A/N: Please read the note at the bottom regarding the genre of this story.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.


Decline

"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…"


Over three weeks had passed since Sakura last stepped foot in the Uchiha Manor.


Sakura stirred half awake in what could have been early in the morning to a soft whisper. Gentle fingers tucked back her hair behind her ears, tickling her skin with ghostly contact. Her eyelids twitched as the sensation continued, sending muted shivers down her spine. She wanted to fight the feeling, but for some reason she found herself unable to do so. Her breaths seemingly lengthened until she could no longer hear the voices that accompanied her in the night.

At long last, when a deep slumber overcame her, the silhouettes to which the voices came from rose to leave as silently as they had entered.

"…sorry. And thank you."

If only she had been awake—if she had only been aware at the time, she would have known who it was.

Outside the room, Shisui's eyes narrowed at the crimson dripping from Itachi's nose. "Your nose..." Instinctively, his hand traveled up to his own, touching lightly.

Itachi mirrored the movement, his fingers ghosting the blood that lingered above his lips.

"Damn it," Shisui uttered flickering out momentarily. He returned promptly with tissue in hand. "Here."

Itachi took the white tissue in what felt like a disillusioned state and wiped the blood. There was little since it wasn't a continuous flow, thankfully.

If he was irritated, he didn't show it; if he was concerned, there was no evidence of this on his face. He remained silent as if contemplating something before finally speaking up, as stoic as ever. "Let's go." His curt demand was the only indicator to his current state, something that couldn't be classified as frustration per se, but neither was there urgency. What was it exactly?

As they made their way to leave, they were stopped short by a third person.

"What's going on here?" Her black hair framed her pale, moonlit face in stark contrast.

Mikoto.


The first ray of light shone through the translucent screen, gracing Sakura's soft, swollen features. The brightness prompted her to squeeze her eyes shut to minimize the brightness alas to no avail.

She threw her arm over her face next and was struck with three uncomfortable feelings. Her head throbbed with a dull pain, her eyes were noticeably puffy underneath the naked flesh of her arm, and her cheeks were sticky and burned along thin streams of what were presumably tears from just hours before.

With her arm still over her eyes, Sakura groaned in discomfort, irritated by the overwhelming nature of her status. What had driven her to this? Her mind drifted back to the events just the day before in a quick refresher of everything that had happened.

then there was Sasuke… Sasuke. What happened after that?

She lay thoughtless for a moment as her memory failed to return.

What next?

Sakura jerked as a thought occurred to her. She had no recollection of ever making it home. Immediately she snapped up into a seated position, momentarily disoriented by the action. Her head spun even more and she rested a palm on the throbbing sensation on her right temple.

"Ouch…"

Sakura's eyes scanned the room narrowly. It was enough to recognize that she was definitely not in her own room. In her moment of confusing clarity a voice sounded just outside of the room?

"Sakura, are you awake?"

Sakura recognized the voice instantly, well aware of where she was now. This alone, made her hesitant to respond.

"Is it alright if I come in?" The voice was soft and held the same tender concern it always had.

Sakura's lips trembled, conflicted with a proper response. At last she sighed, fully aware that she was the only one out of place and that refusing wasn't exactly an option for her. "Yes, I'm awake. Please do."

The screen slid open just enough so that the head of the outsider could peek into the room. Her eyes landed on Sakura. It was evident she was troubled as her face only read of confusion and uncertainty.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I'm the lady of the clan, Miss Haruno. Of course I know these things." Mikoto smiled tenderly. She stepped in sliding the door shut behind her. "I also ran into Itachi and Shisui early in the morning loitering around this room, quite unusually if I should say so. If they planned on keeping you a secret, I certainly spoiled that for them."

Sakura piqued her head inquisitively earning a curious glance from Mikoto. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know what happened?"

"Actually, I was hoping you would be able to tell me…" Mikoto slowly made her way to the bed Sakura sat upon. Sakura slid over as Mikoto pardoned to allow room for the clan matriarch. "How much do you remember from last night?"

"Not much. I must have blacked out," her voice faded.

"…I see. They told me yesterday that before you could leave, you passed out cold. Itachi claimed it must have been stress placed on you from our clan and the events of yesterday."

"Oh…"

"Neither of them knew where you lived, so they thought it best to leave you in the compound overnight. A kind gesture, wasn't it?"

"'Kind' would be an understatement," she thought aloud. After all, the room she stayed in she noted, was plenty more pristine than her own.

"Yes, I think so too now that you mention it." Mikoto chuckled. "However, I don't exactly believe that's the full story. A mother knows when her child lies. That is, even with a child as clever as Itachi."

For a moment Sakura was caught off guard, evident in her bemusement. "What makes you say that?"

"They took care in masking your chakra signature for you. I'm not sure what you would make of that, but it's evident they wanted to make sure that no other clan members knew you were here."

Sakura's eyebrows twitched briefly at the statement. She was sure Mikoto had no reason to lie, but she was also sure that the two men had a reason for their actions. She just wasn't sure what they were or what to make of this.

Mikoto watched her carefully, quietly noting her unresponsiveness.

"I'm sorry for springing this up on you so soon after you woke up. How about I get you some tea?"

"Thank you, but I think I'll be fine."

"Oh no, don't worry. You are a guest in this household now, after all."

Sakura wasn't sure if the statement was to be taken with a sense of hostility from the matriarch, but something about it left a strangely unwelcome feeling within her. Whatever that feeling was, it left her speechless.

Mikoto promptly stood to make her leave, her steps faltering as she did so. As her hand reached for the door, she turned slightly back towards Sakura.

"Miss Haruno, I'll have you know I am one of the few in this clan on your side. I ask that you keep that in mind."

Silence filled the room as Sakura was left to her own once again. She couldn't help but sigh and threw herself back down on the mattress as the footsteps faded. At least she knew where she was now, not that it in truth made her feel too much better about the situation. She knew she was trespassing after all, even if it wasn't necessarily her own will to begin with.

With jumbled thoughts, Sakura found herself rushing to grab her boots and make haste before anyone else could catch her, especially in such a hostile territory for outsiders.

Just as Sakura reached for the exit, the screen slid open before her. Her head shot up from the broad chest her eyes were level with, meeting another familiar figure.

"What are you doing here—good morning—is there something you need?" She stumbled with her words pathetically as she stood at attention.

"…this is my house." He nodded nonchalantly to her in greeting. If he were anyone else, the look of judgment would have been plastered on his face, but this was Itachi, and his eyes spoke nothing of what was on his mind.

Sakura shuffled back to allow him room to enter, simultaneously startled by the sound of a body plopping down onto the bed behind her. She snapped her head back immediately with a quick breath at the sudden and silent arrival.

Not even the slightest hint of a flared chakra signature emanated from Shisui, who lay resting his head atop one fist, meanwhile gesturing at the window with his free hand.

"The window, sweetheart. I'm a ninja, you know. Super speed and everything! I bet you never saw me coming." Shisui grinned like a young child at Sakura as he sat up crossing his legs and leaning back on the palms of his hands. "Glad to see you're up and well."

Sakura nodded briefly in thanks before looking between the two men skeptically. She was certain they weren't here for a thoughtful check-up.

"Were you intending on leaving so soon?" Itachi interjected curiously before Sakura could speak.

She nodded with a firm, 'yes, actually.' "I shouldn't be here."

"If you weren't supposed to be here, you would not be here right now, or am I wrong?"

What?

"Then why don't you tell me why I'm here," Sakura started. "It's not like I remember anything from yesterday evening, so do you mind filling me in, by chance?"

Itachi leaned against the frame while crossing his arms, glancing at Shisui who smiled childishly, before shifting his line of sight back on Sakura. "There's nothing to tell you."

"Then why can't I leave?"

"No one ever said you couldn't leave," Itachi said. He nudged the screen open with his foot so that she could see just beyond him.

Sakura stood silently. She could have sworn Itachi in a way just contradicted himself. She turned to Shisui to see if she was missing something, but he only offered her a shrug.

Shisui looked up to the ceiling in thought before gesturing matter-of-factly. "I mean he's not lying…"

Sakura raised a brow, looking at him skeptically. "What are you two really here for? I won't come back here if that's what you need; it's not like your clan likes me being here. They don't have much faith in me."

"'None' would be the more proper way to put it," Itachi stated honestly, half focused on listening to any footsteps beyond the door. "My mother was here earlier."

"Lady Uchiha? She asked me a few questions, but—"

"What did she want to know?"

"She was curious about what happened last night. I didn't say anything, not that I could have because every time I try to think back, my mind draws a blank. That's because of you, I take it?"

Itachi didn't say anything; he responded only with a signature 'hn', confirming her suspicions.

"So I saw something I wasn't supposed to," she concluded intelligibly. "If it's not my place to know, nor any of my concern, then I don't want to know. My only focus right now is your well-being."

That was surprisingly easy. Good. That's was ideally what Itachi wanted her to say.

"If that's all, pardon my intrusion. I should be going now. You'll stop by the hospital later, right?"

"Is there anything new to report?"

"Not exactly."

"Then it is unlikely. I have clan duties to attend to today." He felt no need to elaborate seeing as it regarded Sasuke.

"But your blood work."

"Sakura," he called out, cutting her short. "Considering the atmosphere you somehow managed to leave behind here, it truly would be best not to come back here again."

The statement hurt, no doubt, but Sakura knew better than that. It wasn't meant insensitively, but more for her own sake.

Anyway, she knew her goal wasn't to impress the Uchiha clan, nor was it any more a favor for the sake of Sasuke. If she was stripped the privilege to come to the manor, so be it. As long as this didn't affect her work, there was no reason to take this personally. "I understand. We will continue everything at the hospital, but hear me now. You may not be willing to come today, but your duties to the clan mean little if you don't survive. Don't you dare abandon your health now. Please."

With that, Shisui offered to escort Sakura back to the village. Upon her agreement, Shisui flickered away with Sakura to her surprise.

"You didn't want to be seen so early in the morning by my fellow clansmen, did you? I thought this would be better. And don't worry; I'll make sure Itachi continues his regular check-ups with you."

At this he flickered away once again, leaving an overwhelmed kunoichi in the midst.


That was how it happened. Since then, she hadn't gotten to see Itachi more than twice, one in passing and another when he was forcibly dragged to her by Shisui after a coughing fit filled with blood and a brief moment of temporary blindness. That was what Itachi dismissed it as anyway. Shisui said he had actually blacked out back in the Manor after an incident, to which he had no authority to disclose.

In fact, this happened today. There was nothing awkward about their communication, but it was shockingly less than their already minimal traded words.

"You have good veins," the med-ninja remarked. This elicited a strange look from Shisui and a slight furrow in Itachi's brows. He never said it aloud, but Shisui guessed it must have been some strange, low-key fetish from people in the medical field. His eyes widened slightly as he pondered this, the corners of his lips twitching with intrigue.

Itachi's throat released a lower than usual familiar sound. "Hn."

He currently sat with a needle in arm. His bloodied, strained eyes were covered with bandages to minimize light and maximize whatever recovery was possible after some brief Chakra healing. The needle, of course, was for drawing blood, something that hadn't been done since before the incident a month back, much to Sakura's dismay. In response she was rather rough with Itachi upon his arrival, and just as much with Shisui who promised to have him come back often. After all, she felt that if anything was going to give her a lead in diagnosis and treatment, it would be following the trend in Itachi's white blood cell levels.

"Just a little longer," Sakura whispered as she drew that last tube of blood. Plasma was all that remained, signaling the end of drawing. She removed the tube from his arm as gently as possible. "There you—oh. That's unusual."

To what, Itachi was unsure she was referring to, but applying gentle pressure to the surrounding areas of the bloodless vein didn't leave much to his imagination. His flesh felt tender, a dull pain that to him was less than a one on a scale of one to ten, but triggered a sensitive response nonetheless.

"What happened there?" That was Shisui.

A familiar sizzle sounded and a warm feeling settled in the crook of Itachi's elbow. Sakura was healing the bruising.

"If done poorly, drawing blood can cause bruising. That was a fast response though. And it wasn't a poorly done job either. I definitely did that right."

"Maybe you didn't?" Shisui offered.

"No. I did." Sakura's expression was halfway between offended and irritated. It eased as she realized her response came off rude. "I'm sorry. It's just I—"

"No, I shouldn't have questioned you."

"In any case, I was wondering if maybe there were any irregularities in your health that either of you have noticed these last few weeks." The question was directed at Itachi.

"Perhaps," was all Itachi said.

Sakura's eyes locked with his, or where his eyes were supposed to be, forgetting about the bandages placed around them. "Care to explain?"

"Some nosebleeds as of late; his eyes did that a few days ago too," Shisui answered in his stead.

Itachi felt a sudden surge of chakra from Sakura's controlled green orb. He could tell she was trying to suppress a surge of anger.

Sakura cleared her throat. "And you're just coming in now? Shisui, you promised me—"

"I know I did, Sakura. Some things came up."

"More important than this?" She glared at the older male who looked down at her all the same.

"It was my choice; this has nothing to do with Shisui," Itachi interrupted, causing Sakura to fall silent.

The sound and green orb soon dissipated together. Sakura's warmth pulled away from Itachi's body entirely. He made out the shuffling of her feet in the lab as she carried the tubes of blood samples with her to the nearby microscope. Glass slides clinked and a few drawers opened and closed. With his ears, Itachi heard Sakura slide on a new pair of gloves to avoid cross contamination with a distinguishable snap at the wrists.

"Don't think I don't remember now that you used genjutsu on me those weeks back. Did something happen then too?"

Neither of them denied the statement. Now that they thought about it, since that night Itachi's health had been in rapid decline but only in direct response to the use of his ocular powers and well, dealing with Sasuke, not that Sakura had to know that part, they thought.

The sound of glass shattering resonated throughout the room, turning the heads of both men towards her. Sakura shifted back and sunk to the floor, gathering the shattered glass from one of the blood filled tubes in her gloved hands. She huffed as she stood, shaking her head irritably. "You two can't seriously think this is helping anyone."

Sakura disposed of the broken glass and yanked her tainted gloves off, examining her hands for any cuts. Spotting a little knick, she healed it effortlessly before reaching for another pair of gloves to resume her work.

She took a deep breath. "You're both welcome to walk around. I can call one of my subordinates to come get you when I have some results," Sakura offered, recollecting herself.

Itachi answered low and firm. "I'd prefer to stay here if you don't mind."

Sakura craned her head over her shoulder in consideration. She took a moment before speaking. "I see. It's just this may take a while."

"Hn."

Seeing as Itachi made no attempts of moving, Sakura resumed her work as both men quietly awaited results that truthfully felt more and more unlikely to come.

For minutes on end Sakura sat alternating between scribbling down data in a comparative chart and peeking through the microscope. Occasionally she murmured a number here and there as she worked, her focus impressive to the younger of the two men knowing that despite judgment she worked as if no one else was present.

It wasn't exactly endearing so much as it was pitiful to see someone so dedicated despite the lack of support. Itachi couldn't empathize; everything he did in life was respected. It came with his heritage. It came from his prodigal talent. He had the support Sakura lacked as a genin and even now, even as an apprentice to the Fifth Hokage, seeing her work so passionately despite the lack of acknowledgment outside of the hospital was almost… triggering? Like she probably deserved more than she had received when she first started this mission that was decidedly unbound to have success. And with the three wrongs that came with every right, well, it made it much more difficult.

"Itachi, was it a nosebleed you had that night?" Sakura broke the silence with concern in her voice.

Itachi turned his head to where he imagined Sakura was still standing, tilting his head to the side lazily. "What did you find?"

At this point Sakura knew to take the lack of denial as a yes. "It's not just your white blood cell count that is continuously dropping. Your platelet count is too. You have thrombocytopenia, basically a deficiency of what's there to help with blood clots. Based on data from our last tests, you were in the lower spectrum of the average platelet count, just above one hundred fifty thousand. It looks like just after, your numbers started steadily decreasing. The nosebleed and easy bruising are some side effects among others. Your eyes too. In severe cases, they can bleed…"

"I hate to normalize this, but the eyes aren't an uncommon thing with the Uchiha, at least those with the Mangekyō Sharingan," Shisui pitched.

"It's unlikely it's from the same cause. This is more sporadic whereas with your ocular powers, they have to be in use, right? Otherwise they probably won't bleed, Shisui."

"That's true..."

"I know hearing this isn't exactly desired either, so I get where you might want to disclaim some of this," Sakura comforted. "However," she turned back to Itachi, "it can't be said any other way that there's something attacking your natural defenses. Like I said earlier, your immune system is suffering and it seems your body is doing it on its own, like an autoimmune disease. The fact that your body's natural defending and healing mechanisms are not at proper levels to be productive is concerning."

Itachi took calculated breaths, keeping himself composed despite the news. Sakura was careful with her words. She had the statistics, yet she spoke hypothetically, arousing suspicions. "At this rate, how much longer will I be alive?"

Sakura hesitated and nervously fidgeted with her pen, tapping it on the charts she glanced over again and again, something only Shisui could see. "Actively? Maybe a few more months. Bedridden, maybe a year… with some form of treatment. Your health is declining fast considering how slow this illness was when it first made itself apparent."

"How long do you give yourself to cure him?"

"…As soon as I know the source, no more than a few days." Sure, it likely wasn't what anyone wanted to hear, Sakura knew, but saying anything else felt undeniably wrong and disheartening. Even if they sought the truth, at this point she couldn't bring herself to be the bearer of anything else.


"It's been a while since we've heard from Jiraiya..."

Tsunade leaned over her desk resting her head upon her left fist. Part of her regretted allowing Jiraiya to leave so soon to resume his spying operations, but he had insisted with notice of Orochimaru's movements.

Shizune stood by her desk with Tonton in her arms. Her eyes softened at Tsunade's tense figure. "You don't think he could've—"

"Shizune!" Tsunade slammed her palms onto her desk. "You didn't actually just say that, did you? He wouldn't leave like that. Not at least without sending out a final message."

"He could've gotten caught up with another duty?" Shizune finished sparingly.

Tsunade's tenseness relaxed, realizing she jumped to conclusions about the brunette's implied statement. Her muscles loosened up and she folded her arms underneath her chest. "That wouldn't stop him. He would make sure to give me some type of notice, especially if something else came up."

Shizune knew this much was true. "Let's give it a while. We should be getting an update from him soon. I'm sure of it."


Dark, thick clouds lingered in the gray skies. It wasn't often that it rained in Konoha.

Droplets of water fell with consistent dull thuds on the shingles of the Hokage tower. Raindrops streaked the windows, sliding down helplessly and combining with one another.

Where the window was cracked open, water pooled on the inner sill. Where the window cracked open, her olive kimono sleeves dampened with the small drops blown in from a westerly wind. Blonde bangs clung to her face as she held the lottery ticket from weeks back with crossed arms. Her tear ducts too, caught some of the rain, streaming down her porcelain face with glistening trails.

It wasn't often that it rained in Konoha. But today it did.

"'See you soon?' Yeah, right," she scoffed at the irony of Shizune's statement only two days ago. "This wasn't the kind of 'update' I wanted."

That day, it came.

Jiraiya's final message.


A/N: Freaking. Finally. Plot's about to really pick up now. WOot!

Regarding genre, after a year of not updating, I am planning to put romance on the backburner. The ship will still be an element, but it will NOT be the focus of this story. As such, I plan to change the Romance tag to something else as to not mislead readers. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

If you're still reading, thank you. If you've just joined the party, thank you. Thank you so much for your continued interest and support despite the amount of time this chapter took to release. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of writing, so if this wasn't what you were expecting, I sincerely apologize. Stay lovely, my friends. Until next time and happy holidays!