title: the one where sakura has a lovely smile
author: ohwhatsherface
note: i'm really sorry. as much as i try to make these drabbles team seven centric and focus on their friendship, i'm totally biased and always end up sneaking in a bit of sasusaku. and i'm not very subtle about it either. oh whell.
disclaimer: i do not own naruto.

"You have a lovely smile."

Sakura, about to put another chocolate pretzel in her mouth, stopped midway and frowned, dropping the grin she'd been donning. "Huh?" she asked, confused.

There was a boy standing across from her. No, not a boy, she corrected. She wouldn't say a man, but he was surely a year or two older than her, she knew that much. Teen, she settled for. He was tall and had a tan, which wasn't surprising given the sunny location they were in. His eyes were bright blue, standing out from beneath his dark bangs.

He blushed. "Uh..." With an uneasy laugh, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "Right. Do you know which way the docks are?"

Sakura raised a sceptical brow and pointed past his shoulder. "Behind you," she replied, smiling.

"Oh!" He continued his awkward laughter until he simply sighed and his shoulders drooped. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "You probably think I'm an idiot."

"Not at all," Sakura teased.

"You're smiling again though," he said, doing the same. "I'm glad. Has anyone ever told you that you've got a beautiful smile?"

Sakura's cheeks reddened at the compliment. "W—well, no, not really." Sakura tried not to cringe at her awkwardness.

He frowned. "Really? Then you should dump that lucky bastard you're with if he's so blind."

"Oh." Sakura looked away, embarrassed. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"You don't?" He sounded surprised. "That's crazy! You're beautiful. I mean..." He sighed. "Well, uh, then," A nervous gulp made him pause, "well, would you uh, go on a date with me?"

A short distance away, Naruto and Sasuke were watching the entire scene unfold.

Naruto scowled at the boy who was blatantly ogling his Sakura-chan. "That bastard!" Naruto muttered, pointing. He went unnoticed, thankfully. If Sakura saw him pointing again, she'd probably twist his finger like the last time and that had really hurt. "Oi, other bastard!" he called, looking at Sasuke, "we have to go save Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke, who was equally irked (but managed to conceal that better), frowned back at Naruto. "Why?" Sasuke spat. "She looks perfectly comfortable to me."

"Well she's obviously faking it," Naruto pointed out with a roll of his eyes. "Sakura-chan is just really nice like that, remember?"

Sasuke scoffed. "If she wants to fool around with random guys she meets, it's not my problem."

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto inquired, looking at the Uchiha wearily. "You're being bitchier than usual—"

"Idiot, stop wasting my time," he sneered.

Sasuke glanced over at where Sakura was talking to some random guy and his scowl darkened. Her smile reached her eyes as she giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. Her body language showed she was relaxed and actually comfortable with that stranger. The boy, on the other hand, appeared nervous and bashful.

Coward, Sasuke thought, annoyed.

"What's wrong with Sasuke?" he heard Kakashi ask Naruto when he returned. He'd gone to deliver Team Seven's package to whoever their client was and kindly let the three explore the port city. Naruto, however, was about ninety percent sure his so-called generosity had nothing to do with being nice; he'd over heard some other jounin with a senbon in his mouth telling Kakashi about their client's "awesome rack" and how "easy" she was.

"Who cares about Sasuke?" Naruto bellowed. "Some creep is harassing Sakura-chan, sensei! We have to go rescue her!"

Kakashi glanced at Sakura who was now playing with her hair and biting her lip to suppress a smile. Kakashi barely contained his amusement. "I don't think Sakura-chan wants to be rescued, Naruto."

Naruto gaped at Kakashi. "WHAT? Not you too, Kaka-sensei! WE NEED TO SAVE HER!"

"Save who?"

Naruto whipped his gaze over to Sakura and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Sakura-chan! You're okay! What'd that bastard want? Should I go beat him up? Because I can if you—" He was cut off when Sakura smacked him. "OW!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "He wasn't bothering me, Naruto. And don't call him a bastard."

"What the hell?" Naruto pouted. "Don't tell me you actually like that loser!"

Sakura blushed. "Well—I mean..."

"Is there something you'd like to tell us, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked calmly, though at the moment, he was feeling just as protective as Naruto.

"No," she mumbled. Sakura made a sound of frustration and crossed her arms. "No."

Kakashi wagged a finger. "Now, now, Sakura-chan, I do know when you kids lie to me."

"I'm not!" Sakura protested. "I mean..." She sighed. "He asked me out, but obviously I said 'no.'" To her annoyance, all three looked quite surprised by her admission. "Well, it's very unprofessional to fool around with strangers while on a mission!" she irritably explained.

"...indeed," Kakashi said, looking mildly offended.

"Well what about teammates?" Naruto asked none too subtly.

"W—w—what?" Sakura reddened even further, darting her gaze between Naruto, who she was supposed to answer, and her one true l—her crush, who was staring at the ocean, bored. "WELL, OF COURSE. NOT. OFCOURSENOT."

Kakashi could only sigh as Sakura punched Naruto across the street.

Beside him, Sasuke smirked.