Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Starts in Kakashi POV. Sorry for the lateness.

Healing

By: Apherion

Chapter 10: Only You

Tsunade consented, only after thorough interrogation. She had questioned his purity of his will, and the reason he wanted to do it. He had proven Itachi's worth, the repentance of the now only survivor of the Uchiha clan. It had taken well into the night to do so, the process was dreary, and he knew Tsunade wouldn't have acquiesced with his plea had he not been who he was.

All the while, he didn't think of his choice's consequences. He didn't care though, he will have redeemed himself in Sakura's eyes, and that's all that mattered to Kakashi. No one else's approval was needed except hers.

Luna and he didn't speak to each other. She was already asleep by the time he had gotten home. He loved her, but Sakura had meant more to him…for some reason he wanted her to be content. For some unknown reason, her feelings meant more than anyone else's.

Tsunade came to them the next day.

"Sakura, you and Itachi are allowed to return to your home." Sakura looked at Tsunade asking a plain question in doing so; he could read her face so easily. "The home here, in Konoha," Tsunade answered quickly. "Though his charges are…being debated, the council and I feel that these last days should be comfortable…" she seemed hesitant to reply to Sakura. He was quick to catch that. Then he noticed the older woman's resolve stiffen minutely. There had been another shift in Sakura's chakra.

"Sakura…?" Tsunade whispered quietly, but the pink-haired woman still heard it.

"What is it?" She asked looking confused once more. The blond just shook her head.

"Nothing…it's nothing…never mind." Tsunade had the guard open the cell, which creaked eerily. Itachi knew Tsunade had caught on. He took Sakura's arm and pulled her with him with irresistible force.

"Itachi," she yelped, once they had managed to get outside. He took in a breath and released his grasp on her arm.

"I'm sorry Sakura." Sincerity laced his words and as he stroked her cheek with his fingertips, tears filled her eyes. She launched herself into his arms, tears spilling onto his shirt.

"Why should you be sorry?" She choked, after several minutes of composing herself through noiseless sobs. He had felt her shaking as she grieved. It was heartbreaking for him. And the news will kill her, he thought.

"Everything they can't forgive me for, Sakura," his tone was grave, but he pressed his lips against her neck. She pulled back from him, taking his hands into hers.

"Let's go…" she faltered, unable to name what had once been her home. He nodded, and she led the short way to her house.

After unlocking the house with her chakra, she brought him into the place that used to be home. Nothing had changed. The furniture was still in place, dust accumulating accordingly on countertops and bureaus, worn-looking and unused.

Itachi didn't question the state of her living, and she was thankful he didn't. It's nothing like our house. That house is too simple for it to not be beautiful, but this…this was far too large to ever be a ninth of the beauty she'd seen in their home.

Maybe it was that feature that made this house so unwelcome. The fact that she and Itachi had shared a house and a bed and called it 'home' where they both should dwell made that small house beautiful.

"You're crying again," he whispered gently. She didn't feel the tears dripping down her face. The briny taste entered her mouth, and sure enough. She knotted her hands in his black hair, and embraced him. They didn't touch each other's lips, but they didn't need to.

Eventually, they released each other from their intimate contact that expressed almost every bit of their hunger for not wanting to leave the other. Itachi took her hands in his and sat her down on the sofa.

"Sakura," he whispered morosely. She looked at him, alarmed at his tone. It sounds as though he's announcing something worse than his death! Her green eyes were wide with fear.

"Please Sakura…you must understand this is difficult for me…I don't know how to make this easier on you either," however, in reaction to his words, she snuggled into his warm body. She sighed, and put her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat in her ear, thrumming incessantly. A shaky exhaling came from the one underneath her petite form.

"Sakura," he whispered, his voice pleading, and she sat up, further frightened. "I will…live on…" the way he said it was as if he was referring to an old conversation, and she would never forget what he said to her only yesterday. His hand rested on her stomach.

The words clicked with the indication from where his touch fell.

There were no words to describe her feelings. Nothing registered to her mind for comprehension, no happiness, no sadness, only a hollow fear of mingled emotions flitting about her insides, almost making her queasy. She couldn't even cry.

He took her in his arms and held her close, too close to him, and for the first time she heard him cry the tears she couldn't shed. He was human; he was capable of everything humans are known for doing. He made mistakes, she learned first-hand that he could love, but tears…she had no idea that he would ever…

"No," she said gently at first, but the word stuck in her head. The maelstrom of feelings dulled to allow anger to bubble to the surface. "No," she repeated firmly, getting to her feet. Even with tears streaming down his face, he still had composure. He stayed silent, not blanching like she would've.

"I don't want this!" She yelled at him, and she too, found herself crying. "I don't want this," she whispered again. He was still stationary on the couch, but his voice was strong when he spoke.

"Because I will be gone," it wasn't a question. However, his assumption was correct. As she sifted through the catastrophic tempest racing through her mind, she knew the reason she was angry was because he wouldn't be there with her, to see the child.

She realized a second later that he had embraced her, holding her head to his chest, while his lips were against the top of her petal-colored head. She clinched his shirt and gritted her teeth, hushing her urge to cry; the moment too bittersweet.

"I love you more than anything, Itachi," she whispered, "but I don't want to remember you in such a way. It'll hurt too much. I've been hurting too much," and she broke down again, holding fast to his shirt, as though it was her lifeline.

"Sakura," he said, voice muffled a bit by her hair, "I love you, and I want you to live, find someone who will love you too and"—she cut him off.

"No, Itachi, only you—only you can heal me," and though her face was buried in his chest, he managed to pulled her face up to his and kiss her lips softly.

"You'll just end up hurt again," he whispered against her lips, but she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter…" she sighed, touching her lips to his as she spoke. "For now…it doesn't matter…"

TBC...