title: wonderwal
characters: Ino POV, SasuSaku
rating: K+
category: romance
I visited my friend for the weekend and sadly her campus wireless wouldn't work for my computer (FML), so I decided to at least do something useful with myself while she was in class and this is what came out!
Disclaimer: I own the characters, plot and artwork of Naruto. I am also Santa Clause and I live in the White House. Sadly, none of these statements are true.
She doesn't understand it.
She's been reading romance novels since she was young and watching chick-flicks since she was even younger.
In all her twenty years of life, Ino Yamanaka has never seen a relationship quite like Sasuke and Sakura's.
He doesn't get angry when men try to hit on her.
She watches, one day at the market, as the couple picks some fresh fruit and vegetables for their basket. Notices the way Sakura lingers at the tomato stand and only picks the plumpest, reddest, juiciest ones.
A group of new Jounin are feeling particularly confident due to their recent status upgrade, and decide to test out their luck on the (poor, unfortunate) female population of Konoha. Their eyes land on Sakura—one of the most famous, attractive kunoichi in the entire village—and the target has been selected.
Ino rolls her eyes, those boys know enough to know who Sakura is and to pick up on her beauty, but clearly they don't know enough not to try to mess with her when her boyfriend is around.
One of them makes a pass at her, commenting on how pretty she looks today. She smiles politely and nods in thanks before quickly moving away. Another bumps into her and kindly offers to help her pick up her fallen items, making sure his fingers brush against her arm longer than necessary.
One by one, each of them take a turn. Sakura politely ignores them, which doesn't really surprise Ino.
Bracing herself, she turns to look at Sasuke's expression. She's expecting to see silent rage, badly concealed jealousy, at least some kind of irritation on his face.
Instead he calmly makes his way over to Sakura, speaks softly to her with his hand pressed gently at the small of her back. She grins up at him and nods before they pay the vendor and leave the market.
Ino blinks in disbelief as she watches them head up the street and around the corner. She frowns, aren't boyfriends supposed to lose it when they see a horde of males flirting with their woman?! He could have at least given some display of his glorious manhood in her defense! He didn't even seem annoyed!
Her arms cross and she shakes her head. Clearly something is wrong here.
He's too hard on her during training.
A week later Ino sees them together on the training grounds. She masks her chakra and watches from behind a tree.
Both are covered in streaks of dirt and trails of sweat. Sakura's short pink locks curl at the ends and stick to the back of her neck. There isn't a bit of make up on her face, her hair is messy and windblown, and her clothes are torn and dirty.
And yet, Ino decides, Sakura never looks more beautiful than when she's in battle. Her eyes turn a fierce shade of emerald, her skin glows, and she moves with cat-like grace and agility.
Sasuke—donned in only a pair of simple black ninja pants and his arm guards—doesn't look half bad either, the blonde can't help but think.
They move towards each other, almost in a dance as their arms swing and their legs move. He lands a hard blow on her ribs and she retaliates with a swift kick to the stomach. While she may be stronger than he is with that inhuman strength of hers, he's faster. They're perfectly balanced out as they continue to battle.
Ino watches as Sasuke sweeps his legs low behind Sakura's knees, knocking her onto her backside. Dirt and grass flies up around her from her harsh landing on the ground and it takes a few seconds before Sakura can get up. She's barely lifted her torso off the ground when Sasuke delivers a forceful backhanded smack across her face.
Sakura groans in frustration as he continues to push her against the ground before she finally punches the dirt below her, causing a crevice to break through. Sasuke leaps away from the shifting terrain below him but before he can land Sakura has grabbed him by the ankle and throws him into a tree.
The wind seems to have been knocked out of him after that one, but after taking a moment to catch his breath Sasuke just smirks at her and chases her into the trees.
They disappear from her vision and Ino bites her lip. Shouldn't he at least go a little easier on her since she's his girlfriend?
He doesn't comfort her when she's sad.
Some time later Ino is standing behind Sakura, dressed in all black. Sakura's parents died when their house caught fire a few days ago. Being an only child, they were the only blood family she had left.
When the ceremony is over, everyone pays their respects to Sakura, wishing her well and hoping for her to find peace. Naruto hugs her for a long time, telling her he's always going to be there for her and to come find him whenever she wants some ramen, his treat.
She sees Sakura turn to Sasuke and ask if they can get out of there, so she decides she'll speak with her friend later. Instead of heading back into town, follows them as they walk to the Uchiha grounds. She's stunned to see that Sasuke has led her to his family's burial site.
Sakura breaks down and clings to him. He says nothing, staring at the headstones of his mother and father as he holds her against his chest.
This doesn't sit right with Ino. Isn't it a little insensitive of him to bring her here after all she's been through?
He doesn't talk with her.
They're walking down the street one warm spring day when Ino sees them from inside her family's flower shop. They don't notice her but she doesn't mind, content to continue watching and pondering their relationship.
Sakura's telling a story, judging by the varying expressions on her face and the way she's moving her hands around her. She has a big grin on her face and occasionally looks to Sasuke during parts of her story. His hands are in tucked in his pockets, his head bowed down as she speaks. He nods occasionally but other than that, doesn't even appear to be listening to her.
He does nothing when she leans in and wraps her arms around his arm, hugging it close. Her head rests on his shoulder for a minute before she lifts it back up again. All Sasuke does is glance down at her for a moment.
By the time they're out of her line of sight, Ino is disappointed. Sure Forehead can talk like no other, but couldn't Sasuke at least be a bit more communicative with her?
When Sakura shows her her new diamond ring, Ino can't help but feel uneasy about the whole thing. Sure they've been dating for nearly two years and it's not like they're getting any younger, but is Sakura sure this is what she wants? She doesn't seem to be getting anything out of the relationship.
When she admits her doubts to her friend, Sakura smiles at her in an almost pitying way, as if she feels bad for Ino for not understanding. They're sitting on a park bench, admiring the blooming sakura trees while they watch passersby. It's the perfect kind of day, and yet Ino can't help but feel it's been ruined by this next stage in their relationship.
Calmly, almost as if she'd heard it before, Sakura explains to her that her love for Sasuke isn't based on how powerful he gets or how wealthy he is, even the things he does for her. She's known from the beginning that their relationship would take work, but they say if you do something you love then you'll never work a day in your life, right?
And besides, she says before standing up, that's not the way Sasuke loves her, either.
Sitting alone, Ino is given the chance to ponder just what her best friend meant. She thinks back to all the little windows into their relationship she's been privy to and suddenly is hit with an epiphany.
Sasuke doesn't get jealous of other guys hitting on Sakura because he trusts her to be faithful to him and respects her enough to defend herself.
Sasuke doesn't hold back on Sakura when they're training because he sees her as an equal, a worthy opponent whom he can't hold back on.
Sasuke didn't show Sakura his family's graves to burden her with more pain, but to show her in his own way that he was there for her.
Sasuke doesn't talk a lot because he knows Sakura needs someone to tell her stories to, and he needs someone to tell their stories to him.
And finally she realizes that Sasuke's love is not about the gestures he makes for Sakura, but the walls he takes down for her. And only her.
Just a cute snippet into what I hope is a more in-character version of what could be a possible future relationship for Sasuke and Sakura. Plus I like the idea of their love being misunderstood by the rest of the world.
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