A/N: According to Madara Uchiha, during Itachi's clan massacre, he was able to kill his lover. I figured that her name should be that of a flower. Lately I have been thinking what kind of girl she is that made Itachi like her, and now I am trying to write something about her. Sasuke already has his Sakura, Itachi, on the other hand had his Tsubaki.

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Chapter 1: It started with a smile

Thou beauteous child of purity and grace, what element could yield so fair a birth? Defilement bore me - my abiding place was mid the foul clods of polluted earth. But light looked on me from a holier sphere, To draw me heavenward - then I rose and shone; And can I vainly to thine eye appear, Thou dust-born gazer? Make the type thine own. From thy dark dwelling look thou forth, and see the purer beams that bring a lovelier change for thee.

—Charlotte Elizabeth, a poem written for a white camellia

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His name is Itachi Uchiha. Like most Uchihas, he possessed long dark hair which was tied in a low ponytail, had black beady eyes which already knew the power of the Sharingan and had a slightly tanned skin. An Uchiha he was; he is considered as the best in his generation and possessed a genius like no other in the clan. He is the son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha and is Sasuke's older brother. His father was the clan head.

Her name was Tsubaki Uchiha. Like most Uchihas, she possessed dark hair which was into a short layered cut (reminiscent of Shizune's), had black beady eyes and had pale skin. An Uchiha she was, she is highly competitive and very skilful. She is the niece of the late Obito Uchiha and is Shisui Uchiha's younger sister. Her father died during the third Shinobi war and her mother died of a mysterious illness when she was younger, thus leaving her and her older brother.

Like all Uchiha children, they met at the Uchiha compound. The compound is composed of several Uchiha houses that the place seemed to resemble a miniature village. They entered school together, but since Itachi was a genius, he had surpassed his other batch mates and graduated earlier, thus leaving her behind. Tsubaki didn't know anything much about Itachi. The only thing she knew was he usually comes to their house because he was her older brother's best friend. She would usually sit in front of their porch to serve them tea and onigiri or watch them spar while she would cheer for her older brother against Itachi. Sometimes during the evening when her brother would help her with the dishes, her brother would tell her stories of what happened to him during his missions, with his friends and of course, about Itachi as well.

"What do you think of Itachi?" her older brother would ask her.

"He seemed like a kind person," the girl with short layered cut said with a smile. Her black beady eyes were opened wide to express her delight. "Sadly," she pouted "He graduated earlier than me... so, I wasn't able to talk to him much,"

"He told me he would be planning on joining the ANBU by next year or after few months," Shisui told her.

Tsubaki momentarily stopped in her chores in wonder "But isn't he still too young?"

"But he is good," her brother would contradict her. "And..." he paused and gave the astonished girl a teasing grin "he mentioned that he liked the onigiris you made..."

Tsubaki's face reddened, she is very sensitive when it comes to people critiquing her cooking. "DON'T SAY IT SO CASUALLY NII-SAN!" then she punched her brother in the face.

During those sessions with Shisui, Itachi would notice Tsubaki watching them with amusement. The only memory he had of her was way back when they were around eight at the ninja academy. Most of the time, he wouldn't say anything to her except greet her 'good afternoon' every time he came and then say 'thank you' every time he'll go home.

In a few months, Tsubaki would be graduating from the ninja academy. Much to her content, she might have the chance of being this year's number one rookie like her older brother and that Itachi guy. The sun was heading towards the west and golden rays painted the sky. It was a day's training after school. She just swung her bag casually back and forth, while she hopped merrily across the street. She decided to pass by the forest; it was indeed one of her short cuts in going home.

As she was passing by casually, a flying kunai suddenly went towards her direction. If she hadn't ducked in time, it would have hit her.

"I'm so sorry nee-chan!" a little boy's voice said as he saw where his kunai landed.

Tsubaki gave the little boy a warm smile "uhm... no problem," then she patted the little boy's head. "Just be careful next time, because you might accidentally hit somebody and we don't want any accidents now, do we?"

The little boy nodded in agreement.

"Are you with somebody?" Tsubaki asked the little boy.

The little boy gave a grin. "Yes, I am with Nii-san, and he is training me right now!"

By the time the little boy mentioned his brother, an older boy came into view. Tsubaki's dark eyes widened when she recognized the young man. "Itachi-kun,"

"Tsubaki-chan," he said in astonishment. He wasn't expecting to see Shisui's sister in this part of the forest. "What brings you here?"

"My own short cut back home..." she answered. "I see you have a cute little brother,"

Itachi gave a small smile "His name is Sasuke, and he would be starting at the academy anytime soon,"

"That's wonderful," the kunoichi to be exclaimed, "I'm graduating the academy in a few months," she said matter-of-factly. A typical Uchiha, never being dead-last in the academy. "I'm even hoping to be this year's number one rookie," she glanced mischievously and gave Itachi a smile.

Itachi suddenly felt a blush creeping across his face when she smiled at him. To hide his embarrassment, he quickly turned the other way. The way she smiled sent butterflies to his stomach. He would notice a lot of things: he noticed the sway of her hair when she said it, the way her eyes fluttered her long black lashes, the way her white teeth would show when she beamed... Why did he notice such things? Though he wouldn't admit that every time he would come over Shisui's house for a quick spar, in the corner of his eyes, he would always admire his best friend's little sister.

"That would be wonderful Tsubaki-chan," he gave a quick reply. He then tried to calm himself then looked at her in a calm disposition. "Since me and my little brother is going to call it a day, I suppose we can walk you home," then he gave Tsubaki a kind smile.

That afternoon, Itachi, together with his younger brother walked the girl home. Along the way, as little Sasuke played games of being a skilled ninja, while Itachi and Tsubaki stayed behind and talked about random things. Mostly, it was Tsubaki who would tell a story then Itachi would smile at her and occasionally tell her random things too. The two mostly laughed on their way home.

When Itachi finally bade her goodbye and turned, Sasuke noticed a faint smirk on his big brother's face. "Who is she nii-san?" he asked him innocently. "I didn't know you have a girlfriend..."

Itachi could feel his cheeks burning up again, but responded his little brother in a friendly manner. "She's my best friend's younger sister, her name is Tsubaki... and she's not my girlfriend,"

"But you like her nii-san,"

"What made you say that?" Itachi said as he ran his hand through his younger brother's hair. "You know too much about those kind stuff. Why you don't do your shuriken practice at our backyard?"

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in excitement. "You'll let me nii-san?" then with much energy, the younger boy started running towards home, happy that his brother would teach him at home. "You are the BEST nii-san!"

Itachi watched his brother sped off home. He was sure his father would lecture at him in using their yard as a practice area, but if this was the only way of saving himself from Sasuke's query, he would have to deal with the consequences later. He gave a small smirk. Sure, this isn't one of the things he was good with, but at least, he was given the chance to talk with Tsubaki. Just thinking about it makes him feel things he never felt before.

Tsubaki watched Itachi and his brother afar from her window. For some reason she felt euphoric just talking to him, especially when he told her that he likes going to different traditional cafes around Konoha when she told him she liked to make coffee for her older brother and that he hates steak when she said she loved it. She could feel blush creeping up to her cheeks. She peered out of the window again and then saw Itachi still standing. She sighed as the beautiful sun painted the sky with golden hues. She was staring at him with so much awe until she felt somebody grab her shoulder.

"Nii-san!" she said in surprise.

"Who are you looking at Tsubaki?" Shisui asked his younger sister and peered outside the window to see who she was staring at. Then at last, a playful teasing grin formed at her brother's face. "You like Itachi?"

Tsubaki's face reddened further, but then, she couldn't let her brother win at this. "So what if I liked Itachi-kun?" she said bravely, challenging her brother to back out. "I mean... he is handsome... and... and ... and strong! So, is there any reason for me not to like him?"

"You don't have to be so defensive," Her brother said as he messed her hair with his hand.

"How will I not be, if you keep on teasing me?" Tsubaki reasoned.

"My little sister is starting to become a lady I see..." Shisui said "If you like, I can tell you a lot of things about him, like the time we peaked through the girl's side of the hot spri—"

"Nii-san you PERV!"

Shisui received a strong hit by his strong sister. "There's no way Itachi-kun will do that!"

"What if he did?"

"Then... I'll hit him myself" Tsubaki said with a wide grin. Then the two of them laughed. "But nii-san, will you let me have a boyfriend?"

"Tch." Shisui said in a sceptic tone. "As if anybody would like you, besides you're flat-chested,"

"What did you say Nii-san?"

"I said let's prepare dinner, ok?"

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A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. I wish their lives would stay like that forever, so right now, let me know if you like the course of the story, and I will write more. Thank you very much.