[A/N: Sorry, bunny attack! This should be short, though, and I'm keeping up on Turning Points.]

1.

The day after Team 7 officially passed Kakashi's test, Sakura gathered up every bit of money she had been saving and headed into the shopping district. She had been looking for a chance like this since her first year at the Academy, and she wasn't about to risk this not being a sure thing.

She had never dreamed to be on a team with Uchiha Sasuke, the boy every girl in her graduating class had been crushing on. However, he didn't seem to really have any interest in Sakura or her advances, which was the reason for her little errand today.

In a narrow, twisting alley far off the main street of the shopping district was a little shop called 'Ichors For All Needs'. This would be the third time Sakura had been there; the first had been several weeks ago when she had gotten lost and wandered past, and the second was just before graduation day, when she had decided to make sure it was really there. It was that strange of a place.

Her first time there, she had been hurrying home late from the Academy after getting detention because of a too-loud (according to Iruka) quarrel with Ino. They had been squabbling over who got to offer a homemade lunch to Sasuke, not that there had been much point since he had brought his own. In any case, she had taken a different route since there had been some road work going on, and eventually ended up completely lost, resulting in wandering down the little alley in an attempt to get her bearings.

The shop caught her eye because of the way the little bottles dangling in the window sparkled, even though it was no longer daylight out. Intrigued, Sakura forgot her destination and walked closer, enchanted by the shifting colors and dancing lights. Almost before she knew it, she had pushed the door open and stepped inside. The interior of the shop was well-lit, and the hundreds of multicolored flasks and vials cast a rainbow of hues everywhere.

"Can I help you?" a low, melodious voice greeted her.

Sakura started in surprise, looking over to the corner where the voice had come from. The woman who had addressed her stood up and smiled, and Sakura stood transfixed, knowing she shouldn't be gaping but unable to suppress the reflex. The owner of the shop (for Sakura assumed this was so) was as beautiful as a summer's dawn, lustrous golden hair falling almost to her knees and practically floating as she moved. Her eyes were clear, inviting gray and she had the most dazzling smile Sakura had ever seen. As she walked over to where Sakura stood, her long blue gown floated elegantly around her ankles.

"I-I'm just looking!" Sakura stammered out finally, embarrassed at staring so rudely. "Um, what is this place? What do you sell here?"

"I sell desires," the woman replied mysteriously. "I sell the fulfillment of every wish. Look here," she continued, walking along one of the shelves. Sakura followed curiously as the woman began gesturing at certain bottles. "This one is for a woman who has longed for a child," the woman said, lightly touching a delicate-looking flagon filled with a blue liquid that bubbled cheerfully. "This one will grow any rose ever imagined. That one over there—" she pointed to a larger decanter with a spout "—restores beauty; however, it's only temporary, I'm afraid. I have better ones but they must be stored in the dark."

Sakura took a few moments to register all of this before asking her question. "You…wouldn't happen to sell…love potions, would you?"

The woman smiled that angelic smile again and Sakura felt as if an eternity of clouds had just parted. "Why of course, what kind of question is that? But I can't just take one off the shelf for you—a love potion has to be individually tailored for it to work. Why, are you interested?"

"I, um, I might be," Sakura replied awkwardly. "Would it be terribly expensive?"

"That depends," the woman replied. "I might be able to let you pay in installments, though."

"Okay," Sakura said. "Can I come back? After I've saved up, I mean."

"Certainly you may. Here, let me make you a present, since it's your first visit." The woman held a small vial wrapped with silver wire out to Sakura, who took it, a little self-conscious at the contrast between her stubby fingers and the woman's elegantly tapered ones.

"What is this?" Sakura asked, inspecting the clear, thick liquid the vial held. It had little air bubbles in it that floated lazily when she tipped the vial back and forth.

"It improves intelligence for a period," the woman replied. "You're a student of the Ninja Academy, aren't you? Wouldn't you like to have the highest score on your next exam?"

That would be sure to impress Sasuke. "How do I use it?"

"Dab it on your eyelids the night before you want the effects. It should last eighteen hours after that."

After thanking the proprietor of the shop profusely (and receiving numerous gentle assurances that 'it was nothing' and 'the pleasure was all mine') Sakura had left the shop in a bit of a daze. Eventually, she had found her way home and forgotten all about the strange incident until the night before an exam on Fire Country history. She had been slaving over the textbook for the last week, but the dates just weren't sticking. Just as she was about to go to bed, her gaze had lit on the little vial that had been left on her dresser ever since her visit to the strange little shop.

Not really thinking anything would come of it, she had applied one drop to each of her eyelids before going to bed. The next morning, she had awoken feeling strangely energized, and blazed through the pertinent chapters of the textbook before hurrying off to school, knowing there would be hell to pay to Iruka if she was late on the day of an exam.

She had received the highest score in the class, a full seven points above Sasuke (who hadn't bothered answering the extra credit question and had lost half points on one answer for an incorrectly placed comma).

Ever since that day, Sakura had been determined to make enough money to get back to that store and buy herself a love potion—and finally she had decided today was the day!

…

Ichors For All Needs was exactly where she had remembered it, and Sakura took a deep breath before pushing the door open. "Hello?" she said nervously.

The woman who owned the shop appeared almost soundlessly from between two rows of shelves. "Oh, it's you!" she said when she saw Sakura. "It has been a while, hasn't it. Are you ready to make a purchase?"

Sakura nodded. "I…I want a love potion," she said quickly, afraid she would lose her nerve. "I can pay," she continued, taking out her purse. She had done a lot of babysitting during the last several weeks, as well as selling greeting cards door-to-door over New Year's. Thanks to all that, she had a fairly hefty sum at her disposal.

"Oh, leave the money for now," the woman said. "Let's see what you want first. Come in the back and I'll mix it up for you."

Sakura followed as the woman led her to a small, curtained area in the back of the shop. The light was dimmer here ('to keep the ingredients fresh,' the woman explained) and there were strange plants growing on a table in the corner. The woman motioned for Sakura to sit down in a small chair before walking over to a large cabinet with a worktable sitting in front of it.

"Now, this boy you fancy," the woman began, taking a small glass bowl out of the cabinet, "what's his name?"

"Sasuke," Sakura replied. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hmm…Same age as you?"

"A little older." Sakura watched as the woman took out several small jars of powder and a metal carafe that steamed even though it wasn't warm in the room.

"What does he look like?"

Sasuke described Sasuke, trying to be as detailed as she could without seeming like a stalker. As she spoke, the woman rearranged the array of things she had taken out, putting some back in the cabinet and taking others out in their place.

"And his personality?"

That was a bit harder. "Well…he's kind of cold to everyone, and he doesn't pay attention to any of the girls. I think he stays at his house most of the time he's not in school—I hardly ever see him around anywhere. That's about it, really—oh! He really likes tomatoes, if that's any help."

The woman nodded, starting to measure things into the bowl and stir them up. Despite the many colors of the ingredients, Sakura could tell that the resulting liquid was clear. "Right then," the woman said after a few moments, "the base is done. Now you get to decide how you want to go about this."

"How…what?"

"I'll walk you through it. Right now, the potion is perfectly mixed for your intended, but it won't actually do anything until I put the active ingredients in. So, what do you want?"

"I want him to love me," Sakura answered.

"Mm-hmm. In what way?"

"I don't know…" Sakura hadn't really realized there would be this much thought involved. "I want him to need me—I want him to want to be near me."

The woman nodded thoughtfully, dropping two of what looked like sugar lumps into the bowl where they dissolved instantly. "What about prior attachments? I can make it so nothing will come between the two of you."

"Yes, please," Sakura said immediately.

"And I'm assuming you want him to be affectionate."

"Well, of course."

The woman poured a stream of something resembling pink lemonade into the bowl, turning the mixture a light rosy color. Next were a few more of the powders and several small, pearly beads that splashed into the bowl before dissolving.

Taking a phial about the size of a soda can out of a lower shelf of the cabinet, the woman carefully ladled all but the dregs of the mixture into it. "There you are," she said, stoppering the bottle and handing it to Sakura, who took it as if it would melt in her hands. "All done. Now let's see about the payment."

Sakura handed the woman her purse. "I can make more money," she said quickly, afraid there wouldn't be enough. "I'm on a genin team, I'll earn money from missions."

"Oh no, this is plenty," the woman said gently, smiling in the way that had so dazzled Sakura the first time. "Here, there's even a little over."

"Thank you," Sakura said with a slight bow as she stood up. "Oh, I almost forgot! How does this work?"

"You have enough for two doses there," the woman began to explain.

"Two?"

"Now let me finish. One is for you; after you drink half the potion (and it must be a precise half), you have twenty-four hours to get your intended to drink the other half—and then, he's all yours!"

"All mine…" To Sakura, that sounded like heaven.

[A/N: I was reading a kind of fluffy fic involving Sasuke, Sakura, and a love potion, and decided to try and write a darker take on the premise.]