#ssm19d6

Rating: T (for language)

Summary: “Sakura-chan’s got lots of prospects, but she’s all sharp edges and none of them can get through unscathed.” he told him, giving her a smirk. (Road to Ninja AU, Sequel to Patterns, part of the 2nd Chapter of a story I’ve been working on)

Chapter Two:

Brotherly Love

Outside of missions, Sakura had avoided Sasuke. For many reasons, but the most primary being that she wasn’t sure he fully believed her when she told him that she hated him that night in the woods when certain things occurred that she didn’t want to think about. It wasn’t hard to do, he had other prospects in rotation, there was always a different girl saying goodbye to him at the bridge before their squad left for missions. This time it was some civilian girl, a tall one, almost as tall as him with assets the size of pumpkins.

Sakura sat on the railing, legs crossed, reading the fourth book of the Arrangement series where all her investment rightly belonged. Though, she might have noticed him give the random girl, who was not the same one from a week ago, a peck on the lips before she skipped merrily along.. Sakura knew it was wrong to notice the thickness of girl’s calves, or to think that she was a little old to be skipping around like that, but both thoughts did cross her mind. She couldn’t control thoughts crossing her mind, could she? No.

“Morning, Sakura.” she heard Sasuke say, as he leaned on the railing beside her with a content sigh.

“Morning.” she replied shortly, keeping her attention on her book, all the while thinking how unfair it was. He was kissing girls right in front of her and now that she knew Menma had feelings for her, she couldn’t give him a friendly peck on the cheek or harmlessly flirt to get back at him. Apparently she had a moral compass and had to be considerate of people’s feelings while Sasuke got to do whatever the hell he wanted.

She scowled behind the shield of her book at the thought, when she felt his gloved hand gently pat her bare knee. “How are things?” he asked. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Fine.” she said simply, pivoting her body away from him.

“That’s good… What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

“Not you.” she told him airily.

“Your loss,” he replied with a shrug. “But, not where I was going, my mom wanted me to invite you guys over for dinner tonight.”

She perked up a little at that, Menma was off the table, but maybe she could go back to some older tactics. “Will Itachi be home?”

“No.” he replied firmly, his whole demure changing. “He’s still away visiting his fiance’s family.”

“Hmm, fiancé,” she pondered. “Not wife.”

Sasuke shook his head at her, not at all amused.

“Bummer, I can’t make it,” she replied, getting back to her reading.

“Why not?” he asked.

For one thing, his sexy, older, and far more intelligent brother was not going to be there. Also, he could be bringing that pumpkin hauling giraffe to dinner as well. Alright, she admitted that was a bit uncalled for, but she still wasn’t going to be trapped at a table where she couldn’t ignore his playboy antics.

“I’m busy.” she replied. “...Also, family dinners are not my thing.”

“I know.” he said, his voice softer than before, more sympathetic.

“Don’t.” she warned.

“Don’t what?” he asked, already sounding tired.

“Don’t pity me.”

“Kami, Sakura, I wasn’t!”

“Right.” she didn’t like when he went all soft like that. She didn’t like how it made her feel, nor did she know what to do about it.

So, by default, she was a bitch.

“Fine… I’ll just tell my mom you turned down the offer because you hate her cooking.”

She lowered the book with a threatening glare. “Don’t you dare bring your mother into this.”

Sasuke beamed brightly. He knew far too many of her weaknesses. “It’ll probably make her cry, you know how sensitive she is.”

She looked skyward to the heavens. She would have liked to think that was an exaggeration, but she knew Mikoto-san well enough to know that could very well be the case. “Why so keen that I come?”

“I’ve missed you.” he shrugged again.

“Your new friend going to be there?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“Why?” he asked smugly. “Would that bother you?”

“No, why would it?” she asked calmly, a cool shrug of her shoulders. “I was just wondering.”

“If you say so.” he grinned up at her. “She won’t be there, squad members only.”

She hated the relief that she felt, but managed to turn back to her novel with a curt nod. “Alright, fine.”

“Great.” he smiled. “She’s already making your favorite.”

…

“Aren’t you going to go in, Sakura-chan?” Menma asked, coming to stand beside her, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. She had been waiting for him at the gate of the Uchiha Compound, because she was not going in by herself. Fugaku intimidated her, Mikoto overwhelmed her with her concern and kindness, and Sasuke was Sasuke.

“Didn’t want to go in alone.” she confessed.

“Great, cause I didn’t either,” he breathed in relief. Social gatherings of any kind were also not his sort of thing, but for a completely different reason.

She glanced down at his pretty array of flowers and suddenly felt stupid. She hadn’t thought to bring a hostess gift.

“Damn it.” she stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

“W-what?” Menma asked. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing you did, Menma-kun.” she told him with a huff. “You’re so thoughtful, I didn’t think to even bring anything for Mikoto-san.”

“Oh, well,” he looked down at the floral arrangement. “That’s easy, here.” he divided the flowers and gave half to her.

“No, that’s not fair,” she shook her head and placed up a hand.

“It’s okay, Sakura-chan.” he insisted, pushing the flowers up to her chest, being uncharacteristically bold this evening. “I didn’t even think to, my mom did, she bought the flowers herself. What are teammates for if not to help each other out?” he asked with a beaming smile.

She smiled back, accepting his offer. She liked Menma, she really did. He was quiet and thoughtful and really would make somebody a wonderful boyfriend. He was easily the most amiable of all her classmates and would probably be a good match for her harsh demeanor, as he never brought out that side to her. Plus, he already liked her... so why not pursue him?

Because, you’re in love with me. Sasuke’s unwelcomed voice rang in the back of her head, making her face fall.

That was not the reason. She was not in love with him. That was insane. She didn’t even like him. As she said, to his face, she hated him. She simply didn’t see Menma that way, that’s all. That didn’t mean by default that she was in love with Sasuke.

Together they walked the cobbled path and crossed the threshold into the Uchiha compound. The smells emitting from the house wafted around their noses pleasantly. Shogayki. They really were making her favorite meal.

“Sakura-chan!” Mikoto greeted happily, taking them both by the arm. “And Menma-kun too! Come in! Come in!”

“Hello, Mikoto-san,” Sakura replied warily. She loved Mikoto-san, she did, but the Uchiha matron often overwhelmed her with her affection and motherly concern. It wasn’t that it wasn’t appreciated, but Sakura was set in her parentless ways, and it was always difficult when someone tried to fill the void that could never be filled. “Thank you for having us.” she said as she and Menma both held out their flowers to her.

“Oh!” Mikoto cried, speechless, accepting her gifts. “These are lovely! I must arrange these in a vase!”

With that she was away, down the hall, but before either Sakura or Menma could panic too much about being left alone with no instruction, Sasuke emerged from around the corner, dressed even more casually than usual. “Hey.” he said with a shrug, shoving his hands in his baggy pockets.

Sakura raised a brow. He seemed a little off, not his usual smug self. Quite a difference from his mood early that day.

“Hey, Sasuke.” Menma greeted. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Come on, we’re eating out on the patio.” he said, leading them out to the yard where lights had been strung and the table set as if she and Menma were visiting royalty.

Menma turned to Sasuke excitedly.

“Yes, Menma, you can feed the coi.” Sasuke told him, before the boy could ask, handing him a bag of flakes which the blond took and ran off toward the pond without another word. “Don’t go overboard!”

Sakura peered up at Sasuke. “What’s your problem?” she asked.

“Hey, Sakura.” he drawled sarcastically. “How are you? I’m great. Thanks for coming. You look nice.”

“Fine, be a prick.” she replied with a half shrug. “I don’t care… wait!” she turned and grinned wickedly at him. “You’re only this upset when…”

“Is that you, Sakura?” the rich, silky voice of Uchiha Itachi filled her ears, nearly making her melt where she stood. She turned over her shoulder to find him approaching from the house to join them.

“Hello, Itachi-kun.” she greeted with as much composure as she could muster. He crossed the distance between them and he took her by the arms, looking her up and down in emphasized awe. “You grow more and more beautiful every time I see you.” he told her, making her duck to hide her silly smile and burning cheeks. How quickly this night had improved. No wonder Sasuke was pouting. “How’ve you been?”

“I’m well, thank you.” she told him, glancing over at Sasuke with an amused grin. “I had no idea you were going to be here tonight.”

“None of us did.” Sasuke pointed out in an overly cheery voice. “He surprised us.”

“Yes, I’ve been summoned by the Hokage, quite unexpectedly,” he said. “Cutting my time with Hana’s family short, unfortunately.”

“Oh, will your lovely fiancé be joining us this evening?” Sakura inquired, tilting her head innocently.

“No, it was best she remained at her family’s summer residence, she doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with them these days.”

“Shame.” she replied serenely, noticing Sasuke look skyward from the corner of her eye. Itachi was not only sophisticated and devastatingly handsome, but he also loved to dote on her to get under Sasuke’s skin, just as much as she loved to fawn over him. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

“And you?” he asked her. “Any romantic prospects for the lovely Haruno Sakura these days?”

“Not at the moment.” she replied with a shake of her head.

“Well, that does not make any sense.” he raised an elegant brow, inclining his head towards his brother cockily, quite aware he was the superior of the two in her eyes. “Does it, Sasuke? Sakura is too beautiful and talented to not have any suitors.”

Sasuke scoffed, his gaze sliding from Itachi’s to hers. Sakura, cursing herself, could feel heat climbing up the back of her neck all the way to the tips of her ears. She was glad she wore her hair down.

“Sakura-chan’s got lots of prospects, but she’s all sharp edges and none of them can get through unscathed.” he told him, giving her a smirk.

“It seems all the good ones are taken already, Itachi-kun.” she lamented, ignoring the younger Uchiha with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

“Ah, just as well.” Itachi sighed wistfully, taking a bold step toward her. “Age and duty may separate us, Sakura, but I must admit I would still be quite jealous of whoever wins your heart.” He concluded with a slight touch of her chin with the curl of his forefinger, much to both her and Sasuke’s surprise, before continuing on his way.

Even for their teasing banter, that was a bit much for Sakura to handle and she let out a small manic giggle, staring after him with a small bite to the corner of her lip.

“He is so cool.” Menma breathed, watching in awe from across the way, as all the coi flakes fell into the pond, slipping from the bag that went slack in his hand. If only he could charm Sakura-chan like that.

“Smooth.” Sasuke commented from behind, making her turn back to him. Now she was the one with the smile. There was no losing for her in this situation, only for him.

It was all really childish for her, but those weekly girls kept dancing around in her head with their flowers and kisses from him and she found she didn’t care.

“Come on, Sasuke, I thought you weren’t the jealous type.”

His gaze narrowed slightly at that, because they both knew that wasn’t the case when it came to Itachi. Everyone took his older brother seriously and saw him as the most exceptional shinobi, Sasuke no matter what he did or how he progressed was just the unfocused playboy, having little to no regard for his studies or his future. There was some real deep rooted family issues there that Sasuke never addressed and probably never would.

“What?” she asked him. “I’m not allowed to flirt with anyone?”

“No, not anyone.” Sasuke told her. “Just not my brother.”

She didn’t like the finality in his voice, it sounded as if he had some real say in the matter.

“Or Menma, it seems.” she pointed out. “So, just whom am I allowed to flirt with?”

“Tch.” his mask hadn’t really been on securely that evening, granted, but now it was slipping and she could see just how agitated he was.

Good. The not so nice side of her subconscious could not help but sneer.

“You know, this ploy between the two of you was amusing at first, but it’s really just getting old.” He told her, quick to go back into hiding behind his smug ass persona. “You going to keep it up after he’s married too? I’m sure Hana will appreciate it.”

“Oh, relax.” she scolded him. “It’s harmless fun.”

“Yeah, I can see you get a real kick out of it.”

“A girl can dream, can’t she?” she replied. Yes, that was a nice blow to the teeth. Now for a knee to the balls. “But don’t worry, Sasuke, I know I’m not good enough for Itachi.”

Sasuke’s brows raised high, while she just smiled sweetly back, knowing she had just set of a detonator in his brain. It would take a minute for him to unscramble. She was getting good at this verbal sparring, soon she could be kicking his ass in this arena like she did on the training grounds.

“I mean, really, who is?”

Bet you wished you brought your pumpkin hauling giraffe now? She thought to herself, watching him work quickly to counter the attack. Too low, too far maybe? The nicer side of her subconscious suggested. Huh? Sakura didn’t hear from her too often, and never when Sasuke was around.

She was suddenly aware of the gravity of his gaze, he looked like he wanted to throw her off a cliff or kiss her. She wasn’t sure which. She felt some panic stirring at her core and grew agitated.

There was no losing tonight, or did she forget?

“Here’s an idea, Sakura.” he pointed out, far too calm after that low blow for her liking. “If you really wanted to make me jealous, why don’t you flirt with someone you actually have feelings for.”

It was her turn to be dumbfounded.

⚠️ANGST ALERT ⚠️

Duty vs Love (AU where Sasuke is a demon and Sakura is an angel) 🥺💕

Day 6 of ssm:

Title: a paper crane for a paper heart // rating: T (warning: major illness, angst) // Sakura is very sick. Sasuke wishes she would just get better, so he folds one thousand paper cranes. // ao3 link