Of tea and flirtatious men
Summary: Itachi comes accross Sakura in a café, and helps her get rid of a lousy suitor. An interesting conversation ensues where they make a deal that will seal their destinies.
I forgot to mention it before, but English is not my mother tongue, and as such there may be mistakes. If you find one that bothers you or the understanding of the text, feel free to correct me.
Please note that this is a non-massacre verse, and as such, Itachi is still a shinobi of Konoha.
The next time he saw her, she was sitting in a café, sipping lazily a cup of tea. She had that dreamy look he had noticed on their previous meeting, and a few locks of her long pink hair were falling over her shoulder. She was alone at her table, and apparently quite happy this way. He was debating on whether or not to join her, when an unknown man beat him to it.
The man was clearly a nin, and quite an attractive one too. He had blond hair and green eyes, and a seductive smile on his face. Itachi frowned slightly as the man sat casually in front of Sakura, who snapped out of her daydream and looked at him blankly.
"What can I do for you?" She asked.
The guy's smile broadened and he leaned on the table. "Well, I noticed a beauty alone with her cup of tea and decided to entertain her."
Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked around the room. "Where?" She asked. "I don't see any."
Itachi smirked at her entirely genuine question. Should he drive the nuisance away or let her do it herself?
"I was talking about you my dear," the man said with a little laugh, and a suggestive glance at the pink-haired kunoichi.
The look she gave him was priceless. She seemed to have swallowed something incredibly bitter and unpleasant.
"I would like you not to call me 'my dear'", she said coldly. "I don't think I know you enough to allow such familiarity. As a matter of fact, I don't know you at all."
"Then we will have to change that," he said flirtatiously. "My name is Hayato Shuji. What is yours?"
Apparently, he didn't recognize the glare she sent him as his cue to leave. He was completely oblivious to the kunoichi's blatant disinterest. Itachi decided to wait a bit more before stepping in. The guy was too thick for his own good.
"I don't feel like telling you." Sakura replied. "And I don't remember inviting you to this table, so I would like you to leave me alone."
"Aw, don't be like that baby! You'll like me, believe me."
She narrowed at him, and Itachi's smirk widened. What a bold moron. All looks and no brain it seemed. Perhaps he ought to get rid of him before Sakura lost her temper. He had heard from his brother that she had quite a violent behavior when angry. Making his way to the table, and before Sakura could come up with a sharp comment, he put his hand on the blond's shoulder.
"The lady told you to leave her alone I believe," he said, in that deep velvet voice that sent shivers down the spine of his enemies.
The man turned around and prepared to snap back, when he suddenly realized who was talking to him. He then paled considerably and got up at once, taking a step back.
"F… forgive me Uchiha-san!" He squealed. "I didn't know she was a friend of yours!"
He was gone before either of Itachi or Sakura could say anything. The pink-haired woman then looked at Itachi with a smiling face.
"Thank you for beating some sense in that thick head of his," she said. "Anymore and I would have broken his pointy nose."
Itachi nodded in acknowledgement, then sat down in the chair the blond had vacated.
"Do you often get harassed by this type of individual?" He asked with interest.
She shrugged. "Well, kind of. Most of the time I just ignore them and they go away on their own. But I actually have to teach the persistent ones a thing or two about respect. Long time no see Uchiha-san."
She took a sip of her tea as she waited for him to speak.
"I had a long mission," he said. "I would have come sooner had I been able to."
"Oh, I don't doubt that. Uchihas are men of their words." She said distractingly. "What was it this time?"
"We were hunting down a criminal."
"Ah, something interesting at last. I hope the guy was at least S-ranked."
"He was. Half of my team is still recovering at the hospital."
"But not you. Was he a match for you skills?"
He smirked slightly. The question was almost rhetorical, and she knew it. "Of course not. But my unfortunate teammates found him before me, giving him the opportunity to beat them up. Next time I'll think more carefully before agreeing to split the team."
She answered his smirk by an ironic smile of her own. "My, it looks like your reputation is justified after all."
"Did you ever doubt it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, yes. You know how people are, always exaggerating. We need to have a match someday." She said casually.
He almost looked at her in disbelief. She was really saying the strangest things sometimes. A match with him? She better not be serious, because he didn't want to hurt her unintentionally.
"But I guess you really are fearsome, if you can make a guy run away merely by standing next to him," she added nonchalantly, her eyes unfocussed, as if lost in thoughts.
"You must be one of the few people who has never heard of my accomplishments then," he remarked, amused."Most people make place for me in the street, avoiding me in fear of offending me. No one looks at me in the eyes, for fear of what may happen to them. They barely even talk to me."
"That's… sad," she said with a slight frown. "Do you have any friends?"
He pondered over it a moment. Friends? He never really thought of that. He was so used to the others' behavior towards him that he didn't really paid attention.
"I guess I do have one," he finally said. "My cousin Shisui."
She nodded thoughtfully. "Good to know. Only one though?"
He shrugged, his face blank. "I don't care much about friends."
"Hm, I guessed as much. You're a strange fellow Uchiha-san. But your brother does resemble you in that way. Aside from me and Naruto, he doesn't have any other friends. Guess it's a family thing."
They shared a moment of comfortable silence before she spoke again.
"I think you need to act more on your feelings, and less on your thinking. Having a social life is also important for a person's mental balance."
He raised an eyebrow, half puzzled, half amused. "Do I have to understand that I am mentally unbalanced?"
"No, of course not!" She scoffed, looking at him as if he had said the silliest thing ever. "But you need to interact with other people. You know what? I have the perfect solution."
"I'm listening." Her ramble was really entertaining. The more he spoke with her, the more he liked her way of thinking.
"You and I will be working on a friendship project," she stated, sounding very serious about it. "First, we will meet more often so as to become friends, and then I'll introduce you to more people so you can make more acquaintances. I think it's a very good idea on the long run. You need to express yourself and your feelings. Your blank face kind of bothers me, no offense intended."
Had he known how to 'express his feelings' better, as she put it, he would have laughed at her idea. She was quite a silly little thing. But it actually appealed to him rather than repel him. Her personality was quite unique and endearing. Besides, what was the harm in humoring her?
"So, what do you say?" She asked, an expectant look on her face.
He smirked. "Well, your… friendship project seems quite interesting. I will play along."
She offered him a bright grin, literally beaming at him. He decided that he liked her smiles.
"Excellent! You won't regret it!" She assured. "Let's begin as soon as possible. How about meeting me tomorrow, at this café, same time as today?"
"Fine with me."
"Then it's settled. I look forward to bonding with you Uchiha-san."
So do I, he thought, inwardly smirking, as he shook the small hand she presented to him to seal their deal. So do I. Apparently, she hadn't realized the many different interpretations that could be made of her words.
