A/N: Dedicated to amaterasu018 and thetinroof. Enjoy :-)

Note: Sakura is 18, Itachi is 23.

Also thanks to Caribou006 who pointed out a historic mistake of mine. I apologize. Thank you for telling me.

…

...

. . .

"No."

Tsunade raised one eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "I said no, Shishou. No one can force me to accept a mission, and I refuse this one."

Both women were glaring daggers at each other, and didn't notice the third person that entered the room quietly and who remained in a respectful silence.

Tsunade seemed to have a hard time in keeping her temper in check. "Sakura," and her voice had a dangerous edge in it, "missions like these are necessary."

Sakura's expression didn't change. "I'm aware, Shishou. But I refuse it anyway. Missions have to be accepted by own free will. And I am not accepting."

Tsunade was furious. "Don't you understand, Sakura," her voice was full of frustration, "that these missions are important, not only for the village, but for yourself as well? You will have to face that part of life too, someday, and it's better if it happens sooner than later."

Sakura was unfazed. "I don't care. I appreciate your concern, Shishou, but I will not go on this mission and," she raised her voice since Tsunade seemed about to interrupt her, "there is a line which I won't cross. I have already gone on seduction missions, but only those that didn't involve any body contact. And I'm not going further than that. I am not," and her voice was ice-cold, "going to fuck anyone just for the sake of a mission."

The third person cleared his throat, making his presence known.

Both women jumped slightly. They had been so engrossed in their argument they hadn't noticed Uchiha Itachi standing there. The fact that he had his chakra hidden had played a part in that, too.

"Ah, Uchiha," Tsunade said, making an effort to be polite, "I didn't expect you back so soon. Report," she ordered. Turning to her apprentice, she added, "This conversation isn't over, Sakura."

Sakura's glare would have made anyone back away in fear. "I'm afraid my decision is final, Hokage-sama," she said silkily.

Forgetting about the man, Tsunade faced the young woman again. "Now, Sakura, be reasonable. You will have to come to terms with the idea of-"

The Sannin was cut off by a venomous look. "No!" Sakura said, angrily. "I am not obliged to accept this, and I will not accept it! I have no intention of whoring myself out for the sake of a mission! I'm loyal to Konaha and to the Hokage," her voice became slightly kinder, "and no one knows that better than you. But there are limits to what I'm ready to do." She twisted her face in disgust. "Let me be blunt, Shishou: I refuse to sell my body." Her voice then cracked a little. "I can't believe that you are actually pushing me to do this, Shishou."

Tsunade seemed a bit taken aback. She opened her mouth to reply, but Sakura prevented it.

"Shishou, to be honest, I'm not even happy with the fact that any kunoichi at all has to use her body as a tool in missions. There are other ways to get to information. How can you even allow," and her voice was raising again in anger, "that the kunoichi of this village have to lower themselves to be common whores just for a stupid mission? Is sex nothing more than a means to an end?" Her shoulders slumped off. "Please, Shishou, try to understand."

Sakura turned around and left the office. She was so enraged that she didn't even mind that she had just had a conversation with her teacher about her thoughts concerning sex. And in front of Uchiha Itachi, too! Sakura knew she would be terribly embarrassed later, but right then she was too angry to care.

…

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade was trying very hard to focus on what Uchiha Itachi was saying, but her thoughts kept going back to her apprentice. The Uchiha was aware of it, therefore he summarized the events of his last mission quickly and put a scroll with the details on her desk. Tsunade was grateful for it. On an impulse, she decided to ask him what he thought about the scene he had assisted to.

"Uchiha," she inquired, sternly, "what is your opinion on the matter I was discussing with my apprentice?"

The raven-haired Uchiha didn't seem surprised at the question. He seemed, however, to ponder it carefully. "If I understood it correctly," he said cautiously, "you have assigned a seduction mission to Haruno-san, which she has refused."

Tsunade nodded. "It's not the kind of mission she is used to go on. She has already had to charm men and even women, but only on a platonic level. As you've seen," and her face showed signs of annoyance, "she refuses to go further than that."

Itachi was silent for a while. Then he said, quite directly, "She has been offered a mission, she has refused. I do not see why you ask for my opinion, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade gave a sigh. "Don't play dumb with me, Uchiha. I'm speaking about her reasons for refusing."

Itachi answered, "Every ninja is free to reject missions, without having to justify him or herself."

Tsunade gave another sigh, exasperated. "Come on, Uchiha. This is an order: what do you think of the words Haruno Sakura spoke a few minutes ago?"

Uchiha Itachi's expression was unreadable. "Well, then, to be frank, Hokage-sama… I fully support her reasons, and I respect her for having such strong moral principles."

Tsunade blinked.

The Uchiha added, "And I too disapprove of kunoichi being forced to sleep with their targets to get information."

Seeing that the Hokage was momentarily too shocked by his words to have a proper reaction, Itachi deemed it wise to make his exit. "I will take my leave now, Hokage-sama."

As soon as he had closed the door behind him, a roar shook the Hokage tower.

"UCHIHA!"

Itachi smirked.

Just in time.

…

…

Sakura was in her favourite tempura restaurant, sitting at a table, with her order in front of her. And she wasn't eating.

She was still fuming.

How dare her teacher, her mentor, her surrogate mother try to convince her to… to… she couldn't even think about it without feeling deeply hurt, betrayed and humiliated.

She was no whore, and she had no intentions of becoming one. But she wasn't just angry. She was also sad. Did Tsunade-Shishou really think she wasn't fit for anything better than seduction missions?

The pink-haired girl had made Jounin a year before; she was also running the hospital together with Shizune – even though Shizune was so busy with her duty as the Hokage's assistant that Sakura did most of the work – and, during the last training sessions with her teacher, she had managed to defeat her, even if just barely. Tsunade had been incredibly proud.

After helping in the interrogation unit – where Sakura had studied and analysed the various torture-techniques during the last six months –, she had thought about joining ANBU. That was, however, the ultimate step in her career, so she had begun to train really hard in order to make it.

Then Tsunade had called her that morning, and when Sakura had heard that she was going to receive a more difficult mission, she had been determined to prove her worth.

But the mission she had been offered was not something she was expecting.

Sakura was by no means prudish. She knew what the world was like. She knew both women and men had little qualms about exploiting their bodies. She knew there were kunoichi who did those kind of seduction missions. But she had absolutely no intentions of doing one herself. Sure, she had had to go in a few pubs and fake smiles and giggle to the awful jokes of some men, both ninja and civilians, and even some women, in order to collect precious information. But she was determined not to do anything more than that.

She knew that maybe it was foolish, but she believed that sex should mean something, not be just an act to get what you wanted. And she would maintain that belief of hers.

Still, she knew why her Shishou had given her such a mission. The more accomplished she became, the more dangerous missions she was assigned to. Now, it was very rare, but the more difficult the missions got, the more there was the possibility of 'being injured' on the job. And for a kunoichi, that meant rape.

That was probably why her teacher had wanted to send her on seduction missions. So she would 'get used to it'. She would learn to use her body to her advantage, so she could turn even bad situations in her favour by collecting valuable information.

But Sakura couldn't accept that. She would not sell her body. Even though her mentor meant to protect her, Sakura was convinced that wasn't the right way. For example, she knew that the rare cases of rape happened only when the kunoichi was sent on difficult missions in a different land alone. Sakura was sure that could easily be rectified and those terrible things wouldn't happen anymore.

The emerald-eyed young woman was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that there was a person standing in front of her, and had been there for quite some time already. Only when this person cleared its throat, for the second time that day, Sakura realized she wasn't alone.

"Uchiha-san," she greeted, nodding politely with her head. "I apologize, I didn't realize you were here."

The raven-haired man seemed slightly amused. "Indeed, Haruno-san," he said. He took in her untouched lunch and regarded her intently. The he asked, courteously, "May I sit down?"

Sakura blinked. And then nodded, a little perplexed. "Of course."

Uchiha Itachi sat down in front of her and met her gaze. They stared into each other's eyes for a while, until Sakura cleared her throat and looked away. "So, Uchiha-san," she said, trying to break the tension, "was there something you wished to speak to me about?"

She recalled her conversation with Tsunade earlier, which he had probably heard from beginning to finish, but she was still too upset to be embarrassed.

His black eyes seemed to bore into her soul. The he suddenly said, "Your teacher was quite distressed about your refusal, Haruno-san."

Sakura's flat voice immediately replied, "I have made my mind up, Uchiha-san, so if you are here on her behalf, you may as well leave."

The ghost of a smirk appeared on Itachi's lips. Sakura's eyes wandered down to them, before she got herself together and met his gaze again. "I am not here on the Hokage's behalf, Haruno-san. I was merely stating a fact and I'm here on my own choice. And about your decision… even though I have no part in this, allow me to say that I approve it whole-heartedly."

That definitely caught Sakura's attention. She tilted her head to the side, confused. "You do, Uchiha-san?"

Itachi nodded a little. "Every shinobi has the right to refuse a mission. But it is quite unusual to find a kunoichi who dares to speak her mind about seduction missions without shame."

Sakura looked away. "I do not appreciate being made fun of, Uchiha-san," she hissed.

Immediately a calloused hand grabbed her chin gently from across the table and forced her to look into his eyes. "I wasn't making fun of you, Sakura-san," he said, voice warmer. Sakura reddened a little when he used her first name instead of her surname. He let go of her chin, but caressed her cheek instead. "In fact, I was impressed by you."

Sakura blushed even more. Uchiha Itachi wasn't easily impressed.

But still, even if he was the Uchiha genius, he was practically a stranger. As he was about to lift his fingers to caress her cheek again, she turned her head a little, so that he couldn't reach her anymore. He seemed to accept it and let his hand slowly fall on the table.

There was a little shift in the atmosphere, and Sakura saw him assume a more business-like air. "Now, Sakura-san," he said, using her name quite casually, "you refused the mission today. Am I right to assume that you don't have other missions in the near future?"

Sakura nodded, slowly, suspiciously.

Itachi's expression revealed deep satisfaction. "Well, I have an offer for you then."

The pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes. What was he trying to do?

He looked her straight in the eye. "My ANBU team is a three-men cell which includes Uchiha Shisui and Shiranui Genma. We are in need of a medic. You are the best one in the whole village, except maybe the Hokage. Are you willing to join?"

Sakura's jaw dropped. Seriously? His gaze, however, didn't waver, and she realized he was being serious.

After a moment of pure shock, she said, "This would be an honour for me, Uchiha-s-"

"Itachi-san," he interrupted her. She was still concentrated on his offer so she didn't reflect on that latest development.

"Itachi-san," she conceded. "As I said, I would be honoured, but I am not ANBU," she said.

The raven-haired man didn't seem fazed. "That doesn't matter, Sakura-san," he replied. "You are more than ready to take the ANBU exams, and some early practice in the field with my squad would be beneficial. So, please answer my question: do you accept?"

Sakura thought about it. After all, her ultimate goal was to join ANBU. And there was Uchiha Itachi, the youngest ANBU captain who had ever joined the ranks, who was offering her a place in team Alpha, the top one in Konoha. She could learn so much.

She asked, "Did the Hokage suggest this?"

To her surprise, he shook his head. "Hokage-sama isn't aware of this. But I'm confident that, once she calms down a little, she will give her consent."

Sakura lifted her head and met his gaze again. He could read her answer in her eyes and smiled in satisfaction. "I accept your offer, Uchiha-san."

The Uchiha stood up and nodded to her. "Very well, Sakura-san. The day after tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp you will meet the team officially, at training ground four."

The emerald-eyed woman nodded, aware that he was her captain now, and she would have to obey his orders. "Yes, Uchiha-san."

"You will bring your weapons and anything else you deem fit to use in combat."

She nodded again. "Of course, Uchiha-san."

Satisfied, he turned around to leave. But, before reaching the exit of the restaurant, he looked at her again. "Oh, and, one last thing, Sakura-san…"

She looked at him, eyes questioning. "Yes?"

He smirked. "It's Itachi for you."

…

…

A/N: I hope you liked it :-) maybe I'll write more about this universe, it made me think a lot.

However, I have so much to study, I can't write anymore, even if I have a lot of other little projects ready. Only time will tell.

By the way, the title is in Italian, it means "mission seduction".

Thank you so much for reading!

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