Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Sakura searched and searched until she found Sasuke sitting on the roof of the Uchiha compound.
"Finally, I found you," Sakura said, running up to him and taking a seat next to him. "Are you mad?"
After a moment of silence, Sasuke replied with, "Of course I am."
The pink haired girl sighed and said, "Look, we weren't trying to make you mad. We just wanted to tell you the truth. I know you still love your brother Sasuke. I just thought that maybe, just maybe, if I got him to tell you the truth about what happened then you'd forgive him."
"Sakura, I appreciate it but it's… more complicated than that. I just can't trust him like I did before," Sasuke said, letting out a sigh.
"And this was what I was afraid of," she replied. "Why don't you trust him? He trusted you."
"What do you mean?"
"He didn't kill you because he loved you and had faith in you. He trusted you to stay true to your village and protect what you care about," Sakura explained, taking her boyfriend's hand.
"And of course I failed him," he said, looking down at the bushes.
"You didn't fail him. You came back didn't you?" Sakura questioned. "I think that you should give your brother a chance, Sasuke."
"Sakura, you don't know how badly I want to," the younger Uchiha admitted, now looking up at the stars. "I just have trouble doing that."
"Please, just try. He really does love you. He told me that he loves and cares about you even more than his own life."
Sasuke let out another sigh before he asked, "He really said that?"
Sakura squeezed his hand and replied, "Yes."
The two sat on the roof in silence, letting what just happened sink in before they decided to go back to Sakura's house.
The two arrive, hand in hand, to discover the older Uchiha sitting on the couch, waiting for their arrival. Sakura felt Sasuke tense up and her grip on him tightened.
"Sakura, could you leave us alone for a while?" Itachi asked.
She hesitated before letting go of Sasuke. Before she left the room, she made sure to give a please-don't-kill-him look.
"So, little brother," Itachi started. Sasuke stayed silent, starting at him. "I know you don't trust me but I do still… love you."
This caused Sasuke to stare at the floor, contemplating if what his brother said was true or not.
'After years of leaving me to fend for myself, he says that he loves me,' Sasuke thought, conflicted. 'But do I forgive him?'
"I don't expect you to let me into your life like old times, but I would like to become a part of it again," Itachi admits, standing up. "I don't want to be your enemy anymore, Sasuke."
Sasuke looked at his brother with his arms crossed, "You never were…"
This caused Itachi to mentally grin at his brother. "If it's OK with you, could I stay at the compound tonight?"
Sasuke nodded a yes and Itachi held his hand up. The two brothers shook hands, accepting their new relationship. Sakura then came running into the room and hugged them.
"You were eavesdropping?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You can't blame me; it was intense!" Sakura said, ending the hug. "But I'm glad that things are finally settled enough so things aren't that awkward."
"Hn," the two brothers say at the same time, causing Sakura to laugh.
"See, you two have more in common than you think!" She said.
"Thank you again for doing this for me, Sakura. I could never thank you enough," Itachi said.
"Yeah, thanks for putting up with me. I know I was being stubborn but thanks for not giving up on me," Sasuke said, kissing her on the top of her head.
"Hey, I'm just glad this is settled. I'm happy for you two," she said, hugging Sasuke.
"Like I told you before, Sakura, Sasuke's lucky to have you. Oh, by the way, I approve of this relationship," Itachi said, causing Sasuke to smirk.
"Yeah, I am lucky to have her. And… thanks," he replied. "What time is it?"
Sakura looked at the clock and replied, "Almost eleven. You guys should probably go home."
Itachi moved to the door as Sasuke gave Sakura a goodbye peck on the lips. "Thanks again."
"No problem. I love you. Good night!" Sakura said as her boyfriend went to the door. The two brothers left, making sure that no one saw Itachi, as Sakura went upstairs.
Sakura walked into the lab to find Tsunade already there again.
"Hello, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said, greeting her mentor.
"Afternoon, Sakura," the blonde haired woman said, "Could you give me the dropper?"
Sakura did so and asked, "How far are we with the cure?"
"I think we're almost done!" She exclaimed. "So how did your plan go?"
"It started out rough but it eventually worked out. They made up and Itachi's trying to come back every night to visit Sasuke. You know, to make up for their lost time together," Sakura explained, looking at a chart of information collected from the experiments.
"Have either of you told Sasuke about his illness?" Tsunade asked although her attention was still on the lab.
"No."
"Well don't you think it's important that he knows?"
"Yes, of course, but I'm not sure how he'll take it," Sakura said, writing down data.
"Well, if he can take what just happened to him yesterday then he can certainly take this," Tsunade said, causing her student to sigh because she knew her teacher was right.
"I'll tell him later then," she said.
After her shift was over, Sakura took a stroll, heading for the ramen shop. She, Tsunade, and the other scientists and doctors made progress today. Tsunade even said that the cure should be done soon. Sakura was going to cross through the training grounds as a short cut before she noticed Naruto. He was facing the tree… but why?
'Please don't tell me he's kissing a tree…,' Inner Sakura said.
'No, he's not,' Sakura said, moving to another angle to get a better view. 'Oh my gosh, he's kissing Hinata!'
Inner Sakura spat out her water while Sakura stared with her mouth agape. Hinata was pinned to the tree on both sides by Naruto's arms, preventing her from escaping, although she probably wouldn't have. She has a slight blush on her cheeks. Sakura then ran off toward Ichiraku's, hoping to find someone she could tell.
"Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled when she saw him taking a nap nearby.
"Hmm? What is it?" He said, still not getting up or opening his eyes.
"Naruto and Hinata are together!" Sakura said, causing him to open his eyes.
"Really? Well I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later," he said, sitting up. "Hey, do you think you could help me with something?"
"Well I'm glad to see you're happy for them," she said sarcastically. "But sure, what's up?"
"Can you talk to Ino and find out why she's been so angry with me?"
"Still? I thought you would have settled this by now," Sakura said. "I'll go find her now."
"Thanks, you're the best," the lazy boy said before falling asleep again.
Sakura went to the Yamanaka's Flower Shop and pulled her friend aside. There was only one customer so she didn't complain.
"Why are you mad at Shikamaru?" She asked, getting to the point.
"What? Did he send you to ask me?" Ino asked, crossing her arms. "Of course he can't even do this by himself."
"Ino, I'm tired and I just want to eat and go home. Just tell me why so I can settle this," Sakura said, letting out a deep sigh.
Ino played with her blonde hair while saying, "Oh, it's nothing. It's just the fact that he forgot our seven month anniversary!"
"Ino, seriously?" Sakura said, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "No one celebrate seven months of anything. It's six months or a year. Sasuke and I never even mentioned seven months."
Ino was still angry but knew Sakura was right. "Hn, he still should have done something special."
Sakura let out a sigh. There was no use trying to convince her anymore. "Yeah, you're right Ino. But I still think you should apologize." Her friend gave a pout and was about to argue but the customer called her over. "I'll see you later, Ino, hopefully after you and Shikamaru settle things."
Sakura decided to skip the ramen shop; she wasn't hungry anymore. Instead, she made her way to the Uchiha compound. She found Sasuke meditating in the living room and, not wanting to disturb him, just sat on the couch.
After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and said, "Hello."
"Hey, how are you doing?" Sakura asked, coming to sit on his lap.
"I'm doing better now that you're here," he replied, causing her to blush slightly. He wrapped his arms around her just as Itachi walked into the room.
"Hello," he said. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything."
Sakura looked at him and said, "Hi Itachi, you're not. Are you feeling OK? You look kind of pale."
Itachi then proceeded to walk to them, saying, "I'm fine."
Just then, he stopped walking. Sasuke let go of the pink haired medic and she ran to his brother as he fell to the ground.
"Get Lady Tsunade!" Sakura yelled as she tried to help the unconscious Uchiha.
Prepare for a decently sized authors note below. Please read:
OK guys, I know you probably hate me now for making you wait so long for an update but I have two legit reasons: School and life. But I dedicated my holiday break to writing and I FINALLY wrote this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I also hope that you guys are also having a great holiday. I guess you could consider this your Christmas/NewYear/Whatever-you-celebrate present.
Please leave a review; it's highly appreciated. Again, I'm so sorry but I most likely won't have any more time to write after my break either (got to prepare for the wonderful exams). My next break is during the second week on April so yeah… it'll be a while. But for more stories like this, please take a look at my other Naruto stories and tell me what you think.
~ E
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