Chapter 20

The trial

After retrieving his cloak and ring from where he had left them behind, -they were still there, hidden behind his genjutsu- he threw his cloak on and quickly placed the ring onto its rightful place. He wasted no time as he sped thru the forest, keeping his pace quick yet manageable throughout the whole journey.

It took Itachi the better part of the day to make his way to the Akatsuki hideout and he was almost there by the time Hatsu landed on his shoulder in one smooth flap of his shiny black wings.

"Was there trouble?" Itachi asked, glancing at the bird as it rubbed its beak affectionately against his neck. He took the scroll when Hatsu offered it to him with a proud coo.

"The Elders know, Sakura in trouble," Hatsu croaked, flapping his wings in anxiously, hitting Itachi in the back of the head in the process. His birds weren't usually affectionate towards strangers, yet it seemed like Sakura had won over his most trusted one and in the process, the whole flock.

Go figure.

"The trial?" Itachi asked, speeding up at the thought of Sakura in a cell, because of him. Danzō was sure to hurry the trial along after figuring out who the necklace previously belonged to. More so after finding out that the mission scroll was gone. Danzō would do anything to make sure no one found out what his part in the Uchiha massacre had been.

"Three days, maybe sooner," Hatsu croaked, tightening its grasp on his shoulder so as not to fall, his talons biting into Itachis skin, yet Itachi barely noticed. Three days was just enough time to do what Itachi intended to do if they didn't rush thru the trials.

"Hn," he hummed, dismissing Hatsu with a wave of his hand, making him disappear with a puff of smoke and a croak of protest. He needed to gather all the intel he could, warn Kisame and make it back to Konoha in three days.

He had a mission to complete.

…

"This must be a mistake! Sakura and my nephew were just engaged, the whole of Hyūga clan know this!" Hiashi yelled, enraged that their future matriarch was held in a cell for a crime she couldn't have committed.

"Yet Danzō insisted that the necklace and ring Sakura was wearing originates from the Uchiha clan!" Koharu, one of the village Elders, exclaimed, making Homura nod beside her. They had yet to see Sakura wearing these Uchiha relics, yet their trust in Danzō was blind.

"This is impossible!" The Hyūga bellowed, rising from his seat.

"Calm down Hiashi, I am sure there is an explanation for this mess. I have complete trust in my apprentice," Tsunade said, rubbing calming circles against her forehead. She was making sure to emphasize the word apprentice quite a few times, as not to let the Elders forget whose trial they were dealing with.

This whole trial was giving her a mighty headache.

Imagine her chock when Danzō had stormed into her office, demanding a trial for none other than Sakura Haruno, and for something as ridiculous as treason! A treason concerning a sexual relationship to an enemy of their village at that! Tsunade could hardly believe her ears when she first heard the accusation towards Sakura.

She still couldn't believe it.

Tsunade was not happy to learn that the girl she treasured like her own was locked in a cell, yet she needed to be smart about this. It had been two days, nearing three, and they still had not reached an agreement. Tsunade knew that they were running out of time, for some reason Danzō was anxious to close this case as fast as possible and it made her suspect that he knew more than he was letting on.

"Your apprentice has committed treason towards our village!" Danzō intervened angrily, making Tsunades eye twitch dangerously. She hadn't seen Sakura since they arrested her, nor had she had any chance to ask her what this was all about, as there surely was a reasonable explanation for this mess.

The hearing was later today and by tomorrow they would have to reach a decision, which Tsunade was not looking forward to, not at all.

"She has done no such thing until proven otherwise!" Tsunade bellowed, slamming her fist down and silencing the whole room. There was a moment of silence until Koharu cleared her throat almost nervously. It was no secret that their Hokage had quite a temper and none of the occupants in the room wished to play with fire.

"Can we trust you to not be lenient just because Sakura is under your wing?" Koharu asked, not unkindly but it made Tsunade clench her fists either way. It was a reasonable question, one that Tsunade was asking herself, could she judge Sakura fairly compared to some other citizen of Konoha?

She honestly did not know.

"I believe that we should all have a say in this trial," Danzō noted, glancing at Homura and Koharu in question, they nodded soon to agree. Hiashi was simply glaring at him, clearly not agreeing with Danzō on the subject.

If it was up to him, their Sakura-Sama would be safely back in the Hyūga compound where she belonged.

"This seems… reasonable," Tsunade agreed reluctantly, knowing that she would be unable to make a fair decision concerning her apprentices' crimes by herself, if said crimes were actually proven to exist.

"Then we have reached an agreement," Danzō said, clearly pleased that he got his way, making Tsunade glower. She was not happy about this decision, yet it seemed like the last resort.

"I believe we have not."

Everyone turned towards the voice in alarm, kunai's quickly in hand. They had not sensed anyone there before they spoke, they still couldn't sense anyone other than themselves and the fact that someone could sneak in and not be noticed by any of them made the hairs on the back of their necks to stand up.

The shadow in the corner of the room moved, revealing the glooming red Mangekyou from behind what they all realized had been a genjutsu. The gleaming red eyes spoke volumes as the shape of none other than Uchiha Itachi slowly emerged from the darkness.

"Where is my fiancé?"

"WHAT!" Hiashi bellowed, rising from his seat yet again. The elders looked at her in alarm, waiting on her orders and Danzō was glancing anxiously back and fort between the Uchiha prodigy and her, his eye widened as he saw the scroll Itachi was holding.

"Shit," Tsunade cursed, realizing the mess they were in.

Sakura owned her a year's supply of sake for this.

…

Sakura was laying in her cell, absentmindedly running her fingers over her necklace in a way to pass the time as she stared at the ceiling from her single bed.

It had been almost three days and she hadn't been allowed any visitors during that time. There had been quite a few times that she had heard the angry voice of Naruto, demanding to be let in, a few times from Ino if the angry shrieks were anything to go by and a calmer request from her ex-sensei, Kakashi, yet they all had been denied access during the trial, as was protocol.

Tsunade had made sure that she had plenty of food to eat, yet other than that, even her hands were tied.

Her time was mostly spent thinking about her situation, about Itachi, about their future.

Rationally, Sakura knew that Itachi being in the possession of the scroll could grand him full pardon and Danzō would take the blame that was rightfully his, yet she couldn't help but be worried. She didn't have much time left, what if Itachi didn't make it in time?

Yet all she could do was trust him.

Sakura sighed and let the necklace fall from her fingers.

She found it almost impossible to sleep here and she hoped that the chakra bind on her other wrist would let just enough chakra thru to at least allow her to knock herself out to get some rest. Yet she understood the precaution when taking into consideration what she could do with that meager amount.

She was Tsunades apprentice after all.

So, all she could do was wait patiently and be at her best behavior.

"Hurry back," she whispered and closed her eyes tiredly.

…

"This is absurd! You believe this traitor over me!" Danzō raged, trying to struggle out from his bindings.

They held strong, binding him to a chair in front of Tsunades desk as she scanned thru the treaded mission report for the fourth time in disbelief. There were Anbu around as a safety measure and the other council members and village elders were standing in line with somber expressions, some glancing at Uchiha Itachi warily every now and then.

"It is not Itachi that I believe, it is what you have written down and signed with your own blood that I'm finding it hard to digest," Tsunade said and finally lifted her eyes from the open scroll. She glanced at Itachi who was leaning against the wall in an almost relaxed posture, yet the gleaming Sharingan made her aware how ready he was for battle.

"This is true?" Tsunade asked him and gestured to the scroll in her hand.

"Aa," Itachi hummed, crossing his arms, he even had the balls to close his eyes in dismission, making Tsunades eyebrow twist in aggression. The boy needed to learn some manners, yet she had more important matters on her plate at the moment.

"Shimura Danzō, you are thereby found guilty of treason, conspiracy and masterminding the massacre of the Uchiha clan. The consequence of these crimes against the village of Konohagakure is punishable by death. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Tsunade asked and looked around the room, seeing if anyone disagreed with her sentence. All eyes were on Danzō, none seemed like they wished to say a word in defense for their soon to be ex elder.

"They were rotten, planning a coup, I did what I had to do to protect our village!" Danzō yelled, confirming his part in the massacre in the process as all looked away in disgust.

"Take him away," Tsunade gestured.

The Anbu quickly knocked him out for safer transport, and he was soon teleported away, never to be seen again after Ibiki got his last word with him.

"Uchiha Itachi, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Tsunade challenged, her already frayed nerves at their wits end. Itachi opened his eyes lazily, their red hue making the hairs stand on everyone's necks. It was no secret that Itachi could put them all under a genjutsu with a blink if he so wished.

"I want full pardon for myself as well as for my fiancé in exchange for the intel I have collected from the Akatsuki over the years. The Uchiha fortune is to be returned to my name, as well as the land that rightfully belongs to the heir of the clan," Itachi listed, making Tsunades fists tighten with each passing request. He wasn't demanding anything that rightfully didn't already belong to him, as he was the heir to the Uchiha clan, yet the idea of letting Uchiha Itachi loose in their village was not a comfortable one.

"Sakura Haruno is the future matriarch of the Hyūga clan, you should do well to refer her as such," Hiashi puffed and crossed his arms in defiance. Itachi smirked and turned his gleaming eyes to face the Hyūga clan head.

"Is that so?"

Hiashi gulped and glanced around him to see everyone taking a step back, just in case.

"…Yes?" Hiashi mustered out and stared into the Uchiha heads eyes bravely.

"There were no Hyūga heirlooms on her person when she accepted my betrothal gits, you must be mistaken-" Itachi started calmly, watching the older man grind his teeth together in frustration, realizing the error he had made concerning the young medic and his nephew.

"-Or the engagement between your nephew and my fiancé was never fully finalized," he finished, at this point Tsunade was starting to realize what a twisted sense of humor Uchiha Itachi actually had, the lazy smirk on his lips was a telltale that he was simply having fun with the Hyūga head.

"Ehem, right, so you wish to have Sakura as your fiancé and return to Konoha as a fulltime citizen?" Tsunade asked before things could turn ugly between the two men. Itachi turned his eyes to her and nodded calmly.

"You are aware that the citizen of Konoha are going to need some time in getting used to this new situation?" Tsunade asked carefully, relaxing as Itachi nodded yet again in confirmation. At least he was reasonably easy to negotiate with so far.

"I am aware that Konoha owns you much and all you have asked for is rightfully yours as the Uchiha clan head, yet I would wish to set some… boundaries in the beginning," Tsunade muttered and glanced around to see if someone disagreed. Luckily, everyone, even Hiashi, remained silent after they learned the truth about Danzōs role in the massacre.

They had no reason to turn the Uchiha away from the village that had always been rightfully his home.

"Aa," Itachi agreed, realizing that the sight of him could cause alarm at first when taken into consideration his reputation.

"Would you be willing to spend some time within the Uchiha compound, while the citizen's get used to the news?" Tsunade negotiated, hoping that this would be a pleasing solution both ways. Itachi would have time to settle, and the citizens would have time to digest the news in peace.

"This is acceptable," Itachi agreed with a nod, silently glad that he would have some time to settle back into his old home in peace. The old house needed to be renovated either way after years of neglect. It would take some time to complete before they could settle in with Sakura.

"Sakura is of course to be fully pardoned and free to move as she wishes, missions and all," Tsunade added as an afterthought, silently challenging Itachi conserving Sakuras freedom to go as she wished without the Uchiha.

Itachi caught on quick and smirked.

"Of course," he nodded, not one to take away her freedom of choice. Were she to become pregnant, they would have to have a talk concerning her health and safety while carrying the next Uchiha heir, but before that she was free to take missions as she wished.

"Peachy, I'll have the documents ready for you in a few days and the news of your return are to be delivered soon," Tsunade said, lifting her hand in dismissal to the other clan heads and elders. They disappeared one by one, some still shooting wary glances at the silent Uchiha.

"Now, I'm sure you wish to collect your fiancé."

…

The months after Itachis return had flown by quickly as the renovations for the compound were being made. Most of the old houses were destroyed as there was no longer use for them, but the few that were still in manageable condition were saved incase needed later on as guest houses. The main house was remade almost fully, mostly on Itachis wishes, the interior now a bit more modern while a few more rooms were added.

Sakura noted absentmindedly that it now bore quite a few similarities to the house that Madara had designed, the house still residing hidden in the cave had become their secret getaway destination. There even was the same koi pond residing next to their new house.

Sakura was helping with the renovations as much as she could while still working some hours at the hospital, not wanting to get rusty. She hadn't taken any missions outside the village in three months, deciding to spend some much needed alone time with Itachi, now that they finally had the chance to do so in peace.

It had taken her friends a few weeks to warm up to the whole idea of her with the Uchiha prodigy.

In the end, it had been Ino that had stormed her way in to the compound one day and demanded a lunch date with them, much to Itachis amusement. Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, Hinata and even Tenten were all dragged along, and after a few silent and awkward minutes, it had been Naruto that gave Itachi "the talk" to take care of their Sakura-chan. At Itachis silent agreement, Naruto had simply nodded and taken Itachi into their flock.

They visited weekly, some daily, after that, sometimes to train and sometimes for lunch date.

Many were still wary, yet the citizens had taken Itachis return surprisingly well after they noticed that he posed no threat to their day to day lives. Many were even pleased of the extra protection that the Uchiha clan could provide to their village. After a few months, not many looked twice in their direction when they walked together in the market, some even lifted a hand in greeting.

Itachi was mostly staying out from the mission roster for now, he simply reasoned that he'd had enough missions to last him a lifetime. He still trained daily, sometimes with Sakura, to keep himself in shape, but he had no real need to leave the home that he had just managed to gain back after years on the road.

Even Tsunade had slowly warmed up to Itachi, reluctantly that is. She did visit every now and again to make sure the renovations were going as planned, dragging with her a bottle of sake that never left the Uchiha grounds full.

Their wedding was held after the renovations were complete, those had taken 5 months. They decided to only invite their closest friends and asked if Tsunade could bless their marriage, which she did gladly. The week after the wedding was spent in the Uchiha clan vault, hidden from the world.

Life went on like that until after half a year or so, until Sakura became pregnant with their 1st child. Itachi couldn't have been more delighted, his hands never strayed far from the slowly growing baby bump. He loved to hold his head against her stomach and listen to their slowly growing child, the wonder on his face as the baby kicked his face never ceased to make Sakura tear up as she lovingly combed his hair back.

It took 8 months or so before Sasuke turned up at the village gates, demanding to see his brother. It turned out that he had looked quite adamantly for Itachi for a few months before finding out that his brother had left the Akatsuki and returned to Konoha to claim his place as the Uchiha head. Imagine his surprise when he saw Sakura standing next to his aniki, pregnant with their child.

It took them all day to caught up after Tsunade agreed to let the boy in to their village, under observance of course. Sasuke already knew the truth of Danzō and the Uchiha massacre, the word had traveled fast, he only wanted a confirmation that the man responsible for their clans demise was well and truly gone.

It was the first time that Sakura had seen Sasukes eyes fill with peace.

He had decided to stay, much to Narutos delight, but he did demand to have a house of his own, not wanting to live with the happily married couple. Sakura was silently glad about that fact. Sasuke did return to the mission roster after Tsunade deemed it safe, they had been running quite a few missions with Naruto after that.

Their first son was born 6 months after Sasukes return.

They named him Ichiro, as the first-born male. He was the mirror image of his father, right down to the puff of dark hair, gentle grey eyes and quiet nature. He quickly took a liking towards his uncle Sasuke, a fact that Sasuke never failed to gloat about. He never lost his temper with the child, not even when Ichiro pulled at his front hair when he demanded attention from his uncle.

Sakura did lose her temper though when she found her precious baby boy of 6 months sharpening kunai with his uncle Sasuke. There might have been a few fallen trees and one bruised Uchiha after she was done, much to Itachis inner glee.

There had been no news from the Akatsuki in months, it seemed like the whole organization had disappeared after Itachi left. No one knew when they would return, or if they would, after a while people started to forget that such a thing had existed.

Life was good.

…

"Ichi-kun! Come along now or we'll be late from uncle Sasukes birthday dinner!" Sakura yelled to their now 2-year-old son. He was smart, clearly taking after his parents, as he quickly tied his shoes on his own and jumped down from the front porch to follow her and Itachi. He wiggled his fingers at the fish in greeting as he always did when he passed the pond.

"Coming!" Ichiro yelled excitedly, his self-made present for his uncle tightly clutched below his arm. He had started to take more after Sakura personality vice after he started talking, until then he had always been a quiet baby.

They stepped out from the compound and turned to walk towards the restaurant that Sasuke had wanted to spend his birthday at. Itachi looked at Sakura and silently offered her his elbow when they turned to the busy market street and Sakura took it without question like she always did and smiled up at him lovingly while their son trailed behind them.

There was no longer envy in Itachis eyes as he looked around at other families walking around them. He could hear their son happily chattering behind them about his present to his uncle while Sakura gently laid a hand onto their second child growing within her belly.

How he had longed for this, a family.

He was finally happy.

…

We are finally here, at the end of Courtship!

I can't believe that the day finally arrived that I'm going to say goodbye to this story for good, it gives me quite a few mixed feelings. Am I 100% happy with the way it turned out or ended, not really, but it has been a long journey that I'm really glad I got the share with so many of you!

I might re-edit some of the errors later, but other than that, I'm closing this chapter of my life for good.

All I can say is thank you for following along all these years and trusting me to finish this story like I promised I would!

Now I finally have the time to concentrate on my other stories that I plan to finish as well…

And as always, thank you for reading and have a nice day!

R&R

TY

-Hana