Title: Train
Genre: Romance and Friendship
Summary: Valentine's Day Special
A/n: Now, ahem… this could be seen as an ItachixSakuraxShisui fiction, but take what you want from the piece. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for taking the time to read another one of my works and a special thank you to those who have taken the time to review. –Z.z
The day was the worst day of her life, all because of her own stupidity.
She'd become greedy, giddy and happy—like any girl with the upcoming event of Valentine's Day—but she should have known. Middle school had been awkward once she'd brought it up; it had taken a year to gain his trust back. After seven years of hiding her feelings and being 'buddies', she'd tried again; yesterday. Now, everything she'd built with him was burning down. She'd taken off hoping that some structure would be left to start again.
It wasn't like she'd grabbed dozens of roses and threw them in his face. But offering him one of two tickets for a train ride was doing just that. He'd given her one of his 'What-the-heck-is-Naruto-doing?' stares. She'd tried to laugh it off; but she knew it was already too late. Being near him had been enough, why had she tried to take more than she was allowed?
So now she was stuck on the train by herself.
She blinked back tears because everything had added up. With her arrival on the train and yesterday's broken heart she was a mess and she knew it. On her way to the station from her college dorm someone had driven too close to the sidewalk and over flooded gutters, which had caused a tidal wave to condemn her, leaving her completely drenched.
But the world hadn't had enough laughter it seemed.
She had to combat crowds of umbrella couples—who were smooching and licking—while she was trying to reach the train station. During the fight she had lost her phone, a present for her birthday from him. After a fifteen minutes of a frantic 'let-me-die-now' search; she had to catch her train or her one-hundred-and-fifty-dollar, two tickets of failure, would go to waste. It wasn't like she would have found it, more people had been arriving and the crowd would have just gotten worse.
The machine wouldn't read the bar code on either of her dripping wet tickets, because the soggy ticket would not go into the machine and after three-minutes of trying she had actually broken into tears. The guard had pitied her and let her through, carefully ripping one of the two tickets perforated end so it wouldn't destroy the entire ticket.
Then on the search for an empty compartment, a tall man had backed out of a door way and jammed his elbow in her eye.
Yesterday had been the worst day of her life and today had raised the competition to a new bar.
She rested her head against the cold window sill. She sighed in relief as the coldness soothed the pain. Her eyes stared out the window at the dreary blur of grey water and brown, barren trees.
Maybe the trip would do her some good. She'd just finished a long session of tests and had a couple days off, which the teachers would use for grading those tests. Her first thought had been that a celebration was necessary, and then when she realized that Valentine's Day and the day after were off, she'd begun to plan everything in.
In the end, her heart had hammered and as a result her logic had disappeared… She was back to the topic of him, Sasuke Uchiha. She could relax if she forgot the reason why she was going to begin with, but that idea was farfetched. She wasn't going to have a good time.
The blurry world vanished as she shut her eyes. Her free hand twirled her pink hair. Maybe it would all disappear. When she got back, maybe the incident would drop and be forgotten. She sniffed and reached up to rub her eyes.
Her nerves rang alarm bells at the pain and she swore. The day couldn't get any worse.
Her eyes opened in alarm at her thoughts. She reached out her hand to knock on wood, but she was too late.
A rap sounded at her compartment door then it slid open. The man in the door way took in the area before giving a nod.
"Sakura," his face remained almost expressionless except for the squint of his eyes. He had recognized her in her pink-haired state; why did the world hate her?
"Itachi," Sakura smiled and nodded in return. Inside she was screaming all the swear words she knew. How was she supposed to pull off the whole 'trip-thing was a joke' if Itachi told his brother he'd seen her on the train?
"May I?" His pale, piano fingers motioned to the seat across from her. "My cousin has become a tad bit too enthusiastic with his female companion," Itachi sighed.
Her mind screamed: 'No! The compartment is full!' But she was raised a better woman than that.
"Of course, go ahead take a seat."
Also, Itachi would probably wait outside to make sure she was telling the truth… That was just the kind of person he was.
How had he found her in the first place? Out of all the trains and compartments he had to open her door.
"What happened to your eye?"
Immediately he began prodding, his job as a lawyer suited him too well. It had been a long time since she'd seen her friend's brother. Their last eye contact had been at Sasuke's summer party and their last conversation Sasuke's birthday party.
The man before her was known for tearing people to shreds on the witness stand for his profession and teasing people to tears as a hobby. She still remembered leaving the Uchiha household in sobs after Itachi's interrogative and sadistic questioning and Shisui's obnoxious, horrendous, evil, unabashed perspective of her 'only slightly female body'…
Once she thought about it, it really had been Shisui, but Itachi had to take some credit for starting the conversation. Of course, both boys were forced to apologize, buy her chocolate and take her to a movie; which had turned out to be a good action packed flic. Through the movie night out they'd also become friends. And the way things turned out, there was no way she was only a 'slightly female body' now. But the meaning of the story was, there was no way she going to allow him to make a 'short' joke on her…
"I got into a fight," nonchalant and cool.
The man raised an eyebrow just like Sasuke had when she'd asked him to come with her. "Really?"
"Yeah," She twitched her lips and re-focused her gaze out the window. The coolness from the sill soothed the burning sensation.
She heard him shift and she turned to look. Her head was caught between his palms; and his pale, smooth, aristocratic complexion was only inches away from her nose. His eyes narrowed as if analyzing the inside of her brain. One of his hands carefully brushed over the bruising area below her eyebrow. She flinched.
"Coloration is setting in and the swelling hasn't stopped. It happened recently. A fight near or on the train would have drawn a crowd and it is unlikely Shisui or I would have overlooked such racket. You weren't in a fight." He coal eyes softened. "You can tell me."
She'd rather not. It wasn't like it was any concern of his anyways. Pulling her head out of his hands, she laughed, "Don't worry about it."
"Sakura..."
She knew the tone; he was upset now and he probably thought it was some domestic abuse case because she was in the compartment alone.
"I ran into some guy's elbow," Sakura scratched the back of her head, "Doesn't quite make a good story though, huh?"
Itachi's head tilted to the side as if pondering the truth of her story.
"Why don't you have an ice pack?"
"I'm fine, don't need one," she brushed him off. She planned on asking for one when she got to the mountain village, she had debated going to find one on the train, but for all she knew something like a meteor would strike her down.
"As a medical student you should know better."
She was beginning to think she liked his sadistic side more than his 'mama-bird' one. She got nagged enough at home.
"Fine," she picked up her stuff with a crisp smile, "I'll go get one." Maybe she would find a new compartment too.
Immediately his hand pushed her down. "I'll get it."
"I said—," Sakura tried to stand only to have him lean in close.
"I got it," his eyes glinted and there was no disputing what was to be done. There was no wonder the jury bought almost everything he said. "Besides," he poked her forehead, "People would think I did that to you if they found out I was the only other person in this compartment."
He was going back into his sadistic form. Hopefully, he would stay there.
Within one stride he was out the door.
It would have taken her at least two and a half; she hated being short…
She shivered and set her bag back on the ground. Several hours with Itachi wasn't sounding too pleasant and on top of that she was going to have to persuade him to not mention a word of it to his brother. The last time she tried to persuade him into giving up dango she'd ended up locked outside on the porch of the Uchihas' house. Maybe if she promised to buy him something sweet at the mountain village—if he was planning to stop there—he would agree to not say anything.
He'd probably wring her of all the money she had. She smacked herself in the forehead; she should've just stayed at home.
"Are you inflicting injuries on yourself?"
Sakura jumped up then fell back down as her foot got tangled in her bag. Before her head hit the wall, Itachi grabbed her hand and pulled her sideways toward the door.
He pushed her gently into the seat. "There's no reason for you to be harming your body. Sakura, if you need help, you need to let someone know. Self-harm is not something to take lightly; if you become addicted then you need to see a specialist. One of my close friends is a psychologist and I can arrange a meeting for you. But if you are doing such things to seek attention, I would suggest a Karaoke bar—"
Sakura blinked and stared up into the onyx, dead serious eyes. It was would have been funny if he didn't actually look worried.
"Itachi," she reached out and touched his shoulder, "I am fine."
His eyes narrowed, "No, you are not. You have a swelling, black eye and when I walked into the room you were banging yourself on the head. Not only that you are wet," he wiped his hand, which had grabbed her, on his jeans. "Don't you have an umbrella or is this another way you are trying to inflict pain upon your body? Do you believe you've done something wrong and deserve to be punished?"
No, but the world seemed to think she did… Crap, she just hesitated in answering him.
"Sakura," he squatted before her, "Whatever you did is in the past, there's no need for you to keep putting it at the front of your mind. But if you feel the need to apologize to someone, just apologize."
"That's not it—"
"Sakura you're in denial—"
"Itachi, listen to me! I'm not in denial and I'm not trying to inflict injuries upon myself. I was slamming my head because I was frustrated, I have a black eye because some stupid, tall, idiot backed into me; and I'm wet because some jerk intentionally drove fast over a puddle to soak me."
"Hmm…"
He didn't believe her. She was going to be stuck with mama-bird mode for the whole trip. She was just one lucky girl, huh? She knew thousands of high school, college, and middle-aged women would love to be the sole attention of the handsome, pale, tall man before her; too bad she didn't find him appealing…
Ok, maybe just a little bit. But it was only because he resembled Sasuke. There she was again… back to him. What a vicious circle.
"So…" He trailed off, and then refocused his attention on her. "Where do you plan on going?" The coal eyes pierced her skull; as if he thought she was planning on committing suicide once she got there.
"The village on the foothills," Sakura opened her bag and pulled out the brochure she'd taken from a flyer tray at school. "Enjoy tea, spices and excellent food in a little village away from the city. Relax in this small, humble town and take your time to see the waterfalls and sights," she read. She noticed the way his eyes brows touched at the word waterfall. Did he think she was going to jump?
"Of course, I only plan to stay for a couple hours," she looked out the window, "so food and tea only." She turned back and smiled at him, "I have to catch the midnight train back." A half lie, she was going to see a waterfall; but it was next to a tiny restaurant.
"Alone?"
"Huh?"
"You plan on travelling at night by yourself?"
"Well… Yeah." Sasuke had ditched her; did he think she was now going to pick up some guy in the village?
"Do I need to tell you how many sexual predators there are in this world?"
That's where he was going… Sakura rolled her eyes, "I got mace."
"You'll need a lot more than mace to stop someone who really wants to get you."
She couldn't believe him. "So you want me to take the next train back? I didn't waste one hundred fifty dollars for a sightseeing train trip."
"One hundred fifty dollars?"
Sakura shut her mouth. This wasn't happening. She hadn't decided what bargaining chip she was going to use. She watched the trees fly by. "Yeah, my round trip ticket was bought off some guy outside the train station."
"They hadn't sold out."
"I bought it anyways."
"Sakura—"
Why was he using that tone with her? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Why out of all the people in the world—
"So the person who has the other ticket gave you the black eye," his coal eyes narrowed in thought, "You don't deserve to be abused. I hope you are out of the relationship. If not, you should—"
"Would you stop with my eye!" she cut him off. Was it really that bad?
"Sakura you do not need to defend whoever hit you."
"The guy backed into me!"
"You have two tickets!"
Sakura ripped open her bag and threw both wet tickets in his lap; only one was missing its perforated end. "I have both tickets ok." Would he just shut up?
"Why would you buy two tickets?"
Itachi was supposed to be a quiet, smirking know-it-all not a curious monkey who pounced on unsuspecting pink-haired prey. At least she now knew how he became a know-it-all; he asked a never ending series of questions and assumed answers. It was no wonder Sasuke remained oblivious to the differences between men and women till he was thirteen. Itachi had questioned out his parents.
"I don't want to talk about it," the water blurry world was starting to become whiter as they traveled to higher elevation, although the large flakes were not sticking.
"Sakura—"
She didn't need to be reminded of her failure. But by not answering, he was probably going to rat her out to Sasuke. She could only play her cards now. Maybe she had a good hand. She turned and faced him.
"I bought the tickets for another person and myself for Valentine's day. It was a last minute thing so I couldn't refund them when the other person said no. It would have been a waste of money if I decided not to go… So on my way here I got drenched when some jerk, in a huge truck, decided they wanted some poor girl to suffer. Then as I got near the train station I had to make my way through slobbering couples and got bumped. When I got to the station and wanted to check the time, I realized I dropped my cellphone. I spent at least twenty minutes trying to find it before I thought I was going to miss my train. I couldn't waste so much money. My ticket… tickets were too wet to read so a guard finally had to check me in. Then while I was trying to find a compartment someone jammed me in the eye." She was almost a blubbering mess. She needed to reign in her emotions. "That's what happened, alright. Just, don't tell anyone ok?"
His hand brushed the top of her head like she was some domesticated animal. "No one?"
She glanced up. He was smirking. With the threat of a masochist gone he was back to his original sadistic self. It was final. The world hated her.
"Please Itachi," If Sasuke could win his brother over with being cute so could she.
"Hmm. What should I get in return for keeping a secret?" He eyes were alight with a mischievous gleam, which she knew would only result in disaster for her.
"Come on Itachi…"
"Well," Itachi leaned in close, "how about you join me for Valentine's day?"
Sakura blushed. That was rather blunt. He was handsome but what the heck was he saying? Surely someone like him could get a model.
"Shisui wants me to be his wing man; which I have no desire or inclination to do. You'd make a perfect excuse."
So the guy was just using her. She bit her own tongue. It figured; he wasn't the type of person who would let an opportunity slip by. In fact, that was probably his plan to begin with; she'd just fallen right into his grasp. At least he'd let her in on his scheme, making sure she didn't have long to mistake his meaning.
"What were your plans with the ambiguous other party?" He never missed anything, did he?
He'd caught on to her no named stranger. She'd wanted to visit a well-reviewed, but cheap restaurant near a waterfall; it was a hike though and Itachi would just scoff that it was a 'petty attempt at a romantic getaway.' She turned her head to look outside. The snow was starting to cover the landscape. A hike while drenched was an idiotic idea anyways. "Drink some tea." He should be happy with her partial truths.
Movement caught her attention and she watched Itachi press the side of his head against the glass while looking at her.
"You do realize there are thousands of germs on this window," Itachi smiled, "And every time you avoid my questions with lies you look out the window and rest your head against the seal where thousands of children have probably smeared their—"
Sakura bolted up and her green eyes narrowed.
Itachi smirked then stretched back into his seat, "So what was your plan?"
"Do I have to say?" What importance could it possibly have for him except getting more dirt on her?
"I need to give Shisui a good excuse."
Sakura sighed; he wasn't going to let up and he knew how to read her. "There's a restaurant up in the mountains near a waterfall I wanted to eat at." There wouldn't be much time to spend there before she would need to hustle back down.
"Then we'll go see that then." Itachi nodded. "Here," he handed back her tickets and the icepack.
A quiet crash and bang rang out through the compartment; which was soon followed by others, getting louder and closer.
Their door flew open to reveal a curly, black head that had been spiked with gel. "Itachi, I found you!" The man gasped between breaths. His eyes caught sight of pink and he turned to greet Sakura.
"I thought my baby cousin had been snatched by a boogieman." He returned his gaze back to his cousin. "It's ok my Ity; I am here to protect you."
Itachi leaned away from the inching closer man, but he already knew that what was going to happen, would happen. The man collapsed on Itachi gripping him in a tight hug, "I was so worried."
Itachi stared down at the spiky head, his eyebrow twitching but his stare unsurprised. "You have three seconds to let me go, Shisui."
Sakura laughed, the two hadn't changed at all.
"Or else?" the man asked.
"Two-one-"
Shisui let go and sat down backwards next to Sakura on the bench. He scooted closer then wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "How are you, darling?" He winked.
She was about to shove a retort down his throat when Itachi grabbed Shisui's arm, dividing Sakura's view of Shisui's face.
"Don't bother my Valentine's day date with your petty tomfoolery," his face was only an inch from Shisui's.
The man smiled as if challenged. "Tomfoolery?" He directed his attention at Sakura. "You really want an old fogy like him? You could have this hunky piece of meat right here."
Sakura snickered but internally Shisui had raised a question that needed to be answered. Which Uchiha was better looking? Did she like the well-built, muscular body of Shisui; which was almost the same as Sasuke's or Itachi's thin long elegant limbs built for agility… The elegance was definitely a nice feature.
Itachi returned the smile, except his reeked of vengeance. "I'll—"
Itachi was thrown against the opposite wall by Shisui as the man noticed something about Sakura. Immediately the reek of hair gel consumed Sakura's nose as Shisui inspected her face. His right hand had a firm grasp on her chin and his left held away the ice pack.
"What the _ is wrong with you, Itachi?" the man snarled glaring at his younger cousin. Shisui tugged the girl into his chest and hugged her.
As Sakura gasped for breath, Itachi's eyes narrowed, "I got her the icepack; she said someone backed an elbow into her eye. And you're suffocating her."
Shisui let go and grabbed her face once more. "Is that the truth? Did Itachi hit you? Did you get into a fight?"
"Yes, Itachi—" Sakura started.
"Yes Itachi hit you!" The black eyes flickered with dark red and his eyes looked at Itachi.
"No!" Sakura quickly tried to correct the older cousin's assumption. "Yes, Itachi is telling the truth."
Shisui seemed to analyze his cousin's body language before he sat back down. His eyes went back to Sakura, "Are you ok?"
Sakura gave a tired, irritated, 'don't-bother-me-again-Naruto' laugh. "I'm fine."
"You know your wet, right?" the man began brushing at the arm that had been on the back of the seat.
Sakura wanted to face palm but knew it would only start a string of questions just like Itachi. What was with Uchihas? She decided to sigh, "Yes, I know."
The lips of the older man moved slightly before he stretched back into the seat and into her. He rested his cheek upon her shoulder. "So, where are you two going?"
Itachi's hand appeared to convulse until he tightened it into a fist. "A restaurant near a waterfall."
"Awww. How cute, a romantic getaway Ity?" Shisui said tightening his arm around Sakura.
"A getaway from you," Itachi said with a fake grin. "And as you know three's a –"
The word 'crowd' never left Itachi's mouth or it went unheard over Shisui's loud voice proclaiming, "Three's a wonderful idea!"
Shisui flew to Itachi's seat and looped an arm around his younger cousin's shoulders. "Well Sakura? Two's better than one. Just think, a lucky girl like you gets two dates for Valentine's day."
Sakura could only laugh at the weird face Itachi was making.
"That's a yes my dear, sweet, baby Ity," Shisui smiled pinching Itachi's cheeks before trying to jump back onto Sakura's seat.
Itachi beat him to it, it being the door. Itachi's fist slammed Shisui against the chest and into the compartment's door. As the older man tried to regain his composer Itachi slipped in beside Sakura.
Shisui's black eyes narrowed into a glare and he stuck out his tongue, before taking the seat across from them. Then he smiled raising his phone, "You two look cute!"
Sakura tried to move her hand but it was too late. Shisui winked, "Don't worry, it will go to my personal collection."
"Sure…" Itachi's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I assume the upcoming village is where we are getting off at?" Shisui asked, changing the subject while avoiding Itachi's stare by looking at a dry flyer he appeared to pull out of thin air.
"Yep," Sakura replied with a smile. "A restaurant there is supposed to be really good."
"I'm sure anything tastes good with a pretty girl like you sitting across from me," Shisui said with a smile.
It was amazing how times changed. Of course, Sakura knew not to buy the playboy's compliments. She just laughed them off.
"I'm sure nothing is going to taste good with someone like you in our presence, Shisui," Itachi said, his eyes narrowing in a warning.
"That hurts Ity," Shisui whimpered, holding his hand over his chest.
"Why do you think I said it," Itachi deadpanned with a frown.
Sakura could only laugh at the two. At least she wouldn't be alone, perhaps it was good Sasuke decided not to come. He probably would have looked out the window the entire time, sighing and 'hnning.'
The train came to a slow and the three companions made their way outside into the village's frosty air. Immediately Sakura realized that getting soaked before going into higher altitude was not a good idea, the several hour train ride hadn't really dried her. With a sigh, Sakura crossed her arms and hugged herself tight trying to keep warm. It was good they were going to be hiking to the restaurant; the activity would warm her up.
A heavy object rested upon her shoulders and Sakura looked up. Itachi pulled his jacket around her.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yes," she huddled into it, "Thanks."
"Dang it Itachi; you're making me look like a jerk. Sakura do you want my coat too?" Shisui whined.
"No, I'm fine…" She looked at Itachi, he was wearing a loose black t-shirt; and the skin on his arms looked bumpy. "Look, Itachi; you're cold, I don't need the jacket its fine." She started to take it off, hoping he would stop and suggest that it she could keep it; it was cold out.
Instead he swept in next to her, crouching under one of her arms. "Do you mind sharing?" he asked, looping the hand next to her around her waist.
His presence was warm, very warm; of course she wouldn't mind sharing. "Umm," her face heated up, "No, sharing's good."
Soon another warm presence was to her left, opening her arms to the cold. Shisui huddled, like duckling under a mama bird's wing. "I felt left out," Shisui said in a whimpering tone. He then pulled out his phone and crushed his head next to Sakura's, "Smile!"
Shisui grin was from ear to ear, Sakura looked confused and Itachi emotionless as the flash captured their faces. After Itachi tried to get a glare off but couldn't over Sakura's body, so instead he settled for pinching Shisui with the hand that was around Sakura's waist.
"Sakuurrraaa! Ity pinched me!" the older man almost sounded like he was going to break into tears.
The people around them gave the three weird looks and moved to the other side of the road.
"He pinched me again Saki!" By the way Shisui was acting, people would have thought he was a squealing girl, not even close to the police officer that he truly was.
"Alright I'm done you two," Sakura slipped out from the jacket. "I can't even close the jacket."
Itachi slugged Shisui in the stomach as Sakura's back was facing them.
"Sakuuuurrrrrrraaaaa!" Shisui's voice screeched through several octaves, "He hit me!"
"I don't care," Sakura didn't even turn around.
Itachi gave a smirk and hit Shisui again; only this time Shisui slugged him back.
By now people were standing and staring at them.
Sakura turned and saw that their playful banter was getting rough. "Both of you on either side of me, right now; you're grown men for crying out loud; control yourselves," Sakura scolded, her eyes narrowed; she was going to have treat them like Naruto and Sasuke. "I won't take you anywhere with me again."
Immediately both were at her side once more. One acting coy and sweet, the other close and passive; it wasjust like Naruto and Sasuke.
They'd already attracted attention though, now people on the street were whispering and muttering; they probably thought that she had been hit by one of them.
Sakura eyes looked at one of the clothing store windows as Shisui tried once more to douse her in compliments. She pushed him out of the way and headed into the store. She'd buy herself a coat. Problem solved.
"Stay," she commanded both of the boys before walking in.
She snatched up the first sweatshirt in the store and checked the price. Determining it was decent, she bought it.
She stomped back out the door. Snapping the tags off the coat, she put it on. Her eyes scanned the streets then they rested upon the two men she'd come with.
Shisui was literally leaning sideways and tilting his head up so he was directly in Itachi's face. What he was saying was unheard from her distance it was obvious to Sakura that Itachi was offended. Itachi's thin mouth was clamped shut and his dark eyebrows were almost touching. Shisui on the other hand was smiling in a way that almost looked perverted.
As she walked closer she heard the end of the conversation. "He deserves to be tortured," Shisui said but then his eyes caught a glimpse of Sakura and he turned to her waving his hand.
"We waited like good kids," Shisui chimed like an innocent child.
Itachi only gave a snort and muttered, "Idiot," under his breath.
It was going to be a long day that was for sure.
The hike turned out to be a climb as they made their way across the snow dusted landscape and there was no wonder as to why the train was empty. Couples would have preferred a warmer place, a movie, even a video conference within their cozy homes. But Sakura was determined, even though by the end they all had frozen limbs and ragged breaths.
Sakura heard the roar of water first and quickened her pace, and then before her was a sight she could only describe as being beautiful. A massive waterfall appeared to have smoke billowing up at the bottom. The waterfall fed into what first appeared to be a lake but upon further inspection was just a large pool with a gangly river going off to one side. Both waters held broken trees, which had been lapped by water for so long that they were smooth. Majority of the land surrounding the immediate area of the waterfall was made of large boulders. The wet boulders gleamed off of the noon sunlight. To the left of the waterfall, on a hill that cut off steeply on one side, was what appeared to be a cottage, looking very humble in comparison to the roaring beast beside it.
Sakura let out a laugh of joy and then rushed forward indecisive. There were trails off to the group's left and right dusted with almost-spring snow. There were no tracks of man, just imprints of small critters perhaps a dog, cat and finches.
The trails went left and right splitting multiple times going into many directions, some around the pool to the base of the waterfall, others left to the cottage, and still some to the right, following the gangly river and over into a forest of barren trees.
"Wow," Shisui said in agreement to his cousin's silence.
"Think we could explore some trails before we eat?" Sakura asked.
It was a glorious landscape, not marred or well-travelled by civilization. It was away from the chaos world of the city, the court room, the police station, and university.
They became children once again, seeking adventure only imagination and a new world could bring. They made their way around the pool and shed their coats before they scampered up rocks to the waterfall. Their skin began to glisten the closer they got, until the water began dropping off of them and their clothes. They were drenched by the time they got as close as they could to the falls. But they could only stand at the edge of the rock formation, the falls several feet behind them and just a trickled compared what it appeared as they climbed. They stood at the top laughing with exhilaration and shaking their heads at each other hoping to get each other wetter.
"Hold still!" demanded Shisui as Sakura and Itachi stood facing him.
Shisui held out his phone and snapped a photo of the drenched pink-haired and long dark-haired man. The man's arm was looped over her shoulders. From the smirk and the giggling, one would have thought they were a happy couple.
"Alright, let me get you two!" Sakura yelled while laughing so everyone would hear her over the roar of the falls. She made her way down carefully, walking from rock to rock.
Shisui handed over the phone to Sakura and both males posed back to back, eyes closed, faces up where the water spread across them. They looked like models from some odd fairy magazine, but it was obvious from the smirks spreading across both of their faces they'd posed in such a way many times before.
"Sakura's and my turn!" Shisui called out, giving Itachi a light shove on the back to go take the phone.
As soon as Sakura got up, Shisui took the petite woman by the waist and rested his chin on her shoulder like a satisfied cat.
With only one flash of light, Itachi put down the phone, and then Sakura wacked Shisui on the head; which almost sent both of them into the pooling water several feet below them.
"Let's go, we're too wet already," Shisui whined, dodging the glare from his cousin.
While they slowly made their way back, Sakura noticed a grunt from Shisui which was caused by a hit from Itachi, if Sakura understood the younger's eyebrow twitching.
But when they were once again on the trail, with their coats to warm them, they were off again. They tramped through the trees, took more pictures, and even fought with driftwood swords from the river. They would have continued if not for their stomachs' protest and freezing feet.
So they made their way to what they thought was a small cottage, but when they got closer it was obviously not small. It was an inn, which had a second story that was built out of the side of the hill.
They opened the door and walked inside. The top floor was only a perimeter and leaning over the banisters they could see the restaurant below.
"Welcome," a woman greeted them walking up the staircase. "We weren't expecting another bus for fifteen minutes."
"A bus?" Shisui questioned.
The woman's round face froze for a second before she burst out laughing. "You guys walked all the way here?" she held her side as she looked them over. "Well then, come, come let's get you warmed up. Follow me please; I'll get you a table. "
"There was a bus?" Shisui looked down at Sakura, who was busy inspecting the walls and decoration.
She turned a blush on her cheeks, "well the hike was nice."
Shisui sighed, "There was a bus…"
"Here you go," the woman said, seating them in a corner booth in the almost crowded room. The woman then leaned in close to Sakura. "Are you ok, sweetie?"
"Huh?"
"Your eye…" the woman trailed off looking at Sakura in concern.
Sakura reached up to touch it then winced. "I ran into someone's elbow."
The woman then laughed, "You had me worried for a second. Have a seat, please, I'll be back in a moment with silverware and water." The waitress sat down the menus and walked off, leaving the three alone. Sakura slipped into on the of the booth sides first then the boys sat opposite.
Sakura peeked at the menu then smiled, grateful the prices were still cheap. They ordered and ate their way through delicious soups and pastas before they took their leave, each paying for their own dish; although Itachi tried to pay for Sakura's and got slammed in the stomach by the unhappy woman.
They looked out at the night sky and sat outside of the inn under the covered porch waiting for the bus. Their eyes examined the snowfall, watching the flakes gracefully make their way to the ground.
"Thanks for coming with me," Sakura told them.
"It was our pleasure Sakura; I couldn't imagine a better way to spend Valentine's day." Shisui sat between Sakura and Itachi raising up his arms up in a yawn, dropping them down and then grabbing them by the shoulders squeezing the two into him, "Just think, a lucky man like me had two beautiful women to spend it with. "
Shisui was promptly slammed off the bench and Itachi scooted over closer to Sakura.
"Heyyyy!" Shisui whined, "I wasn't talking about you, Ity; I was talking about the waitress…. Sheesh. You're not what I would call beautiful; you're more on the 'pretty' scale."
Shisui was promptly kicked in the gut as Sakura laughed.
The crunch of gravel alerted the three to the bus arriving. And their heads turned. The grey paint appeared to be peeling and the engine made a backfire but it made it up the first hill and into sight. The bus came to a stop though, not going up to the inn.
"That's our ride," Shisui said with a laugh as he watched other guests start walking down the path.
Itachi stretched then stood, offering a hand to Sakura. She took it and let him pull her up.
"We should hang out more often; I had a lot of fun… Thanks guys," she said as they started walking. She turned her head away from them, covering her rising blush.
"We should!" Shisui looped both arms around Sakura's neck tugging her into his chest as he continued to walk.
"On second thought…"
Immediately Shisui let go. "But-t-t, bu-t-t-t I promise I'll be good," he sniffed.
Itachi just gave a sigh as he patted Sakura on the head. "If you let us know when you work and when you attend classes, we can try to move our schedules so we can be free."
"You guys don't have to do that," she said as they walked up the bus stairs.
Itachi slid into the first open seat, Sakura following behind, and Shisui squeezing them in.
"Nonsense Sakura, I found our time very enjoyable," Itachi gave her a rare smile as he leaned in and kissed her on the top of her head, which caused her to turn beet red. "Whatever man stood you up doesn't deserve you."
Sakura blinked, realizing she had forgotten all about Sasuke. At first she felt the need to be sick to her stomach, but nothing came. There was no guilt; there was no worry, for the first time she wasn't preoccupied with what Sasuke thought. She no longer cared. For a second, she felt stiff as though some sort of purpose escaped her and then she burst out laughing.
"Hmm?" Shisui asked leaning in too close for anybody's comfort. "Some guy stood you up?"
Sakura gasped and then hit Itachi, "You weren't supposed to say anything that was the deal!"
Itachi blinked before smirking, "I believe you were supposed to be my date; not both Shisui's and mine."
"You forced a poor girl on a date with you, that's low Itachi," Shisui teased.
"You've done it before, at least I didn't hand cuff her."
"She asked to be cuffed."
"Is that why she demanded that she hadn't been given Miranda Rights and you should be relieved of your office."
"Stop making me look like a bad guy," Shisui whined.
Sakura laughed, "I don't want to know."
The bus lurched to a stop throwing the three forward where their faces hit the seat in front of them.
"Ouch," Shisui grumbled rubbing his forehead.
Itachi ignored his wound to look out the window. "We're here."
The village lights blared in the window. Neon signs of blue, green and pink came from shop and bar windows, hoping to allure wanderers into their doors. Small booths and stalls also had neon lights dangling from their carts and bodies.
As they left the bus and walked further into to town and away from the outskirts the less range of color appeared until white lights of candles lit the main pavilion and roads.
The small, 'humble' village had changed to a bustling, lit venue.
"How peculiar…"Itachi commented.
Shisui sighed at the word choice but decided to ignore his cousin for the moment. "How much time until we catch the next train."
Itachi glanced at his phone, "We only have thirty minutes."
"Dang…" Shisui snapped grabbing Sakura's arm. "I don't want to be parted from you."
"We'd have the ride back—" Itachi began.
"Let go," Sakura snarled.
"I'm being a gentleman."
"I don't care."
"Bu-t-t-t-t—"
"Shut it, Shisui," Itachi said with a smirk as he extended his arm to Sakura, which she took, "You obviously don't know how to treat a lady."
"You should stop being such a show-off Itachi," Shisui gave a warning growl, "You might actually reveal your true colors; I'd hate for Sakura to think of you as a soft plush toy."
"I like soft plush toys…" Sakura trailed off at the thought.
Itachi could only smile, "See, I think it all would work out fine."
Shisui froze for a moment and watched the two walk ahead of him, arm in arm. His eyes gave a squint and his lips a tilt up. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. They didn't turn around. He gave a sigh before running to catch up with them. "I'll be your plush toy, Sakura!" He whined as he grabbed Sakura's free arm.
Her green eyes looked him over in a dead stare, "That didn't sound right."
All three of them started laughing, continuing on their journey to the train station and admiring the lights, sounds, and smells of the world around them.
On the train they joked and laughed about their adventure and life itself, several puns even aimed at Sasuke. After an hour though, Sakura had fallen asleep, her head secured by Itachi's arm.
"You know…" Shisui started before he started to smirk, "You wouldn't have come if not for me."
Itachi's coal eyes looked at Shisui, before he gave a sigh, "I suppose you want a thank you?"
Shisui slipped off his shoes and curled his legs up to his chin, "Nah…"
Silence stretched between them like a comforting blanket.
"I want the girl," Shisui finally spoke.
Coal eyes seemed to sear a hole through Shisui's chest, "That's not going to happen." Itachi leaned his head against Sakura's and gave a restful sigh.
"Hnn…"
"Hn."
Shisui watched the scenery change, the white become green, and the country become towns. He kept watch as his cousin and friend slept. Soon they would be back in the city, back to the routine of every day, where he would have to dawn his black clothes and silver crested badge, be mature and make calls that he'd rather not make. But, that was life.
His eyes turned to the two before him, sleeping peacefully, and then he looked up at the ceiling watching the dim lights and outside glares disrupt patterns.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His inbox was full of twenty-seven messages and eight voice mails.
He scanned through the messages most consisted of warnings of 'leave Sakura alone', 'don't you dare touch her', 'get your filthy hands off.' He smiled at the last message and only message not sent by Sasuke but from Sasuke's mother, 'take good care of the girl, make sure she gets home safe and please stop sending my son photos.'
'Yes Ma'am' he typed on the glowing screen before sending the message off.
He reached out his hand and brushed back a thin strand of pink hair from the woman's face. He leaned back and held his phone, taking one last picture of just the girl. 'Send' or 'Save' popped up on the screen. Shisui smiled and tapped 'Save.'