"Sensei, is that any better?" Sakura asked nervously, her hands hovering just above his face.

She had been working at an intense pace to restore her former teacher's sight. While she had suspected he left the mission early because of it, she hadnt imagined the scope of the damage that had been done. Not only was his vision worse than when she had healed it just a week ago, but he was quickly losing sight out of his non-Sharingan eye. It had been straining too much to pick up the slack for too long, she assumed.

Kakashi sounded bleak in responding, "Maybe?"

With a furor, Sakura flashed healing energy back to her hands and channeled it to his eyes. She had helped him once. She could do it again.

Kakashi smiled lightly at her, his eyes closed in rest. He knew she couldn't do this every day. While he appreciated her efforts, the jonin also recognized that they would one day be in vain. He had lived over twenty years with the Mangekyō activated- surely he was just cheating the system now?

But he also had a hope burning inside of him. Here he was, a family-less man, and this woman was pouring her own soul out to help him. Although selfishly, Kakashi wanted to imagine she was never this fiery with anyone else's healing. He knew that it was wrong, however. Sakura gave her heart to everything she did.

He opened his eyes when the warm sensation of her chakra stopped easing the cold discomfort of lost vision to see beads rolling down her face. He breath was heavier, more uneven, and he knew he had asked too much of her.

So when she asked, "How about now?" He was surprised to be able to say,

"Much better." Her exhaustion was evident to him visually, and that was improvement enough for him. The gray haired man reached out to her and his arm was confident in moving towards her face. His depth perception had come back with that healing. Slowly, he smiled at her.

She returned the grin- albeit hers more tired- and placed her hand over his. "I'm glad to hear that."

Another nurse stepped into the hospital room and called to Sakura.

The pinkette turned back to Kakashi to wave goodnight and he returned the gesture.

Sakura gritted her teeth and ran after the greenhorn she was to help in surgery. Her shishou would owe her for that promotion, soon.

Again, Sasuke's sleep was fitful and disturbed. Visions from his past haunted him as the facts exaggerated themselves. What was a gruesome sight of his parents' bodies turned into a fearful Fugaku slaying Mikoto under Itachi's command.

Sasuke woke up heaving and nauseous. His stomach heaved and tossed from the fresh horror he felt. Instinctively, his hand went to the place oi bed next to him. It was empty. Cold fear ran through his veins before his jumbled mind recalled Sakura had been called into work. His hands ran through his hair and he plodded over to the bathroom, deciding a shower would do him some good.

However, he would have to do without. A sharp rapping at the door revealed a goofily-grinning blond face. The orange-decked ninja was nearly bouncing in place from sheer excitement.

Sasuke, by contrast, was shaking internally and trying to keep from screaming as he had all those years ago when the tragedy was committed. "What do you want?" He asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" Naruto nearly yelled. His arms threw themselves around Sasuke's back knowing the gesture wouldn't be extended.

The Uchiha listlessly thumped his friend on the back in congratulations.

Naruto quickly put distance between them, sensing something was wrong. "What's up?"

Sasuke stared past his blond and his eyes caught the place his brother told him the grand lie. His heart stopped momentarily.

"Sasuke?"

However, to the Uchiha, it was nothing more than garbled noise amidst the scream his memory encapsulated so perfectly. Heart beat quickening, sweat beading, eyes bulging, Sasuke felt his knees buckle and was nearly shocked his face didn't smack against the pavement like it had when he was eight.

This time, his friend was there to catch him.

His pink headed wife had just been strolling into the District when she saw the friends talking and her husband fall. Running towards them, she arrived in time to see Naruto's wide, blue eyes stare confusedly back at her.

"Take him inside," she ordered, instincts kicking in. She marched behind the blond and gave basic commands that would lead to the bedroom. Naruto laid his friend on the bed and watched like a small child as the medic ran through various tests.

With a slightly startled disposition- after all, she had been silent the whole scan- Naruto turned to hear the pinkette's decision.

"Shock," she sighed, looking drained. "Were you aware of anything that would result in this?"

Naruto shook his head, silenced. His proud news had been swallowed up in his friends' troubles. Eyes narrowing, he questioned, "Why're you wearing that?"

Sakura surveyed her attire- scrubs that had seen better days- and responded flippantly. "I was at work last night."

The blond nodded and turned his gaze back to his friend.

"Why were you here?"

"I wanted to tell him I'm a dad."

They both stared at the unconscious man on the bed before the news sunk into Sakura.

She squealed, wrapping her arms around Naruto. "I'm so excited for you guys! How far along is she?"

"Uh, like eight weeks?"

"Ooh! Soon there'll be a heartbeat! Chakra follows soon after, you know," she smiled, stroking her husband's fair fondly. "Then you can detect the little miracle and interact. It's a lot of fun."

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"Mhm."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat in excitement, but his emotions quickly shifted back to the problem at hand. "He looked spacey before he fell."

"Where was he staring?"

"The road. Just straight at it, too."

Sakura furrowed her brows. "I knew we shouldn't have moved into this house."

It was Naruto's turn to frown. "Why not?"

"It was really close to his childhood home. Down the street, I think. Pretty sure Itachi lives in Shisui-san's old house, too, come to think of it."

Naruto needed no further explanation. He couldn't imagine the horror that Sasuke faced. "So why'd he choose it?"

Sakura looked wistfully down at her husband, his face a rigid line even in sleep. "He said he needed to face it someday." Her hands moved to his wrists, finding his pulse. "He won't be up soon, if you need to leave."

"I can stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you." Her gratitude was genuine.

"Should we tell Itachi?"

Sakura smacked herself. "Of course. I knew I was forgetting something. They've been at odds with each other recently. Maybe this will help things clear up."

Naruto nodded, his eyes widening in recall. "Oh, by the way, Sakura-chan-"

"What?"

"Ne-never mind," he decided better of it. Sometimes, telling your friend her husband thinks she's cheating isn't always the best idea. Especially when she came home to him and hadn't stopped holding him- his hands, his hair, his shirtsleeve- as if she were in shock, too.

"Alright," she replied, bewildered. "Please watch him while I'm gone."

Naruto flashed her a smile as she disentangled her fingers from Sasuke's stiff digits. "Can do."