I am so sorry for such a long break! This chapter was insanely hard to write and I am so so so sorry. I have about 25K words written for this story and I am actively working on connecting each and everything into a coherent story that you hopefully enjoy.

Anyway I still don't own Naruto.

The next few days were uneventful to say the least. Her hospital shifts continued, but any mention of a mission for Sakura was quickly dismissed.

"The hospital needs you more than ever and you want to skip right off to the battlefield? I thought I had mentored a less selfish student." Sakura recalled the words with a sour pout. She was unofficially grounded from all missions that involved her leaving the gates of Konoha and Sakura hated to think that Tsunade was heeding the words of an S class criminal. The light rain further soured Sakura's mood as she trudged through the puddles gathering on the parched earth below her feet. Civilians and shinobi alike quickly ducked under awnings or into buildings while Sakura trekked on to the hospital for her shift in the emergency department. If all went according to plan she could be off by 2am…

She strode into the tiled staff entrance with a swipe of her badge at the door, carefully seeing the door shut entirely and kept out any wandering shinobi who had a knack for showing up entirely uninvited. An enemy was one thing, but it wouldn't be the first time a member of rookie nine (especially the men) had followed her into the hospital hoping for a quick medical exam to avoid the lines that awaited most in the triage room.

Or worse, a dangerous man with an annoying habit of invading her personal space.

Sakura shed the light coat and shook the loose water from her body as she headed to her office to gather a few extra supplies she preferred to use instead of the outdated medical equipment she knew would be waiting for her in the emergency room. She politely greeted the few colleagues that wandered the halls, even asking an elderly physician how her granddaughter was. Sakura placed her badge against her office door, pushing it open once she heard the light 'ding' of entrance approval, but became acutely aware of the small slug waiting on her desk.

"Good afternoon, Sakura-Sama," the miniature slug, Anzu, bowed ever so slightly in her polite tone "A report, from Ino-Sama. I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am." Sakura mood brightened significantly, Ino was making discoveries nearly daily now and her encampment seemed to be the prime location for such discoveries.

"No this is a perfect time, please do not apologize." Sakura gently placed her gathered equipment and reclined in her office chair, preparing to receive a report and take notes as necessary. Lithe hands brushed her well used pen, noting that her ink would need to be replaced in the near future.

" Ino-Sama has found that the samples of HH45 are responding in diverse populations and environments. Of the 300 samples obtained, nearly 90% have demonstrated aggressive ability to reproduce in warm, wet environments. HH45 trends follow similar infection rates as Malaria and Yellow Fever-"

"Mosquitos could be the vector!" Sakura enthusiastically voiced to the slug. She frantically pulled a manilla folder from the many piles on her desk and flipped to the data pages "Has Ino isolated mosquitos? Has she researched the populations that are within these regions?" Sakura felt hope, alight with the possibilities that this could mean. Mosquito illnesses, though difficult to eliminate, could be managed with medicine with relative ease and without significant economic cost to manufacture. This would be a much better outcome than a respiratory illness as the initial hypothesis was.

Anzu shook her antennas sadly " Ino-Sama has taken samples of the mosquitos from her camp in Wave and has yet to find a common factor between them." Sakura groaned and relaxed her neck to allow for her pink tresses to splay over the back of her office chair. Why would all mosquitos have the same exact risk of spreading the disease without similarities between them…She closed her eyes and tried to picture the infection cycle for Malaria and other exotic diseases she had memorized all those years ago, but the cycle and connections were fuzzy.

Frustrated Sakura reached behind her and fingered the textbook spines behind her, some titles well worn and wrinkled from use, others nearly new. The text of exotic diseases was one of her new texts, new discoveries being made nearly weekly as medicine advanced. Perhaps one day Sakura and Ino would write their own chapter in one of these thick tomes…

She scanned the index with tired, thoughtful eyes and flipped to the transmission cycle of Yellow Fever. She was positive Ino wouldn't miss something easy, but continued to listen to Anzu's report, each sentence further confusing Sakura about how this disease could possibly be transmitted… It wasn't a parasite infecting the mosquito, it wasn't the mosquito transmitting it from animal to human, it wasn't certain species of mosquito….Sakura stopped pacing the small office with her text when the report ended, and a strangled silence overcame the room. Anzu was done and unfortunately, she had nothing more to lead Sakura to a cure.

"An excellent report Anzu-san, thank you. Send my love to your sister Katsuyu-san." A small nod and the slug poofed out of existence, leaving the tired Med-nin alone with only the words of a textbook for company.

Sakura was unaware how long she stood there, staring at the transmission cycle before a soft knock jolted her out of her thoughts. Sakura gently placed the textbook on her desk and opened the creaking door, smiling at the face beyond. She wasn't sure how he had access to this floor, he very well might not have access and was trespassing, but nevertheless Sakura was happy to be broken out of her spiraling thoughts by a familiar face.

" I heard through the grape vine you might be locked away in here, penny for your thoughts?" His hair was noticeably dry, as were his shoulders and shoes. Perhaps he had not gone to the Memorial Stone today…

"Its HH45, we plateaued in discovery and I suppose I'm frustrated….." Sakura huffed, trying to dispel the build up in her irritation. Kakashi lightly moved from the doorway, allowing for her to leave should she desire. Sakura lazily smirked and went to leave, but a hesitant chuckle left Kakashi before she could.

"Remember how much you love your old sensei-" Sakura felt her face drop and her eye brows knit together in suspicion. Historically this never went well for her.

"What did you do." She deadpanned, uninterested in the begging, the bribing, and what ever dramatic backstory he was about to deliver.

" Its…. Well can you come to the ER-"

"No."

Sakura snagged her white coat from the hook by the door and stormed from her office, not even bothering to bring the HH45 notes or her clinic notes that needed to be completed. Today was not a good day to be irritated and whatever The Copy Nin was about to say was definitely going to be irritating.

The slap of her boots echoed across the tiled hallway as she strode away. She heard him quickly pull her door shut with a resounding click that indicated it was securely locked before chasing behind her. She knew it, she knew it! If it wasn't one thing it was another with these animals she called friends! "Hatake I swear to Kami someone better not be dead or dying. This is not the day to pull your usual bullshit." She shot a look out of the corner of her eye and hoped he felt it into his soul. "Because IF someone is dead or dying then I will fix it only after I have neutered you." She understood the drinking addiction her Shishou had, even if it was a terrible habit to form.

"Well… no one is dead or dying, not yet at least." The sheepish crinkle of the visible eye told tales she did not want to know… but unfortunately it was her job to know.

"What do you mean." Sakura pulled the stairwell door open and began her ascent up two floors, away from the safety of her dungeon office and into what she was sure was a shit show.

" Well, I was enjoying sharpening-"

"The. Short. Story Hatake."

The door before her was opened, as chivalry was not dead with the Copy Nin apparently. She didn't hesitate in her stride as she continued her pace to the ER, which was unnervingly quiet for an emergency. "Naruto-"

She felt her blood pressure shoot up and her face flushed in anger "OH I should just let him bleed out and die! Honestly, how dare he continue with this RECKLESS-" Sakura's profanity made the nursing student she passed cringe in fear. The elder nurse mentoring her was unfazed by the outburst.

"Actually, he's under Genjutsu…" Sakura knew Naruto was occasionally an idiot, but his days of getting caught in Genjutsu were long behind him. She cocked an eyebrow at the white-haired man, allowing his gentle palm to guide her to the room her patient was in. "Specifically, mine."

"And why, Sensei, is the future Hokage in a Genjutsu." She reached out at the glove box outside of a random room and grabbed a pair of small gloves, assuming if Naruto was involved then blood and bodily fluids were also involved.

Kakashi paused outside room 81, nearly in the back of the ER, definitely not where trauma patients were put, and Naruto was always a trauma patient. She eyed Kakashi.

"Because if he was here he would flood this hospital with shadow clones to find you and every single medical specialty to cure… well… "

Sakura pushed the curtain away and was greeted with a patient, calm, well mannered Hinata staring back at her with her gentle smile. Well, Sakura could understand the necessity to keep Naruto restrained. "Hinata-chan, what brings you in? You are not the patient I was expecting today."

Hinata blushed lightly and Sakura noticed Kakashi was no where to be found. " Well.. I um.. I have been having some pain here," Hinata hovered her shaking hand over her lower right abdomen " And it increased recently. I just thought it was a cramp, but uhm…" Hinata trailed off and Sakura unlocked the computer in the room to begin to put in orders for labs.

" Could be a number of things, but when did the pain get worse?" Sakura typed away on the keyboard, not noticing the bright red of her patient's face.

"It.. it was made worse today, a few hours ago actually when um.." A good sign medically, they could have caught the problem early.

" Does anything make the pain better? Or worse?"

"No I can't reduce the pain, I tried some medical jutsu but the pain just returned when I stopped. Um.. Sakura-chan," Sakura looked towards Hinata, who was as red as a tomato by this point "The pain was made worse with.. uhm …movement."

Ok, good to know, maybe –

"Specifically sex…"

Oh…. OH. Sakura chuckled and Hinata blushed further. "Is that why a certain ninja is currently trapped in a Genjutsu?" The raven heiress buried her face in her hands and shook, making Sakura feel guilty for emotionally scaring her, but Hinata let loose a laugh, and then a cringe as the pain hit her.

"Hai, he …I had to vomit and he's been a frantic mess. I knew I wasn't pregnant, but nothing I said could convince him!" Hinata pushed down on her right lower abdomen and Sakura replaced the shaking hands with her own. Green light glowed as she assessed the region. "I summoned Kakashi-san and I think we were all a little frantic… poor Naruto-kun. I was so surprised and Kakashi just whisked me away-"

Her appendix was inflamed, more than likely appendicitis "Hinata-chan I believe you have appendicitis. I can schedule you for a surgery in the next hour and we can get you back to our favorite knucklehead in no time."

She had not planned to open her friend on a surgery table today, but the appendectomy went smoothly and Hinata was healing well at the hospital, a sheepish and oddly quiet Naruto curled up in the chair next to her bed. As she closed the door to Hinata's hospital room she saw the two lost in each other's eyes as Naruto pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

It soured Sakura's mood considerably, purely out of jealously that they had found a love so pure in this world, despite everything, and Sakura couldn't even secure a semi decent date who wasn't afraid of her….

She pressed her key into her apartment door, and promptly groaned in frustration, smacking her forehead against the door. Sakura was sure the gods were out to get her, but pushed to door carelessly.

"Breaking and entering is illegal."

"You have no material to prepare yourself for the jonin exams." Itachi stated plainly. Sakura raised an eyebrow, why was the man so invested in her personal life? The lights to the apartment were on, a change from how they were left prior to her leaving for her shift this morning. Clad in all black the S-class shinobi clearly stood out against her white, gray, and watercolor accented living room. Long nimble fingers dusted over notes, papers, and the occasional magazine on her desk. The man, as per usual, was not incorrect. She lacked most of the prerequisite documents and study plans for the jonin exam on that desk.

"Pandemics and plagues tend to put such trivial things on the backburner." Sakura huffed as she made her to the tea cupboard and retrieved her favorite loose leaf. Honestly, were all Uchihas so nosey? "I'm needed elsewhere and can postpone the exams….Why are you even in here? My security at this point has captured more than one fellow shinobi in it and I am at not risk." She twisted the stove knob and heated her water, urging it to boil quickly so she could escape his gaze.

Sakura knew better than to assume that the shinobi who had his back to her was unaware of her every move, every breath. He could do it, end her life. It would be as easy as turning the page of a book for him. "Yet you prepare physically with trainings from the Copy Ninja…whatever for? These tactics are too advanced for a chunin to accomplish without injury." His pompous tone was enough to suffocate her and, in all honesty, she was surprised his arrogance had not killed him yet. He plucked a book from the shelf, one of the few fictions she owned.

"Perhaps the Akatsuki is why I train." Sakura bit out, whispering a curse when she dropped her spoon on the floor "I fail to see how training with my sensei is any of your business." Sakura bent to retrieve the utensil. If he suspected anything off then he had to know that he was grasping at straws with that accusation.

His dark figure was well lit by the accent lamp in the corner of her living room and for a moment Sakura forgot who was in her home and stared blatantly at his back. He moved with a grace she was jealous of as dangerous hands gently replaced the book on her shelf. Just as the arm outstretched was beginning to flex back towards his body, there was an abrupt halt to his movements. Itachi focused on a book on a second shelf and reached for it, perhaps a familiar title if he read for pleasure.

Sakura ignored him momentarily while the tea seeped, but her breath hitched when she felt him directly behind her in the span of a heartbeat. She tensed as she pushed her front as close to the counter as possible, desperately avoiding his touch behind her. "I see you have taken up an interesting hobby in these unprecedented times." The muted sound of her BINGO books hitting her counter made Sakura glance over, blushing slightly at the dog-eared pages of the Akatsuki members.

"Every shinobi should be studious of their enemies. If your organization is involved, then it certainly means bad news for me." Sakura tossed a sideways glare at him silently pleading he would drop it and make room for her retreat.

It was not enough though and Itachi leaned over her shoulder slightly, as if to look at the open page on Kisame in front of Sakura. His well define jaw just barely hovered over her small shoulder, a breath away from Sakura's ear. Small scribbles of her awful handwriting littered the page, some words crossed out entirely, others underlined what she considered important facts or leads to weaknesses "Your careful notes are certainly intelligent guesses, however, I doubt Kisame is truly a tailless Jinchūriki." His warm breath breezed past her shoulder and Sakura shivered slightly "What notes have you thought to write on mine?" Individual strands of silky black hair tickled her cheek, mixing with the damp pink waves on neck.

Sakura couldn't breathe, his proximity entirely too close for comfort. The light blush on her cheeks exposed her thoughts "Vampire, ghoul, perhaps some demigod of hell were all certainly hypothesized." She snorted in an unladylike manor, sass and attitude taking over her response in self-defense.

"You think me a god?" Oh, she could see that smirk as he gently flipped the pages past Kisame. Sakura thought nothing of it except for when he stalled briefly on the large, sloppy X over Tashino, Jian-yu. His dark eyes curiously glanced at the vague, but universally understood marking over the ugly ninja's face. Sakura knew what was coming, but desperately tried to think of an excuse for the man of interest in her specific book. "You had interest in Tashino? Why would a little medic be so curious about this petty crook?". His page held no notes, no observations, unlike the many other pages they had observed together. She narrowed her eyes further realizing the mistake she had made. How sloppy.

Sakura hated not being the smartest person in the room and this was part of the reason she pursued medicine. To have a brain like his picking up on her mistakes was simply too dangerous. She needed an out right now. "… its complicated." smooth Sakura, yeah that will do it. "A casualty of his was my patient, I was all too pleased to mark him dead once I heard the news." A silk strand of black slipped over her shoulder, but other than this movement the shinobi behind her remained still, eyes tracing over the movement of her lips. He soon resumed the casual flipping of pages with only a quirk of his eyebrow. Would that satisfy him enough to drop it?

"Hn," oh how she hated that sound! His page was cluttered with an embarrassing amount of writing, and she swore she saw the famous clan killer smirk into an almost smile. Theories of his locations and whereabouts circled in the detailed memo provided. "Only a few weeks ago you desperately wished to know where I was. How lucky for you to know I will not be going anywhere for quite a while now. What were your motives to find me?"

"To make sure Naruto stayed on the opposite side of the world as you." She growled harshly, still uncomfortable at his proximity. Her tea was over seeped by now. She stood trapped between his two arms braced on the counter, suddenly remembering how it felt when those arms were wrapped around her body possessively like the week prior. His ministrations could easily be mistaken for flirting, had this been any other man. No… this attention was that of a predator learning his prey. A leopard playing with its meal before finishing the job. His body was suffocating hers, in her own home to instill the notion that she was unsafe even in her own territory.

A small page flip brought her attention back to the book and she heard Itachi audibly unleash a huff of amusement. Logic would tell you the following page would be Uchiha, Sasuke yet facing them now was yet another unremarkable criminal from Rock. "Have you taken his page and framed it for your bedroom?" He teased.

Teased?

Sakura officially didn't care that he was the most feared criminal to come from Konoha, she snapped the book closed, accidentally brushing his warm, calloused fingers and jerking back as if acid had burned her. "No point in seeing his face every time I want to kill a worthless beast from this book."

With confidence she didn't know she held Sakura pushed past the black clad arm and retreated to her room, forgetting the tea from earlier. "As I said before, leave before I decide to report you to the Hokage." and with that she fled to her bedroom, softly closing the door behind herself and willing the flutter of anxiety in her stomach to disappear. Tsunade was entirely wrong, getting even slightly involved with Itachi was obviously a horrible idea. He was too smart to leave her alive once he caught onto her many mistakes as the Onryō.