Chapter 17 The Second Test

Hello all! I'm sorry for not updating in like a month. My only excuses were 1) I got lazy (hey, it happens); 2) Coming up with good plans takes awhile; and 3) I DIDN'T GET MANY REVIEWS! I've told you, I get my energy from you guys.

Mikume-chan, thank you for your review. One of the best ones I've got.

Anyhow, here's the next chap, hope you like.

READ, ENJOY & REVIEW!

*RECAP*

One test down, but how many were left? Itachi didn't doubt that some of the other boys had teamed up, but then again that was just a possibility. They could just as well perform their tests solo. Then again, he didn't even know how many people were testing him.

He smiled. He loved a challenge. Even if he wasn't doing this for Sakura, he would enjoy the creativity of each shinobi and passing their tests. But right now it was all for Sakura. "For Sakura."

For his love.

*END RECAP*

"Good morning, Itachi," Sakura smiled brightly at her boyfriend, who stood at the door and smiled down at the medic-nin when she opened the door. It was a little past eleven in the morning, and the couple was heading over to the Uchiha compound for lunch. Although Sasuke said lunch would be at around two-ish, Sakura and Itachi wanted to spend some time with each other since they had lacked a satisfying amount of time with each other, with Sakura's hospital shifts, Itachi's training duties and the recently exterminated pest (so to speak), Naruto.

Needless to say, this was their special day out.

"Good morning, Sakura," Itachi replied with warmth as he leaned down to peck his girlfriend on the cheek. "You look ravishing today despite only going out for lunch with my brother."

Sakura giggled as she raised her index finger and wagged it from side to side. "Come on, Itachi, it's not like I dressed up," she said as she delicately touched the tip of his nose. She was wearing light bell-bottomed jeans with a light pastel-pink tank top with little red ribbons on either side of her head, keeping her bangs from her emerald-green eyes. "This is my normal attire and you know it."

"Hn," he consented, wrapping her small figure against him while resting his chin on the top of her head. "That may be so, but you always look ravishing to me, with or without 'dolling up,' as Ino would say."

Sakura threw her head back and laughed at Itachi's poor but nonetheless hilarious imitation of her best girlfriend. Itachi chuckled in satisfaction, very pleased that she was laughing and that he was the cause of it. When her laughter settled for a soft giggle as Sakura tried to not start laughing again, she shook her head and smiled brightly at him. "You are very silly today, Itachi. That's a new side of you I haven't seen before."

"You know me very well, Sakura, but not completely," he replied smoothly as he let her go so she could put on her shoes and grab her jacket and purse, leaning against the door frame casually as he watched her with bemused eyes.

"I hope I get to know you completely soon," Sakura answered as she shrugged into her white jean jacket having strapped her white sandals, Itachi assisting her being the gentleman he was. "Because I have a feeling you know me better than I know myself; I do believe that isn't very fair, now is it?"

Itachi chuckled as he held the door open for Sakura, closing it behind her and easily reaching her side with two strides, walking down the steps as he held his arm out for her which she readily took. "I wouldn't worry about that," Itachi said easily as he guided them into the main street. "Getting to know a person that well takes time, and I promise you that time is what we have now, and forever."

There was a minute of silence and Itachi worriedly glanced down at his girlfriend. Had he said something wrong? He was surprised to find Sakura had stopped walking and was looking up at him with an expression that could only be defined as one with rapturous wonder. "Was that too corny?" He asked with a lopsided grin.

"It was," Sakura confirmed as she threw her hands around his neck in a delighted embrace, causing Itachi to stumble back for a second not having expected that. "But I loved it. Do you really mean that, Itachi?"

"Sakura, have I ever been known to lie?"

"No."

"And I'm not going to start now. I meant ever word I said, as corny as every word was, if you're willing to spend the rest of forever with me."

By now Itachi was bending over to be on eye-level with Sakura, neither letting go of the other. A heartbeat of silence ensured as the words Itachi had spoken entered and were processed not only by both of their minds but by their hearts as well. Finally, Sakura's lips curled slowly, turning into a grin and then into a full-out smile. She leaned close to Itachi so she could kiss him on the lips, a butterfly-light kiss that sent Itachi's heart soaring and Sakura's face to be tinted a lovely pink.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,' then," Itachi grinned at her, resting his forehead against hers, his hands sliding from her back down her arms to hold her hands.

"Itachi, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Now who's being the corny one here?" He chuckled as Sakura swung her arm half-heartedly at him, smiling at the silliness and the wonder of it all. He reached for her hand and kissed it, effectively sending shivers down her spine. He looked at her with such passion that Sakura forgot how to breathe as she lost herself in the black depths. "I am honored."

"I am honored." They smiled at each other.

"Shall we?" Itachi politely asked as he offered her his arm to which she happily clung to with both arms, causing Itachi to chuckle. "You are too cute, Sakura," he said as he started to walk forward again while patting her head.

"So I've been told," she answered him with a cheeky grin. He laughed and shook his head, amused at her playfulness. He was about to answer back when his pocket begun vibrating, telling Itachi that he had a call.

"Excuse me for a second," he said to Sakura as he looked at the screen of his cell phone. She nodded and let go of his arm to let him walk a short distance away where he answered.

"Itachi," the voice on the other end greeted the prodigy. It was Sasuke. "There's been a change in plans. I just got called to the Hokage's office; it seems I have a mission. I'm sorry but I won't be able to meet you guys today."

"That's alright, Sasuke," Itachi answered. "Don't worry. Sakura and I can just go – "

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke interrupted him. "I can't make it to lunch because I have a mission, but you guys have no excuses. I didn't know you were so rude, Itachi."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. There were few things that displeased him more than being told he was rude. He prided himself in being a gentleman, so being told the opposite was an insult to his pride. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?"

"About the others, smart one," his brother answered him. Itachi could practically see him roll his eyes as he said that. "Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata and Ino are coming as well."

"What about Naruto?"

"He was coming as well but he has to come with me on the mission. Now hurry up and get going."

"Although you aren't coming, Sasuke, lunch is still set for two o'clock. It's not even midday yet." Itachi turned to glance at Sakura to see find her sitting on a bench with a guy who was sitting on the other end of the bench talking to her. He narrowed his eyes at the guy, although Sakura seemed unperturbed as she talked to him with an easy smile on her face.

"Well, you never know. This is obviously not my lunch any more, so they might change things if they get hungry…namely, Choji."

Itachi sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course, when things finally calmed down something else had to happen. He breathed in trying to calm his mind. It's fine, he told himself. It's not like Sasuke knew that he'd be given a mission. Plus it's not like this change of plans diminished the time he had with Sakura. He glanced back at Sakura only to find the guy she was talking to sitting close to her, too close by his standards. He was about to head over there and put the guy in his right place when Sakura reached with her hand up to his forehead, seemingly gentle as if she was about to caress him when her hand froze a millimeter from his skin.

The guy, who had stopped talking when he saw her hand move, smiled at her and said something to her with a seductive smile, leaning closer to her as she pulled her hand back to avoid touching him. The guy seemed to take this as a flirty challenge and only moved closer to her, only to have her move away when he was too close. It almost looked like Sakura was controlling him like a master puppeteer, her hand pushing and pulling the guy's face with an invisible, gentle force.

Itachi raised an eyebrow as he noticed the mischievous glint in Sakura's eye and the little angry vein oh her forehead. She had a plan, and he would be crazy if he didn't stop himself from interfering to see it.

As if on cue, Sakura stopped moving away, letting the guy come closer with a victorious smile. He whispered something to Sakura and she just smiled sweetly at him. She said something and the guy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

All of a sudden, the guy was no longer sitting beside Sakura. As Itachi turned his head to follow the sudden dust bomb on the other end of a park, he heard a surprised yell from the guy. He turned his head back to see Sakura's index finger raised and her other fingers curled up.

She had flicked his forehead with her inhuman strength just like Lady Tsunade had done to Naruto.

As the guy cursed from the other end of the park, Sakura turned and smiled sweetly at Itachi. He in turn just chuckled and shook his head at her as he walked over.

"Itachi?" Sasuke's impatient voice called from the phone.

"Sorry, Sasuke," Itachi answered as he sat down beside Sakura and draped his arm behind her seat. "I got distracted."

"Nice to know you regard me so highly that I capture all of your attention," Sasuke's voice muttered sarcastically from the other end of the receiver.

"And it's nice to know that you tell me all the details from your plans," Itachi answered back smoothly as Sakura gave him a questioning look. "I would have appreciated it if I had known the other teams were going to accompany us for lunch." Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I'm sure Sakura would have appreciated it too."

"Yeah, well, whatever. Listen, I gotta go now so please just stay close by the restaurant in case the others show up earlier than planned."

"By the way, Sasuke, I've got a little question to ask."

Sasuke sighed in the other end of the line with frustration. "What?"

"Who's paying for lunch?" Itachi pulled the little device away from his ear with a calm face as Sasuke's voice could be heard yelling curses and unintelligible angry words through the receiver. Sakura covered her mouth attempting to hide her giggle, but was a little unsuccessful. Itachi grinned at her before turning his attention back to his cell phone which had quieted down with only a faint sound of still angry mutters still audible.

Suddenly, he got an idea. He smiled secretively at Sakura before pressing the speaker phone button on the gadget.

"Sakura heard me, didn't she?" Sasuke muttered angrily once Itachi had resumed their conversation.

"Yep."

"I hate you." Itachi laughed as Sakura tried to quiet her giggles by pressing her hands against her mouth and pressing her face against Itachi's shoulders. Sasuke was just so funny when he was angry!

"I love you too, Sasuke. Have a save trip."

"It's not a trip, damn you! It's a mission! A D-Ranked mission!"

Sakura couldn't contain it any more. She burst out laughing.

"Itachi, why was Sakura able to hear me?" Sasuke's enraged voice shouted from the other end of the little phone Itachi held in his hand by his knee.

"Well, you see, Sasuke, there's this useful little button called 'speaker phone'…"

"I know what it is! Seriously, Itachi, I'm not a kid any more! Quit treating me like one!"

"I will when you stop acting like one."

"When have I –"

"Oh please, Sasuke," Sakura interrupted him, barely containing her laugh just to tease him a little. "Must you really ask? You've been acting like Konohomaru for the past five minutes!"

"I have not –"

"Yes you have, Sasuke."

There was a moment of silence as the younger Uchiha looked back at their conversation. Finally, he sighed and muttered, "Honestly, you both suck."

"Have fun, Sasuke," Sakura and Itachi said simultaneously before Itachi clicked his phone off before Sasuke could rant any more.

"Well, that was fun," Sakura said cheerfully.

"Indeed," Itachi agreed.

"Could we do that again?"

"As much as I enjoyed it, I doubt it would be wise to do so."

"Well, lucky for us Sasuke isn't the only person we know with a temper like that."

Itachi chuckled as he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. "You're a little devious today, aren't you?"

"Yep."

He chuckled again then stood up, offering his hand to Sakura to pull herself up. Hand in hand, they walked toward the shopping area of Konoha where they could comfortably hang around until they met with the others.

"We never did find out who was going to pay for dinner," Sakura mumbled after a pause.

"I'll pay for it," Itachi said. "Then I can give the bill to Sasuke. That will teach him to grow up and tell people the complete details of his plans."

"Now who's being mischievous?" Sakura asked him with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged.

"It happens."

"Well?" Naruto impatiently asked his raven-haired companion. "Are you done?"

"I am," Sasuke replied smoothly as he pocketed his cell phone.

"So? Did he pass your test?"

Sasuke smirked. "He did."

"Can you tell me again what your test was?" Naruto sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "I still can't see how a phone call telling your brother that we can't make it to lunch was a test."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and started walking towards the gates of the village. "My test was to see if Itachi could make Sakura laugh. You see, Itachi does have a sense of humor, contrary to popular belief, but he's always so calm and focused that it's rare to see that side of him." He waved at the shinobi guarding the gates as he passed by. Naruto copied him before Sasuke turned back to his blond friend and continuing his explanation. "I wanted to see if Itachi could discard his stoic, monotone self to make Sakura laugh. Sure, he makes her smile, but laughter is different; it's more important as far as I see. Especially when it comes to Sakura."

"But how did you know Itachi would use your conversation to make Sakura laugh?" the kyuubi host asked, understanding the test but unable to comprehend how Sasuke knew his plan would work.

Sasuke just looked over at him and smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"