A/N: I will be perfectly honest. This one chapter has been sitting under the doc manager for a few months now. I wasn't sure if I wanted to update this story or just let it hang off as a cliff hanger. This is not my best chapter but I wanted to go ahead and finish this story. I hope you enjoy and if you don't then you have my apologies.
The What Girl?
Chapter 9: The It Girl
The smell of food burning drew her from the warm covers of her bed with a groan.
'Who in the world was cooking at her house at 6am?'
She padded down the hall in fuzzy slippers with a yawn. As she stepped out into the main foyer she looked up just in time to notice the burst of flame from whatever concoction her mother had cooked up.
A shiver ran down her spine.
As much as she loved her mother, she didn't want to be the one to tell her that she was a horrible cook.
"Ah, you're finally up!" A bright voice chipped happily.
She wanted to groan once again but she caught herself just in time as another flame escaped from the overflowing pot.
"Mom, what are you doing?" She muttered as she took a seat.
He green eyes only widened slightly before a large book appeared out of nowhere in front of her.
As she flipped through the pages, her heart dropped.
This book….this magazine….was full of wedding dresses!
What the hell?
"Mom, for the last time I am not getting married." The pink haired woman moaned before standing up and grabbing the fire extinguisher.
She was sick of her mother ruining her dishware whenever she came to town.
As the remnants of the flames extinguished she turned her green eyes back to her mother who was looking at her as if she had grown another head.
"Sakura Haruno! How can you stand there and lie to my face like that?"
Pink eyebrows rose in astonishment as she watched her mother work herself into frenzy.
"What do you mean I am lying to your face? I am not engaged to Itachi!"
Furious green eyes snapped back at her as her mother stepped forward with purpose in her step. This was not good.
"Like hell you are!" Mebuki bellowed. "I saw Itachi's interview that night too and saw how he confessed his love for you on national television!"
At those words, Sakura's pale skin grew even paler.
For the better half of a week, she had been trying to put his words out of her mind.
Since she never left her house, the paparazzi stopped hanging around as such.
She no longer saw pictures of herself on the news every single day, which was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Sure, she was fairly sure that everyone was still talking about Itachi's declaration of love for her. She was also pretty sure that if she was step foot outside of her home then she would be plastered all over the entertainment section once again.
She closed her eyes and groaned as she slid back into her seat and laid her head against the counter.
Even though the paparazzi had stopped hounding her, she no longer felt normal. Her life had changed in the span of a week.
Not only was her face known all over the world now but everyone saw her as Itachi's lover.
She sighed onto the counter as a soft arm was slung around her shoulder.
Her bright green eyes looked up just in time to notice the sad look in her mother's eyes. She was not sure why her mother seemed so downtrodden but she could tell that something was bothering her.
"Mom, what's going on? You have never tried to push me to get married before. Even when I dated Kiba in college, you never tried to push me. What is it about Itachi that makes you think I should marry him?"
A soft sigh escaped the blond haired woman before she shot to her feet.
With soft steps, she made her way over to the stove and set the kettle in order to make tea.
"Mom?" She questioned as she watched her mother lift the kettle and placed it on the stove at a reasonable temperature.
Now she was really worried.
Her mother didn't know the first thing about cooking or making tea.
Ino's mother had called her the antichrist of cooking.
For a damned good reason.
A few moments of silence passed before the kettle whistled and a piping hot cup of jasmine tea was placed before her.
Sakura stared down into the liquid as her brain tried to work overtime to figure out the meaning of her mother actually displaying some type of skill in the kitchen.
"Mom, you're making me nervous. What's going on?"
She watched as she blond woman sighed and her lips began to tremble.
For some reason, apprehension swept across her mind as she continued to watch her mother in silence.
"Sakura….sweetie….."
At those words, Sakura's mind went blank.
The last her mother called her sweetie was the day her father died. She had been a young girl at the time and had no clue what death was but she would never forget the sadness in her mother's eyes as she tried to explain why she would never see her father again.
Her heart clenched.
Was there something wrong with her mother?
"Mom, what's…?"
"I'm dying, Sakura."
There was no sound.
No words.
Only tears as she wept for her mother as her body trembled.
"How…when…Mom, why didn't you tell me?" she gasped as she looked back at her mother who stared back with a watery smile.
"Because you shouldn't have to worry about me."
Tears continued to slip down her face as she looked back at the woman who was there for her during every single milestone in her life.
An overwhelming sense of gratitude filled her senses as she reached out and pulled her loving mother into a hug.
She would do anything to make her mother's last days happy ones.
Even if it meant pretending to be engaged to Itachi.
Usually the coming of a new day brings about joy, happiness, and sometimes relief. But, for Shisui Uchiha, it brought nothing of the sort.
As he stared out of the window of his five star hotel, he was reminded of the reason of just why he was hiding.
Two words.
Itachi Uchiha.
Shisui knew his cousin would kill him for revealing the details of his love life with Konan.
Hell, he couldn't blame him.
Sure, he deserved it but if there was one thing he regretted was just how Konan had access to the information in the first place.
He cringed as he looked out the window again and the wonderful view of the rising run.
Itachi was going to kill him.
He was sure of it.
But, a secret part of him hoped that Itachi wouldn't kill him because he was his favorite cousin and trusty manager.
The sound of the phone ringing drew his eyes from the picturesque image in front his eyes.
He cringed as the phone continued to sound throughout the air. In a last moment of sanity, he took a deep breath and picked up the phone.
Never in a million years, he never thought he would be surprised by whose voice he would hear over the line.
Funny how things worked itself out.
It only took one hour to get to the destination but he was on egg-shells the entire way.
Not only did the woman of Itachi's "affection" just call him but the place she asked to him to meet her had so many implications that he didn't know where to begin.
As the view of Sarutobi bridal shop came into the view, he pulled into the parking lot with a dumbstruck look on his features.
Sakura asked him to meet her at a bridal shop.
A tingling at his spine told him he should have picked up the phone to tell Itachi but he brushed it off with a smile as the lovely pink haired woman exited the shop.
Surprise lined his features as she walked out of the shop and directly toward his car.
As she approached, he noticed just how elegant and graceful she looked in a black pencil skirt and sleeveless lace cream blouse.
He was never one for ogling but he could never resist a pair long legs.
His eyes ran along her frame once again and he came to the conclusion that his cousin was a very lucky man.
Hell, if he wasn't committed to a life of bachelorhood then he would have went after her himself.
It only took a moment for her to reach his car but he took this moment to notice the sadness in her bright green eyes.
'Interesting.' He thought as he continued to eye her with a critical eye.
A small smile graced her features before she waved.
He moved to open the door but paused as the sound of his phone rang.
His blood froze in his veins.
There was only one person with that ringtone.
Itachi.
'Well, I'm screwed.'
He gulped as he looked down as his ringing IPhone. A bead of sweat appeared at his temple.
He had never ignored Itachi's call before.
Itachi was like a brother to him but he was also his number one client.
Would he be upset if he "accidently" hit the reject button?
His answer came in the form a pink haired woman as she opened the car door and dragged the still ringing phone from his clammy fingers.
With a smirk, she promptly hit the ignore button before tossing the phone back to him with a smile.
"Now that you're here we can finally get to work." She said swiftly before turning on heel.
She was halfway across the parking lot when she noticed the handsome dark haired man was still staring down at his phone with a frown across his features.
'What the hell?'
"Shisui, we need to talk. If you would like to have this conversation in the middle of the parking lot where I am pretty sure the paparazzi would stumble across us then I suggest you follow me."
It only took a moment of hesitation before the pink haired woman turned on her heel and stalked over the dark haired Shisui to grab him by the collar to drag him over to Starbucks where they could have a rational conversation.
She muttered as she dragged the very surprised man across the parking lot.
This wasn't what she expected when she asked him to meet her.
She expected him to be cooperative, damn it!
This was surely too much trouble than what it was worth.
"Damnit!"
"There is no way in hell he would go for that." A loud voice blurted in the midst of conversation.
An annoyed pink eyebrow rose as she eyed the handsome man who was staring out of the window with a scowl.
"How do you know that?" she snapped.
"Because I have known Itachi since he was baby. I know he would never go for something like this."
"But…"
"But nothing Sakura-chan! Your heart is in the right place but the action is all wrong. Is this what you want? To fool your mother into believing that you are going to happily marry Itachi?"
Shisui stood from the small table and grabbed his small black coffee.
After the disaster with this whole Konan/Sakura/Itachi situation he realized that it would be better to keep his nose out of his cousin's business.
"Wait, please Shisui. Don't leave."
Dark eyes turned back to the sad green that was now looking down that was looking down at the table as if she wanted to disappear.
"Why should I?"
"Because…."
A moment of silence passed before the bright green eyes snapped back up to his with angry tears in her eyes.
"Because my mother is sitting there at that bridal shop waiting on me to try on wedding dresses when I don't even have a fiancé! Do you know how much it would hurt her to hear that I am not actually in a relationship with Itachi? My mother is dying, Shisui! I need to make her last few months as happy as possible!
"But, Sakura...this is…"
"But nothing, Shisui!"
She glared back the once lively man who looked at her as if he was debating something.
"If you don't want to help me then that's fine!"
She slammed her hand down in frustration as she continued to yell at the still quiet Uchiha.
"But, I am going to shop for a wedding dress with my mother. I refuse to break her heart because of something like this! So, you either help me with this or you can have the guilt eat away at you for not helping a dying woman!"
Shisui internally groaned.
As the pink haired woman glared back at him, he ironically thought that maybe Sakura was in the wrong field.
She should have become a lawyer.
Damn it.
He sighed loudly before dropping back into his seat.
"Okay, okay. Enough with the guilt trip. You have my attention. Now what is it you wish to do?"
"That is where the problem lay Shisui. I have no idea."
The young man was quiet before he spoke again.
"Well, Sakura-chan it sounds you are in a bit of a bind. But, have no fear the love doctor Shisui is here!"
Sakura groaned.
She knew she shouldn't have listened to Ino.
Damn that Ino.
At 10am, one blond blue eyed Ino stood outside her best friend's house in absolute shock.
She knew first hand just how much her best friend's life had changed since Itachi's confession but she never imagined it had changed that much.
As she stared at the various flowers in her best friend's driveway leading all the way up to her doorstep, Ino was mentally calculating how expensive the flowers were.
Her parents owned a floral empire so she knew every single flower that lined the driveway in extreme detail.
She was in awe at some of the rare flowers that lined the doorstep.
As she pulled out her keys, she wished a man would do something like this for her.
There was no doubt in her mind that every single flower was a gift from the handsome actor who had recently ruffled her best friend's feathers.
She secretly wondered just how long was Sakura was intending to ignore the beautiful flowers that lined her driveway every single day since the confession.
As she gathered a bundle of soft white lilies into her hands, she smiled.
At least she had talked her best friend out of becoming a nun.
And besides, what nun had pink hair and swore like a sailor?
He continued to stare down at his phone is disbelief as his manger's voice mail came on once again.
He was mildly displeased when he learned that his cousin had been the reason for Konan finding out his relationship with Sakura.
After speaking with Hana after the incident, he understood where is cousin was coming from but he despised the way people tried to interfere with his life.
He took a deep breath before picking up the phone once again but this time he was going to call the one person he should have talked to from the beginning.
With sigh, he placed the call.
He knew his little brother was going to be very displeased.
By the time noon rolled around, Mikoto Uchiha stared at her television in shock.
Sure, she had a hand in the entire plot for Itachi and Sakura to get married but she had never imagined that her heard work had paid off so soon.
On her sixty inch television, showed a glowing pink haired Haruno Sakura with Shisui standing off to the side with a smile.
The words "Engagement Confirmation" appeared across the screen as she continued to stare at the screen.
Had Itachi actually proposed to Sakura?
And if not then who in the hell was interrupting her plan?
"Just as I predicted the picture is on every single site in the country." Shisui remarked to the pink haired woman with a smile as she stood glowing in a flowing white wedding dress.
She smiled gratefully as she continued to stare at the vision of herself in the mirror.
A pang of regret shot through her veins as she realized that after today there was no turning back.
No longer would she be known as Haruno Sakura, Itachi Uchiha's lover.
She now be known as Sakura Haruno, Itachi Uchiha's fiancee and Konoha's newest It Girl."
She took a deep breathe as she looked at herself once again.
Tomorrow was the start of her new life as the It Girl.
Now all she had to do was inform Itachi of her endeavors.
She was looking forward to it.
Really.
Okay maybe... not really.
Fin.
A/N: This is the end of the What Girl. As you may have noticed that the story does not feel complete. Well it could be because I plan on writing a sequel to this story. Yes! A sequel!
Thank you all again for the wonderful words and reviews for this story. As of this moment, the What Girl is completed. I thank you joining me on this endeavor. Until next time!