Author's note:

This is more of a doodle that I've been working on over the past year, when I needed a break from writing all my other fics. I'm posting it now since I'm pretty much happy with the first few chapters. This is not going to be anywhere near the length of my other fics, I'm estimating probably 10 to 15 chapters before I wrap things up. Although… stories tend to take on a life of their own once I start writing, so… hell, it might turn into an epic saga. It's supposed to be a cute, short (mildly angsty) fluff piece, though.

"Itachi falls for someone his clan doesn't approve of" is a pretty popular trope, I know, but I realized that most of the stories I read are about a ninja heroine. So, I thought, what if he falls for someone completely normal? In other words, why not have a civilian character in the Narutoverse… No secret powers, absolutely no OP-ness.

For obvious reasons, this is a non-massacre, canon-divergent story. Itachi is in his mid-twenties, living in Konoha. Keep reading to find out what else I've tweaked.

Chapter 1: Itachi

Uchiha Itachi liked dango.

That was the only reason that Saya, of all people, got to know the real man behind the ninja mask. It wasn't a fast process, of course, but these things have to start somewhere.

For Saya, it started one lazy Saturday afternoon while she was clearing tables for her uncle, cheerfully piling plates on one another and sweeping the used dango-sticks into the trash. They had just finished the lunch-time rush, and now the restaurant was quiet and empty. Having worked on-and-off at the restaurant since she was a child, these tasks had a sort of mind-numbing familiarity that allowed her plenty of time to daydream when she wasn't interacting with customers.

The bell at the door jingled cheerfully to let her know she had new guests, and she looked up to see a dusty group of three ninja walk in, clearly fresh off a mission. It wasn't a very common occurrence for them to serve ninja - and the ninja they did get were usually young genin – but Saya could immediately see these ninja were elite. They wore jounin flak jackets, for one thing, and moved with an air of relaxed, predatory grace that all highly skilled ninja seemed to naturally possess.

A lesser woman may have been intimidated, but a single quirk of her eyebrow was the only sign that these customers were somewhat out of the norm. Smoothing out her apron, she fixed a welcoming smile onto her face and bustled over.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen! Welcome to Konoha's Finest Dango Eatery-" she only winced slightly at the presumptuous name, having gotten used to it over time, "Table for three?"

The first ninja, a handsome brown-haired man with lazy eyes that appraised her… somewhat curvaceous form (she did work in a dango restaurant) appreciatively, nodded, and simply said, "Please."

She blinked at him, wide-eyed. "That seems dangerous." She remarked, indicating the sharp senbon he was rolling around in his mouth. Remembering her manners, she indicated an empty table near the air conditioner and stepped back to allow them in.

He smirked at her straightforwardness. "What's your name?"

"Saya."

"Just Saya?"

"Yup."

The three ninja sat around the table she indicated, and she tried not to stare. The second man was kind of sickly-looking, but he had a friendly smile. The third man, however… He had the distinctive look of an Uchiha; long, black hair, swept back in a ponytail, with flawless pale skin and dark eyes framed by long lashes. Those dark eyes seemed to see right through her, even though his blank face gave no indication he found their conversation the least bit interesting. Blushing slightly, she turned back to the first man she'd addressed.

"Well, Saya-chan…" he drawled, "Ninja are supposed to be dangerous, y'know." From the smoky look he was giving her, he obviously meant "dangerous" as in "sexy".

She returned his confident smirk with a matching one of her own, cocking out her hip. "Have you ever given yourself an accidental tongue piercing?" she asked inquisitively, tilting her head in fascination.

He spluttered and his senbon almost fell out of his mouth. "…No!"

The other ninja gave a chuckle which turned into a cough, and then wheezed, "Hah! She got you there, Genma!"

"Shut it, Hayate." Genma growled, "That was one time, give me a break!"

"No worries, your secret's safe with me." She assured him, with just a trace of wickedness. "Now, what can I get you?" she passed them three menus. "Would you like some drinks in the meantime?"

The Uchiha (well, she assumed he was an Uchiha) spoke up for the first time, in a surprisingly gentle voice to contrast his cold demeanor, "Just water for me, thank you." It was a little hot for tea.

Hayate coughed, "Same."

"You don't serve beer, do you?" Genma asked wistfully.

"Not on a Saturday at four o'clock, I'm afraid," Saya admitted cheerfully, "We have a Happy Hour on Fridays, but that's about it."

"Fantastic. I guess I'll have fruit juice." He grumbled. "Why did we come here again?"

Hayate elbowed him, chuckling, "Cuz it's the Captain's birthday," he nodded at the silent man sitting opposite him, "And he wanted to."

Saya turned her eyes to the stoic Uchiha, surprised. "It's your birthday?"

He settled for a dismissive shrug, without raising his eyes from the menu. She wondered if he was simply shy, or just uncomfortable that a stranger knew such an intimate detail of his life. Ninjas were hard to read.

Nevertheless, she beamed and exclaimed, "That's wonderful! Since it's your birthday, your order is on the house!"

At that he looked up, quickly, a hint of concern in his dark gaze, "That's unnecessary-"

"Nonsense." She said firmly, crossing her arms, "It's a special day that comes only once a year. Order whatever you like."

"But-"

She could tell by the frown starting to scrunch up his brow that he was planning on being difficult. Some customers were just like that – although this Uchiha was being stubborn about free food, of all things. That was a first. But it was the restaurant's policy, whether he liked it or not.

She drew herself up, meeting his dark eyes boldly. "It's your birthday, Sir," she informed him, folding her arms resolutely, "So shut up and accept the free dango."

There was a shocked silence as the tension around the table instantly ratcheted up.

For a moment he simply stared at her, his expression quite comical. She wondered how often people dared to talk back to him – not often, judging by the flummoxed expressions on his teammates' faces – and felt smug. She'd never had a problem speaking her mind, especially when customers were being particularly obtuse. It took most people a little while to get used to her sass – those that didn't like it would simply not come back, which was perfectly fine. They had plenty of regulars who enjoyed her waitressing style just fine.

After taking a moment to get over his shock, the dark-haired ninja settled on a cautious nod, looking chastised and a little... amused?

She smiled right back at him, her cheerful persona back in place. "I'll be right back with your drinks." She said sweetly, and floated off to the kitchen.

One look at her Cheshire-cat grin had her adoptive uncle, the chef and owner of the restaurant, groaning, "Saya… Have you been teasing the customers again?"

"Just a little."

He huffed suspiciously, and carried on rolling out dough, his meaty arms dusted liberally with flour. "Well, don't take it too far, alright?"

"I never do." She responded, preparing their three drinks.

"One of these days," he warned her, "That smart mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble."

"Aw, you think I'm smart?" she teased, leaning up to peck him on the cheek. He subsided into embarrassed grumbles, but Saya could tell he was pleased. Having never had children of his own, she'd become as close as a daughter to him over the years.

She picked up the tray and took it out, spotting the ninja trio in deep discussion, which broke off as soon as she approached. She pretended not to notice, and served their drinks without comment. "Have you decided to order?"

They had, and proceeded to order a rather substantial amount of dango. From the looks of it, they had just returned from a mission and were pretty hungry. She did notice that the Captain was only ordering from the cheaper side of the menu. He obviously didn't want to cause the restaurant to lose money. It was oddly touching… and also annoying. Didn't the guy know how to be a little selfish on his own birthday?! She wouldn't have offered if the establishment couldn't afford to treat one customer to a free meal!

Remembering her uncle's warning, though, she simply sighed and bit her tongue. If he wanted to be a martyr over dango, after all, she was hardly in a position to argue about it.

"Hey, Saya-chan," drawled Genma just before she turned to leave with their orders.

She paused and steeled herself, having an inkling as to what was coming next…

"D'you wanna get a drink sometime?"

Bingo, she thought dryly. It wasn't the first time men (and, on a couple of occasions, women) had mistaken her banter as flirting. She smiled at him. "Sorry." She apologized simply, "That's not going to happen."

By the widening of his eyes, that was not the answer he was used to receiving. She could understand why; he was attractive, confident, chatty… he'd be a fun guy to hang around. Usually, she wouldn't mind going out for a few drinks with a guy like that, but…

"You're seeing someone." he nodded, understanding.

She sighed – but she was an honest person by nature. "I'm not, actually."

He frowned. "Then why not?" he demanded, sounding slightly offended.

"Genma." Warned the Uchiha, with quiet authority.

Saya watched in interest as Genma visibly flinched at the implied rebuke. Perhaps, on the job, the Uchiha was not as gentle as he seemed in the dango restaurant.

"I was just… curious." Genma qualified, looking contritely at Saya. He obviously hadn't meant to be rude.

"That's alright," she replied easily, "It's just…" she sighed. It wasn't the first time she'd had to explain her odd dating criteria, "I don't date ninja." She admitted.

"Ever?" he looked surprised.

She shook her head. "It's a personal decision."

She saw a myriad of questions fly through his head at that, and he opened his mouth with a slight frown, but again the Uchiha spoke up in her defence.

"Genma, drop it." He said quietly, "You have your answer."

With a small bow, she returned to the kitchens quickly, feeling rather than seeing the curious gazes of three ninja fixed between her shoulder-blades.

The rest of the meal passed without drama, and Saya bid them goodbye after they veritably inhaled their dango in under an hour. Despite being rejected, Genma continued their friendly banter, and she was sure that there would be no hard feelings. He was a good guy, and clearly not after anything serious.

Just before the Uchiha exited the restaurant, Saya debated internally with herself for a short while, feeling uncharacteristically shy, and then hardened her resolve and spoke up with what she'd been meaning to ask ever since they'd first walked in.

"Um," she started, blushing slightly.

The tall Captain stopped, and turned his unreadable gaze on her and once again gave the uncomfortable impression he could see right into her head.

"I now know Hayate-san and Genma-san, but you are-?"

A short pause, as if he was reluctant to answer. "…Uchiha Itachi." He said at last, watching her reaction with detached interest.

She knew exactly who he was. The eldest son of the head of the Uchiha clan… and rumoured to be the most fearsome ninja in the whole village. Not much was generally known about him, except that he was an ANBU commander, and occasionally served on the Hokage's personal guard. People talked about more than his official positions, of course. She'd heard that with one look into his eyes, you could die, screaming.

She blinked in confusion. His eyes were so pretty, though.

She couldn't reconcile that reputation with the quiet, polite man in front of her, who worried about being an inconvenience to a dango shop on his birthday. It was a good thing she put more faith in her own ability to form impressions of people, than relying on hearsay.

"Itachi-san," she smiled, purposefully using his given name and not the politer, more proper use of his surname, "I hope you'll come again, and try a wider selection of our menu." She winked knowingly at him.

His eyes widened slightly, realizing she'd picked up on his decision to order cheaply.

"And, once again… Happy Birthday."

"…Thank you." He responded, his dark eyes lingering on her a moment longer, before, for the first time, a faint smile graced his lips. "Perhaps I will."

Just as quickly, he turned and rejoined his teammates who were waiting outside, leaving Saya feeling somewhat dazzled, heart all a-flutter.

Perhaps I will.

For some reason, his velvet voice replayed in her mind, like a stuck record.

Perhaps I will.

Perhaps I-

"No ninjas!" she muttered to herself sternly, starting to wipe down the tables with a little more force than necessary.

"You don't… date… ninjas!"

Author's note:

I've purposefully left any explicit description of Saya out of the story, so that you can imagine your own version of what she looks like. However, if you want to know mine: she's of average height, with a petite frame even though she's definitely not skinny. She's got some curves, y'know what I mean? (she works in a dango shop, after all). She has a heart-shaped face and slightly curly auburn hair tied in a messy bun, with brown eyes. She's not typically beautiful, but her outgoing and cheerful personality is immediately apparent.