Author's Note: I'm so sorry for my late posting, you see, this past weekend has kept me from writing and when I had time to write, I wrote something else. So please don't all throw tomatoes at me at once, I know I should have updated…but please…take this new chapter as forgiveness present! :)

Dedicated to: LaberaiTashio, anonymous, TeamTHEFT, and shadow miko


The meeting room stayed quiet as the big oak doors opened up, to reveal, Sakura walking to the front of the room. She bowed deeply towards Mikoto and waited for instructions to be given.

Jiraiya and Kakashi watched as the pink haired woman bowed respectfully towards the Queen. Kakashi seemed indifferent towards the young woman, while Jiraiya couldn't help but shake his head at Sakura's attire. 'Seems like those servant cloths do you no justice Sakura.' He thought to himself as he returned his attention to Tsunade and the King.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the servant that entered the room, here she was again, but this time she was a completely different woman. She was obedient and showed no sign of defiance. He stared at her intently, wondering how this new side of the woman, would act.

Tsunade didn't look at Sakura when she entered the room; she was more worried with the King's demand, at the moment. "Your highness…" Tsunade said as she watched him stare her down.

"What is it Tsunade?" He asked her impatiently.

"I don't think you want to see my apprentice at the moment." Tsunade explained as she felt his eyes glare down at her.

"What do you mean Tsunade?" He growled out.

Jiraiya turned his attention to the fumbling woman on the side of him. 'What is Tsunade doing?' He asked himself.

"You see your highness…my apprentice has been on this mission ever since we received word about Lord Leonard's actions. They need their rest." Tsunade exclaimed, trying to get out of presenting her apprentice to the King.

Sakura stared dumbfounded at her mentor. 'Oh yeah, getting rest my ass, I've been sleep deprived for over two weeks because of that jack-ass. Yeah, I need rest all right...' Sakura thought angrily as she trained her eyes to the floor.

Fugaku shook his head from side-to-side at Tsunade. "I don't care Tsunade. I want to know in full detail from the primary source." He stated in a powerful manner, leaving Tsunade, unable to argue any further with him.

She bowed her head towards the King and nodded her head. "Yes your highness." She told him.

Mikoto looked towards her most trusted servant and stood up from her thrown. "Take Tsunade to the entrance closest to the west side of the castle. Wait for her to come back and bring her back here." Mikoto ordered Sakura.

Sakura bowed deeply towards the Queen. "Yes Queen Uchiha." Sakura stated unemotionally as she lead Tsunade to the double doors behind her.

Sakura pretended that she didn't notice the Prince's glaze follow her out the door. 'I guess I still rattled him.' Sakura thought with a smirk as she closed the doors behind her.

Jiraiya watched the exchange between Sakura and Mikoto, only to notice Itachi watching Sakura's receding back. He noticed the way the older Prince examined Sakura when she spoke, but he chose to say nothing. 'I'll have to dig deeper into this subject later.' He thought.

Meanwhile, once Sakura and Tsunade made their way out of the meeting room, Sakura turned around sharply and glared at her mentor. "What was that all about?" Sakura growled out.

Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "It was the best I could come up with Sakura. I don't want him to meet you anymore than you wanting to meet him."

Sakura huffed and continued to walk down the empty hallways. "Well, unfortunately for me, I've already met the bastard. He treats all us servants like scum he scuffled around on the ground." Sakura said furiously as they reached the west-side exit of the castle.

"You'll just have to ignore that when you present him the news about what you have found out." Tsunade said with a sigh as Sakura opened the iron door.

The both of them walked outside of the castle and proceeded to find a hiding spot for Sakura to get dressed in. While Tsunade sent Sakura to change behind a tree, she couldn't help but bring up something she noticed during the meeting.

"What did you do Sakura?" Tsunade asked as she heard cloths being thrown down on the ground.

"What are you talking about Tsunade?" Sakura asked as she slides on her leather skirt and black wrap around heels.

Tsunade snorted at her student. "Don't think I didn't notice. I have taught you everything you know."

"What did you notice Tsunade?" Sakura asked as she threw on her leather tank top and emerged from the behind the tree, only to see her mentor smirking in her direction.

"You did something to Itachi…now spill it. What did you do?" She asked with a twinkle in her amber eyes, it took a lot to spark the oldest son's attention.

Sakura chuckled at the memory of rattling the older Prince, it was quite comical to watch his subtle emotion changes, when she didn't display proper edict to the royal Prince. "Nothing happened Tsunade; I just acted like myself, and not of an obedient servant." Sakura simply exclaimed.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at her stubborn student. "Sakura, you didn't…."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders as they continued to walk back to the castle. "What? What did you want me to do? Let him walk all over me? At least with him I can say what I want, if I did that with Fugaku, I'd end up with thirty lashes easily." Sakura explained as she placed her cloak's hood up as they entered into the castle.

Tsunade shook her head towards her student. 'Only Sakura would be bold enough to challenge Itachi.' She shook her head in pity for her student. "You know there is no telling what Itachi will do now that you have caught his attention."

Sakura chuckled lightly. "Don't worry Tsunade, its simple." Sakura said as she walked her mentor stare at her in suspicion.

"And what would that be?"

Sakura smirked underneath her hood, even though Tsunade couldn't see it, she had a strong feeling of what her student was planning. "I just avoid him." She told Tsunade. "It shouldn't be that hard, considering, hiding is what I do for a living."

Tsunade shook her head as a smile graced her lips. 'It's amazing how much Sakura has grown over the past nine years.'

Their conversation seized as soon as the two of them came to the double oak doors that awaited their fate. Tsunade grasped the iron handle and took a deep breath. "Whatever you do, do not backtalk the King." Tsunade said in a warning tone before she pushed open the doors.

Sakura felt a shiver run up her spine, between the King's punishment and Tsunade's punishment; she knew Tsunade's was a lot more painful. 'Besides no one wants to be on Tsunade's bad side.' Sakura thought before she stepped into the meeting room.

Fugaku watched as Tsunade and a cloaked figure walked through the doors. As his black eyes roamed the apprentice, their build seemed too small to be a male. 'Must be some malnourished little squirt.' He thought to himself as his wife and son examined the same person both with different assumptions.

Itachi narrowed his eyes toward the new person in the room. They didn't hold themselves like most royalty members he has meet. Yet, their built did not match up with that of a man. 'They are either a young child or a woman…though I can't imagine a woman doing the dark works of a spy…' Itachi thought.

Mikoto stared at the person standing near Tsunade and couldn't help but stare in pity at the person. 'They probably have no family, hence why they turned to Tsunade's teaching, but a spy's life is anything but glamorous. Normally they are trained in ways I would never want to imagine. It must be a hard life living in fear of someone finding out your identity.'

Tsunade and Sakura bowed deeply towards the royal family. "My lord, I present to you, my apprentice." Tsunade said as she backed up, leaving Sakura to stand alone.

Sakura stared intently towards the King as he eyed her up and down. 'Hold your tongue Sakura; it wouldn't do to have you make a scene.' Sakura told herself as she waited for him to say something.

Jiraiya watched as Tsunade returned to standing next to him and Kakashi. "I see you got them to come down here." Jiraiya said with a smirk.

Tsunade nodded her head. "Let's hope their mouth doesn't speak on its own." Tsunade said.

Kakashi felt a chuckle escape his lips. "They have a few of your characteristics, huh Tsunade?" He asked as he placed his book away. 'Tsunade having an apprentice is a twist of events. I wonder what made her take in an apprentice.'

"Tell me everything you know about Leonard's plan to kill me." Fugaku demanded.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the old man, since no one could see her facial expressions; she could make all kind of faces she wanted at the man. "What kind of version do you want? The short and sweet one or the long and boring one?" Sakura sarcastically asked the King.

Tsunade slapped her forehead with her hand, Jiraiya smirked at Sakura's smart comment, Kakashi raised a brow towards the comment, Mikoto covered her mouth with her hands, and Itachi also rose an eyebrow towards the comment, while his father smirked towards the person's direction. "So you have a sense of humor." Fugaku said as he walked down from his thrown, having his family do the same. "I'll take the short version." He said, as he stared down the person.

Sakura titled her head and sighed. "As you wish." She said as she started to walk around the royal family, much to Tsunade's dismay. "Leonard has been planning for a couple months to sneak in a man known as Orochimaru…" Sakura watched as the Prince and King exchanged meaningful glances at each other. 'So they are enemies with the freak as well...' Sakura thought to herself as she stored that bit of information into her memory.

"Go on…" Fugaku exclaimed.

"They want to sneak the man in, so that way he can make several traps in order to kill you." Sakura stated bluntly.

"You don't beat around the bush." Fugaku side commented as he nodded his head at her words. "When and where is going to make his appearance?"

Sakura looked around the room, only to see some man with tall white hair expecting her to slip up on her dead accurate information. She shook her head at him and returned her attention to the impatient King. "He is expected to beak into your castle through the East lecture hall, through the Knight's quarters, and meet Leonard in the North wings servant's room. Although they have no figured out when he will come, they are planning to bring him here either after your annual ballroom dance, or before it." Sakura explained.

Fugaku looked at the lad with an unbelievable stare. The lad did not falter once over the information he was giving. Itachi didn't show any emotion to the person in the cloak, they knew their castle too well. This gave him a reason to be on edge, spies were taught to read deep into everyone's movements, small or big. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he was surveying everyone's moves during this whole meeting.'

Mikoto stared at the person with undermost shock. "How come you know our castle so well?" She asked.

Sakura looked up at her leader and couldn't help but smile. Sakura allowed herself to release a soft chuckle. "Do you think I'd infiltrate a castle without studying the layout of it first? I know this castle like I know the back of my hand." She stated proudly.

"How accurate is your theory?" Kakashi asked, causing everyone to turn to him. "If I have to station my men at these spots I want to make sure it's accurate." He said as he narrowed his eyes towards the cloaked person.

Jiraiya and Tsunade watched Sakura turn towards Kakashi; they only prayed to the Gods, Sakura wouldn't do anything stupid. It was one thing for Sakura to be sarcastic, but it was another to talkback to the King's most trusted assassin.

"Accurate enough that I stake my life on it." Sakura determinedly stated as she glared at the older man.

Kakashi stared deeply at the "boy" in front of him. There was something about the boy that reminded him of himself when he was younger. "You just did." Kakashi said as he turned back to his quiet self.

The King looked at Tsunade's apprentice and continued on. "Kakashi, make sure we do not increase our security during the ball. If what the lad says is true, we have to make it look like we do not expect anything."

Kakashi stared at the King and nodded his head. "But how do you expect us to protect you?"

The King placed his hand on Itachi and pushed him forward. "You will polish up Itachi's skills until the day of the ball." He ordered Kakashi.

Kakashi bowed down to the King and nodded his head. "As you wish Fugaku."

Fugaku turned towards Tsunade and Jiraiya. "Keep a close eye on Leonard, if he makes any movements I want to know about it…"

Sakura couldn't stand the way he was barking out orders at everyone. 'Another reason why I hate his leadership tactics…' "What about me?" Sakura demanded causing everyone to look at her with confusion, there was no way she was going to sit out on this mission. 'I've been working on this for too long to not be given a task to do.' Sakura thought angrily.

"What about you?" Fugaku growled out angrily, the spy served his purpose, now he could leave. "You served your purpose. Leave."

Sakura glared at the pompous King. She grinded her teeth together, in anger, ready to lunge at the King. She could tell that the man named Kakashi thought she would do something, for he stood in front of the King, just a precaution incase she did anything. "This is why the "peasant" side, as you would call it, look down on you King." Sakura growled out, causing him and everyone else to stare at her in disbelief. "You think everyone should listen to your every command…" Sakura watched as the King's fists clenched in anger, causing her to smirk. 'Good. He needs to know the truth.' "…you need to prove to them that they need to listen to you." Sakura finished her ranting as she turned her back and made her way to the door.

"Where do you think you are going?!" Fugaku shouted in anger. 'How dare that inferior boy think he can turn his back on me after his vile accusations towards me!'

Sakura turned around and stared at the King. "I'm doing what you ordered me to do…" Sakura told him, as she twirled around again, her back facing him. "I'm leaving." And with that, Sakura exited the room, leaving an infuriated King, a confused mentor and a very curious Prince and assassin.

Tsunade turned towards the flaming King and bowed deeply. "Please excuse my apprentice your highness. Sometimes their mouth has a mind of its own."

Jiraiya chuckled at Tsunade's statement. "Unfortunately a little too much." He said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Fugaku turned around and walked back to his seat, masking his anger, as he proceeded to calm himself down. Mikoto looked at Tsunade with the confusion. "Where did you find such an apprentice Tsunade? I always thought you had a good judge of character." Mikoto stated.

Kakashi nodded his head. "Yeah Tsunade, what's the story with that one?" He asked, very curious at how the spy was able to gather enough courage to bash their King.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade, in question, as Tsunade ignored his stare. "They have had a rocky past Mikoto-San."

"How rocky?" Mikoto asked curiously, but didn't get an answer, for her oldest son stepped forward and interjected into the conversation.

"That doesn't give them an excuse." Itachi stated blankly, hoping this meeting would be done soon.

Jiraiya nodded his head at the Prince. "You're right Itachi, but they are good at what they do." Jiraiya said, trying not to reveal anything about Sakura.

"Doesn't matter." Fugaku interrupted. "You all have your jobs. You're dismissed." He told them all, as he sunk down into his chair, thinking about the words of the spy. Everyone in the room didn't need to be told twice to leave and they exited the room, not looking back.

"Don't think about it Fugaku." Mikoto said as she approached her husband and sat down next to him.

Fugaku placed his hands on his temples and slowly massaged them. "That is no ordinary spy." Fugaku exclaimed. 'I need to find out everything I can about that spy.' "Itachi." Fugaku called out as his oldest son stood in front of him. "Find out anything you can about that spy. Ask around the castle, ask those who were here during the meeting. I want to find out everything about him."

Itachi nodded his head, not ignoring that fact that the task given, would be a challenge. 'A spy is taught at an early age to cover up any personal track they may have.' Itachi thought as he exited the room and made his way towards the training grounds. 'Making them live a lonely life.' Itachi told himself.

Meanwhile, Tsunade and Jiraiya were trying to find where Sakura flittered off too. After the fiasco in the meeting room, they could only imagine what Sakura was doing to blow some steam off.

"Can you believe she said that to Fugaku?!" Jiraiya exclaimed as they ran around the castle hallways looking into every shadow.

Tsunade shook her head as her annoyed amber eyes scanned the hallway. "Yes I can believe it Jiraiya. Sakura has a mind of her own, she's lucky that she didn't say that when she was a servant, she would be dead by now."

Jiraiya nodded his head. "Yeah you're right, but still, I'm glad that she stuck up for herself."

"Even if it means belittling her King?" Interjected a new voice, causing Jiraiya and Tsunade to freeze in their spots, they turned around only to see Kakashi.

"Kakashi! What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked, hoping to God he didn't hear much of their conversation.

"I'm not training Itachi till tomorrow and I was just rooming the halls until I heard you and Jiraiya talking about how the spy stuck up for himself, which got me curious." Kakashi simply stated.

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a thank-the-lords look and flashed him a smirk. "Oh really Kakashi? How so?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "What is the story about your apprentice Tsunade? I've got to say I've never seen a lad quite like him before."

Tsunade shot a smile towards the curious man. "He is unique isn't he?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi nodded his head. "Yes he is. I was thinking about dragging him into my line of work, we need someone as observant as he is, and someone that can learn fast. He'd be a valuable asset to our team."

Jiraiya felt a shiver run up his spine. 'If only you knew who you would be dragging into your dark line of work Kakashi.' Jiraiya thought as he flashed Tsunade a glance. 'She needs to tell Sakura or Kakashi sooner or later. Sakura has gone her whole life without knowing she had a father, while Kakashi…' Jiraiya couldn't help but feel pity towards the younger male. 'He has been living in solitude because he thinks his whole family is dead…'

Jiraiya wasn't allowed to progress deeper into his thoughts for Tsunade ended the conversation. "Well sorry Kakashi, but I want to keep my apprentice." She told him with a smirk. "Why don't you get your own?" She asked having Kakashi give her an eye crease.

Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry Tsunade, you know me, I'm not good at teaching kids."

Jiraiya snorted. "Her apprentice is far from a kid Kakashi." He added in, causing Tsunade to cast him a sharp look.

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement. "True. The lad seemed more mature than a regular teenaged boy."

"Yes he is Kakashi." Tsunade interjected. "Well I hate to end our conversation, but we need to get back to headquarters." Tsunade declared as she grabbed Jiraiya by the arm and lead him down the hall.

Kakashi nodded his head. "It was good seeing you both again." He said, while Tsunade and Jiraiya waved back at him, as they walked deeper down the hall.

Meanwhile, Sakura strolled down the opposite hall in a tirade. She couldn't get over how preposterous the King acted towards her. 'I mean I expected him to be all high and mighty, but I never thought he was this bad…' Sakura thought, as she opened the South side door.

Not daring to look back, Sakura exited the castle, and began to walk down an all too familiar path. 'Looks like I'll be paying an early visit Mom.' Sakura thought with a sad smile, as she picked up her pace, and sprinted towards the grave sight.

As Sakura came to a halt, she was welcomed by a sight of many graves littered across the lonely hills. She bowed deeply towards the entrance, in respect, and proceeded to walk towards a grave.

Once she reached the stone she was looking for, she knelt down, clasped her hands together, and proceeded to have a chat with her deceased mother. It seemed every time Sakura would have a stressful day on a mission, or a horrible experience during her servant hours, or even if she didn't want to feel alone, she would come to her Mother's grave and talk to her.

'You would never guess what happened today Mother.' Sakura began as she crossed her legs together and closed her eyes in concentration. 'The retched King wanted to talk to the "spy" about how some crazy snake man who wants to kill him. He kept assuming that I was a boy. How annoying, I mean come on, do they seriously think women are that incapable of doing a man's job?' Sakura couldn't help but snort at her own statement. 'But then again, why wouldn't they? I mean it's those princesses that give us hard working women a bad name….anyways, I stuck up for myself. He wasn't letting me do anything on the mission that I started! Sometimes I wished those Royal, stuck up snobs could see what its like on the outside of their pristine stone walls.' Sakura rambled on as her face expressed every passing emotion she felt, this was the only place, which she was allowed to truly show her emotions.

'Then there was this stuck up Knight down in the meeting room as well…he seemed very experience in what is job…but there was something about him, like he didn't seem too attached to the world. His expressions and movements were too guarded. It was like he didn't want to reveal anything about himself. He is hiding something….' Sakura thought suspiciously. 'Maybe you can help me Mom, his name was Kakashi, I think. Maybe you can find out some information on him for me.' Sakura thought was a sad smile as she bowed deeply towards the grave. 'Well looks like I have to go. See you again soon.' Sakura said as she rose to her knees and began to walk out of the cemetery.

As she exited the scene, she couldn't help but shake her head at herself. Here she was, a twenty year old, still talking to her mother like she could hear her. She used to do it when she was little, when she believed her mother would answer her, but now…she just used it as a scapegoat. A way to exit the dark side of the world that she learns about every day, and focus on something that would never change, and that would be her Mother's grave.

The sun began to hide behind the horizon, as the moon started to come out, ready to be the center of attention. Sakura picked up her pace, praying to the Gods, that she wouldn't get whipped for returning to the Castle so late. 'I doubt that, the King is probably in a shitty mood after what I said to him earlier.' Sakura thought as she sprinted towards the Southside entrance of the castle.

Shutting the iron door, soundlessly, behind her Sakura ran with a cat's grace towards her station. She had already discarded her cloths from the meeting, in her usual hole in a tree, now she was dressed in her servant cloths.

As she passed the kitchen, an arm grabbed out at her, causing her to be pushed against a stone wall. "What the hell?" Sakura exclaimed as she wiggled around in the captor's grasp.

"Shut up Pinky. Do you want to get killed?" Anko growled out as she loosened her hold on the younger woman.

Sakura looked up at Anko with confusion. "What the hell is going on Anko?" Sakura asked.

Anko let go of Sakura's wrist, entirely, and shook her head. "Mikoto sent out a bunch of guards to come look for you, when she rang her bell, you never showed up." Anko exclaimed, as she watched Sakura's face pale.

"Where is she? I need to tell her I'm here." Sakura said as she got away from the wall and began to walk towards the entrance.

A hand stopped Sakura in her tracks. "And what are you going to tell the woman when you randomly show up during dinner? That you felt like taking a walk and lost track of the sun set?" She said sarcastically.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'll think of something Anko." She said with a smile. She noticed the worried look Anko let flash on her face and Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Anko, I will be ok."

Anko shook her head, causing her purple hair, to whip her in the face. "Just be careful. The King is in a vile mood." After all the years Anko has spent with Sakura, she has grown to fill the Mother hole that Sakura seemed to be missing.

Sakura turned her face towards the door and couldn't help the smirk that crawled up to her face. "And why is that?" Sakura asked, trying to sound confused and worried.

Anko shrugged her shoulders. "Word around the pots is that some spy told him something he didn't like." Anko stated as Sakura began to walk out the door. "The Gods know how annoyed he gets when he hears something he doesn't like." Anko said again.

Sakura nodded her head as she walked through the door, towards her doom. As she walked down the barren hallways, taking every twist and turn, she ran into an angry looking guard.

"There you are!" He shouted as he grabbed her arm. "Let's go. The Queen has made us look for your sorry ass. Why I don't know, but it has been a waist of my time." He growled out as he dragged Sakura down the remaining hallways.

Sakura held back her tongue. She needed to save her energy for facing the royals during their feast. 'The dinner is the worst time to interrupt them…this is not going to be a good night for me.' Sakura thought with a groan as the big wooden doors of terror opened wide.

As the doors opened, Sakura watched as the royal family of four turned their pretty black heads in her direction. As she looked around, she saw them all staring at her, the only one that seemed remotely effected by her presence was Mikoto.

"My lady, I have found your servant." He said as he bowed deeply and thrusted Sakura to stand in front of the table.

Sakura looked around the table. The King paid no attention to her, Itachi seemed to glue his eyes to her once the guard shoved her forward, Mikoto eyed her with worry, while the youngest son acted just like the King.

Mikoto placed down her fork and turned towards Sakura. "Where were you?" She asked kindly. "I called for you and you never came."

Sakura bowed deeply towards her Leader. Sakura never realized how lucky she was to be with Mikoto's servant. There were plenty of masters that would have slashed her dearly for half of the stunts Sakura has pulled in her life. 'She felt sorry for me when my parents never came to claim me.' Sakura thought as she returned to a standing up position.

"Sorry to worry you My Lady." Sakura said as she heard a chair being scraped against the wooden floor.

Sakura stared long and hard as the King slowly walked towards her. "You will be sorry." He said darkly as he reached over to one of the guards to pull out a leather whip.

Sakura watched as both Princes eyed their father's footsteps. She eyed the revolting leather contraption with indifference. The way the million leather straps flapped with every walk rang warning bells in Sakura's head. There was nothing she could do though, she needed, no she had too, take the beating like a man.

"Get on your knees." He commanded.

Sakura did as she was told until she heard Mikoto's chair scrap against the floor as well. "Fugaku, you put that whip down right now. She is my servant and I will give her punishment where I see fit." She demanded, eyeing Sakura with fear. 'If Fugaku whips her, she won't be able to work for weeks, he so angered by that Spy that he's itching to hit something.' She thought in horror. 'Unfortunately that something is her.'

Itachi and his younger brother watched the scene with calculating eyes. "How long do you think the servant will last?" The younger Prince said with a smirk, waiting to hear the woman cry out in pain, from his father's lashings.

Itachi ignored his brother's question and watched the scene unfold. He noticed the way she looked at the whip without fear. 'She must have been whipped so many times that she doesn't see the whip threatening like other slaves would.' His thought made him even more curious about the servant in front of him. 'What could a woman possibly do to get whipped so many times?'

Fugaku turned towards his wife and narrowed his eyes towards her. "You will sit down and shut your mouth. I will not have you ordering me around." He said as he grabbed Sakura's shoulders and shoved her down on the floor. "You will stay until I tell you to move." He ordered.

Sakura did not respond, instead, she focused on a spot on the wall. Before Sakura knew what hit her, she heard leather flaps slamming down on her back. The first lash sent a sharp pain through her body, it felt like her whole back was on fire, but there was no water to soothe the pain that was about to come.

Mikoto watched with horror written on her face. Fugaku kept slamming the leather into the poor girl's back. What was strange was that she never cried out once, not even during the first round of lashes, but Mikoto noticed that Fugaku was growing angrier with her. 'Oh no…' She thought in horror as she averted her eyes from the scene.

Itachi watched with narrowed eyes. His father was not weak behind a whip, so what made this servant able to subside the cries, which were sure to erupt from any other servant's mouth? He noticed his mother was growing sick with watching the leather strike deep into her skin, causing the wound to grow deeper and making more blood fly out of her body. 'She is a servant…but yet…she possesses an unspoken bond with my Mother…' He was now truly perplexed by the servant and decided that she was now his top priority to research, the spy would come later.

Fugaku glared down at the silent servant. He had struck her twenty times and still there was no sound escaping her mouth. "You think you are too good to cry out?!" He shouted as he threw back the whip and smashed it, with all his might, down on her back.

During most of the whipping Sakura had tuned her mind out of the situation. She began to think back to her mission and how she was going to plan around the snake man. She could tell that Fugaku was growing angry with her, for, she heard his hand grasp around the whip tighter than before. She knew it was coming, the big hit, and she allowed it to echo through her body.

The blow she just endeared, sent her whole body rattling, she did not allow herself to scream out loud. It would show him that he had won, now that he declared the challenge, she was not going to back down. She bit her lip to stop her from screaming, but, she could not stop the lone tear to fall from her eye.

Fugaku stood there, after twenty more lashes the servant made no effort to scream or shout out in pain. He took a step back from the lashing and surveyed his work. Blood was running down the woman's back, onto his floor. The back of her dress was slashed to shreds and her wounds seemed even deeper than before. His whip was soaked in blood, it was amazing the woman didn't fall over. "Get out of my sight." He said roughly as he threw the whip to one of the guards.

Sakura stood down on her knees for a few minutes before she got up. She never took her eyes off the piece of stone she was eyeing through the whole experience. There was no longer pain that erupted through her whole body, all there was, was numbness. She could tell a few tears escaped her, but that didn't matter, what mattered was getting the hell out of there before he decided to throw her into a wall too.

Itachi and Mikoto watched her with curiosity. She got up without a sway in her step, and proceeded to walk to the doors like nothing had happened to her.

Not a word was said as Sakura exited the dinner room. Sakura shut the wooden doors and made her way towards Anko. 'Anko can help me with these wounds.' She thought as she rounded the corner and before she knocked on Anko's door she tried to get a look at her stinging back. Her swift movements were making the paint more and more unbearable. 'These wounds are going to take longer to heal that I initially thought…' Sakura thought with a groan as she knocked on Anko's door. It seems like everyone was against her today…


TO

BE

CONTINUED


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well….that was a long chapter, I've got to say. I hope a lot more people review to it. I hope my efforts didn't go in vain! Hope you enjoyed it and please read and review! :)