Without further ado...

Sakura smiled at the approaching presence. "Reinforcements."

She'd taken up Itachi's spot on the rock, and had been meditating for twelve hours straight. The rock was strangely comfortable – Itachi really knew how to pick them – but there was a strain behind her eyes and she was feeling parched like the weather in Sand. Right then, with a huge bottle of water in one hand and energy bars in another, Kakashi was a godsend.

Kakashi sat down beside her as she downed half a gallon of water and devoured two energy bars.

"So," Sakura began between bites, "how were the recruits?"

"Shino may well surpass his father."

"He impressed you that much?" Sakura was pleasantly surprised. Shibi Aburame was the pride of the clan for his superior skills as a shinobi. For Shino to surpass his father meant that he was well onto the way of becoming heir to the clan. The Aburame clan had a unique way of electing a leader: it was not by father-to-son, but by strength; unlike the Uchiha clan, where being an heir was a birthright.

Kakashi smirked. "Unlike Naruto, Shino thinks at least twenty steps ahead, holds multiple trump cards and uses the most efficient method to get things done. He doesn't waste time or energy."

"Why does he sound suspiciously like Shikamaru-kun?"

"Shikamaru actually thinks fifty steps ahead."

"My bad. And I suppose you think a hundred steps ahead?"

Kakashi had a knowing look in his eye. "More than that, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "How long has Itachi been with them?"

"Seven hours."

"Poor things."

Kakashi chuckled. "You don't think Itachi may be defeated? It's four against one, after all."

"You weren't defeated, were you? Itachi knows Sasuke's weaknesses too well, his genjutsu's even stronger than mine so Myuuko-san will definitely be confused, and Itachi's Sharingan will keep track of Shino's bugs and Kotaro-san's attacks," Sakura said as a matter-of-factly, taking another bite out of the energy bar.

"Looks like you've got us all analyzed down to a T. Hokage-sama will be coming tonight to take her pick."

"You make her sound like she's shopping."

"In a way, it is, isn't it?"

"Thanks for the food, Kakashi."

"Pleasure, Sakura. Itachi reminded me to."

With the final parting words that caused Sakura's breath to hitch, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, thus missing the effect of his words on his former female student. But that only meant that Sakura didn't have to screen her emotions, and she allowed her jaw to hang open for a good minute before she reminded herself to stop looking like an idiot.

The next bite she took from the energy bar tasted strangely delicious.

Seven hours after Kakashi's unexpected visit, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when Itachi appeared in her sight. She mustered a smile for the rugged-looking man who'd just finished training with four ANBU candidates. He was tired, but so was she. Then she spotted the slight limp in his walk. If she hadn't been looking for any signs of injury, she would probably have missed it. But now that she'd seen it, it was her job as a medic to rectify the situation.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at the man who'd settled down next to her on the rock. "What happened?"

Itachi seemed to instinctively know what she was asking about. "Aburame's bugs."

"What did they do?"

"They severed a few of my tendons. Aburame has reached a whole new level with those insects. He was nowhere near where I was."

Sakura stopped him as he prepared to take over the genjutsu. "Let me check you out first."

He yielded to her request, although not hiding his reluctance. Sakura removed the bandage he had around his thigh, quickly gathered chakra and placed her hand over the clothed surface, willing her chakra to penetrate his pants and into his system. His body instinctively tried to repel the foreign chakra, but Itachi managed to control his impulses to defend himself and allowed Sakura to continue her healing. She found his sliced tendon easily, and Sakura marveled at the precision of Shino's skills. Or his bugs'. If ninja weren't so secretive she would have asked for a demonstration of his abilities. But everyone knew that you kept the full extent of your skills a secret, using mostly 'signature' jutsu so as to keep your trump card as a trump card. Even amongst teammates, you didn't let them in on your deepest, darkest secrets and techniques.

"Has Tsunade-shishou arrived yet?"

"I heard from Ibiki that she would be here in approximately ten minutes."

"Now that you can walk properly, we've got to be there to greet our Hokage-sama, ne?" Sakura grinned as she retracted her hand and carefully re-bandaged his leg.

Sakura got up, dusted her bottom and was turning around to go when Itachi grabbed hold of her arm gently, but firmly, causing Sakura to turn around with the question written all over her face.

"Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura smiled in understanding. "It is what I do."

Quietly, they made their way to the main square, where the four recruits were standing at attention in front of Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi. Itachi and Sakura, with their masks in place, took their respective positions behind the interrogators. Not a minute later, the Fifth Hokage swept into view, her white cloak billowing behind her and her eyes shadowed by her Hokage headgear. Kakashi and Shikamaru followed closely behind.

Everyone seemed to stand a little straighter in the presence of the strongest ninja in the village, and the cloak of fatigue that had befallen upon them previously mysteriously disappeared. Tsunade, when not getting drunk or gambling, commanded respect and reverence. She held herself straight as a ramrod, her eyes, although hidden, watched her surroundings closely, and her lips would form a thin line that demonstrated just how serious she was when it came to matters of the village. She walked with an aristocratic grace of a cat, and her silent footsteps only served to exhibit her refined skills as a shinobi of Konoha.

Tsunade nodded once at Ibiki, and turned to face the four ANBU recruits. "Good evening."

"Good evening, Hokage-sama," only Kotaro replied.

Immediately, the man knew that something was wrong. Before he knew it, the place where Tsunade had originally been standing was no longer occupied by her, and in her place, it was Inoichi. Tsunade let out a sigh in the shadows where Inoichi should have been.

She pointed a finger at Kotaro. "Come with me."

The rest of the group watched silently as Kotaro followed the woman into the tent. An air of trepidation descended upon the three remaining recruits. It wasn't that Kotaro was incompetent in any way; he was an excellent fighter and an expert at taijutsu, but he simply wasn't vigilant enough to be in ANBU. ANBU members were on their guards at all times when they were on duty, and it eventually became an ingrained habit such that even when off active duty, the instinct to take in any and all surroundings was always intact. Kotaro lacked that ability to observe, and that was his downfall.

The blonde leader emerged from the tent alone and finally addressed the remaining three recruits. "Congratulations. Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Myuuko Toushiro, you are now officially instated as ANBU. Your captains will be training each of you personally and integrate you into the workings of the Black Ops. You will observe only one rule from now on; and it is that you take orders only from me. Clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Excellent. Now meet your captains."

"Morino Ibiki, Head of Torture and Interrogation Force."

"Yamanaka Inoichi, Second-in-command of Torture and Interrogation Force."

"Nara Shikamaru, ANBU Captain of Unit One."

"Hatake Kakashi, ANBU Captain of Unit Two."

"Uchiha Itachi, ANBU Captain of Unit Three."

"Haruno Sakura, ANBU Head Medic."

There was a soft but collective gasp as the only female of the group stepped forward and revealed the face behind the mask. Green eyes glittered in the dark of the night, taking in Sasuke's split-second wide-eyed expression, Shino's furrow of eyebrows as it disappeared behind his sunglasses (why he wore them even at night she had no idea), and Toushiro's look of surprise bordering on disbelief. He'd been her patient many a times at the hospital, and had often shared his dream of joining ANBU with the pink-haired medic, having no idea that she was already in the Black Ops.

The general reaction of the group to Sakura's presence did not escape Tsunade's sharp vision either, and Sakura swore she saw a quirk of her mentor's lips in satisfaction. ANBU, after all, often had its own discrimination against women, and Tsunade had longed to prove them wrong in the recruits' assumption in an attempt to remove the discrimination as generations passed.

"Briefing will be at five tomorrow morning. Have a good rest." With her parting words, Tsunade nodded at the interrogators and leapt off with them. The two laziest captains in ANBU history, having no further orders, disappeared together with the Hokage as well.

The Uchiha brothers naturally gravitated towards each other, and Sakura heard Itachi say something about their father being proud of Sasuke's achievement. Meanwhile, Toushiro approached her, albeit rather shyly.

"All this time…Sakura-san!"

The person addressed chuckled. "We can't reveal our identities to just anyone, Toushiro-san."

"But…wow. Head Medic! That's amazing, Sakura-san. I can't wait to work with you," Toushiro gushed. He may have made ANBU, but his bubbly personality was as intact as ever. Sakura smiled at his enthusiasm.

"And right now, as your medic, you need rest, Toushiro-san. You want to stay awake during the meeting tomorrow," Sakura said affectionately, ruffling his sandy-brown hair though he was a good head taller than her. It didn't matter that he was two years older than she.

Grinning, she turned to the insect-wielder. "Hey Shino-san, I've been hearing about your fantastic abilities all day. Great job."

"I am touched by the flattery, Sakura-san. Although I must express my surprise at your involvement in ANBU."

"Oh?"

"I had not expected that you would have been the first of Team Seven to be recruited into ANBU. Certainly not when you were the female of the team with no particular talents to speak of, unlike the Uchiha's Sharingan and Uzumaki's Kyuubi."

Sakura sighed at the blatant lack of social skills of Aburame Shino. His impudence rivaled that of Sai's, and albeit being extremely observant by nature, he didn't seem to have picked up on essential social skills others had.

"Ah – well. It'd be boring if things went as expected, wouldn't it?" Sakura smiled, understanding and easily forgiving Shino's social faux pas. She didn't become Sai's confidante by taking things too seriously, after all.

"…"

"Never mind, now's not the time for idle conversation. Shino-san, you know the way back?"

"Yes. The genjutsu never fooled me for a second."

"Excellent, I'll see you tomorrow." The instated ANBU disappeared silently. "Toushiro-san?"

"I'll walk you home, Sakura-san!" Toushiro claimed happily.

"That's nice of you, Toushiro-san," Sakura said sweetly, heading towards the direction of Konoha, "but you really do need to rest."

"I would be honored if you'd let me walk you home, Sakura-san." His tone had grown serious, so different from the playful banter she was used to with the man. Sakura whipped around to see that Toushiro was standing a few feet away from her, his chocolate brown eyes glowing warmly under the moonlight, but they held a tinge of sobriety that Sakura had never noticed before. Under his façade of a carefree personality was a man, a man of enough caliber to join the ranks of the most elite organization in Konoha. Sakura was not used to this new slant in the personality she had categorized as friendly and carefree.

Even his stance had shifted; what used to be a bounce in his step was now a casual leaning as he supported his weight on one leg, his shoulder slightly hunched and his head cocked to one side, making him seem taller and more in control than he actually was. Sakura recognized the look in his eye, and realized that her patient had never really seen her as his medic, but as a woman.

She didn't stop herself from responding to his signals. She let a small, soft smile grace her lips in understanding, and nodded slightly to the man before her. "Walk me home, then."

Looks like Itachi has some competition?

xoxo, Lady Aren