Diffusing the Situation
Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto and all its incarnations, I simply twist his words.
Summary: He's hiding and she's pissed so she turns to the only person she knows that can take her to him. Uchiha Sasuke. AU
Pink hair flew by like the ominous flag of an enemy country.
People were being shoved, feet were being stomped on, and books were being mercilessly kicked out of the way as five feet and three inches of righteous fury tore through the halls.
She was on a war path and the person she was aiming her anger at was nowhere to be found.
Who did he think he was? The damn Dalai Lama! Where the fuck did he get off from humiliating her like that?
She kicked down the roof door and rounded on her pray.
"Uchiha," she spat. "Where is he?"
Nonchalance coloring his posture as he idly observed her with disinterested black orbs, the obstacle between her and her immediate gratification calmly addressed. "Haruno."
"Don't you 'Haruno' me Uchiha! Where is he? Where is Naruto?"
"Running from you I presume."
With dark clouds framing her petite frame and the wind billowing her short hair wildly, Sakura looked dangerously unhinged. "I'm not joking Sasuke. Now answer me, where did he run to?"
"I'm not joking either Sakura–"
"Don't call me Sakura!" she snapped.
He cocked an eyebrow. "And I thought we were finally on a first name basis Haruno what with you calling me Sasuke and all."
"Sasuke, I swear if you don't tell me where he is…" she threatened.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Like I said Sakura, he's running from you and whatever you –" he took in her haggard appearance, "–have planned for him."
Outraged, the pinkette hissed, "Do you know what he did today? I should have you turned in for loitering on campus Uchiha."
He scoffed. "Back to last names are we Haruno?" Sasuke fixed her with a bland stare. "You're all talk Haruno. You're just pissed that your little whipping boy finally got the balls to call you out on your shit today."
"Call me out? You think he called me out Uchiha! He didn't call me out – he humiliated me! In front of everyone too!" She inched closer, determined to intimidate the answer out of the dark-haired boy. "You think I won't do it? That I won't snitch to the campus authorities that you're here? I will, I swear to God I will if –"
"Will you shut up?" he snapped. "God, you sound like a fuckin' broken record! This is exactly why Naruto told you off today."
Menacingly, she bared her teeth. "Oh yeah, enlighten me on what exactly this –" Sakura motioned, "–is?"
"This?" He tilted his head in a parody of innocence. "This is you and your God damn shitty attitude!"
"I have a shitty attitude?"
He smiled an unfriendly and unfairly pretty smile. "Yes and you're a shitty friend to have too."
She was gob smacked. The hot anger that was simmering down to cool anger flared. "I'm a shitty friend? I'm. A. Shitty. Friend." She enunciated with hard pokes between each biting word.
He smirked. "Yeah, you are."
Drawing up to his full height, he towered over her, leaning down only slightly to her ear to finish his hurtful comment. "Didn't you think he'd get tired? Tired of always taking your hits? To listening to all your damn excuses of why you couldn't hang out with him? Or why you couldn't talk in the hallways? Didn't you think he'd eventually get fed up to being second to everything in your life? Of how you being Little Miss Perfect was more important than your friendship with him?" He was breathing on her neck now and huskily he finished, "I know I was I fuckin' tired of hearing him bitch about it."
She blew up. "Fuck you Uchiha!" Sakura snarled. "Like you're one to talk! If I recall –" she smiled nastily, "–you ditched Naruto and I to go to Oto."
"Shut up."
Her smile turned wicked. "And if I recall correctly, you kicked the crap out of him when he called you out on the reason why you transferred. Why –" she continued with false sweetness, "–with your daddy issues and your incessant need to surpass your bro–"
"Shut up!" He repeated forcefully.
"–ther, I'm actually insulted that you consider me a bad friend when clearly you take the cake."
"Shut the fuck up Sakura!" Sasuke snapped, turning the tables on the wide-eyed girl. "God! And you wonder why he said what he did today. You're so damn presumptuous. You think so fuckin' highly of yourself it's a damn miracle that you don't demand a title to your name. And you just don't get it do you?"
Even being the one cornered against the wall, Sakura wasn't one to play the victim. With a stubborn set to her mouth and a glare that cowed the bravest and stupidest of men, she sneered, "What? What exactly don't I get Sasuke?"
His angry expression melted, replaced with apathy before shaping into another expression she knew too well with the Oto student. Arrogance. "The world –" he remarked slowly, "–won't fuckin' end if you stop being perfect and just relax for once."
Sakura froze. His words echoing the comments thrown by Naruto earlier in the day caused the angry retort on her lips to die. Her brain disconnected with her mouth as she repeated his and Naruto's words over and over in her head.
"The world won't end if you stop being perfect, Sakura," he snapped, blue eyes gleaming dangerously.
Angrily, she retorted, "I'm not perfect –"
"And that's the problem isn't it? That you're not perfect. That's why you're so damn uptight!" With a hollow laugh, he continued. "What are you so damn desperate for that you don't have time for any of your friends?"
Sakura shut her eyes, willing the memory of him abruptly leaving before she could reply to disappear as she slid down the wall. "Is that what you think? What everyone thinks of me?" She parroted the boy's earlier words, "That I'm 'Little Miss Perfect' and that I'm so uptight that I'm a bad friend?"
Relentlessly, Sasuke affirmed, "Yeah, we kind of do."
She looked down, flicking her head so her pink locks would cover her face. Trust Sasuke to make her feel crappy about herself.
They were silent for a few moments before Sasuke broke the tension. "Hey, you're not going to cry on me now?" he sounded like somewhere between annoyed and horrified. "Are you?"
"No," she snapped, rubbing the moisture from her face. "It's sprinkling damn it."
Sakura heard a clicking noise above her and Sasuke groaned. "Yes, you are." With a disgruntled scowl, he angled his umbrella to cover her head and Sakura scooted over as Sasuke slid down the wall next to her.
"When did you become such a boy scout Uchiha?" she sniffled weakly as she grudgingly allowed him to sit closer to hide beneath the new coverage of his umbrella.
"About the same time you became a bitch Haruno."
"Ass."
"So I've heard."
Sakura buried her face into her hands, feeling the grittiness of her make up as it smeared. "God, this is humiliating."
"For you or for me? Because I swear, I'm denying ever doing anything nice for you Haruno."
"You just have to have the last word don't you Uchiha?"
Sasuke shrugged, "What can I say? I don't like losing even when it comes to stupidly witty come backs."
Sakura glared at him for a minute before looking towards her shoes. She pulled her legs closer to her to keep away from the steady drizzle.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
She was cold and wet, and a little more than deflated as time flew by and idly, she realized that she probably missed the last two periods up here on the roof. Sakura frowned at that realization and wondered if she should probably leave to go change and hopefully, return to class.
"Hold this for a second," Sasuke muttered as he shoved something into her hand.
It took her few seconds to comprehend what just happened as Sasuke shifted repeatedly. He gave her the umbrella and was now fishing around his pockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Looking for something," he replied and with a self-satisfied smirk, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes accompanied by a silver lighter.
Sakura's eyes widened and shook her head adamantly. "No! You are not smoking on school grounds!"
"Why? Not like I'm actually gonna get in trouble for it."
Indignantly, she squeaked, "I could get in trouble for it!"
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "And how's that?"
"You can smell the damn stink from one of those things dumbass!"
He smirked and if it wasn't so damn detrimental to the bad boy image he had been cultivating since before middle school, he would have laughed. "It's raining smartass; any smell can be washed off easily enough." He looked provokingly at her and with a practiced hand he popped a stick into his mouth and ignited the tip. "'Sides Haruno, you're such a God damn goody-too-shoe that no one could possibly think that you'd light a smoke."
Appearing to struggle between looking offended and petulant, Sakura shoved the umbrella back into Sasuke's hand after he dropped his lighter back into his pants. "Gimme it."
He shot her a dubious glance. "I just lit the damn thing."
"Goddammit Uchiha, just give me the fuckin' cancer stick!"
"And let you put it out," he scoffed. "I don't think so."
Whether it was from the tongue lashing she got from her supposed best friend or whether it was from the irritation she garnered from Sasuke's fast insults, Sakura felt unnaturally rebellious and vindictive as she plucked the glowing cigarette from his curled finders and inhaled.
It burned.
"You gonna choke?" he asked with amusement.
"No," she bit out as she pressed her tongue to the top of her mouth. Thankfully she didn't cough and Sasuke didn't care to look at her red tinged eyes.
"What was that for?"
"Don't know."
"Trying to prove something?"
"Maybe."
Unsure how to approach the clearly impulsive girl, Sasuke paused before quietly commenting, "You know that he didn't mean to hurt you."
Sakura shrugged. "Just cause he didn't mean to doesn't mean that he didn't."
"For the record, when I said that he bitches, I didn't mean it in an all bad way either."
"I know."
Uncomfortably, he plowed on, "He thinks of you like a sister you know." He paused and glanced to weigh her reaction.
She remained impassive.
"Which is kind of weird with him hitting on you throughout elementary and junior high. Obviously, no one mentioned to him what incest was."
Finally, Sakura cracked a smile. "God, are you trying to make a joke Uchiha?"
"Is it working Haruno?"
She laughed weakly. "Actually, you're kind of scaring me. Just what exactly do they do in Oto that makes a guy like you change from a bastard with a stick up your ass to just a plain wise cracking asshole?"
Sasuke shrugged noncommittally. "It just happens." Then thinking about it a little, he smirked, "Maybe we should send the Dobe to go enroll."
"Yeah, and what would he learn? Not-to-be-an-idiot-1-0-1?"
"I was thinking more on the lines of how-to-approach-girls-and-what-not-to-say-to-them."
A small grin lit up Sakura's face. "Oh and you're such an expert at that."
Rolling back his shoulders, Sasuke shot back, "Haven't been slapped yet."
"That's 'cause you're pretty Sasuke," she sniped. "No one blames a pretty person for being stupid."
He smirked, "You think I'm pretty Sakura?"
"Just 'cause I don't like you doesn't mean I'm blind Sasuke. You're pretty." She shrugged. "Don't let it go to your ego."
Dryly, he replied, "Oh believe me. Being told I'm 'pretty' doesn't do much for me."
"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that and you might actually believe it," Sakura smirked as the sun peaked out from the cover of clouds.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You done with annoying me yet?"
"I guess." Sakura was quiet for a moment then she stood.
"I didn't say that you had to leave."
Sakura dusted off the bottom of her skirt. "Yeah, well, I have to get to class anyways."
He glanced at her unconvinced. "You just missed probably three classes. Don't see the point in going to the last two."
"Yeah, well I do," she shrugged before turning back to him. "Thanks Sasuke. I mean it."
"It was nothing."
She mumbled, "Oh."
Awkwardly, he tossed, "We should do this sometime. Again. You know, if the Dobe pisses you off again."
She smiled then. "Yeah, same for you, you know –" she motioned, "–if Naruto irritates you again."
Sasuke smirked. "Used to it so don't get your hopes up too high."
"Don't worry," she laughed, "I won't." Sakura glanced at her wristwatch, "I guess I'll go look for Naruto and apologize or something."
"Don't look too hard." He leaned back on the wall. "You were pretty pissed back there; he's probably shaking in his jumper after hearing how you tore through the halls." He smirked broadly. "You should let him sweat a bit."
Sakura looked at him oddly. "You're cruel Sasuke."
Sasuke shrugged. "He's my self-proclaimed best friend."
"Right," she stretched disbelievingly. "Bye Uchiha."
He quirked an eyebrow and mocked, "Bye Haruno."
Sakura smiled good-naturally before relenting. "Goodbye Sasuke."
"Later Sakura," he called back as he watched her leave through the same door she kicked open.
Sasuke maintained his eyes on the doorway until he could no longer here the wet squeak of her shoes. Haruno Sakura was really something when she was angry at something – even more so when that something happened to be the Dobe.
Getting up and dusting off his own damp pants when he was assured that she wouldn't return, Sasuke walked over to the other side of the roof and towards the door that led directly to the boys' locker room two floors down.
He kicked it twice and waited for the slow twist of the knob.
"She gone?" Naruto asked as he peaked through the small crack.
Sasuke shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Yeah."
The blond let out a relieved sigh before widening the doorway. "Thank God, Teme." He turned a reproachful eye at his raven-haired best friend. "I thought she was going to kill me!"
He brushed nonchalantly by him. "Was close to it Dobe."
"You bastard!" Naruto sputtered. "This was all your fault!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "None more than your dumbass for actually doing it." He smirked. "Really Naruto? What the hell did you expect when I offered you lunch?"
"Nothing as suicidal as poking a sleeping bear," the orange-clad student muttered. "Really, keep on asking me to do dangerous shit like this and I don't think I'll ever let you come around again." He eyed the boy as he took a drag from a newly lit cigarette. "Why'd you bribe me? With ramen no less?"
Letting out a ring of smoke, Sasuke did the one thing that only really ever disturbed Naruto. He grinned.
"You hate ramen," the blond stated accusingly.
"Yes but you're the idiot who loves that shit."
Naruto glared before relaxing enough to give Sasuke a devious grin. "You know that when she finds out that you bribed me to humiliate her in front of the class, she's going to kill you."
"I didn't bribe you to humiliate her in front of the class; I bribed you to piss her off."
Naruto shook his head. "Same difference Teme. Either way you're fucked." He spared another accusatory glance at his friend. "You like that don't you Teme?"
He smirked.
"What can I say? Sakura's hot when she's angry."
A/N: A little different then what I usually do. I've never really been fond of AU!verses so it was a challenge for me. I wanted to keep Sakura and Sasuke fairly true to their personalities but at last, I couldn't do it with how I shaped their pasts to be in the back of my mind. Personally, it felt a bit too fast pace for my taste but I don't think I could do anything to make it any better than the finished product.
