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The First Time

Chapter 1: We Should Live

"We've got fifty good years left to spend out in the garden
I don't care to beg your pardon, we should live until we die."

Current Day: Haruno Sakura is 17 and Uchiha Itachi is 22

It was a very difficult task to decipher if an Uchiha male was worried as they very rarely betrayed emotions. However, one look in the kitchen of the Uchiha main house would tell any passerby that the three men, nervously twitching and taking forced sips of cold tea, were worried. Mikoto Uchiha was ill. What were they to do? Although all three of them were fairly accomplished shinobi, their entire lives revolved around said matriarch – or rather the reverse of that statement – the Uchiha matriarch revolved her life around her sons and husband – but the implications on the effects were the same.

Her illness began one week ago with symptoms that seemed to match the flu: vomiting, fever, weakness, and cold-sweats. The Uchiha doctor promptly prescribed her an antibiotic, but had been clear in saying that rest and good tea would do the most work. So, for the past week, the Uchiha men had been slowly starving to death as filth began to accumulate around them.

Alright, that was a bit of a stretch. Sasuke did the dishes and swept the floors, and Itachi took out the trash and wiped down the wooden furniture, while Fugaku tended to his sick wife in one of the strangest role-reversals one may ever see. Most nights they ate leftovers or fast food for dinner, but other Uchiha wives had done well in cooking a few meals for the helpless men. However, it had been a full week and Mikoto was still not feeling better. If anything, she was getting much, much worse as she had now developed a debilitating cough.

"The Uchiha doctor will not be back for a week?" Itachi asked again. Of course the Uchiha family doctor, some male he could never bother to remember the name of, had gone to a medical seminar soon after seeing Mikoto the first time.

"Hn," Fugaku replied, taking a sip of his cold tea. It was nearly 1 a.m. but there was no way any of the males could sleep. The deep furrow that was usually set in his brow seemed more prominent and his eyes were underlined with black circles, betraying his lack of sleep. His two sons weren't faring much better. Sasuke had been home all week to help tend to his mother, but her deteriorating condition kept him up most nights. Itachi had come home three days previous from an ANBU mission and had slept in less than three hour increments since. Yes, the usually proud and stoic Uchiha men were slowly slipping as the center of their universe lay coughing at the end of the hall.

Sasuke stood suddenly, slamming his palms down at the table, his shoulders tensing. Sighing reluctantly, he looked from his father to Itachi. "I'll be back. Please stop her from killing me." In a swirl of ash, he was gone.

Several seconds later, Itachi sensed his brother's presence appear right outside the kitchen in the front yard. However, there was something with him. A daring smile crossed his lips when he felt the first surge of chakra and heard the first crack. Ah, it was Haruno Sakura. Itachi ignored the sense of elation that rose within his chest.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you asshole, I was in the middle of something!" she screeched in a fervent whisper as she tried to be considerate of the time and place they had landed. What could a self-respecting girl like Sakura Haruno be doing in the middle of the night? Itachi mused inwardly. "You can't just pop up in the middle of a survival training session, grab me like some creepy stalker, and transport me back here!" Ah, training, he smirked a bit at the kunoichi's initiative.

"That hurt," was Sasuke's stony reply; Itachi surmised that he was referring to a punch Sakura had landed on him when they first arrived. Another crack and a muffled grunt from Sasuke indicated that she had hit him again. "You'll break my jaw if you do that again."

"Argh!" Sakura grunted as another surge of chakra peaked, but then was soon quelled and an amused chuckle escaped Sasuke. Standing up cautiously, Fugaku made his way to the shoji screen. "Sasuke let go of me!"

"You'll hit me again," he stated.

"Probably," Sakura retorted. However, this was the moment that Fugaku opened the door to reveal Sasuke standing behind a disgruntled Sakura, both of her arms held tightly behind her back with one of Sasuke's hands, while the other was rubbing his quickly-swelling cheek. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the Uchiha clan head, and she bowed her head despite the fact that Sasuke still had her arms in a steely grip. "Fugaku-sama, I'm so sorry if we woke you."

"Sasuke, unhand the kunoichi," was Fugaku's first order. Itachi was also sure he heard the patriarch mutter something along the lines of 'no wonder he can't find a girlfriend' but he wasn't sure. Sasuke quickly let her go and moved a few feet away, just out of arm-swinging length. Then Fugaku turned his attentions to aforementioned kunoichi and inclined his head in greeting. "Sakura, it is nice to see you, and don't worry you didn't wake us."

"Us?" Sakura asked, brow furrowing in confusion. It was then when she saw Itachi still sitting at the table behind his father. Sakura inclined her head again, "Itachi-san."

"Sakura-san," was Itachi's reply as one wary hand went up to greet her. They seemed to lose their last-name affiliation after she cured his first drunken state. "You were training?" The answer was really very clear as the girl was in a very tight black body suit and a long green ninja dress that was synched at her waist by a lop-sided ninja belt. From what little Itachi could see of her in the dark, she had many marks on her body and the thick body suit was torn and tattered in many places.

A slight squeak left Sakura's lips as she just remembered what she was doing when Sasuke had appeared next to the slumbering kunoichi on a tree, yanked her into a vice grip, and transported them right outside his house. "Yes," she replied. Pointing a light finger to Sasuke, who twitched reflexively at the digit, she continued, "We're taking the jounin exams in a month. I hear it usually involved spending several days in a forest while you're being attacked and you have to survive off the land and basic supplies. Team Gai agreed to do a mock mission with me, as they are all jounin rank or higher, so they were acting as the attackers so I could be better prepared for it. We started this afternoon and we were going to spend three days and three nights in the Nara forests," clenching her teeth slightly, she finished, "and I told my teammates not to interrupt barring a matter of national security."

"That is wise, Sakura," Itachi intoned. "As someone who is completely impartial and has no say in what occurs in the jounin exams, I would say your preparations will serve you well."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she was sure she never heard the elder Uchiha create that long of a sentence; additionally it was laced with sarcasm. That's when the sarcasm took root in her head at his implications. Raising a brow, she dared to ask, "Are you a proctor and planner of this year's jounin exams, Itachi-san?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny such a question. The planners and proctors are kept secret," he replied, a smirk ghosting his lips. Sakura merely smiled brightly at his reply.

"A very wise idea indeed, Sakura," Fugaku added. "I'm sorry Sasuke interrupted your training session, but he did not bring you here for no reason. My wife…"

Fugaku's explanation was cut off by a quiet shriek from Sakura as she found herself being lifted off the ground into the arms of a very boisterous Uchiha, "Ah Sakura you've come back to me," he quipped, swinging her around in his bridal style hold. Sakura, gaining understanding, allowed a tinkling laughter to escape her.

"Shisui, please unhand the girl," Fugaku intoned commandingly (for the second time that night, he noted), "Aren't you supposed to be on guard duty at the front gates?"

Shisui stopped and placed Sakura gently back on the ground next to Sasuke, but he snaked a broad arm around her waist, pulling her close, "Ah yes, the joyous guard duty, but a team of three shinobi turned up saying they thought they saw Sasuke-kun here making off with their training partner in a whirl of ash."

As if on cue, team Gai walked up onto the scene quietly. "And I see it's true. Thank you for bringing my dear Sakura-chan to me, Sasuke-kun," Shisui continued playfully as he pulled the girl closer to him. There was a time when this attention would, for lack of a better term, freak Sakura out, but she had grown used to Shisui's antics and flirtations. She also quickly learned that it was best to allow them or they would become more sensual.

"Sakura?" Rock Lee asked as he approached the group.

"Hello," Sakura responded quietly, eyes turning to meet the very disheveled looking Team Gai. "I was kidnapped."

"So I saw," Neji replied evenly, but then he turned to Fugaku and Itachi. "Uchiha-sama, Taichou."

Itachi inclined his head at his second in command of the ANBU ranks, trying to ignore the look the Hyuuga was now giving Sakura – it was a little too fond for Itachi's liking. He shook the feelings off – his attraction to the kunoichi was more than inappropriate on so many levels he couldn't even count them all. Not to mention Sasuke may actually succeed in killing him if his brother ever caught wind of such an attraction.

Neji turned to Sakura. "I see you're obviously needed here as the Uchiha clan would not pull you from a training session without reason," he gave a pointed, annoyed look to Sasuke, "We will reschedule our training exercise for next week granted we don't have any mission."

"I will make sure you are available, Neji-san" Itachi intoned quietly, still seated at the table. Although he really didn't want to, but it was the polite course of action seeing as their current session would have never been interrupted if not for Sasuke. "We apologize for the interruption."

The three bowed and quickly made their way to the front gates. Shisui placed a kiss on Sakura's cheek lightly. "See you later sweetheart. I've got to go back to work." And he was gone.

Now it was the three Uchiha men of the main family and Sakura, so she looked up at Fugaku quizzically. He continued his previously interrupted explanation. "My wife has taken ill with the flu. She was given an antibiotic a week ago but her condition is only getting worse."

Crack. Sakura landed a hard hit on Sasuke's head. "Why wouldn't you come get me earlier you moron?" she hissed. Itachi saw the glint of pure amusement in his father's eye, barely perceptible to anyone else. Itachi considered that the glint appeared in Fugaku's eyes whenever Sakura was around, as her antics seemed to charm him greatly.

"Bully," Sasuke replied, rubbing his temple.

Sakura turned back to Fugaku and smiled sweetly, "I'm at your service. Please, take me to her."

"Are you sure you would not like to rest first?" he asked, eyebrows rising at the volatile kunoichi. "You were just training."

"No I'm quite fine. I was sleeping and regenerating my chakra when Sasuke…retrieved me," she replied, trying to keep the annoyed tone at the youngest Uchiha away from the conversation.

"Very well, you may follow me," Fugaku motioned inside the house where he led the girl to where his wife was. Opening the door for her, Sakura quickly made her way to Mikoto's side.

"S-s-sakura-chan?" Mikoto whimpered which was enough to make the young girl's heart clench. A blood-churning coughing fit ensued after that while Sakura tried to keep the woman from hacking up a lung.

"Don't worry Mikoto-san I'm here to fix you up. You'll feel better in no time. Just rest now, okay?" she chimed, putting her most soothing medic voice on. Itachi leaned on the doorframe, his father hovering behind him, while Sasuke took a seat near Sakura.

"The doctor gave her an antibiotic. Can you give her another one?" he asked quietly.

Sakura merely glared at him with annoyance. "Antibiotic? I'm a walking antibiotic. Don't insult me, Uchiha."

Sakura turned in a huff back towards Mikoto and placed her hands lightly over her stomach and chest. She was still annoyed with Sasuke interrupting her training session although he had a good reason. He didn't have to just show up and grab her like some sort of criminal. Pouring her green chakra into the Uchiha mother, Sakura became very silent and concentrated. The only thing in the room that could be heard was Mikoto's labored breathing and the light hum of Sakura's chakra.

Itachi noted that the entire time, Sasuke did not take his eyes off of Sakura's face as he watched his teammate in action. Pulling back, Sakura sat down in an Indian-style and faced Sasuke. "She developed pneumonia because the antibiotic wasn't strong enough," she muttered.

"I'm sorry I didn't know!" Sasuke gasped exasperatedly. "Can you help her? Please."

Itachi wasn't sure what exchanged between the two as it was obviously something silent and understood, but Sakura's demeanor towards his younger brother softened completely. Itachi felt that twinge of annoyance that automatically appeared within him when he saw Sakura treat other men with kindness. As irrational as it was, it was always there and he could not seem to get rid of it, so he just learned how to hide it the best he could – which was completely.

"Of course I can, Sasuke-kun," Sakura replied sweetly, giving Sasuke a genuine smile. Sasuke's eyes softened as well at their eye contact, and Sakura turned back down to Mikoto. Sakura lifted her palms to her chest, and glowing green chakra seeped into the woman who seemed to sigh in contentment.

After an hour of just observing Sakura work, Itachi finally stood up fully, his body stiff from leaning on the door frame for so long. That seemed to be the same time that Sakura was finishing. Sakura let out a chirp of relief as she stretched her arms up and her face took on a much more comfortable look.

"All done!" she peeped as she turned around to look at Fugaku and Itachi. "She'll be back up and moving soon, but make sure she stays in bed at least two more days and then does minimal work for five days after that. I'll come back in a week to check up on her," she continued. Itachi let out a breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding in. Sakura took a contemplative look and then smiled, "Well I'll be back in less than a week, I'm sure," she pointed a look at Sasuke, "but I'll follow up with her condition in a week."

"Thank you so much Sakura," Fugaku muttered. "I don't want to know what she would have been like in a week once the Uchiha doctor returned."

Sakura scoffed. "A week?" she all but hissed. "She'd be close to death."

The proclamation put stunned looks on the faces of all the Uchiha men, but Itachi was the first to quell the situation. "Well then let's just be thankful that we got Sakura-san here now," he intoned flatly.

Sakura's eyes took on a glazed look as if she was trying to remember something. Then, she snapped back and jumped up. Holding her palms up, she walked slowly to where Itachi and Fugaku were. Green chakra seeped into view. The men must have looked at her bewildered because she chuckled, and stated, "I need to make sure you didn't catch the flu or pneumonia, or I'll be back here for more healing sessions."

Itachi stood taut as she reached him first, laying her light palm on his skin. Then Sakura shifted and pushed her other palm into Fugaku's chest from where he stood right behind him. After a moment, Sakura's eyes lightened completely and deemed them healthy. Then she walked to Sasuke, palms out. "I'm fine," he iterated.

Sakura's brow wrinkled in frustration and her hands slammed on her hips. However, she knew it was futile. She would just shanghai him later and check on him.

"Sakura, how much do we owe for your services?" Fugaku asked. Sakura turned to him with a sweet smile on her face as she had been waiting for this – the Uchihas were all proper and went by the rule book for this sort of thing.

She closed her eyes, holding her hands up, "No need Fugaku-sama. You have fed and housed me enough the past five years to warrant a minor healing session, and I really don't mind. Your sons don't show their emotions all that well, but I know they were chomping at the bit with anxiety from Mikoto-san being ill. It makes me happy to help."

"I insist," Fugaku replied sternly.

Sakura held her hands up again, "I have an idea. Once Mikoto-san is better, convince her to make some dango for me. That's better than any amount of money."

Fugaku looked perturbed, but nodded his head. "You will stay here for the night? It is almost three o'clock."

Sakura looked a little wary as she had not been paying attention to the time. "Sure," she replied with a smile. There was no point in walking all the way home now, anyway.

"Sasuke will show you to the guest room although I'm sure you already know where it is. Thank you Sakura and sleep well," the clan head stated as he let himself out of the room.

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke who grabbed her lightly by the elbow to guide her out of the room. Sakura spared one last look at Itachi and called, "Goodnight Itachi-san. Sleep well!"

Itachi merely inclined his head and fell into the seat next to his mother's bed. Perhaps he would tend to her just a little while longer.

It was just past 8 a.m. when Itachi was out in the training yard, practicing his shuriken aim lightly. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep. It was early, yet the Uchiha compound was alive with the clan members going about their duties. He heard a light giggling coming from the kitchen and Sakura and Sasuke soon emerged.

"Sasuke-kun, please let me make sure you're not sick," Sakura asked lightly, following Sasuke with light footsteps out of the house.

"No," he muttered back.

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke whipped around to face her and she was taken off guard so she ended up colliding into his chest. Itachi felt like he was watching something private, but the two couldn't see him from where he was so he continued to observe the scene. Sakura had pulled back, but used their proximity to their advantage to place her shining green hands on his chest.

What happened next, Itachi had not been expecting. Sasuke pulled Sakura close by the small of her back and landed a soft, yet passionate kiss on her lips. Sakura squeaked, but did not relent or healing nor pull out of the kiss. Once they broke apart, Sakura giggled, "See you later, Sasuke-kun. I'm going to go pick up a shift at the hospital since I can't train today."

Sasuke just nodded but looked after her as she ran away with a languid, satisfied smirk splayed across his features. Itachi shouldn't feel jealous, but he did a little bit. He held this inexplicable possessiveness over the kunoichi that he could not comprehend nor deter.

Then, he felt confused. Sasuke had never once shown any of that type of interest in Sakura, and Sakura seemed to see Sasuke as a brother more than a boyfriend. In fact, it was only recently (when Fugaku had mentioned the possibility of Sasuke courting Sakura) that Sasuke had adamantly attested that they would never be in a relationship. Itachi allowed his brows to furrow in frustration and as he walked around the house. Had his brother changed his mind? Was he simply in a physical relationship with Sakura? From what Itachi knew of the girl that was highly unlikely as she seemed much more respectable than that.

Sasuke had retreated back to the kitchen, but Itachi noticed someone else standing outside of their house. The girl had previously been in a position where Itachi could not see her and the reasoning for Sasuke's and Sakura's kiss suddenly dawned on him.

The girl was Ayano Uchiha. She was a female the same age as Sasuke, and Itachi knew her as one of the many females who desired to marry into the Uchiha main house. The girl had come onto him enough for him to know that, and judging by the devastatingly jealous look in her blue eyes, she had set her sights on Sasuke after Itachi's repeated rejections. Sasuke had probably asked Sakura to act as his love interest in order to deter the relatively obnoxious and petty Uchiha girl, and Sakura would comply because she was just as protective over her boys as they were of her.

Interesting, Itachi decided, if not Sasuke, then who did Sakura desire?

X

"Come here often, Itachi-san?" the girl quipped as she glided into the room. Itachi couldn't help but remember the first time he had been healed by the girl, and all the subsequent occurrences had begun with that particular line

Once, after a particularly gruesome ANBU mission, he had been knocked unconscious and had been completely gutted by three missing-nins. When he awoke, he was in the Konoha hospital, unaware as to who had rescued him (he later found out that a group of ANBU had been sent out after his team because they were so late coming back). Sakura was standing above him as he opened his eyes, regaining consciousness, and she chimed, 'Come here often, Itachi-san?' and Itachi had to repress the urge to laugh as he was sure his innards would spill out if he did.

"Sakura-san," he greeted. Once again, he found that this situation was far from comical. He had gone to report for his mission when the Hokage had shown up at the front gates in a huff, telling him he was off active duty until he got his yearly physical. His team had to leave without him, and the entire episode was very embarrassing. "I was taken off active duty."

Sakura's hands rested on her hips and her brows furrowed. "You're two months overdue. You've received three written warnings telling you that this would happen if you did not come in. In fact, I remember telling you three times when I was over visiting Sasuke-kun that you had to get your yearly physical; it's a rule everyone has to follow, Itachi-san."

"I am uninjured," he replied coolly. The kunoichi gave him an evil glare. Knowing she could be vindictive when she wanted to be, Itachi saw he would have to smooth things over before she began the actual physical. Shisui had once told Itachi that he had been flirting with Sakura a few months back during his physical, and she did horribly invasive things to certain cavities of his body just to spite him. It was just a yearly checkup and those particular procedures were not warranted, but Sakura did them anyway and Shisui had to comply or he would be taken off active duty. Itachi pointed smoothly over to a box on the counter. "Dango," he whispered, "From my mother."

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight and she practically pranced over to the still-warm box the dango was in. "It's been two months since I've healed her and she's sent me ten boxes of dango," Sakura chimed.

"Now that she knows you like it, she makes extras when she makes it for our dessert and sets it aside for you," Itachi explained. Sakura turned to him, eyes wide with such a lengthy sentence coming from Itachi. In all honesty, she felt lucky if she could get five words out of him at a time. "She says you're too skinny."

Itachi disagreed. Sakura's body was the perfect compromise between feminine curves and kunoichi prowess. He internally chastised himself for allowing such thoughts. Yes, he was a male with normal urges, but that didn't mean he had to turn those urges on unsuspecting, underage female kunoichi.

Sakura blushed a bit. "The life of a kunoichi," she replied a little uncomfortably. Then, she set the dango down and made her way to Itachi. "Let's get this over with, yeah? That way you won't miss the next mission?"

"Hm," he complied. His eyes glanced to the side of her arm where her jounin sash was proudly displayed. Team Seven had taken the exams a month prior, and had passed them with flying colors, as Itachi was sure they would. They were more than ready for the exams, as he had suspected, and could have probably taken them a year ago if not for their private lessons. Itachi turned back to watch her as she began to approach him with her palms held out. He could feel the chakra burning from within them. Sakura swept her chakra lightly over his body and her eyes furrowed in exasperation.

"You've been getting injured and not coming to the hospital," she stated dryly. It was not a question but an observation, and she was right. Itachi rarely went to the hospital for injuries unless he absolutely had to. Therefore, he didn't reply or answer. "You know, you could at least as me to heal you," she bit out, clearly annoyed.

"Could I?" he asked amusedly.

Sakura pulled her hands back and placed them on her hips, glaring at him indignantly. "Of course!" she exclaimed.

"It is noted," he replied and Sakura just huffed. Placing her hands back on his chest, she continued her scan. Slowly, she mended anything she could although most of the wounds were too old to do anything about. Then she swept her hand over his arm and something caught her attention. The faintest pink scar still stood out on his pale skin – the one she had left on him after she healed him for the first time.

She grimaced. "It's never going to go away," she sighed.

"It is quite alright," he replied evenly. He was very aware of her proximity to him with her hand grazing the sides of his arms lightly. The gesture was almost familiar and she was surely standing close enough for this scene to be considered intimate, but Itachi pushed the thoughts off. Inappropriate, he snapped at himself. This little physical attraction to the kunoichi was beginning to get distracting. Sakura smiled and pulled back.

"All done," she announced shyly.

"May I ask you a question?" Itachi asked coolly. Really, he was just fixing to ease his curiosity, but he found no reason to stop himself from asking. Over the past two months, Itachi had seen Sasuke and Sakura's public displays of affection three times besides the event after his mother had been healed. On all of these occurrences, Ayano Uchiha had been present. It was enough to confirm Itachi's suspicions but he wanted validation from one of the sources. Sasuke would never tell him anything, but he was sure he could crack the kunoichi.

Sakura nodded, curiosity filling her emerald eyes. It was rare that Itachi inquired anything from her. "Why are you pretending to be Sasuke's girlfriend?" he asked evenly.

Sakura's eyes widened, "Who said I'm pretending?" she snapped back.

"You do not act familiar with him in private, only in public. Also, you wouldn't risk Team Seven like that," Itachi replied curtly. Sakura stalled and her eyes seemed to be churning as she formulated an answer

Of course, he was right. She didn't really care for Sasuke that way and only held a platonic interest in him; although, he was a decent kisser. Relationships within teams were relatively frowned upon, and if one ever emerged, the team was usually reassigned in order to assuage any unwanted distractions. Sakura grinned at the Uchiha, "You have a theory?"

"Perhaps," he replied evenly. Sakura looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to reply, but to her chagrin he didn't.

"Well?" she goaded.

"Well what?" he asked, trying to hide the smirk. Sakura' eyes widened for a moment. Was Uchiha Itachi…flirting with her? In his own weird, quirky way, she got the feeling that was exactly what he was doing.

"What's your theory?" she asked, moving closer to him. Now, she was testing out her own notions. She wanted to see if he was affected by her closeness, as he had been a year and a half previous on his twenty-first birthday. Sakura had waved it off as drunken male hormones, but now she was beginning to wonder. Itachi watched to glide closer carefully, his eyes never leaving her form.

"Ayano Uchiha," he replied as his answer and Sakura's devious smile grew wider. Now, she was merely a foot away from him – a little too close to be deemed appropriate, but his eyes stayed stoic.

"You've figured us out," she replied heartily.

"Why, though?" he asked. "You don't seem like the jealous type."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "I guess it's because she doesn't really like him; she just wants to get into the main family. That was obvious by the way she was chasing you around all last year."

"Aa," Itachi replied smoothly, eyebrows rising at her comment. She seemed a little more perturbed with the idea of Ayano following him around than she was letting on completely. "You have a problem with her…chasing me?"

Sakura huffed, the smallest amount of pink gracing her cheeks. "I just don't like fangirls," she retorted. "And you and Sasuke have them in bucket loads."

"Aa," he replied silkily. Sakura was relatively sure of it now – he was flirting with her. She could tell from the gleam in his eye, but she suspected it was only for his own amusement. Her wanting him to be interested in her was just a girlish fantasy she always had. Although she had previously been interesting in Sasuke, Sakura always found the elder Uchiha male to be interesting, intense, and amazingly attractive. Sometimes it was a bit befuddling.

A knock on the door ended their exchange, and Sakura pulled back so she was a safe distance away. Itachi could see her visibly grit her teeth, "Naruto! Sasuke! What have I told you about interrupting a physical?"

Her teammates barged through the door – Naruto first and then Sasuke following at a tempered pace behind him. "It's just teme's brother," Naruto joked. "We didn't think you'd mind."

"Nii-san," Sasuke muttered a greeting. Then he turned his attention to Sakura, "Mission."

Sakura nodded and waved to Itachi. "I'll sign your active duty slip before I leave," she called. Itachi just watched the kunoichi leave the room silently.

AN: I hope you enjoyed and please review.