morning, sunshine
058. unwanted

It was about a month into their marriage when she found out.

Personally, Sakura had no idea how he could've hid it from her for so long—and considering they'd been living together for long before that. He really was the stealthiest of shinobi.

It was about five in the morning—an hour she'd never even consider being awake at, unless it was for a mission. She woke up, due to having taken a long nap the day before. (She couldn't help it. The couch was so comfortable, and the sunlight coming in from the window was so warm…)

When she rolled over to cuddle into Itachi's arms, she found that her husband wasn't there. Frowning, she pried open her eyes—and found the bathroom door slightly ajar, with light pouring out from the cracks. Wondering what he could possibly be up to, she carefully masked her chakra and tiptoed soundlessly across the creaky floorboards. Only a shinobi could walk this way, and she was glad she was one.

The sight that laid before her when she pushed open the bathroom door was a little appalling, to say the least.

"Itachi—um…" Her mouth formed into several shapes, but she was unable to articulate a coherent sentence. He looked at her, appearing slightly pained and embarrassed—which, for him, really, meant that he was humiliated—

"Good morning, Sakura."

"Morning. Um. I didn't know you straightened your hair…?" Well, really, it wasn't the fact that he straightened his hair that was a problem—in fact, it wasn't at all surprising—it was the fact that the half of his hair that hadn't been straightened yet was—wavy.

"Everyone tends to their hair somehow," he replied lightly, continuing on with his straightening. She couldn't help but stare in awe when the lock of hair that was previously wavy in such a beautiful manner become straight.

"But—but why do you straighten it? It looks amazing when it's wavy!"

"It doesn't fit with my facial structure." He sounded strained.

"Oh. Well. I think it looks good." She shuffled on her feet awkwardly. When she woke up, he would always be asleep beside her—so he must purposely get up earlier in the morning to straighten his hair, before returning to bed. It must've been a touchy subject for him. "Would you like me to straighten it for you?" she asked.

He quirked a delicate eyebrow at her. "I appreciate the offer, but I question your ability with a hair straightener."

She waved it off. "I don't straighten my own hair, but I've done it for Ino enough. She has wavy hair too, did you know? But I don't think she's as paranoid about it as you are." Itachi looked slightly miffed at this, but handed her the straightener nonetheless. Smiling softly, she took a lock of wavy hair and got to work.

It was quiet for a few minutes, until he said quietly, "Thank you."

"Oh, don't," she said, quite happily. "This is going to make great blackmail."

A/N: I told you it'd be epic, right? RIGHT? 8D

A fast update because I always feel so bad for only updating this monthly. D: