A/N: Is it safe to try a hand at humor with Itachi? No. But I'm doing it anyway.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
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Once, when Sakura was little, her mother told her the story of Little Red Riding Hood. She hadn't thought about it since she was a child, but it crossed her mind as she herself was running from the Big Bad Wolf on her way to Grandma's house.
But it was just her luck, really, to stumble upon Uchiha Itachi when he was bathing in the river. She, being the distinguished apprentice of the Gondaime Hokage, should have ran the instant she realized who exactly it was she was facing, even if he happened to be naked and staring at her rather dispassionately. She, being the renowned disciple of Tsunade, should have known that he would chase after her once she lingered too long, long enough for him to recognize her. It only made the situation worse, since the man had no modesty. When she had stumbled out of those bushes, he was already out of the river and crouching into a defensive position, kunai in hand. She had gawked, of course, which was ridiculous, considering the fact that she'd seen more naked men in her lifetime of nineteen years that most women could handle. Her face was still tomato red, even after thirty minutes of running from the S-class criminal.
She pumped more chakra into the soles of her feet desperately, knowing he was not far behind. It was bad enough that Sakura was already tired from her three-day trip back to Konoha - not to mention that she had just gotten done with a ridiculously exhausting B-Ranked mission in The Land of Waves. Sakura irritably wiped perspiration from her forehead and pushed herself harder.
He's catching up! Sweet Kami, he's right behind you! Inner Sakura yelled, grimacing. Well, some genius you are.
'Be quiet! I'm trying, in case you haven't noticed,' she snapped back, growling obscenities under her breath. There wasn't much she could do, now, so Sakura frowned and whipped a kunai out of its holster. Even naked, wet, and totally vulnerable, Uchiha Itachi would not lose to a pink-haired medic-nin who just happened to be the prodigy disciple of the fifth Hokage. Strong as Sakura was now, Itachi was stronger. No matter what, he would always be stronger than her.
Sakura clenched her teeth, feeling the urge to pull at her hair in her rage, but resisted such an urge.
Sakura could tell by now that he was literally inches behind her, breathing on her neck, so she tried with one last burst of chakra to push herself forward.
Itachi saw this, then pounced.