A mission meeting, Itachi drinks with Sakura and Naruto...kind of. A visitor arrives.

Chapter Text

Kakashi stepped aside as Sakura entered, catching sight of Sasuke walking to the gates.

Glad the Uchiha made the better choice this time, he turned to his favorite pupil.

"Back from leave early I see. Your vacation that unsatisfying, Sakura?"

She knew he would be like this. "Will all of you just shut up?!"

Unruffled, the Rokudaime walked to his seat behind the vast desk, motioning for her to sit in the chair directly across.

Unclenching her fists, but teeth still angrily gritting, she complained, "I hope this isn't why you called me here."

She walked to her seat, noticing Kakashi nod to himself as she did.

" An old comrade of mine, one I owe a favor to, has a pest. It just so happens you're in a perfect position to help him get rid of it.

You might have a personal interest in it too.", he explained.

He flopped a heavy file on the desk in front of her.

She picked it up, reading the name on the front of the file out loud,"Izumi Uchiha?"

Kakashi nodded once,"Read it."

Sakura wanted to roll her eyes at the picture. She was perfect. Beautiful, long black hair, curvy in ways she never would be.

Ugh.

Then her eyes caught another fact: Former fiance of Uchiha Itachi.

Itachi had mentioned a broken engagement, seeming relaxed that day, mentioning he was happy for his freedom and wished her well.

She hadn't missed the fact that she had broken up with him .

Just when she was sure she couldn't feel any more insecure, her eyes caught something else: Eternal Mangekyou wielder

Her own genjutsu specialization was a joke compared to what this woman could do.

Seeing Sakura's unease bothered Kakashi.

Once he told her what was going on, if she didn't know Itachi well, it might get worse.

She closed the file and slid it back to him,"What do you want me to do?"

Kakashi gave her a rundown,"I've been told she's pregnant, that she's been sleeping with Yamato and Sasuke. I need that verified or

debunked, and any clues as to parentage."

Sakura bit her lip,"Do you think it might be true, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Knowing Izumi, probably.", he replied.

Kakashi saw Sakura's pink brows draw together in what he knew to be a look of strategic contemplation, her personal

unease dissapearing. She did seem to know the Uchiha heir well enough to know such a woman would not be a real threat in this situation.

He asked all the same,"You alright, Sakura?"

"Yes and no.", she replied honestly."Have you talked to Sasuke about this?"

"Just now, before you came in."

That explained alot. He hadn't known.Determination glinted in Sakura's veridian eyes,"What's the plan?"

Itachi was glad he had waited for Sakura's arrival to drink. She seemed happy to set everything up for her lover and her friend.

Itachi drank his first glass and watched the two boisterous members of Team 7 interact.

Naruto's eyes occasionally lingered briefly where they should not, but beyond basic appreciation, Itachi sensed no other intent.

He tilted his refill to his lips, but only wet them, then set it back down.

After a few times of this, Naruto noticed.

"Hey! Why aren't you drinking?!", he grumbled "You're just pretending to!"

Sakura looked at Itachi's drink, still three quarters full like it was a half hour ago.

"You don't like it?", Sakura asked, a small pink frown on her lips.

"Maybe I have something else around here?", she offered, moving to stand.

He put a hand on her shoulder to still her and explained,"Please do not trouble yourself. My father pretends to drink after the

first cup whenever he drinks with my mother. He tries to hide it, but she always smiles when she catches him."

Sakura was curious about this. Itachi had relayed this information much like the times he told her of Uchiha traditions Sasuke

had never bothered to.

"Only with your mother?", she asked."Why?"

The Uchiha heir was having a hard time keeping his eyes from flicking to the ceiling fan in Sakura's apartment, a continuous source

of motion and shadow. He settled them again to regard his fiance's pretty face.

"He said it was so he could be sober enough to take care of her."

Sakura had an excellent photographic memory and had read over Mikoto's file. The Uchiha matriarch seemed in better than average

health, her stats impressive for a woman who had been out of the field so many years now.

Picturing her becoming so ill that her husband had to stop at one drink to care for her worried Sakura.

"If she gets that sick from drinking, maybe she shouldn't do it at all.", Sakura said, her inner medic kicking in.

She made a mental note to look over Mikoto's recent checkup history tomorrow.

"Wait a minute.", Naruto's eyes went wide," Have you ever seen her drunk?"

Itachi smirked,"Yes."

Sakura noted the look on Naruto's face, beginning to catch on to why he had asked.

"What is she like when she's drunk?"

"Very happy and affectionate.", Itachi replied.

Naruto and Sakura gave each other a knowing side glance.

Then they both burst into drunken laughter.

Itachi glared at her. Suddenly he wasn't having fun.

"You promised not to do that kind of thing tonight, remember?", Naruto managed through his chuckles.

Still giggling, Sakura crawled into his lap, curling into him before catching his lips with a quick kiss of apology.

Then, to his horror, the meaning of it all came to him.

His father was just letting her get drunk, probably so he could...

Mortified, a blush colored his pale cheeks.

"Do you two gang up on Sasuke this way?", he asked.

They both shrugged, nearly in unison, smiling.

There was a knock on the door. Itachi recognized the chakra signature immediately.

He could only hope she hadn't heard them.

"It's my mother, Sakura. Open the door."