Luck of the Lemon Balm

Things you should know first:

In this story, Itachi never killed his clan.

There are more than one pairing, but I focused on my all time favorite pairing.

Lemon Balm is a leaf like plant

I am not a yaoi fan

This is not a side story to anything

The kunoichis of Konoha plus Temari, were all sitting in a cafe talking about... guys. It's not really their fault since Valentine was only a few days away. They all have no plans, no men to hold, no what so ever.

The normally date-full Ino have no plans. No guys asked her to do anything on Valentine. She was the one who held this "meeting" and was hoping to get advice from the others.

The travel from a far Temari, did have a few men ask her for dates for the special holiday. But her thick headed brother wasn't happy about it, so she escaped to paradise Konoha. Only to found out that most of the opposite gender did not know her well.

The ever so faithful Hinata, was too scared to ask Naruto of anything. Sakura had offer to help, but it turned out that he had a mission with Sasuke. Hinata didn't mention a word, but they knew she was upset. Valentine was the perfect time to confess, but the stupid mission took her chance.

The weapon expert, Tenten, was having similar luck. Her crush, Neji, had decided that Valentine is a day to train. She had tried to ask him and give hints with the help of her girls, but like many prodigies, he was a train now, fun never kind of person.

Last, but not least, the mega strength but caring medic, Sakura, also have no plans. She thought her only love was the nice and happy-going Sasuke, but he was just too childish for her. Many shinobis had hurt themselves on purpose to see her in the hospital, but none of them felt right. She didn't know who her "type" is, so how can she chose?

All five girls sighed in defeat. Ino poked her low-fat cheesecake and moaned, "I just don't understand! Why everyday except Valentine?!"

Temari sipped her cappuccino and answered, "Because Valentine is for true love, not some mere crush they have on you!"

Hinata took a bite of her blue berry tart and nodded in agreement.

"Luck is not on our side..." murmured Tenten as she stirred her cold ice tea.

Sakura played with her strawberry mousse cake and sighed, "If only, if only."

They all hang their heads, with a black cloud hovering above. Just then, their savior entered the store with the first person that she saved.

"Hey girls, what cha doing?" asked the happy, but still scary, Anko. Sulking, was the reply.

Kurenai smiled and grabbed a chair to sit her self and her soon-to-be son down. Thanks to Sakura and Hinata, she have months to plan her son's name. "Bum out about no date for the special day?"

They all jerked their heads up and watched in horror as Kurenai laugh.

"How did you know?" asked Tenten.

"Well, you see, Anko had that same expression a while back..."

Anko nodded, "Yup! I was so bummed! But Kurenai here saved me from being dateless! Now I am so happy with my lover!"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura spoke softly.

The purple haired female nodded again.

"Can you help us? Sensei?" asked the blushing Hinata.

"Sure, now huddle close!"

Immediately, all five single ladies leaned in and listened to the soon-to-be mother's words carefully.

Ino shouted in frustration, "AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kurenai-sensei said that once we find a lemon balm, our true love will appear!"

"I already found one, too!" added Temari.

"Me three," Hinata and Tenten said in unison.

"Now wish and place it under your pillow tonight," smiled Sakura, reminding of the extra little detail.

"Oh, yea..." mumbled the two blonds.

"How about we have a sleep over tonight at my house? We can remind each other," suggested Hinata.

"YEA!" the four agree and began running toward the Hyuuga Estate with the heiress. The guards saw the five girls and nodded gracefully. They nodded back, before entering the huge mansion. Hinata took them to her room, "We can stay in here. But shouldn't you three go get your night bags?" The four of them turned to each other with an embarrassed face.

Temari left for her hotel room, while the rest went their own respectful homes. Temari decided to eat with Hinata's family while the other three had dinner with their family. Nonetheless, they were able to meet in the room at 9 pm sharp.

"I wish my true love would come to me, I wish my true love would come to me."

All five chanted before slipping the small plant beneath their pillow.

"Excited?" asked Sakura.

"Yup, I wonder who he is going to be!" murmured Ino with a hopeful voice.

"Well, we know who Tenten and Hinata would get," giggled Temari.

"I sure hope so!" Tenten replied for herself and Hinata.

"Who do you think you are going to get, Sakura-san?" Hinata asked.

"Not sure..." mumbled Sakura.

"I want Sasuke! Or at least someone hot!" Ino shouted.

"I want someone hot, too!" agreed the other blond.

"Sakura, who do you want?" Tenten asked. But no reply came. The blossom had fallen asleep already. Hinata soon joined her. Leaving the three to chit chat. Tenten gave up after awhile. Now the two blonds were ending their conversation in hushed tones.

The sun was bright the next morning, giving the girls a hopeful sigh. All five of them had cleaned up the room and headed down stairs for breakfast. When they arrived, they saw that Neji had came over.

Tenten blushed, a huge blush that even someone blind can feel the heat. Yet, Neji had no reaction what so ever. Hinata, Temari, Ino and Sakura finished their food early to give them some space. Sakura made four clones to carry the night bags back to where they belong. Inside, Tenten was trying her best to confess.

"Uh... uh... Neji..." Tenten tried her best to speak up while twitching her fingers like Hinata does. Neji watched her out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'm busy on the 14th, I already told you." he stated.

"Busy..." but before she could jumble up another word, Sakura had shoved open the shoji door and called, "Busy about what?"

Neji turned to her, "Team Gai is going to have a mission."

Tenten widen her eyes, she completely forgotten! Neji gave a small smirk before excusing himself from the table to train.

All four kunoichis hugged Tenten tightly, celebrating. Neji didn't say anything, but his smirk already told them that he was interested in the brunette. "Now let's go around town and look for ours!" Ino cheered as they linked arms and stepped outside with hope.

They walked happily, until they spotted Shikamaru leaning against a pole lazily. Ino ran waved at him, since she was on the far right. The Nara boy walked over to them with his hands in his pockets. "Temari, your brother wants you to go back to Suna."

"No way!" she shouted, hopefully loud enough for her brother in Suna to hear.

"You have to," said Shikamaru.

"No!"

Seeing the sight in front of them, the four of them retreated.

"So they are together," stated Ino as they continued to stroll through the village.

The other two nodded. Just then, a deep woof shook all three of them. Akamaru pounced out of nowhere and tackled Ino onto the ground. Ino couldn't get it off, and her friends didn't help. Instead, they shouted, "A sigh! A sigh!"

As if by luck, Kiba came running. "So sorry! Ino!" He pulled Akamaru off and saw that Ino was soaking wet with the dog's saliva. Ino was too disgusted, but the blush on Kiba's face was visible to Hinata and Sakura. The pinkette grabbed Ino's and Kiba's hands and linked together.

"Be a good boy and buy Ino some new cloths, treat her to dinner and take her home safely," Sakura smiled. Ino glared at her friend while Kiba nodded. Quick as lightnng, he pulled her away. Now only Sakura and Hinata were left. They continued to walk until they reached the Hokage tower. The sun was setting and the streets were becoming quieter.

"Sakura-san..." Hinata was about to suggest that they should go home with two chunnins landed a few feet away from them.

"Sakura-chan! Hinata!" Naruto called out cheerfully as he ran towards them.

Sasuke gave a smile toward them, too.

"Hey, Naruto! How was the mission?" asked Sakura casually.

"Great! So great! That Tsunade-baa-chan gave us the 14th free! She gave us a wink or something..." he called.

Sasuke rubbed his head and sighed, the dobe is annoying no matter what.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked as she nudged Hinata's shoulder.

"Nothing, I guess. Unless you want to eat ramen with me!"

"I don't think so," Sakura stated as she shoved the Hyuuga forward.

"Uh... Na...Naru...Naruto-kun... I... can...g...go... with you..." Hinata stammered.

"Sure!" smiled Naruto. That instant, Hinata fainted, but luckily the other kunoichi caught her.

"Take her home, would you?" she asked Naruto, who took the girl from Sakura and leapt away.

That only leaves Sasuke and Sakura. "Would you like to come to my house for dinner, Sakura? My mom wants to thank you properly for healing her illness last time and doing all the chores for her while she recovered."

The blossom nodded they walked side by side to the Uchiha Mansion. Mikoto squealed in delight when she saw the pink. Running to the kitchen, she prepared more dish for her FAVORITE guest. Fugaku nodded kindly, some how, he have a soft spot for her. Itachi only watched with his onyx eyes. Sitting down, Sakura greeted them all with manners. While Sasuke didn't care one bit.

Normally, during dinner in this particular household, there would only be one cheerful voice and that is Mikoto's. But today, there are 5. Mikoto talked non-stop with Sakura, while the three male chatted quietly. Soon, Fugaku retreated to his study and asked Itachi to join him. The blossom offered to clean the dishes, but the mother told her to chat with Sasuke-chan.

"Sakura, did you have anything to do with Tsunade giving us the day off on Valentine's day?" Sasuke asked out of the blue.

"No, I did what Kurenai told me to do. I wanted a special someone for Valentine so I wished my luck upon the lemon balm!" Sakura replied honestly.

Sasuke watched her as he wondered how he should tell her the truth...

"Everyone found their match, except me," Sakura sighed as she took out her lemon balm.

"Umm... Sakura... Not to hurt your feelings or anything, but there is no such thing as luck of the lemon balm. Asuma-sensei made it up to make Kurenai-sensei date him. He told her the truth afterwards, but she didn't mind. Instead, she used it to get Anko and Kakashi together," Sasuke spoke calmly.

Sakura's jaw opened wide and she nearly choked. "So this was all a joke?!"

"Not really... I saw Kurenai running around to Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Tsuande to tell her the plan. She came to me and told me to play along, too. But I can't lie to you, Sakura. It's just too hard."

"So this was like a match-up?" Sakura mumbled.

"Yea..."

Sasuke patted her back as she jaw tried to ease back into place. Just then, Itachi walked in. His eyes narrowed slightly at the two's close gesture. "Are you staying for the night, Haruno-san?" he asked smoothly.

"No, no, I'm going to head home, now. Thanks so much," she smiled kindly to the brothers before leaving the room to put on her shoes. When Sakura was out of sight, Itachi's sharingan shone brightly as he glared holes into Sasuke's head. Raising his hands in defense, "That was just a friendly pat! Don't need to get sensitive!"

Several days later, Valentine's Day

Ino smiled happily as Kiba took from her store to store, showering her with flowers, chocolates, kisses and everything that a girl like her would love.

Naruto and Hinata were talking happily at Ichraiku ramen. A beautiful yellow lily was in Hinata's hair, a gift from the blond.

Tenten and Neji weren't in Konoha, but they were still celebrating on their mission.

Temari went back to Suna, but she dragged Shikamaru with her. Her brother was angry, but he had no right to hurt another village's shinobi. But he admitted that the Nara boy is better than the others he have seen so far.

Everyone were happy, except the dateless Sakura.

Kurenai had dropped by and asked her about Sasuke, but she told the sensei that she and Sasuke wouldn't work. Sakura sat alone on a tree outside Konoha's gate. She couldn't bear to see the happy couples while she have none to hold.

But luck was on her side. The famous Uchiha was holding a lemon balm as he sat next to her on the tree. "Ah, the only one that the luck of the lemon balm have not helped..."

Sakura glared, "Yea! Rub it in, Uchiha."

Itachi smirked as he let the lemon balm fall on to the ground. "Come on, its not so bad. Being single is a good thing."

"You can have women at the flick of a finger."

"So can you, Sakura." He teased her back.

When she didn't reply, he hopped off the tree gracefully. "Let's go back into the village before someone declare you a missing-nin."

Sakura watched him and wondered, "Its so weird... After that night at the Uchihas, Itachi has been showing up everywhere I go..."

She hopped off, too, as gracefully as he did. Itachi took her hand and pulled her toward Konoha. "Do you like me, Uchiha?" she asked as she looked at his face.

"Let's go get dangos." He, obviously, had ignored her clear question.

"Do you love me?" she tried again. Suddenly, his hand tighten around hers.

When they walked into the village, Itachi was still holding her hand. His firm fingers linked with her soft, delicate ones. And that was the answer.