Sakura looked over the bent woman. She used a cane to walk, but she noticed it made minimal noise on the wood floor and she still moved with a certain power. The knobby cane was another thing that stood out to her. It was made of thick hard wood that would be sturdy, but way too heavy if this woman was a normal elder. Sakura was suddenly reminded of Granny Chiyo. Appearances could be extremely deceptive, she thought ruefully.

"I am one of her apprentices, yes. Haruno Sakura at your service my lady."

The elderly woman nodded, looking only mildly interested in her. Though Sakura thought this was a ruse. There was something important that she was missing here.

"So you read my letter? And what do you think of the plan?"

Sakura hesitated and was about to launch into a discussion about the proposed plan that had been outlined in the letter briefly, but then she hesitated. Her gaze fell on the woman's hand that gripped her cane firmly and without shaking. The person who had written the letter clearly showed signs of Arthritis, this woman showed no signs of that despite her old age.

"You wrote the letter?"

The older woman nodded.

"But you show no signs of Arthritis."

Nebe and the newcomer exchanged a look. A smile pulled at the elder's lips while Nebe shrugged. Finally they turned back to her.

"You will do just fine." She let go her cane which remained standing while she sat down between Sasuke and Toru. "Yes, I did write that letter." She grinned mischievously at Sakura. "Forgive an old woman her tests of the youth, I am called Fatima, the village Grand Elder."

Nebe rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath when Fatima mentioned tests. The result was the older woman swiftly snatched up her cane and cracked it against the younger woman's knee. Nebe hissed in pain, but said nothing. Toru chuckled lightly only to receive a similar crack only this one was aimed at his elbow. He yelped in pain and Fatima said,

"Respect your elders and teachers," to Toru she said, "It should not amuse you that your wife was injured even if she did deserve it, your looks won't save you next time." Then old woman waved her cane under Sasuke's nose. "Same to you. Just cause your handsome doesn't mean you can do what you please."

Sakura wondered how Sasuke would react to this and wasn't disappointed when he bowed his head solemnly and said respectfully,

"Yes, ma'am."

Fatima seemed a little disappointed that there had been no resistances. Maybe she had been hoping to have reason to smack him too.

"Grand Elder, please don't harass my patient or my guest." Nebe choose her words with great care. "We do still need help."

Fatima shrugged.

"How have you been feeling Toru? Vomited again this morning?" Fatima asked the question in a way that Sakura that made her think the older healer was withholding information and not pleased about the fact.

Toru scowled at her. "Maybe." Both his tone and the expression on his face were warning enough that Sakura didn't question, but Nebe looked between the two of them and said,

"He did. Do you have any ideas of what is causing him to be sick? I can't guess." There was genuine concern in her voice. Sakura thought that Nebe didn't like being confronted with medical problems that she didn't understand, especially when they concerned her husband. Sakura saw the seething look that Toru shot at the older woman. Fatima smiled like wolf.

"He's a boy, I'm sure one of the times he was up in the mountain he ate something that may have bitten back. How about you? It's possible you could have caught something being that you two are intimate together?"

"No, I feel fine, tired from the long shifts, but nothing that a nap wouldn't fix."

Toru produced another bowl and dished a healthy portion before handing it to Fatima.

"Grand Elder, you should eat and make sure to keep up your strength. Wouldn't want you to catch anything either."

Fatima cackled and took the bowl.

"Thank you for your concern Toru, but I have little fear of such things at my age."

Sakura saw the amusement that glinted in the older woman's eyes even as she tucked into her food. Toru, she noticed, on the other hand looked cat who's had enough of its tail being pulled. She wondered what was going on, and a glance at Nebe told her that the other woman was wondering the same thing.

After all the food was gone Fatima stretched and said, "Well, I think I have worn out my welcome." She turned to Nebe. "When you are done here come to the lab. The sooner we begin, the sooner we find out how effective the treatment is." The elder woman used her cane to leverage herself up.

"Do you need assistance getting back to your lab," Toru asked.

Fatima cackled.

"No pup, I think the walk will do me good. Gives me time to think over my life." Then with more grace than Sakura expected from someone of her age, Fatima practically flowed out the door.

Nebe watched her go.

"It's been a long time since I have seen her like that." Nebe gathered up the bowls and utensils before turning to Sasuke. "You've changed this place." She brought the bowls to the sink in the bathroom and began cleaning them.

"That was not my intent." Sasuke spoke quietly.

"Nebe wasn't trying to say that anything was your fault. Quite the opposite actually. Everyone here has been shut in for a good portion of their lives. This clan used to be scholars and doctors. Always curious and always wanting to help. But they've lost that. Even Fatima. She was a teacher, and a healer, but like many people she lost a lot of loved ones. All of her children in fact, and she threw herself into studying and slowly forgot about people." Toru's words made sense to Sakura. It was something she could almost feel, the weight of such loss. But she disagreed with the last part. The woman she saw hadn't forgotten people, people were the sole reason for her to be alive and working. It was something Fatima, Nebe, and herself shared.

Sakura got up and helped Nebe with cleaning up the breakfast. The other woman nodded her thanks. They worked in silence until Toru called Sasuke back to work. Then Sakura turned and watched them go. Once they were gone Nebe spoke,

"Toru teases him about you. It wasn't until I saw you two together that it was more than idle gossip that Toru collected."

Sakura felt the blush creep across her face.

"No, I l-, I was the one-, when we were younger." After the third attempt to explain she hung her head. Nebe patted her shoulder.

"I can see that, I figured you liked him first when you were younger, but what about now?"

The other woman's words while delivered softly and so plainly that it made Sakura feel like there was a purpose behind her words. It wasn't that Nebe was interested in him, it was subtle, but Sakura could tell Nebe loved solely Toru. Yet it seemed she had a vested interest in Sasuke that was more than doctor. After a moment Sakura decided the best way to find out the answer would be to answer the other woman.

"I still love him."

Nebe nodded as if she expected as much.

"And what will you do now?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, then she closed it. She was going to tell Nebe that nothing would happen until Sasuke decided otherwise, but she found that answer didn't sit well with her. Not that she had liked when Sasuke had refused to let her come with when she had first asked. Now she was left with the distinct feeling that that wasn't right anymore. But she wasn't sure what she should do either. Sakura spent a few minutes pondering this when she realized that Nebe was looking at her with approval.

"Oh-." She wasn't even sure how to answer her, but Nebe saved her from having to speak.

"Keep thinking about it, no need to answer me. Though you might want an answer it for yourself." Nebe took the clean dishes and stacked them on one of the shelves before pulling down a three log books from a stack of them. She handed all three to Sakura. "You might want to skim those before we go."

Curiously Sakura opened the first and the thickest book. She skimmed over the pages of neatly printed records. All of the patients mentioned suffered from Dream's Breath effects to varying degrees. Sakura impressed by the detailed nature of the book. Tsunade would be impressed as well, but then again the Nara clan was all around careful about collecting and maintaining knowledge. It wasn't until she got near the end that she found some pages had been torn out.

"What happened to these pages?"

"A patient used Genjutsu on me and made me remove and burn them. Jokes on him though, I kept a second copy of notes on him that he didn't know about." She pointed to the thinnest book on the bottom of the pile.

Sakura pulled that book out, read the patient's name, and nearly dropped the book. Uchiha Itachi was printed in Nebe's neat script at the top of the page. These pages she read more thoroughly. Like Sasuke, Itachi had run amok with Dream's Breath. According to Nebe's notes he was one of the worst cases. She listed a few other symptoms that were out of the ordinary including bleeding from the eyes, dehydration, and extreme exhaustion. Even after the Dream's Breath had left his body he still suffered.

"It's like something is eating him alive, though there's nothing physically wrong him. All of the Dream's Breath has been cleaned out of his system for at least a week yet he is still weak. The patient refuses to speak outside of, 'thank you' when I give him water or food. He can't sleep from nightmares, he makes no sound, just wakes and leans over to a bowl to vomits. I'm worried he isn't keeping any of the food he eats and he eats less and less. When I ask about the nightmares he just stares at the charm with his clan crest blankly. At this rate he will die and I have no idea why, not even Fatima can say though she like me suspects he suffered trauma. His mind is hurt and his body is deteriorated because of it, but something in him just doesn't want to die. It gives me hope, for now at least."

Sakura skimmed down to where the pen marks were particularly harsh from the pen being forced into the paper like the writer was furious.

"Never have I ever had to slap a patient, but I think this was an exception. Toru did some digging and found out the circumstances that forced this man to leave his home. We are supposed to care for patients no matter what and some of the doctors think I should dump him in the forest and let him die. I'm not letting some fool throw away his life when he clearly wants to live nor am I going to throw his life away. But by all that is Holy this man just stared at me while I yelled and yelled at him (mostly) and my assistant. Finally I kicked everyone and demanded to know if he wanted to live. He looked at me and just blinked. BLINKED! That's when I slapped him. I'd like to say that's what woke him up, but I highly doubt it. He changed when I told him that his clan would be gone and I would make sure his brother knew how he died, how he wasted his whole damn fucking life and the kid could deal with that legacy."

"He apologized after he ate that night. He seemed very surprised by his own behavior. Apparently he truly doesn't want to die and now that I know that for sure I'm going to make sure he fights to live or he will regret it."

"Last night was first time he slept without waking up or vomiting. The pain is still there, he clearly regrets what he did to his clan, but he seems to have a purpose for it too. It's possible that the Dream's Breath had an unexpected effect on his mind, but I don't think so. Toru was sitting with Itachi just talking. I think Dream's Breath weakened him and something Toru said brought out the inner turmoil. But because Itachi was so weak he couldn't put his mind to right. Too much is uncertain about both these men. Either way, he's recovering, and at a fast rate like something is driving him."

Sakura closed the book. There was more, much more, but she wasn't sure about how much she should press into Itachi's life. She wondered if Sasuke had seen this or even knew that Nebe had worked on his brother.

"Does Sasuke know?"

"Does he know I treated his brother? Yes. Does he know what exactly happened to his brother? Doubtful, though there's no accounting for Toru."

"So what is your prognoses of Itachi?"

"I can't say for sure." And judging by the look on Nebe's face it irked her that she didn't know. "Later I discovered some of the symptoms were due to over use of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Bleeding from the eye, and the exhaustion. That certainly didn't help him, but I think the biggest toll was actually the murder of his clan." She took a deep breath and choose her next words with extreme care. "It was my thoughts that Itachi was a 'good' man, but he was also driven to protect what he loved at any cost. Even if he himself had to pay. As it stands, Itachi never completely recovered. He ended up coming back a few times and I made a medication to help ease the strain from over using his eyes, which helped, but in the long run simply masked the problem and eased his pain so he could push on. Stubborn fool wouldn't stay long enough for me to try many other options." Nebe's clenched fists were the only indication of how angry and frustrated she was.

Sakura was silent for a long time. What Nebe said tracked with what little Sasuke had shared about his brother after the war along with the scraps of information Konoha had managed to gather beforehand. Maybe if she looked over the recipe, and records from Itachi's treatment she could possibly combine it with the treatment that Fatima and Nebe had devised to cure blindness.

"All of Itachi's medical while he was in your care are in the records here, including details from the treatment you started him on afterwards?" She tapped the thin book.

Nebe nodded. "The recipe is in the back of the book. Sasuke's records are in there too. I was going to do a comparison of the two of them, but that will have to wait." Nebe indicated the book that Sakura hadn't opened. "That is all the medical logs from the medication I gave you and Sasuke. It also details a discontinued topical version. It was basically cosmetic, though we did have major improvement from those who had scars. Both the physical scars and sometimes even their mental health improved."

Sakura remembered the pill that was still laying on her tray next to the scroll. She quickly looked over the ingredients and the side effects. Once she was assured that the side effects were minimal to not existent she swallowed the pellet.

"Shall we get to work?"

Nebe nodded, "I think we should."