The credit for the idea behind this one-shot goes to river of the sand. She worked out the overall picture and I put the pieces together. Just to set the ambience: imagine a non-massacre world with no jinchuriki and a system that actually deals with rogue ninja properly. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

‒

War Games

…

The gates opened outwardly; entire sections of Konoha were cornered off, barring entrance to civilians and Shinobi alike. Only those involved with the set-up of the coming events were allowed anywhere near the chosen arena. As the festival approached, more and more visitors from other villages, not to mention the assortment of sand ninja and dignitaries, entered via the main entrance into the village hidden in the leaves.

It had been a long time since Konoha played host to so many, even during the chunin exams: the irony of Minato Namikaze's idea to celebrate the new alliance with a new tradition was not lost on Tsunade. She would never have bet on those odds.

Minato Namikaze may have been the Hokage, but it was his head medic who was organising the larger bets that surrounded their new agreement. Tsunade had always had a bad streak when it came to gambling, so she decided to put all her money on Suna, just in case. If they won, she would eat the fire shadow's hat. She didn't like losing, but over the years, had learnt to make smarter bets – gunning for teams and people she didn't want to win. It didn't always work, since her heart wasn't really in it, but she got an unexpected thrill out of it. Her finest moment had been placing down money on her head nurse never gathering up the courage she needed to ask out Genma Shiranui; they were married a year later, and Shizune had never been happier.

Tsunade smiled as she looked out her office window, fingering the bottle of sake in her hands. From here, she could see the edge of the forest that was being "renovated" for the games. She rather liked the high vantage point she had – watching without actually participating. On her good days, she was a brilliant head doctor and surgeon, on her worst she was drunk, and passing the baton to Shizune and Sakura while she grumbled until sobriety hit her like a tonne of bricks.

The knock on her door interrupted her thoughts and she called out "enter" without turning to face her visitor. She quickly realised it was the Kazekage, and respectfully turned to bow slightly to him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Kazekage-sama?" She asked as two Suna ANBU followed him in.

"I assure you I come in peace," he said lazily.

"And?" She asked haughtily. The only respect he got from her was his station; neither liked the other really, so he didn't ever take it personally.

But instead of answering her question, he gazed past her, his eyes flickering over the setting sun. "I was surprised to hear that you put up no resistance to the idea of Minato being Hokage," he said, his thoughts however, circled the festivities and tomorrow's events – it would be the first of the three day event.

Tsunade snorted, throwing back her head as she took the last sweet mouthful of the elixir that was her favourite intoxicant. She wiped her mouth. "He can have it for the rest of his life for all I care."

"I think that's the point, Lady Tsunade."

She narrowed her eyes at his bemused expression. "You know what I mean."

Haru Sabaku smiled widely. "And where is your apprentice?"

"Why?"

"I hear Sakura Haruno has become a formidable medic."

"And?"

"Care to make a wager?"

"Shouldn't you be making deals with Minato, instead of bothering me?" She asked.

Haru chuckled. "I doubt Minato Namikaze has the ear of Sakura Haruno the way you do."

Tsunade groaned. "She's in a relationship, Haru."

The ANBU standing behind the Kazekage shifted uncomfortably at her blatantly casual address.

But it didn't bother him.

"I've given up trying to get Miss Haruno to marry my son," he admitted, sighing deeply. "Some things just aren't worth the trouble."

Tsunade snorted. "Then what's this little wager of yours really about?"

"The festival, what else?"

Tsunade snorted. "Then ante up Kazekage – I don't deal with penniless fools."

…

Almost two days later, Sakura Haruno was getting restless. These war games were a three day thing ‒ two teams each from Konoha and Suna battling it out for bragging rights and the winner being allowed one unchallenged condition to the existing treaty between their villages (within reason of course).

The first day saw Konoha winning their bout shortly after lunch (the time limit for each day was set for dawn to dusk). The two team leaders that day had been Kakashi Hatake and Genma Shiranui. The second day was won by Suna; their team captains were Baki and Yura – apparently quite the formidable duo. With their villages on equal footing before the third day, the pressure was on for the younger team members – the well-known Konoha twelve were to be led by their resident genius, Shikamaru Nara and the Uchiha prodigy, Itachi.

Sakura was looking forward to fighting alongside Itachi – she'd never been on a mission with him before, so it was what was causing her nervousness. Her boyfriend intimidated all. He'd warned her he didn't play favourites, but that didn't bother her – she just wanted to be a part of the team. She could tell he was wary about that, and she'd heard him call her a "distraction" under his breath.

'Distraction my arse,' she snapped inwardly.

The man was nothing if not one huge distraction ‒ everywhere he went. Girls swooned, guys glared in jealousy… he was a one man party-line, just without his consent. If anyone was a distraction, it was him. She sighed heavily, having absentmindedly run into a dead-end. The downside to all of this was having to take the long way home.

…

The sun was fifteen minutes away and an unnatural light illuminated the encampments outside the site of the final day; it was bright enough not to lose one's footing, but soft enough that it was difficult to make out details. The ninja in the immediate area were quiet as they awaited the rising sun.

The walls encircling the twenty-second training ground had been cut down, rebuilt, and converted to accommodate several more gates, allowing teams separate entry points on the whistle. For the final "bout", both Konoha and Suna would again supply two teams; Gaara was the commander of his squad, while Temari led the second group. But ultimately, their goal was the same ‒ to debilitate the leaders of the opposing groups.

Shikamaru Nara would be easier than Itachi Uchiha, who led the first Konoha division, and Gaara considered himself on par with the Uchiha. Temari was at the same level as the Nara, which evened them out, so to speak. It made him think of the last ANBU exams in Suna, where taking out the "top dog" had been one of the requisites to passing (he had overseen the exams without participating, obviously ANBU wasn't for him). But these games were expected to be a far more friendly atmosphere: the rules included no killing of opponents (which he supposed extended to allies as well).

Gaara had pawned his brother off to their sister, giving him a break from Kankuro's complaints over their father enlisting them without consulting them; now the sand Shinobi following his lead would obey without question and without slowing him down. He imagined Temari was already fantasizing about the many ways she could kill Kankuro and make it look like an accident. That man was troublesome, at the best of times.

His father shunshined into the small enclosure Gaara was seeking solace in before the whistle. He looked smug, and the red head's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What have you been up to?"

"I made a little wager with the legendary sucker," Haru Sabaku said, fingering the edges of his Kage robes. "She's under the impression though, that you still court her apprentice."

Gaara shook his head. As much as it pained him, that ship had sailed. "What was the wager?"

"That we would win of course."

Of course.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"To make sure we win."

Gaara frowned. "How?"

"I'm not talking about cheating, don't look at me like that." Haru smiled. "But there are incentives to helping the enemy dig their own graves."

"They're not the enemy."

"The opponents then."

Gaara waited, but his father didn't elaborate. "Well?"

"You're aware of the art of attrition in war?"

"Of course." But they had a time limit in this game, so attrition wasn't something Gaara had considered.

"You should try something similar here."

"What are you getting at?"

"Temari has suggested a course of action that should strike your fancy."

Gaara groaned. He wished his father would stop beating around the bush and just say what he wanted to say.

Haru lost his smirk. "I'm talking about taking down the enemy, segment by segment; the first and foremost target being an asset they take for granted."

Gaara sighed. "The opponent, father."

"Whatever."

Once his father was finally out of his hair, Gaara found his contingent and their designated gate. There were only ten minutes to wait now… and again, he was reminded of another ninja tradition: the chunin exams.

Eventually however, the sun poked its head over the horizon; the whistle was so shrill, he was sure it could be heard throughout the village.

Gaara took his father's words to heart, relaying his plans to Temari and receiving a scolding on ethics in return before she reluctantly agreed to shift the key part of their plan. If he was going to take this path, he would do so his way. The woman was stubborn, and jumping into the frontlines was something he anticipated she would do with fervour, knowing her as well as he did.

Yes, his target would be right where he wanted her.

…

Sakura screamed inwardly, groaning at Itachi, and clenched her fists as he just stared emotionlessly at her. He wouldn't let her on the frontlines. Apparently, this Kunoichi was to be a field medic, nothing more. She wanted to pummel him, to throttle him and then kick him for good measure. The only thing that stopped her from trying was that he was too fast for her. She'd never get close unless he wanted her to.

"Taichou," she said, forcing a sickly sweet tone into her voice. "I‒"

"Will stay behind us," he reiterated.

That was as far as he would let the argument go, motioning to the other Konoha Twelve before turning his back on her. They stood outside the central encampment set up for the Konoha ninja, going over their taichou's plans. He listened to every medical objection she had, but nothing more. And she would make him pay for that. He'd taken her name off the active roster for their rotations – his strategy revolved around alternating the targets they presented to the enemy. If the objective was subduing the leader of the two opposing squads, then changing their positions randomly was Itachi's solution to that problem.

Gaara was an excellent tracker, and Temari had a fondness for toppling entire forests to find her quarry; hiding would do no good, not that Itachi intended to conceal himself while his squad fought. He anticipated that the children of the Kazekage would go after Shikamaru first, and save their stronger attacks for himself. The only question was how.

The first Konoha group consisted of himself, Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Shino and Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. The second group contained Shikamaru, Ino, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Choji. Sakura was what Ino Yamanaka had tastelessly called the "left over". Itachi knew he was only incurring the pinkette's wrath, dividing them this way, but he refused to undo it – originally, he was supposed to be with Shisui on day two, but his father had complained to the Hokage until Minato relented, and ordered him to lead group three instead. Apparently, Fugaku didn't trust Sasuke not to screw things up – like it was more about the Uchiha winning the day than inter-village cooperation.

Not that Itachi would ever admit this to Sasuke.

He ignored the furious pinkette as she paced behind him, sighing inwardly – she wasn't the type not to get payback, and he wasn't looking forward to what she had in mind. Itachi segmented his forces, sending them off in groups while he kept Kiba, his ninken Akamaru, and Naruto close to himself (as well as Sakura – he didn't want her out of his sight). The blond baka always complained when he was separated from his best friend, but Itachi's otouto didn't seem to care – more fuel for Naruto's complaints.

So Sasuke left with Shino, and Hinata, leading them north of their position. Shikamaru also head off, surprisingly keeping his group together as they disappeared into the prearranged area. Itachi looked forward to seeing how the Nara pulled off his part of the plan.

They knew where the Suna encampment was, and moved their surveillance a mile from the edge of where it was supposed to be. Shikamaru had suggested he take on Temari's group, while Itachi went over everything he knew about Gaara in his head. The man's chakra was distinctive, but not blatant – he knew what he was capable of. The first day's team had won around lunchtime, and the winning Suna team took until closer to five in the afternoon – Itachi wanted to be done before midday.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to outperform them all.

Keeping to the trees, his team made no attempt to hide from their opponents, going with the direct approach. His own time in ANBU taught him the multitude of battle strategies that could be used to take control of any situation. With the time limit on this one, he preferred to move quickly rather than slowly: methodical but without hesitation. There was no point in dragging this out. He was surprised however, that no-one had yet to fail their objectives – it stood to reason, given the limitations that it could've happened. But he surmised that he wasn't the only commander that had gone for the frontal approach.

It reduced the risk that they would still be trying to debilitate each other once the sun went down.

The incoming chakra signatures brought Itachi out of his musings and he signalled his group to stop. Gaara was bringing the fight to them it seemed; they were almost at the border to Suna allocated territory, so Itachi decided this fight would be on his terms, not the Kazekage's son's.

They didn't have to wait long. As Gaara, plus six Jounin level sand Shinobi broke into the clearing, Naruto screamed with that unearthly voice of him, drawing involuntary eyes to his antics. Itachi locked eyes with the sand master, not activating his Sharingan; he wanted the man to come closer, but Gaara wasn't stupid. He kept his distance, moving almost like a predator as he sidestepped an attack from Sasuke. The younger Uchiha immediately redirected his attention as Itachi gave a soft groan; his brother was almost as brazen as his best friend.

It seemed Gaara was moving with more purpose than to simply attack his quarry – he was gathering sand as he went, and Itachi almost didn't see the sand shuriken coming. It exploded out of the ground like it had burrowed its way to the surface, broke into several smaller shuriken, and headed straight for him.

The sand shuriken grazed Itachi as he pivoted, and he frowned imperceptibly. What was the man after? Those shots should've hit home. But clearly, Gaara had no intention of wasting his chakra on a frontal attack; he winded his way through the fighting ninja, his head jerking slightly as Sakura darted in. Kiba had fallen with a dull thud and was groaning; Itachi watched as the red head flexed his fingers, the sand coming to his command slithering along the ground toward the pinkette.

'What the hell?'

This was unexpected – he wasn't targeting the Uchiha like he should've been, if he wanted to win this fight. Itachi pushed aside a sand ninja as the man made to block his path, slammed him into the nearest tree without even looking at him, and darted after the sand master. At the last second, Gaara spun out of the way of Itachi's attack, recalling his sand reluctantly as the Uchiha demanded his full attention.

Itachi used shunshin; he reappeared to Gaara's left, brandishing a kunai. The blade slid across his cheek, startling the sand ninja, but more importantly, his appearance blocked his way to Sakura. Itachi lashed out again, pushing Gaara further back, taking note of the aggravation on the man's face as he did so. Clearly, he'd interrupted more than just an advance toward the woman he'd been pining over for more than a year.

A few more minutes of clashing ninja, and Gaara was tired (mentally, not physically) of this pointless back and forth. He'd lost his higher ground – it was still early in the day, so he decided on a tactical retreat. His sand swirled, and before Itachi could land another blow, Gaara was gone; his squad also made themselves scarce, realising this particular fight was over, for now.

Itachi looked down at himself as Sakura came up to him, her grip hard on him; he was bleeding. He shook his head as Sakura swore, her hands healing him immediately; she looked up into his eyes when she was done. At her prodding, he explained what Gaara had done; and they both came to an understanding – that fight had been for her, not their taichou.

"Shit."

…

The two Konoha groups met up in the centre of their territory an hour later, gathering in what they were dubbing the war tent. Shikamaru reported a similar clash with Temari's group, although she had actually been focused on taking out the shadow user. Still, the Uchiha heir had not anticipated anyone other than himself or Shikamaru would draw the attention of their Suna opponents, but when dealing with Gaara, this presented an opportunity. He would have to rescind his decision regarding Sakura's role in these war games, despite his desire to keep her out of harm's way, but it couldn't be helped. The no killing rule sat foremost in his mind, and he relinquished his choke-hold on that stubbornly protective side of him that reared its head when the pinkette was involved.

"You can't use Sakura-chan as bait," Naruto complained, once Itachi had voiced his suggestion. "She's a medic here, not one of the troops."

"There's no rule against me switching her in at the last minute," the Uchiha heir said.

The blond growled. "It's wrong."

"They're targeting me anyway, Naruto," Sakura shrugged. "This way, we'll know where they'll go when we head onto the field."

"It's dangerous," he said. "What if they succeed? What if‒"

"She can take care of herself," Itachi interrupted. "Are you implying she can't handle herself?"

Naruto grumbled something unintelligible and the pinkette turned to address Shikamaru. "What do you think?"

He nodded. "It's less troublesome than just continuing the way we have been – at least they won't be expecting it."

"The unexpected should always be expected," Itachi said softly, staring at Sakura.

"What I don't get," the Nara added, "is why Gaara targeted Sakura."

"He's got a thing for forehead," Ino piped up.

Itachi shook his head. "No matter if that were true, he wouldn't let his emotions rule his actions. No, there's a reason behind this, I just can't see it."

Sasuke snorted. "It's obvious. The reason is you, aniki."

"Huh?" Naruto scratched his head. "Itachi?"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke said, staring at his aniki. "You're the one letting your emotions get the best of you –by not letting Sakura participate outside of patching up scratches and waiting for the next injury. She's your Achilles heel. You're too overprotective of her."

"And Gaara knows that," Shikamaru deduced. "He's worried about your power, so the next best option is to target your more obvious weakness; that distraction could ultimately prove your downfall. You've gotta hand it to him, he knows what he's doing."

Ino let out a heavy breath. "Damn forehead, why do you get all the attention?"

Sakura chuckled softly. "Well obviously Ino-pig, it's because I'm the hot one here."

Itachi put up a hand to stop the Yamanaka from turning this into a full scale attack. "It just means a rearranging of our priorities, but we can still do this."

So they changed things up – the larger difference was in the way Shikamaru intended to deal with Temari.

"We'll leave you two alone," Sasuke said, having noted the way his aniki was trying to grab Sakura's attention. He hadn't really thought of anything more to add to the discussion, content with whatever they came up with unless it involved him doing more than his fair share. "Come on, let's leave the lovers to quarrel."

But of course, he couldn't resist the urge to poke at his brother and team mate. The immediate blush on Sakura's cheeks and the barely contained frustration on Itachi's face brought a smirk to Sasuke's. It was worth whatever revenge his aniki enacted on him later.

"I didn't want you involved," Itachi said softly, once everyone was gone.

"Well, that's obvious."

He sighed. He wasn't above saying he was sorry, but if he did, Sakura would hold it over his head – it was a strange relationship they had.

"So, what happened to your spiel about me being better suited as a medic?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

"The situation dictates a change of tactics," he said calmly.

Her face changed rapidly, from that of a pouty but smug child, to the angry woman he knew and loved. "Well, Mr Uchiha, I'll have you know, that if you'd let me on the frontlines in the first place, this wouldn't be happening."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "And if I hadn't blocked Gaara's advance toward you, this battle more than likely would be over."

Sakura spluttered inelegantly. "Y-yeah well, you still suck!"

He chuckled. "Sakura, I‒"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't dignify that with a response, please." He smiled and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know Shisui's been pouting over his failure," she said, deciding changing the subject would calm her down.

"Hm," Itachi nuzzled her hair. "He's a sore loser."

"And you're so brilliant in every area," she replied sarcastically.

He didn't dignify that comment with a response either. His cousin had been beaten on the second day of these games ‒ he was a high level strategist who didn't take it well when he was outsmarted. Still, the normally laid back lady's man had been humble enough not to make a show of it. He was torn between wanting Itachi to show Suna who's boss and seeing his cousin fail, thereby making himself feel better about being so thoroughly whipped.

It was about family honour for him now – there had been no Uchiha in the winning team on the first day.

Sakura distracted him just as he was about to pull away. He needed to be clear headed and stop wasting any more time. She pressed up against him, grinding his body with hers, and let out a distinctively animalistic mewl. That was it; he spun her around, shoving her against the single table in the middle of the room, scattering the materials they'd used in their strategy meeting. He ignored the obvious misuse of the wooden fixture and laid her backward, capturing the pinkette's lips with his own. She responded favourably, reminding him how much he loved eliciting the tiny squeals of wanton pleasure from her.

Sakura ran her fingers through his hair, biting him harder than necessary, making him hesitate. She took advantage of his momentary shock and pushed at him. He found their positions switched before he could do anything about it, the pinkette climbing onto his lap and grinding her sex against him. It was his turn to growl in pleasure, his hands riding up her legs and settling on the curvaceous thighs. He moved to pull her shorts aside so he could do something about his growing erection when she pulled away, biting her lip in an attempt to hide her desire to continue.

Sakura climbed off of him, smiled, said "no distractions, remember that Itachi-kun," and then sashayed out of the room, leaving him hanging.

Once the shock wore off, Itachi glared after her. If that was the way she wanted to play this thing, then the sooner they won this war game, the sooner he'd teach that woman not to play with him.

…

Lookout duty was boring. Shikamaru had been on border patrol before and honestly couldn't decide which was worse; but really, at least that was about Konoha's protection. Why did he have to drag himself out of bed at four in the morning just to play some silly game?

"Shika?"

The annoying blond that moonlighted as a fan girl stalker was, if possible, even more annoying up close. He didn't bother responding to her sickly sweet greeting.

"Are you alone up here?" Ino Yamanaka asked, climbing into the camouflaged, makeshift watchtower that was a densely covered oak tree.

They'd decided on a less direct approach with Temari, seeing as how last time, that had only gotten them painful windburns and a deep hatred for falling trees. Ino pushed Shikamaru slightly and he obliged her, making room for her to squeeze in next to him. She seemed to drain all the energy out of the small space, which was just another reason he didn't care to do or say anything when she was around. But someone like Ino couldn't be ignored for long without repercussions.

"Yes," he muttered, and she practically beamed at him. "Why do we have to do this?"

"Inter-village cooperation is important, Shika."

He yawned.

"Stay awake."

He grunted. "Troublesome."

"Awake is the new sleep," Ino said cheekily.

"I thought that was sex?"

She grinned. "That too. Seriously, where are they?" Her eyes flickered over the ground beneath them.

"They're hiding Ino, and unlike you, keeping quiet."

She ignored him. "He's been strange since that meeting."

"Who?"

"Ita-kun."

"Itachi-taichou?" Shikamaru asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Is it just me," Ino asked, "or do he and forehead seem overly motivated to get these games out of the way?"

How the hell was he supposed to know what was up with them?

"Shika-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Do you find me attractive?"

'Only when you're quiet.' "Only if you shut up, right now."

She obediently fell silent, keeping an eye out for their quarry. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last; only a minute later, they both spotted Temari and her group, the puppet master trailing like a lost lamb – or at least one that understood it was heading into a slaughter. The rest of their group jumped out to attack the Suna ninja. But Shikamaru stayed his hand, watching Temari closely.

The blond sand Kunoichi looked more frustrated than usual.

"Are we going in yet?" Ino whispered.

"Hold on."

She grinned, practically gushing. "Look at Sasuke-kun go!"

Despite the Uchiha's flare for the dramatic, Shikamaru trusted him not to screw up their plans. He was the temporary captain of the Nara's group, having separated from Itachi after the last meeting – fortunately, there was nothing illegal about mixing up the prearranged groups; the rules were rather lax. He led the assault, and Shikamaru was about to enter the fray when he realised something.

Ino was rambling under her breath again, pissed off that they were just watching the enemy's moves. They were ninja, not scouts, and definitely not useless.

He looked down over the edge of their hiding place, and at the sand team. "Ino," he drawled. "Shut up for a minute: I have an idea."

…

Sakura didn't much like being bait. Sure, she'd been all for it and didn't regret standing up to her taichou – after all, she wasn't useless ‒ but the wait was torture. If she didn't know Itachi was waiting in the shadows, watching her every move, she'd be pacing and muttering curses.

After another "scuffle" with the sand ninja, she'd deliberately lost track of her team, and cut herself, letting the smell of blood permeate the air for any tracker worth their salt before healing the wound to avoid suspicion. And for the cherry on top, she was hunched over, semi-hidden in the shadow of a tree, trying to look like she was resting before heading back out.

'How long do I have to wait?'

Shikamaru's reports suggested Gaara's troops were the closest to her location, and she didn't fancy the idea of finding herself covered in sand in this sweltering heat. The man was so sure attacking her would distract Itachi, and she had to admit it was a sound theory. Even now, when the Uchiha knew what the Sabaku had planned, Itachi still watched her like she was about to burst into fire.

She loved the man, but one of these days, she was going to snap and just wring his pretty little neck.

Wiping the sweat off her brow, Sakura tensed when she detected Gaara's chakra. He wasn't alone, half a dozen others hot on his tail.

"Sakura."

She looked up at him; his face was impassive, but she could tell he was surprised to find her alone.

"Gaara," she replied, trembling as she climbed to her feet. The idea was to appear weaker than she actually was, after all. The rules didn't stipulate that it was Itachi that had to subdue Gaara to make this work, but it was one of those unspoken things, with the other members of the squads just playing their parts as pawns or distractions. She could almost read the sudden understanding in Gaara's eyes before her squad burst into the clearing.

Sakura darted backward, keeping eye contact with the red head until Itachi moved to block their line of sight.

Itachi was grateful for the way this had turned out. He motioned to the other leaf ninja, who obediently moved to attack their opponents. He realised he had to use his Sharingan, which was just fine with him ‒ the quicker he did this, the better; it was almost midday. The ground in front of him burst into flames and in the smoke and flicker of orange and heat, Gaara lost sight of the Uchiha – he kept his eyes averted. Waves of sand met the fire, putting it out, but the Uchiha heir anticipated this, moving in closer as the younger of the two men was distracted.

The battlefield grew chaotic, and Sakura could no longer stand still and just watch the fight; none of the Suna ninja cared that she wasn't attacking them, just that she was there. If this had actually been to the death, this entire area would now be a sea of sand, fire, and blood. They were forbidden from using high level jutsu, so the clash continued; it wasn't until crows erupted out of nowhere that Gaara started to show the first signs of exhaustion. Both men slowed, and Sakura gasped, spinning around as Itachi was knocked twelve feet away, slamming into a tree. She moved to heal him but he shook his head, halting her actions.

Still, he was bleeding, while all he'd managed to do to Gaara was shatter his sand armour. But she supposed, it still counted. Frustrated, Sakura threw a chakra fist into the ground; unidirectional, its chaotic nature hid her true purpose. The earth tore open and sensing Sakura's chakra, her allies moved out of the way. It had done its job; a few minutes later, Itachi had Gaara on the ground, pinned between broken, upturned earth. It was over. If this had been to the death… well, Sakura didn't want to think about that – they'd probably still be fighting this time tomorrow.

She ran forward. "Let him up Itachi."

He gave her an unimpressed look and she helped Gaara to his feet. He looked annoyed, but smiled to assure her he wasn't really angry. She decided not to heal either of them, more worried about Shikamaru.

"He's probably with Temari," Gaara said, noting the look on her face. "I wouldn't be surprised if‒"

"Shikamaru!" Naruto's obnoxious voice rang out, cutting Gaara off, and all eyes turned to see the rest of the leaf and sand squads as they ambled into the clearing.

Temari looked annoyed with herself, but not hurt.

"Shikamaru won!" Ino cackled throwing her arms around Sakura's shoulders. "It was hilarious!"

"What the hell did you do?" Sakura asked the shadow master.

Shikamaru just flushed, clearly proud of himself for whatever he'd done. The pinkette eyed him warily, taking in his dishevelled appearance, noting that he bore no injuries, despite the fact that his clothes were dirty and… a light bulb went off in her head and a hand flew to her mouth.

"You didn't?" Itachi asked, noting the same signs that the Nara genius had used Temari's attraction for him to subdue her. Normally, it was the Kunoichi doing the distracting, and he knew the two of them were on and off again lovers but this… was completely unprofessional, for both of them.

Gaara scowled. "Whatever you do Itachi, please do not tell everyone we lost because my sister couldn't handle her hormones."

Itachi was unnerved by the entire thing as well. "Agreed."

Shikamaru just scoffed. It was a viable, tactical manoeuvre ‒ his mother used it on his father all the time.

…

Itachi escaped the celebrations, shunshined home to avoid his cousin's weird expression of both pride and jealousy at the same time, and decided to shower before heading over to Sakura's apartment. No-one had seen her since their emergence from the forest, but he knew where she'd be. She was waiting for him, to finish their little tousle in that war tent.

And once he'd finally slipped in her window, noted the scent of strawberry and vanilla in the air (she'd taken a shower as well it seemed) and cornered the semi-naked woman, she was going to pay for her tease. He almost tore her towel to get it off of her; she gave a strangled squeak as he threw her onto her bed, ignoring the wariness in her eyes. He was impatient, tenacious, and horny as hell. His own clothes ripped as he pulled them off, but he didn't care.

The fireworks outside the window went ignored, the loud celebrations were tuned out; Itachi didn't care that he was supposed to be at the celebratory feast. He had his spoils, writhing and screaming his name. Sakura Haruno was putty in his hands – the woman was grinding and gripping him harder than ever before. He almost lost control of himself right then and there. And if this was waited for them every time these games rolled around, he couldn't wait for next year.

.:. -/ \- .:.