Chapter 7: Jóga
The trek back to Konoha was punctuated by Naruto's incessant chatter and some remarks from the pale ANBU member, Sai, who did everything in his power to annoy the blond shinobi with his bland tone and outrageous observations. Although his Captain didn't seem to mind Sai's prickly attitude towards the elements of Team Seven, Shisui and Yamato tried to stop Naruto's angry yelling in order to have some peace.
But the breaking point came thanks to Sakura, who proceeded to deck the White Op while she smiled sweetly at him after she punched Naruto.
"One more word and I'll see personally about your return to Konoha on a stretcher!"
Shisui snickered at her short temper, but her Uchiha teammate seemed upset with her tirade and tried to call her to attention, but the angry emerald glare directed at him did the trick.
"For once, I would like to come home without a pounding migraine," she seethed with a hiss. "So I'll appreciate your silence until we reach the Fire Temple, at least!"
The elder Uchiha exchanged glances with his cousin, smirking in amusement under his mask. Such a spitfire, the kunoichi was. Even her own Team Leader didn't voice any protest to her scolding, surely because he wasn't off the hook with her just yet due to his lack of regard for his own injuries.
But everything changed when they reached the Fire Temple. A hawk messenger addressed to Kakashi relayed the urgency for them to get back to Konoha as soon as possible.
Therefore, the trek transformed into a race. The good thing was that almost all of them were already healed enough to push themselves to their limits, so two days later they arrived to their beloved village hidden within the leaves... just in time to get home and dress up in their mourning clothes.
Sarutobi Asuma, former sensei of Team Ten and leader of one of the Nijyuu Shoutai, had fallen against one of those accursed Akatsuki members, specifically the one Kakashi had fought against in the Fire Palace.
When Kotetsu greeted the arriving ANBU and Jounin Teams with the sad news, Sakura looked at Naruto in alarm, only to set off hurriedly with an unintelligible curse. And when Shisui asked him about her sudden departure in a whisper, it was their dark-haired teammate that answered their questionings with a low voice.
"Asuma was Ino's, Shikamaru's and Chouji's sensei."
Itachi watched her running at top speed to her friend in grief, before muttering the dismissal for his team and disappearing. It would be time to ponder the walking contradiction that Haruno Sakura was later on, when the funerary rituals were over.
And he found her indeed, wearing the customary black dress and serving as a human crutch for a crying blonde girl. She was crying as well when the Hokage said the panegyric for the fallen shinobi, but her eyes showed a great deal of frustration, sadness and rage behind her silent tears.
"Itachi," Shisui whispered at his side, dispelling him of his reverie. "Your father is looking for you."
With a curt nod and a hidden sigh, they retreated from the funeral as a ruby-eyed woman laid a bouquet of flowers next to the newly engraved headstone.
-X-
Sakura sighed heavily. Between her shifts at the hospital and training with the Hokage or her assistant, she almost hadn't had the time to sit and ponder about the happenings of those two weeks.
After Asuma's funeral, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino had set out to vanquish the bastard that brought his beloved sensei down. Kakashi had insisted on accompany them, but a back-up from Team Seven with the addendum of Yamato from the ANBU corps, served to face off Hidan and Kakuzu, finally retaliating for their transgression and freeing the Land of Fire of those two scoundrels.
Of course, Naruto and Shikamaru had a great part into doing this. She and Sasuke only fought to protect an exhausted Team Ten and Naruto, who was trying out a new technique. In the end, Naruto shone because of his new jutsu, while Shikamaru nullified his opponent single-handedly. That placed Team Seven on a little stall, because Naruto's new technique came with a price to pay and Sakura found herself with a difficult case and a rambunctious and whiny patient. It was good to know he was okay, but that didn't stop Naruto's teammates from scolding him severely because of his recklessness.
That brought her to another train of thought. Sasuke had been behaving even more harshly than ever since the mission they had with the ANBU team, mostly because his cousin didn't stop bothering him with little but sarcastic remarks. She had tried to be nice to him, but as always, she got a cold answer and his back turned to her. She was accustomed to his arrogant ways by now, but since she had decided not to pine anymore for him, she found his behavior to be quite irritating.
But that didn't stop him from visiting Naruto the days he was in the hospital, keeping him company him even when the blond couldn't use his arm to eat his beloved Ichiraku ramen. Sakura had dropped by, watching in amusement how her team leader fed a thoroughly disgruntled Naruto while he kept bickering with his Uchiha teammate. With a kiss to his whiskered cheek and a chocolate bar slipped on the orange pants pocket, she bid goodbye to her team with a hasty excuse. She just didn't want to be near Sasuke when he kept narrowing his eyes at her.
When they talked about that particular topic over tea, Ino had considered that Sasuke was just pissed because of his lost opportunity to shine like he always did, but somehow Sakura didn't agree. That mission took an emotional toll for all the parties involved with the Fire Daimyo, because of the bonds they shared in the past with the kind and brilliant old man. She thought that Sasuke's anger was more directed at his own family, namely Shisui and Itachi, who kept stealing the spotlight in everything they did.
Sighing again, she stretched her arms before stepping out of the hospital. It had been a slow day, mostly physicals and revising lab tests from her patients, so the pink-haired medic felt more bored than tired. Maybe a quick workout would erase her laziness?
"Sakura."
Turning her head to the voice, she found her dark-haired teammate leaning against one of the pillars that composed the fence around the hospital.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, not really expecting him to answer her. But to her surprise, he did.
"I was waiting for you," he said with a shrug. "The idiot is out of commission and Kakashi is nowhere to be found. Let's spar."
A pink eyebrow rose in disbelief. "Really now. Why don't you wait for Naruto to get better? I don't want to be a hindrance to your training."
Something told her she was being too much sardonic with her former crush, but her patience regarding him had worn off at some moment on that mission to Fire City.
"Don't be stupid. You need the training."
"And you want to do me a favor, right?" she replied, passing the hospital gates and starting to walk down the road. "Go find Lee or Neji, I won't spar with someone who keeps thinking that I'm nothing but weak."
Sasuke flickered in front of her, stopping her. "I don't want to fight them," he said in an arrogant voice. "I want to fight you."
She smiled condescendingly, but her smile slipped off when she realized he was serious.
"Why would you want to fight me?" she asked incredulously. "You know my moves already."
"Apparently, not all of them," he said, his hands on his pockets. "My cousin does nothing but praise your skills every single time I see him. So I want to see what he saw."
She snorted. She should have known that Shisui's teasing was starting to annoy Sasuke.
"Fine, Sasuke," she said, feeling her inner persona cheering loudly inside her. "I'll fight you."
Oh, how she wanted to wipe off that stupid smirk off his face with her fist.
-X-
Twisting her hair into a short bun, she made her way towards their training grounds behind her teammate. She wasn't above making him see how much she had progressed under the Hokage's tutelage, but a part of her warned her about showing all her techniques to a Sharingan user.
"How do you want to do this?" she asked the spike-haired male walking a few steps in front of her. "Taijutsu only or ninjutsu as well?"
"The full battle," he sneered over his shoulder at her. "I'm curious about what you did to save Shisui from that Akatsuki guy."
"Is all what you wanted to know? It was just a genjutsu, Sasuke."
"Don't be stupid, Sakura," he said arrogantly as he turned to see her, having reached his location. "My cousin wouldn't be so surprised if you distracted an Akatsuki member with 'just a genjutsu'."
"You can ask him again," she said easily, enjoying briefly the soft breeze that rustled the clearing and their hair. "Or maybe you can ask your brother about it, I'm sure he saw part of the fight."
Oh, there it was, the narrowing of his dark eyes.
"I won't ask him anything," he said haughtily, but without taking his stance. "Show me."
Pulling on her gloves slowly and taking her sweet time to do so, Sakura lifted her emerald gaze to his. "Okay," she said cheekily, disappearing as soon as the word left her lips.
Watching him turn around frantically from her hiding spot, eyes wide in surprise, Sakura rolled her eyes. What had happened between the Uchiha brothers that she was paying the price of their disgruntlement?
The whole matter was getting ridiculous, that was for sure.
Sliding her fingers on a series of hand seals, she called a genjutsu on the clearing and started to run towards Sasuke. Unluckily, the young Uchiha discerned her strategy.
"Kai!" he yelled, pivoting to face his pink-haired opponent with his hands raised. She flashed next to him, kicking his shin to make him lose his balance as her body twisted and delivered a roundhouse kick to his back, effectively sending him straight to a tree.
"Damn it," she cursed under her breath when she saw Sasuke somersaulting to avoid the impact, dashing towards her with his kunai poised to the plunge. Ducking the first slash, she felt the other cutting a piece of her shirt but she didn't care. Suddenly, the fight turned serious and she was hell-bent on proving her worth, not only to Sasuke, but to herself.
A couple of sparks greeted the clashing of their kunai, as she saw the Uchiha's dark eyes burning with anger. His strength was about to make her slip from the kunai parrying, but with just a little molding of her chakra she managed to break out and back off his form.
"Why are you so angry?" she asked, panting slightly. He merely snorted derisively.
"Why should I be upset?" he scoffed. "Weren't you eager to show me your skills? Then do so."
"Why you little--" she hissed, stomping the floor with her foot and creating a mass earth wave that could have crushed her opponent if he didn't leap onto the air to avoid it. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Nothing is wrong, forehead girl," he smirked from his spot, mid-jump. "I never thought I would use my Sharingan with you, but it seems that in that matter, Shisui wasn't kidding."
"That's it!" she yelled, leaping in an attempt to reach him. "I'm so going to kick your sorry ass, Uchiha!"
"I'd like to see you try," he sneered, blocking her kunai and grabbing her ankle, hurtling her towards the earth harshly, hearing her pained grunt when she crashed onto the ground. "It's a nice thing that I don't need to hold myself, isn't it, Sakura-chan?" he added haughtily, landing softly next to her. "After all, you can heal yourself."
Sakura lifted her right foot and brought it swiftly to Sasuke's stomach. "You. Are. Really. Pissing. Me..." Only in the last nanosecond she allowed the chakra to pool on the sole of her booted foot, sending her dark-haired opponent sailing to the other side of the clearing. "Off!"
Getting up in a crouch, she saw him wiping his mouth and watching his hand. But when he raised his eyes to meet hers, she almost recoiled. Sasuke's Sharingan was glinting with wickedness, or so that's what she thought.
"I'll grant that you're strong, Sakura," he accepted, his feet starting to walk slowly towards her. "But you will never be at my level. Accept it, you are made for stand back and just watch."
She let out a deep, frustrated growl. "Is that what you think, Sasuke? Do you really think I'm that useless?"
"But of course," he said lightly, taunting her. "Although I personally think you'll be more suited to housekeeping more than the profession you chose. Why are you a kunoichi again, Sakura? It wasn't because you wanted to be near me?"
"Shut the hell up, Sasuke!" she screamed at him, fist glowing with her chakra. "You don't know anything about me! You don't know how hard it was for me to endure everything until now! You know nothing!"
"You don't have a Kekkei Genkai, Sakura, or enough stamina. Your genjutsu is weak, your taijutsu is pathetic and your ninjutsu is nonexistent. And without your chakra you are good as nothing. Tell me, why do you keep going?"
Not paying attention to her heart and Inner Sakura's enraged wails, the pink-haired medic closed her eyes and summoned all the chakra she could focus on her fists.
"Because you and Naruto are my walls, the walls I need to climb to be acknowledged!"
Her furious scream reverberated throughout the trees, but a deep rumbling soon took over as her fist connected with the ground again. Sasuke leapt onto the air again, but a mass of spikes shot out of the earth, cutting his jump and hitting him viciously.
"Don't you dare to enumerate my faults because you don't want to see and admit yours, you conceited prick!" she yelled, panting in emotional and physical exhaustion, dropping to her knees while she held her side. "You are goddamn jealous of your brother and your cousin; you crave recognition as much as Naruto and I do! Don't you dare to stomp over my abilities because I can do things you will never do, Sasuke!"
"You will regret those words, stupid girl!" he exclaimed finally, getting on his feet and flipping a kunai, running towards her with his Sharingan ablaze.
Suddenly, a leg swung onto his stomach, sending him to the ground once more. A pair of sandaled legs came into Sakura's vision field, as a hard, cold, deep voice broke the silence.
"A shinobi that doesn't acknowledge his teammates' abilities is nothing but despicable, Sasuke."
Raising her eyes, she recognized the black, long sleeved shirt with the Uchiha clan crest on its back. A long, thick lock of tied raven-colored hair swayed with the wind, making Sakura realize who was in front of her, who had protected her from Sasuke's attack.
Uchiha Itachi looked calmly at his furious brother as he scrambled to his feet. "Explain yourself, Sasuke."
"I don't have to explain anything to you, aniki," the other Uchiha snarled angrily. "This is between her and me. Team issues that need to be worked out."
"You are lying, Sasuke. I watched the entire match. Sakura won the spar fair and square and yet you went at her with killing intent."
Sakura's eyes widened at his back. It was the first time that Itachi had said her name without those polite suffixes, and a shiver crawled down her spine when she heard it pronounced with his smooth, deep voice. She almost missed the fact that he was accusing his own brother of trying to kill her. Almost.
Her heart clenched as she understood Sasuke's look of rage as he charged towards her. If it weren't for Itachi, she could have been stabbed by her own teammate.
"I wasn't trying to kill her!" she heard Sasuke defending himself, but his outraged tone gave away the lie.
"Yes you were," Itachi shot back smoothly. "You are so bent on besting me that you forgot who your opponent was."
Sakura felt Itachi stepping aside, finally allowing the young Jounins to look at each other. Sasuke's crimson eyes faded into black as he stared at Sakura's huddled, disheveled form. She was clenching her leg and her side, staring back at him with a hurt look.
"Sakura..." he whispered, his eyes shrinking in surprise. "Kami..."
Then he whirled around and fled the clearing, leaving Itachi and Sakura alone.
The medic hissed in pain as she tried to move her leg to raise her body.
"Allow me to help you."
Snapping her gaze from her leg to the voice, she found the ANBU Captain crouched in front of her, watching her with an unreadable expression. His tone though, was low and soft, almost light. Sakura felt her cheeks go warm and lowered her head, trying to concentrate on her leg.
"I'm... I'm fine, Uchiha-san," she tried to save face by whispering politely. He said nothing as she pulled her gloves off and her bare hands surveyed the damage she sustained when Sasuke hurled her to the ground.
"Your ankle is sprained."
"It's okay... I can heal it," she murmured, immersing herself into her healing task with trembling hands. Itachi's presence was enough to make her nervous, especially after those looks that had passed and the animadversion that had been going on between the two of them.
Her chakra-laden fingers were skimming the swollen area when she heard him release a soft sigh. Looking at him, she noticed that he was looking at the sky, his onyx eyes reflecting the clouds on the blue sheet above them.
"I apologize on my little brother's behalf, Sakura-san," he said clearly. "He is not in his right mind at the moment."
"What happened between the two of you?" she blurted out, flushing in embarrassment when his dark eyes slid to meet hers. "Ah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."
"It is alright, I do not mind," he replied lightly. "Sasuke fell under our cousin's teasing and he is merely jealous of the attention that Shisui has upon you."
"...What?" she gaped. "Sasuke is jealous of Shisui-san?"
"It seems so," he nodded. "Shisui finds this utterly amusing, but this outcome surely won't be so pleasing for him."
Somehow, the tone he had used made her think that Itachi himself wasn't so amused with Shisui's jokes. This made her release an unladylike snort, the whole issue was so utterly ridiculous and insane to her that she could do nothing but laugh.
Bending her neck to hide her face, she let out another hysterical chortle as her hands restored her injuries, trying to hide her sarcastic mirth from the ANBU Captain in front of her.
"I'm--" another muffled laugh, "I'm sorry, Uchiha-san," she sighed deeply to calm herself down. "It's just that this is... completely absurd."
He said nothing as she poked her ankle and surveyed the healed area with a wry smile on her face.
"Naruto will go insane if I he finds out about this," she commented in a whisper. "I was going to check on him but I think it wouldn't be wise now."
"I take that Naruto-kun is healing satisfactorily," he said calmly, to prove that he was actually listening to her. She glanced ad him and flexed her leg, proud of her own self-healing handiwork.
"Yes, although Tsunade-sama said that his arm sustained a pretty bad injury," she nodded noncommittally. "It would be a while until he's in a top shape once more."
"I see," Itachi said, extending his legs as he stood up. A shadow fell on Sakura's leg and when she looked up she froze.
Uchiha Itachi was offering her his hand to help her stand.
His eyes were guarded; she could see that this whole situation was a little off-putting for him, but his lips were relaxed, not a smirk or a frown was shown on them. His face was carefully blank, but soon his eyes softened slightly when she raised her hand and placed it on his extended one.
Exercising all the strength on her good leg, she stood up and placed her other foot lightly on the ground. Carefully shifting her weight, she checked that her ankle was completely healed. Nodding in approval, she walked two steps backwards, only to realize that her hand was still enclosed within Itachi's.
While Inner Sakura screamed and fainted inside her head, she slipped out from his grasp nonchalantly, her cheeks burning. It was a good thing that she wasn't looking at his face, because his eyes showed an amused glint for a moment.
"Is it completely healed?" he asked, hearing her clearing her own throat.
"Uhm, yes, I think I can walk around without supports," she replied softly. "I'll just head home and put a hot water bottle over this just in case."
"So your chakra didn't heal it completely," he stated, "for you to need other elements to soothe the sprain."
"No, it's just that the adrenaline is wearing off and I will limp for a little while, and my chakra is almost out."
Sakura saw, to her complete inward surprise, how his eyebrow lifted minutely in scrutiny.
"I thought your medical techniques were capable of performing such a small procedure."
Sakura closed her eyes as she refocused the last of chakra on her injured foot to numb it, smirking sarcastically. "I can reattach lost limbs, Uchiha-san. Healing a sprain is like a walk in the park for any medic-nin."
A corner of his lips tilted in a slight smirk. "If you say so," he replied easily.
She huffed as she swiveled her body on her legs easily. However, a sudden growl from her stomach made her flush with embarrassment.
"I apologize, Uchiha-san," she said as she covered half of her face with a hand to hide her mortification. He merely let out a soft snort as he turned and started to walk away.
"There is no need to apologize, Sakura-san," he said smoothly but she picked up an amused tilt on his tone. "Come."
"Eh?"
Itachi looked at her over his shoulder. "You will need to keep walking that ankle. We do not want it to cramp itself, am I right?"
She rolled her eyes and started to walk carefully, not even noticing that he had slowed his pace to allow her to walk at his side.
-X-
But she gaped quite openly when he stopped in front of a tea shop, to his inward amusement.
"Uchiha-san?" she called to the man that was before her. "What are we doing here?"
"We are going to have dinner."
She sputtered softly, watching in complete astonishment how he pulled the shoji door of the tea shop and looked at her pointedly.
"The place is not of your liking?" he asked, smirking ever so slightly as her face flushed crimson when she lowered her eyes and took in the state of her clothes and hair.
"I... er... I think I'm not dressed--wait," she stilled, narrowing her eyes warily. "What are you doing?"
Itachi merely glanced askance at her, keeping the curving of his lips in check in order to see when the little pink spitfire would explode as he had seen before.
She found herself staring at a pair of glittering onyx-colored orbs, as her cheeks kept her blush at full swing.
But just when she opened her mouth to say something, missing how he had tilted his head minutely to strain his hearing in case she whispered her comeback, the owner of the tea shop stepped near the door.
"Konbanwa--oh, Itachi-sama, welcome!" she said, bowing deeply towards the Uchiha Heir. Impeccable manners kicking in, he turned and bowed towards the elder lady.
"Konbanwa, Oba-han," he spoke smoothly, turning his gaze back to the still shell shocked pink-haired kunoichi. "Table for two, please."
"Of course, of course," the woman smiled and bowed towards Sakura, not seeming to mind her ripped and dirty attire. "Welcome, Ojou-sama. Please follow me."
Sakura's feet moved on of their own accord, not even noticing that Itachi had stepped aside to allow her entrance before walking inside and sliding the door shut softly.
As they slipped their sandals off and took their seats, Sakura regained her wits enough to blink and scowl openly to the Uchiha ANBU Captain.
"Why are we here, Uchiha-san?"
And he just was expecting her comeback to retort. "For the sound of your stomach it seemed you were in need of nourishment. I am merely providing it."
She lifted an incredulous set of eyebrows, eyes wide. "What? You're buying me dinner?!"
"Not only for you, actually. I feel rather hungry myself."
Itachi held back his mirth as she spluttered again in shock. The owner of the shop, mistaking her gasp for a choke, scurried to their table and placed a glass of cool, fresh water in front of the medic.
"Ojou-sama, please drink this!"
Sakura obeyed mechanically, downing half of the glass as she blinked repeatedly.
"Are you feeling better, Ojou-sama?"
"...Hai, hai, thank you."
"I'm glad!" the elder female smiled in relief and placed the menus on the table, bowing once more. "Make yourselves at home!"
Itachi lifted his eyes from the medic to the old woman for a moment. "We will have Sencha tea, please, Oba-han."
"Of course, Itachi-sama. Coming right up."
Finally alone, surprised emerald eyes set themselves on openly amused pools of black.
"Why are you doing this?" she finally asked.
"Take it in stride, Sakura-san. I recommend you the sashimi here. It is rather good."
She fell silent, staring at him with her mouth agape for a long moment. The lady chose that moment to appear back to their table, placing the cups for the tea and the porcelain kettle.
"Here you go, Itachi-sama. It's a pleasure to serve the Heir of the Clan and his lady friend!"
Sakura hid her burning face behind a hand, missing his small, amused smile.
"Can you give us another moment to decide?"
"Of course, of course!"
"Don't mind her, Sakura-san," he said after they were left alone again. "She's been a friend of my mother's for a long time now. She has been always like this."
"Okay," Sakura finally said, gazing cautiously at the ANBU Captain sitting in front of her. "First, you defend me from your brother. I can accept that, even if it's a rather bizarre concept. Then, you drag me here to have dinner. I can also accept that because I'm hungry and now I want sashimi. But how on earth did you find me in the first place? How did you know that Sasuke and I were at the training grounds?"
He merely smirked faintly at her nonsensical babble, his eyes narrowing with hidden glee. Itachi certainly didn't expect her to recount his stunt like that.
Her unpredictability on certain things was turning really intriguing for him.
Recalling briefly how she had smiled sweetly at his Operative, Sai, to punch him rather viciously afterwards and sending him several feet back, he allowed his chin to rest on his hand, staring back at the pink-haired medic as if in deep thought.
But what came out of his mouth, however, threw her out of the loop once more.
"How is your ankle?"
"I'm fine. Please answer my questions."
Oh, so the frowning kunoichi couldn't be fooled by changing the topic. Very well.
"I was looking for you," he said smoothly. "Shisui relayed his little teasing with my brother to me and I figured he had gone to challenge you. The rest is obvious. You fought, I watched."
"That's it?" she said in disbelief. "And where is that cousin of yours at the moment?"
"I assume he is still nursing a blow to his face."
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at his sardonic answer, letting out a rather unladylike snort. Covering her face with her hands, she proceeded to laugh and giggle uncontrollably. Waiting patiently for her to finish laughing, he perused the menu, locating his dish of choice in an instant.
"Oh Kami, that Shisui-san is going to be the death of me," he heard Sakura sighing, her laughing fit subsiding slowly but surely, but the sarcastic look the Uchiha directed at her made her laugh again.
He didn't say anything, contenting himself with taking small sips of his tea while she laughed her head off.
"Alright, I'm cool--oh Kami," she sighed again, sampling the tea with a delighted hum. "Regarding of the fact that this... this..."
"Hn?"
His hum signaled that he has been paying attention, even if his face was hidden behind the menu. The lady came back solicitously when he lifted two fingers.
"I will have tempura tonkatsu. My companion will have tataki sashimi."
This time, she didn't mind that he had ordered for her, more preoccupied with the chaotic thoughts in her head. Some of her puzzlement must have filtered to her face, for Itachi leaned back and stared at her.
"One of your most befitting features is that you always speak your mind, Sakura-san. I do not see why you shouldn't do so now."
She sighed deeply, lowering her gaze.
"I'm just... confused," she tried to elaborate. "Why you, of all people, went through all this merely to apologize on Sasuke's name? I'm sure you have better things to do than to have dinner with your little brother's teammate."
"You are wrong, Sakura-san," he replied easily, keeping silent when the food was served and resuming when they were left alone. "I am not dining with you in order to make it up to you on my little brother's behalf. He made a mistake and I am positive he is aware of the repercussion of his conduct by now."
"Then why you--"
"I found rather interesting the fact that you stood up to my brother, even if he had been nothing short of unpleasant with you," he cut her off smoothly. "If anything, I am grateful because you saved my cousin's life, back at the Daimyo's Palace. For a person to stand up against an opponent that is larger and stronger like you did..."
She leaned forward just a bit, expectant.
"It was an extremely foolish thing to do."
Sakura scowled dangerously. "Why, you--"
"I am not finished, Sakura-san," he said, silencing her once more, continuing his analysis between bites. "You managed to do something that we as special operatives are advised not to do. You stood up against an Akatsuki member and protected a teammate, even if the odds were completely against you. In that order of ideas, I ask you this. Why did you put yourself in danger when Shisui, as a Sharingan wielder and one of the most skilled of the Uchiha Clan, could knock that nin out with a genjutsu of his own?"
She stopped clenching her fists, remembering the past joined mission with the ANBU Alpha Team. Itachi was detailing every single little change on her face, which went from annoyed with anger to thoughtful, finally settling in wry cynicism.
"I... I honestly don't know why I did it," she finally said, watching how his calm face drew into a mild frown. "Shisui-san was in danger, from what I could see from the Palace's window. I just moved, and I was already angry because of your order to stay put and Ieyasu-sama's request for me to set his son on fire. I suppose I just... snapped."
"And regarding this snap, as you have labeled it," he replied readily, waving lightly his chopsticks. "Do you realize that you could have endangered the entire mission if you got killed? You were our only medic, no matter how capable you are, and nevertheless you were fighting against the Akatsuki like if they were merely a pack of rogue ninjas."
Sakura lifted a brow, now totally annoyed. "Your point being? Don't you have someone teach in ANBU that the best thing about teamwork is to protect your comrades, even facing a certain death?"
This time she got a response from the Uchiha Heir. He left his chopsticks and leaned forward, staring quizzically at her annoyed face.
"Do you really believe that, Sakura? Do you follow the teamwork rule and help your teammates even if they are guiding you to the abyss?"
"If they're guiding me to a mistake," she countered, drawing her brows together, "I'll help them to get out of their incorrect mindset. It's all about protecting our precious ones, growing together to walk the path side by side, not following them around like lambs going to the abattoir."
He was silent for a moment, processing what she had said. "And yet you have been sheltered by your own teammates, enduring belittlements from them and following their shadows as if you were not capable of stand at their sides."
She smirked sarcastically. "As for my penchant to let them do all the work, I have my own reasons to do so. And not all my teammates are Uchiha, only Sasuke enjoys criticizing me."
"He is a fool," he intoned coolly, ignoring her jab and setting his chopsticks aside once more. "He had had this obsession with proving himself to our Chichiue for far too long."
"That's because you don't see that he also wants your approval!" she hissed lowly. "He's regarded as one of the most valuable Jounin of the whole village, and yet he doesn't get enough credit from you! Can't you see that he looks up to you?"
"He should not do that."
His cold and detached statement made her stare at him in surprise, but he didn't elaborate, settling himself to resume his dinner without any more words. Sakura was about to say something else, but his clammed up façade told her that there was something more about Sasuke's disgruntlement with his older brother... and his father.
They finished eating in a mildly uncomfortable silence.
-X-
They left the restaurant with polite compliments to the owner.
"Thank you for the dinner, Uchiha-san," Sakura finally said. She was still nonplussed for his sudden withdrawal of the little argument they had been sustaining over tea, but her manners kicked in and she felt necessary to follow her protocol.
"No thanks are needed, Sakura."
His curt answer made her wince. Maybe he was a cold prick, but at least he wasn't like her Uchiha teammate, who liked to call his best friend derisive nicknames.
But his words also made her realize that he had dropped the suffix from her name. Again, a little blush colored her cheeks, but she didn't comment on it.
"Uhm... I think it's my cue to return home," she continued. "It's my turn to bring breakfast tomorrow to my team's training."
He didn't say anything, but when she started to walk, he fell into step beside her.
"Uchiha-san?" Sakura asked.
He didn't acknowledge her.
"Er... Uchiha-san?" she repeated, hoping not to be rude with him by calling his last name like that, especially after such a delicious dinner.
But once more, he did not move his eyes from the road ahead of them.
"Uhm... Itachi-san?" she changed the tactic, and to her surprise a response was achieved.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes when realizing his trick.
He merely slid his eyes to her for a moment, returning to the road wordlessly. She sighed, following him and wondering what the hell was with him.
It didn't take much, though. When he stopped, she realized that he had walked to her apartment. A little tic made her eye twitch, but Sakura figured that it was part of the little stunt he was pulling.
And then, the fact that the Uchiha Heir had just walked her home hit her with the force of a ton of bricks. The pink-haired flushed crimson, leaving her with no other thing that walking to the door hoping that he hadn't noticed her face resembling a tomato.
"Thank you for walking me here, Itachi-san. You shouldn't have bothered."
"I do not mind," he replied calmly. "I trust your Hahaue won't be so worried for the state of your shirt."
She turned her head so fast that she swore her spine cracked. His eyes were composed, staring back at hers patiently, like he had no other thing to do than seeing a grumpy kunoichi home.
But to his hidden puzzlement, said kunoichi smiled wistfully.
"I thought Shisui-san had told you," she said softly as she fumbled inside her pouch for her keys. "My parents passed away due to that bout of diphtheria a few years ago."
After a moment, he inclined his head in a respectful nod. "I am sorry for your loss, Sakura. I did not know. My cousin failed to share that piece of information with me."
"It's understandable, not many people fell at that disease outbreak," she replied quietly, pulling her key out of her pouch. "I think only the relatives knew who got sick."
"So Sasuke failed to share other pieces of information with you," he said, lifting his gaze to her balcony. "Our very own Hahaue fell under the onslaught of that disease."
"Oh..." she whispered, lowering her eyes. "I... I didn't know..."
A breeze rustled their clothes and hair. The silence now was loaded with sadness, and for the life of her she couldn't explain why on earth Sasuke hadn't said anything about his mother's passing.
"I'm so sorry, Itachi-san," she finally murmured after a long while, gathering all the courage she could to raise her gaze at him. He was still staring upwards, but the sincere tone of her voice made him look at her with a little bit of bewilderment within his dark orbs.
"Thank you."
She drew her eyebrows and let out a little, uncertain smile. Itachi nodded again, turning to leave.
Sakura sighed again as she entered her home, her thoughts swirling chaotically in her mind. Just... how much more Sasuke was hiding from them?
Naruto and Kakashi needed to know about this.
-XxX-
AN: Alright, peeps. You should be aware by now that Sasuke is not my cup of grace as of late, especially due to recent manga chapters. I am very disgruntled at Kishimoto right now, and this is showing on my writing. I can't say I'm not having fun, because I'm having a total blast with this story. Regarding the Japanese dishes they had for dinner, a little bit of Wikipediaing would explain them to you.
No Shisui in this chapter, sorry about that. But still he got spotlight by his little teasing to Sasuke-chan. –grins with sadistic glee– Someone is going to reprimand him, I think...
Regarding the treatment for the lady at the restaurant, ojo-sama means young lady in a respectful manner, whereas oba-han means middle-aged lady. Oba-san / Oba-chan / Baa-chan are synonyms, but Naruto's excess of usage of this term when addressing Tsunade prompted me to look for other words.
Again, I feel that Itachi is still kind of OOC. However, and as one of my readers pointed out quite accurately, the behavior he's displaying is part of how he was when he was in Konoha, before he met Madara and defected the village. Since this is an AU story and the massacre didn't happen, I'm jumping over the character's personality and creating part of it by making up their growth within the series timeline. I hope you understand my meaning later on then the story gets heavy. 8D
Thanks for reading!