Four days after Sasuke had gotten sick and one day after Shikamaru had arrived, he solved the code. For four days, Sakura had tended to Team 8 and Sasuke, nearly exhausting herself in the process. She couldn't leave them unattended for any substantial length of time because of the fluid constantly building up in their lungs.

And if it weren't for Naruto lending her his chakra, she would never have been able to do it. But still – it had been four days since she had slept and the only thing providing her with any sustenance was a bag of quickly dwindling food pills.

So when Shikamaru popped open the locked cabinet with a triumphant grin, Sakura felt the weight of the world melt off her shoulders.

Just as she had suspected, Kabuto's inoculations were inside. There were several rows of vaccines, plenty enough to give to everyone infected so far and still have some leftover to study when she got back to Konoha.

And Sakura couldn't wait to get back to Konoha. She missed her regular shift at the hospital. She missed Ino and Tsunade and Itachi.

She knew they missed her, too. Just yesterday morning she had received a messenger bird with her notebook attached. Inside had been a note written by Ino – one that put a huge smile on her face in spite of the uselessness of sending the notebook. Ino had signed Itachi's name too, though Sakura doubted he had much to do with it.

But it was still sweet and it warmed her heart.

After injecting her wards with the vaccine, Sakura noted that they were still quite fatigued and weak, though their condition was rapidly improving. The fluid in their lungs dissipated and their high fevers went away. She sent a surge of exploratory chakra in each of their systems to make sure their chakra was functioning normally and no longer had the stickiness that made their chakra difficult to use.

And finding them to be back in perfect condition, Sakura instructed Naruto and Shikamaru to grab whoever they could and help her carry them back to Konoha. They needed to get to the hospital where they could be monitored until Sakura was sure they were all better.

Not to mention she was dying to analyze the cure so she could duplicate it and never have to worry about it again.

Naruto slung Sasuke over his shoulder, looking immensely relieved. "Thank you, Sakura," he said, giving her a warm and appreciative smile. "I don't know what we would do without you."

She returned his smile and heaved Kiba and Hinata up onto her shoulders. She turned to Shikamaru who had grabbed hold of Shino and the trio leapt off into the trees.

.

When the Konoha gates came into sight, Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Having been informed that they would be arriving, the jonin at the security kiosk let them pass without fuss and the crew headed straight to the hospital where the four unconscious ninjas were sorted into their beds.

Sakura watched as the nurses diagnosed her wards, but she kept a more watchful eye on Sasuke. He seemed to be doing much better, but she was concerned about how much fluid had been in lungs compared to Team 8. Sasuke might have a bit of trouble breathing when he woke up.

Deciding that it would be best to run the extra syringe down to analysis and come back later, she turned to leave Sasuke's room.

Itachi was standing in the doorway when she turned around. In her exhaustion she hadn't sensed him. He had an expression of concern on his, but he looked relieved at the same time.

"Sakura," he said hesitantly.

"Itachi."

"How is he?"

"His condition is stable," she said. "He's weak and will probably be unconscious for a little while longer, but he will be fine."

"And what about you?"

She swallowed and resisted the urge to take a few steps toward him and collapse into him. She was drained and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep for a few days.

"Just a little tired," she said.

He gave her a skeptical look. "Maybe you should get some rest, then," he said.

"Yeah, I plan to, but I need to take this down to analysis first," she answered. "And then I'd like to come back and check on Sasuke's eyes when he wakes up."

"You haven't slept in four days," he said. It was an admonishment and for some reason it made Sakura's heart clench.

Sensing that something was wrong, Itachi reached forward and pulled her into his chest. Sakura let him, burying her face in his chest and nearly resting her full weight on him.

"Come on," he said. "I'll go with you to take that syringe upstairs. Then we can get you home."

She shook her head. "What about Sasuke?"

"Naruto is just outside," he said, gesturing out the door. "He'll stay with Sasuke."

.

Itachi was patient with her and her sluggish movements. He stayed close beside her while she took the syringe to the lab and instructed the medic-nin there on what needed to be done with it.

When they made it outside the hospital, Sakura let herself sag against him. She felt far too tired to walk all the way home and she said as much to Itachi.

Without ceremony, he picked her up and leapt off in the opposite direction of her apartment.

"Where are we going?" she managed to ask.

"Home."

And then she realized that he was taking her to the Uchiha compound. It wasn't her home and it didn't feel like her home, but she was grateful that he was taking her there. It meant he wouldn't leave her.

And it was going to be her home soon anyway, she thought.

So when he tucked her into his own bed and then joined her, curling his body around hers and nuzzling his face into the back of her neck, Sakura finally did feel like this was her home.

"I'm glad you're safe," he murmured.

"Me, too," she said and then promptly fell asleep.

.

Sakura woke up to smell of fried eggs. Her bones ached and her eyes felt crusted over. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but she felt deeply content in the warm bed, nice and rested.

She blinked her eyes open slowly and rubbed the grit from them.

"Good morning."

Itachi stood before her with a tray of food in hand. She surveyed the tea, the eggs, the little vase of flowers. She could have cried at the sight.

"You were out for about eighteen hours," he said as he placed the tray into her lap.

She pushed the tray away with a weary groan. "I'm not hungry," she said, even though she knew she needed to eat some real food. The thought of chewing and swallowing turned her stomach, though, and all she really wanted was to curl back up and go back to sleep.

"You really should eat, Sakura," Itachi said patiently.

She ignored the comment because she knew he was right.

"How is Sasuke doing?" she asked.

"He's been discharged from the hospital," he answered. "He and Naruto are out at the training grounds right now."

Sakura didn't think that was such a good idea, but she supposed Sasuke needed to move around a little bit. He had been out for almost five days.

"I want to go back to sleep," she said, catching Itachi's eye. He wore an amused grin that made her stomach flip.

"Okay," he said. "Do you want me to get you anything? A change of clothes? Something else to eat?"

Sakura groaned again and flung a pillow at him. "Stop being so perfect," she said. "Just come get into bed with me."

He chuckled and took the tray from her lap and set it on the nightstand before crawling into the bed. Belatedly, Sakura realized that it had been several days since she had bathed and she reeked.

"I smell awful," she said.

"Yeah, you do."

She shoved him playfully and huffed. "I should take a shower."

"Would you like me to run a bath for you?"

She smiled because that sounded really nice. She could sink into the warm water and relax. The only thing that sounded better than that was…

"Only if you join me."

She felt him stiffen behind her, but a moment later he was pulling her out of bed with a coy smile.

.

Sakura eased herself down into the water and leaned back against Itachi's chest. She was surprised that he had agreed to this, but he seemed quite happy to be there. He offered to wash her hair for her – a luxury Sakura had never experienced before.

And after feeling his magic fingers work the suds into her scalp, she figured he'd be doing it a lot more often now.

"I'm really proud of you, hime," he murmured into her ear.

She scoffed. "I don't know what for," she said. "I didn't come up with the cure. I wasn't the one who cracked the code."

"You held four lives in your hands for four straight days," he replied. "Sasuke is only still alive because of you."

Sakura shrugged indifferently, but she glowed under his praise. She didn't think Itachi was the kind of person to fluff her up with less than genuine compliments. He had always been very honest with her about her strengths and weaknesses. It felt nice to know that he thought highly of her skill.

"I really did not like being apart from you," he said. She was struck by the sincerity, the vulnerability in his tone. "I was afraid for you, afraid for Sasuke. It was torture not knowing if you would come back."

She snorted. "Imagine what it will be like for me once we're married," she said. "I'll have to stay home with the kids while you go put yourself in danger. And what happens if you die and leave my children fatherless and me a widow?"

His fingers skimmed along the top of her thigh before they drifted between her legs and brushed across a more sensitive part of her anatomy. She let out a strained whimper and let her head fall back against his shoulder.

"Don't say things like that, hime," he said. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon. And even if I did, you still have Sasuke. And Naruto and Tsunade and your parents. And Kakashi and Tenzo. And Ino. And you even have—"

"I get it, Itachi-kun," she interrupted. "But none of them are you."

"I know. I'll do my best to stay alive."

She purred contently because she couldn't ask for anything more than that. He pressed a kiss into the junction of her neck and shoulder and she felt him smirk against her skin.

"What?" she asked, feeling a smirk on her own face, too.

"Nothing," he said, pressing another kiss to her shoulder. " I just like hearing you talk about our future children."

"Oh, yeah? You're looking forward to being a father?"

"Absolutely," he answered. "I can't wait to have a family again."

"I guess I should stop suppressing my periods, then."

"Pardon?"

Sakura stifled a giggle. Being away from Konoha under such strenuous conditions had lit a fire under her. She could die on any mission. Itachi could die on any mission. She didn't want either of them to die without being married – without having any children.

And shinobi had notoriously short lifespans. Waiting might be the more prudent thing to do, but life was short and Sakura was optimistic for her future family.

"I've been suppressing my period for years," she explained. "It's a nuisance and painful most of the time, and by not having one I eliminated the risk of accidental pregnancy. But now it won't be accidental."

"You're ready to have children right now?" he asked. The shock in his tone was unmistakable and it almost made Sakura laugh.

"Sure," she said. "I want a family, too."

"Sakura, I don't want you to feel pressured into getting pregnant because you think I want you to," he said with a tone that was so patient and understanding that it was almost patronizing.

And that time she didn't stifle her laughter. "If anything pressured me, it was that mission," she said. She felt Itachi's arms tighten around her. "I could have died out there. And I would have died with no children and no husband."

Itachi was silent in response to that and Sakura wished she could see his face just then.

"And if I had died out there," she continued. "Then you'd have to find someone else. The thought of someone else being the mother of your children makes me feel physically ill."

She heard Itachi chuckle darkly and she leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He kissed her temple sighed contentedly.

"You don't have to worry about that," he said. "You're the one I want to be the mother of my children, and if you die before that happens then you'll never know about whoever your replacement is."

"I'm irreplaceable, Itachi," she said. "If I die then you better be alone and miserable for the rest of your life."

He laughed again and let his fingers splay across her thigh. Giving them a quick glance she noticed that they were beginning to get wrinkled.

"I'm kidding, of course."

"I know," he replied, pressing another kiss to her temple.

"You know I'd do anything to make you happy."

"Yeah, I know."

"I'd even let some other girl have you."

"That wouldn't make me happy," he said, his lips moving against her skin. She shifted in the circle of his arms so that she was sideways in the tub and could look at his face.

"What if she's better looking than me?"

"Impossible."

"What if she's funnier than me?"

"Humor is subjective."

"What if she's a better ninja than I am?"

"No one is a better medic nin than you."

"What if she can cook?"

Itachi hummed thoughtfully, tapping his finger against his lips. "I'd consider it," he said with mock sincerity. "But she'd have to be really, really good at it."

Sakura crossed her arms and pretended to pout.

"But you know what would make me really happy?" he asked. Sakura shook her head. "If you were already my wife."

"Already?"

He nodded, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the skin of his thigh. "Yes, we should have been married a long time ago. I knew from the moment I met you that I wanted to marry you."

"Bullshit."

He laughed. "In between my decision to either kill you or try to escape I thought, 'She would make a wonderful wife and mother.'"

Sakura gasped with faux outrage. "You thought about killing me?"

"As a last resort," he amended, though it didn't make Sakura feel any better. "I thought you would send word back to Konoha that I was in Toyeiki and I couldn't let you do that until I was long gone."

"But then you got sick."

"And a beautiful and talented kunoichi made me better."

Sakura ignored the compliment, but if the heat from the water hadn't already flushed her skin she would have blushed.

"That would have been it for me, then," she said, turning back forward and leaning back against him again. "I wouldn't have been able to escape from you. You would have killed me."

"You could have escaped," he argued. "You've caught me off guard during our spars."

"You never wanted to kill me during our spars."

"I didn't want to kill you then, either."

"But still," she mumbled. "You could have. And you thought about it."

"If it makes you feel any better," he said. "Even before I fell ill I never had any intention of hurting you. I had decided to use a genjutsu and escape. I was going to leave you underneath the tree and hope someone from town found you."

"Well, my plan was just to make it through our encounter alive," she replied. "But I went and ran my huge mouth off instead."

"In all honesty, I wasn't concerned with you very much. I knew who you were, but I was more concerned with your connection to Sasuke at the time," he said. "Though I did find your brashness to be charming."

"I'm not brash."

"You are definitely brash."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, sloshing water out of the tub in the process.

"I did say I found that charming, right?"

"Yes, you did," she said. "But you should go back to talking about what a wonderful wife and mother I would be."

"Oh, you'd be the best," he said. "With you as the matriarch the Uchiha clan will easily grow to be even more powerful and fearsome than it once was."

"Aren't you worried about me muddying up the bloodline?"

"Only if you passed on your pink hair to my son," he said with a touch of humor in his tone. "But you've already alleviated that fear."

"So," she began, and her no nonsense tone seemed to suck the joviality from the room. "You want to get married now, then?"

"Whenever you're ready, of course," was his easy reply.

"I'm ready now."

She felt Itachi freeze behind her, his fingers pausing in their delicate ministrations on her bare legs. "Now?" he asked.

"Yeah, now," she answered. "I want to be married to you now."

"It's okay if you want to wait until the end of the year," he said. He seemed somewhat breathless and a little confused.

"No, I don't want to do that," she said. She already knew that Itachi wanted to be married as soon as possible. It was sweet of him to be concerned about her wishes, but after her mission, she was inclined to share his opinion on the matter.

"Sakura."

She inched forward and grabbed the towel hanging on the edge of the tub and sat up. "Come on, Itachi-kun, the water is getting cold," she said. She folded her legs underneath her and moved to stand up, but Itachi's firm grip on her arm held her in place.

"Sakura."

"Don't ask me to marry you while we're in the bathtub, please."

His grip on her arm loosened and she hesitantly smiled at him.

"I thought you wanted to wait," he said. "At least until the end of the year."

"I did," she said with a shrug. "But now I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because I am absolutely sure that you are the person I want to be with," she answered. "And I don't want to waste anymore of my time not being married to you. Besides, the sooner we are married, the sooner we can begin restoring our clan."

Itachi was visibly startled by her usage of the word 'our.' Maybe that had been a bit too much, Sakura thought. After all, it wasn't her clan yet, and even after they were married she still wouldn't be an Uchiha by blood.

An apology, a retraction of her poor choice of words was on the tip of her tongue, but before she could get it out Itachi grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. She shrieked and grabbed the side of the tub to keep her balance. She was sitting at an awkward angle now, but she couldn't bring herself to care too much. Itachi was warm and wet and his kiss was tender.

When they broke apart Sakura noticed that his eyes were bright and glassy. He looked relieved and happy.

"You're not going to ask me to marry you right now, are you?"

"I'm not going to ask you at all," he said with a grin. "I already know your answer."

"What?" she snapped. "I want a ring."

"Alright, let's go get you a ring."

He shifted and helped her stand up, then wrapped the towel and around once he was on his feet.

"How about I take a quick nap first?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"How about I make you something to eat and then you take a nap?" he suggested.

"And then we go get a ring."

He smiled warmly at her and kissed her on the mouth. "Deal."

.

Two days later Sakura wore a rather expensive ring on her finger, much to Ino's envy.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, grabbing Sakura's hand and twisting it in all different ways so she could watch how the jewels caught the light. "So you're officially engaged now?"

"That's right," Itachi answered before Sakura could. He placed a steaming mug of tea in front of Sakura and kissed the top of her head. Sakura beamed up at him before taking a sip of her tea.

"So I guess all my meddling was for nothing, then?" Ino asked. "Itachi didn't even propose to you."

Sakura's head snapped in Ino's direction. "What meddling?" she demanded. "What did you do while I was gone?"

Ino waved her hand flippantly in the air before receiving her mug from Itachi. "Nothing, nothing," she said. "It was hardly even meddling by my standards."

Sakura glanced at Itachi who smiled but offered no information.

"Just tell me," Sakura insisted.

"Nothing drastic," Ino said defensively. "I just showed him the wooden box under your bed."

"You did what?"

"Itachi wanted to know more about you and I thought it would be the best way for him to do that while you were out of the village," Ino said with a shrug. She was much too nonchalant for someone who just admitted to sharing extremely private things with someone she had no business sharing them with.

Sakura clenched her fists at her side and clenched her teeth.

"Don't be angry with her, hime," Itachi said, placing a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder. "She was only trying to help."

"That was personal stuff," Sakura argued. "She had no right to share it."

Itachi rolled his eyes, which only served to agitate Sakura even further. But before she could snap at him, he sat down across from her with his own mug of tea and gave her a wry smile.

"I couldn't help but notice," he said. "That there weren't many things from me in there."

Sakura blanched because that was true, but it wasn't really her fault. The nature of their relationship wasn't conducive to saving knick-knacks and other sundries. Of course she kept what she had – the receipt from their date, and she still had the lilies he had given her on her kitchen table.

And now she had a ring on her finger, too.

"That doesn't mean anything, Itachi-kun," she said. "You're more important to me than all the things in that box."

Ino made a noise of adoration that both Sakura and Itachi ignored.

"I know," he said. "I only meant that I need to be giving you more things to put in there."

"You're already giving me a house and a clan. And I have this ring. And our future children," Sakura said. "You don't need to give me anything else."

Ino smacked her arm. "Don't deter a hot guy from buying you things, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but Itachi at least looked amused.

"I wasn't talking about buying anything," he said. "I have something else for you, Sakura."

He left the room, giving Sakura an opportunity to glare at Ino.

"You're the worst," she said to the blonde. "I can't believe you showed him the box."

"He was worried about you and he needed a distraction," Ino said. "And you should have seen his face. He was so reverent, touching everything like it was so freaking precious. It was adorable."

Sakura's ire melted a little, but not enough to prevent her from sending one last glare in the blonde's direction before Itachi reentered the room.

He placed a small bamboo fan on the table in front of her. It looked to be in pristine condition. The paper was navy blue with the Uchiha fan printed on the front. Tentatively, Sakura picked it up and flipped it over, inspecting it from every angle.

"My mother made it when she was young," he explained. "She used to have it displayed in her bedroom, but she gave it to me after the first time I successfully performed a fireball jutsu."

"And you're giving it to me?" she asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, to put in your box."

She set it back down on the table and stood up. "Thank you, Itachi-kun," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "But I think I want to display it in the bedroom."

He set his palm against the top of her head and beamed down at her. "It's yours now, so you can do whatever you like with it."

"Aww, look at Sakura all proud to be a part of a clan," Ino cooed from her seat at the table.

"I'm not an Uchiha yet," Sakura said to Ino.

"But it's only a matter of time, right?" Ino asked. "Have you guys set a date?"

"Two weeks from today," Itachi answered.

"Two weeks?" Ino demanded with a voice far too shrill to be used inside. "I don't have a dress yet. You haven't planned anything. There's no venue, no food, no music. How the hell are you going to plan a wedding in two weeks?"

"Calm down, Ino," Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. "We won't be having a ceremony. We're just going to have Tsunade marry us at the Hokage tower."

Ino's eyes widened almost comically and she blinked in surprise several times. "I beg your pardon?"

"If we plan a huge wedding we'll have to push back the date," Sakura explained. "And we both want to be married as soon as possible."

"But I wanted to be your maid of honor."

"You can still be my maid of honor."

"It's not the same," she wailed.

"Oh, Ino," Sakura said with a sigh. "It's not that big a deal. I'm sure your wedding will be grand enough to make up for it."

"I guess it will have to be."

Though there was a dejected quality to her tone (and Sakura knew that Ino would not take this information well), Ino looked happy for her best friend. When she smiled brightly, her blue eyes wavering with genuine love for her, Sakura felt so happy she thought her heart would explode.