WARNING(S): Trope-typical gang violence, gun injuries

"Ugh, why do you have to be so reckless?" A young woman demanded, pulling the wrapping tighter around the redhead's calf, her face pinched in frustration. "You know Granny is gonna be mad."

The redhead grunted. "Granny doesn't have to find out about this."

"Why exactly should I keep a secret like this?! You were shot clean through the leg!"

"Because if she knows I got into another fight, it'll worry her too much. You don't want to worry her, do you?"

Sakura kissed her teeth, tucking the wrapping in and securing the bandage. "I worry enough without you getting into gang fights, Sasori. I don't want her to find out the hard way when you get sent to the hospital." As soon as her work was finished, she pulled her hands back. "Were you followed?"

"Only by Weasel."

"At least he's trustworthy," griped the younger as she got to her feet. Extending a hand, she glanced at the doorway. "Thank you for looking after my idiot cousin, Weasel."

There was a pause, and in that lull, Sasori grasped her hand and used it to help himself up. He grunted again in pain. Then a low voice came from the door, "It's no problem."

Weasel was only a few years older, it seemed, yet he seemed far older than he was. Deep dark eyes peered back at her from under his hood, the creases of his frown lines partially hidden by his facemask. She'd not seen his face yet; perhaps one day she would be able to.

"Well," said the older man, slipping Sasori's arm over his shoulder, "I should take him home."

"You do that," the girl tersely answered, folding her arms across her chest.

The next morning, she slumped against a bench, music blaring in her ears as she fought to keep herself awake. The words on the page of her anatomy textbook blurred and swam in her vision and she had to shut her eyes lest she get dizzy.

When she felt someone sit down beside her, she cracked open one eye to see someone in navy blue and dark jeans with two to-go cups of coffee.

Wordlessly he held one out to her.

She raised a brow, but fully opened her eyes and accepted the hot cup, the steam from the lid making her sigh in content.

"You looked like you needed it," he started, taking a sip of his own. "Uchiha Sasuke, Criminology major."

"Haruno Sakura, Nursing," she answered, taking a sip. The bittersweet taste was almost heavenly in the cool of the morning air. "I haven't seen you around campus much; are you new?"

"No, I keep to myself." Sasuke stared at the expanse of the campus center absently, poised and alert.

She hummed in response and took another sip of coffee. "Waiting for class, then?"

"Yeah." His fingers tapped the side of the takeaway cup and he sighed, his breath mere wisps of fog. "Actually, I wanted to introduce myself. I think you know my brother."

"Oh?" Might as well humor him, she decided as she shut her textbook and turned slightly to better face him. "Who's your brother?"

"Uchiha Itachi. I believe he's the teaching aide for the nursing course this year." He finally looked her in the face, and something about his own looked very familiar. Deep dark eyes and matching hair framing an angular jaw, slender nose, pale complexion - where had she seen him before?

"I haven't met the aide yet," she admitted, fiddling with the spine of her book. "So he's your brother? That's interesting."

He nodded his head slightly. "He's mentioned you. Said you were a hard worker."

Sakura snorted, giving him an amused quirk of her lips. "For this tuition? You bet your ass I'm gonna be a hard worker. I think my mom would kill me if I wasted it."

"Yeah," he chortled, the first real show of any emotion since he'd sat down. "My mom is the same way. Dad is strict, but Mom is scary - I'd rather get him upset than her."

"Same. My dad is a pushover compared to her." Taking another sip, she sat up a bit. "What time does your class start? You mind if I walk with you?"

"I don't see why not; I think the psych building is close to the medical sciences building." Getting to his feet, he waited for her to pack her book and get up.

The two walked in a comfortable silence, every so often breaking it with small talk. It turned out that Sasuke was quite funny when he wanted to be, even if he didn't mean to. His dry demeanor reminded her quite a bit of Sasori, and it made it all the easier to talk to him.

Finally, they got to the medical sciences building; but instead of hanging back, he walked up the steps with her and held open the door.

Sakura paused, giving him a questioning look.

"I want to see if my brother is in yet," he explained, gesturing with his head.

Well, she wasn't about to complain. Murmuring a thanks, she headed into the warm lobby and sighed in delight. When he shut the door behind them, the cold nip declined to follow as they walked to the stairs.

Getting to her lecture hall was easy - and when the door opened, Sasuke visibly brightened a fraction when they saw the professor speaking with someone else.

"Itachi!" He called, making his way down to the front.

Sakura followed behind at a slower pace, and by the time she got to her usual spot, Itachi had turned.

Deep dark eyes, worry lines creasing his cheeks… hang on a minute…

"Itachi?" She blurted in surprise, and it all made sense. Weasel.

He looked up when she spoke, a hint of surprise in his face, before he was nodding politely to her. "Good morning, Miss Haruno."

"You're early again," the professor teased with a chuckle.

"You- you know him, then." Sasuke said, glancing between them.

"I think I do," she confirmed with narrowed eyes as her grip tightened on her backpack. "You know my cousin, right? Sasori?"

"Ah, yes," agreed the older man, "I believe we met while he was working for your grandmother's pharmacy."

"Small world," she muttered under her breath before straightening up. "Well, the next time you see him you tell him he owes me big time. I almost slept through my alarm."

To her surprise, the stoic man laughed - it was a soft, thoughtful sound. "I'll make sure to pass on the message."

"Small world," she repeated quietly before turning to Sasuke with a smile. "I suppose we ought to get lunch or something sometime."

"Sure," the young man agreed. "Itachi? You wanna come?"

"I don't see why not." Flashing his younger brother a smile, he ruffled his hair much to his ire.