Hey all! Got a little inspiration but it may not carry me too far. I don't know how much longer I'll keep this one going, but I won't stop till I reach a certain point that I always need to get to. If you've read more than two other whole fanfics of mine, you know what I mean.

Anyway, I'm hoping to stretch it out to two more chapters, this one included.

Anywho, on with the show!

Disclaimer- After all this time I still don't own Naruto!

Chapter 21

It was three days later. Deidera had avoided Itachi and Sakura by staying at Sasuke's. By this time Ino had moved back into Sasuke's and Shizune was the one headed to the village with Deidera.

He stood at the gate, Shizune beside him, surrounded by well-wishers. Sakura just stood there, staring at him. She didn't even have the courage to talk to him. All she could do was just stand there and watch, worried, mortified, hating herself so much at the moment.

"It'll be nice to have my couch back." Sasuke joked and Deidera grinned, patting him on the back. "Thanks for taking care of me, yeah. I'll send up some random treats sometime. They have these honey sticks, they're amazing." He grinned and Sakura wrapped her arms around herself.

She finally stepped forwards, looking him in the eye. "It won't be the same without you." She looked at him and he smiled at her softly. "Nothing will be the same without you, sweety. I'll probably come back in a few years, once I've gotten over all of this." He smiled and she nodded. She stepped forwards, pulling him into a tight embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, dropping her bag. Tears streamed down to his shoulder and he leaned back, looking her in the eye. "Don't cry for me. I'll be fine, you know that." She nodded, sniffing lightly and was caught off guard when he pressed his lips gently to hers. His thumb ran over her cheek and she felt her heart pound.

He stepped back and looked over at Itachi. "Oi, won't you come say goodbye too?"

"You're a fucking rat. You'll always come back, whether we want you to or not." Itachi grinned at him and Deidera smiled softly at him, surprising the Uchiha. "It's been years since we were really apart. This will be interesting, yeah. Don't get into too much trouble, and I want a note at least once a week!" He seemed to regain his resolve as he kept speaking.

"Good bye."

He took one last look around, seeing the tears in Sakura's eyes broke his heart, but he couldn't stop, not now. He had to get away from it, from them.

He'd never admit the day he took the rope to the tree. He tied the noose and just sat under the tree for an hour, trying to gain the courage to really end it. He was such a coward sometimes. He couldn't even tell her that there had been so many days he snuck into her bedroom just to watch her sleep. He'd cooked with all his heart at the hideout in some hope to impress her. He'd given up living when he'd met her.

Now he wanted to live. He wanted Itachi to fuck up. He wanted her to look at him like she did Itachi. He wanted...

He turned with a slight wave of his hand, tying on his new headband. He'd wanted a home, but he never would have expected them to take him in.

No more missing nin. Now he was an honest Konoha ninja.

He hoped he turned before Sakura saw the look he couldn't shake from his eyes.

Sakura watched. "He doesn't want to go." Sakura muttered and Itachi nodded.

"But you were right. It's too cruel to make him stay here."

"At least he'll find some peace there." She looked up at Itachi with sad eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her, smiling. "I don't think you'd be this broken up over anyone but him."

"If it were you I would be so much worse." Itachi looked at her with a smile.

"I'm just happy we'll never find out for sure." He smiled and Sakura nodded, gripping his arm and pulling it over her shoulders.

"Just... for the next while, please don't leave me alone. I can't..."

Itachi picked her up bridal style and carried her back to the house.

"We're leaving the day after tomorrow for the thing with the Kages. Let's say we spend the rest of the day shopping for furniture?" He looked at her as he searched for the door key. She sniffed again, wiping her nose with a tissue and frowned up at him. She'd spent the last three days curled up in a ball, crying and being a bother.

She nodded, turning to the stairway. "You still know how to cheer me up." He nearly whimpered. Itachi looked after her, worried.

"You don't sound cheered up." She turned to him without her fake smile, without hiding her emotions at all.

"I'm devestated. I've never been this close in a group before, and I just broke his heart. I'll be fine, and shopping will help, but I'm not happy. I won't be for a while. On the other hand, I'm happy I can show you what I feel, I don't have to hide it. I don't have to with you and you don't know how happy I am about that alone." Itachi nodded and lifted her.

"Maybe shopping isn't the best idea, let's try something else instead." He opened the door and Sakura turned, seeing half of the village in her house. "SURPRISE!!"

She looked around at everyone and Ino ran up front. "We knew you'd need fun and distractions for the day, so we decided to have a little party for you!" She grinned and Sakura stood, softly smacking Itachi's shoulder.

"I thought we were going shopping!" Ino stared for a moment before Itachi covered his mouth with his hand, chuckling. Sakura turned to everyone and smiled, bowing.

"Thank you all! I don't deserve a party like this!"

"I beg to differ." Sasuke looked down at her with a smile. "You were banned from the city because my sharingan backfired. You took my responsibility and never even thought about it. You brought my brother back to me. If you hadn't been there that night, if you hadn't been punished due to me, then I probably never would have found out he was still alive. I owe you so much." Sasuke smiled at her and walked forwards, hugging her. "I'd still like to think I'd be a good brother to you."

Sakura sobbed, nodding. Sasuke stepped back, worried that he'd offended her, but could only smile when he saw the joy in her eyes. Ino ran up next.

By the evening Sakura was passed out on the roof. No one knew how she got there, but they knew there was a lot of alcohol involved. Itachi sighed, noticing the Hokage was passed out with her. He had his arm over her waist and Itachi snuck up, curious.

"Don't-" Naruto murmured and Sakura shifted. "Not- my ramen..." Itachi sighed, shaking his head. He reached down and shook Sakura slightly, waking her.

Her eyes met his and she smiled, reaching up, grasping desperately to him. He could only smile and take her into his arms, brushing her hair softly back, kissing her cheek as she clung to him. "You alright? I found you asleep on the roof with Naruto."

"He always used to hold me while I slept if I had problems." She murmured, thinking back. There had only been a handful of times, but they were each treasured by her. Itachi nodded and sighed, lifting her and taking her to bed.

Then he walked out and looked up at Naruto. He shook his head with an amused smirk and jumped.

"Oi! Why were you sleeping with my girlfriend?!" He tapped the young man with his shoe.

Naruto's eyes shot open, looking up terrified. "I- How much did I drink?! I don't remember! Oh my god, Itachi, I'm sorry!!" He screamed, looking to be on the verge of tears till he noticed the amusement played across the Uchiha above him. "You're an asshole."

"And quite proud." Itachi grinned, his eyes closing making him look younger, but somehow more dangerous.

The party was over. Sasuke helped Itachi with cleanup, Naruto was now asleep on someone else' roof. Itachi sat outside at the side of the court, looking at the stars twinkling in the sky.

Sasuke sat beside him, handing him a mug of tea and watched as his brother smelled it, visually relaxing at the scent.

"So, I'm back with Ino, you're with Sakura, what now?"

"I haven't totally gotten her yet, but I don't think it's quite the right time to propose. I think I should wait at least until the Kage's mission is over."

"That soon, huh?" Sasuke murmured as he took a sip of the tea, feeling it instantly warm his stomach.

"I bought the ring months ago. Before she even confessed to me, before I confessed to her..." He sighed, reaching up to his ear, sliding off one of the earrings that he'd had. No one had noticed the ring hanging from it due to his hair. He pulled off the ring and handed it to his brother. "It was one she'd seen in one of the shops in the village. She loved it. She said the color reminded her of Naruto's eyes." He chuckled with light mirth, looking as his brother examined the ring.

"It's beautiful. It doesn't surprise me that she'd fall in love with a ring like this." He handed it back and sighed, looking up.

"The stars are beautiful."

"They are." Itachi sighed, taking a long draw from the mug before smiling up at the sky. "It's been so long since I've seen them from here. All this week I've avoided looking at the stars, but I think, if they could see me, I think they'd forgive me."

"They never would have blamed you, Itachi. Knowing what you sacrificed, what you did, for what purposes, what you've done for me, they never would have blamed you." Sasuke never looked over. His cup raised back to his lips and Itachi looked over with a smile.

"Thank you, little brother." He reached up, poking the younger in the forehead.

Sasuke smiled before looking back down to his mug.

"Thank you, Aniki."

I've had most of this chapter sitting here! I didn't realize I never finished it or put it up! I'm so sorry!

Well, I'm gonna get through this story next, I'll try and have it finished in a week, two, maybe three chapters.

I'm so sorry for the delay!

I'll see you all soon!

JaNe!

jasminflower69