A/N: Sorry for yet /another/ slow going chapter, but I'm trying to get the setting, Sakura and Sasuke's I'm trying to get a handle on both their characters. This chapter kinda explains where Sakura's at at this point. I don't want to ignore other characters, but I definitely like writing Sakura and Sasuke one on one, so tell me which you prefer, even if it's both or a balance of the two. I do want to get some more angsty seriousness instead of just entirely awkward, I just hope you can be patient with me. ;) But yeah, tell my anything if you want to see it. I can't promise you anything, but it can help. ;)
Anyways, enjoy. I'm thinking we'll address some beginnings of an idea for Sasuke's punishment in the next chapter, hopefully. XD I kinda write by the seat of my pants.
Dislaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and he alone, ne?
000
Chapter 3
i wanted to be tall
000
"WHAT!?" Ino screeched, her blue pupil-less eyes boring into Sakura's green ones, making the pink-haired girl wince under the force of it.
"A little louder, pig; I don't think Amegakure heard you," Sakura hissed, resisting the urge to smack her childhood friend over the head.
"Sorry, I just... What?" she repeated, quieter but no less fervent.
"You heard me." Sakura might as well have been pouting, crossing her arms and leaning away, her eyebrows lowered and her lips puckered. "I don't need to repeat myself."
"Hell no you don't! I don't need it to be said twice in order for me to remember that Uchiha freaking Sasuke has already asked you out on multiple dates!" Ino emphasized her words by leaning forward on the sofa and jerking her arms around when she got to Sasuke's name.
"They weren't dates, pig," Sakura near spatted. She really hoped they weren't. That would just... confuse her even more. She didn't know what to do with herself as it was.
"He took you out to eat multiple times! Just the two of you. In what universe does that not sound like a date?" It was Ino's turn to cross her arms, her right brow ticking up in skepticism.
"Naruto has taken me out to eat at Ichiraku's hundreds of times," Sakura shot back.
"Yeah, but that's Naruto. You know how many people he's probably gone to Ichiraku's with? This is Sasuke. How many people have seen him eat with one on one?"
Zero, Sakura was pretty sure. She sighed and wilted into her couch cushions, bringing up a hand to massage her forehead. "I don't know..."
Ino mimicked her sigh and Sakura felt the plush shift beside her.
"I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away. How are you feeling about this?"
Sakura pursed her lips and shook her head, letting her hand flop into her lap. "I don't know, Ino... I just..." She paused to bite her lip.
"How do you feel about him?" the Yamanaka prompted, voice far more gentle now.
"I-I... I don't know! I said I forgave him and I thought I did, but... It's not like I hold what he did against him, but he's still Sasuke. He may have come back to us, but he's still Sasuke, the same person who abandoned us and tried to kill Naruto and tried to kill Kakashi-sensei and tried to kill me and wanted to kill all the Kages... He came back willingly, but that traitor-that killer-is still a part of him, even if it's in the past, so I can't just forget that and expect him to suddenly be perfect..." Ino nodded continuously throughout her rant, eyes wide but soft and sympathetic. Sakura grimaced and silence swallowed the room for a long moment.
Ino inhaled, hesitated, and then spoke. "...Do you still love him?"
A bitter snort jerked Sakura's shoulders. "If I do, I still hate him that much more... He shot a chidori through my chest. It may have been a genjutsu, but he obviously wanted it to feel real to me..." Ino grimaced.
"But you still do love him?" She pushed, eyes expectant.
"I didn't say-"
"But you didn't say you didn't, either."
Sakura slumped back, resigned, and stared at the ceiling. She heard Ino sigh again next to her and Sakura resisted doing the same. It was too complicated. Her brain felt like scrambled eggs.
"Just be careful, Sakura." Sakura didn't miss the warning in her voice. Remaining impassive, she looked to Ino through the corner of her eye, head still facing up.
"I know," she mumbled.
"I mean it... I don't mean to be forward-" Ha, Sakura thought. "-but you've been chasing after him for so long and all he's done in the past is break your heart and stomp all over the pieces. I'm not saying he can't change, just... be careful, okay?"
Sakura turned to face her closest confidant and forced the intensity she felt into her expression, locking gazes.
"I promise. I'm different now. Whatever this is, it definitely won't be like last time."
Ino's lips quirked up at the corners and the atmosphere immediately lightened, tension leaking out of Sakura's limbs like a faucet. It felt good to get some of that out of her system.
"Now that we got that out of the way, we should totally doll you up for tonight!" Ino squealed, clasping her hands in front of her face excitedly.
"What!? No! It's a group activity, pig." She shoved her friend backwards, ignoring the way she squeaked when she nearly tumbled off the sofa. "Even if it wasn't, we're still not sure if they were even dates-"
"Pfft," Ino scoffed as she stood to her feet, hands on her hips. "I'm sure they were. Don't know who you mean by 'we-" She suddenly stiffened, arms falling to her sides and eyes going wide. Sakura jumped to her feet, alarmed.
"What is it?"
"We're late," she murmured.
Sakura paused. "...What?"
"We're late! We're late, we're late, we're so late!" Ino fumbled with herself, finally turning towards Sakura. "For the get together tonight; we're late!"
Oh.
"Oh."
Ino raised her eyebrows. Sakura blinked.
"Oh! The get together! Right!"
000
Yakiniku Q bustled with its evening crowd, creating a coziness emphasized by the yellow lanterns and friendly chatter throughout its entirety. It set Sakura at ease immediately and soothed her mind like cool water on fevered skin. Ino pattered behind her, hands ushering her forward whenever she faltered. Sakura found it both comforting and irritating, but she kept her more-pink-than-usual lips pressed together as they navigated towards the back room (where a table big enough to accommodate them all would be) where their friends were probably waiting for them.
"Don't worry; you look amazing," Ino hissed in her ear as they approached. Despite Sakura's obvious decline to being 'dolled up', Ino had her way in the end, as usual. But they met at a happy medium; subtle beauty. Surprisingly, Ino said Sakura already had that but they were just going to increase that subtle beauty by a fraction. Light mascara, a natural shade of lipstick, a splash of blush to accent her pink hair, modest green jewelry to bring out her eyes and a last touch of Ino's fragrant lotion on her hands and neck instead of full blown perfume, which may have been too obvious.
After some fussing from Sakura, Ino assured her that the ones who would probably notice the changes (Shikamaru or Shino) would most likely be the same ones to keep it to themselves. The biggest worry was Lee, but he was always complimenting her appearance so it shouldn't be a big deal.
"Chin up. It's just a friendly gathering," came Ino's voice again. "Here we go." And then they popped into the doorway for all of Konoha 11 to see.
"Hey!" Ino greeted, smile in place as she scampered off to one of the empty spaces, leaving the last empty spot for Sakura right next to Naruto... and Sasuke. "Sorry we're late!" Shikamaru mumbled something about the troubles of women as Sakura gathered her resolve, smiling at her teammates while taking a seat.
"You're just as bad as Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan," Naruto complained, even while his eyes portrayed their usual warmth.
Sakura huffed a laugh, elbowing her orange-clad teammate in the ribs. "I'm not that bad." Sai smiled at her from Naruto's other side.
"You were exactly twenty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds late, Sakura, barely one-fourth of Kakashi-senpai's usua-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's eat already! I'm starving!" Naruto huffed, tapping his tongs on the table while eying the heated grill as Sai began listing the symptoms of starvation, most likely to conclude with the fact that Naruto was most certainly not starving.
Sakura kept her gaze forward as they went around the table ordering, cursing herself for not being more relaxed. She didn't know how to act around Sasuke, but that didn't mean she had to practically shun him. Biting her lip and stealing herself, she angled herself to look at Sasuke, thankful he hadn't ordered yet.
"So what are you having?" she asked, forcing a casual smile to her face.
Sasuke flicked his gaze up to her's, Rinnegan throwing her off once again (she really had to get used to that) with its startling design. His gaze searched her's for a moment before flattening. "I'm not hungry."
Sakura swallowed and fought the urge to roll her eyes, nodding her head instead. "Maybe you can help me, then," she piped. "I'm not that hungry either, but I'm torn between the Dak Bulgogi or just a small Namul."
He stared once again, the shadows under his eyes only just becoming apparent to Sakura, then the way his face was slightly more angular than usual. She furrowed her eyebrows a fraction but it must've been enough for Sasuke to notice because his eyes narrowed on the movement.
"Does it matter?" he monotoned.
Sakura tilted her head. "Does what matter?"
A beat. "What you order."
"Oh, right," she puffed, a nervous laugh to try and diffuse the awkward. But when did that ever actually work? "Um, I might just have a glass of water..."
"...Hn."
000
A/N: I really don't know a thing about Korean food, I just looked up that barbecue restaurant in Naruto and it said it served Korean food and so I just did a quick Google search. XD I'm really sorry these are so freaking short; writing on an iPod is harder than it looks, but I'll try to extend them!
Again, critiques on character, flow and grammar are all welcomed! :) And maybe tell me what your favorite thing to see in a SasuSaku fic is while you're at it. ;)
