I'm so happy to see all the wonderful reviews! Thank you guys so much for the great feedback.

Also, I made some minor changes to the ending of last chapter, but this site was down for two days, so I didn't get to replace the chapter as soon as I finished. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :) (2/22/09)

—

Because Sasuke knew that no matter how smart they are, when it comes to love, they were both idiots.

—

Chapter Four: Idiotic Genii

One hobby that Sakura developed over the years was her fondness for romance novels. She'd read almost all of what's available, be it sappy happily-ever-after stories or heart wrenching angst tragedies. Often times when she received a break between missions and hospital duties, she would huddle up on her couch and enjoy a quick read. The novels were her temporary escape from her stressful present, and they never fail to melt her into a puddle of emotional goo with their sappiness and heartwarming plot and make her wish that reality was just as simple and predictable.

However, what Sakura also learned over the years was that reality hardly ever operates on clichés. Sasuke never got down on one knee and ask her thirteen year-old self out, and her first date with Neji did not end with a passionate goodnight kiss on her porch as he walked her home. Reality continued to puncture her fantasy balloon, and that was why, at the age of twenty, coupled with much of the experience that reality harshly threw at her, Sakura was most certain that having a ragged and tattered looking shinobi showing up in her room, no matter how attractive he still looked despite his worn appearance, would have absolutely no romantic indication what-so-ever at all. After all, if it did, well…that would be abnormal and unlikely.

But Sakura forgot that with Uchiha Itachi, hardly anything goes 'normal'.

He stood on her windowsill, knocking on the glass plane of her window at the ungodly hour of three in the morning, waking her up from her warm and much needed sleep. She turned her back to him and curled up further into her comforters, wishing that he'd get the point and leave her to rest. The offending knocking sound persisted (if not grew louder), and Sakura growled, hesitantly throwing aside her warm cover and getting up from her bed. Walking towards her window, Sakura shot him an annoyed glare before sticking her tongue out childishly at him and pulled her dark curtain over the window, decidedly blocking him out.

She crawled back into bed and snuggled against her pillow at the silence she managed to get. The older Uchiha, however, did not seem to understand her gesture and, after couple seconds of stillness, proceeded to knock on her window again. Sakura sighed as she lied very awake in her bed, and wondered what in the world could Itachi want this early in the morning. Feeling defeated, she got up from her bed and pulled her curtain back.

He still had his ANBU uniform on, Sakura noted, and his mask hung loosely around his neck. A few strands of dark hair fell from the elastic band and framed his face, but nevertheless, his hair still looked as soft and silky as always. There were couple of faint scratches along his arm, and Sakura made a mental note to see to them as soon as she figure out what the man wanted.

Itachi ceased his knocking as he watched Sakura slowly unlock her window and sliding the glass planes aside. Sakura glared at him and was about to give him a piece of her very irritated mind when he beat her to the speaking.

"Will you object to the idea of spending dinner in my company?" His inquiry was so soft that she could have easily missed it if it weren't for the acute hearing Kakashi had drilled into her. She gaped at the older male. He woke her up at three in the morning just to…ask her out to dinner?

All of a sudden the Uchiha male lost his balance and crashed full force down from the windowsill onto the young girl. Sakura's arms instinctively shot out to catch the falling man, and the two crumbled onto the floor.

Sakura shrieked.

—

Several things bombarded Sakura's head in the same instant. First, there was a man, not to mention a well-proportioned and attractive man, lying on top of her (inner Sakura twirled around triumphantly at this thought). Second, there seemed to be some warm thick liquid trickling down the side of her arm and seeping through the material of her pajamas. Was that…blood?

She didn't know how she didn't smell it earlier. Maybe it was just that her senses were dulled by her sleepiness, or maybe she was too shocked by the Uchiha's question to notice it, but now that she had woken up, she could definitely identify the coppery smell that was lingering in the air. Her medic mode kicked in as she flipped their positions around and ripped his ANBU uniform shirt open (while ignoring inner Sakura's fantasy of doing such actions under other circumstances). She quickly accessed his injury; on his abdomen was a deep gash, but thankfully it wasn't deep enough to damage his internal organs. Along his arms were also sword wounds that Sakura had mistaken as insignificant scratches before. Whatever had caused these injuries was definitely one big weapon, a big sword, maybe. Drawing chakra to her hand, she pressed her palm on the abdomen to stop the blood from flowing any longer. Meticulously, she started to knit together the muscles.

Several strenuous hours passed as she worked continuously on the injured man. Her palm was tainted red, her fingertips felt raw, and her chakra was running low, but finally, she had managed to take care of all his major injuries. There was nothing more to do than to let his body recuperate on its own. Using her inhuman strength, she propped Itachi's upper body up to bandage his torso effortlessly, and picked him up from the ground to set him on her bed. Spots of red tainted her bed sheets, but that was the least of her concern. She gently tucked him in, and exited the room, softly clicking close the door.

—

Several hours later when Sakura returned to her room to check on her patient, she found him sitting up leaning against her headboard, reading what seemed to be a book that he had found. She settled the tray of warm porridge and fruits on the low table next to her bed, and blushed when she realized that what the Uchiha man was reading was none other than one of her romance novels.

"I never thought you were the type to like explicit descriptions of certain activities in your reading material." He commented before closing the book and arching an eyebrow at the blushing female. She snatched the book away from him and threw it in one of the drawers, mentally cursing that it just so happened that she stopped and bookmarked the page of a very citricy chapter the night before. Itachi chuckled lightly at her flushed appearance, earning an irritated glare from the female.

"Well, I never thought you were the type to show up unannounced on a girl's windowsill at three in the morning tattered and dirty to waking her up from her very much needed sleep just to ask her to join you for dinner either." Sakura retorted, puffing her cheeks. "Mikoto must be crying rivers now that it seemed all her manner lessons had gone down the drain."

Fully expecting Itachi to shoot something back her way, Sakura was surprised when he did no such thing. He lowered his gaze to look at his hands, seemingly contemplating something. Truth to be told, he did not know why he did such thing at all. He was on a week long mission to investigate the rumors that people saw these red and black cloaked nins around the border. Since it had come to Konoha's attention that Akatsuki seemed to be active again, Tsunade didn't want to take any chances, and sent his ANBU squad on a scouting mission. However, even though he was physically away from Konoha, he could not stop thinking about Sakura. He didn't understand what he was feeling, and why it was that he wanted nothing more than to return to their village to see her again. All of that had eventually led to his visit of her apartment earlier this morning as soon as he returned from his mission. He should have been more logical and went to the hospital first, but he didn't.

He flickered his gaze back to hers and his confused onyx eyes searched in hers for any sign of anger towards him for his actions. To her, he looked like a lost puppy, eyes wide and brows drawn together. Her eyes soften, and she smiled gently at him, patting her hand lightly on his. Seeming to understand him, she said gently, "Take better care of yourself. I was worried when you lost consciousness because of blood loss."

Being on the receiving end of Sakura's gentleness, he shyly looked away from her, tints of pink brushing his cheeks. "The question?" he asked softly.

For a second, Sakura was uncertain of what he was asking, until it dawned to her that he was referring to the one he had asked before passing out. A smile bloomed on her face as she cheerily replied. "Of course I would love to have dinner with you." Itachi was shocked by her audacity, even though he didn't show it. "You know what, let's just have it here in my house tonight. I have a lunch scheduled with Sasuke, but you can stay here and rest while I pick up the supplies, yea?"

Sakura seemed to indulge in her idea so much that she completely dismissed the Uchiha as she went about to gathering her wallet and keys and left the house, but not before gently patting Itachi on the head and warning him not to move around too much.

Itachi sat alone in the middle of her room, not knowing what to do. His gaze fell onto the tray of food that Sakura had brought in earlier, and he took a spoonful of the porridge before stuffing it in his mouth.

The porridge tasted like burnt charcoal.

—

"He's into you." Sasuke blurted out in the midst of their lunch.

"Who?"

"Itachi."

"What about him?" Sakura asked nonchalantly, twirling the udon in her soup. Sasuke sighed. Even though Sakura was considered one of the most intelligent kunoichi among their generation, when it came to relationships, she was a complete idiot.

"Uchiha Itachi, my brother and the heir of Uchiha clan, is into you, Haruno Sakura."

Chopsticks clinked against the side of the bowl as they were dropped from Sakura's sudden loose grasp while she looked into Sasuke's eyes, searching for any sign of jest. Drawing her brows together, she narrowed her eyes to glare at the young Uchiha, and whispered harshly, "That's not funny, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "You think I'd joke about this?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped.

If it pleases you, I will continue to bring them.

I'm glad to see you that you have found my gift pleasant.

Will you object to the idea of spending dinner in my company?

All of the subtle hints that Sakura missed came crashing as she realized that she had been taking those comments as nothing below their surfaces. Sakura didn't know why she had been so oblivious. Throughout their time together, Itachi had been slowly but surely dropping hints of his care for her. Yes they had been small, and yes they had been almost undetectable, but for one such as Itachi, the infamous ANBU captain that was known for being emotionally detached, to show such uncharacteristic tenderness towards her, and for him to let his emotional guard down around her (as she had seen those confused orb so many times)…

"Oh Kami." She whispered, dumbstruck.

"Yes, dense one. I don't know what you did, but my brother is certainly very interested in you."

"But I didn't do anything!" she exclaimed. "At least…I hope…"

Sasuke shrugged and returned to his bowl of ramen. Sakura sat dumbly, mind swirling with numerous questions.

It seemed that her relationship with Uchiha Itachi had just gotten one level more complicated.

—

Using the hand that was not carrying groceries, Sakura hesitantly pushed open her door, not knowing how to face Itachi now with her new found knowledge. Assuming that he was asleep (which was what he should be doing), she quietly slipped off her sandals, and padded to the kitchen to settle down the groceries. Upon arriving in the kitchen, she came across a note that was placed on her island countertop. The tale-tell handwriting of the captain printed neatly on the small post-it informed her that he had suddenly been called for family business, and that unfortunately, they had to postpone their engagement to another day.

Sakura sighed and slumped into one of her stools beside the counter while mulling over her predicament. Well, it wasn't a predicament per se, as being the target of Itachi's affection was not unpleasant. However, she was at the height of her career—being right below the Hokage herself and an accomplished an acknowledged shinobi— she had not given much thought to romantic relationships. Besides, it had been so long (too long, inner Sakura supplied) since she had been showered with men's affection (as none of her suitors dared to approach her, courtesy to her heart brothers and their former instructor), and it had been a while since she felt anything towards any of the males.

It was not to say that she doesn't feel slight attraction towards the elder Uchiha brother. After all, she was a healthy woman and he was a good-looking man. He was, also, a very intriguing man—one who could match up to her thinking easily, and one who could definitely pose a challenge in a spar. He would be, all in all, as Ino would call it, a very good catch. But she was not someone to desperately jump at any handsome man on the streets. They were both too inexperienced in the field of romance, Itachi especially, and she had her share of doubt of the genuineness of their feelings. Maybe it was just a phase for him; maybe it was just a phase for her; she didn't know.

Sakura groaned and rested her head against the cold surface of the counter. Maybe a shower will make things better.

Sakura cradled another romance novel in her arms as she lounged on her couch lazily flipping through its pages. Several days had passed without any sign of the Uchiha, but she didn't pay much mind to it. After much contemplation on the first day, Sakura had decided to let things flow as it may. After all, she had no control over Itachi's feelings (which for certain she knew he had), and if it did happen that he was interested in her…well, they could work from there later.

She was enjoying yet another sappy cliché love confession scenes when a puff of smoke suddenly appeared in the middle of her living room on her coffee table. Immediately, she grabbed the kunai she kept in between the cushions of the couch and jumped into defense position. The smoke cleared and on her coffee table appeared a black feline slowly licking its paws. Upon meeting her eyes with its own, the cat jumped from the table to the ground gracefully and walk towards her. Sakura crouched down to try to appear as friendly as she could be and approached the cat cautiously. On its back, Sakura noticed as it got closer, was a note that was tied to its torso with a ribbon. Removing the note from its back, Sakura read the content.

Get ready. Dinner. 6pm.

Sakura stared incredulously at the note. The neat handwriting, coupled with the authoritative tone, gave away the writer of the note immediately. Did he just order her to prepare to go to dinner with him?

Her eyes darted to the clock on her wall. It was four-thirty, giving her roughly one hour and thirty minutes to prepare. She got onto her feet and darted into her bedroom to get ready.

—

Itachi pressed the little black button on her door, feeling a bit awkward, having been accustomed to using teleportation jutsu rather than the door for most of his visits to other's houses. Several minutes passed and Sakura still wasn't there. He rang the doorbell again.

He started to become worried when even after the second doorbell no one came to answer the door. Was she in danger? Did someone attack her?

Suddenly, he heard a scream from inside of the house. Without a second thought, he performed the necessary hand signs and teleported himself to where he detected her chakra. Upon landing onto solid ground, he blurted, out of concern and distress, "Sakura, What— "

None of his shinobi experience prepared him for the sight in front of him. Sakura was down on knees waving a cat teaser in front of her, giggling and letting out mirthful yelps occasionally as his summon jumped into the air, attempting to claw the feather. Itachi chuckled at the sight, and upon hearing its master's voice, the cat immediately ceased its attempts.

"Ryo." Itachi acknowledge and the cat nodded. It walked towards Sakura and nudged its cheek against her palm affectionately before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura got onto her feet and smooth out her white halter sundress before turned her gaze to Itachi. "Why did you have to send him away?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

"I believe I have secured this part of your time as mine, Haruno-san." He languidly closed the distance between them and deposited a stem of sunflower into her arms. "They said it's customary to bring flowers…" He trailed off uncertainly.

"Don't be so formal. You weren't so formal when you crashed into the kitchen a while ago." Sakura twirled the fully bloomed sunflower in her fingers before beaming brightly at Itachi. "And this is beautiful. Thank you!"

She set the flower down on her dining table before returning her attention back to the Uchiha. "Well, Shall we?" she inquired as she tugged lightly at Itachi's hand.

"Hn."

—

The two made their ways to a nice and cozy café near the edge of the city. As the waitress was leading them towards their table, Sakura couldn't help but admire the simple but sophisticated interior design and hoped that her house could be decorated the same way. She sighed as she remembered that her meager paycheck didn't allow the luxury of remodeling her home. They settled down into a booth next to the windows as the waiter took their order and brought their drinks.

She sipped her drink and twirled the straw in her fingers as she looked at Itachi, who sat stoically and seemed to not know what to do. Deciding that it was either now or never to ask the question that had been in the back of her mind since her lunch with Sasuke, she broke their silence and spoke.

"Itachi." She called to catch the attention of her dinner company. His eyes flashed as he noticed the drop of her usual suffix. "It has come to my attention that there is a possibility that you may wish to pursue such that is more than what is understood to be the nature of a friendship." She blurted out in a jumble.

Itachi paused to take in her words before admitting. "Such intention has crossed my mind, yes." He whispered and looked into her eyes.

"Why me?"

Why, exactly had she caught his interest? Itachi pondered over the question. The first time she caught his eyes was when she charmed his mother and melted the hostile shield around Fugaku. He didn't become really interested in her until his mother's comment prompted some curiosity in him roughly one month ago. As he got to know her, he was exposed to yet so many aspects of life he didn't understand. She was the gentleness that he was hardly ever granted in his unforgiving shinobi life. She was the color amongst his monotonous achievements. She was the warmth contrasting with the cold and empty praises from his strict clan. She was a novelty. She was a rarity. Up until now, everything he had done had been for the good of the clan. The clan dominated his life, his being. But for once, he wants to be selfish; to learn her; to discover every fiber that made up her being; to keep her all for himself—her gentleness, her warmth, her shimmering eyes and bright smiles.

"You're a rarity." He stared intently into her emerald eyes. "And I want to be selfish."

Taken aback by his confession (and slightly confused), Sakura gaped at him. "We still don't really know each other yet."

"I'll be willing to learn." He answered with so much certainty that made Sakura's mouth parted into a wide smile.

"It's not going to be easy."

"I like challenges."

"You know, Itachi-san, your reputation is completely flawed." Sakura chuckled. The villagers had always told her that a good and innocent girl like her should stay away from the heartless and peculiar Itachi. However, the Itachi she, along with the entire village, thought they knew was most certainly not the individual sitting if front of her. ( He is definitely not some cold emotionless killing machine, inner Sakura added.) "You never cease to amuse me."

Itachi smirked—inner Sakura melted into a puddle of goo at this—and replied, "Neither do you, Sakura-san."

—

Not many conversations followed throughout dinner except for small, trivial talks. Majority of the dinner passed in relatively comfortable silence as they nibbled their way through their meals. As a perfect gentleman, Itachi paid for her dinner (much to her displeasure) and walked her home.

Sakura dug into her purse for her keys, and unlocked the door before turning around to face Itachi who stood almost uneasily on her porch.

"Well, thank you for the dinner." Sakura said shyly. "Goodnight."

"Hn." He nodded. As he looked at Sakura, Itachi saw that she seemed to be anticipating something. The two stood there unmoving while silence loomed over their heads. A couple seconds ticked by, and Itachi decided to break the silence.

"I am not familiar with post-dinner customs for…dates." He struggled a bit to pronounce the word, and turned his head aside, attempting to hide the soft glow of heat that was crawling its way onto his face. Sakura's eyes soften at his admittance of his lack of knowledge, and smiled. She descended down the stairs in front of her door and surprised Itachi by tentatively wrapping her arms around his torso. Itachi's eyes widened as he immediately grew rigid at the contact.

"This would be just fine." She placed her cheek on his chest as she listened to his increased heartbeat. Slowly (and a bit awkwardly), Itachi wrapped his own arms around her and pulled her into a tighter embrace. Her height just barely reached his shoulders, but Itachi couldn't help but admit that her head tucked comfortably under his chin.

Neither of them seemed to want to let go as they enjoyed their minutes of peace in each others arms. They both know, though, that inevitably they would have to part ways. Hesitantly, Itachi released her and pulled away. He looked into her emerald eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears before telling her, "rest."

She nodded and retreated back into her house. Flashing him one last smile, she closed the door as he teleported away.

Sakura couldn't keep her smile from widening as she changed out of her dress into more comfortable clothes. In retrospect, her date was probably as close to the cliché romance novels as her life could get. Walking into her kitchen, Sakura picked up the sunflower that she had received earlier and buried her face into it, smiling and wondering if Itachi knew the meaning of the flower.

Sunflowers— warmth and adoration

This chapter was kindly beta-ed by Lady Massacre.

Author's Notes:

1. Ahh! I'm so late! Sorry for not updating sooner. March is a nervous and exciting month for me. Lots of scholarships are due and college results are coming out! Really scared of where I will end up next year. :P

2. Yay for the start of their relationship! Well, they're not like…a couple yet. They're just both willingly participating in… hmm… the exploration of a field that's completely foreign to them.

3. Just to clarify, Umeboshi!Itachi is one that's really confident in everything and puts on a invincible front—except when it comes to relationships. I think you can see that sometimes he still makes fun of Sakura and inserts some arrogant comments here and there, but inside, he feels really insecure and therefore constantly seeks the companionship of Sakura, who, instead of rejecting him like the others and puts more pressure onto his shoulders, accepts him with gentleness. Umeboshi!Sakura is more of a laid back, going-with-the-flow-of-life- kind of girl. She still gets riled up easily when you wrong her or the ones she care about, but she isn't the beat-the-crap-out-of-you-now-and-ask-question-later person. I think we can give her credit for her logical and calm mind and stop butchering her by making her very prone to violence. As empirical Dharma pointed out in a review, I do think that gentleness will appeal to Itachi more than violence and blood will. After all, as the manga described, he is a peace-loving individual who sacrificed his life for his village. I don't know if you can see that through my writing. I'm not that good at character development yet…and still trying to tweak it out. What do you think?

4. The chapters are unconsciously getting longer and longer! Well, I sort of stop when I feel like there's a good stopping place or when a series of connected events come to an end rather than according to how many words in a chapter and what not. I hope you won't mind the varying lengths in the future. :P

5. As for the next chapter, I'll try to get it out before Monday of next week. I'll try really hard! :)

Love it? Hate it? Plot suggestions? Just want to talk?

Post a review or drop a PM, I'd love to get to know you. :)