Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It is the sole property of Masashi Kishimoto. All rights reserved.

Jealous Thoughts, Denial Ideas

Genre: Humor/Romance

Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura

Rating: T

Summary: (rewritten) OOCness: Sasuke's only reason in following Sakura is for her protection because she has been getting a lot of attention from boys. It's not like he cares and it's not like he's jealous. Nope. So what if he wants to bash any guy's skull in who comes near her?

In Konoha

It hadn't been that Sasuke was watching her.

No. Never. An Uchiha would not stalk after any one.

Uchiha Sasuke was not the stalking type. He left that up to the crazies in the world. He was only doing what he had to!

It just…wasn't natural!

One day she was a small girl with a large forehead and the very next day, he swears it was the next day; she had curves, legs, breasts, and many suitors.

He was just looking out for her well being. Yes, that was it. That was all of it. With so many after her heart, and body, someone had to protect the naive and innocent female. That's all. End of story.

No, he didn't glare at every man that came within a twenty-feet radius out of jealousy. It was out of concern. He was just looking out for her safety and that was it. Nothing more to it.

Because, who else would? Kakashi-sensei was too busy with his perverted readings, as if Sasuke wanted someone that tainted near her, and Naruto was always off being a hero, and not like he should be around her either being a suitor himself. The girls? Pha! They were of no help. They said it was natural or it was fantastic Sakura finally got some attention.

What. The. Fuck?

Was the whole village blind?

Sakura was gullible and over-trusting enough to believe any man that approached her, which made her very vulnerable. So he had to protect her.

That was it. He needed to watch and protect her from those horny men who wanted her for her body. Nothing else and that was the end of the story.

…..

Why would he want to watch her any other way, huh? It's not like he wanted her for himself. Hell no! He was just protecting her. She was just a weak little girl who had the most expressive, deep, beautiful jade green eyes he's ever seen…. and lips that looked as soft as the petals of her name sake…and a smile that could strike any mortal man down.

Nope. He had no romantic feelings for her at all.

No romantic feelings for that short pink hair that his fingers itched to run through. He didn't even care that her pretty peach colored skin probably felt like silk. And, so what if she had the sexiest hips that could probably bare many children? Tch, and don't get him started on how tiny she was, so tiny she probably fit perfectly in his arms.

Sasuke held no romantic feelings for the female, ok?

Need proof? Well that wasn't hard!

Like right now. He just happened to be on top of a local rooftop near where Sakura was eating, reluctantly sharing a conversation with some random (ugly, weak, probably couldn't hold a kunai) man.

Him being at the Ichiraku at exactly 6:32pm when she was going to order her favorite shrimp ramen with egg, no onions, and a side of jasmine tea with mint (not like he knew it, it was a guess). It was just a coincidence! Honest!

And so what if he wanted nothing more than to drive his kunai deep into the guy who was flirting with the girl? It wasn't like he was jealous!

Jealous, phft! Uchiha Sasuke did not get jealous. Yes, many do of him, but never the other way around. He was perfection, he was in control, he was in peace, and he was about to go curse mode and rip out the guy's lungs if his hand got any closer to her ass!

He gave a smug grin when the pink-haired girl stiffened and then reeled her hand back and punched the pervert in the face. He was not relieved that someone else touched her butt, of course. No way! He was happy that she defended herself. Yes that was it. Nothing else.

….

Why would he want to touch her butt? Please! Sasuke wanting to grope a girl? Get real. Him, Uchiha Sasuke. Can you imagine? What weakness! Him wanting to be near her. Him wanting to be the one who made her smile. Him wanting no other man by her. Him being the only one to touch her. Just him.

Ha! Get over it. No way would he want to do that.

Wait a second….

Sasuke stopped having a conversation with himself and he eyed the female and the bloody-nose pervert. Why hasn't the guy gotten up? He was conscious for sure. Sakura held back. Maybe he was just a wuss? Or maybe he liked the view?

Wait. One. Damn. Second….liked the view? Was he…? He was looking up her skirt!

That was IT!

...

Sasuke felt better now. After he jumped from his hiding spot, he casually ran over to Sakura, stepping gently on the man's face (of course he didn't know he was there) to ask Sakura about the next day's lessons.

Ok, so the guy would probably be in a coma for a while and maybe forever have Sasuke's sandal prints imprinted on his face. Whoops.

Now, Sasuke was not a true gentleman, but since he was there, why not walk Sakura home? It wasn't a very big deal. Really it wasn't. And so what if here glared and growled almost possessively at any guy whom so much as glanced at her? And so what if he grabbed her wrist and began to drag her along so that she could get out of rang of their wandering eyes? And so what if he roared at another young suitor to stay away from her when he cam skipping up? It was no big deal!

Within a few moments of awkward silence, the two final arrived at Sakura's home. Once they were at the doorstep, Sakura looked down at her feet, a blush adoring her pretty face.

Not like Sasuke noted. He was looking away with an irritable scowl.

"Thank you." She muttered, still not looking at her long time crush.

Her voice wasn't that soft or pretty.

Sasuke tilted a brow, "For what?" His tone was uncaring because he didn't care. Not like his insides were churning slightly and a small amount of heat was trying to crawl up from his neck to his face.

"F-For everything. I mean, chasing off everyone a-and for stepping on Kenji." She stated shyly, moving from one foot to the other.

Sasuke frowned and his eyes gave off a twitch. "Kenji?" He snapped, more to himself than to her.

Sakura nodded, looking up at him, confused at the tone he used when he spat out the young man's name. "Erm…yeah…Kenji. He said he wanted to buy me a bowl of ramen. We had a conversation, I punched him out cause he touched my butt, and then you showed up."

Sasuke growled in hate as he remembered the idiot looking up her skirt. "You bothered to remember his name?" He growled, making Sakura squeak in shock and hurt.

"He…he just told me his name. I-I have a good memory. I-I can't help it!" She sputtered out, not liking the way he was glaring.

He gave off another angry growl before he looked at her. "I don't want you going anywhere near those men." He ordered looking around to make sure none of those hormonal dogs were near.

Sakura blinked in surprise, "Huh? W-Why?" She asked only to realize a second too late that she made a mistake.

"Why?" Sasuke repeated. "Why? Because those perverts are after your body! You will not go anywhere near those mean without someone you know, like me, is near you." He ordered, looking down at her.

"B-But…"

"No buts! You're not safe near those things!"

Sakura gaped and blinked, thinking over what he just said. "Sasuke-kun, are you worried about me?" She was getting timid and hopeful; her blush was going up ten-fold.

Sasuke flushed and grunted, "I never said that."

"T-Then why can't I see those boys? I mean some of them are nice! Just the other day a nice man bought me some candy-"

"HE WHAT?!"

Sakura yelped, not expecting Sasuke to actually scream the statement. She didn't really understand what was going on. She had never seen him like this. Steam was shooting from his ears, his face was turning a bright red, and the Sharingan eyes were starting to spin. In other words: Sasuke was pissed.

"He will die." He muttered darkly which made his pink-haired companion gag. Whoo-boy, he was really about to go on a slaughtering rampage. One more snap and he was off to murder every single male in the village.

Sakura decided it was time to take action as she gently place a comforting hand on his tense shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun? Maybe you should calm down a bit? I mean, it looks like you're about to explode and I really don't want that to happen." She said with a playful giggle.

Sasuke immediately calmed down. Her touch and voice always seemed to do that to him. He wasn't sure why. It couldn't be from any feelings of love. This must just be the friendship. Nothing to do with her laugh that always made him smile. Not like it was soft and comforting, like bells.

Nor was he distracted by the feel of her small hand through his shirt.

Instantly he stiffened and shook his head. No, no, no! Nothing of the sort!

Sakura looked sick. Did she do something wrong? She quickly removed her hand form his shoulder and brought it back safely to her side.

"D-Did I offend you, Sasuke-kun? I'm sorry if I did." She muttered sadly, looking down.

His cold onyx eyes looked at her in confusion, "What?"

"I-I said I was sorry if I offended you." She said weakly, trying to keep the tears back.

He raised an eyebrow and blinked, "Why would you think that?"

Sakura sighed, feeling the same heavy hurt wash over her. It was just like when they were twelve and he refused her dates. "I-I….You tensed up when I touched you and shook your head. I thought I did something wrong."

He looked away from her, "No. You didn't do anything wrong. I promise."

Her head shot up and she looked at him before breaking out into one of her breathtaking smiles. "I'm glad.

Sasuke swore his heart nearly threw itself up.

"I want to protect you." He whispered, stepping in closer to her.

Sakura's green eyes widened considerably as she heard this. "P-Protect me? Why?"

"Because….because…I care about you." He muttered, sounding sour.

Sakura blinked in shock then smiled and reached up and hugged him, "I care about you too."

After a few seconds of holding him, Sakura let go and was about to go in when Sasuke stopped her.

"So you will stay away from those perverts?" He muttered darkly again.

Sakura giggled, "Depends. Will you give them a reason to stay away?"

Sasuke smirked as he looked at her with a glint in his eyes. "Hn. I'll see you tomorrow at the Ichiraku." He ordered before grabbing her and placing a kiss on her lips.

Needless to say every man in Konoha stayed away from Sakura from then on out. And if they didn't her very overprotective and very possessive boyfriend would chase them off with a chidori.

End