Knock knock...

"Sakura, dear, someboy is at-"

"I'LL GET IT!" Sakura yelled as she jumped from her chair and ran to the front door. She could hear Mebuki chuckling in the background, but she honestly did not care. She only hoped that a specific person, and only that one person, was standing on the other side of the door. Without checking the window, Sakura wrenched the door open and barely restrained herself from flinging herself at the man before her.

"Hi, Sakura-chan! Woah. Suddenly excited to see me, eh?"

Sakura stared, dumbfounded, at the person at her doorstep. "Sakura, was it him?" her mother called from within the house. Sakura was too shocked to reply.

"Na-Naruto?" she whispered.

"Yep! It's me. Wanna get some ramen?"

Sakura felt like collapsing right then and there. "Woah, what's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

She was a mess, that's what was wrong. It has been a little more than a week over the estimated deadline of his mission, and Sakura was worried sick. "He-he's not here." she managed. Naruto's face fell and he adopted a look of concern.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's go inside." The blonde led Sakura back into her house and led her to sit on the couch in her living room. As soon as Sakura had sat down, she curled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Naruto reached over to rub her back lovingly. "Who isn't here?" he asked after a small bout of silence. Sakura looked up to her best friend with watery eyes. Naruto pulled her closer to him and wrapped both his arms around her shoulders. Sakura couldn't hold her feelings back anymore. She let out a quiet sob. And then another. And another, and another, and another, until she was letting out all of her pent up worries and anxieties. Sakura's mother and father watched quietly from the doorway.

"Na-Naruto," she whispered between sobs, "I-Itachi. He's not back." Another fresh wave of tears. Naruto rubbed Sakura's back soothingly and he whispered assurances into her hair.

"Sakura-chan. You know how talented and strong Itachi-san is. He will come back, even if he is a little late."

"B-but," she stuttered, "it's been over a week." Sakura lifted her head and stared up at Naruto with glassy eyes. "I'm so worried, Naruto."

Naruto stared back down at her, stunned. Sakura never said she was worried, only when him and Sasuke were heavily injured or really late to come home from a mission. Did Itachi really mean that much to her? "I know you're worried, Sakura-chan." he said. "Just think about it. Would Itachi-san want you to worry about him like this?" Sakura paused for a minute and then shook her head.

"You're right, Naruto." she said, her voice a little bit louder and more confident. "I'll try to be optimistic about this." Her cries slowed to a stop and Sakura sat in Naruto's arms for a few minutes more.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Want to go out and get some ramen?"

"OF COURSE!"

Sakura chuckled. She was thankful for Naruto. He always helped her when she needed support or advice; he was somebody she could lean on when in times of need. "Let me get my things and we will be off." Sakura said with a smile.

"All right!"

{O}


{O}

Scuffle, scuffle, thump...

Only a few more miles. It would've taken him less than an hour if his left leg wasn't fractured and his right arm wasn't dislocated. The pain was so intense, but he had to make it. Who knows what could attack or capture him in the middle of his rest.

Heck, Itachi was wayyy past his deadline, almost three weeks in fact.

As he dragged himself on, Itachi found his mind straying to one of his good friends, a certain pink-haired kunoichi. He hoped that his absence wasn't worrying her too much. Him and Sakura had been good friends for about a year now, ever since he took her to lunch that first time. He had been gone on missions multiple times, even been absent for months at a time, but he had never missed a deadline so drastically. He could imagine Sakura scolding him for being late and maybe giving him a good punch or two for it. He would then tell her that she had nothing to have worried about, he would always come back.

Itachi inhaled sharply as he accidentally tripped on a tree root. Pain shot up his leg and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. Sure, he might have been injured like this before, but it wasn't on a solo mission; the team medic had always been there to patch him up.

He had to make it. He had to make it. He had to make it. Itachi repeated this like a mantra, he was not going to give up. He noticed the terrain become more and more familiar as he limped on.

Another hour, and the Konoha gates came into view.

He had made it.

"Hey! Identify yourself!" a guard shouted down to him. Itachi slid his porcelain ANBU mask to the side of his face with his uninjured arm and looked up at the guard.

"Uchiha Itachi, 012110." he stated in a strained voice.

The guard flipped through a large binder until he found Itachi's page. He nodded. "You may enter. But are you able to walk any farther?" Itachi nodded.

"I am able to walk to the hospital."

The guard looked skeptical, but he did not press harder. "All right, go on ahead."

Itachi nodded again and began limping through the gate. The hospital wasn't far from the village walls, but when you had two limbs practically mangled, it seemed a lot farther. As Itachi reached the entrance, he silently prayed that Sakura was there. He just wanted to see her face, to see if she was okay.

He struggled with opening the door, but eventually managed. Itachi limped over to the receptionist's desk, his strength leaving him at a quick rate. The receptionist glanced over his bloody, bruised, and battered body once, and motioned for him to follow her.

As he laid down on the hospital bed and closed his eyes, the receptionist walked out of the room to get a doctor.

{O}


{O}

"Sakura-san, you have a patient in need of more serious care in room 109"

Sakura looked up. It was the receptionist from the desk in the lobby. "All right, I will go over there now." The receptionist nodded and left the room. Sakura slipped on her lab coat and grabbed a spare clipboard and pen. She quickly made her way to her assigned room, not ready for what awaited her. She quietly opened the door, only to drop her clipboard loudly on the floor as her hands flew up to her mouth.

{O}


{O}

Footsteps. The sound of a door being opened slowly. A loud, feminine gasp. Something clattering to the floor.

"Dear Kami, Itachi!"

That was Sakura's voice. Open your eyes. Open them now.

Itachi slowly opened his eyes and glanced to his side. There stood Sakura, dressed in a white lab coat, with her hands up to her mouth, a look of worry and fear visible on her face. Itachi tried to make his mouth move to speak, but it was so hard. Sakura must have snapped out of whatever trance she was in, for she was suddenly at his side, her eyes boring into his. She reached down and grabbed his face on both sides.

"How could you do that to me? You idiot!" Sakura screamed while shaking his head. Itachi made no move to stop her, she had a right to be upset. She came back to her senses and stopped shaking him. Itachi could now see the tears glistening in her eyes and running down her cheeks. He wasn't able to say anything to her, he couldn't tell her that he was finally back, that he was okay. He couldn't wipe the tears off of her face and tell her that he had missed her just as much.

Sakura calmed herself down after a few minutes. She glanced at the rest of his body and her eyes widened.

"Itachi," she whispered. What happened to the 'san' at the end of his name? "How did this happen? Did you know that you were almost three weeks over your deadline?" Itachi could only look at her, for it hurt too much to move.

"You're a mess." Sakura said quietly, her voice choked with raw emotion, as she summoned chakra to her palms and ran them over Itachi's body. The man immediately relaxed underneath her touch, her chakra warm and soothing. It was uniquely hers.

After a few minutes, the soreness and pain in Itachi's body dissipated. The fracture in his leg was slowly being melded back together. "Itachi," Sakura spoke, quietly. He looked up to meet her gaze. "I'm going to have to reposition your arm. It is still dislocated and it won't heal unless I pop it back in properly.

Itachi grunted in reply as Sakura helped him up into a sitting position. "I'm just warning you, this is going to hurt really bad." Itachi only nodded slightly in reply.

"But I have a question first." Sakura paused. Itachi looked at her inquisitively. She smiled at him slyly. "You ever thought about getting a girlfriend?"

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction -only a fraction- at this. Ever thought about getting a gir-

Pop!

Itachi slumped forward onto Sakura in pain. She had distracted him with an abrupt question while she popped his arm back in place. Sneaky. "I'm sorry." she smiled sheepishly. "I had to distract you somehow." Itachi lifted his head from her shoulder and gave her a smile. Sakura's own smile grew brighter. When Itachi showed emotion, especially smiles, it was a big deal. It was a rare occurrence. (though he seemed to smile the most when he was with her.)

"I'm almost done healing you. You can lay back down now." Sakura said lightly. Itachi shook his head and she quirked an eyebrow. Itachi gently grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her closer so that she was standing in between his legs. He then placed his hands on her hips and laid his head back on her shoulder. Sakura felt her face grow warm with a blush. She actually didn't mind the way they were positioned, but it came as a surprise and it seemed quite intimate. They were only friends, after all. Itachi hmmed, letting Sakura know that he was ready for her to continue healing. Sakura lifted her hands back up and summoned her healing chakra again. As she worked, she could feel Itachi pressing himself a little closer to her. She smiled, this was her affirmation that Itachi had missed her. They rarely made physical contact, she had probably only hugged him once, and that was when he had bought her a birthday present. She didn't care about the way they were touching now, in fact, she would've encouraged it if her hands weren't busy. She had missed him too, you know.

When Sakura had finished healing Itachi's injuries, she lowered her hands to rest on Itachi's shoulders. She felt him lean into her completely. With Itachi sitting on the hospital bed, Sakura was much taller than him. She rested her chin on his head and ran her fingers through his hair. It was a mess and heavily knotted but she could care less, she was being gentle anyways.

"I missed you, Itachi." Sakura whispered into his hair. Itachi just tightened his grip on her waist. Sakura continued, "I missed you so, so much. Do you know how wor-worried I was?" Itachi lifted his head from Sakura's shoulder and removed his hands from her waist. He brought his arms up to Sakura's face and gently pulled it down so that their foreheads rested on each other. Sakura felt another blush cross her cheeks.

Itachi summoned what he could of his voice. He had to say it, he had spent hours thinking about it during his long journey home. Solo missions were great for sorting out emotions.

"I love you." he whispered.

Sakura's eyes widened but she didn't pull away. Itachi angled his face towards Sakura's and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Before he could pull away, Sakura brought her own hands up to his face and pulled him closer. Sakura's body was practically buzzing with excitement. She was kissing Itachi. She was kissing Itachi. Never in a million years would she have imagined herself doing it, but it was happening, right then and there. And she liked it.

They parted much too soon, in both of their opinions, but the need for air had taken over. Sakura brushed her thumb over Itachi's cheek while she gazed into his charcoal gray eyes. Inner-Sakura was practically exploding with excitement and confusion. Sakura never would have imagined this turn in her and Itachi's relationship. (heck, she didn't even know what this turn exactly was!) She wasn't sure what had compelled her to kiss him, it had come naturally

The two held each other for a few more moments when Sakura remembered where they were. She ran her hands up Itachi's back slowly before she backed away from him. Itachi looked up at her with a questioning gaze -and was that disappointment she saw? "I have to go, Itachi." she said reluctantly. The way Itachi's eyes seemed to sadden did not go unnoticed, but Sakura had work to do.

"I'll be back in here to check on you in a few hours. You'll have to spend a night or two to fully recuperate." Itachi sighed, he did not enjoy staying in the hospital, but if Sakura had ordered him to, he would relent. Sakura bent down and left a lingering kiss on his forehead before she reached for her clipboard on the bedside table and left. On her way down the hall, she ran into the receptionist.

"Sakura-san," the brunette began, "is Uchiha-san in critical condition? You seemed to be in there for quite a while." Sakura fought a blush from rising to her cheeks.

"Uchiha-san had a severely fractured leg and a dislocated arm." Sakura explained. "I healed his injuries but he will need a few days to recuperate before he can go home." The receptionist grimaced.

" Oh. From what I have heard, Uchiha-san has attempted to escape the hospital before. The nurses even had to restrain a few times!" she exclaimed.

Sakura's eyebrows shot up. That was not something she would assume of Itachi. "I don't," she paused, "I don't think he will try escaping this time around."

The young receptionist stared up at Sakura with wide eyes. "What makes you say that, Sakura-san?"

Sakura laughed nervously. "Oh -uh- no reason. I just -uh- have a feeling that he won't!" she stuttered. "We should get back to work." Sakura was about to walk away when she realized something. "Oh, before you go, could you assign me to be Uchiha-san's medic?"

"Why?"

"Well -uh- I've treated a lot of cases like his before so I think that I would be the best one to treat him."

The receptionist eyes Sakura a little suspiciously. "All right, I'll make sure to do that." she said as she walked off. When the young girl turned the corner, Sakura let out a heavy sigh. Nobody at the hospital -save for a few people- knew of her friendship with Itachi. It felt odd to let people know about it now.

Get it together, Sakura! her Inner yelled. Right, she still had worked to do. She would check on Itachi later.

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Hello again! I want to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed so far! Every time I receive an email, I freak out, XD. I've decided that I will update Alstroemerias on Wednesday nights, and Inner Selves on Saturday nights! I think this story will be one more chapter, and MAYBE an epilogue. Not sure yet! Thanks again for all the support!

~Rus