title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M

summary: o12: Sakura promises that she's going to break Sasuke's heart of steel, but how can she if he keeps closing it off to her?

REVISED 6.30.14

.o12.
Steel

Instead of having a heart of stone, Sasuke had a heart of steel.

It wasn't impenetrable, but it was hard to break through. Sakura vowed that she would be the one to make Sasuke open up his steel heart and let her in.

"Sasuke-kun!" she greeted him warmly as she skipped up to him at their training place. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"…We always meet here," he said. Sakura paused, feeling incredibly stupid.

"Yeah. But, I mean, at this time. Since, you know, Naruto's not here and whatnot…"

Ramble. Ramble. Ramble.

"Hn." He turned away from her and leaned over the bridge, his elbows resting as he crossed his arms. Sakura went next to him to see what he was looking at, but he didn't meet her gaze. He just stared into his reflection on the water below.

"So, uh," she began. "Nice day."

"Hn."

Damnit, Sakura! She thought. Can't you think of anything better?

"How are you?" she asked, trying to recover from her past mistakes.

"Fine."

"That's good. I'm doing well, too. Yesterday we went to celebrate my cousin's birthday—cousin, on my mother's side, and—"

She realized he wasn't paying attention to her. He kept staring down at the water and she stopped halfway in her sentence, giving up.

"Sakura-chan! Teme!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she heard Naruto run up to them, panting heavily. "Nice day out, right?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke, and then back at Naruto. "Yeah. Nice day."

.

.

.

After training was finished, Sakura wiped the sweat off her head by using some of the river water to wash her face.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to go to eat something?" she asked as he took off his shirt. "I'm hungry."

"No thanks," he said. "I'm going to train some more."

"I'll go with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he took off his coat. "I'm starved, too!"

"Well…" Sakura began, crestfallen. "Okay. Anyway, we're going now. Bye, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

Naruto walked happily beside her while Sakura was brooding. Why didn't Sasuke like her? How could she make herself more attractive to him?

"Something wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, stopping in his tracks. "You look sad."

"I'm alright," she said. "Let's go eat!"

.

.

.

Sasuke was cold to nearly everyone but his team, and even then he didn't let his true emotions show through. Ever since his family was gone from his life and Itachi was a fugitive from Konoha, he became a stoic person and had a hard personality.

But there was his surrogate family—his team. There was Kakashi, Naruto, and…Sakura.

He knew how much she tried to impress him by inviting him to eat and making small talk. And he appreciated how much she cared for him, not just as a fangirl, but as a teammate.

Unfortunately, he forced himself not to return her feelings in fear that she would get in the way of his objectives. Plus, he didn't want to danger her in any way. So his steel façade was partly just an act to keep her safe.

Sasuke cared for the whole team. But he felt like he cared for Sakura the most, because she wanted so badly to see past him and melt his steel heart. She truly wanted to know the real him.

His kunai hit the middle of the tree trunk he was aiming at. Pulling it out roughly, he cleaned it in the river water, ruining its smooth perfection, and put it back in his weapon case.

He looked out to where the city was and sighed. Knowing Naruto, they were probably at Ichiraku's.

"I think I can spare a few minutes," Sasuke muttered as he began to run with ease towards the village.

.

.

.

Naruto was enjoying his eighth bowl of beef ramen as Sakura was still finishing up her first. She ate with dainty manners while Naruto began to scarf the noodles down like a dehydrated man downing water.

"You're disgusting," Sakura half-joked, staring at Naruto, who patted his belly and burped. He grinned, a noodle hanging off from his lips. "I know. Another one, please!"

"Hey." Naruto and Sakura turned around to see who it was. "Can I sit here?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said. "Uhm, yeah. Of course." She felt her face go red and was still surprised that he had come to meet them.

"Teme! What's up? Hey, hey—waiter, a bowl for my friend here!"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He put his elbows on the table like he did at the bridge and stared straight forward.

"So, uh, how was training?"

"Good."

"That's good to hear. But you need to relax once in a while. Here," Sakura said, handing him a spare cup and pouring him some tea. "Drink up."

"Thanks." He took the tea and downed it, ignoring the burning feeling in his throat.

"Wow."

Soon, the waiter brought Sasuke a bowl of ramen, and Sasuke nodded his head as a thanks.

"So," he began, trying to stir up a conversation. "How is everything?"

Sakura was surprised that he had initiated the conversation. "It's, uh, great. Thank you."

Naruto wasn't paying attention to his friends as he was now on his fourteenth bowl. Slurping noises were heard from behind Sakura.

"Great."

Sasuke poured himself more tea as he continued to look straight forward. "I just, uh, want to say…I'm sorry."

"For what? You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I don't treat you the best," he muttered. "But I appreciate what you do for me especially."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sakura felt her heart flutter a little bit. "Thank you. And I, uh, treat you well because…I really like you."

"I know," he said, a little embarrassed for her to tell him that straight to his face.

"And I care for you."

"I know."

"So thanks. For letting me care about you."

"My pleasure," he said. "Waiter—another round of tea, please?"

Sakura smiled as he poured her a fresh cup. She knew that somehow, she had pierced a hole in that steel heart of his, and soon, he would let her in.

Slight changes!