Sacrifices for Peace

Part Four: Somewhere Like Home I

Itachi was satisfied with the house - all except one part of it. 

While Sakura bathed in the spring in the yard, he took to inspecting every inch of the surrounding area. He found one thing that irked him: Tobirama's seal for his teleportation. Itachi recognised it from the battlefield during the Fourth Shinobi War. It was a seal that never faded and wouldn't be removed, even after death. Itachi was under no illusions that the apparent acceptance Tobirama had shown himself and Sakura was fake, nor was he blind to the pretend trust the others had shown. He understood it, as he knew he would act the same way if their positions were reversed, and yet, it still annoyed him. He placed a genjutsu on the seal that would be activated the moment Tobirama arrived. He would not be able to hide his presence from them, and it filled Itachi with petty satisfaction.

Sakura and Itachi spent the afternoon preparing barriers, traps, and genjutsu to protect their home from intruders. They would be alerted of anyone approaching that wasn't themselves. Itachi could only hope that they had prepared enough to also hide from Black Zetsu.

While they waited for dusk, Itachi and Sakura sat talking quietly together in the living room about what was going to happen at the dinner. Sakura sat slightly uncomfortably in a chair. She wasn't used to wearing such traditional clothes, and selected to wear hakama with a simple kimono, instead of the very expensive looking formal kimono she had been supplied with.

Itachi opted for a traditional Uchiha outfit, a high-necked and long-sleeved mantle in charcoal, with trousers and sandals. He was sitting on the couch, adjacent to Sakura.

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked him. "They're going to ask us questions that we can't give satisfactory answers to."

"We mix truth and lies together," Itachi replied. He gave her a sidelong glance. "Why are you nervous? We've discussed this already."

Sakura fiddled with her hair, tucking and untucking it behind her ear. "I know. It's just that talking is different than doing."

She put her hands in her lap, an effort to stop fidgeting, Itachi assumed.

"Hn," Itachi agreed. "Why did you tell them you were proud of them?" He asked curiously.

Sakura looked at him. "Don't you think what they're doing is amazing?" Sakura asked. Her eyes took on a distant look. "One day, this place is going to be somewhere that so many people can call home and look to for protection. I was looking at them, and I could see... I don't know exactly, but they reminded me a little bit of Sasuke and Naruto when we were genin. Sasuke was always trying to prove he was the best, but he was still a kid, he still needed someone to tell him he was doing well, and it was the same with Naruto." She looked at Itachi, coming back to the present. "I wanted to tell them they were doing well, that's all."

There were times that Itachi forgot Sakura was a few years younger than he was. There was an air of maturity about her and thoughtfulness in what she said and did that he rarely heard in someone her age. A pang in his chest made me realise that it was more than likely the result of Sasuke's abandonment of the village that forced her to mature beyond her years, but he was grateful that it did.

He turned his head to look out the window. "Someone approaches," he said.

Sakura looked outside, the sun was setting.

"Izuna?" She asked.

"Most likely. Shall we meet him?" Sakura nodded.

They slipped on their shoes at the door and exited the house. They met an irate looking Izuna on the path.