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 Two

Sakura skidded in the dirt and, summoning chakra to her foot, thrust her leg up in a powerful kick. There was a crunch as her foot collided with Sasuke's ribs. He stumbled back, clutching at his chest.

"Break his ribs, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted from the side of the training grounds. Kakashi was leaning against a tree next to him. "The bastard deserves it for ditching me with the bill at Ichiraku!"

"Hush, Naruto." Kakashi's single eye narrowed. The empty socket of his other eye was covered by his forehead protector. Sakura had only ever seen it during his routine check-ups. She didn't know the story behind it, but Kakashi never seemed willing to share, so she didn't dare ask.

Naruto completely ignored Kakashi. "You got this, Sakura-chan!" he yelled. "Pound his Uchiha ass!"

Sakura tuned out Naruto's interference. She couldn't afford distraction. Not when Sasuke almost immediately regained his stance. He jumped several feet away from her – a move that Sakura didn't like. Of course, he knew that she was a close range fighter, and she couldn't land a finger on him so long as he kept his distance. But that didn't mean that she was in the dark about his plan. He would either use a genjutsu, a katon jutsu, or a shiruken jutsu. She grinned when his eyes flashed red.

Sasuke-kun doesn't realise how predictable he is.

It came as no surprise when the grass and trees of the training grounds twisted and morphed. The landscape had become a devastated battlefield. The earth was split and cracked, and the only trees left standing were swathed in flames.

Genjutsu.

She sighed and made the seal to dispel the illusion, but the word – 'kai' – never came. She was frozen as she pieced together the scene around her.

Bodies, if they could still be called bodies. They were unrecognisable in the carnage. Missing limbs. Decapitated heads with eyeballs that gorged from their sockets. Blood spray coated the grass wherever she looked. Screams. Endless screams of pain, of fear. Screams of "Katon-no-jutsu!"

Sakura didn't dare close her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to keep them open either. Her chest was heavy, and she felt herself breathing hard and fast, but somehow it just wasn't enough. She needed to move. She needed to dispel the illusion.

But it's not an illusion. Not really.

Her eyes watered, and her throat felt constricted. The shrieks and moans of pain around her grew louder. Closer. They drowned her until she could hear nothing else.

Move, Sakura, move. Make the seal!

She clenched her eyes shut. Her hands shook violently as she slowly brought them up to make the seal. "Kai," she croaked.

As she opened her eyes she felt the cool edge of a kunai against her neck.

"I win, Sakura." Sasuke's deep voice sounded from just over her shoulder.

"Well done, Sasuke." Kakashi walked toward them. His one eye crinkled as he smiled.

Sakura couldn't speak. She stared at the training grounds. The grass was fresh and green where only moments ago it had been stained red.

Hn." Sasuke removed the kunai from Sakura's neck, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the training grounds. She could still see the flames licking the trees, and the smell of burning flesh lingered. Even if she shut her eyes, she saw it as clear as day.

It's not real. It's not real.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto approached, grinning. "You were so cool!"

"Hmm...Sakura?" Kakashi was staring at her. Naruto's grin vanished and he tilted his head in confusion.

Sasuke placed his hand on her arm. He frowned, his eyes searching her face. "Sakura? What's wr—"

She ripped her arm away from him, stumbling back several paces.

I just can't... Her thoughts trailed off. Why would he use a genjutsu like that? Why would he use it on me?

"Sakura-chan, what's the matter?" Naruto said, pushing past Sasuke as he walked toward her. "Did the bastard do something?"

As Naruto reached out to touch her, Sakura formed the seal for a transportation jutsu. In a burst of smoke, she was gone, leaving her teammates wondering what had just happened.

Itachi jumped across rooftops with a scroll in his hand. It had taken all morning before he was finally free from having to attend meeting after meeting with his father. Amongst other concerns, his father was determined to send his finest Anbu out to locate and apprehend Senju Tsunade. Itachi tried not to sneer.

Arrested for nothing more than being a Senju.

He couldn't help but wonder how Haruno Sakura would react to the capture of her old mentor.

Sakura-san.

Itachi stopped on the roof of an old grocery shop and opened up the scroll he was carrying. He made a seal and a bouquet of narcissus emerged from the scroll. He had almost purchased a bouquet of roses, but hesitated as he remembered a time when his mother set a jug of narcissus on the kitchen table and the sweet scent of the flowers had filled the entire room. The scent of roses paled in comparison.

Taking the little paper tag attached to the bouquet, Itachi fished a pen out of his pocket and scribbled down a quick note. He had only ever done this once before. Even though he knew that it had been fifteen years since then, and Izumi would understand if she were here, he couldn't help the sliver of guilt that flared in his gut.

Izumi, I'm sorry.

Sakura reappeared in her living room and immediately collapsed onto the couch. Her knees were trembling and she felt helpless against the memories that flooded her mind.

One minute she was in a field making cosmos chains with Ino, the next she was buried under a pile of rubble as her neighbourhood was burned to ash by relentless katon jutsus. She had been seven years old, a kunoichi in-training. She knew how to wield a kunai, how to accurately launch shiruken. But when her home exploded in wave of fire and glass, all of the lessons at the academy had flown straight out of the window along with the fragments of her father's skull. She knew when the initial blast hit that her father was dead. It was later that she realised her mother had joined him, when she found a single bloodied eyeball staring at her from what used to be the kitchen floor.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bang on her window.

Sakura jumped. She glanced around, frantically reminding herself that she was in the living room of her apartment, not the remains of her childhood home.

There was another bang, though gentler this time.

Sakura looked at the living room window to see a large crow sitting on the window ledge outside of the glass. She squinted at it, puzzled. The crow was unfamiliar. She didn't recognise it as anybody's summons, yet there was a small scroll attached to its leg.

"I don't recognise you," she said. "How do I know you don't belong to the enemy?"

It stared at her for a moment before tilting its head.

She sighed. "Fine then, but I'll have you know that I have traps all over this place. One wrong move and you're nothing but feathers."

The crow just blinked.

Hesitantly, she walked over to the window and opened it. The crow hopped forward and began to nuzzle its head in her palm. She wasn't really sure what to think. "You're a strange one," she said, stroking the crow's head. "Normally summons are distrustful of people they've never met, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before."

With one hand, she untied the scroll from the crow's leg. Leaving the bird on the windowsill, she took the scroll to her coffee table. Glancing at the crow, she said, "remember, no funny stuff," before opening the scroll.

There was a puff of smoke as a bouquet of flowers appeared on her coffee table.

"What on earth?"

A sweet smell invaded her senses. She wasn't a expert in floristry like Ino, but she had picked up her fair share of knowledge. These were tiny paperwhite narcissus, and Sakura remembered Ino pointing these out to her when they were children. Ino had said that just like normal daffodils, narcissus were symbolic of new beginnings and hope. Sakura had decided right then and there that they were her new favourite flower, but Ino just laughed and told her that they were also associated with narcissism.

Narcissism or otherwise, they smelled delightful. Sakura looked at the crow, who had flown across the room and was now perched on her coffee table next to the bouquet. "Whose summon are you, and why are they giving me flowers?" she asked it.

The crow bowed its head and pecked at something dangling underneath.

"Huh?" Sakura reached under the flowers and retrieved a paper tag that was tied delicately to a green stem. There was something written on it, and Sakura angled the tag toward the light of the window as she read the words.

Haruno Sakura-san,

I do hope that you enjoy these. If they are not to your satisfaction, please tell Kin and I will find a more suitable alternative.

There was no name. No signature. Nothing. Sakura didn't know what to make of this. She considered calling up Ino for advice, but on second thought Ino would probably screech down the phone line about secret admirers. Sakura would never forgive Ino for the time that she happily yapped on in a busy café about how it was time that Sakura "gave up her cherry".

Needless to say, Sakura had blushed so hard that she started to look like a cherry. Shaking off the dreadful memory, she decided that no, she wouldn't tell Ino. Sighing, she stared at the bouquet and the crow who was staring at her.

"So I'm guessing you're Kin, hm? You don't look very golden."

In response to hearing his name, Kin once more brushed his head against her hand.

She opened her mouth to ask Kin who he belonged to, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door. She recognised the chakra signature immediately, and made her way to the door, opening it a crack. Sasuke's dark eyes stared back at her.

"What do you want?"

"To apologise," he said. His voice was toneless, but Sakura knew him well. He had always kept his emotions well guarded. "I shouldn't have used that genjutsu."

"No," she replied, "you shouldn't have."

"That genjutsu, it's different for everyone," he said.

"Oh? How so?"

He ran a hand across the back of his head, scratching at his scalp. She could see he was getting desperate now. "It plays on the person's fears," he said, "and everyone has different fears."

She mentally pieced together what he was trying to say. "So you—"

"I don't know what you saw in the genjutsu, but after your reaction, I realised that I made a mistake."

Sakura chewed on her lip. She wanted to slam the door in his face, to slap him, to get mad. But this was Sasuke. He would never say the two words 'I'm sorry', but this was the closest he'd get to ever actually saying them. "Okay," she said, "but next time you use a jutsu like that on me, I'll castrate you."

His face showed nothing, but his adam's apple bobbed as he gulped.

Sakura opened the door wider and he slipped into her apartment. "I'll get some tea," she said as she led him to the living room. "Do you want green tea or jasmine?" There was no answer. "Sasuke-kun?"

First he stared at Kin with confusion. But then his gaze lowered to the bouquet. More specifically, the paper tag. His expression changed. The confusion was still there, but there was something else alongside it.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

He glared at the bouquet. "Sakura, why is my brother sending you flowers?"

Sakura's mind drew to a halt.

The flowers are from Itachi-san? But why? Is it to do with how I yelled in his face yesterday?

"These are from your brother?" She glanced between the bouquet and Kin, who was watching silently.

Sasuke gestured to the paper tag. "That's my brother's handwriting," he said, "and that is my brother's crow."

Sakura chewed on her lip. She didn't understand why Itachi would do this. Was it to screw with her head? Perhaps out of revenge for calling him an ass?

Sasuke looked at Sakura suspiciously. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not at all. I've only spoken to him, I don't know, maybe four or five times in my life. And most of those times were when I visited your house looking for you and he answered the door."

Some of the wariness left Sasuke's expression, but he didn't seem to trust her words. "I'll go talk to him," he said, turning to the door.

"No." Sakura stood and picked up the bouquet. "I appreciate it, Sasuke-kun, but I can deal with things myself. I'll talk to him."

Sasuke looked unsure, but eventually gave a curt nod. "He's usually in his office in the Hokage Tower at this time."

She thanked him and left with the bouquet in hand.

Itachi wasn't the least bit surprised when he picked up on the chakra signature hovering just outside of his office. The signature paced back and forth through the hallway outside before coming to a stop on the opposite wall. At times it flared in anger, but mostly it hovered, nervous.

"Sakura-san, you're potentially scaring away those who might want to visit me," he called out.

The signature froze. It thrummed, unsure, before making its way to the door where it stopped just outside.

"I have no intention of carrying on this conversation through the door," he said, tapping his desk impatiently.

There was a click and a creak as she finally entered. She held her chin high and stood with her back straight, although they both knew that he could sense her anxiety.

She's got a good sense of pride.

Itachi felt a glimmer of respect for the girl stood confidently before him. It was a shame that he was likely going to knock that confidence down after she heard what he intended to tell her.

She set the flowers down on his desk. "What are these?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Surely I don't need to tell you what flowers are, do I?" Sakura looked at him pointedly. She didn't seem to be in the mood for teasing remarks. Sighing, he added, "what do you think they are for, Sakura-san?"

"Stop answering my question with more questions," she snapped, folding her arms across her chest. "Just explain why you'd be delivering flowers to me via one of your pets."

"Kin is not a pet," he corrected her.

"Fine. A summon then."

"He is not merely a summon. He is a friend."

"Is that to compensate for your lack of real friends?"

Itachi's expression hardened. He could see from her barely concealed surprise that she didn't intend anything by her words. In fact, it was clear that she regretted them.

"Luckily for you, I was well aware of your inability to hold your tongue," he said, coolly. "You didn't come here to make petty remarks."

"No," she said quietly, "I didn't."

"You wish to understand why I sent Kin to deliver you a bouquet of flowers."

It was not a question, but she nodded.

He considered sealing his office with a jutsu. His office was secure even without extra measures, and he doubted that anyone would risk being caught eavesdropping. But if there was something that he learned from Shisui's death, it was that he couldn't take any chances.

"This conversation," he said, "is not for a place like this."

He grabbed her forearm and before she could react, he transported them to the disused training grounds of the old Uchiha compound. Old training dummies were pinned to trees, the trunks and limbs of which were scored all over with shiruken marks. Sakura was looking all around, taking in the unfamiliar area.

Of course, this area is unfamiliar to her.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"We are in the training grounds of my clan's original compound."

She whizzed around to face him. "By 'original', you mean the old compound at the edge of the village."

"Yes."

"The one your family lived in before..."

"Before the coup, yes," he said. "I used to train here. And it is here that I assisted Sasuke with his training. As you may know, this compound was abandoned when my father became Hokage. The Uchiha clan did not want to be reminded of how the Senju shunned them."

Sakura frowned at him. "Why did you bring me here? And what does any of this have to do with the flowers?"

Itachi took a deep breath.

Forgive me, Izumi.

"Sakura-san, I wish for your hand in marriage."

A/N: Thank you so much for the support on the first chapter! Reading your reviews really made my day. I managed to get this chapter out a day earlier than I had originally intended to, so I hope you enjoyed it.

takenbyheart - Sakura has never been a weak character, so I have no intention of portraying her as a weak character here. This is not to say that she doesn't have weaknesses, as everyone does. I'm glad you liked my first chapter, but rest assured, Sakura is not weak.

- I hope you're having a good day too! I agree about Shisui. His death pains me, but I imagine that if the coup took place the reality would be very grim with a lot of deaths. And yes, in canon, Itachi will do anything for the sake of peace, so I thought it wouldn't be too OOC for him to take the measures that he does in this story.

CantFigureOutAUsername94 - I'm not going to let it progress at a snail's pace, I promise. I don't have enough patience for that anyway.