Sachiko's eyes were narrowed in concentration, her breath softly puffing onto Sakura's face as she drew the liquid eyeliner across her lid. Her hand was totally steady; the line came out smooth and perfect.

"The trick," She said quietly, her eyes never leaving the point of the eyeliner as it swooped across, "Is to angle it upwards. When I was just learning to do makeup, I drew a dot in the corner of my eye and another at the side and then connected the dots."

Sachiko talked in emoticons. Sakura could almost hear the smiley faces popping up after every sentence, so filled with cheer and joy and all sorts of annoyingly lovable qualities…

I can do makeup, Sakura thought grumpily, my mother taught me how. Yeah, maybe it's not to everyone's taste, but who cares? It's my face.

But Sachiko was smiling absently as she applied some sparkly eyeshadow, and Sakura could tell she was one of those happy people who smiled all the time for no real reason. She probably emptied her purse walking home, handing out money to the homeless and people with collecting cans for charities. She probably had more friends than she knew what to do with but still managed to stay in contact with them all. She probably went for walks in forests and sang with the little woodland creatures.

Itachi's room was huge, like she'd guessed. Black and white, fashionable even as a teenager. There was a wooden chest of drawers with pictures on the top, photos of Itachi and Sasuke. That was it, just the two of them, a smiling, young Sasuke standing next to a beaming Itachi. The brothers eating ice cream at the park, Sasuke pointing at a giraffe at the zoo, a close up shot of them pulling faces… Where were the pictures of his childhood friends? His girlfriends?

"So, how long have you been dating Sasu-chan?" Sachiko asked, moving back on the bed to inspect her handiwork. Judging by her pleased smile, she liked the results.

Sakura decided to just go with the truth, "Uh, we aren't really dating. I just didn't like to correct Mikoto-san."

Sachiko blinked, looking disappointed, "Oh… That's a real shame," She said sincerely, "I thought you would be very good for him."

You don't even know me, Sakura wanted to say. I'm nothing special. Stop being so nice to me.

She felt her anger at Itachi grow. Sachiko was a lovely person and she had no idea that Itachi slept around and broke girls' hearts. What was worse was that Sasuke implied that Itachi did it for fun.

Maybe this was some part of becoming an adult she didn't know yet. Maybe she was just being a child. She looked at Sachiko. Here was a full-grown adult woman, with her own job and boyfriend. They came from different worlds. How could she compare? Not that she wanted to, really. After hearing from Itachi himself how he treated women in the past, her stupid little crush had had the stuffing knocked out of it.

So, Sasuke and his parents, they all knew about Itachi's past behaviour, and Sachiko didn't have a clue. What if they were laughing at her? As annoyingly perfect as Sachiko undoubtedly was, she didn't deserve this.

Not only that, but Itachi had said Sachiko wasn't 'deep,' but that she was a 'good person' and that was what he needed. Surely you didn't look for inner goodness in your possible girlfriends? Was he referring to his past? Maybe he wanted an honest relationship with a good girl for once, instead of… whatever it was he'd been doing.

"Thank you, Sachiko-san." Sakura said, trying not to look as grim as she felt.

"Call me Sachiko!" She insisted, "Even if you aren't really Sasu-chan's girlfriend, you're Itachi's friend, so that makes you part of the family!"

Um, woah.

"Thank you?" Sakura said, befuddled.

Sachiko played with a little brush, her smile oddly shy, "Well, I only have Mikoto-san to talk to when I'm here… Fugaku-san doesn't talk to me and Sasu-chan… well, we don't have anything in common. Itachi and me don't really talk much anyway… Our connection goes beyond that, I think. It's like, spiritual. So when we do these little dinners and have family gatherings, it'd be great to have someone to talk to…"

Guh. It was like being struck by a bullet. She immediately wanted to be Sachiko's best friend, she wanted to be the person she talked to at gatherings, pictured the two of them sitting together on the couch downstairs giggling happily, the strangely cold atmosphere gone…

Itachi staring at them all the while, making snide little comments, or worse, ignoring the pair of them.

"Well, it's not like I don't like Sasuke." Sakura admitted, wanting to please the older woman. Not only that, but there was something very comforting about her open, friendly demeanour. Perhaps this was what Itachi meant by 'inner goodness.' Talking with Sachiko made her feel at ease. She felt prompted to tell the truth, to confide in her.

Sachiko beamed, her white, even teeth contrasting with her red lipstick, "That's great! Have you talked to him about it?"

Sakura tried to sigh around Sachiko smudging lipgloss on her mouth, "No. I know he must seem like he's just another teenager to you, but in my college, he's like a big deal. He had this really beautiful girlfriend, Ino. She's a dancer. Me and Sasuke are friends, but… I think he's ashamed of me. I heard him telling his friend that I wasn't his friend, I was just someone he talked to… I don't get it. How can you like a person so much when they don't even think about you? I just feel like a creepy stalker sometimes, because that's how he makes me feel. Like I'm so insignificant in his life and it's weird that I consider him such a big part of mine. The worst thing is that I have all these feelings like I know him really well and that I really care about him, but I don't know anything about him. Not really. He's a stranger who I've projected this image of perfection onto. It's my fault. I'm sorry, listen to me babbling on…" She swallowed, feeling like a huge fool. Babbling to a pretty, cool woman as if her own problems mattered one iota in her life!

Sachiko carefully folded her hands in her lap, looking down. They were both sitting on the bed, cross-legged, facing each other. Sachiko's dress floated about her knees, revealing her slim legs clothed in black tights. Her expression was pensive, like she was thinking hard about what Sakura had said.

Then she opened her mouth, "Saku-chan. Don't ever feel creepy or stupid or insignificant for liking someone. There's no shame at all in liking someone you've not talked to much. That's called having a connection with someone, feeling a bond before you even know them. Having a crush on a guy rules your heart and your head when you're a teenager, you're young, you've never felt stuff this intensely before, it's all new and exciting and fresh… Being in love is one of the hardest things ever – it really changes your behaviour and how you think of things… it can make you feel ashamed and childish, but you have to just carry on, ignoring the pain. Unrequited love is one of the most painful things I've ever experienced and it will go on and on until you act. What you have to do is tell Sasu-chan exactly how you feel. If you don't, you'll never get closure, and you'll wonder 'what if' for the rest of your life. Trust me, Sasu-chan's a nice guy at heart. If he doesn't like you back, he'll let you down gently. You can talk to him about it and you can become friends afterwards. After that, knowing you won't ever be with him will make the love slowly go away. But, if he likes you back, you don't just get a new friend, you get a boyfriend! I know the confession is the most difficult part. But do it quickly without thinking too much about it, like ripping a plaster off. Once it's out there, you'll feel instantly better, trust me. And hey, if you ever have a problem, don't hesitate to come talk to me about it. I'm happy to listen, even if you think it's a silly problem."

Sakura was speechless.

Sachiko's comforting words were forcing her to think about things she'd forced to the back of her mind.

Her mother, sitting on the settee, Sakura on her knee, occasionally jerking her leg up to make her squeal with laughter. One hand on the arm of the settee, the other around Sakura's round stomach, keeping her from falling down.

The television was showing a woman in a sparkly dress smirking at a man in a grey suit.

"Now, Sakura," Her mother had murmured, "One day, you'll be like that lady on the TV. You'll meet a lovely man, like Cinderella or Snow White did, and it'll be like he was made just for you. He'll like you for who you are, no matter what. Did I tell you about the beautiful princess with pink hair?"

Sakura shook her head, mouth open, dazed at the coincidence of the princess having the same colour hair as hers.

"She was only a little princess, you see. Around about, hmm, well, around about your height, actually! She had the biggest, most beautiful green eyes anyone had ever seen. Her nose was little and snub. Her hair was short, curling around her ears. This little princess lived in a very tall tower, all on her own. The tower was pure white and had ivy and honeysuckle creeping up it. Bees and butterflies danced outside the little princess' window, the sun shining so bright it filled everyone with cheer at the sight of it. Even though the little princess lived alone, she was very happy with her white tower and her bees and the sunshine. She had her own, very special mirror, a bit like the one Daddy bought you for your fourth birthday, Sakura! When she looked into it, she saw a beautiful young woman, with long pink hair and big green eyes, and she realised, it was herself, only older. Knowing that she would be beautiful and happy, the little princess put the mirror away, deciding to do her best to grow into the woman she saw in the glass. And do you know what? When she was nineteen, she took the mirror out of where she hid it and looked at the reflection. It was herself. It mirrored her perfectly. She was very happy, knowing that she had become the girl she had wanted to be." Her mother stroked her hair as she talked, her voice soft and melodic, almost lulling Sakura to sleep.

Sakura looked up at her mother with her own big green eyes, "Was she me, Mummy? Am I that princess?"

Her mother chuckled, "Yes you are," She said, pulling Sakura into a tight embrace, the little chubby girl cuddling up to her mother happily, breathing in her rosy scent, "You're my smart, beautiful little princess and I just know you'll grow into that wonderful woman one day. I can't wait to meet her, sweetheart."

Sakura blinked. She hadn't thought of that day in years. What would her mother think of her now? Was she the woman she'd wanted to meet?

Sachiko was fiddling about with an eyebrow pencil, waiting for Sakura's response.

She was just like her mother.

Perfect, beautiful and kind.

"Thank you, Sachiko-san." Sakura said, totally sincere.

Sachiko blushed, shaking her head, "Ah, don't listen to me talk rubbish! I just thought it was shame, a girl as beautiful and lovely as you having confidence issues."

Sakura laughed ruefully, "Nice try, Sachiko-san. I know I'm not beautiful, and I'm OK with that –"

Sachiko's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Wordlessly, she grabbed Sakura's shoulders and gently pulled her around until she was facing the chest of drawers.

There was a huge mirror hanging on the wall.

Sakura gaped at her reflection.

She looked… pretty.

Sachiko had drawn the same Egyptian-style liquid eyeliner that she herself wore, but had also daubed some glittery gel-like substance over her eyelids. Her cheeks glowed pink, her skin tone golden with powder. Her lips were shiny baby-pink.

"Beautiful." Sachiko said firmly.

Sakura moved closer to the mirror, still staring in amazement at her face.

Her arms twitched with longing to reach out and hug Sachiko in thanks, but she restrained herself.

"C-can you – can you teach me how to do that?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure," Sachiko said eagerly, "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's makeup."

She pulled her massive leather makeup bag over on the bed, powders and brushes spilling out.

"Now, if you want to check what colours suit you best…" She began rifling through her bag excitedly.

After hearing about Itachi's past behaviour and now seeing just how wonderful his girlfriend was, Sakura could almost feel her crush die. She would never want to hurt Sachiko, especially after she advised her on her actual love for Sasuke. From now on, she would focus solely on Sasuke. She and Itachi would just be good friends.

xxxxxxxx

Itachi sat downstairs, sulking.

His girlfriend had vanished, inconsiderately stealing his friend at the same time, leaving him with absolutely no one to speak to, on account of how his father had been forced to run off to sort out some pesky figures, his mother was merrily chained to a sink, being the bane of every feminists' existence and his brother wouldn't talk to him.

Well, except to accuse him.

"Why are you and Sakura suddenly best friends?" Sasuke asked, the slightest touch of suspicion in his tone. He sat on the couch opposite Itachi, one leg carelessly thrown over the other.

"What did you talk about with Daddy Dearest?" Itachi shot back.

Sasuke grimaced, "Nothing you'd care about. Answer my question."

Itachi sighed, "Well, it was the oddest thing, Sasuke. I met Sakura one day, we talked and actually… got on. I know, it's so weird, right? After that we, like, talked some more and bonded platonically. And then we were friends. Was simple enough for you to comprehend?"

"Why are you even in my college?"

"Stalking you, obviously."

"Be serious for once in your life. Listen and copy my example. I like Sakura. I have for a while. I was pleased she was so suitable, Father would approve because she was really quiet and kind. But then you come along and steal her." Sasuke said quietly without anger or bitterness, just resentment colouring his words.

"I'm sorry, what?" Itachi's face twisted with incredulity, "You think I've 'stolen' Sakura?"

"I finally had the chance to prove myself in an area that you couldn't hope to compete in," Sasuke said heatedly, "Everyone knows Sachiko is stupid beyond comprehension. Sure, she's obedient, but she talks way too much and she's too thick to be an Uchiha. If I could come up with a perfect girlfriend, Father would be proud and it'd make it obvious just how irritating Sachiko is. Do you think you can trust that blabbermouth with anything? Sakura is perfect. She's obedient, quiet and she wouldn't question me on anything because she's in love with me. You've always been awful with girls, so I figured that I could actually win this time. I'd pick the right girl, and you'd have to admit I was better than you."

Itachi was about to reply on several matters – Sasuke was seriously underestimating Sachiko's intelligence, which pissed him off, and he seemed to think Sakura was a perfect little robot wifey, ready-made to take orders – when he heard a strangled sob.

Sachiko was standing in the doorway, Sakura standing behind her. The older girl was looking at Sasuke, with teary eyes, her mouth quivering.

"Is that what you really think of me, Sasuke?" She asked, sounding distraught, "You think I'm irritating?"

Sasuke flushed red at being caught out.

Itachi's jaw clenched at the upset expressions both girls wore.

"What, no Sasu-chan this time?" Sasuke snapped, "Yes, believe it or not, the loud-mouthed idiocy you frequently display is irritating to me. I'm sorry, but I just despise girls like you –"

"Shut the hell up!" Sakura burst out, pushing past Sachiko to stand in front of Sasuke.

Fugaku quietly slipped through the front door, listening intently.

"You think Sachiko's irritating? Let me tell you what's annoying. Hearing some judgemental, arrogant dick insulting one of the nicest, sweetest people on Earth as though his apparent perfection makes him worthy of criticising decent people. Well, guess what? I just figured out that you aren't perfect, you're an inconsiderate bastard with serious issues and you need help to fix that skewed image of women you seem to have. You think the perfect woman is obedient? Fuck you. Fuck you and your inflated self-worth, Sasuke. I'm not obedient. I'm not going to be your brainless, submissive little girlfriend, complimenting you all the time and making you feel better about yourself. Does insulting people make you feel special, Sasuke? You aren't special, dicks like you are a dime a dozen." She ranted on and on, watching the embarrassed flush on Sasuke's face increase tenfold, barely noticing Itachi clapping or Sachiko's wide-eyed expression.

She was just so disappointed.

She'd just convinced herself to give her love for Sasuke a try, and here he was, perfection personified, suddenly revealing his real self as being cruel and insulting.

"No wonder you told Neji we weren't friends," Sakura threw her hands up in anger, "Because you thought of me as a silent, obedient servant. Not worth being friends with! Only worthy of being your girlfriend because you actually believed I wouldn't complain if you did something wrong. Well, you were wrong."

"Obviously, Sakura's far too compassionate and human for you, Sasuke. You'll have to pick up an inflatable doll if you want to meet Daddy Dearest's standards." Itachi smirked at his red-faced brother.

"That's quite enough, all of you." Fugaku said, suddenly pushing past Sachiko to get into the living room, "Itachi, hold that disrespectful tongue of yours."

Itachi lightly grasped the end of his tongue and stared stonily at his father.

Sakura froze on the spot at the sight of Itachi's scary father. He'd actually heard her ranting at his son…

"An inflatable doll would be capable of a more meaningful and real relationship than you and Sachiko, that's for sure." Sasuke snorted, apparently made braver by his father's reappearance.

Itachi let go of his tongue and glared at his brother, "Be quiet, Sasuke."

Sachiko looked confused, still a bit teary-eyed.

"It's obvious you don't love the poor girl, Itachi." Fugaku said tiredly, "Can you not just cut her loose already? It has been a long time and she gets more and more attached by the day. It's cruel."

Sachiko's hand went to her throat, playing with the chunky necklace she wore, her expression confused and upset, "Itachi? He's joking, isn't he? This has all been one big joke, right? Sasuke doesn't hate me and Fugaku-san… he's wrong. Please, tell me he's wrong." Her voice quivered, turning plaintive.

Itachi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he quickly glanced at Sakura, biting his lip.

"He's wrong," He said with complete certainty, "I do love you."

Sachiko managed a watery smile, "Oh! Oh, good! Ha ha, it wouldn't be great if… if all of you hated me…"

"Sachiko-san, you gave me some very wise advice upstairs. You are a very clever person. Sasuke just can't understand anyone who isn't himself, clearly. Don't listen to him." Sakura said, almost pleading. The older woman looked so hurt.

"Thanks, Saku-chan." Sachiko smiled at her, but the sight of it was painful to Sakura, like a knife to the heart. She clearly didn't believe her.

Sakura thought of her mother, of little princesses in towers with magic mirrors that let them see the wonderful person they'd grow up to be.

"I know you worked hard on the dinner, Sachiko-san," Sakura said carefully, ignoring the eyes of the male Uchihas upon her, "But why don't you come with me and Itachi, and we'll go eat somewhere else?"

Sachiko patted Sakura on the shoulder, but her mouth was trembling violently and tears began to fall, leaving streaks in her makeup. She didn't look so perfect now.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She sobbed, rushing through the front door and out of the house without looking behind her, running in those tall heels without a single stumble.

"Sachiko has very low self-esteem, you total fucking morons," Itachi said through clenched teeth, looking as though he was seconds from launching himself at his father and brother, "And well done, Sasuke, you managed to find her weak spot and exploited it just like Dad taught you. I'm so proud. These little family dinners are done, invite someone else to fill the seats. Sakura, come on."

He turned and held out his hand to her.

Sasuke glared at him. Fugaku was watching, those cold, calculating eyes probably figuring out the probability of Sakura leaving or something.

Sakura didn't grab his hand, but stepped through the living room doorway, heading out.

"Sakura! This isn't right, let me explain properly!" Sasuke insisted.

"Itachi, what's going on?" Mikoto poked her head around the kitchen door, "I heard shouting."

"Sakura and I are leaving. We don't really feel like playing 'Let's Pretend We're the Perfect Family,' today, so sorry, we must do this again sometime… Sasuke, I hope Dad doesn't screw you up too much. You don't always have to please him, you know." Itachi gazed at his brother with something akin to regret in his eyes.

Sasuke frowned in confusion at his brother's words.

Mikoto looked upset but Fugaku didn't seem affected in the slightest by Itachi's rudeness or sudden farewell.

"But Sakura-chan is Sasuke's friend." Mikoto said perplexedly.

Sasuke met Sakura's eyes. Itachi pushed her lightly through the door out of sight.

"Why don't you ask Sasuke what his definition of a 'friend' is?" Itachi suggested, slamming the door behind them.

"Right." He said slowly, brushing himself down, "Meeting the parents… That went well."

Sakura scrubbed at her face with her hands, frustrated, unwittingly removing the makeup Sachiko had painstakingly applied for her.

"Well, what did Sasuke mean by you'd 'stolen' me?"

Itachi tripped down the steps, regaining his cool in seconds, turning his lurch towards the ground into a swaggering walk.

"Nothing, nothing, Let's go find Sachiko before she finds a cake shop. That's where she'll have headed, you know."

More about Sachiko ~~~

I wanna give that gal a hug, and I created her! Bizarre.

At no point have I ever shared Sasuke's opinions. He is, in the words of the epic Tim Minchin, 'majorly fucked in the head.'

Made up Sakura's mother's fairy tale on the fly so it'd seem more realistic that a mother would be able to just make it up for her daughter. It was really fun to write.

ARGH, I HATE THE UCHIHAS.

Sakura is very angry with Sasuke, which will kind of make her and Itachi' teacher-student shtick thing a little awkward, huh?

A fair few clues about Itachi's character in this chapter :)

SAKURA IS FURIOUS.

Yes, Sasuke is majorly OOC, but I do have my reasons for that :D

See you later, darling readers. Please review and make Mama's day!

Quick poll for fun: What do you think of Sachiko?

A) She seems shifty.

B) She seems totally sweet!

C) No real opinion.

D) I HATE HER AND I WANT HER DEAD, OMG, SHE REMINDS ME OF THIS BITCH FROM SCHOOL, THAT SKANKY WHORE, ARGH, KILL HER DEAD, ARGH!

Ahem.

Let us hope your reaction is not quite that violent.

E) Other! Let me know!