If you looked closely enough, you would notice the sideways glances that Sakura cast towards Sasuke when he wasn't looking. They weren't like the shy looks she used to give him when they were younger. Now they were a little more distrustful. She would glance at him and watch his graceful movements, not with awe but with curiosity. 'Who are you?' she would ask herself, 'what happened to you?'
She never fully allowed herself to look at him straight, fearing that if she did, he would vanish in front of her eyes, and the whole thing would have been a cruel dream.
If you looked closely enough, you would notice that Naruto bit his lip whenever Sakura and Sasuke weren't looking at him. It was weird. Words had always come easily for the blonde, but since his last conversation with Sasuke, it seemed like he had run out of words to say. He still tried his hardest to fill the awkward gaps in conversation with his loud boisterous self, but when they weren't looking at him, Naruto would frantically sift through all possible conversation topics in his mind to make sure there was no silence between the three of them.
The last time he had let either of his friend's brood in silence, it had not ended well for any of them.
If you looked closely, you would notice that Sasuke always used his index finger to gently scratch at his thumb when he thought no one could see. It was a nervous habit. One that he picked up at some point that he couldn't remember. Whenever he saw Sakura and Naruto from a distance, he would see that Sakura's smile seemed a little too forced and Naruto's frantic gestures seemed a little too dramatic. It all seemed just the slightest bit off. It was like watching a badly written play about who they used to be to each other. He had gotten his closure with Naruto. They had made their peace, but he knew there was so much more to be done with Sakura.
As he watched them, Sasuke dug his index fingers nail deeper into his thumb.
The three of them spent most of their time together since returning to the village. To the outside eye, they were inseparable. Naruto standing between the two, always talking, always smiling. Sakura looking away slightly but listening intently. And lastly, Sasuke, as stoic as ever.
Yes, Naruto was finally getting the attention he was deprived of his whole childhood and it filled some hole in him that he used to think would be permanently present. Yet, he knew something was missing. He knew he had to fix things between Sakura and Sasuke before everything was truly okay. He loved them both. He wasn't sure exactly in what way he loved Sasuke, but Sakura-chan had been his love since he first laid eyes on her years ago. Some things never change. And it hurt him to see her so scared, so nervous. Of what, he wasn't sure, but it was something that he was going to fix, in the way only Naruto Uzumaki could.
It began the way most of their evenings did. They sat in Naruto's apartment, following a rather spectacularly made meal by the Uchiha himself. Apparently, a self-imposed exile had taught him how to become quite the culinary master, even if the majority of his dishes included tomatoes. They sat strewed around the living room. Sakura laying on the floor, poring over some medical scrolls and scribbling notes in a notebook that only she would be able to decipher. Sasuke polishing his katana on a chair in a corner. Naruto sat with his own book of international politics and watched the two over the top of it instead of reading. He had been assigned it by Kakashi-sensei, but Naruto was more of a visual learner, and the book seemed rather outdated to him following the war.
"Oye, Teme, Sakura-Chan" he called, slamming the book shut. "I'm sick of reading."
Sakura glanced over at the clock. "It's been 7 minutes Naruto," she said with a slight air of disbelief.
"Yeah well, it's been 7 minutes too many" he replied, "Let's do something different today. I feel like we're running our lives into a rut this way!" he dramatically clutched his chest with his hand, effectively drawing a smile from Sakura who rolled her eyes.
"Were the last few years of excitement not enough for you, Naruto?" Sasuke asked from where he was sitting. Nonetheless, he had placed his Katana down.
"Less action, more fun" Naruto suggested sincerely.
"What do you have in mind?" asked Sakura, cocking her head to one side.
"Naruto jumped off the couch with grace and headed towards his kitchen. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a quick look of confusion before quickly averting their gaze. Naruto returned with a big bottle of sake and three small cups.
"Games?" he asked. His intonation made the question seem oddly childish, and the idea of it, the idea of one of the strongest shinobi in the world asking to play drinking games was too much for Sakura. She rolled over onto her back and clutched her stomach and let out the first genuine laughter in a while. Naruto grinned. He didn't know what was so funny, but anything that made Sakura happy had his seal of approval.
"Teme?" he asked, turning to Sasuke.
Sasuke shrugged indifferently, but Naruto could see him looking at Sakura out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh Naruto, what did you have in mind?" Sakura asked, recomposing herself.
"I don't know. Anything? I just figured I'd rather be trashed than reading that trash" he said vaguely waving towards his discarded book. Really, Naruto hoped this would help loosen the two up. Alcohol always had a way of getting the truth out of Sakura, and while he didn't know much about Sasuke and alcohol, Naruto figured his friend must be a lightweight considering how little experience he probably had with it.
"Card game?" Sakura suggested.
Sasuke got up and grabbed the pack of cards from the kitchen drawer and dropped it in front of her, taking a seat next to her, at a safe distance. Naruto joined them and handed out the cups, filling all of them to the brim. Sasuke would be easy to get drunk, but Sakura was a different story. Despite her small frame, her time with Tsunade had given her quite some experience.
Naruto began shuffling the cards and passing them out. They began playing a game that they used to play as genin, the only game it seemed that the three of them all knew, "Bullshit". Naruto made it a point to make sure Sakura was the only one he called out, something that he did until he noticed a pink flush on her cheeks. Sasuke, however made it a point to only call him out, and Sakura came for both of them evenly. Soon, Naruto's own mind was getting a little fuzzy, and even Sasuke's graceful movements began slipping.
Sasuke put down a card, "6 of Spades" he said.
Sakura slammed her palm down. "BULLSHIT" she all but screamed. She was a bad liar and Naruto had been relentless, and quite frankly after an hour of playing, she was drunk. As they had played, their masks had begun to crack. Sakura began looking at Sasuke straight on. Naruto quietly watched the two of them, and Sasuke even broke his normal façade of uncaringness to gnaw on a thumbnail at one point. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura and took a drink.
"When did she get so good at calling it? She used to be the worst." Sasuke grumbled as he looked away.
Sakura looked away and got quiet. Naruto scrambled to try to make sense of what was going on.
"….The worst?" she asked in almost a whisper.
Sasuke didn't look at her. He realized the gravity of what he had said and yet his pride stood in the way. He had hit an insecurity head-on because he had lost his filter and he couldn't take it back or try to make it any better. He put his thumbnail back in his mouth.
"Well, she's not the worst anymore Teme, from the looks of it, it seems to be you right now." Naruto gestured towards Sasuke's growing pile of cards. He had finally made sense of the situation and was trying to fix it as soon as possible. This was not how it was supposed to go. It was supposed to be fun! He shot a flushed Sakura a grin.
"Hey Naruto?" she asked. Naruto's grin faltered. Sakura's voice sounded mean. He had heard her annoyed and angry but never heard his name in her mouth with so much malice before. Naruto was scared.
"Don't you get tired of fixing Sasuke-kun's mistakes?" she asked, putting a sickly sweet emphasis on Sasuke's name.
Naruto blanched. "Sakura-chan" he began, but he was cut off by Sasuke.
"If I recall Sakura, he did that for you. Because you couldn't seem to let go of your silly little crush."
Naruto gritted his teeth. It seemed that everything was about to come out tonight.
Sakura balled her fist. "You fucking asshole," she said through a stiff jaw. "I was trying to save you because I CARED about you. Naruto and I…we dedicated everything we had to fixing you because WE LOVED you."
The use of the past tense was not lost on Sasuke. He was normally not one to participate in verbal arguments, he considered them a waste of time, but this time, it felt different. He felt like he owed it to Sakura to help her let all of her pent-up aggression out. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it sober and neither would she, so instead, he participated in what he normally wouldn't.
"Hn." Sasuke replied, looking away, knowing it would only rile her up more.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, Teme, please let's not do this" Naruto asked, trying to smile a little more, but it was clear that no one was listening.
"No Naruto, I want to tell him what I really think," Sakura said, she got up and she was slightly off-balance, but she needed to be able to look down at him as she had this conversation so she wouldn't lose her nerve.
"look at me" she demanded, standing in front of him, hands on her hips. Naruto sat beside them, hands ready in case Sasuke decided he had enough of Sakura's anger. He didn't think Sasuke would ever hurt Sakura again, but he wasn't optimistic enough at the moment to trust himself.
"Look at me Sasuke" Sakura demanded again. Sasuke obliged, looking up at her with his ever stoic mask back in place.
"Did you even care?" she asked. "Like genuinely, even for a moment, did you think what Naruto and I were going through? We wanted to be there for you. We made you into family Sasuke. I may have asked too much from you, but Naruto? How could you do that to him?" She had dropped the honorific at the end of his name, and her balance was slightly off, but she said every word with conviction.
"Sasuke, I loved you," she said again when he didn't answer.
"Again with the past tense," he thought to himself but he didn't say anything.
"And all you had to say to me" she continued, "was one fucking apology? You didn't even bother coming to talk to me alone after? And I was just supposed to forgive you? Forgive you for almost killing me? For killing my Naruto?"
This time Naruto looked up with shock. "My" Naruto?
She swiveled to face Naruto.
"And you," she said with an accusing finger, "who do you think you are?" Naruto was taken aback, and even the Uchiha let his surprise show.
"Why do you keep taking the burden for everybody? Naruto, you're human. There is only so much any one person can take, and you just keep taking and taking. Stop it. It hurts me to see you like this. You and I, we are a team, right? Treat me like it. I'm not the same weak girl I used to be! I can help you! Please I beg you, stop trying to fix everything on your own!"
Her tears were flowing. Naruto got to his feet slowly. His balance wasn't exactly perfect either. He hesitantly put his hands around Sakura. "I'm sorry" he murmured into her hair. It smelled like her rose shampoo and that spray she used after she got out of the shower in a futile attempt to control the frizz. He squeezed her harder.
Her small frame shook in his arms, pushing up against him. He could barely catch his own breath. She shook her head. "No, Naruto. No. I am sorry."
Naruto's eyes fell on Sasuke who had his hair covering his eyes and he was looking away. "Teme?" Naruto asked tentatively, still holding onto Sakura. He was unsure how Sasuke was feeling but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
Sasuke got to his feet slowly too. "Sakura.." he began. Sakura stepped away from Naruto to look at Sasuke. "I am happy that you finally got it all out. All of that anger. I know how anger can consume someone. I don't want to do that to you." He said. Sasuke spoke slowly, softly, barely making eye contact.
Sakura's mouth opened in shock, and Naruto released his grip on her completely. If this is where it was going, he knew his place with the two of them. He would let her go.
"Sasuke-kun" she started.
"Let me finish…. please," Sasuke said still looking away. "I messed up, bad. I don't expect you to understand, I cannot ask that of you. But I truly am sorry. Thank you. For caring enough to not give up. I do not know how, but I want to fix this. Fix us." His eyes flitted to Naruto. "fix all of us, it's my turn."
Sasuke stepped closer to Sakura and Naruto, and awkwardly draped his arms around Sakura's shoulder. He realized that this was outside his comfort zone, but he wanted to do something for someone else for a change. Naruto stepped back. This was Sakura's moment, but he felt a warm hand on his wrist. She pulled him in. They awkwardly hugged. The three of them. Something they would have never imagined happening in a thousand years.
Soon between the two tall men, there was shaking. Was Sakura crying again? Naruto and Sasuke both stepped back, nervously looking at their friend, their girl.
But she was giggling. She looked up at both of them, genuine happiness dancing in her emerald eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"I love you guys," she said without hesitating.
Naruto followed with "I love you guys, too"
Sasuke stared at both of them and said nothing... Some things would take time, but he was grateful his family would always give him time to do that.
"Now, Dobe, pick another game, this one was lame," he said, still smiling slightly.
The three broke apart, feeling warm and fulfilled.
As they sat back down, Naruto talked freely, Sakura and Sasuke managed to look at each other, and Sasuke's hands did not fidget in the slightest.
They weren't sure what the future held, but they knew it held it for all three of them, together.
AN: This is my prologue to Blood in the Water. I wanted it separate because it holds a different tone than the rest of my story. This was a bit more melancholic while Blood in the Water focuses more on the action and the lighthearted dynamic between Team 7 that we all loved when we first started watching the show (only a little more mature). I think it was important for there to be a moment like this between them, especially for Sasuke, because I think all three of them have learned the hard way what happens when you try to suppress your feelings. Now that the air is cleared, I think they can start acting like a real team again.