Title: love is the process of my leading you back to yourself
Word Count: 747
Prompts: 006. first meeting & 04. inner demons

Summary: Itachi suffocates slowly in the black and gray world that he lives in, but when Sakura bounds into it, splashing her bundle of contradicting, vibrant colours into his world, he thinks that perhaps, everything will be okay.

AN: This will be a set of probably 30-31 ficlets/oneshots, detailing Itachi & Sakura's relationship in a Non-Massacre verse. They will all be related, but not necessarily in chronological order. Also, each title will be shamelessly stolen from 31_days over at LJ, from their march 2009 prompt list. Even the title of the fic is stolen from that list, unfortunately. -sigh- Enjoy!

To him, it should've been nothing. A mission as simple as killing a few people was nothing to the jaded fourteen year old – not after the endless year he had already spent leading his own team in the infamous Black Ops. It shouldn't have been a problem at all; not the pleading azure eyes of the girl-child nearing her sixth year, nor the expression of solemn understanding in the eyes of the mother, easily twenty years his senior. They had been of course, collateral, but necessary damage. It was not as if he didn't know this day was coming. A deal signed with the devil, some called it. Itachi sealed his deal in blood at his inauguration into the secretive group, and he had known perfectly well the consequences of his actions.

Why then, was it so hard?

But he knew better than to express this newly developed emotion in any other way than to drown his sorrows, so to speak, by himself, with a bottle of sake latched snugly into his fists. He was an Uchiha. Hell, he was soon to be the Uchiha, prodigy, clan heir extraordinaire that he was. Breaking one of the clan's precious golden rules by wallowing in this guilt (-ridiculous guilt, he tried in vain to convince his cracking mind), was not an option anywhere near the tray he was offered.

And so he kept it silently to himself, opting instead to obediently obey any further instructions of the same nature, trusty bottle ready in waiting. This way, his otouto would never have to go through the pain of this, until the boy was sound and ready to. But Sasuke, even at his young age was not what he should've been at nine years. Too many frowns, scowls (so Uchiha) befell his childish features, and Itachi could only add failure onto his growing list of reasons to drink to.

And that was how she found him, barely intoxicated enough to offer a stagger in his step, heading back to the uninviting doors of the compound. If her peculiar set of contradicting yet pretty colours caught his interest, he allowed for nothing more than a slight eye flicker to greet the timid child. A soft breeze, barely enough to taunt the billowing cerise locks danced past them, but she neither moved nor spoke, only blinked up curiously at older boy. Without any semblance of a warning, her matching eyebrows scrunched up furiously, her head tilting almost violently to one side, sharp emeralds piercing the young Uchiha.

"Eh?" she blinked again, and Itachi almost wanted to sigh in frustration – she showed no signs of removing herself from his only narrow path home. "You look just like Sasuke-kun!"

At the mention of his otouto's name, his attention focused more closely on the small obstruction before him. "Oh, you must be his brother! It...a," she paused, eyebrows scrunching once again in that violent manner. "Itachi! That's your name! I heard Sasuke-kun mention it once!"

His mind whirled for a reaction, but before he could properly process her relationship with his younger sibling, she had thrust something awfully irritating under his nose. His nose wrinkled of his own accord, itching to relieve the irritation the sudden presence of pollen had brought.

"I actually bought these for Sasuke-kun," she muttered, gem like eyes warming with the thought. "But you look like you need them more. So here!"

And then she had smiled again, the innocent and childish curl of her lips playing softly on her cherub face. She neither waited for a reply nor said anything more, only offered him a small wave of her still-chubby hands, before her flurry of feet had taken her far down the street.

It was all as well, because Itachi had no words for the contradicting bundle of colours that had just bounded away. Cold onyx orbs flickered to the haphazardly wrapped bundle of carnations thrust carelessly into his hands, and while he should've just thrown the silly thing away, his slender fingers clutched the bunched stems even tighter.

He didn't bother to turn to look for a fleeting shadow of the pink haired girl, but for some reason he couldn't fathom, the unmovable burden of his mission shifted somewhat as he resumed his stroll home.

Perhaps it was the surprise at seeing such a fascinating sight, or the feel of the flowers in his hands - but right then and there, Itachi felt more carefree than he had in years.

tbc

Notes. reviews are always very, very appreciated. They make my day!