…

…

The door opened and the light from outside brightened a bit the dark room. There were two men outside, each with a large basket, both blinking to see in the dark. They hesitantly stepped in, and Sakura, seeing the old woman motion for it, proceeded to close the door behind them.

The two men seemed a bit disoriented. Sakura, now a bit more accustomed to the dark, asked, "Who are you?"

They were still holding the baskets and seemed confused. The Granny said, "They're my… grandchildren, who have come to pay a visit to their Granny, haven't they?"

The two men nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, of course, we have. We brought you… some food…"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. As far as she knew, and she knew what was written in her file, the old Granny didn't have any relatives. But there she was, claiming that those two men were her grandkids. Something was wrong. Sakura decided that it wasn't the right moment to voice her opinion on the matter; she just had to make sure to speak with Tsunade as soon as possible. So she turned around, collected her things and said, "Well, I'll see you soon at the hospital, Granny. Keep your amazing health as it is. I'm sure that your grandchildren have brought you fruit and vegetables…"

"Yes, yes," said one of the two men, both still with the baskets. He started to walk towards the bed. "We brought only the best for our dear…" He couldn't say anything more, because he tripped on the chair that Sakura had left near the bed and fell over.

By doing so, the basket dropped off his hands and fell on the floor. Its contents spread on the dark carpet.

Sakura gasped. Inside the basket there wasn't food, but money and jewels! There were earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings, everything in gold, silver and some also with pearls!

Sakura wasn't stupid. It took her only a second to realize that all those things must have been stolen, and therefore she was in a small cottage with thieves. But she was in the forest around Konoha, infamously known for… the bandits.

She was in a house in the middle of the forest with the dangerous bandits. And she was alone.

Just her luck.

It took her just one moment to realize all that. The man who had fallen cursed aloud and stood up again, coming quickly towards her with a knife. But before he could reach her, the Granny jumped up from the bed. The "old woman" threw the bed covers away and grabbed the bandit, pulling him away from Sakura. He was disarmed, wrestled to the floor and the "Granny" made sure he stayed there by securing his hands behind his back with a rope.

The other man had lost a few seconds because he had to put down his basket. As soon as he straightened up, his partner, securely held on the floor, screamed, "Do something, moron! Shoot!"

The other bandit, who was still free, took out a gun and started to point it towards the "Granny", whose eyes seemed to be getting… red. But before the bandit could only even think of adjusting his aim, Sakura stormed on him. With a swift kick to his ribs, she made him fall on the floor. She then sat on him with her small form and injected her light poison in his arm. The gun had fallen on the bed.

There was a second of silence. Then the "Granny", having tied up the first bandit, stood up and took her old clothes off. Sakura couldn't see clearly what was happening because it was still too dark, but she could see that the "Granny" was someone else who had obviously just dropped his or her disguise. She didn't know if he or she was on the good side, but since he or she hadn't been the one with a knife or a gun, she had unconsciously tried to help. Still, she could have been mistaken. Just to be sure, Sakura searched for her other vials of poison, making sure they were ready to be used.

The "old woman" then went to the windows and opened them. Sakura was momentarily blinded by the sudden light and covered her eyes. She then felt a hand gently taking hers and helping her stand up. She pulled back, unsure of what to expect, but the hand wouldn't let her. Sakura opened her eyes, wary, only to be met by the onyx ones of the man she had met earlier that day.

She blinked. What? He was the 'Granny'? But… wait… what… why… All rational thoughts seemed to abandon her, and it clearly showed in her exclamation. "What the hell is going on?!"

The man in front of her smiled a little. "Hello to you too, miss Haruno."

She just stared at him. She didn't understand what had happened and why, but she had calmed down enough to be coherent again. Since he didn't seem hostile, she proceeded to ask, "Who are you? Why were you disguised as the Granny? Why are the bandits here? And, oh God, were is the real Granny?"

The man looked at her intently. Then he went to the wardrobe and opened it. Inside, tied up and with a blindfold, there was an old woman. Sakura exclaimed, "Why is she tied up? Shouldn't she be…"

The mysterious man interrupted her. "She's the bandits' chief."

Sakura's eyes widened. The man continued, "We suspected she was helping the bandits because every lead we followed seemed to bring us to this cottage. We found definitive proof a few days ago that showed that the Granny was, in fact, the bandits' boss. We knew that today her accomplices would bring the stolen goods here, so we set a trap for them. I came and made sure the Granny couldn't harm anything anymore and waited for her accomplices. Unfortunately," and the man looked directly at Sakura, "you weren't a part of the plan. I tried to keep you away from here for the longest I could…"

"By telling me to take the longer path," Sakura realized.

The man nodded. "But you arrived too quickly. The other bandits hadn't shown up yet, so I had no choice but to wait and hope they wouldn't come while you were here. I'm sorry you were involved in this."

Everything was becoming a bit more clearer in Sakura's mind. The man calmly walked around her and went to the second bandit on the floor, tying him up as well. He observed his semi-unconscious state for a while. "Did you use some form of poison on him?"

Sakura was still a bit confused. "Huh? Oh, yes, just a light poison to dull his senses, nothing dangerous, it will last only an hour or so. But I'd like to ask…"

She couldn't finish her sentence for there was another knock on the door. This time neither of them could do anything before the door was yanked open and some police officers stormed inside the house. A few of them got the two bandits and the Granny. A tall man with the trademark black hair and dark eyes of the Uchiha family walked towards Sakura and the mysterious man.

"So, Itachi, it seems it has worked out, hasn't it? I hope," he said then, turning to Sakura, "that you weren't involved, miss."

The mysterious man answered for her, "Unfortunately, she was. But thankfully so, because otherwise I would probably have been shot."

Sakura turned around abruptly, to face the "mysterious" man. "Your name is Itachi? As in Itachi Uchiha?"

The man, apparently Itachi Uchiha, smiled at her. "I hope it doesn't concern you, miss Haruno."

Sakura then smiled. The first real smile since Itachi had seen her, and he was enchanted. She didn't notice. She was thinking about the whole thing: the police force had prepared a secret plan in order to apprehend the bandits, and she had been involuntarily caught right in the middle of it. She had found herself between a knife and a gun, and together with the bandits. But, luckily – and strangely –, everything had ended up well. And she had even finally been able to meet the famous Itachi Uchiha, who just happened to have saved her from the knife-armed bandit.