Disclaimer: I don't own, or course. Not Naruto, nor Bjork's songs. I do own a black cloak, but with no red clouds. -pouts-.

Summary:Just when Sakura thought things couldn't get worse, she is forced to deal with a coolly and infuriating Uchiha. Compelled by her skill and abrasive attitude, said Uchiha finds the pink-haired medic... intriguing. Clearly, Fate was out of its mind.

AN: Hay there! I just want to point out that this is my take on Non-Massacre!AU ItaSaku, so please bear with me with the apparent OOC-ness that I'm sure will follow in the present plot. I believe that Itachi wouldn't be so friggin' psychotic insane if he didn't find out about you know who, so this would be probably not so cool for the Canon!Itachi fans. I've planned the whole story already, and most of the manga arcs will be revisited and twisted from the point of view of the main characters. Also, I'd like to tip my hat at Paws Bells and her stories, because they were the ones that prompted my lovely bunny!muse to gnaw at my ear. Thank you for reviving my muse!

For the ones that want to find out about this madness, welcome and enjoy your stay!

To Adri. To Mitsuki. To Mary. To Jess.

-X-

Hunter

-X-

Chapter 1: All is Full of Love

-X-

The forest smelled like always did. Birds and little animals were in their peaceful place, while the wind swished gently among the dark green leaves of the trees.

Now if those two idiots stopped bickering, I could try to soothe my migraine, a certain pink-haired medical kunoichi thought while rubbing her fingertips on her temples.

The mission had been quite easy for the infamous Team Seven. Naruto and Sasuke handled all the bad guys, as usual, while their team leader drowned himself in his smutty book. Good thing for his two star pupils that their third member was a female that had a gentle healing touch as well as a nasty right hook.

Pity for them as well, because they just didn't realize how leveled she was with them.

"Headache, Sakura?" Kakashi asked good-naturedly, without looking up from his reading. An unladylike grunt served as answer enough for him, which prompted him to gaze at his female former student.

"Come on, Sasuke-teme! You know we had them until you chose to go all Shishi-Rendan on the leader of the rogue nins!" a male but whiny voice trailed back to her ears.

"Whatever, dobe," a deep voice in front of her answered, full of scorn and derision. "Your Rasengan was too flashy for them. You might as well wave a Konoha flag under their noses."

"Why-you!--"

"Now now, Naruto, Sasuke, remember your promise back in Wave," Kakashi interjected. Both young men scoffed at their sensei, but soon enough Sasuke tensed, activating his Sharingan.

"Teme, what the-" Kakashi bounced quickly in front of them, putting a hand in front of the blond nin, stopping his whole team in two branches.

"Shhh," he motioned Sakura to come forward. "We have company."

With an inward groan, the pink-haired girl controlled her urge to roll her eyes and obeyed her leader.

-X-

Dropping to the dirt, the four ninjas approached cautiously the four bodies that lay in front of them. Kakashi sighed deeply and slid down his hitai-ate, covering his Sharingan.

"All clear, but these fellows are injured," he said, looking to one of their fallen comrades.

Sakura went forward, pulling off her gloves. "I need to check on them for poison before taking them back to the village," she said, already in her medic mode. Kakashi nodded, but nonetheless stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Try to heal all the wounds you can, but don't remove their masks," he warned seriously. "They are ANBU; therefore their identity must remain anonymous."

"I know, Kakashi-sensei, who do you think you're talking to?" the scorned medic threw a glare at him before kneeling next to the first White Op.

"Naruto, be a dear and bring me some fresh water and your pack—no, on second thought I think I'll go with Kaka-sensei's... gah, I think my own sheets would be more sanitary than all of yours combined."

"Sakura-chan, that was mean," the whiskered shinobi pouted. "I bathed in the rived before entering Fire Country!"

"Which was almost four days ago," Sasuke added with a disgusted grimace.

"Sasuke-kun, do you have extra bandages? This ANBU-san has deep gashes in his left leg."

He reached them to her wordlessly, already knowing that Sakura was beyond reasoning when she was tending to a patient. She placed them on her lap to avoid dirtying them by putting them on the ground, as tendrils of her chakra worked diligently on the wounds with a soft, warm green glow.

The man started when he regained consciousness, but Kakashi was already at his side. "Relax. We're on your side."

"Hatake-sempai," a male muffled voice came out from the mask. "Where are we?"

"Concussion," Sakura reported as she moved one of her hands on his head while the other was securing the bandage on his leg. "Tell me, ANBU-san, how much time has passed since the Sandaime's passing?"

"Oh... almost eight years, I think... or maybe seven years?"

"Let's stay at a mild concussion then, eh? Which is your favorite color?"

"...Blue," she got as an answer and snorted. "Of course, ANBU-san. I would have been really worried if you said pink. Can you stand now?"

Promptly pulled up by the medic and the seasoned Copy Nin, the man stood shakily on his feet.

"Excellent, ANBU-san!" she cheered as she kneeled next to the second operative. "Don't put too much weight on that leg until you're properly treated in the hospital, please. Now... let's patch up the second ANBU-san."

-X-

It took a while, but soon enough she got to kneel at the fourth and last ANBU's side. But apparently he was awake, for his hand shot up to grip hers in a bruising hold.

"Ow! ANBU-san, you're hurting your medic!" she exclaimed, but she didn't try to pull away because she knew how paranoid ninja were with struggling people, especially when they had just regained consciousness. The hand relaxed minutely when the masked face peered up and saw the woman's features hovering on his, apparently examining her.

"This is Haruno Sakura, ANBU-taichou," Kakashi helped clear the man's indecision by tipping Sakura's hitai-ate forward until it was on her forehead. "Surely you know about Tsunade-sama's apprentice."

The man nodded slowly, releasing his grasp.

"We're coming back from a mission in Wave," the silver-haired seasoned Jounin explained. "We stumbled on you guys here. How many are in your squad? Four?"

The masked ninja nodded again after a bit of hesitation. "All are safe and sound, though," Kakashi continued, watching how the lean White Op kept his tense stance. "Haruno-san here patched them up and they're just waiting for your command."

"And you're set, ANBU-san," she said, patting his shoulder. "Only a few kunai scratches and some senbon punctures."

"We can accompany you back to the village," Naruto offered, walking up to the masked group's leader. "It's better if we are in a larger group to avoid more bad guys. I'm sure they'll run away if we're together!"

Only then, the ANBU Captain spoke, startling the youngsters with his cold and detached voice seeping through his mask.

"We will resume our patrolling task," he said. "We appreciate the help, but we need to go back to our duties."

"What? Are you mad?" Sakura blurted out in shock. "Your teammates are exhausted and with no chakra to counter another attack like you just survived! How do you think all of you can resume the patrolling if you are about to drop?"

"Haruno-san," another White Op said soothingly, but apparently aware of his Captain's sudden tenseness of shoulders, "it's okay; we can carry on with our mission."

"Gah!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air regardless of the fact that she had the remaining of Sasuke's bandages in her grasp. "You ANBU are a bunch of reckless idiots! Go and get yourself killed, I don't care. But I'm telling Tsunade-sama of this encounter!"

"Medic," the masked Captain said, with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "You will not do such a thing. We need to resume our appointed task; we cannot go back to Konoha without completing our scouting."

"Do whatever you want, ANBU-san" she growled, pulling her gloves back on. "Kaka-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke-kun, let's go. We are already late and I don't like to disappoint my shishou by pulling a Kakashi."

"Now Sakura, that was mean even for you."

The ANBU squad stood surrounding the jounins. "Thank you for taking care of us," said the one that had addressed to her before. "We owe you one, Haruno-san."

"Yeah, yeah," she dismissed the praise with a wave of her hand. "Remember that when you collapse from fatigue because your Captain is a freaking hard-headed moron."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto seemed scared of the irritation that rolled out from the ANBU's aura.

"What, ANBU-san?" she asked, smiling sweetly up at the White Op as she snapped closed her medical bag. "Want to report my rudeness towards you? You are most welcome to do it – but you'd have to get back to the village to actually file a complaint against me."

And with that, she bounced to a tree and disappeared through the foliage. Kakashi bowed stiffly to the ANBU, trying to do some damage control as the other two followed the irate pink-haired medic.

"I'm sorry about that... she had a bad time in our mission. My deepest apologies, Itachi-san."

"Do not worry, Kakashi-san," the man responded with a dry voice. "I will not report her. But you will. Good afternoon."

The ANBU disappeared from sight, leaving a rather shocked Copy Ninja.

"Dammit."

-X-

"You have some guts to speak like that to an ANBU Captain, Sakura," Tsunade scolded severely to her sheepish apprentice, who flushed in embarrassment and anger at being told off. "However, you are right. They should have gone back to the village if they were so badly injured. You know your field of expertise, I'm sure of that. But I'm afraid I'll have to punish you for your bad manners towards a high-ranked officer."

"What?! But that's so unfair, shishou!" she protested, not daring to gaze at Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes, for she knew that Naruto would sport a look of pity and Sasuke a glance full of smugness. This humiliation hurt her more than Tsunade's reprimand.

"Shush, we'll talk about this later. Go take a nap in the medic's lounge and report back in four hours, we have a rather interesting sealing procedure to do this evening. The rest of you, scram, I'm tired of seeing your dumb faces."

Sakura just wanted for the ground to split and swallow her. How stupid had she been by going against a higher-ranked shinobi? Sure it felt good at the time, but now she realized her mistake. No matter how stubborn that ANBU was, now she had to pay for her rudeness. And being humiliated in front of Sasuke was worst than any punishment.

"That sucked big time, Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to reassure her by pulling her to a one-armed side hug. "But I know what'll cheer you up: Lunch! My treat! And then you can take that nap and go to work in the hospital full of energy!"

"Sounds like a plan, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline my part," Kakashi butted in, waving goodbye to his students. "I need to run some errands, see you later!"

"Psh! That Kaka-sensei always thinks we're going to pull a trick to see his face again!" Naruto complained loudly, as his teammates reached the bottom of the stairs of the Hokage Tower and made their way through their bustling village, reaching the path that divided the way to the Uchiha District from the other streets, which was flanked by stone benches. "So, want to go, Sakura-chan?"

"Well... are you coming with us, Sasuke-kun?" she ventured shyly, finally gazing at the dark-haired ninja. "We haven't had lunch yet..."

"I'm off," he rebuked coldly. "I need to go report to my Chichiue and resume my training. Fugaku-sama would not appreciate me being late."

"But, Sasuke-kun, I thought we could--"

"I'm going to say this one more time, Sakura: I don't have time for stupid and annoying things like dates and stuff. Don't ask me again, this is getting obnoxious. Jeez."

"Teme! Don't talk like that to Sakura-chan!" Naruto came in her defense, but the Uchiha was already too far away to acknowledge them, his back displaying the red Uchiha fan that was the renowned crest of his clan. "Oh come on, Sakura-chan, I'm sure he doesn't mean it..."

Sakura tightened her lips in an attempt to squash her urge to cry but failing miserably. Hot, bitter tears rolled down her cheeks, as Naruto pulled her to a hug, trying to comfort her as he led her to one of the benches.

"There, there..." he soothed, awkwardly patting her back. "I'm sure he's just being an asshole because he's tired and he just wants to sleep, that's all--"

"No, Naruto..." she sobbed, wiping her tears angrily. "He's right. I should train more, be stronger – I should stop asking him... he's not going to accept me ever."

"That's not true, Sakura-chan," the blond replied hotly. "I'm sure he will open his eyes soon, you just need to give him some time, that's all!"

"What, eight more years, Naruto?" she asked, shaking her head in defeat, still crying. "I waited for eight years and he never made an attempt to be kind to me. He just didn't care when I went out with Neji or Kiba. He never cared enough to ask if I was injured or exhausted. He just called me annoying and weak... and he was right. I am weak, I am annoying..."

"Oh come on, Sakura-chan, that's so not true!" Naruto interjected, pulling back and looking directly to her lovely but puffy emerald eyes. "How can you be weak when you can punch an entire building down? And how can you be annoying when you are the most caring person I've ever met? You heal people without asking anything in return, even if they're assholes like that ANBU back in the forest... you are strong and awesome, Sakura-chan, don't think differently!"

"He's right, you know," a deep voice signaled Kakashi's arrival to the stone bench they were sitting on. "I'm sorry for being such a snitch, Sakura. I had to tell the Hokage about our rendezvous with the ANBU squad."

"Whatever, Kaka-sensei," she sniffled, taking his offered handkerchief. "I know you had to do it. I'm not mad at you. I'm... disappointed at my lack of control... I should have gone straight to Tsunade-shishou and told her about those ANBU's injuries, but my anger got the better of me."

"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment, Sakura," her team leader recited softly. "But don't let your self-esteem be stomped by anyone. You are a valuable asset to Konoha; you are one of the top medic-nins in the whole village. Remember what you have trained under Tsunade-sama, remember those times you bested one of my traps. You are smart and strong, Sakura. Don't let anyone belittle you."

"You guys are so right..." she said with a deep sigh. "But Sasuke- ... Sasuke's words are correct. I need to train more and forget about shallow things, like dating and whatnot. I need to prove that I'm more than a stupid, annoying girl."

"There's a few ways to prove that, Sakura," Kakashi added with an eye crease, pointing at the hospital. "In there, or in the field. And you know how I don't like that place, but if it's you who treats me, I'll get myself inside willingly."

"Liar," she smiled and hiccupped. "You go to the hospital only when you're half-dead and unconscious."

"But still I get your five-star treatment, Sakura-chan!" he shot back with a hidden grin, knowing that his words would bristle his pink-haired friend. True to his thought, he received an exasperated punch in his arm in retaliation.

"Idiot!" she yelled, and then burst out laughing with Naruto at the sudden dejected look on Kakashi's face. "Thank you guys... I don't know I would do without you."

"Maybe you should take that rest that Tsunade-sama said, you need to restore your chakra," Naruto said, scratching his head thoughtfully. "I kinda wanted to go to Ichiraku, but I hadn't seen that it's almost sunset..."

"Go, Naruto," Sakura said with a wet smile. "I'll go to the hospital now. Rain check on that lunch?"

"Sure, Sakura-chan!" he waved enthusiastically, bidding goodbye to his pink-haired best friend. "See you tomorrow for training!"

Watching her retreating back, he sighed. "Say, Kaka-sensei, are you sure she'll be okay?"

"I'm sure of that, Naruto," the older man responded, his nose already buried in his book. "Looks can be deceiving. She is stronger than most shinobi."

"I hope you're right..." the blond ninja sighed. "Eight years after our graduation and Sasuke still has that pole of ice stuck up his ass. I still don't see why he's so intent in proving he's a worthy son to that imbecile of a father he has. He's a jounin already!"

"It's better not to ask, Naruto," Kakashi sighed behind his Icha Icha. "So how about that ramen? I hope you're still hungry."

"Yeah, I'm starving!" the other agreed, bobbing his head and sending his wild locks flying around his head. "It's your turn to invite me though, Kaka-sensei!"

"Hmm? Yeah, sure," the silver-haired mumbled, in a tone that implied a certain vanishing of its owner once the meal was consumed.

-X-

Entering the medic's lounge, Sakura let out a deep sigh.

Padding silently to a bed in a corner, she placed her sandal boots at the foot of it while she folded her dirty clothes, placing them on a chair.

Dressed in a white jumpsuit that all medic-nins wore when they were on hospital duty, she finally laid down on the bed. The shower she just had merely refreshed her body, but did nothing to soothe her pained heart.

Eight years, she mused as she turned to her side, facing the wall. Eight years and he still hadn't paid the slightest attention to me.

'Maybe it is time to let go of this crush', her Inner personality intoned in a defeated voice. 'He only cares about his family, his career and his success'.

He doesn't care about me, no matter how Naruto keeps trying to get him to open up to us.

Sakura curved her lips in a tender smile.

Naruto... it's ironic how the parentless of our team looks after us like he is our real father, even more than Kakashi.Those two are so precious to me. They were so right. It was time to let go and take care of her own self. It was time to shake the ground and let the whole Konoha see how much she had grown under Tsunade's wing.

Sakura closed her eyes, tears of humiliation and disappointment seeping from the closed eyelids as she curled in her sleep.

-X-

Yawning widely behind her hand, she accepted one of the energy bars that a nurse handed to her.

"This is better than a soldier pill," the nurse had babbled as they made her way through the hospital hallways. "It helps to rebuild the chakra storages and gives the body plenty of energy. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you I sent your clothes to the laundry, Sakura-sama; I expect them back from the cleaners in two hours at maximum."

"Good, good, thank you very much, Yuuki," she said between munches, throwing a smile at the nurse trying not to spew her bites out. She swallowed, "Tsunade-sama said something about a sealing procedure, am I right? Where it is being held?"

The nurse extended a medical chart on Sakura's hand. "Tsunade-sama asked Shizune-sama to attend the sealing procedure. It seemed a bit of an emergency, so they couldn't wait for you... however she asked me to give you these cases, an ANBU squad just came back and they need to be tended to; almost all of them are badly injured, but the Captain doesn't allow anyone to get close to him to check on his wounds."

Sakura sighed, a pink eyebrow twitching in silent frustration. "Why those ANBU are so freaking stubborn, Yuuki? Which is his room?"

Watching the female stalking down the hallway, the nurse sighed in relief. She surely was a lovely young lady, but sometimes her temper was worse than the Hokage's.

"Good, you're awake, ANBU-san," Sakura saluted coolly before dropping the chart on his bed, not caring about the sudden tense posture, noting his stained bandages. "Awesome sight. Red is certainly a good color."

This seemed to still the masked White Op, allowing the pink-haired medic to do her job. "Two broken ribs and a punctured lung. No wonder you're upset, ANBU-san, but if you kept refusing treatment you would have died from respiratory arrest. That doesn't sound cool, I believe?"

No words came out from the white rodent mask. A weasel, she noted absently, musing about how strange was that mask when all the ANBU forces had masks related to the zodiac. She figured this Op wasn't as religious as the others, as she closed up the lung and digging two fingers on his ribcage, motioning the ribs back to their rightful position, effectively sealing them with a surge of green chakra.

Sakura belatedly noted how the man didn't flinch under her ministrations. His control was impressive, she realized, any other person would have screeched into next century when moving the rib shards so close of the lungs and heart, but he seemed quite at ease with himself despite his obvious tense shoulders.

Sending another wave of chakra to numb and soothe the soreness of the newly healed wounds, she wrapped his torso in bandages and finally pushed his shoulder softly, prompting him to lie down in the bed.

"You are to rest here until I come back with your release form," she said offhandedly, checking the clock that hanged in the wall next to the bed, gasping when she took in the evening hour that was displayed. "I can't believe I missed the first drawing of the seal! Stay put, ANBU-san, I'll come back in an hour."

Closing the door hurriedly but silently, she ran up the hallway, leaving a nonplussed ANBU operative alone in his hospital bed.

Hidden by the mask, Uchiha Itachi allowed himself a raise of his brows and a deep sigh of relief, his mind already processing the rather odd behavior of the female that had all but challenged him in the forest without even knowing who he was.

How interesting, he mused inwardly, closing his Sharingan eyes in a silent respite.

-XxX-

Much love for Sometime.Usagi for her awesome beta!