I don't own Naruto.

Things had begun to settle back down in the few weeks after Pain's invasion and Itachi had been given the keys to the Uchiha compound. That was where he currently was. He had hired someone to help clean the main house while refugees were staying in the other houses with their families. It was the first step he could take into making things right with everyone. Sure, there were still people who had their doubts about him being back, but he wanted to help the people by the use of his own home.

Their opinions of him did not matter to him. They knew the story, so if they hated him, they were fully allowed to. He still killed his family after all. He opened the door to his family's home and a sadness washed over him as he made his way through the home. The smell of old wood and humidity washed over him, he hated that smell. He jolted lightly as a gentle hand made its way to his shoulder, and he turned to see her behind him once more. Had she followed him here? He didn't know but he was grateful for her presence when it came to this particular event he had to go through.

He made his way into his old room and turned on the lights there. It was exactly how he had left it... neat and orderly, only everything was covered in dust now. He reached for an old picture of his family that rest on his dresser. He gently smudged the dust off the glass and a pang of guilt hit him. His mother's smiling face and Sasuke's brilliant smile shined at him from behind the glass. He missed his family so much... he could feel the tears pricking at the back of his eyes and he blinked to will them away.

He could not cry, no... he would not cry. He had done what he had to save the village. The lives of the few over the lives of many. He set the picture down and turned to see Hinata watching him intently from the other side of the room. He wondered if she was going to say anything about his show of emotion, but she didn't. She knew all too well that he was in pain here. "You can always stay with me." She offered and he looked around his room once more. He wanted to be close to where his family had lived, but he also didn't think he was ready to be here yet.

"Do you think your father would mind?" he asked, and she shook her head. She seemed to have already discussed this then. He didn't deserve her kindness but he damn sure appreciated it. He made his way over to her and she looked up at him. The urge to reach out and touch her was overwhelming to him and he had to control himself. He was usually good at controlling his emotions and physical contact with others, but with her he had never been able to help himself. She was always drawing him in and forcing his guard down and she never had to do anything.

If he were to believe in soulmates, she would be his, but he couldn't bring himself to believe in that. The thought still lingered, though. She reached out and touched his hand and he pulled himself from his thoughts to look her in the eyes. She had removed the picture from his grasp and looked at it with a sad smile. "Come on, the cleaners will be here any moment now." She said, but her tone trailed off and her fists clenched by her side as she shoved him behind her. She lunged toward the window and grabbed a hold of the man who had slipped back out of the window, slamming him on the floor roughly.

"Easy, easy... Hinata..." he sighed, and she glared at him, her fist actually balled up and poised to hit. "I came to see if it were true..." he said, and she frowned at him but did not lower her fist to him. "What is wrong with you?? Are you an idiot?" she snapped, and he sighed as he held up both hands in defeat. Hinata breathed a small sigh and dropped her hand down to her side once more. "Kakashi-senpai." Itachi greeted and the man offered a one-handed wave despite the awkwardness of the situation.

"Were you worried I was someone else?" he asked, and she nodded. "I've sensed Sasuke a couple times since Itachi has been awake and I just didn't feel like it was right to be feeling his presence so often." She said and his visible eye widened slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked, and Itachi looked at her in the same interested manner. He wasn't sure what she was going on about because he hadn't sensed Sasuke in the slightest.

She breathed a soft sigh and folded her hands together in front of her. He could tell she was nervous about it seeing as she hadn't said anything before. "Kiba smelled him on me, so I think he has been sneaking in to see me when I've been asleep." She whispered and the two of them exchanged glances. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Itachi asked and she frowned and began fiddling with her fingers. "Because I was worried that if he found you then he would hurt you again..." she whispered, and Itachi sighed as he made his way over to her and embraced her tightly.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore. I won't let him hurt me again. Let me know if you sense him again, ok?" He was pleading with her this time, and she seemed to think it over before she nodded. "I promise, I will let you know." She said and he nodded, he would hold her to that. He released her gently and he felt the loss of her presence, something he wasn't looking forward to in the first place. They spent the rest of the day cleaning the home with Kakashi's help, as well as the cleaners.

He appreciated that the bond he held with the older man was still there. At least he had one friend that still trusted him in the village. He sighed as he noticed the sun began its descent in the sky. The brilliant oranges and pinks signified the end of a long day. He turned to Hinata and Kakashi and bowed to them lightly. "Thank you for all your help today." He said and they both smiled at him. "Allow me to take you out to eat as a thank you." He said and they each shook their heads.

"You don't have to do that, we were happy to help, weren't we Hinata-chan?" Kakashi said and Hinata nodded at him. She was more than happy to help it seemed. Itachi nodded to the two of them and watched as they left his home. "Do come visit." He said as they left. Only for Hinata to turn around at the last moment and offer him a hand. "On second thought... I would love to go to dinner with you." She said and he offered a small smile to her. He was hoping she would change her mind.

He took her hand and smiled at her softly. He led her down to the sushi shop that had survived the invasion and they stepped inside to be greeted by the owner of the shop. "Hello, you two, nice to see you again, Itachi." He greeted and Itachi nodded to the man in greeting as well. They sat themselves down and were given plates of onigiri to begin with. She slowly sampled her onigiri and he watched her as she did so.

A light blush dusted her cheeks, but she didn't meet his gaze. She took slow little bites, and he just watched her as he reached and wrapped his fingers around his own. He took a bite, and his thoughts began to wander. He didn't want to be alone, so the offer of him to come to the Hyuuga compound for a while was... enticing to say the least. Especially if he were able to be near her more. He swallowed his bite, his gaze drawing over her features. Smooth unblemished skin with soft rosy lips in a permanent pout that matched her rosy cheeks. Gentle lavender eyes curtained by long lashes; those eyes were now sneaking glances at him as well.

He blinked and his lips upturned ever so slightly. "What are you thinking of?" she asked, and he propped his head up on his fist. "Trying to understand how we got here, Hinata." he sighed softly, and she looked back down to the last Onigiri sitting on the plate. She reached for it, but as if changing her mind at the last second, she pushed it towards him. He raised a brow but broke it in half and offered her the other half.

A small smile crossed her lips, and she took the other half, her fingers brushing over his gently. The feeling of her smooth fingertips trailing over him made him uneasy, as if wondering if he could control himself around her. For the rest of their dinner they sat and had gentle conversation about their plans for the week. He didn't want to broach the topic of her admitting her love for him yet, seeing as he hadn't told her he felt the same way yet. He wanted to, but he knew she belonged with someone else other than himself.

He couldn't be selfish and take her away from someone who would love her the way she craved to be loved. He didn't know if he could do that for her no matter how much he wanted to. He sighed as he paid their bill and stood. He had avoided the sake that had been offered to him, knowing that he couldn't keep his hands to himself when he drank. Especially not around her. He shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked side by side down the street. Her arms were wrapped around herself as if she were cold.

He reached to remove his cloak, only to pat his chest and realize he no longer had a cloak. His jaw twitched in slight annoyance, he had gotten used to the garment over the years. He frowned and watched her as she walked, he didn't think she was actually cold perhaps... perhaps she was keeping her hands to herself as well. They approached her compound and he pulled his hands from his pockets as she approached the gates. "Hinata..." he called and she turned to face him.

"Goodnight." he said and she smiled, stepping over to him once more. He held his arms out to her and she rushed to wrap her arms around his waist and hug him tightly. She pressed her cheek against his chest and he felt his heart begin to race, he cursed himself in his mind as she pulled away and looked up at him in confusion. "Are you ok?" she asked and he nodded. He couldn't very well admit to her that she had made him nervous. He was once an ANBU... once a widely feared Akatsuki... it wasn't like he could admit one little girl made him so nervous his heart raced.

The whole ordeal was problematic quite honestly.

"Okay... if you say so..." she said with amusement in her eyes. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What's so funny?" he asked and she shook her head. "Nothing nothing!" she exclaimed playfully and he took a step forward, causing her to take off with a giggle. She was fast, but he was still faster after all. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, skidding to a stop. When he set her back down he immediately started tickling her, causing her to laugh until she was crying.

"Not so funny teasing me now, is it?" he mused as she squealed with laughter. He chuckled and couldn't help but see the little girl he had always adored staring back at him with humored tears in her eyes. He briefly wondered if she saw the younger image of him as well. He doubted it, but whenever they had these moments all he could see were the memories of better times. A saddened smile crossed his lips, but he was snapped out of his thoughts by her hands finding their way to his cheeks she leaned up on her tippy toes and her lips almost reached his before he pulled back.

"Hinata..." he whispered softly and she blushed and looked down in slight shame. Her hands fell from his cheeks, and he sighed as he reached and grabbed her hands in his own, her fingers slipping between his and entwining. He opened his mouth to speak as he leaned closer to her, but someone cleared their throat. "Hinata-sama." he called out and he looked over to see Neji standing there. He released her and stepped back away from her, bowing to Neji in greeting.

"Itachi." the man greeted with a small twitch of the lips. "Thank you for bringing Hinata home safely." he said, and Hinata blushed as she looked between the two. She was only nervous because she had been caught flirting with him, he mused. He nodded to Neji and turned to walk away. "Goodnight, Neji, Hinata." he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets once more. "You know you don't have to go back there.... you can stay with us until you're ready." Neji called and he turned around to face them.

"I need to face what I've done. So, I have to stay there if I want to do so." he said softly and Hinata frowned. "There's no need to torment yourself." Hinata said and he felt his lips twitch up ever so slightly. He already tormented himself every day, so this was no different. "I will think over the offer." he said and stepped backwards once, vanishing into a flock of crows before they could call out to him once more.

He landed in a tree overlooking his home and he sighed as he slipped down from the tree and landed over the wall. He made his way over to his front steps and he made his way up the creaking wood steps. Every footstep he took creaked the old floorboards and reminded him of exactly how alone he was. His eyes slipped shut as he closed his front door behind him and pressed his back against it. He slid down against the door until he touched the floor. He pulled his knees up and draped his arms over them.

He was so alone it hurt.

That was what had caused the dam to break. Silent tears streaked down over his cheeks as he hid his eyes from the empty darkness before him. He choked back a soft sob, the tears continuing to fall. He didn't want to be alone anymore. He wanted his home to be full of life again, and he knew that he would most likely die before that ever happened. Which wrought a new set of tears from him.

:-:-:-:

Hinata woke in the middle of the night to a presence in her room. She opened her eyes and sat up in the bed and looked over to the person lingering in her window. "You left it open for me this time." He said and she nodded as she turned to face him. She didn't understand why he was here, much less what he could possibly want with her. His presence didn't feel intimidating, just sad. "Come here." She whispered and he made his way across the room to sit beside her.

"How are you doing?" she asked and he reached out towards her. She didn't flinch, instead she happily accepted his embrace. He motivated on the bed until his head was in her lap and she was running her fingers through his hair. "Why have you come here, Sasuke?" she whispered and he looked up at her with sad onyx eyes. "I killed him Hinata... and then I found out the truth." Her eyes softened as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.

"Have you come to ask for forgiveness?" she asked softly and he nodded into her lap. Her fingers stopped combing through his hair, and he looked up at her curiously. She hated that he could still make her feel sorry for him even after how cruel he had been. "I can forgive you, but I need you to come back to the village." she said, and he looked up at her with curious eyes. "Why do you want me to come back? Haven't I done enough wrong? Haven't they? They made him do it..." he bit out softly, and she began running her fingers through his hair once more. It was something that had always managed to calm him down before, so she hoped it would work now.

His eyes seemed to soften, and she frowned as he took a deep breath. "Hinata... I need you." He whispered as he sat up and leaned close to her. She furrowed her brows as he placed a hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. She tried to get away from him, but his lips still made contact with hers. He attempted to deepen the kiss, but she pushed him away gently and shook her head. "No Sasuke... I have to tell you something..." she said, and he sat back, confused as to why she was rejecting him.

"It's Itachi, isn't it?" he asked, and she nodded. He fisted his hands into her blankets for a moment, then stood. "You saved him?" he asked softly, and she nodded once more. "I did everything I could. He is doing well, but he is still not feeling completely better yet." She said and he nodded. "Thank you..." he whispered, placing a kiss atop her head, before he slunk towards the window once more. "Where are you going?" she asked and he sighed, his whole body seeming to relax slightly. "To see him and figure out what I should do. Seeing as I've lost you completely." He said as he vanished into the night.

She inwardly cursed to herself, seeing as she still had feelings for Sasuke as well. She wasn't expecting a kiss to bring everything rushing back, but it did and now she had a dilemma, who did she choose?

:-:-:

Itachi knew he was there before he even slipped open the window. He sat up in his bed and watched his little brother crawl through the window. He was wary of his presence in his room, but he made no move to go against him in any way. He knew his motives would be revealed soon enough, either way. His gaze drifted over to where Sasuke was crouched in his window. Tears shone in his onyx eyes and he frowned as he slipped out of his bed and crossed the room to face his younger brother.

Sasuke choked back a sob as he lunged for him. He didn't feel any of the killing intent he had felt all those times before and he opened his arms to his younger brother, who damn near tackled him in a hug. When his brother pulled back, he jabbed two fingers into his brother's forehead, making the younger male look down to try and hide his tears. Another presence made themselves known and he sighed as she pressed in between the brothers only to wrap an arm around each of them and pull them close to her. She had tears in her eyes as well and he sighed.

He pressed his forehead to hers and she continued her blubbering. "I was so scared..." she whispered and the brothers both stepped back away from each other. She gripped each of their hands and they exchanged looks with one another. Itachi managed a small smile as he looked between the two. Sasuke loved her, but she loved him. She also loved Sasuke to an extent, it seemed. It was clearly going to be a mess to get sorted out. He could see it in their faces as they looked at each other, but he could also see how much she loved him.

Hinata let go of Sasuke's hand and rushed to hug him tightly. He watched as Sasuke was resigned to the fact, she turned away from him. "Hinata, you should spend time with Sasuke while he's here. He isn't going to be here for long, I can see it in his eyes... he still has things to work through." Itachi said and she looked up at him. "I was so scared something was going to happen between you, so I came..." she whispered, and he pressed his forehead to hers once more. "I knew he wasn't going to hurt me." he said softly, and she pulled away from him.

She turned to Sasuke, and he frowned at her. He didn't object to her hugging him though. When the two younger shinobi had finished crying, they all sat on Itachi's bed and talked for hours, only for them to fall asleep curled up into him. He looked at Hinata, who was curled up between them, a hand gripping his shirt loosely while her other hand was gripping Sasuke's shirt as well. Sasuke had his face buried in Hinata's hair as he slept.

He ruffled Sasuke's hair and his brother's eyes slipped open and watched him for a moment. "She loves you; you know." Sasuke said and He nodded. "I know, but she also loves you." He said and Sasuke shook his head. "Not like she loves you. She rejected me again before I came over here." He said and Itachi raised a brow. "Why did you break off the engagement?" he asked, and Sasuke glanced away from him. "Because she was always in love with you. Even when we were children." he said, and Itachi furrowed his brows.

"Explain how you came across that observation." he said, and Sasuke told him about all the times he was jealous of her because of her interactions with him. "She never believed you did it to get stronger... she always believed you did it for a reason. She believed in you when no one else did. I treated her like shit because of this. And then I heard she was going out to the woods at night alone... I knew she was going to see you. It was always you, Itachi." He said and Itachi chuckled lightly.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" he asked a soft glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "I'm going to let her love you." he said, and Itachi's eyes went wide. He was not expecting that from his younger brother in the slightest. "Are you going to come back and live here with me?" he asked, and Sasuke was silent for a moment. "I... I need to know more. I need to learn more about why the village decided that having you do that was the best course of action." he said, and Itachi frowned.

"You know I am going to protect the village in the end, right?" he asked, and Sasuke paused as he was slipping out of the bed. "Yes. I know." He said before he vanished out of the room. He released a sigh, only to look down and see that glowing lavender eyes were watching him, sleep still heavy in her gaze. "I love you..." she whispered as she ran her fingers over his cheek, her thumb brushing gently over his cheek.

He ducked his head down to hers and he brushed his nose against hers. "Why did you make the choice you did?" he asked and she frowned at him as his nose brushed over hers once more. "Because I want to be with you." she whispered and he sighed, his breath wafting over her lips. "Why me? Why did you choose me over him?" he asked and she smiled, a soft blush crossing her cheeks as he dipped his head even closer to hers. He could feel her gentle breaths on his lips now.

"Because... It's always been you." she said as she pressed her lips to his. This wasn't a good enough reason for her not choosing someone her own age who clearly loved her, not to him, but he didn't care about that in this very moment. He was more focused on the feeling of their lips melding together, it felt as if they were meant to be together. He pressed himself closer to her, one hand sliding down her side to hook beneath her knee, to hike her leg up over his hip.

He cursed himself as he realized what he was doing, and he pulled away. She was only sixteen, he couldn't be caught doing this with her. He pulled away from her and scooted away. "Hinata, you need to go home..." he said, and she leaned up to look at him in confusion. "Itachi, what's wrong?" she asked, and he frowned at her. "I can't be caught with you like this. Both of us will get in trouble, and it doesn't matter how I feel for you." he said, and her eyes softened as she leaned closer to him once more.

"How do you feel about me?" she asked, and he frowned a little deeper. "You know I can't answer that, Hinata." he said, and she frowned at him. "You should go home before we both get in trouble." he whispered and she nodded as she slipped out of his bed, only to pause when his thumb brushed over the back of her hand. "We will be friends in the meantime, but if you happen to find someone else before you're of age... don't stress about me. And if you choose Sasuke... don't worry about how I feel. I will be happy as long as you are happy, Hinata." He said softly as he let her hand go.

He watched as she slipped out of the same window that Sasuke did. He knew he had upset her, but he knew she would be ok. She was still young, there was enough time for her to fall in love with someone else that wasn't him. He needed to find someone his own age and leave her alone. She was still just a child after all. He pulled his blanket up around him and rolled onto his side, slipping his eyes shut as her floral scent wafted up to his nose from the blanket.

He felt horrible, he really did, but he knew there was war coming and she needed to focus.