title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M
summary: oo8: He has a month to make Sakura fall in love with him. He just didn't know that the tables would be turned.
.oo8.
Dare
Day 1
"—then I dare you to make Haruno Sakura fall in love with you by the end of this month!"
Naruto's dare was unbelievable.
"I refuse," Sasuke said, crossing his arms.
"You have to. It's a dare," Sai said. "That's the rules of the game."
"Well, what if I don't?" Sasuke retorted.
Naruto paused, thinking of a "punishment." "Then you have to make out with Karin. And not just lip-touching, I mean, like, tonguing. And I bet she'll like it a lot more than you will."
"Then what do I get if I do?"
"I'll…" Naruto said, thinking. "I'll pay you back all the ramen you bought for me."
"Fine."
It wasn't that he thought Sakura was ugly. She was very pretty, in fact. But she had this aura that told people, "Leave me alone before I break your neck." And he didn't like that kind of personality because he didn't want to die an early death.
"Well, you can start now. Look, she's over there talking with her friends! Now go introduce yourself. Come on," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke to go talk with Sakura.
"Naruto, stop—"
But it was too late. He was already in front of Sakura. "Hey," he said, trying not to seem as if he lost his cool.
"Hi. You're Sasuke, right?" she said. Wow, her voice was so pretty.
"Yeah. That's right. And you're Sakura?"
"Yeah. Don't get creeped out or anything. I've just seen you around school before. So, did you need something?"
Sasuke saw that she was actually very nice.
"I thought maybe we could know each other or something. You seem, uh, nice."
Wow. Total creep-o alert.
But apparently, she didn't seem fazed by it at all. "Sure." She asked for his phone and entered her number. "Anyway, I've got to go. Bye, Sasuke."
She walked off with her friends, who were giggling madly. Sasuke smirked. This dare would be a lot easier than he thought it would be.
.
Day 4
.
"Hello?" Sakura answered, putting her cell phone on speaker as she painted her nails a nice, pastel pink.
"Hey. It's Sasuke," he answered. "What are you doing?"
"Hey! Sasuke. What's up? I'm just painting my nails," Sakura said. "Shoot, I messed up," she muttered.
"I'm actually at a coffee shop. Do you want to come with?" he asked.
Sakura paused for a moment. "I could go for some coffee. Sure. What place is it?"
"The one with the giant coffee cup outside near the train station."
"Oh! Sure! I'll see you in a bit, then."
"See you." He hung up first, and Sakura stared at her toenails and back to her phone. "Hm."
.
.
.
"So what prompted you to ask to me get coffee all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke shrugged as they sat down at a table. "Well, I just thought that maybe you liked coffee."
"I do." She took a packet of sugar from the table and put it in her drink.
"What did you order?" Sasuke asked.
"Black coffee."
"Pure black?"
"Yeah. I like black coffee. Why, what did you get?"
Sasuke opened his lid to show her an espresso. "I assumed you'd be one of those girls drinking, like, mocha mint frappucinos or something."
Sakura shook her head, laughing. "Nope."
"I guess you're different," he said, smirking.
She smiled. "I guess I am."
.
Day 12
.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as Sasuke took her by the hand, leading her to a park.
"It's a surprise," he said. "Hurry up."
"I'm trying! You should have told me to wear hiking shoes or something. I can't walk in these!"
He chuckled. "Whose fault is that?"
"Shut up!"
He led her to a small pond in the middle of the park. It was covered by trees and looked like something that came out of a fairytale book.
"It's beautiful," Sakura said. She bent down and poked the surface of the water with her finger. Then, she took off her shoes and put her feet in the water.
Sasuke sat down next to her, taking off his shoes and also putting his feet in the water. "It feels nice."
"This whole place is beautiful," she said breathlessly.
Sasuke looked at her and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. So are you."
Then, he leaned in for a kiss, to which she responded eagerly. They managed to roll onto the grass, Sakura on top of Sasuke, their lips never leaving the other's for just one second.
"I think I like you," Sakura murmured softly.
Sasuke didn't respond. He just took Sakura's head and brought her down for another kiss, a bad feeling churning in his stomach.
.
Day 17
.
"How's everything?" Naruto asked through the phone. "Is she smitten with you yet?"
"No," Sasuke asked. For some reason, he didn't like how he was doing this because of a dare. He felt that Sakura was cheated. But he did like her, and he had a promise to keep to his friends…
"Well, you better go! Because Karin's waiting to make some lip-lock with you."
"Fuck you, Naruto."
"Love you too, teme." He hung up the phone. Sasuke stared at the screen and sighed.
"What am I going to do with you, dobe?"
.
Day 21
.
Sasuke considered their meetings as "dates." Whenever he wanted to take Sakura out, he said, "You want to go on date?"
"Of course!" she would say, and he would take her anywhere—the coffee shop, the pond, or somewhere new. This time, it was at a tea shop. They sat down formally, and Sakura said, "Have you ever been here?"
He shook his head. "No, but my parents have. They love it."
Sakura took a look at the menu. "They all look good."
"Order whatever you want. My treat."
She smiled, leaning over the table to kiss his cheek. "Thanks."
Sasuke felt a guilty conscious rumble in his head. He didn't like leading Sakura on like this. And in ten days, he would have to admit everything and they would just have to go back to what they were like before.
Until then, he would just enjoy the time spent with her.
.
Day 25
.
They were in his room, playing a game. Even as a newbie, Sakura still beat Sasuke at all of his games.
"How the hell do you do that?" Sasuke asked, incredulous.
"I just mash all the buttons together," Sakura admitted.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get some drinks. Do you want anything?"
She shook her head. "I'm alright."
"Okay. I'll be back in a few."
He went downstairs, and Sakura sat patiently waiting for him. She really wanted to snoop around in his room, but that's not what a good girlfriend—could she even consider herself his girlfriend?—would do.
His phone began to ring. Sakura left it there, not knowing whether or not she should pick up. The ringtone ended, and soon after came a barricade of text messages.
"I guess one wouldn't hurt," Sakura said as she reached for Sasuke's phone. She saw that it was from Sai.
So, is she in love with you yet?
Sakura didn't know what he meant. She scrolled back to a previous message.
Time's a tickin', Sasuke-chan. More money for me, more kissy kissy goo goo with Karin!
"What?" Sakura said, not sure what she meant.
You took her to a pond and made out? LOL! You're such a hopeless romantic.
Sakura felt violated. He told his friends about her like that?
So the dare is officially on! Make Sakura fall in love with you, or face the consequences! DUN DUN DUNNNNN.
"Sakura—" Sasuke began, dropping the drinks onto the floor. She looked at him with teary eyes, the phone still in her hand. "Sakura, I can explain—"
"There's nothing to explain. I understand."
"No, Sakura—"
"I've got to go."
She rushed out past Sasuke, trying to stop her. But she was too quick for him. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stifled her sobs.
"I can't believe he used me for a dare…"
.
Day 29
.
"Oh, hey, teme! What's up?" Naruto said as he and Sai were playing poker.
"Fuck you." He took Naruto by the collar and pressed him against the wall. "I oughta kill you right now."
"Sasuke, what are you—mmph!"
Sai tried to pry Sasuke off Naruto. "Sasuke-san, stop…"
"Shut up!" he turned back to Naruto. "I lost her, Naruto. She found out and I fucking lost her. The dare's over. I don't care about your shit anymore. You don't have to pay me back. You won, alright?"
He dropped Naruto, and stormed out of the room. Naruto massaged his throat as he and Sai looked to see where Sasuke had gone.
"He likes her a lot," Sai said. "I can tell."
"Yeah. Who knew?"
.
Day 31
.
Sakura looked at her phone. Her voicemail was full, all from Sasuke, and he had sent her multiple texts and calls.
"Leave me alone," she muttered to herself. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. "I hate you."
Someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it!" Mebuki called. Sakura sighed, lying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"Sakura! Some nice gentleman wants to talk to you. Says he couldn't reach you for a long time."
Her heart sank. Sasuke—?
"Tell him I don't want to talk."
"Oh, but dear, he spent thirty minutes getting here. Running. Cut him some slack, alright?"
"Fine."
Sakura wiped her eyes and went down to see Sasuke waiting for her at her door. "What do you want?" she said harshly.
"I just want you to listen to me. You don't have to forgive me. But just listen."
"You have a minute." She folded her arms.
Sasuke sighed. "Yes, it's true. I was dared to make you fall in love with me by today. But the tables have turned. I ended up falling for you. And I miss you. A lot can happen in a few days. I've learned so much about you that I never would have known without this dare, and I'm glad, because I was happy with you." He reached out to put a hand to her cheek, but she pulled back. "And I'm sorry."
They stood there in silence.
"Well, I should go." He turned to leave, before Sakura called out, "Sasuke."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
He smirked, gave her a two fingered wave, and walked home.
Mebuki, listening to the whole thing, said, "You like him too, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then go get him."
Sakura smiled at her mom, feeling tears come on. She didn't bother putting on her shoes. Running barefoot and ignoring the pain in her feet, she caught up with him, jumping onto his back and wrapping her arms around him.
Mebuki watched as Sakura said something, then Sasuke, then Sakura again. They hugged tightly, and Sasuke kissed her, right in the middle of the street.
She smiled, closing the door. They could have a few more minutes of privacy before Sakura had to come in.
"Remember how we met?" Mebuki said as Kizashi walked up to her, trying to see what all the commotion was about.
"Yeah. Through a dare."
"And now look where we are." She put a hand on her husband's chest. "I think they'll be following in our path very soon.
Slight changes!