A/N : Hi everybody!... I know I haven't been updating anything for like ever so I decided to treat me to a little B-day present and post a one-shot about one of my favorite couple… Yay I'm 18… Anyway enjoy the story as much as you can… ;P

'Shikamaru.

I'm pretty sure I hate you right now. You knew this would happen and yet you didn't warn me! You little lazy prick! I might almost be at the same intellectual level as you but that doesn't give you the right to stay silent about something like this. So far I've managed to keep a low profile and only one or two teachers realize who I am, but they're nice about it and don't tell. Why did you have to be smart and fail your exams? Why, why, why? I thought you'd pass and we'd be in the same boat, but nooooo you just had to decide it was too troublesomefor you. I really do hate you, just so you know. Neji must be thrilled though, he never really got over the fact we were a year a head of him. Give him and Kankuro hell for me will you? Wait, stupid question. I guess I'll just have to wait until next year so I can kick your butt over the huge parking lot they have here. Say hi to everyone at home, tell them I miss them and I better get some e-mails from them soon.

P.S. If I get killed here I'm blaming your sorry ass and I'll hunt you for the rest of your life!

Sakura.'

A small girl was sitting in one of her many classes at Kage College. Her hair was tucked under a hat and her large jacket hid her figure and made her invisible in crowds, or so she liked to think. When the class ended she took her time packing all of her stuff, making sure she wasn't the first or the last one out.

"Finally free." She sighed out as she breathed in the fresh air. Her name was Haruno Sakura and she was the only 17 year old 1st year in the whole college, there was one kid that was 18 but she hadn't seen him around. Being two years ahead of her piers gave her a slight disadvantage. She was bullied beyond believe in the high school years, that is until she made friends with Shikamaru who was in the same situation as she was.

Sakura didn't want to repeat the experience she had in Konoha High so she went out of her way to become invisible, at least until Shikamaru joined her there with Neji and maybe Tenten. Having successfully done just that for almost a whole semester she was quite proud of herself. No one had questioned who she was and every time the teachers called her last name in class she just raised her hand quietly like many other students did.

As she made her way towards a small café five blocks away from the college, she ripped her hat of and pulled her unnaturally pink hair up in a high ponytail. "Ojisan, I'm here." She called once she entered through the back doors, making an old man with grey hair poke his head out of his office.

"Ah Sakura-chan, good, Zabuza was just about to leave." He greeted, smiling at her. His name was Sarutobi Hiruzen and he just so happened to be the father of her English Literature teacher, Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma was one of the teachers that knew who Sakura was and he was kind enough to get her a job while staying there to attend the college.

"Alright I'll be right out, I just have to change." She said smiling at the man. Ducking into the small changing room, Sakura pulled out her uniform from her book-bag. It consisted of tight black shorts under a dress, that reached to her knees. The dress was dark purple with a thick sash that was several shades lighter and came in a bow on her back and the sleeves reached just above her elbows with little bows at the end. She then wore black shoes and high socks that matched the sash.

When she was dressed, she walked into the little shop and smiled at one of the other servant there. Taking a small notepad out of the dresses pocket she snatched a pen and walked up to the first table filled with college students from Kage College. "Good afternoon, what can I get you?" She said pleasantly not at all faced by the fact that she was taking orders from her fellow classmates that didn't have a clue who she was.

The day zoomed past her as she took orders form people and generally just worked. "Sakura there's a major hottie on table five, go serve him. He's been here for the past hour working on something and I bet he's finished the coffee I brought him when he first came." Haku, her coworker, said to the pinkette who looked over to said hottie. He had long black hair pulled in a low ponytail and deep onyx eyes fixed on a paper lying in front of him.

"Oh god Haku, that's Uchiha Itachi, he's with me in my Biology class." Sakura told him, looking away at her friend. Haku was what you would dub a pretty boy, well once you figured out he was a guy that is. He had long dark brown hair and chocolate colored eyes and a round happy face. He was wearing the same color scheme as Sakura minus the dress. He had on black pants, a shirt that was the darker shade of purple like Sakura's dress and a light purple vest, and to top it all he had a black bowtie.

"Just more reason for you to go serve him, you might get to know something about him of you do. I can just see you're dying to get to know him. Now go." Haku ordered, pushing her in the direction of the dark haired man who was engrossed in the assignment lying in front of him.

"Good evening, can I get you anything else?" Sakura said, effectively making the older students attention leave the paper and go to her smiling face.

"Just another double Latte please." He told her politely, looking back down at the papers. Sakura hurried back to the counter and started making the Latte for him. She had taken a glance at what he was working at and she recognized it as the assignment they had been told to hand in no latter than 1st of November and that was on the upcoming Monday only two days away. Glancing at the Uchiha, she couldn't help but wonder why he was doing the project now, it had taken her ages to finish it and it seemed like he was just starting.

Taking a decision, Sakura grabbed five different muffins and placed them on a dish. Taking both, she saw Haku wink at her smiling. "Here you go, on the house." Sakura said placing the dish and coffee on the table smiling.

Looking up she saw both confusion and suspicion in the dark haired mans eyes and she knew that he must be thinking that she was trying to flirt with him somehow. Deciding to explain herself a bit she pointed to his papers. "I know how you college students study and study without eating, it would be a shame if you collapsed without finishing your project." She was surprised when he smiled a little at her, nodding.

"Thank you, could you maybe tell me what they are?" He asked, pushing the papers away and pulling the plate holding the five different muffins closer to him.

"Well there are chocolate chip, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and a plain muffin. I wasn't sure what you'd like so I took one of everything." She said. pointing to the muffins as she told him which was which.

"Sakura, we need you over at table 12!" Haku suddenly called, making her snap her head up and look over to him. "Well that's me , enjoy and good luck." Sakura said, turning around and leaving without a glance back.

About an hour later, her shift was over and she noticed that Itachi hadn't left his table and was still working on the assignment, gripping his head in frustration. After she changed back into her regular clothes, minus the large jacket, she walked over to him. She didn't know why she was doing it but he reminded her of her friend Naruto, he looked just like the blond when he didn't get something in class and she had always, always, helped him out the best she could.

Sitting down across from him she pulled the paper over to her with a slight scowl. "Let me see that." She said, looking the paper over. After a few moments she saw the problem, no wonder he didn't figure this out. Placing the paper back down she pointed at some calculations. "I think you accidently switched these numbers, if you change them you should get another more controllable number at the end."

Itachi looked the paper over and quickly did as she suggested, watching with amazement as the end results became understandable after that. Looking up at her in wonder he asked. "How did you spot that, I've been going over this for an hour now?"

Sakura just shrugged and stood up. "Sometimes you just need a different point of view." And at that she walked to the doors and exited.

"Zabuza! If you don't stop harassing Haku, I swear to all that's holy I'll sick my dog on you." Sakura yelled at the large man standing over her brunette friend, making him blush uncontrollably.

The man was as stated large, he had short black hair and brown eyes. His muscular frame would intimidate most that didn't know him but Sakura knew he was a big softie underneath all that tough guy act. Or at least she hoped he was or else she was in big trouble.

"Sakura you don't have a dog." He deadpanned, never looking away from the younger male who was by now red as a tomato.

Sighing in frustration, she unlocked the doors to the café and shook her head. "If you keep doing that to him, Haku's going to faint, I need him awake and well today. And you know I won't hesitate buying a dog just to follow through with that threat, now back off and get behind the counter."

Hiruzen never came in on Saturdays or Sundays, his employees never questioned why and knew he was glad they didn't. Finally Zabuza backed away, allowing Haku to regain normal face color before their first costumer came in. To Sakura's surprise it was Itachi and he had a stack of papers in his hand and a large book-bag over his shoulder. Walking straight up to the counter he smiled at her.

"Hello again." He greeted pleasantly while shifting the most likely heavy bag on his shoulder.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" Sakura said, glancing at Haku who was smirking at her.

"I'd like to order a special service today." Itachi said, again shifting the bag on his shoulder. Sakura had to hold back a laugh at the shocked and outraged face of Haku when he heard that.

"Oh and what would that be?" She asked, waiving Zabuza away as he started walking over to them, she knew that the Uchiha wasn't that kind of man.

"I'll be staying her for the reminder of the day, so could you maybe bring a cup of coffee over every two hours or so and maybe something to eat once in a while?" He asked. Sakura immediately nodded and pointed him to the same table he was at the day before.

"I'll bring a double Latte over in a minute. Now I suggest you go sit down before you fall down from that bag." She told him playfully. Itachi did as she said and when she came over to him with his coffee, two other people had came in and were sitting around waiting for their orders.

"Thank you Sakura." Itachi said taking the cup and placing it on the table that was once again covered in papers. Sakura just smiled and hurried back to serve the other people that had just walked in.

As the day went on Sakura brought Itachi coffee as he had asked and made sure he ate something while working. It was an hour till they closed and Sakura was so tiered that she could just fall asleep standing if she had the choice. Looking up when the bell rung, she saw more college students walk in and look around.

It wasn't uncommon to see them there since it was so close to their school, but usually during the weekends they tended to stay away. Following them with her eyes, she saw the whole group walk over to Itachi and sit around his table or the tables next to his.

Having worked there for a few months Sakura could almost tell what kind of coffee each person would want. As she started to pull out cups, she saw them waive a little to her, signaling that they wanted to order. Picking up he notepad she walked over to them with a smile.

"Good evening, what can I get you?" She asked, allowing her eyes roam over the group. They were 6 not counting Itachi. There was a blond with long hair half pulled up in a ponytail that reminded her a lot of her friend Ino. Then there was a large guy, probably as tall if not taller than Zabuza, that had blue hair and a toothy grin. A red head that looked just like Naruto's friend Gaara, except his eyes that were brown not green, he was sitting next to a silver haired pink eyed guy that managed to swear at least three times before anyone ordered. Lastly there was a couple, the girl had blue hair and matching eyes and a paper flower in her hair, the man next to her had orange hair, three piercings down the bridge of his nose and at least six piercings in each ear and snake bite in his lower lip.

"I'll have green tea and a chocolate chip cookie." The girl said, leaning closer to what Sakura had guessed was her boyfriend. "The same." The pierced guy said, placing a hand over the girls shoulders. The pinkette loved it when she was right about things like this.

"I'm going to get a Latte with some French syrup." The blond said, smiling a bit creepily at her. The silver haired man smacked the blond over the head, murmuring curses under his breath.

"Triple Espresso and something with a lot of sugar in it." He said, surprising Sakura by how polite he was to her.

The red head just shook his head, not ordering anything and the big guy was almost half asleep so Itachi ordered for him. "Bring some strong black coffee for him and another Latte for me." He told her, smiling at her as she wrote the last order down and walked away.

When she came back the blue haired man was awake and grabbed the coffee from her, draining it without a thought, ordering another one. She handed out the drinks and went to make some more black coffee, but by the look of the guy she would just be sent back to get some more couple of more times so she just filled a large coffeepot with black coffee and walked it over to the guy placing it on the table.

"Just call if you need anything else." She said, smiling at them and walked of into the back room only to jump in surprise. She had somehow managed to walk in on Haku and Zabuza making out without them noticing her. Smirking, she took out her phone and snapped some pictures making them jump from each other. "I'm not going to ask, but I do have great blackmail material now." She informed them, laughing softly, her tiredness not allowing her to do anything more.

"Now since I have these very nice pictures of you two kissing, I'm going home early and I'll see you tomorrow." She didn't give them the chance to argue as she slipped on her large jacket and exited from the balk side of the café shop.

"Hey Haku." Sakura greeted as she walked into the café and sat down at one of the more isolated tables with her large book-bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hi Sakura, you're later than usual, something wrong?" The brunette boy asked as he walked from behind the counter and stepped up to his favorite pinkette. Smiling up at him, she shook her head.

"No I just wanted to sleep in a little today before heading here to study. Could you maybe bring me my usual things? You know I can't start without them." She then asked as she started unloading her bags items on the table.

Haku just nodded and walked away, calling Zabuza out to take orders from the people that had came in at the same time as Sakura.

Looking over her work he raised a brow. "Slow at school?" He asked as the books she had with her were not even twice as many as those she usually came with.

"Yeah, the teachers decided to cut us some slack before the winter exams. It's then that they dump all the assignments and projects on you and expect you to finish them all while studying for the tests." Sakura told him, remembering how it was in high school while smiling slightly and looking around. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked back up at the older man and asked. "Did Itachi come today?"

Haku laughed and placed a large kettle and a cup down at the table. "No, your crush hasn't showed his handsome face here today, but don't worry I bet he'll show up sometime later." He said, laughing at her red face as he walked away.

Every Sunday Sakura would come to the café to study. It had become her safe haven, a place she could be herself around others at her intellectual level without being made fun of. It had also stuck with her in those study sessions that she'd get a whole kettle filled with strawberry tea. She'd finish the kettle in two hours tops and then she'd move onto Latte and every other coffee she would be craving at the time.

"Mind if I join you?" Someone asked, making Sakura look up from her math problem and into the face of Uchiha Itachi who was smiling down at her and pointing to the seat across from her.

"Eh sure, but I doubt I'll be much of a company since I have to finish this before Monday." She said, pointing at a lone paper sitting in front of her. It was well past 8 and Sakura had finished all of her assigned projects except the one she was working on.

Noticing the look Itachi was giving the paper, she straightened out and pushed it over to him with a smile. "My math teacher decided it would be fun to make us do Einstein's Riddle just to see if over two percent of the class could do it. I'm already half way through." She explained as he looked the paper over and examined the small drawings she had made to figure the thing out.

Pushing the paper back, Itachi nodded at one of the new waiters that were working their first day. "If you get stuck feel free to ask." He offered as the eager boy came over to them.

"Hi, what can I get you Itachi-san?" The boy asked, almost bouncing up and down in excitement. Itachi smiled a bit at that and Sakura raised a brow, looking between the somewhat alike but so different men.

"Do you two know each other?" She finally asked, taking note of the new kids, Tobi's, appearance. He was tall and thin and he had a mop of black hair and the exact same raven eyes as Itachi.

"Yes, Tobi here is my cousin." Itachi told her.

"Well it's nice to meet you Tobi, I guess I'll be seeing you around more often now that you started working here. I'm on the Saturday shift as well on Fridays, Wednesdays and Tuesdays." She said, holding out a hand to him which he grabbed eagerly.

"Tobi, stop hanging around and get to work. I didn't get you this job just so you could stand and talk all day to Sakura." A green haired man called from the counter, waiving at the boy to come over. When Tobi was gone with their orders, Sakura gave the man behind the counter a small waive. His name was Zetsu and he was a bit of an oddball, sometimes he could be the sweetest guy you knew and the next it felt like if you didn't get out of his way he'd eat you.

"Ah, I see you know Zetsu." Itachi commented, nodding to the green haired man who returned the gesture. Letting her hand fall Sakura turned to her companion.

"And you know him how?" She asked even though she already knew the answer. Even if she never saw him during school it didn't mean no one else saw and knew him.

"We've been friends since high school. Come to think of it all of my friends are since from then, well all except Kakuzu that is." He answered, leaning back in his chair. Sakura only shook her head feeling a bit envious. He had all these great friends he had know for like ever and she had none at the moment, she had to wait for a whole semester and longer for them to get there and then it were only two or three.

"You're lucky to know so many here." Sakura said, picking up her paper and going over it. Before Itachi could ask what she meant something fell down with a loud clatter, making the three other customers along with Itachi and Sakura look over to the origin of the noise.

On the floor was the second new kid having a seizure. Sakura jumped up and ran over to the unfortunate kid and kneeled down next to him. "Someone call an ambulance!" She yelled, quickly kicking the surrounding chairs and one table away from the boy who was having massive spasm.

Taking her scarf that was wrapped lightly around her neck, she wound it up and pushed it between his teeth. Sakura didn't know how long it took the paramedics to come but when they did she was so glad that she almost cried. Watching the new kid being carried away, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" It was Itachi and he looked worried.

Sniffing a couple of times she nodded. "Yeah, I was just scared that's all." She said, whipping under her eyes to see if she had started to cry but was glad when she didn't feel any tears.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." He offered kindly, leading them back to the table where her stuff was and helped her pack it down.

"Sakura, are you going to be alright?" Zetsu asked once everything had calmed down, AKA Tobi.

Smiling up at him, she nodded slightly. "I'll be fine, Itachi is just going to walk me home, I'll see you tomorrow." She told him, giving the tall man a soft hug before walking out of the café with Itachi following her.

They walked in silence most of the way and it wasn't until they were outside of Sakura's block that Itachi spoke up. "Sakura, I was wondering. How old are you?" He asked, surprising the pinkette out of her own thoughts.

"I'll be 18 in March, why?" Her face was curious but Itachi refused to answer as he bid goodnight and told her he'd see her around.

"Alright class, since you've all handed in your assignments on the right time, I'll allow you to have the rest of the hour to do what ever you like." Sakura's Biology teacher said, more like hissed, over the class, making most of them stand up and walk over to friends they knew there or start working on other assignments they were late on.

Sakura did neither as she pulled out a sketchbook and looked for a pen in her bag. To her disappointment she found out that she had forgot to place them back in her bag the night before when she had been drawing at home. Looking around, she spotted Itachi not far away from her, in fact he was sitting right in front of her, having a quiet conversation with the re head Gaara lookalike.

Reaching forward, she managed to poke him lightly on the shoulder, making him look over at her. "Excuse me, but could I borrow a pen from you?" She asked, smiling at him even if he could see it due to her hat.

"Sure, wait a minute." He said looking through his things and pulled out a pen. "I expect that back." He then told her in a mock serious tone, making Sakura blush a bit and nod. Turning away from her made her breath easier and she opened her book on the picture she didn't finish the night before.

It was of a raven sitting in a cherry blossom tree and there were various animals sitting around the base of the tree or flying around. There was a fox, two dogs, five cats, four raccoons, six birds of all shaped and sizes, a fish sticking its head out of a small pond, a bear and three horses. Being so engrossed in her drawing, she didn't notice as their teacher, Orochimaru a creepy long haired man, let them out early or that Itachi had left without taking his pen back.

When she did notice, she rushed out and looked frantically for him. Seeing him nowhere in sight, she sighed and started walking to her next class, math.

It wasn't until during lunch that she got the chance to look for him again. Seeing him round a corner that lead to the front doors of the school, she ran towards him. "Hey Uchiha!" She called but because she wasn't looking where she was going, she bumped into someone, making both fall to the ground with a crash.

"Ow, watch it bitch!" The guy she ran over yelled at her, holding his head while scowling.

"I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Sakura apologized, horrified that she had hurt somebody, accident or not.

"You bloody should have watched where you were running, you stupid girl. What were you thinking, that the whole hallway was just going to move aside?" He kept yelling at her, clearly pissed over something more than just getting knocked over by a small girl in a large jacked and a silly hat.

Crossing her arms stubbornly, Sakura huffed. "Well there's no need to yell at me, I told you I was sorry, just let it go and let me pass." She demanded, trying to bypass him only for him to grab her hand and stop her.

"I'm not done yet." He said, getting angrier by the minute. Prying his hand off of her, Sakura glared at the silver haired boy she now recognized as one of Itachi's friends, the triple Espresso guy.

"Don't touch me." She hissed at him but didn't stop as she kept moving towards the doors where Itachi had gone. Hearing movement behind her, she looked over her shoulder to see the guy stalking after her. "Shit." Sakura just said and broke into a sprint out the door. However, she never made it more than a feet beyond that as she smacked right into the man she had been looking for.

Looking up, she smiled and stepped behind Itachi. "Help." She said in a small voice just as the silver haired man came out, pointing at her. "Come here you little shit." He hissed, obviously not noticing the taller man that was standing in front of the pinkette.

"Hidan, stop." Itachi ordered calmly while crossing his arms.

Seeming to snap out of his anger Hidan, or Snaps as Sakura would later call him, looked up at Itachi. Seemingly satisfied with the results, Itachi turned around to face Sakura. "I think you have something of mine." He said looking down at her.

Grabbing his pen from her pocket, she handed it to him. "I didn't notice when you left so I forgot to give it back." She said, feeling as his hand brushed hers as he took the small pen.

"Thank you Sakura, now how about I take you to get some coffee?" Itachi offered, making her look up at him with wide eyes.

"How… how did you know it was me?" She asked not struggling when the older male pulled her hat off and let her hair fall around her face.

"Haruno Sakura, the only and probably first 17 year old ever to enter this College, and the one who is only planning on staying for two years before moving to a Med-school to practice under the one and only Tsunade. Of course I know who you are, Sasuke told me all about you when you moved here." He told her, brushing her hair from her face and smiling down at her.

"S-Sasuke told you about me?" She asked and noticed out of the corner of her eye that the red head was standing close to them, watching the exchange.

"Yes, and Sasori's cousins told him about you also. They wanted to make sure you'd be ok." He informed her, looking over to the red head who nodded.

"Cousins?" She asked confused but then it clicked. "You're related to Gaara, no wonder you look so much alike." She actually smacked her forehead for being so stupid, making all three boys laugh at her and make her blush at her own actions.

"So how about that coffee, I was going to meet up with the rest of our friends. I think you'll like them." Itachi offered but when he saw the doubtfull look in Sakura's eyes he smiled and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, you won't be bullied here because you're smart, the Akatsuki will protect you."

Sakura was relieved at hearing that and nodded. After all if she was protected by the one group that everyone knew not to mess with, she could handle coming out of hiding and be herself for the rest of the year until Shikamaru and the rest would arrive.

Itachi took her hand and lead the way. Suddenly a thought crossed the pinkette's mind. "Hey Itachi, why did you want to know how old I was? If you knew who I was, you should have been able to figure out I was 17."

Itachi only smirked as they entered the café. "I wanted to know when I could take you out on a date. So don't plan on doing anything but be with me on your birthday." He told her and Sakura turned to the color of a tomato as they came to the rest of his friends. What a first impression.

'Shikamaru.

Maybe I won't kick your ass all the way over the parking lot when you get here. I'm starting to think that maybe it was just as good I came here by myself, grow up on my own a bit. I can't say it's just fun and games all the times but it's been pretty nice these past few months. Remember my new friends? Well Tobi managed to glue himself to a wall this time and both Zetsu and Kisame had to stay awake the whole night just to keep him awake until Itachi and I got there. I sometimes don't get how he got in here but then I see his test score. Oh I just realized something I've been meaning to tell you for some time. That gang that everyone was always talking about while I was there, remember it, the Akatsuki. Well I just want you to know that the reason I'm not going to kick your ass all over the parking lot is because Itachi my boyfriend has offered to do half the job and his friends decided they wanted to help him so Neji may be joining you. Oh and about that gang, Itachi is one of the highest members. Can't wait to see you next semester.

Sakura.'

A/N : Hi again... Alright here comes the same old same old... I would like to get some reviews please... I like it when I get them and I need some uplifting... I'm not much of a fan of birthdays, especially mine... Don't ask why (March 4th never did anything good or bad to me, I have no reason to like the day or hate it)... You could think of it as a B-day present for me if that makes it any easier to write a three word review... Thanks for at least reading if you don't leave a comment... ;P