TO LOVE AND TO LOVE AGAIN

COMING TOGETHER

To Love and to Love Again Chapter 15: Coming Together

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!

Itachi left the cemetery and made his way towards his motorcycle. Today was Suki's birthday, but it was also Aya's death anniversary. Itachi was never close to Suki's mother. They barely said more than a few words of greeting to each other during her short marriage to Sasuke. But she gave birth to his precious niece, and for that he made it a point to visit his deceased sister-in-law on the actual anniversary of her death.

He felt it was the least he could do since both Aya's parents were now dead. She had no one to visit her on the real day of her death besides the Uchiha family. Itachi knew that his parents had visited earlier in the day. Sasuke and Suki on the other hand, would always come the day after the actual date. This was because Sasuke wanted Suki's birthday to be centered only on Suki. He didn't want to bring up the pain of her mother's death on a day as precious as this. They would surely visit her tomorrow. Aya was still Suki's mother, and Sasuke didn't want his daughter to forget that.

Itachi's long jacket swung freely behind him as he sped through the city on his bike as he made his way over to Sasuke's house to see Suki. He had completely missed her birthday party due to an investigation he was currently working on plus a few more cases the unit had to deal with. He figured he could still drop by the house and at least give Suki her birthday present. Her bedtime wasn't for another hour at least.

It was almost 7:00 pm when Itachi finally reached the house. He parked in the front driveway and grabbed his neatly wrapped gift off his bike and walked to the back yard, as he usually does. As he rounded the corner, he saw that the lights were on in the kitchen. As he got closer, he came to a halt by the kitchen window. He could see Sasuke and Sora sitting at the kitchen table.

He stepped to the side and watched from a distance.

When he met Sakura at the Okonomiyaki place a while back, he never imagined running into the daughter of Hatake Kakashi until he received the message from headquarters. Kakashi himself spoke with Itachi and requested that he participate in protecting her.

Itachi watched as Sasuke and Sora talked. Sora was obviously amazed at whatever they were discussing judging from his expression. He smiled gently when Sasuke got up and put some phonebooks on Sora's seat to elevate him. Sora laughed at something again and began to eat his food. Apparently the boy was warming up to Sasuke. But where were Sakura and Suki?

As if on cue, Suki came bouncing into the kitchen wearing her little green pajamas. She was holding Sakura's hand and smiling like there was no tomorrow. Sakura placed Suki into her booster seat and took her own seat next to her.

Watching the four of them was like watching the puzzle pieces come together. Suki's smiling face warmed his heart. He loved that little girl more than anyone else in his family. His life was in the CIA, and Suki was the only one of the few people that gave Itachi a sense of normalcy. Seeing her happy face was enough for Itachi to get a good night's sleep.

After watching them for another minute or two, he walked back to his bike and drove back to headquarters. Watching the four of them only made him more eager to get back to his current investigation, which was centered on a certain pink haired doctor's past.

Sasuke and Suki stood before Aya's grave. There were flowers already placed on the headstone before they arrived. Sasuke knew they were from Itachi. He was the only one to visit Aya on October 11th. Just one more thing to add to his strange personality.