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: 1308
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: 10/04/14
Completed on: 10/04/14
Chapter Last Revised on: 18/05/14
Prompt: Modern AU. Itachi really likes Sakura but he never says a word to Sakura because his only interactions with girls are fangirls and include him constantly running away.
Sakura knocked firmly on the door and waited for a response.
"Enter."
The pink haired female turned the doorknob and let herself into the office, bowing slightly in greeting before her quietly enigmatic colleague.
"Good afternoon, Uchiha-san," The young high school teacher uttered politely and pleasantly to her fellow instructor, determined to be as civil as she could regardless of his infamously cool and distant demeanor. "I've brought the student records as well as the memo regarding the planning for the school festival; shall we get started?"
Dark onyx eyes met hers for a brief second before he looked away, centering his gaze somewhere over her left shoulder instead. The raven haired male nodded subtly, and Sakura ventured deeper into his office, taking a seat on the other side of his desk and starting to take out the materials for their meeting. Even though Sakura had only joined the teaching faculty of Konoha High this year as the new Biology teacher, she had already been picked to oversee and facilitate preparations for the annual school festival, and Uchiha-san, who taught Math and Physics, had also been chosen to be her co-organizer. The whole arrangement was a bit iffy to Sakura since it was obvious by now that the wildly popular and handsome Uchiha-san (he even had his own fan club amongst the female student body, complete with a large, loyal following) did not appear to like her very much, and the young pink haired teacher had groaned inwardly in dismay when she discovered her partner for this project.
For some reason unknown to her, Uchiha-san was always avoiding her. He maintained a fair distance whenever they had to speak, he always looked rigid and wary as if she was about to do something really awful to him, and he could never seem to look her straight in the eye, almost like he could not even stand having her in his sight. Sakura was bewildered and more than a bit hurt by her colleague's abhorrence of her. He kept away from her like she was the plague, quickly excusing himself from conversations whenever she joined in, and for the life of her, the young woman just could not figure out whatever she had done to offend him so. He did not have any issues with the other teachers, and from what Sakura could see, he was also cordial and polite towards their fellow colleagues and students – so it was only her he had a problem with.
Enough was enough, and Sakura was getting really sick and tired of this constant awkwardness and unbearable tension between the two of them. The pink haired female had no idea why she was disliked so much but she was determined to clear the air and set everything straight before they embarked on this school festival project. It would be intolerable otherwise, for the two of them to remain in such a painfully uncomfortable situation for the next few months.
"Do you have the proposed theme ready, Haruno-san?" the Uchiha enquired in a grave, solicitous manner, though he was still very carefully avoiding eye contact with her. The other teacher was also leaning back in his chair and rather surreptitiously moving away from the desk she was occupying, and despite her determination to be polite and cordial, Sakura could feel her temper rising rapidly, getting very close to flaring. The straw that broke this camel's back was when the awful man tilted his head up and stared at the ceiling than at her; he would rather look at the ceiling tiles than at her – she was not that repulsive!
"Excuse me, Uchiha-san," Sakura snapped at last, unable to tolerate this awfully rude and insufferable man any longer. This had been bothering her for the past few months and it was way past time to confront him about it. "Do you have something against me? I cannot help but notice that every time I'm around, you avoid me like you cannot even stand having me near. If this is such a huge issue to you, then I can always suggest to Principal Sarutobi-sama that we work separately from now on-"
For the first time ever, the Uchiha stared straight at her, his eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise, and if possible, he appeared genuinely baffled by her cool, clipped accusation, much to her own increasing confusion.
"That's not it," he interrupted her in a mildly strained tone at last, and her eyebrow raising, she waited for him to elaborate. He looked reluctant to speak, but she was not backing down this time, determined to have this whole problem between them sorted out once and for all.
"…I apologize if I have somehow, inadvertently, made you feel slighted; that was not my intention," he spoke slowly and carefully at last, as if he still had trouble grasping the reason for her misunderstanding. "I didn't mean to…"
For the first time, he was speaking to her directly and honestly, and Sakura's head tilted in a perplexed manner as she sensed the genuine sincerity in his words. Her earlier sharp temper started to subside, just a little. Could this have just been a huge mix up? "You didn't mean to…?" she echoed in a less aggressive tone, encouraging him to continue what he was about to say. However, Uchiha-san was floundering to speak, though he was also making a huge effort to continue to look her in the eye, something that she just realized in an abrupt epiphany that he had been struggling with all along. The poor man appeared mildly distressed by the situation, and suddenly, Sakura was starting to feel bad for forcing this confrontation without properly considering the other party's point of view.
"Uhm, it's alright," she spoke at last, forcing an awkward smile of her own. "…I think I understand. I apologize too, Uchiha-san. I didn't mean to trouble you – I'll be careful to keep my distance from now on if that's what you-"
"That's not what I want," he told her quietly before she could finish. Once again, he was struggling to pick the correct words to say, and she could see in his eyes that he was attempting to apologize in his own way too. This was probably the first time that she had seen this usually composed and self-possessed man so frazzled, and for some reason, she privately found this rarely seen, awkward side of him somewhat endearing, and it slowly made her feel more accepting of him as she gradually comprehended the truth. Uchiha-san was not an ill-mannered and mean person; he was just somewhat clumsy and graceless when it came to interacting with some people, though she wondered just why he seemed to find it difficult to communicate with her – she had always made an effort to be outgoing and friendly.
"It's difficult for me to look at you," he admitted then, and before she could take offense at his blunt statement, he continued blithely. "You're too bright, Haruno-san; you hurt my eyes."
Of all the things that he could say, she was definitely not expecting this. The Biology teacher stared blankly at her raven haired colleague.
Eh? Ehh? EHH?!
Too bright? What was that supposed to mean? He made it sound like some sort of love confession-
Poor Sakura's mind short circuited then, and the young woman quickly turned a deep, dull red. The fact that Uchiha-san now looked subtly relieved since he had finally gotten the words off of his chest did not ease her embarrassment any, and he was also looking at her in a way as though he expected her to understand the rest of the situation and pick up from there.
But what on earth was this ridiculous situation?!
"Erm- U-Uh-"
Great; how was she supposed to look him in the eye now?!
::owari
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Oh dear, it seems that my modernAU!Itachi is turning into something of a dork, hah. He's such an awkward penguin but I think I like him portrayed like this every once in a while, lol.
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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