Story: The First Time

Author: MizukiYukiko

Rated: T

Pairing: ItachiXSakura

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Naruto or "The Gambler" by fun. - the song that was the inspiration for this story.

Summary: The first time he saw her, he was nine and she was five. The first time he talked to her, she was twelve and he was seventeen. The first time he took real note of her, she was fifteen and he was nineteen. Little did he know that such inconsequential meetings would change everything he thought, felt, and did. 50 shinobi themed challenge #40. Heartstrings. ItachiXSakura AU NonMass

Notes: 50_shinobi theme: #40. Heartstrings; Non-massacre AU; and reviews are loved, appreciated, and read with satisfaction. Thank you for reading!

The First Time

Prologue: Slow Down

"Slow down, we've got time left to be lazy
All the kids have bloomed from babies into flowers in our eyes."

The first time he saw Haruno Sakura, he was nine and she was five.

"Itachi, go get your brother from school, please," Mikoto demanded in her most loving tone that sounded more like a gentle question to Itachi. As always, being the dutiful son that he was, he walked the streets of his village to retrieve his five year old brother. The new spring weather was clearly welcome to the people of Konoha as the chilly air whipped through the streets, but was combatted by the warmth of the glowing sun. Wearing his usual black attire, the sun seeped into his skin allowing him to have a moment to revel in the warmth. It was a short walk from the Uchiha compound to the academy, and soon Itachi arrived before the students had been let out.

Standing near the tree with the familiar swing attached, Itachi waited for the group of first-year academy students to run out the doors. It was Friday, and Itachi had just returned from a preparation mission with his genin team. Soon, they would be taking the chunin exams together.

The promise of Fridays always managed to create a tone and atmosphere of wondering excitement to the young children as they now had two whole days of freedom in the glorious spring weather. As the bell sounded, waves of students began to run out as fast as they could, giving off the air of jubilance that Itachi had been expected. How he longed for the days when he was in the academy and he still had weekends. Frowning to himself at the thoughts of his long-lost childhood, Itachi returned his attentions to finding his younger brother. This was the first time Itachi Uchiha encountered Sakura Haruno.

His brother emerged first, spikey hair disheveled and eyes burning with excitement as he caught sight of his older brother. Then a blonde female was running after him, as fast as she could. "Come back here Sasuke-kun!" she called. "You give it back!"

Sasuke sprinted in a beeline towards Itachi, who was now looking at him stoically. Some sort of mischief was ever so prevalent on the face of his younger brother, and Itachi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. What could he be up to? That was when he caught the first glimpses of pink that was also running after his foolish little brother. As he approached, Sasuke shouted gleefully, "Onii-san! Help!"

As if on cue, Itachi held his arm out to his brother who grasped it firmly and flung himself on his brother's back where he usually found himself after a hard day at school. The two girls were close behind, though, and the blond one chided as she continued her pursuit, "Sasuke-kun, give Sakura-chan back her ribbon. That's not nice."

The young pinkette had an evil glint in her eye as she still ran, and pushing a bit of chakra into her feet, she crouched like a cat and flung herself at Sasuke, knocking him clear off his brother's back. Itachi raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that the girl could even push chakra into her feet. She was only five, after all. They were on the grass now, rolling around, laughing hysterics, and Itachi could not help but allow a smile to tug at the ends of his stoic face. The girl was quick to recover as she tackled Sasuke again, "Where's my bow, you jerk?"

"I don't have it!" Sasuke attested as he tried to pull himself away, "I gave it to Kiba!"

"Liar!" the blonde girl joined in as she also tackled Sasuke. The two little girls were now double-teaming his brother as they grabbed his pockets, looking for the lost bow, coupling with tickling his stomach – Sasuke's weak spot, Itachi knew. Finally, growing a little bored of the antics, Itachi leaned down and grabbed his younger brother's wrist, pulling him to a standing position as the two girls fell off of him. A little flushed, the girls stood next to Sasuke, staring at Itachi as well.

Poking his brother's forehead with his index finger, Itachi asked quietly, "Sasuke, do you have this girl's bow? Do not lie."

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pocket in the corner of his shirt and pulled out a red ribbon, holding it out to Sakura, not looking at her. Sakura smiled big, grabbed the ribbon, and tied it into her hair to effectively pull her pink locks from her face.

"Thank you Sasuke's older brother!" the blonde girl said as she pulled her pink-haired friend away from them.

"Thanks a lot, onii-san," Sasuke spat a little. Itachi's only response was to poke his brother in the forehead again as they also turned to walk home.

X

The first time Haruno Sakura spoke to him, he was twelve and she was seven.

Two years later, Itachi was twelve, an ANBU member, and well on his way to being ANBU captain, but that didn't mean he got out of his familial chores. At least, that's what his mother said when she'd forced an umbrella and a wad of cash into his hands, asking him to go to the store for her. "And take Sasuke with you!" she called out as he slid the door shut to find his raven-haired brother standing in front of him.

Pushing his finger into his brother's head, Itachi muttered, "Let's go."

It was late winter, and the cold rain that was pouring down on Konoha managed to turn all of the dirt paths into mud, turning Itachi's normally well-kept sandals into thick, muddy pieces of worthless trash. Sasuke's shoes were faring no better, he noticed of his younger brother who didn't seem to mind as much. Itachi wished for the return of spring, which meant much more favorable weather.

As they approached the market, Sasuke's eyes brightened a bit, and Itachi saw what made his brother interested. A flash of pink was darting around the market quickly, as if running from something. Itachi squinted; trying to see what his younger brother's friend was running from, only to find out it was her parents.

"Sakura Haruno, you get back here right now!" her mother yelled at the playful pinkette. Said girl was making her way, in a zigzag shape, right for Itachi and Sasuke. Running around an unknown civilian, she collided directly into Itachi and fell back. Looking up at him wordlessly, her eyes filled with a bit of fear and anxiety.

Her usually pink rain-coat was now covered in mud, and her pink hair had fallen loose from her red ribbon – the same ribbon that Itachi had rescued from Sasuke two years previous. She quirked her head at the brothers, but did not speak to them. Their parents were quickly catching up to their daughter as anger filled their cries for her.

"Sakura!" Itachi heard a gruff voice cry, probably from her father, as her parents arrived. "Apologize to this young man for being rude."

Sakura was just gaining her bearings as she pulled herself up. She then looked at Sasuke, who was making tentative eye contact with her. Sakura bowed deeply to them, "I'm sorry for running into you, Uchiha-san. It was nice to see you Sasuke-kun."

"Hn," Sasuke replied and Itachi merely inclined his head.

"I apologize for my daughter. She gets a little…rambunctious when it rains," her mother said, bowed a bit, and turned to leave. The girl's father picked up Sakura and walked away with her slowly, back towards the supermarket; however, the girl was looking back at the brothers, interest sparked in her emerald orbs.

Sasuke just stared after her, not saying a thing. Itachi prodded him a bit, tempting him to walk. Finally, as Sasuke began to make his legs work, he said, "She has a crush on me."

"Oh?" Itachi asked, feigning interest, "Do you have a crush back, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the idea. "No!" he protested. "I don't like girls."

Itachi chuckled to himself at the naïve boy, for if he had said that when he was a few years older, somebody would certainly ask him 'So you play for the other team' or something of that nature. Sasuke merely looked up at him, confused. Itachi stated, "Don't look down on her too much Sasuke. She could save your life one day."

X

The first time he talked to Haruno Sakura, she was twelve and he was seventeen.

Perhaps Itachi was so much of a genius that he could see this coming five years in advance, or perhaps it was dumb luck that he was standing in the Forest of Death, staring at his little brother's lifeless body on the ground. Sakura Haruno had cut her previously long pink locks and she was hovering over his little brother, a protective look glinting in her bright green eyes.

Clearly, she had just saved his foolish little brother's life, as well as the life of his equally foolish blond teammate who was incapacitated a few yards away. However, Itachi's attention was quickly reverted to Orochimaru who was standing about twenty feet from their current position, blood lust filling his dead eyes.

"Stay out of my way, Itachi," Orochimaru hissed. "You've made your displeasure at the thought of being my vessel known, so I'm here for your brother."

"You will not touch him," Itachi muttered, a deathly glare in his red Sharingan. No, no one would hurt Sasuke while he was still breathing. His gaze fell to the pink-haired genin in front of him. "Go."

That simple command was enough to snap Sakura's eyes to his as she stared at him in awe. Then, with a terse nod, she stood up and coiled a chakra-rope around his brother's hand. Itachi raised an eyebrow to her. Chakra ropes were surely not a genin-level jutsu – it was a much more advanced technique. Sakura then ran to the other boy, did the same, and hoisted their bodies above her shoulders. She limped away quickly for someone who was injured and carrying two lifeless bodies.

When Itachi had appeared before her, Sakura had felt that glimmer of hope rise within her. If Orochimaru was so strong that he could knock out Naruto and Sasuke in one hit, then she knew she was a goner. Attacking anyway, Orochimaru had hit her very hard, but she managed to hold onto the vestiges of consciousness. Then, there he was, clad in his black attire, standing between her and Orochimaru. Her heart had jumped at the sight of the elder Uchiha, for she had been so sure that they were all going to die.

Two days later, they had their first conversation. At least, by Uchiha standards, it was a conversation. Sakura was sitting in the hospital room, settled on a couch between Sasuke's bed and Naruto's, face in a book about chakra control. Itachi's bed was on the other side of Sasuke's; much to his chagrin, he'd been hospitalized after his fight with Orochimaru. It had not all been a waste, though, as he was able to cut off the arms of his opponent which would hopefully foil or at least detriment the sannin's plans for Sasuke.

Sasuke and Naruto had undergone some sort of mental trauma that had not allowed them to awaken yet, much to the horror of Itachi's mother. He felt guilty for not reaching his younger brother earlier. Although there was no way he could have known. The second he felt Orochimaru's presence, he had rushed into the Forest of Death in order to reach his younger brother in time. He was sure that if it hadn't been for the young girl on the other side of the room, Orochimaru would have escaped with Sasuke's body, killing both Sakura and Naruto as well.

Opening his eyes after pondering the fight, he heard light, even breathing coming from the other side of the room. Glancing to his left, he noted that the girl had fallen fast asleep. "Haruno-san," he whispered. He only meant to wake her because she was dangerously close to toppling off of the couch. "Haruno-san," he said louder.

Her eyes opened up in a shot of pure panic. As her chest heaved, she looked around the room, as if to make sure Orochimaru had not come back for Sasuke. Then she turned her head to Itachi, who was the only person in the room who could have possibly been talking to her.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he stated.

"Oh, it's okay," she replied, brushing her hands through her now very short hair. A look of surprise crossed through her eyes, and then realization set in that her previously impressive pink locks were now gone.

"You were about to fall."

"Oh," she murmured, looking up at him a little shyly. "Thank you Uchiha-san. For waking me up…and for saving us."

"Hm," he tuned, inclining his head. The genin stood, stretched her arms, and walked slowly to the door. She turned to him, opened her mouth, but then closed it again as she was trying to find her words. Itachi just regarded her wordlessly, observing how the girl was nervous around him. Perhaps Sasuke had told her stories about him, or perhaps it was just because he was an ANBU captain and five years her senior.

Finally, Sakura sighed a little, turned, and left the room.

X

The first time he was healed by Haruno Sakura, she was fourteen and he was nineteen.

"Come here often, Uchiha-san?" the girl quipped as she closed the door behind her. Itachi merely suppressed the urge to glare at her as this situation was very far from funny. The long kunai cut that ran from the top of his arm to just below his elbow was hardly a joking matter, especially how he received it.

It was far from funny that Shisui had decided that it would be a wise idea to stick a kunai in the ground, and then throw Itachi at it as hard as he could after kicking him in the head. Perhaps the most infuriating part was that Itachi and Shisui hadn't even been training. No, Itachi had been walking on a path to the river, reading his book and minding his own business, when Shisui appeared out of nowhere, kicked him in the head, and jammed him into a kunai. If it hadn't slit clean through muscular tissue, he wouldn't have even bothered coming to the hospital. However, he had a mission beginning in two days' time and he could not afford to be injured. No. This. Was. Not. Funny.

"Haruno-san," he managed to grit out. Sakura walked over to him with light, but tentative footsteps.

"I'm here to check your vitals and clean the wound. Then the medic will be in to heal it," she explained and leaned into him, palms glowing green. "I have to practice doing it with my chakra," she continued, words faltering a bit under his intense gaze. "It's for my training."

"Aa," he replied. "Sasuke told me you were an apprentice to the Godaime Hokage. Impressive."

Sakura blushed a bit but nodded, hands lightly touching his chest. She murmured quietly, obviously concentrating hard on what she was doing, "I have been for about a year now. I work in the hospital as an assistant nurse in order to hone my skills."

"It's good practice," he replied, suddenly very aware at the girl's proximity to him. Her face was only inches from his as she stared at his covered chest, pulsing green chakra into it, brows furrowed in deep lines of concentration. Itachi decided it was really quite an endearing face for her to make. Itachi took the time to study the girl further – her pink hair was now growing out from when she had cut it two years ago, but she clearly kept it short on purpose now. Her skin was a light cream color, not too unusual for kunoichi from Konoha. And her eyes were an expressive emerald green that seemed to always betray her emotions.

The girl had become a fixture at the Uchiha compound over the past two years, along with her boisterous blond teammate. Although Sasuke had originally been disappointed with his assigned team, after Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, he gained an appreciation for them. Appreciation turned to fondness which eventually morphed into a close, indestructible friendship. Their bond was obviously something more than what most teams forged as they were a united, un-fearing front on the missions they accomplished, or so he had been told. Truthfully, he paid little attention to the workings of his brother's team, but he heard they were one of the most accomplished chunin teams now, at the meager age of fourteen. This was further fortified with the very protective nature Sasuke now took for Sakura, and apparently Naruto and Kakashi were not much different.

Itachi mused inwardly as a story had come to mind – a young Sand ninja who was visiting Konoha with the Kazekage seemed to take an interest in Sakura a few months back. Sasuke had seemed very edgy at that time, Itachi recalled, and had spent many nights out of the compound, apparently to spy on his teammate. Sakura had found out and had punched Sasuke and Naruto so hard that they both featured remarkably symmetrical black eyes the next day. If they hadn't displayed the bruises, Itachi would have never even found out about the incident.

The girl pulled back and began to prod the wound with a disinfectant swab, making sure that her chakra had cleaned the wound completely. Itachi merely regarded her silently as she gracefully floated to the other end of the room, disposing of the swab. He contemplated that these occurrences of men seeking her would not relent. Although the girl was still maturing and very young, he was sure that the combination of her looks and strength would one day leave men fawning over her.

However, Sakura was fairly capable of taking care of herself as she was now furthering her training as a shinobi, as were Sasuke and Naruto.

Sakura had become an apprentice to Tsunade, and Jiraiya – the toad sannin – had taken Naruto under his wing. Sasuke began spending more and more time with Hatake Kakashi and the jounin Anko in order to further his skills. Anko was able to give him a method of subduing and controlling the cursed seal Orochimaru had implanted on Sasuke two years previous.

"Uchiha-san." Itachi was snapped out of his internal reverie by the sound of an older, tall, brunette medic that had entered the room. "My name is Sumi."

"Sumi-san," Itachi replied coolly, now realizing that Sakura had pulled back from him completely.

"How did things go, Sakura?" Sumi asked sweetly.

"Well. I cleaned out the wound with my chakra and all of his vitals are normal," Sakura replied, a proud gleam in her eye.

"Very good," Sumi replied, striding over to Itachi. She took his tender arm in her light hands and looked at it carefully. "Uchiha-san, if it is alright with you, I'd like Sakura to heal your wound."

Sakura gasped. "I couldn't," she replied tersely. "I've never healed a wound so deep on a human before."

"Sakura, you're more than ready. Would that be okay, Uchiha-san?" Sumi asked kindly. "It may not be as clean if I she does it, and it may take a little longer, but I'm confident in Sakura's abilities."

Itachi mused for a moment, and quickly nodded his head in assent. He rarely healed any wounds anyway, and his pale skin was marred with them so it's not as if it mattered. Sakura was blushing furiously as she nervously closed the distance between herself and Itachi. "Do not be nervous," Itachi instructed, now trying to calm the girl. The more nervous she was, the worse she would do.

Sakura sighed, pushed chakra into her hands, and the deep furrow of concentration took hold on her large forehead. Lightly, she placed her hands at the top of the cut, twisting her chakra into his wound. She found herself able to feel where the gash needed healing, and was able to stitch the pieces back together, weaving her chakra in and out of the muscles. Her hands moved slowly down his arm as she first fixed all of the muscle damage. Then, she started from the bottom and worked her back up, mending the skin tissue damage.

Feeling herself grow wary from the excess chakra use, she was relieved to find she had finished and she pulled back. Gazing at the arm, Itachi nodded, "Very good," he stated quietly. Although there was still a small, pink scar there that may never completely heal, it was really quite alright with him. Such minor blemishes on his skin were fairly common.

Sumi had now taken the arm and was pushing her own chakra into it, but it was not healing chakra, it was diagnostic charka. "Sakura you did perfectly," Sumi replied with a bright smile after a few moments of studying the arm.

Sakura visibly exhaled and then her entire face lit up. Suddenly, Itachi felt himself smile a bit as well, as he was pleased that he had put such a face on the girl. It was a similar feeling of when he was younger and would agree to train with Sasuke. His younger brother would look at him with so much contentment and gratitude that it almost made Itachi miss training with his brother now.

Bowing slightly, she said humbly, "Thank you for the opportunity Uchiha-san."

The door opened suddenly, and a very pleased looking Shisui Uchiha strolled into the room. "Feeling better Itachi?" he asked. Itachi merely glared back at him with so much annoyance that it would make any normal shinobi flinch. Sakura looked from Itachi to Shisui several times, and the realization of what happened dawned on her. Shisui then turned to Sakura, and grabbed her waist tightly in a hug. "Thank you for taking care of my little cousin."

Sakura's eyes widened at the contact and her entire body went completely slack. "Shisui-san. It's nice to see you again," she croaked out, clearly uncomfortable, patting his shoulders lightly.

"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Shisui," he chided lightly, poking the girl in the nose as he released her from their sudden embrace. Itachi was worried for a moment that their girl would fall over.

"Shisui," he intoned with a voice laced with warning.

"Anyway, I'm going to go now," Sakura announced abruptly and scooted a few feet away from Shisui. "It was nice to see you both. Feel better Uchiha-san." With a light bow, she was gone.

X

The first time he took real note of Haruno Sakura, she was fifteen and he was nineteen.

His back was stiff so he put his book down on his bedside table and reached his arms above his head in order to stretch the stiffened muscles. It was difficult for him to enjoy his vacations for he was so used to working constantly. The new Hokage – Tsunade (well she'd been in power for three years so she wasn't so new, but Itachi was still getting used to the rather rambunctious sannin) – had insisted that he take a vacation.

"You've massed over a year of vacation time in the past ten years Uchiha, take two weeks of it," she had intoned two days previous. Two weeks? What was he supposed to do for two weeks? Her apprentice had then entered the room as a welcome distraction, a handful of files in her arms and her black gloves in her mouth. All she could do to greet the Uchiha was nod her head, pink locks falling over her face as she dumped the paperwork down on her teacher's desk and pulled the black gloves onto her hands, muttering something about smelling sake on the Hokage's breath. Tsunade looked back up at him, "It's an order Uchiha. Go."

Stalking off, rather perturbed, he didn't notice the young, pink-haired kunoichi staring at his back as he left the room. Now, two days later, he had managed to polish and organize all of his weapons, attend to clan business that was two months overdue, give his room a full scrub (although he was barely home so the room never got messy anyway), and read two books, now working on his third.

As he reclined back in his bed, picking his book back up, he noticed his furniture was shaking ever so lightly. An earth-shattering crack then emanated from outside his window, and he found his entire room shaking again. The Uchiha had just managed to grab his glass of orange juice from his night stand before it crashed onto the ground.

Already in a foul mood, Itachi quickly made his way to his window that overlooked one of the many Uchiha training grounds to find his foolish little brother's team in the middle of a very heated sparring session, and the earthquake had clearly been caused by a certain pink-haired kunoichi who was now wielding a large tree in her fairly tiny arms.

Said tree was now being swung at unbelievable speeds towards three clones that the Uzumaki boy had created. As they made contact, the girl was able to quickly change directions of the tree, a remarkable feet as the momentum of the tree had been so forcefully flying in one direction, and it was headed right for Sasuke. The younger Uchiha had been attempting to attack Sakura in her moment of concentration; however, the kunoichi had sensed him and had pulled the tree into his direction. If not for Sasuke's Sharingan, he would not have seen the tree coming, but he was able to barely evade what would have been a devastating hit.

The girl swung the tree into the distance, and it fell in a heap at the edge of the forest, effectively creating another minor earth tremor in Itachi's room. However, his annoyance was now replaced with fascination as he watched Team Seven's sparring session. The three teammates were standing a safe distance away from each other, glaring at each other fervently. They were talking to each other, but Itachi could not hear. Pushing chakra into his ears, he used the technique to listen in on the conversation.

"You want to end this?" Sasuke asked smoothly, but his exhaustion was evident in his voice.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered, now bracing himself as wind began to circle in his fist. They couldn't be so foolish, could they? Yes, they could, as Sasuke was now holding his arm as lightning began to flicker in his palm. Itachi's eyes now traveled to the kunoichi who was pulling an impressive amount of chakra into her palm. The three were surely trying to break down the Uchiha compound. With a battle cry, Naruto began the surge, Sasuke quick to follow, and Sakura pushing off the ground last, but with equally notable speed.

The session was unexpectedly halted by a poof of smoke appearing in the center of the field, and their sensei appeared in the midst of what would be a clash of rasengan, chidori, and chakra-filled punch by the three teammates, possibly saving the entire Uchiha complex.

"Yo!"

"Argh Kakashi!" Naruto choked as he halted mid-run, the wind jutsu quickly dissipating from his palm. Sakura was able to skid to a stop, but Sasuke was charging with such force and momentum that he couldn't stop. Itachi observed as Sakura's eyes widened in recognition and forced her chakra-infused hand out to grab Sasuke's. Compelling the hand in question to the ground, Sakura guided Sasuke's body quickly so the chidori left a large hole in the earth, forcing both teens to topple on one and other, and mere inches from where Kakashi stood. Shooting up from where she'd fallen, Sakura screamed a curse at her sensei and tried to punch him with a chakra infused fist, which the copy-nin managed to dodge with little effort.

Itachi glided back onto his bed. What was this inkling of curiosity boiling within his chest and stomach? Anticipation? Excitement? Surely, he could not wait to see how this pink-haired kunoichi would progress.

X

To his drunken dismay, the first time he found himself attracted to Haruno Sakura, she was sixteen and he was barely twenty-one.

This was not something he was used to – the feeling of utter helplessness, and Uchiha Itachi didn't like it.

Itachi knew a bad idea when he heard one – and his teammates' idea of going out for a drink on the evening of his twenty-first birthday and surely sounded like a bad idea. So how had he end up here?—lying on a bench outside of a bar, stomach lurching with each breath, head woozy and incoherent. It was not a pleasant feeling for the usually subdued, controlled Uchiha. He supposed it started with Genma Shiranui insisting on buying him a drink for his birthday. Then, Muta Aburame had intoned that he, too, would like a drink. Of course, Shisui would have to come. Then Hana Inuzuka had chimed in, and they had ended up in the favorite bar to Konoha's shinobi, drinking shot after shot in Itachi's honor.

It was not as if Itachi was not used to drinking as he usually joined his teammates for a drink or two after missions, trying to be more social as his mother chastised him for not being in the past. This was a whole different matter, though. He was drunk.

The real drinking began after a crude comment Genma had made about Sasuke and his brother's team. The team was clearly jounin-level, but the group had been kept as chunin for at least an extra year so they could all continue their individual paths for a while. Itachi had defended this at first.

Then, to his discontentment, Shisui had made a very inappropriate comment about how well a certain pink-haired kunoichi had filled out. Itachi's mind had instantly flashed to an image of Sakura – shoulder length pink hair, more pronounced curves, long legs, animated emerald eyes. The horror of his mind's chosen path to wander had induced more shots from the Uchiha.

After several minutes of Shisui and Genma arguing over some woman, Itachi had stumbled out of the bar and found himself lying weakly on a bench. Eyes closed and hands clenched over his stomach, he only hoped that the mind-numbing dizziness would end soon so that he could make his way home to sleep this painful night away.

To his dismay, he heard a loud, energetic voice announce, "Hey, teme, isn't that your brother?" Oh what perfect timing – Team Seven was returning back home from a mission. Of course they would take the main road back into town towards their houses to find Itachi lying there miserably.

"Huh," he heard Sasuke reply tonelessly, but then he said, "Yeah."

"Is he okay?" Sakura's concerned voice rang out, and he quickly deduced she was fast approaching. Itachi groaned inwardly as he felt the kunoichi hovering over him. As he peaked his eye open, he saw worried jade eyes set on his. "Uchiha-san?" she asked quietly.

"It's not like you to get smashed, Nii-san," Sasuke intoned as he was now bending over Itachi, face impassive. The entire group looked a little tired and ruffled from their mission, featuring what looked like minor cuts and bruises over their standard ninja attire. They all featured the same black turtle necks and flak jackets. The team had begun wearing the standard outfit when they began their training to become jounin a few months back.

"Hn," Itachi replied warily.

"It's your birthday, so I suppose it's understandable," Sasuke continued, bending closer. "But you've drank a lot, haven't you?"

"Hn."

"Uchiha-san, could you remove your hands from your stomach please?" Sakura asked, concern laced throughout her voice. Itachi felt his stomach lurch at the concern, and the kunoichi was clearly affecting him in his drunken stupor but he removed his hands.

He nearly jerked up when her light hands settled on his stomach and warm, soothing chakra coursed into him. His eyes shot open and his hand grasped her wrist quickly. Sakura gasped at the sudden contact and her chakra halted. "I'm s-s-sorry," she sputtered. "It'll make you feel better."

Itachi didn't remove his hand from her until Sasuke muttered, "Unhand her Itachi. You really will feel better." The tone was a very knowing one, and Itachi made a note to ask his brother how he knew of Sakura's healing a drunken state.

Tentatively, Sakura began to churn her chakra within him again, creating a very warm sensation within him. "I'm speeding up your metabolism so the alcohol breaks down quicker. It won't relieve any hangover you're facing in the morning, but it will keep you from vomiting and it will make you more coherent."

Itachi stayed silent until Sakura was finished, and testing out a motion, he found that his head felt better and his stomach no longer ached of nausea. Sitting up, he first took note of the girl's flushed face and tattered appearance, making her all the more adorable to him. Cursing his thoughts inwardly, he found himself focusing on her lips that were being ground nervously between her teeth.

"Sasuke," Kakashi said suddenly. He had been observing the scene from a distance. "Take your brother home. Naruto and I will see that Sakura arrives home safely."

That was right – Sasuke walked Sakura everywhere at night. He made a point to leave the Uchiha compound when her shifts at the hospital came to a close in order to walk her home when she worked the night shift. Itachi shifted his gaze to Kakashi, who was staring at him thoughtfully. Then, Kakashi averted his glance to Sakura, and then back up to Itachi, as if deciding something.

His eye creased, and his hand went up in a wave goodbye. He ordered Naruto and Sakura to follow him, leaving Sasuke with Itachi. Itachi still felt a little uneasy on his feet and in his head from the alcohol, but the perturbed feeling he was receiving a pointed glare from the copy-nin was certainly not a mistake from the alcohol. Sasuke, seeming to sense something amiss, grabbed Itachi's arm gruffly to stabilize him, and began to lead him home.

AN: Thank you for reading and please review.