There Itachi stood, having to make the most difficult decision of his life: should he get the Master Chief or the Darth Vader pajamas? Itachi opted for the Darth Vader, since they were going to watching Starwars. Itachi snorted. What was he, a girl? He wasn't supposed to pick something because it matched. He was slightly tempted to just show up in his boxers, seeing as he normally didn't wear any pajamas anyway, but that would only result in his father arresting him for 'disturbing the peace.' Master Chief it was then.

Why was he buying pajamas that he would only wear once in his life? Oh yeah, because of Sakura and her 'Movie Night Rules.'

"Okay, if you're going to come over for movie night, then you should know we have a few rules." Sakura said, once having gotten a clear answer out of Itachi. Itachi merely lifted an eyebrow in amusement, wondering what kind of rules she might have made up. Don't eat all of the popcorn? No touching? What a ridiculous notion.

"First things first, you must wear pajamas." Sakura stated, pointing up a finger to start listing her rules. She had been about to continue when Itachi cut her off.

"Sakura, I don't wear pajamas."

She felt her face heat up, and Itachi was sure that she was imaging naughty things after seeing the look she gave him.

"Then what do you wear? Don't tell me you don't wear anything to bed!"

"Don't be so vulgar, I wear boxers. I don't even own any pajamas." Itachi sighed, poking her forehead for thinking, and no doubt picturing, him going to bed stark naked. She rubbed her forehead and stuck out her tongue childishly, though her cheeks were still an adorable pink.

"Well, I guess you could wear your boxers, or maybe borrow something from the guys-"

"That's okay, I'll get something at Hot Topic." He interrupted, not wanting to ever wear something that belonged to them. That would just be awkward.

"Sure. Now rule number two, if you know the lines to the movie, then you have to quote it." She continued, pointing up a second finger. Itachi snorted, but said nothing. If that was how she wanted to watch the movie, then far be it from him to stop her.

"The third thing, don't lay down and take up the whole couch, unless you want someone to sit on top of you. That's just freaking annoying." Itachi raised his eyebrow, but remained silent. He had to reframe from saying 'you can sit on me if you want.'

"Our fourth rule, if someone randomly throws a pillow at you, you have the right to beat them down, but know blood." Itachi blinked. Was it even necessary to make a rule about things like that? Itachi had to wonder what in the world they were doing during the movie.

"Last of all, the person who finishes the snacks has to get refills from the kitchen." Thank god, Itachi thought. At least they had one rule that made sense. The rest were just... Retarded, for lack of a better word.

"Fine, though your rules are utter silliness, I believe I can reframe from taking up the entire couch and drawing blood." He said dryly, causing her to giggle. Little did he know why they had to make such silly rules.

Itachi sighed to himself, trying to ignore his coworker's comments as he checked out his item. He was going to bug him about this for weeks, all because he didn't think that Itachi was 'the kind of guy that wore pajamas.' Thank you, Sakura, he thought sarcastically. Well, at least he got to see Sakura in pajamas again. Continuing to ignore his coworker's jabs, Itachi snatched the black and red bag from the counter and left the store abruptly. He tossed his purchase onto the passenger seat, blasting AFI as he drove off.

Sakura stood in her bedroom, trying to come up with a resolution. She could wear the black plaid boxers and tank top as usual, but she didn't want to make Itachi uncomfortable again. Would it be better if she just wore the Jack Skellington pajama bottoms instead? She resolved that this was the best course of action, if she didn't want to scare him off. He may have seen her in just lingerie before, but it hadn't been intentional. Sakura slipped on her pajama pants ant the matching tank top.

Once she was dressed, Sakura went downstairs to prepare the snacks. There was going to be popcorn and soda, as was tradition. Since Itachi was going to be there, she had decided to make dango as well, and of course tea had to be made to go with it. It took a lot of work to make dango, but if it made Itachi happy, then it was worth it.

Deidara had a curious expression when he entered the kitchen, finding Sakura rolling mochiko. He knew who it was for, and figured it was better to not say anything. Dango wasn't a normal movie night snack, after all, and he knew she hated to get sticky and covered in mochiko. It was obviously for Itachi; he could think of no other reason for her to go through the messy process.

Hidan, of course, couldn't decipher this much when he entered the kitchen and finding her hard at work. Deidara was still there, having silently watched her for a quarter hour. She was diligent, but it was clear that her already short fuse was shortening, rapidly. Her impatient temper had the tendency to get the best of Sakura when she did such troublesome things.

"What the hell are you doing this shit for, Saku-chan?" Hidan asked, crossing his arms and leaning on the door. Deidara held his breath, knowing that even a small remark could easily set her off, and then there wouldn't be anything left of the kitchen, or Hidan's facial structure. It was true that the four of them were proficient in martial arts, but after her father's death, Sakura had become a fearless fighter. She was the only one of the group to actually succeed in getting a black belt.

"What do you think I'm doing it for?" She asked evasively, her tone clipped. Either Hidan was too dense to know he should leave the matter at that, or he just took pleasure in patronizing her. Sakura was prone to think it was the latter. If anyone knew how to push her buttons, it was Hidan. Sakura, who had the habit of showing too much of her emotions on her face, made it clear to Hidan why she was making the dango. It was for Itachi, and it embarrassed her that they would know how far she would go for him. It may have been only making dango this time, but what about next?

"So Itachi has a fucking sweet tooth, huh?" He snickered. Fully pleased with himself, Hidan watched as her face reddened with anger. Keeping her back to him, her hands clenched around the dango she had been rolling, smashing it out of shape. He failed to see this dangerous sign, and continued.

"I'm guessing this isn't the first time you've done something sweet for your little boyfriend." Hidan sneered, not having time to prevent the misshapen dango she launched from hitting his face. Seconds later, her fist connected with his jaw, and then her foot with his stomach. Her kick was enough to send him from the kitchen and into the hallway.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She defended herself angrily, watching as Hidan rolled on the floor, groaning. He nodded his head to agree, not wanting Sakura to unleash more of her fury. He should have learned his lesson by now, after several years of abuse, but he never seemed to. Maybe he never would, not that he cared all that much. Teasing Sakura, no matter how dangerous it was, was his favorite pastime. She always reacted in the same way, by hurting him. As painful as it was, it never failed to be amusing.

"If you talk about stuff like that while he's here, I'll kill you." Sakura growled. She huffed angrily, then turned back to her work, taking out her frustration on the dango instead. Deidara backed out of the kitchen, knowing that his presence alone could set her off again. She was nervous, it seemed; she was more irritable than usual when she was.

Sakura thought that she might have overreacted slightly when Hidan called Itachi her boyfriend. Had she really needed to be so defensive? It was clear that they both had the same feelings for each other, so maybe he would eventually get enough guts to ask her out. What would it be like to be his girlfriend? Would it be so different then it was now? She didn't want it to change al that much between them, she still wanted him to be her buddy at the same time. She was being ridiculous, she told herself, of course they would still do 'friend' things together.

How would he act tonight, she wondered, seeing as her mother would be there. Her mother had never really seen them together, and hardly even knew of the attachment they had for each other. If she knew her mother, she would observe them for the first ten minutes, then once she understood his personality, she would tease him endlessly. Sakura would either laugh at her jests, or turn red with embarrassment and shame. If her mother did manage to get Itachi to blush, she would have to laugh, as the gesture would be so unthinkable. She believed her mother to be quite capable of getting such a change of countenance form him.

Sakura finished preparing their movie snacks without (somehow) blowing up the kitchen in frustration. Hidan had quickly recovered from her painful blow, and even sooner forgot about his reason for being hit in such a brute-like manner. Deidara managed to escape Sakura's fury before she could do any serious damage, and Sasori was completely ignorant of what had passed. Konan came home with no consequence, and found it to be unusually peaceful, considering who was over. She had been half expecting to come home to a burnt down house, but the establishment was fully sound. Until there was ring on the door bell, that is.

Itachi stood awkwardly at the front, dressed in pajamas and wearing slippers that showed off his black toenails. He had walked to Sakura's house exactly as he stood, and though it was a mere three houses down, he recieved several inquiring looks. His mother had done nothing but stare at him when she was what he was wearing, and Sasuke had run into his room to hide the fact that he was laughing. Itachi was emmencely thankful that his father hadn't been there to see his disgrace. He wouldn't have heard the end of it.

As soon as the bell rang, there was a mad dash for the door, each person wanting to answer it themselves. There was yelling from the four of them, which was heard clearly by Itachi. In the end, it had been Konan who answered the door, while everyone else wrestled on the floor. She smiled meaningfully, and opened the door wider as to let him in. He wordlessly entered, ignoring the pointed look she gave him. Sakura jumped off the floor to greet him, which he readily accepted, with as much enthusiasm as his personality could allow. Konan saw this change in character from him seeing her daughter and watched the in amusement.

"Wow, Itachi, you really did go to Hot Topic for pajamas! I was having a hard time picturing you in pajamas, you know. Did you really walk over here like that?" She asked. She didn't so much as giggle, but he saw the laughter in her green eyes. Itachi couldn't deny the humor in his wearing pajamas, nor of his walking down the street in them. If it had been anyone other than him, he might have laughed himself.

"Yes, I did walk here, and the neighbors found it quite hilarious themselves. My coworker had probably a harder time picturing me in pajamas than you. He wouldn't stop bugging me about it." Itachi replied dryly, and in one breath. For him to say so much at once was a shock to everyone, except perhaps Sasori, who understood the prejudice against people who were seemingly antisocial. Nobody even expected them to say anything, and when they did, it came as quite a surprise.

"We decided to watch A New Hope. You can't get anymore original than that." Sakura said, walking into the living room. He followed closely behind, as did the rest of the group. There were snacks already laid out on the coffee table. Itachi's eyes were quickly drawn to the plate of dango strategically placed in the middle of the table. His mouth watered at the sight of such sweet delights, and made by none other than Sakura.

The seats were quickly decided, Konan took an armchair and Sasori, Deidara and Hidan literally threw themselves onto the couch, leaving the love seat for Itachi and Sakura. He wasn't comfortable with the fact that they decided their seats for them, but he did like the fact that he got to sit close to Sakura for two hours. His thoughts preoccupied him so much that Sakura took it as reluctance, and had to pull him into the chair herself. Sometimes, she thought, he could be a little too modest with her. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he held her hand, or kissed her cheek with people around. She found herself wishing that he would publicly claim her as his.

As the credits began to roll, the popcorn and sodas went around, and Sakura passed Itachi his dango. They had to watch it in subtitles since Deidara's, Hidan's and Sasori's English wasn't proficient enough to understand everything being said.

About half way through the film, just when Leah told Luke he was a little short for a storm trooper, Sakura sighed and leaned into his shoulder. He was obviously not going to be making any moves, even if it was the perfect opportunity to do so. Itachi was completely taken by surprise, and at first wasn't sure of what he should do in response. He glanced at her brothers, but they were too absorbed into the movie to notice anything more than that. He turned his head and his eyes met with Konan's. She said nothing, and it only lasted a moment before she turned back to the screen, as if to give him permission.

Knowing that nobody would object to him doing so, Itachi carefully slipped his arm around her. She gave another contented sigh as she sank lower into his arms, muttering, "Well, somebody's got to save our skins!" along with Princess Leah. Itachi smirked to himself, completely pleased with everything. He never thought it would ever happen, but he was happily in love, and she reciprocated his feelings. Before Sakura, no girl tried to get near to him, or even bother to look in his direction. Everyone had always been too scared of him, they never even tried to get to know him. He wished he had talked to someone before she came, Itachi had never realized how nice it was to hold a conversation without being judged. Then again, only Sakura was capable of that.

Itachi was utterly at ease with Sakura in his arms, and if he could have his way, he would never let her go. Sakura was slowly combing her fingers through his ponytail, which was swept over his shoulder. He could feel her warm breath when she exhaled, and every time she smiled, he could feel it through his shirt before he could see it with his own eyes. She concentrated on the movie, but he found himself to be distracted; he kept looking back down at her peaceful face. More than once, he thought she had fallen asleep, but then she would shift slightly, or whisper one of the lines. Her mother didn't seem to mind their closeness at all, which Itachi was glad for. She did keep looking at them, but it wasn't out of anxiety, but more out of relief.

Konan hoped more than anything that Itachi could make her forget. He was a little awkward around people, but from what she could tell, he was also kind hearted and sweet, something Sakura needed. Konan didn't want to use the boy just because she thought he could heal her daughter, but she knew he was capable. He was protective of her daughter, and though it was unnecessary, Konan was glad someone cared for Sakura so much. As long as Sakura was happy, she didn't care what they did, as long as he used some sort of protection. Konan doubted they would do it anytime soon though. Sakura wouldn't want to, and she couldn't picture Itachi forcing her into anything she didn't want to do. He respected her wishes too much.

Itachi knew Konan was reading deeply into his character, but he wouldn't go through the trouble to stop her. To do so would only draw unwanted attention to himself, and by her brothers. They still hadn't realized that he had their little sister curling herself into his chest, and when they did notice it, they would certainly object. Hidan would do two of either evils: Tease them endlessly, or throw a pillow at his head. He, of course, would have to retaliate, which would break up his little arrangement. Based on how similar their characters were, Itachi predicted that Sasori would merely glare at him. If he were a lesser man, that would be enough to scare him off. Deidara was unpredictable. One moment, he was trying to push them together, and the next, he was protecting Sakura.

The three boys were too enraptured with the clash of lightsabers and the explosions of deep-space warfare to notice much of anything else. The movie couldn't last forever though, and when it ended, the lights turned back on, and the snacks had to be cleaned up. For a moment, Itachi didn't want to let her go, but Sasori immediately glared at him and Sakura, just as he guessed he would. She stretched like a cat and yawned softly. He took in her sweet strawberry scent, hoping it would be enough to last him until he got to hold her again.

"You three get clean-up duty." Sakura said, standing up and stretching again. They whined and groaned, but the three of them knew it was only fair, since she had set it up. Sasori got to work diligently, and by the looks of it, he would be doing most of the cleaning.

"I've got to be going." Itachi sighed, thinking about the mountainous pile of homework he had yet to finish. Sakura nodded her head and followed him as he walked to the door. She watched as he put on his slippers, and surprised him by slipping on her own. Konan saw her daughter's intentions in walking Itachi home, and had no objections to her doing so. Sakura had done stranger things than walking down the street in pajamas. It was unusual for a mother, but part of her anticipated her return to hear what happened. Perhaps, though it seemed very unlikely from Itachi's general character, they would kiss. Sakura was old enough for such things, and Konan thought it might be good if she were involved in a serious relationship.

Sakura smiled as she shut the front door and stole Itachi's free hand. In his other was the leftover dango, which she had decided to give him since he loved dango more than anyone else she knew. Though someone else might not have noticed it, Sakura saw a ghost of a smile teasing his lips, begging to be displayed properly. They walked to his house without saying anything to each other, her humming the Starwars theme song, and him listening in content silence.

Little did they know, Sasuke was furiously watching from his bedroom window up above. He had laughed at his brother's expense after seeing the pajamas, but the truth of it was that he was jealous. Itachi had spent the evening over at her house, where he so desperately wished he was right then.

He waited for them to come home for one reason alone, to see if his disturbing premonition would come true. If not tonight, it would be the next, or some other time near then. He couldn't decide if he did want to see them kiss or not, wether he wanted to torture himself or not. Sasuke normally wasn't the type to be masochistic, but he thought it might put him at rest if he did see it for himself. Then he could move on, find some other girl to fall in love with, if any other was worthy of such attention.

Itachi stopped at his front door and looked down at Sakura. This was where they parted, and he wasn't positive wether or not he should do something. Should he say goodbye? Wish her a goodnight? Kiss her cheek? Perhaps all of the above. He didn't have to make up his mind for himself it seemed, because she squeezed his hand and then stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. The smile that had been haunting his face finally showed itself, and he kissed her cheek as well. She blushed cutely and whispered goodbye. Itachi let her hand go and watched happily as she walked back down the street to where she lived.

Sasuke let out a breath of relief he hadn't known he was holding. He listened as the door downstairs opened, his mother tried to get Itachi to eat something, and then as Itachi walked up the stairs. He waited for the music to start, but instead his door flew open. Sasuke was shocked, and irritated to say the least. He saw no reason for Itachi to waltz on into his room, no matter what reason he had.

"You were watching us." He stated. Sasuke couldn't believe that Itachi was angry just because he had been watching them as they kissed each other's cheeks. He glared at his older brother, hoping he had nothing else to say and would just leave him to his misery.

"Don't." Itachi said, looking about the room and retreating in disgust. Even after Sakura's clear displeasure with the room, Sasuke still hadn't done anything to improve it. How pathetic, if Sakura had asked him to paint his room bubblegum pink, he might have. Sasuke clearly didn't care about what she thought, all he cared about was getting what he wanted from her.

Just as he always did, Itachi violently slammed his door shut to dissuade anyone from bothering him, and turned on his CD player. With the comforting sounds of My Chemical Romance filling his room, Itachi stared at the homework taking up his desk. Sighing, he sat down to finish his work, already knowing it was going to be a later night than usual. Sakura was worth it though, he smirked inwardly.

Sakura was bombarded by everyone as soon as she walked through the front door. Deidara and her mother were dying to know if they had kissed, Hidan wanted to know what the hell was going on, and Sasori was in the process of scolding her for 'cuddling' with Itachi on the couch. Sakura proceeded by telling Hidan to shut his obnoxiously loud mouth. Once having recieved the silence she longed for, she continued.

"Sasori, I'm old enough to 'cuddle' with him if I want to." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. He glared at her in protest, but she glowered right back at him. Their contest of sorts lasted a minute before he agreed with her. As much as he didn't like the fact that Sakura was no longer a little girl, it was something he was going to have to accept eventually.

"Dei-chan, Okaa-san, stop imagining me and Itachi making out in front of his house." She said, turning to the scheming duo. After seeing their disappointed faces, she couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness, and decided to tell them, "He did kiss my cheek though."

They both squealed excitedly, wanting more details than she had to give. Sakura rolled her eyes disbelievingly. Sometimes, it felt like her mother was more of a sister than anything else. What kind of mother looked forward to her daughter's first kiss, anyway (she refused to think that her experience with Sasuke had been a kiss)? It was fine though, it was probably better if her mother knew everything from the beginning so there wouldn't be any shockers. Sakura didn't want her mother to go all police officer on his (gorgeous) ass.

Hidan was still oblivious over what had passed, but Sakura had neither the patience nor energy to explain it to him. In a few minutes time, he would forget what had happened anyway, so Sakura saw it as a fruitless endeavor. Sure enough, Hidan went into the kitchen to finish cleaning, or in plainer words, eat the leftovers.

Sakura escaped to her room, to organize her thoughts better. Itachi seemed to be the only thing she could think about, it was starting to get harder for her to concentrate on anything else. During the movie, she had tried so hard to focus on the film, but his earthy, masculine scent had fogged her thoughts, making it impossible for her to think of anything else. He was someone she couldn't ignore, even if he wasn't trying to get her attention. A knock sounded at her door, forcing her to be pulled out of her mind.

"Can I come in?" It was her mother who was outside her bedroom; she had been expecting Deidara to come. Well, here it came, the mother-daughter talk about boys, and relationships. It was rare when her mother used any of her parental authority, so whatever she had to say, it couldn't be that bad.

"Sure." Sakura sighed, throwing herself over her bed in exhaustion. Her mother entered, her long, blue hair out of it's bun and flowing down her shoulder. She smiled softly, meaning that the conversation wasn't going to be a scary one. Her mother chuckled at the decor, this had been the first time she had seen the room since moving in.

"I want to talk with you, honey. It's about Itachi-kun." Konan said, sitting on the edge of her bed. Itachi... he was always coming up, it was always about him. Not that Sakura really cared either way.

"What about him?" She asked tiredly, sitting up on her bed and crossing her legs. Her mother never used to ever talk to her about boys, so why would she start now? Of course, she still didn't know about the date Temari had blackmailed her into going on with Gaara about half a year ago, nor the date with Sasuke less than a week ago. Sakura wondered what kind of conversation they would be having if she knew Sasuke had made out with her the other day at school.

"He really likes you, doesn't he?" She asked. Sakura blushed, but didn't bother with denying it. She never was much of a liar, and so there was no point in even trying, her mother could see right through her.

"I think he does, Kaa-san." Sakura replied. She looked into her mother's golden honey colored eyes, and saw the happiness, and slight concern in their depths. It was understandable enough. Though Itachi was able to heal her heart, he could also end up breaking it in the end.

"I know I should be telling you things like 'don't have sex,' but I don't mind it so much. I do, however, want to know if you do have sex, and you have to have some sort of protection." Konan said in complete seriousness. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting her mother to bring that up. So much for a non-scary conversation.

"Mom, I don't think that will be happening." She finally sputtered, still not believing her mother's bluntness. Her cheeks flushed at the very idea of Itachi and her participating in such... activities.

"I know how the games go, Saku-chan." Her mother laughed. It was true that Sakura didn't like the idea right then, but that could change very quickly, and very soon. Her hormones would kick into motion eventually, and when they did, Sakura could very well take advantage of Itachi, not that he wouldn't want to stop her.

"Please Kaa-san, I don't even want to picture..." Her voice trailed off, mostly because it was a lie, and because she was getting a very detailed visual of the thing she just said she didn't want picture. Konan saw how her daughter looked away in embarrassment. She laughed, knowing exactly what was going through her head.

"Stop lying to yourself, Sakura." Konan joked, watching as her daughter flopped back onto the bed, hiding her face in her hands. It was beyond awkward, talking about such things with her mother, of all people. Part of her wanted to hang herself, while the other wanted to roll around in laughter.

"He's almost a full-grown man, Sakura. It's perfectly understandable for him to want to do that with you, and it isn't a laughing matter." Konan told her daughter, trying to keep a straight face. It cracked though, and so they both rolled around together, laughing hysterically. Konan supposed that she wasn't much of a mother, if she was laughing while giving her daughter a chat about doing it, but at least Sakura had an inborn maturity, and so she got the main idea.

"Kaa-san, you're the one who isn't being serious!" Sakura giggled. Her mother sighed, knowing her daughter was right. Well, nobody could say that she didn't try. This was when she left her little Sakura, who incidentally, wasn't so little anymore. It was hard to think of her as grown up, that would mean that she was old, and she was not ready to start thinking that.

Sakura relaxed herself, and throughly drained, she crawled under the covers. She didn't really want to (who was she kidding, that was a lie), but her little visual flashed through her mind again. Itachi hovering, her clawing her fingers into his back and him whispering into her ear. Pulling, pushing, tossing, turning, sucking and licking, it was disturbingly detailed, as if she was invading someone's privacy, only it was her own.

Blushing furiously, Sakura hid her face under her pillow, wanting to scream. She shouldn't be picturing such things about her and Itachi, they hadn't even kissed before, they weren't even official. On top of that, just because 'he's almost a full-grown man,' that didn't mean that he would do that with her... She wasn't even sixteen yet. The fact that she would be in two days teased her in the back of her mind, but that point was besides the fact that she couldn't be thinking about Itachi like she was. It wasn't right of her. She needed to figure things out, before she ended up doing something she would regret.

AN: Thank you guys, for sticking with my story (though my lack of reviews is sort of depressing)! My chapters keep seem to get shorter and shorter, but I don't know what to do about that. Please give me some feedback!!