Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. If it were mine, Itachi would have had a second chance.
English is not my first language. Forgive grammar mistakes.
Chapter 1: Beginning.
She ran through the forest with all the energy and speed she had. She needed to reach the cabin hidden among the trees that was always her refuge to forget the loneliness, but this time she was running away from something much more scary, other children, evil children who wanted to do bad things with her.
Sakura kept running until she tripped over something and fell on the floor.
"You can't run fast enough, forehead." A tall, sturdy girl with black hair, mocked.
Sakura realized too late that it was not on a rock that she tripped, it was a foot placed on the path, on purpose. "Urgh." She moaned in frustration and tried to get up of the floor but was prevented by one foot firmly on her back. "Let me go. I did nothing to you."
The boy with the foot on her back laughed. "You're fun to play." He removed the foot and pulled her through of the pink hair until she was on her knees in front of him and the other two girls who now looked at the scene with a satisfied face.
"What do you want with me?" She asked in a shaky voice as she tried to keep the tears from falling.
"You'll find out." Another girl with brown hair and dark eyes said as she approached her, forming a hand in an unopened fist.
Sakura closed the eyes anticipating the blow without realizing that the tears she wanted so much to keep from falling, now flowed like rivers through her pale cheeks.
She did not know how much time had passed, but it was probably late and she needed to go home. She stepped out of the crouching position she was, lying on the floor of the cabin where she called a safe place where she had run after those children finished having fun at her expense.
She stood up and looked at the beautiful flowers that adorned the place and smiled for the first time that day. Flowers always made her feel peace. When she left the cabin she heard footsteps approaching, but she could not run, her feet remained rooted to the ground. 'Not again.' She thought and prayed that they do not would destroy the only place she had for herself. Sakura took a deep breath and turned slowly to find a boy a little taller than she, with dark hair and eyes.
The boy was returning from training in the forest and from afar he saw the movement and approached to see who was on this isolated side of the densest forest of Konoha. He walked over to the pink-haired girl and watched as she stiffened and turned slowly to face him. He noticed the way her shoulders trained lightly in fear and how her eyes were swollen and red.
He concluded that she was crying and she was afraid, afraid of him. "I'll not hurt you." He said and took a slow step toward her. "Why you're crying?" He asked with curiosity and realized that she had the most beautiful shade of green gracing her eyes.
"I'm not crying." Sakura replied in the most courageous voice she could muster. Straightening her back, she took a cautious step toward the boy. "What do you do on this side of the forest?"
The boy smiled, he admired the way she tried to show courage even though she was afraid. "I was passing by and I saw you. No one walks around here, for that I chose this side of Konoha to train." He don't lost the way her eyes flashed in that last word.
"Train? Are you a shinobi?" She asked.
"Hn." He nodded in confirmation. "Now it's your turn. What do you do here?"
"I ... er ..." She looked toward a leaf curtain, catching the attention of the boy who walked there and opened the leaf curtain before she could stop him.
He looked closely at the glass and bottles with flowers, various ornaments decorating the small space that looked like a cabin. He looked at her and bowed the head as if asking a question without words.
Sakura realized he wanted to know. "It's my secret place." She said with blushed cheeks of shame and he noticed that several bruises were forming on the girl's face.
"Who hurt you?" He asked in a cold voice that made her shudder.
"I fell and rolled on the floor." She gave the same excuse she would give her parents when she got home.
He realized the lie but decided not to push. "Since I discovered your secret place, can I join you tomorrow?" He asked.
She thought for a few seconds and then he saw the most beautiful smile adorn the girl's rosy lips. "I will like that ... By the way, my name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
He could not contain the smile that took hold of his own lips and answered. "Uchiha Itachi."
Sakura came home bouncing which surprised her mother who was in the kitchen preparing dinner. "Something good happened?" She asked cheerfully, but preached when she saw the bruises on the face and arms of her little daughter. "What happened, Sakura?" Mebuki asked worriedly as she knelt before the girl, examining the wounds.
"I fell and rolled from a small gully." Sakura said in a low voice that sounded more like a whisper.
Mebuki sighed with relief. "For a moment I thought those evil kids bullying you again." She stood up and pulled Sakura to sit on a chair. "I'll take care of you and then finish dinner."
After Sakura gets fixed, it's the finished dinner. They sat down at the table and with the perfect timing Kizashi walked in the door with a happy smile. He joined them for dinner.
"Sakura-chan, you look radiant today. Anything good happened? "He asked in a cheerful voice.
"I made a friend today. He's a shinobi." She said with a twinkle in her eyes.
"A friend? That's great, honey." Mebuki said sincerely. She was worried about her five-year-old daughter having no friends and being bullying for the other kids all the time.
"I hope he's smart like you. Those other kids only upset you because you're smarter than them." Kizashi said thoughtfully. "How old is he?"
"I don't know, but I'll find out and tell you." She said as if sharing a secret, smiling genuinely.
Itachi walked slowly to home. He really wanted to know who had hurt Sakura. She seemed to be the age of his younger brother and he felt connected to her instantly. Which was terrifying for him, because the only person he'd ever cared about, was Sasuke.
"Aniki." Sasuke's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He braced the body for the impact of his younger brother's embrace. After a hug and hearing everything that happened on a exciting day of the five year old boy, Itachi took off his sandals leaving them in the entrance of the house and went to the room to wash.
He would train tomorrow and find the girl with pink hair. 'Does she have someone to greet her with a hug when she gets home?' He was startled by the question that arose in his mind.
The next day.
A little before the setting sun, Sakura ran anxiously toward the secret place, making sure she was discreet not to draw unwanted attention as she ran the streets toward the forest. 'If I could run through the roofs like a shinobi, it would be easier.' As she approached the shelter in the trees, Itachi was already there, sitting on the grass waiting for her. Sakura felt a smile pull at her lips before she could stop it.
"Hey." Itachi gave a half smile that did not even show his teeth and slammed into place next to him so that she would join him.
Sakura sat next to him and closed the curtain of leaves. "Hi Itachi. I'm glad you came. You know, I've never had any friends. It's good not to be alone. What do you want to play?"
Itachi blinked and sued everything she said. He grew up in the Uchiha clan, where people do not talk much, nor so excited. He felt something different warm his chest with the word she used. 'Friend.'
"How about I teach you to defend yourself so you don't let anyone hurt you again." He said.
Sakura gasped at his statement. "I don't ... how do you know?"
He pointed with the thumb to his own chest. "I'm a shinobi." He said the word like if explaining everything.
Sakura nodded in agreement. Watching Itachi in that short time she realized two things: He was a boy of few words and shinobi are perceptible people for whom she should not try to lie. "Teach me what you know Itachi-kun." She said with a smile and did not lose the glow of satisfaction that came in his eyes.
When he got up pulling her along toward the forest she remembered something. "Itachi-kun. How old are you?"
"Nine." He said without looking at her and continued dragging the little girl to his training place.
"It'll be fun." Sakura said with a laugh. 'Thank you for being my first friend. Itachi.' She added to herself and smiled even more.
Itachi taught Sakura to hold a kunai and throw shurikens and he realized she was terrible with it. He had to suppress laughter all afternoon. But she was persevering and resilient, he would give it to her.
He taught her some evasion techniques. That would be more useful to her.
"I'm tired." Sakura fall on the floor. "I know, I know, I will not disappoint him."
Itachi narrowed the eyes at the little girl. "I didn't say anything, Sakura-chan."
She looked up at him as if she remembered he was there. "Oh, I know ... I was not talking to you, Itachi-kun." She said in a low voice trying to hide the nervousness.
"What were you talking about?" He asked curiously as he sat on the floor in front of her.
She looked at him for a few minutes thinking about how to explain.
"You can trust me if you want." Itachi said firmly.
She nodded once. The nervous countenance now replaced with confidence. "It's a voice in my head. She always talks to me as if it were... Like a..."
"She? So is a second personality?" He asked.
"Perso... what?" She asked and this time he could not hold back the laughter that bubbled out of his mouth.
"It's like a second part of you, but a little different the real you, I guess." He tried to explain even though he did not know much about it either.
"I think it's a second me. But she's brave." Sakura said pouting.
Itachi found it lovely. She reminded him a lot of Sasuke, but she was even cuter. "Since when does this personality talk to you?" He asked.
"Since these children have begun to bullying me." She said with sadness in her eyes. "That voice is my only friend. Mama and Daddy are always working and I have no friends." She paused and smiled. "I had not... Now I have you." She held his callused hand with her small soft hands.
He widened his eyes at her confession. He also had no friends. In that moment he thought that maybe he could allow, for the first time to do something for himself, no asking for authorization to the clan or the hokage. "I'm your friend Sakura-chan. You don't need that voice in your head anymore."
"Ok." She smiled even wider at him. "But how do I get her to leave?"
He sighed and thought for a moment before answering. "When you want to talk, let's meet here. I'll find a way to communicate with you." He said and she nodded.
"Comu... Comuni..." She stammered making him laugh again.
"Whenever that voice comes out, ignore it." He said firmly.
"Thank you, Tachi." She said biting her lip and he ruffled her hair. He smiled genuinely when she grimaced, so he thought messing up a girl's hair would not be nice to her. He looked at her for a few long seconds and placed two fingers on her forehead. She looked at him wide-eyed.
"You're welcome, Saku-chan." He said in a whisper.