There was a comma at the beginning of this chapter.
What are you doing comma?
Go away.
He sighed. He really didn't want to get out of bed. She was sleeping beside him, her pink hair spread haphazardly over the pillow. Her chin was on his shoulder and her hand splayed across his chest. He knew he would wake her if he were to move, but he didn't think he could stay here the entire night. He would be back tomorrow to help her set up for the party. He only sighed again and began getting up.
"Don't go," her tiny voice reached him before he could get out of the bed. He wanted to hit himself over the head. He didn't mean to wake her up. Her small hand was grabbing his sleeve, preventing him from leaving.
"Sakura, I can't stay the night," he said quietly, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. "You know I have to leave." Sakura made a noise in distaste and her grip tightened on his sleeve.
"My parents already left," she pouted. They usually left when Sakura and Naruto had a party. They didn't want to be around for all the children in their house. Sakura wasn't quite sure whether it was because they trusted their kids or because they didn't want the headache of chaperoning a teen party.
"I will not stay just because your parents aren't here, Sakura. That is overstepping boundaries."
"Oh, shut up with your chivalry, Uchiha," she grumbled, pulling him harshly back down to the bed. Itachi sighed. It seemed he wasn't getting out of her bed. She curled her body against his again and let out a soft noise of happiness.
"Your brother will be sure to murder me in the morning, Sakura."
"He wouldn't dare. He's got his own secrets he doesn't want out in the open," Sakura yawned. "Stop trying to leave, Itachi. Tell me if you don't want to stay. I'll take it very personally." Itachi just shook his head and gave up. She wasn't going to let him go, not until the morning at least. He wondered if she would make him bring her with him if he went home early in the morning, before his parents woke. He didn't want to deal with his father still.
Sakura pressed her body harshly against his in an attempt to make him wrap his arms around her. He chuckled lightly and wrapped his arms around her, turning on his side. "I'll have to leave early," he said softly. "Around four. I'll be back to you as quickly as possible." Sakura only nodded slowly, sleepily. She just wanted him to stay for now. She didn't like it when he had to leave so early. She woke rather easily when she'd only been sleeping a couple hours.
"Just go to sleep, 'Tachi," she said, already mostly on the way herself. "It'll be fine." She was answered by him pulling her a little more tightly against him and resting his head near hers.
She didn't wake this time when he left the bed. It was almost four in the morning and he wanted to be in and out of the house before his parents woke up. He would have to wake his brother up and deal with his prissiness, but that was more than alright by him. He could crawl back into bed with Sakura when he got back.
Naruto was shuffling around the kitchen for some ungodly reason when Itachi went to leave. The blond just raised his hand in farewell as he quietly opened the door. It was a quiet morning. The sun wouldn't be rising for another four hours, so he wasn't too worried about the rising sun getting into his eyes.
Curiously, Sasuke was up when he got home. He peeked out of his room when Itachi passed by and he followed him to his room, where he was pulling out clothes to take a shower and get back on his way.
"They didn't notice you were gone," Sasuke said while he watched his brother shuffle through his drawers.
"I didn't think they would," Itachi answered, finding what he wanted. He was just going to wear some dark jeans and a black t-shirt that he knew fitted him quite nicely. He simply thought Sakura would have a field day if he wore something such as this.
"Why not?" Sasuke asked, watching his brother. Sasuke had started waking up this early so he could accompany Itachi with his morning routine, so it really wasn't a surprise that he was awake this early. He had noticed, however, that Itachi hadn't slept in the house the night before. He knew better than to tell his parents and so just kept it to himself.
"I come home after they are asleep and I leave before they wake. Why do you think they would miss me?" Itachi asked, pulling himself up and searching for a clean towel now. His room was impeccably clean, but he still didn't know where he had put his towel the last time he'd cleaned it. He finally found it folded neatly on the seat of his desk chair.
"Are you going to take me back with you?" Sasuke asked as Itachi was about to walk out the door towards the bathroom. He nodded. Sasuke didn't say anything else and just went off back towards his room. He had to grab a few things and get everything he needed so he wasn't holding Itachi up on their way out. He had told his mother the night before that he was going to Sakura and Naruto's party and would probably be gone early in the morning, so she wasn't about to call him and wonder where he was. His parents never seemed to care what Itachi was up to and he wondered why. He thought they would be all over him with the way he was never home and rarely said a word to him. He didn't think he had heard or seen his brother around his parents in more than four months. It was pretty unsettling to say the least.
Itachi was done in the shower amazingly fast, especially with the amount of hair he had. Sasuke was just putting the last thing into his backpack when he turned to see Itachi standing in the doorway.
"Are you ready?" he asked. He looked quite uncomfortable. He never seemed comfortable when he was in the house. Sasuke just grabbed his bag and nodded towards the door. He followed Itachi's careful steps down the stairs and let him close the door silently behind him, as he always did. Itachi was very good at being quiet and not waking their parents up.
Itachi disappeared up the stairs when they got back to Naruto and Sakura's house. He was confused, but Naruto, who was in the kitchen and eating some ungodly concoction of potatoes, eggs, and a shitload of ketchup, looked up and said, "He's going to lay back down with Sakura. She made him stay last night." Sasuke only nodded and went to steal some of the food on the stove.
Sakura woke up when Itachi crawled back into bed. She turned to him and fitted her body against his, smiling when his arms wrapped tightly around her. She didn't really miss him in the past hour or so, but it was always nice when this happened. She loved being in his arms. She liked to hug him and sit next to him any chance she could. He never seemed to mind, either.
"I hope you can go back to sleep," he said quietly, brushing his fingers through her hair, hoping she would be able to do as such. Her bright eyes were watching him and he knew that she wasn't going to be able to sleep any time soon. He was slightly upset, for he was still quite tired and would like to sleep, her body so very close to his. It didn't happen very often and he treasured when it did.
"Just go to sleep, Itachi," Sakura said, stifling a yawn. She was still tired, but not tired enough to get back to sleep just yet. She reached for the remote to turn on the television to numb her brain a little while Itachi was getting to sleep. He held her a little tighter and she smiled, feeling quite warm. He was a lot warmer than she was and it often warmed her up instantly when he hugged her.
She pulled his arm away from her waist to get a good look at his forearm. A few weeks ago, it was littered with half healed wounds, white and red scars alike. There were far more scars that were completely healing now and he had only cut himself once or twice, they were half healed at this point. She thought he was feeling happier for this to happen. She was feeling the same lately. Her own forearms were less red lately.
He woke slightly, only to return his arm to her waist and tug her to his chest in a short hug. He didn't like it when she got out of his arms or loosened his hold while he slept. Most of the time, he would wake up, perhaps slightly, and return her to his tight hold. She smiled and settled back into the bed, so very comfortable.
A few hours later, he was awake and waking her up. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. He was sitting above her, her cheek on his chest, and he gave her a small smile when she finally looked up at him. He pushed her up to kiss her and she smiled into it. He was a fan of waking her up slowly and giving her quite a lot of affection as he did so. It was making her quite happy lately.
"Hey," she said softly when he pulled away. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. He still wasn't one for many words. She found herself providing most of the conversation, but that was alright by her. He listened intently to everything she said and often said something if he really wanted to. It was a nice relationship they had, though Itachi still hadn't tried to ask her out or make it official. She didn't mind. It wasn't like she was going to go off and find someone else. He was perfect.
"I believe we should go downstairs. I believe Naruto is attempting to cook," Itachi said. He had been smeeling something from downstairs for a few minutes now and he didn't know if Naruto was actually allowed to use the stove in fear of burning the house down. That was why he finally decided to wake Sakura up.
"Ah, fuck," Sakura was up in a moment, just as Itachi thought she would be. "You should have woken me up earlier," she laughed. "Naruto's not a very good cook." She grabbed a sweater and shrugged it over her shoulders, watching Itachi until he got up as well. He only shook his head and joined her. Sakura was walking quickly down the stairs while he followed quite more slowly behind her. She finally made it to the kitchen and breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thank God."
"What?" Sasuke asked as he was pulling a pancake from the pan he was working over. Sakura laughed and leaned against a countertop. Naruto was doing the same from the other side of the kitchen. He was also watching Sakura, confused.
"Well, Naruto isn't allowed to cook because he's horrid at it and burns everything he touches," Sakura said, laughing. Itachi had gotten to the kitchen by now and leaned his back against the same counter Sakura was leaning on. He wrapped an arm around her waist and silently brought her against his side.
"I don't burn everything!" Naruto whined.
"Yeah, when you cook in the microwave," Sakura shot at him. Naruto only laughed and looked away. He couldn't get into this. Sakura would bring up a lot of stuff in the past two years that he had managed to fuck up. He didn't like the stories about how he failed at cooking. He really wanted to cook and he really wanted to cook really cool stuff, but his tendency to burn anything and everything shot that dream down pretty early. "Naruto, you just have to learn to turn the heat down," Sakura laughed. "You're too impatient when it comes to cooking. You cook everything at way too hot a temperature because you want it to be done quicker. Or you forget that you put something in the oven and just leave it in there for an extra forty minutes."
"Yeah, I seem to have that problem," he laughed. Sakura was generally pretty sassy, but she would tell him how to fix it eventually and be really nice about it. Hopefully, he could get her to help him out with the issues he was having in the kitchen.
"Breakfast is ready by any case," Sasuke announced, setting plates in front of his three friends. Itachi nodded in thanks and followed Sakura to the dining room. Naruto remembered to grab the syrup and he pulled Sasuke with him. They settled at the table.
"So me and Sasuke are going to get the decorations," Naruto said as he ate. "Hinata will be here around noon and she said she'll go with you and Itachi to get the snacks." Sakura only nodded.
"No alcohol this year, Naruto," Sakura warned. "We barely got away with it last year. I'm surprised mom never noticed the stuff we broke."
"I replaced it with shit that she's had upstairs since we were kids," Naruto said, laughing. "She doesn't notice as long as something's there to take it's place." He didn't say this to try and convince Sakura to allow alcohol, because he thought it was a bad idea too. They hadn't even supplied the alcohol last year and weren't planning on having those who did this year. It had pretty much turned into a rave and they had an issue controlling it. They hadn't gotten the cops called on them, which was a stroke of luck. They would have been grounded for years if they had been.
"Okay," Sakura shrugged. "I hope you know Sasuke's going to drive if you take dad's car. I don't want you to wreck it while they aren't here." They always went to great lengths not to destroy anything while they had these parties and their parents were away. Their parents trusted them enough to make sure nothing was destroyed and that trust would definitely be destroyed if they did.
"I figured," Naruto laughed. "I really need to get my own car." Then, if he destroyed it, it wouldn't be something of his father's. He'd been saving money for months now in order to get a pretty bruised up car that wouldn't mind a few more crashes and wouldn't matter if he completely totaled it. He had a part-time job he worked some afternoons after school. Right now, he had about four hundred dollars, but wanted at least a thousand. He wasn't going to buy a car for that much, but he knew if he bought a five hundred dollar car it was going to need some sort of repairs. Sakura didn't feel the need to get a car. Their father had pretty much already given her his. He hadn't said it, but he had let slip that he was thinking of gifting it to her on her eighteenth birthday so she had it for college. It was a nice car and Naruto knew that was why their father would never dream of giving it to him.
"You'll get there soon," Sakura said with a small smile. Naruto just nodded, happy that Sakura gave her optimism freely. It often made him feel better when he was down in the dumps about something, like now.
"So where are we going?" Sasuke asked, raising a brow at Naruto. If he was supposed to be driving, he would like to know where they were going. Naruto shrugged.
"There's a party store on the edge of town, so probably there," he said. "They should have a lot of Halloween stuff this time of year." Sasuke only nodded. Sakura was quietly eating her pancakes and thinking of what she needed to get in terms of food.
"Naruto, would you hand me a notepad?" she asked, trying to keep her focus on her thoughts. He nodded and popped up from the table, going to his father's study to get it. He was back rather quickly, handing her the notepad and a pen. She began writing down what she needed. She thought a lot of chips were in order and maybe some crackers and cheese. She could do a veggie platter and maybe some fruit. She was writing, not really paying attention, when Naruto suddenly jumped up.
"You know what we need?" he exclaimed. "We should get a shit ton of fairy lights, you know?" Sakura only shook her head at his sudden outburst. He did this a lot and it didn't surprise her anymore, though Itachi and Sasuke jumped just a little bit at his outburst.
"We can get them, idiot, but that didn't need a whole shitload of yelling," Sasuke said, giving his best friend the side eye. Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Do you think Neji will come with Hinata?"
"Probably," Sakura said, pausing in her writing. "When Hinata wants to go out, Neji isn't usually far behind. That means Tenten's going to be with him, though. She doesn't have her own car so he'll pick her up before coming here. Tenten likes exciting stuff, so she'll probably drag Neji along with you guys instead of going with us to the boring grocery store," Sakura laughed. Sasuke nodded. Sakura did really know what their friends were likely to do. She was often the one that would sit back and watch everyone's interactions. She was usually right when she would comment on what their friends would probably do.
"Good to know," Sasuke said quietly. Sakura just nodded and sighed, pushing the notepad away so she could finish her breakfast. Itachi hadn't said anything this entire time, but didn't think he needed to. He was just happy that Sakura was next to him and would be for the rest of the day and night. She was prone to sticking to his side and he to hers.
Sakura helped Naruto wash the plates when breakfast was over. She thought Sasuke would attempt to talk to Itachi, but the dining room was completely silent. Sasuke wasn't much for words and neither was Itachi, so she should have expected it.
"Let's just watch some TV while we're waiting for the others," Sakura said, shrugging. There wasn't much to do without them. She knew she had to change out of her pajamas eventually, but didn't think she would until she changed into her costume for the night. She wasn't much for changing her clothes more than she had to.
The brothers followed them into the living room and Sakura slid into one of the couches, Itachi joining her. She stretched out on the couch and laid her head in his lap, smiling when she felt his hands stroking through her hair. Sasuke and Naruto took an armchair apiece and Naruto flipped on the television, trying to find something that would entertain all of them.
"Charlie Brown!" Sakura called out. She was really just a five year old kid on the inside and couldn't help but watch Charlie Brown every chance she got. Naruto just laughed and flipped back to that channel, placing the remote on the end table near him. Sakura smiled and relaxed back into Itachi's body. He had no comment on what they decided to watch. He didn't care. He was just glad that Sasuke wasn't glaring daggers at him for having her head in his lap.
"Sakura, why do we have to watch this every year?" Naruto asked with a short laugh. "There are better Halloween movies, you know." Sakura laughed and sighed, her cheek resting on Itachi's knee.
"Why does it matter?" she asked, amusement thick in her voice. "Maybe I'm just a five year old kid and I still love these cartoons." Naruto just rolled his eyes. Sakura made them watch every Charlie Brown special every year during the holidays. They got old a long time ago, but she still didn't care. He stopped. He realized that this was probably the second year she even remembered watching them with him. He realized that, though they had watched them since they were children, she didn't remember most of the holidays they'd had together. It calmed his dissension and made him realize he should just enjoy it as well.
"Okay, Sakura," he finally said a few moments too late. Sakura grinned. Itachi rested his hand on her waist, more interested in watching her than the movie. She didn't care. She had gotten over his watching her a while ago. She was much more interested in other things than trying to figure out why he loved to watch her.
"Hey, Itachi," she said, turning to look up at him. "Do you have an issue with Charlie Brown?"
"Why would I?" he asked. Truth be told, he had never really seen it. He wasn't one for TV, mostly because he didn't spend any time at home. When he had been younger, he spent most of his time in his room so he could avoid his father. His father still got him most of the time. He found it better to stay out of his way rather than join Sasuke and watch things like this.
"I don't know," she shrugged. She turned back to the movie. It was mostly silent while it finished and when the next movie the channel started, the doorbell rang. Naruto jumped up and all but ran towards the door. He whipped it open to see Hinata, Neji, and Tenten. He tugged her into a tight hug, smiling from ear to ear as he did so. Neji gave him a death glare from over Hinata's shoulder, but he couldn't care less. He loved giving hugs and if Neji had a problem with it he would be happy to hug him too.
"How was your morning, Naruto?" Hinata asked, a smile on her face as he finally let her go.
"It was great! Sasuke made pancakes and Itachi's been keeping Sakura occupied all morning," Naruto grinned. Usually, he wouldn't think it was such a good thing, but if she was distracted with Itachi, she would be alone with her thoughts. She would have been in bed still, unable to get out. Itachi was giving her a reason to be motivated and that was good enough for him.
"Well, that sounds nice," Hinata smiled. Naruto stepped to the side and allowed the other three into his house. Hinata stayed by his side while the other two made their way to the living room. Neji had already been here several times and knew his way around the house. Hinata and Naruto followed them much more slowly. "So, what's the plan?" she asked. They stopped well before the living room, not wanting to distract the others with their conversation.
"I thought you would like to go with Sakura more than me," Naruto laughed. "You're going to help her go out and get snacks with Itachi. We figured Neji would be more likely to follow Tenten and that she would want to do the more exciting thing, which is getting and putting up the decorations, so she and Neji are going to go with us."
"Sakura said that, didn't she?" Hinata laughed. Naruto grinned and nodded. Hinata knew when the idea was Sakura's or Naruto's. If it was well thought out and made sense, it was usually Sakura's. If it was more or less made by impulse, it was Naruto's.
"You know me too well," he laughed. He gestured towards the living room and she followed him, sitting next to him on the loveseat. He wrapped his arm around her, though he got a glare from Neji. Hinata wanted to laugh. Neji really hated it when Naruto gave her affection in front of him, but Naruto didn't care in the least. He rather enjoyed having her near him, much like Itachi did. Itachi had pulled Sakura to sit in his lap at this point and she seemed pretty comfortable, her head on his shoulder and seemingly growing sleepy. It made Naruto want to laugh. If Sakura was comfortable, she could sleep pretty much anywhere. It was one of the few things they actually had in common.
"We should get going, huh?" Sakura asked after a few minutes. She liked the movie that was on, but if they watched it, they would be getting back from the store later than they should be. She slid off of Itachi's lap and stretched.
"Well you should change first," Naruto laughed. "You're still in your pajamas!" Sakura looked down. She was wearing black pajama bottoms that sported bright yellow polka dots and a white sweater that donned black hearts. She shrugged.
"I'm not changing more than once today and I have a costume to put on later," she said matter of factly. Naruto could only laugh. He seemed to have forgotten Sakura's rule. If she was going somewhere or had a party to attend, she was going to stay in her pajamas all day until it was time to get ready. She didn't have time for the unnecessary laundry changing more than once brought.
"Alright, alright," Naruto said, allowing Hinata to get up before pulling himself up. "I should have known you were going to use that explanation." Sakura only grinned mischievously before turning to Itachi and offering him a hand. He took it and allowed her to hoist him up. Not for the first time, he wondered how she had so much strength when she probably weighed only half what he did. It was always a surprise to him. "Okay, so Neji and Tenten are coming with me and Sasuke. Hinata's going with Sakura and Itachi." Neji didn't seem too happy that he and Hinata were being split up, but he did seem particularly happy that she wasn't going to be around Naruto. That's just how Neji was. He really disapproved of their relationship, but would never breathe a word of it to either. If he made her happy, that was what mattered, no matter Neji's personal opinion. It had taken him a couple months to realize that, though.
"Let's get going then, shall we?" Sakura asked, on her way towards the door. She pulled her coat off the hook and shrugged that on first before taking the keys from the hook and tossing them to Sasuke. She could allow him to drive her father's car. She had thought of Itachi allowing Sasuke to drive his car, but Itachi seemed rather anxious about his car. She had wondered why, but it really didn't matter. As long as she or Naruto were in the car with Sasuke while he drove, it was alright by her father. They followed that rule to the T.
Not much was said as they filtered into their respective cars. Sakura slid into the passenger's seat of Itachi's car and Hinata got into the back. "Where are we going?" Itachi asked Sakura before he even started the car. He wanted to know which way to turn instead of being confused while he was pulling out of the driveway.
"We're just going to the grocery store about ten minutes away," Sakura said, shrugging. "You're going to go that way," she pointed to the right." Itachi nodded and started backing up. The car was silent as he drove. He didn't like a lot of music. He thought Sakura would say something to either him or Hinata, but she was being rather quiet today. Her hand was in his, though, and she wasn't clenching it like it was a lifeline, so he didn't think they were dark thoughts. Perhaps she was rethinking her list and making sure she didn't want anything else or she was thinking of the costume she would wear tonight, he didn't know. He just hoped he was right and it wasn't anything that would make him lie in bed with her for three hours before taking his leave. He thought for a moment. He didn't know if her parents were coming home tonight, early the following morning, or wouldn't be back until the afternoon. If it was the last choice, or maybe even the second, Sakura was sure to wrestle him into staying the night again.
"Oh, right here," Sakura said, pointing to the store. Itachi nodded and pulled into the small parking lot. There was a spot right near the door and he was happy about it. It was rather chilly today and he didn't want to make Sakura walk further than she needed to.
Sakura hopped out of the car and tugged on Itachi's hand, pulling him towards the door, chattering excitedly. Hinata couldn't help but laugh, watching as she got out of the car. Sakura was quite excitable when she wanted to be. She followed behind them silently and Sakura seemed to notice her after a few seconds, turning to grab her hand and pull her towards the store as well.
"So we need lots of chips! I want to make a veggie platter and have some fruit and candy around too. We need some candy for the guests and some for any trick-or-treaters that come by," she informed them when they got into the store.
"What about drinks?" Hinata asked, tilting her head.
"Oh shit, I didn't even think about that," Sakura said, stopping for a moment. Hinata laughed and Itachi only stared at her, an entertained look in his eyes.
"We can get some soda and some ice tea," Hinata said, trying to offer Sakura some ideas.
"That sounds smart. I'll leave you in charge with that," Sakura said, laughing. She was too distracted with thinking of all the snacks she was going to get and didn't want to think about drinks. Hinata didn't seem to have an issue with that and so took a cart, walking off towards the aisle. She thought Sakura would want several twelve packs instead of two liters. It was less of a chance that soda would end up all over the floor with cans. With regular cups, it was more likely people would bump into them and their contents would make a sticky mess.
Sakura, meanwhile, was walking along with Itachi while he pushed the cart. He had insisted and she thought it was sort of cute. She was holding her notepad as they walked along the snack aisle and she loaded the cart up with chips, crackers, and the like. He looked into the cart with a raised brow.
"Do you really need this much?" he asked.
"You don't know how many people come to our parties, huh?" Sakura asked, laughing. "Half the school usually turns up and so do some college kids. Alcohol isn't allowed though, so if you see anyone trying to bring it in, use your stoic, intimidating manliness to make them go away, okay?" she laughed again. Itachi raised a brow at her. "You're intimidating! And you look like a second-year college kid, at least. You'll be a good bouncer."
"You expect me to stand outside the door all night?"
"No, silly," she giggled and tossed a few more things in the cart. "You just have to come with me to answer the door when the doorbell rings. I'm way too quiet for anyone to listen to me when I tell them to go away."
"You think I would be able to do that?" Itachi asked. "I am the most socially inept man on the planet." Sakura couldn't help but laugh again as she led him towards the produce section for all the veggies and fruits she wanted.
"Well, then I'll tell them that they aren't welcome and you just have to back me up," she laughed. "Just look all sinister and stuff, you know?" Itachi just shook his head. He wasn't going to get out of this. Sakura just wanted everything her way and he wasn't about to say no to her. He was sure he wasn't even able he could say no to her.
"I suppose that should work," he said. Sakura only smiled brightly at him and began putting more into the cart.
"What do you think? Should we get hummus or just ranch dressing?" she asked, stopping in front of the hummus and wrinkling her brow. She wasn't sure. She loved hummus, but ranch would probably go more quickly.
"Just get the hummus. I am sure you have ranch dressing in your house somewhere if someone wants it," Itachi said easily. Sakura just smiled and tossed it into the cart. He was so right. She sighed.
"I think that's all. Why don't we go find Hinata and pay for all this?" she asked, turning back towards where they came. She hoped Hinata was easy to find. She was right. Hinata was just sitting in the drink aisle. She sat beside the cart, just looking through something on her phone. "Hinata," Sakura laughed, "What are you doing on the floor?"
"I was waiting for you," Hinata smiled. "I didn't know where you'd be so I just decided that staying here would be the best option. Is this enough?" she pointed to the cart.
"Oh, hell no," Sakura laughed. Hinata had grabbed a carton of several different kinds, but Sakura knew she would need double that. "Here, Itachi, help me get one of every kind," she said, gesturing towards the cart. Itachi just nodded and helped her pull down more cartons. Once they were done, Hinata got up from the store and began pushing the cart towards the checkout area. "Here, Hinata," Sakura handed her a few twenties. Hinata nodded and went into her own lane. Itachi showed up to help her with all the soda.
"I don't need help, you can go back to Sakura if you want," Hinata said softly. She almost thought Itachi didn't hear her, for he didn't answer her for a long moment.
"These are quite a bit heavier than what Sakura has in her cart, " Itachi said. "I believed you needed more help than she does." He didn't mention that Sakura was also the strongest girl he knew and obviously didn't need his help, heavy items or not. Hinata smiled and nodded, accepting his help.
They met up with Sakura outside, who was already loading things into the back of Itachi's car. She was organizing it quite nicely and she pulled a rough blanket from the corner of the trunk, spreading it out. He gave her a curious look.
"I don't want the soda to break. If it does, we can clean the blanket," Sakura explained. "It's a lot harder to clean your trunk." Itachi was surprised with the amount of thought she put into this. She was trying her hardest not to create a mess, though there wasn't much evidence to point towards a mess. She was very in tune to everyone's emotions and probably knew he was anxious about messes in his car.
Hinata and Itachi handed her the cartons of soda that she put into the trunk very neatly. He thought, for a fleeting moment, that she was slightly OCD, but he couldn't care less. She smiled once they were done. "Why don't you two get in the car?" he asked, pulling the carts towards him. "I'll put these away." The girls nodded and got into the car. Itachi joined them not long after.
"How do I get back to your house?" he asked Sakura, not really knowing the way though he'd already made the journey once. He wasn't the best with directions. Sakura only smiled and patiently directed him. It didn't take long to get back to her house.
"Sakura, how do you not have the cops called on you with all the kids here every year?" Hinata asked as they got out of the car and were bringing the groceries in.
"If you haven't realized, the closest neighbor is like a quarter mile away," Sakura laughed. Hinata was slightly surprised. She hadn't thought of that. Her house was much the same and she guessed Itachi's was too. "We can make a lot of noise without the neighbors calling. If there are kids outside and they think they're drinking though, we'll definitely get the cops called. So let's try and keep everyone inside, okay?" Sakura smiled. Hinata only nodded.
It took them a good five minutes, but they finally got all the groceries inside. "Alright, I'm going to cut up all this fruit and all these vegetables," Sakura said. "You guys can grab some chairs and sit with me, or you can go watch TV in the living room until the others come back." Hinata was certain Itachi would choose to stay with Sakura, so she went to grab a couple chairs. Itachi thanked her quietly and sat beside her.
"Do you have anything I can snack on right now?" Hinata asked softly. It was about two in the afternoon now and she didn't have anything for lunch. Sakura tossed some crackers and cheese at her from the fridge, handing her a knife and a cutting board after. "Thanks," Hinata said with a smile on her face. "Would you like some, Itachi?" she asked.
"If you would be so kind, I will oblige," Itachi said politely. Hinata wondered why he was so nice and polite. He could be dry and sarcastic sometimes and she thought he was endlessly more entertaining when he was. She cut some cheese and handed him some crackers before doing the same for herself. Sakura set a couple glasses of juice in front of them. She was a sweet hostess when it came down to it and she seemed to know what they wanted or needed before they could say a word.
"Would you like any help, Sakura?" Hinata asked after a few minutes, uncomfortable by the silence. She figured the two often spent their time in silence. They didn't seem to mind the silence by any means.
"I'm good. I like cutting vegetables and such," Sakura said with a smile. Hinata just nodded, sitting quietly again. After a few minutes and more crackers and cheese, she pulled out her phone and distracted herself with texting Naruto. Naruto seemed to be having a fun time shopping with the others. He was currently going on and on about fairy lights that he bought a shit ton of. She raised her brows at her phone, wondering why he was so excited about fairy lights.
"Did Naruto mention fairy lights at some point?" Hinata asked. "He's sent me like ten messages about all the fairy lights he's gotten." Sakura couldn't help but laugh.
"He mentioned something about it earlier," Sakura said, shrugging. "He said that we should have a shitton of fairy lights and I guess he found them all," she laughed. Hinata just shook her head.
"He gets excited about the weirdest things," she laughed. She wasn't new to Naruto's easily excitable nature. He could get excited over a stick if he really wanted to.
"He gets the most excited about you," Sakura said nonchalantly as she turned to get a large plate for the vegetables. She made two platters, a tin of hummus in the center of each. "He seemed a little sad all the time before you came along."
"He's always been excited to see me, though," Hinata said softly. She wasn't the fondest of attention being drawn to her, but Sakura never seemed to care. It was made worse by Itachi sitting quietly next to her, but he didn't seem to care much either. He hadn't even looked at her since she'd offered him some of the snack.
"That's because he's always liked you," Sakura laughed. "Naruto's been beating himself up about a lot of things these past few years. He was upset about my mental health problems and I'm certain he still blames himself for my accident," she said softly, shrugging. "You're good for him. You distract him from feeling so bad about those things."
"He still feels bad about it, though," Hinata said softly. "I don't think he'll ever get over it."
"Well," Sakura raised her glass of juice, "Here's to hoping he'll let it go eventually," she smiled thinly and downed her juice.
It wasn't long before the others finally got back and Hinata was slightly glad. The attention Sakura had brought to her made her feel a little uncomfortable. It was impossible to feel awkward with Naruto around, though. He jumped from topic to topic, not leaving attention on a specific person for too long. It was a nice quality to have in a boyfriend.
Hinata trailed after Naruto to empty his bags and help him set up. Sakura was still cutting things up in the kitchen, though she had emptied some of the chip bags into rather large bowls. Itachi was still sitting with her, so there wasn't a chance of her getting lonely.
"How was shopping?" Tenten asked her when she came in with more bags.
"It was fine. I didn't think Sakura would need so much food and drinks," Hinata said, shaking her head. "Will they all be gone by the end of the night?"
"Definitely," Tenten laughed. "I was here last year and there wasn't anything left by the end of the night. A lot of the kids in school look forwards to their Halloween party every year." Hinata nodded. She had been invited a couple times, but didn't go. She wasn't one for parties, but Naruto had asked her to come this year. His eyes had been so excited and wide and she couldn't bear to say no to him. There were some times where she just couldn't say no to him.
"Hinata! You should help me put up all these lights!" Naruto said, holding some painter's tape up and gesturing to at least twenty boxes of orange and purple lights.
"Remember to put the baby gate up with a sign, Naruto!" Sakura yelled from the kitchen. "We don't want anyone going upstairs and we don't want anyone in the study!"
"As you command, Captain!" he yelled back. Though she didn't remember, they had decided long ago to put up a baby gate on the stairs and signs to keep anyone out from places they didn't want them. Then, one of them would be upstairs and the other would be downstairs in the basement, watching their party-goers. They didn't want any shenanigans going down. With more of their close friends with them, Sakura could have one of them check the upstairs bedroom and the study periodically to make sure no one was in the bedrooms. They didn't want any hanky panky going on.
"We'll have movies up here and music and dancing in the basement," Naruto informed Hinata as they started putting up the lights. He was planning to have half the lights up here and half the lights in the basement. Sasuke had some cobwebs that he was hanging up in several corners. Tenten and Nehi were putting up purple, orange, and black streamers over the doorways. They weren't aiming for scary, not in the least, just some general ambiance.
"Itachi, there's a foldable table in the garage if you could grab that," Sakura said, beginning to stick toothpicks into the various fruit she had and then arranging them on plates. "There's another two in there too. One needs to go in the basement and the last one stays in there in case anyone wants to smoke." Itachi nodded and headed towards the garage, knowing there was a door leading into it from the house.
He came back in a few minutes later, lugging a rather large fold-out table unaided. It didn't weigh as much as he thought it was. He stopped in the kitchen with it, wondering where she wanted it. "It goes in the living room. If there isn't room for it, Naruto will help you," she said. Naruto and Hinata had gotten there with their lights at that point. Itachi nodded and headed that way. Naruto pointed to a spot he'd already cleared right below the windows. Once Itachi had unfolded it, Naruto pointed to the bags.
"There are a couple plastic tablecloths in there if you could put them on the tables," he said. Itachi only nodded again and rooted through the bags. They were quite easy to find and he tossed it on the table. He then went back to the garage and set up the table there, tossing another tablecloth on it before grabbing the last table and bringing it into the house. Neji was there to help him navigate his way into the basement. He didn't know where Naruto wanted this one, but he shoved it up against a wall and tossed the last tablecloth over it.
He returned to the kitchen and Sakura handed him a few bowls, a few in her hands as well. They set up the tables, the drinks underneath. They finished before the others did and Sakura collapsed into a sofa, smiling when Itachi joined her. Her feet hurt just a bit and she was feeling a little tired. Itachi wrapped an arm around her shoulder and had her lean against his side. She smiled as she did. He was quite comfortable to lean against.
"When will people be arriving?" Itachi asked.
"In about two hours. I still have to go upstairs and get changed and shit," she said, stretching her arms over her head. "I don't know if Naruto's gotten the signs up or the baby gate set up, so I'll probably do that before I go upstairs." Itachi nodded. He was sure she would tug him along after her. "Naruto!" Sakura called. "Did you get the baby gate and the signs set up?"
"Not yet!"
"I'll do it!" she called back. She hopped up off the couch and went to the closet near the front door. She pulled the old baby gate out and set it up in front of the stairs. She went to the study next and grabbed a few pieces of paper and a giant sharpie. She wrote a couple signs and stuck them up where she needed them to be. She sat next to Itachi when she was done and he wrapped his arm around her again. She leaned her head against his shoulder and shut her eyes tiredly.
"That's a lot of setting up you had to do. How did you manage it when it was just you and Naruto?" Itachi asked quietly. They were pretty alone in this room, as the rest of their friends had gone downstairs, but he still didn't want anyone to overhear.
"We would start the night before," Sakura shrugged. "We didn't think we needed to this year beause we had so many of our friends with us." Itachi nodded. He thought it was quite smart and he was happy he'd been around to help. It seemed to be a lot of work and he had no clue how they managed to get it all done in time before. Sakura just shrugged for the most part. "Do you want to come upstairs with me while I get ready?" she asked, already almost halfway off the couch. He acquiesced and followed her up the stairs, finding it easier to get over the baby gate than she did. He made a mental note to get over it first and help her when they came back down. He followed her to her room and sat on her bed. "Did you bring a costume?"
"I am not one for costumes. If anyone asks, tell them that I am a shadow," he said with a small, wry smile. He was dressed in all black and, by her answering giggle, she understood the joke. She rolled her eyes at him.
"As long as you don't have an issue with me wearing a costume, then I guess I don't really care," she said with another giggle. She grabbed something from her closet and left the room for the bathroom, a little shy of changing in front of him. He didn't care. She came back in a few minutes later wearing a fairy costume, complete with wings. Though he wasn't too impressed with it, it certainly showed off some of her best features and he couldn't help but stare at her for a few minutes.
"What?" she asked, a blush on her face.
"I am just thinking how I would like to get that off of you," he said quietly. She flushed a darker red and turned away quickly, going to her dresser. She grabbed her makeup bag and walked back towards the door. She gestured towards the hallway.
"Come on, lover boy, you can watch me do my makeup," she said. He gave her a smirk and followed her to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet while she opened up her makeup bag, arranging things on the sink. He was silent as she did her makeup, not wanting to distract her. It took her quite a while to do everything, and when she turned to him with a smile, he found out why. There were many bright colors integrated in her eyeshadow and a lot of glitter and small rhinestones around her eyes. He thought it was quite pretty. "What do you think?" she asked, checking herself in the mirror again.
"I think you did a very good job," he said from his seat. She smiled at him in the mirror. She pulled away from the mirror and searched through her bag for a moment before pulling out some pink lipstick and putting it on. It didn't do much, not really, but he liked the way it looked on her nonetheless.
"Alright, time to go back downstairs," she said, packing everything back up into her makeup bag and going back to her room to put it away. Itachi followed her back down the stairs and into the living room again. Naruto, Hinata, and Tenten were missing. Neji and Sasuke were the only ones down here, in armchairs, sipping from glasses of water.
"They went to change," Sasuke explained quietly. Sakura blinked.
"Thanks," she said, sitting in her usual couch and smiling when Itachi joined her again.
"How much more time?" he asked, wondering when people were going to arrive. He wasn't much for parties and wasn't really looking forwards to a lot people being here. He didn't care, though. He would have Sakura next to him for most, if not all of the night. It would be much more easily dealt with when she was near.
"Any minute now," she said.
She was right. People began arriving, slowly at first, but then in groups. It wasn't long before the house was full. Itachi was glad he was with Sakura on the first floor, where there was just a movie marathon going on. Downstairs there was loud music and a lot of people dancing with each other. Sakura didn't seem too interested in that sort of thing. They were sitting next to each other, his hand in hers as they were watching scary movies with the huge group that was up here. Every now and then, she would get up and check the upstairs, then she would come back and sit beside him. When the doorbell rang, they would go to the door together and greet whoever was there. He was doing well as a bouncer. If there were college kids with alcohol, he did a great job at intimidating them and making them leave or put their alcohol back in their cars before allowing entrance.
Something happened around midnight that he wasn't expecting. He didn't think his brother expected it either. There weren't many people left. Most had gone home or were in the process of leaving and were all thanking Sakura for the great party again this year. She just smiled and sent them on their way. She would give a carton of soda or a bag of chips to some people. She had a little bit of food left over and she would give most of it to her guests while they left.
Most were gone after a while, but Itachi was surprised to see a car pull into the drive. It was driving erratically and whoever was driving stomped on the breaks. Sasuke came to the door to, having heard the tired screech. He was curious and didn't really know what was happening. He was even more confused when the person got out of the car.
"Sasuke Uchiha!" his father was out of the car and stomping angrily towards the door. "Where have you been? Your mother and I have been worried sick about you!" the man wasn't really yelling, but he was demanding everyone's attention. Itachi narrowed his eyes and pushed Sakura back into the house.
"Stay here, we'll handle this," he said quietly, quickly. He didn't want Sakura in the way of his father's drunken wrath. He was about to step between him and Sasuke so he didn't get any of his wrath either. He'd been doing this for years and he didn't even stop to think about it. He didn't have to. He was going to protect his little brother from his father's wrath, no matter what.
"You said you were going to be home an hour and a half ago, boy," he said angrily. Sasuke was getting angry at this point. They would never treat Itachi this way. His father hadn't even come here for Itachi, only him. It angered him, quite a lot. Why didn't his parents care about Itachi in the least? He didn't understand.
"It's my fault," Itachi spoke up. Sasuke turned to him, surprised. It was in no way Itachi's fault that he had lost track of time and forgot that he should have called his mother and let her know. Here he was, though, taking the fall. He stood toe to toe with his father, his calm obsidian eyes watching the older man. "I should have reminded Sasuke that it was getting late and that we must be getting home."
"I don't believe I said you could speak, boy," his father spat venomously at him. Sasuke was surprised at his father's reaction to Itachi taking the fall, but Itachi wasn't fazed in the slightest. "I should have known it was you that caused this. Why are you trying to make your brother into a worthless piece of shit, just like you?" Sasuke was about to interject, say something to defend his brother, but Itachi grabbed his wrist, clenching tightly. It was a soundless warning. Don't say anything. Itachi would talk to him later and explain everything if he just didn't say anything right now. It would only perpetuate their father's anger and Itachi wasn't so sure he could keep his father's rage from Sasuke if his brother were to say something in support of him.
"I apologize, father," Itachi said calmly.
"Why are you even here, boy?" his father asked, his harsh, dark eyes watching him with little care. "Don't you have something to brood over? I didn't think you even had friends, you're so worthless." Sasuke was getting angrier and angrier from every word that was coming out of his father's house. "Your mother and I didn't even think you came home at night anymore. We were glad, thinking that you ran away."
"How could you say that, father?!" Sasuke yelled, surprising both Itachi and his father. "You're our father! How could you say that you're happy you thought he ran away?!" His father looked from Sasuke to Itachi, the rage in his eyes growing.
Sakura was watching the entire exchange from the doorway, becoming increasingly worried. She couldn't hear the exact words, but their father seemed to be berating Itachi. Suddenly, Sasuke yelled something. There was a moment of stunned silence between the three.
Then, there was a loud, resounding crack and Itachi crumpled to the ground.