Naruto - Sword & Shield, plunder (SasuSaku)
Sakura and Sasuke, creating a relationship after the wreckage of choices has settled.
Unofficially for 30_kisses, the first of several snapshots.
Sword & Shield - plunder
After Sasuke's return, nothing was ever really the same.
The legal proceeding alone took almost six months, and the slowness wasn't helped by the not-entirely subtle conversations Sakura and Naruto would have just a little too loudly in areas just a little too crowded until Kakashi finally stepped in and stopped them. It was another four months before he was permitted on a mission within the village boundaries again, another eight months before he was allowed on one outside the walls, and two more years before his and Naruto's demands to be allowed to take the chuunin exam again were acknowledged.
Most of the outright hostility wore off after the first year, because Sasuke kept himself in relative seclusion and only had contact with his team and those villagers who were unavoidable. By two years, he was still disliked and he still spoke to the majority of Konoha's inhabitants with a blank, detached look, but he and they were learning to tolerate each other.
But all that's not what this story is about.
Sasuke had been courting her for the last month. Sakura found the whole thing incredibly stogy and mildly ridiculous, but didn't say so; she figured that of all the traditions that drove Sasuke to act the way he did, at least this one was pretty harmless.
Plus, she was aware that he was doing it for another reason: he was giving Naruto his chance. She and Naruto had had to keep going on missions while waiting for Sasuke to be returned to them completely, partially because of orders and mostly because Naruto did need money for rent and food, and they'd developed a rapport that had taken some time to fully incorporate Sasuke into. Sasuke still wasn't entirely sure of her feelings.
It was stupid of him, and it was also pretty damn insulting if she thought about it too much--but they were Naruto and Sasuke, and she couldn't really expect much in the way of manners or thoughtfulness from them.
Sakura was grateful that this was the one fight Naruto seemed unwilling to take, though. She didn't want to hurt him, but the choice was hers to make too and she'd made it years and years ago.
So she put up with the extended courting, and made plans to meet Sasuke for dinner after she got off her shift at the hospital. The restaurant they went to the most wasn't that far from the hospital, and though it was a little pricier than others it was on a street that didn't have much traffic. Sakura supposed she must have treated either the owner or someone in her family in the past, because the woman almost always had a small booth at the back for them.
"I treated Kakashi-sensei today," Sakura said, when they were walking back to her house, taking the long route. The side of the street they were currently on was empty. "He had to come in for his eye again."
"That's . . . three times in two months?" Sasuke asked. Sakura took another bite of the dango she'd bought a block from the restaurant and nodded.
"That makes sense," Sasuke added, after surreptitiously checking their surroundings again. "He's getting near thirty-five."
"Huh?" Sakura replied, letting the hand holding the dango stick drop slightly.
"Forty is when the eyesight starts to go for sharingan users," he answered. "Since whoever sold that eye to him didn't give him a blood transfusion with it, it makes sense that it's starting earlier."
"Don't be an asshole," Sakura replied, frowning slightly.
"I'm not," Sasuke said. "Whoever he got that eye from either hated him or was an idiot."
It said something about how much they had changed that he wasn't taken aback by her rebuke, and that she hadn't hesitated even a moment before saying it.
Sakura pressed the point of the dango stick to her bottom lip, looking down the street. "Hm."
"Are there any scrolls on the aging symptoms?" she asked.
"I already looked," Sasuke answered, and the way he said it reminded Sakura that Kakashi had always been one of the few people Sasuke respected, even if the two of them no longer spoke to each other except when required to for missions. "Nothing I found seemed to be relevant."
"Ah," Sakura replied.
She finished the dango, licked away the extra syrup, and tucked the stick into her belt. Then she looked over.
Sasuke had slid his hands into his pockets, and his shoulders were slightly tense.
Since he was expecting the question, she asked it. "Could I look at them? Even a vague reference would be a start."
Sasuke slid his hands in a little deeper. He was still studying their surroundings.
When they'd turned down another quiet street, and were only three blocks from her house, he pulled his hands free. "Yeah."
"Thank you," she said.
After they'd taken a few more steps, Sakura reached out and slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. Sasuke was still for another two steps, and then tightened his fingers a little against her own.
I love you.
Unofficially for 30_kisses, the first of several snapshots.
Sword & Shield - plunder
After Sasuke's return, nothing was ever really the same.
The legal proceeding alone took almost six months, and the slowness wasn't helped by the not-entirely subtle conversations Sakura and Naruto would have just a little too loudly in areas just a little too crowded until Kakashi finally stepped in and stopped them. It was another four months before he was permitted on a mission within the village boundaries again, another eight months before he was allowed on one outside the walls, and two more years before his and Naruto's demands to be allowed to take the chuunin exam again were acknowledged.
Most of the outright hostility wore off after the first year, because Sasuke kept himself in relative seclusion and only had contact with his team and those villagers who were unavoidable. By two years, he was still disliked and he still spoke to the majority of Konoha's inhabitants with a blank, detached look, but he and they were learning to tolerate each other.
But all that's not what this story is about.
Sasuke had been courting her for the last month. Sakura found the whole thing incredibly stogy and mildly ridiculous, but didn't say so; she figured that of all the traditions that drove Sasuke to act the way he did, at least this one was pretty harmless.
Plus, she was aware that he was doing it for another reason: he was giving Naruto his chance. She and Naruto had had to keep going on missions while waiting for Sasuke to be returned to them completely, partially because of orders and mostly because Naruto did need money for rent and food, and they'd developed a rapport that had taken some time to fully incorporate Sasuke into. Sasuke still wasn't entirely sure of her feelings.
It was stupid of him, and it was also pretty damn insulting if she thought about it too much--but they were Naruto and Sasuke, and she couldn't really expect much in the way of manners or thoughtfulness from them.
Sakura was grateful that this was the one fight Naruto seemed unwilling to take, though. She didn't want to hurt him, but the choice was hers to make too and she'd made it years and years ago.
So she put up with the extended courting, and made plans to meet Sasuke for dinner after she got off her shift at the hospital. The restaurant they went to the most wasn't that far from the hospital, and though it was a little pricier than others it was on a street that didn't have much traffic. Sakura supposed she must have treated either the owner or someone in her family in the past, because the woman almost always had a small booth at the back for them.
"I treated Kakashi-sensei today," Sakura said, when they were walking back to her house, taking the long route. The side of the street they were currently on was empty. "He had to come in for his eye again."
"That's . . . three times in two months?" Sasuke asked. Sakura took another bite of the dango she'd bought a block from the restaurant and nodded.
"That makes sense," Sasuke added, after surreptitiously checking their surroundings again. "He's getting near thirty-five."
"Huh?" Sakura replied, letting the hand holding the dango stick drop slightly.
"Forty is when the eyesight starts to go for sharingan users," he answered. "Since whoever sold that eye to him didn't give him a blood transfusion with it, it makes sense that it's starting earlier."
"Don't be an asshole," Sakura replied, frowning slightly.
"I'm not," Sasuke said. "Whoever he got that eye from either hated him or was an idiot."
It said something about how much they had changed that he wasn't taken aback by her rebuke, and that she hadn't hesitated even a moment before saying it.
Sakura pressed the point of the dango stick to her bottom lip, looking down the street. "Hm."
"Are there any scrolls on the aging symptoms?" she asked.
"I already looked," Sasuke answered, and the way he said it reminded Sakura that Kakashi had always been one of the few people Sasuke respected, even if the two of them no longer spoke to each other except when required to for missions. "Nothing I found seemed to be relevant."
"Ah," Sakura replied.
She finished the dango, licked away the extra syrup, and tucked the stick into her belt. Then she looked over.
Sasuke had slid his hands into his pockets, and his shoulders were slightly tense.
Since he was expecting the question, she asked it. "Could I look at them? Even a vague reference would be a start."
Sasuke slid his hands in a little deeper. He was still studying their surroundings.
When they'd turned down another quiet street, and were only three blocks from her house, he pulled his hands free. "Yeah."
"Thank you," she said.
After they'd taken a few more steps, Sakura reached out and slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. Sasuke was still for another two steps, and then tightened his fingers a little against her own.
I love you.