Disclaimer: We do not claim to do anything but LOVE Naruto.

Thank you all so much for your positive feedback! We're so glad that you're enjoying the story. We are having a lot of fun building this timeline, and we're really glad that you all are enjoying it to. On that note...please don't kill us?

5 Years Ago
Uchiha Compound

Itachi looked up from the scroll he was reading. Sasuke was trudging across the house with a sour expression on his face. Ah. If he was correct, today was the day he was supposed to have been introduced to his genin team. Sasuke was apparently unsatisfied with who he was stuck with. Remembering his own reaction to discovering his team he rolled the scroll closed. Feeling amused, he waited until Sasuke was closer before speaking.

"Who were you given?"

Sasuke stared at him for long moments before flopping on the couch. "Hatake Kakashi is my sensei."

Itachi considered that. The only sharingan wielder outside of the clan was a good choice. Any of the jounin from the clan would have been held back by clan politics when it came to pushing Sasuke. Kakashi was good shinobi although he had never passed a genin team.

"You passed his bell test?"

Sasuke shot up. "You knew about that?"

"It is well known, Sasuke. You will do well with him."

Sasuke glared at his brother. "He reads Icha Icha."

Itachi pushed his laughter down. "Yes."

"While giving us the bell test! He never took his nose out of that book!"

"He has mastered his sharingan, Sasuke. To do so without any of the clan's secrets or the proper chakra pathways is impressive. You will do well to learn everything you can from him."

He grunted and fell back down. "Not if my teammates get themselves killed. Then I'll never make jounin!"

"Oh?"

"They gave me Naruto! Naruto! He is the worst student in the academy! Dead last! They didn't even pass him until a few days ago and he won't say why!"

Itachi felt his lips twitch.

"And Sakura! She has pink hair! Pink! Who has pink hair? And she smiles at me! All the time! And she blushes! She just so… so… girly!" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I don't think she even knows how to throw a kunai!"

Itachi struggled with his laughter. "They did pass the academy, Sasuke."

Sasuke glared at him. "Aniki…"

All the years he was forced to endure Hana and Itsuki's strange sense of humor was suddenly so much better. Standing, Itachi patted Sasuke on the head. "Well, you'll just have to teach them Sasuke. You can't pass the chunin exams without them."

His smile was full blown at the sounds of Sasuke's howl of frustration.

X

Present Day
Sakura's Apartment

Standing on her doorstep, fishing for her keys with Uchiha Itachi leaning against the wall next to her apartment door was surreal. Ignoring the way his eyes almost felt like fingers against the back of her neck, she finally pulled out her keys. Sliding them into the lock, she squared her shoulders as she gave in to the inevitable. Her mother's lessons on manners were never fully buried and Itachi had bought her dinner. Much to her protest, but he had paid for it.

"Thank you for dinner, Uchiha-san, and goodnight."

He straightened, sliding forward so that the last few feet between them disappeared. Stiffening – if he kissed her again she would break something – she froze when his fingers grazed the curve of her cheek before tucking several loose strands of pink hair behind her ear.

"Sakura." His words were gentle and she had to work to keep herself from shivering at the husky note in his tone. His palm slid to cover her cheek. "Next time, order something you like."

Before she could make a smart remark in return, he had dropped his hand and taken several steps away from her. Offering her another of those strangely attractive smiles, moved towards the stairs.

Pausing, he leveled her with an almost stern look. "Upgrade your traps, Sakura."

Then he was gone.

Her movements were automatic as she let herself into her apartment, and only when the door was shut and locked behind her did she allow herself to shiver, wrapping her arms around herself in her living room, starring at nothing.

Somehow during the course of the evening things had gotten out of hand. Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she stared at the pattern on her rug and desperately tried to figure out when he had gone from merely curious to whatever the hell tonight had been. He had compared her to his mother!

That… was not a good sign. Why hadn't she listened to Sasuke? Just digging a hole in the ground and burying herself alive probably wouldn't have worked, but whatever she had done had obviously not worked either.

She needed advice. Somehow, sprinting to the Uchiha compound and beating it out of Sasuke didn't seem like a particularly brilliant idea. That left only one other person who could possibly make any sense out of this mess. Eyes swinging to the clock, she ignored the idea of just going to bed. Grabbing her keys, she exited her apartment, locked the door, and then carefully felt for any sign of Uchiha Itachi. She couldn't think any reason he would be roaming her apartment complex with his chakra suppressed, so she had to assume he was indeed heading home.

Either way, it would be prudent to hurry.

The rooftops were the fastest route across Konoha and she moved quickly across the well-worn mental track that led her straight to Ino's apartment. She had moved out of her parent's home two years before, declaring her need for space. To Sakura's relief, the lights in her apartment were on and she couldn't feel anyone inside her apartment except Ino.

This didn't stop Ino from being annoyed when she opened the door, her hair a tangled bun and her apartment smelling faintly of nail polish.

"Forehead girl, my date is going to be here in fifteen minutes. This had better be good."

"Uchiha Itachi compared me to his mother."

Ino stared at her for a good thirty seconds before sighing. "Okay, that's pretty good. Come on in and explain things and I'll decide if I need to make a call to cancel the date I have been planning for a week now."

Sakura pursed her lips, but did as she was asked. The dining room table was scattered with polish and it was obvious that while Ino was very careful and organized with her kunoichi lifestyle, her more personal life was still the riotous mess of color and organized chaos it had always been.

"So when did Itachi compare you to his mother?" Ino asked, shuffling a stack of magazines to the side so Sakura could have a place to sit.

"While we were eating dinner."

Ino paused, her fingers hovering over a wad of tissue. "Wait. You were on a date with Uchiha Itachi?"

"I wouldn't call it a date…" Sakura started.

"Did he buy you dinner?"

"I protested!"

"Have you kissed him?" Ino's eyes fairly gleamed at this question. Sakura crossed her arms and looked away.

"He kissed me. It's not the same thing.

"How exactly, did he compare you to his mother?"

Sakura buried her face in her hands. Mumbling through her fingers, she refused to look at Ino's face. "I might have commented on something he told me."

"And?"

"And he might have been a bit amused at my comment."

"And?"

"And then he compared me to his mother!"

Ino lifted a brow. "Let's try this again. What did he say, first?"

"We were… we were talking about careers. He asked me about being a medic-nin so I asked him about being what he is since he was young. He mentioned that his mom put her foot down about graduating early and then explained why."

Ino looked fascinated. "Why?"

Sakura cut her a look. "Just trust me when I say it was sneaky, okay?"

"Your idea of sneaky or Naruto's?"

"Mine."

Ino nodded. "Okay. Then what?"

"He compared me to his mother."

Ino stared at her. "He said you were sneaky like his mother?"

"Something like that," Sakura said, shoving her face back into her hands. "What do I do?" She peeked at Ino from the corner of her eye at the continued silence.

"Ino?"

"I think I'm free for wedding dress shopping on Saturday," Ino offered.

Sakura stared at her, eyes wide. Ino took in her expression and swallowed her laughter. Standing up, she headed into her kitchen to send a message to her date before walking back in, offering Sakura mug of tea.

"Calm down forehead-girl. If I thought for once instant that Uchiha Itachi was interested in marrying someone outside the clan, I would have chased him down a long time ago."

Sakura scowled at her. Ino offered her a brilliant smile before settling into the couch.

"So, did you catch this Uchiha, or did he catch you?"

"I didn't... he's not…" She took a deep breath. "Ino, this really can't be that."

Ino picked up her nail polish and started working on a toe. "Let's review shall we? Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, took you out on a date tonight. You might not have seen it as a date, but if there was previous kissing and he paid for the meal, it's a date. So I am going to assume there is some back-story here that I don't have which I will get on the threat of a very painful death. However, you're obviously frazzled, so I will let you tell me the basics of it tonight. I'll get the rest of it out of you later."

"How is this supposed to help?"

"I can't give my advice without an explanation, forehead girl." Ino said with a sparkle in her eyes. "I want details. It's not every day that you find someone to date and it's really not every day that the Uchiha-heir decides he has hormones. How exactly did you manage to start dating him?"

"I'm not dating him, Ino!"

"Evidence suggests otherwise."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm being serious, Ino. I'm not dating him. I don't know what game is he playing, but I didn't ask for it. For all I know this is some little mind game of his that has gone further than he intended!"

Ino pursed her lips. "It's possible, I suppose. Shika plays those shogi games with him, you know. He commented once that Itachi just doesn't think the way normal, rational people think. However, you're the one who keeps saying he compared you to his mother. And we both know that no matter how a man denies it, his mother is the one to set a certain standard in the woman they date. I say it's obvious that he is interested in you on some level." She pointed the bottle of polish at her. "So Sakura, what do you want?"

"What?"

"What do you want?" Ino repeated, brow lifted.

"I heard you the first time!"

Ino shook her head. "Then listen. You need to figure out what you want. Stop over analyzing this and just think, Sakura. What do you want from Uchiha Itachi? Anything?

Nothing? Perfectly hot sex?"

"Ino!"

"Once you answer that question, you can tell him yes or no accordingly. This isn't some complicated equation, Sakura. Just decide if you want to jump the man's bones or not and then deal with it. It's obvious he wants you. We both know men like Itachi are fun while they last, but one day he's going to marry some clan member and have crazy, red-eyed children. Until then, he seems to have his eye on you. Uchiha Itachi. Sex. It's a good combination." She cocked her head to the side. "Unless you think he wants more than that?"

Sakura opened and closed her mouth and finally just shook her head. Ino nodded.

"Think about it. I have to finish my toes. Thankfully, I only asked him to come by half an hour later than we had agreed. I suppose it's a good thing you're not very chatty today." She wiggled her painted toes and nodded. "Go away and get some sleep, Sakura. You never think well when you're tired."

"I hate it when you make sense."

"Some of us can't help but be perfect." Ino's eyes suddenly danced with mischief. "If you do sleep with him, I want details."

"Ino!"

X

Tsunade wasn't in yet when Itachi arrived. Unsurprised, he settled himself in the window frame, unwilling to step foot into the office without his Hokage present. Dawn was just touching Konoha and he could hear the sounds of early morning as the village slowly started its day. The Uchiha compound had been near silent when he had slipped away, finishing the last of the rice balls his mother had made the night before for the early risers. Fugaku had been moving around in the dojo, but Itachi had no reason to speak to his oto-san unless he was approached by the older man for clan duties.

He dragged his thoughts back to the present and slid off the window when the door opened. Tsunade entered, swearing under her breath as she staggered a little to her desk.

"I have never understood the inclination to getting up so bloody early."

Itachi shut the window and moved to stand in front of her desk while she wearily sat down, cradling her head in her hands. Standing patiently, he wondered if his Hokage's apprentice had picked up this habit along with the others she carried around with her like a shield.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Uchiha?"

"We have located at least one location that materials were bought to create the ring. Unfortunately, the area is in lighting country, so we will not be able to investigate in person."

Tsunade pushed her head up, frowning. "Lightening country… what connection was there to Cloud?"

"We are still working to trace the kanji to a specific region."

Tsunade sighed. "That's unlikely."

"Perhaps."

"Cloud originally had an alliance with Water Country. If I remember the Third's notes correctly, we managed to get our hands on a copy of their treaty. I'll see if Shizune can dig it out from wherever it was stored." Tsunade said finally. "The treaty dissolved several years ago, but it may prove to be useful."

"We are still working to understand the jutsu used in the ring we have in our possession. From what we have discovered, the likelihood is that the ring's main function serves as a sort of communication device between the parties involved. We haven't been able to pinpoint how, but several of the jutsu used are familiar." He paused before continuing. "We may require the expertise of a seal master to study the ring as well."

Tsunade cracked an eye open. "That complicated?"

"It's fairly obvious that blood was used to bind chakra to the ring. There was a high level genjutsu guarding the components of the stone." Itachi replied mildly. "Your student was the one to notice that something was missing."

"Sakura has a gift for noticing genjutsu," Tsunade agreed. She laced her fingers together and stared out the window for several long moments. "If her chakra levels were deeper, she would have gone into special genjutsu training instead of becoming a mednin."

Itachi tucked that little piece of information away for later.

"What do you have to report with your other mission?"

Tsunade watched her ANBU captain as he obviously sifted through the information that he had collected. It was one of the things she appreciated in her dealings with the Uchiha heir, his ability to get straight to the point.

"I am concerned about the security of your hospital." Itachi said finally. "There have been things said and done in regards to my other source that I do not care for."

"Rumors?" Tsunade questioned.

"Nothing yet. My sources are not the most reliable, but I do not like some of the information they have managed to find." Itachi replied. "None of the information itself has come from within Konoha, which means there is a leak."

"Are you any closer to plugging this particular leak?"

"Yes."

"Good." She laced her fingers together and chose her next words carefully. "I will not bring ANBU to stalk my medic-nin while they are saving lives, Uchiha. If there is a leak, they will not be in a position of high clearance."

Itachi nodded.

"Until we have more information, you will be watchful but you will do nothing to bring attention to yourself. Shizune and I will keep watch on the staff."

Itachi considered Tsunade's face, but gave nothing away in his expression. If she wasn't going to be reassigning Sakura to the hospital to help keep an eye on things, that meant she understood the importance of understanding even a piece of the Akatsuki's plans.

"I realize that your project with Sakura will require you to do some hunting outside of Konoha. However, I will only authorize such a mission if you can give me a precise reason why. With Cloud and Sound rumbling as they are, I need you both close." Her brow lifted. "We don't need you taking any shots at Sound with Sakura there to witness it if you ever want to kill Orochimaru, Itachi."

"I understand."

"Good. You're dismissed then." She reached for a stack of scrolls. "If you plan on getting to work as quickly this morning as I think you are, you will be working alone for another hour or so."

Itachi paused. "Oh?"

"She spends her mornings sparring with Rock Lee."

When she looked up, her office was empty.

X

Sakura was thankful for her genin days. Not only had they forged the stepping-stones that would later create the bonds she had with Naruto and Sasuke, but also they had taught her to enjoy early mornings. Without her shinobi training, she would never have been awake enough to appreciate the way the world woke slowly around her. Certainly Tsunade wasn't fond of early morning sunshine. Blowing into her cool hands, she made her way to the training grounds she practiced on. The mornings Lee wasn't on a mission, they had a standing agreement to spar.

She would never, ever forgot those hollow mornings after Team 7 had ended. How lost she had felt. A genin without a team is a genin without direction. The twelve-year-old girl she had been would never have expected salvation for herself to come in the form of her bushy browed, exuberant friend. Desperation had led to her soft question for help and he had taken only look at her hopeful face and promised to do anything he could to "revive her youthful spirit!"

Lee gave her the only two things he had to offer: taijutsu and his friendship. The first year she had spent with him had felt brutal. Even thought they had trained at night, after his long day of work, Lee ran laps with her and was patient in explaining each and every form of Taijutsu. He never faltered, even if she did. Locked away in a secret place in her heart was the knowledge that if it hadn't been for Lee's stubborn friendship and demanding confidence in her, she would never have found the courage to request training from Tsunade.

That first evening of practice, he had arrived with his precious Gai-sensei and they had ran her through a few tests before planning out exactly how to strengthen and nurture her "inner beauty and strength"! For the first time in her life, Sakura found herself dealing with people who didn't care about her chakra levels. They were impressed with her chakra control, but they were more interested in building her stamina and speed.

"There comes a point in every shinobi's life, Sakura-san, when you find yourself without the ability to use chakra. It is these moments that separate a living shinobi from a dead one."

Lee had brought her a lighter version of the weights he always wore. When he had seen her doubtful expression, he had offered his a classic Gai pose and beamed at her.

"I asked Tenten if these were too heavy! She assured me that they were the proper weight for a kunoichi!" Lee smile grew even wider. "She also said that while she practices with Neji, if you would like weapons advice, she would be more than happy to give it!"

After that, she had taken to wearing them whenever they spared, when she was doing light exercises during the day, and later, when she did her training with Tsunade. Every day that they were both in Konoha together, Lee would always find the time to meet her, although their evening sparing sessions changed to mornings once she started working evenings in the hospital.

She liked working with the weights. Not only did they harden the muscles that she already had, but she had discovered the stronger she was physically the more chakra she had at her disposal. She would never bulk up like Lee. She was never going to have the upper arms and shoulders that Tenten had earned through years of weapons training, but she was strong enough to lift Naruto into a rescue hold without the use of chakra. She was fast enough that she could fight Lee and occasionally win without chakra as long as he wore his own weights. When they wanted to push themselves, she used her chakra and he took his weights off. Even Sasuke no longer sparred hand to hand with her without using at least the basic level of his Sharingan. It was something she took a great deal of pride in.

"Sakura-san! You are early!" Lee's voice boomed at her from the slowly lightening darkness. He flashed a bright smile and thumbs up. "We can begin as soon as you have stretched!"

Dropping the bag she had brought with her, she pulled out her weights. Genjutsu and her medical jutsu were the only skills she seemingly had a knack for, partially because both required perfect or near perfect control of chakra. Most ninjutsu required more chakra than she was willing to give up in a single move and taijutsu required a physical prowess she had always struggled with. Taijutsu had been more of a challenge than anyone other than Lee knew.

"Thanks Lee!" Sakura said as she went through some basic stretches. "How long have you been out here?"

"I was determined to run a hundred laps before your arrival!"

"Since you're not doing pushups, I assume you finished them?"

"I ran one hundred and one laps before I saw your shinning presence!" Lee agreed with a nod. "Shall we begin with weights, Sakura-san?"

"I think we better." Sakura said with a grimace. "I haven't used them in a while and you're so bloody fast without them."

Lee smiled, showing off all his teeth. "But you are quick as well! The last time we fought, if you had been using your chakra, I would have surely suffered an ill fate."

Sakura finished tying the last weight into place and went through a few combinations to remind her body how it felt to be weighed down. Sliding into a fighting stance, she smiled at Lee. A morning spent doing nothing but fighting was what she needed to get her head on straight.

"All right, Lee. I'm ready when you are."

He flashed another thumbs up, slide into position, and attacked.

X

Itachi was familiar with Rock Lee. He recognized the determination it took to become a jounin, regardless of chakra. The fact that Rock Lee had accomplished it without chakra was nothing short of remarkable.

He was also aware of the torch Rock Lee carried for Haruno Sakura. Indeed, he'd been aware of this fact long before he'd ever taken an interest in the kunoichi. No one in the same vicinity as Rock Lee and Haruno Sakura could suffer any doubt of Rock Lee's infatuation unless they were blind, deaf, and dumb. Itachi was neither.

If Sakura had made it evident that she was not interested in dating Rock Lee, and Itachi was sure that she had, or else he'd know about it, why did she spend her mornings sparring with him? It was not in Sakura's nature to deceive someone she cared about, and he could not imagine her leading someone on.

Itachi was surprised at the urgency of his impulse to separate Sakura from her admirer, but he did not question it. He knew his response to seeing Sakura in action, and he could not imagine Rock Lee's to be dissimilar. It took an actual effort stop himself from charging directly into the field and halting their spar immediately.

Pausing to observe their spar undetected, however, was well worth the effort. Their moments were fluid, rife with familiarity, and vicious. Itachi activated the first level of his sharingan to observe them more completely. As he had expected, the spar was strictly taijutsu and he could see the slight lag in Sakura's movements which indicated she was wearing weights.

He watched her execute a particularly difficult combination with flawless speed and precision, only to have it blocked, blow for blow, by a grinning Rock Lee. Pieces began to fall into place. Sakura had mentioned that she had found someone to train with her in the evenings while his younger brother and their other teammate had been pursuing their separate paths. What Itachi was seeing now was the result of that training, and he was likely seeing her sparring partner as well. If Sakura had come to Rock Lee for help in her quest to get stronger… yes, it made sense.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. That didn't mean he would let it continue.

X

Sakura loved sparring with Lee. There was something about taking on someone stronger, faster, and better equipped in a subject than you and fighting against it. Something even headier when you could match and effectively counter the person you were fighting. Lee was a master of taijutsu. Sasuke was good at it, Kakashi was fast, and Tsunade had never particularly cared for more than the basics. But with Lee she could unleash all her frustrations, could focus her movements to blocks, counters, and combinations of and burn all her problems up. Lee never faltered. Instead, he challenged her, demanding her complete attention and focus least she slip up and lose.

She hated to lose.

Lee's eyes gleamed with challenge and she responded, flinging herself into another series of complicated, high level taijutsu they had spent the last two weeks perfecting. If possible Lee's smile was even wider as sweat started to build on his temples. Sakura felt an answer smile pull at her lips, and as she shifted her weight to counter a particularly fast punch, she stumbled when her weight connected with nothing but thin air.

Chest burning with exertion, she spun around on her heel, chakra threads reaching out to track Lee, even while she automatically fell back into a defensive position to see who had interrupted her spar and why.

Her eyes clashed with the red of a sharingan and something anticipatory shot through her stomach. Chest heaving, she stared at Itachi; mind quickly analyzing and categorizing all the possible way he could have….

"Displacement technique?" She finally heaved, her brows pulling into a frown. ANBU used it to vanish bodies, but she had never heard of a live body being displaced in such a manner.

The edges of his lips curled slowly, his eyes gleaming with more than the sharingan.

"Yes."

"Bring him back." She growled, irritated that he had just gone and displaced her friend. "We were in the middle of something."

To her shock, Itachi's stance changed. There was something almost liquid to his posture, a sort of feline grace she would never be able to copy. His smile didn't move, but it was somehow sharper.

"If you want him back, Sakura, you'll have to win."

Well, that tides us over for this week! Now if you'll excuse us, -ducks behind giant wall- we will see you all again next week. And remember: dead authors can not update stories.