AN: This chapter was a lot of fun to write. In fact, it was the idea for this chapter that inspired the entire story. I hope you like it because it's different than anything I've done before.

Please review and let me know how I did!

Thanks!

Nothing but the Truth

Chapter 17: Distant Star

"Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything."
― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

Itachi was confused and groggy when he woke up, that was something out of the ordinary already, because something was missing. Something very warm and very pink was missing from his bed. Slowly, he opened his eyes to confirm that, yes, Haruno Sakura was not in bed with him. One of his hands reached out and stroked the area where Sakura usually slept only to discover that it was cold, meaning she had left quite some time before. As he groggily sat up, he came to another realization.

He was naked.

Well that seemed to make sense as well. Itachi knew the answer he would receive from Sakura the night before when he had gone to her. He had known that she could never stay with him when she had all of those people who loved her back home. The words of a desperate man escaped him when he pleaded with her to stay, and she had cried when he asked. Then, he found himself crying as well when she told him exactly what he had expected to hear: she told him she had to go home. For the first time in almost eleven years, Uchiha Itachi shed tears. Her friends needed her, her village needed her, Sasuke needed her. How could he possibly argue with that?

What else do you do when your reason for existing is leaving your life?

Well, if you're Uchiha Itachi, you cry a little, and then you make love to her like you've never have. You put all of your emotions into that because you don't know how to verbalize your feelings yet. For your entire life, you have stunted your feelings in order to ignore the constant pain that seems to seep into every day, so you don't know how to tell the woman you care about most in this world that you love her. They say that actions speak louder than words, so he had showed her how much he cared for her in his actions.

As his vision focused, Itachi found a scroll sitting on the bedside table, his name imprinted in Sakura's loopy handwriting on the outside. He glanced around the room once and soon discovered that all of her possessions were gone – only the solitary bag he kept with him at all times was in the room now. Not really wanting to know what it said, Itachi pulled the seal on the scroll apart and unraveled it to find a letter. A letter to him.

Dear Itachi,

I guess I should start with this: I'm gone. I've asked Deidara and Kisame to take me to the Leaf shinobi rendezvous point without you.

How could he have not felt everybody waking up and leaving for the day? He would have been able to sense that. He usually always woke up when Sakura even stirred in her sleep.

Why, you may ask?

Well, first I'll say that I injected a sleeping serum into your bloodstream this morning. That's why you didn't wake up. I knew you would have wanted to come with, and you couldn't come with to this.

Well, that explained it.

Because if you came, I would have never been able to leave you – especially after last night. If you came with, I would have found another reason to stay. I can't really do that at this point, can I? I suppose not. We always knew that our time together was temporary. We never really said it, but I feel like it was always implied, right?

Well, I'm pretty stubborn and I find ways to get what I want. If you haven't figured this out by now, then you don't know me as well as you'd like to think you do. So, I want you. And I get what I want, and I'm going to do whatever I can in my power to make it so we can be together.

As Naruto would say, that's a promise of a lifetime.

I really wanted to say this to your face, but I'm a big fat chicken and I was afraid you wouldn't say it back, but I don't have to worry about that on paper, now do I?

So here it is:

I'm going to miss you, Uchiha Itachi. And I love you.

Love always,

Haruno Sakura

P.S. I stole some of your clothes to wear to sleep. They're more comfortable than my sleepwear, and I know you liked it when I wore your clothes.

Itachi read over the letter three more times before finally committing it perfectly to memory. Slowly, he lowered it and exhaled a breath he was sure he had held the entire time. She was gone, but not for good. Was she really that sure of herself, or was she just that naïve? He hoped, fully and truly, that it was the former and not the latter. Standing up from bed, he pulled on his boxers and his jounin pants, quickly realizing that his shirt was gone, and walked out of the room towards the kitchen.

Just as he entered, the front door to the base opened at Kisame and Deidara walked in. He should have been angry, he should have been furious with them, but he wasn't. Kisame never looked more upset or sad, a frown plastered on his face, and Deidara's eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying. Sometimes it was hard to remember that they weren't just the Akatsuki: most feared organization in the world, but they were human, too.

X

Sakura walked slowly down the corridors of the prison, a confused Tsunade in tow. The moment that she had stepped inside Konoha's borders, 'rescue team' following her quietly, she made to see Tsunade because there was something that she should know. Moving gracefully down to Sasuke's cell, she opened the door to find him reading a book he had been allowed. She gave him a smile before pulling Tsunade into the room and closing the door. As she pulled out the scroll that she had stolen from Itachi's bag, the one he kept with him all the time, she studied the old ANBU seal wearily. Resolutely, she looked from Sasuke to Tsunade and opened the scroll.

"Let's have a chat."

One week after Sakura's departure:

Itachi, Deidara, and Kisame sat at the kitchen table quietly as they ate their breakfast. There really wasn't much to talk about anymore since nobody dared say the 'S' word. If someone even mentioned her in passing, Deidara would break out in tears and Itachi would glare at the offending person. Pein asked where she was and Deidara and Kisame had to tell him that she was rescued by a group of Leaf-nin. That was not a particularly fun conversation. Especially now that Uchiha Madara, aka Tobi, was in charge of the Akatsuki. Itachi had always suspected, but it wasn't confirmed until that moment.

As Itachi took steady bites of his miso soup, Sakura's favorite breakfast, he attempted not to miss her too much. He was an Akatsuki, and he knew forming connections with the girl was foolish and would only result in heartache. But he did it anyway because she was worth it.

His reverie was cut short by the sound of a small explosion and a shriek from Deidara. Itachi looked up to find quite a sight indeed. A slug the size of a cat had fallen onto Deidara's head. The slug looked around languidly before seeing Itachi, and slowly moved down Deidara and across the table to Itachi. That's when he noticed the purple ribbon tied around the slug with a scroll tucked in.

"From my master," the slug said lazily. Once Itachi took it, the slug bowed once and then disappeared in a puff of smoke after shooting a bit of slug acid at Deidara ('My master said that's for grabbing her butt when you left her with her rescuers'). Itachi unfurled the scroll to find familiar loopy handwriting sprawled across the page.

Dear Itachi

We did it!

Sasuke has been exonerated of most of the charges. The only ones he couldn't get away with were the ones where he tried to kill me and the initial defection from the village. Which also came down to me being incapacitated on a bench after your stupid little brother thanked me. Tsunade, even though I begged, would not let him get away with that. Her punishment for those charges is quite entertaining as well. He has to be guarded at all times by someone of sannin strength, and he has to do training to integrate himself into the village with someone of sannin strength. Naruto volunteered, but Tsunade laughed out loud. There are only a few ninja in the village who are of sannin strength and that includes Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, and me. Kakashi is too busy with missions, Tsunade doesn't have time to do it herself, and there is no way we're letting Naruto train anybody. So, you guessed it:

I am now Uchiha Sasuke's sensei.

I thought he was going to pass out when she told him. I thought I was going to pass out when she announced the verdict. Luckily, she is letting him stay with Naruto at night because I do not want Sasuke living in my one-bedroom apartment with me. You never saw it, but it's tiny.

I also think it's shishou's way of keeping me in the village. You know, there are a lot of creeps who want to kidnap young, innocent pink-haired kunoichi out there.

Do you think I should make Sasuke call me Haruno-sensei? I'm pretty sure his big, fat Uchiha pride will splinter into a thousand pieces if I tried to make him do that.

Haha! I have the power.

With love,

Sakura

P.S. Fun fact of the day: There are 206 bones in the human body. I only have 205 because after a fight with Naruto and Kakashi, I had to remove a bone from my right pinky toe. It was tiny, but I'm still special like that.

X

Sakura sat on her bed reading through medical scroll after medical scroll. In her absence, Shizune had to take over the full weight of the hospital, and Sakura had missed a lot. It was nearly one in the morning when she heard the faintest of knockings on her window pane. When she looked up, she screamed first because there was a huge black crow with a red eye sitting on her balcony, tapping on her window. It took her a moment to calm down and realize whose crow that was before she moved to the window.

As she opened it, the crow held its foot out. Sakura opened her palm and the crow dropped a small scroll into her hand. She thanked the crow by giving it some of the crust of the sandwich she had been eating before it departed. She opened the scroll and instantly recognized the small, neat handwriting that spread perfectly down the page. Her heart fluttered a bit because she had not been expecting him to write her back. However, it made her happy that it did because Kami knew she would be lying if she claimed she didn't miss him. Sometimes his clothes just weren't enough to keep her warm and happy at night. Without further thought, she began reading the letter he had sent.

Sakura,

The subtle jabs about 'creeps who want to kidnap young, innocent pink-haired kunoichi' and the Uchiha pride did not go unnoticed. They are also not appreciated. What is also not appreciated is injecting me with a sleeping drug the morning you were supposed to leave. I should have been able to say goodbye.

With that being said, yes, you should make Sasuke call you Haruno-sensei. You should also make him dress in a green spandex jumpsuit. I remember Maito Gai (and I assumed the young ninja who begged you for a date not too long ago was his protégé, Lee), and I think it would help to further destroy his pride. If you're looking to destroy his pride, that is.

Additionally, I know you took the scroll.

Also, please do not stop sending letters. Your absence is strongly felt.

Sincerely,

Itachi

P.S. That is an interesting fact that I will now have stored in my brain forever. However, I wonder what important piece of information I just had to remove in order to make room for how many bones are in your body.

One month after Sakura's departure:

Itachi,

I DID IT!

I passed the ANBU exams.

Stupid Naruto beat me to it during the last exams, but I did tell him to take them. He wouldn't have if, you know, I hadn't been held hostage for six months by the Akatsuki.

But your training, along with Deidara and Kisame's, made the exams easier. I didn't use my Sharingan. I'm still keeping that a secret. I don't want all of the shinobi in Konoha to try to get that secret. Like you said, no one should have seen that scroll. That scroll should have never existed.

I did tell Sasuke, though, and he is secretly helping me hone it like you did. You two are a lot alike. He's even growing his hair out a bit now and the resemblance is uncanny and a bit disturbing. I almost called him Itachi once.

So Sasuke took the ANBU exams even though he is technically still a genin. Did you know you can do that? I never did. He passed as well. There's a shock (can you sense my sarcasm through my writing?). But me, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi are officially a team again even though Sasuke's on probation. He's allowed to go on missions with us since we could all technically overpower him.

Even though after a little sparring session, I doubt my abilities to do that. You see, we destroyed the forest of death during an ANBU training exercise. Like, it's gone. Sasuke blamed me since I was the one to hit the ground with my chakra enhanced fist but it was his fault for pissing me off so bad. Oops.

It's weird having Team Seven back together again. We even ended up getting the name of ANBU Squad Seven. But it's like no time has passed at all. Sasuke and Naruto still bicker and Kakashi still reads porn, and I still hit Naruto over the head when he whines about wanting ramen. It's like Team Seven: the later years.

It's weird, but it's nice.

Anyway, I'm assuming 'your absence is strongly felt' means that you miss me, and I miss you too. All three of you…but especially you.

Love,

Sakura

P.S. Fun fact of the day: You and Shisui used to train a lot in a grove of trees not far from training ground three when you were younger. How do I know? I was training with Sai when I found a message carved into the tree: 'Shisui will always be better than Itachi' and right under it, 'No. Shisui is delusional from using his body flicker technique too much. You see, he left his brain behind once and now he can't find it, sending him into fits of delirium.' Your handwriting is the same on bark then it is on paper. And what kind of kid knows what delirium means?

X

Sakura,

Congratulations on your promotion. Konoha needed a new training ground anyways so you were doing them a favor.

I hope you're happy with your new team and that my foolish younger brother doesn't bother you too much.

Stay safe,

Itachi

P.S. I wrote that message when I was eight and Shisui was ten. I can't believe it's still there.

Two months after Sakura's departure:

Itachi,

I did it again!

I have been named ambassador to Suna. It's a position I've wanted since I was sixteen. It also means I get my own personal guard.

You guessed it: Uchiha Sasuke is now my personal guard dog. Or should I say guard snake?

So I haven't been completely honest with you so far. I told Sasuke the truth behind the massacre. Just him and Tsunade, nobody else knows, so stop freaking out in that silent, Uchiha way that you freak out. In response, Sasuke tried to sneak out of the village so he could destroy it. I knew what he was going to do so I followed him, but this time he didn't leave me unconscious on a bench.

Oh no that's not what happened at all this time.

This time, I beat his ass into the ground and dragged him back, refusing to heal him for being such an idiot. I told him that you did what you did so he wouldn't want to destroy his village, so that he would love his village, and that's why you kept it a secret. He never has looked more ashamed of himself.

Anyway, Tsunade felt it would be best to get Sasuke away from Konoha for a little while, so he's going to join me on my journey to Suna. My ambassadorship means I'll be spending a lot of time in Suna from here on out, and I'll be traveling to and from Konoha often.

Love always,

Sakura

P.S. Fun fact of the day: your clothes don't smell like you anymore. It makes me sad.

X

Sakura,

…Uchiha's do not 'freak out.' Not even silently.

Itachi

P.S. In the second scroll that I sent with my bird this month, I have sealed some different clothes that smell like me although I don't understand why you want them. However, I do not plan to understand the female mind anytime soon. Just don't be sad anymore.

Three months after Sakura's departure:

Dear Itachi,

Sasuke asked me to marry him.

Also, Kankuro of the sand siblings is helping me learn puppetry. It's really cool and I'm actually pretty good at it. Temari taught me some wind jutsu, and Gaara is teaching me how to control sand. It's all in the name of good shinobi relations even though Gaara pisses me off so bad. We're both so stubborn. During our most recent argument, I punched his desk so hard that I destroyed it…oops. And the bastard just stayed so calm! It's like he's mocking me.

Anyway, I've taught them a lot of medical ninjutsu, and Sasuke is teaching a class in swordsmanship to some of the academy students here. It's really very funny to watch him with kids, but he's actually pretty good with them as long as I remind him not to lose his temper. One kid called him an asswipe once, and I was sure he was going to kill the eleven year old before I stepped in.

Love,

Sakura

P.S. I said no, so you can stop your little silent freak out that I know you were having even though you deny that Uchiha's freak out. However, it did make Sasuke question me about my relationship with you, but I didn't know what to tell him. So I just hit him and told him to mind his own damned business.

X

Sakura,

I like to think that I've been very generous with Sasuke my entire life, and you said I was one of the most selfless people you knew for what I did for him and my village. However, there are a few things I am not willing to share and I'm not willing to part with.

He can't have you.

Unless, you openly express to me that you would rather have him. In that case, I would simply have to kill him.

Because he can't have you.

Itachi,

P.S. Happy birthday – I know I'm a bit early (four days, to be exact, yes I know your birthday – you marked it on every calendar in each of the bases you stayed at), but I don't know when I'd be able to write you again.

Sakura sat reading the letter on the edge of the window sill. The suite she shared with Sasuke that she had in Suna was very large and afforded her some privacy. Her heart fluttered at Itachi's possessiveness because there was one point in time that Sakura was sure that Itachi would give Sasuke whatever he wanted. It made her happy to know that she was worth keeping from him. It was then that she realized that she was not alone – Itachi's crow had never left the window sill. In his mouth was a small, square package hanging by a string.

Sakura took it from the crow and have him a bit of apple before he let out a loud caw and flew away into the night. The first thing Sakura noticed when she opened the package was a small, leather bound book. As she opened it she realized it was a copy of Itachi's favorite book – the one he had been reading the night before Orochimaru's extraction. She ran her hands over the new leather and smiled. As she leafed through the pages something else fell out.

It was a necklace with a long and silver chain that would easily fall deep down into her shirt, hiding it from view if need be. It was the pendant at the end that shocked her. A metal Uchiha fan that was no bigger than the pad of her thumb sat at the end of the silver chain. But something was wrong with it. She studied it for a moment before the realization dawned on her – the colors of the fan were inverted. The base of the fan was red while the actual fan portion, the top part, was white. The real Uchiha fan was the exact opposite.

It bothered her a bit that there was no other explanation as to what the necklace meant because surely, the necklace made would have never been kept if the jeweler had screwed it up. Her fingers grazed the necklace when she realized that something was inscribed on the back. She turned the pendant over to find kanji engraved into the back.

'Uchiha Mikoto.'

Sakura gasped, letting out a little shriek. This pendant belonged to Itachi's mother, and he was giving it to her? That had to be some kind of mistake.

She must not have been as quiet as she thought she was because a loud knock sounded on the door before Sasuke burst into the room, a slightly panicked look on his face.

"Sakura is everything alright?" he asked, panting. He must have jumped out of bed when he heard her yell out – his room was just next door. Looking her up and down, his posture relaxed a bit when he saw that she was unharmed. "Why'd you yell out? And what's that in your hand?"

Damn it; caught red handed.

"Uhm," she began as Sasuke drew closer. "It's a birthday gift."

"From?" he asked. Finally, he was standing next to the window, hovering over Sakura.

His eyes widened in recognition just as Sakura muttered, "Your brother."

Sakura dangled the chain and pendant in front of his face and he fingered the pendant a bit. His face remained impassive as he turned the chain over to trace the kanji of his mother's name on the back. His brow furrowed a bit as he studied the chain further, and Sakura began to grow uneasy. He was too silent – too contemplative. Finally, in a voice just above a whisper, he stated, "My brother is in love with you."

Sakura's eyes widened at the confession, not understanding how one chain could possibly mean so much. "Sasuke, what is this necklace? Is…is that what it means?" she croaked out. "Why are the colors inverted?"

"He didn't explain?" Sasuke asked evenly, his gaze never leaving the chain. He sighed before taking a seat on the window ledge next to Sakura. "This is the necklace of star-crossed lovers."

"The…what?" Sakura sputtered in response, grabbing the chain back from Sasuke and examining it for further clues. Where the hell did it say that?

Sasuke chuckled a bit, but it sounded forced. However, he continued, "It was mine and Itachi's favorite story growing up. My mother would always tell it to us when father would leave on a long mission. The story goes that generations ago, an Uchiha male was in love with a woman outside of the clan, and she was a civilian, not a shinobi. The Uchiha clan was big on inter-clan marriage, and if you didn't marry an Uchiha, then you had to pick a pretty strong kunoichi instead. Anyway, this guy was in love with this woman but he could never marry her. Instead, the clan elders forced him into an arranged marriage, which also weren't that uncommon. So, in order to tell the woman that he would always love her and that she would always have his heart, he had a necklace made for her of the Uchiha fan, except the colors were inverted. That way, she would always know of his love for her.

"The women in my clan called the necklaces the necklace of star-crossed lovers. That's just the legend behind the jewelry, but there's probably some truth to it. When I was young, the necklaces were used by the men of my clan who were going to war or going on long missions to tell their wives or girlfriends that they loved them. My father got this necklace made for my mother when the Third Shinobi World War started. Itachi must have kept it all these years. If he's giving it to you, it means that he's in love with you and you'll always have his heart…"

Sasuke trailed off for a moment and looked out the window, not focusing on anything in particular. Sakura was breathless at the story and the conclusions it drew. Itachi was not a verbal person – he didn't express himself through words, but through actions. This was perhaps the biggest declaration of love that Itachi would ever express to her, and Sakura found it hard to breathe. When she looked up at Sasuke again, she could see the slight disappointment in his eyes. It had only been a few days since his marriage proposal, and although he admitted that it was mostly because she was the only kunoichi that he could tolerate and tolerated him, there was still some lingering sadness to his onyx eyes. "Sasuke…" she trailed.

His eyes snapped to hers and turned impassive immediately. "He deserves to be happy, and he deserves someone like you," he finally stated. Sakura cheeks tinged pink at the unexpected compliment. This entire conversation was unexpected – because who knew that Uchiha Sasuke could talk so much – and it was making her anxious. Plus, she missed Itachi, and now she wanted nothing more than to find him and kiss him senseless. Sasuke wrinkled his nose a bit, "Gross, my brother has hormones."

Sakura laughed out loud as she slipped the necklace over her neck.

Four months after Sakura's departure:

Itachi,

I'm sure you heard about Jiraiya's death at the hands of Pein.

Naruto has gone off to train somewhere – my best friend is gone again. I'm in Konoha for a short while with Sasuke for the funeral, but we'll be heading back to Suna soon.

Shishou is taking everything really hard. It doesn't help that Naruto blames her, but it was Jiraiya's choice, I guess. I couldn't imagine what I would do if Tsunade died. I don't know what I would do with myself…

I asked Sasuke if he was sad when Orochimaru died and he laughed. Bastard.

On a happier note, Sasuke explained the meaning of your gifts to me. Wow, just wow. I'm so happy I can't even express it in words. Sasuke told me the story behind the necklace and I'm honored by its importance and significance. It also made me speechless and turned me into a stuttering fool for a while, making Sasuke laugh at me. He seems to be over the idea of marrying me since you have 'laid your claim' as he put it (I'll ignore the chauvinistic way he worded it since it sort of made me happy for him to recognize me as yours). That being said, Sasuke is more attentive and protective as ever. He's turned from a guard dog into a rabid guard dog. He says that it's the least he can do – protect me for you because you can't be here. It's one of the ways he's trying to honor your sacrifice. He just scoffs every time I say I don't need protecting.

I'm sad and angry but happy all at the same time. Does that make sense?

Love always,

Sakura

P.S. Fun Fact of the day: your crow summon likes me better. I give him apples.

X

Itachi walked slowly with Kisame and Deidara flanking either side. They were changing bases since they had spent too much time at the one in Wind Country. Instead, they made their way invisibly through River Country on their way south to the base in Tea Country. Itachi automatically thought of Sakura and how that was the first base he had brought her to after she had been captured. Things were so different back then. It was shocking to hear that Jiraiya had attempted to infiltrate the Akatsuki base in Ame and that he had been killed because of it. Of course, nobody knew that Itachi had been leaking information to the toad sannin all these years. It was still a pity and a loss of a great shinobi. He could understand Sakura's hurt as well as Naruto's.

Shisui had been Itachi's first teacher and his best friend. When he died, a looming weight of sadness and depression settled firmly over Itachi's chest and shoulders that never quite seemed to evaporate. Sometimes it would lessen and sometimes it would become heavier, but it was always there if Itachi ever thought about it.

His internal thoughts were cut off by the imperceptible stiffening of both Kisame and Deidara. How had they not noticed two Leaf ANBU walking down the same path as them?

Apparently the Leaf ANBU noticed them at the same time because they stopped dead in their tracks as well. Both of their chakras had been masked, and they had been walking in complete silence, indicating why nobody had heard them coming around the corner of a large grove of trees. However they were now only ten meters away from the Akatsuki. The taller of the two ANBU stiffened and took a half-step in front of the smaller one. To Itachi's utter surprise, the smaller one threw her head back and laughed loudly. It was a very, very familiar laugh – one that warmed his heart the instant it escaped her mouth.

"Ne, Sasuke, don't you recognize your own brother?" Sakura said as she pushed her feline shaped mask up, revealing a devilish grin. Sasuke followed suit, his face impassive, but his eyes were anxious. Sakura gave him a reassuring, understanding smile.

Itachi, for one, could not believe it. What were the chances that they would run into Sasuke and Sakura here? Hadn't she mentioned she would be travelling back to Suna sometime this week? Yes, she had, hadn't she?

"Sakura-chan!" Deidara cried out from behind him, and the blond man bound towards her. Sasuke stiffened and was about to intercept Deidara when Sakura shoved past him, allowing him to engulf her in a hug. "We've missed you, yeah!"

Sakura's tinkling laughter filled the air as Deidara swung her around. Even Kisame had moved to greet the female, ruffling her short pink hair. It was shorter now, and Itachi surmised she must have cut it when she returned home. "I've missed you all as well," Sakura replied genuinely, smiling brightly at the two Akatsuki in front of her.

Itachi stayed rooted to his spot, his eyes never leaving her. For a moment, he chanced a look at Sasuke who was watching Deidara and Kisame intently. Sakura's summation of 'rabid guard dog' didn't seem to be too much of an exaggeration. His blood-red eyes were filled with confusion at the scene in front of him – Sakura hugging two of the most notorious criminals known to man, and the anxiety of seeing his brother since he had learned the truth was also clearly written across his face. Sasuke must have noticed Itachi's gaze because he looked up to meet Itachi's eyes. Two sets of crimson orbs clashed for a moment before Sasuke turned away to watch Sakura once more.

"C'mon guys. Maybe this isn't time for a family reunion," Sakura interjected, her gaze darting between Itachi and Sasuke. When her eyes finally met Itachi's, a wide smile stretched across her face. The look in Itachi's eyes told Sakura he did not just want a hug from her. She tilted her head a little, indicating they should find somewhere more private to reunite.

When she bolted from the scene suddenly, Itachi hot on her trail, Sasuke made a move to follow. Kisame grabbed him by his black ANBU cloak and shook his head. "You may not want to follow them, kid," he muttered with a mischievous smile. "You may not like what you see."

Sasuke shot him a dirty look but folded his arms in resignation. Sitting down by a tree, he closed his eyes in order to meditate while waiting for Sakura to return.

Itachi pushed her up against a boulder, and her legs automatically wrapped around his lean hips, grinding into him sensually. They were far enough away from the path so nobody would hear their…conversation. As his lips crashed down to meet hers in a frenzied kiss, he began ripping off her gray ANBU armor. They pulled apart enough for him to pull her shirt and armor off in one movement before his lips were moving back down to hers.

Her fingernails were latched into his shoulders, that plus his body tightly pressed against hers was the only thing keeping her from sliding to the ground. "I've missed you," she whispered as his lips traced lines down her jaw in a series of open-mouthed kissed. Suddenly she stiffened, and her hands pressed against his chest, moving him back. Chest heaving from their passionate kisses, she stared at him for a moment. Her eyes were hard, yet sad when she met his crimson gaze. In a tremulous voice, she whimpered, "You know that I have to go after this. You know that…"

"That you have to continue onto Suna with Sasuke? Yes." Itachi finally answered. It was the first time he had spoken since reuniting with her. It had been four months since he'd seen her last and he had missed her more than he could ever say. His fingers traced the silver chain that hung on her exposed neck, down to where it fell between her breasts under her chest bindings. Slowly, he lifted the pendant that hung there and traced his mother's name. He smirked a bit, to hide his pain at their inevitable separation, but said, "I'm still waiting for that plan of yours to come through. The one where we get to be together."

Sakura's eyes softened before taking on another playful smile that reached her eyes. "Is that what you want?" she asked. Although her face was lively, he could hear the weight of the words she said in her voice. Do you really want to be with me?

"Of course," he replied.

"You asked for it, then," she replied before locking her arms behind his head and bringing it down to crash his lips into hers.

Just over a half an hour later, Sakura and Itachi returned to the path where they left their teammates. They found a snickering Kisame and Deidara and a very, very disturbed Sasuke. Sasuke stood up to greet them, and he looked at his brother fully for the first time.

"Sasuke," Itachi greeted.

"Ita-"Sasuke stopped. With a nod of his head, he greeted, "Aniki."

The weight of that one word crashed down on Itachi. His brother had not called him that since the night of the massacre when he was begging Itachi to explain why he had killed his entire family. It was Sasuke's small way of telling him he was forgiven. It was real progress with his brother. Of course, one day, they would have to discuss what happened all those years ago, but for now that one word was enough for Itachi. Words were lost to him, so he just nodded back and walked towards Sakura. He raised his hand and it landed softly on the side of her head, his thumb running affectionately next to her eye. Her eyes were aglow with joy and happiness, making his chest swell. His arm fell and he gave her a small smile. With that, the group departed, heading in separate directions.

Five and a half months after Sakura's departure:

A familiar slug landed on Deidara once again, as it always did. It slid down the couch and made its way to Itachi. The three Akatsuki had been sitting in the front room of the Akatsuki base. This time, there were three scrolls tucked into the ribbon that was tied around the slug's neck. Opening the letter first, his eyes scanned through the contents as Deidara cursed the slug while it hissed something vial back in response. It was its master's summon in that is replicated Sakura's fiery personality with a vengeance.

Itachi,

I hope you're ready because things are about to get crazy. Konoha wants retribution for Jiraiya's death. That's all I can tell you.

For now, I'm going to be going on my second S-class mission. The first one was four years ago when I killed Sasori and rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki's evil clutches.

Mwahahahah.

Oh, your birthday is almost here. I wasn't sure what to get you. I asked Sasuke what to get you and he laughed. It's weird, but Sasuke actually does laugh now. It's nice. He never did that before. He said I probably knew you better than anybody else on the entire planet. I suppose that's true, isn't it?

Well if I know you, you'd want something pragmatic that you could use. So I brewed you what should be a six months' supply of eye drops for your eyes. Use it!

Also, I included something a little sentimental. I thought it would do you good to see Sasuke smiling for once – at least the closest he gets to a smile. It should show you that you've done the right things in your life for your brother. I hope you know that.

I'll be seeing you soon.

That's a promise (of a lifetime).

Love always,

Sakura

It didn't go past Itachi's notice that she had forgone her usual 'P.S.' message. Perhaps she was just too busy to write it. It seemed that she was facing a rather dangerous mission in her near future. Hopefully Sasuke would be going along with her. It would do a great deal to calm Itachi's nerves for her if he knew that Sasuke was by her side, protecting her. However, she hadn't included that information in her message, but it appeared that Sasuke went with her wherever she went. Surely he would lobby to be on this mission as well.

Itachi took one of the other scrolls and opened it. When he unfastened it, there was a seal in place. After releasing it, a small brown box filled with several vials was in it. Those must be the eye drops. He unsealed the other scroll. There, in the middle of the scroll, was a small leather bound book. It was his gift to Sakura for her nineteenth birthday. He opened the book to the first page. In big, loopy handwriting were the words, 'Mrs. Uchiha Itachi' with a large heart around it. He leafed through the pages to find the words written in the margins of almost every page with large hearts and scribbles. For the first time in a long time, he chuckled out loud at her antics.

Kisame gave him a pointed look. "You're insufferable every damn day except the days you get letters from her," he remarked seriously, but he couldn't stop the grin from spreading beneath the serious façade.

Itachi shrugged noncommittally in response. As he reached the last page, he noticed a small envelope wedged into the spine of the book. On the outside it said 'I want my book back, by the way.'

He opened the envelope and pulled out a photograph. This is what she meant by seeing Sasuke smile. It was a photo of Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura had her usual bright grin that reached all the way to her apple eyes, and she was leaning into Sasuke a bit to fit into the frame of the photo. Sasuke was merely smirking while he gave the rosette a sidelong glance. They seemed to be out to dinner and were probably in Suna. If Itachi's hunch was correct, the Kazekage was sitting next to Sakura because he could make out the corner of his robes in the picture.

Another small smile splayed across his features. He turned the photo over and was surprised to find writing there.

'P.S. Answer the door'

As if planned, there was a knock at the front door. Wait a moment…who knocked on the front door of an Akatsuki hideout? There were hundreds of traps and jutsu erected so nobody could find this hideout…unless they had been there before. Itachi stood up, anticipation and adrenaline coursing through his veins while Kisame and Deidara joined him at the front door to the hideout. As he opened the door slowly, he was disappointed to find it was not Sakura standing there – this ninja was much too tall.

He also had silver hair, his only visible eye crinkling into what seemed to be a smile, and a bright orange book plastered in front of his face.

Hatake Kakashi was standing at the threshold of an Akatsuki hideout with nearly seven ANBU Black Ops members behind him. He greeted Itachi and the other two Akatsuki cheerily with a wave.

"Yo."

AN: This chapter posed a few purposes. I wanted to move the story along while strengthening Itachi and Sakura's relationship. I think they've grown closer while they were apart then when they were together.

I needed to do this in one chapter, and I hope that it was effective.

Also, I'm introducing a very big part of the sequel: Sasuke's relationship with Sakura. No, there will not be a love triangle. When Itachi gave Sakura the necklace, Sasuke took the role of protective brother to Sakura. They also spent the better part of six months together and now Sasuke is one of Sakura's most trusted friends. This is very important, as you will see in the sequel and in the epilogue as well.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We are looking at three more chapters plus an epilogue for this story. I've also begun editing chapters 1-5. Yay!

Please review!