prompt: unnoticeably

summary: au. itachi has never thought much about it, but perhaps falling in love wouldn't be so bad if it was with the right person.


Silence.

"I don't—"

"Yeah. Me neither."

"I am glad we're on the same page."

Itachi sits awkwardly in a café with Haruno Sakura, a friend of his little brother's. He still doesn't know why this is happening.

"I have to admit," Sakura cautions, "I knew I was going to meet you sooner or later, but I didn't really expect it to be under these circumstances."

"Trust me, I did not expect it either."

Being twenty-six, Itachi's parents have expressed endless concern that he's never had a single girlfriend in his entire life. And Sasuke, being the devilish little brother he is, decided to "set him up" with a "nice girl" who is also lacking a love life.

Itachi has no doubt that Sakura is a nice girl. However, this wasn't…after all, he should be concentrating on his studies…and additionally, he has never even met Sakura before today—

"I don't want to be rude, Itachi-san, but I'm not interested. I mean, I'm sure you're interesting and charming, but—" With each word, Sakura becomes more flustered, and digging herself a deeper grave. "I am just—not looking for someone right now. If you understand."

"I do," he says, inclining his head.

She breathes a sigh of relief, relaxing in her seat. "Thank you. I'm sorry this is terribly awkward. I also have a study session in half an hour, so I actually have to leave now—is that alright?"

Slightly perturbed, he nods. "Of course. What are you studying?"

"Um, lots of stuff. I'm pre-med. But yeah, the coffee will be on me today, alright?"

"That's quite alright—"

"No, no, it's okay! I'm the one leaving early." She places a few bills on the table and stuffs her wallet back into her bag. "But it was nice meeting you, Itachi-san. Maybe I'll see you around!" And grabbing her coffee, she whisks out the door without giving him a single moment to bid her goodbye or thank her.

And he is slightly bruised, because she didn't let him pay either.

"You let her pay?" Sasuke stares at him. "Are you really that clueless with girls?"

"She didn't give me a chance," Itachi says, indignant. "You must know how she is."

"I do, but—" His little brother sighs. "Give me your phone. I'm going to input her number and you're going to call her back and pay like a proper person."

"That's not necessary, as neither of us are interested—"

"I don't care, man. Unless you start dating, I won't be allowed to date either, and that sucks more than hooking you up with someone." Sasuke swipes Itachi's phone from his pocket. "What's your passcode? 0723?"

Itachi blinks. "How did you know?"

"It's my birthday, you idiot."

"I don't appreciate you insulting my intelligence," he says, miffed.

"I wouldn't if you'd stop leaving so many openings." A few taps on Itachi's phone, and he tosses it back. "Call her in a few days. Okay?"

"No."

Sasuke narrows his eyes, and Itachi suddenly finds his little brother to be very frightening, and very dangerous. "Remember the time you accidentally knocked over Mom's favorite china set and Dad was furious? Who was the one who covered for you?"

Itachi pales slightly. "Blackmail is hardly a way to achieve what you want to achieve."

Sasuke shrugs. "Hey, I want a girlfriend. I can't get one until you do. So get to it."

His little brother has suddenly become a threat to Itachi's peaceful life. This is very disconcerting.

Once again, silence.

Sakura coughs. "So, here we are."

Itachi nods. "Here we are."

The muted background music of the café plays on.

"I thought I made this very clear, Itachi-san—"

"I know," he says, lips pursed. "I am well aware. However, my little brother…" He pauses, and Sakura waits with raised eyebrows. "He has decided to blackmail me."

But instead of understanding dawning in her eyes, a smile quirks at her lips. "I didn't think you'd have any blackmail material," she teases. Itachi resists the urge to frown.

"That would be the ideal situation, yes. Do you have another study session today?"

She waves her hand. "It's Friday. No one wants to study on a Friday."

"Then if you would do me a favor…" He leans in a little, and Sakura does so as well, nearly knocking over her coffee. "If, perhaps, you could put up a façade with me? I would like Sasuke to get off my back, so if we could just pretend for a little while that we're dating, you would be doing me a huge favor."

Judging from what he hears about Sakura, Itachi thinks she is a genuinely kind and warmhearted person. Which is why he's slightly taken aback when she asks, "What's in it for me?"

For a moment, he's so stunned he doesn't know what to say. "The feeling that you've done something good?" he offers.

She laughs. Itachi isn't quite sure how to respond to that. "That's for after I become a doctor. Med school is a bitch to get into—I can't waste my time doing favors for other people. So, what's in it for me?"

Briefly, he weighs the pros and cons. Pros: Sasuke would finally leave him alone and his father will never have to know about that broken china set. Cons: None. Not yet categorized: potentially more time spent with Sakura, depending on what's "in it for her".

He sighs. "I'm taking fourth year statistics courses and I passed organic chemistry at the top of my class of five hundred."

Sakura's eyes shine like she's just hit a goldmine.

"Deal," she says with no hesitation. "Glad to make your acquaintance, Itachi-san." She holds out her hand, and perturbed, Itachi shakes it. He feels as though he's just successfully sealed a business transaction, not gained a fake girlfriend.

A moment later, she pulls a huge textbook out of her bag, and all hope of a conversation is promptly flies out the window.

"She is…" Sasuke blinks.

"Coming over, yes."

"But—?"

"Is this not natural when you are dating someone?"

"You're—already?"

Itachi raises his eyebrows. "Instead of looking baffled, I believe you should be rejoicing."

His little brother spins on his heels and walks away (with a slight bounce to his step, if Itachi isn't imagining things). "Oh, trust me. I'm rejoicing alright."

After being cooped up in Itachi's room for two hours, doing nothing but homework, Sakura finally lifts her head to ask, "I've been wondering for a while now, but why do you have a book on hairstyling?"

He glances back at his bookshelf where the cursed volume sits. "Sasuke got it for my birthday when he was six. I suppose he was under the impression that I spent a lot of time on my hair."

Sakura nods, slowly. "I see." Then, she smiles. "That's kind of cute."

"At least one of us thinks so."

"No, I mean—it's cute that you still have it, since it's been so long already." She returns to her work and tucks her hair behind her ear, and for a moment, Itachi is lost in the way it curls right at the curve of her neck.

He looks away, although the image doesn't quite leave his mind. His lips quirk into a faint frown, and not one of his own accord.

This is slightly disconcerting.

Silence again, until half an hour, Sakura spins her notebook so he can read it properly. "Can you check over my calculations for me?" It's nearing the end of the semester and her lab reports are piling up, to the point where she's almost falling over from sleep deprivation. Itachi knows the feeling well, although he's long since learned to use his insomnia to his advantage.

He skims over her rough draft and frowns. There are more mistakes than usual. "I think," he says, "you should take a day off before you continue with your schoolwork."

Sakura shakes her head, slightly frantic. "Are you kidding me? I'm already behind enough as it is!"

"This kind of work is not acceptable to be handed in anyways."

"Then tell me what needs to be fixed, and I'll fix it!"

"You've been coming here every day after class for two weeks now. This is no way to do things."

Glaring at him, she snatches the papers from him. "Fine. I'll check it myself. Some fake boyfriend you are."

Itachi waits, patiently, for her to begin nodding off as she often does once in a while—and once she does, he moves to shift her work away from her and grabs a pillow from his bed and slips it underneath her head. And then he pads out of the room to get a spare blanket from the storage closet.

Sasuke eyes him when he exits the kitchen, a water bottle in hand. "What are you doing?"

"Sakura has fallen asleep."

His little brother snorts. "A little early in the day to be doing that, don't you think?"

Itachi frowns. "What are you talking about?" It's never too early to be doing homework, especially for a pre-med student.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Whatever." As he strides away down the hallway, it occurs to Itachi.

"If you were assuming intercourse—"

"I don't want to hear about it, okay?"

"We weren't—"

The door slams behind Sasuke, leaving a very perplexed Itachi alone in the hallway with the blanket gathered in his arms. He isn't sure how merely mentioning that Sakura's asleep implies in any way that they've been doing anything inappropriate. Sometimes, he finds his little brother slightly barbaric.

He returns to his room, Sakura still asleep on the small table, her head snuggled up against his pillow. He drapes the blanket over her shoulders, and—and briefly, wonders if he should brush her bangs out of her eyes. What that would even feel like.

So he does it, and she stirs slightly, but not enough to wake—and Itachi blinks, and draws away.

He will make dinner. Yes. And rid himself of Sakura for a bit.

"A bit" meaning half an hour at most, because Sakura bursts into the kitchen not long later, her hair disheveled.

He raises an eyebrow at her disoriented state. "Good morning," he says dryly.

"I can't believe you just let me sleep," she grumbles, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and making herself some tea as if she knows the place like the back of her hand. (Which, to be fair, she does.)

"Like I said, you needed rest. Dinner is almost ready, so wait until you finish eating before you get back to work."

"You can cook?"

He glances at her, mildly offended. "I am an independent man at twenty-six years of age, so I would certainly hope I can cook." Sakura peeps over his shoulder, and he catches a faint whiff of her shampoo. "Sakura…"

"Yes?"

He keeps his voice low, in case Sasuke is nearby. "How long do we plan to keep up this façade for?"

"Hm? I don't really care. Why?"

They've been "dating" for approximately two weeks, but they haven't put up much of a show, unless Sakura coming over for daily study sessions counts as putting up a show. Sasuke is under the impression that Itachi is a prude anyways, and Sakura never brought it up, so it never happened—but suddenly (and frighteningly), Itachi…Itachi wants to. And he knows why.

Which he doesn't see as too much of a problem, since in the past two weeks, they've become amicable and agreeable, and clearly comfortable enough for Sakura to prop her chin on his shoulder as she watches him cook. She probably doesn't think much of it.

This happened slowly and unnoticeably for Itachi—and it's new, because nothing ever escapes his notice.

He doesn't answer her question, but he turns his head to glance at her. She meets his gaze, her eyes the greenest green, and he tries to remember to breathe.

An impish smile grows on her lips, although she looks a little nervous. "What?" They're very, very close.

Should he? No. But…

"We could stop this make-believe at any time," he says airily, turning back to the stove.

"Sure, if that's what you want. But does that mean you won't help me with my studies anymore?" She doesn't move from his shoulder.

"I will always help with your studies if that's what you want, Sakura. I am not unkind."

"Oh." She finally steps away from him, bouncing on the heels of her feet. For the first time since Itachi has met her, she appears unsure. "Okay. Well, that was nice, I guess—being able to say I had a boyfriend, even though it was a fake one."

Itachi turns off the stove and turns to fully face her. "Sakura." He tries to assess her.

"Yes?" And she sounds a tiny bit hopeful, and that is enough for him.

He leans down and kisses her, only briefly, and he feels her breath catch in her throat. (It's an understatement to say it doesn't happen to him too.)

"Give me a minute and dinner with be ready," he murmurs before pulling away.

"Okay." She sounds breathless.

So he finishes up making dinner and they eat in his room, and Sakura moans about her large pile of work, and Itachi wonders if this would have happened even without the catalyst. If he would have met Sakura eventually and developed feelings for her anyway. Very likely, he supposes.

"So," she says a little later when it's dark out and she should be leaving soon, "are we…actually dating now?"

Itachi stares at her. "I didn't realize kissing meant so little to you."

Sakura blushes furiously, and before he's able to stop the thought from running through his head—cute. She's cute.

Damn it all.

"I just wanted to confirm," she hisses. "I haven't had a boyfriend since high school, so I kind of forget how it works."

"I've never had a girlfriend," he says flatly.

"Good," she replies, smiling cheekily. "Then you're essentially clueless and I can still concentrate on my schoolwork."

He frowns. "I'm not entirely sure if that was a compliment or not."

"Me neither, actually." But as she returns to her work, her free hand sits on the table, unmoving. Is he supposed to do something with it?

Dating is a complicated business indeed. Itachi finds the page in his book where he left off and reads again—but not before he reaches out to hold her hand, the touch gentle in a way he's never experienced before.

"I didn't think it would happen like this," Sakura says, quietly. "I didn't think this would happen at all, actually."

"Trust me, you are not the only one."

"Sasuke never really talked much about you, and when he did, there was never much praise. So when he told me to meet you, I was a little unsure…but you know what? I'm really glad I did, because you're a treasure box."

"A treasure box?"

"Yeah. Like the hairstyling book Sasuke got you. Or the picture of your family you keep in your wallet. Or the way you organize your books according to the Dewey Decimal System. Just little pieces of you, here and there, and it's been really fun getting to know you."

"…I see." But Itachi thinks he knows what she means. The curl of her hair against the curve of her neck, her habit of poking fun at anyone who asks her a favor when she plans to help from the start, the way she lives off coffee but can't stand it if there's sugar in it. Tiny fragments that he can only catch with time.

Sakura laughs, and pulls her hand away from his. Itachi resists the urge to frown. "Okay, well, I'll let you ponder that. Now leave me alone, because I have work to do."

When Itachi hears the front door slam one afternoon, he pokes his head out of his room.

"What's wrong?" he asks Sasuke, who stalks down the hallway.

"Nothing."

"Girl problems?" His little brother casts him a glare, and Itachi knows he's got it just right. "You can always talk to me about it."

Sasuke snorts. "Just because you've been dating Sakura for a few months, doesn't mean you know all there is to know about girls."

"Well, I certainly know more than you, don't I?"

Sasuke scowls (because again, Itachi is right). "Go to hell. Go make out with Sakura, or something. Leave me alone."

When Sasuke has angrily taken refuge in his own room, Itachi sighs. Little brothers will always be little brothers.


A/N: This is me puking something out to ask you guys to give me prompts! Please! If you've ever wanted an ItaSaku scenario, please tell me and I will write it for you!

If ItaSaku happened in real life, it would be like this: accidentally and very normal but still painfully cute. Sorry this is boring hahahah.

(I have a new LJ~ It's on my page!)