Disclaimer: Naruto does notDisclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Chapter One

She was perfect.

Her pale skin glowed against the darkness of his futon, slender fingers tangling in the material. Her sweat dampened hair clung to her forehead, some tendrils clinging to her flushed cheeks; breath wheezed in between her plump pink lips, even white teeth worrying the lower one as she struggled not to scream. Her breasts, scarcely more than a handful tipped with nipples the same color as her lips, bobbed enticingly. Her smooth, taught belly was covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, her slender hips bucking under the onslaught of his fingers between her smooth, milky thighs.

"I'm still waiting for your answer, ouka." His voice was soft, barely audible over the rustling of her flailing body against his sheets. He could feel her rhythmic clenching around his fingers, almost painful; she was so tight.

"Uh-unh?" Glazed eyes the color of spring leaves struggled to focus while her mouth only seemed capable of producing mindless groans of pleasure.

"Who do you belong to?" He repeated, taking mercy on the poor thing. They'd been at this for hours after all.

"Y-y-" She arced as his long slender fingers brushed something inside her. His other hand was wrapped around her hip, keeping her from wriggling her way away from him. As if she could. "Oh-oh please!"

It was too much and at the same time not enough. She still couldn't reach that peak and she wouldn't. Not until he let her. "Not yet Hime, I still need to hear you say it."

The hand on her hip slid up her torso, just barely brushing her skin, but raising goosebumps all the same until he was cupping the back of her neck and tangling in the sweat darkened locks he found there. She was so petite, it was like handling a doll. Or one of the Cherry Blossom Spirits from a childhood legend. He could break her, so easily, effortlessly. The fact that she trusted him not to was as arousing as watching her unravel in his hands.

"I-ii-ita-"

"That's it," he coaxed, tilting her head so she looked into his eyes. His thumb began to circle the small bundle of nerves just above his fingers, but his grip in her hair (firm, but not pulling) kept her head from dropping back as she all but shrieked in overstimulation. "Say it. Look at me and say it. Then you'll scream it for me."

Wide green eyes, still glistening with tears of frustration watched him as she licked her lips, struggling to concentrate. "Ii-ii-ta-Ita-chii!"

"Good girl." He used the leverage of his hands to pull her into a sitting position; the motion upsetting the rhythm of his fingers, but changing the angle so that he hit that spot inside her with every pump. Her breasts pressed against his chest. "Now come for me. Come now."

Her entire body seized, her core clamping down on his fingers hard; all of her muscles tensing as she writhed in his grip like a serpent. Her pouting lips parting in a scream-

He awoke with an almost inaudible huff.

It was too early to truly be called morning, but he knew himself well enough that sleep would not find him again tonight. He slid a hand through his loose hair as he sat up, the silk material of his sheets rubbed over his sensitive arousal. He suppressed a small hiss as he stood, silently padding across the tatami and opening the window. The moon was a tear in the inky fabric of the night sky. He could see roofs and darkened windows, her home was on the other side of the Hokage Tower, protected close to the center of town, but much too far from the Uchiha compound.

She was older now, no longer the young teenager he'd watched struggle to keep up with his foolish younger brother and his loud blonde friend. She was a conundrum, so small in stature and build (she would barely reach his chest) yet containing enough power in her tiny fists to level acres of forest in a single blow. Her temper was something to be marveled at as well, how such a small creature could house such inexhaustible ire piqued his interest. Her skin flushing, scarlet spreading across creamy porcelain, her dark green eyes snapping with fire that made even the most stalwart of shinobi flinch. Her hands clenching and un-clenching as though wanting to strangle something.

He'd also known she spent hours mentoring younger medics, teaching rudimentary healing techniques to anyone who asked. She would work herself into exhaustion to spare others pain. The same hands that could bring an army to its knees, could coax a heart to beat again. He'd seen her spend hours cajoling a civilian child through a broken arm, then knock the painter-nin across a training field for teasing her.

The contrast was bewitching.

To say that Itachi wanted her was an understatement. What had begun as a harmless observation, more to keep an eye on his brother, had quickly sent him spiraling into obsession. He relished the thought of having her temper directed at him, watching her heart shaped face flush in anger and her tiny form tremble with the force of her tantrum. He would keep pace with her as they destroyed acre after acre of Uchiha training ground before she was finally spent, then wrap her in his arms, whispering soothing nonsense until she calmed down.

He saw her behavior for what it was. A plea for attention, for someone, anyone to guide her. Someone that she couldn't hurt as she vented, but also someone who could take control when she reached her limit. She wasn't to be feared or salivated over by males seeking to satisfy a masochistic urge. Rather, she seemed to cry out to be cared for, to be understood even when she herself didn't know the root of her frustration. She needed to be tended to and coddled and pleasured and teased. And she would love him for it.

In a cramped office, deep in the bowels of Konoha Hospital , a young medic shuddered as she tried to focus on the report in front of her.

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As a medic, working late at the hospital wasn't unusual for Sakura. She usually spent most of her time in surgery, which meant that her office was more of a collection bin for paperwork (The Hokage's as well as her own). Her perfectionist nature couldn't stand to leave work unfinished, so this typically resulted in Sakura spending her free time catching up on reports.

"Ugh." She stretched, raising her arms and lacing her fingers above her head. The pinkette sighed as her back popped, the vertebrae realigning after hours hunched over. She dropped her arms back to her (finally!) empty desk and reached for her tea cup with her non-dominant hand, the other she flexed, attempting to work out the cramping in her tendons without using what little chakra she still retained. She winced at the cold, bitter liquid, but downed it anyway (it was wet and soothed her dry throat). Kami, she was tired. There was a strong, painful pulsing in her temples, tell-tale signs of chakra exhaustion. She needed some sleep. And a shower. After more than thirty-six hours straight in the hospital, she positively reeked of antiseptic, blood, and other things triage victims were usually covered in that she didn't want to think about.

Shower…or sleep.

Shower...or sleep.

I could sleep in the shower, but I should eat something too.

She rubbed a hand over the back of her sore neck as she locked her office door behind her. It was late, or early depending on how you viewed the small hours, and she was heading home. The corridors were so silent they almost seemed to hum in her ears, but that could've been the buzzing of her own exhaustion filling her head. A quiet hospital corridor starred in the nightmares of more than one shinobi, but Sakura found it comforting compared to the ear splitting sirens and frantic beeping of machines struggling to keep someone alive. The wails of anger and grief on behalf of the dead. The almost dial tone like sound of the heart monitor as death continued to thin the ranks of Konoha's best.

She nodded as she passed the night nurses station.

Yes, quiet was much better.

The normally bustling streets of Konoha were deserted apart from the occasional hiss of a territorial squabble between aggravated felines or the creaking of old trees swaying in the wind. Her apartment was equidistant from the Hokage Tower and the hospital, close to the center of town. It was a little more crowded than she liked, but at times like these, she appreciated the shortness of the journey between her and her soft, soft bed.

Her apartment was dark, but she crossed the hardwood with ease, stripping off her shoes in the doorway and flexing her aching feet, wiggling her toes. Her clothes laid a trail to her small, simple bathroom where she stepped into the shower without waiting for the water to heat up. She rinsed her hair and brushed her teeth, scrubbed herself with her exfoliating towel, leaving her tired body smelling faintly of whatever generic soap she'd bought because it was on sale.

Her oversized sleep shirt clung to her damp skin as she flopped onto the puffy pink futon she'd had since she was a genin. Sometimes it depressed her to realize how short she still was, but tonight she was too tired to care, flopping onto the blankets and dragging a strangely triangular plush into her arms as she immediately nodded off. She'd eat in the morning.

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Sakura was going to kill Sai. Irritably, she kicked a pebble, watching in fly towards her emotionally stunted teammate with malicious accuracy, but the bastard had the nerve to dodge his well-deserved punishment.

"Sakura-san," Yamato nudged the aggravated medic with the tentativeness usually reserved for wild animals, and proffered a small triangle of sandwich.

She snatched it up, giving her teammate a grateful half-smile, before devouring the sandwich in two quick bites, too fast to taste it. It sat heavy in her stomach, she could almost feel the bread expanding with moisture before stomach acid could dissolve it and she repressed the urge to gag as nausea surged up her throat. "Thanks."

"Not at all." The former ANBU Captain's dark eyes watched her carefully, taking in the shadows under her eyes, the looser fit of her gear.

She didn't notice, too busy glowering at the painter-nin who just smiled back at her unabashedly.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your useless attempt at beauty sleep, Hag, but according to a book I read, leading a person to believe they are late makes them move much faster than their usual pace. I was curious to see if it was true."

Why that little-!

"Well, we'll be done here soon. I think we've all earned a nap, wouldn't you say?" Yamato looked to Kakashi who had yet to look up from his book.

"Why not?"

"…you aren't listening, are you?"

"Sure."

Sakura snorted in amused irritation. Kakashi was Kakashi. "Nah…I have another shift at the hospital after this…Shizune is still in Tea country, so I'm in charge. You guys go ahead though."

Finally, one dark eye peered at Sakura over the orange cover. "Are you sure about that? Sai's right, you're looking a little ragged."

Ragged?!

Inner was outraged.

I'll show you ragged when I knock your scarecrow ass into next week!

Stop it! We couldn't land a hit on Kaka-sensei if we tried on a good day…and honestly, this isn't us at our best. I need to pick up soldiers pills on the way home…I ran out again.

"I am fully refreshed, but I'm sure that Ugly would like to return to her exercise in futility." Sai turned his fake smile towards the pinkette. "If eight hours a night is insufficient, should not your medical prowess imbue you with the necessary skills to induce a temporary coma?"

We will not punch our teammate, we will not punch our teammate, we will not-

Let me attem! Let me at him!

We will NOT punch our teammate!

Why the hell not?!

If we do, we'll either knock him out or halfway to Suna. I don't have the chakra or the patience to heal him! I just want to get this over with and stock up on more sleep. I hate it when my chakra runs this low…I feel vulnerable.

I hate it when you're right…but, whatever. Next time we spar, his ass is grass!

Fair enough.

Looking back at the expectant painter-nin, she grinned with the same patronizing look reserved for dealing with small screaming children, or problem patients. "Actually, I'd probably have to induce a coma to get eight hours, but you look like you don't miss a wink. Gotta keep yourself pretty for the Daimyo's nephew, right?"

If Sai knew how to blush, his expression would've been hilarious. At last year's annual gathering, Team Seven served as an escort for the Daimyo. Normally, his own guards would be sufficient, but he wanted to impress his visiting brother-in-law (apparently, there was some friction there). Long story short, the Daimyo's nephew, a young aristocrat with a shocking low tolerance for alcohol had become entranced with Sai's exposed midriff and delicate features. She had never seen the painter-nin move as quickly as he practically fled to take Kakashi's place on patrol.

"What does winking have to do with sleep?"

"It's just a figure of speech."

Sai opened his mouth, but a sudden flex of chakra in the distance cut him off; something was coming and it didn't care if they knew it.

Kakashi sighed and tucked his book into his jounin vest.

Sai took out a paintbrush and Sakura flexed her fingers, cracked her knuckles inside her gloves. She had two options, use as little chakra as possible and use long range techniques, or ration what little she had, end it quickly, hoping that her stubborn refusal to be weak in front of her teammates would be enough to fuel the trip back to the village.

"Sakura, you can sit this one out if you need to," Yamato apparently understood how foolish his words were, because he only spoke once he was out of immediate striking distance.

That settled it.

Sakura's fists began to glow.

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The mission was a success.

The target, Tokagowa Yuu, was wanted under suspicion of distributing confidential information leading to the ambush of several Konoha ANBU. He was currently in one of Ibiki's cells while they waited for him to regain consciousness after a nasty blow to the back of the neck.

Sakura had no regrets.

"Well done." The voice of the slug princess was warm as she accepted her apprentice's already completed report. Warm gold eyes took in the shadows under Sakura's then narrowed when they assessed her chakra levels. Placing the completed report on her desk, she stared levelly at the stubborn pinkette. "What was the first lesson I taught you?"

"The medic is the most important member of the team."

"And why is that?"

"They have the skills and power to heal-"

The Hokage's fist hit the desk with a bang hard enough that it was surprising the wood did not split. Again. "Do you?!"

Sakura didn't flinch, but her expression hardened.

"If one of your teammates had been injured on this mission, could you have healed them?!"

"Shishou, no one was-"

"Answer me!"

"I would never let my team suffer!"

Tsunade drew in breath to continue, but then took a closer look at Sakura's posture. Her knees were locked, to prevent her from falling. Her hands were clenched at her sides and her head slightly tucked, like a child ready for a scolding. Exhaustion and guilt radiated from every pore. The Hokage's eyes softened very slightly. Sakura was an excellent student, and a stunning kunoichi in her own right considering she came from civilian background, but her stubborn denial of her own limits was inexcusable.

"Sakura, I'm giving you the next three days off to bring your chakra levels back up to scratch."

"Shishou, no! I'm not that tired, I just- I didn't sleep well last night and-" Her apprentice seemed almost panicked at the idea of taking a day off. She wasn't burnt out, she didn't need to be coddled. She wasn't weak!

"Either you take your days off, or I suspend you for a week for jeopardizing your teammates with your incompetence."

Sakura flinched. She wanted to argue, she knew she was needed at the hospital.

"This is for your own good, Sakura. Get some rest."

The pinkette bowed and left the tower, trudging at a pace close to civilian. Just a few more steps, then she could take a nice, long, relaxing shower. She would be better in the morning. Then Shishou would see and she would be back on schedule. She couldn't fall behind any further, she was playing catch up as it was.

It was a testament to her exhaustion that she didn't react when a shadow suddenly appeared in her line of vision. "Uchiha-san!"

Sasuke's elder brother was one of the most intimidating people that Sakura had ever met. The only person who made her more uncomfortable was Orochimaru, but that was more of a gross out factor than actual fear.

Not an incredibly tall man, though he still towered over her, Uchiha Itachi was disconcertingly magnetic. The movements of his slender frame fluid in a bizarre mix of aristocratic comportment and years of shinobi training. His chakra wasn't obnoxious like Sasuke or Naruto; her teammates took pride in their powerful auras, no matter how Sasuke tried to deny it. Instead, power rolled subtly off the ANBU Captain like a rip current, roiling beneath a placid surface; if you didn't know how to look for it, you would miss it entirely. Then, by the time you finally felt it, it was too late. You were fucked.

Dusk was just beginning to settle over the village, orange and purple meshing in the sky to form colors humans had no words for as night slowly gained ground. Visiting hours for the hospital would be over soon, so unless he was hurt, it was odd for him to be there. In fact, it was odd to see Sasuke's brother, period. From everything her teammate had said, which to be fair wasn't much, Itachi had very few off days, and chose to spend his valuable free time among his clan at the Uchiha compound.

"Haruno." His voice wasn't deep exactly, but it was low enough that something prickled along the back of Sakura's neck. Not fear exactly. That would be stupid. Scary or not Itachi was one of the most dedicated shinobi in Konoha, but something about him, the tone he used with no honorific, rubbed her the wrong way.

Elitist.

Forcing herself to make a pleasant overture, this was her teammate's family after all, Sakura felt the tired edges of her mouth pull into a deceptively bright smile. "On your way to the hospital? You aren't injured I hope."

"Hn-" Sakura felt her smile twitch "-I'm on my way to visit Shisui."

"Ah, I remember, broken ankle. He should be released tomorrow morning. If he managed to stay off of it, that is," Sakura trailed off darkly. Injured Uchihas were enormously difficult, injured Shisui was impossible! He spent half his time flirting with the nurses and the other half disobeying doctor's orders. Even the memory of the frustration was enough to start a vein throbbing in Sakura's oversized forhead.

"Ah." Something flickered in the shinobi's dark eyes. It wasn't red, so it wasn't his bloodline limit, but it looked dangerous all the same.

"Well," Sakura stopped at the corner, her smile stretching even wider. "I will leave you to it then, Uchiha-san. Tell your mother I said hello."

With a polite bow, she turned around and started down the street.

"Enjoy your evening, Haruno."

She could feel Itachi's stare burning between her shoulder blades, felt the slowly receding wave of his barely repressed chakra and suppressed a shiver. Sasuke-kun was intense on his own, but his brother was just unnerving. No one should be that powerful.

Not for the first time, Sakura resented the three flights of steps to her apartment. Her hand trembled around the door knob. "Dammit!"

She forgot to pick up soldier pills.

The medic cursed the Uchiha as she stumbled inside, promising herself that she would go grocery shopping tomorrow after she'd had some sleep. Maybe the shower could wait.

She had to brace herself against the wall to pull off her shoes, her feet throbbed with every painful step as she crossed the floor. She needed to clean her apartment again, there were more books on the floor than on her shelves.

She scrubbed a damp washcloth over her face to remove the remaining mission debris from her skin and brushed her teeth.

Everything else could wait.

Her clothes landed in a crumpled heap next to the hamper; she'd fix that later.

She pulled her stuffed onigiri, Umeboshi, into her arms and slipped into a deeper sleep than a shinobi should.

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Unacceptable.

His lips tightened in a frown as he took in the circles under her eyes. Her chakra reserves were very low; she was operating at barely twenty percent. She shouldn't have left her apartment, let alone taken a mission in this condition. Her pale skin looked sallow and he could see the slight delay in her reactions. Her steps were slightly uneven, her breathing was heavier than it should've been.

His sharingan activated, taking in every detail of the medic.

The minute trembling in her limbs frustrated him.

Not at her, never at her, but at her teammates for allowing her to partake in a mission when she was obviously pushed to her limit.

Disappointment pulsed in his chest when she called him by his surname, though her small shiver at the sound of his voice pleased him. She was so sensitive, so aware of him that she reacted even in her exhaustion. Selfishly, he allowed small waves of his chakra to slip from his control, to brush along her skin the way his fingers desperately wanted to. He took no small pleasure in how her skin pebbled.

If she reacted that way to aspects of his person that were unconscious, his voice, his aura, how would she react to his more focused attentions? His hands tracing her body, his lips tasting her skin and learning her shape with his tongue, his bare form tangling with hers, the slide of his flesh inside her as he held her long into the night?

He felt a small amount of frustration at the fake smile that distorted her expression as she forced herself to make small talk with him, though it amused him to see the snap of her temper in her eyes at the antics of his rowdy cousin. He wanted to see that anger directed at him, wanted to be the sole focus of her attention, even if it was in temper. Though he had other methods to...satiate her ire. His muscles tensed as she mumbled a polite good night and walked away, her gait just shy of clumsy, her small feet scraping over the stones as she forced one foot in front of the other.

Impatience sank unrelenting claws into his chest.

This could not be allowed to continue.

She would work herself into an early grave.

Technically, visiting hours were over in the hospital, though the nurse was only too eager to make an exception for him. Her tittering grated on his nerves, as did her dereliction of responsibility. He imagined Sakura's livid face as her staff violate policy. Clan patients were quartered in a separate wing of the hospital than civilians or other shinobi. In deference to their station as well as a means of protection. Some bloodline limits could be volatile along with the injured, often disoriented patients. The Uchiha had their own suite of private rooms, a condition of a rather generous gift towards the building's refurbishment.

Shisui was staring out the window, not even pretending to be asleep when his younger cousin stepped into the room on silent feet. Itachi set a bundle, a collection of snacks from the Uchiha matriarch, on the small table next to the bed. Shisui's left leg was heavily bandaged from knee to toe, to keep the bone in position as it healed.

The elder Uchiha watched his cousin levelly as the clan heir stared at the bandages. "You're trying to activate the wrong bloodline limit, we aren't Hyuuga."

Itachi snorted. "How much longer before you are released?"

"Officially?" Shisui tried to flex his foot, but the bandage and split didn't bend. "Not until next week, but I can usually convince a couple of nurses to sign me out early."

He flashed a crooked grin at his cousin. "Especially, since Cherry Blossom has the next few days off. Walking out of here should be a breeze."

"Days off?"

"Yep, word is the Hokage 'suggested' her apprentice take a vacation." One of the benefits of flirting with the nurses, was learning all of the hospital gossip. It was almost a kinky form of reconnaissance.

Itachi seemed to be thinking something over, so Shisui was quick to add. "Of course, that hasn't stopped the staff from taking bets on what time the 'Pink Demon' is going to show up tomorrow. Kaede-chan is convinced she'll show up like nothing happened, Fumiko-san thinks 'Haruno-senpai' will try for half a day, then 'forget' to clock out and-"

"Shisui."

The other man chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "Her work habits are nearly as bad as yours...speaking of habits, it's about time for her to leave for the day, isn't it?"

"Ah."

"Waited for her outside, didn't you?" Shisui clucked knowingly. "You know, what if you just asked her out like a normal person? I mean, it's probably not as stimulating as stalking your little brother's teammate from a distance, but I don't think the world would end," he shrugged. "Who knows? You guys could hit it off-"

Itachi glowered at his best friend. "Or she will make excuses out of misplaced loyalty to my brother and continue to run herself into the ground."

"So what? Women play hard to get all the time, you just have to be patient and take your time-"

"I can't wait anymore." Breaking stoicism, Itachi closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could still see her fragile form, limping with exhaustion. Going home to nothing more than a dark apartment instead of being welcomed as future matriarch by his clan. "She's going to collapse."

Shisui sighed. His cousin always had to do things the difficult way. He'd seen Itachi lie motionless for hours, waiting for a target to appear, but something about Sakura Haruno brought out an almost desperate instinct in the prodigy. It would be funny, if it didn't have the potential for catastrophic consequences. "What do you want me to do?"

"Get yourself released by tomorrow. She should be easily convinced." Itachi smirked. "Apparently, you're a menace."

"Me? That's a lot of nerve coming from you! At least I've never made a nurse cry."

If it weren't for twenty plus years of clan breeding drilled into his head, Itachi would have rolled his eyes. What did he care if some nurse was disappointed that he was not interested in a sponge bath? For the third time in as many hours.

Shisui's face lost amusement. "Itachi, she's young. She won't want-"

"It's not about what she wants. It's what she needs."

The Uchiha heir left the room as silently as he'd entered it, leaving Shisui to run a frustrated hand through his hair. His cousin was relentless. It's what made him a brilliant ninja, but he had a feeling it could make him a certain medic's nightmare.

Good luck, Sakura-chan. You're going to need it.