It wasn't even four hours later that Itachi was notified that his presence along with his father's was required for a meeting. No doubt the meeting was to discuss the recent attack, and if the Uchiha clan head was being requested then the information that had been gathered had to be of up most importance. The father son duo traveled in silence from the hospital to the tower. Itachi knew his father was still upset with him.

They had got into a fight right before he had left on his mission. His father was questioning his loyalties again. Why couldn't what was best for the village be the same as what was best for their clan? Why must he pick one? Fugaku loved to remind Itachi that as the future clan leader he had to put the clan above all else. That their future depend on how well he was able to provide for the clan's needs. Fugaku then began his rant about how Itachi had been avoiding his duties as clan heir. He didn't attend all the clan meetings. He hadn't pushed for his younger brother to join anbu. But most importantly he hadn't chosen a wife.

Though Itachi had been surprised it had taken his father this long to demand him to be married. Itachi was already 22, by the time his father was that age he was already married with a child on the way. His father was threatening an arranged married with one of their fifth cousins. Her father was a captain in their military police. The elders had already given their approval to the arrangement. Itachi had meet the girl several times, and the only word he could use to describe her was boring.

Like many of the females in his clan she was raised to be a future wife. She had no shinobi training. She had no skills or ambitions. The young women was brought up to take care of children and the house. She could offer Itachi nothing besides her body. He didn't want a walking doormat. Itachi wanted someone that would challenge him. Someone that would understand the needs of the village and the clan. A wife he could have intelligent conversations with. Itachi loved his mother to death, but she allowed his father to get away with much more than she should. Minato lived for her husband and children. He wanted a spouse that had their own dreams and goals besides just producing the next clan heir.

But the matter was pointless to think about now.

Itachi took a deep breath as they reached the tower. A guard quickly guided them to a room in the lower level of the building. The room was a large conference room, meant to hold forty people comfortably with a projector and a makeshift stage at the front of the room. The doors opened to reveal the room was jammed full with sixty people. A quick scan of the room showed all the clan heads had been called to attend the meeting, along with every active anbu and Tokubetsu jounin. The clan heads were seated at the front, with an open seat for Fugaku between the Hyuga and Inuzuka leader. His father quickly made his way to his seat without even a glance to his oldest son.

On the makeshift stage there was a table set up with several important people who sat waiting for everyone to join the meeting. The Hokage sat in the middle looking tired and maybe even slightly buzzed. She hadn't been happy with his mission debrief, but it couldn't be helped. She had put off this issue for to long. Orochimaru had committed to many crimes to simply be ignored and allowed to do whatever he wished. To the right of Tsunade sat Shikaku Nara, the jounin commander and analyst specialist. To her left sat Ibiki Morino, the head of Torture and Interrogation. The elders were at their own table to the left of the stage. Itachi felt his irritation raise as he watched Danzo track his father's movements to his seat.

Finishing his scan of the room pink catches his eye. There leaning against the wall was Sakura in-between Genma and Kakashi. Seeing no one else that piqued his interest he made his way toward her. She had caught his attention and he wished to see if she acted differently outside the hospital walls. Itachi knew she was anbu but wonder if she was also considered a Tokubetsu jounin because of her medical skills, chakra control or her ability to cast genjutsu. Only two other people from his brother's graduating class had made it to jounin, Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuga. Still neither had reached the level of Tokubetsu or anbu yet.

He still remembered his brother coming home pissed off and throwing a fit that Kakashi hadn't recommended him or Naruto to partake in the next round of jounin exams. Kakashi said they both lacked experience, and he hadn't been wrong. After Sasuke had tired to leave the village, the clan quickly took control over his missions and training. His brother had been pulled from team seven for three years. Sasuke had only been allowed to train with other Uchihas. Without a team his mission count didn't expand much. Same with Naruto. Master Jiraiya had taken the young jinchuuriki shortly after Sasuke had tired to leave the village. They had spent three years away from the village, traveling, exploring the world. Jiraiya had continued with Naruto's training, and when the boy returned shortly after turning fifteen there was an obvious difference.

But just like Sasuke, while Naruto's skills had improved his mission count hadn't. The two boys hadn't proven they could work well with a team. Hadn't proven that they could handle difficult situations and be able to think of their feet. Their skills might have improved but without experience it meant nothing. Neither had led a team. Neither boy had proven they could make decisions that would affect not only themselves but their team members as well. A jounin was responsible for their entire team. A jounin had to understand the strengths and weakness of every member of the team and know how to use them properly. A year after Naruto returned to the village, they had retaken their chunin exams and passed with flying colors. Team Seven had reformed and they started taking missions again. Even with two of the members only being chunin they were still given B and occasionally A ranked missions because of the team's skill set.

Sasuke and the rest of the clan might be in a rush for him to start his jounin career, Itachi was happy to wait. He had been pushed into ever promotion. He had become a chunin by six, jounin by ten and anbu by thirteen. There was no reason to have a child in anbu. Regardless of their skill set or if the village was at war. Itachi still hated the fact his father had pushed for him to move so quickly through the ranks and still a little bitter his mother hadn't done more to try and stop it. What kind of childhood had Itachi really had?

He wanted different for his younger brother.

He would make sure his little brother went down a different path.

Itachi quickly closed the distance between him and Sakura. She had changed out of the sleep wear he had seen her in earlier. She wore black tight fitting jounin pants that were tucked into her sandals. Her black jounin long sleeve were tight enough to show the curve of her arms. Sakura had chosen to keep her black jounin vest unzipped, showing off her feminine curves, making Itachi wonder if she normally worn her vest like that or if she chosen to so it didn't put pressure on her injured back. Her long hair was done in a fishtail braid that she had draped over her left shoulder.

While she looked more rested than earlier, he could tell she hadn't slept yet. The small spark in her eye was likely a result of whatever caffeine was in the pink drink she was drinking. As she raised the drink to her lips, the glittery nude lip-gloss she had chosen to put on made her lips look full and soft.

"I swear to god Genma" Sakura warned, her eyes locking onto the jounin. "If you touch my ass one more time, I am going to shove that senbon of yours so far up your ass, even Shizune won't be able to retrieve it." Her threat causing several ninja around them to laugh.

"Come on baby, when you play with that straw like that, I can't help myself." Genma said in a deep voice, obviously flirting with the kunoichi. Sakura only rolled her eyes, turning slightly toward Kakashi for help but the silver jounin just continued to ignore them as he read his book.

Sakura looked as if she was going to say something else when she noticed his approach. "Uch-Itachi." She acknowledged smiling, both Genma and Kakashi giving him a greeting as well.

"How is your cousin doing?" Kakashi asked never once raising his eye from his book.

"The doctors say he is stable. We will know more in the next twenty-four hours." The doctors hadn't told his family to be worried, but Itachi knew just because the surgery had been successful did not mean he was out of the woods yet. It had taken Itachi two hours to make it to the village after the attack. His cousin had lost a lot of blood. It hadn't been a good sign that his eyes were bleeding, or the fact they had been wrapped when they were finally allowed to see him. Shisui's body had been put under a lot of stress. The next twenty fours were going to be critical.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it when Tsunade raised her hand. The meeting was officially starting. The room quickly fell silent, everyone giving their Hokage their full attention.

"I apologize for the last-minute meeting, but several things have been brought to my attention that need to be addressed." Her voice boomed throughout the room. "As some of you may have heard two of our shinobi were attacked thirty-seven degrees North of gate one. Proximality two hours from the village they crossed paths with Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi." Itachi watched as several shinobi around them, including Genma, tensed, their charka beginning to swirl within them at the mention of the snake sannin's name. Sakura and Kakashi remained unaffected. Perhaps Sakura had told her genin sensei what had happened in her emergency room this morning.

"It is still unclear why they were in fire territory. The last confirmed location we had of Orochimaru was three months ago deep into Sound. As we speak, I have three anbu teams scanning the surrounding area looking for anything that might shine some light on his motives or location. But one of the possibilities we must prepare for is his search for a new vessel." She paused allowing the words to sink in. Some of the shinobi in the room knew to what she was referring to, others didn't. She turned toward Shikaku, signaling his turn to speak.

"The Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu is a technique that allows the user to transfer their soul to someone else's body. It's a level S jutsu Orochimaru created himself. While the exact process is still unknown, it seems to take place every three years. It seems the technique continues to weaken the host body the longer they are in it. If our information is correct, he just hit the second-year mark in this body. It is possible he is looking for his next vessel." Shikaku explained calmly, as if this was a simple jutsu, and not something that shouldn't even be possible for the strongest shinobi.

Itachi felt his heartrate increase at the mention of the vessel. Orochimaru was after the sharingan. He had made it clear eleven years ago when he tried going after Itachi. Now that Sasuke was already marked Itachi knew Sasuke would be his next target. Why was he just now being informed that they knew how long each body lasted?

Suddenly a hand was resting on his right shoulder giving him a light squeeze. "He won't be able to touch him" Sakura said quietly, standing much closer to him than she had been a few seconds ago. While her volume had been low, her tone left no room for argument. From his peripheral vision he could see her eyes had harden, showing just how serious she meant her comment. She lowered her hand but didn't step away from him.

"There are several shinobi we will be watching closely from here on out. Clans with special kekkei genkais, especially those that have visual enhancements be on guard." Tsunade warned her eyes locking onto Fugaku and Hiashi. "I've already ordered for our guard rotation to be increased. A message to the Fire Lord has also been set. If Orochimaru thinks there will be a repeat of his last attack he is surely mistaken. I want everyone in this room armed twenty-four seven. Everyone in room is to continue forward as if we are on level yellow. This information is not yet being released to the lower ranks. As we gather more information regarding this matter, we will keep you informed. However, this is not the only matter that needs to be discussed."

"Badger" Ibiki commanded, an anbu appearing behind him. Itachi could tell from the mask this anbu was assigned as a hunter-ninja. The white mask had been painted almost completely black. Sharp white jagged teeth were painted along the mouth, almost as if it was a smile. Some of the tips of teeth had a small amount of red paint added to them, giving the appearance of blood. The distinctive grin came off as feral. Itachi could imagine the psychological effect that mask had on the people they were assigned to take care of. The shinobi wasn't someone he recognized. He didn't spend much time in T&I and couldn't identify the man by his charka signature or his statue. The shinobi was about six one with short blonde hair sticking out from the side of their mask.

"There has been recent movement among the Akatsuki. The jinchuuriki Fuu who contains the seven tail, Shichibi, has been killed. His body was found three days ago." The hunter ninja informed. "Out of the nine bijuu, only three remain."

"The Akatsuki will no doubt turn their focus to the remaining three. The three-tailed Sanbi is in an unknow location and believed to be without a host. The eight tail is within the hidden cloud. While their organization's goals are unknown, we have already taken down two of their members. Sasori of the Red Sand was killed by Sakura Haruno thirteen months ago" Tsunade explained. A handful of shinobi turned and locked onto Sakura beside him. But it didn't seem to phase her, Sakura's focus remained on her Hokage. "Shikamaru Nara killed Hidan nine months ago. The Village Hidden in the Sand was attacked in order to receive their jinchuuriki. The Akatsuki were successful in breaking through their walls. While we may not know of their plans, if they are willing to attack hidden villages then the tailed beasts must be essential for whatever they are planning to do."

"Then shouldn't we have the nine tails removed from the village? If the village is at risk, then surely it would be better if the nine tails was relocated." Koharu Utatane, one of the elders, questions. Immediately Itachi could feel the effect her words had Sakura and Kakashi. Sakura's face remained natural, but he knew this was a sensitive subject for every member of team seven. The only tell that something had changed within in Sakura was that fact she was barely biting her lip, as if she was trying to restrain from talking.

"Or perhaps we should limit the nine tails from leaving the village. He should be placed under constant supervision." The male elder, Homura Utatane, suggests. "The nine tails has been allowed to travel without restrictions his entire life. He was even sent to help with the One Tail capture. The nine tails has faced the Akatsuki on multiple occasions. The beast cannot be-"

"Naruto" Sakura says cutting him off. The elder stops talking and quickly locates the source of the voice. His deadly eyes locking onto Sakura's. She returns his eye contact, her face remaining completely neutral, almost as if this whole situation bored her. "The nine tails's name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"We know his name child" he snaps back, anger quickly flashing behind his eyes for being challenge in front of the upper ranks.

"Then use it." She commanded. "Naruto Uzumaki is a Leaf Chunin. He is a loyal shinobi of Konohagakure. He is not a tool that can be discarded or locked away because he is deemed dangerous." Her voice never once raising, though she didn't need to be loud. The second she had said his name the entire room had grown even quieter, with eyes bouncing between the pink kunoichi and the elder.

"Every village that has acquired a jinchuuriki have used them as weapons, as tools for their village. The Leaf cannot afford to be emotional in this situation. The Nine Tails belongs to the village, not to the host. Uzumaki is a tool for this village." Homura asserted.

"I wonder if the Fourth Hokage agreed with that." Sakura said, her eyes only hardening the slightest. Tension quickly filled the already packed room. The double meaning in Sakura's words were clear as day. Sakura was the youngest in the room. Majority of those in the room had been there the night Naruto had become the nine tails. Using Naruto's heritage had been brilliant. While Naruto was just beginning to make a name for himself, and had a good relationship with the lower ranks, he hadn't had a chance to build his reputation with the higher ups.

But his father had.

Minato was well respected. He had played a major role in the Third Shinobi War. Even present day the Fourth was only talked about in the highest regard. Her words were a good reminder to those in the room exactly who Naruto was. It gave Naruto a face, gave him an identity that was separate from the beast inside him.

Just as the elder went to tear into her Tsunade stood. "The Akatsuki are getting closer to their goal. I am forming a task force to further investigate what their goals are. Naruto Uzumaki is under my command," she paused her eyes briefly flickering to the council members, "I will decide what needs to be done." She then turn back toward the anbu behind her and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. The anbu disappeared, leaving nothing behind, not even a cloud of smoke.

"Two of the remaining jinchuuriki are protected by hidden villages. Neither village are weak. It is more likely Akatsuki are focusing on obtaining the three tails first. We have time to prepare for any attacks they might be planning." Shikaku clarified. Some of the tension dissolved after that. Shikaku and Ibiki then spent the next two hours going over village security and additional protocols that were being added immediately. Tsunade then reiterated several more things before calling the meeting to an end. The elders were one of the first people to leave the room.

Itachi moved in front of Sakura when he noticed Danzo was staring at her. It was never good when that man turned his attention on someone, and suddenly he felt a protective urge flow through him. The moment Itachi had moved, Danzo slipped through the side door. His eyes searched for his father, but Fugaku was already leaving with another Uchiha jounin. At least he didn't have to escort his father back to the compound.

"I'm surprised you didn't actually say more" Kakashi commented.

"I shouldn't have even said that" she confessed taking a deep breath, her earlier tiredness showing. "But I can't stand when people look at him like that. He didn't choose to become the nine tails host."

"Don't worry about it to much hot stuff. The elders shouldn't have brought it up in front of everyone. That was a discussion that should have happened behind closed doors." Genma said, his senbon in this mouth bouncing with every word.

"The elders lack faith and trust in the younger generations. They should be more careful, my generation is full of this village's future leaders, and unlike them we view Naruto as so much more than what's inside him. A few more years and they could easily be replaced." It stuck Itachi then that Sakura wasn't just dangerous because of her skills, but also because of her mind.

When Tsunade exited the room, Sakura released another deep breath. Perhaps she had thought her mentor was going to call her out for her speaking out of turn. If it had been anyone else, Tsunade probably would have. But Tsunade had a soft spot for Naruto and Sakura. Itachi highly doubt she was going to even consider what the two elders had said. That was probably the reason they had spoke on the subject in such an open manner.

By the time they had exited the building the sun had long fallen. Both Genma and Kakashi had left the minute they were outside the building, leaving him alone with Sakura. The last of the winter chill still clung in the air. A slight breeze still danced around them. It would be spring soon, but there was still a few weeks of winter left. Not wanting to return home and unable to train Itachi wasn't sure what he wanted to do. The visiting hours at the hospital were now over, not that it would stop Itachi if he wanted to see his cousin, but he couldn't look at him. Standing in the hospital room had nearly torn him apart. He had still yet to learn the damage his older cousin had taken, but the morphine bags were constantly being replaced and he could still feel Sakura's charka within him. Shisui had almost died. Shisui would have died if it hadn't been for the pink haired girl that had gone unnoticed until now.

"Do you like dango?" Itachi found himself asking.

Surprise flickered through her emerald eyes and for a few moments she simply stared at him. "If this is another thank you, its not necessary Itachi. The food earlier was more than enough." He just looked at her and smiled softy. A slight blush stained her cheeks before she looked away. "Yeah, I like dango."

"Would you mind taking a walk with me?" He asked already knowing she would. She nodded and they started walking. There was an amazing dango stand about ten minutes from the tower, a stand he had been going to since he was child. Itachi purchased four dango and two bottles of water, before heading toward the training grounds. Just far enough away where wondering eyes wouldn't be able to spy on them. If Sakura noticed where they were going, she said nothing as she ate the first stick of dango. Sakura just smiled when she noticed they had gone to training ground three. It was already ten pm so there was hardly any ninja left training on any of the grounds, leaving the area quiet. They sat on a bench that overlooked the river.

"You have yet to sleep" he stated simply. When she had left her office he was under the impression she was going home to rest. She didn't enter the room Shisui was in and he hadn't felt her sinuate inside the building. He wonder what she had done instead. Her eyes flickering to his, a curious gleam behind.

"I'll manage." She finished off her first stick, her eyes leaving his face and refocusing on the river before them. "Things just kept popping up that needed my attention. You know how it goes."

He did, and he felt slightly guilty that he had asked her to talk a walk with him. Surely, she wanted to go home and finally be able to sleep. But he had to ask. "How bad is Shisui?" He half expected her to lie and tell him everything was fine, that Shisui would be up and walking around in a few days. The nurses and doctors that had come out of the room did a good job of sugar coating the situation. He saw the hope building inside his aunt, uncle and mother. Itachi didn't want everything to come crashing down another them if there was no hope of Shisui getting better.

"It was touch and go during the surgery. Shisui flat lined twice. He went through a blood transfusion. His right lung and liver were severely damaged. He won't be able to take any missions in the next six months Itachi." Sakura let out a deep breath. Itachi felt his world begin to crumble at her words. She must have sensed it because he suddenly felt her hand on his knee. "Don't be so willing to give up on your cousin." She chastised. "If it had been anyone else, they would have died before they made it back to the village. I promise you I will do everything in my power to make him whole again."

Itachi only nodded, unwilling to trust his voice. Uselessness was not a feeling he was a custom to. He was raised to identify his weakness and over come them. Raised to power through any problem and trained to have the skills and the ability to take down any obstacle that dare get in his way. But medical was something he knew almost nothing about besides the basic. All anbus were trained in basic medical, but what Shisui needed had been so above his skill sets, all Itachi had been able to do was run and push himself as hard as he could back to the village.

Sakura seemed to understand his inner battle. She said nothing else. Just sat there next to him, as they ate their dessert. Fifteen minutes passed before Sakura stood from the bench and turned to him, a small smile on her lips.

"I know my nurses took a look at you, but I am not the only one exhausted. You need a good night's rest." He simply raised looked at her wondering how she was going to enforce such a thing. "If I find out you went to the hospital or didn't return home tonight, I will let your mother know how deep that cut on your abdomen ran and how you almost torn your ACL pushing yourself so hard."

"Is that a threat Sakura?" He asked liking the way there was a silent challenged behind her eyes.

"Good night Itachi" she answered before disappearing in a swirl of cherry blossoms.


He hated mornings with a passion. Sasuke blamed his hatred of mornings on Naruto and Kakashi. How many mornings where they told to gather early as genin only for their sensei not to show for several hours? Naruto could be a winey little bitch when he wanted to be, and if he hadn't eaten yet forget it, the loud blonde would be impossible to deal with. Yet he found himself rising incredibly early this morning.

His father had said very little last night when he had returned home, but Sasuke could tell by the look on his face that something had happened. Both his father and brother had been called to a meeting. Sasuke could already feel an increase in chakra signatures buzzing around the compound. The only thing that kept him form investigating further was the fact his brother had come home last night. If the village was in immediate danger his brother would have never returned.

By the time Sasuke had awoken his father was already gone, most likely to the police station. Sasuke had taken his time showering and dressing before walking into the kitchen, to find his brother sitting at the counter finishing his breakfast watching their mother finish cooking. When he had asked his mother to make an extra bento box to go his brother looked at him funny for a moment but hadn't commented on it. Sasuke sat next to his brother eating his own breakfast, savoring his first cup of coffee. When Itachi had stood and excused himself from the table, saying he was going to check on Shisui, Sasuke had insisted to go with him.

Itachi had been unsurprisingly quiet as they made their way toward the hospital. When Sasuke had asked to stop at the coffee shop next to the hospital he just simply nodded his head and held the bento box, choosing to wait outside the shop. Sasuke had ordered a caramel vanilla coffee for himself and some sort of overly sweet pink iced tea lemonade drink. Itachi kept glancing at the pink drink in his hand as they walked into the hospital. "Why did you get two drinks?"

"One is for a friend." Sasuke didn't feel the need to further explain, in a few minutes it would make sense anyway.

The smell of bleach and disinfectants quickly filled his senses as they walked down the hall. He hated the smell of the hospital. He hated being inside of it. Sasuke didn't understand how Sakura spent so many hours inside of it. That had been what their last argument had been about. She spent to much time inside these walls. To many times she had pushed herself during surgery and either passed out or needed two days off. Sakura didn't know when to walk away. He had only meant to remind her that she had to put herself first. That she had to maintain her own health and have a life outside missions and hospital shifts. But their talk had taken a dark turn quickly and ended in her nearly screaming at him before walking away.

Sakura could be so frustrating when she wanted to be. He hadn't meant to pick a fight. It had been over three weeks since they had talked. Sasuke didn't think he could count the run in they had with each other yesterday. When he had went to check on her last night she wasn't at her apartment, which meant she had either been called into the meeting with his brother or was locked up inside the hospital. Ever since she had formally left team seven there has been a growing divide between them.

She hardly ever took missions with team seven anymore. Hell, she was hardly inside the village anymore. If she wasn't on a mission she was working in the hospital. Maybe his talk had been less about her health and more about that fact they hadn't seen her. But he refused to admit something as stupid as missing his…well he wasn't sure what category Sakura fell under anymore. But he couldn't remember the last time they had all enjoyed lunch together or did any of the things they used to do as genins. When she was in the village, she tried to make it a habit of joining their afternoon training sessions, but even those were scares.

Ever since their mission to Suna, the dynamics of their whole relationship had changed. When they were finally able to regroup with Sakura and Chiyo, Sasuke almost lost it. Seeing how injured Sakura had become and learning the fact she would have most likely died if it hadn't been for the sacrifice Chiyo had been willing to make, made him sick. Sakura had always been different from Naruto. Their relationship so much more complicated with several different layers. On their journey home Sasuke had refused to leave her side. He watched her like a hawk, worrying she wasn't as alright as she was leading everyone else to believe. Then they had got back he had asked her that stupid question without analyzing his own feelings and it had just made matters so much worse.

Sasuke needed to talk with her, just now wasn't the time.

The two Uchiha brothers enter Shisui's room and Sasuke bite back the smile that wanted to form. Even with everything going on between the two of them, there was Sakura asleep in an uncomfortable hospital chair next to his cousin. She was twisted sideways in the chair, with her feet hanging over one armrest and her head pressed against the wall for support. Several pieces of hair had come undone from her braid. A small pile of medical textbooks laid forgotten beside her on the floor. Sakura had definitely spent the entire night here.

Sasuke just took a long sip of his coffee as he moved farther into the room. Itachi remained standing in the doorway, looking unsure of what to do. Perhaps he didn't want to move and risk the chance of waking her. He could feel his brother's eyes on him as he sat the drinks down on the floor and knelled in front of her.

"Sakura" he called softly as he gently shocked her shoulder. Sasuke only had to say her name once before her eyes fluttered open. She looked confused and glanced around the room before getting her bearings. "Did you spend the entire night here?" He questioned standing.

She stretched once, before correcting her body in the chair. "First night is always the roughest after a surgery like that. I wanted to make sure he had extra eyes on him." She rubbed her eyes, "what time is it?"

"A little after eight." Sakura nearly groaned at Itachi's answer. Now that Sakura was fully awake Itachi stepped completely into the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Here" Sasuke said shoving the pink drink into her hands. A smile quickly replaced her irritated expression.

Sakura took several long sips, enjoying the sudden unexpected rush of caffeine, before looking back up to the younger Uchiha. "Thank you."

"Hn." Sasuke quickly sat in the chair next to her. His attention falling to his cousin. An uneasy feeling, he had been fighting all night, returned full force. Shisui was as strong as Itachi, if not stronger, and to see him so broken like that, shock him. If Sakura had stayed here all night, especially after draining all of her charka, then she was more worried then she had led his family to believe. "Are you hungry? Mother packed you a bento box if you are." His attention turning from his cousin to the pink ninja.

Itachi quickly handed her the bag before she even answered his question. Itachi eyes traveling up and down her form. Sasuke didn't know if he liked that look behind his brother's eyes. As far as he knew they hadn't really interacted with one another before now. So why was his brother looking at his teammate like that?

"When you told me to go home, I thought you were following your own advice." Itachi said sitting in a chair on the opposite sit of the room.

Sakura swallowed another bite of food before responding, "my hospital my rules." Her tone playful, holding a familiarity that Sasuke didn't like. "Shisui had a good night. All of his tests results are coming back normal. They are still giving him propofol, it's a powerful anesthetic. I recommended they begin to wing him off of it tomorrow afternoon."

"He is in a medically induced coma?" Sasuke questioned. "You said yesterday you expected him to make a full recovery."

"I still expect him too. Don't worry I am not going to lie to you or sugar coat this situation." Sakura said lowering her chopsticks, giving her his full attention. "His lung and liver went under massive reconstruction. His heart had damage as well. The coma is to help his body heal at a more relax pace. Shisui was also given a blood transfusion. The last test I checked his platelets and red blood cell count were raising. That's a good sign" she smiled trying to be reassuring.

"You placed a seal on him." Itachi says causing Sasuke to turn back toward his brother, alarmed to see his sharingan activated. Sasuke immediately called forth for his own and could easily see the flow of Sakura's charka throughout Shisui.

"I did" she said standing, stretching slightly. "I wanted to be able to detect the moment something changed. The seal also allows me to feed Shisui a constant supply of medical ninjutsu. The more work I do, the less his body has to." She discarded her trash and picked up her medical books. "If you will excuse me, I sent an update to Tsunade-sama around five this morning. She will most likely be here in the next hour to check on his progress. When that happens, I need to be as far away from here as possible or she is going to have my ass. Thank you for the food, tell your mother I said hi."

"Yeah" Sasuke answered crossing his hands across his chest, as she slipped out of the room. Itachi watching her the entire time. It didn't sit right with Sasuke. Something dangerous was playing behind his brother's eyes.

Both brothers lapped into silence for the next hour. Sasuke spent the time watching Shisui's heartrate monitor continue to go up and down on a continuous loop. He briefly wonder if Sakura had gone to great lengths to put a seal on his cousin because Shisui really had been in such bad condition or if because Shisui was apart of his family and she was going the extra mile. If it was the latter, he owed her much more than a drink and leftover breakfast.

Sasuke had been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn't realized his older brother was studying him until it was to late. "What can you tell me about Sakura?" Itachi asked and Sasuke fought the urge to cruse.


It had been a long day; made only longer by the fact she hadn't been able to drink. Not once. After the visiting the hospital to check on the Shisui Uchiha and ensure Itachi hadn't left the village on his own revenge mission, she had been stuck in back to back meetings. The sun had just set, and she was welcoming the darkness. She only had one more piece of paperwork Shizune said had to be done today before she could go home.

But her excitement quickly died when Kakashi walked through her office door, following a massive scale genjutsu filling her office. She could see the anger behind his eyes and didn't have to ask as to why because the moment the door was shut Sakura appeared at his side. An ice pack pressed gently on her right check.

Tsunade could already see the bruising forming around her right eye. She was moving toward her apprentice before either party could say a single word. The moment Tsunade removed the ice pack she felt her anger match Kakashi's. "Why?" Was her only question before glowing green hands pressed against Sakura's face.

"I misspoke at the meeting. Its nothing to worry about master." Sakura said softly as Tsunade guided her the chairs in the corner of the room.

"It's not nothing Sakura. He broke your eye socket and fractured your jaw." Tsunade said her charka flaring as she realized the damage done to her student.

"Its time to pull her out" Kakashi said, his aura only darkening. "This is the third time he has done something like this in the past two months."

"No" Sakura said quickly. "I have not spent the passed four years working this mission to be pulled out now. Not when we are so close."

"He is going to kill you Sakura if we do nothing." He challenged, and not for the first time Tsunade wonder if she had made the right call allowing Sakura to go through with their plan. "Something has changed. He is questioning your loyalty. If he thinks you betrayed him, he will not hesitate to take you out. You understand that right?"

"This wasn't questioning my loyalty. I've given him no reason to think so" she snapped. "I lost control over my emotions; this was punishment for my lapse of judgement and control."

"Sakura-" Kakashi began to argue but she cut him off, abruptly pulling away from Tsunade.

"He killed my parents Kakashi! He is after my teammates. After both of you. I am not going to walk away from this. I will not allow him to take another precious person from me. Not when…not when we are so close to bringing him down." Tsunade said nothing, any words she wanted to say died on her lips as she watched the emotion flash across Sakura's face. "I can take the punishments. As long as I have you guys, I can take it."

"Sak-" Kakashi tried once more to no luck.

"It wasn't all for nothing." Her eyes hardening as the left Kakashi's and gave to full attention to Tsunade. "A guard needs to be put on Shisui. He is going to be the next target."


Author note: Thank you to everyone who has left a comment! I didn't expect that kind of reaction. I really love reading your comments, it helps me keep motivated and stay writing. Please let me know what you guys think.

Stay safe.