Not My Day

(A/N: For starters; the beginning of this chapter is Ayako's dream! Then it will skip back to the Daimyo's birthday… oh forget it! You'll see it when you read it. Enjoy the show.)

"Dad, mom, I passed the test! I'm a jonin now!" Ayako shouted as she raced through the halls of the Uchiha main house. At 14 years of age, Ayako followed in her father's footsteps as a prodigy of the Uchiha clan (although she wasn't as gifted as he was at her age). Taking a sharp left towards the trophy room, Ayako skidded to an abrupt halt when the council members exited her intended destination. She bowed politely to them and waited for them to turn the corner before entering the room.

Itachi stood next to a rather large display case, all of which belonged to his ill father. His parents had fallen ill a few weeks ago, Itachi worked with the council in his father's stead while Sakura worked to find a cure. Ayako had been told not to worry about her grandparents, but to focus instead on her studies and training. That did little to ease her fears for her grandparents who were always such a strong presence in her life.

"Papa, I'm home." She announced from the doorway, even though she knew that he knew she was there (aside from her shouting, of course). Itachi waved her over without turning to her as he continued to look over the glass case. He seemed to be troubled by something as she approached him; shoulders slumped in defeat, head hung low and eyes narrowed in concentration. Not at all like the man who would always greet her with a smile, no matter the situation.

"Angel," he spoke softly, "how did it go?" she could tell by his distant tone, he wasn't really paying attention to her. Perceptive as ever, Ayako placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, leaning closer to her father.

"Daddy, are you alright?" now she was scared. Itachi had turned to look at her and she saw the most unfamiliar look in his eyes; fear. As far as she knew, Itachi was afraid of nothing and nobody. Something was up and Ayako wasn't so sure she wanted to know.

"I won't lie to you; they may not make it." He spoke softer than before, no point in sparing her details when tomorrow her grandparents may not be among the living. Ayako frowned and leaned her forehead onto his shoulder. She hugged his arm in support, not sure of what to say. "Don't tell your brothers. Akito wouldn't understand and Shiro would most likely get carried away only to have them make a full recovery."

"But they may not?" she whispered softly into his arm. She felt him nod his answer. Ayako let out a shaky breath, determined not to cry as tears stung her eyes.

"Do me a favor," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. "I haven't cried in a long, long time. Let them fall…and cry for me. I'm afraid I've forgotten how."

And just like that, a dam had been released and she cried into his chest. Itachi didn't grieve like others; he didn't grieve at all (case-in-point, Shisui). He learned early that grieving was a weakness, but Sakura changed that. Though he lived with regret, Itachi just couldn't bring himself to feel that kind of emotion for anyone… that is, until Ayako was born. But it had been too long since he felt anything and these new feelings were just a burden that he would have to deal with.

After a while, the tears subsided and Ayako wiped the salty substance from her cheeks.

"I guess I should tell grandpa that I passed... it'll make him happy." She sighed and took a step back. Itachi admired her conviction to protect her family, like himself. She had to be strong for her brothers just like Itachi had to be strong for their family… and now the clan.

"Go on now, I'll be here when you get back." He gave a small smirk, letting her know that he was never too busy to talk to her. And so she left.

Her mind flashed to a week later. Fugaku and Mikoto had passed away and Ayako was preparing for her first jonin mission.

Ayako's bag was packed and sitting next to her bedroom door.

"Aya, are you ready?" Riku asked as he knocked on her door. Their jonin team was heading out in an hour and he had taken it upon himself to get her. After the loss of her beloved grandparents, Ayako hadn't been the same. She was quiet now… more so than before. There was a rustling sound from inside and Riku stepped aside as the door swung open. Ayako stepped into the hallway and closed her door as she slung her pack over her shoulder.

"I'm good. We should head out, if you still want to have lunch before we go." She commented lightly, walking down the hall ahead of him. If he wasn't mistaken, Riku could have sworn that she had been crying. Her eyes seemed a little puffier than usual, her eyes a little more red. He could have been mistaken…with the funeral just the day before, the entire clan stood in front of the chiseled marble stone, Sharingan ablaze in their eyes; maybe he was seeing things.

Riku walked quietly behind her, into the kitchen as she made a trip over to the table to tell Itachi that they were heading out. Itachi gave the Hyuuga boy a stern glare, which translated roughly into 'watch out for her or I'll kill you'. Message received, loud and clear.

The trip to their appointed destination was a long, quiet one, not that anyone minded. Ayako and Riku sat by the fire across from Hinato, Naruto's oldest son, and Sasuke, their leader for this mission. Hinato, Riku and Ayako made up team seven…well, the new team seven. Gennosuke had been their third member but he had mysteriously disappeared the year before without a word or a clue to his whereabouts. Sasuke was their acting team captain since Kakashi had retired and would remain their captain until one of the team was able to step up to the plate.

"It's getting late, we should get some rest." Ayako commented as she stood. She and Sasuke shared a tent while Riku and Hinato shared the other. But one person from each tent would take watch while the other slept. It was Ayako's idea and a good one at that. All bets were leaning towards Ayako to take the helm.

It was four hours into her shift when she felt a familiar chakra signature. She looked to Riku who nodded at her. Activating his Byakugan, Riku was able to spot a figure a hundred yards away and closing… fast. Ayako let out a loud whistle that woke the others as she activated her Sharingan.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" the figure yelled. A full scaled assault was launched on the group as wind rushed through the clearing, so strong it cut the tops of the trees, sending them crashing to the ground.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu," Ayako fired back with the Uchiha trademark 'Grand Fireball'. A harsh cry erupted from the male figure as he took the blast head on. He hit the ground with a thump.

There was a pause as they waited to see if the man would get back up, but he remained on the ground…unmoving.

"Is anyone injured?" Ayako asked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, my arm's cut but not bad." Sasuke said as he walked toward her. Ayako nodded and moved over to her uncle to inspect the damage.

"Riku, find out who it is. We may be able to gather information from the body." She commanded as she looked over Sasuke's arm. It was healed in no time.

Riku returned to the group, his complexion had paled considerably.

"You may want to have a look." He said to Ayako directly. She had finished healing Sasuke's arm and stood to greet her frightened friend.

"What is it?" she questioned as she followed him back to the corpse. He turned the body over, just enough so she could see his face. Brown hair, the familiar scar on his right cheek; it was him. She had just killed her best friend.

"Oh my god…Gennosuke!" she dropped to her knees, clutching her head. Her eyes hurt; they felt like they were on fire.

"What's the matter, Ayako?" Sasuke snapped as he rushed to her side. When she looked up at him Sasuke could only stare at the crimson orbs that stared back. "Mange-"

Ayako sat up with a start; eyes ablaze with… Mangekyo Sharingan, body slick with sweat and heaving gasps to catch her breath. She hadn't had that dream for over a year. Why? Why now? That's when she realized that there was someone pounding on the front door. She heard Itachi walk down the hall, heading for the stairs as she deactivated her Sharingan.

"Princess, its Shizune." Karachi said as he looked out the window. Ayako sighed and looked at the clock.

"It's three in the damn morning! Why is she here?" she said and rose from her bed. Ayako went into her bathroom and washed her face. She returned a moment later and instead of going back to bed, Ayako slipped out of her room and went down stairs.

"Ayako's expertise is required at the hospital immediately." She heard Shizune exclaim from the front entrance. At that, Ayako doubled her pace to her father's side and stopped.

"What's the matter?" she asked the obviously frantic woman before her.

"A patient just came in and we can't figure out what's wrong. Tsunade believes it to be poison. We need you now." Shizune explained in a rushed breath. Ayako nodded as she slipped on her sandals.

"I'll meet you at the hospital."

~xxx~

(8 p.m. the night before.)

The day had been going so well but now, Haruka and Mizuki, Ken's mother, sat by the fire enjoying a nice cup of tea as they watched the rain patter on the windows.

"It's a pity Ken and Hideki couldn't be here. I so miss my son and eldest grandchild." Mizuki said as she took another sip of her tea.

The two women couldn't be more different. Mizuki enjoyed the bitter taste of an aged Earl Grey tea while Haruka indulged in the splendor of her tangerine flavored brew. Mizuki preferred to knit stockings for anyone and everyone while Haruka would rather walk the garden path than be cooped up inside all day. The one thing they did agree on, however, was Hideki's education. Both women knew that he would, one day, have to make alliances with ninja villages, so it was important that he learn of their culture. That also meant he would have to learn how to defend himself like a ninja. Though it is illegal for a civilian to pick up a ninja weapon (except in life threatening situations), there was nothing to stop him from learning Taijutsu.

They got along well enough, but Mizuki never really wanted Haruka and Ken to marry. She has two grandchildren now, so she can't really complain, can she?

"I really wish you could meet Aya-chan. She's a beautiful girl and wonderful shinobi." That got Mizuki's attention.

"A shinobi you say?" asked the seventy-something year old woman, her silver hair falling gracefully on her shoulders.

"Yes. We met her in a small village on our way to Konoha. Aya-chan is our bodyguard and escort whenever we stay." Haruka said with a bright smile.

"How did you meet her?" the older woman inquired.

"We were in the village when this man took my purse." She explained, holding up her coin pouch. "Aya-chan stopped him and brought it back to me."

They were in a deep discussion about the ANBU girl when Haruka started to cough and spit up blood.

"Tam-san…!" Mizuki commanded as she rose from her chair and knelt next to Haruka.

A blond-haired, brown-eyed girl rushed into the room. "Yes ma'am?" she asked as her eyes landed on her mistress.

"Get the doctor, something's wrong." Tam turned heel and ran out of the room and down the hall. Moments later, she and an older gentleman rushed inside and to Haruka's aid. But it was no use; he wasn't able to help her.

"We have to get her to Konoha. Tsunade will be able to figure out this illness." Tomoki spoke as he hurriedly scribbled on a pad of paper. "Send this ahead to Tsunade, Haruka-sama will need immediate care." He commanded to a nearby guard.

Heading out of the palace, Tomoki, Tam and Haruka climbed into the first carriage while Mizuki carried a sleeping Aki into the second. Then they were off; into the darkening depths of the forest.

~xxx~

The letter reached Tsunade hours later. It was well pass midnight as she exited her office. Making her nightly rounds around the village, Tsunade overheard the harsh whispers of someone talking to the guards at the north gate.

"What's going on here?" she demanded as she crossed her arms. Tsunade was tired, cold and in desperate need of a strong drink… thanks to a long meeting with the elders council. So, having an unexpected visitor at her gates was a very unwelcoming end to her day.

"Hokage-sama, I bring news from the palace. Fujimura-sama is ill, our doctor couldn't help her, so she is on her way here." The runner said as he handed Tsunade the letter. She read it over and nodded.

"Kotetsu, take the messenger to the Kage suite for the night. Izumo, keep the gates open, we're expecting the rest of the noble family within the hour. Escort them to the hospital while I ready the medical staff." She commanded then turned heel and stormed off to the hospital.

~xxx~

Ayako arrived at the hospital only minutes after leaving her house, on the other side of the village. She had seen the carriage outside and was dreading finding out which of the noble family was sick. The young Uchiha girl stepped through the doorway and was greeted by a nurse. Ayako took the clipboard from the young flustered nurse as she rattled off the condition of the patient.

"Stop blabbering and tell me exactly what is going on! We cannot afford to waste time here." Ayako snapped while the nurse took a deep breath. She had been stuttering and pausing during her explanation which thoroughly ticked the Uchiha off.

"She has rapid build up of fluid in her lungs, there also seems to be internal bleeding." Miki said, running a hand through her short brown hair. Ayako gave her an incredulous look.

"All that stuttering for that simple of an explanation, what had you so worked up that you couldn't just tell me?" Miki short a glare at Ayako.

"If Tsunade-sama wasn't so edgy, I wouldn't be s-s-stuttering!" she defended, shrewdly pointing her finger toward the E.R. Ayako nodded and flipped to the next page.

"I have to speak with the family before I start working; tell Tsunade I'm here and that I'll be right in." Miki took off running. "This is a hospital; walk!" Ayako called after the girl.

Ayako walked into the waiting room and padded over to the small group of people in the room.

"Is Haruka-sama alright?" the first question short out before anyone could be addressed.

"We won't be able to help her until I get some information first." She responded with a small nod.

"And whom might you be?" asked an elderly woman who cradled a small boy in her arms.

"I am Uchiha Ayako, poisons expert." There was a long pause.

"Do you believe that Haruka-sama was poisoned?" an older man asked.

"That's why I was summoned. I'm here to discern whether or not she had been poisoned." Ayako answered as she turned to address the man behind the couch. Switching gears, Ayako sat down in front of the older woman. "Ma'am…"

"Mizuki, you may call me Mizuki." Ayako smiled at that.

"Mizuki-sama, can you tell me what happened? The more you can tell me, the faster we can diagnose her illness."

Mizuki seemed to think for a while before answering the question. "We were talking about you, actually," she said with a small smile. That was a surprise to Ayako. "Then she started to cough. There was some blood in her mouth then we came here after Tomoki tried to help." Ayako scribbled furiously in the comments section as she listened to Mizuki speak.

"Did Haruka-sama have anything to eat or drink before she started coughing?" she asked, looking up from the clipboard.

"Yes, Tam-san made tea for us." Mizuki answered, turning to look at Tam. Said girl sat weeping on the couch with her head in her hands.

"I only made her a cup of tea, had I known it was poisoned, I wouldn't have served it." She wailed into her palms.

"Calm down Tam-san." Ayako cooed as she moved over to the girl next to Mizuki. "Tell me about the tea. What kind was it? Where did it come from?"

"It was a gift." She sniffled, looking up into onyx eyes. "It was a gift from the grass daimyo." Ayako nodded and stood, preparing to head to the E.R when Tam's hand shot out and grabbed hers. "Wait!" she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag. "This might help. I brought it with me, in case you might need a sample."

Inside the bag were herbs…tea herbs that carried the faint scent of tangerine.

"Thank you Tam-san, this will definitely come in handy." With that, Ayako walked off to the E.R.

~xxx~

"It's about damn time you showed up! I have no idea what kind of poison this is." Tsunade yelled as Ayako closed the door.

"Miki, take this to the lab and tell them I want the results now! Don't let them give you any crap, get it done." Ayako commanded as she tossed the bag over to Miki in the corner. "The rest of you, if you're not doing anything constructive…get out."

"What brought about this change?" Tsunade asked as she and Shizune worked to keep Haruka cool.

"When someone decided to poison my friend's mother." She answered, walking over to the bed to better assess the situation.

Tsunade sat back to watch the master at work. Well, Ayako was the most experienced person in the room that could deal with the current situation. Poison had never been Tsunade's forte, so teaching her last two students all she knew about that topic…well; let's just say that those were the shortest lessons they ever had.

"Until the lab results come in, the only thing we can do is keep her cool and start extracting the toxin." Ayako said after she examined Haruka's condition. Ayako used the same bubble technique Sakura used on Kankuro all those years ago, and began the extraction process.

"That's an odd color for a poison." Shizune commented as the milky-colored fluid filled the vial in Ayako's hand.

"We can determine the type of poison by its color." Ayako commented as she looked over the vial.

Tsunade sat down in the corner of the room, taking careful notes of Ayako's actions and words as she scribbled in short-hand what Ayako said.

"This type attacks the vascular system, most likely through inhalation."

"How can you tell?" Shizune piped up from the heart monitor on the other side of the bed.

Ayako handed her the vial and pointed to the substance within it. "It's more cream in color. Probably made for a powerful opponent that they user didn't want to get too close to."

"How does it work?" Tsunade asked from the corner, eyes trained on the young Uchiha girl.

"I don't know what poison it is but I have my suspicions." Ayako answered, lips pulling into a grim line. This did not look good.

"Please, do tell." Tsunade coaxed, pen at the ready. She definitely needed to learn more about Ayako's expertise.

"Well, from the information I've gathered from Mizuki-sama and Tam-san, this is either a rather potent dose or Haruka-sama is allergic to the tea that put her in this condition, causing the poison to take drastic effect." Ayako said with a nod. "We should also test her for allergies, just in case, and get Tam-san a bed."

"Why should we get Tam-san a bed?" Shizune asked as she placed another ice pack on Haruka's head.

"The poison is an inhalant; Tam-san prepared the tea, therefore, she had come into close contact with the poison as well."

Just then, Miki came back with the results.

"The techs said that this is rare, even for Konoha."

"What is it?" Tsunade demanded as she stood.

"Thorn Apple…but that can't be right." Ayako was baffled. "Start treatment immediately. It just so happens that we have the antidote here."

After another three grueling hours, Haruka opened her eyes.

"My stomach hurts." Her voice was hoarse from coughing, dry and scratchy. Shizune promptly forked over a glass of water.

~xxx~

Ken and Hideki sat with Mizuki while Aki sat on the floor playing 'Go Fish' with Akito and Shiro. Itachi stood by the window, looking out into the busy streets. Light flooded into the waiting room, casting its warm glow onto Sakura, who sat in the chair next to him, lightly dozing in and out of sleep.

Ayako rounded the corner and stepped quietly into the waiting room. Hideki was the first to notice her as he stood to greet her.

"Aya-chan… is she alright?" he asked as everyone turned their attention to her.

"Haruka-sama will make a full recovery. If you want to see her, she's been moved to a private room. Follow me please." Everyone moved at once. Little Aki scurried to Ayako's side and took her hand.

"My daddy says he trusts you, so it's ok for me to walk with you." The six year old smiled up at her. Aki was a spitting image of Hideki, with a chubby face and the same gorgeous blue eyes to boot.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Aki-kun. I bet you and my otouto, Akito-kun, will get along just fine." She said with a smile.

"I like Akito-san; he's a lot of fun. He told me he starts at the ninja academy today." Aki said with a grin.

That's right, he starts today… and she completely forgot. Ayako felt like an idiot now and she promised him she'd be there.

'Hopefully I can get out of here in time.' She thought then stopped at Haruka's room. Ayako opened the door and let Aki go in first then held the door open for the rest of the noble family. "I'll leave you alone so you can have some family time." She stepped into the hall and was immediately bombarded wit questions from Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune.

"Let's talk in my office." Tsunade announced as she practically skipped down the hall.

"This is so not my day."

~xxx~

"I can't believe she figured it out. I thought your poison was so potent that even Tsunade couldn't fix it." Snapped the blond; not only did the plan fail but now they had to report their failure to Leader-sama.

"She wasn't the intended target. The daimyo was supposed to drink the tea; not his wife." The redhead responded dryly.

"This does put a damper on our plans." The blond sighed as he stood from his perch on the opposing building. Both cloaked figures were shrouded in the shadows of the roof's water tower. "Now we have to wait for word from Leader-sama."

"I hate waiting."

A/N: You have to thank No-Idea-For-A-Name for this last little bit with the Akatsuki. Your comments helped! Thanks! Now, don't miss "Lurking in the Shadows" or you will miss all the Akatsuki action!