96Iruka Umino counted the number of missed questions on the test, 7 out of 20, and turned the page over to the front to put the score, a 65, above the student's name. He moved that paper over to his completed pile and then counted how many papers he had left to grade, 6. He did a quick scan of the classroom, just to make sure no one needed any help, he had assigned his students a worksheet to finish up the last few minutes of the day. He grabbed test from his incomplete pile and proceeded to check the front, when he found none wrong, he moved on to the back. There were none missing on that side too. He double checked the answers to just make sure, and sure enough after grading 24 tests he finally got one that had made a perfect score. He turned it back towards the front and put a 100 at the top of the page, again right above the student's name, but this time he paused to look at the name. Uchiha Sasuke.
He had just gotten the young prince as a student 2 days ago and already he was exceeding his expectations. When they had told him Sasuke was going to be moved to his class, he honestly was not too happy. While it was not unheard of for a student to skip a grade, or a few, and graduate early from the academy, the student has to pretty much be a prodigy for him to do so. He hadn't really heard anything remarkable about the boy, so he thought for sure this kid was only getting special treatment because he was the king's son. This did not sit very well with him.
So on Sasuke's first day in his class, they were scheduled to go out to the target fields and do some simple target practices. He let his best student, Ichigo Kumo, go first. Out of ten tries, Ichigo only missed 2, which was superb considering how the rest of the students typically fare. He then called Sasuke next. His intention was to embarrass him by showing to the rest of the class just how poorly he compares against someone like Ichigo. So imagine his surprise when Sasuke steps up into position, and hits every single target with such precision and accuracy that he's almost never seen in someone his age. Apparently the prince isn't just all about appearances.
He glanced up to take another look around the classroom, most students were still working on the worksheet. He stopped when he got to Sasuke. It appeared he was done with his sheet, but with the look on his face he seemed to be kind of angry. He was glaring intensely at the wall. He followed his line of sight to see he was glaring at…. A clock?
At that moment the dismissal bell rang.
"If you're done with the worksheet leave it in the basket on your way out the door, if you're not then take it home and finish it up for homework."
"You are dismiss—" before he could even finish the sentence Sasuke had already ran passed him, put his worksheet in the basket, and was out the door.
The kid must really want to go home.
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Sasuke looked around one last time to the line of carriages in front of the school and to his dismay; his carriage wasn't here for him yet. Which he found rather odd, it's always been on time to pick him up, nevertheless he was quite upset it wasn't there yet. He had to get home, Sakura was waiting for him.
He observed as students would load onto their respective carriages and drive away, and new ones would form in line. After about 5 minutes of waiting he let out a frustrated sigh. Its only about a ten minute drive to the palace, the walk shouldn't be that long?
He started off the in direction of the palace. He ignored a group of older girls who called out his name when he walked by them, which in turn only cause them to squeal. To him, this was a common scene. Girls always tended to fawn over him and now that he's been moved up in the academy he feels that it's only gotten even worse. He of course wasn't interested in any of them. They were all incredibly annoying and ugly, nothing like his mother or Sakura. Which reminded him of his current situation of wanting to get home early. He sped up.
When he had left for the academy this morning, Sakura was still very much asleep. He wanted to wake her up to say bye to her, but the nurse that was in charge of Sakura while her mother was busy denied him, so he hasn't seen her all day. Her bedtime is promptly at 9 O Clock so that means that by the time he gets home, he only gets roughly around five hours to spend with her.
Clearly that's not enough time.
Sasuke continued on the path he was on, following the familiar route through the city. He's never really had much of a chance to see the city from this perspective. He's not allowed to step foot outside the place without close supervision, and whenever he does its never on foot. So while he may be familiar with many of the streets and views, it the first time he's seen it all so up close and personal. While he really would love a chance to explore the city, he knows Sakura's waiting for him.
He looked up in time to see the royal carriage rushing in his direction. He moved off the sidewalk and stepped onto the street, in an attempt to grab the driver's attention. The driver immediately slowed down and came to stop a little past Sasuke. Sasuke ran to it.
The driver, a man he recognized by the name of Kyou, jumped off and began to vigorously apologize and bow to Sasuke, who at the moment had no patience and cut him off.
"Quiet!" he snapped.
"Just get me to the castle as fast as possible!" he ordered as he flung the carriage door open and jumped in.
Kyou faltered a moment before quickly snapping out of it and assuming position of the reigns.
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As per usual, he didn't even wait for the carriage to come to a complete stop. As soon the carriage rounded the fountain and came up to the door, he jumped out not even caring about his backpack.
He pulled open the door to the palace expecting to find Sakura in the usual place where she waits for him everyday after school, sitting on the last step of the staircase, only to find the staircase empty.
He frowned. He had specifically told the nurse to sit her in that exact spot in the afternoon to await his arrival from school. He stepped back outside to look around the courtyard to see if he had maybe missed her in his rush, but he didn't see her around. Maybe she got tired of waiting and went back up to her room.
He ran up the staircase, and down the corridor, he ran past his room and came to a stop in front of hers and opened it up only to find it empty. He ran back to his room to check if she might be in his room only to find it empty as well.
He went downstairs and out back to the garden and didn't find her there. He checked the kitchen, the sitting parlor, the dinning room, the ballroom, and any other room he thought she could possibly be in but still nothing. He asked a few servants here and there and no one's seen her recently. By now his frustration was through the roof, first the carriage was late to pick him up from the academy, then by the time he got home he was expecting Sakura to be in her usual spot waiting for him only to find her absentee. He double checked all the places he could think of one last time but still nothing. Where could she have gone to?
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"Again, Again!" cried Sakura as she got into position on the grass. Itachi sighed. He gently helped her push her head forward till it was very close to the ground. He then placed one hand on her tummy and one on her back and gently flipped her over so she landed softly on her back on the grass. Sakura broke out in a fit of giggles, before sitting back up.
"Again, Again!" Itachi chuckled. And he thought Sasuke was a hyper active kid. She has more energy than he could ever remember Sasuke having at that age.
He had spent the greater part of the day training with his cousin Shisui Uchiha. Since becoming chunnin both of them have been pretty busy with various assignments both in and outside the village. Itachi more so since he also has to attend his royal duties. So it was nice for both of them to have a day off and catch up a little.
When he had gotten home what greeted him was not an unfamiliar sight. Since her arrival a few days ago Sakura would promptly wait for his brother to return from the academy everyday just like Sasuke had instructed her to do so.
He looked at the clock on the wall and noticed his brother was rather late. Normally by now he was already home. And one look at Sakura told him she was getting quite fidgety and flustered waiting. He had approached her and upon noticing him she smiled up at him glee.
"Ni-san!" She cried out before jumping off her step, running over to him and enveloping his legs within her arms. He picked her up off the ground and rested her at his hip so they were face to face.
"Where's Sasuke?" he asked her.
"I don't know, but I want to go play!" she exclaimed.
He chuckled at her response.
"Well how about I take you to go to play at the park, just the two of us."
She eagerly nodded her head in return.
He told her nurse that he would take charge of her for the rest of the afternoon and together Sakura and him walked to a small park a little ways from the castle. This brings him to where they are now, on the grass, him helping Sakura with her somersaults.
They've been here for quite a while already. They've already played tag and hide-and-go-seek. They swung on the swing set and slid on the slide. By the position of the sun, it was going to get dark pretty soon so they should probably head back.
"Ni-san!" Sakura cried trying to get his attention.
"Again, again!"
"Okay," he told her. "One last time and then we have to head back to the castle, we're late for dinner." After guiding her through the process one last time, they headed off in the direction of the palace. He decided to lift her onto his back so he could carry her home since it would be much faster.
It was right after sunset when they had reached the castle and judging by Sakura's silence and soft breathing she more than likely had fallen asleep. He quietly opened the door, went in and shut it behind him as to not disturb Sakura however that effort almost ended up in vain after he spotted his younger brother in sitting exact same spot Sakura was in that afternoon.
Judging by the look on his face he did not seem happy.
Sasuke ran over to them.
"Where did you take her?!" Sasuke cried.
Itachi smirked. "Relax Sasuke, we just went to the park down the street is all."
"Why didn't you tell me, I would have gone with you!"
"Because Sasuke, I wanted to spend some time with Sakura. You always have her to yourself; don't you think you should share her?"
Before Sasuke could get ready for a loud and angry retort, Itachi shushed him.
"Can't you tell she's asleep?" he said while adjusting her on his back. "I'm going to take her up to her room and put her to bed."
Sasuke faltered a moment before he turned his back towards him, crouched forward slightly and cupped his hands together behind his back.
Itachi chuckled "Sasuke—" he began.
"I'll carry her upstairs!" he interrupted.
Itachi decided to just play along. He carefully transferred Sakura from his back to Sasuke's; making sure Sasuke had a good grip on her so as to not drop her. He then followed closely behind them as Sasuke carried Sakura up the stairs. Sakura was a rather small and light child, so Sasuke didn't really have any trouble but you can never be too cautious.
He continued to follow them through the corridors until they reached the one where both Sasuke's and Sakura's were located. But instead of continuing on to Sakura's room as he had expected Sasuke to do so, Sasuke stopped at his own room.
"Sasuke," he started as Sasuke began to open the door.
"I thought we were taking Sakura to her bedroom so she can go to sleep in her bed" he questioned him.
"She's gonna sleep in here with me tonight," was the only answer he got before the door was promptly shut in his face.
This time Itachi couldn't help but break into a full-blown laugh.
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"Stupid Ni-san," mumbled Sasuke as he heard his brother's laughter through the door. He turned on the light before he carried Sakura over to his bed, pulled his comforter down and laid her down. He removed her shoes before pulling the comforter over her and up to her chin.
He then removed his own shoes and walked over to his dresser and pulled out a set of his pajamas. After taking off his clothes and putting them in his laundry hamper, he pulled on his pajamas, turned off the light and got into bed with Sakura.
There was no moon or stars out tonight, but the room wasn't too dark. It was only about 9 o clock, Sakura's typical bedtime.
They had completely missed dinner, but he didn't care as he wasn't hungry anyways. He turned onto his side, so he was facing Sakura. She was lightly breathing; her face was gentle and serene. He stared intensely trying to burn this image into his memory forever. From her slightly parted mouth, to her button of a nose, to her adorably just slightly large forehead.
He took a quick look around, just to make sure they were truly alone, before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on her forehead. He felt his face flush red. He brought a hand up to feel his tingly lips. He's never kissed a girl other than his mother, but he's seen his father kiss his mother a few times so that must make it okay for him to kiss Sakura as well.
He scooted himself just a little bit closer to her side before closing his own eyes and falling asleep shortly after.
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As Itachi walked away laughing, he couldn't help thinking that Shisui would have gotten a kick out of this. He's the only one that likes riling up Sasuke probably more than himself. And what's the best way to rile up his younger brother, why by taking away his precious Sakura of course.
He will admit that he purposely stole Sakura away knowing how upset Sasuke would be. Sasuke's so overprotective and clingy of the girl, that he's never really had a chance to spend any time with her himself. It was nice to get to know his future sister-in-law.
He was tempted to go back to Sasuke's room to observe them a little, but decided to refrain from doing so. Who knows what Sasuke would do if he caught him spying.
While he may have had his worries in the beginning, after seeing the way Sasuke interacts with Sakura, all traces of doubt left him.
The way Sasuke is so very gentle and careful around Sakura. Like she's the most fragile thing on earth and he's worried that any moment she's going to break and be taken away from him. How he'll do anything and everything just to make her happy. And gosh don't even get him started on the way he looks at her.
If there was one thing that he was absolutely certain of, is that there was no one that made his little brother happier than Sakura Haruno.
A/N:Ahhhhh! I love you guys so much! You guys give me such a motivation to keep writing every time you follow/favorite/review! You guys are awesome! I'm working on a few one shots at the moment which hopefully I'll post soon. I want to see if I can update my other story first though, which if you haven't read it you should totally check it out (warning though it is rated M). As usual please excuse any grammatical errors unless they really are just uber bad, in that case pretty please let me know! I hate proof reading my own things cause I'm always really scared I'll miss something. Hope you have a blessed and awesome week! And please follow/favorite/review!