Sasuke's POV:
"This is stupid!" I say, flopping onto my bed. "I shouldn't have agreed to this shit."
"Well, it's too late to be complaining now!" Ino says, shifting through my closet. I groan.
After I met with Kakashi and he updated me on my mission for tomorrow, I planned to head back home and take a much-needed nap. I had only closed my eyes for about 5 minutes until I heard a knock on the door. Apparently, Sakura had sent Ino to help me pick out what to wear for tonight.
Too tired to resist, I let her in. However, I'm now starting to regret it.
"Why can't I just wear what I'm wearing now?" I say, rubbing my temples. How do women stress about stuff like this everyday?
Ino laughs, looking at my dusty black cloak. "Good one," she says, before turning back to my closet. She pulls out my old outfits from back when I was a rogue ninja.
"Aren't you, like, the stylish ninja of the group? Why do you have so many fighting outfits but no casual ones?" Ino says, throwing them on the floor. I try not to think about how I'll probably be the one picking those up later.
God, I'm such an idiot. What the hell am I doing? Why would I mention the festival to Naruto? Well technically I didn't ask to go with him so I could just stay home...
I sit up and look at the dusty photo I still have of us during our genin days in Team 7. Before everything went to shit. I sigh and flop back down on the bed.
I can't do that to him. He's expecting to see me there. Damnit Naruto, you loser.
Ino hears me sigh. "Gosh, who knew you were such a drama queen, Sasuke," she says.
I sit up again. "Why are you helping me?" I ask.
She rolls her eyes. "Trust me, I'm doing this for Sakura and Naruto, not you. I might be late for my date with Sai because of this, so be grateful."
I raise an eyebrow. "The crop top guy?"
Ino immediately turns defensive. "It's hot, okay! And he's a lot less of a jerk than you are," she says with her hands on her hips.
"Hn," I remark.
Getting frustrated at my closet, she finally turns around and pulls a grey coat out of her gift bag, throwing it at me.
"Wha-"
"Just take it, okay? It was meant to be a gift for Sai, but I'll just stop by the store real quick and get him something else. He'll probably appreciate art supplies more anyway," she says, grabbing her things and getting ready to leave.
"Ino-"
"You should get going too! If Sakura finds out you missed your date with Naruto she'll kill you," she says, walking out the door.
"It's not a..." I start to say, but she slams the door and is already gone.
"...date," I mutter to myself, holding the coat. I take off my cloak and put on the new coat over my black long sleeve. It fits perfectly. I look at the photo of Team 7 again.
"Genin Sasuke would be so ashamed right now," I say, facing myself in the mirror.
I glance at my bag, which is still sitting on the table since Naruto knocked it over earlier today. I contemplate bringing the envelope. Finally, I decided to fold it up and stuff it in my jacket pocket, although I doubt I'll be giving it to him today.
I'm just...keeping it safe, that's all, I tell myself as I'm walking out.
~
I find that blonde idiot standing near one of the cherry blossoms. He is dressed in a brown coat with a blue scarf, with falling petals in his hair as he excitedly looks around, anticipating my arrival. I resist the urge to smile at the sight.
He smiles when he finally sees me.
"Woah Sasuke, who knew you actually had casual clothes lying around?" He chuckles.
"Shut it, loser," I say instinctively. Although it's spring, I notice that it has gotten a little chilly. I mentally thank Ino for the coat, and try to pull it tighter around me.
Naruto notices and turns toward me. "Here, let me help," he says, beginning to button up my coat. As a reflex, I push him away.
"I'm not inept, I can do it myself," I say quickly. Naruto comes close again and continues buttoning up my coat.
"Quit being such a tough guy, Sasuke. How are you gonna button your coat with just one arm? God, you're so stubborn sometimes," he says, annoyed. I start to protest when Naruto suddenly becomes distracted.
"Look, an eating contest! C'mon let's go cheer on Choji!" Naruto excitingly says.
Before I can respond, he grabs my hand and runs there, with me clumsily struggling to keep on. As he's running, he turns toward me and smiles, and I suddenly can't help but feel warm inside.
(art creds: @cubur_chi on Instagram)
** just pretend Sasuke still has the rinnegan and it isn't snowing LMAO **
~
After watching the eating contest, me and Naruto start to get hungry as well, so we go to -- you guessed it -- Ichiraku Ramen.
"Naruto, you do know there are foods other than ramen, right?" I say.
"Well yeah, there's miso, tsukemen, shio..." he says, listing them.
I'm about to tell him those are just different types of ramen when we see Sakura and Hinata standing outside of Ichiraku.
"Oh hey guys!" Sakura waves. "You all are just in time, Hinata is about to give me my gift!" She smiles at Hinata, who is holding the small paper bag from earlier.
"Alright, close your eyes and put your hand in the bag," Hinata says, slightly nervous.
Sakura does as she's told and puts her hand in the bag. When she pulls it out, it's revealed to be a red knitted scarf with hand embroidered pink flowers all over it. Hinata watches Sakura, anxiously waiting for her reaction.
"D-Do you like it? I knitted it myself, sorry, it's probably tacky I shouldn't have-" Hinata says.
Sakura interrupts her with a hug. "Are you kidding? I love it! You even embroidered the little pink flowers! And you said you knitted it yourself? That must've taken forever, thank you so much Hinata-chan!" Sakura exclaims with her arms wrapped around her, giving her endless kisses on the cheek.
Hinata blushes and smiles. "Of course I added the flowers! Your name is Sakura after all. This festival was basically made for you, love," she says, hugging her back.
Me and Naruto watch, both of us realize we were subconsciously smiling. He chuckles and turns toward me.
"Let's let them have their moment and go inside to order," he says.
I nod and follow him inside. But as I'm watching Sakura and Hinata continue to embrace each other, I get the warm feeling in my chest again. I turn to look at Naruto, who orders two bowls of his favorite dish.
"And what would you like?" He asks me. I hold back a chuckle. Only Naruto would order two bowls of ramen for himself without thinking of the other person.
"The same, I guess. Only one bowl though," I feel the need to add. But rather than repeat my order to the server, he continues looking at me.
"What?" I ask.
"Your hair, it's gotten a lot longer!" Naruto says.
"What, you just noticed?" I say, rolling my eyes. Cue the emo jokes.
But rather than make fun of me, he reaches out his hand and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, making my Rinnegan visible. I hold my breath and stiffen, just processing what he did.
With the extra hair away from my face, I had a more clear view of my surroundings. However, I could only focus this newfound ability on Naruto's face, which was about two inches away from mine.
His hair. He cut it shorter, which matched his growth in maturity since the war. And his jawline has become more chiseled, also showing his maturity into manhood. Yet, there were also other features of his that didn't change a bit. Like his prominent whisker marks, his wide and bright blue eyes, his pink soft lips...
Wait — huh?
My face immediately flushed as my mind came to a sudden new revelation.
Has Naruto always looked this...good?
(art creds: @rakinadraws on Tumblr https://rakinadraws.tumblr.com/post/643054009825050625/happy-valentines-day)
Oblivious to my reaction, he states, "There! Now I can see your face more clearly!" He says, smiling. Acting as if that was just a casual event, he then starts a conversation with the ramen guy behind the table.
Trying as hard as I can to hide my flustered face, I mentally recollect myself and look out the window. I see Shikamaru and that Sand Village girl...Temari, I think, sitting together at a bench. He puts his arm around her and she lays her head on his shoulder as they both talk and look at the large cherry blossom trees surrounding them.
Damn. Everyone must've paired up during the 2 years I've been gone.
I look at the floor, hiding my smile. Although I wasn't planning to give Naruto the envelope today, I begin to seriously consider it when Naruto gets my attention again.
"Hey, so uh...Sasuke," Naruto says. He begins to look a little nervous.
"Yeah?"
"So I um, wanted to give you something," he says, stuffing his hand in his back pocket, "but before I do, I also wanted to ask something first."
I start to sweat, hoping it isn't what I think it is. Hiding my nervousness, I nod for him to continue.
"So...why-"
Before he would finish, a kunoichi comes running in and grabs Naruto's arm.
"Naruto-kun!" she shouts, staring into his eyes dreamily. "You left before I could ask you to join me at the festival, but here you are! Do you mind if I join you and your friend?" She says without acknowledging me.
Ugh.
"Oh! Uh, hey Ayumi...sure, grab a chair. Order anything you want, I'll pay," Naruto says.
The girl does this, all while not letting go of Naruto's arm. She places a chair right in between me and Naruto. She finally looks up at me to ask me to move, until she sees my visible Rinnegan. She loudly gasps and hides behind Naruto, grabbing his arm even tighter.
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I quickly adjust my hair so that my Rinnegan is covered again. However, the damage is already gone.
"Naruto-kun! Is that who I think it is?" Ayumi says in one of those annoying loud stage whispers.
"Hm?" Naruto says, oblivious to all the tension in the room. Other customers sitting near us begin to stare.
"You know, the...Rogue Uchiha?" She says, not even trying to whisper this time. Servers and customers turn towards me as waves of horror begin to wash over their face.
"Sasuke Uchiha?" "That's him?" "Didn't he kill Danzo?" "I heard he joined forces with Orochimaru." "I heard he was in the Akatsuki." "Why is he still in the village?"
Although I don't particularly care what people think of me, I felt myself becoming angry as I saw the faces of disgust looking upon me. I knew I deserved it after all I've done, but that doesn't stop the anger from rising in my blood. The warm feeling in my heart suddenly disappears, replaced by a cold darkness that I've been familiar with my entire life.
I make direct eye contact with Ayumi, who trembles in fear, as I slowly stand up.
Naruto stands up as well, grabbing my arm.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?" He asks.
I suddenly snap out of it and break eye contact with the girl, looking at the ground to avoid looking at anyone else. I snatch my arm away from him, as he frowns in confusion.
"Leaving," I say, walking out of Ichiraku. I feel burning eyes from all over the room following me as I walk out.
"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto tries to follow, as Ayumi follows as well, still clinging to him.
I walk past Sakura, who is still standing outside the restaurant.
"Hey, you guys are done already? Hinata went to use the bathroom, how about when she comes back we can all watch the fire-" Sakura attempts to start, but I wordlessly walk past her.
Naruto and Ayumi come out of the restaurant and stand near Sakura as I continue to disappear into the crowds within the village.
I hear Naruto shout my name one more time, but I'm already too far.
Coming back here was a mistake.
~
***AUTHOR'S NOTE***
Hey guys, this isn't part of the story but I found this hilarious gem someone made and wanted to show y'all:
(art creds: @soy.el.tio.limon on Instagram)
LMAOOAOOAO I love jealous Sasuke.