Uchiha Sasuke, seven years old and currently the youngest member of his small immediate family, heaved a sigh that sounded too tired for his age, throwing a pebble out into the dusty road that stretched before him, uncaring of where it landed or who it inconvenienced. Crouched down right outside the Academy, where he had finished his courses for the day more than an hour before, he sat with his back to the fence and his eyes boring into the ground as he waited for his older brother to pick him up. He had promised he would be there, in exchange for all the times Sasuke had asked him to train with him, to show him a single technique, if he had no time for more, and he had refused.
So far, he wasn't doing a much better job at keeping his promises than he was at being a good older brother.
Sasuke resolved he would wait for him a while more, and if he didn't show up, he would never again ask him for something. He admired him, truly, with all of his heart. For him, there was no greater person, no one other in whose footsteps he would want to follow; not even their father had left such an impression on him. But he was tired of always coming last on his list of priorities and thus always ending up disappointed. He could become a great ninja on his own, without his brother's help, no matter how much harder it would be.
Ten minutes passed in silence.
He was about to stand up and leave when he heard a muted mewl, followed by a light giggle that spiked his curiosity. He had been under the impression that he was the only one left in the vicinity of the Academy, seeing as the place was somewhat isolated and pretty much deserted once the students headed home, but the sounds had come from behind him—and behind him was only the yard.
Frowning—irritated, but not quite able to curb his curiosity—Sasuke stood and wandered back on school territory, onyx eyes carefully scanning the green surroundings so that he could identify the source of the noise. He had a hard time finding it, he'd give it that, but eventually, he stumbled across what he had been unknowingly searching for: a small, pink-haired girl surrounded by a bunch of different cats that mewled and purred while she fed them little pieces of food provided from her lunch bag.
Sasuke blinked.
"Oi," he called. The reason why he had felt the need to do that was unknown, even to him, but Sasuke had never been one to keep to himself when he had something to say. "What are you doing?"
Gasping in obvious surprise, the girl turned to face him, green eyes wide as they fell on his figure. The pink hair had struck a vague piece of information inside him, but it was only now that he was finally able to properly place her in his memory.
She was in his class; she sat in front of him, a couple of rows ahead, all by herself, so her pink hair was always directly in his line of sight. She was very smart and always scored 100 percent on all of her tests, which irked him, because even he had trouble doing the same.
However, she sucked at the practical parts; just the day before, they had been throwing kunais, and he had been unable not to notice how her aim was off and her posture downright ridiculous. Iruka-sensei had shown them all how to do it, but she seemed to be the type of person that needed special attention, which their teacher was unable to give. Sasuke had to wonder if there was something wrong with her of if there was no one to help her at home, because one couldn't possibly be so bad at throwing kunais when they wanted to call themselves a ninja in a few short years.
She tried hard, though, which was probably the only reason why he took notice of her, in the first place. Whenever he remained after school to practice for whatever reason, she was there, as well. And she was improving—slowly, very, very painfully slowly—but she was, and that was what truly mattered.
"I'm feeding these cats," she answered simply, gazing up at him with eyes that seemed too large for her face and were certainly too expressive for a shinobi-in-training.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I can see that," he snapped, annoyed, but immediately felt bad for losing his patience so quickly when he saw her flinch at his harsh response.
"I… You asked," she stumbled over her words, ending her declaration with a shrug.
"Does your mother know you're feeding stray cats with the food you're supposed to be eating yourself?" he asked, half wanting to disperse the uncomfortable atmosphere, half genuinely curious, because he had done the same once, a couple of years before, and his own mother hadn't been very happy.
Her pink locks covered her face and hid her expression from his careful perusal when she bowed her head, shaking it in negation.
A moment passed in silence and Sasuke began, once again, to lose his patience.
"Well?" he pressed, crossing his arms over his chest as he huffed. "Why are you doing this?"
"It's… it's not my food," she admitted slowly, softly.
He raised an eyebrow. "You're stealing food so you can feed stray cats?"
The strange girl shook her head. "No… I…" Hesitating, she glanced up at him, probably trying to gauge whether he had any intention of leaving the matter to rest. Whatever she saw in his expression, be it stubbornness or annoyance, it didn't please her, for she sighed in defeat and looked back down. "My mother… she makes food for my friends, too. Except… I don't really have any."
Sasuke blinked. Though, he realized after a moment, that shouldn't come as a surprise to him. He had noticed, of course, but since he had never actually been interested in other people's lives unless he was bored out of his mind or they interfered, in one way or another, with his own, he hadn't actually acknowledged the fact that she was always alone. She always sat in silence, in her corner, reading a book or doodling on a piece of paper; she always practiced alone, he never saw her around at lunchtime, and he only ever heard her voice when their teacher asked for her contribution.
"Why?" he asked, and she titled her head up in confusion. "Why don't you have any friends?"
She gave a slow shrug, as if that was a question she asked herself a lot, but never found an answer to. "People don't like me," she said. Although she tried to make it sound as casual as possible, Sasuke could see that it bothered her in the frown that marred her features. "They say my forehead is too big. Plus, my hair is pink, so that makes me a freak." Nodding to herself, she bowed her head again. "I guess I can understand that."
"You're not a freak," he immediately said, and ended up being surprised himself by his outburst.
She looked up at him with an expression that showed she was unsure of what to make out of his remark, unsure of whether he was being honest or preparing his ground so he could be cruel. "Thanks," she eventually decided to say.
A cat mewled at her feet, then, and she turned her attention back to the small felines surrounding her and the sandwich she held in her hand. Cracking a smile, she began to break the food into little pieces, which she immediately started sharing out to the animals.
"My mother said that maybe if I did something nice for them they'd change their minds and want to be my friends," she continued with her explanation without his prompting. "I knew they wouldn't, but I couldn't say no. They pulled my hair and said my food had to be poisoned if it was freaks ate. I don't want my mom to know what they said or that it didn't work, so I can't give her a reason to stop packing me so much food."
Without his consent, Sasuke's eyes softened. She was a weird girl, that was true, but that was only in comparison to others. It wasn't because her hair was pink or because her forehead was wide; rather, it was because she was so smart and so silent. She didn't try to catch anyone's attention—not even his—and she never filled the air with mindless chatter.
Even now, as he stood across from her, Sasuke had to wonder if she wanted him there or was secretly bothered by his presence, but refrained from saying it.
"My mother likes cats," he offered after a couple of moments of silence. "She says animals can be friends, too."
"I know," she answered, with a smile, and shifted her position so that she was now sitting on the grass, rather than crouching down. "It wouldn't bother me that people don't like me if they left me alone," she confessed in a sad whisper.
"I'm Sasuke," he suddenly said and impulsively stepped forward, towards her, fully intent on being her friend, if no one else wanted the same.
But she looked up at him with an expression that made him stop dead in his track. "I know," she said, smiling sadly, and he was struck with the realization that, just like everybody else, he hadn't known her name. "My name's Sakura."
Sasuke had never been mean to her and he had certainly never bothered her; he was above doing that. But did that make him much different than the people who did? Either she was invisible or she was bullied, but the fact remained that no one paid her any positive attention or appreciated her for who she was.
One of those late afternoons spent together but ignoring each other's presence, Sasuke could have walked up to her, introduced himself, and helped her with her aim, considering he thought it was so bad. He could have stopped criticizing her and trying to find reasons for her ineptitude in his head and done something nice and useful for both her and him. But he hadn't as much as thought about that.
Swallowing, Sasuke continued his approach until he was able to crouch down in front of her.
"Do you want me to help you with that?" he asked, nodding to the cats mewling and pushing insistently against her legs.
She looked up in surprise, obviously caught completely off guard, and he had to wonder when the last time that someone their own age had offered their help to her was. Judging by her expression, he had to be the first in a long while.
"Yes," she said, before a pretty blush bloomed on her cheeks. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."
His brother never came to pick him up that evening. Later, when he arrived home, Sasuke found out that he had been called on an emergency mission. He wasn't mad at him, though. His motivation still stood, he would never ask him for anything again, because he was tired of begging and never receiving; that was not the Uchiha way.
But he had a new resolution to turn over in his head as he lied in his bed that night.
He'd take care of Sakura, he resolved. He'd be her friend and he'd make sure she would never be as lonely as she'd been until then. Plus, he'd help her improve her aim—she would need that, if she didn't want to die. And until she got it right and became stronger, he'd protect her.
Nodding to himself, he turned on his side, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, satisfied.
A/N: Inspired by the many great one-shots I have been reading lately! I don't know exactly where it came from, but I was itching to write it, so I did! SasuSaku Month does that to me; I have many ideas, so maybe I will get around to posting them soon! Though, I'm still working on my updates, so we'll see!
Let me know what you thought!