~SPARKS~

Yeah, yeah, I know. I have so many ongoing stuff. Good thing this is a one-shot then ey? (^_^)

Sakura's breath puffed against the inside of her porcelain ANBU mask, reminding her yet again why she hated the darned thing. If it wasn't for how smooth her team was run, and the amazing surgeries and medical assignments she got to do, she would have quit ANBU already.

Okay, so she wouldn't have, because the pay was amazing and it was an awesome, though emotionally and physically taxing job… but sometimes, she wanted to quit.

The pinkette's green eyes brightened in anticipation as the trees began to thin. It was subtle, but she'd travelled this route so many times she knew what it meant. They were drawing closer to home. It was only herself and Uchiha Buntaichou for this mission, so Sakura was just that much more pleased with herself for operating without the backup of the other members.

Although she knew they weren't really serious, Shisui and Neji kept insinuating that she was the girl and therefore needed protection… which they only did because they thought it was amusing when she got riled up. If Sakura hadn't spent far too long on a team with Naruto and Sasuke and being overprotected by them, and feeling useless as a result, she would have been able to brush off Shisui and Neji's teasing comments. But as it was, even though she knew they were only trying to rile her up, it worked every time.

She couldn't wait to rub it in their faces that she'd gone solo for half of the mission, been successful, and finished faster than even Uchiha Buntaichou. Well… she would make sure he wasn't there to hear her, for he would make her pay for the comment during training.

He was sadistic like that.

The man in question tensed as he leapt from one limb to another, and immediately Sakura was at full attention. Uchiha-san had been distracted almost the whole way back, and even though Sakura only vaguely sensed it, she'd been trained to pick up the tiniest details.

If asked, though, she would not have been able to tell anyone exactly how she knew. It was not even like she knew much about Uchiha-san, other than that he was an incredible fighter, that he was Sasuke's brother, and that he was an excellent Buntaichou that seemed to know exactly how much each team member was capable of.

Sakura watched the subtle hand signal Uchiha-san gave, and immediately quickened her pace so that she was running alongside him.

She never saw it coming.

One moment she was silently waiting for his command, and the next, her back was against a tree trunk, her mask was ripped off her face, and Uchiha-san's lips were crushed against hers.

What the hell was going on?

Sakura prided herself on quick thinking, but this was nothing close to anything she would have ever expected.

He was her Buntaichou for Kami's sake!

How the hell was she supposed to respond? It wasn't as if she'd ever paid any notice to her Buntaichou, even though she was sometimes a little curious about his personal life. Still, Sasuke's vehement complaints about how boring his big brother could be had pretty much killed her curiosity.

She thought Uchiha-san was good looking, obviously, but his emotional distance and aloofness kept it at just that. Besides, all Uchiha were ridiculously good looking. And ridiculously out of her league. And ridiculously unattainable. So Sakura had not even allowed her thoughts to go there with Uchiha-san. She just… didn't really think much about him at all unless it had something to do with a mission.

But he was a very good kisser.

Then again, Uchiha were good at everything. Apart from showing emotions.

Well, of course her Buntaichou had to put that notion to rest because he was doing a pretty good job of that right now!

His lips were flat and smooth and… persuasive. And he was kissing her like it was something he'd wanted to do. For a while.

One of his large, warm hands was in her hair, fingers threaded through the pink strands to hold her head in place, and the other hand was caging her in against the tree.

And he wasn't giving her an opportunity to do so much as think.

She tasted like the berries they'd stopped to eat about an hour ago. Her lips were smooth and soft and moist from the breath trapped underneath her mask.

They were perfect.

He'd caught her by surprise, but other than this method, Itachi had no idea how to get her to kiss him otherwise! It was not as if he hadn't thought about it… at length… but all other ways involved the possibility of her turning him down flat.

Which was very likely since she only noticed his presence as her Buntaichou, and even then, it was still cloaked in the sort of inexplicable distance that being on an ANBU team created.

She was still tense with shock, but she wasn't pushing him away or struggling either, and so Itachi took a calculated chance by loosening his hold. He nudged her lips apart with his, feeling his stomach drop when she tentatively moved her lips back against his.

He tilted his head for a better angle, Sharingan spinning in an effort to memorize the moment. It intensified everything he was feeling, but he knew that later, when he allowed himself to relive it, the memory would pale in comparison to this. He reluctantly slid his hands from her silky hair to her cheeks, his thumb sliding over a kunai scar on her jaw-line.

Itachi couldn't remember the last time his heart beat this swiftly. He leaned into her, slowing down the pace of the kiss so he could enjoy it more. Sure, he liked it hard and fast, but Itachi had no idea whether or not he would ever get another kiss from her… and slow kissing Sakura was something he'd thought about a lot over the past two or three years.

He freely admitted it within himself, but that didn't mean he'd let anyone else catch even an inkling of the direction of his thoughts where Sakura was concerned.

Itachi flicked his tongue experimentally against her lips. He heard and felt when her breath hitched, but she didn't pull away. He allowed himself to deepen the kiss… until it became apparent that she wasn't really kissing him back.

A horrible notion came to mind.

Was she allowing him to do this because he was her superior?

That thought alone had Itachi pulling away. It was unacceptable to fraternize with a team-member, and even more so if any fraternization was not mutual. There was a soft, damp sound when their lips separated, and although it sent a dart of heat to his gut, Itachi made himself take a step back.

And then his eyes dropped to hers, and he saw the fog of confusion, surprise, and … and arousal.

Not wanting to overwhelm her by moving in for another kiss, Itachi reluctantly pulled his mask back over his face and took two more steps back. He watched her hands shake as she copied his action, his lazily spinning Sharingan taking in the rapid pulse in her throat, and her quick, shallow breaths. Her neck and cheeks were flushed, and her normally vivid green eyes were dark and cloudy… but in the best possible way.

Itachi allowed himself a smile behind his mask.

He leapt to the next tree-branch, hearing Sakura's muttered curse as she almost missed her step.

Maybe now she would think about him as someone else than just her Buntaichou.

Itachi's eyes glinted with determination. Now that he'd had a taste of her, he wanted more, and unlike before, he was no longer willing to try and stay away. He just had to make sure that she would want him too.

He would see to it that she would.

And FIN! Yes, it's a one-shot… I was just starving for reviews and AIA's chapter is almost halfway… and I wasn't feeling Roomies or Confession… hence… this thing! If this reaches 25 - 30 reviews, I will post a sequel. Stay tuned just in case!

Btw, if you haven't read any of the mentioned stories, please check them out and feed this review-starved writer! (*_*) *begs cutely*