***I don't own Naruto.

Hmm, this is perhaps a belated Halloween special…

I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you for the reviews; I really appreciate them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story: I am going to note that the grammar is probably really messed up :/ srry. I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween.

Z.z Mustsleep***

October 29th

Tsunade stared up at the young ANBU captain who looked more than just a tad bit tired. Dark lines circled underneath his eyes and his stress lines seemed to have stress lines. The man stared past her, obsidian eyes unblinking…

A tad bit odd in Tsunade's opinion; usually the man was fairly prompt in giving her the reason for his appearance. Tilting her head to the side the woman quickly scanned the body before her; nothing seemed out of place or bleeding. Even if there was she'd send him right to Shizune; he knew not to come to her office when she had paperwork to do. But he was a good distraction from paperwork and a good excuse as well; if she needed one to explain why the paperwork hadn't gotten done. The elders loved their brilliant Itachi and would undoubtedly direct the conversation on a path about the sharingan eyes, away from the piles of light white pieces before her.

But today was actually not that good of a day to use the excuse; this paperwork was actually important. Hospital funding was a must this year; especially if there was to be a war breaking out between them and the Sound village.

"Is there a problem Itachi?" Maybe he'd forgotten the reason as to why he had entered her office in the first place.

There was no reply. Odd… Tsunade stared at the man's eyes. He wasn't blinking.

"Itachi!" The woman growled; had the man come into her office to sleep? The nerve…

The man blinked, twice, before settling his eyes on the blonde haired woman. "May I help you?" The tone was strained though.

"Is there a problem?"

He glanced around the room, as though looking for a problem or perhaps to take in his surroundings. "No… Not that I can see…"

Tsunade sighed as she watched the man make his way to the side of the room where he then leaned against the wall. Tsunade twitched as his back slid down until his bottom the floor where he was in a comfortable sitting position. He was allowed to take a nap and she was just supposed to watch him? Even though she felt slightly honored by his trust; in no way was it acceptable for him to just stalk into her office, stand in front of her desk, say nothing for twenty five minutes then act as if she were the clueless idiot and that he had better things to do; such as slide down her wall and take a cat nap.

She leaned over her desk and looked down at the man.

"Why are you here?" Didn't she have something to do? … Drink? Yes, she needed to drink and she couldn't do that with a witness in the room; she was still on the job…Wasn't she in her office for reason? Something work related probably… Something extremely important…

Her eyes refocused on the man; who was staring at the opposite wall. It was disturbing her that he had yet to blink… How long could he go without it? … She wasn't known for her patience.

"Itachi?" There was no movement, was he even breathing? Quickly Tsunade eyed the objects on her desk. She needed something to throw at him… something preferably hard enough to wake him, but not hard enough to invoke killing intent. There were those plastic frogs that Jiraiya sent her in her second drawer… There were only two types though.

The fingernail sized ones made him swat a hand; which amused her to no end. The large one got his attention though. Itachi blinked at the fat plastic toad in his hand that had 'hugs and kisses' written on its chest. He was obviously confused and awake.

"Itachi…"

The man looked around him; tiny frogs littered the tiled floor.

"Itachi!"

The man blinked up at the large chested woman who was leaning over her desk watching him as though he was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. He shivered, for some reason he felt his trust in her had been violated.

"Yes?"

"Why are you in my office?" Tsunade growled.

Itachi gave a long drawn out sigh before he stood and made his way over to the blond haired woman's desk.

"May I ask for a favor?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "What kind of favor?" She was too familiar with Shisui's so called 'favors' which usually could be traced back to Jiraiya if it involved her.

"Can you send your apprentice on a very," sigh, "very long mission; preferably somewhere far away from the village…" Itachi watched as the woman's eye brows touched together trying to analyze his words for hidden meanings. He didn't blame her, he knew Shisui better than anyone. His eyes looked up at the wall behind her.

Several minutes passes as Tsunade realized that there was no way it involve Shisui unless he planned to prank Sakura's apartment somehow; although she doubted he'd get very far, she lived a floor below Kakashi and was right next to Naruto. So she concluded that it must have something to do with their relationship status. Had they fought? Usually she received complaints from civilians about earthquakes if that was the case. Maybe he had tried something with her little Sakura that went beyond friendship. If something had happened…he'd better gotten her permission first and if he had… she wanted details. Details about odd relationships always made good story plots and that would undoubtedly get Jiraiya off her back. A smile began to form in her clouded but genius mind.

Itachi didn't notice the change in demeanor; most likely due to the fact he had once again fallen asleep with two eyes still open.

"Why should I send Sakura away?"

Tsunade glanced up; quickly took a swig from a bottle hidden in her chest wrapping as she noticed the ANBU captain was asleep. Squinting at the sour taste she looked back up at the man before her. "Itachi!" the woman barked.

Itachi blinked, "Yes?"

"Why send my apprentice away?"

Itachi took a deep breath. "She's a bad influence on my clan…"

Tsunade raised both eyebrows expecting more than a sentence from the man that had been in her office for several hours. Time… Hmm… Wasn't she supposed to do something?

"She's gotten the permission from my father and elders to use the compound for some sort of candy festival. Currently she has eighty-five percent of all able bodied clan members aiding her in the 'decoration'; which includes several varieties of squash and skeletons that pop out of coffins." The tone of distaste when the man mentioned the last made Tsunade believe that the man may have been caught on unawares.

"So…" Tsunade paused, "She's trying to get the Uchiha clan to celebrate Halloween?"

"I don't care what they're calling it. For the sanity of my clan I want her away from my mother," Itachi growled.

And the truth came out…

Mikoto was always over the top about decorating; it was one of the things she loved about that woman.

Tsunade smiled and stood to pat Itachi on the shoulder. "It's ok sweetie, you can stay in the hospital if you're scared of the ghosties…"

Itachi blinked down at the woman. "Is that what the white sheets are for?"

Tsunade gave a nod.

Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was some sort of eerie laundry fad."

"Don't worry two more days and they'll put everything away." She continued to pat the man the shoulder.

Itachi gave a weak, tired smile.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep, ok? And I think I have the perfect mission for my apprentice, but I'll need a week to run it through the Hokage."

Itachi nodded and headed through the door way and out into the hall. Tsunade then chuckled; realizing Itachi probably didn't know about trick-or-treaters either. Well, the compound would sure be a fun place come the 31st.

Tsunade quickly took another swig from her container just as Shizune walked through the door way.

"Tsunade!" She barked, "Where's that paperwork I gave you. We need to give that to the council in an hour to get funding for the hospital."

Tsunade cursed and Shizune growled seeing the small odd shaped cylinder in her teacher's hand.

^^^Somewhere near but not in the Uchiha compound ^^^

"Mommy,why is that man just standing there? It doesn't look like he's blinking either; do you think he's dead?"

"Don't get near him sweetheart; he's just a freak…"

Poor Itachi…