Nibbling on Blossoms
Quick little drabble written in between DSoR chapters. Another Itachi and Sakura fic; slightly ItaSaku. Set when Sakura is 8 and Itachi is 13. Non-massacre.
Disc.: I do not own Naruto.
A cloud that looked like a tomato caught Itachi's eye as he laid out on the grass between the training grounds and the village. His team had long finished hours ago but the Uchiha boy assured his teammates that he would rather spend his evening cloud watching and star gazing rather than their usual meal and leisurely walk. It was just about six o'clock when Itachi hear something unusual.
Sniff Sniff. It was coming from behind a nearby store. His eyebrow unconscientiously arched up at the little sniffles. Sounds like a little kid how got hurt. He pondered what could have happened considering the fact that for the past hour he had heard no other sounds besides villagers walking. Being a curious and caring person, especially when it came to his little brother and other children his age, Itachi got up and attempted to locate the source of the sound. He rounded a corner following the quiet little sobs he had been hearing for the last two minutes and found a tiny little figure cowering under a mass of unruly pink hair behind a grocery shop. He paused for a moment to look at the little girl who at the moment had no control over her emotions. She was a tiny little thing, very petite and almost fragile looking, her porcelain skin shaking with every sob. He slowly bent down beside her until she looked up at him startled and completely unaware that anyone was watching her.
"Easy there, are you alright?" He made an effort to look as non-intimidating as possible by softening his eyes and tilting his head. The little girl choked back a few more cries before whispering out her response.
"I-I'm fine." She hugged her knees and gazed up at him, slightly terrified. "W-who are, are y-you?"
He smiled back at her, genuinely happy that he didn't frighten her into silence. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm a Konoha shinobi. What's your name?" She seemed to perk up when he mentioned his status.
"My name's Sakura! Are you really a shinobi? Do you know jutsu? Is it hard to become one? Are you on a team? Do you go on a lot of missions?" Itachi was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude. She had become very animated as she spoke, gradually inching closer to his face and dropping her guard with each eager question. He chuckled a bit at her and offered his hand to her. She grabbed it, still gawking at his face.
"Well, Sakura-san, yes, I am a shinobi but I usually work alone since I've gone through a lot of training to make it to my rank. It was a lot of hard work to learn everything but very much worth it. Do you not know any shinobi?"
She shook her head. "No, I live in the civilian district and we don't have any shinobi there. But I'm enrolling in the academy soon so I'll change that!" She had a look of determination on her face.
"Well, well. You seem to be very set on doing that. What could make someone as strong as you cry?" He wanted to know what could trouble the young girl so much. They were now walking hand in hand, down the streets of Konoha, the pace easy as everyone was off of work and just enjoying the sunset. She was very quiet after his question and her eyes kept darting to different spots on the ground. A clenched fist was brought up to her chest as her mouth opened slowly.
"My forehead. Some girls are always pointing it out. It's really big and I always get made fun of by the other kids." Her excitement turned to a lonely tone, which made her smile twist into a frown. The Uchiha noted grimly how much of an effect the subject had on the pinkette. He wondered just how long she had been dealing with this problem.
"You know, this may sound like something everyone always says, but you shouldn't listen to them." She definitely had the facial expression of someone who heard that line all the time. "It's actually a very beautiful forehead, ladylike and delicate." His compliment made Sakura blush a deep crimson. She squeezed his hand a little tighter in reaction. He smiled in happiness again; this girl made him proud to show the emotion openly. Somehow she had tapped into his core better in ten minutes than anyone who had known him since birth. He decided to continue, wanting nothing more in that moment than to make his companion smile. "You should be proud of your features, every last one of them is unique and special to you and only you. And that's what makes you special and irreplaceable." He gazed up at the russet sky, only a few, wispy clouds littering its expanse. When he looked back down at Sakura her face was now completely covered in blush, which made Itachi let out an abrupt laugh. Sakura's head shot up and if she could have turned any more red she would have.
"W-what's that for?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking you look really cute when you're happy." Her eyes widened in surprise and then a large, toothy grin broke out on her face. Itachi smiled back and hummed in contentment. "She, your smile outshines your forehead anyway, those girls must just be jealous of that and that's why they pick on you. They know when you're happy their petty little words don't mean anything. Now how about we get you home, Sakura-chan?"
"Hm, ok!"
Sakura walked through the gates of Konoha and immediately shrugged off her heavy backpack. As she massaged her shoulders Izumo and Kotetsu threw up their hands and gave her a greeting. After chatting the two up a bit and turning in her report to Tsunade-sama she made her way to Ichiraku's where her teammates would inevitably be waiting for her. After so many years of training Sakura had finally caught up with her boys and could hold her own in a spar with both any day. Pride swelled up in the kunoichi and her pace picked up a bit in eagerness. As she reached the entrance of the ramen stand a man leaning on the wall of a neighboring building spoke up.
"You know what? You look good when you're happy, you should smile more often."
Sakura didn't even need to look up to know who it was. She merely smiled to herself and slipped into the restaurant, thinking how after a long ten years, Itachi never stopped complimenting her smile.