In spite of having a rough day, Itachi was in a good mood. The day prior, having started out on an excellent note with Sakura wrapped snuggly (and somewhat damply) around him, had only gotten worse with each passing hour.

Sakura had left in a hurry, of course. He knew she was busy so he didn't take it personally, but it was still unpleasant after having had sex with her (or anyone) for the first time that night.

So instead he had eaten the breakfast he had prepared for her with Sasuke. Naturally, Sasuke wanted to discuss the clan ceremony at length, which led to a lot of bickering.

First Sasuke had been angry with the council and Hokage. They were the ones forcing Itachi to do something he didn't want to do. This was not the first time such a thing had happened and it seemed Sasuke really felt some sympathy for his older brother.

But then he couldn't see why Itachi wouldn't just marry Sakura now. It was in everyone's best interest, he claimed. The restoration of the Uchiha clan was more important than whatever Itachi was feeling. He would get over it. He liked Sakura, didn't he? Why wouldn't he marry her?

That was the wrong question to be asking, Itachi though. There was no doubt in his mind that he would marry Sakura. Of course he would. Rather, the question should be why wouldn't she marry him?

But he knew the answer to that, too. She would marry him. Someday. Maybe. Well, he was still a little unsure.

Either way, the conversation with Sasuke had not gone well and he had stormed out of the compound in search of Naruto. Naruto – who he still had not made up with after their fight.

Itachi had been privy to a rant about that as well. He didn't have much advice to offer, and he was too afraid that the sound of his voice might have dissuaded Sasuke from continuing to open up about her mysterious relationship. And being deeply curious about it, Itachi listened with rapt attention.

He only caught bits and pieces, the severely disjointed deluge of information coming from someone who was practically foaming at the mouth.

Juugo needed him, he had claimed, to be his cage. And Suigetsu was a good friend who had stood by Sasuke when he needed him most. Naruto was being selfish, blowing things out of proportion. Yes, he snuck away every once in a while to pay short visits to his mismatched friends. It didn't mean he loved Naruto any less.

Itachi stopped listening for a moment after that because he hadn't realized that Sasuke loved Naruto. It was a somewhat new concept for him because the only person he could really claim to love was Sasuke. Did he love Sakura as well? He thought he might.

And speaking of Sakura, she had made everything so much worse by going to Tsunade and getting Juugo and Suigetsu probationary citizenship. How could she have done such a thing? What was she thinking?

It was that moment that Itachi chose to speak and let Sasuke know exactly how wrong he was to be mad at her for that.

Which led to more bickering.

Itachi did not like to fight with his brother, so he busied himself with cleaning instead. He washed the sex off his sheets. He scoured every pot and pan in the kitchen. He did laundry.

And he was tired. He hadn't intended to argue with his brother for the better part of the day (and also yesterday), so he was left feeling a bit dissatisfied with the amount of work he had gotten done, which was none. He had errands to run, things to do before his dinner with Sakura later that night.

But unfortunately, those things would have to wait. Sakura would be finishing up her shift at the hospital soon, so he needed to get ready.

He showered quickly and put on some of his nicer clothes. They were going to an expensive restaurant, after all. And if it was going to be Sakura's treat, then he couldn't show up empty handed so he made his way to the Yamanaka's flower shop. Flowers were a standard gift to bring for something like this, he thought. They weren't too serious, but they showed effort.

He had expected Ino to be there and she was. It was his good fortune that she was because Itachi realized he didn't know what kind of flowers Sakura liked.

"Itachi-san," she greeted when she saw him, flipping her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. There was a curious knowing in her gaze, one that deeply unsettled him. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to get some flowers for Sakura," he said. "Do you know what kind of flowers she likes?"

Ino sighed kind of dreamily and drummed her fingers along the countertop in front of her. "Sai used to buy me flowers sometimes," she said wistfully.

Itachi didn't know what to say to that, and he began to feel slightly uncomfortable. For a few moments, Ino was in a daze, gazing far off into the distance with her head in the clouds.

After what he hoped was a polite minute, Itachi loudly cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry, Itachi-san," she said. "I kind of spaced out there."

He assured her that it was no problem and watched as she turned behind her to fiddle around with the flowers behind her. He watched with partial interest as she arranged some stemmed flowers together in a bouquet, tying them together with pink ribbon and then wrapping them with a swath of red silk.

"Here you go," she said, extending the bouquet to him. "She'll love these."

"Thank you, Ino-san."

He paid for the flowers and left.

.

He wasn't sure why he felt so nervous when he knocked on her door. He'd already had sex with her, so it seemed the hard part should be out of the way. But for some reason, his stomach was doing flips while he waited patiently for her to open the door for him.

He fiddled nervously with the ribbon around the flowers until she swung the door open, looking rather flustered.

"Itachi," she said, smiling brightly at him in a way that exacerbated the stomach flips.

"Sakura," he replied with a smile of his own. Somewhat awkwardly, he extended the bouquet of flowers to her. "These are for you."

Still smiling, she furrowed her brow with confusion. "You bought me white lilies?" she asked. "Why white lilies?"

Itachi floundered a bit because he hadn't expected her to ask such a thing. Perhaps he should have come up with a flower that held some significance or symbolism. Or maybe he should have asked Ino what lilies were supposed to represent. They didn't represent something morbid like death, did they?

"Cherry blossoms seemed a bit cliché," he answered.

"Ino helped you pick these out, didn't she?"

That couldn't have been difficult for her to figure out, but Itachi still felt heat bloom in his cheeks. Perhaps he should have chosen chocolates instead. "She did," he answered.

Sakura burst into laughter, throwing her head back. She laughed until tears sprang up in her eyes and then doubled over and laughed some more.

Obviously missing the joke, Itachi twisted his lips and waited. He might have been annoyed if her laughter hadn't been so pleasant to listen to.

"What's so funny?" he demanded when her laughter had subsided.

"Nothing, Itachi-kun," she said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Let's get going. I'm starving."

.

This was their first official date and the timing couldn't have been worse. Word had begun to spread around the village that Itachi was in desperate need of a wife. Itachi didn't have much experience with the civilian district, but he remembered that the area was a breeding ground for rumors and gossip.

So it came as a surprise to neither of them that many people pointed and whispered about them as they walked through the market. Itachi, true to his word, had chosen a rather expensive restaurant – one he remembered passing the day he had gone grocery shopping with Sakura.

It was almost a refreshing change of pace. He would much rather be ogled because he was on a date with a pretty girl than because he was a clan betraying murderer.

Sakura, however, seemed a little bit more disturbed by the staring. He didn't miss the worried expression on her face – the crease between her brows. She was bothered.

"We can leave if you want to," Itachi offered just as they sat down. He had asked the hostess for a private booth in the back, and with a little intimidation factor from his Sharingan, they were immediately shown to their seats. "We can go back to my place and I can cook dinner for you."

"No, no," she said. "This is perfect. Sorry if I'm a little distracted. I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"Are you okay?"

She sighed and bit her lip, but she didn't look unhappy. The dim lighting around her made her hair look like it was glowing and she looked like a bubble of brightness in the darkness of the restaurant. Belatedly, he realized that the muted sheath dress she was wearing was navy blue and he wondered if that had been intentional.

"Yeah," she said. "It's just that I have so much going on right now. I've been working on my offensive medical jutsus, Tsunade is teaching me a fuinjutsu, and I just got promoted to jonin. Plus I still have my shifts at the hospital and I now I have to deal with—"

She cut herself off before she could finish the sentence, but Itachi knew what she was going to say. She still had to deal with him. With the little issue of impending marriage.

"You got promoted to jonin?" he asked, focusing on something positive instead. "That's impressive. Congratulations."

Her smile widened at his praise, which made Itachi feel lighter than air.

She chatted animatedly about Naruto some more, throwing in an occasional story about Sasuke as well. For his benefit, he assumed, she told stories about Team 7 before Sasuke left, regaling him with the tales he had wanted to hear all the way back in Toyeiki when seeing his brother again was an unknown, or worse – a death sentence.

Only this time he could laugh at Sasuke's little quirks. He could smile at Sakura without fear of her suspicion. He could reach across the table and touch her hand, twining their fingers together.

It occurred to him that if he hadn't met her in Toyeiki that he would be very much dead right now. He would never have made reparations with Sasuke. He would never have come back to Konoha.

She paused in the middle of her story and looked up at the light fixture above them. Itachi followed her gaze, but found nothing of interest. She continued to stare unblinkingly for a moment while Itachi watched with his head cocked in curiosity. Then she sneezed into her elbow.

Itachi felt himself grinning widely because that was weird and adorable and now she was blushing.

"Looking at bright lights helps me sneeze," she explained.

"How cute."

She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning so he took her hand and brought it to his mouth so he could kiss her palm.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, blushing still.

"Of course."

"Yesterday when I came over to talk to Sasuke you seemed kind of upset…"

So he hadn't hid that quite as well as he had hoped. He'd been arguing with Sasuke, which was the reason for his poor mood, but he didn't really want to tell that to Sakura because it sounded juvenile. And she might ask what they had been arguing about – which had been the looming marriage deadline. Not a subject he wanted to broach with her right now.

When he didn't respond after a moment, she raised an expectant brow. "Why were you upset?" she finally asked.

He shook his head and gave her a tiny smile. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he answered. "Just family stuff."

He had expected her to be disappointed, maybe a little frustrated. What he hadn't expected was for her to be angry. She didn't say anything, but he could tell by the fuming expression on her face that he had really upset her.

With body language that was a bit too frosty for Itachi's liking, she continued to pick at her food, not so much eating it as pushing it around her plate.

"Sakura," he said in that tone he might have used if he were reprimanding Sachi.

She didn't seem to like that either.

"What?" she snapped.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he said.

"Why won't you tell me why you were upset?"

Maybe it would be better to just tell her, he thought. But inwardly he felt that it was wrong of her to expect him to divulge any information she wanted to her. However, he could use that selfishness to his advantage.

"I'll tell you why I was upset if you tell me why you laughed at the white lilies."

It seemed that even just being reminded of the lilies was funny, because Sakura cracked a smile and then started giggling, which was much better than the pouting she had been doing before.

"White lilies represent chastity," she said with a humored grin. "You know. Purity. Ino was messing with you."

Itachi felt his cheeks flame up because that was certainly not an appropriate flower to give to someone he had literally just had sex with. But then it occurred to him that for Ino to have played such a prank she had to have known about him and Sakura sleeping together.

"You told her?" he asked accusingly.

"Yeah, she's my best friend," Sakura replied with a shrug. "I tell her everything. She'd been hounding me about losing my virginity for a long time, so it would have been downright cruel not to tell her."

Itachi didn't agree with that. He was a fairly private person and he couldn't imagine sharing information like that with anyone. Well, maybe her. But that was different.

"What exactly did you tell her?"

Sakura grinned at him. "Are you fishing for compliments, Itachi-kun?" she asked teasingly. "I told her you were so big that it hurt."

"It hurt?" Itachi asked with concern. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Her smile softened and she reached out and grabbed his hand, linking them together on top of the white tablecloth. "It did hurt," she answered. "In fact, I'm still sore. But it was a good hurt. I liked it."

A flush of heat travelled from his chest all the way up to his ears and some part of him was deeply thrilled both that it hurt and that she liked it. Somehow that combination was enticing.

"Can't you heal yourself?" he asked. "So you aren't sore?"

"Oh, sure," she said with a dismissing wave. "But it's good to let my body heal on its own sometimes. You know, so I don't start to feel like I'm immortal. Besides, I like the subtle reminder throughout the day."

"Reminder?"

"That I had sex with the great Itachi Uchiha," she said with a charming grin that would have made Itachi's knees buckle if he had been standing.

Her directness about it was both refreshing and terrifying. Not that he thought they shouldn't ever mention it, but her eagerness, how much she had enjoyed herself, the fact that she was still glowing from it – it was a bit overwhelming.

"Now tell me what you were so upset about."

"I was arguing with Sasuke when you came over," he explained. "That's why we were both in a bad mood."

"Oh."

She cast her eyes down to her plate and continued to push her food around. He wished he could have known what she was thinking just then. The sadness that flickered across her face was curious – he wondered why she'd feel sad. He wanted to ask her, but he didn't. It seemed as though she wasn't going to ask specifically what they had been arguing about, much to Itachi's relief.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, neither of them quite knowing what to say. The waitress dropped their check at the table and Sakura quickly snatched it up like she thought he might try to take it.

She pulled a stack of ryo out of her pocket and laid it on the table. Itachi caught her eye over his glass of water and gave her a dry smirk.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"Come on," she said, pulling him out of his seat. "Let's go for a walk."

.

Itachi was caught off guard when instead of walking back through the civilian district, Sakura led him through the Konoha gates.

"Where are we going?" he asked as he followed her into the thick trees.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, tossing him a sweet smile over her shoulder. "I want to show you something," she said.

He wanted to protest because it was getting rather dark and being outside the village reminded him too much of when he was a missing-nin, unable to come home. There were probably ANBU making rounds even now – a thought that set him on edge.

It wasn't like he couldn't be outside the village at all. He went on missions still. He just felt like they were doing something wrong by being outside the gates after dark. Like he was a child who should have been home in bed already.

Sakura dragged him along through the trees, stopping every once in a while to gaze upward into the treetops.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"You'll see."

She led him about a mile or two into the forest, stopping at the base of a particularly large tree – one that towered well above the rest. Without the aid of chakra, she began to climb the tree, hefting herself up amongst the branches.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, dodging a branch she had inadvertently snapped from the tree and let fall below her.

"Come on," she answered. "We're climbing the tree."

He followed without any further questions, taking her lead and also avoiding the use of chakra. It was somewhat exhilarating being behind her while she climbed a tree in a rather short dress. He could see parts of her that should have been covered and he knew that she must have been aware of that.

He supposed it must have been intentional – that she had planned to take him to dinner and then lead him up into a tree wearing a navy blue dress and what he suspected were red panties.

And upon closer inspection, as they neared the top of the tree and Sakura came to a stop, they were indeed red.

Sakura shifted herself on the branch she sat on, moving over so that Itachi could share the branch with her. It was wide enough for them to both comfortably sit on without fear of losing their balance.

Itachi braced himself against the trunk of the tree, lifting his arm so that Sakura could settle herself underneath it. Their backs were to the village and all they could see were trees tops stretching around them like fluffy green clouds.

Without the lights from the village, the stars seemed even brighter. Itachi found himself mesmerized by the colors – the swirls of indigo and violet, the nebulas and clusters of shining lights that dotted the sky.

"This is what you wanted to show me?" he asked.

She nodded and snuggled closer to him, leaning against his body and trusting that he wouldn't let them fall. "Yeah, isn't it pretty?" she said.

He murmured his agreement against the wisps of her hair that blew around his face in the gentle breeze.

"How did you find this tree?" he asked.

"When I was little I was out here picking flowers with Ino," she said. "And I lost her somehow so I thought if I climbed up the tallest tree I would be able to see her."

"But you can't see the ground from here."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I didn't find her. I was too distracted by the view. It was light outside then and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The sun was starting to set and I could see the moon already. I stayed here for a long time. Ino ended up leaving without me."

"This is a pretty big tree for a little girl to climb," Itachi said. "What if you fell?"

"I didn't fall," she said with a hint of sassiness. "I've been up here millions of times. I might fall out of other trees. But not this tree."

"Millions of times, huh?"

"Yeah, I like to come up here to think."

Itachi understood that. He had had a very similar perch in Akatsuki's base in Rain – one high up in one of the tallest buildings where he could see the entire village.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Itachi listened to the sounds around him – crickets down below, the way the wind rustled the leaves. Sakura's breathing was even and Itachi found himself matching his breaths with hers.

"What are you thinking about now?" he asked, suddenly curious.

She sighed contentedly and wrapped her arm tighter around him. "Well, I'm thinking about how much I like you. And how glad I am that you're back in Konoha now. And how having sex with you was literally the best thing ever. And how happy I am being next to you."

Itachi's chest constricted almost painfully and affection surged up in him.

"I remember right after you'd come back to the village you told me I was pretty," she continued. "On the bridge after I slapped you. I remember thinking how crazy it was for you to say that after I'd just hit you. But you were so sweet. And I felt so bad about it."

She turned her face to the side and kissed his cheek. "I still feel guilty about it," she said, her lips still against his skin.

"If I recall correctly," Itachi said, taking on a bit of Sakura's sass. "You asked me if I really thought you were pretty. I didn't just call you pretty out of the blue."

Sakura laughed. "Of course not," she said. "Your heart might have exploded."

"Hearts are fragile things, Sakura," Itachi said solemnly.

"Yes, yes, they are."

"But I feel pretty confident now that you won't slap me now, so I'd like to tell you that you are, indeed, very beautiful," he said. "Especially in this blue dress. Did you wear it just for me?"

"Sure did," she said smugly. "I saw the way you were looking at me when I was wearing your clothes."

"The Uchiha colors really suit you."

"Every color suits me, Itachi-kun," she said cheekily. "I just happen to know that you like me best in navy and red."

"You don't look so good in orange," he said with a grin.

She elbowed him in the ribs.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, enjoying the view and each other's company. Eventually, Sakura sat up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head like a kitten.

"We should get going," she said. "I have to work in the morning."

Itachi followed her down the tree trunk, still grinning like an idiot as she watched her swing expertly through the branches. When she landed in the grass he saw her look up and freeze, her posture rigid and tense.

His hackles immediately raised, he activated his Sharingan and landed beside her in the grass.

"Sakura, dear, I appreciate the effort but I think you know I meant a little bit farther away from the village than this."

"Fuck off, Danzo," she replied. "I never agreed to anything."

Thoroughly confused, Itachi flicked his eyes between Sakura and Danzo, who had somehow managed to sneak up on them. Feeling rather alarmed, Itachi latched onto Sakura's arm, pulling her closer to him and stepping in front of her.

"Oh, don't worry," Danzo said, hobbling forward on his cane. "I don't plan on hurting her."