Ino looked around her expectantly, her confused look becoming more pronounced by the second. A second ago she was being carried out of the tunnel by Sasuke in what can only be described as the living embodiment of almost every dream she's ever had. A second later however, she was placed down and Sasuke literally disappeared.

Ino blinked owlishly. She couldn't really pinpoint which was more unbelievable; the fact that the aloof guy who saw right through her for the better part of her life finally noticed her and actually appeared to have developed feelings for her, or the fact that said man just pulled a disappearing act on her and actually abandoned her when she was at the height of her happiness.

She didn't want to overreact at the moment, I mean, she didn't even know what happened; but the blonde just knew that if he actually did abandon her right now and after everything that just happened, she was sure to skip past angry and pissed and go straight to devastated. *That jerk.*She mentally cursed her bottom lip slightly curving in a very rare show of vulnerability.

.

A few miles away from said blonde and looking slightly too angry to measure up to his stoic reputation; Sasuke stood eyeing Anko dangerously.

She would've been terrified under normal circumstances; however, right now she was evidently more pissed than the Uchiha.

"What do you think you're doing?" Anko practically roared.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed minutely that even in her current state Anko could tell that she was walking on very thin ice here.

"What I do is none of your concern." Sasuke said in a devastatingly icy tenor.

"You bet it does." Anko snapped, causing Sasuke's temper to flare once more. "We have an agreement. You agreed to try and sleep with Sakura so that she stays away from your brother." She hissed.

"The agreement is off." Sasuke said in the same cold tone.

Anko scoffed, "And all because of the trampy blonde who you were just drooling all over." She said abandoning all pretences and steeling herself as she saw the Uchiha visibly tense up at her words.

"Anko….." He snarled.

"Did you know that he's training her for the Anbu exams?"She questioned casually and reveled at the fact that Sasuke obviously found this piece of information brand new. "I looked into it after we saw them this morning, and almost everybody knows about this."

Sasuke paused for a fraction of a second, trying to wrap his mind around this.

This actually inspired a bit of jealousy in him, however, it wasn't the way Anko expected. Sasuke was actually a tad jealous that Sakura gets to practice with his brother and he doesn't. Well of course he didn't like the idea of his brother and Sakura getting close but for the most part he was envious.

When Sasuke didn't react, Anko literally twitched.

"Fine, how about this; I just saw him walking out of that tunnel with her. He was practically holding her as they walked out." She almost screamed.

This time Sasuke reacted, shock was pretty evident on his normally emotionless face. But it wasn't because of what Anko just said. He knew they kissed today, so them hanging out alone wasn't that surprising (Albeit thoroughly frustrating) to him. However, the sharp Uchiha quickly clued in to what happened.

He had his doubts when he saw Shisui at Sakura's house. And he grew even more dubious when said man decided to shamelessly flirt with Ino throughout the evening. He knew that his cousin was goading him. He attributed that to the fact that his cousin has enjoyed teasing him since they were little. He was a jerk that way; was Sasuke's opinion on the matter.

However, now that he thought about it in light of the new found information, it all made sense. Why would Shisui spend an entire night on Ino, just to tease Sasuke? And assuming that the elder Uchiha didn't have anything better to do (Which was more often than not the case) why would he just give the blonde up the second Sasuke attempts to take her away. It was as if he wanted her to be taken away. It was as if he was trying to distract Sasuke. And why the hell would Shisui do that if not to help his best friend, strategist extraordinaire; Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke froze, his chakra flaring and bouncing off of him in waves of pure fury. He and his brother were very competitive. And to think that said brother just played him like he was a 4 year old tricked into eating his vegetables in hopes of getting some ice-cream; just the thought of being that gullible was driving the young Uchiha crazy. Now add to that, that he was tricked so that his brother could hang out with his best friend, his supposed girlfriend. Now, this was just unforgivable.

A few people instinctively took a step away, as they observed Sasuke fume with rage; however, they pondered running away as their eyes cautiously drifted to the woman standing next to him and grinning maliciously, with a look in her eyes that could quite literally scare the hair off of a cat.

.

Sakura laid back on her bed with a drawn out sigh. To the normally realistic medic everything just seemed surreal. The entire day just felt like a dream that neither her nor her forever snarky inner self could venture to comment about it. I mean, how on earth is she supposed to come to terms with the fact that Uchiha Itachi just kissed her.

Her!

Not the persona she played on a mission, he kissed her, of all people, her, Sakura Haruno; the girl who up to a few months ago was nothing but a common stalker of his.

But, God how things change, and without her even knowing it, first she started coming to terms with the fact that she was an idiot for liking a man without knowing him and then even when she did start to get to know him one step at a time she was quite certain that she had absolutely no chance with him. This is a factor of not only the fact that he's Uchiha Itachi, but also the fact that he's engaged to a woman that can make milk go sour by just one blink of her eyes.

Evidently though, fate had another thing in store for her. Just to think that Itachi actually knew her, even before she grew to like him, just to think that he saw her when no one even spared her a second glance, just to ponder the fact that he acknowledged her and watched her before she even grew to see her own potential; *Ahhhhhhhh.* Sakura heaved a sigh, that was promptly parroted by her inner self, who was now laying on the same rock, but now that precious rock somehow transformed to take on the shape of a heart, ah yeah and it was pink now.

Sakura would've said something, but truth of the matter is she didn't care in the slightest at the moment.

One more sigh and Sakura started blinking to try to ascertain the fact that she wasn't dreaming. She smiled sheepishly as she let her eyes glaze over, images of Itachi filling every corner of her imagination, thus insuring that the blush on her face is omnipresent.

The girl didn't even know how she got home. The fact that she didn't lose all control when he kissed her and melt into a puddle of goo was according to her the biggest testament to her abilities so far. But after that mindboggling-ly sensual kiss, the look in Itachi's eyes promptly did her in; it wasn't everyday that you get to see those pure onyx orbs come to life that way. It was a heart stopping, mind numbing, ground shattering event that left her struggling to breathe.

After that, the girl was a goner. She remembers nothing. Next thing she knows she was home. Absently, she hoped that she didn't make a big fool out of herself, after all she did quite literally become intoxicated by him; so who knows what might've happened. *Who cares.* Sakura and inner Sakura chanted in unison.

All in all, Sakura was certain that this was the standard by which all happy occasions in her life from here on out would be measured against.

The girl was so deep in thought, excuse me, I mean: Itachi inspired daydreams; that it took her about 15 minutes to realize that someone was knocking on her door.

Scrambling to her feet the girl dreamily and almost absently made for the door, reached for the door knob and stared unseeingly at her unexpected visitor.

Said visitor raised a confused eyebrow as he watched the girl smile almost eerily and look at him as if she saw right through him.

It took him four times of calling her name for Sakura to finally grant him a distant, "Hah".

He then said something, which was completely lost on Sakura as she merely watched his lips move; too lost in thought to realize that sound actually accompanied those movements.

This time he almost shouted her name, his normally calm demeanor fading as he put a hand on her shoulder and shook her in frustration.

"Sasuke-Kun." She said brightly, as if she just saw him. "How did you get here?" She questioned confusedly, looking between him and the open door.

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. Karma was already kicking his ass by assigning him Naruto and his unmatched dimwittedness as best friends, it was just way too much for the stoic Uchiha to handle if Sakura lost some precious IQ points in a tragic accident.

He shrugged, opting out of answering her question with a derisive remark; as he had more pressing matters on mind at the moment.

"What were you doing with Nii-san at that tunnel today?" He questioned, having never been one to beat around the bushes.

Sakura looked at him with unfocused eyes. She obviously still hadn't snapped out of her trance. She quite literally didn't get anything he said… *Nii-San? Tunnel? Hah?* She mentally repeated without really grasping anything.

"What?" She said in low tones, unable and slightly unwilling to snap out of her thoughts.

"What were you doing with my brother?" Sasuke rephrased, his sharp and slightly higher tone forcing the girl to focus.

She looked at him for a long second, before shaking her head to clear her mind and then drawing in a greedy gulp of air as if to prepare for an expectedly difficult task.

"I don't think that this is any of your concern Sasuke-Kun." She said rather politely.

"I am your boyfriend." He countered in a cold tenor.

Sakura shrugged lightheartedly and gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look.

"Come on, Sasuke-Kun…." She started dismissively. "The one you actually like is Ino, today you made that crystal clear. I don't even think you ever liked me, we've never really…"

"The truth remains that I am your boyfriend and you should have respected me by not going into that tunnel with my brother….."

"What the hell kind of logic is that…." She snapped, cutting him off. "What about you, as my 'boyfriend' with the whole dragging Ino to the tunnel and all." She accused, turning his own logic around on him.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly interrupted.

"Cut it out." She said in finality, the palms of her hand resting on her hips as she gave him a challenging look. "How about you just tell me what this is all about." She said bluntly.

Say what you want about the girl's obliviousness, but the fact remains that she knew Sasuke like the back of her hand and she knew he liked Ino and yet he makes it a point to keep her on reserve.

Sasuke looked at her for a few seconds, apparently mentally debating what to say next.

"I don't want you to see my brother anymore." Was what he decided on saying, his words almost instantaneously taking a toll on the girl, who had nothing on mind but his brother and seeing said man some-more.

"What?" Sakura questioned almost indignantly.

"Like I said," He started calmly, now that he knew he had her full attention. "I don't want you to go out with my brother and if possible I would like you to stay away from him." was his blunt statement.

"Stay away from him?" She parroted in a distant voice. "Why?"

"I am your friend, Sakura, am I not?" He questioned, smartly choosing to opt for an emotional appeal, which was the furthest thing away from his character. "I am asking you as your friend and your comrade to stay away from my brother." He said stressing on the word 'comrade'.

Sakura paused eyeing him meaningfully. Sasuke could practically see the wheels in her mind turning, her face becoming more and more somber as the seconds ticked by.

"No." Sakura finally blurted. "I can't." She said in an honest voice.

"You can't?" He reiterated with an indignant scowl.

"Sasuke-Kun, you're one of my dearest friends and a comrade who's always been there for me. I swear I'd do anything for you, I'd gladly fight by your side through any battle; but I can't." She said fixing him under the look of her big, innocent, pleading emerald orbs.

Sasuke was taken aback by the weight of this look. She really meant it, this wasn't a trivial matter, this was actually serious.

Before, he was able to convince her to agree to go out with him, even though he knew she didn't see him that way anymore. Before, she was willing to do it for him, just so that he doesn't feel bad or get hurt. But now, it was clear as daylight that something has changed, which meant one thing and one thing only; she really loves his brother.

Sasuke found this to be alternately shocking and appalling. She was his Sakura-chan; if his brother gets her then he would have officially lost.

And at that thought, Sasuke decided to hold back no more.

"Why?" He started, his voice rising by an octave as his eyes fixed the girl under the weight of an intense glare. "Why does it have to be my brother?" He questioned throwing, caution, courtesy and his legendary impassiveness to the wind.

"Sasuke-Kun…."She started in what sounded like a plea.

"Weren't I the one you originally liked?" He questioned boldly. Up until this moment they never talked about that. She was a fangirl and then she got over it and when she did they became very good friends. He never ever acknowledged her feelings, much like he did with Ino.

"That was a long time ago…" She started reflexively.

"Didn't you and Ino follow me around everywhere? didn't you at one point profess your love for me?" He accused, taking a step towards the girl.

"I was a child back then."She countered. "I grew out of it, Sasuke-Kun, now we're friends, and….."

Sasuke glared at her for a long moment, "If you want a boyfriend, then here I am…"He declared, "If you want an Uchiha then here I am as well."

"It's not about being an Uchiha." She said crossly.

"Then what is it about?" He said taking another step towards her, so that the girl now had to look up to be able to make eye contact with the enraged Uchiha. "Why does it have to be my brother of all people, you know how I feel about him."

"You love your brother." She said knowingly, "Just because you always want to prove yourself to him and surpass him doesn't mean that you two are enemies."

"But we are rivals." He declared.

"He's your brother." She said raising her voice.

"And you're my friend." He said in such a stone cold voice that Sakura had to take a second to brace herself and consider just how his tone made a stark contrast against the rather childishly possessive line.

"Sasuke-Kun I am your friend and I will always be, but, I really like him." She said kindly. She really was flattered, despite the brash delivery, he was in fact kinda telling her, in his own emotionless way that he cared for her.

However, her words albeit being intended as a confession to a best-friend made Sasuke that much more upset; his chakra promptly flared and Sakura wisely made to take a step backwards, but was surprised by Sasuke's hand shooting to grab her arm and keep her in place.

His grip wasn't hurtful, but was rather firm, and his eyes alternated between determined and a look that Sakura could only translate as: apologetic.

"Then like me instead."He said calmly and leaned in to kiss her.

Sakura was flabbergasted, however, she managed to raise her free arm and put it against his chest to push him away.

"What are you doing!" She said in outrage.

Sasuke, forever set in his ways, merely used his body weight to push the girl backwards so that her back rested on the wall, his hand still warped around her arm.

"Convincing you." He said in an empty voice, that made Sakura both shocked and confused.

Sasuke then grabbed the arm that was pushing him away. Sakura struggled but after the day she's had and almost fainting from exhaustion at one point; needless to say she just couldn't muster up enough strength to do so.

She tried to wriggle her arm out of his grip, but to no avail.

So she promptly turned her face to the side, so as to avoid the kiss.

She was about to yell at him, as Sasuke raised a hand to frame her face with the objective of turning her to face him, but before she knew it his hand, alongside the weight pinning her against the wall were gone.

Sakura's head shot forwards hastily, her eyes going wide and her heartbeat picking up even more speed at both the sight before her and the deadly murderous chakra that just weighed down over the place.

"Itachi-San…." She muttered in disbelief, as she realized that the deadly chakra belonged to him.

His eyes however were firmly fixed on his brother who was scrambling to his feet at the other end of the room after being thrust violently across the place. Itachi's stance was tense, a stance of a warrior about to launch at an enemy, not a brother facing his brother.

For his part, Sasuke held a look the likes of which Sakura has never seen him wear ever before. It was a look of sheer shame and unrivaled defeat. She was sure that if Itachi was to aim a kunai at him at the moment Sasuke wasn't even going to try and dodge it.

This is why, when Sasuke finally got to his feet and Sakura realized that this is what Itachi was waiting for to attack; she summoned whatever was left of her chakra and launched forwards, barely stepping between Itachi and Sasuke a fraction of a second before Itachi's fist connected with its target which was Sasuke's face.

It was the biggest testament to Itachi's abilities that he actually managed to stop and very narrowly avoid hitting Sakura.

Itachi frowned and behind the girl Sasuke actually gaped as he would've never thought Sakura would actually find it in her heart to look at him, let alone save him.

"Please, don't." Sakura said pleadingly, her emerald orbs watering up. "You guys are brothers, you shouldn't do that. Not over me and not over anything else." She spoke quickly and urgently.

"Sakura." Itachi intoned the rage quite tangible and unmistakable in his voice.

"Please, Itachi-San." She pleaded, obviously both desperate and extremely tired to such an extent that she was slightly panting as she struggled to breathe properly.

And to Sasuke's utter surprise, his brother's expression actually softened, and instead of having his entire concentration directed in rage at Sasuke it was promptly rerouted into a concerned look as he quickly activated his Sharingan and started scanning the girl for injuries.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked her in a voice that was furthest away from impassive.

Sasuke's eyes went wide, as he never and I mean never saw his brother behave that way with any girl before. Hell, the only person Itachi ever worried about before was him, Sasuke, when he used to get injured as a child. Other than that, Itachi was the perfect robot, calm, deadly and uncaring to such an extent that he actually agreed to marry a woman simply because he couldn't care less about whom he married. And now he was actually showing concern of all things and looking in that unmistakably telltale way at his best-friend.

It was as if a veil was lifted and Sasuke could finally see clearly, as realization dawned on him and the full force of reality hit, making him understand for the first time that this was no game or competition between him and his brother. This was serious, and it was the only thing that his brother cared about, the first time he actually acted like a normal human being and allowed himself to be selfish enough to love a woman, rather than deny himself and immerse his every sense in mind numbing bone crushing work.

And for the life of him, Sasuke's mind fixated on one tormenting thought; *What have I done!*

For her part, Sakura blushed and couldn't help looking down as she saw and heard Itachi's concern.

"He didn't hurt me."She mumbled. "But please let him go." She found her resolve.

"Sakura." Itachi intoned.

"Please." She pleaded and turning to face Sasuke she spoke calmly as if he didn't just do anything, "Sasuke-Kun, please leave."

Sasuke, who was bewildered beyond belief, simply did as he was told, walking like a dead man with slow aimless steps he made his way out the door, all the time feeling Itachi's stern look on the back of his neck and quite certain that the only thing keeping him from coming at him was the fact that Sakura has turned herself into a human shield, making it impossible for his brother to come for him without going through her.

Once Sasuke was out of the door, Itachi turned a reproving look towards the small pinkette. Said look quickly changed into a look of concern as he saw how pale the girl was.

He promptly led her to sit on the couch.

"Are you okay?" he questioned.

"I'm alright," Sakura said with a light blush. "Just a little exhausted." She explained.

"You shouldn't have stopped me." Itachi said, visibly more relaxed at the knowledge she was in no eminent danger.

Sakura paused for a second, and watched as the Uchiha took his seat next to her on the couch.

"He's your brother." She said solemnly.

"What he did is unforgivable." Itachi said darkly.

"He's my friend as well."She said kindly.

"Sakura…"

"I don't know what has gotten into him, but Sasuke would never hurt me." She said matter of factly. "Even when he was trying to…" She trailed off as Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously. *Don't say 'kiss' or he'll telepathically kill Sasuke with this look.* inner Sakura warned. "He just seemed to regret it, even then. He didn't look like he wanted to hurt me."

"Do you really believe this?" Itachi said, obviously unimpressed by her line of thought.

"I do." She said simply, before waving a hand in front of her face as Itachi raised an eyebrow. "He's very competitive with you; I don't think he knew what he was doing or the consequences of it. It was just a moment of temporary insanity. I mean, this really took him by surprise."

"You seem rather apprehensive, Sakura." Itachi said, reading her like an open book.

Sakura sighed, trying delay answering this question as much as she can. I mean, just a few minutes ago she was the happiest girl alive, but she just received a blaringly palpable reality check.

"I just think that there are many things that could go wrong here." She said in defeat, her head bowed a bit as if she just discovered her feet to be the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Please explain." Was Itachi's calm reply.

"I….. just…." She mumbled, struggling for a proper way to word what she wanted to say. "There's Sasuke, and there's Anko-san, she's your….." She paused feeling the need to not say the next word.

"Fiancé." He finished her statement for her.

"Yes." She said in a low voice. But a second later her eyes lit with a new thought and her head shot up as her eyes found his, a look of determination clearly etched in those expressive emerald orbs. "I'm not someone who breaks marriages and goes out with engaged men." She said in sheer resolve.

How the hell did she not consider this before?

"I know that." He said darkly, his face a perfect emotionless mask.

*He's gonna call this off. He's just gonna leave us, you idiot.* Inner Sakura roared. *Nice going, embcile.*

"So, it might be better if we ended this before it began because…" She started, but trailed off as Itachi gave her a challenging half smirk.

"End it?" He parroted challengingly.

Sakura gulped, at just how sexy he was, smirking like that. It was just too unfair for him to have that effect on her.

"I am sorry Sakura."Itachi said simply.

*I hate you, I hate you with the heat of a thousand burning suns. I hate you, I wanna take you back to the store and get a new alter ego in return.* Inner Sakura hissed tears streaming down her face, as she stumped around Sakura's mind.

"It's okay I…" Sakura said understandingly.

"You seem to have misunderstood my purpose, Sakura." He interrupted in a calm tone. "What I meant to say is that: I am sorry; however, leaving me is not a choice you get to make." He said confidently.

"Huh?"

"I'm given to understand that you like me, Sakura." He said matter of factly.

Sakura promptly blushed, squirmed in her seat and shook her head, "That's not… I mean,,, I….."

"Allow me to ask you this question for the hundredth time;" he paused leaning towards her, so that his face was mere inches away from hers, for a second he just marveled at how becoming of her that shade of pink was and how quickly her cheeks managed to rival her hair in terms of color. "Why were you in my apartment Sakura?" He said in a velvety smooth tenor. "Better yet, why were you in my room?"

"I… I was just… It's not like that…." She stuttered incoherently.

"I let you get away with that for a long time but I'm done now, I want you, Sakura, and I'm done playing around."Itachi said simply. And they say she was blunt.

Sakura's eyes went wide, as she took in what he said. *Oh God.*Inner Sakura said bracing a hand over her heart.

"It's too complicated…" Sakura said, apparently out of breath.

"You like me." He said simply.

"That's not…." She started again, causing him to smirk and take a second to mentally acknowledge the fact that she was by far the most stubborn and strong willed person he's ever met.

"Admit it." He said huskily, his hand shooting up to keep her from drawing back as he leaned in even closer, said hand intertwined with her hair, as he shifted his attention to her hair, twisting a few pink strands around his fingers. "Just admit it, Sakura, and I promise it will all be alright." He said softly, his warm breath sending chills of excitement down her spine.

"I…" She muttered. Admittedly, her mind was long since gone. And can you really blame her?

"Are you really willing to give up on this, because of Sasuke?" He questioned, still stroking her hair.

As a response Sakura absently shook her head, causing Itachi to smile.

"B-But Anko-san…." She murmured.

"She did everything in her power to ensure this betrothal." Itachi explained, drawing away a bit to look in Sakura's eyes, however his hand was still stroking her hair. "I had no reason to refuse." He said in a somber voice. "I understand now that I have made a mistake." He admitted. "But, I hadn't met you yet and I never thought I'd ever feel like that way about someone." He said matter of factly.

Sakura gulped,

"I plan on leaving her, Sakura." He said simply. "I will take it up with her and my clan as soon as possible. After that, you and I could be rightfully together."

Sakura just looked at him, unable to formulate thoughts.

"W-would that be alright?" She finally managed. "I mean your clan won't….."

"Leave it all to me, Sakura." He said confidently, the hand playing with her hair, turning to frame her face, as his thumb stroked her cheek, causing her face to once again turn beat red and her eyes to go as wide as saucers, as she watched Itachi lean in once again, "in the meanwhile," he spoke as he came closer and closer, "You will continue to train with me for the exam."He finished causing the girl to scowl in confusion, but before she could say or do anything, Itachi's lips were pressed against hers and her entire world faded, as his sensual touch numbed all her senses, slowly driving her over the edge.

*So unfair.* was the last thing she thought, before her mind came to a complete halt.

Drama Drama Drama… The Drama returns yet again (not that it ever left…hehe.)

We still have six chapters to go, so there still is some time for one or two more major plot twists ;)

I originally planned to post this chapter next week but honestly after the amazing reviews you guys left me I couldn't resist posting now :D

Thank you guys so much.

Please Review.