The rest of the weekend had passed by in a blur. Sakura had spent the rest of the weekend glancing at her phone, willing it to go off, to have a message from Itachi, but her phone had stayed silent.

Sakura was currently sat in her phycology class, forcing herself to go through her notes, to prepare for the exam. She looked out the window, her mind replaying the last conversation with Itachi, the pained look in his eyes as he left, as if he was forcing himself to leave her. She wished she had stopped him, tried to talk to him, but she couldn't think of what she could have said to stop him.

She sighed deeply and looked down at her books, compelling herself to read the words in front of her, willing her mind to absorb what was written.

Ino sat next to her and smiled, "hey, how are you, I kept trying to reach you over the weekend? Everything okay?"

Sakura nodded and gave Ino a small smile, "I'm fine, thanks. I… I was busy with notes and stuff, sorry."

Ino raised an eyebrow at the pinkette, "what's wrong?"

Sakura shook her head, "nothing."

"Don't lie to me Sakura, what happened?" Ino worried.

Sakura looked at the blonde, "I… I think I blew it with Itachi."

Ino pulled her eyebrows together, "what do you mean, you blew it? Tell me what happened."

The bell rang and the women packed up their belongings and made their way to the café, sitting on an empty table.

Sakura watched as people walked by, some holding hands with their loved one, others chatting away with their friends, laughing at things.

"Sakura… What happened? You're worrying me now," Ino prodded, her tone soft.

Sakura turned her attention to Ino and gave the blonde a small smile. She told her what had happened at the station, how she had misunderstood Kisame's joke and Itachi coming over to check up on her.

"Okay, what happened when he came over?"

Sakura's eyes fell onto the table, tracing over the wood grain pattern. 'I'm falling for you,' his words rang in her mind. "He told me he's falling for me," she whispered.

Ino's eyes opened wide, she knew there was something there, but she wasn't expecting the emotions to be so strong, "That's good," she smiled, "what did you say to him?"

Sakura closed her eyes, Itachi's pained expression filling her mind. "Nothing, I didn't say anything."

Ino watched as a few tears ran down her friend's face. She reached over and pulled Sakura into a hug, wiping at her eyes. She could see the hurt written all over her face.

Sakura was surprised to find herself crying, she wiped at her face and huffed out a laugh, "I don't even know why I'm crying."

Ino rubbed Sakura's shoulder, silently giving her comfort. "Have you spoken to him since then?"

Sakura shook her head, "no." She wiped at her eyes, "he said that he was going to stop coming round as much, but if I wanted to speak to him, I could call him and text him," she added.

"Did you try to contact him?" Ino whispered to her, rubbing Sakura's shoulders.

"No," Sakura shook her head, "I tried to think of something to say to him, but I couldn't come up with anything to say to him," she sat up and looked at Ino, "you should have seen the sadness in his eyes, I hurt him." She bit her lips as fresh tears rolled down her face, his hurt expression filling her mind.

Ino smiled slightly at her friend, "I'm sure you didn't hurt him. I'm certain if you two speak, you'll be able to sort things out."

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me?" Sakura twiddled her thumbs together. Several scenarios played in her mind, some, where he would pull her in for a hug and kiss her senseless and she would tell him that she liked him a lot, that they should try to be in a relationship, and others where he would see her and turn away, not wanting to talk to her.

"You'll never know unless you try…" Ino whispered, trailing off.

Sakura knew her friend was right, that she needed to talk to him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, couldn't bear the thought of losing him, or having him avoid her. She pulled out her phone and placed it on the table, willing it to ring or go off, but it did neither. She sighed and put her phone away.

"I'll talk to him after the exam. I need to pass the exam if I am to have any chance to get the apprenticeship." Sakura stood up and grabbed her bag from the chair, "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?" Ino stood, she was worried about the pinkette. Worried that she might try to shut everyone out again, "I'll join you."

Sakura smiled slightly, "I'm going to be in the library. You don't have to keep an eye on me, I'm not going to do anything reckless." She placed her bag on her shoulder and strolled out of the café, slowly making her way towards the library.

She was lost in her thoughts when she bumped into Karin and her friends. Sakura sighed inwardly, knowing what was about to come.

"Looks like you're still alive then," Karin sneered at her. Her friends laughing, standing at either side of the red head.

Sakura ignored her words and tried to walk past, but the women had other plans. They stood in her way, stopping her from going past them. Sakura looked at Karin, "can you move out of my way please?"

"No, I can't," she replied, her tone sickeningly sweet.

"Karin, what do you want from me?" Sakura sighed out; she didn't have the energy to deal with the bitchiness.

"Who said I want anything from you?" the red head gave her a dirty look, "who would want anything from you?" The other two women laughed mockingly at Sakura.

Sakura felt the nerve in her temple twitch, she tried to keep herself calm, tried to stop herself from reacting to Karin, but she also wasn't going to stand around and let the vile woman talk down to her. Especially not when she was giving herself a hard time.

Sakura straightened herself and stared the red head in the eyes, "well, seeing as you're standing in my way and you seem to want to engage in conversation, I would say you do want something from me." Sakura smiled sweetly, but her tone was anything but sweet.

Karin raised a pointed eyebrow, "shut up big forehead, I don't want anything from you. Well, I did but you sent him away by being so pathetic," she spat out. "If it wasn't for you, Sasuke would still be here and I'd be all over him," Karin smirked.

"You're welcome to go and find Sasuke, that is, if you're not too busy spreading your legs for other people's boyfriends." Sakura shot back, and glared.

"You fucking bitch," Karin hissed. She raised her hand to strike Sakura, but Naruto grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded, narrowing his blue eyes at Karin.

"Let go of me you moron," she snatched her hand back, "this has nothing to do with you."

Naruto stood next to Sakura and looked down, "are you okay?" he asked kindly.

Sakura smiled and nodded, "I'm fine. I was just telling Karin, that if she was desperate to find Sasuke, she can, that is, if she's not too busy sleeping with other people's boyfriends."

"Well, at least I don't need to have my friends fight for me," Karin narrowed her eyes, her top lip pulled up.

"At least I have friends that actually care about me." Sakura pushed past Karin, not wanting to carry on the petty argument on who had what. She walked towards the library, Naruto following behind her.

"Sakura, stop," he grabbed her upper arm, and turned her, making her face him. "What was all that about?" he pointe behind him.

Sakura sighed, "Karin wanted to remind me of how pathetic I am, and how I am the reason Sasuke left her."

Naruto pulled his eyebrows together, "you know that's not true, right?"

Sakura shrugged, she knew that Karin was only trying to get a raise out of Sakura, trying to hurt her, because she was hurting. On the other hand, Sakura did feel like she was pathetic, especially with the way she had acted with Itachi.

"Come on Sakura, you are not pathetic, hell, you're one of the nicest people I know, especially when you buy me ramen," Naruto smiled wide, his eyes closing.

Sakura couldn't help but smile back, Naruto had a way to make anyone feel happy. "Thanks Naruto."

"Ahh, I haven't done anything," he rubbed the back of his head, "how are you anyway?"

They started to walk towards the library again, "I'm… okay," Sakura smiled slightly, "how about you?"

"I'm good, you know," He smiled again, his hands resting behind his head, "how's Itachi doing? I know you two have been spending a lot of time together."

Sakura looked to the ground, she wasn't sure how to answer the question, because she didn't know how Itachi was doing, and she felt bad for that. "I… think he's okay…" she trailed off.

Naruto looked at Sakura from the corner of his eye, "what do you mean, you think he's okay? Has something happened?"

Sakura thought about Itachi, she hoped he was okay, and she wished that she had spoken to Itachi over the weekend, to check on him, the way he had checked on her and looked after her all those weeks ago. "No, nothing happened," Sakura smiled slightly.

"Don't bullshit me Sakura. I've known you since we were kids, I can tell something has happened," Naruto crossed his arms across his chest, his biceps bulging against his shirt. His blue eyes boring into her green ones, probing against her mind, as if trying to read her thoughts.

Sakura looked at Naruto with wide eyes, he had never spoken to her like that before, "Naruto, nothing happened, I just haven't spoken to him over the weekend."

Naruto narrowed his blue eyes at her, "what aren't you telling me Sakura?"

Sakura swallowed, there wasn't much that escaped Naruto when he was really looking, and this was one of those times. She looked at her knucklehead of a friend, "Itachi and I slept together on Friday," she whispered.

"Okay…" he wasn't going to make a big deal about her sleeping with him. Hinata had said something about Itachi liking Sakura. And if he was honest, he couldn't have chosen someone better for Sakura than Itachi. Especially with how things had ended with Sasuke.

But he tried to think of what could have happened between them since, clearly he was missing something, "what's happened since you slept together?"

Sakura sighed, the conversation running through her mind again, she felt like she was reliving that day over and over, and each time she saw Itachi with the pained expression, she felt like she was being cut deeper and deeper. "Things were said…" she trailed off.

"Like what?"

Sakura looked down to the floor and worried her bottom lip, "he said he's falling for me and I didn't say anything, then he left and we haven't spoken since," she rushed out.

Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise, a slow smile spreading across him lips, "talk to the man and put both yourselves out of misery,"

Sakura looked at him, "it's not that easy," she complained.

"Why? Because he's Sasuke's brother? Because you have feelings for him? Because you are falling for him just as much?"

Sakura's eyes opened wide, "n-n-no, I-

Naruto held up a hand, stopping her from carrying on, "you wouldn't be this upset if you didn't like him a lot. It's written all over your face that you care for him. Go over there and talk to him, stop being so stubborn." Naruto smiled, winking at her. He glanced at the clock, "I have to go find Hinata. Promise me you'll talk to Itachi?"

Sakura nodded, and smiled, "see you later."

Naruto waved a hand as he walked away from Sakura, his phone in his hand, "remember to talk to him," he called over his shoulder.

Sakura walked to the library and sat down at the empty table. She took out her books and spread them around her, she tried to go through the notes, but she her thoughts kept turning towards Itachi. She thought about what Naruto had said, that she was falling for him, but she was sure she wasn't. It was too soon to be thinking about anyone in that kind of way.

She thought back to the last few weeks, the times her and Itachi had spent together, how she always felt so light, so carefree in his presence, how he seemed to always know how to make her happy with the slightest things.

Sakura shook her head, yes she liked him, but she couldn't be falling for him. No, it was too soon for her to even contemplate being in love again.

Sakura picked up her books and went through them, making notes.

/

Itachi stared at his phone, he watched it like a hawk, waiting for it to ping to life so he could jump on it, but it stayed silent. 'I'm such an idiot, I really shouldn't have said anything.' He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at the ceiling, his head resting on the chair.

He had spent the rest of the weekend thinking about Sakura, wondering if she was okay, or if he had hurt her. Whether he should have gone back to see her, to hold her in his arms, to kiss her and tell her over and over that he loves her, or whether she should have never said anything, than maybe, they wouldn't be in this predicament. 'Can't change the past now,' he sighed and closed his eyes, images of pink hair and bright green eyes assaulting him.

He'd also taken the opportunity to clear out Sasuke's room, seeing as his younger brother wasn't about to make an appearance anytime soon.

He had gone through his wardrobes and drawers, half surprised to see them so empty, it looked like Sasuke had planned to leave for a long time. The only things that Itachi had to put away were odd knick-knacks, picture frames of them when they were young, games and gaming consoles, odd ornaments that he had collected when he was young.

Itachi felt a pang in his heart while putting things away, he tried to think things over, tried to remember when Orochimaru had dug his fangs into his kid brother, but he really couldn't just blame Orochimaru, part of it was Sasuke himself. He has chosen to behave the way he did, he had chosen to hurt Sakura, to use her and throw her away like some old towel.

Itachi thought about the last several weeks, how he had seen Sakura look so broken, so hurt only to slowly transform in front of his eyes, into the beautiful woman she is, the way she smiled at him now with pure happiness, the way her eyes filled with joy. He thought about how good it had been being with her, making love to her that night. How right it had felt being with her, like he had finally found the place he belonged.

"What are you thinking about?" Kisame asked, pulling Itachi out of his thoughts.

Itachi sat up and looked at his partner, "what's up?"

Kisame had noticed how under the weather Itachi had been since returning from Sakura's house on Saturday. He wanted to ask what happened, but he wasn't sure whether Itachi would even answer his questions.

"Boss said we can leave early, seeing as we've caught up with all our case files," Kisame smiled, "we get the next few days off too."

Itachi nodded, he turned off his computer and stood up, grabbing his jacket and slinging it against his shoulder.

The duo walked out of the building together, Itachi lost in his thoughts and Kisame glancing at Itachi from the corner of his eyes.

"You wanna come over for a game of shogi?" Kisame asked, Shogi was one way of getting the man to speak.

"Sounds good," Itachi smiled slightly, following the larger man towards his house. It wasn't like he had anything to do at home.

Kisame kicked open the door and walked to the living room, pulling the board into the middle of the floor, and placed two cushions either side.

Itachi sat down and set up the game, laying out the pieces.

Kisame started the game, moving his pawn across the board. "Everything good with you Itachi?"

Itachi moved his pawn, blocking Kisame. "Everything is fine."

Kisame moved another piece, "you sure? You haven't been yourself since you went to see pinky a few days ago."

"You know she has a name," Itachi moved another piece, capturing Kisame's pawn.

Kisame smirked, "I know, but I like calling her pinky. So, everything good between you two?"

Itachi sighed slightly, he wanted to say yes everything is fine, but he couldn't bring himself to lie, not after how he left things, how he had walked out on her. He moved another piece, and tried to think of something to say.

Kisame raised an eyebrow, and smirked at Itachi, "you got it bad for her don't you?"

Itachi looked at him, his eyes questioning him.

"I've seen how you look at her, and I saw how protective you were of her on Friday. So, you tell her you love her yet?"

Itachi looked at the board, taking another turn, "I did."

"What did she say?" Kisame captured one of Itachi's pieces.

Itachi shook his head, "nothing."

Kisame was perplexed by Itachi's words, "what do you mean nothing? I saw how she was with you; she clearly likes you."

"Liking and being in love are two different things. I guess she wasn't ready for me to tell her how I felt." Itachi captured another piece, his king taking place.

"Have you spoken to her since then?" Kisame looked at the board, trying to find a way to move a piece.

"No, I haven't, and before you ask, she hasn't either," Itachi captured Kisame's king, ending the game.

"Fuck, you win again," he rearranged the pieces, starting the game again, "why don't you reach out then?"

Itachi thought about that, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Sakura's contact and clicked on the message app, his fingers hovering over the keypad. He tried to come up with something to say. He started to type a message.

"Hey, how are you? How was your weekend?"

'No, that's too plain,' he deleted the message, and thought of something else to say, but coming up blank.

They played a second game, Itachi winning again.

"Mother fucker," Kisame scratched as his head, "how'd you always win?" He complained.

Itachi smiled slightly, "years of playing with grandad next door," he checked the time and stood up, "I'm going to go and check in with my neighbours, make sure they're okay. See you later."

"See ya," Kisame stood up and walked Itachi to the door, "speak to pinky, make whatever this is between you two right."

Itachi turned to look at him, "I don't think it'll work out. Sasuke did a number on her and she's still healing from it. Plus, I'm sure I remind her of him."

"Look man, you ain't your brother. You've told her you love her, so, what's stopping you from going over to her and telling her again? Hell, take her out, treat her to something nice and make her see how much you love her, how much you want to be with her."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the large man, "since when did you get good at giving relationship advice?" As long as Itachi had known Kisame, he was known for his one night stands, and how he never really cared for a relationship, never wanting to settle down with one person.

Kisame smirked, "I borrowed the Icha Icha books from Kakashi, learnt everything I know from them."

"Why am I not surprised that you'd read those books…" Itachi rolled his eyes, that would explain the one night stands.

"Hey, they are a work of literature, you should read them. You might pick up some new techniques, you know what I mean?" Kisame wriggled his eyebrows.

"Whatever," Itachi turned around, and walked away, waving his hand. Once home, he changed out of his uniform and walked to the elderly couples house, knocking on the door.

The door was pulled open by the elderly lady, who beamed up at him, "Itachi my boy, how are you doing?" She shuffled over to him and hugged him.

Itachi smiled and hugged Zeniba's slight frame, "I'm good granny, thanks. How are you and grandad doing?"

"We are fine my dear, why don't you come in? Meet my granddaughter, she's come to visit us," Zeniba moved away from him and shuffled inside, "Mira, come say hello to Itachi, the young man I was telling you about."

Itachi walked in and closed the door behind him, when he turned round, he saw the young woman named Mira. She was beautiful in her own way, hazel eyes framed with full black eyelashes, a round face, with a button nose and full lips. But she had nothing on Sakura.

She smiled sweetly at Itachi and walked towards him, holding out her hand.

"I've heard a lot about you from Granny," she smiled as she looked at Zeniba, "she's full of praises about you."

Itachi smiled and shook her hand, surprised by how firm her grasp was. "She's too kind, nice to meet you, I'm Itachi."

"She's been telling me about how you've been helping them out, looking after them. Thank you," Mira smiled widely, her white teeth on show.

Itachi pulled his hand back, "no need to thank me."

"Please, come sit down," Mira walked towards the living room and sat down next to the elderly man, holding his hand.

Itachi sat down and Zeniba told him all about Mira, how she had surprised them by coming over, and that she would be staying here for a few days.

"Mira works at a school, and she decided to come and see us old folk," Zeniba laughed, "it has been a long time since we saw her. The last time we saw her, she was a tiny little thing," Zeniba smiled fondly.

"Granny, you saw me three months ago, I wasn't that little, you know," Mira smiled, her hazel eyes lit with humour.

"When you reach our age, you will always see younger ones as little ones," Zeniba smiled, she turned to Itachi, "what did you come over for my child? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is okay granny," Itachi smiled, "I was coming over to check if you needed anything."

"We are okay my boy," Zeniba smiled, "you take such good care of us." She patted his hand.

They sat for a while talking about how their day had been. Itachi listening to the people around them, his thoughts turning to Sakura, he wanted to go and see her, to make sure she was okay, but he wasn't sure whether she'd want to see him.

"Itachi, I was telling Mira that you're single and that you and Mira would make a good couple," Zeniba smiled, her eyes closing.

Itachi looked up at her, "I…well…"

Mira laughed slightly, "granny, are you still up to your old tricks? I've told you before, not everyone needs you to find them a match."

"I can see a good match from a mile away, and I know that you two would be good together, unless Itachi is with the pretty pink haired girl?" She raised her eyebrows at Itachi.

"Granny, I'm still into women, and that's not going to change anytime soon." Mira smirked at the elderly lady.

Zeniba sighed, "well, it was worth a try. So, when am I meeting your girlfriend than Mira?"

"When I have one, you can meet her," Mira replied.

Zeniba turned her attention to Itachi and narrowed her eyes, "what about you Itachi? When am I going to meet your girlfriend?"

Itachi smiled at the elderly woman, "when I have one granny, you'll be the first to meet her."

Zeniba sighed and shook her head, "what is it with you young folk, not wanting to be in relationships, not wanting to get married and settle down, have children running around you?"

Mira rolled her eyes, "granny, not everyone wants to settle down just yet. Some of us want to see the world around us before we decide to settle down."

They sat there talking about all the things they wanted to do with their lives. After a few hours, Itachi said his goodbyes and walked back to his house. He sat on the sofa and rested his head against the pillow. He closed his eyes and saw Sakura looking back at him, smiling at him. Her hair billowing in the wind, her eyes bright with happiness, filled with love for him.

He sighed and opened his eyes. He grabbed his phone and pulled up Sakura's contact details, his finger hovering over the call icon. He thought about what he should say to her, but all he could think of was saying "I love you."

He placed the phone down on the sofa and groaned, "why did I have to say anything?"

/

Sakura was sat in her room, her phone in her hands, the message app open. Over the last hour, she had written several messages, but she deleted each one, never being satisfied with the texts. She typed a new message.

"Itachi, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't say anything to you, but I do care about you, a lot. I like you too…"

She read the message over and over and groaned, deleting the words one by one. "Why can't I think of something to say to him?" she asked the walls around her, hoping to find an answer from somewhere.

She sighed deeply and placed her phone on the bed, and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her forehead against them. "I'm such an idiot," she mumbled into her legs.

The rest of the day was spent with her either reading her books, making notes or trying to come up with a message to send to Itachi.

By nightfall, she felt so exhausted that she fell asleep with her books surrounding her. Her dreams tormented her. She dreamt of Itachi. In her dreams, he was holding her, kissing her neck gently, his fingers gently trailing up and down her arms, causing goosebumps to arise on her skin, desire coursing through her.

She turned in his grasp and looked into his onyx eyes, finding them filled with love for her. He smiled at her, "I love you Sakura, I love you so much."

Sakura smiled at him. She was about to reply when he held up a hand, stopping her.

"Do you realise how pathetic you are, how annoying you are?" His words dripping with hatred.

Sakura was surprised to hear such harsh words, she looked at him and was surprised. Instead of it being Itachi, it was Sasuke who was sat by her. Staring at her with hateful eyes, "why would anyone want to love you? There is nothing special about you."

Sakura swallowed, she tried to come up with something to say, but her words seemed to be stuck in her throat.

Sasuke sneered at her, "just look at you, why would anyone want to be with you?" he looked her up and down, his face pulled up as if he'd seen something distasteful.

She watched as he pulled Karin towards him, his hands moving greedily around her body, pulling and tearing at her clothes. Forcing his tongue down her throat, "you can watch us fuck, see how it's really done," he smirked, tearing his own clothes off himself.

Sakura tried to look away, but couldn't, she watched as Sasuke threw himself on Karin, forced himself on her, making her moan and write under him, screaming for him to go harder, faster, begging him to make her cum.

Sakura sat up in bed, breathing hard. She felt something wet on her face and wiped at the wetness, surprised to find herself crying. She hugged her knees to her chest and cried into them. She sat sobbing into her knees, she clutched at her chest, the pain settling back in her heart.

She grabbed her phone and clicked on Itachi's name, pressing the call button. She listened to it ring and ring and ring until it cut out and went to his voicemail. She hung up and laid on the bed, clutching the phone to her chest. "I'm so pathetic," she cried to herself.

She wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, the next time she opened her eyes, the room was being bathed in the morning light. She squinted at the light, rubbing at her tired, painful eyes. She sat up and clutched at her head, her blood pounding behind her temples, making her wince. Slowly she made her way to the bathroom and ran the shower.

She stood under the water, letting the spray help soothe her, her headache lessening slightly. She washed her hair and body, turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her body and one around her head.

She walked to her room and dressed for the day and dried her hair, her head still throbbing slightly. She made her way to the kitchen and helped herself to some tablets, and grabbed an apple, biting into the juicy, crunchy flesh.

With her small breakfast over, she made her way to the hospital. She greeted the doctors and nurses, smiling at them, she made her way to Shizune's office and followed the doctor around, helping with her rounds.

With the morning over, Sakura waved goodbye to everyone and made her way towards college when she saw Itachi. She smiled slightly and started to make her way towards him but stopped. He was walking with a beautiful woman. She had long brown hair, that reached down to her back, her hazel eyes filled with happiness as she threw her head back and laughed, her hand resting on Itachi's arm.

It looked like they knew each other and quite well. When Itachi placed a hand on hers, Sakura stifled a sob, covering her mouth and willing the tears that filled her eyes not to fall. 'He's found someone else.'

She turned away and walked towards the college, rubbing at her eyes. She couldn't blame him for finding someone else, after all, she didn't say anything to him when he told her that he was falling for her.

She walked to the bathrooms and splashed some cold water on her face, and grabbed a paper towel, drying her face, she looked at her reflection, her eyes were slightly red and swollen.

She walked to her lessons and kept her head down, letting her hair obscure her face from others.

Ino sat next to her and smiled, "how are you doing?"

Sakura nodded, she couldn't reply, worried that her voice would waver and give away how she was feeling.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ino leaned closer and tucked some of Sakura's hair behind her ear, "what's the matter?"

Sakura shook her head, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, her throat closing in on a sob. She grabbed a paper and wrote down what happened.

"I saw Itachi with some woman and they looked happy, really happy."

She passed the note to Ino and pulled her back around her, hiding herself once more.

Ino read the note several times, she looked at Sakura, her eyebrows pulled together, "are you sure Sakura? Maybe it was a friend?"

Sakura sniffed, "no, she was holding his arm and he placed his hand on hers, they were laughing about something," she whispered, willing herself not to cry.

Before they could carry on with their conversation, the teacher walked in and started the lesson.

"With the exam in two days' time, I want you all to go through your notes and anything you're not sure on, we can go through."

The sound of books being opened, pages being turned, pens clicking open and scribbling filled the room. Sakura forced herself to look at her books, to take in what she was reading, but she kept picturing Itachi with the woman, their happy expressions. Her dream played in her mind, "Who would want to love you? You're pathetic and annoying."

Sakura mentally shook her head, forcing the images away from the forefront of her mind. She picked up her books and forced herself to read the words, taking them in.

With the lesson over, the women made their way towards the café, Sakura's phone ringing in her bag. She pulled it out and saw Itachi's name flash up. She watched as her phone rung and rung, but she didn't answer it, all she could see was him smiling at the woman, Sasuke's words echoing inside her mind.

When her phone stopped ringing, she placed it back in her bag and carried on walking with Ino.

"Why didn't you answer it?" Ino asked, linking their arms together.

"I wouldn't know what to say to him," Sakura whispered, "I don't think I could bear having him tell me that he has someone else. I can't bear the thought of loosing him like this."

Ino looked at Sakura, "what do you mean Sakura?"

They sat down and Sakura looked at Ino, "I… I think that maybe Naruto was right afterall…"

Ino raised her eyebrows, how was she meant to understand what Naruto had said, "what did that knucklehead say this time?"

Sakura smiled slightly, "yesterday when we were talking, he pointed out that I had fallen for Itachi as well, but that I was being too stubborn to see it, and I think he was right."

Ino was speechless, she wasn't expecting to hear Sakura say anything like that. She tried to think of something to say, but she couldn't come up with anything for a while. "Sakura, you need to go and tell him how you feel, tell him you love him."

Sakura shook her head, "I can't, I'm too late."

"No, you're not!" Ino slammed her hand on the table, making Sakura jump. Other students and teachers looking at them with raised eyebrows, "have you ever seen Itachi with someone before? Do you know who that was?" Ino whispered.

"N-no I don't, but that doesn't mean I can just go to him and tell him that I love him," Sakura placed her head on her arms, "I'm such an idiot, I really should have something to him earlier."

"Sakura you still can," Ino insisted, "instead of mopping around, go and tell him."

Sakura sat up, "I… maybe later."

Ino rolled her eyes, "fine, but don't come crying to me when it really is too late."