*Well here is the next chapter. I don't own Naruto. Please enjoy. Mustsleep Z.z*

-Of conversations you never want to have (and yes poor Itachi)

Sakura collapsed on the bed beside Itachi with a smile.

Oops…

That isn't the beginning...

Hmm… Let's try again:

How hard was it to appease one little request? Obviously, Itachi hadn't clarified that when he asked Tsunade to remove her student from the 'uchiha compound' he had truly meant away from 'all' Uchihas in general, and that included himself and Shisui; Sasuke, of course, was too far gone to save. But no; Tsunade had taken his exact words to heart. She had removed her student's presence from the village and coerced the hokage into sending them (him) to find Jiraiya, for some odd and sick reason.

Yes, Itachi had figured it out. As soon as the man had read the letter, looked at Itachi and started giggling 'Oh, Tsunade you shouldn't have', it all clicked it Itachi's head. Thankfully the rest of the group had been busy claiming rooms at the bathhouse, leaving Itachi to deal with the man. That had been several weeks ago.

They were at another hot springs and another bathhouse. Yes, another. The women actually chose this one because of private message rooms, which they were currently in. Jiraiya had taught the young 'eager' minds a new justu and had also fed his favorite fan an unedited clip from his new book. This left Itachi alone with the man, and that disturbed him greatly.

"Itachi."

Red eyes flickered to the older man. "Yes?"

"Why do you hate me?" The man faked a hurt expression.

Itachi stared down Jiraiya, who was sitting across from him. "I do not approve nor wish to involve myself with you or your lifestyle."

"So distance is your answer." The man's expression became serious.

"Yes." It had worked for several weeks.

"Hmm." The man pulled out his 'notebook', as he liked to call it, and began writing. "Now do you do this with all of your relationships?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you create distance with all of your relationships?"

Itachi paused in thought. Did he? No. Space wise Shisui was completely in his face and mentality wise his best friend was known for using mind control. There was no distance between them and they were able to read each other in an instant; that was the reason they'd been placed on the same ANBU team. No words were needed between them when action was required.

"No."

The man scribbled something again. "So you are relatively close with your lover?"

"Lover?" Shisui was his best friend.

"Ah, I see. You've yet to admit your feelings." The man was writing even quicker. The sage sounded like the civilian counselors ANBU were forced to 'speak' to.

"Excuse me? Admit my feelings?" Where the heck was the man going?

"Yes, denial is the first stage of love."

Itachi stared at the man momentarily stunned. Jiraiya glanced up from his work. "Don't worry every man goes through such stages. "

Itachi blinked horrified. No, they were not going to have the 'stages of puberty' talk again; this was the whole reason Itachi tried to speak as little as possible to the man. Narrowing his eyes, the ANBU captain decided to take control of the conversation before it got out of hand. "Look, there is nothing to deny because there is no one I love." At least not the 'puberty' way the man was hinting at.

"Hmm." The man smiled. "So then, what is your relationship with Sakura Haruno?"

How had the conversation jumped to her? What was this man's ulterior motive? Why was he even asking him these questions? The man probably wanted to horrify him with some details of his 'book', like he had when Itachi had been ten. But jumping Sakura seemed odd. Maybe it was to throw him off guard.

Itachi thought for a second for a good answer. Ever since the 'Halloween' and 'removal from ANBU' incident she had lowered herself in his books by several ranks. "An acquaintance."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "Acquaintance… so you do keep distance in your relationships."

"No." Sakura had been demoted for the time being, so she was in a special situation.

"So Sakura and I are unique."

The man was completely out there. "I don't view you as an acquaintance."

"Really? Then what am I?"

"You're a being that should not exist inside a sophisticated human structure." The man had animal tendencies and brought others down with him.

The man stopped writing and looked up. "And what does that mean?"

"Not quite an enemy but a presence that should be ignored at all costs."

"And why is that?"

Itachi sighed at the man. This was getting him nowhere unless, of course, the man was leading him into a mental ambush… somehow…

"You waste time and effort contemplating human desires that do not contribute to the good of society. Not only that, you also corrupt the minds of men, woman and children with the filth that you capture in your written works."

"My literature?"

"Literature is a standard; what you write does not reach that standard."

"So then…" the man trailed off looking at the wall then back to Itachi. "I'd assume you'd prefer it if I did not put you as the main character's love interest in my next series then…"

Itachi twitched. He'd had enough. Standing, he glared down at the man smiling innocently up at him.

"Try it and you won't be writing anything else ever again."

"Really? How would you know anyways if you don't read my literature?"

Itachi let loose a snarl of disgust as he turned to leave the room. "If a random nukenin comes to pay you a visit make some noise. I'm sure someone will hear you."

Jiraiya heard the 'but they might not come save you'.

The door slammed shut and Jiraiya burst into a fit of giggles. "This is going to be good!"

Itahi stalked down the hall to the room he and Kakashi shared. Scanning quickly and realizing the man was not in the room, Itachi ran for his bag. Chocolate. He needed it to calm his soul.

Just one bite eased his tense muscles. Sighing, the man dropped the homemade chocolate back into the bag and fell backwards on the bed. He wanted to leave and if it wasn't for swearing himself to the hokage he would have been gone.

High pitched voices sounded in the hallway. Hana and Sakura had returned, hopefully in a better mood, to take care of the horrifying man.

Itachi closed his eyes as he heard the voice's sound diminish behind another closed door. He rubbed his head. This wasn't worth it. He was going to go on an assassination mission as soon as he got home. He needed some way to vent his anger or he was going to snap. A door opened down the hallway and it was followed by a two gentle taps on the door, then the handle turned.

The door opened and a familiar voice called out. "Kakashi-" The voice dropped noticing the collapsed figure on the bed.

Itachi noted that the girl was going to need to be trained on identifying chakra signatures.

"Itachi are you ok?" The girl actually sounded worried. It was a tad bit unusual for him to lose his cool on a mission.

"I'm fine, Sakura." As long as the sage stayed far away from him he would be fine. "It's your turn to babysit."

"What! No way, Naruto's next on the list!"

"Then go find Naruto" – and leave me in peace.

Itachi waited for the door to shut. It didn't. The footsteps drew closer until they reached the edge of the bed. A cool hand brushed his cheek before she placed it on his temple. The hand seemed to grow colder before he felt the rush of healing chakra. It was wonderful. It seemed to pull away all of his stress.

"How long have your eyes been activated."

Itachi opened his eyes to reveal onyx orbs. "Awhile." When he was frustrated it came naturally.

She leaned above him, her eyes closed in concentration.

"Close," She commanded.

His eyes shut.

"Open."

Her green eyes looked down at him with a worried expression. "You should go see Tsunade immediately when you return."

"Which will be whenever the idiot decides he has enough information for his next," Itachi couldn't even say book, "thing."

Sakura laughed before collapsing beside him on the bed. "Some of them have decent plot lines."

Itachi turned his head to look at the girl.

"Got you!" She laughed, "That's just what Kakashi says."

Itachi smiled and looked back up at the ceiling.

"But on a serious note," the girl sighed, shifting her entire body to rest her head on Itachi's chest. "He has written a book that was actually good. Naruto showed me. Maybe I'll get you a copy."

"Hn."

Sakura laughed. "I'm not joking, I'm being dead serious. It's a good book."

There was no reply and she didn't expect one. His hand lazily shifted through her hair and he felt her relax.

"I could sleep right here."

"Did you take your medicine?"

Silence greeted his question. No, he did not play that game. He shoved the girl diagonally off the bed.

"Go get Naruto."

"Alright, alright." The woman cracked her back and looked over her shoulder. Quietly she leaned down and picked up the chocolate that was peeking out of his bag. "Get some sleep, Itachi." She patted the bed gently.

At no reply she shut the door quietly, smiling at the prize in her hand. "Now where did that yellow headed rat go off to?"

Jiraiya placed his wood piece back into the wall and gave a quiet chuckle. Peep holes were the entire reason he went to the bathhouses.

He was now sure they were a lot more than just 'acquaintances'. That was for certain. There was no doubt he was going to be staying in his home village a little longer than he'd originally planned.

But…

This book was going to be on the top charts for weeks.