AN : Hey, Cinnabunnbunn here!

So, I'll admit, I neglected this story a bit. It's just that I've nor been seeing a great response to this story so I just did not get the motivation to write the next chapter. But then I remembered, hey! Someone will like this story. And even if they don't, you like this story and have an imagination on what to come next, so write it! So here is the next chapter!

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter because I really liked writing this.

So, onto the chap!

Enjoy!

(Revised version)


Sakura was having a crisis right now, and it was just seven in the morning.

She has been trying to get some much needed shut-eye for the past hour amidst the gruelling and bumpy ride, and has been failing miserably at it. Her mentor has been sipping on the never-ending supply of wine beside her, the Weasely Uchiha has been sitting unblinkingly like a rock under her mentor's glare and that damned Shisui has been giving her that shit eating grin that made her want to punch his face.

The only reason she didn't do it was because she might have to answer to the clan head for his black eye, and she didn't want to make their interactions even more hostile. But oh, it was so tempting.

And they have been travelling for close to five days now. She would've suggested just flying or gliding or hell, even opening a portal, but according to the Uchihas, Orochimaru's underlings are everywhere and they cannot risk giving them any indication about the presence of the witches with them.

Sakura was lamenting in her head about her current predicament and simultaneously cursing the high heavens on the existence of this Orochi-bastard, when she felt the shadow-carriage jerk to a sudden slowness. She parted the curtains a little and peeked outside, only to find the previously bright and sunny sky, overcast and shadowed, as the previously green trees turned duller and fewer in number as the carriage rolled to a slow stroll.

Meaning, they were nearing the sorcerer's gate.

Sakura heard Itachi say something addressing the two witches. "We are nearing the sorcerer's gate. Anyone other than sorcerers cannot pass through the gates without feeling lethal resistance. We'll need to cast an enchantment to weaken the pressure."

"What type of enchantment?" Sakura was quick to ask, voice hardened with steel. She did not trust the men that would gladly slit their throats given any chance.

"A very harmless enchantment. It will only stay until we pass through and then we will remove it." Itachi answered, raising his hands in surrender, the golden glow of the enchantment plainly visible to the naked eye.

Sakura was still giving him a suspicious look when she felt some movement beside her. She turned her head to look at Tsunade and saw her inching her wrist out towards the Uchihas.

"I'll take the enchantment first."

"Shishou, are you sure?" Sakura asked in surprise, and caution. The blonde only sipped on her wine, sparing Sakura only a glance.

"Yes." Tsunade replied to Sakura without looking at her. Itachi just nodded before taking out a simple jade bracelet and casting a spell of passage, and the bracelet glowed golden before getting subdued once again. He tied it around Tsunade wrist and let it do its job.

"So, are you ready, Miss Sakura?" Itachi turned to Sakura who was looking sceptically at the bracelet. She lifted her eyes at him, looked at the bracelet again, before begrudgingly nodded her head.

Itachi gave her a small smile before repeating the same process of enchantment on her. She felt the weight of the jade set on her wrist and the warmth of the spell wrap around her hand. It didn't feel particularly uncomfortable, but it still made her a bit queasy.

A good ten minutes, and they were already at the sorcerer's gate. The aura was intrusive before, but it was near combusting now. The charm did a well enough work at making it bearable but it was still a lot to take. Not enough to kill, but enough to make it hard to breathe.

Sakura looked on that the imposing gate, made more of the shadows than any solid material but the shadows seemed lighter, almost bronze in colour, hazing and blurring in with the air. The passage seemed like just a swirling space of glittering particles, catching the faint light of the day and

"Okay so you might feel a little nauseous and lightheaded, and also a little pressed, but don't worry about it! It'll pass by soon." Shisui tried to comfort the worried witches. Sakura turned to glare at him and turned her head away with a huff, bracing for what is to come.

Sakura took a deep breath as the carriage passed through the gate, and it literally felt like the end of the world for her.

She felt like she was drowning in heavy water, trying to come up to the surface and breath again, but her lungs were burning and her limbs felt heavy. She felt like she was in one of those dreams, where no matter how hard she tried to run or swim, the surface felt like it was slick with oil and she could do nothing but flail helplessly. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead, her knuckles turning white and nails threatening to rip the skirt she was clutching.

It was tempting to gasp and keen under the pressure, maybe provide whatever comfort it might. But she remembered where she was, who was sitting in front of her and she would go through hell and back before she even considered showing her weakness in front of the sorcerers, of all people.

And just as she felt like her lungs might burst, the feeling was gone and she was able to breathe again. Sakura released her wrinkled skirt and gasped, trying to get as much air in as possible. Her eyes were watering slightly so she opened them to slits and heavily leaned back in her seat from her previously hunched position, her muscle heavy and weightless all at once.

"See, it wasn't all that bad." The nervous chuckle of Shisui drifted in her ear as she fully opened her eyes to tiredly glare at him.

"If almost dying is what you call not all that bad, then sure, it wasn't all that bad."

Shisui gave another nervous chuckle before making a move to take off her enchantment. With the bracelet gone, Sakura felt the coolness in her body that made her sigh in relief. She parted the curtains again and peeked outside to find a very different scenery this time time.

Despite it being shadowed and overcast outside the gate, the kingdom of the sorcerers was absolutely gorgeous. Massive mansions and towers, tall and gleaming, golden fields of patty, wheat and other seasonal vegetables, children sorcerers playing together, showing off new little tricks they learned to each other, other sorcerers gliding the air or simply strolling through the market, looking through the various assortments of fresh produces and other Knick -knacks offered by the vendors.

But one thing she cannot ignore was the tensing of the surrounding bystanders that were walking around their carriage. No doubt they felt the presence of an outsider, but dared not say anything when they noticed the vehicle belonged to the Uchihas.

Even as she looked out in something akin to wonder at the richer, and almost royal, scenes outside, so different from the small cottage she housed and the small town she visited, she was very well aware of the familiar burning feeling in her chest that she could only note as jealousy.

Here they were, safe and sound behind the secure gates of the kingdom, flourishing and happy. So content after throwing everything the witches had in a fire. Not a care in the world about their demise while Sakura and her kind had to fight everyday, just to survive.

They rode through the lightly crowded marketplace for a bit more time, and she noticed the surroundings changing. The vendors and hawkers became fewer, the trees became lusher and greener, and soon enough, she noticed the giant and imposing gate of the Uchiha compound.

She saw Itachi motion to the guards as they nodded and pushed the doors open, the wheels rolling inside again.

And Sakura could feel it in her bones, that shit could only go downhill from here.


"Where the hell is Aniki? Where is he? He was supposed to be training with me today." The annoyed grumbling of a young man echoed through the hallway of the Uchiha compound, the passers-by looking at him confusion.

Sasuke could not believe his brother. How can he leave him hanging after making a promise on training with him today. After weeks of begging him to train him on the fire spells, Itachi finally agrees on one morning, and now he's just gone, on that morning!

He is angry, really angry. If his father sees him like this, grumbling and kicking dust, he might shake his head and call him immature. But he doesn't care, his brother is the immature one for breaking the one promise he made. Uchihas do not break promises.

Especially to their younger brothers.

Sasuke was just considering going back to his room and sulking for the rest of the day in a corner, he felt the inkling of two familiar presences entering the compound gates, and then felt the stronger and more present rumbling of the shadow carriage.

Sasuke turned around on his heel and made his way to the nearest door to the outside, but stopped before he went into the light and straightened his posture and slowed down his gait to a leisure walk.

He was not desperate afterall. No, he was not desperate.

The day was quite sunny and it was contrasting greatly with the darkness of the carrier. Sasuke made his way over to where it stopped to let the passengers off. He saw his brother and his older cousin, Shisui, get off the carriage, but they weren't the only ones to get off.

There were two more people, and they were not sorcerers.

Sasuke eyes sharpened at the third presence that made itself known. Honey blond hair, almond eyes and a buxom figure, it was a Senju. He didn't really know much about the witches, but Senju Tsunade was a very famed name. Her presence here was shocking, sure, but it was the person that got off after that made his eyes widen.

When he was no older than a toddler, his mother used to read him bedtime stories about all types of mythical creatures. But the one that stuck to him the most was the lore of faes. Faes, with their pointy ears, shimmery eyes and dangerously lethal allure, make sorcerers fall head over heels on their appearance alone, and lure them into the darkness to take their powers and soul for themselves.

They were so easy to fall for, even the strongest men trip over themselves just to get a second look at them, so eager to follow them and please them. There is a reason why the forest around the compound is so heavily purified, even though most people believe that they were nothing but fairytales, but there were too many mushroom circles seen around to take any chances.

And if someone told Sasuke that this girl was a fae, he would totally believe them.

Hair pink like carnations and soft like spun silk, cascading down her back to her small waist, smooth and pale skin and a lithe form, wrapped daintily in a lavender silk dress. She had her back to him, straightening out her dress and smoothing down her hair.

Sasuke swallowed thickly when she turned around to retrieve her bag from the seat before Shisui hurried to get it for her. He should probably move, greet his brother and cousin and also the guests, and he would, when he'll be able to take his eyes away from the pink fairy moving around the carriage. But he does manage to rip his eyes away from her when he felt the prickling eyes of his brother at him, waiting for him to greet them.

So he made his way over to the group, stealing glances at the nymph until he felt the glare of Tsunade that made him stop doing that.

"Aniki, where were you all this time?" Sasuke asked with a fidget, stopping his eyes from straying for the search of pink again.

Itachi nodded somewhat apologetically "Father tasked me and Shisui with bringing some guests over." He waved to the new arrivals.

Sasuke looked at the rest of the group. Tsunade was assessing him with bored eyes and it was honestly unnerving to say the least. Shisui was apparently trying to annoy the pinkette it would seem, dangling a side bag over her head, and her back still facing them. It was then when her patience seemed to snap and she kicked Shisui in his shin, hard, who lowered himself with a yelp to clutch at his leg and Sakura snatched the bag out of his hand and smacked his over the head. She put the bag down and finally seemed to notice a new presence.

And Sasuke was almost sure that she was a fae, with her plump lips, fairy like feature and cat-like eyes, bright, sharp and green. So green, like jades, she looked almost too ethereal to be a human.

And some might say he was exaggerating but when she turned her eyes to him, he was sure his whole face was red and he could only hear the rush of blood into his ears. So much so, he almost didn't hear his brother speaking.

Itachi saw the flustered expression on Sasuke's face and thankfully, just chalked it upto his social ineptness at meeting new people. "Sasuke these are our guests. Senju Tsunade and Haruno Sakura. They are here to stay indefinitely until the business is over."

Sasuke snapped back to attention at the mention of the names. Haruno Sakura… it suited her. "Wait, what business?"

Itachi looked at him again with that weird expression, and Sasuke was considering just saying nevermind and moving about. "Just some business with father and uncle. They will fill us in later when it is necessary. For now, retreat to your room and study the spells I said we were going to practice later. We are going to show our guests to their chambers."

Sasuke mutely nodded his head before giving Sakura one last glance and silently retreating back to his room.

This Sakura Haruno, he will talk to later.


"Huh, you have a weird brother Itachi. He sure needs to work on his people skills." Shisui commented with a low whistle as his eyes mischievously strayed back to the shorter girl standing beside him. Her reactions to his probing were amusing him to no end. How she can always be so adorably frustrated was something of a wonder in itself.

Sakura must've felt his stare as she turned her head to glare at him suspiciously before inching away from him. She turned away from him when she felt like a safe distance away from him and instead turned to the other Uchiha.

"So, our quarters then?"

"Yes, of course." Itachi nodded at her before motioning for them to follow him. "Once we get you settled in, then we will meet with the clan leaders and discuss on the course of action." Nodding quietly, Tsunade and Sakura followed Itachi down to the entrance of the guest quarters and up the stairs towards their rooms, with Shisui trailing behind them all the way.

Sakura was getting bored of the silence, so she decided that she might as well get some intel on their current predicament. "So, Mister Itachi, what exactly is it that we are dealing with?"

Itachi seemed to stumble minutely, almost unnoticeable, before he steadied himself again to address the question, "Orochimaru is an infamous name in the kingdom of wizards and warlocks, and upto an extent, sorcerers as well. He practiced the art of dark magic, it is heard, and that was why he was banished from the kingdom of warlocks. However, he seems to have re-emerged, and with an army of other magic users and also" Itachi swallowed before adding the rest, "undead."

Sakura's steps faltered at the last part as she coughed out her question, "Pardon? What was that?"

Itachi gave a heavy sigh, "The undead. Orochimaru has taken to practicing necromancy. He's trying to bring back the old magic users of legends, use their power for himself, overthrow the rules of magic and acquire the Book of Darklore."

The more Sakura heard of Orochimaru's supposed plan, the more her head started to turn. Sakura looked at her mentor beside her to gauge her reaction and found Tsunade bearing the same frozen, horrified mask on her face. If her mentor is that shocked, then maybe she should be worried too. And why not, this Orochimaru guy is practicing necromancy, the art of the damned, the forbidden practice, and for good reasons too.

"But, do we have a motive? Why would he be looking for the Book of Darklore?" Sakura whispered to the Uchiha pair, not being able to get her voice beyond the level of whispering. She has heard of the Book of Darklore, but only in the legends. It's a book of the purest, unfiltered evil magic, trapped in it are the souls of all thousands of the ones that have tried to acquire it, and conquer it, and never made it out alive. It is said to be almost unconquerable, but if someone was, hypothetically, able to somehow conquer it, the Book of Darklore will grant them with eternal dark magic and power, strong enough to corrupt their very soul and overthrow the entirety of the magic users' world.

But it was all just a legend, a myth. Right?

But not anymore it seems like. The Book of Darklore is very real and very dangerous.

Itachi considered her question and pondered on it for a moment before trying to give a reasonable answer. "We don't know the exact motive, but we do have a guess. Orochimaru has always been infamous for his obsession with the idea of immortality, and he has gone to great lengths before to attain it too. Our guess is that he is trying to do that again, and not only just become immortal, but also hold the reigns to the magic regimes and fill up the realms with his underlings."

Sakura listened and held onto each of his words carefully. She looked at her mentor again, but this she did not look surprised anymore, only disappointed and… sad. And also a little angry. But before she can gauge her mentor's expression anymore, or ask any more questions, they were already at their chamber floor.

Itachi led them towards a set of rooms right next to each other, and this floor seemed particularly fancier than the other ones. Itachi opened the door to the rooms with an identity spell, and Sakura peeked over his shoulder into the room and her eyes widened at the sight.

The room was absolutely beautiful. Pristine marble floors, large windows with translucent silk drapes over it to let in sufficient light during the daytime, a modest balcony, walls coloured a soft peach, a large bed with cream coloured silk sheets, a mahogany desk with a plush looking chair, a tall bookshelf empty of contents, a roomy almirah to keep the clothes and a matching dressing table beside it.

That room, though with no excessive furnishing, was nothing less of a fairy tale.

"I'll take this one." Sakura claimed quickly before anyone had any other say in it. She didn't care if the other room was going to be better, she will be staying in this room only.

She made her way inside and dropped her bag onto the bed. Looking around the room, she spotted a door to the right wall. Opening it, she peered inside and found it to be the bathroom that she had been hoping it will be. The same peachy walls and marble floor, but with a quartz wash basin and a pink quartz tub, a translucent silk curtain draped in front of it for the sake of modesty.

But the material of the tub and basin confused her. The use of therapeutic gemstones for shower and bath purposes are known in only the witch culture, as far as she knows. Sorcerers, do not generally use gems for their bathing rituals.

Deciding to just forget about it, Sakura went back into the room to find her mentor gone and only the two Uchiha sorcerers standing there. Sensing her presence, they looked up and smiled at her.

"So, is the room to Miss Sakura's liking?" Shisui asked with a teasing grin. That reminded her, he had been oddly silent the whole way up to their rooms.

"Yes, the room is quite nice, however I'm a little confused about the quartz tub in the bathroom."

Shisui seemed delighted by her question, all too eager to answer her. "Yes, it was actually put in especially for our special witch guests. We know about how particular the witches are about their bathing rituals, the reason why when we found out that we were going to have the famed high witch and her apprentice as our guests, we decided to put the quartz tub and basin to make you more comfortable." His grin turned a little sheepish as he wringed his hands together, "Was it to your liking?"

His explanation was a surprise to her to say the least. Out of all the personality traits in the pompous Uchiha sorcerers, hospitality is not something she would've thought would was one. And even though she still felt some rooted suspicions deep in her, it was hard to stay apathetic to them for long.

"Yes, thank you. It was really nice of you." And for the first time since she met the pair, she smiled. A genuine, sincere, delighted smile. So pretty, so beautiful. A smile that seemed to stun both the other occupants a little.

After a moment of silence, it was broken by Shisui's embarrassed laugh, a deep blush on his cheeks and red staining the tip of his ears, he ruffled his hair before attempting to say anything, but it only came out in a jumbled mess of half-worded sentences. Itachi decided that it was up to him to save face for both.

Clearing his throat, he indicated their departure in a much smoother tone. "Well, we are glad it was to your liking, Miss Sakura. We intend to make your stay as comfortable as possible, so please, don't hesitate to ask for anything you might want." He gave his own calm smile, before grabbing his still fumbling cousin, "However, we need to take our leave now to inform the clan of our arrival." Itachi started dragging his cousin toward the door, "Goodbye Miss Sakura, have some rest. We will meet soon to take you to meet our clan heads" And the pair were out of the room before Sakura can even reply with anything.

Once out a safe distance away from the room, Itachi let go of Shisui's arm only to smack him on his head.

"What was that about?" Shisui whined while rubbing the sore spot on both his arm and his head.

"For being an idiot." Itachi replied smoothly. "Why are you always so hopeless. It has just been a week, stop rubbing yourself all over her like a cat in heat."

"Hey, I saw her way before a week." At Itachi's stare, Shisui disappointedly corrected himself, "It was only smoke vision, but it should count!"

Itachi stared unblinkingly at him for a few moments more before sighing to himself. "Just stop doing that or you are going to chase her away before she even gets a chance to get settled it."

Only a grumbled reply of 'whatever' met his ears before Itachi opened the door to the main hall and walked in before the door slammed close behind them.


Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time in the last hour. She is tired from all the travelling and wants to do nothing more than just curl up in the soft bed and sleep for a day or two maybe. But that cannot happen right now, because she has to meet the damned clan and she can't be dead to the world if she wants to do that.

Sakura sighed again at that thought. At least the bath was good.

She looked at the miniature greenhouse sitting on her window, soaking in all the sunlight for the plants inside. Then she looked around at all the other things she has set up in her room. Her books, vials, jars and all other alchemy instruments on the bookshelf, her oils and creams and some other beauty products on the vanity table, her clothes neatly hung in the almirah, her pad of parchment, quills, inks, scrolls and crystal balls sitting on the desk beside her bed and every other small thing shoved into the many drawers.

The room looked nice, felt nice. Not like her home, where she would've liked to be, but it was well enough. She was just missing a key to her roo-

Suddenly remembering something, she jerked up into a sitting position and slid down from her bed before stalking to her door. Itachi opened this door with a magic identity spell, which means Itachi, or if wanted, any Uchiha really, can open it whenever they want, which means, no privacy whatsoever.

And she is not okay with that.

So, she quickly got to work. It was sorcerer's spell, but a spell she was familiar with. Magic identity spell would require for her to empty up the identifier slot first before putting in her impression. Though it seemed like an intimidating process, it was actually much simpler. Simple, but time-consuming, if you aren't familiar with it.

And no longer than half an hour later, she was already done with the change of identification. Now no one other than her should be able to open the door. Sakura wiped her brow free from sweat and looked at her handiwork in pride. It was pretty neat if she said so herself. No one will even know at first glance that the seal has been tampered with, except her.

Now done with all her work again, she found herself with nothing to do. Again.

Deciding to just check on what her mentor was doing, she opened the door next to her room and peered inside and found her mentor dead asleep on her plush bed. Tsunade's room looked pretty much like hers, save for colours in the shades of purples instead of peach. She was thankful that she did not regret choosing the other room. Sakura looked at her mentor again and decided to not disturb her from her slumber. She did not feel like getting smacked in the face, thank you very much.

So instead of annoying her mentor, she decided to do some research. Not on Orochimaru, but rather on the Uchihas. They can always work on the enemy, but first they need to be sure about their allies.

She retreated back to her room and took out all the books she could find about the history of the Sorcerers, which should contain some info about the Uchihas as one of the most well-known clans in sorcery, and opened the first tomb, almost as thick as her palmspan and no content index in sight.

'This is going to be a long while…'


When people think of absolute competence and inhuman grace, they think of Itachi Uchiha. The mind of a genius with the power of a king, the grace of a dancer and patience of a saint.

But right now, that patience was going through the ringer.

"Itachi, you were ordered to bring the high matriarch witch. She is not the high matriarch." One of the eight elder Uchiha sorcerer jeered at Itachi. The only reason Itachi has not knocked out his already crooked teeth is because Itachi was the epitome of perfection and that meant not being disrespectful to your elders. Regardless however much they deserved it.

"Elder Kawarama, Miss Senju is a retired High Matriarch, she is just as able as she was when active. She has the power, just not the status."

"That still doesn't look good on the Uchiha name. People will say the Uchiha name has fallen so low that they have to bring a retired witch." Kawarama spit out with pompous irritation as he dropped the ash from his smoking pipe into the ashtray and turned his haughty eyes back to Itachi, "It was bad enough that you bought not one but two filthy witches into our compound, but then you didn't even have the competence to bring an active witch."

They have been at this for more than an hour now, when will this misery end. He still has to get Miss Senju and Miss Sakura for meeting his father and uncle, discuss their next step in the plan of action, train with Sasuke, and Shisui is still breathing down his neck to get him to hurry so that he can meet the pinkette again.

He still curses the stars from when he showed Shisui the smoke vision of Sakura's face. And hasn't forgotten Sasuke's reaction when he first saw her in the morning.

But to be honest, Itachi himself probably wouldn't have been much different if he hadn't been the one to help in finding the high witch and her apprentice.

When he first met her at her cottage, Sakura was tense and ready to attack, eyes aflame and whole body roaring with magic. And to Itachi, it seemed like the he saw the goddess of war descending from Olympus. When she first called him by his name while walking to her quarters, he stumbled in surprise and then continued to replay the way his name rolled off her tongue until he felt like his brain would shut down.

And when she first smiled at then, pleased with her living arrangement, every golden glow of magic dulled in front of the radiance of her smile.

He hasn't met many witches, but it must be their witch magic that made them so entrancing. He cannot find any other explanation.

"Itachi, where is your head, boy?"

Itachi's attention snapped back to the present and he silently cursed his absentmindedness at the moment. Out of all the places for lagging attention, the hall of elders is not one of them.

"I'll apologize, elder Sasame, for not being able to bring a matriarch witch. However, a high matriarch witch does not mingle with magic user of any kind and their abode is heavily guarded against any and all people other than other witches. A retired matriarch is our best chance." Feeling bolder, Itachi decided for a little pointed jab. "And our focus should be on protecting our people anyway, instead of what people might think of the clan."

Seeing that the elders were getting red-faced and ready to rip him a new one, Itachi quickly stood up and bowed to indicate his departure. "Farewell, elders. I wish you a good day." And with a final look, he walked out of the hall and slammed the door behind him.

'What a day…' He sighed while deciding on what to do next. He should probably introduce their guests to the leaders first, that should've happened a lot earlier anyway. Deciding on a different approach, he took out his summoner ink and a paper from his shirt pocket and drew a raven. The ink rose from the paper, one feather at a time, unsticking from the paper like attached with gum until the raven has fully risen to its full height, no more than a meter tall, and spread out its wings to its full wingspan and let out a shrill call.

"How are you, my dear?" Itachi said affectionately while softy patting the raven on its head. The raven nuzzled its head back and let out a soft caw.

"I need you to deliver a message." At the sound of understanding from the raven, Itachi continued laying his command. "Go to father and uncle, and tell them that the guests have been settled into their quarters and we can have them met up on dinner." And as if remembering something belatedly, he attached a roll of paper to the bird's back, "Also, go to Miss Sakura's and Miss Senju's quarters and inform her about the dinner as well."

The raven nodded its head and took off into the sky with a loud caw. Itachi watched it round about towards the leaders' study and sighed in relief at another job being done.

And now, to Sasuke.

Going up the stairs of the main building towards Sasuke's room, he was once again reminded of the incident earlier that morning. However, he would be mindful of not mentioning anything to Sasuke, if he was truly as curious as Itachi assumed he was, he it wouldn't be long before he asked himself.

Soon enough, he reached Sasuke's door, right beside his own, and knocked twice to indicate his arrival.

"Come in Aniki!"

Itachi opened the door and peeked inside to find Sasuke tying his shoes and after a second, he righted up and nodded at Itachi, "Ready." Itachi nodded in return and motioned for Sasuke to follow him. He figured that it would be a while before Sasuke asked about their guests, however, he seemed to have underestimated Sasuke's curiosity.

"Aniki, who are the guests that we have in our home? Why are they here?"

Itachi resisted the urge to sigh. He really didn't feel like talking to his brother about the new arrivals. "They are witches. The clan head invited them into our home for some business that you don't need to worry about, like I said before."

But Sasuke did not seem sated with just that answer. They already reached the training ground and were taking their positions when the slew of questions continued, " You have talked to them. What are they like?"

"They are of great respect, very capable and powerful as allies and will be of great help." Itachi tried to keep his answers as short and vague as possible, and tried not to get annoyed.

"What are their names that you said?" Sasuke took the first attack, the wall of fire flaring from his mouth weak and flickering.

"Tsunade Senju and Sakura Haruno." Itachi countered it with a much stronger wall.

"Which one is Tsunade Senju."

"The blond one."

It was a moment of silence before Sasuke stuttered out the next question, "and… Sakura Haruno?"

"The pink one."

"What is she like?"

"Your spell is weak Sasuke. Try to stop the excess flow of magic." Itachi deflected the question instead.

"Okay. But what is she like?" Sasuke tried again while doing what Itachi suggested. It worked, a little bit, the wall a bit more stable, being able to hold the steady shape for longer.

"She's pleasant, polite, but she seems to get easily annoyed at Shisui. No surprise there." When Itachi saw that Sasuke can hold the wall for longer than before, he decided to announce the spar to practice the attack. "Okay, Sasuke, enough talking about the witches. Get ready for defence."

Sasuke looked like he would take a dew moments to compose himself, but Itachi didn't give him the chance. He charged at his brother, a sword of cackling energy thundering in his hands. Sasuke readied himself last minute, blowing out a fire wall last minute to fend off his older brother.

"Do better, otouto."

The spar continued on for eternity.


Sakura woke up with a start at a sudden, loud sound of knocking, or more like pecking on her window. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness and looked up at the source of all the noise with squinted eyes.

It was a bird. A raven at that. And it was staring at her.

"Weird bird." She mumbled to herself while slowly getting up and walking over to the large window. When she opened the window, a piece of paper dropped from the bird's mouth. Seemingly having done whatever it intended to do; the raven took off again with a loud cry.

"What the hell…" Sakura murmured to herself as she unfolded the paper to look at whatever was written inside.

'Miss Sakura,

I hope you have gotten a well deserving rest and are feeling better. You are to be informed that the clan leaders have requested your and your mentor's presence at the dinner tonight at eight o'clock. Hope you will grace us with your presence.

Sincerely,

Itachi.

"A dinner with the clan heads, huh." Sakura read the note once more before looking at the mess of books splayed out onto her table and the bed. She certainly has made some interesting discoveries, and some theories that she would like some confirmation for.

"We'll just have to see."


After a long hour of sparring, Sasuke and Itachi were laid out onto the lush ground of the training field, sweaty and sore, trying to catch their breath. Sasuke was practically fighting to keep his eyes open as Itachi sat up to take his gloves and medallion off. They seemed particularly heavy after such heavy usage of magic.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here! Is the little sorcerer already tired?" The amused voice of Shisui drifted between them as he walked towards the pair with his hands in his pants pocket and a mischievous grin present on his lips.

His pointed taunt at Sasuke seemed to have worked as he already looked ready to go for Shisui's throat. "Shut up you bastard!"

Shisui gave a chuckle at his younger cousin's embarrassment. Riling Sasuke up is his favourite pastime, it was so easy. Sasuke only looks grown up and all, but when poked at, his soul seems to revert back to his five-year-old self.

"Why?!" Shisui said in a high pitched, mocking tone, his eyes going wider as he batted his eyelashes girlishly, "Have I somehow offended the little sorcerer?! I'm so sorry, your majesty." Sasuke looked ready to tackle Shisui to the ground, when Itachi decided that it would be an appropriate time to intervene.

"Quit it you two." Itachi said with a sigh as he stood up and dusted his pants free from bits of grass. When he saw that there will not be any further disruption, he deemed it fit to leave and get some rest before the much-anticipated dinner.

"Don't worry Ita-chan," Shisui teased with his younger nickname, ruffling the young sorcerer's hair, "Sasu-chan and I are always as friendly as fawns. Right Sasu-chan?" Sasuke would've bared his fangs at his cousin, if he had any. And Itachi was getting concerned with how red Sasuke's face was with anger.

"Just go back to your room. We have an important event tonight." Itachi quickly dismissed the situation before Sasuke can do anything again.

"What event?" Sasuke asked after giving Shisui his best stink eye. Itachi started walking away towards the stairs before throwing the answer behind him. "A formal dinner with the guests."

Only stunned yells met his ears before he disappeared down the hallway completely.

'Oh boy…'


(April, 2023) AN : Alright, so this is the revised version of this chapter. Like mentioned before, nothing new, just a smoother narrative.

I was originally thinking about making it just a strictly SakuraxUchiha story, but I might add a few more characters in the mix and make it a multi-saku story. So you can either tell me in the reviews or PM directly and tell me what you might like.

Anyway, hope y'all liked it, see y'all in the next chap.

Bye bye