Sakura woke to the sound of her phone ringing.
"Sasori?!" She answered hopefully.
"This is Baki, I apologize for surprising you Miss Haruno. Akasuna asked me to call you. He is well. He wished for me to make the Uchiha a proposition and you are his only direct communication to the clan. Will you please give them a message?" Baki's voice came over the phone.
Itachi lay beside Sakura, he could hear the man on the phone and put his hand out to speak with him.
"You may speak to them directly." Sakura told Baki handing the phone to Itachi.
"This is Uchiha Itachi, with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" Itachi asked the man politely.
"This is Baki, Sasori's first in command. Sasori Sama wished to inform you, as I am sure you know, it was Orochimaru who attacked Suna. What you may not know and what I have been given permission to inform you is that Orochimaru stole something from Suna of Sasori Sama's own design. A virus strain, a global killer, that must be recovered at all costs. We need your help. Sasori Sama is confident he can recover it on his own, however, he is not one to leave things to chance. In light of his new, affections for the lady, he proposes an alliance." Baki told Itachi slowly, careful of each word.
Baki heard the rustling of sheets over the phone, was the man in bed with Sakura? Baki's eyes narrowed as he gripped the phone.
"We have heard your proposal. As interesting as it is, you understand , we will need to negotiate the details. I am not the clan head I am sure you know, Uchiha Madara will wish to meet with Sasori in person. I assume Sasori is on his way to Oto and that is why you are calling in his stead?" Itachi asked.
"Yes. He has taken." Baki paused. They had not agreed to the alliance yet, he hadn't expected them to agree over the phone without meeting and giving conditions of their own. He wasn't sure how much he should tell them. Sasori was confident they would accept but he wasn't so sure.
"Sasori sama took two teams to Oto with him to retrieve his creation." Baki gave him the information.
"Two teams." Itachi smiled.
"He truly is as talented as they say, or as crazy." Itachi chuckled lightly.
Sakura twisted the covers in her hands watching Itachi talk to Baki wondering where Sasori was exactly and how he was doing, when she would see him again.
"That and more." Baki returned the chuckle.
"I will relay your proposition for an alliance to my Uncle. Await my call." Itachi spoke into the phone.
"Call me on this number." Baki hung up.
Itachi held the phone a moment after the disconnect and turned to Sakura whose eyes were wide with fright and concern.
"What is it, what did he say?" She asked breathlessly.
Itachi smiled. "Sasori wants an alliance with the Uchiha. I never thought this day would come. The only problem is…" Itachi trailed off in thought.
"Madara." Sakura finished his sentence for him.
"Hn." Itachi ran his fingers through his hair combing it from his sleep and tying it in a low ponytail.
"I need to speak with Shisui Sakura before I relay this proposal to Madara." Itachi patted her on the head and climbed out of bed.
Sakura nodded.
"Get some more sleep it's very late, or early yet, I'll let you know if anything changes, don't worry, this is a very good thing. I just need to speak with Shisui, we need to put some sort of plan together, Madara will not enter into this alliance willingly." Itachi pulled a shirt on over his head and tied his pants, slipping his feet into a pair of socks and climbing out of bed.
Sakura lay back down her head on his pillow, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Itachi turned back to his bed looking at her softly.
"It will be okay Sakura." He leaned over his bed and kissed her gently.
"Itachi, about before, I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to use you in such a way." She couldn't quite meet his eyes.
"I understand Sakura. I know you are in love with Sasori. I'm still here for you, in case you need me." Itachi kissed her again, one last time on the mouth, his lips parted hers and his tongue slipped in. He ran his hands up along her face and into her hair.
"Just one more." He whispered into their kiss pulling her body into his, then abruptly let her go, she fell back into his bed and he left her without another word, the pain in his heart throbbing with every beat.
Itachi took several deep breaths on the way to Shisui's room. He knew Shisui had come to speak with him that night, he knew his cousin had seen Sakura in his bed with him, this wasn't going to be easy. Shisui was always smiling, but Itachi knew it was to hide the pain.
Sometimes the people who hurt the most laughed the loudest. Itachi didn't know how deep Shisui's feelings went for Sakura but he could guess. He only hoped they went deep enough, as his did, to overlook the petty situation they all found themselves in to do what was best for the girl.
"Shisui." Itachi knocked softly on the door before pushing it open and walking inside.
Shisui lay on his back, his face to the ceiling, eyes open.
"Itachi." He said.
"We need to talk, about Sakura and Sasori." Itachi sat on the end of his cousin's bed.
"Talk." Shisui said.
"Talk about how she is in your bed right now?" Shisui asked.
"She is in my bed, she came to me for, comfort, over Sasori." Itachi started to say calmly.
Shisui interrupted him with a snort," Comfort, I bet." Shisui sat up and almost glared at Itachi.
"Shisui, listen to me. Akasuna wants to form an alliance with the Uchiha." Itachi's words were met with silence.
"Madara will never agree to that." Shisui said ignoring the fact Sakura was in Itachi's bed and not his for the moment.
"I know, we need to figure out how to handle this situation, for Sakura. She loves him Shisui, not me, not you, not Sasuke." Itachi said slumping back against the bed wall.
Shisui thought for a minute. "Why you, why did she come to you then?"
"Tell me cousin, if she had come to you for comfort , crawled into your bed in the middle of the night, would you have been able to control yourself?" Itachi almost laughed at the idea.
"Oh, well, I would have tried." Shisui rubbed the back of his head, understanding dawning on him.
"She was vulnerable Shisui, she knew she could trust me to control myself." Iatchi turned his head to the door of the room.
"Did you?" Shisui grinned at him, animosity gone.
"Mostly." Itachi admitted.
"I let her kiss me and I kissed her one last time, just now. She loves him, not me." He said quietly.
The cousins sat there in the dark, in silence for a few looking out into the room, into nothing.
"We have to help her then, without the alliance, they don't have much of a future do they?" Shisui asked Itachi.
"Not one that includes all of us. Madara, will never accept Sasori, he would make her choose...and he wants her, you know." Itachi rubbed his face thinking.
"So, you mean...Itachi do you mean what I think?" Shisui looked at his cousin, a look of bemusement and wonder on his face.
"Hn." Itachi said quietly.
"It's time, we finally have a reason worth it don't we?" Itachi said.
"It's been years in the making...but yes, this is worth it, for her, the rest of the family, but Itachi...Obito." Shisui questioned.
"You might be surprised. He loves Sakura just as much as we do, and he has seen the madness building in Madara over the years. Remember Rin?" Itachi said.
"Yes." Shisui closed his eyes, he did remember.
"He will help us." Itachi spoke into the dark.
"You'll tell your parents?" Shisui sat up a little more in his bed.
"You tell Sasuke." Itachi got off the bed and headed to his parent's room.
"Got it." Shisui pulled a shirt on over his head as Itachi left the room.
Madara lay in his bed. Something was happening in the compound. He didn't know what it was but he had a feeling in his gut, something big was happening...without him and he didn't like it. He heard the soft foot fall pass the door to his room. His head turned to the door, Itachi. Itachi was moving toward his parent's room. Madara looked at the bedside clock 4am. What was the boy up to?
Itachi had always made Madara uneasy. He wasn't like the other Uchiha, he couldn't control the boy with fear, couldn't manipulate him, dominate him. He and his cousin Shisui were probably the only two uchiha would could challenge him openly and possibly win. Madara had kept a close eye on the boys over the years, tried to bring them in close to him, guide them, own them but they always resisted, always pulled back. He loathed to admit it but he hated them for it and he was sure Itachi knew it, if not Shisui.
He was up to something, Madara could feel it.
"Father." Itachi spoke softly over his parent's bed.
Fugaku's eyes snapped open, a knife in his hand.
"Father." Itachi spoke softly again letting his father know there was no threat.
"Itachi, what is it?" Fugaku swung his feet over the side of the bed and put on his socks rose and motioned to the sitting room connected to their bedroom.
Itachi followed his father into the small room as he shut the door.
"Akasuna's first commander called Sakura moments ago, Akasuna wants an alliance with the Uchiha." Itachi told his father bluntly.
Fugaku blinked at him, sat down, blinked again then turned to his son. A small smile crept onto the older man's face.
"For Sakura?" Fugaku couldn't help but smile.
"For insurance and for Sakura. It is a wise, surprising move on Akasuna's behalf." Itachi inclined his head to his father.
"Is it?" Fugaku looked at his son.
"Father?" Itachi inquired.
"You don't seem as surprised as you look son." Fugaku watched Itachi.
"It is what I would have done." Itachi admitted.
"So you agree. Madara, will never agree to work with the Sand." Fugaku said what they all knew.
"Madara need not be a part of it." Itachi spoke very softly.
Fugaku stared at his son hard. So, it has come to this already. The older man sighed.
"Let me speak to Obito." Fugaku conceded his assistance.
"Father, you know what this will do for both the Leaf and the Sand. It is a good move in more ways than one." Itachi reinforced his point.
"It was proposed a generation ago and vocaly denied by Madara when he first took charge of the family after his father's death. Sasori's father offered an alliance between the Uchiha and the Akasuna, we were both entering into the arms race then, both new, both powerful, we would have been unstoppable with our combined manpower, money and influence. Instead, Madara spurned the offer, created more hate than was needed by insulting Akasuna and starting the resulting clan war." Fugaku sighed.
"Many died needlessly, on both sides." Fugaku clenched his hands.
"My brothers." Itachi said.
"Rin." Fugaku said.
The men nodded to one another. The agreement was set.
Shisui made his way to Sasuke's room. Opened the door without knocking and sat on the end of the boy's bed.
"Sasuke." Shiusi sang into the dark room.
"Ugh." Sasuke rolled over in his sleep.
Shisui rolled his eyes.
"And he wonders why he can't run arms with the rest of us." Shisui laughs as he reaches out and slaps Sasuke's face slightly.
"Get off." Sasuke grumbles.
Shisui rolls his eyes again and puts a hand over Sasuke's mouth pressing hard and whispering in his ear, "Shut up idiot I need to speak with you without you waking the house, it's about Sakura."
Sasuke's eyes snap open and he nods. Shisui removes his hand and wipes it on his pant leg.
"Morning sleeping beauty." Shisui grins at the frowning Sasuke.
"What time is it?" Sasuke groans as he leans over to check the clock on his nightstand.
"It doesn't matter, look one of Sasori's commanders called Sakura a little bit ago, they want to form an alliance, Itachi is telling your parent's right now, we are going to accept it and work out terms." Shisui told Sasuke without pausing.
"Madara." Sasuke began but Shisui cut him off.
"Won't be an issue. Itachi is taking care of it." Shisui looked past the door of the bedroom and bit his lip once then let it go.
"Taking care of it?" Sasuke looked at the door with his cousin.
"Yes, stay in your room tonight, don't leave." Shisui rose from the bed.
"What?" But what if" Sasuke was cut off.
"What do you think this is Sasuke, a game? There are lives at stake, Sakura's included. You have seen the way our Uncle looks at her. She loves Sasori and he has asked us for our help. Do you know what that means to a man like him, in our line of work. This is nothing short of a fucking miriacle." Shisui leaned over his cousin gripping him hard by the front of his shirt.
"Stay. In. Your. Room. Do. Not. Leave." Shisui left the room without looking back.
Sasuke fell back onto his bed eyes wide."Shit."
Sakura was sitting up when Itachi returned to his room.
"Sakura." Itachi leaned against the back of the door to his room and watched the woman in his bed.
"Itachi, why are you doing this for me?" She asked him.
"You know why." He told her and walked to his desk to sit down at the desk chair, away from her.
"Thank you Itachi." She said quietly.
"I would do anything for you. Something Sasori and I seem to have in common." Itachi didn't meet her eyes.
"We haven't known one another long." She stammered as if surprised at how fast things have moved around her.
"When love is real, time doesn't matter. Nor distance." Itachi shrugged. He was tired.
"Madara." She started.
It seemed to be the theme for the night and Itachi smiled.
"I will take care of Madara Sakura." Itachi leaned back to stretch.
"You mean." She began but stopped.
"Hn." Itachi went to her then.
"This is all my fault." She whispered into the front of his shirt.
"No, this started over twenty years ago Sakura, it is not your fault, you are only the excuse." He hugged her and pet her hair.
"Rin, your brothers." She said into his chest.
"Hn." Itachi consoled her.
"Let it be so then." She shivered at the coolness in her own voice.
Fugaku made his way to the back of the house where Obito was making his rounds.
"Obito." Fugaku began.
"I know." Obito said.
Fugaku hesitated.
"I tap all phones Fugaku sama, I know about the proposal from Akasuna and can assume why you have come to speak with me." Obito inclined his head to Fugaku.
Obito was a quiet man, who typically kept to himself. He was also a very intelligent man who watched and waited, acting only when he was needed. He was also a broken man, since Rin's death.
"I am with the main family house Fugaku Sama. I will not get in Itachi's way." Obito turned then and walked away leaving Fugaku looking after him.
Fugaku let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Thank you."
Fugaku turned and went back into the main house, his wife would be waiting for him eager for news.
Madara finished dressing, tucking his gun into his holster, strapping his knife to his leg and made his way through the main part of the house to Itachi's room.
Itachi heard him before he could knock on the door or open it. He threw the blankets up and over Sakura's head pushing her down in between the bed and the wall, she fell to the floor with a small thunk.
"Be still." Itachi's voice came to her from above.
"Come in Uncle, I know you're there." Itachi's voice rang out strong and confident.