Sakura walked to school, her pace slow. She had no idea what was going on, but she definitely didn't like it.

She never thought anyone would do such a terrible thing and threaten her - it was only her first year!

She was glad Itachi hadn't met with her, but was also wishing he had - just to be safe.

The walk to school was normal, but she had an odd feeling that a pair of eyes were on her the entire time. She entered her classroom and sat at her desk.

"That freak can't bother me in here," she thought.

She opened her desk to store her supplies and stared wide-eyed at the small, white envelope placed neatly inside. She hesitated, but opened it and read to herself:

"Every time I see your face, I get really pissed off. Why did they pick you of all people for Student Council? I'm just as good, if not better! Fuck that, I am better than you! I hope you fail all of your exams and have to be held back; that way, they would know you're a complete idiot and vote you out.

Your pink hair is stupid and I bet it's not even real. I take extreme joy when I see you squirm under hardships. Oh, and you should walk faster to school next time - people are waiting for you. And, since your brain is so small, you probably didn't understand that the last statement was completely false and I was being sarcastic.

P.S. - Remember, if you tell anyone, your entire life will go to shit."

Her throat tightened as she choked back tears. It would embarrass her to no end if her classmates saw her crying; she also didn't want to give this person the pleasure of seeing her truly frightened and upset.

During exams, she could barely keep her focus on the questions. When the lunch bell rang, Sakura grabbed the note and walked to the restroom. Ino tried to get Sakura's attention, but Sakura wasn't up for talking about meaningless gossip.

As she crossed the hallway, she caught eyes with Itachi. She raced inside the girls restroom before he could finish his conversation with another student and hid in the farthest stall.

She sat on the toilet and let out all the stress she was holding inside. She cried silently in the stall, wondering how worse it could get. The door pushed open and a girl walked in the bathroom and knocked on her stall.

"Sakura?"

Sakura swallowed back her tears and controlled her breathing. "Yes?" she said calmly.

The girl shuffled around. "Itachi-kun wants to speak with you," she said, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Sakura dabbed her eyes with toilet paper and shambled out of the stall. She thanked the girl and walked out to meet Itachi, leaning against wall next to the door.

"What is it?"

"Are you upset with me?" he said, curious.

She blinked, "What?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't walk with you this morning, but there's no reason for you to ignore me." he said bluntly.

"But I'm not mad at you." she argued.

He pulled her beside him and the two walked the halls. "Then whats going on? You looked upset."

Sakura wanted to tell him, but was too afraid of the threats. She faked a smile, "No, I'm just exhausted from taking the exams; they're so difficult."

Itachi knew better, but decided to end the discussion. He patted her on the head and watched in surprise as she pushed his hand away.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to try to study for my exams. It's really important," she mumbled.

She walked away back to her classroom without another glance back at him. His dark eyes glittered with confusion, but a large smack on his back snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What's the matter?" Kisame asked. He caught a glimpse of pink hair disappear into a classroom.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but something's bothering her." Kisame took his hand from Itachi's shoulder and picked up a small piece of notebook paper on the floor.

"Hn?" He read over it and elbowed Itachi in the ribs. He handed the note to Itachi, waiting for his response.

Kisame was taken by surprised at the amount of anger emanating from Itachi's expression. The piece of paper crumpled in Itachi's hand and the senior stared angrily at his friend. "Make sure to tell the guys we'll be doing something different tonight for Student Council."

The final bell rang and Sakura made her way to the Student Council room. She slid the door open and heard them continuing a conversation.

"The math exam was the hardest! Why do they have to make everything so damn difficult?" Hidan complained.

"I thought the math was easy," Kakuzu objected.

Hidan crossed his arms behind his head and scowled, "Yeah, but you're the treasurer - you're supposed to be great at math!"

"Or maybe you're just an idiot and you're making excuses for yourself," Itachi said, motioning Sakura to sit down.

They all took their seats and waited for Itachi to begin. "Today's agenda of tracking each of the club's funds is cancelled. Right now, we have more important things to speak of."

"Like?" Sakura asked, confused.

Kisame handed him the note and held it in front of her face. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked sternly.

Sakura's eyes almost popped out of her head. She fingered her pockets, but came up with nothing - damn. She could feel six pairs of eyes on her, but couldn't find the courage to look at any of them.

"It's not mine," she mumbled.

Itachi scoffed, "Really? Because I don't see many other girls around here with pink hair like yours." He was trying his best to retain his calm guise.

She played with a loose string from her skirt and ignored his comment. His hand slammed down on the table, startling everyone in the room. "Do you think this is funny? How long has this been going on, Sakura-san?"

"It's just been a day. Stop acting like I've been hiding it for over a month, senpai," she sassed.

Itachi shook his head, "Sakura-san, you shouldn't hide this stuff from us. We're your friends and we care about you very much. What if this person could have escalated these threats and actually tried attacking you?"

He crumpled the piece of paper in a small ball and threw it into the wastebasket. Sakura felt absolutely embarrassed. She wanted to crawl into a giant shell and hide back of her neck was burning again and she shifted in her seat.

"I say we find out who's doing this shit and beat the fuck out of them!" Hidan snarled, lifting his fist.

Deidara disagreed, "No, we can't do that, but confronting this person would be our best bet. Six against one would cause him or her to scurry away without another thought."

"First we have to find out who is making the threats." Kakuzu stated.

"This person is incredibly jealous of Sakura-san's membership in the Student Council. It also apparent that he or she, knows her fairly well, since they knew her name and desk in her class-" Itachi halted his speech and his eyes sprung open wide.

"Itachi?" Kisame called out.

The president picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulders. "Everybody follow me to my house!"

Sakura, confused and worried, grabbed her backpack and followed after him.

Itachi's home was absolutely beautiful. It was a traditional, japanese home with red tiles covering the roof and a small garden near the porch with small sprouts budding. It was decorated with colorful beams of wood around the porch and a stone walkway leading to the home. He slid the door open and invited his friends in.

A young woman, resembling Sasuke greatly, walked into the livingroom and waved at the group. "Itachi, I didn't know you would be home so early I don't even have dinner started," she declared.

"It's okay, Mom. Do you know where Sasuke is?"

She pointed to a small corridor. "He's in his room, but he's working on something so make it quick, okay?"

Itachi nodded and signaled them to follow down the hallway. Itachi's mother stared wildly at Sakura and grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.

"Oh my goodness! You're so cute! I love your pink hair - is it natural? What grade are you in? Are you a member of Student Council like our dear Itachi? How old are you? What part of the city are you from?" she squealed, asking an endless amounts of questions to the poor girl.

"Mikoto, please, you're embarrassing her," a husky voice called from the kitchen. Mikoto turned to the voice and frowned.

"Oh, Fugaku, I was just having fun." she said, agitated. An older man walked from the kitchen and leaned against the wall. He wore a light-green yukata and frowned at his wife.

"Having fun doesn't mean interrogating our son's friend." He walked to Sakura and held out his hand. "I'm Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke's father. This is my wife, Mikoto." Sakura shook his hand and smiled happily.

"It's really nice to meet you." Her arm was grabbed again and pulled into the hallway by Sasuke's door.

Itachi pushed the door open and walked to his younger brother sitting at the desk. Sasuke continued working on his project without peeking up at his brother.

"What do you want?"

Itachi stood by the corner of his bed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What have you been up to lately?"

Sasuke turned his attention to his brother and narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean? I've been doing this." He gestured toward his project and turned back to see the group waiting at his door.

"Have you been threatening Sakura-san?" Itachi questioned.

Sasuke laughed dryly, "Why would I?"

"You've been dying to be on Student Council since sixth grade, Sasuke. She's received two notes already and one was in her desk at school - don't you share the same homeroom?"

Sakura suddenly felt guilty. She remembered Ino stating that Sasuke was trying to get a seat on the Student Council the first week of school, but had long forgotten since then. Although they needed a female, she couldn't shake off the pity she had for him.

"I don't know what you're talking about with 'notes'. I've been busy preparing for the Kendo Club," Sasuke muttered.

"I'm not stupid, Sasuke. I know you're hiding something," Itachi argued.

They continued back and forth until Itachi's badgering was too much. "Fine! Some weird guy came into our classroom before the first bell and asked me which desk was Sakura's. I pointed to it, he placed an envelope in it, and left," he shouted.

"What did he look like?"

"He was wearing a mask. It was really crappy, so it was most likely made in the Art Club." Sasuke answered.

"The Art Club? I didn't even know they had that going on still," Deidara thought aloud.

Itachi joined the group at the door, "Let's hurry back to the school and see if we can find anymore out about this."

The group agreed and headed out the door. Sakura looked back at Sasuke. His dark eyes showing deep anger and glared directly at his brother.

"I wonder why he's not staring angrily at me?"

They stepped into the school and asked a few students where the Art Club was located. The girls directed them to the end of a small hallway near the second-year students' classrooms and left them at a closed door.

Itachi slid the door open and tapped a boy on his shoulder.

"Wow, visitors, huh? What do you need?" he asked, a welcoming smile plastered on his face.

"We were wondering if a student borrowed a mask from here recently."

The boy stood, deep in thought, and pointed to a row of a masks. "The first-years made these last week, but a kid did come in here earlier today asking for a mask," he explained, combing his hair through his short, black hair.

"Do you know who it was?" Itachi leaned forward.

"He acted a bit off, but he never said his name. He was really hyperactive and bounced around the place like a little kid."

The boys groaned and exchanged disgruntled expressions. Sakura turned to each of them and frowned, "What is it? Do you know who it is?"

"How could we not? He's been begging for a spot in the club since our first year of high school." Sasori sighed.

"Who is it? What's his name?" she asked, heatedly.

Itachi rubbed his temples in frustration and stared down at the pink-haired freshman. "His name is 'Tobi' and he's the strangest student in our entire class."