Hello again! While I did say that Lucifer's Angel was stand alone, my muse attacked me into this. It's kind of like a prequel. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: All Characters Belong to Masashi Kishimoto - the story belongs to me.

Before Being His Angel

The sound of giggling could be heard from the bushes to his left and he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face. While he always groaned in annoyance when his mother told him to play with his younger brother and his friends, he secretly enjoyed the chance. Right now was a game of hide-and-seek, and Itachi planned on winning this one.

His smirk grew as he heard his younger brother tell the pink-haired little girl to be quiet. He disappeared from in front of them only to re-appear behind the two. They both noticed and quickly burst forth from the shrubbery to get away from him. The weasel knew who he was going to go for first. The little girl squealed in delight, giggling as she tried to get away. It turned into a full out laugh as he managed to catch her and flip her onto hip back where she hooked her arms around his neck.

"Ita-nii!"

"How about we go find Sasuke now?" He chuckled as she took off after the smaller raven haired boy.

"Sasuke-kun!" She called out multiple times in hope of her friend coming out of his hiding place. When the younger Uchiha didn't even make a peep, the pinkette stopped her search as she started to become upset as one of her best friends wasn't responding to her. Itachi saw the telltale lip quiver before the tears started to trail down her cheeks.

"Sakura." He held his arms out.

A blur of pink was the only thing seen before she encased herself in the older Uchiha's embrace. He listened as she blubbered about how Sasuke was stupid and a bad friend. He ran his fingers through her hair slowly trying to get her to calm down even more. He knew her well enough that as soon as she calmed down she would be asleep.

-x-X-x-

A couple years later…

The gentle breeze blew throughout the entire forest. She was on her way back to Konoha from a simple medic mission when she decided to veer off the path and rest a bit in a clearing. She had settled herself on a rock formation, tilting her head towards the sun, catching the breeze in her hair. It wasn't long before she wasn't alone anymore.

She had felt his presence but had ignored it as he really didn't mean any harm. He proved that when he only stood there turning his own gaze up to the sky as well. Sakura knew she shouldn't be sitting there with the enemy of her village. However, she couldn't find it in her heart to condemn the man as her enemy. She knew the horrible things he had done, but she knew him. There was something else going on. She, also, knew he was sick.

"Will you let me heal you?"

"No."

She bit her lip letting her gaze fall to the ground, her pink locks hiding her eyes.

"Sakura."

The pinkette turned to look at him and was shocked to find onyx eyes and his arms open wide. It took her less than a second to be in those arms. She didn't cry. She didn't scream. She didn't babble about how life was stupid and a bad friend. She listened. When she had heard the truth she just clutched onto his Akatsuki cloak. She knew this was going to be the last time she saw the man she considered a brother.

-x-X-x-

Mikoto watched him with a small frown on her face. When her son finally joined his family he ignored almost all of them – almost. Ever since he had arrived he only talked to her or watched over his charge. He had taken that job very seriously. The Uchiha matriarch found it quite the coincidence that Itachi ended up being the guardian angel to the pink haired girl. Out of all the people on the planet and that was who he got to watch out for. Recently he had been watching her closer and closer. Her eyes widened when she saw him wince.

"Itachi, why don't you do something else? Watching her all day isn't good for you." She tried to coax him away, hoping she could at least get him away for a little while.

"I can't. Not right now." He responded not even looking away.

"Why not?"

"She's fighting Sasori."

"Well she can't be in that much danger; her team is with her."

"Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi are not with her."

Mikoto gasped coming up beside her son to see what was going on. She clearly saw Sasori of the Red Sand and his puppet army. Then she saw the pink haired girl she clearly recognized as Sakura. She had become quite the ninja under Tsunade's apprenticeship. She didn't see anyone else for a moment but then saw the Suna Elder, Chiyo. She had thought it was over when she saw the puppet nailed to the wall but gasped when she found him about to attack the elder shinobi. Both Uchiha's gasped with what happened next - Sakura had taken the hit for Chiyo. Mikoto quickly wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders more to keep herself upright and continued to watch on. She felt her son's grip tightened on her pristine white robes, even after Sasori was killed.

"Oh, honey…" She turned to embrace her son, but he stopped her. He looked closely to find the elder healing Sakura.

"Look." And she did. She let a smile bloom on her face.

"She's going to be alright!"

"That is why I constantly watch her."

-x-X-x-

It was only three years after that they were face to face again. She had acted recklessly again and placed herself in the path of an attack that was meant to take his younger brother's life. She only felt a second of pain before she was gone from the living world and standing before him with pure white wings adorning her back.

"Itachi…" She gasped only taking a second to hug him tightly.

He smiled as he hugged her back. He was happy to see her again, but had wished they hadn't had to meet this way.

"Sakura." He greeted pulling her back to get a good look at her. He smiled to find nothing to give away how she had died. "Who did you get to watch over?"

Her green orbs turned sad and the smile slowly faded from her face as she turned her head away. This was not a reaction he had been hoping for. Normally when a guardian angel got their charge, they were happy. This was not a happy response.

"Sakura?"

"I got Sasuke."

He had had enough. While Kami may have thought he was playing favorites, he no longer had the love of this angel. He was mad and he was going to let the Heavens know it. Before Sakura could even stop him, he took off. However before he could even do anything, he was thrown off the clouds. He was now a fallen. When he had resigned himself to this fate, his wings went from the pure white to the dark black raven color. It took him a second to realized he wasn't alone. He saw Sakura falling too and she appeared to be unconscious.

"Sakura!" He quickly maneuvered himself and caught her, turning them over so his back took the impact into the waters of Earth.

Itachi pushed them to the surface and quickly but gently laid her down to check her over. Her wings were still white and he smiled. He thanked Kami for that one little thing before scowling at the situation they were in now. They were Earth-bound and Sakura hadn't done anything to deserve it. He was going to protect her. He was going to protect her if it was the last thing he was ever going to do.

-End-