For: Vesperchan's July 2009 contest

Dedicated: To BlueArticWolf

Summary: She belonged to him but he belonged to her also. It just took them a while to realize it.

The Gift

Rays of sunlight sparkled around her bedroom as he rose from her bed. He stared at her physique as she slumbered peacefully. One leg was thrown on top of her bedspread revealing her smooth, ivory skin. Her hair was tussled from their love making the previous night. Her lips were cherry like she had been thoroughly kissed--and she had been. Itachi was not one to leave his lover unsatisfied. Her cheeks still held the tell-tale satisfied flush.

He briefly contemplated a pleasurable way to wake up his companion involving her legs, his shoulders, and another part of his anatomy that shall remain nameless, but before he had the opportunity to rejoin her in the bed her eyes fluttered open. They were cloudy but even this early in the morning they sparkled with amusement. It made him wonder what she could possibly find humorous this early in the morning.

Sakura laughed quietly enjoying the look of puzzlement upon his handsome face. It wasn't an expression that she was privileged to look upon often.

"Don't go falling in love with me, Uchiha."

Sakura's eyes softened as she took in his frown. He folded his arms across his chest. If Sakura didn't know better she'd say he was pouting.

"Why would you presume that I would do something like that?"

A grin that rivaled the Cheshire cat blossomed on her face.

"Because I'm a sexy bitch, and men love their sexy women."

Itachi had no idea what to say to that so he said nothing. However, he did rejoin her in the bed….

They weren't exclusive and it suited him just fine. However…he hadn't exactly expected her to be quite so…what was the word for it?

He could certainly say that she was no paragon of virtue though he wouldn't quite say that she was a loose woman. She was rather choosey when it came to whom she bestowed her favors upon. However, she formed no attachment to any man.

Curious, he asked her once why she hadn't settled down. That is what women did.

They dated.

They married.

They had children.

It had been his experience that this is what the majority of them wanted out of life. He supposed that was why her reply left him speechless, but of course she couldn't tell because he had never been a man of many words.

Sakura looked at her lover whose hair her hand had been entangled in and at the seriousness on his face--not that he wasn't always serious. The question had come out of the blue and yet she felt the need to make light of it because that's what this thing was that they were doing.

Light.

Free.

Fun.

Unencumbered by the confines of monogamy.

"Marriage? For me?" Her melodious laughter filled the bedroom. "I have no desire to be tied down any more than you do. I'm free and I can't imagine life any other way. Why are you asking me these things, anyway? You aren't falling for me, are you?" She said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

He rose a brow at her disdainfully, and made a move to leave but this only made Sakura laugh and grab his shirt pulling him closer to her sealing her lips against his.

It was bound to happen. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. It could perhaps be because he had never dwelled upon unpleasant things. He took everything in stride--but some things tended to be harder to walk away from. He supposed this was one of the reasons why she insisted upon some sort of message before he showed up in her home.

He came upon her in the arms of one of her lovers.

She was sitting on her kitchen counter. Her legs were spread wide with her lover standing between her silken thighs. One of her arms was buried in his raven tresses as he greedily suckled at her breast. Her head was thrown back and her mouth was open in a soundless wail of ecstasy.

Smoke filled the kitchen because whatever she had been cooking previously lay forgotten in the throes of ecstasy.

And then something inside Itachi's brain snapped when she called out his name.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura moaned. Her body was encased in flames. So much so that she could smell the smoke. Immersed in that smoke was a scent that she had come to only associate with Uchiha Itachi, and it assailed her senses. It was like having them both there with her desiring her, wanting her.

What was it about these Uchiha men that did this to her? To make her so weak and needy with just a touch of their hand, a flicker of their tongue.

Itachi wasn't even aware that he had moved. One minute he was as still as a statue the next he had a kunai in his hand that was a hair away from sinking into the soft flesh of his brother's neck.

He would admit later that he had lost control. To turn on his brother in such a way because of a woman was sheer foolishness that he couldn't forgive himself for.

"--the fuck!!" Sasuke yelled causing the kunai to nick him and blood to trickle down his neck.

So intent upon killing the man that dared to lay hands on Sakura that he barely noticed what happened next. It was later upon contemplation that Itachi realized that jealousy was a dangerous and unfamiliar emotion that he would have to school himself to control.

Sakura's eyes became wide as she felt Sasuke pulled away from her forcefully. The scene that was laid out before her almost made her rub her eyes to make sure that the haze of lust hadn't clouded her vision. Itachi had a handful of Sasuke's hair in his hand and had pulled his head back. The blood was an indicator that Sasuke had been cut. A surge of protectiveness flowed through Sakura's veins. No one. No one hurt Sasuke but her. Sasuke was not only her lover but he was her teammate as well. She didn't give a hot damn if Itachi was his brother or not. He would be dealt with. Ninja skills at their peak Sakura became a blur removing the kunai from Itachi's hand and pushing Sasuke out the way. Then a loud pop filled the air as Itachi's cheek swung to the side from the force of the blow that Sakura delivered. She hoped she broke his pretty face.

Itachi slowly turned his cold gaze to the petite woman before him. In her fury, she hadn't bothered to cover herself. Her chest lay exposed to him and to her visitor. He took a step forward, reaching for her shirt in order to cover her from prying eyes but she smacked his hands away from her.

Sakura was already angry but that was when Uchiha Itachi started to get angry.

"Get out!" Sakura hissed staring into the eyes of one of the deadliest shinobi in her village. "Get out now."

Itachi stood immobile for a moment staring at Sakura before he left without a word.

It was a while before he returned.

Six months to be exact not that Sakura was counting the minutes or anything.

'Good riddance.' She often told herself. The last thing she needed was an overly possessive man in her life who didn't understand her needs even if he did make her feel safe in a way that she had never felt before.

Even if he did actually listen to what she had to say.

Even if he did accept her for who she was.

Even if he did respect her wishes--wait he didn't do that at all. If that was the case he never would have came into her apartment unannounced. He never would have attacked Sasuke as if he had every right to.

Yes, Sakura said nodding to herself. It was good that he was gone. Sakura, thereafter, proceeded to close the door of her mind on Uchiha Itachi.

The door wasn't closed long because soon his scent alerted her to his presence. It was a barely noticeable scent but to Sakura it was overpowering. No, overpowering was the wrong word--more like intoxicating.

Itachi watched silently as she looked up from the medical scroll that she had been studying as he entered her living room quietly. She sat on her couch with her legs tucked beneath her. Her hair was askew and her bottom lip looked as if she had been gnawing on it.

The light in her apartment was dim which wasn't good since she seemed to be reading.

"What are you doing here?"

Her voice held not a tint of anger in it. There was however curiosity laced with a tinge of something else.

"You know why I'm here." It had been too long since he had touched this woman. He would not wait another minute, another second to have her.

"I'm not interested." Sakura stated concisely looking down once more at her medical scrolls effectively ignoring the man before her. Well, she ignored him for a short while because soon Sakura peeked between her lashes to find him watching her steadily. His eyes held a heat that made her heart begin to hammer wildly.

Anticipation began to build up within her yet she would not give in to it. She would be strong and resist her desire for this man. "Leave, Itachi. We're done." Sakura said, firmly dismissing him.

"We are not."

The cold, intolerant tone in his voice told her that Itachi felt a bit more for her than they had initially agreed upon. It caused her to raise her head with surprise and indignation.

"I told you not to fall for me. I--"

"Fall for you?" Itachi let out a mirthless chuckle. "You overestimate your charms, Haruno."

Sakura shot him a look that in no way hid her disbelief. There was no way he wasn't getting in too deep with her. She wouldn't believe his insulting denial. Quickly, Sakura stood up and walked over to where he stood. Extending a finger, she poked him in the chest.

"So, nearly killing your brother was just a freak accident?"

"I did not know you counted him among your lovers."

"Is that any excuse? No, is that any of your business? You are not my tutelary. What happens in my bedroom is no one's business but my own."

"You were in the kitchen."

Sakura paused trying not to chuckle at him deliberately misunderstanding her statement. It was the first time that he had deigned to joke with her. Some of the anger she felt cooled with this knowledge.

"Look Itachi--"

"You need not worry about my feelings. I am capable of taking care of myself. Your assumption that I can not is insulting."

Sakura had nothing to say at his declaration. She merely stared trying to figure out what to do with him.

So since she had no words or ideas the Uchiha in question closed the distance between the two in order to make better use of her mouth.

It was six months after that when Itachi realized that he should have heeded the young kunoichi's warning. Perhaps he should not have sought her company once more because the day had come that he had sworn would never happen. Not with her--not with any woman.

He had fallen in love.

Itachi cursed Haruno Sakura a million times over for being the alluring, enticing, and desirable woman that she was--because she would never be his.

However, it wasn't his way to go down without a fight. Actually, it wasn't his way to lose so he would fight for her. He would show her that being free was a good life (he knew because he lived it) to live but being loved--well that was better.

And in the end he would win her.

However, Itachi wasn't the only one who happened to be cursing someone's existence. Sakura was just about ready to kill Itachi. She only had three lovers and one of them just left her.

Who, pray tell?

Sasuke.

Sasuke's departure from her bed would be all well and good if Kakashi hadn't been making noises about doing the same.

And why? Why would they make these decisions all of a sudden?

Sasuke was blunt. He said and she quoted: 'The sex isn't worth the aggravation of Itachi.'

Apparently, dinners at home included a lot of glaring and more than a few death threats. There was an incident where the older Uchiha had decided to help their mother with dinner. She made soup that night. Nothing too ominous about that. However when Sasuke's bowl was placed before him the noodles spelled a very emphatic statement.

You. Will. Die.

While Sakura was secretly amused by Itachi's tactics, she was also in a mild state of panic. What would happen once Kakashi left her? It would just be her and Itachi. He was maneuvering for a relationship. She just knew it.

Sakura had not been joking when she told Itachi that she wanted to be free. Although, she had not been telling the entire truth. The fact was that her life as a kunoichi was very important to her and most men--even shinobi--didn't understand that. Those that she dated expected her to give up her life and live the life they wanted.

She wanted love, but where was the compromise for her? Why couldn't they give up their life? Sure, she had to physically have the kids, but why couldn't they stay home and raise them?

She had not come across a man that actually saw eye to eye with her on the subject and after a while Sakura realized it wasn't worth the search.

After all, the only thing a man was really good for was a tumble in the sheets--and some weren't even good at that. So she decided that the best thing for her was to have lovers. Men that wouldn't demand too much. That would leave her in peace.

It had worked out well thus far. She had been very careful with her selections.

She had chosen Kakashi because he wouldn't want anyone to know of his relationship with his former student and was unlikely to want anything on a permanent basis.

Sasuke…well…Sasuke was selfish. He had no qualms about using her body and it just made it all the better that she didn't want something on a permanent basis. Okay, maybe she was a bit harsh on Sasuke. He, unlike Itachi and Kakashi, knew exactly why she proposed such an arrangement. He also supported her on it and if he got a little nookie out of the bargain it was so much better.

Itachi, well, obviously he was a gamble on her part. She had observed him for a while. He often seemed quite distant and more than a little cold. She had heard many things from women about his absolute refusal of any woman that propositioned him. She had never heard of him involved in any kind of relationship with a woman. (Because most women in the village would brag unceasingly about landing that man.)

Her gamble paid off. Itachi agreed to her terms. To this day she didn't know why but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

However, now Itachi was trying to renege on their deal.

There was a simple solution to that. She could very well just cut him loose. Yet, for some reason she couldn't quite phantom why that wasn't an option.

Uchiha Itachi had never deemed it necessary to woo a woman, especially one that was reluctant to embark upon a relationship, therefore, and he would never admit it, he didn't exactly know how. He had heard of things like men buying women flowers and chocolate but he wasn't that type of man, and he found that type of thing humiliating. Itachi wouldn't give up his dignity--not for any woman. Not even the one he loved. So he found himself occasionally, idly browsing shops looking for something that screamed Sakura. This was how he stumbled upon the music box.

Itachi walked into the small shop and heard the tinkling of a bell signaling his entrance. It didn't take him long to see it. The music box was in the center of the store. He immediately walked directly toward it and ran his hand over the surface.

It was a rich mahogany wood that had intricate designs carved into it. It looked hand crafted and that was something he appreciated. That was why Itachi reached out and opened it and soon heard the sweet melody flow from it. The melody was familiar, yet he couldn't quite place the tune.

"What is this?" He murmured softly to himself.

Sakura found that she had developed a mild case of stalking. She had been following Uchiha Itachi around all day and she had no idea why. He appeared to be shopping and curiosity got the best of her.

Who was he shopping for? A woman? Sakura's eyes narrowed and soon she stopped hiding herself and blatantly stared inside the window of the shop that he was currently frequenting. And there he stood staring intently at an object that she couldn't quite make out.

So, Sakura randomly decided to enter the shop and see exactly what it was that he was up to. If he was indeed buying something for her or some other woman.

And no, Sakura didn't pause to consider where this 'other woman' of her imagination came from. Especially since she knew that Uchiha Itachi didn't date.

Once she reached his side he immediately looked down at her. She heard the sweet tinkling melody and closed her eyes as recognition dawned on her.

"Ooh. I love that song!"

"You know this song?" Itachi inquired.

Sakura nodded, smiling up at him she began to sing softly. She was no singer but she held the tune pretty well and Itachi soon found himself entranced by her voice.

"I can't be with anyone

Since I felt our worlds collide

It's like I almost died

The way you make me feel

I'm changing got me breaking down inside

Baby, can't you see?

You ruined me for life."

And after she stopped singing he recalled the song quite well, and he couldn't help but think that yes, yes she had ruined him for life. There was no other woman for him and he would ensure that there was no other man for her but him. Essentially--he would ruin her as she had done him.

"So, are you buying that?" Sakura asked curious and suddenly nervous about the look in his eye. "It's really beautiful."

Itachi looked down at the music box and closed the lid ending the melody.

"No, no I'm not."

Sakura blinked slowly. She could have sworn he was going to buy it. Everything in his body language said that he had every intention of claiming it. Was he lying? There was only one way to find out.

"Oh, well. That's a shame." Sakura paused thinking it over. "Not really." She then proceeded to snatch the box out of his reach. "I'll just buy it for myself." She then gave him a cheeky grin then flounced off leaving him without a second glance. Sakura halfway expected him to call out to her telling her that he had changed his mind but he didn't say a word, but Sakura wasn't angry. She really wanted that music box, and if it kept him from buying it for another woman--good.

Silently, Itachi watched as Sakura purchased the gift that he had found for her, leaving him to find some other object to bestow upon her. The damned infuriating woman.

He lost it again when he found another of her lovers hiding in the copse near her home. His annoying little brother had told of few people of his brush with death and now people were even more afraid of him than they were before. Not that he minded. It made things simpler for him because it made men wary of sleeping with his woman.

Yes, his woman. She just didn't know it yet.

It was only a matter of time before she submitted to him. It was just a waiting game they played.

Itachi walked over to the bushes only to find a shock of white hair.

"What are you doing here, Hatake?"

Kakashi smiled at Itachi in a way that even with a mask you could tell it was less than innocent.

"Well, I was here to visit the lovely Sakura when I saw you coming. Since I feared for my neck I decided to hide myself from you and your trusty kunai…."

"Leave."

A chuckle escaped Kakashi's lips as he pulled out his favorite orange companion.

"I guess I'll just have to make due with this."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at Kakashi's retreating form. However, Kakashi hadn't gotten far when Sakura's door swung open.

Kakashi turned and gave Sakura a small wave and continued on his way. Sakura then swung her gaze to Itachi immediately knowing what he had done.

"Itachi!" Sakura yelled. "Are you running off my guests?"

Itachi looked Sakura directly in her eyes. "Yes."

Sakura found herself momentarily taken aback by his bluntness. She hadn't exactly expected him to admit it. Shaking her head, she continued her rant.

"I am not your personal pet that you can cosset at your whim Itachi. You need to get that through your head." Sakura stepped to the side allowing him entrance into her home. "I am not going to continue to put up with this. You can either accept my life, or you can get out of it. The decision is yours."

Itachi was silent during her little rant. She looked at him as if she expected him to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he held out a small box to her.

Sakura looked down at the box with her eyes round, large, and thoroughly distracted.

"Is that for me?"

Itachi remain silent, and waited for her to accept the gift. Sakura reached out her hand and took the gift carefully from him. It was small and light and she was afraid of what could be inside, but she hid her inner turmoil from the dangerous shinobi in her midst.

After the gift was safely in her hands, Itachi leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips, pulling away before he got pulled in too deep. He turned and left then leaving her to open her gift alone.

This surprised Sakura. She would have thought he would want to see her face as she opened a present that he went through the trouble to pick out for her, but Uchiha Itachi never did what she expected and so she should really stop trying to predict his actions.

Sakura paused just before opening the gift as realization dawned on her. He had been searching for a gift for her. The music box--he had planned on purchasing it for her.

A grin graced her lips as she began to open Itachi's gift. The ribbon was torn off and soon the paper rattled as she opened it quickly and dropped it to the floor.

She had always been impatient when it came to presents. Sakura was especially impatient with this one. It was the first one she had ever received from Itachi.

She briefly wondered why after all this time he would do something like this, but at the moment she couldn't bring it upon herself to care that much. She had no desire to delve into the hidden meaning behind the gift. She liked gifts that much. This could, of course, be because she had received so few growing up.

What would Itachi buy for her? If it was anything quite as elegant as the music box he initially found then she was in for a quite a treat.

Inside, she found something that no one had ever given her before. Something that was not quite expected. Something that sent her into a laughing fit.

The gift was a simple one. It was a keychain. And written on it was:

Sexy bitches carry little red key chains.*

After Sakura's peals of laughter ended she had a moment of reflection. Uchiha Itachi was not the normal man she was used to dealing with. Sure, he was a little possessive but if the situation was reversed she'd probably be a lot worse than he was. So, maybe a relationship with him wouldn't be what she expected. Maybe she could work that thing called love out with him to both their satisfaction.

At least she hoped she could because Sakura was pretty sure that with just one gift she had fallen a little in love with Uchiha Itachi.

And it was their beginning.

Once she would have said that it was the beginning of the end, but maybe it was the beginning of forever.

Her life would never be the same.

fin

A/N: *This keychain actually exists. A friend gave me several but this one was my favorite.

Song: You Ruined Me by JC Chasez.

Standard disclaimers apply