He took his phone and dialed a number so familiar, it'd be unnecessary to go through the contact list. Such a long list (unfortunately). With his job, connections were key. He'd love to delete all these numbers and names of people whose faces he couldn't be bothered to remember. Just keeping those he didn't need to keep, those he wouldn't forget even if he tried. But alas, connections were everything in his field.
It went to voice-mail. Sigh. Dial again. Please pick up.
"Hello?"
"Sakura...I woke you up"
"Yes. You did"
Ouch. He winced. Her tone promised that if they were in the same space, she'd smack him on the head. Hard.
"I'm sorry... but would you mind me spending the night?"
"...you have a key don't you?"
Again that tone. "Yes..?"
Beep.
She hung up.
He sighed but smiled nonetheless and made his way to her apartment. He knew how she valued her sleep, this attitude was to be expected. As he approached his destination, he noticed his dear love's next door neighbor. He parked and exited his car, giving her a small polite nod. She responded with the same expression of complete distaste and disapproval that she gave him when they first met. You see, the old woman was - according to Sakura- very kind and would often offer her, and other people she liked, homemade sweets that tasted heavenly. It seemed he wasn't part of those people. In fact she'd verbally expressed her dislike for him when Sakura introduced them (something along the lines of "you're actually sticking with some half ass snob, you're funeral"). He was quite taken aback by this as he was generally well liked by the elderly. But oh well, it couldn't be helped.
He walked up the stairs leading to her door and entered. Taking off his shoes and coat to leave at the entrance, he went to the kitchen for glass of water and allowed himself to reminisce about the fist time he'd cooked here. He remembered how colorful her cooking utensils were, from pots and pans to the cutting board. Even the set of knives had colorful handles. Apparently it made cooking more fun. He chuckled and shook his head at her childishness, but he wouldn't want it any other way. She was perfect the way she was.
He walked through the living room, enjoying how soft her pastel pink carpet felt under his feet, locked the sliding doors (she always forgot) and drew the curtains shut. He loved her living room. Everything was soft, not counting the tables and television. The carpet that extended throughout the whole room, the black velvet couch and arm chairs. The decor was a simple black and white with little hints of colors here and there. He truly loved her place. It was warm and cosy, it was his second home, it was her.
He walked into the corridor, passing the guest room and bathroom across it. Heading straight to his sleeping beauty. He entered her bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him, walked towards her dresser and opened the drawer she'd emptied out just for him. He took a white tee and grey sweatpants out which he put on with graceful speed, before getting into bed cautious to not wake her, yet again. As soon as his head hit the pellow he felt her roll and snuggle up to him, which caused him to shift and pull her closer.
"So what happened?" He heard her mumble into his shirt.
"Hm?"
"Don't act dumb, the only times you call at ungodly hours to ASK if you can sleep over are when something bad happened at home. What was it?"
He sighed. There was no point in hiding it. She just knew him too damn well.
"I got in an argument with my father"
"So? That's like every other week"
"This one was more...heated"
"Mm...what about"
"Hm?"
"The argument what was it about?"
"...Sasuke"
He felt her shift a little so she could look at him. She had a concerned look on her face, indicating that she had an idea of what caused the argument. See, about a week ago his beloved little brother moved in with his boyfriend/best friend, Naruto. Father wasn't exactly pleased about the whole thing since he never approved of their relationship in the first place. And the announcement of the move was..well, unforseen.
He was leaning against the wall as he took small sips of his drink, somewhat listening to the conversation Sakura was having with his mother. His father sat at the table reading the newspaper (who even reads those anymore). He was about to tell his girlfriend (again) that they needed to go soon when his brother came down the stairs with a couple of suitcases. "Did you really plan a trip without me knowing? I thought we were bffs" He heard Sakura said with a mock pout, followed by a giggle. "Are you going somewhere brother?" He eyed the many suitcases that probably carried his entire wardrobe. "I'm moving out" He answered sounding a little between annoyed and content. "Oh, you already found a place to stay sweetie" It seemed he'd already informed their mother about this. "Yea. Naruto asked me to move in." At that Itachi smirked. You could just heard the smug happiness in his tone. And the way he had looked at their father while saying it, almost as if to spite him. "Oh! Do you know what this means!?" She paused, excitingly clapping her hands after moving a pink strand out of her face. "We're having a party!" "No." Itachi almost laughed (almost) at the dejected look on his lovers face. He marveled at how easily his brother could reject her even with such an adorable shine to her eyes. He could never say no when she did that. "Ehhh...ok then a small get together" "No. Whenever you throw a 'small get together'" He emphasized with air quotes "it always turns into some big party" "It won't this time" she exclaimed, determined to convince him to believe her. But it didn't seem to work. His little brother regarded her with complete disbelief. "It won't!" She repeated, this time moving closer to him and grabbing both his hands. He could've sworn that there were stars in her eyes like an anime character of some kind. Sasuke sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes when she hugged him with a loud "YAY!"
When Sasuke came to visit today, their father voiced his disappointment in his choice of partner. This had angered Itachi more than anything else his father had ever said.
"What exactly did he say?" Sakura asked softly but he could tell that she was displeased.
He went on to explain that his father wanted his brother to find a female partner not a male. He'd even used his relationship with Sakura as an example and that pissed him off. Itachi always hated it when his father pushed Sasuke to be like him or better then him. He always blamed that for their broken bond. He used to be so close to his little brother, and now they barely ever spoke.
"Tachi.. you know Sasuke doesn't hate you"
"Hn"
"OK so maybe there's a little rivalry but..that was back in high school when he wanted to impress Fugeku-san, but I honestly don't think he cares about that anymore. And Sasuke barely speaks to anyone in general, that's just how he is. You know that."
"Hn"
"And don't forget that cute little moment you two had last week." She squealed a little and snuggled closer to him.
"Tachi-chan why don't you help your brother with his bags, Sakura-chan and I have to think of a cake for the get together" his mother told him before taking his lover's hand and pulling her to the kitchen. "It's gonna be a narusasu themed cake!" "A what?" Sasuke asked lolling slightly confused. "Narusasu...you know, Naruto and Sasuke put together." Itachi watched his bother turn away from Sakura, muttering something about how stupid the whole idea was, pick up a couple of bags and make his way to the door, which he followed suit. When they finally got all the suitcases in the trunk he looked at Sasuke and couldn't help the tiny upward tilt of his lips.
"You seem happy" He said to his brother in his usual soft tone. "I am" Sasuke responded with an equally rare smile. Itachi rested a hand on his shoulder (the closest an Uchiha could ever get to hugging) before watching him get in the car and drive away.
"Aa...you saw that"
"Of course! Now quit worrying and go to sleep" she gave him a small peck and dozed off. He tightened his hold around her and let out a content sigh.