A/N: This story was started when I was 13 years old and ended when I was 15 years old. Please try to understand all the mistakes and misgivings as things I didn't understand when I was younger, and in the future I will be going through these chapters trying to rectify those mistakes. Thank you for understanding!

August 4, 2018

::

She looked... dead.

Her body was pale and almost matched the color of the bed sheets she lay on. Her pulse was very, very shallow and one almost couldn't tell that it was there. Tsunade said that she would be alright.

If she was alright, why wasn't she awake?

Itachi had been by Sakura's side every day since she was rushed to the hospital. He hadn't slept or eaten in days, and as a result, he nearly lost five pounds. Tsunade burst into the room one day with an irritated scowl on her face.

"Alright, Uchiha! It's about damn time you get your ass outta here!" she snapped.

"I am not leaving her alone."

"Well too damn bad kid 'cause I'm calling the shots here!"

She pulled Itachi up from his seat and tossed him out of the room, "Eat something, take a shower, and get some sleep then maybe, just maybe, I'll let you back on these grounds."

Tsunade shut the door in his face. Disgruntled and left with no other choice, Itachi sighed and left the hospital.

::

Itachi returned bright and early the following morning. Sasuke tagged along with him and they met up with Naruto, who was carrying a huge bundle of white lilies in his arms. The three of them walked to the hospital without a word and stumbled upon Tsunade herself in the hospital lobby.

"So you came back, did you? And you brought others along too, how nice." she mused, earning her an exasperated look from Shizune, "Sakura's stable so she's allowed to have visitors today. There's two up there right now."

Itachi was already walking down the hallway with his lips drawn into a firm line and his hands clenched into fists. Sasuke stared at him with a hint of worry in his eyes. He had never seen his brother so worked up before. When the three of them arrived at her room, they were met with visitors and a sight they didn't expect to see.

Kisame Hoshigaki was at the foot of Sakura's bed with her medical clipboard, reading her papers with a critical eye and Hidan was sitting on the stool at her bedside, a worried look on his face. The table in the room was filled with flowers:: sunflowers, roses, freesias, lilacs, origami ones... and tacked on the wall beside them were a couple of crayon drawings.

"Yo." Kisame greeted without raising his eyes. Hidan got up from the stool and smiled at the newcomers as he bowed.

"Nice to meet you."

Naruto's grip tightened around the lilies.

"We... We already met... You're Hidan, dattebayo!"

Hidan straightened and scratched his cheek.

"You met Hidan, but not me. I'm Hideo, one of Hidan's least dominant personalities. I'm also called Mr. Cosmopolitan, but that's not really important..." he added quietly. Hideo quickly sat back on the stool and looked at Kisame.

"Well? What do those documents say, Hoshigaki-san?"

Naruto placed his bundle of flowers somewhere on the table and turned to gaze at the foreign shinobi in the room. Here were more of Sakura's weird friends who just happened to get even weirder, and he hadn't been in for five minutes.

"I think her lung condition got worse."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hideo froze, but Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"You know about it?" he questioned quietly.

"I found out on accident when she was fourteen. She has Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage. It's already life threatening enough as it is, but she made it worse when she activated the seal on her forehead." Kisame sighed. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed as he went through his memories. A lung condition? How long did she have it? Surely not when she was in Konoha... Someone would've noticed. He berated himself internally for possibly not noticing if she really did have it when they were still on Team Seven.

"How long have you known Sakura, Hoshigaki-san?"

A whisper of a smile crossed Kisame's face.

"I've known her for thirteen years."

::

It was nighttime now and only Kisame and Itachi were left in the room. The older man told stories of Sakura's youth- how they first met, her irregular visits to Kiri, and the times she spent with his family like she was their eldest daughter. Naruto and Sasuke didn't know how to take this new found information about their teammate. The girl they thought they knew perfectly well was actually a stranger this entire time.

Itachi kept silent as Kisame recounted his memories. He knew that Sakura was different than everyone else, but he never imagined the extent of her life outside the village.

Kisame looked over his shoulder and out the window.

"It's getting kind of late." he said as he stood up, "Maybe you should go home too."

Itachi bit the inside of his cheek and stared at the motionless woman in the bed. Kisame clapped him on the back, sending him stumbling forward.

"Don't worry so much, Uchiha. She's strong." he assured with a toothy grin. He stretched an arm over his head and brandished a wide yawn before leaving the room. Itachi let out a silent sigh and stood next to the table that was overflowing with flowers. An easy feeling washed over him when he realized so many people cared for her. He only hoped that she was never truly alone when she was gone those five years.

Among the flowers was her kunai pouch, slightly burnt but otherwise in perfect condition. He wouldn't have spared it a second thought if he hadn't seen an old worn paper poking out from the front pocket. He pulled it out and unfolded it.

1) Make a friend. Check.

A list?

2) Go cloud-watching. Check.

3) Go star-gazing. Check.

4) See the ocean. Check.

5) Walk on the beach. Check.

6) Try chocolate. Check.

7) Try dango. Check.

8) See a rainbow. Check.

9) Witness a snowfall. Check.

10) See a blood moon. Check.

11) See the Aurora Borealis. Check.

Itachi flipped the page over to see one more. It wasn't written as sloppily as the rest and looked more recent with better grade ink.

12) Love someone. Check.

His eyebrows furrowed. He didn't think this was Sakura's. Many of the things listed could've been done within the village.

So... whose was it?

::

He visited her everyday without fail, much to everyone else's surprise. Because of this, he was able to speak with more people Sakura associated herself with. One of them had been Ibiki, her first sensei and the father-figure for much of her youth. He never saw it fit to engage in conversation with him outside of business, but as he did, he realized that Ibiki wasn't much of the stern, unrelatable interrogator every shinobi thought he was. Ibiki was just as human as the rest of them, and he cared for Sakura like she was his own.

An odd person he came across was Zetsu, a shinobi from Kusagakure. He was the most unusual character he'd ever met. Zetsu was two colors split down the middle with venus flytrap things attached to his upper body who also, in fact, had two separate voices. He had also known Sakura since she was a mere five years old, much to Itachi's disbelief.

"... How did you two meet?"

"I tried to kill the little brat. I must say, she was quite persuasive for her age."

Zetsu cackled, and Itachi decided he didn't like him all too much.

"But I can't say I'm not worried." he admitted, "She's never been unconscious for so long."

Those were the only words exchanged between the two of them for the duration of the day.

::

It was a month later when Itachi walked into her hospital room to see her sitting upright in her bed. He had never felt to relieved to see her that he nearly fainted at the wave of consolation that washed over him.

"Sakura..."

She looked at him and waved.

"Hi, Itachi-san." she greeted. She went back to looking back to looking at her surroundings with her cheeks puffed out. He walked over to the bed and gathered her up in his arms, not minding the way she tensed up.

"You've been asleep for so long..." he whispered, "One whole month."

Sakura flushed bright pink.

"R-Really? Well... I guess I missed a lot, haven't I? After I get released from the hospital, I suppose I can get a refill on my meds and make sure my apartment is in order. Maybe I should go visit Naruto and Sasuke...? I think Ibiki-sensei's worried. Or probably..."

A flash shone in Itachi's dark eyes as he narrowed them. He let her go and stared her down.

"When you're released, we're going on a date."

"E-Eh?"

"You're going on a date with me."

Itachi saw the mischievous gleam in her eyes before she smiled and leaned backwards.

"Only if you ask nicely, Itachi-san!"

"No." he answered immediately. He crossed his arms and glared at her, but couldn't stop the quirk to his lips. Just who did she think she was, demanding such incredulous things from a high ranking shinobi such as himself? Sakura sighed mockingly.

"Then I guess I can't go with you." she muttered dejectedly. Itachi pushed down a chuckle of disbelief. He was not getting played by her a second time. He wasn't. He was Itachi Uchiha, and mind games did not work on him.

"You will go out with me."

"But I won't until you ask nicely."

"Why should I?"

"Why won't you? Is your nice bone broken or something?"

"Hn."

Itachi found the conservation extremely nostalgic, so much so that it was bringing a smile to his lips. Mikoto was watching the scene from the doorway, grinning cheerily as she held Sakura's get well soon present in her arms. Kisame was there as well, slightly miffed that Sakura was getting asked out.

Mikoto could only remember one time when Itachi acted like this- and she was glad. She was glad that someone had once again poked through a bit of her eldest son's shell, and she could only hope that Sakura could break through even more.

He could not believe this. At all. Finally, after a multi-second stare off, he conceded.

"Will you please go out with me?"

"Nope." she chirped, "Say: 'Will you please go out with me, Sakura-chan?'"

Mikoto covered her mouth to hide her glee, and Kisame snorted silently. Itachi swallowed down his laughter.

"Will you please go out with me, Sakura-chan?"

The girl grinned.

"Of course, Itachi-san! Why didn't you ask that before?!"

Kisame hit his head against the wall, muttering something like 'I knew this day would come', and spent the next few seconds wallowing in his misery. Mikoto, though, was incredibly pleased. Who knew that Sakura could make her son so polite?

:: End ::

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