ITACHI

I had never cried in front of anyone before, yet here I was crying like a baby in front of almost four other people. Almost.

I slowly sat up and pulled Sakura into my lap. I cradled her body and let my sadness overwhelm me. I never got to tell her how I felt. "I love you. I love you. I love you." I whispered over and over into her hair.

Naruto fell to his knees besides me. He stared blankly at Sakura and then started beating the ground. He howled and screamed and cursed, until he fell silent, staring at Sakura.

I stared down at Sakura. She looked so peaceful, like she was asleep. I could almost believe that she was. I brushed her hair out of her face. Even though she hadn't showered in weeks and was still in the same clothes I'd last seen her in, she was as beautiful as always. Nothing could ever hide how beautiful she was.

Sasuke knelt beside Naruto. He whispered something to Naruto. His voice was completely flat. No emotion made it's way through to his voice. I watched as Sasuke helped Naruto up and then led him away. Sasuke looked back and his eyes met mine. I could see unshed tears shining in his eyes.

Kakashi was punching a tree over and over. I could see tears pouring from his eyes. Finally he slumped to the ground, exhausted.

When I had cried all my tears away, I stood up with Sakura in my arms. She was so light. She was like a bird, tiny and fragile.

"We need to go." I said. My voice sounded so cold. Kakashi dragged himself to a standing position and Sasuke and Naruto stumbled over to me. They avoided looking at Sakura.

We started off slow but quickly gained speed. We all only wanted to get Sakura back where she belonged: home.

They had been alerted by the patrols that we were approaching. They were all waiting for us at the gates. They cheered when they saw us. Ino ran up, but slowed when she saw our faces. She took one glance at Sakura and I saw her eyes well up with tears. Once the first fell, she started to sob. She sank to her knees, but we continued on.

Everyone else started looking horrified as we approached. When they could see she was clearly dead the crying started and the screaming. Everything we had gone through on that godforsaken battlefield.

I could see movement in the crowd. "Get out of my way." Tsunade said, shoving people aside. "Let me through. Let me see."

She stopped just short of us, her eyes locked on Sakura. She took a slow step forward and then another. When she got close enough, she reached out and touched Sakura's head gently, like Sakura would break if she were touched too roughly.

Tsunade kept her face carefully blank. She stumbled back a few steps.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade. We tried to stop her." Naruto said.

"Stop her? From doing what?" Tsunade asked, confused.

"She used a forbidden jutsu that enabled her to use her life energy as healing power. She save Itachi." Naruto explained.

Tsunade's found went white. "How long has it been since she died?"

Naruto struggled to speak. "Less than 24 hours."

A strange look came over her face. "Set her down, Itachi."

I didn't want to, but she was looking at me so peculiarly that I did as she asked. I numbly placed her in the dirt. It felt wrong to set her somewhere so unclean. She deserved better than this.

"Sorry I'm late. Why is Sakura on the ground? Is she ok?" Shisui's voice filtered through to me.

Oh God. Everyone else was watching Tsunade intently. No one was paying any attention to Shisui. I wanted to stand and explain everything to him. To apologize, do something, but I found I was unable to move.

My eyes were drawn back Tsunade as she formed some seals. Her hands glowed the same green Sakura's had when she healed me.

"Itachi, call her." Tsunade said.

"What?"

"Just do as I say." She snapped at me.

I took a moment to figure out what to say. "Sakura, it's time to come back to us. You're home safe, surrounded by all your friends and family. We really, really need you to wake up for us." I told her. I bent down and whispered into her ear. "I love you and I need you. I'm not going to let you die this easily. Now, wake. Up."

Sakura gasped and sat up, nearly hitting Tsunade's head with her own. She looked around at the people surrounding her. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi pounced on her. She was crying and laughing and so were they.

I quietly stood up. Shisui knelt where I had just been. He tapped on her shoulder and she turned. She pulled him into a hug when she saw him.

It looked like my job here was done. As much as I might've wanted to stay, she looked like she was in capable hands. I started walking away slowly.

The murmurs of joyful, happy voices faded the further I walked.

She had saved me, but of course she was going back to Shisui, just like always.

I heard footsteps running behind me. "Hey!" a voice more familiar to me than my own yelled out.

I turned around. There she was, standing before me. "You don't just get to walk away from me after I saved your life." She said exasperatedly.

"Technically I just saved your life. I think we're even now." I replied. She rolled her beautiful green eyes; I had thought I would never see again.

"I… remember everything. Apparently dying makes genjutsus release." She said.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'll have to remember that next time I use genjutsu."

"I was wondering if we could start over." She said. She looked down at her feet, shyly.

"What about Shisui?" I asked, not allowing the hope I felt to ease into my voice.

"I explained the situation to him and he understood." She said.

"What situation?"

"The situation where I'm totally, completely in love with you." She replied, finally looking up at me once more. When I saw her eyes, I was done holding back. I pulled her to me and kissed her.

I kissed her so she would have no doubt of the love I felt for her.

"Does this mean you love me too?" she asked, breaking our kiss.

"Yes, you silly girl." I pulled her to me again and thought if I could do this to her everyday I would never be unhappy again.

Thank you guys so much for all the encouragement and kind words you've given me. I appreciated them all. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's been a blast. Stay awesome.