Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 22
I know I updated just yesterday, but due to all the lovely reviews I've received and how long I've been pushing this itachi meet. I've decided to upload this weeks chapter earlier!
before we get on with the story. I would like to reply to some of the reviews
To pinkblossom: I know last chapter seemed rushed but...yeah I hit a writers block XP
To team7forever: In regards to sakura's fight with sasori, I could have changed the fight, but I don't know I really like her fight in the anime so i kinda wanted to keep it that way XD. Also don't worry about Sakura's skills degenerating, I won't make her into that weak damsel kinda of character (hate it when stories make sakura out like that). But the reason why Sakura may seem like she haven't developed much in comparison to naruto and sasuke is not because I want to push SS but rather I don't want to over power Sakura too much. I mean stories with sakura completely overpowered is really not my cup of tea. So I guess I just really want to stress this power difference between Sakura and her team.
Any who on with the story!
Tsunade peered over the stack of documents on her desk and directly at the older Uchiha. When he had set foot into Konoha, huge uproars were stirred. News of the mass murdering Uchiha Itachi returning caused panic throughout the streets.
So for the whole morning ninjas upon ninjas bursted into her office screaming and panicking about Itachi's presence in the village.
Sighing she continued to stare at Itachi. She needed to make a formal speech to the village regarding his return, prosecute those in charge of the massacre of a prominent clan, and fill out the documentations for his formal return as a shinobi of Konoha. God, sometimes she really hated her job. She really couldn't wait till Naruto matures a bit more before tossing this horrid job to him.
"Welcome back, Uchiha Itachi." Tsunade finally spoke. "There's a lot of issues concerning your return that I have to take care of, so for the mean while go to the hospital and get yourself checked up."
Expecting an aloof grunt, she was surprised when the elder Uchiha gave a low bow...seems like this Uchiha was far more politer than the younger Uchiha.
"Sakura and Sasuke will escort you out." Tsunade continued, as she casted a glance at the two ninjas. "And Naruto, I want you to stay with me so you can learn the proceedings that a Hokage has to do during situations like this."
Naruto's eyes lit up. He was actually going to learn what it means to be a Hokage? Squashing down the urge to jump up and down, he grinned. He was one step closer to his dream.
Hushed whispers and pointed stares were casted towards the older Uchiha as they walked towards the hospital. While most accomplished shinobis would stand their ground and glare at the man most people just whispered to each other before scampering off, fearing that he might snap and bury them six feet under.
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Sakura snuck a glance at Itachi. He seemed perfectly fine with all the pointing and staring he was getting, in fact his face was the perfect mask of indifference. Straining her head a bit more she saw the expression on Sasuke's face. He looked absolutely livid, his eyes glared at everyone that dared to speak out against Itachi. Mentally sighing, she couldn't wait for the hospital to come into view.
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After another twenty minute of walking the trio finally arrived in front of the large glass doors of the hospital. With a small 'ding' the doors automatically parted allowing the three to walk in. Nurses and doctors scurried around the large lobby, wheeling patients into operating rooms.
"Sakura-san." A small mousey nurse ran up to the girl slightly panting. "The patient in 301 has a fever."
"Then give him some antibiotics."
The nurse suddenly looked embarrassed. "I'm not sure how to properly hook up the IV to administer the drug."
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Is her staff seriously this incompetent? If so then she should really consider doing the whole reviewing thing and fire some of them. "Mizuki, I'm sure there are other doctors who have to time to help you with this problem, because if you haven't noticed I'm currently occupied." She pointed at the two Uchiha's beside her.
The small nurse stared up at the two gorgeous males before her and a dark blush spread across her face. Not moving, she continued to stare at them. It seems like she had completely forgotten her patient in 301.
Sakura was getting ticked off. She was definitely going to lay off some of these people, starting with the fangirls. If they can't do their jobs properly just because of a hot guy, they don't deserve to work in this hospital. "Mizuki, your patient?" she gritted. The nurse eyes widened before giving a small 'eep' and running off to find another doctor to help her with her IV issue.
Heaving a sigh, Sakura turned her attention towards Itachi, who still looked cool as a cucumber. "Come on I'll take you to your room."
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After a few flights of stairs and a few turns, they arrived in the restricted ward. Pushing open on the rooms, she ushered the two Uchiha's in. Opening the small closet in the room, she pulled out the ugly white patient gown and tossed it at the older Uchiha. Mentioning for him to change into it. He gave her a small nod, before disappearing into the bathroom.
"You can save him right?" Sasuke asked quietly once he saw the door of the bathroom close.
Giving Sasuke an encouraging smile, Sakura reached out for one of his hands. Lightly holding his larger one within her smaller one, she replied. "I'll do my best."
"What are you doing letting Itachi back?!"
Tsunade had a scowl etched onto her face, as she leaned back against the plushy green couch facing the furious elders. It wasn't even two hours before the return of the notorious Uchiha Itachi and news had already spread all the way to the elders.
"He's an international criminal!"
Still refusing to speak, Tsunade continued to glare at the two elders not feeling the growing tension in the small room.
"Tsunade-sama! You are jeopardizing the safety of the village!"
Naruto's eyes darted nervously between the irate elders and Tsunade whose face turned more murderous. "I'm not jeopardizing anything. Uchiha Itachi did not murder his clan on a whim, rather it was from yours and Danzo's orders." She said in a surprising calm tone.
"This information is highly confidential and it will remain that way."
Tsunade scoffed. These damn bastards actually wanted to kept this hidden from the public so that they wouldn't have face the consequence? Damn cowards. "I am the Hokage, the village is under my rule and I will not have this piece of information remain hidden."
The two elders stared at her questioningly.
"Naruto go open the doors." Tsunade ordered. Nodding, Naruto ran to the door of the small room and threw it open. Five darkly dressed men walked in, their faces covered by the traditional ANBU masks.
"I, the Hokage of Konoha, charge you two with treason and the mass murdering of a prominent clan." Four of the masked men grabbed onto the arms of the two stunned elders. "Take them away."
With that order the five men dragged the two screaming elders out of the room. Tsunade smirked at their angry yet terrified faced. It felt good to final get rid of those sickly old fools. Now all that's left is Danzo, but she didn't have to worry much about him. After all she already has a hoard of ANBU seizing his place and searching the village for signs of him.
Lifting the corner of the white sheet, Itachi slipped under it. Hoisting the pillow upright against the headboard he leaned back.
"Itachi-san, this may be uncomfortable but I'll be sending a wave of my chakra into your system to scan out the source for your failing health." Sakura said in her most professional tone as she approached the older Uchiha.
"Very well."
Placing her hand on top of Itachi's forehead she send small bursts of her chakra into his body. She felt his body tense with discomfort under her touch, but was impressed when his face portrayed nothing. If anything Itachi was the epitome of calm. Pushing aside all her excess thoughts, she focused on scanning his body.
His major organs were failing yet there was no trace of any toxin or cancer cells within him. Puzzled, she lifted her hand from his forehead and stared at the man before her. "Itachi-san, do you feel any pain?"
"No."
"Fatigue?"
Itachi looked at the girl with a thoughtful expression. "Sometimes." He watched as the puzzled expression leave the girl's face and instead was replaced by an excited one.
"Does it happen when you're resting?"
"Yes, and it gets worse after battles."
The excitement didn't leave Sakura's face. She was starting to get a grasp of what might be the problem. "Itachi-san, I'm going to check your eyes."
The man looked slightly hesitant about having a girl he barely knew approach his most prized sharingan. Sensing this, Sakura gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry Itachi-san, I've worked with the sharingan before." The doubt in his eyes didn't leave, so she continued. "In fact I personally check Sasuke-kun's and Kakashi-sensei's sharingan every time during their annual physical check up."
Looking away from the girl, Itachi stared at his little brother as if waiting for him to confirm the story.
"Just have her do it." Sasuke said in a bored tone as he took a seat on the plastic chair beside his brother's bed.
"Alright." Itachi motioned for Sakura to do her examination. If his little brother could trust her with his eyes, she couldn't be so bad.
Giving a smile towards Sasuke, Sakura took out a small flash light from her white lab coat she gently pried Itachi's eye further open and shone the light in. The pupil had no reaction to the light. Doing the same to the other eyes, she got the same result. Shutting off the light, she placed the device back into her pocket.
"Itachi-san please activate your sharingan." She asked as she fumbled though the cabinet for a syringe. Complying to her order, he activated his bloodline. The familiar crimson flooded into his normal onyx ones.
Finally finding a small needle, Sakura turned back to Itachi and lifted up his chin. "Itachi-san please refrain from moving." She said as she carefully pierced the needle into the corner of his eye. Once a portion of the metal part was inside the eye, she pulled the back of the syringe. Watching as a black liquid filled the small tube of the needle.
Taking the needle out, Sakura lifted it close to her face as she studied the contents. It seemed to be some form of residue created by the sharingan after a long period of usage. Placing down the syringe, she fumbled through the cabinet again this time looking for a medical testing scroll.
After finding one buried underneath the mass of needles and tubes, she opened it and placed it on top of the small cabinet. Picking up the needle she released a bit of the content onto the scroll. The second the black liquid touched the paper, it sizzled before scorching right through the scroll. A concerned look crossed Sakura's face. She had just found the source for Itachi's failing health; whatever this black thing was it was not only making Itachi blind but also slowly killing him.
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If this thing is produced by the sharingan wouldn't Sasuke also be subjected to it? As this disturbing thought entered Sakura's mind, she grabbed anther syringe and headed towards the said boy. "Sasuke-kun I want to check your eyes."
Seeing the needle Sasuke gave a small flinch, he didn't want that thing in his eye. But then again, not wanting to seem weak in front of Itachi, he swallowed his discomfort, and gave a small nod towards sakura's direction.
Slowly, he felt the cold metal slide into his eye before it was pulled out again.
Hoisting the needle in front of her face, Sakura stared at the clear liquid that came out of Sasuke's eye. Her heart slightly calmed when she confirmed that Sasuke didn't have whatever Itachi had.
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"Itachi-san, this is the stuff I pulled out from your eyes and this is from Sasuke-kun's." Sakura explained to Itachi as she held the two syringes before the man. "It's safe to say that your failing health is due to this material that's being produced by your extreme overuse of the sharingan."
"You can fix it right, Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he stared at the two liquids.
Choosing not to reply to Sasuke, she placed the two syringes down on top of the cabinet beside Itachi's bed. "Itachi-san I'm going to try and remove this liquid from your eyes, it might alleviate some of your current discomfort."
The older Uchiha gave a curt nod.
"It's going to be painful, so please try not to move." Sakura continued, as she gathered chakra to her finger tips.
"I can handle pain."
Nodding Sakura placed two fingers by the corner of his eyes and immediately Itachi felt her chakra enter into his eyes. This soothing sensation was almost instantaneously replaced by a sharp pain, as he felt as if his eyes were being ripped from it's sockets. Gripping the edge of the white sheet he did his best not to move.
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The ten minutes it took for Sakura to clear his eyes of the black liquid, felt like forever. But after he felt the pressure leave his temple, he slowly opened his eyes and noticed the sphere of black liquid being contained in her hand by chakra.
Carefully disposing the material into an empty basin, Sakura asked. "How does your eyes feel right now?"
Blinking a few times, Itachi stared around the room. His vision had cleared up, and everything was no longer blobs of blurriness. "I can see."
"That's great, but Itachi-san this was the easy part." Sakura gave him a grim smile. "You've been using your sharingan for far to long, that they've been continuously releasing this liquid into your body, thus slowly destroying your optic nerves as well as your major organs."
Itachi stared at her with a blank stare. "What's the hard part?"
"Surgery." She briskly replied. "I need to do major reconstructive surgery on your damaged organs and optic nerves."
"You've done surgery before." Sasuke cut in.
Sakura sighed. "It's not so much the surgery as the survival rate."
"What is it?" Itachi asked as he stared at the girl.
Looking between both brothers, Sakura took a deep breath. "Less than 10 percent."
"Without the surgery?" Sasuke asked, anger evident in his tone. He had managed to bring Itachi back yet it seems like the gods were trying to take him away again.
"Few weeks, tops."
Sasuke sunk into his chair. He was going to lose his brother all over again.
"Do the surgery." Itachi spoke as he stared at the desolate expression on Sasuke's face. "If I succeed then I'll make a full recovery, right?"
"Yes." Sakura's eyes softened as she also looked at Sasuke. He looked so pained. "But if you don't then it's death."
"If I'm dying either way I'd rather die trying. So do the surgery."
Her eyes not leaving Sasuke's she quietly asked. "Sasuke-kun?"
Finally finding his voice, sasuke grimly spoke.
"Do it."
and here is the chapter!
heads up though..I haven't forgotten about orochimaru! and there's a twist during their encounter with that snake like pedophile.
As always, please leave a review! and feel free to give me ideas or voice some of your concerns!