Smoke and Mirrors

Summary: Non-Mass. Sakura was promoted to ANBU wasn't she? Then why did everyone still treat her like a child? Sakura decides that she must take drastic measures to prove to everyone, and herself, that she is truly worthy of being a ninja for Konoha. Ita/Saku Romance/Drama/Humor

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights to Masashi Kishimoto, and I make no money from this story.

AN: Okay so, I wanted to clear up a few things before people start reading. Yes, I know that if they're in ANBU they should be given codenames, however I chose not to do that. Also, I could be writing the whole ANBU situation wrong, but for me it works in this story so at least try to just go along with it for the purposes of this story. I really don't want to read flames about how I'm wrong about this and wrong about that, so please just try to enjoy it. Also as for ages, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are 19 at this time, and Itachi is going to be 24. I'm gonna say that Kakashi is about 30, and yeah I'm probably wrong on age spacing and all that, but like I said before, just go along with it. Anyway I think that clears everything up, so just enjoy =).

Update: 4/13/10: Hey guys, I just wanted to let everyone know that I actually reposted chapters one and two, because I made a few changes to them. I added about 1000 words to each chapter, basically being more detailed and all that jazz. I made no plot changes or significant changes, it just made me feel better about my writing. It's not really necessary to go back and read it, I just wanted to inform everyone that I was trying to be a little more aware of my use of detail. So if you want to reread the chapters that's up to you, though it's not necessary =).

Chapter One: The Promotion

Tsunade smiled approvingly at the three competent ninja that currently stood in front of her desk. "Congratulations you three, I'm promoting all of you to ANBU. I know this has been a long road for all of you and I can only say how proud I am of all three of you for making it this far. I only have one rule, and that is absolutely no dying. If I hear that any one of you has died, I will personally make it my mission to find you in the afterlife and kill you again myself." Tsunade gave them all a warm smile, but they all knew that smile was saying "if you think I'm joking, you are sadly mistaken." Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all gave each other a look, knowing that if they disobeyed her "no dying" rule there would be hell to pay, somehow.

"You worry too much granny, we're all going to be fine!" Naruto stated, still calling Tsunade "granny" even though he knew she hated being called that. Tsunade's face seemed to tense for a second, contemplating reprimanding Naruto for speaking to her in such a manner, but she let it go, and his nonchalance almost made her smile again.

"I know you're going to be fine you idiot, but it makes me feel better to threaten you so I don't have to deal with any of you actually dying on me," Tsunade said, standing up from her chair. She moved around her desk and positioned herself in front of her three precious students. Though they had never officially been students of hers, she had closely monitored their progress, and felt a sense of parental pride as she looked them over. She first embraced Sakura, the girl who she taught almost everything she knew to, and the girl she viewed as a daughter. She then proceeded to embrace Sasuke; sure he'd been a pain in the ass along with Naruto, but she still thought of him almost as a son. Finally, she embraced Naruto, the stupid boy that meant more to her than anything in the world. She would never admit it, but his annoying little self had really worn off on her, and she came to love him just like he was her son. Sure, it was probably unprofessional how much she cared for each of these three special ninja, but when did Tsunade ever do anything by the book. Finally, she stood back and gave them all a once over.

"Congratulations again, and you can follow Kakashi as he'll take you to get your ANBU tattoos, as well as your gear and your masks. Remember you are now at my beck and call so always be prepared," Tsunade stated, giving them a final bow before they were ushered out of the room by Kakashi. The three followed Kakashi down a long hallway that seemed overly bare for being part of the Kage building. Not that they expect any ornate designs, but at least something on the wall would be more pleasant than plain grey walls. The silence was interrupted by Sakura, who could no longer keep her mouth shut.

"What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei, I thought you weren't part of ANBU anymore," Sakura said, looking up at their old sensei, confusion showing in her gaze.

"Well Sakura, I can't let you three have all the fun. I figured that if you three were going into ANBU, I might as well rejoin. Tsunade had no problem with it, and was glad to see me back in ANBU once again. Can't let my three favorite students go through ANBU all by themselves now can I? That would be quite unprofessional of me," Kakashi said, giving them all a smile; though hidden by his ever present mask, they knew it was a genuine smile, with a small hint of teasing.

"We'll never be rid of him Sakura, he's going to follow us around until the day we all die," Sasuke said, giving Kakashi a knowing look.

"Aw Sasuke, that hurts me. Why do you seem so eager to be rid of me!" Kakashi joked, feigning hurt by grasping where his heart would be and making a pained face.

"Well sensei, if you actually showed up on time to any training session we've ever had, maybe I wouldn't be so eager to be rid of you and your lame excuses," Sasuke retorted, as they were reaching the end of the hallway. Kakashi just laughed off Sasuke's comment, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to defend himself there, as Sasuke was quite correct on his appraisal of Kakashi.

"Alright guys, just pass through here and someone back there will give you the ANBU tattoos. Each of you has already been assigned a mask, and I'll meet up with you in Tsunade's office after all that is done to finalize everything," Kakashi said, turning away from his ex students, and waving over his shoulder.

Sakura, still being slightly confused asked, "Kakashi are the four of us going to be on a team together again?"

Kakashi turned back around to respond to Sakura's question. "Well Sakura, I can't exactly tell you what the teams are going to be. Tsunade has set up everything and I think she wants to keep it all a surprise for you." Sakura nodded her head in understanding, and followed her boys through the door to receive their tattoos. This room seemed just as bare as the hallway. They guessed Tsunade didn't care enough to furnish or decorate this place any, as very few people actually had the privilege of seeing the building in its entirety. They figured there might be at least some chairs to sit in while they received their tattoos, but alas they were forced to stand, as no chairs seemed to be occupying the incredibly empty room. Sasuke and Naruto both had their tattoos placed on their left shoulders, while Sakura had hers placed on her right. It was the ANBU's way of distinguishing between genders while their faces were covered with masks. None of them made a sound while they were receiving their tattoos, as all of them had their fair share of pain, and this wasn't something serious to them.

After that was done, they were all directed into another room, where their masks were sitting. Ironically, and slightly annoyingly, their masks were placed on chairs. 'Funny how our masks can sit on chairs but we're forced to stand to get a tattoo', Sakura thought, rolling her eyes slightly at the situation. It was laughable that simple masks were held in such a high esteem, though she respected the position that those simple masks held. There were not huge differences in the three of their masks, as all of them were the basic cat shape, though the red markings on all of their masks differed in some way.

"Well, what exactly do we do now?" Naruto asked after they had all picked up a mask.

Sasuke smirked slightly at Naruto, as it never surprised him how stupid and oblivious the blonde could be sometimes. "We have to go back to Tsunade's office so we can be assigned to teams you dobe. You never listen do you?"

"Come on you two don't you start fighting today. Any other day is fine, but I don't wanna have to deal with breaking up a fight between you two idiots on the day that we got promoted," Sakura said, cracking her knuckles a bit and letting the idiots know that she was serious. Naruto and Sasuke promptly shut up, knowing they didn't wanna invoke Sakura's wrath. Sakura was most certainly not the small weak girl she used to be. After studying under Tsunade for so long, Sakura had definitely learned how to put the boys in their place, and she had grown into quite a strong and capable ninja. Not only was she an incredibly skilled medic-nin, but she had thoroughly developed her taijutsu, and could easily give them both a run for their money. Sakura smiled when both of her boys had calmed down, and she proceeded to walk back to Tsunade's office, with Naruto and Sasuke in tow.

Sakura knocked politely on Tsunade's office door, not wanting to barge in like Naruto would have done. Tsunade spoke, allowing them entrance into her office. Though Sakura knew she didn't have to be so formal with her shishou, she still wanted to give the Hokage the respect she knew she deserved. Sakura opened the door and was surprised to see Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Itachi standing by Tsunade's desk, talking quietly with one another. Tsunade looked up as the three of them entered her office once more, and the whispers between the three guests had ended abruptly.

"Ah that took you no time at all. Well I know you're all probably curious as to what teams I'm assigning you to. Well, as for Naruto and Sasuke, I figured it would be idiotic to separate the two of you. Even though you fight so much you excel in battle together and that is something we cannot afford to lose. That's why I'm assigning you two to a team with Shikamaru, and he will be your captain. I figured the only other person in the world that could manage to control you two besides Sakura would be Shikamaru. Plus he excels in most everything, so though you don't actually have a medic-nin on your team, I'm confident in all of your abilities," Tsunade explained, as Shikamaru seemed to roll his eyes a little bit at having to be so troubled with the two idiots. "As for you Sakura, you excel as a medic-nin but thanks to your boys your taijutsu is not something to be laughed at, so I decided that your abilities would be better suited to being on a team with Itachi and Kakashi, Itachi being your captain. I figured you wouldn't mind having to take care of your old sensei either," Tsunade seemed to laugh a little at the thought, while also laughing at the look of horror that crossed Sakura's face, as she was expecting no other reaction.

"Aw come on Tsunade you can't throw me on a team with Kakashi-sensei again, he's so much trouble, and you know that I can't stand Itachi! Ugh this is going to be the worst. I can't believe I'm going to be forced to keep the two of you knuckleheads alive. I think I prefer being on a team with Naruto and Sasuke," Sakura complained, sighing and lowering her head to the ground, knowing there was no way to get out of this situation, she conceded defeat.

"Hey come on now Sakura it's not too bad is it? At least you get to spar with Kakashi and Itachi, and maybe try and put them in their place," Naruto stated, attempting to comfort her, reaching an arm out to pat her on the back slightly. The look she threw his way made him immediately remove the offending appendage.

Sakura did not seem even remotely appeased by Naruto's statement. "I can't believe I'm still stuck with the pervert sensei and the asshole that's teased me since I became a ninja. It couldn't get any worse."

"Oh come now dear Sakura I know that I do not annoy you that badly," Itachi stated, walking over to Sakura and putting his hand on her shoulder; a small glint of playfulness in his eyes.

"Don't touch me you stupid asshole," Sakura retorted, throwing his arm off her shoulder. "All you've ever done is mock me and annoy me since the day I met you! Everyone else is fooled by your charm and looks but not me. I see you for what you are, an arrogant self absorbed asshole," Sakura said, storming out of the room, making sure to slam the door on her way out to make her stance on the issue evident.

"Well, that went better than expected don't we all think?" Kakashi laughed, trying to lighten the mood up a little bit, scratching his head slightly as he spoke. They all knew to leave Sakura alone while she was fuming like this.

Sasuke sighed, knowing it was on him and Naruto to somehow appease their pink haired friend. "Come on dobe we have to find Sakura and calm her down before she destroys a few buildings." For once, Naruto didn't argue and just followed after Sasuke.

Itachi, Kakashi, and Shikamaru were left in Tsunade's office after the departure of the three best friends. "Itachi you shouldn't tease her so much you know how she gets. She's an incredibly strong ninja now, especially since she was admitted into ANBU, and there's only so much teasing Sakura can take before she explodes. And I'd prefer she be able to keep a straight head when she's out on missions," Tsunade sighed, slightly regretting her decision to put Sakura on a team with Itachi. But Tsunade knew, of all the people in ANBU, Itachi and Kakashi would be the best at handling Sakura, as well as keeping her safe. Tsunade would never admit it to Sakura, but she still worried about her safety, regardless of how skilled she had become.

"I apologize Hokage-sama, but I just can't resist riling her up like that sometimes, it's just so easy," Itachi explained, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He couldn't explain to the hokage why seeing Sakura like that brought him joy.

"Yes I do understand how easy she is to upset, but now I want all of you out of here so I can finish up some paperwork," Tsunade stated, dismissing them all from her office with a quick shake of her hand.

Sakura went straight through town and right out to the familiar training grounds. Luckily the one she chose was completely empty, so she didn't have to deal with questioning looks. She walked over to the first tree in her way and punched it so hard it came out of the ground and fell a few yards away from her. Sure, Tsunade would probably get mad at her for having to repair all the lost and damaged trees, but Sakura could care less right now—better that she punch trees than punch people.

"Ugh I can't believe I'm stuck with him," Sakura fumed, while punching a hole through another tree. She moved out of the way just in time as the tree came crashing down. Sometimes she didn't realize how much force she put into her punches. It always seemed that when Sakura wanted to be alone to fume, someone always showed up, and that someone normally happened to be her best friend Ino. She loved Ino, she really did, but she had such awful timing.

"Wow forehead what's gotten you so riled up this time?" Ino asked, sitting down against another tree, a few yards away from Sakura; she knew better than to get too close when Sakura was like this.

"That stupid asshole Itachi. Apparently Tsunade thought it would be a good idea to put me on his team for ANBU along with Kakashi." Sakura half shouted, sending another tree flying off into the distance.

"Wowwww Sakura you hit the jackpot. You do realize how hot Kakashi and Itachi are right? You have got to be the luckiest kunoichi in the history of kunoichi. I would give anything to be in your shoes and be able to be around those two all the time," Ino sighed, going off into her own dreamland of shinobi hotness.

"Oh come on Ino you know how much I hate Itachi, he's such an asshole. And just because they're both hot doesn't make everything okay. That thing I had for Itachi was so long ago I almost don't even remember it now," Sakura stated, trying to defend herself. Luckily, she seemed to have calmed down enough that she was no longer punishing the trees.

"Aw Sakura you can't forget the times we would sit around and plan out our weddings. Remember you always wanted to be with Itachi because he was so tough and mysterious, and I was going to be with Sasuke, and when we were both married we were going to be sisters! You can't forget awesome memories like that," Ino said, smiling at the memory.

"Okay well I didn't forget it, I just like to pretend I never actually had a thing for that idiot. Anyone would think Itachi was attractive, but as soon as you get to know him you realize that he's just an asshole. All he ever did when we were younger was pick on me and treat me like I was a child. Even now, he doesn't see me for who I am. I've matured immensely from when I was twelve years old. I'm nineteen years old now for god's sake, it's not okay to treat me like I'm a child!" Sakura slightly shouted, getting riled up once again. It killed her that she was nineteen and still being treated and viewed as a child by Itachi. Just because he was a few years older than her didn't mean he could treat her like a kid. At least Kakashi treated her like an adult, though Kakashi had been around to see her grow and mature as a person.

"Well Sakura, just think of this as your chance to prove to Itachi that you really have matured and grown up, and maybe he'll stop teasing you all the time," Ino offered, giving Sakura a small smile as comfort. She knew how easy it was to piss off her best friend so she tried to say things that would at least appease Sakura slightly.

"You're right Ino, now is the perfect opportunity to prove to him that I'm a damn good kunoichi and I deserve to be respected, and not laughed at," Sakura stated, finally seeming to calm down a little bit. Sakura had lost the little crush she had on Itachi long ago, and now she just had an immense desire to prove to him that she wasn't a child any longer, and she was a force to be reckoned with. Sakura was always looked down on as the weak link on the team, but over the years she had rivaled her teammates in both strength and ability, and now was her chance to prove this to the bane of her existence, Itachi.

-Seven Years Prior-

Sakura stumbled her way through the Uchiha living quarters, trying to find Sasuke-kun's home. She was slightly overwhelmed, at how large this compound was, and could only hope that she was going the right way. She finally found what she assumed to be the right house, and went to knock on the large door. She was half expecting and hoping that Sasuke would open the door, but the guy who opened the door was definitely not Sasuke. His older brother Itachi was the one who got to the door first, and he looked down at the young girl standing there. She seemed to tremble a bit under his intense gaze, and looked away, unable to stare into his piercing dark eyes.

"Well, well, who might you be," Itachi asked, smirking slightly at the young pink haired kunoichi that stood shyly at his door.

The twelve year old Sakura replied nervously, "My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm looking for Sasuke. Is he around?"

"Ah so you're the new weak link on my little brothers team huh? You definitely look like a weak little girl, are you sure you're a kunoichi?" Itachi laughed, obviously mocking her.

Sakura glared up at him, wanting to say something to prove him wrong, but she couldn't even speak when she saw him looking at her like that; his gaze was just too intense to stare at directly. He had to be the most attractive ninja she had ever seen, and she knew something about attractive ninja, as her best friend Ino never seemed to shut up about them. She tried to ignore his mocking and just asked again for Sasuke, still staring at the ground so as to avoid his eyes.

"Yeah he's here, I'll go and find him. See you later weakling." Itachi mocked, giving her a small wave before retrieving Sasuke from the depths of the house.

Sakura could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she was mocked over and over by him, but she held them at bay, knowing that crying would only make him mock her more. She decided right there and then that she would prove him wrong, no matter what it took.

"Thanks Ino I feel much better now. I don't know what it is about him, but he always manages to get me so angry. I hate that he can manipulate me so easily, but now that he's my captain I'll do everything I can to prove him wrong," Sakura said, finally feeling like this was her chance to shove everything in his face, and prove to him just how strong she actually was. This was her opportunity to be free from the constant string of insults and mockery, and she had every intention of taking full advantage of it.

"No worries Sakura, just don't let him get under your skin so much. You're a strong ninja and you'll prove him wrong," Ino smiled, giving Sakura a warm hug, embracing her like she was a sister.

"Well Ino I better go and find Naruto and Sasuke, since I'm sure those two are looking for me. . . but thanks for all the help, I'll see you later!" Sakura said, running off back towards town to find her boys, who were, no doubt, on the lookout for broken buildings.

Naruto and Sasuke had been searching around for Sakura, and were quite pleased, and mildly shocked, to see that at least no buildings had been destroyed as of yet. After awhile, they figured that Sakura would come to find them, and they went to the local bar that they always met at after missions, knowing that would probably be the first place Sakura looked for them. Naruto and Sasuke entered the bar and got a table for the two of them and ordered a couple drinks, saving a few for Sakura, knowing that she would show up sooner or later.

Sooner than they expected, Sakura entered the bar and went straight to their usual table. "Hey guys," she greeted calmly, content finally showing on her face. They both nodded to her, saying hello in their own special way. They also wanted to keep the conversation at a minimum, in case they set Sakura off once again.

"Feeling better now Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, though he knew she definitely seemed a lot calmer than she was earlier, and she seemed to have reigned in her emotions to a more acceptable level. Sakura took a seat and took a sip of whatever drink they had set out for her, enjoying it for a moment before speaking up.

"Yeah I'm better now, actually had a talk with Ino about stuff and it calmed me down. I'm just going to deal with this situation and make the best of it. And now is my chance to prove to Sasuke's asshole brother that I'm a force to be reckoned with," Sakura smiled, taking another sip of the drink, letting the alcohol slide down her throat. Sasuke and Naruto raised their glasses up to "cheers" with Sakura. Even Sasuke knew how much of an asshole his brother could be to Sakura, and was all for her getting her revenge of sorts; hopefully without too much bodily harm to his brother.

"Well guys, I say we drink the night away and celebrate our promotions. Even though we're not on the same team anymore, you guys will always be my brothers, and I'll always be looking out for you," Sakura said, raising up her glass to connect it with the boys' in a toast. "Here, here Sakura!" They both said in response to her toast. The three of them continued to drink and laugh the night away, all seemingly content with their current situations.

The light that came through her window in the morning was like a spear of light that seemed to jab itself right through her head. She groaned slightly, feeling the after affects of her long night of drinking. She threw her covers over her head and tried to hide until that pesky light went away. She was about to drift off back into dreamland when a loud knocking at her door startled her back awake.

"Who the fuck is it," she groaned out. This was definitely not the right time to be knocking on Sakura's door. Before she could even get up and get out of bed her door was opened and in strolled Mr. Self Absorbed himself. Just what Sakura needed. . .

"Good morning princess," Itachi said, giving her his trademark smirk that always seemed to be planted on his face. "Time to wake up, we've got training in an hour. I figured that now would be a good time to start training our new team before Hokage-sama gives us any missions." Itachi had a good point, but god could his timing be any worse. Sakura wanted to throw a kunai in his face, but thought better of it, seeing as in her hung-over state she had a small chance of escaping the coming torment.

"Itachi you idiot get out of my bedroom I sleep naked, and I am not about to let you see anything. So march your happy ass outside and wait for me," Sakura snapped, giving him a look that made him decide not to argue with her. Sakura got up and quickly got dressed, throwing on her usual clothing, as well as strapping on her new katana, given to her for becoming an ANBU operative. Though Sakura had trained in taijutsu openly, she had also secretly been training on how to use a katana. She had hoped one day that she would be given the opportunity to be admitted into the ANBU, and knew that the use of a katana was one of their main assets. She had planned to surprise everyone with her excellent skills, however, now that Itachi was her captain, she was even more excited to throw it in his face, and show him just how much this useless, weak girl had improved.

As soon as she was dressed and standing, she realized she had yet to take care of her hangover. She quickly set to work on eliminating her headache through use of her chakra—oh the usefulness of being a medic-nin. When everything seemed to be in working order, she excited her bedroom and met Itachi out in her living room, where he was fixing himself a cup of coffee.

"Just making yourself right at home aren't you?" Sakura asked, knowing it was pretty pointless to yell at him when he'd already finished making himself a cup, though she slightly wished she had her own cup of coffee right about now.

"Well if it's any consolation I made you a cup too, seeing as how I know you got a little drunk last night when you were out with my brother and Naruto," Itachi offered, handing her the coffee. To say that Sakura was shocked was probably putting it mildly. She looked down at the cup of coffee in her hand in absolute confusion, wondering who this imposter was, and what happened to the real Itachi. She took a questioning sip of the coffee and wondered how he managed to make it exactly how she liked it. Sakura like creamer and sugar in her coffee and Itachi had managed to put the exact amount she liked. She wanted to yell at him for taking over her kitchen like he owned the place, but with coffee in hand, she really had no room to complain.

"Alright what gives, why are you trying to be nice to me all of a sudden. Where's the mocking and the rudeness that I've come to expect from his highness," Sakura stated sarcastically, wondering what on earth he was up to. Part of her wanted to just ignore random bout of niceness but the other part of her was immensely curious about what brought this on.

"Well Sakura I guess I won't make that mistake again, if you are so opposed to this niceness. I just figured after your outburst yesterday that I might go slightly easier on you today, though I can take that right back," Itachi stated, throwing the ball back in her hands.

"I never said I was opposed to the niceness, it just weird's me out. All I ever expect from you is asshole comments. I never expected that you would. . . make me coffee," Sakura stated, taking another quick sip of her coffee, enjoying the taste she had come to love, and need on a daily basis. Itachi gave her the trademark smirk and told her to hurry up and drink her coffee and meet him down at the training fields. Sakura nodded her head in understanding and sat down to finish her coffee in peace.

She left her apartment and walked down several flights of stairs. She always enjoyed living higher up in apartments, because not only did she feel safer living up higher, but it also gave her easier access to the roof. After a long day at the hospital, or long missions, she always loved going up on the roof and staring at the stars for awhile. It seemed to give her a little bit of peace when she had such hard days. She quickly made her way down to the training grounds, not wanting to be too late and upset his highness.

She arrived at the training grounds to see that shockingly enough, Kakashi was there with Itachi. "Kakashi. . . What are you doing here. . .On. . . Time," Sakura stuttered out, the surprise apparent on her face. Kakashi never showed up for anything on time, even missions that were of the utmost importance he managed to be at least ten minutes late for. But here he was, on time for a simple training session? It made no sense to her. She wondered silently if hell had finally frozen over.

"Well Sakura, I believe that the things Itachi can do to me for being late are much scarier than what the hokage can do, so yeah. . . I decided I would show up on time for his training," Kakashi stated honestly, shrugging slightly, and moving to put away the Icha Icha book that was currently in his possession. Kakashi was really afraid of no one, but having been a part of ANBU previously, he knew what Itachi was capable of, and he definitely didn't want that being directed at him. "Plus I couldn't wait to see the two of you spar."

"So that's the plan then, you're going to watch Itachi and I spar?" Sakura asked, inclining her head to the right slightly in a questioning gesture.

"Well Sakura I figured that since the Katana is probably new to you, that we could get you started on learning how to properly control it," Itachi stated, figuring like everyone else that Sakura was unable to use the Katana. She decided to go along with it and let Itachi think she had no idea what she was doing.

"Oh I guess that's a good idea captain," she added with a bit of sarcasm. She unsheathed the katana, and got in her fighting stance. "Go ahead, attack me." Sakura's cockiness was slightly shocking to Itachi, as he had expected her to be a little more hesitant; though, he had to admit, he liked seeing Sakura so confident.

Itachi gave her a questioning look, but was glad to see his team member was all for learning. He unsheathed his katana and went right for her neck, a blow which she easily blocked. "Nice," he said appreciatively. "At least you can block the most simple of attacks." And there it was, the asshole was back with a vengeance. That little comment made Sakura go overboard, and she threw an attack of her own. Itachi easily blocked the violent attack, but was mildly impressed that Sakura took initiative and attempted to attack him. He decided that since she seemed to be so willing he would step up the attack a little. He quickly disappeared from her sight, and reappeared right behind her, though Sakura sensed him coming and quickly blocked his attack from over her shoulder. Itachi jumped back a little and asked her questioningly, "Did you just really block an attack from behind without even looking at me?" To be frank, he wasn't expecting her to have any weapons skill at all.

"I think you should stop underestimating me Itachi. Just because everyone is under the impression that I have no knowledge of how to use a katana, does not mean it's actually fact," Sakura stated, as she threw his own trademark smirk right back at him.

"Alright princess, well you asked for it," Itachi said confidently, knowing Sakura was not yet aware of just how skilled Itachi was in this area of battle. Itachi and Sakura continued to battle it out, while Kakashi sat on the sidelines. For once his precious book was tucked away, because he was quite curious to see how this certain fight was going to end. After awhile he could see the Sakura was getting more fatigued as she attempted to block blow after blow; which Itachi relentlessly threw her way. Kakashi smirked slightly, knowing that Sakura was actually giving Itachi a run for his money. It was such a rare occurrence to find someone who was able to actually give Itachi a fight, and he was so proud to see that it was his very own Sakura.

While Kakashi was appraising her from a distance, Sakura was slowly thinking that she had gotten in over her head. She knew she was skilled, but Itachi had such a crazy amount of stamina. He made it look like he wasn't even slightly tired, while she was breathing quite heavily; though she was trying her best to hide the signs of fatigue, she was mildly failing. She knew she was going to have to land a blow soon to finally end this sparing session. She hid herself behind a tree and tried to sense where Itachi was coming from. The sword was against her neck before she could even sense he was there. Itachi had her pinned against the tree, his katana pressing into her neck, with enough pressure to cause her not to move an inch.

"Well, it looks like you've lost this round princess," Itachi smirked, closing in on her slightly. She had no idea why Itachi would be standing so close to her. His eyes looked straight into her own, his face mere inches away from hers, when he pulled back and said, "You did really well today, I guess I can say that I'm glad to have someone who knows what they're doing on my team. He seemed completely unfazed by the previous proximity of their faces. Kakashi walked over to them and complimented Sakura.

"Wow Sakura I'm so impressed, when did you have time to learn how to use a katana?"

"Well, I was hoping that one day I would be appointed to ANBU, so I figured it would be good to learn," Sakura explained, slightly embarrassed from the praise she was receiving; though it felt nice to have her former sensei looking at her with such appreciation. And for the first time in her life, she felt like she saw a glimmer of appreciation in Itachi's eyes as well. Overall, she decided the day had gone pretty well for her.

The three of them parted ways after they exited the training field, Itachi's eyes seeming to follow Sakura for longer than deemed necessary for a normal goodbye. She couldn't shake the feeling she had earlier when Itachi had her pinned against the tree. What was this new feeling she was having towards the man who had been the bane of her existence for as long as she could remember. She tried to shake off the feeling as she made her way to lunch to meet with Naruto and Sasuke. 'What an odd day', she thought, trying to come up with various explanations for Itachi's weird behavior, and could find nothing that seemed to make sense.

AN: Alrighty well that was a pretty long chapter. I realize it's kind of a slow start, and I hope people can bear with me considering I haven't actually written anything since about 2004, but I would appreciate some feedback on what people think of my story idea. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it and until next time. . . Ja ne!