.
.
.
Sasuke stares out the window for the rest of the ride home, his head slightly resting on the cool window. He sighs deeply, the heat of his breath fogs the glass and without thinking about it, he drags the tip of his fingers through it.
The subway is silent except for the soft tapping of fingers on phones and slow shuffle of passengers shifting in their seats. He doesn't bother to put his earbuds back in because these are the sounds he enjoys most. The simple noise at the end of a work day, he loves it more than music.
The subway jerks to a stop and he stumbles a little as he stands. It takes him seconds to regain his balance, regain his composure and with that he slings his backpack over his shoulder.
Once Sasuke's outside, he tilts his head back and focuses his dark eyes onto the bright blue sky.
It looks like a painting, like someone took a brush and carefully swept different shades of blue across the horizon.
The sky reminds him of Naruto's eyes, it has since they were children.
They are both expansive, both bright and made of different shades. Sometimes Naruto's eyes look dark the ocean, sometimes they're as bright as the sky that Sasuke stares at today.
Sasuke wonders if Sakura thinks of Naruto's eyes, if she likes the color blue, if she likes the sky.
He knows she loves the ocean, knows that it reminds her of home and fills her with comfort.
He knows its wrong, knows that he's a bad friend, but he hopes that she hates the color blue, hopes that she hates the sky.
Before he knows it, he's home.
Sasuke walks through the door and the savory smell of his mother's homemade cooking. He inhales the scent deeply, his stomach gurgles and he remembers he skipped lunch earlier today.
He slings his backpack onto the floor and begins to take off his shoes.
"I'm home!" He says loudly.
The sound of his voice draws his mother in, he can hear her light footsteps on the floor, "Welcome home, how was school?" She stands in front of him, her long black hair rests over her shoulders, her eyes mirror his, yet they are softer, more inviting.
He shrugs, "It was fine."
His mother frowns slightly, putting her slender arms on her hips, "You always say that, I want to hear more about your day."
"It was just school, really nothing interesting." Sasuke responds blanky, he carefully steps past his mother, into the kitchen
"Well what about your friends? Naruto hasn't been over in awhile, why don't you invite him over this weekend, I can cook some-"
"He's busy this weekend." Sasuke interrupts curtly.
The tone of his voice washes a look of sadness onto Mikito's face and a pang of guilt drops into his chest, "He's busy with a girl, so it would be pointless to even ask."
"A girl?" Mikito questions eagerly, the corners of her mouth pull into a smirk, "So little Naruto got himself a girlfriend. Who is she?"
Sasuke rolls his eyes discreetly, sitting himself down at the kitchen table, "She isn't his girlfriend. She's a transfer student, he's just showing her around the city. Besides, she's annoying."
Mikito walks back to the stove, patting her apron down with her tiny, pale hands, "Annoying?"
"Well yeah, she tries walking with me all the time and she's really nosy," Sasuke explains, he sighs, blowing the air out of his nose, he doesn't mean ramble but his mother is the only person in the world he can rant to without a care, "She's always asking me questions and she talks too much."
Mikito smiles at her son, she watches the frustration wash over his face, "Maybe she has a crush on you."
The thought of Sakura Haruno having a crush on him bounces around in his head, a hot blush warms his cheeks, he can feel is spread down his chest, "Doubt it." He rests his head on his hand, tilting to the side, his dark eyes glance over at his mother's back, "She wouldn't be hanging out with Naruto if she liked me."
Mikito laughs softly, she reaches into the cabinets to grab a few dishes, "It sounds like you're jealous."
Sasuke's eyes widen in shock, he turns his face away from her, stares at the family pictures hung on the wall to hide from her knowing gaze, "I'm not."
"Is she pretty?" Mikito suddenly asks as she scoops a serving of rice into a bowl.
Sasuke almost flinches at her question. His mother rarely ever asked him about girls from school, rarely ever pried about topics he obviously didn't want to talk about.
He's at a loss for words.
Mikito laughs again, louder and hearty this time. She walks over and puts the rice in front of him, "Well?"
Sasuke doesn't look at her, still pretends to focus on the pictures hanging on the wall, "No. well...sorta." He scrunches his nose at the sound of his own words, he shrugs his shoulders and pretends to be indifferent.
Mikito smiles brightly, she reaches her hand over, shuffling her son's soft black hair, "I never thought I'd live to see you have a crush." Her eyes light up as a thought pops into her head, "Your father will be surprised."
Sasuke groans loudly, the sound comes from the back of his throat, "I don't have a crush on her, so don't say anything to dad," He moves his head away from her reach, "Or Itachi."
"I won't," She hums happily, "Now go wash up for dinner." She nudges him sternly, gesturing to the sink.
Sasuke sighs quietly, walking to the sink and dragging his feet with every step. He hopes his mother will forget their conversation.
Sasuke lays in bed that night, his belly full and his mind full of his mother's words.
It sounds like you're jealous.
It sounds like you're jealous.
It sounds like you're jealous.
The words cloud his thoughts and the noise of them makes it impossible for him to sleep. He wonders if he really does sound jealous, if he's even capable of envy.
Sure, there were times when he was a child that his father only seemed to focus on Itachi and that always made him feel a little jealous.
Or there was a time when he studied all night for a test and Naruto somehow scored higher than him on test day.
But he was never jealous when it came to girls. He was indifferent and felt that the girls in his classes were annoying.
Was he jealous that Naruto would spend the weekend with Sakura?
Yes.
No.
Yes.
No.
Sasuke couldn't make up his mind. He tossed and turned in his sheets, tangling his legs in the softness of the fabric.
Is she pretty?
The question tore through his thoughts suddenly. He turns over onto his chest and rests his face into his pillow, groaning in frustration.
Haruno Sakura wasn't ugly, he knew that.
But did that make her pretty? Did he think she was pretty?
The image of her long, shiny hair cascading down her slender back burns on the back of his eyelids. The almond shape of her green eyes, the darkness of her full lashes framing those eyes and the way she bats them when she looks up at him.
He presses his face a little harder into the pillow, trying to make the images go away.
But they don't.
Sasuke thinks of her milky thighs, of her short skirt that she's always tugging down and he feels warmth pool into his stomach. That weird feeling that always seems to come when he thinks of her.
Maybe he did think she was pretty? So what? Lots of girls were pretty, lots of girls had long hair and nice eyes. What made her different?
Sasuke flips over onto his side, bringing his sheets up to his neck. His dark eyes stare at the clock on his bedside table.
Maybe if he was friends with her this feeling would go away?
It makes sense, he's friends with Ino and Hinata and he's never felt this way when he looks at either of them.
So that's it, that's all he has to do.
Sasuke lays in bed that night, his mind finally at ease and he decides that he will try and be friends with Haruno Sakura.
a/n: a bit of boring chapter but lemme know what you think! also i want to say thank you to all the people that have kept up with story for the last couple years. Your reviews and comments mean the world to me. You're all so kind and make me feel confident in my writing. I will be updating this story more frequently as I have more free time now. Hope you all are safe with everything going on in the world right now!
