Chapter Four: Vanilla Fudge Marble Cake
.
.
It was once more Saturday afternoon and Sakura was so ready to be done with her work week. There were so many cases of influenza filling up all the ICU beds. Luckily, the cold weather usually meant less trauma, so she busied herself in the ER dealing with the sick instead of the injured.
However, when one of the nurses came and found her to help with a particularly stubborn patient, Sakura had been only mildly irritated. She just finished up suturing a complicated laceration as the nurse told her the patient had suffered from both smoke inhalation and few minor burns.
Sakura glanced over the tablet, reading the patient's case when her eyes widened at the name of the patient. Hatake Kakashi.
Sure enough, when Sakura pushed past the privacy curtains in the ER she was greeted with her baking instructor.
"Yo," Kakashi said, one hand holding the Oxygen mask over his face while the other lifted in a slight wave. There were a few burns on his arm and Sakura snapped on a pair of gloves and moved into doctor mode to examine him. He grimaced slightly.
"What happened?" Sakura asked, drawing up a blend of anesthetics to numb the area before she worked on debriding the wound.
"Structure collapsed around us," Kakashi answered. "I had to go back to save the resident's dog."
Sakura glanced up and met his charcoal gaze. "You rushed back into a burning building that was collapsing to save a dog?"
Kakashi nodded. "I prefer dogs to people," he admitted. He dropped his gaze back to his arm to watch her work. "When I got out of the service, I had an emotional support animal — a pug. He really helped me adjust to civilian life."
"This actually looks worse than it is," Sakura assured him. "I have a salve that will probably even keep you from scarring. This skin when it heals is going to be sun sensitive. SPF 80 is your friend."
"I try to avoid the sun. And when I can't I wear long sleeve," Kakashi assured her. He talked through the Oxygen mask. "How much longer do I need to be on this Oxygen thing?"
Sakura looked at the timer the nurse had left. "Another fifteen minutes then I'll see what your saturation rate is on room air."
"Good thing you and Itachi agreed to help me with the supplies for class," Kakashi murmured.
"You'll need to change the dressing twice a day and apply the salve. I can check you after class on Tuesday," Sakura offered. "And I'll give you my number in case you have any problems."
Kakashi chuckled. "I've never had my own personal doctor before."
"Try not to make a habit out of injuring yourself." Sakura finished debriding the wound and applied the silvadene cream to the area. Kakashi hissed at the cold sensation of the medicine. Then she wrapped the area with clean gauze. "When do you go back to work?"
"Wednesday," Kakashi answered.
"Good. Please be careful," Sakura said, smiling at him softly. The timer went off for the Oxygen and she switched off the machine. "Ready?"
Kakashi handed her the mask and she took a moment to shine her light in his eyes to watch his pupils reaction. She had him open his mouth and she also looked up his nostrils. Kakashi giggled at the last part and she smiled at the sound of a grown man giggling. "Tickles," he murmured.
Sakura stuck a pulse ox reader on his finger and breathed a sigh of relief when he was at 98%. She looked back at him and smiled. "You'll live," she said, handing him a surgical mask.
Kakashi gratefully took the mask and slipped it in place.
"I don't want you picking up the flu while you're in here," she said. She assumed that's why he wore a mask, vestiges of the global pandemic that had them all wearing masks in public for years.
"Thanks." Kakashi glanced around at the monitors. "So, how long until I can be released?"
"How did you get here?" Sakura asked.
"Neji drove me over," he answered.
"Well, I get off in two hours. I'll release you before I leave," Sakura answered. "Do you think you can secure a ride by that time?"
Kakashi nodded. "How about you? Are you planning to take the train?"
Sakura nodded. "It's not far to the station from the hospital."
"Let me call my friend and then maybe we can drop you off too," Kakashi said. He held up his bandaged arm. "The least I can do since you promised I wouldn't scar."
"I didn't say you wouldn't scar, but you shouldn't with proper care," Sakura assured him.
The rest of Sakura's shift passed without much incident. A few more sutures and another burn from a cook at a nearby restaurant. The latter had been smart enough to apply cold mustard to the burn so it didn't blister.
When Sakura changed out of her scrubs into her street clothes, she found Kakashi waiting in the hospital lobby sitting across from another tall, dark haired man. The latter had some kind of scar on the right side of his face. It contrasted sharply with the very handsome left side of his face. The contrast reminded Sakura of those Greek tragic vs comedic masks.
"Sakura, this is my friend Obito," Kakashi said gesturing between the two of them.
Obito stood and offered Sakura his hand, he towered over her. Sakura shook his hand and noted that his right hand was also scarred. She wondered if he was also a Veteran. "Thank you for fixing up Kakashi. He usually avoids the hospital as much as possible and tries to doctor his own wounds."
"I'm glad he sought help for this one," Sakura said. She shifted her gaze towards Kakashi. "And please, at least contact me if you're not sure you want to come to the hospital."
"Have you had dinner yet, Sakura?" Obito asked.
"Um, no. But it's fine. I usually just have some oatmeal and go to bed on Saturday nights," Sakura answered. She felt a little embarrassed by the admission, but it had become her new normal since her breakup. Used to, she and Sasuke would get take out and eat at his place and stay up late watching old classic movies.
"No!" Kakashi gasped, holding his injured hand over his heart. "Oatmeal for dinner?" He looked her up and down. "No wonder you're too skinny." He turned towards Obito. "Do you think Rin would like to eat out?"
"So there's a hockey game tonight. Would you like to have some pizza and watch hockey at our favorite sports bar?" Obito asked.
"A sports bar?" Sakura asked.
"It is a Saturday night," Kakashi pointed out. "And you can sleep in tomorrow, right?"
"Um, okay." Sakura tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at the two men shyly. "I'd love to join you."
.
.
OoO
.
.
On Monday morning, Itachi typed a few more notes on his laptop on the case he was considering and then checked the time. He still had twenty minutes until his Teams meeting with his brother. And he had three more hours before he was supposed to meet Sakura.
The Uchiha Law Firm worked on a variety of cases and occasionally, Itachi would lead on a few criminal cases a year. The majority of his cases were civil. The current case he was thinking of taking involved a woman and her stalker. The man had managed to avoid any criminal charges, but Sasuke had been so certain of the man's guilt, though a technicality got the case thrown out. He'd sent Itachi a text to ask him to consider the poor woman as a client. Conveniently enough, Itachi had been looking for a Pro Bono case.
It wasn't often that Sasuke reached out, so Itachi said he'd look into it. And it was an interesting case. It was also frustrating that sometimes the law could be worked in such a way that while a criminal charge was dismissed, the civil court was the only true way to get any sort of justice.
There was a loud knock at his door.
"Come in," Itachi called out. He glanced over to see none other than his loud-mouthed cousin Shisui breezing into his office. "Shisui. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hey, there, best friend of mine!" Shisui greeted, strolling inside. He closed the door behind him and leaned against the door frame with his arms folded over his chest. "I just got off my shift, thought I'd swing by to say hi."
"I see." Itachi barely paid his cousin any attention. His mind focused on the case as he remembered a previous case involving this same stalker— Sugaro. He side-stepped Shisui and crossed the room to his filing cabinet. He'd worked on a case a while back to protect a waitress that Sugaro had previously harassed. It was part of the reason Sasuke had reached out to him specifically. The man was good at avoiding time behind bars. He worked for a rather wealthy contractor, Shimura Inc. Last time Itachi won his client two million in damages — which she promptly utilized to hire a good security company Akatsuki run by Obito Uchiha— Itachi and Sasuke's other cousin. Once Sugaro saw Kisame moonlighting as extra muscle at the cafe, he steered a wide berth. And Itachi had thought the man learned his lesson, but here they were two years later.
While he was rummaging through the file of the previous case, Shisui had made himself comfortable at Itachi's desk.
Itachi had already opened a Teams meeting to talk about the case briefly with his brother, but he'd minimized the screen. Shisui opened it and scanned it being nosy. "There are laws to protect my clients," Itachi pointed out.
"And those files are encrypted unless they're unlocked by your fingerprint, 'Tachi, so don't fret." Shisui leaned back, arms behind his head and grinned at Itachi, his dark eyes twinkled in mischief. "So, how's the baking class? Made any new friends?"
Itachi sighed, annoyed with Shisui's antics. "Yes. Your friend Sakura is very nice. I'm actually meeting her later today. We're dropping off my collection of amigurumi later today."
"Really? You and Sakura? Where?" Shisui spun in Itachi's chair once lazily.
"Children's wing of the hospital," Itachi answered.
"Ah, yeah, she's one of the trauma surgeons that works at the ER." Shisui yawned and belatedly covered his mouth. "Wish I could join you guys, but I'm going to bed as soon as I get home from here."
"I believe Kakashi was trying to ensure his students weren't aware of each other's occupations," Itachi pointed out. "Are you trying to ruin his experiment?"
"What? Me?" Shisui rose from the chair and started for the door, but stoped next to Itachi first. He reached over and tugged on the younger man's ponytail teasingly. "You should ask her out. On a real date. You're a lawyer. She's a doctor. I know you have that ridiculous list you keep of what an acceptable partner needs to be — far as I can tell she checks them all off."
The list had been a long debated concept between the two best friends. After a couple of years of not dating anyone throughout college, Shisui had finally asked Itachi what he looked for in a partner. Itachi had obliged by creating an excel spreadsheet. He didn't think it was being too fastidious. He preferred a woman, no less than six inches shorter than him, athletic, at least a Master's degree, pale colored hair, light-colored eyes, kind-hearted, enjoyed outdoor activities, was well read, funny, be near to him in age, live within a ten mile radius, and get along with his cousin and brother. Fourteen attributes didn't seem too much.
Itachi snorted and knocked Shisui's hand away in irritation from his ponytail. Only Shisui was fast enough to do a move like that. It was annoying. "What about you? Last I knew, you were single. If Sakura is so amazing, why are you two not together?"
Shisui shrugged. "She is amazing. But we're not the right fit." He started to poke Itachi in the upper arm, but Itachi easily deflected the would-be attack. Shisui tried again, Itachi deflected again. This went on for a good twenty seconds until Shisui stepped back with a broad smile and Itachi felt the corner of his lips twitch in amusement. "However, ever since I met her, 'Tachi, I thought the two of you would be perfect for each other."
"I'm not sure pink hair is my type," Itachi deadpanned. He heard the chime of his televideo call with Sasuke. "Leave. We'll catch up in a couple of days." Itachi shooed Shisui out the door, clicked on his bluetooth ear piece. "Good morning, Ototu."
"Aniki. Why the hell is your avatar a cat?" Sasuke asked, obviously tired with dark circles under his eyes and his tone churlish.
Itachi sat at his desk and peered at the conversation. Sure enough, Shisui changed his avatar to a cat. "Well, it's me. I'm not a cat." Itachi tried to change the avatar back to his professional picture, it was locked. He frowned. He switched it to video instead. "Shisui just left."
"That explains it," Sasuke murmured. "So you're going to take the case? You were successful last time. I'm hoping you'll be able to help this woman too."
"Yes, I'll be taking the case. If Sugaro continues to cost Shimura Inc this kind of money, it would be foolish business-wise to keep him," Itachi said. He stared at the little cat icon at the bottom of his window. Sometimes he just didn't understand Shisui at all. Why did he drop by the office just to mess with Itachi's icon and nag at him to ask out Sakura?
They chatted a little more about the case and then Sasuke surprised Itachi was a casual conversation. "So, you're only working half-days? What are you doing with all your free time?"
"Meeting a friend to drop off the chest of amigurumi at the hospital in a bit, then shopping for some groceries," Itachi explained. "How are things at the station?"
Sasuke expression was pinched. "Long hours, plenty of overtime since we're so short-staffed these days. Nobody wants to be a cop unless they have some sort of family legacy or a hero complex."
"Is your apartment fixed?" Itachi asked.
"Not yet," Sasuke sighed. "The parts that the Plummer needs is on backorder. I'm going to go crazy if I have to stay at the house much longer. I can hardly sleep with the sound of the television blaring. You know how Mother is with watching those Korean dramas late into the night. And you know how Father is. It's hard enough having to see him at the station. And Mother means well, but she can be a bit much. She's already trying to set me up on dates with daughters of the ladies she plays Mahjong with."
Itachi thought about offering his guest bedroom. It might be good to spend some time with his brother. He had felt they'd drifted apart these last couple of years. "I do have a guest bedroom. If it gets too bad, let me know. But we both know Mother will have her feelings hurt."
"If she doesn't keep harping on me about my ex-girlfriend, I'll be willing to risk her hurt feelings," Sasuke grumped.
"Is this about Father's work celebration?" Itachi tried to think why their mother might care. In a few weeks their father would celebrate thirty years with the Police Force and twenty as the Police Chief. It was going to be a rather spectacular celebration. Their family had a lot of "old money" and while the Uchiha tended to avoid hob snobbery, that didn't mean they didn't celebrate with extravagant celebrations when the occasion called for it.
"Last night she was lamenting about how all her friends have children that are married and with children— well except for the ladies in her Mahjong group apparently," Sasuke explained, scowling like when he'd been an adolescent. "I actually saw my ex last weekend. We ran into each other while I was on patrol."
"Oh? How was that?" Itachi asked. His phone chimed and he noticed a text from Sakura. She sent her address and that of the hospital in case he wanted to map it out. He smiled absently.
"It was awkward. Though, we were friendly. I think the fact that we still care about each other makes it harder. It would be easier if I hated her. Honestly, I almost wish she hated me. She's too nice." Sasuke sighed. "There's this woman I met a few weeks back. I'm thinking of asking her out. She works in Forensics. She's a little awkward, but she's pretty and smart." He chuckled darkly. "Which seems to be my type — awkward but pretty and smart."
"Well good luck, Ototu! I want to wrap up my notes for this case before I start my errands. Let me know if you want to crash at my place," Itachi smiled briefly into the camera and then ended the conversation. He still had several hours before he needed to pick up Sakura. With his familiarity with the case, he should be able to finish up the first draft for the case and submit it to his paralegal.
He glanced back at his phone once more and then got a text notification from the bee farm he liked to visit. He smiled at the text. Maybe Sakura would be interested in a trip to collect honey one weekend? He'd tried asking other friends over the years, but they always were disinterested. It seemed like Sakura might be the type of friend that was willing to try new things. He sure hoped so!
.
.
OoO
.
.
Sakura's studio apartment was practically sparkling. Sakura had spent the weekend deep cleaning the place. And she had to admit that familiar nervous ball of energy in her gut flared up every time she saw Itachi's name in a text on her phone.
And she wasn't quite ready to admit how many times she looked back over the photo of the two of them from class. He really was a handsome man. And he was just so sweet— crocheting tiny creatures and sewing aprons! Maybe, just maybe, she was letting herself have a little crush on the handsome, dark-haired, dark-eyed nerdy guy that was her baking partner.
She sat down on her couch, tucking her legs under herself and started flipping through a National Geographic magazine. She just started to get absorbed in an article about super volcanoes when there was a knock at her door. She glanced at the clock almost surprised by the time.
Itachi was punctual if nothing else. She set aside the magazine and opened the door for him. He was wearing a casual set of dove gray slacks and a button-up red long-sleeved shirt. Sakura was glad she'd chosen her form fitting dark purple sweater and dark denim jeans. It was always nice when your color schemes complimented one another.
"Come in," Sakura invited. "Would you like some tea?"
"I thought maybe we could get tea afterwards" Itachi answered. His dark eyes scanned over her room, gaze lingering on her bookshelf. "There's a quaint little tea shop I like to visit."
There was a framed photo from a beach trip the summer before — it had herself, Sasuke, Ino, Naruto, Tenten, and Shikamaru in it. She'd been unable to put the picture away. It was nice to remember good times.
"I'd like that," Sakura said, smiling and grabbing her coat. "Let's go then while the weather is fair."
Itachi drew his eyes away from the photo and smiled at her briefly before opening her door. Sakura and Itachi fell into step together as they navigated down the hallway and stairwell to the lobby. She waved goodbye to Gai, the friendly security man and followed Itachi to the street.
He had parallel parked in the guest lot on the side of the building, a feat Sakura was always low-key impressed with. She hated parallel parking, but then again she also hated driving in general. Itachi opened the passenger side door for her and she enjoyed the feel of heated leather seats.
"I could go to sleep right now. This is nice," Sakura murmured, sinking into her seat.
Itachi chuckled. "If you like heated seats this much, I wonder what you'd think of my family's Jacuzzi."
"I would marry you right now for access to a Jacuzzi," Sakura joked staring out the window at the trees decorated with fairy lights en route to the hospital.
Itachi chuckled. "Well that would make it easy. My mother will be thrilled. I wouldn't even need to go through the headache of dating, just show up with you on my arm ready to use the hot tub."
"Yep, no need for all the drama of dating," Sakura agreed, glancing over at Itachi. He caught her eye when they stopped at the light. The slight amused smile warmed her heart."Actually, if you want, you can totally use the hot tub. Just maybe when my brother isn't staying there. I'd hate for him to try and steal you away."
"Wait, do you want to date?" Sakura asked.
Her question seemed to catch Itachi off guard. He must not have been thinking too much about what he'd been saying. "I—uh— do you want to date?"
Sakura laughed and poked his shoulder gently. "No way, I asked first!"
Itachi shrugged. "Honestly, I don't even know how to date. My last girlfriend was in high school. Aren't you supposed to use apps or something? Or meet at a club? Are we dating? Doing this errand together and being partners in a baking class?"
"I think we're just being friendly," Sakura answered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "But, if we go for tea this afternoon — that could count as a date. I'd be okay with that, if you are. Or we could also see if Kakashi wants to join us — maybe we'll get a peek at his face under his mask."
"I doubt if he would join us, but we'll see," Itachi murmured when the light shifted back to green.
She directed Itachi to the parking garage and after they parked, he took out a medium sized trunk. "Here, let me," Sakura said, snatching the trunk from him and carrying it. It was surprisingly heavy, but nothing she couldn't handle.
"I can carry it," Itachi protested, laying his hands next to hers on the trunk.
"I like carrying heavy things," Sakura answered, angling the trunk out of his reach. "I don't always get a chance to hit the gym like I used to for weight training."
"What sort of work outs do you prefer?" Itachi asked, his fingers curling as he struggled with not taking the trunk back from her.
"Isometric and Isotonic exercises mostly. I like deadlifts. I usually run two or three miles beforehand," Sakura explained. "But since November I've been really slacking and mostly doing some light exercises at home instead." She didn't point out that going to the gym was something she used to do with her ex-boyfriend and she now avoided it so she wouldn't run into him there.
The nurses in the children's wing had been ecstatic with the visit. Sakura ran the amigurumi through the UV sanitation device while a couple of the nurses flirted with Itachi. It was cute, he really was clueless that they were flirting with him. Sakura watched in amusement as Ami and Kasumi really laid it on thick.
"Wait!" Kasumi cried out, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a polaroid camera. "For the wall!" She gestured towards the Wall of Encouragement full of quotes, rainbows, cute baby animals and a few images — usually of people cosplaying as superheroes visiting the ward. "Let me get a picture of you with your arms full of the little plushies!"
"I just sanitized them," Sakura pointed out.
"Only if Sakura is in the photo with me," Itachi suggested.
"Whatever, it's fine," Kasumi assured them. "I'll run them through the sanitizer again before they find their forever homes. Come on, Dr Haruno!"
"Okay, okay," Sakura agreed. She and Itachi ended up with their arms laden with colorful amigurumi creatures and smiling for the camera.
Kasumi took a second photo and gave it to Itachi. He tucked it into his shirt pocket without even looking at it. Sakura started to step back, but Itachi held out his cell phone and snapped a photo of them quickly.
"Wait, I wasn't ready!" Sakura complained.
Itachi set the plushies down and looked at the image of his phone with a smirk before tucking it into his pants pocket. They walked back to the parking lot empty handed — he'd donated the trunk as well, thinking the kids would enjoy picking a toy out of a treasure chest.
He still wouldn't show Sakura the photo he took!
They settled into his car and started for the market to meet Kakashi. "Would you like some music?" Itachi asked, glancing over at her once they hit a red-light.
"Driver's choice," Sakura answered. "I like music, but I might end up singing and then you'll run for the hills!"
Itachi switched on a classical music station and Sakura settled into her seat with a contented sigh. "This way you won't be tempted to sing," he teased.
"I like your strategy, Karasu," Sakura murmured.
Like the previous week, Kakashi met them at the market. "Yo," he greeted, lifting his right arm and the white bandages underneath his sleeve peeked out.
Sakura took hold of his hand and immediately turned it over to make sure there were not any red streaks or any sign of infection. Kakashi chuckled and gave Itachi a helpless laugh as they walked inside. He settled at the cafe and let Sakura inspect his arm.
"What happened?" Itachi asked, settling next to them at the table after picking up Kakashi's preferred drink.
"Work injury," Kakashi murmured. "I was saving a dog and took a hit. Sakura patched me up."
"Ah," Itachi said, leaning back and watching the two of them. "Sakura and I are getting Bubble tea after our shopping. Do you want to join us?"
Kakashi gestured towards his drink with his free hand. "No thanks, I don't want to spend all night pissing. I can only handle so much caffeine."
Sakura snorted at his crude excuse. "Let me look at this again tomorrow after class. It looks like you're doing a good job though."
They left Kakashi to his drink and his book. And forty minutes later they'd bought the ingredients for the next day's class.
The tea shop Itachi drove them to had an assortment of Bubble tea. Sakura picked out Matcha Milk Tea and Itachi chose Mango Chamoy. Apparently, they both had a sweet tooth. They sat together in a corner booth and sipped on their icy drinks. Sakura couldn't quite believe the changes in her life — she seemed to have made friends over night. Sports bars on Saturday nights, charity drops offs, Farmer's Market, and a Bubble tea date on Monday afternoon.
"Can I get a picture of us?" Sakura asked, shifting so that her shoulder touched Itachi's. She held out her phone. "It would be cute with us drinking from our fat straws."
"I'm not a fan of the sucked in cheek look," Itachi protested. He took her phone and held it above them at an angle. He pressed the side of his face against Sakura's and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to hold her close and then snapped a quick photo. "That's a flattering angle." He brought the camera closer to his eyes for a quick inspection. "I'm starting to get near-sighted," he complained. "Too much time on the computer."
Sakura smiled at the photo. "You might should take a part time job as a photographer. You're really good!"
"What makes you think I didn't?" Itachi asked.
"Photography too?" Sakura asked gaping at him.
Itachi shrugged. "Kakashi and I both took a photography elective back at University. It's not a big deal." He gestured towards the phone. "Be sure to text that one to me."
"Sure," Sakura agreed and she opened her messages to send it to him then. After she heard Itachi's phone chime, she tucked hers away in her purse.
"So, I was looking at the syllabus and next week is apple pie. What do you think about visiting an orchard? Getting fresh apples," Itachi suggested.
"It's January. Where will we find an apple orchard?" Sakura laughed shaking her head at the idea.
"Well, if we fly two hours south, I know a pretty nice orchard for this time of year," Itachi answered.
"Is that still in the country? We'll have to deal with customs won't we? For a food item?" Sakura pointed out.
"I'll charter a private plane," Itachi explained.
"You want to charter a private plane to go pick apples?" Sakura asked.
"My cousin Obito flies and has his own private plane. He'll probably just charge me the cost of gas," Itachi explained.
"Obito?" Sakura asked. "Tall, dark hair spiky hair?" She gestured towards the right side of her face wordlessly indicating his scars.
Itachi's eyebrow rose in surprise. "You know Obito?"
"I met him Saturday night. I went to a Sports Bar with Kakashi, Obito and Rin," Sakura explained.
Itachi frowned. "I hadn't realized you and Kakashi were hanging out."
Sakura shrugged. "It was more Obito's idea." She braced her elbows on the table and leaned closer to Itachi. "So, I have a friend — her name is Ino. And I was trying to figure out a way to set her and Shisui up. Do you think we can invite them to the orchard?" She pulled her phone out and scrolled through her album until she found a recent photo of Ino and herself. She zoomed in on the blond. "Isn't she a bombshell? She's super nice and smart too. I think she and Shisui will get along."
Itachi looked at her image and clucked his tongue against the back of his teeth. "I think that's a great idea, Sakura."
.
.
OoO
.
.
Itachi and Sakura were the first ones to the class on Tuesday night. He'd picked her up from the lobby of her apartment and they'd had an easy drive over listening to classical music. Itachi had actually put in a full day at work, so he was really looking forward to the baking class— and to be honest spending time around Sakura.
There was something about being near her that made his troubles seem far away. He wasn't sure how he felt knowing that she'd gone out with Kakashi and Obito on Saturday night. But, Rin had been there too, so it wasn't like anything too serious could have happened. Did Kakashi have a thing for Sakura? He had been laying it on pretty thick the last few classes.
"I'm so excited! I love marble cake," Sakura confessed, leaning towards Itachi, brushing her arm against his in the process and looking absolutely adorable in her red and white polka dot apron.
He tried not to think too much about it. It was an innocent touch. Maybe Shisui was right. Maybe he was touch-starved. Sakura's hand was laid flat across the counter. Her nails were a pale pink polish and trimmed short. Her fingers were bare and for a moment he thought it a shame that she didn't have any rings adorning those long, thin fingers. He laid his hand gently on top of Sakura's. "The fudge we picked will make them truly devilish."
The back door to the class opened and Kakashi strolled in. His dark eyes seemed to land on Itachi immediately and one of his silverly eyebrows arched at the proximity between Sakura and Itachi.
Itachi drew his hand back to his lap and leaned back casually on his stool. Wiping his suddenly damp palm on his black and red apron.
"Good evening, class!" Kakashi greeted, smiling his eye-smile. "Tonight is Vanilla-fudge marble cake. This is one of my favorites. It will take us a little under an hour to prepare and fifty minutes to bake, and fifteen minutes to cool. So we should wrap up a bit early. Go ahead and let your eggs and butter sit out at room temperature for the next thirty minutes and I'll walk you through it."
Since the cakes would serve twelve, it was decided that each table would make one cake and they'd split the cake in half at the end of class.
Itachi and Sakura split the tasks in half and worked in tandem, reaching over each other at certain points. Itachi would have to admit to himself that the time he stood behind Sakura, her back pressed against his front at one point had been quite pleasant. The moment had been over almost before it started, but his pants had become uncomfortably tight. He was grateful for the apron at that point.
While the cakes were baking and the class was free to socialize for a half hour, Sakura had gone to talk quietly to Kakashi at his desk in the corner, looking over his arm.
"Looks like you're dating the teacher's pet," Kisame said, saddling up next to Itachi and sitting in Sakura's abandoned stool.
Itachi glanced up at the large man. They actually met each other years ago, back in their college days. They'd gone to rival universities, but they had crossed paths plenty of times at different sporting events. While Itachi had primarily played Lacrosse, he'd also played baseball with Shisui. Kisame had been the catcher on the Kiri team — his taunts often left opposing players crying.
"What makes you think we're dating?" Itachi asked. They were friends. They'd gone on one casual tea date. She hadn't even let him pay for it. So he wasn't sure he could count it as a date.
"Oh please," Kisame groaned rolling his neck and gesturing his chin in the direction of Genma. "That one gossips like a mother hen." Kisame gestured towards the room in general. "Says Shisui and Kakashi concocted this whole baking class in some elaborate scheme to set the two of you up."
Itachi scoffed. "I don't think even Shisui would go that far. Certainly Kakashi wouldn't. You do know how lazy that man is, right?" He tapped his fingers over the counter and resisted the urge to look at the timer. "Why are you in a baking class?"
"I thought it would be a good way to pick up chicks," Kisame said with shrug. Sakura started back towards their table. "Seems to be working for you at least."
"Hi, Kisame," Sakura said, smiling brightly. "I'm afraid we haven't gotten to know each other too well."
"If you'd like to get to know me better, we can ask teacher if he'd be okay with us trading table partners," Kisame suggested.
"I'd rather not," Itachi interjected before Sakura could answer. "Sakura has proven herself adept. I wouldn't trust the baked goods of anyone else."
She turned wide jade eyes towards him. "I appreciate your vote of confidence. I'll work hard to make sure I don't ruin our projects." . .
.
OoO
.
.
Sakura held her white cardboard cake box in her lap as well as Itachi's. "I really appreciate you taking me to my friend's apartment. I wanted to share with them the fruits of our labor." She grinned over at Itachi and was rewarded with a faint smile at her comment.
"It's not a problem. Let me know if she's interested in the orchard," Itachi reasoned.
"Do you know Neji Hyuga?" Sakura asked. If she was going to invite Ino, she should at least see if Tenten might be as lucky to snag Mr. April. "My friend Tenten has a huge crush on him. I was wondering if maybe we should invite the two of them too."
"Maybe we can plan a different event to see about match making your other friend," Itachi considered. "I've seen Neji around, but he's more Shisui's friend. So you should ask him. Obito's plane can only hold so many passengers. He's likely to invite Rin and that would put six of us, seven if Kakashi tags along."
"What other kind of event? Like bowling maybe? Girls versus boys?" Sakura suggested.
"Hm. Maybe. Bowling usually works best with teams of four. Maybe I can ask my brother to join in. He was thinking of asking out a girl from his work," Itachi mused. "Let's figure that out after we get back from our trip."
"Okay, I'll text you the verdict." Itachi parked and Sakura unlocked her seatbelt. She summoned her courage and then leaned over the console to press a quick kiss to Itachi's cheek. His skin was silky smooth and she leaned back before she was tempted to do more. "You work on Obito and Shisui and I'll get Ino to agree." She opened her door and scooted out before Itachi said anything. "See you Sunday!"
She shut the door to Itachi's wide dark eyes and hurried up the stairs to Ino and Tenten's apartment. The ring doorbell noticed her arrival and Ino flung open the door before Sakura could figure out how to balance her cake and knock.
"Is that cake?" Ino's blue eyes widened as she snatched the cake box from Sakura's hands and opened the lid. "Vanilla fudge marble cake!"
"Okay, Pig, calm down," Sakura said, laughing as she followed Ino inside. "Hey, you remember me talking about Shisui? Mr. October?"
"Tall, dark curly hair, sinful smile, broad shoulders?" Ino set the box on the counter and pulled out three forks from the kitchen drawer. "What about him?"
"Feel like a going on a date with him to an apple orchard next weekend?" Sakura asked. "I'll be there too. Along with Itachi. And Obito and whomever he's bringing."
"Um, who is Itachi and who is Obito?" Tenten asked. "And what about me? What about Mr. April?"
"I'm working on that, trust me," Sakura assured her. "I believe a bowling date will be in your very near future."
"Good, because I wouldn't be caught dead picking apples," Tenten announced, snatching a fork from Ino and digging into the cake. She moaned loudly. "This is good," she said, mouth full of cake. "We need milk for this though." She grabbed some glasses and brought out the carton of 2% milk and filled one up for herself.
"Where the hell is an apple orchard, Forehead? It's January," Ino pointed out.
"Itachi's friend Obito has a plane. He'll fly us there," Sakura answered.
"I repeat, who the hell is Itachi?" Ino demanded, her fork forgotten on the table.
"He dropped me off. He's my baking partner," Sakura explained. She pulled out her phone and scrolled to her album and showed Ino and Tenten the photo from their first class together.
Ino snatched the phone out of Sakura's hand and then starting looking through the album her eyes wide the whole time. She shoved the phone under Tenten's nose and the brunette's fork clattered to the counter. "Oh my God! He's hot!" She ripped the phone out of Ino's hands. "You have got to post these to Social, Sakura!"
"I'm on a Social media sabbatical, remember?" Sakura pointed out. "Besides, these are my photos. Maybe I don't want to share them with the world."
"Oh come on. How else will Detective Uchiha know he needs to eat his heart out because you've moved on to this gorgeous Beast?" Ino reasoned. "I'm all for this private plane trip and orchard apple picking excuse of a date if it means I can chaperone you and Itachi. You might screw it up on your own."
Sakura folded her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm doing just fine, thank you very much."
Sakura's phone started to ring. And Tenten almost dropped it. "Shit! It's him! It's Itachi!" She shoved the phone at Sakura.
"Um, hi, Itachi. Is everything okay?" Sakura asked, turning her back to her nosy friends and trying to focus on Itachi's voice.
"I'm still sitting in the parking lot," his deep baritone murmured over the line. "I didn't expect you to kiss me."
"Oh. I'm sorry about that. I just…I don't know what came over me," Sakura said quietly. The problem with cell phones, there was no chord to twirl your finger around nervously. It was one of the scenes she liked watching in old romantic comedy movies.
"Can I drive you home? I think I'd like the chance to kiss you back," Itachi suggested.
Ino's eyes grew wide. "Yes! She'll be right there!" Ino screamed as she started to shove Sakura out of her apartment.
.
.
OoO
.
.
Itachi took a few deep breaths. Should he chew some gum? Would that be too obvious? Oh! He had a box of tic-tacs in his console. He hurriedly shoved one in his mouth and chewed it up, enjoying the cool menthol taste on his tongue.
What was he doing? He was acting like a hormonal school boy. Itachi Uchiha was one of the most accomplished lawyers in the country and he was feeling nervous about a peck on the cheek?
His heart may have hammered in his chest a bit when he saw Sakura come down the stairs and run back over towards his car. She opened the passenger side door and burrowed down into her coat and glanced over at him, her pale cheeks bright pink— almost matching her hair.
"Hi," Sakura said, biting her bottom lip.
"Hi," Itachi answered, leaning over the space between them, cupping Sakura's cheek with his palm and sliding his fingers through her silky hair. He brought his lips to hover just over hers, their noses gently touching. Her breath hitched, he dipped down and slanted his lips over hers.
He was out of practice, but it was nice to know that muscle memory didn't fade. He traced his tongue along the slit between her lips and slipped inside her mouth when she opened for him. He would have loved to kiss her all night long, but they did need to breathe. He pulled back and smiled down at her. It warmed his heart seeing the pretty woman flushed. "I'll take you home now."
"Wow, okay," Sakura said, with a breathless laugh. "You've definitely given me something to think about when I go back to work in the morning."
"Good." Itachi smirked, gripping the steering wheel and easing them out of the parking lot and back into traffic. His smirk turned into a full on smile when Sakura's small hand rested on his thigh for the duration of the drive. He parked outside her apartment a few minutes later. "I better stay in the car or I might not want to leave." He turned towards her, his eyes dark with want. "I'm not one to rush into things."
"I understand." Sakura squeezed his thigh once more and then drew her hand back towards herself. "Thanks for the ride home, Itachi."
"Good night, Sakura," Itachi murmured.
Itachi waited until she was inside and then drove back to his own home. He was sorely tempted to call her and ask if he could come back over. He resisted the urge. If nothing else, Itachi Uchiha had impeccable self-control.
He climbed the stairs to his own apartment, unlocked the door, and then stared in shock as the lights were on and his brother was camped out on his couch, watching television — old black and white romantic comedies. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Itachi asked, hanging his keys on the hook near the front door and toeing off his shoes and then depositing the cake box on his kitchen counter.
He took off his coat and draped it over the back of one of his kitchen chairs. "Did you use your spare key?"
"Yeah, I couldn't stay with our parents another night. I'm sorry, but I tried calling. You didn't answer," Sasuke explained, dragging his eyes away from the television and staring at Itachi. His eyes widened. "Your lips are swollen! Did someone hit you?"
Itachi wanted to laugh. "No. No one hit me. And you're welcome to make yourself at home. I'm going to hit the shower. It's been a long day. I guess I'll see you in the morning."
Sasuke strolled into the kitchen and opened up the cake box. "Another baking class?" He wrinkled his nose. "The vanilla is overwhelming."
"Yeah, another baking class. The vanilla is the perfect level of whelming, thank you very much." Itachi shut the cake box and placed it in the refrigerator. "Next week is apple pie," Itachi said. "The only sweet I think you've ever cared for."
Sasuke shoved his hands into the front pockets of his sweatpants. "Hn. With the way my maintenance man is working, I'll probably still be here. Unless you kick me out."
"Why would I kick you out? You're always welcome here, Sasuke." Itachi rubbed the back of his neck and resisted the urge to yawn. It had been a long day. "Oh, how do you feel about bowling?"
"Bowling?" Sasuke asked with a shrug. "It's alright. I haven't been in a while."
"Cool. You should invite that girl from Forensics. I'm getting some friends together — girls versus boys kind of thing and we need another guy and girl," Itachi explained. "Interested?"
"Yeah, actually, I am," Sasuke answered with a genuine smile. "I'll go ahead and turn off the television. I just didn't want to be in alone in the apartment while I was waiting for you."
Itachi reached over and flicked Sasuke's forehead. "No problem. Good night."
"Jerk," Sasuke murmured rubbing at his forehead. . .