#NarutoWorld 6th Anniversary, DA Contest!

Anniversary

"Sakura, Sasuke, guess what today is." Naruto said as he took another swig of his beer. Sakura turned with a confused look on her face and Sasuke continued to stare at the television.

"The day you decide to clean? Because Naruto, your place needs a lot of that." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, it's the anniversary of the day we met." Sasuke was still oblivious to the conversation. Or he chose to ignore it.

"You mean in the academy?" She started, "When you kissed Sasuke?" This got his attention. He turned to glare at Sakura. He remembers telling them to 'Never speak of it'.

"We met even before that. You don't remember?" Sakura shook her head. She was still confused, and had half a mind to believe that Naruto finally lost it. Sakura was born into a civilian family. She would be in a district all the way on the other side of the Village, and probably never even crossed them until she decided to become a ninja.

"We never had any classes together until we were 9, Naruto. That's when we started to learn ninjutsu. I don't even think I've ever seen you guys before." Naruto frowned.

"I can't believe you don't remember. Today's our 6th anniversary!" Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"And…when do you suppose we met. Even before the Academy."

"When we were six," Naruto said as he shoved his nose in the air matter-of-factly. Sakura pursed her lips in disbelief.

"First thing's first, we're 18. Our 6th anniversary would've been six years ago." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sakura, it's the 6th anniversary of our 6th anniversary. Duh." She opened her mouth to retort, but Sasuke patted her on the knee.

"Humor him," He whispered. It was now her turn to roll her eyes.

"Okay, whatever. So the 6th anniversary thing is today. How do you remember, and we don't?" He smiled faintly.

"Well, I don't have a lot of happy childhood memories, but the ones I do have, I won't forget." She rolled her eyes at his attempt at a sap story. She sighed.

"Okay, whatever. But what about Sasuke. He would have to remember." Sasuke, with a stoic expression, turned to stare at her.

"I've locked away all my childhood memories." Another roll of her eyes. She seems to have been doing a lot of that lately.

"Alright! Naruto just tell me how we met. My soaps are coming on in an hour. That's all you've got." She grabbed the remote from Sasuke's side of the couch and turned off the television. Naruto, after downing the rest of his beer, leaned back on the couch and placed his hands behind his head. Sakura turned to face him and pulled her knees close to her chest.

"Okay, so this is how it happened."

12 years ago…

"Mommy, look! It's a pink flower!" A six year old Sakura jumped up and down when she found a flower that matched her hair. That one would go along with the other ones she had in her hand. It was spring, and pink flowers were everywhere!

"That's great, sweetie. But mommy's talking now." Yumiko turned back to the merchant she was haggling with for a nice new bag as Sakura pulled her hand out of her mother's grasp and ran to go pick up her new flower.

"This one has a lot of petals! One, two, three, four…" Sakura was crouched in the middle of the street, counting the petals of her new flowers. She was oblivious to everything around her, including the vendor stand moving at an unbelievable speed. "Nine, ten, eleven, twelve—!"

Before she knew it, she was being grabbed and her flower fell out of her hand.

"Hey, don't cry." Ignoring her hero's request, the tears continued to stream out of her bright green eyes. "Is this yours?" He put a hand on her back and she moved her fists from her eyes. Seeing her flower she smiled. "That's better." He used his thumb to wipe the rest of the tears off of her face.

"Thank-you," She said in a small voice as she began to silently count the petals of her flower again.

"What were you doing in the middle of the street?" She held the flower in front of his face.

"It matches my hair." He smiled. He took the flower from her hand and put it beside the bang that framed her cheek.

"Ah. Perfect match." She giggled. He had the strangest red eyes. She raised her finger to poke them, but another voice interrupted her.

"Who do we have here, Itachi?" Sakura's eyes trailed upward to the looming figure casting out all light.

"Sakura," She hid her flower behind her back. She saw the man crouch in front of her.

"Sakura. That's a pretty name. Matches your hair," She nodded slowly. "My name is Kakashi." He took her hand from behind her back and shook it.

"Are you a ninja?" He nodded. "Mommy says ninja are dangerous." She watched him pull up his headband and gasped. His eye was red too.

"We can be," He said deeply. The man with two red eyes turned.

"Don't scare her, Taichou." He put his headband back down.

"Well, Sakura. Nice to meet you, but we've got a mission. Where's your mother?" Sakura looked around and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know…" Kakashi smiled.

"Itachi, you have a little brother, right?"

"Wait, wait, wait. How could this have possibly happened?" Sakura said with a frown on her face.

"What do you mean?" Naruto said. She pursed her lips.

"How did you know everything that went on, if this was a conversation between Itachi, Kakashi, and I?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sakura, I was on the playground. I don't know how you didn't notice." She sighed.

"Like really, I just don't understand how you remember this whole conversation, word by word." Naruto scratched his neck.

"Well…I may be winging it a bit, but I'm sure I've got it right." She frowned again.

"Sasuke, are you going to say anything?" He shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were closed and his arms were folded across his chest. He probably wasn't even listening.

"I don't know yet. I don't come in until the next part." She saw a smirk appear on his face and she sighed.

"Go on, then." Naruto smiled.

"Okay. This is what happened next."

"He's actually playing on the playground." Kakashi nodded his head.

"How old are you, Sakura?" She started to count on her fingers and smiled as she held them up. "Six, huh?"

"My brother is six." Itachi said. Sakura pouted.

"My mommy—"

"Will know you're on the playground." Her lip started to quiver.

"But how?" Itachi stood back up and took her hand.

"I'll be right back, Taichou." Kakashi nodded as Itachi started to lead her across the street. She's never been to this playground before. She's never even been to this side of the town before. But her mom said that they were having a huge market sale, and it was for the whole village.

Sakura stuffed her pink flower into her pants. She gasped when she saw the playground. The one in their district wasn't as big as this one!

"Sasuke," She hid behind Itachi's leg as a boy with dark blue hair came running towards them.

"Nii-san!" Itachi poked his brother on the head. "Ouch."

"This is Sakura. Can you play with her?" Sasuke frowned.

"Sakura…" She moved further behind his leg. "Why is your hair pink?" Sakura blushed.

"Mommy says my hair is beautiful!" She said with fisted hands at her sides.

"No it's not. Pink hair doesn't exist." Sasuke said with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed.

"Blue hair doesn't exist!" Sakura shouted. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Nii-san, I don't want to play with her. Can you help me with my kunai training?" He said with a bored expression.

"Come here," Itachi beckoned him. Sasuke walked closer, only to be poked on the forehead again.

"Ha ha," Sakura teased.

"I'll help next time. I have a mission." Sasuke groaned.

"Another one?" His arms unfolded and fell to his sides.

"Yes. Now play with Sakura." Itachi said as he leaped away. Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"What do you want to do?" Sakura said as he sighed and dug into his pockets.

"Do you know how to spar?" Her eyes widened as he pulled out two big knives.

"Stop it! Mommy says it's dangerous to play with knives!" She screamed. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"These aren't knives." He drawled. Sakura shook her head.

"Mommy said I can't play with any sharp objects." She said and covered her face, as a way not to see how he was going to hurt himself.

"These are kunai. All ninja have kunai." Sakura shook her head again.

"Mommy says ninja are dangerous!" Sasuke walked closer, taunting her.

"Here, I'll teach you." He said while holding out the knives. Sakura took a step back.

"Promise me that it's safe and that you won't tell mommy." She frowned when she heard him laugh.

"I promise."

"So, where do you come in?" Naruto groaned.

"Sakura! Will you please stop interrupting me?" She sighed.

"I can't help it! I mean, I know my mom was really…wary of ninja. But I didn't act that—"

"Yes you did." Sakura frowned as Sasuke sat up.

"Thirty minutes, Naruto."

"Actually, it's my turn to tell the story." Sasuke said. Sakura fell back against the couch.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"But what if I hurt you?" Sakura cried. "I don't want you to die!" Sasuke patted her shoulder then continued to back away.

"Some of my family is made of ninjas. We know how to dodge kunai." He nodded reassuringly. Sakura moved the hands from her eyes and picked up the kunai. Tightening her fingers around the handle, she threw it as hard as she could in his direction.

"See? No harm done!" He yelled from atop a tree. Sakura widened her eyes in amazement.

"How did you do that?" She shouted back. She almost screamed for him to stop when he jumped down, but she watched in awe as he landed on his two feet.

"Nii-san taught me." He said matter-of-factly. "Would you like me to…teach…you…?" Sasuke asked, trailing off because he saw her attention was focused elsewhere. "What are you looking at?" Sakura's lip started to quiver.

"That boy, he's so alone! I'm going to go play with him." She started to move, but was pulled back by a hand on her wrist.

"Mother says to leave that boy be." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at that.

"Why?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. 'Cause she said so?" He replied unsure. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Nobody likes to play by themselves. If you don't wanna come with me, then you can keep playing with your knife thingy." Sakura said with a flip of her hair as she stomped over to the merry-go-round.

Upon getting there, she watched in sadness as the blonde-haired boy continued to play with his leaf. She crouched in front of him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi, my name is Sakura." She said with a wave. The boy finally looked up. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." She pulled the leaf from his hand and examined it.

"Do you wanna play with me?" His eyes lit up. He's never been asked that question…

"Sure!" He exclaimed as he rose from his seat and dusted off his pants.

"I think we should play by ourselves 'cause that boy plays with knives and mommy said knives are dangerous." She said, pointing to Sasuke across the playground. He was now digging his 'knives' into the dirt.

"I have those! The Hokage gave them to me." Sakura smacked her hands over her face.

"Doesn't anybody know that knives are dangerous? Are the grown-ups trying to kill us?" He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk towards Sasuke. She followed soon after.

Sasuke took one look at Naruto and shoved his nose in the air. Naruto frowned.

"Naruto, this is Sasuke." Naruto crossed his hands over his chest and Sasuke did the same. "He has blue hair." She whispered behind her hand.

"I don't want to play with him." Sasuke said as he turned his head in the other direction.

"Well I don't wanna play with you either!" Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"We're going to play together, and that's final!"

"Yeah, and you're still that bossy." Naruto snickered. Sakura smacked his arm playfully.

"I still don't understand." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Understand what?"

"Why they still give 6 year olds kunai!" She said as she outstretched her hands. Naruto and Sasuke sighed.

"If they teach the children how to be ninja early on, they'll have better fighters." He drawled.

"That's still not an excuse.' She grumbled. "Just get on with it Sasuke. You guys have about 15 minutes left." Sasuke nodded his head.

"I'll skip the unimportant parts."

"Now bow down and profess your love for the Princess." Sakura said with a wave of her staff.

"Yeah right." They both muttered.

"Fine then."

"Owww!"

"That hurts Sakura-chan!" She smiled.

"Bow down and profess your love or you'll be hit with my staff again!" They immediately fell to their knees.

"I love you Princess Sakura."

"I love you Princess Sakura-chan—Owww! What did you do that for?" Naruto exclaimed as he rubbed a sore spot on his head.

"You can't call me Princess Sakura-chan." He rolled his eyes.

"Is the game over yet?" Sasuke grumbled. Sakura waved her staff.

"No. Not until the right Prince proposes marriage." They sighed.

"How do we know which one of us is the right Prince?" Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

"That's easy. A fight to the death!" Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"We can't kill each other!" They said in unison.

"I can't have two husbands!" Sakura said, explaining her logic.

"Can't we just play rock paper scissors?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You're not supposed to…but I guess, if you don't wanna do it the easy way." They got to their feet and each held out a fist.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors! It's a tie." Sakura said with a frown. "I guess I will have to have two husbands. Now propose marriage!" They tiredly got down on one knee.

"Sakura, will you marry me?" They said, slipping a kunai on a finger. Sakura admired her 'ring'.

"Sasuke, Naruto, it's beautiful! Of course I'll marry you guys!" Naruto sighed in relief and stood as Sasuke did the same.

"You may now kiss the bride." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Kiss the bride? I don't wanna kiss you!" Sakura frowned. They did not know how to play this game.

"Whenever you get married to someone, you have to kiss the bride." A look of disgust was frozen on their faces as they moved in and kissed her cheek. "See, that wasn't so hard." Naruto started to wipe off his lips with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Why do you taste like strawberries?" Sasuke said as he licked his lips. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Now we have to be together forever! But first, you have to carve your name into my rings." Sasuke sighed and took both of the kunai from her. He used one of them and carved U.S into the other, then passed them to Naruto. He took the one that had Sasuke's name on it, and carved U.N into the other, then handed them back to Sakura.

"So what do we get?" Naruto asked accusingly. Sakura dug in her pockets and sat down. It was only a few minutes later that most of the flowers she accumulated were turned into necklaces. One for each of them.

"Cherry blossom necklaces. My mommy said—"

"Sakura! Sakura, where have you been?" It was a tall woman in heels, a dress, and a large sunhat. She was running across the playground with bags on her arm and a very distressed look on her face.

"Mommy, I was playing on the playground with my friends. See?" She held up her knives to show her mother. Yumiko's eyes widened as she snatched them away.

"Sakura, I thought I told you not to play with knives!" Naruto tapped her leg.

"They're kunai." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"I don't care." She replied rudely. "Sakura, why on earth are you playing with that boy?" Sakura looked from Naruto to Sasuke, unsure of why her mother wouldn't want her to play with them.

"Mommy, can I come to the playground tomorrow?" She asked with a sweet face and her hands folded together.

"We have a playground back in our district. You can go there." Sakura frowned as she was jerked away from her two new friends by her mother and onto the road.

"Mommy," She said looking up. "How come I can't play with them?"

"They're dangerous, Sakura. I told you about ninja, didn't I?" Sakura frowned again.

"But mommy, ninja are cool!" Her mother looked down at her with narrowed eyes. "They play with knives and jump on and off trees without hurting themselves!" She said as she flailed her arms up and down. "And, and they get to have red eyes! Some of them have 2, but some of them have one." She finished, pointing to her eyes.

"I don't want to hear you talk about ninja, Sakura."

"But—"

"That's final." Sakura huffed a sigh and pouted.

"I wanna be a ninja, and jump on trees and play with knives." She whispered to herself.

"What was that, Sakura?" She pulled out a flower with the hand her mother wasn't holding and twirled it.

"Nothing, mommy."

"So…We were supposed to end up on the same team. Even here. It was all destiny." She said taking a sip of her coffee. It was pretty hard to swallow, even though she knew it was the truth. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were meant to be together.

"Exactly. So how are we going to celebrate our 6th anniversary?" Naruto asked.

"We could always go to the playground," Sasuke added as he dug into his pockets and pulled something out.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you kept that?" She exclaimed, staring at the withered cherry blossom necklace he had in his hands. He must've been taking care of that all this time. It looks pretty good to be more than 12 years old.

"Well don't underestimate me, Sakura-chan." Naruto pulled out his flowers which were in much better condition. Sakura dug into her hip pouch.

"Well, I do remember stealing knives from my mother's purse…" She said as she gave them the kunai that had their initials carved on it.

"Wow. These look pretty sharp for some old kunai, Sakura." He laughed. She unfolded her legs and stood.

"How about we celebrate our 6th anniversary where it all started?" Naruto got up and followed her to the door.

"DeviantART?" Sakura, with a confused look on her face, turned back to stare at Naruto.

"…No. Where did you even get that from?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"The playground, Dobe." Naruto shrugged and closed the door behind him.

"Oh. Well, that too."

Hehe...I did this for the 6th Anniversary contest on DA, so...Wish me luck!

-Keoo19