title: Born to Be Three
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH 2015
rating: K-M
summary: oo1: When things aren't going the way Naruto and Hinata planned, Naruto comes right out and says what everyone else has been thinking. (Matchmaker part II)
dedicated to: my baes on tumblr - i love you all!
NOTE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MONTH: I wanted to add Sarada in many of these prompts, because she's a part of this beautiful family too /sobs forever at my babies having babies/ but sometimes I either couldn't find a way to fit her in and, to be honest, I have little experience writing about her! Hopefully that will change in the future!
.oo2.
No Filter
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When things aren't going the way Naruto and Hinata planned, Naruto comes right out and says what everyone else has been thinking. (Matchmaker part II)
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Because Hinata knew none of them had the money for a formal dinner (which would have helped create the atmosphere for reciprocated confessions), and because Naruto decided he should be the one to choose where to eat since he'd been hurt, they ended up at—no surprise—Ichiraku's.
"Couldn't we have gone somewhere else?" Sakura complained. "We eat here all the time."
"Yeah, 'cause it's good." Naruto sat in his usual barstool at the end, patting the seat next to him for Hinata. Sakura took the third, and Sasuke, with no other option, sat at the end next to Sakura.
"What are you hungry for, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. She tried to make the best of the lousy, uncomfortable situation her friends had put her in. Granted, she was grateful they were trying at all, but her love was something she needed to deal with personally. And maybe it was best if Naruto didn't get in the way, because—well, it was already self-explanatory.
Sasuke looked up at the menu hanging from the ceiling. The characters were a faded red, and the board was old and wobbly. He morbidly noted that if it were to fall and hit someone on the head, it could very well be the last shift that employee ever worked.
Sakura leaned in closer to her right to focus on Sasuke's line of vision. His eyes seemed to scan the menu, right and left, up and down.
"What does that say on the edge there?" Sakura squinted. She tried to move closer to get a better view, and found herself off the edge of her seat—and into Sasuke's grasp.
"Be careful," Sasuke said. "You could have fallen."
The tone with which he scolded her was like a parent to a naughty child. She hmphed loudly and brushed herself off, refusing to thank him for his help. If he wanted to be sour about the situation, she would be, too.
"Hey, come on, Sakura-ch—" Naruto stopped himself at the right moment. "Sakura. He was just trying to help. Man, we need to get these barstools replaced." Naruto pressed a kiss to Hinata's cheek and wound his arm over her shoulder. "I've got you, Hinata!"
As much as she craved that kind of affection from Sasuke (fat chance, her conscious told her), she couldn't help but gag at the two nuzzling noses together. She bet her career that Naruto fed her before feeding himself.
.
.
.
"How is your, uh," Naruto peeked over to see what his teammates had ordered. "Thing?"
"Fine," Sakura said. She spooned hot soup into her mouth and followed with noodles soon after. "Can't complain."
Hinata asked, "How about you, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn." He lifted his shoulders in a small shrug and continued to eat. Over the course of the meal, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura engaged in playful conversation, with Sakura even going so far as to tease Hinata about her own romances with Naruto. Because she had her back turned against Sasuke, she couldn't see his ears perking whenever she mentioned how "wonderful" it must have been to find someone who cherished Hinata like a princess, and even brought her up towards the moon for a kiss like no other.
"It was nothing," Naruto laughed. "You guys haven't seen anything yet! That was only the beginning." He spoke loud enough that Sasuke could eavesdrop with no problem, and Sasuke's tightening grip around his fragile chopsticks told Naruto that someone was jealous.
"Oh, Hinata! I have to tell you this one time where me, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun were at new training with Kakashi-sensei—this was before Sai joined us—and we had to do this bell test. It was so funny. Naruto went like—" Sakura motioned with her arms wildly to demonstrate Naruto's quick, unrelated movements, and in the process of doing so knocked her bowl of ramen behind her and onto Sasuke's clothes.
He said nothing. He didn't even react as soup, noodles, and meat collected on his lap and wet his clothing. Hinata put her hands to her mouth in shock. Naruto, unable to comprehend his own shock, demonstrated his emotion by placing his hands over Hinata's. At least she could feel twice the embarrassment for them both.
"Sasuke-kun, oh my goodness." Sakura reached for napkins in the dispenser, but found none to wipe away the food. "I can't believe—I am so sorry, are you hurt?"
"Don't worry about it," he growled. Facing Naruto and ignoring Hinata, he snarled and said, "This was all your fault."
"Sasuke-kun, don't blame them. They didn't do anything wrong. It was all me, okay?" Sakura said, trying to appease the situation. But her words only inflamed Sasuke more, and he slammed damp change from his pocket onto the counter next to his unfinished meal.
"I'm leaving," he said.
"Sasuke-kun, don't be like this," Sakura shouted. "Why are you acting like such a child?"
Sasuke stopped in his tracks, foot trembling. Sakura knew that tremble in his left foot so well; the heel shook, followed by a slight vibration of the ankle. He was heavy in thought.
With narrowed eyes, Sasuke said, "Don't think you don't know."
The air was tense among the four of them. Sakura's eyes pricked with angry frustration, and Sasuke's fury aimed at Naruto.
"Do something," Hinata whispered.
"Look," Naruto shouted. He stepped off the barstool and stood ground in the middle of his friends. "This is ridiculous, even for me. So I'm going to lay all my cards on this fucking table and say what all of us know already."
He turned to Sakura. "You, of all people—brilliant, talented, smarter than I could ever hope to be—should know that teme is the type of person who hides his emotions. He doesn't let just anybody in, because he feels vulnerable. But he's let you in. Now, use your brain. What do you think that means? More importantly, although I know you don't know the meaning of whatever this is—" Naruto poked his own forehead with his fingers. "You know that if it came from Sasuke, it's important to him. And Sasuke is important to you."
Sasuke scoffed. "I don't need this shit." He turned to leave for good.
"And you!" Naruto howled. He pointed a menacing finger at this stubborn asshole he called a friend. "Don't think I'm done with you just yet! I've been through hell and back just for your sake, so the least you can do now is listen to this fool for once."
The blond saw his friend's foot stagger. His whole body stiffened, as if he had been caught in a trap with nowhere else to turn. Acquiescing, Sasuke turned to face the three and accept his fate.
"Don't you dare look me or Sakura-chan in the eye and tell us you don't love her."
Hinata gasped at Naruto's reckless tongue. She saw the smallest note of surprise flicker in Sasuke's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure as if his whole façade hadn't been discovered. She reached for Sakura's hand for comfort—mostly for herself—but Sakura pulled away and kept her fists clenched in her lap.
"Yes, Sasuke-kun," Sakura breathed, half in anger, half in anticipation. "Tell us what you're thinking."
"I'm not saying something like that here."
"Why? Because you're embarrassed? Or are you just ashamed to admit that you're a fool in love as well?" Naruto inched closer to Sasuke, until only an arm's length separated them from contact.
A growl emerged on Sasuke's face. Hinata let out short, rapid breaths, afraid of what was to come if someone didn't do something to stop them. And, as if Sakura had read her mind, she jumped off her stool and pushed Naruto aside. He landed on his bottom again.
"Sakura-chan, what the hell—!"
One hand tightened around Sasuke's collar, while the other gripped the dark spikes at the back of his head as she bashed their faces together into a heated kiss. Sakura's frustrations began to pour out as her mouth moved against his locked jaw, obviously caught off-guard at her audacity.
"I hate you," she murmured against his mouth. She molded her body into his and tugged harder at his hair. "I hate that I love you so much, you asshole."
The back of Sakura's head shielded Sasuke's expression from Naruto, observing the view from the ground. But the quick movement of Sasuke's lone arm snaked around her waist in an overprotective manner, and the awkward back-and-forth tilting of his head in what Naruto hoped was Sasuke's joke at foreplay, told him that things were going to be okay with the two.
"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto grinned while Hinata brought him up to his feet. She brushed off his bottom, all the while wearing a pink blush at touching him in such an inappropriate spot in public, and snuggled into him. He wrapped an arm around her.
"You could never hate me," Sasuke said. They pulled away for the briefest of seconds, eager to restart what they left off. Sakura removed her hand from his hair and pressed both against his chest. His heart thumped, its echoes louder than the cries of a bass drum. "And I could never hate you."
It wasn't an outright confession, and Naruto had expected a fanfare of declarations. But Sakura understood the language of Uchiha subtlety more than he ever could, and to her, Sasuke's affirmation of his feelings was more than enough to satisfy her for a lifetime.
"I'll take you to the sun," Sasuke promised, whispering quietly enough so that the others wouldn't hear. "And kiss you like your fairytale."
"You dummy." Sakura brushed his cheek. "We'd burn and die if we came close to the sun."
Sasuke scowled. He hated feeling second-best to Naruto; not just in their rivalry and friendship, but also in romance. He'd make sure to get up on speed, and show Uzumaki how to properly love a woman.
"Then I'll treat you like a queen." Sasuke announced, loud enough for Naruto to hear. The blond rolled his eyes and made a face of disgust before pressing a kiss to Hinata's temple.
Sakura laughed, her voice ringing like Sunday bells in his ear. Of course Sasuke would find a way to show off—not that she minded.
Sakura bounced on the edges of her toes to press a chaste kiss against his lips. Her touch sent fire to all regions of his body, warming him to the brim.
She felt like sunshine.
"Mm. I'd like that very much," she accepted, taking his hand in hers. "Then get ready to be at my beck and call."
CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW AMAZING NG 10 WAS LIKE
I WAS IN TEARS THE WHOLE TIME
BLESS YOU KISHI