Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Olive Branch:

'1. a branch of the olive tree especially when used as a symbol of peace

2. an offer or gesture of conciliation or goodwill'

- Merriam Webster Dictionary

Chapter One

Sakura eyed the Anbu guards positioned on either side of the hospital doors as she exited. They were tall. Imposing. Their armour was stamped on each shoulder with the Uchiha crest, and as she passed them, she caught a glimpse of their Sharingan through the eyeholes of their masks.

She shook her head. Don't let them get to you, she reminded herself, they're doing their job. The thought was only mildly reassuring, though, as she knew that they were watching her. Monitoring her. After all, who could trust her given her association with Senju Tsunade?

As she made her way to the Hokage Tower, she avoided the gazes of the patrol officers patrolling the streets.

Keep your head down, she reminded herself when an officer's eyes rested on her. But of course, Sakura wasn't one for keeping her head down and shutting up. Instead, she lifted her chin and stared right back.

"Going somewhere, Haruno?"

Look what you've done now.

She nodded politely. "Hokage-sama's office, Uchiha-san."

The officer's gaze hardened. "That's Uchiha-sama to you."

Before she could stop herself, the words slipped out. "Of course, forgive me, Uchiha-san."

Seriously? It's like you're trying to get yourself thrown in jail.

"You're lucky you're not dog food by now," he said, smirking.

Sakura smiled, because why not? She had already dug herself into a hole. Why not dig her own grave whilst she was at it?

"That's interesting." She said, taking a step forward. "Perhaps you should arrest me right now, and then next time you land yourself in the hospital, I won't be around to heal you. We'll see who's dog food then."

The officer just stared at her, his expression calculating. "Careful, Haruno," he told her in a low voice, before he walked away.

Once the officer had disappeared from view, Sakura took a deep breath to calm her anger. She knew that she needed to keep a lid on her temper, but that was much easier said than done. Especially around these irritating patrol officers who were just waiting for any excuse to arrest her. Collecting her bearings, Sakura continued on her way to the Hokage Tower.

Itachi had been stood atop of the village wall, collecting data from the head of security, when he heard the commotion down below. It didn't take him long to locate the source of the disruption. Pink hair. A doctor's lanyard.

Haruno-san.

She seemed to be causing trouble with one of the patrol officers. Her voice barely constrained her anger. Itachi raised an eyebrow when she took a step closer to the officer, presumably to threaten him.

Silly girl, he thought, that tongue of hers will be her downfall.

"Uchiha Itachi-sama?"

Itachi turned his attention back to the head of security. "Yes?"

"That is all the data we have gathered. May I be dismissed?"

Itachi nodded, and the man retreated back to his station. Many similar stations ran at various intervals across the tops of the village walls, and each station was occupied by at least one security shinobi. Itachi sighed. None of this seemed necessary to him. Yes, the village had been in a precarious situation during and immediately after the coup, but it had been fifteen years since then. If enemy villages wanted to attack, they would have done so already.

He glanced once more at the security shinobi scouring the forests for suspicious movement with their Sharingan. Lips pressed into a grim line, Itachi began to make his way to the Hokage Tower to deliver the data he had collected.

This is not what Shisui would have wanted.

Sakura slipped into the Hokage Tower, flashing her ID badge at the Anbu guards stationed outside of the Hokage's office. She heard muffled voices from inside, and hesitated before she realised that if it were anything truly confidential they would have placed a seal on the room. As she rapped on the door, the voices stopped.

"Come in," she heard.

When she entered, her gaze first met the dark eyes of Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi, before meeting those of the Hokage, Uchiha Fugaku.

"Hokage-sama," she greeted with a bow.

Fukagu, was sat behind his desk with a document in his hand. "Haruno Sakura."

"You summoned me," she said.

Itachi was studying her carefully. "Would you like me to leave?" he asked his father.

Fugaku shook his head. "No need." He nodded to Sakura. "I understand that you lost one of your patients recently. The funeral was this morning." he said to her.

She nodded, understanding immediately what he was truly asking. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a jar. Suspended in liquid, a pair of eyes glowed red with the Sharingan. Slowly, she approached Fugaku's desk, holding the jar delicately.

Fugaku stood and took the jar from her hands. He studied the Sharingan inside. "Uchiha Haruka. She will be missed." He turned to Itachi, handing him the jar. "Itachi, take these to the safe. I understand that you know what to do."

Itachi nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama," he murmured. Sakura couldn't help but notice that he said the words as though they burned him.

Perhaps he hates having to be so formal to his own father, she thought.

As Itachi passed her on his way to the door, he paused. "Sakura-san?"

"Yes?" she replied.

"Whilst I hold the utmost respect your efforts in the hospital, and I am grateful for the number of times that you have saved my brother's life, I recommend that you refrain from agitating the local patrol officers."

Sakura felt her jaw slacken a little. He had seen her little tit-for-tat earlier.

"What happened?" Fugaku's voice was dark. Sakura felt a wave of panic wash over her as Itachi explained to him what he had witnessed.

"The officer started it," she blurted out, immediately regretting the words.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps he did, but your words did nothing but exacerbate the situation."

"I'll try to keep a lid on it next time," she said to Itachi.

The look on his face spoke volumes. He clearly didn't believe her. But before she could say anything further, he left the room.

"Haruno."

She flinched and turned to Fugaku. He was watching her with a stone cold gaze. She knew that he had never particularly liked her, especially due to the fact that her shishou was a Senju, enemy to the Uchiha. But at the very least, he had always tolerated her. However, right at this moment, Sakura could only think that if looks could kill, she would be ashes already.

"Hokage-sama?"

His eyes narrowed. "You realise that I will not tolerate this behaviour," he said. "Do you know the reason why you are walking free with nothing but a warning?"

She swallowed. "Because I'm Sasuke-kun's teammate?" she said, recalling the words of the officer earlier.

"Wrong," he replied. His voice was grave, and Sakura felt her hands beginning to tremble. She bunched them into fists. She couldn't let him see her fear.

"Well, Hokage-sama," she said. "What is the reason then?"

"Because you're an excellent medic."

Sakura froze. That was not what she was expecting.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Fugaku continued, "your skills in medicine are beyond compare. Even if you learned from that," his eyes bled into the Sharingan. "that woman."

Sakura wasn't sure whether he was threatening her or flattering her. "Erm, thank you?"

"That was not a compliment."

Oh.

"That," he said, "is the only reason why you are still walking free."

Sakura froze when his Sharingan twisted into the Mangekyou. A jolt of fear shot down the back of her neck, and her heart jittered.

No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't use that technique, would he?

Sakura couldn't bear the thought of being sucked into the Tsukuyomi. After all, she had seen the victims of the technique. They barely recovered from psychological trauma, if they recovered at all.

The look that Fugaku gave her told her that he would not hesitate to use his Mangekyou on her should he desire. "You should not take advantage of your situation," he said. "After all, there are many others who hold promise of success in medicine."

Sakura nodded. She stared at the ground and tried to focus on her breathing.

"You are dismissed, Haruno."

Itachi set the jar containing Uchiha Haruka's eyes on a shelf alongside the rows of identical jars. The walk-in safe in the basement of the Hokage Tower was not small, and every time Itachi stepped in here he was reminded of the number of lives that were destroyed by hatred.

The safe was originally used to secure forbidden scrolls and books. However, ever since the Uchiha's ascension, it was used as a safekeeping for the Sharingan. There was only one reason Itachi could think of as to why his father would go to such lengths to secure their clan's dojutsu: paranoia.

The curse of hatred has truly changed him.

Itachi took one last glance at Uchiha Haruka's eyes before exiting the safe. He made sure to listen for the series of clicks as the locks slid into place. He had never truly known Uchiha Haruka. She was an old acquaintance of his mother's, but that was as far as his knowledge of her went. Itachi exited the Hokage Tower, squinting as the sunlight hit his face.

I'm sure mother is devastated after the funeral this morning. Perhaps I should pick up some flowers from the Yamana—

Itachi felt a hand grip his shirt as he was swung around and slammed against the outside wall of the Hokage Tower. Immediately, his fingers closed around the wrist of his attacker, intending to snap it and use the brief distraction to grab a kunai from his pack.

"Don't even think about it, Uchiha."

He stilled when he recognised the familiar voice. He looked down and found himself meeting the furious eyes of Haruno Sakura.

"Sakura-san," he said. "To what do I owe the honour?"

"Shut up," she hissed, her grip tightening on his shirt.

Itachi tried not to smile at the fact that he was being lifted at the scruff by a girl who was almost a foot shorter than him.

"You ratted me out," she hissed. "Why would you do that, you ass?"

Itachi simply stared at her. "Yes. I did. Because I was doing my job." She opened her mouth to speak but before she could, he added, "I don't see any issue with this matter."

Sakura's eyes burned into him. He could almost taste her struggle to keep a lid on her temper. "No issue? I can't believe you! Because of you, your dad is considering having me incarcerated!"

Itachi sighed. "No. He isn't."

Sakura stared at him, some of the anger in her expression slipping away. Her hand dropped from his shirt. "What?"

"He has no intention of doing such a thing, Sakura-san," he replied.

She scowled. "That's not what he said to me after you left."

"Despite what he tells you, he will not go to those lengths."

"And why is that? Because I'm a medic?" she said. "Sorry to cut to the chase but he made it pretty clear that I'm replaceable."

"No." Itachi's patience was wearing thin. "Because you are well received by civilian and shinobi alike."

Itachi said no more. He could see the cogs turning in her brain as she tried to piece together the meaning of his words. Before she could say anything in response, he slid past her, muttering "If you'll excuse me, I have matters that take greater precedence than this one."

"Hold on a second!" he heard her call, but he didn't turn. According to Sasuke she was a smart girl. Itachi was sure she could figure things out by herself.

He continued walking through the village, stopping once at the Yamanaka flower shop to purchase three purple tulip stems. His feet carried him to the cemetery, where the grave of Uchiha Haruka was easily identifiable by the fresh bouquets of white flowers that decorated the stone. Gently, he set one of his three tulips atop of the pile of flowers. The vibrant purple petals of his tulip stood out against the mass of white funeral flowers.

Then, he slipped through the graves until he found the one that read 'Uchiha Izumi'. Unlike Haruka's grave, Izumi's was devoid of flowers. He used to find bunches of flowers and cards from her parents, but this stopped three years ago. He wasn't sure of the reason, but Itachi suspected that her parents were either deceased or were too heartbroken to bear the sight of her grave. After her death, he had cut all ties with her parents. It was better that way, and at the time, Itachi couldn't face the prospect of visiting a house filled with memories of Izumi.

After laying down the second tulip, he moved on. He stopped only when he reached the familiar grave under a blossom tree. He collapsed to his knees.

"Shisui." Gingerly, he rested the final tulip on the base of the grave. "I don't know what to do."

He recalled the earlier words that his father spoke to him before Haruno Sakura's interruption.

"I cannot remain as Hokage forever. It has been fifteen years, Itachi."

At that moment, he hadn't been able to answer. He had only stared at his father's desk and prayed that the subject would disappear.

Staring at Shisui's grave, he spoke. "He wants me as the next Hokage. I'm glad, Shisui, as it gives me a chance to change things. I might be able to achieve what we couldn't fifteen years ago." He paused. "But that's also the problem; how am I supposed to convince civilians and shinobi outside of our clan that I can be trusted, that I am not afflicted with my father's hatred."

He leant forward and pressed his head against the gravestone.

"And then there's the Uchiha clansmen. How do I destroy the hatred that has consumed them? The clan may retaliate if I do not uphold my father's beliefs. Shisui, what should I do?"

Itachi didn't expect a response, but the breeze that brushed through his hair was oddly comforting, and the whisper of the blossom branches above his head filled the empty silence.

Something soft landed on the back of his neck. He reached behind him and grasped whatever it was that tickled the skin of his neck. It was an intact cherry blossom. He stared at it in his palm for a moment before he peered up at the tree arching over him.

He smiled as an idea dawned on him.

"I understand now, Shisui."

A/N: An AU in which the Uchiha coup actually happened. Yes, unfortunately Shisui is dead in this story. Izumi too. I'm sorry. But there will probably be some flashbacks of when Shisui was still alive, and how he and Itachi failied to stop the coup. I haven't decided yet when these flashbacks will occur, if they will. I don't know if this is a decent first chapter. I hope it is, although it's probably riddled with typos. Let me know what you think :)