I am not the kind of girl

Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion

But you are not the kind of boy

Who should be marrying the wrong girl

Taylor Swift, Speak Now.

Itachi is having dinner at the Uchiha Manor tonight. If you think you can talk him out of this farce, please come and do so, because he won't listen to me.

Sasuke.

Sakura stood outside the Uchiha Manor, looking at the exterior of the house speculatively. She still remembered the first time she had visited this place. She had thought herself in love with Sasuke and Sachiko and Itachi were still the most perfect people in the world to her. Now she and Sasuke had an uneasy truce based on mutual understanding and she knew Sachiko was too emotional and Itachi was a spineless, lonely man.

Now, because of Itachi's desperate need to do everything right, he had forced them all into impossible positions – Sasuke hated Sachiko and was going to be forced to endure her becoming a member of his family, Sakura loved Itachi and was going to be forced to watch him marry someone else and Sachiko was marrying someone who she mistakenly believed loved her.

All because Itachi needed to be a good man.

It was the day before the wedding and Sakura's tears had long since dried up.

She had decided the night before as she lay in bed trying to get to sleep. She was not going to let this ruin her life. If Itachi chose to marry Sachiko after all, then she wouldn't break down. She would pity the two of them and then get on with her life.

It was easy enough to declare that she could walk away unhurt from this, but she knew from experience that heartbreak came whether you expected it to or not. Running away wouldn't solve anything.

So she would grit her teeth and bear the pain. She would congratulate the married couple, maybe buy Sachiko some flowers (because she really deserved them), help Sasuke get over his hatred for Sachiko, and wait a few years until the ache in her chest went away.

And in the meantime, she had a few options to distract herself from the pain of losing Itachi. In her pocket lay the business card of a woman who had come to her house after the play and told her she had potential. The woman was a talent scout, and it was the chance Sakura had been waiting for.

Sakura looked up at the sky.

It was white with clouds, not a hint of blue showing. The wind had a chilly bite to it that made her instinctively think of snow.

"So, Mum," She said quietly, eyes on the sky, "I'm going to make you proud. I'm going to follow my dream. And I won't lose myself along the way, don't worry."

Then she took a deep breath to give her courage and pulled the cord next to the grand entrance door. She heard a deep tolling sound ring through the house.

Mikoto answered the door.

"Sakura-chan!" She said brightly, her smile slightly forced, "Are you here to see Sasuke?"

"No," Sakura said brusquely as if she wasn't terrified of what she was doing, invading the Uchiha manor, "I think you know who I'm here to see."

"He is getting married tomorrow." Mikoto said coldly, "He doesn't need you messing things up for him."

"What could I mess up?" Sakura asked, triumphantly crowing inside. She knew Fugaku would have told Mikoto all about what a filthy little homewrecker she was, "He's my friend. If he really wants to get married, he will. He's a big boy after all. Makes his own decisions."

Mikoto gave her a look of pure poison, "I believed you were a nice girl when you first came round here."

"I never pegged you for a criminal." Sakura said pointedly. No way was this woman accusing her of anything when she was responsible for at least fifty percent of Itachi's screwed up nature.

Mikoto actually laughed, "I don't know what my sons have told you, but I have never committed a crime in my life."

"You've been party to some." Sakura smiled nastily at her, "Or are you trying to tell me you had no idea what Fugaku was doing?"

"My wife and I share everything." Fugaku's voice rumbled down the hall, and then his broad shape appeared.

Despite herself, Sakura shrank back. Fugaku had sneered at her house and made it clear he thought of her as nothing more than a skanky tramp who wasn't good enough for either of his sons.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and a whisper, clear as day, in her ear, You're my smart, beautiful little princess and I just know you'll grow into that wonderful woman one day.

She closed her eyes and laughed wryly. She turned around and looked up at the sky.

It didn't matter what they thought of her. She was her own person and she wasn't going to change for anyone.

"Oh yeah?" Sakura replied, baring her teeth in an almost-smile as Fugaku bore down on her, "Did she keep lookout for you?"

"You aren't welcome here." Fugaku isn't even bothering to hide behind a pretence of politeness, just scowls hard down at her in a way that makes her think she threatens him somehow. Or his plans, at least.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I've been invited to come here. I can leave and come back another time, if you like – "

"Come in, Sakura." Sasuke said, standing on the stairs in the middle of the entrance hall.

" – I'll just be coming in, then –" She said smugly, slipping lithely past Fugaku's surprised form, ignoring Mikoto's outraged noise.

"Come up to my room first." Sasuke said casually and even though they were only going to make nefarious plots to bring down the dreaded wedding Sakura's stomach still did a giddy little flip at being invited into Uchiha Sasuke's bedroom. So yeah. She's still a little pathetic.

"I want that door left open!" Mikoto called up the stairs half-heartedly.

Sakura turned slightly as she travelled up the stairs and treated the irritated Uchiha parents to a saucy wink, chuckling at Mikoto's immediate paling.

"I think your mother believes I have designs on your person." Sakura informed Sasuke as they crossed the large landing.

Sasuke just shrugged because he was a handsome bastard and frankly, she couldn't think of anyone who didn't want to jump his bones. Maybe Ino, she seemed to have zero interest in him.

"You did, once." Sasuke said shamelessly, opening a polished door and slipping into the room.

"It's OK," Sakura followed him in, "You come up with a new way to remind me why I never went there every single day."

Sasuke's room was just as dull and monochrome as Itachi's, the only difference being that he had a bunk bed. The top bunk had an orange blanket, oddly enough, and a worn, old frog toy lying on the pillow. The carpet was soft and black and so devoid of typical boy-messes like crumbs that Sakura suspected Mikoto assaulted it with a vacuum cleaner daily.

"So, where's Itachi?" She asked, lowering her voice unnecessarily.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You do have it bad. He's downstairs somewhere, I don't know. He might still be writing his vows."

Sakura winced. Handwritten vows?

"I'm not having an affair with him, you know. He only kissed me once and I wasn't very happy about it."

"I believe you." Sasuke sat down on his bed and yawned lazily.

Sakura looked around awkwardly for somewhere to sit, really not wanting to squeeze in the bunk next to him, and finally settled for sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

"So, why do you want to stop them getting married so badly? You can't hate Sachiko that much." Sakura asked curiously.

Sasuke gave a snarky little laugh at that, tugging his hand through the dark spikes of his hair.

"You're right. I don't hate her at all."

"Then… why…?"

"Why don't you want Itachi to marry Sachiko?"

"Because I love him." Sakura said with absolute conviction then froze. She had never said that out loud before. She had never really even acknowledged it to herself.

"Oh God. I'm so pathetic." She put her head in her hands.

"Then I'm just as pathetic as you." Sasuke drawled, "Because I don't want Sachiko to marry Itachi."

She slowly lifted her head, "I'm sorry – what?"

He didn't elaborate, just stared at her with slightly raised eyebrows, allowing the little bomb he'd dropped to detonate.

"You love Sachiko." Sakura stated. "SACHIKO. SHE OF THE FLAGRANT STUPIDITY."

"I may have overstated my hatred of her." Sasuke said casually, "I didn't exactly want Itachi to know I liked his girlfriend, after all."

"I am very confused." Sakura said blankly.

"I know. Unlike you, I didn't shout it from the rooftops, so I can see why it surprised you."

"You made her cry, you called her stupid…"

"She isn't as weak as she seems." Sasuke said with a touch of defensiveness in his tone, "She wouldn't have cried if you called her stupid. She thought I hated her."

"Does she like you back?"

All this time Fugaku and Mikoto had been worried about Sakura ruining their son's perfect relationship when all along Sasuke was the filthy little homewrecker!

"She's never said anything. But I know she does." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Sakura was seized with a sudden desire to plead with him to teach her his all-knowing ways so she too could possess the power of perceiving when someone actually liked her.

"All this time… I've felt so guilty for liking Itachi and him liking me and argh! She likes you! I don't get this at all…"

"She wouldn't cheat on Itachi with me and you wouldn't let Itachi cheat on her with you." Sasuke pointed out.

"Wow. This is… complicated… No, wait, do you think Sachiko would leave Itachi for you?"

"No." Sasuke said bluntly. "She isn't as naïve as you think, by the way. She has some idea of what's going on between you and Itachi, but she still thinks she'd be breaking Itachi's heart if she left him. Would Itachi leave Sachiko for you?"

"Oh my God this is so weird. I can't believe we're even discussing this. No, I don't think he would. He's still hung up on being a nice guy, I guess. We really fail at being homewreckers."

"What?"

"Nothing. Um, what if –"

"Sasuke, do you have a pen? I broke mine –"

Itachi barrelled straight into the room holding a broken pen aloft and a crumpled, screwed up piece of paper by his side.

He immediately stared at Sakura, sitting on the floor looking majorly out of place.

He stumbled somehow whilst standing stock still and gawped at her openly.

"Hi there." She said feebly, just as shocked as him by his sudden appearance.

Sasuke gave an annoyed tuh, "Go buy your own fucking pen."

Itachi's face crumpled suddenly and he whirled around, hands in his hair, "What are you doing here? I can't do this." He said helplessly.

"You really can." Sasuke chimed in.

"Please do." Sakura requested.

Itachi sighed, rubbing his forehead like he was in for a serious headache later, and said, "OK, Sasuke, out of the room now."

"This is my room." Sasuke grumbled but was already off the bed and making his way out. He turned and gave Sakura a meaningful look, as if to say don't screw up.

Itachi closed the door behind him and stood in front of Sakura. He paced a bit and then, seeming to decide something, plonked himself down on the floor next to her.

"Please don't marry Sachiko." Sakura said pleadingly. Now that she was here, saying the words, it hit her what exactly she was doing and how big it was. She, an eighteen year old nobody - a smart, beautiful little princess, she repeated her mother's words savagely to herself – trying to come between a twenty-something year old man and his perfect fiancée…

"It's the day before my wedding," Itachi replied, and something in his voice sounded like a plea too, "You had to do this now? Not weeks ago? Not back when I first told you I loved you?"

"How could I, when you were with someone else, someone sweet and lovely and…"

"So what's changed?" Itachi said urgently, "Sachiko is still sweet and lovely, as far as I know."

Sasuke and Sachiko are in love, Sakura thought. That's what changed.

A little flicker of doubt crossed her mind. Sachiko had never told Sasuke she loved him back. She wanted to marry Itachi, she'd said yes when he asked her, she'd not backed out at all and seemed so happy to be with him…

"You don't love her." Sakura said simply, because that was the important thing.

His face crumpled and he squeezed his fist up against his mouth, his words coming out muffled and desperate, "I just want to be a good person. I don't know how to do that."

"This isn't the way. You can't be perfect, no one is –"

"You are the one who wanted to be perfect!" Itachi argued, "What happened to the shy girl with dreams of being popular?"

"Maybe I grew up." Sakura said, refusing to rise to the bait, "You should probably do the same. I can't fix this for you. I can't tell Sachiko why your marriage won't work. All I can do is ask you to think about what you really want. Would you be happy if tomorrow, everything worked out fine, you married Sachiko, spent a few months with her and realised you couldn't do it? Aren't you tired of living a lie? Being a good little boy for your father instead of living for yourself like the grown man you actually are? Putting on a mask to charm people, never being honest with anyone, especially not yourself… You are never going to be happy if you just do what you think other people want you to do! Especially when that person doesn't have your best interests at heart!"

Itachi stared at her.

"You can be lonely inside a crowd." Sakura said slowly, "If you go ahead with this, you don't just lose me. You lose Sasuke. I don't know how many friends you've got, but you only have one brother and I know you care about him more than you let on. You'll have Sachiko for as long as you can convince her you love her and that marrying her was the best thing that ever happened to you. You'll have your dad's approval, for whatever that's worth, or however long it lasts. This is your mistake and no one can fix it but you."

"I just… I don't know if I can tell her…" Itachi said honestly, his voice sounding hoarse and broken, thick with unshed tears.

"You need to be honest with her for once. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a child that needs to be protected from everything. You approached her, flirted with her, asked her out, asked her to marry you. It has all been you. You started this, you need to finish it. She won't make it easy for you."

"God, I've been… just terrible. What have I been doing? I just thought… I thought you were so young… haven't even finished college yet. Still a kid, really. But you were smart and funny and I hadn't been able to talk to someone so easily for a long time. Beautiful, talented, kind… self-deprecating. You reminded me a little of me. Ha. I wanted to help you out with Sasuke but right from the start, it bothered me that you might be together one day. When I finally figured out why it bothered me, I felt like I had been manipulating you, messing you around with Sasuke for my own means, just so I could see you more. I didn't think I was good for you, so even if you reciprocated my feelings, I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't know what to do… I felt so torn… I've made mistakes before. Big ones. They nearly cost me my family. Risking it all… I'm not capable…" Itachi broke off from his long speech, his head dropping down dejectedly.

"What are you risking? What you stand to lose from this, is Sachiko and your parents. Is keeping them happy really worth making you unhappy?"

"Oh, when did you get so wise?" Itachi laughed, "I thought of you as my student, someone I could teach, when it turns out you've always been smarter than me. But I love my parents. I care for Sachiko. It isn't as simple as you say, black and white, Sachiko and my parents or you and Sasuke."

"It's as simple as marry her or don't. You need to at least consider –"

"Itachi."

Itachi's head shot up at the sound of his father's voice.

Fugaku's frowning face came into view, his hands bracing himself on the doorframe as he leant into the room, "I want a word with you."

"We're talking." Sakura glared at him.

"Don't push your luck." Fugaku returned her look with a venomous glare of his own, "Itachi. Now."

Sasuke hovered in the hallway behind his father, scowling furiously.

"Five minutes." Sakura said, pushing herself up to her feet, surprised at her authoritative tone, "I'm not done talking to him myself."

"You don't tell me how long I have to talk to my own son!"

"Five minutes." Itachi said calmly, his eyes dry, voice steady.

Fugaku moved out of the way so Sakura could pass, stopping her by lightly grabbing her shoulder.

"Do not interfere in our business, little girl." He said coldly.

"Not little," She returned, shaking herself free, "And it is completely my business. Anything that involves Itachi is my business."

Fugaku slammed Sasuke's door shut behind him, ignoring her last statement.

"You have a lovely father." Sakura told Sasuke, grimacing at him.

"I know. How did you do with Itachi?"

"He isn't listening. He's afraid of telling Sachiko, of upsetting everyone."

Sasuke hesitated, thinking. "Maybe I should just tell Sachiko. It's simpler that way."

"He doesn't get off that easily! This is his mistake, his responsibility! Besides, would she even believe you?"

"She'd believe you." Sasuke's gaze was steady and confident, "You're her friend, and you're part of the reason."

"But he needs to do this himself –"

"This isn't some kind of test," Sasuke hissed, "The longer this goes on, the less chance we have of stopping this. Divorce is messy and painful for everyone involved. Do you want that?"

"…No." Sakura closed her eyes. "Shit. Does it have to be me?"

"She'd just think I was trying to break them up. It's worth you giving it a shot."

"Do you… do you really like her?" Sakura asked with genuine curiosity.

Sasuke eyed her with confusion, then straightened up, pulling his phone out of his pocket, "Yes."

"I just didn't see it coming at all. The two of you are total opposites, you know?"

"She tries to cook even though she's no good at it." Sasuke said resignedly, as if he knew she wanted details, "She's enthusiastic about everything. When she compliments someone she means it. She's honest and she couldn't hide her feelings if you put a gun to her head. Everyone in this damn house is fake. She's… not."

Sakura gave him a wide grin, "Wow, this is so weird! You do realise you and Itachi liked each other's girlfriends, huh?"

"You were never my girlfriend." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"As good as!" Sakura said, stung, "You introduced me to your parents! Oh, God… you didn't do that to make Sachiko jealous, did you?"

Sasuke turned around, tapping buttons on his phone, "Shut up, I'm calling her."

"Sasuke and Sachiko, sitting in a tree…" Sakura sang under her breath.

"Shut. Up. Now," Sasuke gave her a fierce scowl, then looked startled, blushing, "Oh, Sachiko? I know. No, I don't want that. Look, come round to the house. Itachi and Sakura are here. I'm trying to sort this all out… Are you… it's just, you sound calm… OK. No, I'm not – Fine, just get over here quickly. Itachi's got something to say to you." He made eye contact with Sakura, nodding seriously.

She sighed.

xxxxxxxx

So drinking tea with Mikoto was weird.

"Is it good?" Mikoto asked politely, no trace of her earlier antagonism in her mannerisms now.

Sakura took a sip from the china cup, savouring the tea's beautiful scent, "It's yummy!" She declared, smiling despite herself.

"Jasmine tea." Mikoto informed her, "My personal favourite."

Sasuke sat on the sofa next to Sakura, his own cup untouched, his foot tapping restlessly. He kept shooting the door anxious glances.

Itachi still hadn't come downstairs.

Sakura gave Sasuke a worried look. He nodded, acknowledging her concern.

"Mikoto-san," Sakura turned to Sasuke's mother, who stood before them, making a show of dusting the mantelpiece, "I don't want to start an argument, but I can't help noticing… Fugaku-san seems to really want Itachi to marry Sachiko. Before, it didn't seem like he approved of her that much, so…"

"We were never really sure what he was doing with her," Mikoto said quietly, eyes on the mantelpiece, "Fugaku told me to leave him to make his own mistakes. He didn't want us to interfere."

Sakura sat in silence, the tea settling in the cup, the warmth leeching into her hands.

There was a creak on the stairs and Sasuke's head shot up.

Itachi opened the living room door and peered in. There was a livid red mark blooming on his cheekbone.

Mikoto let out a breath and clenched her hand around the cloth she was using to polish the ornaments.

"What happened?!" Sakura asked furiously, standing up, hands on her hips.

Itachi shook his head in warning, but started in surprise as a deep tolling sound filled the house. The doorbell.

Sasuke's phone buzzed in his hand. He didn't even look at it, staring as Fugaku came down the stairs after Itachi.

There was a moment of tense silence.

"I'll get it." Sakura volunteered, standing up and placing her cup neatly onto the polished table.

Surprisingly, no one tried to stop her as she crossed the entrance hall and made for the door.

Sachiko stood outside, a big fluffy coat covering her up, her cheeks rosy from the cold.

She blinked at Sakura, then gave her the saddest look of understanding possible.

"Itachi wanted to tell me something." Sachiko said, then winced. She had no reason to feel the need to justify her presence in her boyfriend's house to Sakura, after all.

God, this was all so fucked up.

"Want to go for a walk?" Sakura asked, trying her best to smile at the woman despite the raging churn of guilt bitterness sadness anger in her stomach, almost overcome from the intense rush of emotion.

Sachiko nodded, putting her phone back in her pocket.

Sakura glanced back at the house as she shut the front door behind her. Sasuke was staring out of the window. She waved subtly at him, Sachiko already turned away to walk down the icy path. He nodded.

Sakura followed the girl down the road, trying not to notice the shaking of her shoulders underneath her big, fuzzy coat.

xxxxxxxx

They ended up in a playground, standing next to a frozen lake. Sachiko stared down at her frozen reflection with a complex, unreadable expression on her face.

"I used to be overweight." Sachiko said quietly, so quietly that Sakura had to move closer to hear her, "I was bullied a lot because of it. The other kids told me I was ugly as well as fat. I wasn't good at school, I couldn't do the work like everyone else could. I never got better at school but I lost weight and found out how to do makeup and my hair. I always liked clothes, I liked looking in glossy magazines my mum would leave around the house, see the pretty dresses I could never wear. When I got thin, I got a job making dresses. Most of the time, they were wedding dresses. And… suddenly, I was stuck looking at dresses I would never wear again."

Sakura couldn't look at her, not when it was obvious she had started to cry. Instead, she watched the slick blur of her face move on the ice, her hand reaching up to wipe her eyes.

And then she was pulling her coat sleeve back and Sakura had to look.

Sachiko had silvery scars, neat, regimented, all above the cluster of blue veins in her wrist. Her arm was literally covered in the faded lines.

"When people tell you you're ugly, you believe them," Sachiko said softly, "I could never stop believing them."

For some reason, all Sakura could think of was one of the first conversations she had ever had with Itachi.

"How do you know they don't struggle with their self-esteem?" Itachi had asked when she spoke jealously of confident, beautiful people.

"I'm sorry, Sachiko." Sakura said sincerely, her voice trembling.

Their reflections shimmered as the sun came out from behind the clouds.

Sakura's breath came out in little puffs of mist. Her fingers stung from the bitter wind until she stuck them in her pockets.

"You love Itachi, don't you?" Sachiko asked, swallowing nervously, still wiping her eyes.

"…I think I do." Sakura replied after a long, tense pause. "I really am sorry. About everything."

"I am too," Sachiko pulled her sleeve back down, shivering, "I love him too, you know."

"What about Sasuke?"

Sachiko shot her a look at that. "I don't know. I really don't. I wish I did."

"Do you want to marry Itachi?"

"Yes," Sachiko replied, and Sakura's breath whooshed out of her in shock but then she continued, "I want to wear the dress I didn't have to make for someone else. I want to stand at an altar and know the man standing next to me loves me and only me. I want to be happy."

Sakura's eyes stung. She looked up at the grey and white clouds covering the sky, lost for words.

"But it's not going to happen." Sachiko said thoughtfully, "Not with Itachi."

"Sasuke loves you." Sakura said, trying to ease the pain the older woman was clearly in.

"I guess that's something," Sachiko laughed through her tears, "It's a shame my fiancé doesn't feel that about me instead."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go home. Cry as much as I need. Call my Mum, tell her the wedding's cancelled, hope she's happy to deal with the fallout. Cry some more." Sachiko's mouth trembled, bare of lipstick, and she let out a little despairing sound.

Sakura couldn't hold herself back, she threw her arms around Sachiko and sobbed out, "I am so sorry, please don't – p-please don't hate me, I never wanted this, not ever!"

She felt Sachiko tense in surprise but her thin arms slowly reached up to clutch Sakura back. She smelled like flowers and spice, a rich, mature kind of perfume Sakura still felt too young to wear.

"I'd like to be your friend, still, if that's OK," Sachiko breathed out, a trace of hope in her voice, "I'd miss you."

"I should be the one asking you that." Sakura laughed out shakily, "I'll always be your friend, Sachiko."

Sachiko hugged Sakura tighter.

xxxxxxxx

Somehow, when she walked back to the Uchiha manor, streaks of dark blue and red mingling in the sky, she felt as though she had grown up in that one moment, next to a frozen lake and a broken woman. She felt like she understood more, a quiet kind of confidence slotting neatly into place where her doubts and insecurities used to lie.

She had not asked for this. She had never wanted to be the cause of someone's relationship breaking up, least of all a friend. But it had happened, despite her wishes, and she couldn't take it back.

Sasuke answered the door.

"Sachiko needs you." Sakura said without preamble.

He barrelled past her, already whipping his phone out.

"See you later, then." She called after him, rolling her eyes fondly.

She stepped into the house, wiping her feet on the welcome mat automatically. The entrance hall was dark and silent, all polished wood and dim lighting. She could hear murmuring voices coming from the living room.

She pushed the door open slowly to reveal Itachi sitting on the sofa where she had previously sat, Mikoto uselessly scrubbing at the mantelpiece and Fugaku residing over court, standing over Itachi.

Sakura cleared her throat.

Mikoto gasped and nearly dropped the ugly porcelain clown she was holding. Fugaku turned slightly, his face grim and drawn. Itachi didn't look up, his hands squeezed tight in his lap, the red mark on his face still there.

"Itachi, we need to talk. Again. Outside." Sakura said firmly, not looking at the very frightening Fugaku or the frantically cleaning Mikoto.

Itachi looked up at her from the sofa, his hands clenched together. He stood without a word, and followed her out.

She led him outside, where snow had just begun to fall softly, the world a blur of white shapes.

"So I was going to show up at the church and drag you out if came to it," Sakura said honestly, "But I decided to do the grown up thing."

Itachi just looked at her.

"…Well… being a grown up sucks sometimes." She continued, feeling a warmth flood her eyes and spill over her cheeks, "I feel like I just befriended a puppy, earned its trust, then kicked it in the face."

"You told Sachiko."

"I did."

"Why?"

"You weren't going to. And you weren't the only one who'd be affected if you got married. It would hurt her too, to find out later."

Itachi exhaled, one pale hand reaching up to cover the red mark on his cheekbone. "It should have been me to tell her. I should have at least been there when she was told."

"It wouldn't have helped. Sasuke's with her now."

"Sasuke? Oh. I see. I thought he might…"

"Sachiko is going to go home and call her mother. Her mother is going to cancel the wedding, and handle everything. How are your parents going to react?"

"My father…" Itachi's face looked sore in the cold, fading light of day, "He will not be happy."

"Then I'll be the one to tell him." Sakura said decisively.

"No." Itachi grabbed her shoulders, suddenly fierce, "You can't do everything for me. And I don't want you near him, not ever. I'll tell him myself."

"I'm not stupid, Itachi, he hit you today –"

"He won't do it again. Not in front of my mother."

"Oh well, that's alright then! He must be a great guy after all, he hides his abuse from his wife, how very selfless!" Sakura was spitting mad, "No, I'll tell him and if he tries to lay a finger on me I swear to God the mood I'm in, I will break it!"

Itachi smiled slowly, his eyes crinkling upwards, "Do you realise something, Sakura?"

"Huh? No.."

He darted forward and planted a kiss on her mouth, grinning madly.

Sakura felt her lips tingle in response to the sudden warmth, her whole body flushing as she realised what had just happened.

"I'm not getting married tomorrow," Itachi said, still wearing that wide, uncharacteristic grin, "And you aren't pining after Sasuke."

"Ha," Sakura scrubbed at her flushing cheeks, suddenly horribly embarrassed and yet impossibly pleased at the same time, "So you aren't mad about me telling Sachiko…?"

"No, not really, but it's impossible to get mad at you anyway. You just did what I couldn't, I know I'm going to have deal with this, have a long conversation with Sachiko about everything and sort it all out." Itachi said firmly, his voice even and stern, "And now, I'm going to go inform my mother she bought a splendid new hat for nothing and that my father wasted money on a wedding that will never happen."

Sakura thought about protesting, thought about grabbing him by the sleeve, pulling him back, but it felt too much like holding him back from progress. Itachi had been held back ever since he was a teenager, still young and unsure, and never allowed to mature.

So she linked her arm in his and fell into step with him, "We'll tell them together."

Itachi looked down at her and smiled wryly. He dropped a dry, chaste kiss on top of her head and led her back into the manor.

I'm so sorry for the massive wait between chapters, and for how long this one is! I'm also sorry that I'm too tired to write much here :S

Should be one more chapter left to write! Phew. This ran on longer than I thought it would.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story to this point, now you can breathe a sigh of relief as everyone starts getting less irritating and more likeable! Yay!

Fugaku and Mikoto may actually become people in the next chapter, not just parodies of abusive!father and domestic!mother. I fully intend to flesh them out. Honest. If Itachi and Sakura don't distract me with their delicious banter.

Sasuke is a filthy little homewrecker.

Sakura takes charge of her own destiny! Sweet.

Itachi can now stop being a weedy pathetic little coward and step up. Yay!

Sachiko. Ah dear. Puppy kicking. Rarely fun. Mostly horrifying.

If there is anything in particular you want to happen in the next chapter for the end of the story, please let me know! :D

Quick poll for fun: If you could force Kishimoto to make one couple canon and write a chapter dedicated to them, what couple would you pick? Explain why :)

No suggestions.