Chapter Text
WOOF!
Itachi barely had time to react to the gigantic white cloud flying at him once he looked up from his phone. He braced himself as a dog tackled him, excitedly scratching and pawing his hoodie as it jumped up and down.
"Maya, down!"
The dog in question leapt up one final time, licked Itachi's face with a slobbery tongue, and then sat on the grass, its fluffy tail wagging back and forth expectantly.
"I'm so sorry, are you ok?"
Itachi looked up to see the owner of the dog and didn't respond. It wasn't that he didn't want to - he just couldn't. Her breathtakingly soft pink hair flowed behind her as she ran towards them, and bright emerald eyes captivated his. She was a splash of color against a background of grays, browns, and dull greens. He found it hard to look away - he was already utterly enamored. She stopped in front of him, breathless.
"Are you ok?" She repeated. "I'm still training my dog, so she's not the best at following instructions sometimes. I hope she didn't hurt you."
Her words disrupted his trance.
"I'm fine."
She gasped, seeing the wet patch of skin on his face and the mud that her dog had smeared all over his hoodie. "Oh no, Maya," she groaned as she fished a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to him. "I'm so sorry about your hoodie. I can pay for it to be cleaned."
Itachi shook his head. "We're at a dog park. It happens," he insisted.
As he methodically wiped the slobber away from his cheek, the girl in front of him kneeled down and ran her fingers through her dog's fur. It panted happily and tilted its head.
"I'm Sakura by the way. And you've already met my dog, Maya. She's pretty friendly, but I've never seen her barrel into a stranger like that. She must really like you."
Itachi lips quirked into a smile as he squatted down beside the pair. He scratched Maya behind the ears, and noticed a lovely shade of red bloom on the girl's cheeks as their fingers brushed past each other beneath the fur. "Nice to meet you, Sakura. I'm Itachi."
Shisui sprawled out on his couch with his dog Tadao lying beside him. "Thanks for watching him. Was he any trouble?"
"Not at all," Itachi replied. "I enjoyed the past few weeks with him."
"Oh good. Not gonna lie, I was worried you weren't the biggest dog person, but it seems like you guys got along." Shisui ruffled his dog's fur. "Speaking of which, it turns out I'm going to be out of town again. I hate to ask, but would you mind watching him? I know you're busy and all -"
"Don't worry about it," Itachi said. "I was going to offer anyway."