Chapter Six
The Final Message

As the week passed, Sakura learned to accept what happened between her and Itachi. She made no move towards him and decided that if he made another advance on her, then she would reciprocate it, but not before then. She was proud that the few conversations she'd held with her boss had been strictly professional and she had shown no more reaction towards what had happened than he did. The best part was Ino didn't know because if she didn't, then no one else did. What happened a week ago was between her and Itachi and that's the way she liked it.

Quietly Sakura pushed the conference door open and sat down in the chair next to Ino. Her blonde friend smiled in greeting at her without breaking her conversation with Shikamaru. Casually Sakura glanced around the room and saw a few more people still had yet to arrive. The meeting didn't start for another few minutes after all.

Silently Sakura took out her medicine and popped a painkiller in her mouth as the door opened again and Sasuke and Shisui stepped inside. They were speaking in hushed whispers, but quieted when they saw Sakura. She sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. She had been getting this ever since the attack about a week ago. It didn't really bother her that people were talking about her – people were going to talk – but they could at least give it a little effort to make it seem not overly obvious.

With a soft sigh, Sakura played with her coffee cup until the Superintendent General arrived. She half-paid attention during the meeting, knowing Itachi wasn't really giving out any important information. It was just a cover so the attacker, whoever it was, didn't know they were onto him. Sakura hadn't really thought about it before, but whoever had attacked her was probably sitting in this room.

Casually her gaze swept around the officers, landing on each one before moving onto the next. Shino was watching Itachi intensely while Neji took some notes and Shikamaru actually pretended to be paying attention. Sasori and Kisame were watching Itachi with blank expressions as Deidara watched Sakura. Quickly she glanced away and turned to Shisui. His lips were pursed together ever so slightly, but it was enough for her to take notice, and Itachi was standing giving out the latest news on the murderer.

Then Sakura looked at Sasuke.

His eyes were hard and his face expressionless, but she saw he was watching everyone just as carefully as she was. He went from person to person until they made eye contact. Sakura watched the way emotion flicked across his eyes before they finally disappeared. It was at that moment she realized she hadn't told Sasuke thank you yet. She hadn't done anything to show him just how much she owed him even when he had comforted her after she had thought back to the night she was attacked. He deserved so much from her and she hadn't done anything.

Sakura bit the inside of her lip before she offered him a small smile. For a moment, Sakura swore she saw him smile back, but it was gone so fast she wasn't sure if she had seen it.

Quickly Sakura shook herself out of her thoughts when she saw everyone rise and bow to Itachi, signaling the end of the meeting. She followed in short and waited for almost everyone to leave before she collected her things and headed towards the door.

"Haruno, a moment," Itachi's voice said.

Sakura paused at the door and turned to see her superiors and Itachi's friends were staring at her. For some odd reason, she suddenly felt like she was being calculated by every person in the room. They all had thoughtful looks on their faces and she had to tighten her grasp on her coffee cup to hide her nervousness. Her eyes flashed to each person and her heart began to race. Had she done something wrong with knowing it? Oh god, did they know what had happened between her and Itachi before? Quickly Sakura shook the thought from her head. She knew that there was no way Itachi would tell anyone; she was just overreacting. Slowly Sakura set her coffee cup down on the table before she spoke: "Yes, sir?"

Without a word, Itachi pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the table. She watched him for a moment before her eyes turned to the paper and she slowly approached the table. When she stopped at the edge of the table, she realized there were typed words on it. "What's this?" Sakura asked.

"This killer has sent us another message," Sasori replied.

Sakura looked up at him before she turned her attention to the note. It read:

This is never going to end!

You will hunt me down day after day.

But it doesn't matter because it's scientific.

And when you finally get it, I'll be too far for you to grab.

So thank you for that.

You have let me get away!

But don't let your failure get in the way of your job.

I promise I haven't killed anybody.

At least not lately!

You'll understand someday.

But only when you listen to the forensic.

Only then will you comprehend its worth.

The more Sakura read, the more she became confused. "This doesn't make any sense," she said.

"We know," Shisui said. "That's why we're going to let you figure it out."

Sakura's head snapped up and she stared at Shisui in surprise. Slowly her eyes traveled over everyone to see they all had the same blank expression. "You're making me do all the work?"

Sasuke sighed slightly. "You did figure out the last one."

It was hard to tell if they were complimenting her or not. Sasuke made it sound like she was the only one smart enough to figure out the message, but then again they were all smarter than her so why was she the only one working on this?

"It's typed," Sakura murmured to no one in particular. "If it is someone in the TMPD, they could have used one of our printers. I could match up the ink."

"It's an interesting idea," Kisame nodded.

Sakura sighed. "I can run some tests."

Itachi nodded. "You're the only one who knows about this," he added. "I hope for it to stay that way."

Slowly Sakura met his gaze. He was staring at her blankly, but his eyes were calculating like they always were. He was staring at her expectantly, but she had no idea what he wanted. And then Sakura saw it. He was staring at her expectantly because he was challenging her! He didn't think that she could do it! Well she would show him, he could count on that!

Forcefully, Sakura picked up the message and her files. "I'll figure it out. Just give me a little bit."

The corner of Itachi's lips lifted up into a smile. "Sasuke will be checking in on you soon to see how you're doing."

Sakura could almost roll her eyes. She wasn't a five-year-old–. Wait, didn't she already have this conversation with him? Oh yeah, she had. And she'd lost.

"How long have you been working?"

Slowly Sakura looked up from what she was doing to see Sasuke was standing next to her, watching quietly as she wrote. His suit's jacket was absent and he had rolled the sleeves of his light blue shirt up almost to his elbows. His hair was lacking most of its usual spikiness and his eyes were watching her unusually close. With a small frown, Sakura glanced at the clock on her computer and mentally calculated how many hours she had been staring at the new message as she pushed her glasses up on top of her head. "Not long," she replied, turning back to the youngest Uchiha.

He nodded slightly before he took a seat at her second computer chair. Patiently she waited for him to say whatever was on his mind, but when he continued to stare off into space she grew confused. Sasuke wasn't one to really lose himself into thought too often.

"Sasuke?" Sakura said quietly.

Sasuke blinked at the sound of his name and refocused on Sakura. "So…" he said slowly. "Are you still seeing your counselor?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion. "Um…yeah."

He nodded. "That's good." Then he fell silent again.

Sakura looked around her office awkwardly as she waited for Sasuke to say whatever it was he was thinking. As impatient as she was for him to speak so she could get back to work, she didn't press him. She could wait for him to say whatever it was that was bothering him so much. Besides ever since her attack, they hadn't really talked much. With Sasuke always being away at work and Sakura either at Ino's or at her counselor's they never really saw each other.

"Sakura, I-," he started before falling silent again. She returned her gaze back to him at the sound of his voice. "I'm glad you're alright," he finished slowly.

Immediately a small smile touched Sakura's lips and without a word, she reached out wrapped her arms around him with getting up from her chair. He stiffened at the sudden contact, but quickly relaxed and wrapped his own arms loosely around her waist.

As if a dam had burst, Sakura tightened her grip around Sasuke and buried her face in his neck as the tears rose to her eyes and slipped out. "Thank you for everything," she choked out. "If you hadn't been there I don't think I would have survived. I owe you so much. I don't know what I could ever do to repay you."

Sasuke's only reply was to hold her tighter.

Sakura wasn't sure how long they sat there holding one another before they finally pulled away from each other so Sakura could wipe her tears away. Sasuke smiled slightly as he moved his hands to her shoulders. "You can go out with my brother, already."

Sakura froze before she slowly brought her eyes to meet Sasuke's. "P-pardon?"

How did he know Itachi had almost kissed her? She didn't tell him and there was no one else that could have told him.

Unless Itachi had.

Was it possible he had confided in his brother? Her boss didn't seem like the type of person that would talk to someone about personal problems. He was always so strong and sure of himself like he always knew exactly what he was doing and what everyone else was doing, but there was always a possibility that he was as unsure of what to do as she was. The thought was foreign to her, but she knew it was definitely an option. After all, she didn't know him as well as Sasuke did.

It surprised her when Sasuke snorted and leaned back in his chair. "C'mon, Sakura. Please don't tell me you're that blind. Itachi can hardly keep his hands off you."

The stunned woman opened her mouth, but words were lost on her as she tried to think of an appropriate response. Fortunately someone walked into her lab, breaking the heavy silence that had settled around them. Slowly Sakura turned her head to see Shikamaru was standing in the doorway, looking like he didn't know if he should stay or walk back out.

"Shikamaru," Sakura said a little breathlessly, her surprise still threatening her voice. "Did you need something?"

"I have some blood samples," he said, lazily gesturing towards a bag he was holding.

Immediately Sakura stood up and took the bag from his hand. She pulled her glasses from her head and read the label before she turned back to her computer. "Okay. I can have this for you within the next hour or two."

Shikamaru nodded before he disappeared back out the door. Only the sound of Sasuke sighing did Sakura remember she had company. Quickly she turned around to find he was now standing in the doorway, on his way out.

"You're busy," he said calmly. "I'll talk to you later."

Sakura smiled slightly before she nodded. She waited until he was out of sight to return to her work.

"You're annoying," Sakura said to the letter.

Ever since she had gotten to work at six-thirty this morning, she had been running around, secretly getting ink samples from every printer in the building, and putting them in her computer so she could match the ink to the letter. Her computer was currently running through all the printers, but it was taking a while, seeing as the building had over fifty printers.

So much for a happy birthday. She was sure that Sasuke wouldn't have minded if she came to work a little late, seeing as it was her twenty-fourth birthday, but last night she realized she had way too much work to get done to be able to sleep in. It was the only present she usually ever got – besides the annual card Ino never failed to give her – and, this year, she wasn't even given that. Not that it matter much anyway. Even Ino, who never had anything to do, was working around the clock.

In the meantime, she had turned her attention to the actual message. Unfortunately for her, the message wasn't as easy to break as the old one. Last night when she had first looked at the message, she had learned the first letters meant nothing and so she had decided to turn her attention to the last letters. The only problem was they weren't making any sense either. The message wasn't long enough to actually make a sentence. It was probably a code or a name or something else of the sort, which she had been trying to figure out for the past five hours since she had started working.

"I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life," Sakura murmured.

She sat down in her chair tiredly and glanced at the clock. It was about half-past noon. Sasuke was going to come and check up on her after his lunch break with Itachi and Shisui in about an hour. Hopefully she would have some progress done by then.

"Okay, some of the sentences have different punctuation," she said. "Maybe that's important, but what could it mean?"

Slowly she stood and walked over to a separate computer. She replaced the letters with exclamation marks in the first, sixth, and ninth rows:

! ! b y ! y c h

Slowly Sakura paced around her lab. She glanced at her computer screen to see that it had run through about half of the printers. She sighed loudly. There was probably another few hours for her to get a match or for the computer to run through all the printers. Though that was hardly an issue. How long was it going to take her to figure out the message this time? By the time she got it, the murderer could have killed again. It took her a week last time. She didn't think she had that kind of time.

"Okay, punctuation," Sakura said, focusing herself. "English 101: exclamation marks are to show importance or strong feeling. Maybe it's to show the importance of the sentence?" She paused and shook her head. "No. He wouldn't make it that hard."

With a soft sigh, Sakura glanced at the random letters she had written down. She stared at them for a long moment and slowly her brows knitted together. She turned her head to the side slightly and tried to figure out what was bothering her so badly. This looked somewhat familiar somehow.

"Hey, Haruno," someone said. "You busy?"

Startled, Sakura spun around to see Neji was standing in her doorway. Quickly she approached him to avoid him from realizing what she was doing. After all, Itachi had told her to keep it a secret and right now, all she needed was some peace and quiet to think, but unfortunately she couldn't ask for that, otherwise everyone would know she was doing something important. Instead she smiled as friendly as she could. "What can I help you with, Hyuuga?"

He beckoned for her to follow before he turned towards the morgue. "There's something I've been looking at, but I'm not sure what to think of it. I know you did a few years in medical school so I was wondering if you could lend me a hand."

"Um…sure," Sakura replied as she followed Neji into the morgue. She really didn't want to help him. Something about the end letters of the message were bothering her and she wanted to figure it out. Maybe if Neji hadn't walked in on her she would know what was so strange about them and she could have the message cracked by now.

"I was looking at this woman and I realized something was strange inside her chest," he said, taking the sheet off one of the victims lying on the metal table.

Sakura had to force herself not to flinch away from the gruesome sight. The woman appeared to be in her late-twenties. Her skin was blue and shriveled from lying on the ocean floor for so long and her hair was thin and dull. Neji had cleanly cut open her chest and pried her ribs apart to reveal her internal organs, but for some reason, it didn't look right. Something was strange about this woman. It looked like some of her organs were pushed aside in odd angles.

"At first, I thought she had some sort of accident," Neji said, "but I can't find any evidence or record of one."

Steeling herself, Sakura placed a glove on and covered her nose and mouth with her forearm before she peered inside the woman's body. She poked and prodded gently, looking over every organ and muscle in her stomach. Something was missing.

"Where's her liver?" Sakura asked.

Neji shook his head. "I don't know. There is no record in any hospitals in Japan of where it could have gone."

Sakura nodded slightly to show that she had heard. "Well, I'm not sure what's…" Sakura trailed off. "What's this?" she murmured.

Carefully she moved and readjusted the organs surrounding where the liver should've been. This was strange. They looked as if some of them had been moved and rearranged. "Did you move any of the organs at all?" she asked.

Neji shook his head. "No. I just got to her."

Sakura frowned. Her right lung was lower down than her left and her stomach wasn't in the right spot. If Neji hadn't moved any of the organs than that meant that she had been born this way. A condition like this was extremely rare. She couldn't remember exactly what it was called, but only a handful of people had it in the world.

"This woman was born with her liver front-to-back," Sakura explained slowly. "It explains why the lungs are uneven and the stomach is so far down."

"But that's extremely rare," Neji commented. "Do you really think she was born with Situs Inversus?"

Sakura nodded, recognizing the name of the condition. "Yes. There have only been a handful of reported cases but it's still…" she trailed off. What had been bothering her about the message finally dawned on her. She hadn't thought of it before but it seemed to make sense now. "Could it really be that simple?" she murmured to herself.

"I'm sorry?" Neji asked.

Quickly Sakura met his gaze. "Nothing. Just thinking." Sakura took her gloves off and threw them in the waste bin before she headed towards the door. "Excuse me," she said hurriedly. "I have something I need to look at."

Neji watched her leave before he returned to his work. Sakura hardly noticed though. After she was out of the morgue she ran back to her lab and pulled up the screen that had her random letters.

!ycbt!by!ych

Sakura grabbed the edges of the paper she had written the letters on and slowly turned it upside down as if afraid of what it might say. Carefully she pulled her hands back and stared at her screen as the message came crashing down on her. Her eyes widened and her breath caught as she made it out. The random letters were no longer random. In fact, she understood perfectly why they were there. Her brain made the connection that the h's were really u's, the y's were h's, and the b's were a's. She realized there was significance to the exclamation points just as she had predicted. They were i's.

Upside down, the message spelled out a name: the killer's new target.

Uchiha Itachi.

Then everything came rushing back to Sakura and she was moving at the speed of light. She turned to her computer and printed out the results as her heart beat painfully hard in her chest. The blood was roaring in her ears as she ran for the elevator, but the sound of her computer beeping loudly caused her to skid to a stop. Her computer had found a match to the ink. Slowly she turned around and stared at the screen as it blinked the results.

One name flashed across the top: Hyuuga Neji.

Sakura sucked in a deep breath. She had just been alone in the same room as Neji. He was the murderer. He had attacked her. He had killed all those people. He was after Itachi.

Sakura ran to her computer and printed out the results as fast as she could, pleading for her printer to work faster, before she turned and ran for the elevator. As she reached for the up button, she froze. An 'out of order' sign was taped to the metal doors. Her eyes widened in panic and she took a deep breath, searching her mind for another way to get the message to Itachi before her eyes landed on the stairwell. Quickly she turned on her heels and ran into the stairwell, throwing the door open with a loud bang.

It felt like her lungs were going to explode as Sakura sprinted up the eighteen flights of stairs. The painful thumping of her heart from earlier felt like nothing compared to now as she booked it up the many flights of stairs. Her muscles screamed in protest from her exercise and her stab wound shot painful jolts into her abdomen, but she didn't let up her pace. When the door to the eighteenth floor came into view, she pushed herself harder and without slowing her pace, Sakura threw the door open and ran across the floor to Itachi's office.

Without knocking, she reached for the handle and turned the knob only to find it locked. She knocked loudly and called out to him, but there was no response. Frantically Sakura looked around and caught sight of the clock to see he was still out to lunch with Sasuke and Shisui. They were due back soon, but she had to get Neji in custody now or else he could slip away and they'd lose him.

In a panic, Sakura scanned the room and caught sight of Kisame and Sasori talking nearby. She made towards them, but stopped when the elevator door opened and the three Uchihas walked out. Unconsciously she sighed out a breath of relief and changed her direction to intercept them only to freeze when the stairwell door opened again and Neji stepped out. The afternoon sun hit him and lit up whatever he was holding in his hand. It was a gun.

It felt like time slowed as Neji approached Itachi from behind and raised his gun to the back of his head. Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui didn't even notice as they continued towards the Superintendent General's office with their heads down as they discussed the file Sasuke was holding. Sakura had never really realized it before, but they were some sort of dysfunctional family. She knew they didn't always get along, especially Itachi and Sasuke, but they did love each other and if Itachi died, they would hurt – badly.

A strange feeling went through Sakura when she realized she would too.

A sudden fierce feeling of protection for Itachi came over Sakura and without thinking she dropped her papers and ran towards the Uchihas. She dodged around chairs and workers, searching for her gun as she ran. A shock of panic jointed through her chest when she realized she had left it in her lab. Anxiously she searched for anything that could be used as a makeshift weapon. She found her phone.

Quickly Sakura pulled it out. "Move," she yelled.

Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui's heads all snapped up as she threw her phone at Neji. Quickly they ducked as Neji pulled the trigger and his gun went off. A loud shatter echoed around the room as the bullet made contact with her phone, destroying it.

Sakura heard the commotion of officers both hitting the floor and pulling out their guns, but she hardly noticed as Neji cocked his gun and made to shoot again. Fortunately he didn't have the chance to fire as Sakura reached him and grabbed his wrist, pointing the gun so it was over their heads. She felt his finger slip on the trigger and a shock went through her wrist as the gun went off again. A few bits of plaster rained down around them as the bullet hit the ceiling tiles, but she didn't give any thought to it as she continued to struggle with Neji. She knew he could easily overpower her, but she fought back with as much strength as she could muster. Not only Itachi's life depended on it, but hers now did too.

The fight with Neji for power over the other was complete chaos. Her mind was nearly in panic as she fought desperately to get the upper hand on him, but he fought against her as fiercely as she did with him. At one point, she thought she felt him trip backwards and fall back against the wall, but she couldn't be sure as she kept her attention focused on their fight and the barrel of the gun that was threatening to turn in her direction.

Suddenly Sakura felt herself trip backwards as he pushed off the wall. The throbbing jolt of pain in her back and shoulder momentarily stunned her, but she quickly found her bearings again and hooked her foot around his knee as he pointed the gun at her. He fell backwards, giving Sakura time to jump on him, and she managed to land a well-aimed punch to his face. Blood immediately gushed out of his nose, but as she pulled her arm back to swing again, he grabbed her and flipped her over his head.

Quickly Sakura rolled over to see Neji reach for his abandoned gun and her eyes widened as his fingers touched it. Frantically she launched herself towards him as he twisted onto his side to try and shoot her again, but her sudden weight fortunately caused him to stop in his tracks as they fought for control again. A sharp gasp escaped Sakura as Neji shoved her off of him, but her sharp mind recovered quickly and she jumped to her feet as Neji raised his gun again. Her eyes widened when she saw his finger wrap around the trigger and before her mind could register what her body was doing, she launched herself at him, her hand reaching for the gun.

Then the sound of a gunshot echoed in Sakura's ears as a sharp pain exploded in her side.

The world stilled and became quiet as the blast echoed into silence. She sucked in a deep breath and stared at Neji with wide eyes as pain throbbed in her side. Her eyes made contact with Neji's and she saw his own expression of shocked confusion. Carefully she took a step back only to have the pressure on her side disappeared. When her mind finally caught up with time and gave her the chance to analyze everything, she realized Neji had elbowed her stab wound – the wound he'd given her. A small wave of relief flooded through her when she realized the gun hadn't shot her. Realization hit her at her eyes widened and she slowly looked down to their hands to see the gun was pointed downwards towards Neji. The bullet had hit him. A small, shaky breath escaped Sakura's lips before pain over took her and they both crumpled to the ground.

Almost immediately the sound of officers rushed back to Sakura in a deluge. She heard people shouting and barking orders to one another and she could've sworn someone called her name, but the only thing she could understand at the moment was pain; a deep, raw pain that emanated from her stomach and seemed to spread everywhere. With a small groan, Sakura rolled over and wrapped an arm around abdomen while she rested on her forehead and knees. Her breath came out in ragged gasps and she pinched her eyes together tightly in pain as she vaguely felt someone touch her shoulder.

"Sakura." It was Sasuke. "Sakura, are you alright?"

"I so deserve a fucking raise for this," she gasped out.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, ignoring her sarcastic comment.

Carefully Sakura pushed herself up without removing her arm from her stomach before she sat back. "I'm fine," she said breathlessly.

She noticed Sasuke kept his hand on her shoulder anyway, but she didn't shake it off as she glanced around. The first thing she noticed was Neji. He was lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, courtesy of Kisame, and there was a crimson puddle of blood pooling around his thigh from where the bullet had hit him. Their eyes made contact, but Sakura quickly looked away from his mixed gaze of fury and pain. Instead her attention turned to Itachi who was standing in front of her barking out orders, but he was quickly blocked from her line of sight when Deidara knelt down in front of her.

"Sakura, are you alright? Are you injured?" he asked, his usually playful attitude absent.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply when she felt a warm stickiness wet her hand and seep through her fingers. Her eyes travelled down to her covered wound and she slowly removed her hand. A shaky breath escaped her lips when she saw blood was coating her fingers thickly and slowly leaving a trail down the back of her hand. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet Deidara's, but he was staring down at her wound. When he caught sight of the blood, his eyes snapped up to meet hers briefly before he glanced over his shoulder. "Itachi! We have a problem."

"We already have a problem," Shisui's voice replied.

Sakura thought she heard Deidara reply, but everything was getting a little confusing and distant. The world was beginning the spin and the chaotic noise of the building was fading into a dull whisper. The only noise she could fully hear was her uneven breathing.

"Sakura, can you hear me?"

Slowly Sakura looked up and forcefully blinked the world back into focus. Itachi was now knelling in front of her. Confused, she glanced around to see Shisui had taken over Itachi's job of barking off orders to get everything under control, but she quickly turned back to Itachi when he placed his hand on her cheek to bring her attention back to him.

"She's going into shock," he stated.

Sakura shook her head slightly. "No, I'm not. I just – I can't…"

Itachi ignored her as he turned his attention to something over her shoulder. "I'm taking her to the hospital. You and Shisui are in charge until I return."

"Alright," Sasuke's voice replied from somewhere behind her.

Sakura's mind couldn't keep up with the next few minutes. Somehow, Itachi had hoisted her up into his arms and stepped into the elevator. It didn't escape her quickly fading attention that Itachi's arms were rather muscular and strong, and her disoriented mind noted that she wouldn't mind being there more often before another thought took over her barely lucid mind. How were they using the elevator? She somewhat remembered the sign on the elevator outside her lab had stated that the elevator was out of order.

Neji, she thought.

When the doors opened again, she saw downstairs was in just as much madness as upstairs, but Itachi didn't seem to even pay any attention to it as he walked briskly to his car. He carefully set her on her feet, making sure he had an arm wrapped securely around her waist as he opened the passenger door and helped her inside. After a few moments of Sakura fumbling with the seatbelt, he took it from her hands and buckled it for her.

A small blush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks and fortunately for her, Itachi had already closed the door before he quickly climbed into the driver's side and started the car. Then he raced off into Tokyo traffic.

Sakura realized she must've been drifting in and out of unconsciousness because one moment they were stuck in traffic and the next they were pulling into the Tokyo University Hospital. She only watched as Itachi carefully picked her up and carried her through the hospital doors. The moment they were inside, she heard him call for assistance and a second later, she felt herself being laid on a stretcher. Needles suddenly pressed into her arms and she felt someone cut away at her shirt until she was only in her pants and bra, but she didn't bother trying to cover herself up. She felt too weak to move and everything was getting a little hazy.

Blinking hard, Sakura glanced up and her eyebrow rose when she caught sight of Tsunade running in pace with the stretcher. "Dr. Tsunade?" Sakura asked quietly.

At the sound of her, the blonde woman gazed down at her and smiled slightly. "Sakura," she replied. "Do you know what's going on?"

Sakura nodded as best she could while lying down. "I'm in the hospital because my wound was reopened."

Tsunade nodded. "Good. You're aware of your surroundings," she murmured to herself. "We're going to make sure you don't have any internal bleeding and then we're going to stitch up your injury, okay?"

"Okay," Sakura replied quietly before she turned her sights upwards and watched as the overhead lights flashed by.

She wasn't entirely sure how much time passed as Tsunade ran tests and pressed on her stomach lightly to make sure everything was in order. The numbing medicine they gave her was making her tired and when she woke up again, she was no longer under the blinding light of an operating table with doctors surrounding her, but instead in a hospital room on a hospital bed. The curtains were drawn and the lighting was dim, but there was just enough light for her to see. Out of habit, Sakura glanced to her right to where her clock usually was in her bedroom, only to freeze when she saw Itachi was sitting in the chair next to her bed, watching her. "Superintendent General," she said as she moved to quickly sit up.

Smoothly Itachi stood and placed a hand on her shoulder to cease her actions. "If you move too quickly, you will tear open your stitches," he said in a calm voice.

Automatically Sakura paused in her actions before she sat herself up in the bed slowly, her eyes never leaving her superior. Only once she was situated did Itachi remove his hand and sit down on the chair again. His eyes wandered around her body before returning to her face. The intensity behind his gaze made her breath catch and a chill run down her spine, and she quickly pulled her eyes away from him.

Sakura wasn't sure how long they sat in silence as she continued to stare at everything but him and he continued to watch her. It wasn't long before she felt herself become uncomfortable and hot under his scrutinizing gaze, but she didn't dare break the silence. Besides, she wouldn't know what to say even if she could find the courage to speak.

Fortunately, Itachi decided to break the silence. "That was foolish." Sakura flinched at his tone. "You could have easily been killed. You did not have a weapon, you did not have authorization, you risked your life, and," he continued, making Sakura feel more and more miserable the more he listed off, "you have saved my life." Surprised, Sakura turned her gaze back to Itachi. He was standing now, but his gaze was no longer intense. It was something much softer and calmer. "And for that, I am eternally grateful," he said calmly. "Thank you, Sakura. I owe you more than I could ever repay."

Sakura hesitated. "I was just doing my job, sir."

"You are no longer a field agent," he countered.

She smiled as she turned her gaze down to her hands. "No, I suppose I'm not."

Sakura fell silent as Itachi's phone went off. She waited for him to leave the room and answer it, but instead he simply turned it off. "If you wish," Itachi finally said, "I can arrange for you to be released tonight."

Sakura's gaze immediately turned back to him. "Sir?"

Itachi sighed slightly. "Last time you were in the hospital, I had them keep you an extra day to be positive you were alright." Sakura cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "It would seem fair for them to release you a day early this time." He paused. "But that is only if you wish."

Sakura's mouth hung open for a moment in surprise before she sat up straighter. "Then how would they be positive I was alright this time?"

"Simple," Itachi replied. "I would accompany you tonight to be sure you were kept under surveillance and fed adequately."

Sakura stared at him for a long moment as she deciphered his words. "Are you asking me out to dinner, sir?"

A small smirk came to Itachi's lips. "In essences, yes."

Automatically the girl part of Sakura's mind kicked in as she ran through all of the clothes she could wear for an occasion like this one. Then her mind landed on the only outfit she currently had on her person. Slowly she shook her head. "But the only clothes I have are bloody and probably torn."

Itachi gave a huff of amusement. "If the sight of blood bothers you that much, you may always borrow my jacket."

Sakura stared at him in surprise. He was teasing her. And was he really offering to take her to dinner even though she had just been attacked once again by the East Coast Killer and just recently gotten out of surgery and was now sitting in a hospital bed? This was a little weird to her. No, she took that back; this was extremely weird to her. This wasn't exactly how she had thought this conversation would go. Though on second thought, she didn't exactly think Itachi would still be there went she got out of surgery.

"Don't you have to go back to the police station and get Hyuuga all sorted out?" she asked in confusion.

Itachi's eyes lit up in amusement. "Sasuke and Shisui are taking over tonight and you are avoiding my invitation."

Sakura crossed her arms defensively. "Why do you want me to go to dinner with you so badly?"

The amusement in his eyes faded to be replaced with something she didn't recognize. "Have I not made it clear?" he asked. Slowly he took a step towards her and bent down so their faces were inches apart. Surprised Sakura sank into her pillow. Her breath caught as she stared wide-eyed into his dark gaze. "Very well. I shall clarify."

Then he was kissing her.

Shocked, Sakura froze. She wasn't exactly sure what to do. What was going on? This was confusing. Was Itachi kissing her again because he really liked her and wanted to try a relationship with her? No, that couldn't be right. Sakura was nothing that Itachi could ever want in a woman.

As everything registered in her mind, she pulled back with a deep blush on her face. "Is something wrong?" Itachi asked.

Sakura stared at him for a long moment. Hadn't she decided last week that if Itachi kissed her again she would reciprocate the action? She could've sworn she did and what she had just done was the complete opposite. Slowly Sakura met Itachi's gaze. "No," she replied. "You just…startled me a little."

"I understand," Itachi said, pulling back.

"Wait," Sakura said, making him stop. He stared at her with those gorgeous eyes and for a moment she lost her voice. "I'm ready this time."

Sakura barely caught the smirk on his lips before he kissed her again. This time Sakura really was ready and she kissed him back just as fiercely. She snaked her arms around his neck and held him tightly as she tilted her head upwards to reach him easier. He placed a hand on the bed next to her waist to support himself as he kissed her almost painfully hard. But as much as Sakura didn't want the kiss to end, she desperately needed to breath and her side was killing her. Slowly she pulled back, but she didn't remove her arms from his shoulders as she buried her face in his neck. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," she murmured.

Itachi didn't try to move away from her as they caught their breath. "Why did you not do so before then?" he asked.

"Because it was unprofessional," she replied.

Itachi gave a huff of amusement before he pulled back and reluctantly Sakura let him go. "I have something for you," Itachi said, turning to his jacket.

Sakura stared at him in confusion and leaned forward slightly to see what he was doing as he turned around to face her again. Confused, she turned her eyes to his face when she saw a white envelope in his hands. His expression didn't give anything away as he handed it to her. Slowly Sakura returned her attention to the envelope and opened it. Her eyes widened in surprise when she pulled out a birthday card.

It read:

Lots of people are thinking of you on your birthday; I just wanted to let you know I'm one of them.

At the bottom, he had signed it.

Before Sakura could stop herself, tears rose to her eyes and spilled down her cheeks in small streams. She closed the card and held it to her chest as the tears continued to fall. "Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you so much. This means a lot."

Itachi kissed her forehead lightly. "You are welcome, Sakura. Are you hungry?"

She hesitated before she nodded, her tears still coming down softly. "Yeah."

"Then I will go get Dr. Tsunade to release you," he said.

Before Itachi even had the chance to move, Sakura grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for another kiss. This one was a little less fierce, but with the same amount of passion as the first ones. It lasted a little longer than the last and when Itachi finally pulled away, Sakura couldn't fight the smile that tugged on her lips. She was happy. Happier than she had been in a long time and she would not allow herself to refuse this happiness that she deserved so much.

"I will be back soon," Itachi murmured.

He kissed her cheek and started towards the door, but stopped when Sakura called him. "Itachi," she said quietly. He turned to show he was listening. "You owe me a new phone."

Itachi smirked slightly. "Yes, I suppose I do." Then he disappeared out the door.

When he was gone, Sakura opened the card and reread it. She couldn't count the number of times she read that simple message that never failed to make her smile and she decided that she had never had a more happy – or exciting – birthday than this one. She had saved the life of her superior, she'd helped place a serial killer behind bars for life, and she was about to go out to dinner with the man she cared deeply for.

The only way for this day to get better was for her mother to call her and say how proud she was of her daughter for capturing the attention one of the most powerful and respected men in the country and for her father to tell her how pleased he was of her for assisting in the arrest of a dangerous murderer. But neither of those things were going to happen and she was okay with that because somewhere in heaven, she could see her parents smiling faces and that was good enough for her.

"Happy birthday to me," Sakura murmured as she closed Itachi's card and held it tightly.