My One and Only

Chapter 21

Sakura took in a deep breath and sighed.

There was nothing better than getting some air by taking a walk outside after a long and stuffy day inside. It had been raining in the morning so the air still smelled like damp earth. It was a smell Sakura really liked.

Some were really averse to it, but it all depended on your tastes she supposed. There were still a few mud puddles that hadn't finished drying up from the earlier rain, but it wasn't anything she couldn't just walk around.

She was in the expansive gardens of Itachi's house, of course. She was inside a small cluster of trees with a dirt trail in its center. It was cool and nicely shaded from the sun.

It was the sound of noisy footsteps that broke the pleasant relaxing aura that had come over her. She huffed in annoyance but decided to pay them no mind. They wouldn't ruin her peace. The girls seemed to quiet down and Sakura thought good riddance.

She had believed that to be the end of it, but all of a sudden there were hands on her back pushing her into the mud. She heard giggling as she fell to the ground, straight into the mud. 

The girls didn't stay for long. They hightailed it out of there once the deed was done. 

Sakura gingerly sat up. The entire torso and most of the skirt of her blue dress were stained brown. It crawled up her neck and the side of her face and dirtied some of her hair as well. The girls were long gone.

She sat on the ground swiping at her dress to no avail. She had liked this dress too. Sakura lifted her head up angrily at the sound of crunching leaves and someone coming closer.

An older woman with brown hair hurriedly came towards her, "Oh dear goodness what happened to you!"

Her angry expression faded and instead, she exclaimed, "A group of girls pushed me into the mud! Did you see who they were?" Sakura asked as the lady grabbed her arms and helped her up. The woman also swiped at her dress but it was no use. The mud just smudged. 

"Evil little girls, that's who." She said, then looked at Sakura apologetically, "I'm sorry, there were about three girls around here laughing, but I didn't see their faces."

"It's okay,"

The woman sighed, "let's get you inside, you need to get cleaned up." She took Sakura by the hand and helped her get back inside, giving up on making her look at least a bit presentable.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked as they walked toward a washroom.

"Lilo." She said simply, opening the door and shuffling her inside.

Lilo helped her get out of the soiled dress and cleaned up her hair and face. Sakura was glad to be in a perfectly clean dress in no time. She sat on her bed as Lilo folded the dirty clothes and finished cleaning up.

She stared at her hands in her lap for a while before looking up at Lilo once more, "Don't tell Itachi about this."

Lilo's hands stilled, "Why not, my lady?"

"I want to resolve this on my own. Just help me figure out who it was. So don't tell him." 

Lilo looked hesitant before slowly nodding, "I..alright."

Sakura smiled, "Thanks!"

With that Lilo left and closed the door.

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"Sakura,"

She looked up from her plate, "Yes?"

Itachi observed her for a moment. "Nothing." He replied. Going back to his meal. He lifted his eyes back up once she wasn't looking at him anymore.

Itachi wasn't sure at first, but when he had come home she'd seemed in a sour mood. After about five minutes of discreetly watching her aggressively stab at her food, he'd decided to ask her about it. In the end, he hadn't asked her anything but chose at the last minute to continue observing her behavior for now.

It wasn't until dinner was over and they were back in their bedroom getting ready for bed that Itachi said something again, "Sakura, is something wrong?" 

She sat at the edge of the bed as he took off his shirt and changed his pants. "No, everything's fine," Sakura responded too calmly.

Itachi could tell she was lying, but Sakura didn't seem very keen on explaining what was bothering her, so he decided to just let her be. For now.

Itachi walked closer until he was right in front of her before leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips.

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It was late into the night but Sakura was still awake. Her head was on Itachi's bare chest with their arms wrapped around each other.

She was still thinking about the girls from earlier.

This wasn't the first time something like that had happened. She had let them get away with it for the most part, but this was it, she was going to find them and someone was going to pay. 

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I'm so sorry this was late, I've been sleep-deprived thanks to school.