prompt: 11.11.11
rating: T

summary: Making a wish at eleven eleven was customary. Today was especially true. But Sasuke knows that he doesn't have to make a wish for it to come true.

UPDATED 6.29.14

Make a Wish

"Hey, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she snuggled up next to him, her head on his shoulder. She looked up at the sky and smiled, trying to see what shapes the clouds were making.

"Yeah?" he didn't want to move her, as awkward as he felt already. He liked having her rest on him. She smelled so good and clean and fresh. Sasuke wanted to put his arms around her and hold her to him, but then realized that his pants were getting a little too tight, and thought against it.

"What day is it?" she asked. She yawned and brought her knees to her ample chest, scooting closer to Sasuke.

"November 11th. Why?" he asked. Her eyes brightened, something he loved to see when it did happen, and she grinned.

"It's 11-11!" she said, straddling him and holding him by his shoulders. "And it's 2011 this year, so it's 11-11-11!"

"Why? We had 10-10-10 last year. Stupid dobe's birthday, too. And you know that he actually had his birthday on Tenten. Like, the real girl."

Sakura paused. Shook her head. "I'm not talking about that. But it's 11 cubed! This only happens once in a hundred years, Sasuke-kun, and we're actually alive to see this! Isn't that great?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and he found himself staring straight at her chest, ready to burst out of her shirt. He blushed.

"Yeah." He forced himself to turn away. She frowned and sat on his knees. He breathed a sigh of relief as she didn't sit closer to him.

"We're going to sit on the rooftop tonight and wait. We can make a small one together right now this afternoon, but tonight is the real thing." Then, she asked as she tilted her head, like she always did in a sign of confusion, "What are you going to wish for today?"

"I don't know. I don' t wish." Sasuke honestly didn't give a shit about this kind of superstitious stuff. It didn't matter to him since he didn't believe it anyway. He never made wishes when he blew out his birthday candles, though Sakura and Naruto wanted him to. Sasuke. Didn't. Care.

Sakura frowned again. He saw her eyes lose their spark and felt guilty. "Sakura—"

"Come on, Sasuke! At least do it for me?"

He'd already faked it during each birthday. But today, she was just so happy and he didn't want to burst her bubble…

"Fine."

She immediately brightened up again and pressed her body against his own chest, hugging him tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She gave him a big kiss and he opened his eyes in shock, before he closed them again and kissed her back, one hand on her thigh and the other on her waist.

Sakura felt his hand creep up even higher and she pulled back, laughing nervously. "Not right now," she said. "People can see us."

Sasuke frowned, but she kissed it away. "Just wait in your house and I'll come to you tonight. Go train for a little bit and I'll take a nap. Wake me up!" she said happily as she rested her back against the trunk, pushing him off the grass. He saw that there were grass stains on his thighs but wiped them off impatiently as he saw Sakura smiling, her chin bowed down to her neck.

But to make his Sakura happy, he checked his watch every fifty targets he hit in fear that she would cry or be upset over a stupid, trivial thing like asking him to wake her so that she could make her first wish.

.

.

.

Sakura had woken up by herself anyway and took Sasuke to the nearest temple to buy candlesticks and pray in front of the statues, for "extra protection," she mused, putting three in his hand. She bowed to the temple three times and lit the sticks with the fire given. Then, Sasuke saw as she whispered words and throw the sticks into a pile where the other wishes were made, and watch as he froze, this sticks in his hand.

"Come on," she said. "Do something!"

He watched as she looked at him with eager impatience, her eyes twinkling—something he hadn't seen in a while. Sasuke sighed, pretended to think of a wish, and then threw the sticks into the ashes.

"What did you wish for?" she asked as she held his hand while they left the temple. "No, wait, don't tell me. Then you'll just jinx yourself."

"Sakura…"

"Hm. I want to guess what it is. How about if we do the cold/warm thing? Will you tell me? I think you can bend against those rules, but I'm not sure…"

"Sakura." His voice brought her out of her trance and she smiled. "Yes?"

He took her hands in his own. "Let's go back to my place," he said.

It was 4:26 by the time they actually got home.

.

.

.

They were kissing on the sofa, Sakura on Sasuke's lap with his hands under her shirt, until he pushed her down gently on her back, her arms around his neck and her thighs around his waist. She smiled, at each small kiss, and moaned at the passionate ones. Her fingers dug into his back and he could feel his manhood throbbing.

It was already 9:31 and all they'd done was watch movies together, kiss for a little bit, get a little gropy, and watch movies snuggling again. But now, they were at it hardcore, and he was about ready to reach into his drawer for a rubber…

"Not now," she said, pushing him off. "If we do have sex, then we might be late."

"But Sakura," he said, almost like a little kid whining. "Please?" he had resorted to begging, as his crotch was searing with aching pain.

"We can have sex anytime. This only happens once every one hundred years. And I won't miss it just for great sex. I mean, I do like it, and I like you a lot, too, but this is really special to me, Sasuke."

"I understand," he said, half-sarcastically. Inside, he was thinking, I don't give a shit. I'm horny and you're half-naked and beautiful.

"Good." She turned on the TV again to watch more movies, constantly staring at her cell phone the whole time. Sasuke, realizing that he was a lost cause, sat next to her and put his arm around her as she lied her head on his shoulder.

"Tonight, can we go up and count down on the rooftop?"

"It's cold out," he said.

"That's okay." She pulled out a jacket from her training bag. "I'll be fine."

Sasuke sighed. Looked at how serious she actually was about it. "Sure."

"Thank you," she said. The latest movie was a romantic drama, and Sasuke felt Sakura sigh in bliss because he knew that he had been a great boyfriend, and also because romantic dramas were her favorite types of movies.

"Hn." He kept his arm around her, even though it quickly became numb in less than five minutes, and waited for the time to pass. The clock seemed to tease them, going slower than it should have been. And Sakura would always avert her head to the side and say, "Can we go yet? Can we?"

Then, he'd look at his watch and say, "No. Not yet."

But it didn't matter to Sakura. She jumped out of his arms and opened the window, making sure to slip out carefully from it and climb onto the shingles, her jacket wrapped around her.

"Be careful," he muttered, going after her. He made sure to turn off the heat so that he wouldn't be paying the heater bill for all of Konoha. It was 10:58, and he was cold and annoyed.

.

.

.

He was fine, to be honest. Using some of his chakra to keep himself warm, he sat there, not minding the temperature outside. It could have been -20 degrees for all he cared, and he would have been fine due to this simple technique. Sakura, on the other hand, was shivering in her jacket, though she tried not to hide it.

"Sakura, you'll get sick," Sasuke said, sighing. "I'll get you a blanket."

"No! Then you'll miss it! This is the real thing!"

"Sakura, your health is more important."

She frowned at him, holding her knees to her chest. "Not today, it isn't. What time is it?" She leaned over to look at his watch. It was 11:08. "There's only three more minutes!"

"Yeah."

Sakura continued to frown. "You don't seem happy."

"I'm fine."

Sasuke's girlfriend stared out into the night sky, shivering. Sasuke sighed, picked her up by her waist and put her on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her neck.

"Are you still cold?" he asked. He could feel her stop tensing and loosen her limbs. "No. Thank you."

It was 11:10 already, and Sakura asked him to watch the time on his wrist with her. "Ten more seconds, Sasuke-kun. Now it's seven. And then two. And—" He saw how she held her breath, closed her eyes, and sat there in silence for at least twenty seconds. When she opened them, she gave him a look that said, "Hurry. Please."

So he closed his eyes too, and thought, "What the hell? I'll make one." But he didn't need a wish. He didn't believe in this kind of things. Sasuke thought it was all fate that decided what would happen, not stupid, trivial wishes. But since it made her happy, it made him happy, too.

"So? What'd you wish for?" she asked, watching the clock tick to 11:12.

He smirked. "Are you going to keep asking me this?"

She laughed. "Yeah."

"I can't tell you, remember?"

"Well, if I tell you mine, will you tell me yours?"

Sasuke paused for a second. He did want to know what was going on in Sakura's mind, but at the same time, he didn't want her to be upset when her wish wouldn't "come true."

"Fine."

Sakura said, "But, you've got to promise that you won't laugh, alright?"

"Promise."

She took a deep breath. "I wanted us to be together. Forever. Not just for a long time, but forever. Do you feel the same way, or is it just me?"

Sasuke paused. Then, he chuckled. Soon it became a full-out, hearty laugh that the neighbors could hear if they opened their windows.

"You said not to laugh! What's so funny?" she asked.

He kissed her hard and held her to his chest. "It's nothing. You're just so naïve. I love it."

"But now you have to tell me yours, now that I've wasted mine on you!"

Sasuke took her shoulders in his hand and held her from arm's length. He said seriously, "I wished that you would be mine forever, too. Really. It's not because I want to make you happy, which I do, but I was thinking of it. And I realized that I don't need a wish to make this come true. Because it already has. And it will stay that way. Alright?"

"You mean…?"

"Yes, you dolt."

Sakura held him tight, her arms wrapped around his waist. "I love you."

He was surprised by this confession. He put his arms around her, too, and whispered in her ear. "I love you, too."

She snuggled into him. "I'm cold."

"Let's go inside and warm up under the blankets," he said, helping her down from the roof and back into the house.

It was November 11, 2011, and they had just witnessed something they would never see again, most likely. But making a wish or not, it didn't matter. Because it came true anyway. It always would, with them.

Slight changes!