OMG! it has been so long since i updated any of my stories but i suddenly feel inspired to write again so i hope you this new chappy :)
Chapter thirteen
Itachi watched as his brooding brother stepped out of his trailer and headed towards the set. After yesterday's bout of dehydration itachi expected his brother to want to take a few days off, and it had actually surprised him when Sasuke had insisted that he was fine and capable of continuing. It seemed the days of being a spoilt lazy brat were past Sasuke and his work ethic genuinely impressed itachi.
Letting his eyes trail away from his brother he sought out the woman who was the really star of this production. Sakura had really pulled this whole thing together and once again he was impressed to the point of shock. The two people in his life that he loved the most had grown into such fine human beings, and it was a pity that they couldn't find a way to reconcile their differences.
Itachi regretted acting so harshly with his brother; violence was not the way he liked to handle things, and even though he always seemed to involuntarily end up in those situations, he always regretted the things he had done.
His eyes gazed over sakura appreciatively as she talked to the blonde haired kid, naruto, who was clearly trying way too hard to impress her. If only her father could see what a success she was, he would be so proud.
As if by divine intervention, that moment his phone began to vibrate against his leg in the pocket of his pants. Sliding his thumb across the screen he answered the call.
"Hello"
"Hello Mr Uchiha?" the female voice asked politely.
"Yes?"
"My name is Doctor Tsunade, I have in my hospital a Mr Haruno, and you are listed as his first contact in case of emergency?"
"That is correct, what is the problem?" he asked concern filling his voice.
"Early this morning around 3 o'clock he was admitted with severe chest pains, it would seem that the cancer had spread rapidly to his lungs." The voice sighed sadly "Mr Uchiha it says here that Sato has a daughter, but there is no contact number, I would suggest if possible that you contact her and inform her of the situation"
Itachi's heart fell like a led weight "how long?"
The voice sighed once more "it is hard to put an exact date on these things, but I would say that 2 maybe 3 weeks would be pushing it. So if there is any affair's that need to be finalized I suggest it is done now."
"Thank you, I understand, I will see to it that everything is organised, I expect I will be seeing you shortly, goodbye."
Hanging up the phone itachi cast his eyes back to sakura to find that she was no longer standing with naruto but was instead fighting with Sasuke.
As he approached them he could hear their raised voices and could just make out the gist of their conversation and clearly they were still fighting with each other out of sexual tension.
Itachi sighed as he stopped beside the two of them.
"Come one sakura you have to admit it, you still feel something for me. I saw you yesterday, as much as you want to deny it you are still attracted to me." Sasuke said as he took a step in towards her.
Sakura breathed in deeply the warm scent of him and felt her body begin to react before; thankfully she spotted itachi out of the corner of her eye.
"Itachi! Would you please tell your brother to… oh my god, what's wrong? Are you ok?" she suddenly asked concern littering her face.
He felt her warm hand grab hold of his arm, he needed to be strong for her, after all sakura had no idea how sick her father was and this was going to come as a great shock to her. He himself had never thought that the wonderfully vibrant Sato would never succumb to something so disgustingly sickening and unbeatable. How would his daughter who thought of her father as an unbreakable pillar in her life feel when she found out he only had mere days to live?
"sakura, I…uh" he cleared his throat softly "sakura I think that you had better come with me and sit down for a moment."
Sit down, what a douchebag he was, as if sitting down was going to help her with what he had to say.
Fear crept over her features as she allowed itachi to direct her to a chair near her desk. Sasuke caught his eye as itachi fought with the words he needed to say, and instantly he saw his brother's recognition at what he was about to reveal. After all it was probably the same look he had worn when he had told Sasuke about their mother's death.
"Spit it out itachi" sakura demanded as she took a deep breath "I can handle anything that you have to tell me"
He saw Sasukes hand fall to her shoulder supportively and would have smiled with the irony if he wasn't in so much pain.
"Sakura, you know that your father is a great man" he started and was glad that no sound of derision came from Sasukes mouth.
"Of course" she smiled unsure "he is the strongest and bravest man I know"
Itachi looked into her pleading eyes, she knew what he was about to say but she was still begging him not to say it.
"About six months ago, your father was diagnosed with stomach cancer." He waited for her reaction and when all he received was a stoic face he continued. "The doctors gave him only months, but your father he was determined to live, and so he consulted with every doctor in L.A. It was only when he had seen nearly 20 physicians did he begin to accept that his time was running out and so began to make plans for your future."
Still she said nothing.
He had thought she would be breaking down in tears sobbing, making a scene, but then he remembered that sakura was not some weak child anymore, but a strong willed adult and he understood that she would save her tears for a more private place than here surrounded by a cast and crew that she had only just met.
Thankfully Sasuke also seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and gently helped her to her feet. Itachi saw the way sakura leant against him slightly for support and once again cursed against the timing.
"I will make arrangements to leave as soon as you are packed we may have to charter a private plane but we should be out of here by this evening" he said as he looked up and around at the concerned faces of the crew.
It was plainly obvious that sakura had received some very bad news.
Itachi watched as her face rose and she looked him in the eye, it was only then that he saw the smallest flash of sorrow, but it was enough to convey to him how she felt, and although she was hiding it and putting on a front he could see the fear and pain at losing someone in her life that meant the world to her. He knew how she felt because the same emotion was mimicked in his eyes as well.
"Come on sakura I will take you back to the hotel" Sasuke said softly and began to direct her to where the movie busses were stationed.
With her back straight and her head high the only sing of her concern for her father was show in the heavy way she hung her shoulders. Itachi watched as his brother got on the bus and gave directions to the driver. Once they were gone he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
It was time to leave morocco; itachi only wished it was for a better reason.
Sakura felt like an iron cage had been place around her heart and was slowly getting tighter and tighter till she knew it would eventually swallow it whole.
Sasuke had gotten her back to the hotel room and had ordered to the receptionist to organise sakura room and gather her things, before he had brought her up to the penthouse suite and she had sat down at a table by the enormous window that showed the magnificent landscape with is beautiful contrast of lush green and dry browns.
That had been nearly two hours ago.
Two hours had gone by and she had just sat here wishing for something to do, some way to help her father, but she knew that getting upset would only waste energy and finally her sorrow and sadness turned into a bubbling boiling pot of rage.
Her father had kept this from her! He thought she wouldn't be able to handle it, that she was weak. How could he not tell her that he was dying, and itachi!
He had told itachi but not her! Together they had kept this awful secret, all this time pretending like they were proud of her and her independence when really they thought she was weak and incapable of handling such life changing decisions.
Standing up for the first time all afternoon she began to pace out her frustration and sore muscles.
Sasuke had left her alone when he had realised that she wasn't about to talk to him about what was going on and so he had left her. But when he walked into the room to check on her he realised that had been a very big mistake.
Alone she had, instead of breaking down and crying like she needed, turned her emotions towards the only thing that would feel like she would doing something, rage. As long as she raged, she wouldn't feel so helpless, and it was something that he knew only too well. After all he had been raging with anger for how long?
It had only been when he had first met sakura that, that anger had begun to recede, and if he was honest with himself, finding out the truth about sakura and her family had abolished his hatred for good. Yes he was still anger and his father, but at least that anger was now justified and directed at the person that was truly responsible.
Placing the tray of food he had brought up on the table he waited for her to realise that he was back.
It only took moments but she saw her shoulders ease and some of the tensions drift away as her eyes connected with his and he knew if only for a moment her intense focus on him relieved her of the pain she felt.
Then shaking her head she broke away from the trance and continue to fume.
Sighing he sat down at the table, itachi had rung him only moments before informing him that the earliest plane that he could get was to leave in three hours, and with everything packed and ready all sakura had to do was wait.
"You should try and eat something" he said as he picked up one of the gourmet sandwiches on the platter.
She turned to him her eyes blazing "I don't think I will be able to eat anything until I'm back in L.A"
Sasuke grinned trying to charm her "well, that's a very long time, itachi just called and you still have to wait here for at least another three hours before the plane leaves, that combined with the long trip, well, you might not even make it to L.A."
"Huh very funny!" she sighed in frustration "don't talk to me about itachi!"
Sasuke looked up at her and leant into her chair lounging, not point waiting for her to come around, they didn't have time and he wanted to make sure she would be ok before he set her on this plane and left him life maybe forever.
The thought nagged at him but he pushed it aside for later.
"I can understand why you wouldn't want to spend nearly thirteen hours on a flight with such a pompously arrogant snob like itachi but, is that the real reason or is it because he kept the truth about your father from you?" he said smugly.
Bingo!
Instantly she stopped her pacing and rounded on him and he actually thought she would rip his heart from his chest with her bare hands if he gave her an opening. Standing up quickly he grabbed her hands tightly and pulled her hard against his chest.
"I can see that my words have hit home" he said looking down into her glowing green eyes "itachi is many things sakura and although I do not always agree with his methods, he would not intentionally hurt somebody he loved if he didn't think it was in their best interests."
She tried to pull away from him "I won't stand here and listen to you defend him, he lied to me! They betrayed me! They think me too weak to handle this!"
Aaaahhh! Sasuke thought there is the real problem; she thinks they did this because of her character, when to an outsider like himself the truth is clear; they kept this from her to protect her, to allow her to continue with her dreams of becoming a script writer and not worrying about her father.
"Sakura stop!" he said firmly and forced her to stop struggling against him "listen to what I am saying" and he forced his finger beneath her chin so he could look down into her face "nobody here thinks that you are weak, or that you are incapable of achieving even the highest dreams, you are strong and resilient, cunning and spirited, not to mention the most caring person I have ever met. If they kept this from you, it was because they knew you would spend the last months of your father's life looking after him, and you may lose your chance at achieving you dream."
He saw the rage lessen in her eyes as his words registered.
"You also have to remember that you father is a proud man he would not want his pride and joy to have to see him in such a weak position." He finished and finally he saw her eyes began to mist.
"You don't under…stand" she quivered trying to control herself "what will I do without him h-he is the one constant in my life, I-I-I can't even imagine him not being around" and finally she broke and he pulled her against his chest.
He held her while all the anger she had built washed away with her tears until finally her racking cries turned to soft sobs of exhaustion.
Sasuke picked her up gently and laid her on the soft pillows of his bed before lying beside her and pulling her close. She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder and eventually he heard her sobs drift into the restless breathings of sleep.