Itachi knew his brother all too well. So when Sasuke kept on going home late the past few weeks after the basketball season, Itachi knew something was going on. On top of that, he seems to be on the phone 24/7 and more secretive than usual. There was even one time Itachi caught him almost smiling while looking at his phone gallery before glaring at his older brother for sneaking up on him.
While Itachi really finds it adorable, he mostly kept to himself. Shisui, however, had a different idea. Shisui is their cousin who stays with them for a few weeks every year. His naturally curious nature prompted him to take the responsibility of discovering the truth behind the youngest Uchiha's abrupt change of attitude. Of course, Itachi tried to stop Shisui's inquiries, but the latter never listened. The older Uchiha really likes to tease and make fun of Sasuke. It never changed even if Sasuke always expresses how he hates Shisui's coddling.
Shisui's chance came when one day during dinner, Sasuke told their parents about going out on a weekend. Shisui gave Itachi a knowing look, while Itachi shook his head no. But of course, Shisui ignored him once again and devised his plans.
It really is a bad idea. Sasuke will kill us once he finds out. That is what Itachi thought as he follows Shisui, who was spying on Sasuke. Itachi can already envision the betrayed look Sasuke will give him. Having said that, Itachi could not just let Shisui go alone. While he will never admit it, he is also curious about what his little brother is up to. He is never one to go out on weekends except when training for basketball. Aside from that, Shisui can be too pushy, he's worried Sasuke might finally snap at their older cousin.
It turns out Sasuke is going to Sakura's house. While Itachi already had suspicions before, it still surprised him. Both the older Uchihas hid behind a car as Sakura opened the door and unconsciously tucked a lock of her hair as she let Sasuke in. "Heh! Turns out our baby Sasuke is really a grown-up now, Itachi! Thought he had no interest in girls." Shisui exclaimed gleefully. Now, Itachi is sure Shisui will never leave his brother alone.
"Itachi! Do you know what this means? Sasuke and that girl are alone in the house!" Shisui wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Itachi sighed. "Sasuke is nothing like you. And besides, look, they're going out."
Shisui frowned at Itachi's comment, but nonetheless ignored the insult and continued to follow Sasuke and his mystery girl.
This is really fun!
Sasuke counted ten seconds to calm himself down. Apparently, Naruto could not meet up with them to finish their project as the blonde was stuck queuing in a restaurant offering a weekend deal to get unlimited refills of ramen. "That idiot! Should we leave out his name before submitting the paper?" Sasuke half-jokingly suggested.
"Naruto helped with other stuff. Don't be mean, Sasuke-kun." Sakura gently reminded.
"What help? All he did was suggest stupid things."
Sakura waved her hands off, dismissing the remark. "Really. It's fine. There are only a few things left, anyway. The two of us can do it by ourselves."
Sasuke sighed as they walked further into the park. For their project, the group needs to feature different plants that grow only in Japan. Sakura then suggested seeing the trees by themselves so they can describe them better on paper. The boys agreed to take pictures of the park nearby Sakura's place. Which led them to this meeting on a weekend.
Sasuke began taking pictures while Sakura was taking down notes. Unbeknownst to the two, Itachi and Shisui continued to hide behind one of the food stalls while observing them.
"Shisui, how long must we do this? It seems like they're busy doing their school work." Itachi once again persuades for them to go home.
"Shhh! Look at that Sasuke! He keeps on stealing glances at the pink-haired girl!" Shisui remarked excitedly.
Indeed, when Itachi inclined his head to consider Shisui's comment, Sasuke was more focused on his partner than his task on hand. Not only that, the young Uchiha even took some pictures of the girl while she was looking elsewhere.
"My boy, Sasuke, is in love!" Shisui then exclaimed loudly.
To which, of course, the two teenagers whipped their heads to the source of the noise. Both Shisui and Itachi duck their heads quickly but failed to hide altogether. In a few seconds, Sasuke had found them both and was glaring at the two. Sakura, on the other hand, trailed behind him and seemed confused at the situation.
"Really? Even you, Nii-san?" The youngest Uchiha exhaled, trying to keep his temper in check for the second time that day.
Shisui was trying to make excuses saying that they were just out for a walk, but of course, Sasuke knew better. "Just..stop talking." If possible, Sasuke's scowl deepened further. For a moment, Sasuke considered throttling Shisui right then. His older cousin had been a pain in the ass as usual, but even more so the last few days. Sasuke thought how immature Shisui is despite the fact that he is older than both himself and Itachi. But he could not dwell further on the thought as Sakura's voice brought him out of his reverie.
"Uhmm, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura hesitantly addressed him. "Are they your relatives?"
At that, Sasuke was suddenly hyperactively aware of the situation at hand. He and Sakura haven't talked about their relationship per se. It had only been a few days since they kissed. He considered how to introduce her properly to Shisui and Itachi. He knew their relationship changed; however, he could not just proclaim her as his. Then again, he did not want to hurt her by not acknowledging the fact she is indeed more than a friend. But as expected, he was once again interrupted when Shisui enthusiastically introduced himself.
"Yes! I'm Shisui! Sasuke's older cousin! And this is Itachi, Sasuke's older brother! I'm so pleased to meet you!"
Sakura bowed hastily. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Sakura Haruno. I'm Sasuke-kun's- uhm.." She stole a quick glance at Sasuke. Apparently, she had been thinking the same thing as him. "I'm his fri-"
"Girlfriend!" Shisui cut her off, making Sakura blush instantly. Shisui tried not to grin as he saw how both teenagers avoided the gaze of each other.
The pinkette, however, was stupefied. She wasn't able to refute the assumption as Shisui kept on talking about how excited he was to finally meet her, and that it was about time Sasuke found a girl for himself. She chanced a look at Sasuke, and she found him half-embarrassed, half-irritated at his cousin's antics.
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, contemplating once again if strangling Shisui would be worth it. Itachi, meanwhile, shook his head at him and briefly directed his gaze at Sakura. Sasuke completely understood what his brother meant, so he settled on glowering at his older cousin.
"Now, Sasuke. Don't be mad. I promise to keep it a secret from Aunt Mikoto. Well, for now." Shisui grinned mischievously.
The bewildered look on Sasuke's face was definitely worth it. Shisui noted how his cousin now looked like he had seen a ghost as he mulled over the prospect of his mom finding out about Sakura. But then Itachi dismissed the idea right away. "She probably already knows."
"Eh? How come?" Shisui pouted.
"She's our mother. She knows us more than anyone. Besides, when she found out that Sasuke got into a fight because of a girl, notice how she said nothing? Only Father scolded him." Itachi explained.
To which, Sakura quickly bowed her head and apologized. "Oh sorry, Itachi-san. It's really my fault; I did not mean to get Sasuke-kun into trouble. Please accept my apologies."
Itachi smiled gently at the girl. "Nonsense. I'm glad Sasuke did it. It was the right thing to do. Father just got mad at Sasuke for not telling our parents the trouble he got in until it was too late. He got injured and basically put himself in danger during and after the game. You know how he can be so stubborn."
Sasuke frowned at Itachi but said nothing to refute the statement.
"In that case, little cousin, you know how she will expect you to invite Sakura home." Shisui addressed Sasuke.
Sasuke sighed but nodded his head. "But not today. We're making a project and you are interrupting us. Go home!"
Shisui then took this chance to tease his cousin one more time. "Oh really? But I see that you keep on taking pictures of Sakura-chan! Is that your project?"
Before Sasuke can smack the head of his older cousin, Shisui was wise enough to make himself scarce and move away from the couple. "Bye, Sakura-chan! Nice meeting you!"
Itachi gave Sasuke a penitent look before following Shisui.
Sasuke let out a long exhale as the two finally left. He then turned to Sakura, who for the nth time of the day, was fanning her cheeks to hide her embarrassment.
Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck, feeling equally embarrassed. "Sorry. I did not know they followed me." He directed his gaze at the grass underneath his feet, noting the shift in the atmosphere now that they were alone.
She shook her head in response. "No. It's fine. Your brother and cousin seem nice."
"Tch. Shisui is an idiot." Sasuke muttered.
An awkward silence ensued as they try to make sense of what had just happened.
A few more seconds passed as both shifted uncomfortably on their feet.
"So..am I your girlfriend?" Sakura nervously asked. Her cheeks were flushed red and her hands were unconsciously playing with the hem of her blouse.
Sasuke swallowed before mumbling a silent yes. He once again averted her gaze and focused his eyes elsewhere. He was sure by then that his ears were the same shade as his favorite fruit.
"So that means you're my boyfriend."
"..Aa"
"But you did not even ask me."
Sasuke looked up and was stunned to find her biting her lower lip, fighting back a smile.
"Are you also teasing me now?"
Feigning ignorance, Sakura quipped. "No, of course not. I'm serious. How can I know we're dating if you did not even ask me?"
"We already kissed. Not sure how many times now. And if I recall, you told me you like me. And I kissed you again after that." Sasuke replied with a straight face — as if he was just describing the weather.
Clearly mortified, she was not expecting her simple inquiry to backfire.
"But if it helps.." In a second, Sasuke was in front of her. His hand reached out to her face. His thumb caressed her cheeks. Sakura automatically closed her eyes, expecting another kiss. Sasuke smirked at the reaction. But the kiss never came. Instead, Sasuke poked her forehead, just like he did before.
It took more than a few seconds before Sakura recovered. When she opened her eyes, Sasuke had already walked away. But then he looked back at her and smirked. "See, I don't need to ask you."
Sakura felt her heart beating loudly against her chest. He definitely knew what he was doing. It's those eyes and that smirk, she swore!
A/N: I'm alive! I've been gone for so long, I know. The past year I moved to another country for postgraduate study, and I earned my MSc degree just a few months ago, so now I finally have some free time to write. It hasn't been easy, and my mental health had been in shambles coping with covid, being away from my friends and family, the overwhelming pressure of schoolwork, etc. While trying to find a job, I can squeeze in a few hours a day to review my wips. After this, I'll try to update After All.
This is really the end for Beyond Control. Thank you for patiently waiting. I enjoyed writing sasusaku in this au. I mentioned before how I intended to write a maximum of 3 chapters, but I just can't seem to get enough of them being cute and innocent.
Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter uchisass, I post some snippets there sometimes.