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Without further words: Enjoy.

10 and ½ years earlier
Uchiha Compound

Even the sense of accomplishment from completing his first mission that had required an extended stay away from Konoha wasn't enough to take the edge off his exhaustion. Itachi slid silently through the back doors, careful to adjust to his surroundings before removing his sandals. Only when he had shut the door behind him did he relax enough to roll his shoulders. Home was safe enough. It didn't take long before he was pulling out the leftovers from dinner that his ka-chan had put aside for him. Finding rice, fish, Tsukemono and Ume-zuke, he collected the meal and moved into his room to eat quickly before heading off to the furo to soak.

Pausing outside of his room, he considered the light he could just make out under his brother's door. Sasuke had started the Academy today. While he didn't doubt that his brother had been up the night before too excited to sleep, he should have already given into exhaustion. It was late. The only reason he hadn't made it home before nightfall was due to that damn Inuzuka and her inexcusable ways of attracting trouble.

Setting the food inside his door, he moved soundlessly down the hall. Looking for chakra would give his presence away and he didn't want to be seen. Yet.

"You did well today, Sasuke."

"Thank you, oto-chan!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes. Fugaku. What exactly did his unfortunate oto-san want with his baby brother? He was well aware that the clan was already sniffing at his brother's heels, hoping to manipulate Sasuke where they had failed with Itachi. In his brother's yet uncharted potential, they hoped to find his match, possibly even the strength to surpass him, all the while keeping Sasuke soft and malleable to their demands.

He was equally well aware that thus far their ambitions had been thwarted, through no skill or cunning of Sasuke's own. On the contrary, it was exactly the opposite. Although Sasuke was a skilled shinobi, well advanced beyond any of his peers as to be expected of his younger brother, Itachi knew that at Sasuke's age he had already been considered a candidate for ANBU training. In comparison his brother's genius seemed relatively normal, and the clan elders had to be gnashing their teeth.

Sasuke's emotions were far more open, far more easily accessible. He still looked to their father and the clan for approval. He still ran around like a child and got into mischief… and was even caught more often than not. Clan was presented with a quandary—did they focus on maintaining that malleability or on destroying the innocence of his childhood in pressuring him to excel and surpass his older brother? Could they have decided on a tactic while he was away?

It bore careful watching, and was not the only concern he had with his foolish little brother. Itachi's eyes narrowed. There was the problem with Orochimaru. Itachi knew without a doubt that the crazy sannin was hunting his brother. He also remembered with precise clarity the suggestion that Sasuke's sharingan had even more potential than his own. Itachi was willing to see if that was true – if only to see if it made up for Sasuke's lack of ability in other areas. A stronger sharingan did not automatically mean a better shinobi… that was something both the clan and Orochimaru had failed to realize. It wasn't that he particularly doubted that Sasuke had the potential to become a strong shinobi – now that he no longer thought his own shadow was stalking him – but he did not approve of the clans interference in his brother's career.

More importantly, neither did his ka-chan.

"The clan is looking forward to your growth as a shinobi."

"Yes, Oto-chan!"

"I expect you to make us proud, Sasuke. There is nothing more important to a shinobi than his clan. You know this."

Ah. So that was the game his father wished to play. Clan loyalty. Clan puppet was more likely. It was unsurprising that Fugaku had waited until now to have this conversation.

With Sasuke now enrolled in the academy, ka-chan would be taking on a more active role in clan duties. And with his missions and new genin status, the careful way they had watched Sasuke would be difficult to maintain. Difficult but not impossible.

The fact that his oto-san had waited for himself and his ka-chan to be 'away' before broaching the topic with Sasuke displayed a certain amount of sneakiness… and an utter lack of subtlety. Sasuke was like their father in that way. His foolish little brother preferred to hit something straight on instead of searching out the problem's weakness. He found it slightly amusing and slightly frustrating. Ka-chan had told him with an amused smile that it had taken years for Fugaku to learn how to read between the lines. But Itachi was hoping for better things from his younger brother.

"Yes, Oto-chan."

"Listen to me, Sasuke. The next few years will determine how great of a shinobi you will become. As you grow, it is important for you to listen to your teachers but never forget that everything you do must be in the best interest of the clan. You are our representative. We must never allow other clans to grow stronger than our own."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. He had wondered how much pressure the apparent brilliance of the Hyuuga Branch Member would put on his brother. So it appeared that the clan had made their choice – strength. They would pressure him to uphold the family name, to obscure Sasuke's progress with visions of the clan's name and pride, that nothing he did would ever be good enough if Sasuke allowed himself to be manipulated in such a manner. Clearly he would have to keep a closer eye on his brother.

While Sasuke had proven he had some self-preservation when he had chosen him as a protector, his mindless adoration of their oto-san would prove to be a problem. Silently shaking his head, he straightened his posture. The most he could do was to run interference until Sasuke had enough ground to stand on and then let him make his own choices. He would not babysit Sasuke like a toddler, but neither would he allow the clan to interfere in territory his ka-chan had already declared off limits.

No, he did not approve of the mindless propaganda the clan was attempting to force upon his brother through their oto-san. He did not approve of taking away Sasuke's right to make his own decisions and it was time to let his oto-san know that he was aware of the situation and where he stood. Deliberately letting go of his chakra, he slid the door open. Sasuke was sitting on his futon, dressed for bed and his oto-san was sitting on the floor. They both looked up at his entrance. Sasuke's entire face lit up.

"Aniki! You're back! You missed dinner! Did you know I started Academy today? How did your mission go?"

Itachi nodded at Sasuke before he turned his attention to Fugaku. "Oto-san."

"Itachi."

Sasuke bounced a little and Fugaku gave him a disapproving look. "Sasuke."

He immediately subdued. "Yes, Oto-chan."

Fugaku nodded and turned back to his eldest. "What brings you by, Itachi?"

Itachi repressed the urge to roll his eyes at the completely lack of subtlety. Instead, he motioned a hand towards his room. "I saw the light was curious if Sasuke was still up. I wished to know how his time at the academy had been spent while I finished my meal."

Half-truths. He stared blandly at Fugaku while he attempted to read his expression and discover how much he had overheard.

"Perhaps I should check in on ka-chan instead?"

Sasuke fidgeted with barely contained excitement. Fugaku hardly noticed, his eyes narrowing as he looked for the underlying meaning in his son's words. Itachi had no doubt that his father suspected that he had overheard most of the conversation and the subtle reminder of how drastically their ka-chan would react to knowing what Fugaku was attempting to teach the youngest had to be moving through his mind.

It came as no surprise when he nodded and stood. "I shall finish my conversation with Sasuke at some other time, then."

Itachi simply and turned to head to his room. He knew Sasuke would follow. Letting the edges of his lips curl in a sharp smile at the sound of Sasuke's bare feet, he allowed himself to go over Fugaku's facial expression.

His oto-san had weaknesses. There had been a spark of unease in his eyes at the mention of their mother… but more importantly, there had been something else when his oto-san had looked at him. Oto-san was afraid. Of either what he could do or what he would, but it was suddenly very obvious to Itachi that his oto-san did not know how to handle him. And that lack of knowledge made him uneasy. And that gave him a weakness.

Weakness that Itachi had no doubt was reflected by the council. He would have to consider the consequences of that carefully over the next few weeks and decide how best to handle the situation.

"Aniki! You wouldn't believe how terrible the other students are at throwing kunai!"

Until then, he would be careful in how much interference he ran. These decisions were Sasuke's to make, after all, but it would be interesting to see how he sided. He would have to be careful not to directly counter their oto-san's ridiculous words as it was clear Sasuke still hero worshipped their father, but Itachi had no doubt that the man would eventually ruin that as well.

He would simply make sure Sasuke had all the pieces of information he needed to make the correct decision.

"Is that so?"

"Yes! I am so much better than them! And the girls! One of them tried to kiss me!"

Yes. He would be careful but he would run interference. It would be a challenge to undermine the council's authority without them realizing what he was doing… and he would.

Because Sasuke was under his protection and the fools had already forgotten that.

X

Present Day
Konoha Village

The morning after the Akatsuki attack, Sakura shuffled out of her apartment, reaching up to shield her eyes from the sun. Tsunade had finally sent her home around three that morning and she had managed four hours of solid sleep. She wasn't feel sleep deprived, but after the adrenaline rush of last night she did feel slow. Thankfully, no one expected her until nine so she had spent the morning piddling around with breakfast and she even had time to enjoy a cup of tea before heading out the door.

They had stolen the ring. Itachi had apparently giving it back to Tsunade for safe keeping – why had she thought he had kept it? – and it had been heavily sealed in the tower. Yet… the member who had broken past their gates had known exactly where it was. Clenching the hand that wasn't shielding her eyes from the sun, she forced her emotions back under control.

After Itachi had left– what trap… what did it have to do with the stolen ring or had he used the attack for something else entirely? – the reports had seemed endless. ANBU members, Jounin and even the Chunin who had been in charge of the Genin had all needed time to report on protocol and personal reaction times; much less the reports coming in from the hospital on the condition of the men who had encountered the Akatsuki agents. Of the four guards at the gate, they had been able to save all but one.

Once they were conscious, they reported faithfully all the information they could remember of the man who had attacked them. The unknown-nin had seemed to merge with his surroundings with the use of chakra and had a large, plant like apparatus attached to his shoulders and head. One of the injured Shinobi swore he had heard two voices speaking, but it was unclear if that was a result of the head injury or an actual split in the Akatsuki member's personality.

Pausing as she waited for a group of civilians to move across the street in front of her, Sakura bit her lip. There was so much they just didn't know about the Akatsuki organization. And outside of the guards at the gate, no one at the tower had noticed anything unusual until the alarms had sounded. That was worrisome. How do you get from the gate, into the tower and then back out of the tower after you set off the alarms without being seen? And now they had lost their only sure link to the organization and gained nothing in return. Biting the side of her tongue in an attempt to gain control of her temper, she forced her attention away from where her thoughts were heading. She and Itachi weren't the only shinobi working on their current predicament and right now she was too emotionally involved to make clear cut decisions.

She had more immediate questions. What Tsunade would want her to work on now? The ring had been stolen. Now what? Itachi worked best either alone or surrounded by his ANBU team, one she wasn't a part of. The odds that he would be reassigned back to active ANBU status were high. She doubted Tsunade would leave her to work alone on the project and that meant a return to her own active duty status.

That was only for the best—the problems with Sound and Cloud hadn't gone away while she'd been researching the Akatsuki ring. While she had been relieved of her hospitality duties, she'd still been keeping an eye on the charts and nothing could stop her from sneaking in to skim off the top of her paperwork so she wouldn't be buried when she came back. The number of 'mysterious' ambushes on genin and chunin teams were increasing. Now the Akatsuki had made a mockery of Konoha's security and if that wasn't an open invitation to launch a frontal assault she didn't know what was…

And with the thought that her mission with Itachi was coming to a close, other issues came to the forefront of her mind.

He had walked her home.

Somehow, he had known when she was dismissed and he had been waiting for her at the door to the Tower. She'd been surprised, and unable to shove down the jolt of pleased satisfaction his appearance gave her. He'd fallen into step with her without a word and she hadn't bothered to question it. The easy familiarity as they walked was… disconcerting on further reflection, but that night she had just felt… at ease.

He hadn't spoken until they were halfway to her apartment, and when he had, his question was a mild matter of clarification. She'd answered, and questioned him about the checkpoints. She'd wanted to ask him about what he had meant by a 'trap,' but Konoha's rooftops were hardly safe from eavesdroppers. This was a shinobi village after all.

He'd waited until she'd opened her apartment door before catching her hand. He brought it up to his lips, eyes intent, and planted a kiss against her knuckles before reminding her to make sure to set what 'pathetic traps she had.' And then the thrice damned bastard had disappeared.

Why was he so confusing?

If he was just in it for the sex, like Ino had suggested, surely he would have done something about it by now. It wasn't as if they hadn't had the opportunity, and they had come pretty damn close to losing control a couple of times. But each time she'd stopped, and each time he hadn't even pushed.

And if he was just in for the challenge, or whatever went on inside that sick head of his, why would he have tucked her in bed that night? Why would he have waited through the rest of the day? Why would he have made her breakfast? Why would he have let his mother back her into having dinner with them?

She didn't like things this messy. She was a medic. Her world had order. Uchiha Itachi was tramping through it with muddy shoes. Looking up, she pulled her thoughts back to together for the third time that day. She was at the tower and she needed to concentrate on reality and not 'what ifs'. Distractions could get a shinobi killed and while she might not be killed per se, Tsunade would flay her with words if she thought for one second Sakura wasn't paying attention.

She would worry about the Uchiha and what they hadn't said later.

She had half expected to find genin and chunin bolting down hallways to deliver messages like last night, but things were relatively quiet as she made her way to Tsunade's office. As she approached the door she caught the faint murmur of voices and she was cautious as she peered around the corner.

"Shishou?"

"Sakura." Tsunade said, beckoning her forward. "I was just about to send a messenger after you."

Jiraiya smiled at her she entered the room. "I hear you have a complicated bit of sealing for me to look at."

Of course he would show up now that they had nothing more than sketches and notes to go on. Sakura let the way his eyes slide along her uniform go. The tightening of Tsunade's mouth told her more than enough about what her sensei would have to say him later; as long as he kept his hands to himself.

"Yes," Sakura said cautiously. Internally, she was cursing his timing. Why couldn't he have arrived yesterday? "But I only have one of the scrolls. Uchiha-san has the others."

"Uchiha-san?" Jiraiya murmured his tone interested.

Tsunade ignored him. "I sent a messenger for him. You may use the office at the end of the hall for your conversation. While the hall will be empty for another half hour or so I believe I don't have to caution you on keeping the door shut."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you, Tsunade-sensei."

A trip into a private room with the super-pervert. Fantastic. Oh well, at least Tsunade would understand if she had to put her old teammate through the wall.

She felt Jiraiya's eyes on someplace considerably lower than her back as he not-so-gallantly held the door open for her. A fist clenched. He would be out of luck if he tried anything. She had weeks of not being able to hit Uchiha Itachi to make up for.

He wasn't saying anything, and knowing his prized pupil as well as she did, Sakura was counting down the moments until the great sannin Jiraiya did something incredibly stupid. Shuffling her key ring out of her pocket she leaned over to unlock the door. The skin on the back of her neck tingled and she paused.

"Don't even think about it. If your fingers so much as touch me …" She deliberately let her words hang.

There was a pause. "So much pent up frustration in one so young! You really must let me help with that."

She turned and met his lecherous gaze with her irritated one. Calmly she opened the door and stepped aside. "Tell me, Jiraiya-san, have you ever had every bone in your body broken? At the same time?"

"Those scrolls sound very interesting." Jiraiya said, keeping a respectful distance as he slid into the office. "It is such a pity that the ring is no longer in the village."

Shutting the door behind her, Sakura motioned for him to sit on one side of her desk and she carefully stepped around him. Taking her place opposite of him, she unlocked the drawer she had stored the scroll in with a complicated seal.

"Such skill." Jiraiya said, eyes glued to her hands. "You know Sakura, I have been considering making a new heroine for my books and I believe—"

"No."

"You would be a wonderful—"

"No."

He sighed. "Perhaps—"

Sakura looked up. "No."

He folded his hands and gave her a pitiful look. "Why not?"

Sakura smiled lazily at him. "Because if I didn't mangle you into an unrecognizable corpse, then Naruto would."

"Good points." He muttered. "But still… such pain could be worth it under proper circumstances."

"What circumstances are those?"

Sakura lifted her eyes in surprise. She hadn't heard the door open. He was leaning against the door jam, his expression set in familiar lines, but when his eyes met hers they glittered with a mixture of amusement and heat.

"Sakura."

"Uchiha-san."

She could feel Jiraiya's gaze going back and forth between them and the hairs on the back of her neck tingled in that 'Naruto is about to say something stupid' sense, so it really wasn't a surprise when Jiraiya opened his mouth. "Such tension…"

Sakura snaked her foot out and yanked the chair out from under the Sannin. He grunted as he hit the floor and Sakura leaned forward and got in his face.

"Every. Bone. Jiraiya-san."

"Of course, Sakura-chan. I have nothing but respect for you! Perhaps now would be a good time to let me see these wonderful scrolls I have been hearing about?" His smile was wide and open, but Sakura had been around Naruto too often not to know when a smile was covering hidden lies.

"Stop trying to look up my skirt." She warned as she threw her scroll at him. He gave her a pitiful look, but pushed himself off the floor and settled back into the chair he had righted.

Itachi made a noise that might have been a laugh, but when her eyes lifted to his he was pulling two familiar scrolls out of his pocket and walking towards them. He waited until Jiraiya was opening them on the desk before looking back up and his gaze made the butterflies in her stomach churn. There was a greeting there. A greeting and heat and a familiarity that made her palms sweat.

For once, Jiraiya's voice was a welcome distraction.

"Tsunade said that the Akatsuki retrieved the ring last night?"

"Yes." Itachi replied.

Jiraiya nodded, his expression thoughtful. "The work done on this seal I have not seen before, although it has some similarities to the body exchange or cloning jutsu."

Sakura frowned. "I hadn't considered those."

"These lines here?" Jiraiya said pointing. "They are centered on a blood jutsu which appears to be tied very deeply into the centerpiece of the ring. Your notes state that there was a stone. I find that to be very interesting."

Sakura flicked her gaze up at Itachi but his expression was unreadable. "Why?"

"I have seen a few things here and there." Jiraiya said evasively. He tapped one of the scrolls. "Your idea that the rings are centers of their means of communication appears to be sound. This seal here and here suggest that is correct, but I am puzzled by some of the lines here. I have not seen them before."

His fingers moved over the scrolls to emphasize his points and Sakura shifted to get a better look.

"Not seen them before or just not in those combinations?" Itachi questioned.

"I have only seen something similar once and it was many, many years ago." For a moment, his face looked old. "Yes… a very long time ago."

"Where?"

"A village two days inside the border of Earth Country. There was a shinobi there who was greatly interested in seals and was working on a particular jutsu."

"Earth country…" Sakura murmured. She lifted her eyes to Itachi. "How do you think that correlates with our speculations about Cloud?"

Itachi crossed his arms and leaned his thigh against the desk. "We already knew that the components had been individually gathered. The treaty that Tsunade-sama provided gave little detail about the exact relationship between Water and Lightening country."

Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "Cloud and Mist have not been on good terms for a handful of years. It is likely that any information passed between them has long since been destroyed. I believe one of the Akatsuki members hails from Mist."

Sakura's eyes sharpened. "Are you suggesting that the treaty between them was deliberately ruined?"

Itachi shook his head. "It is likely that the Akatsuki member Kisame had some hand in explaining Mist politics, but without information on the timeline for the formation of the rings; when the members were gathered; or even how long they have been plotting before they came out into the public eye, we cannot say for certain. Although it is something to consider."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement. "We must assume they have information on all the great shinobi villages. It appears that they have members ranging from each village except Sand's and ours. Orochimaru's defection and the death of Sasori doesn't appear to have slowed them down. That suggests either the old fool gave them all the information they wanted or there is another way they are gathering information on our village."

Sakura frowned. "And we are one of the villages that they will certainly need information on."

"Yes." Itachi agreed.

Sakura cut her eyes over to him. There was growing, niggling suspicion in the back of her mind. The guards at the gate had done their best to slow the spy down, but they had been only Chunin against an S-class criminal. Unlike the normal Jounin or ANBU guards… and the reports that had been delivered suggested that most of the maneuvers had been responsive and not preventative. Trap. This was something she would have to consider later, when she had time to take it apart from all angles. Not now.

Jiraiya sighed. "I wish I would have gotten here sooner. The full extent of knowledge that the Akatsuki have on the villages is unknown. They are very careful to keep us unaware of what exactly we are facing in their organization. Even the information we gathered last night about the operative they sent to invade our walls will not have much of an effect on the way we deal with them. If we can crack any part of their communications then we can possibly turn it against them. And you say they knew exactly where to find the ring?"

Sakura nodded.

Jiraiya's lips pursed. "Then it is possible that the jutsu they use allows some sort of tracking. If we could reverse that process…"

Sakura pressed her lips together. Yes. Because they would be coming after Naruto one day and when that happened – Naruto, Sasuke, her – would be prepared. She already knew that Team 7 would be on the foregrounds of that battlefield and anticipation and nerves shivered along her spine. They would need all the help they could get.

"Perhaps the lead into Earth Country would be one to follow." Jiraiya mused. "I cannot remember all the details to the jutsu I mentioned earlier, but I might have an old friend who could have answers for you. Assuming Tsunade lets you go wandering."

Sakura laced her fingers together. She studied the scrolls, and quietly debated their chances of being sent on a long distance mission. Her eyes flickered to Itachi's face, but his gaze was unreadable so she turned back to Jiraiya.

"If you're sure that it's a valid lead… Any chance of cracking the Akatsuki's organization is one step closer to keeping Naruto out of their hands. It's a risk we cannot afford to keep from taking. The council may wish to play strictly defense, but Tsunade prefers devil's advocate."

She felt Itachi's eyes on her, there was something speculative in his gaze, but now was not the time to wonder what he was thinking. Turning her on her heel, she moved towards the door. "We should report in—"

She felt a hand pinch her bottom and spun around to face a grinning Jiraiya.

"Pervert!" she shouted, hitting him hard on the temple. A lump sprouted on his forehead and his eyes got swirly. "Just be glad I didn't use chakra."

She stared at him hard until he regained his vision and he reached up and rubbed his head.

"So much strength…"

Sakura pointed at the door. He sighed, gathered the scrolls on the desk and slid by her, muttering what sounded suspiciously like "worth it" and at her growl his pace picked up. Flexing her fingers in agitation she stared at his back before turning to Itachi and making a motion with her hand.

"I have to lock the door. After you, Uchiha-san."

He studied her for a second, his expression inscrutable before nodding and moving in the direction of Tsunade's office. To Sakura's relief he didn't attempt to touch her, just waited outside the office as she locked up and falling into step next to her as he had the night before. She was very aware of him as they walked. How she could almost feel his clothes brushing hers. How she wished she was a little bit closer so they would.

"… I warned you, Jiraiya." Tsunade's voice was scolding. "You're going to keep that lump until it heals on its own."

"Your apprentice has a worse temper than you do!"

Sakura exchanged an exasperated look with her sensei as she entered the room. "You're lucky I didn't punt you out of the tower."

Tsunade turned away, but not before Sakura noticed her smile. Shuffling a few scrolls, she turned back with a straight face. "What do you have for me?"

Itachi gave her a fast run down, his voice surprisingly neutral as he related the facts that had discussed. Tsunade's expression was grave when he finished and she sighed.

"I would prefer to keep both of you here. Are you certain there is no other way to track down this old friend?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. I do not move as quickly as I used to, and even with her pink hair, Sakura-chan will blend in better than I will." He motioned to his own form with one hand. "I'm too well known in the bingo books. As long as Uchiha doesn't have to use his sharingan they should blend in well enough."

Itachi crossed his arms, his expression thoughtful. "Earth country is tricky, but it will be easier to penetrate than Lightening Country which is our only other option."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "If we can find any link to the Akatsuki that can be manipulated we need to chase it."

Tsunade's sighed. "It's not that I don't agree with you and Itachi, Sakura. The council is beginning to feel the pressure of the pending attack from the Cloud/Sound alliance. You are both aware that the numbers of genin and chunin injuries are on the rise. Our medical staff is shorthanded. I was going to put you back on rotation today, Sakura."

"Jiraiya said his old friend lived a few days inside the border." Itachi interjected smoothly. "Sakura and I can move quickly through Fire Country. We should be able to return inside two weeks if all goes well."

"If it doesn't you're looking at the possibility of a month or more," Tsunade pointed out.

"Yes," Sakura agreed. She gave Tsunade a stubborn look. "But if we wait for every disaster to sort itself out before dealing with the Akatsuki then they'll become the next disaster."

"Alright," Tsunade said as she sat, looking tired, "as long as you two are aware of the urgency of the mission. We will look for you in two weeks. Find out what you can about the jutsu; see if there are any other possible information trails to be sorted through later and return as quickly as possible. Itachi, I expect you to report in through the ANBU channels if you are delayed. It isn't yet noon, so you should be able to leave the village in the next two hours."

Sakura found herself nodding automatically before she realized exactly what she'd just agreed to: two hours before leaving on a mission with Itachi. With just Itachi.

Somewhere inside, her inner voice was cackling hysterically on the verge of panicked, maniacal glee. The way he had looked at her, the way he had touched her, the way he had worked to integrate himself into her life… all these things flashed to the forefront of her mind as she absently bowed and followed Itachi out.

Ino's advice flashed through her mind. What do you want, Sakura?

Her eyes narrowed. Well, what she wanted was to know where she stood. She refused to be a game for Uchiha Itachi. She refused go on what could be a month long mission with this confusion hanging over her. And she refused to keep running away. Like it or not, Uchiha Itachi was interested in her… and she was interested in him. She wasn't going to hide from that fact any more. She would face it.

Lost in thought, she had absently followed Itachi to the bottom floor of the tower, which was swimming with shinobi and civilians and potential clients of all kinds. They were nearing the front door, where they would separate to prepare for their mission. She had to clear this up before they left.

She didn't want to give him this. But if she was going to face up to the nature of their relationship… it would be the best way to let him know she was serious, the best way to get his attention. And it saying it here, where his responses were limited, would be the best kind of compromise. And saying it on purpose was far, far better than letting it slip out on their mission.

"Itachi," she said firmly. "We need to talk."

And there you have it! Sooner or later, you know she had to say it. But give in so easily so he can gloat forever? Not our girl!

Thank you for reading! Please comment!