Alone Together...

Five In One Day

Sakura's POV

The room was quiet for only the span of three seconds at Fugaku's departure. Shisui had jumped out of his sitting position and ran over to me excitedly. He was much like Naruto in the sense that he couldn't seem to sit still for too long. They were just too energetic to be quiet, let alone unmoving.

"Sakura-chan, that was amazing! I couldn't keep my eyes away from the game!" He said as he grinned down at me. I smiled up at him with just as much excitement. The win a few moments ago was a great achievement, one that would mark the start of—hopefully—a good relationship between us two.

"Thank you Shisui-san!" I said with a grin. The others soon approached us from their previous respectful distance.

"Sakura-chan, that really was a great game! I haven't seen Fugaku so intense in a game of Go in a long time!" Mikoto informed me with a big smile. Now that she had mentioned it, during and after the game he was completely different. I guess Katsu was right in the deep meaning behind Go. The Revealment of one's inner character did present itself.

"He was a real challenge to beat." I said up to her. She had no idea how true that was, reasons beside the game also playing a big part against me.

"So that teacher of yours...who is he?" Sasuke asked, trying to be as uncaring as possible, but I could still see the curiosity in his eyes. I suppose I can tell them about Katsu, besides his whereabouts of course.

"My teacher is an elder man named Katsu. I met him when I travelled around last year. He lives in Suna." I said, choosing Suna because no one could possibly know whether I lied or not. Even if they asked Madoka or Kioshi, it wouldn't matter, because they knew I made a few friends during our travels. They just didn't know who those people were.

"So you were travelling when Madoka-san wasn't at the bakery?" Asked Itachi in an attempt to keep the conversation going. I nodded up to him in confirmation.

"We had left to celebrate my birthday with my grandfather on my mother's side. He lives in the Land of Water. After that, we just travelled around and Suna was one of our stops before returning." I explained. They nodded as I told them about Madoka's absence in the bakery. I suppose as a friend and baker at their seemingly favorite bakery, it was their curiosity that wanted to know where she had gone.

"Well then Sakura-chan, if you're not fighting Ita-kun, do you want to practice some more?" Shisui asked, earning himself a glare from Itachi. I nodded up to him, eager to get up and stretch my legs.

"Alright, let's go!" He exclaimed excitedly as he began to walk towards the door.

"Wait, I can't just yet." I said, earning their attention. It was pretty embarrassing to state, but there was no other way to get out of this one.

"Why not Sakura-chan?" Asked Mikoto in concern. I wanted to cry. My amazing victory didn't make me feel so victorious when I couldn't even stand back up!

"Uhm...I can't stand up...my legs are stuck." I said already expecting their reactions; and as predicted, their looks of amusement turned into laughter. Ranging from Mikoto's and Itachi's quiet chuckles to Sasuke's and Shisui's overly obnoxious laughs. I sighed and waited for them to stop patiently, and of course, Inner wasn't helping by laughing either.

As I watched Shisui and Sasuke laugh, I hadn't noticed Itachi approach me. So it was to my surprise when I did finally notice him beside me.