Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! :) Here is a new chapter, which I hope; you all love just as much!! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews from the previous chapter! :)

Dedicated to: Siah Yasana, TheRoseandtheDagger, TheVampyricAssassin, Takakuma, kitten652, midnightblue123, xXbunnyholicXx, sunnygirl1404, narubby23, DarkShadowSoul, and shadow miko

Sakura searched her straw bed for every little weapon that she would fit in her cloak. Books, scrolls, leather boots, gloves, and other spy related items were being thrown to the side. 'I really need to clean my bed.' Sakura thought with a grunt. 'They've got to be here somewhere!' Her hands felt around in the straw until a sharp prick was felt against her index finger. 'A ha!' She thought victoriously as she grabbed onto the objects and pulled them out. 'Finally!' Her quick hands placed every knife and miniature sword in secret pockets hidden inside the cloak.

The sun wouldn't rise for awhile and Sakura couldn't sleep. She could sit in her room, and stare at the wall, or she could venture outside and wait for Itachi and Kakashi at the designated training spot. 'I guess going to the training spot is better than sitting here.' Sakura made her way to the garden and found a comfortable spot under a red oak tree. 'Who knows…' Sakura thought as her brain formed several scenarios about her training session today. '…maybe I will rattle them a little bit.' A smirk spilled across her lips as she reached for her hood and leaned against the giant tree. 'Now I will just sit here and wait.'

Meanwhile Itachi was sitting up in his queen sized bed. His body ran on its own internal alarm clock. He removed his blankets and got ready for his training session. His body was clothed in the finest material in the land. He had black, skin tight, breeches and a tight, slim, long sleeved shirt with the family symbol showing proudly on the back.

He reached for his sword that rested on his oak desk. Itachi unsheathed the sword, paced around his room in a circle, and began to twirl it. 'Time to show that puny spy who is the superior one.' He felt his anger grow as he thought about the spy conversion with Sakura, touching Sakura, toying with Sakura. It continued to grow as he began to picture the spy and Sakura together. 'Why am I so affected by this?' His pacing seized and his sword came to a halt. 'It's nothing.' He told himself as he sheathed the sword again, erased every emotion from his face, and began walking towards his family's garden.

Sakura sat impatiently against the tree waiting for the men to arrive. 'Where the hell are they?! Men are so slow!' She thought angrily. Her acute hearing caught the sound of footsteps shuffling towards her. 'It's about damn time you showed up Uchiha.' Sakura stared ahead and waited for the Prince to make his "grand" entrance. 'The sun is almost rising.' Sakura noted right as Itachi's figure could be seen in the distance.

She watched the Prince walk towards her as the sun's rays shined behind him. She couldn't control herself as she eyed him up and down. The sun made him seem almost godlike. The rays wrapped around his muscular figure, showing the outlines of his strong arms, legs and torso. His black hair became two shades lighter, causing his whole appearance to seem less dark and powerful. When she locked eyes with him she mentally slapped herself. 'What the hell was I doing?! I can't ogle at Itachi like that!'

Itachi ignored the spy sitting on the ground and walked towards a tree that was on the opposite side of him. The two of them didn't speak to one another. Itachi kept his eyes on the tree behind Sakura, while Sakura looked down at the grass. "Where is he?" Sakura asked in her deep tone. 'He is late.' She turned her head to the sun and studied the way the shadows began to hit the grass. 'It's already six in the morning. Come on Kakashi.' She sighed angrily.

Another hour passed and Kakashi was no where to be seen. "Where the hell is he?!" Sakura shouted out loud, jumped to her feet, and looked around the garden.

"Patience is key my friend." A voice said from beside Itachi. Sakura looked at the shadow to see Kakashi standing there slouched and relaxed. "You should know that the best." He told Sakura in an uncaring tone.

Sakura glared at the older man and held her temper. 'It would do me no good to bash him already.' "So what are we going to do?" She asked easer to start her training.

Sakura wanted to rip that orange book out his hands. He wasn't even giving her his attention! His eyes were too busy reading over the smut things that Jiraiya writes. Kakashi could feel the annoyance Sakura held towards him, and therefore, he took his time with getting their training started. "I guess we can start." He said after he finished reading a page in the book.

Sakura sighed heavily and watched as Kakashi leaned against the tree. "In order for me to teach you…" He told Sakura. "I have to see how much you know first." His eyes examined her for a split second before they were hidden behind the book.

"Ok….?" Sakura didn't understand how he was going to evaluate her if he didn't even look up from his book! 'This man is a piece of work.'

"Itachi." Kakashi ordered. "Spar with him." He said carelessly.

Sakura felt her mouth drop to the floor. 'Are you kidding me?! That lazy son of a bitch!'

Itachi walked away from the tree and was face-to-face with Sakura. He unsheathed his sword and stared at her. Kakashi shook his head at the spy. "You're not gonna remove your cloak?" He asked expectantly.

Sakura felt her body freeze. "No." She said harshly. "You Knights might find it a hindrance to fight in a cloak but we Spies do not." She told him.

"Do what you want." Kakashi said with a sigh. 'Spies and their hidden identities.' He thought with a shake of his head. 'What happened to the good old days where the spies would only wear masks? Now those spies were valuable on the battlefield; they could predict others movements before other knights could even start to examine their opponent.' "Itachi you know the rules. Start whenever." Kakashi ordered.

Sakura stared at the Prince with calculating eyes. 'The fact that he brought out his sword tells me that he is expecting me to attack first.' Her emerald eyes scanned his body for any clues. 'He isn't leaning more to one side, which means he doesn't rely on one side of his body more than the other…'

Itachi stood there waiting for the spy to make his move, but so far, he wasn't moving at all. 'He must be examining me, but in the line of duty he can't be this slow with his enemies.' Itachi thought with impatience.

"Any day now." Kakashi said from the sidelines.

Sakura ignored his comment and reached into her cloak to pull out one of her trusty miniature swords. She felt herself giggle inwardly at Itachi's reaction. His eyes showed confusion for a split second. "What?" Sakura said harshly.

Itachi said nothing while Kakashi stared at Sakura with curious eyes. 'What kind of damage does he think he can do with that tiny little knife? Tsunade doesn't really stress the importance of a weapon does she?' Kakashi watched, from behind his book, as Sakura charged at Itachi. 'Then again, she trained this one to never get caught, which would give him the incentive to never carry a weapon.'

Sakura ran at Itachi with her mini sword, only to have it blocked by the monstrous sword. Her eyes examined his posture and position when he blocked her attack. His right arm was in a bent position, while it held the sword, and his left hand remained at his side. She felt his muscles tighten and thrust her backwards away from him. Itachi used Sakura's sluggish movements to his advantage and charged at her. He turned his body around and brought his leg into Sakura's chest. Sakura couldn't register what was going on, sure she expected him to block, but to have him thrust her harder than she intended, caught her off guard.

All she could see was a black blur coming towards her stomach. Her eyes narrowed at the leg moved towards her defenseless stomach. 'If I catch his leg, he will throw me back while using his other leg in the process…maybe if I can use both of his legs against him…' With a plan set in her mind Sakura held herself back as his leg went flying towards her. She reached out with her hand and caught his leg mere inches away from her stomach. Itachi felt his leg being captured in a vice grip and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His right leg came slamming down onto the ground and his other leg twirled in the air, with Sakura, still holding onto his leg.

Sakura waited until she got to the highest point before she threw her weight backwards. Her hands gripped his leg as she sent her body straight down to the ground. 'First I need to upset his balance.' She told herself as she saw his body slightly sway from her sporadic movement. 'Now!' She commanded her body as she took his leg, turned in the way he was swaying, and flipped him over her head.

Kakashi watched at Sakura threw a man ten times her size over her head. A smirk slowly crossed his face. 'I can see why Tsunade was holding out on me.' He watched Itachi recover from the change of events and stuck his sword out to the side. When Sakura came running at him his sword sliced Sakura's side.

Sakura felt the ice cold blade slice through her side, like a knife cutting butter; it was quick and painless, that is, until her body registered the pain. She fell down on one knee and held her side, applying pressure to the bleeding wound. Itachi walked over to Sakura and held his sword to her throat. "It's over." He said in a threatening voice.

Kakashi watched the short battle end with a shake of his head. "We've got a lot of work…" His sentence was cut off once he heard the sound of iron clanging against iron. 'What the?'

Granted she didn't expect Itachi to slice her side open but that gave her more information. She didn't look up at the Prince as he stood there with the pointed blade that could easily, cut through her throat, in one powerful cut. 'Thank goodness for my secret pockets!' Sakura thought with a smile on her face. Her left hand that rested on the ground inched up her ankle until she felt the handle of a medium sized knife. 'He he.' She giggled. 'Try this one on for size!' Not wasting anymore time, she grabbed the sword with her free hand, and tried to move it away from her throat.

Itachi's grip tightened around the handle making it impossible for Sakura to move it with her bare hand. He stared down at the spy and examined her body. 'He's not moving.' His charcoal eyes traveled down to the hand that was still holding onto his sword. 'Why would he hold onto a serrated sword and try to move it with his bare hands? Could he possibly have thought he could throw my sword away with his own strength?' Itachi thought his last assumption was a comical thought but held his ground; after all, he was curious to see what the spy was planning.

'Now!' Sakura found an opening. She leaned backwards so her back touched the grass and extended her legs out towards the sword. She angled herself in a way that the bottom of her feet could collide with the blade of the sword, blocking it from harming her. She rolled onto her back and used momentum to flip herself onto her feet. She saw Itachi twirling around to regain his grip on the sword and pulled her hand away from her ankle which allowed her sword collided with Itachi's.

Kakashi watched as Sakura used all her force against Itachi's own blade. A smirk was already set in place. 'This one is full of surprises.' The two were now engaged in a heated sword duel. His grey eyes watched the spy's form as it slipped between a very old fashioned defensive style to a more aggressive offensive one. 'Where on earth did this lad learn these moves?' He asked himself as Sakura pulled out another mini sword, from underneath her cloak, and preceded to continue her attacks on Itachi.

Itachi blocked every hit and every strike Sakura threw at him. At first he didn't think Sakura would have been able to keep up with his movements and keep her focus on when to go into a defensive or offensive movement. 'Very interesting.' Itachi thought with a grunt. He was not one to tell someone else how much they have surprised him. 'This kid won't give up.' He figured out as Sakura pulled out another mini sword and pounded them against his own blade.

Sakura felt the adrenaline course through her veins. After that flip to get herself back on her feet everything started to click in. Battles from every book she had read started to flood her mind as she dodged every offensive attack. Every twist and turn Itachi made with his sword her brain registered it as bits and pieces of past battles. 'Left, right. Duck!' Her body shot to the floor as his sword cut swiftly through the air. She could tell by his body movements and urgent thrusts that he wanted this battle to end. 'I think I can arrange that.' Sakura continued to dodge and strike every time she saw an opening. Her eyes trailed after every step and ever strike he sent her way. The more she watched his movements the more they seemed to become slower. As his sword came back around she jumped up and blocked his sword with one of the mini swords. She twirled around into his chest and elbowed him in the center of his chest. She heard his stifled grunt and took this time to place both mini swords against his neck. "Checkmate." She told him in a cocky tone.

Kakashi stood as still as stone. 'I didn't expect him to be this good.' He felt as if his job had already begun. 'The way he handed a weapon was good, but what would happen if I gave him a bigger sword? I'm sure his movements would slow down and his judgment in strikes would differentiate. But that's half the fun.' Kakashi thought as he made his way over to the two lads.

Itachi stood there as the iron blade met his neck. It was the first time anyone was able to get this close to his personal space. 'It's because I went easy on him.' He told himself as he glared at Sakura.

"Now can we start some real training and not your lazy ass trying to get out of work training?" Sakura said in a deep voice as she withdrew her swords and turned her attention to Kakashi.

Itachi stared blankly at the spy. 'They have no respect. He's lucky Kakashi will teach this poor excuse of a man.'

Kakashi stared at Sakura and shook his head. "So you figured out my plan huh?" He said in a sarcastic manner. "You want training? I'll give it to you." He said as he unsheathed his sword. "Fight Itachi with this." He commanded as he threw his sword.

Sakura caught the sword and felt the change of weight. 'Ugh. This is heavier than I thought.' She thought as she used both hands to lift it up off the ground.

Itachi lifted his sword up and swung it towards Sakura, not allowing her any time to get comfortable with the new weight. 'Not so high and mighty now are you?'

Sakura heard his sword swipe against the air and all she could do was slide her legs into a split and use all her might to hold the sword high above her head, which allowed her to block the oncoming sword.

Itachi used Sakura's strength against her and knocked the sword out of her hand. "Game over." He said simply as his sword was at her throat.

Kakashi bent down to Sakura's still in split position and narrowed his eyes at her. "You can't expect me to teach you if you don't take my teachings seriously." He blankly told her. "Get up and try it again." He ordered her as he dropped the sword next to her. He looked to Itachi and nodded his head. "Again."

Sakura was at it for hours. At first she couldn't maneuver around with the heavy sword, but the more Itachi continued to win every spar, the more Sakura became furious. 'That's it!' She yelled at herself for being so weak, and slow, up against Itachi. 'I don't give a damn if he's the prince and has been doing this since birth! This time I'm gonna win!'

Kakashi sat on a rock and continued to survey the sparring lessons. Every time he thought the spy was going to do something good the time was cut short by Itachi pinning him to the ground with the tip of his sword dangerously close to Sakura's throat. 'Maybe I had too much faith in this spy.' He thought sadly. 'I guess throwing him in with Itachi was a little over his head. Well…I better end this fight.'

Itachi stared down at Sakura with hard eyes. "Give up." He ordered. "You are wasting everyone's time." He belittled Sakura as he withdrew his sword. "Leave."

Sakura glared at Itachi. 'That's it!' Her patience was warring thin with the arrogant Prince and useless Knight. "Oh I'll give up all right!" Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs.

Kakashi stopped walking towards Sakura. 'Should I let him go on?' He asked himself. 'Oh why not? He doesn't seem to want to give up.'

Sakura felt every muscle in her body scream in protest as she grabbed the sword with one hand. Her body had reached it limits, that much was for certain, but she wasn't going to let the arrogant men get their fun in seeing her fail. 'Not today! Not any day!' Her determination made adrenaline rush to her veins and she picked up her speed as she ran towards Itachi's turned back. "Hey show some respect and see the battle all the way threw!" She shouted to Itachi as she jumped in the air and sent the sword downwards towards Itachi's back.

Itachi felt the wind change as Sakura came flying down on him. 'He's fast. I'll give him that.' Itachi immediately turned around and blocked the oncoming blow. "You never give up." He said, not as a question, but as a fact.

Sakura said nothing and placed both hands on the handle of the sword. She turned it blade on its side and violently pushed Itachi's own sword out of the way. Itachi backed off, very slightly, and Sakura noticed his slip up. She didn't give him any time to recollect himself and she flipped the sword around making her hold the blade instead of the handle. 'Find the pressure points.' Sakura told herself as her eyes looked all over Itachi's body for the essential weak points.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sakura. 'What is he doing? Normally we hold the sword at the handle…not the blade.' He felt a sweat drop come down the back of his head. He was confused that much was for certain.

Itachi tried to get his sword to block the oncoming attack, but Sakura was too quick, before he knew it he felt a sharp pain course through his body. His sword immediately was released from his grasp and he bit his tongue, not allowing anyone to hear him grunt out in pain. "What did you do?" He demanded to know the answer of Sakura's tricky stunt.

Sakura stood over the injured Prince. He held his upper arm tenderly against his side. "I thought you were taught to never let your guard down Prince Uchiha." Sakura spat out.

Kakashi walked over to Itachi and examined his hunched over position and the way he held his arm. 'Impossible…I thought that technique was forgotten?' He thought as every move Sakura made, made sense to him now. "Where did you learn that?" He asked in a guarded voice.

Sakura stared at Kakashi with a cold stare. "Hitting the pressure points on the human body is an old, but a very handy, technique." She told him as she lifted up Itachi's injured arm and showed the bruise located on the inside of his arm, three inches above the elbow. "When this spot is hit with just the right amount of force, it causes the whole arm to lose control over everything for a couple of seconds." She let go of his arm and looked him in the eyes. "If we were on the battlefield, I believe I would have been able to rip your insides out and shove them down your royally pain in the ass mouth." Sakura said.

"You didn't answer my question." Kakashi said, trying to change the subject, while Itachi regained his ground and began to move his arm around.

"Oh. Well…don't you Knights read?" She said as if it was the simplest answer in the world.

Itachi grabbed his sword and stared at the spy. "We don't have time to read primitive books, unlike you."

Sakura smirked at Itachi. 'Ah now I see his true side.' She thought with excitement. "Well it was those "primitive" books that got me to get you down on your knees Uchiha." She said with a grunt.

Itachi stared at Sakura with unwavering eyes. The way she said Uchiha reminded him when Sakura would call him by his last name. "Watch your tone." He said.

Kakashi stood in-between the two of them and shook his head. "I think you two need a break." He told them as he took his sword from Sakura's grasp and made them sit down underneath a tree. "I'll be back." He said randomly as he walked away from them. 'This should be good. Let's see what happens when I leave them alone for a few minutes.' He thought with a chuckle as he climbed a nearby tree and watched them from below.

Sakura reached into her cloak and pulled out an apple. 'He, he. I wonder if Anko noticed yet.' Sakura thought as she took a bite into the shiny red apple.

Itachi watched her eat the apple. She knew he was going to say something just by the way his eyes flickered back and forth between her and the apple. 'Everyone thinks the Uchiha's are emotionless and unable to read. Ha! You just have to know where to look.' Sakura took pride in her ability to read the royal family's emotions.

"How do you know Sakura?" He wanted an answer. 'There is something about this guy that doesn't sit well with me.'

Sakura stopped mid-bite and turned her cloak covered head to Itachi. "Huh?" She wasn't expecting that question.

"I will not repeat myself." Itachi said as his eyes narrowed.

"Why do you care?" Sakura snorted out as she took another bite into her apple.

Kakashi watched, from above, at the Prince's strange behavior. 'Why does Itachi seem to care so much about Sakura's relationship with the spy? I understand why I would drill the spy about my daughter…but for Itachi to do that? It makes no sense.'

Itachi felt his anger get the best of him. 'Why am I getting so angered? I need to control these emotions.' He swallowed down his anger, not very easily, and ignored Sakura's question. His hands went around Sakura's cloak and he backed her against a tree. "You will leave Sakura out of every dirty job you have her do. If you don't…well…" His grip tightened around the collar of Sakura's cloak. "Consider yourself warned." Itachi dipped his voice into the classic Uchiha icy tone.

Sakura couldn't believe what had gotten into Itachi. 'Why would he care what I would do? I am a mere servant after all.' Nothing was making sense to Sakura, so all she did was nod her head and removed his hands from her cloak. "You happy macho man? I'll back off." She told him in a snooty tone.

Itachi let Sakura fall to the ground, but never lessoned his Uchiha glare. Before anything else could happened Kakashi jumped down from his hiding spot and walked back to the lads. 'Seems like Sakura has someone else that can keep her out of harms way.' Kakashi thought with a smile. Finally he was getting closer to protecting his little girl, even if she didn't know it.

"Let's get back to work guys." Kakashi ordered as he tossed Sakura his sword again.

Their training session didn't end until the sun revealed itself above the horizon line. Kakashi nodded in approval and dismissed them both. Itachi went his separate way into the Castle while Kakashi stayed behind with Sakura.

"You surprised me today." He told her as he sheathed his sword the weight from the sword felt comforting as he walked with Sakura away from the garden.

"Good." Sakura said as her pride swelled up with happiness. "That's what I was aiming for." She told him bluntly.

"You learn fast. I'll give you that." He continued on. "But try not to get Prince Itachi riled up like that. He was the one, after all, that said he didn't mind for you to join us."

Sakura stopped walking and glared at Kakashi. "I don't give a damn if he said yes or no!" She yelled in her deep voice. "It was up to you in the first place! Don't hand me that bullshit just so I can stop harassing him. The royal family is nothing but stuck up snobs." She finished her tantrum and took a deep breath.

"Why do you hate them so much?" Kakashi asked, truly curious. 'What happened to this lad to make him hate the royal family?'

Sakura felt the tears forming in her eyes, but she pushed them down. 'I know I shouldn't be telling this man anything…but…fro some odd reason I feel like I can trust him. I feel like I should, it feels strangely comforting…' "You really want to know?" She asked him, knowing his answer.

"Yes." He said as he stopped near a rock at the top of a hill. He pulled Sakura down on the same rock and nodded his head. "It would be nice."

Sakura took a deep breath. "I've come in contact with royals before. They thought they were all high and mighty, as if they were the kings of the world, and I believed it….that is….until I started to dig deep into their real motives." Sakura said as she felt the tears coming back. The first time she saw the other side of Konoha her heart nearly broke in half. She didn't understand how the people were hidden from the world. "It was then my view on the world shattered and the true colors were shown. Royalty only brings deception, lies, and dishonesty." She turned her head to Kakashi. "Royalty shouldn't be given respect or even the high social status which they claim. They should have to work from the bottom up in order to get to the higher status. Those who think they can just be born into this world and already have their status figured out has another thing coming." Sakura finished. "Sorry Kakashi but I must go." She said as she turned around, not daring to look in his eyes, and ran through the forest to her quarters.

Kakashi watched at Sakura ran away form him, leaving him to think about her words. 'The lad can't be any older than eighteen or nineteen years old, given his physical figure, and here he is preaching as if he was my age.' His head looked up at the morning sky and he shook his head. 'Even though his theory is understandable he will never change the way the world is made.' It wasn't until then he realized something scary familiar.

Rein held the same feelings she was a Princess from a tiny village in Fire Country and she knew the dirty deeds her father did to keep her family on top. Kakashi twitched as he remembered when Rein told her father she was marrying him. At the time Kakashi was finally getting his own reputation, no longer was he walking in his father's footsteps. Her father yelled and screamed at Rein telling her she was disgracing their name, but wasn't until Rein's mother reminded her husband of their love. Kakashi chuckled as he remembered Rein's father's reaction when his wife revealed that she was simply a flower store owner that sold to the royal families. 'How her mother got him to say yes still remains a mystery to me.'

When Rein came to Konoha with him her views on the Royal family was tarnished and everyone that met her knew they had to prove their status to her. 'She's lucky that she was married to me.' Kakashi chuckled lightly. 'If it weren't for me no one would have paid attention to her.' It took his new wife to realize no one was going to change their ways, only when they met her, and she softened up on the idea.

'But now…' He thought as he gathered himself up and walked towards the main house. 'This spy holds her same views. Scary.' He thought with a shrug as he continued on his way.

As Sakura completed her daily chores she felt her muscles strain under the additional work. 'I'm gonna feel this tomorrow.' She thought with a grunt while taking a hold of a tapestry and she climbed the shaky ladder to the center of the wall. 'Why do these oversized drapes have to be placed on the wall every single day?!' She thought in aggravation while she lifted the cloth onto the elegant hanger.

Down below Mikoto sat in a lunch room chair observing her servants work diligently with getting the lunch room looking normal again. She took her tea cup and stuck her delicate pinky in the air as she brought the elegant china to her red lips. 'I always hate it when this room looks so bland and boring.' Her black eyes studied her favorite servant as she climbed the ladder. Her eyes narrowed at the way Sakura would apply pressure more on her right side then her left. 'That's odd.' Before she could study Sakura more, the door opened to reveal Itachi and a messenger. "Hello my dear." She said with a small smile at she stood up and hugged her eldest son.

Itachi allowed his mother to hug him and nodded his head to her in respect. "A messenger is here to see you." He said as he turned to the messenger and pushed the cowardly man towards his mother.

"What is it?" She asked as the messenger tried to collect himself.

The man swallowed his nerves and pulled out a scroll. "The Shayii Family has been spotted in town." He informed her.

Mikoto felt her anger rise at the mention of the family's name. 'I don't want to invite them to my castle!' But her years of teaching kicked in and she knew better than that. Every time a royal family would be spotted in town it was expected that the other royal family would invite the visiting family into their home. 'But I have to…' She thought with regret.

"Tell the Shayii family that they are invited for dinner tonight." She said as she held her tongue.

"Yes Queen Uchiha." He said and ran out the door in a blink of an eye.

Itachi watched as his mother sunk down into the chair in disgust. "That means Ami and her family will be coming." He said in an equally unpleasant tone.

Mikoto only nodded her head numbly. "Act polite Itachi, just not enough for her to want to marry you." She told him.

Sakura was about to throw the tapestry on the hanger when she heard Itachi and the messenger walking into the room. 'Hm…what could this be about?' She asked herself as she delayed her task. When she heard Ami's family name escape the messenger's mouth her blood froze. 'No.' she thought in anger. 'That bitch is coming?! Tonight?!' Sakura felt like ripping the tapestry into pieces because she was so enraged! Sakura shook her head and threw the tapestry on the hanger, before she really did rip it to shreds.

As the tapestry was being thrown on the hanger, a sharp pain erupted in Sakura's side. 'Shit.' She thought as she tried to ignore the burning sensation in the side of her stomach. Once the tapestry was neatly on the hanger the pain came back ten times worse. "Fuck!" Sakura shouted out as she lost her balance and fell off the ladder.

"I guess I'm going to go round up the…" Her sentence to Itachi was cut short by Sakura's loud vulgar swear. "What is going…?" She turned around only to see Sakura plying through the air. "Sakura!" She shouted as she ran towards the ladder not knowing what to do.

Itachi turned around as well and followed his mother to the ladder. 'Something isn't right.' He saw by the way she cradled herself as she descended the ladder.

Sakura faught against the pain long enough for her right arm to catch onto one of the foot pegs. She used all her strength to hold on for dear life. 'There is n-no way i-in hell t-that I'm g-going to fall t-to my d-death.' She huffed out as the pain returned.

Mikoto pulled the first servant that crossed her path to the side. "Get Kakashi!" She shouted as she threw the servant towards the door. "Don't worry Sakura! Help is on the way!"

Itachi circled around the ladder and examined Sakura's position. "A little klutzy are we?" He said to Sakura with a smirk.

Sakura looked down at the smirking man with a fiery glare. "Fuck off Uchiha." Sakura said making sure not to reveal her injury.

Mikoto heard Sakura's outburst but decided to stay on the sidelines. 'Let's see what Itachi does.' She thought as her heart fluttered. 'Maybe I won't have to worry about that part of my plan after all.' Her Uchiha smirk came into play as she continued to watch the exchange.

"What can you do about it Sakura? You're stuck up on a ladder. The most you can do is kick and scream." Sakura watched as his charcoal eyes twinkled. "Or you could jump down…but that would hurt you even more." He said in an all knowing tone.

"You would like that wouldn't you?" She said with a sneer. "Sorry but I'm not playing your game." She told him as she stuck her cute little tongue out at him.

"I'd put that tongue back in your mouth Sakura." Itachi felt heat rise within him once again, but this time, he wasn't allowed to yank her down from that ladder, throw her against the wall, and ravish her like last time. 'My time will come.'

Mikoto stared wide eyed at her son. 'Is he…flirting with her?!' She had no idea her son would act so provocative towards Sakura. 'Well of course Itachi could seduce anyone he wanted but still! Normally I have to tell him to flirt he never acts on his own when it comes to this.' Her eyes shifted to the hanging Sakura. 'I didn't know you had the ability to arouse my son Sakura.' She nodded her head at her unknown revelation. 'I will find out who your parents are Sakura…and when I do I will bring you to your rightful place in our social order.' She thought with a smile as she pictured Sakura dressed in luscious gowns and beautiful make-up.

Sakura was about to yell at the naughty Prince but the doors came slamming open. She cocked her head to the side, only to see, Kakashi and the servant entering the room. 'Just great.' She thought in annoyance. 'I've seen enough of him today.' He was the main reason why she was in this mess in the first place! 'Hanging from the side of a ladder is the first thing I want to be doing.' She thought sarcastically.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked as he watched his daughter dangle off the side of a old ladder.

Mikoto turned to Kakashi and walked him closer to Sakura and Itachi. "I don't know! She was up there and then all of a sudden she fell!"

"My Lady I'm fine." Sakura said with a reassuring smile. "I just would like to get down from here." She said.

Kakashi maneuvered himself underneath her and held his hands out shoulder width apart. "Jump." He said urgently, he could see the ladder starting to break under he weight.

Sakura turned her head around and stared wide eyed at him. "Excuse me?" She asked stunned that he wanted her to let go of the ladder and fall to her death.

"I'll catch you." He said impatiently. "The ladder is going to break. Now jump!" He shouted.

Sakura looked at the ladder to see the ancient wood planks starting to split at the end. "Fine." She said without a second thought and let go of the ladder.

Mikoto felt a wave of relief wash over her once Sakura fell into Kakashi's arms. "Thank goodness!" she shouted as she waited for Sakura to stand on her feet. "What happened up there?" She asked as she examined Sakura's body for any injury.

When Sakura stood up she immediately moved her right hand to her left side. 'Come on. Just hand in there a bit longer.' She told herself as she continued to endure the pain that was radiating throughout her whole left side. "I just tripped my Lady." She told her simply.

Kakashi eyed Sakura's right hand as it laid limply against her left side. 'Something isn't right.' "Remove your hand." He told her.

Itachi also noticed her hand move to her left side. He narrowed his eyes at her side but she was covering up everything, preventing him to see anything. 'What is she hiding?' He thought in frustration.

Sakura stared at Kakashi with confused eyes. 'Just act dumb Sakura.' She coached herself as she tilted her head as well. "Why?"

Mikoto was becoming worried again as, she too, noticed Sakura's hand covering her side. "Just do it Sakura." She said her mother senses told her Sakura was hiding something and after raising two sons she knew that hiding something was generally a bad thing.

Sakura sighed. 'If I hide it any longer they will just get more furious.' She slowly removed her hand from her side and took a sharp breath in. The cool breeze blew across her opened wound, making it sting.

"She's bleeding!" Mikoto yelled out as she grabbed the same servant and sent him to get the doctor. "How did this happen?!"

Itachi glared at the cut on her side. 'Where did that come from?' He didn't get a good look at the shape of the cut because of her dress but seeing her hurt didn't sit well with him.

Kakashi felt his blood boil as his fatherly instincts kicked in. 'Who would have hurt her?' Fear ran through his mind as he tried to figure out if any of his enemies could have possibly learned about his secret.

"Nothing you need to worry about my Lady." Sakura tried to reassure her, but it wasn't working.

"Don't hand me that Sakura! You're going to tell me what happened this…" She couldn't scold Sakura anymore for the doctor came storming into the room.

"What's wrong Mikoto-San?" Shizune asked.

"This one over here is injured." Itachi told the doctor as he tilted his head to Sakura.

Shizune stared at Sakura and shook her head at the young woman. "Again Sakura?" Shizune said with a sigh.

Sakura thought everyone's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. "This isn't the first time?" Kakashi asked, rather curious.

Shizune shook her head. "No." She took out her knife and cut the piece of fabric that blocked her view of the wound. "Oh ouch." She said while she reached for her medical supplies. "This looks like a sword wound." She told them.

"Why do you have a sword wound?" Mikoto asked Sakura, clearly frightened by what the answer might be.

"It's…ouch!" Sakura shouted as Shizune placed a stinging ointment against the cut. "What the hell Shizu!" Sakura said. "No warning?!"

Shizune giggled at Sakura's outburst. "Well maybe next time you won't try to pick fights with the locals." She said seriously as she continued to address the wounds.

'She picks fights with just about everyone then.' Itachi thought as some of his possessive anger cooled off. 'I should have known. When we were in town she was willing to beat the man up. Even better.' He thought with a smug look.

Kakashi felt all his worry wash away. 'Phew. At least it wasn't any of my enemies. I can handle the locals one by one.' He thought as he tried to figure out how he would catch the townsperson that attacked his precious flower.

"Sakura!" Mikoto yelled out. "This is from a brawl?!" She was furious now. "From now on you are not going into the city without someone with you!" 'I can't stand to see you hurt Sakura…I'm sorry if this is taking away your only freedom but…it has to be done.'

Sakura felt her world collapse once Mikoto said that. She no longer could sneak off and do her job, she couldn't go and visit her mothers grave, hell she couldn't even visit her friends on the other side of town! "But my Lady…"

"My mind is made up Sakura." She turned to Shizune. "Is Sakura ok?" Her mood changed from anger to worry.

Shizune put the final touches on Sakura's wound and stood up. "Sakura's fine." She told the queen with a smile. She turned to Sakura and shook her head. "Next time come to me after you get sliced Sakura." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Sakura nodded her head and turned to Mikoto. "I better go and gather all the servants for the dinner tonight." She said with a deep bow to everyone in the room. "See you tonight."

Mikoto shook her head as Sakura walked towards the kitchen. "I don't know how I deal with her sometimes." She said out loud.

"She brings some entertainment to the castle you have to admit." Kakashi said as he eased Mikoto's worried mind.

Itachi nodded his head. "Mother, we must go tell Father about the Shayii's arrival." He said, half hoping he could disappear and finish their conversation.

Mikoto nodded her head and waved Kakashi goodbye. 'I just hope that Ami doesn't pick on Sakura during the dinner. That would prove very problematic.'

TO

BE

CONTINUED

Author's Note: Hey there guys…sorry it took me forever to get another chapter out there…it's summer…I can never predict when I can have time to post out to you all =( But I will say that the story is moving along rather nicely! =) Hope you all enjoyed it!! Sorry it was a little boring =(

Review please! :) Any advice would be awesome!! :)