Sakura should have seen this coming. She knew Danzo was out here, lurking around the perimeter of the village. She knew Danzo had unfinished business with the Uchihas. She should never have taken Itachi out here. She had put his life in danger. She had made a mistake.

"Since you wouldn't do what I asked you to do," Danzo said, his one visible eye narrowed and looking directly at Sakura. "I'll have to do it myself."

Itachi was standing in front of her now, and she didn't need to see his face to know that his Sharingan was activated. She could feel the sourness of his mood rolling off him in waves. Any of the endorphins that had made their appearance while they were canoodling in the tree were long gone, replaced with fury that was thick enough to feel in the air.

Sakura truly regretted having brought him out here.

"Itachi, you really are a loyal shinobi," Danzo said. "You were one of the very few Uchiha with a solid moral fiber."

Itachi bristled. Sakura minutely felt the compulsion to agree with Danzo on that one, but she wasn't knowledgeable enough about the Uchiha clan to make such a speculation. Itachi, it seemed, highly disagreed.

"Shisui was loyal," Itachi countered. The tone of his voice was different somehow – more like the one he had used with her back in Toyeiki. This was Itachi the Shinobi. "Shisui cared about Konoha and because of you he's dead."

"I didn't kill the boy," Danzo said, and Sakura could tell from his tone that he knew Itachi knew that.

"You took his eye."

"His plan wouldn't have worked," Danzo countered. "I was only saving you time in the end."

"Not me," Itachi said. "You. You were saving yourself time. You were glad to be rid of us. That's why you're here now, isn't it? To finish the job?"

"Wrong," Danzo said. "I'm not here to kill you. In fact, you should ask your girlfriend why I'm here. I'm here to do what she wouldn't."

Sakura winced because she really didn't want to explain to Itachi that she had hidden something like that from him for so long. To her, it didn't really matter what she did – the result would be the same. Itachi and Sasuke would remain in Konoha. Danzo would be killed, because there wasn't another option, was there?

There was no world in which she would ask Itachi and Sasuke to leave their home. There was no way she would let Danzo get away with what he had done.

Itachi didn't turn to look at her, but she saw the way he tensed up in front her. She took a step closer to him, fisting her hand in the fabric at the back of his shirt.

"We have to get out of here," she whispered to him. "We can't fight him right now."

He ignored her.

"What is it that she wouldn't do?"

"Tell him, Sakura."

"Don't speak to her," Itachi said fiercely. The vehemence in his tone almost scared her. "I'm asking you."

Danzo laughed and took a step closer to them, prodding the grass in front of him with his cane. "Don't be so intense, Itachi," he said. "I'm not here to hurt either one of you. Unless you refuse me."

"Refuse you?"

"I want you to leave," he answered. "I want you to abandon Konoha and never return. I don't want to ever see another Uchiha step foot in this village again."

Feeling bold and angry, Sakura stepped around Itachi and pointed an accusatory finger at Danzo's chest. "Just what the hell do you have against the Uchihas anyway?" she demanded. "They're a founding clan. They have an unparalleled kekkei genkai. They are an asset to the village. Why do you want them gone so badly?"

Itachi's fingers curled around her arm and pulled her gently back behind him. She didn't protest, but she was still seething.

"I'm not leaving Konoha," Itachi said. "And neither is Sasuke."

"Then as I told Sakura," Danzo began. "I'll have to kill the both of you."

"Itachi—"

Before she could say anything more, Itachi swooped her up and began to run. She had been about to suggest that they run, so this worked out perfectly for her, but she did note that it was a bit humiliating for him to have picked her up instead of letting her run on her own. Being snatched up off the ground like a sack of flour was not something that a kunoichi should routinely be subjected to. Danzo wasn't even following them.

He took her up to the village gates and then expertly leapt over them. Once they were on the safe side of the wall, he set her down. He looked absolutely livid and though Sakura wanted to talk to him – they certainly had things that needed hashing out now – she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Sakura," he began in a voice that reminded her very much of her father when he was angry with her. "What was that about?"

"Don't be angry," she said. She realized then that that probably wasn't the best way to start off what she was going to say. She watched a flicker of something she didn't recognize in Itachi's face.

"Do I have a reason to be angry?"

"I spoke with Danzo before his trial," she answered. "He specifically asked to speak to both me and Naruto. Naruto refused, but I met with him anyway."

"Why?"

"Because I was curious," she said. "I thought he might share some useful information with me."

He stared at her blankly.

"He basically told me that I needed to convince you and Sasuke to leave Konoha and that if I didn't, he would kill you," she said, tumbling over the words too quickly so that they came out a jumbled mess.

He swallowed and she saw a look of pain settle on his face – not a flash, but a lingering. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought about it. I know you're a lot smarter than me, a lot better at this kind of stuff," she said in a blatant attempt to butter him up. "But you seemed so happy and I didn't want to put more stress on you. Things were starting to go well for you and for us and I figured it would be a long time before he tried to do anything."

He stood still for a long time. Even though his eyes were on her, she could tell that he was looking straight through her, not seeing her. She didn't know what he was thinking – if he was upset with her. His expression was completely blank.

Nervously, she bit her lip and sighed. This was not at all how she had hoped this whole Danzo thing would go. Hopefully he would choke on his food tonight and save them all from having to deal with him.

Itachi cleared his throat and Sakura looked up at him. His brow had furrowed and with his Sharingan still activated he looked rather menacing.

"Are you angry?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He took a step toward her and gripped her chin with his fingers, tilting her face up to his. "Not with you, hime," he said. A wave a relief washed over her. She could have cried.

She reached forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tightly. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into his shirt.

He pushed her away gently and kissed her forehead. "Go home," he said.

"But, Itachi—"

"Now, Sakura."

If he had been anyone else in any other situation she would have protested. She wasn't particularly fond of the sternness in his tone, or the fact that he'd given her an order. But something in his face, the darkness she hadn't seen in his eyes since she'd first met him, told her that it would be best to do as he said.

So she did.

.

Sakura tossed and turned all night. She wasn't the type to usually have trouble sleeping, but with so many things weighing heavy on her mind she was having a hard time shutting off her brain.

After a fretful four hours of sleep, Sakura sent a message to Tsunade informing her that she would be unable to come into work. It wasn't something she had ever done before – the best medic in the world didn't get sick. She hoped Tsunade would understand and not be too upset with her.

She couldn't focus properly on sleeping so there was no way she could be at the hospital, or working on her jutsus, or whatever it was she should have doing about the fact that she had not taken notes at the clan ceremony and therefore would have nothing to give Tsunade when she asked for them.

And thinking about Itachi was absolutely out of the question. Guilt wracked her and she worried that either he might do something drastic or that Danzo would make another attempt on his life.

With so many pieces of her life being the source of her stress, Sakura chose to spend the day with Yamato and Sachi rather than do anything productive. They were the one responsibility that never caused her any stress.

So she had scooped them up from her parents' house and taken them down to the brook just underneath the stone faces. The morning air was balmy and warm, not trace of the biting chill that sometimes clung to the night air. It was the perfect day for a swim.

Sachi, who had grown quite fond of music in all her time living in the civilian district, had brought along a little plastic flute. In spite of Sakura's annoyed protests, Sachi steered clear of the water, choosing instead to march around with her flute, blowing discordant notes in her direction.

Bemused and exasperated, Sakura kept a rueful eye on her while she simultaneously watched Yamato, who had been learning water jutsus from Kakashi and was practicing making water clones.

It didn't quite keep her mind as occupied as she would have hoped. She sat near the bank of the brook, dipping her toes into the warm water. It was almost always like this with Yamato and Sachi – they hardly spoke to one another when they were together. In Toyeiki she had taken on a parental role with them – both she and Itachi had. But now with her parents taking care of them, it was difficult to know where she fit into their lives.

Yamato had Naruto, Itachi, Kakashi, and a plethora of people from the academy to teach him things about being a ninja. Sakura didn't really have anything extra to add to that since Yamato didn't seem all that interested in medical ninjutsu. She wasn't his mentor, his teacher, his mother, or his guardian. So what was she? His friend? His sister?

And Sachi was still far too young to be close to in any meaningful sense. Although, she got the sense that Itachi felt a certain bond with her that Sakura didn't really understand. In Toyeiki it had bothered her because it seemed inappropriate, but now it bothered her because she wanted to have it, too.

It had probably been a while since they had seen each other, Sakura thought. Maybe if Itachi was still in a bad mood the next time she saw him she could offer to bring Sachi around at some point.

Drifting into her thoughts, Sakura leaned back on her forearms, toeing the water experimentally. While she contemplated diving into the water, she felt a gentle splash of water break on her arm.

"Why do you always look sad?" Yamato asked from her right, flicking another light splash of water at her.

"I'm not sad," she answered.

"Then why do you look sad?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe it's just my face."

"Nah, you have a pretty face," he said, prompting a pink tinge across cheeks. "Except when you're sad. You look all… mopey."

"I'm not mopey."

"You can tell me what's wrong, Sakura."

"Nothing's wrong," she insisted, sending a fistful of water in his direction. "In fact, I became a jonin recently. You inspired me."

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "Pretty soon I'll be one too! Then we can go on missions together. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"You want to go on missions with me?"

"Yeah!" he said. "Iruka-sensei said that every team needs a medic. You're the best medic in the village – why wouldn't I want you on my team?"

Sakura laughed. "I just thought you'd prefer to have someone closer to your own age on your team with you. Aren't there any aspiring medics at the academy with you?"

"Sure," Yamato said with a roll of his eyes. "But they aren't nearly as good as you are."

"No one is." Sakura said with mock seriousness.

Yamato gave her a wry smirk that bled into a full-blown grin.

"You're good for my ego, Yamato-chan," Sakura said with a smile. "I always feel better after talking to you."

A particularly sharp and high-pitched note from Sachi's flute made the both of them wince and glance over at her. She teetered dangerously close to the water, walking with her feet in a perfect line along the muddy bank.

"She sure likes that flute a lot," Sakura observed.

"Mom and dad don't let her play it in the house," Yamato answered. "She's probably really excited to have a chance to play it."

Sakura blinked her eyes in surprise. She had never heard Yamato refer to her parents as mom and dad before. Did that make them siblings?

"I think they're going to push her into pursuing music," Yamato said. "Even though she doesn't seem interested in it at all, they really don't want her to become a ninja."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "They didn't want me to do it either."

Yamato looked up at her, squinting against the brightness of the sun. "But you did it anyway?"

She nodded again. "I really wanted to do it. They didn't stop me. They tried to talk me out of it, but they didn't make a big fuss about it. I know they were just worried about me. I can understand why. I'm a pink haired waif. It's a huge surprise that I'm a successful ninja."

"What does being a pink haired waif have to do with you being a ninja?" Yamato asked.

Sakura smiled. "It's just an unexpected juxtaposition – ninjas are usually big brawny men."

"Like Itachi-san."

Like Itachi-san. Sakura had never really thought of Itachi as big and brawny, but she supposed he would look that way to Yamato. Especially considered the circumstances of how they met.

"Yamato-chan," Sakura said, her voice a low murmur, just barely audible over the rushing water. "Are you ever afraid of Itachi?"

He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. Sakura could tell the question caught him off guard. "I was afraid of him when I first met him," he answered. "Because I thought he was going to kill me."

"And you're not afraid of him now?"

"He wouldn't hurt me," Yamato said confidently. "I have no reason to be afraid of him."

"But doesn't it ever bother you that he was sent to kill your father?" she persisted.

"He wasn't the one who killed my father," Yamato said. "It was that shark guy. And he would have died anyway. I know my father did something bad. Lots of people wanted him dead. I can't hold a grudge against Itachi for that. Especially since he helped Sachi and me afterwards. He could have just left us there. He had no obligation to take care of us, but he did anyway."

Sakura inhaled deeply. The two people in the village who had reasonable cause to be afraid of Itachi were the two people who feared him the least.

"Why are you asking me about this?" Yamato asked curiously.

Sakura exhaled. "The higher ups in the village don't like Itachi," she answered. "They're afraid of him. They think he's dangerous."

"They obviously don't know him very well," Yamato pointed out.

That was true, Sakura thought. Itachi was pretty reclusive. While he was always polite, he never ventured into 'friendly' territory. The person who knew him best was probably Sasuke. And Sasuke was certainly not afraid of him.

"Does it bother you?" Yamato asked. "That they fear him?"

"It bothers me that they don't trust him," she said. "He and his clan were treated very unfairly. It sucks that he's still having to deal with it. I wish everyone would just move on and leave the past in the past."

"What happened?" Yamato asked. "In the past, I mean. That made everyone so afraid of him."

Sakura winced. That was not a story she wanted to tell him. She didn't think Itachi would take too kindly to him knowing about the massacre either.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?"

Yamato and Sakura whirled around to see Kakashi standing behind them, his hand casually stuffed into his pocket, but his posture rigid.

"I took a personal day," she answered, confused by the urgency in his tone. "So I could spend some time with Yamato and Sachi."

"No," Kakashi said. "I mean why aren't you at the hospital?"

She furrowed her brow. "I just told you. I'm taking a personal day."

"You don't know…"

"Know what?" Sakura asked, getting to her feet.

"Sasuke and Itachi are in critical condition," he replied. "I assumed you knew."

"What?" she breathed, sliding her feet into her sandals. "What happened? I have to go see them."

"Tsunade-sama is with them," he assured her. "They'll be okay."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

Sakura turned back to Yamato, who was watching her with wide, expectant eyes. Sachi was behind him, still obliviously playing her flute.

"I have to go, Yamato," she told him.

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Go. I'll take Sachi home."

She kissed his forehead. "Thank you."

.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were taking a personal day."

"Every time I take a personal day Itachi ends up in the hospital."

Tsunade pursed her lips and gave Sakura a disapproving look. They stood in the hallway outside the in-patient room where Sasuke had been moved. According to one of the nurses, his condition had stabilized and he was no longer critical.

Itachi, however, was still critical and somehow still conscious.

"How can I help?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious," Sakura said.

"You know you can't operate on them," Tsunade said. "But you can, however, take a look at their eyes. Itachi's eyes are pretty messed up again. Once his condition stabilizes you can see him."

"Who's with him now? How is he? How are his lungs? He's still very susceptible to infections, so you need to be careful if there's been any kind of damage done to his lungs or heart."

"Sakura, stop," Tsunade said irritably. "Shizune is with him. He'll be fine. Go see Sasuke to distract yourself. He needs his eyes checked."

Tsunade didn't wait for her reply before she was storming down the hallway, heels clicking against the marble tiles.

With an impatient sigh, Sakura knocked brusquely on Sasuke's door and entered without waiting for his reply. She wasn't really in the mood to be around Sasuke – she was still quite angry with him for being angry with her.

But she was glad to know that he was safe.

"Sasuke," she said when she caught sight of him on the patient table, fiddling with the white paper underneath him. "Glad to see you alive and in one piece."

He said nothing. He didn't even look at her.

"Still mad at me, I see."

She stood in front of him, putting her hands on his chest. She shouldn't have been diagnosing him, but she just wanted to check and see what injuries he may have sustained and if they had been properly treated.

"Will you at least tell me what happened?" she asked. "You weren't on a mission. I know that much."

He glared up at her while she worked. For a moment it seemed like he wouldn't respond, but then he rolled his eyes. "We killed Danzo."

She faltered for a moment, and she was sure he could feel the random pulse in her chakra. "You and Itachi?" she clarified.

He gave her a look that suggested he thought she was an idiot.

"Itachi came and got you?" she demanded. "And then you left together to go kill Danzo?"

He nodded, eyes wide while he watched her put the pieces together. She clenched her fists and pulled them away from Sasuke. Itachi had gone behind her back after he'd ordered her to leave. He went back outside the village to kill Danzo. He hadn't wanted her there.

But he had wanted Sasuke there instead.

"You seem mad."

"I'm not mad," Sakura insisted. "Let me take a look at your eyes. Did something happen to them?"

He shook his head. "My eyes are fine. Itachi's though…"

She sent a cursory surge of chakra into his eyes, just to make sure that they were indeed fine. She didn't even want to think about Itachi's eyes. Or about the fact that he was somewhere in the building in critical condition, possibly dying.

"Are you mad at Itachi?" Sasuke asked. Sakura pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Because I don't think you should be mad at him for going after Danzo."

It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes. "And I suppose you're an expert on knowing appropriate things to be mad at someone for."

"That's not what this is about, Sakura," Sasuke said. "Why are you mad?"

"I was with him, Sasuke," Sakura said, dropping her hands to her side. "We ran into Danzo together and we ran away. He picked me up and took me back to the village. He made it seem like he was just going to go home. But he came to get you and go after Danzo."

Sasuke scoffed. "So you're mad that he wanted me to fight by his side instead of you? That's ridiculous, Sakura."

"Why is that ridiculous?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

"Sakura, do you know what we discovered while we were fighting him?" he asked. Without waiting for her answer, he continued. "His arm was covered with Sharingan."

Sakura blanched. "Whose?"

"I don't know."

Sakura sucked in a shaky breath. She didn't know what that meant, and she wished Itachi were there to explain it., or at least hazard a guess.

"Don't take what he did personally, Sakura," Sasuke said. "Itachi wanted revenge just as much as I did. It had nothing to do with you. Danzo was our clan's enemy. Not yours."

"He could have been killed," she whispered.

"But he wasn't."

"Why do you care if I'm mad at him?"

"He's my brother," he answered simply. "And I want him to be happy."

Sakura sighed with frustration and hefted herself up onto the table next to Sasuke. He shifted over to accommodate her. She wanted Itachi to be happy, too. Sasuke didn't have a monopoly on that. "Why were you arguing with him the other day?" she asked.

"He forbid me from talking about it with you," Sasuke said, and though it was faint, Sakura caught the smirk that flashed across his features for a moment.

"Well, he's not here now, so why don't you tell me?"

"We were arguing about you," he answered. "He told me about the clan ceremony. He needs a wife. And I know you two are getting along well. I know he really likes you."

"You think I should marry him."

He nodded.

"Everyone is pressuring us," Sakura said. "It isn't that I don't want to marry him at all. I just worry that it's too fast. That we'd be making a mistake."

"Itachi doesn't feel that way."

She blinked at him in surprise. "He doesn't?"

"I mean he doesn't feel like it would be a mistake," he amended. "He isn't interested in anyone else being his wife. Just you. So, by his reasoning, there is no point in waiting to marry you. And I agree."

Sakura had already suspected that he wanted to marry her immediately, but hearing it from Sasuke left her feeling very guilty. So they were really all just waiting for her to come around to the idea.

"Then what were you arguing about?"

"He didn't want to discuss it with you because he was afraid it would scare you off," Sasuke answered. "But I think you two need to talk about it. I think you need to get married as soon as possible."

"So everyone is just waiting for me to be ready to get married," she said dryly.

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a mirthless chuckle. "It's offensive, really. That's you have to think that much about it. Why wouldn't you want to marry him? He'd do anything for you, you know."

"I know—"

A knock at the door interrupted her before she could finish the thought. Shizune popped her head into the room. She looked pretty haggard, dark shadows marring the skin under her eyes and a paleness in the cheeks that wasn't usually there.

With a pang of worry, Sakura realized she must have used a lot of chakra working on Itachi. His injuries must have been severe.

"Sakura, Tsunade-sama wants you to come take a look at Itachi-san's eyes when you get the chance," she said. "He's stable now."

"I'm coming."