CHAPTER 19- Intentions
"Did you see how he took Sakura-chan away from us just like that?" Naruto exclaimed, eyes still wide with disbelief as the remaining members of Team 7 made their way back towards the Training grounds.
Sasuke tried his best to ignore the blonde for the sake of his own sanity and whereas he couldn't blame Naruto for his outburst, it only added to his own irritation.
Naruto was understandably disappointed and quite shocked that Itachi simply took Sakura away from them, but he didn't see what Sasuke saw.
He knew his brother very well, and not even once did he see him act like that.
The first thing that didn't sit well with him was that Itachi actually bothered to look for Sakura himself instead of sending someone to fetch her, as it was commonly done. No, Itachi looked for Sakura himself just to ask her why she was taking a day off instead of waiting to confront her the next time he would see her at the office.
So there was either an emergency at the office or Itachi sought Sakura out not because he needed to see her, but wanted to.
Judging by the way she didn't instantly throw him over the counter as soon as he grabbed her and instead, seemed familiar with his touch and even called him by his first name, it seemed to be the latter.
It was possible that he was just reading too much into all of it. He was her boss after all, saved her life once and was her teammate for a mission or two what meant that they could have gotten somewhat closer, but Sasuke's gut was telling him that there was more to it.
The way he held her, or how his eyes gleamed with amusement when he saw her shocked expression, it all made no sense to Sasuke.
And yet, it somehow added up perfectly.
"Kakashi-sensei, how could you just let her go?" Naruto called, lips formed in a pout as he turned his head to look at the Copy-nin that was walking next to him, a familiar orange book in his hand that his eyes never strayed from.
Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi as well and even though he was unable to read Kakashi's expression, his words caused his blood to freeze.
"That's adult business, Naruto. It's best if you don't ask any questions and just take it as it is."
Whereas this answer only served to confuse Naruto further, Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously as they bore holes through Kakashi's temple. It seemed like Kakashi might know more about that than he did.
"I just think that it's unfair, you know." Naruto whined, visibly disappointed. "This bastard gets to see her whenever he wants just because he's the Hokage."
This time, Kakashi reached out to ruffle Naruto's hair, his eyes never leaving his book. "Get used to it, kiddo." Was all he offered as comfort before he removed his hand and put it back into the pocket of his pants, leaving Naruto to mumble about Kakashi having messed up his hair.
Sasuke, however, didn't miss the underlying message that Kakashi's words carried.
Get used to it.
It seemed like even Kakashi knew that this was not a one time thing and that was enough to confirm his suspicions.
He should have realized it the instant Itachi was standing in front of Sakura. He should have recognized his behavior and realized that he had seen Itachi like this before, a couple of times actually, just under different circumstances.
Sasuke felt the uneasiness in his stomach increase as he fixed his eyes on the ground before him, forehead furrowed in thought as he realized that Itachi had just found his most recent prey.
And this time, it wasn't an enemy shinobi that he wanted to track down or a traitor that he would chase through countries to hold him accountable for his crimes against the village.
No, it seemed like for the first time, a woman managed to catch his brothers interest and Sasuke knew that Itachi would go over dead bodies to get what he wanted.
Too bad that this woman turned out to be his teammate.
He would have to keep an eye on both of them. If it really was like he suspected, he would have to talk to Itachi.
He wouldn't allow Sakura to get pulled into this mess called the Uchiha Clan just because Itachi decided to take her as his own.
Not her.
X
"Well girls, any suggestions?"
Tenten shrugged from where she was sitting on the grass next to a little boy who looked beyond bored while Ino exaimed her nails and Hinata petted Akamaru's head.
It was the day of the Tournament and the girls had exactly three minutes left in order to come up with the ultimate plan to win this game and to bruise their boys ego.
Again.
Just like the years before there were two teams, divided by the girls and the boys that each got one half of the training grounds. The teams mission is to capture the other teams subject that is located at the teams base and to safely bring it back to their own.
Each Team also had a joker, a ninja of their choice that can be invoked only once and for five minutes only who isn't allowed to get the subject, just to distract and prevent the opposite team from getting closer to theirs.
"How about we switch mine and Ino's position from last time just like yours and Hinata's?" Tenten suggested. "I guard this little man over here, you and Ino guard our territories borders while Akamaru and Hinata get the subject."
Sakura carefully considered Tenten's suggestion with a hum before she nodded. "Could work. They'll most likely send either Naruto or Sasuke to get our boy after Shika's little accident last time, so it's best if I am there to block them from getting to you."
"Even if they get through to her, we can block their exit." Ino reminded her as she tightened her ponytail. "Who will use our joker, though? If we pull a Shika this time, we'll never hear the end of it."
Sakura snorted as Hinata giggled from where she was crouched down next to Akamaru. Ah yes, the joker story. Poor Shikamaru couldn't even sleep because Kiba and Naruto gave him hell for invoking it at the possibly worst time there was.
"Let's not limit the joker to one person." Sakura decided. "Whoever got it worst, uses it. Since Hinata will be the one to get the target back to our base it would be best to use it only if we think she won't need it anymore, though."
"Sounds good to me." Tenten replied and just then they heard a loud alarm go off, causing them to instantly jump to their feet and straighten their postures.
"That was the warning bell." Hinata softly reminded them, her hand still placed on Akamaru's head as she looked at the others with firm eyes. "We only got sixty seconds to take our positions."
Sakura and Ino nodded as Tenten grabbed the boys small hand tightly in hers. He was only a genin and visibly startled by the sudden alarm, even though he tried his best to put on his bravest face.
"Come on, let's get to the base." Tenten told him, shooting him a reassuring grin that he returned with a weak smile before she turned to look at her teammates. "You better not let them get to me too fast."
Ino grinned. "Can't promise anything. It all depends on how hot their joker is, dear Tenten."
Sakura rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring Ino's comment and Tenten's snort as she turned to look at Hinata with a smile. "You'll be okay?"
The Hyuuga heiress shot her a soft smile that brightened up her face in a way that Sakura could only admire. "Of course, Sakura-chan. I'll do my best to get the subject safely to our base."
"I know you will, Hinata-chan." Sakura assured her with a bright smile. "You know how to reach us if you run into trouble."
Hinata gave her a curt nod and gently tapped on her earpiece. "Of course. We should go then, there are only twenty seconds left."
Sakura nodded a she put on her gloves. "Let's go girls!"
X
There was silence.
Nothing but sheer, deafening silence.
"Shika, how's the border?"
Shikamaru kept his eyes fixed on the other side of the river that marked the girls territory from where he was leaning with his back against a broad tree.
The sun has just set, and the training ground was covered in the shadows that the dark evening sky cast over it.
"West is clear. Kiba?"
"Everything's fine and dandy over here as well."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he heard Naruto snort rather loudly into his earpiece. "Fine and Dandy? Teme, did you teach him that?"
"Shut up and keep your eyes on the river, dobe."
"Hah, so you did teach him that!"
Shikamaru tensed as he saw a blur of something in the far end of the girls territory and instantly went down into a crouch.
"Shut up." Shikamaru hissed the command, and the line instantly went dead silent. His brown eyes took in his surroundings, trying to pick up anything that may give the girls away.
For the following moments, there was nothing.
And then, a blur of purple whipped past him, followed by what sounded like an explosion coming from the East side of their boarder that Kiba was supposed to guard.
"It's Hinata!" Shikamaru yelled into the earpiece as he heard the sounds of the battle commencing. Just when he was about to form the seals for a shadow clone, he felt the tree that he was hiding in start to shake violently.
He instantly jumped off of the broad branch that he was standing on, softly landing on the ground as his head snapped upwards just in time to see a gloved fist coming for his nose.
Shikamaru instantly grabbed his attackers wrist and slammed Sakura's clone roughly against the tree trunk just for it to disappear into a puff of smoke.
"Clones, really?" Shikamaru called as he spotted another handful of Sakuras cross the river and shook his head with a sigh. "What a drag."
"Gotta keep you busy somehow, Shika!" He heard Sakura yell from somewhere in the distance, and he rolled his eyes.
Why did he feel like this time he wouldn't get to go home before sunrise?
Putting his hands into his pockets, he puffed his cheeks.
"Why don't you come over instead? That way we might get to go home earlier."
On the other side of the river, Sakura was currently busy fighting off a very energetic Naruto as she heard Shikamaru's call from the other side.
"Sorry!" She called as she dodged Naruto's fist and grabbed his upper arm, channeled her chakra into her palm and turned so that she could ram her elbow into his temple. "I am kinda busy right now, maybe later?"
Naruto dodged her elbow and crouched onto the ground before he swiped her legs from under her, forcing her to jump into the air to prevent herself from falling flat onto her back, what left her teammate enough time to summon a dozen shadow-clones.
When Sakura landed on the ground a few feet away, she let out a small groan of annoyance. "Seriously, Naruto?"
"Sorry Sakura-chan, you know how much I love to fight against you but winning is kinda more important right now!" Naruto sheepishly called and shot her a wink before he ran deeper into the girls territory, leaving Sakura with his clones behind.
The pinkette turned to look at his clones with a sigh as she lifted her hand to touch her earpiece with a pout. If she'd have known that Karma would pay her back this swiftly, she would have gone after Shika herself instead of having sent her clones.
"Tenten, Naruto is heading towards you. I'll take care of the mess he left behind and send some of my clones after him to buy you some time." Sakura informed her as she straightened and cracked her knuckles, emerald eyes burning as she took in the dozen faces of Naruto that were grinning at her.
She smirked right back at them.
Oh well, maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.
Sakura's hands slipped into a series of seals before a handful of Clones appeared next to her. She then went into her fighting position as her clones took off, a few of Naruto's own following them, what left Sakura with only eight.
"Got it!" She heard Tenten say through her radio and with that, Sakura darted towards the first two Naruto's that charged at her.
It wouldn't take her long to get rid of the clones, but it was still annoying considering that Naruto's were slightly harder to take out than the others clones.
She rammed her fist into one's face as she twirled on the heel of her right foot, slammed her left heel into the face of another and dodged a kunai that came flying towards the back of her head.
She could feel droplets of sweat trail down her neck as she eyed the remaining three clones with a victorious smile.
Just as she was about to take on the remaining clones of her teammate, Hinata's soft voice filled her ear.
"Blue."
Sakura tensed as she swiftly turned her head to look for Ino, whose blonde hair she could luckily instantly spot at the other side of the river. She was battling Kiba as it seemed while Akamaru kept Shikamaru busy.
Sakura frowned before she turned her head back towards the Naruto duo in front of her that was coming for her. When she felt like they were close enough, she easily side-stepped the left Naruto clone as the right one jumped at her from above. She grabbed the kunai that she had strapped on her thigh and hurled it right at one's forehead before she roughly grabbed the last Naruto by his collar and harshly slammed him against the tree trunk, causing both of them to disappear.
She didn't have any time to rest though as Hinata's words loudly echoed in her ear. It seemed like she encountered a little bit of trouble and had to invoke their joker, but in the end she knew that it was probably for the best that the Hyuuga heiress was the one who invoked it. This way, it would buy her some time to get to the borders while Sakura and Ino would try to keep her exit clear.
"Sakura." The radio crackled. "He's on his way."
The pinkette glanced at the dark forest on their territory before she turned around and run towards the stream.
"Ino!" Sakura yelled, trying to gain the blonde's attention who was now trying to avoid one of Shikamaru's shadows while Akamaru was trying to shield her from Kiba's attack.
The blonde turned towards the voice of her pink-haired friend and back-flipped out of Kiba's reach.
"Got it!" Ino assured her as she stepped back towards the river. "Judging by their expressions, it seems like Sasuke-kun got into a bit of trouble with our dearest Shisui."
Sakura smirked as she as well backed towards the river, expression smug as she kept her eyes fixed on the forest, patiently waiting for her sweet little teammate and their stolen subject to appear.
It hadn't been Sakura's idea to use Shisui as their joker, but when he heard that they were looking for one, he practically begged her to let him do the job.
Sakura was certain that one thing that motivated him in partaking was his most recent crush on Ino that the medic couldn't even take serious considering that he crushed on everything and everyone that had two legs and boobs.
In the end, the argument that won Sakura over was that he was the only one besides Sakura that could seriously take on Sasuke since he and Itachi had trained him back in the days when he was still a little boy.
Besides, his expression when he had seen that they had chosen his cousin as his joker must have been hilarious.
Suddenly, the attacks on Ino and Akamaru ceased and Sakura immediately knew that either Sasuke or Naruto must have told the boys something over the radio because the clearing went eerily silent within the split of a second.
It was the silence that they have all been waiting for, the silence that marked the Tournaments peak and the beginning of the real fight.
Kiba and Shikamaru were facing Ino and Akamaru, senses on high alert while the blonde flexed her fingers, ready to help Hinata back into their territory even if it meant that she'd have to take these two idiots and maybe even Sasuke on all by herself.
Sakura just needed to keep Naruto a little bit busy, and then the victory would be theirs.
There was a rustle behind Shikamaru, causing everyone on the field to tense in anticipation as Ino fixed her eyes on a spot over Kiba's shoulder.
When said male suddenly began to grin, however, Ino tensed.
"What's there to grin about?" Ino asked, causing Sakura to stiffen in alarm. She didn't dare take her eyes off of the forest though, knowing that it could easily be one of their traps that would aid Naruto in getting over to their side.
Sakura knew that this would be the perfect opportunity for the boys to invoke their joker and for some reason, Sakura felt her stomach clench in anticipation.
Something felt awfully off about it.
"You know what you girls gotta do if we win, right?" Kiba smugly asked, and Sakura clenched her fists.
"Why the sudden confidence, Kiba?" Sakura drawled as she crossed her arms above her chest, the uneasiness in her stomach doubling. "You and Shika should know best that a five minute joker won't be able to keep me busy long enough to let Naruto pass this border."
"Is that so, Haruno?"
She could have sworn that her heart had stopped right then and there. She didn't dare remove her eyes from the forest as she heard his familiar voice right next to her ear, his looming presence behind her clearly palpable as she stiffened.
Somewhere behind her, she heard Ino gasp and Kiba laugh heartily as she tried her best to not let her surprise show.
Her senses were suddenly heightened, her hands shaking from the adrenaline that was running through her veins at blinding speed as she gritted her teeth.
They had to be kidding her.
Out of everyone, they decided to use him as their joker? When did they decide to ditch Shino, Genma or even Neji for Itachi?
Even though it certainly was a remarkable update, that she had to admit. The Hokage as their joker? Now that was daring.
Still, Sakura wouldn't allow her team to go down that easily. She would fight for their victory, even if it meant that she'd have to knock the Hokage out cold.
"Of course." Sakura announced, her voice loud enough to reach the others on the other side of the river and judging by the way Kiba's laughing instantly ceased, the deadly intent in her voice must have been just as loud. "Not even you will be able to get them this damn win, Uchiha.
"We shall see about that, Sakura."
The instant these words left his lips, Sakura whirled around, grabbed a kunai and hurled it at a surprised Shikamaru's forehead who just barely managed to dodge it in time.
Ino took it as her sign and instantly charged at Kiba with a growl while Sakura channeled her chakra into her feet.
Itachi, of course, was long gone and Sakura patiently waited for the sneaky attack that was undoubtedly going to come. She would just need to buy them some time so that Hinata could safely reach their base because as long as Itachi was out there, he could easily knock Tenten and maybe even Hinata out while Sakura took on Naruto.
Hinata could only pass the border after Naruto was gone, so Sakura had to fight off Itachi and buy Tenten some time so that she could delay Naruto some.
She only hoped that Sasuke wouldn't find Hinata. There should only be one minute of their joker left whereas there were still four for Itachi.
This would turn out to be a challenge indeed.
"Come on, Uchiha. I don't like to be left waiting." Sakura feigned a pout that she was sure Itachi easily saw through, but that was what she was betting on.
A full second passed before she felt it, an icy gust of wind to her left, and then-
Sakura smirked as she jumped high into the air, formed a series of seals and placed her fingers against her lips and with all her might, blew.
A giant ball of hot orange flames brightened up the dark clearing, illuminating her vision as they engulfed a mildly surprised Hokage within the blink of a second.
Sakura landed on a broad branch of the nearest tree, her skin tingling from the sudden wave of heat as she slowly removed her fingers from her lips.
As the flames died down, Sakura swiftly moved her eyes to her right just in time to see Naruto break into the clearing, Tenten hot on his trail while the little boy that Naruto was carrying piggyback-style was shouting at him to go faster with a wide grin.
Tenten's eyes scanned the clearing for any sign of her and just when Sakura was about to jump down to block Naruto's path, she felt a hand grab her throat and roughly slam her against the tree trunk.
Sakura let out a small hiss as she felt her head collide against the tree and opened her burning emerald eyes to see a familiar pair of blood-red orbs look at her with something close to admiration as well as wonder.
"Who taught you that?" Itachi grumbled, voice low as he leaned closer so that their noses were almost touching.
Sakura merely huffed in return. "May I remind you what happened the last time we were in this position? Wouldn't want to get your ribs broken a second time, now would you?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed at the challenge as the corner of his lips turned upwards. He brushed his thumb gently over her pulse, feeling her shiver under his touch and tilted his head slightly to the side, his Sharingan allowing him to drink every little detail of her in.
The way her long strands of hair were slightly tousled, her emerald eyes wide and burning in the darkness as her plumb, rosy lips were slightly parted and inhaled short gasps of the cool night-air.
There was a small cut on her left cheek, droplets of blood escaping it and running over her soft skin as her chin was covered in a thin layer of sweat.
She looked ravishing, and it was driving him crazy.
Sakura instantly noticed the way his eyes darkened in a familiar way and couldn't help but feel her heart tighten beneath her chest.
Her stomach clenched in a way she couldn't deny she liked as his scent clouded her senses. Suddenly, it seemed like all of her surroundings blurred and there were only her and Itachi left and for some reason that didn't scare her as much as she knew it should.
No, for some reason it felt perfectly right. She wanted him closer, she realized, just like she wanted him to keep on looking at her like that, like she was his most prized possession.
It was ridiculous, really. She was fighting him mere seconds ago for goodness sake, what happened?
"Sakura, where the hell are you? Naruto is getting closer to the river!" Tenten's voice ripped her out of her musings, causing Sakura to snap back to reality. Judging by the way Itachi's eyes narrowed out of displeasure, he must have heard Tenten as well because the hand that kept her wrists locked against her back instantly tightened, but Sakura had no choice.
She needed to get away from him because if she wouldn't, she felt like the intensity of his gaze would suffocate her, and not his hand that was still around her neck and slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs.
It seemed like she totally forgot that he was practically strangling her, and Sakura inwardly cursed herself for allowing herself to get distracted.
Sakura swiftly slid the sole of her foot up against the tree trunk and roughly rammed her knee against Itachi's stomach, causing his hold on her to loosen slightly. She took it as her chance to rip her arms out of his hand but just as she was about to grab the hand that was wrapped around her throat, he twisted their bodies so that she was now pushed against the tree face first, his hand now on her neck to firmly keep her in place as he leaned his weight forwards against her back so that she couldn't move.
"You really want to get your ribs broken, Uchiha." Sakura growled, her anger fueled as she heard him chuckle, the vibrations of his chest that was leaning pressed up against her back causing a jolt of electricity to run through her.
"You have a question to answer, Haruno." Itachi reminded her, his lips barely brushing against the shell of her ear as Sakura gritted her teeth.
"Go to hell."
With that, she lifted her knee, channeled her chakra into it and slammed it against the tree with all her might.
The tree instantly complied and tilted backwards, taking Itachi by slight surprise what gave Sakura the perfect opening to roll over so that he now was laying beneath her, her glowing, chakra-filled hands keeping him pinned to the tree.
Itachi narrowed his crimson eyes as he watched the pinkette that was currently straddling him with a victorious smirk before he glanced over his shoulder to see the river grow closer at a rapid speed.
He then looked back at Sakura with a frown, realizing that she most likely planned to jump off him at the last second and swiftly grabbed her by the waist, pulling her flash against him.
"Itachi!" He heard her squeal in shock, eyes wide as she tried to get out of his grip, but it was too late.
The tree slammed into the river with full force, taking Sakura and Itachi down with it. As soon as the icy liquid graced her skin, Sakura's body became full alert as she twisted Itachi's wrists to free herself with the help of the currents and pushed herself off of him and back up towards the surface.
Just as she was about to break through the surface, she felt him grab her ankle and pull her back under but Sakura instantly reacted and used her other free foot to kick him in the shoulder, forcing him to let go of her and allowing her to get back up.
Sakura broke the surface with a gasp and looked around just in time to see Hinata cross the river with a small girl on her back, Sasuke hot on her trail and Shisui nowhere in sight.
Tenten was still trying to keep Naruto busy but they were already on the boys territory, meaning that if they'd loose him he'd easily win, considering that Sasuke was probably not going to let Hinata get to the base that easily.
Sakura quickly swam over to the tree trunk and pulled herself up by a branch so that she was now standing on the water instead of being under it.
"Sakura!" She heard Ino call in concern, her eyes falling on the blonde that was currently battling Shikamaru and Kiba at once, Akamaru nowhere in sight. "You holding up okay?"
Sakura gave her a curt nod and turned back to look at the part of the river where Itachi had pulled her under just in time to see Itachi's shadow flicker to life.
All she could make out in the darkness was his tall frame and his crimson eyes, but that was all she needed.
"They used the Hokage as their joker?" She heard Tenten call out in shock somewhere near Ino, and Sakura couldn't help but smirk as she straightened.
She looked him dead in the eye as she run a hand through her wet hair and pulled it up, tying it with one of her hair ties that she always kept on her wrist.
Sakura was feeling more energetic than ever, her fists itching to break something as she chuckled lowly. "Don't sound so shocked Tenten, it will only stroke his already too big ego."
She saw his eyes gleam in the distance and could practically feel the shocked stares of the others upon hearing her insult their Hokage so casually, but at this point Sakura couldn't even care less anymore.
Obviously, Itachi didn't either for all he did was chuckle lowly in return and Sakura instantly felt the energy he emitted in waves, his aura of superiority suffocating the battle-field.
She grinned.
"Ever got your ass kicked in two minutes, Uchiha?" Sakura called as she placed her hands on her wet hips, eyes gleaming as Itachi's darkened at the challenge.
"Careful Haruno, you may just be forced to eat your own words."
With that, he disappeared.
Sakura instantly moved and charged towards where she had last seen him standing, the sound of the soles of her feet splashing against the surface drowning under the sound of the still ongoing battle as she jumped high into the air, pulled back her fist and slammed it down against the water beneath her.
The river parted almost instantly, the water shooting upwards with a roar and creating huge walls around her and as she had expected, she felt someone roughly grabbing her shoulder not even a second later.
Sakura grinned as she twisted beneath his grip so that she was facing him, the amusement in his eyes the first thing that greeted her as she moved to slam her fist against his nose.
Itachi, of course, flickered out of existence just as her fist was about to make contact with his nose and reappeared behind her once more, landing a kick to her back that she had already expected and waited for.
Sakura used it to to her advantage and twisted her body in the air, grabbed one of the Kunais from her weapon holder strapped to her thigh and hurled it towards Itachi.
The Uchiha heir swiftly sidestepped it and darted towards her at a blinding speed but just as Sakura was about to land on the surface once more, an explosion rung through the clearing.
The force of it forced Itachi to jump off the river and onto the boys territory where the others were fighting at and Sakura instantly moved.
As soon as she landed on the surface, sliding a few meters back from the force the explosion caused, she grabbed the tree that she had formerly thrown into the river and lifted it up with the help of her chakra.
She could see Shikamaru and Naruto gawk in sheer panic as they swiftly moved out of the way for they were closest to the Uchiha before Sakura pulled back.
And threw.
She didn't miss Itachi's ghost of a satisfied smirk as she actually let go of the tree and charged towards him. He may be able to avoid the tree, but not both the tree and her.
Swiftly forming a set of seals, she allowed a handful of clones to appear behind her as they followed Sakura like a shadow.
The moment the tree collided with a set of others, Sakura made a sharp turn left and as expected, Itachi was already there forming a set of familiar seals.
Sakura jumped high into the air and just narrowly avoided the huge flames that were shooting towards her, the sparks licking at her skin as she hid behind a tree that served to shield her from the flames and formed another set of seals.
She allowed her chakra to leave her body and form a dark barrier around her hands, the tips sharp and pointed as she closed her eyes, waited and listened.
The sound of the flames died down before the fire itself ceased and the instant it did, she pushed herself off the tree and dove head-first into the the now retreating flames.
Itachi removed his fingers from his lips and jumped back as he saw her break through the flames and lifted his arm, blocking one of her chakra engulfed hands with his forearm what resulted with him receiving a rather deep gash.
"Chakra-Mes?" Itachi asked, sounding impressed while Sakura merely smirked and started to push harder against him.
Itachi mirrored her smirk and turned his body lightly to the right so that Sakura tipped slightly forwards, almost falling right into his arms as he grabbed her by the front of her wet shirt. He intended to hurl her back into the river but Sakura was faster and rammed her elbow into the shoulder that she had previously hit, earning a pained grunt from him as she twisted her body so that she was pulling him down onto the ground with her.
Itachi was lying on his back with Sakura straddling him once more. Whereas she was holding one of her hands against the pulse of his neck, her Chakra nicking his skin Itachi had somehow managed to place a Kunai against her neck, the pressure of it having already broken through her skin. She was sure that she was bleeding but she was numb to the pain as her attention was solely fixed on the male that laid beneath her, his chest rising and falling slightly faster than usual as he looked at her with something that took Sakura by surprise.
Pride.
"You didn't hold back." The Uchiha heir spoke, voice low as he watched her smug expression turn slightly confused. Upon realizing that his advisor most likely didn't get what he meant, he elaborated. "You trust me enough to know not to hold back."
At that, he watched her eyes widen in understanding before her lips curled upwards into a beautiful smile.
"I know better than to hold back with you, Itachi." Sakura teased, and Itachi's eyes in return gleamed at her response.
"I see that you have learned your first lesson, then." He returned, his low voice smooth as he looked up at the pink-haired beauty in content.
Sakura merely rolled her eyes in return, though the sparks of amusement never left them. It was weird, that she had to admit.
As they were laying there, in the middle of the battlefield drenched in water and sweat with her sitting on top of him in the darkness of the night, she felt completely at ease.
She was beginning to notice how with each day that passed, she started to grow more comfortable around him in a way that was slightly different from Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe it was because he was not pushing her away anymore, or maybe she had just finally gotten used to him, she wasn't too sure what it was.
All she knew was that she enjoyed his presence, more than she probably should.
"Naruto has now crossed the river as well!" Came the distant shout of Ino, followed by a bark from Akamaru whom Sakura caught running off to follow the blonde into the depths of the forest.
Sakura frowned as she looked back down at the Uchiha beneath her who still didn't move in suspicion. "How much time do you have left?"
"Eight seconds."
Sakura narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "I expect no surprise visits tonight." She warned him, causing his lips to curl into the ghost of a smile.
All of sudden, she felt him move beneath her and within the split of a second she suddenly found herself beneath him, the kunai still at her neck and her chakra still placed at his throat.
"That's for me to decide and for you to accept, Sakura."
And with that, he flickered out of existence, leaving Sakura to lay on the muddy grass as the alarm went off that signalized the end of the Tournament.
She could distinctly hear the boys cheer somewhere in the distance as Tenten and Ino cursed but at the moment, Sakura was unable to focus on that.
As she was laying on the wet grass and looked up at the starry night sky, her hands placed on her stomach, Sakura exhaled a deep gust of air that she didn't know she had been holding and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"What the hell are you doing to me, Uchiha?"
X
"I can't believe that they won!" Ino exclaimed, her beautiful face scrunched up in a frown as she applied more nail-polish to her toe-nails. "How did Naruto get to their base so fast? Hinata arrived at ours only one second later!"
Sakura rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her muffin, eyes glued on the television as she sat on her bed next to Hinata who was hugging a pillow to her chest. "It was our bad luck that they had Sasuke chase Hinata. If it were Kiba, Naruto or Shika, we would have easily won." Sakura shrugged, not seeming too bothered by it.
Tenten snorted from where she was laying on her stomach on the far end of the large bed, chin placed on her hand and her eyes fixed on the movie Sakura had put on. "At least Hinata had a chance against Sasuke. Just imagine what would have happened if we had sent you to get the subject to our base. Who of us would have lasted more than a minute against the Hokage?"
At that, Ino's head snapped up to look at Sakura with narrowed eyes. "How did you even last longer than a minute against this God of an Uchiha?"
Sakura paused halfway from taking a bite off the muffin, frowning as she thought back to her fight against Itachi.
Of course she would probably never be able to seriously beat him in a fight without killing herself in the process, but Sakura could proudly say that she could keep Itachi pretty busy and cause some serious damage if the circumstances asked for it.
Then again, for some reason Itachi didn't seem as intimidating to her now as he did in the beginning when she had just barely known him. She assumed that it was because they have gotten closer and she got used to his fighting style over the last few weeks, but she couldn't possibly tell the girls that.
They would either call her crazy for not thinking of Itachi as a killing-machine or think that she was having a mad crush on him and decided to ignore the killing-machine side of him.
Since both options didn't seem too appealing to Sakura, she eventually settled on merely shrugging. "I don't know, really. Maybe I was having a lucky day?"
Ino obviously didn't seem too convinced by her friends answer and hummed lowly, pale green eyes shining with suspicion. "Now that I think of it, you two were getting pretty cozy with each other by the end of the Tournament, forehead."
At that, Tenten slowly removed her eyes from the TV and lifted a curious brow at Ino as Sakura tensed.
"What do you mean cozy?" Tenten asked, curiosity clearly piqued as she looked from Ino to Sakura, then back to Ino when the medic pointedly ignored her question.
Ino's lips curled up into a devilish smirk as she closed the nail-polish bottle and leaned with her back against the wall from her seat on the bed.
"You should have seen them, Ten. While we were fighting for our lives and the victory, Sakura was getting all flirty with the Hokage." She told the brunette, what earned her a gasp from the small girl in return. "They were practically rolling in the mud and were all over each other!"
"What?" Sakura exclaimed, eyes flying open wide in shock as she swiftly shook her head at Tenten. "That's not true!"
Ino merely snickered in return. "Might as well be if the way you guys were practically undressing each other with your eyes was anything to go by."
Tenten gasped in delighted shock while Hinata eeped, a blush brightening up her pale cheeks as she hid her face further behind the pillow she was holding. "No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Stop spreading such none sense!" Sakura called, her expression a mixture of horror and sheer embarrassment. "There is nothing going on between me and Itachi!"
Ino lifted a daring brow upon hearing Sakura's words and crossed her arms above her chest. "Are you sure about that, forehead? It didn't look like you were all business only back there."
"Of course I am sure." Sakura firmly returned, her stomach involuntarily clenching as onyx eyes flashed in her mind. "Just because we were having a good fight doesn't mean that we got the hots for each other!"
"How comes that you two seemed so friendly with one another then?" Ino fired back, not willing to back down that easily but this time it was Hinata who spoke up on Sakura's behalf.
"She works with him, so maybe they got used to each other?" She innocently suggested, and Sakura instantly nodded her head in agreement.
Ino and Tenten both didn't seem too convinced by that and exchanged a pointed look but eventually, Ino relented.
"Fine, fine, whatever. Ugh, you guys are so boring! One is working for the sexiest man alive and doesn't have a steamy office affair with him while the other two still haven't confessed to their crushes!" Ino exclaimed, falling backwards onto the bed as she pouted. She pointedly ignored Tenten's fierce splutter of denial that she was having a crush on anyone, especially not Neji, while Hinata merely buried her face deeper into the pillow.
Sakura, too tired to argue with Ino on the steamy office affair part snorted as she wrapped one of her blankets tightly around herself. "Says the on who's crushing on Shisui."
At that, Ino rolled onto her stomach and let out a rather pitiful whine. "It would be way more exciting if he didn't crush on me! I mean come on, how boring is it to have your crush like you back? That's, like, an instant turn off!"
Sakura rolled her eyes as she snuggled deeper into the blankets and rested her head on Hinata's shoulder, emerald eyes locked on the rather pitiful expression that Ino's face held.
Her best friend was probably the only girl in the world that considered having your crush like you back a turn-off. Whereas anyone else would be grateful to get their attention without having to do anything, Ino liked to fight for it and show them why they should like her and once they did, she'd loose interest.
Sakura sighed at the blonde.
"I think you should give it a try, pig." Sakura told her friend as she thought back to the familiar Uchiha male that she had grown quite fond of during the past years. "Shisui and you may suit each other better than you two think."
Tenten snickered from where she was once more laying on the end of the bed. "I second that."
Ino's expression turned thoughtful as she looked at Hinata who was still hugging the pillow tightly to her chest.
"What do you think, Hinata-chan?" Ino asked, sounding more serious than Sakura had expected her to. Maybe she was seriously considering it after all?
"I don't know Shisui-senpai that well." The Hyuuga heiress timidly admitted. "But I also think that you should give it a try if he genuinely likes you."
Ino's expression turned thoughtful as she propped her elbow onto the bed and leaned her chin on her open hand, staring at the wall in deep thought as she took Hinata's words into consideration.
Sakura snuggled deeper into her blankets and exhaled a soft sigh at her friends dilemma as she kept her eyes locked on the TV, but her mind was running over a thousand other things that had nothing to do with the movie.
Instead, she found herself thinking about a certain Uchiha that was ever so slowly starting to drive her mad. One moment, he was rude as hell and seemingly wanted to make her life a living hell and the other, he was invading her personal space like he had every right to and turned her into an emotional mess just because he could.
The worst part of it all was that Sakura didn't know what to think of it, and that was driving her crazy. She hated how he was taking over her thoughts, how he was affecting her whenever he was with her, and a part of her kept on wondering why she felt so at peace despite of the way he was messing with her.
She found peace in the storm he caused, and as she removed her eyes from the TV and fixed them on the dark window next to it instead, she wondered if he knew what he was doing.
Because she sure as hell didn't.
X
Itachi was trying to calm his breath as he focused on clearing his vision, the ache in his eyes pleading with him to stop, but he paid it no mind and pursed his lips into a thin line.
"Again."
Shisui, who was standing opposite of him panted heavily, eyed his cousin with open concern as he allowed his Sharingan to fade out of existence.
"I don't think that that's a good idea, Itachi." Shisui croaked as he winced at the way his voice sounded as dry as his throat felt. "We should probably stop, my eyes feel like they're on fire and I know that you are doing no better."
Itachi narrowed his eyes in return as he straightened, a displeased frown deeply etched into his face. "One more time."
Shisui looked at his cousin in sheer disbelief as he shook his head and wiped a thick layer of sweat off his forehead.
"I know that you are pissed but we have been sparring for six hours straight." Shisui pointed out as he as well straightened, instantly feeling all of the muscles in his body protest at the sudden movement. "Wearing yourself out won't fix your mood either, so do me a favor and go to the office or do something, anything so that you'll stop torturing me."
He could easily tell that Itachi didn't like his answer the least bit by the way his already crimson eyes turned a brighter shade of red, but the Uchiha heir remained silent, much to Shisui's relief.
They have been training ever since Itachi returned from a meeting and the moment he ordered Shisui to spar with him, the older Uchiha boy knew that something must have gone wrong because for the first time in a very long time, Itachi looked seriously pissed.
He had tried to get him to tell him about what had happened several times but Itachi remained stubbornly silent. Shisui figured that he either didn't tell him because it contained confidential details, or simply because he didn't want to and was already mad enough without Shisui's input on the matter.
Now, after six hours of gruesome sparring against a blood-thirsty Uchiha that seemed ready to put anyone who even looked at him the wrong way into an infinite Tsukuyomi, he's had enough.
He wasn't stupid enough to rile Itachi up any further by irritating him because that one time he was crazy enough to do that, he couldn't sleep for a week because of the stinging pain in his chest that wouldn't fade even after he went to get the wound healed at the hospital.
The sun was slowly setting already and Itachi had to admit that besides of the ache in his eyes, his shoulder was also giving him a hard time.
It seemed like his little advisor did keep her word after all and managed to land another good hit on him, as she had promised.
As he thought of her expression that held nothing but sheer pride when she looked down at him, Itachi couldn't help but feel part of his anger fade away.
That of course didn't go unnoticed by Shisui who was looking at Itachi with a careful expression, unsure whether the way Itachi's expression ever so slightly softened all of sudden was just a trick of the light or reality.
"How about we go and grab some food?" Shisui slowly suggested as he rubbed his eyes in hope of getting the pain to slightly fade away. "I am kinda craving something sweet right now."
Itachi considered his offer for a long moment, the thought of Dango seeming actually quite appealing to him, but before he was able to take on his offer the sharp stinging sensation in his shoulder reminded him that he should probably take care of something more important than to satisfy his sweet-tooth.
"I can't." Itachi told Shisui as pink flashed his vision. "There is somewhere I have to go."
Shisui lifted a curious brow at his cousin. "And that somewhere is important enough for you to ditch me when I offer to get you some Dango?"
"It's the hospital." Itachi clarified with a blank expression as he turned around and made his way off the training ground, leaving a surprised Shisui behind.
"The hospital?" Shisui repeated, his voice not betraying his surprise as he jogged up to him. "Does your visit have anything to do with a certain pink-haired girl that happens to work there by any chance?"
Itachi lifted a brow at Shisui's blunt question and allowed the corner of his lips to curl up into a small smirk. "Why would it?"
"I have no idea." Shisui admitted, putting his hands into his pockets as he fell into step next to Itachi. "It's just weird for you to go to the hospital, willingly at that, so I thought that maybe you were going to see her."
"I am."
At that, Shisui stumbled over air.
"You're what?" He spluttered, definitely not having expected Itachi to straight out admit it. He knew that he was taking a huge shot by even suggesting that Itachi went to the hospital to pay his advisor a visit, but he had never expected him to actually go to visit her, less even to get him admit that.
If Itachi was affected by Shisui's surprise, he didn't show it. The Uchiha heir exited the training grounds and leisurely walked through the now quiet streets of Konoha, eyes fixed on the road ahead of him.
"I am going to visit her at the hospital." Itachi repeated, his voice monotonous as Shisui continued to look at him in wonder.
"I got that part." He said, waving a hand as he looked at his cousin in confusion."But why?"
"She injured my shoulder during our fight yesterday." Itachi told his cousin, and Shisui frowned as he looked at said shoulder.
"It looks fine to me." Shisui muttered, more to himself than to Itachi but then again, one could never know with Uchiha Itachi. He could be dying of pain for all he knew and that stubborn cousin of his wouldn't let a world slip past his lips about it until it healed by itself.
What only served to confuse him even further since he couldn't remember the last time Itachi willingly went to the hospital to get anything healed. There had to be more to it and Shisui, being the nosy and curious person he was, wasn't going to let a chance like this slip away.
"Sure that you didn't just miss her?" He lightly suggested, already bracing himself for the slap across the back of his head that he would most likely receive or the glance that would make him shut up for the rest of the way but surprisingly, neither of the two things came.
"Possible."
Shisui could have sworn that he had just imagined Itachi say that, but when his head turned to look at Itachi at a speed that could have easily snapped his neck and he caught sight of the smirk on his lips, he felt his heart stop dead in his chest.
No way.
"Don't tell me that I was right." Shisui breathed, jaw slack and eyes wide as he looked at his cousin in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?"
Itachi's onyx eyes sparkled in amusement as he looked at Shisui with an arched brow. "I am afraid that you'll have to elaborate."
Shisui stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide as he lifted his arm and pointed an accusing finger at Itachi who had by now also stopped to look at him.
"You-You like her!" Shisui called, unable to believe his own words as they passed his lips but the way Itachi's smirk only deepened and the amusement in his eyes doubled was answer enough.
Itachi Uchiha had finally fallen for a girl, and it was none other than his dear little Sakura.
It wasn't like he was surprised by that. He had already guessed that it would happen sooner or later, but he had never expected Itachi to admit it that fast to himself if it actually were to happen, not to mention anyone else. He knew that Itachi could resist Sakura's charm only for so long, but he also knew that his cousin had probably spent a great amount of time in denial before he finally admitted it to himself.
Now that he seemingly did realize it, however, he was obviously ready to pursue her. It was no secret that Itachi was a very ambitious man and once he wanted something, he would waste no time and do anything in order to get it and with Sakura it would be no different.
"Woah." Shisui breathed, allowing his arm to fall limply to his side. "I never thought that I'd live to see the day that Itachi Uchiha would fall for a girl."
At that, Itachi rolled his eyes and turned around, continuing to walk down the road as Shisui once more jogged up to him, eyes burning with curiosity.
"Does she know?" He asked, and Itachi inwardly sighed. He didn't mind Shisui knowing about his interest in Sakura, he knew that it was only a matter of time until people would notice since he didn't plan on hiding his interest in her, but there was nothing more burdensome on this planet than a curios Shisui.
The two turned a corner and when Itachi didn't answer, Shisui frowned.
"I'll take that as a no, then." He muttered as he looked at Itachi with clear suspicion in his eyes. "So, what do you plan on doing?"
"Make her mine."
Shisui once more stumbled at Itachi's rather blunt confession and looked at him to see if he was serious or just teasing him but judging by the way Itachi's expression was hard and his eyes were shining with determination, he was dead serious.
Shisui whistled low as he shook his head, a smile finding its way on his lips as he thought back to the little conversation he had with Sakura the other day.
Oh, if only she knew.
"Who would have thought, Itachi Uchiha finally having an interest in anything other than breaking others bones and Dango." Shisui drawled before his expression turned thoughtful. "But out of everyone, how did Sakura manage to catch your interest?"
Itachi remained silent as he carefully thought about Shisui's question. As he thought of it, he realized that there were many things regarding Sakura that caught his interest over the past weeks, even if he didn't realize it at the time.
He thought back to when she got poisoned and how she refused to give up on her live, how her will to live and her brutal fight against death first gained her his respect.
She was the first person to not only listen to him, but to also understand him to some degree. She was so set on trying to prove him that he was not the scary killer that everyone made him out to be and insisted on showing him that there was more to him that he just didn't want others to see and after some time, it felt natural to lower his guard around her.
And that was something that he never did with anyone before.
She was the first and only one to have the guts to actually speak her mind in his presence whilst still respecting him, to actually insult him and to not be afraid of him in any way.
Her strength fascinated him, her compassion and innocence made him feel the urge to protect her pure heart from anything that may taint it and her stubbornness awakened a fire in him that he had thought had long died out.
She was a very intelligent young woman with manners, caring and kind to everyone she encountered and a highly skilled and well respected kunoichi and medic of Konoha.
There were countless of reasons as to why Sakura out of all people caught his attention, but in the end there was one specific reason that finally managed to convince him to ignore all of his doubts and concerns and to simply pursue her.
The Uchiha duo entered the familiar hospital lobby a few minutes later and Itachi instantly spotted her pink-hair from where she was standing at the front desk. It seemed like she was engaged in a serious conversation with the nurse as she scanned a patients file, nodding along to whatever the elderly woman said as she hummed.
When Sakura finally looked up at the nurse in front of her, emerald clashed with onyx and almost instantly her lips curled up into a surprised, yet beautiful smile.
The sight instantly put his body at ease, all of his pain fading into thin air the very instant he saw her eyes lighten up when she noticed him.
He realized that he never wanted her eyes to loose their beautiful light and to only shine for him and in return, he would guard her happiness and innocence with his own life.
His desire to guard her heart over-weighted his doubts and concerns, drowned out the voices in the back of his mind that kept on whispering how he was undeserving of love after the countless of lives he took, how he would be unable to be enough for her and how his dark soul would taint her pure one until his darkness fully consumed her.
But Itachi was determined to prove them wrong.
There were a few occasions during the past weeks when he realized that his fondness of her was rapidly starting to grow, but he decided to ignore it for her sake as much as his own. The day they were at Orochimaru's hide-out she had spent the entire night healing him and when he had finally woken up and found her uncomfortably laying on the bed from where she was seated next to him, he realized that she had deserved better than to spent her energy to try to heal someone like him.
Physically and mentally.
He had decided against exploring that foreign feeling that she caused, not wanting to ruin her but the moment she opened her exhausted, emerald eyes that shone brightly with concern in the darkness, he knew that it was already too late to stop himself.
So that night, instead of letting her go as he knew would be best for her, Itachi, for the first time in his life, decided to be selfish.
That night, Itachi Uchiha decided that he would make Sakura Haruno his, no matter the cost.
So as he was standing in the hospital with Shisui by his side, eyes locked with Sakura's and expression resolute, he finally answered Shisui's question.
"She didn't heed my warnings."
He could practically feel Shisui's confused eyes on him, but he paid it no mind as he continued to stalk towards his advisor who had by now turned around to fully look at the approaching duo with a smile.
The closer they got, the more people stared at the Hokage and his cousin, expressions of awe on their faces as the nurses hastily begun to exchange hushed whispers and watched them approach the infamous medic.
"Hokage-sama, Shisui-senpai." Sakura greeted them with a surprised, albeit genuine smile as she looked at them in wonder. "What brings you to the hospital?"
"Can't we just pay our favorite doc a visit?" Shisui asked her with a charming smile, but at the look he received from Itachi it instantly fell.
Sakura in return crossed her arms above her chest as she leaned back against the front desk. "No, you can't because every time you visit me you either want something from me or wake me up because either the hospital or our lovely Hokage needs me."
Shisui's lips formed a pout. "That's not true, Sakura-chan. You know how much I love to spend time with you, I even taught you how to use Katon no Jutsu!"
At that, Itachi's eyes sharpened as he looked at his cousin with a light frown. "You were the one who taught her how to use it?"
Shisui's expression turned sheepish as he scratched his temple and looked at Sakura for help. The pinkette's lips quirked upwards in amusement as she took in Itachi's more than apparent annoyance that was directed at his older cousin and decided to help him out.
"Yes, because he wanted me to get him on a mission team with Ino." Sakura calmly clarified, what successfully made Itachi turn to look back at her once more. She tried to ignore the way the instant that his onyx eyes fell on her something in her sparked to life and allowed her smile to turn smug. "It actually turned out to be a pretty useful jutsu."
Itachi's eyes darkened as he remembered their fight from the previous day and huffed lightly as Shisui cleared his throat, deciding that it would be better to change the topic before he once more would become the victim of Itachi's bad mood.
"You were actually right regarding our visit, Sakura-chan." Shisui told her with a smile as he pointedly glanced at Itachi. "We're here because a certain someone's shoulder got pretty messed up yesterday."
At that, Sakura's smug expression turned surprised as she looked at Itachi's shoulder. It didn't look like he was in any pain, but if one paid close attention to it they could see the way his arm was hanging slightly limp by his side.
She lifted her eyes to meet Itachi's dark ones and frowned before she turned around to the nurse that she had talked to before her visitors interrupted her.
"Hitomi, please put that chart back and check Haku-kun's vitals. Call me as soon as you got the results, I'll be in my office." Sakura instructed as she gave the chart to the startled nurse, who instantly nodded and rushed of to do as she was just told. She then turned around to look at Shisui and offered him a small smile. "Thanks for bringing him here, Shisui. Ino should be at the Training grounds with Choji."
Shisui's expression instantly brightened as he shot Sakura a broad grin, not even bothering to tell her that it was actually Itachi's idea to come here and decided on taking Sakura's little treat without a complaint.
"Oh wow, what a coincidence! I was just about to go there to train my aim some more. Guess I'll see you two around?" Shisui asked, earning an eye-roll from Sakura and a deadpan look from Itachi.
"You should probably get rid of that blood stain on your shirt first." Sakura remarked, nodding her head towards his chest at which Shisui gave her an embarrassed chuckle.
"Right, right." He told her before he briefly glanced at Itachi, a knowing spark in his eyes as he shot his little cousin a smirk. "You be nice and listen to what the doctor tells you, alright?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed in warning as Shisui turned around to look back at Sakura and leaned slightly towards her, his voice dropping a few octaves as he spoke.
"Be careful Sakura-chan, his mood today is especially bad." He warned her in a whisper, causing Sakura to glance at Itachi with sparkling eyes.
"Is that so?" The pinkette wondered, catching Itachi's annoyed orbs with her own amused ones before she looked back to the older Uchiha, a sweet smile on her lips as she gently patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about me, I've become a pro at dealing with his mood swings and thickheadedness."
At that, she could have sworn to have caught the ghost of a smirk on Itachi's lips as Shisui moved back and gave her a quick nod. "I have full trust in your abilities, Sakura-chan."
Sakura made shooing motions at Shisui and he instantly complied, shooting her one last wink and Itachi a pointed glance before he made his way out of the hospital, leaving the Hokage in Sakura's care.
As soon as he was out of sight, Sakura exhaled a sigh before she grabbed another chart that laid on the reception desk and pointed a finger at Itachi. "You're coming with me to get your shoulder fixed, so don't get any ideas and run off because I will find you and will break your other shoulder if you do."
Itachi lifted a brow at her rather open threat but other than that, remained silent and followed her to her office like a shadow.
The sound of Sakura's heels clicking against the marble floor echoed through the hall as she lead him through the busy hospital, her hair swinging from side to side and her strides strong and purpose filled. She emitted a natural aura of confidence and superiority that was clearly palpable to every resident at the hospital and gave him a sense of pride as he noticed the looks of adoration in the eyes of the nurses and medics that looked at her as they passed them by.
He always knew that Sakura had a high reputation both on the battle-field and at the hospital, but it was his first time to actually witness it at the latter.
It didn't take them long to reach her office and when they finally stood in front of the familiar door, Sakura swiftly entered the pass code into the lock. When her fingers pushed the last digit and a short melody filled the empty hallway right after, Sakura pushed the door open and stepped inside, Itachi silently following her.
She turned on the lights before she walked over to her desk, Itachi watching Sakura place the chart she had taken with her onto it before she took her coat off and tossed it over the back of her office chair.
"Sit." She then instructed, pointing at he examination table that was placed in the left corner of the room with a stern expression. Itachi, knowing better than to object, did as told and sat onto the examination table as Sakura nodded, clearly satisfied that he was being cooperative. She then leaned with her hip against her desk, arms crossed above her chest as she shot him an expectant look.
"Shirt off."
Sakura watched Itachi remove his shirt and instantly noticed the way he was trying to not move his left arm too much. She tried her best to not take in the way his muscles flexed as he slightly struggled to take off his shirt, but judging by the smug smirk that was on his lips, he noticed anyway.
She inwardly sighed. Way to push his ego, Sakura.
Sakura pointedly ignored him as she walked over to the examination table that he was sitting on, stopping right in front of it as she grabbed a rolling chair and sat down between his legs, eyes instantly finding the damage that she caused.
"Your collarbone is broken." She stated, fingers gently gliding over the deep purple bruise as she bit down on her lower lip. As much as she was proud that she had managed to land such a hit on him, she also knew how much pain he had to be in and for that, she obviously felt guilty. "Sorry about that."
Itachi exhaled an amused breath at her apology but he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the way she nervously bit down on her lip as she looked at his swollen collarbone.
"I've had worse." He reminded her as she gently rested her now glowing palms over his collarbone, a small smile on her lips as she briefly glanced up at him with amused emerald eyes.
"It's your own fault." She returned as she allowed her chakra to leave her finger-tips and seep into his body. "You asked for it."
Itachi lifted a brow as he felt how her familiar chakra soothed his pain almost instantly. "I can't recall asking you to break my ribs or collarbone."
At that, Sakura's lips curved up into a full smile. "Consider yourself lucky that it's only happened twice so far, though I can't promise that something like this won't happen again. It depends on you, really."
"How so?" The Uchiha asked, the curiosity in his voice audible as he looked at Sakura who chuckled softly in return.
"By now you should have come to know me well enough to know that if you're nice to me, I'll be even nicer to you. If you try to mess with me however," Sakura drawled and not even a second later, Itachi felt her push slightly more chakra into his body than necessary, making him slightly flinch under her touch as she finally looked up at him with a smile that practically dripped with sweetness as her eyes shone with deadly intent. "I won't hesitate to break every bone in your body until you've learned your lesson."
Itachi kept her eyes firmly locked with his, dark eyes shining at the challenge as her sweet scent clouded his senses. "You'd have to fix the damage you caused afterwards." He reminded her, but Sakura merely shrugged.
"That's something I'll gladly do as long as I'll get to give you a piece of my mind." She told him, the honesty in her eyes earning her a small smile from him.
"Hn."
Sakura lowered her eyes once more to the task at hand, focusing so that she could swiftly relieve him of the pain he was in and for the next minutes, a comfortable silence filled her office.
She could feel his eyes on her as she worked on healing him and even though it didn't bother her at first, it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable after the first ten minutes passed and he seemingly had no intention to stop.
"Stop looking at me." Sakura eventually mumbled, expression scrunched up in a small frown as she pointedly kept her eyes fixed on the bone instead of Itachi.
The Uchiha continued to look at her, onyx eyes shining with content as he continued to watch her heal him. She was seated within perfect reach, her nose occasionally brushing his jaw whenever she slightly shifted her weight on her seat to get more comfortable.
The next time she slightly moved her head in order to take a closer look at the healing process, a strand of hair fell into her face.
Sakura narrowed her eyes and mumbled something about a hair tie but before she was able to lift her hand from his collarbone to remove the pink lock from her sight, a hand shot out to do so instead.
Sakura's eyes snapped up to his as he gently tucked the loose strand of her hair behind her ear, the motion causing her heart to skip an involuntary beat and when he didn't instantly remove his hand from her and instead, allowed it to rest on the side of her neck, Sakura could have sworn that she heard inner Sakura squeal from somewhere in the back of her mind.
When she looked at his eyes, all she could make out was warmth, a warmth that she was catching glimpses of more often lately.
The pinkette felt her throat go dry and forced herself to focus on healing him instead of the way he looked at her and how it made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
"Shisui said that you were in a bad mood." Sakura spoke, her voice sounding softer than she had expected it to. "Want to talk about it?"
Itachi seemingly considered her offer for a moment, his touch burning against her skin and just when she thought that he would decide against telling her, he spoke up.
"I had a meeting with the Uchiha Clan elders this morning." He told her, a light frown gracing his features as he thought back to it. "It didn't go very well."
Sakura hummed in understanding but other than that stayed silent, knowing better than to ask why it didn't go well. As his collarbone was almost healed, she allowed her chakra to scan his body for any other wounds that he may be hiding from her but other than some sore muscles, there seemed to be nothing.
She allowed her chakra to expand in his body, soothing the aching of his muscles as she sighed. "You shouldn't wear yourself out too much, you could have seriously messed up your shoulder if Shisui landed a hit on it." She gently chastised him, but Itachi merely picked a strand of her pink hair between his fingertips and examined it carefully.
The pinkette frowned as she shot him a halfhearted glare when he continued to ignore her. "I am serious. Do I have to remind you of what happened a couple of days ago? You shouldn't even be training this much already."
Itachi quirked a brow as he finally removed his eyes from the strand of hair and fixed them on her rather maddened expression that her concerned eyes betrayed.
"You were the one that broke my collarbone." He reminded her, causing Sakura's expression to turn from anger to disbelief.
"That's because you took part in the Tournament, what you shouldn't have done in the first place!" She swiftly defended herself, brows furrowed as she took in his smug expression. "That reminds me that I should probably extract some blood to ensure that the scalpels haven't left any permanent damage."
At that, Itachi's expression turned serious as he looked at the medic seated in front of him. "They didn't."
Sakura didn't even bother to look up at him when she spoke. "I thought so as well, but after the past ten minutes I start to think that they may have left some serious damage after all."
The last word didn't even fully pass her lips yet as she felt Itachi's hand swiftly slide back up her neck and pull her against him in a flash, the glow of her hands that were still placed on his collarbone fading as their lips were only a breath away from one another.
Sakura inhaled a sharp breath at the sudden movement but didn't dare move as she felt his cool chest press against her own, his hand on her neck firmly keeping her in place.
Sakura realized that she was starting to find herself more often in such a close position with Itachi and attempted to muster up her best frown as she tried to keep her pulse from rising.
"See." She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper as she dug her nails into his almost already fully healed shoulder. "That's exactly what I mean."
Itachi's eyes bore into hers with an intensity that she had only seen once before, and that day she had found herself in a very similar position with him.
"I warned you." He spoke, his velvet voice low as she felt his hot breath against her lips. "I will not withhold anything from you any longer."
Sakura's eyes flickered with confusion as she tried to make sense of his words but as much as she tried to, she just couldn't. She knew that he was referring to his promise to not keep her in the dark any longer, but she couldn't understand how it was linked to his current actions that did nothing but confuse her for the past days. Something had changed ever since their last mission together, she had noticed as much, but so far it seemed like his behavior had only changed around her for reasons beyond her knowledge.
Itachi could see that she was confused and struggled to get the meaning behind his words, her innocence driving him crazy as he fought the urge to simply lean forward and capture her alluring lips with his to show her exactly what he meant.
"I will not withhold anything from you any longer." He repeated, his voice close to a growl as he continued. "Like my intention of making you mine."
Sakura could have sworn that time around them froze as she felt her heart go completely still, mouth dry as she looked at him with wide eyes.
"What?" She whispered, too shocked to ask anything else as she watched his eyes shine with an amount of determination that she had never seen before.
It seemed like he was dead serious and meant every word but right now, she was too shocked to make actual sense of them.
Itachi, of course, knew and kept his eyes firmly locked with hers, taking in the way her expression morphed from confusion to shock as his words seemed to have finally reached her. Her body was calm under his touch and in that moment, he wished that he had activated his Sharingan to imprint this expression into his mind for the rest of his life.
"You made your choice when I told you to reconsider and I made mine accordingly." He mumbled, his free hand moving up to gently grasp her chin between his thumb and index finger. His eyes drifted down to look at her lips as he brushed his nose against hers, her scent driving him crazy as he spoke."You will be mine, just as your heart will belong to me only."
Sakura felt her heart slam against her rib cage as she felt his lips ghost over hers when he spoke, her eyes hazy as she saw Itachi's eyes soften.
He then leaned his forehead against hers, black eyes holding an amount of resolution that scared her.
"Soon." She heard him affectionately mumble, thumb running over her chin as his eyes bled crimson. "Very soon."
All of sudden, Sakura heard a knock on her door that caused her to slightly flinch under his touch and before she was able to realize what was going on, Itachi flickered out of existence, leaving Sakura to sit there on the rolling chair with a heart that refused to calm and hands that didn't cease to shake.
The pinkette looked at the place Itachi was sitting at mere moments before with wide eyes, unable to process the information that her brain just received as another knock ripped her out of her state of shock. and back into reality.
"Sakura-senpai?" She heard a concerned voice call from the other side of the door. "I have checked the Vitals of the patient in room 203 as you asked."
Sakura laid a hand over her chest, eyes never leaving the examination table as the realization of what had just happened washed over her as if someone had just dumped a bucked of ice-cold water over her.
Had Uchiha Itachi seriously just told her that he planned on making her his and left?
A/N: Hey everyone! First of all, I wanted to thank you for all of the amazing and encouraging reviews, the countless amounts of follows and all the favourites!
I hope that you liked this chapter as much as you liked the previous one and if you did, please tell me by leaving a review! I love to hear what you liked and what you hope to see in any future chapters.
I'll see you very soon with a new chapter so stay tuned!
Love,
Sara.