From Weasel-san with Affection
Princess of Ikana
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and is property of its respective owners.
Chapter 1: Distress
Haruno Sakura held her forearm close to her body as she healed it with medical ninjutsu, she waiting for the next tree branch to crack or leaves whisking closer. Her target became her hunter and she couldn't help but feel as though she already failed. She was tracking an elusive mist nin that was working with the Akatsuki, he held plans for their base of attack in the approaching fourth ninja war. It was vital that she obtain the scroll from her, her life and the life of her comrades depended on her success.
Lost in thought, and concentrating on her jutsu, she felt the brush of chakra and cool steel against her neck.
The mist nin without hesitating she sliced her enemies neck, the girl collapsed… before disappearing. She jump upwards and landed on a near branch with kunai held out in front.
A trap sprung and covered the older girl in chakra strings, binding her together. She was killed before she saw Sakura leaning against a nearby tree waving at her with a sarcastic grin.
Feeling out for others and found nothing Sakura collapsed in between some other traps she set, just in case. Her assassination was successful.
Back in Konoha, Itachi was having a short break and stopped in at the dango shop. He was waiting for Kakashi to stop by with some Intel when all of a sudden his ceramic cup cracked. His eyes narrowed, he wasn't superstitious but that wasn't a good sign.
Sasuke was with him and looked at his brother's cup.
"Mom would say that your about to receive some bad news, niisan" he lightly joked.
"Otouto, is Sakura at the hospital?" he stood packing to leave.
"She's out on a mission…" Sasuke murmured.
Itachi disappeared.
Sakura had healed all major wounds and wrapped the others before opening her lunch bag and chugging some water, time was not on her side. In her haste, a blue talisman fell upon the some nearby leaves and Sakura was reminded of him.
Her first impression of him was he was stoic and a genius. Itachi was Sasuke's older brother, more famous than many of the other Uchiha's. He would pick Sasuke up from the academy on occasion and you caught glimpses of him around the village, ANBU never lingered in plain sight.
She grew to respect his talents, good looks and looking out for his cute little brother. She thought he felt the same way when his gifts and tidbits starting showing up at the most random times, she didn't think much of it since she figured that he was just looking out for his brother's teammates, as Naruto received some as well. She could count how many interactions she had with the Uchiha heir since she was 7 years old.
This particular "gift" she got on New Year's when she went to the shrine to meet up with Sasuke and Naruto, they had bumped into the whole main family and Sasuke was scolded for not showing respects for his team, since he didn't pick up fortune talisman with them. Itachi pulled her aside when no one was watching and pulled one from his kimono sleeve and presented it to her.
"Take care in this new year and I hope that are successful on all of your missions" he whispered into her ear gently pushing it into her awaiting hands, before rejoining his family and sauntering off like nothing happened.
Sakura was so confused by the encounter, that she didn't notice Sasuke glaring in her direction.
Itachi was headed for the Hokage's office to meet with Tsunade. His thoughts raced at possible outcomes of Sakura's mission and he didn't know how he cope with if she didn't come back. She may not have realized it just yet but they already had 5 years of memories together.
He cursed his legacy, of being a clan heir. The freedom of choice was not his and well he didn't mean to get so involved with her in the beginning. Sakura was full of life, intelligence and dreams of her own that inspired him to become the man he was today. He may be blinded by his family still but he choose to be his own person instead of following the path that was decided for him. He knew that Sasuke came to see her brilliance over time as well and wondered if it would be alright to let things happen as they would without interference from him.
Itachi stopped pondering upon reaching the door to the office.
*knock*
"come in" she called.
Itachi entered the room, bowed and waited for her to greet him.
"How can I help you Uchiha-san?" she commanded.
"Hokage-sama, Haruno-san is out on a mission?" he inquired softly.
"Uchiha-san, that is none of your concern." she responded light behind her desk, almost ignoring him.
"She is the only one that is presently out on mission at the moment that I care about and my cup from the dango shop cracked suddenly." He told her with a straight face.
This tidbit of information got her attention.
"Uchiha-san, if you're so interested in my apprentice like you suggest, why are you engaged to the 'Midori' girl?" she prompted.
"For the betterment of the clan" he answered.
Tsunade held back her reply.
3 months ago Itachi presented a kunoichi to his parents and a wedding announcement was arranged. His bride was a chunin and decent gal with an okay roots, she was a distant Uchiha relative on his mother's side of the family. Sakura wouldn't admit it since she already made her intentions known that she was after Sasuke's affections, but Itachi's engagement bothered her greatly. She had been requesting solo missions for a while now to get away from the celebrations.
She chucked the talisman into some nearby bushes before beginning her sprint back to the village.
Four years had passed since she asked Tsunade for her apprenticeship at thirteen to become stronger and catch up Naruto and Sasuke as the climbed the ranks to the top ninja in their heated rivalry. Team 7 was still her make shift family but the three of them had gone down there separate paths. Naruto was still chasing after the Hokage title and learning to control the nine tails power, Sasuke wanted to be the best and under stressful clan expectations, he would forever be compared to his brilliant older brother, he had branched off to become part of the Konoha police force under his father's suggestion. Sakura's ambition was to be the top medical nin but also make it to ANBU, she wanted to serve the village in meaningful ways and originally catch Sasuke's attention with a powerful position so that maybe he would think she would become a benefit to the Uchiha clan but as she grew older, she began to see Sasuke follow a dark road she wasn't sure she wanted to follow and she grew to like her secret friend. He was ANBU and would not give his identity, not even to her.
Sakura had been keeping her mysterious friend a secret. The man with the weasel mask and black cloak started visiting her when she was 12. Her parents were lost on a mission with rogue nin and Sakura was left behind. Team 7 was in its infancy and perhaps only their sensei could sympathy with her loss. Sasuke had his family still, and Naruto had never known one… Kakashi lost his father as a child like her.
She was awake and grieving one night and was leaning on her balcony waiting for the moon to fully rise. He appeared and gently pulled her back, probably assuming she was trying to jump.
"Miss, please don't jump, not someone as pretty as you" he chided.
"I wasn't" She replied wiping her tears.
"What's your name?" he asked gently taking her hands and siting her down on the nearby chair.
"Haruno Sakura" she admitted.
"Suits someone as radiant as you, your parents died last week… you must be lonely" he let go of her hands to zip up her hoodie.
"Who are you?" she asked feeling overwhelmed by the kind gestures.
"I can't tell you that its classified" he answered bluntly.
"Are you ANBU?" she asked piecing together his "uniform"
His eyes met hers and she was transfixed. "ANBU-san…" she whispered as he casted genjutsu and she fell asleep.
He continued to check up on her and became known as Weasel-san.
A/N: Ah I wonder if my muse is alright. It's been so long since I wrote anything for Naruto… the piece I've written was a poorly written crack fic. I do approve of the Sasu/Saku canon pairing and their cute little daughter Sarada but Ita/Saku has always been my OTP. I still believe that Itachi should have lived . Sidenote: Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and the others are 17 years old present time, and Itachi is 22. Anyhoo please leave me a comment, favorite and follow if you would like ^^
*Ikana-hime
