SO LOOOONG time since I last updated. Life has been so busy, I lost touch with fanfiction and a lot, lot, lot more. But I recently got a great review/PM by someone and remembered that I had half written than chapter so I thought I should at the very least finish it and upload it. I cannot promise that I will update soon more (although it is a possibility) because I am just busy writing other things and working and life in general. But for whoever might still be interested in this story, enjoy this new installment.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

This was getting out of control.

He was getting out of control.

Ever since that awkward moment when Naruto asked Hinata to go eat with him, he had been constantly thinking about it. Like there was nothing more important to think, nothing more important to deal with but that… date.

That woman was growing on him too much.

Too much for someone that was not going to stay around.

Itachi sighed and folded his arms over his chest with a serious expression on his face.

It had been a long time since he was that angry. Since he was angry that way.

For a female.

Itachi didn't like it. He had lived for such a long time alone and independent of people that he found his current emotional situation unacceptable.

But that didn't change anything. He still couldn't stop thinking of Hinata and Naruto together.

This was bad. This was very bad.

He shouldn't spend so much time thinking about a woman he didn't have and if her date with Naruto went like he imagined, she'd never be his.

He shouldn't feel so angry about that. He should be fine. He should not care.

But he did.

Instead of thinking of a way to help his brother, explain to his brother the truth and make sure that Sasuke would not turn against the village out of anger and bitterness, she was the only thing his mind could process.

Until she returned from that… date with Naruto, he would not be able to think of anything else.

Suddenly the door opened and someone walked inside. The said person didn't say anything and just came closer to him and touched his blankets. Reflexively, he caught the hand of that person.

"Who are you?"

The person didn't say anything for a moment and just let out a sound as he tightened his hold. It was a woman. That had to be a female's voice. "I am a medic," she told him and he instantly loosened his hold of her hand but didn't let it go.

He stayed silent for a moment as the female stayed still. "Where is Hinata?" he asked in suspicion. Since he came to the hospital the only person that took care of him was Hinata and sometimes Tsunade came to tell him about his condition and give him instructions.

No one else but Hinata.

The medic pulled her hand away from him and he didn't resist. "She called and asked me to take over for the afternoon."

"Why?" he snapped at her in anger, surprising himself even more with the sudden emotions he felt. It wasn't the way he was used to feel. He wasn't supposed to be that angry.

The medic didn't say anything. She just moved inside the room and he heard her pick up the papers about his condition. After a while he heard her put them back at the place and walk again closer to her. "She said she wasn't feeling very well and she needed to rest." she told him as she walked closer to him again and took his hand. "Well she hasn't taken any break since you were assigned to her and she has been spending so much time running to you and your brother that she must be exhausted." She let go of his hand. "I think she deserves a rest."

She started walking away, her shoes making too much noise, more than they did when she came in….

"Are you my brother's teammate?" he asked as she was opening the door. He had heard from Hinata about the pink-haired medic's crush on his brother, the devotion that she and Naruto shared to him. If what Hinata had told him was true – that his brother nearly didn't talk to anyone – then the medic would be angry and jealous perhaps by the sudden attention his brother gave to Hinata.

Thus the anger… the angry way of walking. The sound of shoes stamping on the floor…. Itachi was impressed with himself. He had never thought that he could analyze the emotions of the people around him by the sound of body movements.

It was a whole new point of view on life and humans.

"Yes, I am," she answered. "My name is Haruno Sakura."

"Then I should apologize for that time we battled while you were trying to save the Kazekage. I don't remember if I hurt you specifically but I did make you get caught in a genjutsu, along with your teammates." he said in a low, apologizing tone.

"Don't worry about it." she told him after a moment. He heard the door close slowly and thought that the girl had left the room. "Can I ask you something?" suddenly asked she.

He nodded.

"Did you….?" She started. "I mean… was it your idea that Hinata would…?" she stopped talking and took a big breath. "That she'd go talk to Sasuke?"

"No." he replied. Actually she didn't even ask me.

"Do you know…. why she did it?"

Itachi didn't reply immediately and thought of their discussion when she confessed to him that she had gone to see his brother and convince him to talk to him. "I think it's because she has that desire to make somehow everything to be right again." What she considers right at least.

The medic let out a small laugh.

"What?"

He heard her walk closer to him and he suddenly felt her body warmth as she sat on the chair next to his bed, where Hinata usually sat. "Sasuke has spent the majority of his life hating you. Killing you has become his reason for existing. It's not just that he has difficulty believing you about anything you might say… he has a difficulty living a life without you as his enemy." She told him. "You ensured that." She added after a moment.

"You still care about him?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Sakura didn't answer immediately. "I don't know." she replied in a thoughtful tone. "I mean… he has played a very important role in my life and I did think I was in love with him for a lot of years but…" she stopped talking for a moment. "But I can't just ignore what he has done and that he does not care at all about us."

"So you just can't help loving him?"

"No," she replied. "I just don't know… I don't know if I really still love him like I did or if I just want to save him for the sake of our old relationship. I mean… he tried to kill Naruto. And Naruto fought him for me, because I asked him to, even if he wanted to hunt him down for himself as well. He also did it for me."

"If Naruto died because of Sasuke and Sasuke had a change of heart, I wouldn't be able to accept him back." she told Itachi. "He is not that important in my life, not after everything he has done." She didn't talk anymore and just stayed there thinking what she had said herself moments ago. "Do you hate him?" she murmured at Itachi, like she didn't even realize that she was voicing that question not just thinking of it.

Itachi didn't answer immediately. And this hesitation to deny hating his own brother scared him.

Did he? Could he hate him? Sasuke, his baby brother that he swore he would always protect and love?

"No. I will always love my brother," he immediately answered. It was part of his nature to love Sasuke, to put him above everything and everyone else. "But in my darkest hours there is a small voice in my head that blames Sasuke for how miserable my life has been the past years." It was always followed by the horrible feeling of shame. Sasuke was and would always be his victim, even if Itachi did what he did for Sasuke. Blaming him for his life choices would be ludicrous and cruel. He was the adult when the massacre happened. Sasuke was just a little boy.

And yet… there were these traitorous voices in his head that would appear from time to time.

Itachi sighed and Sakura hesitantly reached for his hand. The moment she touched it, he tensed but didn't move away. "I don't know exactly what happened - I think very few people do in the village – but I just wanted to say…." She let out a sign and squeezed his hand. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty. The case is being re-opened so until a new decision is made by the Hokage and the council, I do not have the right to judge you based on rumours."

"But I am guilty. I am a bad man," he told her.

"Maybe," she admitted. "You did kill your own family after all… but Tsunade-sama has reasons that justify your actions… and that's enough for me. If these reasons are enough to declare you legally and publicly innocent, I will accept my leader's decision."

"You are so obedient…" he told her with a slight contempt – and maybe even bitterness. He had also been so loyal before… and the price he paid was very high.

"No… not really," she replied to the older shinobi. "I just know that if someone who has been so hurt as Tsunade-sama, can find a way to forgive and explain your behaviour… then that reason she has must be a pretty important one."

"Is that the reason you don't completely reject my brother? Because of the excuse he has that justifies his actions? That he was so hurt and damaged?"

"No," she replied. "It's because I want him to be saved. I want him to be happy somewhere along the way…"

Itachi didn't answer immediately but had a slightly shocked look on his face for just a moment before he had his emotional façade again on. "You… pity him?"

"A little," she said and felt some tears ran down her face. "He is… so empty. His life is so empty." She got up and wiped quickly the tears that ran down her face. "I have to go now. I have more patients to visit," she added in a hurry and walked towards the door.

"I am sorry," Itachi said to the pink-haired woman. "Part of that is my fault," he added.

She stopped as she was going to exit the room. She didn't move. Then slowly, she went a step back and closed the door. "Yes… you are," she agreed. "But he is not that innocent either." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the blind man. "I am not stupid, you know." she said suddenly. "I may have been a bit spoiled and narrow minded when I was younger but I am not like that anymore." She walked again closer to him, biting slightly her lip. "I compared him with Naruto… both of them suffered during their childhoods. Both of them were lonely…" she stopped to talk and clenched her fists "Naruto was hated nearly from the day he was born for something that wasn't his fault, he wasn't even aware of, but he didn't become a traitor… he didn't choose the easy way of hating everyone and giving in to that hate."

"Unlike my brother?"

"Your brother could have had much more than he did…" she told Itachi angrily. "He could have but never accepted it. I am not blaming him because I can't even imagine the pain he was in – still is – because of everything he lived through but I also can't help but think that… he is so weak. Emotionally weak." She felt tears ran down her face, "This makes me so angry because the reason I liked him from the very start was because he was cool and strong, the best of all in my eyes… and he now is… not enough. He is lacking. I just am so angry and sad because he ended up being what he is now."

Itachi didn't say anything to the woman as he heard her breath in distress, guessing that she was probably crying. Because of repressed emotions… emotions she didn't want to have for his brother. "I know how you feel," he told the girl.

He did. He really did. That was how he had felt when he learnt about his clan's plans. Angry.

"It hurts when people are not what you want them to be. It hurts that there is no one else to blame but yourself for not seeing what they really were. It makes you so angry and yet you can't express that anger, because it is not their fault."

Sakura nodded. "But this thought doesn't make the anger go away."

"It doesn't," he agreed with her. "Time will just make your mind get away from it."

"I keep thinking about it every moment that I am not occupied with something else. Like it's always there and I am so angry all the time," she said and he heard the anger in her voice.

Yes, he knew that feeling of despair and anger. He knew how consuming it was. And he also knew that behind all of it there was a traitorous love that could not be cast away, no matter what one's logic and mind said. The heart, even Itachi's heart, could not be silenced.

"You know the way out of it." Itachi told her. "Get a life that will be so full that you won't have time to think," he advised Sakura. "You said you have more patients to visit."

She nodded. "I do," she started walking away and as she exited the room, she turned and smiled at Itachi. "Thank you," she told him and left.

"You are welcome," Itachi said to himself.

XXXXX

Naruto waited for Hinata outside of the Hospital. He found himself quite looking forward to seeing the Hyuga Heiress. He had grown to respect her quite a bit and felt a deep desire to get to know her better. She was a bit weird, yes. That was true but…. Somehow the weirdness that made him once find her a little bit unappealing was not that important now. It was more like a behavioral quirk that could be called cute. Like her blushing and fainting… she was a bit of damsel in distress and a strong ninja at the same time.

He couldn't put his finger on what that interest he had suddenly developed was, but he was well too aware that it was there and he couldn't ignore it. Honestly, Naruto was not good at ignoring things generally once he noticed them. It was either all or nothing.

"Naruto!" Hinata called as she ran towards him from the Hospital's entrance steps.

Naruto also had to admit that her connection with Itachi and, by extension, Sasuke did play a role in his interest in her. She could be… no, was already, a good friend and he felt oddly protective of her suddenly. "Hi, Hinata," he greeted the girl. "Ready to go?"

The girl nodded and smiled at him. "You didn't have to wait for me, Naruto-kun. I thought we agreed to meet at the ramen stand."

"I know but then I thought it'd be nicer for us to walk together and start eating together," he answered back.

"That's very kind of you, Naruto-kun." There was a moment of silence between them until Hinata spoke again. "So, do you want to go to Ichiraku's?"

"I love ramen as you know." That was an understatement. Everyone in the village knew that Naruto loved ramen, especially Ichiraku's. "But a comment by Sakura-chan some days ago made me realize that there might be people that like other foods more than ramen… so are you one of them?"

Hinata smiled. "Honestly, Naruto-kun… I… I… I am a fan of homemade food so any place outside is equally good to me, but not as good as my cooking," she admitted and smiled at the blond man, with a confidence that she did not have that often with the young man.

"Well… I never thought you'd be so humble, Hinata," Naruto joked. "So Ichiraku's for today." She nodded in agreement.

Having found some hidden confidence that was very out of character for her she took a chance and decided to try and make one of her secret thoughts less of a secret. "Naruto-kun…" she started and then a feeling of panic attacked her.

No! She had to battle through it. No hesitance, no stuttering!

"Mmm…?" he looked at her with those gorgeous blue eyes and she felt ready to melt. Those beautiful blue eyes that she wanted since she was a little girl to fill with happiness and laughter.

"Since you are aware of my humbleness now…. I am very good at making ramen," she started, forcing her voice to come out of her throat. " My ramen is much better than Ichiraku's actually."

"If you may say so, of course," Naruto interjected. "You should make it someday for me. As a ramen lover, I would be the expert to decide whether it is actually better than old man's at Ichiraku or not."

Hinata bit the inside of her mouth to not show that she was too excited about that idea. "Next time we eat together, I'll cook for you then."

"Okay."

The rest of their walk was jumping from one small thing to the next and both of them were relaxed in the company of one another. That was, Naruto realized, one of the first and longest actual conversations the two of them had actually had.

"Hinata?" he suddenly asked as she was talking about training something taijutsu related. "I never knew you were so interesting. We should have talked like that years ago."

Hinata blushed and felt the need to faint. But no! This was her chance to get close to the boy she had been chasing after since childhood. "That was probably my fault. I was… still am actually but I am getting better… a little… anti-social and intimidated by most people."

"Thus the fainting and blushing nearly every time I talked to you."

"I AM getting better," she insisted and crossed her arms.

There was a small pout on her face and somehow a though formed in Naruto's mind that took him by surprise. Cute. "Keep up the good work, Hinata," he encouraged her. "I like triers," he added in a low voice after a moment. Hinata smiled as she heard it and saw that they had finally reached the stand.

'You wanted to ask me something, Naruto-kun. What was it?"

It was about Sasuke and Itachi but Naruto was not in the mood to talk about the two brothers at the moment.

I'll ask her another time. Next time we meet, he decided and shook his head. "Forgot about it," he grinned and scratched the back of his head. "No reason to not enjoy a nice meal though and keep getting to know one another."

Hinata nodded and smiled at the blond-haired man. "So, as a regular customer, what do you suggest I order?"

And the two of them enjoyed a very nice mean full of light-hearted conversation and laughter and both of the teenagers finding themselves having common interests and opinions.

Hinata was ecstatic when she returned home and lay on her bed, he heart pounding fast. She was exhausted and yet sleep eluded her. She was just too happy to sleep at that moment.

XXXX

"Good morning, Itachi!" she greeted her patient with a huge smile on her face, her happiness from the previous day still present inside her.

Itachi did not fail to notice that.

"I am sorry I didn't come yesterday afternoon and evening. I asked a medic friend of mine to come and I assure you she is the best you could find, better than me actually."

"It's fine. You have the right to take some time off," he replied. "She was pleasant enough."

Hinata didn't know how to respond initially. It was a good thing that he was not displeased by someone else's present, right? "She is a very nice girl."

She was very happy and Itachi noticed that. And she was happy because she spent her meal with Naruto. He thought he'd be irrationally jealous but at that moment at least he felt indifferent. It was her life, she could do whatever she wanted.

But that did not mean he didn't want to know more about her meal with him. Harmless gossip.

He conveniently failed to mention to himself that he had never cared about gossiping with other people. He had always liked to eavesdrop on other people's conversation, a trait imprinted on a spy, but he never discussed it with anyone.

Harmless gossip for a man that was restricted to a bed. All these would go away once he was able to start training again and get out of that room. Once he was able to do that, all these weird dependent feelings on her would go away as well.

Itachi wanted to believe that. And like he had told his brother's teammate the other solution for thoughts that do not leave your mind and can drive a person mad is just to keep himself so busy that Itachi would not have the time to think about them.

I would like to know what any of you that might read this think but in no way are you obligated to do it. Have a nice day!