Title: Dessert of the Day

Author: paws-bells

Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85

Characters/Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi

Type: One Shot/Drabble Collection (InComplete)

Genre: Romance/General/Humor

Word Count: 889

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.

Summary: Random ItaSaku drabbles/onesies featuring various universes and various storylines for your reading pleasure. Chapters may or may not be interconnected.

Created on: 31/08/13

Completed on: 31/08/13

Chapter Last Revised on: 27/04/14

Prompt: Modern AU. High School Crush.

Sakura very nervously straightened her plaid skirt and fought the urge to fidget.

The pink-haired young woman felt extremely self-conscious in her high school uniform as she stood outside the office door of Professor Uchiha. It was afterschool hours and the faculty hallway was empty, devoid of life, but Sakura was still feeling jumpy all the same, leery of running into people and having to explain her presence. Her palms were slightly damp with perspiration and even her clothes felt rather restricting right now – she didn't quite remember her uniform being so tight that it felt hard to breathe – though that might just be her nerves speaking. She tucked an errant lock of her hair behind her ear and then tentatively reached out her hand to knock on the door, hesitating briefly before her knuckles made light, timid contact with the vertical wooden surface.

There was a slight pause on the other side, and then, she heard him give his permission to enter, and relief briefly inundated her before the unbearable tension rushed back again. Sakura wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and slowly turned it, opening the door slightly and cautiously sticking her head through the slight opening.

Uchiha Itachi looked up from his desk, his dark eyes immediately alighting on his visitor. Stacks of scientific journals and thick tomes were arrayed on his desk, and his computer screen flickered with light – he was obviously busy, and…he also wore a pair of reading glasses when he worked, she realized faintly.

"Sakura," he greeted softly, with the faintest hint of surprise tinting his polite, modulated voice. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above her; it was already past eight in the evening. "It's so late; what brings you to the university at this time?"

Sakura bit her lips, and then she slowly entered the room, slipping the door firmly shut behind her as she did so. She shook her head slightly, and then she blurted out.

"Good evening, Itachi-kun. Am I… Am I bothering you right now?" she sounded very vulnerable, and that prompted the Uchiha to give her his full attention, this girl who was the longtime childhood playmate of his otouto, and who had adored his younger brother for what had seemed like forever. The young genius theoretical physicist set down his pen and removed his glasses, folding the template before slipping it into its storage case with an elegant slight of his hand. He looked at the younger girl.

"Of course not," he told her assuringly. "You're never a bother, Sakura. What's wrong?"

Once again, Sakura just shook her head, and then, she took another slow, cautious step towards him. There was a brief moment where she looked increasingly panicked, like a young doe on the verge of bolting, before she seemed to draw herself up mentally and gave him a hesitant but brave smile instead.

She reached for her bag slowly, and then pulled out a rolled diploma to show it to him. "I graduated today," she announced slowly. "We had the graduation ceremony in school earlier. …I was valedictorian."

He smiled softly at her then, an expression that made her heart ache because it was so beautiful. "Aa, I know. Sasuke mentioned that you were all graduating today. Congratulations, Sakura. I'm proud of you. You're well on your way to being an adult now."

At his kind, gentle words, the eighteen year old girl felt her earlier, wavering resolve harden, and her pristine emerald gaze grew firm as she quickly made up her mind to do what she had originally set out to accomplish.

"I'm not a child anymore, Itachi-kun," she reminded him quietly. "So you can't treat me like one anymore either."

The young professor just continued to observe her with his sharp, watchful gaze, seeming to sense her odd mood.

"Remember the crush I told you about a long time ago?" she asked him then, willing her voice not to shake because this was taking more courage than she thought she possessed. "I told you that I loved this boy with my whole heart from the first moment I saw him, and you said that I should wait until I graduated from high school to confess my feelings, because Sasuke and I, we were both too young to handle our feelings for each other?"

Itachi appeared slightly concerned now. Of course he remembered. She had only been all of ten years old, a cute, sweet-looking little thing, with tragic tears filling her large eyes and bruises on her face from scrapping with his younger brother, and he had picked her up and soothed her on his knee after he made Sasuke apologize for fighting with her. His otouto was always so brusque with girls, and it seemed that he must have had said something to inadvertently hurt Sakura's feelings again.

"Sakura, did something happen with Sasuke?" he asked softly, cautiously, then.

Sakura looked at him with large, beseeching eyes.

"It's not Sasuke," she whispered. "It has never been Sasuke."

"That boy was you, Itachi-kun," she told him, much to his growing shock. "It has always been you."

"You told me to wait till I'm older, so I waited. Is it okay to say it now? Can I confess my feelings now?" she asked him tremulously.

"I love you, Itachi-kun."

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

Another quick chapter before the start of a new week! The ending was a bit open ended, but meh. I may come back to this one again because I happen to find Professor!Itachi rather intriguing, but we shall see what the muse says about that, haha. Hope you guys enjoyed it! =)

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Once again, I'm currently not accepting any prompts at the moment, so please do not send me any until I request for them, thanks.

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Thanks for your kind understanding, and as always, thanks for reading! Until next time!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws