Sakura was boiling over with rage. She had never felt so angry with Sasuke in her life. She had always admired him, even when he was cruel to her. She had always allowed him to have a place in her heart, even when he'd made it clear that he didn't want to be there.
Well, now she didn't want him there either.
She sat perched in a tall tree just outside the city gates. Sasuke and Naruto were somewhere below her, ready to ambush Danzo when he left the village. From her position she could see the path Team Ro would take as they tailed Danzo and she could see any approaching threat and communicate it to her team before they arrived.
The six of them were all connected with earpieces, but radio silence was all she heard. It had been awkward enough on the way to the gates, but luckily Kakashi and Yamato were oblivious to it. Or at least smart enough not to make a comment about it.
She should be sharply focused on her task – and she was. But she couldn't get the niggling thought from her mind. Sasuke had noticed that something was going on between her and Itachi. Even she hadn't realized that something was going on. Sure, she had felt an attraction toward the older Uchiha. She had repressed the urge to kiss him twice now. She'd let her thoughts drift to him when she found herself bored and otherwise unoccupied.
But it was a far leap to assume that it meant anything. She had seen, of course, that Itachi seemed to be attracted to her as well. She wasn't blind. And she knew what lust looked like. She hadn't been lying about all those patients at the hospital that flirted and teased.
But all of those moments between them had been in private. How could Sasuke have known? And what could he possibly have seen? They'd hardly touched each other!
What was most concerning about it is that Sasuke thought she was using him. Her biggest fear about Itachi had been that he would have thought her attraction toward him was due solely to his resemblance to his younger brother. And said younger brother had called her out on it in front of him.
Truthfully, Sakura didn't know how to feel anymore. There was no way she'd ever find herself lusting after Sasuke again. He had been cruel to her countless times. He'd even kidnapped her and forced her to join him against her will. It was easy enough to admit now that her crush on Sasuke had been based on nothing more than his looks.
So how could she then deny an attraction toward Itachi when they looked so much alike?
She didn't have time to think much more on the subject because a loud snapping sound in the distance caught her attention. Over the wall surrounding Konoha, Sakura could see a group dressed in all black running toward the gate.
ROOT, it looked like.
"Guys," she said into the earpiece, "There's a squad of four approaching the gates. Looks like ROOT. I don't see Danzo anywhere."
"Team Ro," she heard Sasuke's voice crackle through the static, "What is your location?"
"Outside the Hokage tower," Kakashi's voice said, "Danzo is still inside."
Sakura cursed. Had Danzo been tipped off? Why would a squad of ROOT members be heading for the gates without him?
"Do not engage them," she heard Itachi's voice in her ear, "They may not be aware of us yet."
Sakura looked back toward the squad and saw them scale the wall, bypassing the Konoha security kiosk. They were close to her tree, probably closer to Naruto and Sasuke who were still somewhere below her.
But they didn't move. The four ROOT members had vaulted themselves over the wall like they had someplace to be, yet now they lounged about at the base of her tree. One of them was casually spinning a kunai around his fingers.
"Are you sure they're out here?" one of them asked.
Sakura held her breath.
"Danzo-sama said they'd be waiting out here," one of the other ones replied, "They're probably hiding."
"One in the tree above us, one in the bush to our right, and the other behind that tree," said a third, a female.
Damn.
Their positions given away, Sakura leapt farther back away from them, deeper into the forest. She would have to trust Naruto and Sasuke to be able to handle them for now. As the medic she couldn't risk getting hurt before Danzo even showed up.
"Come on out, guys," the first voice said, "We know you're out here."
Sakura listened, unable to see much from her new position, but she heard nothing.
"Planning to assassinate a Konoha council member," one of the others said, "That's treason, you know."
Sakura listened again, this time hearing a scuffle and the rustle of leaves. The sounds of blades clashing rang out through the trees. Sakura leapt into a closer tree to get a better look. Sasuke had come out from his hiding spot and was currently engaged in battle with a lean shinobi with red hair. They were both wielding katanas, both expertly slinging their blades through the air.
Naruto was directly below her, trading blows with a kunoichi who seemed to be faring much better than her blonde teammate.
Sakura reached into her apron and gripped her poisoned senbon. If she could hit either of her teammates' opponents, they would be paralyzed, enabling her team to take them out.
"Uh uh," said a smug voice behind her. Cool fingers wrapped around her wrist and tugged her arm back out of her apron. Sakura spun around to face the ROOT member. He looked remarkably young – probably no older than she was, but there were crow's feet around his eyes and a harsh frown marring his features.
Using a burst of chakra, she wrenched her arm free from his grasp and leapt backwards toward the edge of the branch. She glanced back down below her and saw that the fourth member had joined in the fight against Naruto.
This was not good.
"Killing the Godaime's apprentice is treason, too," Sakura said.
The man in front of her scoffed, "Team 7 has been a nuisance to village for too long. The jinchuuriki's death will eliminate the Akatsuki threat. The Uchiha brat was destined to die along with his clan – and we'll finish that job today. You, sweetheart, are just collateral damage."
He lunged at her with a kunai in hand, but she dodged, leaping deftly back down to the ground. She reached back for her senbon, holding one tightly in her fist. She and Naruto were now back to back, surrounded by ROOT. Several feet away from them, Sasuke was finishing off the shinobi with the katana.
Naruto prattled off ten shadow clones, forcing the three shinobi around them to hop back away from them.
"Naruto," Sakura whispered, "Distract them with your shadow clones and I'll hit them with my poison senbon. Then you can finish them off with your Rasengan."
Naruto nodded. Sakura waited as the clones and the ROOT members fought. When she saw an opening, she flung her senbon at the man who had caught her in the tree. She had aimed for his jugular, but he saw her weapon at the last second and dodged. The senbon pierced the skin of his arm before he yanked it out with a smirk and tossed it to the ground.
Behind her, she saw one of the other enemies leaping up into the trees and she aimed another senbon to him, hitting him in the neck. Instantly he collapsed and crashed back down to the ground.
If the senbon and the fall hadn't killed him, the swing of Sasuke's katana did. She glanced back to where Sasuke had stood before to see the other shinobi crumpled on the ground.
Turning back around, Sakura saw that the man she had hit in the arm was on the ground, too, paralyzed by her poison. Naruto launched his Rasengan, hitting the man square in the chest.
There was only one enemy left now. Seeing his squad fallen around him, the shinobi leapt back into the trees and darted back off toward the village. Naruto started after him, but Sasuke held him back with a hand on his shoulder.
"Let him go, Naruto," Sasuke said, "Danzo is our target."
"Team Ro," Sakura said into her radio. Team 7 listened, but there was no response.
"Team Ro, do you copy?" Sasuke said.
"Shit," Naruto said.
Without another word, the three of them set off toward the Hokage tower.
.
When the trio arrived at the Hokage tower, Team Ro was nowhere to be found. Sakura could sense Danzo and the rest of the elders still inside. It appeared that they were still in their meeting.
"Do you think another ROOT squad got to them?" Sakura asked.
Naruto shrugged.
"We took out the ones that came after us pretty easily," Sasuke said, "I don't think that they'd pose much trouble for my brother."
"What should we do?" Sakura asked.
Just then, the doors of the tower burst open. Tsunade and Danzo walked out side by side. Sakura stifled a shriek and pulled Sasuke and Naruto back behind the building and out of sight.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke demanded, shrugged her hands off him. "Now is our chance."
"Not with Tsunade-sama there," Sakura said.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "And not in the middle of the village. We don't want to hurt anyone else."
"We should regroup with the rest of the team first," Sakura said, "There must be a good reason for why they aren't here."
Naruto peered around the edge of the building, hoping to hear what Tsunade and Danzo were saying. He pulled back, shaking his head.
A crackle of static in their earpieces startled the trio.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked into her radio.
"Abort mission," they heard their sensei say, "Repeat: abort mission."
Sakura glanced between Naruto and Sasuke. Wherever the rest of Team Ro was, they had failed their mission.
"Let's go back to the rendezvous point," Sasuke suggested, "We'll figure out what to do from there."
.
Team Ro was waiting for them when they arrived back at the Uchiha compound. Sakura was surprised to see that each of them sported some cuts and bruises.
"What happened?" she demanded.
She roved her eyes over the three, checking to see whose injuries were the worst. Determining that it was Kakashi, she quickly pressed her hands to his chest and began to run her diagnostic chakra through him.
"Danzo knew we what we were planning," Yamato said, "We were attacked by a ROOT squad shortly after you saw one approaching your location."
"But we saw him come out of the Hokage tower," Naruto said.
"We were attacked by eighteen ROOT members," Itachi said, "We didn't even see Danzo."
Sasuke hissed. "Eighteen?" he asked, "And he didn't even show his face? He just sent his minions out to do his dirty work."
"He had to have informed Tsunade-sama of what we were planning," Sakura said with a groan. "He already thinks the worst of us. A planned assassination attempt isn't going to go over well with the rest of the council."
"Fuck the council," Sasuke countered, "We will take him out and then we will appoint a new council."
"Who's we?" Sakura retorted. Kakashi winced as she prodded a particular deep wound in his shoulder.
"Tsunade has been on our side so far," Itachi interjected, "I have no doubt she will cooperate in overthrowing the council and appointing a new one. They are too old-fashioned for her."
"Sure," Kakashi said, "But it's going to be no easy task to get rid of them. Not without raising suspicion among the villagers."
"So what's the new plan?" Naruto asked.
"I have a feeling we're about to be called into the Hokage's office," Yamato said. "I'm sure she has a plan for us."
The group looked warily between one another. Everything about this mission had gone horribly wrong. Sakura was bound to be in a heap of trouble with Tsunade now. There was definitive proof of her treason on two separate occasions now. Not only that, but she had defied her orders.
Quickly, Sakura dealt with Yamato's injuries. They had nothing to do but sit around and wait.
By the time she had tended to Yamato and was on Itachi's injuries, everyone had settled down somewhat awkwardly in the living room as they waited for Tsunade's inevitable runner to come.
She tried not to look at his face as she ran her chakra through him. Her spat with Sasuke made her feel uncomfortable around Itachi. She hadn't really sorted out the way she was feeling yet in spite of the generous amount of time she'd given herself to do so. She wondered briefly what the proper protocol was on being attracted to the brother of her childhood crush.
While her hands were stilled pressed into his chest, he latched his fingers around her elbow and stroked the skin there with the pad of his thumb.
It was meant to be a comforting gesture, she knew. But the intimacy of it made her feel even worse, especially with Sasuke and the rest of her team in the room. She brushed his hand away and finished healing a small bruise on his abdomen.
"How are your eyes?" she asked, cold and clinical, "Did you use your Mangekyou?"
She felt a pang of remorse when she saw the look of confusion on his face, but it was quickly whisked away and replaced with impassivity.
"No," he said, his tone carefully neutral.
Sakura fought the urge to return his gesture in some way. She wanted to touch his arm or smile – anything that would comfort him. But she wouldn't do that in front of Sasuke, and Itachi didn't need to be comforted anyway.
Somewhat awkwardly, Sakura dropped her hands to her side. She was blessedly saved when a man in a jonin vest arrived at the door.
.
"You are all a bunch of morons," Tsunade shrieked. Again, the six of them found themselves standing before her desk in her office, all their heads down turned with shame.
"Kakashi, you should know better than this," she continued, fixing the copy-nin with a hard glare, which he impressively management not to be intimidated by. "You too, Tenzo."
Sakura flicked her eyes over to Yamato, who had the decency to look properly chided.
"And you," Tsunade said, pointing an accusing finger at her apprentice, "I really expected better from you, Sakura. This is the kind of behavior I'd expect from Naruto. I thought you were better than this. This is the second time you've pulled something like this."
"I apologize, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said with a confidence that she did not feel.
"What good is an apology going to do?" she demanded, "You tried to assassinate a member of the council. You defied a direct order and botched your mission."
Sakura bristled and dropped her gaze to the floor.
"And don't even get me started on you Uchihas," Tsunade continued. Beside her, Sakura felt Itachi tense up. He stood on her left with Sasuke on the other side of him. She couldn't see Sasuke, but she imagined he looked as nonchalant as ever. He had never cared about being in trouble with the village he seemed to care nothing about.
"Itachi," Tsunade snapped, "I realize that this all happened because of you. Not only your actions and the actions done to you, but my own as well. I should have known better than to allow you back into the village while Danzo was still here. Believe me, I hate the man as much as you do, but, as I'm sure you know, there are certain ways we have to go about things. We can't just go killing all the people we don't like."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," he replied. She looked stunned that he had spoken at all, let alone in agreement with what she had said.
"I was going to have him removed from the council," she said, her tone a little softer. "I needed proof that he had committed a crime against Konoha. That was all. Why on earth did the lot of you think that this was a good idea?"
"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura began, "You said that Sai's death was congruent with a genjutsu only the Sharingan is capable of. Danzo was in possession of a Sharingan."
Beside her Sakura felt Itachi move again and when she glanced at him she found him staring at her with a trace of… anger? "Sakura," he mumbled, his tone low and warning.
"Whose?" Tsunade demanded, turning to look at the elder Uchiha.
Itachi breathed in deeply through his nose, but the carefully neutral mask he wore was still in place. He pressed his lips together in a thin line and gave Sakura a sidelong glance again.
"Whose?" she repeated.
Sakura wanted to answer for him. Tsunade was angry with her and giving her this information could only help her out in the long run. She'd hidden so much information from her already – she owed it to her mentor to share everything she knew.
But she couldn't understand why Itachi wouldn't want Tsunade to know. It would only absolve him and his brother from blame.
The name was on the tip of her tongue. Shisui, Itachi had said. His cousin. Another Uchiha who had stood with Itachi against the rest of his clan. Just when she was about to speak his name aloud, she felt Itachi reach out and grab her wrist. She yanked her arm away from him angrily
"Don't," she said to him, rubbing her wrist where he had touched her. His Sharingan was activated now and for the first time since she had learned the truth, Sakura felt a twinge of fear.
"What the hell is going on?" Tsunade asked, her eyes darting warily between Sakura and Itachi.
"It was Shisui's left eye," Itachi said, inching a step farther away from Sakura, "My cousin's. Danzo took it just before the massacre. He didn't want Shisui to use it to put the clan under a genjutsu to prevent the coup."
Tsunade blinked slowly and breathed in deeply. "Do you think it would have prevented the coup?" she asked, "If your cousin had been able to use it?"
"I don't see how that is relevant," he said coolly and Sakura saw Tsunade's brow twitch, "But no, I don't think it would have been a permanent solution. It may have bought us some time."
Sakura was thankful that Tsunade seemed to have let the first remark slide. "So he attacked your cousin and took his eye…" she said, trailing off, "And then gave you the order to kill your clan."
Itachi nodded.
"Okay," she said, slamming her hand down on the table, "Here's what's going to happen. Danzo will be taken into custody today. If he does indeed have a Sharingan under that bandage, that will be proof enough that he killed Sai and that he attacked an Uchiha before the massacre. While he is in custody, I will formulate a plan to get him removed from the council should he stand trial and be found innocent. All of you are to stay as far away from him as possible. Don't pull anymore shit like that you did today or you will regret it."
Her command was met with a chorus of nods and yesses.
"Good," she said, "Now everyone out. Except you two."
She pointed her forked fingers at Itachi and Sakura. Sakura resisted the urge to groan aloud. This was definitely not going to be good.
Everyone shuffled out of the room, exiting the door behind them. On his way out, Sasuke gave Sakura a glare that could only be described as suspicious. When the door had been firmly shut behind him, Tsunade cleared her throat and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Sakura," Tsunade began with a tone that wasn't as harsh or demanding as Sakura had expected, "You haven't yet cleared Itachi for his return to ANBU. What's the hold up?"
Sakura tried to hide her surprise. After witnessing Itachi grab her arm like that, she was sure Tsunade would have had something to say about it.
"Oh," Sakura replied, "Well, he should be good to go soon. He is in perfect health as of now, but I'm worried that if he is hit with any kind of poison that it will cause his condition to regress. After a couple more sessions I should be able to eliminate that risk."
"And his eyes?"
"I have not looked at his eyes, Tsunade-shishou," she replied.
"And you've not looked at Sasuke's either?"
Sakura shook her head.
"I cannot force either of you into letting Sakura work on your eyes," Tsunade said to Itachi, "But I strongly suggest that you let her. She knows what she is doing."
"I have no objection to it," he responded.
"Then it's settled," Tsunade said, "Sakura, I want him cleared within the week. I have a mission for him."
Sakura blinked in surprise and looked at Itachi.
"A mission?" he asked.
"I'll tell you more about it once you've been cleared," she answered, "You're both dismissed."
Sakura didn't need to be told twice. She was gone the second Tsunade uttered her dismissal. As if the botched mission wasn't enough, Sakura was still reeling from all of the uncomfortableness between her and Itachi. All she wanted was to be as far away from him as possible.
She didn't even stop when he called her name.
.
Ino was sitting in her usual spot at the table when Sakura arrived back at her apartment. She looked better – less puffy, face dry.
"Ino, how are you feeling?" she asked, kicking the door shut and collapsing in the opposite chair at the table.
"Coping, I guess," she said, running a weary hand over her face. "I just need to be distracted. It sucks when I'm bored and alone."
"Well, then let me tell you about the day I've had," Sakura answered, excited to have a person willing and eager to let her vent her frustrations.
She spilled everything to Ino – the details about her assigned mission and the circumvention they took. If anyone was willing to be on Sakura's side – Team 7's side – it had to be Ino. How could she not want revenge on the man that had killed Sai?
"And Tsunade didn't punish you?" Ino asked after she'd listened to the entire story. "Wow, you're lucky. She didn't punish you for working with Itachi, either."
Sakura didn't mention the intense sparring session that had left her with more than a few cuts and bruises.
"I have a feeling the punishment will be forthcoming," Sakura said with a sigh. "And speaking of Itachi…"
Ino's ears perked up like a dogs, and Sakura could see the eager excitement on her face. "What about him?" she asked with an overly seductive wiggle of her eyebrows.
"God, you too?" Sakura groaned, "How does everyone know?"
"I'm your best friend," she said, "It's my job to notice these things. Now spill."
"Well, I noticed that he's attracted to me—"
"Obviously, why wouldn't he be?"
"And it surprised me a little at first, but I suppose it makes sense," she said, ignoring Ino's interruption. "We've kind of had to spend a lot of time together with his healing sessions and Yamato and Sachi, and all. He doesn't seem to spend much time with anyone else other than Sasuke."
"Not to mention you saved his life and you brought him and Sasuke back together again," Ino pointed out.
"Yeah…"
"And I know you have to admit that he's attractive," Ino said with a smirk, "He's Sasuke's hot older brother."
"Yeah, he's attractive," Sakura said reluctantly.
Ino raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I thought he was going to kiss me today," Sakura admitted, "There have been a couple of moments where I thought he might, but he seems really hesitant. But I've been sort of hesitant about him, too, so I don't know…"
"Just freaking kiss him," Ino said, "If he wants to and you want to, then what's the hold up?"
"It's Sasuke," Sakura answered, "I don't think he's on board with the idea."
"Why? It's not like he's into you."
"Ouch."
"Come on," Ino said, "We both know that's true."
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it's true. But I think that he thinks I'm only interested in Itachi as a 'replacement' for him. He thinks I'm going to end up hurting him."
"Aww, how sweet," Ino said with over the top sarcasm, "A couple of weeks ago he wanted to murder him and now he wants to protect him from a broken heart."
Sakura scoffed, "Right? And it's not like we're getting married. I mean, it can barely even be considered flirting. It's nothing."
"If I were you, I'd just ignore Sasuke," Ino said, "What's he going to do about it?"
"It's not just Sasuke," Sakura said, "There was some weird tension between us today. I'm not entirely sure what it was about."
It was a lie, because she did know what it was about. At least, what most of it was about. She had been cold toward him after her fight with Sasuke, which wasn't entirely fair. And then she had told Tsunade about Shisui – or been about to tell her. Itachi didn't seem to like that very much.
She would be seeing him again tomorrow, both for their spar and for his healing session. She wondered whether she should apologize for either, or both, or just not say anything about it at all.
"Well, I'm happy you've moved on from Sasuke," Ino said, "That boy is such a drag."
Sakura smiled in amusement, but she wondered whether it was any better that she had moved on to his brother instead.