awkward as a wound on my bones.
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Uchiha Itachi & Haruno Sakura
Prompt: 016. absurd & 41. rivals & 473. hidden tales
Word Count: 3710
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Notes: Non-massacre AU. Part of a mini-series. Sequels/Prequels can be found here at CHIAROSCURO. Written for lover100 & 50_shinobi & 500themes.
-
“Ramen!”
“Are you stupid? There’s exotic food from all over the world here.”
Naruto scoffed, undeterred. “Ramen is exotic!”
“Absolutely not,” Sasuke finalized. Naruto saw from the annoyed and determined shine in Sasuke’s eyes that there was no swaying him. Sighing, he relented. Sasuke arched a brow at his appeasing behaviour - it was most unlike him, most unexpected-
“Say, Sakura-chan. You want ramen, don’t you?” Naruto said coyly to their remaining teammate suddenly.
Sakura blinked, startled awake from her daze by the sound of her name. From the expectant look on Naruto’s innocent face and the look of absolute death plastered on Sasuke’s, she knew that the role of mediator had once more fallen on her. For god’s sake, she thought. Her forgiving mood allowed her to offer the two a sweet smile and an even sweeter compromise. “How about we get a little bit of everything that looks edible? I’m starved.”
For a moment, both men actually looked appeased as they considered the proposition. But too soon Naruto’s baby face emerged as he readied himself to whine, and Sasuke’s pride-induced dissatisfaction took over.
“But Sakura-chaaaan,” Naruto drawled, “That’s so unsatisfying! We should eat enough ramen so that we don’t even want to think about other food!”
“We eat ramen every day. Absolutely no ramen today.”
The two sentences were sputtered simultaneously, with enough force to overpower each other. Unsurprisingly, it was also enough to shatter Sakura’s complacency, and, with her smile frozen, she counted to ten. When ten digits had slowly rolled by, she mustered up the brightest smile she could for her two boys. Then, she pulled them both close to her, with enough force to elicit a slight yelp from Naruto and look of discomfort from Sasuke.
“I think I’m in the mood for some dango,” she hissed into their ears, her saccharine tone threateningly sweet. “You guys are okay with that, right?”
Naruto nodded eagerly and Sasuke simply looked away - Sakura was, for a lack of a better description, downright scary sometimes. Interrogation, they could handle. S-classed criminals, they could deal with. Sakura in a rage? Not so much.
“Is Forehead bullying you two into submission again?” Ino emerged from the crowd suddenly, breaking up their tense party. Sasuke, seizing the opportunity, detached himself as inconspicuously as possible from Sakura’s death grip. Naruto nearly nodded his agreement to Ino’s offhand comment, but stopped short when he saw the murderous glare Sakura currently sported. A nervous laugh escaped the eighteen year old, newly appointed jounin as he hastily disagreed.
Ino laughed heartily at the scene playing out before her, her laugh a charming little jingle. “A rhetorical question, dear. The answer’s obvious to everyone, anways,” she said, an unmistakable twinkle in her cerulean orbs.
In one smooth motion, she latched herself onto Sakura’s now-free left arm. “If you’ll excuse us, boys, I need to borrow Forehead for a bit.”
Before any member of Team Seven could properly comment on Ino’s statement, Sakura had already been whisked away, with Ino ploughing magically through the thick crowd. Sakura only managed to spit out a hasty “bye!” before she was out of earshot. Ino’s quick pace didn’t stop until they reached the other side of the festival, and even then, she only slowed to a brisk walk.
“Jeez,” Ino sighed. “I thought Sasuke and Naruto were going to have panic attacks when I said I’d be taking you.”
Sakura let out a small laugh. “They can be awfully dramatic at times.”
Ino shrugged. “Look who they hang around all day.”
Sakura whacked her none too gently across the arm, feigning agitation. “And look who I learned from,” she retorted. “Anyways, what do you actually need? I thought you were hanging out with Shika tonight.”
“That’s actually exactly why I pulled you away. I need a little bit of help, to be honest.”
“The great Ino needs my help?” Sakura gasped, feigning astonishment. “Is the apocalypse coming?”
“Oh shut up, Forehead,” Ino replied playfully. Then, she became serious, with a rather morose expression clouding her pretty face.
“Why aren’t you with Shika? Is it hurt? Did his mission go awry? What ha-”
“Relax, relax,” Ino soothed, dropping down onto the park bench. “He’s fine. He’s here at the festival tonight, with his team.”
Sakura raised a curious brow. “His ANBU team? I thought those formations were confidential.”
Ino nodded impatiently. “But this is Shika we’re talking about. If Naruto or Sasuke were put on teams with random people, you’d do everything you could to find out who they were too.”
Sakura nodded, absentmindedly acquiescing.
“Well, he’s been very busy after his entrance into the ANBU,” Ino turned her head away, her gaze softening at something on the horizon. “I want to steal him away from his team tonight.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Sakura asked, baffled. “You’re the most outspoken person in Konoha. Just go grab him away like you dragged me.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ino heaved another sigh, turning back to lock eyes with Sakura. “His team...his teammates, well one of them...intimidates me a bit. Help me distract them while I steal Shika away?”
“He intimidates you?” Sakura asked, incredulous. “And you want me to distract him?”
Ino bit her lips, “Yes.”
Maybe it was her positively cunning acting skills, or the look of true desperation on her face, but Sakura would never really know which prompted her to agree to Ino’s insane demand. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Sakura straightened herself up on the bench. “Alright. Lead the way, but you so owe me big time, Pig.”
Ino let out an exuberant squeal at Sakura’s compliance, and wasted no time in dragging Sakura back towards the bustling crowd lest the girl change her mind. How Ino managed to pick Shikamaru out from the crowd, Sakura had no clue. She could see no more than blurbs of people each blurring into the next. But Ino had a sense for these things, as not two minutes passed before she came to a screeching halt, with Sakura nearly barrelling her over.
“There!” Ino hissed, discreetly pointing out a group of men a little ways to their left. Sakura followed Ino’s finger out of her peripheral, spotting Shikamaru quickly enough. She reeled inwardly with mild surprise - she rarely saw Shikamaru out of his jounin garb, so the charcoal yukata he donned was quite a change. Genma was also there, and-
Sakura froze. Standing as regally as ever, in a traditional yukata not unlike the one she had picked out for Sasuke earlier, was Itachi. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what she was seeing. Shikamaru and Itachi were on the same team? What the hell?
“Right, so,” Ino continued, unaware of her friend’s newfound distress. “You see who I’m talking about, Right? Uchiha Itachi. But it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you, right? I mean, you know him and everything, since you and Naruto practically live at Sasuke’s.”
“I don’t know, Pig, it’s-”
“You promised!” Ino cut in, a sort of mild desperation seeping into her cerulean eyes. In a quieter voice, she added, “Shika’s leaving on another mission tomorrow morning. This is my only chance.”
Sakura heaved another sigh. “Fine, let’s go.”
It was like this that Ino, with a mildly nervous smile on her gorgeous face and Sakura, with a little more than poorly hidden distress on hers, set out towards the group of three. A few feet away from the men, Sakura finally screwed up enough courage to plaster a playful smile on her face, and jabbed Ino none too gently in the ribs to remind her to do the same. Sakura had no doubt that they looked like fools.
“Itachi-kun!” Sakura called, voice cracking at the slight falsetto. She added a dainty little wave for effect. “Genma, Shikamaru!”
Ino mirrored Sakura’s wave, albeit with more believability. “Good evening, boys,” she called, every bit her usual charming self. All signs of her earlier distress had completely vanished, and the smile she wore differed from nothing, betrayed nothing about their plan to con Konoha’s number one team.
The reactions they received were just as predictable.
Shikamaru offered a lazy greeting, comprised of a yawn and slight wave. Genma turned his arrogance and charm up three notches, flashing them each a playful smile. It was nothing personal, of course, and both girls rolled their eyes at his behaviour. Itachi simply regarded them with smouldering onyx orbs, offering a slight bow in greeting.
A second later, however, Sakura caught Genma’s eye, and even more unfortunately, the suggestive twinkle in it. The effect was almost overwhelming, as her heart plummeted, froze and imploded.
Oh no, no, no, no!
The fact had escaped her almost entirely - how could she have been so stupid? How could she have possibly forgotten that he knew? He, who could certainly not be trusted with such a secret. Oh, kami, she was screwed. She had no doubt that Sasuke would kill her if she didn’t do something to stop Genma from spilling the beans. In fact, she probably should’ve fled as soon as she saw Genma, but Ino’s stupid pleading eyes and her stupid plight had been too overwhelming.
Sakura had half a mind to flee the scene immediately, lest she stay long enough for Genma to really blow her secret. If Itachi ever found out, she would be utterly devastated. Then eleven years of pining, secretly plotting, would have all been for nothing. Right. She would leave now, before anything could be revealed.
But then she saw Ino from her peripheral, all nervous doll-eyes, a sweet smile on her face, different from the one pumped full of charm, and Sakura knew that only Shikamaru could bring that smile out.
Sakura blew out a silent sight, and simply pretended not to notice the mischief in Genma’s eyes as she began her futile attempt to distract Shikamaru’s genius teammates.
-
If Naruto had been a perceptive man, he would have seen the gradually growing annoyance and tension on Sasuke’s patrician features. But thankfully for the blond, his girlfriend was everything he was not in that department. Hinata noticed quite awkwardly that Sasuke was becoming increasingly frustrated, presumably because of Naruto’s non-stop rambling and the fact that he was undeniably currently the third wheel.
Despite their warming relationship, Hinata still had no wish to deal with a normal tempered Sasuke unless absolutely necessary. A prissy Sasuke was therefore definitely out of the question. For this reason, she pitied and admired Sakura at the same time. Hinata would never understand how the pink haired woman managed to deal with these two all the time. But pitying aside, Hinata was beginning to become worried that the volcano that was Sasuke would erupt sometime soon.
Where the hell was Sakura?
Hinata spotted her a second later, forced by the crowed to be within a feet of both Itachi and Genma. Even from afar, Hinata could see by her body language that she was uncomfortable as uncomfortable got.
Hinata frowned; Sakura was quite close to both men - why the hell did it look as if she wanted to flee the scene at the first sane opportunity?
She shrugged inwardly, and turned towards the two best friends. “Hey guys,” she chirped. “I see Sakura-chan, let’s go to her?”
Naruto chimed an agreement and all but dragged Hinata in the direction she pointed at. Grudgingly, Sasuke followed suite, a foot behind the lovers. However, when he saw just who Sakura was currently conversing with, he froze.
Genma. Shit.
Subconsciously, his feet started shuffling faster. All he could think of, hope for in that moment was that Genma’s big mouth had yet to spill everything. Especially since his aniki was there too. God damn, he thought. Why the hell does Itachi have to be teammates with that guy, of all people? And why in god’s name is Sakura with the two of them?
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto yelled, obliviously ploughing through the crowd. “There you are! Jeez, where did Ino take you to? We’ve been trying to find you for ages.”
Sakura wanted to groan when he mentioned Ino, and did not miss the gleam of amusement pass through Itachi’s eyes. Instead, she chided Naruto for being too loud. “I’ve been here this whole time,” she said.
“Eh?” Naruto blinked. “Really!”
Sakura nodded, and snuck a quick peek at Sasuke from her peripheral while she was at it. Sure enough, he was tense to the bone. Right. Genma, she thought. Being in Itachi’s presence, away from the usual setting had made her light-headed and doe-eyed enough to momentarily forget the potential threat that was Genma.
But it didn’t take long to remember, as the ice-cold feeling washed over her once more as she remembered what potentially lay in the balance. Covertly, she nodded at Sasuke, a barely noticeable tip of her head.
In their haste to coordinate a plan telepathically, both missed the flash of curiosity appear in Itachi’s unmoving eyes.
“Ah, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura blurted, pasting on her surprised face. “I almost forgot, we promised shishou to move the new shipment of her er, stuff, into storage before midnight. She’ll butcher us if we’re late.”
Sasuke looked for a moment as if disbelieving that moving crates, of all things, was the best excuse she could muster up. But it was better than nothing, so he nodded in agreement a moment later. “Aa. Let’s go.”
Without another second of hesitation, he grabbed onto her tiny wrist and whisked her away into the crowd. For the second time that night, she barely managed to spit out a hasty goodbye before she was dragged away from her current conversation.
The last thing they heard was a snickering Genma joking to the group that they’d make such an adorable couple.
-
As Sasuke was dragging Sakura away from the crowd, his mental status was doing a quick 180.
The more he walked, and the more he pondered, the more he thought that this secrecy, this pseudo-shame, was so entirely stupid. Why the hell were they trying so hard to cover up what had happened? It wasn’t as if it was bad, as if it wasn’t natural.
In fact, most people would probably think that it’s the most natural thing in the world, since Naruto started dating Hinata a while ago.
Why the hell should they care if Genma told everyone everything? Which, Sasuke was sure, was bound to happen soon enough. And why the hell should he care if Itachi knew? In any case, it really wasn’t any of Itachi’s that they had slept together.
By the time they reached the edge of the festival parameters, Sasuke had adopted a whole new mentality. But before he could declare his new resolution to Sakura, she beamed up at him.
“Thanks, Sasuke-kun,” she said while straightening out her yukata. “It would be super awkward if Itachi-kun f-” she paused for a second, and seemed to reconsider. “If Itachi-kun and Naruto and everyone else found out.”
If Itachi found out? Why did she care about that? Of course, he knew about the little fixation Sakura had with his aniki, the one that she’d had for eleven years. But it had always been just that, a childish interest. Was she actually serious about this?
Again, before he could voice his thoughts, she interrupted him. “Anyways, I really should get going. Shishou needs me at the hospital at six tomorrow. Bleh.”
And just like that, with a chaste kiss on his cheek she was gone.
-
Later that night, Sasuke was grouchier than usual.
The frustration had simply welled up higher and higher within him after Sakura’s departure. Unwillingly, his mind had gone over the event again. While his newfound opinion was unswayable, he reluctantly agreed that it was something they would probably never do again.
Foremost and more importantly they were friends, teammates and family. When put in those terms, having sex casually seemed a little unusual, if not a little sick. But pondering it like this, Sasuke regretted nothing. If anything, Sakura was quite amazing in bed (not that they even made it there at first). The fact that she seemed rather ashamed of it actually, he realized, pissed him off. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in Konoha, or so he’d been told. Women fought to court him - if not for his looks, then for his money and power. In either case, Sakura’s reaction was simply too damn different and somewhat insulting.
It wasn’t even as if they’d done anything extravagant.
It hadn’t been intentional, of course. Naruto had left rather early from their little celebration, or rather, his drunken body had been dragged away by an amused Hinata. In any case, it left Sasuke and Sakura alone to finish their festivities. Kakashi had dipped out early as well, murmuring something about his old bones not being able to handle their young blood, or some other asinine excuse. They had both laughed though, because the relationship between their still-perverted teacher and Anko was now common knowledge in their circles. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out where their silver-haired sensei was headed off to.
Chatting and laughing, they soon lost track of the time and more importantly, the number of drinks they downed. Before another two hours had passed, even Sasuke was past the point of basic coherence. From this point forward, his memories were a blur - bits and pieces return to him occasionally. Images like the two of them staggering down emptying streets, Sakura laughing hysterically and Sasuke doing some equally stupid thing. The most important memory however, was firmly implanted in his brain.
Sasuke realized he would never be able to think of Sakura as anything other than a sister-like figure, but it was impossible to forget the defined curves of her petite body. He would have to be gay and senseless not to notice and admire them.
So why the hell didn’t she reciprocate these slightly-awkward, but perfectly natural feelings?
The more he pondered, the angrier he became. It was like this, with a growing cloud of anger thundering over him that Sasuke returned home an hour later. In the hour he spent walking around, his mood had only continued to plummet, and by the time he threw open the door, he was nothing less than a ball of fury. If it had been his mother standing in the doorway, she would have done a double take.
But it was not Mikoto standing in the foyer. Instead, Itachi was leaning against the wall, an outdated newpapser dangling precariously between his long fingers. Sasuke, having never been so emotionally disturbed before, only felt more anger at seeing his beloved aniki. Especially since his mind had deduced rather correctly that Itachi was the reason that Sakura seemed ashamed of the situation.
Itachi noticed Sasuke’s sour mood, but made no comment. If Sasuke had been in his usual frame of mind, he would have seen the glint of determination flash through the elder Uchiha’s eyes. That alone would have been enough of a hint to raise his guard. But, blinded by his annoyance, Sasuke could only bark out a “What?”
Itachi had the gall to look amused. “I trust that Hokage-sama’s shipment of things went smoothly?”
Sasuke nearly barked “what shipment?” before he remembered Sakura’s stupid lie. He offered a crisp nod, and tried to squeeze past Itachi into the house. Itachi however, seemed bent on having a conversation with his younger brother and was rather nonchalantly blocking the entranceway. Sasuke knew enough of the Uchiha pig-headed gene to offer only a sigh in protest, knowing that if he didn’t give Itachi what he wanted, they’d never move from their current position.
“What is it, Itachi?” Sasuke sounded exasperated. He suddenly felt rather exhausted, physically and mentally.
“...How is Sakura?”
Huh?
“She’s fine,” Sasuke replied. Itachi was interest in Sakura? Sasuke refused to believe it for more than it was. “Why?”
Itachi shrugged gently. “She seemed a little tense during the festival today.”
It’s your fault, anyhow, Sasuke thought. The truth of this statement fuelled his anger even more when he realized just how true it was. Sakura had been tense, and although Genma was the surface source of unease, it was actually all Itachi’s fault. Sasuke felt his annoyance grow. “She’s fine,” he repeated.
Itachi gave him a cynical look as if to voice is disbelief, but didn’t say anything more. Unfortunately, his silence did not bring Sasuke the result he had hoped for; Itachi budged not one inch, and the entranceway was as blocked as it was before their little exchange. Finally, after two minutes of silent regard, Sasuke’s annoyance burst. “Why do you care anyway? You’ve known her for eleven years, and you’ve never once asked after her like this before. Why the sudden interest?”
Then, to Sasuke’s ultimate horror, Itachi replied, “She is of a certain interest in me.”
Itachi was interested in Sakura.
Itachi, his brother, was interested in Sakura, his sister.
In his current conflicted mindset, no matter what angle he examined the situation from, it seemed wrong. Somehow, the relation seemed incestuous in his mind, nevermind the fact that his own sexual endeavour was much more so. He also refused to acknowledge that it was probably simply his own discomfort making these shrewd conclusions.
So in a moment of insanity, he made up his mind to fix the situation once and for all. The next day, when he remembered what he had done, he was sure he’d been drunk. There was simply no way he would do something this insane and stupid sober. But truthfully, he was as sober as he’d ever been in his life when he said, “We’re dating.”
The absurdity of that statement didn’t hit him until much later, and when it did, he felt nauseous. But for the present, the statement had its desired effect as Itachi jolted backwards slightly, evidently shocked by the unexpected statement. Smug, Sasuke pushed past his stunned aniki, into the depths of his home.
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize what a grand chain of events he had set off by this moment of insanity until it was entirely too late to turn back.
Characters: Uchiha Itachi & Haruno Sakura
Prompt: 016. absurd & 41. rivals & 473. hidden tales
Word Count: 3710
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Notes: Non-massacre AU. Part of a mini-series. Sequels/Prequels can be found here at CHIAROSCURO. Written for lover100 & 50_shinobi & 500themes.
-
“Ramen!”
“Are you stupid? There’s exotic food from all over the world here.”
Naruto scoffed, undeterred. “Ramen is exotic!”
“Absolutely not,” Sasuke finalized. Naruto saw from the annoyed and determined shine in Sasuke’s eyes that there was no swaying him. Sighing, he relented. Sasuke arched a brow at his appeasing behaviour - it was most unlike him, most unexpected-
“Say, Sakura-chan. You want ramen, don’t you?” Naruto said coyly to their remaining teammate suddenly.
Sakura blinked, startled awake from her daze by the sound of her name. From the expectant look on Naruto’s innocent face and the look of absolute death plastered on Sasuke’s, she knew that the role of mediator had once more fallen on her. For god’s sake, she thought. Her forgiving mood allowed her to offer the two a sweet smile and an even sweeter compromise. “How about we get a little bit of everything that looks edible? I’m starved.”
For a moment, both men actually looked appeased as they considered the proposition. But too soon Naruto’s baby face emerged as he readied himself to whine, and Sasuke’s pride-induced dissatisfaction took over.
“But Sakura-chaaaan,” Naruto drawled, “That’s so unsatisfying! We should eat enough ramen so that we don’t even want to think about other food!”
“We eat ramen every day. Absolutely no ramen today.”
The two sentences were sputtered simultaneously, with enough force to overpower each other. Unsurprisingly, it was also enough to shatter Sakura’s complacency, and, with her smile frozen, she counted to ten. When ten digits had slowly rolled by, she mustered up the brightest smile she could for her two boys. Then, she pulled them both close to her, with enough force to elicit a slight yelp from Naruto and look of discomfort from Sasuke.
“I think I’m in the mood for some dango,” she hissed into their ears, her saccharine tone threateningly sweet. “You guys are okay with that, right?”
Naruto nodded eagerly and Sasuke simply looked away - Sakura was, for a lack of a better description, downright scary sometimes. Interrogation, they could handle. S-classed criminals, they could deal with. Sakura in a rage? Not so much.
“Is Forehead bullying you two into submission again?” Ino emerged from the crowd suddenly, breaking up their tense party. Sasuke, seizing the opportunity, detached himself as inconspicuously as possible from Sakura’s death grip. Naruto nearly nodded his agreement to Ino’s offhand comment, but stopped short when he saw the murderous glare Sakura currently sported. A nervous laugh escaped the eighteen year old, newly appointed jounin as he hastily disagreed.
Ino laughed heartily at the scene playing out before her, her laugh a charming little jingle. “A rhetorical question, dear. The answer’s obvious to everyone, anways,” she said, an unmistakable twinkle in her cerulean orbs.
In one smooth motion, she latched herself onto Sakura’s now-free left arm. “If you’ll excuse us, boys, I need to borrow Forehead for a bit.”
Before any member of Team Seven could properly comment on Ino’s statement, Sakura had already been whisked away, with Ino ploughing magically through the thick crowd. Sakura only managed to spit out a hasty “bye!” before she was out of earshot. Ino’s quick pace didn’t stop until they reached the other side of the festival, and even then, she only slowed to a brisk walk.
“Jeez,” Ino sighed. “I thought Sasuke and Naruto were going to have panic attacks when I said I’d be taking you.”
Sakura let out a small laugh. “They can be awfully dramatic at times.”
Ino shrugged. “Look who they hang around all day.”
Sakura whacked her none too gently across the arm, feigning agitation. “And look who I learned from,” she retorted. “Anyways, what do you actually need? I thought you were hanging out with Shika tonight.”
“That’s actually exactly why I pulled you away. I need a little bit of help, to be honest.”
“The great Ino needs my help?” Sakura gasped, feigning astonishment. “Is the apocalypse coming?”
“Oh shut up, Forehead,” Ino replied playfully. Then, she became serious, with a rather morose expression clouding her pretty face.
“Why aren’t you with Shika? Is it hurt? Did his mission go awry? What ha-”
“Relax, relax,” Ino soothed, dropping down onto the park bench. “He’s fine. He’s here at the festival tonight, with his team.”
Sakura raised a curious brow. “His ANBU team? I thought those formations were confidential.”
Ino nodded impatiently. “But this is Shika we’re talking about. If Naruto or Sasuke were put on teams with random people, you’d do everything you could to find out who they were too.”
Sakura nodded, absentmindedly acquiescing.
“Well, he’s been very busy after his entrance into the ANBU,” Ino turned her head away, her gaze softening at something on the horizon. “I want to steal him away from his team tonight.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Sakura asked, baffled. “You’re the most outspoken person in Konoha. Just go grab him away like you dragged me.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ino heaved another sigh, turning back to lock eyes with Sakura. “His team...his teammates, well one of them...intimidates me a bit. Help me distract them while I steal Shika away?”
“He intimidates you?” Sakura asked, incredulous. “And you want me to distract him?”
Ino bit her lips, “Yes.”
Maybe it was her positively cunning acting skills, or the look of true desperation on her face, but Sakura would never really know which prompted her to agree to Ino’s insane demand. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Sakura straightened herself up on the bench. “Alright. Lead the way, but you so owe me big time, Pig.”
Ino let out an exuberant squeal at Sakura’s compliance, and wasted no time in dragging Sakura back towards the bustling crowd lest the girl change her mind. How Ino managed to pick Shikamaru out from the crowd, Sakura had no clue. She could see no more than blurbs of people each blurring into the next. But Ino had a sense for these things, as not two minutes passed before she came to a screeching halt, with Sakura nearly barrelling her over.
“There!” Ino hissed, discreetly pointing out a group of men a little ways to their left. Sakura followed Ino’s finger out of her peripheral, spotting Shikamaru quickly enough. She reeled inwardly with mild surprise - she rarely saw Shikamaru out of his jounin garb, so the charcoal yukata he donned was quite a change. Genma was also there, and-
Sakura froze. Standing as regally as ever, in a traditional yukata not unlike the one she had picked out for Sasuke earlier, was Itachi. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what she was seeing. Shikamaru and Itachi were on the same team? What the hell?
“Right, so,” Ino continued, unaware of her friend’s newfound distress. “You see who I’m talking about, Right? Uchiha Itachi. But it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you, right? I mean, you know him and everything, since you and Naruto practically live at Sasuke’s.”
“I don’t know, Pig, it’s-”
“You promised!” Ino cut in, a sort of mild desperation seeping into her cerulean eyes. In a quieter voice, she added, “Shika’s leaving on another mission tomorrow morning. This is my only chance.”
Sakura heaved another sigh. “Fine, let’s go.”
It was like this that Ino, with a mildly nervous smile on her gorgeous face and Sakura, with a little more than poorly hidden distress on hers, set out towards the group of three. A few feet away from the men, Sakura finally screwed up enough courage to plaster a playful smile on her face, and jabbed Ino none too gently in the ribs to remind her to do the same. Sakura had no doubt that they looked like fools.
“Itachi-kun!” Sakura called, voice cracking at the slight falsetto. She added a dainty little wave for effect. “Genma, Shikamaru!”
Ino mirrored Sakura’s wave, albeit with more believability. “Good evening, boys,” she called, every bit her usual charming self. All signs of her earlier distress had completely vanished, and the smile she wore differed from nothing, betrayed nothing about their plan to con Konoha’s number one team.
The reactions they received were just as predictable.
Shikamaru offered a lazy greeting, comprised of a yawn and slight wave. Genma turned his arrogance and charm up three notches, flashing them each a playful smile. It was nothing personal, of course, and both girls rolled their eyes at his behaviour. Itachi simply regarded them with smouldering onyx orbs, offering a slight bow in greeting.
A second later, however, Sakura caught Genma’s eye, and even more unfortunately, the suggestive twinkle in it. The effect was almost overwhelming, as her heart plummeted, froze and imploded.
Oh no, no, no, no!
The fact had escaped her almost entirely - how could she have been so stupid? How could she have possibly forgotten that he knew? He, who could certainly not be trusted with such a secret. Oh, kami, she was screwed. She had no doubt that Sasuke would kill her if she didn’t do something to stop Genma from spilling the beans. In fact, she probably should’ve fled as soon as she saw Genma, but Ino’s stupid pleading eyes and her stupid plight had been too overwhelming.
Sakura had half a mind to flee the scene immediately, lest she stay long enough for Genma to really blow her secret. If Itachi ever found out, she would be utterly devastated. Then eleven years of pining, secretly plotting, would have all been for nothing. Right. She would leave now, before anything could be revealed.
But then she saw Ino from her peripheral, all nervous doll-eyes, a sweet smile on her face, different from the one pumped full of charm, and Sakura knew that only Shikamaru could bring that smile out.
Sakura blew out a silent sight, and simply pretended not to notice the mischief in Genma’s eyes as she began her futile attempt to distract Shikamaru’s genius teammates.
-
If Naruto had been a perceptive man, he would have seen the gradually growing annoyance and tension on Sasuke’s patrician features. But thankfully for the blond, his girlfriend was everything he was not in that department. Hinata noticed quite awkwardly that Sasuke was becoming increasingly frustrated, presumably because of Naruto’s non-stop rambling and the fact that he was undeniably currently the third wheel.
Despite their warming relationship, Hinata still had no wish to deal with a normal tempered Sasuke unless absolutely necessary. A prissy Sasuke was therefore definitely out of the question. For this reason, she pitied and admired Sakura at the same time. Hinata would never understand how the pink haired woman managed to deal with these two all the time. But pitying aside, Hinata was beginning to become worried that the volcano that was Sasuke would erupt sometime soon.
Where the hell was Sakura?
Hinata spotted her a second later, forced by the crowed to be within a feet of both Itachi and Genma. Even from afar, Hinata could see by her body language that she was uncomfortable as uncomfortable got.
Hinata frowned; Sakura was quite close to both men - why the hell did it look as if she wanted to flee the scene at the first sane opportunity?
She shrugged inwardly, and turned towards the two best friends. “Hey guys,” she chirped. “I see Sakura-chan, let’s go to her?”
Naruto chimed an agreement and all but dragged Hinata in the direction she pointed at. Grudgingly, Sasuke followed suite, a foot behind the lovers. However, when he saw just who Sakura was currently conversing with, he froze.
Genma. Shit.
Subconsciously, his feet started shuffling faster. All he could think of, hope for in that moment was that Genma’s big mouth had yet to spill everything. Especially since his aniki was there too. God damn, he thought. Why the hell does Itachi have to be teammates with that guy, of all people? And why in god’s name is Sakura with the two of them?
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto yelled, obliviously ploughing through the crowd. “There you are! Jeez, where did Ino take you to? We’ve been trying to find you for ages.”
Sakura wanted to groan when he mentioned Ino, and did not miss the gleam of amusement pass through Itachi’s eyes. Instead, she chided Naruto for being too loud. “I’ve been here this whole time,” she said.
“Eh?” Naruto blinked. “Really!”
Sakura nodded, and snuck a quick peek at Sasuke from her peripheral while she was at it. Sure enough, he was tense to the bone. Right. Genma, she thought. Being in Itachi’s presence, away from the usual setting had made her light-headed and doe-eyed enough to momentarily forget the potential threat that was Genma.
But it didn’t take long to remember, as the ice-cold feeling washed over her once more as she remembered what potentially lay in the balance. Covertly, she nodded at Sasuke, a barely noticeable tip of her head.
In their haste to coordinate a plan telepathically, both missed the flash of curiosity appear in Itachi’s unmoving eyes.
“Ah, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura blurted, pasting on her surprised face. “I almost forgot, we promised shishou to move the new shipment of her er, stuff, into storage before midnight. She’ll butcher us if we’re late.”
Sasuke looked for a moment as if disbelieving that moving crates, of all things, was the best excuse she could muster up. But it was better than nothing, so he nodded in agreement a moment later. “Aa. Let’s go.”
Without another second of hesitation, he grabbed onto her tiny wrist and whisked her away into the crowd. For the second time that night, she barely managed to spit out a hasty goodbye before she was dragged away from her current conversation.
The last thing they heard was a snickering Genma joking to the group that they’d make such an adorable couple.
-
As Sasuke was dragging Sakura away from the crowd, his mental status was doing a quick 180.
The more he walked, and the more he pondered, the more he thought that this secrecy, this pseudo-shame, was so entirely stupid. Why the hell were they trying so hard to cover up what had happened? It wasn’t as if it was bad, as if it wasn’t natural.
In fact, most people would probably think that it’s the most natural thing in the world, since Naruto started dating Hinata a while ago.
Why the hell should they care if Genma told everyone everything? Which, Sasuke was sure, was bound to happen soon enough. And why the hell should he care if Itachi knew? In any case, it really wasn’t any of Itachi’s that they had slept together.
By the time they reached the edge of the festival parameters, Sasuke had adopted a whole new mentality. But before he could declare his new resolution to Sakura, she beamed up at him.
“Thanks, Sasuke-kun,” she said while straightening out her yukata. “It would be super awkward if Itachi-kun f-” she paused for a second, and seemed to reconsider. “If Itachi-kun and Naruto and everyone else found out.”
If Itachi found out? Why did she care about that? Of course, he knew about the little fixation Sakura had with his aniki, the one that she’d had for eleven years. But it had always been just that, a childish interest. Was she actually serious about this?
Again, before he could voice his thoughts, she interrupted him. “Anyways, I really should get going. Shishou needs me at the hospital at six tomorrow. Bleh.”
And just like that, with a chaste kiss on his cheek she was gone.
-
Later that night, Sasuke was grouchier than usual.
The frustration had simply welled up higher and higher within him after Sakura’s departure. Unwillingly, his mind had gone over the event again. While his newfound opinion was unswayable, he reluctantly agreed that it was something they would probably never do again.
Foremost and more importantly they were friends, teammates and family. When put in those terms, having sex casually seemed a little unusual, if not a little sick. But pondering it like this, Sasuke regretted nothing. If anything, Sakura was quite amazing in bed (not that they even made it there at first). The fact that she seemed rather ashamed of it actually, he realized, pissed him off. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in Konoha, or so he’d been told. Women fought to court him - if not for his looks, then for his money and power. In either case, Sakura’s reaction was simply too damn different and somewhat insulting.
It wasn’t even as if they’d done anything extravagant.
It hadn’t been intentional, of course. Naruto had left rather early from their little celebration, or rather, his drunken body had been dragged away by an amused Hinata. In any case, it left Sasuke and Sakura alone to finish their festivities. Kakashi had dipped out early as well, murmuring something about his old bones not being able to handle their young blood, or some other asinine excuse. They had both laughed though, because the relationship between their still-perverted teacher and Anko was now common knowledge in their circles. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out where their silver-haired sensei was headed off to.
Chatting and laughing, they soon lost track of the time and more importantly, the number of drinks they downed. Before another two hours had passed, even Sasuke was past the point of basic coherence. From this point forward, his memories were a blur - bits and pieces return to him occasionally. Images like the two of them staggering down emptying streets, Sakura laughing hysterically and Sasuke doing some equally stupid thing. The most important memory however, was firmly implanted in his brain.
Sasuke realized he would never be able to think of Sakura as anything other than a sister-like figure, but it was impossible to forget the defined curves of her petite body. He would have to be gay and senseless not to notice and admire them.
So why the hell didn’t she reciprocate these slightly-awkward, but perfectly natural feelings?
The more he pondered, the angrier he became. It was like this, with a growing cloud of anger thundering over him that Sasuke returned home an hour later. In the hour he spent walking around, his mood had only continued to plummet, and by the time he threw open the door, he was nothing less than a ball of fury. If it had been his mother standing in the doorway, she would have done a double take.
But it was not Mikoto standing in the foyer. Instead, Itachi was leaning against the wall, an outdated newpapser dangling precariously between his long fingers. Sasuke, having never been so emotionally disturbed before, only felt more anger at seeing his beloved aniki. Especially since his mind had deduced rather correctly that Itachi was the reason that Sakura seemed ashamed of the situation.
Itachi noticed Sasuke’s sour mood, but made no comment. If Sasuke had been in his usual frame of mind, he would have seen the glint of determination flash through the elder Uchiha’s eyes. That alone would have been enough of a hint to raise his guard. But, blinded by his annoyance, Sasuke could only bark out a “What?”
Itachi had the gall to look amused. “I trust that Hokage-sama’s shipment of things went smoothly?”
Sasuke nearly barked “what shipment?” before he remembered Sakura’s stupid lie. He offered a crisp nod, and tried to squeeze past Itachi into the house. Itachi however, seemed bent on having a conversation with his younger brother and was rather nonchalantly blocking the entranceway. Sasuke knew enough of the Uchiha pig-headed gene to offer only a sigh in protest, knowing that if he didn’t give Itachi what he wanted, they’d never move from their current position.
“What is it, Itachi?” Sasuke sounded exasperated. He suddenly felt rather exhausted, physically and mentally.
“...How is Sakura?”
Huh?
“She’s fine,” Sasuke replied. Itachi was interest in Sakura? Sasuke refused to believe it for more than it was. “Why?”
Itachi shrugged gently. “She seemed a little tense during the festival today.”
It’s your fault, anyhow, Sasuke thought. The truth of this statement fuelled his anger even more when he realized just how true it was. Sakura had been tense, and although Genma was the surface source of unease, it was actually all Itachi’s fault. Sasuke felt his annoyance grow. “She’s fine,” he repeated.
Itachi gave him a cynical look as if to voice is disbelief, but didn’t say anything more. Unfortunately, his silence did not bring Sasuke the result he had hoped for; Itachi budged not one inch, and the entranceway was as blocked as it was before their little exchange. Finally, after two minutes of silent regard, Sasuke’s annoyance burst. “Why do you care anyway? You’ve known her for eleven years, and you’ve never once asked after her like this before. Why the sudden interest?”
Then, to Sasuke’s ultimate horror, Itachi replied, “She is of a certain interest in me.”
Itachi was interested in Sakura.
Itachi, his brother, was interested in Sakura, his sister.
In his current conflicted mindset, no matter what angle he examined the situation from, it seemed wrong. Somehow, the relation seemed incestuous in his mind, nevermind the fact that his own sexual endeavour was much more so. He also refused to acknowledge that it was probably simply his own discomfort making these shrewd conclusions.
So in a moment of insanity, he made up his mind to fix the situation once and for all. The next day, when he remembered what he had done, he was sure he’d been drunk. There was simply no way he would do something this insane and stupid sober. But truthfully, he was as sober as he’d ever been in his life when he said, “We’re dating.”
The absurdity of that statement didn’t hit him until much later, and when it did, he felt nauseous. But for the present, the statement had its desired effect as Itachi jolted backwards slightly, evidently shocked by the unexpected statement. Smug, Sasuke pushed past his stunned aniki, into the depths of his home.
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize what a grand chain of events he had set off by this moment of insanity until it was entirely too late to turn back.