A Skilled Matchmaker, Naruto Wasn't

Prompt: matchmaker
Summary: Naruto has noticed a change in the way Sasuke sees Sakura

The vast canvas of cerulean mapped out the perfect escape. Limitless, everlasting, and without obstruction. The way out for a daydreamer, albeit a temporary one.

Sasuke Uchiha encouraged himself to concentrate on a foreign pastime: staring at the sky above. These were the little things he had forgotten to do growing up. Not that it was hard. At that moment he couldn't understand what the big deal was and although he masked it well, he was secretly glad to be pulled from the ridiculous practice by his best friend, Naruto.

A sharp slap to Sasuke's risen knee was all his mind needed to snap from the tranquility above to the boisterous monstrosity below.

"This is the most I've seen you relax ever," teased Naruto, who plopped unceremoniously to the grass beside him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke grumbled, using his one arm to shield the sky from view.

"Sakura-chan's worried about you."

The dark-haired boy begrudgingly sat upright, oddly stirred by the mention of her name. "She doesn't need to be."

"Well," Naruto began with a knowing roll of his eyes, "You've been back a few weeks now. All you've been doing until they give you missions is this back-to-nature shit where you stare at sunsets and smell the roses."

Sasuke kept his eyes averted, adjusting the black cloak around his shoulders. "Weren't you the one who told me to 'relax' and 'enjoy the little things' for a while?"

"Yeah," the blonde shrugged, "but I meant connect with the things that were good for you." He paused. "Are you avoiding Sakura-chan?"

The conversation at hand oddly felt like foreign territory for Sasuke. Like he couldn't talk about connecting. Like he couldn't talk about Sakura.

Naruto remained nonplussed, casually stretching his arms while silently evaluating his friend. Prolonged silence from Sasuke was an answer all its own. The man before him was an open book with torn out pages.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Naruto pushed. "She's been asking about you since you've been back. She just wants to know that you're okay."

An annoyed growl escaped the Uchiha. "Stop trying to be a matchmaker, Dobe."

The blonde appeared indignant. "I wasn't!"

Sasuke stood. Tired of relaxing. Tired of being confused. Tired of wondering why he went out of his way to avoid the things that made him feel…

"And I wouldn't. Sakura-chan'll be back from her date in a few hours."

Black eyes widened marginally, sliding slowly to the annoying blonde boy at his peripheral. Her… WHAT.

"…And I'm pretty sure she'll be home all night after that. You should go see her then, you know?"

The pull of an unpleasant coil began its slow, cranking movement in the pit of Sasuke's stomach. Another foreign entity. What was with this moment and every day experiences that just weren't clicking right. And with this new, innocent factoid of Sakura doing what she had every right to do, Sasuke found himself suddenly needing an exorbitant amount of information concerning the man she was with.

A skilled matchmaker, Naruto wasn't. A cheeky manipulator, well, that was closer. Sakura didn't have a date, of course. She was working at the hospital far too often to give her suitors the time of day. But Naruto knew, after Sasuke had returned to Konoha, after his gaze lingered on Sakura after she smiled and welcomed him home with open arms, that something had shifted in their dynamic.

Sasuke Uchiha was aloof. He was hard to find most days, but he never went out of his way to avoid someone. And he certainly never took the blonde's advice on how to pass the time.

Naruto could see now, that the casual fib of Sakura's whereabouts had struck a chord. Fine. Whatever it took to get this guy started on the road to emotional normalcy.

As the gears moved in the Uchiha's head at proficient speed, his exterior gave off only the smallest tell-tale frown in response. The automated answers came easily, lining at the front gate waiting for permission. They were as easy as, No. Fine. Maybe I will. or What a waste of time.

What Sakura did with her life was none of Sasuke's business. This was hard-coded into his brain, programmed into his persona, though seemingly ignored by his reflexes.

"So," Naruto pried again. "Are you going to?"

What escaped the Uchiha's mouth surprised them both.

"Who is it."

Author's Note: I love that Sasuke and Sakura are canon. I'm not a huge fan of the way things concluded at the end of Gaiden to be honest. The dinner table scene kind of freaked me out. Or perhaps the concept of Sarada freaks me out because I want to know more about the "courting" phase before Sarada happened. This is why I've decided to participate (to the best of my ability) to this year's SasuSakuMonth creative prompt challenge. This is how I see things going down. Don't read anymore if it's not agreeing with you. I want to be very clear that this is MY preferred version of Sasuke - bad, rude, and probably a beast in bed. Rar! Follow me on tumblr (rooftoptabby) for the live updates.