Where it Happened
part vii
A soft chime sounded as the elevator reached the bottom floor. The noise drew Sakura's gaze from her phone and she briskly stepped out as the doors slid open to allow her access to the ER. The floor was busy as it usually was in the morning as nurses and doctors tended to patients with injuries ranging from severe spinal damage to scraped knees.
Sakura slid her phone into her pocket and checked her pager again before she gazed around. As soon as she spotted Kakashi, she hurried over to him. "You called for a Cardio consult?"
He tossed her a glance before he continued to address the deep gash on the arm of the patient lying in the bed. "Bicyclist versus car. I paged Ortho but he needs to be checked for any chest trauma before they can do anything for him. He doesn't present any abdominal tenderness but I wanted you to take a look before I clear him for Tenten."
Sakura's gaze fell to the patient. He was covered in deep cuts and bruises while his leg laid bent at an odd angle, obviously broken. He appeared to be mostly out of it with the pain medication he had been given but even to her trained eyes, she could see the easy draw of his breaths. Irritation stirred under her skin and she crossed her arms. "You already did an abdominal examination?"
"Yes."
"So you called me down here to do what? Double check your work?"
Kakashi's expression turned vaguely bewildered as he briefly looked at her. "I called you down here to make sure he doesn't have any injuries to the thoracic cavity. What's the problem?"
"My problem is I have a double bypass surgery today on a woman who received a heart transplant only three years ago," she said impatiently. "This is a huge surgery. I'm pretty busy."
"You should've asked Uchiha to come down then."
Sakura frowned. "He's in surgery."
"Well I needed a consult," he said, briefly pausing in his work to look at her. "Unless you would prefer I send my patient home without one."
She cast a quick glance at the patient to see he was fortunately too drugged up on pain relievers to understand their conversation before she turned back to Kakashi with an unimpressed look. "Don't get snooty with me. It's unbecoming of you."
"Then do the damn exam and get back to your work."
His words were softened by the playful smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth and Sakura sighed exaggeratedly before she purposely bumped her hip against him as she maneuvered around him to retrieve a pair of gloves. "You know, if you want to see me, all you have to do is ask," she quipped as she walked around the opposite side of the bed to give them both their room.
Kakashi continued his work on suturing the long jagged cut on the man's arm, only pausing very briefly to toss her an amused look. "But then I would miss that irritated scowl of yours I adore so much."
"I don't scowl."
If it wasn't for the fact she had long grown immune to his devastatingly handsome face years ago, the smirk he sent her would have made her blush. "You don't?"
Immediately she realized she was making the exact expression he was referring to and she made a face at him before she finished her exam. She pulled her gloves off as she eyed the man across from her. "It all looks good. The next time you page me just to see me, at least have coffee waiting."
"Take mine."
Sakura blinked in surprise as she dropped her teasing tone. "I was kidding."
"I'm going to be here suturing for a while," Kakashi shrugged as he flickered his gaze up at her. "It'll probably be cold by the time I get done. Just take it. I'll get another."
Gratitude filled her at his generous offer and she smiled at him from across the hospital bed. "Thanks, 'kashi."
"Yep. Now go back to prepping for your surgery before I have to hear about it again."
Her smile widened as he waved her away before she turned to approach the main desk where his coffee remained untouched on the edge of the counter. She took a long, much needed sip as she absorbed the warmth and energy it brought before she lowered the cup with a sigh of relief.
"Long night?"
Sakura glanced towards Ino as her blonde friend accepted a patient chart from the nurse behind the counter. "Long morning," she answered. "What about you?"
"Very long night," she murmured.
Sakura took another drink as Ino attempted to smother a yawn only to lower the cup again as something suddenly occurred to her. "Wait, didn't you have a date with Shikamaru last night?"
The look Ino sent her could only be described as devious.
Her eyes widened. "You two slept together?"
Ino immediately shushed her before she glanced around to ensure their conversation hadn't been overheard. When she turned back to Sakura, there was a small smile playing in the corner of her mouth. "It's not like we meant to. It just sorta happened." She paused for a brief moment before muttering, "Three times."
"Three!" Sakura wasn't sure if she was more shocked or amused.
Ino smirked and shrugged shamelessly as she spun the pen in her hand around her fingers. "Turns out he's not as lazy in the bedroom as he is everywhere else."
"What happened to the Uchiha Twins?" Sakura asked curiously. "Last week you were fantasizing about being pinned between them."
"I can still fantasize," she defended with a frown. "It doesn't mean it's going to happen. Besides, I've been trying to get Shika to ask me out on a date for a year now. I wasn't going to say no."
Sakura's smile widened, but whatever congratulations she was about to offer was left unsaid as two paramedics burst through the ER doors with a stretcher between them. "Incoming trauma. There was a head-on collision. Patient is a thirty-two-year-old male. He was complaining of abdominal pain at the scene and it looks like he hit his head pretty hard. He became confused and disoriented en route."
Immediately Sakura and Ino sprang into action. They fell into step beside the paramedics as they helped push the stretcher towards a Trauma Room. "Let's get x-ray in here and page Neuro," Ino said.
Sakura looked to where she had last seen Kakashi. "Hatake, get in here!"
He was already on his feet and pulling off his gloves to replace them before he joined them. Together, they pulled the stretcher alongside the single hospital bed in the room before they transferred the man over. As soon as he was settled, the paramedics passed their notes off to a nurse before they took their leave to give them room. Sakura made quick work of cutting his shirt away as Ino reached for gauze to clear the blood away from his head.
With her trained eyes, Sakura could already see the bruising beginning to start around his stomach before she began her examination. "Abdominal tenderness and possible crush injuries," she called out.
"He has a 5 centimeter head lac with boney deformity in the temporal region," Ino added. "And there's swelling in the neck. Where's Neuro?"
"I paged them," a nurse informed her. "They should be on their way."
Kakashi stepped up beside Sakura as he looked down at the patient. "Sir, can you tell me your name?"
The man's eyes fluttered but he provided no answer. With trained hands, the trio continued to work as they quickly assessed his injuries and prioritized them. Kakashi ordered x-rays while Sakura examined his chest for injuries and Ino attempted to determine the extent of her head wound until Neurology arrived.
It was a relief when Neji walked through the door. "What do you have?"
Ino repeated the information to him as she moved away to allow him access to work while Sakura pressed the disc of her stethoscope to his chest. She listened carefully to the beat of his heart and the fill of his lungs before she replaced it around her neck and looked to the nearest surgical resident. "Order an EKG. I want to see what his heart is doing."
"That is going to have to wait," Neji said, drawing her attention. "We need to move him to CT. He could potentially have a brain bleed."
Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but the words never came as a sudden groan sounded from their patient. "He's regaining consciousness."
"Sir, can you hear me?" Neji asked. "Can you tell me your name?"
The patient groaned low in his throat again and his eyelids fluttered as he reached for the IV in his arm. Sakura quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it away before he could injure himself further. "There was a car accident, but we're looking at you now," she told him calmly as he strained weakly under her grasp. "You're in the hospital."
At her words, his resistance suddenly strengthened and Sakura pinned his wrist to the bed as Neji quickly turned to the cart full of medicine behind him and yanked open a drawer. "He's confused and agitated. I'm going to push a sedative."
"Better hurry," Kakashi pressed.
Neji returned to the patient's bedside quickly but before he could push the drug into the man's system, he jerked his arm away from Sakura and violently knocked Neji away. His back hit the wall of the trauma room hard as Sakura, Kakashi and Ino all attempted to restrain the patient. His struggles turned increasingly violent as he kicked out at Kakashi before he pushed himself up.
Sakura fought to get the disoriented man to lie down to prevent further injury, but he merely grasped her by the scrub shirt and threw her aside. Her hip made contact with the corner of a trauma cart as her knee slammed into something hard, but adrenaline helped her ignore the initial pain as she helped the other surgeons regain control of the situation.
The struggle ensued.
xx
Itachi pressed the wash button in the scrub sink to cease the flow of water before he reached for a towel. He dried his hands slowly as he peered into the OR and watched the nurses prepare his patient for transport to the Cardiac ICU. It had been a fairly short but successful operation, leaving him feeling a heartfelt sense of relief that he had been able to make a positive difference. Days like these reminded him exactly why he had been so committed to becoming a surgeon, why he had risked countless hours studying and practicing and giving up so many hours of his life.
The feeling lingered as he eventually turned away from the OR. He dropped his towel into the marked bin before he exited the scrub room and continued towards the cardiac ward. There were a handful of other patients he wanted to check in on before he headed into his office to catch up on paperwork.
He found his charts behind the nurses' desk and pulled his most critical patient. Their stats looked good from that morning's rounds, but there was still some information missing and he looked up just as his resident hurried by. "Hyuuga, how are the patient's coags in Room Three?" he asked, stopping her.
Hanabi halted her brisk walk before she spun to face him, causing her long, brown hair to fall over her shoulder. There was a stack of files in her arms, giving him the impression she had been quite busy that morning. "I'm not sure. I haven't had the chance to get their lab results yet."
"Why not?" Itachi asked sternly as he felt his content mood vanish. "I asked you to complete that task before I went into surgery."
"I know. I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just that with Doctor Haruno in the ER, she asked me to take over prepping her double bypass patient and to keep an eye on her critical cases, and I just haven't had the time to run upstairs yet."
"Then tell her she needs to have the nurses watch after her critical patients and page her if there are any changes," he ordered, causing Hanabi's expression to grow bemused. Itachi arched his brow impatiently as he waited for her to speak. "What?"
"No, she's in the ER. As a patient."
Immediately Itachi's demeanor changed as he flipped his chart closed and reached for his pager. He frowned when he saw he didn't have any new messages. "What happened? Why wasn't I paged?"
"You were in surgery. She said it wasn't a big deal."
His frown deepened. Sakura was a doctor; if there was anything doctors were good at, it was downplaying their own injuries and illnesses. Quickly he replaced the chart before he moved towards the elevators, but not before turning back to Hanabi. "Have the nurses observe the critical patients and go get my labs now."
The young resident nodded before she hurried down the hall. As she disappeared, Itachi turned away to continue towards the elevators. He rode the lift to the bottom floor before he weaved through the many halls in the hospital until he reached the ER. He read the digital patient board until he found Sakura's name. She was in Trauma One.
The blinds in the room were drawn to provide privacy but Itachi didn't wait to knock before he pushed the door open and entered. Sakura was sitting up on the trauma bed, her shoes off and on the floor while her scrub bottoms lay folded on a trauma tray. There was a blanket across her lap to keep her decent, but her arms were crossed and there was an impatient frown betraying her annoyance as Tenten sat on a doctor's chair behind the room's computer.
Upon his entrance, both women looked up at him. "What happened?" he asked.
"A patient became disoriented and aggressive. Hatake and Ino have him in surgery now," Tenten answered as Sakura's scowl deepened. The orthopedic surgeon ignored her as her attention returned to the computer screen. "Hyuuga received a few lacerations, and Sakura sustained a mild bruise on her hip, but the scans are showing a Grade 1 sprain of her LCL ."
"It's nothing. I'm fine," Sakura said dismissively.
Itachi glanced at her again before he visually examined exposed leg that was stretched out across the bed. Other than some slight bruising, she appeared mostly uninjured and his eyes caught the way her other leg hung off the bed as though she were seconds from jumping up and returning to work.
"It is not nothing," Tenten countered, drawing his gaze again. The brunette shot Sakura a stern look. "Both the ultrasound and the MRI show you have swelling. If you push yourself, you're going to cause it to tear, which will result in surgery. You need to stay off of it for a few days."
"You're exaggerating," Sakura sighed. "And I have a major surgery in an hour. Just wrap it up. It'll be fine."
Itachi got the impression they had been having this same conversation for a while now, but he ignored their silent staring contest as he walked around Tenten to look at the scans himself. He wasn't as well versed in ligaments as the brunette, but even his eyes could see the thin band of tissue that connected the femur to the fibula was indeed inflamed.
"I agree with Dr. Tenten. You need to avoid straining your injury," Itachi murmured as he turned back to Sakura. "I can clear my schedule and perform your surgery."
She eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Absolutely not!" she shook her head. "I have been planning this procedure for months."
Itachi pursed his lips before his gaze slipped back to Tenten as he shot her a subtle look. She understood his silent request immediately and quietly stood. "I need to get some bindings. I'll be right back."
Sakura watched her go and waited until the door closed again before she sighed in agitation. She chewed her lip only to release it a moment more as she finally uncrossed her arms. "This is ridiculous. It barely hurts," she said as she tossed the blanket aside. "I have work to do. Where are my pants?"
Itachi barely registered that he had a perfect view of her tone legs and her panties as they peeked out from under her scrub shirt as she moved to stand. Immediately he stepped towards her and stopped her from putting weight on her injury. "Sakura, sit down."
For a moment, she stared up at him indignantly until eventually she followed his order and lowered herself back down, her expression openly showing her displeasure.
"You are in no condition to be on your feet for the next six hours," he told her calmly. "Even longer if there are complications."
"So what? You're sending me home?"
"Yes, I am," he said firmly. Sakura's expression changed to one of open disbelief and he quickly continued, "I am aware it is not ideal, but the patient must come first. I have been following your surgical plan. I know what you plan to do and I know how you intend to do it. Allow me to do this for you."
Her irritation was obvious as she openly glared at him, but eventually the tension in her shoulders lessened and she relaxed back against the bed. "Fine," she said begrudgingly.
She purposely avoided his gaze as she grabbed the blanket and covered herself again, obviously still disgruntled. She tugged the edges of it around herself before she sat back again and rested her chin on her palm. Itachi could feel her annoyance rolling off of her in waves. He understood her frustrations and knew her exasperation was not directed at him but rather her circumstances and how there was nothing she could do to change it.
He wanted nothing more than to help her, but he knew he needed to heed Tenten's advice. If Sakura further injured herself, he would be left without her skill in the ER for more than just a few days and that was not something he was willing to risk. She could be angry if she wished, but he would not bend on this.
"Feel better, Haruno. I will update you when I finish," Itachi finally said after a long pause.
Sakura pursed her lips together hard but she eventually glanced in his direction and nodded minutely. Only once he received her silent reply did he give her foot a comforting squeeze through her sock before he turned and exited the trauma room.
His thoughts lingered on her as he ventured back to the Cardiac Ward but the moment he stepped out of the elevator and onto the floor he forced himself to focus; he had a major surgery to prepare for.
xx
"Are you sure you don't need anything?"
Sakura looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eyes before she shook her head with a soft sigh. "No, I'm fine."
The blond frowned and shifted his weight as he teetered between wanting to stay and knowing he had to leave. "Are you sure? I could always call someone in to cover for me."
"They've called you twice, Naruto. They need you at the hospital."
"I know," he said shifting his weight again. "I just don't want to leave you here by yourself. Should I call Ino?"
"Do not call Ino. I'm sure she's with Shikamaru tonight," Sakura said as she finally turned her full attention away from her flat screen television mounted on the wall. She picked up the remote from the arm of her couch and paused the show before she gazed at Naruto again. "Besides, it's just a sore knee. I don't need to be babysat."
He briefly glanced to where she had stretched out her bandaged leg across the length of the couch before he let out a low sigh. "Fine. But you'll call if you need anything."
"I won't," she said not unkindly.
He cocked his brow at her. "But you will?"
"Yes."
Naruto flashed her his familiar grin as she finally yielded before he bent down to kiss her forehead chastely. She smiled at his familiarity and waited until he turned to make his leave before she shifted her attention back to the television and pressed play.
She had barely resumed her show again when she heard Naruto's voice drift to her from the front door. From the couch, she couldn't see down the hall but his words were soft spoken enough to make it clear he wasn't speaking to her and she brushed it off, assuming he had received another phone call.
As the door eventually closed, her attention returned to watching the characters. She rested her cheek against her fist, already feeling the stirrings of boredom settling in, but she picked her head up again as she heard the light pad of footsteps in the hall again. She turned expectantly, assuming Naruto had forgotten something, only to still as she recognized it wasn't her blond friend standing in her living room. It was Itachi.
Incredulity stole her voice as she stared wide-eyed at him. He appeared so calm and at ease like he always did no matter the circumstances as he stood before her in her home. She noticed there was a messenger bag thrown over his shoulder and a flat, white box in his hand but it was his clothing her eyes were drawn to. He was dressed in street clothes consisting of a pair of jeans and a dark, fashion jacket. The look was so different to the scrubs she had become accustom to and yet so fitting that she stared at him a long moment before she eventually found her words. "Itachi? What-what are you doing here?"
Her surprise was obvious in her tone and she was unable to look away as he studied her, completely unfazed. "I apologize for coming over unannounced; I hope I am not intruding. Uzumaki said you were still awake."
"No, it's…" The sudden scent of food hit her nose and she blinked as her gaze briefly dropped to study the box in his hand. "You brought pizza?"
"And wine," he supplied. When she continued to stare at him in open confusion, he continued, "I knew you would not be happy until you saw your patient's chart yourself so I thought I might save you the trouble and deliver you a copy."
Stunned, Sakura shook her head as she pushed the blanket and pillow Naruto had brought for her aside. "You didn't have to do that. I could've—."
"Don't get up," Itachi stopped her as he set the pizza box on the counter and stepped towards her.
Sakura paused her attempt to stand as she watched him rummage through his bag and withdraw a chart. He held it out to her but she hesitated to accept it as guilt and appreciation warred within her. "You didn't have to…"
He merely smirked as he cocked his head at her. "Would you really have been satisfied with an email or phone call?"
Sakura chewed the inside of her lip as she studied his expression. When she found only amusement hidden within his obsidian irises, the tension in her body waned and she accepted the chart as she smiled softly. "No," she admitted.
His smirk widened. "No," he agreed. He straightened once more before he returned to his bag and withdrew a bottle of white wine. "Sit and read that while I serve us. Where is your bottle opener?"
"Second drawer next to the stove."
As Itachi turned away, Sakura couldn't help but watch him over the bar counter that separated the rooms. Warm gratitude flooded her at his generous act of kindness and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep her grin showing. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed his benevolence, but his willingness to travel to her after a long surgery when it was already after midnight left her feeling like she might burst with appreciation. He really was a kind person.
Shaking herself, Sakura forced her gaze to shift down to the chart to keep from smiling at him like an idiot. She found the page with Itachi's recent notes and sat back to read as the quiet clinking of him maneuvering within her kitchen filled the silence. His report was amazingly detailed as he described the procedure and the patient's stats both during and after the operation. She read every word meticulously as she absorbed the information, feeling both a little anxious that it hadn't been her hands performing the surgery but also relieved Itachi had been able to step in.
"Any complications?" she asked without looking up.
"None."
"No bleeding? No irregular heart rhythms?"
"There was minimal bleeding at best but it resolved itself," he answered as he finally exited the kitchen. Sakura glanced up as he held a wine glass out to her and accepted it before he set a plate with pizza on the small tray table she always kept beside the couch. "And no arrhythmias. I have a resident watching her tonight to ensure she does not form any clots or infections."
"What about her kidney functions?"
Sakura glanced up again just as Itachi shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the back of a bar stool before he retrieved his own glass and plate and set them on the matching tray table on the opposite side of the couch. Immediately she scooted backwards to allow him room to sit only to still as he grabbed her ankle, effectively preventing her from bending her knee. "Don't," he murmured.
He lowered himself down and angled himself towards her with one leg bent in front of him. Her own leg was stretched out next to his hip and though he wasn't touching her, she could still feel his body heat against the bare skin on the inside of her knee. She suddenly felt exposed in her pajama shorts but she hid her shyness as he leaned forward to flip the chart to the next page. "We will watch her kidney function but for now, it all appears normal. These were her latest labs before I left."
It suddenly struck her that he intended to stay for a little while and she observed him as she recognized his comfortable demeanor. Her perception of him was such a vast difference to the few months ago when she could barely stand to be in the same operating room as him and she wondered how her opinion shifted so tremendously. It was almost comical she ever considered him to be a cold, arrogant bastard when in fact he couldn't be further from it.
She had observed his compassion when he had been forced to deliver the worst possible news to a family member or patient, and his selflessness any time someone needed support, whether asked or not. He was patient and confident and willing to make sacrifices for those under his care and supervision. He was one of the best surgeons and people she had ever worked for, and she felt some regret she hadn't recognized it sooner.
Sakura suddenly realized she had been staring and she quickly looked down at the chart as Itachi continued to explain at length his methods during the procedure. Perhaps it was the smooth glide of his voice or the natural intelligence he displayed that kept her hanging on his every word but she listened with rapt attention as they discussed the surgery she had forced to miss earlier that day.
They ate and drank comfortably. Sakura was halfway through her second glass of wine when she realized Itachi had fallen silent and she glanced at him only to pick her head up out of the chart when she found his gaze was fixated upon her. She hid her sudden self-consciousness by flashing him a look. "What?"
"Why did you become a surgeon?"
Her brow furrowed at his sudden question but she shrugged nonchalantly. "Because I like helping people."
"That is not an answer."
"Would you prefer I said because I like cutting people open?"
Itachi stared at her, his expression amused but also intent and quietly curious, and she sighed softly when she realized he wasn't going to let her hide behind playful, redirecting answers. Her gaze dropped from his as she briefly recalled the night that had changed her life all those years ago. She had been too young to understand it at the time, but in hindsight it had shaped her into the person - into the surgeon -she was now.
"It's not a very good story," she murmured. She could feel his gaze burning into her but she was unable to meet it with her sudden dampened mood and she distracted herself by fiddling with a corner of the chart idly. A wide range of emotion warred within her. It was hard for her to speak of her past. There were very few people who knew it, but she suddenly found herself talking before she could understand why she was.
"It was a Tuesday. I remember because my mom always went grocery shopping then," she said without looking up from the chart. "I was home with my father. We were doing something at the table - I can't even remember what now - when he collapsed. I was too young to know what or how to do CPR."
Next to her, Itachi was silent. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as she still had yet to look up at him but she didn't raise her gaze as she continued to stare unseeing into her lap. She didn't know what it was that had made her speak, what it was that made her inclined to retell the story she hated so much, but she found herself wanting to tell him. She trusted him.
"He died on the floor that night," she continued. "I can still remember the moment his heart stopped under my hand."
"Heart attack?"
She nodded. "I told you it wasn't a very good story," she said as she finally peered up to meet his gaze. His expression was composed but she didn't miss the sympathy reflecting in his dark eyes. "You're pitying me."
"I am not pitying you."
"And now you're lying," she accused, her tone light and playful. Her small, teasing smile broke the dejected mood that had settled over them.
Itachi smirked. "You seem very confident that you know what I am thinking."
Her smile widened before she stretched slightly. A small shock of pain throbbed behind her knee and caused her to wince but it quickly passed and she relaxed again before she shot him a look. "What about you? What's your sob story?"
"What makes you believe I have one?" he asked.
Sakura arched her brow. "You expect me to believe after that after your insistent questioning, you don't have one?"
He rolled his shoulders in a light shrug. "I never said that I did not have a story. Simply that it is not tragic."
Reaching for her wine glass again, she sipped from it as she waited expectantly. He seemed to roll his thoughts around in his head as he considered where to begin. "You are probably unaware that Shisui is a heart transplant recipient."
His words were so soft spoken that it took her a moment to register what he had said but when they finally did, she immediately lowered her glass as her eyes widened remarkably. "What?"
"When I was ten, he was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy," he explained. "The wall of his left ventricle had thickened, preventing normal flow out of his heart. The doctors tried drugs and even took him into surgery for a Septal Myectomy but because his heart had been forced to work harder to keep his blood circulating, he was no longer a suitable candidate for the surgery."
A memory from the day she met Shisui unexpectedly crossed her mind. She had just performed the very same surgery and had been updating the patient's chart when he had approached her. It suddenly occurred to her how he had been so well-versed in the procedure, but she forced her attention to return to Itachi, wanting to hear the rest of the story. "So he was put on the transplant list."
He nodded. "Because of his deteriorating health, he was moved to the top of the list. There were a few times we believed he would not make it," he said slowly, "but a heart did eventually come and they performed the surgery."
"And given that he's still here, I assume it was successful."
"It was."
His tone was quiet and his expression reminiscent as he recalled the memory he had experienced so long ago. She was aware he and his cousin were close - possibly as close as brothers - and she could only imagine how much he had been forced to endure mentally and emotionally at such a young age as he watched his best friend fight for his life knowing he was unable to help. It only made sense that he would become a Cardiac surgeon; to help the other 'Shisuis' of the world.
"He's very lucky to have survived," Sakura murmured after a moment. "That must have been what? Twenty or twenty-five years ago? The survival rate of transplants back then were nowhere near what they are today."
"Perhaps stubborn is more accurate."
She saw mild amusement dance across his expression and she shared his light smile as she drank from her wine glass. "You would think he'd be more humble after experiencing something so life-altering."
"I believe he is attempting to live life to the fullest, or something along those lines," he said good-naturedly.
She laughed at his joke as she returned her glass to her tray table, causing her leg to bump his hip with the movement. As she sat back again, she smiled genuinely. "You know, you really didn't have to come out here, but I do appreciate that you did."
Itachi merely shook his head. "I didn't mind."
"Even still, thank you," she murmured.
She dropped her attention down to the chart and carefully closed the oversized file, ensuring that no pages got bent or pulled on. Itachi shifted in front of her and she looked up expectantly, anticipating him to accept the chart from her, only to still as she realized how close they suddenly sat. With their proximity, there was no mistaking the intensity behind his midnight irises and her body warmed in ways that had nothing to do with the wine. They were trapped in a single moment of time.
Until Itachi leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers.
Sakura's initial surprise faded quickly but she still remained hesitant as he skimmed his hand across the soft skin of her jaw and throat lightly to cup her face. His touch was warm and gentle as his fingers tangled into her hair at the nape of her neck and unconsciously she leaned into him as his mouth moved slowly against hers.
There was nothing hurried nor pressing about his actions as he took his time to familiarize himself with her. She could still taste the crisp note of wine of his lips and she sighed quietly in appreciation as his attentions sent heat throughout her body. It was a light kiss, barely a press of his lips against hers as he treaded into waters they had yet to venture into, but it still made her fingers go lax on the chart as her mind fell pleasantly blank.
It only lasted a few, short moments but she was still dazed when Itachi pulled away. He didn't withdraw his hand from where it rested against her pulse point and she blinked a few times to ground herself as she came to terms with what had just occurred.
"Did you mean to do that?" she eventually murmured.
There was a soft expression on his face and his fingers tightened in her hair lightly at her question. The feeling made another jolt of delight race down her spine but her gaze didn't waver from his as a gentle smile crossed his face. "I never do anything without meaning to."
His declaration did strange, pleasant things to her insides but it also brought along confusion with it. She had been completely unaware of Itachi's attraction to her and even more puzzled as to what had ignited it. It made her head whirl with questions and concerns and…
Her mind drew a blank as he dragged his thumb over her cheekbone slowly. It calmed her racing thoughts and she relaxed into his touch again. He seemed to know the effect he was having on her for a small smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth. "Do you wish me to stop?"
"No," she breathed.
The answer was out before she could weigh her decision but as that single syllable hung in the air, she realized she wasn't particularly interested in taking the time to do so, and she slipped the chart from her lap before she dropped it to the floor. Her hands came to rest on his firm chest as she met his gaze again. "No."
Itachi's only answer was a brazen smirk before he kissed her again.
tbc...
Oh the sexual tension...
Many, many thanks to Moor for her wonder input! This chapter is easily twice as good because of her!
