When love can't conquer all

(Forbidden love)

Summary: What happens when you fall in love with the one person you can't be with because it's taboo? Haruno Sakura has to learn about the experience the hard way when she falls for the one person that could ruin her entire reputation. AU Sakura/Itachi

A/n: okay, this is a little weird. In this, a few roles have changed. (i.e. Tsunade is not a medic, she is a principal, Shizune is the best doctor in Konoha... I would tell you about Itachi-kun, but that would ruin the story!)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Naruto, I wish I did, but life sucks.

Legend:

"Bold"- Flashback

'Italics'- thoughts

ch.1

Haruno Sakura walked through the crowded hallways of Konoha Senior High. She tried to find her class while dodging people from trampling her. Not a very easy task might I add. She had to find her first class of the first day of junior year. She whipped her head around looking to see where she was, nothing looked familiar.

She looked at the door number on one of the doors, slowing down ever so slightly. She was getting very close. She had to get to room two-thirty; she was at two- twenty-eight.

"Hey!" a masculine voice yelled, crasing into her.

"Ah!" she yelled, falling on her rear end. "Ow."

She looked up at the person that bumped into her. He was handsome. He was gorgeous with his raven black hair and peircing red-black eyes. He was more than gorgeous, he was... he was... very annoyed at the moment.

The afore mentioned male looked down his nose at her, as if she was vermin. He glared holes through her jade eyes. He looked quite obnoxious.

"Why don't you watch where you're going!" he yelled, not bothering to help her up.

"What!" exclaimed Sakura, returning his glare. "You bumped into me!"

"You slowed down and made me." the man argued.

The late bell rang, drowning every hope of making a good impression on her new sensei. Now, she was late for her first class. She was so dead. Especially since she

had to have Ibiki, the most strict sensei in the school. The rumours about him would make your blood curdle.

"Great, thank you, Jack Ass," she thanked sarcastically.

"Anytime, and don't call me that, wench," he replied, scowling.

'Talk about ego,' she thought, rolling her eyes. She, finally, remembered she was on the floor.

After that cocky man was out of sight, she picked up what was left of her dignity and and stood up. She found her way to her class. She thought up a better excuse than, "gomen, a cocky guy I don't even know knocked me down and tried to blame me for it." Not a very beleivable story, might I add.

"You're late, Haruno-san." stated Ibiki, not looking too pleased. "What's the excuse?"

"I, ano, got a little got a little reaquainted with a friend of mine." she lied, somewhat.

"Oh? Who is this friend?" Ibiki questioned, tapping his foot on the tiled floor.

Sakura thought, 'dammit. I never thought he'd ask that.'

"Ano, I-I don't really know his actual name." she laughed sheepishly. "You know, names create boundaries, and-"

Ibiki raised a brow. "Enough." He glared harder. He pointed at a chair with his head. "Sit. Now."

"His name's Uchiha... Haruno.I'm flattered you think I'm you're friend." there was no sincerity in his voice, only sarcasm.

'NO!' she internally screamed. 'He's in this class?'

She looked around, unable to find him. She thought he'd be in a chair close to the back, but wasn't. She sighed, lowering her head, maybe luck would be with her and he wouldn't be sitting next to her. She sat down quickly, trying to not bring more attention to herself. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side at all that entire day.

That same man stated, sounding very close, "over here."

Sakura tensed. She hoped and prayed the seat behind her was vacant. She turned around, the seat behind her was definitely not vacant. It was the same man that she'd seen in the hallway. The one that called himself "Uchiha".

"There's no other seats?" she asked, extremely disappointed.

"Now, as I was saying, I will be recording where you're sitting so that it will make it easier to learn your names. You will be sitting in that spot until I move you." stated Ibiki.

Sakura's forehead fell onto her desk. A muffled cry was heard. "Can we switch seats?"

Ibiki shook his head as if saying, "I can't believe I have to go through a year of this." He actually said, "no, you can't switch seats."

Sakura groaned and lifted her head, exposing a red mark on her forehead. She opted to ignore this Uchiha.

'Just because he's from a rich family doesn't mean he has to be a complete ass.' she thought, sighing. She listened to Ibiki's long-winded speech.

The Uchiha's were indeed very rich. She heard that they came from a long line of very prestigous lawyers. Besides this Uchiha, she'd never had the "pleasure" of meeting one of the Uchihas.

"I refuse to sit behind this... this... thing!" Uchiha declared.

Sakura clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "Excuse me, 'this thing' has a name!" exclaimed Sakura.

Ignoring Sakura, he asked rhetorically, "how am I supposed to see with her big head in the way?"

That was it. Sakura turned in her seat. She glared at his smirk, her face red with anger. She stood, jerking back a clenched fist, throwing it out. It hit him straight is the face. She smiled devillishly in satisfaction.

"What the hell, bitch!" yelled Sasuke.

"THAT IS IT!" roared Ibiki. "This is not a zoo, people! Haruno-san, get to the principals office... NOW! Uchiha-san, get the school nurse to tend to your eye!"

Sakura hummed gleefully all the way to the principals office. She was happy, maybe she'd been able to put that pest in his place. She was glad that she was able to let her anger out on the cocky Uchiha.

"Tsunade-sensei?" she called, entering the office.

"Ah, hello, Sakura-san. What brings you here?" asked Tsunade.

Sakura put on her best suck-up smile and answered, "well, you see..." Sakura told Tsunade the story about this Uchiha boy.

"So, basically, you came late to class, rudely interupted a class, punched a boy. Sakura-san... this isn't good." Tsunade stated.

Sakura replied, "of course it wouldn't when you say it like that."

"I'm sorry, but all this can't be ignored. I'm going to have to suspend you for a few days." Tsunade told her. "I call your mother." She waved a dismissive hand and picked up the phone.

Sakura left and slowly started for home. She wasn't in a huge hurry to get there. She knew she'd be in huge trouble by her parents; she was so grounded. Then, on top of that, she'd probably have to weed the garden or clean the basement.

She shuddered. She hated her basement, it gave her the creeps. (A/N: So does mine!)

"No!" Sakura yelled desperately. "Make me weed the garden. Or- Or clean the basement! Anything but this!"

"You need to learn your lesson." her mother stated calmly. "Now go and apologize to that young man."

Sakura had been sent to her room when she got home. Her mother, Kumiko, had called her down and gave her her "real" punishment. It definitely wasn't what she expected, especially, since school was out two hours ago.

'Crap...' she thought, trying to find a way out of this.

"B-But school's out. How can I find him; I don't know where he lives." Sakura begged.

'That has gotta work.' thought Sakura, smirking inwardly.

"Tsunade-san says he's an Uchiha. You know where the Uchiha estate is." Kumiko replied.

'Crap...'

Kumiko commanded, "go, I'll see you later."

Sakura walked out of the house slowly. Slow was absolutely the way to go. No quickness here. In other words, she really did not want to go to Sasuke's house/mansion/Sakura's death bed.

'Damn, my mother's sending me to my death sentence... Huh, at least it's not like how I thought.' she inwardly told herself. 'At least it's not doing flashbacks.'

She felt so out of place, heading to a mansion that housed such a wealthy family. When she made it to the mansion, too soon for her liking, she knocked timidly on the door. She waited patiently until it opened.

A penguin-like man opened the door and eyed her politely. "May I help you?"

"Ano, I-I'm looking for Uchiha-san. I don't know his first name, but he is a little taller than I am, he attends Konoha Senior High. Has a very poor attitude."

The servant clarified, "ah, master Itachi. I'll get him for you...?"

"Haruno... Haruno Sakura." she introduced herself.

The man nodded and left in search of this "Master Itachi".

'Woah, dude, you punched a master.' Inner Sakura mocked.

'Shh.' Sakura thought angrilly, noticing a man approaching.

A young man came to the door, causing Inner Sakura to nearly fall down in awe. He was gorgeous. He absolutely, positively, could not be this Uchiha boy. This Master Itachi eyed her impassively, waiting for her to explain herself.

Needless to say, she was at a loss for words. Her thoughts were racing a million words per minute. 'What the hell is he doing here? I specifically asked for... oh. Crap...

'What is he, anyway? He's way too cute to be human.'

"How can I help you, Haruno-san?"

She blinked. Again. Finally, she came back to her right mind. She cleared her throat and blushed, looking at her feet which, all of a sudden, had become very interesting.

Okay, Uchiha and Master Itachi looked a bit alike. Somewhat. Master Itachi had these lines under his eyes that made his features even more breath-taking. Besides those lines, his skin looked flawless. His red-black eyes seemed so... there is no word to describe how they looked. Perhaps an understatement would be to say that you'd feel like you're drowning in them. He had long, raven black hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail. He wore a black jacket with red clowds stitched on it.

Uchiha, he was a different story. He had no lines on his face, his skin was flawless, as well. His eyes were purely onyx. They had no red. It would be an overstatement to say that his eyes her the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. His hair was short and spiked in the back that made him look like a chicken. He wore a short-sleeved shirt with a large collar and the picture of a fan on the back.

All of a sudden, a picture of Uchiha as a chicken with a fan came to Sakura's mind, making her blush more.

"Are you lost?" a voice invaded her mind.

Then, she remembered her position. She looked at Master Itachi and smiled sheepishly. She opened her mouth, but her words were very low and she was stuttering. "I-I'm looking for a-ano, h-he has... looks like you."

An understanding look came upon Itachi's face. The only way she could tell through his impassive face was his eyes. They seemed to make up for all the emotions he didn't show.

"You're looking for Sasuke?" he asked. "My Ototou?"

"I am?" she asked. "I don't know. He only told me Uchiha when I saw him in class today."

Itachi offered, "please, come in. Forgive our servants, they seem to never remember whom is whom around here."

'Whom?' she thought. 'Classy'

She walked into the house with Master Itachi. She sat with him in a room. He offered her to sit on the couch while he pulled up a chair. He eyed her, making her feel self-concious compared to him.

"So, you're one of 'them'?" he asked. "The fangirls?"

"Fangirls? No." she answered. "I bumped into him in the hallways, well, he bumped into me."

Itach sighed. "Let me guess, he blamed you for it?"

Sakura nodded, smiling.

"That's Sasuke for you." Itachi nodded. "So, you're one of... them? The fangirls?"

Sakura blinked a few times as the words registered in her mind. She was a bit slow due to her previous entrancement. She stifled a laugh and blushed even more.

"I'll take that as a yes." Itachi commented.

Sakura shook her head. "No, the only way I'd be a 'them' to him is if he's had other girls punch him."

Itachi's mouth curved into a smirk. "That was you? Impressive. I'd never thought a girl could have such guts."

Sakura giggled nervously. She suddenly felt hot. Too hot for comfort.

"Then, what brings you here?" asked Itachi, replacing the smirk with a thin, straight line.

Sakura explained about how her mother made her go to their house. She left out the part of her previous sense of betrayal. She slightly changed a few things to make it sound more interesting. "...so, I fought the fire-breathing dragon and came here."

"You have quite the imagination, Haruno-san." Itachi commented. "I like that. It'll make you an interesting student for me."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "You're going to be my sensei?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" he asked rhetorically. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'll be your social studies sensei. You may just call me Itachi while we're out of the classroom. No need for all the formal crap 24/7."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "I thought that was Ibiki-sensei?"

Itachi nodded. "You'll see."

"You may call me Sakura," Sakura changed the subject.

Sasuke just so happened to be walking by when he heard those two voices... together. Why were they together? They didn't even know each other, didn't they? He didn't think so. He went into the room and asked, "Haruno? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you, too." Sakura replied dryly. "I came to apologize for earlier. So... gomen."

Sasuke glared at her and turned on his heel, abandoning the two. He walked away, mumbling to himself. Sakura couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Gomen nassai. Sasuke doesn't even know the meaning of the word, 'equality'." Itachi apologized.

Sakura nodded her head, agreeing.

Itachi went back to their previous topic. "You would've met me in class this morning if you hadn't punched Sasuke."

"Ano, gomen?"

Itachi smirked. "Don't worry about it. There isn't a soul on this earth that hasn't wanted to punch his lights out. You were just the only one gutsy enough to actually do it."

Sakura thought, 'Yea, that's going to make me popular with the boys.'

She asked, "what about you?"

Itachi answered, "well, besides myself. Since we're brothers and I'm older, it's pretty much an unspoken rule to make his life a living hell." (A/N: I know that for a fact 'cause I have an older sister and she can be evil!)

Sakura smiled, giggling slightly.

Sasuke appeared again. He raised a brow at the two chatting away. "Having fun, are we?"

"Nice bruise." Itachi commented, his face was emotionless, it made Sakura curious. "Black and blue really suit you. Don't worry, the swelling should go down in a few days. Though, I can't make any promises."

"That long?!" Sasuke exclaimed. "You mean I have to go to school like this?"

Itachi answered, "only a couple days. Maybe thursday. Monday at the most."

Sasuke stuttered, "b-but it's monday now!"

Sakura felt terrible. She felt good because Sasuke was getting what he deserved, but she felt bad because she was enjoying herself. So, she felt good, but she felt bad, too. Talk about confusion.

Sasuke scowled at his elder brother. He turned to leave again, but just as he reached the doorway, he was stopped by Itachi. "Sasuke, it is best to learn your place in this world. There are the superior and there are the inferior. Theses are the days for you to decide where you stand. Let's hope you don't make a disgrace of yourself n the process.

"Now, you know better than to speak ill in the presence of a female. Why don't you go to your room and study?" Itachi's voice sounded like a normal, everyday brotherly voice, but Sakura could feel the edge. The sharpness.

Sakura knew that Itachi was standing up for her, but still, that seemed harsh. She nearly winced for the prick, but didn't. She only watched Sasuke retreating form, thinking, 'that was awkward'

It didn't take an idiot to figure out that there was something going on between the two brothers. Something weird. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, being an only child. It definitely was not them caring too much for each other. By the looks of it, it was the opposite.

By the look on Sasuke's face, she could tell he heard the hidden tone in Itachi's voice.His scowl darkened and he left again, grumbling a few unmentionable words. As his footsteps slowly disappeared, Sakura and Itachi just sat in silence.

Itachi and Sakura spoke for a while longer, it was mostly about nothing in particular. Sakura felt somewhat drawn to this man.