Shisui sat in a chair by her hospital bed. She hadn't woken up yet. The Copy Nin had refused to stay and left soon after she was settled in bed. He had kissed her on the cheek, her non bruised one and leapt out of her hospital room window, dark fury visible in his one eye. No one knew where he was but they knew what he was doing and who he was hunting. Itachi had been named a rouge nin of Konoha, rape among the growing list of crimes.

Shisui rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. He might not have believed it if he hadn't been there himself. Poor Sakura, she didn't deserve this. He knew Itachi had been going crazy with want over the pinkette, knew he loved her desperately and had been in love with her for years, but he hadn't realized how deep his obsession had grown. Shisui really had thought Itachi had been handling it well, which is why Shisui had agreed to help Itachi win her back after the whole coup and Danzo were taken care of.

He would still have to take care of a few things on that end. The uchiha were in an uproar at the moment. Furious that their heir and one of their most talented shinobi was named a rogue nin, saying the proof wasn't enough proof and that they wanted to wait and hear from Itachi. Fugaku hadn't believed Shisui, saying he must have been over exaggerating. Everyone knew of Itachi and Sakura's relationship but he didn't think anyone knew Sakura's point of view on it. There was a clan meeting soon, he would have to leave.

He looked at Sakura sleeping in her hospital bed. Itachi hadn't just raped her he had beat her up pretty badly. He had put her in chakra cuffs, otherwise he might be dead right now for trying to do what he had. Shisui would go to the clan meeting, then join the hunt. He still loved his younger cousin but he knew, Itachi had fallen to the curse of the hatred and there just wasn't any coming back from that. He rose from the chair and kissed Sakura on the cheek and left.

Kakashi seethed with hate and anger. He knew Itachi loved Sakura but that wasn't love. You didn't do something like that to someone you cared about. Shisui had told him it as the curse of the hatred, Kakashi had heard of it, who hadn't in Konoha, home of the Uchiha Clan. It wasn't an excuse to Kakashi. He could see Shisui felt the same. Kakashi had made sure she was safe before leaving her, he left her in the hospital with Shisui and then went to the Hokage Tower to tell Tsunade. He told her his intentions as he jumped out of the window in her office, he told her he was going to find him and kill him as she yelled for him to come back. No, he wasn't coming back till Itachi was dead.

Itachi sat in the cave he used to go to when he was a child. His head in his hands, his shoulders shook with his sobs. What had he done, his beautiful Sakura, why had he done that to her. She would never want him now, he had been so hurt, so angry, so out of control. He had failed her, failed Sasuke. He had tried to get there before Deidara and Sasori. Leader Sama had told him the plan to catch Sakura, to force her to join them as their healer nin. Itachi had spent the last two to three years, convincing them to be patient, to let him persuade her to join them willingly. Itachi explained her personality, that it was either she came willingly, or they would have to kill her. Pein had wanted her alive so he had agreed, been patient but his patience had run out, and this was the result.

When Itachi had gotten to Sakura, she was knocked out. He had grabbed her and fled. He had found Sasuke about a mile from Sakura's location and knew he was already dead before he touched him. So he took his eyes. Uchiha eyes couldn't be allowed to fall into enemy hands. He had set Sakura down and pulled out a glass container and put his little brother's eyes in it, picked Sakura back up and left for the Uchiha safehouse nearby.

He had never meant for it to go like this. He had taken Sakura there with the full intention of letting her go back to Konoha. Shisui knew of the safehouse, would find him soon enough. Itachi hadn't planned on Kakashi being with him. As he sat there at the table watching her breath in and out, he could feel the chakra signature growing stronger, closer. He could feel Shisui farther off and thought they might have split up. The closer Kakashi got to their location , the more infuriated Itachi became.

If Kakashi hadn't come to get her, if it had been anyone but that damn fucking dog, it might have gone to plan. The voice in his head, that had started talking to him soon after Sakura had left him told him to claim her, to show the Copy Nin who she belonged to, to make her understand that he was the only one who could be with her, and he had listened.

Itachi looked around the cave, yes, he had come here when he had been a child. Sasuke would meet him here after school and they would practice throwing kunai at homemade targets that Itachi hung up around the cave for them. Later, Sakura had joined them, the three of them had so much fun here. He stood up and walked over to one of their old wooden targets, picked it up and sighed.

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He said to the target as if it were her, as if it would help.

"You're sorry? Do you think saying you're sorry is good enough Itachi?" Sakura flashed behind him and ran her katana up through his back, through his heart.

"Sakura. I knew you would find me." Blood flowed out of Itachi's mouth and dripped from his chin.

"Of course you did, you know at least that much about me." She twisted her sword in him then pulled it out slowly. He dropped to the floor of the cave, dead.

"Itachi, I never loved you. It was never like that for me, I told you from the start, it would never be like that between us." She picked up the target he had been holding. It still had a few drops of Sasuke's blood on it from when they were kids, when he had tried to pull out a deeply embedded kunai and had cut his hand. A small line of Itachi's blood lay across it wet and shiny. Sakura cut her hand with her katana and let a few drops of her blood fall onto the target.

"There," She said,"We all came back to the place we all once belonged." and she set the target on a small natural ledge of the cave.

Kakashi met her at the entrance of the cave just as she had performed the last sealing jutsu to keep trespassers out. She turned to him then and fell into his arms.

"I love you Kakashi, let's go home."

"Let's go home Sakura, I love you too."

Shisui walked out of the Uchiha Clan's underground meeting hall alone. He had used his Kotoamatsukami, on the Uchiha council and heads of houses when they had asked him to come forward and give his account of the events that had transpired. The unrest of the clan was taken care of. Sasuke would have a proper funeral, his eyes destroyed and buried with his body. No more coup, no more Danzo, and he ventured to guess soon to be no more Itachi. He hadn't been as close to her as Itachi had, or Sasuke, or even the Copy Nin, but in their short month as friends, he knew...she would be the one to kill Itachi.

Shisui walked back to the hospital where her clone was in her hospital bed. Tsunade walked in after she had arrived, took one look at the bed and walked back out. Kakashi had made a show of kissing the clone, so he had too. You never knew who was watching. He could feel their signatures drawing near. Shisui sat down in the chair by the bed, by her clone and looked up when they both jumped in through the window.

"Shisui, I'm glad you're alive." She stood in front of him hesitating, so he stood too. "Itachi's katana." She held it out to him both hands flat, the katana on top of them , blade pointed inward inside the scabbard, a formal gesture of respect and trust. She bowed her head to him as Itachi's clan mate.

"Thank you Sakura." Shisui took the sword from her with two hands and slid it home into the empty harness on his back. He had left his at the compound, he had expected this.

"His body?" Shisui asked.

"In a cave that Sasuke, Itachi and I spent a lot of time in when we were kids. Sealed. I will show you so you may pay your respects." She told him.

"His eyes?" He asked.

"With him. I have no need to take them." She inclined her head towards him.

"Thank you." Shisui looked from Sakura to Kakashi. "What now?" He asked them.

"Now", Sakura looked from Shisui to Kakashi, "We go on living."

They nodded.