Autumnal interlude
Summary: Something was changing. They both could feel it, but neither was willing to acknowledge it.
Please, remember 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.
Itachi turned around as he heard running footsteps coming from his right. His intuition had been right, as always. A pink-haired woman stopped besides him, breathing heavily.
"Sorry, sorry!" She said with an apologetic smile. "I'm late!"
"It's alright."
They were in the park, standing on the bridge over the river. Autumn had brought its shades of gold and fire, and the fallen leaves covered the ground, much to the children's delight and the mothers' dismay. It was late November.
Sakura leaned on the rail of the bridge beside Itachi, her gaze wandering over the peaceful river.
"Look," she said, pointing at something, "that's the tree we met under on that rainy day. It was barely five months ago, but it feels like we've known each other forever."
He nodded wordlessly, his eyes wandering on her profile. Her face was still glowing with the aftereffects of her running, an enticing shade of redness covering her cheeks. Her long hair was being blown softly by the wind, and she looked like a season fairy. Itachi's eyes darkened slightly.
"You look particularly happy today," he commented, his deep velvet voice sending a shiver down Sakura's spine. "Did something good happen?"
She gave a soft smile, still gazing at the river. "You know me too well," she said. "You're right."
She closed her eyes and he waited for her to elaborate.
"Remember the child I told you about?" She went one. "The one with a rare and serious disease."
"I remember."
"We finally found a cure," she said, her smile widening. "Everything is working perfectly and by the end of the week, he will be completely healed. You should have seen the mother's face when we told her. She was crying with relief and happiness. It made me feel something incredible, too intense to be put into words. It made me feel so… useful. To be able to help those people, it's really… elating."
He reached down and tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear. He felt a spark of electricity as he brushed against her cheek by doing so, and she must have felt it too for she jumped slightly and blushed. He loved getting those reactions out of her.
"Do you want to have children one day?" Itachi asked quietly, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Yes of course," she answered with a small smile, finally looking at him. "As many as I can."
"You would be willing to have a dozen of kids?" He asked, amused.
"Oh yes, and even more if possible!"
"Then you have to find a courageous husband who would be willing to raise that many children."
She sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Somehow, it seems impossible. What about you? Frankly, I can't see you taking care of a bunch of kids. Two or three would be enough for you, am I wrong?"
He answered her with a small smirk. "I don't really know. I would be willing to have as many as my wife wants."
"Really? That's very sweet of you," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Your wife will be lucky."
He was sure he had imagined the hint of envy in her voice. It had no reason to be there after all.
She shivered slightly, and he noticed she wasn't dressed appropriately for the coldness. She had apparently forgotten her coat in her rush.
"Cold?" He asked.
"A bit," she nodded. "Silly me, I forgot to cover myself. I was so worried about being late."
Without a word, he shrugged off his own coat and put it on her shoulders. She gave him a surprised look.
"I can't take your coat from you!" She protested. "Take it back, I don't need it."
"I wouldn't want you to catch a cold, Sakura." He said, his smooth voice accentuating the syllables of her name.
"Then share it with me," she said, a stubborn look on her face.
It was his turn to stare at her with surprise. Seeing that he wasn't reacting, she took the initiative. She brought her body against his and wrapped the coat around the both of them. He was stunned at first, the contact of her warm body awakening strange feelings in the pit of his stomach. Then, taking notes of the slight blush on her face, he wrapped his arms around her to bring her closer.
"Next time be more careful," he whispered in her ear, and the shiver that shook her body had nothing to do with the cold.
"I'll try to remember that," she said. "Oh, and by the way, your mother invited me for dinner tonight."
"She did? She's been doing that a lot lately."
"And you know what? Tsunade-sama told me that your father had asked her to pair me with your Anbu team once in a while. I'm flattered by his opinion of me, but why do you think he did that?"
Itachi smirked a bit. Of course, she still hadn't realized that his whole family was plotting to put them together. His mother already imagined Sakura as her daughter-in-law, and she would be extremely disappointed if she did not legally become part of the family.
"Maybe he thinks I will be safer with the best medic of Konoha," he answered, amusement in his deep voice.
"I'm not the best!" Sakura protested with a blush. "Tsunade-sama is."
"Mm." He said, his distracted tone implying that he did not agree with her.
"It's true! You're really annoying sometimes!"
"But you like me for it," he teased with a smirk.
She pouted and hit him playfully on the chest. "Yeah well, you're lucky I do! Geez, I'm starting to think that Shisui is rubbing off on you."
"That would never happen."
"Well, after all the time you've spent with him, it wouldn't be surprising. He will be there tonight by the way, Mikoto-san told me so."
Itachi inwardly cursed. Not that he didn't like seeing his cousin, but he would keep implying things just to embarrass Itachi. And of course, he would plot with his mother to get Sakura into the family. He remembered very well the time they managed to make Sakura sleep in their house, saying it was too late for her to go home and so on. Of course, being as oblivious as she was, Sakura hadn't suspected a thing and agreed to use one of their spare bedrooms. And it had been by chance, of course, that Itachi had walked into the room while she was dressing the following morning, somehow tricked by Shisui. They both had had an embarrassing moment, but she forgave him quickly because, after all, he was one of her best friends. And it somehow irked him to know that. Best friends? Well, he was an Uchiha after all, so it was perfectly normal that he wanted more.
He was sure his family's scheme was getting to his sanity. Proof was that he was beginning to think inappropriate things about Sakura. Like right now. She felt so right against him. She was so small, so fragile looking, but she was firm and soft, and her curves fitted so nicely against him. He was beginning to notice the subtle changes of her moods, and he had realized that he knew a bit too much about her. Shisui had tricked him with a game of questions, all revolving around Sakura, and Itachi had been stunned to realize that he knew all the answers, from her favorite color to her most secret ninja technique. This had worried him too, because even as a best friend, he wasn't supposed to know this much.
And she wasn't really helping too. Lately, her reactions had been confusing. Most of the time she acted like an ordinary friend, but from time to time, she would behave a bit differently and blush a lot. Sometimes she had no trouble touching him, and some other times she jumped when he as much as brushed against her. If Shisui knew that, no doubt he would make up a theory assuming that she had a thing for him, but Itachi was more rational than that. She told him enough times that he was her friend, and he was quite sure she would stick to it. Well, unless he made her change her mind, but he didn't want to make her run away if he made a mistake.
He was brought out of his musings as a small hand landed on his chest, and he looked down to see Sakura leaning against him, her head settling against his shoulder. Her eyes were lost somewhere in the river, and she had a dreamy look on her face, her cheeks and nose slightly pink from the cold. She was a frustrating woman, really. Her gesture could be interpreted two different ways, the friendly one and the intimate one. He decided not to dwell on it, and to enjoy the moment while it lasted, his grip tightening slightly on her waist.
They stayed like this a long time, in each other's embrace, the wind blending their hair together in a striking contrast of colors, the few passersby watching them with a knowing smile.
Hi there. I'm back from a two weeks break in the countryside, far from the wonders of technology. Here is the update I promised you, hope you enjoyed it. It looks like we're coming closer to the romance part, and as a matter of fact, I'll have a little surprise for you next time. And I would like to thank you for all those reviews, I really appreciate it. Keep encouraging me please!
