Title - Unexpected Turn of Life

A/N – Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoyed previous chapter! And thank you for those who reviewed and read. Here's the new chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto…

'….' – Thoughts

"…..." – Speaking

Chapter 22

Itachi's POV

I had to blink a few times just when I opened my eyes. I groaned. 'It's too bright… and too much… white…'

"Itachi dear? You hear me…?" I heard… It's my mother's voice. I could also hear some other voices.

"LET ME IN!"… that is Naruto.

I was wide awake now. I glanced at my mom.

"…Kaa-san…? What…?" I asked. I could see some tears in her eyes. Otou-san was standing beside Kaa-san with a relieved expression.

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed mother as she hugged me as soon as I sat up. I could feel some pain in my shoulder. Oh… right… I was shot. I just recalled.

"Itachi? How are you feeling?" I heard my father ask.

"I'm… fine, Kaa-san… Otou-san…" I said as I felt her cry. She was being careful not to hurt my shoulder. I sighed as she let go of me. I glanced around the hospital when…

"What time is it?" I suddenly asked. Kaa-san and Otou-san glanced at each other than at me.

"It's almost ten in the morning…" Otou-san answered.

I nodded. I was out that long…? I really wanted to know about Sasuke and Sakura-chan now. They should have something by now… any report or anything… right…?

"What about-…"

"We didn't get any information on Sasuke and Sakura yet…" replied Kaa-san.

I can see she's too upset. Even Otou-san looked out of place. 'I'm sure he'll be back soon… with Sakura with him… Considering the situation… I hope they don't kill each other…'

"They'll be fine… You guys are reacting too much" I said. At least, they smiled a little. I smirked. "Oh and Kaa-san, just think about how they are alone right now and imagine the scenarios they-…" I added but got interrupted by mom's gasp. Then I heard her squeal and she left the room, muttering something like "I must prepare before they come then!"

Otou-san and I both sweat dropped. I don't know what she's thinking right now but that's not my concern. I'll just enjoy misery my dear little brother will face. Aren't I awesome? Well, it's good she's back to normal… I glanced at father to find him smiling at me. I smiled back. I just happen to know what to do at the right time… no?

The door opened revealing Kakashi, followed by Naruto. Great! If he yells right now I'll-

"Itachi! How are you? They were not letting me in before!" he exclaimed. I smiled. He was not yelling at least and he was also concerned for me…

"I'm fine Naruto… and Kakashi" I said glancing at them both. Naruto grinned while Kakashi nodded.

"Well… we-…" said Kakashi when…

"Guess what! We got tabs on Tem… Sasuke and Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto.

I was speechless for a moment as well as dad. I was happy and relieved. Finally, I sighed relieved and asked for details.

'He had me scared actually… Thank god. I just hope they both get along…'

With Sasuke and Sakura…

"Who are you calling annoying?!" exclaimed Sakura, glaring at him as he snapped open his eyes to find her in front of him, sitting on her knees. He blinked and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"…"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "I brought you these, thinking you might be hungry and I'm annoying, you say? Great! You don't have words for normal conversation but you have words for insulting me?! Wait… why am I surprised? Uchiha Sasuke finds everything annoying!" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"…"

She continued, "Seriously, can't you-" but couldn't continue.

Sasuke had put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from speaking further. He had that unexpressive look over his face. Sakura stared wide eyed as she was surprised. She was staring at his face which looked plain at the moment.

"Will you be quiet? I was merely thinking about our situation and found it annoying…" He said. He leaned forward and came face to face with her. "But now that you mention it… you are annoying" he stated, without any expression.

Sakura knitted her eyebrows. She slapped his hand away from her face and glared at him, sharply. She stood up abruptly.

"Then I'll not talk to you. And. Don't. Talk. To. Me. Again, Jerk" she stated and left, leaving Sasuke surprised at her voice.

Sure, he is used to her high pitched voice but this was new to him. She was the first woman to speak in that tone with him ever. Not even his mother used that type of tone with him as he was always perfect in his way. He frowned. Sakura Haruno, a common girl, has guts to speak with him like that? That temper…

He smirked as he closed his eyes. 'What a hot headed woman… She looks seriously angry though… Who cares? At least now I can think of something…' he thought and shook his head. Opening his eyes, he tossed an apple up and ate it.

'It would have been better if it were a tomato…'

Sakura went to sit at the base of the tree, near the river bank and ate her apple, angrily. After taking three bites, she started her rant.

"That insensitive foolish man! How could he say that to my face?! He's the one who is annoying! That… That… That Jerk! Ugh! Who cares if he's that famous Uchiha Sasuke? He doesn't even know how to talk to a woman! I'm sure those women flaunting over him must be the brainless and hopeless idiots…" …(Bite)…

"I agree with the last sentence you said" came a voice from above her. Without looking, Sakura nodded, still in her musing.

"Yeah… you agree, right?" she asked, glancing up then suddenly glared at the smirking Sasuke. "I don't want to talk to you, Shoo" she added, waving her hand. She turned to look at the river while eating her apple, ignoring Sasuke.

Sasuke sat beside her leaning on the tree, ignoring her antics. Sakura frowned as she saw him sitting there. She glared at him but he seemed unfazed.

"This is my place. Go back where you were or somewhere else" stated Sakura, glaring at the river.

"I thought you don't want to talk to me? And I don't see your name anywhere here" he said, amused.

"I don't want to see your face. Go away. You don't talk to the people you find annoying" she retorted, still not looking at him.

"Aa. Don't have a choice. We have to get going. We'll follow this river down" he said, more like ordered.

"Whatever" muttered Sakura and stood up and started walking in the opposite direction. Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"We have to go that way. You are going the wrong way" stated Sasuke, looking at her but got no response. Sakura kept walking, ignoring him. His eyebrow twitched at that. 'That woman…! Never in my life, I had to ask women to do something. I just order and things are done! I'll just have to drag her then…'

He moved and grabbed her wrist, halting her. She faced him, giving him a glare.

"I don't have time for your antics. I said that way and we go that way. Understood? Come on, Pinky" he ordered.

"I know we should go that way, Uchiha. I was just taking that blazer" she said, pointing at rock she had kept his blazer on. "Now excuse me" she said yanking her hand away from his grasp.

'Why is she so angry?' he thought, putting his hands in his pockets.

He glanced at his dress pants and shoes; they were all dirty with sand and mud. His shirt was tugged out and he was still wearing his vest that he had unbuttoned some time ago. He sighed and saw her pass him, without sparing him a glance which infuriated him.

'Fine!'

"…?" Sasuke glanced around.

'How did we end up here? We were following the river then there was a valley so we had to change our course and now…' he thought but his thoughts were interrupted by a snickering.

"Great! Trust the Uchiha and his sense of direction! Ha!" taunted Sakura, folding her arms in the front.

Sasuke glared at her while she stood beside him and smirked. They both glanced down and saw that they were at the dead end. One step ahead and tumble down the valley who knows where…

"I told you we should go from the right but you threatened me and said 'we go from left' and I had followed. See, you were wrong! Now, you follow me" said Sakura, smirking triumphantly at the Uchiha.

"When did I threaten you?" asked Sasuke, raising his eyebrow.

"Great! Now, he's going through memory loss…" said Sakura and turned around.

"I do not. And I do not intend to go back" he said.

"Oh? The mighty Uchiha is tired?" she said, sarcasm intended as she threw her arms in the air. She added, facing him, "So what do we do?" and crossed her arms, his blazer hanging over her arm.

Without answering, Sasuke glanced around and behind her then walked past her. She followed him with her eyes, questioningly. He sat on a big rock, two feet from her, adjacent to a tree, looking around. She sweat dropped.

"It's almost noon. We have to hurry and find a way a.s.a.p." she said, rolling her eyes at him. "I don't want to stay another night in this place and also, not with you" she added and sweat dropped as she saw him smirking at her.

"What so funny, Uchiha?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You are" replied Sasuke as if stating the obvious. He smirked more, showing his teeth a little, as he saw her fists clenching and eyebrows knitting together. Yup, he likes pissing her off.

He was answered as his blazer smacked on his face, followed by some incoherent words from her but she stopped abruptly and took a step back, widening her eyes. He glanced at her questioningly when he saw her looking around abruptly.

"Don't just stand there! I lost my bracelet! Start searching! It's precious!" exclaimed Sakura, as she crouched down while Sasuke gave her a 'Don't care' look and made no attempt to help her. He closed his eyes in relaxation.

A few minutes later, he heard an "AHA! I got it!" and glanced at her only to find her at the edge of the cliff.

Sakura extended her arm as she saw her bracelet hanging at the lowered tree branch. That was not too risky… but still… Sasuke shook his head.

"Stop, Pinky. You might fall-…"

He stopped talking and his eyes widened to see her slip over the edge. He was at the edge in an instance and reached for her.

Sakura's body stilled as she slipped from the edge, her mind become blank for a moment.

'Grab something, you Idiot!' yelled her inner self and …she did.

She grabbed the nearest thing she saw, which happened to be a dark blue tie… Sasuke's neck tie to be exact, who had his hand extended to grab hers. She failed to notice his face which was panic stricken at the moment.

"What the-! Idiot!" snapped Sasuke as he saw her grab his tie which was unexpected for him.

He had grabbed the tree branch with one hand and grabbed her hand at the same time she grabbed his tie causing him to jerk forward and lose his balance that led him to slip as well.

Sakura closed her eyes, tightly. But soon she was trapped in an embrace and her face crashed on his chest. Sasuke had instinctively put his hands around her; his one hand wound around her waist and his other hand holding the back of her head, keeping it under his chin. He closed his eyes as they started tumbling down.

A few minutes later, they had stopped and were gasping for air. Sakura had her face buried under his chin and her hands were on his chest, clenching his shirt in fists, too tightly while Sasuke lied on the ground with his hands still around her, looking up at the sky, breathing unevenly.

Sakura glanced up and found that Sasuke was beneath her. She looked up and saw he looked out of breath and his hair was disheveled. He was close… and his face was too close. He glanced down at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"…"

Sakura blinked. 'He shielded me…?' she thought and failed to hear him. She stared in his eyes as if they were welcoming her. On the other hand, Sasuke raised his eyebrows in concern when she didn't answer him.

"Hey…? This is not a bed, woman" he added.

"I-I …yeah…" stuttered Sakura. Her face heated up as she was staring at his concerned filled face for the first time. That was the first time she heard him talking to her with his gentle tone. She heard him sigh deeply.

She put her hands on the ground beside his shoulders and pushed herself up while he let go of her waist and turned his eyes aside so that he would avoid looking below her neck. Sakura looked dazed at the moment, he noted. Of course…they just came down tumbling. He noticed that they had managed to come down tumbling, approximately fifteen to twenty meters.

Just as she stood, she bent at his side suddenly and placed her hand on his left cheek. She noticed the cuts and scratches on him. She panicked.

"Oh no! You are hurt!" she exclaimed as she examined the scratch on his cheek.

Then she proceeded to the side of his head where he was hit and a small trail of blood was forming. He winced and looked up but soon regretted… (Not really)… as he saw her dress slipping and she was bending slightly which didn't help at all…

"I'm sorry!" she apologized. Her face was filled with worry and she was panicking. She noticed he had scratches on his shirt as well. His vest was dirtied.

"Oh my god! Does it hurt, Sasuke?" she added.

When he didn't answer, she continued as she held his face in her hands. She started inspecting his head then his neck.

"This is all my fault! I'm so stupid! I'm really sorry, Sasuke!"

Meanwhile, Sasuke stared at her face as she continued her blabbering. He sweat dropped when he heard her say…

"Sasuke, talk to me! Oh no! Don't tell me you have amnesia?! I'm Sakura Haruno! You remember right? Sa-ku-ra…"

"…"

Sakura was about to continue when a thought crossed her mind. She paused, thinking for a moment and mentally smirked. Sasuke was about to speak when she started again.

"If you don't recall, I'll help you! First of all, you are Uchiha Sasuke. I'm your best friend, Sakura! You always listen to me and ask for my advice on anything and… and we are partners… Hey? Why are you looking at me like that…?"

He could not hold back his laugh now. He laughed… not a big laugh but still… he laughed. Sakura looked at him baffled with a blush forming on her cheeks. She had never seen him smile let alone laugh.

'Am I dreaming?' she thought and raised her eyebrows as she heard him laugh.

"You really are funny, Sa-ku-ra" said Sasuke as he stopped laughing and looked her. He sat up causing her to back up and smirked at her as she looked at him, pouting.

"Nice try" he said and poked her on her forehead as his brother always do with him. He didn't know why he did that but he did.

She swatted his hand away. "Hey, I can try, right?" she stated and shrugged, laughing a little. They glanced at the flowing river beside them, the same one from before.

"Looks like we are on the track again" he added.

"Thanks to me!" she exclaimed pointing at herself. He shook his head and tried to stand but winced. Sakura stood up and saw him wince. "What's wrong?"

"I think… I broke my ankle" said Sasuke as he propped his right knee up. Sakura was instantly by his side and plopped down to remove his shoe but he stopped her. "Wait, Sakura. That shoe is supporting my leg"

Sakura glanced up at him. "But… (Sigh)… Fine… So… you'll keep it that way? But then it'll get worse…" she said. He merely shrugged and smirked at her. She noticed that he was smirking differently… not like his usual taunting smirks.

"Why? You look concerned for me, Sakura-chan" he said. His smirk widened when he saw her blush and stuttered awkwardly.

"I-In your d-dreams, Sasuke…" she stated, looking aside.

"HEY! Look, there are houses! We are saved!" she exclaimed, looking behind him at a distance. "Here, I'll support you" she said and offered her hand to him, which he took without complaining.

"Glad you didn't complain. Let's go" she said, once she propped his arm over her shoulder. It was easy for him as she was a head shorter than him and leaned on her.

"Why would I? It's your fault anyway" he said, pointing at his injured leg.

Sakura glared at him while he smirked down at her. He put his hand over her hand that was holding his waist and tightened it around him and kept his hand over hers. Her cheeks heated up at his action. He tightened his hold around her shoulder slightly, causing her to move closer to him while she held him awkwardly. She glanced at him, raising her eyebrow.

"Are you sure you can't walk by yourself…?"

"…Hn"

To be continued…

A/N – Whoa…! That's long! Well, I updated late so… it's alright, isn't it? Okay! Review time! Thank you! ^^