Sasuke was cool, Sasuke was handsome, Sasuke had that brooding loner image, Sasuke was a genius at whatever he turned his hand to. These were things that she was sure of.
Naruto was a goof. Naruto was loud, annoying, shunned by adults, and people spat at the ground where he'd passed by. Naruto was a talentless moron. These were also things she was sure of.
Except that Hinata had overheard both sets of comments one day, shook her head, and said that cluelessness was not exclusive to Naruto.
Well, who really listened to Hinata? She had this crush on some OTHER talentless idiot, this one an upperclassman.
Except she wasn't the only one who wasn't sure of something going on. There were little details that indicated the hate between Sasuke and Naruto wasn't as strong as someone might think from their comments. When the two fought, Sasuke won of course, but they seemed to know each other's moves.
Ami's comment that maybe Sasuke was gay was simply something that had to be false.
She'd crept up on where Sasuke had gone to train in private, planning only to offer him a towel or water bottle after admiring his sheer awesomeness.
As she moved out from cover, as she'd been detected, she was still trying to put things together and was distracted by Sasuke's sweatiness among other things.
Sasuke was still lean and wiry as ever. Still as talented.
Naruto, on the other hand, was not wearing his usual jumpsuit and jacket. It was revealed that he was thin but showed more muscle definition. So he'd be slower but able to take more punishment and stronger. He also hadn't been pathetic as she'd come to expect from him. His moves were more precise, faster, and more on a level with Sasuke's own skills.
How did this make any sense?
"What's going on?" asked Sakura, her gaze going from one of the boys to the other. The two just looked back at her, both frowning slightly.
"Why are you interrupting?" asked Sasuke after a long pause.
"I just wanted..." Sakura hefted the water bottle and fumbled with the towel.
"Your fanclub strikes," muttered Naruto.
"Envious?" asked Sasuke, raising an eyebrow.
"A little," admitted Naruto. "Not that anyone would acknowledge me in public."
Sakura frowned as she took that comment and began fitting it in. Naruto WAS shunned. Sakura had heard adults commenting about him, she thought all the kids had heard the occasional off-comment and noted how the adults glared at him or simply turned their backs toward him. Could that be why he and Sasuke were so hostile in public?
"Why do people hate you?" asked Sakura Haruno. "Other than you being an obnoxious moron."
"Gee, thanks," said Naruto, turning and walking off. "Later, Haruno."
Sasuke watched him go, then turned a cold expression to Sakura. "He doesn't know either. I suggest you keep this to yourself, Sakura."
Sakura watched Sasuke leave too and tried to fit it all together in some way that would make sense.
Two days had passed, and Sakura decided that her initial conclusion was mostly correct. Naruto and Sasuke were NOT gay lovers. They WERE friends though, and rivals. They kept those parts of their existence secret because Naruto was hated by the adults.
Sakura still had no idea why. There were other kids who weren't bright or who had some odious personal habit. Those other kids didn't face the hostility Naruto did.
She HAD come to a conclusion as to how to handle this knowledge though.
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(Posted Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:15)
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