Hello everyone! (: Thanks for reading my little story here! It starts off slow and then picks up quickly by chapter three, so don't let the first two chapters fool you. Had to lay down that foundation (;

Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Chapter One: Fresh Start for a Broken Heart.

The light of the morning sun was beautiful. It was every morning - almost magical. The ethereal, golden glow of the rising ball on the horizon cast the village in its warmth like a smile, welcoming the people to a brand new day. Heralding fresh starts, promises of joy and whispers of good tidings with the winds that trickled alongside morning's first breaths. Many of the villagers had long since been up and were already tilling fields or were knee deep in the rice patties. The roofs of the humble buildings were ablaze in the morning glow and the water of the patties looked like mirrors, reflecting the golden hues. They sometimes looked like shattered glass as the winds swept through the valley. Reeds hummed, trees whispered as their leaves rustled, and the morning songbirds were trilling. The green of the hillsides looked cut from emerald. It was like a scene from a painting, and jade eyes observed the picturesque beauty from the vantage point her small home gave her. It had been this way for the past two years.

Two years ago she stumbled upon the village and here she remained since then. The people called it Hougyoku, Jewel, and she couldn't blame them. It was a hidden jewel, nestled away in a mountainous valley. Peaceful, serene, placid - there had been no strife since the day she arrived. At least, no strife in the terms of strife she had been accustomed to in the past. True, when she arrived there had been some hub-bub. She was a stranger after all. Still, the people were kind and they generously took her in, fed her, and had allowed her to stay. One, because this generosity was commonplace in Hougyoku, and two, because she was skilled in the medical field and they were short on residents trained in such ways. They eagerly accepted as their own when she could help set broken bones, assess damage, and tell apart the different medicines that were stocked within the small clinic - it impressed the villagers.

Yes, Haruno Sakura was a welcome addition to Hougyoku.

The woman had accepted her role with ease, professionalism, and a strict kindness the people needed. They admired her, adored her even, and she had to admit that she was content with her life there in the village. Hougyoku wasn't completely rural and she was thankful for this. The village had electricity, and though it marred the beauty of the location, she would not give it up. Things like plumbing and electricity were commodities, she had decided, she could not live without. Especially the electricity. If not for electricity, the cold of the old, silver fridge in their clinic vaccines would not keep, air conditioning would not run, and her more critical patients would be miserable, as well as herself and the staff, on those more brutal summer days. She even had cable television; just a few channels in this more remote location, but it was better than nothing. It wasn't Konoha, but it was home. She winced at the thought of the hidden village and she quickly pushed it aside. With a deep, calming breath, she finished the last inch of her coffee before rising from the small chair perched outside her front door and retreated back into her home, preparing for the day's work she knew was to come.

It wasn't too long before she was walking along the dusty roads, greeting people as she went as she took the familiar path to the clinic. Her sandaled feet churned small waves of dust about her but she didn't mind the dirt between her toes. She wasn't one for closed-toed shoes having spent her entire life with her ten little piggies peeking out. Living in Hougyoku meant living with dust; it just came with the deal.

"Good morning, Sakura-san!" villagers would greet as she approached.

A man, Yuri, came dashing down the path on his old bicycle like he did most mornings; the baskets on the front and sides of the back wheel were brimming with the bags of rice he delivered around the town, making him wobble slightly over the somewhat uneven terrain.

"Hello, hello, Sakura-san!" he cried out. "It's good to see you on this lovely morning!" Sakura always loved his enthusiasm. Ever since she helped him when he took a rather nasty fall one day and sprained his ankle, he was always extremely kind to her.

"Good morning, Yuri-san!" she returned as he sped past. "It's lovely to see you, as well! Tell Midori-chan I said 'hello'!" she added before he got too far away, referring to the man's wife.

"I will…!" Sakura chuckled to herself and grinned the rest of the way to the clinic.

"Ah, Sakura-sama, you're here."

Even though many years older than her, the owner of the clinic always treated Sakura with the utmost respect. Her skills in medicine and medical ninjutsu heralded such reverence. Sakura was the first medic ninja they had had through their small town in many, many decades.

"Good morning, Yanagi-sama," she returned to the elderly, silver haired man, who was grinding away at herbs inside a stone mortar with a similar pestle. It was an extremely fragrant smell that immediately wafted into her nose. Not unpleasant, it was merely overpowering and she crinkled her nose in retaliation to the scent as her eyes threatened to water. Yanagi ceased his attack upon the herbs to turn and look at her over his small, round, wired-framed glasses and gave her a smile.

"I see you're well. How did the weekend treat you?" Saturdays and Sundays were Sakura's days off from the clinic. Some days found her there, anyway, when she had nothing to do and so she volunteered her efforts, no extra pay expected.

"Well, thank you. And yourself?" The old man hummed in response to her own asking.

"Fine, fine… I was able to catch up with my reading." He sounded exceptionally pleased with that, Sakura noted with a grin. There was a hint of pain, though, that followed with it as it made her think of another man who had often caught up on his reading when he had his own days off. Sakura pushed such memories aside and began to take inventory within a large cabinet. The task often times helped to preoccupy her mind when it threatened to wander to places she deemed dangerous.

"I'm glad for you," she replied as she counted the number of bandages they had, "reading is always a good thing."

"Did you do anything fun, or did your overzealousness find you here on your days off again?" Sakura dipped her head and grinned sheepishly at the accusation even though the old doctor's back was turned to her and he could not see the reaction.

"Come now, Yanagi-sama… You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Aaahhh, so you were here, were you?" he chastised. She puffed out her cheeks, trying not to laugh.

"Nooo," she retorted. "I was not. If you must know," she began to admit, faking a hurt tone, "I was at home, and remained there like a slug, all weekend long." The old man laughed and she grinned.

"Like a slug, you say?! Hah!" His attack on the herbs became more vigorous with his humor. "Well I'm glad you did! You work too hard. Everyone deserves a day to be a 'slug' as you so eloquently put it." Sakura chuckled to herself, though thoughts of slugs let her mind creep back into dangerous waters once more. Changing the subject, she inquired more of his own weekend off as she continued to mull over the items before her.

"Oh, not much. I tended to the bonsai and let my wife pester me like an old, married man like myself should." Sakura grinned wider. Yanagi always made her laugh, his humor something she never grew tired of. He winced harshly before she could remark on his answer and she immediately looked his way, heart having skipped a beat.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her concern for him apparent on her voice and stance.

"Oh, nothing, it's just this damned wrist of mine. Carpal tunnel acting up again." Sakura was at his side then, and the doctor started when he noted her there so suddenly. Sakura was too quick and silent for her own good.

"Here, let me see it," she offered, raising her hands to want to take his in her own. There was a time Yanagi was secretly fearful of the medic when he discovered she was a ninja, but after the spectacle of her ninjutsu, and experiencing the effects first hand, he did not hesitate to let her treat him. Others in the village took longer than him to cozy up to the idea, some shorter. Some had no choice. When Sakura first arrived at Hougyoku she had wanted to keep her abilities a secret so she would fit in. That only lasted so long. There had been an accident and a man was dying. No one could save him. Expect, Sakura could with her skills as a medic-nin. With the knowledge her shishou had passed onto her and the chakra in her body. The man was young and strong, with a family and a new infant, and Sakura couldn't stand by and watch him die just because she didn't want to start trouble. She couldn't be that selfish. The villagers were unsure of what to do with the knowledge of her abilities at first having always been weary of shinobi. But, they couldn't deny that she was needed, that she was useful, and that she was now a hero. Sakura had honestly thought her time there would end. It had happened before in other civilian cities so far north of the major ninja countries. But Hougyoku was different, was willing to keep her, and she still remembered how amazed she had been at the news.

Pale, blue-green light flooded about their hands as she worked her way into his flesh - past connective tissue, past fat and muscle, into the ligaments, the tendons, between the bones - helping to relieve the inflammation years of grinding away at the pestle brought. The old man's face, slightly contorted with discomfort gently ebbed into something more peaceful until he looked completely relaxed. A sigh of relief escaped him.

"I told you you should see me about that more regularly," she chastised as she finished a few minutes later. Yanagi rolled his wrist, testing the appendage, and was obviously pleased with the results.

"What can I say? I'm a forgetful old man!" he laughed out, and Sakura rolled her eyes not for the first time at her employer.

"I'm serious, Yanagi," she retorted, giving the old doctor a pointed look.

"I know, I know. I will. I can't let everyone else hog your skills, I guess! It's a shame there aren't more of you here. We could really use more medic-nins here in these parts. Well, if those superstitious ninnies would let them!" Sakura chuckled, but thoughts of other medic-nins did nothing to brighten her mood. That twinkle in her eyes faded and Yanagi obviously noticed. Everyone knew of the heartache that she had gone through. Though she did not talk about her past, in order to stay she had to at least reveal to the village enough to make them trust her. All they knew was that her home had been destroyed and she had left her homeland afterwards. Yanagi assumed her family and friends had been taken from her, too, but he never asked her. The people of these lands knew about the ninja to the far south, but so far away they were from them that they were more of a myth, legend, than an actuality. It wasn't hard to imagine why they feared Sakura so with the revelation. Her abilities as a medic-nin were exceedingly great, though - anyone would admit to this. For their sake Sakura did not tell them that she could kill a man with one flick to the head; that she could rip apart trees with her bare hands or rift trenches with a kick of her leg, all without breaking a sweat. She did not tell them just how deadly chakra could be in the hands of someone with control such as herself. There were some things they didn't need to know. And in the past two years of her being there, trouble never arrived, and she was a blessing, not the curse they had anticipated her to be.

"It's seven, already," Yanagi announced when he glanced to the clock hanging on the wall, and that sadness on Sakura's face vanished with the implications of those words. They opened in half an hour and there was much left to be done…

Just as the rising sun walked her to work the setting sun walked her home that evening. She had wanted to stay later but Yanagi insisted she go, and Sakura didn't have it in her to argue with the man who paid her. She secretly dreaded going back home that evening. Yanagi had clearly noted how absent-minded she had been and the sadness on her pretty face more than once. If only he knew why, perhaps he wouldn't have sent her away, but she couldn't blame him. He had no idea what today marked for her. She had been able to admire that morning's beauty, but she found she could not fully appreciate the marvelous sunset that engulfed the village. The vivid magenta marring the jagged horizon like huge, bleeding wounds in the fading cobalt and lavender expanse did not phase her like it did most evenings. Typically wholehearted good nights and hellos on the trip home through the farms and rice patties were forced. Yuri rode past her on his bike once more. The not so eager response she gave him was mistaken for exhaustion.

Arriving home, she attempted to preoccupy herself with what she could: showering, making dinner, watching some television, reading a book, going outside to enjoy the moonlight as it cast its shine upon the village while sipping a mug of tea. None of it worked, though, for eventually she had nothing left to do but sit down, in silence, and finally accept the truth of the day. Despite having found this little haven, tucked neatly away into the countryside, far, far away from where she once called home, there was still one truth, one thing, that she could never get rid from her mind: her home was gone. The Konoha she had once known was no more, and her life would never, ever be the same.

She found it harsh that she survived and her friends and family didn't. That she was stuck to live, to bear that burden. She had wished so many times that she had passed on, too. That life was not so cruel as to leave her, without her loved ones, alone in the world. Although she was not the only survivor, those who had come out alive alongside her were unfamiliar faces. People she did not know. A few faces were recognizable, a few friends who survived, but she didn't have the heart to stay with them and rebuild the village. There was no point in her mind. The other hidden villages had also been attacked. Suna, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa... They had fallen to Madara and Akatsuki's might just as Konoha had. Everything, gone. Gone, gone, gone. Madara didn't exactly get what he wanted, for his Moon's Eye plan failed in the end, but to Sakura, he might as well have. Akatsuki had fulfilled their schemes of crushing the hidden villages, though their lives too were taken in the end. Madara was gone now, but not without his own victories, for his demise also meant the end of those she held most dear. Naruto, Kakashi, Sai… Tsunade, Lee, Ino… everyone… Dead. Dying in her arms. And she couldn't save them. She hadn't been strong enough. Even Sasuke was gone… they had never saved him from himself, and he died an enemy. How she managed to stay alive she knew not and she had spent many sleepless nights contemplating the matter.

Fresh tears rolled down her face as the memories bombarded her once more. She thought she had controlled herself, had come to grips, but she was beginning to think that she never would. Fear, guilt, shame, anger… it all boiled within her, coursing through her veins. She wanted to break something, to tear the earth apart and find them. Not for the first time. Five years had now passed and she still could remember their faces vividly, as if it had occurred the day before. Some weeks were easier than others. Sometimes she would go months without thinking too hard on it, but with the fifth anniversary now here, she couldn't help but be upset. It was the same every year since then. She knew it would be the same for many more years to come.

She took in a deep, ragged breath, trying to control herself. Trying to keep calm and level headed. The last thing she wished to do was to destroy her little home and startle her fellow residents just to quench her rage. She couldn't throw away that trust she had built over the last two years with one night's foolishness. So instead she sobbed, painfully, until she was spent, until she had nothing left to give, only to lay curled up in a ball upon her bed with the memories of her friends' dying faces haunting her as she drifted off into uneasy sleep…

EDIT: author's rants, err, I mean notes:

this is the first fan fiction I've written in some time! I have no one to read over these for me before I publish them save for myself, so excuse any errors. I often reread them and find mistakes and will usually update when I do. any major updates I will mention for obvious reasons.

if there are any major errors you seem fit to inform me about be my guest. i'm not writing this for any other purpose than to tickle my own fancy, so i'm not taking this story too seriously in that I plan to post a chapter religiously. I am busy studying for the TEAS test, so I will post chapters when I have the time. I hope you guys don't find the story line too boring or cliché so far! I don't want to portray Sakura as a sobby, moody young woman, and don't plan to. I find her to be strong and confident and one of my faves. Just had to set the right mood to kick off this fic so we understand Sakura's new life and the tragedy she occurred! I want to stay true to the characters as they are seen in the anime/manga, so there will be no instant love, no omg! and out of character Itachi I've seen been butchered in some stories I've read.

I hope you enjoy. Itachi/Sakura pairings have always pleased me, and so I wanted to do one of my own~ I have to do some catching up with Naruto, I haven't read much past when kabuto began to resurrect the dead to use as pawns as the war was beginning, but the destructions of konoha for this fiction will occur around that time I believe. when I catch up and brush off the rust i'll be sure to let you guys know! c:

I might bring itachi in with the next chapter, if not then most likely by chapter three. c: