Hello everyone, I feel like apologizing at this point is futile. You all know the deal here. I wanted to take some time though to specially thank all of you who wrote kind messages after the last chapter. Not only those who complimented the story which always makes me happy but also those who responses after my slightly unhinged statement about mean reviewers. You're all really the best readers I could ask for and you make all of this so worth it. If I didn't already love writing and especially writing fanfiction, you alone would be quite the motivation, so thank-you:)

Disclaimer:I obviously don't own Naruto, do you think I'm responsible for that ending. Come on guys, you know me better than that.

Chapter Six

Ok, she'd said it before, and realistically she'd be saying it next weekend, but Sakura was never drinking again.

Sakura hesitantly squinted as she came to and she couldn't contain her hiss as the limited light in the dark room pierced her burning eyeballs.

"What the fuck happened last night?"

"You don't want to know."

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall. Her eyes followed his movements to the window and before she could look away, the windows were wrenched open.

"Fuck you, Uchiha," she screeched as she turned away from the death rays she was sure were blaring through the devil's plexiglass.

"All this after I even made you breakfast," he said turning to walk away. Sakura held up a hand.

"Breakfast?"

"Mmhm, with pancakes."

"...blueberry syrup?"

"Of course I'm not a monster."

Sakura jumped out of bed and wobbled slightly causing the man to bemusedly grab her arm.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"Anytime, Sakura."

Sakura couldn't help but get a weird vibe from her usually stoic best friend. She followed him out of the familiar bedroom and into the kitchen with hesitance.

"Is Naruto here?"

"No, he's out with Gaara now," Sasuke replied, piling a few pancakes that smelled like fucking heaven onto a plate that she hoped was for her.

"So should I stick around for the inevitable broken limbs?"

"And to convince them to go to the hospital, that would be great." Sasuke slipped her what was in fact her plate as she giggled.

"They don't ever change," she said over a mouthful of pancakes. Sasuke's eyes once again took on a strange sheer but that didn't stop him from sliding her a cup of coffee. It was a light caramel coffee and she knew before she brought it to her dry, pink lips that it was made just the way she liked it.

"Does anyone?" The cryptic question wasn't what furthered her unease, but rather the almost bitter smirk he shot her over his dark blue mug.

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" She asked, now slightly disturbed. Her brain was still fuzzy as hell from whatever the fuck had happened the night before, but Sasuke's behavior was making her wonder if she'd woken up period.

"I'm fine, just tired. I'm going to go shower, do you need anything for our day long wait for the idiot?"

"Uh, no I don't think so. Since I don't have my internship tod-holy fuck, I went out clubbing with my boss last night. And like ten of his closest...allies," Sakura said almost slipping out of her chair. "Oh my god, what the hell happened?" Sakura tried to ignore her pounding headache in favor of any sort of recollection and as she looked at Sasuke's now blank face, only one memory came to mind.

"Did you punch someone in the face?"

Sasuke took a sip of his coffee and shrugged.

"Maybe."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Itachi cursed as a hard fist slammed into his lower jaw. It was enough off the mark where he could tell no serious damage had been done but it still managed to hurt like a bitch.

"What the fuck Itachi?"

Itachi looked at his little brother who was holding a swaying Sakura with mild confusion. Itachi wasn't eighteen anymore and vodka didn't sit as well with him as it once did.

"Little brother, didn't know you would be joining us tonight."

"Obviously, otherwise you wouldn't be trying to fuck my best friend on the floor of some drug infested club."

"Sasu-chan, why are you yelling?" Sakura asked, her pink lips turned into Sasuke's neck as he held her up. Itachi licked his own lips as he remembered what her cocktail tinged mouth tasted like and when Sasuke followed his line of sight he seemed ready to punch him again.

"Stop it," he bit out and Itachi tore his eyes away from how the club lights were bouncing off Sakura's skin. Skin he'd been touching, skin he'd been tasting-

"Still fucking doing it." Sasuke was glaring with a little bit of reason now in the eyes that Itachi saw when he looked in the mirror. The return of that reason seemed due to the appearance of a familiar blonde.

"What's going on here?"

"Nothing, dobe. Let's take Sakura home," Sasuke said pulling the pinkette fully into his arms. Her coy eyes were now closed and Itachi wondered if she'd fallen asleep.

"Ok, sure. Let me get Gaara." Naruto didn't yell as per usual protocol and if he wasn't so wasted, Itachi would have noted the strange tension between his brother and his best friend.

"Who cares about him, Sakura needs to go home."

"Sasuke, I really don't want to do this right now-

"I know, you want to go get fucking Gaara-

"Kami, bastard you're acting like a jealous girlfriend-

"Aren't you supposed to be taking Sakura home," Itachi said cutting in. The two men looked at each other before looking back at their pink companion. Sasuke scoffed before readjusting her in his arms.

"I'm going, I'll take her to my place."

Naruto looked like he would argue but then his eyes caught a smirking redhead and Itachi watched as his brother's shoulders tensed.

"Just stay here, I'll see you back at the apartment or not. Whatever."

Itachi watched confused as the two men went off in opposite directions. He wasn't sure what had just happened and the throbbing in jaw was kind of keeping him from any deep thought. That and all the shots. Probably.

"Yo Itachi, what happened to pinkie?"

Itachi was turned by a swaying Deidara. Although maybe he was swaying. Or maybe they were both swaying. Like double swaying.

"Itachi?"

"She left, my brother took her home."

"Wow, I thought if anyone would be taking her home it would be you. If that's what having an intern is like, I need to get one."

"They're just friends," Itachi protested not touching the last part of his friend's statement.

"Ok, sure. I'm going to get a cab, you want in?"

Itachi agreed and numbly went along with the other as he went through the motions of going home. It was as his head hit his white pillowcase that he was struck with a horrifying thought.

What the hell had he done?

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

What the hell had she done?

Sakura had been hanging out with Sasuke for hours and it was...super weird. The two often spent alone time together since Naruto was the more social of the three. But Sasuke hadn't said anything. Like anything. They'd been watching science documentaries for the past three hours and Sakura thought absolute zero was as cool as the next girl but the human next to her emitting no sounds was getting super creepy.

"Uh Sasuke, any opinions on lunch?"

Her only response was a shrug and she took that to mean, "order Indian food because I know that's what you want. I will make various faces throughout the eating experience but whatever."

Sakura called in their usual orders and she had just finished with the curries when a familiar blonde walked in.

Despite all their years together, Sakura always got a little rush of joy whenever she saw Naruto. She didn't understand how one person could be so lovely but he had always been a special kid. He walked over and put an arm around her shoulder as she went on to give his usual order. When she hung up he buried his nose in her hair.

"You smell disgusting," she told him as he laughed into her pink locks.

"That's just good ole sweat. Smell of hard work is what that is."

"Hm, no. Smell of 'I have yet to shower for some ridiculous reason' is what that is," she said walking with him to the living room. Sasuke gave no reaction that he had seen either of them and he didn't move as Sakura took the middle seat between her boys.

"So, what did you two do last night?" The question just got her a strange look from Naruto and a continued stream of apathy from Sasuke.

Fantastic.

"Uh we went out clubbing. We actually saw you, that's when Sasuke brought you home," Naruto uttered as Sasuke continued to watch a British voice explain the science behind icebergs. Obviously the more riveting activity.

Sakura felt like she was missing something but even though her headache had faded, her memories had not returned with its absence.

"I'm going to shower," Naruto told her, kissing the top of her head. She watched him go and she had a feeling he didn't turn around because he knew he would falter under the desperation in her expression. After he had disappeared down the hallway, she sighed and turned back to the screen and her best friend who had been replaced by a human-like cucumber.

"Those are some sexy icebergs, aren't they?" She asked and she got her first reaction out of Sasuke since she sat down.

A horrified flinch.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Full of exotic spices and trepidation, a toxic combination for any young woman, Sakura entered her apartment expecting an interrogation. Instead she found a calm blonde watching Sakura's worst nightmare.

"If you don't turn that shit off, I'm moving out."

Ino turned to her with an amused expression. "What do you have against penguins forehead, jealous of their ability to actually look good in white?"

"Two things pig, one I look banging in white and not like a corpse at all," Ino grinned but Sakura continued. "Two, I've been watching fucking documentaries since like ten o'clock this morning."

"Sasuke in a weird place again?"

"Yeah and-how did you know I was over there?"

Ino shrugged. "Sasuke texted me, you have him ridiculously well trained."

"Apparently not trained enough to actually talk to me," Sakura whined as Ino switched the tv to some trashy reality show. "He made me breakfast and then preceded to not talk to me all day. It was weird as hell."

"Damn forehead, did you try to sleep with him again?"

"You do one stupid thing at fifteen and no one lets you forget about it," Sakura muttered as Ino snickered. "I'd never drunk before."

"Believe me, we could tell and if we couldn't, you've told us all a million times."

"Well you've brought up the Sasuke thing a million times."

"And it never stops being funny," Ino said with a satisfied sigh. "But seriously, what did you do last night?"

"That's the thing, I have no idea. I remember getting there, trying to awkwardly talk to my boss, hanging out with his friends and taking a few shots and then nothing."

"It truly is a mystery. Where oh where could your memories have gone? Perhaps down the toilet with your dinner and your dreams?"

"I hate you." Ino grinned again and the two women sat in silence as dramatic music blared from the TV. Someone was taking off their earrings. A calm, logical conversation was obviously in the mist. "I wish I could remember."

"Well think on the plus side you know it couldn't have been that bad since he still let you stay at his place. In his bed, I assume." Sakura nodded in response. "Clothed?"

"Pig!"

"Sorry, sorry, just trying to get all the facts here."

"The fact is, I didn't sleep with Sasuke or try to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean probably," Sakura said frowning. "I don't want to sleep with Sasuke."

"For reasons I don't entirely understand," Ino said and Sakura went to speak but Ino held up a hand. "Ok, not going down that path. Anyway, even if you did try to sex him up again, I don't think he would react this poorly. Maybe you even would have gotten laid."

"Pig-

"Calm down, I'm just kidding. Mostly. Are you sure you don't remember anything. It seems like it could be bad if you were hanging out with your boss and you don't remember anything that happened."

Sakura blanched. "What if I did something to Itachi?"

"That might explain Sasuke. His brother complex seems easily triggered," at Sakura's glare Ino snorted. "Come on Sakura, the dude is so weird about his family. I get that they're like cajillionaires but they need to calm themselves, honestly."

Sakura didn't argue since she agreed. She now felt more anxious though. Sasuke hadn't talked to her about what he'd seen when he'd visited Itachi but maybe seeing her acting like his new drinking buddy pushed him over the edge. He'd never even let Sakura meet the guy and they'd known each other since they were kids. He'd even considered her a friend for a decade.

Sakura groaned curling up on their threadbare couch. "I hate this."

"I'm sorry forehead. Romantic comedy?"

"No, I want something with explosions. And death, like excessive amounts of it."

Ino clicked her tongue before pulling up on demand. "I think there's a new superhero movie out. Want to watch Suna crumble to the ground?"

"Yes, please."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Itachi spent most of the weekend reading and doing paperwork. This was how he normally spent the weekend when he wasn't on call but there was one thing off. He was going out of his goddamn mind.

When he woke up with a hard on and the scent of Sakura's hair on his tongue, he knew he was fucked. His hand had been down his pants and he had just touched his now throbbing cock when he had realized what he was doing and almost ran to the bathroom. A cold shower was just enough to calm him down as images of the night before assaulted his very hung over brain. For the first time, he had wished he was one of those idiots who blacked out after a night of excessive drinking. He had never been so lucky.

This pattern of regret, horror and extreme lust left him frequently correcting mistakes in his paperwork. He did not make mistakes. This weekend though had been hell and he was not looking forward to its inevitable conclusion.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Itachi waited in his office Monday morning not knowing what to expect. He'd ignored all of his friends suggestive voicemails and catcall themed texts and he was very grateful that they didn't have access to Sakura's contact information. He only knew this because they were harassing him for it. Except for Pein. Along with his brother, Pein was the one he was most wary of hearing from.

Except for the pinkette who had just walked through the door.

She looked like she normally did on Mondays. Tired and like she had overslept. She was wearing a black pencil skirt with a tucked in turquoise button up that surprisingly went with her hair. The only thing off about her appearance was the presence of two coffees in her hands.

Sakura met his eyes and smiled sheepishly as she placed a coffee in front of him. This wasn't exactly the response he had expected. He'd expected her to scream at him, to ignore him or alternate between the two. Part of him had even thought she might skip work all together. He wouldn't have even reported her if she did. He'd been almost hoping for it.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk about the other night."

Itachi tensed, what could she say that wasn't going to be completely humiliating.

"I'm sorry I got so drunk. I don't exactly remember what happened but I think that's just more proof I shouldn't have tried to outdrink Kisame," she laughed awkwardly at that and Itachi tried not to show his complete surprise. "I hope I didn't embarrass you in front of your friends. They were all really nice and you did a really nice thing by inviting me out with them. I think it'll be cool to actually see familiar faces in the hospital." Itachi watched her pleased but timid face as she waited for his reaction. Was she just being nice? Trying to avoid what would be a horrifying conversation? Or did she actually not remember?

Itachi studied her as she awaited judgement. Her outfit was normal, her hair a disaster, her words expected after what could have been a normal night out and as he looked at her own cup, there was a usual pink stain on the mouth. The reminder of her lips made his eyes flick back up to hers. When she lightly bit at the plump surface with her white teeth he had to look away as he felt a twinge in his groin.

"You were fine, no one had any bad words to say about you."

"Really?" She asked looking relieved. "I enjoyed their company as well," she looked pleased now and sat down in front of him. She crossed her legs as she set her bag down and Itachi immediately was treated to a sight of her creamy thighs. He looked back down at his paperwork as she straightened up. He tried not to notice the way her breathing made her chest rise and fall beneath her shirt. Occasionally making the buttons stretch to show what he could make out as a skin toned bra. Not the sexiest garment, but it was still enough to almost make him forget to look away as she met his eyes again.

"So what's on the agenda for today?"

A lot of self control, probably some pain, a constant desperate need to jerk off.

"We have six consultations, two follow ups but first we have the mentor meeting."

"Right, the monthly one. Is anyone I know going to be there?"

"Pein, Hidan and Sasori will all be there. All the interns and their mentors are required to go and Hidan has to go since he's skipped the past four ER meetings."

Sakura crinkled her nose. "How does he get away with that?"

"He's a good surgeon. And I think his absence is appreciated rather than missed. Not a people person."

Sakura scoffed and he found himself glaring at her. She smoothed her expression over and seemed determined to look at the paperwork she had grabbed off his desk. Her plain fingernails tapped against the paper as she read and when it didn't look like she'd respond to his obvious provocation he dropped the subtlety.

"Did you have something to say?"

Sakura stopped tapping and seemed to contemplate her response before she smirked up at him. "I don't have anything to say, sensei."

Itachi almost cursed as his pants tightened. Fuck, today was going to be difficult. He was saved by the appearance of Hidan in the doorway. Or actually, maybe he was about to be fucked by that.

"Yo, nice to see you two. You look very comfortable."

Itachi clenched his fist as Sakura snorted, obviously not detecting his innuendo.

"Jealous? I doubt they trust you with students."

Hidan guffawed before giving her a predatory smile. "Not after the last one, pinkie."

Sakura shot Itachi a questioning look, obviously asking for an explanation. Itachi didn't respond but the memory of a very frightened intern screaming down the hallway covered in blood did remove his erection.

"Let's go we'll be late," Itachi said instead and he led the two now conversing adults.

"So, have a fun time out Sakura-chan?" The suggestive tone was back in Hidan's voice and Itachi tried not to tense.

"Yeah, I think I hit the maikos too hard." Sakura laughed sheepishly and Itachi could almost hear Hidan's grin.

"You sure did."

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked, concern and agitation in her voice. Kami interrupted Hidan from answering by their prompt entrance into the cafeteria. The cafeteria was filled with interns and mentors in various stages of relationships. Some were quiet and were only discussing cases or university options. Others were laughing and one pair were even sharing pictures of their children. Itachi was still pretty sure he was the only one who had made out with his. Why was it so impossible for him to just have a normal relationship with his intern?

The three sat down and thankfully Hidan couldn't speak with Pein standing up to speak.

The meeting contained usual bureaucratic drivel. Hopes that they were all finding the experience rewarding. Reminders about upcoming hospital events. It wasn't until the end that Itachi felt the burn of Pein's gaze.

"And just a reminder, while we encourage all of you to get along and form worthwhile professional and personal relationships, I would like to remind everyone that any sort of romantic or sexual relations will immediately result in a termination of the mentor relationship."

Everyone begun muttering after this and while a few pairs looked slightly uncomfortable most were laughing off what seemed to be a ridiculous rule. Sakura was one of these and it was her obvious lack of guilt that really made Itachi believe she remembered nothing.

As everyone got up to leave Itachi grabbed Hidan.

"She doesn't remember anything and you will keep it that way. Pass it on to the others."

Hidan looked surprised but apparently saw something in Itachi's expression that made him quickly nod before throwing an arm around Sakura's shoulders. The two laughed and made their way out. As he had expected though, Itachi was on the other side of Pein's beckoning finger.

"You know why I want to speak with you."

"She doesn't remember anything and it won't happen again."

"Are you sure on both counts?" Pein asked and Itachi nodded.

"I would tell you if I thought otherwise."

"Alright, I trust you Itachi. Just remember, she is one of the brightest interns here and we want her to work here after she graduates. She would be a great asset to the hospital. Tsunade herself wrote her recommendation.

This was news to Itachi and if the headmistress of the best medical school in the five nations had recommended her, he understood both the severity of her importance and the ass kicking that would ensue if something didn't go Tsunade's way.

"Everything is fine, sir."

"Be careful, Itachi. I would hate to have to step in."

With that Pein turned away and Itachi understood himself to be dismissed. He knew he had gotten lucky and so had Sakura. He headed back to his office where she was waiting going over paperwork. Itachi found himself once again appraising her figure. He'd never paid her any mind before but now that he knew how it felt to hold her hips in his hands, how her neck tasted against his tongue and how she instinctually knew how to grind against him in such a way that just drove his cock crazy-

"Ready for the consultation?"

Her eyes were looking up at him, completely innocent. She had no idea what she was doing to him.

"Of course."

As they headed down to their first appointment of the day and he found himself struggling to remove his eyes from the way her skirt just hugged the curves of her ass he knew he was completely and utterly fucked.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

How long will this lapse in memory last? Who will crack first, the idiots who surround her, Sakura's alcohol induced memory blockage, Itachi's self control or perhaps me the author?I'm sure your answers will amuse me except for those of you bastards who always predict my actions. You guys are the worst.

All my love

-Sakura478