Title: Moments in Time: A Close Up

Author: AppleL0V3R

Beta-reader: Terror-Of-The-Crimson-Night

Fandom: Naruto

Pairing: Uchiha, Itachi and Haruno, Sakura

Chapter: Twenty-Five – #32 I: Acronyms

Rating: T

Type: One-shot – Complete

Summary: Prompts from Moments in Time that I was requested to expand on. 25. 32 – I: Acronyms. One of these days she was going to get back at Ino, but that wasn't until after she dealt with Itachi

Word Count: 3,305

Disclaimer: If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

Note: As the summary states these were skits I was asked to turn into actually works. I will always put which one it was and the skit just before the chapter. They won't be in numerical order because I'm doing them as I'm requested. They won't be any more than one-shots though they may become two to five –shots (I will forewarn when that happens) but they won't become stories unless I choose to.

Request by: Anime Freak456

..:Xx0o0xX:..

32. I (Sakura)

"H is for Happy."

"Ino, this game is stupid."

"No, it's fun and it's distracting. This way we don't get bored of what's outside the car and fall asleep."

"Then, play it with yourself. I'm driving."

"Then it's not fun. Your turn."

Sigh. "Fine. I is for…Itachi."

Silence.

"Itachi? As in that totally hot senior?"

"Your turn."

"After you answer my question."

More silence. Huff. "Yes that Itachi."

Silence.

"What?"

"Why'd his name come to your head?"

Shrug.

"Why?"

"Because he's Sasuke's brother."

"Why?"

"Ino."

"Why?"

"Because…were dating?"

"Liar."

Sigh. "Why is that a lie?"

"Because it was a question."

"Okay fine, because I really really like him."

"Why?"

"…it's a long story."

"Which you're going to tell me."

"Your turn."

"J is for Jury."

..:Xx0o0xX:..

Sakura resisted the urge to stretch. It had been a long day – fun, but long all the same – and she was more than ready to just sleep. Especially since it was already night time with the moon high in the sky, so bright and full. It helped for navigation, she had to admit. She focused on the road though, they'd just started driving about fifteen minutes ago but they still had at least another hour to drive.

Ino was the only other person in the car and the perky blonde looked as exhausted as Sakura felt. But at least she was staying awake, the rosette didn't know how long that would last but she was thankful for the simple companionship that the almost young woman represented anyway. The reason why Sakura was driving – and would be driving the whole way – was because she was the only completely sober one of the two.

Somehow Ino had talked her into going to a party, again. She wasn't really sure how considering the house had been so far away from both girls' homes and Sakura knew that Ino didn't like to leave parties until way after midnight. She supposed the only thing that had made her finally decide to go was Ino herself. And Ino had used that like she did every time. What happens if I get drunk, you know I'm bound to, then what? What if some guy takes advantage me in my drunken state? What if I try to drive home? Or, what if I go home with him? And so Sakura had sighed and nodded which led to Ino squealing far too loudly.

But as usual, Ino didn't get wasted. Very, very tipsy, yes, but not completely drunk because Ino wasn't that irresponsible, but they were seniors in high school so she wasn't exactly responsible either. That's what Sakura was for, as the blonde loved to say.

So here she was, carting her best friend home at some hour of the early morning and wanting nothing more than to just pass out. At least she didn't have school the next day, that would just be horrendous and she knew Ino would most likely skip while Sakura was stuck walking around like a zombie all day.

Sakura glanced at Ino out of the corner of her eye and smiled at how comfortable and at ease the teen looked.

"How about we play a game."

She nearly sighed wishing suddenly that the blonde was asleep. "What game?"

"Umm, the alphabet one."

Sakura raised her eyebrow and stated sarcastically, "Yeah, that narrows it down."

Ino huffed and crossed her arms, "The one where you have to think of something that starts with a letter, like a is for apple. You know?"

Unfortunately, she did. And she really didn't want to play because she was in no mood to, but that reasoning wouldn't work with Ino. She thought about telling her to make it challenging, it was easy to come up with a word for any given letter, after all. But she was too tired to care and she figured the faster they went through the words the quicker the not so sober young woman shut up.

"You start." Of course Ino would say that, it meant that she was making sure that the driver wouldn't back out. Sakura remained silent a moment and kept her mostly open green eyes focused on the road. Not because she couldn't think of anything, but because she was deliberating on something. "A is for…Anatomy." And then wondered how many letters it would take for her to catch on, or for Sakura to get bored. The former would probably come first. Not that Ino wasn't bright, the girl was like a mastermind when she wanted to be, but in this situation she was pretty much the stereotype of the drop dead gorgeous blonde and popular cheerleader.

"B is for Bee"

"C is for Cheerleader."

Ino blinked at her as if trying to figure out if that meant something. And though it did, Sakura would rather the blonde try to puzzle out if there was – let alone what it was – in that foggy mind of her because it meant a bit of silence. Eventually she shook her head, tussled, no longer tied back platinum moving a little as she did so and the rosette knew that meant she'd given up. "D is for Dear."

"E is for Excursion."

Now the pretty blonde pursed her lips, but continued on all the same. "F is for Fun."

Sakura tried not to smile; Ino was catching on faster than she'd originally thought her best friend would. "G is for Game." But she was already bored.

"H is for Happy." Or not. Clearly the blonde had just been choosing random words, which meant this was back to meaningless. And Sakura didn't want to do it.

"Ino, this game is stupid."

"No, it's fun and it's distracting. This way we don't get bored of what's outside the car and fall asleep." And while Ino had a point, Sakura simply wasn't in the mood. She didn't feel like being playful anymore, the only part was that her best friend was tenacious when she wanted to be.

"Then, play it with yourself. I'm driving." Was her rebuttal.

"Then it's not fun. Your turn." Persistent little…

Sigh. "Fine. I is for…Itachi." Sakura wanted to slap her hand over her mouth because of what she'd just said. It had been a mindless reply and now she couldn't take it back. Nor would she live it down, at least not until Ino feel asleep and forgot this conversation had existed in the first place.

Silence came from the younger teen's side of the vehicle for a few moments. "Itachi? As in that totally hot senior?"

"Your turn." Sakura stated firmly, wishing she'd never budged in the first place and now determined to not do so again.

"After you answer my question." But this was Ino, and no matter how steely the rosette tried to make herself to her demands, it never worked.

More silence. Huff. "Yes, that Itachi."

Silence.

"What?"

"Why'd his name come to your head?" Ino was staring at her intently, burning holes in the side of her face, she could feel it. And it made her want to rub the skin to get rid of the sensation.

She tried to shrug the question off, hoping for some kind of salvation from this mess. Because she was still tired, it was still already early morning and getting later and she still didn't want to play this game.

"Why?" Sakura groaned inwardly, knowing where this was going for certain, now. Though she'd been completely aware before, she'd simply hoped that she wasn't right. And when it came to Ino, she always hated it when she was right, especially about things like this.

"Because he's Sasuke's brother." It was an easy reason.

"Why?" So of course Ino wouldn't take it.

"Ino." She double checked the gas tank when a stray glance told her she needed to find a gas station soon.

"Why?"

"Because…were dating?" Oh boy did she wish.

"Liar." Even drunk she could still call Sakura on such things. It was a mystery that the pink haired teen had yet to figure out because few others could catch so easily in a lie.

Sigh. "Why is that a lie?"

"Because it was a question." Well, crap, it had been, hadn't it?

"Okay fine, because I really really like him." The truth usually got the blonde of her back.

"Why?" She was beginning to hate that word.

"…it's a long story."

"Which you're going to tell me." Had she mentioned that Ino was irritatingly persistent?

"Your turn." A sign for break stops at the next exit.

"J is for Jury."

She was tempted to shriek. instead she settled for "If you remember this conversation tomorrow then I'll tell you."

She pouted, "Not fair."

"Really? I think it's very fair." She scooted over onto the diverging lane and within a minute or two was pulling up to the pump of some random gas station. There was only one other car - black and definitely expensive - near the pumps.

It was strikingly familiar but she pushed that thought aside when she realize she couldn't place it. Slipping out of her seat with Ino following clumsily behind.

She quickly headed for the glass door, pulling it open and letting Ino in before she followed. Ino made a bee line for the beverages, most likely to get an energy drink. Which she so didn't need, but she'd already tried one too many times to know the outcome of that would only end in a headache for her.

She went to grab some coffee, enough to tide her over until she got home and could crash without worrying about having but either female in danger.

When she was done filling up the cup and had just put a lid on it and stepped back when she bumped into someone. "Oops." she muttered, "Sorry."

She turned to see who she'd run into, only to come face to face with pretty dull black eyes. "Hello, Sakura." He greeted softly, inclining his head slightly.

She forced herself to not stare as she backed up away from him for space. For one reason or another she could never seem to think clearly around him. "Hey, Itachi. Long time no see."

She noticed Sasuke was just one isle over and realized why she recognized the car. It was Sasuke's.

What was he doing all the way out here at this time? And why with Sasuke's car. She glanced at said boy again - more to have somewhere else to look then at Itachi, there was a reason why girls didn't get close to their crushes after all - and realized he looked very sleepy. Like the walking dead.

She gestured to him curiously but Itachi didn't even glance at his younger brother. "He fell asleep during the party - his party - and so I opted to drive him home."

She started to nod and then froze, "Wait the party that started at like eight, north of here..."

"That explains why you're here at this hour."

She nodded, "Yeah, my best friend talked me into going with her. More like guilt tripped - I'm the responsible one between us and she's always used that to her benefit."

He nodded, skirting around her to grab some coffee as well.

She was about to bid him goodbye because if Ino didn't have what she wanted by now then she needed to be checked up on. As cautious as Sakura was, Ino could - and had on multiple occasions - fallen asleep out in the open in the dark. If she was comfortable and she wanted to, she could.

But before she could even turn around or open her mouth, arms wrapped around her neck as something slammed into her back.

The culprit laughed loudly in her ear and Sakura tried not to wince at how much it hurt. "Ha, I've tackle-glomped you!"

"Ino." Sakura said warningly, "I love you too, but would you please get off my back?"

Unfortunately, her choice of words only made the girl hold tighter causing her to cringe. "I love you tooo~"

Was the alcohol finally affecting her? Before she could Sasuke moseyed over and Ino? Ino needed to learn how to shut up because she went completely quiet and still for a moment and then, "OMG! You're Itachi! As in the incredibly hot senior who Sakura has a crush on!" Pointing and all.

Honestly, right then all she wanted to do was crawl into some hole and wish this night had never happened.

She couldn't meet Itachi's eyes, she couldn't even look at his face as she ducked to had hers because it felt like it was on fire. "She's drunk." Sakura said, as if trying to excuse away the blonde's shout.

Sasuke was clearly awake now as he stepped forward to retrieve her sister from the pinkette's back, she was grateful for this fact. And even more so because she remembered that Sasuke - as dead as he currently looked - had a massive crush on Ino. One that could rival the green eyed female's for the eldest Uchiha.

She could feel his stare burn into the crown of her head even as she heard Ino protest drunkenly - yes the alcohol was definitely setting in - while Sasuke managed to get her far enough away to be out of earshot.

She fidgeted, "Honest, Ino's completely drunk and-"

She stopped talking abruptly when she felt hands on her hips. "-telling the truth?"

She swallowed and nodded, feeling like her face was going to burn off. "I had suspected and have been wondering for sometime when you would speak up."

Her head jerked up as she looked at him with wide big green eyes. "W-what?"

He met her gaze evenly and nonchalantly. "Because now, I can do this." He leaned down and kissed her.

Her mind blanked for a heart stuttering moment before it went into overdrive. As in freaked out on her. If her brain activity could be put into a picture it would be a bunch of chibi miniatures of her running around screaming like headless chicken as the area of them looked like a tornado had gone through it.

And after a high comes a crash. When he pulled away, she was still stunned into complete and utter stillness as her brain had a meltdown.

This wasn't fair! Crushes were not supposed to wipe out all brain function, kick it into overdrive and then fry it. That went against the laws of nature anyway.

She swore that the laws of physics should be rewritten because they liiiied.

There was a smug smirk on his face, "Do I have to wait or can I ask you to be my girlfriend now?"

She nodded dumbstruck. He liked her too! She took back all the mean things she'd ever said about Ino, she loved her. Loved her, loved her, loved her. And her mind so wasn't built to take in situations like this at this time. "I would love to be your girlfriend."

His smirk widened and was it her or did his eyes just darken? "Good." His voice was a soft murmur that overloaded her sense of hearing. If she could then she would love to spend all day listening to him speak like that. But then she wouldn't be able to kiss him all day. Hmmm, what a dilemma. She supposed she could alternate in accordance to what appealed to her most. Yeah, that was a good idea, if only the world worked like that.

But then he was kissing her again as he brought her closer. This time she kissed back.

Until: "OMG! Sakura! That's not fair, if I can't do PDA then - mmphm."

Thank you Sasuke, was all she could think. For five seconds.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

The Next Day.

Ino groaned as she rolled over in bed. She knew her own bed so well that she also knew that this was Sakura's. But she knew that more or less because it smelled like Sakura.

After a moment she took a deep breath and slowly sat up. Her head immediately began to throb and she almost let herself fall back into a horizontal position. But she knew from experience that it would only make things worse. So carefully trying to stifle parts of the pain she pushed away the feather filled comforter and slid to the edge of the bed. She shivered with the her cold feet touched the floor.

Groaning again she pushed herself to her feet.

And then made a beeline for Sakura's bathroom that was directly across the hall without really looking where she was going. It was times like these that she was thankful that she practically lived here because she wouldn't have to take the time to kill her eyes with the light.

But no matter how much one knew a living space, knowing where the people who inhabited it were without even bothering to check didn't usually end well. She crashed straight into someone who she was fairly certain was Sakura. She was the only well conditioned female who entered this house that was shorter than Ino.

She felt a hand reach out and grab her arm so as to steady her. "I'm never ever touching alcohol ever again." She complained as she leaned forward, relying on Sakura to hold her weight.

She heard the older girl snort, "Sure you will Ino."

"I will!" the blue eyed girl cried indignantly because this hurt. Stupid alcohol. Stupid brain. Stupid memory. "Wait, did something happen last night?"

"You got drunk." Came the dry reply.

She shook her head, tussled and completely disheveled blonde hair went everywhere. "Nooo, I mean on the drive home."

There was a pause. "You got a confession out of me and demanded to know the back story of it and I told you that if you could remember what we talked about without me prompting you then I'd spill my guts."

Ino paused trying desperate to remember because if Sakura had confessed to something that Ino hadn't known then it was bound to be a very juicy piece of gossip.

She stood for a moment, and tried to open her eyes to analyze her responsible sister. What could Sakura possible have to confess about?

And then with still blurry and depth impaired vision she saw distinctly masculine arms wrap around her single best friend. Single. But the way the rosette's checks quickly began to match her hair as a guy curled his body around her from behind. In the hallway and kissed the other girl's cheek spoke to Ino in volumes.

Hungover or not. "You're not single anymore!" Sakura nodded still blushing.

Ino couldn't help but wonder, "Sakura...are you still a virgin?"