A/N: Brace yourselves. A lot happens in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Smile

…

"I want to talk about what happened last night."

"Is this in regards to me grabbing your hand..? I do apologize for that again."

Sakura gasped slightly. She shook her head waving her hands. "No, not that… I mean about your dream, or nightmare—whichever one it was," she clarified. "But only if that's alright with you."

Itachi, as it turned out, really wasn't alright with sharing whatever thoughts struck his mind overnight not that it came as a surprise Sakura. She couldn't help but be reminded of Sasuke and how he tended to evade disclosing anything dealing with his personal life with non-clansmen.

He treaded softly around the hospital garden with Sakura walking closely by his side. At first he'd spoken to her very vaguely about the subject of his nightmare and the reality behind it all before dropping it entirely. When Itachi spoke, she never once interrupted him. Instead, her face would contort in various ways expressing her emotional response to the details he provided, which mind you, were sparse, but still just enough to leave her to infer certain details.

After a pregnant pause to gather the right words, Itachi spoke again stating his thoughts a bit clearer.

"Much like Shisui, this man was very genuine. My bonds with Shisui often led to me being around him too, so I grew to recognize him as an extended patriarchal figure apart from my own father. I owe a great deal of who I am today to him."

Itachi paused once more as a strong breeze embraced the pair from the side, causing his face framing bangs to violently sway. As the wind calmed again, he combed the stray strands back into place with one suave motion.

Sakura found herself turning her head to face Itachi around that moment. Surely someone who left that much of an impact on him must have been very important to him.

"It's because of him that Shisui and I managed to awaken our ocular powers without ever succumbing to the curse of hatred. There aren't many others who've managed do that."

Eventually the recollection of events surrounding Itachi's and Shisui's past met its end and Sakura, well, appeared slightly distraught. She didn't entirely understand what these recounted details fully entailed, but the fact that he shared any of this with her was enough for Sakura to realize that yes, he did trust her even if only a little. It was a big step in the right direction in Sakura's mind.

That aside though, the mention of a man with serpent-like features didn't escape Sakura's attention. There was only one man that she was aware of who possessed such traits regardless of the body he made himself home to.

"Even back then he was a monster," she spat bitterly. "I can't stand him. He's caused too much trouble for Konoha and for your clan." She clenched her right hand into a fist so tightly it naturally trembled. "And Sasuke… he hasn't been the same since that day. That guy… he just makes my blood boil! The next time I see him.. I'll definitely make him pay," she growled, slamming her fist into the open palm of her other hand.

Of course from what he'd heard during his brother's first round at the chūnin exams, him and his team encountered the snake sannin in the same manner—Orochimaru inhabiting another's body, that is. It was no surprise that Sakura was able to identify who the unnamed serpent man was in the dream.

"It's no secret that Orochimaru seeks the power of the Uchiha clan. Both Shisui and I understood that the day Kigali died."

The girl let out a groan as they continued walking side by side until spotting a vacant bench along the garden path. Sakura, though still bothered with this piece of information, noticed a slight drag in Itachi's footsteps and guided him towards the bench for a short break. It seemed his body was yet to reach full strength again—at least as much strength as he was now capable of; it was best to respect that and make sure he did not strain himself.

For a moment they sat there silently, Sakura calming her breaths as Itachi's eyes gaze drifted towards the sky. He hadn't been out in a long while; he only ever had the window to his room open, so this was a rather nice change in the recent routine for him.

Though a typically stoic individual, Sakura was easily able to identify a slight sense of elation in Itachi's façade from the corner of her eye. While she was still upset, she noted that it was best she push this aside as there were more pressing concerns at the moment, Itachi's condition taking top priority.

The corners of Sakura's mouth tugged upward slightly as she glanced in Itachi's direction. Sensing her eyes on him through his peripheral vision, Itachi's eyes flickered towards her briefly; it was just long enough that in that moment she spared him a chaste smile before his eyes wandered in the opposite direction ever so casually.

How many times had she done that now? He found she smiled often with him—sometimes reassuringly, while other times it'd be a smile of relief. And then there were those that served neither of those purposes; it was just a smile with no motive behind it, a genuine, sincere smile, just like the one now.

But then there were other times he'd caught her in the act with a deceptive smile. If he were to bet on it, he was certain that these false smiles were her way of coping with difficult situations. Somehow that concept seemed to match the girl perfectly.

From what he'd heard from Shisui, who entertained him with tales of the pink-haired kunoichi, the girl wasn't wholly as sweet as she appeared, particularly when it came to Naruto and her former sensei, especially when it came to his literature choices in public. It wasn't so much that she was cruel either; more so, she took to the task of keeping them in check.

For a moment, Itachi wondered if she'd ever tried to do so with Sasuke. He was fairly certain that even if she attempted to, his brother would have probably remained unresponsive. From what he remembered in his state of feigning consciousness during his assessment, that was exactly what happened. These days Sasuke was seemingly quick to allow his temper to control him; it was troublesome to say the least, especially with how frequent it was occurring. That thought alone left Itachi feeling rather unsettled as he deduced the cause already, the man responsible for Sasuke being consistently monitored not only recently outside of the compound, but inside too for the last few years unbeknownst to the rest of the village.

Just then, said roseate shifted her position on the bench, crossing her ankles just beneath it and leaned towards the man, her hands clasping at the edge of her seat. She looked at him with her large inquisitive eyes as he looked off into the distance with an unreadable expression. She was curious as to what was on his mind, but decided she wouldn't ask about that in particular. There was something else however that Itachi brushed up upon while vaguely recounting his past memory.

"Itachi, if you don't mind me asking, what was that 'something' you mentioned that Kigali said before his death?"

As expected from him, he stayed silent, unwilling to answer.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. After all, there's a reason you left that part out after all, hm?"

"…Shall we continue walking?"

Sakura nodded in response after a brief hesitation.

Itachi stood up with Sakura at his side again, who effortlessly and gently stabilized him before continuing onward. Both knew that Itachi was capable of doing so on his own, but he figured it was just her doctoral instincts kicking in. Still, he was prompted with the urge to comment on something quite peculiar he'd noticed upon contact with her now and in previous times.

"Your chakra's very stable, I dare say eerily calm even." he spluttered out, surprising himself—which hardly ever happened—with how frank he'd been. It wasn't like he was above giving credit where it was due, yet almost instantly he sighed deeply in his mind at how obvious the statement was. She was a medic after all.

"Well I could only hope so after going into this field, huh?" she said with a radiant smile. "Wouldn't be much of a medic if I lacked chakra control now, would I?" She waggled her finger matter-of-factly.

"That is certainly true, but that leaves me to ask, where does all this go when you're in battle?"

It caught Sakura off guard how the words almost dance off his tongue teasingly. "What do you mean? You had to have read my chakra flow back then, so what's there to really explain?"

"On the verge of losing consciousness, the ground trembled mercilessly at what I can only assume was your own doing... or was I mistaken?"

Of course he wasn't mistaken. He was Itachi Uchiha, prodigy, youngest to ever become ANBU captain with the mind of a kage at only age seven, and soon-to-be leader of the Uchiha clan. That is to say, if all went well.

"Oh, that. During my training with Lady Tsunade over the last few years, she warned me that just because I was a medic, that didn't mean I didn't have to know how to defend myself. She used the technique in her days as a fear mechanism, you know, to warn opponents not to get too close as she healed her comrades. For me, it became a natural part of my fighting style and likewise defense."

"That was how you intended to-"

"Stop Sasuke." Sakura cut him off, completing his statement. "Unfortunately as chakra natures would have it, while it stopped his advance, it didn't end too well." Her voice drifted off towards the end, but she perked up a bit as she spoke again. "But not everything that happened was too bad. Sasuke's seemed to finally adjust to my presence again for one, don't you think?"

And there it was again; another smile rested gently on her face. But unlike other times as with her earlier smile, there was something off with this one. Her eyes crinkled at the corners while her eyebrows knitted upwards.

"You know, hiding your thoughts and feelings behind smiles alone will not change the situation we're in, in the slightest.

"…I know. But I'm hopeful that each smile isn't wasted." At that moment Sakura side stepped on front of Itachi and spun on her heel. Her gentle eyes were intensified only by the furrowing of her eyebrows. "I've told you before; I'll see to it that you recover even if I have to wager my own life. You're not going anywhere on my watch. I will tell you this every day if I have to until I see this through to the end, I can promise you that much."

Itachi's head tilted ever so slightly to the side and craned forward slightly as Sakura challenged his gaze. Such a strange time to have a stare down and yet there it was until at last the girl's reddened eyes blinked the dryness away. In a test of measuring up her will, Itachi kept his eyes locked onto her face for quite a while. Ever so slightly he tilted his head to the side narrowing his gaze at the same time.

He sighed.

"Your resolve is admirable, but don't let it blind you from reality. You can only ever manage to control so much of a situation, but there will always be a party that has advantage over the other. If you can't figure out a way to overcome that, where would you even begin in this situation?"

The question was left hanging in the air as Sakura found herself unable to respond. Before she knew it, they arrived back at Itachi's room, the rest of the walk uneventful an silent.

The following morning, Itachi awoke at the sound of a curly haired Uchiha crouched by his bed greeting him with a wide grin.

"And he lives! Tell me, how long have you been looking forward to this day?" Shisui shot up with arms outstretched. "I'll tell you what; I could not for the life of me wait any longer. Little 'Tachi's a handful, you know? And to think at one point I wanted a younger brother. Sheesh! My Itachi will suffice."

It was maybe only half past six in the morning, leaving Itachi to believe that his friend had snuck in. "…good morning to you too, Shisui." Itachi groggily opened his eyes and scanned the room as he sat up in bed. He immediately noticed his IV bag was completely drained, something Sakura always made sure to keep replenished. "Has Sakura stopped by this morning?"

At the mention of Sakura, the lighthearted mood shifted into something a bit darker.

"Actually about that… there was an emergency back at the Uchiha compound last night after you went down. She left to examine the case, it being diagnosed similarly to you and all. Her little blonde friend was entrusted with discharging you, I heard."

Itachi wasted no time in removing the IV from his arm. Anyone else might have argued that it wasn't the best thing to do, but Shisui found it characteristic of any Uchiha

"Oh, she's probably not gonna like that."

Itachi wasted no time in swinging his legs over the bed and marching over to a newly laid out stack of clothes his family had left him just last night.

"I'll go get Ino, see if she can discharge you already."

"Hn."

When Shisui returned only seconds later, Itachi was still changing into his shirt revealing his lean and toned torso.

"Ah. On second thought, Ino might enjoy that," Shisui pitched.

By the time Ino arrived after quickly making her way to the room, Itachi's shirt was in place.

"Hey Uchiha, you're not supposed to be here right now! Visiting hours start at eight," she scolded. It took her a moment to notice Itachi's IV disconnected; it was what prompted her initially to head towards the room before catching Shisui wandering in her direction. She tilted her head in confusion. "Hey, what's up?"

"I apologize for Shisui's trouble as much as my own, but how soon could you get me out of here?"

Because above all, Itachi was not for inconveniencing others no matter how urgent he needed to attend to business.

"Well I can go ahead and take care of that now. How come?"

Shisui responded for him. "Something came up back home."

Oh... it clicked in Ino's mind as she remembered Sakura asking her only hours earlier in private to take care of discharging Itachi. "Please watch over her. She's reckless at times, but she means no harm."

There seemed to be an understanding here that Ino and Shisui both reached regarding Sakura. Whether Itachi would admit his concern out loud was unlikely, but it was there, they noted.

Even if Itachi's mother was okay with Sakura's presence, there was no way the rest of the clan would be just as accepting, especially the elders. And that was the problem. Lack of support from the elders was susceptible of shunning from the entire clan.

Throughout the night into the early morning Sakura worked alongside the Uchiha clan family medics. They weren't open to her being there and found it strange that she was as they had no idea of her relations to the main family. In fact Mikoto found herself in strong defense of Sakura, claiming that as the apprentice of the Hokage, she was among the most qualified to study and hopefully reveal some kind of cure for the illness.

Such a long night it had been however, and after hours upon hours of nonstop observation and study from Sakura's part she finally connected enough data to reveal a great theory infuriating to many of the clansmen.

"It's not that the illness is exclusive to Uchiha. I'm sure you are aware of what it means to inbreed. While it's done to preserve the Sharingan at one of its strongest and purest states, inbreeding is something that is capable of weakening the immune system of one's kin."

Sure enough, that seemed easy to understand, but the offense some took to this was overwhelming.

"What you've witnessed throughout the clansmen is the ability of some Uchiha to not be able to fend off even the most basic of bacteria. That is why there are common symptoms of coughing up blood, unsteadiness and so on and so forth. You are treating your clansmen as if they all suffer from the same thing, which in a sense is correct—the weak immune system, that is. However, not all will succumb to the same disease or illness. It seems that you've taken to treating them all the same way due to those common symptoms and in doing so you've failed to take proper action in caring for the ill."

"Now wait just a moment, you're blaming us for this?" The voice was from a middle aged female medic.

"That isn't what I said. The possibility of other illnesses was ultimately overlooked. That isn't to say that many have not succumbed to the same fatal diseases though. Not everything is matching up in the diagnosis…" Sakura bit her bottom lip realizing she let slip something she didn't intend to say.

"What do you mean and what are you basing this off of?" One of the clansmen asked with a glare so sharp Sakura could feel it penetrating through to the back of her head.

The next voice that spoke up was one Sakura didn't necessarily expect. She wasn't so sure if she was thankful or not for his interference either. "Miss Haruno, may I see you outside for a moment?"

"Yes, of course, Lord Fugaku. Excuse me."

From her knelt position, Sakura rose with a bow and left the space quietly. She followed Fugaku out while Mikoto stayed back in the room to avoid raising any suspicions.

As they reached a secluded place, Fugaku spoke. "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

"I'm not saying that what Itachi has is necessarily different from what that man back there has. It could have definitely started out in the same fashion due to the weakened immune system, I mean. Everything after that however, I don't know. All the symptoms he's shown don't make sense… it's definitely different what he has. I just can't put my finger on it."

"And what about all the fatalities this clan has suffered so far. What's your explanation on that?"

"It's probably a terminal illness of some sort, unfortunately. Just this night alone, I visited three clansmen reported with whatever this illness is at seemingly different stages. They all have completely similar symptoms, but Itachi's case is different…" She continued rumbling some things more to herself. Her eyes lit up when she mentally came across something notable in her head. "It's as if there's something purposely forcing his body's defenses to weaken and it's not genetics either."

"How are you supposing this happened?"

"I… to be honest, I'm not sure. But I'm at least certain of this much. And it still can't be said whether or not what he has is fatal, but I'll have to be more cautious with this now."

Fugaku closed his eyes and hummed to himself. "Very well. That's all. But Miss Haruno, I'd advise for you to keep a tighter grasp on your tongue. You could very easily say something that could cause trouble.

"I understand."

They headed back towards the building most silent before frantic running and feint cries rang out in the direction where the ill man was bedridden.

What's going on?

Immediately Sakura's walk transformed into a sprint alongside Fugaku's. Bursting into the room, they caught sight of the man in a once stable condition convulsing violently.

Sakura's eyes widened as she hurriedly made her way over to his side doing what little she could to re-stabilize him as she had done the evening before now.

Minutes went by until he finally let out choked back scream, his body tensed up accompanied with his onyx eyes rolling back. A moment later, his eyelids slid shut painfully slow as his body went limp.

But Sakura didn't want it to end like so. She placed her head against his chest to detect a heartbeat that was no longer there. All she could do now was attempt CPR. Forming a chakra scalpel at the tip of her index and middle finger, she formed and incision on the left side of the man's ribcage and slowly slid her hand through, holding his heart in her hands. She began chest compressions and alternated into rescue breaths as the onlookers watched distraught and some shocked.

Three minutes… no response.

Four minutes…

Come on! She gritted her teeth.

"Just say it already."

Sakura's head tilted down while she bit her lip in frustration whilst still doing compressions.

"I know you heard me, doctor."The words dripped with contempt.

"…" Sakura kept quiet and withdrew her hand from the man's body, healing the incision she made. "

"Now say it," the elder Uchiha growled. Her patience was withering away quickly at Sakura's silence. "Tell them what you know that they all don't want to hear, dear girl! You come here claiming you can save our people. And now we're waiting for your judgment, you who was trained by Lady Tsunade!"

"What do you want me to say? He's…!."

At that moment just as Sakura's head shot up for the rest of her response, she found herself hidden behind the back of a man whose presence she was becoming very accustomed to already. He spoke softly, respectfully so, unlike Sakura's brash tone just moments earlier.

"Clan Elder, please. If you know already, then surely you can deliver the information to them. Leave the girl alone already."

It was a voice from the heavens. Sakura found herself mentally thanking him over and over again for interfering the way he had done. When he did, she found herself regaining her composure and apologized for her attitude just before announcing the time of death and excusing herself. She felt pitiful honestly all throughout the rest of the day.

Lady Mikoto asked her to remain in the compound and had Shisui accompany her back to the main house and show her to an empty room. It was like a chamber to escape reality. When Mikoto asked her if she wanted to join them for lunch, she politely declined and when it came to dinner there was no response from the girl. She only hummed in silence questioning her own resolve and fighting an inner battle.

Was she responsible for today? Was she responsible for the coma? Was she responsible for something she couldn't cure? Was she responsible for the hatred that consumed Sasuke back in the exams? Each one led her to weigh her role in the respective question at hand and even though she really wasn't responsible for how each thing turned out, she couldn't help but feel all the weight come crashing down on her.

It was truly stressful and more than anything she wanted to be rid of this overwhelming feeling. She decided fresh air might help her cool off a bit and so snuck out the door to sit on the ledge leading down to the courtyard.

For minutes she sat there in complete silence watching the sun set. Her eyes followed the warm gradient that embraced the sky.

"It's beautiful." She breathed in the fresh air with a gentle curve at the corners of her lips, eyes closed letting nature have envelop her.

One day it'll be like this for him too. Ten years from now… and years after that, Itachi will be here to watch the sunset. And he'll remember it as the end to another day of life, but will acknowledge is as another day he got to live. Each and every one of them with his family, his children, and his spouse.

Her emerald eyes opened slowly at her new-found resolve. Maybe in reality she was okay being stuck with this overwhelming feeling. Moreover, she'd be lying if she said she being around two of the handsomest guys in the village didn't make it easier to cope.

Sakura smiled to herself. Itachi and Shisui were definitely something else. It didn't escape her attention either the support she received from the latter. The former on the other hand, while not necessarily showing support, struck a chord with Sakura. Somehow he was seemingly becoming her motivating force. He challenged her ability and will but never truly undermined what she was capable of.

Gradually time continued to pass with Sakura reflecting on many other things. The crescent moon was soon enough the only thing to light up the night sky from where Sakura was. Her gaze wandered down though at the sound of a flock of crows dispersing from a small forest just beyond the courtyard. She didn't think so much of it until a faded violet glow appeared sending a stream of chills down her spine.

…No. Sakura's eyes widened as she stood carefully. It can't be. "It just can't!"

In a mad dash, Sakura jumped onto the roof top of the main house and down to the other side. This powerful chakra was one she'd never hoped to see again.

Her mind was overcome by a flood of memories from the day in the Forest of Death when she cut her hair. When she fought to protect Naruto and Sasuke. When Sasuke awoke. When Sasuke's curse mark activated. When he was almost out of reach.

Sakura's dash came to an abrupt stop when the violet flared madly before subsiding altogether, leaving an exhausted and pained Sasuke doubled over, his body leaning against a tree while his dominant hand held on painfully tight to the location of his curse mark.

The roseate's eyes stung as she watched from afar, her short-lived elation ruined by the pain Sasuke felt. Slowly she inched herself forward weaving herself through the trees to his location far off in the distance.

"Sasuke…"

Upon his name being even from such a distance, Sasuke looked back. In his state of delirium, he wasn't sure if he had just imagined things or if someone was truly there. All he knew was that there was no one there now.

Back at the entrance of the forest, Sakura found her back pressed into a man's form whose hand covered her mouth. His own back rested against the trunk of a large tree. His warm, deep breaths brushed down her right shoulder as he kept her restrained. In a low voice he spoke.

"It'd be in your best interest not to wander around the compound this late at night. It's unfortunate that you witnessed what you just did but... Sakura, listen to me carefully. What's going on with Sasuke is nothing you should concern yourself over. I'm handling this. He'll be fine."

Slowly Itachi's hand slid from over Sakura's mouth when he was sure she had calmed down. His other arm still clutched around her opposite shoulder, both her hands gripping onto his forearm from the sudden shock of his restraint.

Sakura's turned towards Itachi's, their faces only a few inches apart. From what he could tell, her body screamed frustration as she tried suppressing her anger; her eyes spoke of endless fears, uncertainty, and worries. She spoke in a hushed manner as her lips trembled.

"How can you be so sure?"

Itachi's grip loosened when his narrowed gaze met Sakura's. Why did she question him? Itachi Uchiha was hardly ever questioned with matters such as this, his call during a mission, his decisions in battle, the confidence hidden within his reassurance that yes, he was very capable of solving matters. Sakura Haruno questioned Itachi and while it came to him as something new, being doubted, that is, it filled him with a sense of something else.

He was still human, meaning he could only solve so many problems, save so many lives before one day, the streak would break and this vision he maintained would come shattering down.

"I'm not. And I don't want to mislead you in believing everything is okay either, but I'm putting my trust in you, you should be willing to put a little bit of your faith in me as well."

His hot breath tickled her skin as it slid across her contours. A moment later, he realized that he and Sakura were standing closer than they needed to now that they were out of Sasuke's hearing range. He smiled wryly before releasing her completely.

"You have to accept that not everything can be handled by you alone if you truly wish to succeed. Trust me with this. He's my brother, after all."

"But he was my teammate, Itachi. He was under my watch when this happened. Please don't let me just stand by unable to do nothing for him! I've had enough of that already. I've had too much of that. It's my fault he's like this. If I had been stronger... if only I had been stronger, none of this would have ever happened!"

"There's no reason for—"

Sakura spun her body around to properly face Itachi. "I blame myself because I COULD'VE been stronger, but I never trained how I should have. I knew nothing going into those chūnin exams that didn't involve books because I was too caught up in an immature love."

"Sakura..."

"I should have been able to prevent this! And you know this too! And you probably think me weak for not being capable of doing anything then or being able to help now!"

She continued muttering away with tears in her eyes much to Itachi's chagrin as he stood idle. It was tragic how broken down she was. So Itachi did the one thing he thought could fix this. In an instant his Sharingan activated, inducing Sakura in a strong genjutsu that would keep her incapacitated for now.

Sakura slumped over, only to be caught by Itachi. He hoisted her into his arms bridal style and imparted a few words that would never reach Sakura's conscious.

"Unfortunately it was Orochimaru you were dealing with. No matter your strength at the time, it would have had the same results."

"She's hurting, you know. I could hear it in her voice." Shisui spoke from atop a roof. "If she keeps holding that against herself, it'll interrupt her work with you."

"She'll be fine tomorrow. I'll take her back to the room."

"I hope you're right. The air is feeling awfully heavy with everything that's happened today."

"Hn."

Shisui leaped from a rooftop down by Itachi's side. He rested his hand on Sakura's head momentarily, saddened by her true thoughts. "Anyway, I'll keep watch of Sasuke, make sure he makes it back to home tonight."

"Thank you, Shisui."

For years they lay hidden in a hideout off in a neighboring land. For years, they waited for everything to fall into place. And now everything finally was.

"It seems his seal is finally reaching its breaking point, Lord Orochimaru." The words danced out of the white haired man's mouth.

A low, grumbling maniacal chuckle escaped the much older bedridden sannin. His smile stretched wide across his face. "Kabuto, I'm sure you know what this means for you."

"Why of course, Lord Orochimaru. You need only wait just a little longer. Soon he will be your vassal. And after that, well, you know the rest."

In his mind, Orochimaru relived the scene over and over again in which Kagami's life was lost. "What was it that he said, 'as long as they live, you'll never touch my clan'?" He grinned as the current situation spoke otherwise. "Such a fool Kagami was to think his son and Itachi would be able to prevent this."

A/N: It's finally out. I did it. After almost a year with no update, I finally got the next chapter out for you all. I really want to apologize for such a long delay to all my old followers. As for my new ones, welcome and I hope the wait wasn't too long. I appreciate all of you sticking around though and hope you continue to do so. As for the reason of this delay, I'll put it simply that life got very busy, I had quite the writer's block and then this weekend I woke up and voila, I was able to finish. I doubt the details matter too much, so I'll leave them out.

Anyway, if you enjoyed the chapter or want to leave any insight, constructive criticism and what not, please feel free to do so. Until next time!