Date: 8/5/13
Rating: T
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance
Prompt: Team 7 is fighting and to Sasuke's surprise he's irritated over Naruto and Sakura's strong teamwork and exchange of happy gestures. In response, he makes side comments that suggest a tinge of jealousy. Sakura catches this and inevitably calls him out on it.

As he took down yet another rogue-nin, Sasuke couldn't help but take note of his opponent's expression as he fell towards the ground—face contorted with pain and surprise, eyes sending him the curses he couldn't verbalize. Incapacitated. But as Sasuke replaced his katana in its sheath, his eyes slowly travelled from the rogue's face to his forehead protector, remarking the slash—single, straight, and sure—across its village's insignia. Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek, his hand unconsciously reaching for his own forehead protector, half-expecting to feel the same groove against his fingertips.

However, he felt nothing but smooth, cool metal—a simple reminder that he wasn't a missing-nin anymore, that he had a home again, that he belonged somewhere again. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and closed his eyes. He should have been happy. Or, if not happy, he should have felt content—because he was just reinstated as a Konoha ninja; because he was once again fighting alongside his teammates, strengthening bonds that he could never quite severe completely.

But he wasn't.

"Look out behind—whoa! Great hit, Sakura-chan!"

Hearing the familiar voice of the dobe, Sasuke turned just in time to see a body slam into a tree trunk as Naruto jumped a little closer to Sakura and raised his hand to give her an air-five. Together, Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes, neither surprised with Naruto's childish antics. But while her expression held no malice, Sasuke's was tinged with the same sensation that had been boiling within him since the whole mission began.

What this sensation was exactly—irritation, frustration, exasperation—he couldn't be too sure. But he knew, whatever it was, that his teammates were the cause of it.

"Don't get too comfortable yet, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed as she returned his air-five and shook her head playfully. Sasuke grimaced. "There's someone approaching in your direction! He seems fast!"

Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Sakura-chan! I'm on it!"

"And hey!" she yelled, shaking her fist at the blonde though he wasn't facing her. "You better be careful! If you injure yourself because of your recklessness again, I swear I'll heal you just to beat you up myself! I'm not kidding!"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto laughed as he began running in the direction she pointed to. "You know I can't make that kind of promise!"

Sighing, and yet, unable to suppress her chuckle, Sakura shrugged her shoulders and said loud enough for only Sasuke to hear, "Well, I can hope, right?"

Whether she meant for him to answer her or not, he didn't care and simply ignored her, turning away so he could feel for any sign of other rogue-nin. But beside the one Naruto was going after, he felt nothing. Good, he thought to himself, satisfied. The mission was nearly complete, which meant that soon he would be back in his apartment, newly paid and resting. But most importantly, the end of the mission also meant that he wouldn't have to endure another minute hearing Naruto and Sakura's over-bearing positivity.

He scowled, remembering how it wasn't just this instant but the whole mission in its entirety. "Honestly," he said to himself, "with the way they're acting you'd think they were still genin." Pursing his lips, Sasuke looked down and kicked a small rock. "So goddamn annoying."

"Hey! I heard that!"

Exhaling deeply, he lifted his head and turned around. Sakura didn't seem pleased. He shrugged. "So?"

"What do you mean, 'So?'" Sakura asked indignantly, walking closer to him and placing her hands on her hips. "This whole mission you've done nothing but make these snide remarks about Naruto and me." Sasuke's eyes widened. "Yeah, don't think that just because I haven't said anything until now that I haven't heard you. Seriously, what the hell is your problem?"

"Nothing," he said defensively, avoiding her gaze, "You and the dobe are just really loud. And if you haven't realized it by now, we're on a mission. This isn't the time to be having fun or making jokes." He clenched his jaw. "It's—irritating."

At first, Sakura said nothing as she observed Sasuke, the only sounds coming from the rustling of leaves and the soft chirping of birds—peaceful, yet doing nothing to ease the tension. His words still hung in the air. Lingering.

"I think I get it now," she finally said, her voice soft, yet stained with a tint of amusement. "You're jealous."

He scoffed, his voice sure, his mind anything but, his eyes fighting to focus on anything and everything but her. "Oh, really? Of what?"

Sakura shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't say exactly, but I know it has to do with Naruto and me." She paused and took a deep breath. "But I will say this: even though you may say that we're acting like genin, that we're acting childish and stupid and annoying, the truth is, things aren't like the way it was. Things aren't the way you remember it. And it bothers you, doesn't it? It bothers you that we've grown up, that we have our own lives, our own jokes, and our own experiences; that we've done all these things together. And none of them have included you."

Sasuke didn't know how she did it, but somehow she did. Just like that, Sakura placed into words the sensation that had remained nameless until that moment. Jealousy, stemmed from exclusion. Green, creeping, effervescing jealousy.

"But where have you been, Sasuke-kun? You've been gone for so long," she said with such frankness that it forced him to finally look at her. "What were you expecting?"

"I—don't know."

Sakura sighed, her shoulders lifting slightly before dropping. "But it's not too late, you know. There's still time," she said softly, her hand reaching out to him, hovering tentatively before resting on his shoulder. "There will be more jokes and experiences and missions and—"

"And what?"

She smiled. "They'll all include you."