Hello! I apologize for the... delay. I haven't forgotten this story, my muse is just whimsical. But she came with this chapter and this song: SVRCINA - Meet Me On The Battlefield. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement!

Chapter 6

I can smell something cooking the moment I take the final steps to Itachi's apartment. His is the only one on this floor, so it can only be coming from his kitchen. The thought of him cooking makes me smile, for some reason. I remember the one time I tasted something made by him and it seems like ages ago since that soup I ate with such resentment.

I knock on the door and he opens a few moments later, fully armored with an apron. I can't contain a giggle at the sight. A smile plays in one corner of his mouth as he welcomes me inside. It's warm and the aromas floating in the air are now strong enough to make my stomach beg. I hand him the hefty bag I've carried through town half the day. He gives me a curious look.

"Books," I say. "I figured you'd be bored. I didn't know what you'd like to read so I went on a whim."

"Thank you. Hokage-sama has been kind enough to provide me with some basics in the kitchen, so I've kept myself busy today, trying to make do."

"So I can smell!"

We make light, friendly conversation, neither of us forgetting that others partake to our exchanges as we speak. There are steaming pots on the stove and I'm surprised how at ease Itachi seems in the kitchen. And boy, has he been hard at work! His skill puts mine to shame. I can't even get a boiled egg right. As I marvel at the feast, he sifts through the books I brought.

"There's a bit of everything," I say. "I'm sorry I'm so late. I've had a long day."

"You're right on time. Dinner should be ready soon."

I tuck a stray pink lock behind my ear and smile. It fades as I notice the dark circles under his eyes. Is it the illness? The worries? Do his thoughts keep him up at night as mine do? Fortunately, he is too absorbed in a philosophy volume to notice my brows furrowing in concern. I straighten out my face. I will not add to his woes by being sad company.

He closes the book and looks up at me. His eyes are dark, the sharingan inactive. I'm glad to see he at least saves his strength.

"This one I like best," he says. "And the one about medical curiosities."

I shrug, pleased. "I thought I'd give you a little part of my world."

"How is school?"

I pause to measure my words carefully. "Difficult, as befits the final year. I'm also a bit behind, but I can catch up quickly enough. My teachers have been indulgent, luckily for me. I've missed some exams, but I can take them. I just have to bury myself in books this month."

His eyes drift to the clock. "Won't your parents be worried if you stay out so late?"

"Worrying is a parental prerequisite, I believe. I did tell them I'd come back late, so…"

My voice drifts off. Truth be told, I argued with my mother this morning, as we do so often nowadays. She doesn't want me 'anywhere near that S-ranked criminal'. At some point she even attempted to break an imaginary genjutsu she presumed Itachi had placed on me. I remember storming out and slamming the door at that. I feel insulted that she thinks me so weak, shannarou.

"Dinner is ready."

Here I am, mother, having a nice, quiet dinner with an S-ranked criminal. Enjoying it as a luxury I don't have at home anymore. I relish every bite and by the time I'm done I've rounded up like a stuffed frog. I regret nothing. The meal was simple, but Itachi put effort into it and it showed in the taste of it all. Before I give myself a chance to get sleepy from overindulging, I clear the table and wash the dishes.

When I turn around I meet the crimson of Itachi's sharingan and the air shifts around me. Genjutsu. Nothing has changed, and yet everything feels different. We're safe from prying eyes and ears, to begin with. My back hits the counter as he walks up to me. Safe though I may feel, Itachi still radiates a certain darkness that sometimes takes me by surprise. He stops before me, so close I can feel his warmth. His fingers tuck the stubborn lock behind my ear and set my heart aflutter.

He has held me before. However, there is something more behind his touch this time. I close my eyes. My lashes brush against my cheek. I'm giving in. His hand slithers through my hair to the back of my head and pulls me in. His neck feels hot against my forehead. Maybe I gave in a long time ago.

"This isn't real," I whisper.

"It's as real as I can make it."

I pull away and look up at him. There is a longing inside me like a dull pain in my chest, but I'm too much of a coward to take what would cure it. I'm afraid and of what? Rejection. I know far too well what one-sided love feels like and I tell myself I haven't fallen for Itachi. I want to save myself the pain. It bears Sasuke's face and Sasuke's voice. I could not bear for Itachi to cause me the same suffering. My heart would surely break.

His thumb brushes against my cheek, catching a tear. Why is it that whenever he is close to me I unravel so? I can't do this. I want to make the release seal, but my hands are trembling too badly, so I grip the edge of the counter until I lose feeling in my fingers instead.

"Sakura." His voice brings me back from the dark recesses of my mind, where I dance with old demons. "What are you afraid of?" he asks.

Taking the cue from my hands, my lips begin to tremble too. "This isn't real," I whisper again, my voice breaking over the last word. Itachi pauses. What must he think of me? I'm a slip of a woman who occasionally packs a hell of a punch, but my mind is weak, my heart is weak. He can see it, for sure. How could someone like him ever harbor any feelings for me beyond friendly affection? I'm broken.

My mouth opens, but the words die in my throat when his lips suddenly press against mine. His arms fall around my waist, pulling me against him and deeper into his kiss. A swarm of butterflies take flight in my stomach. My muscles relax all at once. My mind comes to a halt. Another tear falls. I rise on the balls of my feet and my hands let go of the counter to slither up his chest and over his shoulders, where they settle. It may not be real, but it feels real. And it sure as hell feels good, shannarou.

His hands drop from my waist to the back of my thighs and he pulls me up. My legs lock around him instinctively. My heart is frantic, like a moth around a flame. Let me get burned, I don't care. I am not afraid anymore. I don't know when he carries me to the bedroom, I only feel when he lays me down gently on the bed. His ponytail hangs over his shoulder, the tip of it brushing against the skin on my neck. We look at each other for a moment that seems still in time and then it's me who's kissing Itachi and pulling him closer.

There is no past, there is no future. There is only now and now his hands slip under my shirt and mine under his and the pain I expected never comes. Our hearts beat together like a beautiful song on repeat. I open my eyes and above us the ceiling has vanished, replaced by a sky full of stars. His kisses leave a trail of fire from my neck down to my navel and come back up to set my lips on fire as well. This genjutsu – I want it to never end.

I close my eyes as I rest in his arms, our bodies bathed in starlight. When I open them again, I'm still in his arms, but we are both fully clothed and the ceiling is in place. I turn on my side and bury my face in his neck. There is a bittersweet feeling in my heart. It had to end. I know. But what happened was real, in a sense. I fall asleep with that thought in mind.

Morning finds us still entwined. It's warm under the blanket he must have put over us after I fell asleep. I'm glad he hasn't left my side. If this has to end – and it has to – I want to have a say in it. But however much I want to stay, I can't. Reality awaits and I must face it.

He pokes my forehead just before I walk out the door. It leaves the same burning sensation his lips left in the genjutsu. We part for the time being and without many words. Last night pushed us beyond words.

I half-run home. I have little less than an hour before classes start and I need to shower and grab a bite to eat. I fumble with the keys on my home's doorstep, breathless. Drop them. Pick them up and finally manage to unlock and open the door. I've only managed to take off my shoes when my mother storms out of the kitchen. Here we go.

"Sakura!"

Before I know it, her palm comes down against my cheek, hard. My breath stops in my throat, my head remains turned by the force of the blow, my skin is stinging. I am stupefied. My mother has never laid a hand on me. Never.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she asks, her voice shrill and unstable. I have a hard time recognizing her. "I stayed up all night because of you! You are not a teenager anymore, Sakura, start acting like it! You were with that Uchiha criminal, weren't you?"

That does it. I turn my head, eyes narrowed, and I hiss: "Yes."

It's my turn to shock her with my defiance. She seems at a loss for words. As a teenager I didn't cause any trouble. I think she gave a sigh of relief as I transitioned gracefully into adulthood, with no incidents on record. How I've stained that pristine record. How I've disappointed her.

"You said it yourself," I go on. "I am not a teenager anymore. Do not treat me like one."

I leave her wordless in the hallway and stomp up the stairs to my room. I shut the door and lean against it with a frustrated sigh. In the mirror on the door of my dresser I see a red welt on my right cheek. I go to the bathroom to wet a small towel and press that against it. The arguments and complaints I could put up with, but not this.

Half an hour later I walk down with a backpack and a bag in tow. My mother stares in disbelief. I give her a hard look and slam the door behind me before she can say anything. I don't have any more time before classes starts, so I take my luggage with me. It earns me a few odd looks from classmates, but no one says anything. I count the minutes until I'm finished, while doing my best to focus.

In the afternoon I knock at Tsunade-shishou's office within the school. I know she has a class starting soon. I go in when prompted and drop my bags on the floor. Tsunade-shishou looks surprised at first, then her brows furrow.

"I need a room in the dorm," I say, then add 'please'.

She scoffs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "Sakura," she says, "I feel like I don't know you anymore."

Somehow those words sting more than my mother's slap, but I grit my teeth and take it. I deserve it. I have changed.

"You can have a room, of course," she says, but her voice hangs heavy. "Tell me something, though. If I had refused, where would you have gone?"

I look into her eyes. "I think you already know."

"Why didn't you go there from the start?"

"I didn't want to impose," I say.

Tsunade-shishou considers my answer for a few moments that pass at a snail's pace, then finally sighs. "You are such a bright young woman. But lately, Sakura, I don't understand you no matter how hard I try." She writes a slip and gives it to me. "Take this to the head of the dorm, she'll settle you in."

"Thank you."

I feel her eyes on me as I leave. I'm getting used to disappointing people. It's a bitter taste, but it doesn't poison me as it used to. Whatever she thinks of me, I told her the truth, if only in part. I don't want to impose on Itachi, yes. But I also want to prove myself than I can solve my own problems. I am determined to.

I am stronger than I used to be.