The Unexpected Things

Ahaha...I'm alive!

Chapter 22- Soy Sauce and Tomato Ketchup

Kakashi loved his ex-students dearly, he really did. But there were times when they embarrassed him to the point where he wanted to disown them. Unfortunately, he knew they'd refuse to leave him alone even if he were to do that.

"How dare you?" Sasuke hissed at Naruto who'd grabbed the last piece of shrimp from the platter. "That was my piece!" "Oh yeah? I didn't see your name written anywhere on it," Naruto said while chewing happily. Kakashi tried to restrain himself from smacking them both on the heads. They were practically grown men, it would look rather odd.

"Stop talking with your mouth full! Ugh, I can't believe this," Sakura groaned as she pushed her plate away. She glanced at her family discreetly, worried they might think she was as...wild as her teammates.

"Oh don't worry Sakura, your family's not going to throw you out right after getting you back," Naruto laughed easily as she gaped at him. 'This boy has no tact whatsoever!'

"Yeah, he's right," Kikyo told her. "Relax!" Sakura laughed nervously and Sasuke's mouth twitched.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath. Her glare told him she'd heard him clearly enough.

'That reminds me...I wonder if Itachi's gotten my reply.' She smirked slightly.

"Uchiha, there's a letter for you!" Misaki yelled as she knocked on his door for the third time. Finally, the door opened. Itachi stood in front of her clad only in his dark pants with a towel hanging around his neck. She forced herself to focus on his face.

"Here," she murmured, handing the scroll to him. "Try not to send letters too frequently. Our security's good, but every system has a flaw. He nodded and shut the door. 'I will send as many letters as I want to. But I guess using our summons would be safer.'

Dear Itachi,

I...damn it, you've got me all teary eyed! I don't even know how to respond to that, I'm pretty sure words would be inadequate. But I can try.

The first time I met you, I thought you were stoic, emotionless and pretty damn close to being the perfect Nazi. As our mission progressed, I discovered that my suspicions about you being a slave-driver were accurate, but you were far from being stoic and emotionless. I won't go into details but yes, I was (somewhat) smitten. And it sucked because you're Sasu-chan's perfect elder brother and Konoha's most eligible bachelor (don't even try to deny it, we both know it's true). How was I, a scrawny teenager supposed to match up to that? Still, that didn't stop me from wondering if your hair is as soft as it looks, or if you liked sweets and if yes then which ones, and what kind of books you like? There's so many unanswered questions but I actually have the opportunity to get the answers. I want to sit next to you and read in a quiet corner in the library, and make sure you're the first person I rush to when I become Chief, and make you taste all my new dishes! I'm thinking of trying out this new dish with soy sauce and tomato ketchup! What a brilliant combination. I just, want you in my life. Always. He smiled at that.

I reached the clan compound yesterday. I...don't know where to start, really. I'll try to keep it brief. Firstly, my relatives are absolutely wonderful. I think I love them already. Oh, Itachi, I'd been so worried about what they would think, but I guess that was pointless because I fit right in. You must visit. One day. You have to meet them, they'll love you! Also because Yui Obasan wants to 'meet the dashing young man' who 'managed to steal my heart away.'

Yeah.

I'm enclosing all the details in the other envelope, and you have to use the 56th combination, okay? Don't freak out.

I hope you're okay.

Love,

Sakura

He paused. 'Love, Sakura...Love, Sakura...Love.' He tried his best to hold the tiny grin in but couldn't quite manage it. Pathetic. 'Love, Sakura.' Itachi chuckled and fell back onto his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes as he thought about her letter. The things she does to him. He should probably read the other one. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he stared at the ceiling with a horrified expression.

Soy sauce and tomato ketchup?

"Well?" Sakura raised a brow at the expectant looks on her teammates faces as she stepped out of the room.

"Well, what?"

"Well, what did it say?" Naruto asked eagerly, while Sasuke leaned in as well.

"What did what say?" She asked. They growled in frustration before stepping in front of her to prevent her from moving forward.

"Don't play that game, Sakura," Sasuke muttered. She laughed and shrugged.

"It was personal," It was hard to resist smirking when they gaped at her with betrayal shining in their eyes.

"Personal?" Naruto sputtered as if he did not even know what that meant. Sasuke's expression slowly morphed into something that vaguely resembled thoughtfulness.

"Yes, personal."

"But-but, we're family! We share everything!" The blond cried in anguish as the other two twitched in annoyance.

"Dobe, do you really want to know all the weird details about Sakura's relationship with my brother?" That stopped Naruto at once as he started shaking his head furiously.

"Oh, ew. No. No thank you." Sakura rolled her eyes and shoved them out of her way, yelling something about training as she ran off to the living room, while her best friends tried to get the image of her with Ice Princess #1 out of their heads.

"You kind of suck at meditating," Yui said bluntly as she watched Sakura trying to, well, meditate.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" The pink haired one cried out.

"But you're not that good either." She ignored the girl's grumpy expression.

"It's just really hard to clear my head, you know? I don't know why," Sakura murmured softly as she stared at the huge lake in front of her. She yelped when she felt a long pointy thing smack her across the back of her head and turned to see Yui standing behind her with a satisfied expression on her face.

"What was that for?!"

"Focus, you impatient brat. We don't have forever. And, as to why it's suddenly harder for you to meditate, it's because the essence(s) inside you are clashing against each other. You have to calm them down to the point where you have full control over them, or well, you're fucked." Yui cackled when Sakura gaped at her language.

"Obasan!"

"What, are old people not allowed to curse anymore?"

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