"Veritum dies aperit" (Time discovers the truth)
Chapter 4 Expectations
A huff of frustration came out of Sakura's lips amongst heavy pants as the rose-haired kunoichi was forced to block a kick to her stomach by crossing her arms in front of her, taking the blunt of the blow. She attempted to retaliate with a jump front kick to her opponent's head, but before her foot could reach contact, she was forced to block another blow to her stomach. Crying out, Sakura jumped forward a second time with a chakra-loaded punch, but was forced to turn last minute as a kick almost came in contact with her head.
Sufficiently annoyed, Sakura jumped back a fair distance and waited until her opponent was so far ahead of her... Now. She punched the earth with a loud exclamation of breath, and darted towards the trees under the cover brought by the cloud of dust. Now safely in the branches of an oak a few yards away, Sakura attempted to quiet her breathing and mask her chakra while feeling for any other presence.
Silence reined over the training grounds until a gruff voice managed to reach her through the trees.
"Alright Sakura, that's enough for today" Kakashi stated, regarding a sulking Naruto sitting cross-legged on the ground with amusement. Sakura appeared moments later on his other side and Kakashi turned and gave her an encouraging smile. "That was good. It didn't look like it, but did any of his kicks manage to reach your stomach?" he asked, regarding his exhausted student with latent affection.
She grinned up at him with obvious satisfaction. "Nope" she answered, reaching up to put her sweaty bangs behind her ears absentmindedly, before turning towards the unusually quiet blonde. "I didn't manage to get any hits in edgewise, though. Right Naruto?" she added, plopping herself down beside her teammate while still smiling broadly. The teammate in question nodded his head with growing energy, before he finally burst.
"Only because I tried my damnest. Seriously Sakura, what happened? Your fighting style has... changed. You are so intense now, I can barely keep up" Naruto's face reflected all of his obvious distress and confusion. He looked at her imploringly as if expecting answers.
Sakura was at a loss for what to say. After her muscles had finally healed, she had noticed her quickened reflexes, the increased power of her kicks and punches, and her quickened speed with puzzlement. She didn't take too much time to ponder over it though- the improvement was welcome, and she had other things on her mind that were more worthy of her trepidation. But now that she was being asked about the source... with irritation she realized that she couldn't remember.
"You tend to learn things rather quickly when your life is on the line" Kakashi answered for her, sitting down with his students with a serious expression assuming control over his features. Both of them looked away at his words, Sakura at the ground and Naruto towards the sky, faces echoing their sensei's.
"I can't even imagine how strong teme is then" Naruto stated solemnly, still gazing upwards. At the subtle mention of Sasuke, Kakashi looked towards Sakura expectedly, and was surprised to see that her expression did not change.
It toke a moment, but she finally glanced up and said, "Naruto". Once she was sure she had his attention, she looked him square in the eye and announced, "I believe in you. You have us, you know? Me, Kakashi, Hinata, and everyone else. Sasuke doesn't have that".
Naruto's face was conflicted at her words. "He does have us though! He just doesn't realize it" Naruto attempted to defend the Uchiha with a stubborn frown. Sakura just sighed.
"Doesn't deserve it" was all she offered in response before standing and stretching her legs out a bit. She turned to each of her boys and smiled. "Thanks for the lesson Kakashi. You could be a teacher for pregnant kunoichi everywhere" she stated wryly with a wink. "I think I will head in now, though. See you both for lunch tomorrow?" Sakura asked with a softening smile.
"Of course" Naruto responded for them both, a bright grin once again on his face although his eyes still betrayed his confliction. Sakura nodded to him happily before giving a final wave and walking away. Naruto's smile dropped and he rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "I feel old" he declared to Kakashi, yawning broadly.
"It happens" Kakashi replied lazily, his feet spread out in front of him. He gave Naruto an attempt at a reassuring smile, before he reached into his back pocket and grabbed a small, bright orange book. Naruto growled in exasperation at the sight of it, before shaking his head, and leaning in to read the fine print over his sensei's shoulder.
Sakura plopped down unceremoniously on her couch in her small apartment, gathering blankets around her while pulling her wet hair back into a thick braid. I really need to get it cut, she thought to herself tiredly, before releasing a soft sigh. She leaned over and picked up her steaming mug of tea from the stand next to the couch, and cupping it in her hands, toke a long drink.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura laid her head down on the arm rest on the end of the couch and closed her eyes. Repeating the word "relax" like a mantra inside her head, Sakura soon realized that anything close to meditation was impossible with the sheer number of thoughts floating around in the inside of her head. Letting out a soft, amused snort at her misfortune, Sakura let all of her musings pour into her head.
First of all, she was very worried. It had been two months since she had received her last memory, and she was beginning to think that it would never come. Of course she was curious as to what happened- she was being led blindfolded into an Akatsuki base by herself. Nothing good could come out of something like that. The reason she was so afflicted about it, though, was that the Hokage kept pressuring her to discuss it, sure that she had been receiving the memories but was refusing to talk about it. The fact that her once trusted teacher would have such a lack of faith in her managed to stress her out a little bit.
That was not the only reason for her anxiety, though. Sakura saw with satisfaction that the women's proposal towards the destruction of the Uchiha Compound was denied- curiously defended by the council members themselves. This strengthened Sakura's belief that there was proof in there somewhere as to what really occurred during the massacre, and as to why Itachi's presence had not bothered her at all in her memory. To her immense frustration, however, she had not yet managed to shake the ANBU that were trailing after her long enough to visit the compound for herself. The Hokage remained equally unhelpful, stating that so close to the baby's birth, now was the wrong time to go exploring.
This, now that Sakura thought about it, was somewhat reasonable. Already she was seven months pregnant, and it definitely showed. She was just past the stage where people could get away with just thinking that she was overweight- girls her age and her height did not normally obtain pot bellies this large this quickly. This was sometimes a comfort- it seemed that pregnant women were treated with more courtesy than not in this village. And Sakura soon found that she enjoyed being pregnant- she managed to skip all of those awful puking stages in a coma, and now she found that just thinking about her child managed to relax her somewhat. She loved her baby.
A lot of problems were attached to the poor thing, though, Sakura thought to herself. The biggest being the identity of the father. Sakura still had no idea who he was- she sometimes tried to imagine herself with different men, and how she would feel about finding out that it was him, that he had impregnated her with a child. She found herself strangely repulsed by all of them, however, which only added to her confusion.
She had the strangest feeling that Kakashi and Naruto believed that the father was Sasuke, though. She had caught them whispering to themselves, sometimes with Sai and sometimes without, stopping as soon as they caught sight of her. And the way that Naruto not so subtly kept bringing him up, he and Kakashi intent upon discovering a reaction… It made Sakura strangely angry, the way they were dancing around the subject. She had not acted in her vexation, however, patient to just let the baby be born and see how it worked out from there. Rubbing her hand over her plump stomach with affection, Sakura smiled until another thought hit her.
She had, with Ino's help, managed to uncover the list of toxins that were removed from her body three months ago from the hospital's records. To her uneasiness, snake venom had been on the list. A very particular kind of snake venom, however, one extracted from a snake that was very widely known- the one favored by Orochimaru, and extracted by Kabuto. One that Sound was known to have for sale on the black market. The fact that this particular poison was administered into her blood stream could mean that the council members, or perhaps Danzo, were engaging with secret correspondence with Sound. Sakura didn't want to think of the implications that such an accord could bring.
She did face the realization, however, that it was likely that this venom was still in her blood stream and thus the baby's. She was not sure what the consequences of this would be yet- would they be immune from that particular snake in the future, or would they suffer as the venom slowly wore away at their muscles and their heart? It was difficult to say, and Sakura found herself pushing it towards the back of her mind. No need to stress herself out over what is to come.
Taking another long sip of tea, Sakura suddenly felt the urge to go to the restroom. Setting her mug down on the stand carefully, Sakura stood up and slowly made her way around the coffee table, waddling slightly. Reaching the bathroom, she did her business before washing her hands and her face. Letting the cool water slide down around her cheeks, Sakura was instantly reminded of Itachi's hands.
She realized with angst upon opening her eyes, however, that the colors of her bathroom where swirling into irregular patterns, and that her head and heart were pounding must faster than they ever should have the right to. Suddenly dizzy, Sakura let herself slide onto the floor, catching herself on the cold tile with wet hands. Letting out a small moan of pain, Sakura's head leaned forward until everything went black.
The room she was in was very warm, and greatly contrasted from the coolness she felt against her eyes and the small of her back. Sakura was led forward a few steps, stopped, and then led forward a few more steps and Sakura had to catch herself from stumbling. Suddenly, all at once, the coolness left her and Sakura's eyes flew open.
"YOU!" an indignant voice reached her from across the room amidst a series of gasps and heavy breathing. Turning towards the sound Sakura found a very sweaty and very bloody blonde man half falling out of the bed he was in, pointing at her furiously. Same said man looked away from Sakura for a moment to the person on her right and redirected his finger. "Why did you bring HER here?" he demanded to the stoic Uchiha. Itachi simply let out an amused smirk.
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Kisame asked in bemusement. He looked from the infuriated blonde, to the smirking Uchiha, to the surprised rosette with growing confusion.
"Do you have any idea who she is?" Deidara demanded with crazed wide eyes, his wet hair shaking with the intensity of his gestures. Kisame continued to look at him growing concern. "Should I?" he responded carefully.
"Haruno Sakura. Famed apprentice of the Hokage, student of the Copy-nin Kakashi, teammates to Uzamaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. She murdered Sasori two years ago in Sand" he announced, looking between Itachi and Kisame for some sort of reaction. He was disappointed to find that they had none.
"I thought you hated Sasori. You were always arguing with him about art and stuff" Kisame stated with furrowed brows, although he did feel a bit of heightened respect towards the kunoichi. He just didn't understand why the blonde was overacting. Itachi remained aloof, but looked towards his charge with renewed curiosity.
"How do you know about me again?" Sakura asked with her eyebrows raised. She sort of remembered the blonde, but no name stuck exactly. Sakura frowned in displeasure. She didn't really think that she was important enough to be memorized.
"I looked you up!" Deidara declared hysterically. "After you murdered Sasori and I was stuck with Tobi for a partner, yeah!" he continued, now actually sitting up in bed. Sakura toke a brief look around and realized that no one else was in the room besides the four of them.
"You don't like Tobi?" Kisame asked, still obviously confused, while Sakura toke a few steps forward with her hands out in front of her defensively, a pleading look on her face.
"You stay away from me, yeah!" Deidara screamed at her approach, scooting back in the bed until his back was against the wall. His eyes were slightly rolling by now, his face red, and sweat dripping down from every part of his body. Sakura's concern grew as she took in her soon-to-be patient. Angrily, she redirected her impatience and spun towards Itachi.
"You left him here, by himself, alone, in this state!" she seethed with narrow eyes. She didn't quite understand why she was so annoyed with the Uchiha, but the fact that he toke the blonde's despair as entertainment disappointed and angered her. Trying not to let it get to her, she back lashed. "His fever is causing him to act beyond hysterical! Who knows what he could have done to himself" she added, placing her hands on her hips.
"It is not my fault that he decided to blow himself up" Itachi responded coolly, his own eyes narrowing in response to hers.
"Doesn't give you the right to loiter for hours" Sakura snapped back.
"And since when do you have the right to question any of us, hm? Do not, for your sake, exist under the misconception that you are safe, and that we won't kill you after you finish repairing him" Itachi sneered, the tomoe's in eyes beginning to swirl. The girl's blatant disrespect was beginning to annoy him, and he found himself advancing towards her before he had the time to rationalize his actions.
"Who says I will even do it in the first place then?" Sakura stated, before her brain began to process what she had just said. Crap, she thought to herself inwardly as Itachi began to approach her menacingly. She retreated in response until she felt the hard wood of the walls pressed up against her back. The Uchiha did not stop drawing nearer until he was a few inches from her face.
"Because if you don't I will kill you right here and right now" Itachi breathed down on her, satisfied as fear began to consume the kunoichi's eyes.
Despite the fact that Sakura had to prevent herself from shaking, she forced herself to remember back to a time when she had made a commitment to herself to become stronger so that she would be able to stick up for herself, and never be left in the shadow of Sasuke and Naruto again. She felt herself calming as she thought of all of the hours of training she had put into it, and all of the pains and aches and bruises. She didn't need Inner-Sakura anymore to help her confront others- she had the power to do it herself.
She smiled towards the Uchiha.
"Well, that would be counter-productive. You could murder me, yes, but how long would it take for you to find another medic- nin with the capabilities necessary to heal all of his extensive injuries? A few hours, probably, and by then it is likely that he would already be dead" Sakura responded, and Itachi watched as the fear began to leave her eyes with puzzlement. He also realized, to his distaste, that she was right.
"You will heal him. Because I assure you that if he dies, you will as well" he said forcefully, before abruptly taking a few steps back away from her face, turning, and heading out of the bedroom. The door clicked softly as it was closed, which Sakura considered ironic considering the Uchiha's mood. She turned towards Kisame, who had watched the exchange with obvious enjoyment.
"What?" Sakura asked tersely, now a little distraught about the exchange.
Kisame laughed. "I don't think I have ever seen him riled up so fast" he stated with a smirk, before turning to leave the room. He had only managed to get a few steps forward when he heard a voice behind him.
"Wait!" Sakura called. Kisame turned around expectantly. "Do you know where I can find a bathroom? Or some hot water and some towels?" she asked.
"You are going to heal him?" Kisame asked in surprise. He had thought that she might play out acting like the stubborn and indulgent child a bit longer to irritate Itachi. Now that he thought about it though, it would be to her advantage to listen to Itachi. He was not kidding when he mentioned the likelihood of her death if she failed to heal Deidara. Which was too bad, the blue man snickered to himself, because he could not ever remember a time when anyone had talked back to his partner and lived.
"Of course" she stated virtuously, before raising her brow. "The supplies?" she asked again, this time a bit more impatiently.
"Second door on the right" he replied, giving the girl an odd look, before heading out of the door. Sakura relayed her thanks, before approaching the drooping shinobi, who had been strangely quiet during her exchange with the Uchiha. And just like that, Sakura remembered his name.
"Deidara?" she asked softly. He jerked, staring blankly in front of him like a dead fish. "Oh my…" Sakura said to herself, realizing that the fever had progressed dangerously before taking action. First thing first, he had to be unconscious. Hitting a pressure point near the shinobi's neck and laying him comfortably down on the bed, Sakura instantly relaxed into her medic-routine and left to fetch towels and large bowl of water. Returning, she cleaned him of as much blood and sweat as she was capable before sending bits of chakra into his system for damage control. Stomach cavity, she acknowledged to herself, before noticing the repulsion that her chakra was getting from his hand. It's not his, she realized in surprise, before brushing away her discomfort and continuing her assessment. A few cuts and bruises, but the hole in his stomach seemed to be giving him the most trouble. Not particularly surprising.
Sakura spread out the content of her medical bag on the bed beside Deidara and began to work.
*******
Itachi returned to the room roughly three hours after he had left it. In this time he had plenty of time to analyze his reactions to the strange kunoichi, but he was still unable to understand why he had overreacted to her acquisitions. This ignorance bothered him greatly, and he could not help but blame the rosette in response. It did not help that he was openly mocked for his actions by his partner…
So it was in this mood, irritated and impatient, that Itachi approached the door. Kisame had informed him that Sakura was planning to heal Deidara, despite her initial defiance. Itachi was not sure, and did not look forward to having to be the one to kill her, which is what would assuredly happen if she had failed to save the blonde. The Akatsuki could not afford to keep around weaklings with sharp tongues.
Pushing open the door noiselessly, Itachi was stopped in his train of thought as he took in the scene in front of him. Deidara was clean and neatly stitched, lying on unsoiled sheets and breathing regularly. The kunoichi on the other hand was… a mess. Lying unconscious, the top half of her body against the bed the bottom half in a chair, her hair was spread out in sweaty clumps around her head and there were bags underneath her eyes displaying her obvious exhaustion.
Itachi toke a few steps forward. Neither moved. Allowing himself to relax slightly, and sighing to himself in exasperation, he had half a mind to turn and leave before he thought better of it. Truth be told, Akatsuki was in need of a good medic. Their last member to have come the closest to fulfilling this status had betrayed them and left to form his own village. Needless to say, they did not have the time to run around stealing girls whenever one of them accidently injured themselves.
Ignoring the pinprick in the back of his mind that told him that this decision would assuredly lead to his demise, Itachi walked over towards where Sakura was lying and scooped her up into his arms. She was so light… his surprise had just enough time to register before he felt the girl wriggle a bit in his grip. He immediately stiffened, and when he looked down her head was facing his chest and she was breathing too softly to be awake.
Confused, Itachi visibly shook his head, before walking quickly to a spare bedroom and dumping Sakura unceremoniously on the empty bed. Growling to himself at his nagging conscience (still firmly in place despite his occupation due to his mother's… more violent upbringing techniques), he roughly tugged a blanket over her form, before leaving to get her bags, a disgruntled look still on his face. Kisame watched as the Uchiha passed by him, practically stomping, and let out a rumbling chuckle. Life was sure to get interesting, he thought to himself.
The next thing Sakura knew, she was sprawled out on the bathroom floor laughing harder than she can remember laughing in a long time. The look on Itachi's face… She began laughing again. Who knew such an infamous assassin kept his temper on such a short leash, Sakura thought to herself with a smirk, before she recalled Kisame's words. He had said that that behavior was abnormal for Itachi…
Sakura found herself snickering again, and rubbing her bulging stomach absentmindedly before she stood up from where she was on the bathroom floor. Smiling to herself she left to dump her mug of cold tea out in the sink before refilling it. Taking a sip of now pleasantly warm tea, Sakura considered the memory.
Her defiance wasn't particularly surprising. After her parents died in an accidental fire before her seventeenth birthday, and after she uncovered the conspiracy theories that seemed to be controlling the council, Sakura was pretty bitter with life for a little while. If she was true to herself, she knew that she had never really gotten over that and that the sarcastic and cynical residue had left its mark on her personality. She had never considered that it would have such drastic consequences, though- back sassing to the Uchiha. Lord. She was lucky to be alive. She had to agree with Kisame now, though, it was certainly entertaining to watch.
Sighing and letting another small smirk broaden her lips, Sakura toke another drink.
Lunch with Naruto and Kakashi had been very enjoyable today. They had gone to Naruto's favorite Ramen stand, talked about good old times, and Sasuke had not been mentioned once. Sakura could practically feel her good mood pulsating, and smiled brightly for the entire world to see. They had even offered to pay for her.
Sitting up from the stool a little awkwardly while holding her stomach out in front of her, and generously thanking her boys, Sakura was about to walk away when the sound of Naruto's voice stopped her.
"Sakura, wait!" Naruto cried out, before flinging himself in her presence. "Where are you going?" he asked, beaming brightly at her.
"I need to pick up a few groceries and get some new clothes" Sakura stated, patting her stomach for emphasis. "Why" she continued, tilting her head slightly to the side "Would you like to come?" Naruto nodded energetically in response and together they headed into the marketplace.
Immediately Sakura felt herself walking over to Nokia-san's booth.
Her relationship with the large-breasted woman had improved greatly since their first encounter. Over the past few months Sakura had found herself wandering over to the clothing booth and, relaxing in the older woman's presence, prattling about nothing in particular. It had been very comforting to her to have an older female to rely on, especially because her relationship with the Hokage and Shizune as of late had been rather strained, and Nokia-san had proven to be both intelligently insightful and trustworthy. So it was with great familiarity that Sakura greeted the woman.
"Nokia-san!" Sakura announced cheerfully, before leaning over the booth table and giving the woman an enthusiastic hug. Nokia-san laughed a little as Sakura's stomach got in the way of their interaction, before pulling away, her hands lingering on Sakura's arms.
"Sakura-chan" Nokia-san stated smiling fondly, looking from her, to Naruto, and back again. "You want something?" she asked, slightly puzzled.
Sakura's face became a little abashed as she replied, "Clothes, actually. I am getting so big…" Nokia-san let out a pelt of laughter at the young girl's embarrassment, putting her arms down by her sides, before she began quickly rummaging through the clothes pile in front of her.
"You're not so big yet" Naruto stated, coming up beside her. He smiled briefly at her, before turning and watching Nokia-san with a slightly concerned expression on his face.
"Yet" Sakura stated with trepidation, scowling at the air in front of her, before sighing loudly and turning to watch Nokia-san rummage as well. Glancing back towards Naruto, Sakura noticed that her teamate was fidgeting nervously, and turned towards him in concern. "Are you alright?" Sakura asked, her brows furrowing.
"Umm, well…" he started to say, before pausing and trying again.
"Well, Sakura-chan, Kakashi and I just wanted to ask you about…" Naruto started to say again, before more fidgeting took over and he stopped himself, wincing.
"About what? Honestly, Naruto, you're acting worse than Hinata" Sakura laughed, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder and attempting to smile through her concern.
"Well…" he started to say looking at the floor, before he stopped again. Then, suddenly, Naruto's back straightened, his eyes grew determined, and while Sakura's hand fell from his shoulder he turned and looked directly into her eyes. Someone's found their resolve, Sakura thought to herself with relief. "Kakashi and I wanted to talk to you about the father of your baby. We've been… dancing around approaching you for months now" he stated, and Sakura was struck by the thought of how much he had grown since they were twelve.
"And?" Sakura asked, somewhat amused that he was finally going to say something.
"Well, we think it's Sasuke" Naruto stated warily. Neither Naruto nor Sakura noticed that Nokia-san had stopped shifting her piles of clothing. Sakura turned towards Naruto.
"I don't think so" Sakura stated with a half smile on her face. She had been right, she thought to herself with a laugh. Her disposition grew grimmer after she had the time to take in Naruto's expression, however, which was rapidly darkening.
"You don't understand" he growled, "We know it was him." With the declaration Naruto toke a few steps forward towards Sakura, a determined expression dominating his features.
Sakura narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms on top of her bulging stomach in response to Naruto's obvious aggressiveness. "You know it was him?" she responded skeptically with a single brow raised.
"Yes!" he snarled, before realizing how angry he seemed and forcing himself to take a few steps back. Breathing loudly, he closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them and turning back towards Sakura. "Sorry" he stated shortly, before running a hand through his hair angrily. "It's just… he was the one who left you here half a year ago. Didn't anyone tell you? They found you on the same stone bench as… Look, I saw him Sakura. He was standing over you, watching me… and he just disappeared as I got closer. But I was sure it was him" Naruto explained with a frustrated expression.
"Sasuke left me here?" Sakura asked, feeling more than a little startled. That possibility had not even bothered to enter her mind, so she felt, understandably, a little winded at the revelation.
Naruto nodded gravely in response.
"And on the same stone bench, too… the bastard" Sakura stated scowling into the space beside Naruto's head. Turning towards him, she added, "He isn't the father, though."
Naruto's brows furrowed in response. "Well, who else could it be?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, mimicking Sakura.
Sakura sighed loudly, and stated more than a little whimsically, "I have no idea." She smiled at Naruto in hopes of ending the conversation, before turning towards Nokia-san purposefully. The woman in question had an armful of clothes and was staring at Sakura more than a little strangely. Sakura was about to ask the woman about the reason for such an expression, before Naruto's voice interrupted her from speaking.
"But you admit it's a possibility" Naruto stated, taking a step so that he was now beside Sakura, standing in front of the booth.
"You honestly think Sasuke would want to have sex with me? That he would be interested in having sex with anyone?" Sakura stated dubiously, her head turning back towards Naruto's.
"He is a man, Sakura" Naruto stated with a knowing look, and Sakura thought right then that he appeared far older than he had any right to appear. She shook her head in response to his statement, and snorted loudly. "Come on" Naruto whined slightly, "You have to admit that you are a little Uchiha obsessed. Don't think I haven't noticed all of the scrolls in your house about them."
"Sasuke doesn't concern me" Sakura rebuked defensively, her eyes once again narrowed. She toke a side step away from him, holding a protective hand over her stomach as though that would protect them both from his words.
"Sasuke doesn't concern you? Since when? I thought you loved him" Naruto stated, once again obviously confused. He resisted from taking a step towards her, allowing Sakura her space.
"I was twelve and foolish, Naruto. And just in case you didn't notice, he left us. He thought he was too good for us and he didn't believe that we could help him get stronger. He thought he had to leave us and become more powerful on his own" Sakura responded with a grimace.
"So now he doesn't concern you?" Naruto reiterated, his face still expressing his disbelief.
"Yes" Sakura stated strongly. "He doesn't deserve my concern. He can fix his problems on his own. My babysitting never accomplished anything in the past, and it certainly won't do anything now" she continued, determined and angry.
Naruto appeared a little distraught at her answer, but curiosity seemed to get the better of him. "So who does concern you?" he asked, concern splayed across his own face.
Sakura sighed, looked down at her feet, back up at him, and then seemed to glance around them. She finally responded after a few minutes of tentative searching, and after she had determined that the ANBU trailing her were far enough away not to be too much of a bother. "Itachi" she stated reluctantly.
"Itachi?" Naruto exclaimed loudly in surprise. He immediately quieted as Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "Itachi?" he repeated again at a much lower decibel.
"Some of my memories have returned," Sakura explained, still obviously reluctant, "And he has been in a few of them. But his actions and words… they just don't make sense. He doesn't make any sense Naruto! And I don't make any sense! Why don't I hate him?! It's frustrating because I have no idea why. It feels like I am missing… something." She let out an aggravated breath of air before continuing, "I am trying to find out what that something is."
Naruto wasn't even able to respond for a few moments, but when he did, he let out a large snort and started shaking his head. "You are concerned about… Itachi? The person who murdered his entire family? The reason Sasuke left us? You are concerned about HIM?" Naruto asked, becoming more aggravated as he talked, and making violent gestures to accompany them. Sakura said nothing in response to Naruto's accusations. "Kakashi was right" Naruto stated tersely, "He said you were obsessing over something recently, something beside the pregnancy. I just assumed it was Sasuke. But Itachi!" He turned away from Sakura for a moment, before turning back around. "Something?" he stated sarcastically, still obviously angry.
"Don't you get mad at me, Naruto. I don't deserve this" Sakura replied with a frown, her fists curled by her sides. Naruto seemed to be struggling not to say something, and aggravated simply turned and left. Sakura stared after his departure sadly.
"Sakura-chan?" Nokia-san's voice interrupted her from her bought of depression. Sakura put on the brightest smile she could manage at the moment and turned towards her expectantly. The woman, an anxious expression deepening the wrinkles on her face, put the pile of clothes into the young girl's arms somewhat reluctantly. "You okay?" she asked.
Sakura just smiled wearily in response. "I hope I will be soon" she sighed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. The things that could happen if I did...
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