Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters. If I did then Itachi would still be alive.

Chapter 1, Prologue:


Itachi Uchiha walked through the streets of Konoha as if he owned it. Whether or not he noticed the lingering stares women gave him as he walked past them and went about his day would remain his secret. Regardless if he did notice he did not act as if he did.

When Itachi finally reached the large Uchiha compound he was pleasantly surprised to see a flash of pink hair appear before him.

Unbeknownst to Sakura she was about to run straight into the chest of Sasuke's older brother, Itachi.

Sakura was having one hell of a morning. Firstly her idiotic teammate Naruto had completely skipped out on his post-mission check up that was mandatory and subsequently has resulted in the termination of their upcoming mission. She obliviously beat him to a bloody pulp, healed him and officially cleared him as fit for service.

It turned out Sasuke had done the exact same thing. Unbelievable. Both of them were fucking idiots. Due to their negligence she had ended up being assigned to be the medic in an Anbu team that were leaving today. In a rage filled frenzy she was ready to beat the hell out of Sasuke.

Sakura was so lost in thought she bumped straight into Itachi's chest, hard. Then proceeded to fall backwards. Itachi's arm shot out and caught her by the waist to prevent her falling over. Her eyes immediately looked upwards to see the amused face of Itachi Uchiha.

Shit. She had run straight into THE Itachi Uchiha like an idiot.

Despite being Sasuke's teammate for so long she had rarely ran into Itachi. She knew he was extremely busy being the Anbu captain. She supposed she never saw him since he joined Anbu so young and most Anbu shinobi were known to have limited free time.

Once she got a good look at his face she realised that he was a ridiculously good looking man. Immediately she felt the heat rise up on her cheeks as she promptly turned red.

"I'm so sorry Uchiha-san! I was so lost in thought I didn't even notice you there.", mumbled an embarrassed Sakura.

"It is quite alright Haruno-san", replied the amused Uchiha. "May I enquire as to the reason you are so preoccupied?".

"Oh..well." began Sakura. She then felt her anger rise again when she remembered why . "That idiot Sasuke skipped out on the health check after our last mission! So Team 7's mission was officially cancelled".

"Ah. Perhaps I should take you to see him to share the mission status with him" offered Itachi, still amused by her mood change.

"That would be acceptable, thank you".

Itachi led Sakura towards the main entrance of the Uchiha compound only to be greeted by Mikoto Uchiha.

"Hello Okaa-san", drawled Itachi.

"Hello Mikoto-san!", greeted Sakura cheerfully.

"Where are you two off to?". The glint in the Uchiha matriarchs' eyes was clearly evident.

Mikoto loved Sakura immensely, from the moment she first met her. Sakura was pretty sure that Mikoto wanted her to become her future daughter in law.

"We are going to pay a little visit to Sasuke. I will see you shortly Okaa-san".

Sakura simply nodded and continued to follow Itachi to wherever Sasuke's stupid hiding place was.

When she finally walked into what she surmised to be his room with Itachi, he realised he was in for it.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE PLAYING AT UCHIHA?".

"….Hn?".

"Do NOT hn at me you idiot!", Sakura then punched him in the stomach with chakra.

"What the hell Sakura!", grunted Sasuke in pain.

"Naruto I can understand being a moron, but you….I'm just shocked. You've been hanging out with Naruto for too long!".

"I..".

"No. You know the rules. After every A rank mission you have to be cleared off by a medic as fit to fight. End of. So now because of your stupidity I'm going on my first Anbu mission without you two", Sakura sighed.

"You're going without us?!", Sasuke was not happy about this it seemed.

"Yes I am. Today".

"In fact little brother, Haruno-san will be joining my Anbu team", interjected Itachi calmly, thoroughly amused by the series of events unfolding in front of him. Usually Sasuke would remain quite composed around him. However this little kunoichi was able to easily stir up emotions within her teammates it appeared.

"The hell you are!", Sasuke spluttered. How could she be the first one to go on an Anbu mission? Least of all with his brother! This was unacceptable.

"Are you telling me what to do Uchiha? After causing this whole thing? Really?", reprimanded Sakura with one eyebrow raised.

"…No", Sasuke frowned. She had a point. But he still didn't have to like it.

"I didn't think so". A satisfied Sakura then turned to Itachi and looked at him questioningly.

"Am I really joining your Anbu unit for this mission today Uchiha-san?" asked Sakura dumbfounded.

"Ah. That would be correct Haruno-san".

"..I am quite surprised, this is quite an honour Uchiha-san".

"Why? You are the best medic nin in Konoha aside from Hokage-sama. There is no need to be surprised", replied Itachi with a small smile on his face. "I will see you at Konoha's main gates by 4pm Haruno-san".

"Hai, I will see you then", Sakura replied politely whilst nodding and smiling back at Itachi.

Itachi turned around and walked away from Sakura and Sasuke, then closed the door behind him. Sakura Haruno was certainly an interesting kunoichi he thought to himself. She also did not understand why he would want her on his team, which was humorous. Perhaps she had been around his foolish little brother and Naruto-san for far too long and her talents had not been appreciated as much in that team. Naruto-san and his little brother had a more 'all guns blazing' style to missions, which would not leave much of a chance for a medic nin to fully utilised. Nevertheless adding her to his team would definitely be intriguing and useful.

Once Itachi had walked further away, Sasuke turned to look at Sakura seriously. His brother had just complimented her for her skill as a kunoichi. To say that Sasuke was surprised was an understatement. It wasn't that he didn't know that Sakura was a powerful kunoichi, he just didn't realise that Itachi had noticed that as well.

"Be careful Sakura, my brother's team doesn't mess around." He said quietly.

"Of course I will, what do you take me for?" She said, silently hurt by his lack of faith in her.

"Itachi never fails a mission. Ever. I just want you to know what you let yourself in for, that's all", Sasuke sighed.

"Yeah well I don't allow missions to fail if I can help it. Now if you will excuse me I have a mission to pack for", Sakura stormed off.

Sasuke watched Sakura leave angrily. Well she was clearly not happy about his little advice. Great…now he would have to deal with a super pissed off Sakura when she returned. He had better warn Naruto about her mood with then.

They all wanted to complete their first Anbu mission with each other as a team, Team 7. They were all still training to take the Anbu exam, so for only Sakura to be picked to join an Anbu mission with Itachi let alone without having passed the exam was truly an honour.

However the criteria needed to become a medic nin was quite specific, as a result there weren't that many shinobi that were able to fight as well as perform the healing duties in the team. So many medic nins that were placed in teams were required to not take part in any physical fights during the mission. Ultimately this could be a strength or weakness depending on the shinobi placed within the team.

On Itachi's team Sakura would potentially be an essential member of the team depending on how this mission went. If that were the case then Sakura may be permanently moved from Team 7 to his Anbu Team Ro. He knew there was a chance that once they all made it into Anbu that Team 7 may not be able to stay together as an Anbu team. But Naruto and him were planning on badgering Tsunade-sama until she just assigned a captain to their squad and kept them together. Itachi had inadvertently potentially stopped that being possible. Sasuke knew that if his brother asked for Sakura to join permanently, then the Hokage would absolutely agree.

His onyx eyes narrowed at the thought. He would not allow that to happen, he would ensure that Sakura would remain on Team 7 no matter what.


Thanks for reading the first chapter of my story! I hope this gives you all a good taste of what is about to come =]

Don't forget to review if you want more chapters.