A/N: Hey... hope you like. Can't get enough ItaHana fluff so more shall come. I know, its not really fluffy, cuz it's like all murderous and stuff, but hey, you really expect Itachi to have chibi eyes and say words of commitment and love? I think not. Well, this is where the story begins to get a move and start to operate.
Disclaimer: I hate these things.

I saw you with him today.
The boy who took my place.
You seemed so much happier with me.
But maybe that's just the way I want it to be.
But it's just another one of those days
The way you made it all feel so right
The way you fit into my arms at night
I'll remember that feeling for the rest of my life
But it's just another one of those days
I can't help but feel a little upset
About the things you and I never had
I had the world, but instead threw it all away.
Now, it's just another one of those days.
So, tell me what happens next?
It's out of my hands, I guess.
I just don't know what to believe.
Why don't you tell me to believe?
Why did you let me leave?
It's not the way it's gotta be.
What's wrong with me?
Why don't you tell me to believe?
Why did you let me leave?
Is that the way this has to be?

-My Cinderella Story-

Chapter 14: Idea

He had arrived in the afternoon, the noon sun high in the trees. Konoha was at a weak point, not thinking he would return so quickly. Veiled only in thin genjutsu, he heard a laugh, a laugh so familiar it resounded through his mind and his chest.

He turned towards the hospital.

"That tickles!"

Her laughter filled the still air as he gazed through the window.

She was sprawled on the small hospital bed, giggling as a man was beside her, holding her tightly and breathing softly on her bare neck. He kissed the bandage in which blood had once oozed.

He watched the man pull her closer to him, kiss her lips and made her smile. He was a rather handsome man, dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and long bangs that framed his face much like his own, replacing his crimson red eyes with olive green. He guessed an Okamisora, a wolf was by his side he resembled much like Kyoshi, but not confirmed because the man wore black gloves of the ANBU uniform.

He watched her smile. It seemed forced, but that may be a figment of his imagination. He remembered those days back when he was the ANBU captain, back when she had thrown her head back and laugh at anything. She seemed much happier then, careless and free. But that was what the Mangekyou Sharingan did to anyone that felt its power. It would suck their soul away.

He pushed the thoughts away. This life was better. He could keep achieving more; he no longer was restrained at such an early age. At thirteen, living just a little more than a decade, he had achieved the highest ranking he could in all of Konoha, and he could not get higher. His power was held back, feared in some cases. Now he had new set goals, capture the Tailed Beasts, forces more powerful than him. He had chosen the Kyuubi himself, the strongest of all, the one desired the most. It was a goal he would pass, and then he would kill the rest before moving higher, if there was.

Watching the two lovers was not a different scheduled day. It was another, goal-oriented agenda, a way to gain more power.

A small smirk rose on the intruder's face, as he knew that this man would never taste the metallic yet sweet taste of her blood. He would never savor what the criminal outside the very window had.

His mind flashed to the night before, the taste no longer lingered, but easily attainable. He closed his eyes, remembering the feeling of her body in his arms and the way her blood filled the appetite before her scream had crashed the walls before the demon.

He remembered the dream of the night before. The Akatsuki member rarely dreamed, dreams were figments of hope and of love, two weaknesses he could not afford. Before his closed eyes the dream played before him.

It was strewn in billows of black and skies of red. He had cast another spell, he had used the Mangekyou, but this time, he was part of the doujutsu. He made a world where realities united, his and hers, where there was no such thing as pain and death, where there was no barriers between them. He had made a world where she cried tears, not of grief, and weaved a whole lifetime that was saved just for them. He had created a life that was filled with meaningless fragilities, but the smiles traced in black and red did not leave the corners of his mind.

When he had opened his eyes, the sun had set against the horizon. Dusk had fallen quickly and the Okamisora was forced to leave. Their murmurs of farewell were tender and loving. The darkness watched; his mask impassive as their lips parted after a long moment and the door shut.

His fist clenched, hidden from the peaceful village as he had watched all afternoon, the kisses and touches from the lovers, and the smile he had longed to see had relapsed many times he could not count, until it was left on almost permanently, disappearing only once at the loss of the ring.

He realized as soon as the door shut that the man that held her was the man that had given her the ring, the gem the intruder had clutched in his hand for the hours he had spied, its contours memorized simply by touch.

He knew that this man would fulfill Hana and keep her happy; the look in his eyes was pure love, and thus, weakness.

The man could make Hana laugh, and he could make her cry. And the Uchiha wished he had that power over the Inuzuka who never trembled in the face of death, who never cried because she was scared he would kill her. He had realized too late the Sharingan spinning in his eyes and the feeling of jealousy come over him.

Jealousy blinded a ninja with emotions, making him weak. And Itachi could not afford to be weak.

He left without a sound, the night as his invisibility.

As he became as unseen as the wind, leaving the Fire Country, a small idea began to develop. He had seen the relief in the man's eyes when he found her alive, and the pain when the ring was lost. The man had held Hana close to his heart, and thus, the man's emotion had been let loose simply by what the Inuzuka managed to do.

If he used that weakness as a trigger to return his power to its former glory, it would be much simpler than his initials plans.

At the end, he would effectively kill her, and that would awaken the demon and make him rise up to ultimate power. He would allow her in and then shut the door behind her. After she had died and grief overcame him, he would attain the power he yearned for.

As the old saying goes, a man must first fall before he can rise again.

A/N: Hoped you like! Confuzzling much? -evil laugh-