L.

Light after Dark

Chapter 25

A young woman with long lavender hair pulled into a low pony tail wearing light blue nursing scrubs whimpered to herself as she swiped her card in the slot and opened the elevator doors then stepped inside, twiddling with her fingers all the while. Slowly, as though teasing her, the elevator cruised down to the lower solitary confinement floor. Eerily, as if the elevator itself was warning her not to go any further, the doors opened gradually, revealing the locked bars. With shaky fingers, she gripped the bars and opened them then moved to the last door barring her from her goal. Quickly, wanting to get the task over with she swiped her card and darted into the hallway. In front of her stood the guards desk, but currently no one was there. 'Where is the guard on watch?' Nervously, she peered down the hall, thinking he may have gone to make his rounds. Giving up hope of him coming back she began her journey to the red headed patient's room.

A few seconds later she found herself on the opposite side of the tempered, two-way glass for the very first time. "H-Hello." She stuttered a greeting to the uninterested patient.

In the room, the patient turned from his desk to look at her, a bored look on his face. "You're Hinata aren't you? I recognize that fragile, terrified look about you." He smirked, partly interested at the petrified look on her face. "Didn't you use to work with Sakura?" His body relaxed into the chair and he crossed his legs and laced his fingers and waited patiently for her answer.

Jerkily, she nodded her head and took a giant step away from the glass. 'Why is he so pleasant? Everyone told me he would be…to be care…he's crazy!'

"Don't be scared." He purred soothingly, allowing a sneaky smile to dance its way onto his pale, sickly face. "I was only wondering if you two kept in touch."

Hinata shook her head, too frightened to use her voice.

Obvious disappointment appeared on his face. "No? Are you lying to me?"

Again she shook her head 'no'.

Gaara sneered. "Fine. Useless woman." He muttered. "You're here for the tray aren't you?"

Hinata nodded her head.

Teal eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Too fucking bad. Come back when you learn to use your fucking voice." And with that said, he turned his back to a newly terrified Hinata.

Light after Dark Light after Dark

"Sakura told me Itachi Uchiha is my older brother." Sasuke stated brusquely, sitting down on the couch and hanging his head between his shoulders, sulking with all do right.

Kakashi nodded, the gears in his brain whirling as he stretched his memory to remember anything he could about the man in question. 'Itachi…Itachi Uchiha…is he really Sasuke's brother? I never thought about it…it is probable…why didn't I look into this before?'

"At least that's what she said." The midnight blue haired sullen young man continued on, his body deflating the more he spoke. "But the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Aside from the last name we look alike…" He trailed off, loosing himself in his own thoughts.

After a few beats he stood up sharply, starting Kakashi who still sat on the couch munching on his dish of crackers and cheese and sipping his coffee. "Sasuke?" The silver haired male called, watching as Sasuke flew around, grabbing his jacket, keys and shoes. "I…I'm leaving….got some thinking to do." He mumbled over his shoulder before he slipped out the door.

Light after Dark Light after Dark

A bright orange Lamborghini Gallardo pulled smoothly into the sparse parking lot of a usually busy restaurant. They had cleaned the lot, piles of brown and white snow sat piled up on the sides but a fresh layer had just fallen, covering the lot yet again. Slowly, almost reluctantly he pulled the key from the ignition. The drive over which had taken approximately fifteen minutes, was filled with periods of awkward silence, Sakura sniffling, and Naruto opening his mouth to talk, then quickly shutting it. "Okay…were here." He mumbled, not sure how to handle the situation. Gradually, he gathered his things; house keys, wallet, and car keys, then opened the driver's door, whimpering slightly when the cold winters wind hit him in the face. He then made his way over to the passenger side, listening to the crunching on snow under his feet and opened the door for a reluctant Sakura to step out.

Together they marched to the front door, Naruto reaching back to aim the automatic lock at his car and clicked the button. Then he stepped up and opened the door for her to enter, both pausing to knock their shoes against the mat before walking up to the second set of doors which were propped open at the top.

"Hi! Welcome to China House! Seating for two?" A young, peppy woman welcomed them with a huge, friendly smile on her face.

Naruto stepped forward and nodded. "Yeah. In a corner would be nice." He smiled charmingly at the young woman, causing her to blush. "Of course." She looked down at the seating plan resting on the counter then nodded. "Okay if you two will please follow me."

"Okay." The baby blue eyed male turned back to look at a shy, blushing, blotchy Sakura and held out a hand for her to take. The two of them followed the woman though the many isles and near empty booths to a secluded corner near a window. "Here you go." She turned and smiled at them and laid out two menus neither had noticed she picked up. "A waitress will be with you shortly." With that said, she smiled, bowed, and then left.

Sakura bit her lower lip as she slipped out of her winter coat and laid it over the back of her chair before sitting. Opposite her, she watched her best friend do the same. Awkward silence fell upon the two until the waitress came up. She was a tall woman with brown hair pulled into a high pony tail wearing a crisp, long sleeved white shirt, black slacks, and a black apron tied around her waist. "Hello! I will be your waitress. Can I start you two off with some drinks?"

Baby blue eyes scanned the drink menu she had presented with interest. 'I'm going to need some alcohol to get though this…' After a few seconds he looked back up at her and smiled. "I'll take a bottle of Kirin beer. What about you Sakura?"

The pinkett continued to gnaw at her lower lip before shrugging.

"If you like I can recommend a few things." The waitress smiled warmly at her before continuing on. "Today we have a special running on martinis. They are half price. We also have Passion Fruit Mojitos which, if I might say are absolutely delicious. The bar also stocks just about every available alcohol if you are interested in the harder stuff; we also take recommendations if you have a particular drink you like."

Emerald eyes blinked up at the woman owlishly, before nodding and sighing. "Uhm…I'll have a Basil Martini thanks."

The waitress smiled and nodded. "Alright I'll be back with the drinks shortly. How about some appetizers?"

Naruto thought for a minute before nodding. "Yeah we'll take a platter of buffalo wings."

"Okay." The waitress nodded and pulled a writing pad out of the black apron along with a pen and scribbled it down. "Will that be all for the appetizers?"

"Yeah thanks." The baby blue eyed male smiled and leaned forward on his elbows. "We'll order later."

"Alright I'll be back in a bit." Then she turned and left to go to the bar and place their orders.

An awkward silence settled around the two with Sakura twirling a strand of her pink hair around one finger while staring at her reflection in the window, periodically reaching up to her face to dab at her smeared mascara or pat at her puffy, dappled face. Naruto just sat there playing with the salt shaker, pouring bits out into the palm of his hand then poking it with his finger.

A few minutes passed this way before the waitress returned with the drinks and appetizer and placed them on the table. "Will there be anything else?" She asked, placing two dishes in front of them and stepping back. "No, this will be all for now." Naruto answered, reaching for one of the celery sticks decorated around the buffalo wings. "Okay. Just let me know when you're ready for the main course." And then she left, moving across the room to tend to another couple.

The spiky blonde nibbled on his celery as he slowly filled his plate of buffalo wings, more celery and blue cheese. "So…" The spiky blonde nodded awkwardly. "Would you like to tell me what happened back there?" He asked nicely, taking a bite out of his stick of celery.

Pink hair whirled as she shook her head, opting to remain silent.

"Really? Not going to say a word?"

Head shake 'no'.

Naruto chewed his bite of celery as he studied the silent pink haired woman in front of him. She had yet to take any of the wings or drink her beverage; instead she sat there, staring at her empty plate with her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Sakura…you really need to start talking…why the hell was Sasuke battering you?" He pressed, dropping the nice guy act he had been putting up. On the inside, he still fuming about the entire situation and he still didn't know what exactly transpired.

She shook her head.

He picked up his large glass filled to the brim with fresh beer and took a sip. "Really Sakura. This is serious. I just walked into the room and he had you up against the fucking dresser, one hand stifling your mouth. You were crying a goddamn river and he was so damn livid, he didn't even see me punch him. What the hell happened?" He demanded as he laced his fingers in front of him and leaned forward.

After a few silent seconds, she relented. Her shoulders sagged and her eyes locked on her empty plate again. "I told him Itachi Uchiha was his brother." She whispered.

"Why would you do that?" He asked, one side of his mouth tugging down into a frown. "You know you can't joke with him."

"It wasn't a joke."

"You mean to tell me has a brother?" He repeated, unsure of what he was saying.

Pink hair swayed as she nodded. "Yeah…that guy that was in the hospital. A patient-the one with the black hair and lines on his face…"

Naruto frowned, troubled with what she was saying and took a swig oh his beer, downing about one fourth of it. "Why didn't you tell him then? Don't you think he had a right to know that he was sitting with his brother?" The gears began to turn in his head the more he thought about it. "And why doesn't Sasuke know he has a brother? Sakura what the hell do you know that we don't?"

The pinkett closed her eyes and ran a hand though her hair. "A lot…I mean…when I got my memory back all these things just…flooded my brain and…"

"Sakura. I love you. You know I love you-but you really need to start talking and stop playing this game. It's not fun and you're putting us all in a hard place." He stated and sighed.

"Okay…okay I'll tell you everything."

"You better." Was all he muttered, sipping his beer. 'I think I'm going to need something stronger…'

Before she began her story she loaded up her plate with buffalo wings and celery and blue cheese; the hunger beginning to set in as well as a need for a distraction. "Itachi is Sasuke's older brother. He left home a few weeks after Sasuke was born-it was when he became an official member of the Akatsuki organization." She sighed and ran her right hand though her hair and kept it there, tucked behind her ear whist she picked up a piece of celery and took a tiny bite then swallowed. "He made his parents remove all of his pictures and anything that could possibly point to him ever living there…it was to protect them. They were supposed to hide everything…but they didn't. Well his mother didn't-she kept a baby picture of him in her closet…one day, after a huge blow up in one of there…missions…the police captured him-Itachi-and raided his parents house and found the picture…at that time Sasuke was about five years old." She breathed in though her nose and blew out of her mouth then took a sip of her martini. "Anyways long story short Itachi ended up raiding the house for the picture his mother didn't lock away in the bank vault…which is why there are no picture of him in the house."

Naruto raised a blonde eyebrow over his mug of beer. "His parents never talked about him?"

Sakura shook her head and down casted her eyes. "No…he made sure to stress they never talk about him to Sasuke." She nibbled on her lower lip for a few seconds and pushed the celery though a glob of cheese. "He said he made his decision. He wanted to live his life that way and Sasuke shouldn't be influenced by it. Itachi knew what he was doing was wrong-it was against the law and he never wanted to get Sasuke mixed up in it…or his family for that matter."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding and motioned for the waitress to come over to their table. "Okay…I get that. But now Sasuke's parents are long gone and he's an adult. He deserves to know all that you're telling me."

"I know I know."

"No. I really don't think you do."

"Yes I-"

"You think you know but you don't really do you Sakura?" Emerald eyes stared up at him in offence and bewilderment. "Naru I-"

"Look…if I knew that you had just dropped a bomb like that…well I never would have token you out." He shook his head and sighed. Just then the waitress came up smiling. "Yes Sir?" Naruto looked up at her and smiled tiredly. "Yes Miss I'd like…a shot of Scotch, straight up and another beer thanks." The waitress nodded, took his empty cup then turned to Sakura who now had her head buried in her hands. "Uh…Miss…?"

"She's fine for now." Naruto jumped in, frowning at the pinkett.

The waitress nodded uneasily then left.

"Sakura." The baby blue eyed male looked at his best friend, wanting to reach a hand out to her and comfort her but restrained himself. "Sasuke had all right to react that way-as wrong as it was-I can understand."

That got her attention. "What?"

He shook his head, getting a bit tired of his friend's denseness. "You just told a guy that was an only child for years, that he has an older brother. Not to mention the fact that he has been curious as hell about Itachi since he saw him at the hospital. And here you were the entire time with the whole fucking story yet you said nothing."

The pinkett hung her head in shame.

"To be honest I have half a mind to take you back to Kaka-Sempai and let the chips fall where they may." He mumbled, picking up a buffalo wing and taking a bite out of it.

Emerald eyes stared wide at him in shock and worry. "What?" She whispered softly, barely audible.

Naruto swallowed his bite before speaking. "Sakura…I'm sick and tired of all these lies…it isn't the first time…and I'm beginning to worry it won't be the last." He stated bluntly, his face showing all of his emotions; sorrow, pain, regret. Just then the waitress returned with his drinks and discreetly placed them on the table, highly aware of the tense situation going on.

"Naru-"

"No let me talk." He closed his eyes and downed the shot, grunting as it burned the back of his throat. "First it was all the secrets in high school with you looking for an apartment when in fact; you were hanging with the Akatsuki." He held up his pointer finger to show one. "Then it was what Sasuke did to you." He held up a second finger. "Now this business with Itachi? And why do you know if it was such a well kept secret?"

Light after Dark Light after Dark

Two fully grown women were in a fully furnished office inside the mental hospital, the older one; a blonde woman with a large chest and a furious look on her face sat behind a desk. The other was a younger woman with short black hair and delicate features stood in front of her. The two were still dressed in their outer wear, having rushed in moments before. "Shizune." Tsunade began riffling through her desk searching for a bottle of Sake. "I haven't been down to see Gaara in a while-have you been?"

The black haired woman shifted uncomfortable, her long black coat catching on the edge of a chair nearby. "Uhm…yes…yes I have…he seems fine-better actually." She lied through her teeth, watching when Tsunade shut one drawer in frustration.

"Oh? Somehow I doubt that…" She muttered. "But anyways has Sakura contacted you yet? I imagine that she would…given the nice relationship you two had and whatnot." She mumbled, lifting up a stack of papers and pulling a cup out.

Shizune massaged her forehead and nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering whether or not she should say anything. Finally she made her decision. "Tsunade really. This idea is beyond bad. Sakura is…no longer a viable option."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I…spoke with some people who are close to her and…to be frank she is no longer the woman in your mind. Give up on her and hire someone else. If you look at the local universities you can hire someone-or even if you don't want to hire them take them on as interns. A whole group of them. Form a sort of partnership programs with the university."

"Shizune stop talking in riddles. How can she possibly change? Have you even met her?" Golden eyes narrowed into slits. "You know Shizune I'm beginning to think you're jealous of Sakura…you want her job. That's it isn't it?" She sat back in her chair and laced her fingers. "Sorry to break it to you Shizune but you are my secretary. That's it. You aren't qualified-not like her you aren't."

In that moment, Shizune realized something she had been overlooking for years. She stumbled back, seeing her boss for the first time for the person she really is. A manipulative, greedy, self centered, obsessed old woman who has lost her touch; she was once the best psychologist around, held in a stature far above all. But now she was just a hollow shell of her former self, chasing after an image she could no longer hold. She neglected all of the patients, forcing Shizune to do most of the work, she forced the guards to work double and triple over time, most of the workers were required to perform tasks not stipulated in their contracts and the hospital was losing more and more patients; no one wanted to admit anyone here anymore.

"You…you know what Tsunade?"

"It's LADY Tsunade." The golden eyed, controlling woman sneered.

"Right…I'm taking the remainder of the day off."

"No you aren't."

"Yes. I am."

"No Shizune. You aren't. I need you to fill out the quarterly papers before the end of this week."

"That's your job."

"What was that? You know what-find me Hinata." Then she turned her back on the one person who stuck by her side for years, dismissing her as though she meant nothing.

Light after Dark Light after Dark

L.

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