AN: Yeah, I haven't forgotten this one. Surprising, right.
Anyway, enjoy the chap.
Sakura sighed again for the fifth time in the last seven minutes. This was more exhausting than she thought was possible.
She tugged at the drawstring on the fancier dress she was wearing, smoothing her hand over the emerald green silk and running her fingers through her open rose locks one more.
She shouldn't be feeling this fidgety; she shouldn't be feeling nervous at all. It was just a dinner with a bunch of arrogant sorcerers. She has taken down bigger evils in the past, this was nothing.
But something was lurching in her stomach at the thought of being surrounded by war magic from all angles. Maybe it was the unfamiliar setting, every stone in the mansion being etched with the war magic that made her throat itch, repelling and pushing against her own. Or maybe it was the impending doom over her head.
'Stop it Sakura.' Taking a deep breath, she gingerly put on the emerald locket around her neck, the incantation surrounding it washing over her like a cool breeze, the golden bangles on her wrist clinking lightly.
Itachi was supposed to be escorting the pair of witches to the dining hall, but since he wasn't here yet, and she couldn't feel his magic anywhere near, she decided to kill some time by tidying up her room and put away the books and scrolls that were still strewn all over her bed.
As she was bookmarking a few pages on one of them, her thoughts turned to an… interesting discovery that she made. The clan history books made available to the Birchwood library, the high library for magic, had very limited, almost no amount of information in them, other than some important figures and general nature of their magic.
But while the words in the books might look much inconspicuous and generalized at the first look, when studied deeper and more extensively, revealed some loopholes in the wordings used to deflect from the possible truth in the sentences.
While the verity lock on the official clan scrolls prevented the clans from writing misinformation on the books, they have found very clever ways of twisting the words into making something look like an entirely different ordeal than the original information.
Like saying that most Uchihas in their private compound use fire magic, with high caliber in thunder energy and particle manipulation, some of theirs potential enhanced by enchanted eyes, evident of their crimson irises. Legend from their ancestors have it, that it was caused due to an accidental poisoning from vermillion lilies, that nearly wiped out half the clan.
And that was a strange thing to say.
Surely they had crimson iris, but only some of them. While it might've been pinned up as just a genetic mutation or a trait passed around, purely affecting physical appearance. But it specifically mentioned their enchanted eyes.
But the strangest part was the poisoning, because if her nearly eighteen years of healing knowledge informed her of anything, it was that vermillion lilies were generally harmless. Even when ingested in large amounts, it may be a more than a little sickening, but largely non-lethal. And for almost half of a clan to get wiped out by the said plant, was way more concerning.
And even after scouring through every scroll, every book she could have about the Uchihas, she only came out empty handed, finding anything neither about the poisoning nor about how their eyes enhanced their potential.
And all this was making her lose her goddamn mind.
A quiet knock on the door interrupter her thoughts, startling her awake from her half-minded musings. Dropping the last of her books on her bed, she padded over to open the door.
It was Itachi.
Dressed in clothes that vaguely resembled his previous dark clothes, but much more polished and crisper, the Uchiha gave her a kind smile and bowed his head, "Rested well, miss Sakura?"
Sakura nodded back and turned around to grab her slippers, "I did, thank you for asking." She doubly secured the sash of her dress and made sure to put on the silver ring on her left ring finger before closing the door and joining Itachi in the hallway, "Shall we get going?"
At his nod, she turned her face to the long hallway and pretended to not see the way Itachi dejectedly put down his offered arm. "So, who are going to be in attendance?"
"The clan leaders, namely my parents and some uncles and aunts, my brother and some cousins. Also the clan head. The elders were supposed to be in attendance, but they've decided to postponed their presence for another meeting." His smooth voice never faltered, neither did their steady pace.
"And where's Shishou?"
"She is already there."
They were in compatible silence for the rest of the way, but whether it was comfortable or else, was hard to tell, and soon enough, they were in front of the large mahogany doors of the main dining hall.
"Father." Sakura hid behind Itachi as he took the first step in greeting the room, blocking her view to the rest of the room, but soon enough, he stepped aside. "I've brought miss Sakura." And Sakura had to force her spine to stand straight under the heavy gazes being cast upon her. And while the identical dark eyes were sizing her up and down, as if somehow determining her worth, she took the time to look at the faces of the supposed allies.
Sleek mops of dark hair lined the large dining table, paired with visibly related pale faces and equally dark eyes. She recognized Shisui, the odd one out with his dopey grin and hand waving at her in greeting. And she also recognized the guy from the morning, Itachi's younger brother, watching her with a strange gaze.
A clearing of throat grabbed her attention to the nearest chair to the head of the table, a man with dark hair graying in places and lines gracing his jaw. "Miss Sakura, welcome to Uchiha compound."
Sakura half-bowed as effortlessly as possible, not willing to bend any more than that, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mister Uchiha." And took her seat in the middle on side of the table, beside her mentor and in front of Shisui.
But one chair was still empty, at the head of the table. And the table was still empty, only silverwares and water and some fruit-bowls present on it, but no sign of the actual meal.
A sudden call of her name caught her attention, "Miss Haruno, Miss Senju, have you been resting well?" The feminine voice drew her eyes to the lady sitting beside the patriarch of the house, if she knew correctly, it was Mikoto Uchiha. She was the only other Uchiha that had any warmth radiating off of themselves.
"Yes, thank you." Sakura responded for both her mentor and herself, resuming to stare at the bouquet of flowers at the center of the table. The table once again lapsed in an uncomfortable silence, Sasuke coughing awkwardly once in a while.
After a moment, the silence was broken by someone else on the table, and it made Sakura wish that she would rather just bear the awkwardness than having to listen to that.
"Miss Haruno, Miss Senju, where are you two from?" An aged voice asked from somewhere on the table, the owner being an old man who looked like he had his one leg on the ground and the other in the grave. He twisted his pipe in one hand, splayed in his chair like a drunkard.
"We are from the outskirts of Clarines town." Sakura again answered for both of them, knowing well enough her mentor was not inclined to interact with any of the Uchihas.
The old man hummed snidely, taking another drag of his pipe, "Ah, town Clarines, it's a commoner's town. Do you live in the town?"
Sakura's skin prickled in simmering anger at the taunt. The old bag of bones knows well that the witches are not allowed residency inside any town, yet he continues to stoke the flames of insults. "No, we live in the sage meadows." She tried hard to keep the snarl from showing up on her face or leaking into her voice. "The town is a bit too… noisy, for our taste."
"And what about the flower festival of the towns." Another voice piqued, a more feminine one but equally aged, "Do you go there?" 'Are you allowed there?' was clearly heard through the voice.
"Again, too noisy." Her answer was short and clipped, clear indication for her lack of enthusiasm for any more participation.
But the old man was stupider than she thought. "And what about the people, do they want you?"
Sakura was about ready to snap her teeth at him, but was fortunately saved the trouble by Mikoto. "Uncle Kaname, let's not do this. They are our guests, respect them." Her voice was soft, but the sternness hidden under the surface was unmistakable.
The old man huffed, fixing Mikoto with a glare. "Do not talk to me like that, woman. I'm talking to them the way they deserve."
'That's it.' Sakura whipped her head to glare at the elder and opened to mouth to let out a no doubt scathing remark, when a cold voice from beside her interrupted the moment.
"You have some nerve to go that route, wizard." Tsunade put down her wine glass with a soft thud, leveling her icy amber eyes on the arrogant Uchiha. "For someone who practically begged us for our assistance, you have some real nerve."
The Uchiha snarled, face contorting in anger. "What did you say, you witch?"
"Hard of hearing?" Tsunade cooed mockingly, as if talking to a petulant child, "Us witches have a salve for improving hearing as well, shall you ever need it. And be mindful of your words, Uchiha. We are the only one who can help you from being wiped out from the face of the earth. I, personally, wouldn't think for a second more before packing up my bags and leaving you here to rot."
The table was silent as they watched the elder flushing red with rage, his fingers near breaking the pipe clutched in his hand.
But before he could start another fight, this time a real one, the door to the dining hall opened, click-clacks of boots accompanying the new presence and dark cloak swishing behind him in every step.
"Madara." Fugaku greeted, nodding at Sakura and Tsunade, "Our guests are here."
Sakura looked at the new presence, power and magic oozing out of his very being. He looked much like other Uchihas; long, dark hair like a lion's mane, tall stature and broad shoulders. And crimson eyes, permanently.
And Sakura felt her skin prickling and pebbling when those eyes fell on her, as if staring straight through her. He nodded his head in greeting at the witches, taking his seat at the head of the table. "Miss Senju, Miss Haruno, thank you for your immediate presence. I'm Madara Uchiha, Head of the Uchiha clan."
Sakura only nodded, too tongue tied to say anything else and just let her Shishou do the talking, instead opting to fix her attention on the trays of food being brought in by the maids and butlers. She could smell the mouth watering aroma before the food even reached the doors of the room, and barely stopped her stomach from grumbling when it was put down on the table.
"Your meal, m'lady." A butler put down a bowl of chicken soup in front of her, followed by a plate of stir-fry and another bowl of rice. More larger trays of sides and other dishes were put in the center of the table for easy reach for everyone.
Sakura was deciding on where to start when a deep voice called her out, "Please proceed to eat, Miss Sakura." It was Madara, watching her with a strange gleam in his eyes. She glanced at her mentor to see her already chewing on some veggies, and turned around to tentatively pick up her spoon and pick up some of the soup. She blew on her hot meal, keenly aware of the clan head's eyes following her every move, and tasted some of it.
Her eyes lit up at her aromatic and herby taste of the broth, distinct notes of rosemary and thyme strongly present. She bit into a piece of chicken, the soft tender meat near falling apart into her mouth.
"How is it, miss Sakura?" Mikoto asked the pinkette, a smile ever present on her face. And though never one to act even cordial with the enemy kind, Sakura found herself tentatively smiling at the warm Uchiha lady. It was hard to be rude to someone so sunny, and Sakura has always had a soft spot for the warm personalities. "It's delicious."
"I'm glad to hear that. We had the chefs prepare the meal with the preference of the witches in mind." Mikoto explained excitably.
Sakura was surprised, to say the least. Some of these Uchihas were truly going above and beyond to fit their accommodations. But even in her genuine efforts, there still lingered an inkling of suspicions inside Sakura. Were they doing so much to make Sakura and her Shishou comfortable to sincerely make their further proceedings smoother… or to be easier to betray them later.
But regardless, however conscious she might stay during her lodging with the sorcerers, she should atleast try to be cordial with the ones being hospitable.
"Oh I did notice the strong flavor of Rosemary and thyme. It's really nice." She would try to be polite, if only to stop this new mad, dangerous sorcerer on loose.
But if more of these Uchihas acted like the old bastard from before, then no guarantees from her part.
And maybe she should also save her experimental theories for some other time than this already awkward supper.
Sasuke has been fidgeting in his seat the entire time since Sakura has entered the room, and it was getting on both Itachi and Shisui's last nerve. He has been fidgeting in his seat, clattering his silverware, almost getting close to dropping his soup on his shirt and the awkwardness radiating off of his was palpable.
"Stop it sauce-cake." Shisui grumbled from his chair as he witnessed his youngest cousin almost dropping a piece of carrot; again. "Can't you just act normally."
"Can't you just mind your own business." Sasuke hissed back, glancing at Sakura to make sure she wasn't looking at his ungraceful actions. Shisui took seconds of a spinach dish, scoffing at his younger cousin's pathetic attempts at drawing the pink-haired witch's attention. "I would, if you weren't so obviously pathetic."
He would've been acting similar to Sasuke as well had he not already met Sakura over a week ago, but not as bad as the younger sorcerer had it. Sakura looked already so pretty in her regular clothes while travelling, but her flowy, spring dress and elegant hairstyle that night made her look like a forest nymph, one from the old wives tales he has heard while growing up.
When his granduncle Kaname was taunting Sakura about her witch status, he almost threw a flameball at him. But still, considering how hot-tempered Sakura is towards the people of his kind, he commended the patience she had towards such blatant ignorance.
"Otouto, if you keep this up, you'll ultimately end up embarrassing yourself in front of out guests." Itachi calmly stated, sipping on his glass of wine. "She won't be pleased if you're already making things uncomfortable. She already thinks you're kind of odd."
They both could see Sasuke panicking inside at the prospect of Sakura thinking of him as some weird boy creeping around her, and Shisui was taking great pleasure at his internal conflict.
But suddenly, the clattering of silverware reached their ears and saw Sakura and her mentor getting up from the dining table. "Thank you for the meal, we would need to take our leave." Sakura said, laying down the napkin on the table. Mikoto followed them, standing up from her seat after having finished her meal as well. "We shall start our… research, from tomorrow. If that is alright with all you."
With how Sakura was screaming and threatening murder at him and Itachi when they first met, Shisui was a little surprised by her soft and mild way of speaking. But seeing that she was taking lodging in the supposedly enemy's home, it would make sense for her to let out her words more cautiously.
"Of course, miss Haruno. I would wish you good night." Madara inclined his head at the two witches, resuming his conversation with Fugaku. Mikoto invited the pair of women to a tour around the mansion, which Sakura politely declined.
"I would like to visit the garden." Tsunade told the lady of Uchiha household, taking her up on the offer for a tour and left with only an offhanded command for Sakura, "Go and catch some sleep, girl. We're getting up bright and early tomorrow."
And having talked to her mentor, Sakura was out of the dining room door.
After a long minute of staring at the open door from where the pinkette has just disappeared, Sasuke got up from his chair so fast it almost toppled over. "I-I've got to go." He mumbled before he was speedwalking out of the room as well.
"Not just like this." Shisui was about to run after his younger cousin as well had he not been stopped by the hand gripping his shoulder. Itachi side-eyed the older man, making him stay in his seat and continue eating. But he almost regretted not running out when he heard one of the older clansmen grumbling out.
"We need to talk about these new… appearances." He croaked out, disdain and disgust dripping from each word and Shisui groaned at having to endure another one of the brain-rotting discussion with the clansmen still stuck in their ye olden days.
Was it still too late to chase out from the dining hall?
Sasuke was running through the hallway to find any trace of pink or green. He looked to the left of the corridor, then the right, and he still doesn't know which way she went. He couldn't even feel her magic through the halls.
He decided to take the chance and took off to the left. His boots clacked loudly on the marble and he used a silencing spell to mask the sound. He stopped in the middle of the hallway when he found no scent or flash of pink, and closed his eyes, taking in a breath and feeling the sounds around him.
He heard the light breeze billowing outside, the slight chirrups from the birds, the faint paddings of footsteps of the manor residents, and… heels tapping.
"Mister Sasuke?"
Sasuke nearly threw a fireball at the sudden presence behind him. He whipped around, posture rigid, and came face to face with the guest he was looking for.
Sakura stood a good distance away from him, he noted, looking at him in veiled caution. Sasuke was acutely aware that he should probably say something instead of just standing like a rock, but found his tongue a little heavy in his mouth.
"Are you looking for something?" She asked again, cautious to remain at a distance. She wanted to just get out, but passing by the young sorcerer without even so much as an acknowledgment would be outright disrespectful. And she did not feel like getting into trouble while she's staying inside the enemy's compound.
Sasuke took a deep breath to calm his palpitating heart in his chest, and shook his head. "Ah, no, Miss Haruno." He winced slightly at the crack in his voice before clearing his throat again, "Actually, I was looking for you. I wanted to introduce myself."
"I believe we have already been introduced." Sakura replied breezily, looking for an exit to side-step the conversation entirely. She took in the man standing in front of her while she looked for an excuse to get out, though he was taller than her, he looked like he was younger. Not by much though.
But he was still very much an Uchiha, the same dark eyes, pale face and reeking of violent magic.
Sasuke nodded, rigidly holding his proud stance. "Yes, but I wanted to introduce myself to you… formally. Since, apparently, we will be working together for a while, I've heard." He grunted out, not being able to focus on her green eyes, lest his heart feels like jumping out of his chest.
Though Sakura knew that the Uchiha probably meant it as words of courtesy, something about his words threw her off. He sounded like he was appalled by the discovery that they will be working in close quarters.
Well, two can play this game.
"Yes, Mister Uchiha, seems like we will be." Sakura's tone was clipped and her eyes like spears. She picked the skirt of her dress in the front, not bothering to look for an excuse anymore. "I will be retreating to my chambers now. Good night, mister Uchiha, I hope we will get along… swimmingly." The sarcasm in her last words was clear as day.
She breezed by the Uchiha, not looking back once before turning the corner of the hallway, leaving Sasuke staring at her back with jaw slightly open and wondering where the hell he went wrong.
It was the first time Sakura slept properly in weeks, but when she woke up, she felt more tired than she did in weeks.
No matter how plush and comfortable the bed was, the feel and presence of a thousand crimson eyes remained lurking in the deep crevices of her mind. She felt the sensation of needles piercing in her skin, the loud buzz of war magic ingrained in the very bricks of the building.
She felt uneased, agitated and vexed.
The bath helped, although very minutely, she downed cups and cups of calming teas to the point where the maid brought a permanent water heating station to her chamber. But the feeling remained.
So she did what she always did best, drowned herself in research.
Dressed in light summer dress and her crystal ball with the greenhouse in her hands, she roamed the manor halls, looking for someone. She went to her mentor, to find her room already empty, and then went to the study to look for her previous guides,
But no such thing seemed to be needed, for she found the two Uchihas doing the same. Whether she should consider herself lucky or not was still arguable.
"Good morning, Dove. Slept well?" The chirrupy voice of the curly-haired Uchiha made her sigh in exasperation as the pair of sorcerers slowed to a stop beside her.
"Good morning, mister Uchiha." She collectively greeted the pair. Shisui seemed to deflate a bit, but his partner nodded back in greeting.
"Looking for something, Miss Sakura?" Itachi asked airily, his voice as calm as the nearby streams. He nodded at the small crystal globe in her palms, the glass a little fogged up from the inside from the morning dew.
"Yes, actually. I was looking for a place to set up my greenhouse." She held up the ball face-level. She had looked at the gardens and yards of the compound from the balconies upstairs, and found a concerning lack of herbs and plants. They had flowers and shrubs, but all looked only to be ornamental.
She could only be grateful to herself for packing the greenhouse and her reserve of herbs and crystals. If she wanted to survive in the sorcerers' kingdom, she will need everything she has.
"Oh oh I know a place." Shisui piqued up, waving his hand for the other two to follow him. They walked down the grand stairs, out the hallway and across the gardens toward one of the more unused training grounds.
Sakura looked around the garden, now with a closer look at the variety of greenery. And just like she thought, they were all just ornamental. The stone path was lined with rose shrubs of various colors, colors she had never seen in the outskirts of Clarines, sage meadows or otherwise.
She looked around the large garden, seeing the dandelions, daisies, cosmos and roses. She saw a small pond of lotus and hyacinth in the corner but noted the absence of wisteria and lavender with a grimace.
She will need to plant some more in her greenhouse.
While the trio was walking across the garden, the colorful plants and clover lawn got more and more scarce, and instead got replaced by towering trees and plain grass. The sunlight washing over them was dimmed by the large canopies of the trees and the way finally opened to a large clearing, lined with dense foliage of redwood trees.
"This is one of the training grounds of the Uchiha clan, but this one hasn't been used in years so it should be alright." Shisui informed the pinkette and she could tell that it hasn't been used in a while. The grass looked almost as long as the clover lawn in the gardens and the trees looked much more lush than the ones around the frequently used grounds that had to bear the brunt of ruthless fire attacks.
"Yes, this will do." Sakura nodded looking around the clearing and smiled slightly at the boisterous Uchiha. "Thank you."
She turned around before she could notice the blush dusting across Shisui's cheeks or how he hissed when Itachi smacked him over the head.
Sakura put the crystal ball softly on the ground, careful not to crack it and took out the hair stick out of her bun, letting her hair tumble down her back. Positioning the hair stick straight center of the ball, she mumbled a spell and closed her eyes. A light green ring surrounded the stick, spinning like clockworks and sharpening the point of the stick.
Sakura opened her eyes and jabbed the pointed metal stick straight down the crystal ball and shattering it into pieces. The miniature figure of the greenhouse dissolved into thin air and started materializing around Sakura and the Uchihas, green particles of magic building stone by stone of the floor and glass by glass of the walls and roof.
She looked around to check all the plants and pots intact, the fertilizers and gardening equipment neatly arranged on the shelf on the far right corner. The continuous stream of recycling water running underneath the soil of the plants looked alright and nothing looked overturned or broken.
So that is a good sign.
Shisui whistled as he looked around the glass room in something akin to wonder, as if seeing something like this for the first time. "You were carrying this with you all this time?" He asked, fingering the leaves of a nearby plant. He noted the vibrant purple leaves, so much brighter than even the flowers of the compound.
"Yes, I was." Sakura answered offhandedly, swiping some of the remnants of the glass. She glanced back at the Uchihas, pointing at the plant Shisui was playing with. "Those leaves are poisonous, by the way. I would advice you to stay away from that."
She snickered lowly at the yelp of fright from Shisui. Itachi only shook his head at his cousin's behavior and looked at the wide variety of plants. "I've never seen so many species of plants that are not flowers." He commented to the pinkette, observing her breezy movements across the large glass room as if she belonged there.
"I figured that you probably didn't. I noticed that there weren't many medicinal plants inside the compound, thought the Uchihas weren't very big on keeping things that don't contribute aesthetically, or as another thing to up their grandiose." No matter how casually she said that, the jab was clear in her statement.
"Ah." Itachi could only awkwardly agree, at a loss on what to reply to that kind of accusations. The trio collapsed into a silence after that, the pair of sorcerers trying to and failing to discreetly observe the pink haired witch moving around the green house, fixing up plants and tending to the care that they have been deprived from for the past weeks.
If Sakura noticed their eyes following her around the room, she didn't say anything. She should probably tell them to go away, leave her be in the place she felt the most at home and leave her with her peace of mind, but she didn't say anything, simply opting to ignore their presence and tend to her plants.
The peace however, was broken by the louder Uchiha.
Shisui coughed loudly, attracting the pinkette's attention and moved to touch another plant nearby; this time a dark green one with small light blue berries. "So, Dove, what plant is this?" He rubbed a berry, feeling the felt like texture of the skin of the fruit. "I don't see such plant around here." He also noted the warmer air surrounding the bunch of similar plants. The warm air immediately disappeared as he retracted his hand from the leaves.
"That's Nightshade, a poisonous species native to the mist islands." She replied, not looking back at him.
"And that one?" Shisui pointed to another plant, a cluster of small shrubs of tiny leaves and even tinier white, almost translucent, flowers, rubbing his hand on his pants to get the feeling of velvet off his fingers.
"That's Crystal wings. A native to south of Istainian meadows with toxic pollen and petals."
"And that? The pink one." Itachi asked this time, eyeing another cluster of plants with pink leaves and white bell-shaped flowers. He was tempted to touch the silk like leaves but refrained, lest he had to find out the hard way that they were probably toxic too.
"Those are Babybells, a poisonous plant grown by Shishou. The anthers are enough to kill an army of soldiers if heated to temperatures high enough."
"What is not poisonous here?" Shisui grumbled out, looking around at the vibrant and colorful foliage in annoyance. It was such a shame that such beautiful things were all fatal, apparently.
Sakura snickered, putting away her watering flask and washing her hand in the running stream of water. "Many. But for you, none." She wiped her hand with a handkerchief and looked at the pair, roving her eyes up and down their form, before fixing it on their faces.
"If I may ask, Mister Uchiha." The pair perked up at her voice, waiting for further inquiry, "Are there any wisteria and lavender plants nearby?"
For reasons unknown to her, the Uchihas looked uncomfortably at each other as if communicating something secretly. This was an observation she stored in her pocket, raising an eyebrow at the interesting discovery.
Itachi looked back at her, his face passive and voice smooth. "We don't actually have any wisteria or lavender plant in the compound, or in the kingdom, or the patrol areas in the forest, for that matter. But we can send people to look for them in the outskirts if you'd like."
Sakura raised her eyebrows higher, cocking her head to a side in question. "Is there a particular reason why you don't have these plants in your compound, or your kingdom?"
"They just grow and spread very quickly in our realm. That's why we don't keep them around." Shisui replied back, but something in his tone made her not believe his reasoning.
"You do realize that Water hyacinth is an invasive species, right? And I saw a lot of those in your garden pond. So clearly, invasion of flora is not the problem."
The pair was silent as while after that, again looking at each other in discomfort. Sakura was getting a little annoyed at their clearly secretive body language, it was so clearly evident that they were hiding something from her. "What are not telling me?" she asked annoyedly.
A minute ticked by again, only filled in by the irritated tapping of Sakura's sandal against the stone floor. Finally, Itachi breathed out an answer that made sense.
"Sorcerers don't really like wisteria, because they repel war magic." He sighed out, his face looking more tiresome than before. "Same with lavender, they repel the sorcerers' and wizards' magic. That's why we mainly just stay out of the witches' meadows."
Realization dawned on Sakura's face as she remembered the first encounter with the Uchihas. "Wait, is that why you were fighting the Wisteria vined when breaking into my home?"
"We weren't breaking into your home!" the offence in Shisui's tone was almost comical as he gasped like someone insulted his ancestors six generations back. "We were being civil visitors."
"Sure, by breaking down my door." Sakura mumbled, rolling her eyes. She had even better ideas now. Instead of just planting wisteria in her greenhouse, she will also keep a vine in her chamber.
The best protection from both evil spirits, as well as unwanted sorcerer visitors.
"You wound me, Dove. Don't put such accusations on me." The teasing tone that always got on Sakura's nerves was back in Shisui's voice. He smirked rakishly at her, making surprising goosebumps rise on her skin underneath her flowy sleeves.
"I hope I wound you." She glared at him, picking up a garden fork threateningly.
She huffed and turned back around to continue tending to her plants, when a sudden shake in the ground interrupted her.
"What was that?" she whipped her head around, looking the cause of the disruption only to find nothing amiss. She looked at the Uchihas, and found them grimacing slightly. "What was that?"
"That was…" Itachi looked at her apologetically, hands toying with his medallion. "an interruption."
"I know that. But what was that?" She asked again, but before she could get an answer, another louder, more violent shake disrupted the ground beneath her, shaking some of her plants and disturbing the soil and sloshing the water streams.
"Oh no." She only heard the warning from Shisui a moment before the glass roof broke and a ball of sunshine crashed down on the ground, right on her violet bushes.
Sakura coughed away the dust and put down her arms shielding her from the shards of flying glass, and found two pairs of arms shielding her from the fragments falling from the sky.
"Are you okay, Dove?" Shisui sounded genuinely worried as he looked her up and around for any injury. Itachi was the same, looking for injuries and circling her like a hawk, swiping away the glass shards with his foot. "Are you hurt anywhere, miss Sakura?"
"I'm okay…" she replied but her attention got caught by a groan of pain from the figure who crash landed in her newly set-up greenhouse.
Tan hands rubbed on spiky blonde hair as the guy sat up from his splayed out position on his knees, eyes still closed in pain as he attempted to not put extra pressure on himself.
But Sakura didn't even notice the blonde, but only gasped in horror at the trainwreck in front of her.
"M-My… My Violets!"
"Oh boy…" Itachi mumbled as he watched the poor boy jump in shock at the yell.
It's going to be a long while.
AN: How was the chapter? Be sure to leave a review.
See you in the next one.
Bye bye