Date: 5/19/13
Rating: T
Genre: AU, Cute, Romance
Prompt: AU - Sasuke as a civilian and Sakura as the same ninja we know

When they were five he asked why her hair was pink. It was weird, he said. When they were five she asked why his hair looked like a chicken's butt. It was weird, she said. Things continued like that for while—"Why are you here?" "Why are you here?" "I asked you first." "So?"—two children going back and forth, asking innocent questions. But when he asked her why her forehead was so large, she beat him up instead. He cried. She cried.

And that's how Sasuke Uchiha met Sakura Haruno.

When they were seven Sasuke woke up in the hospital after he lost his family to a group of rogue ninja. He was the only one who survived, they told him, and he decided then and there that he hated ninja. When they were seven Sakura brought flowers to the hospital when she visited him, but he didn't want them. She went to school at the ninja academy; she was going to be a kunoichi. But when she sat next to him on his bed and took his hand, promising to always protect him, Sasuke changed his mind.

Maybe he didn't hate all ninja.

When they were twelve Sasuke met her new teammate. His name was Naruto Uzumaki, and he was loud. And because there were an odd number of graduates that year at the academy, it was just the two of them. Sakura and Naruto. Together. Always together. When they were twelve Sasuke saw how much Naruto liked Sakura, but he wasn't jealous. He just didn't like him very much.

When they were sixteen Sakura was sent on an important mission with her teammates. They were only going to be gone for a week, she assured him. But two weeks had passed, and Sasuke was starting to wonder where she was, even going as far as hunting Ino down just to ask if she had heard any word from Sakura or her team. She said she didn't know anything and that he shouldn't worry. But he wasn't worried, he told her, just curious.

It wasn't until three days later that Sasuke saw Naruto walking down the street, covered in bruises, but fine nevertheless. "Hey! Teme!" Naruto waved as Sasuke made his way over to him. "It's been a while—"

"Where is she?"

Naruto gave Sasuke a look and crossed his arms. "Oh, I'm doing fine," he said sarcastically, "thanks for asking." But seeing that Sasuke wasn't amused, Naruto sighed and pointed in the direction of the hospital. "They couldn't release her yet; she was still unconscious last time I checked. I think she got the worst of it, too. Damn rogue ninjas—Hey! Where are you going?!"

But the beating in his chest drowned out Naruto's voice as Sasuke ran towards the hospital. He went up to the receptionist's desk and demanded her room number, not caring that visiting hours were over. Sighing, the receptionist looked up Sakura's room number and said, "She's on the second floor, first door to the right. Just don't let anyone know I let you up there, okay?"

Sasuke mumbled a thank you before running to the exact room, taking a few seconds to calm down before opening the door. He expected Sakura to be asleep, but when he went inside he found her up and about, getting her things together as if she was about to leave. And despite the bandages and bruises, she looked fine. Alive.

"You're supposed to be unconscious," he finally said.

Sakura turned around and raised her brow. "I'm what?"

"The dobe told me that your team was attacked by rogue ninjas, that you had the worst injuries. I thought—" Sasuke broke off when he saw the amusement on Sakura'a face. Averting his gaze, he huffed and changed the subject. "What the hell took you so long anyway? You said you were only going to be gone a week."

She laughed. "I didn't know you were so worried about me, Sasuke-kun."

"I was not worried," he said defensively, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks, "It's just that, if something happened to you, then who else would bring me back tomatoes from their missions?"

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand and nodded, trying to hold in her laughter. "I see. Well, I hate to disappoint you this time, but I wasn't able to get you tomatoes, for obvious reasons. But," she said as she took his hand and led him outside, "I'll make it up to you right now. What do you say?"

Blush. "H-hn."

When they were twelve Sakura told Sasuke she loved him. And though it took a while, when they were sixteen Sasuke realized that he loved her, too.