Day 2
The summer heat was hotter than usual, which to the Uchiha heir's disappointment, was bad. He wasn't really a fan of the heat but he didn't mind it. Well except for today. It was burning hot and the hottest in a while for Konoha.
He looked up at the cloudless sky with mellow onyx orbs. The heat also made him drowsy and sluggish. Something he rarely was like. Itachi was usually intent and keen, but now he wasn't even bothering talking to anyone, even his mother. And moving also.
The sun's glare made him narrow his eyes slightly as he sat in the old oak tree in the Uchiha garden. He was there to think. Planning actually. Planning on how to nudge his little brother to his pink-haired teammate.
Itachi knew it wasn't that big of deal but he had nothing else to do. So he considered it a small mission. Since he was free from missions for a whole month, somewhat to his relief, Itachi had to do something to get his mind working again and to do something during his break. Itachi wasn't the one to just sit and do nothing.
Pale eyelids slid close as he got lost in thought. The sun shone down harshly on him and his sleeveless navy shirt fortunately let a small breeze hit his bare arms, which he was thankful for.
He thought of his meeting with the small women yesterday. And he would take those small pieces of information for use.
She liked sweets, unlike Sasuke. His little brother despised sweets and was odd because Itachi loved them himself. The Uchiha heir sometimes questioned how they were related. Though it was actually the elder Uchiha's weakness.
Also Sakura liked to talk. Alot.
From what he heard from Sasuke and Naruto, Sasuke's other teammate, Sakura made friends with everyone she met just from chatting with them and charming them until they had a liking for the pink-haired women. That was gonna be hard though. Sasuke wasn't really one to talk and everyone knew that. He, just like Itachi himself, rarely spoke unless it was necessary.
Also Sakura seemed to be a stubborn girl too. And she had a temper. And she was picky with most things. All of this was told by Naruto and he experienced all of them. Physically mostly.
The Uchiha heir concluded that she must have inheriated traits from the Hokage, Tsunade. He noted that they were similar in many ways. Besides she was her apprentice. It only made sense. He knew that because being the ANBU Captain, Itachi had to always talk and inform the Hokage. So from experiences he has seen her temper many times.
Itachi inwardly sighed and leaned into the trunk of the tree for comfort. This was gonna be harder than he thought.
He got up from his spot slowly, too sluggish to jump up and proceed with the rest of his unannounced plan. Itachi jumped down from the tree limb and started towards the inside of his house silently.
Careful not to disturb anyone. Itachi was ready to start the brotherly plan for his little brother and he had to meet his future-sister-in-law and get to know her. Hopefully he can find something in common with the pink-haired girl and his raven-haired brother.
The heart of Konoha was crowded like usual and what made it worse was that all the citizens were cranky due to the heat. And that made Sakura feel irritated.
Being polite as she possibly could be, she cut through the crowd of citizens while receiving some dirty looks. However Sakura brushed them off and continued on her way. She was now searching for more of those darn dangos.
After Itachi bought her some and when she argued for him to take them, she gave up and went home to eat the delectable treats. And they were as amazing as they looked. After finishing the tray, the young medic desired more of them and she couldn't stop thinking about the way she bit into the ball of sugar that it would explode on her taste buds. A shiver of pleasure shot up her spine as she remembered yesterday's meal of those dangos.
Inwardly she smiled deeply thinking of the experience, but her emerald eyes searched through the many stands to find the one she was looking for. She completely forgot where it was.
Well the medic did just find the food stand yesterday. As she walked through the crowd of Konoha's civilians, her eyes searched through the sea of people and she almost gasped in surprise when she found that one stand. Under her breath, she muttered words of approval and she practically ran to the stand.
As she walked in with a smile, the cashier from yesterday recognized her immediately. Well due to her rare, vivid pink hair, she could be seen from a mile away and most people knew her for the rose tresses. The woman shot her a welcoming smile and continued to her workings at the stove. Steam flooded the air and the smell of sweet delectables filled the rosette's nose.
Her sea-foam eyes glanced over to see if anyone, Itachi particular, was in sight. She didn't want anyone to treat her or interfere with her and her dangos. Pale hands picked up multiple sticks of the treats and purchasing them, Sakura took the plastic bag and turned from the stand to be surrounded by multiple people.
Damn, it was horribly crowded today.
Sakura frowned in despair.
How was she going to get through this?
Looking up, she laid her eyes on the roof of the buildings. That seems to be the only way to get out of here and back home to relax on her beautiful, lush bed that she can call home forever.
Sighing, the young medic jumped onto the lowest roof with chakra-filled feet and held the bag of dangos and another plastic bag that held more materials for the upcoming mission. She started walking across the slippery roofs with ease and oblivious to anyone who spotted her doing it. The roofs seemed wet... Probably somebody recently washed them and it wouldn't be that much of a hassle. Besides it was the easiest way back home.
Onyx eyes watched the girl jump towards the roof. The owner of the obsidian eyes stood and practically hid within the sea of people. Hands in his pant pockets, he slid his eyelids closed and sighed. The heir knew he had to follow her now, as much as he didn't want to.
He didn't consider this stalking... Yeah the raven-haired man was following Sakura but he considered it research. He was watching from within to see any hidden traits that are compatible with Sasuke. He was just hoping to find something. Anything at least. The two were just total opposites.
It was almost ridiculous how unalike they were. But you know the saying... Opposites attract.
Like I mentioned earlier, Itachi considered this a small mission and Itachi Uchiha never has or never will fail any mission given to him. It was like a life time vow until it was accomplished.
Upon thinking of that, the raven haired male jumped up onto the surprisingly slippery roofs and with ease, chased after the young medic silently with his chakra level lowered to an unnoticeable flicker.
Sasuke was at his usual weapon when all of this was going on. This was the first day of his preparation, well the first day when he actually decided to get out and purchase some materials.
The young male walked out of the shop with two full bags of kunais, throwing stars, and many other important materials for that one mission with his genin team. This was the first time it was just the three of them and the first time they were all together again.
Yes they were the best of friends when the genin team all channeled into other workings. The trio hung out everyday practically and this mission was their favorite, yet Sasuke won't admit it. He was planning on using this mission to get closer to a certain pink-haired girl.
Yes, Sasuke once thought her annoying and honestly, still slightly does but he has grown a deep liking for Sakura.
It was a very, very long process for him to actually return the feelings she has for him. Though Sakura isn't aware of his quiet affection. Just yet.
He started this affection because he noticed her inner strength as a kunoichi and he had admired it ever since Tsunade had started to train the once frail and weak girl. Also because of her self-taught knowledge. He also liked how she was independent and could stand for herself... Something she couldn't do before.
Plus she was... cute.
The raven-haired boy wouldn't admit that but he thought she was very cute or on better terms, beautiful. Despite her cutting her once long locks, he still liked her short cut of pink hair. It held a soft feature for her but the rumors that he had heard around in academy days back then was that he, Sasuke, liked girls with longer hair.
He honestly had no idea how they found out but it was true. It was a small thing, yes, but Sasuke just thought longer hair was prettier. Fortunately, Sakura has proven him wrong.
Smirking to himself upon thinking that, Sasuke continued strolling through the very crowded streets of Konoha.
The heat was beating down... again and the young Uchiha despised the heat. He preferred at least a breeze or just plain cloudy, rainy weather. Though, in the back of his stubborn mind, he enjoyed how the heat seeped through his skin.
Now scowling, he continued through the wave of people and stopped suddenly when he saw a figure jump from the edge of his eye. He turned to the flickering image and was greeted with another. It look...very familiar. Actually too familiar. He knew exactly who the the figure was.
Long, black hair that matched his own, fluttered down his back as he stopped on the roof of a home in a crouched position. On the usually stotic face a smirk was present and as soon as he landed he jumped back up to follow the other figure Sasuke didn't quite see.
That was his brother! Itachi! The hell was he doing in the village, especially at this time of day?
Sasuke's face crunched up into an emotion of confusion as scenarios ran through his head.
Was he stalking somebody? Was he playing a game with somebody? Was he just running on top of village roofs for the hell of it? Though the main question was-
What the hell is he doing?
The young Uchiha decided to investigate and he jumped onto the roof and spot his elder brother recently just stood on. Standing at the exact spot, onyx eyes look towards the direction Itachi dash towards. And just as expected, he saw the faint figure of him jumping roof to roof following what seems to be another ninja. He assumed it was a shinobi since they too were jumping from roof to roof.
And that is a shinobi performance. You need chakra concentration to keep your balance and the agility. Especially on roofs like these. Slanted sometimes too steeply and some were getting old, which meant that some roof tiles could break off and make you slip.
Soon enough, Sasuke dashed with chakra under his feet and after his brother and the mystery ninja he was after.
Sakura stopped for a moment from exertion and just to save some energy. She hadn't realized her house was farther away than she thought. And plus how she walked all the way to the center of the village too was a mystery.
Emerald eyes looked down from the roof and towards the dirt pathways of the village. The crowd has lessened out and just group of civilians scattered through the pathways, much to Sakura's relief. This meant she could now easily walk home without using her chakra.
Even though jumping across the roofs seemed faster, Sakura wanted to use this time just to not waste energy and to relax in Konoha for the remainder of her week.
Standing in a now regular stance, the young medic lowered her chakra from her feet and was about to jump down safely onto the pavement below but...
She completely forgot that the roofs were slippery from an unknown source and eager to make someone slip and fall to a bad injury. And that someone was her.
With the chakra gone, nothing held her balance and even though she was trained to keep keen balance and poise, she couldn't hold it. And since she was panicking, she couldn't concentrate the correct amount of chakra to her feet. With that a shrill squeak escaped her throat and she teetered forward and towards the hard ground.
Sakura's eyes squeezed closed as she expected to feel a big amount of pain in pressure to her frontal area. Her arms waved around, attempting to catch her fall maybe and her mouth hung open in a shrill scream as she plummeted to the village grounds.
Surprisingly, the air stopped moving around her and she stopped falling but she didn't make contact with ground. Instead she fell into a pair of arms. A strong pair of arms to be exact. Since her eyes were clenched together she couldn't see her rescuer. She also heard surprised gasps around her, probably the civilians that were walking through.
Faintly, she heard the mumble of the crowd and they seemed to be coming closer.
"You should be more careful next time, Sakura."
'Oh... That voice.' Her inner voice concluded with a hint of annoyance.
Sakura's eyes finally opened and they were greeted with the sight of a smirking face looking down at her. Onyx eyes had a small hint of ghostly amusement in them.
Her saviour was Itachi.
Of all people.
The mumbling of the people around was getting louder and turning more into 'oohing' and laughs. Suddenly she felt her cheeks warm up and she was guessing that they were turning a slight tinge of red as well.
Attempting to stray away from his deep, black eyes, Sakura looked down at her lap and realized that the great Uchiha prodigy was holding her princess style in the middle of a gathering crowd of civilians of Konoha.
'Great. More gossip for the grape vine.' Inner Sakura sneered annoyingly and the pink haired girl was too flustered to respond. This day was getting weirder by the minute.
"Are you alright?"
He asked with a hint of worry.
She hasn't answered for a while and the way she looked was frozen. Wide eyes and her hands were clenching onto her own shirt harshly.
"Sakura."
"Ye-Yeah! Yes! I'm fine!"
Sakura responded immediately and she nodded to emphasize her point.
"...You can let me down."
Itachi stared at her for a brief moment before complying to her.
His hand lingered at her back to make sure she was steady and luckily she was. Her tousled pink hair was all scattered around her red-hued face as she looked down at her feet.
Why was she so embarrassed though?
"Are you alright Sakura?"
Itachi repeated, hoping to receive an answer this time. Luckily he did.
"...Yes. I just slipped."
Before he could probe her any longer, her soft voice broke from her lips.
"Thank you. I'll be going now."
With that she dashed off, splitting the crowd in half as she rushed towards the direction of her home.
Itachi watched as her petite figure disappeared on the horizon until there was no sight of the pink hair swaying around as she ran home. A soft sigh escape his lips as he frowned.
The crowd however clapped at his good doings and walked up towards him, patting his back as they went back to their duties and whatever they were doing before this whole incident occurred.
The elder Uchiha jumped back onto the roof with a ghostly frown and started strolling back to the heart of the village. Leaving his younger brother watching him with wide eyes and a parted mouth. Sasuke could only just play what happened moments ago in his mind. And the only thing he could think was-
What the hell just happened?!
The sun was setting and a hue of orange washed through the usually blue sky.
Sakura was laying in her bed staring up at the ceiling, thinking of earlier today.
She just couldn't get it through her mind. The great, almighty Itachi saved her from slipping from a roof. What on earth was he doing in the same place she was though? There were no stores there, just homes and civilians strolling. Maybe he was taking a walk... He did mention that he was trying to relax as much as possible on his day off.
Sakura frowned inwardly.
It was still weird.
But it was the fact that she got so embarrassed and flustered was what bothered her.
It was just a good deed he did catching her from clumsily falling to the ground.
...Could it be that..
Oh hell no.
She didn't like Itachi Uchiha like that. Not like she did with Sasuke! They've practically just met yesterday, had their first real conversation yesterday. Even if it was kind of just an argument.
But that fact still lingered in her mind. But she pushed it away by telling herself it was just a dumb idea that she could be crushing on Itachi! She didn't like him like that!
...or did she?
And it was only Tuesday too...
Until then my loves~! :)
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