Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Chapter 12: Present, or Curse?

Morning had come earlier than expected for Itachi. It had only been 8:00 A.M. when he awoke to an ear-piercing scream. Funny, with the amount of alcohol the others had consumed, he had guessed it would have at least been around 12:00 before anyone woke up. After all, they had all passed out completely at around 3:00 A.M.

And as he had expected, the scream came from Sasuke's room… he guessed maybe covering Naruto up with the blankets hadn't been enough to prevent Sasuke from becoming blind due to the lack of clothing Naruto had.

In fact, Itachi wasn't quite sure he even wanted to go inside his room and assure Sasuke nothing occurred between the two… Maybe this could be used as a lesson to never consume that much alcohol and they could use their imagination to fill in their blank memories of the previous night.

Itachi's lips quirked into a small smirk… maybe it would be a sight to see Sasuke's reaction. Would he kill Naruto? Would he kill himself? Would he attempt to kill Itachi for not preventing what they thought happened?

Itachi guessed on the latter… Sasuke always did find a way to blame his problems and responsibilities on someone else, preferably, Itachi or Shisui, with the occasional exception of Naruto and Kakashi.

He mentally counted down the seconds it would take for either Naruto, Sasuke, or both of them to barge into his room and beg him to tell them what had happened the night before.

And as he thought one, his door slid open harshly, revealing Sasuke running rather savagely, and Naruto wrapped around in sheets, crawling his way to Itachi's bed. You could clearly see Naruto had been punched in the face just a minute ago…

Before Sasuke could even open his mouth, Itachi put a hand up, as if telling them to halt, and be quiet.

"There are still people sleeping. I advice you not wake them up, for a have a feeling it will not end well for you two."

This immediately shut them up, the rational part of them clearly stating they didn't want to get Neji on their asses, along with a very vicious Inuzuka on their trail. And to be perfectly honest, they especially didn't want Kiba of all people to wake up. Taking one look at both Naruto and Sasuke, who would start spreading gossip about the two being in an intimate relationship like wild fire.

"And as to what happened…" Itachi trailed off, making up his mind. If he lied, his brother would probably be scarred for life… not that that was all that bad of an idea, but still, Mikoto would ask questions later…

"…absolutely nothing." came his soft reply several seconds later.

Sasuke and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, I am tired, and will sleep for a while longer. Naruto, put clothes on, and don't make too much of a disturbance." Itachi insisted before he laid his head back on his pillow.

He heard soft footsteps shortly after, and then heard his door slide closed.

Ahh, peace and quiet… though he honestly wouldn't mind having some company right about now… more specifically, Sakura's.

He miserably failed to ignore Akamaru's snoring from the couch; he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting that much sleep any more.

"Breakfast is ready!" Ino shouted loudly as she flipped the last pancake on the pan, and placed it on a plate that already had several pancakes on them. She turned off the fire and brought the plate over to the table, and waited patiently for everyone to come.

Sakura came out last, her hair a complete mess, her eyes with heavy bags, and her pjs wrinkled. She sat down groggily in between Temari and TenTen and lifted up a fork, ready to eat.

"Looks like someone woke up at the wrong side of the bed." Temari whistled in astonishment as she took in Sakura's figure.

"I had a horrible nightmare." Sakura stated, as she poured herself some orange juice.

"About what?" TenTen questioned.

"I was seducing Itachi with that… thing." She almost hissed as she glared at the boxes that neatly lay on Ino's couch.

"Having fantasies about him already Sakura? This can't be good… or maybe it can. You'll probably be using that outfit sooner than expected." Ino almost chirped merrily.

If it weren't for the fact that it would have been a complete waste, Sakura would have thrown her orange juice all over Ino. Instead, Sakura settled for a very ferocious growl.

"Fine, fine, I won't bring it up again." Ino raised her hands up in the air in mercy, as if Sakura were holding a gun up to her. "I'm just saying; it's going to happen." Ino side-stepped cautiously, before taking her seat across from Sakura, just as a precaution.

Conversation arose from there, Hinata and Nijiko, strangely enough, talking to TenTen's stomach, while Ino, Temari, and Sakura started talking about the ANBU exams that were said to be arriving soon.

"You know, I could have sworn your belly was smaller yesterday." Hinata stated, staring at TenTen's stomach. It had now taken a mild-ish round state. What had it been now, 2 months?

"Anyway, Temari, how'd you manage to come to the sleepover? I thought you had some important meetings in Suna to go too. I was surprised to see you here." Sakura said. "Plus, you said most meetings take forever."

"Ha, get this!" Temari tried to hide her laughter. "The meeting was about getting them in the wedding invites!" Temari almost scoffed. "They knew I was close personal friends with you after all. Seriously, this is like, the wedding of the year, TenTen's wedding coming short by just an inch." Temari rolled her eyes.

"So that's what it was?" Sakura asked, eating her pancakes.

"That, and," Temari paused shortly to drink some milk, "there were some thousands of papers that had piled up in my office Gaara had insisted I take care of. But seeing that I kept insisting you needed me there by your side, he let it slide, as long as I got those bags into the wedding. So what'dya say Saku-chan?" Temari grinned.

"I say, if it keeps you grounded in Konoha, I'll be damned if I let this offer pass by." Sakura assured.

"Well then, I just need to send a message to them that their invites will reach them shortly." and with that, Temari high-fived Sakura.

"Well, for the most part," Sakura took a moment to sip her orange juice, "Mikoto had agreed she and Fugaku would personally take care of any other guest invites, seeing as Tsunade-shishou said this would be perfect time to increase country loyalties and such. Also, it would be in Fugaku's best interest to make sure he invites any other special and regal clan." Sakura explained. "So I'll just tell them that inviting Suna heads would be in there best interest too." Sakura said.

"Sounds good to me." Temari agreed.

"So, Hinata, how are things with Naruto going? Is he getting a clue yet?" Ino changed the subject.

Hinata sighed, shaking her head. "No, not yet."

"Seriously, can lover-boy be any denser?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" TenTen asked.

"Well," Sakura began, "On missions, you're all he can talk about, and he's always eager to come back to Konoha to see you, but he doesn't get maybe it's time to pop the question, seriously?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

Hinata blushed at said comment.

"Still," Ino said, "I think it's because Naruto is lacking the maturity to understand what a true commitment is." Ino explained.

"On the contraire," Temari paused shortly, "I think maybe it's because he understands the maturity needed for a commitment such as marriage, and understands he doesn't quite have enough maturity for a proposal is why he hasn't popped the question."

"Wow… such a psychologically viewed answer." Nijiko noted.

"She doesn't have an IQ that rivals Shikamaru and exceeds Neji for no reason." Ino noted dully, nodding her head up and down.

"That's our Temari for ya." Sakura grinned.

"Hmm… French fries with fudge…" TenTen muttered somewhat oddly to herself as she put down her fork.

The girls sweat-dropped.

"Blame the baby." TenTen glared at them all.

"Oh no, we're not judging you Ten-chan." Sakura stifled a giggle.

"It's just rather odd to think we might become like that in who knows how long, is all." Ino agreed.

"Whatever" TenTen huffed.

"You know, your stomach isn't the only thing growing." Ino said in between munches of her toast.

TenTen frowned, looking down at her chest… so it hadn't been just her and her imagination…

"I've noticed." TenTen sighed in pity.

"Hey, what's with the sadness? I'm sure Neji will enjoy it." Sakura winked at her.

"Hey, hey," TenTen warned "you're definitely not in a position to judge, Sa-ku-ra." She teased.

Sakura blushed and glared at TenTen, who merely smirked and high-fived Temari. "Whatever" Sakura dismissed said comment.

"What time is it?" Nijiko asked.

"Hmm, around 12:00" Ino responded after a while, looking back at her digital clock in the kitchen. "Why? Had plans with Sasuke-kun." She teased.

Nijiko blushed but nodded her head. "Picnic" she merely muttered.

"Ahh, then maybe we shouldn't keep you here for too long." Hinata giggled lightly.

"What's the plan for today girls?" Ino asked.

"Neji's keeping me under his watch." TenTen shrugged. "I don't think I'll be leaving anywhere soon; damn Hyuga." She frowned lightly.

"I was going to go play in the park with Kiba and Akamaru." Ino announced.

"Lounge around and stare at clouds with Shika" Temari shrugged. "Maybe get him to take some action."

"I wonder what type of action." Ino teased.

"Any type of action that lets me know I'm not wasting my time with his lazy-ass self." Temari rolled her eyes.

"Someone sounds desperate." TenTen snorted.

"Well excuse me, but when you have someone who prefers to sleep than interact in some form of sexual activity with an attractive kunoichi, you know something's wrong." Temari rolled her eyes.

The girls laughed. "Well, what are you doing Sakura?" Temari changed the subject.

"I don't know" Sakura shrugged. "I guess I'll stop by the compound first so I can get a shower and change, and I'll see how everything goes from there. Mikoto said she'll try to do most of the wedding arrangements."

"Naruto said he would visit me in the Hyuga Compound later on." Hinata said.

"Hmm… so are schedules are sort of booked and set, huh?" Nijiko said.

"Pretty much besides me, but I'm sure I'll find something." Sakura shrugged.

"Well then, first things first; let's finish breakfast." TenTen sighed.

"Itachi, I'm back." Sakura said loudly as she entered the compound. She heard no reply. "Itachi?" she tried once again, looking around and making her way to the room.

It was empty, along with a few beer bottles out of place…

'Since when did Itachi drink?' she picked up the bottle suspiciously and threw it away in the trash can, only to discover it was already filled with other beer bottles and sake.

What the hell went on here the night before? It looked like Itachi was attacked by several drunken buffoons and-

The answer hit her like a thousand bricks shortly after… he had been invaded by the gang…

Sakura almost snorted at the thought of how Itachi dealt with them. Maybe this was why she liked older men; they had a greater sense of responsibility and they didn't go getting hangovers every weekend, when their girlfriends decided they wanted some time to themselves.

'Ugghh, the torture he must have gone through.' Sakura almost felt bad for Itachi…

Deciding the place was a mess, she set down the 'presents' the girls had given her the previous night on the bed, and took care of all the alcoholic beverages that were still in the room, and then threw them out, going back inside to make the bed, and neatly put away the gaming system.

Afterwards, when Sakura deemed the room spotless, she decided she deserved that hot bath she had wanted oh-so badly earlier.

Sakura quickly got her undergarments and locked herself in the bathroom, turning on the warm water and letting it cascade down her body. The warm water felt so good, probably because of all the previous stress, what with Ino threatening her into seducing the Itachi clone the night before. And not to mention her nightmares had given her a very small amount of time to sleep.

In fact, Sakura thought as she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body, she should take a nap now…

Sakura quickly put on her undergarments and again, wrapped the towel around her body as she opened the door and searched the drawers for some clothes.

Just as she grabbed a red spaghetti top and black pants, the door to the room slid open.

Sakura, startled, jumped slightly and looked at the door, seeing Itachi there.

"Umm… hi…" Sakura said almost innocently, taking in the situation… only wrapped in a towel…

Itachi held back his smirk… goodness this was exactly what he needed to brighten his day alright… "Good morning." He nodded as he entered the room, and took in the neatness of it all. "You cleaned the room." He noted.

"Umm yeah… I figured the guys were here, huh?" Sakura said.

"Hn" he held back the need to roll his eyes. What a pain they had been. Instead, he settled for a scowl.

"Ahh, so they were a pain in the ass; I thought as much." Sakura giggled.

Itachi went up to her and kissed her in the forehead. "How was the, ahh, sleepover?" Itachi asked.

"Umm… it was good." She began. "Many surprises, some not that pleasant, but, good over all." Sakura explained.

"You got presents?" Itachi inquired, moving his hands to open the large pink box.

Sakura's eyes widened in panic and she rushed to the bed and put her hands on box, preventing him from opening it. "I-It's nothing." Sakura stuttered out, dropping her clothes on the bed.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, removing his hand almost hesitantly. "…Ahh"

"It's just a few silly presents they got me." She hurriedly picked up the box and ran to the closet, kneeling down, opening it, and putting the box at the furthest corner of the closet, and doing her best to put as many stuff over it as possible.

She then stood up and turned around, closing the door behind her, a fake grin on her features.

Itachi stared at her oddly… she was definitely hiding something… and sooner or later, he'd find out about it… no matter what.

"Anyway, I'll go change…" Sakura trailed off, as she stepped forward, towards the bathroom.

What she didn't count on was for her towel to have gotten caught by the closet door… So when she stepped forward, her towel stayed put… and down, the towel went…

Sakura almost instantly felt the chilling breeze all over her body, and she could not believe that just happened.

'It's all that stupid outfits fault!" she growled in frustration.

Itachi was as shocked as Sakura was, all of a sudden seeing her flesh, instead of a green towel.

Itachi blinked twice, making sure he wasn't imagining this, and by his third blink, Sakura was gone, locked in the bathroom.

He still couldn't believe that happened…

From the other side of the door, Sakura was cursing her luck. She almost felt like crying; there were tears at the corner of her eyes.

'Itachi… he just… and I…' Sakura slowly sank to the floor, propping her knees up and grabbing her pink locks tightly. 'How can I possibly face him now?' a small tear fell down her cheeks.

Sakura was locked in the bathroom for over an hour. When she was done crying, she slowly crawled out of the bathroom; Itachi was nowhere in sight. Good. She didn't really want to see him right now.

Sakura quickly got her clothes and went back to the bathroom to change into her clothes.

When Sakura opened the door again, she saw Itachi lying on the bed.

Their eyes met for several seconds until Sakura looked down in embarrassment. This had to be the worst day of her life! Seriously, how could she have possibly not felt that her towel was caught in the door?

"Sakura" his voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked up, almost hesitant at looking at him square in the face.

"Come" he simply stated.

Sakura complied, walking to the bed and sitting down. She looked down at her lap, avoiding his gaze.

But of course, Itachi being Itachi, would not stand for that.

"Look at me"

Sakura turned, tears at the corner of her eyes again. She felt ashamed she let that happen.

Itachi was by her side in a split second, his hand on her cheek. "You are not at fault for what happened." He stated, using his thumb to wipe away her tears. Sakura didn't respond, still taken aback by Itachi's actions. When did he become so sensitive?

"Besides, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Said comment made Sakura blush. She didn't know whether she should take that as a compliment and say thank you, or be furious he actually looked.

'You know, I have seen him in his boxers…' Sakura thought. But still, there was a very big difference between the two, wasn't there?

Sakura didn't even realize when Itachi brought her close, and they were now lying on the bed. "I'm bound to see that someday."

'…and everything else…' Itachi mused, but decided that would be taking it too far. She'd probably either get really mad, or begin to cry again.

"I know" Sakura tried to not let her voice crack.

"Then you shouldn't worry too much." Itachi gently kissed her forehead and laid her on his chest.

Sakura sighed. Itachi seriously made it hard to stay mad or worried, which wasn't such a good thing at times. What if she was seriously mad at him one of these days? He'd just have a make-out session with her and bam; they're best buddies again…

But then again…

'This is… nice.' Sakura yawned with a sleepy smile on her face… hey; she did indeed say she wanted a nap…

Itachi found Sakura sound asleep on him after about 10 minutes. He smiled slightly, grabbing her small hand and wrapping his own over it. Who would have thought that the little pink-haired girl in front of him would be strong enough to smash through mountains, and yet, be gentle enough to warm up to him?

Itachi simply closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep once again; he was fairly tired.

After about an hour after Naruto and Sasuke had woken up, Neji and Shikamaru had awoken, them being the two that had consumed the least amount of alcohol. With their help, he had dropped off Kiba and Akamaru at the Inuzuka Compound, and then did the same with Naruto, while Sasuke went out, stating he was going on a date with Nijiko.

They'd been asleep for four hours…

And frankly, it had been the best four hours of their lives. What was better than a long, relaxing nap after a restless night filled with many loud shouts and such? And not to mention the small 'training' Sakura had done. The mere thought sent shivers down her spine once again.

God, Itachi had almost seen the contents of the box! If she hadn't nearly died before, she would surely die then! In a way, she was almost glad her towel got caught. Surely, once Sakura was in the bathroom, he would have gone on the hunt to see what was in the box. At least the… mild distraction, made him forget completely about it. At least, she hoped anyway.

That box would need to be hidden for the next few weeks… maybe even months, before anyone found out what was truly in it.

'In fact…' Sakura frowned slightly, 'I should probably put a seal on that god-forsaken thing.' Sakura glowered.

Sakura looked to her right where Itachi was still sound asleep. He looked almost angelic when he was unconscious. Of course, that went away as soon as he opened his eyes; the first thing he'd do would be smirk his perverted smirk at her anyway. There was nothing angelic about that.

Still, Sakura couldn't help but smile as she gently moved her hand and started playing with the stray strands of hair on his shoulders and face. Once she got tired of his hair, she started caressing his cheeks softly, wondering if he would feel it and be on complete alert mode if she kissed him. Knowing Itachi, he probably would.

"Harassing me in my sleep, hmm?" Itachi hummed out, a small smirk appearing on his face.

Ahh, see, how did she know? "Would it be sexual harassment if you enjoyed it?" Sakura asked out loud.

"Who knows" he planted a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Sexual harassment" She teased, trying to push herself away from Itachi.

Itachi quickly brought her closer. "You owe me two nonetheless." He muttered, burying his face on her shoulder.

Damn… Sakura had been praying he had forgotten about them… Damn Karin, see what she did? Now she was doomed to suffer under Itachi's will. Most –if not all- would find that very intimidating and frightful, but Sakura found it frightful for another reason, after all, she knew him much better than anyone else.

"Can't we just forget about those? Start fresh?" Sakura hoped.

"No" Itachi answered almost two quickly.

Sakura pouted, eyeing with a sad face even though he couldn't see her; his eyes were still closed. "Well, I at least demand it change to one." Sakura said.

"And why would I comply?" Itachi hummed out, peeking at her with one eye open.

Sakura blushed. "Because of what happened." She wanted to see his reaction, but then again, she didn't want to look him square in the face, still embarrassed about it.

"Ahh, the… incident." Itachi's words were laced with amusement. "Maybe we can make an exception for that; just this once, perhaps."

"Just this once?" Sakura glared.

"Ahh" he confirmed.

"Mean…" she trailed off, sighing. Itachi didn't reply; instead, he got up and stretched his arms sorely. Sakura just watched in curiosity. "What are you doing now?" Sakura asked, half bored.

"Clan preparations" Itachi said.

"At 5:30?" Sakura questioned.

Itachi gave a curt nod. "I just need to pick up a few files. I was supposed to do it at 3:00." Itachi explained.

"And they won't mind you're over two hours late? I thought clan meetings and such were very important, and missing one of them was like taboo." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"It is." Itachi confirmed.

"Well… won't you get in trouble?" Sakura asked.

"I'll be in charge in less than a month; they really have no say." Itachi smirked. "Besides, I'm sure Okaa-san could manage to save me from this one, seeing as I was with you, for four hours, in bed, with the house completely empty." He gave a long description, as if telling her to fill in the blanks.

The truth dawned on her as she stared at the amused smirk now plastered on his face. It was like he had planned out everything in his head; from the moment he spotted her in the room, until now. Hell, for all she knew, he probably even had tomorrow planned out already.

Sakura half glared, half frowned at the man before her. "You're a despicable man, you know that?"

"I recall being called that more than once, yes." Itachi stated. "Though, most did in fact come from Sasuke, and Shisui." He added.

"I bet they did." Sakura sighed. Just once she would like for something to happen that would totally throw Itachi off. Of course, that was probably bound to never happen, unless it so happened to be that Shisui beat him in a one-on-one match any time soon.

As funny as it may seem now, Sakura would be the only person that could throw him off guard…

About 2 hours passed of Sakura being utterly completely bored with utterly nothing to do, before Mikoto and Itachi appeared, and they had take-out! Yeah, Sakura hadn't eaten since breakfast…

"So," Mikoto began conversation at the dining table, "how was alone time?"

Sakura almost choked on her sushi…

"You really weren't joking." Sakura muttered, trying not to roll her eyes.

"Hn" he replied, almost smirking.

"It was… good."

Mikoto erupted in squeals, obviously thinking something else.

'Yeah right, like I'llget pregnant anytime soon.' Sakura held back the need to snort. She felt like telling Mikoto the truth, but she had a feeling she would get Itachi in trouble by doing so, seeing as he hadn't already told his mother the full story.

She gave Itachi a look, as if mentally saying 'you did plan all of this, didn't you?'

He merely replied with a look that said more than enough; he obviously did. Of course, he never truly gave Mikoto a real description of what had actually happened. Because then, there'd be nothing more to say than the fact that he had been tired, and he had over-slept on purpose, using Sakura as an excuse for his lethargic-self. Because then Mikoto would be bummed, and she wouldn't be able to bail Itachi out of that one.

"You're too conniving for your own good, Itachi." She sighed, staring at Mikoto, who was still in la-la land. She probably didn't even hear Sakura now.

"Perhaps" he admitted. But hell, if his intelligence was enough to save him from a few hours of work, he wouldn't mind… after all, it was that very same intelligence that got him into all the work he had anyway.

"Perhaps?" Sakura questioned. It was more like 'I know' in her opinion.

Itachi merely smirked, instead of letting the conversation further develop. He didn't need Sakura turning against him any time soon… not just yet, anyway.

They finished their dinner in silence for the most part. Mikoto didn't ask any further of what went on in their room… Sakura didn't question her motive not to. She didn't need Itachi getting in trouble because of her, now did she?

After dinner, Sakura began to discuss adding some extra invitations for Suna, courtesy of Temari. Geez, the things Sakura did for her best friends.

"Suna heads, right?" Mikoto chirped.

Sakura nodded. "Tsunade-shishou believes it will further increase the ties between our two villages." Sakura made up the most liable excuse she could think up at the moment, which happened to be really believable.

"Well, she is right about that, that's for sure." Mikoto noted. "Ever since the Chunin Exams, they have been rather…" Mikoto trailed off for the right words. "reserved." She answered after a while.

Sakura nodded. "Temari can deliver the wedding invitations, seeing as she must head back in around 2 days. Kazekage-sama needs her back."

"Ahh yes, I'll get those ready right away Sakura, don't worry." Mikoto replied, assuring her. "But in the meantime," she paused for a short while. "We need to discuss two important things." Mikoto said.

"I'm listening" Sakura chirped.

"One, the dress." Mikoto addressed.

"I thought you said it was traditional?" Sakura responded.

"Ahh yes, but me and Yuri have come up with a fabulous idea. First the ceremony, then the reception." Mikoto said, bubbling with excitement.

"Ahh" she didn't even notice she was sounding like Itachi. "So what were you thinking for the theme of the reception?"

"I didn't have any particular ideas." Mikoto shrugged. "I thought it would've been best for you to pick out the dress you wanted, and we would see what happens from there." she explained.

"Sounds good." Sakura hummed out, her imagination taking her away.

She wasn't too excited about being a wife and having kids, but hell, she had been dreaming about her wedding dress since forever. She could still remember when she would sleep over at Ino's house when they were but 5 years of age, and they would proclaim they would marry Sasuke and have small Uchiha babies –smaller than them- and what their wedding would be like. Sakura had even tried to picture herself grown, and beautiful.

Of course, she mostly over-exaggerated how beautiful she looked, and often fantasized that she had out-grown her odd forehead.

Oh, those were the days of innocence alright.

"Good night, Sakura." Mikoto kissed her on the cheek good night, and then left to who knows where, because it certainly wasn't her room.

Apparently, she had said she'd leave the dress to Sakura, and said she'd be sleeping over at Yuri's…

Sakura stared at the kitchen clock…

'It's only 6:00…' Sakura felt her anger rising as she understood what Mikoto had done, and why.

"Damn Uchiha!" Sakura growled rather viciously under her breath.

From upstairs in the bedroom, Itachi could already feel he was in for it…

Needless to say, he did the quickest and easiest thing he could do to possibly get away from Sakura's wrath; lock himself in the bathroom and turn the shower on.

And just in time too, because Sakura came barging in and started pounding on the bathroom door. "Look what you did Itachi!" she growled, wondering if it would be too wrong if she broke the door down… but the shower was running… maybe he was showering…?

'An even better reason to shred the door down to pieces.' Something inside of her thought.

WHOA, where did that come from? Either the 'sex-up Itachi clone' lesson was really starting to make her crack, or she had been spending way too much time with Ino when she was drunk…

Sakura could not believe that thought popped into her mind. Hell, it wasn't even her thought! She would never think about that!

Sakura shivered and stopped banging on the door. Instead, she went straight to the closet and dug out the pink box, now deciding it might be best to burn it.

"Ino did this on purpose." She swore under her breath.

Sakura stared at it for several minutes, not noticing when Itachi stealthily opened the bathroom door and examined Sakura closely, wondering what had made her stop in the middle of her tirade.

Again, she found her staring at that pink box, and again, curiosity came.

Hmm, what the hell!

Itachi swiftly walked up to her and took the box.

Almost immediately Sakura tried to take it back. "No Itachi!" she panicked.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. Turning around and walking away swiftly, trying to put some space in between them so maybe he has enough time to peek.

Oh, but Sakura was right behind him in less than a split second, and she jumped on his back, much to his surprise. "Itachi!" she whined, reaching for the box.

Too bad Itachi was determined to find out what was in that box. Sakura had never been so secretive before, so for this to happen…

Itachi tried to free himself from Sakura's beyond immense hold, but she wouldn't budge. How was he supposed to get her off of him without physically hurting her?

Ahh, the idea popped into his head. That was the key word; physically.

"Do you desire another punishment?"

He felt Sakura's hold on him falter for the slightest of seconds, and he knew he was getting somewhere, so he continued.

"Is this really something I can't be trusted with?" he asked.

"Yes" Sakura stated bluntly all too quickly.

Itachi stared back at her for a few seconds, eyebrow raised.

Sakura sighed, slumping her shoulders as she gently got off of him. "Fine, fine. You can look in there if you want. But you're not gonna like what you see." Sakura stood beside him, nervous.

Itachi smirked in satisfaction. Ahh, he loved getting his way; it was like music to his ears.

He stared at the cover closely. There was a fancy white heart in the middle; it looked awfully familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Nevertheless, it didn't quite matter; he'd find out what was in there in a matter of seconds.

His thumb rounded the corner of the box and he slowly lifted it.

'Psych!' Sakura swiftly shut the box closed, snatch it, and disappeared before Itachi could even blink.

Like hell she'd let Itachi even remotely close to seeing the box's contents.

Itachi smirked. Sakura was getting more and more conniving with every passing day. Good. He wanted a challenge.

"Sakura" the corners of his lips twitched upwards.

Sakura, now holding the box to her chest closely, looked up at him with her oh-so innocent, green doe eyes, a small pout on her face and said "Yes Itachi?"

Itachi's passive façade faltered for a second.

Sakura knew it would happen, and the moment it did, she dashed outside the window, a victorious smile on her face.

Once outside, she ran to a corner and turned, immediately making a clone exactly like herself and sending it straight ahead, hoping Itachi would fall for it.

'I'm so dropping this off at Ino's until further notice.'

And she did.

After about twenty minutes, Sakura returned to the compound. Opening the door, she was immediately met with the sight of Itachi hovering over her. Let's just say, he didn't look as nice as he could…

"I love you?" she said questioningly with an innocent smile, hoping it would get her out of trouble.

Itachi smirked. "Hn"

End of Chapter

Wow, I'm sorry it's been so long. Truthfully, this chapter had been nearly completely done but I had forgotten about it o.o You all have the right to yell at me for this xD I yelled at myself for it =O

Thank Moon Symphony for reviewing and making me check if I updated this chapter or not xD

Anyway, yeah, I wanted to make this a funny chapter :D hope you guys enjoyed it!

Drop a review plz?

-Marzy-chan~~! :))