Hello, ladies and gents, how is everyone? I'm worried about my younger brother. He's really sick, and he's in the hospital. But on with the story!

Disclaimer: I still own jack shit.

Dedication: To the evils and the angels in my world. I love you all. Can you guess what song I'm listening to?

---

I was lying on my bed that night, still going over the conversation with Anko from the day before in my head, and I realized something. She had never answered the question that had started the entire conversation.

She'd never explained why Sasuke calls me 'princess'. Damn it, and both Anko and Kakashi had gone out tonight, to celebrate their anniversary. I'd totally forgotten about it, but I guess that suited them just fine. They prefer things like that to be private, and I don't blame them.

Privacy is a wonderful thing.

I sighed, and rolled over, and got a look at my still-barren room. There were boxes everywhere, because I really hadn't had time to unpack (okay, that was a lie, but whatever), and I'd had no motivation to unpack whatsoever.

I'd had no motivation to unpack because I hadn't been planning on staying her long. I had wanted to go back to New York, or Toronto, or Hong Kong, or anywhere other then this tiny city.

And really, I still wanted to go. But I couldn't. Not now. Now I had a partner. I shuddered at the thought. It's just so wrong! That means I actually have to care what someone else is doing while I'm killing leeches. Urgh.

And, of all people, it has to be my worst nightmare! Please, Tsunade, couldn't you have picked anyone else?! But of course she couldn't. Tomorrow I should probably go to school. Today had been beyond boring, but… mneeh. I really didn't want to go. And I had so much to do…

I'm sure I could get away with not going. Especially if it was for work. Kakashi wouldn't get mad if I went to help Tsunade for extra work. He might be less forgiving if I just didn't want to go school, but if I have a good enough reason… I'm sure he'll see it my way.

And if not, I appeal to Anko, and then I win anyways.

I took another look at the still-unpacked boxes, sighed, and started unpacking.

---

Urgh, I had no idea I had so much stuff. Really random stuff, too, like old records of leech attacks that were misinterpreted by the human authorities. And believe me, it happens a lot. And the poor human guys who have to deal with it. They have no idea what they're fighting, and not only that, they have no chance of winning. Do they not understand that?

I picked up one of the really old newspapers (it was from over four years ago), and smiled nostalgically at it. It had been one of the first leeches I had ever killed, this one. It hadn't even been that strong, but it had been wreaking havoc in Washington, and it had been supremely annoying Tsunade.

And she would have sent Kakashi on it, too, but, noooo, Kakashi got lazy, so poor, eleven-year-old Sakura had to do it. Picture this. A tiny girl with pink hair, clutching a rifle that looked way too big for her, standing in the middle of a park at sunset. It didn't take long for the leech to find me, and it took me even less time to put a bullet through its head.

And that was one of the first times I'd ever seen a leech die. At that point, it still scared me when a leech would die. I hadn't gotten used to the way they made that nasty gargling sound, burst into flames, and then turned into ash. And Kakashi hadn't exactly warned me about that part.

But of course he wouldn't. He wanted me to understand what the real world was like. And let me tell you, he certainly managed that. For that first year, I would go home feeling sick to my stomach from just having murdered (in my eleven-year-old mind) a sentient being.

And then I watched a tiny little boy nearly die of blood loss because one of those things was feeding on him. After that, I was past caring. I stopped the leech, and saved the kid's life, but it left an impact on me that I'll never forget. The way the kid's eyes were so wide, so terrified, reminded me of my six-year-old self, and I knew I couldn't let some mother cry at that kid's funeral.

I just couldn't let it happen.

And now, bloodshed and all, I'm standing in tiny room in this tiny, dirty town, and I'm staring at this old, dirty piece of paper, and, looking back at that moment now, I think that I was really a screwed-up girl, because I didn't hesitate.

But it didn't matter now.

A crash broke through my thoughts. What the hell, was there anyone else in the house? I snapped my head up, grabbed the twin knives lying on my desk, and slipped down the stairs, one knife pointing forward, and the other, backwards. That was the best positions for these kinds of knives, I reflected quickly, Kakashi's training affecting even my common sense.

It was dark on the main floor, but the layout of the house wasn't all that hard, and there was a darker spot, something that couldn't be a natural shadow, hiding in the middle of the kitchen.

Silent steps later, and I was at the intruder's back, my knife pressing into the back of his neck. He stiffened, and I smirked in triumph and brought my lips to his ear. "Hello there. What are you doing in my darkened house when my parents are out?" He stuggled a bit, and I kept whispering. "Don't move sweetheart, or I'm going to rip your throat out."

While he was distracted by the fact that there was a deadly weapon pressed into his neck, and that I was whispering in his ear (I don't normally do things like that, you know), I whipped the other knife up, and was about to slices it into his jugular, but a hand stopped me.

That hand threw me against the counter, and trapped me against it. Damn. The knife that had been at the back of his throat caught his skin and ripped through it, but only just. I hissed, knowing I was trapped. How had he moved so fast? Whoever it was, they weren't a normal human, because no one had ever out maneuvered me when it came to speed. And he was bigger then me, so much taller, and I couldn't move at all. And, damn, I'd dropped both the knives. I'd heard them clatter to the ground, the sharpened silver clinking efficiently. Double damn.

While we were standing there, this person and me, the most amazing scent washed over me. It was amazing, but, at the same time, somehow familiar. Where had I smelled it before? My eyes clouded over for a fraction of a second, and I let myself revel in it, before concentrating on the task at hand.

I could hear heavy breathing, and I realized as a chill ran through my blood that it could only be a leech. No normal human could move that fast. And I knew, without a doubt, that he wouldn't be leaving a girl with thick, hot blood running through her veins alive. Damn. Kakashi would not be happy if he came home to my dead body. A sigh escaped my lips as I waited for the pin prick of fangs against my neck, and whoever it was stiffened again.

I blinked at this sudden, and rather unexpected, advantage. He had frozen up just because I'd breathed on him?

Well, that brought all sorts of things that I could do to get out this situation to mind. The knives were still on the ground, unforgotten. I had better be careful where I moved; they would tear through skin easier then, well, the best analogy I had at that second was 'easier then a knife through warm butter'. Which is kind of lame, considering it was a knife we're talking about.

The heavy breathing didn't let up, and I let out another soft sigh, and was satisfied to feel him freeze once again. My arms were free, and I gently reached up, and touched the place where the heavy breathing was coming from.

I could feel soft skin. Warm, soft skin. Alive. So it wasn't a leech. My body relaxed slightly when I realized that I wasn't going to be turned, and I think that he could feel it, because he tensed up again. Poor boy. If you're wondering how I knew it was a boy… that's easy. I was pressed up against him. I knew this intruder was a boy.

I traced my fingers down a straight, aquiline nose, and touched his lip. Oh. Oh. An evil, wicked idea crossed my mind. You know those things that you know you shouldn't do, but that evil, bitchy part of you wants to, and decides to take control of your body? Yeah. That's what happened here.

I reached my fingers up into his hair, and pulled him closer, and his breathing, still heavy, sped up. He didn't pull away when I tugged him closer, and I smirked in the darkness. I could taste revenge on my tongue.

After all, if there's one thing I do know, it's that no boy, no matter his age, is able to control his hormones.

We stood there for another half-second, his lips just mere inches from mine. I knew that if I stood up on tiptoe, I would be able to kiss him. I smirked again, victory thick on my tongue.

I wouldn't think until later that I hadn't been fighting a battle at all, so why was there a taste of victory in the air? It didn't matter, because at that moment, something snapped, inside him or me, I was never to be sure, and I tugged him the mere inches closer, and his lips were on mine.

It wasn't quite like anything I'd ever experienced before. It was fire-hot and full of something I never have a name for, sweet but bitter at the same time. He almost tasted like chocolate, but it was too bitter to be chocolate. Maybe cocoa without sugar, then, with that bitterness. But it was wonderful, and I hated him for it.

I hated him, because I didn't even know his name.

He wasn't keeping me trapped the way he had been before, and then his arms slipped around my waist, and I just pulled him closer. I may have hated him, but right then, I knew he was mine. He was mine, and I wanted him.

His tongue danced along my lips, just as his fingers grazed underneath my loose pajama tank top. I gasped, and he took advantage of that. Bastard.

I didn't know how long it lasted, but it must have been a while, because a little later, I heard Kakashi and Anko come in through the front door. I pulled away from him with a gasp, and tried to pull out of his grip.

He didn't let me.

So I tugged harder. He simply renewed his grip on my waist, and pulled me, if possible, closer to his body. That scent washed over my body, and I was, once again, momentarily stunned. I couldn't think when he was that close. Where had I smelled it before? I was sure I knew it…

"Kakashi's gonna kill you if he see's us. Or he might just leave you to Anko."

He didn't say anything, but I could feel him smile against my throat, before placing one long, lasting open-mouthed kiss there.

And then the light flickered on.

((Do you people have any idea how much I wanted to end it there?!))

And I realized I was looking up into the smirking face of my worst enemy-slash-nightmare-partner. Oh, god no. Please no. Tell me this is a dream. No, not a dream. A nightmare. No, not even a nightmare, a nightmare is usually nicer then this. A night-terror. Yes, that was it.

A squeaked "Sakura?!" brought me to my senses. I turned in the bastard's grip, and found myself staring at a flabbergasted Kakashi, his eyes wider then the full moon, and a smirking Anko, both of them watching their precious daughter basically making out with Sasuke Uchiha, in what used to be a very dark room. Oh dear god.

"Uh… Hi?" was what I managed to get out, albeit in a voice two or three octaves higher then normal.

"About damn time," was all Anko muttered, and she grabbed Kakashi by the back of his head, and tugged him sharply by the hair out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, she stuck her head back in a said, in that evil, happy voice of hers, with the biggest smirk the world has ever seen plastered on her lips, "Condoms cost less then babies. Have fun, kiddies!"

I stared after her, my eyes probably wider then dinner plates, the bastard behind me momentarily forgotten. She did not just tell me that condoms cost less then babies. She did not just go there.

But I guess she did, because the bastard (I refuse to even call him by his last name, now) whipped me around to face him.

Okay, I was wrong before. Anko has the second-biggest smirk on the planet. The bastard's was about twice as big as her. Oh, how can he be so bloody calm?!

'He was the one who showed up in your house, dipshit! He was probably expecting something like this to happen!!!' said the sardonic little voice in the back of my head, the one that always spoke in Anko's voice. Damn. She was right. Or I was right. Or… whatever.

I clenched my teeth, and hissed out "Let. Me. Go. Now."

"And why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I'm going to can you so hard, you'll never have children."

He pressed me against the counter again, and I realized I couldn't move either of my legs if I wanted to stay standing. Fucking hell. Please god, what did I do to deserve this? He lowered his lips to my ear, and caught the lobe of my ear between his teeth. A shudder ran down my spine as he tugged gently on it, although I wasn't sure if it was pleasure or disgust. I was leaning towards disgust.

… I hoped.

"You don't want me to let you go. Or you'd have gotten out of this position a long time ago."

"I didn't know it was you a long time ago!!!" I hissed at him, thoroughly disturbed that he was right.

"Oh, so you go around making out with random guys?" he asked me, his lips still too close to my ear for comfort. This is the second time in a day that he's invaded my personal bubble! How dare he?!

"I guess I do go around making out with random guys, especially when they turn up in my kitchen, in the middle of the night!" I all but screeched at him.

He shut up fairly effectively when he sealed my lips off with his. Bastard. But… ohh… that was nice… Anko's voice sounded in my head condoms-cost-less-then-babies-less-then-less-then-what-are-you-doing-you-dumb-bitch?! and I pulled away from him. It was hard, like moving through liquid, but I managed it. Go me!

"If you ever kiss me again, I will make sure that you disappear on our next mission, partner or not."

He smirked down benignly at me (how does he do that? How can one smirk benignly? Isn't that sort of contradictory?), and then he pulled away from me. My traitorous body instantly missed his, missed the heat he gave off. I shut said traitorous body up with a mental slap.

"Get out." I murmured, all the fire gone, suddenly. Suddenly, I was so tired. Too tired to even consider yelling. What was the point? I stared at the ground, not wanting to meet his eyes. I knew if I did that, I wouldn't be able to stay mad at him.

"Princess, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Just get out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He didn't move.

"I just have a question, Uchiha."

"…Ask me, then."

"Why do you call me that? Why can't it just be enough that I don't like you? Why do you… why do… why?"

"Because." And then he walked out of the kitchen, and I heard his footsteps padding softly out the front door. It felt like he was walking out of my life. Good.

I sank down to my knees, and simply let the tears fall. I didn't make a sound, didn't let out a whimper, didn't scream, didn't sniffle. I simply let the tears run down my cheeks, taking mascara and black eye liner with them. I just let them fall.

And that was where I stayed; sitting of the floor, tear tracks on my cheeks, until the next morning.

---

Anko came down first, and found me. She didn't even ask if I wanted to go to school. She just pulled me to my feet without a word, and dragged me to my favorite ugly, puke orange couch. And then she wrapped me up in a couple of her nutty quilts, and went and got my some breakfast.

I cuddled deep into the couch, the first move I'd made all night. I hadn't slept (did you expect me to?), and my muscles screamed at the movement. I hissed softly.

Anko came back with a cup of tea, and sat down in front of me. She was giving me her I-am-your-mother-so-tell-me-what-happened-right-this-instant-look. Sigh. I decided on a diversionary tactic. She still hadn't answered my question.

"Why does he call me princess, Anko? And don't avoid the question this time, because I know you did yesterday."

She winced, and I knew I had her. "He calls you princess because you are his princess."

I blinked, not understanding her meaning. "Care to explain?"

"Sakura, have you ever wondered why Kakashi and I have kept you out of normal school?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Because I have no patience, and I'd probably have ended up hurting some annoying kid who was bigger then me."

She winced again, and nodded. "Well, there was that. But there was also, well, there was also something else."

"Else? Anko, please don't make me force this out of you."

She sighed, winced for a third time, and continued. "Sakura, you don't remember, because you were still passed out. But your mother and Mikoto, there was something else they had promised from their childhood, and then again when Sasuke and you were born."

Oh no, somehow I could see where this was going… "And just what was it, specifically, that they promised?"

"They promised that you two would get married. Of course, they had no idea what was going to happen. But they wanted it to happen."

I opened my mouth to say something, but she held up a hand to stop me.

"You two aren't engaged. They weren't that old fashioned."

I closed my mouth in relief.

But still, she continued. "But when you were out, Sakura, just after your family had passed on, Mikoto and Sasuke and Fugaku and Itachi, they came to see you. Itachi could barely look at you, if I remember correctly, because you looked so much like your brother, pink hair, stubborn chin, and all."

I blinked. You learn something new everyday, no? (Or, in my case, you learn enough cataclysmic information to kill a person in a day.)

"They offered to take you."

My jaw dropped a foot and a half. (Part of my brain registered more cataclysmic information. Sigh.)

"I refused, of course. You were already mine. There was no will prepared, but everyone knew you'd either be left in Tsunade's or Mikoto's care. And Tsunade decided that it would be best if you were left with me. Mikoto was terrified that you would never be the same, and she didn't want a seventeen year old to have to deal with the weight that a child can bring. Not to mention the fact that you'd probably be torn with grief. No child can live through what you lived through and not come out changed."

She stopped, and took a deep breath. "We were all standing around your bed. You were asleep so soundly, like there was nothing going on. But you wouldn't let go of my hand, and that helped Mikoto understand that you wanted me to be around, and not someone else.

"It also made her realize something, I think. She realized that you could disappear just as quickly as your mother had, and she didn't want that to happen. So she made Fugaku and Itachi and Kakashi leave. She told them it was girl stuff that involved Sasuke. They left willingly after the 'girl talk' part."

She laughed, and I found myself hanging on to her every word.

"She picked Sasuke up, and put him on the bed. He sat next to you, and just stared at you for a little bit. And then he reached out and took your other hand. I think he understood that you were going to be very alone for a long time.

And then he said that he wanted to protect you forever. Mikoto explained that he probably couldn't do that, because we would be traveling a lot, and that he wouldn't see you for a very long time. But he was adamant about it."

She shook her head with another laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen such determination in any kid. Well, any kid except you, anyways. But anyways. Back to the story. And then he said that you were his princess. It didn't matter to him if you weren't going to see each other for a long time; all that mattered was that you were his. Mikoto started crying, because it was, in a way, fulfilling a long-dead promise, but she told him she couldn't promise that you would always be his."

She stopped, and then started again. It was like she was remembering something that was particularly sweet. "But he stuck to it for another half-hour, until we both gave in. And then he kissed you on the forehead, and that was that. They left, but from then on, Sakura, part of you was always with him."

I blinked again, letting my brain process. Stupid cataclysmic information. This was the third time in two days that my life had been irrevocably changed. Damn. I rubbed my forehead, my eyebrows furrowed.

"So basically, in a way, I belong to him?"

With yet another wince, she said "You could say that."

"Well, that makes things… complicated."

"Complicated doesn't even begin to cover it, sweetheart. Although," she said, a smirk once again making its way onto her lips "You should have seen the look on Kakashi's face last night. I think you two almost gave him a heart attack."

And then we both looked at each other for a moment, before breaking down, howls of laughter getting the better of the two of us.

We laughed for ten minutes, and then a very grumpy Kakashi came down the stairs, his white hair all tussled, and he wasn't even wearing his customary hunting mask. He looked at us like we were crazy, both his scarred eye and his normal eye deciding it was better to ignore us.

Anko jumped up, and glomped him, just like she did every other morning. And then they argued over what to have for breakfast, whether it was chocolate-covered bacon (Anko's two favorite foods combined), or pancakes (my favorite food), or simply toast, just like every other morning.

Warmth ran through my chest as I watched them. This was my family. They were all that mattered.

I turned my attention to the Uchiha (yes, I've gone back to calling him by his last name. 'The bastard' is too long, and it gives him distinction. I don't just nickname random people, after all) issue. There were a lot of ways to approach the whole thing, and I wasn't quite sure which one would be best.

But at least I would always have Kakashi and Anko on my side.

I looked over at my phone.

It was time to call Hinata.