Senko: Wheee 34 reviews :D I love you guys!

ninjaxbunny: OMG O.O; THAT WAS SOME UBERLY AWESOME SPAM! ROFL! OMG when I read your review, I couldn't help but literally laugh out loud cause it made me feel so special! No one's spammed that before xD I LUBBS YOOH!

WinglessFallenAngel: ROFL you read it five times XD

borisbear: Eh...I didn't realize that o.o; I guess that's really my fault since I took a one year break and when I continued I didn't bother to reread the entire story lol so I guess some things are out of place xD

Rain Yimiko Natsuya: I think I had Naruto visit Konoha for two reasons. 1) The filler episodes inspired me to do it because it showed a bunch of missions he had to do XD and 2) I couldn't leave Naruto out T-T LOL. Gotta love Naruto :D

Thanks to Angel Of Depression, ayane04, Halfbreed741, sakura asakura, LadySakuraForest, Heartless Ghostie, Shy-Princess, Gothic Saku-chan, CosenAngel, RandomTopic, MistressBlossom, Cookies321, cherryblossom279, ANBU Inu, Xinoria, sakuragirl13579, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, jHeyTTernallie, bubbleyum, unbeatablehinata, deviltwit, BellBell, Hao's Anjul, Uchiha Forever, snowecat, WinglessFallenAngel, Sakura-hime9, kit, Sekiryu, and InuKeifer for reviewing:)

To alphadale, I was wondering if you'd be my beta reader again because you didn't respond to the review reply I sent you, so yeah.

Disclaimer: Me no own. Duh.

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Chapter 9

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"SASUKE?" Naruto repeated, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"It's only rumors, Naruto," Tsunade said. "It could be true, maybe not. I just felt that you two deserved to know it, even if it was just a rumor. I've sent a couple ANBU squads to investigate already. You are dismissed, and if I find out you went after him instead of encountering him, I will make you suffer consequences."

"Of course, Tsunade-baachan. I will only encounter him," Naruto smirked, leaving the room. Tsunade knew the boy would indeed "encounter" Sasuke, whether it was by chance or not.

To Tsunade's surprise, Sakura still stood before her desk even after Naruto had left. "What is it, Sakura? Or did you want to spend some quality time with me?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but closed it immediately contemplating whether or not she should say it. Then she finally decided to speak. "Itachi's been growing awfully fast. He might just be having a growth spurt, but I doubt he would grow so fast in a period of a couple weeks or so. He used to be the same height as me. I wasn't sure if I should bring it to your attention or not."

Tsunade leaned back against her chair and exhaled. "I've been suspecting that the potion would be wearing off soon."

"O-oh..." Sakura's voice lowered in disappointment. "Then...what will we do?"

"For now just keep him away from Sasuke. When the potion wears off we'll drug him again."

"Why not drug him now? What if he regains his memories and leaves?"

"Because it'll make him younger," Tsunade stated. "Let's say he's turning back to a seventeen-year-old and right now he's changed from twelve to fifteen. If you use it on him then it'll make him even younger. He'll lose the memories he gained of you and of Konoha and he'll lack more in skills since he's younger."

"Oh..."

"Just take the potion with you and when you think he's nearing to seventeen, drug him before he escapes."

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura whispered. For a moment she stood there in front of the Hokage's desk, staring down at the ground before she brought her head up to meet her teacher's gaze. "I was wondering..."

"Hm?"

"Well, I just thought...that, well," she wasn't sure how to say it. "Well, I was thinking maybe Itachi-kun can stay with someone else? Or better yet, what if he's to find his own apartment? Or what if he goes back to the Uchiha estate?"

After she had suggested it, she immediately regretted it. She didn't want it to sound as though she didn't enjoy the Uchiha's company because truth be told she thought he was decent and polite. She also didn't want it to sound as though she feared him or that she was selfish and didn't want to reside with an S-class criminal.

She wasn't even sure why she had said it. She knew she should have just kept quiet, go with the flow. But she was scared and she knew that if he continued to live with her, something might happen. Perhaps he'll grow to develop stronger feelings for her?

"Oh?" came her teacher's response to her suggestion. "Are things not going well? I thought the two of you were getting along well."

"I just thought Itachi-kun probably doesn't want to be living with me. You know, random little kunoichi who's not as strong as him," she tried her best to make up an excuse. "And I'm sure he finds it unnecessary to live with me, don't you think so? Shishou?"

The blonde Godaime sighed. "I suppose you're right, but unfortunately that can't happen any time soon."

"EH?" the rosette kunoichi felt disappointment rise within her. "Why is that?"

"As we had just been discussing together earlier, Itachi is returning back to his old self. If the two of you continue living together, then you can keep a better eye on him. I had thought that as a bright student you'd have realized this."

Sakura let out a small nervous laughter. "O-Of course, Shishou...I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"I believe hanging around Naruto too much has caused his contagious stupidity to rub off on you," Tsunade said, a small smirk gracing her face as she considered the possibility of Naruto not only touching the lives of many others but also spreading his brain or lack thereof. A seriousness soon erased the playful look on her face. "Or could it be that you're fearing him?"

"Fear him?"

"Don't worry, Sakura. I trust you can handle him if he ever decides he wants to kill you. As long as you keep a good eye on him you should be able to tell if he's plotting something. Don't be a scaredy-cat now."

"I-I don't fear him!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's not that – it's something else."

"Then enlighten me. What is so bad about this harmless Itachi?"

Sakura gave no reply. She couldn't bring herself to straightforwardly say that Itachi could liker her in a more than friendly way. How could she tell the Hokage that the S-class criminal had kissed her just moments ago? She turned, starting towards the door. "Nevermind, Tsunade-shishou."

When she had returned home, night had already fallen and she was thankful that Itachi was cooped up in his room as always. She didn't know how she would face him now.

"Ah, Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked up from where she sat, turning to the source of the voice that radiated from the hospital door. It was another medic-nin that worked alongside her. "Yes?"

The medic-nin, an adult woman with light brown hair, walked in and gently placed a folder on the desk Sakura sat at. "I was told to deliver this to you. And..."

"And?"

"Well, some of us have been concerned about you is all. You usually don't work night shifts but these past couple of days you've been here at dawn and you don't leave until midnight. I think you're overworking yourself," she said, concern clearly written over her face.

Sakura supposed she shouldn't have felt surprised at all – in fact, she should have expected this. After all, she was the top medic-nin of the hospital (excluding Tsunade because Tsunade had Hokage issues to tend to and couldn't be bothered with the hospital) and they couldn't afford to have an unhealthy, sleep-deprived and exhausted medic-nin. "I'm sorry for worrying you like that. I'll try to stay well, thank you."

"You better," the medic-nin smiled. "Well, I'm off now. Good night and see you tomorrow, Sakura-san."

"See you."

When the medic-nin left, Sakura was left alone in the cold hospital room. It had been a couple days since her "moment" with Itachi and her discovery of the rumors of Sasuke roaming around the Fire Country. Since then she'd been avoiding Itachi.

She feared what would happen when she faced him again because that would mean she would have to confront the awkwardness. Of all people, she hadn't expect for the Uchiha, Itachi to be the one who would take her first kiss. Normally she would have screamed at him, angered that he would do such a thing.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't bring herself to be infuriated with the Uchiha boy, but she couldn't bring herself to forget everything. When he had started to live with her she would have felt scared, but she immediately came to realize that he wasn't who he really was. He was his past self, the good citizen of Konoha, the ANBU captain. She didn't know how he had come to like her along the way.

She detested the idea of living under the same roof as and being polite to the murderer of the Uchiha clan, the one who had inflicted so much pain and trouble unto her teammates. She admitted the obvious that he was attractive and powerful, but regardless she couldn't bring herself to view him as anything more than a roommate.

It would wrong on so many levels for her to like him.

These past few days she spent avoiding him, she had put much thought into their last conversation. She desperately wanted to know what it was about her that he liked, and no matter how hard she searched she couldn't find anything. Vaguely she wondered if he was plotting something and that it was all an act.

She sighed, glancing over to the clock that told it was almost midnight. 'I should go home now...'

"Alrighty, Lee-san," Sakura adjusted the bandage around Lee's left arm. "You're okay now, but really you must stop being so competitive."

"But Sakura-san, competition is the flame of youth!" Lee beamed. "I shall not lose to Neji!"

Sakura let out a dejected sighed. "What is with you boys and competition...okay, some competition is good but you boys really need to know when to draw the line. It was a dangerous mission...I can't believe you challenged Neji-san during such a mission!"

"Ah, sorry, Sakura-san," Lee smiled apologetically. "From now on, I shall listen to your remarkable words of wisdom! They are the words of youth!"

Sakura could only gently shake her head at the unbelievable Green Beast of Konoha. He never ceased to amaze her with his terrifyingly freaky optimism. "Well, I've got to go now. Get lots of rest and be sure to stay well so you can leave as soon as possible, Lee-san."

(1) A cheerful "Okay, Sakura-san!" followed as Sakura's footsteps lead her out of the door and onto the pure white hallways of the hospital (save for a few paintings that hung here and there). She made her way to the room where all records of patients were kept and searched around the large shelves and cabinets to find Lee's portfolio.

To her dismay, she couldn't find Rock Lee's folder among the "L" section. She grunted in frustration as her inner self told her she should be irresponsible and just leave the information somewhere and head home. Suddenly, the mention of home had Sakura reconsidering her choices and she let out a deep breath before starting at one corner and scanning each and every name on the portfolio tabs.

It took her a long time to locate Lee's folder and she assumed perhaps one of the medics was having a bad day and misplaced the folder. Taking hold of the side of the folder, she slid it out of its place roughly, frustrated at the clumsiness of the nurses to make a mistake.

When she had taken hold of Lee's folder, a small 'thud' stole her attention.

She quickly placed the information inside of Lee's folder and shifted it slightly to see another folder down on the ground. She had pulled the folder out too rough and caused another folder to slide out as well. She sighed bending down to pick up the fallen portfolio, but when her slender fingers made its way around the side of the folder Sakura could only stare at the name inscribed on the tab.

Uchiha, Itachi

She closed her eyes and exhaled as she stood up again with his documentations in her hand. How ironic this all seemed to her. When her eyes opened again, she found it hard to tear them away from Itachi's name. She decided to review his information and stalked over to a nearby desk and sat in a comfortable rolling chair.

Uchiha, Itachi

Father: Uchiha, Fugaku

Mother: Uchiha, Mikoto

Siblings: Uchiha, Sasuke (younger brother)

Date of Birth: June 9

Background: From the prestigious Uchiha Clan. Graduated as top rookie of the class, mastered Sharingan at age 8, became a Chuunin at age 10 and shortly after that achieved Jounin and ANBU captain rank.

Number of D-rank missions: 10

Number of C-rank missions: 14

Number of B-rank missions: 6

Number of A-rank missions: 3

Number of missions failed: 1

She flipped the page, glancing over the information from the times he had been sent to the hospital. She was impressed that with all the high level missions he had been assigned to he had only been to the hospital a few times, as compared to her boisterous blonde teammate who had the uncanny ability to and inevitable fate of always getting hurt.

She returned to the first page. 'So his dad's name was Fugaku and his mom was Mikoto. I wonder if his mom was a kunoichi...probably was. Birthday is June 9

'Didn't expect for him to have a birthday?' her inner self questioned, laughing.

She sighed. 'Well of course. I completely forgot he had a birthday, what with him being all cold and murderous like a monster-'

She instantly stopped her rambling to herself upon realizing what she'd just said. Immediately she regretted it because he had never shown her that side of him that was anything like a monster. In fact, she only said it because of what she'd heard about him – the skills he possessed, the way he massacred his clan and betrayed the Leaf, the way he was so powerful.

"Is that how you view me?"

No, it wasn't how she viewed him. It was how the world viewed him. If she were to forget what she'd heard, block out all the rumors, erase all the things everyone told her about him, she had to admit he was just like her.

He was a shinobi and she was a kunoichi. He belonged to the Uchiha and she to the Haruno. He knew taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu and so did she. They both obeyed orders from their village. The only difference was that he held much more power and talent over her.

"They would make me train from dawn until dusk and repeat the steps everyday."

His words rang in her head, and she found she couldn't ignore the factor that allowed him to gain so much power. He was naturally a prodigy and very talented, but what pushed him to become a monster was the training and pressure he received. Had it not been for that factor, perhaps he would have been just like regular skilled shinobis...like Sasuke, like Kakashi, like Neji, like Lee, like Shikamaru, like everyone else.

He was a gifted boy, a regular human, but he was turned into something much resembling a monster. Before the killing, before the corruption, before the evil...

"Is that why you would never feeling an emotion such as love for me? Since you fear me because I am practically a monster and I have the ability to make you suffer to the point you'd wish for death?"

...lied an innocent boy whose purity was taken advantaged of, an innocent boy who was turned into a tool for his own clan because of their desire for power and a strong clan head.

"Can I come and 'hang out' with you at the hospital?"

With all the training and pressure, he was most likely deprived of having a proper childhood, just like how Sasuke and Gaara were.

"No, I'll carry you."

Regardless of how much strength he wielded, he was generous to her.

"Ino told me it was your birthday."

He was considerate – even though it wasn't necessary he still bought her that necklace, that necklace that she'd worn often and it dangled around her neck right now.

"And the eyes of everyone else held only envy, hatred, or fear."

And in the end, she was just like everyone else. She would ignore all the things he did, all the positive things he did because she feared his power. She didn't return Lee and Naruto's feelings, but that was because she viewed Lee only has a friend and Naruto was more of a brother to her. Yet instead of viewing Itachi as only a friend like she did to Lee, she believed his feelings were wrong.

She believed it was wrong because of his reputation. Because he was a monster. Because he was powerful. Because he was Akatsuki. Because he left the Leaf. Was it fair that she was being biased towards him because of all of this?

Despite all of the bad things he'd done, just for right now he was cleansed of it all. Now was his chance to relive his innocence and she was holding his reality against him.

Sakura's fingers slightly tightened around the edge of the portfolio. 'June 9th...is today.'

Jade eyes diverted from the peach colored folder to the plain clock that hung on the wall across where she sat. It was eleven at night and she was positive all stores would be closed by now. She sighed, pondering what she could get for the Uchiha. Her hand unconsciously went up to clutch the necklace he'd bought her for her birthday. 'Think, Sakura, think!'

Wait.

Her fingers unfolded to reveal the half broken heart pendant that it was wrapped around just seconds ago.

"Come on...where is it...?" Sakura grumbled in frustration, searching through each and every drawer of her desk. She had ran as fast as she could to her home and immediately headed to her room to look for the other half of the two piece necklace that Itachi had given her for her birthday. She sighed, not knowing where she had placed it.

"Ah!" Sakura exclaimed as her eyes laid upon a small pink box on the top shelf that extended from her desk. How could she had forgotten she placed in that box? Standing on her tip toes, Sakura reached up and grabbed the box and when she opened it, sure enough the necklace was still there in perfect condition.

She turned to look at her clock on the wall. Five minutes before midnight, so technically it was still Itachi's birthday.

She dashed out of her room and made her way to Itachi's room. Fortunately, she didn't have to run very far because his room was right across the hall from hers and it only took her a few steps to reach his room, but she was so impatient she still ran. She turned the doorknob and burst into the dark room, completely oblivious to the fact that Itachi would be sleeping at this hour. But he wasn't in his bed.

A sharp kunai was placed against her neck and Sakura could sense an all too familiar presence standing behind her.

"Sakura?"

She didn't know why it was now that she suddenly found his voice so smooth and somehow it calmed her. A small smile crept onto her face but it was unseen in the darkness. The kunai at her neck slid away. "You know, it's funny how you gave me a birthday present five minutes before midnight." She turned around to face him, the other half of the two piece necklace clutched in her hand. "And now I'm giving you yours five minutes before midnight as well."

The light from her room was still on and shined against Itachi's back. For a moment they stood there at the front of Itachi's room, simply staring at one another. After a few moments, Sakura remembered that Itachi was not the type to be enthusiastic about receiving a gift from her; he would go bouncing around the room like Naruto or cry tears of joy like Lee.

Her hand reached over to take his hand in her own and gently she placed the necklace in the palm of his hand, her fingers making his fingers wrap around the necklace before withdrawing. "Happy birthday, Itachi-kun. I know it must be odd to receive the other half of the necklace and especially when two pieces form a heart, but I'm hoping you'll think it's the thought that counts."

And with that, she walked past him and out of his room heading for her's. She was stopped by two words right before entering her room.

"Thank you."

She couldn't help but let a smile adorn her face before she stepped inside her room and shutting the door behind her.

Surprisingly, the next day Sakura didn't wake up at the crack of dawn like she had been doing these past few days. Instead, she woke up half an hour before her shift began and thoughts of Itachi never even crossed her mind. She no longer felt bothered with how he felt about her or what he had done.

When she finished dressing and entered the kitchen to grab some breakfast before leaving, Itachi was sitting at the table sharpening his kunai. "Will you come with me to the hospital today, Itachi-kun?"

She watched as he looked up and stared at her before muttering "Alright" and proceeding to put his weapons away. She suppose he must have been surprised to hear her offer seeing as she had been avoiding him for days. After breakfast, the two made their way to the hospital where Sakura resumed her shift with her unofficial Uchiha assistant.

She felt so foolish for trying to keep away from him. It was now that she realized how much faster time went by when she was with him, because although he didn't converse much at least he would keep her company and listen to her. Her mind was also so much clearer now.

Time flew by and soon the two found that it was already sunset. Sakura skipped ahead of Itachi as they walked down the halls of the hospital, trying to head out of the white building and onto the streets of Konoha to head back home. They stopped upon exiting the hospital when they saw the figure of a blonde girl pacing back and forth.

"Ino?" Sakura said aloud.

Ino faced the two and beamed. "Finally! I've been waiting forever for the two of you to come! I was beginning to think you guys slacked off and ditched work!"

"You were waiting?" Sakura questioned.

"Everyone's going to the Leaf Theatre and I came to invite you two," Ino beamed. "And get this, we're going to be watching this odd movie called 'Naruto: Shippuden the Movie' because that idiot Naruto's leaving tomorrow and coincidentally someone named a movie 'Naruto.' Talk about bad taste in names...eck."

Sakura let out a small laughter. "Yeah, huh? Well, when is it showing?"

"In half an hour. Well, I'm off to drag that lazy ass Shikamaru there," Ino chirped, dashing off, "and I better see you two there!"

"Well, this sounds exciting," Sakura said.

"Yeah, have fun," Itachi said, walking off.

Sakura frowned as she watched the Uchiha walk away. "What do you mean by that! And you're going the wrong way, so get back here!"

Itachi stopped and turned back to face her. "Movies aren't my thing."

Sakura gasped. "You're lying! I bet you love movies."

"How can I love something I've only known once."

"What!" Sakura exclaimed in disbelief. "Only once?! That can't be true! You're deprived! What did you watch?"

"Random video from the ninja academy."

"You poor thing," Sakura stalked up to Itachi. "You need to do more things!"

"I don't care about that sort of stuff," he stated indifferently. "It is only a distraction."

"Come on, Itachi-kun! It'll be fun!" Sakura chirped, taking hold of the Uchiha's hand and dragging him off. She dashed towards the theater that Ino had told her to meet the group at, hoping that she could show Itachi that the movies were a fun place to be at. She had been so shocked to discover that he had only seen one video in his entire life; a video at the ninja academy showing off random basic techniques and fights.

She knew Itachi was a villain, an antagonist, but just for this moment while he was still innocent, she would care for him as she cared for any of her friends. She would show him the childhood he didn't have.

"Just around this corner!" she beamed, making a right turn.

Stop.

Her smile that hung on her face slowly faded until her lips were barely parted. The excitement and joy that had earlier dominated her emerald eyes was immediately washed away as she blinked. She stopped dead in her tracks and Itachi only looked straight ahead to see the figure of a boy looking awfully similar to himself.

"Sasuke-kun..." he heard Sakura's voice whisper.

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Senko: I felt this chapter was short...o.O; but well, that's what was planned for this chapter. Oh yeah, I don't know how long it'll take me to get the next chapter done because right now...well, I'm not for sure that I'm going to enter two contests but I'm trying to. One's a manga contest and another's just a plain art contest, so yeah. I'm rather busy with school and so now that I'm trying to enter the contests I might be more busy. But don't worry, the deadlines are September 21 and 31 :D I'll be done quickly. I'm only trying, though, because I might not meet the deadline D: so yep.

(1) I really don't know if doctors and stuff actually do this o.O; but I remember the last time I went to the doctor, I saw they had a bunch of shelves filled with portfolios and this just struck me as an idea, so yeah.