-Snippets-

I – ItaSaku – After War AU

When his life had been at the cusp of ending, he'd been given a second chance, a chance he never thought he deserved, nor wanted. All he'd wanted, since the horrible night where he'd been forced to put an end to the lives of his family, was for Sasuke to kill him. If Sasuke could one day kill him, it would mean that Sasuke was strong enough to protect himself from whatever Danzou and the elders threw at him.

What he'd never, not even once anticipated was Sasuke betraying Konoha and going to Orochimaru for power. He'd never expected his proud brother to lower himself so far as to become that snake's lapdog for just the promise of being stronger. And he still wasn't strong enough.

Itachi was severally weakened, not only by a devastating disease that ate away at his body but also the slow but sure decline of his eyesight. Sasuke had not been able to kill him, weakened as Itachi had been, not even after all those unnatural power ups from Orochimaru. If Itachi had been at his full power during their fight, Sasuke would have been killed. In retrospect, he should really be grateful for his illness, it spared him the devastation of killing his own little brother.

Itachi loved Sasuke, more than anything else in the world, but Itachi also hated the person Sasuke had become. Was it his fault? Had he pushed him too far too fast? Forced him to grow up too soon?

Itachi himself had been abruptly forced into adulthood at four years old when he'd been taken from the Academy and thrust into the middle of a violent, bloody war. But there had been no other option. Too many shinobi were dying daily, Konoha needed everyone who could fight, and even at only four years of age, Itachi could fight better than most. Prodigy of a clan full of geniuses, stronger than the strongest, faster than the fastest, smarter than the smartest. More ruthless than anyone. Those were just some of the things whispered behind his small back. When he was just ten years old, there had only been one person in Konoha that had a more terrifying reputation than Itachi. Friend-killer Kakashi. It didn't matter to the villagers that Itachi hated violence and was a pacifist who absolutely refused to hurt someone if he didn't have to. It didn't matter to them that the person who suffered the most from the death of his friends was Kakashi himself. As long as they could talk, nobody cared to find out the facts.

And then, Itachi went and proved them all right. He slaughtered him entire clan. His family. His parents. He killed his own mother in cold blood. It made no difference that he still had nightmares about that horrible night, that he still sometimes woke in cold blood, crying his mother's name, Shisui's. In everyone's eyes Itachi was a killer. Cold-blooded, ruthless, vicious. A villain.

One person didn't look at him with weariness. One person didn't see a killer when she looked at him. The pretty little medic on Kakashi's team that had found him after his fight with Sasuke. He could still remember, even through the haze of blood and pain, her face as she leaned over his prone form, face showing relief when she found him conscious. She and Kakashi had brought him back to Konoha, straight to the caves beneath the catacombs in the Hokage monument. Tsunade had already been waiting. What happened next, Itachi could only recollect in bits and pieces. He'd been too out of it most of the time.

Tsunade had organized a medical team with Sakura at the helm that did everything they could to save him, heal him. She'd also set up an ANBU squad to protect him. When he'd questioned Sakura about it, she'd only smiled and told him, "She's the Hokage, Itachi-san. We know the truth. Don't worry, just concentrate on getting better."

She's thrown herself into healing him, spent countless hours in his small cave with her team of medics, healing the damage his illness did to his body, all the while tirelessly making and improving a new kind of drug that slowly but surely pushed his illness back. He couldn't remember the last time he'd coughed up blood, or even coughed at all. There was no more blood in his lungs, his breaths strong and clean for the first time in forever. And it was all thanks to her. Itachi owed her his very life.

So, I already talked about this one in The One. As you can probably tell, it's supposed to be a lot heavier and more dramatic than the usual fluff I like to write, lol. Please tell me how you like it and if you would like to see the full story written.

II – ItaSaku – Hokage Sakura no-mass AU

Itachi suddenly woke up and knew immediately that something was very wrong. He woke up, that was the first and most glaring clue. He shouldn't have woken up; he'd died just moments ago. Or was it longer? He wasn't sure, but he knew he'd died, finally killed by Sasuke's hand. So how come he woke up? The afterlife? Or maybe he hadn't died. No, no, he was pretty sure that he'd died. He'd felt his life slipping away, his heart slowing, his breaths becoming shallow, his dim eyesight becoming gradually darker and darker and finally, Sasuke's face had been completely shrouded in black and Itachi had felt his chest rattle with one final, shuddering breath.

One shouldn't wake up after dying, right? Or maybe one should, it's not like he would know. You only die once, after all. Once you die, it's over. And yet, here he was coming awake in a room that in the dim light slipping in from outside looked very much like his childhood bedroom. And there was a warm body beneath him. Completely awake and more than a little spooked, he moved as slowly and carefully as he could, rising on an elbow and looking down. There was, indeed, a body beneath him. A girl, to be exact. A breathing, sleeping girl. The moonlight illuminated her slight form, dying her hair lavender. He'd seen her somewhere, he was sure of that, but couldn't place her.

He didn't know how long he'd stared at her, before she stirred and turned around, sleepy, translucent green eyes arresting him. Ah, Haruno Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice, his brother's Genin teammate. That didn't help him much though, he was more confused than ever. He wasn't dead, that much he was sure of. Or maybe death was an elaborate, realistic dream. But why would he dream about her of all people? And in his bed, no less. Her voice, a little rough from sleep, stirred him.

"Itachi?" she whispered, her hand rising to his face and he stayed still when her fingers gently brushed his hair from his eyes. Had this girl always been this pretty? "Are you alright? Another nightmare?" she went on whispering, her fingers sweeping his bangs behind his ear, tangling in the strands there and softly stroking. Oh, was that a lover's caress? She wasn't his lover, and yet it felt good. It felt intimate, comforting and exciting all at the same time, the soft texture of her slim fingers as familiar as it was foreign.

Slowly, she sat up, her fingers falling from his hair, leaving him bereft as she started at him and titled her head to the side. Oh, he realized belatedly, he probably should have responded, said something, anything. But he was rendered mute, had absolutely no idea even what to say if he could.

"Itachi?" she asked again, her face coming closer to his and for a brief second he found himself hoping she'd kiss him, before he forcefully expelled the thought from his mind. Why in the world would he want her to kiss him? He didn't even know her; she was nothing to him.

"Itachi, you're not my husband, are you?" her voice shook him from his confused thoughts, and he shook his head before he knew what he was doing, caught completely off guard.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice firmer now, eyes narrowed, everything about the steely look in her verdant gaze promising a world of pain for him.

"I am Uchiha Itachi," he finally managed to say, though his voice was weaker than he liked.

"So, you're Itachi, just not my Itachi?"

'My Itachi.' Had anyone ever addressed him as such? Had he ever belonged with anyone? Anywhere? He really didn't know. And yet here he was, waking up from death to a beautiful girl, who called him hers.

I also talked about this one, it had been supposed to be a simple smutty one-shot, but it run away with me, as per usual. This story is so much more complicated than it was ever supposed to be, but Sakura is Hokage here, so yeah. Same thing, right?
Anyway, again, I'd really appreciate your thoughts no this, too.

III – ItaSaku – Modern AU

She was beautiful, he realized with a start, averting his gaze when she turned around and their eyes met. Yes, she was definitely beautiful, all graceful, lithe yet almost dainty. Big eyes, the color of fresh apples, tiny nose, small mouth, full lips, long, soft rose-colored hair glistening in the sun. The very picture of a fairy. Not meant for this world.

And yet, she was in his house, doing homework at the kitchen table with Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke's classmate, his and Naruto's childhood best friend. And the girl Sasuke loved. There were pictures of her in his brother's room. His desk and shelves were full of them. Pictures of her alone, of the two of them, with Naruto with other friends. She was smiling in every picture, happy and so very innocent. He'd always thought his brother's crush was pretty, Sasuke had good taste.

But in reality, sitting just a few feet from him, she was breathtaking. The pictures didn't do her justice.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sasuke no Onii-chan," her voice startled him, and he looked up to see her grinning at him. "Sasuke talks about you all the time," she went on teasingly and he saw Sasuke scowl at her.

"Sakura," Sasuke growled. "Don't say crap like that." She didn't react to his harsh word, just giggled, throwing a wink in Itachi's direction, as if they were sharing their own private little joke. "And don't call him Onii-chan," Sasuke finally muttered and Sakura's laughter escalated, with Naruto joining in. Sasuke glared at them both, throwing one in Itachi's direction just for good measure.

Itachi felt his lips, but didn't dare show his mirth, biting his lip, when Sakura calmed down only to crack up again when Naruto whispered, "Brocon," under his breath.

Sasuke growled and stood up suddenly, his chair almost toppling over.

"Why are you here, Itachi?" he ground out and Itachi blinked.

"I live here, Sasuke," he replied steady, fully aware that he was only going to set Sasuke off even more, but not really caring at the moment.

I'm honestly not sure about this one. I wanna do a modern AU where Sakura and co are in High School and Itachi is a University student. I'm kinda also toying with a modern AU where Sakura is a surgeon and Itachi a CEO, but that has a romance novel almost. I want to do a modern AU, I just can't seem to settle on a theme. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

IV – ItaSaku – no-mass AU

If asked, Sakura would have to admit that the most awkward moment of her life happened when she was just six years old. It hadn't been awkward at the time, but the fallout of it followed her for more than a decade and got more and more awkward the older she got.

At the tender age of six, Sakura was in her first year in academy and had one day joined the rest of her classmates for an afternoon at the Uchiha compound, at Sasuke's invitation. The large group of children had been sitting around and joking when Ino had started counting which of the boys she'd consider marrying sometime in the future. She'd ended the observation slyly asking Sakura if her top choice also wouldn't be Sasuke-kun. Normally shy, Sakura would have never even considered answering the question, but Ino had told her earlier that it seemed as if Sasuke really liked Sakura. So she'd been somewhat giddy and ready to answer with a resounding yes when the door behind her had slid open. She'd turned automatically at the noise and found herself face to face with the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen in her life. Sasuke's older brother. Caught off guard, Sakura had blurted the first thing that had come to mind.

"Forget about Sasuke-kun, Ino-chan! I'm gonna marry him!" she'd exclaimed with childish exuberance and even pointed at the older boy with a small finger.

Luckily, Itachi had been more than nice about the whole thing, had just smiled at her and ruffled her hair, saying if she still felt that way in another 15 years he'd take her up on her offer. The other kids had laughed, Sasuke had scoffed, but Sakura had also gained something invaluable that day. Uchiha Itachi's friendship. Amused, but also charmed by the little girl and her crush on him, Itachi had taken her hand and led her to Mikoto in the kitchen where the Uchiha Matriarch welcomed her to the family with amusement and friendliness.

That little blunder of childish excitement would continue to follow her throughout the years. And here she was 19 years old and a very accomplished, highly respected kunoichi and she still couldn't get away from it.

I'm kinda partial to this one, I just love the idea of tiny itty-bitty Sakura taking one look at Itachi and deciding then and there he was the one for her. And of course, Itachi would think that so very cute, who wouldn't? Again, I'd really appreciate your opinion.

And these are it, tell me which one you'd see written out, all, just one or two, or none. If you have your won idea you'd like to see me write, feel free to let me know. Thank you for sticking with my stories. My head-canon ItaSaku are also very grateful.