Naruto; Uchiha Itachi/Haruno Sakura
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha Itachi/Haruno Sakura
Rating: PG-13
Theme Set: Alpha
(Sakura, Itachi, and what could have, should have, would have been. Fifty themes.)
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01: Comfort
The morning after Sakura regains consciousness, she finds herself on the cold stone floor of an Akatsuki cell-to her surprise, a large red blanket has been arranged around her; she pulls it tighter around her sore, chakra-drained body, and doesn't think to question where it came from.
02: Kiss
Itachi is pressed up against a tree, feeling the icy cold edge of her kunai kiss his neck; he swallows ever so slightly-("Would you kill me, Sakura?"), and, behind the mask, her eyes widen and fill with unwanted tears, then, her wrist relaxes and the ANBU Cat is gone, bounding away under the cover of darkness.
03: Soft
Itachi's hair is so soft, and Sakura smiles wryly as she thinks of Neji and Naruto and Sasuke, while wondering why all her favorite men have better hair than she does.
04: Pain
He wonders what will hurt more-actually being killed (feeling the kunai go right through his heart, or slitting his neck, which will it be?), or that he thinks Sakura will be the one to kill him.
05: Potatoes
After ten days straight of cold potatoes and bread for meals, Deidara pokes his head into her cell and informs her brightly that Itachi requests her presence for dinner tonight.
06: Rain
It is raining at her funeral; regardless, all of the Konoha shinobi have turned out to pay their respects, but nobody sees the three men in Akatsuki cloaks watching from the treetops.
07: Chocolate
It's Valentine's Day again; Sakura goes to the shop to buy chocolates-when she runs into Ino on her way out while holding a large box of dark chocolate, the other bemused kunoichi follows her around for the rest of the day, demanding to know who Sakura's seeing-"You've been sending chocolates out of Konoha every Valentine's Day for the past two years; you have to tell me who it is…or…wait…wait…it's Gaara, isn't it, Sakura?"
08: Happiness
Sakura finds it ironic that the one person she is truly happy with is an S-class criminal wanted in five countries, while Itachi finds it amusing that the one person he is truly happy with is a Konoha medic-nin with pink hair.
09: Telephone
"Let's put it this way, Ino, it's a rather strange long-distance relationship, because neither of us can exactly pick up the phone and call each other at the end of a long day."
10: Ears
Itachi truly knew he was far gone when he spent a good part of a rainy afternoon fantasizing about Sakura's ears, before finally losing his temper with himself and storming outside to challenge Kisame to a spar.
11: Name
Deidara teases them both mercilessly when he finds the visiting Sakura sitting at the breakfast table with Itachi, each nursing large cups of coffee-"Good morning, Sakura…Ita-kun…" and the medic-nin has to put a calming hand on her lover's arm to prevent him from rising; although he does vent his frustration on the unfortunate missing-nin later, after Deidara makes the mistake of asking Itachi if he wants to train with him.
12: Sensual
Itachi is bent over his desk, studying scrolls of advanced genjutsu so intently that his eyes seem to blur as he gazes at them, and Sakura slips her shoes and ANBU mask off and promptly drapes himself over his back, rubbing her fingers against his skin in slow circles (he stiffens beneath her and asks what precisely is she trying to do); she murmurs that she is a medic-nin, and medic-nin can give the best massages, and Itachi rolls up the scrolls carefully and gives her his full attention.
13: Death
Sakura visits him earlier than normal, this month, without her mask or ANBU gear, but with ghosts in her eyes; when Itachi holds her close and asks what's wrong, she buries her head in his shoulder and whispers that she's had enough of death to last her a long time.
14: Sex
Lots of things can be blamed for the first time they really sleep together-loneliness, sake, and the fact that Hinata's ANBU uniform fits a little tighter on Sakura than is decent, but when they wake up the next morning, tangled in red blankets and warm limbs, neither of them regrets it.
15: Touch
Sakura massages away the stress in Itachi's neck; he closes his eyes and concentrates on her touch and wishes that she would stay with him.
16: Weakness
"Emotions have always been my weakness," Sakura hisses at him, "but next time we see each other, I'll be stronger-now, knock me out and go; they'll never suspect a thing."
17: Tears
When Itachi finally, inevitably, loses his sight, Sakura holds him close and cries the tears that he can't.
18: Speed
"You're fast," Itachi acknowledges, looking at the kunoichi in front of him, "but I'm faster-" with that, she's pinned against the wall, a kunai at her throat.
19: Wind
When she's alone in her apartment with the window open, feeling the cool wind tousle her pink locks, she looks out at the dark sky and thinks of him.
20: Freedom
Sakura looks up at him, utterly shocked-forehead protector and Akatsuki robes gone, he looks so young; so normal-and he gives her the smallest of smiles; "You can say that I'm free now, I suppose, and you?"
21: Life
Kisame isn't above teasing his partner about his relationship with Sakura-"You know, if you marry her and you two have kids, pink hair is gong to be in the Uchiha clan for generations."
22: Jealousy
Itachi hates himself for being jealous of the Hyuuga, but the next time he and the ANBU Hawk face off in a confrontation, he uses the Tsukiyomi on him-he is drained for the next day, but Itachi feels that it is well worth it.
23: Hands
His hands are killer's hands, Sakura reminds herself, but they are gentle on the mottled bruises on her arms, and she can't help but relax under his touch.
24: Taste
Itachi always tastes like peaches; sometimes, when missing him gets to be too much, she eats lunch with Choji and his fruit basket, and the Akimichi notices the sad smile on her face when she eats peaches-he wonders why, but he brings an extra few of them from his orchard just for her.
25: Devotion
Yamanaka Ino is the only bridesmaid at Sakura and Itachi's small wedding at the border of the Wind Country; she marches up to him, glaring, before the ceremony, and tells him, in no uncertain terms, that he had better take good care of Sakura or he will have the combined wrath of the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans upon him for the rest of his life.
26: Forever
He doesn't want her to stay with him for a few days or a week-he wants her to stay forever, and he looks at the rings in a jewelry store in the next town they pass through, and wonders how he will ever tell her.
27: Blood
Their daughter hates the sight of blood; when Sakura cut her hand on a kitchen knife, she threw herself in her father's arms and shook uncontrollably for the better part of an hour.
28: Sickness
Deidara asks Kisame if he thinks that Itachi's been acting odd lately; when Kisame replies that he's probably lovesick in a twisted sort of way, the two Akatsuki members manage thirty seconds of stoic silence, before cracking up.
29: Melody
Deidara asks, straight-faced, if he can sing at the wedding; Sakura's barely-concealed look of horror dissuades him, and he spends the rest of the evening sulking.
30: Star
Sometimes she stays awake at night, gazing at the stars; she is surprised to discover that Itachi knows the name of every constellation out there, in response to her query, he shrugs, and says that he doesn't sleep often, and stargazing is the only thing left to do.
31: Home
Sakura visits Konoha three times every year; she cries in Ino's arms her third visit back, when she realizes that this is still home, and she still misses it.
32: Confusion
Sakura takes her eldest son to Konoha once, since her daughter is too young to travel and Itachi is just a little overprotective of his youngest-when Naruto sees Kai, he stares uncomprehendingly for a few moments at the small boy, with pale skin and pink hair and Sharingan eyes; "If…if Sasuke's single and has been under confinement to Konoha for the past two years…and you've been away in the Wind Country…then…then…that's…that must be-"
--and when realization hits, Uzumaki Naruto, the mighty Rokudaime, faints dead away.
33: Fear
Shinobi training in Suna is ten times more difficult than it is in Konoha-Sakura worries for her three children, despite Itachi's assurances that they're Uchiha, and they'll do well, no matter what.
34: Lightning/Thunder
Sakura hates thunder and lightning, but she puts on a brave face during storms and tries not to jump during the sudden bursts of sound, because she doesn't want anybody, least of all Itachi, to think that she's weak.
35: Bonds
He strokes her cheek lightly, "Sakura, I'm never going to be completely out of your life, and you'll never be out of mine," and she closes her eyes, wondering if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
36: Market
Sakura is somewhat horrified to learn that none of Akatsuki knows how to shop-Deidara has been known to go the market and return with everything except what he set out to buy-and, the first opportunity she gets, she drags a sullen-looking Itachi, a mortified Kisame, and a highly amused Deidara to the market, and teaches them how to shop smart; in other words, shop like a woman.
37: Technology
"Itachi, this is something called a contact lens-it is not a weapon, so you can stop trying to analyze it with those handsome red eyes of yours."
38: Gift
After a night of partying with Ino and the rest of her friends, a thoroughly tired and now twenty-four-year-old Sakura walks into her apartment, shutting the door behind her; she smiles when she sees the red-wrapped present that has been carefully deposited in the middle of her bed.
39: Smile
A frustrated Sakura asks him once if he is capable of showing any other emotions beside that detestable scowl; Itachi smirks at her in his most infuriating way, and the kunoichi throws her hands up in exasperation and storms away, declaring that he is utterly hopeless.
40: Innocence
A drunk Kisame once suggests that Sakura join the Akatsuki; the pink-haired medic-nin thinks on it more often than is healthy, but when she mentions it to Itachi, he strokes her cheek with the pad of his thumb, an almost sad look in his eyes, and says that he doesn't want that kind of life for her.
41: Completion
Itachi feels complete when he's with Sakura-it surprises him, because he never knew that something was missing in the first place.
42: Clouds
Even the ANBU have lazy off afternoons at times, and their squad lies on top of headquarters in a circle, watching clouds (Shikamaru's influence) when Neji asks Sakura what she sees in that cloud formation, right over there, she replies Sharingan instantly, without thinking, and when she realizes what she's said, she can only give the frowning Neji an apologetic smile, and a hurried subject change that she's hungry, and it's his turn to treat all of them to lunch anyway, and disaster is averted.
43: Sky
Itachi had never really noticed the sky during the day before, not until Sakura took him by the hand and forced him to go cloud-watching with her.
44: Heaven
In the interest of setting a good example for his children, Itachi has resolved to stifle any and all urges to kill, maim, or otherwise severely injure other human beings-within reason, of course, but Sakura had to harass him for a few weeks to get him to agree to the terms, and when it gets to be too much (when he doesn't approve of his daughter's dates), she consoles him by saying that this resolution is good for his soul.
45: Hell
Neji knows and Sakura seeks him out, begging, imploring, pleading with him not to tell anybody; he looks at her with something approaching sadness or regret or disgust (she's in love with the enemy) in his eyes; at long last, he tells her that her secret is safe with him, and she flings her arms around him in sheer relief, knowing that he is saving her from certain hell.
46: Sun
Itachi's idea of a date is taking Sakura to the hilltop behind Akatsuki headquarters, the one that overlooks the mountains, and they usually just sit there in silence (sometimes she lies down and places her head in his lap; he strokes the hair away from her forehead a little awkwardly) and watch the sun set.
47: Moon
Sakura's heard horror stories about the mental torture Itachi can inflict on a person with his Sharingan; stories about being transported into a world of agony with a red sky and a black moon, and it is a whole week before she can even look into the face of her captor without wincing.
48: Waves
Itachi has never been to a beach before and doesn't think he ever will, but Sakura describes waves and sand and seashell hunting so vividly that he finds himself thinking about the ocean during his rare idle moments.
49: Hair
Itachi is more than a little dismayed when his firstborn inherits Sakura's pink hair-he loves her, yes, but a male Uchiha with pink hair is just a little more than he can handle-and they spend many long nights in debate after reaching an agreement that the child may dye his hair when he starts at the Academy, and not a day before that; Itachi is still somewhat dissatisfied, but he realizes that there are compromises to be made in any relationship.
50: Supernova
"Stay," he murmurs; she kneels beside him, tenderly wiping the blood from his face, drawing chakra to her hands, and tries to reassure him that she will fix this, for both of their sakes.
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Eee, this pairing fills me with so much joy.
Although I couldn't resist throwing Neji in there…just because…well, he's Neji. Enough said. *grin*
Thoughts appreciated!