A/N -

Ages-Kakashi – 21

Sakura – 7

*See end for A/N

Chapter One

Hatake Kakashi walked in silence towards the academy, a pink-haired child by his side. His thoughts wandered again to the child walking beside him, and why she walked in the same manner as he did; most of his custom traits were ones that he had accumulated after the death of his teammates. He walked as quietly as possible, his feet making little noise against the uneven ground, slumped over, with his shoulders foreword yet he still showed signs of excellent posture. He was confident and didn't try to meld back, yet his constantly downcast eyes replayed vivid memories and puzzled through mysteries undisturbed. The current mystery was the seven year old he had decided to walk toward the academy.

He was walking toward his favourite cafe to pick up a coffee before attempting to weasel his way out of teaching another genin team. They would only fail anyway - they all did.

Kakashi got his coffee to go, and then entered back into the freezing cold, and started to walk towards the training ground three, when he saw a girl leaving it. She didn't appear old enough to be using the ground, only about seven or eight; she was quite short, but tied to her waist was a homework scroll only given to those of eight or nine, if not older. She should've been at school, but he wouldn't reprimand her- he was meant to be at the academy himself.

Walking past her, he headed directly towards the cenotaph, caring not for the scenery surrounding. Anyone else, anywhere else, may have stopped to admire the lilies peeking out, or the delicate blossoms starting to form on the trees holding tears of those who'd lost, and blood of those who hungered to become stronger.

After what seemed like hours of just staring and mutely talking to those who were long gone, he made his first movement in over an hour, the movement that always seemed the longest because it was the first step to leaving.

"I'll be back, Obito." A wave of pink caught his eye as he saw a girl turned to leave the training ground. With a start he realised that it was most definitely the same girl as before, and she wasn't turned to leave. On closer observation, one could see that hey eye were transfixed, not moving an inch and rarely blinking. Kakashi's eyes followed hers to be met with the sight of another stone. She was staring at the names.

Why had she been there? Who had she lost? Kakashi, for the first time in almost a decade felt the urge to talk to another human being. He had wanted to talk to her, not to confide in her, but to hear what she had to say he felt would confirm his own thought and validate his feelings. Yet he hadn't asked; he instead offered to walk her towards the academy. If she wished to be left alone, he would be silent. If she wished to talk, he would listen.

"Hey," He paused a moment. "I'm-"

"Hatake-sempai!" The girl interrupted. "An elite ex-anbu, entered into the bingo books aged 12, only a chunin. Now known as the mirror eye Kakashi." Her voice was incredibly quiet and carried the tone of someone repeating knowledge word for word from the source. She blushed lightly and looked down again, her eyes slightly clouded and her mouth inching towards a frown. She looked slightly apprehensive or upset, further confusing the usually clear-headed ninja.

"And who are you then?" She looked up once again, surprise now playing on her features.

"Ha-Haruno Sakura."

"Isn't your Sensei going to be upset that you're late?"

"He probably won't notice."

"I should imagine he would."

"I do independent study. And sometimes work with the classes above." Kakashi frowned. This would've been nothing a few years ago, but now it was a call for concern.

"How old are you, Sakura-san?"

"Seven." This shocked Kakashi, but only because of the scroll.

"Really?"

"Yes. Why would I lie? My birthday was two weeks ago." She sounded accusing as if her guard was going up, and she spoke as if older than her age.

"I thought you were older, that's all. Your scroll..." He waited patiently for an explanation. He was sure that he would receive a heated comeback, and was off put when he didn't. She just carried on walking. After a while she glanced at him, multiple times, glancing back at the ground in between.

"Sempai, why-" She paused for a moment before continuing softly. "Why were you at the training ground when..."

"I don't have a team?" She looked at him for confirmation, her head cocked to the side slightly, reminding him of Pakkun. 'Cept Pakkun only did it when he wanted something. "The same reason you were there." She looked surprised, and the emotion, along with sadness filled her features completely, and he realised they were the first emotions that had. Her guard was faltering.

"Wh-... um..." She looked him directly in the eyes, also for the first time. "I'm sorry." He couldn't help but smile as the girl bit her lip, her cheeks bright red and a look of guilt on her face. He reached out one hand to ruffle her hair lightly, the other one left in his pocket. His voice came out gruffer than intended.

"That's okay Sakura-chan." She still looked guilty, though the ever present look of surprise was still there.

"Bu-but still..." She lowered her voice further. "You don't need reminders, o-or intruders." The last word was whispered rather than spoken and her eyes were wide and soft as she craned her neck up to look at him. He smiled at her, eyes crinkling so that she could see it despite the mask, before chuckling softly.

"You weren't intruding." He laughed again. " I interrupted you, remember?" She looked uncertain for a split second before laughing along with him.

"Yes, but you didn't ask why!"

"Because I know." He paused for a moment before continuing. "And of course, because it wouldn't have been polite!" This was accompanied by his signature smile before he glanced down at her softly. "But if you want to talk, I won't stop you." Her wide eyes were stunning; completely filled with hidden depths.

"M-My uncle and cousins." She choked out the words, avoiding eye contact with him. "They were killed as a result of the mutiny." Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but she answered his unasked question. "Against Uchiha."

"Why?"

"Because they stood up for them." Kakashi's mind was reeling with questions, over and over again, and he knew he would just have to be patient. "My family stood against them, yes, but only because they were scared of them. When the clan died, no one really cared. Some pretended they were sad, others congratulated Itachi." Her voice twisted on Itachi's name."When the elders stated that if Itachi was found he would be killed, my uncle stood up for him. And found himself and his children dead. 'Passed away' the night after the meeting. Everyone knew, yet no one would say who had killed them." She stared directly forward as she spoke. "Everyone tried to hush around me, but it was pointless." She shook her head. "I was five, so they thought that I would believe their lies. But I heard it. I was next door when it... happened..."

...

"...I'm sorry." Kakashi murmured, knowing that it wasn't enough, but that there was nothing else he could do. Sorrow filled every movement she made, every deliberate step she took. All of her movements were fluid but Kakashi could see that they were wooden. Like a doll, she looked innocent and had a pretty face, distracting from her haunted eyes, her grace masking the unease with which she held herself. Inside, she was empty.

A/N : These ages will not be staying the same for the next chapters. This is mostly just setting, so you know the facts about Sakura that I have changed. As a result of these things changing, both Sakura and Sasuke will behave slightly differently (or a lot differently). So, yeah, that is why they might seem slightly OOC later. This will eventually be a Kakasaku, but it will take a few chapters to build up to that. If you don't care about introductory type drivel, you could always skip to chapter 11 and scroll to the bottom. That's where things start to get interesting.

Thank you for reading!

R&R!