"So? What did you say?"

"I said yes," Sakura replied and plugged her ears before shooting Ino an annoyed look when said blonde let out an ear piercing squeal. "I don't know why you are getting so excited. We are going as friends." Even so, Sakura herself wondered the same thing about herself. For the life of her she could just not figure out why the thought of going with Itachi to the faire made her heart race slightly and her anxiety rise. It wasn't like it was going to be just the two of them either, not like how it was on the ferris wheel.

"Friends don't want to kiss each other. I've seen the way you two look at each other, it is always the lips- or the eyes," Ino said smugly and Sakura smacked her with a fluffy pillow that was laying on top of the blonde's bed.

"It isn't like that and it never will. We really are just close friends," huffs out Sakura. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Ino wasn't buying it and it was further proved by the eye roll that the blonde graced her with.

"Yeah, close-" Ino is cut off by a glare and she shrugs before wrapping her arm around the pinkettes shoulders. "Oh come on, I'm just teasing you," she says and Sakura lets out a sigh of relief. A couple of seconds pass and Sakura spares Ino a quick glance before her short lived relief is over when the blonde says, "But, you two would make a cute-" Ino didn't get to finish that train of thought before she was being pushed off of the bed and straight into the floor. The blonde only laughed after a soft groan as Sakura crossed her arms and huffs. Ino knew that Sakura could deny it for literally forever, but she also saw some of the looks Sakura gave him. She knew it was only a matter of time before everything fell into place.

The fair was a few weeks off, but the thought of it was always present in her mind. She couldn't help the giddy feeling that would develop in her stomach nor the fact that this time, she wouldn't be a complete third wheel in her friend group. They were going as friends, sure, but that also meant that they could pair off - as friends - when everyone else does. For once, she wouldn't have to go through the haunted house and hold onto Ino's ponytail from far away as the blonde disappears into the dark with her current fling. It was peaceful, in all honesty, but it was also torment.

There was just something about the older Uchiha that has been different lately. At least, to her.

She found herself dwelling on his words for a bit too long or maybe it wasn't even the words, but the sound passing through his lips. In all reality, she knew it was neither. She was just too stubborn to admit it to herself, but she often wondered about how soft his lips actually are. He always carried lip balm and was applying it often enough. They just had to be soft, perhaps even softer than hers. She would never find out, though. It was impossible, forbidden even, and wrong - she would continue to push it down much like she has been perhaps since the first night that he found her at the beach, drunk.

Much like the liquor she had consumed that night, he pulled her into him and she felt drugged. His eyes were dark and deep, they pulled her in and she got lost in them. It made her feel lost at sea but also so very centered and focused at the same time. It is an infinite feeling of being found and at a loss all at once. It was chaotic but calm, feeling. She wanted to drown herself in it. She wanted to drown herself in him.

Alas, she wouldn't.

That is what she tells herself as she applies light lip gloss to her lips and pulls her hair back into a pony-tail, ready to go down to the beach with her friends. She knew it was likely for him to be there at this time. His office was closed and Mikoto wouldn't have had dinner prepared just yet. It was during this time of the day that Sakura had often found him near a little hill with his guitar in hand, his fingers gently strumming along with the wind and allowing the waves to be the harmony to his soul. They would sometimes sit together in silence or Sakura would just listen to him sing. At times, it was sorrowful and other times it was solemn or melancholic. At least, it would start out that way. She always walked up to that tune, but she noticed the longer she stuck around, the more pluckier and peaceful perhaps even happy the tune would become. She marked it up to her just coming at the right time.

"I'll be back later!" Sakura shouts as she opens the front door, not waiting for her mom to reply. It wasn't that she didn't care, she just felt silly waiting around. She is twenty now, a grown adult by all accounts. It just felt a little weird to not say anything at all. She was sure once she finally moved out it would be even weirder.

Walking across to the beach, Sakura noted that she was the first out of her friends to arrive. Setting her bag down, she spreads out her towel and hums, dusting off the sand from it. Off in the distance she spots a vaguely familiar mop of red hair sitting on a bench, hunched over. She could hear muffled cries and her heartstrings were pulled. Looking around, Sakura sees that the person is alone and lets out a soft sigh. She hoped that she wouldn't regret this, but dread continued to pool into her stomach as she approached when it became clear.

"Karin?" Sakura calls out softly, noting she she is definitely crying. She carefully sits down next to her, sitting with her body angled towards her. She takes in her messier than normal hair, the makeup streaming down her face, and the way she was hunched over and cradling her stomach with one hand. Sakura could make many assumptions, but she wouldn't dare. She was not that kind of person. "Are you okay?"

This must have startled the ginger because she jumps slightly, eyes wide behind her fogged up glasses, before her reddish brown eyes settle on Sakura's own green. She calms down slightly before slight confusion crosses her face.

"I will be.. I'm sorry, who are you? Do I know you?" She asks softly, slowly trying to get to where she is no longer a crying mess. Sakura pitied her, just a bit, but her questions struck a chord within her that the woman who her first love cheated on her with can't even remember her.

"I'm Sakura-" She could see the moment it clicked in her mind who she was. Guilt formed in her eyes and all new tears formed in Karin's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I should have guessed from the hair," Karin laughs softly before shaking her head.

"Do you need to talk?" Sakura asks after a moment of silence, watching her wipe away her tears and further smearing her makeup.

"I couldn't impose you of all people with my problems, not after what happened," Karin sighs out and Sakura understands exactly what she meant. "Honestly, I had no idea that he was seeing you.. He really has a way of making you feel like the only one," Karin huffs out and has a small sad smile on her face as she leans further into the back of the bench seat.

"Yeah, you can say that again.. But that was in the past, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. You look like you could use it," Sakura says softly despite herself. She figured not many people would put herself in this situation and be as friendly about it, but she was not like other people. Yes, she was more than hurt and angry about the situation two years prior but that was in the past. Sitting down with Karin like this and the utter confusion that was written on the red-heads face when Sakura was introduced made it plenty clear that she had no idea about her. She couldn't fault someone who had no clue.

"Well.." Karin trails off, biting her lip, and adjusting her glasses as she looks around nervously. "I ended up staying with him, because he promised that he would change. That he loved me and that he would never do it to me." Sakura listened but hearing that hurt. He never said any of that to her. Then again, what good would it have done? "It was fine for awhile. Hell," she laughs and shakes her head, "We moved in together in an apartment and everything just seemed to fall into place. We were both out on our own and things happen, ya know?" She pauses and Sakura gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I wasn't feeling right, so I took a pregnancy test. Just to make sure! I had no idea what the results would be, but I was shocked when it came back positive." Karin sniffles, wiping a tear away. "That is when it all started going wrong again. I hadn't told him just yet, but I have sneaking suspicion that he found the pregnancy tests somehow. He started staying out later, coming home smelling like cheap liquor and perfume, drunk off his ass and all he would do is yell and yell at me. He even punched some walls, it was terrifying." Karin takes a small break and Sakura uses this time to let this information sink in.

She couldn't believe it all, she was struggling to grasp this. What was stopping her from accidentally heading down the same road with Sasuke that Karin did? This could have been her! As awful as it was, she kept listening as Karin started speaking again.

"I had left to stay with my mom for a couple days, just to wind down and figure out what to do, but when I got back all I got was a note and a mess of an apartment to clean up. He said that he thought we should go separate ways and that he just didn't love me like he thought he did," Karin takes a deep breath. "Naturally, I was upset. I loved- no, love- him and it broke me," she whispers out and looks at Sakura with deep sorrow in her eyes. "I don't know how you did it, how you survived being hurt like you did by him," she whispers out and Sakura gives her a hug. She takes in a deep breath and allows the red head to relax into her as she sniffles and hiccups slightly from her breathing. "But then he texted me out of the blue saying that he was wrong and that he couldn't live without me, that he wanted to get back together. So I came here to talk it out with him and it was all going well until I told him that I am, indeed, pregnant.." Karin laughs out. "He, of all people, had the audacity to accuse me of sleeping around and that it wasn't his. He threw me out and called me a whore."

"I'm so sorry.." Sakura says softly and she stays there with Karin for several minutes. She lets the red-head cry it out, softly combing her messy locks of hair. She figured that this would be the end of her story but it still made her immensely sad. Sakura was hoping that if he couldn't be happy with her, then maybe he could at least be happy and complete with Karin. Apparently, she was wrong.

Time moved slow, but eventually her friends had arrived and Karin was calm enough to make her way home. She thanked Sakura for her support and Sakura made sure that if she needed anything to give her a call. She didn't realize that this was how her day was going to go, but she was a little down in the dumps when Ino waved her over.

"What's up with you?" Ino asks, raising her eyebrow as she flips her hair over her shoulder.

"Sasuke's girlfriend, or ex now I guess, is pregnant. The one he cheated on me with, but honestly.. I just feel bad for her. He treated her even worse than me and I hate it, I hate that he is like that," Sakura says and Ino opens her arms, allowing her to hug her.

"It's not your fault."

"But what if it is? What if it is because I didn't love him right? Maybe then he wouldn't have gone down the path he did," Sakura cries out and Ino hugs her tighter.

"You cannot control what he chooses to do Sakura, you did nothing wrong," Ino says sternly and Sakura doesn't have it in her to argue as she hears Naruto and Kiba shouting in the distance as they come closer. Quickly, she pulls apart from Ino and forces a smile with the blonde shooting her a worried look, but she brushes it off. She'd be okay, she always is.

"Hey, Saks, ready to get this show on the road?" Grins Naruto as he tosses a volleyball up into the air, catching it effortlessly. It was too late in the day to go surfing, but it was never too late to play volleyball.

"I was born ready!" Sakura laughs out and knocks the ball away from Naruto. "My serve. Alright, I get Ino and you can keep Kiba." They were going to play in twos since the rest of the gang couldn't make it. Hinata had enrolled in summer courses to get a few more credits in and Shikamaru was probably off snoozing somewhere.

"I'll be over here," Sai says and kisses Ino on the cheek. Oh, and he is there. Honestly, Sakura forgot he was there and didn't even realize that he had popped up in the first place. He was too quiet and a little unsettling sometimes, but Ino was madly in love with him, so she put up with it for her sake. Sai settles down on Ino's beach towel, sketch book in hand, and Sakura sees the lovesick look the couple shares. She felt a little envious, but it didn't last long as they got to business.

The game got intense, fast, and it wasn't surprising. The four of them were all competitive by nature, so it wasn't a surprise when the girls won that they were being chased around the beach with the threat of being thrown into the water. To Sakura, that wasn't much of a threat, but to Ino who religiously took care of her hair and skin it would be a crime. Still, Sakura found herself laughing and feeling carefree, not even dwelling on Karin and earlier. She felt better and she had never heard a more true statement than laughter is the best medicine. She was truly appreciative for her friends, even when she accidentally elbows Naruto in the face because he tickled her into the sand.

After an apology and the laughter died down, she just laid there with Naruto and soon the others joined. It was quiet for the first time between them as they all looked up at the sky. Sakura didn't mind the sand in her hair so it surprised her when Ino didn't bat an eyelash at it either. It was this thought that made her realize just how much they had changed since high school alone.

Kiba now sported slicked back hair that went to his chin, a beard growing in quite nicely. His clothes while still boyish weren't nearly as hole-filled as the ones he wore in high school and his shoes were actually pretty clean for once. Sakura wondered just what had happened to make him clean up a little. She had never seen the wild one of their group look so put together.

Naruto had cut his hair into a buzz cut. His parties were slowly growing more tame and even less frequent. This was something Sakura was sure Hinata had a hand in, but she would never voice it out loud. She was glad that he was maturing, even when he never got quieter.

Ino's long hair was longer than ever and her cheek bones only more prominent. She had always looked regal but there was something more womanly about the way she dressed compared to even a year ago. While they still acted childish around one another, she commanded an air around her that just made her seem more responsible and even more put together. Pretty soon, she would be finished with university. Just two more years and then she would move on to another school. Still, just the two years of studying her field had made her grow into herself more than Sakura could even comprehend.

And then there is Sakura. She felt like she hadn't changed much if at all. She has always been mature and she had always liked routine. Her life hadn't changed very much and she was starting to wonder if that was even a good thing. Is she truly living? She didn't know. It made her wonder if maybe it was time to branch out. She just wasn't sure. As much as she was unsure, she didn't like change. It was scary, it was different, and it was what landed her in Sasuke's bed more often than not. Still, if she never took the chance, when would she?

"I miss this," sighs out Naruto. "I miss all of you. I had no idea adulthood would mean not getting to see you guys hardly ever."

"I know what you mean," Kiba agrees. "It seems like everytime we meet up there is always something new going on and by the time we meet up again, it is something completely different because the other issue was resolved. It's wild."

"But the time we do get to spend together, we can and will cherish forever," Sakura says softly and everyone nods.

"Always."

After her friends had left, Sakura finds herself still on the beach. She had since put up her towel and her beach stuff but she couldn't bring herself to leave. It was like a calling, she could feel it. She held her shoes in one hand as she walked the shoreline. The water gently lapped over her ankles and sometimes licked up her calves, but she relished in the coolness that it provided. She didn't really know where she was going, but she should have. She always comes here. As the hill comes into view, she spots a lantern and a dark figure sitting on a rock, overlooking the water. The closer she gets she begins to hear the sad strum of a guitar. It picked at her heart and she had to stifle a tear, taking a deep breath. The music stops temporarily as she stands in front of the man, Itachi, but continues when she takes her usual seat.

No words are exchanged between them as they wordlessly listen to the song of the ocean and Itachi's fingers. The wind was gentle as it caressed Sakura's hair, but she couldn't help but lean into it as it danced through. She didn't fight it when it felt like it was tilting her, guiding her, and she didn't stop or move when her head lightly landed on his shoulder. The world didn't stop and neither did the music, but she felt like her breathing did when she could feel his hair lightly tickle her forehead when he leaned his head against hers.

Not a word had been voiced, but all the same it felt like a million were said through the silence.

There was a quiet understanding - a need that was met quietly and gently. Neither needed to say a word, they both knew exactly what the other would say.

I want you, but I cannot have you.

The only real question that Sakura had was if it was Itachi that she wanted. Did she want him for him or because he was Sasuke's brother? She couldn't bear to hurt him because of her selfishness if that were the case. Deep in her heart though, she just didn't want to be hurt again. She was scared of it. Scared by a first love that didn't last. Scared by the lasting effects that it had on even Karin. She was scared, but above it all, she was longing.

When the strum of the guitar stopped, Sakura didn't look up. She didn't need to look up to know that he was looking down at her because she felt his head move. She could feel his gaze on her and she could only imagine what was going on through his head.

They were friends, but that is all they were. That is how it would be. Forever, she thought.

But Itachi struggled to think the same. He found himself much in the same boat. His dead first love constantly flashed to mind each time he thought of Sakura and sometimes when he looked at her. It was doomed from the beginning, but he was tired of fighting it.

"What was that song about? I've heard it before. You play it often," Sakura says softly.

"Moving on."

"I see. Did you write it?"

"Yes. I started to write it after my girlfriend passed away, but I didn't finish it until recently."

"It's beautiful.. I'm sorry to hear that," Sakura says softly and raises her head. She suddenly felt sick for laying her head there. All this time and she hadn't even thought to ask him about any lover and yet here she is, laying all on him. He was her friend, he deserved better. His girlfriend deserved better in respect to her memory. "What was she like? She must have been lovely."

"She was," he says softly and Sakura recognizes the faraway look in his eyes. It takes over sometimes when they are talking together and she had never figured out why. "She was a lot like you, actually," and Itachi is looking away but Sakura didn't miss the flash of sadness and guilt in his eyes. She couldn't understand.

Silence overcomes them again, but for once it was not comforting. It was almost suffocating and it felt like one wrong move could end her. Shuffling her feet, she looks down, and she lets out a small breath of air. She would probably need to leave, but she felt weird leaving him there like that. Slowly, time slipped on by before a little while longer he finally looked at her again. This time, she couldn't read the emotion on his face but it took her breath away as he lightly guided her face to look up at him.

"But you are not her," his eyes flicker down to her lips and she wishes she could unsee it. She wishes that she could ignore it, ignore that she couldn't help but do the same. "Still, I find myself not minding that fact at all."

And just like that, he is pulling away from her and her face is heated. Sakura didn't know how to process what just happened, but when he is packing up his guitar and offering her a hand to stand up, she figured she would have the whole night to figure it out.

He was not Sasuke. He would never be Sasuke, but that wasn't too bad of a thought. She trusted Itachi and trusted him in ways that she could never could quite trust Sasuke in. She told him everything, he was her best friend. He was not Sasuke and that was fine by her.

So, when she tugged on his long-sleeve shirt and stopped him from getting up all the way, she was surprised to find herself pulling him into her and joining their lips together. They had melted together almost perfectly. His guitar case lightly plopped onto the ground as he bent over her from his half standing position but he could care less as he wrapped his arms around her instead. Her fingers were in his hair, toying with it, and there was something that felt normal to have her pressed up so tightly against him that when they fell backwards into the sand, he could still feel her heartbeat against his chest.

His lips were as soft as she thought they would be and she wondered if he thought the same way she did. Sakura didn't know what had gotten into her, but she could care less to think about it. She cared even less when he flipped them over on the sandy ground and started to leave kisses from the corner of her mouth to her neck. She only tilted her head back and let him, her eyes closing as she accepted it.

He was not Sasuke and she was not her.

They both knew this and accepted this, but with closed eyes it was almost easy to ignore.