Tsunade knew that the moment where she would have to acknowledge that she had cast her apprentice to the wolves would haunt her. She had done it for the benefit of that very same wolf that was crouched upon the ledge of her window. Sakura slid the window open and jumped down to the floor beneath, before rising slowly. Sakura's head lifted to allow Tsunade to meet her frenzied dark eyes.

Tsunade opened her mouth for a smart remark, but all that came tumbling from her lips was, "A drink?"

Anyone who knew Tsunade knew that she was not the type to share her sake, but she placed a saucer from her desk in front of the chair before her desk and began pouring sake into it. She didn't miss the small Uchiha fan embroidered into the sleeve of the shirt the young woman wore.

Sakura moved silently to the chair and took her seat, before reaching out to take the cup. Tsunade lifted hers as well and in perfect sync, they both threw back the full cups and placed them back down with a sigh.

"I don't blame you," Sakura said softly as Tsunade filled both cups again. Tsunade paused and put her hand on Sakura's. "As a shinobi, there are risks and one must be prepared to face them," Sakura continued.

"I know this seems like a bad situation, but this is a good opportunity for you," Tsunade offered.

Sakura raised a thin pink brow at Tsunade's comment, "And what good opportunity would that be? The chance to be in the most loveless marriage I could dream of?"

Tsunade cringed before slamming her hands onto her desk loudly, "DAMNIT GIRL. YOU THINK I WANTED THIS?"

Sakura paused with her cup near her mouth as she looked down, ashamed to be taking out her frustration on the woman who was like a mother to her.

"As I was saying," Tsunade continued, picking back up her cup. "Sakura, when was the last time you willingly saw an Uchiha enter the hospital?" Sakura opened her mouth to respond sarcastically, and Tsunade cut her off, "Other than just when Shisui comes to distract you from your responsibilities."

Sakura's brows knit as she continued moving the cup to her mouth, drinking thoughtfully.

"They are a proud clan. They are not skilled in the healing arts and they never have been."

Sakura placed her empty cup on the desk, staring into it.

Tsunade refilled both cups again, "Their clan has never been able to produce a healer and they would rather die than let their secrets be shared."

Sakura sighed pensively, before leaning back with her cup in her hand.

"I'm just saying, you have been given the chance to help those bastards who have been too proud to ask," Tsunade said with a dramatic wave of her hand, "Just… think on it, you know."

Tsunade leaned back in her seat with her shoulders slumped. "I hear that Itachi has been a ray of sunshine though," Tsunade replied, taking a long sip from her cup. Sakura choked for a moment on the mouthful she had just taken, before meeting Tsunade's eyes with her usual fire. "That's one way to put it," Sakura said, wiping her mouth.

They both shared a laugh and a smile, feeling a weight lifting from their shoulders.

As Sakura rose from her seat, Tsunade moved around the desk to grab her apprentice in a crushing hug.

When they broke their embrace, Tsunade looked deeply into her eyes.

"If you ever want to talk to someone about how it feels to play pretend as an Uchiha, you should go talk to that good for nothing sensei of yours," Tsunade said with a laugh as she watched Sakura turn to leave through the window.

"Kami knows that he has been through enough hell for that damn sharingan he didn't ask for as well."

-

Shisui and Itachi were neck and neck in their race back to the compound after dropping off their mission report. They both touched down almost in perfect sync.

"That makes 98 to...," Itachi started with a smirk before their eyes rested on the hunched pink-haired figure before them.

Sakura was on her knees before a small Uchiha child, speaking in a soft calming voice. The little girl had tears in her eyes and Sakura was gently touching her knees with a glowing hand. The child's eyes grew huge as she watched the scraped skin of her knees knit back together, she started thanking Sakura profusely.

Sakura leaned back on her heels, scratching the back of her head with a smile. The little girl launched herself into Sakura's arms, squeezing her tightly.

Sakura stood lifting the girl with her, twirling them in a flurry of bubblegum and laughter.

Itachi and Shisui drew closer as if the happiness radiating from the two was magnetic.

Sakura paused mid-twirl as the smiling little girl touched the strand of her bubblegum hair.

"I want to grow up to be just like you!"

A smile crept onto the face of both approaching men.

"I don't want to be "dark and serious", I want pink hair too!"

Shisui let out a roar of laughter and even Itachi let a chuckle slip.

Sakura turned to face them, the smile still on her face as she held the little girl to her chest, "Okaeri!"

-

After breaking the summoning contract she had with her Shishou's slugs, Sakura was faced with the daunting task of accepting her new summons.

Shisui stood before her, a grin that rivaled Naruto's as he held a giant crow on his arm. He unrolled the summon contract at her feet, never jostling the crow that had moved to his shoulder when he moved to sit above the scroll. The crow eyed her wearily as she looked down to see that Shisui had only unrolled the scroll to show the last 2 people before her that had signed the contract.

The contrast between the first box that held Shisui's dramatic but admittedly terrible handwriting and the second box that held Itachi's flowing script truly showed the difference between the men. Next to those boxes was the blank space just for her.

Shisui's eyes sparkled as he began pointing to his signature, "Crows have occasionally been used by the Uchiha, but I'm the one they really bonded to! Then I guess they liked Itachi a little too."

He laughed and it shook the crow on his shoulder a bit, causing it to nip at his hair. He turned to frown at it as it looked away like it had not done anything.

Sakura covered her mouth to hide her laugh.

The crow eyed her from Shisui's shoulder, before dropping a small shiny item onto the contract.

Sakura looked at the little piece of metal then back to the bird. It tilted it's head and looked pointedly at the handprints on the paper.

"He says to use that to slice your finger," Shisui said, filling in the gaps, "Then sign your name and give this bad boy a high 5."

The crow pulled a chunk of Shisui's hair then flew off his shoulder and sat on the ground next to Sakura. "HEY," Shisui yelled at it as Sakura burst out laughing. The crow just stared back at him blankly, then turned his head to watch Sakura.

Sakura tightened her expression and used the sharp metal piece to slice the soft skin of her pointer finger. She squeezed it a bit and began the looping motions to spell her name, stopping when she got to her last name.

"I guess it's not Haruno anymore… or it won't be at least?" Sakura tried to joke. Shisui reached to comfort her, but the crow next to her slid it's small dark head under her other hand. Sakura smiled down at it and began petting it softly as she began tracing the kanji for Uchiha before placing a bloody set of fingerprints on the scroll.

Shisui sat back to take in the scene before him. Here she was with his summon, wearing the Uchiha crest, writing her name with his last name, it was everything he ever wanted. He allowed a pleased expression to grow on his face as she finished and looked up at him.

The crow had moved into her lap after she had begun petting it under its chin.

"I see how it is, you try to rip my hair out, then you cozy up with her," Shisui said, squinting his eyes at the crow.

Sakura pulled a small cookie from her pocket and gave it to the crow who happily began crunching the cookie all over her lap.

Shisui just huffed, "They never liked me that easy."

Sakura's laugh filled the space around them before it was halted by a voice.

"It's because you're obnoxious sometimes. Besides, if anyone is their favorite, it's me," a warm voice from behind Sakura purred.

Sakura looked up and saw Itachi standing behind her looking at her small handprint next to his. The crow from her lap immediately flew up to land on Itachi's arms, now raining cookie crumbs all over Sakura.

"Hey! That's not fair," she cried out trying to brush the crumbs from her head.

Shisui flickered behind Itachi, singing "Don't be jealous that I'm the REAL favorite!"

The crow's eye gleamed as it latched onto a piece of Shisui's hair again, pulling it out. The crow then flew back down to Sakura to offer her the pieces of hair as a gift in return for the cookie.

Both men watched as she thanked it for the lovely gift and scratched it's chin, knowing already that their argument was pointless.

She was their creature's favorite.

Then when she turned her beaming smile at them, both of them began to wonder what they would have to do to be hers.

-