Secrets

Dedicated to: the summer time, when we all laughed and played

She had no idea what she did to deserve this. It just didn't make any sense.

Her father was quite strict and made sure that she never told a lie.

She told the truth and this is what she gets. It would have been so simple just to say, "No, I didn't draw all over the paper that happened to be on your office table." But no, her conscious and her father's unnerving stare had to get the better of her.

"Never touch something that doesn't belong to you," was what he said. That was her moral lesson of the day. In a way, she thought it was hypocritical of him since she caught him several times in her room with a number of pens and pencils in hand. She thought it was normal, so she snuck into her father's study room and took a piece of paper that was just calling for her to draw on it.

Before she could draw, what was supposed to be a dog, with her unused black crayon her name was screamed.

And now here she was staring at the walls of her bedroom as punishment.

Grumbling under her breath, she promised herself not to touch anything that didn't belong to her in fear of having to face the dreaded wall again. Was he trying to test her sanity? He might as well take away her candy stash, which she cleverly hid under her bed.

Time dragged on, and the last time she checked it was 10:34 when she was sent to her room. Taking a quick peek behind, the numbers 10:38 glared at her. She banged her head against the wall.

Such a mean clock.

She would try to remember to get a new clock, hoping it would be nicer to her.

A soft knock was heard, and she straightened suddenly finding a newfound interest in the hues of yellow on her wall.

A soft voice spoke, "Sakura-chan?"

As a reflex, she turned to her door to find a woman in her late twenties smiling gently. Not realizing the grin spreading on her face she ran into the open arms of her "oka-san". Anything was fine as long as she got to get away from the evil wall.

"Oto-san was mad today," she pouted, "he told me to stay in here and that I could go down when he said so." In desperation, her emerald green eyes shone at her mother. "Will he let me eat dessert tonight?"

Her mother chuckled lightly. "I think he'll let you eat just a bit tonight."

That was enough for her.

Sakura stared longingly at her window as she snuggled into the warm body. "Do I have to stay here long? I promised Ino-chan I would meet her in the park..."

Caramel eyes softened. Her daughter's longing to see her new friend was quite something. Sakura never brought home a friend unless it was for a project from school. It was only a few weeks ago, did she bring home someone for a reason other than work. Despite the short time the two have known each other, they were inseparable. It was rare to find one without the other.

Her husband was strict about keeping her in the house for a while, but she just couldn't let their only daughter break her promise to a dear friend. Kneeling on one knee she forced green eyes to look up. "Can you keep a secret Sakura-chan?"

Eager at this sudden secrecy, her pink head bobbed up and down vigorously. She loved sharing secrets, especially when she was with Ino-chan.

Her mother smirked. If he ever found out, she was definitely going to get a scolding. One way or another, she was going to get him to loosen up. "Your Oto-san isn't here now, and won't be back until tonight," she whispered, "so I'm going to let you out a bit earlier." Sakura was beginning to bounce in excitement at this news. Hands held her firmly at her shoulders, to keep her from getting out of control. "But you must not tell anyone."

Stopping abruptly, Sakura tilted her head slightly. "Anyone?"

"Not even Ino-chan." Dark pink brows furrowed deeply at the seriousness of their secret. A secret without Ino-chan? What scandal! It was like not talking to her for an entire week! Finally, after a moment of contemplation she agreed, and sealed it off with a pinky promise.

Unable to hold down a knowing smile, Yumiko Haruno spoke. "Now go downstairs and eat. I don't want those eggs to go cold."

x.x.x

Sakura skipped down the streets merrily, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from everyone. She was happy for her freedom, plus she was going to see her friend soon. Nothing could crush her spirits now.

It was still early, so she took the time to walk around and look at the products sold in the street stalls. There weren't many things that sparked her interest though; most of the things were mainly for "old people": pots and pans, food, herbs and medicine, and trinkets. In the end, she ended up buying two boxes of pocky.

Nibbling on her stick, she sat happily beneath a tree to enjoy the breeze.

Almost time to meet Ino-chan!

Unable to hide her excitement, Sakura began to walk around in hopes that time would pass by faster. It was impossible to hide her giddiness.

As she travelled farther and farther away, she could hear the noise of...actually she didn't know what the noise was. It sounded kind of like the thump people would here whenever someone was hitting the ground with the blunt end of a stick. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she went from a walk to a sprint to the source of the noise.

Soon it became loud enough for her to see what exactly it was, but in this case it was more like who it was. Not far from her, was a boy no older than her. Possibly eight, nine at the most.

He had black hair, light skin, and was kind of short. Compared to her that is. His black shirt and white pants were very complementary, and in a way Sakura thought it fit him well. He was breathing rather hard and looked tired from, what she could tell, a very hard training session. Scattered all over the floor were weapons that she saw a lot ninjas carry whenever they left for missions. She'd even read stories about them. The particular one he was holding in his hand was pointed one way – a kunai.

As he made a swing, he made a wrong step and the weapon flew out of his hand towards Sakura. Shrieking she ducked, just barely missing it above her head.

She simply sat there in shock of nearly being killed. How ironic it was that he missed his target and ended up nearly killing her. It didn't take long for someone to appear in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he panted "I didn't know someone was here." He paused as he looked at her before his eyes narrowed at the stranger, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

The girl was perplexed at his caprice. One moment he was worried that he might have hurt someone, and now he was asking that exact person questions as if she was an enemy.

She didn't know how to react: angry? Shy? Curious? Maybe all of the above since she could get a better look at him now that he was closer.

He had a square-ish jaw, and his nose was kind of pointed, but not too much. His cheeks were sort of plump, but she could tell that he was getting skinnier. In a way, he was really cute.

Sakura flushed slightly. She opened her mouth to talk, but was horrified that she couldn't make a sound. These kinds of situations really bugged her. The only times she isn't like this is when she's with Ino.

The boy started to get impatient. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Averting her eyes to meet his, green and black met.

Sakura blushed faintly when he looked at her. "What's your name?" she asked.

He crossed his arms and huffed a bit, but that didn't stop him from responding. "Sasuke Uchiha." He waited, expecting a response.

It never came.

"Are you just going to sit there?" he asked, irritated.

"Sakura Haruno!"

Confused at her sudden outburst, Sasuke gave her a funny look.

The girl sitting on the ground gave him a determined look. "I have a name, and it's Sakura Haruno! Ino-chan always told her that she should always look at the person and speak in a loud voice, though it sounded like she put in too much force into it when she spoke.

Plus, she wanted him to remember her by leaving a good impression.

Fortunately for her, he would have no choice.

"Sasuke."

The raven haired boy turned around eagerly, knowing full well whose voice it belonged to.

"Nii-san!" he ran and jumped onto his older brother. "Guess what? I've been practicing when you left! I almost got it this time!"

A huge grin was plastered on his face, proud of his hard work.

"That's good Sasuke." His older brother's gaze shifted to look at the pink haired child on the ground.

The silence of it all was clearly making her uncomfortable, so, being the merciful being he is, he walked away followed closely by Sasuke, who instantly forgot about the poor girl.

As the two left, Sakura couldn't help but notice the resemblance of the two. It was like they were brothers or something.

She hadn't noticed how much time had passed, until she realized that she was now completely alone. In a secluded area. With no one knowing where she was.

Quickly grabbing her snacks, she broke out into a run until she soon arrived at the park to find a certain lone blond waiting for her. Already forgetting the meeting with the Uchiha, Sakura ran to her with a cheeky grin.

"Ino-chan! Can you keep a secret?"

-end-

Note: There may or may not be time skips. Depends how the story progresses.

Spoilers: I can guarantee that Sakura will run into a lot of bad luck because of Sasuke. It's not his fault though. She will also be out of character, but not too much. She just won't be of a fan girl.