Being back in Konoha was like coming up for air after being underwater for so long, only to find that the air was stale and stuffy.

For years Itachi had accepted that the citizens of Konoha hated him – as they were well within their rights to do. He didn't necessarily blame them for feeling the way they did, but he had to admit that the glares and the whispers behind his back did get to him.

He had been in Konoha for three days now, but it felt like much longer. Sasuke had been determined to go back to living in the Uchiha compound, and Itachi had followed, not wanting to be too far from him.

It was a nightmare being back in his old home. He saw vivid flashbacks, blood spatter, the soulless eyes of the family he slaughtered there. Sasuke seemed unperturbed by it, but Itachi had trouble sleeping at night.

Luckily, Sasuke was there to dull some of that pain. The brothers had been nearly inseparable since returning to the village. They spent their time catching up with one another, sparring, and just enjoying one another's company. Itachi was glad to finally spend time with Sasuke instead of keeping him at arm's length as he had always done in the past.

Sasuke still had an aloofness in his manner that Itachi found insufferable, but he supposed that he carried a bit of the same standoffishness in his own demeanor. Maybe it was an Uchiha thing – their father seemed to have it, too.

Neither one of them left the compound very often – only to get food. Itachi hadn't seen Yamato or Sachi since his first day in the village, and he had already begun to miss them. He argued with himself that it wasn't his place to see them. They were not his kids and he did not have visitation rights. He should leave them alone and let them be happy with Sakura's parents, but he couldn't help how often he thought of them.

To a lesser extent, he thought of Sakura, too. The day she had brought Yamato and Sachi to the park she had seemed terribly distracted, upset almost. He had wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she kept her distance from him while he was with the children. In fact, she had hardly said two words to him.

That was why it was so surprising when she showed up at his door with a basket in her hand and a hesitant grin on her face.

"Good morning, Itachi-san," she said brightly, though he could see that it didn't reach her eyes, "Is Sasuke-kun around?"

He ushered her inside. "I think he's in the kitchen," he answered, unsure of how to respond to having her in his home. She followed him into the kitchen where they found Sasuke riffling through the refrigerator.

"Sasuke-kun," she greeted, placing her basket on the table, "I brought some things for you." She pulled several containers of homemade food, a jar of what looked like food pills, a couple of wrapped packages and a potted cactus from the basket and arranged them on the table.

Sasuke turned to look at her, raking his eyes over her in a way that Itachi found completely distasteful, and returned to riffling through the refrigerator.

"I thought some of this stuff might help you get acclimated to being in the village again," she said, ignoring the way he ignored her, "I also had some more of your shirts with your clan symbol on the back made. You've grown a lot since you left!"

He grunted in response.

She turned to Itachi and gave him a smile, "I had some made for you, too, Itachi-san. I just guessed your measurements, so hopefully they will fit."

Itachi was touched by the gesture, and annoyed that Sasuke didn't seem to be.

"Thank you, Sakura," Itachi said smiling with extra warmth to make up for his brother's lack of gratitude, "You didn't have to do that."

She began to fidget nervously, and Itachi cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"Sasuke-kun," she said, "Naruto and I are going to Ichiraku tonight. Do you want to come with us? It's been so long since we've all been…"

"I'm not interested."

She faltered a bit, but seemed to expect that response from him. "Okay, but if you change your mind, we'll be there."

"I won't change my mind."

"Sasuke," Itachi snapped, "Don't be so cold. It's rude."

He shot a glare at his older brother, but said nothing else.

"It's okay," Sakura said, "I should get going."

Itachi walked her to the door, unsure of whether or not he should apologize on his brother's behalf. It was unthinkable that he could be so rude to her after she'd gone out of her way to be nice to him.

The words were nearly out of his mouth when he changed his mind. Whatever happened between Sakura and Sasuke was none of his business.

"Goodbye, Sakura-san. Thank you for the shirts," he said.

"Of course," she said, "And I'll see you tomorrow for your appointment. Don't be late!"

He waved her off and shut the door softly.

"Why are you so mean to her?" Itachi asked when he walked back into the kitchen.

"She's annoying."

"She loves you."

"Yeah, and it's annoying. I didn't ask her to do that," Sasuke answered.

"She wanted to do something nice for you."

Sasuke grunted.

"You know she's the reason I'm here," Itachi pointed out, "She's the one who convinced me to tell you the truth. I was planning on letting you kill me."

Sasuke scoffed.

"I'm serious," Itachi continued, "She cares a lot about you. She wants you to be happy."

"I am happy," he said grumpily, "And I don't need her help."

"You'll have to marry someone if you intend on restoring the clan, you know," Itachi pointed out, "You can't have babies by yourself."

"Are you suggesting I marry Sakura?" Sasuke asked. Itachi didn't want to suggest that, because the idea of Sakura and Sasuke sent a flash of something hot and painful through his chest, something he decided was not jealousy. But if they were both happy, then he couldn't complain.

"Is there another girl who would be willing to put up with you?"

"Please," Sasuke said, "There are probably girls lined up to be the mother of my children."

Itachi smirked and joined Sasuke at the table as he dived into the food Sakura had brought them.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked between mouthfuls, "You're the heir. You have to pick the next Uchiha matriarch."

Itachi plucked a slice of mango from one of the containers and munched it thoughtfully. His thoughts drifted to Izumi and then to the prostitute from the bar. Itachi had never considered taking a wife after leaving Konoha. It had never been a possibility. But Sasuke was right – his wife would be the Uchiha matriarch.

Unbidden, and image of Sakura carrying Sachi on her back came to mind. He couldn't deny an attraction to her, but she was Sasuke's teammate. And she loved Sasuke – she had told him that back in Toyeiki. Sasuke was the one she wanted.

Still, it wasn't hard to imagine her raising his children. They'd receive the best medical care in the world. They might inherit her perfect chakra control. They'd have a tender and loving mother who would do anything for them. With a grimace, Itachi imagined that they might also inherit her pink hair.

"I suppose I'll have to meet some women before I can marry one," Itachi said jokingly.

Sasuke chortled.

.

The next day, Itachi left the compound to go meet Sakura at the hospital for his appointment. He had begun to grow a little stir crazy being cooped up inside the compound, but he wasn't comfortable walking around the village yet.

"Have a seat, please," Sakura said when Itachi entered her in-patient room. She was cordial, but clinical – none of the friendliness he had come to expect from her present in her tone.

He did as he was told and waited in silence while she busied herself with what he presumed was his chart. When she finished, she set his chart down beside his lap and placed her hands in their usual place between his ribs.

After his conversation with Sasuke, Itachi had found it hard to shake Sakura from his thoughts. He was in no hurry to find a wife – he had all the time in the world for that. It could wait until after Danzo had been handled, after Madara had been taken care of.

And Sakura really wasn't the best option for him, anyway. She was Sasuke's teammate, the Godaime's apprentice, and beloved by the Konoha's citizens. A girl like her shouldn't be with a guy like him. She was bright and warm in all the ways that he was swallowed by darkness.

If he had any sense, he would put her as far away from his mind as possible. He had other things he needed to focus on. As soon as Sakura cleared him as medically fit, he could start taking missions again. He should be thinking about that instead.

But she was very close to him now – close enough that he could smell her vanilla scented shampoo and see each individual pink eyelash. Her eyes were closed as she channeled her chakra through him and he took the opportunity to study her face up close. Her skin was smooth and pale, her cheeks slightly flushed – maybe from the heat in the room. Her lips were parted slightly, and occasionally she would catch the tip of her tongue with her teeth before pulling it back into her mouth.

Her brow furrowed in concentration and her breathing was steady. Itachi imagined her standing this close to all her other patients, her hands on their chests, their eyes on her face. It made him uncomfortable all of a sudden.

He looked up at her eyelids, the translucent skin there twitching slightly. Her lashes… He couldn't fathom how lashes could be so long and so pink.

And then her eyes flew open and she stared at him, locking their gazes. She didn't flinch away from him as he expected she might, having been slightly surprised to find him looking at her so intently. He wanted to look away from her, to drag his eyes to literally anything else in the room because it was embarrassing having been caught staring at her.

But he couldn't look away, and he didn't want to. It appeared that Sakura didn't want to either, because she stared back at him with as much intensity.

"You're staring," she whispered, and he could feel her breath on his face.

He wanted to point out that she was staring too, but it somehow seemed inappropriate to do.

"Your lashes are pink," he said instead, because the observation was harmless enough and explained his staring a little bit.

She blinked rapidly, causing them to flutter. He wondered if she did that on purpose. The idea that she might have made his heart seem to stop for a moment.

"My hair is naturally pink," she explained. She didn't need to because he already knew that, but he smiled anyway, happy just to hear her speak. Tentatively, he reached up to catch a lock of said pink hair between his thumb and forefinger, inspecting it as if he didn't believe her. Though it probably was a bad idea, he activated his Sharingan to get a better look at it – to get a better look at her.

"I see," he said, tucking the strand behind her ear and letting his thumb graze across her cheekbone. It was a mistake – he knew that as soon as their skin touched. It sent a jolt of electricity through him and he pulled his hand away as if he'd been shocked. He should have been too embarrassed to look at her, but with his Sharingan activated he could see her pulse beating wildly in her neck and the flush of red that filled her cheeks. Her breathing had become shallower, and if he had cared to observe himself more closely, he'd have noticed that his had, too.

He couldn't help but be pleased that just a small touch had elicited such a reaction from her. It felt good to know that he affected her the same way she affected him. He chanced a look up into her eyes and saw confusion there.

She stepped away from him, turning to face the cart beside her. Her face was intensely red and clashed horribly with her hair. Itachi couldn't help himself and he grinned, not at her, but just because he felt so happy and so free here with her. He was completely lost in the moment, feeling the rush of what he knew were endorphins.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she snapped.

"Interactions like these," he began, "People take them for granted."

She gained the confidence to look at him again, and fixed him with a curious gaze. With his Sharingan still activated, he didn't miss the way her eyes dipped down to his mouth before snapping back up to his eyes. Again, he felt a pulse in his heart, like it had skipped a beat (which he knew was only a myth). He looked down to her mouth, openly staring at her parted pink lips.

"I'm not sure what you mean," she said, but he had a feeling that she knew exactly what he meant. He longed to pull her back close to him and kiss her, but he knew he couldn't do that.

"It's just nice to be close to someone," he answered, "That's all I meant." It was a lot to have meant, though, and he knew that. Being close to her was as big a deal as it felt. He knew that she had pined after Sasuke. He also knew that Sasuke would never have touched her like that, or wanted to be this close to her.

He imagined that there were probably other men who did want to be this close to her. He couldn't blame them. She probably had millions of opportunities to be with millions of other men.

"If you were Naruto I'd have punched you by now," she said, glaring at him.

He smirked, aware that she had a temper and had likely punched many men who'd touched her like that without permission.

"I'm glad I'm not Naruto, then."

"Doesn't mean I won't punch you if you touch me again."

He laughed loudly, surprised by the threat, "I apologize, Sakura," he said, "I'll keep my hands to myself."

She accepted his apology and took a step closer to him, "Now if you'll let me finish I can get you out of here and back on the mission roster."

She put her hands back on his chest, and he refrained from touching her for the remainder of his appointment.

.

"What are you so happy about?" Sasuke demanded.

Itachi smiled just as he'd been doing all day since his appointment with Sakura. After he left the hospital he had gone to he Hokage tower to speak with Tsunade about taking potential missions soon. She had informed him that as soon as his autoimmune disease had been taken care of that he could go back to active duty, either as an ANBU, or just a jonin, if he chose.

Taking missions again, and getting away from the compound was too good to be true. He was beginning to feel like a Konoha citizen again and he couldn't feel better about it.

He gazed fondly at his little brother and shook his head slightly, "I'm just happy to be here, that's all," he said.

He didn't want to think too much about it, but he knew that his elation was due entirely to his interaction with Sakura earlier, and the thought gave him pause. How could Sasuke find her annoying? How could he not see what a beautiful and talented kunoichi she was?

"Well knock it off," Sasuke said, "It's weird."

"Weird that I'm happy?"

"Yeah."

Itachi huffed, but it was more out of amusement than irritation. "It wouldn't kill you to try to be a little happier, you know," Itachi said.

Sasuke shrugged noncommittally.

"You should go spend some time with your friends," Itachi said, "You're lucky to have friends at all with that attitude."

"I have you," Sasuke said, "What do I need friends for?"

Itachi loved his brother, he really did. But Sasuke was starting to get on his nerves. He had two unbelievably faithful friends who still loved him in spite of the way he'd treated them. Itachi would have given anything to have Shisui back, and here Sasuke was, shunning the people who loved him.

"I'll go with you, then," Itachi offered, "Naruto and Sakura want you to get ramen with them. They're just going to keep asking until you do it. And you might be surprised by how much you enjoy it."

"Fine," Sasuke conceded, "If they ask me again, I'll go. But only if you come, too."

.

True to his word, Sasuke agreed to go to Ichiraku the next time Sakura asked him. He had come home from the training grounds where he'd been sparring with Kakashi and informed Itachi that they would be going that night.

Itachi was pleased that his bother had finally made social plans that didn't include sparring or fighting, so when they arrived at Ichiraku's, Itachi promised himself that he would fade into the background and not intrude too much on Sasuke's time with his friends. After all, agreeing to go at all had only been a ruse to get him to accept the invitation.

But what he hadn't expected was to see Sakura wearing a dress and make-up. She looked oddly out of place sitting in the ramen stand dressed so nicely. Naruto and Sasuke had both opted to wear their standard shinobi clothing, as had Itachi. With a pang of jealousy, Itachi realized that she must have dressed up to impress Sasuke – the man she actually wanted to be with.

"Sasuke!" Naruto bellowed when he caught sight of them, "You brought your brother."

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke droned.

"Of course not," Naruto said, grinning and patting the seat the next to him, "Hey, Itachi, how's it going?"

Itachi smiled in response, a genuine one, he was surprised to find. For whatever reason, Itachi found Naruto's enthusiasm to be infectious. Sasuke took the seat on Naruto's left, leaving only one open – the one on Sakura's right.

It was a bad idea. He was only there to support his little brother. He couldn't do that if he was flirting with his teammate – not that he was experienced in the art of flirting enough to be good at it. But she looked so nice in that dress. The dress she was wearing for Sasuke, he reminded himself.

But it was too late now. He couldn't leave. He glanced over at Sasuke, who was actually paying attention to whatever Naruto was saying to him. In fact, it almost looked like he was enjoying himself.

He took the seat next to Sakura and gave her a half smile. She was probably still upset with him for touching her. He hoped she would be. Maybe it would be easier to be near her if she gave him the cold shoulder.

"Good evening, Itachi-san," she said with an infectious smile of her own. So much for that idea.

"Sakura-san," Itachi said, keeping his tone as neutral as possible, "You look nice."

"Oh," she said as if she just remembered that she did look nice. The thought made Itachi grin a little wider, "Ino and I had this whole thing planned. We were going to go dancing, but then Sasuke actually agreed to come tonight, so I bailed on her. She understood, of course. This is the first time he's agreed to come."

He hummed in response, resting his forearms on the counter. So she hadn't dressed up for Sasuke's sake.

"Dancing," he said, testing the word out. He definitely would like to see Sakura dance. Kunoichi were notoriously graceful – he was sure Sakura was no exception.

"Yeah, it's kind of silly, but it's a good way to relieve stress," Sakura said, "And men just love to watch Ino dance. She loves the attention, which is good because she's upset that Sai is missing."

He hummed again and let his eyes wander down to her mouth. It was increasingly hard to keep his eyes away from parts of her that were sinfully displayed in that dress – parts of her that he should not be looking at. Izumi had been too young to have those curves, and Itachi had been too young to be thinking about them. He wondered now what she might have looked like all grown up.

He let his eyes wander, not bothering to hide his roving glances because she was sure to notice them anyway. When he found himself looking into her eyes again, he was amused to see her looking flushed and angry.

He tried unsuccessfully to hide a grin. It probably looked more like a smirk, which only seemed to make her more angry.

If he'd had his Sharingan activated, he would have seen the slap coming. He was far too distracted by other parts of her to notice her hand. But when the palm of her hand meet his cheek it felt nothing like the way he'd touched her at the hospital. It stung.

Naruto and Sasuke abruptly stopped talking, both of them gaping at Sakura. The silence was thick and tense, but Itachi wasn't angry. She hadn't hurt him. He didn't even feel humiliated like he should have. He felt mirth bubble up in his chest until laughter spilled out of him. She had slapped him!

It was something she would have done to Naruto if he had been looking at her that way. It was like they were friends.

"Pervert," she muttered.

"You can hardly blame me for noticing how nice you look, Sakura-san," he said, giving her an amused grin.

"Well you don't have to stare at me like that!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san," Itachi said, "It won't happen again."

"Sakura…" Naruto muttered. Itachi glanced over Sakura' shoulder to see him staring at her in disbelief.

"See?" Sasuke said, "I told you she was annoying."

Itachi saw Sakura ball her hands in fists, her jaw tightening as she clenched her teeth. He felt guilty for inducing her anger like that and causing Sasuke to say such a thing in front of her.

"She isn't annoying," Itachi defended, "I was being rude. It was my fault."

"It was your fault that she slapped you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Guys, let's talk about something else," Naruto said, the nervousness apparent in his voice.

"No, she's always doing shit like this," Sasuke continued, "How many times has she punched you, Naruto? She's got too much of a temper. She shouldn't be taking it out on my brother. Itachi did nothing wrong."

Itachi resisted the urge to face palm. This had not been how he wanted this social excursion to go.

"It's fine, Sasuke—"

"No, he's right, Itachi-san," Sakura interrupted, "I shouldn't have slapped you. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

He snapped his gaze to her and saw that her eyes were glassy – she looked like she was about to cry. He agreed that he didn't deserve it, but he didn't want her to apologize – not for something so silly and small. In spite of the rudeness of the gesture, it made him feel like her friend, like he was an actually part of the village again instead of an outsider.

He reached out to grab her hand from the counter, but thought better of it. He shouldn't do that in front of his brother and Naruto. He settled instead for a pleading look – one he hoped she would recognize as consoling.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Sakura," Itachi said.

"I get it, Sasuke," Sakura said, fully ignoring Itachi, "You think I'm annoying and loud. You think I'm useless – you always have. But I'm not the girl you knocked out and left on a bench four years ago."

He scoffed, unmoved by her speech.

"I tried to be your friend because I thought you needed one," she continued, ignoring the way he ignored her, "But the only two people you ever cared about are Naruto and Itachi, so I'm not going to annoy you anymore by trying."

She stood up, slamming some money on the counter for food that she had hardly touched, and stormed away. The three men left in the stand watched her receding form.

"Sasuke, you ruin everything," Naruto grumbled, "We could have had a nice night out as a team."

"It will be better now that she's gone."

Itachi disagreed, but he didn't say anything.

"I'll go check on her," Naruto said, starting to stand up. Itachi stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"No," Itachi said. If Naruto left, Sasuke and Itachi would be alone again. It would be no different than being back at the compound. The whole point of coming out tonight was so Sasuke could spend time with his friends. "I'll go. You stay here with Sasuke."

Naruto gave him a skeptical look, but returned to his seat. Maybe Sasuke would be in a better mood now that Sakura was gone. It wasn't too late for him to enjoy some time with Naruto.

Itachi found Sakura leaning over the railing of a bridge, staring at her reflection in the stream below.

"Sakura," he said as he approached. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye before looking back down at the water. He came to stand next to her, resting his arms on the railing next to hers, letting their arms touch.

She didn't pull away from him, which he found to be an encouraging sign. They were silent for a while, listening to the distant chatter from the streets and the occasional chirping of a bird or buzzing of an insect.

"I'm sorry I slapped you."

"I'm sorry for staring at you."

She almost laughed, making a sound that was more like a sigh. "You're a real piece of work, you know that, Itachi-san?"

He said nothing, waiting for her to continue. He looked at her hands hanging over the railing – pretty and delicate, no scars or callouses. A benefit of being a medic-nin, he assumed.

"Your behavior is so bizarre. I just don't know what to think of you," she said, "Back at the hospital, you touched my hair, my face. And tonight you were staring at me like a pervert. Am I missing something?"

"I think you're pretty," he answered honestly. The admission made his skin feel tingly. He knew he probably shouldn't have said that to her. But if she wanted to know the truth then he wouldn't hide that from her. She was pretty, and she should know it.

Her skin flushed and she refused to meet his eye.

"Do you slap everyone who thinks you're pretty?" he joked.

"No," she said, "Naruto is the only person I've done that to. He knew I was interested in someone else, so he was aware the advances were unwanted."

"My brother, you mean," Itachi clarified.

She nodded, causing her hair to dislodge from behind her ear and create a curtain between them. Her face was hidden from view, but Itachi could see from her reflection in the water that she was blushing.

"I can't imagine why he finds you annoying," Itachi said, "You are a lot of things, but annoying is not one of them."

"You didn't know me when I was younger," she said, "I pined after him relentlessly. I can understand why he thought I was annoying then. I just wish he could see that I've changed."

Itachi felt jealousy burning hotly in his chest. The unfairness of all of it struck him hard. She loved his brother, who wanted nothing to do with her, while he wanted nothing more than to kiss her and earned a slap from her instead.

"I don't want to be with him," she said, tucking her hair back behind her ear. He looked closely at her face, observing the hard set of her features. "He's mean. He obviously doesn't want me. I could never be with someone who didn't want me. But he's still my teammate, and I thought he was my friend."

"He's lucky to have a friend like you, Sakura," Itachi said, "Even if he doesn't realize it right now."

She didn't look like she believed him. "I'm sorry for unloading all this on you," she said, "And for ruining your evening."

"You didn't ruin my evening," he said smiling against the uncertainty he felt, "In fact, compared to all the nights I've been here so far, this one if by far the most entertaining."

She smiled down at the water, and Itachi swore that he felt her arm press a little more firmly into his. And then she titled her head toward him and rested it on his shoulder. He could smell the vanilla on her again, and his heart was thumping so loudly he was sure she could hear it.

He could see in her reflection in the water that she was still smiling. He rested his cheek on the crown of her head and smiled, too. He enjoyed the comfortable silence, feeling more at home than he'd ever felt before – even before the massacre.

"You really think I'm pretty?" she asked.

He only smiled in response.