It was a wonderful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the squirrels were frolicking in the grass... And the Kyuubi holder was almost back to Konoha! He couldn't wait to tell Sakura about the mess in Suna. She'd been irritated with him lately, so maybe if he fudged things and told her he stuck up for Itachi (rather than remaining silent the whole time), she'd talk to him again. Maybe.

Grinning, Naruto walked through the gates of Konoha, stretching his arms before heading over to the two sentries at the side. He waved as they looked up. "Hey Genma, hey Naika," he greeted the man and woman sitting there.

Genma gave a lazy wave. "Hey, Naruto. How went your mission?"

The blond shrugged. "As expected. Gaara's a little annoyed with the councils and everything."

Naika, a chuunin five years older than Naruto, nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. I hope they're able to clear Ita-"

Genma's hand over her mouth cut her off. "So! You should go report to Tsunade-sama, right, Naruto?" he asked, voice a little higher than normal.

Naruto gave him a weird look. "Well, yeah... But why are you covering Naika-san's mouth...?"

"She's crazy. Completely nuts," Genma hastened to explain. "You should go. Report. To Tsunade-sama."

"... right..." Naruto shrugged and turned, then paused. "Oh! Have you seen Sakura-chan around?" he asked as Genma uncovered Naika's mouth.

Genma sighed. "Um... Actually, she left on a mission last night," he said.

"Really?"

Naika nodded, beaming. "With Uchiha-sama."

Silence. "What."

Genma glared at Naika, who just looked confused. Naruto stared at them for a moment, then his eyes narrowed angrily. "WHAT?"

Birds took off from nearby trees and the frolicking squirrels dove for cover.

xXx

Tsunade yawned, then stacked another popsicle stick on top of her tower of them, all standing vertically. A bit of chakra glued them together. Shizune came in then, and the tower fell over, prompting a scowl from the blonde Hokage. Shizune smiled.

"Naruto's back, I hear," she said.

Tsunade froze. "When?"

"Um... About five minutes ago?" Shizune replied, confused.

The Hokage sighed. "Five, four, three-"

"What are you-"

"Two-"

SLAM!

"TSUNADE-BAABAA!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, BRAT!"

"TSUNADE-BAACHAN, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"

"I'M THINKING I'M GONNA TAN YER HIDE IF YOU CALL ME THAT AGAIN! CALM THE HELL DOWN!" she screamed, glaring at the jinchurriki. Naruto was visibly fuming, red starting to creep into his irises, but he took a deep, sharp breath and clenched his fists, calming himself for the Hokage's explanation.

"How could you?" he hissed angrily. "How could you send her off with that... that TRAITOR! IT'S-"

"Shut up!" Tsunade snapped. His mouth shut with an ivory click and she glowered at him silently for a moment. "One, I don't have to explain myself to a brat like you, and two," she growled here, and Naruto closed his mouth again, "Two, she was necessary for this mission, so shut the fuck up and get over yourself. Itachi-san is a nin of this village and your comrade, whether you like it or not. In fact, he's specifically there in order to protect Sakura. You are NOT to go after them, you are NOT to interfere in any way, and you are NOT to disobey my orders."

"But baasan-"

"No," she said firmly. "Hand in your report, and then I want you to investigate rumors of a Sharringan user in Bird Country." Far, far out of Sakura's path.

For a tense moment, Naruto looked torn, face crumpled in something akin to indecisive agony. But then his expression cleared and he nodded. "I'll bring Sasuke back, and then Sakura will talk to me again," he said firmly (Tsunade felt a little bad for fabricating rumors of a Sharringan user, and decided to talk to Sakura when she got back).

"Fine," the Hokage said and nodded, taking the scroll he held out to her. "Get some rest and then leave in the morning."

"Hai." He turned sharply and left, still angry.

xXx

Itachi was a little surprised that he wasn't the first to wake. The sun was just lighting the morning, meaning it was somewhere around six AM, when he awoke, and he found that Sakura was already up and fussing with... a needle...

"Sakura-san?"

She started, the needle held in one hand as the other was raised to flick it. "Itachi-san! You're awake!"

She sounded surprised. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes."

The kunoichi smiled. "Good. Wake Sai and Shika, too, would you?"

He nodded and got to his feet, moving to Shikamaru's side and nudging him with his foot. "Shikamaru-san," he said, "Wake up."

Shikamaru groaned and opened one eye. "Damn, it's early," he complained, sitting up.

"Sakura-san asked me to wake you." Itachi moved back to his sleeping bag and grabbed up his canteen, then moved over to Sai. Luckily, the boy was already awake and rolling by the time the water splashed to the ground where his head had been. Otherwise he'd be wet.

"Good morning, Itachi-san," Sai greeted, getting easily to his feet.

"Hn."

"By the way, I never did ask how your date with Ugly went- ow!" Sai stared at Sakura, who'd walked over and stuck a needle in the side of his neck. He gaped at her for a moment, watching as she pushed the cartridge down, then pulled the needle back out and glared at him.

"What did you say?" she demanded, eyes narrowed.

He didn't answer, and instead lifted a hand to touch his neck. "Ugly, what did you do...?" he asked, looking vaguely horrified.

She snorted. "I shouldn't have given you any," she said as she capped the used needle and put it in a small plastic bag, grabbed a fresh needle and cartridge and moved over to Shikamaru, this time with an alcohol pad. He offered his arm silently, stifling a yawn. Nodding her thanks for his compliance, she cleaned a small circle on the underside of his elbow with the pad, then carefully pushed the needle into his flesh. She depressed the cartridge, then pulled it out and replaced it and the needle again.

Itachi watched as she gave herself a shot, eyes narrowed. "What is that?"

"A vaccine," she replied distractedly, slowly pulling the needle out from under her skin.

Sai and Itachi exchanged looks, the pale-painted man questioning further. "Vaccine? Are we sick?"

Sakura blinked and looked up at them. "What? No. No, you're not sick, Sai. This is to prevent you from becoming sick," she explained patiently, repeating the process again and turning to look calmly at Itachi.

He regarded her for a moment, then nodded curtly and held out his left arm. She swiped an alcohol pad over a spot, then pressed the needle inside his arm. He actually felt it when the liquid entered his system, cool and burning at the same time. The feeling spread through his arm and then dissipated, supposedly moving throughout his system. She offered him a small smile before cleaning up her things and putting them away.

"You need to eat, soon," she said to them. "The side-effects of the vaccine are hunger, headaches, and occasional sleeplessness. It expands your appetite, so eating is a good idea." She rolled up her sleeping bag and tied it to the back of her pack, then stood.

"Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked.

She beamed and pulled a wakizashi out of her pack. "Nowhere important," she replied flippantly. "Follow and I'll crush your bones to dust without taking them out of your skin." With that cheery statement, she jogged into the surrounding forest. The trio left behind gave each other looks before shrugging and continuing what they were doing.

Mainly, cooking breakfast.

Once Sakura was satisfied that none of her teammates had followed, she set to collecting the secret ingredients to make more vaccine. She'd need it.

I lied. It's short. But the next couple of chapters WILL be long. XD R&R! And... I want FANART, PEEPS! Seriously. I NEVER get fanart! You make me feel unloved!