Sasuke wakes up in total darkness. He is lying in a hospital bed with his eyes bandaged. He can feel Itachi's chakra beside him. His eyes hurt - actually they are Itachi's eyes. "Itachi?" he says tentatively. "Are you awake?"

"No," mumbles Itachi. "I don't want anymore dango…"

"Well, I guess you're still asleep, then," Sasuke sighs. He pulls himself into a sitting position. How long until he can see again, he wonders. Then he feels Sakura's chakra come hurtling towards him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura says happily. "You're awake! I have something to tell you. Guess what it is?"

"Um…" Sasuke thinks carefully. "You found someone for the Mizukage?" he guesses.

"I wish!" Sakura sounds upset about that particular topic.

"Um…"

"Lady Tsunade made me her apprentice!" Sakura blurts out.

"Oh."

"Sasuke, aren't you happy for me?" Sakura sounds depressed.

"Oh, no, it's not that," Sasuke feels bad for upsetting his team mate, cootie infested though she be. "It's just, Naruto's training with Jiraiya, and now you are apprenticed to Tsunade. I'm the only one who's still stuck with Kakashi."

"Oh." Sakura is silent for a minute. Then she says, "I could ask Tsunade if she knows anyone who would train you. And I suppose I could get Naruto to ask Jiraiya."

Sasuke smiles hopefully. "You really think there's someone out there who can train me to sannin level?"

"Well you could always train with Orochimaru, he is the third sannin after all," Sakura says slyly.

Horror fills Sasuke. "Why would I train with that pedophile?!"

Sakura laughs. "I was joking. But really, do you think that Team Seven could become the next sannin?"

"That would be cool," Sasuke admits. "But wouldn't I need to sign the snake contract?"

Sakura is silent for a moment. "I'll ask about that," she says. "Maybe there is someone in the Leaf who has the snake contract and will arrange for you to sign it."

"Hey, do you wanna see something funny?" Sasuke asks, feeling like a bit of fun.

"Sure, why not?"

"Hey Itachi, are you awake?" asks Sasuke.

"No more dango," Itachi's voice floats back. "I already had 24 sticks."

Sakura bursts out laughing. "He's hugging his pillow," she tells Sasuke.

Sasuke starts laughing too. "But the dango is free!" he says between giggles.

"I ate all the tomatoes! Sorry Sasuke," murmers Itachi.

"Mum's making tomato soup," says Sasuke.

"Mum makes good soup," mutters Itachi. "Fact Of Life."

Sakura is laughing so hard she is chortling. "He's still asleep!" she sniggers.

"Shisui is in the kitchen," says Sasuke, sniggering.

Itachi bolts upright, wide awake in an instant. "Who let Shisui in the kitchen?!"

Sasuke and Sakura laugh harder.

Itachi says in a disapproving voice, "You were making me sleep talk for your amusement, weren't you, Sasuke?"

"You mean this is a normal thing for you?" asks Sakura. It sounds as if she has her laughter mostly under control now.

"Unfortunately," Itachi says. "And it seems Sasuke still likes to childishly take advantage of it for his own amusement, and now apparently yours as well."

"Did I come at a bad time?" asks Kisame's voice from the doorway.

"Nah, we were just making Itachi talk in his sleep," says Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" Itachi protests, sounding embarrassed and a bit annoyed.

"That's fun," says Kisame, laughing. "I've gotten him to say some funny things since I discovered he does it."

"Wait, you do it too?" Itachi sounds panicked.

"Of course," says Kisame. "The funniest things I've gotten you to say are 'The dango are taking over the world!' and 'I want the undies with the puppies on them!'.

"Haha! Itachi's blushing!" Sakura laughs.

After days of marriage interviews, Team Seven and Mei-sama are so discouraged they have actual black clouds floating above their heads.

"We need to narrow the list down," says Sasuke, whose eyes are still bandaged from his operation.

"How about we go through the profiles and eliminate all the ones who have a trait that you definitely don't want in a man," suggests Sakura.

"That seems like a good idea," says Kakashi-sensei. "What is the biggest no-no for you?" he asks Mei-sama.

She thinks about this for a minute or two then says, "It would have to be a bowl cut."

"So we can eliminate Gai," says Kakashi-sensei, removing Gai sensei's profile from the line-up. "What else?"

"Smokers are out of the question."

"That knocks off another five."

"We still have so many," despairs Sakura. "Is there anything else you definitely don't want in a man?"

"Well, I don't want him to be too mentally scared," says Mei thoughtfully.

"That knocks out half of the ones left."

"I would prefer good hygiene."

"That knocks off these ones."

"Oh, and he has to be the sort of guy who will take s### from no one."

"That leaves us with three."

One of the profiles catches Naruto's eye. He picks it up, shaking slightly. "How did I miss this?" he says in wonderment. "This is the perfect one for you, I'm sure of it."

He passes the file to Sakura. "How did we miss this?" she asks. "He is obviously the perfect choice!"

She passes the file onto Kakashi-sensei. "How...how did we not realize sooner?" he passes the file to Mei-sama. "What do you think of this one?"

She stares at the file in wonderment. "He's beautiful."