Perhaps

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Summary: "Perhaps I should tell you, Haruno-san that I would not have considered staying here even if you treated me to a thousand dango shops and offered me the finest pink trees in the land." ItaSaku. Non-massacre.

Author-person: My second Naruto fic.

I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist writing a one-shot for ItaSaku.

For the readers of Pink and Red: the fic shall be updated in a few days… I think. I trust that you'll be patient until then.

OOC-ness…

I hope you guys like this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I do own a chocolate bar… and I'm not sharing. -stuffs slab of sugary goodness in mouth-

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Perhaps it was the beautiful view of the cherry blossoms that kept his eyes fixed on the pale pink petals that drifted along the gentle afternoon breeze.

Perhaps it was the scent of freshly cooked dango, wafting in the air, that kept him from eating his stale soldier pills while on training.

Perhaps it was the sight of a pretty kunoichi who was eating dango under the shade of a cherry blossom tree that kept him from resuming his daily work-out.

"Itachi-san, want a dango?" She said, holding out the paper plate to him.

He shook his head and pushed the plate back to her despite his stomach's loud protests.

Itachi, unfortunately, had not eaten since that morning. Why you ask? He had lost his appetite when his brother had been such an ass to actually throw up in his cereal bowl while they were having breakfast. You say it's not Sasuke's fault that he had an upset stomach? It is. When your idiot of a little brother drinks sake like there's no tomorrow on the night of his eighteenth birthday and when you start seeing puke all over the walls, on the TV (on the glorious TV!), the windows, in his room, in YOUR room… and in his cereal bowl, then you know it's his fault. What's that? You say Itachi is a picky eater and that he should feel sorry for Sasuke having a bad hangover?

Well, screw you.

"Sasuke-kun has a hangover huh?" The pink-haired female popped another dango in her mouth and chewed slowly.

The older Uchiha raised a brow. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, c'mon! He chugged down at least nine bottles of liquor last night!" She rolled her pretty green eyes at him.

"Ah."

Itachi sat quietly on his side of the bench and looked up at the branches of the pink tree. There was a squirrel… Damn its sheer cuteness to hell. Yes, Itachi had a weakness for cute things. One could tell from the way he twitched whenever he saw a woodland creature scurrying about. Maybe it was because of his name. Itachi meant weasel after all. Ah, and yes. Damn his weasel-meaning name to hell. But then, it did sound cool despite its derivation. So he guessed that it wasn't all that bad.

He sighed and cracked his knuckles absent-mindedly. He was torn between continuing his exercise and staying in his place to relax a little bit. If his father were there, Fugaku would've sent a Katon jutsu straight at him at the mere sight if his son acting like an uncharacteristic lazy-ass.

"Haruno-san," He began, still looking up at the branches of the tree.

"Yes?"

"I hope Otou-san doesn't hear anything about me slacking off while on training."

Sakura's eyes widened at his statement, a dango stick was poking out from the side of her mouth. She tilted her head in curiosity and moved closer to the Uchiha.

"And if he does?"

Itachi turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "You shall face the wrath of a thousand blazing fireballs."

She burst into a fit of girlish giggles upon hearing his answer, unaware that he was being completely serious when he said it. Humor was the last thing she expected from the elder Uchiha.

"You think your inevitable demise is funny, Haruno-san?" He asked, looking quite annoyed.

Itachi watched the petite figure shaking as she continued to laugh. Her unblemished skin did not go unnoticed even under his normal vision. Her pink hair danced as the wind picked up, sliding past her creamy shoulders and fanning out in odd places. Her voice sounded like music in his ears. Something he actually enjoyed hearing despite him being irritated and insulted.

"I won't say anything. I promise." She finally said, out of breath from all that laughing.

His eyes widened for a fraction of a millisecond before he looked down at his hands and mumbled incoherent remarks under his breath.

Itachi traced the lines on his palm with his fingers and sighed wearily. He hadn't realized how much he missed the sound of Sakura's tinkling laughter… Should he tell another 'joke' again? Perhaps the one where he first thought of castrating Sasuke back when he was eight… That was a funny memory. But he wanted Sakura to laugh, not run like hell and tell the whole world about Uchiha Itachi, Little Brother Castrator-Man.

Clasping his hands under his chin and resting his elbows on his knees in a very Uchiha-like manner, he fell into deep thought. He imagined a chibi Itachi with the word HORMONES printed on its shirt in big, bold letters, yawning and spinning around its clerical chair, simply because it had nothing better to do.

The Uchiha mentally slapped a hand on his forehead.

Uchiha Itachi had been secretly… admiring the pink-haired medic for the past six months, and he wanted more than anything, yes, more than ANYTHING to go out with Haruno Sakura. He hadn't really grasped the concept of bluntly asking her out on a date. Nor did he consider the thought of sending her flowers and chocolates and heart-wrenching letters of his undying love for her like any other normal, self-respecting stalker would.

"Itachi-san?" Sakura inquired as she waved an ungloved hand at her companion.

He had been quiet for some time. Not that there was anything new about that, but hey, she was worried. For all she knew, he could be having some sort of heatstroke or something. Sakura eyed him curiously as he snapped out of his dazed state and gave her a very thoughtful look.

"What?"

"Sauce."

"Eh?" She blinked.

"There's sauce on your face." He said slowly, as if to imply that Sakura was mentally impaired.

The kunoichi, apparently being unable to process what the Uchiha had said despite her intelligence, merely stared at the dark-haired man and opened her mouth slightly.

Itachi sighed and brought his hand to the corner of her lips wiping the sauce away with his thumb. He felt her soft lips against his skin, and he suppressed the urge to shudder as he leaned away from her to wipe the damned sauce on his shirt.

"Oh, thanks." Sakura said, blushing slightly at his touch.

"Hn."

Inside Itachi's head, the chibi Itachi was doing the macarena on his office table.

"So, Itachi-san… why are you wasting your time here with me? Aren't you supposed to be training?" Her green eyes sparkled.

"Could it be that you want my dango? Do you enjoy the cherry trees?" Sakura gestured to the two things she pointed out.

The Sharingan-user's shoulders stiffened ever so slightly. He scrutinized her expression for a moment before looking down on his palms again and heaving another tired sigh.

"Perhaps I should tell you, Haruno-san that I would not have considered staying here even if you treated me to a thousand dango shops and offered me the finest pink trees in the land." He said quietly.

Sakura tilted her head. "So, what did make you consider staying here?"

Itachi turned to face her and raised an eyebrow. Did she not suspect anything? By now, it should have been pretty obvious to tell that he liked her. Not to mention that Sasuke had gotten hold of his journal a few weeks before… He might've told Sakura everything the older Uchiha had written there, his inner most thoughts and deepest darkest secrets were all put down in that little black book… 'I Want To Marry Haruno Sakura' doodles included.

I really should have cut his balls off back then.

"Itachi-san?" She prodded, after setting the plate of dango to the side.

The dark-haired man took Sakura's hand in his. "I… am fond of you."

"What?"

The man sighed. "Are you deaf, woman? Or just dull?"

Sakura blushed and puffed her cheeks. "What are you--?"

The pink-haired kunoichi's eyes went wide as plates when Itachi had leaned closer and brushed his lips against hers. She shuddered, feeling his warm breath on her skin and his hand slowly tracing the line of her back. Sakura stifled a moan when he pressed further. She felt her own hand thread through his dark locks as she closed her eyes and kissed back, moving her lips slowly against his.

He tasted like…

"Tea?"

He scowled slightly and nodded when she pulled back.

The chibi Itachi was currently in the middle of stripping himself in front of the other (terrified) little Itachi.

Sakura chuckled and put a hand on Itachi's cheek before letting her head fall on his shoulder. She took in his lovely scent and closed her eyes. Sakura shuddered again when she felt his arms wrap around her waist and his nose brush against her cheekbone.

"You haven't really answered my question, you know."

Itachi pulled away and looked at her incredulously. His brow shot up to his hairline when he saw the kunoichi giggle.

"What made you consider?" She repeated, looking up at his dark obsidian eyes that were glinting with obvious amusement.

"Hn. You, you idiot." he smirked.

….

Author-person: ItaSaku FOREVAH!!

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