REMEMBER

Chapter 4

Sakura sat down beside Itachi on the couch as she finished serving some tea to her parents, Itachi's parents, Sasuke and then to herself and her husband. The couple had invited their family over for the afternoon and dinner after the temple blessing of their children.

Fugaku was holding Seiko, looking down at her with such gentle eyes and having their grandfather-granddaughter bonding moment, while both grandmothers were cooing a playful Seiji in Sasuke's arms. Sakura's father looked on in indulgence, patiently waiting his turn to hold either his granddaughter or grandson.

The scene seemed so perfect that Sakura couldn't help but smile as she leaned on her husband's shoulder. Itachi shared the same sentiments as he put his arm around Sakura and pulled her closer.

"You are going to be breaking a lot of hearts when you grow up, little one, just like your mother. But all those boys will have to go through the men in this family first and I will tell you now, I am going to enjoy making sure that you only have the best." Fugaku whispered to the baby.

It was loud enough for the other people around the room to hear and make them laugh.

"That goes to this little guy as well, Fugaku-san. Little Seiji is on his way to grow up to be as handsome as his father. I have a feeling that whoever tries to be his girl friend in the future will have to deal with his sister. These two will be very protective of each other." Mebuki commented as she stroked Seiji's chubby cheeks gently.

"As much as I don't like to imagine them all grown up, I can't help but agree. These two are so in tune with each other. They will certainly watch over each other throughout their lives." Sakura answered as she took a sip of tea.

"They are Uchiha," Sasuke said, handing Seiji over to his grandfather and reached over for his tea. "It is only natural that they watch out for each other."

"That's true, especially considering how Itachi looked out for you, but then again, that goes both ways. Itachi did have his moments." Sakura teased.

"Ah," Sasuke agreed, eyeing his older brother who had an eyebrow raised towards his wife. "He can be dense, especially with the ladies."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your brother, Sasuke, besides you were just as bad when you were a teenager." Mikoto reprimanded. Sasuke had the decency to blush.

"I've started to remember that part of my life." Itachi suddenly said. Silence greeted his statement and he felt Sakura squeeze his hand in reassurance. "Sakura and I were talking about it."

Fugaku leaned towards his son. "How do you feel about that?"

Itachi met his father's gaze before looking back at his wife. Making sure they have direct eye contact, he answered, "It seems like I have inadvertently been one of the causes of my wife's pain far earlier than I thought."

XxXxXx

Sakura took a basket at the entrance and made her way to the fruits section. As she was choosing the best blueberries, silent tears ran down her face much to her chagrin. Every now and then she would wipe a tear with her hand before trying to accomplish her task of choosing.

It hurt. It simply hurt. To be pushed aside and degraded was one thing…it was more to be done in front of her crush. She couldn't even do anything to defend herself.

They had been right. She was a nobody compared to them. She definitely wasn't as curvy or pretty. She didn't have the right assets to pull off anything like those girls. And she most certainly didn't possess any confidence to admit to Itachi her blooming feelings towards him. She won't do that as she knew it would only push him away.

Sakura took a deep breath and willed herself to stop. She knew it wouldn't do to keep crying in the middle of a store. After a few more deep breaths and a harsh talking down inwardly, her tears ceased.

As she turned to make her way to find the other ingredients for her cheese cake, Sakura was shocked to see Itachi standing there looking at her. He didn't say anything as he walked towards her slowly.

Sakura's resolve to stay strong seemed to crumble in front of the one man she wanted to prove it the most. All her insecurities suddenly became overwhelming as tears started once more.

Itachi could feel a slight ache in his heart. He never did like to see Sakura in tears. What the girls did to her earlier was harsh no matter how untrue what they said are.

He walked towards her and wordlessly took her in his arms. Sakura closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on his chest, silencing all the sobs that wanted to break free. She might not have been able to stop the tears, she was able to keep her sobbing to herself.

Itachi just held her. He was sure that she didn't want his words at that moment. Judging by the shakes from her, Itachi was definite that was trying to be strong. She wouldn't appreciate talking about what happened earlier.

When the tears seemed to have dried and having stood there for an indefinite number of time, Sakura finally had the strength to pull away. Itachi kept her hands on her shoulder, waiting for her next move.

"I'm sorry," Sakura's soft voice drifted to him, "I know I should have handled that better."

"Perhaps, but you already know that you are entitled to feel hurt by what happened."

Sakura shook her head and stepped back further. She mustered a smile and said instead, "Our moms might wonder where we are if we take longer." Without waiting for his response, she turned and headed to the dairy section. Itachi took the basket from her hands and followed in silence.

As they walked back to the Uchiha residence, Itachi finally decided to address what happened earlier. "You should not allow what some of my schoolmates said earlier bother you."

"I know, Itachi-san." She had wanted to say so much more but stopped herself. There was some truth to what they said, Itachi-san. She knew that it will only get him angry if she had said that so she kept it to herself.

Itachi stopped himself from releasing a sigh. He knew Sakura long enough to have an idea what was going through her head. With how often she found herself being bullied growing up, he was sure that the episode earlier was a huge knock against her confidence.

Without any doubt, Itachi knew that Sakura's confidence was shot. Ever since meeting her when they were kids, a protective instinct swelled inside of him.

He reached out and took her arm, stopping her. "Sakura,"

Sakura turned and tilted her head to the side, silently questioning him what was wrong.

"Talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?"

"How about what you really feel, Sakura?"

"What else is there to say? You already know that yeah it was brutal earlier. Now, I have to deal with it."

"Sakura," He didn't have to say more for Sakura to understand what he wanted to say. They had been around each other long enough to interpret subtle cues.

"Seriously, Itachi-san, it's okay."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he said, "Do not say it is fine when obviously it is not."

She could detect the slight censure in his tone. It was enough to annoy Sakura. It had already been a humiliating day. Having him tell her off in how she was dealing with it was just over the top. Anger ran through her veins.

"What more do you want to hear? I already told you I'm dealing with it!"

"No, you are not! You are putting yourself down! That is not dealing with it!"

It was the first time Itachi raised his voice at her. He couldn't understand why she couldn't see her worth. It was clear in her face and in her demeanor that old insecurities were working through her head. She was beating herself up more than what happened earlier. He cared about her enough to take on the responsibility of making sure that she doesn't overdo it.

Anger is what covered the shock of having him raise his voice at her from showing on Sakura's face. She wasn't putting herself down! She was acknowledging the truth and accepting that her feelings would forever be unrequited. She was also dealing with her humiliation. She couldn't fathom what else Itachi wanted her to do. It wasn't his place to tell her that she wasn't dealing with it when her entire being was consumed in acting mature to face the adversity.

"I am not putting myself down!"

Sakura's outburst made Itachi narrow his eyes at her more. "Really? Then you weren't thinking of how you do not measure up to the girls of my school earlier. You are not thinking that they are more beautiful, more gifted, more appealing than you, am I right?"

As Itachi uttered each of the sentences, he approached her and looked straight into her eyes. "You are not thinking that you are nothing, right?" He said it in such a way that she knew dared her to contradict him.

"You want to know what I'm thinking?!" Sakura heatedly answered back. She didn't give him the opportunity to answer. She wasn't even thinking anymore. "I'm thinking that I might be as perfect as they think they are but I know I'm only 13 and I have a lot more of growing up to do. Not only am I annoyed that I didn't get to defend myself and help you, I've never been humiliated more than I did today. I've been demeaned and physically pushed away where I literally fell. That all happened in front of a guy who I'm starting feelings for, whom I know will only see me as a little sister. That same guy is now in front of my face forcing me to admit more than I am ready to. You know what, I'm done. I'm so done."

Sakura shoved Itachi away from her, grabbing the bags from his frozen hands and started walking to his house without a backward glance. She knew that it would be almost next to impossible to endure dinner but she knew she had to soldier through. She wasn't able to disrespect the rest of the Uchiha family and her mom was coming. There was no way she was going to work her way out of it unless if it was a life or death situation.

Itachi remained frozen where he stood. He never, in his wildest dreams, thought that he would hear that from Sakura. He wasn't sure how to feel about Sakura's unexpected confession.

In a way, he felt betrayed because he never expected her to feel that way towards him. But after a quick reflection, the feeling of betrayal died a quick death. To be fair, Sakura never treated him different and she never threw herself at him. She was still young. They spent a lot of time together growing up, of course she would feel some sort of attachment to him. He was sure that as she grew older, she would truly know what it felt to fall in love. What she was feeling might feel real at that point but he knew it was more puppy love than anything.

With that thought, he finally started walking again to catch up with Sakura. He caught up with her just about on the corner of their street. He retook the bags and they walked in silence, neither acknowledging the other.

Sakura realized as she started walking that now that she had admitted her budding feelings, she didn't know how to act in his presence. Her anger got the better of her and in turn, she revealed something that she never wanted Itachi to know. Now, she had to live with the consequences.

Itachi remained silent because he knew that Sakura needed to recompose herself. He knew that she hadn't been ready to confess. She would need to find her equilibrium.

He decided to find a moment to talk to her before she went home. He didn't want her to go home without resolving the troubled footing they found themselves in. He found his opportunity when their mothers left them in the kitchen to set the table and Sakura finally had free reign on the stove to do her cheesecake.

"Sakura," Itachi started as he leaned by the kitchen counter by the stove while Sakura stirred the blueberry sauce. "I want to apologize. I should not have confronted you the way I did earlier."

She took a taste of the sauce before she answered, "Yes, perhaps you shouldn't have done it like that but I understand where you are coming from. So you're forgiven."

"Thank you," Itachi's gaze never left her as she worked on the different elements of the cheesecake. "You are special, Sakura. Never forget that."

Sakura could only nod. She didn't exactly know what else to say. Besides, her guts were working overtime telling her that he was about to bring up her confession. She wasn't too far behind on that thought when she heard him say, "The confession blindsided me though."

She decided to let him talk. She had already said all earlier. She would give him this time.

"You are special, Sakura. You will find that special man for you. Whoever he is will be very lucky indeed."

She knew that was going to happen. She knew that he would never return her feelings and had been prepared. It didn't lessen the sting though.

"Perhaps," Sakura found herself answering. Her voice had been small, willing to have all her focus on the cheesecake rather than listening.

"Sakura, look at me." Itachi urged. He wanted to get his message across without being misunderstood. She was smart, he knew, but this was something very important and quite frankly he didn't have much experience with.

"You will find the man who deserves you. You are still young. Perhaps I am the one you are closest to so you are feeling like this. Explore and find him."

She only looked up at him and didn't say anything. From her eyes, he knew that he had hurt her but it was necessary for her growth. It was for her after all. He saw how her eyes cleared and her offered smile.

"Maybe you think that what I'm feeling is childish and perhaps you are right. I just want you to know that I never expected anything. But I promise you, Itachi-san, this will be the last time you will hear about this from me. No hard feelings. I totally understand. Now, if you don't mind, the cheesecake is about to burn."

Itachi let her go and let her do her thing. Little did he know, he let her go far more away from him than what he was expecting. That night broke something fragile between them, the easy comraderie, the closeness.

True to her word, she never spoke of the incident again and had stepped back more. She never turned to him anymore for advice or to share tidbits about herself. At times, she would beg off dinner or visits.

He noticed the change almost immediately but once brought up by his mother on the table one time, he and the rest of the family learned from Sasuke that Sakura had gotten herself into a lot of afterschool activities.

Itachi wasn't sure how to feel about that as he was on his way to university, away from home for a long period of time. As he drove towards his new school and dorm, his thoughts would often linger on the 13-year-old pink haired teen he grew up with. He kept telling himself that was he did was for her own good.

He didn't lie when he told her that she was special and that one day she would find the perfect man to build a life with. By rejecting her feelings, he hoped that it would free her enough so that she could spread her wings. But he most definitely don't want to lose her friendship. He made a mental note that once things have settled down with his new life and Sakura had enough time to sort out her feelings, he would urge her so that they could repair their friendship.

Itachi already considered her almost family, his little sister. There was no way he would push her out of his life completely.

(to be continued…)

This chapter, just like the last one, pretty much concentrated on Sakura and Itachi. It might not be that interesting and feel that some things are missing but I purposely did that because this was the turning point in their lives as individuals. I know people haven't reviewed and that is a little disappointing but I will still continue this story until the end. I would really like people's thoughts though. Anyway, I'll end it here for now.

Michiko