OOC: In some ways, I didn't exactly like the way that Naruto Shippuden ended. To be honest, I think Ita-kun deserves some love and NejiTenten needs to be a real thing. So, here's my alternative ending to Naruto Shippuden. (I also pushed down their ages a little to make things less complicated for my OC. In this fic, Naruto's generation is around 17 years old. Itachi is around 20 years old, and Kakashi's generation is around 29. Lady Tsunade is still Hokage at this point.) The major pairings that will happen are: ItaOC, KakuSaku, NejiTenten, ShikaTemari, NaruHinata. I would try more except I'm not confident in my ability to present some of the characters that appear later in the series. Please rate and review!

Sunshine filtered through green leaves, making shadows dance enthusiastically in the lush training grounds of Konohagakure. A small but cooling breeze weaved its way through the village, lifting the moods of citizens and shinobi alike with the promise of a refreshing, sunny day. In the jonin meeting room, which conveniently doubled as a resting area, low mummers of voices could be heard as the elite shinobi of Konoha reviewed team schedules, mission files, and other related papers while casually engaging in chitchat with each other.

A soft but irritated sigh could be heard against the backdrop of friendly voices. "Nii-chan." Hatake Kaori slowly wound a strand of silver hair around her index finger. Her dark amber eyes scrutinized the man who sat across from her gingerly. If it were not for the crowd in the room listening to their conversation, most of them old friends or acquaintances, she would have scowled. However, she knew much better than to display excessive emotion in such an evidently public setting—especially not when she had the reputation of ANBU taichou on the line.

At 19 years of age, Kaori was going into her fifth year as captain of the Fourth Division, having picked up right where her older brother left off when he was reassigned to jonin sensei. However, what she had discovered coming home this particular morning was definitely not what the young woman would classify as a fond memory by any standards. Walking into the apartment that she and her older brother shared after having reported to Lady Tsunade, the younger Hatake had opened the door to her bedroom only to be greeted with a human-sized bundle in her sheets and the heavy smell of sex and sweat. It was only when a female head poked itself out from the duvet and stared at Kaori, who was still fully dressed in her ANBU gear, before proceeding to scream like she was being sexually assaulted that the young taichou quickly teleported away.

His single eye peered back at her with innocence, as if he had no idea what could have caused her sour mood that morning. With a smile, Hatake Kakashi closed the little orange book that he had been reading and gave his sister a lazy, two-finger wave. "Yo."

"Nii-chan." Kaori tried again, narrowing her eyes at him through the slits in her porcelain mask. She was still dressed in her mission outfit, having come here directly after the "friendly" reception she had received at her own home. The young taichou had no problem imagining that she had probably scared the woman half to death. After all, it was not every day that one awoke to find a fully dressed ANBU standing directly from you. In most normal circumstances, that meant either death, torture, or both.

"Yes, dear imouto-chan?"

She was aware of all the attention that now turned to the two of them, having seen hints of amusement from the likes of Kurenai, Anko, and Genma. Asuma was trying to ignore—albeit unsuccessfully— the situation right in front of his nose. Silently, Kaori retrieved the sheathed sword from her back.

Whack!

Looks of curiosity were tossed in their general direction. Some muffled chuckles were heard as Konoha's famous Copy Ninja rubbed his now sore head. "You're so cruel, Kaori-chan." He glanced at the young ANBU taichou with controlled tearfulness. "Is that any way to greet your big brother when this is the first time we've seen each other in two months?"

"I would appreciate," his younger sister deadpanned, as if she had not heard him at all, "that you keep future instances of your itches out of my bedroom." Without giving him a chance to reply, she turned on her heels and left.

The room had fallen silent. Kakashi continued to nurse his wound, watching his sister's back as she retreated. She had actually bothered to use the door in the original function that the thing was designed for. He sighed, picking up Icha Icha Paradise again.

To the untrained ear, Kaori's voice was steady—although dangerously low. However, Kakashi knew better. Maybe it was a little bit his fault this time. Kaori's team had returned sooner than planned, which didn't exactly gave him enough time to bring his own schedule up to date. It also didn't help that while his days ran an hour behind everyone else's; Kaori was more punctual than Naruto's internal clock for ramen.

"Gave that girl the sight of a lifetime eh, Kakashi?" Genma tapped him heavily on the shoulder, taking a seat beside the Copy Ninja.

He felt somewhat offended. While Kakashi had no problem publically acknowledging that he was a pervert, he didn't think that he was so insensible that he would expose his own sister to things that could corrupt her for life. After all, he was careful to keep the action out of the picture. All Kaori had done was walk in on its aftermath, albeit not in a place that she was expecting.

"Maybe you should stop bringing women home when it cuts close to her mission deadlines." Kurenai offered, putting down the pages of black print that had previously obscured her face. Her red irises shone dangerously as she looked upon the grey-haired shinobi with some resent. The older kuniochi was rather found of Kaori after all. "And for kami's sake keep it out of her room."

"I don't purposely use my sister's room as a sex haven." Kakashi defended himself, swatting Genma's hands away as the other shinobi tried to get take Icha Icha Paradise from him so that he would be forced to participate in this conversation. He didn't have to explicitly voice the other part to his argument that sometimes things just happen. They were all adults, and they understood.

"All I'm saying is that you should tread lightly. Kaori-chan's not a child anymore." Kurenai relented a little. While Hatake Kakashi did have his flaws, he was a loving brother and highly respected shinobi if nothing else.

"Yeah." Anko smirked, suddenly joining the conversation from the other side of the room. "What if she sees it enough to recreate the situation with the Uchiha?" She paced to their table, hips swinging confidently. The purple-haired kuniochi took a sip of her drink, watching with victorious delight as the Copy Ninja's only invisible eye darkened. She could just imagine the extent of the scowl that was threatening to spread under his mask. Seeing traces of genuine emotion from the copy nin was somewhat of a privilege. "Although..." she continued with a hint of mischievous glee in her eye, "I did manage to catch the Godaime Kazekage's brother ogle her behind the last time, so-"

Her words were interrupted with a rather loud vanishing jutsu—the kind that created a thick puff of smoke that made it hard for whomever was left behind to breathe. Anko's smirk only grew wider as she nonchalantly waved the airy annoyance away. Across from her, Kurenai and Genma shook their heads.

"Please tell me that you did not just paint a mental image of the apple of Uchiha Fugaku's eye banging the White Fang of Konoha's daughter six ways until tomorrow." Asuma put a hand to his face.

"The ancestors of the Uchihas will roll over in their graves." Kurenai sighed

"I don't know." Anko smirked again. "Maybe there's some truth to what I said." Sensing objection, she rolled her eyes somewhat dramatically. "Just think it about it. Why else would Hatake get so touchy when I mention Itachi but not the facepaint guy?"

"Because you're putting unwanted images into his head?" Genma offered.

Anko clicked her tongue in disapproval. Suddenly, she turned to stare straight into his eyes with a wolfish grin. "Genma, were you painting naughty mental images of Hatake Kaori in your head?"

Her conversation partner shrank back, caught between a rock and a hard place. "I…uh…of course not!" he exclaimed under his breath, slightly red in the face.

With a sigh, both Kurenai and Asuma pushed their half-completed mission reports to the middle of the table. They'll never be able to complete those anyway, not with this much entertainment at their very disposal.

"Hey."

She looked at the strawberry popsicle that dangled in front of her face. "Thanks." She ran her tongue over the frozen juice, sucking at the sweetness that melted at the touch of her body heat.

Beside her, Uchiha Itachi plopped down on the grass with a snack of his own. He appeared much more relaxed now that the war was over; although somewhat incredulous that he had survived the entire ordeal. Nonetheless, his motivations and deeds were now public knowledge in the village. Even the council hailed the older Uchiha as one of Konoha's greatest heroes for his acts of selfless devotion to the Leaf.

Kaori sighed for the third time that day, staring at the river that charged gallantly ahead in its course a few feet away from where she sat. She knew that she shouldn't be thinking too hard about the past. Her opinion of the council was tainted with the strongest negativity, so she tried to reassure herself with the fact that she had never answered to the council and she never will.

"You don't like it?"

"Hmm?" She looked up to meet a pair of onyx eyes staring down at her. Taking the frozen treat out from her mouth so that she could speak clearly, Kaori shook her head. "I do. It's tasty. Where'd you get it?"

"The dessert shop." He answered

"Which one?" She probed.

"The one near the academy, why?"

Kaori scooted closer until she could feel his warmth on her side. "You should've waited for me. Tsunade-sama says you're not supposed to be straining your eyesight when it's only begun to improve."

He chuckled, putting around an arm around her shoulder. "I'm not completely blind you know. Besides," he turned so that he could nuzzle into the soft flesh at the base of her neck, "you look like you could use some cheering up."

Lacing her fingers gently in his hair, Kaori couldn't help but crack a smile. This man had a heart of gold, and she felt fortunate to call him hers. Not wanting him to be physically strained since he was still undergoing medical treatment for his illness, she shifted positions so that he could lie more comfortably on her lap.

"Are you still mad at Kakashi-senpai?"

Kaori's amber eyes narrowed dangerously before she allowed a small groan to escape her throat. "I don't care if he wants to fuck, if that's what you're referring to." She grumbled, puffing out her cheeks. "Really, for an elite jonin you'd think that he would do a better job of keeping his toys where they belong."

"So you decided to scare the living daylights out of her in full ANBU gear." Her boyfriend responded with dry humour in his voice.

"She was in MY bed, under MY covers, and possibly wearing MY clothes." At this point Kaori realized she was whining, but they were far enough into the training groups. Plus, at this point, she really could care less if someone overheard her. She had a few shadow clones poised nearby just in case nosy bystanders attempted to give them trouble—which was not entirely unheard of since the older Uchiha had returned to Konoha from exile. With her boyfriend's current precarious eyesight and medical condition, Kaori definitely was not taking any chances.

"You know," Itachi began after some thought, "you could try getting senpai to commit to a long-term relationship." She started to raise her eyebrows at the suggestion, but the older Uchiha continued before she could voice her objection. "Statistically speaking, you have a better chance of controlling the outcome with one person compared with however many he's currently bringing home on one-night stands."

Kaori went silent. She was evidently giving this some thought.

"Alright…who do you have in mind?"

"Haruno Sakura."