Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Naruto sighed happily as he slumped further down onto his futon. After a long trek, he and Sasuke had finally arrived at the geisha house.

The blonde had chirped up earlier on when he smelled the familiar incense in the air and had eagerly bound towards the well concealed establishment when it came into view.

It had felt like forever since he had last been here.

There had stood Hinata-chan, dressed in a pale grey, almost white, kimono. The edges of her kimono sleeves were a blood red in colour, and so was her obi. Her white make up was done and her lips were a deep red in colour.

She looked flawless and perfect.

Naruto had gasped at the sight and smiled at Hinata, flashing her his best grin.

However, as he was about to complement her, Sasuke had entered the geisha house and had rudely shoved Naruto to the side, muttering something about baka's and how they obstruct doorways. The blonde had tripped and almost landed flat on his face, but had regained his footing and straightened himself immediately.

As Naruto was about to fire a remark at Sasuke, he had caught sight of Hinata-chan's eyes close shut and a slight upwards pull could be seen at her lips.

The blonde grinned where he now sat and stared up at the wooden ceiling.

Yes, he had made Hinata-chan smile.

And what a beautiful smile it was, no matter how small it had been.

He turned his head to the side and let his piercing blue eyes fall upon the dark haired beauty he was currently thinking about.

Hinata-chan was standing at her shoji door leading to the inside garden of the geisha house. In her hands was a wooden flute.

"I've never really been good at playing the flute," she said with down turned eyes. "But, do you want to listen? I have been practising."

Naruto sat up, folded his legs Indian style and nodded excitedly. "Hai, I'd love to!"

Hinata's cheeks tinted ever so slightly and she slowly exhaled as she brought the flute to her lips. She shut her pale eyes and let her fingers position themselves over the correct holes of the instrument.

When she began to play, Naruto's eyes widened.

The sound was crisp, and flowing. It was not staggered and breathy as he had heard from some of the geisha houses he had passed in Tanzaku.
The blonde watched in awe as Hinata's fingers glided over the holes of the flute, producing different notes and hurling him even more into her spell.

After what seemed like not long enough, Hinata slowly blew her last note and looked up. Her eyes were yet again facing downwards, and a shy look covered her face.

"And?" she asked finally through broken breaths. "How was it?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled and he smiled. "I thought you said that you've never played the flute well?"
He got up and walked towards the dark haired beauty, a foxy grin dancing on his lips. "For Kami's sake, can you not get any more perfect?"

A gasp left the ex-Hyuuga's lips as Naruto pulled her flush against his form. She could feel him bury his face in the junction of her neck and shoulder and she felt his breath fan against her skin.

Hinata shivered and shut her eyes, letting the flute drop out of her hands and she heard it clang against the floorboards below. She got up on her tip-toes and let her arms fall over his shoulders.

"Let's stay like this for a while…" mumbled Naruto against her skin and Hinata found herself smiling.

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The atmosphere around Shizune's breakfast table the next morning was terribly edgy.

Both Kakashi and Shizune had sensed that something had happened between Sakura and Itachi, but they were too scared to ask.

No, it was not as if Itachi or Sakura looked furious or upset, the Uchiha just looked so at loss for words.

As if the Uchiha had not looked so defeated in the past few days, this definitely sealed his mood.

There was many a time when the man would just stare at the low, wooden table with his brows creased in thought. Sometimes, his eyes would shut altogether and he'd turn his head to the side.

He had barely touched his breakfast of fresh fruits which Shizune had woken up so early to get from the market!

Suddenly, Itachi rose from the table and excused himself.

Sakura, Kakashi and Shizune all watched his retreating form with confusion written on their features.

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Itachi hissed as he slammed his fists against the old bark of a tree in Shizune's garden.

His body shook and he let his head fall against the tree surface. A broken sigh left his lips and he shut his obsidian eyes tightly.

In all of his years of existence, he had never felt so torn.

There was a path of revenge. A path involving much blood shed, but the end result would be worth it – he would finally be able to rest in peace knowing that such murderers were erased from this world. The people would be able to sleep safely at night knowing that there would be no more bandit raids or attacks. There would be no more fear and worry. If this path were to be followed and completed, Itachi would have not only saved himself, but a nation too.

Then, there was another path.

This was the path of giving up on revenge. A life of no worries to begin with. He could travel elsewhere, away from all this conflict. He could start afresh with Sakura! He could rebuild the Uchiha clan and raise a new strong family of samurai!
… He could live a normal life.

Itachi slumped his weight further against the tree.

Did he even know what "normal" was to begin with? No normal child is born wielding a katana. No normal child is raised to draw blood.

Would the guilt eat at him?

Would his Kaa-san even want him to avenge his family?

Plus, with recent events, it seemed that fate wanted him to follow the path of revenge anyway.

Itachi had seen that gash against Sakura's milky skin. He had seen it disappear under her kimono and he wondered what in Kami's name had caused such barbarians to attack a woman.

Not even a woman, Sakura was only seventeen when it happened!

The Uchiha's fist balled and he punched the tree again.

He could go with Kakashi's plan and strike at the council meeting, but what was three samurai against an entire, infinite army? Who knew what Madara and Tobi were planning?

It was risky.

'But it's worth the risk,' echoed a voice in his head.

Itachi shook his head.

Mind made up, the Uchiha pulled his hair into a low pony tail, and headed inside.

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When Naruto awoke at around midday, he was quite surprised to see that Sasuke had left him alone at the geisha house and had apparently headed back to Shizune's.

He was also quite surprised to see that Hinata was smiling today.

The weather had taken a turn and the skies were grey and dull, with a steady downpour raining down on the Earth below, which would explain why he woke up so late.

Naruto had thus decided to spend the day, and perhaps the night, with the geisha's.

Out of their formal kimono's, the women were quite cheerful and carefree. Their company was very different compared to stoic Uchiha's and a certain silver haired sarcastic man.

Naruto had ended up in a conversation with a woman named Ino. Ino was a platinum blonde that apparently was Sasuke's geisha, and she immediately picked up on the vibe between Hinata and the blonde male.

Of course, Hinata had been too embarrassed and had fled the battle that broke out between the two blue eyed blondes.

Suddenly, a new laughter could be heard from the entrance room and Ino stopped rambling about Naruto and Hinata and babies that were soon to appear.

"Ne, looks like Jiraiya-sama is back," stated the platinum blonde.

Naruto looked in the direction of the laughter. "Who is Jiraiya?"

"Oh, just Tsunade-sama's old flame."

At that moment, a sake bottle came flying from the entrance room and Ino dodged gracefully to the side.

Tsunade stuck her head out from the room and glared deeply at Ino. "I heard that."

Ino merely giggled at the older woman, obviously used to the death waves being emitted from Tsunade's form.

"My, my look who we have here!" exclaimed Jiraiya as he appeared next to Tsunade with a wide smile on his face. "Are you Minato's brat, kid?"

Naruto froze up and stared at the man. He slowly rose and walked towards Jiraiya. "You knew my father?"

"Hai! I taught the brat all he needed to know in life - From politics, to swordsmanship, to even how to get with your lovely mother! Whew, if I was a few years younger – OW!"

Tsunade glared at the man next to her and withdrew her hand from his now stinging cheek. "Baka"

Naruto however, was a little shocked and mostly happy. "Ne, ne! Old man! Tell me more!"

Jiraiya cracked a smile and nodded. "Come; let me tell you about your father and my trips to Mount Myōboku!"

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Sasuke felt sick.

He had headed to the geisha house the night before to try and get this new Itachi off his mind, but he needed his Nii-san back. He could not deal with the carefree new person in his brother's body. Hell, he could not even enjoy his night with Ino.

Thus, he left for Shizune's house at day break in order to talk some sense into his brother.

He was sick and tired of it all.

However, when he got to his destination, he was quite disgusted to see Itachi hugging Sakura in the pouring rain of Shizune's garden.

That look in Itachi's eyes, it was not one of an avenger. There was no anger or pain or hatred. It shone; it was of pure happiness and bliss.

The younger Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the apparent couple and shook his hair in the rain.

A nauseating feeling rumbled at the bottom of his stomach and he stomped over to Sakura and Itachi.

Sasuke roughly grabbed Itachi by his haori and successfully separated the pair.

The pinkette squeaked and Itachi was about to lash out verbally at Sasuke when the younger Uchiha cast Itachi one of his best glares.

"You do not have enough hate," he spat. "You call yourself an avenger, Itachi. But you can't even avenge the family that was ripped away from you! Instead you call for a cosy little life." Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You are weak."

The younger Uchiha let go of his brothers clothing and cast one final glare at Itachi before turning around. "I am an honourable samurai. I will avenge my family, or die trying."

Itachi watched in silence as his little brother stomped off into the distance.

The sound of footfalls in puddles could be heard and Kakashi ran up behind Itachi. "For Kami's sake Itachi-san…"

The elder Uchiha watched as Kakashi ran in the direction that Sasuke disappeared to, and he could only imagine that the man was going after Sasuke.

To bring him back, or help him, Itachi did not know.

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Sakura was quite confused when Itachi had told her to get ready to do some travelling. Apparently, they were heading back to the geisha house.

The pinkette was both scared and excited to go back to her home, but why was Itachi taking her there?

She cast the man alongside herself a worried glance and sighed.

After Sasuke had stormed off, Itachi's mood had yet again turned sour. But she wasn't going to intervene; she was not going to make it worse than what it already was.

Soon, the oh so familiar geisha house came into sight and Sakura smiled.

The lanterns were lit outside, and instead of the incense burning away, a new scent hit both Itachi and Sakura's noses.

The heavy rain was pelting the rosemary and lavender bushes that Tsunade grew in the back, and the mixture of the herb scents filled the air.

Itachi inhaled deeply and immediately relaxed himself. He looked to the side and offered Sakura a slight smile. He could only imagine how scared she must be feeling.

Slowly, Sakura climbed the few stairs to the geisha house and slid the shoji door open.

However, she was greeted with a weird sight as she was quite surprised to see Naruto sitting in the entrance room with Jiraiya-sama.

"Sakura-chan!" exclaimed both males with a grin.

The pinkette blinked slowly and raised her hand in greeting.

Just then, Tsunade appeared and looked straight at Sakura, and then to Itachi. "Come Sakura, we need to talk."

The pinkette nodded and Itachi watched the two females walk away. The Uchiha shut his eyes and sunk to the spot alongside Naruto.

"Here," he said while unfastening Minato's blade from his hip. "This belongs to you."

The blonde stared at his father's katana and accepted it. Who knows, he may get attacked again in the future and may need to defend himself.

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It was about ten minutes later that Sakura re-appeared with Tsunade.

Before either female could say anything, Itachi stood up and looked at Sakura.

"Could you take me to your quarters?" he asked quickly.

The pinkette smiled and nodded, leading him in the direction.

As they were walking through the geisha house, Sakura smiled. "Tsunade-sama forgave me! And she said my place will always be here for me! This is my home! And she's also impressed that you came back"

Itachi hummed at this. "When we get to your room I need to ask you something."

The pinkette frowned and nodded slowly, having just been completely ignored. She noted there was also a change to the tone of his voice. What was he going to say? Could this be the reason for them coming here in the first place?

Soon, they entered Sakura's room and the pinkette smiled seeing her shamisen still in its corner.

As she was about to walk over to it, Itachi said something that made her freeze up.

"Run away with me."

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Sakura laughed as Itachi and herself ran through the dense forest together.

On Itachi's back, was a small bag of any of Sakura's belongings that she wished to bring along with. It consisted of a few of her father's medical scrolls and her favourite kimono's.

It felt so strange, yet exhilarating.

She had just been given another chance at being a geisha, but she chose to run away for love.

'I guess Ino-pig was right after all,' mused Sakura. 'I would end up running away with Itachi-kun'

Adrenaline surged throughout her body and she inwardly squealed.

This was like a dream - running away with a tall, dark and handsome samurai!

Her toes curled in her sandals and she cast the man next to her a great, pearly grin.

Amongst all the hype and happiness however, neither of the two seemed to notice the geisha house burst into flames in the distance...