Chapter 13 - Sweet surrender

She was trembling her hands shook even harder as her green jade like eyes started getting teary. This can't be happening.

If she didn't act soon, Shisui and Itachi would die.

No, she would not let that happen. It was one of the reasons why Sakura became a medical ninja, in desperate times she wanted to be useful, she wanted to be able to help those in need, she wanted to protect those who she cared about. Therefore, she will not let anyone die, especially not when she was the one to tend them. She was determined to save both of the Uchiha's and for her it wasn't just a matter of personal affairs, the both of them were highly valued leaf shinobi, which meant losing any of them could cause critical damage to the village itself.

The pinkette took a notice of the the situation. It was familiar, way too familiar to her. A few years ago, she had seen Kankurou of the Sand in a similar situation, when the Sand was attacked by unknown rogue ninja and he had been severely poisoned. The Sand had been weakened and asked for assistance from Konoha. Sakura had managed to get there just in time to extract the poison from his body. A poison that was very similar to this one, maybe a little too similar. It took her a minute, but she knew what to do.

"I need an empty bowl as well as one filled with clean water immediately!" she instructed, the severity of the situation dawning on her as she withdrew her chakra from Shisui's lifeless body.

The group in the room rapidly dispersed, a silent panic in the air at Sakura's tone with only Itachi's heavily loud coughs interrupting. It didn't take long before two nurses returned, one with an empty bowl and one filled with water in hand. Sakura nodded her thanks as the nurses set the bowls on the bedside table and stepped back to give the kunoichi more space.

"Shizune, I know you are not a poison expert, therefore, please keep Itachi-san as stable as possible with your chakra, by not letting the poison sink any further into his body, more so his organs."

She heard Shizune hum in approval of her request.

She was glad no one could see her face, as the emotions playing on her face were displayed just like a musical instrument that was being played in front of a big audience. They were easy to read. Emotions were not allowed considering the kind of work she was doing. More so, it was thanks to a curtain of long messy strands of pink hair that were struggling to fall out completely of her long ponytail, therefore the hair curtain did a good job covering her face. At least that's what she thought.

She didn't wait any longer before putting her palm against the surface of cool water in the bowl and gathering a ball of clean water in her hands. Using the other hand, she moved his black dirt and sweat covered shirt up to his armpits revealing a toned sweat-covered chest underneath.

Ignoring his chiselled chest, she was working as quickly and carefully as she could by pushing the crystal-clear orb of clean water deep into his chest and penetrating it deeply into his internal organs, the curly haired Uchiha not even flinching in his comatose state.

And for that, she was glad he didn't, as she knew she would definitely have a hard time with the other Uchiha as he was still laying awake and somewhat conscious.

The procedure requires a lot of chakra and she could only hope she will have enough to accommodate the two of them. Her chakra resources might get dangerously low.

Now all she had to do was use her chakra to meticulously guide the fluid through his tissues and gather out as much of the poison as she could.

And when the crystal-clear water that leached through his flesh and into her opposite hand came back in a disgusting soil colour, so laden with poison that the acrid scent of it filled the entire treatment room, Sakura realized how severe his condition truly was. Her hands shook for a second almost losing their focus, before she forced herself to concentrate again. No, she will not lose him. And yet she could only be careful enough as to not let the acidic poison reach her own skin as well.

"So that's the toxin." She faintly heard Shizune's observant comment at the opposite side of the room. Sakura could only nod in agreement.

The few nurses who stayed in the room in case anything else happened both gagged at the foul stench of the poison, even Sakura herself grimacing at the odour. She deposited the toxin into the empty bowl, the fluid so thick and viscous that it acted more like tar than a liquid. Next thing she felt was a cold breeze touching her skin, coming from outside. Someone opened a window and Sakura could only be thankful enough.

What worried her even more was that even when she worked to cleanse the toxin out from his body in a way she knew was agonizing, Shisui didn't react in a slightest. The only sign that he felt anything at all was his bruised fingertips twitching, confirming her of his deep comatose state. She worried for the other Uchiha as well, will she make it in time to help him? She felt like she didn't know…

She hoped Shizune had enough chakra to keep Itachi-san stable at least for another few minutes before eventually Sakura herself would be able to take over.

Gathering another ball of water in her hand, Sakura cleared her mind and hardened her resolve. She would not let them die.

She would not let anyone die today.

Being so focused on her task Sakura completely ignored the odd burning sensation on her forehead as she continued pushing forwards through the procedure.

It took her another hour repeating the same process over and over again by trying to remove as much poison as she possibly could out of Shisui's body. When she was sure he was as stable as he could be given the situation, Sakura took a short sigh of relief. He might survive. Although, her work wasn't done just yet. She had another Uchiha waiting in line to be treated.

She almost cursed herself seeing Uchiha Itachi in these circumstances, not only did the man saw her nearly naked last time they met she was also being intimate with his older cousin for no apparent reason. She shook her head a little, trying to keep herself stable, the chakra exhaustion catching up with her current state. She knew that extracting poison in such manner was a really delicate and chakra consuming process, so she wasn't surprised when she felt her chakra reserves being dangerously low, as if the burning sensation on her palms was any indication of it.

She could only wonder how Shizune managed to keep the younger Uchiha stable for that long. The older woman must be out of it as well.

Without another word she moved closer to Itachi Uchiha finally letting Shizune move past her. She noticed another two bowls nearby on the beside table, ready to be used, which she was thankful for as her nurses were smart enough to understand that she's going to be performing the same procedure to Itachi-san as well.

She knew she had to concentrate again, Itachi was Sasuke-kun's brother and in no way in hell would Sakura leave her beloved teammate without a brother. He would probably kill her if she would fuck up. Keeping Itachi alive was the only option for her, even if she was embarrassed to death.

She noticed the pale Uchiha being topless, which she could probably be thankful for to Shizune. Sakura noted the crusty dried-up blood on his chest which was thankfully not replaced by a stream of a fresh one. Just as Itachi was about to cough again Sakura pressed her palms onto his chest running another diagnostic on his body and stopping the cough from completely erupting out of his chest and mouth again.

Sakura took a mental note of Shizune's abilities to keep a goddamn Uchiha stable for so long, this sure was impressive. Sakura wasn't sure if she could replicate Shizune given the chance and situation.

"Itachi-san, this is going to hurt, a lot. Unfortunately, you aren't as lucky as your cousin by being unconscious, therefore you have two options. Option number one I will knock you out so you most likely won't feel any pain. Option number two you might remain conscious but you will have to endure the pain at least until I will finish extracting most of the poison out of your body." Sakura said gently looking up to the pained expression on the younger Uchiha's face, it was the first time pinkette saw him like this.

She heard no answer, which was expected given his condition, so Sakura knew she couldn't blame him. What caught her eye instead was his messy hair loose out of his usual low ponytail with dark raven coloured pieces clinging to his pale sweat covered face and shoulders in a chaotic manner. It was an unusual sight, really, seeing such a stoic man as Itachi in a situation like this felt like a warning in itself, but what was even worse was that two of the strongest men in the village were both clinging dearly for their lives at the same time. The pink-haired woman could only wonder what went so wrong during the mission.

"Please let me take care of you, I will promise to save you and Shisui, Itachi-san." She whispered reassuringly to the raven-haired Uchiha his tired dark gaze moving up to meet her own fierce jade eyes. His own dark eyes analysing hers before giving the smallest of smiles she's ever seen. She smiled kindly at him as well before pressing her fingers to his sweat-covered forehead.

"Please hold him firmly for me just in case." She instructed the two nurses who stayed quiet behind her in the treatment room.

Itachi's eyes slightly widened seeing the pink haired woman rush to his older cousin immediately. Her voice was ringing in his ears as he felt becoming more and more suffocated as the seconds passed by. His lungs felt heavy as if they were full of liquid and he felt like at any second he might stop breathing. All he saw was her and Shisui, he didn't care about the blood on his chest or mouth, nor about the unfamiliar chakra spreading through his body, trying to keep him alive.

He prayed she could save him as Itachi himself couldn't care less about his own health at that moment. Her voice was the only thing he could make out in the chaos that was surrounding him. She was the only thing he could focus on as to not lose his consciousness, she was the one trying to keep his cousin alive. Her instructions to the nurses were sharp and clear, one would think she was perfectly composed, doing her job as usual as if Shisui were just another patient on her list that day, but Itachi knew better, because he was the one who had the perfect view. The perfect view of the picture that was playing in front of him.

He saw the way her hands were slightly shaking, the way she looked at Shisui, eyes full of fear, sadness and might he assume there might've been something else?

He would've silently gasped if not for his inability to breath properly at that moment. She probably thought that that long hair of hers was doing a good job covering her face from the view of others. And it probably did, but not when it came to Itachi's observant gaze, even in situation like this you could hardly hide anything from his eyes.

Her green spring-like eyes were threatening to spill with tears at any moment given, the long strands of hair cupping her face making the image even more sad. She looked unsure and vulnerable, the way she was gazing at Shisui's almost lifeless body lying on the bed making the hairs on Itachi's neck go up. He was putting all of his faith and trust into that petite woman.

The way she looked at his cousin. That soft gaze she was giving him unknowingly, he never saw that look on Sakura's face before. At that moment Itachi realized something. That woman, did she actually managed to fall for his cousin? He should've known this from the start, he should've known something like this was bound to happen. He knew what this meant. Just like any other woman, Sakura had no chance, she was not Izumi. Among the women that were chasing after Shisui he was considered to be heartless. When it came to any other woman than Izumi Shisui would always act heartless, because at the end of the day just like Itachi himself all of those missions they took…they only brought pain. All of that combined made them practically heartless. And even Itachi knew, that Sakura deserved better than someone who would act heartless towards her. But then again, was Shisui really that heartless towards Sakura? Itachi could not figure it out. After all he wouldn't have asked him to do that…

20 hours ago.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Shisui screamed at the red haired man.

"That is none of your business Uchiha Shisui, you should be more concerned about getting your little lover back, I'm right?" The man red-haired man spoke indifferently, his honey coloured eyes boring straight into Shisui's.

"Where the fuck is Izumi? What have you done to her?!" Shisui kept screaming at the man that was standing just a few meters away from him. "I'll fucking kill you bastard!" The rage and malice in the man's voice was obvious more than ever. Shisui was ready to kill, ready to murder anyone who laid a finger on his precious Izumi. She belonged to him. The crimson coloured mangekyou sharingan was already set in motion, ready to attack at any moment. His aura could be compared to that of a demon.

All Itachi could do is observe, he didn't want to make any rash decisions, as he didn't know how strong his opponent was. He could understand where Shisui was coming from, as Izumi was someone who was precious to Itachi as well. Although, Itachi had his sharingan activated as well.

The man just kept standing still, the only thing moving was his black coat embedded with red clouds that kept getting lifted into the air. He had a strange aura about him, his face was emotionless. He reminded Itachi of a puppet. More than so he also seemed hard to read. But the thing that scared Itachi the most was the possibility that he knew where Izumi was. Was he the one who kidnapped her?

"That is none of your business Uchiha, if you really want to find out where your little lover is then be prepared to fight me. I couldn't care less about your death threats." The man spoke again, no emotion to be found in his voice.

Shisui almost launched straight forward into the man that was standing just a mere few meters away from him, but a hand on his shoulder prohibited him from doing so immediately.

"Shisui, don't let him manipulate you, he might not even know where Izumi is." Itachi tried to reason, he was afraid that his older cousin might lose his mind if provoked completely.

"Wrong." The man who was standing still spoke. "If you will manage to kill me, I'll tell you where my master has taken your little lover." Shisui's eyes widened as he saw the other man smirk at him. His blood was boiling. He dared to think he was better than him? Afraid of the Uchiha demon himself? He must have some guts to go against Uchiha.

Shisui had to keep himself together, he couldn't just lash out like a mad dog. He sighed. "Itachi, follow the other ones that were with him, you might be able to find their hideout, I have a feeling that's where they might be keeping Izumi." He whispered. All Itachi did was nod before disappearing into a flock of crows.

"Sending your little cousin after my teammates won't help Shisui Uchiha." The man sighed as if the situation was getting more and more boring with each passing second. "By the time he finds them, he will be tailed already, you have no idea who you are dealing with dogs." He spoke mockingly.

"I'll show you what a dog is." Shisui growled before launching in at the man Infront of him.

Just as the red-haired man said, Itachi indeed couldn't find the exact location where the redhead's teammates went. Even with his sharingan abilities and the help of the genjutsu crows he couldn't find them. He could only wonder how they got away and came with the conclusion that some of them were probably S ranked criminals from the bingo book, otherwise Itachi wouldn't find it so hard to locate their exact location. All he could do is get back to Shisui and try to find their hideout together by observing the location in the next couple of days.

By the time Itachi arrived to the exact place where he last left Shisui it was already getting dark. But the thing that made him stop in his tack was the sight of his older cousin. Shisui was laying on the ground lifeless.

Itachi dropped on his knees near his cousins' body, there was nothing else besides the dirt and small cuts on his skin and it seemed he still had chakra in him which meant he was still most likely alive. Was the redhead really that strong that even Shisui had a hard time dealing with him? He could only wonder. Panic was already taking over Itachi. He couldn't lose another member of his family.

Itachi shook him slightly, as if trying to wake up, it has been a good three to four hours since Itachi left and cameback.

"Shisui, wake up!" He kept shaking him lightly. It took a few minutes for Shisui to open his eyes slightly. "Itachi don't touch me, y-you'll get it too." Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about you idiot, saying things like that just what the fuck happened while I was gone?" Itachi was puzzled. "T-that guy…" Shisui started coughing, fresh crimson blood spilled directly out of his mouth. Itachi's eyes widened as he placed his hands on Shisui's shoulders. He was coughing for a few minutes and all Itachi could do was watch in horror as his older cousin was struggling to breathe.

"He's a poison specialist and a puppeteer as well. I didn't expect him to…" he started coughing again, a fresh wave of blood leaving through his lips again.

Itachi unknowingly started shaking. His cousin…he was dying. And all Itachi could do was blame himself.

"Don't speak anymore, I'll get you to Konoha they will treat you at the hospital you will be fine." The younger Uchiha said while squeezing Shisui's shoulders even harder.

"No…I don't think I'll make it brother.." the curly haired man's voice was hoarse from all the coughing.

"That poison.. I don't think they have an antidote for it in Konoha…" his voice was becoming quieter with each passing second, the inability to speak properly catching up with him. "Y-y-you will get poisoned too, so please don't touch me."

"I don't care, do you think I'm just going to leave you here to die?!" Itachi was close to shouting. His cousin was mad crazy, did he actually think he will be okay with leaving him behind to die?

"Yes..but before doing so.." another wave of coughs escaped from his mouth, it looked like a slow crimson river was moving down slowly through the corner of his lips. "Promise me..that you will save Izumi from those bastards.." he cracked a painful smile to his cousin before going silent for a few minutes. "And also..her.." he coughed again letting more blood leave through his mouth. "Promise me that you will help Sakura." He looked up into his cousin's crimson eyes that were full of emotion. He reminded him of a lost puppy.

"Shisui, with or without you I would still save Izumi..but what about Sakura-san, how can I help her, what she has to do with you?" Itachi was becoming more anxious with each passing second by seeing his cousin struggling so much, it was something he has never seen before. Whatever it takes Itachi decided that he will not let his cousin die, its not the time yet.

"When you will ask her about this on my behalf she will understand what you mean…I'm j-just sad that I might not be able to fulfil the promise I made to her.." he smiled sadly at his younger cousin, his vision now becoming extremely blurry, to the point where he couldn't make out Itachi's face properly, next thing he knew everything became blank.

"I will not let you die brother…you will survive even if I will have to go to the depths of hell to bring your soul back..." Itachi said whilst picking up his cousins numb body from the ground, the pattern of mangekyou sharingan forming in his eyes already.

Itachi felt as if it was harder to breathe again. The unfamiliar chakra suddenly left his body causing him to snap back into reality.

"Itachi-san, this is going to hurt, a lot. Unfortunately, you aren't as lucky as your cousin by being unconscious, therefore you have two options. Option number one I will knock you out so you most likely won't feel any pain. Option number two you might remain conscious, but you will have to endure the pain at least until I will finish extracting most of the poison out of your body." He barely looked at her, he felt like he couldn't speak. His mouth was locked. In the end, he decided that he didn't care what she will do to him as long as his cousin gets to live another day.

"Please let me take care of you, I will promise to save you and Shisui, Itachi-san." He heard her reassuring whisper and he couldn't help but tiredly look into her apple coloured eyes. Although various emotions were displayed on her face, a few he found he liked the most were the warmth and confidence she held in her eyes fiercly. It was something extraordinary something he had a rare occurrence to see in a woman. It was impressive.

He felt like it was easier to breathe again as extremely warm and pleasant chakra invaded his body without any resistance. Therefore, he kept staring into the abyss of her green pools, before giving her the smallest of smiles. And at that moment something within him moved as he saw her give him one of the kindest smiles he ever saw. The next thing he felt were her delicate warm fingers caressing his forehead before he became sleepy.

He decided to trust her completely putting not only his cousin's life into her hands but his as well. And even if that smile of hers were to be the last thing he saw in his life, he decided it probably wouldn't be so bad as he rather liked it. It left him with a warm feeling inside, it felt like a sweet surrender...

"Please hold him firmly for me just in case." She instructed the two nurses who were staying quietly behind her in the treatment room the entire time. Her voice kept ringing in his ears before the darkness took over him completely.

Author's note

Thank you all so much for all of the support I've been getting for the past few months, it really does mean a lot to me! I hope everyone is feeling well and safe with the whole Covid-19 going around, as for me I'm literally in a lockdown back in my home country, so I've been doing nothing for days..well not nothing I was reading lots of manga trying to get inspiration to write my fanfiction which actually worked and I managed to finish the chapter, it turned out better than I expected. I'll try to update a bit more during this time especially as I realise that there's not much to do, and fanfiction is a really good way to pass time. Therefore, I hope everything will become normal soon, as I literally didn't get a job cause of this goddamn virus, but they said they will contact me after everything goes back to normal, so pray with me guys haha. As always all of the comments, follows and favourites are appreciated, so if you enjoy my work please do not hesitate to leave a comment or just follow my story for the newest updates! I hope that until next chapter comes out we would surely be able to hit 125 reviews? Let me know what you think of this chapter by leaving a review. I will see you all very soon!