title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M

summary: o14: Ever since his parents' divorce, Sasuke has always been wary of the "knight in shining armor," since he doesn't want to be who his father was, although there's a girl he's particularly fond of...

REVISED 6.30.14

.o14.
Armor

Sasuke stopped believing in fairytales when his parents divorced.

Although he didn't care for them, he knew the basic premise: knight in shining armor saves damsel in distress, which was how he viewed every happy couple that he saw.

Unfortunately, the knight in shining armor he looked up to turned out to be a douchebag in tin foil.

"Where's daddy?" Sasuke asked as Mikoto picked him up, her eyes sad.

"Daddy's…" she sighed. "Daddy's not coming home for a while, Sasuke-kun. So until then, we have to make the best out of it. Okay?"

"When is he coming back?"

He saw his mother's eyes water, and Itachi took Sasuke from her arms. "He's on vacation for a little bit, Sasuke." He bounced Sasuke up and down, but Sasuke saw that Itachi, too, had the same look his mom did.

"Why can't we come with him?"

"Because it's just something Daddy has to do by himself." He kissed Sasuke's forehead instead of poking it. "Come on. Let's get you tucked in."

.

a few years later

.

Sasuke understood that his parents were divorced. He vaguely remembered the image of his father from his five year old mind, and since his mother had gotten rid of all pictures including his dad, he couldn't form a clear image.

Therefore, he was always wary of other guys who tried to pick up girls with their cheesy lines and shy romances, since he figured someone would always get hurt in the end.

He had crushes, but never did anything about them because he didn't want to end up like his father. So he let the girls that he sort of liked be taken away by more douchebags on top of their donkeys while their tinfoil armor shone in the sun.

Sasuke sighed. He sat down at his desk as his friend, Naruto, came up to him.

"What's up?" Naruto said.

"Hn." He gave Naruto the usual response, but Naruto was able to decode Sasuke's words.

"Rough day?"

"Yeah."

Naruto sat down next to Sasuke. "You gotta chill, man! Chill out! I mean, you spend so much time worrying about shit that I don't even know about, and you just need to loosen up. Look," Naruto said, pinching Sasuke's forearm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"See? You're not loose enough." Naruto moved farther back so Sasuke couldn't retaliate.

"Dobe, if I were that loose I'd probably be pregnant."

"But you're not…" Naruto began. "Oh."

"Hn."

"Can I sit here?"

They both looked up to see their classmate, Sakura, ask if she could take the available desk next to Sasuke.

"Sure," Naruto said, speaking for Sasuke. "What's up, Sakura-chan?"

She made herself comfortable as she sighed. "Oh, nothing much. Just, you know, homework and stuff. The usual."

"Ahh."

"…You don't do homework, so you wouldn't understand," she replied back to Naruto, who had a confused look on his face. "But Sasuke would. Right?"

"Hn."

"He means yeah," Naruto said.

Sakura smiled and took out her notebooks and pencils.

"Class is starting, everyone!" the teacher said at the front of the room. "Now, how is everybody?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura replied, "Good, sensei." She was pretty and had a really nice smile.

"Psst, teme," Naruto said. "Can I borrow a pencil?"

Sasuke was stirred out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He tossed Naruto a pencil, and he tried to catch it, only to be poked with the pointy part.

"Damnit, teme!"

.

half a year later

.

"Go ask her on a date, you dick," Naruto said, attempting to push Sasuke towards Sakura. "I know you like her, and I'm pretty sure she probably likes you too."

"No." He stuck his heels and turned to face Naruto. "I don't want to."

"Why not? She's pretty. Otherwise, some other guy might sweep her off her feet."

"So?"

Naruto paused, looking at Sasuke's angry and slightly hurt expression. "It's something more, isn't it?"

"What do you mean, something more?"

"I mean, you're afraid to ask her. I don't know why, but it's probably something that affected you when you were younger."

"When did you get all Sigmund Freud on me?" Sasuke said defensively.

"I don't know who that is," Naruto said.

Sasuke groaned. "Whatever." He walked past Naruto, away from Sakura, before he was caught by the wrist.

"You can tell me, Sasuke. I'm your friend."

"I have nothing to say," he responded.

Naruto sighed. "I know when something's troubling you. First, I can see that you like her but you're too afraid to make a move. Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "Do you promise you won't tell?"

"Cross my heart."

"Fine."

He explained to his dumbass friend how his parents divorced when he was young, and how unhappy his mother and brother were and how the whole family broke apart. He vaguely remembered the fights his parents had when they were still together and how he wouldn't be able to sleep because of all the scary noises they were making.

"I don't want to be the guy she thinks is a knight in shining armor, because what if I'm not? What if I turn out to be like my dad?"

He didn't expect a hug from Naruto. "You're not going to be. You're the greatest guy I know. And I'm sure—I swear on my life—that you'll be three times the man your dad was."

"Thanks." He pulled apart, and Naruto looked behind him. "You know, she's still there. Why don't you give it a shot?"

"I think I might."

Naruto watched as Sasuke approached Sakura slowly. His lips were moving, and she was blushing, and then he was smirking.

Then, she took her cell phone out of her bag and traded with his, their fingers texting quickly.

When she turned to leave, she gave him a big smile and a wave, and he smirked back as he walked towards Naruto.

"So I'm assuming it went well?"

"Hn." Yeah.

"Good."

Slight changes!