Title: Gift Box Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Kishimoto-san does ( :
Pairing: SasuSaku
Summary: Sasuke had gave her the best gift of all: hope. SasuSaku! An early birthday gift to Sakura!
A/N: This is an early b-day gift for Sakura! I also posted it up on my deviantart account where I go under the name 'xcrushx17'. Also, sorry if it seems rush or anything. It's for a contest on DA and I didn't want to do any edits to it. Curse my laziness.
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It was March 28th and that meant one thing: today was Haruno Sakura's birthday. Her nineteenth birthday to be exact. And the best way to celebrate was by baking a cake and tossing together a cheap gift that had meaning behind it. At least that's how Uzumaki Naruto saw it.
"So, me and Kakashi-sensei baked you a cake, Sakura-chan!" Naruto blared, a goofy grin adorning his face while his hands rested on his hips. Said woman looked at the blonde in amusement from her place on his leather couch.
"Heh, I can only imagine how that went." Sakura retorted, placing her hand over her mouth and giggling. About that time, Kakashi emerged from the kitchen, cake batter littering his Jounin vest.
"Not well." Kakashi stated, shaking his head, his white hair speckled with chocolate.
"I didn't think it went that bad." Naruto said dismissively, a smirk on his lips. Sakura rolled her eyes, a smile on her face, and ran a hand through her shoulder length tresses.
"You aren't the one that used the blender. I'm convinced that thing was posessed." Kakashi retorted, crossing his arms arcoss his chest.
"Tch. You should know better than to cook with the dobe." Uchiha Sasuke intervened, entering through Naruto's front door, clad in his Anbu attire, minus his mask of course. His and Sakura's eyes met momentarily, before the latter averted her gaze and blushed.
"Oh, teme!" Naruto growled, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, his teeth bared and a vein throbbing in his temple. Sasuke smirked triumphantly while Sakura and Kakashi shook their heads knowingly. Some things never changed.
"Back to the point. The cake will most likely be unedible therefore, let's just give you the gifts we got you." Kakashi interrupted, knowing that the two younger males would end up in a verbal fight otherwise.
"You guys didn't have to get me anything." Sakura added sheepishly, twirling a strand of pink hair around her index finger.
"Yeah, we did. Dattebayo!" Naruto chirped, walking over to where Sakura was sitting and bent down. Sakura watched him curiously as he laid himself against the floor and thrust his hand underneath the couch. After a moment he finally pulled out a lumpy package wrapped in red wrapping paper. He sat on his haunches, grinned, and handed Sakura the gift.
"Um, thanks, Naruto." Sakura said with uncertainty. She then commenced to tear away the red, crumpled paper, albeit gingerly. Once all the paper was removed she was surpised to find one of Naruto's shirts that had holes here and there in the material.
"It's the shirt I wore when I fought teme at the Valley of The End." Naruto explained with a shrug. Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke all three looked at the blonde like he had grown a second head. "What?"
"Tch. Idiot." Sasuke muttered, leaning against the wide framed door that lead into the kitchen, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Thanks, Naruto. I appreciate the thought." Sakura said with a smile while she folded the shirt up and placed it on the cushion beside her. Kakashi then approached and handed her a retangular shaped package that was neatly wrapped in pink and gold wrapping paper.
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, repeating the opening process, this time to find some questionable book in her hands. Her eyes danced over the title which read 'How To Get Him In The Sack'. Immediately her cheeks went bright red.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura howled while the older man shrugged.
"Hey, I just wanted to help my former student out." Kakashi said innocently. Sakura huffed and placed the book on top of the shirt Naruto gave her and glared at the man.
"Pervert . . ." she grumbled.
"So," Naruto started, looking over at Sasuke, "what did you get, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura looked at the raven-haired man expectantly. She didn't want to admit it, but she was really looking forward to seeing the gift that Sasuke had got her. She hated that she still loved the man in a romantic way, but she couldn't help herself. Her heart ached for him and there was nothing that she could do besides just ignore her feelings and not act on them.
Sasuke moved from his spot and approached Sakura. Each step brought him closer and caused Sakura's heart to beat just a little faster. Then, when he reached the couch, he leaned down, his bangs hanging across his forehead and hiding his eyes.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura mumbled nervously, leaning back on her hands.
"Hey! What are you doing, teme?" Naruto barked.
"I guess she didn't need that book after all." Kakashi pointed out mindlessly, pulling out a small, familiar orange book from his back pocket.
"Hn." Sasuke finally said. "Happy birthday." With that he leaned away and headed toward the door. Sakura was left stunned.
"What the heck?" Naruto grumbled. "That jerk."
"I've gotta go." Sakura said, grabbing the gifts up off the couch. "Thanks for the gifts guys. I'll take you two out for ramen tomorrow."
"Sakura-chan, you don't have to do that. Are you okay?" Naruto inquired, but his words fell on deaf ears as Sakura stumbled out of his apartment. "Dang it! That stupid Uchiha! Why does he have to treat her like that?"
"Naruto." Kakashi said sternly, earning a frown from the blonde. "It's not your problem. Let them work it out."
...
Sakura was nearly in tears when she finally reached her apartment. She fished her key out and fidgetted with the lock until finally she let herself in. The moment she did, she stumbled in and slammed the door behind her. Afterward she tossed her gifts and apartment key on the red, suede couch centered in the room and headed to her bedroom. She didn't even kick her boots off before she plopped herself on the futon pressed against the left wall.
Why did he have to do that to her? If he knew about her feelings for him, then it was a butt-hole move. Otherwise, she didn't deserve to be upset. Then again, just WHY was she so upset?
She had said that none of them had to get her a gift. Yet, she really had been expecting one. Especially from the three that she spent a majority of her time with.
But maybe it was because deep down inside she had been wondering what she meant to Sasuke. After all the mixed signs he had been giving her lately- or at least she considered them mixed signals- the answer was simple: nothing. She had been fooling herself all along. He didn't consider her a comrade- no, he didn't even consider her an acquaintance. Just an annoyance. A hindrance to their team. The damsel in distress.
Sakura took a deep breath and climbed off her bed. She would suck it up, be strong. She was a ninja after all.
...
By the time night rolled around, her best friend, Ino, Lee, and her parents had stopped by for her birthday. Other than that the day had been uneventful. She had changed into shorts and a tank-top and had settled for watching movies and eating popcorn. Ino had joined her for a short while before heading back home to prepare for a mission.
Sakura sighed and sat down on her couch, a new batch of steaming popcorn settled in her lap in a large, round bowl. However, before she could hit 'play' on the dvd menu, she heard a tap on the window in the kitchen.
"What the-?" she murmured, placing the remote and bowl beside her before she stood and cautiously headed into the conjoined kitchen, her eyes locked on the window- when she saw something that piqued her curiosity to a whole other level.
Sitting in the slightly ajar window was a small, palm-sized heart-shaped package that was wrapped in wrapping paper the shade of deep navy blue with a silver design with a little, pink bow on top. Sakura was quick to approach the window and snatch up the gift.
Her sea-foam green gaze eyed every inch of the box, turning it over on its back then on its sides as if it was going to self-detonate at any given second. Then, once she was certain it was safe, she plucked the bow off and placed it on top of the counter. She then licked her lips and gently ripped the wrapping paper off to reveal a velvety red box. Her eyes widened in recognition.
Someone. Had. Bought. Her. Jewelry. YES. But who? She narrowed her eyes. She would just have to find out. And that was exactly what she was going to do.
Wedging her bottom lip between her teeth, she flicked the top open and gasped at what she saw. In the case, on a silver chain with specks of white-diamond, were two charms, one was a small pink-diamond cherry blossom, and the other was the Uchiha clan symbol that was made up of rubies and white-diamonds.
"Sasuke-kun . . ." she murmured, holding the necklace close to her, a light pink dusting her cheeks. She commenced to squeal excitedly.
Outside on the street, looking up at the window, stood Sasuke. He smirked upon hearing the squeal, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked in the general direction of his apartment complex that was on the other side of the village.
"Happy birthday, Sakura," he said, leaving the words 'I love you too' unsaid.
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A/n: Yeah, I wanted something a little bittersweet but cute (at least I hope it comes off as bittersweet and cute xD). I doubt it will get many reviews or anything. But whatever hehe. I wanted something semi-realistic between them. And I figured Sasuke wouldn't be the type to just hand over a gift with a big smile on his face and accept a hug or something haha.