Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Way back in time)

The first time Itachi saw her, his little brother's team was over for dinner.

"Itachi! Come meet Sasu-chan's team!" His mother ushered him further inside the living room, motioning him to take his seat at the low table. He heard Sasuke grumbling at his mother for calling him Sasu-chan. Itachi has heard of the members of the team, but never met them face to face.

He knows the blonde boy with the whiskers, son of the Yondaime, Minato, and his mother's best friend, Kushina. He grinned at him, all bright and boisterous, "Hey there, teme's brother!"

He wanted to laugh at the addressal that commenced a banter, punctuated by insults and snide remarks. "Pleased to meet you too, Naruto-san." He replied smoothly, turning to the last member of their team.

It was a girl, pink haired, green eyed and straight spined, sitting stiffly in her seat. He could see her eye twitching at the bickering pair, temper steadily rising at their crass behavior. But he decided to save the pair any further bodily damage, "And you are, miss?"

Instantly, she snapped her eyes back to him, flushing in embarrassment at her lack of greetings to the Uchiha heir, "A-ah, I'm Sakura Haruno, third member of team seven. Nice to meet you."

'Haruno?' Her name didn't quite ring any bell, 'Probably a civilian clan.' He deduced. "Pleased to meet you, Haruno-san." He inclined his head in proper greeting, just as his mother reemerged from the kitchen, holding a tray of teacups and sweets.

"Boys, that's enough ruckus for today."

After the hour of meeting finished and the members went to their respective homes, Itachi too went to his room to freshen up.

He deduced that the personality of the young genins were much as he thought. The Uzumaki was loud and bright and brash, all sunshine and radiant grins. His energy unfailing and determination unwavering.

The girl was good. Polite, delicate, and subtle. She spoke softly to his mother, and then reprimanded the blonde in the same breath. She was a good fit in the team, but uninteresting on her own.

He, however, did notice the rosy blush that would grace her cheeks whenever Sasuke would address her and the way she peeked through her lashes at his brother whenever his made a sarcastic comment.

'Interesting.' He thought in vague musings. He mostly thought it was adorable how she was crushing over his brother, but the less than hidden affection sometimes made him inwardly cringe at the open display.

But his thoughts didn't go further than that. She was just a thirteen-year-old girl in Sasuke's team. Completely unassuming and easily overlooked. Why would he need to concern himself any more than that.

The next time, he saw her at the training ground.

Itachi was quietly sitting in a tree with a packed bento in his hands, attentively watching the spar between the Uzumaki and his brother. They were good, for a genin, but still lacking the honed precision of seasoned shinobis.

He also noticed the pink blob sitting under a tree. She was reading quite a thick book, but her eyes seemed fixated on the match. Or accurately, fixated on one particular participant.

If Itachi hadn't known already, Sasuke was certainly very vocal about his dislike with Sakura's annoying obsession with him whenever asked about his team. So it was hard stopping the second hand embarrassment when he saw her obvious affection for his brother.

"Aniki." Sasuke addressed him as he dropped down in front of the genins laying around under the tree after the spar. He took the stack of bentos filled with onigiri and stir fries, each taking one from the stack.

"How's the training going Otouto?" Itachi asked as he watched the pinkette leaning closer to Sasuke out of the corner of his eyes. Sakura was peeking inside Sasuke's lunchbox, blushing prettily when he swung it away from her.

"It's going good."

Itachi nodded before he nodded his farewell to the team as well as their sensei, who was laying contently on the tree branch, nose stuffed into some very questionable reading material.

He only wished that the girl wouldn't hold the team back as he shunshined away from the ground.

The next time he remembers meeting her, she was sitting beside Kakashi Hatake, head bowed low and refusing to look up. He didn't look at her any longer as he was ushered inside the Hokage office along with his parents, Sasuke was inside too.

They were informed of the mission to Wave gone awry, from C-rank, straight to A. Itachi almost slumped in relief at seeing his brother relatively unharmed and well, even when his mother fussed and fretted over even the minor scratch. But he was happier at seeing the proud smirk and the satisfaction shining in his face, undoubtedly happy for finishing the difficult mission.

And when he felt the pride puffing out his father's chest when Sasuke activated his sharingan, he couldn't have felt better.

However, what he felt strange was the absence of the pink figure outside the office when they exited the room.

Sasuke detailed the mission over the dinner. Apparently, him and the Uzumaki made quite a remarkable duo when determined. They worked together very well, holding up pretty well against the very strong and capable enemy.

However, he was a little disappointed when his brother very strongly mentioned the lack of capability from the pink-haired kunoichi, almost permanently rooted to one spot and very scarcely involved in the battle.

Disappointed, but not much surprised.

And that just reinforced the image of her being wholly unambitious.

…

When he was informed of the attack of the snake sannin on his little brother in the second round of Chunin exams, his heart dropped to his stomach. But he couldn't do anything, no matter how much he wanted to, unless commanded by the Hokage. And that, he was not.

So the first time he saw the damage the slimy snake has caused, it was already really late.

He watched the sand Jinchuriki doubling, tripling in size, sharp tail lashing towards the group of genins bravely, and stupidly, facing against the indestructible beast. He wanted to save them, if not counter the best, then at least take them to safety, but the hordes of sound nins attacking him demanded his attention.

Another mighty roar shook the ground, making him a little unbalanced mid strike. He wanted to end this quickly to go to aid the genins, but it was taking too damn long.

But just then, a beacon of hope came to him, in the form of his team, and he wasn't alone in taking down the sound pests. "Go!" Itachi shot Shisui a grateful look when he was given the signal to leave.

He saw Sasuke heaving and crumpled near a tree, the curse mark pulsing faintly, as was his chakra, dwindling and flickering. He needs to hurry.

But all too suddenly, the spiky tail lashed again, aiming straight for the young Uchiha. 'Shit!' the tail approached the boy, and Itachi's eyes widened, hastening his speed, but an inkling of doubt remained in his mind.

Maybe he wouldn't make it quick enough.

And as if luck decided to have some mercy on him today, he saw a pink blur moving, but distinguishable enough for his sharingan. She poised herself in front of Sasuke, armed with nothing but a measly kunai, ready to bear the most burnt of the blow.

But he made it, and he couldn't have been more thankful that he was fast enough to sweep the pair out of the danger's way in a split second. The comforting weight of the small bodies in his arms lightened the weight in his chest considerably.

"Aniki." The quiet voice of his brother reached him, and he could only smile down at him, "I'm here, otouto." And then his eyes strayed to the wide green eyes that were looking at him in amazement and wonder, and he gave her the same smile as well, "Haruno-san."

He couldn't remember how long the battle actually took, but they were okay, but not the Sandaime. But even then, with almost all Konoha residents and all genins safe, Itachi could finally breathe a sigh of utter relief. And as he took charge of the Uchiha search and rescue police faction, he spared a thought to the pink haired kunoichi.

Even though he still thought of her as unremarkable, he would always be grateful for willing to put herself in front of Sasuke in face of danger.

Though Sasuke addressed her as weak and useless, Itachi thought she was brave.

It had been almost a year since the catastrophe that was the chunin exam, and Konoha was well past the immense damage. Itachi, along with many of his faction's comrade, had been worked to their bone to provide defense against the rogue ninjas and locating the new Hokage.

With the new Hokage; the last surviving Senju, world renowned and most feared medic nin, seated and accommodated as the fifth leader, Itachi had a rare day off after months of grueling workload. It was so relaxing that it was almost suspicious.

Itachi sighed inaudibly when he clutched the bag of dango, sticky with syrup and pillowy soft. But he couldn't dig in just yet, the bachelorette women of Konoha would burst his eardrums with their squeals if they saw the usually apathetic Uchiha heir munching merrily on a sweet stick. Contrary to popular beliefs, Itachi had a major sweet tooth, unlike his brother, who always look ready to burn the dish at even the mention of sweets.

That's when he caught a flash of a familiar pink out of his peripheral vision.

She was sluggishly walking towards his general direction, and interesting enough, his eyes caught a large bruise on her calf, and limp from the said bruise, as well as skin ripped on raw knuckles. Chopped hair messed up, skin rough with dirt and grime and her clothes looking like they have seen better days. She looked like a walking dead.

When she was around twenty feet away from him, that's when she actually noticed him. "Ah, Itachi-san." Sakura addressed him, her voice hoarse and tone exhausted, "How have you been?"

Itachi nodded in greeting and smiled, "I've been good; however, it seems like I should be asking you that, Haruno-san."

Sakura flushed in embarrassment, rubbing a sheepish hand to the back of her head and wincing a little when a piece of hair brushed her knuckles, "Just training. It's not very forgiving."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. If he was aware correctly, Kakashi Hatake was currently training Sasuke and Naruto was off with the Toad Sage for his training. Then who was she training with.

"You have a teacher? Or are you training with a peer?"

"I have a teacher. She is a medic nin, and I wanted to learn medical ninjutsu from her." She looked proud, and he mused that it was quite impressive, to be learning medical ninjutsu.

But their conversation had to be halted when a crow summon landed on Itachi, "Sorry, Haruno-san, it seems like I'm being summoned."

Sakura nodded before moving toward the dango stall, "It was nice meeting you, Itachi-san."

Itachi later finds out from his brother that the pinkette had actually been taken under the wing by Tsunade Senju, their Hokage. It was almost startlingly impressive, to having been training under one of the strongest and most powerful ninjas in the world; one of the sannins.

Sasuke's behavior toward his female teammate also changed in the meantime. Before, whenever he was asked about her, he would only remark her as annoying, weak, useless, a crybaby. But now, he actually showed positive annotations.

"She is better; much better. She can heal bruises and also has great chakra control." He has idly remarked at dinner. He was nowhere near showing fond interest, but he wasn't bitter or angry at her anymore.

His words almost rang with respect at her. And that was what interested Itachi.

He sometimes watched their spar during his free times, sometimes also accompanied by Shisui. "We look so creepy." His cousin never failed to mention. If Kakashi ever sensed their presence at a distance from the training ground, which he was certain he did, he never cared.

"I'm just monitoring otouto's training." That wasn't an entire lie, but it wasn't the full truth either.

Shisui rolled his eyes, shifting in his place to sit more comfortably on the high branch of the tree, "Yeah, sure. Because it has nothing to do with his teammate."

Their spar was… interesting. Sasuke was still faster and more precise than her, and their spar almost always resulted in her yielding, but she packs a mean punch and always heals him after their match.

She still wasn't the strongest or the most remarkable person, but she was much like her features, deceptively delicate but very interesting in approach.

…

The most memorable meeting he had with her, had been during the second Chunin exam.

He was stationed next to the Hokage with his cousin on the other side, chakra suppressed and ANBU mask in place. The crowd around the arena was buzzing with excitement in their seats, waiting for the matches to begin. Specifically, one much awaited match, between the youngest Uchiha and the next Kazekage.

Though his ANBU mask and his casual mask of indifference kept anyone from sensing what he was feeling, his insides were still a little jittery at his little brother's absence. He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. However, considering his trainer was Hatake Kakashi and that man would probably be late to his own funeral, they'll just have to wait.

"Calm down man." He heard Shisui whispering to him, his loud disposition hidden well beneath his jaguar mask. Itachi gave a small nod and looked toward the arena when the announcer voice spread through the area, effectively silencing the chatters from the crowd.

The matches were about to begin.

The first few matches were alright, albeit a little boring. Aburame against a Kiri nin, then mist against the Tenten girl. They were entertaining enough, but not enough to keep his attention for long.

But then the next match caught him by surprise. "Haruno Sakura v/s Dosu Kinuta"

If the last chunin exam had made anything known, it was that Sound shinobis are formidable opponents. He knew that his brother's team has made it to the finals, however he hadn't known the opponents. And no matter how much he tried, he couldn't bring himself to believe in the pinkette's chance at victory.

He heard the Raikage talking, "Ah, Hokage-sama, that is your apprentice, isn't she?"

"Yes, Sakura Haruno. She has been training under my wing for a while now."

The Otokage clucked his tongue, "Hmph. A civilian. I don't mean to offend you, Hokage-sama, but I do believe the victory will not be going to Konohagakura this time."

It was actually insulting, the way Konoha's chance at victory was disregarded with a wave of his hand, even though Itachi was doubting the pink genin's skills himself, not a minute ago.

However, the blonde Hokage only chuckled airily. "And no offence to you, Otokage-sama, but I also do believe that Otogakure is in for a surprise."

And what a staggering surprise it was.

'Never judge a book by it's cover' has been honed into him since before he could even talk, as has 'Look underneath the underneath'. And he has never failed those teaching so spectacularly. He would beat himself over his head later for underestimating the small pinkette so sorely.

His sharingan saw the sound nin moving, so fast that normal eye would have trouble catching, but he almost didn't see the drop kick that was delivered by the pinkette. Her petite frame and delicate features deceptive enough to have her opponent misjudge her strength, resulting in a less than graceful jolt to reality.

And after the kick that had her opponent stumbling back, she didn't give him a moment to recover, attacking him with a barrage of punches that crushes the floor arena into a crater and kicks that sent the sound nin crashing into the furthest wall.

The crowd was going wild, their disbelieving cheers deafeningly loud, almost overpowering the painful sound jutsu being used by Dosu. Had it been directed at Itachi, his eardrums would've surely busted by then.

But Sakura held on, pushing through the sound waves that Itachi could see, they were that strong.

His sharingan analyzed every movement Sakura made, all beastly strength and feline grace. Short pink hair wild in the wind and sharp green eyes alight with determination.

Oh how embarrassingly did he undermine her talent.

And after what felt like several hours but all too soon, the battle was over, the most unlikely winner being the only one standing.

Sakura brought a glowing green hand to her ears, eyes unfocused as she watched the Suna medics carrying the sound shinobi away, before being ushered out of the arena herself. Her ears were still bleeding, there were big bruises blooming all over her visible skin and her chakra was dwindling dangerously, very close to flickering out any second.

But she won. Sakura was a chunin now.

Itachi was significantly relieved when his brother arrived, mere minutes before his match.

His match was much-awaited, and it delivered the expected hype around it, stretching longer and longer, as if it would never end. But a last, precise Chidori did well in breaking the sand barrier around Gaara and knocking him out, Sasuke coming around as the winner by the skin of his teeth, before he had to be wheeled away by the medics too.

Even when Itachi was as proud and happy at his brother's victory as he was, it was stifled a little under the bigger shock of the pinkette standing beside the younger Uchiha, receiving her own new chunin jacket and forehead protector.

Sasuke's win was expected, Sakura's was surprising.

And it was then that he decided he would look closer, clearer and further into her. He would never be deceived by her again.

(Present)

The first thing his consciousness signaled him was hazy numbness. His vision was darkened, he couldn't feel his limbs and he barely registered his heart pulsing in his chest and oxygen rushing in through his nostrils, along with the very distinct smell of disinfectant and death. When he awoke further into his consciousness, a steady beeping sound reached him.

He slowly tried to open his eyes, eyelids still too heavy to open them beyond the state of slits. It was dark in the room he was in, and it took his eye a few moments to adjust to his surroundings.

And if the beeping sounds and pungent smell weren't indicative enough to where he was, the too bright white walls certainly would've made it known. He was in the hospital.

He slowly moved his eyes, looking around the space until it landed on a hunched figure sitting on the small couch in front of his bed. He opened his mouth to call out to them, only to gag and cough up painfully. His throat burned.

His head was immediately being supported by someone, a glass of water pressed against his lips as he hastily drank the whole glass. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes more. His vision was still a little blurry but he could tell who it was. It was Sasuke.

"Aniki, you awake?" his voice was hoarse and scratchy, face a little worn and very exhausted. "Are you hearing me right? Can you see me properly?"

Had Itachi not been in his current state, he would've smiled in amusement that the adorable display of concern his brother was making. His throat still hurt, so he couldn't do anything other than nod weakly.

"Stop disturbing him, Sasuke." A new, distinctly feminine voice spoke out from the door. He couldn't see it clearly still, but it was oddly pink.

"I'm not disturbing him." he heard Sasuke grunting in annoyance. He saw the figure getting closer and the image getting clearer, and the pink hair and green eyes that came into his vision made a flash of recognition streak through his mind. It was Sasuke's pink haired teammate, Sakura.

"Hello, Itachi-san." She said so softly that he almost didn't hear her, before he felt a warm chakra coursing through his body, lulling him back to a peaceful sleep. But before he went to sleep, he heard a few hushed exchanges.

"Go home Sasuke. He needs rest."

"I'm not going home. I'm staying here."

"You go home right now or I'm banning you from this room. And yes, I absolutely will do that!"

Before his consciousness completely faded, he could only think that the chakra lulling him back to sleep was so warm and lovely.

Must be the morphine talking.

…

The next time he was awake, he felt much better and much more aware. The room was once again empty except for the form of his brother laying on the small couch, cramped and hunched to fit in and an arm thrown over his eyes.

He tried to move his limbs. The painkillers have worn off and now it only felt the pins and needles in them. He tried to sit up, only to crumple down in pain.

"I would advise against it."

He turned to the new presence in the doorway, dark blue scrubs and pink hair tied up. Sakura gave him a small smile, putting down a cup of tea on the bedside table. "Good morning, Itachi-san. How are you feeling?"

She didn't seem to be waiting for an answer as she didn't even ask him again when he stayed silent, his jaw a bit too sore to be comfortably talking. And Sakura seemed to know that, as she moved a glowing hand to his face, the warmth quickly washing away the pain in his jaw bone.

"So I'll ask again." Sakura pulled out a pen on the clipboard, "How are you feeling, Itachi-san?"

"A bit better." His voice was still scratchy, but at least it didn't hurt.

Sakura smile prettily, jotting down something on the clipboard. "Have some tea. It's chamomile, best for relieving stress and muscle pain." She paused and turned to the sleeping figure on the couch, "Speaking of pain…"

Itachi almost winced at the loud sound of clipboard hitting the head of his brother, the latter scrambling up in urgency. "What the hell!"

Sakura only stared at him with an unimpressive expression, "Get up you doofus. And brush your teeth, you stink."

Itachi watched in mild amusement as Sasuke scowled at the pinkette, rubbing his head as the said pinkette only continued writing on the paper, not the least bothered by the Uchiha currently glaring daggers at her.

"Your stats have been stable enough for a while to be considered safe." Sakura spoke up again, her attention directed to Itachi as Sasuke stood beside his brother, "But you will still need to stay here for at least a week more before we discharge you, and then a few more weeks or regular check-ups and physical therapy." She sighed in relief, "Honestly, with the state you were in when you came here, it's nothing less of a miracle that you will only have minimal long-term effects."

Itachi nodded in gratitude, his eyes and expressions showing nothing less than absolute relief, "Thank you, Sakura-san. And thank Tsunade-sama for me too."

Sakura looked a little confused but nodded nonetheless, but the Itachi asked again, "But what was that damage though?"

"Four broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, a major concussion, and a hairline fracture on your hip bone. Your cranium was also accumulating an abnormal amount of cerebrospinal fluid and your cornea was also quite damaged. But that wasn't even the main concern." At the pair's horrified expression, Sakura continued, "It was gaping hole in your abdomen. Had you been even a minute late, boy, you don't want to know the result."

When the pair remained silent, Sakura just shrugged as if she didn't just traumatize them. "Well, get some rest Itachi-san. Sasuke, visiting hours are over, get out."

When Sasuke still didn't move, Sakura simply grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him out of the room, ignoring the choking sounds he was making, "Sleep, Itachi-san."

It was all too amusing to see his tall brother getting dragged out by a pixie like pinkette, but Itachi just innocently waved at the pair as the door shut behind them.

Taking a sip of the warm tea, he distinctly noted the floral note and the almost abnormal sweetness. Just the way he likes it.

…

"Okay, Itachi-san, everything seems good." Sakura swiftly closed the file of the older Uchiha, pulling out the discharge form, "I've prescribed you some painkillers and sleep medications. Consult back if you still have extreme or prolonged pain. Just take this discharge form to the reception and you should be good to go." She gave Itachi a warm smile, closing his file handing a piece of paper to Sasuke.

Itachi just thought that she looked really pretty with a smile.

"Ah, okay." Sasuke grunted before pocketing the prescription for the drugs. Itachi was relieved to go into the familiar setting of his home after weeks of nothing but bland hospital food and whitewashed walls. But the splash of pink that would routinely come to check on him did make the stay more bearable.

"Are you a nurse here, Sakura-san?" Itachi asked in curiosity. Even though she has been checking up on him, he didn't really get her position in the hospital.

The strange looks he received from both Sasuke and Sakura didn't help him, and the look they shared only made it worse. Sakura looked at him weird before looking down at herself, and a look of realization dawned on her face, "Oh that's why!" she took out her ID, clipping it on the breast pocket of her dark blue scrubs.

'Dr, Haruno' it read in bold, blue letters. Below it, read 'Chief executive' and below that, read 'Head surgeon'

Oh. He felt so stupid now, and the way Sasuke was snickering did not help. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san. I hope I didn't offend you."

Sakura chuckled airily, the heat rising to Itachi's cheeks only worsening from embarrassment, "You didn't. Though it's quite funny how you didn't realize my scrubs are different than others."

That almost offended him. "I did realize that. I just assumed that you may have customized your scrubs." That was bullshit, and he knew that. Konoha central wasn't lenient on uniforms, so a nurse customizing her scrubs would surely land her in some trouble.

"Aniki, you aren't fooling anyone." Sasuke chose the perfect moment to chime in. Their conversation however, got cut short when a harried nurse opened the door to his room requesting for 'Haruno-sama'. Itachi has wondered before why they called her Haruno-sama, but didn't give it much thought. And he hadn't felt stupider than now. Maybe the last mission took a concerning amount of braincells out of him if he became so out of touch with his observations.

"I am needed elsewhere, if you'll excuse me."

Sasuke was still snickering lightly as the door closed, leaving the two brothers as the only occupants in the room. Itachi just smacked him over his head, resulting in a now hissing Sasuke.

"Wait." Itachi paused, "Where was Tsunade-same? Did she get the report?"

"She came back just three days ago. She probably didn't."

"So… she wasn't here when I arrived? Who healed me?"

His brother gave him that look again. The one that made him feel stupid. "She did. Sakura did."

"But she said I said practically at the doors of death."

"Yeah, and she literally brought you back from there. She was with you in the OT for twenty-eight hours, non-stop."

Itachi was pretty aware that his jaw must be hanging a little bit, just a little bit. He assumed that Sakura must've had a hand in his recovery, being the fifth's disciple and as he knows now, the head surgeon, but also thought that she would've had her master with her. Not singlehandedly kick the death's door shut and drag him back to earth.

"Oh." That was all he managed to say. He realized he must have been spacing out for a bit when he noticed the door being open and Sasuke waiting for him outside, holding the said door open. "Let's go."

He'll need to meet her to properly show his appreciation and gratitude for her. But as he noticed the timetable of routine check-ups on his chart, with a certain medic assigned to him, he thought that maybe, he wouldn't need to hunt her down for some of her time.

Itachi knows that he almost gave his mother a whiplash mere five minutes after waking up. "Itachi-chan, are you okay?" the genuine concern in his mother's voice kind of offended him. It's not that shocking to see him cooking in the kitchen of his own home.

Itachi doesn't cook often. He can cook, if needed, but never felt the need to. Except now.

He had been regularly going to the hospital for his checkups and physiotherapy, despite his blatant hatred for that place. However, the warm presence that accompanied him in the room made things significantly more bearable.

It was just curiosity at first, wanting to know more about his brother's friend. It was a little laughable, if he thought about it, that he knew nearly nothing about his little brother's teammate except her name. The more they talked during each visit, the more his intrigue and interest grew. He found out that she became a permanent fixture in the hospital shortly after coming under the hokage's tutelage, and then took over as the head surgeon and pretty much as the head management shortly after turning fifteen. If that wasn't impressive enough, she was also the hokage's right hand.

That was partially when he realized how grandly he screwed up by not paying more attention to his brother's teammates.

So today he decided to see her potential by his own eyes, and what better way than making a quick delivery.

"Don't worry okaa-san, I'm just delivering some lunch to Otouto. He needs food with some real nutrients." Really, his brother will kill himself with all the ramen trips he takes with the Uzumaki heir every day.

With that, Itachi was on his way to training ground seven, with four neatly packed lunch boxes in his arms. But he made the drastic mistake of going through the market district.

"Itachi-kun!" A horrifyingly familiar squealing voice caught his attention, and only his years of managing his expressions made him keep the cringe off his face. "Kiyomi-san, Okoya-san." He greeted with a forced nod, forcing himself to not immediately shunshin away. But he almost did when he saw the young woman with a very visible blush on her cheeks, and practically tripping herself over him.

Kiyomi was a young woman from his clan, generally well-liked among her peers and clan members, and considered to be a perfect potential wife; polite, demure, subservient, great at household tasks. However, the problem arose, at least for Itachi, when she set her sights on the clan heir. Which normally wouldn't be a problem. If he didn't find interest in someone, they generally leave him alone after a few tries.

But this one was relentless. Which made her presence acutely annoying on best days, and downright unbearable on worst.

"Ah, Itachi-kun, are you going anywhere?" Kiyomi's mother, Okoya-san, asked, her hands carrying a small packet. He took a few steps back when Kiyomi tried to slide beside him, "Yes, actually. I'm running a few errands."

Okoya nodded, her aged eyes glinting in schemes. "Kiyomi actually was on her way to the central market as well. She might accompany you, if that is your destination."

Itachi near grimaced at the dopey expression that immediately dawned on the young woman's face. "Yes, Itachi-kun, let's walk together."

"I'm sorry, Kiyomi-san, but I'll have to refuse." He readied himself to take off running across the roofs, "I have to accompany Otouto. Some other time." At the woman's fallen expression, he gave a quick bow in farewell and took off to the roofs.

He felt a little bad at continuously rejecting the girl every time, but she deserved someone who would spend time with her because they actually liked her, and not just out of pity.

He was at the training ground in an instant, crouching in a tree lining the ground. And he could see them, blurs of pink and yellow and black, clashing and pushing against each other.

He activated his sharingan, knowing well it would get him in trouble with the pink-haired medic later. He saw a number of blondes attacking the other three with clones of himself, he saw cackles of electricity and bursts of fire blazing through a path, animals of ink tearing into its preys. But what surprised him was when he saw the pink blur punch the ground, stopping the match for a second, and then the earth erupting in jagged debris.

Itachi had to move out of the way quickly, soundlessly settling on a different tree, watching with wide eyes and Sakura uprooted a tree to swing at his brother, who quickly reduced it to nothing but charred pieces.

Seems like the pinkette not only inherited the godly medic skill, but also the monstrous strength. Way more developed than since chunin exams.

He watched for a bit more, becoming increasingly more fascinated the more he observed her swings, her strength, her agility, her twisting body, her swinging hair, her fiery eyes; her.

The end of the match was indicated when the silver haired, sitting on another tree, loudly rang a bell. The shinobis dropped on the ground like flies, utterly exhausted and heaving for breath.

"Sakura-chan! Why did you have to hit me so hard!" he heard the blonde complaining, voice a little dry from all the screaming he did. "Because you're stupid." The response that seemed like it came from his brother engaged an even louder protest, but his eyes were fixated on one figure on the ground, chest heaving, sheen with sweat and skin glowing under the sun.

He decided it would probably be the best time to show himself to the team, he could feel the Hatake's eyes boring in him even from this distance.

"Otouto." His brother sat up in surprise when he dropped near the group of splayed teens. "Aniki? What are you doing here?" the rest of team seven also sat up, looking at him with curious expressions. Itachi wordlessly held out the stack of bentos, passing one to each.

"Ne, teme's bro, did aunty Mikoto send you?" Naruto was all too eager to dig into his food, almost gulping down his onigiri in one go had a firm smack to his back stopped him. "Do you want to die? Slow the hell down." Sakura growled at the blonde before offering Itachi a smile, "Thank you for the lunch, Itachi-san."

Itachi smiled in return, watching the pinkette chewing on a piece of glazed tofu and feeling a wash of satisfaction when her eyes lit up. But his attention was broken away when Sasuke spoke up, "But really, did okaa-san send you?"

Not wanting to go on an explanation on why he decided to unexpectedly make them lunch, he just nodded. "Yes, she did. Mother wanted you all to have some actual food in your body."

"Wow, you mother is actually so thoughtful." The fourth member spoke up, his fake smile directed at the younger Uchiha. "Can't say much about the princess here, though." he barely dodged the chopsticks heading straight for his throat.

Itachi was very hesitant at first regarding the ex- ROOT member's placement on his brother's team as an additional member, however, the boy has proven to be trustworthy figure times and times again, so he guessed that he didn't really have anything to complain about.

"Itachi-san, give my graces to Mikoto-san. This onigiri is amazing." The way Sakura spoke in such pleased voice, her cheeks bulged with rice and eyes bright with delight, made a warm laugh rise in Itachi's chest. He smiled, inclining his head, "Of course, Sakura-san."

"Aww, where is my lunch?" the lazy voice from the tree above caught his attention. "You will get yours too the day you actually participate in the spars, Hatake-senpai." Itachi drawled out with a small smirk.

"Otouto, bring the boxes back, and also get some mochi for mother. She is still mad at you for breaking the vase." Itachi gave a pointed look at his younger brother when he heard him curse, before waving his farewell, eyes lingering a fraction more on the pink hair.

Itachi determined that he should know even more about the fascinating girl, even more than he knows now. If for no other reason than to just satisfy his intrigue, then so be it. And if universe doesn't make enough chances for him to meet her, then he will create them.

Afterall, his insatiable curiosity could hardly be dampened.

"Come on Ita-chan, loosen up a little." The slurred voice of his cousin reached Itachi as a careless arm was thrown over his shoulder.

He sighed, attempting to, once again, take away the bottle of sake from Shisui's hands, who only shielded it away from him with a horrified look on his face as if somebody tried to take away his firstborn. He has only been at the party for fifteen minutes but has already downed enough alcohol to give a sailor run for his money, even though they didn't even have any alcohol present.

"Shisui, put that down."

"No!"

Itachi was tempted to just leave his cousin be and go out in the garden to sit, but Sasuke and his friend would be there shortly and he didn't want to be seen missing first thing after he enters. It was his birthday and he wanted it to be as flawless as possible.

But he would also be lying if he said that he was waiting just for his brother.

Just on cue, the door of the Uchiha manor busted open, leading in a group of teen shinobis, Konoha 12.

"Happy birthday, my dear Sasu-chan!" Shisui threw himself on the birthday boy, ignorant to the nasty glare he was receiving from the shorter ninja. Everyone seemed to be present there, including the teachers, except two.

"Where is Sakura-san and Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked as he swept his eyes over the group once more, his eyes missing the shade of pink and blonde every time.

"They will be here in a while. Busy with… something. I don't know." Sasuke grunted as he tried to rip a drunken Shisui off of him, the rest of them intently staying away from the drunk Uchiha and claiming their seats around the large table in the center.

"Forehead said something about 'getting the good stuff', if that makes any sense." Ino chimed in as she elbowed Shikamaru out of a seat so that she can claim it for herself, putting a large bouquet of flowers in a vase in the middle of the table.

"Huh." Itachi wondered as he motioned for the manor servers to bring out the appetizers, taking his own place in one of the chairs. The appetizers were served, soups and glazed fries, with a large charcuterie board in the middle.

Even after fifteen more minutes, still no sign of the pair. Itachi tried not to feel too disappointed, convincing himself that they'll arrive shortly.

Suddenly, the room turned dark, the chandelier lights dulled out, the candles flickered out and the fluorescent lights switched off. "What the fuck." Itachi heard Sasuke mutter, a thud coming from Shisui who tumbled down from his chair in the dark. And after around a minute everyone looking around confusingly, calling the servants to look for the cause, the loud voice echoed throughout the room.

"We're here!"

And just like that, the light returned almost blindingly.

Naruto and Sakura surely made a grand entrance, holding large crates of porcelain bottles and the blonde wheeling in a huge cake. "Hope you didn't start eating yet, because we had to get to these first." Naruto grinned at the crowd who looked on at the pair with jaws dropped.

But Itachi's eyes could only be fixated on one of them.

Throughout the weeks of routine check-up with the pink medic, he came to unexpectedly enjoy their time more than he thought he would. And throughout the week, he also learned a lot of things about her. He saw her eating dango and anmitsu on more than one occasions, she also liked spending her time in botanical gardens, liked coffee and muffins for breakfast the most, and most glaringly, she looked way too adorable even when she's not trying.

And if he thought that she looked pretty before, he was not ready to see how she looked right now.

Itachi's eyes trailed down her body, her soft curves hugged snugly by her red satin cocktail dress, spaghetti strapped and open backed, cutting off mid-thigh. Her soft, rosy hair down in soft waves, bouncing with every step she took. Her green, so green, eyes lined with black and lips painted deep red, looking so damn plump and soft.

But the black heels that wrapped her feet, made his mouth water unconsciously.

Itachi forcibly ripped away his eyes from the woman walking towards the table, and swallowed thickly, taking deep breaths to will the fierce heat off his neck. His tie felt suffocating and he was tempted to at least loosen it against his neck, but he suppressed all the signs of discomfort.

'Stop it. It's disrespectful.'

"Here is some of the 'good stuff'." Sakura winked at the occupants at the table, setting down two of the four crates of small porcelain bottles. It was sake. Shisui was the first to lunge at it, opening up one and taking at deep sniff.

"Honey sake! This is really the real stuff." He looked at the bottle as if it was the ambrosia from the God's chalice. "Where did you even find all this?!"

Sakura just giggled playfully, making a playful shushing motion. "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out."

They gathered around the large cake, three-tiered and black and red. A loud cheer rose from the group as Sasuke cut through the cake with a katana, always a flare for dramatics.

"Itachi-san! Here you are."

Itachi looked up as he bit into the cake, to find a vision in red right in front of him and he had to stop himself from taking a step back. Bright green eyes looked at him with delight, a happy smile present on her pretty face. "Sakura-san. Good to see you too." He hoped the pinkette didn't notice how strained his voice actually sounded.

"Oh come on Itachi-san, loosen up a bit. Why are you so formal." She laughed lightly, the tinkling sound pleasant to his ears. He felt his eyes being unconsciously dragged to the silk covering her bust, the flash of skin above the seam always catching his attention before he ripped them away again, berating himself in his head for such actions.

His mental tirade stopped when he felt a glass being thrust in his hands. "Drink up, Itachi-san, you will need it." The mischievous glint in Sakura's eyes made him question her statement, when he saw exactly what she meant.

He heard Sakura laughing harder, realizing he must have let his dismay show. It was his cousin, shit-faced drunk and up on the table, a sake bottle in his hands and his shirt partially open, dancing on the table like a stripper.

"Good luck, Itachi-san." Sakura patted him on his shoulder before going away to join the rest of the rookie 12, leaving Itachi to deal with his cousin.

"Yeah, I'll need a lot a luck." Itachi quickly threw back the glass and grabbed onto Shisui leg, pulling him down from the table as the blonde Yamanaka and the Inuzuka cheered, having to stop Naruto from joining his cousin in his disgraceful activities as well.

Shisui fell asleep quickly after her emptied another bottle and promptly passed out onto a couch. Itachi sighed, deciding to get away from all this mess. He took a nearby placed ribbon from gift boxes and tied it around Shisui's wrist before silently backtracking to the roof, stealing a plate of dango on the way.

But it seemed he wasn't the only one with that idea.

"Ah, Itachi-san, here to catch a breath." The grinning face of Sakura accompanied her presence. Itachi nodded, unsure whether to stay there or not until she patted the space next to her, silently permitting him to accompany her. Itachi sat down next to her, mindful to put a respectful distance between them and placing the plate of dango in the space between them.

"Oh, you like dango too?" Sakura asked brightly, looking at him in a way to ask for permission to take one from the plate, smiling in delight when he nodded. "Yes, I really like them."

Sakura hummed, chewing on the sweet and salty treats, "I remember when Mikoto-san used to make them for us, they were always such a treat. I miss those." She was looking at the night sky, missing the gaze that was directed to her.

Itachi always wondered what it would feel like to have prolonged conversation with the pinkette. He had been taking every opportunity to have a conversation with her; going to his checkups on every other day for the whole month and a half, even sometimes showing up because of "pain", running into her at market, on accident of course, even going as far as delivering lunches to his brother's team every other day.

But nothing could grant him her undivided attention without interruptions. Who knew just him running away from his brother's party would land him in such situation.

Talking to Sakura was so easy. Whenever Itachi would panic because he couldn't find anything to continue the conversation with, Sakura would always somehow fill the gaps. They talked about her days at the hospital, his missions with Shisui, her playful annoyance with her team. She especially loved the story he told about the time Itachi and Shisui went on a mission to an entertainment town and they almost missed their target because Shisui got locked in a brothel.

Itachi especially liked the way she laughed, not light or windy, but with her full chest, clutching her stomach and gasping for air. "Oh my God, not the brothel." She gasped for air, almost toppling over to her side. Itachi laughed, his eyes fixated on her face, bright and alight with giddiness, and saw her wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eyes, "Did they ban him from entering the building after that? I would assume they would."

"Unfortunately they didn't. Shisui still sometimes cringes whenever he remembers that incident." Itachi laughed openly. He cannot remember his chest feeling as light as it did with her, sharing a plate of dango and exchanging hilarious stories of their days. He then remembers something, something he has been meaning to ask for a while and could never get the courage to say. He still doesn't know if it was an appropriate time or even an appropriate question to begin with. But the carefree air made his tongue loose.

"Sakura-san, can I ask you something?" at her curious expression, Itachi swallows and just says to hell with it, "I remember you having something for Otouto. Is it still there?"

At her shocked expression, Itachi curses himself. He is so stupid, why would he even ask something like that. But before he could backtrack on his question and just apologize, a laugh from the pinkette surprises him.

"Itachi-san, you're so funny." She wipes her lips from the sticky soy glaze, grinning at the Uchiha, "If you know your brother, then you would know he is the biggest jerk. He has never been able to make a girl have feelings for him for more than a month." When she saw Itachi with his mouth still agape, he giggled, "My crush on him fizzled out so quickly it wasn't even funny. He's really my best friend, but that's about it. No more, no less."

"Oh." Itachi could only say that, a little tongue-tied. He looked at the twinkling lights dotting their gardens, lapsing in a calm silence, not talking, just in each other's presence with nothing but the chatter from downstairs and night breeze to fill the silence.

"I think we should go and check on them before someone decide to kill someone." Sakura grinned at Itachi, taking one of the two remaining dango sticks from the plate, offering the other one to her companion.

Itachi smiled, taking the last treat and nodding at the pinkette and standing up with her. "I wouldn't put it past Otouto to "accidently" strangle Naruto-kun."

"I wouldn't put it past anyone to strangle Naruto. Or Shisui, if he is awake." Sakura giggle, hopping down from the roof. Itachi followed her, silently dropping next to her and walking towards the stairs "Hopefully, he wouldn't consume any more alcohol. But maybe that's too much ask for."

Sakura giggled when she heard a loud yell that sounded like Naruto, "Want to bet Naruto smashed the cake on Sasuke."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, smirking when he heard Naruto shouting lyrics to a song in a badly tone-deaf voice, "Are you really placing bets with me, Sakura-san."

"Of course, I always place bets with all my friends." Itachi realized his face must have shown great shock if the panic on Sakura's face said anything, "We are friends, right?"

Itachi didn't feel the warmth blooming in his chest until then, the airiness in his limbs or urge to smile. But when he heard Sakura offering the deal of friendship, how could he ever live with himself if he didn't take it, "Yes. Of course we are." He felt his lips spread in a soft smile when Sakura's face brightened up, her cheeks darkening making the heat on his neck higher.

"Yes, we are."

Turns out Sakura was right, Naruto did smash the cake on Sasuke's cake and Sakura made sure to give a copy of the picture to everyone in the room, making sure to put Itachi's one in a frame.

When he went to sleep late that night, his once dreamless slumber was filled with warm laughs and sweet syrups.

It was another mission, three months after Sasuke's birthday, when Itachi was informed that a new medic will be joining them for the next couple of missions.

Itachi was mostly indifferent to that information, a little thankful to have a medic to take care of the injuries, but not caring enough to get past that point. The stakes were high on the next couple of missions, it was either a make it or break it situation in terminating the rogue shinobi band that has been trafficking civilians.

"Captain." A new voice greeted Itachi, indicating the newest arrival to their group. "Neko. Welcome." He nodded at the shinobi. He knew the identities of the rest of the team, he wasn't supposed to, but he knew regardless. But not this new addition.

"Let's go."

Their way to Kazakomo was uneventful, fortunately. They slinked through the whole village, sneaked around for information and went back on their way within two days maximum. They found little intel on the king pin so they might need to work on the case for longer than they imagined.

However, he very pointedly noted the exceptional skill of the new joining. For someone he has no prior experience working with, she worked with the team as well as a well-oiled machine.

The next time went out was the same. They found a bit more to work with, but nothing substantial.

However, the third time, was a catastrophe.

"Jaga!" Itachi yelled over the blast of another ninja tag going off. He looked for his partner, slightly relieved when he found his cousin clashing metal with a rogue yards away.

They should've been more careful, he cursed in his mind. He should've been more careful, he was the captain for god's sake.

Itachi jumped out of the way of an incoming barrage of blades, spinning in the air like a propeller to flare out his own kunai, the blade ripping through the air and digging into the shinobi's shoulder. He tuned out the groans of pains, focusing on terminating the way too large team of rogue ninjas determined on taking their lives. He knew they were severely outnumbered but they need to make it out alive.

He whizzed through the dense foliage toward the area where he just heard a blast going off. In his periphery, he noticed the flash of brown hair striking down on the group of bandits severely outnumbering her. The new medic whizzed by fast around the area, nimble on her toes and fists as deadly as meteors.

Electricity cackled in Itachi's sword, sharingan spinning dangerously as he stuck it straight through the chest of a ninja who was about to strike the medic from the back.

"Captain." Neko grunted, launching a barrage of chakra scalpels on the unprepared shinobis. Itachi eyes glinted, impressed at the unique affinity of the medic. "Neko. Check on the team. I'll take care of these." Itachi commanded, readying his katana and explosive tags.

"I need to check on you first then." Neko looked him over, from the scratches on his neck and forearms to the shoulder that almost got burned off. Itachi shook it off, levelling his katana at the ninja charging at him, "I don't need it, go check on the rest." When she still hesitated, Itachi spared a look at her, full of authority and no room for disagreement. "Go." That was all it took for her to go zooming through the trees.

Looking at it from retrospect, that was a grave mistake.

He was surrounded, from every side, every angle, every corner. His senses were being overwhelmed from so many presences clashing against him, attacking him, that he didn't even notice the sword heading toward him.

He only saw it too late, sticking through his stomach.

Itachi coughed, blood lurching from his mouth, and turned his spinning eyes to the rogue captain holding the large sword in place behind him. A mad grin graced the grimy face and his eyes only saw the signs his hands made before a scorching heat engulfed the sword, searing through the insides of his abdomen and all Itachi could see was hot white pain.

His eyes blanked, but he felt falling on the ground and someone taking the sword out of his stomach. "Captain! Captain, can you hear me?!" he knew the feminine voice, patting his cheek roughly to keep him awake. Itachi weekly opened his eyes to look at the porcelain cat mask and brown hair. "Stay awake, alright. Just breathe and keep your eyes open. Can you do that for me, Captain."

She wasn't looking for his answer as Itachi felt a coolness washing over him, so good over the searing warmth in his abdomen. It almost lulled him to sleep as the same cool chakra dulled the pain away completely, had it not been for the previous request to stay awake.

In his delirious state, he couldn't put a pin on it, but something felt very familiar about the chakra. Maybe the blood loss was fading out his memory.

He doesn't know how long it was, but the clashing around him slowly reduced. And so did the cooling on his stomach. Itachi heard Neko curse, ripping off her gloves but then paused.

"Captain." She called, looking straight into his eyes with her own brown ones, "I will trust you to keep this a secret."

Itachi didn't get what she meant at first, but as the brown of her hair melted off to reveal the rosy hue underneath, it suddenly all clicked. His eyes fell from the pink hair to her suddenly green irises and the familiarly and comfort of her cool chakra, it all made sense.

He would've said something if his tongue wasn't feeling so heavy. He felt her knitting him back, cell by cell, tissue by tissue, muscle by muscle, like he has watched her so many times.

He couldn't feel anyone else from his team nearby, just distant clangs of metal. The seconds rolled past him, and gradually, he felt his eyes weighing down. His body felt too weak to put up anymore against the exhaustion pushing against him.

"It's okay." He heard the whisper through the air and the same hand that was knitting him back, rest in his forehead, pushing away his damp bangs. Itachi looked into the green eyes, shining against the dark surroundings, and felt himself falling deeper into the void.

"You can sleep now."

That was all it took for him to completely succumb to the weight of unconsciousness.

…

When Itachi woke up after that, he only saw the white walls that he has been getting sick of really soon.

A monitor was beeping next to bed, bags of questionable fluids connected to his arm and his nose burning from the strong antiseptic smell.

He tried sitting up, but then painfully fell back down as pain shot through his abdomen.

'Ah, that's what happened right.' He groaned, closing his eyes and letting the weight in his limbs fall. He honestly did not think he would make it out alive this time, not after having his body scorched from the inside. Him still breathing is a miracle.

All because of her.

"Oh, you're awake."

Tsunade closed the door behind her, not bothering to make it any quieter on his sensitive ears. "Hokage-sama." Itachi croaked out, going into a coughing fit from his dry throat. A glass of water was thrust under his nose, urging him to gulp it down. After his throat was better, Itachi watched the blonde woman moving around the room, checking the fluids, blood, heart rate, blood pressure and everything.

"Hokage-sama. How long has it been."

"About two weeks." Tsunade didn't look up from his charts, "You looked like a corpse warmed over when you were brought back. The fact that you didn't die from an infection or internal bleeding in the time it took you to get back, really surprises me."

Two weeks. "Wait, what about my team?" Itachi tried to sit up again, new urgency filling him, only to be pushed down on the bed again. Tsunade tsked at him, glaring him into submission. "Your team looked worse for wear when they came back. Only one was awake. Jaga and Nezu were unconscious from chakra exhaustion, but they are alright now, and Neko is alright too. They have already been discharged."

He was unconscious, so were the other two of his team. Who brought them here, there was only one other person. Did she- "Who brought us here?"

Tsunade sighed in annoyance, "You ask too many questions." She noted down the final observations on the clipboard and moved toward the door but not before throwing a final glance to the Uchiha.

"Be grateful to the medic I assigned your team. All of you owe your lives to her."

And with that, Itachi was left alone in his room once again.

'She really carried all three of us to Konoha? How did she even-'

She just keeps surprising him.

Itachi was in denial.

In every sense, he was just observing. Staking out on the tree in front of her house, sneaking around to her training ground, even his suspiciously frequent visits to the hospital, he was just observing.

No, it was not stalking.

Itachi observed her getting off her shift from her hospital, her pink hair messy and posture the one of defeat. She has chosen her burgundy scrubs for the day.

Itachi was aware, somewhere in the back of his mind, that these acts should be considered as stalking in every sense, but he chose to ignore it for the time being.

This has been his routine for the past couple weeks or so. He would wait outside in front of Sakura's house, on a tree, waiting for her departure, and then follow her to the hospital and then stake his presence on another tree in front of the hospital when he would notice the time of her shift arriving. He would do such without fail, at least as much as his busy schedule would allow.

He noticed that most nights, she doesn't even come home. Sometimes multiple nights in a row.

He would drop by the training fields whenever his schedule allowed, either drop some packed lunches to his brother's team, come by to fetch his brother, or simply lurk by the trees surrounding the training ground.

And in the hindsight, staying out in the trees late at night perhaps wasn't the brightest idea.

A cough rose up again in Itachi's throat. He pressed his palm against his mouth, attempting to muffle his cough and reached for the glass of water kept at his bedside. This was probably his karma for being a creep, as Shisui would call him.

He heard padding of footsteps down the hallway, coming toward his room. But they were different footsteps, not often heard in the manor. A minute later, the door to his room slid open revealing the medic sent for his care.

Itachi's eyes widened, "Sakura-san?"

The pinkette smiled, hands raised in a wave. She was dressed in clothing he doesn't see her often in; a red shirt and a plain black skirt. Normal, civilian clothing. "Hello, Itachi-san. Heard you were in quite a condition here." Sakura sat down beside his bed and put her satchel beside her, and even with a stuffy nose, Itachi smelled the light floral scent of her signature shampoo.

'Jasmine' He shouldn't know that, but he does anyway.

"Alright, open wide." Itachi suddenly found a thermometer sticking in his mouth and something cold metal touching his chest. "Breathe in, breathe out." He did as he was told, watching the green eyes sharpen in concentration.

He liked observing her, the way she furrowed her brows when she's thinking hard. Or how she chewed on her lips, or mussed up her hair, or tapped her feet, or-

"Your heart rate is higher than it should be." The pinkette suddenly interrupted his thoughts, taking out the thermometer. She looked at him and a smile graced her face. "Maybe I should test your sugar level, your bpm is weirdly high."

Itachi was about to tell her to not worry, since he knew why his heartrate was high, and it was not because of high glucose level. But then she gave him that smile, the one that spoke of sunny skies, and all thoughts left his brain.

"I've prescribed you some medicines. Take twice a day, before breakfast and after dinner. And I've also prescribed some painkillers for your muscle pain and some melatonin. Take only if you need." Itachi only nodded mutely, still staring at her scribbling something on a paper. "I'll have Sasuke get you the medicines. And most importantly, you need rest."

Itachi opened his mouth, but the sharp glint in her eyes made the retort die in his throat. "No, you need rest. A week, bed rest. You know what, you should've come by before things went so bad." She put away her instruments in her bag, moving to stand on her feet. "But for now, rest if you want to get better faster. I'll come by to check on you every day."

'Everyday?' well, that certainly made it much better. He might actually stay in bed now.

"Sakura-san." His hand reached out before he knew, and wrapped around the pinkette's wrist. Her eyes widened in surprise and raised her brows questioningly at him.

But Itachi just smiled, the skin of her wrist warming under his fingers, "Thank you." Itachi watched in delight as a pleasant blush bloomed on her cheeks, as rosy as her hair. Sakura grinned, one eye closing in a cheeky wink.

"No problem, Itachi-kun."

It was way after she has gone away that Itachi realized what she called him, was not what she called him usually. That revelation made his neck and face feel hotter than the fever.

"Can you stop?"

Itachi sighed again, forcing himself to stop with his insistent tapping on the floor. Shisui groaned, falling back on the cushioned seating in the waiting room they were sitting in, "Seriously, you've never been this down bad. It's so apparent that it's annoying even me."

"I'm not 'down bad'. I don't know what you're talking about." Itachi grunted, wanting to tap his feet again. "Oh shut up." Shisui glared at his cousin, "Our rooms are next to each other."

Itachi didn't counter him this time.

Itachi has been having a 'problem', for the past month or so, that he does not know what to do about.

His hormones have always been staying pretty under control throughout his teen years, fortunately. He sometimes thought of getting in a romantic relationship, a few times, going on dates, doing activities with faceless figures. But nothing to actually cause him physical reactions.

All that control vanished with the introduction of one pink-haired doctor in his life.

Once in couple days, he would wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and stomach in knots. He didn't remember everything he saw in his dreams, but he was sure of the flashes of pink and scantily clad slender figures, mostly in red silks. Like the ones in Sasuke's birthday. And the only other witness of his nights were the calls of a certain name reaching beyond the walls of his room.

That situation was made worse with a change in their behavior towards each other.

A year and a half later from their interaction at his brother's birthday, Itachi can comfortably introduce Sakura as his close friend. But recently, he has noticed a different type of electricity between them, and that tension wasn't just one-sided from his part.

Many a times, he would catch Sakura peeking at him from under her lashes or blushing like a rose when he would compliment her. And such reactions from her were taking a toll on his resolve to stay within the boundary Sakura would be comfortable having him in.

"You need to get yourself in control, man." Shisui sighed, looking beyond the curtains that separated the lounging area from the shopping floor, looking for pink hair dashing through the racks. "We are on an escort mission, and if you are like this already then boy, do I have some news for you."

Shisui loves to make fun of his transparent affections for the pink haired kunoichi but they both knew the delicateness of the mission. "I know. I am in control." Shisui looked like he didn't believe him, but let it go regardless.

The curtains suddenly parted, letting in the previous topic of discussion in with a large bag from the shopping center. She smiled wide, holding up her new purchase "Hey, I got it. Shall we go now?" Shisui took over Itachi's lack of response, ushering the pinkette out of the area and towards a small restaurant nearby.

Itachi took a few minutes to get his breathing in control. Though he wouldn't admit it to Shisui, he was right in one regard. He needs to get himself in control or he would surely end up doing something he would regret.

'This is a bad idea.'

Itachi was rigidly standing in his guard uniform in a corner of the banquet hall, every muscle in his body aching from the forced stillness. The party around them was just getting started, rich men in their crisp clothes and expensive shoes with women dripping in jewels hanging off their arms, waiters and waitresses going around with exotic foods and wines and chandelier twinkling in the moonlight.

"Why are you just standing like this?" Shisui slid next to him, his clothes to be considered a little too scandalous and raunchy, fit for his role as the server boy. "You were supposed to be posted outside the arsenal." Itachi grunted, adjusting his collar to let his neck not feel like suffocating, "They put me here. I'll make the tour by later on."

'This is not good.'

"Do we need to put changes in the plan?" Shisui grumbled out, mindful of keeping his voice low. Itachi shook his head, his eyes trailing their target; a fat, rich man with a long trail of civilian attacks on his ledger. "No need. I'll slip out later when the cocktails would be served. Sakura should already be done with her part."

This was the part he was the most agitated by, which was an unusual occurrence in itself. Itachi Uchiha did not get agitated about any mission.

But the mission wasn't what was making him stiffen his shoulders.

"Itachi." Shisui whispered to him, taking a tray of drinks to serve the tables, "The play is starting. Better buckle up." That was the only warning he got before the lights dimmed and the only bright spot remaining was the stage in the center of the hall.

Itachi felt a last pat on his shoulder before Shisui took his departure to serve the cocktails to the guests, and this was the point where he should be taking his leave, but when the orchestra started playing the soft melody and he saw a figure in red on the stage, his brain kind of short-circuited.

The lady started off sitting, her back to the crowd. The hair cascading down her back that he knew were pink, looked more like the color of early dawn under the warm lights. A slender hand slid around her neck, swiping her hair along one shoulder revealing the open back that was decorated by gold chains. She stood up, turning around to reveal the chiffon dress with the swoopy neckline and daring slits on both sides, arms covered in red translucent gloves and a translucent cloth covering the bottom half of her face.

Itachi could only watch in hopeless entrancement as she danced, body moving like sensual waves, the voice of the bar singer adding to the charm of her performance.

Her dance shouldn't even be considered as particularly seductive, but anything she did always somehow managed to send him into utter oblivion. She didn't spread her legs, or touched her body in any way that was supposed to be arousing, she wasn't even dressed like a courtesan or an exotic dancer, but she was affecting him way harder than any scantily clad woman ever has or ever could.

Even in her elegant moves, she was calling for him to get lost in her.

Then for a brief moment, his eyes clashed with the vibrant green ones. They widened at him and he became aware that he wasn't supposed to be there. The pinkette jerked her head to the door, somehow making the move look like the part of the performance. Her signal was enough to snap him out of his trance.

He swiftly left the room, taking care to remain in the shadows. Sneaking around the hallways with nimble steps, he knocked out the two men guarding the arsenal door. And it wasn't long before the blast went off.

Soon all the people from banquet hall were rushing toward the fire, all except the king pin. Itachi slinked his way back to the banquet hall and to the lounge rooms for the dancers backstage, and he came upon the sight of the man tied up and knocked out cold. Shisui was out of his harem boy clothes and was currently looking through the large stack of transaction records.

"Do we have it all?" Itachi asked his cousin, sealing all the records in a scroll. Shisui jumped back up from the couch, handing him the ledger he was reading. "Everything that I know of. We just need to pick up the letters from his latest partner and then we can find out where the captives are."

"And we're bringing this scum with us, to Konoha. Hokage-sama would like to see him." Itachi looked around the room for the missing presence, "Where is Sakura?"

"You'd like to know that, won't you." Shisui teased him, a shit-eating grin present on his face, but then he sighed at the flat stare being directed at him. "She's changing."

Not a minute later, the door adjacent to the lounge opened to reveal the pinkette, out of the red dress and into her standard uniform but eyes still lined in kohl and lips painted a delicious red.

She must've felt his stare when she glared at him with dim exasperation but a blush high on her cheeks, "I did not have the time to take off the makeup, alright. Cut me some slack." She grumbled out, fastening her kunai holster to her thigh.

"Let's get going." Itachi swiftly threw the tied-up man over his shoulder, signaling the rest of the team to move before he said something stupid.

It was a long way back home, but he made it back. And he kept his struggles just to himself.

But he doesn't know how much longer he can go.

It was a couple week after the mission, but his situation was getting unbearable.

The night was low and the breeze was cool, but it did nothing for his heated mind. His bedsheets were rumpled, his shirt having come off a long while ago, the cool air wafting through his open window, but even in his state of half slumber, he tossed and turned, skin flushed and eyebrows pinched in somewhere between pleasure and pain.

A sound that sounded like somewhere between a whimper and a growl left his lips, eyes screwing shut as Itachi tossed again in frustration, unable to relieve any of the pressure.

His fingers clutched at his bedsheets, twisting then in his palms when he felt nothing else around to grab at. His head thrown to the side, lips twisting in desperation and his voice only came out in whisper, only one name on his lips like a mantra.

"Sakura…"

His eyes flew open, gasping like someone stole his breath, skin slick with cold sweat. His eyes were open, looking through half open eyelids, glazed over with desire. But he wasn't seeing his ceiling, he was seeing a million snaps of only one woman, clad in red and creamy skin, dancing for him.

He might have had a bit more control to think of alternative solutions to his predicament if he wasn't half asleep, but in his moment of weakness, he was a slave to his desires.

He felt his hands travelling south, over his chest, his abdomen, past his waistband, imagining them to be a different set of hands. He released a shuddering breath, his neck arching when he grabbed his length, his head tossing back and a louder sound coming from him.

"Ugh… Please…"

He bit his lips to keep some to the sounds from escaping too loudly. His imagination ran wild, flashes of pink and red invading his vision. He imagined the same dress from their mission together, he imagined it slipping off to reveal her creamy skin and delicious curves, darkening green eyes gazing at him, reflecting the same burn of desire he has for her, red lips smirking at him.

She beckoned him to come to her, teasing him with what he could have if he just so tried.

He imagined just how divine it would feel to run his hands on the uncharted areas of her skin, bite her plump lips or explore her mouth with his own, pull out delicious sounds from deep in her throat. Itachi released a throaty groan, his finger working faster on himself.

His ragged breaths hastened, his adam's apple bobbing when he swallowed thickly when he tugged a bit more harshly, creating delicious friction. He craned his neck even more, back arching off his mattress and legs spreading a bit further, his mouth parted for a throaty groan, his hands picking up an even more frenzied pace, desperate for the release.

He imagined her weight on his waist, soft hands on his chest and her warmth moving up and down on him, encasing his length. The coil in his stomach tightened, his pants coming out even more ragged. And just when his stomach tightened painfully, his mind flashed to her face, her emerald eyes gazing at him in heat and adoration and how she would whisper out.

"Itachi-kun"

"Sakura…"

Just then it snapped, his muscles spasmed in reaction and a loud moan left him, louder than it should've been. Ropes of white splattered on his stomach and dribbled down his hand. He panted and groaned, body drenched in sweat and eyes spinning red.

And when the haze cleared, he was reminded of what the hell did he just do.

He cursed, eyes glaring at his white-stained hands in shame. He just pleasured himself with Sakura starring as the centerpiece in his fantasies. He couldn't be more ashamed.

It has been like this since he back from that god-forsaken mission. Every moment when his mind wasn't occupied with something that required his whole attention, his eyes would be invaded by flashes of pink hair and green eyes, her slender form draped in red silk painted behind his eyelids for whenever he went back to sleep.

He had been doing an alright job from acting on his desires and disrespecting the pinkette by fantasizing of her at night, but he had only been doing so by not sleeping at all, and it was taking a toll on him. And his frequents interaction with the pinkette over the weekend were not helping him either.

Where he should be avoiding her a little more to avoid embarrassing himself by doing something stupid in front of her, he was inexplicably drawn to her every minute of the day. It was a strange and dangerous paradox, compelling him to stay away from her for his own sake, but being helplessly drawn to her too.

When he was not chatting with her over a plate of dango, or accompanying her through the market on grocery trips, or sharing deep conversations over a cup of sake, his body was restless with every second spent in vacancy of thoughts. But when he was, he felt almost helpless in his palpable attraction to her. He was sure that she was aware of his intentions towards her, and her adorable reactions to him didn't help the matter.

On more than one occasions, he has caught Sakura staring shyly at him through underneath her lashes, blushing furiously when he complimented her or when their hands brushed unexpectedly. It was making resisting almost painful.

He cursed again, getting up and going to his adjacent bathroom. He stripped down his remaining garments, which too were stained and sticky, and threw them in the wash. Getting under the shower, he turned it to full cold, not bothering to gradually decrease the temperature. He grunted, letting his back bear the brunt of the chill, his mind a bit clearer from the haze.

After weeks of getting unfulfilled sleep, when he finally takes some melatonin, this is what he gets.

He needs to do something before it gets too late, and that something won't be avoiding the pinkette and hoping these feeling go away. Because he knows that the things he feels for her, are here to stay.

'What should I do?'

First, he needs to tell her how he feels. He needs to let her know, because the more he represses it, the harder it gets. He needs to tell her, pass the ball to her, let the decision be in her hand.

'But what if she… doesn't want me? What is she wants someone else?'

A sharp sting shot through his abdomen, his eyes widening in shock at such a visceral reaction produced by just a thought. That was new for him. But then again, all of this was new for him. he shook his head, standing further inside the shower to let the cold water drench his hair.

'I need to let her know. But when?'

The correct answer would be as soon as possible. Before someone else sweeps in to steal her away. Sakura might be unaware of the gazes that follow her when she's out, but Itachi isn't as blind as her to the male attention. He needs to act fast.

He has been one of her close friends for quite a while now, and while that made him the happiest, he wants more. He needs more, so much more. Did that make him selfish, he doesn't know, but it's what he wants.

He needs to make sure she chose him, but if she doesn't… God, he doesn't know what to do then.

But for now, he'll need to move quick.

Itachi breathed out, patting down his new clothes and looking at the mirror in deep thought. This was it, the perfect opportunity. He couldn't miss it, he wouldn't get a better time to make his move.

He had carefully put on the new, dark blue yukata, a gift from his dear mother, and taken extra care to tie his hair in a sleek ponytail. He has gone to the annual new year's eve festival every year, but this one was very special. Hence, his slight nervousness.

'Should I get some flowers for her?' he decided not to, afraid of perhaps weirding her out by his expressive forwardness. He just needs to make sure that the place he has chosen will actually be empty. He looked at the clock hanging in his room, concluding that he should start moving now.

"Come on man. Let's go already." Shisui whined right outside his door, waving him out hurriedly when he opened the door.

The market district was rightfully bustling with crowd. Colorful lanterns brightening up the night, the stalls looked extra nice, delicious food on display and mouth-watering aroma wafting through the air. People walked around in yukatas, arms looped around each other and merry chatters flowing around.

Itachi looked around as he walked forward deeper into the market. Most of the faces were unrecognizable, but once in a while he would see someone from his clan, in dark yukatas and a fan poised arrogantly in front of their face. Shisui was a constant in whistling away, pausing when something or someone caught his eye but then caught up to Itachi quick enough.

"So, Ita-chan." Shisui began after eyeing a stall full of sweet treats, "You finally thought of doing something? Or am I going to have to endure more nights of your… situation."

Itachi flushed minutely, his mind involuntarily flashing to the teasing glimpses from his dream. He swallowed before answering, "I plan on telling her."

Shisui's eyes glinted in excitement, a teasing grin creeping up on his face. "When?"

"Tonight."

Another whistle answered his statement, but he could swear he also heard the mutter of "Thank God" under his breath. Itachi looked around the market again, his sharingan lazily spinning and then they landed on a cluster of shinobis standing a few ways away.

Sasuke was the first to notice him walking their way, and was quick to wave at him in greeting. "Aniki." Sasuke shot an annoyed glare at his cousin standing beside him, "Asshole."

"Aw Sasu-chan, that's no way of greeting me." Shisui feigned a dramatic hurt voice, a hand over his heart. Itachi took the time to greet the rest of the group, discreetly looking for a trace of pink. "Sasuke, where are your other teammates?"

Sasuke shot Shisui one last glare before turning to him, "Naruto wanted to get some cotton candy and dragged Sakura along him with. They should be coming back any second now."

And speak of the devil, the loud voice of one boisterous blonde could be heard way before they reached them. "Oh hey there teme's brother." Naruto grinned at him, his arms flailing in a wave. Itachi smiled at him, amused at the blonde's address to him has stayed the same since his childhood.

"Hello Naruto-kun." He looked around him as if waiting for another head to pop out, "Where is your friend?"

"Oh she wanted to buy some dango and told me to go ahead." He pointed at a store in the direction he came from. Itachi secretly slid his eyes over to that direction and his heart slightly lurched when he caught a flash of pink. "I should probably get some dango too. I'll send her your way when I see her." He starts walking toward the dango stall but he can still hear Shisui muttering "No he won't."

Itachi's eyes search for the flash of pink again among the sea of duller colors, and when he finds it, his step falters slightly. Not just because of her, but because she wasn't alone.

He could only see her back from his point of view, body wrapped in a cream yukata and hair swept up in a loose bun, pearls of her hair pin glittering in the lantern lights. But he couldn't even properly appreciate her when his eyes got dragged to the man standing next to her, chattering endlessly.

If Itachi's memory was serving him right, the brown haired man was a new intern at the hospital, perhaps a few years younger than Sakura. And the way he fidgeted and laughed sheepishly around the pinkette, tripping over his own feet to keep the doctor's attention on himself, it was not a good sign for Itachi.

An immediate intervention was needed.

As he speedwalked closer to the pair, he could clearly see the signs of discomfort in Sakura's body language, even just from her back. The slight sharpness of her shoulders, body leaned a little too far away from the man who was trying to invade her personal space.

"Sakura." He called out, and immediately he was greeted by surprised green eyes. Sakura whipped her head around, pink lips spreading into a pleased grin at the sight of Itachi. "Itachi! Hello." She waved at him in excitement, her attention completely gone from her partner.

Itachi smiled softly at her, a warm feeling infusing in his chest at her pleased expression, before he slid his half-lidded eyes to the stranger, measuring him up and down in a way that would make a man feel like a pest, and felt some minute satisfaction when the boy flinched at his spinning red gaze. He looked back at Sakura, edges of his gaze softening immediately, "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I came here to pick you up."

Sakura looked a little confused at what he meant by picking her up, but then shook her head as she glanced at her companion. "No, you didn't interrupt anything. Oh, by the way, meet Ashio Yagame. He is a new intern at the hospital, from Suna." She turned to the intern, motioning to the Uchiha, "This is Itachi Uchiha, a very dear friend of mine."

Itachi looked at the boy, chillness seeping into his gaze that clearly warned him to back off. "Hello, Yagame-san. Hope you are having a good time in Konoha." His voice would've sounded cordial to anyone but Itachi made sure to let the coldness be known to the man.

Ashio nodded nervously, the threat clearly known to him. "H-Hello, Uchiha-san." He bowed at him and turned to Sakura, his cheeks still tinting a little pink when he caught her eye, "I will be taking my leave now, Sakura-sama. Enjoy your evening." He would've exchanged a few more words with her, but one look from Itachi had him running off with his tail between his legs.

"That boy." Sakura sighed as if she was talking about some immature brat, but then turned a teasing smile to her current companion, "I know what you did. Don't think I missed it."

That brought out the permanent smile on his face, one that always seemed to be present whenever he was with Sakura. "I don't know what you are talking about." The obvious feigned innocence in his tone made Sakura giggle, a happy blush spreading on her cheeks.

Itachi's eyes seemed fixated on her face, taking in her glowing radiance under the lanterns. From her sweet face framed by the pink tendrils that escaped her loose bun, bright green eyes lined with kohl and long lashed, to her pink lips that looked a little too plump for his waning patience.

"He was disturbing you." It was less of a question and more of a statement. Sakura shrugged lightly, "He's just a bit… friendly."

Itachi turned to the vendor and ordered another plate of dango before turning back to smirk at the pinkette, "By the way, 'a very dear friend', huh. That's new." He chuckled at the way Sakura's cheeks flamed up. She gave him an embarrassed glare, turning her nose the other way.

"Okay, and? Are you not my friend or what."

Itachi smiled warmly, his lips twitching to turn into a grin but they didn't. "Of course." That was true, he was. And while he would've been satisfied with that, about six months ago, he wanted more. Much more.

Two plates of dango arrived, one that Sakura ordered and the other for Itachi, and before Sakura could reach for her purse, Itachi has already slid a bill on the stall counter and started steering Sakura away with a hand on the small of her back.

"Itachi! Really!" Sakura exclaimed in exasperation, her eyes narrowing up at him. Itachi just hummed noncommittally, gently guiding her through the thicker crowd, toward the direction opposite of her friends.

"Itachi, where are we going?" Sakura looked back toward the stall and found her view obstructed by the thickening crowd. Itachi paused in his way to give her his attention. He leaned down to her ear to whisper, as if passing on some scandalous secret.

"I have a place to show you. The fireworks are going to be starting soon." His low and smooth voice spoke into her ears and he could see the way heat rose up her neck when his breath fanned her cheek. He straightened up, offering his arm to her and smiling softly.

Sakura paused for a moment to look at his arm, then at his face and back at his arm. And for a moment, he almost panicked that maybe didn't want to. But those loud shouts in his head were silenced the second he felt warm hands wrapping around his forearm and tucking into the crook of his elbow.

Sakura looked up at him through her lashes, a blush still staining her cheeks, "Well then, lead the way."

The way out of the festive area was crossed in companiable silence, occasionally Sakura would point out something that caught her attention or when she remembered some joke. They walked with their arms looped and a bag with two plates of dango in Itachi's other hand. Occasionally, Itachi would pull her closer when someone walked a bit too close, relishing in the feel of her sides pressing against him.

They finally made it out of the market in twenty minutes, across a training ground and into the woods. The surroundings were dark, only illuminated by the moonlit sky, lightly washing over them and even that obstructed by the full canopies of the large trees.

"So, you want to tell me where we're going?" Sakura cocked her head, looking up at Itachi still holding her close long after they've left the marketplace. Itachi hummed again, casting a teasing glance at the pinkette, "You'll see. It's not much further away."

Indeed it wasn't much further, and they were slowing down to a stop not ten minutes later. They've taken a different turn inside the forest, and then they were walking up a small slope. They had to maneuver around some thick, pesky cluster of bushes and trees that hid the edge of the small hill.

Itachi heard Sakura sucking in a breath and saw her eyes wide and lips parted in awe. The platform edge of the hill was a little behind hokage mountain, framed and hidden by the thick trees that gave it the absolutely needed privacy. Something that he needs right now with Sakura.

But what made the place so special was the view of the village it granted, overlooking the glittering streets and the moonlit sky so well that it looked like something out of a fairytale.

"Itachi." Sakura breathed out, voice still filled with awe, "How did you even find this place?"

Itachi chuckled, setting down the bag of dango and helping Sakura sit down on the edge, legs swinging over the edge and into the air before taking his place by her side. "A few months back. I just wanted to get away from the clan elders hounding me down, and accidently found this place. I've never seen anyone else near here, so I guess it was kind of my hideaway place."

"And you brought me here." Sakura smiled at him in a tease but so earnestly, "Guess I know your secret now." She knocked her shoulder with Itachi, prompting him to return her smile.

They sat in peaceful silence together. One would've said something to start a conversation, but neither dared to break the calmness, just basked in each other's presence for a moment. But it was broken by the rustling of paper as Itachi took out the dango plates and peeled away the plastic wrap from the top.

"The firework will be starting in a few minutes." Sakura whispered out, munching on a piece of dango and excitement lacing her every word. She looked away from the sight of the village, streets lit up by warm lanterns, littered like fireflies, and fixed her gaze on Itachi. "Starting a new year, do you have a resolution?"

Itachi stared into green eyes, his heart hammering inside his chest. This was it, this is the time.

He looked down at his hand holding a dango stick before looking back up at her, "I do."

She beamed at him, raising her eyebrows in question, "What is it?"

He exhaled slowly, his breath coming out in a surprising quiet stutter, "I… want to protect people I hold dear, care for them, in every way I can."

Sakura's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "But you're already doing that." Itachi gazed at her for a few moments before he had to look away, his face feeling too hot. He put down the dango stick on the plate, fixing the pinkette with an intense stare that surprised her.

"Yes, I have. But I have someone new I want to protect too."

Sakura put away her dango too, her eyes wide as she tried to put together what was happening. "Oh. You…do?" She seemed to be fumbling a bit under his stare, thoughts perhaps a little muddled and confused.

"Yes. I do." He inched his hand forward to his side, going to where Sakura's hand was resting on the ground and stopped when his fingers touched hers, going no further.

He saw the puzzle pieces being put together in her head as her eyes flew to where their fingers were touching. This was it, he has given her the pieces. The ball is in her hands. He waited, not saying any further, not going any further as he waited for any incentive from her to keep going.

For a still minute, she didn't say anything as the gears turned in her head, and Itachi started shaking inside in panic. Did he overstep, is he making her uncomfortable? Should he have stayed quiet? God, he's such an idio-

And just as he though his head will start hurting, he felt a slight pressure on his fingers and looked down to see the feminine finger overlapping his. Sakura sat with her eyes and face fixed toward the streets, but even in the darkness, her face flamed with the bright blush.

"Is that so?" She asked, voice a little breathy that made Itachi's heart skip a beat, "And what're you planning on doing then?" She turned her eyes to him, staring deep into his dark pools.

Even though his heart was dumping against his chest so loud hat it might've even been audible to her, Itachi still braved his face to look at her. No turning back and no more running around. He will fix it right here, he's done hiding it to himself. No more wishing, fantasizing and hesitating.

He will bare everything to her.

He took a deep breathe in, covering Sakura's hand with his whole palm and looked into her eyes, entrancing her to only look at him the whole time. "I want to start something, something more than friendship. I want to have nights like today, I want to have mornings where I see you first thing. I want to have deep conversations laying by your side, I want to have days with you that I will take with me to my dreams. I want to protect you, I want to care for you, I want to be with you."

He shuddered out a breath. His voice was low and deep, as if whispering secrets and promises of a lifetime. Sakura eyes were wide in astonishment, lips parted and face so close to him. He gazed deep into the jade irises, his fingers tightening a little on her hand.

"I want you in any way you would let me."

They stared at each other in silence, unable to pass anymore words between them. But then Sakura lowered her eyes, gazing at where his palm covered hers, not saying anything, not looking at anything. And as Itachi was getting worried, he felt her hand move beneath his.

He watched with rapt attention as she turned her hand around, facing her palm up against his and interlacing their fingers. She shyly looked up at him, a warm smile stretching her lips. "I would like that."

Itachi sucked in a breath, his fingers tightening their hold on hers. "Really?"

She nodded, a blush high on her cheeks and eyes gleaming like the moon itself sunk into it, "I would like that. I would like to have a relationship with you, be there for you, be there with you, whenever you need me. I care for you, so much. I want to be yours, Itachi."

Itachi was close to hyperventilating by the time Sakura finished, his eyes blown wide and breaths coming short. He looked at her the entire time, deep into her eyes, her sweet whispers seeping inside him and tickled him with a warmth he never imagined he could have. His heart hammered against his chest, throat closing up with the pure, raw emotions flooding through his being.

And just then, something clicked in him. As he gazed at her face, so soft and warm and full of life, her fingers gently caressing his hand, smile so bright it could put the moon to shame, it clicked in him.

He had thought that he was falling in love with her, but no, that wasn't it. He wasn't falling, he had already fallen so far he might as well be in the depths of hell. He had been falling for a long while, and he has already reached the lowest he can go.

He loved Sakura.

By Gods, he loved her.

Just then something shot up into the sky and a burst of light spread through the darkness. Similar more fireworks went off, sparkling different colors into the night sky. And with that, a new year started, with bursts of light and a sight to see.

But the pair wasn't looking at that, their eyes trained on only each other.

Itachi memorized every plane of her face, illuminated under the lights of firework, and stamped it into his brain to dream of later. He didn't even realize when his unoccupied hand started tracing the path up her arm, to the shoulder, to cup her face.

Sakura's face burned with blush, eyes falling half-lidded and tongue unconsciously poking out to wet her lips. Itachi's eyes obsessively followed its movement, not even realizing when they spun a dull red. He brought their face closer to the point where their breaths mingled. The hand intertwined with Sakura's brought her closer even more, knees knocking with each other and lips almost touching.

And when Sakura clutched the yukata at his shoulder, that was all the encouragement he needed to crash his lips on hers.

And while he didn't pay a shred of attention to the bursts of light in the sky, when her lips met his, the fireworks that lit in his body had shivers wracking down his spine. He was gentle, almost shy in first contact, but it only lasted so long before he was parting his lips for more.

Her lips felt so sweet against him, so soft, so warm, so right. He brought her even closer, almost on his lap, to deepen the kiss. He slanted his lips further, a sly tongue poking out to lick along the seam of Sakura's lips to taste the sticky sweet dango syrup coating it.

Itachi felt Sakura parting her lips a bit more, her hand clutching his yukata tighter and he grunted deep in his chest when he deepened the kiss, mashing his lips on her in almost desperation.

A man is only so strong in holding off his strong desires. And it was just a fraction of it.

They parted their lips away from each other, breaths coming out in short pants and limbs still tangled. Sakura put her forehead against his, closing her eyes as an expression of peacefulness fell on her face, lips stretching in a pleased smile.

Itachi closed his eyes too, holding her closer to him and burying his face in her hair. He smiled, so happy, relieved, almost giddy. He felt weightless, like a rock has been taken off his chest, he felt like he could fly. The days and sleepless nights spent obsessively going over every single detail of the time he would tell his feelings for her, etching out every small attribute of the interaction, repeating every possibility like a broken clock in his head till his brain fried, he felt like he could breathe now.

Sakura was his.

His lips stretched from a smile to a grin, with all the radiance of a rising sun. It felt surreal to be able to say that, like it was a dream. But it was true. Sakura has agreed to be his.

Sakura looked at him, her head resting on his shoulder and fingers still entwined and seating between his bent legs. "You seem really happy." She grinned at him, giggling as he pressed a kiss at her temple.

"I am." Sakura grinned wider at his answer, leaning deeper in his embrace, and looking over to the still bustling festival. But Itachi closed his eyes, burying his nose in her hair and breathing deep. A pleasant scent tickled his nose and he remembered, jasmine, it was.

He smiled in her hair again, reminding himself that this was real.

Him holding Sakura was real, her agreeing to be with him was real, them being in a relationship was real. She was in his arms and the only thing he now needed to do was never let her go.

And he would do everything to keep her there.

She has agreed to be his, and he would do everything in his power to be her everything.

Because she was already everything to him.

Chapter Text

A dream. That's what it felt like. Everything, everyday after that night seemed like a dream.

He remembers walking with Sakura back to the festival still going on way after midnight, her arm curled around his like they had walked before. They rejoined the rest of the group, or the rest of who were present. There were only four of them still at the festival, but all of their jaws dropped when they saw the pair walking together with their arms interlocked.

Shisui was the first to react, laughing out loud, head thrown back and clutching his stomach. "Fucking finally!" He exclaimed boisterously, his eyes twinkling as if he just found out the biggest gossip of the century.

Heat rose up Itachi's neck as the other three people still had their jaws hanging open, but the blond Yamanaka snapped out quick enough, lunging at the pinkette with a yell, "Forehead! What the hell! You never told me, how long has this been going on?!" She continued shaking Sakura by her shoulders.

"Ugh, let me go pig." Sakura groaned, pushing the frantic blonde away, only to be swiftly attacked by the other blonde, asking the same question with even more urgency. Sasuke took his place in front of Itachi, blocking his view of Sakura.

"Aniki." Sasuke growled at him, "How long have you two been sleeping together?" and that flared both his and Sakura's face into dark blushes, before a fist met the younger Uchiha's head, courtesy of the pinkette.

It was a long night, for all the wrong reasons.

Itachi has never thought of himself as a frantic lover, but Sakura made him realize many things about himself that he never realized before.

His eyes roamed over assortment of dishes laid out in front of him, all painstakingly made by him since the last three hours. He exhaled a long breath through his nose, wiping his hand on the kitchen cloth and giving one final inspection to all the components of the meal.

Since he was at a mere age of five, he has been trained to always remain calm, almost stoic, understand any kind of circumstance. Never get frantic, never do too much, because doing too much for someone means you want their validation, you're beneath them. And Uchihas are never beneath anyone.

But all of his father's teachings went out of the window whenever it came to Sakura.

With his increasing need to spend more and more time with her, as much as their busy schedule would allow, he was almost always in a frenzy to make every interaction they had perfect. Whether it was just him picking her up from the hospital, or going on a dango date, he would always find himself subconsciously going above and beyond to make their time together worth it with meticulous planning and perfect timings.

Whether it be as small as putting on his best shirt, or something larger like making a three-course meal for a picnic date. He always did too much, or so Sakura says.

Itachi gingerly picked up the box of pork cutlet and put it at the bottom of the picnic basket, followed by glazed teriyaki chicken and glazed stir fry vegetables. One by one, he stacked up the rest of the dishes, the box of friend rice and small cups of anmitsu. He made sure to put the cream and fruit sandwich last, on top, and the hefty wrapped plate of dango.

Someone shuffled outside the door of the kitchen, and soon his little brother's head poked out from the corner, hair mussed up from his deep sleep. "What the hell are you doing Aniki?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the wide assortment of food, before looking suspiciously at his brother.

Itachi kept busy with cleaning the dishes, having already arranged the picnic basket and only having to clean the kitchen. He looked at the large clock on the wall, deducing he has half an hour before he'll have to make a run for it. "Have a seat Otouto. The lunch is ready."

"That's not what I asked." Sasuke growled, plopping down on the kitchen chair and following Itachi around the kitchen with suspicious eyes. "Why is there a basket and why is there so many dishes? Where are yo-" he abruptly paused as understanding dawned on his eyes, "You're going out with Sakura."

Itachi didn't give a reply but the minute straightening of his shoulder blades was enough for Sasuke. "But didn't you go out with her yesterday? Do you need to spend everyday with her?" Sasuke groaned in exasperation, waiting for any response from his brother. "Aniki, you need to cut some time out."

"Otouto." Itachi sighed, putting down a plate of tomato soup and sandwich in front of him. "You need to not butt your head into Sakura's business."

"How can I not?!" Sasuke ripped a bite of the sandwich, still glaring at Itachi, "My brother is dating my best friend. Tell me that's not crazy." Sasuke stuffed spoonful of the soup, his table manners nowhere to be seen at the moment. "I swear to God, if you touch even a hair on her head, I'll-"

"Alright otouto, wash the dishes. I'm going to get dressed." Itachi interrupted smoothly, neatly putting away the kitchen towel and walking his way out of the kitchen, leaving his brother sputtering behind him.

When he thought only he changed when he got together with Sakura, imagine his surprise when Sasuke was throwing Shuriken at him in his sleep.

Sasuke, the baby brother who looked at Itachi like he saw stars in him and practically idolized him his whole life, that Sasuke was giving him death threats whenever he caught the whisper of him hanging out with the pinkette. The last time Itachi was sparring with him, he barely avoided getting his arm burned by the fireballs.

He always knew that his brother was quite protective of his friends, especially the only girl in his team, but he never knew how possessive he could be until him and the pinkette started dating. More often than not, he would find Sasuke and Naruto lurking around the shadows, creeping up to spy on the couple whenever they were out on a date.

Itachi was almost getting paranoid that one day he might wake up with a kunai stuck in his chest.

He checked the clock again, and found that he should make a run for it anytime now. He quickly threw open the closet and picked out his pre-decided outfit, a grey muscle shirt and dark pants. He looked normal in them, like a civilian and not the ANBU captain. Sakura said she likes him in his normal clothes.

But he did take an extra minute to brush his hair well and put it in a neat ponytail, letting his bangs fall against his face. He knew Sakura likes his hair, he knows that from how she would look at his hair and run her fingers through them sometimes. He made sure to take care of them especially.

Casting another glance at the clock, he quickly went into the kitchen, and before Sasuke could start another argument with him, he was in and out of the room with the picnic basket in his hand.

"Otouto, wash the dishes. And reheat the food when mother and father come home." He gave a last wave, and was out of the door leaving a sputtering Sasuke in the kitchen.

He was outside the doors of the familiar apartment in less than ten minutes, feeling right at home as he knocked on the door and leaned against the wall. He heard rummaging sounds coming from inside, and a moment later, the door opened to the flushed face of a pinkette.

"Itachi! You're here!" Sakura grinned at him as he leaned down to plant a chaste kiss on her lips. He smiled at the pretty blush that overtook her creamy skin, and held up the big basket, "Ready to go?"

Sakura nodded, and as she kneeled down to pick up her shoes, Itachi took the minute to look at her appearance; a short white dress with flowy sleeves and a flowy skirt to match, little daisy flowers speckled throughout the fabric. His eyes lingered a fraction more at the way the cloth hugged her waist and her bust at the open neckline and, eyes trailing down the smooth expanse of her shapely legs to the white sandals she was tying up.

Sakura looked up finished with her task and smiled at him, and his eyes adored the way her pink hair framed her face and rosy lips widened in delight, "I'm ready. Let's go."

Another thing that Itachi didn't know about himself is that he was a very touchy person.

He never thought he would be, since he mostly kept his friends at an arm's length, his boundary only ever broken by Shisui's constant physical affection. But he would never let any chance go where he could physically engage with Sakura, whether it be a sparring session or just walking with their fingers interlaced.

They deliberately took the less traveled route to their secret hideaway in the small hill back of hokage mountain, hidden to the rest of the world and in their own little bubble. Both Sakura and Itachi knew what would be the consequences shall the clan elders found out about their relationship, and they weren't ready to deal with them so early in their dating phase.

Itachi brought Sakura closer by their held hands, as they ducked beneath the thick shrubs and hopped out onto the small platform of the hill. It was still pretty early in the morning, but the thick canopies of trees surrounding the area provided good shade for when the sun rises higher.

Sakura brough out a small blanket from inside the basket held in Itachi hand, laying in near the edge where they would be able to dangle their feet. Itachi set the basket in the middle as they sat next to each other, beginning to take out the containers of food one by one.

"Wow, you really made all this by yourself?" Sakura gasped, looking at the sheer variety of dishes laid out in front of her. Itachi felt his chest puff up at the shining admiration in Sakura's eyes, opening the container of teriyaki chicken and setting it down in front of her.

"How long did it take you, Itachi?" Sakura asked, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of pork. Itachi watched her intently, noting every little change in expression at the taste. A feeling of warmth infused in his chest as he saw a blush reach her cheeks, eyes closing in delight at the taste as she reached for more of the cutlet.

"It didn't take too long. I had some of it from yesterday." That was a lie. He woke up at some ungodly hour to prepare the ingredients, and even longer to cook it. Thank goodness his parents were out to some relative's home, otherwise it definitely would've been disastrous if they caught him banging pots and pans in the middle of the night.

"This is delicious." Sakura moaned at the taste of the chicken, sticky with the soy syrup and tender. Itachi's hands stuttered in its way of reaching for another box as the sound of the sound shot through his ears and engraved itself in his mind.

Itachi set down the last plate, taking out two glass bottles of iced sweet tea, popping them open and setting them down in front of her, and when he tilted his head up, he suddenly found a pair of chopsticks in front of his face.

He looked up, seeing Sakura's smiling face and looked back down on the chopsticks holding a piece of pork near his mouth, "Open up, Itachi."

Itachi gingerly opened his mouth, and found the pork cutlet shoved in his mouth. He chewed slowly, eyes still trained on Sakura's face as a fierce heat gradually travelled up his neck to his face as he realized 'Sakura just fed him…'.

"It's good isn't it." Sakura giggled at him as he hesitantly nodded, covering his mouth with a fist, willing the blush to fade away. And just as he was reaching for the bottle of tea, he felt a pair of soft lips graze his cheek.

Just when his face was feeling a little less hot, the blush returned tenfold at the chaste contact of Sakura's lips on his skin. This time he covered his entire face with his palm, listening as Sakura's giggle turned to full laughter at his display of shyness. As touchy as Itachi was with Sakura, he was also unsurprisingly shy with even the barest affection from the pinkette.

"Oh, 'Tachi, you are too cute." Itachi's blush darkened even more as he felt her fully leaning on his side, setting her chin on his shoulder. He removed the palm covering his face, looking at the teasing gleam in her eyes and the lips stretched in a smirk.

"You love teasing me, don't you, Sakura." He leaned back, burying his face in her hair and wrapping an arm around her waist. He heard her letting out a breathy laugh, shifting to sit between his open legs.

"Oh no, never."

Itachi leaned back from her hair, cupping her face to capture her lips with his own. The kiss wasn't heated or passionate, just full of gentle warmth. He felt her angling her head to the side, sealing her lips even more deliciously, fingers carding through his long hair.

He doesn't remember how long they sat there, but Itachi didn't even touch his chopstick once, content to chew on the food Sakura would put in his mouth, much happier to just hold her in his lap, occasionally taking a sip of the tea and then burying his face back in her hair.

And soon enough the boxes were empty, save for the cups of anmitsu and the plate of dango. Sakura picked up one of the cups, looking at it suspiciously before picking up a spoon and scooping some of it out.

Itachi watched her gingerly put it in her mouth, and then her face twisting in something that did not look like delight. His head moved up in alarm at the expression on her face, "What is it Sakura? Is it not good? Is it bad?" It didn't look spoiled, and he just brought it yesterday. It should be fresh.

"No, it's not that." Sakura shook her head, sliding the small cup far away from her. "It's weirdly sour. It tastes like someone dumped a glass of lemon juice on i-" Something cleared on her face as she looked up at him in caution, "Is there malt sugar in it?"

Itachi's hands froze on her waist, his mind already going into overdrive at the feedback he was receiving. "Malt sugar?" He tried to remember the sweetshop man telling him about their new flavoring… of malt. The expression on his face must've confirmed her suspicion.

Sakura hummed in a laugh as she put down the cup, already reaching in her dress pocket to fish out a small vial with two white pills in them before popping one of them on her tongue. "Good thing I brought them right?"

"Sakura, are you okay?" The concern in Itachi's voice was palpable, his eyebrows furrowed, "Oh I should've paid attention to the ingredients, it's so stupid. I'm so sorry Sakura I should've-"

"Hey, hey hey!" Sakura cupped both his cheeks, making him stop and look into her eyes. "Stop that. Why are you panicking so much, I'm all good. It's hardly even serious, it's okay."

Itachi stared at her for a few more minutes, before he sighed and buried his face back in her hair. "Itachi what happened?" He felt her fingers running through his hair as he didn't say anything for a few moments. "Itachi, I'm okay." She said softly, "You know my allergy isn't serious. It's just a little itchy tongue."

"It's nothing, I just-" He sighed again, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes, "I've been trying to make everything we do perfect. I feel like if I don't you won't be impressed with me, find me unimpressive. And just this anmitsu feels like a rock in the process." He breathed deeply, daring to open his eyes but still keeping his gaze lowered. "And I'm not proud of causing you an allergic reaction."

It was silent for a few moments before he felt a low chuckle fleeting around him. He looked up, seeing the glowing flushed face of Sakura. She cupped his face again, leaning down lovingly kiss his cheeks, "Oh, Itachi-kun, you overthink so much."

She threw her arms around his neck, bringing their faces closer until their foreheads touched, "Just being with you is perfect. I hardly even care if there is a storm brewing outside, when you're with me. Every time we are together, is always perfect. You don't need to be my prince charming, you just need to be my Itachi."

Itachi felt his heart skip when she fully connected their faces, lips grazing softly against his, "So stop stressing so much."

Itachi was suddenly feeling silly, for all the times she was stressing over the most minute details, because like she said, she is always happy with him. Like she said, he didn't need to be the prince charming, or her knight in shining armor, because she didn't need any of that. He just needed to be Itachi with her.

And isn't that what attracted him to her in the first place. That he didn't need to put up a façade to be appealing, then why is he doing that now.

"I'm so stupid." He whispered under his breath, leaning in to fully plant his lips against hers. She giggled against his lips, threading one hand through his hair while keeping the other on his cheek.

The sun rose higher in the sky, past it's prime, but time went ignored by both of them, leaning against each other and basking in the warmth of early spring. It has been four months since new year, four months since they lost themselves into each other, and they couldn't be happier.

"Hey, Itachi, I have a news." Sakura murmured quietly in the silent breeze. Itachi hummed, letting her know she had his attention, "I am going on a mission to Suna."

"Suna?" He asked in surprise, "When are you going?"

"In a week. I just found out yesterday."

"When will you be coming back?"

"I don't know." She sighed, leaning into the warmth Itachi was giving off, "We are being sent to assist Suna with their medical setup. So I don't know how long it's gonna take, could be a month, could be a year."

"A year?" Itachi asked in alarm, his heart sinking at that thought of staying away for so long. Sakura sighed, but then brightened up, "Oh I'm sure it won't come to that. I'll try to wrap it up in a month or two, and hey, you know where I will be, so you can come visit me whenever you want."

That makes it a bit better, but still very displeasing. Just thinking about having to spend his days alone without her, with nothing but occasional letters to fill the silent void, was already making his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. But this isn't about him, Sakura is going on a very important mission to one of their strongest allies, this is about her. He'll keep his thoughts to himself.

"Yes, I guess I can. But I'll still miss you."

It has been too long.

Sakura has been gone for months, with no end in sight. In the total of five months she has been gone, Itachi has visited Suna a total of ten times, and it still wasn't enough. Just reading her words stained on paper wasn't enough.

So when Tsunade informed him that she is on her way back, he was ecstatic.

And now he was losing his mind.

"Baa-chan! What do you mean Sakura-chan isn't home?!" Naruto screamed next to him, banging his fist on the hokage's table. Itachi would've too, had he not felt his blood freezing in his veins. His brother, along with the rest of his team and his cousin, were currently spread around the hokage's office with varying degrees of emotions.

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against her interlaced fingers, "Sakura was supposed to be back two days ago, but I received a report from her slugs. There has been an… obstruction on their way home."

"Then when will she be back?" Itachi doesn't even know who said that, his mind burning up with all the thoughts running around inside it.

"We don't know. So that's why, I'm sending a rescue team."

"I'll go." Itachi was quick to demand, even before Tsunade finished saying her piece. His voice was flat and cold, eyes stone hard, "I'll take the lead of the rescue team."

"No, you'll not." Tsunade shot him down just as fast.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I will." He gave a half bow, as if ready to leave.

And suddenly, the door to her office bust open, a harried looking Shizune stumbling inside, "T-Tsunade-sama! It's Sakura!"

And before his mind registered it, his legs were already moving, ripping through the hallways of Hokage tower, the rest of the occupants hot on his tails. The moment he stepped out of Hokage tower, his fingers were already flying through the seals, and not a second later, he found himself in the white-washed halls of Konoha hospital.

"Sakura!" He called out, head swiveling side to side and finding nothing but frenzied doctors and nurses, running around in urgency. The doors burst open again, Tsunade stomping inside, her cloak billowing behind her.

"This way." Shizune hurried first, running toward the right hall, straight to the emergency theatre. Tsunade pushed open the doors, blocking Itachi's view as his brother and his team ran up behind him. "Shizune!" Tsunade barked out, walking straight to the bed, her hands already glowing green, "Get me every trauma surgeon on the rotation!"

And that's when Itachi saw her.

The white sheets of the hospital bed were dripping red, and in the middle laid the bloody and broken body of the pinkette. He couldn't see a single patch of skin that was the original peachy color, every inch of it stained red. His eyes seemed frozen on her face, nose and mouth covered by the oxygen mask. Had it not been for the shallow, almost unnoticeable, rising of her chest, he would have thought she was-

Itachi felt his knees buckle, his bones like jelly under his weight, and he would've crumbled, if not for the heavy hand that rested on his shoulder.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed, eyes glossing over and fists banging against the glass window on the door, threatening to break it under his strength.

Itachi looked back, following the hand on his shoulder, and found the masked face of Hatake, his lone eyes still trained on the barely breathing body. "You should sit down." He whispered to him, barely heard over the screaming voice of Naruto.

Itachi didn't even have the strength to put up a fight. He merely dropped his head and staggered to the steel benches near the door. He dropped down heavily, not able to find an ounce of strength in his bones or muscles.

'Why-How? How did this happen? When did this happen?-'

He whispered in his mind, lips parting to let out choked breaths. His heart felt lodged in his throat, crushing under the pressure of his flooding emotions. His hands trembled as he lifted them to clutch his head, eyes shutting tight against the burn he felt behind them.

What can he do? What is he supposed to do? How can he help her? This is madness.

Everytime Itachi felt like crawling within an inch of his end, Sakura has always kicked the doors to death shut, slapped his awake and dragged him back to life. And what was he doing?

Waiting. Sitting quiet and waiting.

He has never felt more useless.

He felt someone else dropping down on the seat beside him, and glanced back to see his brother. His face reflected some of the same emotions, shock and distress, and most of all, hopelessness.

They were both silent, the stifling weight of their doom hanging between them. But then Sasuke spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.

"She'll pull through."

Itachi didn't reply, his mind on autopilot and totally blank. But then whispered back, his voice choked and flat all at once, "How do you know?"

"She has done it before." Sasuke slumped further, his eyes shutting, as if the weight of the bright light was too much to bear, "Sakura is resilient if anything."

Itachi has never believed in God, particularly. But in that moment, he prayed to any and every higher power there is, that she'll pull through. Whether it takes a week or a month, just let her be okay. He would pray to every God he could think of and cry at their feet, to spare Sakura.

It felt like an eternity, as the sun sunk down and the night fell low, and then the dawn peeked out again, before Tsunade pushed past the doors again. Her face was worn and eyes sunken from over-exertion, and she looked ready to fall down any second.

She hasn't even as much blinked since she went into the operation theatre, nor has anyone staying out. Itachi and everyone else's eyes were bloodshot, hair a mess and faces grim. Somewhere during the night, Ino was flooded through the doors, raising hell to let her see Sakura, and now she too was standing in front of the blonde, wringing her hands and eyes brimming.

"She'll live."

It was like a dam broke, and everyone slumped down, relief sagging their bones. Naruto and Ino sobbed, lips stretching into a relieved smile. "Can we see her?" Sasuke spoke up, his fingers clenching the fabric of his pants. Itachi wanted to see her too, but he couldn't get his body to move.

His heart pinched slightly when she shook her head, "She's resting, she needs a lot of it. Don't bother her today, maybe she'll be up by tomorrow." She turned around, heading toward the opposite direction, "Go home, you all. I don't need you causing a ruckus."

Itachi would've stayed there a lot longer, had he not been pushed out the door by the nurses, along with the rest of the bunch. Sasuke said he'll be going with his team, staying the night away from his home and closer to the hospital. But Itachi didn't remember going to his home, his mind still stuck to the horrifying image of a broken angle.

It was like his feet moved on their own to his home, up the stairs and into his room. His muscle memory flew him through taking a shower and changing his clothes, and he only realized he was home when he was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and not the hospital door.

He hasn't slept in two days, he should close his eyes. But he couldn't. His mind felt restless, his heart heavy. What if something happened to Sakura while he was not there? What if he didn't see her in the morning?

The more he laid on his bed, unmoving and unfeeling, the more he felt like he was losing his grip on his sanity.

So he propped open his window, and was out into the night like a bat. He hasn't done this in a long time, not having the need to having to resort to such methods, but he fell back into his place.

On the tall tree, outside the hospital building, right in front of Sakura's current room. He could see her shadow outlined on the bed, slight and frail for the time being, and if he strained his ears hard enough, he could hear the constant beeping sound, a reminder of her survival.

The relief he felt was like feeling the first shower of rain after a merciless drought. It felt like a boulder had been lifted off his chest, he could breathe now.

The beeping sound felt like a lullaby, like listening to her heartbeat. Itachi closed his eyes, leaning on the trunk of the tree and propping up a leg on the branch he was sitting at, and before he knew, he was already floating out of consciousness.

…

The next day came and went, with no sign of Sakura waking up. Naruto had to be knocked out before he could break down the hospital doors and charge in himself, but Itachi was still staking out on the tree outside her room. He should be home, he was supposed to help his mother with groceries, but instead here he was. It's okay, Shisui was a great replacement.

Third day brought a bit of hope, when Sakura woke up for few fleeting moments, drank a glass of water, and then once again slipped against the morphine. Same was the case with fourth and fifth day.

It was on the sixth day after her return, did she finally wake up.

He was, like usual, outside her window, in the dead of the night, when he heard wheezing from the room. The hair on his neck instantly stood up in attention, jumping from the branch on her windowsill, propping open the glass pane and sliding in silently.

Sakura was coughing, violent, dry coughs, and Itachi quickly reached for the glass of water sitting on her bedside table, supporting her head and pressed the glass to her lips.

Sakura was quick to oblige, parting her dry lips and gulping down the water in one go. Itachi still held up her head, half-mindedly putting away the glass and spinning eyes pinned to her face.

He saw every little reaction on her face, every little wince and twitch was soaked in by his eyes, and he held his breath as pink lashes fluttered open to reveal hazy green iris. Hey eyes were unfocused at first, but then slowly cleared up.

"Itachi?" She whispered so softly that he might've not even heard it, had it not been for the stillness of the night. His throat logged, his ears straining to hear her.

"Yes, Sakura." He whispered just as quietly, his fingers slightly tightening at the base of her neck. He saw her smile weakly, eyes glossing over with dampness. "Hey."

Itachi couldn't bear the weight anymore, his knees collapsing beneath him, form slumping against the bed. He pressed his forehead against Sakura, one hand firm on her head and the other clutching at her hand. "Sakura. I thought you would-" He couldn't even finish his words, his throat feeling like cotton.

He felt her fingers curl against his, tightening slightly. "I'm okay, Itachi. I'm alive." She whispered against his ear, speaking so reassuringly as if it was alright. As if that was enough.

"That doesn't make it okay!" He almost shouted before resigning his volume down. He straightened his head up, before crashing his lips down on her.

This kiss wasn't as gentle and warm as the ones that normally are. This one was aggressive, urgent and desperate. He was screaming in his mind to be gentle, she's hurt! But his body seemed to go against that command. This aggressiveness wasn't because of his want for her physical attention, this was to prove that she's real.

He tightened his fingers in her hair and crushed his lips against her to prove to himself that she's well, she's alive and she's here with him.

He disengaged before the need for air became too much, short pants intermingling as he laid his forehead against her.

"Itachi…" The astonished whisper reached him.

He opened his eyes, spinning crimson eyes staring deep into wide jade ones. He made sure she was listening to him fully, her entire attention on him.

"Don't ever do that again!"

"Itac-"

"Do you know what I was going through while you were laying her, no sign or indication when you will get up." Itachi panted, anger and worry lacing every word, "Do you know what everyone was going through? You cannot do this to us ever again."

"Do you understand?" at her absence of answer, he glared her into submission, "Do you understand? You will never ever do that again!"

It was silent for a moment, filled only with Itachi's angry puffs of breath, before it was broken was Sakura, a low and watery chuckle escaping past her lips.

"Oh Itachi." Sakura sighed, eyes once again brimming with tears. She loosely wrapped her weak arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his temple, "Pinky promise."

He almost fell on her, but then gently sagged instead. Pushing up his head to nestle in the crook of her neck, he breathed in like it was the first time he was breathing.

"You better keep your promise."

Itachi knew he was hovering, he was very aware of that fact.

Sakura has also been very vocal about it too, but since she has been declared well to leave, he hasn't been out of her range for more than necessary. He would go on his mission, spend time with his family, spar with Shisui and Sasuke, and then spend whatever time he could scrape off with Sakura.

But his time with her was coming down less and less, and for some reason, his missions were piling up more and more. So it was miraculous blessing that he had a whole week off. So the first he planned was another date outing with Sakura, but she seemed to have other plans.

Itachi dropped low on his knees, bringing his arms up to block the heavy kick sent on him, before he twisted himself to throw the opponent off, but was swiftly counterstriked again with a sharp jab.

"Aww, Itachi, come on, you can do better." Itachi heard the very clear tease in her laugh and smirked to himself as he ran behind her, faster than light, expecting to throw her atleast a few yards away but only able to throw her only half a distance when she turned around too quick.

This is another one of their dances, disguised as spars.

Since the starting of their relationship, Itachi had quickly found out that Sakura took great pleasure in pushing his buttons with her teasing. Whether it be chaste kisses behind his ear when he wasn't paying attention, or the deliberate slips of skin that would brush against him in between spars. It never failed to make his throat go dry.

He never takes these spars seriously, neither does she. But these were more of an excuse to see how far the other could be pushed, in more ways than one.

Itachi didn't give Sakura the time to recover before shunshining behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist, placing his palm firmly against her abdomen. He placed his lips directly behind her ear, his breath ghosting on her cheeks and smirking at the goosebumps that rose on her arms.

"Oh I know I can. But why would I, when I already have won, Sakura."

He saw the swiping punch coming before it did and quickly jumped out of its way. He saw her smirking at him, launching herself into the air to push him down.

"Don't get so cocky, Itachi. You might actually end up beneath this time." The innuendo wasn't lost on him, and it only stroked the flames of desires in his chest.

They danced around each other for who knows how long, with firm touches and warm breaths tickling the need for something more in both of them. Somewhere in between their dance when the sun rose high, both their outer layer of clothes came off, leaving Sakura in a short, tight tank top and Itachi topless.

Their spars were always similar, they would push and pull against each other until one of them relents, but something was different this time. And the difference seemed to be suffocating.

Maybe it was their lack of clothes, or sweat sheened naked skin, or maybe the darkness in their eyes.

Itachi noticed the kick coming for his chest and almost got kicked had he not jumped away, albeit a little too late. His eyes again, unwittingly, glanced at the shadow above the low cut of the tank top, zeroing on the crevice of her modest chest.

His body seemed to be moving on auto pilot, blocking the attacks and throwing his own punches, but his eyes were focusing anywhere but his surroundings. The firm touches between them seemed amplified without the clothes restricting them.

Itachi felt Sakura's fingers brushing against his naked back, sliding from the base of his neck down his spine, and felt the warm stir of desire grow into a hot furnace.

"What happened, Itachi-kun." Itachi heard her giggling behind him and he brought up an arm to block her strike. She giggled against, placing her other palm against his chest to throw him away, "Distracted?"

He knew she was doing it intentionally, and it was taking a toll on him.

"Very." He breathed out too, his hands redirecting their path from striking her on the abdomen, to sliding inside her tank top. He heard her breath stuttering out, fingers wrapping around his arm to throw him over her shoulder and down on the ground. Instead, Itachi twisted and firmly placed his feet on the ground, and wrapped his arm around her waist, locking her arms behind her and pushing her down on the ground.

He ended up on top of her, her face to the ground and back pressing against his naked front. She struggled against him, writhing to free her arms from his hold and subsequently making it harder for him to keep himself straight.

"Yield." He breathed against her ear, his grip tightening in hold. He went rigid when her back accidently brushed against his hips, and he couldn't stop the harsh pant hissing past his lips.

"Yield, Sakura."

Sakura stopped struggling under him too, her breath catching sharply and he thought she will yield. She turned his face to the side, rosy bangs sticking to her cheeks and her eyelids fluttered open, revealing darkened green eyes and a smirk spread on her glossy lips.

"No."

In an instant, caught off guard, he was sent flying off of her. Itachi recovered quick enough, skidding on the ground and blocking another kick from Sakura. "You didn't think I would let you win that easily, did you."

This time, Sakura didn't give him a chance to counter, delivering attacks after attacks until he was cornered. Her half naked state wasn't helping his concentration either.

And one flash of her skin under her top was all it took for his concentration to waver, and that moment was enough for Sakura to swipe his legs under him and push him down on the ground arms open and trapped one wrist under her heel and the other under her knee. She deposited on his stomach, a hand pushing on his chest and the other holding a kunai at his neck.

Itachi stared up at her surprise, her laughing eyes looking down at him in haughty pride. "Yield." She chuckled at him, voice laden with saccharine sweetness. Itachi's eyes trailed up her form, sheen with sweat and glistening under the sunlight. His eyes focused particularly on her heaving chest but got quickly brought back to present when her palm pressed more firmly on his chest.

His sharingan spun even faster as she leaned down, her breasts pressing against his chest and her lips pressing behind his ear. "Yield."

So he did.

"I yield." He whispered back, turning his face to the side to ghost his lips over her neck. He felt the weight of her legs lift from his arms and he was able to move them freely, immediately trailing up and settling them over her hips. The pressing kunai against his neck fell down and instead was replaced by soft finger stroking against his cheek.

"I won you know." She giggled again, sitting up straight up still on him. Itachi sat up too, putting his head in the crook of her neck. "Yeah, I know." His arms wrapped fully around her waist, sighing at the fingers kneading at his shoulders.

But that did nothing to dampen the raging inferno of desires in his chest.

But they weren't able to do anything much when a loud caw sounded above them, and they looked up to see a crow perched on a tree branch.

"Guess we should get going." Sakura chuckled at him, picking up her discarded shirt and bending down to press a kiss on Itachi's lips. Itachi reciprocated, standing to tower over her and slant his lips over her more firmly. After a moment, they detached from each other and Sakura smiled at him before slipping on her shirt. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips again and shunshined away.

"Bye bye 'Tachi."

And Itachi was left in her wake with his mind hazy with need and heart on fire.

It was one of the common occurrences of his helping his mother, when they unwittingly ran into her. In hindsight, it wasn't a great idea, considering how taxing her presence has become on his self-control.

"Oh Sakura-chan, I don't even see you nowadays anymore." Mikoto sighed, wrapping her arms around the pinkette tightly, swaying side to side happily.

Sakura chuckled slightly, returning the hug while she grinned slyly at Itachi standing behind his mother, arms full with bags of groceries. She winked at him, out of Mikoto's sight who was still hugging her, and grinned at his smirk. "I'm so sorry I haven't been visiting you more often, Mikoto-san." Sakura said apologetically, smiling at the older woman, "I have been so busy with my shifts and missions and everything."

Mikoto sighed, hugging Sakura again before she curled her arm around Sakura's, tugging her along on her marketing tour. "My babies are all so grown up. Even Sasu-chan is always on his missions nowadays." She sighed again like an old soul, "I remember when you all were so little, you would always fight over everything. It was adorable. Look how fast those days flew by."

Sakura chuckled and Itachi watched her nod along to his mother, like they're the best of friends. She secretly looked back over her shoulder, lips tilting up at him and Itachi felt the warmth spreading in his chest. He felt the bag of tomatoes slipping out of his hold before he adjusted them.

"Oh Sakura-chan, do you know if Sasu-chan is…" Mikoto looked around in mock suspicion, covering the side of her mouth and leaning toward Sakura, "dating anyone?"

Sakura giggled a little, rolling her eyes at the thought of her emo teammate, "We would be lucky to hear Sasuke getting caught with anyone. He only ever looks at the girls asking him out on a date with disgust." She shook her head, a fond smile reaching her lips, "You may think he likes men with the way he acts around the general female population, but no, he's the same with the boys too."

Itachi has thought about that a few times too. He has a sneaking suspicion that Sasuke might be aromantic or asexual, but he couldn't be too sure. The only lead in he has is his brother being near allergic to the prospect of a romantic relationship or sex.

Mikoto sighed again before throwing a glance back at her older son, "I haven't heard anything about Ita-chan dating someone either."

Itachi found it laughable, the irony of the situation. He pressed his lips to contain the chuckle that would've escaped, but Sakura throwing him the look over her shoulder wasn't helping.

He watched her smirking slyly, hidden from Mikoto's vision, "Is that true." The laugh in her voice was only ever heard by him, "Itachi isn't dating anyone?"

Mikoto sighed wistfully again, fanning her face with her hand, "No, both of my sons act like they're allergic to women. I thought they discarded the idea of girls having cooties when they were ten, but apparently not." She leaned her head on Sakura's shoulder like an old lady caught in melancholy, "The ideas of grandbabies seem to be getting further and further away from me."

Itachi felt like he might crack any second now and start laughing like a lunatic. He looked down on the road to avoid looking at the knowing look on Sakura's face that he was sure would make him crack up, still hearing all the complaints his mother was signing at Sakura.

"Mikoto-san," Sakura chuckled a bit at the older lady, "don't worry. We're all young, we have enough time to find someone. I cannot guarantee anything, however…" She glanced at Itachi, biting back the smile curling up her lips, "I'm sure Itachi would find someone nice."

Itachi actually did chuckle this time, giving Sakura a knowing look over his mother's head. This situation was way too funny, his mother was sure to pass out when she finds out about Itachi's involvement with the pinkette she was so fond of. His smile softened, imagining how it would feel to introduce Sakura to his parents as his girlfriend.

His heart beat a little faster at that thought.

"Well," Sakura spoke up suddenly, nodding toward the Yamanaka's flower shop a few stores away, "I promised Ino to help her out, so I should be going before she decides to hound me out herself."

Mikoto pouted uncharacteristically before her eyes lit up again, "Oh Sakura-chan, why don't you come over our house for a dinner. It's been so long since you had a meal there."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise before she looked up in thought, looking at Itachi with her eyes twinkling, letting him know clearly that she was not done tormenting him. And now, she had found the perfect opportunity to torment him, in front of his parents.

He knew refraining himself in the presence of his parents would be difficult to say the least, lest he wants them to catch him in a compromising position and find out about his relationship this early on. He internally sighed at the incoming doom, just another torture from the hands of the woman he loves.

"Sure, Mikoto-san." Sakura agreed, her voice tinkling with laughter, "I would love to. How about in a week or so. I have some meeting to cover and pull some shifts too, maybe after that?"

"Yes yes, just let me know when you will have an open window. You work so much, make sure to take breaks and eat proper food." Mikoto smiled at her, giving her a last hug before they departed. "Goodbye, Sakura-chan."

Itachi would've said that this is exactly why Sakura needed him, to make sure she slept and ate food that isn't instant ramen or dango. More often than not, he would have to drag her out of the hospital and forcibly tuck her in her bed and feed her while she's half asleep. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

It almost gave him a trailer of setting a domestic life with Sakura, and that thought would always make him blush.

"See you later, Mikoto-san." Sakura grinned at her before giving Itachi the same teasing smile, winking at him over his mother's head, "See you later, Itachi." To others it might've sounded like a very normal goodbye, but to him, the meaning was very clear.

"Let's go, Ita-chan." Mikoto patter his shoulder to steer him toward another vendor selling seafood. Itachi gave another glance to the shop Sakura has just disappeared to before wordlessly following his mother.

Pots and pans clattered against each other once again, but only this was a different kitchen.

"Itachi, don't cook eggs." He heard Sakura sigh from the doorway before he felt her soft arms wrapping around his midsection. He looked longingly at the eggs, deciding whether or not he should fry them. "Why do you not want me to make eggs."

"You always get weirdly intense when making them. The last time I told you to make an omelet, I somehow ended with an egg benedict and four eggshells in trash."

Itachi almost pouted but instead just sighed turned around to wrap his arms around the pinkette in return, "But you did like it."

"That's true."

"So can I make it?" Itachi asked her hopefully.

"No."

He heard her laughing lightly when she saw his pouting face, kissing him softly on his cheek, "How about some salmon. I brought them fresh."

Itachi breathed through his nose, setting his cheek on the top of her pink head, hair slightly mussed up from her nap, "Guess we can do that." But he made no move to detach himself, or start on their dinner.

"Is your mother still not suspicious of you sneaking out at night?" Sakura asked, her voice slightly muffled from being tucked in the crook of his neck, "or from staying out the whole day."

Itachi thought that she might be suspicious, but she doesn't know about him sneaking out in the middle of the night, and when she questions on him spending his days out of the home, he has enough excuses of the ANBU. And Shisui, no matter how much harassment he might have to face later from his cousin's hands, always covers for him.

Itachi hummed in her hair, his fingers caressing the small of her back, "Not really. She doesn't really have a candidate in her mind to get suspicious over."

Even as he said all that, something frosty creeped up in his chest. The clan elders were getting restless. They have already started sending files of potential matriarchs, all of which were the young women of his clan who he had more or less hardly ever interacted with. The elders were very insistent with one file in particular, a woman that he wanted nothing to do with.

He has been trying everything to avoid interacting with them or even looking at the files, but they were getting more and more persistent. It has been taking a toll on him.

The quickest way to remedy that would be to introduce Sakura as his girlfriend as soon as possible. He knew his mother already loved her, and while his father might be a bit more hesitant to their relationship, Itachi knew he would come around, they might be actually able to fend off the elders off his back.

But he didn't want to pressure Sakura into meeting the clan. He didn't want to hasten her along to quickly make it known to everyone just because of some pesky old clansmen.

But it was getting harder and harder as the days went by.

Itachi was brought out of his stupor when he felt a soft palm cradling his face. Worried green eyes looked up at him, "Hey, are you okay?"

He breathed silently, looking into her eyes and caressing the hand on his cheek. He turned his face slightly, pressing his lips into her palm reverently, "I'm okay. Don't worry."

Sakura frowned slightly, stepping back and hopping onto the counter on sit down, beckoning him to come closer. "You know you can always talk to me, right?" She grabbed his hands, squeezing it in comfort, "What happened?"

Itachi stared at her for a moment before sighing, dropping his head on her shoulder. "It's that clan." He replied shortly, pushing himself closer and situating himself between her open knees. "There's just a lot of things going on."

"Is it Sasuke? Are they bullying him for our team again?"

If Itachi wasn't familiar with her enough, he might have missed the note of anger that seeped into voice. He picked his head up to look at her face, seeing her lips twisted in something that could resemble a scowl. "Hey, Sakura, no it's not you." He rubbed his thumb on her cheek, urging her to look at his face, "It's not you. It's just clan elders being what they are, just a pain."

The slight darkness fell away from her eyes, lips tilting up in humor, "You still find ways to not curse." She giggled, tilting her face closer to him, "You can say they're a pain in your ass."

Itachi was used to hearing curses, especially since he's related to both Shisui and Sasuke, but his ears still sometimes felt warm when he heard them from her. He breathed out a chuckle before dropping his face in the crook of her neck, pressing his lips firmly into her warm skin.

The problem still isn't resolve, but he would think of that when he's not with her.

It was then that he, belatedly, realized the position he was in. Situated between her open legs, covered with nothing but her pink cotton shorts, his hands on the smooth countertop on either side of her thighs, face buried in her neck. He felt her finger stroking his back through his thin shirt, and not for the first time he wished the shirt would disappear.

"Do you want to start on the dinner anytime soon?" Sakura whispered in his ears, her fingers slowly travelling downward his spine. He knew exactly what she meant, and he was not complaining.

"Are you hungry yet?" He asked in return, stroking her bare thigh with one hand while the other was clenching the edge of the countertop. He felt her breath slightly hitch, but only for a moment before she countered him by lowering her hands to the base of his spine, fingers digging through his shirt.

His head was feeling dizzy from all the blood rushing in a different direction.

He had a fleeting thought that maybe they were moving too fast. Not for him, but maybe for Sakura. But that thought went flying out of the window when Sakura ankles locked behind his legs, her fingers travelling inside his shirt.

Itachi sucked in a breath, his hand clenching her thigh tighter before he picked up his head and crashed his lips onto hers. She moaned against him, ever so softly that he felt it more than he heard. He angled his head, tracing his tongue on the seam of her lips in question and pushed harder against her when she parted her lips in a silent permission.

The hand clenching the counter moved, tracing a path across her legs, past her shirt, and digging his fingers on the skin of her waist. He felt her gasp in his mouth but his body was moving on just the movements he has repeated in his dreams.

The dreams that woke him up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. He imagined dragging his hand on the uncharted territory of her skin, her body draped with nothing but moonlight, her hazy green eyes looking up at him with desire that reflected his. He imagined crashing his lips on hers, her hands running all over him in need, he imagined sliding himself within her, connecting themselves soul to soul, become one.

Sakura's hand slid further inside his shirt, tracing the path along his spine in a way that made shivers wrack down his body. He panted when her one of her feet slid teasingly up his leg, her knee setting on his hip. He wrenched his lips away from her when the lack of air became too much, burying his mouth in the base of her throat and puffing out hot breath.

"Sakura…" He whispered in a daze, his hand blindly travelling up her shirt, only stopping with a jolt when he felt the fabric of her bra. He felt one of her hands gliding across the front of his stomach, caressing his roughened skin in a way that made his breath stutter and knees buckle.

"What is it Itachi?" Itachi was so caught up in the puddle his brain was becoming that almost didn't notice the heat in her voice. The fact that this was affecting her as well made him feel a bit better about being so shamelessly helpless to her.

If she wanted him to become weak to her, then there is no shame in complying.

But just as he was thinking of sinking to his knees, both of them were jolted out of the little bubble they were in with a loud knock on Sakura's door. Itachi almost groaned in frustration when Sakura grabbed his shoulders, burying her face in it.

He would've liked to stay there and cool down until he could breathe properly again but the knock resounded again. "I'll get it." Sakura replied quietly, still sounding a little winded before she hopped down from the counter and Itachi faltered forward against it.

Suddenly the space between his arms felt way too empty, like the absence of a warm body was never supposed to be there.

He took deep breaths, closing his eyes and willing his rushing blood to stop rushing. He kept his eyelids closed until he felt like he could at least keep his head clear for the time being.

He was getting vision of his future days to come. He could see it, the absolute torment he would be facing from now on until he went insane. Having to keep his hands to himself with her in his vicinity, would be a struggle and a half.

He opened his eyes, racking his fingers through his hair, when he heard the padding of footsteps behind him. He looked back, seeing the sheepish face of the pinkette, "Sorry about that. It was a neighbor's kid from downstairs."

He smiled at her, but he suddenly found himself at a loss on what to do. He panicked inside his mind, not being able to decide how to continue the interaction. Returning back to what they were doing felt too awkward, but he didn't even know what he was supposed to do now.

Just when he thought he might crumble, a pair of arms wrapped around him. He looked down at the apple green eyes gazing at him lovingly, a light blush still staining her cheeks. "Maybe we should start on the dinner now before it's too late." She giggled and the vibrations of her laugh seeped through his skin.

Something warm spread through his chest, and not for the first time, or even the hundredth time, he adored her for it. For making him feel all bubbly, and fuzzy, and warm, and loved, he absolutely adored her for it.

Itachi smiled down at her, his teeth peeking out to greet her in one of his rare grins, one that was all clear of clouds and only sunshine. His arms wrapped around her tightly, placing a soft kiss on her temple, "Yes, we should."

It has been a long time since someone has been invited over at the Uchihas household for dinner, or more like someone they liked. So it was extra special when Sakura was coming over.

Mikoto had been preparing the dinner since they have finished lunch. There was a pot of chicken curry slow cooking on one stove, another pot of braised pork on the other one. Seeing the amount of work needed to prep for the much anticipated guest, she had quickly put both her sons to good use.

Itachi wiped the mahogany dining table till it looked freshly polished, ignoring his little brother grumbling away under his breath. He put away the cloth before going to the kitchen to get the ceramic plates.

"Ita-chan, you can put those down." He heard his mother say while measuring the rice, "Sasu-chan can take care of those. Go take a shower."

Itachi shrugged before putting the plates down, tuning out Sasuke's groan of exasperation in the background. "Okay Oka-san. Tell me if you need anything." He passed by the table and up the stairs to his room.

He spent an extra fifteen minutes in the shower, taking special care to double shampoo his hair and carefully condition it. Out of every feature of his body, his long, silky, dark hair were Sakura's favourite. He shaved his slight stubble, even though he doesn't get much of a beard to begin with.

Digging through his closet, his eyes went over racks and racks of dark shirts and training pants, before sighing. He should go with Sakura to shopping again, she always pushes him to get something in colours other than black and grey. His eyes caught a shirt hanging on the far corner of his closet, fitted with short, loose sleeves and a V-neck and olive green in colour. It was of the clothing that Sakura really liked on him.

He took it out, dusting lightly for the imaginary dust clinging on it and shrugged it on. It wasn't his usual style, but he will admit that it looked quite nice on him. He paired it with his usual loose pants and ran his brush through his locks, letting them fall straight down his back to dry off a little before he could tie them back.

Ten minutes later, he heard louder scuffling downstairs and a knock on his door. Sasuke poked his head in before Itachi even answered, looking like a pouting child who has just been told to not steal cookies, "Mom is calling your downstairs, Sakura is on her way."

Itachi's heart skipped a little at the news, she's so close. Sasuke must've sensed his thoughts as his pout worsened, a half-hearted glared coming onto his face, "Don't do anything stupid with her, Aniki. I'll kill you."

"I know, Otouto." Itachi sighed, waving him away and going downstairs, tying his hair on the way in, taking care to smooth it down against his scalp and let his bangs artfully frame his face.

His mother was ushering him to call his father when a knock on the front door resounded, stopping them both in their movements. "Oh my, our guest is here." Mikoto smiled in delight, nudging him toward the entrance, "Go open the door Ita-chan."

Itachi padded over to the door, and when he swung it open, he was greeted by his favorite site. Green eyes creased in delight and pink lips curved up in greeting. She was dressed in a light green spring dress, one of her rare dresses she liked to wear. Her hair soft to touch and tumbling down her shoulders in large waves that framed her face so beautifully.

"Hello Itachi." She purred teasingly, already sending a slight heat up his ears. "Sakura." He smiled back at her, bending down a little when she tip toed to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "You look pretty." He felt riveted when her cheeks flushed a pretty red and her rosy lips curled bashfully.

He guided her in with a hand on the waist, still in the doorway and hidden from the nosy view of his mother in temporary privacy. Sakura bent down to undo her white sandals before putting them away and straightening up. "Your mother seems to be outdoing herself with the meals." She giggled low under her breath but none of them moved from the doorway yet.

Itachi chuckled, softly caressing the light fabric on her waist, "She's very happy that you're here." He leaned over to press another kiss into her hair, smiling at her laugh, "But thankfully, they don't yet know about us. Otherwise, this dinner would pale in comparison to her celebratory ones."

She stared at the hallway to the dining room before looking at him, her lips a soft smile, "Well then, I sure can't wait for that. I love dinners."

They crossed the threshold to stand in the doorway of the kitchen as Mikoto finally noticed them. "Sakura-chan! You made it." Her eyes brightened up as she wrapped her arms around the pinkette, not minding the bits of flour on her apron.

Sakura laughed freely, squeezing the older woman a bit before letting go, "Where are the rest?"

Just on cue, the door to the main house burst open again, the slam followed by a loud yell of greeting.

"Hello my dear aunty!" Shisui spread his arms wide as he slid across the floor to the kitchen, enveloping Mikoto in a bear hug when his eyes fell on Sakura, "Oh Sakura-chan!" he moved to envelope Sakura in a hug quite the same, only to be stopped by a palm to his face when he was a foot away from the pinkette.

Shisui stumbled back in befuddlement but his face soon cleared up when he saw the identity of the person who interrupted him. "Ah. Ita-chan." He grumbled under his breath, throwing a heavy arm over his cousin's shoulders, "How cruel to push me away like that."

"Don't touch her when you reek of sweat and grime." Itachi was careful to mumble his response as he watched his mother return to the dinner. He could see both his cousin's shit-eating grin and Sakura's facepalm. "My, my," Shisui whistled in a teasing tone, lowering his voice so that only the other two could hear him, "Never took you as the possessive type."

"Shisui." Sakura growled through her palm, cheeks tinting a slight red, "Stop it."

"Why? I'm right though. Never thought my dear, uninterested in women cousin, would be so handsy or needy." The grin on his face widened even more, like a Cheshire cat, "You would need to keep this one on a leash."

Itachi was distinctly aware of the redness creeping up his neck and struggled to not let it show. How easy it was, for the pinkette to make his face heat up by doing nothing but being around him. "Shisui," He said monotonously, sliding his eyes over to his cousin, "Don't be stupid."

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura interrupted them both, looking around the room even when her cheeks refused to pale down. "Is he still out?"

"Oi."

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Sasuke rubbed the towel over his spiky hair as he attempted to tame them down, "You're late." He helpfully provided, giving the pinkette a once over when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Sasu-chan." Mikoto called him from behind the counter, spooning ladle full of soup into ceramic bowls, "Call down your father for dinner. Shisui, take these to the table."

"Do I have to work."

Everyone ignored Shisui's whine as Itachi guided the pinkette to the table, strategically pulling the seat out for her, one that was right beside his usual place. "Is anyone suspicious yet?" Sakura playfully whispered in his ear as she sat down with him still holding her chair.

"Thankfully, not yet." Itachi replied back, pushing her chair a bit toward the table. It was hard to hide their relationship in public, especially with him being the Uchiha heir and her being the Hokage's apprentice, but they still tried. Sneaking off out of anyone's sight, minimizing their interaction with other people around. But the hardest are not initiating any physical contact with others around.

He wasn't a very public display affection guy but he couldn't even hold her hand without setting off alarms.

"Can you two not." Sasuke grumbled before slumping down opposite of Sakura, "You are making me nauseous."

"You're just salty because you still can't find anyone." Sakura mocked him with a smirk, nudging Itachi's shoulder which resulted in a gag from Sasuke. Shisui came around to put down the big pot of curry, huffing in strain as he wiped his forehead. "God you stink." Sasuke scrunched his nose, curling his lip in disgust.

"This is the smell of a man you infant. You would too if you actually trained like me." The curly-haired Uchiha hmphed at him, throwing the kitchen towel on his shoulder. Sakura raised an eyebrow, "You couldn't bother to take a shower after your training?"

"I had to rush here to make sure I'm not leaving you two unattended." Shisui pointed at the couple sitting side by side, "Had to make sure you're not making my nieces and nephews in the middle of the hallway."

"Are you really going to have this conversation here," Itachi deadpanned, his eyes looking pointedly at his mother scooping up rice, "When oka-san is right there."

Shisui huffed sassily before turning around to bring out the side dishes, just in time for Fugaku to descend down the stairs, his shoulders straight and lips thin.

His eyes looked over the kitchen and attached dining room, from his wife portioning out the meal, his nephew transferring the dishes to the table and the three presences occupying the said table. His gaze stopped at the odd one out of the bunch, remembering being told about the pinkette joining them for dinner. "Greetings, Sakura."

Itachi watched with hidden nervousness as his stoic father regarded the pinkette, the back of his neck sweating slightly when Fugaku's brow raised minutely at his oldest son being seated right next to the medic, but thankfully didn't call it out. Baby steps, baby steps.

Fugaku wasn't particularly fond of Sakura during Sasuke's genin days, but as Sakura has grown, both in skills and prestige, so has Fugaku's respect for her. Itachi doesn't think he would have a problem with him dating the doctor, but he was still nervous.

"Good evening, Fugaku-sama."

The dinner went in relative ease, the chatter resounding throughout the room coming from mostly Mikoto, Sakura and Shisui. Itachi would put in his occasional input and Sasuke would sometime burst out in indignation at Shisui's jabs, but Fugaku largely kept silent and to himself.

When their plates were cleaned, Mikoto suggested they go sit in the engawa for tea and desserts. There were a lot of desserts. "Mikoto-san," Sakura put a hand on the older woman's shoulder when she attempted to rummage through the cabinets for the kettle, "I'll prepare the tea, you can take a rest."

"Oh honey, no no." Mikoto tried to wave her off, "I would feel terrible to have you make me tea when you're over my house for dinner. No dear, you should go."

"Mikoto-san." Sakura tried again, this time more firmly, "Take a breather, let me make it."

"Let her do it oka-san." Sasuke called from his place on the doorway to the living room, "She's stubborn on the best of days, and insufferable on the worst. She won't listen to you."

Mikoto reluctantly relented, putting down her apron as Sakura ushered her out of the kitchen. Itachi chose that moment to enter back into the kitchen, taking his place beside Sakura to look for the tea container.

"Why are you here Itachi?"

"To help you with the tea of course." He put down three to four different types of teas on the counter, turning sideways to smile at the pinkette, "What else."

Sakura huffed out a laugh, filling up the black lacquer kettle with water before setting it on the stove. Itachi was content to watch her work, curving himself around her back and setting his arms on the counter on either side of her body and resting his chin on her head.

He hummed in contentment, breathing in the slight floral scent of her signature perfume. Lilies.

"Itachi." Sakura's voice was lightly teasing as she put on the kettle cap and waited for it to boil on the lowest flame. He recognized it, stalling the preparation. "Are you only planning to distract me?"

Itachi smirked, trailing his lips down to plant a chaste kiss on her cheek. "I'm distracting you?" His voice kept low and velvety, one hand moving from the counter to grab at her waist. Sakura huffed, but it was the rasp in her breath that made his blood rush.

"You're doing more than just distracting me."

Sakura turned around in his hold, raising an eyebrow at him, "Itachi, we're in your parents' house."

He knew that, but whenever it came to the pink haired doctor, it always felt like he loses any sense of shame. He felt spoiled to not be able to have all the time simply for keeping a face. "I know." He muttered under his breath, ducking his head under her jaw to pepper heated kisses, "But it's so hard. Knowing you're here and I can't have you."

He heard her breath hitch before her hand trailed up into his hair, stroking his scalp with little more pressure, "Oh my," she cooed into her ear, the other hand wrapping around his waist, "Never knew you would be so spoiled."

Itachi supposed this was a direct contradiction to his usual proper, dignified, stoic self. But he didn't know he was so touch starved until he had a taste of her.

And now he felt parched.

He grunted from his place at her jaw, moving to nip a trail down her neck to her collarbone, humming in satisfaction as she tilted her head back to grant him more skin. His fingers toyed with the end of her skirt, trailing his fingers further and further up her leg. The moments stolen under the dinner table weren't enough. It wasn't enough to just interlace their fingers under the table or ghost his thumb over her knuckle.

It was a damn tease.

But Itachi staggered when he felt her thumb rub the skin under his waistband, pausing just to tease to tease him with enough pressure to make his knees buckle and then retrieve her finger back.

"Sakura." She shuttered a breath out, the moan caught in his throat. He felt her finger card through his hair, tilting his head to bring him down on her lips.

"Itachi." She breathed out against his lips, moving them against each other in a slow tandem. He instinctively prodded her lips with his tongue, a delightful shudder wracking his body when she opened her mouth. His wet tongue went past her lips, roaming over the walls of her mouth, moaning quietly at the aftertaste of sweet dango syrup like the first time he tasted her.

She pressed her body further against him, her manicured nails digging in the flesh of his hips where his pants hung low under his shirt. He pushed down his lips more, fisting a hand in her hair while tilting his head more to completely mash their mouths against each other.

It was when he felt himself becoming heady at the rush of blood flowing south, did he realize he was screwed. He wanted to do nothing more than just push her against the counter and rip their clothes off, but they were in their parents' house.

But his head was clouded when he felt a pressure on the part that desperately needed attention, his knees did buckle when he felt her warm palm pressing against his erection. A gasp ripped from his throat as he felt Sakura shudder under him, closing his eyes and gripping the edge of the counter he had Sakura pushed up against.

"Oh Itachi." Sakura whispered in his ear, his groan choaking in his throat when she kneaded.

She must not love him all that much since she was trying to kill him right then.

He slanted his lips against her again, his hand blindly reaching up to cup at her full breasts, drawing a gasp from the pinkette. He would've never been able to be so daring if his sanity was indeed intact at that point. His palm moved against her breasts, his mind flashing to his dreams, how he imagined palming her soft mounds would feel like.

It paled so harshly in comparison.

Their sealed mouths caught her moans, the provocative sounds making him pant into the kiss. He felt her hand remove the pressure from his erection and he audibly whined at the loss. Until he felt her hand tugging at his waistband.

"Sakura." He gasped against her cheek, the hand on her chest tugging on the neckline of her dress. His fingers were bruising on her thigh and his breath hot on her skin.

To hell with the people around him, he was this close to whisking her off to his room and driving her on his bed. Anything to rip the damn clothes off their body and bury himself in her.

"Don't worry aunty, I'll go get them!"

The pair froze as they attempted to untangle themselves from each other. Itachi patted down his hair and tugged on his shirt, attempting to smooth down the wrinkles. He busied himself with taking out cups from the cupboard overhead from where they were standing, his position still behind Sakura, as his cousin made his presence known.

"Well well well," Shisui sang out as he trotted into the kitchen, smirking at the way both of them refused to meet his gaze, "this is why you two cannot be left unchaperoned."

His question was met with the sound of crickets as Itachi set down the cups, Sakura spooning honey into each of them before checking the tea. He sighed dramatically, "You two should be grateful to me and Sasu-chan, we barely stopped your mother from walking on you two fucking."

"Shisui!" Sakura yelled at him in exasperation, "Seriously?"

"It's true though." He shrugged turning around nonchalantly but his expression looked like a cat who had just been fed cream. A wide and mischievous grin split on his face, a giggle rising from him, "Just wait till Sasuke hears."

"Shisui!"

"Oh and by the way," he pointed toward Itachi's hips, that was still brushing against Sakura's backside as he pulled out saucers from the cupboard, "Calm yourself a little before you go out. God know aunty will be traumatized."

The rest of the evening was very awkward and uncomfortable for Itachi, and the suspicious looks his father was throwing him did not help at all.

He didn't even get to kiss Sakura goodbye when his mother waved her farewell.

The sun was high up in the sky when Itachi was on yet another errand for his mother, going to pick up his mother's order at the bakery, his mind on autopilot. He supposed if he was a bit more aware, he could've avoided her.

"Itachi-kun!" Kiyomi was relentless in her chase, waving her hand in the air before stopping a few feet in front of him. Itachi smiled warily, giving a slight, stiff bow, "Kiyomi-san, nice to see you."

"I'm so happy to see you too Itachi-kun," She smiled bashfully, twirling her finger through a dark lock. "What a coincidence I was just on my errands too. Say, how about we grab some dango."

With every sentence she spoke, Itachi was reminded of the pink haired beauty. What he would not give to wrap his arm around her waist in public, for everyone to see, and let everyone know that he was taken, and she wasn't available.

It would save them both a lot of trouble.

"I'm sorry, Kiyomi-san." Itachi tried to sound apologetic even when he wasn't. Kiyomi was pretty no doubt, she was a competent potential wife too, he would suppose.

But she wasn't Sakura.

"Itachi-kun?" the dejection on her face was palpable and he felt a twinge of guilt.

"I'm sorry, I'm busy." He gave another stiff nod but did not promise another chance another time. That should be enough indication to her. He watched her lips purse, hand clasping in front of her. "I would get going."

He had barely walked past her when her voice reached him again.

"Am I not enough?"

"I'm sorry?"

Kiyomi turned around fully, her eyes slightly glossy with rejection and hurt, "Am I not enough for you, Itachi-kun? What is it about me that you don't like?"

Itachi breathed out long, turning away from her. He felt a little bad for rejecting her so blatantly like he was about to, but he had to make it known. He cannot give the poor girl any more hope, not when he was taken so clearly and completely.

"It's not you, there's nothing wrong with you." he looked her dead in the eyes when speaking, his voice ringing crystal clear, "You're just not for me, and…" he gulped slightly, "and I have someone else. I am in love with someone else." He did not look at her after that, only giving her a fleeting glance before taking his departure.

"It was nice to meet you, Kiyomi-san. I hope you'll find someone who'll love you too."

He snuck off again that night, silently sliding open the glass window to Sakura's room when it was slightly chilly. He took off his shoes before planting his feet down on her bedroom floor, closing the window pane and shaking off his jacket.

"Itachi?" Sakura's groggy voice called in the darkness of her room. Itachi sidled up to her, shrugging off his shirt in the process, when she opened her eyes, a little bleary from sleep but still recognized him in the moonlight streaming inside. She smiled at him when he kissed her cheek, shuffling on the bed to make room for him.

It was a familiar routine for them. Itachi would sneak off from his home in the middle of the night, only to wrap himself in her warmth.

"Couldn't sleep?" Sakura yawned a little, settling her head in the crook of his neck, her arm thrown over his chest. He hummed noncommittally, wrapping his arms around her waist to breathing out in her hair. "A little."

They didn't speak much after that when sleep draped easy over them, covered in each other's warmth and soft breaths lulling them to sleep.

Itachi should've known he would need that sleep to face what was coming next.

Itachi was woken up by loud knocks on the door.

"Who the fuck is it…" Sakura grumbled from her place beside him, attempting to muffle the noise with a pillow over her head. Itachi rubbed the heel of his palm over his eyes. It was still way before dawn, no one should be awake at that hour.

"I'll get it." he mumbled out, voice a little hoarse. He padded over to the door, his hair open down his back and shirtless, before yanking the door open and coming face to face with his cousin.

"Shisui?" He narrowed his eyes at the frantic look on his cousin's face, "What're you doing here?"

Shisui paused for a moment, his eyes going over Itachi's undressed form. "Why are you half-naked?" Itachi nearly rolled his eyes, leaning against the doorway with his arms folded over his chest, "What do you want?" He repeated again.

Shisui shook his head frantically, "You need to talk with to your father and mother, you're in deep shit cousin."

He frowned; confusion clearly etched on his face. "You're not making any sense."

"Kiyomi saw you sneaking in here last night."

Itachi felt his eyes widen, his arms falling to his side, "What?"

Shisui took a deep breath, his eyes trying to look past him and catch any sight of pink hair. "Kiyomi was out here during midnight yesterday. I was on my way back from the bar an hour ago when I overheard her talking with Okone-san. She saw you come in here through the window, they plan on telling the council tomorrow."

Itachi felt frozen in his limbs as he took in the information. When he confessed his relationship with Sakura to Kiyomi, he didn't think she would open the sack to the clan elders.

'Oh no' He groaned, racking his fingers through his long hair and leaning his forehead against the doorframe. "I'll need to talk to father today, before the elders get to him." Maybe his father will be more understanding if he tried to explain it beforehand before the elders ambush him.

"Whatever you do, you need to move quick." Shisui informed him before turning around to take his leave, "Should I get you a meeting with uncle and aunty?"

Itachi rolled the thought in his head a bit before nodding, shutting the door behind him and sighing deep. Just when he thought the clan elders' persistence couldn't get any worse, Kiyomi comes out to pour gasoline on the fires. He has no idea what to expect after this, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to take the heartbreak if his family told him to break up with Sakura.

He felt his chest squeeze painfully at the hypothetical situation where he may have to leave her for his clan. He doesn't know how he'll be able to take that.

He trudged back to Sakura's slumbering form with a new weight on his chest, gazing longingly at the rosy locks thrown over the white pillows. He rubbed a thumb on the curve of her cheekbone, his heart not at all into getting out of her bed. As if sensing his thoughts, her eyelids fluttered open, squinting green eyes looking at him in sleepy confusion.

"Itachi?" She called him again, turning her face toward him slightly, "What happened?"

A lot had happened, but he didn't want to say all that right now. It was still a little dark outside and Sakura has had an impossible day at her work the day before, he'll let her have her rest first. "Nothing. Go to sleep."

"Come back to bed." She huffed out, tugging on his arm and he was helpless to refuse her, easily getting into his previous position with his frame curved around her and his arm thrown over her waist. He placed a gentle kiss on her temple, listening to her breath smoothening out before his own eyes closed.

Just a couple more hours.

Itachi does not remember ever being this nervous. He has been on S-class ANBU missions, faced enemies that could decimate him with nothing but their fists, he has been face to face with death more than once.

But never before did his hands feel so clammy.

And now as he prepared some mint tea for his parents and awaited their arrival to the living room, he could only hope they will accept Sakura.

A thud on the stairs interrupted his thoughts as he turned around to see his mother coming down, his father in toe. "Itachi-chan." Mikoto greeted, giving him a gentle smile, "Shisui told us you wanted to talk to us about something."

Itachi swallowed slightly before nodding, "Yes, actually." He poured the tea into the two cups set onto the tray. "I did want to talk. Have a seat, please."

They sat down by the chabudai in the living near the engawa, his father's eyes following his form suspiciously as he set down the tray on the table, sliding a cup in front of them each.

"What is it son?" Fugaku groused out, taking a sip from his cup but his eyes still fixed on his oldest son. Itachi nodded, taking a breath and folding his hands on the table.

"I heard that the elders have been sending matrimony profiles lately." He started cautiously, "I wanted to talk about them."

Mikoto oohed in understanding. "Yes, they have. We received the sixth one two days ago, but you've been refusing to look at them." She frowned at him, "Is something the matter? Why are you so opposed to the idea of marriage."

"I'm opposed to the idea of marriage. Just not one of them." Itachi saw his father narrow his eyes at his answer. "And why is that?"

He took another breath, sitting straight in his seat. It's now or never. "Elders send out women who they think would be the best matriarch. And to them, the best candidates are silent, subservient and obedient." He saw Mikoto tilting her head in confusion, "And I don't want that."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want someone who will stand beside me, not behind me."

"Then we can see other profiles." Mikoto provided when her husband stayed silent, "Sumiko-san is a really great candidate. She's strong, respectful and will make a fine wife and matriarch."

Every argument he could throw would be met with some kind of retort, so he did the only thing he thought would put an end to the back and forth. He told them directly. "About that…" his throat discreetly bobbed with a gulp, "I am dating someone."

There's that, he saw no better way to break the news. Only silence and chirrups of crickets answered his proclamation and Itachi looked at his parents on the other side of the table. His father looked like he was set in stone with his unrelenting stare and his mother gazed beyond his face with her jaw open.

Mikoto snapped out of her reverie, shakily putting down the half-filled cup on the table. "I-I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I'm dating someone."

"Who?"

"Sakura." Itachi answered shortly, his heart beating a nervous rhythm in his chest. "I'm dating Sakura."

The silence this time was even louder when surprisingly, his father broke it first. "Sakura? Sasuke's teammate?"

"Yes."

They both looked at Mikoto who was sitting there with her eyes wide and mouth open, like she was frozen. Itachi was getting way more worried. When he imagined the reaction of his parents, he didn't imagine it would be so… concerning. "Moth-"

A loud squeal interrupted Itachi and he twitched to cover his ears at the deafening volume. Mikoto cupped her reddening cheeks and her eyes shone in overwhelming excitement.

"Sakura-chan?!" She squealed again, "You're dating Sakura-chan? Oh my God!"

"Oka-"

"Oh we have to start preparing for the wedding, and where you two are going to live-"

"Mikoto-"

"-and grandchildren! I want two grandchildren, and you need a big enough house for all of yo-"

"Oka-san!" Itachi had to interject quite loudly when he saw his mother would not stop her tangent. Atleast that solved one of his concerns, his mother seems to be quite in favor of his relationship with Sakura.

Mikoto blinked at the abrupt interruption, frowning in confusion, "What is it Ita-chan? And wait- how long has this been going on? Does Sasu-chan know about this? And-"

Itachi sighed at the slew of questions from his mother, "It's been a while and yes Sasuke knows. Both Sasuke and Shisui."

"So they both know but I was the only one who didn't?!"

"I didn't know either." Fugaku spoke up flatly, taking a sip from his cup, "What is going on Itachi?"

Itachi took a deep breath before smoothing over the edges of the last year. "It started on the new year festival-"

"You've been dating for over a year?!"

"Yes, okaa-san." He took a calming breath, trying to reel in his peace, "We've been dating since then, and- and we're pretty serious."

It was silent as the other occupants of the room soaked in the information. Itachi kept his face carefully blank as he looked at his parents in front of him. His mother looked like wedding bells were already ringing in her head, but he didn't know what to make of his father's expressionless features. Mikoto seemed to be waiting for her husband's reaction too.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, he gently put down his now empty cup, looking up at his son with sharp eyes and lips pressed thin. "So, you mean to tell me that you've been… courting Haruno Sakura for all these months when the elders have been sending in matrimonial files." He narrowed his eyes slightly at him, "Am I right?"

Itachi gulped discreetly, nodding stiffly "Yes, oto-san."

"All this time I could've just refused them with a reason, I had to deal with their complaints." Fugaku murmured under his breath, breathing out quietly. "When are you marrying her?"

Itachi took a pause, giving a hard blink in befuddlement. "Marry?" At Fugaku stern expression he asked again, "You don't have a problem with me dating her?"

Fugaku grunted, closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest, "Haruno Sakura is the apprentice of the Hokage and a formidable kunoichi, she would make a fine matriarch. I don't have any doubt in her caliber. However," He glanced toward his wife, "convincing the clan elders of your decision is something you'll have to do on your own."

"You're not shocked by this news? At all?" His mother sounded exasperated when she looked back and forth between the two men. She sighed, resting her cheek on one hand, "I still remember when I was complaining to Sakura-chan about Itachi being single. Oh how naive was I. You're really not surprised?"

Fugaku got up from his seat, grunting in response to his wife, "A little, but I had my own suspicions since the dinner." Her moved toward the living room door, but paused before throwing a glance back to his oldest son, "Remember Itachi, I will give you my blessings for your marriage with the Haruno, but make sure that none of you ever stray away from your duties as the future leaders of this clan."

Itachi sat up straight, a rather warm swell of gratefulness blooming in his chest. "Yes father." He inclined his head, not to just his father, but also the patriarch of the clan, who was overlooking and breaking so many rules just to let his son have a chance at happiness. And for that he bowed down, forehead touching the floor.

"Thank you."

His father grunted again, turning around and making his exit out of the room. Itachi straightened up again, a jittery excitement in him making him kind of giddy. It was like a weight was lifted off his chest, as if the future of him and Sakura were a done deal. He needs to let her know, he needs to tell her this great news.

Right now.

But before he could get up and take his leave too, a cough from his mother brought his attention back to the present. He turned around to Mikoto, seeing her sitting in her seat stiffly and glaring at him in a way she's never done.

"Itachi-chan." She spoke out, and there was a threatening chill in her voice that made him stiffen up in his place. She narrowed her eyes at him, taking a sip of her remaining tea while staring straight at her son.

"We need to have a long talk."

Clothes rustled against the silk sheets of his bed as Itachi picked through his formal wears laid on his bed. Tonight was the sixty-eighth spring festival of Konohagakure, a night of lights, colors and flowers, and the first spring festival Itachi will be able to spend with his girlfriend, since she was in Suna the last time.

He ran his fingers over a dark gray yukata, considering wearing that but then deciding against it, deeming it too murky for such a colorful setting. He had asked Sakura which yukata she would be wearing, but the pinkette refused to answer it with a secretive smile and a hush of her lips.

Itachi gave a quiet sigh, looking at the other slate yukata before discarding that option as well. Why was his whole wardrobe so devoid of colors?

He sat down on his bed when his eyes slid to the black clothing box sitting in the corner of his closet, a gift from his aunt that he never bothered to open. He set it down in front of him on the mattress, untying the white ribbon and watching it fall apart before flipping open the black velvet top and parting the parchment wrapping.

It was a yukata, royal navy in color with white and powder blue koi fish swimming around through waves and lotuses on the fabric. He held it up in front of his face, feeling the soft fabric between his fingertips before setting it down on the bed and picking up the dark obi, laying it flat on the yukata before standing up to walk to his bathroom.

Itachi had just finished brushed through his hair when his door slammed open without any former warning. "Ita-chan are you ready?!" Shisui announced jovially as he flung himself on Itachi's bed, rustling up the neat sheets.

Itachi sighed at his antics, resuming his combing through his locks, gathering them up in a higher ponytail instead of his usual low. "Calm down Shisui, it's still early."

"Well tell that to your brother." Shisui propped his head up on his bend arm, fiddling with the sleeves of his own navy yukata with the design of a jaguar slinking through water and waterlilies, a white obi wrapped around his waist. "He's already on his way to pick up your lady. Better hurry up before someone else gets to her first."

Itachi felt a slight twitch in his eyebrow but squashed in down. "Noone is 'getting' to her, Shisui. Stop being ridiculous." He heard Shisui grumbling under his breath but decided to ignore it, instead focusing on tying his hair at the crown of his head, artfully arranging his bangs to frame his face. "Did you see any of the clan elders today?"

"I saw Daichi-san today. He is really not happy that you've been dodging them since the last week."

Itachi paused it tying his obi when he heard his cousin before continuing on his task. "I'll talk to them later. I just don't want to hold a definitive meeting until I've had a proper talk with Sakura. I need her opinions on the matter."

"You still haven't talked to her?"

"I've told her that mother and father are okay with us, but I haven't brought up the aspect of the clan. She has been busy with the hospital; I didn't want to put extra weight over her."

Shisui tsked behind him, hefting himself up and straightening his yukata to take their leave. "You need to talk to her man. I feel like the elders will definitely try something if they catch you two together. She needs to hear from you first."

Itachi considered his words carefully before giving him a nod, "Let's go." He turned to leave before remembering something, picking up the small bottle of cologne from the table beside his mirror and spraying two puffs on either side of his neck.

Konoha was once again decked in colorful paper lanterns and flower decorations. Blooming cherry blossom trees lines the path along the river leading to the glimmering market district, the fragrant pink petals floating lazily through the air with every passing night breeze.

Itachi had to discreetly duck out of sight more than once whenever he caught sight of one of his clansmen strolling around. He could very clearly hear Shisui snickering behind him and he tried his hardest to ignore him. There were quite a lot of people out that night, choking the street with thick crowds of people, so it wasn't hard to hide away from the elder Uchihas on his trail like a bloodhound.

After a while of walking, he finally caught sight of his brother, scowling at no one in particular as his blonde companion jabbered away from beside him. Something akin to relief came upon the younger Uchiha's face when he saw his brother walking toward him.

"Aniki." He grunted in greeted, looking near identical to Itachi in his royal navy yukata and dark obi, the only difference being the embroidery of clouds and thunder decorating his robe. "I almost thought I'd have to be standing here the whole night."

"Hey there teme's brother!" Naruto greeted cheerfully with a mouthful of cotton candy, giving Shisui a hi-five in greeting. Itachi politely nodded at him, "Hello Naruto-kun." Before turning his attention back to his scowling brother, "Why otouto? Who put you on guarding duty?"

Sasuke huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Noone. Sakura is by the river banks, go." He scowled slightly, giving a scoff in pretend disgust. "You two don't need to be always attached by the hip you know. You two are sickening."

Itachi felt his lips twitching up in a smile before he turned around to walk to the river banks, trusting that Shisui would keep the younger boys in line. Or more like he would have to count on Sasuke to keep his cousin and the blonde out of trouble.

The back road to the river was empty, most of the people staying in the market district and on the other side of the river, dimly lit by occasional lanterns hanging from the cherry blossom tree branches.

He saw her standing there, by the river bank and slightly away from the nearest lantern, making it hard to distinguish her features. But soon as he neared her and she turned around toward him, stepping into the warm lantern light, he saw everything.

Sakura was dressed in a pastel sage green yukata with large white and pale pink flowers blooming throughout the fabric, the pale gold obi hugging close to her slim waist. Warm green eyes lined in black creased up and pink lips curved up in a smile at the sight of him.

"Itachi." She breathed out low, still loud and audible in the silence of the trees. Itachi's heart stuttered in his chest when he looped his arm around her waist, pushing his forehead against her.

"Sakura."

Sakura smiled under him, locking her arms around his shoulders. "You've been avoiding me."

Itachi sighed under his breath, closing his eyes when looking into her green pools became too much. "I'm not… trying to avoid you." He answered truthfully, because that was the truth. "There's just been so many things happening in my clan, and I didn't want to drag you into it until I have a solution."

Sakura frowned, leaning away from his face to look into his eyes. "What's happening Itachi?" she asked carefully, "You said that your clansmen have been pushing marriage on you, but you said Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san are on your side."

Itachi stayed silent for a minute, not sure where to start. There was so much she didn't know and so much they needed to talk about, and he didn't know what to say first.

He felt warm hands reaching up to his face, cradling his face to look at her. "Itachi," She called out softly, voice barely above a whisper, "You know you can talk to me. I won't force you to say anything now, but I am here when you want to talk."

He stared at her for a few quiet moments before letting out a long sigh, as if breathing out a weight from his chest. "The elders… know about you and me."

"I don't see how that's a problem."

"It's not yet. They are not in favor of our relationship and father has been constantly shutting them down for the past week. I don't know how long it'll take to win against them." He paused in mid-sentence to collect himself, "I don't know if we will ever win."

Silence descended over them for a long minute as only the distant chatters from the marketplace flowed into the forest.

"I didn't put a time limit on us."

Itachi was jerked back to reality by the sudden reply, seeing the smiling eyes and lips curved up in a warm grin. "I don't care how long it takes, I will stand beside you as long as you stand on the frontlines." She grinned wide at his wide shocked eyes, bumping her nose softly with his.

"I will stay with you, I don't care if it takes forever. I don't care what anyone else has to say."

Itachi was frozen in his shoes before something hot burst in his chest. It wasn't warm and soft; it was hot, overwhelming and all consuming. The feeling coursed through his veins, warming him all over from the root of his hair to the tips of his fingers until he was a burning meteor of raw emotions.

It felt so good it hurt.

In every possibility of a future, he never expected to be with someone who could look into his soul and read him like an open book, understand him better than he could ever understand himself. He never thought he would ever acquire the heart of someone who could burn away every speck of darkness in his world until the only thing left was her light.

He never expected to love someone more than life itself.

His fingers unconsciously tightened around her waist, bringing her forward to slam his lips against hers in burning passion, the overwhelming emotions choking his chest. Sakura gasped against his mouth before melting under him, returning his affection with just as much fervor.

Her back arched against him from the sheer force of his kiss bruising her lips before their lungs started burning up from the lack of the air. He separated from her, harsh pants intermingling as he rested his forehead against her.

"Sakura-"

He couldn't even begin to express his gratitude to her, nor his emotions. Where could he even begin when he himself didn't know what he felt. What is the depth of his affections? How far does it go? How far can it go? Can it be contained withing the limits of the sky.

Is it still too early? Will it be strange if he said it now?

Does she even feel the same?

"Sakura… I-"

"What is happening here?!"

Sakura jumped away from Itachi in shock, both of them whipping their heads toward the entry to the river bank. The frowning faces of his clansmen greeted him unpleasantly and he inwardly cursed while fighting to keep his face as blank as possible.

"What are you two doing?"

"Daichi-san." Itachi clipped out, standing close, almost defensively, in front of Sakura as if trying to hide her away from their accusing glare. Daichi stepped forward, his lips curled in a scowl on his aged face. He glanced slightly behind the elder, seeing four more older female clan members speaking in hushed voices among themselves while continuously staring at them and six older men from his clan staring at them disapprovingly.

Daichi-san continued glaring at them and his voice was hard and angry when he spoke. "Was the whole Konoha knowing about your inappropriate and shameful relations not enough that you have to be so inappropriate in public."

Inappropriate? Shameful? Is that what they thought of him and Sakura?

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the elder, moving to cover Sakura even more when he felt the gazes shifting to her. "I don't know how any of this could ever be inappropriate."

"The heir of the Uchiha clan sneaking into a common town woman's room at night is way more than inappropriate. You've dirtied the name of Uchihas!"

Itachi felt Sakura shifting behind him to poke her head out to stare at the elder at his comments about her. He felt his own ire rise inside his chest, bubbling up until his fingers were twitching by his side. Sakura seemed content to let him handle his clansmen until he started commenting on her respectability.

"First of all, I'm not a common town woman. I'm the goddamn Hokage's apprentice." Sakura stepped up in front, eyes aflame with a glare. "Second, whatever we have going on is not a place for you to stick your nose in."

Daichi-san looked shocked, humiliated and angry all at once. "Who do you think you are to be talking to me like that? Itachi wants to marry a no-name common blood into the family. You have no family, no lineage, no specialty, what makes you think you are any worthy of standing with us?"

Sakura's chakra flared dangerously underneath her skin, her fists tightening by her side. Itachi saw her lips spread into a malicious sort of smile, and felt something curling in his stomach. It took him a moment to decide that it wasn't his nerves. It was excitement.

"I don't have to prove my worth to you, because guess what, you don't mean jackshit to me. The only people I needed to prove anything to already gave me their approval, so let me ask, who do you think you are to demand any answers from me."

Gasps of shock rippled throughout the crowd of the clan members behind Daichi, the whispers of their scandalous behavior increasing in volume. Daichi's face twisted further in a glower, the lines of age deepening further as his dark eyes pointed daggers at them.

Itachi looked around them, preparing himself to shunshin them away from the place if necessary to engage in private seeing Daichi was about to start lashing on them again. But the elder wasn't given a chance to say anything when Sakura spat out again.

"And I am worthy of standing beside Itachi because I love him, and if you have a problem with that then you can take your complaints and shove them up you're a-"

Itachi was quick to grab Sakura by her waist before she could even finish the sentence, smoke rising around them and they were gone from sight in a second. He teleported them somewhere deeper into the forest, in a clearing beside the small lake, far away from his seething family and safely hidden within the folds of the foliage.

He never could've imagined the feeling of stars bursting behind his eyes when he claimed her lips again. It felt like he was given wings after a lifetime of them being ripped away, it almost felt like it was a dream.

"Say it again." He damn near begged to hear it once more.

Sakura breathed near his ear, threading her fingers through his tied locks. "I love you."

What would he not give to hear it a thousand more times. He couldn't seem to contain the overflowing wave of emotions that burned him in the best way possible.

It was as if hearing her say those three words made the dam break. As if the cracks running through it for an eternity finally became too much to bear and the walls he thought were impenetrable, shattered to dust, drowning him in her, leaving him gasping and bare.

"I love you more." He said that because it was nothing but the truth. "So much more."

He captured her lips once again, hands digging into the fabric of her waist. He felt annoyance flaring within him at all the clothes covering separating them, wanting nothing more than to rip their yukatas to shred and slam her against the nearest tree.

She stuttered a breath against his lips, tucking a finger under his hair tie and tugging it off until it snapped his hair free before fisting her hand in his hair, tugging on it to angle his head to her liking, parting her lips as a permission for him to explore her mouth.

He grunted, but not in pain, but a twisted kind of pleasure. Getting his hair pulled at should not feel that good.

They separated too soon, panting shallowly but he wasn't idle for long, dragging his lips down her throat, leaving open-mouthed kisses in his wake.

His body was moving on autopilot. He himself didn't know what to do in his mind but it felt like his body was completely aware of what to do. His mind was blurry and hazy, the fog of burning desire filling it completely, and he could only rely on his dreams to provide him with a guide.

"Itachi…"

Blood rushed through his veins like a wildfire, mostly rushing south. His hands blindly moved to the flaps of her green yukata, trying to tug at her obi. He felt her warm fingers grabbing a hold of the flaps of his robe, having loosened his obi just so that the fabric over his chest was movable. Her hands pressed on the heated skin of his chest, drawing a shuttered breath out of him where he was pressing firm kisses on her clavicle.

His insistent fingers managed to loosen the obi around her waist, nudging the fabric over her shoulder away with his nose and letting it fall down her shoulders, only their pressed bodies keeping it from falling away from her breasts. He felt the hand on his chest move across his shoulder to cup the nape of his neck, urging him to pick his head up.

Her breathy voice sang into his ears even when he didn't look at her face. "I think we should take this somewhere more private, huh?"

A wave of excitement rushed through him and his lips spread into a smug smirk, and within the next second they were out of the forest clearing and into the comfort of Itachi's room. His parents wouldn't be back before the next day, they have the house all to themselves.

They stood a step away from the foot of his bed, lips and limbs tangled, clothes only halfway on.

Itachi took a step back and sat on the edge of his bed, pulling Sakura forward with her on his lap, knees on either side on his thighs straddling him with confidence. She rubbed a hand across his shoulder, pushing the yukata away from his top completely and it fell down around his loosened obi.

A groan rose up his throat when her fingers glided across his chest, down his abdomen and back up. She trailed up hand across the hard planes and curves of his body, the defined muscles of his back and the slim cuts of his abs. He pushed back on her lips fervently, urgent fingers relentlessly tugging on the sash around her waist and finally managing to get it free of the complex knot.

The flaps of her yukata hanging around her shoulders slumped down, revealing the uncharted territories of her creamy skin to his hungry red eyes. He had to detach from her and take a pause back to marvel at the wonder that was her body, the hard edges that made her the formidable kunoichi and the soft curves that made her the woman.

He stared at the maroon lace set that hid the rest of her away from him and he wanted them gone. If he had the power, he would burn them away with nothing but his gaze.

He felt her warm hand cupping his cheek, urging him to pick his head up. He was drunk in his head when he stared in the eyes that looked like dark glinting emeralds in the moonlight. He watched in utter fascination as her sinful lips curved up in a smirk, leaning down to place them beside his ear, and he heard her voice like a siren's call.

"What do you feel for me Itachi?"

The question drew the answer straight from his heart, emotions of heated passion and desperate love lacing each word.

"I burn for you."

His breath was sucked away the very next second when her lips slammed against him again, her hands working quickly to push away the yukata away from his body completely, leaving him in nothing but his boxers.

His hands weren't idle either, pushing off the fabric from her body to let it pool at the foot of the bed on the ground, his mouth trailing down the column of her throat. When her nails dug in the muscles of his back, a shiver ran up his spine, sending tingles in every fiber of his body and his teeth grazed against her flush skin, nibbling her tender skin until it was red and marked.

The shuddering moan of his name that left her lips made his mind blank, and he flipped them over, hovering over her body on his elbows and long dark hair forming a curtain around them until the only thing she would be able to see was him.

He gazed down at her for a moment, his mind still in denial of it being real. He had thought of it far too many times, dreamed of it way too much, and now he wasn't sure if she was actually real or if this mind was playing another trick on him.

She looked up at him with hazy eyes, the same desire and need that he felt being reflected on her own face. Hair tossed around, eyes half-lidded, lips swollen and cheeks flushed. She looked like a goddess if he ever believed in one.

Her fingers snaked in his hair again, bringing his face down onto her and she tugged on his locks again, and the twinging pain on his scalp reminded him. It was real.

"What do you want from me, Sakura?" He begged against her lips, once again asking her repeat her claims until her words would be etched into his very soul. He never wanted to forget them. He never would forget them.

"I want to drown in you."

He could not wait anymore. He ran his hand over the smooth expanse of her back before finding the hook of her bra, almost ripping it off but then paused, gazing into Sakura's eyes for permission.

"May I?"

Her lips brushed against his in silent permission and with a smooth flick, he chucked it off to some dark corner of his room. He was pretty sure his sharingan was spinning a dull red when the perky mounds were exposed to his eyes. He felt hypnotized gazing upon the naked flesh draped in nothing up the moonlight.

His eyes trailed down her perfect breast, down her shapely waist and soft stomach to the swell of her hips trapped between his legs, and then back up before his eyes were captured by her stare. "What're you looking at Itachi?" She purred at him, a sly smirk pulling her plump lips.

He has been feeling his boxers getting tighter and tighter every second until it was damn near unbearable. It took every shred of patience and control in him to not rip off his boxers and sheath himself in her, but he reminded himself that soon. He would do so soon.

He had dreamed of it, longed for it, yearned for it way too much to not savor it.

"Just you." He whispered to her, nibbling again at the skin of her neck while trailing his finger down her body. He softly grabbed the plush flesh of her breast, drawing a moan from Sakura and marveled at the absolutely perfect way it filled his palm. "Just how beautiful you are, how perfect you are, how intoxicating you are. And how you are mine."

She is his. There would be no question, there would be no doubt. She would always be his.

"Yes…"

He littered red marks on her flushed skin, trailing his mouth down her throat to latch on her left nipple, still kneading her right breast in his palm. A loud gasp ripped from Sakura's throat at the sudden attack before a long moan echoed throughout the room.

Itachi groaned low in his throat, opening his mouth further to take even more of her mound in his mouth. His tongue played with the pebbled peak, pressing it to the roof of his mouth and suckling sharply while rolling the other one between his fingers.

"Ah Itachi!"

Itachi moaned absentmindedly, satisfied when he has doused her chest with his saliva and trailed downward again, this time reaching the lacy waistband of her panties. He paused once again, fingertips digging firmly in the skin of her waist and looked up from his position on her lower stomach and caught her gaze.

"Sakura, may I?" he could feel that his voice was painfully strained, barely holding on.

She answered in a breathy whisper. "Yes-"

His teeth caught the edge of her waistband, palms holding tight on her skin and he dragged the panties down from her hips, thighs and past her knees, the fabric still held between his teeth. Sakura picks her leg up slightly, the piece of cloth sliding off her leg with ease. He let it fall from his teeth, gliding his hands up her leg.

His eyes felt alight as he stared at the naked glory of her, the patch of wiry pink hair between her legs made blood pound in his head until he was dizzy. He panted harshly, pressing his lips above her knee ardently and gazing up at her through his lashes.

"Sakura…" He moaned in foggy desire, voice muffled slightly with his mouth pressed into the soft flesh of her thighs. His spinning eyes were caught in a heated gaze with the glinting emerald and he couldn't resist biting more red marks on her thighs until he was sure she would remember him regardless of the time of the day.

But then he halted, as if unsure of his next actions. But he knew that he was less unsure and more insecure. What would she think of his performance, would she even be impressed? He has some experience, but could he outperform the men from her past?

As if sensing his frantic thoughts, Sakura decided to take the reins in her own hands.

She fisted his hair by the back of his head, putting the slightest pressure in encouragement. He took it as an incentive to lean forward, bracing his hands on her thighs. He kept his eyes locked with the green pools even as his nose buried in the pink curls over the pink folds and his lips grazed the outside of the petals ever so slightly.

The scent of her arousal was overpowering and she was positively drenched. The discovery made a wave of male pride course through him. His sensitive ears picked up the breathy moan from Sakura, and it gave him all the encouragement he needed to fully cover her nether lips with his mouth.

He parted the folds with his lips, his tongue poking out to give a teasing lick around her core. His sharingan painted everything behind his lids with great detail as Sakura's cheeks were aflame, having to close her eyes when his wet touches became too much to bear.

Itachi opened his mouth even more, giving a lick all the way from her core to the pebbled nub on the top, moaning deeply at the taste of her. Even the honey dango he placed special orders for paled terribly in comparison. His teeth grazed the clit and Sakura cursed above him.

"Fuck, Itachi…"

The hushed profanity sent desire raging through him before he took the whole clit in his mouth, sucking on it shallowly and being rewarded with a string of loud moans. He released it, tracing his way down to her core and licked around it, teasing the entryway as a trailer to what's about to come.

He was pretty sure there would be bruises in the shape of his fingers around her thighs from how hard he was clutching them. He traced around the edge again, before easing a tongue in her entryway. Sakura moaned loudly, throwing her head back as he pushed all the way in one motion.

He had to take a pause to collect himself and he was getting painfully hard as is. His mouth moved against her center, his tongue fumbling a little self-consciously when he looked up at the pinkette through his lashes, as if to gauge her reaction. And the expression that shone on her face when she locked her eyes with him made him weak in his knees.

Want. She wanted him, and he would make sure she never wants anyone else after him.

All the insecurity left him in a second and he dived in faster than he could think. Long feral licks grazed her pink folds and he stuck his tongue in her core again, his finger massaging the pebbled nub. Long loud moans of his name kept him working faster and faster, retracting his mouth from her entrance and instead replacing them with his index and middle finger, his mouth finding her clit instead.

Sakura groaned louder, her back arching off the bed when his long fingers reached spaces within her his tongue hasn't been able to.

"Ah! Itachi!"

His left hand gripped her thigh as his right worked within her in hastening pace. His brain felt like it was on fire, eyes clouded with desire as his mouth sucked on the pebbled clit. He could feel the tightening around his fingers increase and he was just waiting for the snap.

'Soon.' He reminded himself to not snatch off his constricting boxers. He promised it to her, he would overwhelm her with pleasure to the point where no other man would ever even cross her mind. He doubled his efforts, thrusting in his fingers faster and faster and grazing his teeth on her clit. The tightening increased and so did the groans, but just as suddenly, his head was yanked up from its position.

Plump lips snatched on his own before he felt himself being pushed down on the soft mattress. His wide eyes watched with great attention as Sakura climbed up on top of him, settling down on his hips and keeping a hand braced on his chest.

Her hair was tumbling down her shoulders and over her chest, mussed up from tossing so much and breaths leaving in harsh pants. Her eyes were dark and intense, heat and desire swirling in them. Itachi watched with his sharingan as she leaned down from her position, capturing his lips in a deep kiss and he imagined her tasting herself on his tongue.

"Sakura…" he moaned low, grabbing her arched rear and he felt delighted in the way his fingers sunk in her plush bottom. "You're killing me." He opened his mouth more to entangle their tongue when then found himself at a loss when she detached from him.

"No no Itachi, why would I try to kill you now of all times." She whispered sensually under his jaw, voice like that of a siren. "Where would be the fun in that."

Itachi groaned when she licked under his jaw, a whimper escaping his throat when she bit red marks like he had done to her. She pulled him up to sit so that he could help her remove his boxers before pushing him down again.

Sakura straddled the base of his hips, his thighs trapped beneath her and his member standing rock hard and desperate in front of her. It twitched and the tip wept, a drop of precum leaking out. Itachi panted in slight embarrassment at his unabashed nakedness in front of her.

Sakura smirked a little, bracing her hands on his chest and grinding her core on his erection, providing that delicious friction but not letting him enter her. Itachi groaned at length, his hand gripping her rear even more tightly. He bucked subconsciously under her, trying to align his shaft with her but she moved her hips away the last second.

"Sakura…" The sound that escaped him was somewhere between a growl and a whimper, so full of desperation that it colored his cheeks red in embarrassment. "Stop teasing me."

Sakura chuckled beside his ear, her canine nipping at the end of his jaw. "Is that so, Itachi-kun." A surprise attack of her soft hand gripping at his member made him choke on his spit, a gasp ripping from his throat as he buckled harshly in her fist. She giggled again before sitting up straight and lifting her hips.

"Then let me stop playing, huh."

Itachi watched with bated breath as she aligned his member between her thighs, opening her legs more and more to slide down until the tip was teasing her entryway. The breath caught in his throat when Sakura slid down further, before she put her hands back on his chest and took him in halfway all at once.

Itachi groaned helplessly, having to momentarily shut his eyes from the overload of pleasure. There was so much, all at once. He opened them to slits, watching Sakura throw her head back and arch her spine, a lengthy moan leaving her. "Oh Itachi…"

"Sakura…" He gripped her around her waist, whimpering deep in his throat when she slid down even more, taking him in almost fully. He brought one hand up to tangle it in her hair, before pulling her down in a needy kiss. He had to take a moment to collect himself to not come embarrassingly quickly.

Then she moved.

She started slow at first, still getting used to them joined but Itachi could not resist bucking his hips against her. It seemed to give her the confidence she needed to pick up her pace. Even with their lips molded together and tongues entangles, the moans of pleasure were loud enough.

She picked up her hips before dropping down on him and Itachi only felt delicious friction, pleasure wracking down his spine. It made him shiver with dizzying delight. Just the feeling of her velvety walls, rubbing and clamping around him drove him to the brink of insanity.

His eyes glazed over as Sakura moved above him and he couldn't help but feel like a devotee to her gospels. His body was lit aflame, pupils blown wide and he looked up at her in utter submission, moaning helplessly in her praises.

Sakura moaned at length as she picked up her pace, looking at him down her nose and locking him in a gaze. She looked every bit of a goddess he imagined her to be, lips red and swollen, cheeks flushed, hair mussed and tumbling down her shoulders and over her chest and moving so sensually.

"Ah, Itachi!" She moaned low. "Fuck…"

Haughty pride raged through him at her praise, a new burst of energy filling him up and he bucked against her faster, grinding and slamming. "Sakura, my Sakura." Even to himself he sounded like a man delirious, like a mad follower chanting for his God. "So beautiful, so perfect, all mine."

He pushed himself up in a sitting position to slant his lips against her in a heated kiss, all tongue and teeth and mindlessness. His fingers gripped at her waist like how she gripped his hair. He could feel the heat building and building below his naval, twisting and reaching new heights.

He could feel the cliff approaching, but he wanted more. So much more.

With one turn, he flipped them over with Sakura on her back and Itachi covered her body with his. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, slamming his hips on her with the force of hurricane, and Sakura moved beneath him, with him.

A burn spread through his chest, and an emotion unlike anything he has ever felt spread through him. Never has he ever felt such burning love, desperate and all consuming, for anyone.

He could say he would die for her, and it would be true, but he wants to live for her.

He would live for her each day, every day, until the day he draws his last breath.

He felt her legs wrap around his waist, sheathing him deeper within her and he groaned, the voice muffled on her throat. The tingle built above his crotch in a knot and he knew he was close. He felt her tight grip in his hair, the other scratching red down his back, groans of his name echoing in his ear.

Something feral came over him, his pace becoming even more frantic and the bed creaked dangerously beneath them. he growled in her ear and when he spoke, he couldn't even recognize his own voice, dark with lust and just as desperate.

"Mine." He growled in her ear, his grip on her hips becoming almost bruising, "Mine to hold, mine to love, mine alone. You are mine Sakura."

Sakura panted in his ear in agreement before a lustful chuckle echoed from her. "Uh huh, that's right. I'm yours." She panted out, turning his face with her hands to make him look at her. "And whose are you, Itachi-kun."

"I'm yours." He replied with hardly any hesitation, a truth etched into his very soul. "I'm all yours."

Sakura seemed content with his answer as she slanted her lips against his when a gasp ripped from her throat. Her walls tightened around his member in a way that made him falter and he knew he was there. But he didn't know if she was, and he'll be damned if he finished before he could pleasure her.

His one hand travelled down toward her center, massaging her clit while he angled his hips above hers and the moan Sakura let out was different. "I'm close…" she whispered to him, and he redoubled his efforts.

Heated skin smacked against each other and Itachi was doing everything in his power to hold off long enough. He groaned in her skin, a whimper or a whine escaping him as she tightened around him even more, the pleasure so intense it was painful.

And then she tensed before she snapped, her juices splashing around him and screaming his name so sensually that even if he tried, he was helpless to hold on any longer. A low moan escaped from deep in his throat, the chants of her name coating his tongue. Stars burst behind his closed lids and the pleasure burned him in the best way possible.

He gave a last pump before coming to a halt, and he felt too boneless to hold himself up anymore and dropped against her.

They panted against each other but their arms still stayed locked around each other. He felt Sakura brush her lips chastely against his cheeks, a tired murmur reaching his ear.

"I love you."

Gods, he would wait a hundred more years if it meant he could hear her say it again.

He turned his face toward her fully, capturing her lips in a loving kiss, letting her know of everything he couldn't say yet.

"I love you so much. So much more." He murmured against her lips, eyes staring at her in promise, "And I won't let anyone take you away from me." He picked up her left hand, kissing the base of her ring finger in reverence, stating his intent very clearly.

He might've been unsure before if they were moving too quickly but now, he couldn't wait to take the next step.

The remnants of delectation still remained in him and it felt more like a daydream even as Sakura wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled under his chin, the exhaustion catching up to her. Itachi doesn't remember when he flew away to his own dreamland, arms and legs tangled with the woman he adored, but he doesn't remember ever sleeping so soundly.

He did not give two flying fucks what the elders threw at him, he would never let them part him from Sakura.

The morning was slightly chilly when Itachi propped open his window, as silent as the quiet and slinked out into the balcony. The sun has yet to rise and the world yet to wake, so it was the perfect time for him to make his escape.

He put on his sandals, closing the window again before taking off through the roofs. The rooftops thumped ever so slightly under his heel as he swiftly jumped toward the very familiar direction in the heart of the market district. He just hopes his cousin and brother are up and ready.

He followed the path regularly visited, landing on the green sloped roof of the small apartment and jumping down on the balcony. He slid the window open, removing his sandal and jumping inside like he had done so many times.

"You do know you can come through the door right."

He turned toward the figure standing in front of the white vanity table, tying her pink locks in a fluffy braid. When she noticed him looking at her, teeth peeked out from behind her rosy lips in a grin.

He felt a smile automatically pulling his lips as he set down his sandals beside the bedside table. "It's just always so loud to walk in the hallway." He moved to stand behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her temple. "Are you ready?"

Sakura kept smiling, rummaging through the assortment of things on the table. "Almost. Just a minute." She picked up her silver chain watch with a lavender dial, a gift from him he remembers well, sliding it on her wrist. She gave him a once over in the mirror, raising a perfect brow at him. "You're dressed well. You don't normally dress so formal for our other dates."

Itachi hummed noncommittally with his chin on the top of her head before looking down at his black shirt, the Uchiha fan stamped proudly on his back and subtle trimmings and his dark pants. His outfit does seem a bit formal, however the shoes did not match. Maybe he should've worn some other shoes?

"Seems so." He mused. He trailed his eyes down Sakura's frame. She looked beautiful like usual. A light red blouse with sleeves like butterfly wings draped over her shoulders just shy of her elbows, tucked in a black flowy skirt, stopping past her mid-thigh. Maybe it was unintentional, maybe it was coincidence, but they always seemed to match with their outfit.

Sakura swiped the wand of her pink lip gloss across her lips. "Okay I'm ready. Let my just put on my shoes and then we can go."

Itachi nodded, picking up his sandals again when he heard the front door opening. He saw the pinkette opening the door, as if waiting for him to follow. He smirked, shaking his head before pointing to the window again.

The rooftops thudded again as the pair of sandals thumped lightly against it. The sky was gradually brightening up, even though the sun was still hidden beneath the horizon. Itachi heard Sakura sigh beside him.

"I'm sleepy."

Itachi smirked, reaching out to hold her hand securely in his palm. "You're always sleepy." He lightly teased her, knowing she was probably glaring at him in the moment.

"Not always! I stayed up really late yesterday. Naruto was being a baby again."

Itachi stayed quiet hearing that, knowing he should probably not say anything regarding the reason. "Is that so?" They ran up the side of the Hokage mountain, following the familiar path to the platformed edge hidden by the tree branches.

He parted the branches, still holding Sakura's hand with his other hand, only to find the area empty. 'Wait…' he frowned slightly, looking around the small area overlooking the village. "Itachi what happened?" Sakura asked him, seeing the scrunch of his brows. Itachi looked around again, feeling agitation rising gradually, when he spotted it.

The picnic basket, sitting hidden behind the thorny bush beside the large boulder. He felt the tension drop from his shoulders. Naruto and Sasuke would live to see another day. "Nothing, love. Just looking for where I put the basket." He picked up the basket, laying down the soft blanket sitting on top of it.

It was such a familiar scene, sitting on the soft pink blanket on the Hokage mountain with the various boxes of homemade food and watching the sun rise together.

Two hours later, the boxes were empty and packed away again. Itachi sat leaned against the tree with Sakura fitted against his chest. "I have somewhere I want to show you. Come with me?"

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked him, still looking out at the rising sun. Itachi slowly stroked the back of her hand, fingers interlaced with his, a sense of calmness dawning on him. What little times he has felt so serene, where no sense of urgency or responsibilities could bother him.

His whole life has been a revolving door of constant actions. Eat, sleep, train, go on missions, kill for his land. He has always been the heir of the Uchiha clan, the sharingan prodigy, the youngest ANBU, the most brilliant shinobi.

But none of those titles ever mattered with her. With her, he was just Itachi. A man with insecurities and emotions, who has never felt more loved.

"Somewhere." He replied cryptically, proceeding to stand up with up and run down the side of the Hokage mountain. But instead of tracing back their usual path, he steered them toward a different route leading deeper inside the forest. The trees changed in their density, the golden leaves falling down slowly around them.

He weaved them around thick trunks, dried leaved crunching slightly under their heels only to stop when they came to a halt at the edge of the glistening lake.

"The lake?" Sakura asked in slight puzzlement, "This is what you wanted to show me?" The amusement in her voice was clear as she smirked at him.

He smiled in kind, proceeding to take off his sandal and opening the buttons of his shirt. "Not quite. But we might have to crash against the waves to get there." He shrugged his shirt off his shoulder, letting it pool on the ground before beckoning her to follow him. He watched her shimmying out of her skirt and shirt from the corner of his eyes, leaving her in her training shorts and camisole.

"Let's go." He dived into the cool water with a deep breath, hearing another splash as the pinkette jumped after him too. The water was clear, enough to see the bottom of the lake clearly. He grabbed for the pinkette's hand, guiding her along with him toward the side of the lake surface, the wall of rocks clustered together seemed out of place under the water.

He could feel Sakura's question even when she couldn't say anything, so he drew her closer and cast her a telling look. When they swam closer enough to the wall of rocks, he grabbed one of the biggest rocks stacked in the center, pulling it out of the stack to make the hole big enough to fit through.

He carefully swam through the cavity to not disturb the surrounding rocks, beckoning Sakura to do the same. When she was through, he pulled her up, swimming fast toward the water surface.

They broke out of the water, taking deep breaths after a long time under the surface. "Ugh, that was so long." Sakura panted, still attempting to rub away the water from her eyes. Itachi chuckled pulling her with him toward the edge of the lake.

"Open your eyes now."

Sakura gingerly opened her eyes, still slightly bleary, before they widened, a gasp escaping her. "What is this place…" She looked around in wonderment, pulling herself over the bank.

The lake had a passageway at its bottom that led to a kind of a smaller lake on the other side of the mountain range surrounding it. surrounded by taller rocky mountains and a small island like piece of land in the center of the water, only a couple trees and bushes to fill the land.

"I accidentally found it on my way back from the last mission." He informed her, laying down against the soft grass. The water felt cold at first jumping in, but it felt great now laying under the warmth of the sunlight. He felt her laying down next to him, cheek leaning slightly on his shoulder. "I don't think anyone bothered looking here, so I don't know how many people know about this."

"I hope not too many people know. It'll ruin this place." Sakura sighed under her breath wistfully, looking up the tufts of white clouds overhead. "It's like a small piece of paradise."

It really was. The bigger magic of the place was that they were alone. Undisturbed, uninterrupted and only with each other. It was perfect.

Itachi released a long breath, one arm folded under his head as the other curled around Sakura's waist. They were silent for a while, soaking in the sun and lulling under each other's heartbeats. Itachi hoped Sakura was feeling relaxed with him, because his mind was a mess.

"Is something the matter?"

Itachi blinked out of his stupor to look down at the pinkette, only to find her already looking up at her. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged slightly, settling in a comfortable position under his jaw. "You look like you have a lot on your mind. Is something up with the clan again?"

'Yes and no.' He wanted to say. The clan is a constant nuisance in his life, giving him headaches on a daily basis, but that wasn't the only thing in his mind.

"There's a lot I'm thinking about." Maybe this would be the best time to talk afterall. "What do you think our life would be like later in time?" He tried to sound just matter of factly, as if it was nothing but his shower musings even as his heart was beating anxiously in him.

Sakura hummed thoughtfully, her fingers drawing light patterns on his stomach. "Having a midlife crisis already?" She giggled slightly, "I actually really don't know. But when I think about it, I would like to get a dog with you."

That brought a warm smile on his face as he chuckled under his breath, "A dog?" Sakura nodded with a smile on her lips, "Yeah, a Shiba Inu. I would like to name it Dango."

"A dog named Dango." Itachi mused under his breath before glancing down at her again, 'Cute.' "What about a kid?" He again wanted to sound as indifferent as possible, but he could hear some of his nerves leaking in his voice.

"A child?" Sakura looked at him with a teasing look, "You're talking about a child?"

Sakura laughed out loud as she saw the blush spreading across his nose bridge. "Oh Itachi, that's adorable." She sighed out before opening her eyes to stare at the sky. Tufts of clouds like fluffy cotton dotted the clear blue, it was so pretty today. "I do want a child. Maybe sometime in the future, after we're well settled and ready."

Itachi felt something warm spread in his chest at her words. She talked about them as if they were a done deal, a promise to be kept forever, and it eased some of his anxieties surrounding his plans. "Do you want kids?" She asked in return.

"I would like to." He answered softly, interlacing his fingers with her to bring her attention to him, "But how many we have, or whether we even have any or not, is decision that is solely yours. I would never force that on you."

Sakura blinked at him once before a large grin stretched her lips, so bright and sunny, a blush staining her cheeks adorably. "I know you would never. But what made you have these thoughts?"

"Nothing in particular. We've just never had any of these discussions before."

"Speaking of that…" Sakura started again, sounding slightly unsure all of a sudden. "Your clan… if we were to get married, will they accept me?"

"They would have no choice but to." He felt the chill seeping back in his tone at the thought of his clansmen. They have certainly been very vocal about their disapproval of his relationship with Sakura. Normally, it would just go in through one ear and out of the other. It's no big deal for him, but he would poison them before he lets their words get to Sakura.

"Clansmen are people you don't need to be worried about. Most are old and senile and stuck in their old days, ignoring them does the trick most of the time."

"Ah." Sakura responded, seemingly unconcerned with the situation of meddling clansmen and it fell in calm silence again, background sound filled with only chirrups of birds and occasional mindless talks exchanged in hushed whispers. They laid there on the soft grass, under the shade of the trees until the sun was high above their head.

They swam back to the other side, carefully rearranging the wall of rocks back in its original position, before swimming out again. Putting on their clothes right after getting out would've soaked those too, but they paid that little mind as they got dressed quickly.

"Should we get lunch now?" Sakura asked him, combing her fingers through her damp hair. Itachi mirrored her action, untying his hair to let it dry freely before nodding. He led her back toward the marketplace, palm on the small of her back and steered her toward one of the stalls.

He knew the bystanders were watching them like hawks. Of course they would, the Uchiha heir walking the marketplace with Konoha's favorite medic, arms in arms for the first time in a while. Since they have been together for close to two years, they have always been mindful of keeping up a façade of their interactions being nothing more than friendly.

But since his clansmen now knew of his intentions, he saw no shame in making his place clear. Right next to her.

Sakura separated the flap to one of the bigger diners they liked to visit occasionally. They slid inside a booth, partially shielded away from the eyes in the diner. Itachi looked around the area, scouting for any familiar face that might report back to his clan while Sakura looked through the menu. He didn't see anyone of concern, thankfully.

"What are you looking for?" Sakura asked after the waiter took their orders and went away. Itachi shook his head, folding his hands on top of the table. Sakura shrugged before continuing on her previous chatters about her week at work.

"I don't know why she would do that. I explicitly gave orders to refrain from engaging-"

Itachi nodded with a smile, his eyes softening in amusement at the animated way the pinkette talked. Eyes rolling in exasperation, hands flying through the air to motion animatedly, mouth running hundred miles an hour to get the story across.

Sakura paused mid-sentence as the waiter came by again, holding the tray with their order. "Let's eat first."

They were mostly silent throughout the meal, stacking up the plates and bowls when they were done. Itachi wiped his hand on the towel, looking at the wall clock hanging across the room from them. It was way past noon, almost evening in an hour or so.

He suddenly saw Sakura freeze across the table, ever so minutely he almost didn't notice, and then she was back to slurping on her milkshake like nothing happened. Itachi raised his eyebrow slightly at her, prompting her to do the same back.

"Something happened?"

"Nope." She shrugged before sliding away her empty milkshake glass, stretching her arms out over her head before leaning forward toward him.

Itachi froze with his tea cup in his hand, watching with great attention as Sakura reached out to grab his face between her palms. Her eyelids lowered, bringing his face forward toward her, and Itachi kept his eyes open as she fit her mouth against his, in open public.

It took him a moment to respond, caught by surprise, but soon he pushed away his tea cup to the side, leaned fully against Sakura's mouth, molding his lips against her so perfectly. The message was so clear from her, she couldn't give a shit that they were in public.

Something about the daring nature of the situation stirred a heat in him, not unfamiliar to him.

They separated after a while, and thankfully they were hidden inside the booth. Their pants intermingled while their faces still stayed close to each other. Itachi grabbed one of the hands on his cheek, turning his head slightly to kiss inside of her palm.

"Well," he smirked at the pinkette, "that was quite daring." He chuckled under his breath, the laugh a dark velvet. "Thankfully no one saw."

Sakura grinned slyly at him, leaning forward to give him a quick peck again. "Well, about that…" the smile that spread on her lips was mischievous at best, and Itachi followed her line of sight when her eyes slid to the side of the booth.

He saw the very familiar dark hair and dark eyes. The pale face quickly ducked her head when she realized that she has been caught before hurrying away from the table she was sitting at.

"Kiyomi…" Itachi realized before he looked back at the pinkette, sitting in her seat and looking much like a cat that caught the canary. "Sakura…" Itachi couldn't stop the smile from stretching his lips even when he wanted to sound chastising.

"What." Sakura only grinned wider, "She wanted a show since she was sitting as such an attentive audience. So why not give her one." She shrugged nonchalantly but the grin stayed on her face.

Itachi shook his head in feigned exasperation, downing the rest of his tea before getting up from his seat. "I want to show you somewhere." He held out his hand to her, helping her out of the booth, "Shall we go?"

He led her through the marketplace, away from the crowd directly into the surrounding the forest behind the Hokage mountain, directly opposite to their hideout.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as they raced along the height of the steep incline. They passed trees and boulders and smaller platforms, heading straight toward the highest point.

"Where the sky is the prettiest."

By the time they reached the point, the sun was already way past it's prime, ready to sink into the night sky. The sky and clouds were splashed in hues of oranges and reds, so brilliant and beautiful it could capture any artist's eye.

Sakura gasped in wonder as they stood by the edge, her hands clasped in front of her face in amazement. Itachi carefully creeped behind her, bending down to feel the ground around the large rock to the side. He felt around the grass, growing a bit frenzied the longer he couldn't find it.

He swore to God if Shisui forgot to put it here he would kill his cousi-

Just as he was planning the curly haired Uchiha's funeral, he finally felt the lumpy velvety shape, quickly snatching it up to breathe a sigh of relief.

Shisui would live, it seems.

"Why did you bring me here Itachi?" Sakura asked with her eyes still on the sinking sun, "I mean it's really pretty, but I've came here before. Was it for the sunset?"

"Kind of." Itachi swallowed thickly, shaking his clammy hands free of the nerves. Damn was it always so hot? And why was his collar so suffocating?

He saw no way back though, the whole day leading up to this moment. The last two whole years leading up to this moment. His heart thundered dangerously behind his ribcage. He rubbed his finger along the velvet surface of the box he was holding, telling himself it would be alright. She has already spoke so many times of their future together, she would accept him. She would take him.

But the small piece of doubt was left murmuring of the odds in his mind. What if she wasn't ready? What if she felt he wasn't enough? What if she didn't want the same future he saw in them?

What if?

So many what ifs and none he had answer to. And it scared him.

"Itachi?"

Itachi looked up to see Sakura watching him questioningly. He shook his head with a slight smile, "Nothing. I just thought it looks pretty from here during sunset."

"Well it definitely does." Sakura agreed with a hum, turning back around to look at the red sky.

Itachi was silent for a moment, toying with the box behind his back as a million thoughts raced through his mind. His eyes trailed the pinkette's form for the millionth time, all the times they've spent together, all the boulders of life they've climbed and crossed.

His fingers tightened around the box and he moved.

"Sakura."

Sakura turned around at his call, a questioning tilt of her eyebrow. He reached out to gently hold her hand, the box still hidden behind his back.

Itachi kept his eyes on the pinkette, taking in every feature of hers as if it was the last time he might see her. The golden light draped over her peachy skin, rosy hair and green eyes, casting a beautiful shade that made her look like she was made of sunshine.

She looked so lovely.

He swiped his tongue lightly over his dry lips and swallowed. This is it.

"When you asked me about our future, do you know what I saw?" Itachi wasn't looking for a reply, so he continued without wait, "I saw us, together. We had a home, a dog. A child. We were happy." He smiled at her shocked expression despite the fact that he was sweating bullets beneath his shirt.

"I would wake up beside you, go to sleep looking at you. I was the happiest I ever felt, even if it was just in my dreams." He felt tears in his eyes but he smiled through it, "I love you." He whispered like he was breathing out stars in the secret of the night, "I love you, I'll write it in the waves, I'll write it on the skies, I'll carve it on every breath I take, on every beat my heart beats for you."

"For Gods I love you."

He took Sakura's gasp of shock and moved, sinking down on one knee and bringing his hidden palm forward. The shiny band glimmered under the warm sunlight, the clear diamonds catching the light to shine a brilliant golden.

He imagined what she might see or was seeing right now. She was seeing Uchiha Itachi, down on one knee, offering his body and soul on a platter. All for her to take.

"Haruno Sakura, will you give me, Uchiha Itachi, the privilege of spending the rest of my living days in your presence?" He held up the box slightly higher and looked down to the ground, unable to keep his eyes up anymore.

His heart was a frenzied mess in his chess, but what made it worse was Sakura's reaction. Or lack thereof. It was silent, not a single word uttered, you could hear a pin drop.

'This was a bad idea.' His mind chanted repeatedly, drowning the silence with his loud thoughts. So loud, he almost didn't hear the quiet whisper.

"Yes"

He whipped his head up, eyes widened at the face of his love. Her eyes were watery, eyes brimmed with tears and hand cupping her mouth. When she saw him staring at her, she smiled at him, so wide and radiant it could blind him faster than the dying sun.

"Yes." She repeated just as he thought he might've misheard her, or was imagining his fantasies. She grinned at him, eyes creasing up. "Oh Itachi yes!"

Time moved too fast and his brain couldn't catch up when she threw her arms over his shoulders, burying her face in his hair. 'She said yes.' His brain worded belatedly before he realized what it meant. 'She said yes!'

And suddenly, his heart felt too big, too full to contain itself in his body. And he couldn't resist grabbing Sakura tight, standing up to his height and twirling them around like he has seen in the old movies.

Sakura's laugh was so happy and lovely and he didn't suppress the hearty laughter that rose from his stomach. He felt light, like he was floating on clouds, like he had wings.

Sakura grabbed his face, catching his lips in a kiss he responded immediately. Sneakily, he took the ring out of the box, bringing it up to his face and sliding it onto her left finger.

They separated as the pinkette looked at the band encrusted in diamond and jade. It looked perfect on her hand.

"Love, life, and happiness." He whispered to her, forehead pushed against her and thumb caressing her ringed hand. "The promises I make to you today, tomorrow, and every day of our life till our days end. My mind and body, heart and soul, are all for you, my love."

He felt the slight wetness trailing Sakura's cheeks but she only buried her face in his shirt, arms wound tight around him.

"I love you Itachi."

He wanted to hear those words everyday.

"And I you, my love."

A year. A year was the time it took for the storm to settle down enough for the ceremony to happen.

Breaking the news to Sakura's teammate wasn't easy. His brother almost set his room on fire, and the blonde Uzumaki was worse. Hatake was much more tamed, but even his congratulations and well wishes sounded like sword sharpening.

But whether anyone actually did anything to him or not, the threat in all of their words was very clear.

Hurt a hair on Sakura's head, and he will be hearing funeral sirens instead of wedding bells.

Shisui was as he would expect it anytime. He was just happy that all the planning they did worked and he would live. And then came the slew of teasing and harassment about how he was 'whipped' and how he was 'going to be an uncle to bunch of black haired green eyed babies'.

It was kind of miserable.

But the biggest challenge came with breaking the news to his clan. The elders were relentless in putting every wall they can to break off the engagement, be it unanimously setting up arranged marriages against his wishes, or straight up threatening to disown Itachi and demote his family.

It took a long while and many threats from Itachi and, begrudgingly, his brother but they managed to reach somewhat of an impasse. The compromise being, Itachi will marry Sakura, and the elders will keep their mouth shut.

Sakura also asked for at least a year of wait before getting married. She said that the hospital still had some ways to go before it was running smoothly enough for her to take a break. They both needed some time to settle their surroundings enough before they could properly tie the knot.

However, his mother was the worst out of all of them. The minute Mikoto got to know about his proposal to Sakura, she was on his tail with the wedding preparations. A summer wedding would be so nice but oh, a spring would be the best. Think of all the pastels and cherry blossom trees and flowers. She wanted a big reception, she wanted the whole Konoha invited.

He had actively interfere in his mother's plans to stop her from dragging Sakura away the next day to shop for wedding dresses.

But despite the long wait, they were here.

Itachi released a deep breath, standing rock still as his aunt fussed over his wedding attire. They really tried to convince his mother to have a simple wedding, but she would not be deterred. A traditional, high class wedding in their clan shrine was the only option she would expect.

So reluctantly, Itachi agreed to squeeze into the uncomfortable wedding robes.

He shrugged on the montsuki haori, the dark jacket stretching well over his broad shoulders, the red and white Uchiha fan displayed proudly on the back. His aunt straightened the collar before letting the haori himo rest against his abdomen, loosely holding the two flaps together.

While the belt on his hakama was being tied, his mind wandered to different thoughts. What was Sakura doing right now? Was she already dressed? His mother had been adamant about not letting him get even a glimpse of what would be Sakura's wedding dress, and when he asked his fiancé, she just gave him a wink and a hush.

Fiancé, such a nice word.

He did hear that his mother and Sakura, both were straying away from the traditional Shiromuku, the wedding kimonos that have been worn in their clan for ages. Yet he still had no idea what she will be actually wearing.

However, regardless of what she wore, he had no stress of her looking anything less than gorgeous.

"Stand around Itachi-chan."

Itachi heard his aunt say as she turned him around toward the wall mirror, and he saw someone he never imagined himself as. This Itachi was not a boy, lost and unfelt of love. This Itachi looked like a man, decked in the black wedding attire and polished.

This Itachi looked like he had lived a life, a life where he had felt loved and committed himself to feeling that for the rest of his life.

He liked this Itachi.

"Well, let's do something for your hair." His aunt pushed him down on the stool slid in front of the vanity table, brushing his hair into a smooth cascade, before gathering them up on the crown of his head in a manner that looked a bit more polished and refined than his usual tie, tying them up with a short white ribbon.

A knock resounded on the door of their dressing room, and a second later it opened to reveal his mother. She smiled at him, the fine wrinkles at the corner of her eyes creasing in joy.

"Itachi-chan, all dressed?" She shut the door behind her as his aunt excused herself, leaving only the two in the room. "Yes, oka-san." He replied politely, getting up from the stool as Mikoto busied herself with fixing what she deemed needed fixing.

She flattened down the collar of his red yukata shirt, specifically requested by Sakura to be worn instead of the traditional black. He looked down at his mother, looking as beautiful as ever in her black tomesode, but the glassy sheen over her eyes startled him.

"Oka-san." He called out to his mother but she ignored him in favor of straightening his sleeves, firmly keeping her head down to not look him in the eye. So he tried again, "Oka-san, look at me please."

Mikoto couldn't ignore him anymore as she looked up at him, eyes startlingly misty. She sniffled slightly, gently wiping her finger underneath her eye to wipe away the brimming tears. Itachi furrowed his brows in concern, gently holding his mother's hand in comfort. "Oka-san, what happened?"

"Oh nothing Ita-chan." She chuckled lightly, but even that sounded watery. "Just allergy season. A lot of pollen in the air."

"Oka-san you don't have pollen allergy."

Mikoto laughed again before quieting down, her hand that was fussing over his haori stopped to rest atop the embroidery of their clan crest. It was quiet for a while and Itachi was thinking he'll have to pester her some more, but then she began in a quiet whisper.

"It's really nothing Itachi-chan." She sighed, a small smile on her lips, "Just an old woman's woes of her age."

Itachi sighed, "Oka-san, why are you being so cryptic?"

Mikoto pursed her lips slightly, brushing her hand on his kimono. "I was just thinking, reminiscing, about the times when you were little. I read you a fairytale about a princess and a dragon, and you promised that you too would bring home a princess with you." Mikoto sighed with a chuckle.

Itachi smiled at that, "I did keep my promise."

"Yes you did." Mikoto laughed heartily before she turned a bit somber, "I'm so happy that you found her and she found you. I've always thought of Sakura being the perfect fit in our family, and it's amazing that it's you. I can see how happy she makes you."

Itachi stayed silent, he can see that his mother wanted to say more, perhaps searching for better words to describe her thoughts. "But it's a little difficult you know," She said again after a pause, looking at her eldest son with gentle eyes, "to see you not being my little boy all the time. I'm just a little afraid how you will manage building your life, with just you two."

"Oka-san…" Itachi began, unsure of what to even say, but Mikoto interrupted him midway.

"But I know you'll do fine." A sudden bright smile lit up her face even when her eyes were still a little glassy, "I know you'll do well in building your family, making a life with her. I know you'll be happy. Just…" She paused a little, releasing a deep breath, "promise me you'll take care of her. Promise me you'll take care of my little knight and also your little princess. You have your oka-san to help you through everything, she doesn't have that privilege."

Itachi felt his heart softening at the seams as he grabbed his mother's hands firmly in his and looked in her eyes as he promised her what he promised to Sakura all those days ago. "I promise." He released her hands, gathering her in his arms in a hug too tight. He hasn't hugged his mother like this in so long, and he again felt like a little boy, falling asleep in his mother's lap, feeling so safe against the monster under his bed.

"I promise, kaa-chan." He hasn't called her that since he was five years old.

Mikoto laughed again, a full hearty laugh, so happy and joyous as she hugged him back. He was much taller than her, but he still felt like her little boy.

"Alright. Since you're ready, let's get going." Mikoto wiped away imaginary specks of dust from his haori before a sly smile crossed her lips, "Sakura-chan is waiting for you."

Itachi's heart skipped a beat when he heard that. She was dressed, she was waiting for him. "Okay." He nodded, walking toward the door with his mother holding his arm to lead him toward the entrance of the shrine.

Mikoto really outdid herself this time with the decorations even just leading up to the shrine. Cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, scattering their pale petals on the stone walkway. The sky was a little downcast, perfect weather for their stuffy clothes as well as the glowing lights decorating the path for the guests. The area for the guests was on the other side of the shrine from where they were walking, leaving just the two of them alone, heading straight for the golden ginkgo tree in the back of the shrine.

"She's under the ginkgo tree." Mikoto whispered to him, patting him on the arm once before letting him go. She smiled up at him before bending him down to give him a kiss on the cheeks. "I'll direct the guests over into the shrine and then come back to take you two to the march. Go meet her."

Itachi nodded at her, thankful to be able to meet Sakura alone before they would have to walk together in front of the guests. Mikoto gave him a last smile before turning away to walk back toward the front of the shrine ground.

He took a deep breath before continuing on his way toward the ginkgo tree, the largest in all of Konohagakure, the ground covered in golden leaves, and standing directly under the golden tree was Sakura.

Itachi felt his heartbeat increasing as he looked on at Sakura, standing straight with her back to him, but as the dried leaved crunched under his sandals, she turned around to face him.

And promptly took his breath away.

And it was then he realized why she gave him a red shirt to wear. She was wearing a dark, rich crimson hikifurisode, the embroidery of white waterlilies stark against the deep fabric, a golden obi wrapped around her slender waist with a large bow in the back. And when she smiled at him, he almost faltered in his steps.

"How do I look?" She asked with a sly smile despite the warm blush that spread over her cheeks. Itachi stared at her with great attention, his dark eyes trailing over her painted features like a painter looking over his finest artwork.

He noticed her hair tied in a bun that looked more like a large flower, embellished by a floral pin. He noticed the faded red eye shadow on her lids. He noticed each separated dark eyelashes framing her clear jade eyes, lined by black kohl. And he looked at her lips. Her lips painted a deep red, looking absolutely delicious.

"You look…" He breathed out, holding her hands in his, "ravishing."

The blush on Sakura's cheeks deepened as she ducked her head bashfully. "You look amazing too." She said shyly, stepping closer toward him.

A smile spread on Itachi's lips as he brought their joined hands toward his face to place a kiss on her knuckles. "Are you nervous?" he asked, because he could feel it. He was a little nervous too, who wouldn't be.

Sakura sighed, reluctantly nodding her head. "A little." She huffed out, "It's just that, there are going to be so many people, most of your clan. What if something goes wrong…"

Itachi rubbed his thumb across her knuckles for some small form of comfort. "It's going to be okay." He whispered to her under his breath, a moment just for the two of them in their privacy. "I'm going to be with you the whole way."

"I sure hope so." Sakura chuckled under her breath and then fell silent. And they stayed silent, simply soaking in their moment of privacy with each other before they will be ripped away and thrown in the whirlwind of ceremonies.

"Did Naruto-kun and Otouto come by to visit you?"

Sakura nodded, "They were staking outside my dressing room since I went in there." She laughed slightly, a teasing smile on her face, "Probably making sure you wouldn't try to sneak inside somehow."

Itachi put on a challenging smirk, lowering his face toward her, "Would you have stopped me?" He would have continued to lower his face until their lips met again, had he not been stopped by Sakura putting a finger to his mouth.

"Not now." She cooed out, throwing a look over his shoulder toward the front of the shrine. He glanced back to see the form of his mother walking toward them. 'Already?' He thought, slightly disappointed at his moment being cut short.

Mikoto clapped her hands happily when she saw them standing side by side, fingers intertwined. "Oh how good you two look together!" She exclaimed out, making a show of dramatically dabbing the corner of her eyes. "It's perfect!"

She quickly ushered them through a shortcut inside the oak garden which led to the front gate of the shrine ground, away from the guests' eyes. They saw the march waiting for them, one of his younger distant holding a bamboo umbrella to lead them through the long stone path of the compound to the shrine.

"Ready you two?" Mikoto asked them, but before either of them could agree or deny, the compound doors opened and Mikoto was shooing them to move already. And suddenly, things were moving too fast for either of them. They were made to start walking before they could collect themselves, the man in the front of the march playing the flute, high and clear, steps slow and short and they climbed the steep steps that led to the shrine ground led by the shrine master.

And all the while, Sakura kept her hold on his arm to ground herself.

He put his hand on the one clutching at his arm just before they would have to face everyone, squeezing three times to let her know.

I'm right here

I love you

And retracted it back as the red bamboo doors of the shrine compound opened and every eye on the ground turned toward them.

One step in front of the other, slow paced, they trudged stony ground as the guests of all the major clans of Konoha and the whole Uchiha clan flocked the outskirts of the wide pathway, eyes trained on the soon to be married young couple.

Itachi wanted to firmly keep his eyes forward, but couldn't resist taking a discreet glance downward toward Sakura. Despite how nervous she was before, she looked like the perfect face of composure in the time. So she was holding up well.

As they neared the pavilion, he looked forward to see the ones he wanted to see, lined by the front of the pavilion. Team seven and his family along with Shisui and Ino waited patiently for the march to reach them, and he could also see the Konoha twelve flagging the sides of the path toward the end.

The shrine master led the couple inside the pavilion, his family and team seven in toe with them. "The families may take a seat." The master said, his aged voice practiced and sure. His mother and father, along with Sasuke and Shisui sat on one side at the low tables. The master looked at Sakura then, "And miss, your family…"

"It's us."

Naruto's voice was sure as team seven entered the shrine along with Ino. Kakashi motioned his students to take their seats on the other side. "We're her brothers." At Ino's pointed cough, he added belatedly, "…and sister."

The priest nodded dismissively as the family of the bride and groom settled down, turning around to lead the couple to stand in front of the shrine.

Itachi was barely listening as the priest announced their marriage to the Gods, a ritual he found himself not needing to pay much of his attention. And soon, they were instructed to sit in front of the shrine as three sake cups were placed in front of them, each one increasing in size.

There was a slight chatter outside as the guests gathered around the open pavilion as the priest brought out a golden long handled kettle like thing filled with what they knew was sake.

Itachi was instructed to pick up the smallest cup first, holding it up face level as the priest poured honey sake in it three times. Itachi brought it down to his face and slowly tipping it back in his mouth before putting it back down. The sake was sweet and strong as it burned its way down his throat and he nervously took a glance at the largest cup.

Next it was handed to Sakura as she repeated his previous actions, holding it face level as the sake was poured before daintily sipping it down and then they moved to the next cup, and then the last.

But throughout the whole ceremony, not once did Itachi throw a reassuring glance toward the pinkette. More like he wasn't able to.

Throughout his childhood, Itachi's mother has talked about her own wedding many times to him, and each time she has stressed the importance of keeping one's whole focus on the ceremony and the gods they were praying to. Sneaking glances or touches, even innocent, was frowned upon, especially in their clan.

Their marriage is already controversial enough without adding fuel to the fire. They can manage a few hours.

"We will now move on to the next ceremony." The priest announced, motioning the couple to stand up. Digging inside his memory for information, Itachi remembered which ceremony it was. And judging the way Sakura was rummaging inside her long sleeves, she knew as well. The offering ceremony was unique to the Uchiha clan, not usually done in any other traditional wedding in Konoha.

"You may present you offering." The priest spoke to the pinkette as she brought out something, a jade comb. Putting it between the folds of a white cloth, Sakura pressed it flat between her palms in front of her chest, closing her eyes and bowing her head in prayer.

Then she turned toward Itachi, looking at him expectantly and he brought his hands to clasp her closed hand between his palm and looking deep in her eyes, accepting the comb from her as a token of his words. Accepting the comb from the bride shows his future wife and the attendees his determination and willingness to make this marriage work.

He has already promised her a hundred times that he would do everything to make this marriage work. To make them work.

Then they turned around again as Itachi stepped forward to place the wrapped comb in front of the shrine. The priest handed him a scroll, giving him a nod to start to start reading it out aloud.

It was the vows read out loud, not to each other but to the Gods that were overseeing their union.

He unfolded the scroll, spreading it out in his arms to read it clearly as Sakura sidled up forward to stand next to him.

On this great day, before the Ookami, we are sincerely thankful for this ceremony.

Itachi's voice rang loud and clear throughout the silent compound, his eyes fixed forward and Sakura's head bowed in respect.

Going forward, we vow to love each other, care for each other, trust each other, share the good times and the bad, and swear that this will stay unchanged throughout our lifetimes until the end of our days.

He took a breath before self announcing their new titles, "Otto." Sakura spoke up next to him, looking up at the shrine, "Tsuma."

'Husband and wife' is what they were now, and Itachi felt his heart soaring to new heights as he put the closed scroll back down.

The two maidens stepped forward to hold out a spring from a flowering evergreen tree, giving one tamagushi to each of them. Itachi and Sakura held it up in front of them to say their prayers. The tamagushi are said to carry their deepest desires to the Gods, and he sure hoped they did.

'Let this be it.' He prayed to whatever God was listening, 'Let us be the last forever.'

Saying one last prayer, they put the spring down before bowing waist down and clapping two times with their arms straight.

And one last thing…

The maiden came forward to stand in front of the couple, a plush cushion in her arms with two shiny rings sitting atop. Itachi took the one he scourged the whole jewel market for, a shiny gold with a clear diamond sitting daintily in the middle, flanked by rubies like leaves.

He grasped the soft hand, sliding the ring on the ring finger before she did the same for him and it was the first time seeing the ring she picked out for him. A solid band of gold, diamond and ruby engraved on it in similar fashion to hers.

As they held their ringed hands and the priest announced them as the husband and wife, deafening cheer rose up from the younger audience, the Konoha twelve.

Sakura's wide smile was so radiant and happy that Itachi felt his heart melting as he gazed upon her, intertwining their finger. The servers brought out trays upon trays of sake for the guests to join the couple in their celebration, giving them a moment to themselves where he could lean in close and whisper his words.

In the loud cheer that protected his words from being overheard, he whispered the vows in her ears that he wanted to say to her, and would repeat to the stars for the rest of his life.

With the God and the heavens as my witness,

I give you my heart, my soul, my life.

With the fire and the earth as a witness to my words,

I take you as my wife, my lover, and my partner.

With the rest of my days as a token,

I vow to love, to cherish, and to protect my love,

And make do of my words, until death does us apart.