Series: N/A

Author: Juniper11

Pairing: SasuSakuIta

Chapter Title: The Only Place

A/N: And we're back on Sunday.

He was supposed to be dead, but she guessed stranger things had happened. She did wonder why it was, if he were going to rise from the grave, why he'd come to see her of all people.

It thrilled her on a level, because, after all, she had loved the man for a good portion of her life. She liked to think it wasn't all one-sided…but that would mean she had taken too many puffs of the hash pipe.

She also wondered why he wasn't trying to kill her. Before he 'died' he hated all things Leaf and she was as 'Leaf' as it got.

She wondered—and she knew she was doing a lot of wondering but it wasn't like she could exactly speak. She was frozen to her spot hoping she wasn't stuck in some sort of cruel illusion.

"Sakura."

She loved it when he said her name. For her it was the equivalent of sex—because it was probably as close as she'd get with this particular man. Intelligence soon grabbed hold of her, albeit a little late, after a near orgasm, enabling her to speak. "Why are you here?"

Irritation, and Sakura knew that's what it was because it was a look that was thrown her way often in the past, flashed across his face. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak again but no words came out. He tried again and Sakura wondered whether or not the cat had his tongue. She would have asked but he words were caught in her throat as she watched as his body underwent a horrifying transfiguration.

And then Sasuke Uchiha was gone and Itachi Uchiha stood in his place.

"I believe what my brother was trying to say, but pride made him fall short, is that we need your help."

Sakura felt a good amount of terror rise up into her heart but she somehow managed to say "Oh," before losing consciousness.

:::

Her bed was comfortable although it should be for the amount of money she paid for it. Sakura opened her eyes only to find that the horrible, horrible dream she had the previous night was reality. Itachi Uchiha was in her boudoir and nothing good could come from a statement like that. Although she had to admit seeing the man this close in the early morning light was close to a fantasy. The man was without a doubt gorgeous.

But he was still scary and that canceled out any naughty thoughts she might have had.

"What do you want with me?"

He regarded her silently for several moments while Sakura fought not to fidget under his gaze. It took a herculean effort but somehow she managed it. She would have been proud of herself had she not been scared witless.

"You may not have noticed but my little brother and I are…closer than we have been in the past."

It was the understatement of the year. Sakura suddenly had the insane urge to laugh and scream at the same time. Could they both be done? She was about to try when he continued on. "We were hoping you could find a way to separate us."

Sakura paused and gave the elder Uchiha a look of surprise before slowly shaking her head. "Not my level of expertise."

"You're a medic." Itachi countered as if just the title of 'medic' meant she could fix everything.

"Yes, a medic. Not a forbidden jutsu specialist. I don't raise the dead. I don't separate them. I heal the living."

"Ah, but now we're alive. So you can heal us, correct?"

"This is no sickness." Sakura countered suddenly finding herself irritated by his twisted logic. She knew his reputation and people said that he was a genius. At that moment she just thought he was manipulative. "You've come to the wrong place."

Itachi slowly shook his head. "That's where you're wrong." Sakura was about to contradict him when he finished his thought. "We've come to the only place."