The Fall

Training Sakura, as he'd already expected, was hell. Oh, she was a spectacular student, intelligent and observant, talented and capable. He only had to explain something once and she was able to execute it almost to perfection. Figuring out that her main element was water had been a breeze. Teaching her new ninjutsu hadn't been any more difficult.

It was spending so much time in her presence that drove him to distraction. The way she smiled, the way her eyes sparkled when she learned something new, the way she moved…

And mostly the way she hugged him when she got something right. And considering she did absolutely everything right… yeah, pretty much hell.

There was no way though, that he was stopping those training sessions from hell. He might be in over his head, way more than he'd first imagined, but he'd be damned if that prevented him from enjoying her company. Because, enjoyable company she was, very much so. As lively and sometimes loud as she could be, Sakura was also a well of intelligent conversation, almost addictive wit and possessed a knack for getting under his skin that he simply couldn't ignore.

Itachi had been a shinobi long enough to know that two types of women got under a man's skin. One type didn't feel good there, tore the muscle and the bone apart, shredded the soul. The other type felt absolutely right, didn't do damage, instead fed the bone and the muscle and most of all fed the soul. Sakura, he knew, was the second type. Agonizing as being in her presence could be, he was much happier than he ever thought he could be.

And that was the gist of everything. Being with Sakura made him happy. And she didn't even have any idea what she as doing to him…. He really was pathetic.

A heavy sigh escaped him involuntarily and Sakura turned to look at him. "Am I…" she broke off, bit her lip, then tried again. "Am I boring you, Itachi-san?"

For a moment he was stunned, left completely flabbergasted and speechless. How in the world could she come to the conclusion that she was boring him? She was the most interesting company he's had in years. In fact, she was the most interesting company he's ever had, period. Even the usually reverting and enlightening conversations with Shisui paled in comparison of simply sitting with her in complete silence…. And he better make sure that Shisui never found out he thought so, or he would never let him live it down.

"Sakura-san," he started slowly, making sure that he had her complete attention. "I can assure you that boredom has never been a problem when I'm in your company."

She flushed a deep, bright red that brought out the stunning green of her eyes even more, peeking up at him from beneath lowered lashes for just a second before darting her gaze away. Oh, the little tease, she was killing him.

"I'm never bored with you either, Itachi-san," she mumbled almost inaudibly, and he had to consciously refrain from chastising her and telling her to speak coherently. Sasuke's sullen teenage years have drilled into Itachi the need to correct his brother every time he mumbled something into his collar, and now the chastising was almost on the tip of his tongue every time someone mumbled in his vicinity. Despite having very involved parents that doted on their sons, Itachi had pretty much raised Sasuke and often wondered where in the world he'd gone wrong with the boy.

Yes, he knew that Sakura and Sasuke were the same age. He was also aware that on so many levels Sakura was more mature than Sasuke. For one, she was a girl, and girls simply mature more quickly than boys. For another, well, there was no putting it nicely, Sasuke was simply a brat. A spoiled-rotten, arrogant brat. And yes, Itachi knew that he was largely responsible for that.

Sakura, he knew, didn't have a family that spoiled her. Sakura had parents that did not like her career as a kunoichi in the least. They ragged on her constantly because of it and gave her no support at all. Sakura didn't even have a team that spoiled her, like she deserved. Instead, she had Sasuke who felt entitled to be spoiled by everyone he came across simply for being born. She had Naruto-kun, who while kind and largely selfless, was also oblivious and ignorant.

Then there was Hatake Kakashi. Itachi had to be honest, the man doted on Sakura. Emotionally challenged, severally depressed and world-weary as he was, Kakashi was aware what gem he had in Sakura and to his credit tried his hardest to express it to her. And Sakura, feeling accepted and loved gravitated towards the Copy Ninja, like a bee to a flower. He couldn't begrudge her that. He could, however, be jealous. And admit it, too, demeaning as it was.

He liked Sakura, a lot. And he disliked any male that was close to her. He wanted to look only at him, with those eyes of hers sparkling, her cheeks flushing that amazing color. He wanted to be the only one on her mind, day and night. He wanted her to confide in him, seek his advice, his support, his assurance. He wanted her to rely on him for everything she might ever need because he'd do his damnest to fulfill all her wishes, spoil her rotten like everyone she came across should do, simply because she was born…

Oh yeah, he had it bad.

AN: I made you all wait for this installment; I can only apologize and cite life and other stories taking residence in my mind and refusing to leave as my reasons.

Anyway, here is part five of this ongoing series of drabbles, I hope you liked it. In the next part, we'll see more of Sakura's response to Itachi and if he really has any reason to be jealous of Kakashi. For anyone wondering why Kakashi is so prominent even in my ItaSaku stories, well he's my favorite character. And I don't just mean favorite Naruto character. I mean he's my favorite anime character in general. He's Kakashi, need I say more? Itachi is a close second and I still refuse to acknowledge his death. It didn't happen, period. That's why I write stories, it's my escape mechanism.

If anyone is troubled with the Kakashi thing, I'm sorry, but I'm unlikely to stop making him appear in everything I write in the Naruto fandom. I'm sure you understand that it's stronger than me, lol.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next part, I'll try to have it out next week and leave me a few lines to let me know how you liked this.