Title: Moments in Time: A Close Up
Author: AppleL0V3R
Beta-reader: Terror-Of-The-Crimson-Night
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha, Itachi and Haruno, Sakura
Chapter: Nine – #8 Lick: Powder
Rating: T
Type: One-shot – Complete
Summary: Prompts from Moments in Time that I was requested to expand on. 9. 8 – Lick: Powder. Later, she'd blame the lemon snow she'd made for getting her into this mess.
Word Count: 2,525
Disclaimer: If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.
Note: As the summary states these were skits I was asked to turn into actually works. I will always put which one it was and the skit just before the chapter. They won't be in numerical order because I'm doing them as I'm requested. They won't be any more than one-shots though they may become two to five –shots (I will forewarn when that happens) but they won't become stories unless I choose to.
Request by: Fuai
Note: I've never had lemon snow myself, it's in my mom's recipe book but I'm not sure what it looks like, tastes like, or if it is even powdery. But for the sake of this one-shot I'm going to say that it's powdery and cake-like (whether it is or not and I'd appreciate it if someone informed me about it).
..:Xx0o0xX:..
8. Lick (Sakura)
Sakura was a bold individual, but also shy depending on the situation. And right now, she was definitely shy. In fact she was confounded, blushing and it was completely not her fault. It was his. He was the stranger – he was Sasuke's brother, but she didn't know him well and therefore a stranger – who decided to grab her hand and lick her fingers of the powdery substance on them. Sure they were in a secluded clearing by themselves, but what the hell?
And before she could react properly he leaned over and licked the corner of her mouth, humming as he pulled back.
She froze.
Amusedly he told her. "You look cute like that."
And sputtered.
Too dark eyes, "I think I like you."
What?
..:Xx0o0xX:..
Sakura hummed happily to herself as she dried her hands off on the towel. She'd finally gotten around to making the lemon snow desert. It was something she had eaten since she was young and when she was around nine she got her mother to teach her how to make it, the recipe for it ran in the family after all. Now she made it when she found the time because it was still her favorite desert.
Now that she'd finished making it she could eat a slice of it. She smiled at the thought, just thinking of the flavor on her tongue made her shiver. And the rest would last for about a week, she always made sure to make more than one serving because her comrades liked the desert as well. Grabbing a butter knife from the table she carefully sliced the first lemon snow into equal pieces, getting as many as she could without the size being too small. She then proceeded to take a slice and put the rest away, setting the slice on a plate, she hurried to finish getting ready for the day. It wasn't uncommon for her to eat a lemon snow piece of cake while going somewhere. Her particular favorite place was watching the sunrise in a clearing while munching on it.
And right then, that didn't sound like a half-bad idea.
With that decided, when she was ready she grabbed the piece of desert and left her apartment.
Sakura was the kind of busy body that seemed to always be working because she always had more to do even if others didn't see it that way. She was constantly making progress, but every step she took meant another was added on at the end of the road. She didn't mind though, it meant always having a challenge, always having something to do.
But as she walked down the main road to her destination, making sure her treat wasn't ruined before she got the chance to eat it – which tended to happen on a regular basis for a whole assortment of reasons – and managing to great everyone around her with the proper amount of politeness. She'd never been able to figure out why so many people bothered to get to know her, even normally antisocial people that just wanted everyone else to leave them alone. But she wasn't exactly complaining either, she had after all been taught she should never limit her amount of friends and colleagues because there was every chance that she might need one or more of them one day. Naruto had told her on multiple occasions that she was a hard person not to like, to which Sasuke would add a snort and how much of a pain it was just to keep her attention for more than five minutes.
She loved her boys, honest she did, they were pretty much her brother's after all, but sometimes they were a little too protective of who she got close to – especially when dealing with the male gender.
A smile graced her lips at the thought of how much humiliation and embarrassment they'd gotten her into over the years and couldn't think of how exasperatingly amusing it was now. Though she had been furious then, ready to rip their vocal boxes – and whatever else was causing the problem at that time – and shove it down their throats. Thankfully she'd had more self control than that and so had, at most, cussed them out and delivered a good whack to the head so they wouldn't forget her anger in a hurry.
After a small while she was out of the main hustle and bustle of the village and more than part of the way on the trail towards the small clearing she tended to train or think at when she wished to be alone. It wouldn't be far now.
She found herself more than a little surprised when she got there though. Upon arrival, she found that the infamous Uchiha, Itachi was already there. Forcing her legs to keep moving she strode to the base of a tree, one that gave her full view of the Uchiha heir. He was currently going through the forms with his katana, graceful and smooth and quick. She'd never really paid much attention to the older male, not like most of the girls and women of the village. She admired his prowess in every area they had in common, but that was about the extent of it considering she'd never even so much as said hello to the man.
Sasuke's brother or not, she wasn't going go gaga over someone she didn't know on even a professional level. She'd learned her lesson with Sasuke about that kind of behavior and there was no way in hell she was going to repeat it with the older of the two brothers.
Though the fact that she was watching him train didn't indicate any such thing. In fact, now that she thought about it, to him she was probably acting like all the other females that swooned over him. The very idea of being thought that way was horrifying. Not to mention he probably felt like she was intruding in a private place. This was the first time she'd ever seen anyone but herself here, which meant he probably hadn't either.
Great. With any luck he would ignore her or something without her having to leave the spot she was currently sitting in. This particular tree had a good view of the surroundings and directly faced the rising sun, it was also one of her favorite spots in the whole clearing. Determined to not look like she had noticed him or was watching him, she shifted into a more comfortable position and starting eating her piece of lemon snow.
..:Xx0o0xX:..
He'd heard her before she'd even left the underbrush of the surrounding forestry. It had honestly surprised him that she would choose to come here when he was out in the open. After all, when he'd first stumbled across this clearing she was already here, she'd been practicing a set of maneuvers she had recently learned – if her slowly gaining grace and preciseness with them was any indication.
At the time he'd merely concealed himself in the tree that she sat at the base of now and watched her. It was something he'd never done, but she was familiar and was already gaining in popularity amongst both the villagers and ninja's from foreign lands. It was unusual for anyone – especially a ninja – to have so many relations within and outside the village gates and so he had settled himself in to see what drew people to her.
He'd watched her for hours and had continued to come to this particular place to watch her. Sometimes she meditated, sometimes she did a bit of paperwork, sometimes she trained, but he found no matter what she did she continued to gain his interest. When she wasn't here he would train because after a time he'd simply just started making room in his schedule to watch her. He'd never gotten around to actually speaking with her; he wanted to learn what he could about her beforehand. Though that didn't mean he hadn't spoken to his otouto about her, the boy had been predictably wary, grouchy and questioned everything he asked. But Itachi was used to his antics and so could usually get whatever piece of information he was looking for.
He knew though that Sasuke had never said anything to Sakura of it though because the girl never bothered to speak to him when she had the chance. She'd nod absently to him, but seemed inclined to stay professional and polite.
Perhaps it was time he changed they're relationship. After having kept an eye out for her when the opportunity turned up between his work and family, he found he now wanted to know things about her that Sasuke wouldn't have the answer to. Things that he didn't want Sasuke to have the answer to. Which meant speaking to her was now becoming necessary.
And her coming here had just presented him with the chance.
..:Xx0o0xX:..
Fate seemed to be against her.
She'd finished her food just as the Uchiha had apparently finished his exercises for the time being. And unlike what she had hoped, he didn't ignore her. He looked right at her as he sheathed his sword and turned towards her. Eyes set intensely on her, he put one foot in front of the other, quickly, quietly and gracefully closing the distance between them.
He didn't stop a few feet before her; he invaded her bubble of personal space to the point where she could see the cobalt slivers in his sable black eyes. Instinct told her to back up, but her back was already pressed into the bark of the tree uncomfortably and because he was so close she found no way to wiggle to either side. She was effectively stuck.
Sakura was a bold individual, but also shy depending on the situation. And right now, she was definitely shy. In fact she was confounded, blushing and it was completely not her fault. It was his. He was the stranger – he was Sasuke's brother, but she didn't know him well and therefore a stranger – who decided to grab her hand and lick her fingers of the powdery substance on them. Sure they were in a secluded clearing by themselves, but what the hell?
And before she could react properly he leaned over and licked the corner of her mouth, humming as he pulled back.
She froze. No muscle, not even her lungs would work at that second. Though, in her defense, she was pretty damn sure she was justified considering the situation.
Amusedly he told her. "You look cute like that."
Now she sputtered. Her breathing had come back, as irregular as it was, but it seemed not even her brain could react at the moment.
Too dark eyes, "I think I like you."
What?
Her brain had officially shut down, unable to comprehend anything at the moment. Especially what he'd just said. And because her brain had blanked on her those words floated around her head. Bouncing off walls of a hollow cranium and echoing as the words had been shouted in a mountain range. Honestly, she was amazed she hadn't fainted or anything.
She felt his eyes stay on her, still holding her hand – index and middle fingers angled on the back of her hand and the other two on her wrist and his thumb pressed into the padding of her palm – in a firm but light grip. He seemed inclined to stay exactly where he was and wait for her reaction.
After a few moments it came.
The words that hadn't been able to even penetrate the surface slammed into her hard as brick and took complete control of her train of thought.
"But…" her voice was wobbly and slightly off pitch "I've never even spoken to you."
His eyes seemed to glow, the amusement still blatantly obvious though it was now joined with something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she was fairly certain she hadn't been the object of it in a very long time, if ever. "You are now."
She scrambled for another excuse, "You don't know me." Yes that one was perfect.
He shook his head, hair swishing with the pull of gravity. She forced herself to breath past the lump that had formed in her throat at the sight. If Sasuke was hot, then Itachi wasn't only sexy or even drop dead gorgeous, he was off the charts. So that's why girls fawn over him all the time, she thought faintly. "No, I do know a bit about you."
Hadn't today been a slightly chilly day? So why the hell did it feel like it was hotter then the hottest day in a desert?
This was definitely his fault. Why was he doing this to her? "I don't know you." She blurted haphazardly.
Now a knowing smirk graced his lips. She couldn't get past the fact that it was turning her to liquid, but she knew somewhere in the back of her not quite empty mind that the motion would not bode well for her. In fact it's almost devious nature made her realize that he was leading her, leading this conversation. He was a brilliant tactian that had yet to be beaten.
She was screwed. There was no way she was getting out of this even mostly in tact. Still she refused to gulp down the saliva that was building far too quickly for her liking.
He leaned forward again, she could feel his warm breath on her lips and again her mind seemed to be steadily blanking, "That can be arranged." He paused then, "Sa-ku-ra."
And it was gone again. With the exception of the simply sentence: I'm soooo done for.
