Chapter 2

The Ambush

Blank Onyx eyes skilfully concealed the displeasure that he was currently feeling upon hearing the rather unpleasant news.

It was four in the morning and instead of being home and getting a well needed rest after a rather busy day of being the Hokage, Itachi still found himself in his office instead.

Being in his office at this hour was no rarity for the Uchiha heir and he was not one to complain either, for he already knew that the position of the Hokage was a tiresome one before he accepted the offer.

His office was dimly lit by a small lamp that was placed in the far right corner of the office, illuminating the handsome features of the black-haired male who was sitting behind his desk with his elbows propped onto the table, hands interlaced as a thoughtful expression replaced his usually blank facade.

Itachi's dark eyes slid over to rest on the silhouette that was leisurely leaning with its back against the closed wooden door, their features hidden by the shadows that covered the walls like thick blankets and filled the room.

"How many deaths?" Itachi inquired, his low velvet voice gently cutting through the former silence that filled his office.

The person in return remained still, easily blending in with its surroundings again and whereas other skilled shinobi would have believed them to have disappeared, Itachi, even without his Sharingan activated, knew that they were still very much present.

"Four." The voice once more spoke up, now sullen as they pushed themselves off the wall. The silhouette moved closer, the sound of the persons heels clacking against the floor tiles echoing softly through the spacious room before it stopped, as did their owner.

Itachi lifted his eyes and found himself looking straight into a pair of familiar bright honey colored orbs that held clear displeasure and belonged to none other then his predecessor, the Godaime Hokage and Legendary Sanin Tsunade.

The Uchiha instantly noticed the shadows under her eyes that indicated her lack of sleep, and whereas he was grateful to have her as the head of the hospital he knew that to pity her would be wrong and most likely insult her. Every shinobi had sealed their fate the moment they have decided to become a ninja, and everyone has chosen their own path. They worked hard for what they believed in, so sleepless nights were no rarity for them, especially for a medic as skilled and devoted as her.

Itachi hummed in return, his thoughtful expression turning into a frown as his eyes sharpened upon hearing her words. "Do we know anything about the attackers?" He then asked, a small nagging voice that he tried to ignore for the most part of the conversation in the back of his head continuously screaming names of possible attackers at him.

A weary sigh escaped the blondes plumb lips as she shook her head. "Unfortunately not. They did not wear a forehead protector nor did they use any kind of jutsu that may give their origins or identity away."

Itachi closed his eyes, hiding his dark onyx orbs. It was unusual for shinobi to simply attack without them leaving a trace, willingly or accidentally, a warning or a survivor. This time, the attackers have not planned to allow even one of them to survive and if the team didn't stumble across them by accident, no one would have survived and that itself was unusual and most unsettling.

"Which team found them?" He inquired without opening his eyes.

Silence.

"Team Shisui." Tsunade's curt reply reached his keen hearing, the soft sigh that followed her words not going unnoticed by Itachi.

As he had expected, it had been his cousins team that had found the injured shinobi. As far as Tsunade had informed him, four have not made it to the hospital and died on the way due to either internal bleeding's or blood loss because Team Shisui has been without a medic at the time, and his cousin and teammates only knew basic medical jutsus that could have only prevented them from dying on the spot.

Three have been delivered into the emergency ward in a critical condition and even though it has been Tsunade herself that treated them and only one of them survived.

He would need Shisui's report as soon as possible in order to investigate just what had happened by comparing their reports and finding possible loopholes, things that didn't match up or any signs that may give away the identity of the attackers.

His brows furrowed as he realized that he would have to send someone to deliver the news to Shisui and his team, and that this someone was not in reach at this moment.

Just what did he have his assistant for if she wasn't even with him most of the time, especially in situations such as these?

"Very well." Itachi spoke up as he opened his eyes to reveal a pair of dark orbs that held the faintest spark of annoyance in them. "That's all I need to know. Please order one of the guards to summon Haruno-san on your way out, her presence at the Hokage Tower is needed."

The blonde Princess gave him a curt nod in return but opposed to his expectations didn't move to leave just yet. Instead, the blonde woman crossed her arms above her rather large bust and regarded him with a calculating gaze.

Her honey orbs gave nothing away and were amiss of any emotions as they gazed right back into his eyes. To others, it would have been an unnerving gesture that would have easily intimidate them, but so far not even the Godaime Hokage would manage to get under the Uchiha heirs skin.

"I know that you are not delighted by the idea of Sakura being your right hand for reasons unknown to me but mark my words Uchiha." Tsunade stated, her voice dropping an octave lower as her eyes softened as she mentioned her proteges name. "You won't be able to find someone like her."

It was no secret to anyone that despite of her actions Tsunade cherished her student very much and considered her a daughter of sorts, having taught her everything she knew and accompanied her through her identity crisis back then when his little brothers teammate had some sort of identity crisis, or so he heard.

Both her and Kakashi, as well as several others have suggested her for the position of the Hokage's right hand man and whereas Itachi was not too fond of the idea of having an assistant, he eventually yielded.

It wasn't that he had any reasons to dislike her, and he didn't per se, but he wouldn't trust someone just because of their reputation, regardless of how good they were.

He would judge her by what he saw with his own eyes but as for now, he didn't get to see her a lot.

And he didn't think that it was supposed to be this way.

"I will keep that in mind Godaime-sama." Itachi replied after some moments of silence, his words holding no ounce of empty promises.

Tsunade didn't trust anyone that easily but somehow, Sakura managed to sneak into her heart and that was reason enough for him to keep an eye on the young kunoichi.

Her lips curled up into a small yet earnest smile and with one last nod at Itachi, the blonde finally turned around and made her way towards the door.

"Get some sleep Uchiha, you look horrible."

Fighting the urge to sigh out of frustration at her words, Itachi merely shook his head upon hearing her amused chuckle that followed her words before he tiredly watched Tsunade leave the room and the door falling close with a soft thud.

Tsunade has always been one of a kind, and Itachi was more than relieved that there was only one of her.

If one were to ask Sakura what she would hate more than Naruto's Ramen breath, her answer would be ANBU.

For a reason, may she add.

She was fast asleep, as any other normal person in Konoha would be at this late hour, until the faint tingling sensation of someone's chakra brushing against her own instantly ripped her rather harshly out of her slumber.

The pinkette drifted into consciousness and needed a moment for her mind to process what was happening before she was fully awake and all of her senses on high alert.

Reluctantly opening her eyes, Sakura blinked a series of times in order to get rid of the blurriness and her vision to clear before her eyes scanned her surroundings closely as she sat upright.

At first, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary and that was the moment that Sakura knew that someone was in her room.

She had felt a chakra signature in her room and thus there had to be someone or at least something but no, there was no sign of anything of the likes and that was a dead giveaway.

Narrowing her eyes, the petite kunoichi suddenly got an idea as to what, or rather who woke her up especially at this late hour and as soon as the realization dawned on her, she pursed her lips into a thin line to keep herself from cursing.

"Why don't you show yourself and make this easier for all of us. I don't feel like playing games at-" She briefly glanced at the clock on her nightstand and upon reading the numbers, felt like continuously banging her head against the headboard out of frustration. "-four in the morning."

And as expected, two figures clad in ANBU uniform all of sudden appeared out of the shadows of her room, their masks firmly in place as they moved to stand in the middle of her bedroom.

Sakura was clearly annoyed by now and inwardly wondered just what ANBU could possibly want from her at four in the morning. Whatever it was could have waited for some more hours, couldn't it?

If it were an emergency at the hospital and Tsunade needed her help she would have paged her, so that was obviously not the case.

Anbu was mostly sent on the Hokage's orders and since Tsunade was not the current Hokage, that left only one person who could have possibly sent them.

"Haruno Sakura, the Hokage requires your presence at the Hokage Tower." One of the two spoke up, his voice flat and amiss of any emotions.

Of course she just had to be right and whereas she loved to guess right in other situations, she all but hoped that this wasn't the case this time.

Sakura heaved a heavy sigh and gave the two a curt nod in return, signalizing them that she had gotten their message, even though she wished she didn't.

She didn't feel like dealing with Itachi this early.

"Alright, I'll just get dressed and leave right after." Sakura curtly informed them as she kicked the blankets off of her with a saddened expression. Were some hours of sleep too much to ask for?

The ANBU in return gave her a curt nod, respecting the medics privacy before they disappeared into a poof of smoke., leaving her once more alone in her room.

Deciding that letting Itachi wait was probably not one of the best things she could do, the Godaime's apprentice swiftly jumped off of her bed and changed into a fresh set of clothes that consisted of her usual attire.

The pinkette swiftly run a hand through her long locks before she put on her forehead protector and stealthily made her way out of the window.

After all, why should she use the door if the window was closer?

Sakura jumped over the rooftops as fast as she could, the cold night air that hit her skin instantly washing away the remaining sleep in her system. The cold breeze coated her like a thick blanket, cooling off the heat that flowed through her body as she swiftly moved through the sleeping village.

It didn't take her long to reach the Hokage Tower and with a brief nod at the guards that seemed way more tired than they should, she made her way to the Uchiha's office.

The two ANBU guards that have paid her a visit a few minutes ago were already waiting for her in front of the large wooden door. As soon as they saw her approaching them, the one with the hawk mask knocked on the door and stepped inside shortly after to ,what Sakura assumed, inform the current Hokage of her arrival.

Sakura couldn't help but notice the way the ANBU guards tone changed upon talking to the Uchiha. She remembered how back in the days when Tsunade was still in office, the ANBU guards seemed to address the sanin with the same amount of respect as they did with Itachi and yet whenever they talked to the Uchiha heir there seemed to be some kind of tension in the air that hasn't been there when they talked to Tsunade.

"Haruno-san, you may go inside."

Sakura gave the ANBU a brief nod and shot him a small smile as she walked into the familiar office with her heartbeat echoing loudly in her ears.

She didn't lift her head until she heard the door shut close behind her and stopped in the middle of the room, her emerald eyes instantly falling onto his form while she mustered up an amiable smile that she hoped would cover up both her rather foul mood and tired expression.

He was leaning back in his chair in a leisured manner, his head tilted lightly aside as his calculating onyx eyes were fixed on her and hell, in the dim lightning of the room he looked dangerous and yet, deadly handsome.

Sakura felt her heart involuntarily skip a beat and mentally cursed her hormones. Sitting in front of her was the Hokage who was also the Uchiha's clan heir and her teammate's big brother, not to mention her boss.

Damn the Uchiha for being so handsome.

She blamed it on the lack of sleep and quickly dismissed it, hoping that he didn't notice the way her smile wavered just for the split of a second.

"Good morning Hokage-sama." Sakura cheerfully greeted him, hoping that she would at least be able to start the day off nicely for a change. "You have called for me?"

Unbeknownst to her, the Uchiha heir did indeed notice the way her smile wavered for the split of a second and whereas her smile was not fake, she did seem somewhat tense.

Of course he was already used to it from other Shinobi and whereas he knew that people have always had this kind of reaction towards him, he wished that at least his own assistant would somewhat loosen up in his presence.

Itachi hummed in return. "Indeed I did. I would like to discuss something with you that Tsunade-sama has just informed me about. Have a seat Haruno-san."

The Hokage gestured to the empty chair in front of him and Sakura instantly did as told and took a seat, her interest instantly piqued upon hearing that her former mentor was involved.

Itachi instantly noticed the way her brilliant emerald orbs brightened up out of curiosity and found himself pleased by her positive response.

He had gained her full attention.

As for now, the kunoichi was sitting calmly on the chair with her hands folded neatly on her lap, her back straight and her curious and attentive eyes firmly fixed on him. She was the picture of pure innocence and for a moment, Itachi felt the tension that previously filled the room fade into thin air.

It was a nice change, and he found himself growing calmer as well. However, as nice of a change it was they had business to take care of and thus, Itachi didn't beat around the bush and came straight to the point.

"There was an ambush. Four out of Five Konoha Shinobi have been assassinated and the survivor is currently in a critical condition. Team Shisui found them on their way back home from a mission but the attackers didn't wear any forehead protectors." He calmly explained, his words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Incidents such as these rarely happened and most importantly, shouldn't happen.

It angered him greatly that his men were dying because of an act of pure hate, as it seemed.

Whether the attackers hatred was directed against them, Konoha in general or him didn't matter, because that did not give them the permission to take someones life just like that.

"They escaped, I assume." Sakura grimly guessed with a frown, clearly displeased upon hearing the news. Her hands that rested neatly on her lap were now clenched, and her eyes were practically burning.

Whereas she knew that deaths and assassination were no rarity in the life of a shinobi, it was still upsetting to hear of an incident such as this one.

Itachi gave her a curt nod in return. "They disappeared into thin air without leaving as much as a trace."

Well that was unheard of. Whenever there was an incident be it on a mission or while simply patrolling the borders or lands and shinobi got attacked, their attackers left something as a kind of warning.

"Tsunade-Shishou treated them, correct?" Sakura inquired, watching closely how Itachi nodded once more, a spark of curiosity flickering in his mesmerizing eyes.

She was thinking of something, and Itachi was curious if the rumors regarding his little assistants intelligence were true. She was smart, that much he already knew, but he would like to know just to which extent and this situation would be just the perfect opportunity to find out.

"May I have a look into the survivors medical records?" Sakura asked with a small smile and upon noticing Itachi's curious gaze, she elaborated.

"I may be able to pick up anything that may help us finding out the origins of the ninja that attacked them. Based on his injuries, I may be able to determine what kind of jutsus they used and even though it's not much, I am certain that there will be something that can help us." She quickly explained, hoping that Tsunade has left the medical reports at the Hokage's office but knowing her shishou, there was a high chance she did, especially in order to get rid of some paperwork.

Itachi was obviously pleased by her explanation and moved from his former position so that he could prop his elbows onto the surface of the wooden desk and lean his chin on his intertwined hands, hiding his small smirk from view.

Without as much as a word or move, a file suddenly materialized itself on the desk in front of Sakura and with one grateful smile towards the Uchiha, she grabbed the folder and quickly scanned it for any signs that may give them away.

At first, nothing seemed off. He had a punctured lung and suffered under an internal bleeding in his thorax that could have easily escalated but fortunately, Tsunade managed to treat him just in time.

Disappointment flooded her system as she was nearing the end of the report and she bit the inside of her cheek out of concentration, the doctor in her not noticing anything strange.

That was, until a certain detail had caught her eye.

Itachi knew that she had found something the moment her eyes suddenly hardened and her expression turned grim and narrowed his eyes upon noticing that instead of delighted upon having found a clue, she looked rather concerned.

"Haruno-san." Itachi mumbled in hope of catching her attention and as expected, said females head snapped up at a speed that could have easily broken her neck.

"I apologize, Hokage-sama." Sakura returned with a small shake of her head as she tried to clear her head once more. "I just found something that seems quite off and out of place."

Itachi in return remained silent, urging her to go on and elaborate and Sakura, instantly getting his point, did so with a heavy heart.

"The clinical-collected lung smear that Tsunade-shishou has done shows that there was a high amount of mineral grains in his lungs." She explained with a heavy heart, not missing the way Itachi's eyes sharpened in an instant.

"Sand?" He mumbled so softly that Sakura almost missed it but upon seeing his hardened expression, she could clearly make out that he was anything but pleased.

Sighing, the pinkette placed the file softly back onto the table and gave him a brief nod. "I am going to look into the autopsy files of the remaining four just to make sure but as for now, I am seventy percent sure that it were sand shinobi that attacked them."

Itachi heaved a sigh at her words and closed his eyes to suppress the upcoming headache but of course, it helped very little. He had not slept for the past fifty two hours and that was just what he needed.

Forming a series of seals faster than Sakura's eyes could pick up, a member of the ANBU suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, instantly bowing down upon realizing that the Hokage has summoned him.

"Wake Shisui and tell him to send his report regarding the incident to my office immediately." Itachi ordered and just as soon as the guard appeared, he disappeared after having nodded once more out of acknowledgment.

Sakura frowned upon realizing that it would take Shisui at least two hours to finish the report and hand it in, meaning that Itachi would most likely be stuck at the office and not be able to return home today as well.

Her eyes softened as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes and without thinking, she voiced her thoughts out aloud.

"You need to sleep every once in a while as well, Uchiha-sama." She briefly reminded him, knowing very well that his health could take a serious hit out of his lack of sleep and since he was the Hokage and didn't even have time to return home, he would most likely not have much time to spent at the hospital because he overworked himself as well.

Itachi's eyes slid over to Sakura and judging by the way his expression somewhat lost it's tenseness, she knew that something was going on in his mind and that she would most certainly not like whatever he would say next.

"I agree." He eventually said and allowed the ghost of a smile to pass his lips. "That's why you'll stay in this office until Shisui's report arrives so that you can have a look at it."

Sakura could have sworn that she felt time freeze the moment he had uttered these words. Her eyes widened considerably out of pure surprise and sheer disbelief and for a moment all she could do was stare at him.

She had walked into that one.

"Pardon me?" She whispered as soon as she had gotten a grip on herself and the moment she had realized just what that meant did she narrow her eyes into dangerous slits.

He couldn't possibly make her stay in here for the next six hours or so. Hokage or not, she was not his lapdog and hoped that it was a very, very bad joke of his.

Unfortunately, Itachi seemed to mean every word of his. "I won't repeat myself Haruno-san." He flatly returned, causing Sakura's eyebrow to twitch out of annoyance.

It was amusing to watch her struggling to hide her anger as well as annoyance and yet, he was able to read her emotions as easily as he could read a book.

She suddenly stood up, the sound of the chair scraping against the ground breaking the heavy silence as Sakura planted her palms firmly on the table and leaned forwards with a frown.

"You can't just lock me in here." She returned, clearly displeased at his demand.

Itachi, in return, smirked and lifted his chin for the tiniest of bit so that they were facing each other, their noses barely touching as her angered emerald eyes met his amused onyx pair.

"I can and I will. Besides, as far as I am concerned you didn't fulfill my most recent request regarding the report that I wanted at dawn sharp either, so you can use the time and finish it until Shisui's report arrives together with the autopsy results of the remaining four victims." Itachi coolly spoke, his voice low and yet, clear at the same time.

Sakura couldn't believe her ears ad what she was hearing. Whereas he was right and she didn't get to finish her report just yet, that was no reason for him to lock her in while he would be at home sleeping.

"What if I refuse?" Sakura inquired, lifting a daring brow at him as she watched his eyes closely for any sign of anger in his eyes.

Much to her surprise and contrary to her expectation, she suddenly found herself gazing into a pair of dark onyx eyes that seemed to be filled with sparks of mild amusement, what only angered Sakura further.

He was quite enjoying himself and narrowed his eyes, skilfully hiding any signs of his pleasure behind a mask of indifference.

"It's an order that you can't refuse." He stated as a matter of fact and with that, shot his assistant a small smirk before he did something that she certainly did not expect-

He disappeared into thin air right in front of her eyes.

All Sakura could do was stare dumbfounded at the place where he head previously been sitting in sheer disbelief and anger and as soon as she realized that he had just left without as much as another word, the pinkette darted towards the door.

As soon as she had reached it she tried to pull it open but no matter how much and how many times she tried, it didn't work, not even with her enhanced chakra strength.

She tried the same with the windows in hope of at least being able to open the window but it seemed as if the Uchiha heir was serious at one point.

He could lock her inside his office and he just proved her by doing so.

Sakura growled lowly in her throat and stomped her foot angrily on the ground, eyes burning as she balled her hands tightly into fists.

"Uchiha Itachi, I swear I will get you for this!"

A/N: Hey guys! I know that it's been a while but a lot of things happened that prevented me from updating. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I can't thank all of you enough for reviewing, following and favoring this story and the past chapter, words can't explain how grateful I am for your support!:)

If you liked this chapter, please let me know by leaving a review!

I'll try to respond to each one and update as soon as possible so stay tuned!

All the love,

Sara.