Author's Note:

Though I would absolutely love to, I do not own Naruto, any of the other characters, and…yeah…all that…stuff.

Also, I forgot to mention something in the last chapter. This story is piggybacked onto another fanfic that I read, I'm basically writing a prologue to that story…If you want to read it, I'll give you the author's pen name in one of the later chapters (of course, one I receive permission from them). I can't give you it right now, because it would sort of give away the whole story.

Also – the timeline of Naruto in this story is sort of mixed up. Itachi is 18, though he has not yet murdered…everybody…Sasuke is six in this story, if any of you were wondering.

I'm sorry the chapters are so short, but that's how I roll. 8-)

Please, PLEASE R&R. I don't care if you're not the type of person who likes to reply, but I really, really, REALLY want your opinions, no matter how nasty. Reply, and be brutal.

Meri took a deep breath, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly.

Open the damn door already. thought Itachi, clearly agitated as he stared impatiently at Meri, whose eyes flickered open almost immediately as Itachi thought this. She breathed in yet again, and reached out a hand, pulling open the wooden doors and stepping inside.

It was a very large room, slightly oval shaped, with walls painted a color slightly lighter than sand. Like the hallways outside, this room was dimly lit, and gave off a cozy glow that some may have called eerie. It seemed slightly empty to Itachi, the walls were bare and the Hokage obviously did not enjoy numerous paintings and works of art hanging on the walls as his mother did. Two small sage green chairs stood facing the desk, and the Hokage smiled up at them from a large red velvet chair from behind it.

"Have a seat!" he called, gesturing to the small chairs. Meri sat down. Itachi did not.

"Well," began the Hokage cheerfully, beaming at both of them. Itachi was repulsed.

Is this whole world happy ALL the time? He though, glancing down from the Hokage's friendly smile to Meri's playful grin. He looked back up at the Hokage.

"Well," repeated the Hokage. "You two both are exceptionally talented ninja."

Itachi did not look away from the Hokage, though out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meri's smile fade.

"Especially you, Itachi." the Hokage continued. "But even the best of ninja require extra help. Meri, your father has asked me to seek a skilled ninja to help you become even more powerful by giving you…lessons, let's call them. Of course, as you two can easily see, your father and I both agree that Itachi is more than acceptable for this task."

Neither Meri nor Itachi moved, they both stared at the Hokage, who was still smiling, repulsing Itachi….though, at least Meri was now frowning. Itachi cast a quick glance at her, wondering why she had a sudden change in attitude, yet as he looked back at the Hokage, his heart sank into his stomach.

Private lessons with her He thought, almost horrified. I can't believe it. I'm supposed to sacrifice valuable training time giving lectures to a happy perky little girl?

"Meri, you will be taking ninja tutoring lessons with Itachi whenever you feel they are acceptable. I'm sure you two can work out a schedule of some sort." the Hokage said, interrupting Itachi's thoughts. "Now, Meri, if you will excuse me, I'll need to speak to Itachi alone for…a few…minutes…" he sounded slightly uncomfortable as he finished the sentence, yet continued to smile. Meri nodded and stood up to leave, while Itachi mentally questioned the Hokage's sanity.

Itachi did not watch Meri as she left the room, frankly, he didn't ever want to see her face again. He'd barely spent ten minutes with her, and hardly talked at all, yet was already extremely disgusted by the fact that he'd have to help her train. He fought the urge to sigh. What was the world becoming?

Once Meri's footsteps had reached the other end of the room, Itachi heard the door creak open and close quietly. The Hokage's smile faded instantly, and he folded his hands under his chin, staring up at Itachi.

"Okay, let's cut the crap." he said, his tone suddenly harsher and much lower than it had been when Meri was in his presence. Itachi was taken aback by his sudden crudeness, but did not question it. He continued to stare at the Hokage with an expression he hoped to look like polite interest.

"Meri…" continued the Hokage, sighing. "Is one of the worst ninja Konoha has ever seen. Sure, she's got an almost limitless supply of chakra, and stamina to keep an entire army going for a month, but she couldn't tell one end of a kunai from another if her life depended on it."

"I see." said Itachi slowly, nodding.

"Lord Kasumaru has heard of you, Itachi, I doubt there's a person in the village who hasn't. Your powers could match and possibly defeat mine, I don't doubt it. He thinks that you are the last hope for his daughter, and trust me, he's… put…put a lot of money into—"

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"I hope you are not leading to the fact that you have accepted a bribe, Hokage-sama?" asked Itachi quietly, sounding polite. The Hokage looked outraged.

"This is no bribe. He has simply paid me a large…amount…of money to find a tutor for his daughter."

"Politics."

"Exactly. You have to see this from my point of view, Itachi. I know, if I were you I wouldn't want to teach her either, but you've got no choice. This money could really help the village, supporting the schools, buying new imports—"

"I understand." Itachi cut in, yet the Hokage continued as though he had not heard Itachi.

"—could really help our economy. And frankly, Meri's embarrassing Konoha. Each time we send her on a mission, whether it is a simple delivery or an escort mission, she always seems to display her…let's just say erroneous ninja skills. Of course, other ninja from outside villages seem to believe that Konoha's ninja……….well, suck."

The corner's of Itachi's mouth twitched slightly, though he did not smile. Never could one imagine such a formal leader using crude language as so.

"And, to top it all off, Kasumaru is threatening to sue the schools if you don't teach his daughter. He deems the school's system unsatisfactory for those who whish to become great ninja. And unfortunately with Kasumaru's power and wealth, there's no way any Hokage would ever be able to fish themselves out of a situation like that."

"I understand." he repeated, closing his eyes and bowing his head. The Hokage looked relieved.

"So you'll do it then?" he asked, the mournful look on his face lifting up, being replaced by a hopeful stare.

Itachi hesitated. He did not wish to take part of this in any way at all. As he thought before, he'd be sacrificing his own time to be teaching a stupid little girl numerous ninjutsu, combat skills, and weaponry skills that she could never possibly master. But he knew that there was no possible way out of this.

"You have my word." he finally said, bowing his head once more.