Mission Impossible

Chapter 4


Sasuke was surprised at the lack of effort it took on his part to play the role of a romantically-interested friend. He always thought he'd have to force himself more to do things for her, but it turns out some of the things he already does were treading the line between friends and more than friends.

Well, either that or people just look into things too much.

He'd opted to change out of his standard shinobi attire and go for something a little more civilian-y, mainly because he knew Yamanaka was going to go off about how this was a party and you don't have to always look like a deadly killer, Sasuke-kun! And he really didn't want to deal with that. Sakura's rants were enough for him, thank you very much. His already-high respect for Shikamaru just kept rising with every encounter he had with the woman.

How he deals with her, I'll never know.

He wasn't in a hurry to get to the hospital. He knew Sakura well enough to know that she wouldn't even notice the time. He briefly entertained the idea of getting her flowers, but decided against it because it's really only been a day and where's the fun in making it too obvious?

Naruto had gone ahead and gotten Hinata and he thinks they're having dinner together before the party. Not a bad idea if you ask him, their class was big on drinking ever since they turned eighteen.

It struck him how this was his third time in the hospital today, and even though he was by no means a stranger to it, this was one too many visits for a day. The receptionist had changed shifts and was now a boy who looked about their age.

"Sakura-san's in her office, Uchiha-san," the receptionist greeted.

Sasuke found the lack of female eyes in the lobby somewhat reassuring. There were fangirl nurses, and he was exceptionally grateful to Sakura for keeping them off him.

He nodded as a way of thanks and made his way to her office. He knocked twice, not waiting for a response, before he opened the door and walked in. What he found weird was the fact that she wasn't alone.

There was another doctor in her office – he could tell because of the white coat – and they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation. Sakura's eyes met his, and she gave him a quick smile before holding up a finger.

Hold on for a second, he knew she was trying to say. So he made himself comfortable on the couch by the door as he waited for them to finish.

"I received a memo informing me about your leave next week," the doctor said, "and I had to come over and make sure I was reading it right. By some miracle, you really are taking a break."

Sakura laughed, scratching the back of her head. Sasuke knew that was one of her tells – she was nervous.

"Well it was mostly against my will, Kaito-kun," she said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the suffix. "But Tsunade-shishou's been nagging me about it and my genin teammates took it upon themselves to file for it." She shot him a quick glare.

"As you'd expect, she immediately approved of it."

Kaito gave her a light laugh, shaking his head in the process.

"Normally, if I knew you were free, I'd ask you to dinner or something, but I'm the one covering your shifts so I – "

"Sakura, we're late." He didn't bother hiding his impatience. Very few people actually had the nerve to flirt with her in front of her team. Maybe he and Naruto were losing their edge.

He pointedly ignored her glare, but took victory in the doctor's – Kaito, apparently – awkward shuffle afterwards. The man bowed, apologizing for keeping her from her personal appointment, before scurrying out of her office. The moment the door closed he knew she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

But apparently, she wasn't in the mood for it – another rare occurrence – and just sighed as she shrugged off her doctor's coat.

"At this rate, I'm never going to get a date," she muttered, shaking her head.

"You're supposed to be dating me, remember?" Sasuke reminded her as they walked out of her office. "I don't think Kaa-san would appreciate you cheating on me."

He delighted in the laugh that escaped her. One of the things he noticed when he realized Sakura was more levelheaded than he initially thought, was that it was surprisingly easy to get her to laugh. When they were genin, she was constantly hitting Naruto for making jokes while she was always giggling at everything he said. He always thought it was because of that annoying crush she had on him. She was the last person he expected to appreciate dry humor.

"We're not dating yet, Sasuke," she countered. "And you're supposed to be trying to impress me and get me to see that you'd make a good boyfriend."

"Talk about your dream come true then," he smirked. It was worth the smack he got on the arm.

She told him she wanted to go back to her apartment for a quick shower and a change of clothes, and he'd agreed.



Sakura's apartment was homey. He could still remember the day he was forced to help her move into the place.

Kaa-san had asked him what he was doing home when she heard Naruto was off helping her move in and gave him an earful before sending him off to help. He was properly pissed off when he got to her apartment in and found that not only was Naruto already helping her, but so were Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji. It was obvious that he wasn't needed, but he knew his mother would hear of it and give him hell.

The single-room apartment had changed a lot since then. He could still remember when it was a deathly white that reminded him too much of plain hospital walls instead of the warm beige it is now. It was a testament to how often they came over that there was a basket of tomatoes on her kitchen counter and an entire cupboard filled with cupped ramen. He supposed it wasn't too much considering his parents had literally had rooms built for them in their house, but it was still enough to garner weird looks from the rest of their friends when they came over for her housewarming.

Sakura eventually came out in a pair of army green high-waist shorts and a red sleeveless top under a black leather jacket. Her now-longer hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, putting her Byakogou seal on display despite the bangs she left to frame her face.

"I'll just put on my shoes," she told him and disappeared into a corner.

Sasuke sighed as he sank back into the chair. Girls and their ridiculously long preparation time.

His ears picked up the sound pf a phone vibrating against something and followed it until he found Sakura's phone on the counter. He answered it without even looking at the caller ID.

"What is it?"

"Sasuke?!"



Sakura was late! How was Ino supposed to berate her when she's not even here!

God damn Forehead! I ask for one night – just one night! – and she can't be bothered to leave that office of hers. I bet she hasn't even noticed that her shift's over!

Naruto had arrived a couple of minutes ago with Hinata and was currently arguing with Kiba over who between them was more Hokage-material. Hinata, the precious little thing, had managed to scoot away from all of it and found solace in Team Gai.

Yeah, no. She was not going to let her best friend spend her prime years locked inside an office! She'll probably even harass her into dressing up tonight because god damn it, they never hang out anymore and she's going to make that workaholic pink pain in the ass look gorgeous tonight!

Digging into her phone, she called Sakura just to give her a piece of her mind. It rang a couple of times before she answered. Just as she was about to give her the telling off of the century, she nearly choked on her own spit when a guy answered.

"What is it?"

No way!

"Sasuke?!" She's pretty sure more than half of the people at the bar turned to her, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Sakura and Sasuke were together! Sure, it may not seem like a big deal, but they're together after work on the same day she spotted them in the most romantic restaurant in the village? No way was this just a coincidence!

"You don't have to shout. That's what the phone is for." She could hear his glare even through the phone.

"You and Sakura are late." Pathetic, she knows, but it was the only thing she could think of after the initial shock. Besides, she didn't really know how to talk to the guy.

"Aah." Great. He's gone back to his grunts.

"Are you done yet?" she heard him say, although it was distant, like he had pulled the phone away from him. "Hurry up, I'm hungry. We're having dinner before going over there. Because I said so. Kaa-chan would not like it if she found out we were drinking on – I am not a mama's boy. You take that back. You're a bigger pain in the ass than Naruto, you know that? Whatever, we're still having dinner."

"Yamanaka," he called, his voice sounding clearer now. She knew he was pressing the phone against his ear again. "Tell Naruto not to destroy the place before we get there."

Click.

Shikamaru was by her side the moment she screeched the Uchiha's name. Someone had to calm her down, after all. He knew his teammate's tendencies too well. All a matter of time now.

3

2

1

"Naruto!" she whirled with the fury of a best friend kept out of the loop and the urgency of a gossip demanding the latest news – if he'd even call such trivial information news.

She was in his space in three strides – how she managed that in heels, he'll never know – and all but grabbed him by the collar. "Sasuke and Sakura! Explain!"

Shikamaru saw the confusion in the blonde's face once the initial shock subsided. Still, he asked the question half of their friends were wondering.

"What are you talking about?"

If it was possible, the vein on Ino's head got even larger. Hinata was by her boyfriend's side in the blink of an eye, not bothering to pull him out of the other blonde's grasp, but ready to interfere if ever she chose to physically hurt him the way Sakura did when they were genin.

"I'm talking about the fact that they had lunch together – just the two of them – in Emerald Dining today and when I called Sakura's phone, he answered! He even said they were going to go have dinner before they came here! Don't you dare lie to me, Uzumaki, what is going on between them?!"

Shikamaru could already feel a headache coming. Why couldn't Sakura just get a boyfriend already so Ino'd stop bugging her about it?



Wow, he didn't think it would just take a day to get Ino this invested. Either Sasuke was actually doing a good job, or she just doesn't have anything going on in her life.

"Well," Naruto gently pushed himself off of her – well, as gently as he could considering that the woman had a death grip on his shirt – and gave Hinata a quick smile to reassure her he was okay. "For one thing, the teme's always given Sakura special treatment."

He took his girlfriend's hand and pulled her to the barstool next to his, grinning at how her face turned a shade of red when he intertwined their hands. If he was going to deal with Ino without Sakura-chan or the teme, he's going to need her by his side for this.

As expected, Ino's brow rose. "What do you mean special treatment?"

Naruto tried to put years of being around Sasuke to good use as he tried to look uninterested in the topic, as if it wasn't something new to him. Which, if he's being totally honest, it really isn't.

"It's hard to explain," he admitted. "You have to know the teme to see it. Itachi-nii and Shisui sure give him a hard time around Sakura-chan."

Ino still looked unconvinced, as he expected. He remembers all of Sakura-chan's rants about her trying to set her up with random guys.


"Why can't she just leave me alone?" Sakura-chan groaned, practically crashing onto the Uchiha's couch. She managed to pull her head up and glare at Sasuke. "Move."

The teme didn't budge and just continued reading his book, resulting in Sakura-chan having to adjust herself so she wasn't lying on his lap.

"Ino giving you a hard time again?" Naruto asked. He didn't want to outright laugh at her, but it was a rare sight for Sakura-chan to face a problem she couldn't punch, and he was going to enjoy it. "I don't see why you still won't let us stay in your office. I'm sure we could scare off a bunch of annoying fanboys."

Their kunoichi rolled her eyes and started massaging her temples.

"You can't scare away Ino, and she's the main problem right now," he said. "Seriously? Do I look like I need a boyfrie – not a word from you, Shisui!"

True enough, the older Uchiha slumped in his seat beside Itachi-nii.

"You can always just say I'm your boyfriend, Sakura-chan," Shisui winked.

"Fuck off, Shisui," the teme glared. "Any self-respecting woman knows to keep away from you."

Shisui had simply smirked at that before meeting Itachi-nii's knowing gaze.

"You know better than to try and go after someone Sasuke has his eyes on, Shisui," Itachi-nii lightly reprimanded. "You're lucky he's not throwing shuriken at you."

"That's because we're indoors and Kaa-san would have my head if – wait, I do not have – "

"He's baiting you, you know," Sakura-chan told him, sitting up. "You should know better than that."

"Aah." The teme always resorted to grunts whenever Sakura-chan told him off, which is already more than the nonverbal responses he gives anyone else.

"Yamanaka's always been annoying like that," he told her, returning his gaze to book he was reading. "A relationship would just distract you from your duties in the hospital and missions. Besides, I doubt there's any self-respecting guy in the village that isn't intimidated by you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura-chan raised an eyebrow at him.

"It just means what it means. I'm not wasting my time explaining that."

"Sasuke! Tell me!" Sakura-chan whined – yes, whined – shaking the teme by the arm. Naruto knew for a fact that if he or anyone else ever did that, they'd get thrown to a wall or punched in the face.

"You're being annoying again, Sakura."

"Then just tell me so I'll stop being annoying!"

"No."

"You're no fun."


Naruto knew he didn't have to do a lot of pretending on his part because he honestly thinks there could be a chance the teme always liked ever since she "got over" her crush on him and he saw she could be a reliable teammate.

"Look, Sasuke's not someone who openly talks about his feelings – hell, he's not someone to openly talk at all! He talks through his actions, and if you want to know how he feels about Sakura-chan, you're going to have to either ask him yourself or settle for watching him."

The frown on Ino's face deepened as she crossed her arms.

"You can't tell me that – "

"Ino-chan," Hinata-chan cut in. "I-I don't think it's right for us to ask Naruto-kun about Sakura-chan and Sasuke-san's relationship. I-it just feels like we're prying into private affairs, and we can always ask Sakura-chan about it later when they get here."

Naruto squeezed her hand as a way of thanks, grinning at his girlfriend. She's really come a long way from the shy little girl he remembers from their Academy days. He'll have to tell her how proud he is of her more often. She deserves to know.

He watched as Ino had an internal debate whether or not to argue, but Hinata-chan has such a level-headed air about her that it's almost impossible to argue back. Not to mention the fact that she rarely ever speaks, but when she does, she always has a strong point.

With a resigned sigh, Ino seemed to finally give up.

"Mou, fine!" the blonde groaned but not without glaring at Naruto. "But they better give me good answers."

She walked away in search of probably another soul to interview, leaving Shikamaru behind.

"Why is your team such a pain in the ass," the Nara groaned before following his teammate.

Naruto shook his head. Damn teme causing so much drama.

He heard a soft giggle, and turned to see Hinata smiling.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. He could feel the edges of his lips turning up into a smile. He could still remember a time when simply being around him was enough to make her faint.

Much like it was hard to connect Sakura-chan from the crying girl in the background when they were kids, it's even harder to imagine Hinata-chan as the stay-in-the-background girl from the academy. Even now, as he watched her tuck strand of her hair behind her ear in – for her – the most casual way possible, he found himself wondering how he never thought she was the most gorgeous girl in the room.

She turned to him, head tilted and an illuminating smile on her face. Naruto had to remind himself how to breathe.

"E-everyone's so interested in Sakura-chan's lovelife, I think it's cute," she giggled.

"That's because aside after her obsession with the teme, she's never had one," he replied once he was sure he could talk again.

"Well does she have one now?" she asked.

Naruto lifted a brow. "Is that your way of asking me if he's interested in her?"

She had the courtesy to turn a little red, and he couldn't help but grin at how adorable she could be. "Well, I'm not sure about how he really feels," he started. "But I do know that Sakura-chan's special to him. Let's leave it at that, ne?"



"Try not to get too drunk tonight," Sasuke said from across the table. "I don't feel like dragging you halfway across the village."

They'd settled on a small barbeque place a few blocks away from Bandit One* which was a relatively new bar in Konoha's business sector. Sakura was just thankful it was some cheap sleazy place where perverts gathered. But of course, Ino was the one who called for this night out, so she hadn't expected it to be anywhere else – at least it wasn't in Bad Habit*, a much wilder club smacked dabbed in the middle of the business sector, she didn't think she'd have the energy.

"You're the one who has to watch his liquor," she replied, taking a bite of her food. "I trained under the Fifth Hokage, remember? She taught me more than just medical ninjutsu and superhuman strength you know."

"Learning how to hold your alcohol isn't something a good mentor teaches, Sakura," Sasuke pointed out, but it didn't have the reprimanding tone he usually used whenever he told her she was doing something stupid.

"And learning how to decapitate people in seven hundred different ways is?" she countered, raising an eyebrow.

The Uchiha simply shrugged. It was no secret that his time undercover as Orochimaru's apprentice was dark. He'd frequented Yamakana Inoichi's psychiatric clinic for a couple of months after his return, partly due to the Hokage's orders, and partly because his mother had insisted on it.

"At least it's useful," he smirked. The way the vein on her head throbs at even the slightest assault to her skills – relevant or not – never failed to amuse him.

He was under no illusion that he was ever going to outdrink her. In fact, dare he say, he's the lightweight of the team. It had been quite a shock for him when during their first outing since he got back that Sakura managed to outdrink both Naruto and Kakashi while not seeming even a little out of it. When he'd asked Sai why didn't bother joining the rest of their team on their one-way trip to alcohol poisoning, he said something that Sasuke would have thought was a joke if he didn't know the guy was incapable of making one.

"You drink with Ugly, you're more likely to die of alcohol poisoning before she even gets tipsy."

"We look cute."

"What?" her statement caught him off guard.

He looked up to find his teammate resting her chin on the palm of her hand, giving him that tilted smile she tended to do when she thought of the most random things.

"You. Me," she explained, "we kind of look a little match-y with our leather jackets and boots. Have I ever told you I've always thought blue and red go together in a weird opposites-attract kind of way?"

Right. He was wearing one of the shirts she gave him over the years – a plain navy-blue v-neck – with his dark jeans and combat boots, and decided to throw in the leather jacket Shisui gave him when he made jonin. He tried, despite knowing it was beyond his control, not to let the heat rushing to his neck go any higher at her statement.

She's basically saying we look like a couple! Which, although not intentionally, was what they were going for now that he thought about it.

"Eat your food, Sakura. We have to get there before Yamanaka and the dobe inevitably burn it down waiting for us."



Ino wanted nothing more than to grab her best friend and drag her down to T&I for a thorough questioning because holy shit! Forehead and Sasuke look like they were trying to let everyone know they belonged together! But alas, the Uchiha had yet to distance himself from her, which was, again, out of character him. Usually, he'd dump Sakura on her or Naruto before going off and brood in a corner much like he did for the majority of their lives. But no! He was currently asking her what her order was before going off and ordering it for her.

The moment Sasuke left their booth, the Yamanaka heiress wasted no time replacing him. Much to her surprise, she hadn't even begun her questioning before they were joined by Hinata and Tenten.

"Okay, we gave you the benefit of the doubt earlier when Ino was going off about seeing you two in Emerald Dining, but now there's no fighting her off," Tenten said, eyeing the rosette.

"Wait what?" she was still a little blindsided by her friends' sudden appearance.

"Don't play dumb, Forehead!" Ino all but yelled. Her friends were thankful for the squabble Naruto and Kiba had caused because otherwise, most of the attention would probably be on them. "Something's going on between you and Sasuke and we want to know everything!"

"Guys, I really don't – "

"We saw you at Emerald Dining, then on the same day you show up to a reunion party looking like each other's other half?" Ino raised an eyebrow. "No way do you expect us to believe nothing is going on. Even Naruto and Hinata aren't that couple-y!"

She'd given her that jacket when she found out Sasuke owned one, and Hinata had given Naruto one as well – she still thanks the gods that she didn't get him an orange one because by Hashirama that would have been a crime – and thought that it would be a cute little team thing.

"Well he's been around more often, but maybe he's just bored," Sakura mused, resting her cheek on her palm. "But we never really know with Sasuke. You can always ask him, but I doubt he'd give you the answer you were hoping for."

"Ask me what?"

Ino had to bite her own tongue to keep herself from squealing. She may have gotten over her childhood crush on the Uchiha, but god damn if he wasn't the finest looking guy in the entire village. For some reason, finding him wearing civilian clothing made him look even hotter!

How can someone who couldn't care less about how they look, end up looking like that?!

He carried a scotch on the rocks in one hand and a vodka cranberry in the other. Seeing as none of the girls were going to be moving from their positions, he sat next to Sakura who scooted over to make room for him. Ino watched as he handed her her drink and nodded at the thanks she gave him.

They seemed to be having one of their telepathic conversations, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that. Beside her, she noticed Hinata tilt her head a little, something she knows her friend does when she's deep into observation mode.

"I'd leave, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am having you talk about me with the amount of blackmail material you have." He glared at the rosette who merely giggled.

"Sasuke-san, can we ask you a question?" Ino, and a few others, looked at her dark-haired friend.

Hinata rarely ever initiated conversations, and even when she did it was mostly small talk. The girl, despite being one of the prettiest – and well-endowed – in Konoha, was painfully shy and reserved. Which is why her brows almost shot out of her face when the Hyuga took the wheel. Judging from Tenten's slightly slacked jaw and Sakura's mirroring expression, it was clear that she wasn't the only one.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and took a sip from his drink. "Aren't you already asking?"

Hinata simply ignored his reply and went on.

"What is your relationship with Sakura-chan? You've always been close from what I can tell, but it seems that you've been crossing extra miles for her recently, and we're all a little confused," she explained. "Naruto-kun seems to think that you've always had a soft spot for her, but Ino-chan thinks – and now, quite a few others – think that you like her more as more than just a friend. I apologize for being so upfront about this, but I think it would save everyone, especially Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun a couple of death threats from Ino-chan if things get cleared as soon as possible."

Silence fell over the booth. Ino exchanged looks with Tenten while managing to steal a glance at the Uchiha. The question didn't seem to faze him. Instead, he simply took another sip from his drink before putting it down on the table.

"Sasuke, you can – "

"She is my best friend and one of the few people I hold dear. I can't answer on her behalf, but if you're asking me what she is to me, all I can say is that she's special."

Sakura, who'd been in the middle of taking a drink choked at his answer. Ino didn't miss how Sasuke's hand immediately went to her back in an attempt to soothe her.

"You need to stop acting like that's such a big surprise," he shook his head. "Makes it seem like I'm such a bad guy."

"Well aren't you?"

"I'm telling Tsunade to put you in a team with that weird Chunin that keeps leaving you love notes by your door."

"Nice try, but the restraining order is still in effect."

"Anyway, does that answer your question, Hyuga? Yamanaka?"

Sasuke turned his head ever so slightly, raising an eyebrow – if she didn't know any better Ino would have dared to say he looked amused – at the women in question. She could only nod.


Okay this was a long overdue update. I originally planned on updating this once every two weeks, but damn, classes really ruin everything.

Anyway, sorry if I made Hinata as little OOC here, but I genuinely believe that she's the only person in that table that Sasuke would take seriously.

Thank you for reading this chapter of Mission Impossible! Hope to see you on the one. Don't hesitate to leave a review and tell me what you thought!

~ Hekate