Chapter 3

Sakura would have never thought she would find herself in such a bizarre situation.
Not only she had two men apparently interested in her, but they also happened to be brothers. And not just any brothers, but the Uchiha brothers. And on top of it all they where both her teammates.

She felt sick.

What was she supposed to do?

The most disturbing thing about the whole matter was that she actually had feelings for both of them. It was different for each one.
With Sasuke it was love that ran deep, but not in a romantic way, as she had suppressed those feelings long ago. They had created their bond years ago and that love was something that will probably never fade, just as it was with Naruto. She would die for any of them without thinking it twice.
But now with his flirting and his confession, that other side of her love was awakening, reviving, and she was scared. She spent so much time loving him and he always pushed her away, always rejected her and now he was finally corresponding it. Was it always meant to be but the timing was just not right?
Something about it made her feel like going backwards, but, at the same time, that love had always been always there…

And now there was Itachi too. Her feelings for him weren't at all as deep as those for Sasuke, but it was different. He wasn't her best friend, nor did she see him as a brother.
He was a man, and the feelings and sensations he elicited in her were intense, as she had never felt for anyone, not even for Sasuke. After all, back then she had been but a child, and now that she was a woman, it felt completely different.
Itachi was grown up and the way he looked at her made her feel wanted, desired, without room for doubts. She realized she was rapidly falling for him.

Sakura grimaced.

She couldn't pick one as if they were different kinds of chocolates or something. She just couldn't.

The only thing she could do was to forget about them both.

After a long and restless night of wondering she came to a perfect conclusion.
She would restrict any contact with them to simple politeness.

She supposed such behaviour with Sasuke would be quite difficult, since he was still her dear friend from Team Seven, and it would be mostly awkward when the three of them met. So she would have to treat him like a brother; not too cold but nothing close to flirtatious.

With Itachi it would be technically easier since they were only teammates, so she would just stick to professionalism and politeness, but taming her emotions towards him would be hard. Especially since he seemed to elicit them without even trying.

She sighed for the thousand time and rolled on her bed to lay on her side. It was time to get some sleep, if only a few hours.

How come everything became so complicated?

Itachi leaped through the trees at full speed.

Unlike the last one, this mission was expected to be quite long, so they carried backpacks to handle their travel for at least a month.

Sakura seemed to be carrying the pace without any trouble, but after eight hours of travelling with only one short stop in the middle, they were all ready to set camp in the woods.

After everything was set and the team was preparing to sleep, Itachi walked around the area to take the first watch. He walked pass the pinkette's lying figure and hopped onto a tree branch.

Why he chose that particular branch had nothing to do with the clear view he had of the medic nin.

And the fact that, a few days later he paired himself with her in the same bedroom when spending the night in a small inn, had been nothing but a tactical decision.

At least that's was he kept telling himself when he was laying on a small bed listening to her even breathing from the bed next to his.

The next morning, he woke up early to get into the shower. He finished drying himself with a towel and put on his pants. He opened the door to get out of the bathroom and was surprised to find Sakura standing right outside.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were inside", she excused herself.

But what really caught his attention was the way her eyes met his and then shamelessly travelled down his front until she stopped at his hips and quickly went up again.

He could see her rosy cheeks turning several shades darker and felt compelled to tease her a little.

He casually leaned against the frame of the door, barely leaving space for her to enter.

"Are you coming in?", his voice was purposefully low as he wore an amused smirk. He was curious as to what she would do.

She gave him a dry nod and looked downwards.

He could see her pulse quickening.

She gave a few steps and brushed part of his chest and shoulder in her way in. The touch felt electric. He couldn't help the way his body instantly warmed up with arousal.

He decided it was enough and moved back into the room.

As days went by, he noticed –with a certain amount of annoyance, that the kunoichi was blatantly ignoring him. When they ate together, she would only talk with Shisui or Genma and wouldn't even spare him a glance. It was unsettling.

Of course he could guess where that attitude was coming from, and some part of him knew it was for the best and that he should probably do the same, but as they crossed paths in corridors, he couldn't help the annoyance when she would look the other way.

So, one night, after a long day of surveillance, when they returned to the inn, Itachi decided that he would take matter into his own hands.

He was in the room and Sakura was away. He had noticed that she waited for him to be asleep –or at least pretending to be asleep, before she entered the room every night.

He walked to the door and felt her chakra signature coming from the long corridor, so he slowed his pace and opened the door in perfect timing to meet her as she was about to go in.

He looked at her surprised form and stepped closer. She stepped backwards, moving away from him.

"Sakura", he called as he approached her again. "You are avoiding me", he stated with some annoyance.

Sakura glanced in his direction before returning her gaze to the floor.

"No…", she lied.

He stepped closer.

"May I know the reason?", he asked, completely ignoring her lie and she moved backwards until her back collided with the wall. She looked at bit confused, out of words as she was obviously trying to come up with an excuse. He took the opportunity to move even closer until he was a foot away.

"I'm not ignoring you, I just thought that we were here to work together and nothing else", she said with furrowed brows.

Something tingled in his gut.

"Really…?", he looked down at her, effectively covering her with his own shadow.

He slowly raised his hand to grab her chin and force her head up to face him. She was blushing and her breathing was hitched.

"I'm no fool, Sakura, and I don't appreciate being lied to", he said in a low tone. "I think I know where this is coming from", he inched closer to her face and his voice was almost a whisper. "But… for some reason", his face moved to her side almost touching the side of her cheek as he filled his senses with her addictive aroma. His eyes shut and ever so slightly nuzzled the tip of his nose against the shell of her ear. Itachi heard her sharp intake of breath and felt against his own skin how her body grew warmer.

He wanted her so bad. "… I can't bring myself to care".

"Itachi…", she whispered breathily against him and he felt again that electricity running through his body.

He placed his forearms at each side of her head, trapping her. Then his face moved to her neck to brush his lips against her soft skin.
She let out a small, contained whimper and that was enough for him to throw all common sense out of the window.

He placed a kiss on her neck, then another, then he moved downwards to that tiny space between her neck and shoulder and without even thinking about he bit her lightly.

This time she let out a clear moan.
Her hands went to his front and grabbed his shirt tightly, scratching his skin underneath with her nails through the fabric.
The sensation was too strong.

He roughly pushed his body against her, making full contact before grabbing her face to move it towards his. He licked his lips and crushed them onto hers.

He kissed her, passionately. She moaned against his mouth and he took the chance to slide his tongue inside, roughly, hard. He was losing it.
Her lips were soft and full and wet and he massaged them relentlessly, his tongue caressing hers, tasting her. Her tiny hands moved to his back to trace the outline of his muscles while she reciprocated his kiss. Her fast breathing and occasional moans where driving him crazy and he felt his arousal growing hard against her stomach. He released her mouth and went back to her neck, this time rougher, nipping and biting and kissing all the way down to her collarbone. She was panting. His hands moved to her outer thighs and in one swift movement he lifted her and levered her weight against the wall, pushing his hips into her hard.
She moaned his name.
He was feeling lightheaded.

He was so lost in the moment that he almost missed the strong feeling of Shisui's chakra coming through the hallway.

Itachi immediately ceased his movements. He roughly grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them.

Sakura was looking at him through wide eyes, completely confused about his sudden reaction and was about to say something when they heard Shisui calling on the door.

"Itachi, the target has been located", his voice was urgent.

The Uchiha heir looked at Sakura once again and saw the residual intensity of her gaze.

Such bad timing.

"Prepare your stuff, we're attacking tonight", he commanded, steeling his voice as responsibility took over.

Sakura nodded, also understanding the urgency and went to ready herself for the battle.

She knew she wasn't the best strategist ever, but this was ridiculous. Her plan had been an utter and shameful failure.

She had managed to went by unbothered for most of their mission, ignoring Itachi whenever it was possible without much trouble. As days passed, it had become increasingly difficult, especially after she was teamed up with him and had had to share a bedroom and a bathroom, but being the smart girl she was, she had found the way to stay out of danger anyways. Itachi was a very structured man so it hadn't been hard to time their encounters, or more precisely, their lack of.

But when she was about to open that door, she knew something was off, and minutes later, when she found herself trapped in between the wall and a very persuading Uchiha Itachi she understood the extent of her failure.

It had all happened slow motion. His closeness, his intoxicating scent, the warmth of his body and his skin on her skin. In the end she hadn't had the strength to fight her own desire and just gave in to his touch, to his kiss.

God, his kiss!

She didn't know how she would do to live without one of those again. A small part of her told her that maybe she didn't have to.

She looked at their captain running a few meters ahead.

There was no more denying her attraction towards him, but sadly that didn't make the situation any easier. He was still Sasuke's brother and she would still rather die than intentionally cause him any pain.

She figured that, given another encounter with Itachi, she would just have to be honest and talk to him.

The sky was orange with the last rays of sunshine shooting from the horizon and at the distance was the outline of Konoha's main gates, silently waiting for her return and promising hell as she would have to face the unexpected Uchiha mess she had gotten herself into.

She hadn't seen Sasuke in over a month and wondered what would have been his thoughts during that time. Would he still be mad about her rejection? She certainly hoped not, but soon, too much for her liking, she was about to find out.

Days after her return to Konoha, she found herself stiffly sitting at Ichiraku's next to Naruto and the issued Uchiha.

Sasuke was also rigid and noticeably uncomfortable, so much that even the loud blonde made a comment about how he had reached a whole new level of surliness.

Sakura felt the unwelcome dose of guilt when she discreetly looked at him and remembered how she had shamelessly responded to Itachi's kisses and was mortified to realize that a large part of her wanted it again.

She wondered with a rising sense of panic if Sasuke knew about it. Surely Itachi didn't mention it, right?

"Sakura", Sasuke woke her from her rambling thoughts. "How was your mission?", he asked.

She scrutinized his every feature in search for any kind of sign that would confirm her biggest fear, but she couldn't find anything. He was so difficult to read anyway.

"You were away for quite a long time", he continued before eating his noodles.

"Yeah, Sakura chan, you went with teme's brother right? Is he treating you well?", Naruto asked in his suspicious and overly protective way. Sakura would have normally rolled her eyes, but her wariness only allowed her an awkward smile.

"It was good, everything went as planned", she said. "Just a bit long and exhausting"

"I bet it was Itachi's thing, I've heard he's quite tough with his team", the blonde said.

"No, not at all, he's a great captain, I'm learning a lot from him", Sakura felt the need to defend him.

She missed the way Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her.

"If that baka lays a hand on you I will chase him down and beat the crap out of his stuck up ass!", the blonde energetically waved a fist in the air. Sakura glared at the blonde and told him to shut up. She was already feeling awkward by the memories of her little incident with Itachi and also by having to talk to Sasuke after what had happened in the Uchiha temple; she didn't need Naruto dwelling into it on top of it all.

She figured she couldn't avoid talking to Sasuke anymore, and maybe this could be a good chance to ease the tension and maybe clear her own feelings about him.

So after they finished their meal, Sakura left with Sasuke in an attempt to have some time alone.

"I heard you took down a group of ten missing nin all by yourself", he said as they walked next to each other.

"Uhm, well, they had been fighting with Shisui and Genma before they attacked me, so I guess that made it easier", she replied fidgety.

"Doesn't matter, they were still S class criminals, it takes a highly skilled shinobi to take down one, never mind ten", he said with a certain edge of pride in his voice.

She laughed nervously.

"Thanks…"

"I was impressed"

She looked at him with exaggerated aggravation.

"What you mean impressed?"

He chuckled softy.

"Don't get me wrong, I know how strong you are", Sasuke looked at her with a faint smile that made her blush. She straightened her back and regarded him form the corner of her eye.

"Maybe I could even win to you now", she said with a smug smirk.

"I guess we would have see that in the field", he replied challengingly.

"Whenever you want Uchiha"

"I might pick you up one of these days to settle it down"

Sakura laughed relaxed, feeling the tension between them dissipate. She fell silent for a while, trying to build some courage for what she was about to say.

"Sasuke kun, about the other day…", she started but was interrupted by the boy.

"It's ok", he said, making her turn to look at him. His expression was collected and she couldn't quite pinpoint how he felt about the whole situation.

"I kind of deserved it anyway, but I understand that you might need time to accept this", he smiled bitterly. "It sounds ridiculous that after all this time I'm the one chasing after you, but I want you to know that everything I said that day that was real, it still is"

'Sasuke kun…', she blushed.

"I guess I need time to sort all this out, but now I just don't want it to be awkward between us…", she said.

"It won't, I promise", he drew a soft smirk and regarded her.

She felt the nagging sensation in the back of her mind that she wasn't being completely honest with him. She couldn't just tell him she was developing feelings for another man, especially not when said man was his brother, but in the end all she did was smile back at him.
They suddenly reached his house and Sasuke invited her in. She was about to decline when Mikoto saw her from the window and quickly walked to the door to invite her as well.
When they reached the dining room there was onigiri served on the table, and not one to be rude, she sat down to it.
Not much time passed before Itachi entered the room carrying a plate with more onigiri and they crossed looks. He greeted her politely as he sat down as well.

She hadn't known he was here.

"This is delicious Mikoto san! Everything you cook is so good!", Sakura said as she happily ate the rice balls, trying her best not to show her uneasiness towards the older brother.

Mikoto had a strange glint to her eye.

"I'm glad you like them Sakura chan, but I can't take credit for them", she said with a mischievous expression. The pinkette looked at her not really understanding.

"It was Itachi kun who made them", the black haired woman said with some air of pride in her voice.

Sakura looked at her and then moved her gaze towards Itachi, unable to mask her surprise.

"Really? Wow, Itachi san, I didn't know you cooked as well", she suddenly felt shy.

"Ahh, my mother taught me when I was little", he replied, and to her amusement, he was trying to avoid her gaze. Apparently he was more embarrassed than her.

Sakura smiled and grabbed another rice ball as the rest continued their conversation. She felt a strange tingle of excitement about this new discovery. It was hard to picture the all mighty Uchiha Itachi in the kitchen perfecting his cooking skills, but for some reason she liked this aspect of him; it made him seem more approachable, more of a normal human being and less the unreachable ANBU captain genius.

"This Friday is the annual event hosted by the Uchiha Clan", Mikoto said after a while. "You should come Sakura chan, as our guest. Naruto kun should come too", she looked at Sasuke as if asking him directly.

"Those parties are awfully boring, I don't think my teammates want to go, mother… I don't want to go", he replied with a frown in his eyebrows.

"Nonsense, that's because you don't know how to have fun; the more reasons to have your friends coming with you", she said and looked at Sakura then.

She felt uneasy, between the mercy looks Sasuke was giving her and the insistence on Mikoto's gaze.

"Thank you, I would like to go", she said after a few tense seconds. "I'm sure Naruto would be happy to go as well", she looked at the defeated expression on Sasuke's face and smiled inwardly.

Both brothers hastily stopped what they were doing to look at her. Sasuke was giving her an incredulous and somewhat pained look, while Itachi just regarded her with his expression unreadable. She just brushed it off and smiled at Mikoto before taking a sip of her tea.

She failed to notice, though, the suspicious look on the Uchiha Matriarch as she studied the situation, especially her sons' odd behaviour.

A/N: This story was more of a personal project. I never intended to publish it until today, when I finished it and re read it many times and wondered if it was any good. So basically, I'm publishing this to know if it's good or it just sucks. It hasn't gone under the meticulous inspection of a beta reader, so expect many mistakes.