Part 3
Freshly showered and dressed in unusual civilian attire he almost never wore, Itachi made his way through the village to pick Sakura up for dinner. It had been a good day. After leaving a dazed, but obviously happy medic the previous night Itachi had sought out Shisui to secure his assistance in teaching Sasuke and Naruto an obviously much needed lesson. After a short talk with his cousin about what they intended to do, he'd returned home and informed Sasuke about their sparring match first thing in the morning and tasked him with "inviting" Naruto. The way he'd said it left Sasuke with no illusions at all that his and Naruto's presences weren't wished but required.
So, this morning before dawn he and Shisui had ganged up on the two unsuspecting younger boys. It had not been pretty, especially when in the middle of their "spar" it dawned on the both boys that he was coming at them with real killing intent. It had thrown them off so much that he and Shisui had absolutely no trouble beating them senseless and putting the fear of god in them. If they ever tried to interfere in his relationship with Sakura he'd just remind them of what had happened this morning. That and he had no qualms at all about giving them another beating. Pacifist he may be, but Itachi was also fiercely protective of those he loved and Sakura had firmly placed herself at the very top of that list.
His clueless brother, and even more oblivious best friend had been making Sakura's life unnecessarily hard for the past however many years, it was high time that someone paid them back and Itachi would take the burden gladly.
However, now he should concentrate on the beautiful girl currently waiting for him to take her to dinner. Was it normal to feel this jittery at the thought of going out to dinner with her? It wouldn't be the first time that they dined together, either. But all the previous times it had been as friends, acquaintances or comrades, this was their first date. This time he would escort her to a meal as the man in her life.
What a thought. He was the man in her life. It was almost giddying and filled him with immense pride. He had never known that something as seemingly simple as being another person's significant other could make one so proud. But proud he was. He was the man in Sakura's life. She had chosen him. It felt like the biggest achievement of all, and he knew that was because that girl meant so much to him. Had it been anyone else he wouldn't have felt the same way. Only Sakura could make him feel like that.
Now he stood outside her home, heart in his throat as he waited for her to come out. Oh goodness, what if she'd changed her mind since last night? He should have picked her up from work, walked her home and confirmed their plans once again. He shouldn't have waited until the appointed time. Why, oh why had he not thought about seeking her out sooner to confirm that she still wanted to go out with him? If she refused him now, he wouldn't know what he'd do. He'd-…
The opening of her door stopped the frenzied spiral of his thoughts and everything came to a screeching halt when she suddenly stood before him in a beautiful crimson cheongsam dress and sandals, hair wavy and lose around her shoulders, a breathtaking smile on her face.
"Itachi," she greeted softly. "You're early."
"Good evening, Sakura," he greeted with a smile and watched with pleasure as her eyes warmed and face reddened just slightly. The effect he had on her now was exhilarating. He could still remember every second of their kiss last night. The way her lips had moved against his, how her hands had clutched at his shirt and later on his hair. How her breath had hitched in her chest and how she had moaned almost involuntarily when he'd swiped his tongue against her lips. She had been so intoxicating, so sweet, so very innocent that his heart ached just thinking about it.
"Good evening," she replied somewhat shyly, peeking up at him from under her lashes.
"Shall we?"
She giggled at his gallantly offered arm, but took it with an endearing blush and allowed him to lead her out of the building and onto the street. More than head turned as they passed by arm in arm, talking quietly, with Sakura giggling from time to time at something he'd said and Itachi striving to find more and more ways to elicit that enticing sound.
His mother always said that a woman was at her prettiest when she was smiling and this was especially true for Sakura. Already stunning, Sakura got even more beautiful when she smiled. Her whole face would light up, eyes bright and glittering and her smile would almost blind him. He was undecided if he wished she smiled always or that she only smiled for him. Every male she smiled at was bound to fall head over heels in love with her, so a part of him wanted to jealously guard that smile and keep it all to himself, while another part wanted to show it to the world and proudly proclaim that he was the reason she smiled.
In the end, it didn't really matter, as long as she was happy.
"Where are we going?" she asked after a while and Itachi smiled.
"The compound. My parents are dining with the Hokage and Sasuke is staying with Naruto-kun tonight. I want to cook for you. Besides we have a lot to talk about and that's simply not possible in a busy restaurant surrounded by staff and other guests."
He said it matter-of-factly, not wanting to alarm her in any way, and indeed she didn´t look alarmed, she looked amused as she spared him a glance.
"Is something the matter?" he asked, liking the way she looked at him very much and wanting to have a part of whatever amusing thought she was having.
"If I didn´t know any better," she started almost slyly, "I´d think you were trying to seduce me, Itachi."
For a moment, he was speechless and she noticed, giggling a little bit at his somewhat startled expression.
"I read romance novels, you know," she whispered conspiratorially. "And before you ask, yes, I´ve read Icha Icha, kind of inevitable since I´ve had the things in my face for years thank to Kakashi. Anyway, it´s kind of a romance novel trope, that when the guy asks the girl to have dinner at his home, he usually has seduction in mind."
She was joking with him. Good, he´d been afraid that the easy rapport they´d had before his confession would be lost if she felt too nervous around him. That didn´t seem to be the case, luckily. She should always feel comfortable around him.
"If it´s seduction you want, Sakura, seduction is what you will get."
"Are you flirting with me, Uchiha?"
"Depends," he responded slyly and she grinned.
"On what?"
"Is it working?"
"Like a charm," she winked but couldn´t hold his heated gaze for long as she blushed. He knew this was all new territory to her, but she was adapting wonderfully and all of Itachi´s earlier fears and insecurities faded away completely.
Seeing as they´d already arrived at the Compound, Itachi resisted the urge to lean down and kiss her. He didn´t mind if anyone saw them, he wasn´t about to hide their relationship, but he didn´t want word reaching the elders, as the old fools were viable to come to the house and demand answers regardless of who was there. He´d prefer to spare Sakura such a spectacle if possible.
He´d already informed Mikoto and Fugaku of his intentions to date Sakura and they´d given their approval. She had connections to many a significant personage in the village, including the Hokage herself, as well as the future Rukodaime, if Kakashi ever accepted the elders´ offer. She would bring to the clan a lot more than any Uchiha female could, least of which were her extraordinary abilities.
The elders wouldn´t approve or understand. They were too stubborn and too set in their ways, that was why Itachi and Fugaku had been working towards slowly forcing them to withdraw from clan business over the years. But it wasn´t enough. He´d have to act more forcefully if he wanted to subdue them before the time came to introduce Sakura as the woman he courted, the woman he fully intended to one day marry. If she was willing, of course.
They reached the main house without delays and he led her to the kitchen where he´d already set the tale. Dinner was also mostly ready, all he had to do was heat up a couple of things and finish the stir-fry. He invited to her to sit at the table as he busied himself at the stove, looking at her every now and then as she glanced around his mother´s neat kitchen before her eyes found his again and she smiled.
"I didn´t know you could cook."
He smiled and adjusted the heat on the stove slightly before replaying. "I developed an interest in it as a child and my mother was kind enough to indulge me."
"Too bad your brother doesn´t take after you more," she commented dryly. "He can´t even boil water. Neither can Naruto. Kakashi can cook, but simply doesn´t want to, so I´m always the one stuck feeding all three of them."
"All the while nobody bothers to feed you?" he asked amused and she giggled.
"You got it. But it looks like I have my own personal chef now."
He chuckled and shook his head. "Wait till you see if what I make is edible before you make a decision."
"Oh, I have complete trust in your abilities."
"Do you now?"
"Mmhmm."
This time, he couldn´t stop himself and took the wok off the fire before coming to her and leaning down to kiss her. She responded immediately, albeit shyly and Itachi suddenly realized that maybe he shouldn´t have told her to take as much time as she needed. If she continued to be this responsive, he was bound to make a fool of himself sooner rather than later.
It was going to be a long night, no doubt about that.
AN: Two more chapters to go. Next one will probably have some mild citrus in it, while the last one will be a complete lemon. I hope I can pull it off. It would be my first ItaSaku lemon. As you´ve probably noticed this story was in no way planned out, I just went with it and it shows, lol. Still I hope you all like it so for. Thank you to everyone that reviewed.
Currently I´m working on a new story. This one planned meticulously though, and much more serious than what I´ve done here. Minimal humor, more drama. It´s GaaSaku though. I won´t be posting any chapters until I´m at least half way through the 30 chapters planned. I hope you check it out when I start posting it.
Tell me please what you think of this.