"I can't do it," I announced regally, crossing my arms.

My mother, the delightful Matriarch, promptly turned around to glower at me."You can and you will! Honestly, what ungrateful children I have! There's you, and then your useless sister -"

"I have a mission, Mom!" Sakura interrupted with a cry, her mouth half-full of apple. Her green eyes met mine, and she grinned cheekily. "Of course, Shiyako-chan has nothing to do right now, send her!"

"I am trying!"

I bit back a sigh. This was probably karma for not choosing to be a combat-kunoichi. I just knew it.

"But…" I decided to try again, in the hopes that she would relent. "It's the Uchiha household."

"And I'm your mother!" Mum declared, brandishing the basket of groceries at me. "If I'm asking you to go, then you should've already been out of the house! Why, in my time –,"

As if on cue, both Sakura and I rolled our eyes. We knew what was coming – a lengthy dialogue on how times were so much better back then, and how children would listen to their mothers and not make arguments about owning their own apartment. How Mebuki herself supported her parents till they finally kicked the bucket (yeah, I didn't quite like my grandparents much, as you can gather), and how even her darling husband took full care of her parents.

My dad entered the room. Mum took one look at him, stopped mid tirade, and shrieked: "It's all your fault they're like this! If you'd been a better man, then Shiyako would've already been married with two kids, Sakura would be engaged and –,"

Darling husband indeed.

Silently, I grabbed the basket from her hands and stepped out of the house. Sakura followed me wordlessly. Once outside, we both sighed.

"I love Mum, but times like these; I wish I did have a separate apartment," said Sakura.

"Likewise," I grunted, peeking into the basket to see just how many vegetables she'd stuffed in. "And I'm older than you. It's so embarrassing when people find out I'm still living with my parents."

My sister bumped her shoulder into mine lightly. "Hey, you always have me."

"According to Mum, what I was supposed to have is a husband and two kids." Sakura's pink hair, so much like mine, whipped past my face in the breeze and I swatted it away with an impatient hand. "She's so touchy about marriage. Like it's the only thing that's important anymore."

Sakura grimaced, "Retired kunoichi have a tendency to become like that. Especially domestic ones with kids."

"She wasn't this crazy. At least not before."

"Eh, it'll turn out to be fine, Nee-chan. At least we have a lot of money saved up in lieu of not moving out." Sakura paused in her steps, and I followed suit. "Anyway, I should leave. Naruto and Sasuke will be waiting for me at the gate."

"Okay," I muttered, dropping the basket to give her a warm hug. "Take care of yourself, okay? And of those two idiots."

Sakura promptly scoffed. "Don't I always? You take care of yourself. And Mum. And Dad too, I guess," she added, scrunching up her face. "And the hospital –,"

"Don't I always?" I echoed with a grin.

She stuck out her tongue. "And good luck with the grocery-delivery. I'm sure it'll all turn out to be fine, though. You're worried for no reason."

"I'm not worried –,"

"If you say so."

"Honestly, imouto –,"

"If you're trying to remind me that you're the older one, then it's a futile –,"

"Just go!"

She shunshin-ed away without another word. I rolled my eyes, picked up the basket, and began making my lazy way to the Uchiha side of the village. To clarify, I wasn't worried. Not really. A better word would be apprehensive. Honestly, the Uchiha were scary. I'd encountered Sasuke more than enough times, and he was always so... stiff! In theory, I knew Sakura was his precious person and that he did have some emotions, but he seemed so aloof, so cutoff.

And his red eyes. I mentally shuddered. Once, while I was (trying to) heal him after a particularly bad mission, he'd put me under a genjutsu and snuck out.

That was just rude. Especially after Tsunade found me humming and absently wrapping bandages around a wooden log.

Of course, later on, I'd thrown him against a wall and broken a rib or two, but it was nothing compared to the humiliation of when the Hokage herself had to dispel the illusion.

Luckily, I never had to work on Itachi. Rumor was, he had once put a medic in the hospital in retaliation for trying to heal him.

Don't even get me started on the Clan Head though. Fugaku was… This time, I couldn't quite control the shudder that escaped. If I had to meet him, I'd run out as quickly as I could, I decided.

In my musings, I had already reached their house. Restraining yet another sigh, I raised my hand, cleared my throat, shut my eyes to send a quick prayer to God and knocked.

Only, well, the door was a lot softer than I had imagined. Hesitantly, I cracked open one eye, then the other, and almost passed out in shock.

"Itachi!" I squeaked, upon realizing that it was his chest I was knocking on. At his raised eyebrow, I quickly added: " – san! Itachi-san!"

His dark gaze never wavered.

"I mean, Itachi-sama!" Theoretically speaking, he was way above me in rank. Itachi was ANBU. "Uchiha-sama?" I tried again, when nothing about him shifted.

I saw his eyes travel from my face, down to the grocery bag I was holding, and then all the way back up.

"Hn."

I bristled. Honestly, what was wrong with him? I know he was an Uchiha, but he could at least deign to speak to the lowly medic-nin who had come all the way to his house to drop groceries.

Still. I could be the better person. I tried again. "I've brought groceries for –,"

"I know." His voice was clipped.

Well then, little genius, why don't you get out of the way and let me do my job?

I almost said that,.but at the last moment I refrained. Uchihas are a prodigious clan and I shouldn't insult their heir, I reminded my brain, pinching the bridge of my nose with one hand. If I could take dinner with Sasuke in the house, then I could surely deal with his elder brother. Yes. I could do that.

I pasted a saccharine smile to my mouth, "Won't you let me pass then, Uchiha-san?"

His face, I realized after a beat, registered a small amount of amusement. Amusement at my…

Oh god, he'd figured out what I was thinking, hadn't he?

Silently, with a grace that I was sure had been genetically engineered into all Uchiha, he stepped aside. I crossed him wordlessly, my grip tightening around my bag when I glimpsed a ghost of a smile cross his face.

Before I could enter the kitchen from where I could hear Mikoto's hustling, I made the mistake of looking back.

Itachi hadn't turned away just yet. His face was blank - typical Uchiha - but there was something in his eyes just then. The Jounin vest hugged him snugly, leaving little to imagination. Of course, I'd always known Uchiha Itachi was fit. Everyone knew that. But he was also achingly beautiful. Ino, Sakura's friend, often had a tendency to compare his eyes to the night - deep, dark and mysterious.

Faced with my perusal, his lips twitched upwards a little more, and even as I watched, a full-blown smile crossed his face.

And then he said something I would never, ever be able to forget for as long as I lived:

"You shouldn't think out loud, Shiyako-chan. Someone might take offense next time."

All the color drained from my face.

Had I?

Oh Kami. I had.

It was only later; after he had left the house that I realized something very, very important.

Shiyako-chan?!

{X}

A/N: Special thanks to my beta, tigerowl, who pointed out that a few references might be unfamiliar. Ergo, here we go:

Chan: is a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, grandparents and teenagers. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, any youthful woman, or between friends.

San: English equivalent of Mr/Ms/Mrs. -san is almost universally added to a person's name, "-san" can be used in both formal and informal contexts, and for any gender.

Sama: is a markedly more respectful version of san and can be used for any gender. It is used mainly to refer to people much higher in rank than oneself

In addition to the above, 'shunshin' is the body-flicker technique, which is basically a way for ninja to travel at super high speeds.