Full summary: Haruno Sakura used to think the eyes were the windows to the soul, but after witnessing the horrors of the Sharingan firsthand, she's convinced they are the doors.

It was pure chance that led Sakura to the discovery of the disease eating through Uchiha Itachi's lungs and now that she's aware, she knows she cannot just turn a blind eye. But how is she to treat the very man who tortured her while keeping her nightmares from consuming her? That she doesn't know, but she knows she has to try.

inspired by Panic! at the Disco's music video 'This is Gospel'.

Nightmare in Red
ItaSaku
Chapter One

Sakura woke with a start, her shinobi instincts on high alert. It was the sudden, looming presence over her bed that had drawn her from sleep and reflexively she snatched the kunai kept under her pillow before she rolled onto her back with a swiftness held only by a well-trained ninja. She was ready to pounce, ready to fight – until a hand pinned her wrist to the mattress and a knee across her calves kept her from kicking out.

Chakra was already building in her fist, her second strike pending – until she heard her name hissed through that semi-familiar ANBU mask. "Dammit, Haruno. Calm down."

She stilled but didn't relax her tense form as she tried to place the voice. She was still groggy from sleep and high on adrenaline from her mysterious visitor's sudden presence, but she didn't move as his glove-covered hand released her wrist to remove his mask. Her brow arched in surprise and her tightly-wound muscles slowly relaxed as she recognized Uchiha Shisui, Sasuke's cousin and all-around village flirt. She knew his name, but she didn't know the person that it belonged to very well. Certainly not well enough for him to show up unannounced in her room in the middle of the night.

"Uchiha? What are you doing here?"

"You need to come to the hospital. Now," he ordered.

He released her and climbed off her bed as soon as he was convinced she wasn't going to attack. But the tension to his shoulders didn't fade, nor did his expression soften. Without taking her eyes off of him, Sakura pushed herself into a sitting position, her kunai forgotten on the bed. "Why? How come a messenger didn't come?"

Impatience was rolling off him in waves, spiraling about the room and disturbing the still, summer night. "No time to explain. Come with me now."

Without a doubt, Sakura knew it was a medical emergency. She slipped off her bed and hurriedly made her way to the closet. "Alright. Let me just grab-."

She didn't even reach her clothes before a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her backwards into a hard chest. "No time," was the only warning given before she felt a familiar pull of chakra on her skin before her room flickered out of existence.

They reappeared a moment later in the halls of the hospital with Shisui still standing behind her, his body heat warming her back. Around them, a few graveyard nurses stopped to stare at them in surprise and Sakura felt herself flush in embarrassment as she recognized just how under dressed she was in her small shorts and tight tank top. She was going to kill Shisui.

Quickly she pushed away from the much taller male to spin on her heels and shoot him a dark glare. "What the hell?" she snapped, raising her fist. "I don't even have shoes, dammit!"

"It's Itachi," was his only reply.

Her anger faded immediately and she straightened from her hostile stance to stare at him with wide eyes. The last she had heard of the Heir of the Uchiha Clan, he was nearly a week overdo from his mission. ANBU had been tracking him and trying to understand where he had disappeared during his solo mission, but there was no trace. It was common knowledge that Shisui was his best friend. He had nearly died for Itachi a few years back when she had only been an apprentice with her mentor and current Hokage, Tsunade. It shouldn't have surprised her to learn that Shisui was the one to have found him.

"How bad?"

His expression was stony. "Not good."

Sakura pursed her lips and took a deep, calming breath. "Where did they take him?"

Before Shisui could reply, a woman rushed down the hall and came to an abrupt stop upon seeing Sakura's presence. "Haruno-san?" she asked. Sakura recognized her as Oyone, the head night nurse. "Thank Kami you're here! We need you in surgery."

The situation must have been serious for her senior nurse to sound so relieved, but Sakura turned back to Shisui before following after her trusted medic, a stern look on her face. "Stay here. I'll send someone to update you as soon as I get an idea of what's going on."

Then she spun on her bare heels and rushed off with Oyone. They passed a storage room on their way further into the hospital and Sakura waited patiently as the older woman stepped inside briefly. She caught the pair of scrubs thrown in her direction as she exited again and Sakura flashed her a quick smile of thanks before they continued on again. Once they were in the elevator, Sakura stepped into them, pulling the light blue material over her nightwear as they rode the lift down to the surgical floor. She flickered a glance at the other woman as she dressed. "What do we have?"

"We're not entirely sure," Oyone said, her dark eyes watching the floor numbers count down. "Uchiha Itachi was brought in less than ten minutes ago, low on blood and struggling to breathe. We originally believed he had punctured a lung, but after a brief examination, we determined none of his ribs are broken."

"Did you complete an ultrasound?"

The woman tossed Sakura a look. "We called for one, but I don't think the technician has arrived and he's losing blood quickly. I thought it best you get in with your chakra as soon as possible."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully and pulled her hair back into a secure ponytail as the elevator drew to a stop. As soon as the doors opened, both women hurried towards the surgical room with Oyone's shoes echoing in the empty hall and Sakura's bare feet padding along silently.

"If he's that low on blood I want five units on standby, just in case." The dark-haired woman nodded. "And get me Shizune. I cannot have the Uchiha Heir die on my table."

"Yes, ma'am-."

The sound of a loud crash cut her off abruptly. Both women stilled with a shared glance before they looked one way down the hallway and then the other in search of what had created the disruption. It didn't take long for another audible thump to reach her ears followed by adrenaline-pitched voices of surgical staff members.

"Uchiha," Sakura muttered to herself before she took off running.

She knew the hospital like the back of her hand and navigated the long halls easily. Without waiting for her head nurse, Sakura bounded around the first corner and threw open the door to her immediate right before she burst inside.

Uchiha Itachi was sitting up in the surgical bed, looking like something out of a nightmare. Blood stained the corners of his mouth a deep crimson and led a dark trail down his chin. His ANBU uniform was dirty and torn, and his dark hair was splayed wildly about him as he bared his teeth threateningly. Even in the bright light of the operating room, Sakura could see the tomoes of his Sharingan were spinning dangerously.

Nearly half a dozen medics were attempting to get him under control. They fought to pin him down just long enough to get him sedated, but even severely injured Itachi was a formidable opponent and he locked onto one of her surgical staff. Migaki, a senior nurse, grabbed Itachi's forearm as he attempted to stab the needle into his vein, but the Uchiha Heir landed a blow on him, knocking him backwards quite forcefully. He hit the wall and slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Sakura knew Itachi would never harm his comrades; that this attack was the result of his confusion and instinct to survive, and she knew she needed to calm him before he further injured himself or one of her medics. Springing forward, Sakura rushed to his bedside. Itachi forced another staff member away from him before he turned his deadly sight on her, the only one standing between him and the doorway.

Bracing herself, Sakura stood her ground as Itachi targeted her, her emerald eyes clashing starkly against the blood red of his Kekkei Genkai. It was then that she realized her mistake as the black tomoes in his eyes shifted into the sharp pinwheels of his Mangekyou Sharingan. The room hushed into silence as his illusion fell over her almost seamlessly.

Sakura was paralyzed, her legs and arms dead weights, and she found herself unable to look away from Itachi's crimson gaze as fear unlike any she had ever experienced crept into her mind like a dark, rolling fog. It threatened to consume everything in its path and sudden panic embraced her as she wondered if he would ever release her.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably and her breath landed heavily in her chest. Chilled air pressed against her skin like a ghost's caress, making cold goosebumps break out along her arms. She couldn't turn away from him, but she could just as clearly see the blood splattered across the walls. The once sterile, pristine hospital room was bathed in crimson just as bright and stark as Itachi's bloodline limit. It was a massacre. The bodies of her medical staff lay strewn about the room; none moving, none breathing. Their blood pooled and stained her bare feet, its smell strong enough to make her gag. Her knees felt weak and she would have collapsed to the floor – if she could move.

Itachi's Sharingan continued to spin.

He reached into her mind, his bloodline limit playing on her worst fears. Cools fingertips brushed her bare shoulders before trailing up to her neck. She could feel them pressing into her pulse point, and unconsciously her chest began to heave as the threat of its grip around her throat lingered. Her eyes still held his but she could see where her staff once lay her was now occupied by her teammates: Naruto, Kakashi and even Sasuke. Each one was spattered with their own life blood, their throats slit open and their once-vibrant eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

Something cold and heavy rested in her palm; its weight only too familiar and emotion like none she had ever experienced before slammed into her as she recognized what she had done.

She had killed her teammates.

It was enough to nearly break her. Her being down to her very soul began to shake, but she forced herself to focus and not give into the grief and pain and self-loathing. This was an illusion, created by Itachi's own instinct to survive. If she could break him out of whatever injury-induced hallucination he was experiencing, then perhaps she could get out of this nightmare alive.

"Itachi," she began slowly. Her tongue felt heavy in her own mouth. "You're safe. Shisui brought you home. Sasuke and your family are waiting for you."

There was no change to his expression, but she didn't know what else to say. The only thing she knew about Uchiha Itachi was he was closer to his family than anyone. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for them and if that wasn't enough to bring him back to reality, she didn't think anything would.

"Itachi, you're safe. Shisui brought you home. Sasuke and your family are waiting for you."

She repeated the words again, one syllable slipping from her tongue after the next as she tried to focus on anything but the clear images around her. And just when she thought she would be trapped within Itachi's illusion forever, his expression changed. It was minute and nearly inconceivable, but she had been watching for it, waiting for any slight stir in his mind that might tell her she was getting through to him. It seemed something had finally clicked. "Shisui?"

"He's upstairs," Sakura said so softly it was merely a ghost of a whisper on her lips.

And as smoothly as it had been cast over her, the illusion was gone. Bright lights filled the once dark corners of the room and she became aware of her staff around her, frozen and waiting with bated breath. Even the force that had been keeping her in place, leaving her unable to move vanished, but her eyes never wavered from Itachi's face as he finally slumped and fell forward. With her limps now light and limber, she easily caught him and with the assistance of her medics, they were able to settle him back against the surgical bed.

With the chaos over, her team turned to her, looking for her guidance. But instead of their faces, all she could see was the blood smearing the walls, and the pain and fear frozen on their deceased faces. The image stole her voice as her hands began to shake.

"Haruno-san, are you alright?"

Her head nurse's voice cracked a light through the dark images and Sakura visibly pulled herself together. "Get him prepped while I scrub in," she ordered, her voice low. She could still feel the sticky warmth of blood between her toes. "And will someone find me some damn shoes."

Then she disappeared into the washroom. Even under the warm water, her hands still shook. She tried to scrub their waver away, but no matter how many times she rubbed the brush over her skin, the muscles underneath continued to shake.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura dropped her scrub brush in the drain and grasped the edge of the large sink as she steeled herself. She could do this. She had to do this. Itachi needed her to get him through this and she couldn't let her personal emotions get in the way. This surgery had to be successful. This was the Heir of one of the most powerful clans in the world on her table.

"Haruno-san?"

Sakura slid her gaze to the doorway where Oyone stood. "What is it?"

"I uh…I have your shoes."

##

Exhaustion weighed behind Sakura's eyes. She watched with heavy lids as two members of her staff wheeled Itachi out of her operating room before they disappeared down the hall. There was a murmur of congratulations sent her way, but she merely nodded tiredly at her medics before she forced herself to move before she fell asleep leaning against the wall.

Her dull emerald eyes cast a glance over the clock. It was past sunrise. It had already been over four hours since Shisui had woken her and dragged her to the hospital to see to Itachi. There was nothing more she wanted than to climb into an on-call room somewhere, but she had to see to the older of the cousins first. She didn't doubt he was running himself ragged with worry at that very moment and every moment since she had disappeared downstairs.

With her next steps planned, Sakura scrubbed out of the room before she made her way towards the elevator. The hallway was far livelier than when she had arrived as first shift began their morning routines. A few familiar faces greeted her, but she merely flashed them a weak smile and a murmur that resembled something close to 'good morning' before she stepped inside the lift.

Just as she suspected, she found Shisui exactly where she had left him. He was occupying a visitor's chair still fully dressed in his ANBU gear, the white armor still smeared with traces of blood. His dark curls were in utter disarray, no doubt from dragging his hand through his locks a number of times, and the start of circles were beginning to form under his eyes as his attention periodically flickered to the clock on the wall.

Upon sight of her, he sprang up like a cat startled out of its sleep. The weariness in his gaze vanished to be replaced by apprehension as his wide, dark eyes pierced into her. "How is he?"

Sakura held up her hands to calm him. "He's fine. Itachi is being wheeled into the Recovery Ward as we speak."

The relief that visibly swept through the male in front of her made her wonder briefly if his legs were going to give out on him. She eyed him to ensure he would stay upright, but Shisui collected himself quickly. "What happened?"

"He was poisoned," she explained. "I was able to extract most of it, but his body will have to burn off the rest. It may take a couple of days so we'll keep him here until we're sure that it's gone. Shizune will keep an eye on that."

There was a dark expression on his face as he absorbed her words. She couldn't exactly pin the emotion but if she had to guess, she thought it would be guilt. However, Sakura didn't dwell on it. There was something else she wanted to ask Shisui. Because she had discovered something during her system cleanse of Itachi's body; something that deeply troubled her.

The issue Oyone had brought up before of Itachi struggling to breathe had been caused by burst blood vessels in the inner lining of his lungs. Blood had begun to pool, essentially drowning him, which caused his difficulty breathing and was the reason behind why he had been coughing up blood. It was a strange disease, one she had never heard of, even under Tsunade's tutelage. She had only been given a few short minutes to examine it while she removed the blood from Itachi's lungs, but she was certain it was something she had never witnessed in her time as a medic.

Upon its discovery, Sakura had ordered one of her staff to read Itachi's history out loud to her. There was no record of him receiving treatment for his disease, or even having it. She wanted to believe he was unaware of its existence within his body, but the more she processed the poison out of his body, the more she could see. There were traces of cough suppressants and over-the-counter pain medications in his liver, and she couldn't help but suspect that the Uchiha Heir was well-aware of his condition, even if perhaps he didn't know its name.

The discovery concerned her. Without the help of chakra treatments, the disease would continue to spread. She knew the Great Uchiha Itachi was infamous throughout the five nations and he was highly regarded within the village and ANBU. Sasuke had told his teammates countless times that Itachi was the definition of the perfect shinobi. It made her wonder if he had hidden his disease to keep the world in the dark from knowing the truth.

"Shisui, there's something else I want to ask you."

The older male pulled himself from his own thoughts to regard her with interest. She had never once addressed him by his given name and that was enough for him to give her his full attention.

However, before she could phrase her question, a loud commotion drew both their attention. They turned as Uchiha Mikoto swept through the emergency entrance, her expression calm but strained with worry, followed by Sasuke, her own teammate, and his father, Fugaku. The presence of the heads of the Uchiha Clan gained immediate attention and murmurs began to spread through the lobby faster than an arson fire.

The Uchiha Matriarch chose not to notice. She cast a purposeful glance around the room before her eyes locked on Shisui and in turn, her. Her strides towards them were ground-eating. "We just received word. Itachi. How is he?" she nearly demanded.

Shisui rested a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Alive and breathing. Haruno-san was able to remove the poison from his system."

"Poison?" Mikoto repeated incredulously. "Itachi said his mission was to be non-combative."

"I will have our poisons' expert examine it and determine which region it came from," Sakura informed her. "But right now, Itachi-san is stable. We'll keep an eye on him to make certain that he makes a full recovery."

The older woman turned to Sakura as she spoke and her tense shoulders visibly deflated before she dragged Sakura into a sudden but strong embrace. "Thank you so much."

"Okaa-san, I think you're crushing her," Sasuke muttered, embarrassed.

Immediately Mikoto released her, but her hands continued to rest on Sakura's arms a moment more as she silently expressed her gratitude. Sakura merely smiled softly at the older woman before she politely regarded each of them. "You may see Itachi if you'd like. I just ask that you keep the noise level down," Sakura said before she called a nurse over. "Nurse Amaya will take you to the Recovery Ward." She turned to the young woman. "He's in Room Six."

Amaya accepted Sakura's order obediently and turned to the Uchiha family with a polite bow. "If you'll please follow me."

Shisui and the Uchiha heads immediately fell into hurried steps behind her, but Sasuke hung back. His expression was unreadable, but there was a slight furrow to his brow and his lips were pursed as he looked anywhere but at her. Without hearing the words, Sakura already knew what he wanted to say. "I know. You're welcome," she said with a soft smile. Then she inclined her head towards his quickly-disappearing family. "Now go."

Sasuke's tense expression relaxed and he threw her a subtle but grateful look before he followed after his parents, his hands deep in his pockets.

Sakura watched him disappear down the hall, her attention only turning away as a yawn worked itself out of her mouth. Bleary-eyed, she made her way down another hallway to an elevator she knew would take her to the floor her shared office with Shizune was on. Sakura assumed the dark-haired woman was already in the room, gathering her things before she headed over to the poison processing lab, but rather than join her in their tight space, she continued towards the on-call room.

Inside the blinds were drawn, keeping the morning sun out and leaving the room cast in shadows. The sight of an empty bed was so welcoming that Sakura merely closed the door and crawled onto it, not even bothering to slip under the provided sheets. Overcome with exhaustion, she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

That's when the nightmares started.

##

For it being early summer, it felt like it was in full swing. Heat was billowing in through the window, the slight afternoon breeze providing some circulating air to the stifling temperature. Sweat turned Sakura's skin sticky and made the shorter strands of her hair stick to the back of her neck uncomfortably. She had forgone her doctor's coat some time ago, leaving it to hang on the coat rack by the window. However, the lack of the heavier material gave her little relief. She was still hot in her shorts and zip-up tunic, and she briefly wondered how the people of Suna survived their summers.

Finishing her surgical report, Sakura closed the file and used it to fan herself. It helped cool her some as she eyed the pile that still needed her attention dejectedly. All she wanted to do was take a nap.

Ever since Itachi's surgery, Sakura had found sleep hard to come by as nightmares continued to interject themselves into her dreams. It had been just over a week since the incident, but the images forced upon her by his Mangekyou Sharingan had yet to disappear; in fact, they hadn't even faded. It was as if the illusion was forever seared into her mind, never to wane. Its lasting impact was affecting her enough that Shizune had volunteered to cover for her, an offer Sakura had rejected twice now.

It was common knowledge around the hospital that Itachi had attacked her staff members while they attempted to get him sedated for his surgery; however, no one knew the extent to which Sakura herself had suffered. She had denied everything, knowing that if her staff did become aware that the Sharingan was used against her, it would only be another excuse the village elders needed to attempt to divide the village against the Uchiha clan. And that was not something Sakura wanted for her teammate. So she chose to keep her silence.

Tossing her folder-turned-fan onto her completed pile, Sakura moved onto the next report. Her interest immediately peaked at finding it was from Shizune; it was her report of the poison Uchiha Itachi had come in contact with. Feeling suddenly more awake, Sakura sat up straighter and quickly set to work reading through her findings with an attentive eye.

There was nothing truly unique about the poison. Its elements were commonly found in poisons created within Konoha and Kusa, the Village Hidden in the Grass, but there was one component that Shizune had been unable to identify. It was likely from a plant or poisonous animal they had yet to come across before, and though it made their job more difficult in finding an antidote, it wasn't impossible. She and Shizune would just have to speak with Tsunade to find where Itachi's mission had taken him and take a trip out there themselves.

Setting the file aside, Sakura continued on with her charts. She updated those that needed it and signed off on test results and procedures until she found herself too tired to read the words in front of her. Dragging a hand down her face, she turned her aching eyes out the window and watched a group of birds soar over the city before disappearing from her sight. Once gone, she forced herself to stand and collect the paperwork that needed to be filed before she meandered to her nearly overflowing file cabinet. She sorted through her mess of tabs until she found the ones she was looking for and tucked the pages into their correct location.

Sakura was just searching for her last placement when the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle. A moment later, a slight flux of chakra surged within the room, enough to alert her of her visitor's arrival but not enough for anyone else outside her office to take notice. Sakura recognized the chakra signature immediately. Her heart jumped in her chest hard enough to send an echoing pulse through the rest of her body and she froze on the spot. His presence was like a physical weight on her shoulders and her body nearly hummed with the force it took to keep herself from shaking.

Sakura hadn't seen Itachi since his surgery. She had left his care in Shizune's hands, claiming that she was backed up with other patients when she found it was nearly suffocating to be in his presence, even while he was unconscious. Sakura had hoped that time and distance would make his illusion grow faint and murky, but feeling his chakra again made it all rush back in a nearly overwhelming wave.

"I had heard you left the hospital against medical advice," Sakura said. Her voice was nearly breathless and she cleared her throat lightly to strengthen it. "I'm surprised you voluntarily came back so quickly."

Ever-so-slowly, she turned to face the Uchiha Heir when she received no reply. He was standing across the room in front of her desk, his ANBU gear absent and replaced with a pair of loose-fitted shinobi pants and a dark shirt that she suspected held the Uchiha emblem across his back. He watched her with an unreadable expression, his stance seemingly relaxed, but Sakura found herself unable to match his ease and she made quick work of filing the rest of her paperwork to give her anxiety some relief.

"If you're here to see Shizune, I'm afraid it's her day off," Sakura said as pleasantly as she could muster. She returned to her desk but didn't sit as she absently organized her files to avoid the gaze of the tall male whose presence seemed to have darkened even this bright, sunny afternoon. Or perhaps that was her own imagination. "She'll be in tomorrow, but I can let her know you stopped by."

"Actually I am here to see you, Haruno-san."

Sakura grew absolutely still. Her gaze flickered up to him briefly as she wondered why the Uchiha Heir had sought her out, and her body warmed uncomfortably under his heavy stare. "What for?" she asked politely.

"It has come to my attention that I mistakenly attacked a number of your medical staff when I was brought in," he said after a weighed silence. "I wanted to extend my apology to those involved. I hope I did not severely injury anyone."

His tone changed minutely as he spoke. Where his voice had once been monotonous, it was now colored with guilt and regret. It was enough to give Sakura pause and the unease twisting her stomach into knots faded. His gaze was sincere but also intense and she tried not to flinch away from him as her eyes instead dropped down to his mouth. There was a slight frown tugging on the corners of his lips, revealing just how seriously he was taking the situation and how adamant he was about making amends.

But Sakura also realized he had no recollection of the event. Itachi didn't remember throwing one of her best assistants into the wall or knocking down one of the nurses trying to calm him. He didn't recall locking her in his Mangekyou Sharingan or the horrors he had inflicted upon her, because if he did he would not be standing so close to her. His only knowledge of the event was from the retelling of hospital staff and the rumors that were whispered between rounds. The incident was something Sakura had done her best to downplay, not only to protect Itachi but herself as it was clear he was here for the truth.

Sakura searched for the words to tell him exactly what had occurred that morning in her operating room, but the words never came. Even she could see the normally stoic male was disappointed in his own actions and that was enough to make her close her mouth again. There would be no point in furthering his guilt.

"One of my doctors sustained a bruised hip and a nurse suffered a sprained ankle, but they were treated quickly and were back to work the next day," she finally said. "You don't need to feel guilty, Uchiha-san. We understood that at the time you were not in your normal state of mind."

The tension in his lithe frame lasted a moment longer before the weight of his gaze vanished as he bowed respectfully to her. "Thank you, Haruno-san."

A smile touched her lips at his appreciation, but it faded as he straightened once more. She could feel he was on the verge of wishing her a farewell, but there was something she wanted to ask before he flickered out of sight. "How long have you known?"

"To what are you referring?" he asked, his tone cool and collected once more.

"I think we both know to what I speak of," she said, her voice non-hostile but firm. When she received no reply, she continued, "Your disease is potentially life-threatening. And before you deny everything, please remember that I have seen your lungs myself. I know you've been self-medicating."

Immediately the air in the room shifted, becoming colder and heavier as if Itachi was silently warning her to tread lightly. She nearly flinched away from the sudden ice darkening his expression and cool fear snaked up her spine as she was suddenly reminded of how dangerous of a shinobi he was. The desk between them brought her no comfort.

"Who did you tell." It wasn't a question, but a demand.

She swallowed thickly. "No one."

The tension in his lean frame lessened, but his heavy gaze still pinned her in place. "That is how it will remain."

She heard the order in his tone, but found herself rooted in place and unable to acknowledge him. It reminded her chillingly of how his Mangekyou Sharingan had left her paralyzed, and she had to reminder herself to breathe. If she was smart, she knew she should back down, she should let the matter go. But she had seen the damage herself. Itachi's lungs had been on the verge of utter ruin when he had been brought into her operating room, their condition only exacerbated by the poison running rampage through his system. Sakura had done what she could in the ER without drawing the attention of her medical staff to what she was actually doing; she had healed the worst of it, but his disease would return. She had only temporarily reversed his condition.

"This will kill you," she pressed after a tense pause.

"I am aware of my situation."

The sharpness of his retort startled her. Was he really so desperate to keep his disease a secret that he was willing to die just for appearance's sake? He was a strong shinobi – that fact was irrefutable – and she was astounded that his condition hadn't slowed him down, but she knew that façade would soon end, and as a medic and best friend to his younger brother, she knew she would never be able to turn a blind eye, no matter how much he intimidated her. It wasn't in her nature to back down when she knew she could help.

"I won't tell anyone." She got the impression her words satisfied him, but she wasn't done yet. "And you owe me, Uchiha. For keeping your secret."

If warning bells weren't screaming out in her head before, they certainly were now as his chakra swirled around her office thick enough to nearly knock the breath from her. His expression was calm yet bone-chilling at the same time and not for the first time in recent days, she was reminded of how this shinobi had gained such a terrifying reputation. She got the impression that if it wasn't for the fact that they wore the same headband, Itachi would be considering the best way to kill her and dispose of her body without a trace.

"What do you want?" he asked hostilely.

"I want you to come back," Sakura answered honestly, her voice soft. "I want you to let me help you. You might be able to breathe easy now, but it won't stay this way."

He regarded her silently, his expression unreadable, but eventually he inclined his head minutely. "I will consider your recommendation and let you know my decision."

Then he was gone, having flickered out of sight. With his heavy presence and even heavier chakra gone, her knees grew weak and she carefully lowered herself down into her chair before she dragged a rough hand down her face. She was fortunate to have gotten away unscathed.

In all honesty, Sakura didn't know what the hell she was thinking. Itachi terrified her. He had proven to her only the previous week why he was considered one of the most dangerous shinobi to have come out of Konoha, and yet she had just attempted to manipulate him into accepting treatment from her. She blamed her irrational actions on her lack of sleep and she suddenly wondered if it had been a good idea to offer her services to him.

Sakura sincerely wanted to help Itachi, but she feared the price her compassion would cost her. She was playing with the Devil and he made his own rules.

to be continued...