Konnichiwa! Hachi desu, hajimemashite! -
I'm updating for my dearest friend, as she's on vacation right now and doesn't have access to a computer. I know I was supposed to update for her yesterday, but I've been terribly busy with homework and studying and such... Please forgive me! Besides, it built up the anticipation... right? -;;

So, she has instructed me to tell you all a couple of things:

Thanks so much to the beta, AikouKurai!
My dearest friend has a website! www. freewebs .com / animemangafanatic.
She now has forum on Fanfiction .net. (Just go to profile page and click the My Forums option)
AND... she will no longer be displaying news in the chapters. If you want to know something, you need to go to her website, where she lets everyone know of delays and such.

So, there you have it. Enjoy this chapter very much!
Jaa mata!

Waking up in a grog, it's been three days since the restart of her nightmares. She hadn't dreamt it in a very long time. Sakura figured with her constantly searching her mind for her lost memories of the time with Akatsuki, that she triggered the release of surpressed memories. Covering her face with her hands, she wished that she had left them surpressed. They were horrible memories that she didn't want to remember no matter what. It also didn't help that the little jutsu that she discovered on her shoulder was breaking down her barriers. Looking over at the materials on the coffee table, Sakura figured it was about time they went back to their original owner.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura entered the bathroom as Yuu came out yawning, going to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Shinrai and Sakura passed each other as she left the bathroom towards the bedroom for new clothes. Once she was in warm enough clothes, she came out and Yuu had tea on the table for her as well as a piece of jammed toast. Shoving the piece of toast in her mouth, she finished buttoning and strapping the accessories on her shirt and pants. She would curse at Shizune and the girls later for buying her these impossible clothes.

"I'm off."

"Okay, have a good day."

"Call us if you need us."

Sakura nodded as she slipped on her shoes. She lightly smirked. They were endearing, and they worried too much. However, she missed having someone care about where she was and what she was doing. Having them here and during this moment in her life, eased the pain and anxiety that she had been feeling of late. The feelings she felt to them were just an unimaginable amount of gratitude. As the door clicked shut behind her, Sakura headed off with her bag and some extra ones.

"So this should be fun, yeah?"

"Shut up, you idiot paper master."

"Aw, but that comment hurts me deeply Sa-chan, yeah,"

"Would you stop the Sa-chan crap?"

"Fine, yeah. However, how does it feel to be back at your old home, yeah? Does a sense of nostalgia overwhelm you, yeah?"

Sasori looked at his partner deadpanned. Was he screwing with him again? Maybe Deidara's brain was officially fried. Looking down on the Sand Village though, he must be feeling exactly the same way Itachi felt when he and Kisame were ordered to retrieve the Kyuubi. Nostalgia maybe, but there was no more love for this village in his cold heart. Smirking deadly, Sasori turned to his partner as he moved his body into another puppet.

"Shall we strike at night?"

"That would be the best, yeah."

"Nah, let's just do it now."

"Impatient as always Sa-chan, yeah,"

Sasori attacked the laughing Deidara.

Standing in front of Sasuke's door, she waited for a response. Thinking about what happened on the way over, helped pass the time. A couple people had successfully splashed cold water on her. It didn't help that it was winter, and quite a few times, she had been tripped. Sakura hadn't done anything against them, but just kept walking to Sasuke's. After a few minutes, the door slid open and a panting Sasuke looked out at her. He raised an eyebrow in question to her sudden appearance at his place. Holding up the bags, Sasuke was about to tell her off, not even caring what was inside.

"These belong to you. I took them without permission. I'm sorry."

Sasuke stepped aside to let her in. Kakashi walked in, also confused about her appearance. Sakura neatly stacked all the books and scrolls on top of the table. Being an Uchiha, Sasuke instantly recognized all the material.

"Why do you have things on my families' various jutsu's?"

Sakura nodded towards Kakashi.

"It was about a year ago, Kakashi-san came to Tsunade-shisou and I about his eye. Although he was able to master a new stage to the Sharingan, his eyesight had begun to diminish rapidly. That's why I invaded the privacy of your home."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. He noticed recently that his eyesight wasn't as good as it had once been.

"Did you find anything of use Sakura-chan?"

Sakura addressed her once-sensei.

"I think I pretty much have it down, but there was one thing I needed to make certain of that decision."

"And that would be?"

"I need to view an Uchiha heir's eye. Unfortunately, there is something in the eye of a real heir that you, Kakashi-san, just don't have. That left me with only a few options; Uchiha Sasuke and... Uchiha Itachi."

They both noticed the way that Sasuke's face twisted with hatred. Sakura didn't mention that she knew there was yet one more Uchiha. However, she wasn't about to voice that man's name. His plans and reasons were still unknown to her, but she knew that he held his claws close to her cousin. Sasuke's hand brought her out of her thoughts. He placed it over his closed eyes.

"Can you do it?"

Sakura stayed silent for a second.

"I don't know. Let's just see what I can accomplish."

Sasuke nodded in response and Kakashi sat back to watch.

Several explosions erupted thought the Hidden Sand Village. Gaara was already aware of their presences before the first explosion. He just stood in wait for them to come to him. There was no doubt in his mind that these guys were after him. Swiftly, two enemies came at him. The one was airborne, flying on a weird shaped white bird, and the other came from below, jumping from roof to roof. Not even needing to move, Gaara's sand shield protected him from their oncoming assaults. However, he didn't expect that one contact, Deidara's birds would explode. Moving only to avoid the aftershock, making mental note not to fall for it again, Gaara moved his hands to make the sand to attack both Deidara and Sasori.

"Yo! Does my brother need some help?"

Gaara looked to his side to see Temari and Kankuro had arrived to join in on the fight. Usually, he be a bit peeved at his siblings for questioning his strength, but he was somewhat grateful since they were about to take on Akatsuki. These guys were not to be taken lightly, especially since they had gotten their hands on Konoha's most powerful shinobi for half a year. Dodging another set of birds and doll attacks, Gaara joined ranks with his siblings. In an instant, Kankuro was unleashing his own fury of dolls at Sasori. Deidara took his eyes off them and onto Sasori's condition for a second before looking back. Sand's Kazekage live up to his reputation. A wall of sand came at Deidara, which he easily dodged no problem, but the smirk on Gaara's face disturbed him. Turning around, he understood and cursed as he quickly dodged yet again. Temari had hide inside Gaara's sand attack and revealed herself after Deidara dodged it, leaving it to his back. It was a good move on their part, because as Deidara moved to avoid Temari's powerful wind attack, another wave of sand crashed down on Deidara.

"Shit."

Sasori cursed seeing his partner reach a binding point.

Sakura looked from outside the window back to the hospital chart in front of her. Checking twice, Sakura sighed. The girl in front of her didn't have long to live. She felt bad because she had known the girl since her first day. That's just how long that she had been fighting one disease after the other, and there was nothing Sakura could do to ease that pain. Just by looking at her expression, the girl already knew that she was going to die.

"It's okay you know."

This caught the attention of both Sakura and the girl's parents. Sakura knew where this was going. She had seen it before in older patients. The acceptance of death in their face. There would be nothing anyone could say or do to change the fact that they had reached a peace with their signed day of death. Her patient was not old enough as well to decide these things without parental consent. Knowing how the parents would react, they were going to have a hard recovery.

"What are you talking about dear?"

"It's okay Okaa-san. I'm ready to go, I'm ready to die."

"What are you saying?!"

"That's right. I'm sure there is another way."

Both eyes turned to Sakura for some sort of miracle. Sakura could see though that determination in that girl's eyes. She had to admit though, the girl looked tired. Looking down at the chart again, she read the treatment after treatment, and all the side-effects that had come along for the ride. Maybe it was best to let this girl have her death. It would be nothing more than selfishness to keep her trapped her in a useless body. However, she was also scared that her own feelings might be coercing her decision.

"Well, there are more treatments, however..."

"You see, just like Sakura-sensei said. There are more treatments yet."

The girl grew angry now.

"You didn't let her finish. If you had let her finish..."

"Enough! No more, because I won't hear it!"

"Stop it Okaa-san, Otou-san. It's time you two accepted that it was just time. Yes, you maybe able to keep me somewhat okay here on this earth, but the longer I stay here, the longer my soul dies. I'm tired, so very tired. Please, just let me go already."

Sakura looked down in, and closed her eyes. This wasn't the time to be here. Quietly, she excused herself and left the room. Checking the clock, Sakura needed to leave to go back to Sasuke and Kakashi. She just had one more treatment for their eyes to go back to be as good as new. Later, she had promised to teach it to Tsunade, Shizune, and Ino, in case she wasn't around. After all, she could feel the itch Tsunade was feeling to send her back on missions. Leaving the white coat on the rack in her office, Sakura began to leave the hospital, bundling up in her winter coat and scarf. Once outside, she heard her name being called. The girl's mother stopped in front of her.

"Please Sakura-sensei; convince my daughter to have the treatments. If she does, she might live."

In the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto approaching. Several people had stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. Sakura kept her composure however, and addressed the grieving mother. She did feel bad about her daughter's decision, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"You can save her life."

"I'm very sorry for you loss, but I can't convince her of what you want. She's now the age to decide these things on her own and she wants to die, too long has she had to endure this pain."

"You liar, you're her doctor. I thought doctors were supposed to save lives, not take them."

"I am saving her life!"

Sakura didn't know why, but she exploded. She had frustrations of her own too. However, Sakura had the chance to die once as well. Desperately, she wanted that chance back. All the missions and all the trials she had to endure in life were breaking her down. Leaving the world and finally resting was a beautiful option that she wanted to take, but the selfishness of others had kept her alive, only to endure more pain and heartache. As a doctor, and fellow human being, all she could do was granted that girl's wish.

"Don't just selfishly make these decisions on your own. I know no mother wishes to part from her child, but sometimes it happens. All you can do is support your child no matter what that decision may be. She's weak now, and in truth, I don't even think she would survive through the treatments. So, just let her goes and live the best she can until the very end. That's what will save her life!"

Naruto had stopped moving to look at Sakura amazed. His expression became softer. Sakura had grown since from the time he left. She was stronger, but he could see that loneliness that he and Gaara were too familiar with in her eyes as well. The woman rose her hand to strike Sakura, and she stood firm against her. Before the woman's hand could strike, Naruto blocked it with her own, and Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.

"Naruto,"

"Leave my teammate alone."

"How can you defend this traitor?"

"You shouldn't believe all the rumors that you here. There isn't one shred of evidence to back up those rumors."

Sakura smiled gently at Naruto. This was the Naruto that she admired so much.

"As to why I'm doing this, it's obvious. We're family!"

By now, Sasuke and Kakashi had shown up. Everyone went back to what they were doing and another person came to comfort the woman who collapsed on the ground in tears. Sakura moved passed Naruto and knelt in front of her.

"I am sorry."

Sakura stood and left the area. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi slowly followed behind her. Walking towards the Hokage tower, Sakura didn't speak once to the guys that followed behind her. Once at their destination, Sakura looked up at the faces carved in the side of the mountain. All the faces of the mighty Hokage looked down on the village that they loved and fought hard for, even the current Hokage. She turned to them waiting for them to say something. Kakashi had stuck his nose in his book, Sasuke was leaning on the rail beside Kakashi, and Naruto looked unsure of something. He was shuffling his feet, and Sakura raised an eyebrow in question. His head shot up all the sudden causing her sweat-drop.

"You know... I meant what I said back there. Even though we can't prove or disprove any of those rumors, we're still family."

Sakura turned to stand in front of him. He now towered over her and she lightly smiled. Naruto wasn't a runt anymore. She hit him square in the gut and Naruto grabbed it in pain as he fell. The action had caught the attention of her other teammates. Looking up in pain, Naruto gave her a questioning look, and she just smirked in response.

"I have to be an idiot if I didn't already know that. No one will ever say that Haruno Sakura was an idiot like her teammates."

The boys smirked. Of course she had to strong, after all, she was on a team with only boys. Cracking her knuckles, Sakura smirked at her other two male teammates. They gulped in response, and the now recovered Naruto stood, folded his arms behind his head, and gave his trademark smile.

"Now, let's deal with you two."

"So you do what again?"

Sakura sighed. Just half an hour ago, Sakura had finished healing Kakashi's and Sasuke's eyes completely. Now, she was in the Hokage's office going over the material that she had written about the technique for Tsunade, Shizune, and Ino. Shizune and Ino were always eager to learn a new medical jutsu, while Tsunade and Sakura were unaffected by their enthusiasm. Moving her pencil along the line that Ino was asking about, the blonde girl nodded in understanding. Yawning, Sakura looked out the window.

"Maybe I should go rest."

Three heads shot up and looked at Sakura skeptically. She raised an eyebrow at their weird response. In an instant, all three were up and pointing some type of weapon at her. Sakura sweatdropped and figured that everyone was finally snapping.

"What?"

"You...? Rest...?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Ino.

"Yeah, and?"

"You never rest!"

Sakura cringed at Shizune's shouting. A blade tip met her neck. Tsunade wore a dark look.

"What did you do with my student?"

Sakura gingerly pushed the blade away, and stood.

"I'm going home to rest. Then I'm going to look through my journals for more materials for you guys."

As the door clicked closed, the three looked at each other.

"Is this the end of the world?"

"I think we should get our wills figured out."

"It's even colder than usual today."

Meanwhile, outside, Sakura was looking in the direction of Sand with her eyes narrowing. There was something wrong and she felt chakras clashing against each other.

"Kazekage Gaara-sama... Temari-san... Kankuro-san... and... Akatsuki?"

Sakura's green eyes watched something that most people wouldn't understand. Rubbing her eyes of stress, Sakura sighed.

"I'm imagining things..."

Sakura turned and walked off to her apartment shared with her friends.

They had underestimated the Akatsuki. Kankuro laid on one of the rooftops panting in pain. Several Sand shinobi laid scattered about injured. Many more would have joined in, if only Gaara hadn't demanded that they stay out of it. Temari looked tired but less beat up then her brothers. It was only because they took most of the blows meant for her. The action resulted in her shouting string of curses at her beloved brothers. However, that wasn't their main problem. Cursing, Gaara knew very well that they were loosing the battle. Soon, they were going to need reinforcements from Konoha. Nodding at Kankuro, who understood, they both looked at Temari. She knew what they were thinking and she shook in fear.

"No... No I won't!"

"Temari, don't argue with us! Go! If you want listen to me as your brother, than you'll obey because it's an order from your Kazekage."

Temari looked torn. Deidara and Sasori felt something about to happen. Moving quickly, they went after Temari. However, sand and dolls stood in their way. Using this moment, Temari tore away from the battle and towards Konoha. Gaara and Kankuro moved to block Deidara and Sasori from following her. Sasori chuckled and looked at his smirking partner.

"They won't help them."

"I know, yeah. We'll kill her in due time, yeah. Once we get what we came for, and we will get it, we'll kill the little girl, yeah."

Sasori chuckled.

"Ah, the fun has truly begun."

Sakura came out of the shower, clean and hot. Toweling her hair dry, Sakura walked to the den, where everything was. If she remembered correctly, she had left the journals right on top of everything on her desk. Walking in, she thanked Yuu for organizing what she could. Flipping it open, Sakura read the first couple pages. It was all stuff from before the memory loss. Something was bothering her in the back of her mind, looking up quickly, Sakura turned towards the window. A flash of a man that she couldn't see nor recognize came through and her heart ached for some strange reason. Turning away from the window, a knock at the door had her stopping and putting the journal down. Without a hurry, she went to answer the door.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

Sasuke pushed Sakura into the apartment and kicked the door closed.

"Where are Yuu-sama and Shinrai-san?"

"They're meeting Naruto for dinner. Sasuke, answer me. What are you..."

Sasuke pushed Sakura down onto the couch. His hands moved under her shirt. Sakura felt panic move through her and it felt familiar, like she had been put through this situation before. Soon her shirt was off and her hands were pinned. Moving her legs into a better position, Sakura tried to get herself leverage. A prick in her skin caught her attention however. Her energy began to drain and Sakura caught sight of a syringe being thrown onto the table. He had used something to make her weak, unable to fight.

"Sasuke... stop..."

His tongue moved down the side of her left cheek, neck and into the valley of her breasts. The hold on her wrists had begun to tighten. Her energy was draining more and more each second. Sasuke forcefully kissed her and Sakura made a noise of protest. Biting into her shoulder, Sasuke looked at her deadly.

"Don't tell me you really did love him that much?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"That bastard, Uchiha Itachi,"

"That doesn't explain anything."

"It explains everything. You were so in love with my brother that you were screwing him. That's why you never came back, and that's why everyone doesn't trust you."

Sakura couldn't remember, and she hated it. She couldn't know what her heart was planning or what she would do after getting her memories back. However, right now, in the situation, it was wrong. There needed to be a way to stop Sasuke. Any more talk of Itachi and she would die. Hearing the tearing of her pants, her panic rose. He was really going for it. Soon, the cold air met her skin and she was half naked. Sasuke had lust and anger in his eyes, and she felt like crying.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. You were supposed to love me and only me."

"That's selfishness Sasuke!"

"I don't care. That's how it's supposed to work."

Sakura turned her face away from him, moving her body slightly to the side. It was enough though, for his eyes to catch something on her shoulder. Turning her over completely, Sasuke looked down at the familiar jutsu on her shoulder. His fingers traced over it and he knew who had the other half of it. Sasuke's face became contorted with pain and pure rage.

"You said you loved me!"

"I did love you, but things change. Fate just wasn't on our side. I stopped loving you after my first S-rank. I stopped loving a lot of people and things after that mission. It just didn't seem worth it anymore. All my past experiences killed my heart Sasuke. So if you're going to be angry, be angry, but it isn't going to change the fact that you can't make my heart live anymore."

Sasuke slowly stood and left the apartment. Sakura rolled off the couch and onto the floor. Desperately, she tried to pull on her torn clothe, but whatever drug Sasuke had used was working against her will. The feel of a cold breeze and the opening of a window caught her attention. Looking up, she came face to face with Uchiha Itachi. He loomed over her with menacing Mangekyou Sharingan. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her weapons pouch, but it was too far away. Itachi's eyes too followed what she had glanced at, and he smirked. Even in her condition, she still chose to fight, and he had no doubt that she couldn't do it and win. However, he didn't want to hurt her.

"Cherry Blossom,"

Sakura's eyes widened. The depth of his voice and the way he spoke her nickname so smoothly was familiar. Even the very smell coming off of him, reminded her of something, something hidden deep within the darkness of her mind.

"Sakura,"

Her body refused to move as if it was paralyzed by just his voice. He calmly walked closer to her, it didn't match at all with his mood. From his perch, he saw Sasuke come and go. Looking inside from the window, he also saw what Sasuke had done. It disgusted him that his brother tried to make her his own, but then again, he had done the same thing. Now more than ever, Itachi wasn't sure where Sakura's heart lied. Bending down, Itachi lifted her chin so she was looking directly at him. Swirling, his eyes slowly put Sakura to sleep, but not before she got out one question. After all, this seemed like deja vu to her.

"Haven't we me before?"

Itachi draped the blanket that was on the couch around her and picked her up.

The light coming into the living room woke Sakura. She could hear someone moving about in the kitchen and the turning of a newspaper in the dining room. Figuring it to be Yuu and Shinrai, Sakura decided it was time to get up. In her half sleep state, she trudged to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she was dressed in new clothes and there was a bandage on her neck. Her wrists had bruises on them and Sakura remembered what happened last night. Touching the bandage lightly, Sakura wondered if Itachi had done it. If he had, then why, thinking of Sasuke made her heart nearly stop and her body turned cold. A knock at the bathroom door made her jump.

"Saku-chan, breakfast is ready."

Sakura opened the door to a smiling Yuu and they both joined Shinrai in the dining room. They both looked at her bandage and bruises and they became worried.

"It happened during an emergency shift at the hospital. I'm fine."

They both smiled, accepting the lie easily. Sakura had easily fooled them, but she had never needed to before. She just didn't want anyone to know that Sasuke had done it to her. Slowly chewing into her bread, her thoughts drifted back to Itachi. So similar to his younger brother, but Sakura could see so many differences as well with just one glance. His very presence mystified her, but it was the way he had gently taken care of her despite his blood-stained reputation. Deciding it would be best, Sakura made the resolve to take the first steps into finding out what happened during her absence, starting with her journals. After all, she wrote everything in those things.

Itachi sat perched in a tree, just twirling a kunai. His breakfast had long ago fell from his hands onto the forest's floor. Tossing the kunai into the tree directly, he imagined his brother. He had his reasons for wanting Sasuke to become stronger, but for him to use that strength against Sakura... It didn't change the fact though that she had become his only weak point. However, if he had the opportunity, he probably would hurt his little brother greatly. The very look of her frightened and torn up on the floor got his heart to pound. She looked nothing less than an angel though. No one could corrupt her, not even him.

"Sakura..."

It surprised him that she had felt his presence while she was in her den. He remembered what she had asked in her sleep. Even if he took her memories away, her heart knew the truth in sleep. So, in her sleep, she asked him a question that replayed over and over in his head. A question her heart needed an answer to, and he thought she already knew the answer.

"Why... Why did you leave me?"

He cursed the fact that he loves her.

Picking up one of her journals, Sakura decided maybe she had written some answer inside. After all, since her return, Sakura had not looked inside the books to see what she had been up to. Before she could read anything, a parchment fell from the black journal and she was surprised she hadn't noticed it last night when she had only briefly opened it. Bending over, Sakura picked it up and unraveled it. Mysterious tears rolled down her cheeks and it made her puzzled. She currently held a hand drawn picture of herself, just sitting and concentrating at a small table in a familiar place. Turning it over, she read the author's name and the tears fell down harder. Why was she crying?

"Uchiha Itachi... Why do you make my heart ache so badly?"

Sakura cried.