Day 01

Prompt: Matchmaker

Summary: Ino decides to play matchmaker for her best friend.

Author's Notes: Happy SasuSaku month, everyone! :D It's my first time to partake in such an event—and good timing, too, as my precious OTP is finally canon! *sighs* However, although I want to go all out with my participation, other priorities prevent me from doing so, I'm afraid, which is why I'll only be doing a few prompts. I may or may not do them all eventually, but that will entirely be up to my motivation levels in the future. Haha! Anyway, happy reading, guys! :)

EDIT: I accidentally published the unedited version of this chapter. orz Sorry, guys. There aren't any major changes, though; just grammar stuff for the most part so you don't have to read it again. :)

Warning(s): AU.

"Sakura-chan!" came a familiar voice from behind said female.

Hearing Ino call out to her in a singsong tone was one thing, but for her best friend to actually call Sakura by her given name instead of the usual 'Forehead' made her wary and maybe a bit terrified, too.

Sakura halted in the middle of the hallway where she was walking on her way to class and waited for the blonde, who was happily skipping and taking her sweet time, to catch up. When she did, Sakura merely raised an eyebrow, aware that Ino was up to something as usual and not feeling particularly up to whatever it was.

"My beloved Sakura-chan," Ino began, to which Sakura cringed in horror, and held both of the latter's hands tightly in hers. "I, your wonderful best friend, have come to save you from eternal loneliness!"

At this point, other students turned to look toward their direction at Ino's strange outburst, but she didn't seem to mind one bit.

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't like the attention they were getting and was trying to free her hands from Ino's strong clutch to no avail.

"What are you on about this time, Pig?" she asked, exasperated.

"Well…" Ino suddenly had a mischievous glint in her eye that only spelled trouble for Sakura. "You know how I have Sai, and Tenten has Neji, and Hinata has Naruto, and Temari has Shikamaru? And that you're the only one that's single in our group of friends?" came the direct blow from Ino.

Sakura snorted in reply, not liking where the conversation was headed one bit.

Not minding the lack of eagerness from her best friend, Ino continued in a sickeningly saccharine tone without missing a beat. "Did you know that in theirgroup of friends—your friends' boyfriends', I mean—there's also this guy that's conveniently single, too?"

"Really? How convenient indeed," Sakura deadpanned.

Ignoring the sarcasm, Ino nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! You probably know him: Uchiha Sasuke? Tall, dark, and handsome? Has a legion of fan girls following him everywhere? You've probably seen him sulking around in these magnificenthallways a few times before, right?"

Sakura had the gall to look thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm… nope. Can't say that I have," she says with an innocent look that did not fool Ino one bit.

Ino scoffed at this and let go of Sakura's hands —"Finally!" she sighed— only to point one perfectly manicured finger at her face. "You're lying and because of that, the both of you are going on a double date with me and Sai this weekend," she practically commanded.

Sakura looked at her incredulously. "Yeah right! Knowing you, you're probably just going to ditch us towards the end so that the two of us can be alone."

"I will do no such thing!" she gasped and enunciated every word, mock-offended at the accusation.

Sakura knew better and refused to be fooled by her friend, but the bell was about to ring any minute and she'd rather not be tardy to Kakashi-sensei's class, even though she was all too aware that he was going to be late himself.

With a defeated sigh, Sakura had no choice but to relent. "Fine—but what's in it for me?"

"This will be the last of my matchmaking attempts, I promise!" Ino raised her right hand just as the bell signaled the start of first period.

"I'll hold you to that, then."

"Yay! I'm so excited for this weekend, Forehead!" Ino exclaimed, finally back to the usual nickname she had for Sakura who she engulfed in a massive hug.

"Whatever, Pig."

To be fair, Sakura did say that Ino was going to ditch them towards the end of the date. In reality, the blonde and her boyfriend didn't bother showing up at all—so technically, Sakura's prediction was still off.

That was beside the point, however, as Sakura sat directly in front of her date at the restaurant Ino and Sai were supposed to meet them at.

Sasuke looked back at her with his usual stoic expression but Sakura could see in his eyes that there was a hint of amusement in them.

"I knew this was going to happen," he stated with the usual air of confidence that surrounded his entire being.

She snorted challengingly and raised an eyebrow for good measure. "And yet, here you are."

"Here I am," he agreed with a nod, the edge of his lips lifting upwards into his trademark smirk.

They eyed each other for a few moments, the silence between them stretching out, before they suddenly broke into laughter—well, she was; Sasuke merely chuckled—startling the other customers seated near them.

After their laughter died down, Sakura shook her head condescendingly and wiped a tear that formed at the corner of her eye. "How long do you think it'll take them to realize that we've been dating far longer than any of them have?" she asked amusedly, reaching out over the table with one hand.

His much larger hand met hers halfway and grasped it firmly, already aware of the nonverbal gestures Sakura did to tell him what she wanted.

"Well, it's not like we're being obvious about it," he shrugged nonchalantly but the smirk was still in place.

"Do you think we can keep this whole secretly-dating thing until after graduation?"

He snorted. "It would probably be more amusing to keep it up until our wedding day or something."

A pregnant pause ensued, and then she asked him teasingly, "Oh, is that a proposal?"

The tips of his ears turned red at his slip of the tongue and Sasuke had to clear his throat awkwardly to regain his composure, causing her to giggle at his expense.

Hastily calling out to a waiter to place their order, the topic was abruptly dropped—but the little squeeze he gave her hand was enough to convey to her what he meant.

She squeezed back in understanding, a light blush dusting her cheeks, and Sakura gave him a dazzling smile. "It's a good thing Ino promised me no more matchmaking, then."