Chapter 11: Waking

The world was full of warmth and positive vibes. Sakura snuggled the blankets as she eased out of the best sleep she had experienced in a long time. She had forgotten the serenity granted by natural waking, which contrasted the irritability that came from waking by the screams of an alarm clock.

Opening her eyes presented a whole new dimension of wonder—sunlight shined from every direction and immersed her in a sense of safety. Everything felt right in the world, as if the puzzle piece that had been missing fell into place over the course of the night.

Suddenly, the bed shifted and the room stopped beaming so brightly. She looked up and found Itachi looming over her from the side of the bed; the rustled blankets to her side indicated that he had been sitting on its edge before standing. His aura posed a stark contrast against the sunlight bouncing throughout the room.

Sakura's heart palpitated as her most recent memories flashed through her mind. From what she could recall, there had been battle, reunion, deceit, travels, more battles, more lies, and a sprinkling of truth. Life had taken a turn for the stranger after her first battle with Itachi.

"You've been asleep for three days," he stated aloud. Immediately, Sakura's skin crawled. While she felt that he held goodness at his core, she also knew that he was capable of ugly things. Itachi was surprisingly human, but that did not make her comfortable with being unconscious and defenseless around him for three days.

Looking him in the eye, Sakura questioned, "What happened while I was unconscious?" Even after her experience with the tsukuyomi, she would not allow herself to fear his gaze.

"You almost died from overexertion, so I petitioned a healer to do what he could with your trachea. Shortly after, I took you here and have been waiting for you to awaken since," Itachi explained.

If her lungs could have allowed it, Sakura would have snorted at the word "petitioned." She suspected that his time in the Akatsuki had left him unaccustomed to paying for services rather than demanding them by means of coercion. To his credit, a quick scan of her body's internal state showed that she was much better off than she last remembered—her trachea would need some fine-tuning, but the rest of her minor wounds were healed.

Pleasantly surprised by her overall wellbeing, she inquired, "Did the healer take care of my contusions, too? From what I remember, scrapes, cuts, and bruises left me covered in interesting colors. If he did, I really owe him a thank-you."

At first, Itachi remained silent. Silence was his default behavior, though, and Sakura found herself adjusting to it. She suspected that careful choice of words produced his periods of silence.

"No, someone else did that."

"Who?" Sakura prodded with a raised eyebrow.

Silence again. She rode the wave patiently, knowing that he would answer after sorting out the right words to use.

His eyes flickered quickly before he answered, "I healed your minor wounds."

Startled by his altruism, Sakura really looked at him for the first time since waking. He had replaced his Akatsuki robe with black pants, a black top, and a protective vest. The change in wardrobe made him significantly less imposing. However, something inside of her twisted when she inspected his skin and found painful burns on the bridge of his nose and in the curves of his temples.

Sakura exclaimed, "What happened to your face, Itachi? Those burns are the worst I've ever seen!"

The words were out of her mouth before she realized their misplacement—she should not express concern about the condition of her enemy. It was too late, though, so she clamped the tip of her tongue between her teeth to prevent further missteps.

"There's a price to be paid when one uses an all-consuming fire jutsu to free himself from his blindfold and bindings," he responded bluntly. If nobody repaired the damage now, it would scar him for the rest of his life. Yet, he seemed to accept it without concern or shame.

Now she remembered the details—as she fought through the silencing jutsu to tell Sasuke the truth about his family, Itachi had escaped from his blindfold and chakra strings by burning them off with his amaterasu. It was a bold move at the time, but it clearly paid off.

As she swam through her thoughts, her morality nudged her like an impatient child. Deep down, Sakura knew that she held heavy debts and that this presented an opportunity to pay them off in full.

She took a long breath before offering, "I could heal your face for you. If you leave your skin in its current state, it'll gnarl in ways that may obstruct your vision. I owe you for saving my life—even if you're the enemy." He was not an enemy to Konoha, but he stood in direct opposition to her ambitions. Moreover, it would likely pose a loss to Konoha if one of their most effective secret agents suffered damage to his vision.

"How long will it take?" he asked. It seemed an odd concern, but Sakura decided to oblige him.

She answered with certainty, "No longer than a week."

"I accept on the condition that you heal your trachea first," Itachi consented. His conditions were peculiar, but peculiarity fit him like well-tailored clothing.

Sakura nodded. "I'll start this evening. Healing my trachea won't take long."

A loud grumbling preemptively broke the silence she had expected to ensue—her stomach was rumbling with ravenous hunger that had gone ignored for almost a week.

"There's some food for you on the nightstand. I'm going out to get more. Do you need any special supplies while I'm out?" he asked. Itachi was acting incredibly gracious toward someone he considered a mere hostage.

Her lips thinned grimly as she requested, "Bandages and an aloe plant. We won't need the bandages until later, but we need the aloe leaves as soon as possible." The aloe would help some with his healing, but it would substantially allay his pain. He displayed a convincing façade of normalcy, but Sakura had no doubt that his face was in excruciating agony. The burns were bad enough that she felt angry with herself for not noticing them when she first woke.

Objectively, she knew that her circumstances excused her departure from reality, but her medical training made no room for such excuses. As someone with the knowledge and power to heal others, Sakura held great responsibility to her comrades—and she supposed that Itachi's newly revealed loyalties to Konoha placed him in that category.

That thought would take some time to fully accept. But, after seeing the images from his discussion with Danzo, she suspected that he did not join the Akatsuki as a traitor to the village—that would, in his favorite phrasing, have been a waste. Instead, she speculated that he worked as informant to Konoha on the organization's activities. It was plausible considering Konoha's desperate need to watch and eventually exterminate the criminal group.

Itachi nodded and affirmed, "I'll be back in a few hours." With an unusually slow stride, he sauntered out the door and took his leave. The scene felt like a movie playing in slow motion, but Sakura realized that it was really just Itachi acting human.

Even if they seemed to converse for a long time, the room beamed as brightly as when she had first awakened. The room appeared to be a live-in suite at a hotel, including a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchen area—much nicer than the motel room in which she had found herself the last time she had regained consciousness. She had to wonder, though: how the heck was he funding this?

Sakura shrugged off her own questions. Her trachea needed fixing and losing herself in contemplation would accomplish nothing. Knowing that food would need to come first before she could effectively heal herself, she turned her attention to the meal Itachi had mentioned.

To her pleasant surprise, she found a large bowl of steamy soup accompanied by a roll of bread resting patiently on the nightstand. Sakura's nose caught a hearty whiff and her stomach responded with growls of eager anticipation. Within seconds, she held the bowl of soup to her face and began slurping away.


As Sakura stepped out of the misty shower, she rejoiced at the energy the water had lent to her muscles and bones. She glanced at the folded clothes Itachi had set on the edge of the sink for her and felt her stomach flutter a little. Although waking up in her tattered clothes provided a combination of relief and disgust, she found that her exposed skin had been questionably clean even before she showered.

With her gaze locked on the fresh clothes, she noticed that her stomach continued its fluttering.

Maybe my body wasn't ready for all of that food.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Sakura grabbed the clothes and slipped into their threads. The comfortable black pants and fitted grey top suited her well. When Konoha trained its nin for hostage situations, she doubted that the teachers ever mentioned the possibility of being treated so well—this was abnormal.

Itachi had even gone so far as to provide her with a hairbrush and a toothbrush. While his attention to detail was unsurprising, seemingly genuine concern and kindness were qualities she had never expected him to display. However, the endless stream of surprises began to have a less potent effect as surprises became the standard.

After brushing her teeth and hair with Itachi's thoughtful provisions, she stepped out of the bathroom feeling like a freshly molted lizard. Even if the situation was strange, she could not help feeling optimistic about things: Itachi had captured her, but she had survived. Not only had she survived, but she had recovered. She had filled her stomach, healed her trachea, and enjoyed her first shower in well over a week. Life seemed as if it were skipping down a happy path.

Then, Sakura found Itachi looming near the far window and she felt the reality of her situation re-establish itself in her limbs. The kindness with which he treated her shrouded their situation in deception. No matter the healing, the food, and the thoughtfulness, their goals stood in direct opposition.

At one point, their goals might have coincided: she wanted him to pay with his life for what he had done. Although it was only speculation, she suspected that he would have no regrets if she had succeeded. No one would learn his secret and he would not have his brother's pesky teammate trying to reveal the horrors that he kept so well hidden. For him, death would have been comparatively worry-free and ultimately liberating.

"How are you feeling?" he inquired without removing his gaze from the dimming outdoors.

Sakura offered a smile. "After a shower and fresh clothes, I feel brand new. Thank you."

He waited and she knew the reason.

After a few moments of silence, she added, "Oh, and my trachea's fine, too." She had a hard time hiding her smirk.

Finally, Itachi turned from the window to face her. Although burns marred his face, he was still a lovely specimen to behold.

"Good. You should still take it easy for a few days to ensure that your work doesn't end up undone. We'll stay here for the rest of the week," he determined.

While his tone initially held a sense of finalism, he asked, "Is that reasonable?"

Sakura froze—did she hear him right? Was she hallucinating again? She steadied herself.

"Yeah, that should give me enough time to heal your burns." She shrugged casually.

He nodded in agreement. "We can begin whenever you're ready. In the meantime, I brought back some food for dinner."

"I'll begin your healing after dinner," Sakura declared, determined not to squander a moment until Sasuke converged with the truth. "So, let's eat."


Authoress's Note:

Whew! I'm in the middle of hell week (so many final papers _ ), so this will likely be my last update until that's all done. I know that I'm not the only one asphyxiating under a pile of school work, though, so good luck to everybody else as your semester/school year wraps up!

As always, thank you all for reading! And a special thanks to those who take the time to review-I truly appreciate the feedback.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. :)

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