My One and Only

Chapter 17

Itachi's family was strange. That was the only thing going through Sakura's head as she sat at the dinner table. She spied the members of the Uchiha family over a mouthful of food.

The moment she had walked in, she'd been grabbed by the shoulders by Mikoto. The older woman had excitedly taken her around the house, introducing her to the various other family members in the process.

Kisame had disappeared somewhere along the way while Itachi just stood uselessly to the side for the most part.

The first person she was introduced to was a girl with long brown hair. Just like all the other Uchiha it seemed, she was attractive and had a beauty mark under one of her eyes. She had squealed, not even introducing herself, before squeezing her to death.

Mikoto and the other woman had then proceeded to gush over her together, pretending like she wasn't even there, saying things like, "She looks just like a little doll!"

She was mildly flattered at their compliments but some of the things they said bordered on creepy.

Itachi tonelessly informed her, "That's Izumi. She's my cousin." Completely ignoring that the two women were now pondering what she looked like when she slept and discussing whether or not they should photograph it.

Itachi then attempted to lead her to another room, but it seemed his family members were determined to not let her out of their sight. Even now, as they ate their dinner, Sakura could feel the eyes of the two women on her.

They had followed as Itachi led her to two men who looked nearly identical except for the clear age differences. All Uchiha men looked the same in her opinion, these two just looked more similar than the rest.

They had been laughing together about something and simultaneously turned to them when they'd entered the room.

"Hey, I'm Shisui." The younger man introduced with a bright smile and a wink. Looking at him further, Sakura realized she had seen him before. He'd been the man that walked in the morning after the first night her and Itachi had been together.

The older man stepped forward before she could think about it any further, "I'm Shisui's father. My name is Kagami."

After that Mikoto had declared that Fugaku, Madara, and 'Sasu-cakes' were already seated for dinner and they should all join them.

The mood in the room as they all ate dinner was mostly relaxed if not awkward. Suddenly Itachi cleared his throat and directed the attention towards him.

"Sakura and I are going to get married." It was directed at the entire room, but Itachi looked toward his mother, knowing she'd be the one with the most to say. She had always been giddy at the thought of having a daughter.

Unexpectedly, however, a troubled look had come over her face, "What do you mean?" She asked, sounding slightly disapproving.

This had not been the response Itachi was expecting. Not knowing what to say, he simply lifted a single brow in response. The other members of the Uchiha family were also looking at Mikoto with various degrees of confusion written on their faces. Except for Sasuke. He just looked constipated.

"But it's summer," She reiterated when she received no answer.

This time Itachi did say something, "I fail to see what that has to do with anything."

Mikoto looked aghast, her mouth wide and her brows furrowed before she stood and placed her hands on the table, declaring, "I want my spring wedding!"

The hand Madara brought to his mouth did nothing to hide his cackling.

Itachi intelligently blinked at her before asking, "What?"

"I've been imagining this moment for years, and it always included an outdoor wedding with the cherry blossoms in full bloom and raining down on everyone! How dare you disappoint your mother like this!"

Fugaku sighed before continuing on with his meal, deciding he wasn't going to be a part of this. Sakura's earlier thoughts that Itachi's family was weird were reaffirmed with the knowledge that his mother had apparently been planning their wedding for years now.

Izumi seemed to be the only one trying to talk some sense into Mikoto and awkwardly smiled, "Spring is a couple of months away, maybe they should just get married now."

Mikoto would hear none of it, "No! This is an event that only takes place once in your life and it should be perfect!"

Izumi tried again, "B-but it's their....." She trailed off as she saw Shisui and his father giving her signs to just give up. Mikoto would not be deterred. She signed in resignation and looked apologetically at Itachi and Sakura.

Itachi quietly acquiesced victory to his mother. She was thrilled and a date in the middle of spring was promptly established. Sasuke had run to hide from it all in the comfort of his room.

Everyone else had slowly retired to their rooms while Mikoto had talked to Sakura about wedding plans that she mostly didn't understand while Itachi sat listening next to her.

They eventually escaped from her, or more like Mikoto decided she didn't need their input, after all, dismissing them with a quick, "You know what! I'll take care of it,"

Sakura had been relieved. She could finally drown out the weirdness of this day in some well-deserved sleep. That was until Itachi had gotten into bed with her and wound his arms around her and her brain decided to narrow in on her upcoming wedding.

She had been basically forced into this. She hadn't been very happy with the arrangement at the start, admittedly still felt some resentment. Sakura looked up at Itachi's sleeping face. After a moment, she snuggled closer to his chest. Maybe she could get used to this.

Maybe by the time that spring came, she would be truly content with this arrangement.