Chapter15 Recall:
The Annual Hanami was finally here, and each of the three ladies brought along interesting dates and brought back unforgettable memories, an unexpected phone call from the Hospital and a glimpse into Sasori's unspoken life in Konoha.
Chapter16 – Unconditional Love
When their eyes met across the mass of bodies, both broke into an understanding smile. It was undeniably an indelible experience, and they were simply glad for the other being there.
After Sakura and Itachi parked themselves next to him, they exchanged greetings over the drone of the bus.
"I've passed her items to Sasori. He relayed his gratitude and apologies for his rudeness the other time you two met," Sakura delivered, pleased to play the mediator between them.
"Thank you, Sakura. It's not just for this, but for the whole ordeal. You've been a great help," Gaara declared and fished out a miniature wooden puppet. "I know this isn't much, but Chiyo-baasan instructed me to pass this to you; it's a thank you gift made by her."
Sakura took it from his palm, flipped at the bob of pink hair and gasped when she realised it was real. It felt exactly the same as hers…
"She once offered to cut my hair, I never expect…"
"She has been nagging me to bring her some bright hair dye for some time, which I refused for obvious reasons," Gaara revealed in a grave tone, and they laughed at the silly moments of the great Chiyo. Sakura straightened herself and began her drilling session.
"So… I heard some interesting things from my dear friend Hinata…" She deliberately drawled, and pulled a smug smile when Gaara's cheek gradually turned pink.
"… What about Hyuuga-san?" Itachi, who had been stationary by Sakura's side, felt his ears perked up by the familiar surname.
"Aw come on Gaara-san! There's no need to be shy about it – you like her, don't you?" Gaara swallowed his anxiety and focused on somewhere other than her eyes.
"… Do we have to talk about this?"
"Now, why not you begin with your date with her?" Gaara's eyes widened in appal, clearly speaking how the hell does she know about the date? Sakura knew she was far too excited about this, but she was dying to find out how such a quiet man like Gaara managed to reduce Hinata to a puddle (since she refused to say anything other than 'he's nice.')
"She's a sweet person; we talked about our families and we discussed recipes-"
"Y-You what?"
"Hyuuga-san's really a great cook. I was really fortunate to get to try them." From Gaara's expression, she gathered that he was genuinely interested in Hinata, and prompted him to ask her out soon.
"While you still can," She added so as to remind him not to take his own sweet time. Gaara eyed Itachi, remembering him from the other time he saw him at the hospital accompanying Sakura.
"Sakura," He whispered and she leaned closer to catch his words, "Is he your…" Sakura frowned and looked down at his pointed little finger and her face turned instantly red.
"N-NO!" Itachi glanced down quizzically at her sudden frantic, and discreetly pushing away Gaara's hand, she smiled sheepishly at her ignorant ninja pal.
Although I do wish I am.
When their eyes met across the corridor, his first instinct was to evade his eyes and pretend like they were unacquainted. However, Itachi's words rang across his mind, and deciding to listen to his advice, he nodded in her direction.
"Good morning, Sakura." At the surprised look in her eyes, he quickly darted his eyes away and shuffled consciously on his feet.
"G-G-Good morning, Sa-Sasuke-kun…" Did he hit his head on the way to school, or did I make that up? Sasuke cleared his throat.
"Can I ask you a question?" Sasuke's fidgety form was starting to turn contagious; she gulped back a ping-pong ball and nodded.
"H-How do you know Itachi?" Huh? Panic set in when she realised he was still hung up over Itachi's appearance outside their classroom.
"I-I er… We, uh, live in the same apartment- I-I mean same building and we saw each other a couple of times…" Sakura conveyed as convincingly as she could, deciding she would stick to this story should anyone asked her again. She wondered what Sasuke would say should he discover the truth.
"Oh, what a coincidence…" He probably would not see Sakura in the same way, she concluded.
"That's right; you're in the same club aren't you? I hope you're not getting your ass kicked by him!" Sakura teased with a punch to the air, hoping to steer his thoughts away from Itachi. Usually, challenging his ego would do the trick.
"Hn, who's kicking whose asses?" No way in hell would he admit the truth to Sakura. Her eyes softened; despite his retaliation, there was no denying the speck of admiration in his ebony eyes.
"He really resembles your brother, don't you think? I'm sure he treats you like one too," She added, remembering how Itachi always seemed to be in a good mood after his Taijutsu classes. At the mention of Itachi's name, Sasuke averted his eyes.
"A-Anyway, I want to apologise for last time," Sasuke blurted out. Sakura blinked.
"W-What last time?" Was she turning mad or was Sasuke seriously sick? Sasuke closed his eyes in part-frustration and embarrassment.
"During my brother's concert, I-I was kinda rude to you… And I'm sorry." Sasuke's eyes roved to her face just as her jaw loosened and fell and hit her feet. Her mind was doing somersaults and the cynic in her wanted to laugh right then. Sasuke, apologising? Had he been going for some counselling sessions?
"D-Don't worry about it; I've long forgotten about it!" Like hell would she forget about it, "I hope that means… We're still friends…?" She asked with hopeful eyes. Yes, he could be churlish and demeaning at times, but he was still her first crush. It was a miracle they were still on talking terms and Sakura did not want to lose this friendship.
Sasuke thought for a moment, before his eyes met her and he broke into his usual smug.
"Since when are we not?"
Good fortune was certainly descending upon the three ladies in Class 3A-01; despite all the poorly hidden dramas and tears shredded over the opposite sex, all of them had finally found one out of the millions to hold by the sleeves. One in particular had the poor sod wrapped neatly around her manicured fingers.
"I still can't believe you simply went to the festival with him after he asked once," Sakura began sceptically as Ino settled into her seat. She pouted at her less than welcoming greeting.
"Sakura, are you implying that I'm always playing hard to get?"
"N-No!" Maybe sometimes. "I mean he did broke up with you with a crappy explanation; I don't believe you would let him off the hook so easily," She reasoned.
"Hmm, maybe I did ask him to do something…" She tapped her chins in thoughts and continued, "Like making him wear my bra outside his shirt to school…" She revealed with a cheeky grin.
"YOU WHAT?" Sakura and Hinata exclaimed in unison.
"It was just for his homeroom, I'm sure he'll be fine. See, here's a photo of him wearing it in class!" There in high definition colours, was Deidara looking dashing with a splash of padded pink bra on his chest. She had no idea Deidara had fell this hard for Ino until this.
"How do you know he wore it for the whole lesson?" Sakura questioned, noting the empty classroom and the possibility of him reaching early just to take that photo and removed the offending undergarment before his classmates saw. He was a sly one, after all.
"Oh, I trust him and even if he did, I'll still forgive him." They waited for her elaboration; she was not usually this forgiving and they wondered what other horrible sacrifices Ino might have put Deidara through.
"As I've messaged you girls last night, he asked me over to his house and Deidara and I talked for the whole night. Boy, his house still is as messy as I remembered two years ago!" Ino whinged, while the lazy smile and the glee in her eyes spoke otherwise.
"Oh, so basically you guys talked, made up and made out," Sakura summarised patronisingly, eliciting a muffled laughter from Hinata.
"Stop ruining my story! Or you'll get it from me later. As I was saying…"
"Oh, Hinata you don't really know about Deidara's story, do you?" Sakura suddenly chipped in.
"SAKURA!" Sakura muttered an 'opps' and burst out laughing. She recalled how Hinata would get all fidgety whenever Ino discussed about what she did with Deidara. They decided to put her out of her misery by sparing her of her recounts and sharing with Sakura in private.
"That's right; then let me tell you a little about his unorthodox life. God I missed him!" The girls giggled at the extreme understatement of the year.
Being a curious child, Deidara was fascinated by buildings' demolition via explosion and volcanic eruptions. Captivated by its flashiness and ephemeral existence, he started messing with illegal explosives in an attempt to recapture the flashy moment. It involved tons of research, bags of smuggled chemicals from the school lab and he would spend most of the time locked away in his room.
Eventually, he was caught by the school's surveillance camera and was reported to the Police station.
It was around the same time Ino had put a poisonous snake in a nasty girl's bag for being mean to Sakura and later on sent to the Police station for 'posing a threat to the town.' In her defence, she had no idea it was venomous and if she knew, she would not even dare to touch it, let alone approached it.
After writing off their charges as a case of callow, they were released and put under a month's probation.
"Keh, stupid place," They had chorused the moment they were out of the building. As Ino took in his long blonde hair and the defiant spark in his eyes, she knew she had to make friends with him.
"Hey boy, my name's Ino; what's yours?" Deidara's brow rose in both curiosity and shock. No, he was not taken aback by their similar hair colour; it was also not the mischievous smile that mirrored his that drawn him.
She called me a boy, not girl.
"Hi Ino, my name is Deidara. N-Nice to meet you."
Their chance friendship soon blossomed into the grey zone between friends and couples. Being the curious kids they were, they wanted to know how kissing felt like and without knowing the meaning of consequences, they reached a mutual agreement and gave it a goal.
Turned out, they loved it so much and had not looked by since their silly curiosity. While together, Deidara continued to secretly meddle with making explosives, while Ino occasionally assisted him by stealing the required ingredients.
A few years later as Deidara was approaching the end of his middle school year, he discovered someone had stolen his collection of ready-made explosives. While he shrugged it off as a case of bad luck, Ino knew trouble was nearby. A few weeks later, he was made a suspect for two of the local bombings, one of which involving Sakura's parents.
Thankfully, they only found his finger prints on the bomb planted in a park's public dustbin, which had no casualties and only provoked a couple of curses by the cleaners in charge that week.
Sentenced to do community service (being underage and all), he had to clean up public spaces for a year. During his shameful hours of wearing the neon vest, he began creating temporary art sculptures from the leaf litters and garbage he cleared. It attracted so much attention that he was later known by the area as 'The Blondist,' courtesy of a little girl who got tired of begging her parents to bring her to see 'The Blond Artist' and cut it short to save some syllables and saliva.
Hiruzen, the Principal of Kizuna then, got wind of the boy's exceptional talents and offered him a scholarship in fine arts. He jumped at the chance and was enrolled into the APEX programme for his following year's high school matriculation.
"So… The reason he broke up with you is because he thought there would be no future being together with an artist? But that's so…" Sakura was speechless, hearing it for the first time and for the stupidest reason she could ever fathom.
"He's so silly!" Hinata cried.
"Yea, I told him never to decide such things on his own again, that fool. Does he think I'm that superficial as to mind his occupation?" The power of love – it could turn even the most superficial person into a saint.
"Anyway, we're glad to hear you two cleared your misunderstandings and got back together!" Sakura clapped, feeling proud for both of her friends. Ino harrumphed, obviously in seventh heaven.
"I knew he was lying when he said he just was not that into me!"
When Kakashi failed to show up fifteen minutes into his lesson, Ino tapped on Sakura's shoulder.
"So what now, do you like that guy?" It was unusual for Sakura to be so quiet about her budding romance with the new student, and she was beginning to grow worried.
Sakura's instinct was to deny any possible affection, but the serious look in her eyes told her that she wanted the truth, not packaged words.
Her mind floated back to the first night they slept together (separately) and how nerve-wrecking and awkward it was. Despite his initial hostility, it was soon apparent that his coldness was more of by default rather than immanent. It must have come with his occupation and that organisation he was involved in. He still did not tell her anything about that part of his life.
His unconscious thoughtfulness (automatically preparing breakfast for two, never once leaving his soiled laundry lying around), tolerance to her playing with his hair (maybe secretly he liked it?) and the comfort from an assuring male presence in her house had made her questioned how she once coped with solitary life. Hell, she really liked him. Just the thought of him these days was enough to lure a smile out of her.
"Y-Yea, I think, no, I do like him. But it might be impossible between us and I'm not sure of his feelings towards me. It might just be physical for him." She admitted with a note of depression.
"Why do you keep saying it's impossible?"
"That's because…!" She could not exactly revealed that he was not from their world, and should the day came and he needed to go back, it would be longest LDR anyone could ever imagine. Oh, to be precise, she would then be having a LDR with a hundred over year old dead man. She believed that it would not sit well with Ino. That was assuming there was web-cam over at his side.
"Y-You all know how he looks like, not to mention popular and incredibly intelligent. He just seemed so… Otherworldly," She reflected sadly, not too far from the truth. Ino burst out laughing.
"Oh dear Sakura, since when has that stopped you from pursuing the guy of your dreams!"
"I just don't feel good enough for him…"
"Hey look, if it's anything it's he who doesn't deserve you," Ino emphasised, making sure that Sakura was looking at her as she continued, "I still don't think the lunatic- that Uchiha-san is the right one for you, considering his shady background and what he did to you…" If only that was all to it, Sakura thought ruefully.
"But! It sucks even more not facing up to your feelings and deceiving yourself that everything's okay. So, tell him." Ino shrugged, knowing that no amount of persuasion would get Sakura's mind out of him. She only hoped that she was speaking the truth about them keeping a clean relationship.
If he dares to hurt my Sakura…
"I-Ino? Are you okay? You look like you're ready to kill somebody," Sakura pointed out cautiously, not entirely clueless to her train of thoughts. She quickly snapped out of the various gory scenarios she had in store for Uchiha Itachi and flashed Sakura a dazzling smile.
"This time, remember to tell us immediately when it happens, instead of a few weeks later!"
When their eyes met across the classroom, Deidara swallowed back his nervousness and tried not to let his guilt showed when he ghosted passed Itachi.
When Itachi had told him to not mention about his relationship with Sakura to anyone, he readily agreed not because he was afraid of him. Even though Itachi had not explicitly indicated, the underlying threat to expose his secret if he did otherwise was practically boiling in Itachi's steely eyes.
Deidara tucked his head as low as his neck could allow, cautious to keep his hair hanging in front of his chest to shield his new accessory. He made it a point to report to school earlier, in hopes to avoid even the most punctual Konan to quickly be done with this mortifying task.
When he managed to reach his classroom with a faint trace of dignity intact, he broke into a spontaneous grin – there was not a single soul. After scanning the corridor for good measure, he deemed it safe and got to work.
Tying his hair into his usual ponytail, he pushed back the remaining tresses behind his shoulder and sighed at the cotton bra restricting his breathing. How could anyone breathe in this was beyond him, not to say the enormity of it blocked his view of his feet. He felt pregnant in this.
With his back to the door, he ensured the phone camera was aimed at his newfound breast and the rows of seats, and smiled for Ino.
"What are you doing?" Deidara jumped and whipped around, his hand instinctively wrapped around his chest, finally understanding why girls always did that. Oh, it was just Itachi, staring openly at his chest.
Wait…
"T-This isn't what you think it is…" What was seen could not be unseen; the sheer look of horror and disbelief was apparent even in his placid face. It rang disapprovingly at the stammering Deidara.
"L-Listen Itachi-san-"
"You don't have to explain anything; I won't breathe a word about this." He raised his hand to block the disturbing scene and turned away. The unspoken 'and you better keep to the end of your promise or else…' hung heavily between them as Deidara scrambled to unhook the stupid cloth around him.
"All the more reason not to let him know that I accidentally told danna about his date with Sakura…" Deidara muttered to himself as an icky sensation ran up his spine. Itachi's head was turned slightly, his frosty eyes locked onto his frightful pair.
Gosh, did he hear that?
"What did you say, Deidara?" Sasori's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he hastily shook his head. When he looked up again, Itachi was reading a book. It felt like he had imagined that creepy glare or perhaps he was really just afraid of Itachi.
"So Itachi how was your first mission with Kisame?" They had just returned from the seaside to intercept a drug smuggler; the moment their eyes met the smuggler began to tremble and dropped to his knees. He had instinctively activated his Sharingan. Thankfully his long fringe acted as a cover that prevented his partner from chancing upon his eyes.
"Minato-sensei, Itachi-san is a smoothie– when he yelled for him to stop, the man's eye widened and his knees just went weak! It was as though he just saw his wife coming at him with a butcher's knife…" He began to cackle at the poor bastard's pitiful cries of mercy even before he subjected him to his kicks and punches.
Kisame's description was untrue but not far off the mark. Instead of getting accosted by his wife, what Itachi had showed him was him getting his limps and legs chopped by his ex-wife, each accounting for his infidelity. At least he had a conscience to feel guilty, somewhere.
"We were able to apprehend him and destroyed the drugs but he was just a shrimp in the pursuit; he does not have a solid infor on the mastermind," Itachi reported dutifully.
Minato nodded and continued to listen to the other pair's reports. It seemed that every week, one pair would rotate to take on such minor cases while the rest would focus on zoning in on the missing children's investigation.
Their teacher had confirmed from the evidences gathered thus far that it was a likely a case of child kidnapping, but with no dead bodies found they were unable to determine the agenda of the kidnapper. It was a matter of waiting for his first slip, but how many more children would they have to sacrifice for their ineptitude?
"Minato-sensei, I've been meaning to ask – how is it that everyone in the programme could use chakra when I could detect none?" Minato seemed prepared for Itachi's question for he simply leaned back against his desk chair and smiled.
"It's called chakra concealers – I've placed it on everyone with chakra potency as a precaution. It only masks so it wouldn't affect the channelling should the need to use it arise." That was when he remembered the strange tingling sensation he experienced when he shook hands with him on his first day in Kizuna. Seemed like the present could never quite escape from its past.
However, the question remained – precaution to what, or who?
During their break, he politely declined Kisame's offer for lunch in favour to explore the records in the library. He grasped the duplicated key in his hand, memorising its ridges against his tender palm.
Konan had secretly forged a spare for his ease of access and passed it to him after they left Minato's office, with no further instructions other than to 'use it anytime you want.' Without him saying, she had anticipated his request.
The room was as his mind remembered, and he quickly resumed from where he stopped, right around the time of his death.
This time, he was ready and had come for the truth.
An hour later, he slipped out of the library looking as unruffled as always. But on the inside, he was smiling.
Looks like there's a reason to go back after all.
When their eyes met across the pavement, it was impossible to stop the spontaneous grin from overtaking her face. Never mind the fact that she was on time, but was that an actual smile on his face? If she were to be critical, she could just spot that spring in his usual mellow steps… Today was turning out to be an outlandish day, in a good way.
"Something good happened?"
"Nothing in particular, where to?" Sakura mentally giggled and told him they were going for lunch downtown, not entirely lying. The wait was over and she could finally fulfil the long due task.
She grabbed his arms when he instinctively veered towards the bus-stop, and continued to lead them down the pavement. She refused to satisfy his questioning gaze; while he was seldom led by the collars even with Kisame, he decided to play by her plans just to amuse her.
Not too soon was he pulled into a small shop, with ample claims that she just wanted to 'see something.' Behind the glass display cabinet a middle-aged man with floppy black hair and a modest build greeted them, and Sakura extracted herself from his side to fiddle with the assortments of sample phones by the wall. As she twiddled away with a new model, he solidified next to her, barely in time to hold his fingers against his eyes to stop them from falling out.
"Is there anything you like?"
"T-These things… Is it typical for these…Devices to cost this much?" He mentally counted the number of zeroes on the price label at least ten times, and the amused expression on Sakura's face was not helping. It felt like a conspiracy between her and the employee to pull a prank at him. These miracles of the modern era cost nearly the pay he would receive for at least five A-rank missions.
"Oh, you have fine taste, young man. The phone trembling in your hands happens to be a limited edition variation of a recent model. It boosts an upgraded eight megapixels with face-detection, a more precise accelerometer, quad-core graphics and complimentary three extra gigabytes of cellular data if you sign a contract with us," The man kindly informed, and it took Sakura's sheer will not to collapse into hysteria at his unresponsive face. Though to be fair, even she did not catch some of the friendly man's computer lingo.
"It just means this phone is better than it used to be," Sakura whispered helpfully, and he nodded like it all suddenly made perfect sense. Her eyes dropped onto the red device, only then discovering it was the same model as hers.
"Do you like it?" The hopeful glimmer in her eyes had him suspecting whether she had forgotten his identity.
"I think I'm the last person you should be asking with regards to t-this," Itachi replied as-a-matter-of fact, but at last nodded when he realised she was not taking a no answer as an answer. A victorious grin spilt across her face and she raised a thumbs up at the salesman, already in the midst of pulling out the contracts.
She hastily filled in the man with his mostly honest particulars and with a resolute sigh, willingly handled over a few hundred dollars notes over the sales invoice.
Thanks to his lightning reflexes, he was able to stop the absurd transaction in time, his strong hand wrapped determinedly around her lithe wrist.
"What do you think you're doing, Sakura?" Before she succumbed to his intimidating stare, she forcefully pried his hand off hers and passed her one month's worth of hard work and OTs to the visibly relief man. He placed the phone's package into the glossy plastic bag, along with a flat box.
"As part of this phone's promotion, the first ten customers will receive a complimentary touch-screen tablet that allows you to sync with this phone!" Before Itachi could make a scene about 'more of those expensive shit?', she rattled off a string of heartfelt gratitude for his services and dragged Itachi out of the store before he could set the man on fire.
When he refused to bulge an inch from the entrance, she heaved a loud sigh and gazed resignedly into his stern eyes.
"Fine, I didn't mean it when I said I just want to see something. I finally have the means and it's about time I got you a phone, it's a must-have," She said, slightly thrusting the bag up to prove her point.
"Not for me; I've lived my life without this."
"It's not too late to start now." She cocked a suggestive eye-brow at his unconvinced face.
"Fine, then I'm going to pay you back." Even as he said it, he had no ounce of an idea how.
"N-NO! Just take it as an advanced birthday gift!" She persisted, and she saw some of the fight left his eyes. Birthdays, huh, what a nostalgic term…
"What I can do in return?" Sakura contemplated seriously for a moment, but only one thought surfaced. She ducked her head away from him and bit her lower lip.
"K-Kiss me." Her voice was barely a whisper, her breath of impulsiveness long carried away by the sudden gush of chilly wind.
"If that's what you want…" She was shocked that he actually heard her, and her uncooperative heart begin jumping in delight and anticipation.
"Are you sure? We're in public." She knew she was the manifestation of female contradictory, but she could not help it; as much as she wanted to feel his soft lips on hers, it would be another case if it was coercion on his part.
She felt his tender fingers against her chin tilting her face up. Swallowing back the bile of nerves, she tentatively allowed her eyes to find his, hit by a wave of embarrassment as his were locked on her slightly parted lips.
Slowly, he leaned forward, titillating her with his speed and willing him to just it over with. Gosh, he was really kissing her; engulfed in momentary darkness her awareness to his intention and proximity heightened to out of the scale bar and just as she felt his other arm snaked around her waist…
"Hey Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" Like a tyre screeching to an awkward halt, her eyes sprang to life and Itachi's face roved in front of his, staring at her, tantalisingly out of reach.
Reluctantly, as Itachi put some distance between them, she turned around to greet the untimely intruder. Was it her imagination or was there a spark of annoyance…And disappointment in his onyx eyes?
"H-Hey, Dei, why are you here?" She asked behind contrived smile, and noticed he was not alone. "Oh and hey Sasori-san." Her eyes softened and they shared a small knowing smile.
"That's not very nice, Sakura-chan… Why can't I be here? And why are you smiling so sweetly to Sasori-da…nna… Hey Itachi-san, hmm." He nodded warily at him, only suddenly aware of his presence. Sakura's head went spinning between the boys, not quite getting the equation.
"We're classmates," Itachi answered softly behind her, liberating her of her confusion and she marvelled at the coincidence. However, the guarded expression plastered over all Deidara's face told her they were definitely not on cosy terms. That intrigued her somehow. Deidara hastily continued.
"A-Anyway, nice to see you two-"
"We're heading to a nearby pastry for a quick snack, wanna join us?" All eyes swept towards the deadpanned red head, seemingly immune to their baffled expressions. It was probably because Sasori did not talk much, much less casually opened an invitation for pastries.
Sakura had enough; she needed to check into the nearest hospital immediately or next she would be thinking she could breathe fire.
"O-Okay, what about you, Itachi?" She asked at last.
"I don't mind either."
"Wait, you're coming? N-Not that I don't want you to be there or anything! Of course I would love your company!" Deidara said with a strained smile. Sakura's head spun between Deidara and Itachi, confused by their relationship more than ever. Her eyes lingered on Deidara's chest for a moment. Now was the chance to get back at his earlier interruption.
"Dei, is it me or your chest looks a bit flat today…?" Itachi turned his head in time to bite back a smile while Sakura was shamelessly grinning from ear to ear.
"What do you mea…?" His dilated eyes shot towards Itachi. "Itachi-san, you didn't…!" Itachi snorted at his vengeful eyes and accusing finger.
"If you're implying that I told Sakura about your little antics in class-"
"What antics?" Sasori interpolated when he could no longer follow-up on their crazy repartee. As though only realising his presence, Deidara jumped in part-reflex and fear. He was certain that Sasori would definitely not appreciate having a BFF who paraded around in a pink padded push-up bra outside his shirt as a pastime.
"D-Danna, it's nothing-"
"Deidara was attempting to hide a bra underneath the teacher's desk and I caught him in action," Itachi interjected, surprising the both of them. Sasori eyed the pair charily; he could not decide between cutting off immediate ties with a pervert he called friend or whether Itachi was lying. He could not shake off the sensation that something was going on between them. Then there was the question – why would Itachi lie for Deidara?
"I owe you one," Deidara hissed under his breath when Sasori was immersed in a conversation with Sakura. Itachi harrumphed and looked away from his pathetic form.
"I didn't do this for your favour; I'm merely keeping my promise."
"Danna, you're acting weird and I'm concerned, hmm," He whispered as they stepped through the entrance of the dango store.
Honest be told, even Sasori admitted that he was behaving out-of-character, bordering onto unacceptable based on his moral standards. The curtain of darkness that had enshrouded him over the years had become his comfort zone, and he never thought to question that unconventional notion. He was completely fine to live a life of solitude.
That was until he saw that the edge of the curtain was lifted; even if it was just a little, he discovered he did not mind the glimmer of light that was making its way towards him. However deep the abyss, it was no excuse for the light to stop searching and reaching out to touch him.
Stealing a glimpse at the shimmer of light next to him, he understood what he had to do. He wanted to protect that ray of hope.
However by the looks of it, someone had beaten him to it, and he was still unsure of what to make of Uchiha Itachi. He was simply too subtle and reticent unlike a certain opened book, but what was puzzling was the relationship that man shared with Sakura.
He saw them long before Deidara called out to her and his eyes narrowed critically at the pair parked outside the phone retailer. He took in their body languages and the easy way both were carrying themselves with the familiarity of a close confidante; Deidara had not lied.
When Itachi suddenly bent towards Sakura with one arm slowly winding around her slim waist, Sasori had almost shouted 'get away from her,' and could never imagine he was actually thankful for Deidara's interruption. It certainly saved him from making a fool of himself.
"Is anything the matter, Sasori-san?" Itachi asked when he noticed Sasori was watching him. Sasori adjusted his eyes to match his discerning ones, which conveyed attention and nothing else.
"It's nothing."
As the pairs went their separate ways, Itachi gestured to the washroom and told Sakura to wait for him at the bus-stop. Sasori was waiting for him by the alley next to the store, his body partially submerged in the shadow, his expression even more obscured than before.
Not one to retreat from darkness, he entered the narrow space and leaned against the dusty concrete wall opposite him. Anyone passing by could easily miss their slim frame; it was surprisingly easy for them to blend with the gloom.
Sensing that there was no need for pleasantries, Sasori went straight to the point.
"Does she know who you really are?" Itachi wanted to say yes, then he realised he had been lying for so long that that would be a lie. As hours lengthened into days here, even he forgot who he really was. All along, he had only allowed her to see him as he dictated; a half-truth was no different than a whole lie. When he did not respond, Sasori continued.
"Being in the Akatsuki means you'll be embroiled in endless dirty jobs, with most of them being potentially dangerous. Are you okay with putting her in danger?" It just occurred to him that Sasori was not referring to his former life, and he smiled dryly. It was no wonder why a new born bore no memories from his past life; it would have been a pain in the ass.
"I believe what goes on between her and me has nothing to do with you," He answered instead, and locked his eyes to his, "Why do you even care?" Sasori returned his cold stare with a thoughtful cock of his head.
"I owed her one. She didn't have to, but she did it anyway. I have to protect her best interest, even if it means separating you two." He cringed internally in disbelief that he actually uttered something so mushy, the words leaving a funny aftertaste.
"I won't let anyone hurt her, even if it means killing them." Oh yes, the murderous gleam in his eyes left no doubts on his threat. Should talks come to fights, even Sasori was aware that he was no match against him. He was after all, the renowned new ace of the Taijutsu club.
"I have looked you up, and interestingly your timeline only began from the day before your enrolment. It was as though you never existed until then. Only people with a history to hide would wipe clean their records." The unspoken sentence – and you are definitely not someone safe for her to stay with, hanged stagnant in the air as he continued, "What makes you think that your past will never catch up to you?"
"I would never hurt her, not when I can help it," He replied with a fierce glimmer in his eyes. He knew the day was approaching, that his past was looming closer, and his only hope was for her to not be devastated.
"And when that happens, I would most likely be gone for good." It did not escape Sasori that he said 'when' instead of 'if,' as though he had already anticipated the day was imminent.
He did not utter a word during the trip home, either did she commented about his far too long washroom trip. Surely he did not go back for touch-ups?
As Sakura lay still on her bed, Ino's words drifted through her restless mind. She was never one to be so indecisive, but the last time she mustered the courage to make her feelings known, it ended with a happily never after.
Hey, he apologised and you two are friends again. You can finally move on in ease, isn't that great?
She hated her rational side sometimes; it made denying all the more tougher.
And what have you got to lose?
She liked him, and she needed him to know, before she was suffocated by her overwhelming love and died without leaving him those invaluable last words.
She was about to call out his name when she realised she was alone in her room. She reached down to touch his sleeping bag and felt some of his residual warmth seeped into her fingers. Knowing him, there was only one place he would visit at this time of the night.
Forgoing with the trouble of insulation, she slipped out of the comfort of her warm apartment in only her red sleeveless top and navy blue skirt. She recalled his discovery of a secret shortcut into Yonder Forest, somewhere through the hole in the fences next to her block.
Carefully going through the make-shift hole, she traced an artificial trail into the tenebrous woods, scantily lit by the gibbous moon. She felt really dumb not to have carried a torch with her, and then giggled out loud to herself. Well, I am carrying a torch, just not on my hand.
Suddenly, there was a sensation of her being watched; she hugged herself and delivered a series of surreptitious glance around her, cursing the darkness and what it was doing to her mind. Her first thought was to shout for him, and a small movement above her caused her to stumble on her growing fear and fell back on her rear.
A tall figure landed in front of her, and her instantaneous scream filled the deafening silence. The dark form crept towards her, and she frantically crawled on all fours away from it, her tearing eyes desperately willing it to leave her alone. A hand stretched forward.
"N-NOOO!"
"Sakura, it's me!" Her back hit a tree trunk, and she leaned heavily against its rugged surface, inhaling generous amounts of the musky air mingled with his assuring scent. When she seemed to have calmed down, Itachi frowned quizzically at her.
"Sakura, what are you doing here? It's dangerous-" She embraced his kneeing form like her life depended on it, the strength and shakiness conveying her lingering terror and delight at seeing him once again. At a loss, he returned the hug and ran his hand soothingly along her back. After a while, he gently pushed her away and sat next to her.
"Are you feeling better now?" She returned a feeble nod, and for a moment nobody talked.
"I-I came to look for you, because there's something I have to tell you," She whispered behind her raspy voice, and their eyes met through the silver of moonlight. Itachi felt his heart began to beat erratically; he cursed the moonlight and what it was doing to his mind.
Does she know who you really are?
"Itachi, I-"
"Before we move on, there's something you need to know, about me." She took in his hardened gaze and the unaccounted sense of enervation that had settled over him.
"Yes…" The gravity in his eyes was scaring her.
"I wasn't some upright ninja who undertook missions and only kill when necessary. I was a wanted criminal, one hated by all from my village." Despite his words, there was no bitterness, as if it was his fate to be branded one.
"What do you mean? There's no way you're a bad guy!" Sure, he could appear murderous when he wanted to, but that did not make him one! Itachi's eye broke away to turn towards the louring clouds creeping below the sky.
"Remember when you asked me about my family?" Oh, it would take a lot of terrible memories to drown out the night he left her wanting him, she thought embarrassingly.
"Yea…? They sounded really nice; I would have loved to meet them…"
"Do you know why they are dead?" Why was he asking her this? She levelled his eyes at his slightly trembling hand rested atop the dirt path.
"W-Well, from the records it said that the Uchiha clansmen perished in honour from defending the village…"
"Those were lies." She sought for confirmation, but he refused to meet her eyes.
"Huh…?"
"They were planning a coup d'état on the village but before the night of execution, they were annihilated." His tone was tired, resigned; the depthless sorrow over their undignified death was palpable in his deep eyes staring ahead.
"Annihilated…? Wait, wasn't that just a rumour?" Why would they attack their own village? They were one of the most powerful and renowned clans, with deep roots in Konoha.
"They were single-handedly slaughtered alive by one of their own, and that was the truth." He was finally staring at her, but this time there was a menace in it, and Sakura felt herself retreating into the trunk. Unknowingly or not, his blazing Sharingan was blinking back at her poorly disguised petrifaction.
It could not be… It had just occurred to her that she was talking to an Uchiha and she tried to push away the nagging alarm. As realisation dawned behind her jade eyes, Itachi cracked a faint smile that never reached his crimson eyes.
"I was the one who killed them all, including my own parents." Who I left for the last, but he left that out, feeling insanely naïve to think that after wiping out the rest of the clansmen it would be things easier. Numb from incessant murder. He did not for one second imagine that what that did was only to make his blade faltered, and caused his heart to shatter beyond repair.
Things like killing your parents never got easier.
"That's a sick joke right? Y-You're just lucky to survive…" They were fully aware that her words were a feeble attempt to deny the truth. It was a distant star that you could only hope to grasp and even after reaching it, to realise it was all along an illusion.
"Sakura, I'm a murderer. And you should not be with someone like me."
Sakura was ready to get up, to run away from the living nightmare of being in the presence of a walking killer of his own parents, and forgot about this whole episode and her silly crush. However, her legs refused to respond; her words of disbelief and anger were stuck in her throat as she raised a shaky hand towards his face.
"If you really are a cold-blooded murderer as you said, you wouldn't be showing me this expression, or shedding this teardrop of humanity," She whispered softly, her vision blurred by her welling tears as she wiped off his stray tear.
"If you really are a cold-hearted murderer as you think you are, you wouldn't have sounded so affectionate when you talk about them with such sorrowful eyes," She continued, and bent in to kiss the spot where his tear had fallen. His eyes continued to search hers for any hints of deceit, waiting for the moment for her to just walk up and left him to be consumed by the darkness.
"The moment you raised your blade against your clansmen, you lost all self-respect. Your life is no longer yours," He said behind his blazing red eyes.
"That doesn't make your life less precious than others. You're still a human, like others," She countered, shifting closer to cup both her hands against his cool cheeks.
"I cannot give you what you deserved," He answered, his tone pained and eyes filled with hurt.
"I decide what I get to deserve," Sakura whispered and leaned in to press a firm kiss against his slightly salty lips. He remained motionless, but as she deepened the kiss he quickly responded by securing her into a tight embrace. With their bodies flushed as one, he returned her affection with one that suppressed all that Sakura had tasted. She was assaulted by a wave of heat right to her core, with his tongue expertly teasing hers, conveying all sense of gratitude and passion that no words could effectively described.
Between their fervent kisses, she muttered, "I love you," over and over. She was not sure whether did he hear her, but it mattered no longer. He did not respond to her feelings with similar words of assurance, but that did not matter either. Her heart was his to keep, indefinitely.
There is a myth that humans were originally born as one body with two genders, and incredibly powerful to the point of threatening the power of gods. To protect their throne and to punish their pride, Zeus split humans into half, causing one half to forever long for the other half. When the two finally met, there will be an undeniable understanding towards one another, and it is said that you have found your soulmate. and How many of you believe in that story? For one, I do!
Sorry for the wait, ShikallllTema!