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Chapter 36: Decisive (and some not-so-decisive) Talks

When Sakura woke up, she found herself in her own bed. She sat up and looked out the window and saw that the sky was dark. Had she slept all day?

She got out of bed and noticed that she had been sleeping in her clothes. She made a face and decided to change. As she did so, she checked her Chakra and found that it had replenished itself. Once she was in new clothing she brushed her hair and got ready for the day. She would have to ask Itachi what had happened when ever she got the chance.

A light knock on her door came just as the predawn light showed through her window. Sakura whispered, "Come in." and was unsurprised when Itachi stepped into the room and closed the door silently behind him. What did surprise her was when he was suddenly standing by her, enveloping her in a hug.

Sakura squeaked, "Itachi!" He didn't let go of her, but he did loosen his hold on her some. Sakura sighed, "I'm fine Itachi, really, I am." His hold on her didn't slacken any more so Sakura stifled another sigh and leaned into his embrace silently. After a few minutes of silence she asked, "Do you know what happened to me? The last thing I remember is you carrying me." She paused, then added, "For that matter, how did you find me?"

Itachi didn't answer right away, but Sakura didn't expect him to. After a while though, he finally answered, "Ibiki said that that was probably the first time you've ever used your Kekkei Genkai…and that you probably feinted because you overused it."

Sakura stiffened at the words 'Kekkei Genkai'. Was it possible that she really did have a Kekkei Genkai? If it was true, that would explain what had happened. She had dealt with some of the younger Hyuuga's who had overused their Byakugan or pushed themselves past their physical limits because they didn't know enough about the limits their Kekkei Genkai imposed upon them. Those young Hyuuga's had often times feinted or gotten sick…their symptoms seemed to fit her current condition perfectly.

She listened as Itachi continued, "I brought you back here and put you to bed while Ibiki explained what had happened to mother and father." Sakura noticed a change in his voice when he'd said the word 'father' so she looked up at him curiously. He looked down at her and she saw just in time that he was going to kiss her.

She quickly whispered, "Itachi, wait…" He paused and she took a deep breath before taking a step away from him, but she didn't break out of his hold. She turned so that she could look at him easily before she said, "We need to speak about some things before…anything." She tried to read what he was feeling, but she couldn't tell. He raised one eyebrow, and she knew he was waiting for her to continue.

Sakura sighed, "I guess the first thing is…are you sure you want to do this? I mean…I'm going to have to leave soon…what then? I'm going to have to leave and you won't see me for at least ten years…if we ever see each other again. I don't know what will happen…but I know it would be hard for both of us if…" She couldn't continue, her voice was stuck in her throat. She looked at her feet, embarrassed and sad at the same time.

Itachi had never removed his arms from being around her as she had spoken. Now he took a step closer and removed one hand. That hand moved to her chin, lifting her face until she was looking him in the eyes. His face was close to hers as he whispered, "I never forgot that you had to leave…there's no way I could have. I kissed you knowing you would be leaving eventually."

Sakura felt her face go red. He continued, "I don't care, Sakura. I love you, and nothing will change that. If I have to wait ten years, I will. If I have to be the one to go and find you, I will." He closed the distance and gently kissed her, then said quietly, resting his forehead against hers, "So, yes…I do want to do this…" He kissed her again, and Sakura felt as if the world was spinning, but this time, in a good way.

Sakura had to catch her breath before she asked her next question, but Itachi must have read her mind because he said quietly into her ear, "Sakura, until you leave, I want you to be my girlfriend…so will you?"

Sakura hesitated for a second, thoughts flying through her head. Was this really the best thing to be doing? Should she be falling for Itachi Uchiha? What was she talking about, it was too late, she'd already fallen for him. Should she agree to be his girlfriend? She wanted to, but she still wasn't sure that she should be doing this. She had felt so safe in his arms, but…

Then she remembered something from her time. In her time, it was known that Itachi had never looked at girls, let alone had a girlfriend. If she became his girlfriend…it would mean she had changed time! If she could assure herself she'd changed time, then maybe…

Yes, she would change time…she would! She would make it so the massacre never happened! She would save Itachi and Sasuke and everyone! She would change the past, and in doing so, change her present! She could change time! All she had to do to prove that she could change time was to agree to be his girlfriend. Then everything would change…

All these thoughts came and went in the blink of an eye, and Sakura's moment of hesitation ended. She smiled up at Itachi, her face bright red, and answered, "I'll be your girlfriend, if you'll be my boyfriend." She was rewarded by that smirk/smile she'd seen before…the one that had confused her so much before. Now she understood it's reasoning, and it made her insides melt.

She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. He held her tightly, and she was glad for it, because she wasn't sure that her legs would hold her just right then. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but eventually Itachi said quietly, "The sun will rise without us if we don't hurry."

Sakura slowly released him and he released her, then they both hurried out back to the training yard to watch the sun rise. After that, they trained, but it didn't take five minutes for Sakura to notice that Itachi was going easy on her. She stopped what she was doing and glared at Itachi, though even she knew that her whole heart wasn't in it.

She chided him, "Itachi, don't go easy on me. What's the point of training if it's easy?"

Itachi smirked and asked innocently, "Do you really think I'd go easy on you?"

Sakura felt herself twitch, she answered, "Yes." She then added bluntly, "In fact, I've had the suspicion that you've been going easy on me ever since we began training together months ago. It's just that now you're going super-easy on me. So stop it!"

Itachi shrugged and said nonchalantly, "As you wish." He then disappeared from sight. Sakura barely had time to block his attack, then his next, and then his next. She just managed to block or avoid all his attacks, but she never got the chance to counter attack, he was moving too quickly.

Sakura mentally cursed herself, but she kept her attention on the fight. She knew that she was both lucky and unlucky that this was a taijutsu only fight. Lucky because he couldn't pull out any special tricks but unlucky because taijutsu was her weakest subject. They kept up the fast, hard, pace until Sasuke came running up the hill.

They stopped, and Sakura had to sit down and wipe the sweat from her face as she caught her breath. She shot a glance at Itachi and noticed that he was barely breathing faster than normal. She felt kind of disgruntled that she was still so far behind him. Was she so weak as to be unable to get even one attack in?

Sasuke ran straight to her and threw his little arms around her. Sakura laughed as she heard him say something around the lines of 'I'm glad you're ok'. She gave him a gentle hug, then patted him on the head as he let go of her.

"I'm fine Sasuke. I'm just sorry to have scared you like that yesterday."

Sasuke looked up at her and said, "You did scare me, but it's ok." He paused, then got off topic, as little kids tend to do, "…did you know your eyes were blue yesterday?" Sakura blinked…she hadn't known that. Wait…hadn't Gaara said something like that before? She blinked again and smiled. As she did so, Sasuke noticed how tired she was, then turned and criticized his older brother, "Big brother! Why were you so hard on Sakura when she just got over using her bloodline? You're the one who told me she'd be tired today and that I shouldn't bother her too much!"

Sakura looked at the little five-year-old Sasuke glaring up at a thirteen-year-old Itachi without a hint of fear and couldn't help but laugh. It was too comical. They both turned to look at her, but she couldn't stop laughing for another minute. When she finally got a hold of herself she said, trying to reassure Sasuke between giggles, "I'm fine, Sasuke…I'm the one who asked him to not go easy on me. It's my fault, not his."

Sasuke shook his head and said defiantly, "It is his fault! He should have listened to what he told me! If he had, then you wouldn't be shaking!"

Shaking? Sakura looked down at her hands and noticed that they were shaking, but because she was trying not to laugh, not because she was tired (though she did have to admit she was exhausted). She laughed again and said, "Don't worry about me, Sasuke, I'm fine. Let's just figure out what we're going to practice today."

Sasuke didn't notice that she had changed the subject, instead he started to spurt out ideas of what they could do. Itachi had noticed, however, and he walked over and gave her his hand, helping her stand up. As he did so, Sakura caught his whisper of, "He's right…sorry." Sakura blushed, surprised. Had Itachi Uchiha just apologized to her? He then said just as quietly, "But you did great."

She didn't get a chance to say anything because Sasuke wanted her attention. She listened to his suggestion, and then she gave her own. As she and Sasuke decided on what they were going to do, Sakura was constantly aware of Itachi watching her. Sakura suppressed a shiver, she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to him watching her like that.

Well, at least she now knew why he was watching her. She couldn't help but feel a little dense for not having figured out before why he was constantly watching her. But then again, she never would have guessed that Itachi Uchiha would love her. As it was, she still had a hard time believing it, even though he had kissed her not just once, but twice, that very morning.

Sakura knew she was blushing again; she just hoped that Sasuke wouldn't notice, because children had a tendency to point thing like that out at just the wrong moment.

During breakfast that morning, Sakura noticed that Fugaku was radiating an angry aura for some reason. She knew he didn't like her, so she kept out of his way as best as she could. After they ate, he left for a mission and Sakura was relieved. She had felt as if there had been a physical weight in the room while he was present.

Once he was gone and Sasuke had rushed up the stairs to get ready for school there came a knock at the door and Itachi went to get it. While he was gone, Sakura helped Mikoto clean off the table. As they did so, Mikoto asked, "So, how are you feeling, Sakura? I heard your Kekkei Genkai awakened yesterday and I was worried when you wouldn't wake up."

"I'm fine," Sakura assured her, "I probably just used too much Chakra or something like that." Mikoto smiled at her and nodded her head.

Itachi answered the door and found not a messenger, as he had expected, but someone else. He stepped out of the doorway and allowed Shisui to come in, then closed the door. Shisui greeted him happily, "Good morning, cousin!"

Just then they both heard Sasuke stumble down the stairs quickly, almost yelling, "Cousin Sushi-I mean, Shisui!" Sasuke barreled into Shisui and Shisui grabbed him and rubbed his head until his hair stood at odd(er) angles.

Shisui chuckled as he said in mock anger, "What have I told you about calling me that, eh, brat?" Sasuke struggled out of Shisui's grasp, a big smile plastered across his face as he laughed joyously.

Sakura walked in and greeted Shisui, "Hey, how are you Shisui?" Shisui shrugged and said he was good. Then Sakura turned to Sasuke, who looked like he was about to bounce off the walls, "Sasuke, calm down. If you're that hyper in class, your sensei will wonder if you had sugar for breakfast." Sasuke pouted, but tried to hold still…key word being tried.

Sakura laughed, then asked him, "You want me to walk you to school today? Your mother already said it was ok with her." Sasuke whooped with glee and Sakura tried to fix his hair, but she knew it would need to be brushed again, so she said, "Sasuke, go brush your hair, then we can go." Sasuke ran back upstairs to do as she asked.

Sakura then asked, "Do you two want to come, or do you want to stay here?"

Shisui looked almost sheepish, almost, as he said, "I'd actually like to speak with Itachi, if you don't mind."

Sasuke was running back down the stairs as Sakura shook her head, "It's fine with me. I'll see you two later then. Come on, Sasuke." Sakura took the cheerful Sasuke's hand and they walked out the door, waving goodbye as they left.

Once they were gone, the two of them silently walked out to the training field where they could talk without being overheard. Once they were there, Itachi said bluntly, guessing the reason why Shisui had wanted to talk to him alone, "I told her."

He watched in amusement as Shisui's jaw dropped. He looked like a fish for a while, opening and closing his mouth. Finally he asked as if he expected Itachi to bite his head off but at the same time was dieing to know, "When? How? What was the answer?"

Itachi told him and watched as his cousin's face went through different emotions. Finally he asked unbelievingly, "You kissed her?" Itachi nodded, but Shisui asked again, "You kissed her? You kissed her?" He then said something slightly different, "You couldn't find the words so you kissed her?" Itachi nodded again, wondering why his cousin was having such a hard time accepting that one fact.

Finally he grew tired of Shisui's repetition so he interrupted and said, "Yes, I kissed her on her birthday when I told her I loved her. I also kissed her today, the day she agreed to be my girlfriend." Shisui just stared at him, and Itachi had a weird feeling in a not-so-good way that he couldn't explain. But then Shisui smiled and congratulated him profoundly. Itachi pushed the weird feeling he'd had to the back of his mind, he was imagining things.

Shisui then said almost guiltily, "I guess I did tell you to be blunt…I just didn't think you'd be so blunt as to skip words…"

Itachi smirked at his cousin as he said frankly, "I just figured that actions spoke louder than words. You of all people should know that I prefer to 'do' rather than 'speak' or 'wait'."

Itachi watched Shisui's face closely, but he could only see Shisui absorbing what he'd said as if it applied to some sort of situation that he was in. Shisui then nodded curtly, as if he had just decided on something. Itachi mentally shook his head, Shisui was too easy to read for being a Uchiha…it was almost disgraceful.

But then again, that was one of the reasons they were best friends. Itachi couldn't be read, and Shisui couldn't not be read. Ironic, wasn't it? Itachi sighed when Shisui asked about what he would do when Sakura had to leave, as leave she must. He told Shisui what he'd told Sakura. For some reason, as he watched Shisui's obvious reaction, that odd feeling returned.

As Sakura walked Sasuke to School he seemed overly happy. But after a while he seemed to get lost in thought, and then he suddenly asked, "Why does big brother act funny around you?"

Sakura tripped in surprise. His sensei had thought he needed to be more perceptive, but the way she saw it, he was more perceptive than he needed to be. Sakura laughed nervously, not quite sure how to explain to a five-year-old what love was.

"Well, ah," she began hesitantly, "Itachi likes me a lot and uh…" How the heck do you explain to a five-year-old in terms he could understand? "I guess you could say he likes me in much the same way that your parents like each other and, uh, well…"

Sasuke asked as she tried to figure what else to say, "You mean he loves you? That's what mommy and daddy said was how they felt for each other. Is that it? What's love mean? Mommy said she loves me and big brother different than she loves daddy, but how is that?"

Sakura stared, trying to figure out what to say. Finally she said slowly, "Well, you could say that there are two different kinds of love. There's the friend and family love, like how your mother loves you and your brother. Then there's the kind of love that your mom and dad are in…the forever love."

Sasuke seemed to think hard about what Sakura said. They had just reached the academy and Sasuke had started to walk inside alone, but then he turned around and came back to her. He looked serious as he said, "Then I love you, Sakura!" He then turned back and ran inside. Sakura stood there a few moments, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Finally she shook her head and started walking back the way she had come. She knew Sasuke was too young to really understand what he was saying, and she guessed he meant it in the 'family' category anyways.

As she walked back, she couldn't help but wonder how different things would be when she returned back to her time.

Well, I hope you liked it. I'll be explaining about her Kekkei Genkai more in later chapters, so you'll just have to wait!

Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome, but flames will get a bucket of lemon water dumped on their head…(don't ask) Now: to the pretty list!

Thanks to: baka-chan, SpeedDemon315, XxPinkCherryBlossoms4, Dreamergirl92813, Gothic Saku-chan, dark Alley, Shade, benswife, Sakimi1014, Makokam (I know, you do notice that the Hoshi's left the ninja village, right? Also, that's not all there is to her kekkei genkai, so you'll just have to wait to find out.), shadow miko, Gothic Raven, sakura-angel113, bubbleyum, Starlight - Wild Koneko, Flower of the Desert, demon-lulu, Inuforlyf, xo Misunderstood kunoichi ox, meisi, pinky101 (maybe, maybe not...I can't say), txgirl123, Jax9, Challa, PhAnToM SpEaKeR, Rangerette, Chibi Kabuto, NARUTARDMJR14, Jester08, Ilse Montague, moonhuntress09, Mistress Persephone, XxKayxKayxX, SilverMononoke, fionfee, animelover123456 (yeah, I think so too), Crazy Neko Girl , Makokam (You'll find out soon enough), Confuzzled239, Name, xnarutoxrocksx, DeidaraAddiction, Black-Fire-Wolf-Sakura-Asakura, inn0centdr3ameR, & Black Amber for reviewing!