A/N: Here's another chapter guys! I really hope I'm making up for my LONG absence. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 24 Gut Feeling

Sakura was on-duty in the clinic, putting the students' files in order for the nth time. She really doesn't know why it kept getting messed up. It's a weekday and usually, only a few patients come in, mostly minor wounds and scratches from the elementary department and some from sports clubs. That's why she's taking time to do this tedious task.

Just then, the door chimes rang.

"Good afternoon, how may I-" Sakura stopped midsentence when she realized it was the boy from yesterday. She cleared her throat. "How may I help you?"

The boy held out his bleeding forearm. Just seeing this, all Sakura's reservations flew out the window and her inner medic kicked in. She immediately turned to the cabinets and got what she needed. "Please follow me," she said as she made her way to one of the beds. The boy followed her. "Please take a seat." She cleaned the blood first and underneath it, saw a large gash from the back of his wrist to half his forearm. "This will sting a bit," she said as she gently disinfected it. But the boy didn't seem bothered at all. He remained silent as Sakura worked on his wound. After a while, Sakura managed to bandage the entire forearm. "There, all done. Don't move it too much. The wound's still fresh and quite deep, you might open it again."

The boy smiled. "Thank you." Sakura thought about what Tenten said but she doesn't feel any bad aura around him. Sure, his smile didn't seem authentic at all but he didn't look like he wanted to kill her, either.

"You're welcome," Sakura said as she was putting the first aid kit back to the cabinet. "It's fine now."

But the boy sat still on the edge of the bed. "My name is Sai. What's yours?" he said.

Sakura didn't know why she was taken by surprise. It was normal for strangers to get acquainted by introducing themselves, wasn't it? "Sakura," she says, a bit embarrassed she hesitated a while ago.

"Sakura," the boy said in an almost whisper. "It's a nice name. Who gave it to you?"

Now, Sakura was sure this was a bit strange. A normal person would probably say their parents, but she had none. "My aunt."

"I see."

"How about you? Sai is an interesting name, too. Who gave it to you?" Sakura felt stupid asking about it, but she was trying to ease the tension she's feeling at the moment.

"An old lady from my village," Sai began. "I don't have parents if that's what you're asking."

"No, that's not it. I'm sorry." Now, she definitely felt stupid. But he started it.

Sai smiled again, this time, it seemed more natural. "It's okay, don't worry about it."

Again, they were in an uncomfortable silence, at least in Sakura's perspective. Good thing the door chimes rang again and someone came inside the clinic.

Sasuke got a call from his mom last night, asking him to drop by the house today to pick something up. Who'd have thought she'll come up with a bento, saying he and Sakura should share it. Oh, the look on his face was priceless and Itachi happened to be at home, grinning like the stupid brother that he is, in Sasuke's opinion.

Now, he was on his way to the clinic, where Naruto said she should be. Nope, not to share this stupid bento with her. No. He was going there to give it to her and to tell her that if Mikoto calls her, she's supposed to say that they ate it together. That was the plan.

So he went in the clinic, deliberately making the chimes ring loudly so Sakura would know someone's there. However, once he came inside, he noticed she wasn't alone. He also noted that they were staring at each other, until Sakura turned to him.

"Sasuke," she said, walking toward him.

"I brought food," Sasuke said. Clearly, he needed to rephrase that. "Mom wants to give you this." He handed her the cloth-wrapped package.

Sakura took it. "Wow," she said, putting it on the reception desk. "Whatever it is, tell her I said 'thanks.'"

"Hn."

Just then, Sai went to Sakura and said, "Thanks for this." He held up his arm. "I'll go now. Enjoy your meal, Sakura." Sai went out. Sakura felt strange hearing her name from him but before she can dwell on it, Sasuke spoke.

"Do you know him?"

"No, not really. He just came in with a gash on his forearm." Sakura saw the thoughtful look on Sasuke's face. "Why? Do you know him?"

"No, but I've seen him before. He's the guy from the race. The one who won." Sasuke really didn't think of the possibility that he was also a student here.

"I see." Now, it was Sakura who looked thoughtful. Somehow, she wasn't surprised to hear that and she had no idea why. Sasuke picked up on her lack of surprise. He went over to her, scowling.

"Go eat your food."

Sakura snapped back from her thoughts. "Isn't it a bit late for lunch?" Still, she fumbled with the knot and opened it. Inside was a two-container ceramic bento box. She peeked inside both layers and gasped. "Wow, your mom keeps amazing me." She picked up the chopstick case taped on the cover and realized there were two pairs. "Whose is this one?"

"Mine." Sakura raised her eyebrows in question. "You know how she is. She wants us to have a picnic or something so if she calls, tell her we did."

"Okay," she said. "Itadakimasu!"

"Sakura, dear, did you like the lunch I prepared for you?" Mikoto was talking on the phone not long after Sakura devoured the food. "That's great. But I was worried since I didn't know what kind of food you like." She went to the living room, where Itachi was watching a movie, and sat beside him. "Did Sasuke eat it with you? Really? That's great." Itachi chuckled beside her and she glared at him. "Well, dear, I hope you can come by again soon. Okay, take care. Bye."

Mikoto turned to Itachi. "Itachi, stop making fun of your brother. Maybe your father needs to look for a suitable wife for you, too."

"No, thanks, Mom," Itachi said, waving his hand in dismissal. "I can handle that. Besides, I'd rather have a ton of girls around me than just stick to one."

"Young man, that's not a very good thing to say." Mikoto crossed her arms in annoyance at her older son.

"I was just kidding, Mom. Sorry," said Itachi to try and appease her. "Anyway, I doubt Sasuke ate it with her. You know how he is. All stubborn and ill-tempered." He left out the part of 'just like you' since his mom wouldn't let that one go.

"Of course he did. Sakura told me they just ate it."

"Do you want to bet? Next time he comes home, make him list down all those food you prepared and he wouldn't have any idea."

Mikoto was about to say something when Fugaku passed by with a group of five men behind him. He stopped to say, "Mikoto, we'll be in my office. Please make sure we're not disturbed." Mikoto stood up and bowed, both as a sign of greeting and to show she understood. Itachi knew that he was expected to do so, too, and so he bowed to them. Fugaku and the men proceeded and disappeared in his office at the end of the corridor.

"I guess I'll have to prepare something for them in case they get hungry," Mikoto said, making her way to the kitchen.

Itachi slumped back on the sofa, not really in a mood to watch the movie anymore. Lately, his father was having a lot of closed-door meetings in his office and he has a gut feeling that it's not Clan Council-related. Something was up and he didn't like it.

Tenten went over to their usual lunch table to find only Sakura was there. "Hey, Sakura. Where's everybody?"

"Did you forget? Hinata has a competition this weekend, so as usual, she has nothing on her mind but to practice."

"Oh, right," Tenten said, playfully hitting her forehead. "And Ino?"

"She's somewhere in Italy now for a fashion show."

"Wow, that girl's everywhere these days. Can she still cope up with school?"

"She's okay," Sakura said, now only looking up at Tenten. "After a lot of whining, she still does her homework and stuff." They both giggled.

"Well, apparently, we're not very in-demand right now, are we, Sakura?" Sakura nodded. "So let's do something fun. Do you have free time?"

"Sorry, no, I have to go to the hospital today."

"Oh, I see." Tenten looked worried. "You still faint and stuff? Are you really okay?"

"C'mon, Tenten, it's not like I'm gonna die, you know." Sakura didn't really know what's up with her since Tsunade never said much about it. "And, no, I don't faint anymore nowadays. It's like I have more energy or something."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it feels that way, though." She can't really say 'it's like I have a battery in my brain that drains then recharges itself on its own.'

The men Fugaku had a meeting with all left by sundown. Fugaku walked them out but immediately went back to his office, telling Mikoto again not to disturb him. Just as he was going back to his room, Itachi saw light coming out from a crease from the office door. He realized it wasn't closed properly. So Itachi decided to peek.

But the crease was so narrow he had to angle himself the right way to see where Fugaku was. When he got it, he noticed Fugaku sorting through some documents. After a while, he put a few of them in a folder with something written or stamped on it. Judging by the red marks and bold letters, it seemed to him like that for 'CONFIDENTIAL' as seen in the movies.

Fugaku put the folder in his side drawer and locked it. He stood up and walked away so Itachi needed to adjust again. He stopped by the wall with portraits of the previous heads of the clan, and did something to the farthest one. Itachi wasn't able to see whatever he did, though, because it was on the wall adjacent the door.

Then, he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. He quickly went back to the staircase to his room and lithely made his way through the steps in three bounds. He went in his room and quietly closed the door.

He knew this well. His clan has done stupid things in the past and history likes repeating itself.

He was sure something was up now. And he was going to find out what it is.

A/N: I know it's a short chapter. I read it again and just realized it. I'm sorry!

Speaking of which, I was reading some fanfics in the last couple days and I think, compared to other stories, my chapters are too short. Do you think so too? Please tell me if you would like me to make it longer or the current chapter length is fine. Please sound off in your reviews.

Also, I would like to be advised about my writing, too. It's my first attempt at a fanfic so I know there's a lot more I need to learn. Please tell me about that, too.

You could also say what you think about the plot, any suggestions, comments or guesses. Haha, it's fun to read those.

I really wish you'd review! It's sort of an inspiration/constructive criticism to me. Thank you!