Itachi woke at the sound of a sharp knock at his bedroom door. It was unusual and somewhat surprising, so it was with haste that he answered it, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Sasuke stood there, a bored expression on his face. He looked rather annoyed to be up at the early hour it was, but he wore his shinobi gear and his pack was already slung over his shoulder. In his hand was a brown paper sack which Itachi could tell was filled with food by the smell and the steam rising from its opening.

"Someone left this at the door for you," Sasuke said, shoving the paper sack into Itachi's arms.

Dumbstruck, Itachi accepted the sack and peered inside at the contents – breakfast. He could see grilled fish, rice balls, and dried seaweed inside, but he could tell that there was even more underneath that. It was quite a lot of food – too much for Itachi to eat on his own.

And he had some qualms about eating it, anyway. Who would leave him breakfast at his door? And why?

"Did you see who left it?" Itachi asked his brother. But when he looked up, Sasuke was already gone.

With a sigh, Itachi set the food aside and returned to his bedroom to get dressed. It was curious indeed that someone would leave him breakfast anonymously. Perhaps it was a secret admirer. That would not be too surprising. After all, Itachi was the heir to the Uchiha clan and it was well known that he was an eligible bachelor.

Deciding to forego the unexpected delivery, Itachi drank only a cup of tea for his breakfast and then headed straight for the Hokage tower to receive his assignment for the day.

The air outside was brisk but pleasant and Itachi enjoyed his leisurely stroll from the Uchiha compound. He waved to those he passed, smiling when he crossed paths with a familiar face.

"Good morning, Itachi-kun!"

Itachi turned to face the blonde who had called his name. She sat perched on the steps outside the Hokage tower, smiling as brightly as she usually did for him.

"Good morning, Ino-san," he replied with a smile (albeit not nearly as bright as hers).

"You're here rather early today," she said. There was a tinge of a rosy color in her cheeks. It could have been a blush or it could have been makeup. It annoyed Itachi that he could not tell. Could Ino have been the one to leave the food for him?

He walked past her on the steps, avoiding her gaze. Not that there was anything wrong with Ino. He liked her well enough. She was loud and brash sometimes, but not anymore than most of the other women her age in the village. He knew she found him attractive because she was often quite vocal about it (not to him, mind you – the blonde had a penchant for gossip herself, so it was quite obvious when her opinions and thoughts were shared around the village).

But he also knew that she was far more interested in Sasuke, which suited Itachi just fine. Sasuke was her age and much better suited for her.

"You know what they say about the early bird," he said to her as he passed. Before she could respond he had already entered the tower and let the door fall shut behind him.

To his surprise, the Hokage's office door was wide open and Tsunade sat at her desk with a chipper grin and a more jovial attitude than Itachi had ever seen her with before.

Belatedly he noticed that Jiraiya was also there – no doubt the reason for the Hokage's unusual happiness. He had been gone on a mission for some length of time and Tsunade must have been pleased to see him back in Konoha.

"Oh, Itachi," she said when she noticed him lurking in her doorway. "Don't just stand there; come in."

Itachi did as he was told and entered her office with some amount of trepidation. He was used to a more bitter and rough-around-the-edges Tsunade, so he wasn't quite sure how to behave around her now.

"Here pretty early, aren't you?" she asked. "You must be tired of those C and D rank missions."

He didn't bother to correct her.

"Well, you're in luck," she continued. "It's not high ranking, but I do have a mission that might interest you. One of the feudal lords to the north has been poisoned. As of right now we have no suspects and no motive."

Tsunade slid a manila envelope across her desk. Itachi opened it, his curiosity piqued. Feudal lords were often targets of petty thieves and small time criminals. There could be any number of people who would want to harm a feudal lord, so what was so special about this mission?

But then he saw on the second page of the dossier. Poison type: unknown. Effects: increased state of arousal.

Itachi peered at Tsunade over the top of the pages, his brow furrowed.

"Yes," she agreed with a slight smirk. "Whatever was in that poison appears to have made the poor man constantly horny."

Beside Itachi, Jiraiya laughed.

"How do we know that this is the work of poison?" Itachi asked, setting the envelope back down.

"He claims it's poison," she explained. "I have some qualms about that, but we'll see what an investigation turns up."

"I see."

"So if you're up for it, I'd like you to investigate and see what's really going on here," she said. "Otherwise I'll have to send Shikamaru, and he is not going to like that."

Itachi had to admit that he was now deeply curious about why someone would do such a thing to a feudal lord. He nodded. "I accept," he said.

"Great," she replied. "My apprentice will be going with you to assist the feudal lord with his… problem, but you will be conducting the investigation alone, unless you think you might require more help."

He shook his head. "I believe I can manage," he answered.

"Good," she said. "You'll leave first thing in the morning."

The next morning Itachi woke up just before the sun came up to prepare to leave for his mission. He had checked the dossier and the town the feudal lord lived in was roughly twenty two miles north of Konoha. That was hardly any distance at all, which meant Itachi could pack light.

So he gathered his things quickly and tossed his pack onto his shoulder. He passed Sasuke's room and listened to hear if he was awake. He could hear loud snoring from the other side of the screen door. He wouldn't be able to tell his brother goodbye this time.

When he opened the front door to leave, he noticed another package on the step. It was a small package wrapped with brown paper and tied with twine. It smelled faintly of freesia and had his name written in dark ink across the top.

Curious, he tore into the paper and found a chain necklace very similar to the one he wore around his neck already. While his was silver, this one was a darker metal – gunmetal, perhaps. Itachi furrowed his brow and tucked the necklace into his pocket. After checking the remnants of paper and finding no note, Itachi headed for the village gates.

It was certainly strange that someone would leave gifts for him like that. The gifts themselves seemed to have been tailored for him – food he liked, a necklace he already owned in a different color. Was this someone he knew? Why wouldn't they make themselves known to him?

When he approached the village gates he spotted Sakura Haruno waiting for him by the security kiosk. Her pink hair made her hard to miss. She looked quite unhappy, he noticed, and he hoped that wouldn't be a hindrance to him on this mission.

She greeted him politely when he approached her, but he could tell by her posture that something was troubling her. Her shoulders were hunched forward and a delicate wrinkle creased the skin between her pink brows.

Without much ceremony they both took off toward the feudal lord's town. Itachi would have liked to run faster, but he slowed his pace to match Sakura's, who seemed to want to travel more leisurely than he liked.

He took a moment to steal a furtive glance at her as they ran. She had hardly spoken two words to him, which wasn't exactly uncommon. She was Sasuke's teammate and he knew that for years she held an attraction for him. He had rebuffed her advances enough to end her pining, but Itachi noticed that both Sasuke and Sakura seemed a little at odds with one another recently.

Itachi wondered what might have happened between them. Since Sakura had begun her apprenticeship with Tsunade, Team 7 had not taken any missions together. Occasionally Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi would take a mission together, but never with Sakura.

Itachi had chalked that up to her being occupied at the hospital. She was an important figure there, he knew. She was the best medic nin Konoha (or likely, the entire shinobi world) had to offer. Of course she was probably stretched thin.

And now she was on a mission to cure an uppity feudal lord with an irksome arousal issue, so maybe he could understand her sour mood.

Still, Itachi didn't like to see her look so glum. It clashed with her pink hair.

"Are you feeling okay, Sakura-san?" he asked, peering at her through his dark lashes.

She tossed a glance his direction, her gaze harrowing and sharp. "I'm fine," she said with a curt nod and increased her speed.

Itachi pressed his lips together, annoyed.

For reasons that were obvious, the feudal lord did not want to be seen. Instead, Sakura and Itachi were greeted by his assistant, Mayeda.

"We are so glad you're both here," he said enthusiastically. "Iori-sama is in a lot of pain, as you may know. We're hoping you can get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

Itachi nodded politely, glancing around at the feudal lord's home. It seemed that Iori liked to live lavishly. There were plush carpets underfoot, vaulted ceilings, gold trim around every window and doorframe. Itachi could indulge in some hedonistic pleasures every now and then, but he felt that this was overdoing it a bit.

He glanced at Sakura to find that she had also wrinkled her nose in disdain at their gratuitous surroundings.

If Mayeda noticed he made no mention of it.

"Let me show you both to your rooms," he said.

Itachi had been under the impression that this mission would not take longer than the day, but he appreciated having a room nonetheless. Sakura, on the other hand, tapped her foot impatiently.

"If it's alright with you, Mayeda-san," she began, "I'd rather just go ahead and take a look at Iori-sama right now so I can fix him up and be on my way."

Mayeda paused, his eyes flitting between Sakura and Itachi.

"I apologize, Sakura-san," he said. "I was under the impression that the two of you would be conducting an investigation while you were here."

"Itachi-san does the investigation," she said curtly. "And I do the healing. So please, show me to Iori-sama."

The poor man looked incredibly nervous now for some reason, which intrigued Itachi. "He's in no condition to be seen right now," Mayeda said with a pleading note to his voice. "Maybe you can take a look at him after you've rested from your journey."

"Duh," she said with a roll of her eyes. Itachi felt she was being rude, but he said nothing. "That's what I'm here for. It was hardly even a trek, so please, let's just get on with it."

Mayeda's eyes widened and Itachi noticed his hands trembling.

"Is there some reason why she cannot see Iori-sama right now?" Itachi asked, finding the assistant's behavior to be odd.

Itachi caught Sakura's gaze – not quite a warning glare, but close enough to it to annoy Itachi. He supposed she didn't need his help.

"He is indisposed at the moment," Mayeda insisted. "He cannot be seen. However, Sakura-san, if you wish to review the details of the case with Itachi-san in the meantime, I'm sure we could get to the bottom of this quicker."

Sakura sighed, but nodded her agreement. Mayeda instantly looked relieved, which Itachi made a mental note of.

Mayeda led them through the house into a back room. It looked to be an office by the furniture – a heavy oak desk and several bookshelves. It was just as lavish as the rest of the house.

"You two are welcome to use this room during the investigation," Mayeda said. He gestured to the scrolls and papers on the desk. "Hopefully you will find all the information you need here."

Sakura fixed Mayeda with a stony glare, which he took as a sign to leave immediately.

When it was just the two of them left in the room, Itachi let his gaze settle on her. He did not know much about her aside from the obvious, but he could tell that her behavior was a little more cold than usual.

But he did not ask her about it again. Instead, he moved to the desk and began looking through the scrolls. After a beat, Sakura joined him, taking up some loose pages and flipping through them.

Most of the documents appeared to be food logs. Everything that Iori had eaten in the last week was written down and monitored. It seemed that the logs had been written by memory – most likely the kitchen staff's.

Nevertheless, Sakura and Itachi pored over each log, looking for discrepancies or anything of interest. After a minute or two of searching, Sakura tossed down the scroll in her hands with an audible huff.

"This would be much easier if I could just take a look at the moron," she said.

If she had been Sasuke, Itachi would have chided her for the remark. But in spite of himself he was only amused. In fact, he agreed with her.

But then he noticed something in the logs.

"Maybe you should take a look at this," he said to her. "It looks like once a month, Iori misses his dinner. It is not logged by the kitchen staff here."

Sakura moved to stand behind him to get a better look at the scroll in his hands. She leaned forward enough that Itachi could feel the tips of her hair against his shoulder. For a moment he thought he caught a faint whiff of freesia.

He tensed up immediately, confused and more than a little alarmed. Had Sakura been the one to leave those gifts? It seemed unlikely. She didn't seem to particularly enjoy his company, so why would she be leaving gifts on his doorstep?

"You're right," she said, oblivious to his confusion. "We should have a chat with the kitchen staff."

The kitchen staff was less than amenable. They each looked downright frightened that Sakura and Itachi were even asking them about Iori's eating habits, which Itachi found very concerning. Surely if Iori expected a thorough investigation he would have prepared his kitchen staff for questioning.

But in spite of Itachi's stoic demeanor and Sakura's ill temper, no one offered any information about why Iori skipped his dinner once a month.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked once they had left the kitchens. She turned to him expectantly, and even though she now had more cause to be annoyed, her mood seemed to have improved.

"We should question Iori's family and closest staff," Itachi supplied. "Maybe they can give us some more clues."

Sakura nodded her agreement and Itachi watched the way her pink hair shook around her cheeks. She, unlike Ino, was not wearing any makeup and there was no blush on her cheeks at the moment.

Then she bit her lip and a look of apprehension marred her features. "I'm sorry for interrupting your flow here," she said. "I know the investigation is supposed to be your job."

Her apology surprised Itachi, who hadn't felt at all like she was a hindrance to his investigation. "I don't mind," he said.

"I think I could be of more help to you if I could just take a look at Iori already," she said. "It's really suspicious that he won't let me see him. He specifically requested me to come."

Itachi hadn't realized that. Sakura was the best medic a feudal lord could request, so it wasn't unusual per se. But it was certainly interesting.

He had just been about to comment on the peculiarity of Iori's unwillingness to see her when he heard a shout from the corridor to his left.

"Sakura-san, come quick!"

Sakura and Itachi turned to see Mayeda beckoning wildly at her from the end of the corridor. Quickly, they both ran to him to see what was the matter.

The closer they got, the louder the screams from what Itachi supposed were Iori's bedroom got. He was howling and roaring, noises that occasionally were muffled – likely from him rolling around on his bed.

Mayeda swung the door open for them, revealing Iori writhing in his canopied bed, cursing and spitting. He was stark naked and his arousal was in plain view as he tossed and turned. It was an angry and red erection and Itachi felt a twinge of sympathy for the man.

Sakura ran to his side, her hand glowing with green chakra. "Try to hold still," she said. "I'm going to help you."

Iori quieted down a bit, but Itachi could see his clenched teeth and the way his hands gripped the bed sheets tightly.

To his left, Itachi felt a hand grip his arm and attempt to push him out of the room.

"You shouldn't be in here," Mayeda said firmly, his own face as red as Iori's engorged member.

Itachi didn't like to be intimidating to those he was trying to help, but he narrowed his eyes at the man and let the tomoe of his Sharingan spin threateningly. Mayeda immediately released his arm and shrunk back into the room.

He returned to watching Sakura as she, well, did whatever it was she was doing. Iori seemed to calm down quite a bit under her soothing touch. He watched the blood drain from Iori's member with morbid fascination, but she didn't stop there. He couldn't quite tell what she was doing, but with his Sharingan he saw her chakra in his stomach and intestines, most like exploring and diagnosing.

After several moments Sakura looked up and caught Itachi's eye. She jerked her head toward the door. Itachi nodded in understanding and then left the room, standing just outside the doorway.

Mayeda followed him with a grim expression on his face. They stood together in an uncomfortable silence until Sakura exited the room and joined them.

"Mayeda-san," she said. "Where is Iori-sama's wife?"

"She's gone on a trip to the Land of Waves with her sister," he answered, bewildered by the question. "She should arrive back within a couple of days."

Sakura pressed her lips together in a thin line. Itachi noticed that she seemed to be displeased with this information.

"Is there something the matter?" Mayeda asked. "Is Iori-same going to be okay?"

"Everything is fine," she said. "I just need to confer privately with my partner for a moment."

Understanding his dismissal, Mayeda reentered Iori's bedroom, leaving the two of them alone in the corridor. Itachi waited for her to speak, watching her while she patted herself down, looking for something in one of her pockets.

When she found it, she held it up for him to inspect.

"A hair pin?"

"Yes, a hair pin," she said. "It was underneath his pillow."

Itachi furrowed his brow. He had not seen her find or pocket the pin. Even if he had, he failed to see the relevance of it. If he and his wife shared a bed, there was no reason why a hair pin was anything out of the ordinary, even if she had been gone away on a trip. Who knows how long the hair pin had been there?

"What do you make of this?" he asked, curious about her answer.

"Alone, not much," she answered. "But when I was diagnosing him I noticed that he has a sexually transmitted disease. Chlamydia. And it wasn't a poison that was in his system. It was sildenafil."

"Sildenafil?"

"A virility drug," she explained. "He had a massive amount of it in his system."

Itachi felt his mouth fall open and then quickly shut it. A virility drug?

"Are drugs like that easy to get a hold of?" he asked.

"They can be," she said. "This one, I think, can be obtained pretty easily. It isn't all that dangerous. For poor Iori, though… Well, let's just say that the combination of this drug and chlamydia is quite unpleasant."

"So can you heal him?"

"Already done," she said. "When he wakes, I'll advise him to refrain from sex for a couple of weeks and then he should be good as new."

Itachi blinked, but was pleased by her discoveries and progress. "You managed to heal him completely in your first session?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "He was hardly injured or sick," she answered. "Just an idiot. Now it looks like we've got a potential motive and suspect."

Again, Itachi blinked because this was really his part of the mission now. "We do," he agreed. But now he was curious to see what else his little brother's teammate could do. "What do you think we should do next?"

She scowled at his question. Itachi took a step backwards, a little surprised that his well intended question had offended her.

"Are you patronizing me?" she demanded.

"Patronizing you…" he said slowly. "No, I'm not patronizing you. I hope nothing in my demeanor made you think that. You've made a good deal of progress with this investigation on your own, so naturally I was curious to see what your next step would be."

A furious blush rose in her cheeks. Her teeth clenched and she dropped her head forward, causing her hair to fall out from behind her ears and obstruct Itachi's view of her face.

"I apologize for offending you," he continued.

"I'm not offended," she insisted through gritted teeth. Itachi did not believe her. "My next step would be to find out who gave him chlamydia."

Itachi pondered this a moment. That would not have been his next step. Instead, he would have chosen to research where in this area someone could buy that virility drug.

But he also understood her line of reasoning. "That's why you wanted to speak to his wife?" he asked.

Her blush faded and she re-tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yes, if his wife was the one who did this, she likely has chlamydia, too. I would need to diagnose her to confirm that."

"She might still have been the culprit even if she did not have chlamydia."

"That's true," she agreed, though her tone was tense. "And she might not be the culprit at all. It could also have been a jealous mistress – the one who potentially gave him chlamydia."

"Those seem like the two most logical conclusions," Itachi said amenably.

He paused for a moment because he had been about to give her an order to follow up on her suggested next step while he did some research into the availability of the virility drug (sildenafil, was it?). But this was not a joint mission and he was not her captain.

However, she had already proved to be quite useful to have around and he wasn't ready to dismiss her just yet.

"Would you like to help me with this investigation?" he asked.

She blinked at him, her wide emerald eyes darkened by confusion and surprise. She gave him a once-over and Itachi forced himself not to wither under her scrutiny. He wasn't used to people behaving that way toward him. As the Uchiha heir he commanded respect from most people, and intimidated most others (even if he didn't mean to).

"Do you really need it?" she asked, something kin to amusement glittering in her eyes.

No, he didn't need it. He was more than capable of solving the case himself, especially now that she had narrowed down a few of the problems. But he did want her help, and Itachi didn't usually want for things.

"No," he answered. "But I would appreciate it all the same."

Sakura smiled at him – a stark contrast to her behavior so far. The skin around her eyes crinkled and she tilted her head to the side. Itachi knew that for what it was. That was the same way she smiled at Sasuke before their falling out.

"Of course I'd be happy to help, Itachi-san."

He suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

Luckily for Itachi, he did not need to give Sakura the order. Of her own volition she had bounded away to find out who had given Iori chlamydia. He had no idea how she would manage to do that, but she seemed to have something specific in mind when she left, so Itachi let her go without any questions.

As for his own research, Itachi had only a few places in mind to start. Konoha was a relatively short distance away, but if Iori had been getting virility drugs from there, Sakura would likely have known already.

So the first place on his list was the local pharmacy.

He entered the lobby and immediately felt very uncomfortable. Iori lived in a fairly small town, so the pharmacy was expectedly small. Quaint, even, he might have thought if he hadn't been concentrating so hard on keeping his cheeks from burning red.

There was a young woman at the counter, maybe a year or two younger than he was. She was flipping through the pages of a book until she heard the bell chime, indicating that there was a customer.

She looked up at him and smiled.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

Deciding that he might feel less awkward about this if he was more intimidating, Itachi activated his Sharingan. Of course he did not plan on using it, nor did he want to scare her. It was selfish and he knew it.

"Do you sell the drug sildenafil?"

She tapped her finger against her lips, muttering the word repeatedly as she tried to recall from memory whether or not they carried that particular drug. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest by his Sharingan and Itachi found that to be quite annoying.

"Let me look it up," she said. "I don't know off the top of my head."

She turned to what Itachi presumed was a directory of the drugs they carried and began to skim the pages.

"Aha," she said, stabbing her finger into a page. "We do carry it. It's prescription only, I'm afraid. Do you have a prescription?"

"I do not," he answered quickly.

She continued to look down at the directory for a moment, her eyes skimming the page for details Itachi did not want her to read.

"How easy would it be to get a prescription?" he asked, hoping to divert her attention away from the incriminating details.

She did not answer right away as she finished reading. After a second she looked back up at Itachi with rounded eyes that started innocently at his face before dipping down far lower than was appropriate.

Uncomfortably, Itachi shifted on his feet, waiting for her answer. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"I don't think it would be hard to get a prescription," she said, the beginnings of a smirk playing at her lips. "Any physician would give you one without much fuss."

Itachi did not like her smirk or the way her eyes wandered over him with a trace of ill-natured humor.

"I will need you to supply me with a list of everyone who has a prescription for sildenafil at this pharmacy," he instructed, his tone brooking no room for argument.

She had the audacity to laugh at him. "I can't give out confidential information, sir," she said.

"I'm conducting an official investigation for Iori-sama," he said, narrowing his eyes at her and letting their tomoe spin. "I need that information."

"Well then I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting a warrant from Iori-sama," she said impudently.

Itachi pursed his lips in annoyance. Iori would not be willing to divulge any information about a potential affair and he certainly want to make it known if he had a prescription for a virility drug

He would have to sneak in later and retrieve the information when no one was around. He gave the girl one last glance before he turned on his heel and left.

Itachi's research showed that there were no other pharmacies close by. Unless it was obtained illegally, the only other place to get sildenafil was Konoha. He supposed that drugs could be made at home and that if someone were sharp enough they could create it without needing a prescription.

He made a mental note to ask Sakura about that when they next saw each other.

Coming up short on his own lead, Itachi decided it was probably best to help Sakura follow up on hers.

He returned to Iori's home and found the feudal lord still sleeping soundly in his bed. Mayeda stood outside his bedroom doorway, preventing Itachi from entering.

"Forgive me, Itachi-san," he said. "Sakura-san has asked that no one be allowed to see Iori-sama until she had a chance to check on him again."

If Itachi were the type to roll his eyes, he would have. Surely Itachi was an exception to that rule.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"I believe she is in the courtyard," he answered. "She has been gracious enough to offer to do physicals on the entire staff. Can you believe that? Iori-sama always harps that Konoha is filled with stodgy shinobi too proud for their own good, but that Sakura-san is a nice girl."

Itachi resisted the urge to let his eyebrows fly up in surprise. Sakura was kind, certainly, but she hadn't been too charming to Mayeda when they had first arrived. And it was even more surprising that she would offer her medical services for free to the staff. No, she had something else up her sleeve. He was sure of it.

He found her in the courtyard just as Mayeda had said, her hands placed on a servant girl's ribcage. Her green chakra emanated outward, creating an ethereal glow on her face. Other staff members were scattered about the courtyard, no doubt waiting for their turn.

"Itachi-san," she said, not bothering to look at him. "Did you find anything?"

"The local pharmacy sells sildenafil with a prescription," he answered. "And Konoha is the next closest place that would sell it."

Sakura glanced up at him for a moment but did not seem surprised. She continued to work without speaking to him and Itachi wondered if she wanted him to leave so she could work in peace.

But soon enough she finished up with the servant girl and gave her a pat on the knee. "You're all done, Akiko-chan," she said. "Fit as a fiddle."

The girl hopped up from the stone bench and gave Sakura a warm thanks. The next person in line quickly took her place. Itachi glanced back at the line and saw that there were easily thirty people in it. Would she seriously do this all day? What was the benefit to her? She must have known that she had an investigation to conduct.

"What's your name?" she asked the man.

"Takoru," he answered with a wide grin. "But you can call me Tako-kun."

Sakura laughed, but she did not reprimand him for his cheekiness. Instead she merely placed her hands on his chest and got to work.

"Sakura-san," Itachi began. "Do you think I could speak with you—"

"Hey, Itachi, why don't you go back up to the office and take another look at those food logs?" she said, cutting him off.

Itachi recoiled, more than a little annoyed that she had interrupted him and then given him an order. That was not the way this was going to work. He needed to speak with her to discuss their next step and he didn't like being brushed away like he was a child.

"I beg your pardon?"

Sakura removed her hands from the man's chest and turned to fix Itachi with an irate glare. "Fine," she said. "Let's go."

That was much easier than Itachi anticipated.

She turned back to Takoru and gave him a sweet smile. "Tako-kun," she said in a tone that was mostly joking but also a little flirtatious. "I'll be right back. You stay right here." She grazed her fingers across his forearm before standing up and following Itachi to the edge of the courtyard.

When they were a fair distance from the gathered staff and in the shade, Sakura's smile melted into a scowl.

"What's so important that you had to interrupt my work?" she demanded.

"I'd hardly consider this productive work," Itachi said. "It's great that you feel so generous as to give away free physicals, but are you forgetting about the investigation?"

Sakura was still for a moment, her breath held in her puffed up cheeks as she seemed to be gathering her patience. Itachi found this amusing in spite of his irritation.

"By doing the staff a favor they feel more inclined to give me information," she explained with a patronizing tone. "If I flirt and play with them they get comfortable and divulge things they probably shouldn't."

"Oh."

Itachi hadn't considered that. Not that Itachi didn't have his own brand of charm, but such a tactic would not work quite as easily for him as it did for her.

"And I've been checking each staff member to see if they have chlamydia."

Another 'oh' escaped his lips. It seemed that Sakura was more on top of things that he had thought. Maybe, he mused, he should turn the investigation over to her.

"Have you found any useful information?" he asked, careful to keep his tone neutral and authoritative. It wouldn't do for her to think she had the upper hand on him somehow.

"According to one of the servant girls, Iori goes fishing once a month," Sakura answered. "This is congruent with his food logs if he is catching his own dinner on that day."

Itachi's brow furrowed as he mulled over this new information. It certainly made sense that Iori would be missing his dinner for such a reason, but Itachi found it hard to believe that a feudal lord that lived in such a lavish home would enjoy a hobby as rustic as fishing.

"Maybe you could ask him where he goes fishing?" Sakura ventured. "He might be a bit more forthcoming with you."

Itachi didn't think so, but he definitely planned on asking Iori a few questions.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

Sakura beamed at him, clearly pleased that he had agreed to do what she asked. Itachi felt a bubble of something warm rise in his chest and he coughed uncomfortably.

"Are you alright?" she asked, a brow quirked. He noticed a surge of chakra in her hands – healing chakra. She made no move toward him, but he knew that if he only confirmed that he was feeling ill that her hands would be on his chest in seconds.

"Yes, I'm fine," he answered brusquely. "I'll let you get back to your business."

She eyed him skeptically, but returned to the bench where Takoru was waiting for her.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

Itachi rolled back on his heels and then forward again. Iori was sprawled out on his bed in a most undignified fashion and Itachi wondered why the man would be so concerned about being seen in his aroused state and yet didn't have a sense of decorum enough to sit up when Itachi entered the room.

"I don't for a minute believe that you go fishing once a month," Itachi said patiently. "I'd wager that you've never even held a fishing pole."

Iori swallowed a lump in his throat and pulled his duvet tighter around his neck. It was a comical sight, really – a feudal lord cowering in his bed after being caught in a lie.

"So I'll ask you again," Itachi said. "Where is it that you actually go once a month?"

Seeming to have gained a little resolve, Iori sat up abruptly, his eyes lit with annoyance. "It's a personal matter," he said fiercely. "You have no right to ask about such things."

"Do you want us to catch the person who did this to you?"

"Of course. That's why I asked for you."

Itachi took in a deep breath. He thought back to the mission file. Sakura had been specifically requested, no doubt due to her expertise with medicine. Itachi, however, had merely been available for the mission. There had been no special requests for a shinobi to investigate.

"Your dishonesty will hurt the investigation," Itachi explained. "If you withhold information or lie to me, you might as well just send us back to Konoha. We'll be of no help to you that way."

Iori said nothing and Itachi noticed the tight clench of his jaw. After several moments of silence, Itachi conceded.

"Very well," he said. "Sakura and I will be on our way by this afternoon."

It was truly of no consequent to Itachi whether or not he solved this case. He wasn't particularly invested in learning the truth. His impatience and annoyance with Iori almost made him want to congratulate the perpetrator.

But he knew a vengeful man like Iori would want to bring justice on whoever had done this to him. So Itachi was not surprised when he heard Iori's meek voice calling after him while he made his way toward the bedroom door.

"I go to a brothel," he said when Itachi had turned back to face him. "Once a month I go to the brothel just east of here."

Itachi was not surprised. "I presume your wife does not know?"

"I don't believe she does."

Itachi had qualms about that. If she did know and she kept that knowledge a secret, it was likely that she was the one who had done this to him.

"And the woman you're seeing at the brothel," Itachi ventured. "Does she know you are married?"

Iori's face dropped into a deep scowl. "Haven't you asked enough questions?"

"Perhaps she is the one who did this to you."

A knock at the door interrupted whatever Iori had been about to say. Without waiting to hear an answer, Sakura entered the room. She looked vaguely disappointed and Itachi could sense that her chakra level had lowered significantly since he'd left her in the courtyard.

"Iori-sama. Itachi-san."

"Sakura-chan, maybe you have made a little more progress than Itachi has," Iori said audaciously. "I hope your investigative skills are as good as your medical skills. Or at the very least better than Itachi's"

Itachi was accustomed to Iori's rude behavior and didn't think much of the slight, though he was mildly annoyed by it. Sakura, however, did not seem to enjoy Iori's affectionate suffix or the way his eyes lingered on her bare legs.

Before she could say or do anything that could get her into trouble, Itachi motioned for the door and briskly exited the room, hoping she would follow.

"We're taking our leave now, Iori-sama," Itachi said from the doorway. "You've given us a new lead to follow up on."

Sakura's hip was cocked out and her hand rested on it in a pose that Itachi was sure could only mean trouble. Sensing that she was about to sass Iori, Itachi grabbed her wrist and yanked her through the doorway.

When the door was shut, Sakura turned that pose in Itachi's direction, a fuming look on her face. "What the hell, Itachi? I was just about to give him a piece of my mind."

"He undeniably deserves it," Itachi said in an effort to appease her. "But it would be counterproductive. He's already withholding information from us. If you piss him off it will only hinder the investigation further."

For a moment Itachi thought she might argue with him, but after a second she nodded in agreement. "Okay," she said. "What was that lead you were talking about?"

"Iori was not going fishing once a month. He was going to a brothel," Itachi explained. "So I believe that the perpetrator may have been either his wife or the woman he has been seeing at the brothel."

"What a scumbag."

Itachi was inclined to agree.

"Did you discover anything useful from the staff?"

Sakura shrugged. "Not really," she said. "Though it is abundantly clear that the majority of the staff does not like Iori at all."

"Hard to believe," Itachi said sarcastically. Sakura laughed and Itachi felt that warm bubble in his chest again. "So none of them had chlamydia, I presume."

"Correct," she supplied. "But I think it's easy enough to assume where he got it from at this point."

"I think it's time we pay the brothel a visit."

Brothels were a disgusting place, Itachi thought, and it was with great disdain that he entered the filthy establishment with Sakura close on his heels.

It was dark inside, and even though it was only late afternoon, there were already many patrons filling the booths. Scantily clad women flitted from booth to booth, offering drinks, food, and other services.

Sakura approached the brothel's front counter, eyeing the plump woman behind it with some skepticism.

"Wait," Itachi called behind her, tugging on her vest. "I doubt they will be forthcoming with information here. We're going to have to do a little sleuthing."

She wrinkled her nose at him, extricating herself from his grasp. "Okay, but if you're as handsy with these ladies as you are with me they might kick you out."

Itachi felt his cheeks warm, but he kept his expression carefully neutral. "I apologize, Sakura-san."

To his surprise she grinned at him. "I'm just messing with you," she said. Itachi did not spend enough time with Sakura to know whether or not that was normal from her. He couldn't recall ever seeing her act that way with Sasuke or Naruto before.

He followed her to a booth in the back and sat down across from her. She stood out like a sore thumb in the brothel – her pink hair like a beacon. Distantly, Itachi also noted that she was far more attractive than most of the women working.

"I have an idea," Sakura said, glancing around the room before settling her eyes on Itachi's face. "When one of the women approaches you, you can interrogate her to see what she knows about Iori. While you're doing that, I'll sneak behind the counter and try to get a look at the ledger to see which woman Iori is seeing. We can compare the ledger with the food logs to see which night he came and which woman he was sleeping with."

That was a solid plan, Itachi thought. However, the person who first approached their booth was definitely male and definitely looking at Sakura rather than Itachi.

"Hey princess," he said to her, completely ignoring Itachi's presence. Though he ordinarily would have found that annoying, he was quite content to watch how Sakura would handle this without his intervention.

The man was objectively attractive and probably would have had no trouble finding a woman he would not have to pay to sleep with. He was likely drawn to Sakura's exotic pink hair. His own hair was blonde and he had honey colored eyes to match.

"I haven't seen you here before," he said, eyeing her up and down. Sakura's expression was neutral, which Itachi was grateful for. She didn't need to be calling more attention to herself than she already had. "And I would definitely remember you."

She didn't respond, merely giving him a cool gaze as she waited for what he would inevitably say next.

"What's your price?"

Itachi had never been mistaken by a prostitute before so he couldn't say whether or not he would be offended. Naturally he assumed that Sakura would be, but if she was then she made no indication of it.

"You can't afford me," she said dismissively.

"Come on, baby," he pleaded. Itachi hated his whining tone. "I know what girls like you like. I can pleasure you in every way possible."

Itachi grimaced, disgusted on her behalf.

"Can't you see I'm with someone?"

The man turned to look at Itachi, blinking in surprise as he realized for the first time that there was, in fact, another person in the booth with her. He eyed Itachi with contempt.

"I'll double whatever he's paying you," he insisted.

"He isn't paying me. Not with money, anyway," she said, giving Itachi a saucy wink.

Itachi was too stunned to blush.

The man was not impressed. "He hardly looks like he knows his way around a woman's body. Trust me, I can make you feel real good."

Sakura let her eyes wander over him for a second, perhaps pretending to consider his request. But then, to Itachi's surprise, she acquiesced. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you," she said. "I'm not looking for money, but there is something that I want."

The man sat down in the booth next to her, a little to close for Itachi's liking. But Sakura leaned into his touch, pressing his fingertips into his forearm and smiling warmly at him.

"What is it?" he asked, breathless by her proximity.

"Do you know Iori-sama?"

"The feudal lord? Of course."

"He frequents this brothel," Sakura supplied. Itachi didn't feel comfortable with where this was going. She didn't plan on divulging pertinent information about the investigation, did she? "I need to know what he's up to here. Do you think you could get me a copy of the brothel's ledger?"

"In exchange for…?"

"One night with me."

He paused, considering this. "How do I know you won't bail on me after I snatch the ledger?"

With no hesitation, Sakura leaned in a pressed her lips to his. He was surprised enough to reel backwards a couple of inches, but it only took a second for him to adjust. His hands flew up to Sakura's face. He held her face against his, kissing her far more intimately than anyone should be doing in public view. Sakura allowed it, much to Itachi's displeasure, and he felt nausea brewing in the pit of his stomach.

He finally pulled away from her with a wide grin. "You've got yourself a deal, princess."

"It's Tsumi," she said, giving him a fake name.

"Saito," he replied, extending his hand to her. She shook it firmly and then he quickly exited the booth. Sakura watched him walk past Itachi and up to the front counter.

Then she turned her gaze back to Itachi with a smirk playing on her lips. "Looks like I won't have to do any sneaking after all," she said.

Itachi was floored. He had never considered utilizing a person the way she just had. He didn't feel like he could pull something like that off. Sakura was a fine actress. He looked at her with renewed curiosity. Her lips were still wet with Saito's spit and Itachi wanted to pass her a napkin to wipe it off with.

But she wiped her mouth with the back of her arm a second later, and Itachi was content to see that she was grimacing with disgust.

"You don't plan on actually sleeping with him, do you?" he asked.

"Hell, no," she said. "Do you plan on sleeping with a prostitute?"

"I highly doubt that will be necessarily," he said. "And I'd like to avoid getting chlamydia if I can."

She laughed, amused by his serious tone.

"Well, you can't avoid talking to one, so I suggest you get going."

Without showing his hesitation outwardly, Itachi stood up and surveyed the room. There were plenty of women (girls, really) that were unoccupied, lurking in corners and waiting to see what rich looking man would walk in.

But he couldn't just pick any other them. He needed one who would be willing to share information with him. He didn't have a lot of experience with prostitutes, but he assumed that most wouldn't want to talk about their other clients.

So while he felt uncomfortably predatory in doing do, Itachi singled out a young girl, probably only fourteen or fifteen, standing near an empty booth. She didn't look out of place there and she didn't seem unhappy. She was watching the door, facing away from Itachi as he approached.

He purposefully made his footsteps loud so that she would hear him. She turned her face toward him and smiled when she saw him looking at her.

"Hi," she said demurely, but flirtatiously.

"Hi," he said, hoping his tone was warm and friendly. He extended a hand to her politely, which she took with a giggle. "Do you have a moment to spare for me?"

"Of course."

He gestured toward the booth next to her. She raised a confused eyebrow at him.

"A booth?" she asked. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in a private room?"

Itachi suspected that he would be less comfortable in a private room, but he didn't say as much to her. "This is perfect for now," he insisted.

She seemed to be okay with that and sat down across from him. "My name is Eika," she said. "I've never seen you here before. We don't often get strangers in here."

"Eika-san," Itachi repeated, smiling at her. "That's a lovely name. Tell me, Eika-san, why don't you get many strangers here?"

She waved her hand flippantly and then leaned forward on her elbows, her eyes glittering. "Being so close to the feudal lord's home makes this place a bit risky, you know?" she said. "This line of work is so frowned upon. No one wants to risk being seen here so close to someone as dignified as Iori-sama."

Itachi nearly snorted.

"Then why work here?" he asked. "Surely there is another brothel in a less conspicuous place for you to work at."

She interlocked her fingers and rested her chin on her hands. "Being so close to Iori-sama does have its advantages," she said. "He and his staff are generous tippers."

"Iori-sama comes here himself?" Itachi asked, feigning surprise. "But doesn't he have a wife?"

Eika laughed. "I'm sure many of our patrons have wives," she said. "That doesn't mean they don't need a bit of feminine attention now and again."

Itachi leaned back into the supple leather behind him. It seemed that even if Iori was trying to keep his affiliation with this establishment a secret in his own home, he didn't care if people here knew that he was here often. He and his staff had a reputation for being generous tippers. Did that mean some of his staff accompanied him here? Would they not have contracted chlamydia as well?

He glanced back at Sakura, who was still sitting in her booth alone. She was watching him with a highly amused look on her face. She told him that none of the staff she diagnosed had chlamydia. That was suspicious, Itachi thought.

"What about you?" Eika asked. "Do you need a little bit of feminine attention?" She had softened her gaze and dropped one of her hands down to the table to cover Itachi's. He resisted the urge to pull his hand away.

Deciding to cut right to the chase, Itachi fixed her with a determined look. "Is Iori-sama one of your clients?" he asked.

She pursed her lips and interlaced her fingers with his. Itachi felt a weird tingling sensation in his scalp. He had never held a girl's hand like this before and he wasn't sure that it was supposed to feel this way – almost electric. "You don't want to talk about my other clients, do you?" she asked.

"Please," he said. "I want to know."

"Would you think less of me if he was?"

She was pouting, probably thinking he would reject her. Of course he planned on 'rejecting' he anyway. He had no intention of sleeping with a prostitute, let alone one who was still basically a child. But what kind of fool would come in to a brothel expecting to find a virginal prostitute? Did she think he would want her to have never had sex before?

"Of course not," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "If you are good enough for Iori-sama, then you are certainly good enough for me."

She laughed boisterously and squeezed his hand. "Well in that case I feel no shame in telling you that he is one of my clients," she said.

Itachi sharpened his gaze on her. Could she have been the one to poison him? She didn't seem like the type to do such a thing, but Itachi knew well that looks could be deceiving.

"I imagine you must be quite special to him, then," he said carefully.

"Hardly," she said with another laugh. "You'd be hard pressed to find a single girl here who hasn't had Iori-sama as a client."

"Is that so?" Itachi asked, not surprised, but a little alarmed by the news. Was Iori spreading STD's around?

"Yes," Eika said solemnly. "He specifically likes the younger girls."

"Like you?"

"Oh no," she said. "Like Yuki and Tomaru. They are both only twelve. He also likes Mitsue and Sugai even though they are thirteen."

Itachi tasted bile in the back of his throat. Before he could respond to that horrendous new information, he heard a yelp from behind him. He turned to see Sakura and Saito both standing next to the booth, Saito holding his right hand close to his chest.

"You little bitch!" he yelled.

Itachi saw him reach up to grab her throat and before skin could contact skin, Itachi was standing between them, his fingers wrapped tightly around the man's wrist. Saito jerked his hand away and took a step backwards. He couldn't have known that Sakura was a kunoichi – only an idiot would have provoked her otherwise.

But he was certainly smart enough to realize that he didn't want to provoke the red-eyed man in front of him now.

"You two were conspiring together from the start," Saito accused. "You just wanted me to do your dirty work."

All eyes in the brothel were glued to Itachi and Sakura. Itachi glanced back at her and found her motioning toward the door. Quickly, Itachi fished into his pocket and retrieved some money. Before Saito could attempt anything else, Itachi returned to Eika's booth and dropped the money on the table.

"Thank you for the conversation," he said. "I'll come back to visit you again, Eika-san."

Eika's wide eyes darted between him and Sakura, who was close on Itachi's heels. Before she could utter her gratitude, Itachi and Sakura were already out the door. Itachi could hear Saito yelling after them.

"I could have handled him, you know," Sakura said as they made their way back to Iori's home. "It's not like he was a shinobi or anything."

"I know," he said. "It was just an instinct."

"At least I got the ledger, though," she said with a triumphant grin. She held up the ledger for Itachi to see before folding it and tucking it into her pocket. "What about you? Did you get anything from Eika-chan?"

Itachi cast her an annoyed look. He slowed down until he came to a complete stop. "Yes, I did," he said. "Before we go back I should tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"That brothel has child prostitutes as young as twelve," he said. "Those are the ones that Iori favors."

Itachi heard Sakura gasp and he watched her turn back to look at the brothel. "They didn't look that young," she murmured. "What are we going to do? We can't allow this to continue."

"I agree," he said. "We should report back to Tsunade-sama and see what she suggests we do. We need to go back to Konoha anyway. There isn't anything more we can do today."

Sakura still had a pained expression on her face as she stared back at the brothel. "I don't want to leave them there…"

"I don't either."

"So let's go back and get them."

Itachi understood where she was coming from, but that wasn't feasible. Even though Itachi didn't like to think about it, what they were doing was hardly any better than having children become shinobi.

"If we go back now we risk angering Iori," Itachi said. "He's paying for this mission and he's a feudal lord. We should confer with Tsunade-sama before we make any decisions."

Reluctantly, Sakura agreed.

"As for the investigation," Itachi continued, "Eika implied that Iori had fraternized with most of the girls in the brothel. That makes our list of suspects a lot larger."

"Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck about Iori."

Itachi smiled, but it was a grim one. "Don't worry, Sakura," he said. "We will get this resolved."