AN: Happy Fluff Friday, lovelies! Here's a scene from the Star Wars AU ItaSaku story I played with several weeks ago for Smut Monday. This is a scene from when they were young. I aimed for fluffy… I tried!
Ages:
Kakashi, Asuma: 23
Itachi: 14
Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto: 9
"Naruto!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's loose chestnut-coloured Initiate robe sleeve, but he yanked his arm away, glaring at their fellow Academy student.
"You really haven't, have you? You're so busy being perfect you've never done anything risky, have you, Teme?" Sneered Naruto as Sasuke came to stop ahead of them on the path outside the speeder training track. "You can practice as perfectly as you want, but you still can't channel the Force the way Sakura can, and you're only barely as sensitive to it as I am. Face it, your stupid Order pedigree can't compete because you're too scared to risk facing something going wrong!"
"What did you say," Sasuke demanded, glaring at Naruto from under his dome-shaped helmet.
"I said you're a wuss," said Naruto, jay-fisher blue eyes sharp and taunting.
"Sasuke, don't listen to him. Naruto, stop mocking Sasuke," pleaded Sakura, stepping between them.
Unfortunately, luck was not on her side that day as another group of Initiates sauntered past and overheard Naruto's jab.
"The blond Wookie has a point!" Laughed one.
"Yeah, Sasuke has performance issues every time we get to the simulator!" Called another, and the entire group fell apart laughing.
Beneath his pale complexion, Sakura saw the tension in Sasuke's shoulders, and watched as two high points of colour appeared on his cheeks.
"I'll show you who's a wuss," he snapped at Naruto. "Come on."
And he led them back down the path to the rear entrance of the speeder track…
The sun baked down on the exterior of the hanger; but in the semi-shadows of one of the bays Sakura was going to hyperventilate and die.
"We can't do this. We can't do this. We can't do this," she begged in a tight whisper, wringing her hands in front of her and glancing around from side to side. "Please get down from there!"
From inside the Intrepid-class, custom tagged speeder's cockpit, the boys explored and relaxed in the pristine, curve-backed seats, ignoring her concern.
"No way, this is way too cool!" Said Naruto. His eyes shone and he grinned at Sasuke, who was currently smirking from the driver's seat.
"Told you I could get us in. This is the fastest speeder in the galaxy," he boasted, tossing his domed Initiate's helmet onto the durasteel-grilled floor behind him and shaking out his raven hair. He propped his feet up on the dash and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "This is my brother's. He's taken it all over."
"Cool, so does he let you drive it?" Asked Naruto, poking at some of the switches on the dash.
"Don't do that," said Sasuke, frowning at Naruto. "And yeah. All the time."
Sakura didn't miss the higher pitch of his last words, and gave Sasuke an 'are-you-kidding-me?'-look. He ignored her.
"Awesome! Hey, take us for a spin!"
"What?"
The bad feeling in Sakura's stomach started to solidify from vague, misty uncertainty to cold, ugly plasma jelly. Enough was enough; she had to get the boys out of the speeder before something went horribly wrong. Grabbing hold of the lower side of the illustrious Jedi Knight's speeder, she hoisted herself up and prepared to give them a talking to—while tossing them overboard onto the duracrete floor of the hangar, if necessary—when she saw Sasuke's midnight eyes tracing over the controls… with determination.
"You guys, this is far enough." Sakura grabbed their helmets and turned to shove them at her friends when the floor grating under her boots began vibrating. With a low, throaty rumble the speeder shimmied to the side with an awkward jolt. Dropping the helmets to grab the back of Sasuke's seat, Sakura's leaf green eyes widened and her pupils dilated. The vehicle stabilized when she dug her nails in. "Put it down!"
Naruto leaped into the front seat beside Sasuke, bouncing with energy. "Can you drive it? Let's go around the track—no, let's go out and see if we can find someone to race out on the drag by the main campus!"
Brow furrowed, a drop of sweat trailing down the back of his neck, Sasuke nodded. "Hn," he grunted.
The speeder shuddered and groaned, the metal scraping loudly along the duracrete as it turned and inched forwards towards the hangar bay doors.
"Teme, you suck at this…"
"Shut up, Naruto, we're airborne—" a loud screech rent the air as they scraped along the side of another speeder.
Sakura paled and felt her stomach drop at the gash through the military heavy-class speeder they had just side-swiped.
Swallowing and sending a quick thank you to her family at the dormitories, she faced forwards and sunk down onto her rear on the hard grating, and pulled her helmet down tighter to cover her, resigned to her imminent departure from the physical world.
With her knees pulled up to her chest she tucked in her head and prayed for a painless end, focusing all of her attention on that goal.
The sleek ship balanced out a second later, Sasuke finally gaining control of the steering controls and navigating them out onto the open tarmac.
His smirk was equal parts smug and relieved; meanwhile Naruto stared at Sasuke in awe before crowing like a rooster and slapping Sasuke on the back.
"Way to go, Teme! You may have a streak of badassness in you buried deep behind that bar of durasteel stuck up your—"
"That's far enough, Sasuke. You may turn back now," called a smooth, calm voice.
The speeder bucked suddenly, and veered wildly to the side. Sakura was shaken loose and her voice died in her throat as her arms shot out to steady herself; then she saw the transparisteel window about to crack from the tip of the speeder's undercut wing.
She gasped, the ship halting in mid air to hover on the spot, the wing a hair's breadth from the pane. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, her lips trembling.
Naruto yelped as Uchiha Itachi, the youngest Jedi ever knighted, appeared before them like a desert wraith, the layers of his dune rubes swirling around him like smoke. At fourteen he stood tall, his queue relaxed over his set shoulders, his calm confidence a warning and a promise.
And his revered eyes, those eyes that were reputed to have scared enemies into surrendering without him speaking a word, were focused on the driver of the stolen speeder.
His younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke swallowed so audibly Sakura heard it from her crouched position behind his seat.
"Did you find what was making all the noise?" Asked a second voice. Sakura hunkered down lower; it was one of their Masters, Sarutobi Asuma. She could smell the cigarette smoke from her hiding spot.
"Looks like we have some soon-to-be ex-Initiates. I spy with my little eye Uzumaki and… Uchiha," said a third voice. "Where is your little conscience? She normally doesn't let you out of her sight, Uchiha."
Sakura cursed. That was their strictest Master, Hatake Kakashi. Nothing got past him. Nothing.
After all her hard work, everything she had sacrificed and set aside, she was going to lose it all. Her family would never have her back if she disgraced herself like this. She ducked her head as wetness warmed her eyes. Please, I will accept any punishment, but I beg for leniency. I will become a Jedi Knight!
Hands fisted against her tummy, she curled into a ball and wished herself invisible as the speeder turned on a dime and descended gracefully to the ground dead center in the nearest bay.
"An acceptable landing," remarked Itachi as he approached the speeder. Then his voice shifted as he turned to face the direction Asuma and Kakashi had spoken from. "I apologize for the damage; I am teaching my brother how to navigate the controls of my speeder in case I am injured. I expect him to take his vows sooner than anticipated of most other Initiates."
Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura sucked in their collective breath. No way...
"That's Anko's favourite ship they hit; you're the one who's going to tell her what happened to it," said Kakashi.
"And who's paying for it," added Asuma around his cigarette.
"I accept full responsibility. I had not realized Sasuke would summon enough focus to move the speeder on the first try. This was an unfortunate lack of foresight on my part," said Itachi.
Peeking up around the edge of her helmet, Sakura saw the back of Sasuke's neck burning like an engine fire. She risked another inch and saw that Itachi was holding Sasuke's gaze.
She almost felt bad for Sasuke in that moment. Almost.
Then she remembered how stubborn he'd been and cheerfully left him to his fate.
"Good luck," said Asuma, and Sakura heard two pairs of male footsteps walk away.
"Sasuke, Naruto," said Itachi, and with that the boys slowly climbed out of the damaged speeder.
"Sasuke, I'll see you at the dormitories. Naruto, I'll be speaking with your guardian," said Itachi.
"Yes, sir," said Naruto, voice downcast. Sakura easily imagined his shoulders slumped.
But it was Sasuke's voice that surprised her most.
"It was an accident," he muttered quietly. "I didn't think—"
"That much is obvious."
"It won't happen again—"
"Look at what you accomplished today. You have turned what should have been a moment of great appreciation into a show of disrespect," said Itachi softly.
Sakura heard the brush of something sweeping against the damaged hull of the once glorious speeder until it caught, and realized it was Itachi's hand tracing the scrape they'd dug along one side. She bit her lip.
"Go home, Sasuke," sighed Itachi.
Without another word, Sasuke turned and Sakura listened to his footsteps fading away.
She waited another few minutes before her legs began cramping and forced her to shift—
—and nearly wet herself when she unfurled her body to stand and found Itachi watching her patiently from the side of the speeder.
"Are you unharmed?" He asked, inspecting her from head to toe.
Lips pressed together, Sakura nodded. She had rarely spoken with Itachi though she had been raised on the tales of his achievements and skill. He was one of her role models, and she hoped to someday reach his level of Mastery. Or, she had hoped…
Itachi observed her another moment before opening his hand and offering her his palm; she clasped it and carefully climbed down from his speeder.
When he continued watching her, Sakura fought the urge to fidget.
He straightened, and Sakura expected to be dismissed; instead he opened his other palm and revealed the holo-key to the speeder.
"Who was really levitating and driving the speeder?" He asked.
Sakura shrank down into herself, her shoulders up around her ears. Her cheeks and ears burned.
"Sasuke was driving," she ventured.
"Sasuke… or Sasuke thought he was?" Asked Itachi, his sharp eyes holding hers as she swallowed. "For Sasuke has never driven a ship of this size before, nor parked anything this squarely. Let alone been able to start a vehicle of any sort without its holo-key which remains on my person at all times."
In a tiny voice, Sakura begged, "Please don't tell him. He'd be so angry with me if he found out I helped him."
"You hide your abilities from him," said Itachi.
"He gets pretty sore when he isn't the best," murmured Sakura, and unconsciously she rubbed at her arm. "I'm so very sorry. I will help you pay for and fix the damage. I just… He and Naruto got it moving, but they had no control and I just tried to stabilize it so they wouldn't hit anything, but I was in the back and couldn't see and those idiots were so cocky and…" She bit the inside of her cheek at Itachi's even stare. "I'll tell Anko," she whispered, resigned to her fate by lightsaber evisceration at Anko's hands.
"That will not be necessary; though I will contact your guardian to advise them you will be spending some time in the hangar to assist with some minor repairwork."
Sakura shifted her weight to her other foot. "I have no guardian. I emancipated myself from my family in order to become an early Initiate." She bowed to him with a fist at her breast. "I pledged my life to become a Jedi, sir."
Itachi remained silent as she straightened and held his dangerous eyes.
"If you will still allow it," she added. "Please."
Then perhaps it was a trick of the dying light, but she was sure she saw his eyes soften.
"Return to your dormitory," said Itachi.
"You won't tell him, will you?"
Itachi regarded her furrowed brow and bottom lip caught between her teeth.
"What I discuss with my family is none of your concern, Initiate Haruno."
"Yes, sir," said Sakura, bowing once more and leaving, her shoulders heavy.
As Itachi watched her go, he crossed his arms over his chest, closing his callused fingers over the holo-key. This little escapade had brought much to light and given him even more to consider.
"I still say your brother isn't ready to be a padawan," came a gravelly voice from his left. "And this proves it."
Itachi turned to look at his Master, Kisame.
Kisame grinned at him. "However, I do see dedication and talent in a diamond in the rough."
"Hn."
"Change is coming," said Kisame, patting Itachi's shoulder with a broad hand. "We must seek what will bring out the best in us; and what will help us bring out the best in others."
The light fading around them as afternoon faded to evening, Kisame departed the hangar while Itachi examined the rest of his speeder, his mind processing all he had learned that afternoon; there was much food for thought.
AN: Many thanks to TheFreckledOne and VesperChan for organizing "Fluff Friday" on tumblr and the prompt, "Food"!