It was quite dark outside by the time they left the station. Sakura was still dressed in her training clothes, duffle bag slung tightly around her person. She walked behind the silent Uchiha almost in a daze as he led them to the familiar sleek black car. He followed the gentleman routine and opened her door for her, made sure she was strapped in, and shut it before going over to the other side of the car. She crunched her nose in distaste. He was so sickeningly polite that it irked her.

She watched him with a brooding stare as he started up the vehicle and pulled onto the main street. He was mysterious yet carried himself as if he had absolutely nothing to hide. So caught up in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the glances he had been sending her way.

For him, it was exactly the same. She was mysterious in her own right. There were so many things about her that he still had no clue about and if she were to be working with him it was necessary to discover every detail down to the last, strange, strand of pink hair. If he were not Uchiha Itachi, he wouldn't bother. But since he was, it was much too late to turn back now.

"Are you hungry?" she was snapped out of her thoughts by his question and turned to him sharply.

"I—uh yeah." She stammered, cursing herself. He hummed in agreement and turned the car into the parking lot of a small take-out restaurant. Sakura recognized the establishment and recoiled in her seat. When he came around to open the door, her seatbelt was still strapped securely and her arms were crossed over her chest, a set frown on her face. He arched a brow at her demeanor and refusal to get out.

"I take it you've been here before." He guessed. She pursed her lips and turned away.

"How perceptive of you. I'm not going in." she claimed, turning her head to look anywhere other than at him. God this woman was so much trouble! He hadn't even asked her and she already declined. It was in her nature, he realized that, but it didn't make the situation anymore easier to cope with. He sighed and crouched down to look at her. She fidgeted a little but did not change.

"Sakura-san," he started. She visibly relaxed at the sound of his voice. "I understand that you may have a shaky past that entails you to be uncooperative in some areas. However, failure to cooperate is a sign of conceding or, in this case, being afraid." Oh yeah, that got her attention.

"I'm not afraid." She turned to him with sharp emerald orbs. He smirked.

"Then prove it. Come inside." Damn it! He tricked her! He laid out the bait and she took it like a starving fish. Exhaling heavily through her nostrils, Sakura unclasped her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, refusing to look at him again.

They stepped inside the quiet restaurant with the door dinging as they walked in. Sakura bit her lip and played with the hem of the navy shirt, trying to hide beneath the high collar as footsteps came around from behind the counter. An older man with squinty eyes came into view, spotted the two of them with a superficial glance.

"Welcome! What can I-" he paused, catching that familiar head of pink hair. He grimaced and frowned deeply. "It's you. What do you want?"

"Sakura has something she wishes to say." Itachi gave her a firm, but gentle push towards the counter to which she stumbled none too gracefully forward. So he dropped the honorific, huh?

"Itachi…" She frowned and looked back at him with a pleading look. But he refused to meet her glance. Damn him! He had this planned. Slowly, she turned back to the man, who seemed to be waiting for what she had to say.

"I—I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, bowing deeply with her eyes clenched shut. "For all the trouble I've caused you and—ouch…" she winced at the feeling of something hard coming down on her head. She looked up to see the man wielding a wooden spoon in his hand with a small grin on his face.

"When someone can own up to their actions and apologize, that's enough for me. What can I get you two?" he asked as he turned back to his kitchen, beginning to prepare the food. Sakura stood up straight, surprise on her features as she turned back to look at Itachi who shrugged in response. She approached the counter and sat at one of the stools and waited for him to come up next to him.

"The usual for me and a miso for her." Itachi called as he took a seat beside her. She watched him with a silent gaze as he rested his elbows atop the orange counter. Sakura sighed and laid her head down, suddenly very tired. The day had been long and it just seemed to keep getting longer by her standards.

When she woke up she hadn't expected to be picked up by a cop, given a physical by an actual doctor, and trained by supposedly another cop. And this was just the beginning. How in the world was she going to explain this to Naruto? She groaned and sank further into her seat.

"Why?" her voice was muffled but Itachi still heard and hummed thoughtfully to himself. For the umpteenth time that day, he developed a sickening feeling in his chest.

When they arrived at Itachi's home, it was silent. He flicked on the light in the front room and moved towards the kitchen where he sat the bag of food down. She scrutinized the space with curious green eyes.

"I guess you have a nice house." She commented as she ran a slender finger over the leather couch beside her. She looked up to see Itachi staring at her with blank dark eyes. He grunted at her words before smirk fell on his features. She could feel a snotty remark about to float through the air.

"Don't steal anything." He chided. Sakura gaped at him and stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.

"You caught me one time, okay? I don't steal everything I see." She explained. He scoffed as he emptied the bags, coming up with three ramen containers. She cocked a brow at him, wondering just how big his appetite was. "Are you going to eat-"

"It's about time you got home. Probably took long on purpose." A boy, Sakura guessed he was around her age, strolled in with a frustrated scowl on his face. He had the similar characteristic of dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. His brother, maybe.

"Sasuke." Itachi stated. Sakura just stood off to the side, suddenly feeling as if she didn't belong in this picture. Said boy perked up, looking up from his take-out box at the sound of his name. He looked up at his brother them followed his gaze.

Standing just mere feet away from him was a girl. With pink hair and strangely familiar clothes that he thought he had given away…month ago.

"Are those my clothes?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. Itachi sighed then reared his hand back to smack the insolent boy on the head. Sasuke winced and turned back to his brother with a scowl.

"Where are your manners?" He scolded the boy.

"Tch, whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked over to the girl who was silent the entire time. He narrowed his eyes at her, noticing how she furrowed her brows in response at the way he sized her up. She had to be pretty small if the clothes from his adolescence fit like they did. But it looked strange to see a non-Uchiha in the customary high collared attire.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He stuck out his hand. Sakura bit her lip, remembering the last time she shook hands with an Uchiha. Still, he didn't seem like the type to pull a stunt like that. Complying politely she laid her hand against his and gripped it lightly.

"Haruno Sakura." She replied. That was when the comparisons began. His hand wasn't as soft as Itachi's. His hair had a dark blue tint to it and was remarkably shorter than Itachi's as well. His eyes were pitch black and held a disinterested glint in them.

"Hn." He grunted and walked back to his food. Sakura sighed and followed behind him.

"Sakura will be a guest in our house for the next month. Please keep your foolishness to a minimum, otouto." Again, the younger boy scoffed before taking his food and leaving the area.

"Why of course, your Excellency." Sasuke bit back a sarcastic remark. "Thanks for the food." And with that, he was gone. Itachi sighed and grabbed the two containers and moved to a moderately sized table with four matching chairs. Sakura followed and sat down where he placed her meal and chopsticks.

"You'll have to excuse Sasuke. He's a bit of a grouch on a regular basis." He said. Sakura smiled lightly and nodded, opening the container and taking in the nostalgic scent of the ramen.

"How'd you know I liked miso?" she asked.

"Just a hunch." He shrugged.

"Itadakimasu." They chanted quietly before beginning to eat. Sitting on the table beside Itachi was that same black classified file that Sakura read through earlier. He noticed her staring and began answering her silent questions.

"We didn't have a chance to discuss the training you would have to undergo. Now's the perfect time, unless you would prefer to do it later." He asked.

"No, now is okay." He nodded and opened the file.

"In addition to physical training with Shisui every day you will have etiquette lessons, dance classes as well as a weekly tea session with Midori-sama to copy her mannerisms." All the while he was talking, Sakura listened silently, nodded every so often to let him know that she was paying attention. There was a lot involved in this mission, she mused as he continued. There wasn't a lot of room for mistakes to be made and knowing her she'd make plenty of them. There was also the fact that she'd be in his care for approximately three to four weeks.

"What happens after the mission is complete?" she asked out of curiosity.

"You will receive your payment and hopefully stay out of trouble." He arched an eyebrow at her to which she snorted.

"Don't size me up as if you know everything about me, Itachi-san." She sneered, reverting back to the honorific as she stood up from the table and dropped her box into the trash.

"It's not as if you've given me much to size up." He replied, standing to meet her. He towered over her small figure but she stood her ground, refusing to falter under his gaze.

"Excuse me for not confessing my entire life story to a complete stranger." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. A deep chuckle resonated in his chest as he lifted his arm, two fingers poised to jab her lightly in the middle of her wide forehead. She flinched at the action and stared up at him in confusion.

"We won't be strangers for long."

If it were possible, Sakura would've laid in the guestroom bed for the rest of her days and not given a second thought to the outside world. It was like laying on a cloud of clouds. So soft and it smelled of lavender in early spring. She reveled in the glorious sheets of Egyptian cotton and let herself fall into a glorious slumber. It had been ages since she had gotten a good night's rest.

"Hmm," she hummed softly as she rubbed her face against the pillow rested overtop of her arms. She had been so engrossed in her sleep, she failed to sense the presence of someone else in the room. It was a menacing presence that she would've scowled at had she been conscious. Said person inhaled a large breath before bellowing into a very loud megaphone.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan!" she physically jumped ten feet in the air, heart pounding a mile a minute, eyes darting back and forth searching desperately for the source of loud noise. The sound of obnoxious laughter caught her attention as she finally took notice of the other body currently situated on the floor laughing uncontrollably.

"Dear God! That was hilarious!" Shisui giggled from the floor. Not giving a second thought, Sakura pounced on him, recalling their sparring match and how he had her pinned to the ground.

The end result?

"Ouch!"

The curly haired Uchiha had a busted lip to match his still sore nose. He grumbled silently as he went through Itachi's freezer, searching for something to ease the swelling. He pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables before plopping down next to a brooding Sasuke who was smirking at his predicament. Itachi walked in from the hallway at gazed at the scene with disinterested eyes as he moved to fix breakfast. Seconds later, Sakura came out of the guestroom still fuming and giving Shisui the evil eye.

"Ohayo Sakura." Itachi called from the stove.

"Hmph, ohayo…" she muttered sitting on the other side of Sasuke who raised an eyebrow at her. For someone with pink hair, she sure wasn't very cheery. Her appearance contradicted her attitude. Ah, a walking contradiction if he ever saw one.

"Hn." He marveled at his keen observation.

"Itachi!" Shisui whined like child. "She hit me again!" though a grown man, he still managed to act like a ten year old. But it was a part of his character that Itachi found refreshing every so often.

"You probably deserved it." Both Uchiha brothers chimed in, causing him to grumble.

"Damn straight." Sakura added causing the man to growl.

"Just wait until training this afternoon pinky." He snapped back.

"What are you even doing here?" she asked, looking around Sasuke to glare at him.

"Huh? I always come for breakfast. Itachi makes the best tamagoyaki." With that, the angry scowl was replaced with a content one. Sakura stared on silently while Sasuke snickered.

"Aniki is the housewife in this relationship." He turned to Sakura with a smirk. That is, until a wooden spoon came soaring through the air and hit him square on his flawless cheek. "Ow!"

"Do not show out in front Sakura, foolish otouto." Itachi glared before returning to his kitchen duties. "Shisui and you yourself are simply too incompetent to complete basic household tasks."

A glaring match erupted between the two siblings, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. Itachi glared expertly while cooking the eggs. Sasuke narrowed his eyes into tiny black slits while gripping the back of his chair tightly as if he were about to stand. Shisui just shrugged at the situation despite the fact that he too had been insulted.

"Pfft. Ha…" a soft giggle escaped Sakura's lips as she fought to maintain her composure. But it was proving to be increasingly difficult as the nature of the situation continued to appear in the forefront of her mind until she was in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. The sound of her giggles reached the ears of the men occupying the room and did a little more than ease the tension.

Her laugh was a refreshing sound, almost addicting to the ears.

"You Uchihas," she wiped nonexistent tears. "are so weird."

A/N: I gave Shisui a little break in there. It's hard to imagine that he would be able to walk away with only a busted lip after waking Sakura like he did. Besides, I like Shisui despite the fact that we've only ever seen a picture of him -.- Darn you Kishi for leaving me guessing!

Anyway, this was a nice chapter to write. If you hadn't guessed already, the small restaurant was Ichiraku and the old man was Teuchi. Yay Teuchi! Congratulations on those who had the correct hunch. Also, congratulations to those who guessed Sasuke would be our other surprise guest. Kudos to you!

Special thanks: The Woman on a Flaming Pie, xXx-darkblossoms-xXx, ke-ke999, RomanticallyDistant, kale-FTW, Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha, Kaydreams, Cassa-di-di Loves NaruHina, Theary94, DarkMangaIza, Toraberushi Meriemu, Mieko-chan12, and FakeMirage.

You guys are awesome! Next chapter will be out soon (I hope…)

P.S.- If you guessed Sasuke would be our special guest, PM me so I can give you your prize!