Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 9: To Tenshu for Answers

Yanagi woke Sakura the next morning with a hand on her shoulder and a gentle shake. She jolted awake, images of Hakumei shinobi brandishing kunai at her filling her mind until his wrinkled face registered. Sakura heaved a sigh and groaned.

"Yanagi-sama," she whined. "You scared the crap out of me." He chuckled out an apology, asking why she was asleep in the bed. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sakura flung off her blanket. "I'm going to go to Tenshu today," she explained around a yawn. She had already told him she was considering making the trip, so he didn't look surprised. In fact, he looked quite pleased.

"Excellent," he said as he walked out of the room. "I'm glad I got here early today. I'm sure you'll want to leave as soon as possible." Sakura shook her head in agreement with another yawn, looking at the clock on the wall. It was six in the morning. She'd have time to run home, quickly shower and change before heading out. Getting to her feet, she slipped her sandals on and shuffled towards the door to Itachi's room, trying to shed the last remnants of sleep. While it was nice he was no longer on airborne precautions, she quietly grumbled to herself that he still had to be on contact isolation as she groggily pulled on protective gear from the cart parked outside the door. But it was best to be safe and prevent the spread of infection. Sakura was at least grateful they only needed to wear simple masks rather than the costly and uncomfortable fitted ones.

She wanted to perform an assessment on him before leaving, not knowing exactly how long she would be gone for. Usually he was awake at this hour, but she caught him fast asleep as she quietly opened the door and peeked in after softly knocking. His slumbering features looked peaceful, making him look vulnerable in a way she never got to see while he was conscious. Another stark reminder of just how human he actually was, she thought as she came to stand besides him. Not wanting to startle him the same way Yanagi did to her, she quietly said his name until his eyes opened. Sakura couldn't help but admire his long, dark lashes as she watched him rouse.

"Hey, sorry to wake you, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to take off soon. I'd like to do a quick assessment before going."

"Alright," he muttered, voice thick with sleep. He didn't need to sit up in bed for her to do her assessment, but she indulged him, tracking the movements with her eyes. Once he was comfortable, he turned those still hazy eyes up to her. He was finally allowing himself to relax at the clinic, his body understanding that he was safe here. The realization made her smile. Again, it made him seem more human to see that sluggish look in his eyes as he looked up at her, blinking away sleep like she had a minute ago. It was a vast improvement from the immediate vigilance he had always shown previously when she half expected him to draw a kunai on her from under his pillow each time she walked into his room. That thought made her crack a grin under her mask.

"Ready?" She asked, and he nodded. Sakura tried not to think about his sleep tousled hair and the sudden urge she felt to smooth those ebony locks back into place. Blinking the scandalous thought away, she leaned over him and got to work. Straightening a few minutes later, she looked at his face.

"Everything looks good for now," she explained with a smile in her eyes. "Hopefully I'll find some answers today. Try and keep eating while I'm gone, okay?" Itachi acknowledged her with another nod and a sleepy blink. "Well, I'd better get going." She stripped off her gear and washed her hands. "See you later, then," she grinned as she made to leave the room.

"Sakura-san…" She stopped, looking over her shoulder at him with her brow raised a little. His profound gaze held her own, and something stirred deep in her gut that she was unable to recognize as the silence stretched. His face was unreadable as it always was, but in his eyes so many emotions flicked in such a brief moment that she couldn't be sure she was simply imagining them. Before it could get more awkward, Sakura smiled again, trying to diffuse the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck," he finally told her. She thought back to that other night when he thanked her and how awkward that had been, too. He was trying so damn hard to be open with her, it dawned on her, and Sakura's face softened. This poor man was doing everything in his power to not be the cryptic, unsocial, introverted person life had turned him into, all for her sake. And maybe for his own, too. That 'good luck' was so much more, she realized. It was a 'thank you' and a 'be safe' and a 'I'm sorry to have imposed so much on you' and so much more all rolled up into two words. He was trying his best to shatter that armor of his. Trying his best to trust her, when that was not in his nature. Sakura would try hers, too.

"Thanks," she beamed at him in a Naruto-esque manner with the same toothy grin. "I'm gonna need it." Itachi just stared at her, appearing as uninterested as usual, but she hoped he understood how genuine she was being. "See ya," she quipped as she left with a little wave of her hand, missing the slight raise of his own as he bid her a silent farewell.

The trip into Tenshu was one of urgency. Luckily it wasn't as secretive as the one to the waterfall hideout. Still, Sakura was worried about Itachi's condition and wanted to solve this mystery as quickly as possible. It worried her to leave him alone even if he had been stable. There was only so much Yanagi and the others could do without her ninjutsu. It was a shame he lost the concoctions he had stolen from Orochimaru in the last fight that sent him to Hougyoku. He explained to her what he knew of the drugs, but they had nothing of the sort there in the little village. If push came to shove and her trip to Tenshu left her empty handed she'd try and recreate that potion for the time being. She'd much rather just find out what the heck was inhabiting his body and cure it for good, and she felt certain that she'd stumble upon it in the more advanced city. Thinking negatively wouldn't help.

A steady jog set her down the dusty trail that led north from Hougyoku. Again she dressed like a civilian to not draw attention to herself with Hakumei looking for her. She contemplated using a henge to change her appearance but decided against it. She wasn't the only pink haired woman in the world. In fact, such a hair color wasn't completely uncommon in these parts. Also, she didn't want to waste chakra should she find herself in another sticky situation. She prayed that that wouldn't happen again. With Itachi's sickness evading her at every turn she already had enough on her plate to deal with. One run in with Hakumei scouts was plenty. The only last minute change she made was to cover the small purple seal on her forehead with concealer, a marking she knew most shinobi would recognize.

Being a weekday the road was rather busy. People of the villages that were nestled into the valleys of the area were transporting their goods from one town to the next. Larger horse and ox drawn carts bore huge loads of rice and other staples that were obviously on their way into the capital, too. Although she kept to herself as she ran along, it felt nice to have the company on the road with her. Many people would ride past on bicycles or small pedal carts; it felt safer to travel in numbers where she could blend into the crowds.

As the hours wore on and they got closer to Tenshu and other roads came to connect to the large one, small motor powered bikes or even trucks would join them. The amount of people on the road and the uneven terrain made it difficult for the machines to travel as fast as they could. Running with chakra powered strides was much, much quicker than the fuel guzzling vehicles. She couldn't dispute their convenience, though, for the civilians and for toting around large loads of goods. At one point she even found herself riding on the bed of one when a young man sitting alongside tall stacks of bulging burlap bags called down to her as a slightly rusty flatbed drove up beside her.

"Would you like a lift?" he had asked her with a grin. He was cute and his smile reminded her of the sun on a summer day – bright and full of life. She couldn't help herself, and she sat with her legs dangling off the end the of flatbed, watching as the other travelers followed in their wake. Small talk promptly ensued. He seemed highly interested in Sakura and began to ask her a plethora of questions, like where she was from and where she was headed. At her answer, his mood brightened even further.

"My brother and I are making a delivery to Tenshu! What a coincidence. You can just ride with us into the city and save your energy." A part of Sakura wished she declined, but since she decided not to race to Tenshu with her chakra, she couldn't deny that it would be nice to simply sit in the bed of the truck with this charming young man to keep her company. A little more than two hours still separated them from Tenshu and it made her feet ache just thinking about it.

"What's your name if you don't mind me askin'?" He seemed good natured and innocent enough, but Sakura decided against giving him her real name. In fact, she had thought of a little story to give anyone who asked. She wasn't about to spread her name in these dangerous times.

"Taikou," she lied with a smile. "You?"

"I'm Renshi. My brother is Gen," he added even though there was no way for Sakura to acknowledge him. The back window of the truck was blocked by the bags. "What're ya headed to Tenshu for?"

"I'm looking for work," she lied. Renshi was a chatty guy, and the next few hours passed with him inquiring about many different things. He was a simple village boy, sweet and endearing. He eventually told her that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Sakura gave him a pretty blush for his efforts. He asked her to come visit him at his village. She made no promises, but said that she'd like that. Renshi reminded her of many of the young men in Hougyoku: tall and well built, with hands calloused by a lifetime of work, skin bronzed by days under the sun and a well rounded knowledge of the lands and of rice and other crops.

Eventually Tenshu came into view. As always, the first thing she noticed was that it was big. Very big. The city was surrounded by tall, grey walls. They approached the southern gates, a massive set of doors that reminded her of the gates into Konoha, but they were red and not green. Masses of people came and went. Beyond the open gates she could see into the city. The buildings still had an authentic old fashioned style that Sakura always found pleasant to look at. Though extremely industrialized, Tenshu still held true to its roots. The city was actually fairly old. Rather than change completely to match the advances of technology, technology had to fit itself into the city. Tenshu was an aesthetic blend of new and old. It reminded her of her old home, she thought with a pang of grief.

"You really are beautiful, Taikou," Renshi told her when she said her thanks and goodbyes to him. For having just met her he seemed to have no shame in trying to make moves on her. "Would a guy like me ever have a chance with a girl like you?" he asked with a smirk. Sakura couldn't help the little smile that pulled at her lips. Such attention, she decided, was something she couldn't help but find pleasing from him. If she wasn't a shinobi and Hakumei wasn't on the rise, she'd probably have a good, happy life with someone like Renshi. But she was a shinobi, and threats were coming to these lands. With her hesitation, Renshi's confidence faltered a bit. "Ah, perhaps not. Someone as gorgeous as you must already be betrothed. That must be it," he said with a wink. Sakura's eyes widened a bit at those words. Betrothed? She almost laughed.

"Ah, no, I'm not," she answered, trying not to roll her eyes. Renshi grinned.

"No? Not even a boyfriend?" Sakura's brows furrowed in her humor and she made a face that said no. He smiled wider. "Really? I'm shocked." Sakura had to remind herself that it was common for women her age to already be married with a child or two, so she squashed down the annoyance that tried to swell at his assumptions. She was a strong woman who didn't need a man in her life, she decided long ago. Her love life was a doomed thing. She wouldn't be surprised if she never married or even had a long term relationship in the years to come. In fact, she really had no desire for such a thing right then, what with everything going on.

Then why did raven hair, pallid skin and midnight eyes suddenly flash in her mind and her pulse increase at the fleeting vision?

The quick image and her flushed skin took her off guard. Renshi must've taken the reaction as one that meant he was winning her over for he took a step closer. Before he could take another a voice sounded out from the front of the truck.

"Quit your flirting and let's go!" the voice reprimanded. Renshi grinned sheepishly at his brother's chastising.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Taikou-chan. I hope we meet again." He gave another effervescent smile and hopped back up onto the bed of the truck.

"You too," she said with a forced smile.

"Good luck with the job hunt!" he called out before he got too far away.

"Thanks!" she yelled in return with a small wave, watching as the truck took off and eventually disappeared into the crowds. Frowning at herself, she shook her head. Not wanting to dwell on the vision that popped into her mind she made her way through the city towards her destination.

"Oh yes, of course, Dear," a middle aged woman said to Sakura from her desk at the reception hall of the large building she had just entered. Sakura had told the woman that she was a doctor from a local village doing some research and needed access to the larger archives in Tenshu. Many physicians and students came to use the university library regularly. The school and hospital in Tenshu were two in one, actually, where every medical profession came to learn and train. It was where Yanagi had studied back in the day. She told the woman it was her first time visiting the library and she needed to be pointed in the right direction.

"Not to worry." She gave Sakura the directions to get to the library, and with a smile and a thank you, she took off. Upon arriving there, her inner bookworm and nerd rejoiced. It was a massive collection. It was all she could do for a moment to just stand and stare and appreciate the hoard of texts lining shelves many rows high. Her ogling ceased when an 'excuse me' sounded from behind her and she moved out of the way to let someone else in. Taking in a deep breath to prepare herself she set to work. First, she had to look up texts that would prove useful for her plight. Books on diseases and microorganisms. She had help from a young woman who worked there and gave her the locations of the needed texts, printed off neatly on a small slip of paper.

"It's for a research paper," Sakura explained when the girl, who was a student at the hospital's school, inquired about her work. She gave Sakura a knowing, sympathetic look, thinking Sakura to be another student. The girl wished Sakura luck on her project before Sakura took off into the shelves. Gathering up the first nine books on her list, she found herself an empty table and set to work. Thanks to her previous readings back at the clinic and the tests they'd been running, she was able to bypass a lot of the information in the texts, her search narrowed down significantly thanks to all their work. Hours passed as she scoured the pages, her notes from the clinic with her at the table, as well as sketches from the slide samples. Like before, at times she'd stumble upon something very similar, but it wouldn't pan out in the end. From time to time she'd take a break to rest her eyes and stand when her legs were threatening to fall asleep on her. She'd walk around for a bit to get her blood circulating again, roaming up and down the bookcases and admiring the copious amount of books before returning to her desk.

"Nothing again," she sighed out as she closed the last text in her pile. Nine different books and nothing conclusive. She wanted to cry. Wanted to scream. Wanted to laugh. How could this disease be so hard to find? Just where the hell did Itachi get this bug from? How could it be this rare? With another sigh, she rose from her table and gathered the books. A glance at a clock hanging on a nearby wall revealed that she had been there for almost five hours, but she wasn't about to give up so soon. She remembered where she found each book since they were all in the same area, so she trekked back to the shelves and began putting them away.

As she was placing her second to last text back, a certain title caught her attention: Rarest of the Rare: Uncommon Pathogens. Immediately she slipped her last book into a free space, her typical obsessive tendencies at organization forgotten, and pulled the book from the shelf. She was going to take a break to grab a bite to eat and then return to the library, but one more book wouldn't hurt before then. She didn't want to admit that she sort of had one of those proverbial, clichéd feelings towards the book, like some sort of epiphany came over her, but she couldn't deny that something in her sparked to life when she saw it. Like it was calling to her.

Returning to her table and her notes, she sat down and flipped through the pages. It was older, she could tell right away. The original publish date confirmed that it was many years her senior, but the copy she had was a newer addition with colored illustrations and photos. Right away she noticed many rare diseases she was already familiar with from her previous reads, but also some she hadn't come across yet. Despite herself she found she was growing excited as she tried not to get her hopes too high. Odd fungi, viruses, and bacteria were shown and described. She passed those up and went for the protists. The first was something she'd seen before. So was the second. And the third. And the fourth. Page after page she flipped, but each protist shown was not the match she was looking for.

Just when she thought her luck was gone and this book was deceitful, she flipped the page again and saw something that wanted to make her laugh: an exact image of the protozoan that riddled Itachi's body. Snatching one of the sketches from her piles, she slapped it down on the opposite page and darted her eyes back and forth. This was it. She knew it was. Without a shadow of doubt she knew she finally found it. She refrained from laughter and silently squirmed a little victory wiggle in her chair. She could've jumped on top the table and shouted her triumph, but such behavior would have her removed from the establishment. Celebrations could come later. For now her eyes hungrily read the words printed on the pages before her.

The name of the pest and the resulting infection were a mouthful. She wasn't even sure if she was pronouncing them right as she whispered aloud to herself. The common signs and symptoms were perfect matches to what Itachi was showing. Results from testing matched down to the smallest detail. Like she suspected it was transmitted through the oral-fecal route, most commonly ingested through the drinking of water that hadn't been properly treated. Itachi must've drank water from a bad source or eaten something that was prepared in such a manner. That or he ate an animal that had had the illness itself. Working for the Akatsuki, it wasn't hard to imagine him doing such a thing in some godforsaken village someplace.

True to the book's title, it was a rare disease because it rarely survived past its incubation period. Also, because it wasn't too common in the shinobi lands to begin with. In the rare cases it did survive, it was a bitch to get rid of because although the fully mature protozoans were easy enough to deal with using the right treatment, the spores were tough little things, just as she predicted. They often lay dormant, just as in Itachi's case, and had times when they suddenly flared to life and attacked the body, particularly under high amounts of stress. For Itachi, his lungs and intestines had been the main targets. These were of the most common areas of the body affected, but it could eventually spread to other locations and lead to multi-system organ failure and eventually death if not controlled, shutting down the body one organ system at a time.

The treatment for the illness was a drug she was not familiar with. She knew the supply the clinic had by heart and it was not amongst it. Sakura would have to find it here in Tenshu. She set to work copying down the passage on the illness to take back to Hougyoku with her. Her exuberance at her find made her hands tremble and she had to force herself to steady her fingers to write. Her face hurt from grinning like a madwoman. It took about an hour to copy everything, word for word, and once done she returned the book to its rightful place. In her good mood she felt like she could've kissed the thing, but she refrained. She immediately left the library and headed to the receptionist again. It was the same woman as before. Sakura asked where she could find their pharmacy, and the receptionist pointed her in the right direction. At the counter, one of the pharmacist technicians explained the cost of the mediation for an outside physician, and she felt her heart drop.

"How much?" The tech repeated the price for the amount she needed and Sakura nearly fainted. The drug cost much more than she anticipated.

"I'm sorry, Miss," she continued, "You can always try another city." Sakura nodded and thanked her with a tight smile, saying she'd have to do that and compare prices. Walking away in a daze of shock, she tried not to break down in tears. She didn't make a lot of money working in a small rural village like Hougyoku, just enough to live comfortably and have a small savings on the side. Most of the medications they had at the clinic were the results of trades with rice and other goods. Sakura had a feeling she'd be hard pressed to find the needed medication someplace else for cheaper, or even find it at all. With a frown, she knew she'd have to do something she didn't want to do as a professional and a medic, but too much was on the line not too: she'd have to steal it.

An idea came to her seconds after that thought. Getting behind the counter would prove difficult as herself, but if she was an employee, she could simply let herself inside. And if she had a written prescription from a physician, even better. Better yet, if she were to get it from herself it would be even easier. She could play both parts, and with bunshin she could be in two places at once. A little smile pulled at her lips.

She was a shinobi after all.

Sakura spent the evening scoping out hallways in the hospital. She sat at a bench eating a small meal she had gotten for herself, and she had changed her appearance to that of an old man. No one would question a little old man sitting down to eat his meal; they would think he was there visiting someone. From her vantage point she could see the pharmacy and she studied those who worked behind the counter. She could also hear them chatting. One was the pharmacist. The second was the tech she had spoken with, a sweet looking girl whose appearance reminded her of Ino with her icy blue eyes and platinum hair. The third was another tech, a tired looking young man who was in much need of sleep. One of them would be her disguise behind the counter.

Next, she paid attention to the doctors that came and went. Many of them walked past her and she had a clear view of their badges clipped to their white coats. Eventually she saw what she was looking for: a tall, middle-aged man whose name tag read Internal Medicine beneath his name.

Bingo, she said to herself as she studied him, letting each detail soak into her memory. She rose to her feet as the physician came back her way, and purposefully stepped out into his path as he quickly made his way down the hallway, obviously in a hurry. The two crashed together. In a move quicker than the eye could catch, Sakura reached into his coat pocket where she saw the outline of what she recognized to be a notepad tucked away, and snatched it from its place and into her own coat. The doctor looked surprised, never imagining this little old man to be a pickpocket. He apologized profusely.

"Not to worry, not to worry," Sakura returned in the quavering voice she constructed. "I'm fine." The doctor grinned sheepishly and continued on his way after another 'I'm so sorry, Sir', but Sakura only smiled. Turning, she pulled out the pad and confirmed what she took: countless pages of blank prescriptions begging to be filled out. Now, she'd just have to wait for the right time. It finally came about half an hour later. The pharmacist ordered the female tech to go someplace for him to fetch something. By the expression she gave him it sounded like it was something of a hassle and probably far away but she obliged. The tired looking boy was still there with him. About five minutes later, the pharmacist informed the male technician that he needed to go someplace himself as well, and that he was in charge until the girl returned. The boy nodded and gave a lazy acknowledgement as the pharmacist left.

Now was her chance. She stepped into the nearby bathroom and switched her appearance to that of the pharmacist and then made a bunshin. That bunshin changed into the doctor she bumped into. First she left as the pharmacist and returned to the counter.

"I accidently left my badge," she told the young man behind the counter. The badges were used to open doors throughout the facility. "Can you let me back in?" The tech obliged without question. Just then, the physician bunshin came down the hall and approached the counter, prescription in hand. She had filled out in the restroom. "I'll get this since I'm here," she said as the pharmacist when her clone came forward. The tech was so tired he nodded, suspecting nothing. The note was passed over, and some words were exchanged. Sakura headed into the back of the stock room and began looking for the needed medication.

It took her a while to locate it because she wasn't familiar with the storeroom. Pharmacists were notorious for taking long stretches of time to fill prescriptions, performing multiple checks to ensure patient safety, so it gave her grace as she frantically scoured the many shelves. Thankfully everything was organized by medication classes, otherwise she'd be there all day. Once she found it, she took a couple of boxes filled with little glass vials, enough to last for the recommended treatment duration she had read in the book. She returned to the front desk as casually as she could while her heart thumped with nerves and triumph in her chest. Handing one small vial of it to the clone doctor, who thanked the altered Sakura and left, Sakura resisted the strong temptation to bolt out the door.

"Okay, I'll be back soon," she told the tech and he gave a tired 'okay' in return.

Both the clone and Sakura returned to the bathroom, which was luckily empty. She took the little boxes of medication and stored them in her bag and had the clone disappear in a small wisp of smoke. Changing back into her normal self, she exited the bathroom. Just as she was leaving, someone was coming in. A male employee gave her a look, and Sakura grinned awkwardly.

"Haha… wrong bathroom," she laughed, and the man chuckled at her mistake as if this wasn't the first time this had happened to him. Sakura left the hospital at a leisurely pace even though she wanted to run out of there as fast as possible. The vials in her bag felt like bars of gold and precious gems, or extremely secretive scrolls possessing crucial information. She still couldn't believe how much they had wanted for the stuff. Although she felt bad stealing, she alleviated her guilt with thoughts of healing Itachi and what that would mean.

I'm doing you guys a favor! She yelled back to the hospital in her mind. Saving him meant crushing Hakumei and potentially sparing them their lives.

Even though it was late in the day and the sun was starting to set, she decided to head straight home. If she ran hard she could make it back to Hougyoku within a reasonable time. She didn't want to risk staying in Tenshu; the possibility of being discovered by any potential Hakumei ninja snooping around the capital was too high. It definitely wouldn't surprise her if ninja lived in the city, Hakumei or not, but she tried not to think on such things as she made her way back to the southern gates. The day's events were too good to ruin with negativity and such high levels of paranoia.

Unfortunately for her, her assumptions were accurate. From the side of the road a pair of men stood. They looked like any other civilians and drew no suspicion to themselves. But looks were deceiving. Both were indeed shinobi, like Sakura. Both belonged to Hakumei. One of the men noted the pink haired woman in the throng of people. At first he paid no mind to her, but something in his gut had him do a double take. His eyes narrowed as she watched her, and then they widened. Getting the attention of his companion, he motioned with a head for him to look at what he had seen. The other man's face perked in recognition.

"Yeah… It definitely looks like her," the second man said, and the first nodded in agreement.

"If it is, she's too dangerous to take on by ourselves," the first commented.

"I know that," the second ninja retorted with a roll of his eyes the first could not see.

"We saw what she did to that squad outside of Yoen," the first said, ignoring the second man.

"So that was her?" the second ninja inquired.

"We don't know for sure, but it certainly matches her known fighting style," the first man explained.

"What should we do?" The first man hesitated for a moment, and then gave his command.

"Follow her. Do not engage in combat. If we can find out where she is living the Boss will reward us." Both their eyes gleamed hungrily, but on the second man, a streak of fear cut through the greed that had consumed his face. Grim resignation followed. The first man was his superior; he could not disobey him, no matter how hesitant the order made him. With a nod of his head he began his newest mission.

By the time Sakura returned to Hougyoku it was well into the evening. The journey back home went smoothly. She briskly jogged down the path that led into the village, her mind flittering between thoughts of a healed Itachi, her time at the hospital, and Renshi. Sakura purposefully veered away from thoughts of Itachi that were not professional. The lights of the village shone happily in the distance as she came into the valley it was nestled within. She felt a surge of excitement and nerves well up within her and she grinned wildly at the thrilling sensation. Imagining Itachi's surprised face at her quick return only made her smile wider and put some more pep into her step. He would surely be the most excited for her return.

She stopped at her small home to quickly rinse off and change her dusty clothes. Treating Itachi as soon as possible was a priority, but she felt dingy and gross from her trip. She scrubbed her forehead until her seal came back into view at the bathroom vanity. Seeing it in her reflection was comforting even if the mark was also a dead giveaway of her identity. Throwing on clean clothes, she spared another moment to give Kinshou some attention when she heard the flip of the cat door and his greeting meow - which sounded accusatory because of her new schedule. She placated the cat with some treats and pets, and refilled his food and water bowls before taking off. Ravenous, she stopped for another order of ramen from Nikoto's stand, finally heading for the clinic with her meal and the medication in tow. She was greeted by Yanagi and the nurse who had volunteered to stay overnight with Itachi. They were not expecting her so soon, just as she anticipated. This late in the evening she was surprised to see Yanagi still there. Hopefully something other than Itachi kept him so late.

"You found it." Yanagi spoke the words and they were not a question when he saw her. He could tell by her demeanor she figured out the mystery. Sakura grinned exuberantly.

"I did." She said the name of the protozoan as best she could. Neither of them had heard of it, and she wasn't surprised. It was obvious they wanted her to elaborate, but she didn't want to repeat herself and would include Itachi the first time around. "Is he stable?" she asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"Oh yes, he's fine. We got him to eat more, too," Yanagi explained as she set down her stuff at the nurse's station. It was great news, and relief settled on her. Taking the boxes of vials from her bag, she got one little vial out before approaching the door to Itachi's room and putting on her protective gear. Opening the slightly cracked door after giving a light rap against it with her knuckles, she walked in to find Itachi was perfectly fine; he was sitting up in bed reading. His eyes were slightly squinted and his face contorted so it made the action appear painful. It caused Sakura to hesitate. She suddenly recalled that incident where they had fought his clone all those years ago. What had Kakashi asked him? She had read nothing about the disease affecting the eyes. Was it something else? His sharingan? Her arrival made him give up on the task and a flash of surprise flickered across his features. All thoughts of his eyes were pushed aside when he spoke.

"That was fast," he admitted, making Sakura grin once more. His expression said he wasn't really all that shocked at her quick return. "Well?"

Sakura explained what she discovered, taking out her notes to read from them. Her audience behind her listened with rapt attention where they took outside his room. Holding up the little vial in her hands, she saw the nurse look at the boxes of the medication behind them on the counter with awe.

"Wow, you got the full course," the nurse noted. "It must have been pretty affordable, yea?" Sakura hesitated to answer.

"Yes," she lied as she fetched two saline flushes from a drawer, preparing his first dose. Itachi's eyes laid heavily on her as if he could read her mind and knew that she stole the stuff, but he said nothing on the matter. They would repay their debt by vanquishing Hakumei. "This might sting a bit," Sakura warned as she slowly injected the medication into his IV line. She was grateful it could be given as a push and did not need to be infused as a drip. If they were in a position of needing to leave it would be a huge inconvenience to set that up on the go. According to the text, treatment was usually eight to ten weeks in order to pinpoint all the spores, so roughly two months. To be safe, she took enough for the full ten weeks. Sakura wanted to think that they could pass the next two months of his recovery safely in Hougyoku, but Itachi hadn't sounded so certain about that himself the other night when he suggested they leave as soon as possible. A problem for future Sakura, she decided.

"Well, we'll hopefully see the infection completely gone in two months," she told him as she slowly pushed the plunger of the syringe. "Like I said, the spores are tough. The medication needs time to find and target them all. And, there's no guarantee you'll be completely healed. Not until we acquire more samples and do more tests. But if that's the case we'll simply continue with treatment until we can confirm every spore has been killed." Normally, she wouldn't unload all that information on a patient right off the bat, but it was important for Itachi to understand the entire situation considering everything going on with Hakumei. Considering he was inclined to leave Hougyoku as soon as possible. Itachi's face was hard to read, but she could guess that for him the news was both good and bad. Good because in two months' time his body would hopefully be his again, but bad because in the span of that time anything could happen, what with Hakumei searching for them both. He battled with this illness for so many years now that a couple of months would surely be but a blink of an eye, Sakura thought. She prayed it would be.

After finishing his dose and flushing the line, Sakura encouraged Yanagi and the nurse to leave now that the excitement was over. It was late, and the clinic had long since been closed. The nurse who was going to stay in her absence looked relieved knowing she could now go home. Praising Sakura for her hard work, she saw them off through the employee entrance.

"You're probably gonna feel like hell for the first week or so," Sakura explained to Itachi after she returned to his room. "The medication has some possible side effects, but I can counteract them with my ninjutsu and other medications. You'll probably just be extremely weak and nauseous." Itachi nodded his head in acknowledgement, but didn't seem worried. That put Sakura at ease.

"Thank you, Sakura-san, for doing this." Those dark eyes bore into hers and Sakura's stomach did a little flip-flop. She silently berated her traitorous body.

"Erm, you're welcome, uh, Itachi-san," she stuttered out. If Itachi noticed anything odd about her he didn't let on, or probably figured she was simply tired from the day's events. With nothing left to say or do, she excused herself from the room. She headed down the hall to her office desk and eased into her chair, her limbs sore from her trip.

Get a grip, Haruno, she chastised herself as she leaned back, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about Renshi that afternoon and the fleeting vision of Itachi she had. Yes he was absurdly attractive but she had to stay professional. He was her patient and new comrade - nothing more. She hardly even knew the man. Then why had that vision plagued her mind?

As always, being with Itachi led her to think of Sasuke with their close resemblance. Interacting with Itachi made her body yearn for Sasuke, this she already knew even if she attempted to ignore it. Old habits die hard. Her heart had always been set on the troubled Uchiha despite her logical reasoning. These days she realized she had been infatuated with Sasuke and not truly in love - how could you love someone who constantly kept you at arm's length? Who tried to avoid you at all costs? Who had tried to drive a fistful of lightning through her heart? Still, she remembered how she felt about him in her youth. How ardently she had loved him. How fervently she had fantasized about being with him. How she still sometimes dreamed those far fetched dreams even after all these years. Being in Itachi's presence merely stirred up those feelings for Sasuke she had attempted to forget, she decided. It had nothing to do with Itachi himself.

Pleased with that theory, Sakura leaned back in her chair and sighed as she filled her mind with less troubling thoughts. She smiled at herself and her accomplishments, that giddiness of solving the mystery of Itachi's illness still fresh enough to make her tap her feet against the floor in victory.

Anyone and anything will rue the day they cross Haruno Sakura's path, she cackled to herself as she smiled triumphantly. This was a victory for her and Itachi both, and a loss for both the illness and for Hakumei. This disease would not win, and neither would Hakumei, Sakura vowed. We will beat this infection, protect Hougyoku, and defeat Hakumei.

Little did she know, a figure crouched outside the back of the clinic suddenly took off, fleeing from the village.

"Both of them?"

"Yes. Both Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi are currently in Hougyoku - a small village south of here."

"Are you certain it's them?"

"Yes, Sir. Positive."

"…Two powerful shinobi. This could be disastrous if they're allies."

"What if they join?"

"Unlikely. We've approached Uchiha Itachi multiple times with no success, oddly enough. By the event outside of Yoen, it's clear that Haruno Sakura is against the offer herself, which isn't surprising. I still can't believe those idiots engaged her in combat. What a wasted opportunity."

"Then… what should we do?"

"The Boss has ordered us to apprehend Haruno Sakura by any means necessary. If he will not join us, then Uchiha Itachi is a threat to our cause and must be eliminated at all costs."

"Yes, Sir."

Author's Notes: I am posting chapter 9 as a New Year's gift for all my lovely readers. 3 I had not planned on this since I just posted chapter 8 yesterday, but I was feeling generous. :)

Happy New Year! My resolution is to set aside time to work on my fics and post more frequently. I do go back to work soon so please be patient with me I can't promise I will post as frequently as every month, but I definitely want to aim for less than once every year or two during my summer break I'm hoping to have a lot of time and inspiration to write.

As always, thank you everyone for your support and kind words. They really mean a lot to me. ;u;