SakuIta Chapter 6 The Jealous Boyfriend pt1

Wow, thanks to everyone for their reviews! This is great, I'm glad you all like it so much!

So, I've got good news and better news. Good news is, I got over my writer's block and I have straightened out and connected many ideas. The better news is, that because of all the ideas and connections, I've got material and inspiration to write AT LEAST four or five more chapters.

Thank you for your support, and hope you enjoy this chapter!

*RECAP*

As they were walking, Sasuke remembered someone that would have said the same thing to Itachi if he had been in the village when all these occurred. He smiled, picturing the scene that was surely not too far away. "Naruto is going to have a kick out of this," he muttered.

Itachi heard him, and he smiled too. His Sakura had many knights in shinning amour, it seemed. He would gladly meet them all head-to-head until he was the last man standing, and the last and only knight for the sole pink-haired jewel by the name Sakura Haruno.

*END RECAP*

Sakura was enjoying the fresh air of the evening in the park with Itachi. He had surprised her by making a picnic, all by himself, and using a special jutsu so that instead of sitting on the ground they were sitting atop the sakura trees while watching the sunset. It was beautiful, sitting surrounded by the beautiful blossoms and watching the day slip away with all its grace and glory, giving way to the night just to come back within a few hours.

The location and time truly was beautiful; not to mention it kept prying eyes at bay. Seriously, not many people think of looking up, and even if they did Sakura and Itachi would've been hidden by the branches and the hundreds of little flowers.

Sakura giggled. The news that she and Itachi were seeing each other had leaked out and was making its way around the village at a fair pace. However, many people either had nothing better to do or wouldn't believe that Itachi Uchiha, the Uchiha prodigy, was dating Sakura Haruno, the apprentice of the hokage and best medic-nin aside from her sensei. Like many people, they refused to believe it until they had proof, so more often than they liked, Sakura and Itachi were often spied upon and questioned.

Itachi smirked. He could read Sakura's face like a book, and although he agreed with her that it could be annoying to be intruded upon so often, it was amusing in its own little way. He lazily swung his arm around the kunoichi's shoulders and held her to him. She in return rested her head on his shoulder and he rested his cheek on her head.

Itachi began massaging Sakura's scalp slowly, causing her to press her head against his hand and close her eyes in pleasure. She was so much like a cat, and cute as a kitten too, Itachi thought. Suddenly, Sakura opened her eyes as she heard Shizune's voice calling for her from across the park. She didn't want to go; she wanted to stay with Itachi, but the fact that Shizune was not only hollering her name but also saying that Lady Tsunade had a mission for her discarded the possibility.

Itachi heard the hokage's assistant and understood. He gave her a gentle squeeze with his arm before pulling it back to him. "Good, luck, Cherry Blossom," he said. Sakura smiled at him, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and jumped down from the tree, running towards Shizune as soon as her feet touched the ground.

"Hey, Shizu-" she began, but was cut off by the dark-haired woman.

"Come on Sakura, we don't have time for formalities. I'll feel you in on the way to the hospital." Sakura nodded and they both disappeared into the darkness. Shizune told Sakura why she was called as they effortlessly made their way to the village's hospital as they jumped from roof to roof.

"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled into her empty office. She knew her assistant would hear her. "Shizune! Get in here, it's important!" The Lady Hokage, Tsunade, one of the legendary three Sanin and the best medic-nin in the ninja world fumed as her assistant and constant companion, Shizune, poofed into her office holding on to Tonton, her pet pig.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade?" asked Shizune politely.

"Took you long enough," grumbled the hokage. "I need you to get Sakura Haruno into the hospital immediately. A mission with the Sand shinobi has gone wrong. They were ambushed by the Sound, and I can't attend the wounded because I need to get to Suna to finish their mission and then go to the Hidden Mist to discuss treaties. Sakura needs to take care of the wounded in my absence. They weren't majorly injured, but my medics have reported suspicion of poisoning."

Shizune sighed. She was sure that Tsunade was probably going to go drinking at least twice on this 'business' errands of hers, and since Sakura was attending the injured at the hospital, it would mean that the hokage's paperwork would fall on to her. "Yes, Lady-Tsunade," she said before heading for the door.

"Don't bother with the door, Shizune," sighed Tsunade as she stood and slipped on her white cloak which identified her as Konohagakure's Hokage. Two masked ANBU were immediately by her side, seemingly having appeared from nothing, not having made a sound or even stirred up the air with their appearance.

"Just teleport to Sakura's house," continued Tsunade as she put on her hokage hat. "It's faster, plus she may not be there so you better get a head start."

Shizune simply smiled and poofed out of sight. Tsunade shook her head. Shizune was definitely bipolar. One minute she was screaming at her to stop drinking sake, the next she takes her sweet time and smiling pleasantly while summoning a medic-nin to the hospital. She sighed and turned to the patiently waiting ANBU. "Let's go."

Both women had arrived at the hospital by now, and they quickly made their way in. "This is as far as I go," Shizune said. "Good luck, Sakura." Sakura nodded her thanks and Shizune left grudgingly, not eager to get to the hokage's office knowing that Tsunade most probably procrastinated on the paperwork for at least two weeks before her departure.

Sakura smiled sympathetically at Shizune's back before she turned and headed for the emergency room. There, she found Sasuke, Shino, Tenten, Temari, and two more Sand shinobi she didn't recognize laying on the beds as they were being examined by the nurses. Sakura smirked as she heard her fellow shinobi grumble that they were fine, that they had things to do, that this was unnecessary, blah, blah, blah.

"Alright, alright you guys," she said, smiling as she walked into the examination room. "I'm here now, so you won't have to wait much longer."

"Sakura!" Temari gushed as she leaped over a protesting nurse and bounded over to give Sakura a hug. "How have you been, woman? I haven't received any letters from you in weeks!"

Sakura laughed as she returned the hug. "I'm surprised you haven't heard, Temari," she said as she walked her blond friend back to her examination bed. "All of Konoha seems to have heard about it and never seems to get enough of talking about it!"

"Heard what?" Temari asked, very interested now. Sakura and Tenten smirked at each other as they noticed the Sand shinobi's eyes widen and brighten up in excitement. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm-" Sakura began, but was cut off by a smirking Sasuke.

"She's dating my brother," he said, waiting to see how the girl reacted to the news.

"No way!" Temari squealed, her eyes widening even more than before as she looked at Sakura in a mix of surprise, admiration, and unbelieving shock. "Seriously?" Sakura nodded as a faint blush tinted her cheeks. "You go, girl!" Temari cheered as she jumped off the bed along with Tenten, who also cheered for her friend since she didn't know if it was a rumor or the truth, and begun squealing and hopping around with Sakura in that weird little dance girls do when they're happy.

After a minute or so, Shino cleared his throat respectfully. "I'm happy for you, Haruno-chan," he said, his voice stable. "But I have to attend to my insects, and I'm sure that the others would rather be elsewhere than in a hospital room. Waiting to see if they've been poisoned, may I add," he added after an afterthought.

"Oh! Right!" Sakura gave Temari a little shove towards her bed and started with the other Sand shinobi first, since they seemed to have gotten the worst end of the stick, so to speak. The nurses already had healed their wounds, but not completely so if Sakura found some poison she could take it out. One of them had been injected with poison, but it was not a super poison capable of killing her. It was more like a sedative with a poison found in the mountains, and Sakura already had developed an antidote for it.

After she had given the girl the antidote with instructions and warnings, she let her go. She did the same for the others, and only Shino had a trace of poison in his body, which his insects were already taking care of. Sakura gave him the antidote with the same instructions she had given the Sand girl, just to be safe. Sakura congratulated the nurses and they all left, the nurses back to their night shift and Sakura to her home. Sasuke went with her.

"So," he started casually after a few minutes of walking in silence. "What are you going to give Itachi?"

Sakura stared at him in a confused way before blinking, completely uncomprehending what he meant. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, not completely surprised.

"It's Itachi's 19th birthday five days from tomorrow," he said. "Didn't you know that, or did you forget?"

"I-I," Sakura stammered, flushed. "I forgot. But it's not my fault, I haven't celebrated his birthday in years! Not that we celebrated each other's birthdays that often, anyway…"

Sasuke smirked. "Well, now you know and you have five days to get him something."

"Thanks Sasuke, you're a lifesaver!" Sakura gave him a bone-crushing hug and a friendly peck on the cheek before rushing off. Where she went, Sasuke didn't know, but he felt good about helping out his friend. He felt like Cupid, in a way.

Wait. He did not just think that. Aww, man! He groaned inwardly. I gotta stop poking around Sakura's library.