The Festivity Complex
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It was the little things that had him suspicious.
Too many times this week had he caught Sakura staring at him or whispering something to Naruto whilst not including him. It had irritated him - the idea that he couldnt be trusted with something weighed heavily on his mind (and conscience).
Not as if he'd ever make such thoughts known to his team mates.
Though, technically, they weren't his team mates yet and Sasuke flat out refused to simply refer to them as his 'friends'.
Sasuke was still in the early days of being reinstated - he wasnt considered an official Konoha shinobi yet and he hadnt been officially placed back on Team 7. Though, it wasnt as if that stopped Sakura from dragging him to Ichiraku lunches or Naruto from sparring with him. Though, despite the familiarity of these gestures, there was still a barely concealed tension between them all. There hadnt been any apologies or deep, emotional talks between them since Sasuke's return and so they had been forced to ignore the palpable, so-called 'elephant' in the room.
Naruto still nervously laughed at menial things, scratching at the back of his head in such an obvious act of discomfort and Sakura still acted as if she was walking on eggshells around him, her smiles fake and her actions weary.
All too different to 4 years prior.
And so when Sasuke asked -or rather demanded- to know what they were whispering about and the pair had blanched and reacted exactly as they had been doing for months, the Uchiha instantly glowered and announced his leave - no longer comfortable with the discernible, obvious change in dynamic between the three of them.
…Especially when he inwardly knew that he was the cause for the change.
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It was getting ridiculous now.
Apart from the constant whisperings and hushed conversations between her and Naruto, Sakura had taken to sneaking around to odd places, various stores and visiting others from the Konoha 11. Sasuke wouldnt have found this particularly odd if it wasnt for every time he had spotted her out on one of these trips, the girl had actually proceeded to try and hide from him. He could scoff just thinking about the stupidity of it all.
But nonetheless, he frustratingly had no inkling as to what the hell all of it was about.
So as they stood on the training fields, barely finished their spar, Sasuke thought about once again demanding that Sakura told him what she was up to ….because it was really starting piss him off.
However, he didnt get a chance to as she suddenly turned to him and said, "You havent really seen anyone since you've been back, Sasuke-kun."
Glancing sideways at her, confusion flickered across his expression for a few split seconds before his usual mask of indifference was in place once more.
"Hn." He grunted before sliding his kusanagi into the rope at his back, not caring for her topic of conversation.
"Dont you want to see people?" She asked with a frown, "I thought with your birthday coming up, it'd be a good opportunity to do that. I mean….I've actually been looking around and talking to people for it and-"
As she spoke, everything seemed to click into place and Sasuke's eyes snapped back to her face, narrowed and unimpressed. Everything finally made sense.
"I dont want a party." He bit out, gaze unwavering as he watched the surprise on her face melt into one of disappointment.
"But Sasuke-"
"I said no, Sakura."
For a moment, she simply stared at him with her shoulders slumped and a frown pulling at her lips. Though, after thoroughly searching his own expression, she found the courage to speak again - stepping out of her comfort zone on walking on eggshells around the boy. If this had been like any other occasion, Sakura would have nodded and flashed that ridiculous smile of hers and carried on.
Not today apparently.
"But its you birthday tomorrow," She implored, frustration so obvious in her voice, not understanding why he was so opposed to celebrating it, "Dont you want to spend it with the people who love you?"
"Yamete." He snapped, finally turning his attention towards her, eyes flashing dangerously for a split second, "Birthdays mean nothing to me and those people mean nothing to me. They were the ones in favour to label me as a traitor." His tone was undeniably venomous so Sasuke wasnt surprised when the girl recoiled slightly, eyes narrowing with hurt.
The anger that erupted within Sasuke was so abrupt that it almost alarmed him but how dare she say that people loved him … just so she could throw a party. Those people hadnt accepted him back, they still spent as little time in his presence as possible, they still saw him as a traitorous nuke-nin.
Sasuke wouldnt dare accept the possibility that their mistrust was the source of his anger.
"But we-"
"Enough." He spat, turning his back on her and effectively ending the conversation.
It had been many years since he had happily celebrated his birthday with the people who loved him. But those people were nothing just mere ash now and he didnt need a fake celebration with a group of former friends to remind him of that.
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It was his birthday.
There hadnt been any more hints or mentions of party plans since he'd made his opinion on the matter perfectly clear. In fact, there hadnt been any thing said of his birthday at all. Neither Naruto nor Sakura had said a single word, instead just going about the day as per usual.
They had met at the bridge, trained in the grounds and eaten at Ichiraku. Naruto had whined, Sakura had hit him and Sasuke had observed quietly.
A typical day.
He found it odd if truth be told. It wasnt exactly in either of their nature's to let something go that easily nor did they often let him get his own way.
Nonetheless, Sasuke wasnt complaining. Like he had said to Sakura the day before, it was just another day.
It wasnt uncommon for them to walk home together like this after their evening meals - after all, Sakura's apartment was along the same main path he had to walk along to get home. It just made sense.
"Have you had a good day?" She asked with an innocent glance to the boy beside her.
Shooting her the briefest of glances sideways, Sasuke replied with a simple, "Hn.". He was all too aware of how this could turn into a talk about his birthday. Inwardly, he knew it had been too good to last.
Of course Sakura wouldnt be able to resist.
Though, she didnt breach the topic again instead opting to talk of menial things - like how she had seen Kiba with Ino earlier and wondered if something was going on between the two, or about how annoyed she was with Naruto for 'forgetting' to pay for dinner again.
Odd.
The rest of the walk was filled her mindless chatter that he learned to become accustomed to and his occasional nod or comment. Sakura wasnt quite as annoying as she used to be. She still cared too much about stupid things and had far too much of a short temper but she had matured in more ways than one and Sasuke could say he honestly didnt mind her company too much any more.
Even if she was still annoyingly on edge around him sometimes. But Sasuke knew that he was to blame for acting in such a way and only time would heal those sorts of issues.
This hadnt been a bad birthday, he had decided. It was certainly the best he'd experienced in years. Between joining Orochimaru and before he returned to Leaf, birthdays had been the last thing on his mind. In fact, he couldnt even recall if he had even acknowledged the day during those times.
"Sasuke-kun,"
His thoughts were interrupted as her voice, a little louder than before, sounded out from beside him. Turning to face her as he realised they were already at her apartment, Sasuke waited for the girl to bid him goodnight as she usually did. However, she hesitated in whatever she was about to say and he found himself frowning.
"Come up with me?" She asked quickly, green eyes snapping to his face with some sort of new determination.
Sasuke blanched. What?
She must have seen the confusion and downright alarm on his expression as her cheeks suddenly flushed a bright pink before she shook her head fervently.
"No no I didnt mean that!" She practically squeaked, blush travelling to her ears as her face was quickly tinting to the same colour as her namesake, "I need you to just come up with me,"
Onyx eyes narrowed in suspicion, a quick "Why," slipping past his lips a tad harsher than intended.
Moving towards him a little, it looked as if wanted to reach out to him but the contact never came. Instead, Sakura cleared her throat quietly and glanced up at him with a frown, "I know what you said yesterday-"
It was shocking how quickly his good mood was to disappear, replaced by such a fiery anger that Sasuke actually felt the need to step away from her, lest he do something stupid.
Had she really just so blatantly ignored him when he told her that he didnt want to celebrate his birthday? Had she really filled her apartment with people in the hopes that he may simply change his mind?
"I told you-" He hissed, unable to keep the irrevocable anger from his tone. After all this, apparently Sakura hadnt changed at all. However, this time, it was the girl's turn to interrupt him.
"Its not what you think!" Sakura said, the desperation in her voice all but subtle. Perhaps she hadnt been expecting such opposition from the boy.
He glared at her, still silently seething. For the briefest of seconds, their gazes held and some sort of silent look passed between them before Sasuke turned on his heel and began to leave.
"No, wait!" Just as her voice reached his ears, he felt something wrap around his wrist, tugging him backwards to halt his movements before she spoke again, "Please, Sasuke-kun."
He turned his face to look at her, eyes still narrowed and angry but he didnt pull away from her.
"Its not what you think, just trust me."
Those words washed over him in a strange sort of daze. Just trust me. She was looking at him so earnestly, her viridian green eyes so narrowed with hope that he found himself faltering.
Since he returned, had she really given him any reasons for him not to trust her?
"...Fine." He bit out, still not allowing the bite to slip from his tone as she smiled brightly. Only then did the girl spin on her heel, never letting go of his wrist as she led him up the steps to her home. With every step, Sasuke felt like tearing his arm from her grasp and turning back around.
He could learn to trust her another day. Though, perhaps she could sense this as her grip tightened almost uncomfortably around his wrist.
As they approached his door, she turned to him with a slightly smile -was she nervous too?- and said, "Ready?"
However, before he could answer, the girl had pushed open her door and the immediate shouts "Congratulations!" filled the air around them.
Wait…what?
Looking into her apartment, Sasuke didnt find a room full of crowded people or banners that read cliche birthday messages. He found Naruto, Kakashi and Sai standing alone, surrounded by streamers and signs that read 'Congratulations, Sasuke!'
Dragging his eyes around the room once more, not finding any sort of answers to his many, many questions, Sasuke turned to look at the girl beside him who was pulling something out of her weapons pouch.
"I went to see Shishou today and she told me to give you this," Glancing down to the object in her hands, his eyes fell on a new Konoha headband and his chest suddenly felt heavy with understanding.
"I know you said you didnt want to celebrate your birthday," Her voice was so soft and tender that it made something twist within his stomach involuntarily, "…So I thought we'd celebrate this instead."
Only then did her eyes, which had been tracing the patterns of the metal plate in her hands previously, rise to gaze up at him, her lips stretching into the brightest, most honest smile he had seen since his return.
For a few moments, all he could do was stare at her, the feeling in his chest so overwhelming he didnt know what to do otherwise. Even when the girl told him to turn around and Sasuke felt the unfamiliar (yet oh so familiar) weight against his forehead, he could do nothing but swallow a strange lump that had formed in his throat.
"There," When she moved beside him again, his gaze flickered around the room and decorations, which were all there for him before returning to her once more. She had done all of this for him despite how he had snapped and practically bitten her head off at a mere mention of his birthday the day before.
It made him frown.
Sakura simply smiled back.
"Woohoo! Sasuke-teme can come on missions with us again!"
Naruto's almost obnoxiously loud voice broke the calm sort of serenity of the moment and drew both their eyes to the other members still waiting.
"Not so fast, Naruto-baka," Sakura chastised easily, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to look at the blonde, "There's still paperwork to be done and decisions to be made-"
"Aw c'mon Sakura-chan! This is supposed to be a party! Kakashi bought balloons and everything!"
"What exactly are the purpose of balloons at social gatherings like this?"
"What do you mean, whats the point? They just…you…YOU JUST NEED THEM."
As chatter suddenly erupted in the small apartment, it took all but Sakura's quiet giggle and the door shutting behind him to snap him from his thoughts.
"Come on, Sasuke-kun, you cant just stand there all night, Naruto will start compl-"
"Thank you," He found himself blurting out, effectively interrupting her and drawing surprised green eyes to his face.
Her hand brushed his for the briefest of moments before she quietly replied with a "You're welcome," expression softening. He found himself looking away, suddenly feeling oddly vulnerable under her scrutiny. Within seconds, Sakura was pulling him away from her door and into the fray of 'celebrations' in her living room, laughing as Naruto managed to somehow pin a party hat to the Uchiha's head.
"Dobe," Disgruntled, he managed to rip the offensive object from his hair and throw it back at the blonde's face, making him splutter and curse. Though, as much as he tried, Sasuke couldnt quite hold back the smirk that was tugging at the corners of his lips or push down the airy, light feeling that was settling within him - a feeling which was so close to being almost euphoric, it felt like a distant memory to him.
Sakura's gaze was set firmly on him as he bickered with Naruto, the girl watching with silent glee as something danced between those dark eyes of his - if she didnt know better, she'd say he was happy.
It was then that their eyes met briefly. In turn, he smirked softly and she smiled brightly.
Happy Birthday, Sasuke-kun
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So this was one of the prompts I wrote on my tumblr (on my profiley page) so i put it up here because I felt like I needed soooomething to start things off.
Review if you like~