First of all happy new year to all of you! Thanks to all these people who reviewed for the last chapter. Your reviews made me so happy and push me to update this story fast. So here a long chapter made just for all of my readers. Hope you enjoy reading!
bartender
Yami Mori
BelleDayNight
aGreatPenName
C.SasuSaku.W
esta
Voxytoo
Ichigami Sachiko
knightchaser
sammyamber123
Angelusfaith
Dark-beyond-repair
Aloha.Laney
I-Love-Akatsuki
missymatchy
Girl
CrimsonSakuratree
janet
me4cloud
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It only belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
"Pinky, I don't want you involved in this. Let Shisui do what he has to do. You go back to L.A."
Shisui had left his office, telling her to wait while he made some arrangements, so Sakura was alone.
"Itachi, I want to know that you are all right."
"I will be. Just as soon as Shisui gets here."
"I want to help."
"You already have. Go home."
"No."
After a moment of silence, he replied. "I know that you wanted to see me. Believe me, it isn't necessary to our relationship."
"Maybe not as far as you're concerned."
"Didn't you tell me you no longer wanted me in your life?"
"Yes I did but I was angry at that time."
"You were right. I was trying to run interference for you, trying to make your life easier for you. No one can do that for someone else. I need to keep my distance and allow you to live your own life."
"And make my own mistakes."
"Hn."
"If you hadn't warned me, I would have made a very bad one."
"And by warning you, I almost destroyed our relationship."
"You could never do that. I just overreacted."
Flashback….
She had been at work one afternoon when her boss had returned from lunch with one of his clients.
"Ms. Haruno," Mr. Uchiha said, pausing in front of her desk, "I would like you to meet Shiranui Genma. Genma, my assistant, Haruno Sakura."
For a moment, Sakura could only stare at the man who held out his hand. He could be the very same man whose photograph had hung on her wall when she was a teenager, her movie idol. The same flashing smile, shining eyes, and the same long-hair falling around his shoulders.
"Sakura, did he say? I am so pleased to meet you. Uchiha tells me you are invaluable to him."
Her eyes quickly met the unsmiling gaze of her employer. He said that about her? Mr. Uchiha was a man of few words and those were seldom complimentary. Of course he had always been prompt with her raises and Christmas bonuses, so he must be pleased with her work. She smiled at the incredibly sexy man in front of her. "I enjoy my job, Mr. Shiranui." She glanced at her boss then turned her gaze to the man standing beside him. "I'm happy to hear that Mr. Uchiha is pleased with my work." Her employer's expression did not change. He nodded his head in acknowledgement of her words and waited for his client.
"I would enjoy seeing you again, Sakura. Would you be interested in having a dinner with me tonight?"
Sakura was taken aback by the blunt approach of the man in front of her. "Oh! Well I uh–" she glanced at her boss but could not read anything in his expression. Meeting the pleading gaze of the other man, she smiled and replied softly, "I'd like that."
Genma's grin caused a quiver to run through her. "Great. Why don't I pick you up when you get off work? We can go from here."
"I'm not sure when I'll be through tonight and I'd much prefer to go home and freshen up first."
Genma shrugged. "No problem. Let me have your address. I'll pick you up, say, around seven thirty, if that's all right?"
She smiled and nodded, delighted with the man and his obvious eagerness to get to know her better. After writing down her address, she gave it to him.
Genma turned to the man beside him and stuck out his hand. "I really enjoyed our meeting, Mr. Uchiha. I'm sure if anyone can get to the bottom of this mess, you will."
Sakura watched her boss give Genma one of his rare smiles. "I appreciate your confidence. I'll be in touch with you in a few days."
"Fine." He left the office, giving Sakura a quick salute that she found enchanting.
"You have made a conquest." Her boss said quietly.
She searched his face for some clue as to what he was thinking but to no avail. His face held no emotion and his eyes gave away nothing.
"Do you mind that I agreed to go out with him?"
He raised his brows and shook his head. "What you do on your own time is none of my business." He glanced down at the stack of mail in front of her. "Is there anything there I need to see this afternoon?"
"Oh, yes, there are a couple of things I wanted to check with you–"
He turned away. "Bring them in." he said striding through the door to his office.
She picked up the stack of mail and shook her head. She had never known anyone to be as distant with people and as emotionless as her employer. They had known each other for several years and yet they had nothing but the business in common. It was just as well, she supposed. He was a fair employer, treated her well. What more could she ask?
A little warmth, maybe? A little personal interest? Something more than his usual "good morning" or "I'll be back later" or "I'll be out of town for a while." She wondered if her ever really saw her as a person or whether he thought that she had arrived along with the rest of the office equipment – with a serial number tattooed somewhere on her body.
What difference did it make? She had a date that night with a man that had stepped out of her dreams. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Sakura smiled as she followed her boss into his office.
She was singing as she got out of the shower that night.
"What's put you in such a good mood, Pinky?"
"Oh, hi, Itachi." There were times when she was definitely glad that he couldn't see her, especially now when she was drying off from the shower. There was something to be said for their type of communication. "I have a date tonight."
"I have never known you to be this excited about seeing Naruto."
She laughed. "You're right. I met someone new today. His name is Shiranui Genma."
"Are you talking about the real estate developer?"
"I don't know. He's hired Mr. Uchiha to do some investigative work for him."
"You have no business going out with Shiranui Genma."
Slowly, Sakura straightened from drying her legs. She reached over and pulled her robe off the hook from behind the door. Sliding her arms into the sleeves, she carefully tied the sash before saying anything. Somehow she felt more prepared to do battle when she wasn't bare.
"I know that you are concerned about me, Itachi and I appreciate that. However, I'm a big girl now. I can pick and choose my own dates."
"Don't be that way. I didn't mean to offend you but that man is a womanizer. Besides, making money, his biggest ambition in life is to see how many women he can coax into bed with him."
"How can you say that about someone you don't even know?"
"Because I do know him. In addition, I know his type."
"Well, he seemed very nice to me and I agreed to go out with him. I am certainly not going to greet him at the door with the news that my invisible friend had forbidden me to go out with him."
"Just be careful, will you please? For my sake?"
"What do you mean, for your sake? What business is it of yours?"
"Remember you used to call me my guardian angel?"
"That was a very long time ago before I discovered you were far away from being an angel!"
"You allowed me to protect you then, Pinky. Don't push me away now."
Sakura began to blow dry her hair, effectively drowning out anything Itachi might try to say. When it was dry, she quickly put on her makeup, touched up her hair with the curling iron and went into the bedroom.
Genma would be there soon and she still hadn't decided what to wear.
"Nothing too enticing."
"Itachi, I don't even have anything enticing! Would you leave me alone?"
"Just be careful that you don't give him the wrong impression about you."
"Fine. I could have worn my nun habit if I hadn't just sent it to the cleaners."
"Very funny."
"You're being ridiculous, Itachi. You're worse than a father."
"Hn. That's what I've tried to be – the father you lost, the older brother you never had…"
Sakura felt ashamed of herself. "Itachi, you have been everything I have ever wanted in a best friend and believe me, I appreciate all that you have done. But I am a big girl now. You've got to let me grow up."
"I know you are a big girl now. Why else do you suppose Shiranui Genma is interested in you?"
She found one of her favorite dresses, made in a soft peach color and quickly slid it over her head. It had long full sleeves, a scooped neckline and from a fitted waist flowed into a full skirt that ended in mid-calf.
"All right, Itachi. Are you satisfied? This dress would fit very well at a PTA meeting."
The doorbell rang and she hurried to the door without waiting for a response.
Her evening with Shiranui Genma turned out to be delightful. He treated Sakura like a princess. She realized midway through the evening that Itachi's warnings had made her nervous and at first she had been a little tense. However, Genma could not have treated her with more kindness and consideration. After dinner, they went to two different clubs to dance and by the time he took her back home, Sakura felt as though she were floating several inches off the ground.
Of course she invited him in. That was the only polite thing to do. After making coffee, they sat and chatted on her sofa. Knowing that Sam might annoy him, she had putted the cat inside her bedroom and closed the door.
Genma had made several suggestions during the evening of the other things they might enjoy doing together, so she knew he planned to see her again. Sakura could see nothing wrong when he leaned over and kissed her. He wasn't pushy, nor did he make her feel this was the first step to a well planned seduction. It was a get-acquainted sort of kiss and Sakura responded appropriately.
"Don't forget what I told you, Pinky. Be careful."
Sakura's mind suddenly snapped back into awareness from the floating bliss Genma's kiss had provided. How dare Itachi interrupt her at this point in the evening! He had never done anything like it before.
She forced herself to concentrate on the words, Go away, Itachi. He was always so good at reading her thoughts. Surely, he'd get that message.
Genma must have felt her stiffen in his arms because he drew back slightly.
"I have enjoyed this evening so much, Sakura. Thank you for spending it with me."
"I have enjoyed myself very much, Genma."
"I don't want to overstay my welcome," he said with a charming smile. "May I call you?"
"Of course."
She walked him to the door. He stood there looking down at her for a moment. "You are so beautiful. I can't understand how you've managed to stay single."
Sakura laughed. He sounded sincere enough but since she looked on the mirror everyday, she knew what she looked like. Perhaps, he did have a way of exaggerating things.
Genma slowly pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She relaxed against him.
"Has he mentioned his wife and three children yet?"
Sakura's eyes flew open and she gasped. That was a low blow. Even Itachi couldn't stoop to such a thing.
"What's wrong?" Genma asked, puzzled when she jerked away from him.
"Do you have a wife and three children?" she blurted out suddenly.
He looked a little taken aback at the timing of her question. "As a matter of fact, I do, but I'm not sure why you should bring them up this time."
She stared at him in disbelief. The same charming smile, the flashing eyes, the long hair falling around his shoulders. He didn't even seemed concerned that she had asked. For a moment, too many thoughts were racing through her head for her to say a thing.
"I wasn't trying to keep them a secret or anything. I assumed that the Uchiha told you that I was married."
"No, he didn't."
"Oh. I take it that makes a difference to you."
"It certainly does. I'm sure that it makes difference to your wife, too."
"My wife and I understand each other very well. There's no problem where she's concerned."
"Well, I'm very much afraid that there's a problem where I am concerned." She opened the door. "Good night, Mr. Shiranui."
He shook his head, puzzled at the abrupt change in her behavior and walked out the door.
After carefully closing the door behind him, she slumped against it. What a letdown to what had been a beautiful evening.
"He was right, you know. You really are beautiful woman – inside and out, Pinky."
Sakura straightened and wished that Itachi was standing in front of her. She would dearly have loved to throw something at him.
"Why would you want to throw something at me? What did I do?"
"As if you didn't know. You ruined a beautiful evening for me."
"How could I ruin it?"
"You know very well what you did. Every time he kissed me, you made some sort of a comment."
"Oh, did I? How rude of me. I'm really very sorry."
"Sure you are. You knew exactly what you were doing!"
"Well not exactly. But whenever your thoughts go a little hazy and syrupy, I know something is going on."
Sakura stormed into her bedroom and was greeted by Sam who protested his recent incarceration.
"And I don't want to hear anything from you either!" she exclaimed, reaching around and unzipping her dress.
When Sam continued to bemoan her unfair treatment of him she eventually sat down on the bed and scooped him up in her lap, stroking his long coat and wishing she could think of something to put Itachi in his place.
"I'm really sorry if I upset you, Pinky. That wasn't what I meant to do."
"Wasn't it? It seems to me that ever since I first met you, you've been telling me what to do, how to do it, when to do it and what not to do. Frankly, I'm sick of it."
There was no response.
"And that's another thing. There's no way I can argue with you. Whenever I try, you just clam up and disappear and I can't reach you."
"You always reach me, Pinky. Sometimes I just don't choose to answer."
"That's what I mean. I can't argue with myself."
"Good point. Think about it."
Jumping to her feet, Sakura dropped Sam on the bed.
"I am sick of you, do you understand that? I wish you would just go away and leave me alone!"
"Do you really mean that?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." She waited for a reply but there was nothing more. After a few minutes she said, "Itachi?" There was no answer.
So he had taken her at her word. She was glad. She wasn't a child anymore and didn't need a guardian angel or whoever he thought he was being.
End of flashback…
Now Sakura stood in Shisui's office, looking out the window. Itachi had never contacted her again. Not until last night. She had missed him. Missed his sense of humor, his teasing and tantalizing, missed his caring about what happened to her.
Now she had a chance to meet him in person and she wasn't going to let the opportunity to slip by. She grinned at the thought. He was obviously a captive. There was nothing he could do but stay where he was until they came to get him. She could hardly wait to see his face when she walked in.
Over the years, Sakura had speculated on Itachi's looks. He would give her no help at all. It was amusing, really, how her image of him had changed through the years. As a child, she pictured him as old with white hair and kind-looking eyes. By the time she was a teenager, he began to get younger in her eyes. After all, some of their discussions had been very open and frank. Somehow, she couldn't see a kindly looking, white-haired gentleman telling her some of the things Itachi had told her.
And now, she found herself treating him as a contemporary and an equal. Of course she loved him. How could she not love him? He had been so many things in her life. He had been there for her no matter what. But she had to admit that she felt a little peculiar about finally meeting him face-to-face after all this time.
She was glad that Shisui was going to be along.
The office door opened and she turned around. Shisui stood in the doorway. "You ready to go?
She nodded.
"I borrowed a pickup. It won't be the smoothest riding vehicle but we'll need the four wheel drive once we get into the mountains.
Sakura followed him out of the room.
"I forgot to ask you if you have eaten," he said as she passed.
"Yes"
"I think we'd better stop off at a convenience store somewhere and pick up something to take with us. There's not a whole lot between here and where we're going if we should get hungry or thirsty."
Poor Itachi. She could imagine how he must be feeling, stranded out in the middle of nowhere, recovering from a head wound, without food. He hadn't said anything about water. She wondered about that.
They didn't waste anytime at the store and were soon on the road. For the first several miles, they were quiet, each lost in his and her own of thoughts. Eventually, Shisui said, "I am sorry we had to meet this way, Sakura but I'm glad that we finally have a chance to get acquainted after all this time. I'll admit I didn't recognize you from the first time I saw you."
She looked at him in surprise. As far as she knew, she had never seen this man in her life. "When did you ever see me?"
He glanced around briefly, and then turned his eyes to the highway. "The same time Sharingan did, when you were in the car wreck."
"The car wreck! Mother said I was only five when that happened."
"I know you were just a little thing. I felt sorry for you."
"You and Itachi were there?"
"Yes. We had been down in San Diego that day, just a couple of kids, really. I'd borrowed my dad's car and we'd gone down to see who we could impress, you know the kinds of things that guys will do.
She smiled, "Not really, but it makes sense."
"We'd decided to stop and eat in Oceanside – Sharingan knew a girl that lived somewhere around there and he was trying to figure out which house she lived in so we were driving up and down the streets when we saw the car that came barreling around a corner and plowed into the one you and your family were in. God, it was awful…as I'm sure you remember."
She shook her head. "I don't remember much about it at all."
"We were the first ones there. It happened on the edge of town. There weren't many houses out that far. The guy that hit you was hurt bad, we could tell. And your mother and father were pinned in the car." He shook his head. "I'd never seen anything like it. Sharingan told me to go for help and he stayed there, trying to see what he could do. When I got back, I found him sitting beside the road holding you. He told me later you have been knocked unconscious in the back seat and when you woke up, you became hysterical. He managed to get you out. So he sat there and held you until the police and ambulance came."
"I never knew that."
"He was really upset, I can tell you. When they get your parents out and took all of you to the hospital, he insisted we follow. We stayed there at the hospital and waited to hear how you were doing."
"My mother told me my injuries weren't serious."
"That's what we found out. He worried about you later though, when he heard that your dad didn't make it."
So her guardian angel had been a ten year old boy when he first met her.
Shisui continued to reminisce. "I remember that until we graduated from high school he would still go back down there and check on you."
"He did?"
"Ya. Don't you remember?"
How could she tell him that she didn't even remember what Itachi looked like? She had no memory of him or whatsoever.
"I know that he seemed interested in how I was doing." She said cautiously.
"He was. He used to about you all the time. The things you were doing, what you were learning in school. He was always so proud of you. I used to tease him about waiting around for you to grow up."
She glanced at him sharply. "He said that to me once."
"Then what's he been waiting for?" He gave her a glance from the corner of his eye. "You are certainly as grown-up as he could possibly want now."
Sakura could not control the blush that she could feel flooding her face. "He admitted that he was only teasing me."
"You notice that he's never married anyone else, though," he pointed out in a wise tone. She glanced over at him and he winked.
No. she hadn't known that Itachi wasn't married. She couldn't help feeling pleased at the idea that perhaps he had been waiting for her.
Then another thought struck her. "Are you married, Shisui?" She would hate to have a jealous wife misunderstand her leaving town with Shisui.
"I was. Unfortunately for me, she found someone else she wanted more, someone who wasn't spending all his time trying to make a living." He shrugged, but she could see the hurt that was still there. "I'm surprised Sharingan trusted me with you, come to think of it. He's always telling me I have a terrible attitude toward women. Can't imagine why."
She smiled. "Obviously you're his best friend. Otherwise he wouldn't have sent me to find you."
"You're right. We go back a long way. When I called him and told him that a former business associate was trying to hassle me, he agreed to check it out for me. Neither of us thought it would turn out to be anything like this."
"What does Itachi do?"
He looked around at her in surprise. "Don't you know?"
Sakura had accepted the fact that Shisui didn't know how she and Itachi communicated. It was strange to think that she was closer to Itachi than anyone in many ways and yet they were still strangers. She didn't want to have to explain their relationship to Shisui, not if Itachi hadn't already done so.
She tried to find a way to phrase her response that would not make the relationship even more confusing. "Itachi is a very private person." Shisui nodded his head. "Whenever I hear from him, he chooses the topics we discuss. He doesn't like to talk about himself."
"That's Sharingan, all right. He's always been that way. Something of a loner. When we were in the marines together we'd–"
"Itachi was in the marines?"
"Yup. We decided to go in after we got out of high school. Why?"
"He never told me."
"Oh. But he stayed in touch, didn't he?"
"Yes."
"That's kinda odd, him not telling you. He always knew what you were up to. Maybe your mother wrote to him or something. When we were stationed overseas, he spent a lot of time talking about you."
Sakura was having a tough time trying to put everything she was learning from Shisui into perspective with what she already knew about Itachi. He had lived a full and active life all the time he was in touch with her and yet he had never given her a hint of it.
She was almost cringed at some of the childish questions and concerns she'd had back then. He had been so patient with her, kind and full of a sense of caring that had eased her over the rough spots in her life.
Oh, Itachi, do you have any idea how much you mean to me?
"Obviously, not enough to do what I ask. I thought I told you to let Shisui come get me."
Sakura tried to disguise the sudden start she gave when Itachi responded. She shifted on the seat and glanced at Shisui. "I think I'll try to catch a nap, if you don't mind. My day started out fairly early," she explained trying to sound nonchalant.
"Good idea. Once we get off the main highway, the road is going to be too rough for you to do anything but hang on!"
Sakura closed her eyes and willed herself not to speak out loud. Itachi? Can you hear me?
"Hn. I want to know why you aren't halfway back to L.A."
You know why. I wanted to see you.
"Has it occurred to you that perhaps I don't want to see you?"
Please don't be that way. Did you really come to see me when I was a child?
"Shisui and his big mouth. Yes, Pinky, I used to drive down there on a regular basis."
Then why don't I remember you?
"Because you never saw me. I used to sit outside the school and watch you come out. You were such a sad little thing for a long while but there was nothing I could do to help."
But there was! You started talking to me.
"Yes. I realized that night of the accident when I tried to calm you down that I could pick up your thoughts – all your fear and terror. While I sat there holding you I not only talked to you, I tried to send you my thoughts to calm you. They seemed to help."
I don't understand why I can't remember.
"You were just a baby. I don't think you'd even started school at that time. Later, whenever I thought of you, I discovered I could pick up on what you were thinking."
Have you ever been able to do that with anyone else?
"No. But then I've never tried. Like I've told you. You're special."
So are you.
"Come on, Pinky, don't try to make me some sort of romantic hero. You wouldn't even like me if you knew me."
How can you possibly say that?
"Because you have an image of me as someone very gentle. I'm not a gentle sort of person."
You are with me.
"I know."
She smiled slightly and drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Well there you have it. Chapter 3 finished! Hope you aren't confused with the talking in the last part. Those with the "" part is Itachi talking and the sentences without it is Sakura talking. See you in the next chapter!
