Another chapter dooone! I felt so freaking loved by all the reviews, follows and favs, I did a little dance while like trying not to cry. I'm such a sap! xD But anyway! This chapter like I said had a time skip by about a year, and it's a little shorter then the last chapter. But please read now because I want to know what you think!

Thoughts~

I don't own NARUTO or people would be feeling Itachi up ALL the time, hehe~

How long had it been since she left her bed, styled her hair, ate something besides instant ramen, or even went to talk to her friends? She had no idea, and to be honest she really didn't care. Over the past year she'd found herself trying to sleep the day away, to forget her pain.

Letting out a low sigh, she lifted herself up right and ran her hand through her greasy tangled hair. She needed a shower, and badly. But the amount of energy that would take would be too much, getting to her living room once a day was taxing enough.

Pushing off the thin sheets and sliding her feet onto the floor, green eyes scanned over pale thin legs. She hadn't tried to exercise at all, and it was really showing. Though, it probably didn't have a lot to do with her lack of exercise as it did her lack of eating.

"Mebuki…"

The woman jumped from her thoughts, glancing to her left to the open bedroom door. In the doorway stood her husband, Kizashi, or at least someone who looked like him. His hair was far paler, to the point you could barely tell it was a magenta color in his youth, and his eyes were so dull…

"Mikoto-san invited us to dinner."

"What time?"

Her voice croaked as she spoke, the look Kizashi sent her told her that she had slept the majority of the day away, that it was almost time to eat. Giving a soft nod she pushed herself to her feet, shuffling over to their shared closet.

"I'll find you something to wear, just go shower hun."

Mebuki stopped as her husband's hand rested against her stomach, lightly turning her by the shoulders to the bathroom. He was so gentle with her, sometimes it was so infuriating, like she was some civilian and not the kunoichi she was. But then again she was grateful…She needed that gentle hand that he gave her, and he needed it to. If only she were stronger to do that for him…

She felt numb as she walked to the shower, stripping her clothes off as she went. That's all she ever felt when she wasn't sleeping, unending numbness and misery. What she wouldn't give to turn time back to the fateful morning her beautiful daughter left on her final mission.

She stopped mid step and closed her eyes, the burning of tears stinging behind her lids. Now was not the time, she needed to keep herself numb so she could get ready in a timely fashion. She could mourn after dinner.

Flipping on the bathroom light and wandering to the shower, Mebuki twisted the knob and stepped in without checking to see if the water was warm, gasping at the cold spray hitting her. Shivering a little violently she poured shampoo on the top of her head, scratching her nails on her scalp to work in the pine forest gel. She never used this shampoo, she preferred the smell of the ocean, but this was her daughters' favorite product.

Once her hair was sufficiently covered in bubbles, she pushed her head under the torrent of water, squeezing her eyes closed to keep the shampoo from getting in her eyes and reddening them. She was tempted to wash her hair three times, because in her opinion it was still filthy after the second wash. But Kizashi had stopped her.

He had climbed in the shower behind her, pushing his way under the water and demanding she clean her body. An agitated sigh left her as she spun on her heals, scrubbing at her flesh until she was bright red. She wanted to look presentable, like she did before her child's death, but nothing she did helped her appearance.

"Mebuki you're clean."

Large hands grabbed her thin shoulders, squeezing lightly as her arms went limp to her sides. She wasn't clean, she was still filthy! Sakura would have been so embarrassed being seen with her, especially going to the Uchiha's home, the home her crush lived at.

"…I don't want to go."

Her voice was thick with pain, causing the man behind her to flinch. He was afraid he'd lose his wife along with his daughter, he wouldn't be able to survive that, he knew it.

"Mikoto-san's worked hard Mebuki, it would be rude to not show."

"I don't care! I can't go!"

"Mebuki!"

Said woman flinched as Kizashi's voice boomed behind her. He shouldn't have raised his voice, but he knew she needed to stop. Wrapping his arms around her small body he held her tightly, resting his head on her shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry…" No reply as his wife stared at the wall. "Both of us know we need to go to this dinner."

He gave her shoulder a soft kiss as her body relaxed, a small sigh leaving her. The dinner was needed, Mabuki never left the house and Kizashi was always on missions, they needed this to breathe clearly. When his wife made no move to say anything Kizashi sighed, pulling away, he seriously didn't want to cancel the fourteenth dinner Mikoto had made for them.

"I'll go get dressed…"

Blue eyes blinked as they followed the woman in front of him who climbed out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry off. Broad shoulders slouched as the man let out a sigh, thankful Mebuki finally caved.

"Itachi did you get the good dishes out!?"

Said man let out a tired groan. Yes he'd gotten out the good china, three times already. He had forgotten that his mother loved collecting old dishes, labeling them for different occasions. He found himself whishing Kizashi would call already to cancel, but with the time he doubted it. There was only an hour left before dinner would start.

"Hai kā-san!"

"Which ones did you grab!?"

His head dropped as he suppressed a laugh. He still had yet to get ready, and he was running all over the house grabbing dishes, washing them, only to put them away again.

"Mikoto, let the boy get ready!"

"Oh…Alright, take a shower and wear something nice sweetie!"

A snort left him as he sighed softly. Itachi had a hard time getting along with his father, but he was thankful for the man in times like these. Watching as the brown haired man walked into the room and took the box of dishes; the younger of the two mumbled a quick thank you and went for the stairs.

The farther up the stairs he went the quieter thing seemed to get, no Mikoto yelling for which dishes are out, Fugaku barking at the boys to obey the lady Uchiha, or Sasuke and Naruto screaming at each other.

If only Shisui were here, he'd be able to make some sort of peace in the chaotic house, but the man was on a mission. What he wouldn't give to be on a mission right now…

"I don't hear the shower running!"

Itachi tripped and grabbed the wall for support, a chuckle rumbling through his chest. He hadn't had time to get his clothes from his room yet, he had almost, almost forgotten how bossy his mother was, not to mention impatient. Choosing to not reply, the man dug through his drawers for his underwear, then his closet for something comfortable but nice.

Quickly making his way to the bathroom his let his hair out from its ponytail, running his hand through to rip out a few knots. Dropping the clean change of clothes on the counter, he turned on the shower, stripping out of his clothes as he waited for the water to heat up.

Itachi used to always look forward to these types of dinners. If he wasn't on a mission he'd sit back with Kakashi and Shisui, watching the parents' gossip and children embarrass each other to the tenth degree. But there was no Kakashi, he had left the life of a Jōnin and returned to the ANBU, and Shisui had been called for several missions to the point the man was rarely ever in the village. There was no gossiping between adults, just sot murmurs of apology, and no teasing of children.

Jumping into the shower Itachi quickly washed himself, not wanting to anger his mother with dilly dallying. Throwing a towel onto his head once the shower was turned off, he set to work drying his hair and body, climbing out. His shower was five minutes at most, so he didn't have to really worry about hurrying. All he needed to wait for was his hair to dry completely.

Dressing himself virtually one handed, Itachi continued to dry is hair, tossing the damp towel to switch to a dry one. He'd rather cut off his arm then use a hair drier, which he was sure his mother would demand he do once he went back down.

The muscles in his back tensed as hands slammed themselves onto the door repeatedly, a low growl leaving the man as he glared back at the door.

"Come on Itachi-san, your dilly dallying~"

Itachi was tempted to slam the door open and have the wood hit the blonde boy on the other side in the face. A yelp and thump sounded though before he had the chance to reach for the knob, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Move it Dobe we still need dressed!"

Thank god for Sasuke…For the most part. After what happened a year ago the boy had withdrawn more from people, the only one he hadn't was from Naruto. Both boys clung to each other like they were their life lines. Itachi was truly grateful for the boy for that reason; he kept his younger brother out of trouble.

After quickly drying off the mirrors and the shower Itachi made his way from the bathroom, running to his room to dump off the dirty clothes and making his was back down stairs. The house smelled wonderful, Mikoto was making a curry if he remembered right.

Both Fugaku and he had warmed the lady Uchiha about making curry, but she insisted it was not the same. Before Sakura had disappeared the Haruno family had invited the Uchiha, Naruto and Kakashi to their home. Mebuki had served a sweet red curry, where Mikoto was making a spicy yellow curry. The Haruno family dinner had not gone well.

It was only a few weeks after the Chūnin Exams had ended, and it was the adults' way of showing the young pink haired girl none of them blamed her for pulling out, but thanked her instead and saved their lives. She was so shy through the dinner; she refused to look any of them in the eye or to say anything.

When the adults' said their piece she had flashed a shy smile and thanked them softly. Naruto having boasted that she was still strong, that making such a hard choice showed strength and compassion. Everyone was truly impressed with the blondes' speech, and it greatly improved on Sakura's attitude. Though when it had come to Sasuke…

He had cursed her, damned her to the darkest depths of hell. It had visibly destroyed her. Not only was he her crush, but he was also a goal. To better herself; to be able to stand next to both he and Naruto on even ground. And with what he had said, crumbled every dream she had.

Sasuke had stormed from the families home before he was able to see the tears fall down her face, her body shudder with sobs. Itachi had leapt up and ran after his brother, pulling him to a stop a few yards from the home, and effectively embarrassed him in public. That's when Itachi had seen the hate in his brother, hate for something so small.

Itachi shook the memories from his mind as he made his way to the dinning room, his father setting the table with the dishes he first picked out…He gave a defeated sigh as Fugaku gave him a grunt in response, the lady Uchiha was such a handful…

"Is Shisui not coming again?"

"No, he has another mission."

Itachi turned to his mother as he spoke. She was dressed in a black and silver kimono, one that was probably far too formal for a dinner with friends, but no one dared to say anything. Letting out a small huff she rested her freshly cleaned hands on her hips, giving a small nod.

"Alright. Dinners simmering now and should be done by the time they get here. Could you go to the basement and get some of the expensive sakē in there?"

"Already got it and put it in the fridge."

Fugaku sighed tiredly as he stood from the table, turning to his wife as her cheeks puffed out slightly. Her hands flew into the air suddenly, catching both men off guard as she gasped out, a hand flying to her chest.

"Kizashi-san doesn't like chilled sa-"

"I left some out so it can be heated…Calm down Mikoto, sit."

A huff left her as Fugaku grabbed his wife's arm, pulling her to the table and sitting her down. The woman would have an aneurism at any moment if he didn't make her sit and relax. Then again she won't relax, she never does.

"Sasuke, Naruto-kun, are you two done yet!?"

"For the love of God woman sit quietly…"

Fugaku was met with a glare, Itachi suppressing a laugh as he turned and walked out of the room. Who knew the stoic Uchiha family was actually so lively?

"Had dinner really gone that badly…?"

The timid voice of Hinata was the first to speak. Both Naruto and Sasuke, mostly Naruto, had just told the Rookie Nine about the events of last nights dinner. Apparently the dishes Mikoto had used were Sakura's favorite, which Mebuki knew and had begun to cry. The lady Uchiha had felt horrible, the reason she couldn't decide on the dishes was because she knew Sakura liked one a lot, and didn't want to use those to stop Mebuki from feeling the loss of her daughter.

"It was over dishes, what kind of person cries over a dish pattern?"

About every person had snapped their heads to Sasuke, their eyes thin. He's was taken aback by the glares, sending one back towards them.

"What your problem?"

"Come on dude she lost her only kid, grow a heart!"

A soft but deepening bark followed after Kiba in agreement. Sasuke hated being ganged up on like this and everyone was doing it constantly now days. He was too hard on Sakura, too heartless about her death, and too mean to her mourning family. He was about to snap if someone else told him to show more compassion!

"He's right you know, it has been a year. She's had plenty of time to mourn."

Sasuke's shoulders dropped. Alright if the Yamanaka Ice Bitch was now agreeing with him, he really should show more compassion. After the announcement of Sakura's death the blonde girl had changed.

The Rookie Nine would agree that though Sakura didn't really stand out from any of them, she defiantly had an influence on them. Like with Ino…What happened to the bandages, on your legs even? Is she even wearing underwear? And is that a push up bra…

"I feel the same pain as Mebuki-san! To lose your only child…No! To say I feel the same pain is disrespectful, her pain is greater then mine."

The group jumped at the sudden intrusion of a voice, turning to see a black haired boy clad in green spandex. They should have guessed it was Lee; the kid seemed to pop up whenever the pinkette was mentioned.

"Lee's right, she's probably going to mourn for a very long time. Didn't you guys say Sakura was the only kid they could have?"

"They only wanted one…So after her they got fixed."

Hinata's sweet little voice answered Tenten's question as the older girl plopped down on the bench. Tenten didn't know Sakura well, but from what she could see her death was a huge blow, even to the village.

"What happened? I've only heard a few things but their mostly rumors…"

"We never wanted to ask because we didn't know if it was our place."

Both Lee and Tenten had been bursting at the seams; they wanted to know what had happened. Genin weren't allowed to leave for a mission unless their Jōnin sensei plus another were present. God forbid if they had to go anywhere away from the village that was over a day long, you'd think they were in a war.

"Sakura-chan, Teme and I were setting up camp while Kakashi-sensei set up a perimeter. He'd warned us that a few bandits were going to try and attack the Daimyō, but they weren't just bandits…"

"Kakashi was still out of camp when this guy attacked." Naruto was startled as Sasuke took over, leaning against a wall of the building behind him. "He grabbed Sakura and told us if we tried to follow that he'd kill her. When he went to take off she tripped and the kunai he was holding stabbed into her shoulder."

Sasuke tapped his right shoulder to show where, Lee turning the same color as his clothes. Naruto's eyes narrowed as Sasuke spoke so nonchalantly about what happened, he still didn't understand that they could have followed, they could have saved her!

"She probably tried to fight back at some point and got stabbed again."

Ino's voice grew quiet as she spoke, a few of the other Genin nodding lightly, agreeing with her. Her stomach gave a twist, she had agreed with Sasuke and told Sakura out about how weak she was…Was it her fault that she was dead? She had remembered Ino's words, her LAST words, and had tried to fight back.

"There's no use clinging to the past!"

The blonde girl jumped to her feet and planted her hands on her hips, flipping her long ponytail back over her shoulder.

"The past is the past, there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is do the measly little D-Rank missions we're forced to do while the Jōnin and ANBU look for the bandits and get rid of them."

"Their not bandits I'm telling you!"

Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation, he gone over it a thousand times already! They weren't bandits, they were too smart for it, and they completely disappeared as soon as ANBU jumped on their trail.

"I don't want to hear it." Ino lifted her hand towards Naruto to hush him. "I have too much to do today, my mom's sick and we're swamped with orders at the shop, and the last thing I want to hear is your stories."

And with that the girl turned, strutting away from all of them. A small sigh left the young lavender eyed girl as she stood also, Naruto's stomach dropping. Did even Hinata not believe what he was saying…?

"My grandfather's ill also…I should check and see if there's anything he needs."

"I'll walk you there; it's on my way to the vet."

Akamaru gave a small whimper as Kiba gave him a quick pet. Naruto watched in silence as one by one, the Rookie Nine bid him and Sasuke farewell. It was just the two of them left standing in a small alleyway that had become a recent gather point for the Genin.

"Come on Dobe…It's getting late, Kakashi will show up soon."

"Why…"

The young Uchiha stopped as he turned, hands pocketed as he waited. He had a hunch as to what the blonde was asking, but he wouldn't say anything until he was sure.

"Why is it so easy for you to forget her…To pretend she never existed?"

He sighed; yeah he knew that's what Naruto was going for. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, the sun beating down on his face as a gentle breeze tugged at his hair. He stayed like that, thinking. Naruto would start something if he didn't say anything, and he knew the blonde would give him more then enough time to say something.

"Clinging to the past can hold you down-"

"Don't feed me that bull! Itachi-san even goes to see Saya-chan!"

Sasuke flinched, damn Naruto for bringing Itachi into this! It was true, for about a year now, on special little days, you could find Itachi visiting his dead girlfriends' grave. It had been three months after Sakura's funeral, she had been sent on a simple scouting mission, just to see if the claims of thieves in the area were true.

There were no survivors. From what had been pieced together, the Ninken they had on their team had sniffed out a trail. They followed and were immediately ambushed. Itachi's Anbu squad had been the ones to come across the scene…

Itachi's team never spoke of what happened after they had been able to confirm which team it was by a bracelet the Uchiha had given Saya for her birthday, only of the condition of the bodies. Sasuke's brother had kept himself locked in his room for a week, then at the funeral, had returned to full duty. To this day Itachi refused to talk about what happened, but he was never shy to talk about Saya.

"Just drop it Naruto."

"But Sasu-"

"I said drop it!"

Naruto flinched as the young Uchiha spun on his heels, the Sharingan flashing angrily at him. The blonde did nothing but turn his head away from his friend, earning a smirk from him. Sasuke felt like he was being dominant over him, Naruto just didn't want to lose anyone else and was letting him get what he wanted, the last word in the conversation.

A month had passed since the dinner incident, and the village had almost completely crumbled. It had started after both Hinata's grandfather and Ino's mother's illness had gone from just summer flu, to collapsing on the floor vomiting blood.

Itachi had ran over to Shisui's home as soon as Naruto had told him when happened to the blonde girls mother, Shisui had been ill recently…There was no way Shisui had the same thing right?

"Shisui! Open your door!"

The raven haired man pounded his fist on the wooden door, waiting for not even five whole seconds before assaulting it again and yelling. He couldn't let himself in, Shisui had gotten his nasty old door replaced, and still had yet to give Itachi a copy of the key.

His mouth clamped shut before he had the chance to yell again, shuffling inside of the home halting his actions. Relief flooded through him as his cousin opened the door, his hair un-brushed, clothes wrinkled and missing his eye patch, he had been asleep.

"The hell Itachi…Do you know what time-"

"It's twelve forty-six, you'll live. How are you feeling?"

Itachi pushed his way passed the older man and into his dingy little apartment, earning an unappreciative grunt in return. Closing the door softly, so to not cause any unwanted damage to it, the older of the two followed silently as Itachi ripped the black sheets off the windows, letting sunlight streak inside.

"Noo no no…I'm tired and it's to bright…What ever your problem is can it wait?"

"Answer me Shisui, how are you feeling."

"A little pissed off if you want the truth…"

Itachi fixed his cousin with an unsatisfied glare, sitting on the cough and motioning Shisui to take a seat in his worn chair. Grunting as he sat, Shisui lifted his legs, resting his feet on the uneven coffee table, shifting as a spring poked him in the rear.

"Please, Naruto-kun just told me about-"

"I've heard about the illness last night at the hospital."

The elder Uchiha waved off his concerned cousins' expression. Sitting up slightly he lifted his shirt, showing off the black bruising hiding under layers of bandaging.

"I got hit pretty bad, started coughing up blood when I got back. All I have to do is take it easy for a few days, should stop coughing blood tomorrow or the day after."

"So there's no worry you have what they've had?"

Shisui shook his head, dropping his shirt and leaning back. He loved his cousin dearly, but the man needed to take a chill pill. He hadn't been in the village more then a day at a time, what were the chances of him catching whatever the civilian and elderly part of the population had? He was in his early twenties, he was in his prime!

Itachi gave a soft sigh as he nodded. He had been worried, possibly too worried. He didn't want to lose his beloved cousin; it just seemed to close to the date Saya had died…

"Come on Itachi, enough with the sad expression. Go on and shoo, I need to sleep alright?"

"Alright…Call if you need anything."

"Just go Itachi, before I kick you out."

Both men smirked, like hell Shisui had the balls to throw Itachi out. Standing the younger of the two began his work of refitting the black sheets onto his night crawler cousins' windows, bidding farewell and leaving.

Something didn't sit well with him, but he didn't know what. It was the same feeling he had when they got word Orochimaru had gotten into the Exams and Sasuke was hurt. Shaking his head he walked away from his cousins' home, staring at his feet as he returned home.

He had been silly to assume he'd show up to Shisui choking on his own blood, maybe all he had was a bit of the flu. The wound on his side though…Itachi shivered a little. What kind of hit would cause that? It would have been something rather large to make a bruise that covered his chest to his hip.

Itachi stopped in his tracks, a deep frown etched into his face as his eyes narrowed. Only his lower ribs were wrapped, the hospital staff was supposed to wrap the entire area affected. Judging by what Itachi saw, Shisui shouldn't have been allowed to leave the hospital with that much bruising. The whole side of his ribcage would be broken.

His stomach dropped. Shisui said he was fine, that he was just coughing a little blood right? It started after he got hit-No it started when he got back. Itachi pulled his hands from his pockets as he thought more on what his cousin said. With that kind of wound Shisui should be hospitalized, as soon as he was hit he should have been spewing blood. It shouldn't have started however long after when he got to the village, and the horrible patch job they did to him…Itachi spun on his heels and lunged towards his cousins' home, slamming his fist on the door.

"Shisui!"

There was no answer, like the first time he showed. He tried again, yelling a little louder and drawing the attention of those passing by. He didn't care, he knew something was wrong. He stood there yelling and pounding on the door, his cousin not even making a shuffle sound on the other side of the door.

Stepping back Itachi gathered chakra into his leg, slamming his foot into the door and busting it open. The door slammed into the wall and bounced back, Itachi pushing his shoulder into the door to stop it from closing. There was no sound, fear settled in the pit of the Uchiha's stomach.

"Shisui now is the time to yell at me for breaking your door!"

He stormed down the hall, looking in the bathroom and bedroom, no sign of his cousin. He ran this time into the living room, calling out the older Uchiha's name. He was about to call out again when he turned and looked into the kitchen, his cousin laying face first on the floor shaking.

He had blacked out off and on after that point. One moment he was rolling Shisui onto his back, his cousin gasping for air as he gagged and coughed on a mouth full of blood, and the next the kitchen was full of strange faces. Fugaku had shown and dragged Itachi from the house, leading him to the hospital, asking him over and over what had happened. Then it was the doctors' turns to question him, his story having come out in jumbles followed by a string of what was happening to his cousin.

He had no idea what time it was when his mother's soft hand grabbed his bloodied one, leading him to the nurses' showers. Mikoto waited as her son washed himself, chewing on her thumb nail worriedly as she glanced around. Once Itachi had emerged washed and changed, she quietly led him back to the waiting room, a doctor speaking with her husband.

"Where is he?"

The lady Uchiha gave a start as her eldest suddenly spoke, letting go of her hand and walking towards both of the men. Itachi ignored the way the doctor took a step back, only stepping closer as he towered over the short medic; his eyes thin as his wet hair dripped water into his face.

"Where…"

"Itachi."

Said mans' head snapped to Fugaku, his hands shaking slightly. The elder of them gave a short nod to the doctor, letting him leave as he turned to his son, crossing his arms over his chest. He should give the news to his son easily, but they both knew Itachi would claw his eyes out if he tried to beat around the bush.

"Shisui's in quarantine…He's stable though."

"He's ill…"

"Yes." Fugaku hesitated slightly before he grabbed his son's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You did the right thing, going to see him. If you hadn't, he wouldn't be alive."

Itachi pulled his shoulder away from his father, glaring down at the ground. It didn't make him feel any better, knowing his cousin, his best friend was ill with something they had no idea what about, it ate at him like a lion feasting on a corpse.

At one month over seven hundred people had shown signs of the flu, only to become hospitalized with unexplained thinning blood which leaked into the lungs, stomach and chest cavities. At six weeks, the number of ill had raised to sixteen hundred, at seven and a half weeks to over two thousand. The death toll was to six hundred, and steadily rising.

It had proven ineffective to quarantine the ill, more and more people would just show up. Doctors couldn't explain what was causing the bleeding, only that there were stages. It took one month for someone to go from the sniffles to gagging blood; antibiotics prolonged the bleeding until five weeks had passed. After the bleeding started the individual had to be prescribed blood thickeners and become bed ridden.

Most cases with the second stage developed blood clots in various parts of the body. It was decided the best thing to do for the second stage, was to do nothing but closely monitor the patients condition. Too thin and the patient would bleed out, too thick and the body couldn't function properly, so every few days they'd be given a thickener and have their blood tested eight times through the day. This stage usually lasted three weeks until the final stage hit…

The third and final stage was violent in the doctors' eyes. The internal organs began to slowly melt, their bodies short circuiting. The final stage lasted the longest, without any form of medical help the patient would last two months, with the help of the hospital they lasted ten weeks.

By the time people began entering the final stage, word of the illness had spread across the Land of Fire. The Daimyō and Hokage had both agreed to quarantine the country off, asking any and all countries for any and all medical help. No one stepped up to help.

It wasn't until the Sandaime had been unable to hide the fact that he too was ill, that the country fell apart. He was in the final stage when his pupil, Jiraiya, had tracked down his only female teammate, who luckily had been for years a medical professional.

It had taken her almost a month and she had created a cure. After drawing blood from people in different stages, and even exposing herself to the illness, she had been able to catch how it attacked the host. It had confused her; it didn't affect everyone like a normal virus. It would sometimes completely bypass the weaker and attack those in their prime, with absolute no health issues.

Sadly, the lady Sanin had been too late to save her mentor. The Sandaime Hokage had died one week before she perfected the cure. It cured those in the first stage the very same day, those in the second in a year, but those entering or in the final stage…It was a matter of how comfortable they could be. Many begged to be taken off respirators, to have the pain end. Others opted to give the woman a chance to fix them, to be her guinea pigs to see if they could be healed.

Within weeks the Land of Fire had been cured, those who had been affected worst sent to Konoha for more medical treatment. The Daimyō and counsel members had named Tsunade Godaime Hokage without hesitation, wanting no one else but the woman who saved them to be their leader. When the letters had come to congratulate her on her title from the other Kage's, she had done nothing but send them shipments of the medicine she had made and how to make it.

They had called her rude, and said that what she had sent was unneeded. She showed them what rude was when she had thrown into their faces how they had turned their backs on her country. That yes they had at one time been at war with the Land of Fire, but that they were in a treaty, to never harm one another. That technically they had violated that treaty by leaving her country to fend for themselves. The other Kage's backed off and took the gifts without complaint.

The Land of Water was the first to send what little food they could as aid, and the other countries soon followed suit. When the subject on how the virus was spread, no one had or could find an answer. It wasn't from food, water, an allergy, nothing. Other countries sent soil and water samples, samples on their meats, nothing stuck out. There was no sign of the virus anywhere in the world, meaning it was a lab creation. But from who, where, and why?

One third of Konohagakure had been killed by the virus, as a whole, one fourth of the country. Over half of the entire country had been affected in some way by the virus, and more would still continue to be affected by it.

Hinata's younger sister Hinabi had been only a few days away from entering the second stage, while her older cousin Neji had just caught the virus. Itachi's older cousin Shisui had died the day before Tsunade had arrived in the village, Itachi in the middle of the second stage when the medic-nin had given him the cure, while Mebuki had just entered the final stage.

Her husband Kizashi had sold their home, renting a small one room apartment and placing all of their dead daughters' belongings inside. Mebuki was able to stay in the small apartment for five months until her condition worsened, and was hospitalized. Neither would be able to see each other as Kizashi took every available mission he could to pay for not only the small apartment, but pay his wife's hospital bills.

Mikoto and Fugaku did everything they could to help, Fugaku paying the first six months of rent and hospital bills while Mikoto stayed every day with Mebuki while Kizashi was away. Both Naruto and Sasuke cleaned their home, stalked their fridge, and ran any and all errands the couple needed ran.

Three months after the cure Ino had begged Tsunade to train her, when questioned as to why, the young blonde girl cried. She felt it was her fault she was unable to help her mother that it was her fault she died. The Hogake hushed her and agreed, she understood the pain and guilt, she was willing the help her become stronger, to stop it from happening again.

Eight months after the cure…

"It isn't healing…"

"Give it time."

A soft sigh filled the air at the rough voices reply. That's all she's been doing for the past two and a half years. It had started with stretches, the kind that made you scream for your own death, to something as simple as holding a brush to write with. She could now write, brush her hair, cook, clean, but throwing kunai…Her aim was off, horribly.

She had meditated, raised her stamina and chakra reserves, her body was toned, more then it ever was. She knew an array of different jutsu, her Genjutsu was high, only a few notches below that of her Shishou.

Earlier in the second year she began her training, she was graced with her mentors' name when she mastered an unknown jutsu he had taught her. She didn't learn all of it sadly, but a portion. She had gone so long with just calling him either Sensei or Shishou that it didn't matter anymore what his name was. All she wanted to do anymore was wake up, join him for breakfast, practice her kata, prepare lunch, practice her Ninjutsu and Genjutsu until it was time to prepare dinner, and then bathe before bed. It was the same every day, but it was relaxing.

"Dinners done."

A grunt sounded behind her as she lifted the boiling pot of fish stew. Letting out a little growl she pivoted on her heels and set down as fast but carefully as she could the pot, sighing out as her shoulder throbbed in protest.

"You should have waited Sakura-san."

The pinkette gave a shy smile at the slight scowl the older man gave her. Handing him the hot pads she turned to gather their bowls. She let her mentor fill their bowls, both eating in a comfortable silence as they listened to the crickets outside chirp.

"It's going to rain…"

"Mm."

The pinkette nodded in agreement. Both of them could feel it, the old man in his joints and she her shoulder. Her right hand shook slightly as she lifted the spoon to her mouth, she really shouldn't have lifted the pot.

"Don't do kata tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

A nod was her response. He was so strict with her training…Her chest tightened slightly. He was asking her to not do kata, to not work her arm. He didn't believe her arm was going to get better; it was as good as it could get.

"Hai Shishou…"

"Now go to bed, its getting late."

Sakura gave a short nod before she stood, taking her bowl to the makeshift skin and setting it inside. Their home was greatly old fashioned, they had no running water, but when Sakura wasn't to train she was to help keep maintenance. It was hard trying to replace the shoji doors correctly, but in a small way it was fun.

Wondering down the dark hall the pinkette made her way into the bathroom, filling the tub with water and heating it up in the process. Once the water was warm enough, she stripped and slid inside. She might have let the water get too warm seeing as her skin was red almost instantly, but it was relaxing on her sore body.

Letting out a sigh she pulled her long hair into a messy bun, leaning back on the wooden wall behind her. Her fingers lightly brushed the various scars over her body, she had gathered more in the passed two years. The one on her shoulder looked like a little sunburst to her now, still unattractive in her mind but it looked cute some times.

It definitely didn't look like a kunai was what stabbed her. An infection had set in and her sensei had to cut out dead flesh and muscle, making the wound go from a small puncture wound to spreading to the top of her shoulder to the top of her breast. It was at least easier to hide then the ones on her arms and legs…

She shuddered, her back was horrible too, though it was still healing. She had gained hundreds of scars on her back from whip lashes, the old man hand caught her using a kunai on herself. He had told her he didn't save her to have her weaken herself in such a way, that every time he caught her cutting her arms or legs he'd whip her until he was the one tired. And the man might be old but he has a lot of energy.

There was no hope the scars on her arms and legs wound heal and go away without the help of medical Ninjutsu. She was horrified to find out the man didn't know any, yet he had been able to do what was virtually impossible by saving her, it didn't make sense. And it probably never would to her, the old man was so secretive.

Letting out a deep sigh she began scrubbing at her flesh, being careful of the old wounds on her body. She was only told to not work her kata, she was still allowed to train. That meant the old man still saw potential in her, and she was happy about it.

AN

The end kind of suck I think. v.v I'm sorry about that. But yeah, I figured I should post this chapter before getting to the actual story, this helps explain a lot of stuff your going to see. I was going to wait before I started writing this, but from your reviews it looked like you really wanted this chapter, so here it is! xD For those of you guessing who the old man is, I shall not say anything, the old man wont be in the story for a while after this, though he will be mentioned a lot. Your going to see changes in probably a lot of people, like Neji, Ino, Sasuke, and lets face it, Sakura. I must thank my boyfriend after this point, because he help me NONE STOP with this story. We have it all planned out towards the end, but not fully finished. I'm so excited to see what all of you think of this~ x3 Please review! It makes me cry yaoi tears of joy and want to type. Faving and following make me feel like I'm loved, lol. So until next time, ja ne!

Li