Hana opened her eyes sharply, that was four years ago, and now everything was different. Oto and Suna had just attacked the village, Sandaime had been killed, and the village was almost in ruin. The academy had been closed; all the Jounin's and Chuunin's were out on missions so that no one would think Konoha had lost all their power. Hana had also been out on missions, but she finally had a break, she had today and tomorrow off. Standing and glancing out the window, she saw the sun rising. So sitting down at the desk, she began to study some veterinarian scrolls. Unknowing that nearby, a certain Uchiha was fighting with those he had once considered friends, Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Kakashi.
Itachi stepped forward; Kurenai and Asuma had their eyes closed to avoid looking at his sharingan. He didn't blame them, but he needed to finish off the copy ninja Kakashi, he couldn't use his sharingan properly and did not deserve it. But just as he pulled out a kunai, standing over the ninja, a fist connected with his side, sending him flying. Managing to land on his feet, he glared at the man who had hit him, Maito Gai. Appearing beside Kisame who was ready to fight, he scowled, sensing a team of ANBU getting closer; Kisame on the other hand was ready to attack.
" Kisame!" Itachi said sharply, glaring at Gai, " we're going to run, we did not come here to start a war, and regrettably this is nothing more than nonsense. Lets leave, before we have to fight a battalion of ANBU."
" Ah," Kisame said as they both vanished, appearing in the forest, Itachi glanced around searching for the Chakra of the ANBU, " Itachi, they're still coming after us, you think we can outrun them?"
" Ah, we can," Itachi said, Kisame nodded, " but just to be safe, we're going to split up, so if one gets caught the other can still get away. We'll meet at that spot, as soon as we can."
" See you there," Kisame said jumping away through the trees, as soon as Itachi could sense that he was gone, he leaned against a tree. Putting a hand to his side, he swore looking down and seeing the blood.
" Damn you Gai," Itachi muttered as he walked through the forest, " I'm not going to make it to that spot at this rate, I'm losing a lot of blood. I need to rest, recover my strength before I go." Finally he reached the place he was heading, and sensing the genjutsu was still activated, no one was in there. So he deactivated it and pushed open the cabin door, staggering inside, which was when he saw her hunched over his desk reading a scroll. She looked over sharply, but didn't move, simply stared at him like he wasn't real.
" Itachi?" Hana whispered slowly, the man standing in the doorway looked like Itachi, but it couldn't be him, " it can't be you." Hana stood walking over and looked up at his eyes, where she saw the sharingan. She stepped towards him, but he staggered slightly, and she rushed over, holding him up.
" What the hell did you do?" Hana snapped getting him over to the bed and pulling off his red cloud cloak, underneath he still wore his black Uchiha shirt, " god, this is not good, you've lost a lot of blood."
" I had a little run in with an old friend," Itachi muttered, Hana's eyes shot up to meet his, he closed his eyes, and opened them revealing his icy black eyes, " Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi and Gai, gave me a little welcome back to Konoha party."
" Kurenai and the others?" Hana said slowly as she examined his wound, she remembered when Itachi and Kurenai would spend a lot of time together, she had always thought that they were a couple but never had the courage to ask him, " and this is the only wound you received?"
" Ah, but I left them with some," Itachi replied gritting his teeth as she cleaned the wound and wrapped bandages around him, " Kakashi won't be himself for a while and Kurenai will be very pissed off, so avoid her."
" What did you do to her?" Hana asked as she lowered his shirt, looking up she saw the ghost of a rueful grin on his face.
" I countered her favorite genjutsu attack," he replied, closing his eyes and resting his head on the pillow, " she'll be trying to find a new jutsu to outdo me for weeks."
" Good grief," Hana said, still sitting on the edge of the bed, " why did you come back? How long have you been here? Are you back forever?"
" Slow down," Itachi said opening his eyes, and pushing himself into a sitting position, leaning against the desk, " I've only been here for a couple of days. I'm here on business from Akatsuki, the organization I belong to. I'm not telling you what that business is. And no, Hana, I'm not back forever."
" You've been here for two days," Hana said slowly, Itachi watched her, he had a bad feeling about this, " and you didn't come to see me!?" Her eyes bore into his, and he was sure if she hadn't just bandaged him up, she would have hit him.
" I came by," he said quickly, " you weren't here. And like I'm going to just walk up to the Inuzuka compound and ask if Hana can come out and play."
" Jerk," she said standing and going back to the desk, " you shouldn't of come back. I didn't want to see you anyways, I never missed you once."
" Ah, I can see that," he standing behind her, she stared intently at the scroll but she couldn't actually read it with him behind her, " I see that's my old headband your wearing." Hana froze, she had completely forgotten. Standing she pushed him away and walked to the door, but he appeared in front of her. Right in front of her, she walked right into his chest; he was still taller than her. Stepping back she felt his arms catch hers, and looking up into his eyes, she saw the old Itachi again. The Itachi that he had said was a dream, for a moment, just a moment, Hana felt like everything was okay again, like he hadn't left. Itachi saw this and leaning forward he captured her lips in a kiss, feeling her shock he bit her lower lips making her gasp in pain, using that to let his tongue dart into her mouth. His hands pulled her against him as she raised her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his midnight hair, she moaned in pleasure as his tongue explored her mouth. After what seemed like days, he broke the kiss, leaving her leaning against him. If he hadn't of been holding her, she was sure that she would have collapsed. Looking up into his eyes, she suddenly saw sadness forming in them. Feeling his arms leave her, he stepped back, she just stood there staring at him.
" Hana," he said slowly, she could detect the hint of sadness in his voice, " I… I shouldn't have done that… I'm sorry."
" What do you mean?" Hana said stepping towards him angrily shoving him in the chest making him hit the door, " we both liked that, and you know it. Why do you deny everything?"
" I didn't mean I didn't like it," he said, equally as angry, " I meant that I have to leave, tonight."
" What…?" Hana said slowly, he nodded, " but we just… you have to leave now?"
" I need to go meet someone," he said slowly, Hana scowled at him and turned away walking to the desk.
" Go," she snarled at him, he closed his eyes, " it'll be like nothings changed, like you never came back. Like you never were, like you never are, like you don't exist. Just the way you want it."
" Hana," Itachi said softly, appearing behind her with his arms around her, she gasped as he held her against him, " I wanted to do this, before I left, before it was too late. But I couldn't. You and I are not meant to be; you will find happiness with a man in Konoha. And I'm in the way." He released her, grabbing his cloak and putting it on, she turned to watch him as he walked towards the door.
" Hana," opening the door and stepping out, he glanced back at her, " I won't be in the way anymore, we won't meet again."
" Why are you saying this!" Hana shouted at him, he just stared at her, " you always do this, you could never see the way I feel! I love you damnit! Why can't you accept that!"
" Hana," he said slowly, but she walked over and hit him, he barely moved but it surprised him, " I can't be seen in Konoha, you can't be seen with me, or else you will be tried for treason. I'm a missing Nin, an S ranked criminal. You know how the world works, and this would never work. I won't be returning to Konoha, and you should settle down, get married and be happy. Don't dwell on the past, it ruins the future, look at Sasuke."
" Itachi," she said but before she could finish, he pressed his lips to hers.
" Hana, I will promise you this," he whispered against her lips, " I will never forget you, but I'll be gone soon, so move on. I might as well be dead; you can't dwell in the past. Goodbye." His lips met hers again, just for a moment, and then he was gone like a ghost. She opened her eyes and saw him disappearing in the trees. Racing out of the cabin she scowled and let out a burst of murderous Chakra.
" DAMN YOU ITACHI!" she shouted at him, knowing that he heard her " YOU JERK! YOU'D BETTER COME BACK!"
Itachi smiled as he heard her shouting at him, until he noticed someone standing in his path. Letting out a rueful grin he stopped and stared at Kurenai. She was standing in his path with her arms crossed over her chest.
" Come to be beaten again?" he asked stepping up beside her, she didn't move to stop him, " or did you want to say something else?"
" Leaving already?" came the deathly icy voice, Itachi looked over, " you didn't say goodbye last time, and your going to try it again?"
" I looked for you," he said calmly.
" You would rather say goodbye to her," Kurenai said slowly, " than me? The one whose heart you ripped to shreds when you took off after pulling that stunt?"
" I really do need to go," Itachi said stepping away, but she was in front of him again, and her lips were planted on his, after a moment they broke apart, " what's this all about?"
" That's your goodbye kiss from last time," Kurenai replied, pulling his head down and kissing him again, " that's for this time. Don't you be dying on me now." They stepped apart from each other and vanished. Itachi could still hear Hana shouting at him to come back.
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