One-shot Sasusaku (No more Pretending)
Sakura POV
„Gosh, I wish I could strangle him and his smug face," I told myself. I shook my head and hoped he would finally calm down. It was always like this with him. Every time someone even dared to look more than twice towards me, he would lock his eyes on them and make it his life's mission to ruin their entire existence. The worst part is how he takes his sweet time about it. We have been accompanying Captain Yamato in training the next Anbu teams, which, unfortunately for me, were mostly men. Tall and well-built, so-called alpha males a bit older than Sasuke and me who, of course, smelled like arrogance and masculine toxicity. I really don't know where Captain Yamato has found them, but apparently our village was desperate for enforcement in the secret services, now that all of my friends deserve some peace after the war. Me included. But no, of course I have to endure a pain in the arse who is about to strike all the trainees before they can even wear a uniform.
I roll my eyes when a guy called Yuri takes off his jacket, revealing his muscles in a tight vest, his eyes constantly on me as if he's putting on a show. I shift my body to search for a particular Uchiha when my movement is halted. There he is, dressed in an all-black outfit that matches his dark-themed style. His tight black T-shirt moulds to his toned body. I hated how distracting his forearms were. Broad, veined, impossibly steady. They looked like they belonged wrapped around a sword—or around my waist. Neither thought helps since I should be angry at his behaviour. My eyes travel to his neck, his prominent jawline, then higher to his… smile?? What the actual heck? Sasuke Uchiha didn't smile. This might be more dangerous than I first thought. I quickly move toward him, and as I get closer, his dark eyes soften slightly when he notices me.
Sakura: You‘re smiling
Sasuke: Am I?
He answers way to dry to be considered one of his subtle teasing, his trajectory moving to Yuri once again.
His smile settles on the young stranger with unnerving ease, as though he’d already claimed the outcome. Calm. Controlled. Possessive in the way only dangerous men could be. The funny thing is that he never even asked me out, yet here he stands. His smile is like that when violence becomes a possibility. I don't even want to know what wicked way of terrorising Yuki he is imagining in his head right now. I definitely need to intervene. Again.
Sakura: You are. And it looks like someone is about to regret something.
Sasuke: Eventually.
He says while the corner of his mouth lifts another fraction, the faint smirk sharpening into something unmistakably arrogant. I sigh and try not to pass out. My knees are giving out because, yes… whatever idiotic way of showing possession, which he does not officially have, is making my body curl. He didn’t need to touch me. His demeanour alone was enough to throw my composure into disarray. It was absurd, really. I had faced battlefields without flinching, yet one arrogant look from him had my heartbeat negotiating with my common sense.
Sasuke: Finished staring?
Fuck. My eyes snap away quickly. I try my best to compose myself but almost fail when I stutter saying:
Sakura: Wh..What? I am not staring.
His gaze swept over me—not lingering anywhere long enough to be inappropriate, yet somehow making me feel as though he’d noticed everything.
Sasuke: hn… you don't have to admit it. I know what I do to you.
It seems my knees have gone because my body began melting before the adrenaline kicked in at the audacity of his words.
Sakura: All you do is cause trouble and think…
He stepped into my space with infuriating calm, close enough that I could feel the weight of his attention before he spoke. His gaze settled on me, unwavering, stripping away every excuse I had prepared.
Sasuke: Go on…
Sakura: I am done talking
Sasuke: Say it, Sakura
We gaze at each other for a tense moment, my mind racing as I decide whether to reveal my feelings or stay silent. My heartbeat pounds loudly in my ears. Sasuke meets my stare without flinching, his steady confidence almost infuriating—calm and assured, as if he already knows how this will unfold.
Sakura: forget it… it's nothing
Sasuke: Sakura
My name rolls off his tongue like a warning, amplifying the tension. He's pushing, and I can't figure out why he believes now is the moment.
Sasuke: Are you afraid I'll agree with you?
He takes another measured step, close enough that I have to look up to meet his eyes. Damn it. Before my body gives out, I need to start talking to escape his intense tension. The nerve. Does he truly believe he wields that much influence over me?
Sakura: You read too much into it
He tilts his head and asks with a tantalizing hint of sensuality in his voice.
Sasuke: Do I?
He watches me intently for another heartbeat, then that infuriating smirk creeps back across his face. I can't take this anymore. He thinks he's got me cornered.
Sakura: fine. I am tired Sasuke.
Sasuke: Of what?
Sakura: Of pretending
He doesn't even bother to act surprised or intrigued because he clearly knows exactly what I'm implying. Instead, his smirk becomes even more infuriating. His stare sharpens with intensity, and I can just barely detect a flicker of amusement. I look away briefly, hesitating as I consider the most appropriate words to respond with, weighing my options carefully.
Sakura:You glare at anyone who comes within five feet of me, and after asserting your dominance, you act as if nothing happened.
Sasuke: So, which part is really bothering you?
I stare at him in disbelief.
Sakura: I want to understand your behaviour
Sasuke: Oh but you do understand Sakura
Sakura: No, I don't
He looks away, almost laughing at me, a mischievous glint in his eye. He casually places a hand on his sword, which is strapped to his side, and it’s almost as if he's finished talking to me and is ready to walk off into the day. Right now, his entire presence is infuriating and electrifying me.
Sasuke: you’re always watching every move I make about you… watching who I let near you
He walks toward me, one hand resting against the hilt of his sword, his expression unreadable. There’s no urgency in his movements. That’s what unnerves me. He approaches with the quiet certainty of someone who already knows I’ll be the first to break.
Sasuke: And after all that… you still need me to explain it to you?
Sakura: Maybe I need to hear you say it
Sasuke: Careful Sakura. You want me to say it but not because you don't know…
I open my mouth to object but he doesn't le me. His eyes hold mine with unbearable certainty.
Sasuke: You want me to say it because you’re running out of ways to lie to yourself
I laugh to myself. The audacity.
Sakura: You are unbelievable. Accusing me of lying to myself.
Sasuke: tell me I am wrong
I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.
You’re wrong.
The words are right there. So close I can almost hear them. But the moment I try to say them, they unravel. They don’t sound true. They don’t feel true. My throat tightens. The silence between us grows heavier with every passing second. He doesn’t fill it. He lets it consume me. Because he knows what I can’t bring myself to admit. If he were wrong…I would have said it already.
Sasuke: That's what I thought
His gaze lingers on me for one final heartbeat before he turns. Just like that. As if the conversation is over. As if he’s content to leave me standing here with everything he’s just shattered.
Sakura: That's it? There’s an elephant in the room, Sasuke - My voice softens, more exhausted than angry now.- We’ve both been walking around it for years
He finally steps back, closing the distance in my personal space. Hovering just above me, his eyes lock onto mine with intense focus. In that moment, the world seems to shrink around us, leaving only the charged space between us. His expression is unwavering—no hesitation, no doubt—just pure confidence electrifying the air.
Sasuke: Sakura… Once the words are spoken aloud… There won’t be a version of us that can pretend not to know any longer 
Sakura: Why do you still want to pretend? You admitted we’ve both been pretending, so it's clear you know I would reciprocate.
My voice trembles with frustration as I struggle to contain my emotions. Silence falls heavily in the room. For the first time, he averts his gaze, avoiding eye contact.
Sakura: What are you afraid will happen?
His gaze snaps fiercely back to mine, eyes blazing with a fiery intensity. I can sense a simmering anger—not directed at me, but rooted deep within him—something unresolved and primal.
Sasuke: Everything, Sakura! We've worked so hard to rebuild our friendship after facing countless demons along the way. Despite everything that happened, we're better than ever—this could ruin it!
Friendship. The word hits me harder than it should. Heat rushes through my chest, so sudden it steals the air from my lungs.
Friendship?
I stare at him, searching his face for the slightest hint that he’s joking.
There isn’t one.
Something inside me snaps. After everything. After every lingering glance. Every possessive silence. Every time he’d stepped between me and someone else as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He calls it friendship. A bitter laugh escapes before I can stop it.
Sakura: Friendship? Don’t reduce everything that’s happened between us to a word that’s been too small for us for years
My throat tightens painfully, and tears well up, threatening to spill over as an overwhelming wave of emotion takes hold.
Sakura: You’ve already changed everything
My voice softens.
Sakura: You changed it the moment you started looking at me like no one else was allowed to. You changed it every time you chose me. Every time you drove people away. Every time you made me wonder…
I lift my face to his, eyes blazing with fury. Our noses nearly touch as tension crackles in the air. I can almost feel his heartbeat pounding through his chest as he fights to keep his composure.
Sakura: So tell me, Sasuke… If this were just friendship… then why haven't you been able to act like friends?
His jaw tightens.
Sasuke: The version of me you’ve been able to forgive…-his voice is quiet- exists because I keep a line between us
Sakura: You are doing a very poor job at keeping that line
His jaw stills. The silence stretches. For the first time since this conversation began, he doesn’t have an immediate response. His gaze drops for the briefest moment to my mouth before returning to my eyes.
Sasuke: …You think I don’t know that?”
When he looks at me again, the composure is still there. But it’s no longer effortless.
Sasuke: Every time I cross that line……I tell myself it’ll be the last
Sakura: stop pretending you know what's best for me
Silence.
Sakura: I am tired, Sasuke. I'm tired of getting my hopes up only to see you choose distance
Something flickers across his face.
Regret.
Fear.
Then it’s gone.
Sasuke: If I stop..
He swallows.
Sasuke: …there’s no going back
Sakura: Maybe neither of us wants to
He closes the last step between us. His eyes search mine, as if looking for the slightest hesitation. He doesn’t find it.
Sasuke: Say something - he whispers
I maintain direct eye contact with him, holding his gaze steadily before my eyes drift downward to focus on the gentle parting of his lips.
The silence stretches. Neither of us looks away. Then, almost imperceptibly, he lifts a hand. His fingertips brush my cheek as though he’s giving himself one last chance to stop but they linger instead, his thumb tracing my skin with a restraint that is already beginning to fail. His eyes search mine one last time, looking for hesitation, for doubt, for any reason to walk away. He finds none. A slow breath leaves him, heavy with defeat, and something inside him finally breaks. His hand slides to the back of my neck, firm enough to keep me there, gentle enough to remind me he still could let go. He doesn’t. “I should leave,” he murmurs, the words barely audible, but they ring hollow the moment they’re spoken. I don’t answer. I can’t. My heartbeat is louder than anything I could possibly say. His forehead rests against mine for a single heartbeat, his eyes closing as if this is the last moment he can still choose restraint. When he opens them again, they’re darker than I’ve ever seen them—not with anger, but with years of longing he can no longer force back into silence. “Damn it, Sakura…” he breathes, and then he’s done pretending. He closes the distance between us, capturing my lips with a desperation that feels born from every goodbye he’d ever forced himself to make. It’s not reckless. It’s inevitable. Every ounce of control he’s clung to gives way at once, replaced by the quiet certainty of someone who’s finally stopped fighting the inevitable. My hands clutch the fabric of his shirt before I even realize I’ve moved, holding on with all the desperation I’d spent years burying. The ache that has lived inside me for so long finally has somewhere to go, and tears sting behind my eyes—not from sadness, but from the unbearable relief of no longer carrying that loneliness alone. This kiss embodies a whirlwind of emotions—years of longing and regret, craving and desire, anger, and undeniably, love. When we finally draw back, neither of us speaks. We don’t need to. Everything we’d been too afraid to admit has already changed us.
Naruto: I KNEW IT! FINALLY !
Sasuke and I jerk apart. Naruto stands in the doorway, pointing at us like he’s just solved the greatest mystery in shinobi history.
Naruto: Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to say that?
Kakashi lets out a long, satisfied sigh.
Kakashi: I was beginning to think you’d both die out of stubbornness
I groan. And feel almost embarrassed.
Sakura: Ehm hello ? How long have you been standing there ?
Yamato: Long enough to loose faith in professionalism. I sent all the trainees home while you were fighting
Sakura: oh… sorry I guess
Naruto eagerly turns to Kakashi, a proud smile spreading across his face as he asks:
Naruto: So… do I win the bet?
My eyes widen.
Sakura: The what??
Kakashi calmly slips his book into his pocket.
Kakashi: Naruto bet it would happen before you turned twenty-five
Sakura:…You were betting on us?
Kakashi shrugs.
Kakashi: I bet forty
I slam my hand against my face in a desperate attempt to vanish. As I peek through my fingers at Sasuke, he just smirks arrogantly.
Naruto: I WIN!
Sasuke: Congratulations
Sakura: you have to be kidding me
Sasuke glances at me, the corner of his mouth lifting.
Sasuke: You weren't complaining a minute ago
I want to scream. Actually I might have. Or was it Naruto? I am in a blur. This man will be the death of me. All I can hear is Kakashi chuckling.
Kakashi: Well, Sasuke… I suppose I can cross ‘borrow my books’ off the list
Sasuke: I prefer first-hand experience
My face catches fire. Naruto is on the floor holding his stomach screaming.
Sakura: I am leaving
And I leave with my face red and embarrassingly flushed from the lingering sensation of the kiss, feeling a mix of shame and exhilaration.
Sasuke: well looks like it's time for the sequel
My face flushes a deep shade of red, and all I can hear is Kakashi chuckling even more joyfully.
Kakashi: chapter two then?
Naruto blinks and Sasuke closes his eyes smirking way harder than he should. Kakashi pats him on the shoulder as If he were proud. Naruto just looks confused.
Naruto: what chapter?
Kakashi: You’ll understand when you're older. Or you can ask them soon enough
Sakura: KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!
Sasuke catches up to me effortlessly. Before I can whirl around and yell at him, his hand finds the small of my back. My breath catches. It’s such a simple touch, yet my knees nearly betray me. He’s never been this openly affectionate—especially in front of other people. He notices.Of course he notices.The smug curve of his lips only deepens as he guides me away from the curious stares, wearing the expression of someone who knows exactly what he’s doing… and enjoys every second of it.

