Back at Hokkaido, back where most memories originated from, back at home as one would call it. It felt calm. It felt familiar—the calm before the storm.

The first thing she did was to arrange a training session with Kakashi. They were allowed to talk casually to each other in private. He was one of the few people she could talk to casually and just be mad with an emotional brat and a child. But she was not a child, not anymore, but he would allow her to have temper tantrums here and then, just to blow off some steam.

As of recent years, she came to notice that her so called temper tantrums consisted of her breaking things, trashing hotel rooms, screaming her lungs out until they felt sore or sparing.

Since she could not do some of those activities in the house now, as it was fully occupied with its residents, sparing was the only logical thing to do without making them question her sanity and well-being. And she was happy Kakashi could provide.

They have been going at it for two hours by now, both dressed down to jogging pants and black tank tops, their bodies were covered with sweat and they were panting. Kakashi was not letting her have it. He was always a cruel opponent and didn't spare her any hits, just the ones that could break her bones because the healing process was long and they couldn't risk her being a patient due to training when she was supposed to be taking care of herself.

Their breathing was heavy, and they were panting loudly, both were on their limit, but both had stubborn personalities and were unwilling to give up first, not unless an ankle was bent the wrong way, or a muscle was strained. So far, both were physically intact. Kakashi did worry about her sanity though. Her head was not where it was supposed to be, she was too emotional, and he was sure any comment he made about her stance or anything he told her she could do better went over her head.

He managed to pin her to the ground, both hands at her side, while he was holding her wrists.

"Game over." He told her and exhaled.

"Look down." She told him and nodded towards his crotch. Kakashi followed her gaze and noticed her knee centimeters away from his groin, her other leg outstretched between his legs, ready to use as a trap to crush him.

Kakashi rolled over and laid next to her, panting. "That is a dirty trick, I didn't teach you that."

"No rules in love and war." She retorted and looked at him. "You don't have to teach me where the weakest spot to hit is, sensei. It is a well-known fact."

"Fair enough, I guess."

They lay like this in the traditionally decorated training room the huge manor had to offer. The even had candles as their sole source of light instead of electricity. The shadows the candles provided, could either help you with the opponent's movement or distract you further. Either way it was good training.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, anything you want?"

"Just to kill somebody."

"That is not very celebratory now, is it?" Kakashi sat up and looked down on her as Sakura was staring at the ceiling, her chest raising still heavily as her breathing was yet to calm down. "What is it that you really want?"

She stopped breathing altogether. Instead she swallowed hard and turned to look at Kakashi. Even though he was starring at her through one eye, he always made her feel as if he was seeing all of her. All her desires, needs, wishes. She was naked in front of him and she was scared that he was seeing her slipping away, her unresolved decisions, her uncertainty. Her dreams of a different life. Different from what she was raised to believe was a life.

She licked her lips and started breathing again, this time steady. Controlled. She looked into his dark eye.

"I want to be free." She told him quietly. She was risking so much by being this honest, by being this real with him and herself. By showing her true desires. By being this vulnerable. This was her breaking point; this was her undressing herself.

"I want out. I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this anymore." Her breaking moment was not when she was in hysterics or crying angrily. It was when she realized what she wanted. And what she wanted was a normal, boring, quiet life. Normal friends, normal problems. She wanted normal. And she knew she was never getting it.

And then she let a tear slip out of her eye and slide down her red cheek.

Kakashi looked at her, with no emotion whatsoever. He was indifferent. He always was. She was never sure if he would snap her neck or go and tell her father that his daughter was getting disobedient. He was like a cat. Quiet and composed until a sudden attacked happened.

But all he did was stand up and stretch.

"I guess I will try to surprise you with something then." And with that he left. She wondered if he was going to come back with all the bodyguards to take her in and prepare her for execution. She did hear footsteps, but it was just one person and it seemed like their intention was not kill her.

"Are you okay?" Itachi asked as he entered the room. Sakura sat up surprised. She had forgotten the eldest Uchiha was there as this was not a house she ever associated with his presence. He never was there. Only family could be here. But she knew he wanted out too and he had tried to leave only to be dragged back again. This made her hopeless, if he couldn't escape, how could she? She would always be on the run, always hiding, always on guard. And suddenly it struck her, that this was her life. She was hiding now too. She was always on the run. The only difference would be, if she ever did manage to escape, she would double the people she was running from, as her own father would hunt her down too.

"I guess it could be worse?" She smiled at Itachi as he sat down across from her. He looked older, not in a bad way, he just seemed tired and he seemed as if he had given up.

"I don't know, to me this is bad enough," he looked around as if the whole house was a monster that had swallowed them. Maybe it was. She felt watched too and she was certain there were eyes everywhere, even on her as of right now. Maybe these eyes were Itachi's. Who were to know? She couldn't trust anyone, could she?

As the clocks in the house sounded, it was midnight; a thought occurred to her. Maybe she could never escape the hell that was her family and fate. Maybe she was doomed for life. But she was mad at her father and was not going to try and satisfy him. Not anymore. She was going to break rules, little by little. She was going to become a pain in his neck or head or ass. Whatever. She was going to make him regret everything he did to her. Because she knew, he could never kill her.

"It's my birthday," she said quietly. Itachi looked back at her surprised.

"Happy birthday," he told her.

"Not sure about the happy part, but it is my last year being a teenager. Can I ask for my birthday present? From you?"

"Sure."

"I must use you for something. It is both personal curiosity and vendetta against my father."

Itachi looked at her confused.

"I have always been kept on a tight leash. Always watched, controlled, attended to. Only few select people could come close to me and touch me, look at my body." She smiled, but it was a shy smile. "You also are sort of a select person who has been allowed to come close to me, but on certain terms. I want to get close to you on my own terms, on terms I know I won't have choice over in my future."

"I am not sure I am following."

"I have never had the freedom to choose my friends and the people I surround myself with." She crawled closer to him, and Itachi impulsively put his knees to his chest. He put a sort of barrier between them. Sakura smirked while still on all her fours. "And here you said you were not following. You are a bad liar, Itachi-san."

She put her hands on his knees to steady herself, while Itachi's hands went behind his back, so that he could lean backwards and create more distance between them. Sakura knelt in front of him, hands still on his knees, her butt on the heels of her own feet.

"This is the last year I am a teenager," she told him and licked her lips. "And I haven't kissed anyone. Not by my own choice at least." Itachi swallowed, not sure what to do or if it was a good idea to do anything. He knew she could overpower him. Who was he kidding, she already has.

"Can I kiss you?"

Both were quiet for a while, only the faint breathing audible. Sakura didn't wait any longer. If he had anything against it, he would use his body language to tell her so if he was unable to speak.

She used his knees as support as she lifted herself up and leaned down to him. Itachi tried to go backwards, but he soon realized that he would soon be lying down if he decided to go down any further. Sakura parted his knees to make space for herself and while one hand was keeping her up, the other one came to his cheek as she caressed it. She leaned in and closed her eyes.

"Wait, Sakura," he started but, in his panic, his knees squeezed her in between him and she couldn't move. It was easier to lean into him than to try and go back. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"No strings attached." She told him while supporting herself with both of her hands on his side. His knees were still pressing into her sides.

"I don't want you to regret it."

"You will be the only one left regretting if you don't let me kiss you. And you know it." She moved forward and pressed her lips against his. It was a quick and an innocent kiss. She moved back to look at him and then after seeing that he had no intention of pushing her away, she leaned back in and kissed him again, but this time she put one hand to his cheek and pressed her lips harder into his.

Her balance was not optimal as she realized she needed both hands to steady herself. As she was about to remove her hand from his face, his knees suddenly opened, and she fell into him, but before she could regain her balance, he put a hand around her waist, the other going into her hair, still keeping her lips onto his. He moved one leg aside and lying down he pulled Sakura to him and with the other leg, which was between Sakura's legs, he lifter her torso up and spun her around so that now she was the one lying beneath him. The hand that had been in her hair, cushioned the sudden change of positions.

Sakura placed her legs so, that he could fit between them, although it was more of a unconscious move, now both of them were aware of the newly found closeness.

"Is one kiss enough?" He asked her while staring into her green eyes, which were closer to black, now that her pupils were dilated. She shook her head no and Itachi dived in for another kiss.

They pressed their bodies closer to each other, Sakura pulled at his shirt with one hand, while the other was on his neck, pulling him in. He had one hand on the side of her head and the other on her waist, squeezing at the thin material that was her tank top.

Sakura parted her lips and Itachi used the opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. Her back arched and her legs squeezed him with her probably not realizing. A sound left her lips and the vibration of it on Itachi's lips only made him kiss her harder, grab at her sides harder, pull her into him harder until things started to get hard. For him and his control.

He immediately rose up, but the fact that Sakura was now holding onto him with both her hands, and the fact that her legs were still wrapped around him only led to him pulling her up with him, which meant that she was now sitting on his lap, which made things worse.

"Sakura, wait. I can't-" he breathed out as he tried to keep her body as far as possible from his.

"Huh, why?" She asked dazed and confused. She looked as if someone has woken her up, she didn't seem to realize how things were going for him. But the look she had on her face didn't make things easier. Her lips were swollen and red, and moist. And he couldn't take his eyes off them. Before anything could be said or done, she was kissing him again, and this time he felt her breasts push onto his chest, her warmth as he was desperately trying to keep her hips away from his. She was involuntarily moving towards him, closer and closer, trying to get as much of him as she could.

"Wait, wait," he broke off the kiss and looked at her. "We need to stop. You got what you wanted."

"I don't get it, you are kissing me back, you don't look like you want to stop either. What is the problem?" Her knees were on both sides of him and she was supporting her own weight now, his hands were still on her waist just in case.

"I don't," he told her than shook his head as if to wake himself up. "I mean, I do. We have to. You said you wanted a kiss and you got a few. This should be enough."

"I want more," she said quietly while looking into his eyes, her hands were tiny fists on his shoulders, playing with the material of his shirt. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"It is not a good idea to continue."

"I don't get it. Do you hate it?"

"No!" He said with a raised voice. He didn't want to sound mad or upset, but he didn't know how to get his point across without it sounding perverted or weird. It was the opposite of hating it, but how do you explain it properly.

"Then what is the problem?" Sakura asked equally irritated. Was he lying to her or what? Did he not have it in him to tell her that he wanted to stop. She would have listened and left him alone, but so far, his action and words were so contradicting she didn't know what to do herself.

Itachi let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Show, don't tell, he thought to himself. He looked at up Sakura who was waiting expectantly of a concrete answer. He pulled her by the waist and forced her hips onto his until she was fully seated into his lap.

"Because of this," he told her as he looked for any indication on her face that she understood what he meant. Her eyes wandered around his face for a while as she seemed to be searching for the answer there. She was about to say something as she moved in his lap and sudden realization struck her face. Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened in surprise.

Before Itachi could say anything, she was already off him and sitting a few feet apart from him. She had been so fast; his hands were still there where her waist had been a few seconds ago.

"I am sorry!" She apologized. Her face was red, and it somehow matched her hair.

"No, I feel like I should be the one apologizing." Itachi rubbed his head awkwardly.

"Well, it is sort of my fault."

"I guess it is, isn't it?"

They looked at each other awkwardly before bursting into laughter. Sakura flopped onto her back and laughed so hard she felt her stomach muscles spasm. Itachi on the other hand was crouched over and was trying not to laugh so hard. But they both couldn't help it. They were in hysterics. It took them quite a while to regain their composure and even when they did, one eye contact was enough to have them giggling like idiots on crack.

The situation had been so awkward and nerve-wracking that they couldn't help but react the way they did.

"Is it all better now?" Sakura asked after a while, and Itachi nodded. Then they laughed again.

"Thank you," she told him as he wiped a few tears from her face, she had been laughing so hard her eyes started watering. "I haven't laughed like this in ages. This is the best birthday present."

"Happy birthday again."

"Thanks."

They stayed like this for a while until they decided it was best to make their way to their respective beds. They both knew they would have an early morning even without being informed of the day.

As they went their separate ways and wished each other goodnight, the smiles didn't leave their faces, even when they fell asleep.