Story: Astraphobia

Author: MizukiYukiko

Rated: T

Pairing: ItachiXSakura

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Sometimes pranks go too far, but sometimes it's these situations that help push two people together. Sometimes, a little bit of thunder and lightning is exactly what they needed in the first place.

Notes: Sequel to "Lemon Juice"; 50_shinobi theme: #10 thunderstorms; Non-massacre AU; and reviews are loved, appreciated, and read with satisfaction. Thank you for reading!

Astraphobia

Astraphobia: the fear of thunder and lightning.

How many people can say they remember the exact moment they fell in love?

Uchiha Itachi can.

The early summer air was warm that year, so the doors were left ajar during the clan meeting that he and Sasuke were being forced to attend. Sasuke was fifteen, almost sixteen, and Itachi was twenty at the time. The clan was pestering Sasuke about taking the jounin exams despite the fact that he had only passed the chunin exams the year prior. Itachi had sighed deeply and was trying his best to ignore the disapproving looks that were plastered on the faces of the stuffy elders.

Sasuke had just made the point that his team, Team Seven, was not yet ready to face the jounin exams as a whole. Naruto had just returned with Jiraiya from his journey, and Sakura was still working with the Fifth Hokage as an apprentice. That's when the clan elders made their mistake. They chose that particular moment to comment on their disapproval for Sasuke's teammates. Sasuke was fiercely loyal to his team, having gone through so much over the four years they had been teammates, but he knew better than to object openly to their comments. He had just hung his head and sighed exasperatedly as the elders talked about how a kyuubi vessel and pink-haired 'priss' were not good enough to be on a team with an Uchiha.

What they elders didn't know, though, was that Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto were waiting patiently outside the Uchiha meeting room for the session to finish, and the doors were wide open for anyone to hear the conversation taking place within the walls.

What they also didn't know was the Haruno Sakura had a short temper and was quick to use her fists to solve her problems.

After five straight minutes of verbal abuse, the rosette 'priss' stalked into the room with a dangerous look to her usually happy jade eyes, Naruto hot on her heels trying to stop the determined kunoichi. Sakura began to yell, loudly and vulgarly, at the clan elders. The only person who she treated with any respect was Itachi's father, Fugaku, because Sakura knew that Fugaku liked her and Naruto and held no ill will towards them being on Sasuke's team. The rest of the elders were not so fortunate. Any attempts made by the elders, Sasuke, or Naruto to stop the kunoichi from her colorful rant were futile. It finally took Fugaku interrupting her, telling her that her point was heard, for her to calm herself.

Itachi took a moment to appreciate his foolish little brother's teammate. Despite what his younger sibling seemed to believe, he was not asexual and did possess all of the normal hormones that a twenty-year-old male should possess. This allowed him to appreciate Sakura's beauty when she stomped into the clan meeting that day. She had certainly filled out over the years and was now a proud chunin that wore the flak jacket that she was dawning with pride. Her slender curves were hidden under that jacket, but Itachi could still tell that she had developed into quite the beautiful young woman.

However, he did not realize the uniqueness and power of this young woman until she turned to stomp out of the building, Naruto tailing her again. Her face was flushed from the heat and her ravaging anger, and her eyes sparkled with an angry mischief that was captivating and disconcerting. As she crossed the threshold onto the porch, the side of her fist connected with the doorframe. One loud crack and some tremors later, and the entire building crumbled to the ground. Luckily, they were all shinobi so nobody was hurt.

But that moment sealed Uchiha Itachi to his fate – he was in love with Haruno Sakura. Of course, a relationship with her had been currently out of the question. She was barely sixteen and he was a few weeks shy of being twenty-one. Fates would have it, though, that they would be placed on the Hokage's advisors panel together. It allowed him to watch her a bit more, understand her a bit better.

She was a lively young woman who was easy to converse with and seemed to be a genuine person all around. Her talents and reputation in the medical field continued to grow over the next year and a half, and so did her body. She had already been beautiful, but the time did wonders to transform the teenager into a gorgeous, mature young woman. However, Itachi was not one to base his feelings on looks alone.

Sakura was smart, quick-witted, and easy to talk to. She was one of the few kunoichi who could carry on an intelligent conversation with him. Additionally, she didn't cower in his presence or act like some insane fan-girl. It must have been the years spent on a team with Sasuke, but Sakura seemed immune to the arrogant air that emanated from most Uchiha's and their incessantly persistent fan girls. While Itachi was sure that he intimidated her on some level, because let's face it, he intimidated everyone (sans the Godaime) on some level, but Sakura never let it outwardly show. She seemed like the perfect girl for an Uchiha, and Itachi found that his infatuation with the kunoichi only grew with time.

He used his powers as ANBU captain to see her more frequently; like for appointments at the hospital or for extra help on a poison he had come across. Their merely platonic relationship was acceptable for Itachi for the time being. There was also the issue of Sakura's feelings towards his little brother. He was aware of the love confession she had made to him when they were twelve, but as far as he knew, nothing had come of it. There was also the issue of her feelings towards him. He could not be sure if she held feelings for him that went beyond a friendship. However, if any sort of attraction existed, he would attempt to use it to his benefit.

That was why he had approached her in her office after the lemon juice incident, and she had reacted just as he had hoped. Her body had shown some physical attraction to him. He could work with that if she allowed it. But the kunoichi was volatile and he knew that it would take a particular technique to seduce the rosette properly. Sakura was almost eighteen, only a few months shy of her birthday, and he could now pursue a relationship with her if he, and she, so chose.

That had been his plan.

However the fates would have it that he would not be able to pursue Haruno Sakura because two months after she tainted his shampoo with lemon juice, she was sent on a four-month long mission to Suna to help them build their medical facilities. She was also instructed to learn more about poisons. Apparently Suna was the leading village for poisons and antidotes, and they agreed to share their knowledge if the sannin's apprentice helped rebuild their medical system.

However, in the two months that she was in Konoha before her departure, she and Itachi had exchanged blows in their little prank war. It told Itachi a lot about her – she never gave up, she was creative, and she was ruthless.

Sakura knew how obsessive compulsive Itachi happened to be about keeping his things clean. His room was always impeccable, he always kept himself well-groomed, and his office was so thoroughly clean and organized that a monkey could find anything he wanted in the office. So, in exchange for almost lighting her hair on fire, Sakura summoned her slugs to Itachi's room and office one week later. After a mission, Itachi came home to find twenty slugs, slime and all, sliding all over his things making them disgusting, smelly, and sticky. He thoroughly cleaned his room, internally congratulated her for a job well done, and went to work the next day at the ANBU building to find the slugs had done the same to his office.

In response to that prank, Itachi snuck into her apartment one day while she was on a mission, threw away all of her food and replaced it with hundreds of bags of chicken ramen – her least favorite kind. So when she returned, all she found was ramen. She stormed into his office the next day, flinging obscenities at him handily, and demanded to be reimbursed for all of the food that he threw out. Of course, Itachi had already thought of that, and he would never actually steal her food without paying for it. So, in a haughty and above-all tone, he informed her that he had already left her money to pay for the food. The only catch was he hid it in one of the bags of ramen, so she would have to open and dump them all in order to find it.

One week after that, Itachi found himself volunteered to teach a class in genjutsu to the academy students by none other than Haruno Sakura. Since she knew him so well, she knew he particularly hated teaching young, naïve children. So while she taught a class to prospective medics, he was forced to teach a class in genjutsu to a group of whiny twelve-year-olds. He made three of them cry by the end of the day, resulting in several angry letters from parents that were delivered directly to his hands by Haruno Sakura, a beaming smile plastered on her face while she did so.

Then Itachi decided that every one of his ANBU members needed immediate check-ups at the hospital. And, wanting the best for his men and women, he requested that Haruno Sakura do the majority of them personally since she was one of the most talented medics. Although he may have rubbed some of the other medics the wrong way, the look of utter exhaustion, contempt, and hatred on Sakura's face when she glowered at him was well worth it.

But that was a little over four months ago. Not long after that prank, Sakura departed with Sasuke for Suna while Naruto went on another adventure with his godfather. Kakashi, in the meantime, enjoyed some peace and quiet away from his students to catch up on reading Icha Icha.

Sakura, however, was not one to let anybody else have the last laugh. So in retaliation, Sakura ordered Itachi to undergo an array of volatile, invasive tests while she was gone because she found something that 'concerned' her during their last exam. By the time all of these tests were completed by a large male medic with very rough hands, Sakura was gone. When Itachi asked the male medic what 'concerned' Sakura, the medic smirked and replied that Sakura was concerned that Itachi had an over inflation of something. Once again, Itachi had to ask what was 'over inflated.' The male medic broke out into a full round of laughter before saying: 'Sakura-senpai was concerned about your over inflated ego.' The medics, having been recently snubbed and insulted by Itachi, were more than willing to help Sakura in her plans for revenge.

Now, Itachi was sitting at his desk in his ANBU office, mulling over what he would do to her when she returned. Her eighteenth birthday passed while she was in Suna – many of his comrades requesting to go visit her during that weekend – and now he was growing impatient with their game. It was time for him to take things to the next level if he ever wanted Sakura to be his.

Her time in Suna had given him a reason to worry. It was no secret (alright, it really was a secret, but he couldn't help but hear Naruto's conversation with his younger brother when he was practically shouting the news throughout the Uchiha compound) that the Kazekage had a bit of a crush on Sakura. It had developed when a notorious organization, the Akatsuki, had captured the Kazekage in order to extract Shukaku from him. Sakura and her team had been sent to heal the Kazekage's brother from a poisoning and rescue Gaara himself. Itachi did not know exactly what had happened on that trip, but he knew that Sakura ended up saving Kankuro, defeating an Akatsuki member named Sasori, and helped to bring the Kazekage back to life. And Itachi had to begrudgingly admit that the red-head was a bit of a threat to his plans.

But there were some things that Itachi was banking on to keep the Kazekage from expressing his interest in the rosette. First, Sakura would never agree to leave Konoha to move to Suna to be the Kazekage's wife. She would not want to leave her friends, parents, and teammates. Also, the Kazekage was allegedly emotionally stunted from his disastrous childhood, and he would not know how to properly address his feelings towards Sakura. Then there was the last line of defense, and it was nearly infallible: Sasuke. Sasuke acted as Sakura's guard for the entirety of the mission, and he was more protective of Sakura than anybody. Not in a romantic way, Itachi hoped, but he kept men away from the kunoichi at all costs. Gaara and Sasuke also held a long-time rivalry from their first encounter in the chunin exams, and he would do everything it took to keep the Kazekage far away from his pink-haired teammate. He had told Naruto this much when Naruto had announced the Gaara had a crush on Sakura during their conversation at the house.

With a small sigh of exasperation, Itachi pushed the files on his desk away from him. Obviously he wouldn't be getting any work done while he was thinking of Sakura. Now, he also needed information. Sakura would return tomorrow, and he needed to have a plan in place to win the prank war and make Sakura his. So he stood up and exited his office. A visit to the recently-returned Naruto would do well to gather information on the kunoichi of his affections.

X

Two hours later, Itachi was getting annoyed. Such torture should have worked much easier on the big-mouthed kyuubi, but Itachi must have misjudged and underestimated his loyalties to his teammates. Naruto was bound, hands and feet in chakra suppressant ropes, in a dining room chair that was now facing his kitchenette. His apartment was messier than Itachi would have felt comfortable standing in, but he couldn't complain too much – he had broken into Naruto's apartment and promptly tied him up while he was asleep.

"Naruto-kun, tell me what I wish to know and we wouldn't have to go through this," Itachi chastised in his most deadly ANBU voice, a hint of satanic amusement pressing at the ends of the sentence. If his short time working with Morino Ibiki did any good, it would come in handy now. Naruto's eyes were filled with tears and he looked at the floor around him, littered with the remains of his most precious items.

"I'll never tell," he wailed, thrashing around again. Itachi let out an audible sigh before moving to the last of the kitchen cabinets.

"I believe this flavor is your favorite, Naruto-kun. It will be a pity…"

"NOT THE BEEF!" Naruto cried again. "ANYTHING BUT THE BEEF RAMEN."

"I could spare you such heart ache if you would only tell me what I wish to know," Itachi murmured in his deadly tenor once again. He began to systematically pull down all of the packets of beef ramen before moving them towards the already full trash can. In the bin lay all of Naruto's other flavors – miso, chicken, vegetable, etc. Now Itachi had found the stash of his favorite ramen, the beef, and it would be the last to go.

Naruto sniveled in his chair, unable to save the ramen. Each time Itachi had opened one of the previous packets, dumped its contents into the bin, and thrown away the wrapper, was like losing a child over and over again. Every one of those packets was another one he would not be able to eat in the future, and it was an astronomical waste of something so precious to him.

"Please," he sniffed. "Not the beef…"

"Naruto," Itachi said with warning as he moved closer to the trash bin, a packet of beef ramen in hand.

Naruto's cerulean eyes followed Itachi's long hands closely as he set the bag down on the counter, preparing for the strike on the innocent bag of ramen. A long tear was made in the side with a kunai as Itachi pulled the bag up and poured the block of ramen into the garbage along with the seasoning and wrapper. This went on for three more bags, Itachi methodically dumping out the contents, before Naruto felt he could no longer take it. Sakura might kill him, but the prospect of losing the rest of his ramen would surely be his end.

So finally, as Itachi was about to slide his kunai threw yet another bag of ramen, Naruto wailed, "Thunderstorms!"

It made Itachi's hand pause just before it hit the next victim. His lithe charcoal eyes looked up to stare Naruto down. Naruto was panting, eyeing his ramen carefully, and praying that no more harm come to his stash.

"Sakura-chan is terrified of thunderstorms," he finally continued. "Now, just leave my ramen alone!"

A wicked grin crossed Itachi's face before he set down some money to cover the ramen that he had already thrown away, cut the chakra-ropes off of Naruto, and jumped out of the window before Naruto could even realize what he just did.

X

"I don't want to go back," Sakura sighed as she walked lazily down the road. The warm air of spring had forced her to remove her jounin vest and shirt, so she was walking in only her shorts, skirt, and black tank top. Sasuke was padding along next to her, hands shoved into his pockets as he walked lazily in pace with her leisurely stroll through the forested areas that surrounded Konoha.

"Hn."

"Your brother still has it out for me. He probably has something really big and horrible planned for me when I get home. My coworker said he was less than pleased about the whole invasive exam thing…"

Sakura trailed off. It had been such a good idea at the time, but to be honest, this whole prank war thing was starting to get on her nerves. At some point, she just wanted it to end. However, it was still a lot of fun. Itachi was clever and was one of the few men who had ever been able to match wits with her when it came to this sort of thing. It also helped that it gave her an excuse to interact with the handsome ANBU captain as well.

Sakura never had a hard time admitting that Itachi was good looking. He was better looking than Sasuke if you asked her. His hair was always flawless, and he looked like his mother, but much more manly. He had a soft jaw and large eyes, but he always held that air of masculinity around him that could render him unapproachable. Sometimes it made him difficult to talk to. Sure, he was intimidating, but he was also incredibly intelligent.

Occasionally she would listen to the conversations he would have with Shikamaru and Neji during their advisors meetings because of all the wonderful ideas he had for the village. No wonder his family wanted him to be Hokage. She was hard pressed to think of anyone else who would be better at the job. She admired how stoic yet caring he was towards other shinobi. It was a silent caring that was difficult to see, but he always made sure to visit injured comrades in the hospital to check on their conditions. He also adored his mother even though he never said it aloud, but Sakura could see the way he looked at her and the way he fretted over her working so hard when she would visit the Uchiha house. Just because he liked to pick on Sasuke, which was what older brothers were supposed to do, didn't mean he was a bad person.

That was one of the reasons why Sakura was so reluctant to help Sasuke with his stupid prank war in the first place. She respected and looked up to Itachi, and she certainly didn't want to get on his bad side. But when the competition started, Sakura would not be the one to lose. Trying to set her hair on fire had set her off, and she matched her shishou in terms of competitiveness and stubbornness. However, unlike the Godaime Hokage, Sakura didn't lose. And she wouldn't lose this time. The prank war was getting out of hand, though, and she wondered if Itachi would perhaps agree to a truce. She did not want to make a permanent enemy out of someone who she held in such high esteem.

Her inner thoughts were cut off by the low rumble of thunder in the distance, coming from the direction of their retreating backs. Sakura stiffened at the sound and picked up her pace a little. Sasuke followed suit for a few minutes before he felt something strange coming from deep within the trees of the forest.

"Do you feel that?" he asked. Sakura stopped for a moment to expand her senses and chakra, seeking out a foreign signature. Her eyes turned to the forest when she caught a flash of black and red, but she pushed it off to her eyes playing tricks on her since nothing was there the moment her eyes scanned the area more carefully, and she couldn't feel anything else – and she was very good at sensing chakra. Sasuke had been pushing them to travel back to Konoha as fast as he possibly could, despite Sakura trying to slow them down a bit. In short, she was tired and wanted to enjoy her time off from work because the moment she returned to Konoha, there would be advisors meetings, paperwork, and work at the hospital. Plus, she never had finished those check-ups on all the ANBU.

"No," she finally replied. "The air is just shifting because it's going to rain. Come on, let's go home."

Sasuke still felt uneasy, though, and decided whatever his hunch was telling him was worth looking into.

"You head home," he stated blandly. "I'm going to check this out."

Sakura rolled her eyes but continued on anyway while Sasuke disappeared at a point into the forest. If Sasuke wanted to waste his time, that was his business. It was almost comical because of how impatient he was all the time. Had Sakura been the one to suggest stopping and checking out a shift in the air, Sasuke would have scoffed at her and ignored her while he continued on his way. Hypocritical bastard. Usually she would humor Sasuke on his grouchy whims, but this time, Sakura wanted to get home.

Thunder storms had always been a bit of a weak spot of her; in fact, she was downright terrified of them, and she did not want to be caught out in the middle of the woods during a storm. It was bad enough when she was on missions, sitting up all night waiting and watching the storm while she cuddled up to Naruto. Nearby, a familiar chakra spiked with something, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. It was Sasuke's chakra, and he wouldn't spike his chakra like that unless he was in a battle or needed her attention in some way; then it dropped off completely. Sasuke had exquisite chakra control, but he could not completely conceal it from Sakura, who, due to her training as a medic, was incredibly tuned into chakra signatures. However, she wasn't feeling anything from Sasuke anymore, causing a sense of foreboding to fall over her.

Back tracking in the direction where she saw him fly into the woods, she followed his chakra signature for a few minutes into the woods. When she couldn't feel him or find him, her heart began to race into her ears as adrenaline filled her body. Her senses were on high alert, searching for any sign of Sasuke or whoever made him disappear. A crash of thunder from right above her caused her to jump in the air, startled. Had the storm really been that close and her not realize it? Unconsciously, she began to shake with nervousness. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she stole herself for the storm. Finding Sasuke had to be her first priority right now, and she was a shinobi, for Kami's sake. A little thunderstorm wouldn't scare –

CRACK.

"Eep!" Sakura almost jumped under a rock after a particularly nasty crash of thunder, lightning illuminating the sky at the same time. At that exact moment, trickles of rain began to pour down around her, splashing her nose and cheeks with cold droplets of water even though it was warm out. Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest. She was only in a tank top, and her bag was with Sasuke where all her warm clothes were.

Thoughts of returning to Konoha and finding help to look for Sasuke crossed her mind. It would certainly be a wiser choice than wandering around aimlessly when she couldn't sense him. Her thin tank top was quickly becoming soaked through from the rain, and the thunder was only getting louder while the lightning got closer. Her throat was beginning to close shut as her heart pounded louder in her ears. It wasn't adrenaline to find Sasuke anymore, but adrenaline from fear. Shaking, she hugged herself a little tighter, trying to sooth herself.

After several more minutes of fruitless searching, she decided to turn back. The rain was getting way to heavy and seeing was getting to be difficult. There wasn't much she could do, but a Hyuuga or another Uchiha would be able to find Sasuke easier with their bloodline limit. Just as she made her way back to the main path, another loud crack and a light flashing in front of her eyes caused her to physically jump in fear once again.

There is something about an all-consuming fear, that, when faced with it, makes the person shut down. The anticipation for the next strike of thunder or lightning, the hard rain pounding down on the person while they try to see and find their way back is enough to send her into a panic attack. All of these feelings crashed down on Sakura at once, and although she was a kunoichi, a strong one, the fear was beginning to weigh down on her that settled on top of her chest. Breathing became more difficult, and the tears were pricking the corners of her eyes like burning water that stung her pride more than her wet, cold face. Hugging herself even tighter, so that her shaking fingers were leaving bruises on her pale, ivory skin, she waited for the next crash of thunder and lightning while her heart continued to pound ruthlessly in her ears.

Finally, she thought as she broke through the barrier of trees and reached the path. Just then, though, another loud crack and a bolt of light in front of her crashed close to her, too close. She jumped once again, but this time she thanked her shinobi instincts because the bolt of lightning hit the tree in front of her, sending it to the ground in flames. They were spreading quickly, and she retreated into the forest to get around the fire that consumed her path back to Konoha. However, it was racing after her, and she had to push chakra into her feet in order to escape the flames that were spreading quickly. But it suddenly became too much. The tears were falling in waves of fear down her eyes now, stinging her cold cheeks in the path they made.

Another loud crash and bolt of lightning fell in front of her, causing another fire and blocking her path completely. Heat resonated around her while her breathing began to suffer from the smoke. A coughing fit from the thick, black smoke ensued, and when she was able to regain her senses, she looked around to find something painfully disturbing. She was surrounded. Resignation – that's what she felt. Her fear was making it impossible for her to mold chakra properly, and now she was going to be burned to death, consumed in a fire because she was shaking so hard she couldn't form the hand signs to make a proper water jutsu. And it was all Sasuke's fault. Clutching herself, she fell to the ground in a heap of shaking fear.

After a moment, warmth began to overtake her, but it wasn't the burning flames like she had expected. Chakra. It was a warm, all-consuming chakra that was heating her arm. Looking up, the burning flames of ember began to fade. All too quickly, a new world came into view – namely a new face.

"Sasuke?" she questioned. The red eyes, thin mouth, masculine face, long hair… Long hair. Not Sasuke, Itachi. As her vision cleared, it became apparent that it was indeed Itachi who was kneeling in front of her. Shifting her muscles slightly, she realized that she had indeed collapsed onto the ground, holding herself. The tears she had been crying were very real, but her face was no longer wet, yet warm from the fury of what she had just experienced. What shocked her the most, however, was the look of unadulterated concern etched into the usually impassive eyes and face of Uchiha Itachi. His face was almost regretful in the way he was looking at her. The warmth that had consumed her while she was sitting by the fire in the rain was still there, and she noticed that his large hands were wrapped around her upper arms, anchoring her to reality. "Itachi?"

"Sakura, I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. Wait, why was he apologizing? Unless…Sakura took a look around her. She was sitting in a clearing in the forest. There was no rain, no fire, although the sky was a little gloomy and a storm was pending. If he was apologizing, that meant that he had done something bad without realizing how bad it would be. The fire. The storm. It was fake.

"You put me in a genjutsu," Sakura muttered quietly to herself, tears still streaming down her eyes from the horror of her ordeal. It wasn't a question, but a simple statement, an observation. Now she understood why Itachi was so feared. Everything was so real, so flawless, she hadn't sensed a thing. The only reason why Sasuke had been able to sense it was because he used the Sharingan himself. Itachi had used a genjutsu to bring one of her worst fears to life.

That asshole.

Itachi nodded her head to her comment a bit; his face had slipped back into its usually stoic place, but she could tell he really was sorry. He must not have realized how horrified of thunderstorms Sakura was, or else he wouldn't have done what he did. It was, in essence, the perfect prank. But something else overcame Sakura – a feeling she had just felt a few moments before – resignation.

"I quit."

"Hm?" he asked. His warm hands left her upper arms, and Sakura instantly missed unconscious warmth and comfort that simple gesture had given her.

"I quit," she repeated, "You win the war. I give up."

Itachi quirked a perfectly shaped brow at her, probably in disbelief. Sakura just nodded as, once again, a new emotion overtook her. Anger, fury, aggravation, and so many more horribly aggressive feelings crashed into her for the man kneeling in front of her. What a jerk. He went out of his way to find out her worst fear and use it against her. It was just so cruel. Her fierce glare met his impassive onyx eyes which widened a bit in surprise.

"You asshole!" she accused suddenly, sending her fist flying towards his face like she would with Naruto or Sasuke. However, she would have never, not in a million years, expected it to connect. But it did. Her fist hit his jaw in a deafening crack that sent the ANBU captain flying backwards to the other end of the clearing. Sakura's eyes widened in shock when Itachi's limp body crashed into a tree; moving slowly, she approached his figure. He was completely still, and when she leaned down to examine him, she realized that she, Haruno Sakura, had knocked the great Uchiha Itachi unconscious.

X

Well that was unexpected, was the first thing he remembered thinking when he returned to consciousness. The last thing he had remembered was Sakura's fist flying towards his head, and then everything went black. Shouldn't he have sensed that coming? If she had pushed chakra into her fist, he would have anticipated the punch and would have been able to block it. he really did feel horrible about what had happened. The depth of her fear of thunderstorms had been unexpected, and his intention was never to make her cry. Merely scare her, he told himself, to pay her back for the invasive tests that she ordered, and then end the prank war so their relationship could go beyond where it was now.

Cracking his eyes open warily, he quickly recognized where he was – his bedroom. He was still in his clothes and was only laying on the top of his comforter. There was also another person in his room, and she was fairly familiar to him at this point. But had she really carried him here? That must have been quite a sight. He was surprised she hadn't taken him to the hospital just so she could be the one who dragged the Uchiha prodigy into the hospital, telling everyone how she had knocked him out with one punch.

"I know you're awake," she said from somewhere in the corner. He forced his neck up, his obsidian eyes meeting her defiant viridian ones while she lounged comfortably on top of his desk, going through some papers that had been sitting on top of them. Her eyes were defiant, but her voice was a little apologetic. "Sorry for punching you in the jaw."

"It was deserved," he replied evenly, pulling himself into a sitting position. "I didn't realize the extent—"

"It's fine," she interrupted. "What'd you do with Sasuke?"

"I had Shisui retrieve him after I knocked him unconscious," he said with a shrug. A small smile splayed over Sakura's face.

"That's why Shisui-san didn't look surprised to see me carry you back here. He just pointed, laughed, and then helped me return you to your room," Sakura explained with an amused smile brightening her features. "I had to use chakra to get you back here. You're heavier then you look."

"How did I not sense your punch coming if you put chakra into it?" Itachi inquired, more to himself. The puzzling question was still eating away at him. "I should have been able to stop that."

Her face flushed a bit, and her eyes wouldn't meet his. She said in a quiet voice, "I didn't use chakra. And I sent you flying into a tree, so along with the welt on your jaw, you'll have a bruise on your head, which I'm not healing, by the way."

He just gave her a small quirk of the lips, a smile by Uchiha standards. And, to his eternal male satisfaction, her blush deepened. Then he recalled their conversation just before she hit him. With a bit of a smug tone, he reminded her, "I won the war."

Sakura huffed but didn't deny it.

"Then I should have my prize."

"Prize?" she questioned, her brows arching in puzzlement and shock.

"Yes," he responded evenly. "One date."

If her eyebrows could go any higher in surprise, they would hit her hairline. She asked, disbelievingly, "A date? With me?"

"Yes, with you," he responded easily with a low chuckle that reverberated in her brain as she wracked it for reasons why he would want to go on a date with her. It couldn't be so simple.

"A date?" she repeated. "Why?"

"Besides the fact that I enjoy your company?" he asked just as easily. Sakura could tell he was in full control of this conversation, and she was just along for the ride. So, she nodded his head, which he responded with a noncommittal shrug. "Why did you prank me in the first place?"

"Because Sasuke asked me to, and I owed him a big favor," she answered simply, and then Itachi watched as comprehension dawned on her face. "You want to use me to get back at Sasuke for using me to put lemon juice in your shampoo," Sakura huffed. "Well screw you, asshole. I'm done being used."

"On the contrary," Itachi replied without surprise at her explosive reaction, "My primary reason for inviting you on a date is because I enjoy your company. Upsetting Sasuke is simply a perk. Wouldn't it be nice to get him angry? He was the one who put you in this position in the first place."

Oh, he had her there. And he knew it, judging by the accomplished smirk that pushed his lips. The idea was tantalizing, and it would be wonderful to make Sasuke squirm a little for getting her into this situation in the first place. Plus, Itachi had just admitted to enjoying her company. Part of her, the eighteen-year-old girl part, swelled with excitement and anticipation. One of the most eligible and sought after bachelors in Konoha had just asked her on a date. Even if it was just for a little revenge, it was worth the chance, wasn't it?

"Fine, one date" Sakura finally huffed in mock-exasperation. Itachi's smile got a little bigger.

"Excellent."

"Just tell me one thing," she implored. He nodded his head, telling her to go on. "Who told you I was afraid of thunderstorms."

Itachi paused for a moment. "Naruto."

A wave of anger flashed through her eyes before it was replaced by an evil mischief that Itachi only assumed she used when planning pranks on him. He wasn't too arrogant to admit that it was a little frightening to see her eyes get that evil.

"Very well," she replied. "I'll see you later."

As she jumped out of his bedroom window, Itachi could only sit there and feel a burst of sympathy and pity for Uzumaki Naruto.

AN: There's the second installment. There will be one more after this, detailing their date along with Sasuke's and Naruto's reaction. I know it wasn't as funny as the first, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!