Chapter Seven
Prelude to a Kiss
A/N: A special thanks goes to the Goddess Psyche for giving me the alternate name Saku for this story. (And before you say it I did have to.)
"What do you mean different?"
She asked, caution interwoven in her words. Itachi stared at his woman. She looked guilty and she had been on the offense all day. Something was going on. If hadn't already checked her out with his Sharingan, he would say that she was a completely different person. Not only that, but the way she had just looked at him…
It was like the day of Iruka's wedding.
She saw him as a man and very much appreciated what she saw. Just thinking about that look brought a smirk to his lips. He was certain that Haruno hadn't seen him in a very long time. He knew without a doubt that she loved him. It was just that—
Itachi cut the thought off before he found himself angry and jealous.
He would not show such petty emotions.
"I mean, you are not acting in your normal fashion. I'm inquiring as to why."
"How would you have me act, Itachi?"
Itachi, again, noticed she was obstinate. Her chin rose and her cheeks were flushed with anger.
She was a lovely woman, really—but when she was angry, there was something about her that made him just glad she was his.
Although, the truth of the matter was, somewhere along the way, he had lost Sakura. He saw it, but he had ignored it. The further her relationship with the Copy Ninja drifted apart, the more strained their relationship had become.
She became perfect.
He, of course, believed that perfection was something to strive for—but he didn't fall in love with a perfect woman.
About a month after they moved in together, she changed. He was certain that something sparked the change—but when he questioned her about it, she insisted nothing was wrong.
Dinner was always prepared when he came home. It never mattered how late he came in—when he sat at the table, it was like the food had just cooled to the right temperature.
Now, most men would kill for a woman like that—the perfect housewife to come home to, and to their needs.
But it just didn't sit right with him.
The house stayed tidy.
Sakura was a slob.
Before their engagement, he spent a lot of time in Sakura's apartment.
Cleaning.
The madness with which she kept her dwelling drove him insane. One of their first arguments was about him cleaning her apartment. She swore she couldn't find anything after that. Which was utterly ridiculous since everything was in its proper place.
Now, this Sakura left her shoes at the foot of the bed as if they belonged there. She had even tracked dirt into the house when she first came in and didn't bother to clean it up.
Not to mention her absurd fear of him.
Hint after hint.
Clue after clue kept bombarding him.
He had hardly been able think straight ever since he came across her in the forest. The fear in her eyes puzzled him. She should know by now that he would never hurt her—but then, her emotions switched so quickly from fear to anger.
At dinner, his mind had been going over and over the subtle differences in her personality. That, of course, had landed him into his current situation. He hadn't been paying attention at dinner and he missed…everything. His parents knew him well enough to know when something was on his mind. They generally said nothing to him, allowing him to work whatever it was out in his head, knowing that he would hear nothing that was said.
They had taken advantage of him. Not only that—their dislike of Sakura was growing to astronomical proportions. He was going to have to speak to them and soon. It was only a matter of time before they did something foolish.
Then, afterwards, he was so amazed at all the anger, the passion that she was showing, that he couldn't help but prod her a little more. She had become this polite, lifeless little doll, trying to ensure that everything was just right. He didn't know why but he got the impression that it was because she was scared of something.
He suddenly realized that she had asked him a question and was waiting, and not patiently, for an answer.
He hated when he lost focus like that. She was the only person that was able to manipulate his emotions and he hated it sometimes.
And other times…
"You are fine the way you are, Haruno," he said gruffly. Suddenly, a stray thought struck him—or maybe it wasn't quite that stray a thought. He had been wondering about it for some time.
He suspected that it could be the reason behind her first change of behavior.
Itachi walked over and sat down on the bed. His back faced her because he had a question to ask her, and he honestly didn't want to see the truth in her eyes.
"Why were you with Hatake?"
"Kakashi-sensei?" Itachi heard the surprise in her voice and frowned. He hadn't heard her call Hatake 'sensei' in quite some time. "Why wouldn't I be with him?"
"The two of you have spoken less than two words to each other in the past three years. I find it a little odd that the two of you seemed so chummy today." Sakura gasped, but he ignored it. "Are you sleeping with him?"
"What?!" Sakura sputtered. "What in the world would give you that impression?" Itachi said nothing—although he did note that she did not answer the question. Still, if she wasn't sleeping with Kakashi, then it was something else.
Something important.
He should probably report the situation to the Hokage.
But this was Sakura...
She could barely keep her eyes off of him and he liked that. No—he loved the fact that he could feel her eyes boring into his back. She was changing right before him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to do anything that could possibly change that.
But it was his duty to go to the Hokage and say something about the aberration in her behavior—and Itachi was not one to shirk his responsibilities.
"If you're not sleeping with Hatake, then what is it? And do not insult my intelligence by saying it's the anniversary thing. You are unable to hold onto your anger for this long. I know you well enough to know when you're hiding something...so why don't you just tell me?"
If he had turned his head to actually face her, he would have seen her eyes flashing brilliantly in undisguised rage.
"Well, then, since you're insistent upon prodding into this issue, then I'll put it so that YOU. CAN. UNDERSTAND. IT. IT'S. NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS."
She slowed the words down and spoke loudly, as if she were talking to a deaf idiot. Itachi held back a chuckle and finally turned his head so that he could look at her.
"Come here, Haruno."
Sakura rolled her eyes and blatantly ignored him.
It was then that Itachi made a decision.
He had been toying with the idea of ending their engagement. It had become painfully obvious that her feelings for Hatake were not strictly platonic. He wasn't sure if her mind had caught up to it yet but he was certain that her heart had.
He had planned on letting her go.
But maybe he was wrong.
Maybe her feelings for the Copy Ninja were platonic.
Maybe he had never put in enough effort to claim her as his.
Maybe her current distance was all his fault.
There were a lot of maybes in his mind—but he'd never find out unless he took some form of action. He was not to type to just give up. No, that was not his way.
Not his way at all.
A slight breeze was the only indication she had that he had moved. Suddenly, Sakura found herself pinned to the bed with an incredibly enticing man above her.
"What, pray tell, do you think you are doing?"
She tried to sound irritated and unimpressed, but failed miserably. She sounded needy and breathless, even to her own ears.
Ebony eyes bore into hers.
"What do you want me to do?"
Everything.
And at that thought, Sakura knew she needed to break free because there was no way she was going to give into that wayward desire. Unfortunately, before she could act, soft and warm lips met hers. They gently coaxed her body into melting into his. He released her hands—and, without thinking, Sakura's fingers wound themselves into his hair and tugged gently, urging him to deepen the kiss.
He obliged willingly enough.
Sakura's tongue darted into his mouth and immediately realized that he tasted like smoke.
The taste was enough to shock Sakura back to her senses. She pushed him off her and tried to rise—but his arm darted out and grabbed her, pulling her back down to the bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a soft murmur, trailing kisses down her throat.
"I'm leaving."
"No," he replied, not stopping his assault on her neck.
"Yes," Sakura retorted, becoming a little panicky at her response to the elder Uchiha.
He felt so good.
"No." Itachi nipped at her ear, loving the delicate shiver that went through her body.
"Yes." Why in the world wasn't she moving away? Sakura thought.
She had to leave. She was having wild, debauched thoughts about ravishing Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi.
Murderer of the Uchiha clan.
No.
No.
NO.
The whole situation was wrong on so many levels.
"I'm not letting you leave, Sakura."
"Why?" she asked in exasperation (and, alright, unwanted breathlessness). She struggled to free herself without actually hurting him, but she couldn't help but think she was trying hard enough.
"Because I can't."
His voice held no inflection in it—and yet, somehow, Sakura still felt that he had revealed a large part of his soul to her. She stopped fighting, only because she was in a bit of shock, and let him wrap his arms around her and hold her close.
Her mind began to drift as she thought about this strange new world she had been thrown into.
There was a Kakashi that was way less-than-civil.
A Sasuke that was—dare she say it—happy.
...and an Itachi who could very well be in love with her.
The situation was way beyond odd.
And bordering on downright creepy.
"You taste like smoke," Sakura said, disgruntled.
She didn't receive a reply, but rather heard a rumble in his chest that indicated laughter.
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Tsunade looked up from her paperwork the next morning, unsurprised to find Uchiha Itachi staring at her. She was actually surprised that it took him this long to make an appearance.
"What is it?" she demanded when he continued to say nothing.
"There is something wrong with Haruno."
Suddenly more alert, Tsunade asked, "What do you mean wrong?"
"She's…different."
The tension in her shoulders relaxed instantly.
"Oh. That. Don't worry about it. She's fine."
"She fears me," Itachi countered, knowing without a doubt that she wasn't fine.
"That's to be understood, given the circumstances."
"What circumstances?" Itachi demanded.
She thinks you're a serial killer waiting to happen, Tsunade thought—but she didn't speak it. Rather, she arched her brow, silently reminding the Uchiha of his place.
Undeterred, Itachi changed tactics.
"She's my fiancé. I'm concerned about her. I need to be sure she's alright. I'm sure you can understand that."
"She's fine," Tsunade said once more. She realized then that Itachi was going to become a dog with a bone with this Sakura issue—so, she decided to throw him a bone, so he'd leave her the hell alone. "She has slight amnesia."
"Amnesia," Itachi repeated, his tone indicating his disbelief.
"Yes," The Hokage said silently, daring him to contradict her. "She doesn't remember you at all—nor does she know anything about the animosity that lies between her and Kakashi."
Silence.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"Because when we informed Sakura that she was engaged—being the caring person that she is—she didn't want to worry anyone."
Itachi slowly processed the information that he had just been given. He didn't believe a word she said—and it was obvious she knew he didn't believe her. So that meant that the information was classified—either that, or the woman was just being ornery. He gave a curt nod to the Hokage, then turned to leave the office.
But her voice stopped him.
"You've been given an opportunity, Uchiha. This Sakura does not bear the deep binding affection for the Copy Ninja that she once did. Not yet, anyway. So you can either let her slip between your fingers—again—or...you can actually do something about this and win her heart completely and stop taking the crumbs she offers you like a pathetic little lap dog."
Itachi's hands clenched into fists at his side. Malevolence radiated off his body until he heard the Hokage laughing at him. His predecessor loved to mock him. She took an easy shot whenever she could. Most of her cracks were about his relationship with Sakura.
Normally it would be easy to ignore her—but the phrase pathetic little lap dog didn't sit well.
It actually made him angry.
So he made his way out of her office, because it wasn't like he could vent on her.
Itachi left so he could train.
And then, after that...he was going to go and find his woman.
Although he was angry, he left her office, certain that while she had not given him the truth, she had given him some clue about the mystery that was Sakura.
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"Hello, mother."
He had decided to put off training and instead just go and visit his parents first. He sensed his mother in one of the rooms and immediately headed to her direction.
She looked up at his entrance, a smile gracing her lips. "Itachi, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you."
"I needed to talk to both of you. Is Father home?"
"No. He'll be back in a few hours. What did you need to talk about?"
"Sakura."
And with that one word, all the warmth left his mother's gaze.
"Leave her, Itachi. She doesn't want you."
"It doesn't concern you."
"The happiness of my son is not my concern?" She asked the question with extreme politeness, letting him know just how upset she was.
"I have chosen Sakura and I will stay with her as long as she will have me."
"Your Father would say that you are being extremely foolish."
"That is certain."
"But why? Any woman in this village would kill to be in her shoes. To have my son, the future Hokage. The strongest Uchiha—"
"Mother, perhaps that is why I find her intriguing." Itachi forced the words out. He was not used to explaining himself to anyone, least of all his mother. "Regardless of what I have accomplished and what I will accomplish, Sakura is a good woman—and I would expect my family to treat her as such."
"Itachi—"
"I have nothing further to say on the subject."
Mikoto's lips flattened into a straight line. She crossed her arms across her chest.
"Uchiha Itachi, I am still your mother. You will not disrespect me."
"My apologies, Mother. I meant no disrespect. All I ask is that you not disrespect my future wife, and that you relay that message to Father."
She didn't reply, but rather turned her back to him, continuing to do whatever it was she was doing before his arrival. He didn't move. He stood and waited for some kind of response from her, but all she said was, "You will speak to your Father yourself."
"Fine," He replied. Then he left his mother in peace.
He crossed paths with his little brother on his way out.
"So," Sasuke started. "You came to do what you should have last night."
"Hn."
"You know, she's too good for the likes of you."
"I don't recall asking you for your opinion, little brother."
"I don't, either—but you should do it more often. I can probably save you a lot of trouble."
"You think you can advise me?" Itachi asked, slightly amused.
"Well, you've screwed up this Sakura thing pretty bad. I figure anyone could do better than you."
His amusement vanished. At this point, he was tired of everyone interfering with his relationship. Even Sasuke had his two cents to put in. Sasuke continued on, oblivious to the ominous aura that was coming off his brother in waves.
"You never should have interfered with her and Kakashi. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before—"
"Sasuke."
Startled out of his monologue, Sasuke said, "Yes, Itachi?"
"Let's spar."
A feral grin split across Sasuke's face. He always relished the opportunity to spar with his brother. He just knew that this day was the day that he'd beat him.
It was just too bad that he was so, so wrong.
A/N 2: Thanks to cutecrazyice...especially for getting this back so quickly.
I know I haven't been updating that much lately and as a peace offering I offer you another chapter. Sorry!
Have you heard what they're saying about reviews? They're nice. :)