My One and Only

Chapter 23

They had slept in today. The sun was softly peeking in through the curtains and they could hear the birds chirping as they lay cuddled in bed. Sakura was drowsily blinking when Itachi suddenly asked, "Have you ever ridden a horse?" She replied honestly, "No."

So that was how Sakura found herself now standing in the stables, staring at a beautiful, tall, black horse. "Come here," Itachi said and took her hand and gently placed it on top of the horse's head and lead her hand as she stroked it. She was completely mystified by the beautiful beast and stood gaping at it, her eyes wide with awe.

"His name is Aka," Itachi told her from his place at her side, having let go of her hand by now. 

"Red?" Sakura asked. 

Itachi nodded, "He's my horse. We're going to ride him." 

The admiration she felt for its height immediately turned into vicious fear as she took in its full size. Sakura stammered back from the horse, not very at all anymore.

Itachi grabbed her arm and stopped her from moving further back. He pulled Sakura toward the direction of Aka again.

"Wait! Can't we ride a shorter horse?" She asked frantically, attempting to pull her hand from his grip.

Instead of responding, Itachi suddenly took her by the waist and hoisted her up onto Aka's saddle. 

The horse moved a bit when it felt her full weight on it and Sakura screamed, a high-pitched shriek that could've broken glass if there'd been any nearby."Stop, I'm going to fall!" 

"You'll startle the horse if you keep screaming," Itachi reprimanded slightly before grabbing the reigns and passing them to Sakura, telling her to hold on to them.

One outside the horse's pen, Itachi calmly mounted the horse behind Sakura, who immediately turned and clung to him. Both of her legs were on one side of the horse, just like a proper lady should sit when riding a horse. She put her arms around Itachi's waist, burying her face in his chest. 

Itachi wound his arms around her to be able to hold onto the reigns and lead the horse outside of the stables.

The servants helpfully opened the large wooden doors and they stepped outside, heading towards the surrounding forest. Aka was going at a slow trot now. 

Itachi looked down at Sakura as they headed deeper into the forest and said, "You won't enjoy the ride if you keep your head buried in my chest the whole time."

Sakura didn't respond and a few minutes passed. As they rode, her heart slowly calmed down and she got used to the feeling of being on a horse. Sakura hesitantly lifted her head, still facing practically backward, her view consisted mostly of what was behind them.

Sakura watched with interest as the horse's tail swung back and forth from its steady gait. She got a bit more confident and started turning around a bit to face the front. Itachi lifted one of his arms to wound it around her waist to make sure she wouldn't fall and help her feel more secure. 

Once she was fully facing the front, Sakura immediately grabbed onto Itachi's other arm that held the horse's reigns and pressed it tightly to herself.

It was a strange feeling, Sakura decided; The horse's walking made her move side to side and she constantly felt like she was seconds away from just slipping off, but despite that, she was still steadily on top of it. Even so, she was beginning to enjoy it.

Itachi watched with a small smirk as Sakura looked from side to side and leaned forward a bit, appreciating the activity as she got more comfortable. He could tell she was smiling now and heard her small sharp intake of breath. 

Itachi shifted himself a bit in the saddle and asked, "Do you want to go faster?"

 Sakura tightened her hold on his arm before nodding excitedly, "Mhmm." 

He gently kicked the horse and it picked up speed. Sakura gasped and held on to Itachi's arm even tighter. They went on like this before Itachi pulled back Aka's reigns so he would stop. 

Sakura looked back at him confused and asked, "Why'd we stop?" 

Itachi put his arms around her and started to slowly lift her, "Hold on," he said and grabbed her right leg so that she was now sitting with her legs on either side of the horse.

Sakura pursed her lips and nervously said, "But I'm not supposed to-"

 Itachi cut her off, "Who's going to see? There's no one here." 

Sakura decided he was right and shifted a bit to make herself comfortable. 

"We're going to go faster so it's best if you have a better hold on him so you won't fall off." Sakura didn't even have time to say anything before the horse took off in a run. 

She Gripped Itachi's arm even harder and her eyes widened with fear. She tightened her thighs around Aka's back so hard her legs were beginning to hurt a bit. She had wanted to go faster, sure, but this was a bit too fast.

The feeling of flying and the wind in her hair was quantified by way too much and Sakura could not handle it.

Itachi still had an arm around her waist so at least that made her feel a bit better. But it provided little comfort when she felt like she was going to die. Sakura gasped as she noticed that they were heading straight for a cliff at full speed. She waited for them to turn in a different direction but Itachi continued to lead the horse straight for the cliff. 

"Stop!" She shrieked. Sakura screamed and shut her eyes in a panic. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt like she was truly in the air, slipping off the world to her doom, the only thing keeping her grounded was the firm arm still around her waist.

She was suddenly thrust forward and her backside roughly collided with the horses' saddle from the force as it finally touched ground again. 

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and stared with bewilderment at the trees and grass in front of them, "What....just happened?" 

Itachi chuckled then gently nudged her, "look behind you."

Sakura robotically shifted a bit and looked back. She stared shocked at the cliff she was sure would be the cause of her death, now behind them. They had crossed to the other side. 

She looked back at Itachi and with surprise exclaimed, "I had no idea horses could jump so far!" 

Itachi hummed and responded, "Not all horses, but if you get the right breed and train it right you can certainly get it to jump even farther and higher than that.

 "He's amazing!" Sakura said, reaching her hand out to pet Aka. Both as an appreciation and a thank you for the fact that she was still alive.

They finished the rest of the ride in a gentle sprint after that, to Sakura's insistence. The servants swung open the stable doors again and Itachi lead the horse back into its pen. He dismounted first before once again grabbing Sakura's waist while she placed her hands on his shoulders and lifting her up. 

"We should do that again!" She exclaimed excitedly once her feet were on solid ground again.

Itachi smiled at her, "We should."

Then Sakura turned to him, "Just please never go that fast again, or jump a cliff." She said almost hoarsely, her body still slightly shaking from the experience.

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I know the name of the horse is so corny but I couldn't come up with anything else. Also, as you can guess none of the spiels of training horses that Itachi said is true. Or maybe it is but I wouldn't know.