Never Tell Me The Odds

Something More

Warnings: Mentions of Ino/Shikamaru, but they aren't endgame.

Beta Reader: No one but me just yet.

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Haruno Sakura is in love with Uchiha Sasuke.

As Jane Austen might have said, it's a "truth universally acknowledged" by everyone they know, except perhaps the Uchiha boy himself.

Sasuke is either utterly oblivious, or even willfully ignorant, of the depths of Sakura's feelings for him. Oh, she knows he cares about her in that inscrutable way of his—if he didn't care about her, he wouldn't spend so much time around her. He tolerates the presence of other people, but he is always relaxed and at ease around her. Still, it's been the challenge of a lifetime trying to figure out if he likes her that way.

"You could just ask," her best friend Ino has suggested on more than one occasion, but Sakura is quick to refuse. She values her relationship with Sasuke far too much to jeopardise it by saying her feelings out loud. Besides, if everyone else accepts it, it's just a matter of time before he does too, right?

But at the same time...she's a little lonely.

It's not like she dates, not really. There have been offers, of course; from junior high and high school classmates, and once from a cute redheaded boy on the train. All of them have been nice guys, people she wouldn't have minded spending time with or getting know better. Except...

Except none of them are Sasuke.

None of them make her stomach flip-flop just being in the same room, or fill her with a feeling of intense joy at the sight of the rare, tiny upward turn of their lips. No one has his dry sense of humour, intelligent in a way that goes above most people's understanding, but can put her in stitches with just the right tone. No other boy would patiently endure her propensity for taking selfies of them and posting them to Instagram, or be proud of her when she beats him on a test. Or when she flips him over her shoulder in martial arts class. No other boy would unflinchingly buy a pack of tampons for her when her period arrives unexpectedly while on an outing with friends or ignore the patch of drool on his uniform when she falls asleep on him during their train rides to school.

Those closely guarded moments make it easier to cope with the stories her girlfriends tell of their own forays into romance.

"He's not bad for a first boyfriend," Ino says of Shikamaru.

"I like how you say first," Sakura teases.

"Hey, I intend to have at least a dozen before I have to be married off to some boring corporate drone that my parents like," Ino sniffs; her family owns the most prominent chain of flower shops in the city. "They'd like nothing more than if I did marry Shikamaru one day, since our families have always been friends. But he's so mellow. He can't even be bothered to argue with me—just gives up!"

"Then why are you still with him?" Kasumi wants to know.

"He's a good kisser," Ino admits, her casual tone belied by the light blush on her cheeks. "I'm pretty sure it's just to shut me up, but..."

Her words are lost in a cacophony of girlish squeals as the girls demand details. All of this prompts a confessional of each of their own first kisses (and other firsts for Fuki and Ami), moonlit walks and exchanging promise rings.

Sakura reacts to all of this gossip with the appropriate amount of scandalised pleasure, but deep down has to hide the tiny, glowing ember of jealousy because she doesn't have any similar experiences to share.