Summary: It could happen, in time. People claimed they could love, but Naruto realised this perhaps a little late.

World Status: Canon to around manga chapter 477

Pairings: ItaNaru (preslash), SasuSaku (onesided), NaruSaku (confused, manga-style)

Panacea.
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(A Cure-All)

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01-01-10

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Naruto never thought that it would hurt so much when he heard the news. It did, and it shocked him.

They had been walking up to the Uchiha's meeting point, silent, solemn and generally pale faced. Naruto had only been to one funeral in his life (that he could remember, at least) and that had been for one of the greatest men in the world.

The atmosphere was akin to that one time, and it unsettled him. Why should he feel this way, the same way he had mourned one of his precious people, when the situation should be completely different?

They arrived without fanfare, simply walking across the remaining black smoulders and looking around for signs of life. Kiba was the one to call out the smell of blood and he led the group over to the single remaining wall, upon which blood was trailed down in globules. A finger print lay on the pale stone, next to a patch of blood that could have been created from someone's head smashing against the stone.

It probably was as well.

"It's their blood."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kiba's obvious deduction. It didn't take a genius to know this; the air reeked of powerful chakra and they all knew who had been fighting in this area.

Despair filled Naruto as he thought, not of Sasuke as expected and that loss, but of Itachi. He had spoken to Itachi less than an hour ago, and now the man was presumed dead. A waste of talent, Naruto had to admit, but he didn't understand why he wasn't more relieved.

Itachi had been out to kill him, after all.

And yet was he really?

Rain started to dribble from the sky, throwing the world into grey, sucking the life from everyone around him. Naruto felt like the only beacon of light in the grey, his blond hair stark in contrast to the blacks and browns around him. Not even Sakura or Kakashi's hair glowed, instead it dulled and Naruto pulled his gaze from the way Sakura's hair framed her face.

He didn't love her, he knew that now. Back before she had been a way to get attention, even if it had been negative. He was the annoying focus of her life, while Sasuke had been the shining knight. He had wanted that, back then.

Now, however, he wanted something different. He wanted someone to love him instead of pushing affection onto him because the one they really loved was gone. Sakura loved Sasuke, and part of her always would.

Naruto didn't love her. He didn't love Sasuke, either. He had thought about it, one day, and realised that he couldn't love his friend romantically. It would explain all the crazy things he did, chasing after Sasuke like that, but he didn't love Sasuke.

A cold feeling entered Naruto's stomach as a little thought crept into his mind. It would be harmless except for the fact there was a hint of truth in it.

Could he have loved Uchiha Itachi?

Two minutes ago he would have laughed.

Now, standing amongst rubble and blood, with Itachi probably dead, Naruto wondered how he could even contemplate this. a smidgeon of truth had been revealed of the true man behind the Akatsuki facade back when Itachi had refused to fight him, but Naruto didn't know why.

Naruto loved a challege.

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Sakura had told him she loved him. Naruto felt ill.

He wasn't ashamed to admit, after Sai had left, that he fell to the ground, his stomach clenching in unbelievable pain. It wasn't anything he had eaten (he'd had far worse with Ma and Pa) and it wasn't a cold brought on by the snow.

The snow, Naruto mused as he fought hard to not inhale even more, was very cold. Refreshingly so, though.

He felt his arms shake uncontrollably, his eyes closing as the pain intensified. He could hear Kakashi ordering Yamato-Taichou to run inside and get a blanket and medical pack, and felt his Sensei attempting to roll him over, holding his arms down so he couldn't hurt himself.

It didn't work, though, and Naruto whimpered pathetically as the pain spred, spiralling out from his stomach. He had always felt nervous, his stomach in knots, after they had returned from the Uchiha hideout that night, but it felt now that every single pain was intensified and suddenly multiplied, clawing at him to be released.

And released they were. Naruto's stomach gave a violent twist and he choked, mouth falling open and eyes popping out. Kakashi actually took a step backwards, revealing to Naruto that he was not a very pretty sight.

His mind went blank for a moment, a dark, inky black filling his vision, and a voice called to him. It was distant, as if sounding thousands of miles away.

"Meet me."

The darkness blotted away to nothing and the first thing Naruto saw was Kakashi's worried face. Well, half-face. Yamato was pacing nearby, clearly upset, and he felt Kakashi's breath on his cheek as he sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness."

Yamato darted over and gripped Naruto's hand. Naruto offered him a weird look and Yamato shrugged.

"You can feel at least."

Kakashi chuckled at that and whispered, "He's overly affectionate, that one. He couldn't sense anything to do with the Kyuubi and so we assumed the worst. Yamato's an ANBU member and knows how much you mean to Tsunade-sama. Plus you're important to us and we worry about you. I'm warning you now, I may have to hug you if you ever do that again."

Naruto managed a weak chuckle at the grown adult's attempts to deflect their worry slightly. How bad had he been that the two of them were so worried?

"Nineteen hours."

Naruto's eyes widened and he bit back a cry of surprise. The only time he had ever come close to being unconscious for this long was when he had fought Sasuke. Even then he had refused to sleep for the full time, ignoring even Tsunade's demands when she pleaded with him to just rest.

"Nineteen..." he repeated, mouth falling open. It made sense why they had been so worried now.

"Before you fainted you muttered the word 'yes' and we weren't been able to wake you."

A frown marred Naruto's forehead before he realised what he must have been agreeing to, meeting the mysterious voice.

Instead of feeling afraid, Naruto was calm for the first time in weeks. He had forgotten about Sakura and her false feelings, what she felt compelled to do, and forgot about Sai. He even slipped Sasuke out of sight and focused on the one person who held the answers.

Itachi, as it always was.

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Naruto had told Kakashi and Yamato to head back first, pretending that he had a stomach cramp from the seafood he ate last night. It had been the reason he'd chosen the muscles, knowing his elders wouldn't eat them. They had been delicious, but it took little effort to convince others that he had food poisoning.

"Here we go," he muttered, turning around from the direction of Konoha to a dirt track path, cleaving ferns and pines in two. It would lead to Itachi, he knew, though he didn't understand why.

For once, Naruto didn't mind not understanding.

Itachi was standing by a large pine, though how Naruto had been able to forsee where he would be he didn't know. There was a knowledge between the two, and it didn't matter how anymore. Itachi hadn't died, hiding himself inside of Naruto. He had saved Sasuke against Danzou (the reason he had been returning to Konoha due to an emergency meeting) and called Naruto to him.

"I'm sorry," were the first words Itachi spoke. They weren't explanations of why he had done it, nor were they explanations of how he wasn't the Itachi everyone suspected. They were an apology, but Naruto didn't know why.

Around Itachi, not knowing seemed to be a common theme.

"I can't help you," Itachi continued, his face downcast and eyes avoiding Naruto at all cost.

"You already have." Naruto didn't realise the words were true until he had spoken them. Though not everything was clear anymore, and there were thousands of problems, Itachi had saved Sasuke. It was clear he was the only one able to rile up the Akatsuki, as Tobi had been reported to be on red alert and Naruto was recalled back to Konoha.

Itachi moved closer to Naruto, offering his hand. The nails had chipped paint covering them and Naruto smiled at the human mess. Not everyone was perfect.

"Then you can help me."

Naruto smiled and took the hand, calmess flowing through him at the warmth moving between their hands.

Naruto didn't know a lot about Itachi, and Itachi knew as much of Naruto. There were many things he didn't understand, but it was the fact that they had pledged each other to understand.

"Konoha will be safe," Itachi promised as he lowered their hands, tangling their fingers together almost carelessly.

Naruto beamed, leading Itachi back home. They had time, and Naruto knew their fingers weren't merely a careless gesture.

It was a cure.

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Notes:

So this is my getting-back-to-updating project. I've had some difficulty shifting some chapters out as I've had too many other ideas that want to get out, so I thought about this.

While I may not get a chapter out every single day, there will be a chapter for all 365 days of the year. I will base each chapter on the word of the day on dictionary . com and they will be a mix of genres, worlds, relashionship statuses (is that the plural?) based around the word.

I know things like this have been done before, and will be done again, so this is my contribution to the many one-shot genres.

Of course this won't stop my other updating, which should resume hopefully soon. This is just a side project, with stories that will be below 5000 words each.

I hope you enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated.