Chapter 8: Kiss Me Good-bye

-X-

Plopping her tired self on the chair, Sakura groaned as she lifted her arms in order to stretch them. Her shift had just ended, leaving her rather moody and with no chakra to soothe her own pounding migraine.

She hadn't seen the Uchiha Heir in four days, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before they would cross paths again. Frowning, the pink-haired medic closed her eyes and remembered how bad Sasuke had reacted when Naruto had confronted him with that little piece of information she found out during her outing with Itachi.

Like a cornered animal, the young Uchiha had lashed out at his two teammates, no matter how she tried to reason with him and no matter how Naruto tried to beat his words into his head. Yelling at the top of his lungs, he had remarked quite cruelly that his family was not a topic of discussion between them, because Naruto was a forsaken orphan and Sakura was just a pitiful, sheltered little girl.

His behavior was completely out of line and out of character, but his words had dealt, once more, a sharp painful blow to her and Naruto. Kakashi didn't say anything, but he had told them that as long as his performance in missions was acceptable they shouldn't intrude upon matters that were beyond their jurisdiction.

She had understood, of course, but Naruto was the most hurt from Sasuke's introversion and nasty comebacks. And Sakura didn't forgive the Uchiha for addressing such hurtful words to the friend that had been with him in the good and the bad moments of his life.

Inner Sakura's opinion about the whole matter was spot on. 'No matter how much we care about him, he won't care about us.'

It was painful, but the truth always came at the point of a knife.

Sighing deeply, the medic opened her eyes, feeling a certain dread weigh on her senses. A sharp knock on her office door startled her.

"Come in!"

The door opened, allowing access to a person she had seen, but never spoken to.

"Are you Haruno Sakura?" the man asked in a cold, detached voice, so much like that of his very own firstborn son.

She stood up swiftly, bowing deeply towards him. "Yes, Uchiha-sama. Please come in."

Uchiha Fugaku was a man in his fifties already, with a quite a few white hairs mingling with the rest of his coal-colored ones. He surely looked his age, especially with that deep frown curving his mouth as he surveyed the little office with an open gesture of aversion and arrogance.

"What can I do for you, Uchiha-sama?"

"I have come to talk to you, Haruno-san," the man started, not minding the mute invitation from her to take a seat. To Sakura, it was an open act of arrogance. "I have been informed of certain... encounters you have had with my son."

Sakura stared at him in shock. "...Uchiha-sama, Sasuke is my teammate--"

"I am not referring to Sasuke, girl. It is of my knowledge that you have an... association with my eldest son. You sure know that Itachi is the most prized asset of our Clan."

The pink-haired medic nodded meekly, clearly taken by surprise by the man.

"That is why I have come, to ask you to leave my son to his own devices, namely his missions and his family. He does not have the time for pointless liaisons."

Sakura's eyes went wide with shock. She couldn't believe what the man was implying, and the Clan Head continued as if he hadn't seen her reaction.

"It is most important that my son stays focused on his missions and his duties. He is the Heir of the Uchiha Clan; I'm sure that this fact alone must have attracted your attention, especially for someone coming from a civilian family."

Emerald eyes narrowed dangerously and her face reddened at the blatant insult, but Sakura wrapped her inner persona under a leash before snapping.

"Therefore, I feel that my son's time is being compromised by your... relationship. I have been informed of your current situation, and we would be most pleased in helping you with your studies and the maintenance of your home. This, of course, means your discretion and your distance would be appreciated."

Sakura's mental leash over her temper got loose when she saw the faint sneer on the old man's face.

"Uchiha-sama," she began in a low voice. "Know that your son isn't in any sort of liaison with me. Neither of them, actually. My mother always taught me to respect my elders, but the way you just addressed my departed family was both rude and disrespectful."

Striding from behind her desk and opening the door, she completed her lashing out.

"I am the Hokage's apprentice and the third kunoichi in the whole village. I have no need of financial assistance, as you might find upon further investigation of my background. Good afternoon, Uchiha-sama. I shall not impose you of my presence any longer."

"How dare you, little girl--" the man started to say haughtily, but she was far too mad to pay attention.

"I dare, Uchiha-sama. No one has any right to badmouth my family, as you can understand. Family is such a precious thing, am I right? We need to treasure our beloved ones, even after their passing. Have a nice day."

Without waiting for him to step out of the office completely, she slammed her office door violently. She was trembling with such rage that she almost started to destroy her own workplace.

How dare that goddamn Uchiha! Sakura seethed inwardly. How dare that decrepit man to imply she was nothing but a gold-digger? How dare he to accuse her of taking up his firstborn's time like she had nothing else to do but bother their precious Uchiha Heir?

Oh, they had done quite enough already, she decided, opening her door and stomping her way out of the Hospital to the Hokage's Tower. It was time to tell her shishou about how nice the Clan leader was towards her apprentice; maybe she could tell off the man, at least, although she really doubted that was the case.

Izumo saw her approaching and waved, directing his wary eyes to her frazzled appearance. She appeared as much tired as she felt, but all signs of weariness were completely forgotten in her anger.

"Tsunade-sama wants to speak with you," he said with a nervous smile. Sakura merely nodded and kept climbing the stairs, intent on her destination.

But as she entered the Hokage's office, she knew that something was off.

"Sakura, what have you done?" the busty blonde said with a worried shake of her head.

"What?"

-X-

"What?!" Sakura shouted in utter anger. Tsunade knitted her eyebrows in displeasure at her apprentice vocal rage.

"Keep your voice down!" she ordered sternly. "You knew better than to piss off the Uchiha Clan Head, Sakura! It was obvious that he wanted you to lose control. Now that you did, he filed a complaint against you, to me."

"What?!" her pink-haired pupil repeated dumbly. "He was the one who sauntered into my office and started insulting me and my family! Tsunade-shishou, this is outrageous!"

"As outrageous as it is, I have no other choice but to take you off of the active roster," the Hokage said with a scowl. "I want you to lay low for a while; Fugaku will forget everything in a few months and then you can go back to your team--"

Sakura paled so suddenly that her mentor feared she was having a heart attack. "Are you... firing me?" she asked in disbelief. "After all I've done to the village, you're going to dismiss me?"

"Don't be stupid, Sakura!" Tsunade snapped angrily. "I'm suspending you, not firing you!"

Sakura clenched her fists, feeling her nails imbedding deeply in her palms.

"Haruno Sakura, Jounin of Konohagakure," Tsunade declared firmly. "Hereby you shall be suspended from your duties as a medic and kunoichi until further notice. Shizune, get this in the log and withdraw Sakura's name from the mission roster."

The Hokage's assistant nodded grimly as she exited the office, leaving mentor and apprentice alone. Tsunade sighed heavily.

"I had no other choice, Sakura; you need to understand that having the Uchiha as enemies is not wise," she said tiredly. "I want to protect you from them, that's why I'm suspending you instead of a public scolding. They were going to retaliate for sure if I let you go like last time."

The young kunoichi said nothing, so full with mortification and humiliation.

"Sakura, please understand," Tsunade said quietly. "I know this might sound horrible, but I rather have you safe at home than targeted by that old Uchiha prick."

"Is..." the pink-haired young woman whispered, her eyes fixated on the floor. "Is that all, Tsunade-sama?"

"...Yes."

Pulling the hitai-ate from her hair, Sakura walked and placed the plated red cloth on the Hokage's desk.

"I'll take my leave then," she murmured, bowing to a frowning Tsunade, who nodded stiffly.

"I'll let you know when you can come back," she answered, but her distressed pupil was already closing her door.

-X-

She just couldn't believe it.

It was so unfair to be punished when other person was the offender. Especially, when this offender had snubbed her most precious memories.

Her mother, her father.

For someone who had loved and lost their beloved ones she certainly knew how to honor their memory. Being such a successful ninja was the main matter of pride for her father, and the story of how Sakura had cut her hair with a kunai to defend her teammates was one that her mother loved to hear repeatedly. She had sustained that this episode was the first step in Sakura's path to independence in a world of males.

This of course, brought such an adorable scowl on her Otou-san's features, prompting her Okaa-san's mirthful laughter. Their parents were happy, although they chose not to fear for their daughter's safety when she was out on missions.

They trusted her, and this had meant the world for the young and only kunoichi of their little family.

Sakura's steps were heavy with regret and anger. She felt so overwhelmed that she almost missed the last step of the stairs, stumbling blindly onto the road.

She needed to destroy something. She was so upset that she felt like crying and throwing a fit in front of everyone, but her inner personality stopped her from doing so. It was better to have a nice breakdown alone, in the privacy of her home; she wasn't going to let anyone see how the Uchiha had won.

Dull green eyes blinked at the street. Most of the passersby were already gone, the night starting to spread the mantle over the village. Sighing heavily, Haruno Sakura started to walk, not noticing that someone had spotted her and was making his way to her.

But the person stopped when she lifted her head and took in two figures in front of the very same tea shop she had gone with the Uchiha ANBU Captain. Itachi and Sasuke were engaged in deep conversation, or at least Sasuke was talking and Itachi was listening intently. To an outsider – Sakura – it seemed like both were sharing a familial moment and they wouldn't appreciate someone barging on them.

Only then, the magnitude of her suspension took her senses by surprise, stumping her to an abrupt halt of her feet.

She couldn't be with their teammates anymore. She was as good as done for.

Inhaling deeply, she turned and fled, gritting her teeth to avoid her tears falling in the middle of the street.

Sensing her distress and watching her running away like she had seen a ghost, Uchiha Shisui frowned deeply. His eyes had detailed the lack of hitai-ate tying the roseate tresses in place, but for the life of him he couldn't pinpoint what had happened to the pink-haired medic to flee from his cousins.

...Maybe he would have to find out by himself.

Uchiha Shisui was a curious person, after all.

-X-

It was silly really, how she could achieve new levels of brooding than Sasuke wouldn't dream of reaching.

Naruto, ever the most precious and loyal of her friends, had found out about her suspension and went to throw a tantrum of epic proportions to the Hokage, only to have his body sailing over the village like a kite out of control.

Awful for Shizune, who was the one that went looking for his battered form in order to bring him back to Tsunade, Naruto kept cursing and shouting about his sister's unconventional and unfair punishment, and therefore making the whole village find out about what needed to be kept in secret.

But thankfully, the blonde Hokage had foreseen the Uzumaki's stunt. In fact, she had been expecting him to create a ruckus. That way the Uchiha would find out faster, thanks to the gossip grapevine.

This brought a parade of people to Sakura's door. Almost all of them asking what had happened to the usually obedient (albeit grumpy) kunoichi for making their Hokage so mad that had earned her sorry self a suspension.

Slamming the door to more than one of her friends' faces, Sakura decided that these times were the worst of her life.

And to top her mood, Sasuke hadn't sent any word of support nor had come with Naruto and Kakashi to visit her.

She was going insane, locked within her home. Usually she didn't mind being at her house on a day off and whatnot, but knowing that she didn't have anything to do with her punishment, along with her restlessness for the inactivity made her a woman with a very nasty mood.

Cleaning the house didn't help, certainly. She kept bumping either with her parent's mementos or her own ninja equipment, throwing her back down memory lane and keeping her in her sulky, broody state.

Of course, after a week of this situation, Sakura was about to rip her own hair in boredom and distress.

A firm knock on her door brought her from her sullen reverie while she rearranged for the ninth time her medical scrolls on the little shelf next to the sofa.

"Go away!" she said after several minutes of knocking. Figuring it was Naruto again to bring her whatever silly news he felt she needed to hear to cheer her up, Sakura rolled her eyes and strode to the door, intent into delivering a nice bump on the blond's head.

The knocking started again and she felt her eye twitch. "What the hell do y--" she started to say as she flung the door open, but the sight in front of her rendered her speechless.

"May I come in?" said a deep, masculine voice.

Sakura scowled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Uchiha Itachi said nothing, keeping his gaze leveled on hers. The pink-haired woman crossed her arms and stood her ground, intent on having the bane of her existence out of her doorstep and her life.

After a minute or so of staring at each other, Itachi blinked.

"Sakura-san."

"What do you want, Uchiha-san?" she all but hissed. "Did you come to laugh at my face or maybe you came to see for yourself about my funny situation?"

"Hn," he said, tilting his head a little to a side. "So it was true."

Sakura smiled tersely. "Rub it in my face, will you," she said in false cheerfulness. "Now, you can go away. Good day, Uchiha-san."

"I believe we had agreed to address each other by first names, Sakura-san," he merely replied in a light tone. "May I come in or do you prefer to have our conversation here for the populace's amusement?"

He never failed to make her gape openly, his unpredictability throwing her out of the loop once more.

"Fine," she murmured angrily, retreating into her home and leaving the door open for him to enter. He did so, closing the wooden panel softly behind his back. Entering the living area, he found the owner of the house sitting in the sofa among a myriad of scrolls and little boxes that were scattered around the table. A glance told the visitor that those boxes were medical instruments and ninja regulated weapons, such as kunai, shuriken and explosive tags.

"I apologize for my sudden intrusion," he said politely. The annoyed female huffed softly, her eyes not leaving the cloth which was polishing the kunai in her hands.

"You can sit over there," she said, pointing a chair next to the sofa. "Are you going to tell me now why you are here?"

The Uchiha Heir eyed her levelly again, to make his way to the sofa and sitting next to the disgruntled kunoichi.

"I have come to ask you about what you don't want to reveal to your friends," he said straightforwardly. "I heard from Naruto-kun that you won't come out of your home. I want to know why."

"You already know why, Uchiha-san," she shot back, narrowing her eyes. "Are you going to insult me as well? I've earned a suspension because of your family and I most certainly don't want to do anything with any of you!"

"I see. Shisui was right, after all."

"What? What does he have to do with this? My problem is with your family, not him!"

"Regardless of your fondness for the idiot of a cousin of mine, Sakura-san, I believe he is still part of my Clan."

"That's it!" she snapped, flicking the kunai to the table, which sailed neatly and stuck to the surface in a perfect ninety-degree angle. Standing up, she rounded the coffee table and placed her fists on her hips. "Why the hell are you here?! You--you, Uchiha! You are nothing but a gigantic pain in the ass for me! You, your brother, your father--and the rest of your holier-than-thou freaking Clan!"

"So you had a disagreement with Sasuke?" he asked calmly. "That could not be, for you have already proven him that you are more than worthy of his time. I do wonder though, the reasons for the Hokage to have suspended you if you both are at fault about your rift."

Sakura gaped, furrowing her brows. "Are you deaf? My suspension doesn't have anything to do with your brother, who I'm going to punt into next year when I see him for being such a prick!"

"Then why were you suspended, Sakura?" he asked directly, looking at her fiery emerald eyes. "A kunoichi of your caliber must be out in the field, not locked up like a caged bird of prey."

"Oh that's so nice of you to say, huh? Get out!" she shouted, pointing at the door. "Your family did nothing but ruin my life, insult my parents and mistreat me for too long!"

Itachi stood up, his thin eyebrows drawing together minutely at the woman's ire.

"I'm sure you can explain yourself better, Sakura," he insisted. "I will not leave until you have."

Walking slowly to her, Itachi saw how she seemed to withdraw her shoulders in an attempt to shield herself from an emotional attack. This was added to his theory, marking what Shisui had said about her when he found her in the street.

"You have been hurt," he said quietly. "I want to know who wronged you."

"And I want you to leave, Uchiha-san," she whispered, taking a step back. Her anger simmered under the sudden desire to put some space between them, her self-protective instincts kicking in. "Please, get out. Ask Sasuke about all this if you want to know that badly."

"Sasuke doesn't have a clue," he responded softly. "He just figures you managed to upset the wrong people."

She took another step back, lowering her eyes and clenching her fists. Itachi easily recognized that reflex. Bingo.

"He's right," Sakura murmured, still retreating. "That is why I'm paying a high price."

Her back pressed against the wall, but still she didn't look at him. Itachi decided to take the matter into his hands, raising a hand.

Sakura almost flinched when he took her chin with two long fingers and forced her gently to raise her head.

Onyx stared into emerald that shone with pure hurt and confusion.

"Tell me, Sakura," he prodded with a gentle tone. "Answer me."

To his inward surprise, she just shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't... I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because... because..." she trailed off when she realized that his face was very close to hers. So close that she could perceive his scent, fresh and clean but so masculine with cedar and spearmint. So close that she could feel the warmth of his body. So close that she could see the depth of his onyx orbs changing slowly into the deep crimson of the Sharingan.

She closed her eyes with a frightened squeak. "No! Please!"

Itachi straightened and dropped his hand. He hadn't realized that his Sharingan had acted on its own volition, activating itself due to his closeness with such a... dangerous woman.

Shisui had confided in him something about that phenomenon, when he related to his cousin his first outing with the eldest daughter of the Inuzuka Clan. It was more a matter of trust than self-preservation, according to the elder Uchiha.

Recalling his friend's words as the pink-haired female opened her eyes to regard him with that familiar blush on her cheeks that made her so becoming for him, the Uchiha prodigy decided then and there to follow his cousin's advice for the first time in his life outside of the battlefield.

Inhaling softly the soft scent of peaches that emanated from her hair and body, Itachi disengaged his Kekkei Genkai without taking his gaze from hers, placed his hand softly on her neck and proceeded to press his lips to hers in an impromptu move that made her gasp.

Unhurried and planned; that was his kiss in that very moment. He didn't take advantage of her sudden intake of air although he very much wanted to do so, engrossed in the feel of her soft lips against his. She had closed her eyes, her body trembling with both surprised nervousness and restraint. Conscious of how much damage her fists could do to him when she regained her wits, he kept his kiss slow and shallow.

But something broke his perfectly devised plan when Sakura emitted a low whimper from the back of her throat, relaxing her lips bit by bit and starting to respond to him, very cautiously, almost shyly.

His hands, one against the wall and one on her neck, slid around her shoulders to pull her lightly to his body.

The kiss, then, began to transform from chaste and controlled to deep and almost frenzied. The kunoichi was so responsive of the nudges and coiling of his tongue that Itachi felt a low quiver in her back. Pulling back, he could see with incensed onyx eyes that she was flushed red, her dark emerald eyes were narrowed in pleasure and her hands were entangled in his own hair. She had responded to her desires as much as he had.

Only then, he understood Shisui's words when he spoke about laying claim on a female. It was so satisfactory that he only could place another quick kiss on her lips before relaxing his grip on her back and waist.

And then she chose to talk.

"Itachi..."

He smoothed her face with his fingertips before pulling back and striding decisively to the door.

"I'll be back, Sakura," he said in a deep murmur that made her flush once more. Exiting her house, back within his arrogant façade, his thoughts only were set on finding out what had happened to her.

And then, staking his claim for all to know.

-XxX-

AN: Good lord, this chapter was a pain in the butt! DX

I'm sorry, really, for the long wait. It was so frustrating to write Fugaku after the latest manga chapters that I almost lost my mojo. My muse is certainly not pleased with this chapter and neither do I, but I figured I needed to keep pushing forward if I want to finish this thing this year, haha.

I'll have to let you know though that chapter nine is still in the making. I have a sort of a writer's block with this story, especially since I didn't expect so many people liking it, heh. I had to re-write the next chapter like four times, because I felt it wasn't good enough. I'll come around soon, I hope. And I still feel this story would be stalled for some more time. I apologize in advance, but Manolito The Muse is not amused with the manga events relating Itachi.

Many thanks and love to Sometime.Usagi for her awesome betaings and opinions!

Thanks for reading!