Beyond Words

Chapter Eleven: The Response

Enjoy! (:

…

Sakura freezes completely at the contact in shock, half wondering if this is some kind of hallucination, dream—or nightmare, or her imagination. She feels as though they've been standing like this for eternity, when in reality, they've only been this way for half a second. She doesn't pull away immediately, but she does not respond either. Itachi moves his lips against hers to try to coax a response from her and this seems to snaps Sakura back into her rational mind, if only a little bit. She pushes against his chest half-heartedly, not really wanting him to let her go, and a small part of Sakura hopes he doesn't. As if reading her mind, Itachi does not let her go, but pulls her flush against him. The hand that had previously been on her chin slides to the back of her neck to get better leverage and he gently nibbles on Sakrua's bottom lip. She gasps at the sensation, giving him an opportunity to slide his tongue into her warm cavern. The sparks that come from the contact makes Sakura pray to any greater power that may exist, that this would go on forever; that she could be allowed to enjoy this without the guilt of knowing that Ino claims to love him, and without the uncertainty and doubt she feels. The petite kunoichi, however, still does not move; caught between loyalty to Ino and loyalty to her heart, she is unable to move, unable to decide whether to give in or shove him away and run as far away as her four inch heels will allow. Vexed at her unresponsiveness, he holds her even closer to him and tilts her head back to get a better angle and deepens the kiss. Unable to fight it any longer, Sakura's eyes drift closed and she slides her arms to rest around his neck, responding to his kiss shyly. He applies a bit of extra pressure on her lower back to show his approval at her response.

Sakura finally allows herself to enjoy this, to believe—if only for a little while—that this could actually turn into something. Just as she moves her arms to rest around his neck, however, she hears a gasp and she just knows it's Ino without having to turn to see. Before she knows what's happened, she quickly moves away from Itachi and out of the circle of his arms, looking wide-eyed at her best friend who seems to be caught between anger and tears, making her look unnaturally fragile.

"Ino—" Sakura starts.

"Save it," the beautiful blonde cuts her off, venom dripping from her voice. "I should have known." She glares daggers at Sakura despite the tears that have started to gather in her eyes, but says nothing more, as if waiting for an explanation that would prove her innocence. The silence and disapproval somehow makes Sakura feel worse than she would have if Ino had just yelled at her all night. Seeing that Sakura had nothing left to say, Ino storms inside and disappears into the throng of people.

Momentarily forgetting that Itachi is standing right beside her, Sakura makes a move to follow her friend, but freezes when a firm hand grabs her wrist. She turns to see a puzzled looking Itachi. Merely looking at him reminds her of her ultimate betrayal and it takes all of her will power not to recoil at the contact for fear of offending him.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she says before rushing off quickly, not giving him a chance to say anything. Sakura feels guilty for just leaving him there, but she feels even guiltier for having been there with him in the first place. She should have played it safe and avoided him the entire night, at least that way, she wouldn't have gotten tangled up in this mess. However, she can't help but admit that the entire exchange had left her feeling breathless and thinking back on it, trying to ignore Ino's part in the night, she had actually enjoyed her evening with him. Despite her constant denial of her feelings, she was still drawn to him and unable to resist his advances. Or perhaps it's because she had never acknowledged her feelings that they came on so strongly. Whatever it is though, she needs to figure out how to get rid of it, if she has any hope of salvaging her friendship with Ino.

Inner Sakura reminds her that she still has several months with Itachi and the mission, but she pushes that to the back of her mind. Her first priority for now is salvaging her friendship with Ino.

Itachi eventually re-enters the banquet hall but makes no move to look for Sakura. He knows she's out looking for Ino and does not want to get in the way of and her friend's conversation. He feels slightly responsible for what had happened, but he is by no means regretting the encounter. He had waited for a long time to be able to hold Sakura and kiss her like that, and she had reciprocated, meaning that she had feelings for him too, even if only a little bit. But that's enough for Itachi, because he can build on that.

…

It takes nearly an hour to find Ino sitting at one of the swings at the Academy playground. She approaches slowly, so as not to frighten her friend, who seems to be lost in thought and doesn't seem to notice Sakura coming.

"…Ino?" she calls out carefully. The blonde jolts out of her reverie and looks up at the sound of her name. Upon seeing who it is, she glares hard and stands from the swing, pulling carefully at her gown to keep it from getting caught in the chains of the swing.

"What do you want?" She says, voice dripping with venom.

"I know that didn't look good…but—" Sakura starts nervously.

"But what? It's not what it looks like? So you weren't making out with the man I clearly said I love?"

"Ino please, listen…"

"I'm sick of listening to all your pretty words. You're always the cute one, the innocent one. But what's this? Can I even believe whatever excuse you've come up with?"

"I—" Sakura tries to get a word in, but Ino simply refuses to let her.

"Just shut up and let me finish. I'm not interested in your little lies." Sakura can see the tears gather in Ino's eyes and she wants nothing more than to rush over to her and wipe the tears away, but knows she can't, for she's the one who had caused them in the first place. "Kami, why did I ever trust you. First it was Sasuke, then Shikamaru," Sakura doesn't get what role Shikamaru plays in all of this, so she tucks this piece of information away and makes a mental note to talk to him later, "and now Itachi. Do you enjoy making me feel like an unwanted old maid?"

"What—"

"Don't act stupid," Ino says, cutting Sakura off for what seems like the hundredth time that evening. "Shika was head over heels for you last year, and I tried to be a good friend and gave up my feelings for him so you two could go and be happy. But that wasn't enough for you, was it? You're determined to stay single for life and always steal the men I'm interested in. Somehow, I knew that Itachi had feelings for you—because it the cosmos couldn't let it be that easy— but I thought, just this once, maybe you'd let me have the guy, but looks like I was wrong." Sakura couldn't have looked more stunned if Ino had told her that Sasuke was a homosexual and was currently dating…Lee. She had no idea that Ino had felt this way about any of this. She could tell that this wasn't just about her and Itachi anymore, Ino had been feeling this way towards her for a while and only now did she get to let out how she actually felt. This was more about Sakura and Ino than it was Itachi and Sakura, or even Ino and Itachi.

"Ino please, let me say something."

"What the hell does it matter anymore?" Ino starts yelling at this point with tears streaming down her face.

"Ino, I'm so, so, so sorry. I had no idea you felt this way. I swear, I had no intention of doing any of that tonight. I had tried my best to avoid him all night. Despite what you may think, I really didn't mean to hurt you. Everything kind of just happened, but I tried, Ino, I really did. I tried to stay away from Itachi. I won't deny that," Sakura swallows nervously before continuing, "I do like him…a lot. But I swear, I can forget about that. I did something really stupid and I regret it, but I know I can't take it back. All I can do now is give you my word that I won't get involved with Itachi, that I'll forget about any feelings I may have had for him, and hope that you'll believe me. Because I don't want to lose your friendship, Ino."

For a long time, neither of them move or speak. They simply stand there, thinking over the other's words.

"He's never going to see me the way he sees you," Ino finally says, sitting back down on the swing. "And I guess I accept it, but what I don't get is, how you seem to get all the guys, and you don't even pay attention to them. Naruto is practically obsessed with you, Itachi's obviously into you, you and Neji had a thing going on a while back, Lee's in love with you. I just don't see how that's fair."

"Don't say that…" Sakura goes to sit on the swing beside Ino.

The beautiful blonde seems to ignore Sakura's comment and continues, "I snapped back there, seeing you and Itachi …but I don't want you to give up on him. We're gonna fight all the time, that's what best friends do right? But, I want you to be happy." She finally looks over at Sakura, meeting her gaze with a weak smile.

Sakura doesn't know what to say, so she gets up from her spot on the swing and bends down to give Ino a hug. "Thank you," she says finally.

The two spend the rest of the night together in Sakura's apartment, baking cookies and having some long overdue girl talk. They talk about anything and everything until Sakura realizes that it's nearing dawn.

"I have to start getting ready, Ino," Sakura says sadly. She'd missed these long nights with her best friend and she's extremely sad to leave again so quickly after returning, especially since they'd just fixed something between them that had apparently been just beneath the surface for longer than either of them care to recall.

"You be careful out there forehead. I want you back here in one piece in two months for your next report, k?" Ino says standing up from the kitchen table.

Sakura nods and they make their way to the bedroom to pack for the trip.

…Dawn…

Sakura walks to the Village gates, more nervous than she can remember being for a long time. She doesn't know how she's supposed to act around Itachi now…after their encounter last night. Plus, she had rushed off last night without so much as a proper goodbye. Would he be angry? Would he think that she wanted nothing to do with him and just shun her? Or perhaps he'd act like nothing happened. It would kill her the most, she knows, if Itachi started acting like he never had any interest in her, because now she's finally accepted her feelings for him and got her best friend's blessing. If he were to disregard what had happened, she'd be crushed, she's sure. As she nears the gates, she can make out a silhouette standing there, and she knows that it's Itachi, even though she can't make out his face.

Taking a deep breath, she walks towards him, hoping to whatever powers may be listening that her anxiety isn't too noticeable.

…

Itachi feels Sakura approach before he sees her, and he can tell by her chakra signature that she's agitated and unsettled about something. He doesn't know whether it's because of what happened between them last night, or with Ino, or something else, but he doesn't want to pry into her life, so he decides that if she doesn't tell him herself, then he won't ask her about it.

"Good morning," he greets as she approaches.

"Morning," she says, unable to meet his gaze, so instead she looks off into the horizon, beyond the village gates. "All ready?"

"Yes," Itachi replies, watching Sakura carefully. He notices that she still refuses to make eye contact and is slightly fidgeting with her bag, but she does not seem to want to talk about it, so as promised, he won't ask. He's curious to know what happened, and how she wants to proceed with their…partnership/friendship/relationship, but he feels he's pushed her hard enough, especially last night, and if she doesn't respond to his advances, then he'll take it that she's not interested. The last thing he wants to do is scare her away, ruining their easy friendship.

"Let's go," he says finally after a few moments of tense silence.

"Hai."

Sakura's face falls slightly as she follows her captain out of the village and they travel towards their destination. She's more than a little disappointed that they didn't straighten out whatever is going on with them, but she supposes that doing so at the moment wouldn't be the best idea, seeing as they are on a tight schedule and need to make it back before they raise suspicion with 'The Boss'. But still, she would've liked to work out their 'problem', if it could be called that. She just hopes and prays that he won't ignore it and act as though it didn't happen.

The journey there is made mostly in silence and Sakura is beginning to fear that what she had prayed wouldn't happen, is happening. Itachi has barely said a word to her, barely even glanced at her, and she's too afraid to talk to him. But of course, what can she expect? She had left him without saying anything last night. If someone had left her like that, she'd probably be pretty hurt or upset, how can she expect any different from him?

They arrive in their provided cottage they had stayed in to begin with and unpack their things.

"We will remain here for a few days to decide on a plan," Itachi announces over dinner that night. "We will report to the Akuma headquarters in two days time after we have decided and have properly rested. I assume they will put us through a series of training exercises and a number of missions to begin with to properly asses our capacities."

"Right," Sakura says, still fairly troubled at the fact that Itachi seems to have forgotten about what happened the previous night. "So is tonight just rest time?"

"Yes, we will discuss the plan tomorrow. If you're up to it, we can train for a few hours as well."

"Hm, sounds good to me," Sakura says as she cleans up and washes the dishes.

"I have spoken to Hokage-sama about your entrance into ANBU—"

"What?" Sakura freezes what she's doing, bewildered.

"She agrees that it is a wise decision and has entered you into the exams. You will take it two months after the mission, giving you plenty of time to rest and train."

"But…I mean, I haven't even fully decided if I want to do this. Besides, two months is not enough time. People train for this mission for several months! Some even a year." Sakura has stopped washing the dishes by now and simply stares at her partner.

"You can do it," Itachi says simply.

Sakura is more than a little surprised at Itachi's complete faith in her abilities and forgets what she had been planning to say. "Well…" she trails of weakly.

"I will be training you during this mission, when we have spare time."

"Well I guess that gives me a bit more time, but when are we even going to find any spare time? Shouldn't all of our time go towards completing the mission?"

"You need to train to become stronger in order to finish this mission anyway. Consider it dual training. The mission itself will provide adequate training."

"Hm…I guess so…Is this really going to work?"

"I am positive," Itachi says, nodding before he leaves to take a quick shower before bed.

"All right then, if you say so," Sakura tells herself, more than her partner.

By the time Itachi finishes his shower and is ready for bed, Sakura is already laying in the cozy bed, though she's not asleep, she simply stares absently into the fireplace near the bed. Careful not to disturb what he assumes to be deep thinking, Itachi climbs into bed gracefully and silently beside her. The two lay there quietly for a long time and Itachi assumes Sakura has fallen asleep, until she speaks quietly.

"Ne, Itachi…" the pinkette calls hesitantly, "Um…about last night…"

The handsome Uchiha raises an eyebrow, interest piqued, and gives his full attention to the girl beside him who is still facing away from him.

"I'm sorry I left without saying anything…" she trails off, unsure of what to say.

"Sakura," he calls, not wanting to have this conversation with her back. She turns around slowly and meets his gaze shyly. "What did Yamanka-san say?"

"Well, in a nutshell, she said she just wants me to be happy, and that she'll put her feelings for you behind her…and stuff like that."

Itachi doesn't say anything, simply stares at her fondly. He doesn't miss the implication of that statement and is content to simply watch her, but the silence makes Sakura extremely uncomfortable, because she can never tell what's going on in his mind.

"So...what now?" She asks quietly.

Itachi lifts a hand to brush the hair out of her face tenderly, much gentler than one would think possible for such a deadly reputed ninja and before she can think of what to say or do next, she feels him seal his lips to hers. Sakura freezes, stunned, for a good two seconds, before she slips her eyes closed and responds to his kiss eagerly. Her partner hums in approval and pulls her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her to him.

'Finally,' Sakura thinks to herself, 'Things are going right.'

…

A/N:

I'm really sorry for the shorter chapters recently. I've been wanting to update more recently but I haven't had a lot of time to do so. I'll try make the chapters longer from now on, though that means the updates will be a bit farther apart. But I thought if I took too long with this particular chapter, my readers would start to get impatient.

Ive gotten a few questions on Sakura's age, so I'll clarify it now, she's eighteen. In the beginning, she was seventeen, but she had a birthday and is now eighteen.

Hope you enjoyed!

~Ja!