Chapter 4:What's up with Sakura?/Mesu Karin must die!

"Well?" Shisui asked her, while all she could do was hold her hands behind her back, and draw circles on the ground with her foot. All the time Sakura wouldn't meet his eyes. He'd come from work. Still in full police uniform, to the high school she attended with Sasuke, all because he got a call from Shizune senpai saying Sakura had knocked a girl out, for reasons unknown.

"Sakura." He tried again.
"Umm." Came the intelligent reply. They had already left the school, Sakura having been sent home for the rest of the day. But really. This WAS a high school for Ninja, why should knocking Mesu Karin out cold be enough of an offence to expel her for the rest of the day?
"Sakura I can't help, if you don't tell me what the problem is." Shisui told her.
"Aniki, I can't tell you."
Needless to say, Shisui was shocked by this. Sakura would normally tell him everything. In all the seven months since she'd come to live with him, she'd never kept something from him. Except for the fact that SHE was the one who genjutsu'd Sasuke's room so that he believed it was purple for an entire week. But that was beside the point. Sakura, didn't keep secrets from him. And he knew something was wrong. He also knew that Sakura and the Karin girl often argued at school. Or when they happened to pass each other in the street, they would try to glare each other into oblivion. But why should Sakura need to keep something from him?
Then, as if reading his thoughts. Sakura sighed, out loud.
"Aniki, I WILL tell you. I just need to talk to someone else about the issue first." "Hn. That makes more sense. Alright then Imouto, but you have three days. We still have to apologize to the school. And Karin-san." At the last part Sakura cringed. Apparently apologizing to Mesu Karin, even if it was fake, was something Sakura DIDN'T want to do.

"Uhh, aniki?"
"Yes Sakura." "May I extend my time limit to five days? The person this concerns is... uh, busy until saturday." "How does this concern Itachi, Sakura?"
"How do you know its Itachi?" "Because Itachi is on a mission until friday." "True, but I said saturday."
"Itachi and you go out every satuday Sakura, it is unlikely that you would cancel with Itachi, when whatever the matter is could be settled on sunday."
"But I have training with Tsunade shishou this sunday."
"That's right. I forgot. So if it is not Itachi, then who is it Imouto?"
Shisui then gave her a stern look that at times even made Fugaku break. And try as she might, she could only take it for so long.
"ALRIGHT! Its Itachi! Sheesh!"
Shisui smirked, "Now then Imouto, answer my question please. How does this concern our cousin?"
"Your cousin." She spat back.
"Pardon?" Shisui, although he didn't show it, was completely floored by this blunt statement. And it was official, something was definitely Wrong, with Sakura. "He is not MY cousin Shisui." 'Shisui'? That was something else that was new. She ALWAYS called him Aniki, or Nii-san, with the occasional Onii-san. But never by his first name.
"Sakura." He started, not sure how to handle the situation. "Is something bothering you?" He then reached his hand out to her shoulder, but she stepped away. "No." "Sakura" "I said, no. Nothing is wrong Aniki. I'm fine, I just need some rest." "Very well Sakura. But please, if you plan on leaving the house tonight, stop at the station and let me know first." "Yes Aniki. I will." And she went inside the small house, and to her room.

The next day

"Sasuke what do you want?"

"Can't a guy follow his relative without wanting something?"

"If I tell your brother that you were 'stalking' me again, he'll more than likely take you in this time."

"Shisui asked me to keep an eye on you. Said you were acting weird last night."

"That is so like Aniki. Send the ONE person whom I never get along with."

"Shisui told me what you said last night."

"Oh?"
"Sakura, I didn't mean it. You're just as much an Uchiha as Shisui, or I."

"No Sasuke, you were right. It doesn't matter if Shisui got my name changed or not. Carrying the surname 'Uchiha' doesn't make me one. I'll always be a Haruno, and I'll always have HER blood running through my veins." And with that Sakura disappeared.
"C'mon Sakura. If I don't find you again and keep an eye on you, then your brothers' gonna kill me. Sakura."

Saturday

She was sitting on top of the gates. Not where she would normally meet him. As a matter of fact. She was pretty sure she had told him she wanted to cancel. And just talk to him later, and yet, here he is. Standing about twenty meters to her right. On the ground below her and using a tree to conceal himself.
"Itachi. I thought Sasuke told you I wanted to cancel our walk tonight. You're probly exausted anyway." She said it barely above a whisper. But she knew he was using chakra to inhance his hearing.
Faster then she could blink, he was sitting on top of the village gates next to her. "Shisui said you were behaving oddly, and Sasuke told me what he said to you last week. About not belonging in our family."

"Hmm." "Sakura. I understand there was something in relation to myself that caused you to get into a fight in school. Would you like to explain that to me?"
"Mesu Karin called me your whore. Said that my claiming to be your cousin was just to cover everything up. When I told her to get over herself. She switched her story. And in front of everyone, asked me if you even cared at all."

"And why would that upset you?" He asked, not understanding why the last statement seemed to make her uneasy. "Because Itachi, I couldn't answer her."
His eyes narrowed at this. "What do you mean Sakura? Why couldn't you tell her that I care?"

"Because I don't know." She yelled at him, tears falling down her face.
"Sakura, what do you mean you don't know? You are my cousin. Of course I ca..."
"Not like that Itachi. Not care for me as your cousin's step sister. She asked if you cared about me. She demanded to know. And I don't know, so I couldn't tell her. She, she started laughing, saying none of the Uchiha cared for me, that I was a stray they took pity on, and once I was of age. They'll be done with me. So I hit her. Hard, with a technique Tsunade shishou showed me, I knocked her out on purpose."

Needless to say, Itachi was having trouble taking all this in. Of course he cared for Sakura, but in what way? He wasn't even sure. And she seemed to be upset by his uncertainty. This was confusing. "Sakura. I think we should go for a walk. Around the outside of the village." He said as he stood up, and held his hand out to Sakura. She ignored it, and stood next to him. Then nodded her assent. For the first two or three hours, there was nothing but silence. Itachi mulled over what she told him, and Sakura tried to come up with a good way to outright ask him, without being overly blunt, like Sasuke's friend Naruto. Unfortunately, she had nothing. Finally, pride and self preservation be damned, Sakura decided she was just going to flat out ask him 'Itachi, do you love me?' Yeah, blunt. She opened her mouth to say just that when. "Yes."
She nearly choked on the words that were about to come out of her mouth, then asked. "Excuse me?"
Itachi's lip quirked as if he found her amusing. "The correct answer to her question, or accusation phrased as a question, is yes. And I don't mind if you tell her that."
Sakura suddenly stopped walking. "What?"
That did it. Itachi all out smirked now. "Need I repeat myself Sakura? Or should I state it bluntly, and just say I care for you?"

"Care for me how?" She asked, fighting back tears.

In the next instant Itachi was holding her. And he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Love. Sakura, this is love." He hadn't said it like in the corny romance novels, but he had just told her, that he loved her. And she hugged him tightly, and cried into his shoulder. "I love you too, Itachi." She whispered.

"Sakura." He said after she'd finished crying, and was wiping her eyes. "Yes Itachi?"
"How do you propose we tell my mother?"
At this Sakura laughed. And Itachi rasied his eyebrow a fraction of an inch. Silently asking what she found so funny. "I'll tell Mikoto-sama, if you tell Shisui." Had he been anyone else, he probably would have paled considerably, hyper ventilated, then passed out. But, luckily for him, he wasn't. And the only reaction Sakura got from him was. "I'll tell my mother, you tell your brother." She smiled. "Fair enough. But you need to be there." After thinking about it for a little while, they decided they would tell everyone at the same time, at dinner sunday night. So Itachi kissed Sakura good night, and took her home.

When they got there, Shisui was sitting in the living room, with Mesu Karin. "Sakura. You're finally here." Karin said hotly. "Aniki, why is she here?" "I don't know, Sakura."
Sakura then walked with Karin outside. "Yes?"
"Just here to tell you, that I WILL get you back. And if you know what's good for you, you won't come back to school. Haruno."
Sakura visibly flinched. Karin wasn't supposed to know what her old name was. After Shisui, and Itachi had legally gotten her name changed. Any record of 'Haruno' Sakura, was supposed to have been abolished. "My name is Not, Haruno. That was my Mother's name. MY name is Uchiha Sakura. Get used to it." "Said the little orphan girl. You may have the same name as my Sasuke-kun, and Itachi-kun. But you are NOT an Uchiha. Ja ne, Haruno Sakura." And with that, Karin disappeared.
Sakura then decided to go back into the house. "Well?" Shisui asked her.
When she looked at him, he was sure she'd been possessed by the Uzumaki kid or something, because the grin on her face was in-human. And she told them, "Mesu Karin must Die!"

To be continued

^_^ A/N* . Sorry for the fluffy stuff, I guess there's a fluff lover in all of us. So yeah, Itachi and Sakura are dating now, and they plan to do the most dangerous thing on the PLANET. They are going to tell Mikoto and Shisui over dinner, at Itachi's house sunday evening. As in, tell them both, AT THE SAME TIME!
Itachi's over bearing mother, and Sakura's overprotective brother. Oh I hope this ends well.

To answer some questions that might arise. Sasuke and Sakura don't like each other. Like, they hate each others' guts. Hence the pranking. And to clear this up. Sakura and Sasuke at some point, got into a fight, and Sasuke told her, that although her name was changed to that of her step father's, she wasn't, nor would she ever be part of their family. He also said that she wasn't his cousin. That Shisui was his cousin, and she was just a step sister, that Shisui adopted. I'll give you full detail in a flash back in a later chapter. Till then...

Ja ne. ^_^