Sakura squinted at Kakashi fidgeting in a hard, plastic chair as he read his bright orange book. She knew how much he hated the hospital, but figured all the time he spent here getting patched up after missions should've made him feel more at home. He looked like he was itching to jump out a window—he probably would've done just that if there were any windows.

The Restricted Ward was an entire floor of the hospital. The only way in or out was through the elevator and single staircase at the end of the hall. Both of which were patrolled downstairs by stoic ANBU guards—there was no one on the Restricted Ward they didn't know about.

Blindingly bright lights flooded the huge, glass-enclosed room that housed Uchiha Itachi—Sakura wondered if they were meant to compensate for the ward's lack of windows. Upon admission to the hospital, the elder Uchiha brother was moved immediately to the Restricted Ward as it was determined to be too dangerous to treat him on a regular floor. She continued her hourly examination, pondering whether Itachi's isolation was meant to protect him or Konoha.

The glow of Sakura's healing hands died down. She nodded, pleased with Itachi's progress. While making notes on his chart, she yawned against the back of her hand—and it seemed Kakashi noticed.

"Come on, Sakura," said her sensei as he snapped his book shut and ushered her out the door. "I'll buy you a coffee."

Sakura snorted. "Buy me? You do know we're the only conscious people on this whole floor, right?"

Kakashi chuckled as they stepped into the dim corridor. The cool quiet of the hall felt strangely alien after hours spent in the beeping glare of Itachi's room. A few steps later, he stopped and leaned against the wall.

"So…how's he doing?"

"Itachi's healing fine. I'm keeping him under heavy sedation on Tsunade's orders, but I've isolated the bacteria in his system and he's responding well to the antibiotics."

Sakura paused when Kakashi closed his eye and folded his arms, but he nodded for her to continue.

"From the preliminary scans I've done, there doesn't seem to be any brain or organ damage. In a few days, I'll begin a more in-depth assessment to determine why his immune system was compromised to begin with."

Kakashi cracked his eye open and asked, "Medically speaking, do you think he'll be ready to stand trial by next week?"

"So soon?"

"Sakura, you know that the sooner this mess is dealt with, the better. It could turn into a very sticky situation—not just with the daimyo and the Council, but with the people on the street as well." He shook his head. "Most people are afraid—civilians and shinobi. They think Itachi's crazy. They think he just snapped one day and killed his whole family."

"Except for his little brother," whispered Sakura, glancing back at Itachi through his glass cage.

Pushing off the wall, Kakashi warned her, "Expect to see ex-Root shinobi here tomorrow. Tsunade asked their sealing specialists to see if Itachi is still bound by his Root seal."

"Root seal? I didn't know Itachi was in Root."

"Did you really think that the Sandaime Hokage would order anyone to kill an entire Konoha clan?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "Itachi was playing double-agent between his clan and Danzo's group. Tsunade believes that Root was prepping him with binding seals for months prior to the massacre. If that's true, how he managed to defy the seals and spare Sasuke, I don't know."

"But why wouldn't he be released from those seals after Danzo died, like Sai?"

"Not sure. That's what these specialists are supposed to find out tomorrow. So, will he be fit to withstand it?"

Sakura crossed her arms and glanced back at Itachi again. "Try to put them off until tomorrow night, Sensei. By then, he'll have several days of antibiotics in him and I can take him off the sedatives."

The sound of their boots clicking on tile bounced around the empty ward as they walked down the hall. Sakura was still shocked to think that Itachi had been a member of the underground Root group—she was also concerned that these seals might have something to do with Itachi's illness.

Flexing her recently-healed fingers brought to mind just how powerful a shinobi Itachi was—but to defy a binding seal? Was it even possible? Voicing her train of thought, Sakura turned to Kakashi and asked, "Sensei? How do you think Itachi managed to break the power of the seal and spare Sasuke?"

He stopped for a moment and then said with a crinkled eye, "Well, I guess you just need the right motivation."

Sakura grimaced at Kakashi's trite explanation. She knew first-hand that just wanting something wouldn't make it happen. Annoyance sparked as she felt like a genin again, her sensei brushing her off with platitudes.

Kakashi pushed the button to call the elevator. "You know, there aren't many who really understand Uchiha Itachi." His eyelid drooped as he lamented, "I can probably count on one hand the amount of people who actually know why he killed his entire clan."

With that, Sakura's long-suppressed anger boiled over. "True. And, until recently, I would not be counted among the people who knew." Kakashi gaped beneath his mask, frozen to the spot. "I still can't believe you and Naruto didn't tell me—we're teammates!"

Kakashi's shoulders slumped and he looked much older than his years. Sakura, however, had no pity for him. She shivered, recalling her trip to the Land of Iron. When she dipped her kunai in poison and packed paralyzing smoke-bombs into her pouch, she had no inkling of the pain that drove Sasuke to the brink.

"You know I never would've…if I'd known about…" She folded her arms and looked away. "Stopping Sasuke from hurting people for no reason was one thing, Sensei. Ending his life without knowing…"

"Would knowing why he was killing everything in his path have made him any less of a threat to Konoha, Sakura?"

"Yes!" He tilted his head at her questioningly. "Okay, no—but to know that I would've killed the only—t-to know that I would've ended the life of a friend without all the facts?" She felt her stomach twist, a painful burning filling her eyes.

"Sakura, I'm sorry," Kakashi said as he laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. His long sigh was laced with regret. "I should've told you—but we still don't know the whole story. I needed to keep what was at that point hearsay quiet. But…you're right. You are a member of Team Seven and I should've trusted you." Kakashi squeezed her arm as his lone eye looked at her with shame. "I haven't really been the best sensei, have I?"

Sakura cursed him in her head—he always knew just how to get to her. Her anger melted away and she felt a trembling smile come to her lips as she took his hand off her shoulder. Holding Kakashi's big, rough hand in both of hers she said, "Sensei, you taught me the most valuable lesson I've ever learned as a shinobi."

"Those who forsake their teammates are lower than trash," they mumbled in unison.

A smile stretching his mask, Kakashi reached up and ruffled her hair like she was still a little girl.

"You know, you always were my favorite student, Sakura," Kakashi confided as he walked into the open elevator, his arm raised in farewell. "Just don't tell Sasuke I told you that."

Sakura smiled at her sensei, his nose already in his book, as the doors slid closed.

Walking back to Itachi's room, she thought about what she'd said to Kakashi. To protect and support your teammates was the highest honor a shinobi could aspire to—and it seemed she was failing miserably at that goal.

She and Sasuke were still teammates. She needed to start treating him like one.

Mechanically checking Itachi's monitors, Sakura realized she would have to tell him what happened between her and his brother. An uncomfortable knot formed in her stomach—she knew the information would not make Sasuke happy at all, but she knew what it felt like to be left out, to not know. It was awful and, she remembered with sadness, it led to bad decisions.

She shuddered to think what her world would be like if she'd followed through with her decision to kill Sasuke. She pushed that thought away. She would fulfill her duty to Sasuke as his teammate. As soon as her shift was over, she would find him and tell him everything that happened. She would never forsake her friend.

Sakura yawned and stretched in her chair. The clock on the wall told her it was a little after midnight—she'd been on duty for almost ten hours now and Shizune wouldn't be here to relieve her for another two. Even though the boredom was crushing, she relished those two hours because she knew once her shift was up, she would have to find Sasuke and reveal Itachi's secret—and she was dreading that moment.

I suppose I should admire his dedication as a shinobi, Sakura thought, glancing at the silent Uchiha. Admiration for this man, however, was hard for her to muster. Thinking how Itachi destroyed Sasuke's childhood made her burn with anger. She knew he loved Sasuke—that he'd hoped to help him rise from the ashes of his clan—but she thought he had a strange way of showing it.

Sasuke spent more than half his life chasing Itachi…and for what. Sadly, she realized she'd been right—vengeance didn't make him happy. Or me, either, she sighed.

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, her joints popping. Sitting around like this never suited Sakura. At least downstairs in the research labs, she was busy. The Restricted Ward was definitely not a hotbed of activity. As she continued to stretch out her aching muscles, a rumble in her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Ugh. And all I have in my office are emergency field rations. Sakura cringed as she thought of the tasteless paste that shinobi carried as part of standard mission gear—you never knew when you'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to eat.

Which is exactly where I am right now! she whined. Just thinking about choking down that muck made her gag.

"I'd rather eat Naruto's microwave ramen. Bleh." She stuck out her tongue in disgust.

The rumbling quickly became unbearable. "Okay! Field rations it is!" She pressed her hand against the door to Itachi's room, unsealed it with a chakra flare and walked down the hall toward her makeshift office.

Halfway there, Sakura froze as she sensed another presence in her office.

How the hell did someone make it past the ANBU guards?

Her hand hovering over her kunai holster, she crept silently toward the door.

Inches away, Sakura recognized the powerful hum of Sasuke's chakra coming from the other side.

How did he get in here? And why? A second's thought gave her the answer—she frowned, realizing that Sasuke had come to intimidate her into letting him see Itachi.

She flopped against the wall in despair—Sakura really wanted to help Sasuke. She was firm in her decision to tell him what happened between her and Itachi. With his brother out cold, however, Sasuke certainly wasn't going to get any answers from him tonight—and she needed to think of Itachi's health first. Once he'd recovered, she would let Sasuke talk to him all he wanted.

That's not going to make Sasuke-kun very happy. I wonder if he'll be angry with me again. She sighed. Well, Sasuke's anger is better than his apathy. At least he's paying attention to me.

She fisted her hands. Although things had been rocky between her and Sasuke, she was no doormat. Guilt over something she'd done wrong was one thing, but guilt over something she was compelled to do by duty?

Sakura steeled herself as she reached out to open the door. She was ready to defend herself from Sasuke's looming presence, his barrage of questions, and his burning glares. What she stumbled into, however, was as far from her imagined interrogation as it could possibly be.

She knew her mouth was hanging open and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

Sasuke was not swooping down on her, grilling her about Itachi—he was gently placing napkins and chopsticks beside two bowls of soup that smelled so much better than field rations. Something about seeing Sasuke doing anything so domestic melted away any residual anger. She thought she ought to feel shocked, angry, awkward, anything, but the smell…it was just too tantalizing.

Sakura sniffed the air deeply. "Oh, Sasuke-kun!" she moaned. "What is that?"

She could've sworn she saw red blooming across his face, but he turned away so quickly that she wrote it off to her overactive imagination.

"I thought you might be hungry," he mumbled as he stuffed one hand into his pocket while his other hand rubbed the back of his neck.

Confused, Sakura thought that this was surely a sign of embarrassment. But…this is Sasuke-kun… She couldn't imagine any situation where Sasuke would be embarrassed—especially not being here with her. She tried to turn this idea over in her mind, but her stomach overrode all brain function as she said, "You have no idea how hungry…"

Sakura slid into a chair in front of one of the bowls as she broke apart her chopsticks. Manners prevented her from immediately digging into the thick slab of pork and delicate noodles swimming in dark broth. Noticing there were no cups laid out, she popped open the bottom drawer of the desk and fished out two sake cups and a bottle.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Is that for medicinal purposes?"

"Yeah, well," she began, bashfulness heating her face as the fact that she was having dinner alone with Sasuke sunk in. "You don't apprentice with Tsunade and not have emergency sake hidden. It's the only thing that stops her temper. You never know when she's going to blow, so I've learned to hide diversions everywhere."

Sakura knew her nerves would make her babble, so she grabbed the bottle and poured out two cups in order to stop the flood of words.

"That's some sensei you have," he replied with a smirk and a gentle shake of his head.

"I suppose she's better than Naruto's sensei, though. She might drink and gamble a bit, but I think Jiraiya dragged poor Naruto to every public bath house in all of Fire Country and then some!" She drained her wine in a big gulp. She bit her cheeks in an effort to stop talking, but the emptiness of her stomach made the alcohol race to her head—and the babbling resumed. "That boy has probably seen enough naked women to last him a lifetime!" What am I saying? she thought, mortified as she quickly refilled and drained another cup.

Sasuke picked up some pork and grunted a laugh. "You're one to laugh," Sakura accused, pointing at him with her chopsticks.

Drinking to cover her embarrassment was certainly not the best plan she ever had and now it was really backfiring on her—her tongue had been loosened by alcohol to the point where she was poking fun at Sasuke. She didn't think she'd ever live down the humiliation.

"You think I wasted my time learning how to sneak into the ladies' room?" His eyes burned with mischief and his lips turned up at the corners as he put his now-empty cup down.

Sakura couldn't stop the peal of laughter when she thought of Sasuke skulking around the bamboo fence of Konoha's public onsen as she refilled their glasses. "I meant you had a great sensei, too," she said sarcastically. "But, come to think of it, you've probably reached your naked women quota as well."

He directed his face straight down toward his steaming bowl and muttered, "…don't know what you're talking about."

Such blatant embarrassment from Sasuke made Sakura feel strangely at ease. She giggled, tapping the top of her chopsticks against her chin as she speculated, "Well, if the rest of your life has been anything like that trip to Grass—"

He tipped his bangs forward to shield himself as much as possible. "I'm trying to block that memory, Sakura," Sasuke interrupted through gritted teeth. "And, thankfully, the rest of my life has been nothing like that genin mission." He hid his face behind a big swig of sake.

Memories of their younger days gave Sakura an elated buzz. She held her stomach as giggles began to spill out. "Oh, Sasuke-kun. Your face…hee, hee…when that old lady…opened her kimono and…hee, hee."

"I'd really rather not be reminded." Sasuke shuddered then scowled at his ramen as he refilled his cup. Surprised at the hot pink of his cheeks, Sakura couldn't be sure if it was from remembrance or rice wine.

Her giggles began to run into sighs as she wiped away tears of laughter. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you haven't been further traumatized," she said, as she patted his arm reassuringly. As Sasuke looked from his arm to her, Sakura snatched her hand back, ashamed of her bold familiarity.

She grabbed for her cup to cover her discomfort and, seeing it was empty, she reached for the sake. She gripped the smooth neck and made to lift the bottle, but something big and warm enveloped her hand, weighing her down. Looking down at the bottle, Sakura's eyes flew open in shock—Sasuke's hand was wrapped around hers.

Her eyes met his and she felt like her brain stopped working. He looked so much like she remembered from their younger days—his dark eyes were filled with warmth, his cheeks glowed an innocent shade of pink while his ubiquitous smirk seemed more like an actual smile.

"I've got it," he said quietly as his other hand reached over to take the bottle from her. She flushed hotly as she noticed that he still held her hand loosely in his. She slowly pulled her hand away and laced her fingers together in her lap. Sakura felt dizzy and her hand burned where he'd touched it. She knew her face was blazing, but she hoped he would assume she'd had a bit too much to drink.

Sasuke filled her cup first and held it out to her. She was pleased to see that her hand was steady as she took it from him, but was careful to avoid touching. His fingers, however, slid across hers as he let go of the cup and Sakura's hand began to tremble.

Sasuke plucked his cup from the table and tapped it against hers, which she still held frozen in midair.

"Kanpai."

"Kanpai," she whispered, bringing the cup to her lips.

Sakura felt like she was melting from the inside. She closed her eyes and took another sip of wine. This night was really going very differently than she'd imagined it would when she first felt his chakra. She was pleasantly surprised when she realized he hadn't asked her once about Itachi.

"Sakura, about Itachi…"

Here it comes, she thought bitterly.

She was disappointed to think that there was more to Sasuke's visit than just sharing a meal. She knew she was being selfish, but she just wanted him to be here to see her. She sighed, putting her cup down. She readied a litany in her mind of Itachi's current medications, his status, and his projected recovery time.

"I can't remember a time when we were young that I wasn't with him."

Sakura's head snapped up—was Sasuke sharing stories of his childhood with her? Her eyes burned and her nose stung as she fought back the emotion. Sasuke had told her things before—things she was sure he never told Naruto or Kakashi—but that was so long ago. Had their friendship been repaired to the point where he felt comfortable doing that again, she wondered as she suppressed the desire to squeeze him with pure joy. When she glanced at him again, she warmed to see him looking so boyishly carefree as he gazed into the past, his mouth gently twisted into a wistful smirk.

"My mother told me that when I was a baby, Itachi would carry me around the house all the time. She said he should put me down some times or I'd never want to be without him. But Itachi told her that he was my big brother and he needed to always be there to protect me."

Sasuke stared down at his hands, suddenly looking so much older. "After Madara died, I found out a lot of what he told me were lies. I began to wonder whether or not what he told me about the night he and Itachi…" He expelled a long, tense breath. "I began to wonder whether or not it was true."

Sakura felt an ache in her heart and found she couldn't breathe. She wrung her hands together against her chest as if in silent prayer, longing to get up and wrap consoling arms around Sasuke—to tell him that everything would be okay.

He brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I just want to know. I just want to hear him say it."

Seeing the pain in his eyes, Sakura wanted to give him some kind of comfort. "Sasuke-kun," she said gently. "Sometimes the world isn't so black and white. Maybe Itachi's situation was a shade of gray."

Sasuke folded his arms and looked away. "I'm tired of gray, Sakura."

She knew it was now or never. Draining the last of her wine—hoping for a little liquid courage—Sakura said, "Sasuke…back at Madara's, after you and Karin left—" She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Your brother woke up."

Sasuke watched her, rapt, as she talked about Itachi crushing her hand while she tried to heal him. He leaned closer as she explained, her eyes trained to her lap, how she'd revealed her knowledge of his mission and how Sasuke just wanted to talk to him about it.

"And then he said, I will never speak of my mission to anyone. I will never compromise the safety of the village…not even for my little brother." Sakura looked tentatively up at Sasuke and then quickly back to her lap.

He felt deflated—to have Itachi this close and have him refuse to speak? Quickly, disappointment turned to anger. Sasuke would have his answers. Itachi would provide them.

Sakura seemed reluctant to continue. He prodded her with a gruff, "And."

"And then…he…" Sakura hugged herself as she turned away. "He used Tsukuyomi."

"What?" Sasuke asked, much louder than he'd meant to, his hands in fists so tight his knuckles were white. To think that Sakura was caught in that nightmare…

"He wanted me to kill him. He…forced me to use my chakra scalpels."

"Sakura, how did he force out your chakra scalpels?" he probed, trying to keep his mounting anger toward his brother in check. He understood just how Tsukuyomi worked and he burned knowing that Itachi had to reveal something terrifying to Sakura to manipulate her into attacking.

Avoiding his question, she said, "He told me I was putting the village in danger by healing him and—" She hugged herself a little tighter. "And I was prolonging your agony by allowing him to live." Her color drained and her eyes opened wide with recollected horror. Sasuke couldn't begin to imagine what would inspire that kind of fear in Sakura.

Knowing first-hand the terror of his brother's Tsukuyomi, Sasuke wasn't surprised to see Sakura's hands shaking. When she saw him looking, she clenched them into fists. He frowned when he thought of the feelings of inadequacy he stirred in her—she still didn't want to appear weak. He didn't want her to feel that way, but wasn't sure what to do to make her stop.

His body reacted quicker than his mind and, before he realized what he was doing, his hands reached out to steady hers. Her fragility caused an odd fluttering in his chest as Sasuke thought how much like frightened birds her hands felt in his. He moved closer and asked her gently, "Sakura, how did you manage to break through Tsukuyomi without a Sharingan?"

Her pale cheeks filled with pink as she looked at their clasped hands. "Well," her lips curved upward slightly, "I guess you just need the right motivation."

Her eyes lifted to meet his and he was hit with a powerful surge of adrenaline. Feeling like his body was buzzing with a Chidori Nagashi, Sasuke slowly detached his hands from hers and moved a step away. Why was his heart beating so rapidly?

Desperately hoping to achieve some normalcy, he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away.

As his heart began to slow down, Sasuke thought it best if he left. His thoughts were running wild—conflicted and confused. One side of him wanted to run down the hall and shove Itachi awake and demand the truth. The other side was making plans to bring Sakura teriyaki tomorrow. Lost in his circle of thoughts, he jumped when a hand wrapped around his arm, turning him.

"Sasuke?"

He was powerless to resist as she pulled him around to face her. Meeting her eyes sent that same thrill of electricity through him as she quirked her head to the side.

"Would you like to see Itachi?"

A wave of emotion he found difficult to conceal washed over him, so he bent his head to the floor, his hair covering his eyes.

"He's heavily sedated and he won't be able to hear you or talk to you, but you could still see him…if you like." He felt her eyes on him, scrutinizing him, waiting for his answer.

As much as he wanted to force the truth from Itachi, the idea of just looking at his big brother overwhelmed Sasuke. How long had it been since he'd looked at Itachi with eyes that weren't full of hate? The thought forced a lump into his throat as he held his breath, trying to suppress his reactions. A tug on his sleeve snapped Sasuke's head up to look at Sakura's smiling face.

"His room is this way," she said, leading the way out of the office.

Anxiously, Sasuke followed her down the hall. He noticed an air of self-assurance surrounding Sakura as she strode through the ward. It was comforting to see her like this, especially after she'd just seemed so very fragile. To know that someone this powerful was his ally—his teammate—swelled his chest with pride…and then a pit in his stomach filled with shame to think of the things he'd said about her to Naruto. It was very obvious that she was loyal to him, to their team.

Their team, Sasuke thought wistfully.

As streaming light from the glass-walled room haloed Sakura's hair, Sasuke averted his eyes to his shoes. He knew if he lifted his eyes just slightly, he'd be able to see his brother. Sweat made his hands slippery, so he shoved them inside his pockets and balled them into fists. His heart was racing—he wanted to run away just as much as he wanted to run toward the glow that held Itachi.

Sakura stopped and flattened her hand against the door. His panic rose as he felt her small flare of chakra.

They were here. Itachi was a few feet away.

Sasuke froze outside the door. He was about to come face to face with the man he'd hated and hunted for years—the same man whom he'd adored and admired for years.

Sakura stepped inside and turned to Sasuke. After standing outside for what felt like hours, her firm grip around his wrist steadily pulled him forward. His legs found the strength to move when he heard her whisper, "It's okay, Sasuke-kun." When he was fully inside, she let go and walked up to Itachi's bed, a glow surrounding her hands.

He forced himself to look at his brother. The first thing he noticed was how much better and stronger Itachi seemed now that he was under Sakura's care. His skin was full of healthy color and his face was less sunken. The hollow pit in his stomach was quickly filled with ice—Itachi would not be tricked by a hidden syringe this time.

Stepping between his brother and his teammate, he asked, "Sakura, do you have any restraints here?"

"Sasuke, he's so heavily sedated that he's practically in a coma. He won't—"

"Never underestimate an Uchiha," he admonished, bringing his nose right up to hers and accenting his words with a pointed finger in her face.

They stayed less than a hair's breadth apart for several seconds as Sasuke tried to make her understand the danger she was in with an angry glare. Sakura huffed her bangs, as well as his, out of her face in exasperation.

"Even if he did wake up, I would know before anything could happen."

"Do you have restraints here or should I go get them?" he demanded, pulling himself up taller and folding his arms.

Folding her arms right back at him, she snarled, "No, I don't. Maybe you should go get them. I'll be sure to tell ANBU to be on the alert for your return."

Sasuke wanted to shake her. Why wouldn't she understand?

"Sakura, I am not leaving you here unprotected!"

He was shocked at how clearly the desperation he felt was revealed in his voice. Uncomfortable heat rising to his face forced him to turn his back to her as he mumbled, "Those who forsake their teammates are lower than trash."

Sasuke remained with his back to her for several long minutes. Why didn't she answer him? Didn't she understand that he—his stomach twisted as he tried to put a finger on the feeling he wanted to convey to Sakura. Well, he thought, he cared for his…for his teammate's safety.

Sakura's prolonged silence made him shift uncomfortably. Had he overstepped the boundary of their truce? Sasuke cursed himself. He'd been trying for so long to just talk to Sakura. If he'd screwed up his chance to finally be friends with her—if he'd ruined his chance to gain her forgiveness… He kicked himself for being so forceful with her. With something that he hoped was an apology on his tongue, he turned to face her.

Sakura's hands were swiping at her cheeks as she looked up at him with a wavering smile.

"Th-there are restraints in the cabinet by the door…and maybe we could find some kind of blindfold in there as well?"

That buzzing feeling he'd experienced back in Sakura's office tingled through his body again, so he dug through the cabinet as he tried to shake it off. Sasuke felt a lightness in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Sakura." He handed her a restraint as he tried to keep his tone bland and conversational in the hope that she wouldn't hear how nervous he was to ask her this simple question. "Do you have time to spar tomorrow?"

Sakura froze, her hands locked in position around Itachi's left wrist restraint. Sasuke stopped breathing while he folded and unfolded Itachi's blindfold, waiting for her to answer, wondering if he'd made a mistake. Her hands slowly unfroze as her head dipped slightly, her hair hiding her eyes.

"Um…"

The ice in Sasuke's stomach was about to solidify before he saw something that made it melt—Sakura was fighting a losing battle to keep a smile from spreading across her face.

"Sure."

Without the diligent efforts of Unicorn Paige, this chapter would be languishing in the darkest recesses of my hard drive. Thank you so much, Paige, for sacrificing some of your Freedom Time to edit Chapter Seven! I'll save you some cookies!

I want to wish all of you a happy holiday and the very best new year! I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to leave some cookies for Santa. Did you hear that, Paige? Happy 2012, everyone!