Chapter Text
It was almost dawn the first time Sakura met him.
She was returning from her first solo mission since she was officially made a chunin, just fourteen at the time. After Naruto left to train with Jiraiya, she took the apprenticeship of Tsunade and, in two years of tireless training, she went from the weakest of the Konoha 11 to one of the strongest, only behind Lee and Neji. She was really proud of herself, as she just recently began to store chakra for her Byakugo Seal. Naruto hadn’t come back yet and life kept going on. She had her shishou, she had Kakashi-sensei, she had her friends and she had her job as a medic and as a shinobi. Life kept going on, and she wasn’t behind anymore.
Tired and with sore feet, she decided to camp near a stream. In the middle of the night, she was awoken suddenly by a foreign chakra signature. Startled, she quickly hid her own presence, but then her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she recognized the chakra that approached her camping site.
She hadn’t felt it for two years and it was barely recognizable; but it was there.
Sasuke was there. Back in the Land of Fire.
Too young and too foolish at the time, the kunoichi never gave a second thought and just ran towards the chakra signature, in the hopes of intercepting him. It was too dark, but she saw him. She saw his black hair and the Uchiha fan in the back of his shirt. And he wasn’t breathing. He couldn’t breathe, even if he was trying. She quickly recognized an asthma attack, and a hard one. Now it made sense why his guard was too low. Sasuke was losing consciousness, already too deprived of air.
She almost teleported to his side, medical-chakra hands already in his chest to control the attack. Dilute the mucus. Open his airways. Help the blood to reach his lungs.
“Breathe,” she demanded. And he did breathe fully again. She kept healing him, making sure his asthma would be fully under control. Sasuke slowly raised his head to see her.
And then Sakura recognized him. He wasn’t Sasuke. He was manlier, the deep stress marks in his face marking him as a man who had seen too much already. Sakura should have been smarter. She should have recognized him, even without the Akatsuki cape. She should have judged better; there were two Uchihas alive in the world.
His eyes were blood crimson, and she just froze. The healing chakra subdued and she never said a word. She was just trapped in his gaze, feeling like a mouse cornered by a cat. He also deeply observed her and, to her surprise, the sharingan eyes spinned back to black. It felt like hours had passed, but in just a few seconds, his mouth moved ever so slightly. His voice was beautifully deep, almost a whisper, when he said:
“Thank you, kunoichi.”
And then everything went black for Sakura.
It was already morning when Sakura woke up again, back at her camping site. It all seemed like a dream or something to make her think she was crazy, but right by the almost extinguished campfire a dango package laid there. She hated dangos.
She ate it anyway and went back to Konoha so she could tell Tsunade Shishou about her encounter and her mistake.
Leader called a meeting to announce that Sasori was dead, killed by a Leaf kunoichi and his grandmother. When the new bingo book edition came later that month, he finally recognized her face. He would always remember that bright pink hair.
Her name was Sakura. Haruno Sakura. Rank: Chuunin. Age: Fifteen. Notable kills: Sasori of the Red Sand. Frequent companions: Kakashi Hatake and Uzumaki Naruto. A formidable kunoichi, already so powerful at such a young age. Her family name didn’t remind him of any clans, so it must mean she was a civilian.
Impressive.
So she was Uzumaki’s teammate. And, in the past, his brother’s teammate. Now it made sense to him why she so eagerly saved him when he had an asthma attack while his inhaler was inside his pack back at the inn he was staying at the time; she had mistaken him for Sasuke. Their ckara signatures were fairly similar, after all.
And he would never forget her name or her face. Her bubblegum hair. Her jade eyes. Her caring hands as she healed him; the kindest hands to ever touch him, even if she didn’t know who he was. He had forgotten how it was to be touched by someone, and he never felt such softness as then. She reminded him how it felt to be held with care.
He wouldn’t forget.
The next time they saw each other, a year later, she was pure destruction.
Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi had just found Sasuke for the first time since he left Konoha, and they almost couldn’t believe it when he seemed to be happy to finally meet them again. In fact, it only took Sakura a few seconds to notice Sasuke’s crazy eyes, but it was already too late, as Naruto ran towards him with the intention of hugging his lost friend.
Allowing Naruto to embrace him, Sasuke revealed his malicious intent almost too quickly for Kakashi to interfere. In the end, his katana slashed Naruto’s face as their sensei managed to drag him away. Sakura’s world seemed to stop for a moment as she watched Naruto’s beautiful face get stained with his own blood. Her eyes darted to Sasuke, preparing himself to attack again. And to Naruto, his face distorted in pain and betrayal.
He tried to kill Naruto. He tried to kill her best friend, her brother, her sunshine, her joy.
Sakura thought she still loved him, at least as a friend, but oh boy she now hated him almost as much as she hated Orochimaru. Seeing red, she darted towards him, with a killing intent as big as his.
Sasuke was taken by surprise by her speed, his sharingan barely watching her move. He never bothered to think Sakura could bloom into a strong shinobi, always thinking of her as a civilian who would never get past the chunin rank. Hell, he didn’t even know she was the only person alive in the shinobi world to kill an Akatsuki so far. So when her fist connected with his face, making him fly away and taste blood in his mouth, he almost couldn’t believe it.
Sakura hated him. She hated him so much. Sha hated him and hated him and hated him.
“YOU DAMN BASTARD, I WILL KILL YOU!” She yelled, already running in his direction.
So they danced, Sasuke still trying to recover himself as she gave him no break. And she destroyed the ground, the boulders, the trees. Damn, she even threw the trees at him as if they weighed nothing. Sasuke may have been faster than her, but if he even dared to approach her, she would smash his bones to dust. Kakashi couldn’t intervene, since he would be caught in her wrath.
And to be honest, Sasuke deserved it.
Itachi watched it all from very near with Kisame, masterfully hiding his presence so no one would notice them.
“Your little brother’s getting spanked by Sasori’s killer, uh, Itachi? My dad always said to never make a woman angry.”
“Sasuke sees weakness in his teammates and still fails to see they are more powerful than him. He borrowed Orochimaru’s power, but this kunoichi doesn’t even have any clan jutsu or bloodline. This is why she is going to win if he doesn’t activate his seal,” Itachi said.
“Damn, and here we thought we could finally catch the Kyuubi. Sasuke-kun sure busted our party. Do you still want to join the fight?”
“No, I have separate matters with my brother. If we go, we won’t catch the Kyuubi right now. It is unnecessary. But if they get near to killing Sasuke, I will interfere."
As their conversation ended, Sasuke finally managed to retreat long enough so he could activate his cursed seal, the grotesque wings emerging from his back as his entire skin and hair changed colors. Kakashi yelled at Sakura to retreat and to help in healing Naruto, that it was enough and they should go. She didn’t even budge, even if she knew it would now be a losing battle if she kept going on without Kakashi’s assistance.
“Sakura-chan, please, we can still manage to bring him back with us!!” Naruto pleaded to her, with Kakashi having to physically restrain him.
And hearing his words, hearing him beg her to stop the same way she begged him to bring Sasuke back three years ago, she stopped. For Naruto. Everything for Naruto. Her killing aura dissipated, and she was ready to let Sasuke approach her so she could incapacitate him with a quick pulse of her medical chakra. He would be paralised for a few seconds and they would be able to go away.
But then Sakura was caught by surprise when Kabuto suddenly appeared on their battlefield. And that was really bad, their retreat plans suddenly ruined. And worse, if Kabuto was there, it meant Orochimaru was near as well. She needed to think fast to make a plan. Keep fighting? Running? Trying to kill any of them? Anything!
Sasuke was already running back to her, and she had no choice but to prepare to fight him again. She looked at Kakashi and he was guarding his position as Kabuto neared him and Naruto. When she channeled chakra to her fists so she could defend herself from Sasuke, she was taken by surprise by someone snatching her and running away very fast.
She now recognized the chakra signature, so similar to Sasuke’s but now very different as well. Held tightly in Itachi’s arms, his calm demeanor showed no intent of fighting. She stared at him as he fled with her, Sasuke’s loud cry for his brother just behind them, trying to reach them.
“Orochimaru is near. Your team would not be able to escape without a big fight. Take this as a ‘thank you’ for last time,” he explained.
“What?” was all Sakura could answer, still dumbfounded in a rank-S criminal’s arms. “Hell no, put me down! I never had the intention of healing you!”
He surprisingly obeyed her, allowing her to get back on her feet on a tree branch. She wanted to go back to her team right away, but she also needed answers. Gazing at him inquisitively, he answered what she didn’t ask.
“Sasuke will pursue me, and without him Kabuto will be forced to retreat as well. Orochimaru will not engage with you as well if my brother is not near. As I said, this is a thank you for saving my life. We are now even. My partner is nearby and he won’t bother your retreat.”
Sakura couldn’t avoid looking at his deep crimson eyes, knowing somehow that he never intended to harm her. She nodded and, as she opened her mouth to answer him, Sasuke’s chakra flared near them. He was approaching them fast.
“Go. I will not kill Sasuke, but I have to move away from him.”
“Thank you,” was all she said as she went back, making sure to avoid Sasuke’s path. Not that he would have cared for her with Itachi so close anyways.
Halfway then she met Kakashi and Naruto, who were also running in their direction.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto almost screamed as he pushed her to a hug. “Oh my god I was thinking Akatsuki had kidnapped you!!”
Naruto stained her skin with the blood coming out from his cut, but she didn’t mind. “I will explain what happened, but we need to go somewhere safe first.”
They ran to a river not far from where they were, and Sakura started to heal Naruto’s face. The wound would leave a scar, the diagonal line of Sasuke’s katana slashing against the wrinkles in his cheeks. Her mind wandered away for a few moments as she watched his skin slowly close against her palm. Her best friend was very silent, broken inside.
She had wanted to kill Sasuke. She would have killed him in a blink if he hadn’t been so skilled and careful. Whatever she felt for him before was now broken. It had never truly hurt to think he had betrayed his village, because deep down she knew he cared about them when he went to Orochimaru. But something changed in those three years and Sasuke was no longer himself. Maybe Orochimaru had brainwashed him, maybe the cursed seal had messed up with his head, maybe he just thought of them as nothing more than burdens from the past. But now Sasuke had betrayed Konoha and had betrayed them. And this she could never forgive.
“Sakura, what happened? Are you okay?” Kakashi said.
“I'm fine, sensei. Remember that mission I had a year ago where I mistook Itachi for Sasuke and healed him?” She asked. Her sensei nodded. “He said it was a payback, and we are now even. He knew he could lure Sasuke away and we would be able to leave.”
Kakashi became silent and Sakura didn’t push for an answer. She chose to look at Naruto, still absent-minded.
“Naruto, I—”
“I won’t give up,” he interrupted her, serious as she never had witnessed him be. “That wasn’t Sasuke. You saw his crazy eyes, Sakura-chan, that wasn’t him. We can get through him if we try hard enough, or maybe if we kill Orochimaru.”
“Naruto… I tried to kill him today.”
“I know, Sakura-chan.”
“If I killed him, would you ever forgive me?”
Her question seemed to awake him from his stupor, finally looking at her. His blue eyes went deep into hers, as if he was actually seeing her soul.
“Sakura-chan, you tried to protect me. I could never hate you for that.”
“If I see him again, I might try again. I can’t let him hurt the people I love and be fine with it. I don’t want to save Sasuke anymore, Naruto. I don’t want to forgive him.”
“I understand you don’t want these things for you, Sakura-chan, but would you try to do it for me?”
Sakura reflected on Naruto’s words. He was the most unselfish person she had ever met, and it was the first time she ever heard him ask anything for him. He never asked her for anything, not even when he desperately needed so in the past. And when he finally did it, how could she refuse?
She let out a long sigh and caressed his cheek with her fingers, finishing her healing session. “Only for you, okay?”
Naruto beamed at her as if nothing ever happened, and Kakashi called them so they could continue their journey back to Suna, where they had a mission in the first place.
Just a few days after her 16st birthday, political chaos engulfed Konoha at the revelation of who Danzo Shimura really was and what he had done with his Root squad. Tsunade was already very suspicious of him and, when she finally had an opportunity to arrest and interrogate him, she happily did it. But what Inoichi found inside his head was way more than anyone could ever suspect.
The public knew all about his gruesome training of orphan children into emotionless soldiers, and about how he used the council to his own benefits, draining money from Konoha’s funds and arresting his political enemies. But the truth about the Uchiha clan remained only between the Hokage and her very personal circle.
At the time, Sakura was summoned with Naruto and Kakashi to an emergency meeting, along with Shizune, Shikaku, Ibiki and Jiraiya. There, they were informed by Inoichi of how Danzo’s arm was full of stolen sharingan eyes, and how he killed several Uchihas for it. How he cooperated with Orochimaru and, the most important thing of all, how he plotted the end of the Uchiha Clan.
Everyone in the room was shocked while learning the truth about the planned coup, about Danzo fueling it so he could gain more power, about Itachi’s and Shisui’s failed plan, and how Itachi sacrificed himself to stop the imminent civil war, making Sarutobi promise to protect and give Sasuke the life he could never have. When Inoichi finished his report, the entire room became silent.
“Well, that explains his behavior with Sakura in our encounter with Sasuke,” Kakashi finally said, breaking the silence.
“So Itachi is still loyal to Konoha? And what now? Do we bring him back or…?” Naruto asked.
“I don’t think he wants to be back, Naruto,” Jiraiya said. “Even if he was a kid back then, he made his choice.”
“And everything said in this room must remain in here. Even if Danzo is now arrested and will probably be executed, people will only know about his partnership with Orochimaru and the Root scandal. Even if I don’t agree with it, I can’t undo the decisions the past Hokages made. It’s better for everyone, especially if we want to bring Sasuke back, that we keep Itachi as a missing-nin,” Tsunade decided.
Naruto was ready to protest, but Sakura was faster than him.
“We understand the situation, Shishou. Itachi wouldn’t want to come back, if I am to guess. He needs Sasuke to remain ignorant, and now we need it as well. Our team will keep trying to bring him back to the village as if nothing happened today.”
“Sakura-chan!!” Naruto protested, his expression absolutely dumbfounded.
“Sakura’s right, Naruto. I know it’s unfair to Itachi and to Sasuke, but this is how things are. We can’t undo what was done in the past, and some things are better left as they are. If Sasuke learns the truth, there is a big possibility that he will turn himself against Konoha, keeping his revenge against Itachi and the village. Imagine Sasuke in Akatsuki, or plotting another attack with Orochimaru,” Kakashi reasoned with his student.
Naruto accepted Kakashi’s explanation, but he still seemed very unhappy with the decisions made.
“Naruto and Sakura, you are now dismissed. Everyone else, please stay. We will discuss the next steps in all this mess,” Tsunade ordered.
Sakura glanced towards her master, who seemed excited to determine Danzo’s fate. She always hated the old bastard, after all. Refraining herself from smiling, she held Naruto’s hand and led them outside.
As Kakashi said, everything made sense now. She had been endlessly confused by Itachi’s behavior, his eagerness to pay her back for her (unintentional) kindness, and him not capturing Naruto when they could have easily done it the last time they met. Itachi was always on the sidelines making sure Akatsuki never got near Naruto, and for that she would always be grateful. She couldn’t understand his choices regarding Sasuke, but well, as Jiraiya said, he was still a kid back then, certainly very troubled with all he had seen and done at such a young age.
“Sasuke should know about it.”
Naruto startled her from her own thoughts. She smiled a sad smile at him.
“I know it’s unfair, Naruto. But there is always a reason behind any secret. It was the same with your parent’s identity. Imagine if everyone knew you were the Fourth’s son? You would be held as a martyr by the villagers, and your father’s enemies would go to great lengths just to get back at you, jinchuuriki or not. Even if you suffered a lot as an orphan and even if all of us treated you really unfairly —and again, sorry about that—, you were able to grow up safe until Akatsuki showed up.”
Naruto stopped in his tracks and seemed deep in thought for a few seconds. Then he nodded, finally getting her point.
Three weeks earlier Tsunade had told Naruto the truth about his past, and how the Fourth Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves for the village and for their newborn son. Jiraiya was present at the time and also told Naruto that he was his godfather, and how Minato and Kushina deeply loved him. Sakura wasn’t there at the time, but later that night Naruto went to her house and they held each other for hours, her best friend crying in pure joy, pure sadness and pure anger at the same time.
“Well, that makes sense. But I dunno, Sakura-chan… I feel really bad for Itachi. He deserved better. He’s one of the several shinobi that the system fucked up, y’know?”
“Then you should hurry up and become a Hokage so we can prevent things like that from ever happening again, huh?” Sakura cheered him up, managing to get one of his big smiles. “Come on, let’s get some tempura. But it’s your treat.”
“Why is it so fucking hot?!”
Sakura yelled at nowhere as she cleaned her forehead drenched in sweat. She was coming back from a solo medical mission in Mist and had to stop at a small town called Iwami in the Country of Waves. The captain of the ship she was in told them that a very nasty storm was approaching from the Fire Country, and that they should wait in the nearest island for it to go away. And well, she could see very clearly the almost black clouds approaching from the continent, completely ruining what would be a beautiful sunrise, as the captain said; but the sea-salt air was insufferable. She hated hot and dry places like Suna, but she hated even more hot and humid places.
Almost all of the tripulants of the ship went to stay at an inn near the boat, but she wrinkled her nose at the sight of lots of very drunk men inside the place. She hated places like these, since every single time she had to beat some stupid male up. Her pink hair and almost-glowing green eyes attracted lots of attention, and being the center of attentions wasn’t very nice when you were surrounded by a bunch of dumb, drunken men.
Already in a very bad mood, she opted for roaming around the town so she could find another place to spend the night. Iwami was a fairly charming town, with simple houses made of bricks and with colorful rooftops. There weren’t a lot of shops when you moved away from the seaport, and she was starting to lose hope when she found another inn, almost identical to the one she refused to stay at, but with no drunk people in sight. In reality, the small tavern attached to it was full of families and lonesome travelers who weren’t up to partying, just like her. She smiled at herself and entered the inn.
It was very simple inside, just like the rest of Iwami, but Sakura felt charmed by the place. The lady at the counter was lovely, and her room was tidy and very clean. She took a relaxing bath, cleaning the smell of sweat, and felt a lot fresher already when finished. Going downstairs so she could eat something at the small restaurant, she stopped in her tracks just before entering the place.
She felt him before she saw him. Even if he concealed his chakra, she still could detect a little bit of it, and she would never forget how it felt like. She searched the place and found him sitting alone in the middle of the place. It was kind of ironic; she looked for him in the corners first, presuming he would be hiding from everyone. Yet there he was, not bothering to be in plain sight of anyone. He didn’t wear the Akatsuki cape, but it was still bold of him. The Country of Waves was not very far away from the Fire Country, so it wasn’t uncommon to have Konoha shinobi around.
But well, she guessed someone like him didn’t need to be hiding. The orders were always to flee on sight of Itachi Uchiha.
He also saw her, and even if he didn’t show any signs of tension, the way he stopped chewing his food for a split second told her that he was ready to take action if necessary. But again, he didn’t know she knew the whole truth about him.
So now came the big question: what should she do? Should she ignore him and go on her merry way, just as they had agreed back in Konoha? No, it would be too suspicious. He would assume she would go report him, and things might get ugly for her. He was alone at the time, but maybe his partner or any other missing-nin could be around.
So, without thinking much, she walked towards his table and sat in front of him. He still wore a perfect mask, but she knew he was a little surprised by her choice of action.
“Uhh… Hello, I guess?” She tried.
“I wonder why you are sitting at my table,” Itachi mused, intently studying her face. “I thought I made myself clear that we are even.”
“You did. But it would be such a waste if I didn’t greet another shinobi of the Leaf after not seeing them for a while,” she answered, already making it very clear of what she knew.
Itachi was taken aback by her declaration, and she gasped when she saw his eyes flash red for a moment. He was very angry, even if he tried to hide it, and Sakura knew she could be in trouble if she didn’t choose her next words very carefully.
“He doesn’t know. And we won’t tell him.”
“How many know the truth?”
“Just a few. Me and my team, as we’re Sasuke’s former teammates. The Hokage, Jiraiya and two people from intel. Don’t worry, we don’t intend to let anyone know,” she said very slowly.
Her answer didn’t seem to aplacate Itachi at all. Instead, he got up from his chair and almost hissed at her, “stay out of things that don’t concern you.”
Itachi was already leaving when she announced to him something he should know.
“Danzo is dead, Itachi-san. He was executed. That’s how we learnt the truth.”
The missing-nin stopped in his tracks for a moment, looking through her as if he saw her soul. Then he resumed his leave, saying nothing at all. Sakura sighed and proceeded to ask the waitress of the restaurant if she could bring her the menu.
“Of course, young lady. The handsome man who was here had to leave earlier, right? Should we bring you the dangos he ordered as dessert?”
When the rain started to fall, it was indeed a terrible storm. The water banged loudly against the window of Sakura’s room, and the roaring winds kept her awake. She was never a fan of storms, and her encounter with Itachi left her very restless. When she heard a knock on her door in the middle of the night, she wasn’t sleeping at all. She knew it was him.
She hurriedly got her robes from a storage scroll and put it above her nightgown. She answered the door and met Itachi’s penetrating gaze, his sharingan activated. Sakura flinched in shock and quickly looked down by pure instinct.
“Haruno Sakura. I am sorry by the way I left earlier. I never expected anyone to know the truth about what I did in the past, but I appreciate your good intentions.”
Sakura managed to get her eyes back in his face, his handsome features shaded by the dark hallway of the inn. She gave him a small smile and nodded towards her room.
“Do you want to come in? We should talk.”
Itachi mumbled an ‘excuse me’ as he entered her room and made himself comfortable in her bed, sitting at the end of the mattress. She sat by his side, trying to preserve their personal spaces.
“Two months ago Danzo was arrested for his crimes with his ANBU squad, the Root, and no one knew what happened until then,” she started. “We managed to put him in chakra suppressing handcuffs, so he couldn’t fight against us, but then we discovered what he hid under his eye and his supposed bad arm. There were several stolen sharingan there, Itachi.”
She paused to see his reaction, and Itachi remained impassive. “I know,” was all that he said.
“We asked for intel to look at his mind and his memories and then we found out everything. He was executed six days ago. The word should get around soon, but now we’re trying to keep everything contained. The elders were also held responsible and banned from any political activities in Konoha. Nobody will ever know what happened about the massacre for obvious reasons, but we are trying to make justice as best as we can.”
Itachi smirked ironically, never looking at her. “Justice, huh?” He spoke like she was the most innocent human being in the world. And well, maybe she was.
“About you, Itachi-san… We will respect your choice and your history. We never talked about what we would say to you if we met you again anytime soon, but as the opportunity arose…”
Itachi nodded in agreement, and finally looked at her. Just then, a lightning struck outside the inn, suddenly making his features very clear for an instant. Clear enough that Sakura could perfectly see how his eyes faltered even with his sharingan activated, and how his dark irises seemed blurry.
“I understand,” was all that he said. He got up so he could leave, and Sakura’s heart ached for a second.
She couldn’t let him go just like this. When they made the decision to let things stay the same in the Hokage Tower, she was thinking about the logical thing to do. But now she was watching the Itachi who worried, who protected Sasuke and saved his little brother’s life at the cost of his own, who protected her and her team even after being kicked out of Konoha. She saw the man underneath the legend, approachable and a victim of the massacre as much as the dead ones.
“Wait.” She said as she grabbed his arm, surprised at herself. She expected him to instantly swat her away, but he stayed still, looking at her hand as if it burned him. She felt his pulse go faster. “How bad is your eyesight?”
“What,” he asked emotionlessly.
“I know you’re getting blind. Kakashi-sensei also hurts his eye when he uses the evolution of the Sharingan. I assume you use it a lot more than him.”
“The name is Mangekyo. And you are really perceptive… no one noticed before,” he praised her, finally looking at her face. “At this distance, you are a blur.”
Sakura gasped at the extent of his blindness. They were mere three feet away from each other!
“Itachi-san… Konoha can’t make anything for you at this extent, and I know you don’t want it as well. But I can help you individually. I… I can heal your eyes,” she proposed to him. “Please, let me take a look.”
Itachi gazed at her showing no emotion at all. But his pulse still raced under her fingers. Finally, he tugged his arm back to his side, releasing from her grip. His face looked almost sardonic when he replied.
“No. I believe we are done here, Haruno Sakura. Thank you for your information. And keep quiet.”
Sakura never had the time to reply, as his body quickly turned into crows and disappeared from her room. She couldn’t even give him the dangos he forgot earlier.
Itachi landed himself in the forest near Iwami and finally managed to breathe. He didn’t know he was holding his breath until then, but the gasp of air relieved his deprived lungs. He quickly ran to a small cave he knew nearby, since the town and the forest surrounding it was very often a spot for him to just get away from everything when he needed to think without Kisame nearby.
What were the odds of him encountering a Konoha shinobi, and even more that specific kunoichi? His body almost went short-circuit when he felt her gentle hands again, and he struggled a lot to refuse her proposal of healing him just so he could be near her. But he regained his focus; he had a purpose, a mission that lasted for the last ten years. He couldn’t let anything or anyone interfere. His destiny belonged to Sasuke, and no one could sidetrack him.
Not even the kunoichi he often dreamed of at night.
It was really illogical of him to ache for a girl the same age of his brother. Actually, he always kept tabs on Sasuke in his genin days, and the information he had was that the young Sakura pined for Sasuke as if her life depended on it. If he thought really hard about it, it was stupid of his part. He fantasized about a girl he could never have, in a future he would never have. Sasuke was strong now, it was a matter of time for him to find Itachi and to get his revenge.
He knew it all, he felt it all. Things such as love at first sight weren’t real, and he didn’t even know the girl. His objective was Sasuke, his life belonged to Sasuke, he deserved — wanted — to die. But even though this knowledge filled him in each of his bones, somehow the place where Sakura touched him was warm and tingly.
He didn’t sleep that night, the storm too strong for it and his wet clothes making him cough more blood than usual. But he slept the day after, and he dreamed of her again.