Under the Influence.

Two shot.

Words: 4'821

Summary: Sakura knew her life was all muddled up. She was still single and stress was driving her down. Now, at her best friend Ino's wedding she lets all of those bottled up emotions out. As her mentor always says; sake is the answer to all of life's problems. ItaSaku. Non-massacre.

Itachi moved up the stairs with Sakura still in his arms. He had resisted the urge to hurl her onto the couch, or just dump her out in the street when she pressed her lips to his neck. Only a small distance to the spare room where he could leave her and have this whole business over and done with. She made an almost amusing pouting face as though she had heard his last thought.

Pushing open the screen door one handed he carefully manoeuvred them into the room without bashing her head or legs against the side of the shoji screen in the process. His dark eyes swept across the small room for a moment before he came to a dreadful, awful conclusion.

There was no futon in the spare room.

He stared at the spot for a moment before inwardly groaning and turning around. What was he supposed to do with her now? She shifted uneasily; probably feeling the vibrations in his chest. It was his own fault for bringing her here instead of looking for someone who would be able to take her home. It was her own fault as well for getting so damn drunk in the first place.

The Uchiha prodigy sighed and looked down at the small female in his arms once again. He could deal with ANBU level missions when he was thirteen but he couldn't deal with one drunken girl. The reason for that became apparent when she decided to nuzzle into him again. He quelled down the heat that her simple touch caused with a small frown on his face.

There was not another spare futon in the house to put her. His was large enough for both of them. Nobody would have to know about this anyway. He could feel the weariness from his mission begin to seep into his body; genius or not he still needed sleep. Standing here much longer would simply result in two unconscious bodies clogging up the hallway.

He began to walk towards his own bedroom forcing himself not to look down at her. Too tempting. He was not used to such temptation. Everything was grey in his life there was nothing changing; nothing to ever look forward to. Then this little thing had stumbled in and suddenly he found it very hard to keep the perfect control over his emotions that he had since childhood. He had no idea what to do with her.

Then again, Sasuke always spoke very highly of her and defended his team against the clan. She did not fawn over him or do anything to attract his attention and she was a powerful medic nin; the Hokage's apprentice. Was it so wrong for him to be attracted to such a female? He looked down at her again and shut his eyes. Too tired; he was certainly thinking strange things.

He moved back the covers and slid her under, not bothering to remove any of the layers of silk that still clung to her body like a second skin. He carefully pulled her collar up a fraction to preserve what little modesty she had left. He fought not to run his hands across the smooth unblemished skin that was easily within his grasp. He had been brought up better than that.

Itachi tried to move back from her and her intoxicating scent but her small hands were fisted in the material of his shirt and she held onto him with surprising strength. He could not pry her off without jostling her so much that she would probably wake.

"Don't leave me behind again," she muttered; attempting to drag him closer.

Raising a single dark eyebrow he lay down without complaint; surprised by her whisper. She immediately curled up against him and pressed her entire body to him. The pungent smell of alcohol on her breath reminded him of the state she was in and the problems it would cause if he was to take advantage of her in this delicate state. He made no move to pull her closer but also no move to push her away as she snuggled insistently against him.

Pressed against him he realised just how ridiculously tiny she was; her feet reached down to about the middle of his shins even when she was completely stretched out, one of his hands could curl around her upper arm entirely and everything else was so small in comparison to his. Despite the differences between their shapes she still molded to him and they fitted together like a hand to a glove. It was odd to say the least.

Her nose was cold and so were her hands. He berated himself for ignoring the chill of the night and the fact that she was only dressed in flimsy silks. It would not do for her to get sick. Why did he even care if she got sick? Because she was Sasuke's precious female team mate? That seemed to be his reasoning for everything he was doing tonight. The reason that he held up every time she presented him with a new challenge to deal with; the reason that was rapidly becoming overused and clearly a cover for what he was really doing.

Would he have carried home any other girl just because she was his little brother's team mate? Allowed her to sleep in his bed? Allowed her to press herself up against him while she slept? He didn't want to think about it. She buried her cold nose into his neck and let out a soft sigh of contentment. He was glad that he could no longer see her face. The red lipstick that she had worn earlier had been rubbed off due to general wear and tear and beneath that her lips were tinged faintly with blue.

That had caused a strange reaction within him. He did not like to see her coloured that way and the strangest impulse had stolen over him; he had wanted to warm her lips up... With his own. Perhaps that was not such a strange impulse given that he was a young, healthy male, but it was an unwanted one none the less. Her small, freezing hands slid between the two of them and pressed against his chest. Cold feet slid against his warm legs and only when she was coiled around him completely did she stop moving and soak up his body warmth almost greedily.

He should have pushed her away and gotten out of the small, warm cocoon they were in. Should have stayed awake until she was no longer sleeping then kick her out of the house and rest by himself, but he didn't. The bone weariness that had invaded his mind and made his limbs heavy began to wear at his resolve; the soft, now warm, sweet smelling body pressed tightly up against him didn't help matters.

For once in his life he did something compulsive and just fell asleep without a further thought. Successfully ignoring the way his blood heated every time she shifted against him.

---

A few hours earlier

---

Sakura was absolutely no where to be seen. He stared at the vacant seat for a moment before cursing and dumping the glass of water he had went to get on the table. The only thing she had left behind to indicate that she had actually been there was a few bread crumbs on the seat and a half empty glass with an imprint of red lipstick on it. So much for being too drunk to walk.

The silver haired nin sighed and looked into the crowd with a slightly irritated expression; though not many people would have noticed that due to the fact that his face was almost entirely covered. Out of habit he slid his hand into the pouch strapped at his leg (he was dressed in his normal attire despite the fact he was at a wedding) and drew out an orange book. Flicking through the dog eared pages as he always did when he was irritated did little to calm him.

She couldn't have gotten far, but since there were so many people here he couldn't pick out her chakra or spot her. Despite the fact that her bright, pink locks normally made that an easy task. It was dark and people were constantly jumping around.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto hurled out of the crowd in a sudden burst of movement, his arms waving madly around.

"Naruto, how many times have I told you; I'm not your teacher any more."

"Force of habit. Have you seen Sakura-chan? I was kinda wanting to dance with her and thank her for... managing to get Hinata to dance with me earlier." He rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin.

"I lost her," he said bluntly, flipping through the worn pages.

"Lost her?"

"She's drunk." Naruto turned a strange shade of puce.

"Someone could be taking advantage of our poor drunk Sakura-chan! We have to save her!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs now and attracting stares from a few of the people closest to them. The only ones who could hear them over the blaring music.

"Keep it down, Dobe." Sasuke sauntered over to them with his hands shoved into his pockets.

After another bout a yelling between the two (or, rather, Naruto yelling and Sasuke staring black, blankly) and they immediately decided to go off and look for their pink haired companion. The thought of any man taking advantage of her in a drunken state had them howling for blood. Naruto already resembled a screaming, blond tomato as he pushed his way through the crowd in search of a familiar head of pink hair.

Sasuke slipped through the mass of people easily but kept getting side tracked by women he barely knew, but who were all to eager to try and coax him into a dance. Kakashi just wandered about with his face buried in his book relying completely on his senses to try and pick out her chakra signature. The object of their search was, at that point, seated between Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi entirely unaware that they were looking for her.

In fact she had already forgotten that Kakashi had been watching over her just minutes ago and was quite happily sipping away at her root beer. The panic she had caused between three of her closest friends was unknown to her as she swung her feet and chattered away to two of the most powerful men in the ANBU. Her drunken state making her tongue slightly looser than it would have normally been.

The events that preceeded and followed were entirely Shisui's fault. Not that he would ever admit to it.

Itachi had been quieter and more reserved than normal lately and being his cousin / best friend Shisui took it upon himself to find the source of the problem and solve it. Of course Itachi would never openly talk about anything he was thinking or anything that was bothering him. After observing his younger cousin for a few days he decided that he needed a woman. That would fix any problem, naturally.

His private life had been, quite frankly, pathetic and Shisui had no idea why. He was good looking enough, an Uchiha, powerful and his cousin; those were plenty of reasons for women to be fawning all over him. Well, they did, but for some reason Itachi always pushed them away. Being brought up by his cold fish father was probably the reason. Shisui realised that he would probably have to take matters into his own hands.

After several failed attempts at trying to get him to hook up with many different females he had almost given up. There were only so many hints you could give someone; he had pushed one fated kunoichi right into his arms for the love of Kami! For a supposed genius Itachi could be extremely dense some times. Not that he would ever dare tell his cousin that. It would probably end with him being roasted with a Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu.

Not a pleasant option.

His plan had flared back into life upon the discovery of a young medic. Sasuke's female team mate had visited the house in order to drop off something for him. He remembered her from the few times he had been sent to the hospital and immediately decided that she was perfect. She did not try to flirt with any of them, was highly compassionate and caring, but also powerful enough to hold her own on the battlefield and the Hokage's apprentice to boot.

If anyone could crack through his cousin's thick shell it was her. Unfortunately, she could be quite as violent as the man he wanted to pair her up with and telling her that he thought she should date Itachi would probably wind up with him on the receiving end of a mountain crushing fist.

Not a pleasant option.

Sasuke would probably be repulsed at the thought of his team mate involved with his older brother so he couldn't rely on him either. Eventually, after many failed attempts at getting the two to meet, he turned to Mikoto for help. She agreed that Itachi needed someone, but had not arranged a marriage because that would have definitely ended badly. Ino's wedding came up and suddenly that seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Sakura would be the bridesmaid and Itachi... Would be going whether he liked it or not. Mikoto made sure of that. He knew that she would come over to greet Sasuke so he had intended for them to meet then. Itachi just had to spoil it by being anti-social as usual and slinking off into the corner to drink by himself. He wouldn't let him mess it up this time.

Sure enough he spotted a head of bright cherry locks amongst the mulling crowd and he immediately made a beeline for her. She was spinning around with a slightly confused expression on her face before settling with her back to him. He placed a hand on the smooth silk that covered her shoulder and she spun around. Due to their close proximity her face ended up buried in his chest.

"Whoa there, Sakura-san. If I knew you were that interested I would have come over earlier," he said, laughing, as she stepped back with a bright blush painted on her cheeks.

It took her a moment to recognise him but when she did she smiled brightly and greeted him enthusiastically. He didn't miss the slight slur in her speech, flush in her cheeks and the scent of alcohol on her breath. She was not thatdrunk that she wouldn't be able to hold some kind of conversation, so he set the plan into motion. He began to lead her across the floor towards where Itachi had sat himself in the corner of the room.

She tried to reach for another glass of sake as a waiter passed but he managed to pry her hand off. It would not do if she passed out before they could even meet. Itachi looked up the moment they emerged from the crowd. His calculating gaze passed over the two of them but finally settled on Sakura. He made no move when he sat her down between them, but continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

Shisui smiled to himself. Maybe this was the one. She tried to have yet another glass of sake but he quickly swapped it for a root beer. After five minutes Itachi still hadn't taken his eyes off of her and they had introduced themselves. Perfect. Now all he needed to do was leave them alone and hopefully his younger cousin could take it from there.

"I'm going to find Sasuke so that he can escort you home Sakura-san," said Shisui as he stood, noting the way that Sakura slid a little closer to Itachi.

"Watch her for me," he said to Itachi. He knew that his cousin would not leave her here if no one came to escort her home... And no one would if he had anything to say about it.

He gave the pair one last grin before slipping off into the crowd to distract her team mates.

---

"Hey... Is that Sakura-chan?" muttered Naruto, as he stood on his tip toes in an attempt to see over Shisui's lanky form.

"No, I don't think it is." He lifted his arms in a feigned yawn in an attempt to block the blond's view.

"Hey! Hey, is the Itachi carrying her! No way! I'll save you Sak-" It was time to resort to drastic measures.

"Naruto, I think Hinata wants a dance." And with that the Kyuubi holder was suddenly running in the opposite direction of the door.

Shisui sighed heavily and looked around the crowded hall for any signs of Sasuke. Kakashi was suitably distracted at the moment - Jiraiya had come to the wedding and the two were now discussing ideas for the next Icha Icha volume. The copy nin wasn't going anywhere for the next couple of hours. Naruto was now quite happily spinning around with the blushing Hyuuga heiress, so that only left Sasuke.

Sasuke found him first and tapped him on the shoulder. He had his usual stoic expression on his face; a group of giggling girls were trailing him quickly. That was probably why he kept looking over his shoulder.

"I'm leaving." Never was one for talking.

"Sure."

"Ja." He gave a small wave as he sauntered out the door.

The group of scantily clad girls immediately turned their combined attention to him and moments later he was surrounded by heavily perfumed, eyelash batting females who were all making a pouty face at him. He couldn't have slipped out of the tight circle they formed around him if he tried.

"Shisui-saaaan." One of them drawled, pursing her red lips.

"Why did Sasuke-kun leave so early? We were hoping for some... fun." The other girls giggled loudly and watched him expectantly.

"I think he was tired."

She looked away with a disgruntled expression on her face. The other girls all looked sour as well. Suddenly he felt like he should make a quick getaway before they decided that he was the next best candidate for 'fun'. Poor Sasuke, he was always tormented like this.

"He only left after he saw Itachi-kun carrying out the Haruno woman." She hissed; blue eyes narrowing.

Sasuke saw. Damn, he would probably already be at the compound by now. So much for giving them some privacy. He was about to run out of the door in an attempt to stop Sasuke from reaching the two of them (Kami knows what they were doing by now... hopefully) but a perfectly manicured hand clamped onto his arm and he found that they were all much closer than they had been before.

"Dance with us." Somehow that didn't seem like a question.

---

The first thing Sakura registered when she woke up was that she was very, very warm. The second thing was that when she opened her eyes all she saw was skin and all she could smell was a very strong masculine scent that caused a shiver to run down her spine every time she breathed in. Just what the hell had happened last night!

She was too afraid to pull back and look at the face of the man that she had probably spent the night with. Her tongue felt thick and fuzzy and in general she felt like she had been trampled by several of Naruto's clones. Her head in particular was throbbing like no tomorrow. Alcohol bad. Stay away from it in the future. Sakura sent out a thin tendril of chakra in order to help numb the splitting headache she was being forced to endure.

Strong arms tightened around her slightly as though he could feel her using her chakra. Well, at least now she knew it wasn't some civilian. With her face and entire body squashed up against an undeniably muscular male Sakura tried to work out how to solve this predicament she was in. The fact that she was practically wrapped around him sort of confirmed her fear that she had probably slept with him.

'Why are you still fully clothed then?' Her scathing Inner self pointed out.

She let out a sigh of relief when she realised that she was still covered in her Kimono which, though very wrinkled, was still pretty much in place and was keeping her modesty. Mystery man was also clothed - when she shifted her legs experimentally they rubbed against cloth. Despite the fact that there were two layers of cloth separating her from him she could still feel a his very defined muscles.

Her cheeks heated at the thought and she silently cursed herself for getting so drunk. Maybe she should just punch him through the wall and run off into the morning/ night never to be seen again. That would save any embarrassing situations. Unconsciously chakra began to gather in her fist. The next thing she knew she had been rolled over and slammed on her back.

"What the hell!?" Sakura shrieked indignantly as her arms were pinned above her head in a single fluid movement.

The faint light seeping through the closed curtains stung her eyes slightly and she blinked quickly in an attempt to adjust. The body on top of hers was more of a comfortable weight than a heavy, suffocating one. Her legs were kept in place with his and suddenly she found that she couldn't have moved even if she wanted to which only increased her panic.

"I hope you were not planning to attack me, Sakura." He said in a lilting tenor, voice husky from sleep.

She squinted slightly as his face swam into view. Dark eyes, high cheekbones, long dark hair spilling over shoulders... For a moment she had thought it was Sasuke and she had panicked at the thought of waking up to her team mate, but now she saw that it was in fact his older brother, Itachi.

"Uchiha-san, since when were we on first name terms?" she asked, with as much courtesy as she could muster when hungover and pinned beneath him.

Something like amusement sparked in his onyx eyes and he gave her a small smirk before rolling off of her and releasing her from his hold. She stared at him expectantly for a moment before scowling and rolling over so her back was to him. Damn Uchiha, they always had to be such enigmas.

"I remember you quite clearly insisting that I call you Sakura and nothing else." She could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

A hand slipped around her waist and dragged her backwards until her back hit his chest. She really wouldn't have picked him out to be a contact seeking kind of person. Sakura was determined to be resistant despite the ache in almost every part of her body. She squirmed and attempted to slip out of his grip but to no avail. He overpowered her movements effortlessly and, probably to annoy her, he carefully set his chin on top on her head. His long hair tickled the sides of her neck slightly.

"It is cold. Get some rest Sakura - you've only slept for about an hour and a half."

Her nose had already become quite cold since leaving his embrace, but she would never have admitted that. Huffing slightly she shifted a little before settling. No one would have to know about this anyway, but if she woke to find his hands somewhere inappropriate... There would be an Itachi shaped hole in the ceiling. Yawning slightly the pink haired medic shut her eyes and fell almost immediately asleep.

He had wanted to kiss her so badly when she writhed beneath him. Perhaps, had he not had all those years of training, he would have. Her anger and defiance towards him was amusing and he found the he wanted to rile her up just to see the spark in those bright green eyes. She was asleep again and snuggled into him shamelessly.

Lifting a hand he carefully brushed a few strands of her cherry hair back from her face and tucked them behind her ear. He rarely felt this content and found that he would be quite happy to watch her sleeping for hours on end if he had the chance. It was rare for him to become attached to any female and this one was no exception.

The urge to kiss her had not left and had been growing in power over the last few hours until it was almost unbearable. He stared down at her innocent face with hard eyes as he considered her. One touch and that would be his desire quenched and they could all go on as normal. The front door opened and someone, probably Sasuke, came into the house.

He was not bothered because his younger brother knew better than to come into his room while he was 'sleeping'. Lowering his head slightly he pressed his lips against hers. She was static for a moment but when her eyes fluttered open and, as he was about to draw back, she wound her arms around his neck and kissed back. She tasted deceptively sweet but the pungent taste of alcohol was still strong on her lips.

Sakura had no idea why she was kissing her team mate's older brother, or why he had kissed her in the first place. It felt so good that it really didn't matter why or how. Her brain immediately turned to mush as he slipped his tongue across the seam of her lips.

The screen door slid open at that particular moment and Sasuke looked upon one of the worst sights he had ever had the displeasure to lay eyes upon.

His female team mate dressed only in a disheaveled half open Kimono lying under his elder brother with her arms and legs coiled around him, and with the pair of them kissing each other like they never intended to stop.

He actually felt a little sick. Scratch that, really, very sick.

"Aniki!"

A flick of hand signs and the pair were gone, leaving only a crumpled futon in their wake. At that moment Shisui stumbled along the corridor with his hair all messed up, his clothes torn and lipstick marks all over his face. He clamped a hand on the shocked young Uchiha's shoulder.

"You didn't see anything, little cousin."

At that point Sasuke decided that he really, really, needed some sake...

Well that's the second part of this done! Completed. I've always loved Shisui's character and I couldn't resist giving him this part in the fic.

Notes on things I mentioned in the chapter:

Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu: Fire Element, Grand Fireball Technique

A technique where the user builds up chakra in their chest and blows a large ball of fire from their mouth.

Edited: 09 Oct 2009