Prologue

As Itachi walked across the pavilion and entered the cedar garden, he noticed the familiar scent pervading through the branches and rising up into the crisp autumn sky.

That pink-haired girl had come again. She always smelt like fresh plum flowers.

He had grown accustomed to this smell because whenever he returned home, she was always there.

At first, he thought it must be a friend from his brother's school. His parents had sent Sasuke to a public school in an attempt to prove to the world that the Uchiha clan was not against the more modern ideas of equality between social classes. On the outside they wanted to appear as liberal, although they followed the same principles they had been following for the last three hundred years. They were bent on respecting tradition at any costs and if tradition demanded them to be more permissive to the classes, then they would do it for the sake of appearances.

Soon, however, Itachi found out she was not a colleague from school. His brother was far too shy to bring a girl home.

At dinner, he hazarded a question to his mother.

'Who is that pink-haired girl that always follows Sasuke?'

His mother looked up from her plate, surprise clearly written on her face. Her son rarely asked her such things. He did not notice the people in the house very often.

'Oh, you must mean little Sakura Haruno. She is the granddaughter of Satoko Haruno.'

Itachi nodded his head. Satoko was the family's eldest house maid.

'Satoko asked me to bring Sakura to our house as a chamber maid. The poor girl's mother, Satoko's daughter-in-law, died of cholera and she was left an orphan in her village. Satoko insisted she should be brought here so she could have a proper education. And I must admit we do need some new help around the house.'

Itachi listened carefully to this short history. He understood his mother. Three of her personal servants had died in the last months. She had been greatly shaken by this sudden ominous veil cast over the household. She even held some ceremonies in the high temple in fear that the ancestors were angry with her. His father had called her worrying a simple, irrational fancy. He always tried to be the voice of reason in the house, but he could never quite allay his wife's fears and superstitions.

'She seems to have befriended Sasuke,' Itachi remarked.

'Yes, well, your brother took it on him to teach her arithmetic. You know how he is. Every new teaching he brings from school he shares with her. It is very good for her and for him.'

Itachi knew his brother was probably more comfortable with a servant's granddaughter than with a friend from school simply because he did not have to make an effort to appear any better in front of her. The girl had to accept him as he was.

Itachi did not bring up the matter anymore, but the smell of plum flowers did persist in his mind.

One Sunday, as he walked through the maple orchard he heard a soft laughter. He walked a bit further and found Sasuke and Sakura sitting comfortably on the burnt grass by the smooth, black lake that occupied the biggest portion of the western grounds.

The girl, Sakura, was wearing a modest grey kimono and her hair was tied to her back in a perfect bun. Sasuke was holding a book full of paintings in his hand and he was pointing at the body of a naked, deformed little man. They were both chuckling.

Itachi smiled and walked towards them. His full lips had turned into a sneering smile.

'Is this any way to educate yourselves?' he asked, looking down at them with some superiority.

The girl looked up at him, eyes wide and clear like the lake behind her, only they revealed green cesspools and not black ones.

'I was only showing her the interesting bits of art,' Sasuke explained, blushing slightly.

'I can see that. She must be enjoying it thoroughly. Take that book in the house immediately and do something useful with your time,' he said, in a tone that excluded Sakura from those useful occupations.

The young girl felt this in his voice and instantly rose, brushing some dust from her kimono.

'I am very sorry, Itachi-san. Where are my manners…' she said bowing quickly. A strand of pink hair fell on her exposed collarbone. She quickly pulled it behind her small ear.

He nodded towards her coldly.

'You should get back in the kitchens,' he finally told her.

She did not wait to be told twice. She ran away, almost too happy to escape. She felt the greatest fear whenever she saw or encountered Itachi. His domineering presence always made her feel small and helpless. Until now, she had never spoken to him directly. He was a terrifying man.

When Sasuke returned to the lake he looked around slightly confused.

'But where is Sakura?'

'I sent her into the house. Where she should be. You need to stop spending so much time with her and focus on your training,' he told him, narrowing his eyes.

'Must I do it right now? It's Sunday…' he said morosely.

'You will never fulfill father's expectations like this. Being an Uchiha comes before being yourself, have you forgotten?' he said somewhat ironically.

'I have not,' Sasuke said, smiling eagerly.

'Come, let us go train for now,' he said, leading the way towards the training grounds.

Sasuke quickly caught up to his brother and held him by the sleeve of his black kimono.

'Isn't Sakura pretty, though, brother?'

Itachi stared down at him in amusement.

'She is twelve, Sasuke, get your mind out of the barrel. And even if she wasn't so young, she is nothing to look at. You'll find much more suitable friends when you grow up.'

Sasuke remained silent. He did not believe Sakura was common looking, but his brother knew better than him. Maybe he couldn't appreciate beauty yet.

Itachi, on the other hand, told himself that he should forget about that young girl's scent.