Summary: She was too young to capture hearts, and he acknowledged that. That didn't mean she couldn't do it. "What would your father say about this, Sakura-chan?" It wasn't that he was scared of her going rotten, but that she was getting mighty ripe. Non-massacre, One-shot. Inspired by ABBA.
Rating: T
Author's Note: I decided I will do a few one shots before actually getting into stories. Mainly because I never finish them -.-
…
Haruno Kizashi was a very tolerant man. He never complained, dealt with serious situations in a calm manner, and allowed his daughter to wear those shorts, despite finding them slightly too short. Though, it may come to thought with a daughter as beautiful as his, he would obviously try and keep her covered. Honestly, he didn't know how Yamanaka Inoichi could do it, as he would never allow Sakura to wear that outfit as her best friend. The only reason he let Sakura wear red, those shorts, and those tall boots that only went mid-calf was because she claimed that it was easier to move in. He should have never allowed his innocent daughter in the world of Kunoichis.
He never trusted Tsunade's influence on his daughter. Kizashi and the Hokage were often fighting… Mentally. The kind of mental fighting with so much strain in the air that a butter knife could easily slice through it and Sakura more than felt it, she had to deal with it. The only time she had heard her father complain was when he claimed 'gingerly' that Tsunade would sooner or later turn Sakura into a, in his very words: 'Sake, breast obsessed, gambling maniac with too much strength on her hands.' That phrase made her realize just how protective her father really was, not to mention, how annoyingly traditional too.
The funniest part of this whole father-daughter relationship was that Sakura had hundreds of times more physical strength than her father. She could more than take care of herself, and he simply didn't understand that.
To allow full independence, she would have sooner or later have had to introduce the entire team seven to Kizashi, including the two temporary replacements for those few other times. It was settled, a dinner was on its way, and the paternal figure hated every inch of the idea.
What Sakura didn't expect was a holy grail. Sasuke, her good friend and teammate had invited his older brother to come along, cool, level headed, and extremely wise Itachi. That took loads off her shoulders, although it did take an hour to finally get the dust to set. However, by then, everyone ate in peace, and that meant Sakura could get something digested. Uzumaki Naruto, her now former teammate spoke of his turn to become Hokage which would come anytime soon, and somehow, her father had found some peace in that. Kakashi and Yamato were people that seemed to have standards in slightly older women, which soothed Sakura's father a tad bit more. Sai had a rather strange personality, and Hiroshi never judged on sexuality, but he knew that man was dabbling on his side. Which left the Uchiha brothers, Sasuke was a rather fitting man for his young daughter, but he lacked certain qualities. While Itachi… He liked that man, and he was a fantastic influence on his younger brother.
Kizashi made sure to analyze everything about these men in his precious little girl's life. And he had concluded one thing:
All these men were goal-oriented go getters. Except for that really pale one, that one had a little too much curiosity about everything, he would bloom a little later.
There was nothing wrong with that, he respected that. Sakura picked up a lot from these very men having a good conversation on just about everything. They were worldly, educated, and experienced, despite their ages all under the lower half of a century. He kept his eyes on the elder Uchiha, suddenly feeling threatened and relieved. He felt threatened in the way that if his young daughter were to be with that man, he would have approved, and relieved in the way that Itachi would be a very good man to his beautiful daughter.
"Otou-san, could we open a bottle of wine?" Sakura looked straight into Hiroshi's sea foam green eyes. She could tell that he wasn't too pleased with the proposition.
"No, you are too young."
"It's for Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei, Itachi-san, and of course, yourself." Sakura had a look of worry in her eyes. The whole evening, her father had a look of constipation.
"Sakura, you do realize that you are a year younger than us, we can all drink." Sai commented, frustrating Sakura. She was only seventeen, turning eighteen in a less than three months.
"Very well," her father interrupted, "Sakura-chan, can you go get the alcohol?"
Irritated, but far from willing to break, Sakura complied. She would take extra time to secretly have a glass.
"Since there are quite a few guests, I'll be happy to help out, Haruno-san." Itachi slowly stood up, completely killing her mood. The man had been onto her the minute she had thought about wine. At least, that was what she deducted by the situation. Yet, she became completely distracted by the sway of his long ponytail, which framed his strong neck, which connected to his angular jaw, which connected to his pretty face, and she wouldn't dare look at it. No way in hell, in fact, she would've liked a slight buzz far more rather than losing her control to hormones.
But as a medic ninja, she knew that being drunk was essentially losing control to hormones.
But the point it was not 'those' hormones.
She called them the 'horny hormones'.
It was immature, but she kept the name to herself because she liked the alliteration.
The two came out with as many glasses as their hands could permit, and some variety of alcohol. At that point, Kizashi had felt he was done with his analysis. Itachi and Sakura even had the perfect height difference. He sighed, keeping a happy look, he hoped his daughter would make the right choice. Of course, he seemed pissed when he spotted a wine glass place before his young daughter.
"You're too young to drink alcohol." He frowned.
"I know I'll just have it non-fermented." She had a sly smile, pouring a good amount of grape juice out of a store brand container into the glass.
Everyone had a good chuckle.
…
The Uchihas were the last guests to leave and Sakura had inferred that the two may have gotten into a fight with their parents or other relatives. Or at least Itachi, who had been getting hell from different directions because of his shunned upon nature. Somehow, the ground he stood upon was very complex, one could see that he was a push over, another could see that he would do anything his own way, in his case, the peaceful way. Either paths or perspectives, Sakura still appreciated and respected him in the highest form. She could also see that her father had grown fond of him just as well. They had good conversations that night, and it relieved her, as her overprotective father was normally belligerent towards males around her. He seemed to approve of the males closest to her, and that was a joyous moment.
"Father, I'll go and get the area clean, can you see to that Sasuke-kun and Itachi-san have a pleasant exit?" She wanted to test her father and see whether what she saw was reality. If not, her dark haired teammate would tell it all to her.
Sakura left the room and turned on the tap, making sure that the running water would block anything she could hear, hoping for excellent outcomes.
Kizashi smiled as he slowly ushered the two out. Sasuke glanced at his watch and swore mentally, he had to quickly excuse himself as he was late for an ANBU meeting, leaving Hiroshi and Itachi alone. The middle aged man understood where he was, in front of his dream son-in-law.
Inside, Kizashi zealously prepared himself for embarrassment as he got down on his knees right outside the entrance of his loving home.
"Please, please find at least a bit of interest in my daughter! I fear she may be going in the wrong direction!" He clasped his hands together as the still night went awkwardly statuesque.
Itachi stared at his desperate face, trying to regain composure, "I am unfortunately too old for your daughter, at least right now."
"In three months?"
"Sir I-"
"Listen, it's not like I'm asking you to marry her," he stood up, "I just want her to be safe, and if she were to get in a relationship, I'd rather you."
Itachi chuckled, "I think your daughter is looking for more independence rather than a relationship. It's rare in a woman, more than less a kunoichi." He didn't want to get into the details behind why kunoichi became more and more dependant overtime, except for a select few that came to mind, "but when the time comes, I'll keep my eye on her." A reflective smirk stayed on his face as he left stoically, remembering how that very girl in question was once a gawky child.
The joy on Kizashi's face was indescribable; he radiated such a glow that when Sakura came to see his mood, she squint her eyes in suspicion, just like you would at the bright sun.
Kizashi ensnared his daughter in a bear hug, and Sakura didn't really know how to react.
…
Ino strutted into the hospital with a coy smirk on her face. In one hand, she held an envelope, decorated with golden lace, another, a pretty pink box. The nurses all knew Ino and also knew that if she weren't let in to see her best friend, shit would have gotten down. It was an excuse for that poor old man who had gotten a heart attack seeing the revealing outfit she had put on that day.
Sakura as usual was darting around the hospital, checking everything and everyone. Her high position allowed much control and the independence she was looking for. It didn't surprise Ino when she saw Sakura go in one room and come out the other in all of a sudden. The bombshell would have never admitted it, but she admired that drive and that independence that radiated from Sakura. Watching intently as Sakura entered a room, Ino quickly followed, startling and cornering the young medic.
"Ino-pig!" Sakura sighed, patting down matted hair from the extra stress of a busy day, "I told you not to visit. Last time, your loincloths had given us a few more heart-attacks."
Ino nodded before giving a slight pose, showing off her latest garments, a much too short violet china dress, "They like it, here." She forced the envelope and box into Sakura's grasp, "I heard your father met your team."
Sakura opened the envelope, carefully trying not to damage the lace. Inside, a party invitation, which stated time, place, and dress. Of course, the dress code was to come with as little as possible.
"Ino-pig, have this party in three months, will ya'?" she placed the invitation in her large pocket, feeling too young to do pretty much anything. Ino rolled her eyes knowingly, the pink haired kunoichi was too much of a goody-goody to do anything fun.
Then she opened the pretty pink box, inside were chocolates.
"Pig, you're a couple days too late for this, but you know what…" Sakura popped a truffle in her mouth, "This'll do."
"You're going to come to my party, whether you like it or not," Ino unlatched the top four buttons on Sakura's uniform and slid her hands up from Sakura's waist to the bottom of Sakura's breasts, giving her a little bit more cleavage, "And you're gonna come like this- the least."
Rosy cheeks blossomed as she tried to recollect her dignity by quickly swiping her body away from Ino's grasp and latched the buttons on at a lightning fast pace. She grumbled in anger and frustration, wanting to abide by the rules of the Konoha law. In addition, if Tsunade were to ever hear about Sakura and parties, Sakura would have immediately lost everything she had built for herself.
"No Ino." It was firm, and something Ino needed to hear once in a while.
"Not even if I let you borrow that dress you were eyeing?"
The look in her green eyes went from livid to innocent, remembering the beautiful red dress that Ino had gotten a while back. It was a red, silk dress with a silhouette that hugged all the curves needed, appropriately over the knee, it had a small slit, and tied sleeves that revealed the shoulders. Sakura had unbelievable affections for the dress and had attempted many times in the past to rid of it in Ino's closet as the blond never wore it. It just sat there, in her closet, transforming into dust. Of course, this needed some sort of thought, because she was a wallflower type of person and she happened to be working that night.
"I'll go," Ino put on the largest smile to the response, "but I won't drink."
And the smile went down the toilet.
…
Kizashi had been working on a small television a customer needed to be fixed. He hummed a few classic songs from movie musicals he had been secretly watching without Sakura knowing. Somehow, he had a strange feeling that the young Uchiha and she were meant to be, without really realizing that very Uchiha was yet to be attracted to her. Actually, he knew that, and that was the best part.
Or maybe it wasn't.
Because if Itachi weren't attracted to his daughter, he wouldn't make a move, and if he didn't make a move, Sakura wouldn't give him a second glance. If Sakura would not give him a second glance…
No chances of a wonderful son in law.
The possibility of that happening tortured the man to no end, as Sakura was like her mother. Her mother didn't care for men and took off as soon as she got Sakura out. Of course, the man tried to shove as many values down her throat as he could. Therefore, a good part of her was like Hiroshi, which included an extreme susceptibility to very attractive people. Her mother for example, was extremely attractive, especially the unique pink hair.
Another thing he believed would have got in the way was that it could have been possible for Itachi to not find his daughter attractive. And that he didn't see as a possibility.
Because who wouldn't find his successful daughter attractive?
At the end of that trail of thought, Sakura came in, making sure to hide the box and the card from her father. She didn't want an entire Cinderella movie in the making. They both made their proper salutations and left each other alone, hiding what they were truly thinking. This included Sakura's brash decision on wanting to learn how to seduce men. It was one power she always wanted to learn but always brushed it to the side… possibly because Rock-Lee learned the transformation jutsu.
…
Shikamaru sat near a window as he observed Ino and the clouds. She handed out regal envelopes to everyone who wore a forehead protector. The social butterfly had yet to tell him about her plans, and honestly, he didn't want to be involved. What put fear into him was that Ino anyways would get him to be involved, and that was troublesome, so was having to hide himself from a practically psychic woman. In other words, being himself was pretty troublesome.
So he just continued to stare, clearing any thoughts so she wouldn't detect him. Unfortunately, his habit for not taking care of his hair was the dead giveaway.
Ino had a special talent for detecting those types of fashion rejects, and as soon as they made eye contact through the café window meters away, he made a run for it. Troublesome as it was.
"Wait, Shikamaru-kun!" Ino sped to catch her lazy teammate; spectators were bewildered as a flash of blond disturbed everything around her. She skidded to a halt and sighed, no way in hell was Shikamaru going to do anything she needed at that moment. Besides that, if she really needed help, she could have just convinced Choji to help her with the simple bribe of food. The poor guy would not know what hit him.
But for some reason, that pang in her heart had indicated a sort of disappointment with her teammate's reaction.
…
Sakura sat on Ino's bed all dolled up, waiting for her friend to get the curling iron. Her hair had been left to finish, and the medic-nin was far from being a happy camper. She sensed slight depression on Ino's part and had been trying to get the problem out of her for two entire hours. Of course, that never worked, and here Sakura was, in a robe, ankles crossed, elbows to knees, and palms to cheeks, sighing in boredom.
Ino came out with a rather coy smile and a hot iron ready to damage some hair. Sakura wasn't too sure what to really feel about this, as she sensed a purge of emotion from Ino and a strange tension in the air as the blond mindlessly pulled pink strands to curl.
"Pig, what's wrong?" Sakura decided to keep it firm and direct, hoping for an answer with just as much caliber.
"Nothing." Ino stopped for a brief moment before returning to comb through Sakura's locks.
"Did Shikamaru-san say anything to you?" Sakura said, causing Ino to stop breathing for a moment.
"Something like that." Ino admitted, and Sakura couldn't help but have a smile of pity.
Their pretty pink lips mindlessly pouted, one wondering how she'll get out of this unrequited love she refused to admit, another wondering how Shizune was holding up by taking her shift at the hospital.
…
Sakura rarely talked with Shikamaru, and when they did, it usually involved her scolding him on how he lacked muscle mass to partake on certain missions. So it did really surprise the genius when a dolled up version of the usually modest kunoichi was standing at his door with the most sincere of glares. That little red dress suited her quite a bit, and the heels made her legs longer.
Nonetheless, Shikamaru held his ground holding back any arousal, "Sakura-san, what do you need?"
Sakura raised a brow, usually, when the man saw her, he would turn his back and slam the door. However, taking advantage of the situation she got straight to the point, something she was known famously for.
"Come to Ino's party."
Shikamaru raised a brow, wondering why out of all people was it Sakura who asked for such a thing.
"Meh, it's too troublesome."
"This is an order." Her palm began glowing green, and of course, his intelligence gave him the ability to realize how painful her punches were before even getting punched. So he gave up, knowing that being stubborn was also very troublesome.
…
There was a reason for Sakura not to be a party person. The reason behind that was because she treated so many others that came out of parties with memorable scars. These were regular civilians, and if ninjas in the same room were involved in festivities like that, death usually happened.
Common sense had said to her: "Stay in the corner of the room, and keep an eye on the wild Shikamaru that you have collected from the stuffy wild. And while you do that, sip on the non-alcoholic drink you have gotten." She watched intently as the room filled up with ninjas from all around town. The loud chatter suffocated her ears and they felt swollen because of her introversion. Then music began playing. At that moment, Sakura shook her head and decided that while she was young, she could learn and practice flirting techniques. Those things would come in handy later on when she had certain types of missions.
There seemed to be one bored man who was rather cute sitting at the bar. It couldn't have been that hard as she used to observe Ino doing it. Sakura walked up to him, formulating limits and her beginning phrase.
"Hi." She kept it short and simple, because in her mind, most men had those horrid attention spans.
He looked up and smiled, welcoming her to the stool on his side, and she was in the clear. Scruffy brown hair, dark eyes, and a flat nose were somewhat homely features but the eyes had a sort of intelligent light she found attractive. He was definitely older, experienced, and had a good aura around him.
"Would you like a drink?" He said, with his presence so very warming compared to the men dancing like ludicrous idiots. Sakura smiled and sat, trying to keep up in maturity, which wasn't too hard. Her posture was straight, making sure her drink glass wasn't too close to her body, her smile coy, and her legs crossed, making sure her body made an 'S' shape that only male instincts could pick up.
"I have mine with me, and your name?" She said. She felt as if she recognised this man before but chose not to overthink these things. There were many times her mind ruined all because she could not control it.
"Shisui. Yours?" He was now playing short and simple, and the long pause she took to find a perfect question allowed her to realize who the man really was.
Uchiha Shisui, a legend in the ninja world. If anything, it was a huge honor to flirt with the man who happened to be years older than her.
"Sakura, a pleasure to meet you," She smiled, holding her hand, waiting for a handshake.
He shook her hand, giving a nostalgic smile, "You're on Sasuke-kun's team, I'm glad there is a female that can shape him up." She dropped her shoulders in defeat, nodding her head.
"Yes, little Sasuke-kun…"
"He can be a brat, good thing Itachi-kun is around to slap him in the head."
Sakura smiled, shaking her head and looked up in remembrance, "Amen to that," they locked eyes, "Of course he has his sweet moments."
Shisui smiled, "Enough about your teammates, would you like to dance?" He stood from the stool, revealing to be at least half a foot taller than her. That alone made her nervous, but it was that sense of calm and maturity that soothed her. Yet she thought of his enormous strength on the battlefield, and of course, it made her anxious.
He took her hand and ushered her through the crowd, making Sakura regret her decision. She hoped that he recalled that she was only seventeen. Although others partied and danced with men at this age, if any of her elders were to find out, two in mind, she would have the punishment of her lifetime.
He stopped in a spot between many other people and took her hands, moving to the beat of the mindless pop song. Her anxiety clear on her face, the overwhelming amount of people had started to get to her. She blamed being around Hinata too much, as it probably allowed the introvert in her involuntarily come out.
Of course, dealing with all the human psychology gave Shisui the ability to look through many faces, especially Itachi's. Or rather he was able to even study Itachi… Either way, he saw right through her, giving a friendly smirk, he squeezed her tiny hand, "Everything alright? Seems like crowds aren't your thing."
She brought herself closer to him, "Nope."
Despite being uncomfortable, she had to look out for Shikamaru and Ino, and her favorite song was playing. It was Ino that initially taught her about taking time to be with her 'jams'. In Ino's words, "Common stress relief, duh."
She swayed with Shisui, watching Shikamaru and Ino from a fixed point. The two were conversing… normally. Of course, more than a few empty pints surrounding them. Either way, they were going to have a fantastic morning explaining why they hadn't acted on their emotions earlier on.
Whatever, it was their problem anyways.
Sakura closed her eyes as a painstakingly slow song just had to come on. She wasn't too bothered, the man she was dancing with smelled good. At least compared to close combat with Naruto, his smell couldn't have gotten worse. She felt slightly dizzy, the sway hypnotized and got her mind wandering some place else, and she contemplated whether her drink was really non-alcoholic.
Of course, at the peak of Nirvana, the swaying had to stop. Like a whip, she straightened up, as lucid as can be. The view, Shisui looking nervously at his cousin, Itachi, whom gave the two a sarcastic, yet placid gaze.
"Sakura, go home. Shisui, don't run off with seventeen year olds."
Shisui stood there shocked, "What? But in order to be in her level, she needs to be…"
"Twenty-one," She snarled, giving a pissed glare back.
Itachi leaned in to Sakura real close, his lips barely touching her ear.
"Does your father know about this?"
"You wouldn't," she narrowed her eyes, "besides, I had complete control of the situation."
Shisui scratched his head, laughing sheepishly while scoping out a new target, another woman in a particularly short black dress met eyes with his. Itachi sighed, glaring at Shisui.
"Shisui has a special jutsu for picking up women."
The woman clearly heard Itachi's words and ran. Fast.
"That's impossible; I didn't feel any of those intentions or chakra use like that for the matter…"
"I perfected that technique…" He said with shame present on his face.
Sakura sighed dejectedly; her first party, a bust, ruined by two attractive men. She would have never thought that an ironic story like that would ever unfold. Her pretty dress went unused and stayed on, her hair done and she stood in front of two ideal men, and she questioned their intentions. That was probably the worst part.
"Itachi, you're right, I'll leave before I make a mistake." She swallowed her pride and shuffled through the crowd. Keeping an eye
She swore that she would get back at them, hopeful that they would rue that day.
…
Sakura strategically threw kunai in a strong manner, splitting every targeted tree in half. She pretended that they were an unsuspecting Shisui and Itachi. Normally, when she would put work into something, she would get something back. And there was a ton of work done to make herself at least decent to the eye.
Sasuke and Naruto kept their distance. Enough of a distance to watch her with binoculars, the ground had even shaken where they stood.
"Screw you!" She yelled, fuming.
A barrage of kunai hit a tree and obliterated it to sawdust.
"Holy-" Naruto started.
"Shit." Sasuke finished, mouth gaping, as he swiped the binoculars from the blond.
The two waited until she was out of breath. It was a smart move coming from their part. They learned early on that if you were to disturb Sakura during an energetic rage while she still had energy, you would die and then be revived as many times over as she pleased.
Sakura was on her back, watching the dust settle. She moved her eyes to the thump of footsteps in the grass.
"What's gone into you?" Naruto asked, before pulling out a boxed lunch out of his jumpsuit.
Sakura gave a stern look to Sasuke, who said and did nothing, "I hate your relatives."
"A lot of people do," he sighed in relief, "it's impossible to not end up hating at least one Uchiha." He helped her up, watching her limp legs tremble with overwork.
"Sakura-chan, you look like you need a bowl of ramen, and you need to tell us your problems. Group communication is one way to keep a team together." Naruto had a sly smirk.
"Bullshit Naruto, you just need some Ichiraku's." She stated, making Naruto cringe.
The three proceeded in the direction to the shop, leaving behind an incredible mess because of anger.
…
During their ramen break, Sasuke and Sakura had agreed to meet later on. Her father had left for a sudden hot vacation to Suna, so she snuck out some wine for his visit. Sasuke watched his friend pour the wine with bitterness.
"Who's the relative you hate?" He said, making Sakura scoff.
"Your elder brother and cousin."
"I have many cousins, specify."
"Shisui."
"No honorifics, you lost serious respect for one of the highest ranking shinobi in Konoha already. I guess he's known to have such ability." Sasuke took a sip of wine. "Did he grope you or something?"
"No, he-"
"Tricked you?" Sasuke raised a brow, "you were at that party, weren't you?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "It wasn't like I couldn't handle it!"
He chuckled, relaxing further on the sofa, "Really?"
"Really."
"Did you feel dizzy?"
She nodded and shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm also guessing your non-alcoholic drink felt very alcoholic?"
She brought her tiny palm to her large forehead, "Fuck."
"How'd you not end up sleeping with him?"
"Itachi-san interrupted."
Sasuke smirked, "Oh, I guess you must've been super pissed when my taller, far more attractive, and very intelligent brother came to stop his cousin's antics." Sakura went bright red, and that's when Sasuke knew he hit a nerve. "Sakura-chan, I know you better than anyone else, and I know you have at least a slight attraction to my emasculated brother."
Sakura knew Sasuke had a buzz when he flipped his hair as if he had it over his shoulders. She felt guilty for laughing, but blatant honesty was sometimes the most hilarious.
"Ok, I'll admit it, he is pretty attractive, but that still doesn't stop me from being absolutely pissed."
"Poor girl…" He mocked her, and her face dropped, giving a warning. Sasuke immediately sat up, "I take it back."
"Good." She said, before taking his empty glass to refill it.
"By the way, didn't Tsunade forbid you to go to these types of gatherings? Not that you were ever particularly social."
Green eyes stared desperately at the ceiling, she longed to wear the red dress again, "… I was bribed."
"By who and how?"
She quickly moved her gaze to Sasuke's, "It's a girl thing."
…
It was late at night and Sakura had finished her shift at the hospital. A bath had been waiting for her all day long, the feeling was mutual. She hummed a barely audible tune because of exhaustion and neatly folded her uniform into her little cubby. The tired peace surrounding her had the girl on low defence.
So of course she would have been startled by the sudden noise of one of the nurses crying out for her name.
Apparently some ANBU squad had injured themselves badly. The other medics could have treated them if they were just severe wounds, but according to the report the nurse had handed Sakura, they had some sort of poison in their system. Tsunade had been named the poison queen, and because of Tsunade being her mentor, Sakura was second in line, poison princess.
Arriving at the scene, she recognised the ANBU squad in front of her, the one that Itachi led. They had small cuts, but nothing too major. But it was the look of illness on their faces that worried her.
"What happened?"
Hana, the team's medic spoke up, "Shisui stupidly decided to challenge the current puppet master in Suna."
"He takes from Chiyo-sama…" Sakura mumbled, "What are your symptoms?"
"Fever, chills, chakra loss…" Itachi answered back. He seemed to have the lesser of illness among the three. Jaundice still clear on his face, but his movements were still as graceful as ever.
"Uchiha-san, have you ever taken etiquette lessons?" Lighten the mood while she still could was her mentality, and she seriously wondered. If he did, it explained an entire mystery.
…
Tsunade seemed particularly pissed when Sakura walked into a full office. Shizune darted around the room, making sure nothing would break when Tsunade began to throw things, in between her stability checks, Shizune would pray. Sakura was surprised to see sand ninja, her medical unit, and Itachi's ANBU team all together. Of course, she then quickly pieced things together. She did something she shouldn't have. For the record, in her defense, she was tired and the coffee machine broke.
Sad thing was Tsunade would never take that as an excuse.
"My little student…"
Sakura immediately stopped her greeting because of that inconspicuous tone.
"Shishou-sama…" Sakura bowed, everyone shuffled to the side except for the poor medic, who was left in the middle of the room, kneeling.
"I'm stripping you of your medical status for two months."
"But-"
"No buts." Tsunade sighed, clearly showing disappointment, "you are too young and fragile to be taking on extra hours after extra hours. Although working hard is your duty, you have to realize that you just got yourself into a huge political scandal figuring out the cure for the puppet master's poison."
"What?" Sakura took a good look around to realize that even the elders were at this meeting.
"Suna is not too happy to know their strongest poison and war weapon was foiled. Because of this, you are now a target as well as the rest of Konoha's medics."
"So common logic is to take me out of my position, risking so many lives because of the lack of skilled staff because I found a cure to a poison that should've had a second look anyway?" It was beyond humiliating, not to mention infuriating that Tsunade could so rashly make such a decision. "I have learned from you, not only to heal, but to defend myself, if the Suna government wants, I can make an entirely new poison without so many faults and give it to them."
Those angered words were probably her biggest mistake and her kindest deed.
Tsunade raised a brow, "really now?"
Sakura gave a steely glare, the tension in the room suffocated the spectators inside, "Really."
The Gondaime scoffed, "Then Haruno Sakura, create a new poison, and since you talked back, you won't be needed in the hospital for four months. Uchiha Itachi will watch over you since your father seems to fail in that area."
Sakura looked over to Itachi, standing as straight as an arrow, "I refuse."
Everyone seemed to choke on air in a sudden moment.
"What?"
Sakura walked out.
Everyone froze, afraid of what would come out of the dangerously still Tsunade, and as they expected, a quick burst of energy came out and the leader ran out to catch Sakura.
"As expected from those two…" Danzo sighed.
The group left in the office winced as the sound of glass shattering and walls crumbling had begun. Surprisingly, screaming came in far later.
…
And so…
Sakura and Itachi were left with a few problems:
One: Sakura wasn't allowed to touch anything that had to do with healing.
Two: Itachi had to babysit her.
Three: Sakura was an angry independent individual that currently had to be watched over for doing the right thing.
Four: Itachi had to babysit her.
Tsunade had said to "Watch over her". When really, she meant: "Babysit this poor, overworked angel that should be spending more time to herself. Then, she'll have shifts of nightmares and never get her normal psychosis back."
Thanks Tsunade.
It was like quarantine for the both of them; she had attempted to punch him many times the past week. For Itachi though, he felt more like an asylum nurse trying to take care of the troubled girl.
It wasn't all that bad on his part. It was quite amusing to see Sakura with so much energy to spare. She couldn't even sit still for two seconds without having to look around and see if there was anything she could do around her house. Kizashi had left for a vacation for a couple weeks, and Tsunade probably had the worst timing of the century.
Of course, she was the worst gambler.
Normally, if she wasn't allowed to go back to work, her father would usually be working on a piece of technology that she would be ordered to assist with. It never occurred to her that what she thought was a waste of her time could help with her withdrawal.
She looked over to Itachi, who was casually sitting on the sofa, thinking. He immediately found her staring and met her eyes.
"How do you do it?" She asked, looking as if she had lost her drugs.
"Do what?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? As if doing nothing?"
She nodded, her shoulder length hair bobbed with her.
"I'm not doing nothing, I'm watching you, it's very amusing to see you fidget like this."
Normally, her head wouldn't have been so clear to have heard the flirty tone that come with his smoothly delivered sentence. Her blood pressure was at normal rate, and it quickly felt like it rose. Rose was also the color of her cheeks, and for once, she sat still. Itachi sat up, confused, and realised he went a little too far.
"Sakura-chan," he said, now she was tomato red, he said her name with such casual tone, "do you think your father would approve of me doing this?" Her fists clenched as he moved closer towards her.
He was now standing in front of her, and she sat still and stiff, like a rock. Next thing she knew, his face was near her neck, and her eyelids clenched. His soft lips gave a chaste kiss at the edge of her jaw. Her eyes went wide open, and she was about to implode.
"Do you have anything to say before I take your lips?"
"My father would not approve of this, and…" That moment, she threw her pride away…
"I like you."