Sorry for the wait, I was busy with cosplays, life and Akatsuki x Sakura stories. Well I say that and yet this took me one night to write and a day to go through. Guess the ideas finally came! So here we go. Prepare yourselves…

DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.

Chapter 7 - Life Changing

Itachi reread the message over and over as he got ready to leave for his father's office. The only reason his father would ever request his presence, or even speak to him was if it was something serious, or involved the family, or anything he did that could alter the reputation of the Uchiha clan.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

"Itachi?"

He turned around to see Sakura wearing one of his black t-shirts, she looked so hot, not just because she was just in a T-shirt but because she was wearing his clothes.

"You ok?"

Ever since they got back from France the day before, Itachi had been more quiet than usual, he received the text message from his father as soon as he got off the plane. Of course, he wanted to not worry Sakura.

"It's nothing, my father just wants to see me that's all. I'll probably be there all day whatever this is about"

Sakura approached him and hugged him from behind. "It's ok, I need to head to the University anyway. We can meet up later"

Itachi sighed and held her hands, he had hoped to have spent more time with her. "Sorry, I'll make it up to you"

Sakura chuckled and turned him around, wrapping her arms around his neck "You better" she said with a sexy tone. He closed the gap between them with a passionate kiss, catching her off guard. He wrapped his arms around her waist and slowly bringing them up her back with the T-shirt. She moaned, pressing her body more into his, feeling him growing hard she smiled.

"How's that for a start?" He leaned in her ear and whispered "We'll continue tonight". He sneakily nibbled her earlobe and quickly moved back before she had the chance to respond. Sakura blushed and fidgeted with the end of the T-shirt, wanting to continue now.

"Geez, you sure know how to make a girl all hot and bothered"

Itachi smirked, knowing she was referring to the last time he left her hot and bothered. He watched her play with her hair and turn around, showing her ass to him. "Maybe I should leave you hot and bothered one of these days" She walked away, swinging her hips. Itachi sat down to calm himself, saving that image of her being koi and sexy for later. He started thinking he wouldn't mind if she left him hot and bothered one day, just to see what she would do to make it happen, although he would make sure she'd regret it.

Itachi made his way to his father's office in central Tokyo. It was a tall modern building which looked down on Tokyo station. He felt like he was entering a different world every time he walked in or out the building.

He made his way through the entrance, instantly being recognised and greeted. "Good morning Uchiha-san". Itachi was used to it by now, even though it had been a while since he last visited. He went in the lift and pressed the button for the top floor, the big bosses' office. He took the chance to collect himself and prepare for what was to come. He suspected that the only reason his father would suddenly want to speak to him would be about his relationship with Sakura. It was no question who told him, even though Sasuke would gain nothing from this. It was partly the reason why Itachi never told his parents about any relationships he's had. He believed they would never approve, or at least his father. Itachi mentally prepared himself for the battle to come.

The door opened, revealing the desk for his father's assistant and the door to the office. The purple haired woman sat at the desk, didn't seem at all surprised to see Itachi, she must have been told.

"Good morning Uchiha-san" She smiled politely, as did Itachi. "Good morning Uzuki-san, how is your husband Hayate? Is he still in the hospital?"

The woman's eyes widened; surprised that her bosses' son actually remembered something about her. She smiled in response. "Oh, he's a lot better thank you. He gets the occasional cough but he's able to breath by himself now"

Itachi smiled back; feeling relieved for the poor woman. "That's great to hear, I hope he makes a full recovery"

"Thank you, sir" She quickly pardoned herself and changed the topic. "Your fathers waiting inside". Itachi bowed to the woman and approached the door. He knocked 3 times and waited.

"Enter". He opened the door and closed it behind him. he stayed stood by the door and waited. His father was stood looking out the window, and then turned to see his son and smiled.

"Itachi, It's good to see you my boy" He approached his son and hugged him. This was very unusual, but Itachi didn't question it, he smiled back. "Yes, likewise. Sorry I haven't been by lately".

"Haha nonsense son" he patted him on the back and pushed him more into the room. "You've been busy with your studies; I trust that you're doing well at college?". Itachi sat down. "Yes father, top of the class as usual". Once he saw his son sit down on the sofa, Fugaku walked to his drink cabinet and poured himself a glass.

"Haha that's my boy, this time next your you'll have graduated and have an office to call your own. Itachi Uchiha of the Tokyo police force".

It had always been like this, his life being planned for him, which was why he found the moments that weren't planned like with his friends and Sakura so precious. Itachi knew this 'pretend everyone's happy' had to end eventually once the question was asked, so he asked.

"So what did you want to discuss with me father?"

Fugaku put down his drink and walked to his desk and sat down. "Well… It's about some news I received from your brother…"

Itachi frowned. What has he been saying?

"I hear you have a girlfriend… and not just any girl, a childhood friend of Sasuke's. The pink haired girl, Sakura Haruno right?"

The room stayed quiet for a moment. "I have to admit Itachi, when I heard the news I was quite surprised, I never thought you'd go after one of your brothers' friends".

Itachi stayed calm. "Well neither did I, but we got to talking one day and it turned out we had a lot in common". He didn't want to tell his father about the drama, in case Sasuke had told him first and changed the truth. He decided to keep his cards close to his chest for now.

"That's good… well, for the time being"

Itachi looked to face his father. Time being?

Fugaku closed his eyes and sighed. "I always had a feeling that that little cherry blossom girl would become part of the family, thinking back those many years when I expecting her and Sasuke to end up together, I decided I would have no problem with it… but with you… well that's different…"

Once again the room was silent. "I'm sorry to say this Itachi, but due to circumstances I think it's time to end your relationship with that girl".

Itachi's heart stopped and sank. "I understand you're a young man and you have… cough… needs, but I think you two have been together long enough. It's time to start planning for the future".

All he wanted to do was yell, but Itachi knew that would only make things worse, he kept his cool and spoke. "Father, I have been planning for the future for most of my life, and now you're telling me this? What are these circumstances you speak of?"

Fugaku picked up his IPad and stood up, he tapped on it a few times and then showed the screen to Itachi. "Do you remember Izumi? She lived in the same neighbourhood as us when you boys were small, as you can see she's grown into a fine young woman. She's graduated from college and has performed at many concerts as a successful violinist. I believe she will make a fine wife for you, son.

Itachi's eyes widened. "What? Fa-"

"It was decided when you were 11 that you two would be married before you turned 30. I think now's a good time to start preparations for the wedding before things get serious."

"Father listen, this is-"

"I have already spoken to Izumi and she is on her way to Tokyo as we speak. Once she has arrived and rested we will meet her for dinner tomorrow night and- "

"LOOK AT ME!"

The room was silent. Fugaku turned to see his son with an expression he hadn't seen since he was a child, anger. "Why didn't you tell me about this arranged marriage years ago? You've had plenty of chances and now you choose to tell me? Why do you not approve Sakura? Is it because she's not from a high class family? She's studying to become a doctor-"

"Yes. I'm well aware" Fugaku took the IPad back and tapped the screen again a few times while speaking. "She's doing well with her studies. In fact, I think she can do better if she studied abroad… but… it would be a shame if all that time of working for tuition fees, studying, taking exams, all that time and effort went down the drain." He looked at his son in the eyes with a very serious and deadly look. Itachi kept his ground, his fists tightening from what his father was suggesting.

"You wouldn't"

Fugaku walked back to his desk. "Tell you what Itachi, I'll make you a deal. You end your relationship with the girl and agree to the marriage with Izumi, and I will make sure Miss Haruno is greatly rewarded for her hard work."

Itachi stayed quiet. Not daring to agree to such a deal. He watched his father's expression change from serious to threatening and point at him. "I'm warning you now, boy, you end the relationship by the end of the day, or I will disown you and make sure no one hires you or that girl anywhere, not even a simple coffee shop. I can make your lives very difficult. You know the power I have Itachi… you know what I'm capable of".

Indeed, he knew. He had seen peoples' lives changed, ruined, destroyed thanks to his father. He never understood the reasons but he knew all too well the power his father had, and the thought of him using that power to shatter Sakura's hopes and dreams shook him to the core. Either way, Sakura was going to get hurt, very hurt.

Later in the evening…

Sakura was walking back to her apartment to meet up with Itachi and she was grinning from ear to ear, she still couldn't believe it. She expected today to be just a normal day, but the news she got once she arrived at the University was so unexpected. True it was going to be life changing and a difficult decision to make, but she was so excited. She calmed herself though, she wanted to talk to Itachi about it first before making any plans, even though she kind of was already in her head.

She started running as it started to rain. As she got closer to her apartment building she saw a silhouette under the nearby street lamp near the building. She recognised it instantly.

"Itachi! What are you doing waiting out here? You're getting soaked. You could have waited in the lobby."

She took out her handkerchief and gently patted Itachi's face. "Sorry, guess I should have given you a key". Itachi said nothing and kept his head down. He felt her hand take his and started walking. "Come on, I'll make you some tea to warm you up".

Itachi patted his head with a dry towel while Sakura prepared the tea. He stayed quiet and leaned by the wall near the kitchen, it started to worry Sakura, so she decided if anything was to make him speak, it would be her news.

"Hey, you would never guess what happened to me today". Itachi looked up to face Sakura, he could see her beautiful smiled, he didn't need any tea to warm him up, just her smile. "At the University today, one of my professors told me that he got a call from a friend who teaches medicine in England, they're offering me the chance to go and study abroad!"

Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Not just in England though, they said I would get the chance to study around Europe! Can you believe it?!"

He couldn't, he couldn't believe how fast his father worked. "What are you going to do?" He quietly asked. Sakura took a moment to think, and her mood changed.

"To be honest I don't know, I mean, this is a once in a lifetime chance, I can study what I need to become a great doctor there and see so many things and explore. I mean yeah it means being away from home and you for a year or 2 but… I don't know…"

"I think you should go"

"Hmm?"

"It's something you've been working so hard to achieve, you should take this opportunity, you'll kick yourself if you didn't".

Sakura felt unsure. She wanted to study abroad, but what she had with Itachi, she couldn't just walk away from it. "But what about you? I don't want to just leave you, that's not fair. I don't know… this is something I really need to think about and not just decide on the spot".

"What's to think about? You clearly want to do it… so do it". The tone in his words, they didn't feel right to Sakura. Now she was worried. "Itachi what's going on? You haven't been yourself tonight. Has something happened?"

Here it comes, the moment Itachi had been dreading, the moment before today he never thought would ever exist. He looked up and faced Sakura with a serious expression. He could already hear the sound of something inside him breaking. "I think it's time to end this."

"…what?"

Everything but the rain outside was silent. "This thing between us, It's time to stop pretending and end this fling."

Crack

Sakura's eyes widened, but she kept her gaze at him, she didn't move an inch. "…What do you mean 'fling'? we've… we've been going out for several months, hehehe how's that a fling?"

Itachi stood up straight and looked at her in the eyes as he spoke. Crack "Seriously? I have to explain it to you? You disappoint me Sakura, I thought you were smarter than this?"

"What? What are y-"

He walked up to her; backing her against the kitchen counter. "I'm saying, it was fun being your 'knight in shining armour' and rescuing you from my little brother. It was fun fooling you by taking you out to dinner and spoiling you rotten. It was fun spending those nights with you, taking your virginity and fucking you whenever I pleased over and over again. It was fun fucking around with you… but the fun stops here… I'm bored now."

Crack, Crack

Sakura's face was frozen in shock, no tears, no words. Itachi turned around and walked out the door, but not without saying "It's over, foolish little girl" as he shut the door.

Sakura slowly slid down the wall, landing on the floor. After a few seconds she could hear her breathing coming back and getting louder and faster until…

Itachi could hear her crying from outside, it was quiet at first, but it got louder. He slumped against the wall holding his chest, he couldn't hear the cracking sounds anymore, well that's to be expected when there's nothing left of his heart.

He walked out in the rain and slowly made his way back to his place. Little did he know that a figure watching him leave, had a huge grin on his face at the sight of him.

Meanwhile Sakura was silently crying on the floor; realising how late it was and trying to keep the noise down for the neighbours, but she couldn't stop crying. Everything she had wanted, she had for a mere few hours and now it felt like the last few months with Itachi and of her life, had been a lie.

Knock, Knock, Knock

Sakura looked up, thinking if it was Itachi but then his cruel words hit her again. She stood up slowly and made her way to the door to open.

She whispered "S-Sasuke?"

"Hey I thought I'd- hey what's up? What's happened?"

What's happened?

The last few moments with Itachi replayed in her head again, bringing back the tears. She covered her face and cried. Sasuke panicked. "Hey, hey! What's wrong? Come on? It's ok. What is it?"

Sasuke walked forward and closed to door behind him. He hugged Sakura tightly, hearing her snuffle in his jacket. "Shhh it's ok. What happened?"

She tried to collect herself but couldn't. "It's…It's over…. Itachi just…he dumped me… I think… he's been using me" She continued crying in Sasuke's arms. She felt him sigh and hold her tighter.

"Shhh it's alright" He looked at her in his arms, crying thanks to his brother's decision. He reassured her. "Tell me everything"

Oh my god, this was so heart breaking! I was screaming in my head at Itachi saying "What the hell are you doing you idiot?" and "Sasuke! You sneaky, son of a bitch!". This was a very painful chapter to do, from experience, but don't worry it wasn't this brutal… well for the most part. Wow, it's getting intense now, anyway thank you for your patience and I'm already writing the next chapter as you're reading this so hopefully you won't have to wait too long. Let me know what you think and please continue following the story. See you soon!