A/N: First of all, I would like to thank my lovely friend L0SLocos! I would have never finished this chapter if it weren't for you! Now without further ado…

Itachi lied comfortably in a bed, almost peaceful atmosphere floating around him. He stared up at the wooden ceiling, listening to the hushed sounds coming from the adjoining room. He could almost see the little feet of a petite girl scuttling here and there, her soft hands clattering with pots and cups. Sakura brought him harmony and tranquility he didn't experience in a long time. It was her aroma which filled his nose and waddled his senses. Her subtle presence which constantly reminded him who the person taking care of him was. It was her chakra which held his body together, he could feel it roaming through his veins; calmly and gently.

With the bracelet on, his own powers were limited to raw strength. Itachi had no clue about the magnitude of his ill and weakened state until he was ripped of the valuable energy given by the Sharingan and shinobi skills to use chakra. It were his eyes which were slowly killing him, he was very much aware of that, but that the disease had already reached such ferocity stayed unknown to him. Until tonight. He had anticipated that the loss of chakra flow would bring unpleasant results, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined them being so severe.

Nevertheless, he was here and he came here with the purpose of getting a treatment. Now he could at least avoid confessing the poor state his body was in on his own, Sakura already knew. She learned that the worst way possible. Although he didn't feel ashamed, he couldn't help but be worried. The stay in Konoha was meant to be short, possibly a few hours. Sakura would soothe the pain, repair few cells and Itachi would disappear back into the darkness.

Not like this… No. In a situation like this, he was forced to remain here – hidden. And his presence could have fatal consequences. If he would be by some unfortunate accident discovered, it wouldn't be just him who would bear the burden anymore. Sakura would pay the price as well. The most horrible outcome would be Sakura being executed for a treason. To Itachi's great dismay it was also the most possible one. She had no idea what was really going on in the village's secret organizations. He, on the other hand, had the idea burned deep within his memories. He had been there. He had seen it all.

The risk of being found along with the fact that he wouldn't be able to avoid her questions about their 'mission' made the needed sleep impossible. Despite feeling relaxed and serene, loud thoughts, endless contemplating and analyzing stole his slumber away. And so Itachi tightly listened to his surroundings.

Sakura said almost nothing to him since she had helped him take a shower. She simply washed him, dried out his skin and after almost forcing him into the bed she soothed his broken insides with the perfect amount of green energy. She never looked for the origin of his sickness though, she only told him to rest and that she would examine him in the morning. He had a good idea what made her decide like that. He saw how she looked at him, it was written all over her face. She was mortified to find out about the illness which brought Itachi Uchiha down on his knees. Afraid that she wouldn't be able to help him, unlike Itachi, who on the other hand had full trust in her abilities.

The morning was abruptly coming and Itachi knew that Sakura didn't sleep nor rest from the time she left him to his own devices. Judging by all the sounds and commotion in the adjoining rooms, she brushed and scraped the bathroom, took a shower, tidied the kitchen, living room and right now was busying herself with preparing breakfast. The situation itself brought him nostalgic thoughts. The last time he had experienced something similar was many years ago, when majority of the mighty Uchiha clan had been still among the living.

…

Sakura stalled behind the door of her own bedroom. She wasn't sure whether it was proper to knock before going in. It was her room on one hand, but on the other she had a guest there. What if he was asleep? She looked at the steaming cup of tea in her hand. If she was going to stand here and ponder about useless stuff it was definitely going to grow cold.

She rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself. She knew very well that all these were mere excuses. There were so many questions that worried her these past several hours. So much she wasn't sure about and so much she wanted to know. She anticipated that she would finally gain the answers today and it actually scared her. Somehow she expected that Itachi didn't come to her solely for healing. Or maybe he did. Both possibilities were frightening.

Sakura sighed and opened the door after a soft knock. "Here. I hope you like tea. You'll be having a lot today," she said quietly, walked around the bed and placed the tea on her nightstand. The ceramic mug clacked on the rusty wood and the surface of the liquid rippled. She observed as it calmed down before seating herself on the edge of the bed and stirring her gaze in Itachi's direction.

Itachi lied there calmly, but it was clear that he cautiously observed her every move. He briefly glanced at the tea and back at her, then nodded. "Actually… I do."

A moment of still silence followed. Sakura let her eyes fall down on her hands folded laxly in her lap. For now she found the new information that Itachi enjoyed drinking tea more interesting than anything else, but if she wanted to move somewhere she had to start asking. He was waiting. That was the reason of the silence. He was giving her a rare opportunity. "Did you come alone?" she began and voiced what troubled her the most.

"Yes," Itachi said plainly.

Sakura fixed her verdant eyes at him, frowning mildly. It would have been better if he would just tell her right away. But that wasn't the way he worked, was it? "Where is your partner?" she inquired, her voice soft but firm. Itachi remained mute, giving her a completely blank look, which made Sakura's frown only deepen. "Don't give me that, we know you work in pairs."

He turned his stare out of the window. "He's around."

The mood in the room was somehow heavy. She couldn't remember such a tension being around them ever before. There used to be tension between them, but that evaporated some time ago. Now it was something completely knew, as if they were in trouble together... finally . "Will he come as well? Because if he does…"

Itachi interrupted her gently. "Sakura."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't ask you secrets about the Akatsuki. It's not like I could give them to anyone, anyway," she shrugged and took the tea from the nightstand only to hand it to him.

"Thank you," Itachi whispered and she wasn't sure whether it was because she wasn't going to question him about the Akatsuki or because she simply handed him the tea. She wasn't going to question that either though.

"Yeah… you're welcome," Sakura uttered and stood up from the bed. She went towards the window and closed the blinds carefully, then checked one more time if there wasn't any space left for peeking. She wavered with her hand on the curtain and after pulling even that close she finally spoke again. "I can't go on like this Itachi. I need you to tell me. How are we going to help Sasuke? Are we even doing it? I need to know something," she demanded softly, keeping her voice as quiet as it could be, but the determination to know more could be heard clearly.

There was the same clank as before when Itachi placed the mug aside. "You will know when the time comes," he said coolly.

Sakura clenched her jaw for a moment, pushing away her anger. "But that's so not fair! Why can't you just tell me? Do you not trust me?" she gritted out.

"It's because I trust you that I cannot tell you," he explained easily.

It didn't make any sense to her. She watched him in mild bafflement and resisted the urge to check whether his temperature wasn't by any chance too high. But his expression was completely vacant. What did she expect anyway? She seriously didn't have any idea. Maybe she was asking just in case he would finally crack, even though in the end she never really expected him to.

And suddenly, Itachi sighed and spoke up slowly. "I trust that even though I won't share all the information, you will stay loyal. It's why I chose you and why I need you. I cannot put the burden of knowing on you… yet. I can merely ask of you to believe me," he elaborated as if her perplexed stare forced him to. "Like you did to this day," he finished.

"Well alright…" she said immediately and went back to sit at the edge of her bed. It was still more than she had ever believed she would get. Sakura was now determined to use Itachi's sharing mood to get even more information about her former teammate. "But do you know at least something? Where Sasuke is? If is he alright?" she questioned, but with disappointment watched as Itachi only shook his head.

"I have no knowledge about Sasuke's whereabouts, but I do know that he is quite alright. In fact… he's getting incredibly strong and powerful."

Those few words were like a sparkle of happiness to Sakura's ears and her face lightened for a moment, before she whispered gently. "Exactly like him."

Sakura fell mute and she knew that Itachi wasn't going to speak more either. Yet, there was still something that burdened her mind. The question was there from the very start. At first she had pushed it away, not wanting to add more trouble on her already confused mind, but now it might be a good time to finally voice what had lied in her head for so long.

She squirmed on the bed to make herself comfortable and slowly placed her hand on Itachi's chest, beginning to pump her chakra into his body to finally begin the healing process and distract her mind from what she was going to ask.

"Itachi?" Sakura started carefully and instantly noticed that the wariness in his eyes flickered as if a small light was lit up there. She continued hesitantly. "Why are you trying to bring Sasuke back home? I mean… why are you even helping him?" she sighed when she realized how much her question missed the point of what she wanted to know, so she decided to specify. "Why you?"

He pondered for a few seconds. "Because…" Itachi whispered softly and for a moment Sakura thought that this was going to be the only answer she would get, before he added, "…he's my family."

A flutter moved within her abdomen at the gentle tone of his voice. She stopped the flow of her chakra, now finally having a small idea about how to start the treatment, or at least where to look for more answers. "You still love him then," she said.

Her eyes were wide, perhaps because she had just learned what a deadly illness was probably torturing Itachi's body and perhaps at the shock his answer caused. She wasn't sure herself, but they weren't going to speak about his health. This wasn't the place to discuss Itachi's disease. She could see in his eyes that he was aware of her realization and that was enough.

He nodded. "Yes."

"What happened to the rest?" Sakura asked in a strained voice.

Itachi locked their gazes and she could see the ocean of sadness that reigned inside his onyx pools. "They were taken from me."

"By whom?" She couldn't help it. The question left her lips before she could stop herself. She could feel how the atmosphere in the room got strained and held her breath, almost wanting to take her question back.

"By me," Itachi said quietly.

"Ah…" Sakura breathed out and stood up from the bed. She knew that she shouldn't have asked. It wasn't her place to spy on Itachi's past. The present was significantly more important now. "I'll go look into some medical books. You rest here. If you need something…" she paused and looked at Itachi who was still observing her intensely. "I'll be right next door."

Maybe she should have apologized, but to be honest somewhere deep inside she still considered herself worthy of at least that tiny truth Itachi had just given her. She needed to hear it from his own lips for so long. She used to fear the reality and what it might bring her. But right in this moment, Sakura finally understood that when it came down to it, she had nothing to be afraid of, for she was able to accept Itachi wholly and face the raw nature of him as a person without regret.

She turned around, prepared to leave when Itachi's voice stopped her. "Sakura."

She halted, but didn't look at him, as if she knew that he was going to ask something that would make her unable to look into his eyes.

"Do you still love Sasuke?"

At this point Sakura had to seal her lids tight. She felt her stomach clutching and her jaw tensed. She stood in her spot for several long seconds, perceiving Itachi's stare on her back. She resisted the urge to glance at him to learn whether he already knew the answer or not. She wouldn't be able to read anything from his face anyway. "Y-yes," she said hesitantly in the end.

Her love for Sasuke was currently a very blank space. She knew she loved him deeply two years ago and she knew that those feelings had never disappeared. However, she had no idea what to expect when they would finally meet face to face. Would her heart flutter? Would her knees go weak? Or would she be simply happy that she could bring her friend back home and keep him safe? Sakura loved Sasuke, that was absolute, but she had no longer an idea what kind of love it was.

"Good."

She heard Itachi whisper and tilted her head to the side. She nodded in acknowledgement and then abandoned the room. There were more urgent matters to take care of and her love life wasn't one of them.

Sakura spent the rest of the morning with her nose stuck in books. She fished out an enormous stock of her medical journals and spent several hours staring into the tiny and complicated texts. In the meantime Itachi was resting in her bed. Sakura honestly hoped that he was sleeping most of the time, because he really needed the rest and from her experience a good sleep was many times better than any cure. But what she felt from the connection caused by the bracelet, he wasn't really having a peaceful slumber.

It was strange to feel his presence always around; looming above her as if he was constantly peeking over her shoulder. She figured it must have been like that for him too, when she had the bracelet on and he was experiencing the one way connection. It wasn't the same as perceiving someone's chakra, it was more like an aura, and it was way too hard to explain in simple words. The point was that Sakura was aware of Itachi's whereabouts and partly also his mental state; if she focused enough. Which she didn't, because her brain was too preoccupied with remedial records and she also considered it an invasion of privacy.

By the time the clock hit noon, Sakura's head felt like a balloon prepared to pop. There were many symptoms she had to test and examine and many signs of several different illnesses in Itachi's body. She knew she would need to start somewhere though. She wasn't going to ask him more questions. It would be a waste of time. She already knew the answer to the most important question – how long was he going to stay? Well… Itachi wasn't going to leave before his disease would get better, obviously. Even she could guess that much.

Sakura placed aside the book in her lap and stood up from her couch. She stretched with a soft sigh and looked around. The coffee she had made for herself was long cold, but she drank it anyway. It might have been disgusting, but it would still fulfill its purpose. She went to the kitchen corner and placed a kettle on the stove. It was time to make some fresh tea from her favorite healing herbs. She was sure Itachi was starting to get thirsty.

A steaming mug in her hand she slowly strolled towards her bedroom rood and knocked.

"Itachi?" she said softly, but didn't want for an answer and entered. He was lying in the same position, looking tired, but fairly alright. "I'm going into the market. We need some food and I'll take some painkillers too. You might sleep better with them," Sakura announced and put the mug on the nightstand while taking the empty one with her.

Itachi said nothing for a while, only watched her wander around the room. She took some clothes and threw them over her shoulder, not really bothered by the onyx stare that followed her every move. Abandoning the bedroom Sakura left the empty mug in the kitchen and then changed her clothes in the bathroom, leaving the used ones in the laundry. She returned to the bedroom and noticed Itachi reaching for the tea she had brought him. She smiled softly at that, this warm feeling soothing her chest, the knowing that she was helping him and that he was willingly accepting her help.

She took her bag and threw it over her shoulder. "I'll be back in a few."

"Sakura, I…"

She stopped at the door and turned around to meet Itachi's eyes. It seemed as if he was going to say something important. She raised her brows impatiently when the pause dragged for too long.

And then he smiled gently and she felt her heart flutter. "Thank you," was all he said in the end.

Sakura smiled back. "You're welcome."

Avoiding as much acquaintances as possible Sakura did her shopping and payed at the counter. She wasn't really in a mood to strike a conversation with people who would ask her the same boring questions as they did for the last many weeks. Her answer wouldn't change anyway. She was fine; perfect even.

She was just handing money for her goods to the cashier when an unpleasant yet familiar feeling washed over her.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hi, Shikamaru…" she greeted with a forced smile. Calm down and appear natural.

She could see Shikamaru eyeing her suspiciously, and even though she knew that he did that quite often and not for the reasons that she thought he did it for now, she still couldn't help but grow nervous under that lazy yet analyzing stare. As much as she wanted to believe that Shikamaru was just as indolent in his thinking as he was in his behavior, she knew very well that it wasn't true. He had great observational skills.

Would she seem suspicious?

"What's up?" Shikamaru nodded and threw a lazy smirk in her direction.

Sakura shrugged. "Not much. Just the usual."

It was as easy to lie now as it was since she came back, but she still feared they might notice that something was amiss. She didn't want to put Itachi's life in danger by something as silly as a slip up in a conversation with a friend. Sakura picked up all her goods and threw it into her bag.

"I see you haven't met Ino yet," Shikamaru said casually and paid for his groceries as well.

Sakura's hands twitched and she seized the bag in her fingers. There was no reason to be anxious. Then why was she? Something about Shikamaru's question bothered her. She made a few steps back, pretending not to be in a hurry too much. "I haven't. Why?" she asked.

Shikamaru thanked the cashier before turning towards Sakura. She was feeling more restless every other second. It felt like minutes before he finally answered. "She mentioned that she'd stop by your place."

Sakura squeezed her bag, clutching it in an attempt not to drop it. Ino – her place – keys. Those three words ringed in her head. Ino had her keys. Sakura was forced to give them to two people in case of an emergency a few days ago. Naruto was one of them, even though he hardly used them. The other person was Ino. Why did she choose her again? Why didn't she give those damned keys to Tsunade or Kakashi? Those two would never…

Already knowing that Ino wouldn't hesitate to use the keys and invite herself into Sakura's apartment, Sakura's face went white and her stomach turned upside down. "Oh," was all she could say in the end.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her behavior. Sakura took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily, letting out some of the pressure. She couldn't afford to be caught, even if it would be only an odd action that might later make Shikamaru mention Sakura to Kakashi - or worse - Naruto. They would immediately go to see if she was okay.

"So when did Ino say she's gonna visit?" she asked.

Shikamaru glanced up, thinking. "A while ago. Just before I went shopping."

"Oh, that's great!" she exclaimed. Too much? Damn it!

Sakura bit her lip and began to make her way out of the shop, Shikamaru right beside her. She could see from the corner of her eye how he threw a spying glance at her. He was getting suspicious for sure. Or maybe she was just imagining it. Maybe she was just being paranoid. She was seeing things! That must have been it! She didn't do anything fishy, did she?

"I better go, I might still catch her," she smiled at him and held her breath.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, sure. See you later," he waved her off and turned around to walk into the opposite direction.

"See ya'!"

One. Two. Three…

Waiting exactly five seconds for Shikamaru to turn right and disappear out of the main street, Sakura sprung into a hasty walk. She was lucky back there. In her mind everything she did was somehow out of the ordinary, but maybe for someone who couldn't sense the same anxiety as she could, she appeared fairly normal. Shikamaru had enough of his own troubles and Sakura sure wasn't the person he would know any good. If she had been Chouji or Ino, she was certain he would have read her like a book. But she was neither of those two.

And let's be honest, people were used to her abnormal behavior for a while now. The only thing she should be worried about was acting too normal.

All this contemplating wasn't really making her calmer though. Mainly because… What was normal in her world? She couldn't remember anymore.

Sakura run up the stairs into her flat, taking two at a time. "Ino!" she exclaimed as soon as she opened the door. It was unlocked. Fuck!

"Oh, hey Sakura," Ino smiled at her.

It took several seconds for Sakura to scan the room and then her eyes met with Ino's. She could see the mild surprise when Sakura stormed in yelling the name of her friend. Ino had her hand on the knob of her bedroom door.

"What are you doing here?!" Sakura called, her eyes widened. Was she going back from there? Did she sense Itachi's presence? Could she tell? Sakura's heart drummed against her chest.

"Eeh… Looking for you, obviously," Ino laughed nervously. Sakura knew that Ino wasn't completely comfortable around her yet, not knowing what to expect from her. Although they were friends for so long, now, weeks after Sakura's rescue, their friendship still hadn't been fixed. But Ino's behaviour was still suspicious. What if she figured it out?

Sakura watched as her friend let go of the door knob and moved to sit on the couch. She couldn't tell if Ino knew something, but so far it looked that she was clueless. Sakura got lucky for once, but she desperately needed to get Ino out of her home so she could treat Itachi. Sakura could feel the waves of apprehension from her one way bracelet connection. She was convinced that there would be nothing in Itachi's face, but the emotions flowing towards her couldn't lie.

Sakura closed the door. "And you've found me. What do you want?" she asked and moved swiftly through the room to place her groceries on the kitchen counter. She began to unpack them while Ino began her endless rant.

"I've heard you have a day off, so I thought I might pay you a visit. But I see you've finally crawled out of this… place."

Sakura knew her friend glanced around the living room. She turned to scan the place too and copied Ino's movements, checking if by any chance there were some clues of Itachi's presence that she should quickly hide.

"Hey, you've even cleaned here," Ino exclaimed.

Torn out of her musings, Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"Cool. Are you expecting someone?"

"No?" Did she need a reason? She simply had a day off, so she cleaned. There was nothing more to it. Officially.

Sakura resisted the urge to look at her bedroom door. However, Ino seemed completely and utterly oblivious about the presence of an S-class criminal in the same flat where she was currently rather comfortably chitchatting with her friend. She started to yap again. "You should really get yourself out there and start to date, Forehead. I think it would really help you with… you know… stuff."

With a small cringe Sakura turned away and took some items to put them into the fridge. "I don't think I would really want that."

Ino hummed knowingly and stood up, going to examine her better. "You're kind of pale, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm always pale," Sakura retorted and narrowed her eyes at her.

Ino shrugged. "Okay, if you say so…"

Sakura was finishing cleaning her stuff and storing all the items while Ino went to sit on the couch again, observing her. Sakura wasn't bothered by the watchful eyes of her friend, she already knew who gave Ino the idea of visiting her. Ino would never thought of it herself, since she still didn't feel comfortable in Sakura's presence. Nevertheless, Ino could have refused the command, yet she was here and Sakura could appreciate that.

It didn't make the situation any less annoying though.

"Ino, what do you really want?" Sakura asked sternly after she was done with the stashing. "Did Tsunade send you?"

Ino bit on her lip, hesitating for a moment before she spilled the beans without much of an effort on Sakura's side. "Okay. I admit. She did. But I would have pay you a visit anyway…" She lied. "…because I've heard the most interesting thing."

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes and propped her hip onto the counter, not really wishing to be too close to Ino. "I'm a little scared to know what it is," she uttered.

And suddenly the news hit her. "Rock Lee wants to take you on a date!" Ino exclaimed, much louder than Sakura would have needed of her.

Bright green eyes widened. "Wha-?" the word died on Sakura's tongue as her gaze twitched into the direction of her bedroom. "No way!"

"Oh, come on! I know he's a little dorky, but-"

"Stop it! It's embarrassing," Sakura gritted out, barely moving her lips.

"Why? There's no-one else here, just the two of us," Ino proclaimed as if her friend was crazy. Her judging blue eyes never left Sakura's figure, now standing tensely in her kitchen.

Sakura kept silent, she did feel a blush creeping up her cheeks, but it was more of an angry red than the one of shyness. She kept silent and moved her stare away from Ino, not intending to give her more base for further conversation.

She should have known better though, because Ino didn't require much in order to continue talking. "Anyway, I think it would be good for you. Just to have some company or get out and have fun once in a while. Lee is a really nice guy and he deserves the chance… I mean how long he's been talking about taking you out. And how long we've been sending you invites to our barbeque meetings."

With a sigh Sakura straightened. "Okay, that's enough. Don't you have other things to worry about? Like for example your own social life?" she declared firmly, trying to tower over Ino's sitting form.

"Och, don't even get me started there," Ino waved her hand pretentiously. "You know how I told you about Neji?"

Sakura was in need of a better plan. "…no."

"Yeah, so I kind of thought he was gonna ask me out or something. I mean he was always around the Yamanaka compound and stuff… but then – and you're not gonna believe this – then I saw him with like my distant cousin or whatever. And they were all over each other… he got him pressed against a tree and Neji was all-"

Sakura frowned, hating herself for actually listening for one sinful second. "Wait a second-"

"Exactly my reaction!" Not in a million years would Ino figure out that Sakura didn't react to her words but actually intended to stop her. She just went on. "…Although I was a little more pissed than surprised, but yeah… Neji – a man – with my very much gay cousin. I mean it's not like I have anything against it… but if he's really like that I'm never gonna have a chance," she sighed and for a moment Sakura would swear that the end of the world was coming.

And while Ino was worrying who was dating whom, Sakura had Itachi Uchiha of the Akatsuki hidden in her bedroom. When did the small gap in their friendship turned into an abyss? Sakura couldn't remember the precise moment, but she knew that it would take years for Ino to grow up from the girl she still was into the woman that Sakura was now.

"Tenten must have been devastated," Sakura muttered absentmindedly.

"Tenten?! Where have you been locked all this time? She's been dating Anko for a few months now," Ino exclaimed happily and her eyes sparkled with excitement that it could have been her who brought Sakura this awesome news.

"Oh…"

How the hell was she going to get rid of her?

"See this is what you get if you're just holed in here or in the hospital all the time. You don't even hear rumors," Ino proclaimed victoriously.

"I don't really-" Sakura began, but then an idea hit her. "Okay, not those kinds of rumors and it's not like Tenten or Anko had any time to… you know… go out on dates and stuff," she said in a hurry. "But! Speaking of dates and rumors… I did hear something really interesting about Shikamaru." She let her face get lighted exactly in the manner that would spike Ino's gossip radar.

Ino jumped in her spot and Sakura knew that she had tickled the right spot. "What did you hear?"

"Oh well, this one time in hospital, Shikamaru was talking to Chouji…" she made a dramatic pause and watched Ino's eyes growing bigger every second, "about taking you out on a date."

"Are you serious?!"

"Absolutely!" Sakura confirmed with a nod.

"When?"

"A few days ago?"

Ino's cheeks flushed pink. "Oh my… well he's not really the best looking guy around, but you gotta start somewhere, right? But what if he comes today? What if-"

Sakura interrupted her, the scheme she was building could not fail! "I don't know Ino, he seemed kinda lost. Maybe you should just go and ask him first. I doubt he'll ever have the guts to ask himself."

"Eww, but I'm a girl."

Sakura would have slapped Ino for that remark if she was standing any close to her.

"So what? You're independent and confident woman, Ino. You don't have to wait for a guy to make the first move. Just go there and take what's yours!" she almost yelled.

"Yes! You're right!" Ino stood up vigorously and headed towards the door. She threw one last glance at her friend before storming out. "I'd never have guessed you being this type of woman, Sakura."

A huge boulder of pressure fell off Sakura's shoulders and she followed after Ino across the room to close the door her friend left wide open. She thumped her forehead on the door right after that. What a day! And it was only an early afternoon.

When Sakura pushed her body off of the wood and turned around she met a pair of onyx observing her from the entrance to her bedroom. "Don't even!" she said and raised her hand, interrupting a sentence Itachi was never going to voice. "Go back to bed, I'll make you some soup. You need to eat at least something."

She didn't expect Itachi to say anything, but she was certain that she saw a flicker of a smirk dance across his lips before he continued on his way to the bathroom.

"Alright then," Sakura whispered and strolled back to the kitchen, beginning to prepare the meal she had just promised.

The rest of the day happened in relative peace. Sakura did her cooking and Itachi did his share of eating. It wasn't as much as she had hoped for, but it was enough for him to gain some strength back. After they were both full and happy, Sakura did some basic healing on Itachi's body, reinforcing and restoring it. The illness was aggressive and some simple medical jutsu wasn't going to do it, but until she would figure out how to stop it completely, Itachi would have to settle at least with that.

Truth be told, Sakura had never encountered a disease similar to Itachi's and although she somehow knew where to start looking for a cure or a treatment, she was beginning to dislike where her research was taking her. Itachi wasn't going to like her verdict at the end, she was sure of it. For now she could only hope that the essential healing would be enough. It had to be!

…

The sun slid steadily on the sky, descending down with every minute until it roller over the horizon. Sakura kept reading her medical books long after the sunset while Itachi was still in a deep slumber, which might have also been Sakura's doing. Pushing into just the right pressure point was more than easy, Itachi knew what she was doing and she could catch a hint of tranquility and gratitude right at the moment his lids were closing as he was falling asleep. Because honestly, he needed a proper rest more than anything and there was nothing that could possibly happen anymore.

As the night came to its mid, Sakura's tired eyes fell down and she dozed off as well; a well-deserved break after a long day. Unaware of the figure watching her through the window, Sakura drifted off. Once her head fell on her shoulder, the shadow moved and with ease rather unusual for its enormous build slipped into her apartment.

At first it seemed as if the room was drowned in complete darkness and it took her quite a while to notice a silhouette of a huge man towering above her couch and shielding her view of the night-lit window. Sakura's body jerked violently when she finally registered the intruder. She swiftly brought a palm onto her own mouth to drown the scream that threatened to alarm her neighbors when the man raised a hand to reach for her.

She caught a glimpse of an Akatsuki symbol.

A/N: Is anyone even reading it anymore? I'm not sure, but as I state in my profile - I do not abandon. This is the proof. However, I have to admit that my passion for this pairing is getting smaller and smaller. It will not have any effect on how this story will progress and I promise that I will try to have the next chapter finished soon, but you know how it goes... Sorry in advance. I won't bother you with my rant any further...

If you have any questions, send me a PM or ask in a review and I will answer!