A/N: I wanted to thank Silverambush and LaLaPluie for their kindness regarding the difficult situation of the region where I live. And I also thank everyone else for the reviews!

I always forgot to mention this… I'm sorry about the harsh language I had to use in some points of Cinderella Of Konoha. I don't like swearing, but sometimes it was (and will be) needed.

After her… meeting with Itachi, Sakura had taken her bag home. There she put everything in its right place and started preparing dinner. It was a bit early, but she needed to keep herself occupied.

What had Itachi meant when he had said "we are even"? Did it mean he considered every contact between them over? Maybe… He didn't want anything to do with her anymore?

To Sakura's great surprise, that thought was very… disappointing. It meant that there was nothing between them. It meant she had been wrong in assuming he was a bit jealous about Sasuke, and a bit possessive of her.

The pink-haired student was confused. If he just wanted them to be even, why had he kissed her so thoroughly?

Frustrated, Sakura decided to make a quick stop at the orphanage before beginning her night shift at the restaurant. She had to work that night, too.

Konan and Pain were surprised to see her, but happy nonetheless. The children, of course, were overjoyed, and asked her repeatedly to stay longer. Hating to disappoint them, Sakura had to explain she had work to do, so they let her go with sad smiles, which bloomed into happy ones when she promised she would bring candies the next time.

Konan asked her about the previous evening, but again Sakura avoided the question. She then quickly left for the restaurant.

...

The next morning, Sakura had classes again. She met Hinata, and she managed to keep the topic on school matters. They had lunch together, during which she helped the shy girl with a few things she hadn't quite understood in class.

Sakura did her best to avoid Itachi. She had caught glimpses of him various times during the day, but had taken the opposite direction every time she spotted him.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sakura would receive her results about the nurse exams only on Friday, and since those grades would determine her next course, she didn't have much else to do in the meantime.

After her last class, when evening was already approaching, Sakura went to collect a few things she needed from her personal locker. Lockers at Uchiha University weren't exactly like high-school ones. They were bigger, the lock was quite complicated and it needed a key. Not that it was a problem in such a prestigious place, but it assured everyone's privacy. The lockers had tiny holes for air to pass through.

That evening, Sakura found a piece of paper shoved inside. It was a note written quickly on an old and crumpled yellowish paper. She didn't have much time, so she put it in her bag and walked quickly to the restaurant. While she was putting her uniform on, she read it.

Hey Sakura! Wanna hang around with me tomorrow? Meet me outside school. Xxx Itachi

The pink-haired woman furrowed her brow. "Hey Sakura"? "Wanna"? "Hang around"? "School"? "Xxx"? Itachi couldn't possibly have written that. And certainly not on such a crumpled piece of paper. And surely not with the suggestion, so badly phrased and ill written, of skipping university classes.

Only someone inside the university could have given her that. As far as she knew, there was only one Itachi there, so someone had deliberately used his name. But who could it be?

Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura thought with a mental snarl.

She almost crushed the paper in her hand. But then she decided otherwise.

Quite luckily, the next day would be Tuesday. Itachi was rumoured to go to the university library early on Tuesday mornings. She would go there, too, then.

Mind made up, Sakura went to do her shift.

...

Itachi sighed contentedly. He loved Tuesday mornings. He was quite methodical in his habits, and he had chosen Tuesday as the day he would spend in the library. He enjoyed reading, not only for his studies, but also various other things.

That morning, ha had been eyeing the medical ward. Some of the things the rose-girl – her name was Sakura, he repeated to himself; quite a lovely and fitting name, actually – had told him about her studies had intrigued him, and he wanted to check out a few things on his own.

He was quite absorbed in his research, so he didn't pay much attention when he felt another presence in the library. It wasn't often, but sometimes other people came there as well, even if it was early in the morning.

But he didn't expect the person to come exactly towards him. He lifted his eyes, only to meet the emerald ones of Haruno Sakura.

Itachi was used to hiding his surprise. So he simply arched one eyebrow.

"Sakura," he greeted evenly. "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for you, actually," she answered.

Itachi's eyebrow shot higher. "And what can I help you with?"

Sakura regarded him for a moment. Itachi took that opportunity to lower his gaze to her lips. It would have been so easy to kiss her…

"You didn't give me this note, did you? Because if you did, I have to seriously reconsider my opinion of you," Sakura said, doing her best to ignore the way his eyes where lingering on her lips.

She handed him the almost ruined piece of paper. Itachi's expression remained even at first, but then his eyes became slits. There was something awfully familiar about that note. "Sasuke," he snarled quietly.

Sakura exhaled. She had been right. "That's what I thought. But there is also something else."

She took a deep breath. "Since this note seems to come from Sasuke, he has probably realized that I was the girl in the red dress Saturday evening. He has probably seen us together, and wanted to lure me into a trap or something. But the fact that he didn't tell Mrs Yamanaka and I'm not already fired means that he doesn't know about my precarious position. And if he doesn't know… it means he wasn't the one who stole the money at the restaurant."

Itachi listened to her, but also thought about another thing. She had said she didn't think he would write such a note to her, and he was glad she seemed to think better of him than that. But there was still something about that note that was nagging him.

"Someone else must have stolen the money," Sakura continued. "But I can't imagine who."

Itachi regarded her silently. "You said the manager has installed hidden cameras. She probably knows who the thief is. And on Thursday, during the staff-meeting, it will be revealed. I don't see where the problem is, Sakura," he replied.

Sakura was quiet for a while. "You're right," she said finally. "Sorry for bothering you with this. I know how much you enjoy your Tuesday mornings," she added with a sincere smile, and turned around to leave.

Something suddenly clicked inside Itachi's head. He grabbed Sakura's hand and stopped her. "Don't go, Sakura," he said, with urgency in his voice. "I now remember why that note seemed so strange. You're right in thinking that my brother is luring you into a trap. The last time I saw a similar one," and his voice became grave, "was when Sasuke wrote it to a girl he raped later on. I will not," and his voice became dangerous, "allow this to happen again."

Sakura's eyes were large. Sasuke wanted to rape her?

Itachi immediately encircled her waist protectively with one arm and caressed her cheek with the other hand. "I know you are an independent girl, Sakura," he said, "and I know you are able to defend yourself, because you almost ripped an arm off me last time I took you by surprise, but," and his tone was now deadly serious, "Sasuke isn't to be underestimated. He never acts alone, and he will stop before nothing in order to get what he wants. Please," and Sakura was surprised to hear an underlying hint of deep worry in his voice, "and I know how selfish this sounds, but will you not leave my side until I know you're safe?"

The pink-haired woman was beyond astonished. Itachi cared so deeply about her?

"It's not a problem for me," she managed to say. Than she added, almost as an afterthought, "It would make me feel safer, too."

Itachi relaxed a little. "You won't have to suffer my company for too long. On Thursday Sasuke will be exposed and, with no Uchiha help, he will probably be convicted. I'll leave you alone then."

Sakura decided to risk it. "What if I don't want you to leave me alone?"

Itachi's eyes flashed, and Sakura saw the familiar shadow of blue in them. Then it disappeared again. "We will talk about this later. For now," and he took her hand, "you are to keep me company in the library, since I'm not going to change my habits anytime soon."

...

They were still in the library by lunch time. It had been quite pleasant, to Sakura's surprise. They had talked about a lot of things, but especially about books. Their tastes were quite similar. But they had also spent some time reading in companionable silence, and each of them had chosen the book the other was to read.

It had been a very nice morning. No, scratch that – it had been a wonderful morning.

Sakura had felt incredibly at ease with Itachi. She enjoyed being near him, and he seemed to enjoy her company as well. And the way he sometimes looked at her, with a mix of tenderness and affection, made her heart flutter. She was incredibly happy.

But with lunch time, reality came back as well. Sighing, Sakura helped Itachi put the books back and then walked to the canteen with him. He didn't leave her side for a second.

Right after lunch, Sakura made some phone calls to all her friends. She vaguely summarized the events of Saturday night, and explained everything would be fine on Thursday, when there would – finally – be the staff-meeting at the restaurant.

The rest of the day passed similarly. They both didn't have classes, so they just enjoyed each other's company. And talked. Talked, talked, talked.

Sakura was happy to be with him, but also anxious. Not about the threat Sasuke posed to her, because she knew she could handle herself and Itachi would make sure she was safe.

No, she was restless because it seemed to her that her time with Itachi was limited. On Thursday Sasuke would be exposed and everything would be over. That meant that the tall, dark-haired man wouldn't have to 'protect' her anymore, and they would part ways. The thought made her heart constrict painfully.

Did that mean their relationship would end?

But what kind of relationship did they have anyway?

Sakura made her mind up. She decided to push those thoughts aside and make the most of what she had.

When it was evening, Itachi insisted on accompanying her to the restaurant for her shift. Later that night, after her shift would be over, the pink-haired student would walk home with Sai, whom she had already convinced to come.

At the Yamanakas', they parted ways. Sakura didn't really know how to tell Itachi goodnight, but he took the matter into his own hands.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely on the lips. Before Sakura could actually realize what was happening, he had already released her.

Brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, he whispered, "Goodnight, rose-girl." And he disappeared.

Sakura went inside the restaurant with a little smile, and also a little frown, on her face.

...

The following morning, the emerald-eyed student had just closed her apartment when she met the intense gaze of Uchiha Itachi.

She jumped a little in surprise. "Itachi? What are you doing here?" For a moment, she also wondered how he had found her house, before remembering that she had given him her address the previous evening.

Itachi walked towards her and put a protective arm around her waist. "Making sure you're okay," and there was so much worry in his voice, Sakura got a lump in her throat.

"I don't want be intrusive, Sakura, but I do want to be here for you," he murmured.

Speechless, Sakura could only nod in understanding.

They walked to the university together. Before they reached the front gates, however, Sakura stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it, Sakura?" Itachi asked immediately.

Sakura was observing a point not far from them, where some trees hid the view. "I could have sworn… Never mind. I must have been mistaken. Let's continue."

Itachi was suspicious, but grabbed her hand and continued towards the university.

Sakura felt suddenly some form of premonition. Something… something was going to happen that day. A confrontation of some sorts. She squeezed Itachi's hand tighter.

During the day, she couldn't concentrate on any of her lessons. She was incredibly nervous, even if she couldn't explain why.

When the lessons were over, it was already late afternoon. It was getting dark outside. Sakura went to her locker and left most of her things there. She wouldn't need them at home.

Itachi had told her he would meet her by the front gates. So she walked towards them.

Since it was dark, she couldn't see very distinctively, but she thought she saw someone with black hair waiting for her. She quickened her step.

"Itachi!" she called, when she was near him.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist forcefully.

"Gotcha, Haruno."

And Sakura found herself staring into the vicious eyes of Uchiha Sasuke.

A/N: I'm just evil, I know. Please don't hate me…

Thank you for reading and reviewing!