Chapter 18

The cave

Sakura kept glancing at Itachi every now and again as they walked.

After they finished the "spy" mission, which he had taken care of simply by capturing the target and quite forcefully using his Sharingan to get all the information that they needed, he had demanded that they return her to Konoha. Akatsuki wanted him back for reasons unknown to her and she didn't even dare to ask, she was quite sure she didn't even wish to know.

The mission was supposed to take four weeks and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to explain that one to Tsunade, but Itachi had made her write all of the info he had gathered into her mission scroll, so there really was no reason to question if she had completed the mission or not.

So, she basically had 3 more weeks off from mission roster that she could spend how she wished.

'Well, I guess I could work at the hospital and make some extra money,' Sakura mused and bit her lip. She could always use the extra money, not that she was struggling financially, but you never knew when you needed it. One call from Ino to join her on a shopping spree and she could spend a months' worth, it wasn't something that she was proud to admit, yet true none the less.

The atmosphere was quite tense and Itachi was still being quite untalkative. Not that Sakura had expected him to be a chatty person by any means, but this seemed a bit… extreme, even from him.

Most of the way to Konoha was spent like that, in awkward silence, at least on her end. She was quite used to the constant chatter that Naruto made if Sai teased him, or when she and Kakashi talked like actual adults about one subject or another.

But what bothered Sakura the most, was where they stood with each other after their… session. Itachi didn't seem like someone that did things halfway, yet he hadn't really told her what his actual plans were now that she knew the truth about his identity, other than confirm that they were indeed "engaged". She guessed that the only way to find out was to ask, but as they neared Konoha, she found it harder and harder to open her mouth.

"I- Itachi?" Sakura started finally, her curiosity killing her. She was still quite unsure about using his actual name and not the shorter version she had gotten used to, yet Itachi didn't seem to mind either way.

"Aa?" Itachi hummed and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He had his Sharingan on, but it didn't alert her quite as much as she expected it to, the tomoes were spinning in a lazy fashion. He didn't seem all that annoyed anymore, Sakura guessed his blood had finally cooled off a little.

Sexually frustrated Itachi really was quite frightening, Sakura thought with a giggle.

"I was wondering…"

"Hm?" Itachi asked and turned his head to face her in question, one eyebrow rising inquisitively as he heard her giggle.

"Where… do we stand with each other now that- that uh… you know?" Sakura stammered with a rising blush. Having his unwavering attention zoomed in on her did nothing good to her vocabulary, yet she had so many questions.

How could they have any kind of relationship if he was still acting as a spy, something that he had confirmed to her earlier. Or when they lived in different villages and hardly could see each other regularly to build their bond into something deeper. Where would they live, if they did form a relationship between them, so long as he was working for the enemy in anyway it seemed quite impossible?

Did he even want something like that?

"Aa," Itachi chuckled, he could clearly see the confusion and frustration on her face and he had been intending to talk to her about these very things as soon as they reached the detour that he was taking them to before Konoha.

He knew very well that building a family on the road was next to impossible and not something that he wanted for her, or for their children. He did indeed have a plan, but he needed her help to execute it, by getting those same scrolls that had given him away to begin with. After that, he had all the evidence of his innocence concerning the massacre and he intended to use it to his advance.

But he needed to do a few things before leaving Akatsuki for good, one of them was to inform Kisame of his decision. The second was to gather as much information as he could so that Konoha could to gain the upper hand. That had to do with his hurry as well, he had been away too long and if he intended to gather any intel, he needed to return and soon. There was only so long that Kisame could stall for him.

But all that could wait until he had cleared the confusion and frustration shining in Sakuras eyes.

"We're here," Itachi said abruptly and stopped without warning. Sakura looked around in confusion since this clearly was not Konoha, or anywhere near home for that matter, he hadn't really said anything about a detour either.

"Where is… here?" Sakura asked uncertainly, all she could see was trees, this whole area seemed to be quite overgrown with greenery and no one had clearly been there in years. Sakura glanced at Itachi in question, but he merely smirked and told her to watch.

Itachi walked confidently towards a few rocks while doing hand sings, the trees and rocks gave away to reveal a gate otherwise hidden behind genjutsu. Sakura gasped as she saw the Uchiwa fan decorating the double doors come into view, she realized that this must have been a clan vault, either a safe house or a treasury to hide secret and important clan stuff. Haruno clan had never had anything like this, but she guessed that it made sense that the Uchiha did, they were and old clan after all.

It made her wonder why he was showing it to her, it seemed too important to show someone outside of clan.

"Sakura," Itachi said and motioned for her to follow.

And she did, exited to see what lay behind those heavy stone doors.

…

"Ooh," Sakura gasped for the tenth, or so, time, as she glanced around them, this place was like an underground mansion! Itachi kept strolling ahead, the torches on the walls kept lighting their way in an eerie manner, almost as if welcoming him home. He had clearly been there before, as he seemed to know what turns to take, as he led her deeper into the stronghold.

And that is just what this place seemed to be, just from the sheer size alone Sakura guessed that it could have held the whole clan comfortably, in case they needed a hidden place to seek refuge. They had passed many open areas along the way, some which Sakura guessed were for training and other that looked like they could be used to grow food or hold animals.

They all seemed somehow… empty, which Sakura guessed made sense since there really wasn't much of an Uchiha clan anymore, yet it almost made her… sad.

Sakura was so lost in thought, that by the time Itachi finally stopped, she almost walked straight into his back. She was saved by a hair from running into him, yet there still was an embarrassed flush rising on her cheeks. She stepped to stand next to him and ignored his knowing smirk in favor of looking at the double doors they now stood before of.

These ones were more extravagant than the other doors they had passed along the way, and it made Sakura gulp nervously. What could be hidden behind these luxurious doors that was important enough to reside at the near end of the Uchiha lair?

Uchiha heirlooms? Family tomb? A well-kept secret library on all kind of Uchiha jutsu?

The last one made Sakura almost giggle in excitement, what wouldn't she give to get access to something like that? She bit her lip eagerly and glanced at Itachi who had been looking at her the whole time from the corner of his red eye, a knowing smirk still on his lips.

"So… we're here," Sakura said pointedly and raised an eyebrow in demand, trying to act as if she wasn't eager to see behind those inquiring, and unfortunately still closed, doors.

"Aa," Itachi hummed, clearly seeing below her usually quite passable acting, if the quiet chuckle was anything to go by. He was clearly stalling on purpose, seeming to enjoy the tick that was starting to form below her eye if the twinkle in his own red ones was anything to go by.

"And… are we going to go in?" Sakura asked in a growl, crossing her arms and tapping her foot in an aggravated manner. She would bring these walls down herself if he decided to play with her temper, it was a dangerous game, one that not many had dared to play. Itachi seemed to sense this as well, yet he merely shook his head with a grin, somehow seeming to find her spirit more amusing than precarious.

"Indeed," he muttered with a laugh and laid his hand onto the double doors, with a small burst of his chakra, the doors finally started to open. Sakura held her breath excitedly, her earlier anger forgotten in favor of seeing what lay beyond.

But what she did see simply took her breath away.

It was a mansion, yet not something that one would expect to find in an underground lair.

It took some time for Sakuras eyes to get used to the bright shine that was illuminating the whole area, but when she did, she could make out the yard that they were now standing before of. The warm glow was like that of a sun, yet this light was clearly created using seals and genjutsu.

Sakura was sure they were still deeply underground.

"It's… a home?" Sakura asked and glanced around, her eyes eagerly looking for every small detail that she could find. Whatever she had expected, this was certainly not it!

She noted that the grass was even gently swaying, yet there was no wind that she could detect. The borderline of the area around the house was layered with trees, it gave the room an illusion that they were in the middle of a forest, rather than in a cave.

There were no birds singing or anything like that and the whole place seemed scarcely used, yet the beautiful traditional home looked inviting and cozy from the outside. There was a stony path going from where they were standing at, -it was framed with stone lanterns-, that lead to the main entrance of the house.

She could see a pond located next to the house with actual koi in it, they were swimming lazily in circles. The gentle tapping of a bamboo fountain caught her by surprise, snapping her out of her astonishment.

"This is… amazing," Sakura gasped, she couldn't even fathom how one went about creating something like this, it would not only take great skill in genjutsu, but one also needed a mind of great artistic brilliance. Whoever made this mansion had wanted it to feel like a real home within the woods, not a mere place to hide in.

"Aa," Itachi agreed and offered her his elbow, after giving her some time to take everything in. Sakura took it with a blush, it felt weirdly pleasant to be treated like an actual lady, no matter how capable she was in taking care of herself. He walked her slowly towards the house, giving her time to keep looking around them in wonder.

"Who... made this?" Sakura finally managed to ask as she turned her sparkling eyes up at him, eager for an answer.

"Uchiha Madara-" Sakura gasped, but Itachi didn't give her any time to talk before he continued. "-he made this underground base to protect his people before Konoha was formed. Yet I am quite sure that they barely managed to use it," Itachi explained.

Sakura contemplated her answer carefully before talking. She didn't want to insult his ancestors, no matter how insane they happened to be, in Itachis case.

"Madara did this? That is... quite impressive," Sakura said carefully, making Itachi scoff.

"You are afraid to insult me, by saying my ancestor was stir-crazy, are you not?"

Sakura gaped at him in mortification and pulled her arm away from his, only to slap his bicep quite hard in reprimand, it was a nice bicep, she noted, warm too. Much to Sakuras credit, Itachi did actually rub his arm with a grimace and she hoped it would bruise as a reminder. Itachi glanced down at her with his eyebrows raised in surprise, clearly not many could hit him and get away with it.

She grinned innocently up at him, teeth and all.

"Such temper," Itachi muttered with a chuckle and offered her his arm again. She took it but made sure to glare at him in warning. She had noticed that Itachi seemed to enjoy her characteristic anger and short nerve in a way that she found almost masochist in nature.

But then again, Uchiha men in general seemed to prefer women with some fire in their veins.

"Did he actually live here?" Sakura asked curiously when they reached the front porch. She could see the koi in the pond better now, she wondered how they were still alive with no one to take care of them. Her fingers itched with the need to feed the poor creatures.

"It is said that he built this for a family that he never got. He sired no heirs, at least as far as Uchiha are aware," Itachi muttered quietly, and opened the shoji door for them to enter. With a last glance in the pond's direction, Sakura followed him inside after they both removed their shoes.

"If this is the home of Uchiha Madara… how are we allowed inside?" Sakura asked skeptically, glancing around the room they stepped into. She was surprised to see that it was free of dust, she was quite sure that no one had been there in years, like the outside of the entrance had suggested.

"It was Madaras," Itachi corrected and stepped into the kitchen with Sakura on his heels. He gestured for her to sit at the traditional table while going to make them some tea. The table was made for eight people to sit comfortably with two cushions on each side. The pillows were soft and plushy, Sakura found them mighty comfortable, as she settled down.

Sakura found this whole scene to be quite absurd. Here she was, sitting in the home of none other than the great and terrible Uchiha Madara, while the heir to the clan was brewing them tea, of all things. She made sure to pinch her thigh below the table, this all seemed like one of those bizarre kinds of dreams, that made no sense when you woke up.

That is, if you even managed to remember the dream in question.

"And… it's your now?" Sakura asked carefully after making sure that she wasn't dreaming. This had probably belonged to Itachis parents before the Uchiha coup and massacre, that left only Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi was the clan heir since he was the older of the two… It made sense, at least in her head.

"Aa," Itachi agreed as he waited for the water to boil. Sakura noticed that he looked calm, almost at ease, as he reached up to get their cups from the cupboard. She had never seen him like this, even when he had been at her place after the whole Hyūga fiasco, there had been some tenseness in his frame.

Now he looked… relaxed, happy, it certainly suited him.

He was quite handsome, she decided, the famous Uchiha genes had certainly done him well. The grey shirt that had fishnet on the front made it possible for her to see the necklace he was wearing; it made her curious were he had gotten such a thing, since he always had it on. The short sleeves of his shirt also gave her a good view of his strong arms, the very same ones that she had been holding just a few moments ago.

To her inner glee, there was indeed a slight bruise forming, a result of her affections.

"Have you lived here?" Sakura asked curiously, the place didn't seem like it had been used much, yet he seemed to know his way around well enough.

"Occasionally, yet it is not a place fit for a family," Itachi said with a shrug, making their tea now that the water had boiled. And it was true, no matter how homy it was built to feel like, it was no place to raise children.

He wanted to hear the wind as it played in his hair when he stepped outside, smell the weather as it changed with the seasons and feel the sun on his skin as he sat on the porch with his wife. But mostly, he wanted his children to be able to feel those very same things. That they could run and play in the woods, those that were a mere illusion in here.

None of that existed here within this cave.

"Fa- family?" Sakura squeaked, a heavy blush rising onto her cheeks as Itachi sat down next to her, carrying a cup of tea in each hand. Sakura had half the mind to say thanks, as he placed one before her on the table.

"Aa," Itachi hummed and took a sip, the hot temperature didn't seem to bother him, he was used to breathing fire after all. Sakura glanced at her cup and decided to leave it for the moment being, she really didn't wish to burn her tongue.

"And- uuh… what does that include?" Sakura asked uncertainly, after clearing her throat, the blush refusing to leave her cheeks after he mentioned a family. Itachi placed his cup down in favor of facing her.

"I want a wife and children, Sakura. It has been years since I've had the feeling of belonging," Itachi explained and gently took her nervously shaking hands into his bigger and warmer ones. The mention of children made her blush darken, Sakura was afraid that she would pass out if this kept going on, there was simply too much blood on her cheeks to be healthy.

What Itachi said next certainly didn't help.

"It would be an honor, if you allowed me to court you."

…

Hello, you lovely people and thank you for all the positive reviews you gave me for the last chapter, they absolutely made my day!

I decided to give you another chapter as a treat before the weekend starts, after how many chapters I owe you, this is the least I can do…

I tried to check this for errors, but I apologize for any that I might have missed.

Please let me know how you like this chapter!

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

R&R

TY

-Hana