Authors Note:

I'm just going to leave this here after a month nearly of not updating. Sorry guys, college was kicking my butt a little. I also just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate all of your reviews! I always reread them and they make my day.

Warning: Later on in the chapter, there is a non-consensual kiss and an attempt at sexual assault (but it is stopped before it could be fully acted out).

They did nothing further than kissing.

Still, Sakura found herself thinking about it even days later but could not bring herself to even send Itachi a text.

Itachi.

Groaning, she turns on her side. She couldn't believe that they had kissed. She had kissed Sasuke's brother.

At the mention of Sasuke, her heart twinges as her mind wanders to Karin. She couldn't fault Karin for anything. The girl hadn't known and if Sakura were in her shoes, she would have done the same. She would have given into the charismatic smile and charming eyes, happily falling back into his arms. It is what she would have done still if he had ditched Karin after the big reveal.

Sometimes she wondered if she was truly over him after all. With thoughts like these running through her head, she found it hard to think about anything else. Yet, the feeling of Itachi above her and his lips on hers broke through as the sun started to rise.

She found him attractive, yes, but she didn't know if she could ever get past the fact that he was Sasuke's brother and very obviously so. They looked a lot alike and that was running rampant in her mind as they had kissed that night, even when her fingers were running through longer locks than even hers, and even when his touch was much more gentle than Sasuke's had ever been.

Guilt had settled into her stomach but not for the reason she thought it would. Her friends were right, she didn't owe it to Sasuke not to go after Itachi. Instead, she owed it to Itachi not to string him along in the event that she had misunderstood her feelings towards him. She would hate for it to turn out she had only misplaced them or that they didn't exist at all outside of physical attraction.

It was then that she realized she couldn't pursue whatever it was that she and Itachi were starting. It wouldn't be right or fair to him. Besides, she didn't have time in her life for romance or what have you. Sakura needed to keep her head in the game for school.

School is the only constant in her life.

The rain was hitting the pavement of the road with soft pitters and patters. Itachi's heart was beating in tandem with it. The sound of it from where he sat on his front porch, guitar in hand, and his hair loosely hanging off of his shoulder put him in a completely relaxed mood.

While some people found this kind of weather discouraging and saddening, he relished in it. The rain brought mellowness and he felt it complimented him well. If he were a type of weather, he was sure that it would be a cloudy day during autumn where the sky lets it's tears gently caress the earth.

Sitting there, strumming on his guitar, and playing the melody of the rain brought him serenity - clarity, even. His mind had been aflutter recently and all because of who he could only describe as a warm, sunny, spring day with a gentle breeze. That time of year that flowers were always the prettiest and creation seems to be in the air. The most jovial and youthful section of the year.

His tunes that were once sad and slow were now sensual and calm. There was no erraticness outside of the manic way that he poured his emotions into his music. His affection for her. His affection for Sakura. His conflict between the two and how, it seemed, he would never reach his answer: and yet, he finally had.

"I cannot believe you."

"Huh? What are you talking about mo-" Sasuke begins to ask but is caught off from the glare that Mikoto gives him. He gulps, the confusion morphing into fear but soon replaced by apathy.

"Explain, and you better do it fast," she says and crosses her arms. Behind her, Sasuke thought he saw a flash of red but he thought better of it. If it were anyone it was probably Kushina anyhow. The two older women were best of friends.

"Explain what?" He feigns innocence, deciding he would play coy to see if he could slither his way out of this confrontation. Sasuke had an inkling about what it was his mother was pissed about and he was sure that it would eventually come out, but he would fight this knowledge until he dies.

"This."

He pales at the ultrasound photo that his mother was holding, Karin's name printed on the top.

"But that isn't the explanation I'm curious for," she pauses and pockets the photograph. "I'm confused as to why the sweet little boy I raised is accusing the woman he claimed to love of adultery when, in fact, said sweet little boy committed those very same acts AND decided to denounce any possibility that the baby is his." He could see the anger on her face despite the fact that, much like everyone else in his family, she was masking it in a calm exterior. He knew that she was seething and he knew that he needed to fix this: fast.

"Ma, I caught her-"

"When?" She laughs, "When you were coming home from one of your whore's houses? When she would come home to a wrecked house and clean it up after she was out working all day? Sasuke, she loved you. What right do you have to accuse her of something like that when this isn't your first offense of said acts?"

Sasuke looks away, avoiding eye contact. He wish he could say that he felt shame, but he didn't. He got what he wanted and who he wanted. He didn't like choosing and to be honest, he was tired of how clingy the red-head was anyway. He was going to dump her eventually, Karin just presented an opportunity and he took it.

"What do you care anyway?" He smarts off.

"Get out."

Sasuke blinks, eyebrows raised and pure surprise on his face.

"Do not make me repeat myself again," Mikoto readies her voice and takes a deep breath. "You are no longer welcome here."

"Tch, whatever. I don't know why I bother, you always pick the fucking whores over your own son. I bet you wouldn't treat Itachi like this," he sneers as he walks by Mikoto. He brushes her shoulder purposely and he ignores the sniffle and shakiness of her shoulders. If she wanted him to leave, he would.

With the slamming of the door, Mikoto collapses to the ground. She cries and cries.

She cries for the son that she had and the son that he once was. She cries for Karin and her unborn child. She cries for Sakura and all the other girls who were so hurt by her own child. Mikoto's heart broke and she stayed crouched on the ground for awhile before she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Mrs. Uchiha? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, Karin," Mikoto sniffles as she stands up slowly with the help of the red-head. She wipes her tears and gives the other woman a smile. "Don't you worry bout a thing, okay? We have plenty of room here for you and the baby until you can get back on your feet. That little baby will want for nothing by the time Nana is done with him!" Mikoto laughs out and Karin doesn't buy it, but doesn't comment.

"Thank you," she says instead and Mikoto gives her a quick hug.

"Come, let us get you settled."

Having Karin in the house was much different than having Sasuke there. Itachi didn't know whether or not to feel at peace with the karma he is sure his brother is getting or worried for the amount of trouble he could get into.

When his parents had mentioned confronting Sasuke, he didn't think it would end up with Sasuke getting kicked out. Then again, maybe learning the hard way would be what finally gets through his thick head - after getting past all that hair, of course.

Karin took over their main guest bedroom and Sasuke's room remained untouched. No one dared to venture in there, but every now and then he would see his mother pause outside of it and hesitate about opening it before walking down the stairs briskly. He knew that it was his mother who had delivered the message and he had heard from Karin how distressed she had found Mikoto. Itachi was worried about her, to say the least.

It isn't easy for a mother to cut ties with their child much less feeling like they failed them all at the same time. He wasn't sure that he could have been strong enough to do that himself. Mikoto was a strong woman, to hear that she broke down and sobbed, shook Itachi to the core.

Still, with time, he was sure everything would fall into place.

Sasuke would come to his senses within time.

Hopefully before it is too late.

"So, you don't like him?" Ino questioned as she paused filing her nails.

"Yes, no, I don't know," Sakura sighs out and lets out a soft apology when Hinata corrects her head position so that the dark haired girl could continue to put Sakura's hair in tiny braids. Sakura was conflicted about it all. She knew she felt something, but she wasn't sure if she could pursue it. Everytime that she thought about it, she was left with even more questions.

"I think the real question isn't that Ino," Hinata murmurs softly. "I think it has more to do with if Sakura is ready for another or if this attraction is in her best interest."

Sakura hummed, she thought Hinata had a point but she wasn't quite sure that was quite it.

"We kissed and it felt surreal, but I just don't know if I could risk messing up the friendship we have for some throes of possible romance," Sakura finally let out and ignored the squeal that came from their blonde friend. "I just don't want to hurt him and I don't want to be hurt either. He said I reminded him of his dead girlfriend.. I just don't know if it would be wise or right, especially to her memory."

"Sakura, dear, I wouldn't think too much into it. I think it might just boil down to him having a type, some guys just know what they like. Don't read too much into it," Ino says waving her off. "I think you should go for it. He's hot and you were such a big fan of his as a young teen," she teases and Sakura rolls her eyes. This conversation wasn't really helping her any with her inner turmoil. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go microwave the pizza rolls."

"Don't microwave them, you weirdo!" Sakura shouts as the blonde skips out of the room and Hinata only laughs quietly. Her fingers are gentle through her hair and Sakura finds herself relaxing into the petite girl's touch. Silence washes over them and neither of them broke it until Hinata finishes her hair.

"You should give him a chance," Hinata finally says and it catches Sakura by surprise. "I believe Itachi to be a good man and one that could easily match with you," she says as reasoning. "If you find yourself unsure about it all, talk it over with him. It is clear that you two have something and it cannot be just ignored. Communication is important for more than romantic relationships."

Sakura didn't expect this to come from Hinata, but for some reason it eased her mind more than Ino's attempt.

"Thank you, Hinata. At the very least, I will talk it out with him."

From: Unknown

Subject: unknown

To: Sakura

Meet me at the beach or else.

9 p.m.

(Sent 8 p.m.)

There weren't enough words in the dictionary that could express the amount of panic that this text message had given Sakura. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't a clue who this could possibly be or how they had gotten a hold of her number.

Setting her phone down with shaky fingers, she lets out a sigh and runs her fingers through her strands of hair, tugging at the ends and bringing her knees up to her chest. Deep breaths, Sakura. Deep breaths.

Calming down, she decided to look at the clock on her phone.

8:44.

She had time. Not much, but it was enough. Who was nearby enough to give backup in case it went wrong? Her phone dinged and a sharp pain went up her chest.

From: Unknown

Subject: unknown

To: Sakura

Go to the cliff side.

Sakura gulped.

She wasn't getting a good feeling from this.

Despite her better judgement, Sakura parked her bug and slowly got out of her car. She held her keys tightly and kept notice of the knife she had on standby as well as her pepper spray. She was making a dumb decision by meeting the stranger, but she wanted to be sensible about her dumb decision.

Crunch.

The noise startled her but she realized it was just leaves that were on the old dirt road. Continuing her trek, she readied herself mentally as the cliff came into view and the sounds of the ocean were plentiful. Despite this area having once pleasant memories, dread filled her as she spotted a hooded figure dangling their legs over the edge.

"Hello?" She calls out, stopping several feet away from the figure. When they said nothing and made no apparent gesture that they had heard her, she came a little closer. Once she was near enough, the figure spoke.

"Sit down."

Shock coursed through her body and so did panic when it dawned on her who it was.

"Sasuke?"

"Don't ask questions, just fucking sit down!" He snapped, settling a glare on her wide doe eyes. Taking in her face, his own momentarily softened. "It's okay, Sa-ku-ra. I won't hurt you."

Slowly, hesitantly, she sat down. She was sure to stay away from the cliff edge. This whole situation seemed weird to her and the panicky feeling in her chest was keeping her on edge. She was ready to fight or flight.

"Remember that night we first made love? It all started here and then I took you home," breathed out Sasuke and Sakura looked away from him to stare at the water. Of course she remembered. It took her forever to try and figure out why the things between them happened the way they did. She never understood it, she thought he loved her. "You were so beautiful, you looked like an angel with your hair around your head like a halo, and your moans heavenly as you breathed out my name."

Fidgeting, Sakura said nothing. She was waiting for him to get to the point so that she could leave and forget this happened at all.

"I didn't deserve you and I knew that," Sasuke sighed out and leaned backwards. "It's why I went and settled for that bitch Karin." Sakura's eyes narrowed at the mention of Karin. She did not appreciate the way he spoke of her. "When in reality, I should have just stayed true to the one that matters," he pauses and looks at her. His face softens and he allows a smile as he says the next word, "You."

It took three seconds for it to click what he said and by that time Sasuke had thought the silence meant that Sakura would just go along with whatever he wanted. He leaned in and captured her lips, his hand coming to rest on the back of her head and holding her in place. Sakura stayed still for approximately three seconds before she yanked away from him. She shoved him away, roughly, but mindful of the cliff and the disgruntled water below them. She knew a storm was coming, the water would be unforgiving, and so would she.

"What do you think you are doing," she seethes. Her eyes are on fire and not fire that matches the lust and annoyance in Sasuke's. "You are such a manipulative asshole!" She stands up and glares down at him. She couldn't believe she stayed when she figured out it was him and she couldn't believe that she had once even loved him. Sakura didn't know what the hell she was thinking because clearly she hadn't been.

"Come on, Sakura, don't you love me?" Sneers Sasuke once he realized he wasn't going to easily get his way. He grips onto her leg and she tries to kick at him with her other leg but he knocks her off of her feet and onto her back. She struggles and bucks as he climbs on top of her and he smiles down at her. "What happened to 'anything for you'? Didn't you want me to be happy?" Sakura looked up at him with wide eyes and she struggled even more harshly. Her pepper spray and knife were held in place in her pocket by his leg and the panic in her chest was building as he started trailing his hands up and down her sides. A tear was forming out of the corner of her eye and he kissed it, bringing disgust bubbling up her throat.

"Sasuke, what the hell!"

Sakura stopped her struggling just as Sasuke was kicked off of her. She scrambled to get up, backing away from the, now, two men. Sasuke was groaning on the ground and Sakura was breathing erratically. Her chest was falling up and down fast, it felt like her heart was about to beat right out of her rib cage. Her wide eyes caught Itachi's own and she only felt relief momentarily before the world around her shifted and she was no longer looking at Itachi who lurched forward with a shout.

The air around her was cool and stifling as she glided through the air. Her hair caressed her face and she could only stare upwards at what was the cliff edge before she was completely encompassed by the cold, restless, sea and her vision that was once full of stars was a dull blue.

The waves withered out and the waters were calm once more.