A.N.: This fic is set in a samurai era. However, it's not the Japanese samurai era. So, if you know a lot about Japanese samurai and noticed that something on this fic doesn't fit correctly with the information that we all have about the real samurai, understand that these samurai aren't following the same codes Japanese samurai did. I based it on some of the samurai culture to write this fic, but it isn't entirely based on it. Please keep that in mind. Also, samurai, ninja, and geisha are Japanese words that don't have a plural from. It's one samurai, two samurai, lots of samurai. And the same applies for ninja and geisha.

A.N.2: The title of the fic means rose blood in Portuguese. It's the title of a song from a Portuguese band that I really adore. There is a small quote from the song in the first chapter that I'll translate at the bottom of the fic. In case you're interested in the full song translation, feel free to ask that and I'll gladly translate it for you.

General warnings: Yaoi M-rated fic, so you know what this means! Keep you mind open, there is more than just ShiItaShi on this one!

Beta-ed by RmeGamr.

Rosa Sangue
|For Tainara Black|

Prologue: The future emperor, the samurai and the geisha.

The Uchiha clan was one of the most powerful and influential clans in the Fire Empire. Being an ancient samurai clan, they had a close connection to the Emperor. They acted as the Emperor's special guard and the Head of the clan had the privilege of becoming the General of the Emperor's army as well as one of his personal counsellors. To be an Uchiha was of great honour and importance. For the common people, an Uchiha was similar to royalty in the eyes of the people and it was a blessing to enter the family by marriage. When a male Uchiha was born (as females were only allowed to marry within the family), all commoners dreamed that their daughter would be the fated one to marry the future samurai. And when the Uchiha boy would reached the age of fourteen, the tradition of finding an acceptable bride for him would begin. For that reason, an Uchiha engagement and marriage was always an important event. Not only for the commoners, but also for the clan itself.

Uchiha Yashiro was married to a beautiful noblewoman and his first and only son was born shortly after he had become the 24th Head of the Uchiha clan. And when, following his duties, Yashiro became the General of the Emperor's army; he wasn't expecting to actually become a close friend with the Emperor himself. His son grew up within the palace's walls and with the royal family's affection. The Emperor was actually very found of the boy himself and that alone made Yashiro proud.

One day, Hiashi (the Emperor), called Yashiro to his personal chambers and confided to his dear friend that his wife was finally pregnant. After more than fifteen years of marriage and numerous disappointments, they were blessed with a stable pregnancy. Hiashi was was beside himself with the joy of finally having an heir and even when the child was born a girl, his happiness wasn't shattered.

"My beautiful Hinata will be Empress one day, Yashiro" Hiashi told his army's General and private counsellor with a truthful smile on his face while holding his newborn baby. "She will have to rule all this empire by herself. It won't be easy and she will have to fight a very tough battle to be accepted and successful on her fate."

Yashiro silently agreed.

"And that's why I want to make sure that my daughter will always have someone to support her through her arduous path in life. I want her to have someone at her side like I have you. I want to be absolutely sure that my daughter will rule this empire better than I do and she'll have someone to hold her in place every time she loses her balance" the Emperor stated, looking directly into the General's eyes. "Yashiro, I want your son to marry my daughter."

Before such a direct request from the Emperor himself, Yashiro could only agree. Deep inside, be was exploding in joy. His son would be the 25th Head of the Uchiha clan, the General of the Army and Emperor's consort. Yashiro smiled. Shisui had a bright future ahead of him.

xxx

Growing up with the weight of becoming the Head of the Uchiha clan over his shoulders was something Shisui got used to. By the age of seven, he knew pretty well that he would follow his father's steps one day, became a great Head and General and serve the future Emperor with all his soul. Four years later, the future "emperor" turned out to be an empress and his wife to be. In one day, Shisui watched his life turned upside down just because he was promised to marry the Emperor's daughter. Everyone started to treat him differently, like he was a prince or something, and Shisui didn't like it. His family moved to the palace instead of the wealthy house in the village and he had servants exclusively for himself. He felt weird, like they were imprisoning him with a duty he didn't agree to. However, Shisui controlled his displease and accepted his fate.

When Shisui turned fourteen, his father decided that he needed someone he could trust and that would serve him and protect him on any occasion. Shisui had servants, so he knew that person wouldn't be there to do chores for him. He fully understood that this person, whoever it would be, would be there by his side to act more like a bodyguard than a servant. Someone who would give his life to protect Shisui. What Shisui wasn't counting on was that said person would be his eight year old cousin.

Shisui laughed hard at his cousin's face when the younger boy was presented to him as his special servant. He laughed even harder when his father told him that he shouldn't judge his cousin by his young body and appearance. And Shisui only stopped laughing and widened his eyes in full surprise when, in a fast movement, his little cousin hit him twice with a bamboo katana and knocked him to the floor. If that was a real katana, Shisui would have been dead in less than two seconds.

"Damn, so you are as good as they say" Shisui breathed, still lying on the floor with the bamboo katana pointed at his chest, his dark eyes meeting his cousin's.

"No," the child responded, not a single emotion showed on his face, while turning around and returning to his previous place. "I'm better."

A smirk ripped through Shisui's lips. That kid, Itachi, was something.

xxx

As Shisui's personal guard slash servant, Itachi got a room in the palace for himself. He visited his family on the weekend or if Shisui would go to the village. Both boys would train and study together for the following years and a very close friendship would be created. Even with the age gap between them, Shisui trusted Itachi like a true brother.

The years passed by and the boys gradually became men. Then, on a random day when he was seventeen, Shisui met a particular woman that would influence the rest of his life. Itachi was with him, of course, they were on a mission heading to a close village when Shisui, without noticing, bumped into her. She cursed like a man and both boys stared at her like she was something from another world. She was also dressed like a man, wearing hakama and a haori instead of the typical yukata the women wear. Shisui noted that, even if she was dressed like a man, her clothes were expensive and she wasn't even trying to hide her physical attributes. The woman looked at him, who was taller than her by two inches, like she would hurt him if he tried to do anything to her. Itachi carefully grabbed the hilt of his katana, ready to strike. But Shisui smiled to the strange woman.

"Are you a samurai's daughter?" he asked, simple and plain. There was no formality on his voice, but there was no rudeness either. He was talking to her like she was an old friend.

"Maybe" she answered, eyeing him from head to toes. "Why are you asking?"

"Because you look like you're someone from a wealthy family. I would expect you to be wearing a silk kimono and walking like a high class noble. And yet, here you have clearly wealthy male clothes and an attitude of a landlord or a businessman" Shisui declared and she gave him a grin.

"You're a smart kid" she commented, crossing her arms. "I think we should be friends."

And that was how Uchiha Shisui, future Emperor's Consort, met the Geisha House owner: Mitarashi Anko. The woman was almost ten years older than Shisui and they became instant friends. Anko's teahouse was famous because she had the best geisha and the customers loved their services. However, the Geisha House was not particularly well-liked within the palace, so Shisui asked Itachi to keep silent about that day.

It took him long years to convince his father that he wasn't having an affair with the older woman and that they were only good friends. After a lot of arguments and discussions, Shisui earned the right to meet with his friend as long as it was in a public place and outside of the woman's teahouse. Anko became a permanent presence in Shisui and Itachi's lives. The perverted woman that dressed like a man during the day and the highest ranking geisha at night had a personality that both Uchiha were found of (even if Itachi frequently lost his mind with her and abandoned the place where they were meeting). And just like the boys were fond of her, Anko grew to see them as very close and dear friends.

When Itachi turned sixteen, the 'let's find the Uchiha samurai a bride' mission was on again. From out of the blue, young girls started to show up in the village, old family friends started to introduce their daughters to Itachi and even his parents were trying to set him up with a girl. Itachi was getting more agitated by the day and Shisui and Anko were making fun of him in the middle of it all. Shisui didn't care much that his sixteen year old cousin wasn't interested in a bride yet. Itachi had so much potential as a samurai and he was always busy with his practices and accompanying Shisui everywhere, he didn't have time for a girl. Besides, he had time to get married in the future. Anko, on the other hand, like to say that the reason why Itachi didn't want a bride was because he was in love with her and needed to be a little older before they could marry.

The time passed again and the frenzy around Itachi's possible bride started to fade until it was almost forgotten. It wasn't unusual for some samurai, the ones devoted to a cause or to someone, to remain single for the rest of their lives. No one actually wanted that kind of future for Itachi, but it wouldn't be odd for him to choose that path.

Itachi turned nineteen in the end of that special year's spring. It was a special year because Shisui would get married on his bride's birthday. Shisui knew since Hinata's birth that day would come. He just wasn't prepared to chance vows with a girl for whom he cared a lot, but didn't love. Anko told him that loveless marriages happened all the time. That love was something that would come after. She also reminded Shisui that the girl was still young, and once she had fully matured, he would feel much more interest. With that thought in mind, the summer started and, with it, Shisui's nightmare came along.

To be Continued.

A.N.: This one will be short. Prologue, two chapters and maybe an epilogue. Hope you enjoyed it!
Akira