Sasuke Uchiha, one of the child of prophecy, last remaining Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki's best friend, was honestly confused and slightly worried. Not that he would admit it out loud or anything.
It was 7AM, and for all intents and purposes he should be relaxing in his apartment, but he wasn't.
'She's late.'
It honestly shouldn't worry him this much, considering he knew she could take care of herself well enough.
Even so, Sakura Haruno should have come by his apartment thirty minutes ago asking him if he would like to hang out with her later, to which he would reply that he was busy, and then she would give him a sad smile before going to work. That was practically their routine.
But she didn't show up on this particular day. She broke their routine.
Sasuke doubted that something happened, considering Naruto would be causing a ruckus if that was the case.
As it stood Konoha was peaceful on this fine day.
So that ruled out the kidnapping theory.
Another theory would be that Sakura finally gave up.
It should make Sasuke relieved, because finally he didn't have anymore fangirls.
Except for some reason, it didn't make him feel relieved.
Aside from Naruto and Kakashi, Sakura was the only person who tried making an effort into getting him to settle back into Konoha.
Who tried making it feel as if he hadn't betrayed everyone for nothing.
Who tried bringing a sense of normalcy in his life.
"I… I love you with all my heart!… If you were to stay here with me, there would be no regrets… because every day we'd do something fun, we'd be happy I swear!… I would do anything for you! so… Please just stay with me!"
The one person who was supposed to love him more than anything else.
Sasuke tsked, annoyed at himself for having that last thought.
It didn't matter that Sakura was in love with him, he wasn't in love with her. He didn't feel indifferent towards her either. She was just someone he wanted to protect, just how he wanted to protect Naruto. Not that he would ever admit it.
In fact he should be glad, shouldn't he?
If Sakura stopped trying so hard to gain his affections, she'd find someone else, someone who deserved her more than he did.
Who was he kidding? Anyone deserved Sakura more than he did. He tried to kill her once upon a time after all.
Why was he even thinking about whether or not he deserved Sakura?
He didn't care about what Sakura did in her free time, so what if she didn't come by like she always does? It's her life.
Besides he's happy.
Now he doesn't have to see that hopeful smile of hers anymore. Now he doesn't have to get rid of that smile every morning.
His routine wouldn't have Sakura in it anymore. He could finally get some peaceful sleep.
Yet, why did he feel diappointed when she didn't show up the next day either?
.o0o.o0o.
"What's bothering you Teme?" Naruto was the first to ask during their usual spars.
Kakashi also looked at him, not paying attention to his Icha Icha book anymore, not that he needed to considering he probably knew each line from his head already with the amount of times he's read the books.
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke feigned ignorance.
He knew that if he told the Dobe that it was because of Sakura, Naruto would have a field day along with his girlfriend Hinata.
"C'mon, something must be bothering you Sasuke." Naruto urged, no longer in his fighting stance.
Sasuke pointedly ignored Naruto.
"Communication is key to solving problems Sasuke." Kakashi added.
Probably being as nosy as Naruto, Sasuke decided in annoyance.
"Hey, where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, finally noticing the absence of another core member of Team Seven.
"This is the third time she's been absent, and with no explanation. Something must have happened." Kakashi mused.
Sasuke's left eye twitched.
He knew something must have been up, and now that Kakashi and Naruto mentioned it, they can go check up on her.
"Have you seen her Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"No, why do you ask?" Sasuke shot back, almost too quickly.
If it wasn't for the stoic look he had, maybe they would have been able to tell that he was concerned too. Not that he would ever admit it.
"Sakura-chan visits you every day, doesn't she?" Naruto suspiciously asked.
"She hasn't lately." Sasuke neutrally said.
"Something must be up." Kakashi concluded as if it wasn't obvious already.
"What now?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I have a meeting with Gaara about building up another orphanage."
"I have a date with Hinata-chan."
Sasuke glared at the pointed looks both Kakashi and Naruto gave him. "No." He said.
"We didn't say anything." Kakashi pointed out.
"The answer is still no." Sasuke calmly said.
"Remember that time, almost two years ago, when you almost killed Sakura-chan?" Naruto cheerilly asked.
The only sign of guilt Sasuke showed was the slight frown.
Kakashi and Naruto never allowed him to live down that fact.
"She tried to kill me once too." Sasuke tried protesting.
"But she had very understandable reasons Sasuke." Kakashi gave his famous closed eye smile.
"Not to mention how much of an ass you were being." Naruto added.
If there was one thing Sasuke hated, it was when Kakashi and Naruto teamed up to force him to do something.
"Hn."
Even if this was the first time they've ever tried forcing him to approach Sakura.
"I'll just go ask Tsunade." Sasuke smugly said, and walked away despite Naruto's protests.
Turned out, Sakura was busy with the hospital.
Sasuke would never admit that he felt relieved about that. Knowing that Sakura was safe and sound.
.o0o.o0o.
Even when the hospital started calming down, Sakura didn't come by.
"Maybe she's waiting for you." Naruto suggested idly sipping on some tea.
Sasuke was too tired to even tell the blonde to get out of his aparment.
"I mean, she's been chasing after you for years, longer than I've ever chased you. Maybe she's tired, not that I blame Sakura-chan."
"Longer?" Sasuke asked.
"She's been in love with you ever since she was six. Almost twelve years."
Sasuke paused at the revelation, sure he knew a lot of girls have been attracted to him before, especially in his younger days, but to hear that Sakura's been in love with him for that long? And that she hasn't given up on him despite everything?
He tried to kill her for crying out loud!
"Man, I don't know how Sakura-chan could have fallen for a Teme like you. I mean you don't even love her."
Sasuke looked at Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, you love her too, don't you? Then why are you acting like such a bastard to her?"
"What are you talking about Dobe?" Sasuke asked in confusion.
"That look you had, it's the same one Shikamaru gets whenever someone insults Temari..." Naruto thoughtfully said. "That means you must love Sakura-chan!" Naruto concluced, an estatic look on his face. "Wait until I tell Kakashi-sensei!" He grinned.
"I don't love her." Sasuke stated.
"You love her."
"I don't."
"She kissed Rock Lee, you know?"
The glass of water Sasuke was holding cracked. For some reason the image of Rock Lee kissing Sakura made him annoyed.
"See? You got jealous!"
"I was just surprised."
Naruto gave him a skeptical look.
"Did they really kiss?" Sasuke muttered, his left eyebrow twitching slightly.
"Why so nosy?"
"I'm just curious. Back when we were twelve, Sakura was disgusted by Rock Lee." Sasuke justified himself.
Naruto gave him a knowing look. "You know Sasuke, it isn't a bad thing. You being in love with Sakura-chan I mean, it's a great thing. Sakura-chan's been waiting for you for years."
"How can you be so sure that I'm in love with her?" Sasuke asked, more curious than annoyed.
"Remember that mission to Wave we took when we were Gennin?"
"What about it?"
"That's when you started falling for Sakura too, you were just too consumed in your revenge to realize it."
"What do you mean?"
"She thought you died, you know? She looked so utterly sad, the type of sad someone gets when their most precious person dies. Then when you woke up, she looked like the happiest girl in the whole wide world."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You smiled at her."
"So?"
"It was the most tender smile I've ever seen you have."
Sasuke didn't respond. He couldn't be in love with Sakura, could he?
"You're making Sakura-chan wait longer than Hinata-chan did for me, and people call me the idiot." With that Naruto left.
It wasn't until Sasuke was ready to sleep that he realized that yes, he really was in love with Sakura as well.
That kept him up the whole night.
.o0o.o0o.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in confusion as Sasuke approached her during her lunch break.
She noted how Sasuke seemed a bit less confident in his posture.
"Is that offer for coffee still up?" He asked.
Sakura blinked once. Then twice.
Did Sasuke really just ask her to go get coffee? She was dreaming wasn't she? He wouldn't...
Discreetly she pinched her arm.
She really was awake. And Sasuke had the worst timing possible.
She gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, I'm busy right now. Maybe another time?"
She noted how Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't have time to dwell on it, lunch break was over after all.
.o0o.o0o.
Chapter End
.o0o.o0o.
Author's Note: Hi guys, before any of you ask I haven't been updating my other stories because my laptop has been filled with viruses and I had to have my uncle wipe everything from it, including my files involving all of my fics. Yeah, I'm still mourning. This however was a pre-written story on the Doc Manager, surprising considering I prefer using Words.
This story is a fairly short one, only five to ten chapters long if I'm not mistaken. It's my own take on how Sasuke and Sakura would have gotten together if I was the author of Naruto.