Another ItaSaku in the picture. :D Although this time, includes past SasuSaku. The story is AU and goes like this:

After losing her fiancé and father of her unborn child, Sakura is desperate to safeguard their future - and that includes wedding her brother-in-law. As for Itachi Uchiha, the Sixth Hokage, he suffered heartbreak once and therefore is guarded when he proposes marriage to Sakura, his brother's lover, but how is this going to work if he loves her but has to protect her from the demons he is still battling? And how will they succeed raising and protecting the child?

One more thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ITACHI-KUN! :3

Nothing belongs to me. And fic is inspired by "Bought: The Penniless Lady" by Deborah Hale as well as named for the novel by Emma Darcy. Plus, this first chapter is named for and inspired by the song of the same name by Carrie Underwood.

Chapter One

Just a Dream

All of this just had to be a dream.

It was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from.

But the dark clouds overhead - the norm for the funeral of fallen heroes - and distant rumbling of thunder proved this was reality. As did the others in black like she was.

As did the pristine botanical arrangements: white roses and lilies, along with bamboo and unique greens. For hope and peace. But how could there be any peace when all you did as a Shinobi was continually lose your comrades, best friends and...loved ones?

What else: the photograph of the one this day was dedicated to. The face which caused her to shed tears that ran in thick, perfect streams down her cheeks.

Holding the bouquet of her own with one hand - the same surrounding flora centered with a single velvety red rose for the love she had for him - she reached up and touched the pendant at her throat with the other. The little leaves of white fire ending with a droplet...like a weeping willow branch. Something magic to the sense of the word; when he gave it to her, he recounted the story of being told by the old man who sold it to him that the "roots of love ran deep".

He hadn't been able to yet afford a RING, so he gave her this instead.

But he'd been taken from her on this latest mission before they could have their happily ever after. Which she believed in even now at their age.

Anata...why did you have to leave?

Similar thoughts, sans the endearing term, reflected off most of the faces around her. Especially Naruto, his girlfriend Hinata Hyuuga, and the others. Though a few of them didn't like the dead man's guts - such as Shikamaru and Neji - and tolerated him for her and Naruto's sake. But looking at them now, there was some ounce of sadness.

Ino was shedding a few tears herself, but not as much as she would have when they were girls and still had their rivalry over this man. She leaned into her new husband Sai who held her with a somber expression. Her hand came up to rest against his chest and then curl the fingers to tug gently at the fabric of his shirt while his arms wrapped around her waist. It was then that the pink-haired woman saw the piece of art that was the ring he gave her on their wedding day which had been less than five months ago when the snow melted and the plum blossoms were blooming.

That thing made her a little envious: a delicate, natural freshwater pearl rested between two shimmering blue sapphires on a gracefully sculpted silver wave. He'd proposed to her along the shoreline of the beach, which inspired the making.

But she and Sasuke would NEVER have that beautiful moment.

To think he asked her to marry him two days after she turned eighteen. And he didn't even get to reach his own birthday this month...but before, they did something that normally would wait until the vows were taken.

She found herself tuning out as the Hokage himself made his eulogy for a vital Shinobi who saved them all by defeating a monster who evaded them for decades - at the cost of his own life. Half of her was angry that it didn't have much of a personal touch, since this was HIS brother who died.

Sakura Haruno remembered the day her Sasuke was under her care after their group got that demon snake.

She remembered the damage done to the inside of his body because of the venom injected into him as his sword made contact with the man, driving through the other's body only to be bitten at the place where his shoulder and neck base met, and that was when the seal placed on the enemy had to be activated...and Sasuke would suffer the effects when he broke free for the jutsu to be completed.

There was no cure at all, much to the disdain of the apprentice of Lady Tsunade. No matter what she tried to do...no matter how much she screamed and begged him to not go...

Neji Hyuuga pulled her away and shouted that there was nothing else for her to do. She wasn't aware of anything else but her own failure as well as Naruto leaning over the body of their best friend and teammate, also wailing and sobbing his own grief, damning his dignity for the hell of it.

Her body was on autopilot when she came forth first - actually, second after the man who finished speaking and presenting his offering to the new headstone - and laid her bouquet down, biting her lip and refraining from putting her hand to the middle of her abdomen, where all she had left of him rested.

That, this engagement pendant...and what could have been.

~o~

"Sasuke Uchiha saved all of us, so we are eternally in his debt. His sacrifice will never be in vain. Though I admit I was never...much of a brother to him in recent years -" The words had been a strain on his vocal cords and his heart, yet he forced himself to continue. You've done this plenty of times.

"- I am grieving as every single one of you. And to his friends, comrades and loved ones, my sincerest condolences to you." Especially the one he made contact with from his place before them as village leader, without turning his head.

His black eyes met notably with mossy green eyes surrounded by red with the last part, though it didn't seem she was with what he was saying - lost in her own world and wondering what could have been. Not that he held her to a fault, but he tightened the wall around his heart. She was biting her lip to keep from doing whatever. This woman who was one of the first to see in person that the man she'd planned to marry wasn't coming home alive again...

The Hokage had to conclude his eulogy, or else his own sanity would shatter before their eyes than it was internally. "Let us bow our heads and pray."

To be honest, he had no idea which of the Konoha Eleven - once twelve, now that one died for them and the Leaf Village - were his friends besides Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, as well as the kindhearted Hinata Hyuuga who accepted about everyone. It seemed that he was tolerated by most. One by one, he watched them take turns laying flowers down, but first came the rose-haired woman herself.

I don't deserve to leave flowers before all of them - especially her. Everyone knows of our estrangement.

In the center of her pure bouquet of peace and tribute was the red rose for the love she still harbored for his brother, but it wasn't like he didn't expect it.

He should have been closed off from his feelings for her the moment she went to him with Sasuke beside her, and they broke the news of their new engagement, but even long before that, word reached his ears that his alienated younger sibling was with one of the leading medical ninjas at the hospital - the one he trusted with his own health out of anyone else besides her master, the Slug Princess, who was also among the mourners.

Itachi Uchiha watched as she knelt down and put the flowers before her deceased fiancé's framed portrait, then gingerly stood and turned to rejoin her friends, not once looking him in the eye.

Later that night, alone in his room at the Hokage Tower, he looked up at the ceiling, haunted by what had been given to him the day Sasuke's body was returned, and clutched the blankets to his nude self. He was too troubled to sleep even tonight.

~o~

"Sasuke...I managed to stop the bleeding."

Somehow, this felt like what happened to Lady Tsunade's lover when he died beneath her hands, though she was determined to not let it happen to HER man...

He coughed and looked up at her as she fought with everything she had to get the poison out, only this latched itself into his body so well there was no stopping it. His liver had already shut down, so his stomach and intestines were withering away. There was far too much damage, and all she could accomplish was closing the internal slash wounds and those on his neck.

His organs are rotting away. There's nothing else I can do - NO!

"S-Sakura -" he croaked, looking up at her with eyes full of glazed pain and regret - mostly for leaving her and all their friends like this.

It was Naruto next. "Jerk, don't try to talk!" he shouted. "Just shut up and let her save your sorry self!"

But it was like Sasuke to not listen, because what he had to say was beyond important. "N-no, I have to...say this. I knew this would happen, but it shouldn't be like this because of..." He managed to raise his right hand, wincing as he moved it towards Sakura who gasped when his palm made contact with her stomach.

There could be one reason for this: he KNOWS.

Both Naruto and Neji Hyuuga looked up at her, and the latter had his Byakugan on so that he could assess what was going on. When he saw why, his face became grim. Though she wished she could say the same of the Uzumaki.

"Sakura...protect...love..."

Those were his last words before his eyes briefly switched to the two other young men - and managed a weak smile - before they closed, and then that hand removed itself and fell lifelessly to the grass beneath them. Above, the sky darkened and rumbled with thunder.

His last words failed, but she knew what he was trying to say even as she screamed and set about pouring what little chakra she had left into his body in a last ditch failed effort to stop the rotting of his organs, despite Neji shouting that there was nothing to do anymore.

While she continued to croak and shriek, blubber and sob into the Hyuuga, Naruto threw himself over the body of his best friend to release his grief, anger and frustration.

~o~

Sasuke Uchiha, the man she was supposed to marry this summer - and father of the child she was carrying - sacrificed himself so that he could get close to Orochimaru the Snake Sannin.

Everything that happened passed by in a blur. She wasn't aware of what was happening much anymore.

Unable to breathe? Checked on the list.

Being in a background figuratively, trapped in limbo? Also checked.

Besides Sasuke being gone, there was the matter about their child's future. And if she didn't do what she had to, it meant consequences besides being forced to give up her Shinobi career. That was why she needed all the help she could get from those who knew her best.

"Y-you mean you and Sasuke were going to have a kid?" Naruto asked in disbelief when they all came together, keeping it down in a booth at the barbeque place. Though she felt like nothing else after having only a small bowl of miso due to a lack of an appetite, but she really wanted to be out with these guys rather than being cooped up at home. Her parents were being supportive rather than nagging her over the stupidest things.

"You were there, Naruto," Neji reminded him, brows creasing with disapproval. "Anyone would have figured that out when they see a man putting his hand on his woman's stomach."

Kiba whistled while Akamaru whimpered in his master's lap. "Yeah, and makes me wonder why you two couldn't wait until - OW!" He yelped when Ino reached and slugged him to the ear. "What the hell was that for?!"

Sai chuckled. "I believe because your yap was louder than it needed to be." He winked at his wife who blushed and shrugged with one shoulder.

The dog user growled, baring his fangs, before Ino tried again by grabbing that ear she boxed. "You better watch that mouth, dog breath, because Billboard needs us more than ever," she snarled. She then turned her attention back to her best friend since girlhood. "But what do you think you might do now that he's gone?" Sadness showed in her eyes. "You know what this means..."

Now was Hinata's turn to speak, and she took Naruto's hand into hers. "I wish it didn't have to come to this, Sakura. I wish the change would come when a woman had the right to have a child of her own will without being frowned upon," she whispered, leaning into her man who was tight with anger to the face.

What the Hyuuga beauty was referring to was the fact that a woman who had a child out of wedlock was unconventional; if she were a widow, it was absolutely okay. Not only would an unmarried mother have to give up her life as a kunoichi, but it meant financial difficulties and the likes. Including criticism from every side, and her own friends would have to be forced to take those hypocrites' sides.

The same thoughts mirrored especially Shikamaru Nara's. "My thoughts. It's gonna be such a drag that you'd have to do this, but who am I to complain about something accidental?" His words made Sakura so angry that she stood up, nearly knocking the table off their feet and taking all the food that Choji was happily - no longer now - digging into.

"Some of you -" Especially Kiba and now Shikamaru. "- I really thought could understand like the rest. Yes, this was an accident, but if anyone has anything to say involving the word 'abortion', the answer is no. I know one thing I have to do, and I am going to go to the man himself if the rest of you aren't understanding as I thought you'd be."

It had been on her mind all the time, but she never planned to say it aloud until now - as much as it intimidated her. But if she didn't tell the Hokage, who else was there?

Besides this child, he's also all I have left of Sasuke. He'll always know what to do.

Behind her, she heard Tenten mumble that she was glad she was never going to plan on being a mother or even a housewife.

~o~

Brother, I never forgave you for what you knew and could never trust to tell me until it was too late. And I couldn't look at you other than with hatred for our parents and the rest of our kin being taken away, even if you never did it yourself.

I doubt anyone knows this, but once when I made Genin, I considered ending my life, letting my life-blood flow from my veins by my own kunai, but I never brought myself to do it. I wanted to join Mother and Father especially, but I found that I had friends who genuinely cared about me. They were my reasons for not killing myself.

I was too young to understand, but eventually I blamed certain people who led to what our clan tried to do. Father, who led the planned coup, isn't to blame, but Danzo and the two counselors who knew everything. And Lord Third was too weak to prevent all of this; then maybe our clan would still be alive, everyone was happy - and we'd still be the brothers we used to be.

But there is no use brooding over what could have been. I have Naruto and Sakura, the latter I'm happy to eventually call my wife. Except...with this mission which I hope will be the last against Orochimaru, I worry this could be the last time since it's life or death, which I'm ready to accept - with only one or two regrets.

Sakura is pregnant with my child. She hasn't told me herself, but I've seen perhaps by accident with my Sharingan one day; either she wasn't ready to tell me, or she doesn't know yet. Which brings me to why I leave you this letter, big brother. If I die, you know what this means for them both since we haven't married. There is no way I'll call the baby a mistake or even an accident.

Besides leaving them both like this, Naruto and the others will miss me - well, most of them. And there is one more thing, unexpected as it may be: I wish things had been different between you and me, and we could have been together more. I'll never see your face again when I die.

Thank you not only for everything you've done for our home, but for all of us - and me. Just be friends with Naruto and the others in my stead, and take care of my cherry blossom and our baby. You know what to do.

Sasuke's note crumpled slightly in his hands as his muscles convulsed with his broken heart.

Because of the actions of their ancestor, Madara Uchiha, the Second Hokage feared a repeat of history, thus segregated the entire clan from the village and placed them in charge of the police force rather than in the governing body. This was the start of the seeds of discord, leading to what Sasuke spoke of in this final letter: their father had no choice but to lead a coup d'état against the current system and take control themselves.

Itachi Uchiha was the double between his own kin and the Leaf; the last thing he wanted was another Shinobi World War - his memories fresh of the third conflict - but what he had to do in order to stop the rebellion, help Hiruzen Sarutobi, who passed on a couple years ago, reach a settlement...and what Danzo Shimura intended behind the man's back was something Itachi would live with for the rest of his life.

He should have known the war hawk intended to go through with the extermination anyway, no matter what the Uchiha had to give up in order to protect mostly his younger brother.

He said it was either I did the deed myself, or his Root ANBU.

The Uchiha clan was wiped out, but he would learn his younger brother hid away because of their parents. Sasuke was safe, but that night was the end of their relationship.

When the word was out to the rest of Konohagakure, Sarutobi had his excuse to have Danzo removed as second-in-command and his foundation dissolved, but Sasuke never forgave his brother for never telling him anything - no matter if he was too young, or to even protect him.

Which brought him back to the present, when the door was knocked on, and one of the guards called that he had a visitor. He frowned; he wasn't expecting anyone, but he put the folded back note in the middle drawer of his desk to his left, clearing his throat as the visitor walked in...and his lungs tightened when it was HER.

Her long pink hair in two pigtails beneath the nape of her neck - just like her mentor - her rosy lips and bright green eyes so full of life but now dark with numbing sadness...no, he swore himself off as soon as she chose his brother, but it appeared the long-buried feelings were coming to the surface once again.

"Sakura, to what do I owe the pleasure?" This was his reception towards her ever since the engagement announcement which made him keep the wall up around his heart, and it appeared to make her sad he wasn't enthused that she was with Sasuke, even going far as to confront him one day about it.

"There is nothing to be concerned about. You must know that this is how I am, Sakura. But it's far from disapproval. Sasuke can do whatever he wishes."

Not long after did Sasuke barge in and spit that the last thing he wanted was his brother being cold about what would be the happiest day of his life, and he wondered why the hell he and his new fiancée bothered to even break the news to begin with. After all, the Hokage could know everything if he wanted to.

Her head was high, her face expressionless - and her words he anticipated but gave nothing away.

"I'm pregnant, Lord Hokage...and it's your brother's."

Currently in the works which are among those that inspired me for this new story are "You're So Blind" by justalongthemirroroferised and "Immersion" by Sara Nero, the former starting with the loss of Sasuke and Sakura failing to save him, devastating her and their friends. And the latter fic has Itachi-kun as the Hokage and Sakura his advisor who has to learn to deal with him - and teach him a thing or two herself. ;D

The necklace is inspired by the story of Apollo and Daphne in Greek mythology: struck by the arrow of Eros, Apollo fell for the nymph Daphne who didn't love him back, and in return transformed into a laurel to get away from him; this left Apollo heartbroken but otherwise ever devoted to her, and continued to tend to her. She became a beautiful evergreen whose leaves were ever used as crowns for world leaders.

Another inspiration: the manner in which Sasuke gave his beloved Sakura a necklace rather than a ring came from the 1998 movie "Urban Legend" - a girl whose boyfriend died before high school graduation proposed without a ring but a necklace instead.

Review please. :3