Thank you so much, as always!

Hope you enjoy this chapter. ^.^

We're getting out of the angst a little now! XD

Winter of 2020 – Present Day

It's not much, but it's enough.

When they meet on Monday after work at Starbucks, Itachi is telling her about his college life, the bits that she missed.

"First time I tried alcohol was in first year itself," he says, eyes bright and hands cupping his black coffee. "I had whiskey. And it didn't really hit me at first, you know? So I kept drinking, and everyone thought I had such great capacity for it," he laughs at the memory.

Sakura takes a pause from sipping at her cold shake to giggle at his expression. "What happened?"

"I puked on the side of the road," Itachi replies sheepishly. "It wasn't pretty."

"I bet," she jokes.

"What about you?" he asks with a grin.

"Second year," Sakura tells him. "Beer. Hated it. Then had it more."

He rolls his eyes. "Of course, you did."

"Look who's talking," Sakura says pointedly. "At least, I didn't puke."

Half an hour later, the cold shake and the coffee are half-finished, and Sakura is asking him about his glasses.

"Oh, I got them in second year," Itachi says, consciously adjusting them on his nose. "I started getting major headaches every day, and finally consulted an ophthalmologist. And you know how you sort of begin with a minor number? That didn't happen."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he shakes his head. "He just prescribed me lifelong glasses. It was really strange at first, to be wearing them. And then sometimes I would completely forget about them." He laughs then, continuing with another memory, "First time I tried to comb my hair with my glasses on, I realised that is something I can't do. I mean, yeah – it's such a small thing. But it felt like such a weird adjustment to have in life."

Sakura grins. "How many pairs have you gone through until now?"

Itachi groans loudly. "Don't even ask. I lost count."

That's not surprising even one bit.

When their drinks are finished, Itachi asks her if she wants another.

"I should get going, actually," Sakura says regretfully. "I need to prepare lesson plans for the next month."

And talk to Naruto, she thinks. Since their meeting with Tsunade and Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura have been tiptoeing around the topic. And when Naruto had showed up at Hinata's place, they had an unspoken agreement not to talk about work. So they had breakfast, instead, and Naruto chatted like he usually does, and Sasuke kept trying to get his attention, as much was humanely possible for him.

Surprisingly a lot, she mentally snickers. But then again, Naruto had already expressed his interest in Sasuke, anyway. Felt guilty about it, too.

As for Sakura and Itachi, and Lee, for that matter – she thinks it was alright. Lee still isn't on the best terms with Itachi yet, but he definitely seems to be considerate enough about the past. Besides, Sakura believes that whatever he feels towards Itachi is misplaced anger that should have always been directed towards Sakura. And she knows that he values their friendship too much to let that happen, and hating Itachi is just easier than hating Sakura.

"Anything I can help with?" Itachi asks, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts.

She bites her lip, trying not to smile. "Do you know how to make them?"

He shrugs coolly. "Nothing I can't learn. Come on, let's do it."

Itachi is spread out on her couch, feet up, frowning in concentration at the notebook Sakura lent him to draw up lesson plans for her fifth graders.

He seems to have grasped the whole thing well. It's not that difficult and Sakura has only asked him to match the lesson timing with the schedule, make sure that the list of requirements is complete unless she missed out on something, and to write down the list of students for her daily registry of every class. It's menial and not at all surprising that Itachi has taken it seriously.

It's a strange sight. She still hasn't wrapped her head around it.

When it's past seven thirty, he stretches up, yawns, and excuses himself to the bathroom.

Sakura takes the minute to finally focus on her breathing and letting the smile crawl up her face without the fear of looking too sappy in front of him.

He returns with a question. "What about dinner?"

"Oh," Sakura gets to her feet. "There's some chicken left. We can steam up some rice."

"I can do it," he quickly offers, extending an arm to stop her in her advance. "There's still a lot left to do."

Sakura stops by the counter.

On Tuesday, she finally sits down with Naruto during lunch to talk.

"I'm going to quit," she begins promptly.

Naruto's eyes widen like saucers and he immediately scrambles forward in his seat to stare at her intently. "What? Sakura – what the?"

Sakura smiles sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I'm putting in my resignation today before I leave."

"But-! Why?"

Sakura shrugs, trying to sound casual. "I've realised something. Naruto – the reason I felt that I belonged here was because of the lack of mentorship I had in my own life. And I thought that it's something I could do for others."

Naruto studies her. "I don't see the problem here."

"Something I could for others," she stresses. "I never stopped to think what I wanted to do for myself. I'm not saying that wanting to help someone else in the struggles that you personally faced is wrong. I'm not saying what is wrong or right. I just want to do something for myself now."

"Okay," Naruto says uncertainly, unconvinced. "What is it that you want?"

"I don't know," she laughs nervously, anxiously. "I want to find out. Until now, my only goal was to get away from my family by any means possible. Then it was to make sure that others don't face what I faced. And I'm just – tired. Of the whole thing. I don't want my family to continue being such a huge influence in my decisions."

"What if you want to teach because you want to teach?"

She shrugs again. "Then I'll return to teaching."

They sit in silence for a bit. Naruto is visibly trying not to argue, and she feels a rush of affection towards him. He didn't even ask about her family, or why Sasuke and Itachi were so anxious to reach her over the weekend. Or maybe Sasuke already told him.

The thought of Sasuke makes her question him again. "What's up with Kiba and you?"

Naruto flushes slightly, biting down on his lip. "Sasuke asked me out."

"What?" Sakura nearly spits out her food. "Excuse me?"

"Er – yeah."

"Well," she waves the chopsticks in front of his face. "What did you say?"

Naruto rubs the back of his neck nervously. "I said no. I mean, I can't say yes. That's just super uncool. And Sasuke just wants a date, right? Sure, I'm attracted and all, but if it doesn't go anywhere – that's just. With Kiba and all. Not that Kiba and I are serious. But then I'll be that guy, you know? Breaking off things with someone to date their friend, and then not even dating that friend."

Sakura agrees with all of it. "What are you going to do?"

He groans. "I don't know."

Sakura pats his hand sympathetically. "We've all been there."

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think so."

She giggles at his flat expression until he joins in.

Then on Wednesday, Itachi invites her over to his apartment.

It's a two-bedroom place, cluttered with articles and ornaments, the colours blending together in a way that is both airy and harmonious. Sakura wonders where this side of him was during school, and then remembers she wasn't anything like this in school, either.

Sasuke is lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone intently.

Sakura throws out a greeting, and then directly asks, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Itachi is moving towards the kitchen, laughing out-loud. "Don't open that can of worms."

Sasuke rolls his eyes at his screen. "What did I do now?"

Sakura shoves his feet around to make space for herself, even though there is a perfectly decent two-seater couch in the set. "I thought you liked Naruto."

Sasuke pulls his feet back to fold one knee over another without getting up. "I do. That's the whole point, you see."

Itachi hands her a glass of water and then flops down on the other couch.

Sakura shakes her head. "You're putting him on the spot. That's not cool."

"Tried telling him that," Itachi informs her. "He's intent on getting into his pants. Sasuke, do you need a different, more engaging job?"

Sasuke tsks in irritation, finally straightening up to look them in the face. "Kiba is my friend, but man is he clueless. Naruto isn't looking for some boring dating life. He's a closet rule-breaker. Adventurous. Wants his students to think out of the box. To live outside society. Aniki, you tell me. Is Kiba someone he can be with? Kiba is – typical. Guy-next-door. Naruto is bound to break-up one day. I'm just fast-forwarding the process."

"Even if Naruto is all that," Sakura cuts in firmly, mentally agreeing with everything he's just said but not wanting to verbalize it, "it does not mean he'll go out with you."

Sasuke shrugs. "He already rejected me, I'm sure he told you."

Sakura chuckles. "He did. Isn't that enough to back off?"

"I'm backing off," Sasuke tells them. "From dating. But I can still try and be a friend. If he likes me, he knows where to find me."

"What about Kiba?" Itachi questions. "Does he know all this?"

"I'll tell him," Sasuke replies. "It's not a big deal. I don't understand why everyone is making a big deal out of it."

"You don't see the problem?" Sakura asks curiously. Surely, Sasuke is not that ignorant?

"No," Sasuke stresses, sounding as though he's denying a meal casually.

"It's not a problem for him," Itachi declares, appearing to have suddenly had a Moment of Realization.

"How?"

"Look," Sasuke turns to her. "You seem to think that Kiba and my friendship is make-or-break over a guy. That's not the case. You seem to think that Kiba will be heartbroken if he stops seeing Naruto. That's not the case. You seem to think that I'm only talking with Naruto because I want to date him. That's not the case. The guy is a Math teacher, for fuck's sake. That's sexy as hell. He's recently realised that he might be gay, started dating the guy who fixed his television, and now has caught the attention of another guy who happens to be his date's friend. No one is serious here, do you get that? This is just attraction. Don't make it sound like an epic romance. It makes me sick."

Sakura blinks, thinking if she should be offended in any of it. Before she can open her mouth to respond in any way, Itachi is cutting her off.

"She's a literature major, brother," Itachi smirks. "What do you expect?"

And the tension in the room vanishes.

After dinner, Sasuke leaves.

Itachi suggests sneaking to the roof and Sakura points out it's the middle of winter.

"So?" he raises an eyebrow. "Scared of a little cold, Haruno?"

Sakura sighs.

She's wrapped in one of his blankets, and so is he. He's at least bought some hot cocoa in a thermos for her and whiskey for himself.

It's not a large roof. They sit with their backs against the solar panel unit under the moonlight as Itachi explains how his parents have gone through a messy past.

"Do you think you'll ever forgive him?" Sakura asks softly, watching the side of his face.

Itachi exhales. "No. I don't think so. Is that bad?"

Sakura shakes her head. "No. I don't think there's any point in you forgiving him if you're not ready."

"I don't think I'll ever be."

"Has your mom?"

Itachi chuckles humourlessly. "She likes to pretend that she has. Every time Sasuke and I visit, they put on this whole show for us. How happy they are, how they're getting along, how they're a team."

The moonlight is making his skin look different shades of silver. "Maybe they are?"

He laughs this time. "Doesn't feel like it. It's very subtle, you know? And you know how orthodox they are. Divorce would be better, but they don't want that. They want to stick together even though Sasuke and I no longer stay with them, or need them to stay together. If they're unhappy, they'd be doing a mercy on everyone involved by separating."

Sakura doesn't respond. Lets the silence hang between their each breath, knowing that there is nothing she can say to it.

When Itachi is done being quiet, he breaks it by asking her about her parents.

She laughs, just like he had, without humour, without really finding anything funny in it.

"My father is non-existent," she says, hurting in her chest for some reason. "He just … wafts through days. He was just never there, you know? On the other hand, my mother seemed to have decided to be everywhere. She'd try and control every aspect. She even made my study schedule for me when we were in school. That's one of the reasons why I had to fight to even come out with you guys."

Itachi is now watching her, even though she has chosen to turn her attention to the compound wall in front of them. It's easier.

"Why did you never tell me this?" he asks in a way that is not a demand, but wants it to be one.

She doesn't know. So she gives a one-shouldered shrug. Itachi seems to understand.

"Do you think you'll ever forgive them?" he shoots the question back to her. "I don't mean your … aunt. I mean your parents for what you just said."

"I don't know if there's anything to forgive," she admits. "It's just what I've always known and got used to it."

"Okay."

There's another brief silence, and this time Sakura breaks it with a sudden, genuine laugh.

"Our parents are messed up," she declares, holding her hot cocoa in a toast towards him.

Itachi clicks his glass of whiskey, smirking back. "Damn right."

But the humour vanishes soon, and the melancholy sets in once more.

"Do you think they messed us up?" Itachi asks softly, sounding so shattered, that Sakura wants to burrito him in her own blanket and keep him there.

"I don't know," Sakura says instead, not knowing if that's the truth. "Maybe. Or maybe we messed ourselves up. How do we know?"

"I don't know," Itachi admits.

The crickets chirp, and somewhere she can faintly hear the late night traffic of the city. She thinks that she should get going now, that it's almost midnight, and she hasn't even told him that she's resigned yet.

Maybe a topic for another day.

On Friday, when they watch Interstellar at Sakura's apartment, they get into an argument.

"But don't you see?" Itachi is saying with exasperation. "He had to leave so that she will get the data later in life and save everyone!"

"It's a loop, I get it," Sakura says with increasing irritation. "I just don't understand why they decided that this little girl was the answer to saving the world! Anyone could have been, right? They built her bedroom in their five dimensional space. If they hadn't, all of this could have just happened to someone else. He wouldn't have needed to leave."

"Okay," he exhales. "Okay. But isn't it still good that it happened with her? She saved the world! That's a huge achievement."

"And in the process, lost her father? Weighing her father against the world is a little too cruel."

"She saved both," Itachi reminds her.

"He returned when she was on deathbed," Sakura reminds him in return.

There's a brief pause, and then he says in a strange voice. "At least he returned. Do you think it would have been better if he hadn't at all?"

Sakura's mouth snaps shut. She counts to twenty before responding. "That's not fair."

And then Itachi is studying her seriously, his body facing her, one knee tucked underneath him. "You were doing so good," he says lowly.

"You don't know that," she gulps, her memories of the past five years running through her head like a river, highlighting all the times when she had wished he were there, and realising that those moments were too many to be doing so good.

His eyes are boring into hers. "Tell me."

Her breath hitches. The silence is maddening after a point.

"I missed you," she says in a rush, her body pushing out a puff of air, finally relaxing, finally having said it out-loud after so long, after years of mentally obsessing over it, and she finds it freeing, loves it because Itachi seems to have been waiting to hear it, and he simply accepts, and Sakura has the distinct feeling that he had truly convinced himself that she was better off without him.

Sakura's hand itches to touch him, to hold his hand, to hug him, to anything, and she fights it. She fights it because they decided to be friends, even though they don't intend to stay friends, and Sakura doesn't think that jumping into anything when there's so much still to process through is just a terrible idea.

And then all of it goes out the window when Itachi takes a hold her hand between his, intertwining their fingers, but not doing more, just holding it for the sake of holding it, looking at her for the sake of looking at her, and Sakura lets him have it, lets herself have it, this moment, feeling something settle between them.

Summer of 2005

Sakura was nervous.

This was a whole new year, whole new classroom, whole new batch. She knew all of their faces, except for the two who were new, and didn't think she can approach them, anyway.

She takes the seat assigned to her. It's beside this bespectacled girl who ignores her, face shoved in the textbook, and Sakura doesn't disturb her. She tries to see if she can be friends with anyone else, despite almost all of them already having an established social group.

A boy is passing just then and he accidentally bumps into her desk.

Her books jostle and fall to the floor with a clatter.

"Oh, sorry," he quickly apologizes, bending down to pick them up for her.

Sakura knows him by name. He's the Uchiha boy, the one with long hair that he ties in a ponytail, and always gets in trouble with all their teachers. She stays away from him on pure principle. Aunt Guren says that it's always better to stay with sincere students, like this bespectacled girl, and not his boy.

The Uchiha boy places her books back on the desk. "There you go."

Sakura bites her lips. "Thanks."

He grins. "No problem. I did knock them off. I'm Itachi, by the way."

"Sakura."

"Oh," he grins wider. "Doesn't that mean cherry blossom?"

"Yeah."

"That's cool," he tells her. "Is it 'cause your hair is pink?"

Her hand immediately touch her hair consciously. "I don't know."

Itachi chuckles. "I think I'll call you Cherry."

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