The three shinobi arrived at the Hokage tower, only to be faced with two high ranked, old ANBU guards standing outside the Office.
"You two are to wait in the waiting room until further instruction." One of the guards spoke. Kakashi and his companion walked off without another word as Sakura knocked on the door.
"Come in…" A depressed voice spoke firmly.
Sakura walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Noticing that Tsunade was standing in front of the Hokage's desk, she decided to wait until she was spoken to rather than opening up a conversation.
"I found your scroll…" Sarutobi sighed deeply as he used his hand to move Sakura's attention to the scroll. "I do not want to know how far back you both have travelled and I do not want to hear about the future. You will both do well to keep that information to yourself." He continued before performing a seal on the scroll. "I will erase your memories if you slip up. So, consider this as your only warning."
The Hokage stood up from his seat before looking over at Tsunade.
"I have no idea what kind of danger you could bring to this world, but you're both very fortunate that my gut instinct is telling me to keep you both alive."
Tsunade could see through his serious act and smiled fondly up at Sarutobi.
"I have been told that you don't quite fit into this timeline…Sakura," He continued as he looked over at her. "If it's of any use, the Haruno clan hasn't been around since I became the Hokage, many years ago. Whether you believe it to be or not, this is fortunate for you as it will be easier to explain where you came from to the council…"
Sakura nodded slowly, to show that she was listening.
"Your Sensei speaks highly of you, Sakura. I understand that you are of ANBU calibre. I'm sure you can fathom why I can't immediately throw you into our Task force." He stated rather than asked as he returned to his seat.
He then gave Sakura a lengthy story to live by if anyone in the village were to ask about her origin. She was to say that she was initially born in the village, off records, and both her parents died at a young age, failing to notify anyone of Sakura's existence.
She was to say that she was on her own from as far back as she can remember and that Tsunade had come across her on the border. The rest of the story was easy to follow.
"Understood." Sakura said before turning to Tsunade.
"Is there any way that we can put Sakura back into the ANBU force? If so, how long will that take?" Tsunade questioned, filling Sakura with a small amount of anxiety.
"It's possible, but she will first have to complete her Genin, Chunin and Jonin exams. If her skills are as high as you've explained them to be, it will take no longer than a month…And she will be considered the youngest Kunoichi to enter the ranks of ANBU." Sarutobi answered. "What are your plans, Tsunade?"
"I wish to work at the Hospital, I'd like to teach the staff how to do their job." She responded arrogantly.
"Very well, I'll arrange that for you so that you can start there at the end of the week. Do you want to join the ANBU forces, Sakura?"
"Yes," She assured, keeping her posture straight.
"I can get your Genin exam organised by tomorrow. The Chunin Exams start next week and your Jonin exam will take three weeks to prepare. It's only after you pass the Jonin exam that I will start to consider your future in the ANBU taskforce. Any questions?"
"The Genin exam will be at the academy? And it will be at the end of the school day as usual?"
"Yes."
"Then I have no further questions."
With their seemingly serious conversation at an end, Sakura left the building with a question floating around her mind. Cursing her luck for thinking of it just after she had the opportunity to speak her mind.
Where was she going to sleep for the night?
She shook off the possibility of sleep as she passed the waiting room on her way out of the tower.
"Hey, Lady." Sakura heard Kakashi call out, but she ignored him and continued walking. She didn't get too far though as both Kakashi and his companion met Sakura at the entrance to the tower.
Refraining the urge to sigh, Sakura blankly stared at the two shinobi.
"What?" she hesitantly said.
"It's standard procedure to test your skills as a newly found shinobi of the village." Sakura raised her eyebrows as she recognised Kakashi's lying tone.
"That's odd…" She commented before trying to walk past them. However, the slightly shorter black-haired shinobi sidestepped to block her.
"I want to fight you." The man said, not even earning so much as a look from Sakura.
"That's a shame, because I don't want to waste the effort to fight you. Now if you don't mind," Sakura continued while swiftly moving around the ANBU blocking her path. "I have a Genin exam to prepare for…"
Without any warning, A shuriken had dangerously sped towards the back of Sakura's head. She noticed with enough time to substitute herself with a nearby branch before she turned to face the two men.
"I will fight you both when I become a Jonin." Sakura informed, hoping to get them off her back. "Until then, you're both ANBU ranking Shinobi picking on a pink haired 12-year-old who isn't even a Genin yet. Good night." Sakura rushed before she dispelled herself into cherry blossom petals, letting the wind carry her to near the Uchiha compound before rematerializing outside the entrance.
"Jeesh." Sakura sighed out loud. She was itching to have a fight with her former sensei…But she had to be extremely careful of what she did, as she knew the Hokage would be keeping a close eye on her.
"Hey you!" A short drunk man shouted, amongst the group of other drunk civilian males, before he stumbled by the Pinkette with an empty bottle in one hand while flashing cash in the other. "How much for a bit of head?"
Sakura couldn't help a disgusted look twisting her once calm face.
"I'm barely twelve, pervert. And no amount money in the world would make me want to even touch you." Sakura retorted. The guys surrounding the man who shouted had laughed at his rejection.
"You're an ugly whore anyway." He tried to play it cool.
"Clearly not as ugly as your mother was, seeing the state of your face." She bit back, further angering the man.
"You'll regret that, bitch!" He said as he threw his money on the ground. His friends were acting like pigeons to crumbs as the short, drunk man staggered humorously towards Sakura.
"Will I now?" She taunted, longing to get into a bit of combat. However, before she could strike a punch, a man came out of the Uchiha compound to check what the commotion was all about.
"You'll do well to keep clear of the Uchiha compound." A stern voice made Sakura jump. She didn't recognise the Uchiha standing next to her, but she didn't sense him approaching her, meaning that he was a strong shinobi.
She noted that his hairstyle reminded her of Naruto's, despite the lack of blonde hair.
The drunken man stopped in his tracks before snarling at the Uchiha. Leaving the scene in seconds.
"Uh…I guess I should thank you." Sakura commented, trying to get a look at his face.
"Thank? You should be worshipping me! Who knows what would've happened if I wasn't here to save your little head!" He spoke uncharacteristically of a Uchiha as he ruffled up Sakura's hair.
Sakura knew differently, but decided against saying anything more.
"I'll walk you home, little lady, in case any other scary men are out there, where do you live?" the Uchiha smiled warmly at Sakura, disarming her completely.
"U-Um…" She stuttered. "I-uh…I don't have a home." She admitted reluctantly. Curious of what the man would make of that.
"Oh…That's unfortunate." He said as he tilted his head to the side, as if it would aid his thought process.
"It's okay though. I'm able to set up camp for tonight…I'll just buy a tent from the stand and camp outside the village or something. It will only be for tonight anyway as I've got my Genin exam tomorrow." Sakura muttered before walking off.
"Wait! You do realise that it's midnight? The stalls are closed."
Sakura hadn't realised that hours had passed while she was talking to the Hokage.
"Uh…" Sakura groaned before feeling the Uchiha approach her.
"Why don't you stay around my house for the night? I have a spare room, and I could do with the company…I could teach you some cool tricks too before you go for your exam!" he exclaimed.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at his words, but knowing that Uchiha's are too full of pride to have any negative intention behind innocent words, she tactfully accepted his offer before following him in silence to his house in the compound.
She tried to hide her sadness while she spoke to him, knowing that in her previous timeline she would've never had the opportunity to speak to an Uchiha other than Sasuke due to Itachi's selfish actions. Expertly hiding her expressions, she kept a calm, child-like demeanour about her as they entered Shisui's abode.
"I'm surprised you're not a loud walker, how old are you?" He asked after closing his house door and locking it behind him.
"Twelve." She replied while politely removing her shoes and grudgingly standing them up neatly near the shoe rack. "I never asked you for your name."
"You can call me Shisui, Little Lady." He replied with a grin on his face.
"You can call me Sakura, Shisui." She retorted without holding back on the sass. "As appreciative as I am of your hospitality tonight, won't the Other Uchiha be pissed off if they find out you're hosting for someone other than a Uchiha?"
"I don't care what they think, I'm not willing to let a child in need sleep rough,"
"I'm not a child in need…"
"So, you want to sleep out on the streets?"
"…No."
Shisui smiled triumphantly before walking over to his kitchen.
"Do you like Peppermint Tea, Sakura? I can make you a cup before you go to bed for the night." He offered. Sakura noticed in his body language and tone of voice that he wanted to make her a tea. So, she felt inclined to accept his offer.
They had a brief conversation before Shisui ruffled Sakura's hair and shooed her to the bedroom, which was immaculate other than a photo frame in the corner on a window ledge. The room was far too dark to make out the photo, so instead on thinking deeply that night, Sakura fell asleep the moment she hit the bed.
The morning came around quicker than the speed of light. Sakura had conditioned her body to wake up at 6AM on the dot. She felt groggy as she stretched and clicked her bones, but something on the window ledge caught her eye.
The photo frame stood proudly, but the sun's reflection obstructed Sakura's ability to take in the whole photo. So, she reluctantly reached out to the frame to hold it gently in her hands.
She was slightly shocked to see that it was a photo of Itachi and Shisui…and they were both smiling.
"How…Sad." Sakura's eyes built up tears that shouldn't belong there. Was Shisui Itachi's comrade?
She shook off the shiver of pain before returning the photo frame to its' original position before she walked from the bedroom to the main living space to find that Shisui was sprawled out on the sofa…still catching the z's
Sakura assumed that he didn't have a spare room at all and he'd decided he'd take the sofa. Shaking her head slightly, she quietly walked to the fridge, only to find that it was empty.
She decided that the least she could do was to treat her host to breakfast for the roof over her head. Sakura fitted her shoes on before darting to the markets to get the necessary ingredients for a full English breakfast, a meal which she had recently discovered on her trips while she was in the ANBU taskforce.
She returned to Shisui's house, unaware of the other Uchiha in the compound had noticed her presence as she walked through Shisui's door, and started to fire up the oven.
As Sakura guessed, Shisui woke up the moment she laid the bacon rashers on the scorching hot pan.
"Ugh," He groaned sleepily, causing Sakura to turn around.
Before she could get a bearing on what Shisui was doing, he'd wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head.
Sakura froze momentarily, letting the hot oil spit up at her cold skin, before she looked up to force Shisui to lift his head up.
"What are you doing?" She questioned in a blunt tone of voice. Shisui simply smirked at her before walking off in the direction of his room. "I hope there not some weird Uchiha thing about a woman accepting hospitality or some weird shit like that…" Sakura muttered out loud before tending to the breakfast, slightly missing Shisui's warmth.
Shisui re-entered the room before falling lazily back onto the sofa.
"I noticed that the Photo in my room had been moved…" was the first thing Shisui said. Sakura tensed up, wondering just how much attention this guy paid to detail.
"I recognise Itachi…I've never seen him smile…It made me want to really check if it was a genuine smile or a stain on the glass of the photo." Sakura half fabricated as she finished up the rest of the breakfast.
"You know Itachi?" He asked, curious to hear more about his friend from an outsider.
"I don't really know him…I've just seen him before."
"Ah…Well, the best time to see Itachi smile, is when he's with his younger brother. My god it's the cutest expression I've ever seen on Itachi's face. He values his younger brother more than anything else." Shisui easily gave out information. However, Sakura scoffed.
"That's hard for me to believe." Sakura murmured to herself as she served the food on two separate plates, she took out cutlery before handing over one plate and one set of cutlery to Shisui.
Placing herself on a single sofa and crossing her legs, she tucked into her own food.
"What's this?" Shisui questioned as he played about with his food a bit.
"It's Bacon, Sausage, an Egg, beans, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. It's a fatty meal that helps build up stamina if you're aiming on training that section…otherwise regarded as a comfort meal." Sakura explained through bites of her mushrooms.
"I'm a vegetarian." He stated, feigning disappointment. Sakura was fooled as her face turned from satisfied to miserable within a millisecond. "Just joking!"
Sakura blinked slowly, as if to calm herself down, while Shisui wolfed down the food in pure delight.
"Oh. By the way…" Shisui continued as Sakura started eating her food again. "Itachi is due to come around in a few minutes, I'll get him to help with your training today. He passed his Genin test when he was only 7 years old you know!" Shisui boasted with pride, unaware of Sakura choking on her food at the sudden news. "How lucky are you! Huh? Getting to train with a prodigy."
"U-Um…Shisui," Sakura said after clearing her airways of food. "I can only assume that Itachi is a very busy person, I wouldn't want to impede on his time." She spoke honestly. She didn't know if she was ready to see the source of Sasuke's pain.
"Oh, It's no hassle! I'm sure Itachi would be fine with it!" He shouted reassuringly before taking his empty plate and dumping it noisily in the sink. "Those clothes you're wearing look a bit too big on you though, Sakura. Let me fix you up something…" His voice trailed off as he went into his room.
Sakura didn't notice just how baggy her clothes were until Shisui pointed it out. Sighed deeply and regretted ever accepting Shisui's offer.
"Here! This is perfect! This will look cute on you with your pink hair and stuff." He commented easily as he took Sakura's half eaten food from her to replace it with a pair of very short black shorts and a navy-blue top with the Uchiha crest on the back, very similar to Sasuke's shirt he used to wear. "Quickly, get changed. He'll be here any minute, I want you to make a good impression on him." Shisui shooed her away.
Sakura hesitated slightly before getting changed into the given clothes, folding her old ones up in a neat pile on the end of Shisui's bed. Reattaching her cream coloured pouch to her hip, she checked herself out in the mirror before frowning. She felt like the high collar blocking the view of her hair made her look chubby. She got a hair band out of her pouch and carefully tied her hair up unto a high ponytail.
Smiling to herself in satisfaction, she exited the room and walked back to Shisui.
"These clothes are a perfect fit. What size are you?" Sakura asked nonchalantly before noticing Itachi's presence.
She couldn't hide the fear that flashed across her face as she defensively flared her chakra as if to prepare for a fight, an action that Itachi didn't fail to notice.
However, Itachi didn't even humour her with a greeting while he wondered why her reaction was so different to the last time they met.
'Is she really that oblivious to not recognise me out of my ANBU gear?' Itachi thought to himself as he looked over at his friend.
"Oh! Itachi! This is Sakura, and Sakura…You know who this is." Shisui introduced gleefully. Sakura regained composure while avoiding eye contact with Itachi.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She responded bluntly.
"Are we all ready to go to the grounds? I'm eager to find out what I can teach little Sakura." Shisui spoke fondly as he rushed to get his sandals on.
'Is Shisui really a powerful Uchiha?' Sakura sweat-dropped while following him outdoors.
She felt nervous as Itachi decided to walk behind her rather than next to his friend, but she couldn't let Itachi get suspicious of her, easier said than done.
"Okay, little lady-"
"-Sakura."
"Okay, Sakura."
Shisui stood proudly as they reached the training grounds.
"What would you like to learn about?" He questioned. Sakura tilted her head to the side in serious contemplation, wondering what her weak points were.
"Seals." She responded after a while, causing Shisui to chuckle.
"You're not even a Genin, you wouldn't be able to comprehend seals."
Sakura reluctantly bit her tongue.
"Then I would like to learn about precision at a speed."
As if to scare Sakura, Shisui threw a Shuriken to brush by her cheek. However, much to both the Uchiha's surprise, Sakura caught the Shuriken easily.
She inwardly planned that if she showed her strength in front of Itachi, he'd feel threatened enough to change his focus onto her, rather than the strong clan of the Uchiha.
"That was a poor demonstration of accuracy." Sakura mocked, triggering a smirk from Shisui.
"Okay, how about a sparring session? It will give me a better understanding of what your weaknesses are…and we can go from there."
"Sure." Sakura agreed, readying herself for her first fight.
A/N: sorry for the shorter chapter! (And for any spelling mistakes) Please review and thank you for reading ^_^
Also, Pairings for Sakura are still open for suggestions
