Okay! The next chapter is up! Hope you all enjoy and review at the end! And I am really sorry for the long wait! I've been pretty busy so I hope you all forgive me! D:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters!

Recap

They looked at each other then, and with a nod removed their cloaks, approaching one of the two cabins. They entered without knocking, the kunoichi muttering a quick "We're back." to the inhabitants of the cabin.

She hadn't seen them at first, the room too dark as her eyes accustomed to it, but no doubt about it they were there.

"Welcome back. Everything went smoothly?" it was the voice of a girl, although the kunoichi couldn't pin-point where exactly it was coming from.

"Well... more or less." the male approached the small girl, putting his hand on her head gently.

"We came across something... truly spectacular..." the kunoichi offered.

"How so... Hiroto-nii?" and as she spoke she opened her eyes, a dark shade of hot pink staring back at her brother's equally pink eyes.

Chapter 10: Shisui

When Sakura arrived at the compound, she was quickly tackled by a little blob of blue, an exuberant child clinging on to her legs and shouting her name. "You're back Sakura-neechan!" he exclaimed loudly.

Yet, he wasn't the only one there, for Mikoto was alongside him within the next few seconds -it seems they had been about to go out. "I thought the mission would take longer?" Mikoto questioned.

"Hai." Sakura confirmed. "Due to particular circumstances, Itachi-san and the Hokage decided to formally end the mission early." she stated.

"Ohh..." Mikoto stated quietly. For the Hokage to get involved and cancel the mission? What had been going on, she couldn't help but wonder. Regardless, it wasn't any of her business, and as long as her son got back home safe, she supposed she couldn't really complain. "Anyway, I'm going grocery shopping with Sasuke-chan. I'll be back in a little while." she assumed Sakura wanted to rest, and as such left her to her own devices as she and Sasuke took off, despite Sasuke's childish pouts. Clearly, he wanted Sakura to accompany them, but she was much too tired, both physically and mentally, to want to go.

"Hai." And so Sakura bid them goodbye, and then promptly returned to her bedroom, where she was left to unpack and rest, although truthfully speaking, her thoughts were overwhelmingly about either Gaara and what would become of his future, or Itachi and the words he had shared with her on their journey back to Konoha. Could she have possibly judged the Uchiha too soon? She hadn't expected the compassion she had received from him, especially in knowing that it couldn't be more than six months from now before the atrocities of the Uchiha Massacre would occur.

The remainder of the day had been relatively uneventful, for Itachi had kept mostly to himself, and Sasuke had either been too preoccupied with Mikoto, or pestering Itachi to train him. Oddly enough though, whether Itachi was simply too tired of hearing Sasuke whine or genuinely wanted to, he agreed to train Sasuke, even if for only an hour (which had quickly turned to three no thanks to Sasuke's ridiculous cute-ness).

As such, Sakura had been left to converse with Mikoto, who asked for her company while she cooked dinner, not that Sakura minded at all -it wasn't like she had anything better to do to begin with. "You seemed quite tired. Did you have a good nap, Sakura-san?"

"Hai." Sakura stated, leaning against the kitchen counter across from Mikoto.

"This was your first mission after the -umm... massacre, right?" Mikoto was hesitant, but did not beat around the bush. Sakura seemed strong enough to endure it. "I do hope Itachi didn't work you too hard."

Sakura smiled slightly -Mikoto sure was a caring woman. "I thank you for trying to be privy of the topic, Mikoto-sama. Though I must admit it was hard to find out about the ordeal, I find some peace of mind in knowing that I can still carry out the legacy of my people." She stated, seemingly at peace with her conclusion. And it was true, for the most part. As much as she hated to be the only one left, she knew that her family had scarified much to make sure she lived. As such, this would not be a life she took for granted.

Mikoto smiled slightly. "Although I am not one to gossip, Sakura-san, nor am I completely aware of the situation at hand, there are rumors that there was one sole survivor." She stated, all the while she cut up some vegetables. "A little girl, of course. I'm not sure if Hokage-sama bothered to tell you or not. I only think it right you know, despite the secrecy behind the matter." Mikoto shrugged her shoulders slightly, stopping momentarily to brush her bangs out of her face. If she had a living relative, no matter how minuscule, she would want to know, granted, Mikoto hoped to never be in the position that Sakura now found herself.

"Hai, I am aware of that whom you speak of." Sakura acknowledged slightly, knowing there was no real harm within Mikoto. "Although I too try to keep my surname to myself, this little girl is incapable of protecting herself yet. As such, she has been adopted under the guise of a different name."

"Do you not wonder about her?" Mikoto asked earnestly.

Sakura looked down at the marble counter tops. "Iee. I wonder about her often; but it does little good to do so. I'm sure she'll be fine. Us Harunos' were born with a resilience particularly special." she smiled slightly. "I know she's fine."

"Your optimism gladdens me." Mikoto gave a small nod. "It's hard to find someone such as yourself with such a view on life. And after everything that has happened, you still wake each morning with a smile on your face. I admire you, Sakura-san." Mikoto was honest. "Now if only I could get Itachi-kun to be a little more like you my days would be unimaginably happier." she joked.

"Is Itachi-san unhappy, for some reason?" Sakura tried to inquire innocently, not missing Mikoto's microscopic flinch at the mention. Had she perhaps mentioned something she shouldn't have?

"Iee, not unhappy." Mikoto stated, a small frown on her features. "He lives in a constant state of stress, is all, between his duties as ANBU Captain and heir to our clan. At such a young age, he's the only person expected to carry so much responsibility."

"It does seem to be quite a burden." Sakura acknowledged with a nod. "But he seems to deal with it remarkably well."

"Hai. He's exceptional at everything he does, after all. I simply cannot remember the last time I've seen Itachi-kun smile..."

There was a pain in Mikoto's eyes that her voice did not hold, an indication that Mikoto was trying to not show her weakness before Sakura. Regardless, she could not help but take in Mikoto's words in silence, adding this piece of information to the mental portfolio she was building on Itachi. She would need to know a lot about him in order for her to get close to him and hopefully be able to eliminate him, after all.

"Not that I know too much about Itachi-san as it is," Sakura began slightly hesitantly, "but he seems more relaxed than I have ever seen him while in the presence of Sasuke-chan."

At the mention, Mikoto's eyes lit up with some sort of spark -had it been happiness? Or hope, perhaps?

"Hai. If there's one thing Itachi loves more than anything, it's Sasuke-chan." Mikoto's smile seemed so serene. "You should have seen him hold Sasuke-chan in his arms when he was first born; to this day it is one of my fondest memories. I'm willing to bet there is nothing Itachi-kun isn't willing to do for him."

Sakura smiled at this. "He's a good brother." Despite his responsibilities and how tired he must be even now, he had still taken time out of his day just to indulge Sasuke. Everything pointed to Itachi loving Sasuke, as Mikoto had stated, but how could she possibly accept this as the truth knowing what she knew? Knowing that Itachi had seemingly spared Sasuke under the guise of wanting his Mangekyou eyes in the future? 'The more I look at it, the more these two Itachi's seem to be completely different...' Sakura mentally frowned. How could she possibly differentiate between the two, and more importantly, learn which one was the real Itachi?

Unless... this had all been a pretext...?

"I know this may be somewhat sudden, Sakura-san, but I have a request." Mikoto snapped Sakura out of her thoughts, changing the subject.

"Anything, Mikoto-sama." Sakura spoke at once.

"Fugaku and I have had this trip planned for a while now, and have considered postponing it due to Sasuke-chan and the demand of the clan, but we have a mission. A small vacation of sorts to the outskirts of the Fire Country in order to meet with the Daimyo for some formality shenanigans and indulge in the isolation from clan politics for a few days. But, of course if you are willing to look over the house in my stead, I would feel more comfortable with leaving Sasuke-chan and Itachi-kun here." Mikoto stated. "You wouldn't have to do too much, other than making sure Sasuke gets picked up and dropped off at school every day. I will prepare some leftovers and leave some money to go out as well, if you get tired of those and don't wish to cook." Mikoto offered earnestly. Truth be told, she couldn't remember how long it had been since she had had some quality time with her husband, and she was dying for it. These past few months -hell, even years, had been extremely tense for the two of them, neither being offered any sort of vacation time due to the demands that the village placed on them.

Sakura blinked. It was a baby-sitting job, not that Sakura honestly cared (Taking care of Sasuke? Please, she'd do it willingly!). Plus, it didn't help that Mikoto seemed anxious over the matter; clearly this meant a lot to her. "Say no more, Mikoto-sama. I will look over Sasuke and the house in your absence without question. It's the least I can do after everything you have done for me. When do you leave?"

Mikoto smiled profusely. "Arigatou, Sakura-san! With your blessing of course, we might consider leaving tonight."

"By all means do, Mikoto-sama. You more than deserve this vacation."

And with another quick thank you, she told Sakura to watch over the boiling vegetables as she went to go send a letter to Fugaku that their plans were on!

"Sakura...chan?" Himawari wasn't entirely sure she had heard right from her nii-san.

"Presumably." Hiroto added for emphasis. "Although we're pretty certain it had been her."

"But as a twelve year old? That's not physically possible." Himawari frowned.

"Maybe not to us." Marika nodded in agreement. "But this certainly doesn't seem like a surreal feat with the help of Matsuro-sama." This statement was more so directed towards Hiroto, the only one other than her knowledgeable in the ways of the Gods.

"Matsuro-sama?" Himawari raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's a long story, Himawari-chan. One which will be explained to you in due time, but for now, we'll leave it at this. We had told you Sakura held power unimaginable to us, right? Think of this as an extension of her power."

"To age rapidly?" Himawari frowned. This hardly seemed like much of a power.

"Iee. This kunoichi was travelling with Hatake Kakashi and one Uchiha Itachi." Marika stated. She knew them well, in particular the Uchiha, considering her father had forced her to go on a somewhat informal date with the man, pressured to do so by the Uchiha Clan head of the time.

"The ANBU Captain?" Hiroto raised an eyebrow. "If that were to be the case, then clearly this is not Sakura plunging into the future, but regressing back in time."

"But what purpose would she have for travelling back in time to such a seemingly random time?" Marika frowned. "If anything, wouldn't she have gone back to-" she couldn't continue the thought, memories flooding into her brain of a particular night. As such, her voice trailed off and grew silent, although both Harunos' knew what Marika had been talking about.

"There's truly only one way of finding out..." Hiroto stated, his implication clear.

At this, Himawari couldn't help but look up to meet Hiroto's gaze. "Do you think she knows we're alive?"

"Iee. If she did, then she would have found a way to make contact with us by now." Hiroto shook his head.

"Do you really think it safe to bring attention to us by going to Konoha?" Marika frowned. "You know as well as I that we are being watched." Marika warned. "If you're not careful you'll lead him straight to Sakura too..."

"If she's stepping foot out of the village she's bound to attract attention." Hiroto frowned. "Nothing we do will put her in harms way more than her own actions. Furthermore, if she is going on missions, this must mean she is unaware of the potential threats to her life in this timeline. Is it not our job to warn and protect her?"

Marika sat in silence. "I take it you'll be going, then." She stated, some sort of hope in her eyes. Truth be told, she hadn't seen nor spoken to her sister in too long, and this would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

Hiroto gave a slight smile. "I shall go this time. Worry not; as soon as I am back, we can start organizing a trip for you to go see her as well, okay?"

"Hai. Arigatou Hiroto."

"And what about me?" Himawari pouted.

"You are not to step foot outside of this place until you learn to conceal your chakra, Ms. prodigy." Hiroto remarked, ruffling his younger sister's hair. "Now come on, we have to start preparing dinner. Go call in Sayuri and Daichi?"

"Hai, Hiroto-nii!"

Once Himawari was out the door, Hiroto's expression hardened ever so slightly, as did Marika's. "When will you be going?" Marika asked.

"I'll take off after dinner, and get rid of the shinobi in the area on my way out."

Marika nodded. "Is it his...? Orochimaru's?"

Hiroto frowned. "Hai." If he had already discovered the general vicinity in which they resided in, this could not be good for any of them. "We may have to relocate soon."

"And where shall we go?" Marika frowned.

Hiroto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll look at possible locations on my way to Konoha."

Marika frowned but said nothing more. They were doing all of this for Sakura, and her safety, after all. "About the ritual..." Hiroto frowned immediately, even though Marika hadn't even finished her sentence. "Will it be time soon?"

"One can only assume." Hiroto sighed. "What else are we to make of our chakra reserves depleting for no reason? This had to be Matsuro's doing, and there's only one person that it could have possibly been. Ayame-sama indicated to us that the time would come." Hiroto frowned. Marika sighed in distress. None of them were anywhere near ready to be able to do the ritual. And what would happen if they couldn't do it successfully? What would happen to them? To Matsuro-sama? "Relax Marika. Everything will work out the way it was intended to. Have faith and patience in Sakura."

She gave a small, half-assed smile. "You truly are a good leader, Hiroto."

"I am no leader." And as he said this, he gave her a pat on the shoulder, and then began walking away. "I am simply a substitute until the day that Sakura-hime is ready to lead us. But of course, you know this already." There was no goodbye between the two, not that one was really needed.

Surprisingly enough, by the time dinner came around, Fugaku had returned home, a rare sight indeed, although Sakura presumed it to be because he also had to pack for his mission of sorts. Mikoto had informed Sasuke and Itachi that they would be away for a few days and that she would leave food and money for them during their time away, but if they wanted any home cooked meals to ask Sakura.

Said kunoichi wasn't the least bit surprised to receive many gratuitous thanks you's from Mikoto, but none whatsoever from Fugaku (figures), and tried her best to refrain from showing excitement at having to take care of Sasuke for the days to come. Not surprisingly, it seemed that Sasuke shared this very same enthusiasm, but this was not to say he would not be missing his Okaa-san and Otou-san.

After dinner was complete, Mikoto spent the rest of her time washing the dishes along Sakura, and giving her other instructions in case she would need it, and after everything had been said and done, Mikoto and Fugaku took off, Sakura wishing them safe travels alongside the two younger Uchihas'.

And within minutes the house was once more silent, Itachi retiring to his room, leaving Sasuke to follow Sakura around curiously, as if wondering what it would be that she did now. Clearly, he could not fester his brother any longer, having already taken up his time during target practice. "Sakura-nee, what do you normally do when there's nothing else to do?"

Sakura sweat dropped. "I've only been staying here a week, Sasuke-chan. I haven't had any time to have free time."

"Well, don't you have friends to hang out with?" Sasuke blinked, staring at Sakura, who was simply sitting on her desk with a book in front of her. Don't tell him she was just like Itachi-nii and simply spent his time reading up on materials? Why did the people surrounding him have to be so boring?

Sakura blinked twice. Friends? Friends?! All her friends were current six to seven years old, so no, she didn't exactly have friends. "I've been away from the village for a long time, Sasuke-chan. I'm afraid I don't really know too many people outside of Itachi-san and Kakashi-san." She regrettably informed him.

Sasuke's eyebrows scrunched up, his lips forming a pout. "But Sakura-nee is so cool and funny!" How could she not have friends. "I know, we should have Itachi-niisan introduce you to some of his friends!" he proclaimed with excitement. Sakura raised an eyebrow. Itachi... had friends? "Well... they're more like Kakashi-sans friends, I think..." he second guessed himself, a finger on his chin, as if he were contemplating the matter seriously.

Sakura couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. Of course they were. "Hai, hai. Well, how about we bother Itachi-san about the matter tomorrow? It's getting too late to go out as it is."

Sasuke pouted, but resigned to defeat and fell upon Sakura's bed. Why did she have to even uphold his Okaa-san's curfew for him? "But I'm so bored..." he sighed.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at the small Uchiha on her bed. "Well then how about I read you a story?"

And so it had been, Sasuke appeased and Sakura entertained enough by simply staring at his reactions to everything she said, and all the questions he asked. Eventually, he fell asleep upon her bed, and although he made to move him twice, his eyes opened wide, as if he were pretending to have been awake this entire time, because he didn't want to leave just yet.

Which was why, an hour later, Sakura conceded in indulging the boy and allowed him to fall asleep on her bed, she alongside him with the book discarded beside her, although her lamp remained on because Sasuke had not wanted her to move (curse him and his overwhelming cuteness).

Not that Sakura could have remembered, seeing as sometime past midnight, while Itachi was getting a quick drink of water, he discovered that Sasuke was not in his usual spot in his room. And so he searched for him, passing by Sakura's room to notice that her lamp light was still on. He thought about knocking, but opted not to because he could hear the quiet, low breathing of two people inside. As such, he opened it quietly and stepped inside, staring at his younger brother, currently cuddled in between the arms of the pink-haired kunoichi, and a story book that she had gotten from his room discarded by the side of her hip.

He could have sighed, but decided against it as he approached the two figures and picked up the book, placing it on her desk before swinging over to Sasuke's side of the bed where he just stood there for a few seconds and stared at his younger brother. He was incorrigible, taking advantage of Sakura's kindness to indulge in some coddling, affection which Itachi could not always offer him. He leaned over, placing a chaste kiss on his younger brother's head, before turning the lamp off and walking away.

At least he found someone who could give him what Itachi could not.

Sakura was up bright and early the next morning, not through her own will, but rather because Sasuke had woken up early and proceeded to die of boredom, thus ending her sleep cycle short. Why was he even a morning person?!

"Alright Sasuke-chan. What would you like for breakfast?"

"Pancakes!" He didn't seem to hesitate, but then, almost as if it were an afterthought, he added "With chocolate chips and strawberries!"

Sakura snorted. Of course he would pick a breakfast coated with sugar.

"We'll see about that." She sighed, walking to the fridge with Sasuke eagerly behind her, as she rummaged to see if she had the materials needed to make said pancakes.

He was in luck, save for the chocolate chips, and so Sakura got down to preparing breakfast for three, as she ordered Sasuke to get ready for school. He would not be late on her watch, after all. By the time he had showered and dressed himself appropriately, Sakura was just about done and proceeded to place the plates of food on the table, telling Sasuke to inform Itachi that breakfast was prepared for him if he cared to join them all the while.

It was surprising to say the least, but he had come following behind Sasuke's trail, although she wasn't sure if this had to do with Itachi genuinely wanting her to eat or food, or because Sasuke was dragging him, tightly clinging onto his hand. "Sakura-neehchan it looks delicious!" He exclaimed, although Sakura couldn't be so sure if he meant it, or if he just really wanted pancakes.

"Hai, hai, sit and eat. Hurry so we have time to take you to school." she smiled, waiting for both Uchihas' to sit. Breakfast was loud, Sasuke resembling Naruto more than himself, talking loudly and excitedly in a manner he hadn't quite seen in him just yet. Was this normal of him? To act so exuberantly? She couldn't tell -the Sasuke she had met and actually knew, years after the massacre, was nothing like this Sasuke now. Then again, Sakura could distinctly remember seeing Sasuke's attitude on life change completely after a certain point of their childhood -she assumed now that it was after the incident.

And so he began eating, conversing some with Sakura and some with Itachi, until a light seemed to filter through his eyes, almost as if he got a wonderful idea. "Oh yeah, Itachi-nii! Sakura-neechan told me last night that she doesn't have any friends!" Sakura flinched at his words. Did he really have to make her out to be a complete loner? "I thought it would be a great idea if you introduced her to some of your own!"

"That's very considerate of you, Sasuke." he gave Sasuke a small pat on his head, as if awarding him something, which Sasuke took whole-heartedly. Not much longer than that, Sasuke hurried off to go grab his belongings, as Sakura went towards the door to put her shoes on.

"I'm going to go drop Sasuke-chan off at school." she informed him, but was quickly surprised when she saw Itachi do the same.

"I shall accompany you." he seemingly offered.

Sakura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this statement. "Is this because Sasuke said I have no friends? I swear-" she was about to explain herself, but the arched eyebrow on Itachi's features made her stop.

"Iee, this has nothing to do with his comment, although I am highly surprised to hear that." Itachi stated. "Surely you haven't been away from the village for that long." he inquired.

"Iee." Sakura shook her head. "Most of my friends resided within the Haruno Clan. We normally keep to ourselves, after all." Sakura gave a slight shrug.

"Ahh. I'm sorry to hear that, Sakura-san."

Sakura flashed him a smile, but said nothing more as Sasuke appeared before them, grabbing Sakura's left hand, Itachi's right hand, and then proceeding to drag them out of the house. This would be the first time he could show off his two super cool Itachi-nii and Sakura-nee to his classmates, after all.

The walk had been short, partly because of the distance and partly because it seemed that Sasuke was hurrying to his destination, not that neither Sakura nor Itachi cared all too much about the fact. "Alright Sasuke-chan. You be good and don't get into trouble, okay?" Sakura was squatting, examining Sasuke as she adjusted the collar of his shirt.

"Hai! Bye Sakura-neechan! Bye Itachi-nii!" He proceeded to give both of them a hug, although Itachi's clearly took longer, before he ran inside the confines of the Ninja Academy.

Once he was successfully within ins confines, they turned around and began their trip back home. "Do you have any plans today, Itachi-san?" Sakura began a small conversation.

"Iee. I was going to train with my cousin Shisui, if you'd like to join us."

Sakura's eyes could have widened -she truly hoped they hadn't, but the statement had taken her aback. 'Uchiha Shisui...' If Sakura was right, of which she knew she was, this had been Itachi's best friend up until his "untimely" suicide -and shortly after his death, the Uchiha Clan had perished with the help of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, the likes of which he didn't have before Shisui's death. "H-Hai... Arigatou..." she thanked him, rather half-assed, for she was too preoccupied with her thoughts.

"I should also thank you for breakfast, Sakura-san. I am quite surprised that someone of your age is able to cook so proficiently." he complimented her.

"Oh it's nothing." Sakura dismissed his compliment with a wave of her hand, a sheepish blush on her face. "I had to cook for myself a lot of the time in my extended mission, so I had a lot of time to practice cooking and hone my skills." This wasn't true, but it was the best she could come up with on such short notice -she was definitely not a culinary prodigy, after all. Truth be told, she was only as good as she was because she constantly had to cook for her team, all three of them inept at properly nurturing their bodies with protein outside of the Ramen food group, although she had no one to blame but Naruto for this.

The remaining walk to the Compound was left in relative silence, although Sakura had offered to make them dinner later today, if he had any suggestions as to what he wanted.

"Sasuke enjoys anything with tomatoes. I'm sure he'd greatly appreciate a dish specially made for him." Itachi merely stated, just as they had once more returned to the Uchiha Compound. "Shisui will be here within the hour. I shall be returning to my room for the time-being" He merely informed her, and with a nod her way, he returned to his bedroom, leaving Sakura to clean up the kitchen, and then return to her room as well, where she quickly changed into more appropriate attire for training.

Shisui was... unlike what she had expected him to be.

He walked in (not even knocked) just as Sakura and Itachi were putting their shoes on by the door, a wide smile on his face. "Yo, Itachi!"

She stared at him in confusion. 'Is Shisui an Uchiha anomaly?' He seemed to not have noticed the kunoichi at first, his eyes closed, as if it took everything within him just to show that radiant smile of his, his hands on his hips.

"What a great day to go training, nee? Maybe this time I'll finally beat you -I can feel it in my bones." After this, it seemed that he finally noticed Sakura, blinking a few times, as if studying her figure. "Oh, you must be Haruno Sakura-san. Did you invite her to training Itachi? Making friends are we?" it was amazing how well he seemed to be able to keep up a conversation with just himself. Maybe this was why they were best friends -Itachi had no responsibility to talk, seeing as he was more than capable of doing all of it.

'Say something, kid.' Her inner snapped her out of her thoughts as Sakura promptly bowed.

"Hai, it's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san." she regarded him politely, a small smile on her face.

"Oh Shisui's just fine. We're equivalent in status, after all." Sure, he might have been three to four years older than her, but at the end of the day, they were both from prestigious clans, and not to mention but in the same Shinobi rank of ANBU.

Sakura blinked. "H-Hai, Shisui-san... I suppose you may also call me Sakura, then..." This formality was weird -it had taken her almost a week to get used to speaking to Itachi so informally (and he was her teammate, for Kami's sake!).

"Wonderful, Sakura-san! Anyway, let's not waist daylight. Don't diddle-daddle Itachi, we've got another person to our party of two now, so our training will take longer."

Was he always so... exuberant? 'My Kami he's like Naruto...'

'Except... an Uchiha...' she internally crinkled her nose. Surely, he was an anomaly.

Although Shisui had insisted in Sakura sparring with Itachi first if she so liked to, she adamantly refused, stating that she was the one who was invited last minute; as such, she would watch in the sidelines for now, until one of them grew tired. Although truthfully speaking, she did have a sound motive for this, wanting to take note the difference in skill between Itachi and Shisui. The fight began slow, almost lazily, but with every passing second it become more and more tense, Sakura being able to physically feel the pressure that their auras created.

They seemed nearly evenly matched. For every blow that Itachi would receive, he delivered one just as potent, and vice versa for Shisui. They were amazingly, simply stated (she couldn't remember being so impressed with a spar in so long, truth be told), although she knew Shisui to be in possession of the Mangekyou, which in itself meant that were this a real battle, it would have been decided long ago. 'So how had Itachi actually gone about killing Shisui?' she couldn't help but think, analyzing their movements. Had Itachi caught him off guard? Or was there something that Sakura was missing?

Nevertheless, within the next ten minutes Shisui called it quits and decided to have a break, offering for Sakura to take his place in fighting Itachi -of which she wasn't entirely opposed to, truth be told. Between her two training sessions with Itachi and her mission in Suna, she had finally become accustomed to her thirteen year old body limbs were shorter, after all, so her attacks took more out of her, which had at first thrown her for a bit of a loop. But things were now different, and now she felt a new sense of confidence at measuring her skills in comparison to Itachi's.

Truth be told, it was a difference which Itachi could tell right off the bat. The potency in her attacks had been not unlike the previous times he had fought her, but this time they were more accurate, with even less time for him to react to. But at least this time he was not under-estimating her, an act which could have proved fatal out in the real world.

By the end of their twenty five minute spar, they had each traded a couple blows, but not to the extent that Shisui and Itachi had. Between them, there was no clear victor, which made Sakura feel slightly more confident with her predicament. Maybe if it did come down to it, she would be able to succeed in her mission...?

They walked towards Shisui, currently sitting under the shade of a lone tree, clapping at their respective displays of power.

"Zugoi Sakura-san! I had no idea you were so proficient in chakra control!" he complimented her. "But I truly had no idea Senju Tsunade-sama had taken on another apprentice, especially not one so young as yourself, Sakura-san. When did you learn to wield that inhuman strength of yours?" his words seemed innocent enough, although it made Sakura inwardly flinch. What could possible be her excuse for this? Perhaps using this had not been the best of ideas, especially not in front of someone to obviously observant and well-informed (but for Kami's sake, she had also done this in front of Fugaku, Mikoto, an Itachi, and they said naught about its origin, so why would he?).

"She didn't train me personally." she finally stated. "Based on her writings, I learned the theory behind her abilities. Applying theory to practice proves not so difficult when I exceed at chakra control as you just so keenly observed -and not to mention some help from her previous teacher, Sarutobi-sama, of course." she smiled at Shisui bashfully. "There's still much I lack in terms of control over the area of damage affected, but I suppose this is something I can only learn through first hand interactions with Tsunade-sama, which will probably never happen. She adamantly refuses to enter the village, after all." Sakura shrugged.

"Well, I guess this is to be expected from a Haruno." he shrugged it off, a grin on his face, although internally thought that there was something off with the kunoichi. "Your clan is not known for producing prodigies for nothing, I suppose."

"Coming from a prodigy himself?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, a chuckle escaping her lips.

"If you want to see a prodigy, then look at Itachi." Shisui merely shrugged. "Becoming an ANBU captain at age thirteen has been unheard of in all of the Shinobi Lands before Itachi. He's well on his way to being able to become Hokage by eighteen at this rate."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, turning to stare at Itachi. "Is this your goal, Itachi-san?"

"Iee." Itachi sighed slightly, approaching his cousin and the Haruno respectively. "Shisui simply likes to humor people. As I have told him repeatedly, I would not make a good Hokage."

Sakura blinked, wanting to ask why he believed this, but had no time to do so. "Well, I'm getting pretty hungry. How about some lunch? It'll be on me."

"...H-Hai..."

"Hn"

Truth be told, he didn't exactly know what to make of the kunoichi. The moment he had laid eyes on her, he couldn't help but take note of her. He knew exactly who she was, no matter how he played it off. Itachi had discussed this with him, after all. It had been random, a chance meeting in which Itachi had first met her, emaning that her placement there by Root was highly unlikely, not to mention that no one had ever heard of a Haruno in Root to begin with -that was not to mean that Danzo hadn't tried. He had just never succeeded. And hadn't they all been eliminated nearly a year ago? Had her mission really been that extensive that she had really never returned to the village (not even for the funeral of her family?) before that day?

She seemed kind enough, although at first glance he would never perceive her to ben an ANBU like Itachi and himself. Looks could always be deceiving but he swore had someone so unique in appearance made ANBU, especially so young, he was sure at least somebody would have heard of it. Not to mean that he had been investigating the kunoichi, but in passing conversation in which he had engaged in, he had discovered that no one even knew of her, which proved odd, because Konoha was a very close-knit community. If something happened, there was bound to be at least one person to know about it, but it seemed that the only person who could personally vouch for her was Sarutobi, although he was as much of a viable source as it could get, even if nothing else quite added up the way it should.

Nevertheless, he was not done examining her by the time she and Itachi had tired from their spar (a good, well-fought spar on both of their ends, he should add), so he instead instead upon lunch together, if only for him to be able to converse with the kunoichi more. As more and more time passed between the trio, he couldn't help but notice how innately kind the kunoichi seemed to be -even her small actions, such as helping a grandma when an apple fell out of her grocery bag, indicated to him that she was not a kunoichi filled with malice or ill-intentions, something he knew Itachi had also perceived. Because otherwise, he would not have taken the time to invite her to their outing, and he would have remained suspicious of her all the while (not to say he wasn't keeping his guard up, because just as Shisui deduced, something wasn't quite adding up, although for the time being it seemed non-threatening, whatever detail was missing from the picture).

She seemed at first a little shy and reserved, but the more she got to know about Shisui, the friendlier and more out-spoken she became, although she blamed this on the fact that he reminded her a lot of a dear friend she once had within the Haruno Clan, clearly now deceased.

"I find it really hard to grasp that you truly have no friends outside of the Haruno Clan, Sakura-san. As reclusive as your clan may be, they weren't opposed to contact with others." Shisui couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, casually prying into Sakura's life.

"Between training and my duties in the clan, I didn't have much time to really grasp the concept of a social life." Sakura chuckled slightly. "Much like Itachi-san here, my focus was to obtain ANBU status. The only true friends I had obtained were within the clan, as can probably seen in your friendship with him, Shisui-san."

Shisui looked at Itachi, almost as if comparing Sakura's situation to Itachi's own. And it was true: they bore similarities quite uncanny, as far as their skills and lack of social life went. "I guess you're right... I probably just expected more from you, seeing as you are quite pleasant to converse with." he laughed slightly, even if his statement made Itachi glare at him slightly. "Oh come on, Itachi. You know that's nothing against you." he patted his younger cousin's shoulder, clearly amused, happy to know that at least Sakura got a kick out of it, indicated by her slight stifled chuckle.

"Well, I thank you both nonetheless, for the pleasant company." Sakura gave a slight nod, as if acknowledging them both. "Even if you had no say on the matter, you were pleasant company, Shisui-san." her smile and statement was genuine, despite her initial plan of examining Shisui and the interactions of the two Uchiha prodigies. "If you so wish it so, I would not be opposed to another outing. But for now, I should return home and prepare a lunch for Sasuke-chan. He'll be getting out of school in an hour or so, after all." Sakura stated, beginning to get up slowly. "I shall leave you two here for now." and so she attempted to leave, although she didn't miss Itachi also getting up as well.

"I shall accompany you, Sakura-san." he offered.

"Iee, it's fine." Sakura shook her head slightly, a hand up as if to halt Itachi from his actions. "I already took up your time with Shisui-san. I'm sure you wouldn't mind his accompany alone." She gave a small smile, knowing that if this had been meant as a party for three, she would have been invited long ago. But no, this had been an invite out of pity (Itachi Uchiha pitying her, that was grand!) so she had no right to cut their time short because she had other things to see to. "I shall see you at home, Itachi-san. Shisui-san, until next time."

"Hai. It was nice meeting you, Sakura-san." he gave her a small smile.

"Likewise." And with her own nod of recognition, she walked towards the waitress, handed her some coins to pay for her lunch, and then exited the small food stand.

Itachi and Shisui sat in silence for five minutes, each relaxed, sipping their tea and eating, until Shisui finally spoke. "I see no malicious intentions in her." he stated.

"Ahh..." Itachi took his time in elaborating, slowly sipping his tea, before placing it down on the table once more. "I see nothing for either her or Sarutobi to gain by making Otou-san house her. Okaa-san has taken a strong liking to her; as has Sasuke."

"Well, your mother's a good judge of character if no one else." he mused, chuckling to himself. "Furthermore, it doesn't seem that Danzo is even aware of her presence here yet. As it stands, even Danzo seems to hold no connection to her. Perhaps this is just a coincidence." Shisui guessed.

Itachi frowned slightly. "Hn..."

Nevertheless, something was off -and he intended to find out what.

End of Chapter

Blah, kind of a boring chapter, but next chapter will be better I promise! Hehe, now Itachi thinks that Hiroto was Sakura's past love xD too bad he doesn't know it's her cousin! XD

Anyway!

Rewritten (12/23/15)

-Marzy-chan