A/N: Oh my!I think I am spoiling you guys. Two long chapters in one day? Seriously? See, this is what happens when you give feedback. The author is encouraged to write! But, I am so proud of you guys! I have gotten so much feedback for this story. Almost 20 favs for the first chapter? Amazing! I guess this story is a yay amongst my audience so I will be continuing this story. I am glad everyone is liking the plot so far. I hope this chapter meet expectations.I will be update this story every weekend until it is finished. Let me know what you think.
The What Girl?
Chapter 2: Pride is Scary
"I can't live like this..."
She raised her stiff fingers to his cheek as his eyes locked with hers.
"What can I do to make you leave her?"
Silence was her only answer as she looked into the dark eyes of the man who held his heart in the palm of his pale hands.
"There is nothing you can do, Sakura."
She could recall the dead look in his eyes as his slate eyes turned cold once again. She could feel him pulling away from her as she made one more feeble attempt to save the relationship with the man she loved with all her heart.
"But, Sai, I love you. Please don't leave me."
She could recall the dead look in his eyes as he walked away from her.
"It is all for the best...I promise."
He turned and began to walk away but this time he never turned back. He was turning his back on her for the love of another. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she continued to watch his back as he got into his car and drove away.
For good.
She had just made the turn to walk away, when the sound of crunching metal reached her ears. She watched the huge truck plow into the car carrying the love of her life.
Life stood in slow motion as she ran toward the car but her feet could only carry her so far before the car exploded in flames.
"Sai!"
A torrent of warm tears slipped down her pale cheeks she watched the car burn. The smell of burnt rubber reached her nose as she promptly threw up.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
He promised.
He promised that even though he was leaving her for another that he would never leave her side.
In the end, she guessed it didn't matter.
He had broken his promise.
An agony like no other, shot through her body as an echo in her brain indicated that she wasn't supposed to be there. At first, she could hear it vaguely like the sound of ringing but as she sat there and watched the flames in grief, the sound only got louder until that was all she could hear.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang!
It began to grow louder as the pulsating headache began.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang!
Bright green eyes snapped open as she looked over at her alarm clock. The numbers 6:37am glared back at her coldly as the pounding against her door continued.
She felt the wetness of her tears at her cheeks as she wiped them away. It had been more than three years since she thought of Sai and how everything ended so tragically with him.
She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts as the pounding against her door disturbed her thoughts.
Bang!
Bang!
Her aching feet shot to the floor as rage exploded in her veins.
Who in the hell was bothering her at 6:30am?
She clenched her fist in frustration as various thoughts flooded through her mind. She had one intention of answering the door and one intention only.
She was going to kill the person behind it!
Everyone knew to NEVER bother her in the morning if she worked the night before.
"This better not be Naruto!" she growled as she grabbed her lavender bathrobe and slippers. The soft patter of feet against the hardwood floor was the only sound heard as she continued her long trek to the front door.
Bang!
Bang!
She growled once again before grabbing the handle and opening the door without taking a peek in the peephole.
"What!"she growled menacingly.
A man with dark, curls and a handsome face stood on her doorstep in khaki's and a navy Polo with his hands in his pockets. For a moment, she was reminded of Sasuke.
"Can I help you?"
The man smiled easily as gleaming white teeth stood out from the rest of his face. It was with that smile that Sakura felt foolish for not seeing who it was before opening the door.
"Yes, are you Haruno Sakura?"
Rosette eyebrows shot up in question as she analyzed the man once again. Upon first glance, she had thought of him as a man around her own age of 27, but upon further inspection she could see the hints of wrinkles at the corner of his eyes.
If she had to take a random guess, then she would assume he was in his early thirties, not that she was interested or anything.
"I am."
"Oh good." the man said before he bowed before her. "I apologize for being so rude Sakura-san. I am Uchiha Shisui, Sasuke's cousin."
A look of alarm shot across her features as she wondered if something happened to one of her closest friends.
"Did something happen? Is there something wrong with Sasuke?" she asked as adrenaline began to fill her veins. She mentally calculated the number of minutes it would take for her to reach the hospital in order to check up on her friend.
Did he have an accident?
Did someone attempt to assassinate him?
Shisui lifted his hands in surrender as he tried to calm down the pink haired young woman.
"No, Sasuke is fine Sakura-san. It is brother who is in a bit of a predicament."
A lone eyebrow rose in mild shock as Shisui's words hit her full force. Something was wrong with Sasuke's brother? Even though Sasuke never talked about him, Sakura was familiar with Itachi Uchiha.
Or at least she liked to think that she was familiar with the elder Uchiha.
It was funny that her best friend was the little brother to her favorite actor in the entire world. At first, it had been fleeting but she had thought of Itachi being an attractive down to Earth man.
It wasn't until Sasuke began to regale her with tales of his childhood that her thoughts of Uchiha Itachi changed.
Of course, she still admired him but not in the same way she once did.
To her Itachi was at the pinnacle of his success, it's not like he knew who she was anyway.
"Why are you here, Shisui-san? Since you mentioned that Sasuke is fine then I feel no need to continue this conversation."
"Ah, that may be so but Sakura-san I..."
With an abrupt move, Shisui looked up to notice that the woman had slammed the door in his face.
"Sakura-san, something important has come up and I really need to talk to you."
"My office hours are 10 am to 10pm Monday thru Friday." came a muffled voice from behind the door.
"But, Sakura please! Itachi, he needs your..."
The door opened with the slam as one red faced woman reached out and poked the dark haired man who was now the bane of her existence.
"Listen here, Shisui! I just worked a 20 hr shift at Konoha Memorial Hospital last night. There is no way in hell that I am going to get out of my bed in order to have a conversation about someone I do not know!"
"But..."
She poked him again. "I don't know what your problem is but that is not how things operate here. I do not know how you got my address but please refrain from visiting my home again unannounced. Now, I have said all that I needed to say. Good day Uchiha-san!"
And with that the promptly slammed the door in his face once again.
This time she ignored the knocks at the door as she slipped under her still warm covers once again.
She sighed as the warmth of the bed welcomed her like a long lost relative.
Ah, her bed...how much she missed it.
Promptly at 9 am, one blond blue eyed woman opened the door to the small home where her best friend stayed. She dropped her bag onto the sofa and promptly began making her way down the small hall leading toward the bedroom.
Her feet made no sound as she continued toward her destination.
She opened the door softly as she noted the pink haired sticking out from beneath the white blankets that covered the bed. She was positive that Sakura was going to kill her for waking her but this was something she had to do!
Sakura needed to know that everyone was now calling her the girlfriend of The Uchiha Itachi."
"Forehead, wakey, wakey." she whispered as she began to shake the lump called Sakura.
"Pig, if you shake me one more time, I swear they will never find your body after I KILL YOU." Sakura mumbled into her pillow as the blond jerked her hand away as if burned.
"Forehead, you need to wake up."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pick you up and toss your boney ass out onto the porch right now?" Sakura mumbled as she tried to place her pillow over her eyes.
She was attempting to catch her sleep once again but it kept alluding her.
"Aww, come on Forehead." Ino grumbled. She had brought breakfast with her as a peace offering for waking her best friend. She knew Sakura would be furious for waking her up.
"Ino-Pig, I only had four hours of sleep before I was awakened this morning but some bastard in khaki's."
Blond eyebrows rose in surprise at the mention of someone already waking Sakura up. No wonder she was crankier than usual. Someone had the gall to wake her up before she got there?
The nerve!
"Some guy woke you up this morning? Forehead, if you wasn't such a spinster then I would be happy that some male woke you up early at the break of dawn. Tell me, was he cute?"
A groan was all the warning she got before a pillow was slammed into her face.
Ino saw stars for a moment before her visioned cleared to reveal a pissed, green eyed woman.
"Ino. What. The. Hell?"
Ino backed away from the bed as the fuming pink haired woman followed her with annoyance written across her features.
"Why are you here, Ino? No,I will not loan you the money to go Suna."
Ino mock pouted before she turned her blue eyes to the strung out green eyed woman in the flannel pajamas.
Ino took a mental inventory off all the things she needed to do in order to make Sakura presentable enough to be presented to the world as Itachi's girlfriend.
'His fangirls would die if they knew Itach's secret girlfriend wore flannel.'
"Forehead, have you been watching the news?"
Emerald eyes narrowed in annoyance as she watched the blond move closer toward the door.
"No, I haven't been watching. Why?"
Ino bit her lip before responding but before a word could escape her lips, the sound of a television filled the air.
She could only watch in mild shock as Sakura began flipping through stations before landing on her favorite news station. Ino gulped as she watched those calculating green eyes analyze every piece of news being showed on the screen.
She almost breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that this particular station had not mentioned Itachi's announcement.
"Ino, what the hell is going on? You are the second person to show up at my home unannounced today. This morning Sasuke's "cousin" mentioned that Itachi needed me for something and now you're acting all weirder than normal.
"Forehead, I..." she tried to explain but the words died in her throat.
"What is it?"
Ino sighed in defeat. She need to inform her best friend of what the world already knew.
"Turn to channel 534, Forehead."
She looked back the blond suspiciously before turning the channel to the specific station. It only took her ten seconds of watching when she realized that they were talking about Itachi's new girlfriend.
"Pig, I don't understand. All they are talking about is Itachi's girlf..."
Her words were cut off as the name of said girlfriend slid across the screen in bold letters. She felt the air escape her lungs as her eyes locked onto the name once again.
Haruno...Sakura?
What. The. Hell?
"Pig. Explain."
The blond sighed softly as she sat next to her best friend. "I wish I could Forehead but this is something Itachi did all by himself."
The rose haired woman growled in frustration as she tried to recall the last time she had actually seen Sasuke's brother in person. She was fairly sure it had been years since the last time she laid eyes on Itachi in person.
So why in the world was he announcing to the world that she was his girlfriend?
It didn't make any sense.
The sound of her cell phone ringing interrupted her train of thought as the picture of Sasuke's elder brother flooded her mind.
He was handsome, of course but this was taking things a little too far.
She watched as Ino answered her phone with a happy chirp before turning back to the screen. She could only watch in fascination as the interview that started it all played on every single Entertainment channel around the country.
Everyone believed that she was Itachi's secret girlfriend.
She groaned as she watched reporters speculate what she looked like. She grimaced as each of the predictions were even further from the truth.
One reporter speculated that she was some type of royal family member with bright blue eyes and dark hair.
Oh just how wrong they really were.
An empty condo greeted him as he opened his eyes at 9:15am. As he sat up in his bed, he ran a hand through his dark locks in frustration.
Shisui had called at 4am and kept him awake until 5am with the details of what was going on. Apparently, his mother had been so overjoyed at the revelation of her son being in a long term relationship that she had let it slip to a friend that Itachi was planning to propose to his "girlfriend."
He should have known that his mother, who was his biggest fan, would be overjoyed at the prospect of having grandchildren someday. But, why on Earth did she have to open her mouth and say he was proposing to the biggest gossip in all of Konoha, Yamanaka Inoichi.
"Oh, mother, you just don't know complicated you have made things for me?"
The warm shower was a welcome change as he stood at his stove with a pink, heart apron tied around his waist as he flipped a pancake. The smell of green tea reached his nose as he turned to pick up his cup of green tea. He closed his eyes to savor the sip when a slam at the door caught his attention.
He locked eyes with the curly haired male as he walked glumly through the door, his posture tense.
"Shisui, you are up early."
Shisui looked at his cousin for a moment before a smirk crossed his features. "Baby cousin, when are you going to get rid of that apron? If your fangirls knew you cooked breakfast in a pink apron then there would be a line down the block to watch you cook."
"Hn." Itachi replied before turning back to the stove.
He expertly flipped another pancake before turning back to his cousin, who was posed at the counter with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I spoke to Sasuke this morning."
"Hn?"
"After he screamed at me for the umpteenth time, I was finally able to weasel Haruno Sakura's information from him."
A smirk crossed his features as he imagined the type of lecture his younger brother gave the older man. Sasuke was hot-headed and impulsive. His brother could be highly manipulative at times but if there was one thing Itachi could admire in Sasuke, it was his willingness to protect his friends at all costs.
"And what did you find out?"
"I found out that this Sakura is the most annoying, bossy, and unfriendliest woman on the face of the planet."
An eyebrow shot up in response as Shisui began to ramble on about slammed doors and pokes.
"Wait. I misunderstand. How do you know if she is bossy? Did Sasuke tell you all of this?"
Shisui eyebrow crinkled in annoyance before comprehension appeared across his features.
"No, Sasuke didn't say any of that. I tracked her down at her house this morning."
Now it was Itachi's turn to frown at his cousin's words.
In all his years of living, he had never shown up at someone's home unannounced. His mother had drilled proper etiquette into his brain before he was able to speak. As he looked over at his cousin, he genuinely wondered if his cousin had missed that particular lesson.
"Shisui, you do realize that it is improper to stop by someone's home unannounced?
Shisui scoffed in response but remained quiet.
He knew he was wrong to have intruded on Sakura's home the way he did but he wanted to inform her of this situation as soon as possible since Sasuke mentioned he had been unable to reach her by phone the night prior.
"I know it was wrong but Sasuke mentioned that was not able to speak to her about your announcement."
Itachi froze in his actions as he turned to his cousin with wide eyes. She did not know and Sasuke did not tell her?
Could this situation possibly get any worse?
"And there's more. I'm afraid" Shisui said quietly as he watched his cousin take a seat at the counter with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What?"
"She absolutely hates your guts, Itachi."
His dark eyes widened slightly as he listened to his cousin describe his encounter with Sakura Haruno.
She hated him?
But, why?
He couldn't recall ever meeting her. He had only seen her in passing when she used to hang around his little brother but he had never actually introduced himself.
Was she angry because he had never thought to speak to her?
"I do not understand why she would hate me." he said thoughtfully as he stood to turn off the stove.
He gracefully piled pancakes, eggs, and bacon onto a plate before sliding it in front of his cousin.
Shisui looked up from his musing just in time to notice the delicious food in front of his eyes. He smiled back at his cousin before picking up his fork to eat the wonderful meal being served.
"Who knows?" Shisui answered as he continued to stuff his mouth with food.
He locked across the counter to see Itachi place a small pile of breakfast food onto his own plate before eating once again
"Does this mean she will not cooperate with the plan you spoke of earlier?"
Shusui smirked as he looked back his baby cousin who looked back at him with a blank expression.
"Oh no, I think she will cooperate with us eventually."
Itachi frowned into his food as he watched the almost maniacal smile cross his cousin's face.
"What do you mean?"
"What I am saying is, she will cooperate once you sweep her off her feet."
A soft laugh filled the air as the stoic Itachi Uchiha burst into a fit of laughter. Shisui watched confusedly as Itachi clutched his sides in laughter.
"You cannot be serious."
The glum look on Shisui's face was the only answer needed as his laughter disappeared.
"Hn?"
"I will not partake in such a ridiculous action."
"But, Itachi!" Shisui whined. "This is the answer to our problem. Once you sweep her off your feet then it will no longer be a lie! Then you two can go on and have beautiful pink haired, green eyed babies!"
Itachi froze in his actions once again.
"Green eyes?" he croaked.
Shisui smiled his response. "Yes, green eyes Itachi."
Itachi groaned internally as the young image of Sakura Haruno invaded his mind. Of course, she had green eyes. He could recall thinking that she would a beauty once she grew up.
"No."
"Yes."
"I refuse."
"You have no choice, Itachi."
The two men stood at a standstill as they glared at one another.
"At least you have an advantage in this situation." Shisui said with his hand posed on his hip like a stubborn housewife.
"What advantage?"
"Two words, Itachi. Little brother."
"I do not understand why I cannot just publish a statement saying that this whole thing was a facade and there is no Sakura."
Shisui groaned into his hands as the need to strangle his cousin came to mind.
"Itachi, you do not understand just how big this situation has gotten. Do you realize that the public has taken a keen interest in your love life Itachi? Your popularity has skyrocketed overnight. I have gotten several calls from directors who want you to audition for new roles that you have never done. Do you understand? This has opened all kinds of doors for you, Itachi!"
Itachi frowned as he felt the familiar weight of guilt at his shoulders.
He absolutely hated guilt.
"Would this not be considered using her to achieve to success?"
Shisui scoffed.
"Hardly. If she is the workaholic that Sasuke claim her to be then she would hardly mind since she spends all her time at the hospital anyway."
That caught his attention.
She spent all her time at the hospital?
Was she sick?
"She's a doctor." Shisui laughed as he watched the emotions play across his cousin's face.
"Ah."
"Sasuke gave me her phone number so you will be able to give her a call later this afternoon once she wakes up."
"Hm? This is all your idea. Why should I call?"
"Because she is YOUR girlfriend, silly."
"Ah, I see."
"Besides, you need to be seen going to her home so the public can see you acting like a man in a relationship with a pretty girl."
"Hn."
A loud ring filled the condo as Shisui looked down his phone in frustration. His phone had been ringing nonstop with entertainment shows wanting interviews with the new "it couple" Itachi and Sakura.
"I need to take this." he whispered before turning away from his cousin.
He watched his cousin continue to eat slowly before making another comment that would stay on his cousin's mind for the rest of the day.
"Itachi, if there was one truth that did come out of this whole situation then I would say that you did not exaggerate her beauty."
Dark eyebrows rose in shock as Itachi looked back his cousin who turned away to answer with a bright hello.
"Shisui, what do you mean?"
Shisui paused in his speaking before turning back to his cousin with his hand over the mouthpiece.
"It is what I said baby cousin. She is bossy and stubborn as hell but she is insanely beautiful."
"Hnn."
"Itachi, call her. She needs to hear this story from you not anyone else."
Itachi watched as his cousin slipped out of the front door with a small briefcase in hand. He turned back to the large landscape windows just in time to notice a beautiful rainbow in the distance.
Frustration tugged at his shoulders.
Why on Earth was he afraid to call this young woman and why did Shisui's mention of her beauty bother him so greatly?
He had little time to speculate before he picked up the remote and turned on his television.
His image flooded the screen once again as he watched two reporters bicker back and forth on whether or not Sakura was a member of the royal family.
Itachi sighed as he dropped the remote onto the glass coffee table.
Today was going to be the longest day in history.
He was sure of it.
At 10:15am one dark haired Uchiha Sasuke awakened to the sound of his phone ringing off the hook.
There was only person in his phone directory with a 99 Problems ringtone.
"Sakura?" he answered in his usual stoic voice as he imagined the furious look on his best friend's face.
"Sasuke...why in the hell didn't you tell me that your brother was absolutely psychotic!"
"Hn."
"Sasuke, why is your brother on television telling the world that I am his girlfriend?"
Sasuke closed his eyes as a headache threatened to take over his vision. Even though this was a recent event, he was already tired of hearing about the new "it couple."
"Hn." he answered.
"Well, that doesn't matter." she snapped.
Silence filled the line as Sasuke listened in anticipation of what she was going to say next. He had a bad feeling about this entire situation.
"Hn?"
"Sasuke, give me your brother's phone number."
His eyebrow rose in surprise. She wanted Itachi's phone number?
"Why?"
"Why on Earth do you think?" she snapped. "I am going to kill him!"
A/N: Poor Itachi...Things just isn't working out for him :)