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To Duel With Fate	By : Mihkail Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Itachi/Sakura Views: 4864 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I do not profit from this fanfic.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
The sky was a gloomy, flat gray. Covered in a blanket of monotonous clouds that held little texture. The air was stagnant, without a breeze. A whiff of wet earth left its dull traces all around, but for the moment, there was no rain. The kind of atmosphere that made you want to snuggle up in bed with some tea, and read. Even close the curtains and light some candles, just to make it more cozy, and less depressing. Sakura didn't like this day. Unfortunately, she was in no position to hibernate in the safety of her room.
Life was filled with twists and turns, lately. What should have been an excited walk to the ramen shop was more of a sluggish, dreaded journey. Dead man walking. That feeling you get, when you just know something bad was going to happen...she was battling that right now. Trying to reassure herself that she was blowing things out of proportion again, and making unwarranted assumptions, but it all kept boiling down to an unsettling, ominous lump that would just not leave her gut. She was nervous about things before. So, so many things, involving many different people. This was a different kind of feeling. Like a chain reaction that she sensed had already begun, and knew there was no hope in stopping. Watching the very first domino fall, and glancing up to see the elaborate path of destruction that would inevitably come, as each subsequent domino was just a little bit bigger than the last. The final, largest domino of all, just so happened to be towering right over her head.
She sighed loudly, eyes squeezing shut in an aggravated grimace as her slow feet carried her onward down the road. "He wouldn't buy you lunch if he was angry at you." Sakura mumbled under her breath. A habit that she was only beginning to notice she picked up, sometime recently. It wasn't like her to talk to herself too much, but...who else was she going to talk to? There was no one to confide in when it came to this mess. No one was supposed to know it existed. But just like the day before, and so many days before that, her own words amounted to very little comfort for her. So little in fact, that more than once this morning, she actually contemplated telling Sasuke everything, just to get it off her chest. From walking to his house all those months ago, and uh...running into his brother, in the process...to the details of what really happened yesterday, before he showed up. If it was all over and done with, it couldn't cause her any more grief!
"But you can't, because you're a coward, and you're afraid of how he'll react." She grumbled some more, losing all focus on the people and places around her as she looked down at the ground. Letting her feet guide her aimlessly. "How could you be on a team with him after that...he probably wouldn't even talk to you anymore." The interesting part was, none of her worrying included the fear of Sasuke deciding to never be with her, after finding out she had slept with his brother. Wasn't that something she should have been torn up over? That was definitely new.
"Hey, Sakura!" A girlish voice called from somewhere close by, and she jerked her head up to look around. "What are you doing?" It was asked with a laugh as Ino, of all people, skipped up to her out of seemingly nowhere.
"...What? Uh, n-nothing?" She blinked innocently, ripped from her quiet monologue. The expression that examined her was a little too curious, and a little too devious.
"Really? Because it kinda looked like you were talking to yourself. You alright, Forehead?" Ino was smirking as she took a jab at her. Sassy, naturally, though not nearly as sassy as she used to be, when they were younger.
Sakura stared at her for a moment, trying to conjure up a response that was at least mildly witty, or insulting, but she got nowhere. She needed to be in a slightly better and less anxious mood for that, so she settled with, "No I wasn't." A flat lie, but if she kept staring at her seriously enough, maybe Ino would think she was imagining things, and brush it off.
The blonde arched a brow at her, and only laughed a little harder. "Yeah, ok. If you say so. Where are you going all dressed up, huh?" Her eyes targeted the new yukata she was wearing. A vibrant yellow with a branch raining down white petals. A little too cute to be running errands in, and obviously she wasn't going to work in that. A nice sunny contrast on this cloudy day though, she'd give her that.
Mind more than a little distracted, she thought nothing of blurting the truth, like it was no big deal. Of course it was a huge deal to her, for all the wrong and all the right reasons...but mostly wrong. But she was a little too worried of the kind of conversation she might get trapped into, if she wasn't careful, so she wasn't looking forward to it. "Oh, I'm getting lunch with Sasuke. I'm running late too, so—"
"You're what?" Ino cut her off with wide eyes, and side-stepped in front of her childhood friend, blocking her path. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...since when have you been going on dates with Sasuke?!"
Sakura was met with a rather shocked and accusing stare that she couldn't hide from. The kind that might soon accompany a foaming mouth and gnashing teeth.
"What? No! I'm not dating him! It's just food! We're getting food!" Her voice rose in slight panic. Where in the world would she get that impression? They were just eating lunch! Geeze, leave it to Ino to jump to crazy conclusions.
"Oh yeah? Well you're getting food in a really pretty yukata, if you haven't noticed. No offense Sakura, but you usually dress kinda like a tomboy. This is an occasion." Ino folded her arms across her chest and stared her down, suddenly making her feel a little interrogated. Great. Like she needed to deal with this before her real interrogation...or so she assumed was coming.
Sakura sighed, running her hands through her short, pink hair as she tried to collect her patience. "Ino, I swear... This wasn't even my idea! I'm only going because he wouldn't take no for an answer, and he said he's buying, so—"
It was a near shriek that startled her eyes into flying open, and staring at the girl that was about to explode in a mixture of excitement and frustration. "He's asking you out, and he's paying for your food? What the hell, Sakura! When were you going to tell me this was going on?!"
She blinked a few too many times, before throwing her hands up in the air and shaking her head furiously. "No, no, no! This isn't— It's not— Kami, Ino! It's not what it looks like! It's just Ichiraku's, anyway! And I'm not wearing this for him! I just like it!" Now it was starting to sound like she had way more to hide than she already did. Wasn't this grand.
"Sakura, are you sure you're feeling alright?" Despite the red face that looked like it was about to pop, Ino leaned in closer and inspected her up and down suspiciously. "You're telling me that you're getting all dressed up for a lunch date you don't even want to go to, with Sasuke, and it's not a big deal..."
"Uh... Yes. That's what I'm telling you." She insisted flatly, and watched as Ino's eye twitched.
Sakure jumped when a hand flew out of nowhere towards her face, and smacked loudly over her forehead. "I think you have a fever. We should go to the hospital. Like, now."
A seconds later, her hand was flung off as Sakura took a step back and snorted loudly through her nose. "I'm fine. I promise. Just...it's a little complicated, ok? I can't really get into it right now. I'll talk to you later. I'm already late!"
"Like hell! It's more than a little complicated! You have some serious explaining to d— Hey!" Ino yelled when she suddenly swerved around her and took off running down the road. "Are you kidding me? Sakura, get back here! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!"
She didn't look back. Her sandals shot her around the corner and wove her through the crowds of busy shoppers, effectively evading the hot-headed girl. As rude as it seemed, she didn't want to blow her off so easily. There was enough on her plate already though, and she really did leave her house about ten minutes later than she should have. Blame it on major procrastination and impossibly slow movements. Getting dressed had been like trying to move through mud.
"By the way, I can see your boobs!" The now distant voice shouted after her, and Sakura slowed and looked over her shoulder.
What? She could see her boobs? Looking down curiously, she stared at her own chest, which was sufficiently covered. "Tch...no you can't." She grumbled, and continued onward at a light jog. Sure, maybe if she had gigantic, Tsunade-sized boobs, they'd be spilling out a little, but as far as she was concerned, there was nothing to see. It dipped a little low, but wasn't that normal? Eh, she wasn't going to worry about it now. No one had ever brought it up before, anyway.
Then she froze. Someone did bring it up before. Pausing with one foot hovering in the air, she quickly grabbed the neckline and tried to tug the V closer together, to hide more skin. How had she forgotten the time Itachi fussed over her clothes, fixing her bow and adjusting the wrap of her yukata? He mentioned something then, about not wearing it properly.
Blushing a little in annoyance, it was only a few shops later before she stopped in her tracks a second time and looked around. This...wasn't the street she was supposed to be on. Twirling in a circle, green eyes flashed this way and that to try and get her bearings. Where in the crap had she ended up? Ichiraku wasn't even close to this area!
"Nyaaaahhhh!" A sharp wail drew some attention from the crowd as she slapped her hand over her eyes in exasperation. Clearly, she needed to spend less time worrying about what was going to happen in the future, and more time paying attention to the damn road. Well, at least it wasn't raining.
Plop...splat...
The slate gray above her head returned when she whipped her hand away to look at it. Raindrops... Really?
Another four landed on the top of her head instantly, and then began peppering her shoulders. At least she had an umbrella!
Wait. No, she didn't.
Oh no...where is it? Which way? Mmm...east! I need to go east! Springing into action, she thundered down the road like a madwoman, slipping around small groups and weaseling inconsiderately between couples strolling leisurely by. Even using a little bit of her chakra to make the faster turns, and bounce off the wall of a building or two when she couldn't slow down enough...with the yellow hem of her yukata flapping about wildly, like a true lady, of course. If she was lucky, she could make it to Ichiraku's without getting drenched.
Eight minutes later, the flaps hanging above the small restaurant flipped open in a wet flurry, and down plopped a dripping, panting mess of a thing onto one of the wooden stools sitting at the counter. Except that the stool was quite lumpy, almost painfully so, and Sakura instantly started to slide off the back of it before her hands clawed into the counter to anchor herself. Snapping her head down, she observed a pair of legs stretched out beneath her butt. Snapping her head to the side, she found Sasuke staring at her, with his back leaning against the wall of the shop. He was seated on the stool next to her, sideways, with her own stool serving as his footrest.
Words were supposed to be coming out of her mouth, yet all the Uchiha heard was a strange whimper-groan sort of...thing...that fluctuated in volume. She looked at him like he had sprouted three heads, and he looked back at her like she had sprouted four. Then, his eyes dulled into their lifeless, bored state, and his arms retracted from their lazy position on his lap, to cross over his chest.
"You look...nice." He said slowly, with a hint of sarcasm. Sakura deflated, back slumping slightly as she released a gulp of air, and hung her head in defeat. "I'm sorry, it's raining." She grumbled back at him bitterly, knowing full well that her yukata was now hanging off her like a soaked towel, and her hair looked a little wind-tossed and stringy.
"If you weren't twenty minutes late, you'd be dry." He countered without sympathy. The lumpy mass under her, that she hadn't bothered to climb off of yet, shifted suddenly off the stool as he moved to face forward. She plopped down into place, and listened to him sigh in what could only be utter disappointment. "Yeah well...I ran into Ino." It was a weak excuse. True, she really had, but she left the house late to begin with, and she was dumb enough to walk the wrong direction, so she would've been late anyway.
Sasuke snorted, resting his chin on his hands folded in front of him, hair hiding his face from her. "So you were late because you got caught up gossiping?"
"I wasn't gossiping!" The swath of dripping yellow straightened abruptly as an unexpected surge of indignation fired through her. She turned to give him a mild, insulted glare. One he would never see, as he didn't bother to face her. It was then that she saw the bowl of untouched ramen in front of him, without a trace of steam rising from it. Guilt and confusion filled her.
"You already ordered?"
"...You think he was going to let me take up two seats without buying anything...?" The question was a slow, disbelieving one, as if he didn't feel he should even have to ask her.
"...Oh... I guess not..." And now more guilt. "But you're not...hungry?" She eyed the bowl curiously, and then him. Or rather, the clump of black hair that kept his eyes from her.
"It would have been rude to start eating without you." There was no emotion behind it, but for some reason, it made her wince a little.
Sakura looked down at her lap. The rain was pattering down loudly behind them, reminding her she couldn't leave any time soon unless she wanted another long shower. She wasn't cold though, so that was nice. The smell of hot food wafted from behind the counter, but she wasn't feeling very hungry, all of a sudden. She didn't know what to say either...so, she just sat in awkward silence. He was the one that asked her to come, anyway. He was bound to speak up soon, though she was apprehensive about what he'd have to say.
Yet, the silence lingered. She managed to order her food, have it delivered, and hover her face above the bath of steam before another word came out of his mouth. By then, she was so nervous she didn't want to eat at all. Slowly, the bowl slid along the counter toward him, and he glanced down at it skeptically.
"You can have mine, since yours is cold." She murmured apologetically, eyes cast downward. Twenty minutes was a long time to wait. She was surprised he was still there at all. But then, they were both used to waiting even longer than that for Kakashi to show up, sometimes.
"No, it's yours." Answering simply, still no emotion, Sakura leaned her cheek on her hand and watched him. All he was doing was staring forward into nothing, like he was lost in some kind of trance. Was he angry? Sad? Did he feel...anything? Gah. It was always so hard to figure him out.
"Ok, well...let me pay for it, then."
"No. I said I was buying you lunch, so I'm buying you lunch." A second rejection, once again without so much as a glance her way.
In exasperation, she threw her hands up into the air, and let them flop loudly into her lap. By the looks of it, neither of them was going to get lunch after all. If he wanted to pay for two untouched bowls of ramen, then fine, but she officially had no appetite now. At least she offered.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean to be so late. Things just kept...happening..." With the bowl out of her way, she set her elbows on the counter, in a manner similar to his, and propped her chin in her hands. Feeling like a pile of crap, and he barely spoke so far. Leave it to Sasuke to pull that off.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." He insisted coolly, and she tried to peek at him from the corner of her eye, but he was still facing forward defiantly. Was he pouting? Seriously, was this how he pouted? It was getting kind of annoying. Part of her would rather be yelled at for a couple minutes, than be subjected to a cold shoulder endlessly. Quick torture over slow torture any day.
"I know you think I'm an asshole."
Eyes widening, she slowly turned her head to stare at him. What did he just say...?
When he didn't elaborate immediately, she sputtered a little in denial, finding it difficult to believe her own ears. "I... I don't think you're an...an—"
"Stop."
She stared at him, mouth parted slightly, blinking slowly.
"Maybe I am an asshole, sometimes... I get it." He shifted a little, and she heard him give a soft sigh. One of resignation, rather than frustration. As if this was taking him some effort, but he had no other choice.
"I just wanted to say that...I appreciate what you've done. My family is...in your debt." The voice she heard was quiet and careful, pulling his words like he was pulling stitches. Each one a little bit uncomfortable, but they had to come out. This was not the way she thought her interrogation was going to pan out. All she could do was continue to sit and stare at him, unable to life her jaw.
"You don't have to thank me. I was just doing my job."
"It's more than just your job, Sakura. You've done more than I can repay you for." Finally, he turned his head toward her enough for her to see his eyes. There wasn't much to them, on the surface. They were as mysterious as they've always been, but it still caught her off guard. When she said nothing, and merely watched him dumbfounded, he studied her closely.
"What?"
"N-nothing... It's just... Er... You never really apologize or...say thank you." She winced as the words came out of her mouth, because they were true, and yet she felt bad saying them.
Sasuke watched her for a minute, seemingly unaffected, before a small smile showed on his face. He turned around, closing his eyes. "Yeah, well...don't tell anyone."
Sakura felt like she was on top of the world, in that moment. He wasn't angry at her. He was thanking her! Who would've seen that coming? Especially since the way he barged in on her last night was a little bit less than friendly, in her opinion. She honestly believed he was going to grill her about something. But this? What a nice surprise. Already her stress level had fallen to almost zero. Sweet, unexpected relief!
"So, how was he after I left yesterday?" Appetite suddenly returning in full force, she pulled the rejected ramen bowl back in front of her and dug in. It was a little hard to eat with a stubborn smile glued to her face, but she would manage.
"They stopped one of his medications, and changed the dose of a couple others. I don't know what they were. He wasn't very happy, though."
"What do you mean?" She asked between slurps while he sat there, still completely uninterested in his own food.
"He was in a lot of pain after that. Everything caught up to him, I guess."
"Yeah...he was moving a lot more than he should have. He wouldn't listen when I tried to...calm him down." If she wasn't careful, her cheeks were going to turn pink. They did that so easily, it seemed, and she was really starting to hate it. Now was not the time to relive those memories.
"He's healing a lot faster than they expected him to, though. They said it was because of you."
Head lifting with another slurp, she blinked in surprise. "...Me? What did I do?"
"You must have given him a lot of chakra, the night he came in. More than most medics could."
She looked down at her pile of noodles, unable to keep another smile at bay. Suddenly, she felt so silly. Why had she spent so much time avoiding him? She was feeling a lot better already...as if all her problems really had been in her own head. Were all those assumptions false? Based on nothing but her own creative exaggerations? She found that hard to believe, but that's what it was starting to seem like. Maybe she was just crazy...
"My parents wants you to come over for dinner next week, if Itachi is out of the hospital by then."
Sakura perked up instantly, one of her chopsticks clattering on the counter clumsily. "What? Really?"
"Yeah... Shisui will be there, too. They just want to say thanks. So...if you're not working Friday night—" A bout of nervous laughter interrupted him, and he glanced her way.
"Oh, they don't need to do that! I mean, it's very nice of them to offer, but I don't... I mean..." She paused awkwardly. "Well, you're already buying me lunch! I really don't need..." Crap. There was absolutely no way to say this without sounding like a rude, ungrateful bitch, was there?
Sasuke was staring her down, and she unconsciously swallowed, trying to gauge what he was thinking. Of course, there was no way for her to know, so she could only offer a weak, almost guilty smile.
"If you don't want to come, then fine, but you're the only breaking the news to my mom."
"What? No! I'd love to come to dinner!" Blurting quickly, and inwardly cringing at the same time, her face was beginning to betray her feelings. Something about this made her a little too nervous. Being with him, Itachi, and their family...and Shisui? All in one room? She should have been flattered. Okay, she was flattered, but something about it just screamed bad idea.
"...Then I'll tell them to expect you."
"Ok, sure!" Another apprehensive laugh followed, and she turned back to her food to stare down at it, without picking up her chopsticks. Damnit. She was very bad at playing it cool. Why couldn't she act more like him? She'd kill for that ability right now.
Wasn't it going to be painfully awkward, though? What if she had to sit in between Sasuke and Itachi? Ehhh... Hopefully Itachi wasn't going to remember most of the stuff that happened between them in his drug-induced state.
"You know, you've been acting strange, lately." From the corner of her eye, she could see him twisting on the stool to lean his shoulder against the wall behind him, arm resting up on the counter. He was watching her openly now, though monitoring even the simplest physical cues more closely than she was aware of.
"Have I? Sorry... There's been a lot going on. I'm just stressed, is all." The fake reassurance she was trying in vain to stuff down his throat while she focused too hard on her lunch wasn't going to work...but he would continue to give her that same, disengaged stare. The one that he could tell she was always trying to understand, and never could. He liked that, and used it to his advantage on a regular basis. There were some serious benefits to keeping a poker face. She could stand to learn a lot from that...but he was secretly appreciative of her inability to master her own emotions. It was coming in handy now.
"Anyway...it'll be nice to see your garden again." She chimed innocently in an attempt to redirect the subject, but only found an odd, creepy sort of feeling tingle up her spine instead.
When he said nothing, she stopped eating to look at him. That same, deadened stare was aimed at her, unaffected, yet his head cocked just so slightly to the side. She had enough time to get distracted by how pretty his hair was...something she overlooked when she was too busy being nervous. Shorter, and just a little bit darker than Itachi's. Though somehow, she found Itachi's hair to be prettier, now that she thought about it...
"My garden?" He asked naively, inquisitively.
"Yeah. With the koi pond and the red maple—" Sakura nearly choked. What the hell was she saying? How stupid could she be? To his knowledge, she had never been inside his home before, let alone glimpsed the garden they had.
His smile was hidden. So expertly hidden that all she had to look at was a perfectly uninterested expression as he lazily watched her. Nothing betrayed the silent victory he felt within. No one would ever hear the snicker, as she stumbled into her own carelessly set trap. He didn't have to exert any effort for that one.
Her pulse picked up, and she knew there was no controlling it. All she could do was muster the most composed, innocent face possible, and try to backtrack without creating a lie that was too obvious. She would have to lie, though. Mix some truth in with it, to make it more believable, but there was no slipping free of this blunder without some creative thinking.
"Oh...you...?" She smiled and shook her head lightly. "I guess I never told you. I showed up at your house a long time ago, but you weren't there. Itachi let me in for a while to wait for you, but I had to leave before you showed up, so... I got to see your garden then. It's really pretty." There wasn't a waver in her voice, and she pulled it off casually enough to surprise even herself. Though depending on what his next reaction was, she could easily lose her grip and start sweating bullets. Damnit...she had come so far. How could she screw this up now? She was practically in the clear until she opened her big, fat mouth!
"Mmm... When was this?" He asked nonchalantly, as if it didn't surprise him in the least. Sakura managed to keep the forced calm she was barely enduring, and threw together a simple, honest response that was just as calm as the last. "A few months ago."
Sasuke nodded slowly, and she chose that moment to look away from him. There wasn't a hint of suspicion directed at her, that she could feel, but the way he was looking at her, all of a sudden... At this point, she was ready to believe she was just overreacting, since she seemed to be good at doing that, but it was something she couldn't shake. It was no different to any other time he looked at her, in the past...and yet it was. That unsettled feeling returned. The sense of being in the limelight, with nowhere to hide. He was reading her more deeply than he was letting on, wasn't he... No. She was being paranoid again. She needed to stop doing that to herself.
From her peripheral, she saw him move again. His hand caught the side of his head, and he eased into a more comfortable lounging position. The black pits of his eyes wandered away from her, and stared at something beyond her as he allowed the faintest smirk to slip into view. "There was this one time I came home and found our tea room a mess. The doors to the garden were left open." His smirk crept a little higher with a pause. "I found this yukata with blue and yellow flowers hiding under my brother's robe—"
"IT WASN'T MINE!" Sakura blurted in a blind panic, drowning in an abrupt wave of adrenaline as wide, pale veridian bore into him. The clenched fists on the counter top were lined with white knuckles. Any second now, a line of sweat was bound to emerge on her brow, despite the cooling affect of her wet hair and clothes.
Sasuke's eyes flickered back to her instantly, and he let her see a brief flash of surprise on his face.
"...I never said...it was yours..." He said very slowly, in confusion, as if he never expected her to react that way. The display in front of him was almost comical. Her discomfort had exploded into a near tangible aura, and the way she was looking at him screamed a thousand silent apologies...yet officially, there was nothing for her to apologize for, was there?
The insane beating in her ears was all she heard, too afraid to move or speak as her eyes remained locked onto his fearfully.
"...You just reminded me when you said that...and because you happen to have the same one." He blinked. Completely and utterly clueless, as far as she knew.
After the longest minute of her life, her mind skimming through a million different possibilities of what to do next, she eased her fists off the counter and glanced away from him. Trying to calm down, but it was taking too long.
"Ok... I just... I thought you were... Because I would never do that. Yeah. Just so you know..."
"...Do what?" The Uchiha played along, just as innocently. His fingers were meshed up in his hair as he sat there, perfectly relaxed, despite her outburst. If she had the time, or the frame of mind, to analyze him the way he was currently analyzing her, she might find it infuriating how docile he was compared to her.
Oh, come on. Really? Was he going to make her say it? Why else would her clothes—or anyone else's, for that matter—be found under his brother's?
To make matters worse, her face was turning a beet red as she struggled to figure out how she was going to answer him without embarrassing herself more. Was it even possible?
"You know! Uhm... Nevermind. You know what? Let's just pretend this never came up. Because...this is kind of weird. And...yeah. You know." She laughed, a sound that was a tiny bit hysterical, in his opinion.
"Weird? You mean like...giving my brother a bath, weird? Or weirder than that?"
Sakura died inside. Just a little bit. The look she gave him was etched from pure horror, and he thought he might have seen a wisp of steam rising from her soaked clothes.
"Oh, what! That was not my fault! I wasn't even supposed to be in there!"
"Yeah, you weren't...so why were you?"
"I—what?! I had to! They were understaffed and they didn't have time to— Hey! They asked me to do it!" She scrambled defensively. "I didn't want to! Was I supposed to leave him dirty?!"
"I could have done it." He argued flatly, still lacking all of the emotion she was drowning in. It was amazing to witness just how worked up she could get, while hardly adding any fuel to the fire. Something that Itachi had already noted about her...which Sasuke was beginning to suspect.
Sakura's mouth flapped wordlessly, derailed by his simple suggestion. In the back of her mind, which was nothing short of a flailing vortex, she faintly realized that this was the exact interrogation that she had been afraid of falling into. How had it happened? Things had been going so smoothly, and then it was like the rug was pulled out from under her feet as soon as she felt safe.
"...You're right." She slouched in her stool, defeated. "You could have. I just wasn't...thinking... They caught me off guard, and I didn't want to say no, and I didn't want to try to track down someone else, so I figured if I just got it over with... Hey! I thought you were thanking me for that, anyway?!"
Sasuke took a deep, slow breath, seeming to think for a moment. "I am thanking you. It's just weird walking into his hospital room and finding him naked, and you half naked, with the lights off."
She gasped loudly. "I did not get punched in the face and groped by your brother to be interrogated like this, you know! And you're welcome!"
He arched a brow at her. "I'm not interrogating you. I was just pointing it out."
Empty black met a heated green, and Sakura had to quell the urge to clutch her fingers into her hair and scream. Instead, she shook her head away from him quickly enough to cause her hair to snap against her face. In front of her, she found the cook and the waitress watching them both...but as soon as Sakura locked eyes with them, they scurried out of sight faster than Kakashi at the sound of a new Icha Icha book release.
She could feel his gaze on her, but she wouldn't acknowledge him. Not yet. She knew she needed to chill out, even if it was far too late to save face. He was just so damn good at getting her riled up. Was it a natural Uchiha trait? It kinda seemed like it. Damn them all.
Eventually, she would find the courage to look back at him, and found that his eyes were lingering somewhere below her face. She blinked a couple times, then looked down. There was nothing to see. Nothing visibly wrong, or out of place. What was he looking at? When she glanced to his face again, he was making eye contact. Gah...whatever. She was done trying to navigate him. She needed to leave before she dug herself into an even bigger hole.
The rain was still coming down in droves, but that was the last thing she was worried about now. Sliding her butt off the stool, she tried to straighten out the stubborn fabric that was sticking together, and to her legs. "Alright, I gotta go. Thanks for lunch..." Pausing, as she felt there was so much more that needed to be said, she looked down at the ground, and then back up at him.
He hadn't shifted a muscle, and merely followed her movements while continuing to lean against his hand. "Sure... Be there by four next Friday."
She hesitated for a moment, before deciding to just let it all go with a quick nod, and headed for the protective flaps that hung over the tiny ramen shop.
"It'll still be light out, so you can see the garden again."
She stopped, and glanced at him over her shoulder. He was watching her with the faintest smirk on his lips, and she couldn't keep from narrowing her eyes skeptically. "Yeah... That'll be...nice. I'll see you then."
The splatter of cool rain that washed over her the moment she ventured out into the street was nothing short of refreshing, compared to the tight, hot confines of the restaurant she was stuck in. She made it a few paces out into the open, before stopping and letting the water pour over her with her eyes blissfully closed. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Everything was going to be okay. Sasuke didn't know a damn thing, and he wasn't ever going to find out. She just needed to keep telling herself that. As long as she didn't blatantly admit to doing something wrong, she was fine. The worst was over, and the rest could be swept under the rug forever. Even if she was having trouble believing that...that's what she was determined to convince herself.
"This is a strange spot to take a nap." A masculine voice startled her, and she snapped her eyes open to find Shisui planted right in front of her.
She sucked in a gasp, and took a step backward. "Gah! Wha.. Shisui?!"
"That's me." He blinked, standing there with an umbrella over his head, not a care in the world.
"How did you get here?" She asked, looking to the right and to the left, as if she couldn't figure out where he came from.
His movements mimicked hers, and he scratched his head lightly. "Well, you know, I kinda live here, soooo..."
A hot sigh panted into the damp air, and Sakura leveled him a vaguely amused, half-lidded stare while folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm getting lunch." He gestured to Ichiraku's behind her, and she turned to look in slight confusion.
"Oh...?" That was interesting. Was he meeting Sasuke there, too? Or did this just happen to be an unlikely coincidence? Nevertheless, he didn't give her time to question him.
"Did they talk to you yet?"
"Huh? Who?" She whipped back around to look at him, blinking furiously through the steady onslaught of rain. Despite being difficult to see, it still felt really nice on her skin.
Shisui squinted at her, and didn't answer immediately, leaving her extra perplexed.
"I guess not..." The corner of his mouth twitched a little, but then suddenly beamed in a smile.
"Don't worry, they'll drag you in soon."
"What are you talking about?"
"Honestly, I can't say. It's classified." He leaned in close to her suddenly, almost too close. "ANBU stuff." And then leaned away, with that same smile. "They'll bring you in soon, though. Sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything, I just figured they already—"
In the next second, his umbrella was ripped out of his hand, and held at arm's length behind her as she aimed a glare at him that was too reminiscent of one Tsunade excelled at giving. "Shisui...if you don't spill the beans in 5 seconds, I swear to Kami I am snapping this umbrella in half." Oh, she meant it, too. She had far too many buttons pushed as of late, and she didn't need any more suspense added on top of the mountain she was being crushed under.
The hand she ripped the umbrella from hovered curiously in the air, and he blinked at her in mild alarm.
"Sakura...do you know what I do for a living?" He asked in the most serious tone of voice, and she watched his hands slowly slip into the pockets of his pants.
"A little rain isn't going to bother me." Was his extremely vague conclusion, and then he flashed that same, almost childlike smile at her.
The flat, resigning look on her face made him chuckle a little. She wasn't going to get anywhere with a threat like that, but he found it adorable nonetheless. Then, he leaned into her a second time, and she stiffened.
"Let's just say it involves some field work. I hope you've been training." With that, he spun around her and retrieved the umbrella she'd been holding captive faster than she could blink, and by the time she turned around to face him, he was disappearing beyond the flaps of Ichiraku's.
What... What was that supposed to mean?!
With a loud, growling sigh, she stomped off down the street. Field work? ANBU stuff? What did the ANBU have to do with her?
Inside the restaurant, the wet stool that had been claimed by the kunoichi was reclaimed by someone much drier than her...until he sat down. Shisui swiveled around in the stool to face the counter. The folded, intact umbrella was left to lean below him.
"My butt is wet..." The older Uchiha mumbled under her breath curiously, and then glanced to Sasuke next to him, who was gazing almost dreamily into space.
"Whatcha doin?"
Reluctantly withdrawing from his own little world, he looked at Shisui. "Thinking a little..."
"A little? Seems like a little more than a little."
Sasuke snorted. "Doing some detective work, is all."
"Oh, yeah? What kind of detective work?"
Turning to face the counter fully, pulling his shoulder from the wall, Sasuke raised his hand to flag down the cook so he could order for Shisui. Sakura wasn't the only one that deserved some free food, after all...though food hardly amounted to the value of his brother's life. It was still a good place to start.
"Still working on it. When I get more details, maybe I'll let you in on it."
"Hmm.." Shisui hunched forward on the counter, resting his elbows as he thought to himself. "Does it involve a pretty girl with pink hair?"
Sasuke targeted him from the corner of his eye, and Shisui stared back.
"Maybe..."
They smirked simultaneously.
- 6
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- 8
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To Duel With Fate