AN-I know my chapters are pretty short, and after that really long break, I'm going to update pretty often. Balance is important after all.

To all the reviewers, Thank you :) I get them in emails, therefore I'm not able to reply, but I'm thankful that you take time out to do it, because it means a lot to me. A lot. So, thanks guys! You're awesome.

2/3/2015: Change, DONE.

Chapter 16- Home Is Where The Family Is

"I still can't believe he called us chipmunks," Sasuke grumbled as Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"Get over it. He's just going senile in his old age," she said, only to smile innocently when Kakashi turned to give her a mournful look. Sasuke tried to observe his pink-haired teammate without being creepy, but he wasn't very successful.

"Teme! I know Sakura-chan is very pretty, but you don't have to stare at her!" Naruto yelled obnoxiously.

Sakura snorted as Sasuke's face did a perfect imitation of a ripe tomato. But her smile faltered all of a sudden at how much he resembled his brother and she had to look away, which did not go unnoticed by either of her teammates. They'd come far, and they were still together. Granted, they didn't go on many missions together after becoming Jonin but their teamwork was legendary. And to accomplish that, they had to know each other better than they knew themselves.

They spent the next two hours in silence, till they decided to take a short break. Ryuu got out of his carriage to stretch his legs, while the carriage driver brought out some hay for the horses. The former went and lay down under a particularly big tree to take a nap, knowing that the team needed some privacy.

"So, Sakura. Mind telling us what's wrong?" Kakashi asked cheerfully. Sakura gulped and gestured for them to sit down. The team sat down as Sakura took out six Instant Ramen Packs from her bag, and the other three took out flasks.

'How much are you going to tell them?'

'Honestly, I know their reactions aren't going to be pretty. But they need to know.'

Sakura gulped and looked at Naruto first, who gave her an encouraging smile. She took a deep breath and started.

"Itachi and I started dating yesterday and now he's on a long-term mission and I don't know when I'll see him again."

.

.

.

.

"WHAT?"

"Oh…God."

"Knew it. Well, not the second part."

Naruto and Sasuke turned to glare at Kakashi, who just shrugged nonchalantly. "It was kind of obvious." 'And I also heard her tell Ino about it.' But he didn't mention that because he really didn't want his ass pounded into the earth for eavesdropping.

"I KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING ON. BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T TELL US. YOUR FAMILY."

Sasuke looked pale- even more so than usual. "You. And Aniki. Aniki and you."

Sakura laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, yeah..."

"Tell us everything. Now." Sakura took a deep breath and nodded. "So, he came over yesterday..." And she told them every single detail.

"I…Sakura-chan…I'm sorry," Naruto's eyes looked suspiciously glassy as he pulled the sister of his heart into a tight hug. Kakashi put a hand on Sakura's head, but Sasuke didn't move a muscle. Naruto looked up at him warily.

"Yeesh, relax, it's not so bad." Sasuke sighed.

"Teme…?"

"Sakura, you've put me in a very difficult position," Sasuke muttered, running a hand agitatedly though his hair.

Sakura puller back from her hug to look at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that I don't know whether I should yell at you for not telling us everything as soon as it happened, or kick my brother's ass for telling you not to wait for him."

Sakura giggled slightly as Sasuke pulled her away from Naruto only to pull her into another hug. "I don't think you could kick his ass."

"I could try," he mumbled against her hair before sighing. "I'm sorry." Sakura withdrew slightly to look at him.

"For what?"

"I don't know. For my brother's idiocy? Hell, he was supposed to be the genius."

"Yes, well, Itachi has always tried to do the right thing, no matter what the circumstances are. Thankfully, I put an end to his attempt before it even finished." Sakura sniffed and crossed her arms.

"I'm glad you guys are giving it a chance! Naruto said determinedly. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.

"You could exchange letters, through the messenger birds or even your summons. And if you want to look at each other too badly, you could always learn that jutsu from Tsunade."

"But what if he meets someone else?" Sakura said, her heart clenching at the thought.

Sasuke snorted and shook his head. "Have you met my brother? He's not exactly a player."

"Then why did he…?" Sakura asked her dark-haired teammate. "Oh, right, noble intentions and all."

Sasuke looked at her with a rueful smile on his face. "He probably thought it was the right thing to do, because he's someone that wouldn't want you to put your life on hold for him. Or be in a difficult relationship." She rolled her eyes and smirked.

Konoha

"UCHIHA!" A beautiful blonde woman yelled as she slammed the doors of Shots! open. It was well known that this was Shisui's favorite bar. She hadn't seen the guy since that time at Ichiraku's, since they'd had to reschedule their dinner because of some family reunion at his place.

"Err. Hey…Ino?" Sure enough, Shisui was sitting right in front of her.

"A word, please. In private," Ino ground out, looking extremely ticked off. Itachi had left in the morning, but she could always talk to his best friend. Or shout.

She dragged him to a corner booth, and though the others couldn't hear what was said in the next five minutes, they knew it wasn't good because it involved the pissed off Yamanaka and a rather scared Uchiha.

"Itachi did what? Are you sure?" Shisui couldn't believe this. His cousin had told him about the mission last night, but he did not tell him that he had started dating Sakura and tried to breakup with her within 24 hours.

"Yes, of course I'm sure!" Ino wanted to throttle the stupid Uchiha. Too bad he was on such a long mission. 'No matter. Revenge can wait,' she thought evilly. Shisui gulped and banged his head on the table.

"Wow, I'm so glad Sakura didn't fall for that..."

"Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking," Ino whispered softly. Shisui silently agreed. Why did Itachi have to be all self-righteous and try to do stupid things he'd regret anyway? "Look, I'm sure his heart was in the right place but I have to make sure...that wasn't some weird attempt to end the relationship, right?"

"What? Hell no. Trust me, Itachi likes her. Like, a lot. You don't have to worry about anything,

With Team 7 and the carriage

"Sakura, you don't look too good. I think you should get into the carriage," Kakashi suggested as he looked at the bags under her eyes and her sluggish pace. The other two males agreed.

"Ah, yes. Sakura-san, I don't think you slept too well last night. I think you should look your best while meeting your long-lost family, yes?" Ryuu asked pleasantly. Sakura frowned at that. Damn it, why did she agree to go along with Ino's absolutely brilliant idea of a movie marathon? To be fair, Love In The Third Shinobi War was a classic...

'Who knows, they might even refuse to accept you as a family member because of your zombie-like appearance.'

She growled lowly but nodded and got into the carriage, and sat down on the seat opposite to the one Ryuu was occupying. The seats were surprisingly comfortable. It didn't take long before she dozed off, curled up on the long seat.

Unknown Location

Sakura blinked blearily as she tried to figure out where they'd reached. She looked at Naruto, the one that had woke her up.

"Sakura-chan, we're here."

Okay, so The Haruno Compound Entrance

"Who goes there?" A deep voice asked. Sakura got up, and Naruto helped her out the carriage. She looked up as the owner of the voice, a tall, bulky man with shocking red hair started at her appearance, his jaw hanging open.

"Me-Mebuki?" he choked out.

Review people! I need some positive feedback and constructive criticism to be motivated enough to write. I'm too lazy. Seriously.