A/N: As I'm currently working on more than one story, I almost didn't want to post this. However, I also said I was currently working on this, so I'm going to post it anyways and hopefully everyone enjoys it. It's pretty much your typical drama with a dash of romance and action!
I'm not quite sure where I got the plot of this story from, and quite frankly, I was a bit skittish about it. Maybe I've been watching too much TV, who really knows. But, I like it and I plan to stick with it. I hope I finish this in the next six months if I can.
I hope to get plenty of reviews. I love hearing from people, it helps me fix what I'm doing wrong and it shows me that people enjoy this and it motivates me to continue. So, I hope you, as the reader, enjoy!
~~~000~~~
Little Bird
Chapter One
"I suppose I could see how things turned out this way. I, living in this place, with my son, of course I didn't really want it to become like this. I was only supposed to be perfect, the perfect tool for my family to control. I wasn't supposed to end up in this place…"
~~~000~~~
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
"Hello..?" A sleepy voice answered.
"Sakura-san, we need you down at the bar, it's getting busy, and one bartender won't be enough for tonight. We'll pay you over time." Haruno Sakura sighed.
"Alright… I'll be there in about ten minutes…" The pink-haired woman sat up from her bed. She turned to see her adorably cute son, Kyo, sleeping soundly next to her.
Haruno Kyo, five years old, definitely took after his mother, pale skin, soft features, green eyes, that couldn't be seen due to them being closed. The only thing different was the hair. His midnight locks he had inherited from his useless father, she cringed at the thought of her ex-boyfriend. Not wanting to remember it, she pushed it far from her mind.
The twenty-five year old, got up and moved to the bathroom. She knew she'd have to look a little decent, even if it would be dark. Sakura stared at herself. Pale milky-white skin. Pink waist-length hair. Beautiful green eyes. She was definitely a beauty, or at least, that's what people said. She didn't believe any of it. She knew better, knew better than anyone else, she wouldn't be deceived by anyone again.
She splashed water on her face, and looked back at herself. She had dark circles under her eyes from working on an unstable schedule. She turned around and walked out of the bathroom, she didn't care if she wore make-up or not.
Sakura made her way to her closet, and pulled out a loose white button up shirt and her black skinny jeans. She lazily pulled off her t-shirt she was wearing and changed, walked over to her son and kissed him on the head. Sakura smiled and grabbed her bag, a ponytail and walked out of her apartment.
Sakura took a couple steps to her left before knocking on a white door, belonging to her neighbor. She only waited a few minutes when an older woman, maybe in her early forties late thirties, looked at her. She was a kind woman, plump with brown hair and loving brown eyes. Her husband was behind her. He was tall with dark hair, a bit of gray here and there.
"Sakura-chan, dear, what's this so late in the evening?" The woman spoke, then looking at her uniform, and frowned. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kasumi-san, Mr. Kasumi-san, could you watch Kyo for me…" Sakura asked with a sadden smile. Mrs. Kasumi returned her sad smile with a yes, and Sakura bowed. Sakura's shoulder sagged as she turned and walked down the hall. Mr. and Mrs. Kasumi watched her till she turned the corner and was out of site.
She stood in front of the elevators, waiting for it to open when her other neighbor, a man whom she mistook as a woman, Haku, smiled at her. She smiled back.
They both walked into the elevator and Sakura pushed the ground floor button. "Good evening, Sakura-san." Haku broke the silence. She looked over at him. "Hello."
"Where're you going so late?" Haku asked politely. Sakura pushed her hair behind her ear.
"Work. It seems like they can't function without me." She half joked. He smiled and nodded. "What about you?" Sakura asked, Haku sighed.
"Zabuza drank himself stupid, again, so I have to go get him," Sakura giggled. Haku frowned. "Sorry." Sakura apologized. The elevator doors opened and they both walked out. Sakura headed for her car and Haku his.
It took Sakura five minutes to drive to Red Cloud, the bar she's currently working at, and walked in. The music, lights, and noisy people were everywhere. Her manager, Zetsu, walked over to her.
Zetsu was an interesting character, or at least to Sakura he was. He was tall, with green hair, strange yellow colored eyes, and he also had a split personality, at one time he'd be happy and polite, the next harsh and rude, and because of his spilt personality, Sakura had found herself fascinated by him.
"We're terribly sorry we had to call you here so late. Just get to work." Zetsu said and Sakura gave him a small smile. "It's alright, Zetsu-san, I wasn't really doing anything exciting anyways." He nodded, and the two made their way through the busy and crowded dance floor to the bar. Sakura headed behind the counter and started taking orders.
It hadn't always been like this. Haruno Sakura, ex-doctor at Tokyo Hospital, one of the greatest doctors in Japan. Star in her studies and skill, working as a bartender, making drinks for shitty people who just got off work or were just heavy drinkers. Listening to their shitty life stories when they were too hammered to shut up, being asked to call a taxi for others. She didn't like talking about why she quit being a doctor and nobody brought it up.
"Hey, pinky, where's my beer?!" A middle aged man yelled down the bar at Sakura, she turned and looked at him.
He was average height, a little chubbier than most, with a balding head and dark skin, probably from working in concretion. He had a small scar over his eyebrow and a tattoo on his bicep; she couldn't make out what it said.
"Coming right up, sir," she responded and pulled a beer out from the iced barrel and popped the cap off. She walked over and handed it to him. She just wasn't in a good mood today. She felt like quitting her job, moving to another city, but with Kyo in preschool and having friends, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"It's gonna be a long night," Sakura thought.
~~~000~~~
It was almost closing time, everyone had mostly left or was leaving, and Sakura was finishing a couple glasses that needed to be cleaned and put away, when a man sat right in front of her. She looked up and dropped the glass she was holding. It hit the floor with a smash. Her body went ice cold.
She thought she'd never see this man again. Not after so many years, not after graduating from high school, not after college, not after moving to a different city, not after she quit talking with her friends or family… She thought she'd finally left her old life behind. Not to see any of them again, not until tonight. Not until the man she hadn't seen after years of running.
Uchiha Itachi looked up at the sound of shattering glass only to have a look of surprise appear on his face. "Haruno?" The sound of her name had startled her, she wanted to turn and run, run as far as her small legs could carry her.
"Haruno Sakura, right?" Itachi had remembered her. Beautiful in every detail, smarter than anyone he'd ever met, maybe even a little smarter than him (though, he'd never admit it out loud), and she was always bright and shining. What was she doing here? In a bar ran by gangsters, whom he was a part of. She ignored his question and began to clean up the broken glass.
She finished cleaning up the glass and stood back up. She seemed pale and she wouldn't look Itachi in the eye. "What are you doing here, Haruno?" Again, she ignored his question. She only pulled out another glass and said, "What can I get you, sir?" So, she wanted to play it that way…
"Whiskey." He answered; Sakura turned, grabbed the whiskey, and poured his glass.
"Hn." Itachi said, and Sakura turned her back to him. She wanted to get the hell outta there as soon as possible. "So, Haruno-"
"Itachi, boss wants to speak to you." Zetsu had come to her rescue, but of course, he didn't know that. Sakura almost sighed in relief.
"Hn… Alright, we shall speak again." Zetsu gave them a confused look, and Itachi walked off.
"Sakura-san, are you alright?" She stiffened, but smiled at him.
"Of course, I'm just tired, that's all." This couldn't possibly go well. She needed to get out of here before she suffocated from the stress.
"Are you sure? She said she was just tired. I know that, but I was just making sure. Whatever." Zetsu finished arguing with himself, "Well, that's all for tonight, you can head home, Sakura-san." Sakura nodded, grabbed her stuff and was out the door.
Sakura half walked half ran to her car. She knew this was bad. Real bad. If her family found her and discovered Kyo… If she was forced back to the life she left… She didn't even want to begin to think about it.
~~~000~~~
Uchiha Itachi, thirty-one years old, tall, pale, devilishly handsome, long black hair always in a low ponytail, was sitting at his boss' bar thinking about a very beautiful Haruno Sakura. She had grown up beautifully, however her face held a dark expression, her shoulders were hunched over, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She lost a lot of weight as well. She didn't hold herself with confidence as he had remembered. She was tense when he was talking to her. He could tell she was tired and stressed.
"Zetsu, when did the pink-haired bartender start working here? I do not recall seeing her." He asked the man standing in front of him; fill a glass of whatever alcohol he'd grabbed.
"You mean Sakura-san? I'd have to say… Two or three weeks ago. Why?" Itachi nodded and he slightly frowned. "What has you troubled, Itachi?"
"It's nothing. She just interests me, that's all." Zetsu nodded.
"Ah, yes, Sakura-san is very interesting, not really. She doesn't talk about herself, and I don't exactly understand why she's here. Who cares. She's very smart and beautiful, she could be a model or scientist, yet she works here. At a bar ran by gangsters." Itachi nodded and got up.
"Leaving, Itachi?" He nodded again, and said goodbye to Zetsu. Itachi made his way to the door, but stopped and turned to look over at Zetsu.
"Zetsu… Could you look into her, something's not right about her." And, with that Itachi left.
"I wonder what's made him so interested… Who knows."
Itachi walked down the dark sidewalk. His head filled with Sakura and why she could possibly be here. The last he'd heard, she was one of the best doctors they have at Tokyo Hospital, coming from a rich family, and once had a thing with Sasuke, his little brother.
'So, why is she here?!' Itachi had never been one to confuse easily. Something definitely wasn't right, and he was going to find out what.
Itachi stopped in front of his car. He tapped the top of his car, still wondering about the mysterious Haruno Sakura. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He got into his car and pulled a cigarette box from his pocket. He lit one up.
'So… Haruno Sakura's working in a club as a bartender… Would she be working even if she's a doctor? She's got some big bucks from what I've heard from Sasuke… Then why is she…' He blew out smoke from his cigarette and started his car.
The Uchiha pulled up to an expensive looking apartment building and got out of his car. He had moved into his luxurious apartment years ago, when he had moved out of the Uchiha main house, after finishing college.
The inside was expensive to say the least. The floors of the main lobby were of marble, the walls were painted a soft cream, and the furniture matched perfectly. The small sofas and chairs were cream colored with dark, almost black, brown tables and coffee tables. The main desk was made of marble and the woman sitting behind it blushed as the handsome man walked in and headed for the elevators. Being a man of money, he lived in a penthouse on the top floor of the building. He patiently waited for the elevator to ding before stepping out and walking to the front of his apartment's door.
He walked into his clean and neatly tidied apartment. He flipped the lights on and looked around his living room, spotting his laptop on his glass toped coffee table. He walked on his darkened hard wood floors and sat down on one of his black leathered chairs, grabbing his laptop from its current spot.
He opened it, watching it start up and bring him to his desktop. His desktop had a field with a tornado in the background as his picture. He moved his mouse over to the internet browser and doubled clicked. He waited a mere couple of seconds for it to pop up, before typing into the Google search bar at the top. His search: Haruno Sakura. A few articles popped up and he clicked on one.
Haruno Sakura, twenty years old, top medical doctor of her age. Already second in command—Beside, Doctor Tsunade, herself, had recently quit her job and had disappeared off the grid. People are a gasped to this strange behavior of Doctor Haruno.
We've chatted with the family and friends of Haruno, but they are just as surprised of this as her co-workers and respected officials.
"This has definitely been a shocking discovery when we found all of her stuff packed and gone when we arrived home from a business trip a week after she had quit her job." Says Mrs. Haruno, mother of Doctor Haruno.
"We always assumed she was sick when she didn't come to work for a couple days, then we later discovered she'd quit when Doctor Tsunade told us all in a meeting." A co-worker and friend, Yamanaka Ino, reported.
"We all miss Sakura-chan, and we hope she'll come back to us soon." Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno's best friend since elementary school told us.
"I have no idea where she'd go… I know we're in a relationship, but I didn't notice anything. I love her and I don't know why she'd do this." Uchiha Sasuke, boyfriend of Haruno since high school.
Whatever the issue with one of our top doctors has her family and friends wish she would come back, missing their daughter and friend terribly.
The article went on and on about what a crashing blow it took to the hospital and how everyone wants Haruno back soon. Itachi's eyebrows were raised at his new discovery.
'Well, I'll have to ask Zetsu for her work schedule and have a talk with her.' Itachi thought, shutting his computer and moving to his bedroom to get some sleep for his meeting tomorrow.