Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Wow, who knew Sasuke could cook?" Kiba said as he took the last bite of his stir fried rice noodles.

"Hn."

"I know, right?" Sakura said, reaching for the last of the mushrooms and onions with beef, "But where's Choji, Shikamaru?"

"He found out that he and his dad had to go on a mission last night," Shikamaru said, setting down his chopsticks, "OK, now that we're all done eating, let's get down to business."

Sakura wiped her mouth and said, "OK, we're here today to discuss Hina and Naruto."

"Yeah, what could we do to get them together?" Kiba asked, stroking his chin.

"How about we get our team to train with team Kurenai?" Kakashi suggested, "Then, we could pair Naruto and Hinata up."

'Or does he just want to flirt with Kurenai-sensei instead?' Inner asked suspiciously.

"I think that's a great idea!" Sakura said, getting out a piece of paper and a pen to make a list.

"Yeah, I'm sure Kurenai-sensei would agree to that. What else could we do?" Kiba asked.

For the next hour, they plotted and extended the list.

"Naruto's an idiot," Sasuke said as he and Sakura were walking through the fields behind the academy.

"Yep," Sakura agreed, watching as Naruto tried to run away with Kakashi's Make Out Paradise book. He was dared to by Kiba.

"Hey, guys!"

The couple stopped and looked to their right.

"Oh, hi Iruka-sensei! I haven't seen you in a while," Sakura said as she pulled Sasuke with her to where he was standing.

"Yes, and... oh. What is Naruto doing now?" Iruka asked, concerned, watching his former student get caught by Kakashi.

"He took Kakashi-sensei's book," Sakura answered.

"That explains that. So what have my former students been up to? Oh, and I see you two finally got together, huh?" Iruka said, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, we got together a couple of months ago. We were just taking a walk through here. It brings back so many memories...," Sakura said, returning the smile.

"It does, doesn't it? I remember whenever I held class outside, we always had to chain Naruto to a tree so he wouldn't run away," Iruka said, laughing at the memory.

Sakura chuckled and even Sasuke cracked a small grin.

'And now he trains 24/7. How ironic,' Sasuke thought.

The three of them then watched as Kakashi took Naruto away by the ear, the blonde crossing his arms and pouting.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you two, but Lady Hokage needs to see me. I hope we can catch up some more later!" Iruka said, as he waved a good bye and poofed away.

"I miss the past sometimes," Sakura said, holding onto Sasuke as they continued their walk.

"Yeah," Sasuke said as a slight hurt expression crossed his face.

"Oh, Sasuke, I didn't mean to bring that up," Sakura said, now feeling guilty.

Sasuke just brushed it off and said, "No, I'm fine. Besides, I have you now."

The pink haired girl looked at him with sorry eyes as he just told her to stop worrying.

Sakura then looked up as she felt something wet drop onto her nose. "It's raining."

"Yes, I see that, Sakura," Sasuke said, smirking at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him and started running away, playfully. Sasuke caught up with her and picked her up from around the waist, twirling her around in the rain. She laughed, the angelic sound mixing with the plinking of raindrops falling down. The light drizzle quickly turned into a downpour as a muffled clap of thunder was heard in the distance. Sasuke then picked Sakura up, bridal style, placed a kiss on her pink lips, and ran to her house for shelter.

Sakura was laughing as Sasuke smiled at her. They were both soaking wet, the water dripping onto her hardwood floor, as he put her back onto her feet. Sakura ran upstairs, got two towels, and ran back down stairs.

"Here," she said, handing him a pink towel.

Sasuke accepted it with an amused expression and dried his hair with one hand. "A pink towel? Really?"

When her clothes were dry enough, Sakura ran back upstairs to get Sasuke's spare clothes that he keeps at her house for when he sleeps over.

"Catch," she said, throwing the bundle at him. He caught it with his free hand and headed to the downstairs bathroom to dry off and change. Sakura changed upstairs and came down to find Sasuke in the kitchen, starting dinner.

"Yes! Another one of your meals!" Sakura yelled, going over to hug him.

Sasuke chuckled and said, "I hope you like me for more than just my cooking."

"Yeah, of course I do!" She answered, "So... when will dinner be ready?"

Twenty minutes later, the rain finally stopped and they were eating fried rice, washed down with hot tea.

As they were cleaning up, Sakura asked, "Remember? That was the first thing you ever cooked for me."

"How can I forget that night? It was the day that I came back to Konoha and you told me..." Sasuke hesitated with the ending of his sentence.

"The night I told you about my past? I'm fine, Sasuke. I have you now, right?" Sakura asked, copying what he said earlier.

Sasuke pecked her lightly on the lips and said, "Right."

Sakura glanced at the clock and noticed that it was getting late.

'We're suppose to talk with Itachi tonight! Remember?' Inner Sakura said loudly.

"It's getting really late, Sasuke. You should probably go before it gets dark," Sakura said, secretly hoping he would comply.

Sasuke glanced at the clock and sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura."

He embraced Sakura one last time and left for home. Sakura watched him from her door for a while until she felt a presence behind her.

"Oh, Itachi! You scared me," Sakura said as she turned around and saw him standing in her living room.

"I'm sorry," he said as Sakura closed the door and blinds so no one would see him.

"It's OK, you just almost gave me a heart attack. I'll be fine," Sakura joked, waving away his apology.

He laughed out a 'hn' as they both took a seat on the sofa and Itachi continued his story.

"Like I was saying last time, I was working as a spy, giving information to the leaders of Konoha. The fights within the clan grew more and more aggressive and the Third Hokage noticed," Itachi said.

"Sarutobi-sensei...," Sakura said sadly as she remembered the kind, grandfather like man.

"Yes. The Third wanted to somehow negotiate with our clan's leaders, but it was too late. I was ordered to kill every clan member by the elders before Sarutobi-sensei could do anything," Itachi said.

"But... what about Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"According to my orders, I was suppose to kill him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He's my little brother. I love him more than anything, even my own life," Itachi explained, shaking his head, "I told him to avenge his clan by killing me so I wouldn't have to deal with the guilt anymore, but I didn't think that he would turn against our village. How selfish was I? That made me feel even more ashamed of myself."

"You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't control, Itachi," Sakura said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "And besides, he came back, didn't he? There's no need to be ashamed."

He stared off into space for a while, thinking, before sighing. "I know. Even so, it still hurts. The pain of my past mixed with the pain of..."

"What is it?" The pink haired girl asked, concerned.

"Nothing." His face was becoming a little paler.

"Damn it, Itachi, spit it out!" Sakura said, getting into medic mode.

"I haven't been feeling well. I'm not sure what it is," he finally said.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? This is serious," Sakura said, slightly angered at him for keeping his poor health withheld.

"I have no reason to live anymore," is all he said.

"What the hell, Itachi? You still have Sasuke! He needs you, you need him," Sakura almost yelled.

"He hates me for what I did," he said.

"In his mind, he hates you because he doesn't know the truth. In his heart, he loves you because you're his brother," Sakura said, now standing up with her hands on her hips. Itachi doesn't talk after that, giving Sakura time to calm down. "I promise, if you let me help, we can get you two together again. He doesn't hate you, Itachi. He loves and needs you more than you'll ever know." Sakura whispered this calmly as Itachi stands up and faces her.

And then he did the most unexpected thing. He hugged her and let hot tears run onto her shoulder.

"Thank you, Sakura, for showing me a new reason to live," Itachi said, "But I still have the illness."

"I'll get blood samples tomorrow and see what's going on. Don't worry, I'm going to do everything I can to get you two back together," Sakura said and he ended the hug.

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

And Itachi poofed away, a genuine smile was on his face.

I really like this chapter. No, I love it. I'm very proud of this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did when I wrote it.

E person :)

8-4-11