REMEMBER
Chapter 3
"I remember that." Itachi commented as he squeezed Sakura's shoulder. "When I brought Sasuke over and realized you were not there, I knew that something must have happened."
Before either of them could say more, a cry from the baby monitor caught their attention. Sakura automatically began to rise from bed but Itachi's hand stilled her.
"Let me," He said as he got up, "You have been taking care of them the whole day when you're supposed to be taking it easy."
Sakura pouted. "I only gave birth, Itachi. I'm fine. Besides, I've had help from your mother."
Itachi leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss after pulling his pants up. "Knowing you, you kept up with my mother instead of resting. Also, I believe it's a wonderful bonding opportunity between the twins and I. I will be back, my love."
Sakura couldn't argue with that. She would give him all the opportunities he wanted to bond with their children. He was an amazing father. She knew that the kids would learn a great deal from him. Her thoughts were on her little family as she burrowed herself back under the blankets and hugged the pillow her husband just vacated. The smile on her lips was one of content. She heard the door to the children's room open with Itachi immediately saying, "What's the matter, Seiko? Daddy's here now."
Their daughter's crying soon lessened, making Sakura's smile grow wider. Sakura couldn't help it. She stood from bad and took Itachi's shirt and put it over her body. She made her way towards the room that held all her favorite people in the world.
Once she entered, she was surprised to see both babies in Itachi's arms as he rocked on the rocking chair. He looked up at her and smiled. "It seems like Seiko woke up Seiji as well."
Sakura knelt in front of them the gently stroked her fingers on their son's cheek before laying a gentle kiss on his forehead. She then proceeded to do the same to their daughter, who seemed to be wide-awake.
Itachi met Sakura's eyes, sharing their amusement. Their daughter seemed to be strong-willed already. "Sleep, little one. I know you are excited but you and your brother have a long day tomorrow so please try and get some sleep." She whispered, stroking her daughter's soft black baby hair.
It was the twins' dedication at the temple the next day. Itachi had fixed his schedule the moment his wife gave birth. With Sakura still on maternity leave, he wanted to make sure that he was free from all his duties to be with his family.
"Let me take Seiji while you put Seiko to sleep. Is she wet?" Sakura asked as she took their little son and checked his diaper.
"Ah," Itachi answered as he followed towards the changing table.
When they learned that they were expecting twins, both of them decided not to get another changing table. They wanted their children to share the things that their older brother would have used.
For Sakura's birthday, Itachi surprised his wife by having the changing table engraved with the names of all their children as well as had an angel carved next to each of the names on the top most drawer.
Itachi would forever cherish the memory of his wife's tears of happiness when he showed her. She had adored it, but loved her husband's gesture more. Ever since that day in Vienna, Itachi had gone above and beyond. He became more protective of her, making sure that she didn't do any lifting.
He made sure that his beloved truly felt cherish. They both don't remember much of the accident. They had lost more than their son that night, especially Sakura. To think that he had considered asking another to be his bride at the same table as Sakura, he could only imagine how shattering it was.
Sakura had made sure that he understood that she didn't blame him nor took it against him. They had talked long and hard about it the night before their wedding. They knew what tradition was but neither wanted to be away from each other. They had grown far used to sleeping and sharing the same bed from the moment they reunited. But no matter what he and his wife had agreed upon, Itachi vowed to himself that he would make up for it for the rest of their lives.
All throughout her pregnancy, Sakura would fall asleep in her husband's arms as usual but he made sure that his hands would always rub where their children grew inside of her. When he would think Sakura was asleep, he would talk to them about nothing in particular while rubbing. Sakura always pretended to be asleep, knowing that it was their bonding time.
It had been hard for Sakura to carry the twins during the last months of her pregnancy. She always had a hard time finding a comfortable position, especially during the middle of the night when the twins decided they wanted to play and be active.
It was that time that Itachi's nightly ritual of talking to the twins that helped Sakura find her sleep. When the twins would start, both of them would try to talk to them to settle down and Itachi would wrap his arms around her and start rubbing, telling the little ones every now and then to let their mother rest.
She knew that Itachi was going to be hands-on father. She wasn't disappointed once she gave birth. She had been exhausted and after a few hours after the first feeding, the twins' diapers needed changing.
Knowing how exhausted his wife was, Itachi had bravely undertaken the responsibility by himself. He vaguely remembered how his mother had changed Sasuke's diapers and he was confident enough to do it without any help from the nurses. After a few diapers later and some advice from the on-duty nurse, he finally figured out how to do it.
That evening, the nurses saw a side of the handsome man their superior married. They saw him as a father.
Now, Sakura couldn't help but walk up to Itachi and wrap her arms around his waist as he straightened from putting their daughter back onto her crib. She laid a kiss on his shoulder blade.
"I love you, Itachi."
Her husband turned towards her gently, taking her in his arms and replying, " I love you, too, Sakura."
XxXxXx
Itachi entered the house and let out a sigh. He ran a hand on his forehead as he was having a headache. Sure he was gifted with intelligence more than average but never could he understand the girls who went to his school.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to appreciate beauty, he did. But he preferred the simplistic beauty than the artificial ones who paraded the school.
He couldn't careless for fan girls. It was only Mikoto's stringent teachings to respecting women that stops him from doing something drastic in pushing them away, like verbally or physically pushing them away. He was glad that he only had two months left to put up with them. They'd be graduating soon and he'd be off to university.
Itachi headed to the kitchen, hoping to get a snack before he headed up to his room. He stopped by the entryway when he noticed Sakura was sitting by the island counter apparently doing homework and had earphones on each ear.
She was so oblivious to his presence that Itachi couldn't help but smile. Ever since they met all those years ago at a supermarket and started playing together, their mothers had become fast friends thus ensuring a lot of play dates. Sakura grew up with his younger brother, while he was charged watching over them.
She was different than the girls at his school. Now at 13 years old, Sakura's nature seemed mature than her age. She had her childish moments still but if Itachi could be honest, he didn't find her annoying. If he had a little sister, he imagined that she would be like Sakura.
Itachi approached her and ruffled her hair when he got near enough. Sakura gave off a surprised, indignant shriek. Her ready glare didn't faze Itachi as he smirked back, took an apple from the fruit bowl and sat in front of her.
"Hello, Pinky," He said as he took a bite of his apple. "Where is Sasuke?"
Sakura rolled her eyes before removing both earphones. "Naruto decided to come over and drag Sasuke out. They've been gone for almost an hour. If Sasuke and I didn't need to start our science project, I would have gone home the moment they left."
"Ah,"
Sakura raised an eyebrow as she watched him eat his apple. She shook her head and went back to finish her homework. She was giving Sasuke only an hour more before she left for home, science project be damned. She'd make him do it all as punishment.
"What are you working on then?" Came Itachi's question.
"Algebra," Sakura answered as she showed him her book. "I'm almost done though. Itachi-san, I need a little help with English. I understand the flow of the chapter but I want to make sure I understand the representations of the characters."
"Sure. What book are you reading?"
"The Animal Farm by George Orwell. Kurenai-sensei said it's an allegory. I'm having trouble finding out if the scene has more than one meaning or not beyond the literal."
"Why don't you finish algebra first and then I will help you with the chapter?" Itachi said as he took out his own homework.
"Oh! If you are busy, Itachi-san, it's okay! I've already finished my report about it."
"It is fine, Sakura."
"But-"
"Sakura,"
She let out a sigh of resignation. "Thanks, Itachi-san."
They worked in silence. That was how Mikoto arrived upon a few minutes later. Mikoto smiled. It was such a normal scene to come upon in her kitchen. Watching the children grow up, Sakura and Itachi were more often together even if Sakura and Sasuke were of the same age. Even if they did go to the same school and would often be placed in the same class, Sakura usually ended up hanging out with Itachi more.
Her youngest and the pink-haired girl grew to be the best of friends but he usually got drag out by their other best friend, Naruto, which was the most probable reason why he wasn't there in the kitchen at the moment.
"Ah, Itachi-kun, you're home. Sakura-chan, why don't you stay for dinner? I'm making your favorite, ebi tempura."
The pleasure, excitement, and a little disappointment was clearly visible to the two Uchihas present. "Thank you, Mikoto-san. I would love to but I think I will pass. I'm sorry. Papa is away on business and it will be just mama at home."
"Oh? Let me call, Mebuki and ask her to come over. It will be more fun to have more people around at dinner, don't you think?" She didn't give the younger girl to decline as she turned and headed to the phone.
"I guess I'm staying to dinner then," Sakura said under her breath, not intending for Itachi to hear.
He heard nonetheless. He didn't plan on commenting but when Sakura said, "If that's the case…hmm…I think some blueberry cheesecake would be good for dessert."
"Come on. Let us go the store so we could come back early." Itachi offered as he got up and started packing his things.
Sakura was startled. She didn't realize that she verbalized her thoughts. She hesitantly got up and started packing as well. Arguing against the elder Uchiha brother about changing his mind was pretty useless. She knew well enough that he would even stop her from paying what she planned to buy and would be carrying all the stuff back.
As they were walking to the store, both were content with the walk. These were the times when her young heart would flutter the most. These were the times when she couldn't help but think that he must have done something right to have such a handsome male close to her. She would never confess to another soul that her young heart started to see Itachi as more than her best friend's brother and a close friend.
She wasn't sure when her crush developed. But she did know that she had always admired Itachi for his character. He was just as silent as Sasuke but Itachi was different. It also helped that Itachi was her hero.
Both Uchiha brothers aside from her friend Ino had helped her against bullies. They looked out for her. But it was Itachi who had really taught her how to stand up for herself. Where Sasuke and Ino would fight the bullies for Sakura, Itachi gave her the opportunity to stand up for herself while lending her strength.
It was during walks together with only the two of them could Sakura pretend, even for just awhile, that they were together more than friends. She told herself that was enough because she knew there was no way Itachi would look at her more than a little sister he never had. He was this perfect, amazing 18-year-old young man who was on his way to University. He was always surrounded by girls prettier and more talented than her who was closer to his age. He would never look at her way romantically.
With that knowledge, Sakura closely guarded her secret close to her heart, happy to have small moments with him. She knew that he would eventually find someone whom to love and she dreaded the day. She had been preparing herself to be happy for him because that was the right thing to do.
As they made their way to the store, Sakura decided to break the silence. She saw something briefly when she looked up at him at the kitchen earlier. As much as he could read into her, she would like to believe it was mutual.
"Not that I am prying, Itachi-san, but I know that something is bothering you when you walked in earlier. What's wrong?"
Itachi was surprised. He didn't think that Sakura saw that much. "It is nothing, Sakura. Worry not."
Before she could answer, a feminine voice interrupted their solitude.
"Itachi-kun!"
Both Itachi and Sakura looked over to the source of the voice and saw a group of teenage girls looking their way.
The group made their way quickly over. Itachi inwardly groaned.
"Itachi-kun, what a pleasant surprise." One with chocolate brown hair and blue eyes said. Sakura would have to admit that she was beautiful and couldn't help but feel a little envy.
With how her looks only passed as a wallflower with their unremarkable features, this girl was tall, slender and had the curves. She had a lot of make-up on though and her voice was a little on the high side, not to mention how short her shirt was and how tight her camisole was, showing off a great deal of cleavage.
The girl walked right up to Itachi, pushing Sakura to the side a little, something that Itachi didn't fail to notice. She then ran her finger on Itachi's person.
Itachi's eyes narrowed and as gently as he could stop her hand and stepped back. "Akagi-san, I would appreciate it very much if you step back from my person."
The girl Akagi laughed in response as her posse followed suit. The other girls converged at the back of their ringleader, further pushing Sakura away.
"Hey," Sakura reacted as she was pushed by one rather forcefully back, "Excuse you, but isn't it obvious that you are bothering Itachi-san?"
"Shut up, freak. Obviously Itachi-kun is only humoring you. He's too gentleman to tell you that you are a freak. Disappear, nobody." The girl Akagi said.
"Yeah. You are stinking the air here, leave. With your large forehead, you should be smart enough to understand but if you aren't let me spell it out for you, you aren't wanted here!" One of the girls said as she pushed Sakura again.
Sakura lost her footing to her bottom. The girls started laughing. The hurt was plainly on Sakura's features as she bent her head forward.
Oh now. It's happening again. Sakura wanted to cry but she bit the inside of her cheek as she straightened out and dusted herself. She didn't say anything as she turned and headed to the store, never once noticed that Itachi had motioned to help her up but was blocked by Akagi.
"Sakura," Itachi called out.
Sakura looked back, schooling her face not to betray the hurt that she felt. "It's okay, Itachi-san, I'll go ahead and get what we need and I'll be right back." Without waiting for further exchange of conversation and wanting to distance herself from the rabid fan girls as soon as possible, Sakura turned back around and headed towards the store.
Once Sakura was out of the sight and beyond hearing range, Itachi turned towards the girls and gave them a cool glare.
"You dare hurt her again, I will personally make sure that you all regret it." Without another word, Itachi side-stepped the stunned group of females and followed Sakura inside. He wasn't going to allow her to wallow in self-pity.
(to be continued…)
Okay there you go. It took awhile but that's coz I've been so busy! Oh, and since there were almost next to none reviews. Anyway, just so you know, I'm totally against bullying. I know it happens all the time and we should all make an effort to stop it, but there are a lot of times when even our greatest efforts in stopping them, they still occur. I should know coz some of the bullying you seen in this story so far are from first hand experience.
For whatever reason bullying happens, it does. I just want to emphasize the importance of acknowledging that it happens everyday. The victims, most of the time, just need someone to stand up for them or help them see self-worthy.
Michiko