Authors Note: I accidentally uploaded chapter 2 in the chapter 10 slot, so here is the correct chapter 10. Sorry about that guys!

The sea before him was calm but the tides and waves within his mind were erratic and as wild as his heart.

As he sat on the bench, he could not fully and truly see the scene in front of him as the images from two nights ago wreaked havoc on his mind. The cigarette pressed firmly between his lips and the shakiness in his hands as he blankly stared were the only things that showed any sign of life.

In a sense, he felt like he just watched his life flash before his eyes. Everything he had wanted had just been carried away by the ocean in only an instant. The scene was almost too familiar to one from years ago.

Another love, another life: gone.

He couldn't withstand the ache inside his chest, the way the pain had seared through his heart and lit his being in fear and then rage as he had taken in the fear that had settled on her lovely face as she fell. The way the hair that caressed her cheeks so gently before was instead hiding her bright, green eyes from seeing the face of pure fear and shock that had taken over his own face.

When she fell, he had no time to think. He had lurched forwards himself and tried to grab her hand to no avail.

He watched her fall.

He watched the water swallow her.

He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, and he figured she couldn't very well either.

The water when it took her in was fierce- angry even. The sea had taken her with no regard for her love for it. The sea always takes, but it never gives.

Such is life.

The bright white that assaulted her eyes did not make Sakura feel any less panicked when she woke up. For a moment, she had thought she had died. All she could see was the white light before her and for a moment, she had accepted it much like she had when the waves pulled her under. There would be little for her to do, but as she thinks more, she couldn't help but realize that she was not okay with it. Sakura still had so much to live for: school, her parents, her friends, Itachi. She could list at least a million other reasons as to why she wanted, no needed, to live and the loud and erratic beeping of something caused herself to focus and realize that she was looking at a ceiling.

A calm washes over her as she realizes that she isn't dead, however it is short lived as someone hovers over her. A woman with black hair cut in a neat bob and the most deep and caring black eyes. With the woman so close to her, she panics. She can't breathe, she can't breathe.

For a moment, just a moment, she is back in the air and plummeting into the water. Her breathe is long knocked out of her and she feels like she is being drowned. She can't take it, she fights it and fights against it. Her expressive eyes frantic as she fights against whatever is causing her to sink and drown. She fights until the blue turns to black and the loud, roaring tides turn into gentle and soft whispers.

Sakura almost regrets waking up.

"How is she?"

Sakura slowly opens one eye at a time, taking in the blinding white of the room. The hospital. She lets out a soft sigh. She was neither dead nor still in the water. Instead, she was stuck in the hospital sore and weak as hell. Vaguely she notes the oxygen hooked up to her and the tightness in her chest. She was sure she looked like she had seen better days.

"Oh, god, she's awake," Sakura winces at the shrill voice that pierces her ears. She could only assume that it was her mother. "How are you feeling sweetie?"

"Tired and sore," Sakura answers breathily. She hated this feeling, this bout of weakness. "What happened?" Sakura couldn't quite remember what happened. All she knew was that she had been watching in horror as Itachi and Sasuke were about to get into it when all of a sudden she could only see blue and couldn't breathe.

"You fell off a cliff and nearly drowned. Thank god that Itachi was there and that the fall wasn't that big, I don't know what I would have done if I lost you," Sakura's mom sobs out and she could feel the tiny woman latching onto her. Even with her mother holding onto her, she couldn't help but wonder where Itachi was and also.. What happened to Sasuke? He was there, right?

Sakura wasn't in the hospital long, luckily. However she almost would have preferred it if it would keep Naruto and Ino out of her room long enough for her to get some peace and quiet. The two blondes hadn't left her side since she came home. She wasn't allowed to even go to the bathroom alone for fear of her nearly dying again. Sakura knew that they just wanted to protect her, but she couldn't help but be annoyed.

She was feeling annoyed more often lately. Annoyed and alone.

She hadn't heard a word from Itachi since everything happened and she hadn't heard of Sasuke's whereabouts. Sakura wasn't necessarily fond of asking too much to find out, anyhow. She couldn't remember many things about that night, if she was honest, but she could remember the fear she felt even before the fall when she was on the ground feeling helpless with Sasuke above her and her knife trapped between his leg and her pants. It was a terrifying night. She wasn't even sure what all her mom knew about that night, but she didn't want to risk accidentally giving away more than what she could have known. She would rather leave it in the past.

"Ugh, he is so annoying, stupid bastard," grumbles Naruto from his spot on the floor near Sakura's window. The window itself had remained closed in the couple of weeks she had been home. Sakura couldn't stomach looking out at the water anymore. It made her feel weak and terrified, like she was out of control, and it made her sick. She couldn't take it. She was no longer in love with the water and it terrified her.

"Who?" Sakura finds her asking despite herself. She honestly couldn't care, but she was tired of the deafening silence that was only interrupted every once in awhile by Naruto's smacking from his cheetos and the notifications of his phone.

"Sasuke. He won't leave me alone, he keeps asking about you," groans out Naruto and Sakura feels her heart stop. The same creeping feeling that she felt under the waves was taking root inside of her. "I don't understand why he's so obsessed with you all of a sudden."

Sakura could guess why, but she wouldn't dare tell Naruto. She would never tell Naruto what happened that night because she couldn't risk taking away one of Naruto's, reluctant, best friends. She would hate herself if she dimmed that light of his.

"I don't know either," hums Sakura and she turns to her journal. Her dream journal. She completed every milestone, but at what cost?

"Have you talked to him?" Ino asks as she sits on Sakura's bed and lightly applies some concealer and blush to Sakura's pale complexion. The pinkette knew that she never truly recovered looks wise, she just couldn't get rid of the washed out look that she had developed but she had already known why. Every night when she closed her eyes, she was back under the waves, and the sounds of the beach across the street did nothing to quell her nightmares. Especially on the more windy and stormy nights. Still, she hadn't told anyone. She didn't want to bother them. She could carry on and act fine, just like she always had.

"No," Sakura answers simply and her best friend gives her a look.

"Why not?"

"I don't know." But she did know. Sakura knew how she reminded him of her and she knew that when she had fallen she had probably scared the life out of him. She had probably scared any chance of feelings between them right out of him. She had scared him. Sakura couldn't bring herself to face him, she didn't want to make him look at the ghost of the young woman she once was.

Truth is, Sakura didn't feel the same as she did.

She felt unsettled and wary all the time. She didn't feel safe where she was and she wondered if she ever would. An endless buzzing was underneath her skin and it needed to be released but she hadn't a clue as to where. It was horrible, terrible even. It left her feeling even more drained than her sleepless nights.

"Alright.. You're all done. Are you ready to go?"

Sakura only nods and Ino gives her a small smile before they leave Sakura's room. They were heading over to Naruto's for a massive sleepover. Everyone would be there and she felt a little more excited. She had a little bit of hope that she would manage to get some sleep tonight but she wasn't quite sure. She would feel safer with all of her friends.

"We're here!" Sings out Ino as she busts through the front door of the house. The living room was as homey as ever and Sakura finds herself smiling. She enjoyed coming over to Naruto's house outside of parties. Kushina had a way of decorating that made her feel right at home.

"In the basement," hollers Kushina and Sakura is dragged along by Ino down to the basement. Sakura could hear the speakers from up the stairs and dread filled her stomach as flashbacks from the last time she was down here comes to mind.

Luckily, the sight before her was very tame considering what it has been lately. The entire floor was made into one giant pallet and the projector was casting against the large blank wall that was usually littered with boyish posters and whatnot. Sakura's heart swells at the sight of all of her friends littered around the blankets in a semi-cuddle.

"Hey girl, how are you feeling?" Asks Ten-Ten as she allows space for Sakura and Ino next to her and Hinata.

"I'm good," Sakura says quietly and for once, she finds herself believing it. "So, what are we watching?"

"Only the best movie series of all time-" Kiba starts and Sakura could see the eyeroll that Shikamaru was doing.

"Star Wars is not the best and you know it," Shikamaru mouths off and Sakura could almost laugh. There weren't many things that could get the lazy guy riled up but Star Wars was one of them. "Star Trek is far superior."

Sakura tunes out their bickering in favor of relaxing with her girls and watching the large title screen appear. She lets out a soft breath and smiles. She would be okay.

The morning of the fair comes and Sakura is reminded that she was supposed to go with Itachi. Sighing out, she tilts her head back and lets the warm water cascade over her. They hadn't talked. They hadn't even seen one another. Sakura doesn't look at the beach anymore and she certainly doesn't look down in the direction of the Uchiha residence.

The longer she stayed under the shower, the more uncomfortable she felt. She had been in this weird funk lately. She felt restless and like she needed to just get out and away, but she couldn't figure out where and why. She couldn't sit still to save her life.

As she gets dressed, she hears her phone go off. Momentarily, she has hope fluttering throughout her chest that maybe, just maybe, it was Itachi texting her.

To: Forehead

Subject: Fair

From: Pig

Hey, do you need a ride

to the fair?

(11:42 a.m.)

Disappointment fills her chest where hope was only moments ago. She didn't know why she really cared so much. They were always just friends, nothing more. That kiss meant nothing. She was just a reminder of death and he was just his brother. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sighing out, she typed out a response explaining that she wasn't feeling well so she was probably going to skip out of the fair, but that if she did end up going then she could take her own car.

It wasn't unusual for them to carpool together, but Sakura needed time to herself. She needed to think and she couldn't do that with the noises of the fair and her loud friends. Still, she felt bad. This was their last chance to all hang out together before they all start going off to college.

With that thought in mind, Sakura settles at her desk and she gazes at her closed window. She could see the outline of a bird and she ponders over it.

What would it be like to be able to fly anywhere? To just up and leave. She didn't know if she could ever manage that, she was quite routine based after all, but a part of her heart yearned to do it at least just once. A change of scenery, that would be nice, wouldn't it? A soft sigh leaves her lips and she looks up at her ceiling.

What was she thinking? She couldn't just up and leave. She had school and her parents to think about.

"I wish you wouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"Smoke. You are going to ruin your lungs."

Itachi doesn't say anything, only fixing Mikoto with a soft look. He appreciated his mothers concern, but he would be okay. He always ended up being okay, he just wished the people he cared for would do the same.

Of course, he knew that Sakura was alive. He remembered diving in after her and pulling her out of the water himself. He remembered performing cpr. He remembered, he remembered.

He wished he could forget.

The uncomfortable feeling in his chest from the cigarette he had just put out still simmered in his chest. He wasn't sure why he picked back up this habit. He hadn't touched cigarettes in years, not since he was asked to stop by her. He figured he could always stop again if he wanted, but he wasn't sure he wanted to.

Itachi appreciated the constant it brought to him, the lingering after effects it had, and the ultimate calmness that came with it. He could no longer find solace in the ocean so why not find comfort in the opposite? This was as close to anything fire related he would find himself. Especially since he has chosen to separate himself from the spitfire that was Sakura. He couldn't risk him being a part of what puts out her fire.

It would kill him.

He couldn't stand the thought. The mere idea of him being responsible twists in his gut like a knife. It was bad enough that the only image of her he had left in his memory was the face she made when she fell and what she looked like when she was unresponsive. What he would do to see her fire in person just one more time, but he couldn't risk it.

"Have you heard from your brother?"

"No, not since he ran after calling the ambulance for Sakura," Itachi answers smoothly but it is rough even uttering the sentence. Itachi was glad that he had called an ambulance, but he was still extremely miffed and angry about what had happened before the fall. He understood his younger brother to be pretentious, arrogant, and always expecting to get his way. He was the baby of the family, after all, but Itachi had never thought he would have to add his brother being an assaulter on top of all that.

His heart broke at the reminder of what could have happened had he not gotten Sakura's message to meet her there in case everything went wrong.

"Why don't you call her?" Mikoto asks and she eyes him in a way a mother only can when she knows what is best but can't force it on you.

"You know why," he murmurs in response and makes no move to hold his phone. They have had this conversation many times before and it always ended the same. An ache in his heart. Maybe one day he would give in, but today was not the day.

After a while, the bird's presence became an annoyance and so Sakura moved away from the window and her desk. She couldn't stand to be near something so free when she, herself, felt so caged and by her own doing. Sakura could very easily pull some strings and arrange a transfer and then she'll be free from the ocean and everything in this town. At the same time, the thought that it would be so easy, was taunting and it gutted her. She wasn't sure what she wanted and that made it all the more torturous.

As she is deep in her thoughts, her phone buzzes once more. Thinking it was just Ino, she ignores it in favor of flopping onto her bed and closing her eyes. She wasn't sure what to do, she wished someone would just make the decision for her or, even better, erase her problems. Never before had Sakura wanted to do something so illogically stupid. Sighing, she finally turns on her phone and her heart drops into her stomach.

To: Sakura

Subject: Fair

From: Itachi

Meet me by the ferris

Wheel? (1 p.m.)

She couldn't believe that he had actually contacted her. In fact, she read it over and over again after rechecking the senders name multiple times. She didn't know what to do or what to think. Sakura found herself in a much different inner turmoil when it came to going or not than last week. She figured circumstances were different and for who she was meeting. It was making her heart do weird things hearing from him after weeks of silence. A part of her wanted to go to him but the other part wanted to steer away.

Sakura was hurt. She had her suspicions on why he stayed away, but it still hurt her all the same. She didn't really understand it no matter how many times she turned it over in her head.

Maybe going to see him would cause her to better understand.

The alleys between booths were full of people and the lights were out in full swing.

Couples, friends, and families were littered around and all carefree. They laughed together and some even sang. Itachi found himself a little envious, but he knew that he didn't deserve what they had. Not when every time he allowed himself to get close something always happened. He must have been cursed or something, but he hadn't a clue as to why.

Growing up, he always made sure to be the best and to make his father proud. When his father said to quit music, he quit music. Itachi was sure, though his father would never ask, that he would take over the world if asked to. This feeling of wanting to be the best and make his family proud, to do everything for them, was what had drawn him to Sakura in the first place. They both came from a similar standpoint in that regard. They had an unbelievable amount of pressure on their shoulders but it was almost like the weight of it all caused them to come crashing together.

Itachi had feelings for Sakura, he was sure of it, but he knew not to act on it.

This was supposed to be a final goodbye. He was going to leave her alone for good after all of this. He couldn't handle the thought of harm coming back to get her because he didn't listen to life and back away. It was obvious that he was meant to be alone.

Still, even though he thought it for the best, he had to force the pain and sadness down at the thought of never seeing her again. He would give himself tonight and no more.

The ferris wheel was in view and his onyx eyes scanned the line of people, hoping to catch a glimpse of her pink hair. He had to remind himself not to get disappointed so fast. He never told her a time. She could appear at any moment, he told himself as he sat down.

So, he waited.

And waited.

The crowds died down, the noise nonexistent, and the lights dimming.

But he still waited.

She didn't come.