Author's Note:
First and foremost: GO BLACKHAWKS! STANLEY CUP CHAMPS 3 TIMES IN 6 YEARS.
Next…
*Insert lengthy apology about how busy I've been and how much it means to me that you guys keep reading and reviewing and pushing me to write here*
But seriously, you guys are awesome. So awesome, in fact, that we are only 48 reviews from 400 and I can't believe how awesome you guys are. Thank you for messaging and reviewing and kicking my lazy ass into gear. You guys are the best.
As a treat, the 400th reviewer of this story (I don't even know if we'll get there, but hey we'll try) will get a one-shot written in dedication to him or her.
So review! And review a lot! And keep kicking my ass.
Warning: There's some kissy-kissy suggestive stuff at the end of this chapter. Proceed with caution.
The First Time
Chapter 12: All Your Life
"You swore you'd be here 'til we decide that it's our time,
But it's not time, you never quit in all your life"
"What is he doing here?"
Her voice was the epitome of a snarl. With another incoherent growl, thick and angry with betrayal, Sakura threw down her cane and lunged with such surprising force at the man standing on the other side of the room that it took Kakashi and Sasuke grappling with her to keep her from hurting herself or the giant blue man. Sasuke had half a mind to let her go just so he could attack the man himself, but he was too confused for that. He didn't know the situation well enough. Too much was uncertain, and he would not act purely on the rage that had bubbled within him at the sight of Hoshigaki Kisame standing almost smugly on the side of the Hokage's office.
Tsunade looked almost concerned for a moment, but then her face took on a distinct look of irritation as Sakura began to thrash underneath Kakashi and Sasuke as curse words that would make the burliest of men blush spewed from her mouth. Her voice was thick with annoyance and authority as she clapped her hands once and boomed, "Stop this."
Sakura's struggling halted as quickly as it started, and her body went limp beneath her two teammates. Slowly, Kakashi and Sasuke moved off of her, testing her to make sure she would not attack the moment she was clear. Letting out an irritated huff, Sasuke leaned over and pulled Sakura to her feet roughly and watched as Sakura ran a hand down her leg with glowing green chakra with a grimace. With the surprise of Kisame being in the Hokage tower and her visceral, sudden reaction, she hadn't realized how much weight she had put on her injured leg.
It hurt.
With another scowl, Sakura ran her hand down her leg once more, numbing it and fixing her thin metal brace so that he leg would hang limply and unmoving at her side. Kakashi had brought her cane back to her, which she had just begun walking with after four months on crutches. But with her leg now numb, the simple dark brown piece of wood would not support her.
"Chair," she bit out while leaning on Sasuke for some support.
Naruto was the one to grab the chair that was closer to the door and bring it over quickly. Kakashi and Sasuke eased Sakura down. The pad of Sasuke's finger wiped away the tears staining the bottom of her fluttering eyelids, shielding her view of Kisame and his view of her. Sakura gave him an appreciative look. The last thing she wanted was for the bastard who had injured her so badly to see her this weak.
Getting herself into a semi-comfortable position, Sakura finally found the courage to look up at the Akatsuki member with a fierce glare. All of his previous smugness was gone and he was watching her with a carefully blank face. Sakura knew that even though he looked relatively relaxed in the room, Kisame would be ready to fight her at a moment's notice. Even though she was crippled, he knew that she could pack a punch, as she had almost killed him when they last met.
Her glowering jade eyes finally shifted over to her shishou, who had, besides her earlier bark of a command, had stayed conspicuously quiet.
Finding courage from somewhere deep, Sakura managed to meet her shishou's deadpan stare. She asked again, her voice shaking just the slightest, "Why is he here?"
"Be patient, Sakura. We are waiting on a few more guests," was Tsunade's ambiguous reply. With an exaggerated sigh, Sakura spent her time glaring at her feet while Kakashi placed a supportive hand on her shoulder (probably just to make sure she didn't lunge again).
After another few minutes of contentious quiet, there were three swift knocks on the door and it opened without Tsunade greeting. Sakura went rigid with anticipation and excitement. She would know that swift knock anywhere.
Looking up, Sakura turned to see Itachi's ANBU squadron enter the room. They were without their masks, and Sakura's face stretched into a wide smile when her beau walked in the door. He had been on a mission for over a month and had returned last night, but he had to spend the evening in the hospital, as was required for any ANBU squad returning from a long-term mission.
Eyes flicking to her, Itachi gave her his greeting in one simple look, but she understood. He nodded his head at her team in greeting and then his eyes trailed to Kisame. To Sakura's surprise, Itachi did not seem at all shocked by the Akatsuki member's presence in the building. Instead, he simply inclined his head at Kisame and then bowed lightly to Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama," he, Genma, and Shino greeted in harmony. There was confusion radiating off of Genma and Shino, but Itachi seemed perfectly at ease around the newest addition to the Hidden Leaf. On the other end of the room, Sakura and Team Kakashi were radiating killing intent, specifically from the pink-haired kunoichi bracing herself to her chair.
"Good," Tsunade said in a loud voice. "We're all here. Now, we can get to business. As you can see, Hoshigaki Kisame is in Konoha."
"Obvi-" Sakura began. Tsunade sent a glare her way that shut the young kunoichi up immediately.
"Hoshigaki Kisame has been acting as a spy for Konoha for the last several years," Tsunade continued. Sakura's eyes moved in one sharp motion to the gilled man, who was now looking at the floor, seemingly uncomfortable with the recent proclamation. Kakashi's hand tightened on her shoulder and Naruto sputtered a surprised, incoherent curse. Sakura went numb. Sighing, Tsunade continued, "Hoshigaki-san made contact with Uchiha Itachi over ten years ago, trying to recruit him to the organization."
The Godaime ignored the audible gasp that came from the ninja in the room.
"Instead of joining, after several years of going back and forth, Itachi was able to convince Hoshigaki-san to give information to Konoha in return for eventual haven when the time came. The time is now. We have enough information to launch an attack on the Akatsuki once and for all. They are at their weakest now with less members and the inability to recruit more," Tsunade continued. Feeling Sakura's piercing glare and desire to speak, Tsunade held up her hand in a shushing, placating movement to her riled apprentice.
"Hoshigaki-san brought his Akatsuki ring with for testing, and the lab is working on decoding it now. Sakura, you will be assisting the other technicians in decoding the ring as you have already done the same procedure with the ring you collected with Akasuna no Sasori," Tsunade continued.
Sakura's eyes flitted to the people in the room and belatedly realized that her big secret had been outed. Not even Naruto showed any form of surprise when Tsunade mentioned that she was in possession of Sasori's ring. It must have been one of the many conversations they had without her when she was strapped to the hospital bed after the attack. Now, a long five months after the battle with Kisame, Sakura had been beginning to recover emotionally and psychologically from losing the use of her leg.
She had even been working on discovering a way to heal her damaged nerves, but now with the sudden appearance of the man who had stripped her of her dreams, she could feel herself beginning to lose it – especially now knowing that he had been in cahoots with her boyfriend and her mentor this entire time.
"So," Tsunade's sharp voice cut through her inner sulking and Sakura's eyes snapped back to her teacher, whose honey colored eyes met hers for a moment and softened. It was the closest thing to a silent apology as Sakura was going to get. "Sakura will be very busy in the lab, and the remainder of Team Seven will be sent on a retrieval and escort mission to the south east corner of Fire Country."
"Huh?" was Naruto's dumb reply, clearly surprised that they were being sent on such a simple mission.
"The package's name is Ito Megumi. She is a nurse in a large port city south of Wave Country, and she is very important to Konoha currently," Tsunade explained, her eyes shifting over to Kisame, who nodded his head imperceptibly.
"The young woman is Hoshigaki-san's fiancée. I know Jounin Squad 7 has reservations about Hoshigaki-san due to previous interactions with him, but as your Hokage I am ordering, no asking, you to please, retrieve Ito-san and transport to Konoha safely and with respect. I understand that this is a hard situation for you, but I trust you and your abilities. You are the best squad for this mission. Ito-san did not ask for this, but now her life is in danger because Hoshigaki-san is helping to save our village." Tsunade's voice was oddly genuine and imploring, and the team knew that they could refuse this mission with good reason if they desired.
This seemed to put the Akatsuki member and his fiancé in a new light, and the room was silent. It was Kakashi who spoke. Glancing at his students, meeting their eye, and seemingly having a conversation with no words, he addressed the room and the Hokage, "We accept the mission, Hokage-sama. Ito-san will be retrieved and returned to Konoha safely and treated with respect and professionalism."
"Good." Did Tsunade sound relieved? She tossed Kakashi a mission scroll. "You will depart tomorrow morning and make haste. Once it is discovered that Hoshigaki is in Konoha, it is reasonable to assume that the Akatsuki will attempt to track him down, and this may lead him to Ito-san. I do not want her in danger. Sakura, go to the lab on the fourth floor and help the team there with the ring. Make sure you bring your notes from Sasori's ring."
Kakashi nodded his head in understanding and turned to leave, but Sakura stayed noticeably still. Her unfocused gaze was somewhere else, far off in the distance, and she wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. Naruto walked out of the room and returned with crutches a moment later.
Sakura took them with murmured thanks. Still bleary and dazed, the kunoichi lifted herself to her feet unsteadily with Naruto's hands hovering nervously by her sides to make sure she wouldn't lose balance. He took her cane and held onto it. Since walking with the cane was new for Sakura, she couldn't use it for more than a few hours a day.
In a voice barely above a whisper, Sakura asked, "Could you adjust the rod, Naruto? Number three."
Naruto acquiesced and knelt down to adjust her leg gently. Sakura looked past her shishou, past her boyfriend, past the man who maimed and crippled her, and stared into the distance of the Hokage monument, seemingly deep in thought about something none of them could guess or understand. This was a lot for her, they understood, and none of them could truly comprehend what their (currently) fragile teammate was going through.
From the other end of the room, Itachi watched his girlfriend start to crack around the edges when faced with this massive onslaught of new information. The girl had lived with the assumption over the last many months that the man who had crippled her was an evil person who hated Konoha and wanted nothing more than world domination.
Now, he was an ally who had risked not only his life, but the life of his precious person as well, to aid Konoha and ultimately help them destroy the largest threat that their village has faced in almost a generation. Sakura's entire world had, for the second time in a year, been completely flipped upside down. Not only was her future completely different than how she had envisioned it, but now her fragile belief system was as well.
Itachi felt horrible that he couldn't divulge this information to his girlfriend earlier, and in a much more sensitive way, but he had been on a mission for over a month. Tsunade had called Kisame to Konoha without Itachi's knowledge, and he did not learn of the Akatsuki member's arrival in the hidden village until earlier this morning. It was too late to tell Sakura about it then, but all things considered, she was taking it rather well.
Team Seven left the room with little more fuss, and Sakura followed with her crutches clicking softly on the wooden floor. Once the jounin squad had left the room and the door was closed behind them, Tsunade turned to Itachi's squad.
"Shisui's ANBU squad and Tenzou's ANBU squad are both due to return back from missions within the week. That will be your team to take on the Akatsuki, along with a team of head medics and Hoshigaki-san," Tsunade addressed the group as a whole now. "After the other squads return from their missions and Team Seven returns from retrieving Ito-san, you will prepare a plan of attack using the rings. We are not sure how, even Hoshigaki-san isn't sure how, but we believe we can use the power held within the rings against the Akatsuki."
"Power?" Genma asked. Instead of responded, Tsunade just turned to Kisame, who had yet to speak throughout this meeting.
Clearing his gruff voice, he said, "Our chakra is stored in the rings as we wear over time. Little bits of are chakra are constantly leeched are stored there. It was our plan to use the chakra to control the bijuu we've collected and launch an all-out attack on the entire shinobi world. There is over ten years of chakra in mine, but I was never able to learn how to control it. I'm not sure about Orochimaru or Sasori, though."
The group mulled it over for several moments before Itachi finally spoke. "We should not begin planning until we receive more information on the rings."
Tsunade's head bowed down once as she gazed at them through her intertwined fingers. Finally, she spoke, and her voice was as calm as it was authoritative.
"I task you, ANBU Squad 15, along with ANBU Squad 4 and ANBU Squad 2, the S-ranked mission of planning and implementing the complete annihilation of the Akatsuki?"
Bowing deeply, Genma, Itachi, and Shino responded in unison.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
X
Sakura sat stiffly while she used long tweezers to slowly pull the ruby out of the hard metal now that she had injected the separating agent so the stone wouldn't break. Her hands were covered in thick protective gloves that she pressed into two holes in a large, thick, hard plastic sheet that protected her face and body from anything that could go wrong with the ring. Her fluttering assistant stood behind her nervously, clearly uneasy as Sakura finally removed the stone from the metal.
"Kyo-san?" she asked distractedly.
"S-s-sakura-sensei?" the soft spoken, uneasy medic asked. The man was a few years older than her and very smart, but he was not good with people. He had a stutter worse than 12-year-old Hinata when around people he did not know. Even after working with Sakura extensively, he still tittered about her anxiously and although his severe stutter was better around her, he still fought the urge.
"Will you please analyze the metal? Take extensive notes of the symbols, in triplicate, while I dissect the stone," Sakura asked politely. Looking up at the clock, she realized it was already after dinner time. She had been working with the ring externally for hours, taking extensive notes about the continuities and inconsistencies between Sasori's ring and Kisame's, before deciding to pull the stone from the thick metal band that was covered in ciphers.
Sighing, Sakura rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and stretched her back, twisting around in her seat. Kyo had already began moving the metal ring carefully into his own little observation booth.
On the other end of the room, two other medics were working on swabs they had taken from the metal to analyze its type and properties. Looking at them, Sakura asked, "Kaori-san, Ren-san, are you two at a good stopping point?"
Kaori was the first to look up from her microscope. "I'm at a good place, Sakura-sensei."
Ren made an affirmative noise in the back of her throat as she finished taking a note in her book.
"Good," Sakura replied. "That's enough for today. I expect you three back here bright and early. I probably won't even go to the SWPD in the morning."
She could see that the quiet excitement when she had released them, but now she watched as her three assistant medics deflated. If she wasn't going to the SWPD in the morning, then that meant they were expected to be there at dawn. Sakura gave a good natured laugh before using her left leg to propel her chair, which had been fitted with wheels, to where her crutches where. Grasping them easily, Sakura pulled herself up.
Ren had brought over her thick cloak and helped her fasten it on. Fall had almost passed, and Sakura couldn't believe that it had been five months that she had been living with a crippled leg. She also couldn't believe she had essentially been living with three men for the last four of those months, one of which was her boyfriend. Then again, Itachi had been gone for almost half that time.
Itachi.
Sakura thought back to today. She didn't know whether or not to feel any form of betrayal from him. If she was honest with herself, she didn't think she could rationalize feeling upset with him. He was a shinobi. They dealt in secrets and lies. But of course, there was a little part of her deep, behind her reasoning and logic, that felt like Itachi should have told her everything – especially his relationship with Kisame.
Sakura watched as Kyo took the metal ring and locked it in a containment box and put it into a safe. He did the same thing with the stone next and the others busied cleaning up. She almost felt bad for leaving them with the cleanup.
Almost.
She opened the door and clicked her way down the hallway to the elevator. After riding the rickety old thing down the four stories of the hospital, she moved her way slowly into the main entrance to the hospital.
Sakura wasn't surprised to see him sitting in the small waiting area, starting straight at her with analyzing onyx orbs. He stood fluidly and reached her in three graceful strides of his long legs. He was still in his ANBU uniform and slightly dirty from his mission, but Sakura didn't mind. If he was here like that, it meant he didn't even go home to shower. He was waiting for her.
Before she could even greet him, his hand was behind his her head and he was pulling her in for a kiss. It was more than a greeting, more than a chaste peck on the lips. His chapped lips met hers rather hardly, and because of her current predicament with the crutches, she couldn't lighten it at all – not that she would if she could.
Itachi pulled back and gave her a small smile reserved just for her. Aware that she was blushing, Sakura looked at the ground and then at the room around her – anywhere besides the smoldering stare of her boyfriend. Everyone, from patients to family to nurses and other medics, were not-so-discreetly observing the couple and their rare display of affection.
Although the two had been together for over six months now, they rarely showed such open demonstrations of intimacy when in public. Itachi was on missions often anyway, but when the two did bother to appear together in public, they were usually very aware of those around them. Finally meeting the gaze of the man who had just appeared before her, Sakura found that he was indeed giving her that smoldering stare that he liked to use to discombobulate her.
"Hi," she breathed out. Itachi finally took a step back and moved to her side so they could return home together.
"Hello," he responded quietly. Sakura's crutches clicked easily through the lobby of the hallway and out onto the busy Konoha streets. It was just past dinnertime, so families, friends, and lovers were walking the streets on their way home after eating their meals together. Sakura smiled as she moved through the streets rather easily, having gotten accustomed to her new method of travel now that she had been using them so long.
"How was your mission?" she asked. Knowing it was classified, she didn't probe too much further.
"It was successful. Did you have any success analyzing Kisame-san's ring?" Itachi responded rather thoughtfully. Sakura slid a sideways glance at her beau. He was obviously apprehensive about her reaction to Kisame's sudden appearance. Itachi was walking straighter than normal with a rather tense posture and darting eyes.
"Not yet," she responded. "We mostly just looked at the outer composition of the ring. I will begin to dissect the stone tomorrow while my assistants run tests on the metal and the symbols."
"Ah," Itachi responded. After another apprehensive moment, his gaze slid sideways to Sakura. "You are not upset."
It was more of a question than an observation. Sakura stopped her slow movement back home and Itachi followed. Looking him in the eye, Sakura gave him a small smile.
"We're shinobi, Itachi," was her sure response. "I…I was shocked. I'm probably still in shock a little bit because of everything…but I'm not angry with you or shishou for keeping it from me. I understand."
Itachi just stared at her for a long moment before leaning down and catching his surprised girlfriend in another hard kiss. Pulling back, he smiled at his flustered girlfriend. He murmured, "You're perfect."
Sakura's blush only grew and spread to the tips of her ears. She muttered back, under her breath, "I'm really not."
Itachi tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears affectionately before turning to lead them down the street once again. Surprised by his sudden affinity for PDA, Sakura could only follow quickly as Itachi strode off rather quickly. It didn't take long to reach the small house that Sakura learned to call home over the last several months. When they were finally inside, Sakura heard Itachi emit an odd noise. She turned to face him, but Itachi was too busy staring at the living room walls.
"Oh," was all Sakura said.
She had forgotten that she had started doing her research out here. Her small bedroom had become too small to handle the information she was going through, so she had started posting photos, diagrams, notes, and more onto the walls for her research on her leg. She had color coded much of the information and used yarn and push pins to connect the relevant information. Now, gazing at all the information she had accumulated, Sakura realized that the vast majority of the living room's walls were covered with her research. Itachi hadn't been home in over a month and had no idea that she had turned the living room into her research lab.
"Ah…" She went to explain.
Itachi just held up his hand to quiet her. Still absorbing his newly redecorated living room, he simply stated, "Whatever works."
Sakura let out a little laugh and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry. It was just easier to think of everything as a whole this way."
"Have you had any success?" he asked quietly, moving further into the living room and into the kitchen.
Sakura shook her head. "Not a whole lot," she responded. "Some. Shishou did a surgery on my foot just after you left. It's helping me use a cane instead of these damned crutches. We think that with one more nerve procedure, I'll be able to use a cane full time."
Itachi nodded and sat down at the small table in the kitchen. There was a note on the table from Sasuke. He was going to spend the night at Naruto's house before the mission tomorrow.
Pulling out a chair for Sakura, he watched her closely as she came over and sat down next to him. He pushed the note to her, and she read it before sliding it across the table. She gave him a small smile, but he realized that she was troubled. After all that had happened today, he shouldn't be surprised that now that her work was over, the immense amount of information she had to deal with would make her upset.
Obsidian orbs stared at her appraisingly, burning into her deeply, and Sakura broke eye contact with him to look down at her twiddling thumbs. His fingers brushed unexpectedly under her chin and guided her to look at him again.
"Sakura."
His lilting tenor and soft black eyes were all it took. Lips trembling, Sakura shook her head, fighting back the deep burning from behind her eyes.
"I don't get it," she finally choked out. Tears had begun slipping down her face, blazing trails into her peach skin. "I don't understand. How come everybody wins out of this except me? He attacked me. I'll be crippled for life now, and he gets safe haven? So does his freaking girlfriend?! Why?! I'm so…mad. Everything I worked for so long is gone. Gone. You don't get it. It's all gone. My teammates will go on missions and I'll be here because of him. How am I supposed to live in the same village as him? I want to kill him, Itachi, I really do. I've never wanted to kill someone before. But I do. I want him dead. I want him to pay for this, but I know it's really not his fault. I know that, but I'm still… I'msomadandsotiredIjustdon'tknowwhattodo."
Her sobs were all-consuming now. Tears were dropping down her reddening face, and her nose was beginning to leak as well. Thick, wet sobs began to choke from her. Her thin hands came to cover her eyes as she began to curl into herself, so that sitting on the kitchen chair, she was as close to the fetal position as she could get. Not knowing exactly how to react, Itachi held his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. This only seemed to make her cry harder.
Sakura unfurled herself slightly and leaned into him, so Itachi pulled her by the shoulders. Her head landed onto his shoulder, and she cried quietly into his neck for a few more minutes. He could feel her hot, wet breath and sticky tears fall into his neck and down his shirt, but he couldn't even bother to care. He felt nothing but sadness for her at that moment; not pity, but just sadness.
Once she had calmed a bit, Itachi leaned over and picked her up quickly, careful not to jostle her leg. He carried her bridal styled to the couch and sat down easily. There were tissues on the coffee table, so Itachi leaned over and pulled a few out. Her sobs were lessening now, and she seemed to be calming down rather quickly. Sakura grabbed the tissues form him and began wiping the tear tracks from her face and blew her nose.
"This is unsightly," she muttered when her cries had halted. Itachi simply traced her back with his calloused fingers, hoping it would continue to help sooth her. Once she had tossed the soiled tissues onto the table, red and puffy emerald eyes finally found the courage to look at him. He gave her the smallest quirk of the lips, and she let out a laugh. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize for your feelings, Sakura," he chastised lightly. Removing the arm from under her legs, Itachi poked her in the forehead lightly. Sakura scowled at him, so Itachi leaned down and placed a tender kiss where his finger had poked.
It was long and gentle, and he then moved to kiss her lightly on the cheek. He could feel her face getting warm for a different reason. Hiding his smirk, Itachi moved and kissed her other cheek, her nose, and the corner of her mouth. When it seemed that he was going to pull back, Itachi was amused to hear a discontent noise come from Sakura. He moved back to see her tempting lips pouted, and almost laughed out loud when her index finger pointed to her lips, asking for a proper kiss.
When he leaned down to kiss her fully on the lips, Sakura was almost knocked breathless. Not because of the kiss, but because of the unhindered affection in his onyx eyes. Only moments after his lips met hers, Sakura was able to push aside the thoughts and kiss him in return. His hard lips kissed her thoroughly. It only took a moment before his tongue was tracing her lip. She opened for him easily, and the slow dance between their slippery tongues began.
Only after minutes like this did Itachi pull back. Gasping for breath, he leaned down quickly and latched onto her pulse point beneath her ear. Sakura's breath grew ragged as he sucked, nipped, and then licked to sooth. Something shifted then. It was a palpable feeling in the air and Itachi pulled back.
Sakura was staring at him with hazy emerald eyes, and it took a moment for him to focus more on his face.
"The kids aren't going to be home tonight," she said with a small, joking smile. She just wanted something good to come out of today, and damn if she didn't miss him while he was gone. All the strong emotions that she had gone through left her tired, but oddly exhilarated and something deep within her just said now. Something about this moment just felt right. Itachi smiled a bit as well, but gave her a long, appraising look. Sakura could tell that he was over thinking things, so in order to distract him and make her meaning very clear, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and yanked it over her head, throwing it to the side in a sudden burst of confidence.
Injecting numbing chakra into her leg so he wouldn't hurt her, Itachi stood up and carried her up the stairs in a flash.
X
Light wasn't even filtering into the room yet when Sakura felt her inner alarm clock begin to go off. She tried to ignore it. Not having yet recalled the activities she and Itachi had partaken in the night before, Sakura shook her head almost in defiance and tried to burrow herself further under the covers.
Except her head would not go further into whatever hard surface she was currently laying on. It was warm, but it was not her pillow. And her covers weren't on her. Sakura pulled her face up just as the memories from the night before began to filter back into her hazy mind. Face heating up in embarrassment, Sakura realized she had thrown the covers off of her from the heat of the small personal heater in Itachi's room and was now laying over him completely naked. And now that their activities weren't keeping her warm, Sakura realized it was cold. Shivering, she shifted to pull herself up so she could get ready for work.
Of course, it was that moment that Itachi chose to wake up, his bleary onyx eyes taking a moment to focus on her.
"Good morning," he greeted, and Sakura instantly decided that his morning voice should be made illegal. It was husky and scratchy, and it made her body instantly heat up for reasons other than her current discomfort.
"Morning," she responded sheepishly quiet. When she went to pull herself off of him, his arms went up to grip her waist to keep her in place. She let out a quiet yelp when she found herself flipped over onto her back with Itachi covering her, peppering her with insistent kisses on her neck and down to her collarbone. The blankets were hanging off of his slim hips and came down around her now, creating a warm curtain from the cold. She belatedly realized he was completely naked as well and was intent on continuing where they had left off the night before.
"Itachi," she said quietly, trying to push him off, but it came out much more as a breathy whisper. She needed to get up and get ready for work now!
"Nii-san, have you seen my –" Sasuke opened the door without knocking. "Kami-sama, get off my teammate! Ew, ew, ew."
The door slammed shut instantly with a loud bang before Itachi could even pull himself off of Sakura, and they heard Sasuke banging down the stairs in a very un-ninja like way. Looking up at Itachi's openly stunned expression – because Sasuke had just managed to sneak up on the both of them – Sakura couldn't help it.
She laughed, and laughed hard. Itachi joined her with his own quiet chuckles before pulling himself off of her so they could start their day.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review (because your reviews are what have kept this story going through two majors, a job, and just life). Remember 400th reviewer (make sure you're logged into your FF account so I can contact you) gets a one-shot.
Things I'd like you to answer in your comments
- What do you think of Kisame being in Konoha and being given haven?
- How would you have reacted in Sakura's situation? Do you think her meltdown was warranted?
- Sasuke walking in on Itachi and Sakura doing the naughty. Thoughts? What will Naruto's and Kakashi's reaction be when they find out that Itachi and their precious blossom are doing the dirty?
I love you all!