WARNING: Un-beta'd. Not Proof-read (Quick Update). Read at your own risk.

This is War

Chapter 1

Sakura

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She was shoved (rather forcefully, she would later complain) into a weathered, suspiciously moist plastic chair.

A spotlight was suddenly turned on, flickering ominously in the dark, dismal lighting of the abandoned gym storage room. Sakura could only sigh at her friend's tendencies for erratic, over dramatic (and completely unnecessary) behavior. But since her hands were completely restricted by the harsh bite of rough, thick ropes, she settled for glaring viciously at her blonde friend, and equally blonde sensei.

She had a bad feeling about this. And the feeling was then abruptly proven correct by the appearance of her generally elusive tutor.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she snapped, feeling her fingers flex in anticipation for an oncoming (and totally inevitable- they did tie her up, after all) fight. "You better have a perfectly good explanation for this, because I swear to God, I'll hit you!"

And when the oh-so-innocent Hatake only gave her his infamous eye-smile, and then proceeded to indifferently whip out his porn, Sakura felt her temper flare.

"I've already dealt with the 2 morons requiring dire medical attention because of some stupid fight this afternoon…" she muttered threateningly, face darkening as she recalled the way her two best friends constantly moaned and whined and whinged about the situation like it wasn't their fault to begin with! "I can't deal with this right now!"

But it seemed she had done something atrocious in her past life, because her shishou spoke the words she had come to dread since she had first heard it 3 years ago.

"Sakura, I need a favour"

And when Sakura realized her head-master looked uncharacteristically solemn, the pink-haired year 10 student could only groan in apprehension.

She knew this was going to be bad. From the second she saw Naruto Uzimaki and Sasukae Uchiha -of all people- standing beaten, bloodied and battered at her front porch, she knew something had gone terribly wrong. But she didn't ask any questions- she didn't want to get involved in their mess. She merely worked and put her energy towards cleaning their wounds- even when Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru showed up, looking worst for wear and closer to death than any other times she'd seen them; she knew what they got up to- and if they'd refused to listen to her advice, there was no way in hell she'd even consider displaying even a glimpse of care.

But now, it's come to bite her back in the ass.

"Umm, Shishou?" She inquired, investing in a last futile attempt at escape. "What ever the matter is, I'm sure that-"

Of course, being the domineering person the she was, Tsunade Senju easily interrupted her apprentice's ineligible mumblings. "Sakura, if there's one thing anyone in this room is sure about, it's that I'm absolutely sure that you will do me this one favour"

Sakura remained in suspense, until she heard Tsunade continue. "…This time"

So when it had finally clicked in her mind, her body had sub-conciously gone into what Sakura had lovingly named the 'rejection mode'. Note: different (no matter how minimally) to 'denial mode'.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" She repeated like some sort of twisted mantra, head shaking vigorously to the point that it was starting to give her a head-ache. But right now, what was not the main… tragedy she was currently facing; because it was a tragedy, for Sakura knew what one favour Tsunade had constantly begged for her do, but had constantly failed at. It was the only one she refused to do, even for her shishou (who was like- is a second mother to her), although there were a few close calls. "I refuse to even attempt this suicide-mission! No, no, no, no, no!"

When it looked like Tsunade was about to interrupt, Sakura continued on, unrelenting in her frantic tirade, unwilling to even let her sensei have a chance at trying to convince her otherwise. "I refuse to try and get the Uchiha brothers to get along! Many greater than me have tried and failed miserably, with a few scars to count for it! Even Naruto, for goodness' sake!" she had begged desperately, feeling just about ready to cry.

But her sensei refused to listen; in fact, it seemed as if Tsunade became even more empowered by her protégé's begging. She had stippled her fingers underneath her chin, looking like she was once again announcing another imperative demand. "Sakura, this time, it's serious." She began, her face darkening almost imperceptibly. "Those idiot brother started another fight" and when it looked like Sakura was about to interrupt, she merely held up her hand in a command for silence. Sakura wisely remained silent; Tsunade was too calm. "They tore up the whole gym and completely destroyed the cafeteria. Most of the windows are broken, the tables are splintered, the expensive kitchen and gym equipment was fully torn apart and the whole area's a whole mess. It's going to take quite a lot of money and time to totally repair; it'll cost thousands- maybe even millions. Not to mention that quite a lot of staff was injured while trying to stop the fight."

However, before anyone could inquire any further, Tsunade abruptly changed the subject. "Sakura, do you know what month it is?"

When Sakura stuttered out the date, Ino flinched. "It's… November, right?" It seemed as f she was the only one left in the dark, and it was causing her to get extremely nervous. There was nothing worst than being left to anticipate the worst.

Tsunade nodded coolly. "Yes. And do you remember why the staff of Konoha High had been in hectic pandemonium these past few months?"

Sakura had gone on holiday a few weeks ago, and had only gotten back very recently- but she vaguely remembered some panic about someone (or something) coming to visit? In fact, today was her first day of school and it had already been one of her worst so far. Sakura realised that if this was an indication to the sort of things to expect in the next coming days, it would've been better if she'd stayed in France for a another few weeks. "Uhh… No?" she had attempted feebly.

When Tsunade gave a hollow laugh, Sakura held her breath. She also saw Kakashi-sensei tensing from her peripheral vision- he looked as if he was anticipating a fight. Like he was prepared to jump at any second to hold his boss down is she decided to go on a rampage. "Ofsted. That's who. I've had Kurenai badgering for the past few months asking when to expect them; I've had Iruka-sensei banging on my office door at 5 o'clock in the morning showing me new ideas we could use to impress the inspectors; I've had the board of directors and the local council threatening me, saying they'll cut budgets if we fail this inspection." Tsunade took a deep breath, as if she was trying to calm down- but Sakura knew her Shishou was only a few seconds away from exploding. "Konoha is a prestigious school; we're the oldest town in this country, the oldest education institute in this country, the oldest council in this country, the oldest High School in this goddamned country! And on the first ofsted inspection we get this goddamned decade, heck, century, we get the infamous, un-expellable Uchiha brothers starting the biggest fight in Konoha history! Millions of pounds, Sakura! And this isn't even the first time! Those idiot brothers are incorrigible!" she ranted angrily, having had stood up and slammed her fist onto the creaky, archaic desk that had been left to rot in the old storage room. The loud bang that had reverberated off the walls as it crashed onto floor seemed to heighten the tension. A large cloud of dust came from the suddenly disrupted floor, but Sakura could only wheeze and cough helplessly; and when she looked up, she could see her sensei- no, the Head-master of the esteemed Konoha High School staring back at her, her hazel eyes seeming to pierce into Sakura very own vulnerable soul.

And when Tsunade finally spoke, there was a sharp edge of finally to her voice. "You will get the Uchiha brothers to get along; that's an order. You caused the fight, however indirectly, so you take responsibility for your actions. I will not have this school made liable for some spoilt brats' selfish actions." And then she was gone, storming out through the small, dilapidated door of their little closet/interrogation room.

Sakura knew her sensei wasn't talking about her when she made the 'brat' comment, but nevertheless, it still sounded like it was- so it hurt. It hurt. "Why meee?" She groaned, exasperated.

When Kakashi had finally untied her, she gruffly shoved her face into her hands, elbows on her knees; she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she could feel a tell-tale stinging in her eyes. She groaned again. "Why?"

"Because Itachi Uchiha became interested in you" Ino stated, leaning nonchalantly against the wall in Sakura's direct vision. When Sakura looked up, she continued. "Tsunade-sama's already been stressed recently with the whole off-stead visit especially without you there to help her; then Sasuke and Itachi had to go and destroy the cafeteria and the gym. She not only had to deal with the board telling her to get everything perfect for the visit, but now she also has to sort out the paper work for the damage, compensation and complaints of the injured and affected teachers. Tsunade-sama finally realised she can't run from this particular issue any further"

Sakura abruptly stood up, barely registering Kakashi's hasty retreat. "But Pig, why me and why now? Tsunade-sama's had plenty of time to tell me I had to go on this suicide mission! Why now?!" She screamed, frustrated and agonizingly tired. When she spoke again, she seemed almost defeated. "…Why now?"

Ino came up to her, putting a placating hand on her shoulder to stop her hysterical pacing. "Because, Forehead. You're the only one on Sasuke's side that Itachi mildly tolerates- hey, maybe even like! You're basically his childhood friend, too, considering how much time you spent at the Uchiha household when you were kids; he wouldn't hurt you, no matter what you say" She steered Sakura out the dusty old store room, forcibly grabbing her by the elbows; Ino didn't really think that the overpoweringly disgusting scent of mould and other unpleasant, unnameable things helped Sakura's currently fragile sanity. "Besides, you had to go be your stupid usual self and attract Itachi Uchiha's twisted attention- that little stunt you pulled before you left? …well, you know how Sasuke is about his brother touching anyone on his group- especially you."

When they got to the main school building, the tension had considerably lightened. Sakura couldn't help one tiny quip at her friend, seeing as Ino seemed to be the all-knowing one today. "You're fairly articulate today; are you sure you knew what half the words you spouted meant?" Sakura merely laughed as she ducked Ino's swing.

"I was practicing the speech as you were having your panic attack- obviously" Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend's over-exaggeration. Ino unceremoniously dropped her arm around Sakura's shoulder. "Besides, forehead, I need you to get the school to get along so I can finally get into Sasori Akasuna's well-fitted trousers!"

This time, it was Ino that had to duck.

Itachi

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Itachi wouldn't say he was cocky. He was confident- that, he did not deny, for his confidence had reasoning. His cousin is the current chief of police; he came from old money- his family owns one of the biggest companies nationwide, responsible for hundreds of jobs not only within Konoha, but also throughout the UK, to which his father was the largest share holder. His immediate family was also Nobility, with his father a Duke, as the head of one of the oldest, most revered houses in the world.

So, confident? Yes. Over-confident? No; he was just aware of his power and position in the social hierarchy, and he didn't hesitate to use it to his advantage. After all, he might as well use the most of his given opportunities, if he can't alter it. He was confident because he knew he could never be disapproved.

There were only 3 things in his life that would remain unpredictable; His cousin, Shisui. One of his brother's best friend, the mayor's son, Naruto. And most surprisingly, his brother's other best friend: Sakura. His parents and little brother weren't irregularities in his life, personally. He knew that concerning him, his father would always remain his aloof, subtly caring self; he knew that his mother would always love him unconditionally, unrelentingly (and stupidly, he would complain) forgiving; and he also knew that Sasuke would always be his infuriatingly foolish little brother.

But Shisui- there was something about his cousin that sometimes caught him off guard. When he would think that he had finally figured his idiot of a cousin out, the idiot would undoubtedly do the completely opposite of what he's expected. For years he had tried, but it seems as if Itachi would never unravel his cousin's 'superior' mind- the mystery that was Shisui Uchiha. But he didn't like to dwell on these insignificant things…

And, Naruto; honestly, Itachi though him an idiot at first. The obnoxiously loud and irritatingly happy blonde constantly grated at his nerves, aggravating him to the point of verbal (and most time, also physical) abuse. And while the blonde was also violent and hot-headed like his Uchiha counterpart, there were times when Naruto displayed a maturing amount of maturity in the necessary situations; maybe Mayor Namikaze (and Sakura) had finally –minimally- rubbed off on him, like Mikoto Uchiha had pointlessly hoped. But no, it was also Naruto's insistent determination to succeed; even in the most hopeless situations, even when faced with possible death, Naruto had persevered, all the while managing to help the people around him. An over achiever, Itachi had once casually remarked; but he had ultimately realized that it wasn't so. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze wasn't a terribly perfect person- he was only decidedly, stubbornly so.

Now Sakura, with the distinct pinkness of her hair and her attitude towards him. At first, he had thought that she was another one of his brother's fan girls- and at first, she was. But every once in a while, she would prove herself worthy as the friend of an Uchiha heir; sometimes, the girl would show some backbone. Sometimes, she'd gather enough courage to disagree with him on something and argue her thoughts against him; she was most entertaining when she had fully immersed herself into their little 'fights'.

Of course, she wasn't the only female (or male, for that matter) who had ever disagree with him; he'd had teachers, parents, family, friends, cousins, even ex-girlfriends who had challenged him. But the fact that stood out to Itachi the most about was that the usually timid girl would actually put herself out there and question him, although she was painfully shy; it was the fact that she would continuously disregard her own comfort at a moments notice if only to ease a situation, especially during one of Itachi's little disagreements with his foolish little brother, for his and Sasuke's sake, both. It surprised him, because he had never shown an outward interest in her before, so therefore, she had no reason to invest effort into occasionally helping him.

She would be the one that was stuck calming and trying to hold him back (because Naruto –and hesitantly, Sasuke- were blatantly aware of the fact that Itachi had never hit a girl, and never would, no matter how much he had obviously desired to; he was just a mama's boy like that. Boys however, he had no problem with, as both Sasuke and Naruto were agonizingly aware). Sakura was the designated Itachi-keeper when his mother (or even his father) weren't around to resolve one of his and Sasuke's fights; she would be the one left to care for him while Naruto dragged Sasuke away to attempt to calm him down. But he would very rarely initiate conversation during those infrequent moments. She had no reason to think he liked her (heck, even tolerated her); but Sakura still found it within herself to waste energy caring about him.

Without a doubt, if a fight about an inconsequential thing broke out, with no one at a definite fault, Sakura would certainly side with Sasuke. But when she knew Sasuke was at fault, she would side with Itachi. And he also knew that Sakura wasn't the most giving person around; she didn't infinitely care for random people she had just met. She could be rather hateful too, he had realized earlier on in life, when she had avoided him for 2 whole months (a feat, considering she had practically live at the Uchiha's main household) after he did something to annoy her. But he knew it wasn't her eternally giving, loving, amazing, perfect and wonderful heart that drew him; it was the insightful, deep pieces of undeniably profound wisdom that had astounded him, that attracted his interest. It seemed Sakura was a deep thinker; expected, considering her obvious intelligence. But there was something there. There was something that made her different. To Itachi Uchiha, Sakura Haruno was an enigma- and he was determined to eventually figure her out.

She amused him. And besides, Itachi had always liked puzzles.

Sakura

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Sakura had decided to delay it for as long as humanly possible.

All week, she had jumped up with some lame whenever Ino came into the room.

She even avoided hanging out at the Uchiha mansion whenever Sasuke invited her- she couldn't face Itachi, knowing she was going to be involved in something that would inevitably piss him off. She knew Sasuke was pissed, but he was her best friend. He's been through worst.

But she knew that it was unavoidable; she knew her sensei was completely unstoppable when she'd made up her mind. She knew it'd only be a matter of time until Tsunade realised that Sakura wasn't carrying out her plans… or what Sakura had received of it.

Hmm… now that she thought about it, she could just tell Tsunade that she hasn't yet formulated a plan of attack. She could even go so far as to say that she'd already tried some things out in the Uchiha household (probably the only place in the country where Jiraiya -and by default, Tsunade- didn't have a pair of eyes and ears lurking about). Now that she'd fully considered it, she could get out of this mess if she'd just beat Tsunade's stubbornness with her very own! Maybe her mother was wrong! Maybe, just maybe, Sakura's stubbornness will become her only liberator in an otherwise bleak situation!

But of course, like all things in her life, when things start to look up, Ino has to come along to go ruin it.

"Hey Forehead, Tsunade-sama's finally devised a fully capable plan that will get the idiot brothers to get along in no time! It's a good thing you waited and didn't go charging head first into the situation; I mean-"

Sakura raised her hand. "Ino, I don't wanna hear it". And then she ran for her life. She ran and ran and never looked back.

That is, until Ino cornered her the next day. She was walking amiably (As much as she could when avoiding a psycho blondie), on her way to class, when she was abruptly grabbed into a storage cupboard (that should be locked) as she was about to turn a corner. She was harshly slammed against the door; Sakura could only groan in pain and trepidation. And when she looked up, there was a gleam of sadistic glee in Ino's eyes; Sakura was certain Ino gained enjoyment from seeing her cry. Sadistic hoe.

"Now you'll listen to what I say, and you won't run again," Ino had almost growled, her face pressed as close to Sakura's without actually touching. And Sakura knew Ino was trying to be intimidating, but she knew her childhood friend enough to doubt her threats.

"Bite me, pig" She spat with equal venom, futilely struggling against the power Ino had exerted onto her grasp in an effort to prevent Sakura's hands from escaping its pinned position on the door, beside herself.

When Ino merely tightened her hand, Sakura glared as best as she could in the dim lighting of the Maths storeroom. That reminded her… "INO! GET OFF! I have a test today!" She screamed, now thoroughly infuriated.

But Ino merely smirked, cackling like a mad-man. "Don't worry, Tsuande-sama will excuse you. I guess that means you'll have to just do it next lesson. In the 6th form study. Where Itachi usually chills during 4th period on a Wednesday…"

Sakura quirked an eyebrow. "I though this was my mission? Why are you more knowledgeable the me? …You know what? Since you're all-knowing about Itachi, why don't you do this?" She questioned fervently, hoping to have some justification for her sudden abandonment of the… project. Ino just shook her head, looking at her as if speaking to some stupid child that really should know better.

"Nahh… Tsunade-sama's aim requires a close, mutual friend, meaning you, specifically"

"But-"

"No."

Sakura sighed. "So? What's the plan? I don't want to miss all of maths; Mr Smith would stab my calculator with the ultra-sharpened pencil he keeps hidden in his draw… Just in case, he would say"

And when Sakura noticed the almost excited (and definitely gleeful –probably at her expense) smile that had plastered itself onto the blonde's face, Sakura felt her stomach sinking in dread, for the second time this week.

"You, Haruno-san, will find out Itachi Uchiha's weakness; you will know all there is to know about the mysterious Uchiha heir. You will know him inside and out; you will know him like nobody else"

Ino didn't see the punch coming. She only felt it, even hours later, when she couldn't lift her left arm to punch Sakura back.

A few weeks ago…

"Hey, is that Itachi Uchiha?"

People gossiped.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is he looking this way?"

"Is he single?"

They tried to look away, but they couldn't seem to take their eyes off him.

"That's Itachi, right?"

"Hey? Who's that girl?"

They were far too intrigued for their own good.

"The girl? Isn't that Haruno-san?"

"Yeah… hey, what is she doing? Is she-"

They were interested.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING?!"

"Hey! Did she just really… do that?!"

Humans are disgustingly curious creatures.

Sakura didn't talk to Ino about it when they spoke again the next day; she would abruptly change the subject whenever Ino thought to bring it up. Ino didn't breech the subject again; she knew Sakura. Talking about that specific thing had become taboo. So she just gave her best friend a knowing look. Sakura merely walked away.

When she reached the bus stop, she was aggravated. She kicked a rock at the bus shelter, hoping to release some anger before she got home, where she would certainly take it out on her family.

"You know, a girl like you should be destroying government property"

Sakura merely crouched down, hoping to avoid looking at anybody lest she go beat them up, her irritation pouring off of her in waves. The stranger merely stared.

"A girl like me?" she muttered, clenching her teeth painfully. She buried her face in her arms, leaning back against the bus stop. She didn't care that she was being a brat in public, with some weird guy. She was pissed.

"Haruno." But at the sound of a sharp, painfully familiar voice, Sakura slowly raised her head. Emerald eyes met the eerie, obsidian depths of infamous Uchiha eyes.

"Itachi"

A/N: For those of you who are curious, 'Ofsted' carry out school inspections throughout England, and report directly to Parliament. They decided if your school is good enough.

Sorry for being really late, and the short chapter. I'm genuinely regretful of the fact that I couldn't post this earlier. I wanted to write more, but it seemed like a good place to end it? I dunno. I lost inspiration. Someone send me a good Itachi story/video.

And if you've reviewed, you would've known that I was working on this chapter a few (one?) week(s) ago…? I just couldn't finish it because I don't like it. Boo.

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Next Chapter: Communication.