A/N: This is the first fanfiction I've written in a while, and my first attempt at a multi-chaptered one. Please be kind and leave some comments and/or criticism! (Also, I haven't really decided what the pairing is. If you have a preference or a comment about it, please leave a review!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, no matter how much I wish I did.

Chapter 1

She could feel the path of her tears running down her face, over the curve of her nose, and ending on the pillow, damping the material. It was over. It was really over. How did this even happen? Everything was fine yesterday and suddenly with just a click nothing's the same anymore. Her trembling figure unfurled on the single bed, her mind overflowing with fragments of memories.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

She stared at her phone, shocked that she received a reply from the last person in the world she'd thought would remember her.

'Sorry, it's my ID and I'll need it.'

It didn't even sink in that he refused her request; what mattered was the fact that he replied. He replied, after a year of no contact. It would've been an exaggeration to say she was crying but it would be pretty close to how she felt right now. She didn't realize her past feelings for him ran this deep.

Should I reply?

Yes.

'No problem. Thanks anyway.'

That one reply was what started it all. Again.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

'Hey, since it's Tuesday, wanna go catch a movie? Since last time our plan wasn't so successful..'

The first… hangout? Date? Date. Hell yes she wanted to go.

A week ago, they had made plans to watch a movie, but closer to the day, they found out it had already been removed from the theatres and replaced with an extremely popular movie that took up four theatres on its own. Stupid Harry Potter.

Ever since that fateful message a month ago, she and Itachi—the man that she had feelings for since the beginning—had a regular texting relationship. They told each other about their days and about the interesting things happening in their lives, becoming each other's small confidant and the first person they wanted to share anything with.

Sakura met Itachi when she was in high school and he was introduced as her best friend's older brother. The moment she laid her eyes on him, she knew that all her future boyfriends would be compared to this unearthly person in front of her. He had the height, perfect hair and wrinkles that somehow made him better looking than not. And his eyes, unlike Sasuke's that were more dark brown than not, were so dark that she never realized there was a slight red tinge to them until they walked into the courtyard and she saw them from the perfect angle in the sunlight by chance. Guess he got all the genes.

After that, she had only caught glimpses of him through the crowded hallways. On the rare occasions they made eye contact, he would nod his acknowledgement to her and she would do the same in return. And that was it, the extent of his and her relationship.

But one day after a date gone badly, he had seen her and come over to where she was sitting in a quaint coffee shop. For the first time since she met him years ago, they had made conversation. She was surprised he could be so charming and funny when all Sasuke had told her about him was that he was a perfect scholar, a robot; he was head of class, president of the student council and basketball captain, which was quite a feat. Now that she thought about it, it might've been because his parents favored his brother over him.

After she ordered another latte—one that he paid for—they had stayed until closing. She stood up and thanked him for the company; he really had made her day that much better. Taking a few steps, she had almost made it to the door when he called out.

"Let me drive you home."

And so, he drove her home, in his black Audi. Well-off family, good genes, and a good brain. Some people just have everything don't they.

A gentleman through and through, he parked in her driveway and walked her up the front steps to her door. They stood there for a minute, bathing in the silence. There was no tension but she still tried to think of something to say. Before she could force anything out, he spoke, in the quiet, smooth voice of his.

"You're not what I thought you'd be like, Sakura. And I'm rarely wrong."

She gave him what she thought was a coy smile to hide the quickening of her heartbeat, hoping he couldn't read her as well as she thought he could.

"I'm just full of surprises aren't I?" she laughed.

"Indeed."

They stood for a few more seconds in silence until he spoke a quiet "Goodnight, Sakura" and turned to leave. Unconsciously, she reached out and lightly tugged on his sleeve. When he turned around, she kissed him on the cheek and let go.

"Thanks for the ride, Itachi. Goodnight."

And she knew then that Uchiha Itachi meant more to her than just her best friend's older brother.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A year later, Sakura received a call from an unknown number. She expected it to stop after a few seconds, believing it to be someone calling the wrong number, but when it kept ringing she decided to pick up. She has never had any prank callers and there was the occasional stranger calling her by accident—she never picked those up after the first time she did and it was a drunken man on the other end. So she didn't know what made her pick up this time; maybe it was the fact that this person was insistent; maybe it was the odd hour (who calls at two in the morning? Well, other than Naruto that is), maybe it was the feeling that she had seen this number before, and maybe, just maybe, she felt it was more than chance that she was still up due to an assignment for her phil class. She was not the type to leave her things for last minute but circumstances haven't been kind on her this week.

She had never been so glad to go with her heart instead of her head.

"Hello?"

"Sakura?"

It was him. Uchiha Itachi was calling her in the middle of the night—for who knows why, but he was calling her.

"Yes?"

"It's Itachi."

"I know." I would recognize your voice anywhere.

"Are you busy right now?"

She glanced at the empty document save the title on her laptop screen.

"Nope, not at all. What's up?"

That night was the first of many that Sakura stayed up all night, by chance, for an almost stranger, for the almost stranger that slowly stole her heart.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Two years later, Itachi still called, and she still answered.

Sakura knew it was hard being him. She remembered when he was still in high school; all the girls had a crush on him, whether it was because he was good looking, or smart or because he was an Uchiha, which automatically put him in the desirable category. She knew because at one point she was one of them, though she'd like to think that she liked him for reasons deeper than the fact that she found him attractive. Now she was twenty and he was twenty-three, and things still haven't changed. Even in university, this guy has girls chasing after him from every possible angle. She shook her head, laughing to herself.

From his tone and his words Sakura could tell he really liked this girl. He seemed distraught, and for once, didn't sound like he knew what he could do to fix this. Lucky girl…

Itachi has had his share of girlfriends, maybe even lovers. Sakura knew. And every single time he did, Sakura felt a little pain at the fact that Itachi now had someone to focus his attention on, to shower his gifts and surprises, instead of her. Sakura, whom he calls at least once a week. Sakura, whom he spills his heart's deepest secrets to. Sakura, who was always there for him when he needed her. And in turn, Itachi was there for her, during her breakups, during her depression after her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis and passed away shortly after, and even during her fight with Sasuke, he sided with her, telling her Sasuke was an idiot for letting his feelings come between their friendship. Little did Itachi know that he was the cause for Sakura rejecting his little brother.

She supposed that there were multiple barriers that she had to get through before he even considered dating her; 1. She was three years younger, 2. She was his little brother's best friend, 3. Thus she was his little sister as well. And perhaps she knew just a bit too much about his personal life. But that wasn't her fault.

She was brought back from her thoughts when Itachi called her name.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"…you didn't hear a thing I said did you."

"Ehehe.."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Of course Sakura didn't let her feelings for Itachi stop her from testing the other fish in the sea. There wasn't a shortage of guys that were attracted to her and occasionally she was interested in them enough to start dating them. There were even a few guys that were close enough for her to say she loved them, but never had they come close to what she felt for Itachi.

When they ended badly, the first one Sakura called was Itachi. Not Sasuke. Not Naruto. Not even Ino. Itachi—which was ironic, as he had unintentionally become the reason she broke up with anyone.

"Sakura?"

"I-Itachi.." she managed to say in between her sniffles.

"What's wrong? Did what's-his-face do something?"

"There's i-isn't a what's-his-f-face anym-more. We're done.."

"I'm so sorry." She could almost hear him frown, if that were possible. She knew that anyone that hurt her would be at the top of his hit list; he did care for her, though she wished it was in another form.

"It's o-o-k-kay, I had a feeling it was c-coming." Especially when I thought of Itachi instead of him when we were in bed..

"Don't worry, there are other fish in the sea."

No, there was really only one. And he was a piranha.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The following year, there was not a peep from Itachi. No calls in the middle of the night, no text messages from him, and not even a sight of him when Sakura went over to Sasuke's. She made sure to pretend to be looking at the paintings or the trinkets Sasuke's parents had around the house whenever she was over to hide the fact that she was actually looking any signs of long, silky black hair, or dark red eyes. Sasuke never seemed to notice, and even if he did he didn't mention anything to her. She offhandedly wondered whether or not Sasuke knew about her relationship with his brother, but thought better than to ask considering only a while ago Sasuke and Sakura had what everyone dubbed "the debacle".

For several months after they had lost all contact, Sakura thought of nothing but him. Where was he? Why was he avoiding her? She contemplated an endless amount of questions, and that was how she got through most of second year at university.

And finally, when she thought that the Itachi-phase was ending, something knocks that option out the window.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey, have you started the that research paper for biochem yet?" Ino asked.

"Nope, haven't even been able to find a topic yet."

"Seriously? It's due in two weeks, you know."

"Yup, I know." She nods, chuckling. "I probably knew that better than you."

"I really don't understand how out of the two of us, you're the smart one. It's not fair that you spend so little time on assignments and get a better grade than I do."

Sakura laughed loudly now. "Too bad, it's not my fault I have eidetic memory."

They continued their conversation as they walked out of the lecture hall to the student union building. Ino chattered on, whining about Sakura's intellectual capabilities, while Sakura found her mind drifting and ignoring the loud blonde she called her friend.

That stupid, stupid assignment. Of course Sakura wasn't the kind of person to leave assignments for later, but this one was an exception. Sakura had long since figured out the structure, the topic and even the number of pages for her research paper, but she had one major problem.

For the assignment, Sakura was planning on researching how the bacteria in the human body were affected if humans ingested the wrong antibiotics. She thought it was a good topic as it was also related to what she wanted to do in the future—a doctor—and would be helpful in the medical field. However, after searching most of the science libraries on campus, she realized there were very little books with enough information for her to use in her paper. Thus, she came to the conclusion that she most likely had to use the med library to find enough resources for this assignment to be completed.

Unlike other buildings, the med building required a swipe card to enter the building, and even if she managed to get in, the library used a different card to check out books. So she had to either steal it (pfft, as if), or she could ask someone to help her. And she only knew one person in medicine.

Itachi.

She inwardly groaned. How could I possibly have thought I was done with that guy? She couldn't conclude whether or not she was lucky that he was still in the last year of medical school so she could ask him, or if that meant she was unlucky since now that she knew she had this resource, she had to ask him. Or risk failing this assignment. And Haruno Sakura never, under any circumstances, failed anything school-related.

And that was why she was sitting on her bed, staring at her phone. The screen was open to a message, with the receiver filled in as "Uchiha Itachi." The message had already been typed, and the only thing left was to press send. Sakura had been at this stage for the last 5 minutes.

I am really going to do this.

No, it didn't matter that she hasn't talked to him in a year. Or that she still had latent feelings for him after all these years. It didn't even matter that she had texted him a few months ago to ask how he doing (she sent a very articulate "yoooo") and he failed to reply, thus making her feel she was an insignificant figure in his life.

Regardless, she was really going to do it.

Her fingers inched its way from her lap to the send button on her phone. Taking a deep breath, she applied some pressure. There was a beep tone from the phone, and she exhaled. Well, now all I can do is wait.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

And he did reply. She didn't know what she would've done if he didn't. In addition to finishing her assignment and getting an A+ on it, she had her old friend back. Itachi was back.

In fact he was outside her house now.

"Sh*t!" she exclaimed loudly as she stubbed her toe on the corner of her bed as she scrambled around her room to grab her jeggings from her vanity. Today was the day, the date. And since she had made the plans in the morning til now in the evening, it had slipped her mind. How does that even happen?

After pulling her pants on, she checked herself in the full length mirror next to the vanity. Hair? Ok. Face? Good. Underwear or bra sticking out? No. Ready-to-go.

Since it was a movie date, she decided to go with something comfortable that she could spend hours sitting in. A pair of blue jeggings, a white v-neck shirt with a flowery design on the front and a peppered gray American Apparel jacket.

Various thoughts raced through her mind as she grabbed her keys and fast-walked out the front door.

What if he doesn't like me as a friend anymore? What if I'm so unattractive that he's just gonna cancel on the spot? Oh my god, what if I smell so bad he feels like puking during the movies? That'll be awkward… Sh*t, what if it's just gonna be awkward, period?!

Sakura stopped abruptly in her steps. There he was, standing next to his black Audi. She walked up to him, stopping when she was standing right in front of him, and looked into his dark red eyes, the eyes that she's missed. I wonder if the shade of his eyes is the reason why my favorite color's red..

"Hey."

She smiled. "Hey."

They spent the next few minutes just observing each other. She watched his eyes as they roved down her figure, starting from her hair, her face and ending at her feet, then back up to her eyes again. This made her face slightly pink and she felt her face warm up before she noticed something.

"Hey, you cut your hair!"

Sakura did not think it was possible for him to be even more attractive than before but she'd been proven wrong. The long ponytail no longer fell over his shoulder. Now his hair had been cut so that the longest strand barely reached his chin, and he also had shorter bangs that covered most of his forehead and longer ones that fell around his face.

He rolled his eyes upward as he reached a hand to touch his short bangs. "Yeah, I thought the long hair was too unprofessional, even tied up."

That's when she noticed what he was wearing—a sleek black suit (Prada she believed), with a solid light blue dress shirt and dress shoes, sans the vest and tie.

Damn…

And then Sakura realized what that meant, as she looked down at her own outfit and back to him. He seemed to do the same, and started chuckling. She laughed.

"Well, don't complain to me if you're uncomfortable the entire time."

"At least I'll look classy at the theatres," he replied back nonchalantly.

They smiled at each other.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After a trip to Seattle with a few of his friends, several hiking and water park trips, countless dinners, and one kiss, she and Itachi started dating. It was a new season, a new school year, and a new beginning.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey did you ever get a text from me about a year ago?"

"Which one?"

"Yooo."

"… Oh, so that really was from you."

"..What?"

"I thought it was one from one of your friends who stole your phone and decided to randomly text me."

"…"

"Sorry."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Come on slowpoke!"

"…"

"Are you mad?"

"…"

".. or are you just scared you'll fall on your butt."

"Uchihas are dignified beings who do not, as you put it, 'fall on their butts'."

"Oh, you big baby."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Sakura, are you sure you wouldn't like some coffee right about now?"

"Do I LOOK like what I freaking need is coffee right now?!"

"… Yes…"

"Well no. I don't. So get the f*ck out."

"… well I'm going to feed you some anyway."

"mmhph—AAH HOLY—"

"By the way—"

"IT'S BURNING."

"… yeah that."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Sakura entered Itachi's car after a long day at work, she caught a whiff of something. She strapped herself in, trying to figure out exactly what it was as Itachi lighted the ignition and started to drive out of the parking lot.

"Hey.."

"Hmm?"

"..What's that weird smell?"

She caught Itachi flinching slightly as she turned to inspect the source of the scent.

A bouquet.

She turned to look at him, and sighed before smiling.

"Oh you…"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey, I'm going to Japan."

"..what?"

"I got accepted, so I'm going to URC. It's at Waseda this year."

"No way.. actually, yes way. Wow! Congratulations!"

"I'll also be going to Taiwan and Hong Kong."

"For what?"

"Just for fun."

"… Well expect to be single when you get back."

"…"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Three years. That's how long happiness lasted in Haruno Sakura's life.

She rolled over onto her right side, glancing at her cell. From the corner of her eye, she could see the open email message.

'Hey, I'm sorry..'