title: to be juliet's secret.
summary: He forgets how fragile she really is.
dedication: For Selene (seleneswan), again. I ADORE YOU, A MILLION TRILLION AIR KISSES FOR YOU ON YOUR MERRY (UN-)BIRTHDAY.
disclaimer: oui.
prompt(s): fragility / "My thighs are not fat! They're made of steel!" / quiet strength
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Observing from the sidelines of the training grounds, Sasuke was forced to admit that she really had grown.
He was no longer in a position to be sarcastic about it, because it was true.
As much as he hated being proven wrong…she had.
They left the grounds with barely a backward glance at the destruction she had left in her wake — it seemed impossible, to Sasuke's mind, how such a petite girl (albeit muscular) could cause such massive ruptures in such hard, dry earth. They walked not-quite-side-by-side, Sasuke slightly ahead of his "guard", in a heavy but somewhat natural silence which, to Sakura's evident relief, was filled by other sounds — birds in their nets, ninja darting from branch to branch above them
("Oi, was that Sasuke Uchiha? I didn't see!"
"You know, I think it might have been…")
and the distant hum of the town not far away.
Sasuke looked up.
Konoha had certainly changed since the last time he had seen it — it was calmer, perhaps owing to the fact that the war had long since ended. The sky no longer burned amber; the expressions people wore no longer were tense. It seemed that Sakura had grown at the same rate, in the same way — she, too, had once been broken and defenceless and dull.
He couldn't help but smirk.
"What're you grinning at?"
His smirk broadened, "I knew you'd gotten physically stronger, I had no idea you'd developed X-ray vision, though."
He could feel Sakura's stare, boring into the back of his head.
"No, actually," Sakura spoke through half-gritted teeth, and she fell into step beside him. "Surprisingly enough, when you fall in and out of love with a person as many times as I have with you, you learn their body language down to a T."
Sasuke stopped in his tracks, cocking an eyebrow. "Body language?" he echoed, tipping a head in an uncharacteristically confused manner. Sakura turned, placed her hands on her hips, and bowed her head in such a way as though to hide her glowing red cheeks.
"Y-yeah, body language. You either bow your head, or raise it, when you smirk, just a fraction," Her tone became steadily more uncomfortable, "I noticed that back — back in the Academy days, when we were…when we — " She flailed her arms, "Stop grinning like that."
"You're being awfully fragile about feelings you claim not to care for, these days," Sasuke said quietly, glancing up at her from beneath his bangs. "Are you sure your mouth is saying the same as your heart is?"
Sakura tossed her hair out of her face, suddenly regaining her air of authority over the Uchiha. She stood tall, confident, strong.
"I don't see why I'd lie. After what you did, I don't think anyone in Konoha is capable of feeling anything more than acknowledgement for you," she said. "I'm not going to lie — I did used to love you. But then you left, and…it's just a little hard to think about the days when you, me and Naruto were happy together. I think, if you were in my position, you'd be reduced to a stuttering mess, too. This has nothing to do with my romantic feelings, so I suggest you don't bring that up again."
She made to stalk away.
Not understanding a word she'd just said, Sasuke followed.
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Even the way she ate ramen seemed more defined, and that…yeah, that kinda pissed Sasuke off.
Enhanced strength, he could handle. Attitude? Sure. But sophistication…
That just wasn't fair. Not even he could eat ramen and look good.
"You're gonna get fat if you guzzle it like that," he lied. "Slow down a bit."
Sakura, who, out of the pair, had the cleanest, soup-free chin, looked at him from over her chopsticks, one eyebrow raised jauntily. She eyed the piece of fish stuck to his upper lip, "I'm sorry?"
"…you're guzzling."
"And you're lying."
"…hn."
Sakura chuckled, taking time to chew and swallow her mouthful. "I took etiquette classes from Ino's mother when you were gone. Jealous, that you're not the only classy ninja in Konoha, anymore?"
Sasuke simply rolled his eyes. "Just because you can eat ramen delicately doesn't mean less calories," he jabbed a chopstick at her bowl. "You're still going to get fat."
"I won't get fat."
"Fatter, then."
"I'm not fat!"
"Have you seen your thighs?"
"I do not have fat thighs," she replied shrilly, waving her soup spoon in the air and showering herself with stock, "I'll have you know that I have legs of steel!"
"Hn…whatever you say."
Sakura flapped her arms, and Shizune watched from the lamp-lit street, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Team Seven was on its way to healing.
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outro: Mm, shorter than the last, and a bit more…filler-ish. Idk, these are meant to be drabbles, they don't necessarily have to connect one after the other, right?
I CAN DO WHAT I DAMN WELL LIKE.
Please review!