Okay. This is my NEW story that I've been writing for a while and just couldnt' wait to post it so here it is. I know my usual reviewers will enjoy reading it, and I hope some new readers will like it, too. Here's a full summary:

In a world made of guns, fighting, and groups called Bouryokudan (mafia), there will always be twists and turns for the worst, and for the better. It's no different for Haruno Sakura, whose longtime boyfriend, Uzumaki Naruto, works for Konoha Bouryokudan's leader, Uchiha ITachi, the brother of Sakura's and Naruto's old friend, Sasuke. Although Sakura is in love with Naruto, she knows that her love for Sasuke lingers, and grows stronger every day. Orochimaru, leader of Otogakure's Bouryokudan, makes a move on Itachi's territory, placing Sasuke and Sakura and Naruto in too close of a proximity. This story takes twists and curves and turns that you wouldn't believe possible in a world of hate, gangs, violence, friends, and love.

Ironically, Much Love

Nicola

Uchiha Itachi thrummed his fingers on the sleek, wooden surface of his desk, lost in thought as he glared at the telephone to his right. He'd just received a very displeasing, and somewhat terrifying phone call from a man who was not right in the head, in his opinion. The disturbed man on the other line had uttered his threat only a few moments ago, and warned Itachi about the impending doom on his city. But Itachi had yet to act on those comments. Sure, his better sense had told him to call in more than just the two men he had, to alert all of his loyals of the foreshadowing hovering over their lives and the lives of those they loved, but it just wasn't in his nature to make a big deal about something that he wasn't quite sure was creditworthy.

The man who was trying to intimidate Itachi was named Orochimaru, a slick, twisted excuse for a man. Hell, he couldn't even be classified as human in Itachi's book. The snake-like mobster may have strange characteristics, a few unnerving habits, and a tendency to enjoy the company of small boys (according to common interest), but he wasn't a force to be reckoned with. His connections were almost as powerful as Itachi's own, and that rocked the Uchiha man's boat to no end. Orochimaru was as far off his rocker as anyone could get.

There was a knock on the heavy doors several feet in front of Itachi's desk, and he looked up from his brooding, his black eyes irritated but somehow strangely expressionless, and shook the hair from his eyes. "Come in," he said, his voice deep, dangerous, ominous. But the two men behind the door wouldn't take it as such a warning. They knew their boss too well.

With a nearly silent creak, the door opened, and in came a man with long, cocoa-colored hair and oddly white eyes, followed by a second man with blonde, spiky hair and vibrant blue eyes. The blonde one came and stood to Itachi's left in front of the desk, and the white-eyed man took the left side.

"What's up, boss?" the blonde man asked, and Itachi fought back the shudder at the sight of his loyal's goofy grin. Did he ever take anything seriously? No, but he was a key player in the sick game of chess those involved in this business found themselves in. Uzumaki Naruto could handle ten men at once in a fight, all three times his size. But that was the amazing thing about it—no one expected the wiry, loud-mouthed man to have any fight in him at all, much less being capable of taking down the strongest of opponents. That was why Itachi kept him around—for his strength, as well as his intelligence.

"I just received a phone call," Itachi started off slowly, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands while his eyes raked over Naruto and moved to the white-eyed man who had so far kept completely silent. Hyuga Neji, a man from the infamous Hyuga clan with the strange, talented eyes. Yes, Neji was a brilliant strategist, as well as a forceful opponent. In the world of gangs and mobs and territory wars, having a man like Neji on your side was important. He was smart, quick on his feet, and quick with his mind. And his eyes…they could see for miles and miles in every direction, even directly behind him.

"Yeah?" Naruto pressed, shoving one hand into his pocket and frowning. Itachi smiled inwardly. His loyal was beginning to get interested, and serious.

"It was from Otogakure," he said, and pursed his lips. Naruto's brow furrowed and Neji narrowed his dangerous eyes. Itachi smirked. He was glad he'd decided to bring these two into his office. They would pass the message along to only those who needed to know about it. "Orochimaru is threatening to make a move on our territory."

Naruto bristled, but Neji laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "What were his reasons and conditions?"

Neji always got straight to the point. Itachi leaned forward again and placed his folded hands on his desk, staring straight into Neji's eyes. "He wanted us to call off the charges the city is pressing on him, simply because Ino's associate is heading the case." Itachi snorted, a gesture so unlike him that Naruto stared at him with one eyebrow raised. "I told him that he had better get a damn good lawyer because we weren't going to do anything about it."

"So he claimed he was going to make a move on Konoha unless we forced the city to drop the charges?" Naruto growled, and Itachi knew he was thinking of his long-time girlfriend, Haruno Sakura. Itachi nodded.

"Yes." He stood, moving around the desk so that he was on level with his two loyals. "He threatened that he would start the war, as he referred to it, by the end of next week." As the words left his mouth, Itachi repressed a shiver crawling up his spine. It was not one of annoyance, nor fear, but one of anger and hatred. There was a specific person he was not looking forward to having to come face-to-face with if Orochimaru decided to creep into his territory. The little pest…that little brat…how dare he betray him like that…

He cleared his throat to clear his mind and glared at Neji. "I want you to alert Anko and Jiraiya immediately, and have them come see me." He turned his glower to Naruto, who just glared right back. "Bring me Asuma, Sai, Ino, and, most importantly, your old sensei. Yes, Naruto, I want to see Kakashi," he added at Naruto's shocked, widened eyes. He lifted his eyebrows and glanced at the door, dismissing them without a word.

The two men turned and headed for the door, Naruto shaking his head as it shut behind them. Itachi walked over to the window on the far side of the room, pulled back the curtain, and sighed. The view of his spacious lawn from this window was amazing, but it didn't strike him as beautiful—it never had. Since moving into this house, since taking over the business, he hadn't had time to think about all the pretty things in life. There was only one thing he was concerned about.

Kill, or be killed.



"Ugh," Haruno Sakura muttered, slapping her hand down on top of another huge pile of papers that had just been dropped off on her desk. She had become a doctor because of her love of the job, of her need to help people, not because she enjoyed doing paperwork! But that was the night shift, and she figured that since she'd volunteered to work late, she'd just have to such it up and get over it. But still!

Muttering under her breath about needed a coffee break, she set her pencil on the papers, stood up from her desk, and dragged her feet towards the hospital lounge. It was already somewhere around one in the morning, the hospital was as slow as always at this hour, and the only ones on duty were herself and her senior surgeon, Tsunade. The large woman was probably in her office, putting off her work like she normally did, which meant Sakura would only have more on her plate when she came back later on this afternoon for another shift.

Sakura sighed, plucking a cup off of the shelf and placing it under the coffee dispenser. She really hoped that the coffee wasn't cold—cold coffee did nothing to spike her nerves at this late an hour. When she pressed the brim of the porcelain cup to her lips, and let the coffee brush against them, she sighed, relieved. It was nice and hot. Thank goodness.

On her way back to the office she normally shared with Hinata and Shizune, she vaguely thought about what Naruto was up to right now. She shivered at the thought of what he could be doing, considering his job and all. Of course, she wouldn't say it aloud that he was a mobster for the Konoha Bouryokudan, which literally meant the Konoha Mafia. There were several other gangs like the one in Konoha; in fact, there was one for almost every village, as far as Sakura was informed. Naruto didn't talk about his work very much—he preferred to keep her out of it as much as possible.

She sighed again and sat down at her desk, looking balefully at the ominous stack of paperwork. She had been together with Naruto for nearly two and a half years now, and their relationship was pure bliss. They could talk about anything, and had even been building up on actually mentioning their old friend in normal conversation. Sakura shivered at the thought of their former teammate. Uchiha Sasuke.

He'd run off years ago to work for the Otogakure Bouryokudan, to work for Orochimaru. It had stung everyone in the city that one of their own, one of their elite, possible ANBU-squad member had betrayed them to work for the biggest enemy out there. Sakura still got pains in her heart when she thought about his betrayal. She'd liked him for the longest time. But she didn't like him now. No, she was in a committed relationship with Naruto, not Sasuke. And she wasn't going to let herself think in any other way.

Picking up her pen again, and pushing all thoughts of Sasuke away, she set to filling out and signing each individual piece of paper. She scribbled down information from the computer records onto the forms in a painstakingly slow process. Why Tsunade insisted on having everything written down and on the computer, she didn't know. They could just print it out and save everything in files; even make twelve copies of it if it made Tsunade feel better. But no, Tsunade would be Tsunade, regardless.

Sakura, after about ten more minutes of slaving over paperwork, stood up with her empty coffee cup in hand and walked to the door. But before she could reach the knob, she twisted her foot sideways and plummeted to the floor. She felt the cup crack and break under her hands as she hit the ground, and felt the sharp sensation of the jagged pieces cutting into the skin on her palm. She cursed, sitting up and holding her bleeding right hand with her left. Just her luck to get hurt right when she decided to go home. She'd swear to anyone that Tsunade had somehow placed a voodoo curse on her or something. Every time she tried to skip out on work, something came up and forced her to stay and help out.

She stood shakily to her feet—for her ankle was throbbing painfully and it hurt like hell to put any weight on it—and hobbled down the hall. She'd have to go find Tsunade to help her with this, because she would not be able to stand for much longer on her ankle, and balancing on one foot while numbing her hand and stitching it up was not in her capabilities. She saw Tsunade's office door looming just ahead, and increased her hobbling pace, trying to get there before she'd collapse. She felt her ankle pulsate angrily, and gasped, picking her foot up off the floor and hopping the rest of the way to the office.

"Tsunade!" she yelled, knocking hard on the door. "I need your help, please!"

The big-breasted woman opened her door with a grin on her face. "Of course, my clumsy little Sakura. What did you do this time?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose and held up her hand. "I tripped. And I fell on my coffee mug. And my ankle's sprained." She could tell how badly her ankle was damaged just by how much it hurt. She had been able to walk on it for a little while, which meant that it wasn't broken, so it was probably just a bad sprain.

"Alright!" Tsunade said cheerfully, and helped Sakura into her office. There was a small medical table on one side, with three shelves full of supplies beside it. A huge desk was pushed up against one wall and the desk light was glowing brightly over all the papers and folders there. Sakura loved that Tsunade's office was so big, but she was mildly jealous that the senior surgeon didn't have to share and office with anyone. Not that she didn't like Hinata and Shizune—she adored her fellow doctor and nurse! But it would be nice to have some space to herself.

Tsunade sat her on the desk and dug around on one of the shelves until she found a syringe and a small bottle of a numbing solution. Sakura, fully trusting in Tsunade to take care of her, looked down at her lap while the older woman worked on her hand. Naruto would be worried when he came to pick her up later tonight, she knew, because once again a bandage would be wrapped around her hand. Well, her hand wasn't always injured. She hurt her arms, too, and her feet, and her head, and her legs, and…basically everything on a regular basis. Being clumsy was just part of life for her. Naruto had learned to live with it so far, but in his line of "work" he couldn't help but worry. What if one of the enemy gangsters got to her? What if they hurt her and used her as bait for the Konoha Bouryokudan?

Naruto worried to much, she told herself firmly. She would be just fine. There wasn't a moment when she was by herself. Tsunade, Hinata (who was conveniently Neji's cousin), Naruto, or one of Naruto's "work buddies" was around at the house or the hospital or wherever she happened to be. Apparently, he didn't trust her to be alone. Or, as she preferred to think, he didn't trust those people who were his so-called enemies. Yes, it was more comforting to think that Naruto loved her too much to let anything happen to her. She smiled quietly, gentle tugging sensations pulsing lightly through her hand, and her long-time boyfriend's face flitted into her mind. Naruto…handsome, exuberant, dangerous Naruto.

"Done."

Sakura looked up at Tsunade, who was putting all her supplies away. She held her hand up in front of her eyes and saw that it was bandaged. She could feel the stitches in her skin, but she'd had to deal with them so often they didn't bother her. Grinning, she hopped down from the table, wanting to give Tsunade a quick hug, and yelped at the pain that shot through her ankle. Of course, forget about the more important injury. At this rate, if she kept trying to walk on a sprained limb, she'd worsen the sprain so much she'd never get out of the house again!

Tsunade set her back on the table, tsking disapprovingly, and took off Sakura's shoe and sock. She frowned, reached for a roll of gauze, and set to work. Sakura barely caught a glimpse at the bruised skin before the soft white fabric was wrapped firmly around the top of her ankle. She winced; Tsunade was pulling it very tight, and although Sakura was aware it was necessary to set it correctly, it still hurt. She watched as the older woman tied off the gauze, grabbed a smaller roll of stretchy tan wrap and started circling Sakura's ankle and heel. Once it was tightened to Tsunade's satisfaction and pinned in place, Tsunade rummaged around in the long closet to one side of her office and resurfaced with a set of crutches.

Sakura groaned at the sight of them, thinking that Naruto would have a heart attack if he saw her on those. Reluctantly she took them, situated them under her arms, and set off towards the door. "Thanks so much, Tsunade!" she called over her shoulder.

"No problem," Tsunade answered, and then Sakura was in the hallway and heading for her office. All she had to do was lock up, go out the side door, and Naruto would be there with a hug and a kiss all for her. She smiled at the thought, felt that warm and tingly feeling creep up into her chest, and awkwardly dug for her keys. Naruto loved her so much sometimes it hurt. And she loved him back, just as dearly. There was nothing that could come between her and her Naruto.

She locked her office door after making sure everything was shut down and shut off, tucked her keys back into her pocket, and hobbled down the halls until she reached the side door. This particular exit led right into the dark alley on the right side of the hospital, but Sakura wasn't worried. Waiting right outside that door would be Naruto, or at the very least one of his "buddies" that she only half trusted. They were still gangsters, after all, and even if they had orders not to hurt her, they could do anything they wanted and get away with it. Well, maybe they'd get away with the law, but not with Naruto, she thought with a smirk. They'd get their asses handed to them on a silver platter if any of them even imagined hurting her.

She clumsily opened the door, hobbled out, and shut it behind her. When she turned, expecting to see a blonde-haired man with a goofy, love-struck grin, her jaw dropped in surprise. A tall man with onyx eyes and just as black hair stood leaning against the side of the hospital next to the door, his expression bored, his arms crossed lazily over his chest. She swallowed hard, thinking of all the things Naruto had taught her about attacking enemies, whom he'd written down on a piece of paper for her in a specific order, from most to least dangerous. And the man she saw before her was second on that list, the second dangerous one.

Okay, she told herself silently, she knew how to do this. Her crutches would help her—they'd act like an extension of her arm that she could use to whack at the man without having to move too close to him. She would scream, Tsunade would come running, and the strong woman would beat him to a pulp, if she could get near enough to. But as the man stepped into the light, and Sakura felt a scream rising up in her throat, her voice cracked and died in surprise. The resemblance was amazing, and yet…it wasn't him.

She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. The man, one of Itachi's men, chuckled deeply. She scowled and hobbled a few inches so she was facing away from him. But he moved up next to her and sighed exaggeratedly, as if keeping pace with a cripple was just too slow and boring for him.

"I was told to pick you up," Sai said, hands shoved into his pockets but his black eyes scanning the sidewalk and street for any possible dangers. Sakura ground her teeth at his tone; he made it sound like he was an older brother having to pick up the annoying little sister from school, and that it was such a chore and he had much better things to do. Which he probably thought he did. Ugh.

"Whatever," she snapped, and doddered faster, trying to stay ahead of Sai. But he matched her pace easily, and sighed again. She tried to bite her tongue, but her bitter words came out anyway. "Will you shut up?"

Sai looked over at her, mildly taken aback, and shook his head. "Nope." He made a popping sound on the "p" that only made her scowl even deeper. Why did Naruto have to chose tonight of all nights to have a job to do? What had Itachi put him up to that was more important than her? She knew she sounded selfish and pouting, but right now it was all she could do. She couldn't think of anything else that would be fitting for this particular situation. Really, who would want to be stuck walking with Sai for the three blocks to her little house? No one, that's who.

She spat angrily on the ground and turned her head away from Sai. She wasn't going to look at him. As far as she was concerned, Sai was just an arrogant, annoying prick who needed to be put in his place. But his high rank in Itachi's business put him in a position where he couldn't be touched.

Home was only a few more minutes away, she firmly told herself, and straightened her shoulders as much as the crutches would allow. She'd put up with Sai for that much longer. But only till they got home.



Kakashi rubbed his face as he poured himself a cup of milk in the kitchen of his small, one-bedroom apartment. It was around midnight, three hours off of his shift, and he was still unable to sleep. Insomnia had plagued him for the past week, and it didn't seem like it was going to go away anytime soon. And not even warm milk—which had used to put him to sleep like that—could place him in the deep slumber he so longed for. His instincts were telling him something with this sleeplessness, he knew, but he was getting tired of waiting around for the problem to show itself. If something important didn't happen soon, tonight, even, then he was going to see a shrink or some other doctor tomorrow during his lunch hour.

Being the head of the Konoha ANBU squad meant countless hours on the job, danger beyond anyone's imagination, and dozens of enemies you make merely because of the mask and vest you wore. It wasn't as if Kakashi got some sort of sick pleasure at shooting down a criminal or slamming a young fugitive up against the nearest wall to do one of those random drug checks that were never random, but tipped off by some good doing citizen. He hated his job sometimes, but deep down he loved what he did for a living. Number one, it paid well. Number two, he got to save people and try to make up for…well…something he wasn't comfortable thinking, much less vocalizing. No one knew the real reason he had joined ANBU and worked his way up to the highest rank possible. They all assumed it had something to do with his determination and passion and yadda yadda yadda…

He had just decided to give up on going to sleep and watching some television when he heard someone knocking on his door. Surprised, and warily wondering who could be calling upon him at this hour, he walked through the spacious living room and to the door. He peeked through the peep hole, sighed, shook his head, and opened the door. He leaned against the frame and said hollowly, "What do you want, Naruto?"

Uzumaki Naruto had once been his student, a trainee who also had dreams of joining the ANBU some day. So Kakashi had willingly trained him and his best friend, whose name should not be mentioned, during their senior year of high school and up until they were twenty. Well, he'd trained Naruto until he was twenty, and the time came to make the decision about joining ANBU. The other trainee had made his decision a year and a half previous the time of Naruto's decision, and Naruto chose a similar path, having received an offer from the local Bouryokudan leader, Itachi.

And now there Naruto stood, looking sheepish and a little irritated in Kakashi's doorway. The gray-haired man narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, bored already. If Naruto wanted to say something, he'd better say it quick, because patience wasn't common with sleep-deprived people. And even though Kakashi could feel something in his stomach going wild with obvious glee, he ignored it and continued to glare at his old student. He'd never forgiven Naruto for doing what he'd done, for joining Itachi. At least he wasn't as mad at Naruto as he was at his old friend. He swore that if he ever saw that kid again he'd throttle him.

"I've come bearing a…message," Naruto started hesitantly, looking evenly at his ex-sensei without a hint of being nervous. But Kakashi knew him too well, and even though he and Itachi had toughened the young man up, he knew Naruto was nervous and fighting to keep from fidgeting.

"From whom?" Kakashi wanted to know, still leaning against the door frame. He crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto had better get to the point. He had a pretty good idea of who the message was from, but he'd rather have Naruto spit it out. Just to spite him.

"You know who from," Naruto muttered, glaring now. Kakashi chuckled darkly and ran a hand through his unnaturally spiky hair.

"Oh, I don't think I do," he replied smugly, a smirk playing on his lips. He watched with amusement as Naruto's glowering increased tenfold and the enthusiastic man clenched his fists in anger. He didn't want to have to say it, and Kakashi knew this would probably go on for a while before Naruto's stubbornness broke.

"Fine," Naruto snapped, much to Kakashi's surprise. A few years ago, it would've taken hours and hours for Naruto to admit to anything, the stupid, stubborn buffoon. Stupid in more ways than Kakashi cared to count. "Itachi-san wants to see you, alright? Something about Otogakure or whatever, but I'm not supposed to tell you anything until you're in his office. Got it? Alright, now get dressed and let's go." For Kakashi was still in his boxers with no shirt on.



Kakashi honestly couldn't believe it.

The great, amazingly powerful mobster Uchiha Itachi wanted to see him. In his private office, of course, in his humongous mansion in the better, richer part of Konoha. What an honor. Cheh, yeah, right. To be truthful, Kakashi had never wanted to go anywhere near Itachi after the man had stolen one of his students. And now that he was walking up the elegant stone path through the landscaped front yard towards the large, double front doors, he wanted nothing more than to turn back. So what if his instincts had told him this was a good idea? He didn't want to be there!

The three-story house loomed ahead of him, and he took in the sight with wide eyes. It was absolutely gorgeous, and very, very, very intimidating. He suppressed a shudder and followed Naruto through the big doors. Naruto seemed to know his way around here pretty well, he mused as he was led through a spacious, lavishly decorated living room and down a side hallway. At the end of the hallway rested two large wooden doors, polished until they gleamed. Itachi's office, obviously. He paused next to his old student as Naruto knocked on the door.

A low, sharp, irritated voice called out, "Come in. You're late," and they stepped through the doorway.

Pacing, his hands clasped behind his back, was Uchiha Itachi. His long black hair cascaded down his back in a lengthy ponytail, his black eyes were focused on the carpet he was walking along, and his whole demeanor screamed how dangerous and lethal he was. Kakashi was mildly intimidated, but he hid it well. He knew that Itachi could have him knocked off like that, but he refused to let it worry him. Naruto wasn't so cruel as to allow his boss to kill his old sensei. Right?

Itachi stopped his pacing and glared angrily at Naruto. Kakashi expected Naruto to flinch, but the blonde just glared right back and took a step back so that Kakashi was closer to the mob leader. Kakashi shot a glance over his shoulder at Naruto, who smirked back at him, and sighed. Typical Naruto.

He turned his head back to face Itachi, and was surprised to find him closer than he'd been a second ago. He kept his composure though, looking evenly into Itachi's eyes. Something red flashed behind the black color, giving Itachi a seemingly demon-like appearance. Great, this guy was even into using contacts to make himself appear meaner. He really was a pistol, wasn't he?

"What did you want, Itachi?" Kakashi asked snippily, and received a nasty look from the mobster. Naruto hit him in the back, muttering, "Be respectful" in his ear. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Naruto babbled everything to you, or else you wouldn't have come," Itachi started, resuming his pacing.

"Nope." Itachi looked at Kakashi in bored surprise. "He only told me it had something to do with the Sound. That's it. Enough to peak my interest, and I wasn't going to be getting any sleep anyway. So I came. Now what is it that is so important the lowly head of ANBU had to know?" Yeah, he knew he was being rude, extra rude in fact, but he didn't have any compassion for Itachi. They never had been allies, much less friends, and never would be as far as he was concerned.

"Well then," Itachi muttered, and looked at Naruto with an unfathomable expression. Kakashi couldn't decipher it, but Naruto apparently could, because he laughed haughtily and walked out of the room. Itachi turned his gaze back to Kakashi. "I received a phone call from the Otogakure Bouryokudan leader. I think you know him, Orochimaru, am I correct?" Kakashi's silence was answer enough. "I thought you did. And we both have a bigger grudge against him than we have against each other. He took something from both of us that we were not willing to lose. So I felt that I was inclined to tell you about it.

"Orochimaru threatens to start a territory war on Konoha if the charges the city is pressing against him are not dropped. I've called in my lawyer, but she doesn't want to be here until at least eight." His voice became a sneer as he talked of his lawyer, and it didn't go unnoticed. Kakashi was watching Itachi's every move. "Whatever. The main problem is that I have no influence over the law in this city, and no, I'm not implying that you do. But you need to know, because your entire force is in danger if Orochimaru makes a move on Konoha. I know that my men can handle it, but the men from the Sound are very, very dangerous. They have no compassion in them whatsoever, while I, on the other hand, encourage my loyals to at least feel a little bit for their targets to better themselves in the decisions they'll have to make. But if I instruct them to be ruthless, they will. That's the difference between us. And it's going to come into play when Orochimaru makes his move."

"Wait a minute," Kakashi said, holding up his hand. "Before, you said 'if' Orochimaru attacks. Now you're saying 'when'?"

"Yes." Itachi stopped pacing and came to stand directly in front of Kakashi, not a foot away. "It's only just occurred to me that nothing we can do is going to stop Orochimaru from trying to take over our village. It would only make it that much easier for him if the charges were blown off before he started his move." He sighed, and walked over to his desk, where he sat down and ran a hand over his face. "He's told me that one of his men is already in Konoha. Now, the only one I can think of him ever sending here is his lawyer, because the others would be easily struck down and killed because of the evidence against him. His lawyer, on the other hand, appears completely clean, legally, I mean. So you see why I need you in on this."

Kakashi nodded. He understood. If Orochimaru's lawyer was in town, that marked it as the first official move in this sick game of chess mobsters played. And that meant the ANBU would have more work on their hands if anything started going on. He was going to have a lot on his plate. But that wasn't the only reason Itachi had told him about Orochimaru's threat. It was because his former student now worked for Orochimaru, because his former student, Itachi's little brother, would be picking fights wherever and with whomever he saw fit. And Kakashi knew Uchiha Sasuke like the back of his hand, because he'd trained him and taught him everything knew.

"You may leave now." Itachi's brusque, short dismissal was all Kakashi needed to leave that room and get back out into the hallway. Naruto was waiting for him, and walked him outside to a waiting vehicle. The black, tinted-windowed car purred quietly at the top of the driveway, and Naruto waved Kakashi towards it.

"It's your ride," he muttered, and Kakashi took a step in its direction before turning back and looking steadily at Naruto.

He finally spoke, "What time is it, Naruto?"

"Almost two," Naruto answered after a quick glance at his watch.

"Ahh." Kakashi nodded slowly. "And what time does Sakura get off?"

A stricken look passed over Naruto's face before he took off running across the lawn, apparently heading for the hospital where he was supposed to have picked up Sakura half an hour ago. Kakashi chuckled lightly, and thought he heard Naruto holler over his shoulder, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!"



If there was anything in the world that Sakura wanted to see, it was what she was looking at. A grin spread across her face and she nearly dropped her crutches in her eagerness to get away from Sai and into the awaiting arms of her longtime boyfriend. Naruto was barreling towards her, his arms outstretched and an apologetic look on his face. She vaguely heard Sai scoff behind her, but she was too focused on hobbling to Naruto.

He caught her up and swung her around, obviously exuberant that he had caught her before she'd gotten home. Sakura's crutches fell to the ground and she flung her arms around his neck, refusing to let go. She kept one arm around his waist when he set her back down and looked disdainfully at the metal contraptions lying by Naruto's feet. He chuckled and leaned down to pick them up. She managed to balance without him for the two seconds it took him to retrieve the crutches and give them back to her. Sheepishly she tucked them under her arms and leaned her weight on them.

"Thank Kami you're here," she hissed under her breath. Naruto laughed. He knew how she felt about being escorted home by anyone other than him, and especially how much she detested being around Sai. The black-haired ninja was arrogant, irritating, and resembled a certain someone way too much for her taste.

"No problem," Naruto whispered back, and cleared his throat. His blue eyes rested on Sai, who had his arms crossed. "You're free to go do whatever someone in your high position does, Sai. Go on, I'll take care of her from here."

Sai glared, rolled his eyes, and turned down the street. Sakura didn't watch him walk away from them, but could only look at Naruto. His pale face glowed in the dim light the streetlamps offered, his blue eyes sparkling as they stared back at her. She grinned, he grinned back, and they started down the road towards their small house.

Naruto walked easily next to her, one hand in his pocket, the other protectively hovering behind her back in case she decided to trip again. "So what did you do to hurt yourself today?"

There was an edge to his voice Sakura didn't like, and she frowned. "I tripped and landed on my coffee mug, which cut my hand, and I twisted my ankle when I fell." She sighed. "And no, no one rigged the floor or anything or purposefully made my coffee mug extra sharp so it would cut deeper."

"I just have to be careful," Naruto said, slightly irritated. She knew why, too—because she was always rushing to remind him that enemy mobsters were not after her. Besides, she was quite capable of taking care of herself. So what if the Bouryokudan people carried guns and were trained in the martial arts? She had a knee, a fist, and a very, very loud scream. That was all she needed.

"I know, Naruto," she said quietly, looked up at him for a split second before returning to watching the ground. If she wasn't paying attention, she'd probably trip over a rock or something, and she was especially vulnerable on crutches.

Naruto smiled a little bit. "Yeah, but I can't help but worry. We got…a sort of a threat today, and I just want to make extra sure that you're alright. You know that I'm one of Boss's top men, and that anyone close to me is in definite danger. I mean, if we had a puppy, I'm sure they'd go after him."

Sakura laughed, but it was a nervous, hollow laugh. The only people who threatened the Konoha Bouryokudan were serious problems, serious mobsters. She could only think of one particular city, too, which would even imagine getting up in Itachi's face. But she was thankful that she had Naruto's protection. If anyone could stand up against enemies of Itachi's, it would be Naruto. She nudged his hand lightly with hers, still wrapped around the crutch.

"Maybe we should get a puppy. You know, for extra protection," she lightly teased, and Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah, okay." He laughed again, and she laughed with him, feeling a bit better now that the mood was lightened. Naruto reached up and brushed a lock of her pink hair out of her face. "You should be more careful, you know," he whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

She flushed and tried to hide it by ducking her head. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you, either," she replied just as quietly. They were at the house now, and had stopped walking. "That's why I hate watching you leave in the morning, because I never know what's going to happen." She looked up at him, her green eyes pleading. "I just wish that you'd leave your job and get a normal one, like a lawyer or a banker or even a bagger at the Market. Anything but what you do now."
"I know it worries you, sweetie," Naruto murmured consolingly as he opened the front door and helped her inside. "But it's what I do. It's what I chose to do with my life. And I do hope that you'll start understanding that." He looked down at her with those blue eyes of his, and she felt herself start to melt under his gaze. "I love you more than anything, Sakura, and I'll protect you with my own life. Okay?"

"Don't talk like that," she muttered as she hobbled into the kitchen, flipping the light on as she went. "It doesn't help, it just upsets me more."

Naruto gave a loud laugh as he followed her into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, dug around for a minute, and resurfaced with a carton of yogurt. After grabbing a spoon from the drawer, he started throwing the strawberry-flavored food into his mouth. Sakura watched with a sheepish smile on her face. Would Naruto ever learn manners? She highly doubted it. He would always be the way he was, and she loved him for it.

She yawned, and Naruto looked up, his carton of yogurt completely empty. He tossed the carton into the garbage, the spoon into the sink, and put his hands on her shoulders. "You're tired," he observed. "You've been at the hospital all day. Come on, we're getting you to bed little missy."

Giggling like a teenager, Sakura allowed him to awkwardly steer her down the hall and to their bedroom. He picked her up, the crutches dropping to the floor, and put her on the bed. She was still in her scrubs, since she hadn't had time to change, but she couldn't find the energy to get up until Naruto chucked a pair of pajama pants and one of his old t-shirts at her with the intention of telling her to change. She waved him out of the room, changed quickly, and called for him to come back in.

She crawled under the (of course) orange comforter, and Naruto lay next to her, draping his arm around her waist. She sighed, completely content at where she was, even with a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Naruto had mentioned that someone was threatening Itachi, which meant that that person was an extremely villainous person. There was only one man that Sakura could think of who could be so daring and evil, and hers and Naruto's old friend had run off to join him years and years ago. She shivered, and Naruto pulled her closer, probably guessing what she was thinking about. Uchiha Sasuke's master was named Orochimaru, and if he was trying to make a move on Konoha, it wasn't going to be a pretty sight.

trying to make these chapters long is gonna kill me, I swear. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and please REVIEW!

Luv much

nicola