Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Summary: Oh, love. It wasn't exactly what Itachi was looking for at age 24, but his mother thought differently. It didn't appear time was on his side, either.
Additional Notes: This all happens a bit after Naruto: Shippuden, around 2 years or so. This is also a non-massacre fic, meaning the Uchiha Clan Massacre didn't happen and Sasuke didn't go rogue. Itachi is still alive and well, living in the Hidden Leaf Village!
C1 Playing God
A few kilometers from the famous Leaf village, a part of the small group named Team Kakashi leaped through the lone woods. Feet came down hard on the branches of the trees surrounding them. It was fall and so the trees didn't give them much cover, but that didn't matter. It wasn't like they were running from someone.
''No! It wasn't on purpose, I swear! Sakura!'' A shinobi clad entirely in orange pushed some more chakra in his feet, hoping to go faster than his teammate. Although, it didn't seem to work. The shinobi that trailed him was named Sakura. A now famous medic-nin, trained under Tsunade of the Leaf: A renowned medic-nin who was known throughout the shinobi world. Even villagers knew her, not only for her skills, but also for her awful gambling habit. Her pupil, Sakura, had been training under her for quite a while now and had built up a reputation of her own. But then again, who wouldn't notice a girl with bright pink hair?
Still trailing him, she yelled. ''I'll knock you out! What were you thinking, Naruto? You can't just walk into the ladies room!'' Sakura jumped even faster now, being reminded of it. Just a few more metres, she thought.
Naruto yelled once Sakura grabbed his vest and knocked him on his head, hard. Not only were Tsunade and Sakura known for their healing skills, but also for their inhuman strength. Both could destroy mountains or rip trees out of the ground. Naruto could handle pain, but he rather not have Sakura punch him.
Sakura and Naruto's team leader was probably still at the inn, reading his dirty novels Come Come Paradise. It was a habit he had and almost everyone knew about it. Sakura didn't care about it anymore; she didn't approve, but she stopped saying anything about it. It seemed their other teammate Sai had also developed an interest in them. Clearly, not feeling emotion didn't have anything to do with that. And, it wasn't like he was actually buying them and reading them himself, he just peeked over Kakashi's shoulder sometimes. He was most likely painting, that was both his skill and hobby. Those skills were why Danzō had preferred him over some other ANBU members.
Team Kakashi actually had another teammate, two really. One of them had been Yamato, or Tenzō as Kakashi liked to call him; they had been working together when they were both in ANBU, though Kakashi quit early. Yamato remained an ANBU. But he really was just a substitute for Kakashi, as he was out for a while after a nasty experience with an Akatsuki member named Deidara. He had been forced to use his Mangekyō Sharingan and it took its toll on him.
The other teammate was named Sasuke. He had been a part of their team since they were twelve years old and Kakashi was still their teacher. However, he had joined the Leaf Police Force approximately a year ago, following up his father as he was an inspiration for him. He really looked up to him. His older brother didn't join the force, instead he was an ANBU captain. Itachi had always been a prodigy, having graduated at the age of seven. He was also able to activate his Sharingan at age eight. Seeing as Sasuke was twelve, Itachi was around eighteen when his younger brother graduated. He was around 24 now, Sasuke being eighteen just like Sakura and Naruto.
Naruto could finally breathe as Sakura let go of him and started walking back, leaving Naruto with a black eye.
Team Kakashi could finally see a glimpse of the entrance of the Hidden Leaf and jumped to the ground as to prevent being attacked by some of the Leaf's shinobi on duty. All pushing some chakra in their feet, they ran in direction of the gate. When they arrived there, Izumo and Kotetsu both sat there, bored. ''Ah, finally back, huh?'' Kotetsu said with a monotone voice. He signed them in to report that they were back.
''Yeah.'' Kakashi said, same voice as his colleague. In one hand, of course, he had is dirty novel. Nobody really understood why he read them in public, though they had never asked either. ''We're going to hand in the file for the Hokage. I'll see you in the bar, Kotetsu, Izumo.'' The latter grunted in agree. Team Kakashi walked through the village, greeting a few people on the way.
''Hey, Forehead! How did it go?'' Ino ran up to Sakura when she saw her in the corner of her eye. Ino had been Sakura's best friend since forever, but they showed their affection a little odd, most found. Naruto never really understood it and neither did Sai, but most could understand the latter.
''It went okay. I've got to report to the Hokage, though. I'll see you at Ichiraku, okay?'' Sakura answered. Ichiraku Ramen was Naruto's favourite place in the Leaf, so when team Kakashi got back from a mission, they all went to Ichiraku together. Sometimes Sasuke was there too, though it appeared he and Sai weren't really friends. It was funny to Sakura; the boys looked a lot like each other, both in looks and showing emotions. Sasuke was annoyed most of the time Sai was near and that's subtly said. Sai was definitely learning, but he didn't really understand it just yet.
Sai had been trained under Danzō, along with his brother Shin. The training was brutal; in the end, they were instructed to kill the other. It was either kill or be killed. The whole training had been hard on Sai and Sai had learned to supress his emotions. Those were qualifications for being a Root member.
When they arrived at the Hokage tower, they walked up the stairs to see Shizune standing around the corner. She was holding Tonton in her arms. It was obvious she was waiting, if not for them then for someone else. She appeared to be anxious about something, though the members of team Kakashi didn't know what. ''Hey, Shizune!'' Sakura greeted her colleague with a smile.
''Ah! You're back? That's great!'' Shizune answered. ''You can't go in yet, Tsunade is in a meeting with some ANBU. '' she continued. Shizune was Tsunade's niece and a fellow medic-nin. Although Sakura was well known for her abilities, Shizune was more advanced in healing. It was only natural since she had been Tsunade's pupil since forever. Sakura had an advance because of her chakra control and some situations asked for those skills. ''Although, Sakura,'' she continued, ''you should go in. Lady Hokage is waiting for you. They need your assistance.''
''That's okay, we'll wait.'' Kakashi said kindly. Although he wore a mask, you could see him smiling. Kakashi leaned against the wall, patiently waiting.
Sakura hurried to Tsunade's office and quickly opened the door. The scene she stumbled upon was definitely not for the weak-stomached. An ANBU member was lying on Tsunade's desk, clutching his hands to his stomach. It appeared to be Itachi, Sasuke's older brother. A good friend of his, Shisui, was looking at him with a worried look on his face. Shisui was also a clan member and they had been friends for a long time.
Sakura ran up to the desk Itachi was laying on. She had never really spoken to him. Only when she was there with Naruto to visit or pick up Sasuke. Even then it was just a simple conversation. Sakura cleared her mind. ''What happened?'' she asked both her mentor and Itachi's teammate, since Itachi was unlikely to answer her.
''An enemy shinobi might have attacked him with a strange jutsu or something. I didn't see it happening.'' Shisui answered her curtly.
''What village?'' Sakura asked him. She sent some healing chakra to the palms of her hand, that now had a green glow on them. Maybe if she knew what village the shinobi were from, she could figure out what was hurting and heal it. The pink-haired kunoichi was really trying, but she couldn't really find the effects of an enemy jutsu. She could, however, detect blood clots. It wasn't a lot, but it could definitely be dangerous*. Concentrating more on those areas, she managed to reduce it a bit. It had to be some kind of disease; Sakura made a mental note to read some books on it.
''Maybe it was Sound, I can't recall. They disappeared quickly.'' Shisui answered Sakura's question. It hadn't been that much of hard mission for the two of them. It was an important scroll they had to deliver.
In the meanwhile, Tsunade had been concentrating on his head where blood had collected itself. Itachi probably hit his head after or before he was hit with the jutsu. It probably wasn't an enemy jutsu he had been hit by. He was most likely sick, his teammate just didn't know it.
The blonde Hokage who appeared to be around 30 (which she really wasn't, by the way) grabbed a cloth and dipped it into a bowl of water standing next to her. She cleaned his now healed wound and undid it of any blood, instantly giving him a healthier look. The bags under his eyes didn't really help either. Sakura couldn't do anything else for him, as he just needed to rest for a bit. She withdrew the chakra from her palms.
''He still has a fever, so I'll get some help for him to be moved to the hospital.'' Tsunade said after taking his temperature. Itachi still had beads of sweat on his face and his neck, though he also seemed to be shivering of the cold. ''Shisui, you'll go with Itachi. You need a check-up too.'' the Hokage continued. She then turned to her pupil, who had been patiently waiting for her assignment. ''Sakura, I want to talk to you for a minute when those guys are gone.''
''So, was there any residue of an enemy jutsu?'' Tsunade asked Sakura when they were alone.
''No, I couldn't find any, lady Hokage.'' Sakura answered her, seeing her mentor narrow her eyes at her reply. Seems like she had been expecting something else, just like Sakura herself. ''I could, however, discover some blood clots. I managed to reduce it a bit, but I couldn't entirely stop it. It seems he has some kind of illness.'' she said.
Tsunade pondered for a minute, trying to think of something. ''I might know something. Get some books out of the library later, Sakura.'' she said after a while. The blonde didn't know the prodigy had such problems. He never came to her with an illness before, not like this. Blood clots were a really serious problem. She was going to look into the Uchiha file; it could be hereditary. ''Oh and Sakura, will you please send your teammates in? I want you to go to Mikoto to inform her that Itachi's in the hospital, since you're already here.''
''Okay, lady Hokage.'' Sakura answered her politely. Tsunade had been her mentor for years now, but she was still the Hokage; the strongest kunoichi in the Leaf. And though she's a bit old (don't say that to her face, though), nobody dared to make fun of her.
Sakura was walking through the village again. She was exhausted since she just returned from a mission and lost some chakra to Itachi. She hadn't had any time to rest after she returned from the mission. They wanted to be back before sundown.
The kunoichi saw the walls of the Uchiha district coming into view. Above the entrance hang the Uchiha clan symbol; a fan. She walked faster. It'd been some time since she saw Sasuke last, but it was surely less than a month. They had both been busy. Team Kakashi was doing a lot of missions lately, while Sasuke just had a lot on his mind due to his duties to the police force.
When Sakura stood on the porch of the clan head's house, which was also Sasuke and Itachi's, she knocked on the door. It was silent for a couple of seconds, but after a while the door finally opened. Sakura came to face Sasuke, who had a bored look on his face. ''Sakura?'' he asked, confused. ''I thought we were going to meet at Ichiraku in a few hours.'' he continued.
''Change of plans. Can I speak to Mikoto, please?'' Sakura asked kindly. Sasuke seemed to be even more confused now. What did she want with his mother?
''Yeah, okay. I'll go get her.'' he turned around, walking away. ''Oh, you may come in you know.'' he continued while walking to the kitchen with a slow pace. Sakura walked in and closed the door behind her. She had been there a few times already. She decided to wait for a while instead of walking further into the house. After a while, Sasuke came back with Mikoto. Sasuke still walking in his own pace, while Mikoto hurried to greet Sakura.
''Oh, Sakura! How nice to see you!'' Mikoto said excited. ''What did you come here for?'' she asked Sakura kindly. She suspected nothing and Sakura felt bad. She didn't really know anything about what Itachi had yet, still she had to tell her such news.
Sakura began to tell what happened.
A/N: I have little medical knowledge! I am going to look some things up for this part of the story, as it is of importance.
So, I felt like writing this story. It was a lot easier than the first one, that's for sure. Please leave a review! Also, if you notice a mistake, please PM me or tell me in any other way, I'll try to correct it as soon as possible. If you want to know about the updates, be sure to follow me or my story. That's all!