Name: like an island
Author: fickleauthor on ao3
Length: 1,603
Summary (provided by author): Ino and Sasuke attend the first quidditch match of their sixth year and pine after their respective crushes.
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Work Text:Ino was going to lose her voice, but at this point she couldn't care less. As Sakura deflected another bludger, sending it straight into a sixth year Slytherin chaser and making him lose possession of the quaffle, Ino shot to her feet, hands thrown in the air. Her cheer was the only one of its kind amongst the chorus of boos echoing off the Slytherin stands. Ino ignored the looks some of the younger Slytherins were shooting her—from confused to downright betrayed; they would get used to her antics soon enough the way the rest of the sixth and seventh years were.
The chaser—Neji—regained his balance quickly, pulling off an impressive manoeuvre that sent him flying up the side of the Slytherin stands, wind whipping in his wake. He shot off after a Hufflepuff chaser like a demented hound from hell.
"You're cheering for the wrong team." Sasuke's voice was nearly drowned out by the cheers around them.
Ino sniffed and sat primly back down. "When our team does something worth cheering for, I'll cheer for them. Until then, I'll give credit where credit's due. 'Sides," she glanced over at Sasuke, a knowing smirk on her lips, "it's not like you care, Mr 'Quidditch is a dumb sport'. I believe your exact words were, 'Even idiots can chase after a ball, it doesn't take any particular skill.'"
Sasuke conceded the point with a noncommittal grunt. Everything about his posture suggested boredom, from the way he leaned back in his seat to the heaviness of his eyelids. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than on the crowded Slytherin stands, watching the first quidditch match of the season.
Except, his eyes never once left the pitch.
And Ino knew exactly why. It was the same reason she was enduring the press of bodies and the deafening clamour of voices all around them. Same reason...but they were here for different people.
She followed his gaze to the pitch, where a golden streak burst through the low-hanging clouds and darted over the stands like a living arc of lightning. Once an outcast, now Hufflepuff's golden boy, Uzumaki Naruto, was a sight to behold as he blazed across the pitch in pursuit of the snitch, ducking and weaving around bludgers and players alike with an efficiency borne of daring. He seemed to have zero regard for his personal safety as he angled his broom mid-turn and nosedived straight at the pitch, only to pull up at the last moment and loop backwards after the snitch. The shock of his momentum ripped blades of grass from the earth. Both of his hands were outstretched, gloved fingers just a hair's breadth from the frantic flutter of the snitch's wings. He was hanging off his broom by the strength of his thighs alone, keeping balance with his ankles hooked across each other over the bristles; Sasuke was probably having a field day with that mental image.
She found herself on the edge of her seat, clutching the bench so hard she was sure her nails would leave indents. She didn't have to look to know Sasuke was equally enraptured. She was sure he'd stopped breathing at this point, along with the rest of the spectators.
The entire field was silent, or maybe it was just that Ino couldn't hear anything above her heartbeat in her ears, speeding up as Naruto got closer, closer, closer–
He crashed into the base of the faculty stands, the force of the impact throwing him off his broom and onto the ground, where he rolled a good ten feet before coming to a stop flat on his face.
"Naruto!" Sakura's voice cut over the referee's whistle, tight with concern. She was already zipping across the field toward him, the rest of the Hufflepuff team hot on her heels. Even Neji was hurrying to Naruto's side, dismounting at a height that probably did a number on his knees but he barely seemed to notice as he closed the remaining distance between them.