A/N: Guys, if I finish this, it'll be the first multi-chapter I've ever committed to hahaha. I don't count Ten Signs (although I adore that one) because it was easy since the chapters were numbered. I'm usually sooo bad at stories where I have to decide the length. I'm totally sticking to oneshots after this for a while hehe.
This chapter was fun. It's so much easier writing from personal experience /quiet sobbing/. School is starting soon.
Let me know what you think, my loves! Your feedback makes me blush.
CHAPTER 06
It took Sasuke a grand total of three weeks to get under her skin, Sakura claimed. It could have been shorter, Sasuke thought, since most of the time, she was so busy. That, or she might have been purposely avoiding him at first.
But in the end, Sakura couldn't resist the thrill of being chased by Uchiha Sasuke. She eventually gave into his requests to spend time with her, and she can't say she regretted it. So, by the end of two weeks, he was constantly on her mind again.
It took Sakura a little longer than Naruto to realize (in which, she claimed it's because of their weird telepathy and her natural defense mechanisms) that Sasuke was interested in her, and even longer for her to recognize that he was interested romantically.
It just wasn't a sight Sakura ever thought she would see.
His ways of showing her that he was interested were more domestic than romantic. Sasuke was not the type of guy who would serenade her, or bring a huge bouquet of flowers – even if Sai and Naruto constantly told him he was lame – but his intentions were clear.
He knew how busy she was, for example, with her work. So, since they would hang out at her apartment some days, she would come home to dinner. It was very sweet, she would tell him, and he would have to turn away slightly to hide an oncoming blush.
Sometimes he would visit her at the hospital. So, whenever she heard the bell sound as the front door opened, Sakura's head would pop out of her office to see if it was Sasuke. And when it wasn't, Ino would pass by, laugh, and ask if she was disappointed.
Sasuke accompanied her with little errands here and there, like grocery shopping and local missions around the village, when he wasn't doing anything. She adored the company he provided, and he too found it almost essential to his life to get a daily dose of Sakura.
Eventually, Sakura had gotten used to his presence in her life; it became very comfortable to say Sasuke was her friend again. They were close enough for her to rant profusely about a bad day, or for him to bitch about something mildly annoying. His absence was noticed whenever he would choose to hang out with Naruto instead or take a mission outside the village. Similarly, Sasuke's day would sometimes feel incomplete if it lacked interaction with her.
To outside sources like Naruto, it seemed slow. Despite being very close at this point, they were just dancing around each other, it seemed – playing games and flirting like two elementary kids, instead of making shit happen.
Then again, they still had that stupid lie to account for.
When news of the Chuunin exams rolled around, Sasuke had asked her to train with him when Naruto was too busy (much to Sasuke's surprise, he did get turned down by the jinchuuriki here and there). They would train, and when she saw how much effort he actually put, it made her feel respected enough for him to go full force.
But she saw how he seemed to understand her fighting style and easily evade most of her attacks, even without his precious Sharingan activated to aid his analysis. Sakura decided not to ask him about it, for he might throw it back at her.
Actually, Sakura had given up on getting him to spill his secret when she saw how genuine he seemed in their relationship. It still sent questions running through her head faster than Lee could do laps around the village, but she didn't mind as much.
"Sorry," she grinned sheepishly. Somewhere along the line, she managed to graze his jaw with a chakra-enhanced fist, leaving a pretty bruise that decorated his face.
"Hn," he closed his eyes, sitting beside her when she motioned for him to come closer. "Lucky shot."
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes with much sarcasm.
She snickered upon seeing his irritated face when he asked her to fix it, but her amusement died down when he caught her stare. She broke eye contact and pouted cutely, "I can't fix it while you're staring at me like that."
Sasuke smirked; she walked right into this one, "I didn't know I leave you that hot and bothered."
And just like that Sakura made a face as if she had just been outrageously offended, and made a move to escape. He caught her wrist, laughing at how red her ears were turning, and she fell back into his lap, hands covering her face.
"Sakura," he called, unable to stop the smile on his face from her antics. He tried prying her hands off of her face, but remembered her inhuman strength. "Sakura."
"You are so incredibly full of yourself!" her voice was muffled from her hands, and Sasuke couldn't help but laugh. It was moments like this when he would forget about everything that was plaguing his mind, whenever he caught himself smiling until his cheeks hurt because of her.
"I'm sorry," he told her when his laughter was reduced to occasional chuckles. "Please fix my face."
She healed him, tongue in her cheek, as she avoided further eye contact. Her cheeks were still tainted pink. Whenever she let him look into her eyes, it felt like her entire nervous system would just shut down. She felt like he was able to look so deep into her soul, that they didn't need words to say what they meant.
His soft laughter made her heart swell, and got her smiling too. It was so melodious, it was truly something she had missed her whole life.
She finished and let her hand linger, stroking his cheek with her thumb. She gave him a warm smile, and it was Sasuke's turn to get flustered.
He wasn't sure what overcame him to make such a bold move, but when he found himself leaning towards her, he couldn't stop. She seemed surprised at first, but mirrored his actions.
A string of "oh my god"s was running through Sakura's head as she prepared to kiss the man of her dreams for the first time, until-
Splat.
Sakura was the first to burst into laughter, as it took Sasuke a moment to register that a bird had just dropped a load onto his soft, if not slightly sweaty, hair.
"Have you considered therapy?" He catches her eyes again after her laughter dies down. He decides he likes doing that.
Although Tsunade suggested that he should just take care of her emotionally to try to recover the memories herself, Naruto insisted he just tell her. He dismissed his best friend as impatient, but the elapsed time was starting to make Sasuke nervous.
She raised an eyebrow. Therapy for what?
Oh yeah, her amnesia.
"Yeah, I had to for work. But it was more training than it was therapy. Rather, re-exposure to my previous studies in medicine. It came back pretty fast."
"So, re-exposure does the trick?" he looked wary.
"Not necessarily," she lazily told him. "It just worked well with my medical abilities. Those are skills, Sasuke, not memories."
"Hn,"
"If you're really interested, there's books at the library." She smiled, readjusting herself so that she sat comfortably beside him. She was leaning on his shoulder, looking up at the lazy clouds above.
Sasuke nodded, and Sakura seemed glad that maybe that would end the questions for today. They sat comfortably now, just enjoying the grass beneath them and the rushing waters of the river nearby.
"That's all you remember?" he spoke up again.
"Well," she paused. "I managed to retain a lot of good memories, if that's what you're asking about. Stuff from my childhood. There's a few gaps here and there, I'm sure."
"Sounds like it's all pleasant memories." He noted hesitantly.
"I don't know if I even want to remember the bad stuff." She suddenly seemed a little cold towards him.
"You've been avoiding it?"
"I wouldn't say that…" she seemed a little annoyed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"But…isn't that what makes you human? Doesn't that shape who you are?"
She looked up at him, intrigued. "I suppose."
He paused for a moment, like he seemed to be contemplating something. Then he spoke up again, "My entire family was killed when I was only seven."
Sakura looked more sympathetic and concerned than surprised at this news, but Sasuke continued anyway, "by my older brother. So, then I dedicated my life trying to avenge my clan. And once I finally got that, I found out that my brother had no other intentions but to protect me and my home."
She was quiet, but she had taken his hand gently and he relaxed immensely at her touch.
"There's a lot of stuff I wish I couldn't remember."
"Sasuke…"
"But, you know, if none of that happened, I would have been a completely different person. Maybe I would have been naiver, less understanding. Maybe sometimes I wish it didn't happen, so I can still have my family around. But it's part of me…every detail."
She tried to smile, but she felt tears threatening to spill. Even if she knew all of this, it meant the world to her to hear it from him. He chose to sit before her, vulnerable, and tell her his deepest secret. It really showed her how much he wanted to mend things between them.
And it hurt.
It hurt because they were still caught in this stupid lie. Because she wanted to just tell him the truth, right now. And because maybe she never really considered the fact that everything that has happened to her was for the best. He was right.
Sakura felt the sting in her eyes and the thirty foot drop of her heart before she turned away and wiped a tear aggressively. "I'm sorry."
He looked at her curiously, "You're sorry? You've done nothing but shine light into my life."
She froze. Was he about to come clean?
"What do you mean?"
Sasuke took a deep breath, as if he had just accepted his fate. "We were friends before," he admitted, afraid to look at her in the eyes.
From beside him, she giggled cutely after a moment of silence, "Why didn't you tell me before? And here I thought we were only acquaintances starting from a blank slate."
"But we are," he tried, secretly hoping she would argue, "we are now."
She shook her head, smiling, and shifted her position so that she was now laying on his stomach. Sasuke, not used to such casual, comfortable contact, flinched at first, but then he softened entirely when she smiled up at him.
"Don't worry about it. Whatever happened before is in the past. I'm glad we're friends again."
"Are…you sure?" he looked so cautious, treating her feelings like a minefield.
She shrugged. "From what I heard, I've been through a lot of pain."
Sasuke grimaced. "I'm sorry." She looked at him, surprised. He panicked, then quickly added, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Sometimes Sasuke felt like his apology back in the final valley wasn't even remotely enough. She watched as he brushed some hair off of her face from the wind, and kept his hand there. She was very soft.
"I'm sure…whoever hurt you is really sorry."
His sincerity tore through her heart. She laid a hand on his and closed her eyes. She seemed very at peace, and it lifted a huge burden off of Sasuke's heart as well. He smiled and relaxed, enjoying the rest of their afternoon in each other's presence.
As soon as Naruto found out that Sasuke and Sakura's relationship has been relieved of some tension, he jumped on the opportunity to finally have an evening for Team 7 to get together. Never mind the remaining sexual tension between them, he thought, he just wanted to see his best friends together again.
"So how did that dinner go with Hinata?" Sai asked, reaching for the bowl of food on the table.
"Oh," Naruto chuckled, almost a little cynically. "It went fantastic."
Sakura scoffed as she read the sarcasm in his voice, before Sai interrupted him. "Before you go on," he handed Sasuke a small envelope with an awkwardly drawn heart by his name. "This is for you."
"How'd you get my mail?"
"I don't know," he shrugged, earning a weird look from the Uchiha. "they seemed confused."
Sasuke carefully opened the letter and Naruto took this as a go signal to continue, "So you would think they invited me because they were finally taking our relationship seriously, right?"
"Sure."
"Nah! Even in front of me they were still talking about those chumps I'm supposedly 'up against'. Like they only invited me to judge me, I swear."
"So, did you make a good impression?" Sakura asked, already expecting a negative answer.
"Nope," he grinned. "I was annoyed, so I told them Hinata and I were already serious."
"That poor girl…" Sakura laughed bitterly. It was so typical of Naruto to have dealt with such a situation in this manner. Hinata must have been mortified.
"That was irrational." Sasuke looked up from the paper and raised an eyebrow. Naruto didn't seem to care.
"This isn't new," Sai added.
"Oh, but there's more!" Naruto straightened up in his seat. "So, her dad is getting all upset about her not obeying her roles in the clan and whatever, right? At this point I probably pissed my pants because he's so scary, but then Hinata gets up and tells him – get this – that she doesn't want to be clan leader if it means marrying some dope instead of me!"
"She said that word for word?"
"She might as well have!"
Sasuke snickered, throwing the letter back on the table to give Naruto his undivided attention again. It had been from Karin, informing him yet again on the current status of the suspicious groups plotting to use some "secret weapon". Sasuke suspected it was related to the controversial treatment Sakura had mentioned before, but it was always nice to get some intel from an outside source.
Sakura glanced at the messy writing. He had left the page with Karin's shameless flirting on the top, and Sakura felt her heart sink slowly into abyss.
"You have a lady friend?" she teased, elbowing him, despite hearing her heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
He looked at her and tried to find hurt in her face and in her tone. Instead, she was watching Naruto and Sai discuss who would make a better wife between quiet, reserved Hinata, and loud, confident Ino.
She wasn't even looking at him. Had she really moved on? "No, she's just an old friend."
"Mmm," she confirmed. She shouldn't be jealous, she told herself. She had no right to be. Yet, here she is, swimming in her own frustration.
"You still talk to her?"
Sakura just wanted to be his friend, she repeated in her head. But even then, she couldn't shake the feeling that this hurt. She wanted to be selfish, and just keep him all to herself, especially after all that they've been through. But it's not like she could just tell him; she wasn't even his girlfriend for fuck's sake.
It hurt because she knew that when she was useless to him, this girl wasn't. She felt replaced when she was broken.
This girl helped him, and he grew fond of her one way or another. And the fact that they still talk shows that she is still significant in his life. She saw the way the letters were worded; she's clearly in love with him, or whatever you can call Karin's crazy obsessive mannerism. But Sasuke encourages this, does he not see that?
Part of Sakura was happy to see that Sasuke doesn't just dump people off to the side when he's done with them, anymore. He legitimately cares about the wellbeing of others now. She remembered briefly when he just let this girl die in Danzo's hands, and didn't give half a shit about it.
But she couldn't say anything, because it wasn't her place. It was the most selfish thing she had ever thought, but part of her felt like it was within reason. After all that she had been through regarding Sasuke, now that he was showing some interest in her, a small part of her just wanted to be the only girl in his life.
Sasuke looked at her, the displeasure in her face now becoming evident. She tried to keep it from him, he noticed. He turned away to hide a smirk; so, she was jealous.
"She was weird," he told her simply.
Sakura looked at him; she knew what he was doing for her, and decided to just roll with it. It was sweet, she supposed. "And she was your friend?"
"I needed her for a mission at first, but I guess I consider her my friend now."
"Huh," she seemed to be put at ease, but Sasuke decided it wasn't quite enough. He leaned towards her, enough to feel her tense up.
"I didn't like her, Sakura. You don't have to be jealous." His voice was low and perhaps a little teasing.
Suddenly she turned to him, nostrils flaring. Her cheeks were stained pink and Sasuke had to look away to hide his amusement. Her voice was unstable. "Who said I was?!"
Naruto's attention had turned to them, curious as to what had incurred Sakura's wrath this time (part of him was glad it wasn't him for once).
"I'm pretty sure she had a thing for Suigetsu," Sasuke continued, disregarding her fury. "I think they were doing it behind my back."
And just like that, she laughed wholeheartedly (Naruto sighed in relief), not only because she found the situation humorous, but because she was moved by the fact that he cared about her feelings this much.
"Ne, Sakura!" Naruto interrupted, once he saw the tension disappear. "So, calm and modest beats loud and rambunctious, right?! Tell Sai I won this argument!"
"What? That makes absolutely no sense since you are loud and rambunctious." She laughed.
"Yeah, why would Sakura agree with you? She is also scary and aggressive." Sai added, smiling. Sakura growled threateningly, but she composed herself enough to answer his question.
"First of all, you can't make me choose between my friends." Naruto's face fell. "Second, they're both perfect for you nerds. Naruto, you need someone quiet and reserved to balance you out, and Sai, you definitely need someone who's more in touch with her feelings."
Naruto made a sound of defeat, but then the corners of his mouth turned up into a creepy grin, "Okay, but in bed–"
Sakura stood up, threateningly.
Sasuke and Sai winced.
