FRAGRANCE | u. itachi

六十 | What do you mean by our child?

Itachi received it from her, and with a quick inspection, he knew exactly who it was from. He nodded at the grandma. "Thank you."

The grandma simply smiled. "Well, then, I'll leave you two alone," she spoke before she skipped out of the room without another word.

Itachi sighed as he rolled out the letter, briefly skimming through it, and instantly he tossed it onto the bedside table. A grimace came over his face. "Leader-sama wants to talk with you," he told Kuina.

She instantly tensed up. "N-Now?"

"He has a mission for you to undertake. He wants you to use your Kekkei Genkai for some tasks. He will elaborate on it once you return to the hideout," Itachi summarised the letter for her as he glanced at her, taking in the worries on her face. "What is it? You don't wish to see him?"

She instantly held a little scowl on her face as she crossed her arms. "Well, you finally told me that you will be mine. We still haven't even had the time to spend together and we have to go back already. . ."

"Then how about we ignore him?"

She almost flinched at his words as she looked up at him before shaking her head rapidly. "I-I don't want to get in trouble," she quickly told him. "I don't want you to get in trouble either."

He tilted his head to the side slightly. "I do not doubt Leader-sama can trouble me, but he would not do so. It would be his loss and a hassle to get on each others' bad side," he told her. "Besides, I think I am quite in a predicament already as he knew I almost . . . hurt you," he muttered out the last few words before a sigh parted his lips. "Might as well displease him. The worst that could happen is that I am unemployed."

She shuffled on her seat as she allowed herself to glance up at him. "Really?"

"Hm," he reassured her rather dismissively before he looked up at her. "But I digress, if we are to stay out longer, we should leave this crimson hibiscus mountain soon. Leader-sama knows we are here, he might come and personally pick you up, who knows," he leaned back in his seat and gave her a side glance. "Besides, since it is our date, I might as well spoil you a little, shouldn't I? Where shall we go?"

A pink tint crept over her cheeks. "Then can we-can we go to the winter festival? It should take place right around the corner."

He nodded slowly. Although he was not much of a person who enjoyed jolly celebration, he supposed it was not too bad to experience it once in his life.

.

Kuina was quite surprised that Itachi was willing to ignore his duty to spend some more time with her. But she understood why he was willing; this trip was perhaps the first and last time they could truly be themselves.

He had said he would not hold back on this trip and that he would be hers, and Kuina decided that instead of being sad and worried about the future, she would only think of happy things and enjoy every moment she had with him.

After they had gotten the letter from Pein, they knew that they must set off. So, they thanked and paid the grandma for her service, before leaving the apothecary and the crimson hibiscus field behind.

Itachi decided that he would take her to his house as there should be a winter festival nearby that area. It was also a place where Pein would likely not find. They both travelled from morning till late afternoon, and Kuina was too exhausted by that time, so they decided to take a rest at a park. There were several children running about, playing on a large playground that was situated in the middle of the yard.

Itachi had gone off to the stall nearby to buy some food and drink, so Kuina took a seat on one of the swings, waiting for him. But before she could relax her muscles that had been tensed from the long travel, she suddenly felt a force pushed against her swing. A gasp tumbled from her lips as she fell off the swing, and onto the hard ground, the bark scraping against her skin.