PLEASE READ: I received some of the reviews after 36 hours of their posting due to a setting in my account that I had overlooked. I have made the necessary changes now. Thank you JNY – without your "I think my last review never made it you", I wouldn't have realised to check the setting! :P

Reading all your amazing words and feedback honestly makes my day. Much love! Thank you all, really.

Chapter name is dedicated to every single person out there, ever.

Enjoy! :)

CHAPTER 9 – Not All Heroes Wear a Cape

The next month passes without Sakura realising. Her work keeps her busy to the point where Sasuke and Itachi end up coming over to her apartment in the evenings twice a week to make sure she's alive.

One fine Sunday morning, Sasuke knocks on her door.

"It's 7," she groans. "I came home two hours ago."

Sasuke is fidgeting with his fingers. "I need to talk."

Sakura sighs and steps aside to let him in. "Itachi?"

"He's out for a jog."

"I need coffee," she says and heads straight for her bedroom. She hears Sasuke mutter something under his breath.

She lays on her bed and is almost asleep when Sasuke shakes her awake to give her the coffee mug. He pushes her to the side a little and settles beside her on the bed. Sakura offers him the comforter. He snuggles in with his own coffee.

"Talk," she says after the first sip.

He doesn't. He just sits there, staring at his mug as if hoping to drown himself in it. Sakura waits.

Half an hour later, she hears her apartment door being opened. "Sasuke? Are you here?" Itachi's voice floats across the space.

"In here," Sakura calls out when Sasuke still doesn't speak.

Itachi enters and pauses, seeing them on her bed with the comforter in their laps, and cradling cups of – now – cold coffee. He looks freshly showered.

"What did I miss?" He comes to join them. He shoves Sakura in the middle and mirrors their position sans the cup.

Sakura sighs. All she wanted was to sleep, not be sandwiched in her bed between her two neighbours.

"Sasuke, if you're not going to talk, I'm going back to sleep," Sakura warns him tiredly.

Silence.

She passes her mug to Itachi, pulls the comforter up to her chest, snuggles into Itachi's side, and closes her eyes. He smells nice, she absently notices. Like mint soap. His body is warm and solid. Sakura whole-heartedly believes that it's a pleasant way to fall asleep.

And Itachi doesn't push her away, so that's always a plus. He shifts a little to make himself more comfortable.

She is almost asleep – once again – when Sasuke finally breaks his strange stupor.

"Do you think I should start dating?"

Sakura's eyes fly open. She exchanges a meaningful look with Itachi from her snuggled position before shifting again to see Sasuke better without craning her neck far too much.

"Why did you think that you couldn't in the first place?" she asks carefully.

Sasuke is still having a staring contest with his coffee. He shrugs lightly. "It's not … that."

"Then?" Itachi prods.

He bites his lip. "I just never thought of it, I suppose."

"But you have dated before?" Sakura asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. A little," he admits almost shyly. "It never went anywhere. I mean, I wasn't really serious about it, so …"

"And now you are?"

"I think so," he says quietly. "I do … want to be with someone. I don't know how long I can just … not do anything about it."

"What does Naruto think?" Itachi asks curiously.

Sasuke visibly flinches. "I … he …" he swallows. "It's none of his business."

Sakura's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the harsh comment.

"It's not like …" Sasuke continues after a brief pause. "I mean, he's just waiting for the right girl, isn't he?"

"Are you?" Sakura asks softly. Naruto's heartbroken face comes to her mind.

"I'm not even looking, am I? All I do is … nothing. I do nothing about it. I just sit and wait."

"Sasuke," Itachi says in a serious voice, the one he reserves for Sasuke when he steps in the role of the older brother. "Stop torturing yourself. And stop running away."

Sasuke finally looks at them. He appears scared and worried and stressed out.

"What do you mean?"

Sakura is leaning against Itachi's arm. He adjusts himself on the bed so that he's turned in Sasuke's direction, too. Sakura slips a little suddenly before Itachi wraps his arm around her from behind to steady her. She's actually still tired and slightly disoriented and doesn't care as much as to how she's sitting. For all she cares right now, Sasuke and Itachi are both taking up her sleep time and that Sasuke needs a little kick in the ass. A loving kick, of course.

"You know what I mean," Itachi replies calmly.

Silence.

"Okay, someone needs to keep talking otherwise I'm gonna fall the fuck asleep," Sakura snaps in annoyance. "Do you guys have any idea how long it takes to remove a fucking tumour from a man's heart? A sweet little annoying stubborn tumour that refused to leave without tearing the walls. If you want proof of what I had to deal with during the night, then my blood-splattered shoes are right there in the corner. Go on, have a look!"

Sasuke's eyes widen. "I'm good," he gulps, looking a little sick at the thought of blood-splattered shoes.

"Good. Now, spit it out already," Sakura pushes him. "We know that you like Naruto!"

"Sakura!" Itachi hisses.

Sasuke's eyes widen even further. "What?" he croaks. "I never-! Who said-! What?"

"And you," Sakura scrambles away from Itachi so that she can face both of them properly. She points an accusing finger at Itachi. "You love to piss people off. You enjoy speaking the harsh realities of the world. You can't tolerate people who bullshit with themselves. Yet, here you are, pretending that I said something that you haven't wanted to say since forever! And, for the love of all that is Holy, do not even think of playing the 'brother card'. Because I know that you've been having the time of your life watching these two dancing around each other!"

She faces Sasuke next. "Everyone knows. Hell, I actually got to know from Deidara and Tobi last month! And I personally shared it with Itachi the very next moment! The only reason why no one has said anything to you is because we thought that either you or Naruto will finally do something about it ever since I foolishly introduced Ino to you! Clearly, that did not work because here you are, sitting on my bed, when all I want to do is sleep for once because guess what? I made Chief Resident and now I barely have the time to eat, let alone watch you flying in Denial Land, when what you really want to do is kiss the fuck out of that stupid, obnoxious, blonde dude who is your best freaking friend in the whole wide world!"

Silence.

Sakura takes a few deep breaths to steady herself, ignoring the dumbfounded stares from both the men at her outburst. She immediately starts to feel guilty, though, because she didn't want to belittle Sasuke's worry in this manner. He's obviously terrified of messing things up with Naruto, and probably has been hesitating this whole time for that very same reason. Naruto has been his best friend since a very long time, and that's the kind of friendship that no one would want to lose for any reason whatsoever.

On the other hand, Sakura knows that Naruto wants the same thing. He literally spelled it out to her. Granted, he was drunk and his declaration magically sobered him up immediately (he really must be terrified out of his mind), it still doesn't change the fact that both of them would have had to acknowledge it sooner or later.

Then again, it isn't Sakura's place to decide the right time.

She'd just blatantly ignored Uncle Obito's teaching for the first time in her life. He has always said to her all in good time. Yet, here she was, ruining it for two of her friends.

She thinks she can cut herself some slack, though. She wasn't lying when she said she has been out of her mind with work recently. She hasn't had a good night's sleep in a week now, and it's been making her cranky and rude and highly impatient. Even her interns scramble away when she nears them. In fact, Ino called her Godzilla just two days ago.

Still. She shouldn't have said what she said. It's no excuse to interfere in someone's life like this. Sasuke came to her for comfort and advice, knowing what he knows and believing what he does, and she should have let him work through it rather than calling out on his cowardice in such harsh words.

She isn't all that worried about what she said to Itachi, though. The jerk had it coming.

"You …" Itachi clears his throat in the tense, uncomfortable silence. "You made Chief Resident?"

"Yeah," she says dejectedly.

"Congratulations," Sasuke offers shyly. He doesn't look mad. That's a positive sign.

"Thank you."

Silence.

"Sasuke," Sakura begins in a rush, words tumbling out messily. "I'm really, really sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm just super-tired and my whole body feels like pins and needles and I'm working like a slave and it's been so thrilling and exciting and I just want to sleep. That's no excuse. I'm just … really sorry."

Sasuke winces and Sakura's chest tightens for being the cause of it. "No. No, you're right."

"No-!"

"You are, though," Sasuke interrupts firmly. "But what if he doesn't feel the same way? I can't … I can't lose him, Sakura. He's … Naruto, you know? He's supposed to be with me. He's supposed to pick fights with me and get drunk with me and share his life with me. How can I …? He's my best friend."

Sakura smiles sadly. "I know, sweetie. But how long will you wait? You will have to confront this eventually. Or you might miss the chance to … really be with him."

"I know," Sasuke rubs his forehead. "I guess I'm just scared. What if he realises that he doesn't feel the same?"

"Schrodinger's cat," Itachi reminds him lightly.

"Yeah." He cracks a genuine smile. "We have to celebrate, you know," he tells them. "Chief Resident."

Sakura accepts the deflection for what it is, and grins. "Movie night? Let's watch Iron Man 2! And I need beer. Lots of it."

Sasuke sits up straighter with excitement at the prospect of imparting his wisdom and passion for another one of MCU movies. "Done! Get some sleep and come over whenever! Itachi is staying home today, anyway. So we can watch 2 movies."

"Sounds perfect," she assures him. "Now get out of my bed. Both of you."

xXx

They watch Iron Man 2 and Thor 1 late afternoon when Sakura goes over after eating her lunch. Since Itachi's birthday party, Naruto has been rather subdued around Sakura. Tonight, it's no different. Sure, he's still bright and lively, but whenever he speaks with her, it is as though he is back in the party, drunkenly announcing that he wants Sasuke. Don't tell him, he'd said.

Sakura hasn't met up with either Hinata or Temari since that night. She thinks about visiting Temari at work along with Hinata to get some advice on the matter. She doesn't think Itachi would be the perfect candidate for this. He is either clueless or borderline psychopath. Sakura needs a well-adjusted human being. That automatically rules out herself, Kakashi, Uncle Obito, and Itachi. She supposes Shikamaru might have some insights if he bothered himself with it, which doesn't sound too likely.

Sharing this with Ino would feel disrespectful. Sakura still hasn't had the courage to tell her about her blunder.

When the end credits of their second movie start rolling, Sakura wonders why she's worrying this deep over something that doesn't even concern her. Sure, Sasuke and Naruto are her friends, but it's still their life. Where to draw the line?

On reflex, the question makes her turn to look at Itachi. He said he doesn't easily get the hang of precisely these social boundaries and it leads her to question her own capability with it. Growing up, her friends have been foremost Kakashi and Uncle Obito – two men, best friends, who had no idea how to raise a daughter. They were struggling with their own love lives at that moment, got abandoned by their friend/love interest because she couldn't take the responsibility, and taught Sakura everything that they knew with no constraints whatsoever. Kakashi's choice of career has been a big part of her life, and Uncle Obito's motto of diving straight into the heart of things (must be a journalist thing) left her with pretty confusing boundaries herself.

Why did Itachi struggle with it, in that case? Sakura can objectively justify her confusion, but as far as she knew, Itachi had a fairly normal childhood. Sasuke turned out to be the epitome of socialisation.

She wonders if it has anything to do with what he'd admitted to about regretting having to graduate the traditional way. He did express his distaste of dealing with the routine woes of his peers, when he'd wanted something wholly different in life. Regardless, Sakura thinks that Itachi had every chance to understand these basic conventions and yet, somehow, he has managed to completely miss out on them.

During her budding relation with her neighbours, Sakura had simply brushed off Itachi's straightforwardness as honesty. Accepted for what he was with relative ease – rude, having no filter, condescending, arrogant, and impatient. He's always been vocal about his opinions. Which justifies why Itachi needs to categorize people in his head to know how to behave.

That seems strange to her, though. Itachi has never seemed to struggle with how to be around her. He's been his usual self, right from the first words that he'd ever uttered to her, and she hadn't let it become a problem because it hadn't seemed like a problem in the first place. She'd merely pointed out his hypocrisy of reprimanding Sasuke over manners when he'd called her the milk thief not a minute ago.

Clearly, there is more to the man than Sakura understands. It's not only that Itachi has been a pain in the ass at times with his irritating habit of pointing out unnecessary things to her, he has also proven to be a good friend. He's been helpful, lent an ear, sought out her company even, and has been genuinely interested in her life in general. He bonded well with Kakashi and Uncle Obito, and for Sakura, that's the ultimate stamp of approval. If her father and uncle didn't have anything bad to say about him, then it means that they honestly did not have anything bad to say about him.

This spiel over Itachi suddenly makes her pause. Recently, Sakura has realised that her thoughts have started to drift towards him in the most unexpected ways and at the most random times. In fact, when she'd been repairing the man's heart early in the morning, there was a moment when she'd gotten excited about telling Itachi all about the complicated procedure. Of course, things hadn't gone exactly the way she'd envisioned – she ended up calling out Sasuke on his matter with Naruto – but the principle of it counts.

Sakura studies him in the present moment. She's sitting beside Sasuke on their couch – the movie credits are still rolling and no one seems bothered to shut the TV, and Naruto is digging in the refrigerator. Itachi, meanwhile, has drifted over to his laptop, checking his emails.

He's wearing a casual black T-shirt and blue track pants. His hair is in a ponytail today. He doesn't look like a CEO whatsoever, even though Sakura still remembers the way he'd dressed up for the party – a marble grey suit with midnight blue shirt, hair in a bun, glasses, the crow earring – and the way his entire team addressed him as Boss.

The earring and the glasses still haunt Sakura from time to time. The more days that pass by, the more they become attractive in her mind. Maybe because Itachi doesn't wear them on a regular basis that it seems as though they belong to a Special Edition of him.

He has a nice side profile, she notices almost absently.

"…tain America is an excellent movie," Sasuke is telling her. Sakura refocuses her attention. If Sasuke noticed her distraction, he doesn't comment, although it seems unlikely because he's studying Naruto from the corner of his eyes. The blonde has settled on eating a cucumber. "And you will absolutely love Avengers 1. The super-heroes come together to fight their very first inter-galactic war."

"Hang on," Sakura interrupts, his words registering in her mind. "You're telling me that Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America – whoever he is – come together?"

"Yes! And Black Widow and Hawkeye."

The thought is actually exciting for Sakura. She's been honestly loving these super-hero movies, and is glad that the boys introduced her to them. Something about watching normal people become super-heroes to save the world is quite enticing.

"We don't always save the day."

She remembers saying that to Itachi. She remembers him saying on another fateful day, "It's okay to choose not to be a hero."

He'd chosen that. He'd accepted it. He'd endured school and college, listening to his peers discuss topics that hasn't interested him in the least.

Watching him now, though, wearing a normal T-shirt and pants, sitting in front of his laptop to check work emails, Sakura has the strangest feeling that something feels off.

Itachi doesn't belong here. He doesn't belong running a small business. If he's as sharp as he believes he is, if he's truly a prodigy who did not get to flourish the way he had hoped for, then Itachi doesn't belong here, doing neighbourly things, and trying to understand social boundaries.

It's okay to choose not be a hero.

But what if you're born to become one?

xXx

Sakura thinks that Sasuke's birthday might end up being even more dramatic than Itachi's, but the most exciting thing that happens is that they sit at a table that happens to be near a rapper called Killer Bee, whom Naruto personally has made friends with during one of Jiraiya's after-parties.

Killer Bee speaks in rhymes. Sakura has a hard time containing her laughter. Itachi, on the other hand, looks so displeased with his manner of communication that he scowls the entire time.

After their birthday dinner, an intimate affair, Naruto whisks off Sasuke for "his personalised gift". Naruto has already told her that he's planned Sasuke's favourite activities for them to do, including, but not limited to, a walk by the pier, draught beer at Chouji's Bar, and midnight open theatre screening of Black Panther.

Hinata gifts him a red silk tie for special occasions, she says. Temari and Shikamaru, the only engaged couple (correction: the only couple) in their small group, present him with a Smart Ring as a testament to his techie side, according to Temari.

Sakura bought him a limited edition E.D.I.T.H. glasses – Itachi convinced her that Sasuke would like it very much since she has no clue what they're supposed to be. Apparently, she'll learn while watching the latest MCU movie Spider-Man: Far from Home, but it won't happen for a good amount of time and she better not Google it up.

On the other hand, Itachi bought him a weekend get-away to the north, complete with sightseeing tickets, local car, and a cosy B&B room in the mountains. And he bought two of everything, heavily hinting that he should take his most trusted friend when he's going on a trip away from home so that Itachi wouldn't have to worry about his safety.

Sakura realised then what Naruto had said about Itachi spoiling Sasuke.

Needless to say, Sasuke expresses his appreciation rather energetically before Naruto drags him away from the restaurant, wanting to top off Sakura and Itachi's gifts. Itachi tells him that it's not a competition – wearing a smug smirk the whole time.

As Sakura hums a random tune, sitting in the passenger seat of Itachi's car as they head back home, she thinks that she's not yet ready to call it a night.

"You want to grab some ice cream?" she asks him.

Itachi glances at her. "Sakura, I cannot stress this enough even after having known you for quite a while now," and Sakura braces for another jab. "As a doctor, you should know that having ice cream before bed is highly frowned upon."

"You want ice cream or not, genius?" she asks loudly.

Pause. "Fine."

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she smiles sweetly.

He rolls his eyes.

Itachi parks near the first Gelato that they come across. The place isn't crowded at this hour of the night, and she calculates the amount of time she has before she absolutely needs to sleep. Her surgery scheduled on the next day requires her to study certain procedures prior to it. It's a highly risky procedure, but Dr. Orochimaru convinced her that if they are able to pull this off, it might make the news in their community.

Even though Sakura is well on the ladder that only goes up, she is never opposed to medical breakthroughs. If she plans on making her name, she has to do what's necessary. Dr. Orochimaru isn't known because he stuck by the books. He has always taken risks in his career, pushed beyond the boundaries, and never backed out from a case.

"Which one do you want?" Itachi asks her, already pulling out his wallet to pay for the ice cream.

"That one," Sakura points at a random one that looks appealing. It's mint green in colour with rainbow sprinkles.

Itachi orders a chocolate chip mint for himself. They sit at a table by the front glass wall.

"Itachi."

He raises an eyebrow at her tone. "Yes?"

Sakura hesitates before taking the plunge. She has been wanting to ask this for a while now, but no time felt like a good time. With her being busy with the hospital, and Itachi having increased his personal work-time, she barely had a decent conversation that was not just small talk.

"If you had the choice … the chance to do what you wanted to do, what would it have been?"

Itachi studies her carefully, holding her gaze steady. "I am doing what I want."

"I mean, if you were in the programme for gifted individuals and did not follow the traditional route."

"Where is this coming from?"

Sakura shrugs as nonchalantly as possible, taking a spoonful of ice cream. "Nowhere. Just curious."

"Uh huh," Itachi replies, unconvinced. "It doesn't matter. Even if I had graduated early, I still would have had to choose one major. I'd be doing what I'm doing currently."

"Okay, let me put this another way," she says. "What if you had the freedom to do whatever you wanted, irrespective of money or parental differences in opinion?"

"If I had the chance to do what I wanted to do, what would it have been?" he repeats her earlier question, this time understanding for what it is.

Sakura watches as he mulls it over in his head.

"I think … I think I would have travelled," he eventually says. "Money has been a major constraint for me growing up. My father was in the local police force, and my mother's bakery is still the same as it always has been. With Sasuke being born, my parents had to be even more careful with their finances for obvious reasons." He takes a pause to think over his next words. "Traveling wouldn't have been a career, perhaps. Although, I would have come up with a way to make money through it. Personally, though, I wish I didn't have to care about earning. Money has always been a means to an end. Something you won't understand."

He throws a smirk in her direction as he says the last part, referring to her habit of discussing financial situations. Growing up, Sakura never faced monetary problems the way Itachi had. In fact, Kakashi and Uncle Obito had gained popularity in their careers quite early in their professional life, and they made a decent living out of it. They always bought her whatever she would demand for – although, the things she'd demand for used to be medical supplies most of the times. She won't say that she was spoiled by them, regardless of how it looks, but that she is used to having things when she wants them. This only abated when she started her internship and did not have the time or the energy, or the money since she's still paying off the last of her college loan – something Kakashi and Uncle Obito had insisted upon by trying to make her believe that it would make her responsible in life, to buy the necessary items for sustenance. Sakura wonders whether it is such because she's always taken money for granted and believes that if she had the motivation, she would have easily bought more furniture – to begin with.

It appears to her that she's been questioning a lot of things in her life lately.

She ignores Itachi's jab for the moment, even though she wants to remind him that it wouldn't have been possible for him to buy a weekend get-away for Sasuke if he didn't make that kind of money in the first place.

"But you'd said that you wanted to pursue knowledge. I thought you'd get more degrees like Naruto had said you wanted to, earlier in your life."

Itachi considers her for a moment. "I did. I do. The thing is, I'm doing business because I have given the exam for business. I have a certificate to show for it. It doesn't mean that I did not partake in studying other topics that I found interesting. Traveling and my academics are two different things for me. Visiting the various places on the planet will surely aide to my end goal, but it was more personal than that, to be wanting that. Konoha is a small town, with a small population. To me, I think the idea of staying there and having to graduate with everyone else felt like one and the same. Suffocating and annoying and tedious. To be frank, quite unnecessary, as well."

"You don't stay in Konoha any longer," Sakura points out. "Do you still want to travel as an escape?"

Because that is what it sounds like to her. Traveling is his means to escape the situation that he was in while growing up. Imagining a future where he could be whatever he wanted, be wherever he wanted, and with no regards to societal obligations must have been the dream. Not that traveling inherently entails that, but she can see the appeal of wanting to live by your own rules.

"I suppose not," he answers carefully. "Things obviously turned out well. Weren't we discussing a hypothetical situation where I wouldn't be bound by my actual circumstances?"

"Yeah, of course," she says quickly. "I was just curious."

So, Itachi is a dreamer at heart. Sakura's chest clenches at the thought for some reason. It's not painful, like the way it feels when he smiles goofily at her, but the way it does when he's working on his laptop, as though he doesn't belong in the piece of space-time that he's in at that moment.

It's obvious that Itachi hasn't been able to successfully let go of the dreams he had as a child. He sounded almost wistful during his explanation of wanting to visit places, not caring about things such as money, and wanting to become whatever he felt like.

The ironic part is that Itachi's childhood has been the hallmark card of "normal". And despite what he believes his experience has been, his dreams have also been "normal". Every kid has wanted what he wanted, before they all grew up and realised that things are a bit more complicated than that.

Perhaps Itachi's struggle isn't as personal as he believes it to be.

It's okay to choose not to be a hero.

But Itachi is one. Maybe not in the conventional sense of the word, though. Itachi has lived the life of an ordinary person, despite being born with exceptional intellectual capacities, and taken the roles he's been presented with in stride. He remained loyal to his duties as a brother, a son, a friend, and now a CEO. In Sakura's eyes, that's pretty damn heroic.

A/N: Even though I'm writing a story of two gifted individuals, I personally hold the belief that every person is special, that "ordinary" can be extraordinary in itself. This chapter was dedicated to that belief.

Of course, in the context of the story, it served the purpose of Sakura trying to figure out what it means to be leading an ordinary life, despite being introduced to MCU and the shooting and having Itachi as her neighbour.

Would love to hear your thoughts in the review! :)