Hope you enjoy the next chapter! I've decided to fix Saturday as the day I update on, but if I finish other chapters during the week, then there'll be chapters on Weekdays as well.

Apologies if this chapter isn't to your taste or boring or absurd or whatever you want to name it..

A big shout out to everyone who's stuck with me till this point.

Disclaimer: Naruto is mine! Just Kidding!

24th April 2032, Hyuga Mansion, San Francisco, time- 18:07

"Hello?" Sakura said, answering her phone as she filled herself a glass of water back at home. Hinata had gone out earlier to return to the office after they had brought Yuki back home. Nobody had come home since then.

"Sakura. Where are you?" Arisa's voice came from the speaker.

"At home. Why? Should I be elsewhere?" she asked.

"How's Yuki doing?" Arisa asked. She sounded stressed and concerned.

Whenever a new orphan came to their house- which wasn't very often, but not rare either- all of the existing members of the household seemed to make the child one of their top priorities. It was sort of like that for Sakura when she was adopted too. So the concerned part of Arisa's attitude made sense.

"She's fine. Mother's reading her to sleep now. Are you okay?" Sakura said, sitting down on the couch.

"Me?-I'm fine. Everyone at the office is mega stressed and annoyed with this case. No new leads yet. Are you okay?"

"There was nothing wrong with me to begin with. Except maybe the fact that I'm going stir crazy being stuck indoors while you're all at work."

"Great. Then you can join us tonight." Arisa said.

"Wait-what? Join you where? On field work?" Sakura asked.

"Wish lounge at around 8.00 . We're getting some drinks and then I'll let you know what we found out today with the case and all."

"Who's going to be there? Anyone I should know?"

"Well, Itachi seemed quite interested in you earlier, so I invited him. His choice if he comes or not." she said nonchalantly.

Sakura frowned. "You're trying to set me up with him?" After what Ino had tried to do with her and Naru-erm, Sasuke, she was quite fed up with her friends trying to meddle with her personal life.

"No. Just come along. I think we all need the breather." Arisa said.

Begrudgingly, Sakura complied leaving the room to shower and change into some black jeans and a sleek red crop top.

24th April, 2032, FBI San Francisco Division, Forensics and Analytics unit, time- 19:16

This is impossible.

Jiraya stared in shock at the toxicology reports in front of him.

He blinked, shaking head, and hesitantly opening his eyes again to look at the paper.

Sure enough, the reports were just as he had read them.

But that shouldn't be possible.

He thought he was being paranoid when he first saw the little girl's blood test results.

But seeing the toxicology reports in front of him, he felt his stomach crawl into his throat. A wave of dread rose within him.

If he were to go by these reports, then Yuki's body was host to a near-fatal toxin.

One that would help the body stabilize internal changes.

But that was not why the compound shocked him so much.

Only three people in existence were supposed to know about it- two, excluding him.

And they had all sworn to abandon all research related to it, never to so much speak of it again.

Yet here he had proof that it was in use again- on children.

And that was what shocked him.

If his sixth sense had anything to say about it, then he could say with deadly accuracy that this was far bigger than a simple toxin resurfacing. His danger radar screamed at him to stay out of it before falling victim to the implications. But instead, he grabbed his coat and headed out of the building.

Two people other than him knew about the toxin in Yuki's blood. If he wanted any inclination as to what was going, then he had a pretty good idea where to start off.

24th April, 2032, Wish lounge, Folsom St, San Francisco, Time- 20:43

"The majority of those zombie makeup sketches are actually modelled on ordinary people." Itachi said, leaning against the bar counter with a drink in hand.

Sakura laughed, "Oh really? How?" she raised an eyebrow skeptically at Itachi.

They had already been at the bar for quite some time now, and Neji and Arisa were running late, so they had started on the drinks before they could arrive, as she got to properly know Itachi. She was beginning to think that Arisa had indeed set this up so that she would be left alone with Itachi for quite some time before the others could arrive. But she decided she didn't exactly mind. She found Itachi to be more than friendly, and he was polite and funny as well. He would make a good friend to have.

Itachi pointed at one of the bartenders, who had a pug shaped nose and looked not taller than 4 feet.

"Take him for instance. His nose would count as the basis for the design. We'd mess up the ear to make his head look lopsided, and add beady black eyes. Voila! Zombie at the ready!"

Sakura almost doubled over laughing at the comparison. The mentioned man looked like a cross between a goblin and a dwarf. Zombie indeed! He looked over to where the two were laughing, as if he knew they were talking about him. They quickly turned away upon seeing the whole of his face.

"Did you see that? He could totally act in the Zombie Apocalypse!" Sakura said between laughs.

Itachi said, "He could even compete with Kisame. If you leave aside the height factor that is. I've seen five year olds taller than that."

It had been a long time since Sakura last laughed enough to have her stomach ache. She was definitely intoxicated- so was he.

"If you're so involved in the showbiz sector, then why aren't you an actor? I mean, you're quite attractive and seem to have the charisma for it too..."

His demeanor changed quite abruptly to a more sombre apparel. "I used to be a part of my father's business. When he died, the entire enterprise was left to me."

She noted his use of the past tense. "What happened?"

"I had a falling out with my father before he passed on. i had some problems with the way things were run and ultimately left."

"Oh."

"It looks like you're having trouble believing that I could fall out with my father to that degree." Itachi said after a while.

Sakura looked up mildly surprised, "Oh, no...It's just that, I guess although Hiashi and his wife are good parents to me, I never really knew my parents. So I've never really properly understood that kind of familial issue. But hey, everyone's different. I'm no one to judge."

"People who suffer from hardships early on in life tend to be far more humble and appreciative than those who have their life handed to them on a silver platter." he mused

"Are you putting yourself in the latter group?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

Sakura pondered his question before answering, "No. Not really."

Shortly after, he asked, "Do you ever plan on starting a family of your own?"

She contemplated the question for a while before saying, "With a guy? I don't think I want to for now... But even if I never get married or anything, as long as I'm part of the Hyugas then I'll always have a family of kids to look after. You know how much we love to adopt- I think that's even more so because Hiashi's wife was an orphan herself."

"I see..." he said.

"What about you? Are you in a relationship, or engaged or married or something?" she asked.

The other man was quiet for a long time before, before he sighed and said, "I guess it does no harm to tell you."
She stayed quiet allowing him to speak.

"I once loved a girl who suffered from a hereditary disease." he said, smiling bitterly as he said, "She died when I was 16. It's been 14 years since then."

Sakura knew firsthand how hard it was to loose someone important to you. "What was her name?" she asked softly.

"I don't like talking about her." Itachi said softly, "But there's never been anyone else ever since. "

"I'm sorry for your loss." Sakura said. She knew those words were meaningless, but saying nothing felt even worse.

They sat in amicable silence each dealing with their own memories which resurfaced in light of their topic of conversation.

"Wait...if you were sixteen then and its been fourteen years since then...you're trying to say that you're 30!?" she asked suddenly, incredulous.

He looked at her as though it were obvious. "Why? Do I look older?"

"I had taken you for 27 at the oldest!" Sakura interjected. Were her judgement skills really that bad? She didn't think so. Itachi's timeless appearance, however, didn't give her much basis on which to allot him an age in her head.

"If it helps I mistook you for a fifteen year old when Arisa first introduced you to me." Itachi commented nonchalantly.

"Hey!" she huffed indignantly, pushing him lightly in annoyance.

He responded with a chuckle and poked her playfully in the forehead as he commented on something else which made her laugh.

Yes, she was getting on with him fine indeed.

I had fun writing about zombies. And if you think Itachi's Ooc, then I'll just have you keep in mind that he is a friendly guy in general and add to that the fact that he's in a bar with friends...yeah, I think it's justified.

But if you still think he's Ooc, it's up to you.

Stay tuned for more!

~Raven