Sorry! I had computer problems! It completely crashed and burned…and I've been out of town for the past two weeks, sooooo…….yeah but enough about the past…Let's get down to it! Just a warning, though, this is a filler chapter. You may or may not like it and I apologize, but it is needed. ….I don't know…I think it's pretty awesome…Lol

Disclaimer….Yup I own nothing! **Goes and sulks in a corner**

Sakura sighed as she walked through the apartment once again and just like the previous time, she found it empty of the two Shinobi. Did they really go out that early to train?

Well it isn't exactly "early", reminded inner.

Another sigh left Sakura again. Inner was right. All night she had tossed and turned, not able to get any sleep. By the time she actually got out of bed, she realized that she had slept in till 7:20am. Of course the two would be out training, but hey, she could dream. The only thing that made it worse was the fact that she had absolutely no idea where they were.

With her head bent low, she walked back to the kitchen. "Might as well get something to eat…" She opened the refrigerator and scanned the semi-empty shelves with the exception of left overs from the night before and extra sake bottles.

"What is wrong with them?" she asked aloud but stopped and blinked as emerald eyes landed on an opened bottle. Of course any other time she would have looked over it but then again, any other time there wouldn't be a note sticking from the top.

Strange… She pulled the bottle out and examined it before pulling the note out carefully and unrolling it.

Kitten,

I knew I liked ya! Sake is the best way to start the morning, eh?! Sorry we left early but if ya wanted to train then we'll be on the outside of the gates 500 yards from the west side.

See ya!

P.S. Bring me a bottle when ya come.

Sakura smiled to herself and shook her head. There was definitely something wrong with them. Quickly, she closed the door and rushed back to her room where she grabbed her kunai bag and katana. With one last glance in the mirror, she pulled her hair into a high pony tail and rushed back through the hall to the living room.

Don't forget the bottle!

Sakura blinked and ran back to the kitchen to get Kisame's drink. It really wasn't anything new. After all, she always brought an extra bottle with her when she knew she had a hard days training with Tsunade….The truth was that it made the lessons go a lot smoother…

Once she was sure she had every thing, she did once last glance around the room before locking the door behind her and heading towards the gates of Konoha.

Not wanting to waste time, she took to the roof tops and summoned chakra to her feet; not much, only enough for her to gain speed but still remain undetectable from other teams that were training. It was one of her tricks that Kakashi had taught her. Many had a hard time mastering it while the rest never stood a chance. The perfect amount of chakra had to be distributed evenly in each foot while still staying under the radar of other shinobi. It took a large amount of chakra control, which Sakura found easy.

To tell you the truth, even Kakashi was impressed at how quickly she had mastered it. Though he knew he shouldn't be too surprised seeing as she was nearly as good in skill as Tsunade. Still, he admired the way she had developed her skills from when she was the 12 year old girl.

Of course this brought out a few things to Sakura's mind. The Anbu exams were supposed to be any day now and she desperately wanted to be signed up. It was all up to what Kakashi thought in the end. She knew that he had faith in her and was impressed with her progress, but she was still behind in her Ninjutsu and sword play. Kakashi had told her earlier that with the new teams, they wouldn't be able to practice one-on-one as much, which inevitably led to him subtly hinting that Itachi and Kisame were perfect for helping in both departments.

Sakura sighed once again as she landed quietly onto another roof. She had been having an inner conflict with that. The team arrangements were….stressful on her. Already she had managed to piss off Itachi to the point that Kisame had mentioned it the night before. She knew she had went too far with the accusations, but after the story that Kisame had told her, she couldn't even bring herself to feel any anger towards him at all. Don't get her wrong. She was far from pitying him all the same. It was a numb feeling….Something that she would place under the "embarrassment" category if she had to.

She had to apologize, but thinking it was much different then walking up to the stoic man and actually saying it. She could only imagine those piercing scarlet eyes staring at her in a deadly gaze.

A chill racked her spine just thinking about it and she tried to push the thoughts aside. Maybe she didn't have to apologize…maybe she could end up taking them out to dinner as a treat and then have them forget all about it….

"That may work," she said slowly.

After all, it would be a lot easier then taking a blow to her ego and apologizing for what she said, though she did make valid points in the argument….

I think you're getting off track. Even if you made good points, that doesn't mean that you went about it the right way.

That was sadly true.

"Damn…"

She guessed that was the end of it. She would have to apologize when the time came, but as for knowing how to go about it, she would rather cross that bridge when she came to it. Emerald eyes looked up to see the gates of Konoha getting closer. Obviously, the metaphoric bridge was just on the other side.

Sakura took a deep breath and pushed off faster. There was something else that bothered her. Seeing as kakashi was going to be busy with Tobi, she would…regrettably…..have to ask Itachi for help…

Could she do it?

She was nearly positive that she couldn't. There was just no way.

Well good luck with that….

Emerald eyes rolled at inner. "You're a lot of help."

I try.

Sakura shook her head and landed onto the ground in front of the gate.

"Hey Sakura! I didn't sense you coming!" greeted Kotetsu.

Izumo looked out from where he sat by the gate and grinned. "What are you up to?"

"Hey guys," she smiled. "I was just on my way out to train."

"Oh yeah," Izumo said slowly. "You were reassigned a new team, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Don't remind me."

"If you want to train with us anytime then don't hesitate to join in. It would be a lot of fun," Kotetsu grinned.

"Maybe next time," she waved as she took to the trees and left the two alone once again.

"How long do you think, till one of the Akatsuki is in the hospital from one of her punches?" Izumo asked aloud as he watched Sakura disappear through the trees.

Kotetsu scratched his head. "Can't say for sure, but only a matter of time before Hidan is found decapitated by Yamanaka."

Izumo sighed and shook his head knowing that it was sadly true.

*************

Sakura counted her paces as she continued through the tall trees. She hadn't been on the west side and she was curious as to why Itachi had decided to train outside the gates. The training grounds inside were in perfect condition and there were enough of them that you didn't need to worry about others interfering.

Then again, the Uchiha was a bit anti-social.

The sudden rise of chakra brought her crashing from her thoughts as she realized that she was near her team. She stopped along a wide branch and could feel Itachi and Kisame trading attacks through a few trees.

"Ok….Time to head down there…." She said slowly, willing herself to take a few steps to meet with them……..

Before she knew it, her feet had taken her behind a large tree as she peered through thick leaves down at the two Akatsuki. Grrrrr! Why can't I just suck it up and go down there?! She thought angrily.

Itachi ducked under a heavy swing from Kisame before flickering from his spot only to appear 20 ft away. Kisame grinned and jumped behind the calm Uchiha before striking again only for Itachi to jump above the blade and land on it safely.

Emerald eyes widened as she pushed more leaves from her view in the tree. How was Itachi able to stand on the blade without getting hurt? From what Kakashi had said, the blade sucked out your chakra and it wasn't exactly pleasant. On the contrary, it was like the blade was shaving your skin off just to get to your chakra….Ouch.

But Itachi merely jumped from the blade in a back flip and landed away safely.

"Keh," Kisame scoffed and lifted Samehada over his shoulder. "I still can't figure out how you managed to do that…."

"Don't expect to learn the trick today…" Itachi said calmly and looked up to Kisame, "or any other day for that matter."

Kisame frowned lightly, but shook his head and the grin was back. "That's fine. I'll figure it out on my own."

"We'll see if you can."

Sakura blinked at the conversation. Itachi and Kisame had their own bond it seemed. It was a small banter, but it was still something she never would have suspected between them. Then again Kisame always seemed to be more of a bronze then brains sort, which she found out, was wrong from the short conversations that she had. He was well educated and had his own opinions, much like her previous team mates.

It was only common sense that he and Itachi would have built a friendly connection seeing as they were team mates for years, not to mention that their lives depended on the each other in missions.

She scowled as she watched them dodge a few different attacks nimbly. Suddenly, she felt like she was out of the circle. Three always was a crowd, right? It looked like she had a lot of work cut out for her….

Looks like the tables are turned….

Inner was right. That seemed to be happening a lot these days. Not only did Sakura think that the two men would have a hard time fitting in, she also thought that they would be the ones coming to her more then anything. Not vise versa. What the Hell?!

By the time she was through with this, she wouldn't have an ego left!

"Kisame…"

The calm voice shook her from her sulk and she looked down in surprise to see Itachi under her tree.

"Huh?" Kisame grunted from the other side of the clearing as he pulled Samehada forcefully from the ground where he had missed Itachi.

"Did Haruno ever say that she was willing to train with us?"

Sakura held her breath as she tensed. Did he know she was there? Or was he really concerned if she wanted to train?.......No that couldn't be it. He probably was still angry with her from the argument that they had.

Kisame seemed to be just as puzzled before he recovered from his pause. Who could blame him? It was a random question. "Uh, she did say that she was wanting to, but she was still asleep when we left. The kitten probably forgot about it already."

"…Hn."

"Why do you ask?"

"….Curious." He flickered away from his spot and appeared in front of Kisame who barely managed to block the thirsty kunai. The dark haired man shifted his weight into his foot and sent a kick that collided into Kisame's side, forcing the Mist-nin to stumble backwards.

Itachi went into the kill and put two slender fingers to his mouth before blowing a huge fire ball in his teammate's direction.

Kisame gave a toothy grin and forced the water from a nearby river to intercept the blazing fire making a large crack! from the impact that deflected both jutsus. Hot steam burst from the attack and clouded the clearing from each ninjas' vision.

Sakura strained her eyes, trying all she could to see what would happen next. The heat from the steam clung to her, but she ignored it as her vision cleared enough for her to make out Kisame.

Suddenly her breathing hitched in her throat as warm breath fanned over the back of her neck. Her eyes widened and she reached her hand towards her kunai pouch, but a strong grip wrapped around her wrist before she was dragged to the forest floor. Before she could even blink, she was pushed into a tree with bark scrapping the front of her shirt and a body up against her back. Her arm was twisted painfully behind her where the hand holding her threatened to break her wrist.

"What's this? Pretending now are we?" Itachi questioned close to her ear.

"No!" Sakura hissed. She struggled to get out from his grasp but he only tightened it. Emerald eyes looked over her shoulder meeting his amused gaze which was much closer then she felt comfortable with, but she refused to show it. "Let go."

"…."

"Are you deaf now? I said let go!"

"I heard you the first time."

She paused in her struggles. "Then what's your problem?"

"You seem to know so much about me, Doctor," he answered as he added a cold tone when he said the last word. "Why don't you tell me?"

Sakura clenched her teeth and was about to retort when Kisame stood next to them. "Hey, kitten," he greeted as if she wasn't being held to a tree by Itachi. "Did ya bring the thing I asked from you?"

Sakura lowered her gaze to her feet where glass was shattered from when she was pulled from the tree. Kisame's uplifted attitude sank, but he just scratched the back of his head. "That's a damn shame."

"It wasn't my fault," she hissed through clenched teeth. For good measure, she tossed a heated glare at Itachi who hadn't taken his eyes from her. It was then that Sakura realized that he hadn't been using his sharringan. Instead he stared at her with blank clouded eyes. She felt the anger leave her and guilt began to seep through. After the argument, she had completely forgotten the severity of his sight not to mention that she couldn't even imagine how he was able to fight blindly. It wasn't like it was an easy task to just learn to fight without your sight as a guide. How was he able to do it? She hadn't even noticed that he couldn't see when she watched him fight Kisame….. And Orochimaru; he hadn't even noticed that Itachi was blind. If she hadn't worked on his eyes once already, there was no way she would've known.

"It's not polite to stare, Haruno."

Sakura blinked when she realized that she had been watching him. A small eek! leaked from her lips at the lack of space between them and she felt her cheeks turn red. She knew it was a pointless battle to try and hide her blush, so instead she chose to work with it. "I wasn't staring! Maybe you should take your own advice!"

At this Itachi chuckled and spun her so her back was against the tree. This didn't help her blush as it grew brighter. With a quick glance towards Kisame, she saw him sitting at the base of a near by tree as if it was an everyday thing, with Samehada lying across his lap.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her chin firmly and pulled her face to his. Emerald stared into a clouded onyx and an amused smirk curled his lips. It was then that it dawned on her that she was all alone with two S-class criminals in a forest outside of any help from other Konoha ninja….

Itachi was finding this very entertaining. The kunoichi had captured his attention and the more short encounters they had, the harder it became to figure her out. She was definitely different then other kunoichis….other Konoha ninja, for that matter.

"Why are you here, kunoichi?" he questioned as he leaned forward just enough to take away another layer of comfort.

Sakura swallowed. "I was going to train with Kisame."

"Is that so?" His tone was that of disinterest.

"Yeah, so if you would just let me go-"

"Kisame." Itachi's tone changed to a deeper volume but his gaze didn't waver.

The Mist-nin glanced up with a toothy grin in place. He was finding this very interesting. Of course, Sakura obviously didn't feel like that, but as far as he was concerned, they needed to get along and work it out. He had absolutely no intentions of playing peace keeper. "Yeah?"

"Did you and Haruno have a date for training?" The way he said it only made Sakura blush more. What was with her?

Kisame, though, didn't answer right away. Instead he seemed to ponder it for a few seconds before shaking his head; his normal grin turning mischievous. "Nope."

Sakura tore her face away from Itachi and stared incredulously at the blue ninja before Itachi pulled her chin back to look at him.

"Actually," Kisame added as an after thought. "She said that she was wanting to train with you…"

Itachi's smirk twitched at the corner of his lips and his eyes started to slowly bleed to crimson.

"You're a damn liar! I thought we made a deal that you would help me-not Itachi!" Sakura called out in panic.

"Hmmm…..No," he said with another shake of his head. "I don't remember any of that…"

Itachi's smirk grew just enough for Sakura to notice. "So what kind of training were you interested in?"

Sakura's blush intensified and all it did was add fuel to the fire for Itachi.

It was an encouragement to continue.

"I-I don't want help…I was just trying to make our team stronger…"

"Oh?" he leaned forward more. "And how do we do that?"

"Stop mocking me!"

"I'm not mocking anyone," he replied with a tilt of his head.

"What do you want?" she tried to push him away, but he only gripped her other wrist. "Do you want me to apologize? Fine! I'm sorry for what I said to you last night; it wasn't right."

There, that wasn't so bad….

"Don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness," he said quietly.

Don't apologize? I thought that was what he wanted! Damn it! How do I get out of it?

Sakura tried to pull her hand away, but his grip was firm. "Let go."

"What will you do if I refuse?" His Sharringan began to spin lightly.

"You don't want to know…"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise…"

Kisame grinned at the challenge.

"Fine," she said quietly. She knew what she was up against. But training with Kakashi wasn't for nothing. Itachi was trying to read her movements, to try and figure her out. Sad thing was that she had learned to make her moves random…. "You've been warned."

Before anyone could blink, she poofed in a cloud of smoke, leaving the cloud to dissolve through his fingertips. Not a split second later, did she appear behind him while tossing a punch to his back only to meet the same smoke. Substitution!

Kisame stayed where he was at and watched happily from the side lines—though a bottle of Sake would've made the late morning perfect.

Emerald eyes glanced around the trees quickly, allowing her gaze to linger on a few branches. Not wanting to be caught, she flickered from her spot and disappeared from the clearing, leaving Kisame to look around for either of the hiding ninja.

Sakura hid her chakra from Itachi as she stayed in a high branch. Itachi could hardly see, so that meant that he relied more on chakra signatures. The only thing was that it was him who had found her-not Kisame. He must have a very sensitive system if he could pick that up and it only made her wonder if she was truly safe….

There was a cold breeze that raked through the leaves, threatening to expose her, but she ignored the teasing wind and watched the clearing. The seconds ticked by until they bled to minutes. Her patience was running thin and the longer she stayed there, the more her nerves seem to knot like a scary movie when she just knew something was going to pop out.

This was more stressful then a real mission!

To be honest, she felt like she was being hunted. After all that was what Uchiha Itachi was. He was the predator—never the prey.

Perhaps she should show him the other side of things….

Too late--

"There is no safe place…" Warm breath tickled the hair on the back of her neck as he whispered in her ear.

Before he could get a grip around her, she twisted from the branch and landed not so gracefully on the forest floor with leaves and a few nimble branches falling around her. Emerald eyes looked up just in time to see a fire ball hurling towards her, making her only option to jump out of the way just as it crashed to the ground where she stood only seconds ago. She sighed in relief, but it was short lived. Before she could fully get a breath, he was on her in a heartbeat.

His speed caught her off guard as a punch met her ribs followed by a kick towards her face that she managed to block with her arms, but it was meaningless as she was tossed backwards into a tree. Shifting her weight, the pink-haired kunoichi caught her balance only to meet a flurry of fire balls hurled at her. She ducked under one-then two when the third hit her in the arm, burning her bicep. She held back a scream as more fire rained down on her, giving her a view where Itachi was in the middle of the clearing.

She had never fought the Uchiha before. In fact, she had only seen Kakashi and Naruto fight a few times, but even then, Itachi didn't seem to break a sweat. How was she supposed to keep up with him? He was supposed to be the type to stand in one place as he attacked! Not searching her out like a rabid wolf!

By this point, she pulled her katana from the sheath on her back and summoned chakra to the blade as she deflected each fireball with a wave of chakra, forcing the fire to split in half before dissolving into nothing. Each swing she charged more energy to it until she split the last, leaving Itachi staring patiently at her; his expression blank.

Sakura turned her gaze to his chin, refusing to meet his crimson gaze, fearing he would pull her into the subconscious.

Itachi wasn't a fool. He knew what she was doing. Instead, he slowly raised a hand, attracting Sakura's attention, just like planned. Before she had time to let it register, Itachi faded into crows that slowly flapped their wings in rhythm to the sky.

"Damn it!" she gasped and gripped her sword tighter as the crows dived towards her. One by one the speed increased until she was facing shuriken that were once birds. Panicked by the unpredictable attack, she raised her sword to block the weapons that she couldn't dodge. Spin, duck, flip, left, spin, spin, block….again and again.

Her breathing was becoming ragged and she finally stopped while managing a glare at Itachi. Her ribs ached and she could feel blisters forming on her bicep from the fire.

Itachi saw her glare and smirked cunningly. The pink-haired kunoichi opened her mouth to bite out a comment, but stopped when a sudden dizziness over came her. Looking to her hand with her katana, emerald eyes widened as she recognized the arm as Naruto's. Before she could say anything, she saw a blonde lock fall into her face and she realized that her face was turning into Ino.

That's when it hit her that she was in a genjutsu. Clenching her eyes shut, she dropped her katana and pushed her hands together in a new sign that she had created when she was in Suna.

Itachi watched in amusement. She wasn't panicking like he had expected, though he was curious as to what she would do once she realized that it was pointless to try and fight it. She didn't seem like the type to specialize in genjutsu or ninjutsu. Judging by the fight so far, her strength was in hand-to-hand as well as healing. It was still a valuable addition to their team, but it only meant that she was much weaker then he gave her credit for….

Emerald eyes hid behind dark lashes as her hands were sent into a flurry of signals. A light blue glow surrounded her as she tried to stay focus and gather enough chakra, after all, she remembered the last time Itachi had used this trick on Naruto and even with the Nine-tail's chakra, he still needed Sakura's and Chiyo's help for him dispel it.

Kisame watched in interest, wondering how long she would last in the genjutsu. Imagine his surprise when the glow grew brighter.

Itachi's smirk slowly diminished as he watched Sakura finish her last hand sign. "Release!"

Suddenly a breeze pushed past him and Kisame, dispelling the genjutsu, followed by a wave of smoke.

Itachi raised an arm to block the forceful wind from his eyes until everything stilled. Looking around, the now empty clearing, he frowned ever so slightly and furrowed his brows.

She had dispelled his genjutsu….Clearly, he had underestimated her. The stoic man had yet met a shinobi who was able to dispel it without help from team mates or a bloodline which meant that her genjutsu level was surprisingly high…..But there was no doubt in his mind that she wasn't skilled in Ninjutsu.

"Well that was unexpected," Kisame commented, but Itachi ignored him and searched for her chakra.

This only puzzled him. She was gone but her chakra was spread everywhere as if she was right in front of him, or behind….There weren't any main sources like it would be if she had clones, so where was she?

"Clever girl," he said quietly. Obviously she figured that hiding her chakra only made him find her fast, but if she pushed chakra everywhere in even amounts then he wouldn't be able to tell where the trail began and ended.

Itachi took a few steps forward, hoping to bluff and make her believe that he had found her. If the plan worked then she would grow nervous and loose concentration on her chakra-giving her position away… But she only stayed hidden; calling his bluff in a challenge.

Silently, he sent a clone to search the trees for her while he tried to find a trail in her charka. Another cool breeze wrapped around him and he relaxed as it pushed past his t-shirt and the warm sun beat down on them.

After a few minutes of searching, his clone came up empty handed and poofed away. This didn't ease Itachi's thoughts. She obviously was still there somewhere, but nowhere to be found….

Was this a trick? Or was she just that good at hiding?

"What is she playing at?" he said under his breath.

Sakura watched with intense green eyes as Itachi continued to pick at his thoughts with what was happening. She couldn't help but feel proud at her clever nature. Both of them were intelligent, but he obviously forgot that she was put in charge of his current weakness….his eyes. If he could see clearly then this jutsu would have never worked. Funny to say, but she had actually placed a getjutsu on an Uchiha….Then again….it only worked because he was underestimating her. The previous hand seals that she used before she actually dispelled his attack were only to place HER genjutsu over his. Therefore, when she released his, then her cover up would already be in place, making it seem like it was all normal. Fight fire with fire.

With her mood lifted, she slowly pushed through the bushes as she walked toward Itachi, knowing that he couldn't see through her genjutsu. As she was nearly to him, she reached to the ground and pulled her katana to her before stopping behind the Uchiha. At this time, she couldn't keep the grin from pulling at her lips as she raised the blade. With a quick slice down, she hit her mark………….or not seeing as the blade embedded itself deeply into the ground.

Emerald eyes blinked in confusion when suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist from behind and a hand gripped her throat. Another deep wave pushed past them as Sakura's jutsu was dispelled and she found herself being held in a firm grip by the targeted Uchiha.

"What kind of kunoichi can't hide from a blind man," he asked in a low tone that sent a short shiver down her spine.

"What kind of Uchiha get's hung up on a genjutsu?" she growled out and twisted her katana to try and stab him, by the hand holding her throat just swatted it from her grasps before returning.

"…You're playing with fire, Haruno."

"No kidding."

Kisame's deep laughter cut through the clearing and he slapped his knee with a hand. "You two are getting along great! I love these new teams!"

Itachi smirked, feeling like he had to agree with him to an extent.

"Well that makes one of you!" Sakura grinded out as she tried the get out of his grasp only for him to tighten his hold.

"What now?" He leaned closer to her. "What does a kunoichi do when she has no other options?"

Sakura twisted her neck enough to see him through one eye; his face only inches from her. "I have a lot of options left."

This seemed to be the answer he was looking for because no sooner did it leave her lips did she find herself thrown onto the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Sakura blinked as Itachi straddled her hips and held both of her hands in a vice grip.

How the hell did he do that?! It was so fast!

Ooooohhh….this is Hot!

Shut up!

All she heard was a giggling in the back of her mind until it seemed to melt into a deeper chuckle, bringing her back to reality as Itachi leaned down above her.

Emerald eyes widened as she tensed, knowing that she didn't like where this was going.

"How many options do you have now?"

Sakura swallowed.

"Every kunoichi is trained in this at some point…What. Do. You. Do?" he said the last part in a slow, quiet tone-challenging her.

Sakura turned her head away from him, refusing to look into his crimson eyes. She knew what he was talking about, but she refused to do it….Absolutely no way in Hell!

Itachi was growing impatient and he pulled a kunai from his pouch with his free hand.

Sakura turned her eyes warily to the blade. "Are you going to stab with that if I don't do it?" she questioned hatefully.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?!"

"If I was an enemy and you were in this position, then would you hesitate?"

"Yes-I mean no….uhh….."

"Sounds like you both need to find out…." Kisame grinned.

Sakura tossed a deadly glare his way. "Will you just shut up?! You're not helping!"

A cool blade touched her cheek and pushed her face back to look at him. "Focus on me," he said quietly.

Sakura tried to hide her panic and to calm her nerves. She was in over her head….No that was an understatement. She was scared out of her wits. All she wanted was for this to stop. "….You win."

Itachi blinked slowly but didn't move.

"Don't give up now, kitten-it was just getting interesting," chuckled Kisame.

Sakura ignored him and waited for Itachi to get off of her.

After a small second, Itachi closed his eyes for a moment before opening to reveal the Mangekyo. A new layer of sweat and fear pulsed through her skin. Was he really going to use that on her?

"W-what are you doing," she asked with a hint of fear leaking into her voice.

"If I have to, I'll become your enemy…."

Sakura swallowed and started to buck her hips to push him away, but it was pointless. "Let go! I said you win!"

The crimson turned darker and Sakura knew he wasn't bluffing. As the man leaned down, to drag her into her mind, his onyx hair curtained over his shoulder and lightly tickled Sakura's collar bone. Her mind was spinning and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes from the deadly crimson…..

"….Uh…I'm I interrupting something?" asked a new voice.

Sakura blinked and tried to look behind Itachi to see her savior but it was useless.

"What is it, Kakashi?" Itachi asked without looking away from the emerald.

Sakura felt another chill shake her spine, but kept it from showing. Itachi's voice was once again cold and even.

"I have to speak with Sakura…..so if you don't mind, I'd rather not have to squeeze between you to do so…"

"You need to be that close to her?" Kisame scoffed. Leave it to the copy-cat ninja to ruin the fun.

"Not exactly," Kakashi grinned under his mask and scratched the back of his head. "But I don't think she wants you to know about the….finals…"

Hearing finals, all panic and worry washed away as relief crashed over her. "Finals? You mean-"

"Yup…" Kakashi grinned as he walked over to stand next to a displeased Itachi who still hadn't moved. The white-haired ninja didn't seem to take notice and crouched next to them as he tilted his head to see Sakura better. "The finals are in two days and you're in….Just keep it between you and me…"

"Finals?" Kisame asked as he stood up from his spot and walked to them "What are the finals?"

Sakura and Kakashi didn't answer him. Mainly Sakura was starting to feel the panic swell once again. "I don't think I'm ready, though…"

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I wouldn't have put you in if I didn't think you were, besides…." He looked to Itachi whose face was cold as he examined Sakura who was still under him. "You seem to have good teachers to help you."

Before anyone could ask anything else of the white haired nin, he disappeared in a small poof.

It was silent for a few minutes until Kisame broke it with a scoff. "That guy's different."

Sakura met Itachi's stare and looked back with an expression he couldn't read. It was vise versa as well as she stared at his blank face. Clearly he was deep in thought over something….What was going on in that man's head?

"I still need to work on your eyes today," she said quietly, all hostility and fear absent.

Itachi examined her for a second before deciding that she was being honest and not trying to get away from him. He stood up while pulling her to her feet gently. Sakura looked to him and gave him a smile that was between embarrassment and nervousness. The Uchiha only blinked slowly before walking away towards Konoha with Kisame and Sakura in tow.

That was strange….

Why didn't you kiss him?! Damn it!

Shut up! I never asked for your input!

There was only silence; leaving the obvious that inner was off fuming.

The thing about being a kunoichi was that you were trained to use your body in certain positions. She was trained and she was good, but never had she need to put those skills to actual use. Ino, on the other hand, had experience behind her, leaving her charms to be put to use on special missions. Sakura envied that part of Ino. Instead, she acted like a shy little girl when she was fricken 19 years old! Give her something to do with violence and she'd do it in a heart beat….give her something like a seduction mission and she would get cold feet and turn into pudding.

How embarrassing…..

She looked up to Itachi's back and scowled.

She didn't want to kiss him anyway…..

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I think that's a good place to leave this chapter! I know it was short, but next time will be a long one…..Now remember that this is slow to start off with but it will eventually take off and when it does, then be ready!

Thanks for those who have reviewed that I still haven't gotten back with…Like I said, I was very busy and my computer died!

Please review and tell me what you think. I'll be updating more regularly unless it dies again and the poll is still up for those who haven't voted yet!!

Ja ne! d-_-b '' ' ' '' (listening to music)