Pt. 4

Prompt: Awakened

The herbs were in various areas in the wild that were more difficult to reach like mountain peaks and murky swamps surrounding quicksand's, hidden grottos in sand dunes…

"Sakura-chan… We've found all of the items on your list but this last one" Naruto reported while whining a bit, he was tasked with fighting through the murky swamp… to find a particular root herb with blue bumps on the bottom.

Sakura glanced at the list and saw him pointing at a flower that was shaped like a sunflower but it was a rare flower that was purple colored instead and it was rumored to be found in a valley amongst the rocks in river caverns, near a river source, it was difficult to reach because these caves were only accessible via river current which was usually rapids…

"Let's regroup with Sasuke and Kakashi sensei" Sakura instructed him while heading back to their makeshift camp.

That evening they resembled what they had found and Sakura was surprised that they had found more quantities than she asked for, which was good, she could make more serum than planned and perhaps she could save some for others.

Sakura couldn't sleep and was sitting in front of the campfire. Would she be able to revive him? Was the last 6 months enough time to really help him? She wandered in circles in her mind worrying that even if she did make the right mixture, Itachi was too impacted by damage for it to take full hold of his system… ironically she didn't want to say goodbye again…

It was like losing a close friend you didn't know you had, he had opened her eyes to his deceptions… she had believed the stories that made her believe he was no more than a monster but he wasn't.

The truth of the matter was that Itachi was too empathetic, he sacrificed his entire life for those that he loved, namely his little brother… and for what? Sasuke only saw him as a stepping stool for more power and was lost to the same darkness Itachi tried to save him from…

"Should have just told Sasuke the truth and maybe things would have turned out different…" Sakura muttered quietly to herself.

"I think even if I knew, things might not have changed much" an unexpected voice commented to her mutter.

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke standing over her small form.

"What are you…" she began stuttering, embarrassed that someone had heard her.

Sasuke moved on to the other side of the fire, quietly debating before talking.

"I have forgiven Itachi… now that I understand what he was trying to do but I think things would still have turned out similarly for the truth of the matter is that Naruto has always been stronger than me and I couldn't handle my weaknesses" he admitted.

"You know that a major part of Naruto's strength is the Kyuubi, correct?" She corrected him.

"Yes, the raw power is that of the tailed beast and his inability to fully control it, but I was speaking more of his will of fire and never backing down in a fight" Sasuke murmured in response.

Mental strength…

"Sasuke" Sakura began, wanting him to hear what she thought but he interrupted her with him waving his arm in a signal of silence.

"I know you want to contradict my admission but you've even said the truth back in the forest of death when you called me a coward and to save Naruto when he already proved himself against Orochimaru's first assault on us…" Sasuke reminded her.

She went quiet, as she remembered her emotional speech when he froze after Naruto got hurled into a tree and knocked out and Sakura ended up saving him with her kunai.

"You've always been second best, from your childhood and having Naruto progress faster in getting stronger set you off, as you couldn't handle being second best again" she said, realizing that even if Itachi had trusted him, Sasuke's feeling of inferiority sent him off the edge.

"Yes… and after you hid Itachi from me I realized that I would have won if we fought in a battle to the death because of his condition… that I don't want revenge anymore, it wouldn't be a fair fight and well Naruto was right, even if i killed him, it wouldn't have made it right, or better.:

Sakura was surprised that Sasuke just told her that he actually didn't want to kill Itachi anymore.

"If I manage to stabilize him and bring him back, how do you feel that Itachi may not be a shinobi anymore, since I don't have all the facts, if he wants to stay alive, he will need to quit being a ninja for his condition could reverse if he continues to use his eyes… the Mangekyou was never designed as a tool for long term use, based on the fact that most Uchiha never lived after they unlocked it…" Sakura asked, wondering if he had alternate motives.

"Uchiha elders left us memoirs telling future generations of a dark secret… Mangekyou was the first step in unlocking a powerful rare eye known as the Rinnegan. If I wanted to progress further I would need another Uchiha to sacrifice their Mangekyou and merge them with my own to create the next step which was called Eternal Mangekyou. There is not a lot known as to how to obtain the final eyes." Sasuke told her while staring into the fire.

"You're after Itachi's eyes…" Sakura finally realized his plan.

"If he has no use for them, I'll gladly take them off his hands and he can live a peaceful life" Sasuke replied, allowing her to see him as he was.

"What is so special about this Eternal Mangekyou?" Sakura asked but had a feeling she already knew.

"It is the key to stopping our eyes from deteriorating to blindness, and it unlocks a burst of more power" he replied easily.

"Itachi won't give you his eyes… he needs them, even if he isn't a shinobi anymore." Sakura growled lighty, defending her patient.

"Just tell me where he is…" Sasuke's voice dropped and his tone grew menacing.

Sakura sighed at him, power wasn't going to help them.

The next morning Naruto noticed Sakura staying as far away from Sasuke as she possibly could without making it more obvious that they had some sort of disagreement. He sidled up to her on their walk to the nearest valley, looking for the last ingredient.

"What did Teme say to rile you up so much this morning?" he whispered into her ear.

"His true intentions…. He is going to spare his life but Sasuke is after Itachi's eyes, willingly or by force…" Sakura whispered back.

"That bastard…" Naruto replied furiously, rolling back his sleeves before stomping over to their troubled teammate.

No amount of threats or other options was going to appease their raven haired friend.

Sakura walked closer to Kakashi and explained her findings as Nauto and Sasuke started up another argument.

"Maybe this isn't something we can convince him to change, the only person who may get through is Itachi" Kakashi offered wisely.

"What if Sasuke is just biding his time until he finds out where he is? I don't know if I can stop him…" Sakura replied, worried now…

"I understand where you are coming from Sakura, and the best we can do is keep them apart until Itachi is awakened and he can decide his own fate." he said before jumping ahead of the group.

Hmph trust was a hard thing to come by nowadays.

Days later after they returned with all the ingredients, Sakura recommended that Sasuke be put under house arrest. He would get his chance to talk to his brother and sort out the Sharingan issue but he must let her get him awake and stable. These were her conditions and the rest was out of her control.

Somewhere along the journey Itachi had unknowingly woven his way into her heart and Sakura was very protective of him.

A piece of her was always going to love Sasuke but as she grew older she realized that she never knew the boy she thought she knew and he was going towards a place she couldn't follow.

She thought of Itachi's light caress of her hair and shivered. She really needed to stop being attracted to Uchiha's, they would be the end of her…

As promised, Sasuke agreed to be confined to his temporary home and would wait the week for Itachi's recovery from the procedure. After that, it was in his hands as to what would happen to Itachi.

Sakura and Shizune retrieved Itachi from the secret location and brought him to Konoha's hospital where Tsunade and a team of the top medical nin awaited, it was time to wake him up and administer Sakura's treatment.

Naruto kept Sasuke company most of the day of the surgery before telling him he would check up on the progress of the operation and that he would check up on him tomorrow. Sasuke bid him good night and let him out of his apartment.

Naruto swiftly made his way across the rooftops in the direction of the hospital, in his rush he accidentally ran smack into Hinata who was exiting the doors as he arrived.

"Oh! Sorry...Hinata?" Naruto cringed as he looked her over quickly for any injuries.

Hinata blushed from her toes and gently smacked his hands away from her, as the close contact made her overheat as it was.

"I'm okay Naruto-kun, truly" she said breathlessly as he stepped away.

"Just in a rush to see Sakura-chan, did you see her while in there" he asked her.

"Yes, she just got out of a surgery on the third floor as I was visiting Neji-nii" Hinata replied, confused.

"Thanks Hinata, and sorry again" he rushed inside while waving at her.

Hinata, shook herself out of her shock before going home.

On the third floor of the hospital, Naruto saw Sakura conversing with the nurse at the station and he came to a screeching halt.

"How's Itachi?!" he yelped eagerly.

Sakura smiled, and gave him a thumbs up, he had made the initial surgery to revive him from a comatose state and had stabilized.

Next they would administer her series of vials that would be his treatment for the autoimmune disease and hopefully see some improvement in the next couple of days.

Itachi awoke but didn't open his eyes, but listened to the environment, he heard multiple drops and beeps around him… Sakura must have brought him back… he decided to just rest for now, he was severely disintegrating when she put him under.

Sakura checked in on Itachi around dinner time and she saw he was awake and staring at the ceiling.

"Itachi!" she voiced joyfully, glad to see her patient looking alright.

"Sakura, I'm back," he said in a playful voice.

They discussed what his treatment was going to be over the next week and she told him that they would know it was working… or not in days time. She also warned him about Sasuke and all that had happened after she put him under.

"Sasuke is blinded by his ambitions of keeping up with Naruto and protecting the both of us since it seems like my era of being a great shinobi is now over." Itachi guessed after Sakura revealed to him what conversations Sakura had with him recently and that he bluntly told her he wanted Itachi's Sharingan.

"What do you want to do with your future?" she inquired while gathering up the few dishes between them.

"What I've always wanted… peace and no more war." he replied wistfully.

Sakura tilted her head and expressed frustration at the vague answer.

"I will retire as a shinobi but Sasuke will not have my eyes, he will need to rethink his plans." Itachi responded seriously.

Sakura handed him some pudding before administering his second dose of serum and he retired for the night.

In three days Itachi was improving and his sight was getting less blurry which he was highly surprised about as it was like his eyes were reversing.

Sakura explained to him that they gave him a new type of eye surgery that would replace his "fried" corona layer and it would be like replacing the lens, resulting in almost brand new eyes he would once again have 20-20 vision but she warned that for now he was to not use his Sharingan until his treatment session was over and she could see what the aftereffects were going to be.

During the day she would stop by at meal times to keep him company even when she was on duty for she took responsibility for him since he asked her to help him back in the land of tea, plus as the days wore on, she admitted to herself that she had fallen for him, and eating together brought her some joy in seeing him recovering so well.

Naruto told Sasuke of Itachi's amazing progress so far and he was telling him of Sakura's amazing abilities.

"Sakura-chan is going to be as legendary as Baa-chan at this point, she's definitely on a different level, oh and don't mess with her punches… she can end you in one hit if she really wanted too.

"Hmhh" replied Sasuke.

He was distracted by what he had seen in Naruto's descriptions of how things at the hospital, if he didn't' know any better, he was guessing that Sakura had turned her attentions onto his older brother and that bothered him a little as he was so used to her chasing after his shadow, but perhaps she finally saw he went down a path she wouldn't be able to and moved on…

Sasuke wasn't looking for love and for once he wished Itachi good luck, she was quite a force to be messed with, that much he knew.

Naruto began pulling out cups of ramen from his back pack when Sasuke finally started to pay attention again and so another fight began over how Ramen was categorized as empty food and Sasuke would cook something for the both of them that was better than Naruto's cheap cup ramen.

The end of the week arrived and Itachi's vision was fully repaired and he was up and about, no longer in any pain and felt like he was 15 again, the prime of his years so far since not long after he joined the Akatsuki he began to experience the symptoms.

He would be released at the end of the morning but Sakura wanted to keep a close eye on any effects that were short lived or brought up any new ailments.

She kept her distance that morning for this was the end of their journey together and he would move into a new place in the village and besides weekly check ups at the hospital, Itachi was now free to live his life as he pleased.

One of the nurses on duty noticed Sakura staring wistfully at Uchiha Itachi's room before she walked down the hall to her office and was gone. Hmm seems like someone was pining. She carefully picked up the line to the Yamanaka flower shop…

Ino arrived an hour later and walked straight for "doctor" Haruno's office where she found Sakura typing away notes for reports and other hospital administrative items.

"So a chickie tells me you're pinning over another Uchiha…." she said grinning.

Sakura dismissed her accusation.

"Uchiha Itachi, is just a patient I successfully healed in 6 months and solved an ancient Uchiha mystery that will help future generations" she explained not looking at her.

"And that's quite an achievement forehead, but I came to talk about your non-existent love life" Ino pressed.

"A shinobi doesn't need a love life" Sakura clipped, now looking at her.

Ino stared at the woman in front of her who looked heartbroken and trails of tears washed down her face in streams from moments of crying before she arrived.

"Oh… Sakura…" Ino said walking over to her friend.

A younger nurse waltz into the ward with release forms and Itachi was surprised that Sakura didn't deliver them herself but perhaps she was busy with an unexpected incident, as it was a hospital that would make sense.

His Akatsuki gear was left at the Hokage's tower for analysis and they gave him typical jonin wear, just without the green vest. Navy blue was never his color as he preferred black.

He then was to meet with Hatake Kakashi at the local Konoha teashop to receive details of his new accommodations.

On his way out, he stopped by Sakura' office and before he could knock he overheard a conversation…

"You should really stop getting attached to Uchiha's if they keep hurting your feelings,"Ino said wisely.

"It's not his fault, I just felt for his compassionate personality I never knew he had until recently…" Sakura muttered lightly.

Sakura had fallen for him… Itachi's eyes widened in surprise of hearing that confession and he stepped back from the door before continuing to leave, hmm so she returned his budding feelings for her? He would have to think further on it once he was done with his business for the day.

After Ino left, Sakura checked with the nurse's station on how Itachi's release went, they reported it went well and didn't she speak with him? As he went to her office to say goodbye.

Sakura's expression changed to horror as it must have been around the time she was speaking with Ino and who knows what he overheard!

She excused herself hastily, asking one of the senior nurses to cover for her as she had urgent business outside of the hospital.

Hurdling out her window, Sakura began to search for him.

Itachi met up with Kakashi as promised who offered him some lunch before he would escort him to his new home.

The dango of Konaha was still the best in the fire country.

The Hokage bought him a 2 bedroom place in the eastern section of the village in a nice looking complex, it was green with brown accents. Itachi was pleased with the choice as he remembered coming through here with Shisui to visit some of their cousins from time to time.

After settling in for an hour, he decided to take a walk into the nearby forest, he figured he would be safe as it was Nara property and everything was monitored, if Sasuke planned on surprising him he wouldn't be able to without interference.

Sakura rushed towards the eastern part of upper Konoha when she confirmed with Kakashi in Itachi's new placement that she had urgent business with him. Arriving, she rang his apartment buzzer and after three tries , no one answered… Where did he go now?!

Suddenly she sensed Sasuke's chakra blur by her and she followed him, he was in pursuit of Itachi for sure.

Sasuke stopped in front of a gate and clenched his fist in frustration… Itachi was in Nara territory and you needed permission to enter.

Sakura arrived shortly behind him and strolled up to the gate.

"Since when have you had permission to enter Nara land?" he demanded angrily.

"Since I know Shikamaru and have been given permission on the grounds I'm a medical-nin" she responded lightly, ignoring his hostile presence.

"He's mine once he comes out," Sasuke warned her.

"You need to calm down and rethink your strategic Sasuke," Sakura replied, leaving him behind and entering the sanctuary.

Itachi met up with a Nara, not long after he entered the area and luckily for him, it was a Jonin he had known in his ANBU days who asked what he was doing here and Itachi explained he came in peace and that he lived nearby, moved into today and just wanted a safe place to meditate, and warned that Uchiha Sasuke would probably want to enter and to not let him in.

Fumi nodded and allowed him to stay as she went to patrol the perimeter.

He walked further into the shrubs and nearby foliage and settled by a nice shallow pond next to a young Wisteria tree, probably on its first bloom.

Sakura encountered Naka, Fumi not long after she entered and apologized for her unannounced visit but she needed to speak with Itachi who she suspected was given permission to stay as he was not with Fumi.

She also told her Sasuke was outside and would not be coming in.

Fumi pointed in the direction that he had gone and wished her luck.

Sakura strolled through the foliage until she came across a mediating Itachi who sat beside the water. She didn't want to disturb but she needed to talk to him now that he had overheard her conversation with Ino.

"The nurses informed me that you dropped by my office to say farewell and I fear.. You may have overheard a conversation…" she asked unsure.

Itachi opened his eyes, bright red shone through.

Sakura raced over and admonished him, he wasn't supposed to use it yet!

Itachi deactivated it hastily, as she entered within his reach and he spun her around easily before planting a loving kiss onto her lips, trap successful.

Sakura's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into him.

Moment was soon over as she gawked in surprise at him.

Itachi bellowed loudly in laughter as she was very expressive and he then told her.

"You have taken root in my heart and I have a budding amount of romantic love for you Haruno Sakura. Would you do me the honor of allowing us to date and explore it further?"

She closed her mouth from shock and nodded her approval, just disbelieving that he had tricked her like that. Moment over and fiety returned, as she lightly punched his shoulder in anger.

"I may like you Uchiha Itachi but don't you ever disobey my medical advice again just to trick me into getting close enough to kiss!" she sputtered angrily, now worried he damaged his eyes, from her treatment.

Kissing her again in apology. He held her face and promised he wouldn't do it again.

"You still have to face Sasuke, who's waiting outside… " she pouted, knowing she couldn't keep them apart any longer.

"Let's go face him together? Hmm" Itachi suggested, grasping her hand in his.

"Together" she replied confidently.

~*~ FIN ~*~

A/N: Anddddd that's it, the end!

Thank you for the lovely reviews and ask to expand this idea of mine. I hope you enjoyed the cute ending and if your itching to know what happened with Sasuke, well let's just say Itachi and Sakura tag teamed him lol

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