(You guys are way too nice. I was trying to make sure that Chapter 9 wasn't too sappy, but I guess I got everything right. Thanks again for the reviews, I'm glad so many people enjoy my writing.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just this story.

Mature content warning for language and lemon in later chapters.

Sakura: age 18

Sasuke: age 18

Itachi: age 24

Take your pick

Chapter: 10

Sakura walked through the busy streets towards the Ichiraku ramen stand to have lunch with her teammates. Itachi had gone off to report to the Hokage leaving her with a kiss and a promise to meet her for dinner around 7 pm at his house. She had no idea whether he would order take-out or cook for her again, but either way she was happy to just be with him. When she reached her destination she was surprised to see only Sai sitting there sketching something in his notebook and waiting patiently for everyone to show up. She sat down on the stool next to him and nodded when he looked up. She was about to ask him how he was doing when a very loud blonde yelled from behind them. "HEY! Sakura-chan, where have you been for the last couple of days?" Naruto walked up and took a seat beside her with a worried look on his face. "I haven't seen you at the hospital and you haven't even met us for lunch. Were you sick or something?"

"No, Naruto, I wasn't sick. I just had an emergency come up and completely drained myself of chakra. I just needed to rest for a couple of days, but I'm doing fine now." Sakura conveniently left out the part about Itachi and her supposed rest, but at least he had helped her relax.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, what's that look for, it's kinda creeping me out?"

Sakura blinked and looked up. "What look?"

"It's the look you get when you've gone too long without eating and you see a plate of tempura." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ya know, like you're starving and it's the best thing in the world to eat."

Sakura felt like she was about to die of embarrassment. Had she actually looked like a starving woman when she was thinking about Itachi? She didn't know what to say, but she had to say something or everyone would get suspicious and hound her till she cracked under the pressure.

"Maybe it is just that." Sai's voice broke the uneasy silence. Sakura looked at him and saw an amused glint in his eyes. That's when it hit her, the Anbu that showed up in the middle of her bedroom while she and Itachi were… um… preoccupied must have told someone. Oh Kami, Sai is in Anbu so he probably heard all about it. She stared at him, completely mortified. How much did he know? Has he told anyone else? She had to find out and then threaten him into keeping her secret. Wait, was it a secret? And if it was, did she really want it to stay that way? No, no she didn't. Thinking it through made her mood lighten. She was happy and wanted her friends to be happy for her, now if only Sasuke could be happy for her, then everything would be perfect.

"Sai's right, Naruto, I haven't really eaten much lately." She smiled at him. "But I'm going to remedy that as soon as Sasuke shows up." She hoped that with his team around he wouldn't do anything drastic, like at the hospital.

Sakura was laughing and joking with Naruto when she spotted Sasuke followed closely by Kakashi. She supposed he had to be one of the ones assigned to watch him, or he was just short on cash and thought one of them would buy him food. Well, either way it meant that Sasuke would behave, and if not, then the others would put him in his place. Kakashi intentionally took the seat beside Naruto, putting as much distance as possible between Sakura and Sasuke.

Kakashi raised a hand in greeting. "Yo."

Sasuke sat down on the other side of Kakashi. Sakura noted that he looked calmer than before, less stressed. He sat there for a moment before raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Sakura, we need to talk," his tone was quiet instead of his normal biting anger, "not now, after lunch at the bridge."

Sakura was grateful that he had picked a public place for them to talk and she realized that he was trying to make her more comfortable around him. Lunch went as it normally did, with Naruto eating five bowls of ramen in between talking furiously about a new jutsu he had learned. Then Sai would cut in with an insult about his manhood, ultimately starting a fight which Sakura had to break up by smacking the both of them. Sasuke remained mostly silent except to call Naruto a dobe for being, well, Naruto. Kakashi turned to Sakura with an amused smile that could only be seen in his one eye. "So, Sakura, what have you been up to lately?" And with that one statement she knew that he knew everything. Great, just great. She gave him an exasperated look before answering.

"Not much, just resting. A couple days ago I had an emergency show up and it took a lot out of me, but I'm fine now." She hoped this would stop him from prodding further. Oh how wrong she was.

"Really? I heard that the Hokage took you off active duty unless there was an emergency. Do you know why?" He looked concerned, but she could see the mischievous glint under the concern. He was trying to get her to confess what he already knew, but Sakura knew just how to avoid giving him what he wanted and still answer truthfully.

Her look changed to annoyed. "Probably because I've been over-working myself to the point of exhaustion and she doesn't want her best healer to burn out."

"Ah." It was all he said. She could tell that he wasn't satisfied with her answer but knew he wouldn't get anything more out of her. Good.

Naruto took the opportunity to cut in. "Hey, teme, I haven't seen you around much either, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing." It came out clipped and bitter but Naruto either didn't notice or didn't care.

Soon after everyone decided that lunch was over, so they paid and went their separate ways, except for Sakura and Sasuke. They walked together in silence. When they reached the bridge she leaned her back against the railing waiting for him to speak. For a while he just stared into the water. Then he spoke without looking at her.

"Sakura," he paused, searching for the right words, "I… I'm sorry, for everything. It's just that you were the one who helped me and believed in me when no one else did." He looked at her then, eyes almost pleading. "I guess, that I thought you'd always be there, with me, but all I've ever done was drive you away."

"Sasuke, I'm still there for you and I still believe in you. I don't want anything to come between us and ruin our friendship."

Sasuke hung his head again. "I thought that's what you'd say." His voice was full of a deep sadness. "I really am sorry, I just hope that you can forgive me." He straightened up. "I'm gonna go, but can you tell me something first?"

"What is it?" She was almost afraid of what he might ask.

"Does he make you happy?" The question held years of regret but with an underlying hope.

"Yes, Sasuke, he does." Her eyes were soft and shiny with unshed tears as she answered. "And I hope that someday you can find someone that truly makes you happy, I don't want to see the sadness in your eyes anymore." She went to him then and wrapped her arms around him as the tears finally fell.

Sakura spoke into his shoulder. "Promise me, Sasuke, promise that you'll find what makes you happy in this world." Her tears were coming faster as she cried the tears that he wouldn't allow to fall. "Please?"

He rested his chin on her head as he allowed his arms to hug her back. "Alright, I'll do it for you."

Sakura pulled back to look at his face. "Really?"

Sasuke looked down at her with a small but genuine smile. "Really."

He pulled out of her grasp and walked away, though she noticed that his mood seemed a little lighter. Now, maybe things would get back to normal. Sakura wiped away her tears and started walking towards the Hokage tower, she needed to report on Sasuke's change in behavior. As she walked she had another thought. "Hm… maybe I'll try setting Naruto up with Hinata, the poor fool is still completely oblivious.' Thoughts of the blushing Hyuuga heiress and her hyper teammate made her laugh to herself and seemed to brighten her day considerably. Everything was going right, for once, and after her report to the Hokage the only left on her to-do list was dinner, with Itachi, at his house, alone. That made a thrill of fear and anticipation rush through her. 'Yes, tonight was going to be interesting.'

Sorry, but you're all going to have to wait till the next chapter to see what Itachi has in store for Sakura. Also, I post these as soon as I'm done writing them, so I don't quite know what's going to happen until it comes out on the page. I have a general idea, but sometimes things just have to be spontaneous. Remember: More reviews means faster uploading.

Bye for now.