Itachi sat, unbound, chin resting on his feet, seemingly deep in thought.

Sakura smoothly took the seat opposite him, her face carefully blank.

He looked up.

"You've been keeping secrets." Sakura said, jumping straight into the conversation without any greetings or pleasantries.

Itachi's playful demeanour was gone. He studied her with half-lidded eyes, looking bored. "All my life." He agreed.

"Why did you surrender to Konoha? Why didn't you reveal the truth? Did you want to be detained? Who are you loyal to?"

Itachi's mouth flickered, one corner twitching upward very briefly.

"One," He counted, holding up a finger, "I came home to observe you and your relationship with my brother. Two, who would I reveal the truth to? Who would believe me? I came here and waited for the truth to be exposed, or for the Council to cover themselves by ordering my death. I was curious. Three, I believe I've explained this already. Four, Konoha, as always and forever."

"Why did you want to observe me my relationship with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"We met. Sasuke and I. A complete accident, we were in the same forest at the time. I sensed him coming, and I allowed it. Since killing our family, I have long awaited the day where Sasuke would take his vengeance… and redeem the clan. But… he refused. We spoke for a while, I lied a bit and he got angry. But he would not fight me. 'I don't want to be your tool,' he said to me, 'Either kill me here like you should have done years ago, or let me leave. I want nothing to do with your plans.' Of course, I could never kill my brother so I let him go. But there was something he had said that intrigued me. I asked what changed his mind, since he was so determined to kill me just a few years ago. He refused to tell me at first, but eventually your name came up."

"Me?" Sakura frowned. She had convinced Sasuke not to kill Itachi?

"He wouldn't say more than, 'Haruno Sakura isn't and will never be special.' He was lying to keep you safe, I imagine, believing I was out to kill all he loved. Don't look so surprised. Sasuke had always kept his feelings to himself, I have since gathered. I wanted to see the person who had changed his mind, the spanner in the works. I've been planning my own death for quite a while, you see, but you changed things."

"I can't apologise," Sakura said unrepentantly, "You should never have told a child to live for revenge. You ruined his life."

"I had already ruined his life. He saw his family dead at my hands. I have… the means in which to die, but no death wish. I was not trying to force him to assist my suicide. I took the role of murderer to spare my clan's shame, to keep the Uchiha name being soiled. In death, they became heroes to the village, and no one would ever suspect that they had once planned a coup against Konoha. Sasuke would kill me, avenging the clan, and be hailed as a hero."

"I imagine your plan was spoiled," Sakura said dryly, looking at the man with intense dislike, "when Sasuke followed in your footsteps and betrayed his village, all in the name of revenge. Konoha does not consider him a hero, and they still wouldn't, even if he had killed you."

"True. I was not pleased to learn he had joined Orochimaru. I wanted him to grow stronger, after all. That snake could only cripple his progress."

"I want, I want," Sakura mocked, anger coiled in her stomach, ready to flare, "You were happy, then, to be the one to cripple his life? To rob him of his childhood? He devoted his life to getting stronger. He pushed everyone close to him away. He betrayed us. He nearly killed his best friend, my best friend, all in the name of your ridiculous plan to make him a hero! Why couldn't you have just fallen on your sword like a decent martyr? You seem so concerned with what you want," She thought of Sasuke's thinness, his death wish, waiting alone for Naruto in a far-off, snowy part of the world, and her anger soared gloriously. She reached across the table and grabbed Itachi's white shirt, yanking him forwards. His face was pulled close to hers, bare of expression, no surprise in his features.

She could feel his breath gently touching her mouth, "Did you ever think you were causing so many people irreparable harm? That your noble schemes to make heroes of your family were not actually wanted or needed? The Uchiha clan plotted against Konoha and the truth will be revealed."

She had expected Tenten to dash in the moment she yanked Itachi out of his chair, but nothing happened. Perhaps Itachi was free to defend himself, should he wish it.

She could feel his chakra quietly simmering beneath the surface. It was powerful, one of the strongest chakra she had ever felt. The absolute strongest had been Naruto, infused with the Kyuubi's power.

For the first time, she saw him grow angry. His gaze was searing, red flickering through the dark eyes, a warning. She swallowed, his eyes flickering down to her throat to catch the movement reflexively.

"No." He said, "I do not want that. The clan should not –"

"The trouble is," Sakura said, dropping him back into his chair, "Not everything revolves what you want. No more lies. You will leave your cell and live wherever Naruto puts you –"

"I – I will –" He cut himself off, looking uncharacteristically frustrated. Did he not plan for this? The truth coming out? "I won't have anything to do… with the Uchiha Compound. I have no right to be there."

"I think Sasuke-kun will want to stay in the Compound anyway, so it's probably for the best you avoid it." Sakura said, carefully watching his face for his reaction.

He stiffened, hands stilling halfway into fists at his sides, his expression stunned.

He slowly looked up, a deep crease between his frowning brows, "Sasuke is in Konoha."

"He came willingly, when we told him you were here. I assumed he wanted to kill you, but if he already had the chance…"

"He will want answers." Itachi looked a little sick, his skin pale, "It will not be easy, telling him."

"Yes, well, you owe him an explanation at the very least. And you will have to see him before you are rehomed. Have to make sure you can walk around the village without him screaming death threats and frightening the locals." Sakura gave a frustrated sigh, massaging her brow, beginning to feel a dull throbbing in her temples. It was never simple, was it? "Well, I'm sure Naruto will think of something. If not, then… you wouldn't object to this," She gestured vaguely, indicating the building, "being your new home? Familiar, at least."

"Amusing." Itachi said tonelessly, "Can you not think of –"

"I don't have time for this," Sakura muttered, thinking of all the packing she had to do back home, and then there was making sure Lee knew how exactly to take care of Yuki, and she had some bills to pay, and she'd have to juggle her shifts at the hospital around… "I have to go."

"What?" Itachi tilted his head, eyes curious, "Where do you have to be?"

"I have a mission. I trust you will cooperate with someone other than me now that you've… assessed my relationship with Sasuke-kun?"

Itachi smirked at that and looked away to the corner of the room, "I hope it isn't dangerous."

"I know you've been out of practice for a while, but missions typically are dangerous." Sakura crossed her arms, feeling a little underestimated.

"You do realise I have completed hundreds of missions in my lifetime?" Itachi raised his eyebrows at the wall, his mouth curved into a pleasant smile. Sakura shook herself mentally and tore her eyes away.

Don't fall into his trap, she chided herself. He wants you to banter with him. Banter leads to camaraderie. Camaraderie leads to friendship. Friendship with Uchiha Itachi could only ever lead to pain, anguish and misfortune. And Sasuke certainly wouldn't be pleased.

"Right!" She said briskly, startling him into turning around and giving her another curious raise of the eyebrows, "I'm going. Try to behave yourself. Please?"

"Yes, Mother." Itachi replied dully.

"Oh my God, no," Sakura said, horrified, unthinking, "Don't ever call me that!"

Itachi gave a low chuckle, a glimpse of white teeth showing with another genuinely amused smile, "Well, try to be less motherly and I will consider lowering you back to your true chuunin status."

She glowered at him. Only Itachi could manage to slip that familiar chuunin dig into a random comment.

"I," She gritted out every word between clenched teeth, standing up, "am. A. Chuunin. By. Choice."

"Yes, that seems to be the case." Itachi nodded, smiling blandly, his expression faux-innocent.

Letting out a wordless screech of exasperation, Sakura threw her hands into the air and whirled around, yanking the door open, hissing, "You are free to leave, Uchiha-san!"

She charged down the hall, ignoring Tenten's amused comment of, "Lover's tiff?"

She got halfway to the exit when she heard Itachi's voice.

"Good luck, Mother. I'll miss you."

Her infuriated scream echoed through the hall, along with the door she slammed behind her.

xxxxxxxx

Her uncle was her last living relative.

She was reminded of this every morning when she awoke in her parents' bed, confused and filled with a sense of something not being right, something she felt every morning ever since she had first climbed under the covers, sobbing too hard to breathe properly, shuddering for hours until she finally fell asleep.

They died in the invasion, casualties. They went looking for Sakura, refused to be evacuated with the other civilians. They had never taken her job seriously, could never think of her as a soldier. She was their daughter.

They didn't last ten minutes in the warzone the village had turned into.

She was told it was quick.

In the tent hastily set up next to a crumbling wreck of a building, Sakura had been held back, prevented from entering any further. All she could see was her mother's wrist hanging over the side of a bed, her father's clothing neatly piled in the corner.

Though they held her back from the medical tent, they could not hold her back from returning the battlefield.

Even Naruto had stood back in awe that day. She did not fight like herself. She had been fierce, ruthless and amazing. She had fought until she found herself left without anyone left to fight, and had not a shred of guilt afterwards. That came later. But then, in that moment, she was triumphant.

And now her uncle was missing.

She didn't know him that well. He lived in the village of Arashi, not too far away, but enough that visits were infrequent and often unplanned. Her family had never come to his village, he had always showed up on birthdays or anniversaries with a small smile and a token gift. He was her father's brother. When he heard that she had lost her parents he immediately came over and stayed with her until she felt well enough to be alone. In truth, seeing how his own grief shattered him made her feel worse, so it had come as a relief when he had waved goodbye and hitched a ride home with a passing merchant.

But he had her hair, and she was always told that her short temper came from him. Family, to Sakura, was like different parts of yourself wandering around. Someone you could look at and see yourself reflected in them. She didn't want to lose that completely.

Burying her concern over the Uchiha brothers, she hauled her bag more securely over her shoulder and trudged on, Arashi now just a few steps away.

It was a cloudy, dreary day and it looked as though rain was coming. She gave a sigh, smoothing down her hair with her free hand.

Curiously enough, Arashi had two guards posted right outside their closed gate. It gave a distinct feeling of hostility, and Sakura felt a chill go through her at the sight. A few drops of rain spotted the ground, darkening the soil in patches, and she shivered again.

"Ho there," One of the men posted at the gate called as she approached, light eyes passing over her in a way that was not entirely professional, "What brings you here?"

Arashi, Naruto had told her, was a bit of a mystery. It had grown suspiciously quiet in recent years, no one visits and no one leaves.

Sakura steeled herself, pasting on her most charming smile. Time to put on a new face.

"I'm from Konoha," She said sweetly, pointing to her hitae-ate and slowly opening her hands to indicate she was unarmed. The stiff, defensive postures of the guards relaxed a little, "The lord Hokage sent me to assess the amount of damage done to the village, to see what I could do."

Luckily, Nishimura Daiki, the lord of Arashi, had been writing to request Naruto's help for a while now, giving her the perfect excuse to check out the village.

"Oh," The guard completely relaxed at that, "I see. Took your time. Look at that –" He pointed at the top of the wooden, spiked fence around the village. Many parts of it were blackened and scorched, holes in places, " – it takes daily repairs to keep this fence secure and we have to have shinobi come do their jutsu stuff to stop the storms getting too bad. They come a long way for it, too. Farther than Konoha, that's for sure –"

"Oh, I'm sorry it's been so rough," Sakura interrupted, smiling sympathetically, "Do you not have shinobi in the village?"

He gave a rough, incredulous laugh, "No, we ain't like you big villages. Keep out of trouble. Lord Daiki sees to that."

"I understand," She nodded, "but things must be bad here. This area is prone to storms, isn't it?"

"Yeah," He agreed, expression darkening, "It ain't natural. We'd leave but… this is our home. Bit of thunder and lightning -" torrential rain suddenly began to pour from the sky, " – and rain ain't gonna shift us."

"That's admirable," She tried to smile, getting soaked, "Do you mind if I enter the village now?"

Well done, she thought waspishly as the guard frowned, full marks for charm.

The guard exchanged a glance with his fellow, who, after a long pause, nodded.

"Right, no problem. I'll escort you to Lord Daiki, if you don't mind." He gave a shout to whoever was manning the gate. An answering shout rang out in the air and the gate began to lift, the wood slick from the rain.

"Thank you." She smiled brightly, turning her charm on full blast. He smiled back, flicking a glance at his fellow guard that was more knowing than suspicious, and she could have pumped her fist in triumph. It had been a while since a man had reacted to her in any manner other than, "Thanks for the bandage, do I have to pay for the medical supplies," or "Here's your change," or even, "Argh, you bitch, that was my eye!"

It was sad that her interactions with the male sex mostly involved seeing to her patients or killing people. Or Kakashi climbing in her window because he's having another mid-life crisis and he wants her advice. Or Naruto clumsily suggesting they should go on a date, seemingly blind to Hinata's look of absolute despair right behind him.

It was good to know that in a pinch, she could still have a bit of a flirt.

Useful skill, that. It had saved her life before.

She followed the guard into the village of Arashi as the gate lifted enough for them to safely walk under, wondering exactly what had happened to her uncle.

Arashi was a small village, small enough to walk around comfortably. The buildings were all made from the same type of wood, varnished and cheap-looking. She could tell the buildings were made to be easily disassembled, there was nothing above two floors high and the wood was thin and slotted together expertly. It was a temporary solution. Nothing damaged in the storm was irreplaceable.

Sakura and the guard walked down the main path of the village for a while, enough time for Sakura to examine her surroundings and come to an uncomfortable conclusion.

There was no litter. The few people that were out of their houses didn't stay on the streets long, hurrying off the moment Sakura and the guard approached. She noticed more guards milling about than civilians.

They passed a small, crooked-looking building that smelt strongly of fish and something caught Sakura's eye, halting her.

A young boy stood in the alley, his face grubby with both dirt and blood. His eyes were watery, too big for his face. His hands were buried in the folds of the off-white shirt that swamped his thin frame, elbows trembling in a way that suggested cold.

Sakura bent down, forgetting the guard next to her, and gave the boy a big smile. He blinked rapidly, tripping backwards, suddenly fearful.

"Do you need help?" Sakura asked quietly, reaching for the boy's arm, meaning to comfort. He ripped it away, yelling in fright before tearing off down the alleyway.

As he ripped his arm away from her, Sakura's sharp eyes caught blood and bone, missing fingers, a fresh wound.

"Thieves everywhere." The guard said disdainfully, "We have a deterrent that stops them reoffending, though. Come this way, we're almost there."

"You cut off fingers as punishment for stealing?" Sakura stared the man down, her eyes hard. He looked away, mouth working soundlessly.

"We – Well, that's the way things are done in successful villages."

"Of course," Sakura gave him a smile, mentally reciting every lesson she had ever learned on how to inflict pain slowly, "I fear Konoha is a little soft with its punishments in comparison."

The guard relaxed, smiling back stupidly, "You never know, this new Hokage may be tougher."

The lord's home was obvious, the only building not made out of cheap wood and taller than the rest put together. As they got closer, Sakura noticed the building was slick from something, and not just the rain. An amber-coloured liquid oozed down the sides of Daiki's home.

She pointed it out to the guard, who squinted through the rain and nodded. "That's the gel Lord Daiki had imported over. It's supposed to protect the building from weather damage. It's worked so far."

"Why don't you use it on any other buildings?"

He looked sheepish, "It's very expensive."

Sakura turned her head away and pursed her lips in displeasure, "I see."

xxxxxxxx

Nishimura Daiki was a short man.

Taller than her, but still, shorter than your average man.

He turned around to receive her, arms wide in welcome, smiling politely, "Sakura-san, is it not? Lovely to have you here. So, the good Hokage finally got his act together and sent someone to help, hm?" He chuckled, "Just my little joke. I'm very grateful for any assistance you can provide."

"It looks as though, aside from the weather issue, that Arashi is a well-run village," Sakura said cheerily, bowing deeply, "I was just hearing from one of the guards how low the crime rate is here. Konoha has a particular problem with pickpockets."

"We don't tolerate deviance in this town. Perhaps when Konoha lends some bodies for the work done to the village, we will teach them how to keep crime down."

"That would be much appreciated." Sakura smiled amiably.

"You have a good attitude, Sakura-san. You're welcome to stay the night in one of our hotels, if you like. The road may be dangerous at night. Have you found what you were looking for?"

Oh yes, Sakura thought, frightened locals, harsh punishments, unequal treatment between the rich and poor. She was beginning to build up a picture of what had happened to her uncle.

"Yes, I have. I'll write up a report tonight for the Hokage to read and he will decide the best course of action from there. I'm certain he will be very interested in helping restore and maintain Arashi."

This seemed to please the lord. He sat down at his desk, smiling to himself, shuffling through some papers. Sakura took it as her cue to leave.

En route to the hotel, Sakura idly walked passed her uncle's house, making no outward sign of recognition. It looked as though it hadn't been touched in months. Dust layered the windows an inch thick from the inside and two souring bottles of milk lay on their sides in the front guarden.

Sakura continued to walk on, smiling, thinking to herself just how careless this lord must be, how new to the tyrant game he appeared.

Rule number one of making people disappear, make sure they don't have any shinobi relatives who will do anything to avenge them.

xxxxxxxx

Sasuke brushed a finger along the surface of the old desk. Dust and grime clung to his fingertip. He grimaced, wiping his hand on his side, walking out of the room and down the hall.

Someone, a long time ago, had made an attempt to clean the house up. They had done a fairly good job. The carpets had all been stripped away, probably burned. Anything useful or valuable was gone, either confiscated by the government or taken by opportunistic looters.

Sasuke stepped into his parents' room, breathing the stench of decay and rot.

After a long time spent tracing his eyes over the furniture again and again, he lay down on the dusty floor in the space where the bed used to be, wondering who had stolen it and how. A white sheet was screwed up in the corner. He hooked it with his foot and dragged it over himself, feeling as close to his parents as possible.

Itachi was in Konoha. He had surrendered. Sakura was in charge of interrogating him.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Haruno Sakura, hm?" Itachi had mused, scarlet eyes capable of piercing through any façade of nonchalance Sasuke could throw up. He had stood, fists clenched, filled with a sense of fury and thinking not this time. Itachi had tried to kill Naruto all those years ago. Sasuke would not throw Sakura in his path.

"She isn't special and she never will be," Sasuke had said, "She just helped me realise that following your orders is the last thing I want to do."

"Not special?" Itachi had tilted his head, "I wonder…"

Sasuke clenched the sheet and tried to settle his heartbeat. The window was broken and poorly-boarded up, so a chill drifted through the room. He could see stars through the gaps in the wood.

He closed his eyes and wished for sleep.


Long break between chapters again, I know! I apologise :( At least it can sometimes build the suspense?

I recently finished watching a very cheerful, slice of life anime series, which made me feel super happy! It was difficult trying to write this after watching it, which is probably why the first half of the chapter is sort of funny whereas the rest is darker after the high wore off XD

My apologies, I said Sakura would be more of a shinobi in this chapter but I had to cut the chapter off there :S The next chapter should bring at least some awesomeness. Sakura may have neglected her shinobi training, but even a shinobi out of practice can make a huge difference in a village of civilians. Especially if her last living relative is in danger.

Things that should happen in the next chapter or two – Sasuke begins life in Konoha anew and rediscovers his home, Itachi struggles with his new status, Sakura finds herself humiliated and gets a very unsavoury offer.

I don't like Sasuke.

But I'm trying to write him fairly. I don't wanna demonise him anymore than Kishimoto's already managed in canon, so I want to make him sympathetic, somehow. Hopefully by the end of this story you'll want to give him a hug.

Hope you liked it!

Quick poll for fun: What is it you hope to happen in this story?

No suggestions :)