Sakura's his ride today. Since her overnight shift ends by early afternoon, Sasuke asks if she can take him to his weekly lunch with Itachi.

"Stay if you want," He tells her while stepping out of the car, "Itachi won't mind."

So Sakura stays because it's free food and Sasuke and one Itachi Uchiha, easing out of a coat and handing it over to the man waiting at the door. They find a table for three at a restaurant she's never been to but feels highly underdressed for in her work scrubs. The Uchiha brothers stroll through the restaurant as they own it. She walks in between them because Sakura would be damned if she followed behind them. Even if she's not sure if her work clothes fit the occasion.

Because she's not a frequent visitor, Sasuke advises his brother to get her the same thing he gets. Sakura's fine with that and relaxes her chin on her palm, staring aimlessly at the crowd until the waitress.

A petite woman with dark hair and darker eyes, a pretty blush on her cheeks greets them. "Welcome back Mr. Uchiha and Mr. Uchiha and…your guest."

"Sakura," Sakura pipes up, smiling kindly at the woman.

The woman smiles and offers a brief little huff of a laugh that causes Sakura's smile to slowly drop with how contrived it is. The young medic tilts her head, making a face as she's ignored just as quickly as she is noticed.

O…kay.

Sakura's short, clear-coated nails drum against her cheek one by one in a soft rhythmic click with a full view of the absolutely idiotic show going on. Itachi's got the sleeves of his navy blue sweater rolled while indicating items on the menu. Without the obscurity of night, she has a more pleasing view of what she knows to be true. Itachi's got some strong-looking forearms.

The nail of her pinkie finger slips between her teeth, purposely so. Sakura's drifting eyes fixate on the curve of Itachi's neck that dips and disappears inside of his turtleneck. The angle of his head when he points to things, the semi-deep rumble of his voice, the way he motions for the waitress to come a bit closer so he doesn't have to speak louder than necessary.

Sakura bites down a little harder on that nail. Blue definitely looks good on him.

She sees…as does the waitress. The woman's hanging on his word like he's giving her the secrets to life. Sakura grabs her glass and sips, then rolls her eyes when the woman accidentally touches him.

For Chrissake!

"Let me know if you need anything else, Mr. Uchiha." she smiles coquettishly, with no shame or discretion or anything of the sort.

Itachi either doesn't notice the server's coy glances or is completely ignoring it. At this point, she may as well just get naked and spread her legs on the table.

"Tck!" Sasuke's outbursts rob her attention. He's flipping through his phone again, probably through messages.

"Did something happen?" Itachi calmly asks.

Sasuke grimaces at the screen, already dialing numbers. "Yeah, something at work. I gotta make a call real quick."

He's up from the table before either of them can rebuttal. Itachi's eyebrows pucker watching his brother stalk out of the restaurant with a phone to his ear and fist shoved in his pocket. She watches him go then diverts her attention to the other Uchiha still sitting at the table. Itachi's chin tilts with a glint in his eyes that sends a shiver down her spine. It's that calculating, 'I see something I don't like and am thinking of several ways to remedy the situation' look. It's that 'I can't believe somebody actually has the audacity to try me' look. A gaze that lets Sakura know that whatever he's thinking about isn't optimistic or pleasant by any means. Whoever he's thinking about may be in way more danger than they realize. Considering this is Sasuke, and he only ever gets worked up over a handful of things, Sakura taps her glass and takes a stab in the dark.

"You're not a fan of Orochimaru, are you?'

Gray eyes immediately cut to her, and the temperature of the room fucking drops. Sakura twitches even though she hasn't even done anything to earn that expression on his face. Not yet, as far as she knows. He's doing that thing Sasuke does. Where his face is completely blank but those god damn eyes see right through you. Most people may think comparing someone to your ex is inappropriate. Sakura is inclined to agree in most cases. But Sasuke's her only point of reference in this instance. Except he really is it. Because when Sasuke's gray eyes narrow and flicker over her features, she rolls her eyes and glares right back. When Itachi does it, Sakura can't focus or think or reason.

Shit.

"What gave you that impression?" Itachi's voice is deep and dark and not in the mood for games.

Chin still her palm, Sakura attempts to preserve her coolheaded composure but it's something about having Itachi's full attention that makes her squirm.

Sakura licks her lips to soothe her nerves. It's not like Itachi's going to reach across the table and get her. Green eyes shift down to the hands resting on the table, then those forearms sticking out from under those roll shirtsleeves. And if Itachi chose to reach over the table…

"Sakura?"

Sakura snaps her eyes up.

"Oh. That's the same face Sasuke makes when someone gets on his nerves." she points out, "Like he's mentally planning their demise."

Itachi blinks. "Hnn."

Sakura chuckles softly, feeling caught in several ways. She also doesn't really want to get out either. She can't do anything but keep her eyes on him, the sound of the restaurant fading. Itachi's observing and waiting for her, presumably to offer her more details. Her leg shakes of its own accord. The hand on her wine glass starts tapping a bit faster. She's tense but not the kind that makes her want to run away. The kind that says this is probably not taking the safest course of action, which only makes her want to venture a hell of a lot closer.

"Um," Sakura winces at the way her voice cracks, then forces herself to sit up a bit straighter. "It's your face. You guys don't say much verbally but you say things visually if you know what to look for."

"Hnn…?"

"That's all you thought," Sakura continues, rambling on, "Sasuke's a bit more vocal with his Uchihaness. The grunts and hums seem more your style.."

"My style of…Uchihaness?" Itachi asks for clarification.

"Yes!"

Something darts across his face, then…nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sakura's stomach flutters when he inclines back in his chair. Those hands drag off of the table and into his lap. This time Itachi is definitely looking down his nose at her. Sakura would have been more apprehensive if she'd not experienced this face before. That face carries a tone that could go in several different directions depending on the situation. Most of the time, when Sasuke looked at her like, well. Sakura squeezes her legs together to keep her thoughts in check.

"Tell me, Sakura," no one should be able to say her name like that, "What is my face telling you now?"

The question is less a question and more of a challenge. Sakura's pink brows twitch and the realization that Itachi means to put her theory to the test. But Sakura enjoys a challenge. And Sasuke constantly said she never knew when to stop testing.

The familiarity of the circumstances gives her a boost of courage and, despite the way her leg shakes under the table, Sakura smirks at him and gives him what he wants

Kind of.

"Nothing," Sakura says elusively.

Black brows raise. "Nothing?"

"That's what I said." She holds her wine and mimics his laid-back position, crossing her leg over her knee and resting one hand in her lap, pressing the wine glass to her lip.

Sakura catches the way his eyes divert from her face for a fraction of a second, so quick that it may have been missed if she weren't looking for it.

She smirks even harder.

"You said my face says a lot. Now you are saying it says nothing?"

She drinks, then shrugs. "You're doing that thing you Uchiha do where you make it seem like you're not paying attention or focus on anything. When you're actually taking in everything. So yeah, your face says nothing but everything else about you says you're very much interested in me."

Itachi picks up his wine as well. "That's an interesting theory, Sakura. Are you always this observant?"

She shrugs lightly. "Only when I find something interesting."

"Likewise."

Itachi drinks his wine. Sakura does the same.

And she watches him watch her over the rim of his glass.

A/N: I haven't forgotten lol

-CeCe^^