This fic is based on an (admittedly slight) trend I've observed with Sasuke and Sakura in the manga and I think it'll make for a hilarious look into his mind. I'm going to try and make this as canon compliant as I can.
Not gonna lie, I have no idea what the tone of this is.
/
Sasuke had considered the possibility that he was gay when he was 11. It had been after he'd brushed off joining a discussion on girls being cute and one of his crasser classmates had said he wasn't normal. Another had responded that he was just gay.
He'd gone home and meditated on the idea while working on his aim with kunai. He'd never really given mind to girls being 'cute.' He simply always felt had better things to do. But was it possible he just didn't find them appealing?
He'd quickly discarded that idea. Men didn't appeal to him anymore than women did.
Next he'd considered that he was Asexual. He'd heard his parents talk about one of their clan members being completely uninterested in marriage or dating. He supposed that that would make sense.
It would make reviving his clan difficult. But not impossible.
Unlike being gay, he really had no way to disprove this however, so he'd just rolled with it. Reviving his clan was going to have to wait until he was sure his brother wouldn't just kill them again.
He looked at the bullseye. Of the ten marked spots, only nine had been hit dead center. One was a little beneath its target.
He grit his teeth. Not good enough.
/
Sasuke ran up the tree for a few feet before he began losing his balance. He quickly marked his position with his Kunai as he fell back before flipping around so that he landed on his feet.
I didn't think it would be this hard, he thought, looking at the imprint of his foot. Too much chakra and the wood cracks, but too little…
He glanced at Naruto, who had, of course, landed on his head. He didn't even have an indent on the tree.
That happens.
"Hey this is pretty easy!"
He looked up.
Sakura stuck her tongue out from her position at the top of her tree.
Sasuke blinked as he looked up at the girl. Then he startled as something struck him.
What is this feeling? He wondered. She got up before me… maybe I'm jealous? This doesn't feel like jealousy.
He snapped out of it when Kakashi mentioned the Uchiha clan not being worth much.
Making a note to throw several sharp objects at the Jonin later, he glanced at Naruto. They both nodded. They had to get up the tree.
/
Sasuke proceeded to forget about the whole thing. Then it was brought back to his attention during a different training session.
Kakashi had taken them out for a walk through the forest.
Sakura thought the flowers looked beautiful.
Naruto thought that he could totally outdo Sasuke in whatever they were meant to be doing.
Sasuke thought that it was a waste of time.
What Kakashi hadn't told them, was that it was a training exercise to identify and break out of genjutsu using the technique he'd taught them earlier that week.
A few minutes in, Sasuke sensed the difference in the air and the sounds around him. It was subtle, but the birds had gotten louder. The air felt still. The world had shifted subtly.
"Kai!"
As soon as his chakra was disrupted, his eyes opened to see concerned green orbs staring down at him.
Sakura yelped and skid back from him, blushing.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto. He was still asleep.
He looked up at Kakashi who was reading the damn book.
He looked at Sakura, who was babbling about how sorry she was that she got too close and how concerned she was and how she should not have doubted him.
Sakura had gotten up before him.
He turned away from her. "Whatever." He said as dismissively as he could.
He put his hand over his mouth trying to suppress the smile and blush on his face.
Well, he thought, I'm not asexual.
/
Sakura looks off, Sasuke thought as they walked to the classroom. Is she nervous about the chunin exams? He glanced back at her. How can I help?
And then he noticed the genjutsu. Logically, he knew that they should keep walking and leave those who couldn't see it to fail. He glanced back at Sakura who was staring at the ground. This will not do, he decided.
/
"I didn't answer a single question." Naruto moaned as they walked to the next stage of the test.
Sasuke opened his mouth to scold the Usuratonkachi for being reckless.
"Really?" Sakura asked. "I answered all of them. They weren't that hard."
Sasuke stumbled but quickly righted himself.
"Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
"It's nothing." He said before sneaking a glance at the pinkette. She'd answered them all. What? How? Was she some sort of academic genius? Where was that when she talked to him instead of her usual chatter about how great he was.
"How did you do?" Sakura asked him.
Sasuke looked at her ready to say that he'd cheated like they were supposed to.
And then he saw the look in her eyes. She clearly expected him to say that it was easy. And he didn't wasn't to disappoint.
"Getting the answers was child's play." He said, choosing a half-truth.
Sakura beamed.
Sasuke found that he couldn't just ignore it like before.
/
The Jonin woman disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto licking the wound she'd left on him.
I'm not jealous, Sasuke thought, even as he spent the rest of their time outside the forest looking at her. I'm just strategizing.
The woman suddenly turned to Sasuke and smirked before biting at him.
Sasuke looked away.
/
As Sasuke watched Naruto fight off the mist ninja, he came to two conclusions.
The first was that Naruto was a better ninja than he had given him credit for.
The second, was that he definitely wasn't gay.
/
Sasuke looked at Kakashi from his hospital bed. It was all he could do while so much of his energy was drained.
"I'm fighting Gaara?" he asked.
"Yup." Kakashi said, though it had more of an edge than his usual jovial voice. "You'd die." He said matter-of-factly.
Sasuke would have argued if he didn't suspect that it was true.
"Don't worry." Kakashi said. "Between Orochimaru and the Sand-nin, I've decided that you need my undivided attention for now."
"What about-?"
"Naruto is fighting a less deadly opponent." Kakashi said. "I know a guy who owes me a favor. He specializes in teaching and can help Naruto refine his skills, maybe even better than I could." He looked off to the side. "And there's him-"
"Who?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh, nothing." Kakashi said flippantly.
Sasuke chose to let it go. He wasn't that concerned with Naruto's training. "And Sakura?"
"She's not in the finals." Kakashi said. "She tied in her fight with Ino."
Sasuke nodded, considering Ino. She was the heiress to the Yamanka clan. Surely, her skills weren't subpar. He smiled as he imagined them both going at it, fists and weapons flying. Blood boiling, going all out-
His face fell. Oh no.
"Sakura fought ferociously." Kakashi said. "I'm sure you would have been proud."
"What?" Sasuke asked.
"Nothing." Kakashi said as he turned to leave.
"Wait." Sasuke said. "If this Jonin's a better teacher than you, why isn't he teaching me since I'm in so much danger?"
Kakashi stopped. "Well," he said. "He won't run you into the ground as hard as you're going to need him to." He said, the edge in his voice even sharper.
Sasuke winced.
"And..." Kakashi turned back to Sasuke and tapped his headband, right over his Sharingan eye. "I have something only you can learn."
Sasuke nodded weakly.
/
Damn, she's fast, Sasuke thought as he followed the blonde who had picked Gaara up. I wonder if…
Gaara threw her to the side like a ragdoll.
Never mind.
/
Sasuke watched his mother's chest got caught open for the 93rd time. He felt like he should have been used to the sight by now, but something about the genjutsu made each moment feel like a fresh mark on his soul.
"I've been wasting my time." He said no longer shocked at his younger voice. He watched the blood gush out her chest as she fell to the ground. He looked up at the impassive face of his older brother. Their parents' killer. "No more."
/
Sasuke looked up at the four sound ninja who'd ambushed him. He spared a glance at the girl. She may have been strong, but she hadn't done anything of note.
He wondered if the faint attractiveness he found in her was due to her actual looks or the company she kept.
Then she opened her mouth and he decided it certainly wasn't her winning personality.
/
Sasuke caught Sakura as she fell over. He should have just let her hit the ground. Helping her would just put a damper on his attempts to cut their bond.
Despite this, he found himself placing her on the nearby bench. He bent down to look at her unconscious face.
Knocking her out had been easy. She'd barely seen it coming. She was weaker than him…
…so why did he still find her so fascinating?
/
"Chidori Stream!"
Sasuke's attack hit Naruto, Sai and the third ninja who had come for him, sending them back.
He stood up straight before noticing movement to his side.
Sakura was charging at him, chakra building in her arm. If that hit, it would hurt.
Buried under three years of cutting off his emotion, Sasuke felt something within him stir again. He raised his sword to counter her. He wanted to know how she'd improved.
The Kakashi replacement got between them.
Sasuke felt another emotion he was more familiar with and stabbed the man in the shoulder.
/
Sasuke had been told that Karin was unattractive by some sound ninja. He hadn't answered, but he had wondered if it was true.
In his mind, the woman who could sense and identify anyone from miles away was very attractive. If he didn't have other concerns, and if she wasn't easily the pushiest of all the girls who'd been vying for his attention all those years ago, he'd probably have given her the time of day.
Probably not though, he thought, as the image of focused and determined green eyes appeared in his mind, permanently captured by the Sharingan.
I wonder how strong Sakura's gotten.
/
"You did well against the Five Kage." Madara said.
"I wasn't supposed to fight the Five Kage." Sasuke couldn't help but retort. He would have said more, but he needed Itachi's eyes.
"You still did better than most people could even dream of." Madara said.
Sasuke chose not to answer.
"Did anything there besides the nine-tails Jinchuriki catch your interest?" Madara asked.
For the briefest of seconds, the image of the red head who had threatened to melt him and the pinkette who had tried to kill him flashed in his mind. Then it was quickly over-shadowed by the image of his dead brother. "No."
/
Sasuke cut down one of the Juubi clones. He glanced at Naruto who did the same. In the end, when all was said and done, here he was, fighting alongside him.
Sasuke almost smiled but caught himself. He wouldn't let himself be caught up in the moment. The world was a mess, and he needed to fix it, not try to go back to his past. And Naruto was sure to disagree with his plan to burn the Bijuu.
A clone flew past him.
Wha-?
His thought was interrupted when Sakura flew over his head and, with a yell of her catchphrase, destroyed the landscape, sending dozens of the monsters flying from the impact of her punch.
Naruto looked flabbergasted and terrified.
Sasuke smirked and let out a small laugh. I knew it, he thought.
He caught himself again. He couldn't let himself be dragged back into-
Before he knew what he was doing, he threw a wave of Amaterasu at a clone that was about to attack her.
Dammit, he thought.
/
Sasuke dodged another attack from Sakura. It was almost disgustingly easy.
Ever since he'd gotten the Rinnegan, sparring with anyone besides Naruto was an exercise in frustration. Even his lack of an arm didn't provide that much of a handicap. And he didn't get that much satisfaction in winning when he was already making an effort to not overpower his opponents.
Sakura raised her fist and punched at him.
Sasuke created a Susanoo ribcage to block. It was a little stronger than the one he'd fought the Raikage with.
It shattered as soon as Sakura's fist made contact with it.
Sasuke stared at the girl.
Sakura smirked as she got up in his face and grabbed him by the collar. "Didn't see that coming did you?" She threw him onto his back and sat on his stomach.
Sasuke stared up at her and smiled. "Nope." He said. "I certainly did not."