The cold air hit his face as he ran through the dense forest. He was running away from it. From the death of his own clan.

As he kept running his breath grew ragged and every intake was painful for the teen boy. His throat tightened tightly and he finally stopped at a tree and fell upon it. His shoulder slid down the rough texture and it cut small holes into his blood-stained shirt. The pain stinging his shoulder didn't bother him at all. Nothing could distract him from the growing pain in his heart.

Itachi slumped down to the floor with a soft, dull thud. His legs sprawled out and his arms reaching up to his face. The sword he had used to slaughter his clan with was way behind him. He dropped it on the way as he ran and didn't bother picking up the crimson-stained weapon.

His hand cloaked his shaking face. The bitter tears were already pouring. What he wanted now was one of his mother's comforting hugs. He just wanted to see her again. Same with his father. Same with everyone.

The hand covering his face became drenched in his own tears but that didn't stop him from his deaden sobs from escaping his trembling lips.

For moments, the teen Uchiha laid there thinking of what was to come. But behind all of that, his family appeared before him and his best friend, Shisui.

Just thinking of him and everyone else made him fall into hysterics. He gripped onto the tree next to him and cut his hand in the process. He couldn't even wince in pain. The sobs escaping his throat came out hoarse and muffled, but they were loud still.

Finally he found himself and regained his composure, but barely. Itachi laid against the tree like his was physically injured. But he actually was injured. It just didn't show on the outside like a physical wound.

The boy tried to even his deep and ragged breathing by closing his swollen and red eyes. As his eyes were shut, pictures of what had just occurred flashed in his mind.

It was like he was trapped. He didn't have the will and strength to open his eyes and escape the horrific pictures. The pictures of all the Uchiha men and women falling due to his attacks. All of their final breaths and pleads. All of their defensive attacks, which all failed miserably.

Suddenly the image of Sasuke and Sakura flashed into his hysterical mind. He clearly remembered their distraught expressions and the way they begged him to tell him why he did all this. Their widened and fear-filled eyes swallowing half of their pale faces. He was still confused to now why Sakura came with his little brother to their home. No one had told him that she was coming over the night he planned to finish his mission. She was so innocent to have seen of all that. She wasnt even part of it until now.

Itachi snapped his eyes open and he intaked deep breaths of air. It was like he just awoken from a nightmare. His brow was cold with sweat and his chest moved up and down in a fast, unsettling pace. But sadly, this was a real-life nightmare and Itachi was living it.


"Nii-san! Nii-san!" The young boy yelled as he ran to his older brother with open arms. Sasuke hugged the front of the teen's waist and smiled into his stomach. He smiled in return and gently rested his hands upon the boys back.

"Nii-san! Sakura is here. Can you play with us?"

As he finished his sentence, Itachi's onyx eyes widened a fraction in shock. He received a rather hard hug from behind and it made him move forward a little towards Sasuke. His hands automatically shot behind him and he met a fluffy and silky feel. He heard a muffled giggle. Well felt it too. The small girl clinging to his back was giggling into his back and smirked down at her, even if she didn't see it.

"Itachi-nii!" Sakura said through his shirt and she looked up to meet his amused gaze. The two kids embracing the teen hugged tighter and he let out a silent grunt from the sudden pressure. Eyes met his as citizens walked by and awed at the adorable display He placed a hand on both of their heads softly and heard them both giggle quietly.

"Okay. If you keep hugging me, you'll suffocate me." They both let go with huge smiles adorning their faces as they heard his. Sakura crossed her hands behind her back and grinned at Sasuke, who was already looking at her with a suspicious smirk on his small, round face. Itachi raised an eyebrow at the children below him.

Sasuke grabbed the hem of Itachi's navy shirt and pulled it as he walked towards the shop in the corner of the crowded street. Sakura ran in front of them and was humming a song loudly on the way. Itachi gazed at them in complete confusion. Why in the world were they taking him to a shop? They don't even have money to purchase anything.

"Why are we going to the shop?"

"Your gonna buy us some dangos and onigiris, Itachi-nii." Sakura replied more casually than Itachi expected. It was more like a fact than a query. Also how'd they know he had enough money on him. He usually didn't care a lot on him since he thought it was a hassle to keep so much with him.

Itachi sighed and followed their lead. He could never say no to them. Even if their request was the most ridiculous thing he has heard in his life. He would still fulfill it.


Sakura was in complete joy when a tray full of multiple onigiris and dangos were situated right in front of her hungry eyes. As soon as the tray landed on the table, her hand shot out to grab at least 3 or more of the delectable treats. Sadly she was smacked lightly on the top of her small hand by Sasuke. She looked over with betrayal at him.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"Shhh Sakura. Remember the plan? The one with Nii-san and..." He trailed off when he looked over at his brother and caught him staring at them with an amused and noticable smirk. He crossed his arms and watched the two children across the table from him his smirk growing wider. Sasuke immediately put his hands behind his back and smiled at him nervously.

"Hi Nii-san..." Sakura couldn't help but giggle beside Sasuke. Itachi chuckled and picked up a dango from the tray and as he did Sasuke elbowed Sakura and she looked over at him with confusion.

In a hushed whisper she talked to Sasuke. "What is it Sasuke? Cant I have one?" The young Uchiha shook his head and behind his raised hand he replied to the pink-haired girl.

"The plan is to see how many dangos nii-san will eat. Remember Kaa-chan said Nii-san has a sweet tooth? I wanna see if he had one or not."

Sakura grinned and nodded. Sasuke returned to his original sitting position and they both watched the ninja in front of them devour the dangos. Itachi stopped and saw that they were staring at him. Sakura grinned at him reassuringly and waved at him to continue. He raised a brow at them suspiciously and crossed his arms.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh loudly out loud. She fell back giggling and Sasuke looked over at her with widened eyes. Soon enough he started letting out a couple of giggles as well.

The young girl laid on the floor with tears welling in her eyes from laughing too much. She gripped onto Sasuke's navy shirt and tugged it. He gave her a small smirk and crossed his arms just like his older brother was doing. She realized she loved the times they had together even if they didn't have much time together.

...


With a loud gasp, Sakura sat up from her bed. She felt the cold sweat on her brow as she was trying to calm herself down. Her chest heaved with every intake of air. She looked around and was completely confused.

She wasnt at her home but in a hospital room.

Sakura remembered what they looked like because that was where her father was the day he died. In a room like she was in.

When she realized that she freaked out. She thought she was gonna die she like her beloved father. She jumped out of her bed and tripped on the blankets on the way. She fell hard onto the floor and she started tearing up.

'No...No I don't wanna die...' Sakura started crying loudly and nurses must've heard the commotion because a couple of them ran in to aid her. She looked up to meet the worried gazes of two women knelt down towards her.

Finally, they stood her up and sat her down on the bed. Just then her mother ran in.

"Aa! Sakura!"

"K-Kaa-chan..."

Mebuki scooped her daughter up in her arms and embraced her tightly. This only made Sakura cry harder into her mother's shoudler. The Haruno women hushed and said soothing words into her ear as Sakura gripped onto the back of her shirt.

"Kaa-chan...Mikoto-chan, Fugaku-san are gone." Mebuki's eyes narrowed at that.

She learned everything last night when a fellow worker of hers ran in telling everyone the Uchiha clan was no more. That they've all been murdered. When she heard that she remembered her own daughter was at Mikoto Uchiha's home and she practically started sobbing in the middle of her workplace and in front of everyone.

When the news got out and more details came out, she heard that only two people survived. She was praying to Kami that one of the survivors was her daughter. When she heard her daughter was at the hospital with her friend Sasuke, she ran out of her workplace and to the hospital.

"...Itachi-ni...H-He..." Sakura stopped and cried more into Mebuki's work shirt. She already knew Itachi did it. She couldn't believe it either.

When she was waiting in the hospital, A nurse told her everything. That Itachi eradicated his whole family and the Uchiha clan. Yet she was still at wonder why he let Sasuke and Sakura live. She was forever grateful though. But that fact that her dear friend was murdered was worse. Mikoto has grown close to her since Sakura befriended Sasuke and Itachi.

"H-He did it Kaa-chan...Itachi-ni-"

"Shhh. Sakura Its alright. Lets go see Sasuke-kun, 'lright?" With the nurse's permission to take Sakura to Sasuke, Mebuki left to his room down the hall.

The two Harunos walked in and sat down next to the bed. There was a huge hump on the mattress, indicating he was there. Mebuki sat down her pink-haired child to the floor and watched as the little girl walked without hesitation to Sasuke's bed side. Sakura looked down towards the lump in the blanket with lingering tears in her eyes.

Her hand shot up and leaned towards the top of the blanket. As she pulled it away, she gasped in pure shock and surprise.

Sasuke wasnt there!

What replaced him was a pile of pillows. She pushed the pillows off, hopefully seeing Sasuke huddled underneath them, but sadly there was nothing. Mebuki noticed that too and a gasp of shock escaped her lips. Her hand was making its way towards Sakura's frozen shoulder. But once her finger laid on her the pink-haired girl dashed out of the room, hitting her mother on the way.

"Sakura!" Mebuki yelled as she ran in suit, but stopped when Sakura was already turning a corner. The blonde felt her chest tighten as she started fast-walking to where Sakura was heading. She was heading towards the exit.


She was running towards the Uchiha compound. Tears fell down her face as she was sprinting through the streets of Konoha. She hit multiple people on the way but didn't bother apologizing.

Finally, after running for what seemed to be hours, Sakura made it the compound. She stopped right at the gate and looked inside. Maybe it was just a nightmare. Maybe she hit her head and was in the hospital. Though she knew it wasnt. The memories were still fresh in her young mind and she was for sure that it would haunt her the rest of her life.

Nothing would be the same from now on.

That was all because of Itachi.

She cut herself off from her dreaded thoughts and dashed inside. It was raining too, which resulted in her slipping a couple of times. When she finally made it to Sasuke's and Itachi's home she was drenched and cold. Though that didn't matter. All that mattered was to find Sasuke.

Sakura walked inside and looked everywhere. Through the kitchen and everywhere. The search was endless and all it did was bring back memories of when she came over; even if was only 3 times.

The deeper she got in the house, the more she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. And she did. She fell to her knees when she reach the garden. Sliding to her knees in a knelt position, Sakura started crying silently.

When she heard something behind her, she turned around and her swollen and red eyes met clouded eyes staring at her. Sasuke was behind her and just standing there ominously with a stotic face on his own. Something that Sakura wasnt use to.

She got up and looked at him while wiping her tears and rain from her face. The girl walked towards him and her hand was held out to.

"Sasuke. Are you okay?"

She got nothing for a response, but just a cold stare. Sasuke lowered his eyes to the garden behind Sakura. She noticed how dark his eyes were in something she couldn't identify. They were unusually dark and unlively.

The two stood there for a while until Sasuke spoke in an odd tone. Well for Sakura it was odd.

It was strained and you could tell it was forced out. In a way it was a cold tenor that sent shivers down Sakura's back.

"Sakura we cant be friends anymore."

Said girl was surprised about how bluntly he told her. It was like it was a casual thing to say. And right to her face too. Her eyes welled up in tears as her fist clenched tightly. Why would he break their friendship right when they needed eachother the most?!

"S-Sasuke what do you mean?!"

"We can't be friends anymore."

"I-I...Why would you say that?!"

"...It's for the best. This way you'll be safer from me and Itachi."

Itachi.

Sakura tensed up from that name and she also noted that he didn't use the proper suffix for his older brother. She stared back at him with a glare.

"We can be safer together!" The first frustrated tear fell from her doe-like eye as she yelled at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No we can't Sakura. Why don't you understand that?" He said in a stotic tenor. His onyx eyes were piercing her emerald ones with an unusual intensity.

When he didn't get a reply, the young and remaining Uchiha turned around towards the exit of his old home. Without a look or glance over his shoulder, he spoke softly to Sakura-

"Goodbye Sakura."

When he made it outside he was relieved to not hear her stomping and chasing after him.

He started walking away through the rain. His eyes didnt waver to anything but the stone floor below him.

'She wouldn't understand...'

Sasuke kept repeating to himself that. He was trying to keep the guilt from setting in. But it didn't help unfortunately.


Three Days Later...

"Oi Sakura!"

Said girl looked up. Ino was looking down on her as she sat in the field.

"What is it?"

"Wanna watch the sparring?"

Sakura nodded immediately. She got up and followed her blonde-haired friend to the academy.

Sakura has been ineterested in fighting more than ever. She has been training ever since she was granted permission from the hospital that it was fine. Shes been training because it took her away from the world and this world was the number 1 thing she dreaded.

Ino and Sakura made to the academy and pushed their way through the crowd of kids their age. They made their to the front and watched as their teacher, Iruka, took out his clipboard.

"Okay kids. We have Naruto Uzumaki-"

"Yeah!" A loud voice interrupted the teacher and the source of the voice ran out onto the empty field. Sakura watched with curious eyes. Shes never seen this boy before. He must've just got transferred into her class.

His bright-blonde, spiked hair was probably noticable from miles away. He had tan skin and three whiskers on both of his round cheeks. The boy's eyes were big and a very bright-blue. He had a huge grin adorning his features.

"I'm gonna kill whoever comes against me!"

Sakura heard Ino groan in disgust beside her. She turned towards her friend and saw that she was frowning towards the boy in the arena.

"Whats wrong Ino?"

"Naruto is whats wrong! He's so full of himself."

Sakura was about to say something, but her teacher said something.

"Anyways...Who we have against Naruto is Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura's eyes bugged out. She hasn't been close to Sasuke since three days ago at the Uchiha compound. They havent made eye contact since. She watched as her old and still best friend walked out with his hands in his pockets.

Her eyes saddened drastically when he looked completely robotic.

He had no smile whatsoever. Just a line of nothing was on his lips. His eyes said nothing. Nothing but pure rage and hate filled the onyx orbs.

Sasuke made it to the end of the field and Sakura nearly had to cover her ears when a huge roar of screams and chants came from his fangirls, including the girl next to her. Ino would always tell Sakura that she was extremely lucky to have Sasuke as her best friend.

He, of course, ignored the girls and looked straight into Naruto's eyes. Iruka nodded in acknowledgment when he looked at the two boys.

"Okay when I say go you start...Go!"

Upon hearing that, Naruto roared out and charged at Sasuke recklessly. Sakura watched Sasuke as he stood there and did nothing but just stare at the boy charging towards him with clenched fists raised.

In just a second when Naruto reached Sasuke, a cloud of dust cloaked them. When it drifted away every silenced and saw Sasuke pinning Naruto down with his fist raised in front of the blonde's face. Fear was written all over the tan face of his and it was very noticable.

"Game set! Sasuke Uchiha wins."

The girl watched with a perplexed expression.

'When did he move...?' She thought when she just stared at the Uchiha. He was never that swift before. He must've trained too. But its only been 3 days, how did he get so fast? This made Sakura spiral into confusion.

Sasuke got off the boy and turned to the screaming crowd of fangirls and amazed boys. His eyes roamed them but he finally reached Sakura. He was relieved to see her looking down on the ground with a deep-in-thought expression on her face.


Whoo! This chapter was just the after math in their early years. Next chapter is a time-skip and they'll be 12-13 years old, and Kakashi will be introduced next chapter! Also Naruto will be a bigger character from now on. :)

Also Itachi will always have parts in all chapters!

Im sorry this chapter was shorter than the last... I'll make it longer next time :)

Reviews make me want to continue writing and the fuel my inspiration! Also they are greatly appreciated! :)))