"Because its too real to believe,

Yet to false to lie to you"

Because she wasn't strong enough, she cowered away from it. Then she fought against it. Fought with all her might to be better, because when she finally pulled herself together to do so it wasn't to prove anyone wrong, nor to prove herself. It was for the departed souls of the people she had lost.

Because she wasn't strong enough to protect them, she had failed them.

She had thought that after losing her parents, nothing could hurt more. Then after losing her best friend, she was sure, nothing would be as bad as that, that as long as she made no more connections, there would be no connections to break. Unknowingly she had drifted away from those who cared and tried to help, breaking those very connections herself.

Itachi was different. He wasn't a fleeting ghost passing through her life whom she would never remember, nor was he someone who had tried to help her, another person who had tried to bring her back to life. He was a shell, just as empty as her, he had asked for and taken nothing from her, yet he left an irrevocable impression on her.

She was sure the man she knew wasn't the full essence of his being, and even if opportunity had arouse to create a circumstances in which she could learn the real man behind the face of Uchiha Itachi, she was pretty sure there wasn't much left. She didn't know a lot about him, like his favourite foods, or the type of things he did in his free time. All she knew was that he was a man who brought her staggering back to reality with his presence. He made her live by showing her there was no other way, by defying every social preconception, and being what she had always longed to be; himself.

And yet it was a said for that he was one big fucking hypocrite. She loved Uchiha Itachi because he struggled through life no matter what it threw at him, yet she ran away from it. And yet in the end he went ahead and allowed his life to slip through his fingers because he thought it was the better option for his little brother; he was running away from cleaning up his own mess, through the only way he knew how, death.

And she wouldn't allow it. If she had to face Sasuke, so did he. It was no longer his choice, by her laws, she had taken away the authority to live for himself; now he was living for her.

She would make him live, and give him reason to live even if it was the last thing she did.

Because by doing so she would be not only bringing himself back to life, but also herself.

And it had been damned long enough, sitting in the dark, waiting for someone to come along and find them.

….

The Iron country was pretty far from the woods of Konoha, days of travel in fact. However the tattoo on her back held a secret within it; the buds of flowers bloomed at the dragon shifted to release a seal within her body. It was nowhere near as advanced as Tsunade's Yin Seal, but a fraction of its brilliance. It held a certain reserve of chakara, not enough to keep a whole village going, but enough so she could use it to teleport her to the first place that came to mind, and that place happened to be the Iron country.

She had trudged through knee deep snow before entering the first inn she could find. The woman behind the counter had casted a suspicious glance to the cloaked body mounted on her back, but had handed over a room key none the less.

Hours of resuscitating, healing, cleaning wounds, and trying to control a raging fever, went by. It was a vicious cycle; she would work on Itachi for a most of the day, then have consciousness stolen away from her by exhaustion, only to wake up again and restart the cycle. She had consumed almost every solider pill in her pocket and that had been a pretty substantial amount.

Three days went by like that, and Sakura's body was teetering on the edge; whilst trying to bring Itachi's soul back to his body, she was slipping hers away from her own. Then receiving the first relatively stable pulse in all their time there, she threaded her fingers through his and lay down on the bed next to him, pressing her wrist against hers to feel the constant thrum there, she pulsed a constant stream of chakara through his body, as sleep overtook her body. Her body which had been staying awake far beyond its limits had finally been granted the relief it was looking for.

The next three days she slept completely through. On the six night of staying in the inn, she woke up with a start, the violent whirl of a snowstorm rattling the windows. His body had stopped sucking chakara from hers through the imposed adhesive force and she felt the stop in flow immediately. The first thing she had done when she awoke, was feel for Itachi's pulse, having reassured herself of his vitality, she got up from the bed and began her cursory routine.

She redressed his wounds, cleaned the sweat of his body, coursed a batch of chakara through his system, then contented at his decreasing pallor, set off for a quick shower. Upon Re-entering the room, she rechecking his pulse, almost obsessively, then peering out the window for a sign of the time of day, she recognized it to be night outside. It must have been around two in the morning because not a whisper in the hotel could be heard.

Creeping through the building using her ninja stealth, she reached the downstairs kitchen without being spotted. The lights were off in side, and she carefully rummaged around without making a noise. Shortly after, she had finished preparing a pot of chicken porridge, a bowl of miso soup and a cup of rejuvenating green tea. Placing the items on a tray she returned to the room, as soundless and speedy as a ghost.

Placing the tray of food on the bedside table and climbing onto the large bed to wake Itachi for a meal, she delicately trailed three cool fingers across his burning forehead.

"Itachi…" she whispered in his ear.

She heard a muffled groan and his perfect face seemed to scrunch up in pain, but eventually, the doors to coal black eyes slid open to the world.

"…am I, dead?"

The relief at the sound of his voice was so strong she could help the burst of laughter that exploded from within her at his comical response. Hastily she replied.

"No Itachi, much as you would like to, you're not" she sighed heavily, as a wave of worry washed through her; what if he wanted to be dead right now? Or worse, hated her for bringing him back.

A moment passed in tense silence before his deep voice, coated with sleep spoke again.

"Sakura, is that you…?"

"Of course it is, who else would it be, satan?" she muttered sarcastically.

"Well how am I supposed to tell with the lights turned off" he seemed vaguely annoyed in his bleary state, as if a secret was being kept from his which the whole world seem to know.

"Well, you're not, because the lights aren't turned off"

"Then why is it so dark in here?" Sakura stilled at his irritated question, and her heart beat fast in apprehension, her mind racing with denial.

"What are you talking about Itachi, its perfectly light in here, you still in Lala-land or something?" she replied nervously, praying for all she was worth, for his answer not to be what she thought it was.

However her prayers seemed to go unanswered once again.

"Sakura…I can't see anything"

A/N; See i am trying to update more often.

My uncle died recently, as much as i wanted to I have honestly never met him because they live in a different country, but it really struck me. Sometimes I really hate writting the stories I write, not because of typical self-concious worry of a story not being liked, but because i feel i write about a world that doesnt exist, that is completely and utterly delusional. In reality it just doesnt happen, you dont get saved at the very last second by an angel, there is no magical powers, or someone who has suffered their whole life suddenly has relief, none of that ever happens. But i guess that is why we turn to fanfic afterall, escape.

Anyway, i know these past chaps have been a bit dull, but thats because ive never been good at building up to something. Now here i have a question for u lot, im not sure about the ratings for stories and what should go under what so i have to ask;

Can i write a lemon for you guys? It proabably wont go all the way, because i by no means want to provide mental porn, but i want to include for this story, so please tell me if you would or wouldnt be...er offended by one?

Thanks for the kind reviews :)

Reira XD