Note: Oh, wow you guys! I just had to have a quick note before I start, to tell everyone thanks so much for their supportive comments! It's always nice to know that work is appreciated, but I had NO idea my story would be taken so well (I had some doubts about this piece), I actually started jumping around screaming and laughing happily that people were enjoying themselves, so now my family thinks I'm crazy ^_^. Ah well, it's a small price to pay. Now, I'll be quiet and let you read…

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. If I owned it, Itachi would so be alive right now.

"H-he t-told," Hack. Cough. Hack. Naruto hurriedly swallowed the beef ramen he'd been choking on. "You to do WHAT?"

Sakura nodded miserably, having just related the gruesome tale of her unsuccessful escapade into Itachi's room last night to her two best friends. She just stared into the ramen-y depths of her Ichiraku bowl, contemplating trying to drown herself in it. Nah, it'd never work. Her forehead was way too big to allow her head to fit in the bowl, as Ino-pig constantly reminded her. Alrighty then. She'd get plastic surgery to downsize her forehead, and then she'd drown herself in her ramen bowl. Genius.

She chanced a glance over at Sasuke, who was a pale, ashen color now and looking a little bit nauseous, as well as completely repulsed.

"That demon bastard! He can't do this to you, Sakura-chan! We'll kick the crap outta him first, right teme? C'mon Sasuke, let's—"

Naruto was cut off as Sakura firmly grabbed the back of his fluorescent orange jacket when Naruto actually made to jump up off of his stool, a murderous look fixed on his face.

"Naruto! Need I remind you that if I don't go on this stupid date we'll all probably be assigned D-rank missions for a year if Tsunade-shishou finds out?" Sakura scowled ferociously as she scolded Naruto, an expression that was mirrored on his face.

"B-but Sakura-chan! We can't just sit by and watch as the teme's brother puts his slimy, greasy, bastardy hands—"

Sasuke interrupted Naruto, after seemingly recovering from his momentary lapse in living. "Sakura's right Naruto, Itachi's got us cornered, and I really don't see any way out. Only," He turned his confused navy eyes on Sakura, "I honestly wonder why Itachi wants you of all people to go out with him."

Naruto edged away from Sakura, nervously eyeing the knuckles she was now cracking menacingly. Sakura advanced towards Sasuke, glowering at him. "Sasuke-kun, that had better not have been meant the way it sounded. Is there something wrong with me that makes it so unbelievable that someone would want me?"

Sasuke realized his mistake quickly, sighing in irritation and staring at his friends with a little bit of worry in his eyes. He told them, "It's just that…Itachi doesn't usually ask for things like this when he wants favors or something." He snorted. "Hell, I didn't think my brother even noticed that females existed for reasons other than continuing on the clan bloodline."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she hissed, "Oh, I'd say he noticed it pretty well last night, Sasuke! He practically had me cornered in his damn room and was looming over me all creepily and stuff!"

Sasuke's nauseated expression appeared on his face again. "Please, Sakura, I don't want to hear about my brother's newly budding hormones."

Naruto butted into the conversation, exclaiming in horror, "So, wait a minute guys, you think the robot's attracted to Sakura-chan!"

Silence reigned over the Ichiraku counter for a moment. Then, all three chunin simultaneously burst into disbelieving laughter. Even Sasuke was having trouble keeping on his usual apathetic mask and covering up his mirth.

Sakura gasped out between laughs, "N-Naruto, I think we agreed that all Uchiha lack the normal human responses in every situation, especially Itachi."

Another minute or so of hearty guffaws ensued.

Sasuke recovered from his laughter first, quickly becoming grave. "But…we still need to figure out just what Itachi wants with Sakura. He must have some kinda ulterior motive for asking her on a," he shuddered, "date."

That shut the other two up, and both Naruto and Sakura became somber.

Sakura bit her lip, then said, "We don't have much time to think about it though. He said he wants my answer by today."

At this, Naruto stood up suddenly, his clear blue eyes blazing and a look of determination on his face. Sakura recognized this look, as it was the one that came over his face whenever he spoke about becoming Hokage some day. Speaking in a surprisingly mature and reassuring tone, Sakura's fox brother told her fiercely, "Ne, Sakura, don't worry about anything. We'll figure this out together, as Team Seven, and make sure you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Even if it means we're forced to do D-rank missions for a year, Sasuke and I'll stand by you no matter what."

Sakura felt her eyes watering slightly at Naruto's speech, and even Sasuke looked mildly impressed. Then, Naruto opened his mouth again, that determined look still shining in his eyes, and she and Sasuke eagerly leaned forwards to hear what he had to say—

"But, Sakura-chan! Please just consider going out on one, measly little date with the teme's brother! I really, really don't wanna be stuck doing lame-ass missions with little genin and—"

BAM. Naruto was lying about thirty feet away in the dirt, courtesy of one chakra enhanced punch. Sakura felt that vein throbbing in her forehead again. And she had actualy felt that Naruto was cool for a second. That idiot.

After Naruto hobbled back to his seat, taking solace in the presence of his now cold bowl of ramen, Sakura looked at her two boys. "So, any ideas about what Itachi's plotting by asking me out?"

Naruto slurped up a noodle. "Maybe he just wants to annoy Sasuke. It's what he lives for, after all."

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe he's trying to get the clan off of his back by trying to find a girlfriend. They've been bugging him about getting married recently."

"Maybe he wants to enjoy an outing with Sakura-chan, and then turn us in to Tsunade-baa-chan anyways, that bastard!"

"Maybe he's planning to eventually marry her, as with Sakura's perfect chakra control and Itachi's Sharingan, their children would probably be impossibly strong. Then, after years of breeding, Itachi could take over Konoha with his army of little Uchihas. Then the world. I always knew he was a power-hungry bastard."

"Maybe he's gonna kidnap her and sell her on the black market to the highest bidder! Sakura-chan's awesome brownie-making abilities alone would probably make him rich beyond belief!"

"Maybe even worse dobe, maybe he's been obsessed with her for years, and we've just never noticed it. Maybe this is the chance he's been waiting for: he'll kidnap Sakura, chain her in the basement, and keep her there for the rest of her life!"

And on and on they went. Sakura had to perform breathing exercises she usually made patients with anger-management issues do, just to keep herself from murdering her two teammates. Just where the hell were they getting these far-fetched ideas? Itachi may be crazy, sadistic, and an emotionally repressed genius, but even she didn't think he was planning to tie her up over a pit of crocodiles to see how long it took her to get eaten, just for his own amusement (that was what Naruto had just suggested Itachi was going to do).

It was only when Sakura got down from her stool and pulled out her money to pay for her meal that Naruto and Sasuke finally stopped bickering over Itachi's potential devious plots. She offered them a half-hearted smile, which lacked its usual brilliance, and said, "I'm just going to head home now, guys. Thanks for the…help. I guess I'll just send my answer to Itachi later." Before either one could say anything, she strode out of Ichiraku's Ramen Shop and into the crowded main street, narrowly avoiding being run over by a man with a large cart laden with fruit.

The pink-haired girl allowed her feet to walk the familiar path home, her mind too occupied with Uchihas and dates and crimes to be of any use in paying attention to where she was going. However, when she did finally reach her apartment building, the familiar old, white building coming in sight, Sakura didn't even feel like going in. All she really had to look forwards to was a boring night reading through medical scrolls and the like anyways. Grumbling inwardly about wasted effort, and needing something to take her mind off of the slightly troubling turn her life had currently taken, she abruptly turned on her heel and made her way to the hospital.

If someone were to ask Sakura what her most valued treasures in life were, her reply would have to be that it was her family, her friends, and her job. Practicing healing, working to save people's lives, and seeing the grateful look on the faces of her patients never failed to cheer her up and cause her to forget about all of the worries in her life. Healing was her calling, she hardly considered it a job anymore. It more of a passion, a need, a desire to use her abilities to help people become stronger and live on.

Even though she was still only sixteen years old, Sakura was well onto her way of becoming one of the most accomplished medic-nin in the history of Konoha, taking great pride in her work and even greater pride in her accomplishment of breaking free from the chains of weakness that had bound her for so long.

Why might have been why, Sakura mused to herself as she washed her hands thoroughly in the sink after performing a routine checkup on a jounin, she was so irked over this business with Itachi. This feeling of helplessness, of being trapped and not being able to do anything, really brings backs memories of when all I could do was scream for someone to come and save me. She scrubbed at her hands even more vigorously, not noticing that they were turning a bright, irritated pink from her actions. I don't need Naruto or Sasuke to save me from Itachi, dammit, I'll do it on my own! I can take that bastard on any day of the week, cha!

Her thought process was interrupted by a bemused Shizune, who had appeared in the doorway while Sakura was preoccupied with washing her hands. Shizune had been surprised when Sakura had shown up on her day off, begging Shizune to let her help out for a while. Shizune had allowed her to, of course, but had observed the girl she thought of as a younger sister closely all day, noticing signs of worry and anger on her face. Now she was watching Sakura almost tear the skin off of her hands with the way she was absentmindedly washing them.

She cleared her throat, catching Sakura's attention. "I think your hands are fairly clean now, Sakura." She said with amusement.

Sakura blushed, turned off the tap, and dried her hands in quick succession. "Sorry, Shizune-nee-san, I was…thinking."

Shizune smiled, and said, "Sakura-chan, why don't you go home for the night? It's pretty slow around here now, so most of the other nurses are heading out as well."

The younger girl nodded her assent, and began to slip by Shizune and out the door.

"Sakura-chan, please wait for just a moment."

Sakura turned around, wearing a puzzled look. "Yes?" She questioned.

Shizune examined her face. "Are you feeling all right lately? You look a little worse for wear, Sakura."

To the elder medic's surprise, Sakura grinned broadly, telling her with a determined look, "Oh, I'm fine, Shizune-nee-san. I've just been a little worried about a weasel problem my apartment's been having recently, but it's definitely going to be taken care of." And with that, Sakura bid Shizune goodnight, and walked out the door, leaving a mystified med-nin in her wake.

Sakura hummed cheerfully as she swept around her kitchen, thoughtlessly pulling her short hair into a messy ponytail so she didn't get any strands of hair into the brownie batter. The last time she had made brownies and forgotten to put her hair up, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and Sasuke all complained that they were finding pink strands in their brownies. Not that it stopped them from eating them, Sakura couldn't help but think almost gloatingly, 'cause I make the best brownies in all of Konoha, believe it! She suddenly stood still in the middle of her kitchen. Did I really just use Naruto's catchphrase? Oh god, I must be going senile. Damn Uchihas, this is all their fault. She shook her head slightly, and went back to assembling her secret ingredients.

Sakura was actually a fairly adept cook, having been forced to learn when she became a member of team seven. Traveling for days on end with three men who had no idea how to use a pan or prevent a meal from burning had eventually worn out on the twelve year-old's nerves, and she took to closely watching her mother prepare meals for her family every day.

Brownies, however, were Sakura's specialty. She had initially begun making them as a form of stress relief, as stuffing herself full of brownies when she was depressed or tired was even better than the ice cream most women used to combat such emotions. Eventually, due to the number of stress filled days Sakura had each year (with a smut-reading, lazy jounin for a teacher, and a hyper troublemaker and stoic young man for teammates who wouldn't stop fighting, it was understandable that she had more stressful days than carefree ones), she managed to perfect her brownie-making to an art. Even the toughest of people melted in the face of the chocolate goodness.

When she was done mixing, tasting, stirring, and adding a pinch of this and that, she emptied all the batter into a pan, set it in the oven, and ambled out into her living room to lounge on her battered blue couch, looking towards having a few minutes of relaxation. Unfortunately for Sakura, it was not meant to be, for as soon as she flopped down on the couch, her eyes slipping blissfully shut, something landed on her head.

Something extremely large, and tremendously heavy.

She let out a horrified yelp, and leapt off the couch. Sakura's reflexes kicked in, and she immediately shot her hand out to grab whatever it was that was currently on her head. Before she could get a hold on it, the weight on her head lifted, and she found herself looking into the red eyes of an abnormally large hawk, which was haughtily looking at her from its perch on her couch.

She wasn't sure exactly what type of hawk it was, but it had majestically colored feathers of varying reds, as well as ones of gold and amber. Its talons were so sharp that she eyed them rather nervously, but then again, the curved beak with a brown band of color running horizontal across it looked rather lethal as well. Sakura found herself at a loss of what to do. Just how in the world did a bird that big get in her house anyways? And an even better question, how the hell did she get it out of her house? She really didn't want to kill something so striking, so proud, so—

"My summoner, Uchiha Itachi, has requested you send a reply to the demands made of you yesterday in the evening."

Sakura gaped at the hawk wordlessly, and then sadistically wondered if hawk tasted better fried or grilled.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate any helpful tips, constructive criticism, or just nice reviews ;-)