"Kuso! They are absolutely ridiculous! I cannot believe this!" she grumbled angrily to herself.
She stomped around the old teahouse, the last place she figured they would have rested. It infuriated her to think that her comrades would have thought it was completely acceptable to leave her behind in such an undignified manner.
"Oh, when I see them, they're going to get it!" Sakura swore, shaking her fist in the air at her memory of her team.
It was only last year that Team 7 was put back together as an unbeatable ANBU squad. This was their first serious S-rank mission since then. She opened the piece of paper in her hand and re-read the note for the umpteenth time. Each time she looked it over, she seemed to get progressively angrier. It was written in Naruto's hasty scrawl, most likely dictated by Sasuke. It read:
Oi! Sakura-chan!
Sasuke-teme says we need to move. He doesn't want to wake you because he thinks you're too tired to manage. He wants you to rest up before doing anything serious. I think you're up for anything, but he won't let me touch you. He says you look too peaceful to be interrupted. Please catch up, Sakura-chan! I don't want to be stuck with stupid Sasuke-teme for long!
See you soon,
Naruto
Of course Sasuke would think that she couldn't handle this mission. Of course she would have looked too 'tired' to him. It disgusted her to think that she could have ever said she loved a person like him. Sakura clenched the shred of paper in her fist, trying her hardest to not explode.
"Alright Sakura, what should you do? I can track them down easily, but that might jeopardize the mission, considering how I might lose control and obliterate their sorry asses…" she trailed off, reconsidering her options.
It was in that moment that she realized she wasn't actually by herself. In fact, she was in the middle of a run-down, but busy teahouse filled with less-than-harmless patrons. Each calculating gaze was met with one of her own. The group didn't intimidate her, but she felt severely out of place.
Sighing, she did what any normal person would in her situation. She marched to the bar in the corner of the shabby restaurant and plopped down in one of the torn vinyl stools. Pressing a hand to her forehead wearily, she ordered a drink. The least she could do right now was try to forget how overwhelmingly irritating her teammates were.
"Arigatou." She took the drink and downed it without a moment's hesitation.
"One more." She blinked at the toothy bartender, pushing the small cup towards him.
"On the house for the pretty lady." He grinned lecherously, leering at her with obvious desire.
Sakura had to use all her reserves of self-control to keep from shuddering. She smiled coyly, pushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear.
"Arigatou." She leaned forward and laughed, taking the cup from the bartender. She wondered how many drinks she could sucker out of him.
She didn't really feel like getting drunk because she knew how vulnerable she could be with a little alcohol in her system. Sighing heavily again, she dreamily leaned her head against her hand. She was only half-listening to the dirty things the bartender was whispering when suddenly, someone roughly knocked her into the bar.
Angrily, she spun around, "Hey, watch where you're going!"
Her voice burned with uncharacteristic anger. Part of it was from the shove and part of it was the smoldering anger caused by her team. She lost her voice for a fleeting second when her eyes met the cold, blood red ones of her assailant.
Instead of being afraid, like a sane logical person, she frowned petulantly, her eyes narrowing with peculiar suspicion. But, he had already turned to leave, his cloak billowing out behind him.
"Go figure. If he's an Uchiha, he's an asshole," she muttered, still glaring at his back.
She blinked and found herself pinned against the bar, her body pressed up against Itachi Uchiha's. He stared down at her with condescending eyes, challenging her to do something. But Sakura didn't flinch; she continued to silently accuse him.
Moments passed, but he didn't let go. Their close proximity was smothering her and she found herself…blushing. Her eyes diverted to the delicate necklace clasped around his neck as she tried to focus on anything except his face. Without thinking, she tentatively reached up to press her fingers against the cold metal that made up his necklace. She shivered at the contact and then quickly withdrew, realizing what she had just done. She cautiously looked up at his face, but she couldn't decipher anything. It was as blank as it had been before.
"What are you doing?" she whispered softly, brazenly letting her hand drift up to his hair.
Itachi didn't respond. Instead, he caught her hand in his, holding it in the air. Sakura's jade eyes darted from his face to her hand, gently held in his as she bit her bottom lip. His expressionless face suddenly turned hard, like he had just realized what he was doing.
Just as soon as he had held her, he let go, turning to leave without a backward glance.
- x -
A/N: So, this is my first posted story. It's just a drabble-type thing. I really don't know what to make of it. Originally, it was supposed to be a lemon xD But, as you can see, it didn't quite turn out that way. Anyway, please review. I need all the pointers I can get. But, please, only constructive criticism. If you don't like something, please tell me why so I can improve it! Also, should I continue the story? I'm not sure where I want the story to go, especially since I had planned this to be a one-shot (my plans clearly never go accordingly). Thanks!
Sayuri