Leaning against a stony spike on the head of the Yondaime, Naruto stared out at Konoha deep in thought. He considered himself a simple man—not that he underestimated his ability to rationalize, Naruto just knew he didn't ponder the complexities of life like Shikamaru might. His truths were simple. When he made a decision, he stuck to it. It was his ninja way. He chuckled, thinking about his serious determination at thirteen when he first declared that he would carve out his own path in the shinobi world.

No wonder Kakashi-sensei laughed at me, he thought smiling as he sat on the cold rock of Hokage Mountain. I know I wasn't much for rule-following, but bucking the whole shinobi system? He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and snickered.

A lot of years and a lot of experience taught Naruto not to be so brash with his tongue—even if his heart stayed true to that independent sentiment. After all, it was that same stubborn spirit that changed the minds of many and, eventually, revolutionized the ninja world. Gazing at the twinkling lights of his hometown, Naruto sighed with satisfaction, thinking how much had changed for the better.

Sure, he wasn't Hokage—yet—but Sasuke was back. That was an accomplishment he felt especially proud of. He'd set his mind to retrieving his best friend and he'd made it happen. As painful and twisted as the road home was, Sasuke was content in the Leaf.

Or at least Naruto thought he was.

Karin's words floated through his head. Was it true that Sasuke felt the pain of loneliness being one of the last remaining Uchiha? Naruto could relate—he had no one in the village he could call his blood relative.

But, he thought, it doesn't hurt so much knowing I've got people who care. A smile brightened his whiskered face as images of Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Iruka surfaced in his mind.

Visions of his precious people were shoved aside by thoughts of a younger Sasuke pinned under Naruto's forearm. His stomach squirmed uncomfortably as he recalled Sasuke's hurtful words.

"What the hell do you understand about me? You had nothing in the first place!"

He understood now what it meant to lose people who were close to your heart. His eyes blurred as he remembered Jiraiya's raucous laugh. He understood all too well.

But to lose everyone you cared for? Could he really understand Sasuke's pain?

He was happy now that Sasuke had returned to the Leaf. Maybe it was his positive nature, but Naruto never once doubted that Sasuke would come home safe and whole. Now that he was here, he was determined to keep him in Konoha. He wouldn't lose another precious person if he could help it.

In the distance, he saw Sasuke walking out the front doors of the hospital—his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his head slumped toward the ground. He knew his best friend better than anyone and he recognized that Sasuke was troubled.

He was on his feet, ready to leap from the Fourth Hokage's head in a flash, before he caught himself. He remembered what Karin said—Sasuke needed time to himself to sort through this whole Itachi mess. Would Naruto be irritating him further if he tried to talk with him? Would he tell Naruto he could never really understand? He wasn't sure. He knew Sasuke wasn't one for words. Maybe Karin was right. Maybe he should give him some space.

Naruto slid back down to the rocky top of his father's likeness. Letting Sasuke wander on his own, filled as he was with black thoughts, left Naruto with an unsettled feeling in his gut. Maybe he'd fill the void with some noodles. Leaping from Hokage Mountain, his stomach lurched anxiously and Naruto thought that, then again, maybe he'd head home.

"Sasuke!"

Sakura shot up from the couch. She looked around to see that she was alone.

What happened?

Last she remembered, she was telling Sasuke about Itachi and…Sasuke's hate-twisted face appeared in her head. Sakura threw her legs to the floor and shook her head—she needed to find him. He didn't know the whole story. She had to tell him about the seals.

Balancing a tray with a teapot and cups against her bulging belly, Shizune elbowed the door open as reality began to seep into Sakura's brain. She clicked the door shut with her hip and turned a strained smile Sakura's way.

"Sleep well?"

Sakura was overcome with guilt. Why did it always seem like Shizune was there to mop up her mess?

"Shizune, I'm sorry."

Her senpai was already whisking the tea into a frothy, green cloud with a little more force than necessary when Sakura apologized. She stopped and turned toward Sakura and the crease on her forehead and the downward turn of her mouth seemed to melt.

Sighing, Shizune said, "Go clean yourself up."

Silently obeying, Sakura stepped into the office's tiny bathroom and was shocked by her reflection. Tear tracks darkened her eyes and her cheeks were splotched with red welts where she'd wiped a little too vigorously. Sakura washed her face and sank back into the couch numbly.

A hot cup of tea was pressed into her palm as Shizune brushed the hair from Sakura's face, saying, "You've been working too hard. Even you need to rest sometimes."

Filled with deep appreciation for her selfless friend, Sakura smiled. When Shizune smiled back, understanding came to Sakura—they were comrades, friends, sisters. They were there for each other in times of need. She reached out and squeezed her hand.

"How's Itachi?" she asked, sipping the hot tea tentatively.

"Resting. Tsunade was in earlier. She spoke to him. Told him what happened with the Council."

Sakura tried to read Shizune's expression. Had things gone well, she wondered. Hope and anxiety were fighting in her chest. "Well?" she prodded.

"You know our shishou—she's as skilled as ever in handling the Council. She told them Itachi was acting in defense of the village and that they had no jurisdiction over him. She claimed Itachi was protected under the Miyagi Convention."

Sakura brows knit in confusion.

"It means he can't be tried for eliminating his clan because his actions were carried out under the laws of war," she said, hooking her fingers into quotes.

"Wow…so…so, Itachi's a free man?"

"Not quite. They're still deliberating and there'll be counter-arguments and more legal crap than this medic cares to understand," Shizune snickered.

Sakura felt like a weight was lifted from her chest. Itachi would not go to jail. That meant Sasuke would get his brother back. She felt lighter than air. Sasuke would finally have a family.

The weight crushed Sakura again when she watched Shizune rub circles on her pregnant belly—Sasuke had already started a new family.

"If you ask me," Shizune said with a wicked grin, "I think Tsunade wants more Sharingan in Konoha's arsenal. I told her that you'd be more than happy to spearhead Project Sharingan Resurgence with that other acquitted Uchiha, but she said she couldn't wait around for that to happen." She giggled teasingly.

Sakura's head dipped and her limbs suddenly felt full of lead.

"Hey…Sakura?"

"Apparently, Sasuke couldn't wait either," she mumbled under her breath. Setting her cup down, Sakura said, "Well, I shouldn't keep our patient waiting any longer." She stood and made for the door.

Shizune put a hand on Sakura's shoulder to stop her. "You know he spent the whole day here, right? I told him I'd sic ANBU on him and he didn't even flinch. He wouldn't leave until I told him I would take care of you. Sakura." Shizune turned her around, eyes hard as steel. "You mean something to Sasuke."

"I guess I just don't mean enough." Sakura shrugged, pulling the door open. "I'll take Itachi's next two shifts, Senpai. Thanks for the tea and…everything."

Trying to shake thoughts of Sasuke out of her head, Sakura shuffled toward Itachi's room. She could already see his untethered hair gathered in inky snarls around his face. He did seem to be resting, as Shizune said.

Still and silent in his bed, Sakura decided Itachi looked…peaceful. Her fists clenched as indignation shot through her—how could he sleep so angelically, without a care in the world, after the pain he put Sasuke through?

Halting in the darkened corridor, Sakura knew she'd have to rein in these thoughts. Itachi was her patient and she owed him the best care she could give. Slowly, she forced her legs to walk forward. She tried to recall what Kakashi shared with her about Itachi's mission—how he'd done it all because of his deep love for his brother.

Considering the explosion of chakra in her office just hours ago, maybe Sasuke didn't agree that love was his brother's motivation. Knowing that Sasuke's lifelong pain and anger twisted him, leaving him open to become Madara's pawn made her agree with Sasuke on this point—was that really the life Itachi planned for his little brother?

Her conflicting feelings caused her to flare a bit more chakra than she would've normally used to unlock the door and Itachi stirred. Sakura was determined to keep a cool exterior, even though her emotions were raging like a tsunami. She picked up the clipboard that was attached to the end of his bed and flipped through the pages, silently catching up on the mundane details of Shizune's expert care.

Slipping the chart back in place, Sakura opened a cabinet to prep a replacement IV bag. All the while, she repeated the instructions on how to do so like a mantra in her head—anything to keep her from contemplating the shinobi in the bed next to her.

She could hear Itachi shifting under his sheets as she unhooked the used IV bag from its chrome stand and hung a new one. Sakura reached out for his wrist to assure herself that it was flowing correctly and was surprised to feel Itachi's arm flinch at her contact. She felt a small pang of guilt—had she not already decided that, regardless of what he'd done, Itachi was her patient and deserved to be treated with more care?

When she finished attaching the new drip, she channeled chakra to her hands in order to do a more thorough examination. Instead of dropping his wrist and placing her hands directly on his chest, she held his wrist loosely then gently slid her hands across his body to ease the transition. She smoothly wove her chakra through him incrementally, so as not to disturb his system. He sighed and she felt his muscles relax under her compassionate touch.

Sakura closed her eyes and began to visualize the pathways in Itachi's body. If she could find the binding seal, she might stand a chance of containing it. Completely immersed in her work, Sakura almost jumped out of her skin when a voice as deep as rolling thunder said, "Haruno-san?"

She opened her eyes to see Itachi's blindfolded face turned in her direction. He was waiting for a response. What could he possibly want from her, she wondered. Thinking it had to be a utilitarian question about his condition, she replied clinically, "Yes, Uchiha-san?"

"How long have you known my little brother?"

Sakura's hands froze as her mouth gaped. What did he know about her relationship with Sasuke? And what kind of question was that? Did he have a hidden agenda behind such a seemingly innocuous question? Why not ask her something equally bizarre, like how's the weather, Sakura thought suspiciously. Her eyes narrowing in his direction, she decided the truth was always the safest route—just as little truth as possible.

"I've known Sasuke since we were children."

"From the Academy?"

Again, suspicion mounted in Sakura. What was he hoping to learn?

"Yes." She wasn't giving him any more information than exactly what he asked for.

"And, in his genin cell, you were his teammate."

A statement—because he knew the answer, had asked it once before, she remembered with a chill. But the sharp point of the word teammate cut her deeply. A pit of sadness opened in her stomach and she couldn't stop the sigh that passed her lips.

"Yes. We were on Team Seven together." Why did it hurt so much to say that in the past tense? Sasuke was right that night when he told her they would all walk different paths from now on. Team Seven didn't really have that fairy tale reunion that she and Naruto dreamed of. Despite that, she still wanted very much for Sasuke to be happy—he'd been hurt so much—even if it wasn't with her, she thought. Her lip trembled.

Realizing she'd been dazing out for more time than was appropriate with her hands still poised on his shirt, Sakura cleared her throat and told Itachi that she need to probe his system once more.

"Are you in any pain, Uchiha-san?" Itachi slowly nodded. "Okay, I'm going to try to find the source of your distress and encapsulate it. At the very least, I'm hoping it will reduce your pain." She looked at his disbelieving frown. "Are you ready?"

At his assenting nod, she evenly floated her chakra across his raw nerves.

Having very little in the way of stimulation because of his restraints and blindfold, Itachi was compelled to focus on the sensation of Sakura's fluid chakra easing its way through his system. He felt like he was slowly being enveloped in warm water. Muscles that were perpetually tightened against the pain began to relax.

The last time Itachi felt this level of relief was when he'd injected that hypnotic opiate from Kikai Island—that bit of relief cost him consciousness for three days and, afterward, the pain rebounded tenfold. He knew he didn't want to experience that again. He felt his body instinctively trying to fight against the relaxation, knowing there could be no relief without consequences.

A deep, resounding thump that he knew was too loud to be his heart reverberated through his body. Was she trying to kill him, he thought with sudden alarm. Adrenaline raced as his hands fought against the restraints, itching to pull the medic off of him. If he could just pull a little harder, he could break the bonds and wrap his hands around her throat. He was panicking—his body was on fire. Panting in agony, Itachi realized he would have to overpower the kunoichi soon before she was able to complete this deadly jutsu.

The restraints were seconds away from yielding when Itachi was drowned in a wave of cool, airy bliss. Groaning, he sank into the mattress, muscles unwinding into the first true release he'd ever felt. Tentatively scanning his own chakra network, he was shocked to find that she'd diminished the seal's hold on him. He was nowhere near cured and there was still pain throughout his body, but he felt it—relief.

Sakura's hands were sliding wearily off his chest. With a surge of gratitude, he reached for her wrist as it grazed his hand. He felt her freeze and remembered how guarded she was—he knew she was being evasive during his questioning, but he discovered more in her silences and sighs than in her answers. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand to assure her of his intentions.

"Sakura…thank you."

He was dismayed to feel her flinch in his grasp. Had he said something wrong? He released her and she collapsed into a chair.

Itachi had underestimated this kunoichi. She certainly was accomplished. He'd assumed that, being on a team with his exceptionally skilled brother, she would be quite ineffectual—Konoha's Academy sought to balance strength with weakness in genin cells. It seems he was very wrong.

He needed to find out more about this woman. How had she given him the comfort that some of the shinobi world's most skillful medics had not even come close to providing? He reveled in the sweet feeling of relief before formulating a plan to discover who exactly Haruno Sakura had become.

Opening his mouth to ask about her training, he heard her exhaustion-slurred voice.

"Itachi?"

He was a little thrown by her informal address as he turned his head toward her to indicate he was listening.

"What was…what was Sasuke-kun like before…?"

That one unfinished question gave Itachi all the information he needed about Sakura. He smiled in her direction as the remembered sound of his baby brother's laughter rang in his ears.

He'd found someone who loved Sasuke as much as he did.

Once again, Paige, I'd be lost without you. You are the burrito loco of friends!

And everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, and read this story so far-I can't thank you enough for the happiness you give me! I laugh, sigh, and blush furiously at your reviews. Thank you!