Inseparable Companion

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

Thanks heaps to those who review.

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Chapter 6

It was during dinner with Kakashi that the idea came to her. The waitress had sauntered over. Her nose pink, and eyes glassy. She had commented that she feared she was getting the flu. Sakura had soon paused in her meal and when Kakashi had raised a quizzical brow, She excused herself hurriedly.

"I'm so sorry Kakashi-sensei," she said, pulling out a few bills and throwing them on the table. "I just remembered something important! Here's the money for the food. I'll see you around."

Kakashi watched her exit silently, not saying anything as Sakura almost tripped over a chair on her rushing out.


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"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" she muttered to herself as she ran, the cold wind whipping her hair back into her face, "It's so stupid!"

Approaching her apartment, Sakura didn't bother turning her lights on when entering, instead just flicking on her desk lamp and pulled out the intended books. Her eyes scanned the pages.

So engrossed now, Sakura was unsure of how many hours that had passed, but when a hand touched her shoulder she turned unsurprised to face Itachi.

"I think I have a solution to your chakra problem, Itachi."

He allowed a subtle show of curious emotion to show and looked at Sakura expectantly.

"Ha! It's actually very simple, I can't believe I didn't think of it before." She was withdrawn into her mind, working through possibilities Itachi could not fathom.

"When you were capture by ANBU, you were already feeling weak, right?" she went on before he even nodded. "That's because Sasuke did this too you!"

Itachi's gaze turned intense at the mention of his name. "No, listen! Sasuke had been anticipating your confrontation; his whole being went into your fight. He had been tracking you in the snow country for months. It's only natural that he would catch a cold and could easily pass something on to you!"

Itachi shifted impatiently.

"I think he infected you! But it's not what you think. He has some how managed to stop your immune system from functioning. Your white blood cells aren't circulating, and you try to reach for them with your chakra to heal, but there immiscible. Your mind becomes stressed and you get headaches and loose the threads of healing due to the irritation."

"Are you saying he gave me the flu…?"

She grinned, not being able to help her self, "It's extremely cold in the land of snow…"

He did not look pleased, "Can you fix it?"

"Easily. I just have to specify the presence of the dangerous organisms and impel-"

"Sakura!"

"..Sorry. Just locate and heal the infection. Pills could even do the trick, if the seal is broken first, though."

"No, you can just do it yourself, right'?"

"Well, yeah. It will hurt though, the seal will take a considerable amount of chakra to break, then it will be easy to target and heal the infection. You never recognised the symptoms because they were so basic and the seal automatically rejects your natural healing tendencies. Someone from the outside should be able to do it for you, though. Breaking the seal will be the most painful and difficult part"

He sat before Sakura on the floor, crossing his legs and removing his cloak. "It's fine. I'll deal with it. Jots do it now."

"Trust Sasuke to turn his flu into something deadly…" muttered Sakura before rolling up her sleeves.

Sakura hesitated, "You're going to have to keep from pushing me out, Itachi. It's going to be uncomfortable"

She let the chakra flow smoothly into his chest and travel through his limbs. His head felt heady and the pain was tolerable for the time being.

"I must admit, though I'm a little confused. I still wonder how he managed to lock an infection under your skin without you noticing it. It's so odd, yet I suppose people used to die from the flu and-"

Itachi had been sitting quietly, listening, "He spat in my face."

Sakura looked into his face surprised, "What?"

"I don't believe he was aware of his cold symptoms. He got so enraged at me, at one point he spat in my face. Before I killed Sasuke-"

Sakura winced at his words.

"-he performed a jutsu on me, locking my sharingan in place. I was paralysed for a short amount of time. He drilled into my mind, trying to tear everything apart. He was trying to seal his attacks under my skin. I fought instinctively, but I was loosing. He was struggling too, some of his memories seeped into my consciousness…"

Sakura couldn't believe his words, and that she was sitting here listening to them. Sasuke's final moments, calmly being told from Itachi, his murdering brother.

"Specks of his training with his team, Naruto, the copy-nin, the training field," he smirked. "The park bench…"

Sakura heart slammed against her chest. She couldn't fight the tears stinging her eyes.

"Tch!"

Itachi felt the pain press in his head and cried out. He struggled not to black out and Sakura released more chakra. "It's okay, it means it's working."

She waited for his breathing to compose, and they sat in silence for some time, letting her chakra regain its steady stream. Blood had trickled from his nose and he wiped it away, Sakura assumed it was a good sign. Like something was being expelled from his body.

Itachi continued on, warily. "He previously performed a blood pact with the Snake King. I was poisoned from a summoning Sasuke did. It had hallucinogenic effects and it's made me even more vulnerable to his attack. When Sasuke used a jutsu I felt my skin absorbing it's effects like a thousand needles, at 100 times the original effect. Continuously trying put seals on the damage he was inflicting. It took me months to heal, I thought all the seals were released as well."

A small smile tilted his lip, and he bowed his head looking tired, "What dumb luck hat his flu could be the thing to push me over the edge."

"And lead to your defeat and capture," Sakura put in.

"And also to wear I'm sitting right now."

Sakura shifted un-comfortably, her chakra was almost depleted making her feel weak and tired. "If he was beating you down like this, then how…"

She gulped not wanting to continue.

"He hesitated, that's how I won. I was surprised, I thought with all my heart he would be the one who was destined to kill me."

It was too much now. Such enormous energy she'd put into healing and why, she couldn't remember.

Sakura sobbed loudly and pulled away, breaking their connection.

"What are you doing? Finish it."

Sakura cried wretchedly, "It's finished. It's over now, you bastard! I hate you! I fucking hate you! Sasuke is not a cold-blooded killer like you! He had a life and people who loved him! We were his family and we were waiting for him to finally come home!"

She had moved back into his view and had proceeded to pound him on the chest, her chakra too drained to do real damage. But still, Itachi was grinding his teeth from grunting out loud.

But he could only take so much of the hysterical girl. His eyes narrowed threateningly and he gripped her wrist lightening fast, pulling her in close. "Don't force me to silence you, Sakura-san. You're making too much of a scene for my liking."

"Go ahead and do what you want to me!"

When he did not automatically respond Sakura went on, "You're not as impassive as you think, Itachi-kun"

He hmmd, and looked off past her shoulder before realising his fingers were still gripping her wrist and let her go. She could see his black and red irises start too spin, "My chakra runs smoothly through my blood without irritation. And there is no resistance anymore."

He reached for his dark robe and pulled his arms through and stood gracefully.

Sakura waited for the impending presence of Itachi to move towards her, but he did not advance.

She gazed up at him, her legs still folded beneath her on the floor. She was still breathing heavy and wasn't sure if he was going to fight her or pull her into an embrace. The anticipating was excruciating.

Itachi walked toward her window and pulled it open wide, "Goodbye."

He didn't even glance over his shoulder before he stepped through then disappeared into the night.

Sakura stared in exhausted despair before dropping her head into her hands and weeping bitterly.


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Naruto was standing at Sakura's door at the crack of dawn. The sun was promising to be bright and few birds chirped in the trees. It looked to be a warm day, not that he really noticed.

His arms were moving back and forth as he kept clenching and un-clenching his hands nervously. He breathed in deep, and then rapped on the door. It took 3 attempts before a very tired and miserable Sakura opened up.

"Naruto…"

His brow furrowed into worried lines. "Sakura! You look terrible!"

She growled at his use of words.

"Eh, what I mean to say is, are you feeling okay..?"

Sakura sighed, and stepped to the side allowing him entrance. He walked in but stooped just after she shut the door.

"Sakura, I can't stay long. I came to tell you Tsunade-sama has given me an S-rank mission. I'll be gone for a few months."

Sakura felt disappointed at his words, unsure of what she was hoping for. She tried to keep her voice neutral.

"Well, I hope you take care of your self then, Naruto-kun…"

"Tsunade-sama requested I take Kakashi-sensei, Sai and Neji-kun with me."

It felt like betrayal, her team leaving her behind.

"I see…"

She hadn't realized she'd risen her hands to her forehead until Naruto's hands were covering her own.

"Sakura-chan…" she showed him her resigned expression, "let me see your face."

He pulled her into his harms and rested his chin on her head. She breathed in his smell; it felt nostalgic and very pleasant.

"Where have you been Naruto..?" She never intended for it to sound like a whimper.

"I've been around, Sakura," he said softly into her hair. "I've always been here for you…"

"I need you Naruto! I never meant to drive you away," Sakura said, her fingers gripping the orange fabric covering his back. "I've needed you to come see me and tell me everything's okay, and that I'm not a bad person, and that I didn't make the wrong decision-"

"Sakura-chan!" His grip tightened and he bent forward, enveloping her even more into his body. "You can never do anything wrong! I'm so sorry I haven't been over lately; I thought you wanted some time…but I swear I'm here for you. Sakura, you're my best friend!"

"Naruto…"

Their arms trailed up and down each other's backs, and he wiped away tears Sakura didn't remember releasing. His eyes sought hers and she felt his breath, but he pulled back and looked away.

"I better get going then."

She touched his hand before letting him go, "Be careful."

And for the second time in 12 hours Sakura watched another lover walk out on her.

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End ch6.

Don't know how I feel about this chapter, but i've already moved on to the seventh. also, sometimes i think we forget that sakura is incredibly smart, though i'm not, so lets pretend what i wrote makes sense.. XP

And, Itachi will be back.

please review.