Check List Lovers

A/N: Surprise! As promised an update. Love you guys and let me know what you think. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and whatever else you celebrate. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: No, just no.

Chapter 2

Itachi's Stairway to Heaven

"Ino, go over these rules one more time." Sakura demanded of her pure evil best friend.

"For someone so smart you're being awfully slow when it comes to these straight forward rules. Look, when you get the list it's automatically loaded into the database. Right now you're listed as dateless for the dance. Because of this the rules say that you've got to spend time with the guys listed or you'll lose the chance to attend any of the voluntary school functions. They'll be rewarded for spending time with you, with extra credit, no homework, and such, but I hear those with good grades can refuse to spend time with you and get away with it. Those who need the extra credit lose the right to opt out.

"As for you, Sakura, getting that list was the equivalent of written consent to spending time with those on it so you don't have much choice unless you want miss out on all your club activities and those plays you are required to attend and help out with for your advanced theatre classes. In other words you're going to boy heaven and I still haven't forgiven you for it!" Ino pouted. Sakura was doing her utmost not to strangle her.

"What a coincidence Pig. I haven't forgiven you for that little stunt you pulled in plain view of their fans!" Sakura was beginning to wonder why she was trying so hard to keep herself from strangling Ino. That is exactly when the school clock rang out across the courtyard to announce the time. Sakura froze in horror when she heard and saw that it was 1:00 pm.

"No. I'm going to be late!" Sakura shrieked. Ino groaned at her friends over the top reaction.

"Come on Sakura! If you're that worried then just skip the stupid class." Sakura turned her most lethal death glare on Ino.

"I'm not losing my perfect attendance!"

"But-"

"Not happening, Bitch!" With that Sakura was off like a shot and out of sight within seconds.

Ino shook her head, completely dumbfounded by how insane Sakura was about punctuality and attendance. They were as different as night and day.

Sakura was across campus in record time and ascending the stairs at a breakneck pace. She was almost to the classroom, almost there. Believing it to be a straight shot with no obstacles she took the time to glance at was likely the only wristwatch on campus. She had three minutes to be in her seat.

SMACK!

Out of nowhere Sakura felt herself collide with some sort of misplaced statue or possibly a concrete wall. She careened backwards, flailing her arms for balance and taking a step back when that failed. The only problem was that her foot hit nothing but air. Oh shit! The staircase! That was all Sakura had time to think as she watched her perfect attendance fly out the window while she scrambled for any kind of stability.

SMACK!

A hand simply reached out to catch her flailing arm and haul her to safety. With ridiculous strength she was pulled forward only to lose her balance once more and cannon ball into a ridiculously hard chest. As soon as she crash landed into her so obviously male rescuer she realized that he was what she thought was a concrete wall.

"You really ought to watch where you're going. That and it's never a good idea to run through a populated area, especially when stairs are involved." The baritone voice was deep, rich, and smooth as melted dark chocolate. It might have made Sakura blush if it weren't for the fact that he was talking to her like she was a complete imbecile. Without further ado he grabbed her by the waist and set her away from him like she dirtied him somehow. He was looking at her the same way. She wouldn't have been surprised if he wiped his hands off on his jeans.

Sakura knew she was looking at Itachi Uchiha. The hair that stole it's color from a raven and the matching ice cold eyes, hard and sharp as cut stone were a dead giveaway. He looked all together bored with the situation and with her.

Oh she saw it. The dread and expectation of her dissolving into a puddle at his feet. She knew he was prepared to tune out worshipful babble. At any other time she would have chewed him out for assuming all women would fall at his feet for no other reason than a pretty face, but her perfect attendance was on the line. List or no list she would not waste that on Itachi freaking Uchiha. Instead of the lecture he so richly deserved in return she gave a single death glare and a very visible eye roll and otherwise completely ignored him as she dashed off.

Little did she know that her actions spoke to him louder than any lecture could have. Itachi Uchiha found himself staring after her in confused silence. That girl had run into him and he'd assumed it was on purpose. He'd turned to give a firm rebuke, but her near tumble down the stairs made him feel slightly more merciful.

Naturally he knew she would dissolve into a puddle at hearing him address her. He was Itachi Uchiha and she was of the female population. It was simply the way of the world. Except she didn't dissolve, didn't even speak to him. He was astounded ... and intrigued.

He took note that she was headed towards the advanced math class he attended before she disappeared around the corner at high speeds. Still he doubted she actually be in that high a level of math. She was his brother's age at most. She'd have to be some kind of math genius even by his lofty standards.

As he was thinking his feet carried him towards his class. He was running late thanks traffic as he came back from lunch. He had no time to wonder about the girl's reaction to him.

Sakura was just taking out her book, a pencil, and some paper, (her standards for every class) when the door to the class opened once more and Itachi Uchiha walked into her math class. She just couldn't catch a break. As if that wasn't bad enough when he caught sight of her he stopped ... mid step. He tilted his head. He blinked. Finally, he smirked and headed towards her. Uh-oh.

The fan girls who actually managed to maintain enough composure to remain conscious looked on in disbelief before Sakura felt their venomous hate waves begin. She attempted to radiate similar waves alongside a moderate death glare to deter the troublesome Uchiha. She didn't unleash her full power glares because even if the guy was an arrogant prick, he did save her from a tumble down the staircase. Her death glare became more intense as she remembered that she wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if he hadn't been loitering around.

Instead of being repelled by her open hostility, the Uchiha's eyes sparked with amusement. He walked right to the seat next to her - the occupied seat next to her - and told, not asked, the guy sitting there to move. To her amazement the nameless idiot scrambled to his bidding. What was the weasel up to, and more importantly, what did she have to do to get people to obey her like that?

"We meet again. We really didn't get the chance to introduce ourselves, did we? I'm-"

"You're Itachi Uchiha. I'm Sakura Haruno. We've been in this same class all semester. Can we stop pretending we're all friendly now? What does it matter to you anyway. You were dreading talking to me not even five minutes ago." Sakura snarled out without looking at him. It irked Itachi that she wouldn't look at him, but he had a solution for that. He reached out and gently gripped her chin between his thumb and index finger, and tugged her face around so he could look straight into her eyes as he answered her.

"That was then, and this is now." Itachi wanted to say more, but her eyes were so green and lit with an inner flame that made them shine and burn. On top of that her skin was softest thing he'd ever touched and it made his thumb twitch back and forth with the need to feel more.

She made him feel. She made him curious, interested, and her inner flame sparked his own heart into feeling things he had begun to think didn't exist. These emotions, the irritation, interest, humor, and even the faint traces of desire he felt weren't particularly strong or particularly passionate, but they were something someone had made him feel and that was what blew him away. He couldn't decide whether or not this was something he liked, but he did know one thing. He wanted to feel more.

Sakura Haruno had just survived the most awkward encounter of her life. After that damn Uchiha reached out and grabbed her chin at the beginning of class in full view of everyone he had proceeded to stare at her throughout said class. It had not gone unnoticed by the people around them. The teacher had ignored them, but everyone else had gaped with open shock and in some cases (coughfangirlscough) hostility. Sakura had been among those gaping in stunned silence at first, because she had no idea why he'd done a 180 concerning her, before focusing her attention on the class and systematically ignoring him and his little fan girls too.

"Sakura, wait up." Itachi's voice sounded from somewhere behind her. She tried to force her way to the stupid staircase but while she had to practically wrestle people out of the way, for Itachi Uchiha they parted like the red sea for Moses and in less than a minute he had her by the wrist. That is so not fair. She whined internally.

"You dropped this." Without further ado he placed the stupid, evil, and downright hateful list in her hands.

Sakura froze. Slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted her face to get some kind of reading on the damage. Their eyes met and for a moment she thought he didn't know about the list and the rules that came with it. Cue smirk. Uh oh.