The wonders of grocery shopping

Summary: Who knew that grocery shopping could lead to such interesting encounters?

Please note that this is a non-massacre verse and as such, Itachi is still a shinobi of Konoha

Also, I would like to remind you that 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.


Mikoto Uchiha was doing her grocery shopping in Konoha's market place. With her list in one hand and her bag in the other, she was strolling from stall to stall, buying vegetables, meat, and others. Having four persons to feed – herself included – was not an easy task.

Once she was finished, she made her way back to the Uchiha district. But she had barely left the market when an incident stroke: her paper bag broke, and its content fell on the ground before a horrified Mikoto.

She quickly crouched down and began to pick them up. She paused, startled, when a foreign pair of hands did the same in front of her. She looked up to see a pretty pink-haired woman.

"That's tough luck you've got there, Mrs. Uchiha," the woman said. "Let me help you."

A few minutes later, both women were going to the Uchiha district, their arms full of products and chatting happily like two old friends.


Itachi was coming back from the Hokage tower, after reporting his mission. He was slightly disappointed in the fact that he would not see Sakura today, as it was already dinner time. He was getting so much used to the kunoichi that he actually missed her when he didn't see her during several days. Shisui liked to point out, when he hung out with Sakura and Itachi, that his cousin was interested in her, and not just in a friendly way. Itachi kept denying, but he couldn't silence the little voice in his head that stubbornly approved Shisui. Besides, the new friendship between Shisui and Sakura annoyed him greatly for some reason. His cousin was becoming a little too close to Sakura to Itachi's liking.

As he entered the family house, he noticed a foreign pair of shoes. It looked like they had a guest. Quite a rare occurrence, since his father didn't like having other people at home. Probably a female friend of his mother's, judging by the shoes' design.

Just as he left the entry, his mother popped her head out of the kitchen, a grin plastered on her face.

"Oh, you're back Itachi-chan!" She exclaimed. "Good, good. Only Sasuke is missing now. Do you know where he is?"

"I haven't seen him."

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. We'll wait a bit and then we'll begin eating dinner without him. Come here my dear, I want to introduce someone to you!"

Itachi came obediently, slightly wary. His mother had a habit of introducing to him women who all had at least one daughter to marry. Mikoto was getting rather desperate to get her oldest son married, much to said son's annoyance.

However, as he entered the kitchen he was in for the biggest surprise of his life. A pink-haired, green-eyes woman was grinning mischievously at him from the chair she was sitting in.

"Itachi-chan, meet Sakura Haruno," Mikoto said, beaming, "Sakura-chan, meet my oldest son Itachi."

Sakura's eyes were twinkling, and a few seconds were needed for Itachi to get himself together. "What are you doing here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

The kunoichi pouted. "Why, you don't want me to be here?" She asked, feigning offense.

"No, that's not what I meant," he said quickly, scowling inwardly. "What I want to say is…"

"Yes yes, I know!" She laughed, and he glared at her for making fun of him. "I met your mother as she was doing her grocery shopping. Her bag broke, I helped her pick everything up, and one thing leading to another, she invited me to share your dinner."

"You two already know each other?" Mikoto asked, a bit confused by their exchange.

Sakura gave a radiant smile to the black haired woman. "Yes," she replied, "Itachi and I have met a few months ago, and since then we became good friends. I must say Mikoto-san, your son is a nice young man. There aren't many like him."

The mother was as pleased by the compliment as the son, who felt a hint of something knowing that Sakura had such a high opinion of him.

"My friends always say that too," Mikoto beamed. "And because of that, I can't understand why he is still single," she added, frowning.

Itachi glared as Sakura stifled a giggle. There it was. The eternal reproach. He didn't really want Sakura to hear that.

"I'm sure the candidates aren't lacking," the pink-haired woman said, "but your son is extremely picky."

"Oh, he sure is," Mikoto sighed. "With food, clothes, friends, and so on. But then again, Sasuke-chan is even worse."

Sakura nodded knowingly, and at her gesture, Mikoto brightened. "Oh yes, I remember now!" She exclaimed. "You are Sasuke-chan's teammate! He told me about you!"

"That's right," Sakura confirmed with a smile. "Though I've never been in his house before."

"Oh, Sasuke-chan is really shy, he doesn't like to bring people here. Nor does his father."

"Will your husband be upset by my being here?" Sakura asked with worry.

"Maybe at first, but he knows better than to cross me," Mikoto shrugged. "And besides, you're a friend of Itachi's. A female friend. If anything, he ought to be delighted."

Sakura blushed a bit, apparently catching the hidden meaning, and Itachi sighed inwardly. There it was. His mother officially considered Sakura as a potential bride. Now he just had to pray that she never talked about it to Shisui, or the two would happily try to play matchmakers. His father would probably be impressed by Sakura's status, even though she wasn't an Uchiha, and anyway, he usually followed his wife's desires. With some luck, Sasuke would be opposed to it. After all, he was quite overprotective of Sakura.

Just as he thought that, the bell in the entry rang, announcing a visitor. Judging by the footsteps, Itachi knew it was Sasuke. He wondered what his younger brother would think of Sakura's presence.

"I'm home," the boy informed, coming into the kitchen. "Sorry for the lateness."

"Ah, Sasuke-chan, that's a good thing you're here!" Mikoto said happily. "Look who's there!"

She waved her hand in Sakura's direction, and as his eyes fell on her, the kunoichi's teammate blinked blankly. Then he recovered. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Sakura and Mikoto burst out laughing, no doubt because of the analogy with Itachi's own greeting earlier on. The older Uchiha remained stoic, but he felt annoyed by their behavior. Sasuke, who didn't really like to be made fun of, scowled and crossed his arms.

"Your mother invited me for dinner," Sakura finally answered. "Does it bother you?"

"No, not really," he said, a bit disturbed. "I was just surprised."

"You should have introduced Sakura-chan to me sooner," Mikoto reproached. "She is a lovely young woman!"

Sasuke scowled again and looked away, much to Sakura's amusement. "I'm hungry," he said instead, "when are we eating?"

"Manners young man," Mikoto scolded. "And for your information, we were waiting for you. Go into the dining room, I'm going to fetch your father."

She left the kitchen, and the three young people stayed immobile a moment before heading towards the dining room. As they took place around the low table, a teasing smile appeared on Sakura's lips.

"Itachi-chan, huh?" She said, her eyes twinkling. "You've got quite an affectionate mother."

Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew she was going to say something about it. "Yes, she is," he replied blankly. "And it seems she already adopted you."

"I like her, she is very nice," Sakura grinned. "She's right Sasuke, you should have introduced us sooner."

"It doesn't matter," the younger Uchiha said with annoyance. "And since when are you so familiar with my brother?"

Itachi and Sakura exchanged a glance. Then Sakura decided to answer. "We're friends," she said. "It's been a few months already."

Sasuke took an offended expression. "What?! And you didn't tell anything to me and Naruto?" He reproached.

"It doesn't matter," Sakura said, mimicking his words with an annoyed sigh. "Can't I be friends with your older brother?"

The boy was quite embarrassed by her question. "I didn't say that! But it's… weird. I mean… he is my brother, and…"

"And what?" She insisted, raising an eyebrow.

Itachi took great pleasure watching his brother struggle to answer. They made an interesting picture, Sakura sounding like a mother and Sasuke like the child who had done something bad.

"And… well, that's it." He concluded lamely, apparently not knowing what to add. "You're just friends, aren't you?" He then added suspiciously.

Sakura rolled his eyes and Itachi almost sighed. "Yes, we're just friends," Sakura answered, annoyance written over her face. "And even if we were more than that, what would it matter to you?"

Itachi was stupidly pleased by her suggestion, and he quickly smashed that satisfaction. Sasuke looked at her dumbly, a mixture of fear and bewilderment on his face.

"That's… You aren't suggesting that you…," He stammered helplessly. "I mean… my older brother with my sister… that's just…"

Apparently, Sakura understood what she wanted to say and she smiled gently. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm just teasing you – Itachi couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. But you know, it would not be so weird. If anything, it would make me legitimately your sister."

"… maybe you're right." Sasuke muttered.


During dinner, Itachi was tensed, even though he didn't show it. He could tell Sasuke was nervous too, as he kept glancing from their father to Sakura. Fugaku was watching the young woman with an imperceptibly furrowed brow. So far, he hadn't said anything, but Itachi knew he wasn't too happy.

"So you are… the Godaime's apprentice, right Sakura-san?" Fugaku said, his piercing eyes studying Sakura.

"Yes," the kunoichi confirmed, not in the least disturbed by the man's coldness.

"But you stopped being a ninja, since you work at the hospital."

Itachi tightened his lips slightly. His father was full of contempt towards those who weren't shinobis. Too ordinary. Not good enough for an Uchiha. And most Uchihas had a low opinion of the hospital and its medic-nin, whom they saw as lower people. They didn't see the point in healing other people, as for them, strength was the most important factor, and those who got injured weren't strong enough.

"Oh no, not at all!" Sakura denied with a scandalized expression. "Who told you such a thing? I'm still a nin of Konoha! I work for the hospital when I'm not on a mission, that's all. Other villages often request my coming to form some medics, and I'm often asked to accompany Anbus on high-risks missions. I mostly heal, but I still fight a lot."

This seemed to reassure Fugaku a bit.

"By the way, I hope you remember our mission next week Sasuke," Sakura said, sending a piercing glare at her teammate. "You and Naruto have become quite good at forgetting those things."

Sasuke looked away with annoyance. "Why do you have to mention it in front of my parents?" He complained.

"Well, maybe this will encourage you not to do it anymore," Sakura said severely. "I can't always be there to play the mother for you and Naruto."

Once more, Itachi took great pleasure in watching Sasuke's embarrassment. She would be good with kids. She already had mother instincts and authority. Then he shook himself. He shouldn't think about those kinds of things.

Soon, Sakura had directed the conversation on Fugaku's job as the Head of Konoha's police. A clever strategy, as it flattered the man and made him see Sakura's ability at having intelligent and political discussions. By the end of dinner, the pink-haired kunoichi had conquered both parents, and also got complimented on her culinary talents as she had helped preparing the food. It was near midnight when she finally took her leave, much to Sasuke's relief – he liked her a lot, but she had definitely said too many embarrassing things about him to his parents.

"Well well, that's an interesting friend you've got there Itachi," Fugaku commented afterwards, much to said son's dismay. "Very interesting."

"Isn't she?" Mikoto approved enthusiastically. "And she is single too!"

Itachi didn't like one bit the sparkle which lit up in Fugaku's eyes, nor his cunning smirk.


One of my longest one-shots, I'm impressed at myself. Hope you liked my way to write the Uchiha family. We don't know much about them, but for what we have seen, Mikoto smiles a lot and loves her sons. As for Fugaku, well, we know that he is obssessed with the pride of the clan and has high expectations. But since this is a non-massacre verse, there is no sordid plot to take over Konoha, and as such, they should be a bit more... human, and open. As for Sasuke, since his family has not been slaughtered, he has no reason to be closed and asocial, which is way I didn't write him as such. But let's stop the justifications.

I will be absent for about two weeks, so there won't be an update before some time. But when I come back, I promise to have something for you.

Feedback is a great way to encourage writers, so please, review!