(gift-)fic dump!
Okay, so I deleted stuff. A lot of stuff. Again. And or reasons that won't make any sense to anyone but me and not even me sometimes. So, I'm reposting all the giftfics, just because. The remaining fics - Jealousy, Calculating, This Charming Man, Third Time's the Charm, All That Glitters... we're just going to pretend those didn't exist. I'm debating on whether to repost The Tragic Hero, and I'm considering giving Cat's Eye Blind another try, but since that's just a random anthology, it'll go up on LJ still. So... yeah. Enjoy, or something.
Fandom: Naruto
Summary: SasuSaku. Oneshot. "Sasuke, you love me, right?" This couldn't end well.
Rating: K+
Genre: Humor/Romance
Notes: Originally posted for ohwhatsherface's birthday.
“This is so unfair,” Naruto grumbled, voice muffled by the boxes and bags in his arms. “Why doesn’t Sasuke have to hold any of this crap?”
“It is not crap,” Sakura snapped, leading him, Sasuke, and Kakashi to another store. “And because Sasuke-kun is my eye-candy.” She wound her arms around one of his, beaming up at him.
Sasuke didn’t look impressed.
“Also because Sasuke-kun is paying, right, Sakura?” he said dryly.
“You catch on quick, darling,” she said, tugging on his hand. “And now I want that lamp. Get ready, Kakashi-sensei. It looks heavy.”
Kakashi flipped a page in his book. “Sensei’s getting old, Sakura. Get Naruto or Sasuke to carry it.”
“But sensei,” Sakura whined, eyes wide and imploring. “It’s my birthday!” And, as was tradition, the three males of Team Seven were taking Sakura out shopping for every little thing she wanted. In her words, it was “the least you suckers can do for me after leaving me on a bench, spying on me for a perverted writer, and deciding I wasn’t worth your time!”
“Do you really want my back to give out on your special day, Sakura?”
Sakura’s smile was angelic, and even Naruto, who couldn’t see it, knew to step back. Sasuke ignored her and fished out his wallet in anticipation of the many, many things she still wanted to buy.
“Do you really want my fist in your face, Kakashi-sensei?” she asked sweetly, green eyes positively sparkling with innocence.
With a properly threatened Kakashi hefting large boxes, and a still-complaining (though under his breath, after Sakura informed him she was getting very annoyed) Naruto trailing behind them, Sakura led them through every shop that caught her eyes. She bought shoes and stuffed animals and new gloves, and Sasuke couldn’t refuse her, even when the things were expensive, because when he tried, she got a very solemn expression on her face, turned to him, and said:
“Thank you… Sasuke.”
And even though he knew she was manipulating him, he couldn’t help but feel guilty, so he sighed and paid for everything she wanted. Besides, who else did he need to spend his money on, if not his friends?
(And the future Mrs. Uchiha, cackled a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Naruto.)
She led them into clothing stores and tried on dress after shirt after skirt, much to Naruto’s aggravation.
“How do you think this looks?” she asked, twirling about to show off a flaring skirt she would probably never get the opportunity to wear.
“It’s nice, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said around a yawn. “But don’t you think it’s a little long?”
Sakura fixed him with a venomous glare. “And this is why you don’t have a girlfriend. You have no class.” Then her gaze moved to the right, and she brightened. “You should be more like Sasuke! How do I look, Sasuke-kun?”
Sasuke, hands stuffed in pockets and looking bored, said, “Fine.”
When Sakura laughed delightedly and skipped back to the changeroom, Naruto turned to his best friend and said sourly, “I bet you didn’t even look. Man, how do you get away with everything?”
Kakashi, coming up behind them with some clothes Sakura had sent him to find, explained patiently, “It’s because Sakura has seen Sasuke without a shirt, Naruto.”
And when she got to the sales… the boys would forever be scarred by the sight of (usually) sweet, (mostly) innocent Sakura launching herself into a crowd of women.
And never again would they look at a lady with a shopping bag the same; not after, finding it especially difficult to get to the center of a crowd, where some boots she wanted were, Sakura screamed out, “Hey look - three hot guys with money!”
Kakashi and Naruto never knew they were so appealing. And poor, abused Sasuke just wondered where the possessive Sakura had gone.
Finally, the four of them set off for Sakura’s apartment, Naruto and Kakashi weighed down with bags, and Sasuke’s wallet feeling considerably lighter. Exhausted and weary, but not a little bit excited that the day was nearly over, the three men stiffened when Sakura tilted her head up to look at Sasuke. “I think I love you,” she told him very seriously.
“So I’ve heard,” he muttered. He knew what was coming.
“And you love me too, riiiight?” she prodded. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. How expensive was the next thing going to be?
“…What do you want, Sakura?”
“Sasuke!” Ooh, she was getting testy-
“No kun?” Naruto snickered. “He’s not getting any tonight.”
“Shut up, Naruto,” Sasuke said darkly. Then, breathing deeply, he turned his attention to Sakura. “Just tell me what you want.”
“I want you to tell me that you love me,” Sakura sang, stopping in the middle of the crowded street. She had obviously forgotten about her next purchase, and Sasuke wondered if he should be grateful for his wallet or terrified about what she was asking.
“Go ahead, Sasuke.” Why was Kakashi enjoying himself so much?
“Sakura. Tell me what you want me to buy you.”
“An engagement ring?” she tried, moving to stand in front of him and clasp both his hands in hers.
“…Fine.”
“You know, maybe it’s good I can’t see, because I think they’re going to kiss now,” Naruto said. “Which is gross, by the way. Kakashi-sensei, hold me.”
“Quiet, Naruto,” Kakashi stage-whispered. “We’re getting to the good part.”
“Does it matter who’s proposing to you, though?” Sasuke went on.
Sakura’s jaw dropped, and Sasuke suppressed an amused smirk. At least, until she dropped his hands, propped one of her own on her hip, and tossed her hair haughtily.
“Well, as long as he’s pretty. I’ll gladly settle for Gaara.”
Fandom: D. Gray Man
Summary: “Kanda's not so bad,” Lenalee says cheerily. “He’s kind of
like a puppy, really.” KandaLenalee. Oneshot.
Rating: K+
Genre: Humor
Notes: Originally posted for vanilladoozie's birthday.
“Watch this,” Lavi stage-whispers to Allen, leading him into the men’s showers. Lenalee, just exiting her room, cocks an eyebrow. She knows that voice; that’s Lavi’s Prankster!Voice, and when Lavi uses his Prankster!Voice, someone - usually Kanda - suffers.
She doesn’t have much time to wonder what’s happening, because just then Lavi and Allen come rushing out, trying to stifle their snickers. She walks toward them, and they grin at her; Lavi cheerfully, proudly, but Allen a bit sheepishly.
“What are you two doing?” she asks suspiciously.
Lavi mocks hurt. “Why would you think we’ve done anything, Lenalee? We’re the epitome of innocence!”
Lenalee squints at him. “Then why are you carrying Kanda’s clothes?”
Just then, there is a thud, a shout, and the door to the showers swings open - and Kanda is standing there, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, hair sopping wet and sticking to his chest, drops of water sliding down, down, down-
‘Easy there, Lenalee,’ she thinks faintly.
“Moyashi,” Kanda growls at Allen, who visibly trembles, moving to hide behind Lenalee. Kanda’s glare shifts to Lavi, and his eyes seem to turn wild and red. “You.”
Lavi is ready to run, but he can’t resist one last jibe - which, as it turns out, is his biggest mistake.
“Yes, Yuu?”
Kanda takes off after Lavi, pulling Mugen out of - His towel? Allen wonders, setting Lenalee steady (she seems to be swooning a bit, for some odd reason) before running after them to help Lavi. It occurs to him to run far, far away from Kanda and save himself while he still can, but Allen is too good of a person to do that.
However, he steals a few of Reever’s pointiest pens as he passes him - just in case.
--
When Kanda is finished with them, Lavi and Allen have matching split lips. Lavi also has a swollen cheek and his ribs are sore, and Allen has some nasty cuts on his hands.
And still Kanda is angry. He was ready to kill them - but, as usual, Lenalee arrived just in time.
“You’re some sort of angel,” Lavi tells her very seriously as she applies cream to his bruises, “Sent from above to save us from the demon Yuu-chan.”
Kanda twitches. Lenalee stifles a giggle, chancing a sideways glance at him.
Allen is silent, smiling shyly at Lenalee when she starts to clean his cuts. “Thank you, Lenalee, but you don’t have to worry about me,” he says earnestly.
Lenalee pats his cheek. “Someone has to, Allen-kun.”
Kanda’s grip on Mugen tightens.
Lavi sighs exaggeratedly. “Yuu is so mean.”
“Watch it,” Kanda warns in a low voice.
“He’s not so bad,” Lenalee says cheerily. “He’s kind of like a puppy, really.”
“All bark and no bite?” Allen pipes up.
Kanda glares at them. Why are they talking about him like he’s not there?
His glare deepens when it lands on Lenalee. She may be pretty and have a very nice skirt, but she is undeniably the most evil of them all, with her pigtails and that devious smile and those legs-
“All done!” she chimes, standing up. Allen and Lavi do the same, exchanging shrewd glances with each other before looking at him, then at Lenalee.
“Lenalee, guard Yuu,” Lavi tells her. She blinks, and Lavi and Allen run off.
It is only then, when he looks at Lenalee and sees her smiling a bit dazedly that Kanda realizes he is Alone with a Very Pretty Girl in a Very Small Room and she has a Short Skirt, and he is still only wearing a Towel.
Lenalee grins at him.
Oh boy.
Fandom: Death Note
Summary: "Applying make-up is an art," Misa insists. L agrees that it - she - is very pretty. L x Misa. Oneshot.
Rating: K+
Genre: Humor/Romance
Notes: For disorientedly's birthday.
Despite appearances, Misa was really very professional when it came to her modeling and acting. She was efficient, hard-working, and always on time.
Sometimes, L could open his eyes after finally crashing for an hour around dawn, and she would be tiptoeing around the sofas he and Light were sprawled on, headed towards the bathroom, or back to her room.
Each time, she would miss his eyes on her in her hurry to get ready, but L watched her in his analytical way as she towel-dried her hair to avoid disturbing Light (and maybe, he liked to think, him), or poured herself some juice before she left, or the way she leaned in close to the mirror, dabbing eyeshadow on her eyelids in smooth strokes.
The careful, calculated way she applied cosmetics to darken, embellish, and cover was strangely fascinating, he thought. The way her fingers moved over her cheeks, or the way she sorted through her make-up, or the way she blinked after doing her eyelashes.
Looking back, maybe he had been a tad bit obsessed, but L wasn’t thinking of that when he glanced over his shoulder at Misa, who was sitting on a table, swinging her legs and rifling through her black make-up bag.
Obviously feeling his gaze on hers, she looked up. “Stop that. Ryuuzaki is such a pervert,” she huffed.
L popped his last forkful of strawberry cake into his mouth, speaking around it. “What are you doing, Misa-san?”
“Applying make-up,” she said, holding up the bag for emphasis. “Silly Ryuuzaki.”
“Could you try to keep it down?” Light asked, annoyed. “You’re distracting us.”
To mask her hurt, Misa turned a glare on a very bemused L.
“It takes a very long time,” he observed. L’s thirst for knowledge extended even to beauty products, it appeared.
“Applying make-up is an art,” Misa informed him prissily. “Ryuuzaki is just stupid,” she added, with such blunt conviction, that L, genius, world-renowned detective, almost believed it for a moment.
“That isn’t very nice, Misa-san,” he said when he caught himself.
Misa made a face at him, scrunching up her nose in annoyance. “Misa-Misa never said she was nice,” she reminded him, rattling through her make-up bag for something.
L couldn’t think of a good counter to that; it was the truth after all. So he just sucked the frosting off his fork unwilling to turn back to the computer screen just yet. Light, beside him, sighed irritably and pulled a hand through his hair, glancing sidelong at his girlfriend, and then at L himself, but he didn’t take the hint.
Misa was scowling now, peering down at her make-up bag and grumbling to herself. Finally, she upended the bag, scattering compacts and sending tubes rolling everywhere.
“Misa,” Light groaned. “Don’t make a mess.”
“Don’t you want a pretty girlfriend, Light?” she demanded, dropping to her knees to pick up all her lip glosses, eyeliners, and mascara. Light rolled his eyes and didn’t reply, studiously fixing his gaze to his laptop. Beside him, L leaned down to pick up a brightly-colored tube. He held it awkwardly, by the tips of his fingers, examining it thoughtfully with a finger to his lips.
Misa giggled when she stood up and looked at him, one hand propped sassily on her lip. “Ryuuzaki is a nerd,” she said, not unkindly. She leaned forward, plucking the cosmetic from his grasp, and said, “You want to learn, Ryuuzaki? I’ll teach you.”
Light sighed again, but there was nothing to be done for it. Even L couldn’t choose a computer screen with nothing to offer him over a happy and excited Misa.
-x-
“Mascara is the hard part,” Misa sang, lowering her eyelids just so and applying it expertly, elongating and thickening. L watched, transfixed, and she watched him through hooded eyes. “Misa-Misa is just very good at what she does.”
He nodded mutely. Beside him, Light coughed, and he was almost positive that he was trying to hide laughter.
“Then comes the eyeshadow,” Misa went on, drawing L’s attention back to her as she brushed smoky gray-blue over one eyelid. “You have to make sure it’s even, and not too dark. Well, for Misa-Misa, anyways.” She finished with one eye, and hesitated, then held out the brush to L. “Does Ryuuzaki want to try?”
Light had paused in his work to watch them, and L, cautiously, warily, reached out to take the brush from Misa’s fingers.
“Go on,” she said with an encouraging little smile, closing her eyes and leaning forward expectantly.
L tried; really, he did. But his hands wavered (from the sugar in his system, he would say in his defense were anyone to ask him), and his hands were sweaty (it was hot with all those computers running in such a small room), and he was nervous (well, Misa could be scary), so when he finished fumbling over her eyelid, it was dark and grey, contrasting spectacularly with the other lid.
Light was suspiciously quiet as Misa examined her reflection.
“Well,” she said finally, “Ryuuzaki sucks at make-up.” But there was no venom in her voice. She shrugged. “Ryuuzaki lacks precision.” She took the brush from him, wiped off the eyeshadow, and re-did both lids without complaint - uncommon for Misa - and then moved onto the last part. Or as L liked to call it, his undoing.
L watched her smear cherry-red lipstick across pouting lips. Smooth strokes, blotting her lips with a tissue, rubbing her lips together to even out the color…
Okay, so maybe he was a bit too into it. Fortunately for him, Misa didn’t seem to notice.
She dropped her lipstick into her make-up bag, zipped it close, and tossed her hair back from her face with a satisfied smile.
“And that, Ryuuzaki, is the Art of Make-up Application.” She smiled at him for the first time, a true, beaming smile, the kind she usually reserved for Light.
“It was very informative, Misa-san,” L assured her.
Misa smiled, glanced at Light - who was ignoring them - and leaned forward, minty-fresh breath fanning L in the face. He tried to hide his discomfort, and she laughed. “Ryuuzaki is a pervert,” she said in a quiet voice.
Then she pulled back, leaving L bewildered and watching her go.
Oops. Maybe she had noticed, then.
Fandom: D. Gray Man
Summary: Oneshot. KandaLenalee. Lavi flirts, Allen teases, Krory advises, and Komui plots Kanda's demise. Kanda glares, and Lenalee is just very embarassed.
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance
Notes: For twilight10's birthday.
Lavi knows Kanda likes Lenalee more than as an acquaintance, because Kanda can’t stand him.
Lavi likes to take Lenalee’s hands in his, or grab her around the waist from behind when she doesn’t notice him creeping up behind her. He’s not the affectionate type, but Lenalee’s too cute to resist.
And of course, he loves when Yuu’s eye twitches and he looks resolutely away.
He is so bad with girls.
--
“Yuu!”
Kanda glowers at Lavi, but he doesn’t pull out Mugen, because Lenalee is sitting beside Lavi, and trying to stifle her giggles. Instead, he sits down across from them both in the cafeteria with his soba. Beansprout sits on Lenalee’s other side, and the vampire who’s so scared of him sits two seats down.
“You need to start wearing shirts more,” Lavi goes on. There are ladies present.” He grins when Lenalee reddens and pokes her in the side so she squirms and tries to bat his hand away.
Kanda glares.
Allen hides a grin. As far as he can tell, Lenalee doesn’t really mind Kanda’s bare chest.
--
Allen knows Lenalee likes Kanda, because he is her best friend and knows everything about her. Sometimes she smiles to herself when he walks past her, and her face always brightens when she sees him in the room. She says his name quietly, so that he won’t hear, because if he looks over, her face will heat up.
Allen likes to draw Kanda’s attention to her as often as possible, and watch her blush so he can tease her about it later.
--
“Is it straight?” Lenalee calls down to Allen. He shuts one eye peering up at the banner.
It is Komui’s birthday and Lenalee has the Order decorating the cafeteria for a little celebration. She is up on a ladder, hanging up a large white banner Lavi drew up, while Allen “helps.”
“Yeah!” he shouts back. But he isn’t so sure, because he’s watching Kanda, who has just walked in, trying to ignore everyone decorating, and trying to remain ignored himself.
“Hey! Kanda!” he yells across the hall.
Kanda shoots him a look of pure venom when Lenalee whips around, hair flying, to scan the room for him. Allen almost snickers at her flushed cheeks but doesn’t because he has more pressing matters to attend to: namely, that Lenalee appeared to forget she was on a ladder when she looked around, and lost her balance.
The ladder wobbles. Lenalee stumbles. And she falls.
But before Allen can move, before Lenalee, shocked, can think to activate her Innocence, Kanda is already there, having sped across the room to catch her, effortlessly.
“Lenalee! Are you okay?” Allen cries, horrified.
“I-” She’s still disoriented. “Yes, I’m fine.” She slips out of Kanda’s arm and offers him an embarrassed smile. “Thank you.”
Kanda doesn’t seem to hear. He’s already turning away.
And Lenalee doesn’t even have time to be hurt, because her brother is standing in the doorway. She groans because her surprise has been ruined.
Allen groans, because Komui is glaring at Kanda with all the fury he possesses.
--
Komui is horrible to Kanda, or as horrible as Komui gets. He sends him on ridiculous missions, with the most annoying partners he can find, because Kanda has something with his baby sister and that is not allowed.
But he knows Lenalee misses him sometimes, so he’ll let him stay as long as he is able to supervise. But Kanda never touches Lenalee, barely even speaks to her, so he feels like he can breathe a bit more easily.
If she’s going to be in a relationship with anybody he would prefer for it to be with Kanda.
--
Kanda is on a mission, and because he has to send her, Komui tells Lenalee to go with him.
Kanda crosses his arms over his chest and doesn’t look at her as she approaches the boat he’s sitting in. When the finder - young overeager, and a bit of a lech - reaches over to help her in (or, anyways, that’s his excuse), Kanda casually shifts Mugen slightly to the side, so the tip is pointing at the finder. It can’t hurt him, but it serves its purpose as a warning. The finder sits down again, and Lenalee climbs in, oblivious to what just occurred.
Komui smiles.
--
Krory is terrified of Kanda, but he adores Lenalee, and he wonders how two such different people can be so perfect for each other. She is sweet and he is bitter, but both are beautiful and dangerous and incredible.
He always feels safer around Kanda when Lenalee is with him, because he knows Lenalee will protect him. And he thinks they should hurry up and get together - as soon as Lenalee notices the glances Kanda sneaks at her, and Kanda notices the way she smiles at him.
He wonders how they can be so oblivious when they’re so obviously meant for each other.
--
Krory sets down a mug of coffee in front of Lenalee. Usually she brings it for him, but today he wanted to treat her; she looks tired.
“Thank you, Krory,” she says brightly.
“You’re welcome,” he replies. “Are you okay?”
“Just a little tired,” she admits, smiling. She stifles a yawn. “I didn’t get much sleep last night,” she adds unnecessarily.
Krory regards her thoughtfully. “Kanda comes back from his mission today,” he comments offhandedly, waiting for her reaction, which is to very nearly drop the mug she was raising to her lips.
She wipes her mouth. She hasn’t had any coffee yet, but she needs something to distract him from her obvious preoccupation with the dark-haired Exorcist. “Oh, that’s right. He is.”
Krory looks more closely at her. Lenalee’s skin is pale, and there are bags beneath her eyes.
“You don’t need to worry about him so much,” he reminds her, standing up. “Kanda can take care of himself.
Lenalee doesn’t answer, too flustered by the way everyone can see straight through her.
--
Kanda considers himself a master at disguising his emotions. Some people say he doesn’t have any, but they’re wrong. He hates a lot, he feels sad on occasion, and he does have feelings for a girl with pigtails and nice legs.
But he thinks he’s pretty good at hiding all this.
So, when Lavi passes him by and smirks, with a, “Nice job, Yuu. You’re learning to speak to girls!” Kanda almost impales him.
Almost. Because Lenalee is still smiling at him.
Kanda curses. He thought he had such good control. But he doesn’t. Because Lenalee has him so whipped.
--
Lenalee never thinks that her crush - because of course that’s all it is - on Kanda will go anywhere, but she can’t control it, because Kanda is gorgeous and strong, and he sends shivers down her spine when he looks at her; her heart races when he touches her; and whenever he speaks in that low rumble of his, her stomach ties itself into knots.
But it’s after he drops a silver-and-pearl comb on the table beside her plate of food, with a mumbled, “Here” - no romantic words, no affection, no anything - and her breath catches in her throat, that she knows it must be more - and that she has a chance.
Because when Kanda walks away and Lavi speaks to him - what, she doesn’t know, but judging from his mocking grin, it can’t be good - he doesn’t reply to the redhead; he turns to look at her.
She beams at him. And she could swear - even with her thumping heart and red face and the singing and fireworks in her mind - that he smiles back. Just a little.
Fandom: Naruto
Summary:Sakura feels out of place. Sasuke thinks she's right where she belongs. Now he just has to convince her. AU. SasuSaku. Oneshot.
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance
Notes: For twilight10's birthday! Er, another one. Similar to the SasuSaku situation in Disenchanted, because that's what she wanted.
It was raining that night. Naruto had called him, frantic - “Sakura-chan’s gone!” - and Sasuke had pocketed his phone, grabbed the keys to his brother’s new BMW without asking permission, and left the house.
He drove around for half an hour, called Ino and Hinata, dodged calls from an anxious Naruto, pounded on Neji’s door to tell him to call his girlfriend, and slumped over the steering wheel where no one could see him, eyes dark with worry, before he slid into the parking lot of a Taco Bell and saw her, arms wrapped around her knees, sitting on the curb.
She had a single bag beside her, and her purse in her lap. She didn’t look up when he approached, and he only led her into the passenger seat. He pulled her messenger bag with the pink doodles she had made in glitter glue over his shoulder, took her hand in his, and realized that, for the first time, her skin was colder than his.
He shut the door, shook the rain out of his hair, and turned up the heat, angling it towards the silent, soaked girl sitting beside him.
Her teeth didn’t stop chattering.
-x-
Once home, he turned her in the direction of the shower and went downstairs to face the firing squad.
“Where is she supposed to go?” he said, before anyone else could speak. Her parents had kicked her out, she had no other family, and it wasn’t as if they didn’t have room. He appealed to his mother.
“She can stay for as long as she need to, Sasuke,” she said, and she was so firm that his father couldn’t disagree.
When Sasuke left the room, he found Sakura around the corner, back to the wall, looking guilty.
“I’m sorry, Sasuke, I-” He held up a hand to cut her off.
“I’ll show you to your room. And then call Naruto before he knocks down my front door.”
She smiled, and in one sudden motion, stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Sasuke stiffened, catching the whiff of his own shampoo in her hair. She was still cold, fresh out of the shower, and he patted her back awkwardly before stepping away.
“Come on,” he muttered, leading her to the stairs. He couldn’t meet her eyes.
-x-
“A regular knight in shining armor, aren’t you?” Naruto said, smirking, when they met up on Monday before school.
Sasuke felt the tips of his ears burn red, and tried to pass it off as being from the cold. Sakura stood beside him, sipping at her coffee and checking her phone. She didn’t seem to be paying attention.
Naruto slid his eyes toward her. “Just stick to your own room, Sakura. You’re too young to make babies,” he told her, very seriously, and she choked, spitting out her coffee all over his shoes.
“Ewwww,” Naruto whined, making a face.
Sasuke fished a napkin out of his pocket. “Nice aim.”
-x-
Ino bought her an entire new wardrobe and set about to fix up her still-bare room. Sasuke was passing by her open doorway just as Sakura was protesting, “This is just temporary, remember.”
He was just about to correct her when Ino said, sarcastically, “Oh, really? So your parents decided to quit being pricks and take you back? How generous!”
Sakura was silent. There was a rustle of fabric and Ino went on, in a gentler voice, “God, I - I’m sorry, Sakura. But I know your parents. And-Sasuke offered. He wants you here. You don’t have to leave.”
Sasuke raked a hand through his hair, embarrassed.
Sakura said in a muffled voice, “I don’t belong here.”
The next day, Sasuke took Sakura to her parents’ house.
-x-
“Since you don’t want your daughter-” Sakura winced, and Sasuke hesitated before plowing on, “I’ll take her. She’s living with my family from now on.”
Mrs. Haruno, in the doorway, looked shocked. “You can’t do that!”
“I can,” he said in the steely voice Uchiha used to get what they wanted, “and I did.”
Both parents were dumbfounded, Sasuke picked up the bags Sakura had packed full of her possessions. “Come on,” he said to her, and she scurried behind him, hand gripped in the sleeve of his jacket. Her eyes were on her shoes.
“Sakura!” her father called out, and she froze. “You can’t leave. We’re your parents.”
Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times, at a loss for words. Finally, she whispered, “You disowned me.”
“We all said things we didn’t mean,” Mr. Haruno said, eyes flicking to Sasuke, hovering silently at her side. “You can’t live with him.” The way he spat the word gave Sasuke some insight as to their so-called argument. He looked at Sakura. Her cheeks were flaring red with anger.
“Sir,” Sasuke cut in before she could speak, “If you want to fight for Sakura, you’re welcome to try. In court.” He paused, suddenly realizing, “Unless Sakura decides to take you back.”
Sakura tightened her grip on his jacket. “No,” she breathed shakily. Then, stronger, looking at Sasuke, “I’m staying with you. I mean, for as long as I can. I don’t mean-”
“Good.” His eyes probed into her, and Sakura couldn’t look away. Sasuke led her to the car, opened the passenger door for her. When she slid in, he stood over her. “You can stay as long as you want. It’s your home, too.” And then he gave her a quick half-smile, and shut the door.
-x-
Sakura stopped objecting somewhere between the third time his mother made dessert and Sasuke’s eighth threat for her to shut up about leaving. Of course, Naruto insisted it had less to do with sweets and repetition, and more to do with the fact that she had caught him that morning without a shirt on.
Sasuke smacked him upside the head for that.
“Where is she, anyway?” Naruto asked, unwinding the blindingly orange scarf around his neck. He tossed it along with the matching coat and hat into Sasuke’s arms. He scowled and dropped them to the floor. “Hey!”
“Probably in her room,” he said. “She sits in there and listens to boy-band crap all day.”
“You’re just jealous she doesn’t listen to your crap.” Naruto laughed, dodging Sasuke’s fist and bounding up the stairs. “I haven’t seen her in ages! I miss her already!”
“You saw her yesterday,” Sasuke pointed out, but Naruto wasn’t listening. He had already let himself into Sakura’s room, Sasuke close behind her.
“Sakura-chan!” he shouted gleefully, then stopped.
Sakura lay on her bed, legs dangling over the edge, a magazine tucked under one cheek, sleeping.
“She looks so cute,” Naruto cooed. “Don’t you think, Sasuke?”
“Idiot, you’re going to wake her up,” Sasuke snapped, brushing past him to turn down the blaring rock sounding from her stereo. He took the magazine out from under her, put a pillow in its place, and folded her comforter over her form, all without waking her up. Naruto was impressed.
“You take good care of her,” he said.
“Some of us are more capable than others,” Sasuke said, giving him a pointed look.
“Or maybe some of us are just more in love than others.”
“Shut up.” Sasuke shoved Naruto out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. “You’re going to wake her up.”
-x-
He had known of Sakura for ten years, been her friend for six, liked her for five, and the secret had been out for two. Naruto knew, so Ino knew, so of course Tenten and Hinata and Neji and Shikamaru knew.
Sakura didn’t know, at least. And anyway, it wasn’t a big deal. He treated her the same as he treated Naruto - for the most part. He would take Naruto in to his family, too, if he needed him, but maybe he wouldn’t tuck him in when he fell asleep.
Sasuke set down his textbook and groaned. He was getting nowhere. Time to put away the books. He was getting hungry, after all. He stood, stretched, and made his way down the hall to Sakura’s room, where he had to pound on the door so she could hear him over her music. She actually still listened to the Backstreet Boys. Disgusting.
“Your taste in music sucks,” he said the moment she opened the door.
“Well, hello to you, too,” she said sarcastically. “I happen to like them. You’re just jealous.”
Sasuke bristled. That was the second time he was being accused of that. Time to change the subject. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine,” she said, just before her stomach rumbled. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she reddened, shrugging sheepishly. “Maybe a little.”
-x-
She tried to take an apple back up to her room, but Sasuke all but shoved her into a chair at the dining table, disappearing to heat up some pizza from the night before, when Naruto came over and they had their traditional movie night. Sasuke let her choose, even though it was his turn, and he and Naruto suffered through hours of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sweet Home Alabama, and The Lion King. She had finally let Sasuke pick the last one, and Naruto urged him, with a not-at-all-subtle wink, to put on the scariest movie he could find.
Sasuke put on Mr. Bean, just to spite him.
“I’m not that hungry,” she protested when he set two slices and a can of coke in front of her. She was clearly lying, and Sasuke wondered just why she was being so stubborn. He thought they were past this.
“What have you been doing all day?” he asked instead. She had been shut up in her room for the majority of the morning. It was already almost four.
Sakura picked at the tab of her soda can. “You know. Stuff.” She cleared her throat. “Did you know, if you twist the tab and recite the alphabet, the letter you pull it off on is the first letter of the name of the person you’re going to marry?”
“You believe that?”
Sakura made a face, setting down her can. “No. I always get N.” She brightened. “You try!”
Sasuke gave her a look, but she was insistent, so he sighed, gripping the tab of his coke. Sakura recited the alphabet as he twisted it from side to side. It came off at-
“N.” Sakura laughed. “I’ll arm wrestle you for him.”
Sasuke thought of Naruto and fought the urge to gag. “You can have him.” The trill of Sakura’s ring tone suddenly sang out, and she jumped, fishing it out from her pocket.
“Sorry, be right back,” she said in a rush, hopping out of her seat and leaving the room.
Sasuke could hear her voice, quiet in the hall, but couldn’t make out the words. He frowned at her pizza, only nibbled at, and then out to the hall, where she was. Sakura was acting weirder than usual, and someone had to look out for her.
-x-
“Oh, you know how Sakura is,” Naruto said wisely. “She’s still feeling weird about your uncharacteristic not-jerkiness.”
Sasuke frowned. “I’m only a jerk to you.”
“And Neji, and Shikamaru, and Ino, and Sai, and Karin…” Naruto trailed off pointedly. “Guess who’s the odd one out.” He turned back to his phone, where he was getting a text, and laughed, before writing out a reply.
“She’ll adjust. She’s probably just freaking about college tuitions.” Naruto fell silent, focused on his cell phone, and Sasuke walked along beside him, thoughtful. He could pay for Sakura. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t get scholarships to help her, anyway. But she was Sakura. His mother loved her, his father respected her, and his brother… well, his brother had always been weird. He smirked at Sakura whenever he saw the two of them together. Prick. The point was that whatever Sakura may need, they could and would give to her. Her parents might have been sum, but there were people who cared for her.
When Sasuke reached home, ten minutes later, he was surprised to find it empty. Sakura usually reached home before he did, whenever they didn’t walk together. He walked, but Ino chauffeured her around in her convertible. Shrugging it off, he wandered up to his room, grabbing a soda on his way and starting right in on his homework. It was his senior year too, after all.
At one point, he got distracted with thoughts of Sakura. He wondered where she was. He reached for his soda can, just as there was a knock at the door. His mother poked her head in his room. “Dinner’s ready, Sasuke. Where’s Sakura?”
“She isn’t home?” Maybe she was staying at Ino’s. “I’ll call her.”
-x-
“Hello?”
“Sakura? Where are you?”
“Oh, I’ll be late - oh, crud.”
“What’s all that noise?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it. I’m sleeping over at Ino’s tonight, okay?”
“…”
“Sasuke?”
“Okay. Bye.”
-x-
It wasn’t hard to find her. He talked to Ino, talked to Naruto, took Itachi's car again, and stomped out of the house, with a request to his mother to save a couple of plates for them.
He found Sakura at the same place as he had that first night, but this time, it wasn’t raining. She was standing outside a Taco Bell, waiting for Ino. Instead, she got Sasuke.
He stepped out, and her eyes widened. “Oh. Um.”
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
“I got a job,” she said in a very small voice.
“Why?” he repeated. Sakura looked miserable.
“For the free tacos,” she mumbled under her breath. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
“Sakura. I can help you. I’ll pay for you. You can live with me-” She was shaking her head.
“I can’t, actually.” She smiled. “It was nice of you to help me, so nice, but I can’t mooch off you. We’re not family. It’s not right. I’m not doing it.” She shrugged, not looking at him. “I can apply for scholarships. I can manage just fine. I have some money-“ She blinked at Sasuke, suddenly standing too close to her. “Um.”
“Sakura,” he said sharply, “Why did your parents fight with you?”
Sakura reddened. “For a lot of reasons,” she began defensively.
“But a lot of it was because of me, right?”
Sakura was silent. Sasuke went on. “You lost your home because of me, then. Why can’t you let me help you with a new one?” He tried to meet her eye. “Ino’s right. I want to help you.”
Sakura was turning redder and redder. Sasuke’s own face felt uncomfortably warm.
“Sakura, will you marry me?”
Sakura’s head snapped up. Sasuke wanted to kick himself. That came out completely wrong! He tried to backtrack.
“You want to be family, and couples share their money and property and…” Ah, screw it.
Sakura was gaping at him like a fish out of water. Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck. “Want me to kneel?” he asked drily, and she laughed. But the moment wasn’t broken just yet.
“You don’t even have a ring.” She looked amused. Sasuke felt nervous.
He fished his soda can tab from earlier out of his pocket and placed it in the palm of her hand. She cocked her head quizzically.
“I got S,” he told her, determinedly looking away.
Sakura giggled. “I thought you didn’t believe in these things?” she teased. Then she cleared her throat. “But really, Sasuke…”
“Really nothing,” he interrupted, looking back at her. “Sakura. I just want to help you. I want you to let me. And I would marry you if it helped you.”
“That’s going a little far.”
He would go to the ends of the earth for her, he really would, but he couldn’t tell her that.
“Pay me back when you’re rich,” he said with a nearly inaudible sigh.
Sakura slipped the coke can tab over her ring finger. It looked ridiculous. Sasuke stared at it, and she stared at him for a long while, the both of them silent.
“Deal,” she said.
And maybe one day, Sasuke hoped and Sakura thought, she would marry him, too.