A/N: This is just me throwing some oil onto the gears. My creative energy has been on the struggle bus for a while now.

I've never written something so short and sweet before. It's kind of refreshing.

Hope you enjoy.

The sea of pink was mesmerizing. Blossoms swaying and shuddering in the occasional breeze. A play of light and shadows in the dense branches. A good hiding spot, if it had mattered. It was a perfect day.

Quieter than he remembered, though. Less bodies in the streets. There was a good reason for that. A heavy price had been paid, but one that was necessary.

Konoha's wounds ran deep, but it would be granted the long-awaited chance to heal. Finally.

He took a long, slow inhale, closing his eyes.

"Do you regret anything?"

He felt the shift next to him more than heard it. Shisui leaned back into the thick tree trunk as he looked down at him, waiting for an answer. Hands resting without purpose in his lap, legs crossed.

He thought a moment. He didn't need to, he knew…but he thought anyway.

Somewhere close by, water trickled. Chimes sang quietly in one of the shop windows lining the pathway. Children stomped around as they played. Not as many. Not like before, but they were there. That's what mattered.

"No."

Shisui turned his head back to the path below, blinking in and out of sight through the swarm of blossoms. He didn't need to hear it, he knew…but he wanted to anyway.

"Good."

His eyes opened. Dark and tranquil, peering through the shifting shades. It was another feeling that pulled his attention. A tug on his soul. His leg swung slowly from the branch he was perched on, the other one tucked beneath him. Arms crossed on another branch in front of him, mouth hidden in his sleeve, he waited.

The small, chubby fingers gripped her red shirt as she watched the delicate chimes dancing in the open window. "Look at this one, Sarada…" She gently tapped one of the long flutes, but the toddler scooped against her hip had grown still and quiet.

Sakura turned her head to find her staring intently in the opposite direction. Silky tufts of a short black ponytail tickling her face. Bright red bow slightly crooked on the top of her head. She looked at the oversized cherry blossom tree across from them.

Then she squirmed. One hand reached into the air towards the tree. She whined in protest.

"You want to see the flowers?" Sakura smiled. She crossed the path, abandoning the chimes.

Petals drifted down, pattering their heads like velvet rain in the mild breeze. She stood next to the wide trunk, following the little girl's entranced gaze up into the cloud of pink. Sunlight glittered down at them in tiny bursts.

The adoring green eyes watched her marveling at a sight she'd never seen before. Chin tilted up in quiet awe. The soft hiss of rustling flowers filled the silence around them.

Small hands, loosely curled in uncertainty, splayed open again and reached up.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Sakura hummed, watching the petals tumble down her daughter's arms.

Itachi watched her silently. From below, the sun illuminated the flowers into a pink halo around his dark hair. The eyes looking up at him were wide and curious. Blinking charcoal with hair to match. Snowy complexion. It was like looking into the past and the future in one glance. All he felt was peace.

The hidden mouth emerged above his sleeve, chin propped on top of his arm. He smiled faintly. Fingers lifted from the branch and fluttered at her in a wave.

The toddler paused at the movement, then reached higher. A happy sound gurgled from her throat.

Sakura kissed her on the side of her head, and bounced her higher up onto her hip. "We'll come back tomorrow, ok? We're going to be late." Her eyes swept up the tree one last time, and she turned. Drifting away from the canopy and back to the path.

He watched them go, feeling the smile on Shisui's face that matched his own.

"That's why you chose this spot. I wondered."

His mouth shifted back down behind his sleeve. The silence was his confirmation.

"They're in good hands. Konoha's outgrown our protection." Shisui continued. His friend wasn't talking much, but that was fine. They weren't here to chat. They had until the end of time for that.

"Yeah…they are." Itachi murmured, keeping his eyes on the shape of his niece and her mother until they faded completely from sight into the mess of blossoms around them.

Shisui rose from his meditative position against the tree. There was no dirt to brush off his pants. No need to pull his curly hair out of his eyes. The breeze didn't touch him.

"You ready?"

The leg ceased its gentle swaying. Itachi sighed contentedly through his nose.

"Yeah." He curled his leg up, and rose from his own branch.

The breeze picked up into a warm gust of wind. Briefly blinding Sakura with her own pink strands as they whirled around her eyes. The chubby bundle on her hip squealed happily, startling her. She turned her head just in time to find Sarada bringing a large black feather towards her mouth.

"Where did you get that?" She gasped, plucking the soft feather away from her, and tickling her with it on the nose. "Don't put that in your mouth, you silly girl!" Laughing, she tucked the quill into the base of her ponytail. It stood straight up on top of her head in a ridiculous exclamation mark. The toddler giggled hysterically.

"Come on, let's go see Boruto."