#12 – Weakness
Itachi shook off the droplet of sweat from his fringe and squirmed at the runner who had just crossed the finish line, ending with an unnecessary cartwheel. The crowd roared in reciprocation and broke into a deafening applause; Itachi frowned upon realising the showoff was Deidara.
"Since when did he learn to run that fast…"
"Aren't you enjoying the race, Suzuki-san," Sakura remarked as she took up position next to him, cocking her head in mild confusion. "Or is that a secret name I didn't know about, Itachi-san?"
"Suzuki called in sick last night; I'm the replacement."
"Didn't expect you would volunteer to man the first-aid stand."
"I'm also from the med department, it shouldn't be too strange that I'm here." He pointed towards his right chest, where the plastic nametag labelled "Uchiha" shone indignantly. Sakura was secretly impressed – he must have applied ahead in time to receive that nametag. She liked that they both enjoyed saving people.
"Well that's true, but I was expecting to see you on the race track…" She left the words hanging as her eyes trailed towards his eyes. He thought for a moment, wondering which part of him gave her such an impression. Surely athletes would not be consuming a dozen dango as supplement on a weekly basis.
"I don't recall ever participating in any Sports Day."
"Oh! Sorry I must have confused you with Sasuke-kun then." She stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.
This was the first time they had officially spoken on campus; it had just come to his attention the frequency of their contacts outside school was nearly on par as Sasuke. Speaking of his brother, he was certain he had signed up for the 1.6 km run, and he made a mental note not to miss the race.
"You don't look so hot, want me to bring some water?"
"Sorry, take one for yourself too." Sakura nodded and jogged in the direction of the refreshments stand. A week ago, this had seemed like a great idea. It had been mostly cloudy and despite being well into mid-summer, the uncharacteristic windiness offered an illusion of early autumn. However, precisely the moment such thought crossed his mind, the weather gods conspired with a year's worth of scorching heat. Itachi licked the saltiness off his lips and tried to push away these useless thoughts.
Two girls he recognised by sight sashayed passed the first aid station and waved energetically at him. "Good morning, Uchiha-senpai! Looking forward to be saved by you…"
"Maya, what are you saying? Don't you go fainting during the relay!"
"That may just happen… I mean, look at the sun! And where's the water station, I'm dying of thirst!"
"I'm back, here you go," Sakura said and handed over the plastic cup of water. To her dismal, he passed the cup that she had queued so long for to some random girl ogling over him in front of the booth. And did she think that no one noticed that unnecessary brushing of fingers over his hand…
"Aren't you thirsty too?" She managed out, even though what she wanted to say was, "Why did you do that?"
"Her race's about to start, she's not going to make it with that inefficient queue at the water station," He stated plainly and nodded his chin towards the snaking queue on the opposite side of the spectator's seats. Sure enough, the announcement of the commencement of Women's 400m Relay blasted from the overhead speakers.
"How thoughtful of you…"
"Do you mind me drinking from your cup?" Before she could answer with another snarky remark, his hand cupped over her hand gripping the cup and pulled it towards his lips. Sakura stood frozen and hyper-aware of the heat radiating from the contact between their hands. Itachi was careful not to swallow more than half of the drink, so even though it was barely enough he pulled back and brought the cup towards her mouth.
"Drink up." After producing a tiny nod did he seem satisfied and released his hand.
Sakura stared at the rim where his mouth was a second ago, trying not to think what it meant as she pressed her lips against the invisible imprint, and gulped down the water. Maya, the girl from before, had just crossed the finish line with remarkable distance from her opponents. She turned towards their direction and waved. Sakura resisted rolling her eyes and offered a few perfunctory claps.
As the races broke off and the sun rose higher and higher, students and staffs began collapsing one after another, along with the occasional ankle sprains and abrasions from their tumble. Even with the help of some staff volunteers, Itachi and Sakura were kept occupied, and their conversations were reduced to first-aid jargons.
Sakura had just finished setting up a makeshift shelter for the resting casualties when Itachi returned, his arms slung around a student who had fainted from the heat.
"Are you okay? Want to switch roles? I can carry them back."
"I'm fine, just need some water." Despite saying that, he made no protest as Sakura forced him down onto the casualty's chair and gently wiped his drenched forehead. He leaned against the backrest and closed his eyes, trying not to mind that Sakura had been wiping at the same spot for the past minute.
"Uchiha-san!" Their dedicate moment was interrupted by Maya's high-pitched voice. "I've brought you some juice," She declared and thrust the cup towards him, cutting between him and Sakura.
"Thank you, you didn't have to," He nodded in gratitude and gulped down the icy orange juice in one swig.
"Just wanted to thank you for earlier…" Her cat eyes slanted to Sakura standing next to his chair. "Oh sorry, I only brought one drink," She apologised with a sincerity that could compete with Sai.
"I'm fine," She replied coolly and pointed to the spectator's stand, "Your friend's calling you. Shouldn't you be going?" Just then two runners crashed into one another on the track, followed by a long blow of whistle, which was their signal to get to work.
"Itachi-san, let me handle this…" He stood up and pushed her onto his chair.
"You take a break." He gave her a faint smile and jogged towards the track. When it was just the two girls, Maya crossed her arms and scowled at Sakura's lingering eyes on his retreating back.
"I heard that you rejected his proposal, so why are you still sticking around him? Having second thoughts?" She was about to counter that she had signed on before Itachi but remembered something Shizune Sis said, "A smart woman picks her fight." She owed this girl no explanation.
The crowd came alive once again as the honk echoed throughout the stadium, the start of the next race. Sakura noticed an agile figure spotting a spiky head of navy hair effortlessly taking the lead: Uchiha Sasuke representing his School of Business. The cheerleaders broke into a Sasuke-dedicated chant that the crowd easily synchronised to. Sakura really had to give it to the charm of the Uchihas.
Three rounds down, one more lap to go. By then most of the runners were at their limit, and it was down to a neck to neck between Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba from the School of Bioscience. However it was apparent who would take the victory spot as Sasuke suddenly picked up pace and veered off the track…? Team Kiba's cheerleaders' and his smatterings of supporters' cries within the mostly deflated spectators quickly covered up the minute confusion.
However, when she saw where he was headed for, her heart stopped cold in her chest.
"Nii-san! Get out of my way…" He pulled off a parasol lying on the field and quickly erected it, shading them from the sun and nosy onlookers' sight. A minute ago, Itachi was carrying two boxes of rations from the truck. Sasuke knew he was weak to heat and hated such clamourous events above anything, but because he was participating, he came for him. Itachi was watching as Sasuke was prepping his last breath towards the finish line, when he suddenly got down to one knee, dropping the boxes onto the grass patch.
"Sa…sasuke," He breathed out between tight pants, his lips frightfully pale and dry. Sasuke propped him onto his knee, sweeping off his bothersome long fringes that Itachi was so fond of keeping.
"Follow my command, like we've done the last time, got it? Regulate your breathing, inhale, exhale…"
"Sasuke-kun, use this!" Sakura's voice cut between his frantic heartbeats. For a minute he was unsure to be more surprised by her ready appearance or what was in her outstretched hand. With his thumb, he flipped off the aspirator's transparent cap and inserted the mouthpiece into Itachi's mouth. After two deep inhalations, it seemed to do the trick, and his breathlessness gradually reduced into weary pants. Together they helped him into a sitting position and Sakura passed him a cup of warm water.
"I didn't know you have asthma," Sakura whispered softly by his ear.
"Didn't you tell me you're all good?" The momentary relief on Sasuke's face was once again overshadowed by the deep frown that told Itachi he was not pleased at all.
"Stop making that face, I'm fine now," Itachi chided with a light smile and pulled himself up.
"…You know I'm really glad you came and watch my race, but you know you're weak against heat, yet you still tire yourself out with carrying people and those damn boxes-"
Wow, Sakura thought inwardly. She had no idea Sasuke was such a nag. This was probably the most she had heard him speak since she knew him.
"Why do you have my aspirator, Sakura?" Itachi managed between Sasuke's endless nag, and Sasuke finally stopped, curious himself.
"Urgh, he told me not to say…" Sakura briefly eyed the spectator stand and turned towards Itachi. "It's Deidara-san, he was the one who passed it to me." His eyes widened by a fraction before it was replaced with his usual indecipherable gaze.
"Uchiha senpai! Are you all right?" It was Maya and her gang of busy mongers. "We saw you collapsed… Can you walk?"
"I'm fine. Congratulations on your win, Maya."
"It was all thanks to you, Uchiha-san…but are you really all right? I wonder if it was the heat…" Sakura eyed the cup of orange juice in Maya's grip as she downed it in one shot.
"It was the drink…" Sakura and Itachi mumbled simultaneously and locked sight, remembering one of their classes on the effects of cold drinks and exercises that triggered asthma. "So, she was the root of your trouble huh," Sakura hissed out in indignation.
"I'm fine now," He whispered behind her back just as Sasuke was picking up the fallen boxes and shooing away those girls, "Thank you."
"I was seriously worried." Sakura could not meet his eye and balled her fists, unable to comprehend his easy forgiveness. Itachi placed his palm over her fist, and gradually she relaxed her grip.
"If it wasn't for Deidara-san, who'd knew what would have happened?"
"Ah, looks like I owe him one huh…" Itachi mumbled with a hint of disbelief, causally breaking their contact when he caught Sasuke's hawk-like eyes trained on them.
For the first time, Saauke took a good look at the girl standing next to his brother. Haruno Sakura, some girl who had happened to be in the same class as him since middle school, of minor significance to him but had somehow caught his brother's attention…
"Sakura." Sasuke held her back as Itachi took over the boxes and waited until he was far enough to catch their conversation. "I need to ask you something." She stared expectantly at him. "Are you working as a hostess at a club now?"
"What? No," She answered on autopilot, quite used to denying her borderline illegal job by now. Well, not anymore. "Why did you ask that?"
His eyes narrowed and scammed her from top to bottom, his gaze making her fidgety. Something flicked across his eyes and he released his grip on her arm, seemingly satisfied with her answer.
"There's no way you would be hired anyway."
"Huh?"
This was based off a personal experience when I was 9 years old, except no one queued for my orange juice and I was the trigger of my own asthma... Well at least my team won the baton relay~