Chapter 8: Age 18 Part 1

Rating: K+

Sakura remembered the first time she spent time alone with Itachi. Nothing too scandalous happened but it turned out to be the most fun she had in a long time. She was eighteen years old; he was twenty-two years old.

"Thanks for dropping me off," Sakura said in the passenger's seat with a smile toward her best friend.

Ino grinned back at her and waved her hand, "No problem." Although, the blonde girl's smile diminished. She placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, effectively stalling her pull on the door handle. Ino searched her face before saying, "You do know you can talk to me about anything right?"

Sakura's expression became puzzled but she responded, "Of course." When Ino said nothing else, Sakura tilted her head and asked, "Do you know something I don't? I'm kinda confused here."

Ino shook her head and continued to look her in the eye, "No, it's just… something feels… off. I don't know how to explain it but I've been getting weird vibes around Sasuke lately."

The pink haired girl felt her stomach sink. She had been having the same feeling but hadn't confided to anyone. Sasuke had been picking up extra shifts at his job at a locally owned restaurant. And on the evenings he hadn't already picked up a shift, more often than not they would call him in due to short staffing. Of course it could all be true, however, something caused Sakura to doubt it.

That was the whole reason Ino was dropping her off at the Uchiha residence. Sasuke couldn't come to lunch with them because he got called into work again. He asked Sakura to wait for her at his house so they could spend the night together instead. It was the third lunch he canceled in a row.

Sakura forced herself to lightly laugh before saying, "If anything bad is happening, you'll be the first to know, Ino. Trust me."

Accepting this answer, Ino's shoulders visibly relaxed while she remarked, "I'd better be the first, Forehead." Sakura narrowed her eyes playfully. She knew by using her old nickname Ino felt at ease again. The blonde girl then stared at the house before asking, "Is Itachi home?"

Sakura shrugged looking at the closed garage door, "Maybe. Sasuke had a key made for me so it's alright if he's not."

Ino nodded. Her expression then turned mischievous as she whispered, "So you may be alone with I-ta-chi for hours?"

Rolling her eyes at how she drew out his name, Sakura replied, "Possibly, yes."

Her friend dreamily sighed before requesting, "If he's still single, put in a good word for your girl. That man is gorgeous."

Instantly, the same irrational protectiveness she felt about Itachi when she was eleven years old came bubbling toward the surface. Sakura knew she had no reason to feel that way. She was dating Sasuke – not his brother.

"I'll try," Sakura weakly responded.

"Wait – have you ever been alone with him?" Ino inquired with shining eyes. Before Sakura could answer, she kept talking. "What's he really like? He seems so… adult, ya know?"

Feeling the urge to defend him, Sakura raised an eyebrow as she commented, "He's so adult because he's had to take over everything in the family since their parents died." Ino winced. Spotting the autumnal leaves on a nearby tree, Sakura realized the first anniversary to the Uchihas' death was quickly approaching. She then added with a sigh, "And no… I've never been alone with him before. He usually works weekends."

"Well," Ino said shrugging, "if he is home, hopefully it isn't too awkward."

Sakura agreed sullenly, "Yeah." Begrudgingly, she continued in attempts to appear more normal, "I really will try to put in a good word for you."

Ino forgot about the tension her friend was giving off as her grin lit up the car, "Thanks!"

Hearing Ino's car drive away, Sakura stood on the front step rummaging through her purse. She stifled back a curse as she struggled to find the house key. She wondered if Ino would be irritated by needing turn around and pick her up. However, she bit her lip and placed her cell phone back in her purse. Trying to peek into the window blinds, she couldn't tell if Itachi was home. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Not long after, a put-together Itachi answered the door. Not a single hair out of place in his ponytail, he was wearing a black sweater. He gave a slightly surprised greeting when he saw who rang his doorbell. She stood there staring at him before anxiously giggling out of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry to bother you if you were heading out," Sakura mumbled suddenly feeling more nervous now that she was face-to-face with him.

Itachi opened the door wider, "No, I actually got back from the cafe not too long ago." While he openly looked her up and down, Sakura darkly wondered if he sometimes thought about that night at the pool too. As if reading her thoughts, he then smirked, "Come on in."

He moved aside to let her enter the home. Sakura clumsily took off her right shoe while Itachi watched her stumble. As she got off her second shoe, Itachi scratched behind his ear and said, "You can always stop by Sakura, but just so you know, Sasuke isn't home right now."

Placing her shoes into the small cubby hole by the door, Sakura stood up straight. She nodded, possibly a little too much, as she explained, "Yeah, he told me about getting called into work. He asked me to come here so we could hang out when he got off."

Itachi's eyebrows furrowed as he nodded slowly. He wet his lips and sighed before stating, "Right. Well, I was just about to make tea. Do you want a cup?"

Wringing her hands together, Sakura followed him down the entrance way and responded, "Yes, please. That would be nice."

Sakura sat awkwardly on the sofa in the living room. She could hear Itachi rummaging in the kitchen. "This is ridiculous," Sakura said aloud to herself. She knew she was acting silly. And maybe she was acting too formal. She didn't understand why she cared so much about what Itachi thought. It wasn't anything near a date, but why was she acting like it was their first one? Her mind reminded her, for the umpteenth time, she was being a bad girlfriend for acting so awestruck around her boyfriend's brother. She grabbed the remote control from the coffee table and turned on the television for a different noise in the background.

Soon, Itachi joined her with a small wooden tray. He placed the tray holding two cups of matcha on the coffee table. He handed a cup to Sakura while she mumbled her thanks. Taking his own drink, he sat down in the cloth chair across from the sofa.

"I'm glad I was home," Itachi remarked as he settled in the seat. Sakura secretly hoped there was a deeper meaning but knew he was simply referencing to her ringing the doorbell. "I told Sasuke to give you the extra key in case you needed it." She raised an eyebrow; it wasn't Sasuke who requested she have her own key after all.

"Oh, um, yeah he did," Sakura nodded. "Since Ino drove me to lunch, I hadn't realized I forgot my keyring at home."

Itachi stared with a thoughtful expression and repeated, "Ino…." Then his words trailed off not being able to place a person to the name.

Sakura nodded and offered a vague description of her friend as she had promised, "Slim, blonde… um, she has really nice legs." Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, she nervously tapped the side of the warm mug with her fingernails. She then blurted, "And she's single, too." Finishing her babbling, she blew on the hot liquid she held.

Itachi slowly smirked before giving a low chuckle. He nonchalantly sipped from his mug. Propping one of his legs on top of the other, he commented with a slight head tilt, "You're funny, Sakura."

She faintly blushed. As much as she loved Ino, that was all of the 'good word' she was going to put in for her. There was an awkward silence between them. Or perhaps Sakura was the only one who thought it was awkward. She didn't like the silence despite Itachi seeming content with this tea. She fidgeted in her seat until she thought of a topic to discuss.

Although it wasn't the most entertaining, they had to start somewhere with small talk. Sakura learned Itachi had only two semesters left before he graduated from his online psychology program. He mentioned he was thinking of getting a secondary degree with a specialty in criminal psychology. And she felt a sense of pride when he smiled at her after learning she was pending acceptance into Konoha University's nursing program.

"You don't have anything to worry about," he told her. "You're getting into the program."

"I hope so," she replied wishfully. "The only course standing in my way is organic chemistry."

With that, another silence fell upon them. She thought about the last time she tried to discuss courses with Sasuke and he got irritated. Her boyfriend was still undecided as to what he wanted to major in. He claimed she was nagging him into trying to rush his decision. She just wanted him to take his future more seriously.

"Sakura," Itachi said pulling her out of her trance. "Are you ok?"

She jumped a little at her name and then gave a tight lipped smile, "I'm fine." He eyed her suspiciously but didn't ask any more questions. Feeling pressure to take the attention off of herself, Sakura motioned her head toward the television. "Have you watched this before?"

Itachi glanced at the screen, "Suna Love Triangle? I've heard of it but never watched it."

"Oh it's trash," Sakura commented while smiling. Itachi smirked as she continued, "But you can't look away. It'll make you feel a lot better about yourself."

They spent a couple of episodes laughing and making snarky comments about different characters. Eventually, Itachi made them popcorn to share. When he came back from the kitchen, he sat down on the sofa and placed the bowl between them. He made a fleeting remark about one of the male's bachelor parties and Sakura laughed so hard she was afraid she might csnort.

"Hello?"

A sudden interruption from Sasuke had them both snapping their heads to look at him in the archway. Neither of them realized he was home. Sakura glanced at the clock – she had spent three hours doing nothing but sitting and talking with Itachi. She looked back at Sasuke to find him staring at her. She blushed while feeling like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

Itachi cleared his throat grabbing his brother's attention. With a tight lipped smile he asked, "How was work, Sasuke?" Sakura noticed the emphasis in Itachi's question. She scrunched her brows as that nasty gut feeling returned. As much as she suspected something weird was happening with her boyfriend, a part of her wanted to remain in the dark to the truth.

The younger Uchiha narrowed his eyes and scoffed before giving a simple answer, "Fine." Sakura could tell the brothers were having an unspoken conversation in front of her.

"That's good," Itachi nodded shortly and kept his mouth in a small line. He observed his brother with an unfaltering gaze.

Sasuke was the first to back down. "C'mon Saku," Sasuke said as he tilted back his head, signaling her to follow him back toward his room.

Sakura watched Sasuke walk down the hall before turning her head to Itachi. She couldn't find the right words to part with him.

"Thank you for keeping me company this afternoon, Sakura," he said.

She messily tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded, "It was fun, Itachi." He hummed in response and she could feel his dark eyes on her as she retreated to Sasuke's room.

As she continued to have occasions alone with Itachi, Sakura realized she never had any moments of nonsexual bonding with Sasuke. She couldn't deny she was physically attracted to Sasuke but the only activity they did together was sex. What scared Sakura the most was she realized these special evenings alone with Itachi Uchiha would lead to nothing but disaster.