Title: Our Promise
Written By: Naadya
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
A/N: This is a sequel to "Our Secret", but this is more ItaSaku. Consider yourselves warned! I love Itachi much more than Sasuke =) Anyway, I was reading about flower arrangement, and the different meanings of flowers and had this idea for this story. The meanings to these flowers are accurate, and I thought they somewhat described Sakura's impression she had of Itachi.
Please Read and Review!
Little Sakura balanced precariously on the edge of her stool as she added the finishing touches to her new bouquet. "There!" she said, satisfied with the final product. She carefully climbed down from the stool, took a step back, and scrutinized the bouquet.
After spending hours trying to decide on what flowers she should give him, she had decided on deep red carnations, lavender roses, and baby's breath.
He was so nice to her the day before, and he loved the flowers she had worked so hard on. Sakura wasn't used to such praise, the only people ever complimenting her on her flower arrangement before this being her parents and Ino-chan. Nevertheless, she realized, she adored such praise. And the little secret he had told her the previous day made Sakura feel like she could accomplish anything she put her mind to. That definitely warranted a thank you bouquet.
She scampered off to the window and pressed her face to the glass. It looked like it was going to get dark soon, and if she didn't hurry, she wouldn't make it in time before it got dark. She pouted. Her mom definitely wouldn't let her leave the house if she didn't hurry. She carefully tied the bouquet with a white satin ribbon and dashed out the door.
Sakura walked as fast as she could, her pink hair softly swaying in the gentle spring breeze. However, when she finally got close to the Uchiha house, she hesitated. She spotted Uchiha Itachi standing in front of his house talking to a bunch of girls. Quickly, Sakura hid behind a big tree across the road, hoping she hadn't been seen yet.
She peeked at them from behind the tree. And she corrected herself, he wasn't talking to them, it was more like they were talking and he just smiled politely. She didn't know those girls, yet somehow, Sakura didn't like them hanging around. She chewed on her lip nervously.
'Should I just turn around and leave quietly? Maybe I overdid it. Maybe Itachi-kun won't like his present. Maybe he was just being polite to her like he was with those girls..' Such thoughts were racing through Sakura's mind as she observed them.
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Itachi sighed inwardly. As usual, he was surrounded by the same mob of girls. He smiled politely and answered the same questions they posed each day. He just hoped Sasuke wouldn't have to deal with this in the future. It was exhausting having to remain polite to a bunch of such shallow girls who only seemed interested with appearances.
As he was about to answer yet another obvious question, a flash of pink caught his attention. He followed the movement he picked up on from the corner of his eye, and almost let out a chuckle at the sight.
Haruno Sakura. The little girl he had met the day before in the park was hiding behind a tree, staring intently at them. She thought she was well hidden, Itachi mused. Yet, he could clearly see pink hair and two very large emerald eyes peeking out from the side of the tree.
Rather grateful for an excuse to escape the gaggle of girls that swarmed him from every angle, Itachi excused himself and headed towards the tree. He could see her eyes widen in surprise and hear her let out a gasp, and she disappeared. Itachi couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. This kid was just too adorable.
He reached the tree and circled around it. Behind it, he found a nervous little girl who had her back pressed up against the bark, with her hands behind her back, hiding something, eyes squeezed shut in prayer.
"Sakura-chan?" He almost felt bad as she jumped up in surprise, not realizing he was right in front of her. She frantically tried to hide something behind her back, which Itachi noticed, was another bouquet of flowers.
"I-Itachi-kun.. Hello" she stuttered and mumbled, eyes glued to her shoes.
"Another bouquet for Sasuke?" He asked kindly, tilting his head towards the flowers behind her. Her face got impossibly redder. Maybe he shouldn't have asked.
"A-actually, these are for you." She said, thrusting the bouquet up towards him, eyes still cast downward.
Itachi's eyes widened a little in surprise.
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"You were really nice to me yesterday, so I made a bouquet to thank you. Mom always said to give good people gifts as a 'thank you', when they do something nice for you. Itachi-kun, what you said yesterday really made me feel better, so... thank you!" Sakura added, speaking very quickly. She felt the need to explain herself.
Just then, she felt a warm hand ruffle up her hair, and another taking the flowers she held up to him. She opened her eyes and saw him smiling warmly at her; it was the same smile from yesterday. He squatted down in front of her so he could look at her directly.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan. They're beautiful, even better than Sasuke's, I think" he said gently. Then his expression changed, and Sakura saw sadness and a quiet sort of seriousness in his eyes
"Do you think I'm a good person, Sakura-chan?"
"Yes! Of Course" she replied without any doubt or hesitation, a wide smile spread across her face.
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Itachi smiled then, a small, sad smile. "I hope you're right" he said softly, barely above a whisper.
Sakura didn't catch what he said, and looked at him quizzically. He smiled, shook his head, and looked for another question to change his current train of thought, for there was no use mulling over certain things at that point.
"So tell me, Sakura-chan, why did you pick these flowers?" he changed his tone to a jovial, light-hearted one.
She shook her head. "I dunno. I just thought about Itachi-kun, and then then decided these flowers were most suitable." She said. Obviously she hadn't known the meanings behind the flowers she had chosen, while thinking about him. He couldn't help but wonder, if she did know, she probably would have chosen differently.
'Red carnations were a sign of admiration and fascination, while lavender roses are often a sign of enchantment and love at first sight, and baby's breath is a sign of innocence and purity of heart…'
Sakura cut short his train of thought. She had to get home before it got dark out, so she needed to leave then. He took her home, and they talked about a lot of things as they walked, with her skipping happily beside him. She told him about her family and friends, and how classes were going. They talked about Sasuke, and how far ahead he was when compared to everyone else, and Itachi couldn't help feeling a surge of pride at his baby brother's success.
Before leaving, he asked her whether she recalled their conversation from the previous day. Itachi was surprised she could remember every single word of their conversation. Whether she realized it or not, he was counting on her to carry out a very important task for him. Sasuke would need someone like her.
"Sakura-chan, do you remember our promise? " He gripped her shoulders lightly, and looked her straight into her pretty emerald eyes. She was a smart girl, Itachi could tell. She sensed his seriousness and the urgency in his voice. She nodded solemnly.
"I need you to never forget it, alright. There may be a time when I won't be able to protect Sasuke anymore, and I need you to help me do it, okay? I need you to support him, when I no longer can." She nodded, and he noticed the little girl had tears in her eyes. Yet she didn't ask him why he was making such demands.
"The person I treasure the most in this world, more than my own life, I'm leaving him to you. Will you promise to take care of him for me?" Sakura nodded vehemently, her unshed tears spilling over onto her cheeks.
"I promise, Itachi-kun." was all she said.
"Thank you" was all that Itachi could manage to say. He could feel his heart being squeezed, and it hurt.
He looked at her with such warm yet sad eyes, that Sakura started to cry more, feeling the pain he was holding back. All he could do was stroke her head until her crying subsided, murmuring words of assurance that he himself didn't feel.
When she had somewhat gained her composure, and stopped crying, he bid her goodbye. He was taken by surprise when the little girl gave him a quick hug and a brave smile before heading inside.
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Itachi had volunteered to walk her home for two reasons, he decided. Firstly, it allowed him a chance to escape the girls who kept hounding him. And secondly, he thought it'd be safer to walk her home. Konoha wasn't so safe these days. He knew this well, and he smiled bitterly as he walked back home alone after leaving Sakura's house.
That little girl thought the world of him, apparently. In her eyes, he could do no wrong. She even cried, for someone like him. The pain he had felt inside that he could not express, she saw right through him, and she had cried for him.
A small smile played at the corner of Itachi's lips at the memory of her brave big smile after she hugged him. It seemed as though the smile was more for him to be brave than for herself. Itachi knew then, that his baby brother will be fine if she's there to support him. She'll give Sasuke the courage to carry on, just as she did him.
Then a little question popped into Itachi's head.
'Now that I've given up that tiny little powerhouse of courage, how will I get through this?'
A horridly selfish, tempting idea danced through his mind. 'What if I took her with me, instead?'
And Itachi, always so firm and upright, had to struggle to stop himself from kidnapping the little girl that night when he left Konoha for good.
He may be a monster to the rest of the world, but to Sakura he was a good man, and he was not going to change that opinion she had of him. Not if he could help it.