Prologue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life is full of unexpected surprises.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*3rd POV*

Itachi had never planned on having a child.

And yet, here he was, holding a two-month-old baby girl.

It was never his intention to have a child, much less raise one.

He let out a sigh, his frustration showing with his every movement.

This child could ruin everything.

Every plan set, from the Uchiha Massacre to up until Sasuke would kill him. It was all set up, it was going perfectly-

Until he found out about Haru.

Her mother was kind, and understood his situation. She refrained from telling him, whether out of understanding for him or the good of her child, he'd never know. She was loyal until the end.

He wanted to leave her, to drop her off at an orphanage that would take her in, that would raise her with no questions asked, as abandoned children in the shinobi world was somewhat common.

But he did admit, however, that he had morals, morals that told him that what he wanted to do was just wrong. He also didn't want all of Fuyu's efforts rot away, not after all that she'd done.

He glanced at the mother's corpse, thinking over the options that he had.

He could raise her in the Akatsuki, but there were members that he didn't trust, and he would rather that the last female Uchiha not be in the hands of S-ranked criminals.

Another would be to leave her in an orphanage, and completely remove her from his life, but he could practically see the disapproving look on Fuyu's face, spreading the sense of reluctance.

Killing her was another option, but he didn't find the idea of killing a defenseless baby, Fuyu's baby, very appealing.

Another option would be to drop her off at Konoha. He disliked it, but it was the best by far. Haru's bloodline would eventually be discovered, then she could be protected by the ninja there. However, it was most likely that he'd get discovered, and that scenario was one he'd like to avoid.

The final option was to raise her himself, away from society, and eventually, set her up to encounter Sasuke after his death, and hope that Sasuke would accept her. This option relied heavily on chance, and could possibly go wrong in several ways, but was the only one that didn't paint a target on her back.

Itachi racked his brain for other options, trying to find another way that relied less on chance, as well as one that would keep her concealed from the rest of the world.

He thought of several different paths, but each put either Haru or Sasuke in danger, or being discovered and possibly abducted by the likes of Danzo or Orochimaru.

He heaved a heavy sigh, and looked into the distance, where the rosy fingers of dawn were revealing themselves in the horizon.

After winter, will come the soft presence of spring.

He had made his decision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Edited]