Ren Note: We have a wee bit of a time-skip here. I hope I explained that part well enough. There are drastic changes on the horizon. R&R, please.

Ren laid stretched out on a beach towel while everyone around her laughed and talked about summer plans. She and Sasuke had just returned from soccer camp but everyone else had already had two weeks of summer under their belts. Her eyes drifted over towards where Sasuke had been but he was gone; he hadn't spoken to her since she ran off in the middle of Spring. That suited her just fine; she no longer cared about him at all.

Naruto ran past her without even saying a word as he grabbed the pinkette newcomer around her waist and then threw her into the water with her kicking and screaming. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were both in Nagisa for vacation. Ren wished soccer camp would have lasted another week so she didn't have to see them; they were a painful reminder of how her life used to be and the people missing from it.

A pale hand was placed on her arm and her eyes darted up to Sai. She still didn't know how she had convinced him to come with her to the beach but she was glad. He was a friend that was strictly hers; she had befriended him all on her own. The problem was that she hated the way Ino kept staring at him and flipping her hair. "Are you alright," he asked.

"I'm doing okay," she murmured, "You aren't getting sunburnt are you?"

Sai laughed -a real true laugh- and shook his head. "You have applied enough sunscreen to me that I do not think I will need it for a week."

Ren's cheeks blushed and she casually slipped her fingers between Sai's. "I just know how much sunburns hurt," she defended.

"I know," he replied with a smile as he squeezed her fingers lightly. "Thank you for caring."

It was hard to believe that a few months ago she had gone out on a limb and asked him to eat with her; now they were good friends and sometimes people thought they were more than that. If Ren was honest she wanted more than that. Her plan to gain no attachments had been foiled thoroughly by Sai, Naruto, Temari, TenTen, Konohamaru, and Itachi.

Ren's heart clenched when she thought of Itachi; so far he had not been able to reconcile with Sasuke because she hadn't found an opportunity. Soccer camp had killed the opportunity and she hadn't even seen him since she got home; it had only been a few days but she felt guilty.

Her eyes focused on Sai but he was staring out at the ocean; all thoughts to ask his advice left her as she sat up enough to look where he was. "If you like her," Ren told him weakly, "why not ask her out?" Her heart felt like it was in a vice as she spoke; she wished he would look at her like that.

"She's not my type," Sai told her with a gentle smile. "She's fine to look at but everyone looks at her." His eyes landed on Ren and his smile grew, "She is not shy or modest like you are, Ren. I do not think I would get along with her."

Torture… he was torturing her! Ren forced a smile and laughed weakly. "That's part of the appeal, isn't it? She'd say what she wants, feels, and needs. She'd be easy to understand, wouldn't she?"

"You're right," he told her with a nod, "but I've learned through the course of our friendship, easy doesn't mean better. It would have been easy for you to ignore Deidara's cheating because he was safe to be with. You chose to deal with the repercussions of breaking up with him instead. It would be easy for you to tell Sasuke how you feel but you don't because it would make him upset. By watching you I have learned many things."

Ren's brows furrowed at the mention of Sasuke but she bit her tongue; the less she knew about Sai's take on that the better. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with her step-brother. It had been a long time since she had even joined in on his movie nights with Naruto; it hurt her that Naruto no longer even asked. "I don't think I'm the best person to learn from," she murmured.

"You're giving yourself too little credit, again," Sai told her. "Miss Yamanaka seems to just enjoy the attention. I cannot decide what Miss Haruno wants. She does not seem to like Naruto's attention but is constantly looking at him."

"That's because he's with Sasuke," Ren sighed out as she set up completely. "He's attractive, dark, mysterious, and totally impossible to catch. She's the same way with a guy named Kiba in Hi No Kuni. He's so focused on his dog and fun that he doesn't take the time to date for more than a week at a time. Sasuke gets annoyed and dumps them." She shrugged and sighed. "She's just going to get her heart broken."

"Miss Haruno is your friend, isn't she?" Ren blinked in confusion. "If she is, you should warn her and listen to her problems."

Ren almost laughed. "She's friends with Ino. Ino's friends with Shikamaru. Shikamaru was friends with me. Sakura and Ino aren't really my friends. I just know them. They're more acquaintances than anything."

"Oh, I see. When Miss Yamanaka screeched at seeing you and Miss Haruno hugged you, I thought they were dear friends."

"N-not at all," Ren told him with a frown. "They're just girls I went to school with. If I'd have stayed home or shown up in Hi No Kuni alone it wouldn't have been that way. They kind of pretended I didn't exist until they wanted Shika to do something."

"You miss him," Sai pointed out.

Ren bit her lip and laid her head against his bare shoulder. Sai's skin was warm but not from the sun; they were under an umbrella for shade. She had been trying to get her to notice her as a woman but it always turned into this; he would point her emotions out to her and then she would lose all motivation to try to win his heart. At this point she gave up; his friendship would be enough… just like with Naruto. "He'll talk to me, eventually," Ren murmured.

"Have you asked them?" His eyes were on the two girls enjoying their beach vacation.

"I'm afraid to," Ren groaned, "If he's happy then I'm going to feel awful. If he's miserable I'm going to feel guilty. I've tried talking to him too many times just to be ignored. The best I can do is make sure they go home and are able to report that I'm okay. When I go see Neji in at the end of the week, I'll visit him. Hizashi-ojisan has actually agreed to let me stay for a week. Hideki argued about it but… it's not like I can't afford to on my own now that-"

"Don't say it. You always cry when you say it."

"I-I know," she breathed out heavily. "Either way, I'll get to visit everyone. Who knows, maybe I'll even visit Shino."

"Ew," Sakura grumbled as she sat down on Ren's towel. "He's super into bugs now. Before it was whatever; now it's not. He carries them around with him everywhere."

"H-he's keeping track of different species. His family raises different insects for different purposes," Ren defended.

"I'd still suggest you steer clear," Ino grumbled as she sat in front of Sai with her long legs stretched out, "his bugs bite."

Ino's chest had developed more than Ren's and her purple bikini hugged her in such a way that Ren wasn't a guy and she could imagine getting a boner looking at her. Her eyes drifted to Sai; he was a goner. The way he shifted his legs was an indication that he didn't have to imagine getting one; he already had one. It was only a matter of time before Ino successfully enthralled him; Ren had lost. "I'll keep that in mind," she muttered as she stood up and slipped her swimsuit cover on. "I'm going to head home now. I have a date. I'll text you later, Sai."

Sai looked at her puzzled but she simply waved to the group and walked away with her beach bag on her shoulder. She didn't have plans or a date but she couldn't stand to watch Sai drool over Ino; she was positive he didn't even know he was. It was worse watching Sai drool over a girl than it was Naruto. Sai internalized it while Naruto made an idiot of himself. Two of the guys she had been crushing on had thoroughly crushed her heart as soon as Ino and Sakura popped up in the mall.

When she reached the pavement of the parking lot she slipped her flip-flops on and began walking towards TenTen's beetle. Her heart stopped when she saw a red Dodge Charger with tinted windows parked right beside it. Foolishly she walked up to the passenger side and opened the door. "I was just thinking about you, Itachi," she told him with a lopsided smile.

"Good, I've been trying to call you. Ice cream?"

"I'll never decline your offer," Ren told him with a grin as she slid into the passenger seat. "I just need to text TenTen so she doesn't freak out," Ren explained as she pulled out her phone then buckled up.

The doors locked as he shifted out of Park. The moment they were away from the beach he told her, "You're too predictable sometimes. Or, perhaps TenTen is. She is always parked in the same general location."

"That makes it easier for you to find me, doesn't it?"

"That's true," he hummed. "What's wrong?"

"Boys are hell," Ren told him with a forced laugh. She hated how easily he could read her.

"The blond or the creepy one?" Itachi's eyes weren't on her and his tone was flat.

"Sai isn't creepy," she pouted, "he's a really good listener and nice." Itachi had been passive-aggressively teasing her about her crush on Sai for weeks. Somehow the older man had become a confidant when there were things she couldn't tell her friends. He teased her but she found him comfortable and easy to talk to.

"So he's the culprit?"

"Both," she deflated. "My old classmates Ino and Sakura are here on vacation. I feel pretty invisible right now."

"If you told either of them how you feel, that may not be the case. You have a beauty of your own that either would be fortunate to enjoy."

"Naruto sees me as a sister like TenTen. I can tell by the way he treats me. Sai is," her words trailed off as a blush swallowed the paleness of her cheeks.

"Completely clueless," Itachi asked with a chuckle.

"Y-Yes. I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend that didn't demand things of him. I don't know if I could deal with that and I don't want to ruin another friendship like I did with Shikamaru."

"That is understandable but if you don't express how you feel you make regret it later."

"How can I?"

"Very easily."

"Then how do you feel, Itachi? You never say that. I've never seen you look at a woman or a man. How can you tell me to express how I feel when you don't? What if it's just because they're my friends?"

A low growl escaped Itachi's lips and he gripped the hair at the base of Ren's skull, jerking her head back to look at him; they were at a red light. A gasp escaped her lips before he told her, "I am able to control how I feel without giving it away. I do not have time for lust."

"I didn't ask about lust," she muttered. "I meant love." To her surprise even though Itachi had her by the hair she wasn't hurt or worried.

Itachi's eyes glazed over and he released her hair. "I don't deserve such a thing and refuse to bring someone else down with me."

"Everyone deserves love, Itachi. Whatever you did is not a death sentence. I think while I'm in Hi No Kuni you should meet Sasuke. Even if it's on the day I'm coming home. Remove me from the equation so that he can feel however he has to towards you before that turns on me. If he's distracted by anger towards me he won't come to terms with you. Everything will be fine. You'll fix your relationship with him and then you can let go of this 'I don't deserve love' thing."

"Dear, sweet Ren," Itachi murmured as he fixed her hair with one hand. "Someday you will hate me, too. When you return, be prepared to console him. Our Clans were similar, millennia ago. You will know how to deal with the formalities and traditions he will need to."

"I don't understand," she murmured. Whatever Itachi had done… It would be impossible to hate him. He was her guide through the city, her confidant when no one else could be, and she respected him more than she had ever respected anyone so close to her own age.

"You don't have to yet. Strawberry Cheesecake?"

"Sure," she told him with a nod. She chewed on her bottom lip as they approached the ice cream place and asked the question she had been fumbling over. "Why would you expect me to hate you?"

"Because right now you are young and naive. Someday you will not be. Someday soon you will know everything that I have done and you will no longer enjoy my company," he told her flatly as they turned into the parking lot.

"You're only five years older than me," she stated firmly, "Perhaps you are as naive as I am when it comes to that." Itachi stared at her with his ebony eyes wide and his jaw slightly slack. She spoke again before he could. "Itachi, you're a precious person to me, one of my dearest friends. I wish you would tell me the truth, not what you're going to tell Sasuke or what the rest of the world thinks. I know you want me to comfort Sasuke but the truth is that I don't like him very much. He's selfish and rude; he's the exact opposite of you. How could I hate you and like him? You're being foolish to think that the past can change how loyal I am to our agreement and friendship."

Itachi swallowed hard; Ren had watched his Adam's apple bob up and down. "Perhaps this isn't the place for this talk," he muttered weakly. "Want to get your ice cream and I'll take you home?"

"No," she told him with a quick shake of her head. "I want you to tell me what's going on."

"I meant my home," he told her quickly.

Ren's cheeks turned Scarlett and she looked away from his eyes; they were probing into the inner workings of her mind. "A-alright," she told him. "I want to know the full story before I leave anyway. D-do you live alone or-?"

"Yes, I live alone. Kisame is my partner at work and neighbor but you will not have to deal with him today if that's what you are worried about," he told her flatly. "Wait here, then. I do owe you your ice cream."

As Itachi got out of the car her heart clenched. If this were a different man this situation would be a lot more stressful. She couldn't picture Itachi having his way with her; she could admit that the idea made heat begin to build in her abdomen though. Itachi was safe to be around. He wouldn't overstep his boundaries without her consent. She was anxious as she sat there trying to control her breathing but she wasn't scared. It was a little nerve-wracking to know that she was going to be in his home alone with him.

Excitement bubbled deep within her heart because she would finally know the truth about Itachi. Their evening drives from school to her house had slowly but surely secured their friendship but Ren could admit she didn't know much about his personal life. For all, she knew he could've been happily married with six kids or something. Knowing him on a deeper level was something she hadn't realized she wanted until that moment.

Her door opened and Itachi handed her a sugar cone with two scoops of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. "You get it on the car, I'll make you lick it clean," he grunted as soon as her fingers were around it.

"I'll do my best," she gasped out wide-eyed. Honestly, she wasn't sure if he was serious or not but she did always clean up her messes. "Qu-question," she murmured when he was back in the driver's seat, "Is it safe to drive with an ice cream cone?"

"Nope," he told her before licking the Mitarashi Kurumi scoop on his own sugar cone. Ren hadn't meant to watch him so intently but she did. "Here. Don't let it drip," he told her with a smirk.

"H-how am I supposed to keep it from dripping," she asked quickly.

"Lick it when it starts to drip," Itachi told her with a brow raised. "I'm not afraid of your cooties, just don't eat it all."

Ren wanted to disappear into the seat of his Charger. "O-okay," she told him with a nod. He may not be afraid of her germs, but the last person she had exchanged germs with was Deidara and that had gone great. It was worse than an indirect kiss, this was like her licking his tongue and when she gave the cone back he would be licking her tongue.

"Earth to Ren," Itachi chuckled out, "You're about to drip."

Ren's eyes landed on her cone and she quickly swirled it around to keep it from being messy. The problem came when Itachi's decided to drip too. Tentatively she licked the dripping portion and exclaimed in awe, "It tastes so much like mitarashi dango."

Itachi laughed out loud once then clamped his lips shut. "That's the point," he told her with a gentle smile. They had been driving for a short while already. "I have a weakness for sweet things, especially dango."

"I'm kind of the same way but my ultimate weakness is shoutao," she admitted. Her brain was working overdrive and seemed to not care what came out of her mouth. "I used to hate the anko inside them but I have developed a taste for it."

"Perhaps on your birthday, I'll have to take you somewhere to get them if we are still on speaking terms."

"We're always going to be on speaking terms," she told him with a small smile.

"We shall see," he hummed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi's home was modest and nearly empty when she stepped inside. He had rescued his ice cream from her but didn't complain about how much of it she had actually eaten; instead, he had taken a big bite from her cone. "Make yourself at home. Have you received your final grade yet," he asked as he sat down on his couch without any hesitation.

To her own surprise, she sat next to him and tucked her bare feet under her butt. She was a guest but being around Itachi was comfortable. "I managed a three-point-seven GPA. I owe Chojuro a lot for helping me out with Algebra. Next year I should be able to complete all my requirements for graduation then I'll be able to decide if I want to take another year and stock up on credits or move on to college."

"That's great to hear. Which route will you take?" Itachi seemed to be more focused on his nearly-finished ice cream than her; he kept coming up with new ways to distract her from asking for the truth.

"I'll probably go on to college. Neji is going to need me office-ready as quickly as possible. We've got to be a power team if we're going to take over the Hyuga Corp," she told him with a frown; she knew Itachi's standing on the matter but hadn't let him change her mind.

"I still wish you wouldn't waste your time on it. The Hyugas are old blood, old money. They will not be so easily changed," he told her gently.

"That doesn't make me want to change them any less," she told him with a small smile, "I know Neji would make an amazing CEO. We aren't doing it because it's easy; we're doing it because nothing will change if we don't." She nodded then finished her ice cream cone while staring directly into Itachi's eyes.

"Perhaps we are not so different," he murmured so quietly Ren had almost missed it. "When I was thirteen my family had planned to take over a large number of smaller businesses. They were in a power grab with the Hyuga and Senju clans and didn't care what happened. My father was the CEO of Sharingan Enterprises and didn't care how he managed to outdo his competitors.

"I was a young man but not an idiot; I had known what they were plotting. I told the Senju CEO that my father was planning to take out his competitors because I had hoped it would help but it did not. Sasuke was at school when the fire swallowed the entirety of their homes; it spread too fast and there were no survivors; the Uchiha Clan was no more. There was never any tie to the Senju Clan but I will always blame myself."

Ren stared at Itachi with her eyes wide. She had heard about the Uchiha district going up in flames but she was so young that it didn't really affect her; at that point in her life, it was just something that made grownups sad. Quickly she was on her knees with her arms around Itachi's neck and her head on top of his. "You idiot," she grumbled, "you didn't do anything. They investigated it for months but determined it was just a gas leak in the CEO's home. With every building so close they all were swallowed. You were trying to keep the Uchiha Clan from making a mess of things. You were trying to prevent a large-scale disaster. Oh, Itachi," she sighed against his dark hair, "don't blame yourself."

"How can I not," he murmured against her collarbone as his hands found their way to the sides of her abdomen. His fingers clutched the fabric of her swimsuit cover and she could feel his shallow breaths against her chest. "I should have handled it differently. I should have gone to my father directly."

"If you had, would he have listened? Would that have prevented a gas leak," she asked gently as she brushed her fingers through his ponytail.

"I will never know," he murmured.

Ren's heart hurt so badly for him and there was nothing she could say to express how wrong he was. "Itachi," she tried but then bit her lip. With a soft sigh, she began again, "Sasuke will understand. Don't tell him it's your fault. It's not. Let him make his own decision about what happened. Show him the police reports and newspaper articles. Let him draw his own conclusions without you leading him to the same one you have."

Itachi leaned back enough to look up at her with his brows furrowed. "I left him all alone," Itachi told her, "that is enough to condemn me on its own."

"You were thirteen! You had no way to take care of him by yourself," she reminded him as she brushed her fingertips against the worry lines beside his nose. He shivered at her touch. "The past is done and over. All we can do is move forward and do better with the lessons it has taught us. My mom always told me that," she informed him with a sad smile.

"She sounds like she was a wise woman," Itachi murmured.

Ren nodded her head then pressed her forehead against Itachi's. She had never touched him for more than five seconds -that wasn't how their friendship worked- but now she felt like she wasn't in control. She wanted to bring him comfort but her words weren't enough. Her mother would play with her hair, kiss her forehead, and hold her until she felt better; Ren would attempt to do the same. She would pour her heart into bringing him comfort.

"Ren," Itachi said her name weakly. "If you don't add some distance between us," his words trailed off and he lowered his hands to her hips.

Ren's eyes widened and she blushed bright red. She didn't have much experience with romance or the opposite sex but she could tell what he had meant; her lower abdomen flamed as her insides flip-flopped. Five years age difference between the two of them; sixteen was the age of consent so it wasn't illegal. "I don't care," she murmured. With her breath held she lowered her lips to his and pulled her body closer to his.

Itachi groaned against her lips as he moved his right hand to the back of her head and his left arm pulled her against him tightly.

There had been a reason the two of them had never touched, she decided. Her body felt hot as his tongue darted into her parted lips. He knew her mentally and emotionally far better than anyone else in Nagisa. Itachi allowed her to be herself thoroughly without judging her. Sai and Naruto were attractive, understanding, and enjoyable company but Itachi was more reliable and mature; at that moment her crush on both of her friends vanished and was replaced with a deep ache for the man whose hands made her feel safe.

He broke the kiss and dived down to kiss her neck and collarbone; a moan unintentionally broke from her lips. "I should take you home," he murmured before his teeth grazed against the protruding bone.

"Y-yeah," Ren whimpered as she tilted her head back and unintentionally pressed her breasts towards him more.

"Tell me to stop now or I won't," he pleaded as his hands slipped under the coverup and his fingertips grazed against her pale flesh.

"I don't want you to," she whimpered before she claimed his mouth with hers again.

His lips and tongue felt hot in/against her mouth. He stood up and lifted her with him; her legs wrapped around his waist. Neither broke the kiss until Ren was flat on her back in Itachi's bed. "Last chance," he told her hoarsely. Instead of replying with words Ren raised her hips to push her core against him. A growl escaped his lips. "As you wish," he promised before pulling the swimsuit cover-up over her head.