Hey hey! This is an idea I've had for a while, and I could only be bothered to actually write it now. Yay for procrastination! :D However, while writing this, I have a horrible headache, but I refuse to let it get me down! In a happy mood today. Ha!
Also, so excited, coz I'm going somewhere on Saturday where I'm gonna meet Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings. I don't know how many here are fellow LOTR geeks, but I'm telling you. Wow. Can't wait.
Anyway, I won't bore you with my life any longer! Since my last one-shot was a tad depressing, I thought I'd equal it out with this cute little funny thing. So, here it goes :D
Summary: For someone who had the Sharingan, Sasuke seemed so blind to what was right in front of him. He of all people should've known that things aren't always as they appear. SasuSaku one-shot.
Disclaimer: As if an eighteen year old girl from England could come up with something as weird and wonderful as Naruto. Kishi got there first. :(
Enjoy!
Misconception.
Sasuke Uchiha wandered down the busy streets of Konoha, ignoring each and every person that turned to watch him as he walked. He was used to the unwanted attention by now, and he was thankful that he had managed to zone out whenever civilians were nearby.
It had been nearly a year since he had returned to the village (yes, he chose the word 'returned', because 'was dragged back unwillingly by Naruto' didn't sound half as good), and he had thought that after a couple of months, the citizens of Konoha would stop their (not so) hushed gossip and get on with their lives.
"It's nearly been a year, you know. I still can't believe he should be allowed to walk these streets."
"I know. He's a disgrace to our village."
"Oh wow, look how attractive Sasuke-kun looks today!"
Apparently not.
Gossip about his return was one thing; the incessant fangirling that still took place, however, was on a whole other level of annoying.
Still, he could almost agree with some of the villagers. Not even Sasuke himself was sure why he was let off so leniently, although he thought the six months community service and a year and a half of D rank missions were merely just to annoy him; the real punishment was having to be under house arrest with Naruto for two years.
He at least thought giving them all the information he had about the Akatsuki, Orochimaru and Madara would spare him of that torment.
Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. For May, it was unusually hot weather, and he was simply sporting a t-shirt with the blue and red Uchiwa fan printed on the back, black shorts and his sandals. He thought about how hot his destination would be, and he had to suppress a groan.
As per usual, Naruto had taken it upon himself to take charge of everything Sasuke was and was not allowed to do, since he, according to the blonde, "Owned Sasuke's ass." and while Sasuke was forced to live under the same roof as the dobe, was also forced to do whatever Naruto wanted.
So, Sasuke was heading to Ichiraku's, since Naruto apparently didn't know of anywhere else for people to get together.
As the small stand came into sight, Sasuke resisted the urge to just turn around and leave before anyone saw him.
"SASUKE-TEME! Get your ass here NOW!"
Too late.
Sasuke sighed once more and headed inside, sitting down reluctantly on one of the stalls. Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he was already halfway through his third bowl of ramen. Behind him, Sasuke saw Shikamaru, Neji, Ino and Tenten, and he nodded his hellos to each of them. They replied in the same manner, and Sasuke ordered his food.
That was the basic conversation for Sasuke with any of them since his return. He always felt a little awkward around Neji and Shikamaru, knowing fully well what that they nearly lost their lives trying to bring him back all those years ago, and it wasn't exactly something the Uchiha could apologize for (not that he would apologize anyway).
It was a little different with the female members of their group. He'd noticed that Ino had stopped batting her eyelashes towards him like she had done when they were genin, and her fangirl crush seemed almost destroyed, which he was thankful for. Tenten, on the other hand, never seemed to harbour any feelings for him in the first place, which made her a lot easier to talk to in general. They had conversations in the past, often her enquiring about his different weapons, being fascinated by them.
As for the others, he hadn't seen them much at all since his return. Hinata apparently avoided coming to things like this, or anywhere that would involve Sasuke's appearance. He didn't blame her; after all, it was obvious that she was, for some bazaar reason, in love with Naruto. Sasuke's constant need to kill the blonde in the past didn't put him in her good books, and because she was too polite and shy to say anything about it, she simply didn't come at all. Chouji still hadn't really forgiven him for putting his life at stake (and Sasuke was sure that whenever Chouji said that, the image of a steak was imprinted in his head), he'd seen Kiba occasionally, but he was usually 'too busy', and the same applied to Sakura.
As Sasuke's food was placed in front of him, his thoughts drifted to the pink-haired kunoichi. She had welcomed him back, but not in the way he had expected her too, and that annoyed him. What annoyed him more, was that he had thought about how she'd welcome him to begin with. Why did he think she'd hug him and cry and be happy? He'd tried to destroy her home, nearly killed Naruto several times, and almost killed her too. He shouldn't have expected anything other than the half-hearted smile and nod that he'd received.
Still, he had silently hoped that he could, in time, repair the bond with her, like he had with Naruto and Kakashi and a few others. But she was always so damn busy, with A rank missions (when he'd heard she had become an ANBU, he couldn't hide the shock written on his face), and constant overtime at the hospital.
"So, I said to her 'come on, Saks. You haven't hung out with us in forever.' and then she was like, 'Sorry, Ino-Pig, you know I'm busy blah blah blah'. I mean, can you believe it? We all come to chill here, but she's too busy with Kiba. Ugh."
Sasuke hadn't intended to listen in on Ino and Tenten's conversation, but one mention of Sakura's name was all it took for him to eavesdrop. He didn't know why he deemed it so important, but chose to ignore his brain at this moment in time.
Sakura was busy? With Kiba?
A thousand questions sprung into his mind. Was she treating Akamaru? Was she healing a wound Kiba might have? Were they …
No. He refused to think about it. There was no way she would date Kiba. He was so not her type.
Or was he?
Sasuke hadn't been in Konoha for a while. He knew that when he left, her type was, well, him. Had it changed? Was there something about Kiba that just attracted her to him?
"Sasuke?"
He didn't want to think about it. He didn't know why he didn't want to think about it. He just didn't. The idea of the Inuzuka being that close to Sakura?
"Uhh … Sasuke?"
Maybe Sasuke was overreacting. Maybe Sakura really was just treating some wounds or something. One thing he had quickly learnt since his return was that Sakura cared deeply about everybody, and the slightest paper cut would get her medic senses in check. That was all. She was just taking care of Kiba. He must've got hurt while training or something.
… What if he was shirtless?
"SASUKE!"
Sasuke heard a loud snap and blinked, staring at the chopsticks he had just broken into splinters. He dropped the pieces onto the table and took a deep breath. Okay. He needed to clear his head.
"Sasuke … are you alright?"
Sasuke turned to look at his team mate. A blonde eyebrow was raised so high it almost disappeared off his forehead, and large blue eyes were torn between amusement and worry. Sasuke noticed that the other four had also started staring at him, almost matching the same facial expression as Naruto. Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, trying to make sense of what just happened inside his head.
"Sasuke?"
"Hn. I'm going home."
Sasuke knew that Naruto would definitely know something was wrong now – not once had Sasuke ever referred to Naruto's house as 'home'. He wasn't even sure it should be called a house. More of a pig sty.
He left the five ninja to their meals, and began walking back to Naruto's sty.
Why did he care what Sakura was doing with Kiba? What Sakura did with her life was up to her, and she had made it pretty clear that he wasn't a major part of it any more. If anything, he should be glad that she's with someone. Though he would never tell her, he still cared about her, and if her happiness meant her being with that guy with dog breath, he had to just let it go.
So why did he feel so crap about the idea?
Without even realising, Sasuke's feet had taken him the long way back to Naruto's, which inconveniently meant going past Sakura's house. Sasuke scowled at his feel for being annoying, yet continued with his journey. With any luck, she either wouldn't be home (he didn't dare think about her being somewhere with Kiba) or wasn't near enough to the window to see him.
"So, thanks again, Kiba. I really appreciate it."
Sasuke froze where he stood. He had briefly considered hiding in a nearby alley, but glared at the ground for the stupidity behind that thought. He was an Uchiha, for Kami's sake. He shouldn't be scared over something so trivial.
Nevertheless, he stayed where he was, watching Sakura and Kiba at her front door, smiling and talking quietly.
"Don't mention it, Sakura. Anything to help you out, you know that."
With that, the two hugged, before Sakura said a final goodbye and shut the door. Kiba pivoted on his heel and began to walk towards his house, which happened to be the same direction that Sasuke was going.
He wasn't sure whether to be happy that neither of them noticed him or not.
A sigh escaped his lips for the umpteenth time that day, and he continued his walk, avoiding Sakura's house at all costs.
A couple of days had passed since Sasuke's mental breakdown over Sakura. He hadn't seen her (or Kiba) since, but that was to be expected when he hadn't even left the house. He had stayed in his room, glaring at the orange painted walls that Naruto had (oh-so-nicely) done just before Sasuke moved in.
Being locked in a room for forty-eight hours gave one a lot of time to think, and that was all Sasuke had been doing.
He thought about Sakura. He thought about how he felt thinking that Sakura and Kiba were together. He thought about how Sakura made him feel in general.
He had come to two conclusions.
Either aliens had stolen his body and was currently making him think stupid thoughts and feel stupid feelings.
Or.
He liked Sakura.
But as much as he wished the former was correct, he was too realistic.
He didn't know when it happened. Maybe it was when he saw her two days ago. Maybe it was when she had told him she would do anything to be with him before he had a kunai to her back. Maybe it was even before he had left Konoha in the first place.
But at some point down the line, he had gained feelings for the pink-haired girl.
He closed his eyes as Naruto banged on the door for the fifth time today. He'd somehow managed to evade Naruto for the forty-eight hours spent in his room, and knew that Naruto (and the door) wouldn't take it much longer.
Sasuke walked over to the door and opened it, quickly catching Naruto's fist in his hand as the blonde came close to punching Sasuke in the face due to the speed he was knocking, "Can I help you?"
Naruto stared at the onyx-haired male before him, "How about you get your ass out of your room! We've all been worried! What the hell happened at the Ichi's?"
Sasuke smirked. Since his revelations, he was in a much better mood. He was an Uchiha. Uchihas get what they want. Kiba stood no chance.
"Hn."
Sasuke pushed past Naruto's figure before the Jinchuuriki had a chance to stop him. Naruto kept staring, his mouth agape. It had been impossible to communicate with the Uchiha for the last two days, and now he was acting the same as always. Naruto shook his head. He'll never understand Sasuke.
Sasuke left the house in a relatively good mood. He also had a relatively good plan for the day too. Find Kiba. Beat him up. Find Sakura. Get together.
He knew there was a chance his plan could go horribly wrong, but he wasn't willing to think of any consequences. Getting closer to Sakura's house, however, Sasuke saw something that he really wished he didn't.
Kiba was at Sakura's door with Akamaru, but that wasn't what made Sasuke stop in his tracks. As Sakura left the house, walking backwards, it became clear that she was holding a pushchair in her hands, with a child inside.
Sasuke instantly jumped to the most obvious conclusion.
She'd had a child? With Kiba? He knew he hadn't really seen her for a while, but he thought she was away on missions, not pregnant. He hadn't heard Ino or Naruto mention a child, but maybe Sakura had told them not to talk about it. Naruto wouldn't want to maybe hurt his feelings, and Ino wouldn't want the baby involved in all the drama that Sasuke Uchiha always brought with him.
It was a girl, he saw, with long brown hair (like her father, his idiot brain added) and green eyes, a tad darker than Sakura's own. She had a large smile on her face, and her little arms reached out to stroke (or tug) Akamaru, who obediently sat there and took it.
Sakura smiled at the toddler and turned the pushchair, and came face to face with Sasuke, "Sasuke. Hey, are you alright? You look a little pale … paler than usual, anyway."
Sasuke glanced from the toddler, now playing with the hem of his shorts, to Sakura's emerald orbs. He blinked for a while, unmoving. He was originally ready to break up Kiba and Sakura if he had to, but now there was a child involved too? He was a heartless block of ice, but he couldn't tear up a family. That was Itachi's job.
"Sasuke-kun?" A small hand flew to his forehead, and he watched Sakura's eyebrows furrow, "you don't have a temperature … Sasuke-kun, are you alright?"
"Maybe the heat's getting to him. He might be melting."
Sasuke suddenly remembered Kiba's presence, and saw Sakura slap him playfully while smiling. A cute couple. "Kiba, be nice. Sasuke, maybe you should get out of the sun though. Hey, we're going to the park, there's a lot of shade there, you wanna come?"
Sasuke's eyebrow raised slightly. She wanted him to the park with her, Kiba, and their daughter? Did she not see how much seeing this child had already affected him? Did she want to make him feel worse?
"No."
Sakura gasped slightly as Sasuke glared at her, before turning around and heading in the direction of Naruto's house. What was going on with him?
A small cry disrupted her thoughts, and she looked down to see the child whimpering, "Come on, Kiba, let's go. Minori's gonna get annoying soon."
"Teme, what the hell is going on with you? What … why do you look so pissed?"
Sasuke had stormed into the house, glaring at the blonde the entire time. Naruto actually cowered back slightly. A Sasuke in a bad mood was bad when he knew the reason behind it. A Sasuke in a mysteriously bad mood was even scarier.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"About Sakura and Kiba."
Naruto's eyes widened. That was what Sasuke was angry about? "Sasuke, I don't know what you've been told but-"
"I didn't have to be told, I saw it with my own eyes. Why didn't you tell me Sakura had a kid?"
Naruto stared blankly at Sasuke, before bursting into fits of laughter. After all this time, and it was just Sasuke jumping to conclusions and being jealous. Naruto should've known.
"Sasuke, Sakura doesn't have a child. You probably saw her with Minori. She belongs to Sakura's neighbour. Sakura babysits her when the parents are at work and stuff."
Sasuke halted. So the kid wasn't Sakura's? A weight had instantly lifted off of the Uchiha's shoulders. But his glare didn't falter.
"Then why is Kiba there? What's he got to do with the kid?"
Naruto smiled smugly, "Firstly, the kid's name is Minori. She awesome and adorable and if you call her 'the kid' one more time, I'll kick you so hard, you won't have any. Secondly, Kiba babysits with her because Minori loves Akamaru. If Minori starts crying, shove Akamaru in front of her, and she'll shut up and play with him for hours. It makes life easier for Sakura, especially when she has work to do."
Sasuke took all that information in. Kiba was only there because of Akamaru? The girl did seem attached to the dog, but Sasuke hadn't really connected the two when he saw them.
"Wait … did you think Sakura and Kiba were a couple?"
Sasuke glared extra hard at Naruto, who, in return, laughed once more, "Dude, they're friends. Once when she took Minori to the park, she couldn't get her to stop crying, and Kiba was walking Akamaru and once Minori saw Akamaru she fell in love with him. Since then, if Sakura's babysitting, Kiba comes round to help out. I can't believe you thought they were together!" Naruto burst into giggles again, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Thinking it over, and realising how stupid he was (his brain really wasn't cooperating with him lately. He blamed the heat), he turned and ran to the park.
After at least an hour running around the large green, Sasuke had realised that Sakura was no longer there. He turned on his heel and instead began running towards her house.
It was getting dark now, and by the time the Uchiha reached his destination, the street lights were beginning to turn on. Sasuke stood outside the front door, contemplating his next move. He had planned to knock on her door, then when she answered, he would whisk her off her feet … or something more Uchiha-like. But something stopped his fist from making the first move.
Last time he made a plan like this, it didn't go down very well. What if he knocked, and when he tried his whisking, she rejected him? He'd never had to handle rejection from a girl before, but then, he'd never felt this way about a girl before. This was a whole new thing for the Uchiha, despite having girls fall at his feet since a young age.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, revealing a confused looking Sakura. Sasuke looked at his hand. He didn't remember knocking.
"I saw you standing outside for about fifteen minutes. I figured you'd wanna come in."
Sasuke nodded once and stepped inside. He had rarely been inside since his return; if he was going to see her, it was always at Ichiraku's or the training ground. Sometimes he and Naruto would wait outside for her, but other than that, this was the furthest he had ever gone inside her home.
It was a small, cosy little place. Sakura had pictures hanging up of her friends and family, and a couple of drawings that looked like they came from Minori were stuck on her wall. He could smell food being cooked, and he immediately thought he should've come at a better time. But he couldn't leave now, especially when Sakura was staring at him the way that she was.
"I'm gonna ask you this again. Are you okay, Sasuke?"
Sasuke watched the pinkette walk back into the kitchen, and he followed, leaning against the door frame. He studied the way she cooked, and noticed her chopping up some tomatoes. Yeah. He definitely liked this girl.
"You're the doctor. You tell me."
"It doesn't quite work like that, Sasuke."
He could hear the smile on her face as she said that, then something clicked in his mind. "Sasuke-kun."
Sakura began dishing up the food, spreading it out onto two plates, "I'm sorry?"
"Earlier. You call me Sasuke-kun. Now it's just back to Sasuke."
"What's your point?"
Sasuke shook his head, "Just an observation. You expecting someone around?"
Sakura looked up as Sasuke referred to the two plates, "Well, I figured you haven't eaten yet, so since you're here, have some. Unless you want some of Naruto's microwave meals or ramen again, of course."
Sakura laughed at Sasuke reaction to the idea of food with the Dobe. She handed a plate to Sasuke and they sat at the table, eating in silence. When they were both done, Sakura took the plates and cleaned them up.
"So, why are you here? You didn't seem too happy with me earlier."
Sasuke sighed. He hoped she wouldn't have bought up his sudden departure earlier, but of course she would. She was Sakura, she always brings things up.
"Hn."
"Okay, well, as much as I appreciate that you came here, stood outside my door for fifteen minutes, then ate half of my food just because of a 'hn', Minori's asleep upstairs, and I don't want to disturb her. She'll never shut up otherwise." Sakura laughed, and Sasuke managed a smirk. His mind was going one hundred miles a minute, and though he would never admit it, he was nervous. Here they were, talking like friends, and within minutes he could successfully destroy this new bond they had.
"Can I see her?"
Sakura blinked, "Really? I mean, I guess, as long as you're quiet."
"I'm a ninja. Quiet is my speciality."
Sakura chuckled as she walked up the stairs, Sasuke in tow, "Right. Being quiet has nothing to do with the fact that you're an Uchiha."
Sasuke pulled a proper smirk at that point, feeling his confidence returning. He didn't like the person she made him, all nervous and … romantic. He felt very out of character.
Sakura opened a door quietly, and walked over to the crib that contained the sleeping toddler. Sasuke followed suite, and leaned over the railing.
"She's adorable. She lives next door, but her parents are away on a business trip at the moment. Since I have some time off from the ANBU, I have the time to look after her."
They stood in silence for a while as they watched the girl. Sasuke felt all previous doubts wash away. He had nothing to be worried about. He liked her, and, at some point, she liked him. He just had to convince her to get those feelings back, and everything would work out.
He scowled slightly as he realised that all his doubt and worry started because of this little girl in the first place.
Sakura turned and began to walk out, gesturing to Sasuke to follow. Sakura shut the door with a small 'click' and walked back downstairs.
"So, what are you really doing here? It's not just 'hn', and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just so you could see Minori sleeping, or to have food. So what's up?"
Sasuke was silent for a minute. Should he tell her how he felt? Knowing his track record for speaking words, that probably wouldn't go down well. Should he show her? He thought that would probably scare her. But what else could he do?
The Uchiha smirked, "When I saw you earlier, I thought you and Kiba had a kid."
Sakura blushed and her eyes widened, "Ew, what? Why would you think that?"
"I haven't seen you for a while. Ino said you were busy with Kiba. Minori had brown hair and green eyes. It was easy to put two and two together."
Sakura nodded slowly. She had no idea where Sasuke was going with this, and after a pretty long day with Minori, she was pretty tired. She hoped he would get to the point soon.
"So … why did you run off like that?"
"Because the idea of you and Kiba having a child bothered me."
"Why would it bother you? Last I checked, you didn't exactly care about my life."
"You haven't checked for a while."
With that being said, Sasuke grabbed the pinkette gently and placed his lips on hers. Sakura was shocked to say the least, but she slowly adapted and wound her arms around his neck, closing her eyes and savouring the moment. Sasuke smirked into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her petite waist tighter, not daring to let go.
After what seemed like hours, the two stopped for air, and Sasuke leant his forehead against Sakura's.
"W-What … h-how … why …?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked once more, "Things change. When I thought you were with Kiba, of all people …"
Sakura laughed and looked at Sasuke from beneath her eyelashes, "What made you think I'd rather be with you? Kiba's a nice guy."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He knew she was just joking around, but it didn't amuse him.
"Sakura. Of course you'd rather be with me. I'm me."
"Ah. It's good to know your ego's deflated since you came back."
Sasuke chuckled, before taking Sakura's hand and began walking upstairs.
"Uhh … Sasuke … what are you doing?"
Sasuke smirked, and Sakura couldn't help but just think how attractive it was. Sasuke glanced towards Minori's room, then looked back at Sakura, "You like looking after kids. I'm simply going to give you more to take care of."
Sakura's eyes widened as Sasuke picked her up bridal style, "S-Sasuke-kun! Not when Minori's in the other room! Not when she's anywhere near this house! Put me down!"
Sasuke all but threw Sakura onto her bed and closed the door quietly. Sakura was able to see his smirk despite the darkness of the room, and as he leant down and captured her lips in another kiss, Sakura figured maybe it wasn't so bad.
After all, at least Minori would have someone to play with.
Hands up if Sakura cooking made you hungry! *Hand goes up* I'm starving right now … thanks, Sakura ¬_¬ I always cringe at the endings of my stories, at the beginning I'm like 'yeahhh' then in the middle I'm like 'yeahhhh' then at the end I'm like 'ehhhhh' but it's alright I suppose. Things are gonna get HAWT xD Sasuke does not mess around, does he?
Like I said, I've had the idea for a while, I never pictured it to be 10 pages long in word, but hey ho. I totally know what that weather feels like, I'm currently experiencing it -_- the heat does make me crazy, I almost tried opening a bottle with an ice cream scoop. Coz I'm cool.
As I reached the end, I realised something. I AM A KIBA/SAKU CHILD. Brown hair and green eyes ftw.
Minori: Japanese unisex name meaning "truth." (I found that pretty ironic, since Sasuke didn't know the truth)
I was gonna say something else … oh well, I can't remember now. I hope y'all enjoyed this happier fic, I'm now nine stories away from having fifty stories up. Mental.
Sasuke and Sakura will be blessed with one child each time someone reviews! (Unless on popular demand, no sequel is being planned) So, ya know, GET TO IT!
Over and out! :)
-x-Emma-x-