Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way.

"Sakura-chan!" Shisui all but yelled, as he bolted up to the pinkette. His arms were waving above his head like a mad man.

Said person turned around, her viridian eyes wide as she heard a very familiar voice shout her name. Sakura winced at his loud voice, her blindness caused her other sense to be more...intense. She quickly stepped to the side, narrowly missing the glomp that the big baby was trying to give. He landed on his face with a groan.

"Itai!" he whined rubbing his nose. Shisui turned around to give her a pair of puppy dog eyes. Sakura sighed. Why is it that I always get stuck with the idiots? It seemed that the only people she attracted were idiots. But nevertheless, she stuck out her hand to help him up. Bad mistake. Grasping her hand, he pulled her into an unwanted bear hug. "Sakura-chan! You're so mean!"

Sakura growled as she struggled to get out of hug. She could feel the the stares of the other students. After all, Shisui was one of the most sought out students of the school, even though he rejected dates with all of the girls. Well, she would be wondering too why he was hugging a strange girl, if she was a nosy person who has so much time on their hands that they poke their nose into other people's business. Her eyebrow twitched as she felt her anger reach its limits. Her friends from high school would be so surprised. After she was a kind hearted sweet girl, who wouldn't harm a fly. But people change, especially after their family disappeared off the face of the earth. And if they suddenly turned blind. Sakura managed to remove one of her arms and with a sadistic smirk on her face, punched Shisui over the head. Immediately, the Uchiha let go of her and clutched his head in pain. With a huff, she stood up and dusted her clothes. She aimed on of her death glares at him, but waited for him to get up, without her help this time. Sure she was cruel enough to hit him for hugging her, but she wasn't cruel enough to leave him there. After all, he was one of the few who actually talked to her.

"You didn't have to hit me," he whined as he followed her to their calculus class.

"Shut up," she said, without any real malice in her voice, just plain annoyance. There was only so much idiocracy she could take in the morning. Besides, he reminded of Naruto, and no matter how much she tried to, she could never bring herself to hate him.

"Sakura-chan, you're really not a morning person, are you?" Shisui asked, ignoring her oh so polite request. What was it with boys and not listening to her?

"What gave you that idea, Uchiha-san?" Sakura sighed as they entered the class. Without a bat of an eye, she sat next to Shikamaru, who merely grunted as a greeting. She nodded back to him, and began to take out her homework. Shisui sat next to her, his grin still on his face.

"I said that you can call me Shisui!"

"And I told you to shut up, guess we're both not good at following directions," she retorted.

Shisui had been following her around, like a puppy following its master. To be honest, it was a painful reminder of the two of them at. But gradually, her heart didn't clench in pain, as if someone was prodding it with a metal rod every time she saw him. Shisui was...Shisui, if that made sense. He wasn't Naruto, or Sasuke, he was him. She wasn't reminded of them, when he arrived. So it was somewhat of an improvement.

"Ohayou Sakura, Crybaby," Temari grinned, sitting on the other side of Shikamaru.

"Troublesome woman," he groaned, but still he greeted her back. The two of them started their daily banter, teasing each other back and forth, without any real intent to hurt the other.

"Sakura-chan, are we going to meet up at my place, today?" Shisui asked, tugging on her arm to get her attention.

"Huh?" Oh, yeah," she replied. I'm going to have to go ask Kaka-nii about it later. She internally frowned. Sakura zoned out of the one-sided conversation with Shisui. The day passed by quickly, and before she knew it, it was after-school.

"Sakura-chan!" Shisui called waiting by the gates for her. She raised a pink eyebrow, asking him a silent question to why he was there. "I have to go over to my cousin's place, so we're going to do our project there. I'd figure I'd walk you there," he grinned, stepping into place next to her.

Sakura smiled, "Alright then, lead the way." As they approached the house (coughmansioncough), a sense of dread filled her stomach. The house looked too familiar, and not in a good way. As the two of them entered the house and removed their shoes, Shisui said, "Mikoto-baa-chan! Tadaima!" Sakura froze at the name. Please don't let it be her! she internally pleaded. The odds seemed to not be in her favor.

"Ah! Shisui-chan~! You're…" a motherly voice answered. Sakura closed her eyes shut tightly. Mikoto-'s voice trailed off when her obsidian eyes landed on the pinkette, who was hoping for the floor to just swallow her up. The light in her eyes seemed to brighten and the slight wrinkles around her face seemed to lighted. "Sakura-chan!" she ran and embraced the girl.

Sakura stiffened, before smiling awkwardly. "Uchiha-sama."

From her peripheral vision, she could see Shisui looked at the both of them in confusion.

Mikoto laughed, "Sakura-chan! You've grown so much! I haven't seen you since your high school days! And what did I say about calling me Uchiha-sama? Just call me Mikoto, or better yet, Okaa-chan~!" she chirped, "Oh, I forgot about the stove!" She rushed back into the kitchen leaving the two of them alone.

"Sakura-chan! You know who Mikoto-baa-chan is? And you didn't tell me?" Shisui pouted, walking into the kitchen.

"Something like that," she grumbled, following him inside. To her surprise, there was already someone sitting at the table. He looked a lot like Sasuke, but much more older and refined. Plus, he had on thin glasses, something Sasuke would refuse to wear. The stranger had long ebony hair, that was tied into a low ponytail, sipping a cup of tea while reading. To be honest, the sight of him really did take her breath away, but she masked it with a slight cough. Sakura turned her embarrassed eyes away when he looked at her in slight amusement. God, his eyes were beautiful, orbs of onyx framed by long lashes.

"Ita-chan~!" shisui bounced up to him. Yes, you read that right, bounce.

"Shisui, he greeted in his deep, velvet voice, bookmarking his book and setting it on the table gently. Everything he did look so graceful, Sakura was somewhat envious.

Shisui smirked, "This is Sakura-chan! You know," he waggled his eyebrows. Itachi and sakura sighed, exchanging an amused and slightly exasperated smile.

"Baka, what did I tell you about setting me up with people I don't know?" Sakura sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

"Sakura, Itachi. Itachi, sakura. Now you know who he is~!" Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Before she could say anything, Itachi smoothly interrupted.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Sakura-san." he sent a small smile, "I must apologize for this idiotic baby who calls himself my cousin."

"Likewise," she smiled gently, laughing quietly at Shisui's cry of protest. Honestly, he was really easy to mess with.

Mikoto came to the kitchen with a tray of tea and snacks. "Sakura-chan! Come and sit down," she scolded playfully, gently placing the tray on the table with a soft thud.

Sakura nodded and took a seat next to Shisui, who was already scarfing down the cookies like a wolf. As Mikoto scolded the boy, she let her gaze linger to Itachi, who was watching the scene with a serene look on his face. She quickly looked down when she felt his gaze lock onto hers.

"Ah! I totally forgot, Sakura-chan, this is Itachi, my eldest. He's Sasuke's older brother." Mikoto beamed, though it dimmed slightly at her youngest's name. The atmosphere seemed to darken a bit.

"Yeah, I thought so too," she muttered, ignoring the way her heart clenched like how her fingernails dug into her skin, hard enough to draw blood. Her gaze fell to the table, not letting them see the wave of emotions she felt at his name.

"Have you heard from him or Naruto? They haven't called recently. I wonder if something happened," Mikoto said, sitting with them, worry creeping into her motherly tone.

Sakura's head snapped up to look at her in bewilderment and confusion. She could feel Itachi's and Shisui's worried look on her but she ignored it. "They...they called you?" she asked, her voice cracking. A million thoughts and emotions were racing through her, but most of it was the question, why didn't they contact her.

"Yeah, they call once a month. Last I heard they were America, didn't they tell you, yet?" Mikoto asked, concern lacing her voice. She looked at the girl whom she witnessed growing up, the young woman in front of her who she considered a daughter.

Sakura shook her head, "I haven't heard from them after graduation," she said quietly. She hated how weak her voice sounded, how they affected her even after all this time. But they say that time heals a wound, and obviously, it was far too short of a time for her heart to completely heal. With clenched fists, the pinkette could feel tears gathering. No, I promised myself to not cry. I can't be weak! Forcing herself to not cry took a lot out of her, but she managed to stop herself from weeping.

"Oh, Sakura," Mikoto whispered softly. It took Sakura everything right then not to start sobbing. The Uchiha matriarch could see how much her son and his best friend's departure affected her, but she never knew how much it hurt her. Her heart broke as she saw Sakura fight back tears. Standing up, she pulled the girls into a warm, motherly embrace. She sent Itachi and Shisui a look, and they immediately left the room. Softly patting Sakura's head, she muttered comforting words. Even though, Sakura was a young adult physically, right now, she was still the same 5 year old, who cried in her arms after her mother passed away. The little girl who had grown up with her son, who had loved her son as a crush, before loving him as a brother. The girl who had her parents ripped away from her at a young age, who had suffered so much, and yet she still smiled for the sake of others. The girl who was so broken because all of the love that she had and gave out. Her heart was broken far too many times, but she still gave love to others, when she wasn't even capable of loving herself. Mikoto's heart broke when she could feel her daughter's, in everything but blood, body shake in suppressed tears. But all she could do was hold her in a tight hug, and comfort her to the best of her extent. After a while, Skura calmed down, and pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, remorse filling her voice.

"For what?" Mikoto asked gently, "For loving others? For crying? Honey, crying isn't for the weak. Emotions weren't meant to be contained within, it was meant to be expressed through everything you do. A truly brave person is someone who bears the weight of the world on their shoulders, and can still cry because the world hasn't broken them yet. When babies are born, crying shows that they have survived and are alive. And you don't cry for yourself, you cry for other people. So why are you ashamed?"

Sakura was silent, before she finally answered, "Do you remember the time when I came over, crying because someone had made fun of my overly large forehead? Sasuke and Naruto were so mad that they went and beat up that person, even though he was much older and at least twice their size. They had bruises everywhere, but they looked so happy, because they were able to defend me. I hated it, because of me, they got hurt. Because of my tears, they had to suffer. In the end, it was my fault that they were in the hospital. Even though I trained so hard to be on par with them, I couldn't even help them. I was a burden."

"Sakura, they did that because they loved you. You were so important to them, that they could'nt bear the thought of you getting hurt. Besides you know how men are, they never know what to do when a girl is crying. And they always try to defend their honor," Mikoto pointed out.

Sakura cracked a small smile, "They really were over-protective."

"See, there you go. Now, go wash your face, I'll make something for you to eat," Mikoto scolded. Sakura didn't even try to argue, knowing that when Mikoto was in her mood, nothing could make change her mind. Walking up the stairs, she found the washroom and splashed her face with cool water. When she walked downstairs to the living room, Itachi was already there. Sakura froze and tried to walk the other way, but he already saw her.

"Are you alright, Sakura-san?," he asked politely, offering a seat.

Sakura didn't want to refuse his polite offer, and sat down. "I'm fine. Sorry for my outburst."

Itachi shook his head, "No, it's fine. In fact I should be apologizing on the behalf of my brother." Seeing her startled look, he smiled wryly, "Sasuke...never really realized that the things he did affected the people around him.I suppose part of that is my fault. Our relationship got strained when he entered middle school, and I was never able to fix it. Besides, he should have known better than to make a girl cry, especially someone pretty like you. Our mother would have scolded him for that."

Sakura's cheeks were slightly flushed when he called her pretty. she had to calm her racing heart. Woah there, he's just calling me pretty. There's nothing else to it. Sure she might had gained a tiny little crush on him, but it was just a small, miniscule one. It'll disappear pretty soon.

Itachi smirked slightly. She was pretty, he was just pointing out a fact. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Sakura was pretty. More than pretty, actually. Her hair was a unique color of bright pink, with eyes of vibrant viridian green. From what he heard from his cousin, she was a kind-hearted girl who was intelligent, had common sense, and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. What wasn't there to like?

Feeling his gaze on her, Sakura blushed even more, struggling to say something. Thankfully Shisui said something before she could embarrass herself.

"Sakura-chan!" he grinned as he walked in. Immediately, Itachi gave a tired glare at him. Shisui took a look at Sakura's flushed cheeks and Itachi's annoyed look, before he got the hint. "Oh, sorry did I interrupt a moment. I'll leave right now." With that he left. Sakura looked up at him and met Itachi's eyes.

"Did he just…?" she trailed off. Itachi just plainly nodded. Before she could stop herself, a laugh erupted out of her. Even she couldn't understand why, but same part of the way that he reacted, was just too funny. It looked like Itachi agreed, because his quiet laughter mixed with hers.

When Sakura finally stopped laughing, Itachi gave her an amused look. "You know a smile really fits you better than a frown. You should laugh more often. A pretty maiden shouldn't be sad all the time." And he did tell the truth. Her laugh was beautiful, like twinkling bells chiming. It wasn't obnoxious or faked, just...beautiful, like her.

Sakura blushed for the millionth time, and ducked her head. "Thank you," she smiled. Itachi returned the smile and the two of them continued their playful conversation, until Mikoto called them for dinner. Even then, Mikoto could see that Sakura was in a noticeably better mood after speaking to her son. Sakura-chan will finally be my daughter, and they'll have a bunch of cute grandchildren~! Mikoto squealed internally. After dinner, Itachi insisted on walking her home.

"I'll be fine, it's not like I'll get attacked. Even if I did, I can defend myself," she argued as they walked to the door.

"I am not saying you're weak, but it is not a polite thing to do to let your guest walk home by themselves," he replied. Sakura was so immersed in her argument (read as flirting) he already walked her halfway.

"You jerk! You tricked me," she huffed, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he smirked. She sighed, but smiled as their conversation drifted to a different topic. It was almost a disappointment when they arrived at her apartment. Itachi walked her all the way to her door.

Sakura turned around and face him, "Thank you for walking me all the way here."

"It's no problem, I don't mind at all. Good night," he said quietly. Sakura smiled gently, but before she could walk in her door, she was stopped. Itachi's next move left her shocked.

Before he could stop himself, he swooped down and placed a soft kiss against her temple. "Sweet dreams," he whispered huskily into her ear. Then he stepped back and smiled at her as if nothing had happened. The only way you could tell that it was happened, was the faint blush on his cheeks. Itachi gave her a last smile before walking away.

Sakura had a dazed look on her face with a blooming red hue. Gently, she touched the place where he kissed her. Did he really…?

"Do you want to come in?" Kakashi's voice interrupted her thoughts. Sakura whirled around.

"Kaka-nii!" she gasped. Her cousin really had a knack for scaring the living shit out of her.

"That was Uchiha Itachi right? I approve," he nodded, as he closed the door.

"I-it's not like that! There's nothing really going on between us, honest!" she argued, stepping inside the cozy apartment that she shared with her older cousin.

"Really now? Could have fooled me," he answered sarcastically.

"I swear! Besides, how do you know him?" she asked. Sakura sat down at the kitchen table, drinking the cup of warm milk that he gave her,

"I substituted for one of his classes in high school. He's a good kid. Now hurry up and finish your milk. You have school tomorrow."

"I know," she sighed, "You don't have to tell me those things."

Kakashi ruffled her head, "Yeah yeah, but it make me feel appreciated~." She snorted, already used to his behavior.

"Whatever you say, old man," ignoring his cry that he wasn't old. "Keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day you'll believe it."

That night when she laid in her bed, Sakura thought back about her day. Touching where he kissed her, she smiled gently and fell asleep with a soft smile on her face.

Unknown to her, in the Uchiha mansion, Itachi was sleeping with dreams of a certain pink-haired girl that caught his attention that day.