AN: Ohai. I'm alive.
It looks like I'm fond of making multi-fics within the same working universe though as of this moment I still haven't ended any of the Gods series. This story is just a way of mine to blow off steam since everything is so complicated with my first multi-chapter fics. And to rub the rust off. :)
This is supposed to be the random crap AU that flew out the top of my head. The original of this universe is actually an ItachixKonan, but then as I imagined the story it grew and grew to span interactions among other characters. Among those is this story. Yes, this is a multi-chap fic.
Blindsided!
I: Return of the Jerk
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It was the silent tranquility of early morning, in one of the darkened hallways of Leaf's luxury apartments. Sakura jiggled the key a bit more in the doorknob and it finally clicked open, the thick strap of her bag trying to slide off a shoulder as she struggled to hitch it up higher. The weight of it was pulling at her shirt and threatening to yank it off completely. From her other arm her jacket slipped off, the zipper clacking against the tiled floor.
"Well, fuck you too," she muttered under her breath, huffing and managing to turn the heavy brass globe just enough to get the door open. Without even bothering to remove her keys she stepped into the unlit living room of the place and made her way to the island counter at the very end, lugging with her the paper bags of groceries. The smooth cool marble reflected her movements.
Breathing a sigh of relief at finally getting that done with, she turned around to go retrieve her jacket and keys out in the hallway when she noticed a lethargic orange LED blinking its dying breath on the coffee table as she passed it. It was a laptop.
Looks like someone was up late.
Retrieving her absurdly pink laundry-day jacket from the floor and jangling the keys back into in her pocket, Sakura skirted around the enormous sofa to have a glimpse at the night owl. Upon seeing him, she tried to control the glee that had begun spreading on her face.
Bingo!
Sitting down before him she gently nudged him awake, moving back slightly as the sleeper blearily glared at her in the brightening light of the living room. It was a little past five in the morning and she adjusted how she sat on her haunches, the lone audience to him sitting up slowly, a hand raking back the black hair from his face.
"Sakura?" he asked, clearing his throat and eyeing her.
She grinned.
All of her problems would now be solved. Why wouldn't it? That bitch of a teacher she had in her philosophy subject was demanding a full scale (insert major requirement here) into how it (insert how it could ruin her life). It was effing philosophy. It was a minor subject. She didn't have a grade to meet to remain an accounting major. How the eff would she make a (insert major requirement here) out of that?
But here he was, someone who'd taken the same exact subject, not only down to the course code, but also the same teacher. And he passed with flying colors, perfect grade, farting rainbows and all that. It wasn't a surprise anymore. What she cared about was that he was experienced in the art of dealing with the bitch teacher.
"Hey," she smiled, hoping her messily tied ponytail and old baggy sweats weren't what he was staring at. "You got back from your vacation. How was it?"
He blinked, fine dark eyebrows rising slightly.
"You were out last night."
"Work," she shrugged, still unable to keep the grin from cracking her face. Oh, she was used to him able to see right past the niceties and outright ignore them. Especially now that she just woke him from what must have been a tiring trip back.
"It's 5:00."
"I know."
"AM."
"I know," she exaggerated, clasping her hands in front of her in the universal sign of begging, "but I promise I won't bother you any longer if you help me."
He gave a sigh and flopped his head back down on the couch, burying his face into the pillow.
"Your loan didn't fall through and you need to borrow money to pay your tuition?" came the muffled question, phrased in the monotone of his deep voice.
"What? No!" she exclaimed, lower lip sticking out as she gave a resounding humph. "I'm a full scholar, you asshole. I'm just having… a bit of trouble with a subject I'm taking this semester."
The dark head lifted up and those gorgeous eyes focused on her again, an amused smirk on his lips. Well, that got his attention all right. He seemed a tad too interested in her having a hard time with studies.
"Really?" he asked, curiosity practically emanating from every pore of his well toned body. If she were a snake she'd flick out her tongue and taste how much he wanted to gloat. The way he talked had the characteristic lilt of his nonchalant personality, but the slow and deep way he spoke only added to the condescending effect. Fuck you, Uchiha, she thought as he continued, "You're having problems academically?"
It was her turn to smirk, ecstatic about blowing his high and mighty smugness bubble to kingdom come. What he just said was a sort of off-handed compliment, especially coming from him. There was no one else she'd turn to for help with school. Her regular study buddy was Nara by virtue of availability, but he was outranked by this Uchiha in so much more ways. And this is the first time she'd approached him regarding such matters.
"The teacher is a bitch," she vented, remembering how the door was shut on her when was late for a minute. A minute. She'd even brought it up with the head of the teacher's department but that wasn't able to accomplish anything. Her philosophy teacher looked like she was harboring some deep seated hate just for her, and it was all "properly done according to school policies". Damn, it was legal.
"Subject?" he asked blankly, his attention now fully on her.
"Philosophy."
A moment of silence filled between them. Sakura could almost hear the gears moving in his mind as he thought, a well-oiled whirr like a trusty old clock.
"Your teacher is Dr. Nagato?" he continued with a slightly more puzzled expression.
"Yes!" she practically screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. They dropped back down to slap against her thighs. "She's being a deliberate tight-assed nightmare to me and I think she's doing it on purpose."
It felt like she was telling on what Dr. Konan Nagato had been doing to her and trying to sic a parent on the blue-haired cunt, but it didn't take away from the satisfaction she felt out of it, milking it for what it was worth. It always gave her a blossoming sense of retribution to get a one-up on a horrible professor who was intent on prolonging their bias against her.
And my one-up is right in front of me. A chilling smile made it to her expression. If the Uchiha were the type to roll his eyes he would have done so at her already.
"Really?" he said, pondering the resurfacing memories of the class. "I thought she was pretty easy."
"Don't rub it in my face," she hissed, her temporary glee cut short by his blatant way of making fun of her situation. "I'm asking you to help me. I don't care what you think of it but you've gotten a perfect grade with her and she is just impossible! You need to help me, please. You know I can't fail because if I do, I'll lose the scholarship and that will kill me because –"
Itachi held up his hand.
"I'll have to stop you right there," he interjected, poker faced, reaching down and rummaging on the mess of books and papers at the foot of the sofa. "You're just this talking blob with a pink head."
Sakura's jaw dropped open as he fished out his eyeglasses from the pile and wore them.
"You don't need to see me," she hissed, almost desperate. "Just tell me how you did that stupid project she is giving!"
The subtle mirth of the older of the Uchiha brothers faded slightly.
"What requirement?" he inquired, adjusting his glasses. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was a minutiae of genuineness in his visage. He always was one to take such matters seriously, so she knew she was right in approaching him.
God forbid she kill her roommate. This one specifically, since there were four of them staying in the apartment, although at times she wanted to grisly murder all three. This one was the most useful of all of them, hence he was the most important. But because his usefulness was the same reason he was so hard to squeeze favors out of, she didn't like doing it one bit. He was Uchiha Fucking Itachi, and compared to anyone else she knew, heck eve Shikamaru's family, she thought he was still more savvy at scoring the best grades.
"The (insert major requirement here)," she seethed. "You know, the one on (insert how it could ruin her life)."
For a moment she felt she would scream at the blank stare he had given her when a spark of recognition appeared on that handsome face.
"Oh. That one," he mused, chuckling a little. Whether it was to assure her or to mock her, Sakura couldn't tell. "Why should I tell you about it?"
Sure, Sakura Haruno was well aware the very sight she was beholding at the moment – one of the most eligible bachelors in town, probably on the surface of the earth – was priceless, she had grown extremely desensitized. She'd known him and his brother as far back as she could remember and through a stroke of luck ended up as a family friend, spending a big chunk of her childhood with them. They were always around.
It only meant the insanely good looking man in front of her only made her want to throttle him.
"I was already telling you why when you stopped me just to put on your stupid glasses." She stood up, miffed if not pissed at the bespectacled devil. "That's it, you're not getting a share from my food!"
Turning around abruptly, she meant to follow through with her threat for the rest of the month when a large hand closed around her wrist, stopping her from initiating the dramatic walk out on him.
"It's nothing," he said, long black hair cascading over a shoulder. "Pass a blank paper with your name."
Unable to make the grand exit she planned, Sakura eyed her roommate critically. It sounded dubious but then again, he was the only student she'd known who seemed to be able to bend instructors to his will.
"You sure she's not going to yell at me in front of the class for doing that?" she asked. "Nagato-sensei doesn't exactly come off as the type to like pranks."
"Do whatever you want but remember I already gave you what you were looking for," Itachi countered, releasing her and disappearing under the great red comforter.
Sighing, at that moment Sakura Haruno knew whether she followed his advice or not she'd end up most likely with the same grade anyway. If I fail this term I might end up with a better teacher, she thought, walking towards the kitchen. But that might cost her her hard-earned scholarship, and she wasn't as filthy rich as her roommates to afford paying through the rest of her schooling. No. Not even a chance. It was completely assured she would lose the scholarship.
As she walked behind the bar to take out the groceries and start breakfast, she heard Itachi call out a last favor from behind.
"Bacon and eggs, please."
She sighed, shaking her head with a smile.
~x~
The day felt like a blur. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary going on, and upon arriving back home to take a nap before her last class Sakura fell to comfortable sleep as soon as she kicked off her shoes and lay down.
It felt like some time when suddenly she awoke to loud voices in the apartment, echoing into her room. For a minute she tried to gather her thoughts, focusing on the noises and trying to figure out what was happening. Basing on the muted light from her windows it was around early evening, and the voices were getting louder, escalating. She couldn't make out much about what was being said but felt there was something very wrong.
Getting up to yank open the door, ignoring how shaken she felt as she approached the balcony of the second floor to peek down at the living room, the view greeted her with the sight of two extremely irate black-haired, black-eyed males staring each other down. She wanted to call out to both but her throat felt tight, her legs refused to move. She wished she hadn't gone out at all. Screw her last class for the day, she didn't want to get caught between these two.
Her hand gripped the railing, knowing she was not exactly in direct line of sight of the two but the way Itachi's gaze flickered for a moment toward her told her he was aware of her presence.
His arms were crossed at his chest when one of them uncurled, pointing aggressively to one of the sofas without taking his eyes off Sasuke
"Sit, down," he ordered in a deep voice full of frighteningly controlled rage.
In the back of Sakura's head she wondered whether Naruto, their fourth and last roommate, was around. No, he still has a class until dinnertime. His room beside hers would remain unoccupied until she was halfway done cooking.
Pity. She would have needed his help if their apartment stood any chance of being undemolished, or at the very least she wouldn't be applying her first aid knowledge anytime soon. At this rate…
Itachi had never looked so angry in her whole life. His dark brows were furrowed, his expression clearly livid. His lips were pulled into an unnerving frown. She hadn't seen the older of the brothers like this before, and that was saying a lot because the rest of her life included witnessing him get arrested as a suspect the night Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha got killed, not to mention the succeeding proceeding trials after that.
"You can't make me," hissed Sasuke, his hands clenching at his sides as her gaze moved to him.
Inside her a spark of her own emotions negatively surged. Emerald eyes narrowed.
The nerve, she mentally sneered. After three months you finally show your face.
The brothers meeting on the same day was a horrendous coincidence. Itachi had been out with a psychology major group for three days after being able to convince their professor a trip to the beach was to be part of their requirements. Ino had practically gloated that to her all the way up until their plane took off.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had not showed up for three months straight.
No phone call, no note on the fridge, no text message, no sighting of him anywhere. It wasn't like he could have been murdered and left for dead and they wouldn't even know it. Oh, he was attending his classes all right and still didn't drop out. If it were any sign of him being Itachi's brother then it would be his ability to not fail at grades. Everything seemed suddenly strained and he disconnected with the her, Naruto, and his brother. It was apparent he had been crashing somewhere else when he wasn't at the apartment.
Now see, that wasn't a good thing.
This was their first year in college, everyone in their batch, from Konoha. They were a bajillion miles from home and by merit of being close friends she, Sasuke and Naruto were entrusted under the care of the only person their parents who could be their guardian. Naturally, that fell to Sasuke's older, responsible brother.
To their snarky, brooding friend it was a normal arrangement. To Naruto, the kid of a freaking politician, it was an adventure as long as he kept his grades afloat. But to Sakura, as she managed to enter the University on a scholarship and hail from a common, normal, lower middle class family, it meant she had to work to live.
The Uchihas were kind enough to let them stay at their apartment rent-free, her and their dumbass friend, which eased up on the whole expenses thing for her. It didn't mean her books were any cheaper, as she was taking a pre-med course. Her tuition and everything academic was free but the miscellaneous costs were still hard, but at least hey, free lodging. No complaints. The first semester had been smooth sailing, until the last couple of months.
Sasuke had begun acting weird, turning very irate and picked a lot of fights with practically anyone, most of all Naruto. After one particularly nasty incident, he disappeared days at a time, swerving out of their radar. His absences became more frequent and his returns took longer.
They were what, fifteen, sixteen here? Sasuke did not bother telling them anything.
She and Naruto were extremely close to the younger Uchiha before and she could see how the blond had been hurt, literally and figuratively. Heck, she had her own spells of sobbing into the pillow because somewhere along the way she fell in love with the jerk. Like, fuck her, right?
And so hearing him hanging around with really shady people, they decided they weren't going to mess with him anymore and tried to move on. They wouldn't force him into spending time with them when it seemed he grew to hate them.
So at the present, nearing the finals of the second semester of their first year here, he suddenly is back. And someone didn't look happy to see him either.
"I've had enough of your bullshit," was a reply Sakura almost didn't catch from Itachi.
With blinding speed the prodigy of the Uchiha family grabbed his haggard, very messed-up looking brother into a body lock and pinned him to the couch. Painfully, if Sasuke's yelp was any indication. It was at that moment Naruto banged open the front door, the heavy wood slamming onto the concrete wall, holding a Styrofoam takeout box of strong smelling curry with his impeccable grin and announced,
"I'm hooooooooome~!"
Sparkling blue eyes slowly turned to the scene before him. His grin faded.
"Oh, shit. Teme, what are you doing here?"
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~x~
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to be continued