After her six hour flight Sakura finally landed in New York City. Grabbing her carry-on and walking into the airport was, surprisingly, a huge relief for her. She was exhausted from all the packing, and the stress of the move had been weighing her down. Being there finally meant the hard part was behind her. At least she hoped it was.

While on the plane she'd spent a majority of her time writing Itachi, or at least trying to. She started, deleted, and restarted the email several times. Finally, she decided that short and simple was best.

Itachi,

No, she didn't tell me that we would be staying with your family. Thank you for your hospitality. I'll see you when I land.

Sakura

She wasn't sure how to speak to Itachi anymore. She was no longer a child in need of guidance or supervision, and he wasn't the 13 year old boy that she knew. He was a man now. She didn't want to say anything that might make her seem immature like she once was, but she also didn't want to be distant and cold towards Itachi. He had helped her through the most traumatic experience of her life, and the least she could do in return was show him some kindness.

However, while writing the email she just couldn't seem to find the right words, so she just answered his questions and hoped he wouldn't be offended, and as she walked through JFK that was all that ran through her mind. She didn't want her first meeting with Itachi Uchiha in twelve years to be tense and awkward, but she was afraid it was inevitable.

She grabbed her luggage from the baggage claim and followed the signs that would eventually lead her straight to Itachi.

Sakura was nervous that she may not even recognize the Uchiha since it had been so long, but her fears were unfounded, because when she descended the escalator she noticed him even before she realized there was a man standing next to him holding a sign with her name on it.

'He's even more beautiful than I remember.' She thought dazedly.

The years had been more than kind to Itachi. As a small teenager his body had been quite lanky, and although he had been tall for his age at the time, he'd now grown into is height. He was obviously in top physical condition, and although he wasn't bulky Sakura could make out his muscles even from a distance. He'd kept his hair the same, but now it seemed to suit his face better. Enhancing the maturity of his appearnce without making him look too old.

'Damn. If my younger self had met this Itachi she probably would have gone blind from staring so long.'

She hesitantly kept walking forward, and the closer she got the bigger Itachi's smile grew. Once she reached him she had anticipated a warm greeting, but she was caught offgaurd when he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her small frame.

"I missed you, Sakura." He breathed into her ear.

Any tension she'd previously had immediatley left her body. She felt as secure with Itachi now as she did when she was a child. She felt herself sink into the hug and wrap her arms around his torso.

"I missed you too." Sakura responded in earnest. "I didn't realize how much till this moment, but it's so good to see you."

Itachi grabbed her shoulders and slowly pulled back from their embrace. The warmth she saw in his eyes melted away all of her insecurities and doubts. It now felt as if she'd never left.

'Maybe living at the Uchiha manor won't be as bad as I thought.' she hoped.


"This is your house?" She asked slackjawed.

Sakura openly gaped at the building before her. Calling it a house was almost laughable. It was obvious it was much, much more. The sprawling estate sat in the middle of their fifteen acre lot, spanding so far in either direction she could barely see where each side ended. It also stood three-stories high, with the most beautiful architectural design she had ever seen. The Uchiha manor was more like a castle than a regular home, but Itachi stood beside her with a bland expression on his face and with a shrug of his shoulders said, "It's just a place to live Sakura, nothing really special."

"Right." She sarcastically replied. "It's obviously just a place to rest your head at night. Nothing fancy."

"Exactly." He agreed. "Besides, didn't I always tell you that it's what's inside that matters most?"

Sakura felt a small smirk grace her lips at his joke, and then she understood that Itachi knew how magnificent his home was, and was grateful to be so privileged, but to him it was never the material items that were important.

"I'm glad you haven't changed. It'd be terrible if you turned into some spoiled brat over the years." She confessed.

"I'm glad you haven't changed either. Although I see you've grown your hair out quite a bit. It's a good look for you." He murmured playing with a few strands. "You always used to peek up at me through your hair. You were so shy even though we'd grown close since I watched over you so often."

"I wasn't being shy. I was just trying not to get caught staring." She stated bluntly.

Itachi smirked at her in response, and proceeded to usher her through the enteryway of his home.

The inside was just as stunning as the facade. It held a home theater, game room, personal gym and sauna, an indoor pool, and several guest suites that each had their own full bathroom and sitting area. Most of the house was covered in rich dark wood flooring, while the kitchen had marble tile and granite counertops, and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling in the very spacious dining area. The plush carpeting of the bedrooms upstairs was so soft Sakura thought she could sleep on it comforably, but once she caught sight of the king sized bed in the center of the room she immediately dismissed the idea.

She began to walk towards the bed and it was only then that she truly grasped how large the room was. It had to be at least half the size of the apartment she lived in back in Seattle, probably bigger.

Almost as if he'd heard her thoughts Itachi spoke. "You should see the master bedroom. My parents went completely overboard."

"Yeah. It must be awful." She joked.

Itachi just chuckled and took her back downstairs to get something to eat from the kitchen.

"You must be hungry after that long flight. What would you like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, really. I'm not picky."

"You never were."

It was then that they entered the kitchen and came across a young man rummaging through the fridge. He had dark hair and pale skin just like Itachi. Although he kept it noticably shorter. He wasn't as tall as Itachi either, and when he turned around at the sound of their arrival it was apparent that he was also a few years younger.

A sudden memory popped into her head like the flash of a lightbulb.

"Are you Sasuke?" She asked in excitement.

Her question was met with stunned silence. The two men looked at each other, back at her, then at eachother once more before dissolving into laughter.

"What?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry." Itachi chuckled. "It's just that my cousin is absolutley nothing like my brother. We don't even look similar. At least not compared to Sasuke and I."

At those words Sakura took a better look at his cousin. Their coloring was similar, but upon closer inspection their features were nothing alike. Itachi had fuller lips and his face was more narrow. His cousins eyes even had a different shape, and the color was lighter too. More of a dark brown instead of black. It was obvious they were related in some way, but not brothers.

"Well, I just assumed because he's the only one you've mentioned to me before."

"I understand." Itachi assured her. "This is my cousin Shisui. You won't meet Sasuke for a while. He's gone on vacation with a family friend and won't return until school starts next week."

She nodded in understanding and turned to face Shisui once more.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Sakura Haruno." She introduced herself and held out her hand.

Shishui raised his brows at the name, but grasped her hand in his own and gave it a firm shake.

"So your the infamous Sakura that Itachi went on about? He told me a lot about you, but he didn't mention that your gorgeous."

Itachi scowled at his cousin and opened his mouth to reply, but Sakura beat him to it.

"He hasn't seen me in twelve years, so I'm sure he still pictured me as that little 5 year old until he picked me up from the airport."

"Probably," Shisui agreed. "but I didn't mean it as a pick-up line. I wouldn't go there with Itachi's childhood friend. He'd kill me."

"Yes. I would." Itachi threatened.

"Relax." Shisui urged, sticking his hands in the air in a 'I surrender' manner. "I honestly didn't mean anything by it."

" I know." Itachi sighed after a moment. "I just get the feeling that I'm going to be defending her a lot. I guess I just got ahead of myself. I'm sorry."

"It's cool man, but I'm headed out. Thanks for the food!"

And with that Shishui left out the back door leaving behind his mess from pulling out what appeared to be the entire contents of the fridge. Itachi immediately began to clean up after him. She got the feeling that Shisui treated this as his second home and Itachi was left picking up after him a lot.

"So what did you mean about defending me?" Sakura inquired. "Do you have a lot of flirty cousins or something?"

"No. Actually it's Sasuke and his friends that I'm worried about."

"Why?"

"You just seem like the type of person that would draw my brothers interest. Your personality, well, let's just say it would be refreshing to him. As for his friends they like just about any girl, but they'll especially like you."

"Oh. Well I'm sure I can handle it."

"We'll see, but I've been wondering. Why didn't Tsunade fly with you?"

"She had some last minute things to take care of at the hospital. She should be here within the next few days."

" I'm sure you're exhausted and jetlagged, so why don't you go get some rest and I'll wake you up when it's time for lunch."

"Sounds good. Thanks Itachi."


Sakura flopped down onto her new bed in a huff. Her thoughts were scattered and she had mixed emotions about being here. On one hand she was thrilled to be with Itachi again, but on the other, being back here brought up painful memories that she already struggled to put behind her. Coming back almost made them seem renewed and fresh somehow. A part of her was afriad she couldn't handle it. She felt the loss of her parents acutely now that she was back in the city that they raised her in. Also, everyone seemed to know who her parents were here, and she didn't want to be consoled or pitied.

They'd had a brief funeral service before they left New York and it seemed like the entire hospital and half of the town showed up to pay their respects. Family, friends, co-workers, and even patients attended. She recieved so many 'I'm so sorry for your loss's and 'They're in a better place now's that she'd ran out of the building in anger. Of course being only 5 years old she was immediately dragged back inside by Tsunade.

'God, I thought my head was going to explode. That was the worst day ever...second to worst.' She amended.

Sakura laid like that for several hours, too stuck in her head to actually fall asleep. A problem she constantly had, among others, and which caused Tsunade to worry. Before she knew it she heard a soft knock on her door.

Itachi appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame. He crossed his arms, and frowned as he looked at her.

"You can't sleep." He stated.

"No. It's been like this ever since...ever since my parents died. I see them when I close my eyes. I dream about how they died. It's like I'm in the back of that ambulance with them. The look that girl has on her face right before she detonates the explosives...it makes my blood run cold. She looks so pleased. I wake up screaming sometimes."

"Sakura..." Itachi started as he approached her.

Seeing the worry on his face Sakura sat up and put a smile on.

"I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. It was a little dark, but I swear I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" He hedged. "Because we can talk about it if you want."

"I'm fine. I promise."

She hopped off the bed and grabbed Itachi's hand to drag him out the room, hoping that she could distract him enough that he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

'If he only knew...' She thought numbly. 'The nightmares are just the beginning.'

"Now lets go grab some lunch and we can watch a movie in that big home theater!"


Sorry for the shortness of the chapter. It's more of a filler than anything but I wanted to give you a peak into the problems that Sakura will have to overcome later on. Also, as to why everyone in her family is a doctor I wanted her to be heavily influenced into choosing the career that she did, not just because it's what she's good at. In a side note I picture Sakura looking like what's in the cover photo. I tried to post that in the first chapter but it wouldn't let me update for some reason. Thanks for reading and please review! I hope you enjoyed it.