I don't own Naruto. Okay. Whatever. On with the sidestory. Happy Turkey Day!

Sakura was currently leaning into Itachi's chest. A book was in her hands, and a scroll laid across her lap. Itachi leaned against the headboard balancing a book in his left hand. Using his right hand, he brushed Sakura's hair back. His arm then rewrapped itself around her waist. Sakura marked something in her book before reading the scroll again. The atmosphere was quiet and calm. They both stopped reading and looked at the door. It quickly slid open and Deidara and Tsuki rushed in. Both bed members sighed in exasperation. Tsuki rushed onto the bed with tears in her eyes.

"Sakura-sama! Sakura-sama!"

"Hm?"

"Deidara-sama is being cruel!"

Sakura patted Tsuki on top of her head. "How so?"

"All I said was that it tasted like charcoal, yeah." Deidara commented while scratching the back of his head. "Honestly, I don't see the problem, yeah."

"Sakura-sama!"

Sakura sighed "Fine, let's see it."

Tsuki smile and pulled out a miniature muffin. Chocolate with chocolate chips. Sakura tossed it into her mouth and chewed slowly. Everyone waited patiently for her response. Sakura nodded her head in approval. Tsuki smiled happily and stuck her tongue out at Deidara.

"Now get out." Itachi glared at them dangerously.

Deidara quickly grabbed Tsuki and left. Closing the door behind him, Deidara turned to Tsuki.

"He's anxious, yeah. Cherry Blossom has been holding out on him, yeah. Uchiha-san is such a horn dog, yeah." Deidara and Tsuki nodded their heads in agreement.

"Shut the hell up!" Itachi screamed through the closed door.

Deidara and Tsuki ran away laughing and with evil smirks. On the other side, Sakura was currently putting more body weight on top of Itachi. She didn't want him strangling them. He finally stopped trying to break free. He turned his attention to the girl straddling his lap. Sakura noted his serious expression.

"Are you sure you should have ate that?"

"What was the harm?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "You never know with those two. Don't you dare tell me you forgot about the incident on Halloween."

Sakura smirked. "What would happen if I told you I did?"

Itachi smirked back. "Let me show you."

Itachi threw Sakura on her back with a squeal from said girl. She giggled when Itachi's fingers grazed her sides. Their lips connected in a heated kiss.

"By the way, I gave them good compensation for that little stunt."

Itachi stopped. He balanced himself on his elbows as he looked down at her seriously.

"It better not be something you give me."

Sakura smirked "Not even close." She whispered in his ear before kissing him.

That was the end of that.

"Ita-kun! Ita-kun!"

Itachi rolled over in his sleep ignoring the annoying voice. The voice kept nagging him in that high pitch. He mentally glared at the nickname. He rolled over when something began to push him.

"What?" He barked out in irritation.

"Ita-kun! I'm hungry."

Itachi rolled over smothering his face into his pillow.

"Then go eat. You don't need me for that."

"Aw, Ita-kun so mean!"

He heard whoever stick their tongue out at him. Rustling of sheets indicated that the person or rather girl got off the bed. Sliding the door open and close, said girl probably made her way to the kitchen. Itachi faintly wondered where Sakura was. A loud scream immediately alerted him. Quickly sitting up, he turned to his side to find Sakura gone. Grabbing his discarded pants. Itachi made it to the kitchen in record time. Every other Akatsuki member currently at the compound, came seconds later. The kunai in Itachi's hand slipped to the floor as his jaw dropped. The others' eyes widened in surprise. There on the kitchen floor sat a six year old Sakura carelessly munching on a breakfast bun. Tsuki was squealing in delight as she hugged the ultra kawaii pink hair girl. A deadly aura filled the air and Itachi turned to the quietly retreating Deidara.

"Deidara-san."

He stopped in his tracks and a large shiver went up his spine. Deidara sent up a silent prayer. He turned to a very pissed off Uchiha. Deidara gave out a nervous laugh.

"Explain this to me. Now."

Another nervous chuckle escaped him.

"Well, the cat transformation was such a success. Tsuki-chan and I wanted to see what Cherry Blossom looked like when she was a child."

"You all have too much time on your hands." Shiro commented.

"You're not just wasting time, you're wasting your potential as well." Fujiwaru scoffed. "You all seem to forget that, that girl is a prisoner, not a toy. We are not going to keep that slut."

Kisame saw his partner's mouth tighten. Itachi wasn't pleased about that lastt comment. Itachi chose not to engage and looked back to Deidara. Both Deidara and Sasori did not seemed pleased. Naomi had a smug smirk. Itachi clenched his fist then unclenched it. Tsuki seemed upset and Sakura seemed oblivious as she finished drinking her juice. She got off of Tsuki's lap and quickly walked over to Itachi. Pulling on his pants leg, and he looked down at her. Sakura looked cute standing there with a handful of his pants, index finger on her lips, and large eyes curiously looking up. Everyone watched the sight in front of them. Most of them were amused, two watched them with disgust, and the other one just watched with confusion.

"What?" Itachi's voice was gruff. He coughed to clear his throat.

Sakura giggled and happily smiled up at him. Raising her hands, she called up to him. "Ita-kun, pick me up."

When he didn't seem to try and please her, Sakura's eyes became watery. She soon began to hiccup and fight the tears. Itachi sighed especially because he was getting death glares from Deidara and Tsuki. Sasori and Kisame were greatly amused. Itachi picked her up and patted her back reassuringly. He began to walk away when he heard Fujiwaru scoffed in disgust.

"You're becoming pathetic, Uchiha."

Itachi chose not to engage. Sakura looked up at him worriedly. She patted his cheek. Itachi just kept walking.

The duo were currently in the park on a wooden bench. A plate of dango and two cups of tea were between them. Sakura was happily munching on a stick of dango and swinging her legs. She was humming a happy tune. Itachi was just idly holding his stick and looking off in the distance. He coughed a few times and rubbed his throat. Sakura looked at him strangely. She picked up his cut of tea and offered it to him. He took it slowly and didn't say anything. Sakura didn't seem to mind his lack of manners.

A few women passed by the gossping and giggling. They stopped and looked at them. Sakura could see out of the corner of her eye that Itachi was becoming irritated. They came over and began to cuddle Sakura. She just kept munching away. For some reason, the women must have thought that if they showed how good they are with children, Itachi might give them a chance. A few elderly women walked by whispering disapprovingly.

"That child looks just like that girl."

"Do you think that it's their love child?"

"I don't see how it couldn't be."

"I agree she looks just like her."

"Tsk, tsk. It's probably the only reason Uchiha-sama tolerates her."

Itachi's eyebrow began to twitch in annoyance. All the cooing and awing was sickening. He looked at Sakura from the corner of his eyes. What he saw was not pleasing. Sakura was being strangled by the women, turning blue. Itachi immediately grabbed the poor girl. Sakura immediately gulped in large takes of air.

"Will you all shut up?"

Everyone quickly scurried away. Itachi kept glaring even though no one was there. He put Sakura back down. She looked up at him worriedly. He just walked back to the bench and threw the rest of the dango in a paper bag. He stopped his actions when Sakura tugged on his pants leg.

"Ita-kun, you look pale."

Itachi must have overshot his step back, because he suddenly felt really woozy. He felt himself slip and could do nothing to stop it. His body was incredibly heavy for some reason. He hit the ground hard. Itachi heard Sakura call his name, but he went to sleep. Sakura panicked, she didn't know what to do. Up the path a bit, she spotted Shiro. She instantly ran to him in great distress.

"Shiro-kun!"

The said man's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He turned as Sakura finally made it to his side.

"What?"

"Ita-kun!"

"What about Uchiha-sama?"

Sakura pointed behind her in a panic. Shiro followed her finger's direction. There on the ground was the very man he admired. He quickly picked the girl up and ran to Itachi's side. He bent down and looked for a pulse. Sweat had already broken out across Itachi's forehead, and he grunted in pain. Shiro turned to the very frightened Sakura, who was currently fighting tears that threatened to fall.

"How long has he been here?"

"Less than a minute, but..."

Shiro motioned for her to continue.

"He hasn't looked very good since this morning."

Shiro nodded in understanding.

"Can you keep up?"

"Huh?"

Shiro lifted Itachi's unconcious body.

"We have to quickly get him back for Tsuki-san to treat him."

Sakura nodded her head. They both took off quickly. Shiro was surprised she was able to keep up with him despite her height disadvantage. Since her body and mentally both reverted back so should have her chakra levels. However, the running wasn't even affecting her it seemed. He heard her breathing was still normal not even a bit picked up like it should have been. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. Sweat had not broken out across her forehead. Even he was sweating a bit, but then again, he was carrying alot of extra weight. They immediately burst through the compounds gates, and called out for Tsuki. She emerged and quickly took charge. Shiro carried Itachi to his bedroom as Tsuki instructed. Sakura stood out in the hallway as Tsuki explained she needed to stay there for now. The door closed and Sakura slid to the floor, back against the wall across from the door. She hugged the bag of dango closely to her chest, still making sure no tears fell.

Itachi groaned. He woke up feeling very hot and with chills. He was now pissed off. How the hell did the great Uchiha Itachi catch a freaking cold. It wasn't possible. Not even a bizzarre twisted miracle could pull this off. But somehow Kami-sama had pulled it off. He cracked his eyes open hearing some faint rustling. He faintly wondered where Sakura was. He turned to see Tsuki changing some sheets. Sakura sat in a chair beside the bed, head asleep on the bed beside him. Tsuki stopped and noticed him awake. She smiled as she walked over. Placing her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, she also took the now slipped cloth. Tsuki put it in the cold water basin.

"She looked like she was going to cry but she never did." Tsuki tilted her head to the sleeping six year old. "She insisted on being your nurse however." She added with a giggle, obviously indicating the towel and water. She took her hand off. "You fever is still a bit high but definitely down. I'll leave for now. Sakura will come get me if you need anything." Tsuki left with the dirtied sheets.

Itachi looked down at the sleeping girl. He nudged her awake. He figured he might as well get it over with, whatever her reaction was going to be. He wanted to deal with it now. Itachi obviously wasn't a very patient person. Speaking of which, Sakura wasn't waking up. He nudged her a bit harder, but still nothing. He began to panic a little. Itachi instantly checked for a pulse. When found, he sighed in relief. He immediately stopped and wondered if what Fujiwaru said earlier was true. Was he becoming softer? He looked at Sakura. Because of her? He poked her hard this time. Sakura woke up instantly with a yelp. Her tired eyes turned to the now awake Itachi.

"What?"

Sakura started crying. They weren't even the quiet crying or sobs that he witnessed before. They were open mouth, loud sobs. Sakura wouldn't stop no matter how much Itachi asked her too. His headache was growing. He just rolled his eyes at her.

"Sakura I'm sorry for poking you. Now stop."

The crying became louder if possible. Itachi pressed the ball of his hand to his forehead trying to kill the growing headache.

"Sakura. Please."

Sakura immediately stopped with a few sniffles.

"But I thought you were going to die."

She immediately started again. Her fists went to her eyes to stop the flowing tears. Itachi was frozen for a minute. And for a second, he could have sworn he heard a chunk of ice hit the floor and shatter. He immediately dismissed the thought but not the crying girl in front of him. Her words actually touched him. Yes, touched him in a way that wasn't possible. He wasn't human. He wasn't even sane. However, somewhere along the way, he met her. Slowly, they both started to change, together. Itachi smiled. A real smile. A smile that he never thought would be possible. A smile he thought that would never grace his face ever again. It was all thanks to the girl that was sobbing for his possible lost life. Itachi picked her up and placed her in his lap. She quieted down a bit and looked up at him. Her eyes red-rimmed and large. His smile widened a bit. Placing his head on hers, he whispered something no one else would ever hear out of him.

"Thank you."

"So now we're going to bed?"

Itachi was currently tucking in the bubble-gum colored hair girl. She was looking up at him with happiness. He moved into bed as well. Sakura's small body moved against his.

"Yes we are going to bed now."

Itachi blew out the candle on the nightstand. The room was filled with darkness. Sakura shivered a bit. The coolness of fall was becoming colder with the approaching of winter. When winter would hit, Sakura would have been with the Akatsuki for two seasons. Two long and tiring seasons. Not because Itachi was bored of her, but because it tested both of them mentally and spiritually. He wrapped a protective arm around her small body, giving it more of her warmth. He sighed in disgust.

"Wonder when you'll return to normal?"

"I don't know. Maybe never!"

"Hell no."

"Did you know in some country today is a holiday?"

"For?"

"Giving thanks to what's around you."

"I don't have anything to be thankful for." He was lying obviously and Sakura knew it by her giggle. "What about you?"

Sakura hugged Itachi tighter. "I'm thankful for being alive, and meeting so many different people. However, I'm most thankful for Itachi and I know he's most thankful for me too."

Itachi didn't argue but smiled in the dark. They went to sleep with being thankful.

Itachi woke up with a sixteen year old Sakura looking down at him. He was tired still from the cold and he turned over in bed. Sakura just continued to stare at him before moving towards the door. She was going to the kitchen for obvious reasons. One of them had nothing to do with eating.

"Glad you're back to normal."

Sakura turned to Itachi before she opened the door. She could hear his breathing go back to deep and slow, indicating sleep. Her eyes went into a void. Sakura didn't remember much of what happened alot when she was turned into the cat, just knew it happened. But one memory stuck that she wish hadn't. Thank you. Those two haunting words from the past and now present. A sarcastic smirk played at her lips now.

"You're nothing like him huh? What would you do if I told you, you said the same thing as he did?"

Sakura walked out quietly. Itachi's eyes opened and he sat up to stare at the door.

"I won't make the same mistake."

Seconds later loud screams were heard throughout the compound. Itachi smirked and laid back down. The smirk disappeared as he thought about her. The question he had been meaning to ask her, played over and over in his head. Do you want to go back? He was afraid of her answer and yet he knew it. He just didn't want to hear it out of her mouth. He wanted her here. He needed her here. But yet, he knew he was being selfish. A person does not belong to any just one person, and knowing that made him crazy possessive. The wooden door slid open and closed and Sakura climbed back into bed with Itachi. She snuggled into his arms and he wrapped them around her. He was being really selfish. The hug tightened and he barried his head in her head. He couldn't let go. She obviously forgotten about the smile otherwise she would have commented by now. Sakura probably just remembered the words and not much else. It was fine, because somewhere in her it existed. It would take root, and hopefully it would mean much more to her than Sasuke ever could.