Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Please see after the chapter for comments, and author's note!
Chapter 4: Broken Recollections?
Second period had started only for an hour and it was already making Sakura groan and sweat more than she would have wished to. She looked up to the bright blue sky with prayers for huge, white and fluffy clouds to at least share some sort of shade, but was still only given the blistering heat and the hot, bright sun stinging her back.
The pinkette's legs were aching as she jogged alongside her classmates on the track behind the Academy, doing her best to breathe evenly. Monday's are the worst. Sakura thought bitterly, the tingling sensation of growing numbness were pressing into her muscles. It wasn't just her legs that were beginning to throb from the excursion either; her throat was growing dry quickly from the sharp intakes of breath, and her arms were beginning to feel heavy like weights, slowing her pace against her friend. They had been jogging along the track for almost an hour and silently Sakura was waiting for class to end.
The clomping of steps beside her grew louder, panting following along with them. "One more lap, Sakura, we…" Rin sucked in a breath, looking ahead to another group of students running. Sakura could hear her own heavy breaths becoming more ragged. "And we'll be done!" The brunette looked to her friend with the best smile she could muster, before curving her lips downward. Her green eyes watched as her friend suddenly held determination in her brown eyes, and with a blink, she was already merging into the group ahead.
It was hard to believe that after this class Sakura would have another two classes that revolved around the same subject. Then again, this was what the Academy was renowned for.
Physical training was always of higher worth compared to the logistical academics, something that Sakura preferred much more. The Academy required each student to maintain a total of two to three hours of training classes each day. It was farfetched as a first thought for the girl, but after the first few weeks, it became a normal task. It didn't make the work any less pleasant though.
It was very rare for the pink-haired girl to see another student that seemed just a bit too bent-out-of-shape. Even then, she wouldn't see them around the halls much after that, if not at all. Every student seemed to become very fit within the beginning of the year, despite gender or stature. Once, she recalled how her mother described her own figure telling the young twelve year old of her past that she was "becoming a very promising woman".
Being known as the ideal learning facility, word of the Academy had spread across its allied countries and encouraged their own people to attend. It was because of this, that Sakura would see foreigners from both Kumo and Otagakure on a daily basis.
She could have enrolled in a more localized, public school but the pinkette desired the best learning experience. All the prodigies, the highly talented and brilliant teachers resided their lectures and lessons within the confines of the Academy. Many people have said that those who had graduated from the Academy are automatically hired for jobs—so Sakura had heard—only making her, and her parents, promote the idea to attend from long ago. However she soon realized after enrolling, that in return for knowledge, she had to give something up as collateral.
She continued running down the dirt-ridden track, thinking bitterly to her old choices. She honestly thought her pro's outweighed the cons.
"Sakura!" she blinked, green eyes looking past her thoughts to concerning pools of brown. Rin had slowed her pace slightly, allowing her pink-locked friend to reluctantly speed up to her.
Sakura shuddered and tried to even her breath, "Y-Yeah?"
"Gekko-sensei is eyeing you." Rin continued staring to her classmates, seeing the finishing mark a little farther ahead. Sakura took the moment to glance briefly to the sidelines to see that yes, her teacher was staring at her with narrowed eyes. Rin continued on, her voice and momentum even, "You know what happens to those who are falling behind.." she trailed off and finally looked to her with another frown. "You need to pick up the pace—like right now—or he'll just push you another fifty meters."
She must have been grimacing at the thought, because her friend continued with a smile. "Don't worry, just give it your all! Put your heart into it!" And with that, Rin dashed back into the crowd, leaving Sakura to trail behind on her own.
Why not take one for the team and you do it?! Sakura narrowed her eyes at her friend's back, biting her cheek from yelling out at her. I don't see the point of having to do this anyways. Three hours of work…making us constantly sweat until we're damn close to exhaustion…we're not cattle! She hissed to her mind, forcing herself to try to catch up to her class.
But we're close to it.
She snuck another peek to her teacher, taking note that he was already scribbling something down on his clipboard. Her mouth opened to take in another gulp of air—like a fish out of water—all while trying to ignore the edging pain in her legs. Put your heart into it?! That's some shit…
There's no way to beat the entire class with such a short expanse of time. She'll just have to suck it up and do the extra fifty. Sakura pushed on, her weight shifting to her toes as she sped up just a little, focusing her attention to a boy a few meters before her. She stared at his blonde hair and as she did so, she waited for Gekko-sensei to call her out for another lap.
He looks familiar… She thought, watching idly as his blonde, choppy strands bounced along with his steps. There was some sort of familiarity with his stride. Almost like Minato. She blinked and watched him turn to laugh at whatever his friend had said.
"Sakura-chan!"
Suddenly hearing her name, she looked back to her teacher. Hayate was looking more at the clipboard rather than her. For a moment the rosette thought he was the one who called her, but what instructor would use such a suffix with their student?
"You're always falling behind." A much cooler voice echoed farther…ahead? Or behind? She gritted her teeth at the response nonetheless and her feet forced themselves to pick up the pace. Her legs were growing pass the aches and ebbing into numbness. Maybe it was one of those boys ahead that she saw quite a few looking back to her as they spoke.
"Always behind.."
"She's in my weight-lifting class too—Asuma makes her do another set each time!"
"Surprise she hasn't even developed much…this is her third year isn't it?"
Sakura took in a steadying breath as she tried to dash to her classmates, green eyes steady on the blonde boy. She smiled a little in the victory as she was finally nearing the group, a few people just within arm's reach. Soon enough she'll be able to merge past them and make it to the front! She kept her tempo, seeing the end of the finishing mark so near to her.
And then she faltered.
It was a sudden whirl beneath her eyes. Everything, everyone, became blurs underneath her vision and she winced at the sudden turbulent warp of her mind. It was aching, like pinpricks with her skull as the cushion. It felt like needles digging into the back of her head as she blinked as much as she could in attempts to rid herself of the sudden blurriness.
Her body dropped like deadweight and collapsed to the ground with a soft groan just escaping her lips. There was a faint pop somewhere around her but she couldn't think too much of it. A messy, large blur of grays and whites continued on without her before she finally heard her friend shouting out her name. Soon enough it became a chorus of calls filling her ears. Despite the worry over her condition or of any possible pains she should be feeling, the rosette's mind was only on one thing.
"Sakura!"
"N-Natsuno-san?!"
"Ah—shit here we go—Gekko-sensei!"
When was her classmate wearing an orange jumpsuit?
.
.
So many images flashed through her, flickering like fragments of light as she looked passed them all.
"Sasuke—" Her lips parted faintly in the night, looking to the back of a young boy with black hair.
"Sasuke—no..no.." she mumbled. Her hands reached out for him as her voice was slowly fading to nothing.
.
"Look how far you've grown." She smiled up to a blonde woman, whose almond eyes shone down to her with pride sparking within them. "You've become a wonderful apprentice. Enough to surpass even myself, Sakura."
She giggled as her mentor ruffled her choppy hair.
.
The flickers of light came quickly as they went, wafting over her form before she realized she had been standing in the dark.
.
Her eyes stayed closed and remained shut into the makeshift-night, but slowly the hues of deep blues and greens eased their way before her eyes. The sound of leaves rustling and birds chirping began to awaken her. With a slow ease she blinked around herself, taking in the color of the sky before her jewel-colored eyes looked ahead of her.
"Today let's see if you kids can manage this."
Sakura was smothered beneath the shade, leaves, twigs and dirt as nature had surrounded her completely, tall grass skimming her ankles and tickling her nerves. She stared, looking up to the voice that called out. A man with shaggy white hair stood tall before her, completed in a thick green vest and baggy pants. He was well geared too—she noticed—with many slivers of light glinting off where a pouch on his waist was opened.
She looked back to his face to see that his lone eye was smiling at her and maybe his lips too, if it weren't covered by the mask. His headband covered his other pupil, and she looked at a thin engraving on its silver mantle.
She didn't stare for long. He brusquely walked to one of the trees, and with a lift of his leg, his body shifted from normal upright position, to a sudden horizontal shift. He looked on at her still with the shift of his mask still hinting to his smile. Her eyes widened at the sight.
"Woah! Kakashi-sensei, how did you do that?!"
Sakura turned quickly, eyes focusing to the new voice. A boy with choppy blonde hair, and stray whiskered marks adorned his face. His body was covered in bright blue and orange hues, forcing the girl to drag her gaze away to the obnoxious combination. She blinked, looking to her other side to see another boy. He didn't bother to glance at her, but kept his attention towards his teacher.
"Simple," finally her gaze shifted back to the older male. He looked to each of them, and she could see the way his mask creased underneath that he was speaking. "Focus your chakra onto your feet—concentrate—you'll be able to walk like this with ease." To prove his point, the man casually walked up the bark as though he were taking a stroll.
"Ehh?" She glanced to the blonde boy again to see his befuddlement. Her lips prompted themselves open without hesitation.
"Naruto, you're not thinking this through, it's just simple maneu.." But the boy wouldn't let her finish. Suddenly he ran up to one of the tall trees and proceeded to go only two, maybe three feet onto the bark, before falling onto his back.
"This idiot." Slowly her gaze turned again to the coal-haired boy beside her, seeing him casually walk up to different tree and stare at it. There was a smirk even in his voice. "Just put chakra to your feet, hm?" He looked to Kakashi before giving his own attempt, lifting a leg and then—instead of walking like their teacher had—run up only a foot or so before losing grip and landing back onto his feet with a grunt.
She was completely lost. They thought they could do this?! To be able to walk—to—to do the impossible? She looked up to the top of the tree and towards the masked man.
"H-How…" she began, and a pair of onxy-black and sky-blue eyes turned their sight onto her. Her teacher too, descended back to the ground and directed a lazy gaze to her. "H-How would…I use…chakra?" she managed out. It felt hard to be able to force her lips to form them. Her pink brows quickly furrowed together, knowing just a moment before, she spoke without such uncertainty.
She had never seen these three before, yet they seemed to know her fairly well. The sight of the blonde's face had made the back of her head suddenly throb.
Kakshi stared at her with a shifting glint in his lone eye, making the girl herself uncomfortable. A hand rested on her head, feeling through her long hair for any bumps or bruising, but found none. Suddenly the pain ceased. Her hands tangled themselves and shifted them from the men's view.
"It's easy." The words suddenly slipped out of her mouth. "Shift your chakra into your feet and keep your focus. You just need to control and maneuver it." And without hesitation she walked proudly to the trunk Naruto attempted, and placed one foot onto the bark.
Something sparked inside her, like a flow of an electricity circuit finally connecting to one another. Her green eyes lighted at the feeling and she smiled to herself. She waited onto another second before her foot finally found its purchase against the texture of the bark.
One.
Carefully, she allowed her entire weight to shift to her foot and connect through the rich texture of the tree. Hesitation brought her to a pause, for only a moment.
Two.
Jasmine hues narrowed to the sight of her toes. This was it, she'll prove to them that this is the right way. She could feel the slight hum of her chakra flowing around in her body, circling it's worth into the sole of her foot. With a confident smile she released her breath.
Three.
"Woah—Sakura-chan! That's so cool!" Hearing him praise her made her smile even brighter as she walked up the tree, the circuit-like feeling slowly ebbing to nothing as she continued. Within a few steps she was already walking as though it was something she had done on a daily basis. Knowing that three pairs of eyes were on her, she decided to even lift one foot and twirl on the bark, knowing well that her focus was still intact.
"Well, I believe Sakura was the one to have rather good chakra control." Her mentor murmured, and she looked down to the three of them brightly once she was at the top. She smiled down at them and giggled like the girl she was, pushing her long hair back over one shoulder despite it still blocking the right side of her vision.
Her teammate with the dark hair clicked his teeth, and her eyes opened to the familiar sound.
"Hn—I'll have this done within minutes then." He smirked to the tree, and then, up to her.
Like a wave, reality toppled over her.
Sakura watched the boy intently, seeing him shift his stance so she could make out the small sign of red and white etched into his shirt. He continued to hold her gaze, the gleam in his eyes as he looked to not just her, but how he had looked to everyone, how his dark hair was sleek and framed his face. The way he had that dignified aura was powerful, and all too familiar. He was just like—
Her concentration—the humming of her chakra—suddenly cut its connection to the bark of the tree. Sakura blinked rapidly at the rush of the hair whipping against her face. Her body was falling to meet gravity, and she had no idea how to avoid the inevitable. Nearing the dreadful surface so soon made her mouth break apart in a scream.
"S-Sasu—!"
.
.
"—ke!"
Green orbs met with blinding white, making her squeeze them quickly shut. Her back broke apart from the cushioned surface she had laid on as Sakura took in a shaky breath. What was that? Her fingers clutched to the thin fabric of cloth tightly, afraid of letting go. Unlike the other times before, she was remembering the vivid dream.
It was a dream, she was sure. Tree climbing was not usually done in such a way—not in reality at least—nor did she remember ever seeing those three men before. Yet they knew her pretty well with how they acted about her.
Whiskers, blonde hair… She felt clammy suddenly, and realized that she had broken into a cold sweat before awakening. Don't get distracted, remember. Remember. Sakura cooed to herself, finally placing a roundabout image of the blonde boy into her memory.
White hair, single eye. Mask. T-Teacher…? Right? Ka..Kashi-sensei. At this point she felt hands at her shoulders. Her body stiffened suddenly, slowly relaxing as she felt them gently push her back into what she knew quickly was a makeshift bed. Her eyes continued to remain shut as the pictures were slowly stitching themselves together.
The last one…black hair…black eyes. Pink brows furrowed. Black eyes, blue—wearing blue, ah. He said "hn". He was…he was…?
"Sakura."
Her eyes blinked several times as the whiteness was slowly, painfully easing into her vision. The infirmary, she noted. The ceiling, the fluorescent lights and the curtains were too many thinly defined shades of white and the irony it had on affecting her sight. Softly did the girl groan and narrowed her hues to the only thing that contrasted them.
Itachi.
He was hovering over her slightly with a gaze she wasn't sure was a mix of impassive, or intuitive. Dark, obsidian flickered over her face, looking into her eyes, before he pulled back slowly. His hands lingered to either side of her shoulders, before letting them rest onto his lap. His back was tall and straight from her perspective as she turned to look to him.
"Ah…Itachi-sama." He nodded to her, with eyes she couldn't tell if he was caring or not. She glanced to his lips as they parted.
"It seems you're well enough to still address me." His voice was clipped, short and had a different note of something mixed in his voice. Still his gaze didn't waver.
Sakura blinked, settling her eyes onto his dark hair now. The image of the other boy flashed into her mind quickly. "If you…don't mind me asking, but is there a reason you're here?" she did her best to sound civilized, and not rude with the question itself.
Like the gentlemen he was raised to be, Itachi gave another nod. "Ah, the Nohara girl was kind enough to inform me of your…incident." He looked briefly to the window across from her bed. "She had ran off to go inform Mikoto, but managed to find me instead."
Her heart was sinking at his words with a feeling akin to dread. She sat up slowly, looking down to the opaque sheets of her coverings. Once the young rosette could feel his eyes settle on her once more, she licked her lips. "Um…You…you didn't…c-carry me here, right?" sheepishly her green eyes glanced worriedly to Itachi. If he did—from the track to the infirmary—half the school may have seen them! It could have been someone she really didn't want to deal with and they would corner her about it and then they'd try to attack her a-and—and, he smirked, folding his arms across one another.
"If I had?" His question cut her from her thoughts, silencing her from furthering her imagination. Green eyes blinked to charcoal ones before she glanced down.
"I'd rather you hadn't." she bitterly mumbled and clutched at the sheets once more. A soft laughter rumbled in his throat, dry and sarcastic as it pierced her ears.
"Do not assume that all Uchiha are knights in shining armor, Sakura-san. Nohara carried you here." Oh. Sakura blinked, shooting her gaze up to the egoistic, royally-bred man with wide eyes. Next was the sudden heat lifting its way through her skin, making her turning shamefully to the window. She wasn't sure now to be glad he didn't carry her, or even more embarrassed that she had even accused an Uchiha to be willing to do such a thing.
It felt like an insult to both parties. "Forgive me…Itachi-san."
"Hn, well." He began, his voice cool and collected. "Dropping the honorific is enough, for now."
Her teeth ground into one another, looking still to the window so as to avoid her boiling glare to him. She took that back. The remorse she felt dissipated like water in the desert, and the anger in her eyes did their best to melt the window's glass frame.
"You were asleep for two class period's, Nohara said." Itachi blinked slowly at her, taking in the sight.
The way the light from the window somehow made the room brighter. It was making her brighter. Her long pink hair was in disarray from the sudden movements in her sleep and curled around her back, strands circling her like a halo. He also noticed Sakura's paled skin was finally regaining some color after awakening, the thin sheen of sweat from her sleep and exercising diminished some time ago.
His heart warmed as she looked back to him with those pretty eyes of minty-green—or emerald, or jasmine, depending on how her mood flashed so easily through his gaze—in shock. The curve of her jaw dropped slightly, and he indulged at the slight lick of her lips as she spoke to him.
"T-Two class periods?"
"Ah." He blinked again at her, a tilt of the corner of his lips. "You had training, if you remember." He looked to the window. The track field had students scattered all over, but running still under the eyes of a familiar teacher. "Hayate-san will not deter any changes in your training courses, however. He will expect you to be ready to give your full potential to him within tomorrow. You've been excused from your remaining training courses."
She seemed oblivious to his words, scrunching her brows and looking to her blanket again. "Of course, that's to be expected." And with that, she reached and yanked the covers off of her, seeing she was still adorned in blue shorts and a dirt-ridden gray shirt. "I'll head to class right away then—thank you Itachi-san." She swung her legs opposite to where he sat, letting him stare at her back. She stood, letting her feet touch the floor and begin to walk.
Within one step she cringed, raising her left foot and huddling onto the bed once more.
"You have a sprained ankle." He ignored the whimpers, but his eyes gave way to her legs as she crawled carefully atop the cot. He eyed her left leg, resting his vision onto the red swelling of her ankle.
"I realize that!" she held her tongue from sounding any harsher, but with him in her presence, and the now apparent ache of not just her foot, but her leg as well, it was becoming just a little difficult to maintain a calm composure. She avoided his gaze, not wanting to see him glower. He did stare painfully at her with narrowed eyes, enough to make her whip her head slightly to the side. The loud scraping of his chair against the floor was enough to make her cringe.
"I'll go then, and find Nohara san. Hopefully she will be willing to help your ache." Sakura looked to her injury with a frown. His back faced her—his symbol mockingly showing itself to her in the center of his jacket—as he began to walk away. A click was heard.
"Hmn…p-please do." She mumbled to herself, unaware that he had stayed for only a fragment longer.
.
.
A chorus of heels clicked against tiles in unison, resounding off the halls as the bell rang for a break.
"Mikoto, you do not need to follow us." Itachi replied, glancing to his cousin who was walking quickly with Rin and him. She ignored his comment with a frown.
"Itachi you don't need to follow us!" she pointed an accusing finger to him as she kept to his pace, Rin glancing now and then to the two as she walked a little farther behind them. "You're always harassing Sakura! You'll only make her upset if she were to see you again." Her dark eyes narrowed to her relative as a student pushed themselves against a locker to allow her to pass without so much as sidestepping him.
Itachi merely smirked at his cousin, his gaze easily read under her scrutiny. "I have some things to inquire about. I was the one to watch over her this whole time, you know." The victory wasn't in his eyes, but his voice as he turned at an intersection of the hall, Rin and Mikoto on his heels.
"What do you mean, Itachi-sama?" Rin murmured above the both of them. "Has something happened to Sakura when we were gone?" Brown eyes glanced to worried dark blue ones before resting to the taller male.
"Ah, well something of the sort." He could see the white door before them at the end of the hall. "She had a nightmare of some kind." His eyes glanced briefly to Mikoto's rushing form. "Kept mumbling something," He murmured under his breath.
Sasuke.
The name meant nothing to him when he thought of it, but hearing Sakura mumble it in her dreams stirred his heart uneasily. There was a heavy undertone of feeling beneath her words. She had been speaking incoherently during her rest when he had entered. Despite that, he had sat and stayed dutifully beside her for those two hours, ignoring the nurse's pleas for him to return to his classes.
Sakura had said many things in her sleep when he was with her. It's her habit. He mused to himself, wishing to bring a hand over her face, though his thoughts—and actions—were cut short as he heard her murmur things he'd never imagine.
"Sasuke—no.."
She gasped in the bed, he watched as her scarred hands formed fists, knuckles white and holding onto the coverings. Her brows creased in worry and her lips were pale as they mumbled out the name again and again.
"Sasuke—Sasuke-"
She did many things in her sleep as he looked over her with care and concentration. Within those few moments of calling this "Sasuke," she smiled in her dreams, faint rows of white peeking before settling back to a poised frown. Then she whimpered like a puppy, her brows even furrowed and tried to form other sentences that became mumbles. She tossed and turned, until finally shifting to lie onto her back.
An hour and a half passed quietly after that. Then…
"Sasuke!"
Laughter broke his thoughts as he looked to the sign: Infirmary.
The door was before him, and casually he opened it to see Mikoto and the Nohara girl had already dashed in, by Sakura's side. He closed the door soundlessly and waited in the corner of the room, near the exit. Then, like he was known to do, Itachi simply watched what unfolded before him.
Her smile was bright suddenly and her voice spilled out in a rush; she talked to them in excitement, in worry, in careless laughs, and in devotion. All for her friends.
"Would you like to spend the next few nights at my house, Mikoto…san?" the pink-locked girl bubbled out a giggle, taking his cousin's hand and Rin's other, smiling to them both. She glanced quickly to the outcast beside the door, swallowing faintly. Mikoto nodded with a mess of dark, navy blue bobbing along. Sakura's attention wavered then to her other friend. "Rin, Hayate said I had to be prepared for class tomorrow, right?" There were a few murmurs going around the trio, Rin's lips raised in a vicious snarl.
"Like hell I'll let Gekko-sensei go and make you run—we should get you a pass!" Rin spoke up defiantly, looking to the window and glaring at her teacher down below. "He can't let you run tomorrow, maybe not until Wednesday, so we'll have to get you excused for now. You can do weight's though, can't you?" She glanced to Sakura with worry inscribed into her features.
A mess of pink hair nodded. "Bench presses, maybe. A sprained ankle shouldn't hold me back from all my courses."
"I'll get her excuse." Mikoto mused, helping to brush out the odd pink tangles in her friend's long hair. "Some perks for having me as a friend, huh?" she smiled kindly to Sakura, who was already trying to object to her offer. "You've been helping me with my novel anyways, and I don't believe in Hayate-san's idea of working with pain to ease pain out. It doesn't really work." The female Uchiha chuckled lightly, pulling her hands away to take a look at Sakura. Rin hummed alongside her.
"We'll need to ice your sprain, and get you home. I wonder why the nurse isn't here." Rin looked back to the door—eyes shifting slightly—and rested on Itachi.
"I excused her from entering some time ago." He murmured.
"But you two still have classes—" Sakura pressed on, ignoring Itachi's presence as she looked to her friends. They glanced at her, turning towards one another, then towards the only male in the room.
"It's nearly the end of fifth period…" Rin began. "It's fine if I go and drop you off now." She brushed back brown locks and looked down to Sakura's injury. "It gets crazy when everyone leaves altogether, plus, Mikoto and Itachi-sama are of more importance. It wouldn't do them good if they were to leave."
As the rosette and the brunette began to bicker to eachother, the other turned away from them.
Mikoto blinked, looking back to her relative and pointed an acusing finger at him. "By the way!" She started, already walking up to the taller man. He looked down pointedly at her, his face blank. "Shisui has been asking for you! He said you were supposed to train with him and you haven't been seen for the past two hours…! Izuna-san wasn't pleased with your disappearance." Her hands rested on her hips, her frown silently shifting to a sly smile. "I wonder what I should tell them."
"Mikoto—"
"Should I tell them you were busy doing tedious tasks…? Like watching over a particular student?" her smile morphed into a smirk as the older of the two went rigid. "A pretty civilian with rosy hair?"
"Hn." His eyes grew darker, and she noted that his jaw was clenched. "I've already completed my regimen for the day Miko—"
"You have not, Itachi. Two hours? You can't stay by her side like that, even if she ever did want you to—which I know for a fact she does not—It's not…safe. Not for her." Her words became harsh and reprimanding whispers to her cousin, watching as he looked painfully at her. She continued.
"Hokage's Honor or not, you're not allowed to be with her." Mikoto looked at Itachi, her voice smooth and calm, as though to ease the harshness of her words. "Grandfather would never permit that."
Itachi looked on to Sakura and Rin who were in their own little bubble, just as he was now with Mikoto. Their bickering had subsided to giggles and laughs, something he could never really express. He watched as Sakura smiled so brightly to her dear friend, tilting her head and closing her eyes, despite the pain from her injury. It was refreshing to see her every time, easing his ill-tainted heart. She was the epitome of spring; budding just enough show him a glimpse of her beauty.
Grandfather would never permit that.
The words broke into him, digging into his thoughts and thoughts of the pink-haired woman. He shifted his gaze to his cousin, who looked back at him with piercingly black eyes. Her brows were creased, her mouth parted to stop him from his excuses should he ever try again.
Anger was bubbling inside him, sweltering and boiling in the bottom of his heart. Damn his bloodline. Damn it. Damn it. His lips split slightly apart to show his disgruntled behavior and bared his white teeth.
"Itachi, stop." She whispered again, focusing her glare onto his. "Stop with your eyes."
He blinked a few times as the anger was still rotting in the pits of his heart. His eyes?
He turned to the door, where a small glass frame showed a poor reflection. Blurs of black and pale white looked back to him.
Small, smudged pools of red caught his attention quickly.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, diminishing his hatred like water over fire, and looked back to see two, coal blurs staring in return. Itachi turned back to Mikoto, who nodded in approval. "Don't think about her anymore." She clipped. "You need to leave."
It was silent.
"Are you alright, Mikoto-san?" Said woman turned, smiling brightly in her façade to Sakura.
"Yes! Yes very much!" she chirped in a sing-song voice. "I was telling Itachi how Shisui and Izuna have been upset with his attendance for the day, aha…!" she walked back to Sakura, smiling and taking her hands again. "Let's hurry—ah, Rin, don't worry! I'll be more than happy to take Sakura back home. You're of more importance in my opinion, and you're the only one with Hyuuga-sensei's class, so get her homework for later ok?" She smiled too brightly—forcibly—to the brunette who bowed to her and walked off. Bowing to Itachi as well, she propped the door open and left.
The sixth bell rang for the day.
He made no intention to move, his gaze burrowing into the pinkette's hair for a while longer. There was going to be a way, he was sure. He would figure out how to coerce his Grandfather into the idea of allowing her into the family. A sliver of green caught his staring.
"You're still here Itachi?" Mikoto turned, seeing her cousin suddenly move away from the door and disperse from her sight. She waited for a minute before there was the distinctive click of his shoes against the tile. Slowly her smile softened to bitterness underneath her mask, turning and looking back to Sakura.
"He scares me sometimes…" She heard her friend mumble. Mikoto only chuckled, taking in Sakura's scarred hands and looking to them. "I don't know why he does it…Ever since you and I became friends…"
"Well, Itachi has some things to look forward to now. It's rare for him to find an interest in anything outside of our family." Dark navy blue eyes lightened slightly, before shadowing over in grief for her cousin. "I think it's nice…" she began slowly. "I guess you could say he's had a crush on you."
She looked up to terrified, wide green eyes before quickly sputtering out in laughs. "Oh my gosh Sakura, I'm kidding!"
The late bell rang, knocking a sense of reality over the duo. Mikoto looked over her ankle. She changed the subject quickly. "I'll have you dropped off to your house but I'll drop my things off later though, alright?" She smiled to Sakura, curling her lips up happily and tracing her hand over her injury. "We'll get this under ice soon, and we'll have some work to do." Sakura nodded, pulling her hair back and grinning.
"Thank you, Mikoto-chan."
Her friend only smiled warmly, almost motherly as she stood. "Not a problem, Sakura-chan."
Koucha here!
I have no definitions to share, unless someone has one within the story they don't understand? I'll be more than happy to provide! Unless no one knows what Sensei means..uh.
This chapter was difficult to write, I'm not going to lie. I've re-read and edited this chapter numerous times-even rewrote some parts over and over..Hopefully it transitioned well. I wanted to establish some scenes-the Academy being one of the key changes in Konoha, as well as Sakura having her lucid dreaming moments..I'll just break quick details into it after responses!
Itachi/Sakura/+Mikoto: The pairing in this chapter was subtle somewhat, and also helps give a little insight to Uchiha family customs now. Mikoto is very motherly in my eyes, so her protecting Sakura was something I've wanted to add in. Mikoto and Itachi are simply cousins.
Sakura's Dreams/Training:Not all of her training classes overlap one another, it's taken as regular courses. I decided to do what my teacher had done to my class and-if you are the last in line, you're given the extra lap-in order to make up not in time, but in endurance. My legs used to always go numb so...!
Her dreaming is particular. It's hard for her to speak on her own, but her memories overlap what she wants to say. This one in particular was her having a lucid dream. Especially over chakra!
Varee: Thank you for the reviews! I've thought over Sakura's Bedroom setting, and it makes sense that it's not "bare minimum" in the least. I'll be sure to revise and make a few changes before I finish chapter 5. ...also, even my friend corrected me on my Japanese so I promise I'll make that edit change soon!...thank you for the review/advice!
Lady Lys: Ah, thank you very much! I'm glad you like the story! Please look forward to the next chapter!
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