The next time I saw Itachi Uchiha I was 12 and I was in the local bakery buying a loaf of bread. I just so happened to glance out the window and saw him walk by.
The sunlight hit his hair and made it look almost blue. He seemed to be haloed in light. Then he moved past the window and I could no longer see him. I wanted to run out and talk to him but I was occupied with the baker and by the time I left he was already long gone.
I thought about lost chances then and how one lost chance could've changed my entire day completely. How one chance meeting could change the course of my life forever.
The next time was not too long after that, maybe a month or two. Sasuke, Naruto and I had already been assigned to Team 7 and we were about to go on our first mission outside the village. We were waiting for Kakashi when an Anbu squad landed nearby to talk to the gate guards. They had their masks turned to the side. I quickly identified Itachi as one of the Anbu.
The way the uniform hugged his lean body made my mouth go dry and my heart suddenly filled with longing. I quickly looked away before anyone caught me gawking at Itachi's beautiful figure.
I busied myself with digging a hole in the dirt.
"I wish Kakashi-sensei would get here soon! I'm tired of waiting!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Shut it, you idiot." Sasuke snapped. He was tired of waiting too.
I sighed and rubbed my temples. Boys could be so troublesome. I bet Itachi wasn't as troublesome during a mission.
"Sakura go find Kakashi." Sasuke ordered me.
I glared at him. "Why don't you go?" I asked.
Sasuke sighed. "Because I don't know where he lives." He ground out.
I rolled my eyes. "And you think I do?" I asked him.
It was starting to look like we were about to get in a fight and I was completely ready. At least it would give me something to do besides dig a hole in the dirt.
"What's going on here?" a smooth voice said.
Sasuke scowled at the intrusion. I was completely elated and I grinned at Itachi.
"We're waiting on Kakashi-sensei. Is he always like this?" I asked.
Itachi nodded. "Unfortunately."
"Is this your guys' first mission out of the village?" he asked.
"Yeah and it's going to be successful! Believe it!" Naruto said giving Itachi a thumbs-up.
"That's good to hear. I remember my first mission out of the village. We had to investigate an old abandoned church. It had been rumored to be haunted by a vengeful ghost bent on destroying a nearby village." Itachi reminisced.
"What happened?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.
"It turned out to be a guy who was upset that he didn't get elected as mayor of the town." Itachi said nonchalantly.
"Well that's a little anticlimactic." I said, disappointed.
Itachi nodded. "I was a little disappointed but what can you do?"
I shrugged. "Hope for a better mission next time?" I suggested.
Itachi smiled just a little. He looked like he hadn't smiled in a long time and he was unused to the way the muscles moved. I wondered what had made him not smile in so long.
Another Anbu walked over and said "Itachi we have to leave now. We need to go report the mission."
Itachi nodded and then turned back to us. "It was nice talking to you guys. Good luck with your mission." Then he turned and left with the rest of his team.
"Wow, Sasuke. Your brother is so cool." Naruto said.
"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply.
I didn't say anything but I secretly agreed with Naruto. I could only dream of becoming as good of a ninja as Itachi. I could never compare to his greatness in all the things he did.
"Mikoto, you know you shouldn't eat the raw dough." I admonished gently.
"It's so good though! Sakura, try some! You're making me feel fat." Mikoto said, and pouted. I could feel my resolve waver the longer I looked at her. She had definitely perfected the puppy dog eyes look and I could hardly take the cuteness.
We were in the Uchiha mansion and Mikoto had invited me over for a little cooking date. We had them every so often. Every time I went, I hoped to see a glimpse of Itachi but since he had joined Anbu he was always away on missions.
"You could get sick." I protested weakly.
"Could. Could. COULD! Come on, Sakura. Live a little. What is it you kids say these days… YOLO?" Mikoto said
I laughed out loud that she actually knew that acronym. "Ok, ok. But only because you said YOLO." I said and swiped some dough up with my finger and then popped it in my mouth.
"Mmm." I said and closed my eyes. It did taste really good.
The front door suddenly banged open and then closed and then a loud thump could be heard as something heavy fell.
"Hello?" Mikoto called out.
There was no answer.
Mikoto made to go see what it was but I stopped her and went instead. I cautiously edged into the front hallway. There, lying on the floor was Itachi. Blood was slowly forming a puddle under him. I gasped and rushed to his side.
"Itachi, Itachi. Can you hear me?" I asked, trying to get a response.
He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "S-Sakura?" he asked once he was able to focus on my face.
"Yeah, it's me Itachi. Keep talking to me while I heal you. I need you to stay awake." I said urgently.
I sent healing chakra to my hands and surveyed the damage. He had a rather large stab wound on his back. It looked like he had tried to heal it closed but it had torn open again.
"This is ironic." He said with a slight chuckle.
"How so?" I asked just to keep the conversation going.
Itachi's eyes were focused on something over my shoulder. He looked completely out of it.
"I remember having to heal your knees and hands when my foolish brother knocked you down. You were so tiny back then. What happened to my little Sakura?" he asked.
I concentrated on stopping the internal bleeding first. That seemed like the most important thing. I could hear Mikoto talking in the kitchen and I hoped she was calling for help.
"Now you're all grown up. The last time I saw you was… five years ago? You're almost a jonin now aren't you? Anbu has stolen so much of my time." He sighed; his voice was becoming almost too faint to hear.
"Itachi." I said loudly. "Come on, Itachi. Stay with me. Keep talking. You need to stay awake." I cursed. He'd lost too much blood.
"Hm, ok, Sakura. For you, I will." He replied.
"Thanks, Itachi." I finished closing up the wound and started working on regenerating red blood cells.
"You're so beautiful now, Sakura. At least if I die I'll have your lovely face to guide me to the afterlife." He sighed.
Despite myself, I giggled. "You're not going to die, Itachi. Stop being dramatic."
Itachi heaved a sigh. "Did you just save my life?" he asked.
"I believe I just did." I replied, grinning at him.
"I guess I'm in your debt now. I'm sure you'll call in some awful favor just to torture me." He said as I did one last once-over on his injuries.
"Hm, probably." I said. I sat back on my heels and looked at his face.
"Just let me know whenever and I'm yours to command." He said with a small smile.
"Sounds like I could have fun with this." I said deviously.
"We could… have fun together." He said, and then he winked at me. I felt my heart try to pound its way out of my chest and my cheeks heat up to about a billion degrees.
"There's that cute blush I've been looking for." He said, his smile becoming more of a smirk.
I was about to reply when the front door burst open and Itachi's team came in.
"Itachi!" His cousin, Shisui, said seeing him lying on the floor.
Itachi winced at the racket. "I'm ok, really. Sakura saved my life." I felt my blush renew as everyone's eyes fell on me.
"It was nothing really." I said trying to wave it off.
"Sakura! How can I ever thank you? You saved my baby boy!" Mikoto suddenly appeared and swept me into a hug. I patted her back awkwardly. "It's not a big deal. It's my job."
"We were so lucky to have you here." She sounded on the verge of tears. Mikoto could be a tad dramatic sometimes. Mom said it came with the territory when dealing with the Uchiha family.
"It's ok, Mikoto. I'd do anything for your family. I'm practically family anyway." I laughed a little.
She finally pulled away. "You're right, darling." She said, wiping her eyes.
I looked down to see Itachi still on the floor and offered him my hand. He accepted it and I hoisted him up.
"If you have any soreness or pain come find me and I'll fix it, ok?" I asked, looking into his eyes.
"I think I'll be ok." He assured me with a smile.
"If you say so." I replied skeptically.
"Thank you, Sakura. Truly. If you hadn't been here, I could've died. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He said looking deeply into my eyes. I had to concentrate on not getting lost in their beautiful black depths. His eyes were completely mesmerizing. I wondered what it would be like to look into his Sharingan like this.
I nodded. Even though I never planned on calling in the favor but it was still nice to know he offered.
I glanced at the time on the wall. "Crap. I have to go meet up with Sasuke and Naruto. Thanks for inviting me over, Mikoto. I'll see you guys around sometime." I quickly grabbed my stuff out of the kitchen and then ran out the front door to meet up with my team mates.
ITACHI
I watched her go. The girl who had just saved my life. I had had no idea she'd gotten so good at medical ninjustu. Or that she had gotten so beautiful. I remembered her as the twelve year old girl listening raptly to whatever I had been talking about at the time.
"Do you think she knows how you feel about her?" Shisui asked after a moment.
"She has no idea." Mikoto said, confidently.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking at them all.
Shisui rolled his eyes. "You're head over heels, man. Don't even try to deny it. We saw what was going on when we walked in."
"She saved my life. I was showing gratitude." I replied.
"You were flirting." Shisui said.
"…" It was completely ridiculous that they thought I liked Sakura. I'd known her since she was seven. It would be completely inappropriate if I tried to court her.
"Everyone else can see it but you. Just wait, Uchiha. You'll see it someday. You've completely fallen for that girl." Shisui said with a certainty that almost made me doubt myself.