An Engagement,Sasuke ruminates, runs into Shisui, gets a mission and some news from Kakashi.

Chapter Text

Upon sighting Sakura, Shisui gulped down the rest of his tea, stood and excused himself.

He poofed away in a swirl of leaves.

Itachi was smirking at her,"You frightened him away."

Despite the reeling feeling of vertigo that had come over her after all she heard, she chuckled, remembering the alarmed look on Shisui's face,"I guess so."

Itachi must have known she was listening. He was clearly waiting to hear her thoughts.

Of course her friends would be happy for her.

Sasuke getting married and Kakashi, of all people, wanting an audience with her about this was something she wasn't ready to think or talk about just yet.

So she asked him the question that had been on her mind the most.

"Why me?"

Itachi didn't want to scare her away.

He needed to know what her answer would be like so it could be tailored similarly.

"You said you wanted me too. Why?", he asked her.

Itachi did not appreciate sugar-coating, polite as he was.

"You're different.", she replied, knowing she did not have to mention who he was different from,"It wouldn't matter who you were, just that you're different, and it's you."

He could see through her nervous babbling. She also required interpretation.

You are not like Sasuke, my only basis of comparison.

It is not because you are an Uchiha.

I appreciate who you are as a person.

He told her his truth as well.

"I didn't want it to be you, but you were who I wanted."

Maybe someday they could just enjoy what they had instead of worrying over how it happened. She hoped so.

Itachi stood and held out his hand to her,"Bathe with me before we go?"

He saw the heat in her eyes at his request, decided on warning her.

"None of that. If we are engaged, I can touch you, but we cannot….do that ."

The visible want in her didn't go away,"Can I touch you ?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Are we engaged?", he asked.

She thought a moment, then nodded firmly,"Yes."

His velvet eyes regarded her softly, unable to keep from halting at her lips for a brief moment.


If he was in another place, in another world, Sasuke wondered if he would be the same.

Would he always be denying a part of himself to make something else happen, no matter where or when he was?

Would it be as doomed to fail as wanting to set Sakura on fire for him in the marriage bed and ignoring the part of him that screamed revulsion at touching his targets

to gain experience so he could?

It had seemed the best way to ensure success, but now he knew why he really did it.

He was frightened, intimidated.

He had betrayed and abandoned so he could win, and now she was gone.

No, it was worse than that.

The woman he'd wanted was with the one person that had always been better than him.

Then again, he had the woman who had left that person behind.

Maybe he was worthy after all.

Izumi knew she only sparked his anger and lust. But at least he felt something.

Often something unpleasant, but familiar enough, like the death throes of the targets he released in, the perfumed skin left charred on the floor of the hotel room,

never to be lovely again.

A messenger bird tapped on his window, calling Sasuke to the tower.

He crossed paths with Shisui on his way.

"Off to make my parents happy again, Shisui?", Sasuke sneered. Fucking lap dog.

"Not this time.", his cousin replied, unperturbed.

"How is that?"

"They didn't marry. Sakura healed them."

A dark expression came over Sasuke's face,"I heard them."

"What you heard", Shisui explained,"was a mutual jerk off session because you poisoned them."

There it was again, that tingling temptation, tinged with pain and regret, at the picture this conjured in Sasuke's mind.

His older cousin shot him a grave look before speaking again,"Itachi will be looking for you for trying to make him soil his princess."

If that is what Itachi truly thought, he would indeed. He needed to be innocent immediately.

Sasuke retorted,"I wasn't looking for anything but the chance to have my own."

Shisui was incredulous,"Really? Your brother seems to think you knew he had feelings for her and were giving your blessing."

Chuckling and shaking his head in pity, Shisui added,"You're a dead man."

He should have known better than to talk to Shisui at all.

It was all a trap. From the first word.

Sasuke stalked off in silence, not wanting to make anything worse.

So Itachi had assumed the best of him, that he knew and was giving the go ahead.

He hadn't thought through the consequences regarding Sakura other than she would be close to him again, that she deserved someone who would be good to her and kind.

If he could help give that to her after breaking her heart, why not?

How was he to know this would've been anything other than a much needed fling Itachi felt guilty over, marrying a worthy kunoichi so Sasuke could get himself off the hook?

Itachi would have mentioned caring for anyone but her to him, and he never would have guessed it to be Sakura.

If Sasuke had known his brother loved anyone and wasn't just hopelessly dragging his feet before he set up the drink he never would have done this.

By the time he knew, Itachi already drank half of it, and it was too late to take it back.

He had treated Itachi badly, but never would he knowingly curse his brother to what he had gotten for himself: a life loving and wanting someone he could never have,

more than he could ever love or want anyone else. Which would have happened had he not seen Sakura that night.

Wait. Izumi had known.

She didn't expect it to work on Itachi without his heart being in it. She'd said as much.

Did she think Itachi would search whoever it was out?

Had she known it was Sakura?

If Izumi was holding information back from him, unconcerned with Itachi possibly suffering and getting him in trouble for it…

Well, she wouldn't get away with it for long.

The mother of his child had plenty to answer for.

He would have to find Izumi and rattle some answers out of her before he left.


Kakashi sat in his office, thankful that he had gone to Fugaku all those years ago when Danzo took him in as an orphan, giving him an eye he knew he shouldn't have had.

Knowing who the real enemy was and banding together against him had thwarted the Uchiha's extinction and the village he now presided over.

Danzo was killed, some of the tension between the Senju and Uchiha quelled.

Not all of it, of course, if Fugaku's appearance in his office a few weeks ago was any indication.

Flashback:

"We have a soldier cavorting with a Senju that has fallen pregnant.", he complained.

"Who?", Kakashi asked, not really keen to interfere in someone's personal life, but knowing this man was very sensitive about births within his clan.

"Uchiha Izumi and that Yamato Orochimaru experimented on."

Ludicrous, Kakashi thought. She was cavorting around with Sasuke, and he would not be the one to tell Fugaku that.

"I'll look into it.", he said, giving Fugaku a nod of assurance.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Now that Sakura would be inside the main house and in a position to interact with Itachi's former fiance and Sasuke's toy, maybe she could shed some light on this for him.

Discussing it with Yamato was out of the question.

If it wasn't true, Yamato would become stressed and a little paranoid at the accusation.

If it was, it may cause a rift between him and his friend he couldn't bear.

He'd lost enough of the few good friends he'd managed to keep over the years.

Handing Sakura some blackmail on Sasuke and making her aware of the girl she'd be dealing with was something he was happy to do for his favorite student.

If that blackmail helped push her further towards real happiness, he didn't mind. But first….

A sharp knock was heard at the door of his office. Sasuke had arrived.

Normally, on pure principal, he would make the boy wait at least an hour to come in.

Today was different. Shisui said Sakura would be coming back early.

Best to get this over with before she did.

"Come in."

The doors opened and in walked the Uchiha, gliding to the chair furthest from the desk and taking his seat.

"You have a mission for me?", Sasuke asked.

"Maybe. First, I have a question for you."

Clearly impatient, the dark haired shinobi inquired,"What is it?"

The Copy nin kept his voice casual while dropping the bomb.

"Have you been using a henge of someone above your rank to sleep with Izumi?"

Sasuke blinked in genuine surprise, schooling his expression too late.

He was silent a long time and Kakashi simply waited.

Then, finally,"No."

A distinct wave of pity rolled through the Rokudaime for Yamato, but did not extend to Sasuke.

"Alright." Kakashi said, tossing Sasuke a mission scroll that the Uchiha caught,"See you in three days."

Sasuke stood and nodded, exiting the doors.