Shooting Straight

Chapter 10

The Sand Siblings, plus Arrow, had turned to walk away once more from the blushed-with-embarrassment Konoha genin- before being halted again by the Uchiha prodigy himself. His voice was clear and firm as he called out specifically to the short redhead standing in between his older siblings. 

"You there- what is your name?" He asked, working to keep the jealous tone from leaking into his voice- he kept his sights trained on the gourd-wearer, struggling to keep it away from his teammate. At the speed his thoughts whipped around the inside of his head, he was surprised he didn't have whiplash- he was desperate to have some clue as to how Arrow knew these newly produced opponents, and what exactly their relationship was. He vaguely wondered if Arrow had a secret girlfriend he'd failed to mention- but quickly shook the thought off, biting his tongue.

Temari's face flushed with colour as she turned to glance over her shoulder- shamelessly eyeing the Uchiha with a soft smirk, "Who, me?" 

Arrow's lack of outward expression at the girl's blatant flirting seemed to be answer enough to Sasuke's unsaid question- no, they couldn't be together. Although the minuscule chance that they were, rubbed Sasuke in entirely the wrong way. Sakura was seemingly in the same boat, wondering quietly how the opposite kunoichi could have Arrow at her beck and call, yet still flirt with other guys directly in front of him. She was bitter- automatically having assumed that Arrow was hopelessly in love with the blonde, and it had to be the reason he hadn't responded to any of her own flirtatious schemes.

"No, gourd next to you." Sasuke clarified, never having taken his eyes off the seafoam-green ones that stared back. Temari frowned but didn't push as she stepped back and further into Arrow's grip, displeasure written on her features.

Kankuro looked surprised at the bold statement- while Gaara remained cold and unreadable; his gaze scoured every inch of the Uchiha's stature, fully appraising the boy before responding. "My name is Gaara of the Sand- who are you?"  

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke's lips twisted into a cocky smirk as he leaned back confidently- allowing Temari's gaze to hungrily take in every curve without shame. Arrow thoughtfully studied her face while she wasn't paying attention- but it did not go unnoticed by Sasuke, who felt envy flare in his chest once more; Sakura's expression fell further, feeling the sharp pang of betrayal ring true through her chest.

Sasuke was beginning to imagine his life had he never crossed paths with the brunette standing so tantalizingly across the way: what it would be like if he were to disappear and never return- would Sasuke be more dedicated to his goals? He pondered but didn't feel his heart behind it. Seeing Arrow interact with the people from his past was beginning to make Sasuke feel a plethora of different emotions- none of which he enjoyed.

The tension between the two groups was thick enough to cut like a brick of cheese; but Naruto didn't seem to notice as he brightly perked up, smiling with a suggestive twitch of his eyebrows. "How about me? I bet ya wanna know my name!" He grinned eagerly at Gaara, who didn't even spare a glance his way.

"I couldn't care less," Gaara replied, tone bored and unenthused- resulting in Naruto sinking back with the expression of a kicked puppy. Sasuke's onyx gaze met Gaara's, and they shared a brief second of eye contact before Gaara hummed thoughtfully and turned, signalling to his group that it was time for them to depart.

With that, Sasuke watched indignantly as Temari smiled at Arrow, and they soon disappeared out of sight. The Uchiha felt a deep ache within his chest- but it was promptly ignored as he turned in the opposite direction, leaving without so much as another word to his remaining teammates before he, too, was gone.

~~~

Arrow had ended up spending a significant more amount of time with the Suna siblings than he'd intended- and before long, his team was showing up to his house to lecture him, only to face Temari, who promptly slammed the door- irritating Sasuke a little more every day. The one time Sakura had managed to corner Arrow as he was out to buy groceries- she let loose a rant about compassion and empathy, only to have him remark in a cold tone how she cared too much.