For those of you who were wondering 'why' from the early beginning, our beloved Shisui is about to give you the very first bit of explanation.

Many many thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter.

I'm updating faster just for you!


In her many years of existence, Sakura had always slept alone, what with never having had a boyfriend and all.

She had a cat at one point. His name was Saya despite being a guy. Maybe that's why he ran away.

"S…Saya?" Sakura questioned as her eyes fluttered open.

The cat gave her a strange look.

*Hey when did Saya's eyes turn black?* The question echoed through her sleep boggled mind.

*Think again moron,* inner advised.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed, realization dawning. A second more and the girl was hit with yet another wave of realization, for not only has she fallen asleep next to Uchiha Itachi, she has also just called him by her 'female' cat's name.

Just that would have been enough to mar the first few seconds of the girls morning.

She wasn't that lucky though, for it did not take her long to realize that despite having fallen asleep with her back to Itachi, she was now lying chest to chest with him. Not only that, but she had somehow managed to fling her leg over him, so that her thigh was resting a little bit above his knee.

The girl gawked at him.

"I… I…" she stuttered, frozen under his watchful gaze.

A second later she shot up and sat on the bed in seiza position in front of him, "I am very sorry. I must have mistaken you for my pillow. I mean, you're not a pillow obviously," she laughed, "I mean: you're comfortable of course… I mean, yah, I thought you were my pillow. I thought you were my cat too. He ran away though, so it's not likely… hahah, not that this is the only reason it is not possible that you're my cat. I mean you're not a cat either. Although you both have black hair… you know… haha, he had green eyes though…"

*oh for Kami's sakes, shut up!* inner pleaded.

"Sakura,"

"Yes?"

"You're late for the qualifiers," Itachi said in an amused tone.

"Oh!" and just like that he had the almost imponderable joy of seeing the girl look at the clock, panic, stumble off the bed so fast that she tripped over and fell butt first on the floor. "Damn it," she cursed, before getting back to her feet and running to the door. The Uchiha watched the door for a second and as he expected the girl raced back in, "I'm in my pajamas,"

"Good observation," he said coolly as he sat back and watched her hurry to the closet, grab her Anbu gear and race out again.

"Have a good day!" She screamed at him as she dashed out.

Absently Itachi wondered where she was going to get dressed but with how erratic the girl's behavior had been he was sure she would manage to turn it into a catastrophe somehow.

With that thought in mind the Uchiha shifted his attention to his cousin who just flashed into his bedroom, "morning little cousin," Shisui greeted, "just saw the kitten run out so I thought it was about time we start our day too."

Itachi eyed him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yah, yah, I know you don't like it when I flash in. But walking through doors is such a hassle."

Itachi got off his bed and stalked towards the table in the corner gesturing for Shusui to take a seat on the opposing chair, "what do you have?"

"Well, the results of the detailed investigation that you requested before the wedding are in. I couldn't do it myself because I couldn't risk anyone in government tracing it back to us, but I got some of our police force investigators on it and I also hired two private investigators to look into your dear wife… All of their results confirmed what you and I came up with after she approached you: she's clean." Shisui declared.

"You found nothing?"

"Not a thing: no hidden motives, no agenda, no shady liaisons, nothing. She's always been a model student; she's worked really hard and became a top medic. She did very well on the entrance exams. She's someone who always works hard and puts her money where her mouth is. Highly trusted by colleagues and admired by friends. Saved numerous lives as a medic, and as a kunoichi she does not hesitate to put her life on the line for a friend," Shisui said reading from a folder in his hands, he flipped to a new page, "One of the investigators accessed the hospital's video records and we have evidence of a conversation that took place between her and Sasuke a day after they finished the entrance exams…"

"Hn," Itachi said indicating that he was listening.

"Sasuke walked in with a head injury, Sakura treated him. And then she asked what happened and he told her that he was being pursued. He said that he does not know who was pursuing him but that he had the feeling that he was being watched for a few months. Their conversation lasted a while, and it seemed as if Sasuke had previously told her that the relationship between the clan and the leadership of Konoha was strained. Sakura asked him if he found anything about why it was strained and he told her that he did not manage to get any information, but that in light of his recent observations about clan members' cautious behavior he is inclined to assume that those who attacked him might actually be working for the leadership of Konoha. Sakura was stunned and told him that it cannot be true, but he assured her that he really did not want it to be true and told her that this information must be kept secret only to be discussed amongst them and Naruto."

"So Sasuke was the one who told her about the situation,"

Shisui nodded, "we also managed to secure some footage at a café near the hospital. The footage features Sakura talking to Uzumaki Naruto about the situation a day later. Sakura told him that she went to the Hokage tower and asked the Hokage if there is any truth to Sasuke's suspicion. She said that the Hokage told her to stay out of government business and that she replied saying that if Sasuke's life was in danger she would be willing to do anything to save him and that all she wanted to hear was that the leadership of Konoha would never do such a thing. Sakura complained to Naruto that the Hokage did not say anything and summarily sent her away."

"Hn,"

"A few days later, Sakura was summoned to the Hokage's office. I believe that was after the Hokage talked to you and asked whether you would consider a political marriage with one of her underlings without revealing the identity of the underling in question. According to Sakura, that day she was informed that the relationship between the clan and the government was highly strained and that some incidents took place that caused even more strain. According to the records kept in the Hokage tower about that day, Sakura did not receive any more information about those incidents and the Hokage did not talk about what happened to Sasuke. Sakura was told, however, that if this continued Konoha's peace might be threatened. And the Hokage then broached the subject of the political marriage. Sakura was told that she was under no obligation to go through with this, but being the Hokage's apprentice her marriage to you might soothe the people who have bad intentions for the Uchiha clan. Sakura took on the assignment and proceeded to find you and ask you to marry her within 10 minutes of leaving the Hokage tower that day."

"Such a brash person," Itachi commented.

Shisui grinned before resuming his report, "she has done nothing suspicious since then. But she has been going to the Hokage tower on weekly basis for a while now. It is highly possible that she has been asked to report to the Hokage and not just to you. And that is all we found."

"So her only motivation is to help…" Itachi said and it sounded more like a question.

"Yup!" Shisui beamed, "and it was so obvious from how she carried herself yesterday. I mean, despite telling her a hundred times to stay quiet she made a spectacle. So brave that kitten; and did you see how she stuck up for you?"

"Stuck up for me?"

"Yah, you heard it. You know when she went all: 'trust in your heir and all.' That's real love I tell you."

Itachi leaned back in his chair, "she is the kind of person to act first and think later."

Shisui gave him a look, "she's honest and brave," he paraphrased.

"She is a fool," Itachi declared, "but maybe a fool is what I need."

Shisui almost fell off his chair, "what… what did you just say?"

Itachi shrugged, "the qualifiers have started, is everything in place?" he said, effectively informing Shisui that pursuing this line of questioning any longer would be futile.

"Yah, we're all set for the qualifiers. This must be the most challenging qualifiers we've ever had. You've become even more of a sadist little cousin. I thought that was humanly impossible."

"I do not like to abide by humanly limitations," the Uchiha prince said with a smirk, "after all, both my brother and my wife are taking part in this year's qualifiers. This year is special."

"Oh so special," Shisui sang, "Let's just hope you still have a wife and a brother when this month is over."

.

If Sakura had a superpower it would have to be her ability to arrive on time. It wasn't an impressive superpower; no superhero would ever be celebrated for their punctuality. But she prided herself on getting everywhere on time, even when she left late. Her friends were awed by that. But what they did not know was that the reason she always got places on time was because she invested a lot of time in studying the roads and the routes of Konoha, and the plans and layouts of strategic buildings so that she would always be prepared. Sakura also had an expansive list of short cuts that she developed and tested. A list guaranteed to get her anywhere in Konoha within record time.

But even with her superpower the girl cut it very close as she arrived at the Anbu training grounds only one second before the guard said this to the person behind her, "one second past assigned time, you're disqualified."

Sakura was stunned, that guy was disqualified for being a second late. His dreams of being an anbu have ended just like that.

*This is going to be rough.*

She gulped as she assumed her position in line behind Sasuke and watched as masked Anbu surveyed them and handed them giant pieces of white cloths with their assigned numbers printed on them. The cloths had neck holes in them so that the recruits would don them for easy identification.

'11' Sakura's said, while Sasuke was 10, Ino was 15, Naruto was 7, Tenten was 18, Hinata was 22 and Lee was 80.

Sakura shifted her eyes from her number to the training grounds. Those were the legendary Anbu northern training grounds. They were on the outskirts of Konoha, attached to one of the biggest Anbu headquarters. As far as the girl could see, it was nothing but vast expanses of sand with an obstacle course erected at a distance.

*It's gonna be really rough,* she surmised.

"Good morning, vermin," the recruits heard a sound cut through the stillness, they wanted to look towards the sound but instinctively they knew that they were meant to keep looking forward until the man came within their line of sight, "I will be your warden for the coming month," the raspy male voice continued as the owner of the voice stepped in front of the recruits.

*huge,*inner Sakura remarked. He indeed was well-built, with what people would refer to as 'arms the size of tree trunks,' accentuated by his sleeveless anbu uniform. His bulky frame was even more highlighted by the fact that he was well above 6 feet of height. His head was cleanly shaven giving him all the appearance of a drill sergeant.

"You will refer to me as 'commander S' and I will refer to you as vermin, maggots, wannabes, or by those numbers you were assigned" he pushed on and Sakura remarked that the man always sounded as if he was shouting even though she was sure he still had a few more decibels up to go volume wise. "what I am saying, maggots, is that your names no longer exist, your identities were left at the door. When you're here you're nothing but those numbers and I will proceed to tear down everything that you are and everything that you ever knew and rebuild you the way I want to. You will follow my orders to the letter. You will not have a single thought I do not approve of, let alone a goddamned action. You will not even breathe without my permission. And when you move to the barracks and back you will follow those," and with that footprints started shimmering in the sand, "you will follow those paths making sure your feet never step out of the footprints, you won't even think of taking your own path. When you talk it will only be to say 'yes sir.' When you're in here you do not ask questions, you do not talk to each other and you only reply to questions directed at you."

The man paused for a second, evidently savoring the stunned silence that descended on the recruits, ahem,' wannabes.'

"The Anbu qualifiers are divided into 4 components, each component will be covered in a week. Some components will be followed by a test, while for others you will be judged on your performance and your level of improvement during the training. Either way you should know, maggots, that you are constantly being observed and evaluated. Your training will run daily from sun-rise until the sun disappears. You are not permitted, under any circumstances to exit the training grounds between sun-rise and sunset, if you do, you will be immediately disqualified."

Once again the man paused for dramatic effect his cloudy green eyes scanning the recruits for faces that annoy him.

"Each component of the qualifiers targets an area that is essential for an anbu. And for you vermin to earn your masks and complete your transformation from a useless wannabe to a proper anbu you have to prove that you have what it takes… Strength and endurance, strategy, espionage and overall combat technique, those are the four things you will be trained and judged on. And of course your attitude and your obedience will also be evaluated to see if you are fit to stand amongst the ranks of Konoha's masked protectors, that is of course, if you manage to survive."

And with that the man donned his mask and turned away.

A second later the stunned recruits were flanked by over 20 masked anbu, all of whom started screaming at them at the same time.

Sakura could hardly hear her thoughts, her heart loudly banging against her chest.

Sakura and the recruits did as instructed by the anbu and slowly single-file lines of recruits made their way across the sand making sure to only step on the shimmering footprints. Each line was assigned a set of footprints to step on as they made their way to the barracks to change outfits so as to start their training. Those with bigger feat learned the hard way that they should have tiptoed and avoided any part of their feet stepping out of the designated footprint for the second any part of their feet touched unmarked sand the sand shimmered red and the recruit found him/herself drawn into it.

Sakura heard people behind her screaming and hoped that her friends would be safe. *Naruto,* she pondered as another cry of pain echoed through, this time in a very familiar voice.

Sakura valiantly fought the urge to turn around or to say something to Sasuke who by the sudden tenseness of his back Sakura could tell also noticed that Naruto was drawn into the quicksand.

Sakura heard her blonde friend exclaim that it was too hot.

He was screaming too loud that his screams were evident even amongst the sounds of the many other screaming candidates.

Or maybe it was because Sakura knew his voice all too well.

Sakura willed her feet to keep moving.

*we're here as individuals,* she pondered, *we were also examined in the entrance exams as individuals. It was hard but we made it through. We promised ourselves that we'd get through this so that we'd once again become a team in Anbu. But for now team 7 is a thing of the past. All we need to do is to trust that we would each be capable of going through this on our own. I need to trust in Naruto, he will be able to get himself out of it. And then we'll all make it through this and become a team again. Me, him and Sasuke, we will be a team again…* Sakura said in her mind trying to reassure herself.

Not working as a team with Naruto and Sasuke might have been the biggest hurdle she had to overcome during the entrance exams.

In the past she would have found it hard because she was reliant on them. But as she grew up and became more independent, Sakura actually developed the habit of always scanning the place for them and looking out for them as best as she could.

She felt the need to protect them. Especially Naruto who would rather tolerate a surprise attack than bother himself to scan his surroundings.

Overcoming her habit of hyper-vigilance for her teammates was hard, especially during the entrance exams when they were constantly in danger.

But they all agreed to do it, because they knew that they were being evaluated as individuals.

*now is no different,* Sakura pondered, *I have to let it be. I have to trust Naruto… I have to…* she trailed off, *he's still screaming. It sounds very bad! He has high tolerance for pain. But being swallowed by piping hot quicksand… does he know not to struggle with quicksand?*

Sakura's breath hitched, *can he really hold still if the sand is burning! This could kill him!*

And with that all her resolve to hold back dissipated.

She stopped dead in her tracks and channeled her chakra to her feet so that she could step on air instead of the trick sand.

And with that she turned on her heel and sped back.

Sakura wasn't surprised when a second later Sasuke was at her side.

The two sped forward without exchanging neither a look nor a word.

And in no time they were at their teammate's side.

As expected Naruto was buried almost neck deep in sand.

Sakura channeled her chakra to her arm and grabbed Naruto's collar drawing him up enough for Sasuke to grab his arm and pull.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-Teme!" the blonde said, relief coating his voice even before he got released from the fire pit.

It didn't take the duo long to release their teammate.

Looking around them they saw the line still moving forward with the Anbu evaluators flanking it on both sides.

None of the examiners seemed to move towards them or to attempt to stop them from releasing their friend.

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a look, Naruto still supported between them, now flooded by Sakura's heeling energy.

Absently the girl noted that he had no burn marks.

"genjutsu?" the trio concluded in unison.

Sasuke gestured for Sakura to look ahead and it was then that they saw it. The lines of Shinobi that were supposed to be headed towards the barracks were in fact steadily heading towards the forest. Eventually they would step outside of the training grounds all together, and as per the instructions they were given: that would mean immediate disqualification.

Sakura gaped.

"Do they not see that the barracks are the other way?" Naruto questioned.

"It seems that as long as you are in contact with the shimmering footprints we were instructed to step on you won't be able to see the real barracks," Sakura explained.

"Should we tell them?" Naruto questioned, his instinct to help ever so evident.

Sasuke shook his head, "it won't work."

Sakura nodded, "the masked anbu flanking the recruits are the ones who're maintaining the genjutsu," Sakura surmised, "they maneuver the perception of the recruits and filter in and out the sensory information that surrounds them. You see, before we left the queue to help you I was not aware that other people have left the line too. But look, here they are, they have also left to help people that have fallen."

"So they only allow you to hear the voices of those who have fallen in the sand," Naruto said.

"Yah, and then you'd have a choice of either leaving the line to help them or not," Sakura added.

"If you choose to remain then you will not be aware of anyone leaving the line even if that person was standing in front of you and you will not be able to hear their voices or see them standing around you. Those are the parameters of this genjutsu," Sasuke finished his eyes tinged crimson.

The trio paused for a second eyeing the line of recruits slowly advancing towards their own demise, while a few recruits seeped out to help after hearing the screams of those who lost their footing.

"Wow," Naruto started.

"Yah, at this rate almost a third of the recruits will be disqualified before the qualifiers even start!" Sakura declared.

"Let's head to the barracks," ever the realist, Sasuke urged.

And with that the former team seven headed towards the barracks.

Upon entry they were greeted by silence as they stood in line behind the recruits who have made it there before them.

The place where they were made to wait was a magnanimous reception area, with the anbu crest emblazoned threateningly on every wall.

They waited in silence for 30 minutes before Commander S walked into the giant reception.

By the time he started talking a few more people had made their way in and had taken their place in the line. Sakura wanted to look back and make sure that her friends made it, but she knew that it would be a violation of anbu protocol. So she kept her eyes forward, hoping that they did the right thing.

"123 tiny vermin made it through," he said, his voice laced in sadistic glee, "123 out of a total of 330 newbies. That means that 207 little maggots were disqualified today and you know why that is?" he paused for a reply but knew that they were instructed not to talk.

The man then started walking amongst the lines of recruits, now decidedly shorter.

He walked close, slowly scanning every individual.

Sakura felt him approach her and willed her face to be neutral and her eyes to continue to be cast forward.

She felt his eyes on her face for a second, his shoulder almost touching hers as he leaned in to examine her.

The girl could have sworn he paused for a second but before she knew it the man was past her and his deep voice echoed from behind her, startling all rational thought out of her head as inner Sakura jumped backwards and clung onto a curtain. Yup, Sakura's inner mind came complete with curtains.

"Those newbies were disqualified because they were idiots who could not recognize that they were being tricked and led into trap. Moreover, they forgot the most fundamental principle of Anbu!" he exclaimed, "teamwork," he added in finality, "the things I told you before are all important. Following rules and abiding by what your commanding officer tells you are beyond doubt some of the basics of anbu. But above all else, an anbu never leaves a man behind. This exam was structured to test whether you have that as one of your personal principles. Because that cannot be taught! …You cannot teach a selfish brat to care for a comrade. He might tell you he'll f***en do it, but when push comes to shove, when the battle is heated and he's scared for his life, he'll run like a little *itch. So the ones still standing are either the smart ones who realized that they were being tricked, the chivalrous ones who went back for a comrade, or the idiotic ones who fell in the sand and were saved."

"For those of you who were idiotic enough to fall in the sand, you would have been disqualified immediately if your comrades had not come for you. You are here because you are part of a team. Even if the people who saved you have not been your team in the past, they acted like they were by saving your pathetic little lives, so you need to start thinking about repaying them, because it is because of them that you are still standing here," he pushed on, "and now, vermin, make your way to the dressing rooms, put on your training gear and prepare for hell!"

.

The rest of Sakura's day was as difficult as the first few minutes. She was put through a very rough strength and endurance training, which, simply put means that she had her ass kicked for 10 hours straight and was being judged on how much abuse she could actually tolerate. The only positive thing about the whole ordeal was that her friends actually made it through.

Lee walked out of line and started helping the moment he realized that other people were in trouble. Tenten who attempted to resist the urge to help also stepped out of line and headed back at the sound of a particularly distressed voice.

Hinata also stepped out upon hearing Naruto's voice screaming, only to watch him from a distance as he got saved by Sakura and Sasuke, so she followed them to the barracks. Meanwhile Ino who was the last to realize and almost walked out of the gate, felt a bit suspicious when she did not see anyone at all leaving the line. So she cast her mind-transfer Jutsu on Sakura, who she perceived as still walking in line in front of her, only to realize that Sakura was not really there. She then quickly exited the queue and was terrified to realize just how close she was to walking off the training grounds.

All in all, Sakura was glad they all made it even if it was a horrible day.

"Horrible!" She exclaimed as she headed out of the training grounds with her friends.

"You can say that again," Tenten commented.

"I can't believe I almost walked off," Ino declared.

"Well, you would've realized it earlier if you had any inclination to help other human beings," Sakura remarked.

"Why would I have such inclinations? I am the only human being that matters," she replied before sighing, "honestly though, I thought someone else would help them for sure. I mean they won't let recruits die in training."

"Yes they would, I thought I was a goner," Naruto interjected.

"It was a genjutsu," Sasuke deadpanned.

"I am sure the struggle was real for Naruto-kun," Lee remarked.

"Yes, Naruto-kun sounded like he was really in pain," Hinata said timidly.

"I really was!"

Sakura sighed, "How insane is it that they've already disqualified so many people."

"It's terrifying," Hinata said.

"They have to trim the fat," were Ino's two cents.

"We shouldn't get too comfortable," Sakura said, "this is only the start."

"Yes, we should assume that everything they do from now on is a test. Even when we are training, they observe very closely," Sasuke concurred.

"But it is amazing isn't it? You know, that we don't have to work as individuals anymore," Lee remarked.

Naruto nodded, "yah, it's great, I like that."

Sakura smiled, "agreed,"

A second later they reached a fork in the road.

"Oh, this is where we go our separate ways, goodnight everyone," Tenten said.

"Goodnight," Sakura said, "oh wait a second Ino, Tenten, Hinata-chan, what happened yesterday with Jiraiya-sama after I left?"

Ino grimaced, "why did you leave Forehead?"

"It's a long story," Sakura said, she had waited till the very last moment to ask so that she wouldn't have to go into any detail about what happened with Madara or talk about Itachi having been there, she wasn't sure what to say about it yet. "Do you really have the energy for me to go into detail?"

The three girls sighed, "No," Ino said sounding exhausted, "Well he said nothing. We tried to ask him after the show and he said he knew nothing of how the qualifiers are being run this year."

Sakura gave her a shocked look, "but he did promise to tell you what he knew about the qualifiers."

"Yah, he said that all he knew was that they were hard. I should have known better than to trust that perve," Ino said venomously, before waving goodbye to Sakura.

And with that the old friends parted ways for the day and Sakura and Sasuke made their way to the Uchiha compound.

The duo was too exhausted for words which made for a companionably silent walk.

Sakura waved Sasuke off at the entrance to the main house and proceeded to walk to Itachi's house.

Oh, how she longed to go to her own house. It might have been small but it was comfortable and homey and she knew exactly what to expect when she was there. Meanwhile in Itachi's house everything was possible.

*well, at least I get to rest in bed. I'll get something to eat and go to sleep right away. It might be six in the afternoon but I am done!* she pondered.

*Nope,* Inner Sakura sang.

*What is that supposed to mean?*

*It means you still have your lessons with the three musketeers, you barely even have time to eat.*

*I hate you.*

*Well excuse me for being you inner alarm clock. Oh speaking of inner clocks, your biological clock just exploded. How about doing something wife-like soon.*

*Oh for God's sakes.*

*I'm just saying, last night with that sexy demon prince, in bed, and then there was that kiss I mean…*

Sakura shook her head to drive the thoughts away.

*sexxyyyyyyyy,* Inner sang shaking her hips seductively, well she meant to be seductive but ended up looking like a dog trying to dry itself.

Sakura walked into her house only to be greeted by Hana, "Good evening my lady, Eri-sama is here," she said before her eyes took in Sakura's ragged appearance, "oh, shall I prepare a shower, or something for my lady to eat… I,"

"It won't be necessary Hana, at least for now, I can't keep Eri waiting, I'll eat and shower after the lesson. I already showered at the training grounds; it's just that I fell in some mud as I walked out. Two people were fighting and I got pushed in. It's all dry now see…" Sakura explained flicking some mud off her shoulder to show the girl that it did not come off.

Sakura was covered from head to toe in now dry mud. Normally she would have been bothered but after the day she has had she couldn't care less.

And with that the girl headed to her lesson with the ice princess.

.

The hours dragged on for the young medic. Two hours with Eri gave way to another two hours with Shisui and Anko.

By the end of the four hours the girl could barely keep her eyes open.

Nixing the idea of eating, she decided to go straight to bed.

After one more comment from Anko about how she looks like a stray dog, she said her goodnights and headed upstairs.

*That was rough!* she pondered as she opened the door to her room.

But much to the girl's chagrin the room was not empty.

*It's still the weekend isn't it? Does that mean that he plans on spending Saturday night here as well?*

Inner Sakura was too busy doing a happy dance to respond to Sakura's statement.

Steadying herself, the girl greeted from the doorway, "good evening, It…."

"Stop," the shirtless Uchiha perched on the bed commanded, effectively stopping Sakura in her tracks just one step into the room.

"I'm sorry?"

"You cannot come in,"

"I can't?"

"Take your clothes off," he commanded yet again, his Anbu commander tone unfaltering.

*Hallelujah!* inner chanted.

"Ummm," the stunned medic attempted, "wha…"

"You may not enter my room covered in mud,"

Her mind caught on, "oh, but it's dry mud, I fell in it hours ago… see it doesn't even flake if I flick it…" and with that the girl moved her hand to her shoulder to demonstrate.

But before she could flick off a piece of dirt, Itachi, quick as a flash, was right in front of her.

He grabbed her hand, "you will not flick mud in my room."

"What…" Sakura started again shifting her eyes to the man in front of her only to be stopped mid-sentence by the stern look in his eyes.

He meant business.

*It's the pants thing all over again,* she shuddered.

"Strip," he deadpanned.

"I will not," she asserted.

"Fine, I'll do it for you," the impassive man stated, now far from impassive as his normally stoic face was alight with what Sakura could only describe as mischief.

"No!" she said, attempting to turn around and make a run for it, but before she knew it Itachi had dragged her back so that her back was resting against his chest and his hands were at the zipper of her dark training jacket, tugging on it.

Without thinking the girl released her hold on her chakra and pushed forward.

Itachi nonchalantly released his hold on the girl and eyed her silently for a second.

His eyes were calm but the now flustered medic knew he was waiting for her next move.

"I will take the jacket off," she announced.

"And the pants."

"Not the pants, never the pants!" she declared and as a response something in his eyes shifted, "alright!" she concurred, "I've made up my mind; the pants are coming off."

And just like that an imperceptible smirk found its way to Itachi's lips as he walked back into the room, "make sure to throw them in the hamper by the door before coming in," he said.

"Fine…" the exhausted girl said as she slid her jacket off.

"And go straight to the shower,"

"Sure thing your highness,"

Now that caused him to pause mid-step.

Sakura's hackles raised waiting for him to turn around, but a second later he pushed forward and perched himself on the bed once more.

"W…would you close your eyes?" Sakura said, still standing in the doorway and contemplating taking off her pants.

Itachi paused for a second, "I will look away,"

"Fair enough," she said before retreating to the corridor, making sure that no one was there, and then proceeding to slide her pants down. She was now standing in a white tank-top and a white pair of underwear. Not panties, underwear, and that is for two reasons. First, Sakura was generally annoyed by the word 'panties,' and secondly, because the underwear she wore covered most of her butt and had a picture of a cheerful orange smiling sun on the back.

*What a wonderful day to wear kid's underwear,* inner mused, *well, at least it isn't inexplicable why you're still a virgin.*

Sakura sighed slipping her head into the room to ascertain whether Itachi was looking or not.

And reassuringly enough he had produced a book out of no-where and was reading.

Sakura stifled a sigh, looked around her once more to make sure no one was there, and then she crouched down a bit as if she was a runner preparing to take off, and then she was off at lightning speed. The girl made a mad dash to the bathroom. She then quickly closed the door and leaned against it panting.

Sakura was not aware of the comical effect that her moves made for.

But behind the door Itachi closed the book, and gave the bathroom door an amused look.

A few minutes passed in complete silence interspersed with the sound of water running and then the faucet being turned off.

Sakura's footsteps echoed as she moved to dry herself, her mind running wild.

Moments ago she was ready to plop into bed and fall immediately into sweet unconsciousness.*But courtesy to the demon king who is also obviously a germophobe, I had to take a shower.*

*You know showering is a good habit to develop. Aside from the sunny underwear this might just by one of the reasons why you're still a virgin, I mean…"

*I do shower you moron!* Sakura roared at her inner who seemed to have adopted a clinical approach to analyzing the roots of her continued virgin status, *I just showered at the barracks!*

*Still, it could be a factor. Your hair is also definitely a factor. And that temper. Oh, and you do that thing with your head you know… that giant Forehead thing… If I were a guy I would surely...*

Sakura tuned out her inner in favor of drying herself. Just one more second and she could be sound asleep. She was so tired she didn't even mind sharing the bed with Itachi. Too exhausted to feel the jitters or worry about what he might do.

A second later she did get worried though as she caught on to something she had missed.

"I have no clothes!" she mumbled, stunned. In her rush to race to the bathroom unseen she had forgotten to take a change of clothes and she was now stranded in the bathroom clad only in a towel that she had wrapped around her torso and that barely covered the top part of her thighs.

*Sexy time!* Inner sang as she urged the girl to just step outside like that in search of her clothes, *just make sure to lean down to pick something off the floor, that'd be wonderful.*

Sakura blanched, *absolutely not!*

*What are you gonna do then genius?*

The girl paused, *Well I can ask him to bring me some clothes, but… well, he is really hard to predict. I mean he did agree to look away as I got to the bathroom. But before that he tried to take my clothes off. I do not know which one of his personalities would be in charge now. Can I really risk it?* the girl pondered, "no," she surmised, *I'll just wait here until he falls asleep and then I will slip out and get something to wear. I don't wanna risk him breaking out his Shisui-like personality and assaulting me or even adopting the demon king persona and mocking me in that icy tone.*

*And that my friend is the number one reason you are still a virgin. You do not know how to take a chance that is presented to you and properly seduce a guy. Hell, I do not even think you know how to seduce anyone. Damn it! Do you even have sex-appeal?*

*Do you even know what sex appeal is?* Sakura questioned.

*Of course I know… sex appeal is… it is…Oh Kami sama! Being your inner-self made me dumb!* Inner sobbed.

Sakura sighed, silently praying for Itachi to fall asleep soon. She was exhausted and cold, and even worse, she really did not want to be stuck with inner Sakura in this silence for much longer.

*You do know I am your inner self, right? You're always stuck with me.*

As a response the medic started banging her head against the bathroom wall.

After about 1000 head bangs the girl heard the sound of sheets shuffling and the swift 'click' of a light switch being turned off.

*He's going to sleep!* she celebrated.

Inner Sakura sighed in defeat.

Sakura patiently counted to five-hundred in her mind before slightly and very carefully sliding the door open.

It took a girl a second to grasp the sight before her, for she opened the door to find the room still fully lit, not only that but the man who she expected to be sound asleep was actually standing right in front of the door, shirtless and all.

"Forget something, Sakura?"

Sakura quickly dove behind the door, the girl had never been more grateful for a towel than she was at that moment.

"I…ah…" she attempted from behind the door, "nah, I'm good," she lied, only her eyes visible to the man who was eyeing her curiously.

"I see, well then would you come out," he offered.

She paused, "nah, I'm good."

"Hn," he commented, "your second day of the qualifiers starts in exactly 6 hours."

Sakura blanched, *damn it. I need to get some sleep.*

*just ask him to get you something to wear. We're gonna catch a cold this way and you know you look like hell when you're sick. We finally caught a husband and you wanna drive him away with all that snot. That was your plan all along wasn't it?!* Inner screeched.

Sakura sighted, "ano… Itachi-san, would you…" she started.

"Yes?" Itachi said inclining his head to the side.

"Would you get me something to wear…?"

He gave her a pointed look which she took to mean that he was exasperated by how long it took her to ask him for what he knew was coming.

"Sure," he said with ease and Sakura was actually impressed at how laidback the man was.

*maybe I misjudged him,* she pondered as she watched him stalk off to the dresser, *maybe he only has one personality but is just misunderstood.*

*You really need to stop reading those vampire novels,* inner Sakura advised.

"Here," Itachi said, breaking Sakura out of a vampire-induced fantasy.

"Oh," was all the girl managed to say as her eyes took in what the Uchiha heir has brought her. It wasn't something that she had seen before. It was a tiny white negligee and by the sheen reflected off of it the girl realized that it was entirely made of silk, "this is not mine," she said as she involuntarily extended her hand to take the proffered item.

"It was in your dresser,"

"Yah, but it is one of those things that Mikoto-sama…" Sakura trailed off as the Uchiha swiftly walked back to the bed, seemingly uninterested in what she had to say.

*I was not wrong at all. The demon king is doing this on purpose,* she mentally roared with balled fists. *I can't wear this!*

*Six hours…* inner Sakura sang. *We need to get some sleep. On the other hand this thing might instigate some action that I would much prefer to going to sleep. So hurry up and get dressed.*

*damn it!* Sakura grumbled as she slipped the tiny thing on.

However, for the life of her the girl just could not bring herself to walk out. Plopping herself on the edge of the bathtub, Sakura resigned herself.

*I'll just sleep here, it will be fine. I won't get too cold if I lay a bunch of towels down…*

Sakura's train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door, "I need the bathroom, Sakura," the demon king, ahem, the Uchiha heir said from behind the door.

*Damn him! He's giving me no choice but to walk out like this!*

*I like the way he operates,* inner Sakura commended.

*Fine, I'll go out but I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me sweat. I'll act fully confident. It's just lingerie. I can totally pull this off,* she thought, pulling the tiny thing down with one hand and with the other reaching for the door.

Much to her relief Itachi was not standing directly behind it. Instead he was standing by the bed, eyeing a few papers he held in his hand.

Sakura saw that as her break. If she could get into bed and under the covers before he looks up then she would be in the clear and she would have denied him the satisfaction of seeing her blush.

*Yosh!* she cheered herself on.

And with that the girl walked as fast she could possibly do without breaking into a trot. She was almost in the clear when she felt Itachi move…

But she was close… so very close… all it would take were a few more steps and she would look at him smugly from beneath the velvet covers.

With that thought in mind the girl threw herself on the bed in an effort to crawl across it to the other side.

However, courtesy of the almost non-existent friction resulting from the contact between her silken nightgown and the velvet sheets, Sakura quickly regretted her decision as she found herself sliding backwards.

A shriek inadvertently escaped her throat as she flew off the bed and straight to the floor.

As always, butt first, landing non-too-gracefully at Itachi's feet.

Except this time, she was barely dressed in a gown that covered almost nothing.

Blushing a shade of crimson that boldly rivaled her hair, Sakura looked up at the Uchiha.

"Ah… I…" She started but was silenced almost immediately by what happened next. It was the last thing Sakura thought would happen. No, the last thing she thought could ever happen was her Shishou winning a bet. This… this was even more improbable than Tsunade winning a bet!

Itachi… laughed.

It was a calm throaty chuckle that caused Sakura's heart to flutter. His face looked so young like that.

*He is really young isn't he?* the girl marveled, *he looks so handsome like this… like a young boy!*

Sakura caught herself ogling him and quickly looked down, flustered.

"I'm glad you find me amusing," she pouted.

Itachi gave a cough in an attempt to regain his composed demeanor, but his eyes still held his previous merriment as he extended a hand to his still floor bound wife and watched as she cautiously extended her own, "yes… you are quite foolish," he insulted/complimented.

Sakura's eyes quickly snapped towards him as he drew her up, the flash of anger that flashed in her emerald eyes made him smirk which only irked her more.

"This is all your fault," she accused, now standing face to face (or given their height differential, face to chest,) with the Uchiha.

"How so?" He questioned, inching a bit closer.

"You are the one who bought the sheets, and got me this thing to wear, and oh you were the one who told me to shower because God forbid a speck of dirt finds its way to your…." The girl was cut off as the Uchiha swiftly grabbed her around the waist and flung her over his shoulder before promptly dropping her on her side of the bed.

Sakura's Godaime inherited temper flared, "you're not even listening to me, I…."

"I am listening to you, Sakura," the man said, tone as smooth as the sheets Sakura was now sitting on, "you're saying that this is all my fault," he added, bending down so that he was hovering over the girl, "allow me to apologize then," and with that he closed the distance between them and pressed a quick, albeit impactful, kiss to the stunned girl's lips.

And just like that Itachi straightened up and walked over to his side of the bed.

"Wha…what was that?" the girl said, too stunned to form a coherent thought, her heart racing at a flustering speed.

"I am instating a new policy, Sakura," Itachi said as he slid into bed and switched the lights off.

"A policy?"

"In an effort to enhance the authenticity of our marriage we will now be utilizing goodnight kisses whenever we go to sleep at the same time. We will also use good morning kisses and kisses to greet each other when one of us is about to leave, whenever appropriate," the Vice president of Anbu said in his business-tone, and just like that the playfulness from before seemed to disappear from his voice.

*He sounds serious,* Sakura pondered as she was about to argue and accuse him of being a pervert, *still I can't accept this. I mean, it would be too embaressing.*

"But…." She attempted

"Goodnight, Sakura."

And with that, the conversation was over and the girl was left to spend yet another sleepless night in bed by the Uchiha's side.

*Stupid demon king!*


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