Love Triangle

Author's note: It's been a long, long time since I've written a Naruto fanfiction. Okay, so to begin. This is a semi-alt. Universe. Let's just pretend that after a certain age, the kids go to regular school, wear regular clothes, and have semi-regular lives.

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Naruto placed his sweaty bottle of water to his equally sweaty forehead. It was hot day, close to summer, and though he loved playing soccer, the heat was almost unbearable. Some days he actually dreaded going to practice. Watching Sakura made it worthwhile, even when he felt like he was melting in the sun. Sakura had been his crush since he was about ten years old, making it a pathetic six years since he'd watched her from afar, always acting like a big shot and never having the guts to tell her how he really felt. Of course he pretended to moon over her and what not, but if he could truly act on his emotions, he would act serious around her.

Sakura was definitely out of her awkward phase. She was one of the more taller girls in Konoha, with beauty and brains to match. She was now on the school volleyball team, which had toned her nearly perfect figure as well.

The problem with Sakura, she was just like Naruto, only worse. Since she'd first laid eyes on him, Sakura had been helplessly in love with Sasuke. She wasn't sure why. Most of the girls that obsessed over him were only obsessed with his looks. Sakura hoped she was better than that. She'd always found Sasuke's mature and calm demeanor to be her target. He didn't seem like some goofy boy, he seemed like a proper young man.

She was currently talking with her best friend, Ino, when she spotted Naruto from her place on the school porch that looked out across to the soccer field. Naruto had always been her best example of what Sasuke wasn't. While Sasuke was mature and reserved, Naruto acted like an obnoxious eight year old. Of course, over the years, his scrawny body had gained some muscle-not a lot, in Sakura's opinion, but a little. He also no longer had a fleshy pink complexion, but had long been tan since he'd taken up sports in middle school. His blonde hair was so sun-bleached it looked almost white in the proper light. He wasn't movie star handsome like Sasuke, but okay looking. Cute, maybe.

As for Sasuke, his problem was ten times worse than Naruto and Sakura's put together. He'd never felt like he really belonged anywhere. He knew he was smart, and talented, and good-looking. He knew guys were jealous of him and girls wanted him, but all he wanted was to be normal. How could you trust anybody if nobody cared about anything deeper than your appearance? The one person he'd ever really considered a friend, even if on a mediocre level, was Naruto. Naruto was never discrete about anything and openly blabbed every thought that popped in his mind. Sasuke liked that about him. Well, he liked that the most. There wasn't much Sasuke didn't like about Naruto and that was his problem. He liked Naruto. More than anybody he'd ever met. Of course they still made snide comments about each other in the halls, but sometimes in class, a teacher would say something stupid, Naruto would make a funny comment, and Sasuke would snicker. Or sometimes they would just talk while waiting on the teacher to come in. It was nice, Sasuke thought, just to talk, and the conversation not be conceited or superficial. So while Naruto mooned over Sakura, and Sakura mooned over Sasuke, Sasuke mooned over Naruto. It was a mess.

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"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto greeted once Sakura's green eyes met his blue. He waved his bottle of water. "What's shakin', baby?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and Ino ordered her to ignore him. Sakura pretended to, but after a lot of fake whining from Naruto, he finally jogged across the field and joined them. He was still in his soccer practice attire, dripping sweat. Sakura made a smacking sound-something all girls did, Naruto thought. "What do you want?" She demanded, holding her nose. "You smell like old socks."

"It's the smell of victory!" Naruto laughed, smelling under his armpits. He took a big drink of his water. "So what are you ladies up to?"

"We're talking about Sasuke's essay he read in class today," Ino told him. "Weren't you listening? It was the best report on transcendentalism I've ever heard."

"I didn't have the pleasure," Naruto replied, shrugging one shoulder. "I was too busy sleeping. I swear, Sasuke's voice is like a one-key metronome or something."

"Shut up!" Sakura told him, trying to hide her smile. Despite how much she liked Sasuke, it was a funny a comment. And true, to a degree.

"You didn't even do yours," Ino accused. "How do you even expect to stay in soccer if you never do any school work? No pass, no play, right?"

"I'll do it tomorrow, geez!" Naruto crossed his arms behind his head. "It's a dumb assignment anyway-oral reports. It doesn't benefit society in anyway. The class hates listening to you just as much as you hate talking to them."

"My report was brilliant," the pink haired girl smiled proudly. "Mr. Gonzo gave me an A+."

"Your zipper was probably down," Naruto grinned back, and Sakura shoved him playfully. Even if she pretended to always be annoyed with him, they were friends whether she liked it or not.

"Omigawd!" Ino shook Sakura's shoulder. "Here comes Sasuke now!" She pointed, and sure enough, Sasuke was trudging their way.

"Hey!"Sakura greeted, feeling her legs turn to jello. "So what'd you make on the essay assignment?"

"A," Sasuke grumbled. "Not a big deal or anything." He crossed his eyes over to Naruto. "Why didn't you do it?"

"I don't like homework," Naruto told him simply.

"I mean read it, you moron," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

" 'read it'?" Sakura repeated, glancing at Naruto. Her eyebrows raised. "You mean you did do your homework?"

"He finished it up in Biology yesterday when we had half of the class period to ourselves," Sasuke said, still looking at Nartuto. "You're gonna fail."

"What are you? My mother?" Naruto frowned at him. "I just didn't feel like reading out loud, okay?"

Sasuke only shrugged and turned to Sakura and Ino. It had only started this year, but Sasuke was determined to break out of his shyness-which most people mistook for snobbery. He didn't think he was better than anybody else. He just didn't really know what to say to anyone, about anything. Well, except for Naruto. He could say whatever he wanted to Naruto because he knew Naruto not only had no room to judge him, but because he never judged anybody.

"So are you excited about summer break?" Ino asked him, tossing her hair a little.

"I am," Sakura piped up. "Except I have volleyball practice in just a few weeks." She smiled and was glad she'd suffered through braces. They were worth it in the end.

Sasuke only shrugged again. He couldn't believe how close Naruto was to him. He wondered if it was because Sakura kept moving closer to him. Like every other girl in school, Sakura was no exception to the rule. If you had two X chromosomes, you were going to moon over Sasuke. He'd spent more time with her while they were a team, and even attempted to get closer to her, but she had never really broken her façade. He still didn't know much about her because she always busy trying to please him. He wondered if Naruto knew the real Sakura. He'd seen her get angry with the blonde, and act silly when she wasn't angry. Why could people act like with each other and not him?

Ino's cell phone rang and she rolled her eyes, walking away while mouthing a foul word. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stared at each other awkwardly. They weren't exactly in a circle, but in a triangle, Sasuke not as close to Sakura and Naruto, who were standing right across from each other. Sakura knew about Naruto, and Naruto knew about Sakura, but neither of them knew about Sasuke. Only he knew about the triangle. He attempted to take a few steps forward, but backed up, moving to lean against the cool brick wall and slide down, into a sitting position.

"Goddamn, it's hot…" he groaned, placing the bottle back to his forehead. "What is it today? 207 degrees?" He looked at Sasuke's black collar shirt over a white Tshirt and groaned even louder. "How can you wear that?"

"It's kind of funny how we're all together again," Sakura chuckled, playing with her hair. "We haven't been like this in a while."

"Too bad Kakashi's not here to do inappropriate things," Naruto said, and Sauske couldn't help but snort. They'd been too young at the time, but as they got older they realized their former teacher was somewhat of a lowly drunk old pervert.

Sasuke looked between the two, recognizing the longing in their facial and body movements, and idea suddenly struck him. A bizarre idea. An idea he considered tucking at the back of his mind, never to be thought again. It was late May, and summer would soon be here. School would be out for two months. What did he have to lose?

"Naruto, you like Sakura?" It sounded more like a statement than a question, but his face showed he was asking.

"What?" Naruto's brows furrowed and he looked up at the taller boy.

"And you like me?" Sasuke turned to look at Sakura and she blushed.

"Who do you like?" She asked, thinking maybe he was about to confess his love for her, which would have made her exisistance ten times easier.

"I like Naruto," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes a little. "There. I said it."

Naruto continued to stare at him like he'd just announced he was joining the circus as a trapeze artist. Sasuke sighed and leaned against the wall. "I'm sorry if it makes you feel weird."

"You mean, like, like me like me?" Naruto started to fan himself with his hands. Obviously it didn't weird him out that much.

"Yes, Jacksass." Sasuke rolled his eyes again.

"Well it explains a lot," Sakura said softly, sighing as she did so. She smiled through her disappointment. "But we're still friends, right?" she asked, trying to laugh a little, maybe even stifle a few tears.

"That's what got me to thinking," Sasuke said, massaging his eyes with his fingertips for a moment. "We like each other for the most part, and you two know better than anybody that I'm lost cause socially."

"Uh, yah." Naruto said, and then looked up at Sasuke smiling, making sure he got the joke.

"So let's just date each other," Sasuke proposed.

"What?" Now the confusion was all over their faces.

"We have a whole summer ahead of us of practically doing nothing," Sasuke told them. "So why not date like people should anyway?"

"You mean, like, the three of us out together?" Sakura's brows couldn't have been more furrowed.

"Not really…"Sasuke was wondering if he should have just kept his mouth shut. "Maybe something like you and me-" he gestured to Sakura, "going out sometimes, and then you and Naruto, and then…" he felt a blush creeping to his face.

"I get what you're saying," Naruto shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I get whined and dined either way."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura urged, ignoring Naruto. "You mean, just me and you? But you just said you like Naruto."

"I don't know you," Sasuke pointed out bluntly. "Not really anyway. It would be a good chance for us to really bond on a level that's not completely hormonal."

"But it wouldn't be real," Sakura almost laughed. "You would just pretend to like me?"

"I don't pretend anything. Ever." Sasuke stared at her. "I don't want to ruin our friendship over one of us getting hurt."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. On one hand, it didn't sound so bad, but on the other, it sounded very odd and a little disturbing. She twirled a finger around in her hair, looking at the ground. "But you think we'd get to know each other?"

"If you're willing," Sasuke's low, unintentionally seductive voice was enough to melt her again.

To Be Continued…