Sakura never imagined herself as a seductress. In fact, in her wildest fantasies, she was quite the opposite. In her genin years, she always imagined Sasuke, rough and domineering, yet tender at the same time. He would kiss her, touch her, hold her up against him.

It wouldn't have been hard to replace those images of Sasuke with Itachi. They were certainly similar enough in appearance.

But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as what she was doing now.

She was aware that he was rattled by her sexual advances. The old Sakura would have been slightly offended by this, but she found his nervousness charming. He wanted her. She knew that. And he had admitted to her that he was worried he would disappoint her. Incredible! How could he think such a thing?

Being disappointed was the last thing on her mind. In fact, she couldn't even be too worried about disappointing him because his reaction to her every touch was so electric and satisfying.

She had moved fully into his lap now, a place that she was quickly becoming enamored with. She felt oddly powerful with the mighty Itachi Uchiha underneath her. She could feel the hardened muscles of his thighs under hers. She could feel his growing length up under her center.

She was kissing him, running her hands over his chest, his arms, his back, touching everything she could reach. It felt so good. She knew he felt it, too. He was trembling beneath her. She could feel it in his feather light touches along her waist and legs. He was going to pull away soon, like he always did at this point. She knew he would start to feel overwhelmed.

But when he pulled away from her, she ground her hips down into his lap, groaning at the friction, the sensation. Whatever he had been about to say was swallowed up by a groan of his own, his fingers tightening on her thighs.

She pressed another kiss to his lips and then began to trail them across his jaw and down his neck.

"Sakura," he breathed, and she relished in the way his breath seemed to catch in his throat. "Sakura, not in the kitchen."

She smiled against his neck and pulled away to look at him. "Where, then?"

But when she saw his face, the eyes that were staring back at her were red and narrow, causing a deep chill to run up her spine. She scrambled off of him, nearly falling onto the floor. It will silly to still be afraid of him, and she knew it. But she just couldn't shake her ingrained fear of the Sharingan.

"Sakura?"

She felt her cheeks flushing and she dusted invisible dirt from her skirt. "Sorry," she said. "I just… I—"

He stood up and extended his hand to her, pulling her into his chest. It was safe there because she couldn't see his eyes. He stroked her hair for a moment, comforting her, though Sakura didn't really need it. It was a gut reaction more than anything else, but he must have seen the wild fear in her eyes. He couldn't have missed it with his Sharingan activated.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Now that she knew it was active, she was a little braver about peering into his Sharingan. She caught his eye, staring into their depths, mesmerized by the tomoe and the way they appeared so sharply in his irises. It was not his Mangekyou, which she knew was a different shape, more complicated and intricate. But it was terrifyingly beautiful, and even though she wanted to look away, she held his gaze anyway – just to prove to herself that she could.

She reached up and touched the skin under his eye, noticing that the deep lines there seemed to have faded a little. It was exhilarating to look into those eyes knowing exactly what they were capable of doing. Those eyes, that bloodline limit, the powerful Uchiha name. He might as well have been a mythical figure standing in her kitchen.

"You really are something special, Itachi-kun."

His lips quirked into a small smile and she dropped her gaze to his mouth.

"I lied to you the other day," he said. "When you asked me if I was angry with you."

She quirked a brow at him as he ran his hands down the length of her arms and took ahold of her hands. He brought both her palms to his chest and held them there.

"I was angry that you kept calling me Itachi-san," he said, answering her unasked question. "Since we were alone."

Sakura had realized how important to him the way she addressed him was. In her office he had mentioned how he did not like when she was in 'medic mode,' presumably because of the formal way she addressed him. He had even been concerned about it their very first day together in Toyeiki when they were enemies.

"Why didn't you tell me, Uchiha-san?"

His smile widened at her affectionate teasing. "Because, Sakura-hime, I already felt guilty for making you come all that way to heal me."

"Hmm," she said. "Perhaps it was disrespectful for me to be addressing the clan head in such a way. It won't happen again, Uchiha-sama."

"I prefer Itachi-kun."

She grinned and fisted his shirt up in her fists, pulling him down so that she could press a quick kiss to his lips. "Then I insist you call me Sakura-chan."

"I will call you Sakura."

"Sakura-hime."

"That's not very fitting, is it, Sakura of civilian birth?"

She pulled away from him, crossing her arms with an exaggerated pout.

"Okay, okay," he said, pulling at her arms with an infectious grin that Sakura tried very hard not to be affected by. "Don't be upset, hime."

She let him pull her back into his embrace and settled her head against the crook of his shoulder. She sighed contentedly and wrapped her arms around his waist. It seemed like the opportunity for sex had been forgotten, and Sakura wasn't about to press that issue with him. Now that she knew his true intentions with her, she felt more comfortable with taking things at his pace. In fact, she realized that she should have been comfortable with that in the first place.

She hadn't been lying to him when she said she would have been happy to be used by him. It wasn't the best case scenario, obviously, but at a certain point Sakura had begun to prioritize his happiness over her own. Sakura had lived a fairly sheltered and warm, if a little dull, life. Itachi had been robbed of such an opportunity, and she felt the need now to do whatever it took to make him happy.

"Thank you for going shopping with me, Itachi-kun," she said.

"Of course, hime," he said, kissing the top of her head.

.

Itachi had left shortly after their conversation, needing to pack for their mission the next morning. Sakura had a couple of errands to finish anyway, but she was sad to see him off, even knowing she would be seeing him again in less than twelve hours.

The trio left bright and early the next morning with little conversation. Itachi, Sakura noticed, had opted to wear his ANBU uniform. She hadn't realized that he still had one (or maybe it was a new one). It wasn't much different than what he regularly wore, but Sakura couldn't keep her eyes off him.

Sasuke noticed her obvious staring and fell back beside her as they ran through the trees. Itachi was several yards ahead of them, leading the way.

"Take a picture, Sakura," he teased. "It'll last longer."

"He looks good in his ANBU uniform, doesn't he?" she replied with a grin.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he looked amused. "Did you have fun running errands with him?"

Neither of them missed the way Itachi paused for a beat before springing off the branch he landed on.

"Not really," she said with a shrug. "He was very handsy. I kept catching him trying to sneak a peek up my skirt. And I'm pretty sure he used his Sharingan to try to see through my clothes."

Sasuke laughed at her merciless teasing, even when they saw Itachi's posture tense up and his steps falter a bit.

"What a pervert," Sasuke said.

Sakura giggled.

"We're on a mission," Itachi said, keeping his eyes forward. "And you two should conduct yourselves professionally."

Sakura giggled again and cast a glance at Sasuke who was smirking.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama," she said with mock reverence.

They continued running in silence for a while before Sakura remembered exactly how far this journey would be. When she had come to Toyeiki the first time she had not stopped, but ran until she couldn't run anymore. It seemed like Itachi and Sasuke wanted to do the same, only they were much quicker than she was.

In fact, she could already tell that her slowness was creating some distance between them. Every so often they would slow down so that she could catch up, only to speed back up again.

Neither of them spoke up about it, but she could tell they were a little annoyed. If there was anything she could have done about it…

Still, she pressed herself to run faster, to keep up with them. It was the least she could do.

After an excruciating hour, Itachi halted to a stop, turning back toward his teammates. Sasuke stopped beside him and Sakura stopped behind him, trying her best not to pant and double over from exhaustion.

"There's a town up ahead," he said, giving her a critical eye. "We'll stop there for the night. We should reach Kabuto's bunker by tomorrow afternoon."

Sasuke nodded.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Itachi asked. Both Uchiha men turned their gazes to her. She might not have been from a prestigious clan or have kyuubi chakra, but Sakura thought she did a pretty good job of keeping up with them. For a civilian born.

"Would you like me to carry you the rest of the way?" he continued.

She knew he was teasing her. It was payback for her earlier ribbing. But that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it.

"Yes, that would be nice, Uchiha-sama," she said, climbing uninvited onto his back. She half expected him to throw her off, or at least question her silly decision. But she squealed and clung tighter to him when he darted off without warning.

She pressed her face into the back of his neck as he ran, delighting when her breath sent shivers up his spine. If she knew that Sasuke wasn't close behind them, she would have kissed his neck.

"You do look good in your uniform, Itachi-kun," she whispered into the shell of his ear. His grip on her thighs tightened.

When they approached the town and made a beeline for the only inn, Sasuke was the one who approached the innkeeper.

"We'd like two rooms," he said.

"One room," Itachi corrected.

Sasuke turned around to glare at his brother. "I'm not sharing a room with you two."

"You and Sakura can take the beds," he responded. "I will take the floor."

Sasuke didn't argue, but he didn't look pleased with the arrangement. "Fine," he said. "But I'm going to the tavern to see what information I can scrounge up."

"Good idea," Itachi said, "We'll go with you."

.

This was a job Sakura was actually well suited for. She was charming and personable and people wanted to be close to her. It made it quite easy for her to get information from them.

Itachi and Sasuke, on the other hand, were far too intimidating to be effective at it, so she had banished them to the back table at the tavern so that she could sit at the bar and attract men to extract information from.

It worked to some extent. Men approached her, drawn in by her exotic pink hair, and she let them. She curbed those who had no information about Kabuto, but was secretly enjoying the attention. Especially from Itachi, whose Sharingan had been activated since the moment the first man had approached her.

She knew it was merely a surface jealousy. She wouldn't particularly enjoy watching Itachi being swarmed by women, but she wouldn't worry too much about it. He knew it was for the mission. And she could handle herself.

But it wasn't until a rough looking man wearing a Stone headband with a slash through it approached her that she became somewhat nervous. He was quite a long way from home, and probably a dangerous man.

"I know you," he said with a lecherous grin, taking the stool beside hers. "You're the Hokage's apprentice."

"Ah," she responded as casually as she could. "The pink hair gave it away, huh?"

"You're a long way from Konoha," he pointed out. It was true, but she was still within Fire's borders so it wasn't unlikely for her to be here.

"And you're a long way from Stone."

He grinned and leaned in closer to her, grabbing her thigh with a sweaty palm. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and thanked her lucky stars for that. His intoxication would make it much easier to extract information from him. "I'm here on official business," he said.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, leaning into his touch in spite of how repulsive she found it. "What official business could a missing-nin from Stone have in Fire country?"

"Now, now, sweetheart," he said in a patronizingly slow voice. "You expect me to just go giving away all my secrets to the Hokage's apprentice?"

"Secrets?" she asked with a sly smile. "I'm really good at keeping secrets."

He smiled back. "I doubt that."

She took a sip of her drink, using her chakra to burn off any alcohol in her system. It was a good idea for him to think she was drunk, but it wasn't a good idea to actually be drunk.

"Listen," he said. "I've got a room at the inn. You're welcome to join me there."

She smiled and looked away from him demurely. That was a little more than she was willing to do for some information – especially since she didn't even know if it would be useful. "I have my own room, thank you," she replied.

His hand crept up higher on her thigh. "Come on," he urged. "I can show you a good time. Make you feel real good." She swallowed nervously as his hand crept even higher and then when his fingers finally brushed against her clothed, albeit with thin spandex, sex, she gripped his forearm and squeezed it tightly, shattering the bones in his wrist with her chakra-enhanced strength.

He howled in pain and kicked her stool over knocking her to the floor. "You bitch!" She scrambled backwards as he came toward her again, clutching his wrist with his uninjured hand.

Sasuke was suddenly between them with his back to her and she didn't need to see his face to know his Sharingan was activated. She felt Itachi's hands on her arms as he helped her into a standing position. She leaned back into his chest.

"Did he hurt you?" he murmured low in her ear. She shook her head.

"Does he have the information we need, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know."

"Hey, I don't want any trouble," the man said. "She attacked me first."

A beat of silence followed, no one quite sure what to do.

"We're leaving," Itachi finally said.

.

"He didn't know anything about Kabuto, I think," Sakura explained once they were safely back in their room at the inn. She had her legs stretched out across one of the single beds while Sasuke and Itachi sat next to each other on the other bed across from her. "He mentioned he was here on official business, but I think he was just a pervert trying to cop a feel."

"Not just trying," Sasuke mumbled.

Sakura felt a hot blush rising in her cheeks. "You saw that?"

"Of course we did," he said. "I thought Itachi was going to explode. I'm impressed that he managed to keep his cool until that bastard knocked you off your seat."

Sakura locked eyes with Itachi who looked far more upset than Sakura believed he should. It had been unpleasant, of course, but it wasn't as though he had hurt her.

"Aw, look at you all concerned," she teased.

"Sakura…"

"Sakura-hime."

He glared at her, making her burst into a fit of giggles.

"You don't seem nearly concerned enough about what just happened," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm a kunoichi. I'm used to it. Besides," she said. "I broke his wrist. That makes us even as far as I'm concerned."

"I suppose," he conceded, but Sakura could tell that he didn't quite see it that way.

"Alright," Sasuke said, giving his brother's shoulders a good shove. "Get off the bed. I'm going to sleep now."

Itachi looked a little miffed and Sakura grinned at his expression. But he didn't make a fuss. He unfurled his bedroll between the two beds with a stony look before crawling inside.

"Itachi, you can have my bed," she said, her heart breaking a little watching him slide into the sad bundle of cloth that probably did very little to cushion him against the hardwood floors. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No."

"No?"

Itachi reached up and yanked the chain on the lamp, casting darkness around the room. "Goodnight, Sakura," he said.

Sakura's eyes widened a little. She wasn't spoiled by any means, but she certainly didn't like to be told no. And ignored on top of that! She tossed her covers aside and stepped down onto his bedroll. She could see in the dim light cast through the window that he was glaring at her again, but she didn't care.

She crawled in beside him, curling her body around his. She felt him stiffen up immediately, and though it was a little bit of a blow to her ego, she was satisfied by how rattled he seemed to be.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Sleeping on the floor."

"Sakura," he said, his tone low and warning.

"We are so getting two rooms on the way back," Sasuke said.

"If it bothers you," she said to Itachi, "You can sleep in the bed."

And she could see that he was indeed bothered by it – the intimacy of sleeping next to her was probably too much for him at this point. Certainly Sasuke's presence added an uncomfortable note to the mix as well.

"Get back in the bed, Sakura."

"No."

She almost felt a little guilty and if she didn't think he'd be uncomfortable with it, she would gladly have crawled into the bed with him. They were perfectly still for a moment, Sakura's chest pressed snugly against his strong back. She could easily have fallen asleep against him, she thought.

But eventually, when he correctly assumed that she would not be moving, he slid out of the bedroll and up into the bed. Grinning triumphantly (and missing the heat of his body), Sakura fell asleep.

.

The next morning they were back on the road again. Itachi had avoided speaking to her for most of the morning and just seemed to be in a bad mood. Sasuke also seemed to be aware of his mood and gave him a wide berth. Sakura took his lead (he knew Itachi much better than she did) and gave the elder Uchiha some space as well.

She couldn't help but think that she was the reason for his sour mood. Had forcing him to sleep in the bed been a bit too much? It hardly seemed fair for him to be angry about that since he had intended to do the very same thing to her.

Or maybe he was still upset about the Stone-nin touching her. Sakura didn't think it had been a big deal, but Itachi had seemed overly concerned about it. But what was the point in agonizing over it? What's done is done, she thought. They couldn't do anything about it now.

Unfortunately, she had plenty of time to stew on it, though. They had already been running for several hours in complete silence – horribly tense silence. If Sasuke hadn't been with them, she might have tried to talk to him, but all she could do was stare at his back several paces ahead of her.

His posture was rigid and tense and he looked a lot more like the Itachi she had met in Toyeiki – the one she should have been afraid of. In fact, she thought, she certainly wouldn't have wanted to cross his path as an enemy now. Even without being able to see his face, he was downright terrifying.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, breaking the silence with a quiet voice. He was speaking only to her, but they both knew Itachi could hear them. "I have a favor to ask you when we get back to Konoha."

She flicked her eyes over to him. He was looking straight ahead as he ran alongside her, his expression unreadable.

"What is it, Sasuke?"

"You are close with Tsunade-sama," he ventured. "I was wondering if maybe you could convince her to grant citizenship to Suigetsu and Juugo."

"Who?"

"The shinobi who were with me when I planned on killing Itachi," he said.

"Oh," she responded dryly. "When you kidnapped me."

"Right," he said, though he didn't seem very apologetic. "If I had known you had the hots for my brother back then I would have chosen a different medic."

"I didn't have the hots for your brother back then."

"Sure."

She glared at him before casting a glance at Itachi who seemed to be paying them no attention, but she knew he was still listening.

"Do they want to be citizens of Konoha?" she asked.

"They just want a place to call home," he answered. "They suffered a lot more than I did with Orochimaru. They are powerful shinobi who will be great assets to Konoha."

She considered that more a moment – that they were not actually missing-nin, but people that had been experimented on by Orochimaru. She wasn't particularly fond of them after being kidnapped, but they hadn't hurt her. They didn't deserve to be outcasts.

"You care about them."

"They were my teammates," he said with a shrug. "The same as you and Naruto."

She didn't know why that made her feel angry. It shouldn't have, because she knew that in whatever weird way it was, Sasuke cared about her. But he had left the village, told them for forget about him, and made no attempt to be their friend. Yet for these two he would cash in a favor and make peace with them.

Was Naruto aware of this? Did he care that after everything he'd put them through, Sasuke seemed to care more for these two random shinobi than he did for his own childhood friends?

He was looking at her with curiosity and a little speck of hope that made him look very childlike. She felt sick to her stomach for a second, but she pushed that feeling down.

"I'll see what I can do, Sasuke," she said.

"Thank you."

.

After several more hours of running, the sun was high in the afternoon sky and beat down an incredible heat on the trio. Sakura was beginning to feel exhaustion again, hardly able to keep up with the impossibly fast Uchihas.

In the last hour and half they'd been running, Sakura noticed that Itachi's mood seemed to have picked up. He no longer seemed quite as tense and occasionally he would turn his head to look back at her and Sasuke. His Sharingan was activated, so Sakura made a point to catch his eye each time she could. He hadn't seemed to notice the other day when they'd been making out in her kitchen that she looked directly into his bloodline limit.

She thought maybe he had forgotten that she had ever been afraid of his eyes.

But the last time he turned and caught her eye, she noticed his eyes were their usual coal black. He halted to a stop.

"We're here," he said.

Sakura suddenly became very nervous because she wasn't particularly interested in facing Kabuto again. She wasn't exactly afraid. She had Itachi and Sasuke to back her up and that was more than enough.

But she had a crucial part to play now. She would have to exercise her acting chops. Would she be able to fool Kabuto? She had been adamant that she would never join him. Why would he believe she had randomly changed her mind?

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Itachi asked.

She nodded, but she definitely didn't feel alright.

"Let's go."