She was getting skinnier by the day. He didn't want to admit that he noticed, but Kakashi couldn't help himself, it seemed. His favorite part of a woman were her hips, and well, he would notice when said area was not as full as usual.

Really, he was damned.

It's Sakura. Not Shizune, Anko, or even, as much as he hated to admit it, Ino. But Sakura. What the hell? In all honesty, it did not make sense for him to feel so disappointed from the diminishing size of her hips. It scared him, more than anything. If he thought about it too long, he might even say he felt shame.

Not really.

But the point is that a sensei is not supposed to lust after his students in any way. None. And he wasn't lusting. He was merely concerned about the health and well-being of one of Konoha's most talented medics/shinobi. Yes. That was surely it.

"Kakashi-san."

Kakashi did not hear Itachi approach him at Ichiraku, but then again it didn't surprise him. The guy hadn't been back in Konoha any longer than a few months. Once the truth about him was discovered, Tsunade cleared all his charges and ordered him back to the village. It wasn't to say that he wanted to come back in the first place with the Akatsuki and all still running amuck, but he seemed to live by a new philosophy inspired by Naruto. Go figure. Now, he was a willing ally and to be honest, it added much silent relief.

"Ah… Itachi-san… Care to join me?"

Itachi's long onyx hair contrasted with his white shirt. Finally getting comfortable now, aren't we? He silently slipped into the stool to Kakashi's right and ordered some ramen. He lazily looked to his left, resting his cheek on a fist. The sight was a bit unnerving.

"Tsunade wants to send myself and Sasuke on a mission." He said. Kakashi smiled politely.

"Wonderful."

"If you don't mind, I would like to use Sakura-kun as a medic."

"Hmm?"

"You are the leader of Team 7. It would be rude of me to not discuss it with you first."

Well, this was not what Kakashi expected. He guessed the guy did have solid manners, that's for sure. Still, a weird feeling arose in the pit of his stomach and a bit of possessiveness flared. And then of course it was followed by the image of slim hips. Getting even slimmer by the day.

Why was that? It was normal for people to lose weight under stress. That would be a plausible explanation for any other human being. But Sakura was a shinobi. She was used to the stress of missions, late nights at the hospital, and not to mention years of intense battles with foes and those alike. Stress did not seem like a valid reason for Sakura to be dropping in weight. And it wasn't just her hips that were losing mass. The rest of her was shrinking as well. Even her wild, green eyes seem less bright and clear. Depending on how he looked at it, that was just as bad as losing her hips. Almost. If anyone found out about the amount of time he dissected Sakura's body he would be dead by now. Either by her own hands, or at the least her overprotective brother-like Sasuke and Naruto.

But back to the point. The idea of Sakura alone with two physically gifted males didn't seem like such a good idea. No. It wouldn't do.

"I don't think that's a good idea at the moment." Kakashi said casually as he slurped a huge chunk of ramen.

"If I can ask, why?"

Kakashi didn't miss the fact that Itachi sounded openly curious. He felt unnerved once again. How could he side step the truth with this guy? Itachi was a fellow genius, but all geniuses are different and Itachi was the kind that never let anything slip past him. He was also inept at putting pieces together. In this moment, that was a very dangerous quality.

"For her sake," he made sure to emphasize, "Sakura doesn't seem to be in the best condition for a mission. In fact, she probably needs a vacation."

"…"

"I'll be sure to run it by her if you want."

"I see."

They ate in silence and Kakashi thought he was in the clear. But then Itachi slipped down off the stool and did the strangest thing. He chuckled.

"Be more careful." Was all he said. "I'm a bit more perceptive but, someone else is bound to notice how much you enjoy the sight of Sakura's backside."

There was no surer way at the moment to suck every ounce of air out of Kakashi's lungs. Out of everyone it had to be Itachi to make an accusation. Kakashi only let his body freeze for a split second in reaction. Other than that, he carried on eating as though he wasn't fazed.

Well, fuck. There wasn't much to say after that. Was it normal that as Itachi left, he felt a bit annoyed? So what if he liked looking at Sakura?

So what?