**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the quote below. I just own Sintary ^^ Also I do not own the other OC Kokuro. He's my friend's.

Side note: I was sick while writing the end of this, so I apologize if it's kinda blah. There is another flashback! Again, sorry. I'm just trying to build relationships!

"Once I was seven years old my momma told me

go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely.

Once I was seven years old.

It was a big big world, but we thought we were bigger

Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker…"

-7 years by Lukas Graham

Itachi wished they were seven years old again. He truly did. Things were… a tad easier than they were now.

"Itachi?" Sintary whispered looking up at her dark haired lover.

Itachi wrapped his arms around her gently as she buried her face in his chest, clutching his shirt. He felt her shake as she started to cry.

"Oh god, Itachi. What the hell happened to me?" She whispered with a mouth full of sobs.

"An enemy ninja injected something into you, and you had a reaction to it. It was a severe reaction that caused you to have a cardiac arrest. The medics were able to bring you back, minimizing the damage the best they could at the time. There's still work for them to do though. They were trying to help you when you woke up and got caught up in an attack," Itachi told her gently running a hand through her hair. "They need you to calm down so you don't have another cardiac episode though."

"Sacuna-san," one took a step forward. "We would like to give you something to calm you down."

Sintary clutched Itachi tighter. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't think clearly.

Itachi looked down at her still stroking her hair. "Sintary, she asked you a question. Can they give you something to relax?" He asked her

Sintary gave a very tiny nod.

"Sacuna-san, can you look at me? It'll help you relax if you watch me put it in." The medic informed her.

Sintary gently positioned herself so she could watch the medic while still cling onto Itachi. The medic showed her the vial before pulling some out into a syringe.

"It won't make someone like you drowsy, but it will make you much more relaxed." The medic told her as she injected the medication into the IV.

Sintary felt the coldness of the drug invade her veins. Her shoulders relaxed as Sintary sighed with relief. All the tension, all the anxiety she felt, it just faded away. She actually felt calm.

Sintary looked up at Itachi. "I actually feel amazing…" Sintary said quietly.

Itachi gave a very small smile with warm eyes. "That's great Sintary." He said quietly.

Sintary scooted over. "Come here," she said motioning to the space in the cot.

"Sintary," Itachi said unsure.

He looked at the medic who just nodded, and he slid into the cot with her. Sintary immediately curled up against him. Itachi wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close to him. They didn't talk. They just laid there together. Eventually the nurse came back up to them.

"Sacuna-san? We have a room to move you to. Is it okay if we move you?" The nurse asked her.

Sintary gave a small nod, just resting against Itachi. She felt so calm, she couldn't believe it. She didn't remember the last time she felt so content.

Once in their room, Sintary looked at the nurse. "Can you close the blinds please?" She asked gently.

The woman complied and did as her patient asked before leaving the two alone.

"Why did you ask for the blinds to be closed?" Itachi inquired looking down at his lover.

"Because you're a very private man, Itachi." Sintary told him. "You'd never let me do this out there, or wherever people could see us."

Before Itachi could probe her further, Sintary leaned up and kissed his soft lips. The kiss was light, leaving him room to pull away if he wanted, but it was clearly loving. Itachi almost thought about pulling away, however, he couldn't deny her. Not in the state she was in. Itachi leaned in more and pressed his lips firmer against hers. One hand traveled up her side and gently rested to cup her cheek. The kiss, while sweet, didn't last very long. They were both tired and both their bodies demanded rest.

Sintary pulled away first, settling her head underneath his chin. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to." She told him quietly.

"And if I want to?" Itachi whispered.

He felt Sintary smile against his neck. "I'd really like that." She said quietly.

Sintary let her fingers probe against his body to see if he was hurt. She made it seem like she was caressing him, but he was too smart for her.

Itachi grabbed her hand gently. "I'm fine." He said. "You should be worrying about yourself."

"I heard there were holes in the wall. You should really get checked out." Sintary urged him.

Itachi shook his head. "I didn't get tossed around. Kokuro did." That reminded Itachi. "I should probably check on him. Maybe he's awake."

Sintary nodded and kissed him again. "Go check on him. I'd come, but they don't want me up quite yet."

Itachi nodded and slowly got out of the bed. Sintary took in the sight of him stretching. The way his muscles flexed under his black T-shirt. Sintary hummed happily, loving who she decided to be with. Itachi turned his head back to look at her with a small smile.

"I'll be back shortly," he told her.

Sintary nodded and rolled onto her back. "I'll be here," she said with a small smile on her lips.

Itachi smirked a bit at that and left the room. He walked down to the nurses' station and asked for Kokuro's room number. They told him before he headed on his way. A ghost of a smile still on his lips. He would have never pictured his life turning out like this. Itachi hadn't expected on finding a woman who he even liked. He never thought he'd find a woman who complimented him let alone he admired. Itachi had thought he would fight the clan's elders for as long as he could before he'd eventually have to let them select a bride for him. He knew as heir to the clan, he'd have to have a wife whether he really wanted to or not. Itachi just… never imagined actually falling in love with someone.

Itachi soon stood in front of Kokuro's room. He took a breath to center himself. His face went to its usual indifference look. He politely knocked on the door before opening it.

"Hey, Itachi!" Kokuro said with a mouth full of food.

Itachi entered the room and closed it behind him. "I see you're doing fine."

Kokuro nodded finishing what was in his mouth. "Yeah, the medics said I just needed rest and food."

Itachi nodded taking a spot up against the wall. "You don't remember what happened do you?" He asked quietly.

Kokuro rose an eyebrow looking at his friend. "We chased after the bad guy, and we were in the forest…" he said slowly. "Then I woke up here."

Itachi sighed softly. "You lost control." He stated plainly.

Kokuro looked taken aback and confused. "I… what?" He shook his head in denial. "No. That's not true. That hasn't happened since we our initiation into ANBU."

"Kokuro it just happened a couple hours ago." Itachi told him. "You turned into a cyclone again, and we had to evacuate fifty people within the ten-mile radius to ensure you wouldn't hurt anyone."

That hurt Kokuro a bit. They had to move fifty people… because of him? Because he had been a threat? He shook his head. "Itachi, I didn't—"

"You didn't mean for it to happen," Itachi finished. "But it did Kokuro. Last time that jutsu was unleashed for kill six ninja and ripped the forest up for five miles. You let your emotions control you. You're too openly emotional."

"At least I express my emotions!" Kokuro suddenly yelled. "Would it kill you to show some!? You're all polite and formal. You're so distant from the rest of us. I highly doubt Sintary even knows who you really are! You don't even publicly show her affection! The only way I even know you two are a thing is because you show a tad more when we're around your family or by ourselves. That's seriously the only way because you seldom show anything. Hell, you show more emotions with Sasuke than you even do Sintary!"

Itachi looked at him, his face still stoic to anyone who didn't know him. However, Kokuro did know him, and staring at his best friend he noticed an angry glint in his eyes.

"Do you know what would happen to Sintary if any one of my, or even the clan's, enemies found out she and I were remotely close?" Itachi asked. Again, to anyone but those who knew the Uchiha genius, his voice sounded cold and calm. "They would take her and torture her until they got whatever they wanted from us. Then they would kill her without remorse. My little brother is not in the field yet, and therefore, there is little harm that can come to him inside our clan's borders. If I were to be distant to my brother it would raise alarm that there is something wrong with me, Kokuro. I would be under the scrutiny of both the clan and the village – more so than I already am. So," Itachi paused, "in order to protect those I care about, I have to not show I care about them."

Kokuro was silent for a while, wise enough not to retort back. Instead, he switched topics. "How is she?"

Itachi felt his shoulders relax, having not realized they had tensed. "She'll live."

Kokuro rolled his eyes. "Duh. But like, how is she?" He asked.

Itachi sighed. "She went into cardiac arrest from whatever the enemy gave her. Then she had a panic attack and was threatening the nurses… they were finally able to calm her down with medication."

The dark haired nin nodded. "Can I see her?"

His cousin nodded. "Yes. She would like that."

Kokuro quickly finished his food before getting out of the bed. "Let's go then!"

The two deadliest ninja in Konoha headed over o their teammates room, only the find it closed with a sign on it that read: "Doctor present. Do not enter."

Itachi frowned seeing that. He felt the person's chakra and frowned more. The boys headed back towards the nurses' station.

"Why is Ibiki Morino in Sintary Sacuna's room?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, he's not a doctor." Kokuro butted in.

The medic looked at him calmly. "As you both probably know, Sacuna-san had a panic attack. When we see such events occur, we have to report them to the Hokage. Usually the squad leader, or captain does the evaluation. But unfortunately…" she trailed off.

"Unfortunately what?" Kokuro asked.

"I'm too close to Sintary… we both are." Itachi finished piecing it together.

The nurse nodded. "So, he sent down the next person which is Morino-san."

"How long will they be?" Itachi asked quickly.

"It's hard to say. It is a full evaluation so it could take a while," she replied.

Itachi nodded. "Notify us when she is done. Let's go Kokuro." Itachi said and swiftly left.

The two boys waited for an hour. It was hard to just sit around while they waited.

Kokuro looked at Itachi. "You should go home," he suggested. "It's passed ten already. It was a long day for you. You need to rest."

"I can't rest knowing she's still undergoing that test," Itachi replied looking at him.

"You need to. Look, I'll be here through the night. I'll be here when Sintary comes out of that test. You can come back tomorrow morning," Kokuro urged.

Itachi sighed. He was a bit tired. His body was practically begging him to call it a night already.

"Seriously, cuz. I'll watch over her," Kokuro assured him.

Itachi finally nodded. "Okay… I'll go home."

"Good, now, shoo!" The former waved his hands prompting the latter to leave.

He watched his friend leave and sighed. Everyone knew shinobi with mental illness were eventually stripped of their status and forced to live as civilians. Maybe Itachi, being her captain, would be able to have some say in it. Her anxiety didn't affect her quality in missions. It was the after the missions that these attacks came about. It was almost like post-traumatic stress – which ninja frequently experienced. Kokuro sighed. Maybe they were out to get Sintary… maybe this was just some twisted game for them.

The worried nin wouldn't find anything out for another hour when the nurse alerted him that Sintary was now available. Kokuro leaped from his bed and ran to her room.

"Sintary!" He exclaimed shoving open the door.

Her friend heard a sniffle, and his heart sunk.

Kokuro headed over to the bed and gently sat down at the edge of the bed. He slowly made his own way into the bed so he could lay next to her.

"What happened?" He asked her gently.

"I had to go through a psych eval." His friend replied quietly.

"We heard that, but like, what happened?" Kokuro asked her.

"I had to go through with it, Kokuro!" Sintary exclaimed just so upset. "He said I can do it the easy way or the hard way. The hard way would probably scar me for life he said, and I wouldn't have a chance of being a shinobi after that. So, I went the easy way. I answered them truthfully…"

"Did he tell you anything when you left?" Kokuro inquired, anxious to know.

Sintary shook her head. "Not about the diagnoses or the outcome. He said there will be an investigation opened about my case."

"They'll probably call in Itachi at the very least. He is the ANBU captain, and our squad leader. He'll be able to straighten them out." Kokuro stated his faith in their friend.

"But they may think his judgement has been compromised. We've known each other for so long… they may think he'll side in my favorite because we're friends." Sintary expressed her undying worry.

"This is Itachi Uchiha we're talking about. Itachi always acts in the best interest for the village first. If he thinks it's a danger to the village for you to be in the field, he'll say so. He says it as it is. He's not one to sway his opinions very easily on." Kokuro assured her as he rubbed her back.

Sintary slowly nodded, submitting to that idea.

"Do you remember how we became friends?" Kokuro suddenly asked changing the topic.

Sintary felt a small smile spread across her face. "I do…"

Sintary had been training with Itachi to pass her academy exam. His merciful mother had stopped them for a lunch break. The young boy had gone inside to grab their food and some water, prompting Sintary to stay outside to relax.

At the same time, the village was moving Kokuro from the orphanage to the Uchiha clan. The academy instructor had claimed he saw hints of the Sharingan in the boy's eyes during the final exam. The Hokage and elders dug into Kokuro's family history, finding it torn to pieces and hard to interpret. They had found several documents stating the Otsutski clan had the Sharingan as well as two other Doujutsu techniques that they hadn't been able to read. The Hokage decided it was in Kokuro's best interest to move into the Uchiha clan where he could be properly trained.

They hadn't bothered informing the clan leader, Fugaku.

Fugaku was outside, furious with the village elders and the Hokage. Sintary hid behind some of the landscape they had to get a closer look. She used a trick Itachi had taught her to enhance her hearing a bit.

"You are not throwing an outsider into my clan!" She heard the clan leader exclaimed livid.

"He is not an outsider, Fugaku," the Hokage replied calmly. "We have found record that his clan is able to use the Uchiha clan's Doujutsu."

"Have you seen it for yourselves? Itachi's six and still doesn't show any signs of activating his yet. There's no way this kid could possibly have activated it already." No one would out do his kid.

"We have seen it," the elder woman stated. "When we watched the graduation exam."

"What are we listening to?" A boy's voice whispered in her ear.

Sintary jumped and looked back at the young boy. He had short, black hair styled similarly to Shisui's – Itachi's cousin from what he told her. It was clear the boy was starting to grow it out though.

"What? How did you get back here?" Sintary asked in a hushed voice.

"I walked…. You weren't that hard to find." The boy said and looked her over. "Hey, aren't you Sintary Sacuna?"

Sintary looked at him for a minute. "Yeah, you're Kokuro Otsutski, the one they're talking about, right?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Lord Hokage wants me to have some form a family. They said I could be an Uchiha."

Sintary gave him a wayward look. "You can't just 'be an Uchiha.'" She said

"Uhhh, apparently I can," Kokuro said smugly. "You, on the other hand, could never be an Uchiha." He teased.

"Hey! If you can be an Uchiha, so can I!" Sintary exclaimed defensively crossing her arms across her chest.

Kokuro smirked at her. "Oh, yeah, prove it!" He said getting into a battle stance.

Sintary followed his lead and prepared for the worst.

They two started going at it with basic techniques. Sintary was standing her own, but Kokuro clearly had the upper hand. Sintary glared with determination and continued forward.

"Hey!" Itachi called, coming up to the scene. "What is going on here?" He asked looking at the two.

Kokuro immediately wrapped Sintary in a loose, friendly choke hold. "We're just sparing for fun. That's what friends do right?"

Itachi blinked looking at them. "Sintary, you're friends with Kokuro?"

Sintary looked up at Kokuro's beaming eyes. "Uh, yeah… I guess we are." Sintary said before turning her attention back to Itachi.

"Kokuro, what are you doing in my yard?" Itachi asked turning his attention back to the other boy.

"I'm moving in!" Kokuro exclaimed quite happily.

Itachi looked at him. "Excuse me? Who said anything about this?"

"The Hokage. Apparently, I'm part Uchiha." He said not understanding his family history yet.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, thinking.

"Look, Lord Hokage is explain everything to Uchiha-sama. He'll probably explain everything to you." Kokuro said. "Don't dwell on it. Let's just all be friends!"

Itachi looked at the optimistic boy in front of him. How could any shinobi be as happy as him? So carefree and so enthusiastic. Maybe making friends with this boy would be good for him.

Afterall, mother did say to make friends.

Thank you to KnightsRoses, Sweet Petit, arigarciar, Ijustdon'tcare132, KyuubiNoPuma, pika-78, and Rose23527 for following/favorite-ing the story! I do appreciate all the feedback I can get. Please, please, please leave reviews. It does help me write more when I know my audience is enjoying my story.

Thanks again for reading!