Chapter Twenty-Seven

Laid Bare

Previously on Reflection:

They stood outside the Hokage tower whispering back and forth furiously. They received odd looks from ninja who came in to do this and that but neither paid any attention to them.

"Itachi, her plan is logical and the best possible solution for-"

"I will tell you what I have told the Hokage: I will not." Itachi shrugged off the hand that gripped his shirt tightly to keep him from disappearing on her. Not that he would leave her behind, but he suspected that she didn't know that.

"And she may accept that decision but I won't. Can't we at least-"

"Sakura, I have said that I will not."

"Why are you being so closed-minded about this? I can appreciate your concern, but-"

"Can you? Do you really see what she's trying to do? Can't you see that she called you into that office to manipulate you into swaying me on my decision?"

"It's a good decision! Had I thought of it first I would have suggested it."

"And my decision would have been the same."

"Itachi, it's not your choice to make."

"It is my choice."

"Itachi…please. Please. You don't know just how much this will help-"

"I do. I do understand and yet what I'm being asked is too much of a sacrifice-even for Konoha."

Itachi then put an end to Sakura's words by grabbing her elbow and pulling her closer to him and started their journey home. Sakura initial thought had been to pull away, but she thought better of it. Perhaps it was a lot to ask, but her heart told her she still had to try.

:::

He hadn't spoken to her in over twenty-four hours. Sakura had given up trying to make him see reason. She understood how he felt. If she had been in his position she would have felt the same way, but since she was not in his position, she agreed with Tsunade. However, that didn't mean she was angry with him. It meant that she missed his constant, annoying teasing/flirting.

"Itachi, are you going to talk to me today?"

As usual he was working on some business that had to do with the clan. She wondered briefly what he'd do once he was the head of the clan as well as the Hokage. The sheer amount of work would be astronomical. There was no way he'd be able to handle it all alone. Sakura decided then that she'd help him. She'd help him whatever way possible—even though she knew that this would mean dealing with the clan on a regular basis. She had to get used to the idea, though. She was the future Matriarch, after all. Sakura nearly groaned as just the thought was daunting.

Itachi raised his head and looked into Sakura's sad green eyes. She was leaning in the door frame one arm dangling at her side the other wrapped around her middle. She looked a far cry from the spitfire that gave his mother hell about the wedding preparations a few days ago. Her shoulders slumped and she looked… resigned.

He wasn't angry with her, although he was certain she thought otherwise. He was more annoyed than anything. As per his father's way of going about things, Itachi had just stopped talking altogether. This seemed to do the trick, but at the same time had caused a wide and vacant distance between them which was not what he had intended.

"It wasn't a matter of me not talking to you, Sakura. I simply refuse to talk about that specific issue any longer."

"I pressed too hard."

Itachi slightly inclined his head. "Indeed."

"I only did because it's important to me. I never meant to offend or anger you."

"I understand that as well, Sakura. I know how much your homeland means to you. Your actions were not unexpected, but do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"I do Itachi. I just…want you to know that I'm here. No matter what happens I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I'll help you. I'm here to help you. You won't be alone. And that's all I'll say on the matter."

They sat in silence for a while before Itachi raised a single hand and beckoned her forward. Sakura walked over to him slowly and said nothing when he took her hand in his. His fingers came up and gently flicked her forehead, and Sakura snuggled into his side.

Nothing further was said.

:::

Saku groaned as she opened her eyes. She felt like she had been beaten with a baseball bat. She didn't want to move, but she knew she had to. She raised herself up on her elbow and looked around the room she was in, immediately recognizing it as Kakashi's. Her heart froze for two reasons the first being because of her whereabouts. The second reason was because she realized she wasn't alone. Slowly, she turned her head and met the lone eye of the Copy Nin. There was something in his eye that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end for some reason that wasn't necessarily bad.

He sat on the end of the bed as if he had been expecting her to wake up any second. Saku opened her mouth but then closed it as prior events flooded her mind. Her eye twitched in anger as she recalled the heat of Sasuke's breath on her neck and the words whispered softly in her ear right before darkness claimed her. "So you just let him knock me out like that? You know how important it is that I stay there!"

"At the risk of your own life? I disagree. They were right to send you back."

"Since when do you give a flying fig about me?"

Kakashi's brow rose at her questionable word choice but said nothing in reply to her question. Saku made a move to stand but found her body wracked in pain at the effort. Kakashi rose to his feet.

"You should heal yourself. I was only able to do the bare minimum." With that he exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Saku closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly in an effort to keep from murdering anyone. Once she was sure her composure was firmly intact, she began to slow process of healing her arm. She noticed that the burns on her back were gone, although she was still a little stiff. She also noticed that her clothing was different and there were no traces of the blood that had coated her body during the battle.

She didn't know what to feel about the fact that he had undressed her and then bathed her. A part of her was thankful that he had been thoughtful enough to take care to get her cleaned up. Another part of her was embarrassed that he had seen her in various stages of undress, never mind that he'd seen the same thing on missions. Then there was the anger that he'd taken such liberties with her. How dare he WASH her?

A tired sigh escaped her lips. She needed to talk to Kakashi, yet the thought filled her with dread. Lately they hadn't been having the best conversations in the world. Maybe she should just leave well enough alone. Sakura snorted. And let it fester in her mind while she was slowly being driven insane by silence? Not likely.

Why had he even been there in the first place? She didn't buy that whole 'just passing by' thing. What was it with that man and his obvious lies?

A while later her arm was, while not completely healed, moveable with very little pain. Sakura stopped there, not wanting to deplete her charka just yet. She figured it would be a good thing to get something to eat. She rose to her feet and quietly walked over to the door and slid it open. Saku stuck her head out peering around to see if Kakashi was anywhere visible before stepping outside the room. She moved to the kitchen after a brief search and realized that Kakashi was gone.

Saku frowned and felt a little put out that he didn't bother to tell her he was leaving—not that it was really any of her business anyway. So she went to the refrigerator and swung it open only to find spider webs and moldy cheese. Saku stifled a groan as her stomach began to rumble in protest. She moved over to his cabinets opening them one by one only to find herself feeling like the dog in Old Mother Hubbard by the time she was finished.

With a snarl Saku slammed the last cabinet shut and whirled around with the intent to leave in search of food only to find Kakashi standing behind her with arms filled with grocery bags.

"What did that cabinet ever do to you?" Kakashi inquired, but Saku paid no attention as she moved over toward the food. In those moments she felt something like a ravenous beast that was seconds away from pouncing on it's prey so she only listened with half an ear to what Kakashi was saying.

"What did who do to me?" Saku murmured and made an attempt to snatch the food out of Kakashi's hands that pulled it just beyond her reach. Saku scowled.

"The cabinet-what did it do to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Saku said her face scrunched up in confusion all the while trying the grab the food out of Kakashi's hands without making her arm complain too much. "The cabinet didn't do anything to me."

"Then why did you slam it closed?"

Saku paused and looked at him, finally realizing that he was just screwing with her. She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a glare that wasn't the magnitude of which he deserved.

"Because I'm hungry and it had no food. Now may I please have some of whatever the hell it is you brought with you?"

Kakashi extended the food to her. "All you had to do was ask." Saku scowled and took the offered object.

She didn't remember eating her food. That was probably a bad thing but it wasn't something that she would worry about right then. Instead, she took a moment to look at the man seated across from her. He was finished eating as well—it was likely that he finished before her and that was saying something.

It was all to soon when she felt his heavy stare upon her person. When she finally built up the courage to meet his gaze he was lazily staring back at her knowing that she would say something.

She had plenty she wanted to say and it was time to stop sugar coating things and mincing words.

:::

He found her in their bedroom sitting in the bed with a picture in her hands. The picture was Saku's and Itachi was amazed that she had left it behind but more than that he was surprised that Sakura had found it in whatever hole it was lying in.

It was of Team Seven.

She didn't look up when he entered the room and so Itachi took a seat beside her.

"They were my world." She said softly. "I didn't know how much of my life revolved around them until I came here. They were my boys, my family, my friends...and I miss them." Sakura smiled and traced her finger along the picture. "Everything that has been going on here has done a good job of distracting me from their absence, but it's in moments like this that I feel the loss the most. It's worse than them being dead—having them within reach and not being able to go to them."

Itachi said nothing. There were some moments where words were more of a burden than anything. It was a moment he had expected to come after she had agreed to be his wife. That it had taken her this long to come to it spoke of a mental strength that was phenomenal. The only thing he could do for her was give her his silence, a listening ear, and hope it was enough.

"Most things we did together. Laugh, fight-we didn't cry together. I think I was the only one that ever did that—maybe Naruto did too. Kakashi and Sasuke were too manly for tears." Sakura rolled her eyes even as she smiled. "Still, we were something more, something great. Not every team can say that they've been through the things we have and were still together in the end—but that's just it. We're not together anymore and no one can fill the hole that they left in my heart. I feel so alone here and so I feel like I'm focusing the attention that I once lavished on them on you. But it doesn't feel right Itachi."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I feel like I'm caught up in a whirlwind and I don't know which way is up, which way is down. What's right and what's wrong."

"…"

"It's a given that I have to marry you and the truth is I'm not opposed to the idea. Despite some of your…ways—" Itachi raised a brow. "I like you. You're a good guy. For a while I thought I was in love with you."

"And now you don't know." Itachi summarized and Sakura nodded her head in confirmation.

"Now I don't know. I'm attracted to you—really attracted. But am I mixing lust with love? That's such a dangerous thing to do. I like to think the fact that I'm even questioning it means that it's more than attraction. That it's just me fearing a future without those closest to me at my side, but I truly don't know. Regardless as to how I feel we're together. We're officially a couple but I'd like to be certain of what it is that I'm feeling. I don't like being in the dark, especially about my own emotions. I wish…I really wish Kakashi was here so that I could talk to him. I need him."

Itachi subtly flinched but Sakura didn't notice. She sighed. "And now I feel foolish for telling you all this."

"Don't. Having no one to share your thoughts with will only make you feel worse. I do not want you to be miserable at my side. Just as you are here for me I am here for you as well."

"But do you love me?" Sakura shook her head before Itachi responded. "That's not something you have to answer—at least not right now. A part of me still worries that for you I'm a carbon copy of Saku. I know you said that you don't love her but I think sometimes that one day you'll wake up, look at me, and realize I'm not the woman you really wanted and that scares me too."

Itachi knew at this point he could give her words of reassurance, but he held back. His words had not stopped her fears before. So he decided to try another tactic. "Shall I tell you my fear, then?"

"You have them?" Sakura asked somewhat mockingly. She was surprised to see Itachi's lips lift into a smirk.

"Upon occasion."

Sakura smiled and wiped at her face, finally noticing the tears that had come from nowhere. "Go ahead. Tell me then."

He didn't immediately speak and Sakura wondered at his hesitation. He had freely offered the information and now he seemed reluctant to speak.

"An elaborate dream."

Sakura blinked confused. A dream? That didn't make any sense. Itachi fearing a dream was ludicrous. He had to be yanking her chain…or maybe there was some deeper meaning behind his words. Maybe he meant…

"Do you mean genjutsu?" Although that hardly made sense either since the Uchiha were synonymous with genjutsu Itachi replied,

"Perhaps." He rose to his feet and then said, "I have to head to the main house. I won't be gone long."

He was gone before her brain could compute his statement. Sakura sat in the bed staring into space a while after that. Puzzlement was soon replaced by irritation. How exactly was that supposed to make her feel better?

Although had she thought about it she would have realized that she was no longer saddened by her separation from her team nor did she worry about her the concept of her transferring her affection onto to him. She was far too annoyed for all that.

:::

"Why did you cross over into the other world?" Kakashi looked at Saku steadily and replied with a question of his own. "Why do you think?"

Saku's brow twitched in irritation. "If I knew then I wouldn't have asked." When it looked liked Kakashi had no intention of answering her question she let out a growl of frustration. "You shouldn't have come. You didn't belong there."

"Neither did you." Kakashi countered. "You would have died had I not shown up."

"I can take care of myself," Saku said, her chin rising defiantly. She pushed away from the table, rose to her feet, and looked down on Kakashi. Perhaps a small part of her brain intended for it to be an intimidation tactic but if fell short because Kakashi only slightly raised his head and looked at her with the same bored look on his face.

"If that were the case why do you think they let me take you…no, why do you think they told me to take you?"

"It doesn't matter what they 'told' you to do. I can't stay here. We'll all die if I do."

"I love you."

Saku was about to launch into a tirade after his reply until she realized what it was that he had said. "You what?" Her green eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't have said what she thought he did. There's no way that could be true. All the years of bitterness and anger between them he couldn't possibly hold onto to any affection throughout it all—especially not an emotion as intense as…love.

"Sakura told me before you left to stop you, to tell you how I felt because if I didn't it would be something that I regretted for the rest of my life. I disagreed. I thought telling you would be pointless since while I love you…I hate you as well. I couldn't make any harmony come about between those conflicting emotions."

"You love me and you hate me," Saku mumbled, confused slightly by how the two were possible. Kakashi just shrugged and Saku sighed. She had been told already that he had feelings for her and yet a small part of her hadn't believed it. Or maybe she was just too afraid to believe something that could possibly not be true. She would have been disappointed and she wasn't sure she could handle it. "How long have you loved me?" Saku asked quietly.

"I don't know," Kakashi answered honestly. Saku sank back into her chair and looked down at the table. She wanted to tell him that she loved him too but somehow it didn't feel right. She didn't think he'd believe her. In all honesty if she were him she wouldn't believe so she kept quiet on how she felt. "I couldn't let you stay there when I knew the life you would be living would have you ending up constantly fighting for your life like you were when I found you. No matter how much I hate you, I still love you and want you safe so when they told me to bring you home…I did. The world be damned, I did what was right and not you or anyone else will tell me otherwise."

:::

Sakura blinked once she found herself staring at Saku. Since Itachi had left to visit the Main House, that left her alone with nothing much to do except clean. The truth was she hated cleaning—and that was putting it nicely. However, when Itachi said that he was going to have a few women from the clan who were willing to come over and clean the house for them Sakura decided right then and there that she would take care of their home. She didn't want any outsiders—especially those from the Uchiha clan having free reign of her house.

She knew Itachi trusted the Uchiha clan but she didn't. She had seen the hatred and viciousness from two different worlds, and her Sasuke had suffered because of it. She probably never would trust them, and she would not give anyone the opportunity to let harm fall upon her household. So she'd clean the house herself and while she'd hate every minute of it—it was preferable to the alternative.

She wore an old shirt of Itachi's and a bandana to cover her hair but not much else. The shirt was long enough to serve as dress, but Sakura ran her hands over the shirt, suddenly self-conscious.

"You look…comfortable," Saku said and stepped inside once Sakura recovered enough to allow her entrance.

"I don't have many clothes." Saku had taken all hers and even if she hadn't she wouldn't have cared to wear them. It was something that didn't sit well with her. It was like she was trying to slip into her old life in every way possible—and that was not what she was trying to do. "I tend to wear Itachi's since…he doesn't mind."

"He wouldn't mind if you went shopping either. Have you spoken to him about it?"

"…no."

"You should. It's not fitting for the future matriarch of the clan to not have any clothes." Her voice sounded hollow and wooden to Sakura, sort of like she was repeating a speech that she had been saying over and over again.

Sakura said nothing to that since she secretly liked wearing Itachi's clothes. And then reality came crashing down upon Sakura's shoulders once she realized that she was talking to Saku.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I wondered when you'd realize…come on, let's go talk." Sakura sat down her broom a little eagerly and followed Saku into the living room. It bothered Sakura that she took the lead when it wasn't her home anymore. It annoyed her yet she kept her mouth shut. There were more pressing things to concern herself with.

It didn't take the two long to settle themselves in the room before Saku spoke. "I know you wonder why I'm back."

"Is it Kakashi-related?"

Saku paused for a moment. Sakura noticed that her eyes took on a pained expression and Sakura knew that it was definitely Kakashi related.

"He brought me home."

Sakura's eyebrows rose incredulously. "He did what?" Sakura then saw Saku shift and wince. "Wait, what happened? Are you hurt?" Saku nodded her head.

"I healed a lot of the injuries myself, but…" Sakura immediately jumped out of her chair and moved to Saku, searching her body for injuries. Sakura scowled.

"If this is your idea of healing a lot of the injuries then you were either half-dead when they brought you here or you're just plain crazy."

A smile flitted across Saku's face. "The first one."

Sakura glanced at her face but focused on her healing directly after. "What happened?"

"Did you know someone was trying to kill you?" The question startled Sakura so much that her arms dropped down to her side as she stared at Saku incredulously.

"What?"

"I think that's the whole reason we're in this mess in the first place. I've had some time to think about it…Sakura, they wanted you out the way. Apparently the Konoha you and your team were aiming for was not something that Danzo intended to come to fruition. Tsunade believes that he thinks that if he takes you out then Team Seven will be too weak with grief to continue with their plans. Not only that, she said you were the spearhead behind the project. If they lose you everything falls apart."

"Danzo." Sakura snarled and clenched her fist. "It's too fucking late for that. I already had things set up before I even came here. My absence or death will make very little difference. All I was truly waiting on was for Tsunade to step down and for Naruto to be named Hokage."

"That's a good thing I suppose. However…your team knows that he was trying to kill you."

"What do you mean 'my team'? Just Kakashi, right?" Sakura realize that alarm had worked its way up into her voice. Her breathing quickened and her palms became damp as she realized by looking at Saku's face that Kakashi wasn't the only one who knew. "Who else?"

"Sasuke knows."

Sakura closed her eyes and collapsed at Saku's side. "I have to go home for a while."

Both women jumped when a voice responded to her statement. "You're not going anywhere."

:::

"What's going on, Itachi?" Itachi had just walked through the front doors and found himself standing face to face with his mother. A smirk flitted across his lips as he knew she had been waiting for the opportunity to grill him. He could see it in the way she raised her chin, the way it shone in her eyes. "Why is she afraid of you?"

"She's not."

Mikoto snorted at the obvious fabrication. "I know fear when I see it."

Itachi said nothing at first and then moved to his mother, taking hold of her elbow and steering her to her favorite room. Once he made sure she was seated he took his place at her side.

"Have you seen Sasuke?" He inquired.

"No…he's seems to have made himself scarce lately. You don't think he has a girlfriend do you?"

"If he does he has my sympathies." Mikoto narrowed her eyes at her eldest son. The look promised mayhem if he continued along that train of thought, but Itachi dismissed her by changing the subject.

"I've come to talk to you about the wedding."

"Oh?"

"Yes…and I've also come to tell you about Sakura."

Mikoto's brow rose. The simple fact that he wanted to talk to her about Sakura was shocking. That he was doing so willingly might just send her into a coma—the look on her face said so. Had he been Sasuke he would have rolled his eyes but he wasn't, so instead he held her gaze until she knew he was serious and he needed her to be as well.

"Go ahead, Itachi. I have a feeling that this is important."

"Sakura will have the wedding she desires." Mikoto opened her mouth to protest, but Itachi forestalled her with his statement. "She's not from this world, mother."

Mikoto was silent for several moments before responding, "Do you honestly think I hadn't figured that out Itachi? Honestly, the rumor that they're twins isn't even believable. For goodness sakes this is a ninja village. The least they could have done was come up with a name that was believable. Sakura and Sakura that would have meant either her parents were stupid or that everyone else is."

Itachi smirked and found he was unsurprised that his mother had slowly pieced things together. If his mother was anything it was by no means stupid. "In her world there is no Uchiha clan." Itachi said carefully watching his mother's reaction.

She was incredulous. The thought wasn't even feasible. What would Konoha be without the Uchiha Clan?

"…What?" Mikoto asked hoping that she had heard wrong but knowing that she hadn't. What could have happened to that girl's home to make it so that the Uchiha were nonexistent?

"Mother…there's more. I've come to seek your counsel."

Mikoto bit her lip. It couldn't be good. Whenever Itachi went to someone with his concerns, it was generally when all hell was about to break loose.

:::

My thanks to BlueArcticWolf.