His Mother's Kimono
Title: His Mother's Kimono
Theme #89: Kimono
Pairing: Sasuke/Sakura
Rating: PG - 13
Genre: Romance/General
Summary: Funny, not even once when Kakashi was three hours late did Sasuke ever comment. But the day Sakura showed up an hour late, he jumped all over her like Naruto and ramen, well sort of.
Author's Note: I had a great deal of fun working with this drabble. It started getting longer and longer, but thankfully it didn't turn out like "101 Questions" "Anything For You" or "You Have Us" which was would-be drabbles that turned out to be separated into at least six individual chapters. This is probably why I consider a decent vignette to be six pages or less. But I'm not complaining, although I do prefer one-shots, whenever I have no writer's block.
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The Uchiha Compound.
He hadn’t been here in so long.
It looked nearly the same as the day he last returned before being placed into the orphanage. Each house and store remained boarded up, the same wide crack in the large family seal on the wall remained, no signs of life existed. This once vibrant place filled with such a prestigious clan, was no more than a ghost town.
After nearly eight years since his clan’s massacre, Sasuke decided it was time to go through his family’s old items. It came as surprise to both Sakura and Naruto when he asked for them to accompany him, of course he practically struggled doing this, but they understood.
The hardest part, Sasuke discovered, wasn’t revisiting his old home itself, but dealing with pictures that portrayed the good times. Even as he looked at the carefree grin on his face, his mother’s gentle smile, and his father’s small frown, recalling all the laughter, and bittersweet innocence, he couldn’t help the low growl that rose in the back of his throat when his eyes drifted to Itachi.
What they said was true. One could never know someone no matter how close you believed you were. Because, in the end, there’d always be a secret side hidden just beneath the surface. A great darkness, Itachi let consume him wholeheartedly, and left his hands stained with so much blood and indifference. Had it all been a lie? Even then, behind those kind words, and brief little smiles, could he have been plotting their clan’s demise? And even though, he hated to admit it, there was still a small fragment of himself that wished this was all a horrible nightmare, that Itachi wasn't a cold blooded murderer, and any second now his mother would come home and say it was all a big sick joke. But he knew it was all real, too real in fact.
Sasuke scowled and tossed the picture into a nearby brown box in disgust. The conniving bastard.
Sasuke stood up and looked around the room with an impassive mask to replace the dejected feelings within him. He didn’t expect Naruto to be helping clean anymore because just looking at the blonde’s messy apartment told everyone he lacked the drive, or rather patience, that would keep him motivated. Although Naruto would offer his very life in exchange for his friends' safety, he had his limits too. And this task was as exciting as a D class mission. So knowing the energetic ninja, he was probably in the kitchen trying to make the world’s largest sandwich in place of ramen, which Sasuke refused to purchase for the recently penniless blonde.
Sasuke cringed as he heard the faint sound of a dish breaking that was followed by a low "oops", and made a mental note to give the clumsy idiot a few brain numbing punches.
Sakura, on the other hand, loved cleaning almost as much as cooking and having fun with her friends. She was the one that both her teammates could count on to help out with these tedious chores, and if for any moment it looked like she was getting most of the burden, she’d let them know with a glare and perhaps a painful punch to the jaw depending on the circumstances. So never in all his years in knowing her did he expect to see the medic dressed in the blue silkily kimono with the Uchiha fan embed on the back of the beautiful material.
Sasuke stood there a few feet away quite shocked and awestruck. He was not staring, for Sasuke didn’t stare. No, he…observed, and observed he did. She stood there by the open window, the bright midday sun coming through the dusty window creating an almost ethereal aura to the smiling medic.
"Hey Sasuke, isn’t this a female's kimono? Are you…hiding something?" Sakura teased, and then twirled around a few times with her arms extended and a bright smile on her face.
He merely grunted.
"It's the Uchiha family tradition that the mother makes the kimono for the woman her son will marry." Mikoto explained, and smiling proudly she lifted the blue kimono into the air in front of the open window. The sunlight beamed through making the dark silk material sparkle and shine, leaving them both in awe for a few seconds.
"So how does it look?" Mikoto questioned, tilting her head to the side with an inquisitive impression on her face.
"It's nice." Sasuke replied then frowned, recalling his recent hide-and-seek with his fan girls, and shuddered at the mere thought of marrying one of them. "Mother, isn't it too early for that?"
"Well, you never know these days." Mikoto teased, gently pinching his cheek and smiled as he complained.
Sasuke made a face. He planned on postponing marriage for as long as possible. It’s not that he believed in cooties or was scared of a bunch of lovesick, loudmouth fan girls. He was Fuguka’s son, after all, and such trivial things were meaningless. Furthermore, he liked his solitude, unless of course, he was talking to either his brother or mother.
Mikoto then lightly touched that cheek, her smile still warm. "When that day comes...You will let me meet her, won't you, Sasuke?"
He paused, glanced away and then nodded his head as he tried in vain not to blush further. "Y-yes. I promise."
"It was my mother's..." Sasuke hesitantly confessed, and she stilled, staring curiously at him then at the kimono, before taking a step towards him.
"Really? It's so pretty and--"
The sound of the soft blue material ripping, caught by her foot, brought an abrupt and chilling silence in the room destroying the brief connection they had once shared a few minutes ago. Sasuke stood there, his eyes widened as he watched her pull the kimono off with a mortified look in her eyes.
Sakura hesitantly moved back, and a clear split was shown about half a foot from the bottom of the kimono. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Get out." He retorted, and she paled at how low, and hostile his tone suddenly became. She could've sworn his eyes had flashed red for a split second.
"Sasu-"
"What part of "out" don't you understand?" He spoke as if trying to educate someone who'd been dropped on the head a few times too many.
"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered, dropping the material onto the nearby chair and quickly left leaving him alone once again to his thoughts and the tore kimono.
“Man, that was so go...Hey, where’s Sakura?” Naruto poked his head into the room a few seconds later and being completely clueless about the recent events, he was also at the receiving end of Sasuke’s anger, but suffered from a near concussion in the end.
II.
It was nearly ten in the morning the next day when the sun rose just over the tall trees of Konoha. The morning dew still lingered behind on the dark green grass, the smell of freshly blossomed spring flowers heightened and the residential birds chirped happily.
The bright warm sunrays kissed Sasuke's cheeks as he stood in the center of the bridge, resting his back on the railing while one foot tapped on the light brown boards. He had been here since nine thirty, awaiting Naruto and Sakura to arrive.
Since Kakashi was on some A class mission to locate Orochimaru and his secret base with a few other jounins. This, of course, left a few teams like his without anything entertaining to do especially since the hokage was spending some quality time in her office with a new foreign brand of sake. So Naruto, when they heard of this three days ago, suggested that they go out for ramen today like they would do after each training session. And in the end, after some persuading and threats to constantly annoy him into submission, he agreed to come.
Nearly an hour after he arrived, Sasuke was no longer alone. In fact, the dark-eyed prodigy had sensed her long before he heard the soft footsteps against the board.
"You're late." He opened his eyes lazily and peered at the panting medic, who swiftly brushed a few strands of pink hair from her face, then placed it behind her back.
Funny, not even once when Kakashi was three hours late did Sasuke ever comment. But the day Sakura showed up an hour late, he jumped all over her like Naruto and ramen, well sort of.
Cheeks flushed, the medic smiled almost sheepishly at the dark eyed teenager. "Were you worried?"
"Che." He glanced away with a light scoff.
Sakura didn't appeared affected by his response, but smiled gently at him and rocked her body back and forth using the balls of her feet, briefly wondering if he had forgotten about yesterday so quickly. "But yeah, I had to do something. I'm surprised you're here. You usually don't come on your own if training's not involved without Naruto dragging you."
"He doesn't drag me.” Sasuke scowled at her, and then glanced up at the light blue sky and small white clouds with a small frown on his lips. “Besides, there's nothing left to do since the training grounds are all occupied by the new genin classes and I'm still on restrictions for the next few months so I can't go anywhere else to get some decent sparring."
Thus, he had little opitions left. He could lay in bed watching reruns and a bowl of rice balls, walk aimlessly through the village with the high chance of getting chased by his remaining fan girls and perhaps glared at by others or going to ramen and finding some form of entertainment with his teammates.
Since he didn't like laying around being "lazy" because according to Naruto he didn't know the meaning of a "vacation," and being chased by lovestruck teenage girls then being glared at by adults was quite unpleasant, even though he could scare them off with a glare. So ramen sounded really good to him.
Again the pink haired medic smiled. "Oh that's right."
Observant as always, Sasuke took in her appearance. She looked almost exhausted despite her cheerful smile, faint purple rings colored underneath her eyes, and her hands were behind her back and had yet to move since she at times talked with them. He knew she hadn't worked a double last night, otherwise she would have been getting a piggy back ride from Naruto. No, it was something else entirely. Sakura seemed almost nervous when she noticed him looking. Even though she wasn't 'fan girling' him, she didn't keep her hands behind her nor did she suddenly become silent.
"What are you doing?"
Sakura pointed at her nose curiously, "Me? I'm just standing here. It's really nice out, don't you think?"
Sasuke frowned. She knew he hated it when people tried to underestimate him. He hated it almost as much as he hated small talk. "Let me see your hand."
After declining and brushing off his demand, Sakura found him now in front of her, tugging her right hand forward. It was no use fighting him because he was so damn persistent. So the medic stood there as his eyes inspected the small scratches, and bandages on her fingers. She then saw his eyes narrow further at one particular finger that had a faint red line close to the palm. Then suddenly he pulled away, and she watched once more in silence as he located a Band-Aid from his back pocket and placed it almost roughly into her hand.
"S-Sasuke..."
He looked away, almost appearing as if he were going to leave, but stayed. "You're so careless."
"I don't need...This really isn't...I can heal..."
Sasuke glanced back at her, annoyance clear by the small scowl on his face and his exasperated tone. "Just take it."
Sakura blinked, then smiled shyly at him, her cheeks were slightly flushed from embarrassment and gratitude. "Thank you."
"It's no big deal." Sasuke eyed her wondering why she was acting this way.
For the past couple of months since Sasuke had failed to reach Sound before a "rescue" team was sent after him, Sakura had changed. She didn't hang on his every word, she didn't seem to care when she annoyed him, nor did she look for his acceptance or admiration. She didn’t bicker with Ino about him, but ignored her antics until the blonde girl simply gave up; she didn’t ask him out on dates nor tried to strike up a conversation when he preferred his solitude.
No, Sakura had indeed changed. She had become independent and a bit stronger now that Tsunade had taken the girl under her wings. But she was still annoying, annoying as hell, but in a whole different way. Maybe because Sakura had changed, and it had been almost so sudden that it had thrown him off balance especially seeing how close she and Naruto had become. So seeing her this way did bother him, because one couldn’t take the talker out of Sakura, but he didn't comment. Perhaps, he presumed, her wounds had been from late night training. After all, it seemed she enjoyed solo training sessions a bit more recently.
"Still," Sakura paused, and glanced around nervously much to his confusion, and then she pulled her bag off her shoulders, and pulled out a large plastic bag with a butterfly on the center.
He frowned. "I don't-"
"Please....I wanted to apologize about the other day. I wasn't thinking and...Well, here." The pink haired medic handed it to him hesitantly, and peered at him almost nervously as she watched him open the bag, surprisingly not declining the gesture. But then again, it was never too late in his book.
"This is..."
Sakura fought the urge to twiddle her thumbs nervously as he inspected the mended kimono, and instead her cheeks were bright red while silently hoping he would accept her apology. "I know it's kind of a butchered job and it's not the greatest, but I worked really hard on it. I'll understand if you never forgive me but..."
"I had to do something important."
Sasuke closed his eyes, and let out a small sigh. "It's fine."
"And that," Sakura froze, and stared up at him with wide green eyes, and Sasuke seemed annoyed for a second that she appeared so shock as if he were a cold-hearted monster. "R-Really? You're not just saying that?"
"I don't say things I don't mean. It's a waste." He inwardly frowned, silently wishing she hadn't given him the kimono in such a girly bag, but he wouldn't voice that out loud. Instead, he was grateful for the gesture. And he now knew were those small nick had come from.
"Sasuke..." Sakura hesitated, almost inwardly dreading the next words, and he sort of knew why. Even so, she offered him a smile to accompany the following words, "I...thank you...for not hating me."
I see. She must've been fixing it all night.
This meant Sakura had snuck into his apartment in the middle of the night without him knowing. Funny, the once annoying girl who excelled only at charka control and did little to nothing, had successfully succeeded in that aspect. It was...impressive...and slightly irritating that he hadn't noticed.
"I'm so hungry." Sakura moaned underneath her breath and began walking a few feet away from him and down the bridge. Now that the weight of guilt was off her shoulders she felt like eating a horse, but was willing to settle for ramen.
"I had to do something important."
"I know it's kind of a butchered job and it's not the greatest, but I worked really hard on it. I'll understand if you never forgive me but..."
"It's the Uchiha family tradition that the mother makes the kimono for the woman her son will marry."
Sasuke stood there in silence as their faces faded, and then found himself staring at the medic pacing form, watching her with those unreadable eyes of his while the girly shopping bag swung slightly in his hands with each occasional light breeze.
"Sakura..."
"Its half past eleven already. Where is that Naruto - huh?" Sakura turned back around to look at him just as a gust of wind blew past them, muffling his words, and blowing the soft forelocks of their hair gently against their faces and over their eyes.
"When the day comes, you're welcome to wear it."
When the wind died down, she brushed a few strands of hair from her inquisitive green eyes, and tilted her head inquisitively in his direction. "What did you say, Sasuke?"
"I said let's get going. I don't need Naruto hunting us down again." He turned away from the baffled medic, seemingly more annoyed than usual in her opinion.
Just then a blur of yellow and orange came hurtling towards them ranting about the increase in ramen pricing and wanting to know why the hell they were just standing there. Neither of his teammates commented, and although they protested at the start, Naruto dragged them both towards his favorite ramen stand to grab the final discount prices.
“Quit pulling, you idiot.” Sasuke glowered at the determined blonde ninja.
“Like Hell! You two are so slow!” Naruto retorted, and began to move faster when they passed the large clock in the middle of the village.
"I said let’s get going."
Sakura simply didn't believe Sasuke. It wasn’t just wishful thinking, but logical. She knew him long enough to know something was wrong. But why would he lie?
Stupid wind! She growled inwardly. I really wanted to know what Sasuke said.
When the three chuunin finally arrived, Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped as they looked at the bustling Ichiraku’s ramen stand that seemed to put big blowout shopping sales to shame.
Naruto squeezed through the crowd, yelling threats, and shoving poor bystanders aside. It was like watching Sakura and Ino a few weeks ago going after the final pair of new shoes alongside several hundred women.
Neither Sasuke or Sakura even bothered to fight the throng of people, and stayed a safe distance behind with raised eyebrows and a sweat-drop rolling down the side of their faces. Discreetly, the medic glanced at the silent prodigy as the battle field became more tamed and when he glanced at her briefly with those dark intense eyes of his, she found herself blushing. He seemed displeasured with that deep frown on his face, and eventually looked away.
After a few more minutes the crowd died down and the three teammates were able to enjoy a quiet meal.
Sasuke sat between the two of them, which was not nearly as rare nowadays. On his left Naruto happily ordered for all of them, and made sure to use up his last discount ramen points for being such a great customer over the years.
While awaiting their orders, Naruto moaned about the loss of cheap ramen, Sasuke just sat there silently with his chin resting gently above his folded fingers, and Sakura found herself once again replaying the whole incident from before in her head.
From a young age Sakura had always liked puzzles, the rush in putting all the pieces together especially after an "ah ha" moment matched the thrill Sasuke and Naruto got during missions. So, it was no wonder the wheels in her brain wasn’t slowing down because Sasuke Uchiha was the most complex puzzle yet. Especially since there was no cover box or hints to cheat with.
"I said let's get going."
That very well could've been true, but still, the way Sasuke said it, how he had been looking at her then, the words simply didn't match up. It wasn’t wishful thinking. But whatever it was, she knew earlier he had been lying.
Sasuke snapped his chopsticks apart, and glared slightly at the Sakura whose staring was making him slightly uncomfortable. He felt like a human cell being inspected underneath a microscope with a giant green eye peering curiously at it. "Stop staring at me. It's annoying."
Sakura turned around, and lifted some ramen towards her mouth. "I wasn't staring at you."
Naruto slurped up another mouthful of ramen and swallowed, or rather inhaled, it quickly then laughed. "Neh, Sasuke you're such a conceited bastard. Why would Sakura do that? She was obviously staring at me. I am the best looking guy around, ya know."
Sasuke scoffed. And the knucklehead called him a conceited bastard. Sadly, there were tons of, loud lovesick obsessive boy crazed maniac women between ages ten to nineteen that would beg to differ.
"And you're a moron." Sasuke retorted, and ignored Naruto’s grunt. "Who'd stare at a guy who’s got a noodle coming out of his mouth and resembles a pig right out of a muddy farm."
"Hey, what was that?" Was the bastard saying he stinks?
"You heard me."
"What's with you guys?" Sakura sighed, drawing their attention for the moment and prolonging the fight. "Can't we go one meal without you two bickering like an old married couple?"
"M-Married...." Naruto choked.
"C-Couple...?" Sasuke paled.
The disturbed and rather horrified blonde ninja jumped up and then practically latched himself onto the medic. "No, Sakura, take that back! I wouldn't want to marry him! I'd rather marry Kakashi-sensei or Old Lady Tsunade than him!"
"Get off of me, Naruto! Ow! Stupid, I can't breathe!" Sakura tried shoving him off, but he continued to rant and rave about the horrible comment she recently made.
"Che." Sasuke scoffed, making both his teammates stop yelling and blinked curiously in his direction. "Don't worry. I wouldn't touch you with a ninety foot pole."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto now stood nose-to-nose with the glaring prodigy.
"Exactly as it sounds, idiot."
And in the end, Sasuke and Naruto began arguing once more, but this time Sakura decided not to intervene unless they started throwing punches. Even after ten minutes of tossing insults around, they still hadn't quit, and she was practicing a thing called "patience" or in other words, using the low slurping of ramen as a distraction. After, she set her chopsticks on the empty bowl, and at this time her teammates seemed to have run out of any good comes back and just decided to eat while glaring at one another.
Looking at her bandaged finger, and recalling both that incident and acceptance as the hokage's new apprentice, she smiled to herself and set down some ryo for her ramen. Someday, she'd beat the truth out of him. But until then, she would stick to her fantasies just for a bit longer.
The End.
Theme #89: Kimono
Pairing: Sasuke/Sakura
Rating: PG - 13
Genre: Romance/General
Summary: Funny, not even once when Kakashi was three hours late did Sasuke ever comment. But the day Sakura showed up an hour late, he jumped all over her like Naruto and ramen, well sort of.
Author's Note: I had a great deal of fun working with this drabble. It started getting longer and longer, but thankfully it didn't turn out like "101 Questions" "Anything For You" or "You Have Us" which was would-be drabbles that turned out to be separated into at least six individual chapters. This is probably why I consider a decent vignette to be six pages or less. But I'm not complaining, although I do prefer one-shots, whenever I have no writer's block.
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The Uchiha Compound.
He hadn’t been here in so long.
It looked nearly the same as the day he last returned before being placed into the orphanage. Each house and store remained boarded up, the same wide crack in the large family seal on the wall remained, no signs of life existed. This once vibrant place filled with such a prestigious clan, was no more than a ghost town.
After nearly eight years since his clan’s massacre, Sasuke decided it was time to go through his family’s old items. It came as surprise to both Sakura and Naruto when he asked for them to accompany him, of course he practically struggled doing this, but they understood.
The hardest part, Sasuke discovered, wasn’t revisiting his old home itself, but dealing with pictures that portrayed the good times. Even as he looked at the carefree grin on his face, his mother’s gentle smile, and his father’s small frown, recalling all the laughter, and bittersweet innocence, he couldn’t help the low growl that rose in the back of his throat when his eyes drifted to Itachi.
What they said was true. One could never know someone no matter how close you believed you were. Because, in the end, there’d always be a secret side hidden just beneath the surface. A great darkness, Itachi let consume him wholeheartedly, and left his hands stained with so much blood and indifference. Had it all been a lie? Even then, behind those kind words, and brief little smiles, could he have been plotting their clan’s demise? And even though, he hated to admit it, there was still a small fragment of himself that wished this was all a horrible nightmare, that Itachi wasn't a cold blooded murderer, and any second now his mother would come home and say it was all a big sick joke. But he knew it was all real, too real in fact.
Sasuke scowled and tossed the picture into a nearby brown box in disgust. The conniving bastard.
Sasuke stood up and looked around the room with an impassive mask to replace the dejected feelings within him. He didn’t expect Naruto to be helping clean anymore because just looking at the blonde’s messy apartment told everyone he lacked the drive, or rather patience, that would keep him motivated. Although Naruto would offer his very life in exchange for his friends' safety, he had his limits too. And this task was as exciting as a D class mission. So knowing the energetic ninja, he was probably in the kitchen trying to make the world’s largest sandwich in place of ramen, which Sasuke refused to purchase for the recently penniless blonde.
Sasuke cringed as he heard the faint sound of a dish breaking that was followed by a low "oops", and made a mental note to give the clumsy idiot a few brain numbing punches.
Sakura, on the other hand, loved cleaning almost as much as cooking and having fun with her friends. She was the one that both her teammates could count on to help out with these tedious chores, and if for any moment it looked like she was getting most of the burden, she’d let them know with a glare and perhaps a painful punch to the jaw depending on the circumstances. So never in all his years in knowing her did he expect to see the medic dressed in the blue silkily kimono with the Uchiha fan embed on the back of the beautiful material.
Sasuke stood there a few feet away quite shocked and awestruck. He was not staring, for Sasuke didn’t stare. No, he…observed, and observed he did. She stood there by the open window, the bright midday sun coming through the dusty window creating an almost ethereal aura to the smiling medic.
"Hey Sasuke, isn’t this a female's kimono? Are you…hiding something?" Sakura teased, and then twirled around a few times with her arms extended and a bright smile on her face.
He merely grunted.
"It's the Uchiha family tradition that the mother makes the kimono for the woman her son will marry." Mikoto explained, and smiling proudly she lifted the blue kimono into the air in front of the open window. The sunlight beamed through making the dark silk material sparkle and shine, leaving them both in awe for a few seconds.
"So how does it look?" Mikoto questioned, tilting her head to the side with an inquisitive impression on her face.
"It's nice." Sasuke replied then frowned, recalling his recent hide-and-seek with his fan girls, and shuddered at the mere thought of marrying one of them. "Mother, isn't it too early for that?"
"Well, you never know these days." Mikoto teased, gently pinching his cheek and smiled as he complained.
Sasuke made a face. He planned on postponing marriage for as long as possible. It’s not that he believed in cooties or was scared of a bunch of lovesick, loudmouth fan girls. He was Fuguka’s son, after all, and such trivial things were meaningless. Furthermore, he liked his solitude, unless of course, he was talking to either his brother or mother.
Mikoto then lightly touched that cheek, her smile still warm. "When that day comes...You will let me meet her, won't you, Sasuke?"
He paused, glanced away and then nodded his head as he tried in vain not to blush further. "Y-yes. I promise."
"It was my mother's..." Sasuke hesitantly confessed, and she stilled, staring curiously at him then at the kimono, before taking a step towards him.
"Really? It's so pretty and--"
The sound of the soft blue material ripping, caught by her foot, brought an abrupt and chilling silence in the room destroying the brief connection they had once shared a few minutes ago. Sasuke stood there, his eyes widened as he watched her pull the kimono off with a mortified look in her eyes.
Sakura hesitantly moved back, and a clear split was shown about half a foot from the bottom of the kimono. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Get out." He retorted, and she paled at how low, and hostile his tone suddenly became. She could've sworn his eyes had flashed red for a split second.
"Sasu-"
"What part of "out" don't you understand?" He spoke as if trying to educate someone who'd been dropped on the head a few times too many.
"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered, dropping the material onto the nearby chair and quickly left leaving him alone once again to his thoughts and the tore kimono.
“Man, that was so go...Hey, where’s Sakura?” Naruto poked his head into the room a few seconds later and being completely clueless about the recent events, he was also at the receiving end of Sasuke’s anger, but suffered from a near concussion in the end.
II.
It was nearly ten in the morning the next day when the sun rose just over the tall trees of Konoha. The morning dew still lingered behind on the dark green grass, the smell of freshly blossomed spring flowers heightened and the residential birds chirped happily.
The bright warm sunrays kissed Sasuke's cheeks as he stood in the center of the bridge, resting his back on the railing while one foot tapped on the light brown boards. He had been here since nine thirty, awaiting Naruto and Sakura to arrive.
Since Kakashi was on some A class mission to locate Orochimaru and his secret base with a few other jounins. This, of course, left a few teams like his without anything entertaining to do especially since the hokage was spending some quality time in her office with a new foreign brand of sake. So Naruto, when they heard of this three days ago, suggested that they go out for ramen today like they would do after each training session. And in the end, after some persuading and threats to constantly annoy him into submission, he agreed to come.
Nearly an hour after he arrived, Sasuke was no longer alone. In fact, the dark-eyed prodigy had sensed her long before he heard the soft footsteps against the board.
"You're late." He opened his eyes lazily and peered at the panting medic, who swiftly brushed a few strands of pink hair from her face, then placed it behind her back.
Funny, not even once when Kakashi was three hours late did Sasuke ever comment. But the day Sakura showed up an hour late, he jumped all over her like Naruto and ramen, well sort of.
Cheeks flushed, the medic smiled almost sheepishly at the dark eyed teenager. "Were you worried?"
"Che." He glanced away with a light scoff.
Sakura didn't appeared affected by his response, but smiled gently at him and rocked her body back and forth using the balls of her feet, briefly wondering if he had forgotten about yesterday so quickly. "But yeah, I had to do something. I'm surprised you're here. You usually don't come on your own if training's not involved without Naruto dragging you."
"He doesn't drag me.” Sasuke scowled at her, and then glanced up at the light blue sky and small white clouds with a small frown on his lips. “Besides, there's nothing left to do since the training grounds are all occupied by the new genin classes and I'm still on restrictions for the next few months so I can't go anywhere else to get some decent sparring."
Thus, he had little opitions left. He could lay in bed watching reruns and a bowl of rice balls, walk aimlessly through the village with the high chance of getting chased by his remaining fan girls and perhaps glared at by others or going to ramen and finding some form of entertainment with his teammates.
Since he didn't like laying around being "lazy" because according to Naruto he didn't know the meaning of a "vacation," and being chased by lovestruck teenage girls then being glared at by adults was quite unpleasant, even though he could scare them off with a glare. So ramen sounded really good to him.
Again the pink haired medic smiled. "Oh that's right."
Observant as always, Sasuke took in her appearance. She looked almost exhausted despite her cheerful smile, faint purple rings colored underneath her eyes, and her hands were behind her back and had yet to move since she at times talked with them. He knew she hadn't worked a double last night, otherwise she would have been getting a piggy back ride from Naruto. No, it was something else entirely. Sakura seemed almost nervous when she noticed him looking. Even though she wasn't 'fan girling' him, she didn't keep her hands behind her nor did she suddenly become silent.
"What are you doing?"
Sakura pointed at her nose curiously, "Me? I'm just standing here. It's really nice out, don't you think?"
Sasuke frowned. She knew he hated it when people tried to underestimate him. He hated it almost as much as he hated small talk. "Let me see your hand."
After declining and brushing off his demand, Sakura found him now in front of her, tugging her right hand forward. It was no use fighting him because he was so damn persistent. So the medic stood there as his eyes inspected the small scratches, and bandages on her fingers. She then saw his eyes narrow further at one particular finger that had a faint red line close to the palm. Then suddenly he pulled away, and she watched once more in silence as he located a Band-Aid from his back pocket and placed it almost roughly into her hand.
"S-Sasuke..."
He looked away, almost appearing as if he were going to leave, but stayed. "You're so careless."
"I don't need...This really isn't...I can heal..."
Sasuke glanced back at her, annoyance clear by the small scowl on his face and his exasperated tone. "Just take it."
Sakura blinked, then smiled shyly at him, her cheeks were slightly flushed from embarrassment and gratitude. "Thank you."
"It's no big deal." Sasuke eyed her wondering why she was acting this way.
For the past couple of months since Sasuke had failed to reach Sound before a "rescue" team was sent after him, Sakura had changed. She didn't hang on his every word, she didn't seem to care when she annoyed him, nor did she look for his acceptance or admiration. She didn’t bicker with Ino about him, but ignored her antics until the blonde girl simply gave up; she didn’t ask him out on dates nor tried to strike up a conversation when he preferred his solitude.
No, Sakura had indeed changed. She had become independent and a bit stronger now that Tsunade had taken the girl under her wings. But she was still annoying, annoying as hell, but in a whole different way. Maybe because Sakura had changed, and it had been almost so sudden that it had thrown him off balance especially seeing how close she and Naruto had become. So seeing her this way did bother him, because one couldn’t take the talker out of Sakura, but he didn't comment. Perhaps, he presumed, her wounds had been from late night training. After all, it seemed she enjoyed solo training sessions a bit more recently.
"Still," Sakura paused, and glanced around nervously much to his confusion, and then she pulled her bag off her shoulders, and pulled out a large plastic bag with a butterfly on the center.
He frowned. "I don't-"
"Please....I wanted to apologize about the other day. I wasn't thinking and...Well, here." The pink haired medic handed it to him hesitantly, and peered at him almost nervously as she watched him open the bag, surprisingly not declining the gesture. But then again, it was never too late in his book.
"This is..."
Sakura fought the urge to twiddle her thumbs nervously as he inspected the mended kimono, and instead her cheeks were bright red while silently hoping he would accept her apology. "I know it's kind of a butchered job and it's not the greatest, but I worked really hard on it. I'll understand if you never forgive me but..."
"I had to do something important."
Sasuke closed his eyes, and let out a small sigh. "It's fine."
"And that," Sakura froze, and stared up at him with wide green eyes, and Sasuke seemed annoyed for a second that she appeared so shock as if he were a cold-hearted monster. "R-Really? You're not just saying that?"
"I don't say things I don't mean. It's a waste." He inwardly frowned, silently wishing she hadn't given him the kimono in such a girly bag, but he wouldn't voice that out loud. Instead, he was grateful for the gesture. And he now knew were those small nick had come from.
"Sasuke..." Sakura hesitated, almost inwardly dreading the next words, and he sort of knew why. Even so, she offered him a smile to accompany the following words, "I...thank you...for not hating me."
I see. She must've been fixing it all night.
This meant Sakura had snuck into his apartment in the middle of the night without him knowing. Funny, the once annoying girl who excelled only at charka control and did little to nothing, had successfully succeeded in that aspect. It was...impressive...and slightly irritating that he hadn't noticed.
"I'm so hungry." Sakura moaned underneath her breath and began walking a few feet away from him and down the bridge. Now that the weight of guilt was off her shoulders she felt like eating a horse, but was willing to settle for ramen.
"I had to do something important."
"I know it's kind of a butchered job and it's not the greatest, but I worked really hard on it. I'll understand if you never forgive me but..."
"It's the Uchiha family tradition that the mother makes the kimono for the woman her son will marry."
Sasuke stood there in silence as their faces faded, and then found himself staring at the medic pacing form, watching her with those unreadable eyes of his while the girly shopping bag swung slightly in his hands with each occasional light breeze.
"Sakura..."
"Its half past eleven already. Where is that Naruto - huh?" Sakura turned back around to look at him just as a gust of wind blew past them, muffling his words, and blowing the soft forelocks of their hair gently against their faces and over their eyes.
"When the day comes, you're welcome to wear it."
When the wind died down, she brushed a few strands of hair from her inquisitive green eyes, and tilted her head inquisitively in his direction. "What did you say, Sasuke?"
"I said let's get going. I don't need Naruto hunting us down again." He turned away from the baffled medic, seemingly more annoyed than usual in her opinion.
Just then a blur of yellow and orange came hurtling towards them ranting about the increase in ramen pricing and wanting to know why the hell they were just standing there. Neither of his teammates commented, and although they protested at the start, Naruto dragged them both towards his favorite ramen stand to grab the final discount prices.
“Quit pulling, you idiot.” Sasuke glowered at the determined blonde ninja.
“Like Hell! You two are so slow!” Naruto retorted, and began to move faster when they passed the large clock in the middle of the village.
"I said let’s get going."
Sakura simply didn't believe Sasuke. It wasn’t just wishful thinking, but logical. She knew him long enough to know something was wrong. But why would he lie?
Stupid wind! She growled inwardly. I really wanted to know what Sasuke said.
When the three chuunin finally arrived, Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped as they looked at the bustling Ichiraku’s ramen stand that seemed to put big blowout shopping sales to shame.
Naruto squeezed through the crowd, yelling threats, and shoving poor bystanders aside. It was like watching Sakura and Ino a few weeks ago going after the final pair of new shoes alongside several hundred women.
Neither Sasuke or Sakura even bothered to fight the throng of people, and stayed a safe distance behind with raised eyebrows and a sweat-drop rolling down the side of their faces. Discreetly, the medic glanced at the silent prodigy as the battle field became more tamed and when he glanced at her briefly with those dark intense eyes of his, she found herself blushing. He seemed displeasured with that deep frown on his face, and eventually looked away.
After a few more minutes the crowd died down and the three teammates were able to enjoy a quiet meal.
Sasuke sat between the two of them, which was not nearly as rare nowadays. On his left Naruto happily ordered for all of them, and made sure to use up his last discount ramen points for being such a great customer over the years.
While awaiting their orders, Naruto moaned about the loss of cheap ramen, Sasuke just sat there silently with his chin resting gently above his folded fingers, and Sakura found herself once again replaying the whole incident from before in her head.
From a young age Sakura had always liked puzzles, the rush in putting all the pieces together especially after an "ah ha" moment matched the thrill Sasuke and Naruto got during missions. So, it was no wonder the wheels in her brain wasn’t slowing down because Sasuke Uchiha was the most complex puzzle yet. Especially since there was no cover box or hints to cheat with.
"I said let's get going."
That very well could've been true, but still, the way Sasuke said it, how he had been looking at her then, the words simply didn't match up. It wasn’t wishful thinking. But whatever it was, she knew earlier he had been lying.
Sasuke snapped his chopsticks apart, and glared slightly at the Sakura whose staring was making him slightly uncomfortable. He felt like a human cell being inspected underneath a microscope with a giant green eye peering curiously at it. "Stop staring at me. It's annoying."
Sakura turned around, and lifted some ramen towards her mouth. "I wasn't staring at you."
Naruto slurped up another mouthful of ramen and swallowed, or rather inhaled, it quickly then laughed. "Neh, Sasuke you're such a conceited bastard. Why would Sakura do that? She was obviously staring at me. I am the best looking guy around, ya know."
Sasuke scoffed. And the knucklehead called him a conceited bastard. Sadly, there were tons of, loud lovesick obsessive boy crazed maniac women between ages ten to nineteen that would beg to differ.
"And you're a moron." Sasuke retorted, and ignored Naruto’s grunt. "Who'd stare at a guy who’s got a noodle coming out of his mouth and resembles a pig right out of a muddy farm."
"Hey, what was that?" Was the bastard saying he stinks?
"You heard me."
"What's with you guys?" Sakura sighed, drawing their attention for the moment and prolonging the fight. "Can't we go one meal without you two bickering like an old married couple?"
"M-Married...." Naruto choked.
"C-Couple...?" Sasuke paled.
The disturbed and rather horrified blonde ninja jumped up and then practically latched himself onto the medic. "No, Sakura, take that back! I wouldn't want to marry him! I'd rather marry Kakashi-sensei or Old Lady Tsunade than him!"
"Get off of me, Naruto! Ow! Stupid, I can't breathe!" Sakura tried shoving him off, but he continued to rant and rave about the horrible comment she recently made.
"Che." Sasuke scoffed, making both his teammates stop yelling and blinked curiously in his direction. "Don't worry. I wouldn't touch you with a ninety foot pole."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto now stood nose-to-nose with the glaring prodigy.
"Exactly as it sounds, idiot."
And in the end, Sasuke and Naruto began arguing once more, but this time Sakura decided not to intervene unless they started throwing punches. Even after ten minutes of tossing insults around, they still hadn't quit, and she was practicing a thing called "patience" or in other words, using the low slurping of ramen as a distraction. After, she set her chopsticks on the empty bowl, and at this time her teammates seemed to have run out of any good comes back and just decided to eat while glaring at one another.
Looking at her bandaged finger, and recalling both that incident and acceptance as the hokage's new apprentice, she smiled to herself and set down some ryo for her ramen. Someday, she'd beat the truth out of him. But until then, she would stick to her fantasies just for a bit longer.
The End.