-to-skin contact was reduced considerably, especially outside of training. Even this cold, when Kakashi-sensei was too lazy to pay heed to their request of training and Naruto was complaining at the day being too cold (and I could be trying to woo Hinata-chan, you know) and Team 7 had no missions whatsoever, they still met at the training grounds. She still sat under that tree and he still lay his head on her lap and let her play with his hair.
And Sakura-she was nothing if not stubborn, and if she couldn’t make Sasuke squirm under her fingers, she would make him squirm with her words. One way or another, she was going to break his steely resolve not to let their relationship go beyond friendship, even knowing there was something there.
Because Sasuke knew there was something, she knew he knew, it was written boldly in his every move, his every breath. What was holding him back was a mystery to her, but she was determined to find out and make things work. No, she wasn’t expecting confessions of undying love or for him to fall madly in love with her suddenly. No, she was under no illusions that being with Sasuke would be perfect. She knew it wouldn’t be.
She had no freaking idea where she stood with Sasuke now (she knew he cared for her and she loved him, lovedhimlovedhimlovedhim, so much). But after everything she (they) went through, after all the pain and hatred and forgiveness and everythingthey deserved a chance to find out, to see if there was ever going to be a them (us, Sasuke, is there ever going to be an us?).
So it was high time, Sakura thought as she approached her dark-haired friend, that they solved their issues (issues, she realized, that never went away with their moments of privacy, they just got pushed into the background).
“We need to talk.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We talk all the time.”
“Not about anything important, no.”
“And what, pray tell, do you deem important?”
“Why did you leave? Why didn’t you stay? Why did you say thank you? Why did you leave me unconscious on a freaking bench? Why did you try to kill Naruto? Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you come back after killing Itachi? Why did you turn against Konoha? Why did you tried to kill me? Sasuke. Why? Why? Why?”
“…”
“Sasuke-”
“You know why I left.”
“Power.”
“Yes.”
“Is that all?”
“…No.”
“…”
“You… you, Naruto, Kakashi-Team 7, you were all a distraction. The more time I spent with you, the less I thought of my revenge, and, Sakura, that could not happen.”
“…”
“Itachi, back then… he represented everything I hated and… feared. The Chuunin Exams proved just how important all of you were to me. I cared, perhaps too much… When Gaara attacked you, I told Naruto to take you away, to run and save you. I knew then, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt those I held dear to me, I wasn’t going to lose anyone again.”
“…”
“When I fought Itachi, I knew that I wasn’t strong enough, not to defeat him, or even hurt him. And I was powerless to even give Naruto the chance to run. If it hadn’t been for that Toad Sannin… That’s when I realized, I needed more power and I wasn’t going to get in here in Konoha. Do you know what Itachi said to me the day he massacred our family?"
“…”
“Hate me, despise me, run, run, run and live in the most despicable way. And when you get the same eyes as me, come and find me. When your hate is strong enough, come and kill me.”
“…”
“But my hate wasn’t strong enough, it would’ve never been strong enough… not here. And then, when those Sound shinobi cornered me, I knew, I wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone, and if I couldn’t protect anyone, what would I do if Itachi decided to come back and take everything away from me?”
“That’s why you decided to sever our bonds-to protect us.”
“No one could know I cared, Itachi couldn’t know. Back then, he was the one threat, the one man that could completely destroy me, and I wasn’t going to let him. So I left. My life after that was pretty much train and train and train, a rarely ever did something else. Revenge was first and foremost, the only thing in my mind.”
“…You didn’t kill Naruto. He told me you had the chance, but you didn’t… I’m glad you didn’t, but I want to know why.”
“Back then, Itachi said the only way to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan was by killing your best friend, now I know it actually is by killing the closest person to you, but… then, when Naruto lay unconscious at my feet, I refused to do as he had said. I was set on killing him, Sakura, but I was going to do it my way.”
“…”
“What else do you want to know?”
“Naruto… he knows why you didn’t come back after Itachi died, he knows why you joined Akatsuki, and I’m sure Kakashi-sensei knows too. But they never told me. I ever only found out about there being a reason behind your actions during the final battle, when you told Madara that you finally found out the truth, right after turning against him.”
“…”
“…”
“Sakura… how much do you know about the Uchiha Massacre?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he found himself looking at the winter’s night sky through a small window. The glass had the edges covered in frost, a clear indication of how cold this winter was turning out to be. Even safe under the sheets and blankets he could feel it-or he would feel it, if he were alone, but the soft body curled into his side, pressing all kinds of girly bits into him, kept it away.
He turned to look at her face, only to meet pink hair and feel her breathing steadily into his neck. His arm, the one she was currently using as a sort of pillow, was going numb and the arm around his waist was inching dangerously close to his tickling area.
But, surprisingly enough, he felt unbelievably happy and… at peace.
Kissing the top of her head, Sasuke recalled how they ended up here, in his room, in the Uchiha Manor.
She had wanted to know everything, right? And he had told her. For once, for the first time, he told someone what really happened with his clan. He had started at the beginning though, retelling briefly his fight with Itachi, and the things he’d told him had been his reasons for killing their family. Then the talk with Tobi, and how he’d revealed the truths behind Itachi’s well-constructed lies. He told her how, then, he’d felt this incredible despair, knowing he had killed his brother-his brother who had only had his best interest in mind, and so had decided to crush the responsible for Itachi’s suffering.
Only, Sakura had interrupted with a faint murmur of how he’d taken his hatred and revenge a little bit too far. Sasuke knew she was right, now, but back then, he explained, back then he hadn’t been in his right mind, too confused and too driven with the pain of loss and the hatred and the constant reminders of Tobi. He had been, as Itachi put it the last time they talked, an easy prey to Tobi’s machinations, the perfect puppet. When he’d reached the point in his tale where she found him after his battle with Danzo, he made a small pause, expecting her to talk.
But Sakura had remained quiet, instead urging him to go on. So, he had obliged. It had been as he reached the part of his last meeting with his brother, that Sasuke had begun to stumble with his words.
“We fought side by side, trying to take down Kabuto without killing him. It was hard, but Itachi is a genius, so we managed. I felt… for the first time in my life, Sakura, I felt my brother was actually looking at me as an equal. I was no longer his foolish little brother. And suddenly, Itachi was no longer the worst nightmare of my life.”
It had been painfully hard telling her. But Sasuke figured he owned her that much. He didn’t go into much detail about the battle, but told her enough for her to choke on her emotions briefly, eyes watering as she stared at him. He knew what had been going through her head, those thoughts went through his often enough; they would have made a great team, he and Itachi. He explained how Itachi told him once and for all the truth, not holding anything back. (Look at me. I want you to find what I didn’t have.) He uncovered the lies Tobi had entwined into his mind; he told him everything.
After pausing for the last time, Sasuke had told her of the exact moment his final decision was made.
“After he stopped the Edo Tensei, and collapsed a second time in front of my eyes, the grief overwhelmed me. I remember running, just running, not knowing where, I just wanted to get away from it all. I knew what Itachi was asking of me, but I just couldn’t find it in myself to let go… Then I ran into Naruto. My mind was a complete wreck, and I demanded he fought me. You know Naruto, he wasn’t going to back down from a chance to beat me; a chance to make me see reason.”
He hadn’t gone into detail, Sakura knew what happened during that fight, Naruto had made sure everybody knew what happened. (He had his chance, Sakura-chan, he had his chance to kill me. But he didn’t. He raged and screamed and cried and cursed at me, but he didn’t kill me. Tha’st when I knew; our Sasuke was back for good.)
After he’d fell silent, Sakura let out one tiny sob and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his waist. She’d held tight onto him, either to comfort him or to comfort herself he hadn’t been able to tell. But then… then she’d pulled back, only a little, and had showed him the brightest smile he’d seen on her face ever and kissed him softly.
And he had given in.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her words were said so softly that he thought he had imagined them, but he definitely felt her lips moving against his neck, so… Shifting his position and his hold on her, Sasuke looked down at her and waited for her to wake up completely. Sakura rubbed the sleep off her eyes slowly, letting a small yawn out before looking up at him. She smiled at him, that same brilliant smile from that afternoon, and he couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth lift-only slightly of course.
“…You still haven’t answered my question, Sasuke.”
“Hn.”
“Well…?”
“I was starting to recall what happened after you kissed me earlier today.”
Sakura stretched languorously, her smile turning mischievous, and then moved to lie on top of him. “Oh, let me help with that,” she said, pressing their foreheads together. “After you let me kiss you a few more times, I distinctively recall you ravaging my mouth. And to top it off, when that seemed to be not enough, being the private person you are, you decided to do nothing short of throwing me over your shoulder and carried me here.”
He smirked in response to the amusement shining in her eyes and slid his arms around her, bringing her closer to him. “You liked it.”
“Maybe a little, but I could have gone without the throwing-over-your-shoulder thing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for future references.”
Eyes closed, he brushed their lips together, slowly, savoring the light touch and her soft sighs. He could sense the peace, the contentment behind their actions-not letting their mouths connect fully, there was no need to rush. Unlike that summer afternoon, the sense of urgency was gone, from both of them, because Sasuke knew… they had their whole life ahead of them.
“I like your new outfit.”
He whispered against her lips, feeling extremely pleased when he felt her smile again. He opened his eyes in time to see her open hers too, her love for him shining bright underneath the endless green.
“I like your new outfit, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto usually enjoyed the winter. He liked the cold weather, the occasional snow that fell in Konoha, and mostly, Christmas.
So it was a rare sight to see him so grumpy on winter, like today. But, he reasoned, with Christmas being twenty-four days away, Kakashi-sensei busy somewhere, no missions to do and Hinata-chan still away on her month-long mission, things weren’t looking so bright now. He was bored out of his mind. And when Naruto was bored, he became grumpy… until he remembered that he had Sasuke now to annoy endlessly until he agreed to a sparring session.
Much more happy now, the blonde, loud-mouthed ninja made his way to the Uchiha compound, thinking up ways to annoy his friend and with any luck get him to go convince Sakura-chan (if only because a pissed off Sasuke was unusually mean when training). He would have gone looking for her first, as he was wont to do under normal circumstances, but today was her day off the hospital, and the last time he interrupted her day off, well… let’s just say it wasn’t pretty for him. He knew that, while Sakura-chan didn’t hold back on being mean around Sasuke anymore (and actually had been mean to the Uchiha on several occasions), she was usually in a brighter mood when his dark-haired best friend was around (unless, of course, she was pissed at said friend).
As Sasuke’s house came into view, his stomach began to growl loudly, reminding him that it was lunchtime. It was okay, though, he would just have to raid Sasuke’s fridge for something to eat. If nothing else, they could always stop by Ichikaru’s on their way to Sakura-chan’s apartment.
Naruto bypassed the front door and went straight to the back entrance. Standing in the main entrance and knocking on the door meant giving Sasuke the choice to open or not the door; he usually didn’t. So Naruto being, well, Naruto, stopped trying being polite and considerate and started using the back door. After all, a surprise attack annoyed Sasuke even more.
Testing the doorknob, he was pleased to find the door unlocked, which meant Sasuke was still home. Having his chakra masked since he decided to come, Naruto only took care of being silent as he entered the house, closing the door silently behind him. There were noises coming from the kitchen and a delicious aroma reached his nose. His mouth watered, and he thought he would, maybe, be slightly less annoying today, if only to have a taste of whatever the bastard was cooking.
Of course, that didn’t mean he would pass this chance to tease him about how incredibly skilled he seemed to be with the house chores.
With a wicked smile, Naruto sauntered into the kitchen, already feeling victorious as he started talking. “Why, teme, I never thought you were such a good-”
But his taunt got caught up in his throat, for, while he clearly saw the uchiwa fan displayed on the back of the shirt before the person turned around, it was not Sasuke the one in the kitchen.
“-housewife.”
It was Sakura.
The girl looked as shocked as he felt, as she turned around, a frying pan in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. She fidgeted nervously for a few second and then put down both items on the counter, only to start playing with the hem of the shirt.
Oh, kami…
Her hair was in disarray, as if she just got out of bed, and (Kami, he really didn’t want to think of it) Naruto was pretty sure she wore nothing but Sasuke’s shirt at the moment-
“Um, hey… Naruto.”
-no, wait, she had socks on too.
He felt it, the scream surging up his throat, it was going to be huge, he knew it. But there was nothing he could do to stop it because-it was Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan standing in Sasuke’s kitchen wearing only his shirt and looking as if-ugh. This was the girl who was his first crush, the girl that, with her constant support and encouragement and affection, helped him see true love that came in the form of none other than Hinata-chan (although that talk had been painful, what with him being his usual oblivious self and she being well, not patient enough).
Finding her in this condition just-no. His mind couldn’t grasp it.
And of course it was all Sasuke’s fault.
Speaking of the devil, as Naruto opened his mouth to let out the screech (it was going to be a screech, no use in denying that), Sasuke walked past him and into the kitchen, shirtless and looking as if he’d just rolled off his bed. Looking just like Sakura. He watched as the Uchiha made his way over her slowly, probably still too sleepy to move with his usual speed, and gently, as if their pink-haired teammate were the most delicate flower (great, he was starting to sound like fuzzy brows), he embraced her waist. Pulling her a bit closer, Sasuke placed one kiss on her forehead, then on her cheek and finally on her lips.
“Good morning.”
And that was that. Because Sakura smiled this smile reserved only for the Uchiha and her eyes were so shiny and the way she loosely wrapped her arms around Sasuke made her look so adorable as she replied softly her own greeting-freaking adorable, they both looked freaking adorable together like that.
“You’re welcome to stay for lunch, Naruto.”
He smiled as he watched Sakura-chan hit the bastard’s ribs to force him to extend the invitation too, but Sasuke only grunted in response as he walked towards the fridge to take out his so loved tomatoes. Naruto didn’t mind, he knew Sasuke had invited him in his own way.
When they sat to eat, among the bickering and teasing and talking and friendly atmosphere, the future Hokage realized something. As he looked at his friends interact with each other, the thought of them being freaking adorable kept coming back, so he smiled and finished his lunch.
About damn time, of course, but that didn’t meant he was going let Sasuke get away with this without his fair share of teasing.
“You look adorable like this… teme.”
Sasuke frowned, Sakura laughed and he kept shoving food in his mouth.
Adorable, indeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So… why did you thank me? The night you left, I-what’s so funny? Hey, stop smirking!”
“…Hn.”
“Sasuke.”
“I’ve been wondering how long it would take you to ask me that. Too long, it seems.”
“Oh, shut up, you. And I said stop smirking.”
“Hn.”
“So why did you?”
“One usually says those words to express gratitude.”
“Stop being a smartass. You really didn’t have much reason to do it, I mean, I was kind of annoying most of the time.”
“Kind of?”
“Don’t push it, Uchiha.”
“Tch.”
“So…?”
“…”
“…”
“…For worrying.”
“Uh?”
“I thanked you for worrying and caring so much. You were always so sincere with your feelings for me, and I was grateful of that.”
“So… you thanked me for loving you.”
“…Aa.”
“Oh.”
“I knew I was in the process of breaking your heart, so I wanted you to know… that I appreciated it, that…”
“That you cared?”
“Yes.”
“…You know…”
“…?”
“There was a time, after you left, that I really, really wanted to hate you. I was so hurt and I felt so useless… But I never could do it, just like I never could stop loving you. And Kami knows I tried.”
“…”
“But you know that, right, Sasuke? You know I could never stop loving you.”
“I know.”
“Now, now, don’t get cocky, Uchiha.”
“Hn.”
“And stop smirking.”
“You’re annoying, Sakura.”
“But you love me anyway.”
“…”
“…”
“…Yes, I do.”
“…”
“…”
“…I know…”
“…”
“A passionate kiss would do perfectly after such a statement, you know?”
“Annoying.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Needless to say, their loud-mouthed friend had been right from the very beginning. There was always something more between her and Sasuke; a special kind of bond.
They just hadn’t known about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
End.
Comments are welcomed!!
Title: “we have more than simple words”
Rating: PG-13
Words: 6,483
Characters/Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura
Theme/Prompt: sasusaku-month july 1st - conversation
Warnings/AN: post-ch587 au, fluff and innuendos, maybe? Nothing explicit of course.
Summary: Because their relationship lay within the subtle meaning behind those words
Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda. I own only the plot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sasuke and I… we speak with our fists, that’s how we communicate, that’s how we bond. You, Sakura-chan, you always had something more with him; a special kind of bond.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the end, Sasuke’s return didn’t cause as much of an uproar as she thought. In fact, Sakura was shocked to see the citizens of Konoha ready to put the entire ordeal behind them. It was only natural, she supposed, that after the nightmare the war against Tobi/Madara was, all they wanted was some peace and quiet. And with the strengthened relationship between the main shinobi countries, that wish wasn’t so farfetched. There were still some people who would look at Sasuke with resentment, but with the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre finally disclosed (or, as disclosed as Tsunade-sama deemed it fit) those looks got far and few in between.
Now, with Team 7 officially back together, the only thing preventing them from going on regular missions was the vindictive soul of the Hokage, who was rather intent on showing Sasuke why he should never again think of deserting his comrades for something like revenge.
Although, Sakura was pretty sure Tsunade-sama was only being this vindictive because of the heartbreak they (Team 7) went through after his departure. And while she usually didn’t agree with that kind of behavior, much, Sakura couldn’t help but be grateful.
And only a little bit glad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A light jerk on her hands pulled her attention away from the clouds and back to the boy currently resting on her lap. She blinked a few times, her mind taking in the sight at a painfully slow pace, but finally, it processed the fact that Sasuke was looking at her with a lazy expression on his face and a barely-there smile on his lips.
“Another headache?”
Sasuke shook his head slowly, almost as if he were somewhere between dream and reality, and tapped her hands again. “You stopped.”
Sakura focused on her hands and saw that, yes, she was no longer going through the soothing motions of playing with his hair (she was playing with his hair, Kami, she was playing with his hair and he was letting her). Giving him an apologetic smile, she brushes some hair off his face and starts going over the motions again.
As she watched his eyes drift close, she let the surprise overtake her again, along with the pleasant happiness that came with being with Sasuke.
It had been six months since his return, six months, and after the awkwardness between the two of them became too obvious to ignore it, Naruto and Kakashi took it upon themselves to force them to solve whatever issues they had. Sakura had wanted to scream at them that these issues were far more complex and complicated. That a few moments alone with Sasuke weren’t going to solve them when, as if struck by lightning, she thought that maybe it really was all she needed, a few moments of quiet and peace without the added distractions Naruto and Kakashi constantly posed.
And just like that, a few days after his return, a routine was set up for Team Seven. Kakashi would schedule their training at an specific time, tell them not to be late and disappear, and when the time came, only she and Sasuke would be there, both Naruto and Kakashi arriving coincidentally an hour or so late.
Sasuke never complained.
The hour they had to wait was spent in silence at first, but then not even the Uchiha could take it and he started asking small questions, mostly related to her training and missions, but Sakura was happy to answer. Because he asked first, she thought it only fair that she asked too, about his training and whatever it was he did while he was away. Sometimes he gave her full answers, other times he simply went back to monosyllabic responses, a few time though he refused to answer altogether. Those times, she remembered, were when the questions got too personal.
Sakura had always been a smart girl, a fast learner, so she understood his boundaries and didn’t pry more than necessary. Thus, a comfortable, private routine was established between them. They would talk while waiting for the rest of their team; little by little they would learn small things about each other, going slow, that’s all they needed-baby steps.
This, however, this his-head-on-her-lap-while-she-plays-with-his-hair habit began a mere month ago, when Sasuke confessed of being suffering headaches ever since his chakra was sealed. She scolded him severely for not speaking up sooner, all the while pushing on his shoulder until his head rested on her lap and starting to send healing chakra into his head to soothe the pain.
The fact that Sasuke failed to remove himself from her lap after the healing was over did not went unnoticed by Sakura… or by the remaining members of Team Seven for that matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Your probation ends tomorrow.”
“…Aa.”
“Tsunade-sama said that there were lots of missions awaiting Team 7, but they’re all B or A ranked and she’s having some trouble deciding whether to let us take one or assign another, a better suited for us, you know… after all, you are still a Genin.”
Sasuke felt the muscles of his face begin to clench in an attempt to frown, but he refused to let his expression change, remaining relaxed. Her words were said in a good-natured way, meant to taunt lightly but not to upset; he took it in stride, because his status as a Genin was a running joke among his team, which was fine, really. He, surprisingly, wasn’t bothered by that.
He let out a sigh, enjoying the feel of her finger running through his hair. If Sasuke were honest with himself, which didn’t happen often, he rather enjoyed this moments of privacy with Sakura, letting her act on her innocent and tentative attempts at strengthening their relationship. He learned to cherish these moments, because they helped him fight his demons whenever they decided to come back to haunt him.
Not that he was going to admit such a thing, not out loud, not to her, of course.
Then again, he supposed he didn’t even need to admit anything, Sakura probably knew, and if she didn’t, she suspected. She was aware he was a man of few words, and that he preferred to let his body do the talking. And the sole fact that he allowed her to get this close to him spoke volumes of how willing he was to let her in this time.
Especially now that he knew how much he really needed his friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I like your new outfit.”
The sun was beating down on the training grounds without mercy, even where they were, sheltered under the shadows of a big tree, the heat was unbearable. The hot air surrounding them, coupled with the soothing motions of Sakura’s fingers, was making him feel incredibly drowsy. Even with his shirt wide open, the heat beat at him like the most powerful opponent. It was because of this that he wasn’t sure whether he imagined her words or she really did speak, but when her voice reached him again, he knew she was talking for real and tried his best to pay attention.
“Although, I don’t see why you keep wearing that… skirt-like thingy and tying it with a purple rope, I mean what’s the point of it?”
He didn’t answer, not because he didn’t want to but because he didn’t know what to say, really, he wasn’t sure why he kept wearing these outfits. Other than being the only clothes occupying his wardrobe, he didn’t have a reason anymore. Until now, he thought as Sakura’s fingers trailed over the sides of his face, ghosting over his neck, and settled with playing idly with the edge of the high collar of his shirt.
Really, he shouldn’t be this comfortable with her touching him.
The shirt’s fabric shifted under his neck as she kept playing with it, but suddenly a tremor shot down his spine and he became acutely aware of her curious fingers tracing patterns on the skin of his collarbone. The scars, he realized, she was tracing the scars he’d acquired through the last years.
“Keep the shirt and pants, you don’t really need that thingy.”
He felt dozens of electric jolts running through his body when Sakura let her wandering finders move towards his chest, getting acquaintance with every dip and crevice and rise of muscle she found there, tracing their shape in such a way it made him believe she was trying to commit it to memory. All through this, he’d kept his eyes shut, and though he really wanted to open them and see her face, he also didn’t want his actions be the reason why she stopped.
Her fingers resumed their wandering, going southwards and taking temporal residence on his abdomen, again taking the time to memorize every single muscle. Sasuke could no longer suppress the light tremors that shook his body, but Sakura didn’t seem to notice, at least he hoped not, but he couldn’t tell just by the feel of her hands on him; he had to look at her. By the time she let her hands (it was the whole hand now) smooth over the skin of his stomach, his eyes were wide open and staring at her face. It betrayed nothing, her expression was as relaxed as it was an hour ago, but the look in her eyes spoke a different story.
Her usually clear eyes were clouded with a feeling he couldn’t recognize; this feeling felt oddly familiar to him but he couldn’t quite pinpoint why. And he never got a chance to try, because just then Sakura’s hand reached the edge of his pants and his hands were already taking hold of her wrists, pushing them aside.
She looked down at him, seeming slightly surprised, to which his only response was a deep breath. He sat up, releasing her wrists, and turned around to face her.
The feeling clouding her eyes expanded to her face in a blink, making her look pleased yet troubled at the same time. She was leaning comfortably against the tree trunk, legs folded to the side and arms hanging limply at her sides, breathing a little too fast to seem normal.
Sasuke closed the small distance between them, bumping their knees, and placed one hand next to her head to support his weight, the other hand moved to rest on her thigh. Her breath hitched slightly, her mouth hanged a bit open and her eyelids dropped halfway over darkened green eyes; she looked entrancing, he thought and unsurprisingly he found he liked the sight she presented now. He liked it a lot.
His hand made a slow trail over her thigh, up, up, up passing over her hip and squeezing softly, moving over her arm in a slight caress until he reached her shoulder. Having been leaning forward, he pressed his cheek against hers and couldn’t help he smirk when he felt her tremble.
“I like your new outfit, too.”
She trembled again after he whispered those words into her ear, and again when he let his fingers trail over the collar of her shirt until they reached the zipper. Slowly, he pulled it down, silently enjoying the way she kept trembling and the little noises coming from her parted lips. This was insane; Sasuke knew he should probably stop, but, if she got to touch him, it was only fair he got to touch her too, right?
Right.
Finally, her shirt parted to reveal the creamy skin of the torso, although it didn’t fall completely open. He pulled back a bit to admire his handiwork; her neck, that small dip between her collarbones, the valley of her breasts and her toned abdomen were displayed to his utmost delight, and though his face didn’t show it, Sasuke was rather happy with the sight. A primal need seemed to snap in him and he had to do everything in his power not to let his body indulge into this… sudden urge to do something. He pressed his hand over her stomach, rubbing small circle with his thumb while he used his other hand to push her shirt down to her elbows.
A small part of him told him to stop, that things were getting out of control, but through the haze that surrounded him, he couldn’t really hear or maybe he didn’t really care. Instead, he opted to focus on the small, tempting noises escaping Sakura’s lips; that was much better.
Caressing her exposed skin with his eyes wasn’t enough, he moved both hands up, letting the feel of her toned body engrave itself in his mind, ghosting over her breasts in a barely-there caress before slipping his hands under her arms and to her back. In a rough movement, he had her pressed from chest to navel against him, the skin-to-skin contact sending shivers down his spine and the whimper that fell from her lips echoed his hiss perfectly. And, oh, this was too much, the heat became too much and these urges and-Kami, he could practically feel their sweats mingling.
This has to stop.
The thought lingered for a moment and when his body began to prepare to obey it, Sakura did something that blew his mind. She shifted to sit on her knees, the slight movement rubbing their chests a little but certainly enough to leave his mind reeling, and without giving him time to react, she climbed into his lap, straddling his thighs. The sudden change in height made their chests rub again, this time more firmly, and he just couldn’t stop the deep groan that escaped him.
“Sasuke…” she moaned, wrapping her arms around his waist and clinging to him tightly.
The sound she made echoed within his very core and that, finally, made him snap out of whatever trance he’d been in. He pulled away suddenly, feeling and most likely looking slightly shocked, the distance enough to make her slid off his lap and snap her out of her trance. He saw, oddly amused, how the situation registered in her mind as her eyes widened and her face reddened at an alarming pace. She tried to avoid his eyes, looking at the small portion of ground separating them, and quickly began to fix her state of semi undress.
He was still feeling too hot, not knowing if it was because of the freaking summer heat or the raging inferno inside his body, but he had enough control to notice her failed attempt at zipping up her shirt. So, taking a deep breath, Sasuke inched forward and grabbed her trembling hands, looking steadily into her eyes as he pulled up the zipper resolutely. She gave him a tentative smile, one he returned at the best of his capacities by lifting the corners of his mouth briefly before standing up and turning away from her.
It was too hot, the air felt too thick around him, sweat clung to his body and his shirt was annoying him so much he dropped it at his feet and stalked towards the center of the training ground, determined to sweat out the tension coiling around his body. Naruto and Kakashi were sure to arrive soon (a very good reason to stop what they’d been doing, God knew what those two would’ve done to him if they had caught them in such a compromising situation), so hopefully they’d prove to be enough of a distraction to get his mind off… off whatever it was this thing happening with Sakura.
Unfortunately, life seemed to be out to get him. He sensed her movements somewhere behind him, casting a brief glance he caught his pink-haired teammate picking up his shirt and then folding it gently on her lap. That wouldn’t have been relevant to him, if it weren’t for the fact that she suddenly got this faraway look on her face while her hands traced the embroidered symbol of his clan. His cheeks burned red and he hastily turned away from that scene, trying to valiantly ignore the excited fluttering of his heart.
He didn’t know where he stood with Sakura now, but suddenly it seemed that looking for the answer to that enigma was turning out to be much more enjoyable than he could’ve possibly thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura stared pensively at the symbol of the Uchiha clan, proudly displayed on the back of the shirt.
It’d been five months since that fateful summer afternoon where things with Sasuke… had gotten a little carried away. And nothing had happened since then. Nothing at all.
Frowning, Sakura didn’t know if she should be glad or disappointed (though her hear kept inching towards disappointment), she supposed it was good that things between them hadn’t turned awkward again, but for some reason or another she felt deeply offended. She knew, of course, that that feeling came from her reasoning that, if Sasuke felt anything at all for her, however small, he should be slightly awkward around her now.
Then again, maybe the fact that she had practically harassed him the rest of the summer, taking advantage of their daily routine to try to have a repeat of that afternoon, made more damage than good. But… no, that couldn’t be. Sasuke had reacted, every single day, she’d seen the clench of his jaw, his fisting hands and the relentless way he sparred with Naruto. No, if he were unaffected and annoyed and had wanted her to stop, he would’ve said so. True, Sasuke was a man of few words, but he never hesitated in voicing his discomfort.
And there was also the fact that the guy had the will of steel; nothing could possibly break it, and Sakura knew, she’d tried.
Wrapping a scarf around her neck, she made her way to the training grounds, thinking resolutely that she would keep trying and trying, until either Sasuke told her to stop or… he gave in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being winter, the skin-to-skin contact was reduced considerably, especially outside of training. Even this cold, when Kakashi-sensei was too lazy to pay heed to their request of training and Naruto was complaining at the day being too cold (and I could be trying to woo Hinata-chan, you know) and Team 7 had no missions whatsoever, they still met at the training grounds. She still sat under that tree and he still lay his head on her lap and let her play with his hair.
And Sakura-she was nothing if not stubborn, and if she couldn’t make Sasuke squirm under her fingers, she would make him squirm with her words. One way or another, she was going to break his steely resolve not to let their relationship go beyond friendship, even knowing there was something there.
Because Sasuke knew there was something, she knew he knew, it was written boldly in his every move, his every breath. What was holding him back was a mystery to her, but she was determined to find out and make things work. No, she wasn’t expecting confessions of undying love or for him to fall madly in love with her suddenly. No, she was under no illusions that being with Sasuke would be perfect. She knew it wouldn’t be.
She had no freaking idea where she stood with Sasuke now (she knew he cared for her and she loved him, lovedhimlovedhimlovedhim, so much). But after everything she (they) went through, after all the pain and hatred and forgiveness and everythingthey deserved a chance to find out, to see if there was ever going to be a them (us, Sasuke, is there ever going to be an us?).
So it was high time, Sakura thought as she approached her dark-haired friend, that they solved their issues (issues, she realized, that never went away with their moments of privacy, they just got pushed into the background).
“We need to talk.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We talk all the time.”
“Not about anything important, no.”
“And what, pray tell, do you deem important?”
“Why did you leave? Why didn’t you stay? Why did you say thank you? Why did you leave me unconscious on a freaking bench? Why did you try to kill Naruto? Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you come back after killing Itachi? Why did you turn against Konoha? Why did you tried to kill me? Sasuke. Why? Why? Why?”
“…”
“Sasuke-”
“You know why I left.”
“Power.”
“Yes.”
“Is that all?”
“…No.”
“…”
“You… you, Naruto, Kakashi-Team 7, you were all a distraction. The more time I spent with you, the less I thought of my revenge, and, Sakura, that could not happen.”
“…”
“Itachi, back then… he represented everything I hated and… feared. The Chuunin Exams proved just how important all of you were to me. I cared, perhaps too much… When Gaara attacked you, I told Naruto to take you away, to run and save you. I knew then, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt those I held dear to me, I wasn’t going to lose anyone again.”
“…”
“When I fought Itachi, I knew that I wasn’t strong enough, not to defeat him, or even hurt him. And I was powerless to even give Naruto the chance to run. If it hadn’t been for that Toad Sannin… That’s when I realized, I needed more power and I wasn’t going to get in here in Konoha. Do you know what Itachi said to me the day he massacred our family?"
“…”
“Hate me, despise me, run, run, run and live in the most despicable way. And when you get the same eyes as me, come and find me. When your hate is strong enough, come and kill me.”
“…”
“But my hate wasn’t strong enough, it would’ve never been strong enough… not here. And then, when those Sound shinobi cornered me, I knew, I wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone, and if I couldn’t protect anyone, what would I do if Itachi decided to come back and take everything away from me?”
“That’s why you decided to sever our bonds-to protect us.”
“No one could know I cared, Itachi couldn’t know. Back then, he was the one threat, the one man that could completely destroy me, and I wasn’t going to let him. So I left. My life after that was pretty much train and train and train, a rarely ever did something else. Revenge was first and foremost, the only thing in my mind.”
“…You didn’t kill Naruto. He told me you had the chance, but you didn’t… I’m glad you didn’t, but I want to know why.”
“Back then, Itachi said the only way to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan was by killing your best friend, now I know it actually is by killing the closest person to you, but… then, when Naruto lay unconscious at my feet, I refused to do as he had said. I was set on killing him, Sakura, but I was going to do it my way.”
“…”
“What else do you want to know?”
“Naruto… he knows why you didn’t come back after Itachi died, he knows why you joined Akatsuki, and I’m sure Kakashi-sensei knows too. But they never told me. I ever only found out about there being a reason behind your actions during the final battle, when you told Madara that you finally found out the truth, right after turning against him.”
“…”
“…”
“Sakura… how much do you know about the Uchiha Massacre?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he found himself looking at the winter’s night sky through a small window. The glass had the edges covered in frost, a clear indication of how cold this winter was turning out to be. Even safe under the sheets and blankets he could feel it-or he would feel it, if he were alone, but the soft body curled into his side, pressing all kinds of girly bits into him, kept it away.
He turned to look at her face, only to meet pink hair and feel her breathing steadily into his neck. His arm, the one she was currently using as a sort of pillow, was going numb and the arm around his waist was inching dangerously close to his tickling area.
But, surprisingly enough, he felt unbelievably happy and… at peace.
Kissing the top of her head, Sasuke recalled how they ended up here, in his room, in the Uchiha Manor.
She had wanted to know everything, right? And he had told her. For once, for the first time, he told someone what really happened with his clan. He had started at the beginning though, retelling briefly his fight with Itachi, and the things he’d told him had been his reasons for killing their family. Then the talk with Tobi, and how he’d revealed the truths behind Itachi’s well-constructed lies. He told her how, then, he’d felt this incredible despair, knowing he had killed his brother-his brother who had only had his best interest in mind, and so had decided to crush the responsible for Itachi’s suffering.
Only, Sakura had interrupted with a faint murmur of how he’d taken his hatred and revenge a little bit too far. Sasuke knew she was right, now, but back then, he explained, back then he hadn’t been in his right mind, too confused and too driven with the pain of loss and the hatred and the constant reminders of Tobi. He had been, as Itachi put it the last time they talked, an easy prey to Tobi’s machinations, the perfect puppet. When he’d reached the point in his tale where she found him after his battle with Danzo, he made a small pause, expecting her to talk.
But Sakura had remained quiet, instead urging him to go on. So, he had obliged. It had been as he reached the part of his last meeting with his brother, that Sasuke had begun to stumble with his words.
“We fought side by side, trying to take down Kabuto without killing him. It was hard, but Itachi is a genius, so we managed. I felt… for the first time in my life, Sakura, I felt my brother was actually looking at me as an equal. I was no longer his foolish little brother. And suddenly, Itachi was no longer the worst nightmare of my life.”
It had been painfully hard telling her. But Sasuke figured he owned her that much. He didn’t go into much detail about the battle, but told her enough for her to choke on her emotions briefly, eyes watering as she stared at him. He knew what had been going through her head, those thoughts went through his often enough; they would have made a great team, he and Itachi. He explained how Itachi told him once and for all the truth, not holding anything back. (Look at me. I want you to find what I didn’t have.) He uncovered the lies Tobi had entwined into his mind; he told him everything.
After pausing for the last time, Sasuke had told her of the exact moment his final decision was made.
“After he stopped the Edo Tensei, and collapsed a second time in front of my eyes, the grief overwhelmed me. I remember running, just running, not knowing where, I just wanted to get away from it all. I knew what Itachi was asking of me, but I just couldn’t find it in myself to let go… Then I ran into Naruto. My mind was a complete wreck, and I demanded he fought me. You know Naruto, he wasn’t going to back down from a chance to beat me; a chance to make me see reason.”
He hadn’t gone into detail, Sakura knew what happened during that fight, Naruto had made sure everybody knew what happened. (He had his chance, Sakura-chan, he had his chance to kill me. But he didn’t. He raged and screamed and cried and cursed at me, but he didn’t kill me. Tha’st when I knew; our Sasuke was back for good.)
After he’d fell silent, Sakura let out one tiny sob and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his waist. She’d held tight onto him, either to comfort him or to comfort herself he hadn’t been able to tell. But then… then she’d pulled back, only a little, and had showed him the brightest smile he’d seen on her face ever and kissed him softly.
And he had given in.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her words were said so softly that he thought he had imagined them, but he definitely felt her lips moving against his neck, so… Shifting his position and his hold on her, Sasuke looked down at her and waited for her to wake up completely. Sakura rubbed the sleep off her eyes slowly, letting a small yawn out before looking up at him. She smiled at him, that same brilliant smile from that afternoon, and he couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth lift-only slightly of course.
“…You still haven’t answered my question, Sasuke.”
“Hn.”
“Well…?”
“I was starting to recall what happened after you kissed me earlier today.”
Sakura stretched languorously, her smile turning mischievous, and then moved to lie on top of him. “Oh, let me help with that,” she said, pressing their foreheads together. “After you let me kiss you a few more times, I distinctively recall you ravaging my mouth. And to top it off, when that seemed to be not enough, being the private person you are, you decided to do nothing short of throwing me over your shoulder and carried me here.”
He smirked in response to the amusement shining in her eyes and slid his arms around her, bringing her closer to him. “You liked it.”
“Maybe a little, but I could have gone without the throwing-over-your-shoulder thing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for future references.”
Eyes closed, he brushed their lips together, slowly, savoring the light touch and her soft sighs. He could sense the peace, the contentment behind their actions-not letting their mouths connect fully, there was no need to rush. Unlike that summer afternoon, the sense of urgency was gone, from both of them, because Sasuke knew… they had their whole life ahead of them.
“I like your new outfit.”
He whispered against her lips, feeling extremely pleased when he felt her smile again. He opened his eyes in time to see her open hers too, her love for him shining bright underneath the endless green.
“I like your new outfit, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto usually enjoyed the winter. He liked the cold weather, the occasional snow that fell in Konoha, and mostly, Christmas.
So it was a rare sight to see him so grumpy on winter, like today. But, he reasoned, with Christmas being twenty-four days away, Kakashi-sensei busy somewhere, no missions to do and Hinata-chan still away on her month-long mission, things weren’t looking so bright now. He was bored out of his mind. And when Naruto was bored, he became grumpy… until he remembered that he had Sasuke now to annoy endlessly until he agreed to a sparring session.
Much more happy now, the blonde, loud-mouthed ninja made his way to the Uchiha compound, thinking up ways to annoy his friend and with any luck get him to go convince Sakura-chan (if only because a pissed off Sasuke was unusually mean when training). He would have gone looking for her first, as he was wont to do under normal circumstances, but today was her day off the hospital, and the last time he interrupted her day off, well… let’s just say it wasn’t pretty for him. He knew that, while Sakura-chan didn’t hold back on being mean around Sasuke anymore (and actually had been mean to the Uchiha on several occasions), she was usually in a brighter mood when his dark-haired best friend was around (unless, of course, she was pissed at said friend).
As Sasuke’s house came into view, his stomach began to growl loudly, reminding him that it was lunchtime. It was okay, though, he would just have to raid Sasuke’s fridge for something to eat. If nothing else, they could always stop by Ichikaru’s on their way to Sakura-chan’s apartment.
Naruto bypassed the front door and went straight to the back entrance. Standing in the main entrance and knocking on the door meant giving Sasuke the choice to open or not the door; he usually didn’t. So Naruto being, well, Naruto, stopped trying being polite and considerate and started using the back door. After all, a surprise attack annoyed Sasuke even more.
Testing the doorknob, he was pleased to find the door unlocked, which meant Sasuke was still home. Having his chakra masked since he decided to come, Naruto only took care of being silent as he entered the house, closing the door silently behind him. There were noises coming from the kitchen and a delicious aroma reached his nose. His mouth watered, and he thought he would, maybe, be slightly less annoying today, if only to have a taste of whatever the bastard was cooking.
Of course, that didn’t mean he would pass this chance to tease him about how incredibly skilled he seemed to be with the house chores.
With a wicked smile, Naruto sauntered into the kitchen, already feeling victorious as he started talking. “Why, teme, I never thought you were such a good-”
But his taunt got caught up in his throat, for, while he clearly saw the uchiwa fan displayed on the back of the shirt before the person turned around, it was not Sasuke the one in the kitchen.
“-housewife.”
It was Sakura.
The girl looked as shocked as he felt, as she turned around, a frying pan in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. She fidgeted nervously for a few second and then put down both items on the counter, only to start playing with the hem of the shirt.
Oh, kami…
Her hair was in disarray, as if she just got out of bed, and (Kami, he really didn’t want to think of it) Naruto was pretty sure she wore nothing but Sasuke’s shirt at the moment-
“Um, hey… Naruto.”
-no, wait, she had socks on too.
He felt it, the scream surging up his throat, it was going to be huge, he knew it. But there was nothing he could do to stop it because-it was Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan standing in Sasuke’s kitchen wearing only his shirt and looking as if-ugh. This was the girl who was his first crush, the girl that, with her constant support and encouragement and affection, helped him see true love that came in the form of none other than Hinata-chan (although that talk had been painful, what with him being his usual oblivious self and she being well, not patient enough).
Finding her in this condition just-no. His mind couldn’t grasp it.
And of course it was all Sasuke’s fault.
Speaking of the devil, as Naruto opened his mouth to let out the screech (it was going to be a screech, no use in denying that), Sasuke walked past him and into the kitchen, shirtless and looking as if he’d just rolled off his bed. Looking just like Sakura. He watched as the Uchiha made his way over her slowly, probably still too sleepy to move with his usual speed, and gently, as if their pink-haired teammate were the most delicate flower (great, he was starting to sound like fuzzy brows), he embraced her waist. Pulling her a bit closer, Sasuke placed one kiss on her forehead, then on her cheek and finally on her lips.
“Good morning.”
And that was that. Because Sakura smiled this smile reserved only for the Uchiha and her eyes were so shiny and the way she loosely wrapped her arms around Sasuke made her look so adorable as she replied softly her own greeting-freaking adorable, they both looked freaking adorable together like that.
“You’re welcome to stay for lunch, Naruto.”
He smiled as he watched Sakura-chan hit the bastard’s ribs to force him to extend the invitation too, but Sasuke only grunted in response as he walked towards the fridge to take out his so loved tomatoes. Naruto didn’t mind, he knew Sasuke had invited him in his own way.
When they sat to eat, among the bickering and teasing and talking and friendly atmosphere, the future Hokage realized something. As he looked at his friends interact with each other, the thought of them being freaking adorable kept coming back, so he smiled and finished his lunch.
About damn time, of course, but that didn’t meant he was going let Sasuke get away with this without his fair share of teasing.
“You look adorable like this… teme.”
Sasuke frowned, Sakura laughed and he kept shoving food in his mouth.
Adorable, indeed.
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“So… why did you thank me? The night you left, I-what’s so funny? Hey, stop smirking!”
“…Hn.”
“Sasuke.”
“I’ve been wondering how long it would take you to ask me that. Too long, it seems.”
“Oh, shut up, you. And I said stop smirking.”
“Hn.”
“So why did you?”
“One usually says those words to express gratitude.”
“Stop being a smartass. You really didn’t have much reason to do it, I mean, I was kind of annoying most of the time.”
“Kind of?”
“Don’t push it, Uchiha.”
“Tch.”
“So…?”
“…”
“…”
“…For worrying.”
“Uh?”
“I thanked you for worrying and caring so much. You were always so sincere with your feelings for me, and I was grateful of that.”
“So… you thanked me for loving you.”
“…Aa.”
“Oh.”
“I knew I was in the process of breaking your heart, so I wanted you to know… that I appreciated it, that…”
“That you cared?”
“Yes.”
“…You know…”
“…?”
“There was a time, after you left, that I really, really wanted to hate you. I was so hurt and I felt so useless… But I never could do it, just like I never could stop loving you. And Kami knows I tried.”
“…”
“But you know that, right, Sasuke? You know I could never stop loving you.”
“I know.”
“Now, now, don’t get cocky, Uchiha.”
“Hn.”
“And stop smirking.”
“You’re annoying, Sakura.”
“But you love me anyway.”
“…”
“…”
“…Yes, I do.”
“…”
“…”
“…I know…”
“…”
“A passionate kiss would do perfectly after such a statement, you know?”
“Annoying.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Needless to say, their loud-mouthed friend had been right from the very beginning. There was always something more between her and Sasuke; a special kind of bond.
They just hadn’t known about it.
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End.
Comments are welcomed!!