Nomination

The moment Lee left them to drop off his phone, Sakura and Kisame came up with a quick plan to save Itachi's relationship. However, it would all be for naught if they couldn't find him. Which led to Sakura running up five flights of stairs.

"Is Itachi up yet?" Sakura asked between breaths as she panted, her hands on her knees. She'd taken the stairs two at a time, attempting to race back up to the Ravenclaw dorms before Itachi headed to the Owlery to send his letter. She took another gulp of air. She hadn't planned on the fact that she'd almost die from the exertion required; no wonder Kisame had volunteered to search the Great Hall.

With no response, she gathered herself and straightened up.

Shikamaru stood before her, frozen mid-yawn. One eyebrow lifted in question.

Wait. What had she practiced in her head on the way up to Ravenclaw Tower to not sound like a 2nd-year fangirl seeking Itachi's attention? Right. "I need a prefect."

Shikamaru slowly lowered his hand. "I've not seen him, but –" he pointed behind her.

Before she could look, a hand grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. The gleam from the golden badge of Head Boy glinted into her eyes. Then, with dawning horror, she looked up, gaze skimming the Windsor knotted red-and-gold tie and pale lips until finally stopping at the dark eyes of Shisui Uchiha.

"You ran right by me. I don't know whether or not to be insulted," Shisui said with a pout.

Oh, why, oh, why had she said she needed a prefect? She swallowed hard.

"Itachi's already left for the morning. So how can I be of service?"

Sakura dipped her head back down and held up a finger, signaling for more time as she pretended to pant. Crap! She'd built a trap for herself like an idiot. What problem could Itachi solve but not Shisui? Why was the Gryffindor in the Ravenclaw Tower anyway? Oh no, she was hesitating too long.

She took a deep breath and looked up. "It's not that important."

"Not important enough to bring to my attention, but important enough to run up six flights of stairs?" Shisui's lips quirked up. It was different from the way Itachi's did, which promised a dastardly tease. Shisui's expression was more sly, as if he knew far more about what was happening than anyone else in the room.

She shook her head. "It's fine. It can wait." No, it couldn't. She needed to find Itachi before he got to the Owlery.

An arm looped over her shoulders, and she found herself cozily pressed into Shisui's side. It made her acutely aware of just how sweaty and tacky she was. Oh goodness, she must smell. Had she refreshed her deodorant when she'd gotten dressed this morning?

"Nonsense, as Head Boy, it is my sworn duty to aid all students of Hogwarts in distress." He pressed his other hand to his heart. "It would be forsaking my oath to leave you as you are."

"I'm really okay."

"No, I shall not hear another word to turn me away. Until your matter is resolved, I won't leave your side."

The last thing she needed was Shisui at her side when she did find Itachi. She ducked out of his clutches and gave what she hoped was a placating smile, although she felt like grimacing. "It's a personal matter. Itachi already knows about the situation, so I was specifically looking for him. I will come to you for other things, though. Promise!"

His lips pulled up even more sharply, and the whites of his teeth pooled just under his upper lip. "Of course. But seeing as it can wait, I wanted to discuss something else with you, Sakura Haruno. It's one of the reasons I opted to come to the Tower this morning. I was hoping to have a chat with you before the Quidditch match. Do you have some time?"

A shiver went down her spine. Shisui knew her name? Sure, she hung out with Sasuke, but they'd never so much as acknowledged each other's existence as humans. So why had he been looking for her? And to make matters worse, she'd flown past him to Shikamaru.

"Perhaps we'll meet Itachi along the way?" Shisui said at her silence, his smile tugging even further up in the corners.

Her feet itched to run and flee – ideally under some furniture. But she was human and clearly wouldn't fit there anyway. She had no plausible reason to decline Shisui's offer – she was well and truly stuck taking a walk with him. Sakura smiled weakly, hoping Kisame's search in the Great Hall was going better than hers. "Yes, I have some time." Because what else could she say?

"Good." Shisui grabbed her lower arm, tugging it into his own. "Let's walk down to breakfast together."

Shisui pulled her through the portrait hole and started down all the steps that she'd just run up.

Oh, on the downward climb, she felt it. Her legs burned and quivered, ready to give up from the amount of torture she'd just put them through. It was a good thing Shisui had given her his arm; she needed the support.

"So, have you been having a good morning?" Shisui asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, it's been good." Minus running into Shisui, and the fact Itachi was about to make a significant mistake in accusing his betrothed. She kept her eyes peeled, looking for the neatly kept ponytail on the staircases ahead. There was no sign of him. But what was she expecting? She'd run up these stairs just a few minutes ago; she would have seen Itachi if she had passed him.

"I see you've been out in the Forbidden Forest this morning."

Sakura lifted her head and almost tripped, flinching away from Shisui's hand at her face.

He steadied her and showed her a pine needle he'd tugged from her pink locks. "Were you up to no good?" Shisui teased.

The close attention to detail made her squirm. What other clues had she carelessly left that he might have noticed? Did he suspect anything at all about her nocturnal activities? Did anyone else? "No, I didn't go into the forest."

He leaned in. "I promise I won't tell."

"I was close to the edge of it, but I didn't go in. I was out there with some friends. We meet on Saturday mornings. Professor Hatake approved of it." That was an exaggeration to the extreme; he'd approved of the people with her, not necessarily the act itself.

Shisui chuckled. "I was just teasing you." He blew away the pine needle and smiled at her as they continued their descent. "I am glad you've brought up Professor Hatake. That's the main reason I wished to talk to you."

Sakura's heart jumped. Had Professor Hatake told Shisui about her reading the Dark Arts book‽ Oh no! She'd thought he was letting her off, but what if he just hadn't been willing to dish the punishment out himself, shunting the task to Shisui instead? Or worse, maybe Professor Hatake had followed her onto the grounds and had seen the spell she'd been practicing just after he'd told her not to. Was Shisui going to take her to the Headmaster's Office to be expelled?

"I didn't do it." Though she most definitely had.

Shisui tilted back his head and laughed. "You are so funny. You haven't done anything wrong. On the contrary. Yesterday evening, Professor Hatake nominated you to be one of the Ravenclaw prefects for next year."

Warmth bloomed in Sakura's chest. "He wants me to be perfect?" She could barely believe her ears.

"He does. Professor Chiyo almost died of a heart attack. She said she'd poison him with one of your foul concoctions unless he selected someone else."

"What?" The warmth froze over, and even the tips of her fingers felt numb to the touch.

"Indeed. I've never seen another teacher reject a nomination, let alone so quickly or with death threats. I asked one of the portraits in the room if it had ever happened, and they said only once due to a family feud. Normally the nominations from House Heads are accepted with little fanfare. You, however, stole the entire two-hour meeting and then some. The debate went well into the night."

Sakura was again thankful for Shisui's guiding arm, for she likely would have stopped or not seen that a staircase was missing. She sniffed down the tears she felt coming. For a moment, it had actually felt within her grasp and now…

"Kakashi took her up on her offer. He said he'd drink the rest of your potions until the end of term, and if he doesn't end up in the hospital wing, you get the position."

Sakura stopped walking. She blinked quickly to clear her vision and search Shisui's face for any sign of a lie. There was no teasing smile on his face. Instead, his lips were flat. "He did what?" she asked.

"Professor Hatake said there was no other fourth-year female he'd nominate, not when compared to you. Regardless of your failing grade in potions."

Shisui gave a tug, and they started walking down again. "Professor Chiyo accepted the conditions. But you can imagine my curiosity. Professor Chiyo's laughable aversion and why Professor Hatake firmly believes you are the only one."

Shisui motioned ahead of them, two staircases down at Sakura's four Ravenclaw roommates. "Chiharu is third in line to the Beppu clan; she's well-versed in magical arts. She may not have top grades, but she isn't Trolling any class. So, why you?"

It felt like he was taking a blade and stabbing her with it.

Chiharu Beppu motioned wide with her hands while telling a story they were too far away to hear, and the rest of the girls started giggling. They were a close-knit bunch, combing and braiding each other's hair every morning and laughing over boys.

Sakura bit at her lip. It wasn't like they'd actively picked on her, but being so excluded from the beginning had resulted in a chasm she'd never been able to cross. They'd known each other since they'd been in diapers and had the same taste in elaborately embroidered robes or sleeping gowns. Their noses had turned up at her jeans and scuffed tennis shoes. All the ways she'd learned to make friends – by playing sports, talking about tv shows, or video games had been a brick wall—a genuine culture shock.

But as an 11-year-old, she hadn't attempted to fill the void either. She'd had zero interest in clothes and more interest in consuming every book in the library, to fill the gap she perceived between herself and the purebloods. By the time she'd lifted her head from books at 13, it had been too late.

They were practically strangers that shared a room. She didn't know how many siblings they had or that Chiharu was third in line to be a clan heir.

Each step forward felt like her feet were tied to anchors as she watched them continue to laugh and joke with each other with ease and disappear past the Great Hall doors.

"Chiharu would be the better option," Sakura finally said, the words seeping deep into her belly and down to her feet. It was the truth. Chiharu was friendlier by far. She had a smile that put people at ease. She didn't get angry or moody at the drop of a hat and quickly took charge in group projects. She wasn't learning Dark Arts spells from the library's Restricted Section or illegally learned to become an animagus. At least, not as far as Sakura knew. Chiharu even had a perfectly clean detention record. Sakura would too if she hadn't become friends with Naruto and snuck out to be his second in a duel in their first year. Overall, Chiharu was the better choice. Even Shisui knew. Nobody in the Tower would be fooled.

"Professor Hatake believes differently and will risk his life upon it." Shisui's shoulder knocked into hers, and his lips tilted once more to lift the mood. "Assuming Professor Chiyo is telling the truth. She's a funny old hag. You're not that bad at potions, right?"

Sakura took a deep breath to keep down her rising panic. Professor Chiyo was telling the truth. What if she ended up killing Professor Hatake!? Who was she kidding? She was going to kill him!

He knocked into her shoulder again. "Right, Sakura?"

Sakura stared into the black orbs watching her in curiosity, but no, Shisui's mouth had drawn a much sharper smile that was cruel, crueler than Itachi's. His top lip stretched even more to reveal his top row of teeth. She'd seen the smile before in her 2nd year, as he'd swooped by on a broom, picked Sasuke up by the armpits, and dropped him in the lake. "I guess you'll need to focus more on your studies, eh? You don't want to be sent off to Azkaban so young."

He released her as they came to the Great Hall. "Have a good breakfast, Sakura. I look forward to learning more about you and observing your potioneering skills."

She barely made her way on auto-pilot to the Ravenclaw table and stumbled into a seat. She stared at the empty plate before her gaze roamed to the glass of pumpkin juice. Would Professor Chiyo slip it into a drink, or would she have Professor Hatake down a concoction right from the bottle so he could see the black gooey messes she made with his own eyes before his demise? She turned and looked up at the head table. Only a few teachers were there, none of whom were Professor Hatake or Professor Chiyo. But what could she even say to them? She probably wasn't supposed to know she'd been nominated. Why had Professor Hatake agreed; what could he see in her worth such risk?

She didn't even notice Kisame sliding into the vacant seat across from her.

"Did you find him?" Kisame asked, poking her on the shoulder to get her attention.

Sakura raised her gaze to meet Kisame's imploring look.

"Did it not go well?" he asked. He leaned in and whispered, "I told you to go as Bunny."

Go as Bunny in a room full of Ravenclaws. Who'd want nothing better than to pet her? She would have been stuck in the Tower until the Quidditch match started. Sakura shook her head. "I didn't find him. He wasn't in the Tower. Shisui said he'd left before I got there."

She returned to staring down at the empty plate. How could she be worried about some stupid relationship drama when she could be sent to prison for killing her teacher? If Izumi wanted to fix her relationship with Itachi, all she had to do was tell the truth. It wasn't Sakura's problem. She needed to take care of herself.

"Sakura?"

"I'm in deep shit, Kisame. Deep shit." She ducked her head into her hands, barely stopping herself from crying into her plate. Surely Professor Chiyo wouldn't really give Professor Hatake something that would kill him, right? Right?