AN: Alright, here's another chapter for ya'll that care. You find out who Sakura's former fiance is in this chapter, and there's a bit of a surprise at the end, too! The next thing I post will be a chapter for The Blue Jays since I've done two chapters for this since my last update for that story. So, in essense, it may be a few days until I get another one of these babies up. I hope you like it!

Slight revision on 6/29/13

Nothing but the Truth

Chapter 8: Head-On Confronation

"There can be no progress without head-on confrontation."

― Christopher Hitchens, Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays

Itachi Uchiha was never a 'direct confrontation' type of person, but the group of rogue ninja who had now surrounded him seemed to be the exact opposite. From what Itachi could tell, they were all at least A-class if not S-class level criminals, and featured large, dangerous looking weapons and evil grins on their faces. Grimacing to himself, he set Deidara down on the floor in order to better defend himself – if they blond got caught in the crossfire, than it was his own damn fault. From what he could surmise in looking at the group, there were twenty of them. As his eyes bled into a red state, he knew he was possibly biting off more than he could chew.

Then, however, one of them gasped, "Itachi Uchiha!" he cried. "No way in hell man. I'm going after the chick." With that, several of the men fled out the door – either in fear of him or in real duty to hunt down Sakura.

Sakura had just made it to the edge of the property when the alarm bells began to ring, and she felt a nervous twinge hit her when she realized Itachi had not yet emerged from the mansion. Should she go back? Was that her duty? Or should she allow the Akatsuki member who ruined everything to die? No, she was a medic, she was a life preserver, and she knew she would surely be killed once Itachi was no longer alive. He was the reason why she was even with the Akatsuki in the first place, and immediately after his death, she would be killed off, at least she thought.

'Sakura? What's going on?' Kisame hissed in her ears. He and Tobi were a solid mile away and it would take them a few minutes to arrive. Another pang of guilt hit her chest – she should go back for Itachi. Although he was an amazingly skilled shinobi, Sakura had counted at least a dozen rogue ninja in the party, and if they confronted Itachi, they may even be too much for him – especially since he was hauling an unconscious Deidara with him.

"Come now. We've been caught," Sakura whispered back. She ran to a tree at the edge of the property where she had kept a bag full of essentials. Quickly, she stripped herself of the kimono and quickly yanked on her black tunic, tight black shorts, and red skirt. Fastening her borrowed ninja belt around her waist and grabbing the second one Itachi left for himself, she hopped back towards the mansion, fear and anxiety pricking at her body.

To her chagrin, there was a group of about five rogue ninja now looking straight at her, blood lust leaking from their eyes. Blood boiling in anticipation, Sakura pulled chakra into her fist and slammed it onto the ground, creating a fissure straight towards the shinobi. Her thoughts, her body was numb; only the heat of battle could fully cause Sakura to go into a blind state of focus and deadly force. Concentrating only on getting to Itachi so they could get the hell out of there, she took the opportunity to jump past them and headed straight towards the doors as many of the surprised ninja fell into the ditch that was easily thirty feet deep – there was no way they would escape quickly anyway.

One of the shinobi, who had managed not to be trapped in the ditch, caught up with her, though, and was trying to incapacitate her by using a water jutsu. Sakura felt it coming and quickly dove out of the way; regaining her balance, she whipped around to see the man before her. Loading chakra into her fist, Sakura strikes out at the man's chest, but he dodges it easily. As she goes for a kunai, the man did the same and they met in the middle of a heated strike.

"Give it up, girly," the tall, lean, black-haired rogue ninja taunted. "You're in over your head."

"Not likely," she murmured with a smirk. Sakura jumped back, flipping towards the doors as she did so, she quickly performed a few hand signs for a medical ninjutsu. As it hit the shinobi's chest, he fell backwards in an unconscious heap. The jutsu blocked oxygen pathways towards the brain just long enough to incapacitate the person.

Now, she only needed to get passed the less-than-adequate security guards. Incapacitating the men quickly, Sakura found herself shocked at what she saw. First, she saw the blood red pinwheels of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Instinctively her body freezes in fear and she darts her eyes to look at the floor, where there is a group of fifteen shinobi, writhing in pain from the effects of the Sharingan. Another stab of fear runs through her, but she quickly realized that Itachi is now next to her and only his regular Sharingan is activated.

"We can leave. Where are the others that were after you?" Itachi asked stoically despite the pounding migraine that is pulsating through his head and down to his neck. Just as Sakura looks up at him, he winces a bit.

"In a ditch," Sakura replied. "Your eyes?"

"Nothing to worry about now," he replied shortly. Grabbing the still lifeless Deidara, yanking him over his shoulder, and turning to the kunoichi, he nods for them to leave. Trying to ignore the pain was more difficult now than ever because he had gone weeks without it. When each day, each battle, was an endless nightmare of blurred vision and horrid migraines, part of him was able to numb himself to it. Now that he had lived a life without it for a few weeks, it was difficult for him to readjust to the pain. Sakura merely turned back at him once more, giving him a worried look, and walked out of the door. The entire encounter only took a matter of three minutes, and Kisame and Tobi were just arriving.

"What the hell?" Kisame exclaimed, seeing the four shinobi in the ditch, another incapacitated by the door. "You're one scary broad. Speaking of which," Kisame muttered, walking over to Sakura, he snapped her chakra-sealing bracelets back on. Sakura just glared at him as he took Deidara from Itachi, who sagged lightly after ridding himself of the unwanted blond male.

"Let's go home!" Tobi exclaimed, hopping quickly into the forest. Screaming was still erupting from the civilians in the home who were still reeling at the fight that had broken out. Sakura ignored it though, as she glanced at a feigning Itachi again, and turned towards the gate. The others followed at a relatively relaxed pace, not thinking that any of the shinobi were who still able would come after them – four Akatsuki members plus a kunoichi that could create canyons in the ground.

Itachi was beginning to see black and purple spots cloud his vision as it often did after using the Mangekyō. Then the expected dizziness his and his body began to shake internally. This was different than his usual technique and fatigue because he had been forced to use it on fifteen different people at once, instead of the usual one or two. Also coming with the stress of this fight was tightness in his chest and a deep pounding of his heart. Had he forgotten to take his medication today? No, he had definitely taken it, but it must have been the exertion of using his ultimate technique that caused his body to rapture like this.

Sakura was staring at him curiously as they continued their journey, a little bit of worry emerging in her body. Not that she was worried about the Uchiha, no, never would she actually care if he was in pain; but worried about all of her hard work going to waste (yes, that was the only reason why she was worried, she tried to convince herself). Then, Itachi's steps faltered ever so slightly, and he began coughing as he braced himself on a tree next to him.

"Itachi?" Kisame asked, throwing the now semi-conscious Deidara to the ground. "You alright?"

Itachi managed to nod but he slipped next to the tree so he was sitting with his back against it, panting heavily. Sakura was instantly at his side, staring at him carefully. Then, she whispered, "Go, take Deidara. We'll meet up with you. This may take a while."

Kisame snorted a bit, "You think we'd trust you to do that?"

Sakura bit her lip thoughtfully, "I won't hurt him. He's too pathetic looking."

Itachi's hand darted out and grabbed the kunoichi by the throat, giving her a deadly look through his clouded red eyes. She only smirked back smugly at him, "That was for leaving me to be groped by Tanaka."

Itachi only hissed a bit in response, but he nodded to Kisame to leave. Kisame huffed, but him and Tobi continued on the path, lugging Deidara with them.

"Can you move?" Sakura asked quietly, suddenly a little nervous to be alone with the Uchiha; perhaps she shouldn't have made a crack about him being pathetic earlier. She was sure he could still kill her, even in his weakened state. He merely inclined his head, but Sakura braced her arms under his elbows to pull him to his feet; much like he had done for her a few days previous.

Sakura led them a few hundred feet, clumsily, into the woods where there was a stream and a little more sunlight so she could better assess what was happening. Dawn was barely breaking behind the trees in the early morning hours, and it was necessary to find a place she could see more clearly. After a few minutes of walking and observing the landscape, she eased him onto another tree so he could relax a bit, but another coughing fit ensued and Sakura could only wait for it to pass.

The entirety of Itachi's body felt as if it were about to combust. His heart beat was completely irregular due to his little condition, his lungs felt as if they were about to pop in the most agonizingly slow way, and the migraine that had begun earlier only continued to trouble him. On top of that, he was now fully aware of the fact that the medic-nin was straddling his legs to attempt to better heal him. This was not the sitting room where they both had cushions to rest on and separate them. This was a forest, and the only way she could properly heal him was in this position. At least, that's what he deduced by the fact that she was now leaning over him completely.

"I'll heal your eyes, first," she whispered as her cool, healing chakra touched his temples. He jerked a bit at the contact but her grip was persistent. In less than a few minutes, the pain had ebbed in his head and his vision was beginning to focus a little more. "Better?" she asked.

Itachi inclined his head, but he didn't open his eyes. To his shock, dismay, disbelief, and a whole sort of other words of that nature, her cold hands were not at the base of his throat, undoing the buttons to his dress shirt. His hand shot up and grasped her wrists, hard, as he glared at her suspiciously. Sakura seemed to be taken aback by his sudden actions, but she did not move to back away. Itachi could feel her pulse quicken at the sudden movement and he could tell she was frightened and uncomfortable.

"I have to examine your lungs so I can stop the coughing," she murmured, casting her eyes down.

"No," he stated.

Her eyes looked straight into his, surprised by his dissent. The sun was now beginning to fully make its way into the sky and was forming right behind Sakura. Damn him to hell if he couldn't admit that she looked amazingly ethereal with the light encasing her pink locks, now disheveled and falling from their previous bun. The sunshine only managed to make her eyes brighter and more expressive. Deep within him, an urge coursed through his body, but he resisted as he grimaced to himself. His breath stopped as she pulled herself a little closer to him so she was now on the upper part of his thighs and her face was only a few inches from him. Holding his breath was a mistake, though, as it caused another fit.

Sakura pulled back, looking slightly bemused, and stated, "See. You need me to heal your lungs!" Itachi only gave one terse nod as she unbuttoned his shirt without further question.

The first thought Sakura had when she placed her cool hands on Itachi was that he was gorgeous. His body was the perfect balance of lean muscle and subtle strength that had always drawn her in. Shaking the inappropriate and fully traitorous thoughts away, she ran a course of diagnostic chakra through him, and she gasped.

His lungs were ravaged with infection. She noted bronchitis, pneumonia, and several upper respiratory infections were plaguing him, or had been in the past and had never fully left. Then she noticed the irregular heart beat so she pushed some more chakra into his heart and she stopped, drawing her arms back, and she stared at him wide-eyes.

"You're dying," she breathed out. Itachi only nodded knowingly. "You have a hole in your heart and a deformity in your left ventricle. That causes your immune system to weaken which is why your lungs look like that of an 80-year-old habitual smoker." Itachi only nodded again.

Sakura sighed and pulled herself off of him, his black eyes following her figure cautiously. "Inbreeding," he managed to choke out.

Sakura looked back up at him, eyes full of something that Itachi didn't like – was that pity and sympathy he saw? The worst part was the complete caring he saw in her – she cared for him in this moment – however fleeting it was. Sakura sighed again, seemingly deep in thought. Her entire face looked like it was a billboard for confusion and conflict. Finally, after several minutes of sitting in silence, she asked, "Would you like me to cure you?"

X

In one of his few moments of complete and utter loss of control, Neji Hyuuga slammed the door to the ICU at Konoha's hospital wide open. It hit the wall with a crack and he stomped up to the main desk. "Why am I here?" he hissed. The poor nurse behind the counter squeaked in fright at the man before her, but this did not stop his uncharacteristic tirade. "I was in the middle of looking for Haruno Sakura, a captured ninja, but I got called back here, and was ordered to come to the hospital in order to talk to the Hokage. Now where is she?"

"Neji, calm down," Genma ordered; him and the rest of the search and rescue team filed into the room with him. Once they had received the order from Tsunade to return immediately, Neji had effectively flung himself into a state of anger so great that he still was not calm. The entire one-day trip back, the Hyuuga had properly left his team and sprung ahead.

"I'm right here, Hyuuga. Come in here, all of you. There's something I'd like you to see," Tsunade called from the other side of the ward, standing near an open door. Neji glided past the desk and walked into the room, only for him to stop dead at what he saw.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke Uchiha acknowledged from his hospital bed on the other side of the room. Naruto and Kakashi were both standing by the windowsill, regarding him wordlessly. The apprehension of what Neji may do was etched in Naruto's cerulean eyes.

Neji's Byakugan activated instantly as he scanned the Uchiha. Then, in one swoop, he stood next to the Uchiha. Grabbing him by the neck of his hospital attire, Neji yanked him out of the bed and slammed him against the wall. Kakashi and Naruto were at his sides instantly, holding onto Neji's arms to keep him from sending the Uchiha into the next room.

"Where is she?" Neji hissed, blind rage incorrigibly racing through his system. Sasuke merely smirked in an arrogant response to the sudden violation of his personal space. "I see her chakra all over you, Uchiha, now you tell me where she is before I end your family line right here and now."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed and his lips tilted downward. "Why do you care where she is?" he asked emphatically.

"Sasuke," Ino gasped as she finally entered the room. "She's our best friend. Please, we need to find her."

Neji regarded the Uchiha with a silent glare when he realized something, "She healed your eyes, didn't she?" Sasuke didn't respond, so Neji pulled back and pushed him against the wall harder. "Well did she?"

"She may have," Sasuke said. "Why does it matter?"

Tsunade gasped a bit with realization. Pride for her student suddenly welled so fully within her that she thought she just may burst, and the urge to hug her student tight filled her, only to be quelled by the remembrance that she could not hug her apprentice at the moment. Next time she saw her, she would. "Neji, Ino…that jutsu you all created."

Ino gaped, disbelief with something else engulfing her features. Was that excitement in her eyes? "We never finished it. It was too hard at the time."

"She did it. I know she did," Neji said, a smile now emerging on his face, as his rage was replaced with comprehension and anticipation. Slowly, he allowed Sasuke to slide so that his feet were touching the ground. "Ino."

"Right!" Ino said excitedly, racing to Neji's side. Slowly, she began to perform a series of seals. Her eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember the exact sequences as they had not practiced the jutsu in months. When she finished, she placed her palm lightly onto Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke sighed deeply, all of the breath suddenly leaving his body.

Then, his body went completely limp and the only thing holding him up was Neji. As the shift happened, Sasuke's usual onyx eyes began to glow bright green, matching the color of Sakura's chakra perfectly. Neji stepped aside, and Sasuke's now green orbs began to shine and a tiny figure of Sakura appeared right in front of him, about a foot away – his eyes acting as a projector. There was an audible gasp in the room as the entire group of shinobi stared in awe.

'Hello there!' the projection of Sakura called out cheerily. 'I really hoped this worked. If it did, then Neji-kun, Ino-pig, we're geniuses!' The small, green illumination of Sakura waved a bit in triumph. 'It also means I'm probably not dead as I was able to get Sasuke to you. I hope you're happy, Naruto, because I only did it for you. Anyway, I only have a few seconds as the Akatsuki are all staring at me, waiting for me to make a move. I'd like to explain myself a bit. I'm healing Uchiha Itachi's eyes for him in exchange for the fact that he let Kakashi free, unharmed. I know you're all probably really mad at me, but I did it of my own volition. There are some other reasons why I'm choosing to stay with them and help them for a bit. Everything I do is to protect you guys, so please allow me to do this. However…'

Sakura's tiny face contorted uncomfortably, 'That doesn't mean I don't want to come home…if you catch my drift. I'm not sure how long they will keep me around or keep me alive after I'm done healing Itachi's eyes. My guess would be not long as I've gained invaluable information about their organization…so, Neji-kun…' Neji's face tightened visibly. 'I'll let you rescue me, just this once, okay?' the projection of Sakura smiled sadly at him and Neji's heart jumped at the inside joke they shared. 'I love you all and I hope to see you soon. Take care.'

The green chakra in Sasuke's eyes began to flicker, and very quickly Sakura was gone and Sasuke jerked awake instantly, a hiss leaving his mouth as he gasped for air. Neji let go of him, striding out of the room quickly, not wanting everyone to see the pain he was in. "What the hell was that?" Sasuke hissed angrily.

"It was a technique Sakura, Neji, and I created. It allows you to infuse your own chakra into someone else so that they are able to get messages to and from people without raising suspicion. Sakura chose to act like she was healing you in order to get her message to us," Ino explained quietly, tears pricking the sides of her eyes. "We're trying to figure out ways to do it with simple things like a ninjutsu, or in Neji's case, the use of a kekkai genkai."

"She used me?" Sasuke spat, anger contorting his face.

"Did it hurt Uchiha?" Kiba retorted angrily from the other side of the room. He was quickly closing the distance between him and Sasuke and Naruto had to step in the way. "Because you've been using her for so long and we're the ones who were here to piece her broken heart back together. So don't you dare…" Kiba trailed off as he turned to leave the room. Ino followed.

Genma was the last person in the room, "We'll set back out in search for Sakura."

"We were in Earth Country when we fought…towards the eastern border. But they seemed to be preparing to travel," Sasuke murmured quietly, brows furrowed, deep in thought. Genma simply nodded and left the room so it was only Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and Tsunade.

Naruto sighed, "Jeez, teme, you sure know how to piss people off."

"Shut up, dobe," was Sasuke's instinctive reply, but a smirk appeared on his lips at the sheer rightness of saying that. Finally, though, he turned up and looked at Naruto puzzled. "Why was Hyuuga so pissed off? Why did he care so much about where Sakura was?"

Naruto placed his hands at the back of his head lightly, allowing it to rest there. "They were engaged."

X

Well, this wasn't what she was expecting. Back against a tree, and a very angry Uchiha looming over her, holding her by both of her shoulders. Sakura instinctively dropped her gaze from his red, furious eyes in a moment of absolute terror. He barked, in a moment of complete uncharacteristic anger, "Do not make offers you cannot backup, Sakura."

First, she was stunned by the lack of title at the end of her name, and then she was shocked that he doubted her. Indignantly, she furrowed her eyebrows and brought her gaze up to meet his, she said ferociously, "I can heal your condition, Itachi."

"Every doctor I've seen since I was five has told me I have a terminal heart condition, and I would be dead by twenty," he bit back. Now, though, he was backing off of her for he had not anticipated such contact. Only medications and sheer force of will had kept him alive these three extra years, waiting for his brother to kill him.

"Yes, well you never have asked me," she muttered, smoothing her top back out, trying to distract herself from the fact that Itachi's shirt was completely unbuttoned, and although that moment had been terrifying, it had also been slightly distracting. Damn those 18-year-old-girl hormones.

"Why," he wheezed, suppressing another coughing fit, "Do you think you're any different?"

Sakura looked absolutely furious. Standing abruptly, she jumped to her feet, and was in the course of walking away from the Uchiha when his hand snatched hers and he pulled her back down. However, she had fallen at an unsuspected angle and ended up falling right into his lap, which was now folded Indian-style.

Outwardly, Itachi stayed unfazed, but inwardly he was cursing the fact that he was male and the fact that he had no control over a certain body part of his. Sakura had not seen how affected he was from her straddling his legs earlier, or the fact that it grew worse when she'd unbuttoned his shirt. Then, after announcing his heart condition, she had been painfully slow at pulling herself off of his lap which resulted in a very taut portion of his pants. In a very uncharacteristic fit of anger, Itachi had then pinned her down underneath him, only making his physical desire of her increase. Now, here she was, sitting in his lap.

Sakura made to move, but he held her close, fearing that if she moved, she would feel his desire for her body. "Answer the question," he commanded, keeping one hand on her wrist, the other firmly on her waist.

"Let go of me!" she yelled angrily, her face flushing at their proximity. She began to wriggle herself free, unknowingly causing an even bigger problem for Itachi down south. Despite the fact that she was angry, her mind was running wild. She did not need inner-Sakura here for her entire body to gush at the proximity of an open-shirted Uchiha.

"Not until you tell me why you even think you could heal me," he replied, regaining his cool demeanor as he grasped her tighter, ending her attempts to get free.

"Why should I?" she hissed. "You doubt my abilities."

"If I doubted your abilities I would not allow you to touch my eyes," he replied shortly. Sakura scrunched up her nose at him (adorable, he thought, no no no no no no), trying to figure out his reasoning. If it was not a question of her abilities, then what was it?

"You require a medic who can rebuild muscle tissue in order to mend your heart and lungs," Sakura stated, trying to coax the answers out of him.

"Yes, I'm aware," he replied, waiting for further explanation. Sakura merely stared at him. Then, he stated dryly, "I was under the impression that was impossible."

She snorted, "Almost."

"Almost?"

"Only three people that we know of, in the entire world, can do that," Sakura replied, now looking away from his face, waiting for it to click.

And it did, "The Godaime Hokage and her two apprentices."

"Yes," she barked. "Yet another example of how you've ruined almost every aspect of my life."

"Oh?" Itachi raised an eyebrow at her.

"Let me go and I'll explain," Sakura muttered.

"No. You'll explain right here," he replied callously. Really, he was trying to fluster the girl because he found her temper quiet endearing, all previous problems of his affections being thrown out the window. Another part of him was trying to gain some control over a particular part of his body as not to further upset the girl.

"Why?"

"Perhaps I don't want you to move," Itachi replied, teasing the kunoichi, whose face turned bright red at the insinuation. Was Uchiha Itachi flirting with her? What's his angle, anyway?

For a moment, she just stared at him. Finally, she jerked back, pulling herself completely off of him, "Sorry I've been manhandled enough for one day."

Itachi merely raised another brow at her and allowed an amused smirk to cross his lips. Then, he demanded, "Now give me another example of how I've ruined your life, please."

Sakura bit her lip, eyes deceiving how much the memory really haunted her, and Itachi felt something boil within him. Then, she said, "It's your fault that I was captured and tortured by Orochimaru."

AN: So once again, this chapter didn't go exactly where I'd expected it to. There was another event that I wanted to hash out before the whole "Orochimaru captured and tortured me" talk, but I think this will flow better. Anyway, I hope you liked it, and to my Blue Jays fans, there will be a new chapter either tonight sometime or tomorrow!