My One and Only

Chapter 19

Sakura felt a hand shaking her shoulder. She did nothing but grunt sleepily in response.

"Sakura," She ignored the soft calling of her name in favor of tightening her hold on the pillow under her head and snuggling her face closer into it.

It was a sharp tug at a lock of her hair that had her finally opening her eyes. Itachi hovered above her with an exasperated expression.

"We have to get up we're leaving today."

It was true that they were returning back home today. Home. That's what she was calling Itachi's house now. That still took some getting used to but it was coming to her naturally enough these days.

The week at Madara's estate had passed already, but she couldn't understand why they had to be awake this early. Itachi called her name again, urging her to get up.

She closed her eyes briefly before resigning herself to having to leave the comfort of the warm bed. The Uchiha had stayed up late into the night with their festivities. It wasn't Sakura's fault she didn't want to get up, she'd barely gotten a few hours of sleep.

Itachi should have been sleeping too, instead of waking her this early.

Appearing fed up with her sluggishness, Itachi abruptly lifted her from the bed and set her on her feet. Sakura groggily rubbed at her eyes as his steadying hand on her shoulders left her.

Itachi leaned down to kiss her brow before tugging at her hand and pulling her downstairs.

"Good morning!" Mikoto greeted them once they were in the dining room. Fugaku sat stoically reading some scrolls instead of eating.

The only other person awake this early was Shisui, who seemed cheery and well-rested despite getting about as much sleep as everyone else. The others had clearly succumbed to the temptation of waking up late to make up for the lack of sleep.

They had just finished eating breakfast when Itachi took her back upstairs to pack their things. They passed by a barely waking up Izumi on the way back to their bedroom and she greeted Sakura with a lazy smile and sloppy wave of her hand.

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Not even an hour had passed before they had finished packing all their things. Sakura went back downstairs with Itachi following behind her. The house was much more lively than it had been when they first woke up now that everyone else was also awake.

Itachi left her side to talk with his uncle and she was left sitting on a couch. A table hosting several different pastries and desserts caught her attention and she moved off to the couch. Snatching up a chocolate chip cookie, she continued out of the main room where everyone was congregated and into a hallway.

Sakura noticed Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke, sitting by himself in another room. He was the same age as her, she was pretty sure, so she decided to approach him.

Not really sure how to start the conversation, she sat near him with still at least a foot of space between them. For his part, Sasuke didn't even look up at her.

"Hello," She greeted awkwardly when at least a minute had passed and still no words had ensued.

He looked up at her for a moment, "Hn." That was all he said before dropping his gaze back to the book in his lap. Sakura sweatdropped.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm, she tried again anyway. "What are you reading?" 

"It's a book about politics." He answered simply.

Glad she had finally found something to talk about with him she continued, "You like politics? I thought you would be more interested in fighting. Like Itachi."

His face turned sour and a scowl emerged on his lips, "Look I don't really want to talk to you. It's nothing personal."

Sakura frowned, "Why not?"

He scoffed, "I'm not exactly happy that my brother has more time to spend with you than me."

Sakura didn't really know what to say to that. She couldn't deny it because Itachi had spent most of his time with her. But it also wasn't her fault what Itachi did with his time. So that's what she told him.

"It's not my fault Itachi doesn't spend time with you." And that had also sounded pretty personal to her.

Sasuke closed his book. "Tch. Whatever." He stood and strode through the door to another room.

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"Oh, here. I made these for you to eat on the way back." Mikoto handed them several bento boxes. Despite having servants that could do just about anything for her, she still enjoyed cooking once in a while. She was quite good at it too.

Itachi and her were just about to leave. It was still early, not even noon yet. Sakura still felt a bit stung about Sasuke not liking her. It wasn't even her fault! She was most annoyed about the way he had just gotten up and left.

"Your father and I are going to travel back tomorrow," Mikoto told Itachi. He nodded.

Shisui piped up, "Yep! Us too," He said gesturing towards his father.

Sakura said goodbye to Itachi's family, Mikoto and Izumi giving her enthusiastic hugs and Shisui patting her head. It was only because she was so disgruntled about him that she noticed Sasuke hadn't come to say goodbye to his brother. Itachi hadn't even mentioned him.

"Have a nice trip!" Shisui yelled as they walked out of the white gates and towards the carriage waiting outside for them. 

Kisame had returned by now and went in before them. Sakura spent most of the way back home dozing in and out of sleep, not able to get quite comfortable.

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It was nighttime when they finally arrived back at Itachi's house. Itachi held her hand as they silently crept to the front door. A stableboy had already taken the horses and carriage back to where they belonged.

A maid opened the door for them and they stepped inside. The hallways nearest to their room were dark and Sakura wondered how Itachi navigated through them. He still held onto her hand as he all but shoved her into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed with her on top of him.

He sighed in contentment. His arms wound tightly around her waist and one of his hands came up to stroke idly through the strands of her hair. Sakura wiggled her limbs in an attempt to get comfortable. Itachi brought up the sheets to cover them both.

It felt good to be back home.