Disclaimer: Everything Naruto related is not owned by me - but their fates are definitely in my hands. I'll try to play nice.
A/N: Posted this before, but my friends found my account so I deleted in a frenzy of embarrassment. Immediate regret ensued and now I am reposting. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Sakura was a generally non aggressive girl.
She let the kids at school bully her. She sat through their insults. She let them steal her toys, and she let them push her around on the playground.
She knew it was partially her fault - her passiveness that egged the children on, and her tears that only fueled their malice. But she was taught that there was no benefit to aggression.
The Harunos lived as the symbols of peace among the village. Her parents were normal civilians - loving in their caretaking and pacifist in their teachings. They lived strictly by their code of generosity and were well loved by their neighbors.
Never did they consider the shinobi lifestyle, and prided in the fact that they could be the normalcy in a world ruled by violence. Sakura never had any interest either - the only reason she was enrolled in the academy was the fact that a certain raven haired Uchiha seemed happily involved in it. But even then she was content with watching from afar.
She was happy the way she was, and saw no flaw in the philosophy her parents held.
Not until she sat quivering under the floorboards of her home, listening to her mother's scream as her father's body crumpled to the ground.
"Where is he ma'am?"
"KIZASHI!" Mebuki Haruno fell to her knees next to her husband's body. "You bastard!"
The intruders sneered. "We know he came by. We'll spare you if you tell us where he went."
Mebuki closed her eyes and grit her teeth. "Please. We just woke up - how in the world would we know anything?"
The missing nin the men were looking for laid beside Sakura, unconscious and bleeding profusely. She continued to put pressure on the towels, like her parents instructed her to in order to stop the bleeding. Her own tears ran fell onto his body, as she desperately willed her father to be alright.
One of the men spat on the floor, annoyed. "This is a waste of time. He could be miles away now - he's prestigious after all."
"What about the woman?"
The sound of a second body crumpled to the ground. Sakura's lip bled as she bit down in an attempt to keep a cry of horror escape.
"Just a genjutsu? Pfft. You're getting soft."
There was no sound as they left, and Sakura waited for what seemed to be hours. The man beside her was unconscious, and her parents possibly dead - she felt completely alone and helpless.
You cannot enforce peace without your own power. You cannot stand for those you want to protect without having enemies to face.
She slowly lifted the hatch and peered out. Seeing only the fallen bodies of her parents, she scrambled out of her hiding place and to her parents.
Her father was most definitely dead - his jugular slashed and his head at a strange angle. Her mother faced the other direction, her face frozen in permanent horror as she gazed through her daughter into another reality.
Sakura forgot entirely about the strangers and screamed her for her parents to wake up. As she desperately shook her immobile parents, one thing registered in her mind.
Next time, she would be stronger. Next time, she would be able to protect those she loved. Next time, she would be ready, and she would never feel so useless again.
Onyx eyes fluttered as they slowly came to consciousness. His head pounded and his body hurt all over. He winced the sudden pain in his arm, and realized that the discomfort was what woke him up.
Otouto...
All his memories returned in a flash, and Itachi Uchiha shot up with sudden urgency. A kunai was immediately held near the neck of his assailant.
But instead of shinobi, he found himself gazing intently at a young girl with pink hair.
What?
She blinked with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Then, amazingly, worry. "Did I hurt you, onii-san?"
She wasn't frightened?
His eyes registered the towel in her hand, stained with his blood, and a tub of warm water. He was being tended to for the first time in years - and by a girl half his size no less.
Though he saw no danger, he was slow to let his shoulders fall and slip the kunai back into its holster.
The girl seemed a little more unsure, but reached for the clean gauze with concern in her stature. "Gomen - I've never done this without kaa-san."
Her gaze lowered, the corners of her mouth turning down thoughtfully. "Mother is in the hospital. They said she was under powerful genjutsu. She won't talk anymore."
Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but brightened again when he held out his arm for her. She began to carefully wrap the bandages around his arm, engrossed in the task. It was inflamed from a fire jutsu he got caught in.
"Father said you did something brave and we had to protect you at all costs."
The Uchiha's expression didn't change, but blood-filled memories resurfaced. His stomach churned with nausea. His little brother's stricken face as he entered the room burned to the back of his eyes.
There was nothing brave about what I did.
And now he was the cause for the casualties upon this girl's family. Those damn mist nin thought they could knock him down while he was weak - they wanted his eyes for their own, and ambushed him the minute he stepped foot out of his clan district. He narrowed his eyes as hemade a mental note of their chakra signatures.
A soft sniffle brought his mind back to the present. "I… couldn't do anything this time… but I'll get stronger next time!"
She didn't seem to blame him whatsoever. "You don't have to worry - I'll protect you from those bullies!"
Her childish, innocent voice held strangely placed assurance that softened Itachi's eyes. Harunos were known to believe in people to a fault.
Itachi watched in silence as she slowly and carefully bandaged his arm while wiping away the moisture in her eyes.
The words formed in his mouth without thinking.
"Would you like my help?"
Sakura Haruno's progress sharply increased, unbeknownst to her classmates. She became less social and threw herself into her studies. Everyone disregarded it, seeing the withdrawal as her coping mechanism for the news of her father's death and her mother's hospitalization.
The news was not out of the ordinary - most students only had one parent, and the death of a single Haruno was dwarfed by the news of the Uchiha clan's assassination.
Sakura noted the likeness between the missing nin compadre and Sasuke Uchiha, but kept her mouth shut. The teenager who called himself "Hasao" made it clear that she was not to talk about their interactions, and she was keen to listen in exchange for their daily lessons.
She would go out with a basket at sunset, claiming to pick flowers for her mother, and meet Hasao in the outskirts of town. He would always be cloaked in a genjutsu, and appear as a different individual each time.
He taught her to sense and break them, or she would be punished with no breaks during her training.
It was only a month, but she was eager to learn and developed a solid grasp on the basics.
Hasao left right at the month marker, like he promised, but left her the necessary tools to train on her own. So when the day came to become assigned to an official team, she would be more than ready.
Sakura had passed the academy tests with ease, and was eager to test the skills she'd trained in combat against her peers. Never had she managed to land a hit in the little time Hasao had trained her, but she had diligently honed her skills and trained her body for years since then.
After getting dressed, she visited her mom at the hospital and told her all about her graduation from the academy. Fortunately, Mebuki Haruno was stubborn, and slowly made a recovery. Now she sat in a wheelchair, and listened to her daughter's rambling with a warm smile.
Sakura loved her mother more than anything, and she was willing to go to the ends of the earth to protect her from any more pain. Now, she bounced from roof to roof. Her heart raced in her chest as she proudly donned the headband with her village symbol etched onto the front.
"Hey! You show off!"
Sakura glanced back to see Ino appearing out of the flower shop, her sleeves rolled up threateningly. The pink haired girl paused to stick her tongue out at her long time friend. "Race you there, pig!"
A baby blue eye twitched in playful irritation as Ino quickly switched to full gear. "You better get ready to kiss my ass, Haruno!"
Sakura slid through the doorway and stopped just in time to avoid collision with the opposite wall. She jumped up with a victorious smile.
Hell yeah!
She stretched as Ino came panting down the hall, scowling. "You had a head start, you cheater!"
Sakura grinned. "Don't be sore, pig!"
She let out a satisfied sigh and surveyed the room for a seat. Sasuke Uchiha's gravity defying hair caught her eye, and she contemplated sitting next to him for a moment.
Despite the fact that he was devilishly handsome, he was also known for his advanced techniques in combat. They shared the number one scores in the academy, and she desperately wanted to face him on the field.
Hasao's face flashed into her mind. Was the Uchiha prodigy anything like the mentor who shared his features?
Naruto poked his head into her line of sight, effectively blocking the Uchiha from view. "Hey Sakura-chan! I saved a seat for you!"
Sakura sighed, and moved forward to accept his offer. The guy seemed friendly enough, if one ignored his obnoxiousness.
Ino, on the other hand, had unfortunately noticed her original target. "Hey! I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun!"
The Yamanaka lunged forward and grabbed Sakura's arm. She pulled the pink haired girl behind her and pushed toward the heartbreaker.
Spurred on by competition, Sakura scowled. "I got here first, pig. I get to sit wherever I want!"
Sitting next to the broody male was not her idea of a pleasant afternoon, but Ino's attitude had ticked her off. Before they knew it, their little squabble lead to an unprecedented kiss between a dejected Naruto and a ticked off Sasuke.
A majority of the females in the classroom shed a couple tears for the loss of Sasuke Uchiha's first kiss. They loomed aggressively in unison over a pale Naruto, cracking their knuckles.
Sakura, on the other hand, doubled over and pounded a fist onto the ground, almost drooling with laughter. The fact that she could feel his eyes glaring holes into her only made the situation funnier.
Sakura immediately regretted laughing once Iruka announced the teams. Her heart sank right along with Naruto's, as both guys she spitefully laughed at a moment ago became her teammates.
Well there goes any hope of teamwork.
Sakura sat at a bench, moping over her lunch. She was so bummed by the terrible timing of the assignments that she refused Naruto's cheery offer to get lunch together.
Naruto was friendly and relatively welcoming. Sasuke, on the other hand…
It would be easier to dig a hole through a mountain. With a spoon.
At that thought, she let out another sigh and rested her chin on her hand. Is it possible to request solo missions?
"You have a charmingly wide forehead, Sakura."
That's… that's Sasuke's voice?
Sakura looked up, and immediately stifled a laugh. Sasuke Uchiha was standing before her… but crafted from a terribly concealed genjutsu. She almost felt insulted.
"It makes me want to ki-"
The boy stopped mid-sentence when the kunoichi held up a hand. "Don't embarrass yourself, Naruto."
The illusion fell away with a poof. Naruto pouted at how easily she saw through his plan. "Mou, Sakura-chan… how did you know it was me?"
A pastel eyebrow rose. "Your genjutsu was as if you put on a costume held together by duct tape - you used way too much chakra haphazardly. A convincing genjutsu should be one carefully stitched together strand by strand."
"Wow, Sakura-chan," her new teammate scratched his head, trying to take everything in. "You sure know a lot about genjutsus, dattebeyo!"
Sakura shrugged. "You just need practice is all."
With those words, he rushed forward and leaned into her personal bubble. "Hey, hey Sakura-chan! Would you be willing to teach me?"
"Ah… I-"
Before she could respond, a loud grumbling interrupted their conversation. Naruto's face quickly paled, and he stood straight, backing away. "I… I'll be right back, dattebeyo!"
He scurried away without another word, hunched over and holding his stomach.
Once he was out of sight, Sakura released a breath of relief. She had plenty of her own training to do, and it seemed like Naruto had only asked due to his attraction to her. It would be nice to have some company every now and then on the training grounds, though…
She looked down at her half-eaten food and sighed, picking it back up. Lunch break was almost over, and she knew she had feed herself or else she wouldn't be at peak capacity.
Once she finished forcing down the bland rice, she noticed her other teammate coming up the road. He silently strode up without any intent of making eye contact.
Sakura glanced down at her empty lunchbox regrettably. If she still had food, she could have offered some as a sort of peace offering. "Did you eat yet?"
"Where's Naruto?"
Her eye twitched in annoyance. Of course he completely ignored her question. Was he still upset about the kiss before?
She opened her mouth, but paused. Upon further surveillance of his being, she noted that he seemed a little scuffed up. Her eyes widened in realization.
Naruto would have had to make sure Sasuke didn't walk into the clearing during his genjutsu…
She couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Naruto ambushing the Uchiha. Maybe Sasuke wasn't as prodigious as they claimed he was. "Let him have his peace," she grinned as she recalled the sound coming from Naruto's stomach. "He's gonna need it."
A/N: Here's the first chapter! Let me know what you think ;)
I still haven't decided what the pairings for this will be - but don't you worry. There will be things happening.
