Chapter 3

Edited 10.12.2015

I Spy

Sakura could admit that she was shoving of, but only a little!

After leaving the Dango Shop, she had this feeling she was being followed. At first she was on her guard, but after recognizing the presence as Tachi, she relaxed. She didn't let it show on her profile thought, she just kept walking calmly, like nothing was wrong.

Sakura walked leisurely towards her usual spot and did her stretches like any other day, not admitting that she did try and do them extra smoothly because of the audience. She knew these katas she was using were from the Uchiha clan, these were the ones she had spied from Sasuke when they were younger. She had practiced them, perfected them and even added a few of her own touches in hopes of getting Sasukes attention.

All in vain.

While she did her katas a few times, she kept trying to pinpoint Tachis presence. He was hiding in the trees, but she couldn't find the exact one. He wasn't Anbu for nothing it seemed.

'I spy with my little eye,' Sakura thought with humor.

Well, she could always 'persuade' for him to reveal himself. With that thought she flexed her gloved fingers and checked her chakra levels. She was almost at full capacity, probably because Tsunade sent her home before any major surgeries took place.

'This is totally not showing of!' Sakura thought and with a final smirk-

"SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled her battle cry and flew towards the nearest tree. Tachi couldn't keep hiding if there weren't any trees to hide in.

After destroying a few trees around the clearing, she spotted a flash of black. With a smirk, Sakura flash stepped towards that tree. The trees he could hide in were getting fewer in number with every tree she splintered.

'Got you now!' she thought gleefully and shattered the tree. With a slightly feral grin, she watched as Tachi jumped out from his hiding place, clearly shocked that she found him so easily.

"Hello there Tachi-San," Sakura said smirking and flexed her fingers. Finally, she had herself a sparring partner. Her 'most-boring-day-ever-in-this-whole-universe' just turned out to be a tad bit more exiting.

…

This was highly unexpected.

He didn't mean to spar with the girl, only check if she had any real talent, but it seemed now that he didn't have much of a choice, as Sakura looked like she would attack at any given second. Her smirk reminded him of Kisames grin right before they started their spars.

"Sakura-San", Itachi greeted quietly and tensed slightly when Sakura grinned wider.

She didn't give him much time to prepare himself, as she flew towards him with her fist raised. After seeing firsthand what those fists could do, he didn't fancy the idea of getting hit. he did have some self-preservation left in him.

So with a quick roll to the left, he avoided the hit and flash stepped to the other side of the small clearing, that wasn't so small anymore, after Sakura cleared most of the trees.

What he didn't expect was the crater that her hit left behind.

'Definitely avoid the fists,' he thought sourly and watched warily as Sakura got up and turned towards him. Itachi guessed that he would just have to give her the spar she wanted. There seemed to be no safe way of saying "no", as she seemed determined in using him as a moving target.

It might do him some good. It has been a while since he last had a friendly spar that didn't involve any dead bodies, or bleeding eyes in his case. So with a grin he took a defensive stance.

'Let's see how well you do in Taijutsu,' he thought and waited for her to come at him.

He couldn't use his regular tactics with her, in fear that she would recognize him as an Uchiha, so his fire attacks were out of the picture, same as his most potent Genjutsu. He might have to avoid using his Sharingan as well.

He didn't have to wait long for Sakura to move.

She certainly wasn't at his level yet, but her skill in Taijutsu was potent enough to keep him on his toes as they sparred. And because he was not using his Sharingan in their spar, he didn't have that extra second to react, so he had to be on constant look out of her deadly fists.

But she did have potential, with the right training, she could become one of the greatest Kunoichi in Fire country. And he just might help her reach that goal, if she kept on surprising him. After all, he wouldn't mind training his future La-

'Dodge!' and he did, just in time.

"Almost had you there, Tachi-San!" Sakura yelled and grinned gleefully, making Itachi frown. He would clearly have to concentrate on the match and not his wandering thoughts.

So he did.

…

"Tachi-San! It's called only sparring for a reason," Sakura said and pouted from her spot on the ground. When she got no answer, she dropped her head back onto the ground.

After almost catching him off guard, Tachi seemed to take their match seriously –too seriously, in Sakuras opinion- and it didn't take her long to end up on her back in the grass. Where she had laid for a while now, her muscles screaming at her not to move.

So she didn't and continued to lay on the cool grass, breathing in the smell of grass and relaxing her muscles.

Itachi chuckled at her and walked closer to glance down at Sakura. She made quite a sight; her pink hair was fanned out around her head, eyes closed and chest rising, still rather quickly in his opinion, legs bare from those short shorts and cheeks flushed.

It would have made a lesser man gulp, but he was no lesser man.

"Sakura-Sa-", Itachi started, but stilled as he felt another presence enter the clearing. He tensed, old instincts kicking in.

"Sakura-Sensei!" the alarmed Chunin called and stopped near the pink haired girl. Sakura opened her eyes and lifted her head towards the panicking boy.

"What is it Kenji-Kun?" Sakura asked and got up from the ground. Kenji seemed to breathe a little easier now that he finally found her and it made her wonder how long he had looked for her.

"Anbu team got back from a mission and two of them are in critical condition. Shizune-Sama is almost out of Chakra and requested someone to fetch you," he explained and took a deep breathe in.

"It was Nejis team," Kenji whispered remorsefully, this got a gasp from Sakura. She glanced quickly at Tachi, who didn't seem to react to the news and turned her head to nod at Kenji. Tachi clearly wasn't from the same Anbu platoon then, he did seem a bit older than them after all.

"Thank you Kenji-Kun, I'll be there in a sec," Sakura said and Kenji smiled. After nodding to the Anbu standing near Sensei, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm sorry Tachi-San, it seems like our time has been cut short," Sakura said and smiled apologetically. She really needed to see if Neji was ok. She sure was glad that she didn't use that much Charka in their spar. Those Anbus lives could otherwise be in danger, there were awfully little of able medics in duty at the moment.

"It is fine, Sakura-San. We shall meet at a later date," Itachi said and the way he did, it didn't make it sound like it was a request either, which got a smile from Sakura.

'Anbus and their arrogance,' she thought with a chuckle. Neji was the same way after all.

So, with a quick wave at Itachi, Sakura was gone in a swirl of pink petals.

…

Neji is injured? Oh no!

I sure hope he makes it!

As always, thank you for reading and have a nice day! (:

R&R

TY

-Hana