Let's Not Fall In Love
Summary: He had to end it before the world breaks her apart. He would rather crumble his own world than see her getting hurt. [Modern AU]
Part 1
He sits by the window, a small nook allowing for one to stare at the skyscrapers outside. The city lights illuminated his figure as they brightened up the night sky. He places his right hand on the flatten platform of the window. He swirls and periodically takes his time to inhale the scent of the glass of wine he held in his left one. A pair of onyx eyes looking at the figure before him, the petite, frail and feminine outline of his lover.
"If you're here, I assume that you heard it?" he mutters. He does not dare to look directly into her eyes. He fears that his resolve would crumble if he sees how frail she looks at the moment. How fragile she stands before him. The unshed tears glistening her eyes as they threaten to fall without her control.
"There has to be another way," he hears her whispers. He doesn't like how small she sounds before him. So unconfident and full of doubts. It is uncharacteristic of her. He takes another gulp of the drink before him. It is not supposed to be this way. She is supposed to be happy. With or without him. He is supposed to leave before things get worse, for her, for him and for them.
He made a pact with Sasuke and Naruto, her most overprotective, loving and caring friends in her circle. They told him not to get near her, not to be anything beyond friends with her. They told him once she was in his life, he was putting her life in danger. That the once he introduced her into his life, he was calling for the enemies to scratch, grab, harm her. He promised the boys that he would end the relationship the moment that he could not protect her any more. The nature of their work does not permit for romance and weakness.
Yet he refuses to listen to them. Even to himself. He cannot bear the thought of being away from her. He cannot, in every sense of his being, reason that he would not keep his eyes on her, knowing that she would be safe with him.
But that's the kind of reasoning he always holds on to. When he asked her for that date by the lake on a chilly Sunday in winter, he thought he could do everything for her. He thought that she would be safe if she was near him. That he would be able to protect her. That he could demand the attention of the underworld, given that he was the heir and would soon be top of it now. The mafia lord who overtakes the Uchiha business upon Fugaku retiring.
Another instance of his foolishness manifests when his own father told him that life for her would be difficult. Even if Fugaku supported the relationship, it would fail eventually. Fugaku's own marriage had almost failed him when Mikoto was targeted by their enemies, and the trauma that forced itself onto his mother kept her in their home for years.
He refuses to listen. He reasons that his father was not at his level when he courted his mother. Unlike his father, Itachi is the best strategist. He has the sharpest analytical mind, he is one of the members who had the most fighting experience, and his skills are so massive equivalent to if the entire organisations' members skills combined, as his cousin would say. He is unbeatable. He makes sure of that. He trains day after day, he completes his fathers' tasks dutifully, never missing not one of them. He eliminates who requires to be eliminated, he washes off those who come to the Uchihas with lies and betrayals behind their back. So it doesn't stand to reason that he couldn't protect her and keep her from harm.
He stands his posture. His body is stiff, his eyes are hard on the floor, hands remain the same as they are moments ago.
"Please, Itachi. There has to be another way. I'll be good, I promise. I…I'll learn to defend myself. You won't have to worry about me. I can help you," he sees her slowly coming to him. Her footsteps, doubtful, scared, but they keep coming to him. He furrows his eyebrows.
'Stop,' he thinks.
'Don't make this hard for me.'
"I can't let you live like this. I can't be selfish." he whispers. His body subtly cowering away, as if trying to tell her to get the message.
That she needs to get away from him.
Telling her that if she comes any closer, he will throw everything away - his name, his inheritance, his duty to the Uchiha business - and take her in his arms. But he can't. He cannot let her be the centre of harms' way when he can prevent it. Even if it means that he has to fall behind the business and only see her from afar.
"I don't need your help, Sakura." his eyes turn cold.
He will not demand such an effort from Sakura. She doesn't deserve to throw her world away just for him to remain in his.
She deserves the softness of life, being able to buy coffee when she wants to, being able to walk off the streets without fearing that someone would snatch her, being able to make friends with anyone without displacing mistrust that they will be out to get her in order for them to grab Itachi's attention. That she continues being a doctor and saves lives without fear of losing hers because of him.
Her dainty fingers reach out to him. She is unsure of herself. When he asked her to be with him, she knew that there was only one correct answer to that.
Because how could she deny their exchange of stolen glances, hoping to find each other in their social circle and the sea of people in the city.
The subtle smile he shows her when he thinks that no one is looking. The shyness he tries hard to cover as he denies yet embraces his feelings for her.
His small hands on her back as he walks with her.
His fingers tucking away the small strands of her behind her ears when they spend time together. He seems very fond of doing so, as a sign of his affections for her.
When his hands cups her cheek and he tells her that everything will be okay even if it is hard to see things clearly.
Especially, when he took the multiple beatings for her as the enemies held her captive and threatened to end her if the Uchiha organisation did not accede to their demands. When he shielded her with his body when the gunshot was just seconds away from her before they ended up in this predicament not long before they ended up in this position.
How can she not fall for him when that is all he does, even when he doesn't realise it?
"You can't help, Sakura. I've decided. This relationship will not go anywhere beyond this. Let's not fall in love anymore," he turns his head to the side. He hears her sniffing, he knows he is about to break her heart.
"This is not what I want. My ambitions have always been to take over my father. Even you can't stop that-" she puts her arms around his neck, her entire weight on him.
"Please. Don't do this. You're lying," she muffles her words against his neck. She holds onto him tightly. He grips his glass with more force than necessary and that any tighter the glass will break in his hand.
Notwithstanding her embrace, the turtleneck sweater that he wore started to feel suffocating. He needs to end this before he falls back on his words. Before he becomes childish, idealistic, and foolish to want her more than he should.
To want to keep lying to himself that he could protect her over and over again.
To want to be selfish to have her with him and yet expose her to times when the enemies will force her to see flashes of her life.
With uncertainty, with fear for her life, with the risks of breaking his own heart, he turns his body and places the glass on the window platform. He extends his arms to keep a distance between them, as if signalling her that such a distance is there is all to them.
His eyes harden against her.
"It's over. Go home, Sakura. I don't need such frivolous things to keep me from power."
Slap.
Her slap against his cheek is as hard as his words stabbing her. He deserves that, he thinks to himself. He deserves to feel hurt when all he is doing is to break her apart, day after day, if they are together.
"Frivolous?! This relationship… frivolous?" she chuckles, not one of humour, but one of hurt, heartbreak and betrayal.
"I should have figured. I was just for fun. All these months together. Of course the Mafia Lord, Uchiha Itachi has no time for silly little me."
He stands idle before her.
"Thanks for nothing, Uchiha." He sees her backing away from him and grabs her bag.
This is it.
They were breaking apart, with her hating him, with him hurting her even when he swears to himself that he will never do that to her.
"Don't you dare make yourself known to me," she wipes the tears on her face, as if she has now come to a resolution of her own.
The door slams as she exits their place.
"Forgive me, Sakura," he whispers to himself as he clumsily wipes his own tears.
/TBC/
A/N: I've always been a sucker for Doctor!Sakura x Mafia!Itachi hehe. I hope you'll have fun reading it as much as I had fun writing this prompt!