Hey guys, just a quick annoying poke to the head: If you don't like this story, don't read it.

Also, if you have any ideas for my story, or just want to offer some advice, I'll be thankful. Just say it nicely!


-Entering the 'mysterious' building-

Me: Helloooooo!

Naruto: T_T

Me:What?

Naruto: Sorry. It's just you sounded like a creep!

Me: Oh really? Well, thanks for that piece of information! Sakura, if you will!

Sakura: Mearad doesn't own Naruto or me or Sasuke or-

Naruto: OR ANY OF THE NARUTO CHARACTERS!

Sakura: NARU-BAKA! HOW DARE YOU CUT ME OFF!

Naruto: *sobs quietly after being punched by Sakura*

Akatsuki: HOW DARE YOU TAKE OUR WORDS-

Sakura: *beats them up too*

Akatsuki: *Joins Naruto in crying*

Me: Anyway, enjoy~


Sakura turned her head around to look at the village one last time before catching up to her parents. The first stop they would go to would be Suna (hidden village of sand). Sakura couldn't wait to see Gaara there before reminding herself that he was unstable then and could kill her. But she pushed that to the back of her mind. She could defend herself now...probably.

True, she didn't have all her chakra back yet but she had enough to fight n' flee. It would take her family four to five days to reach the sand village. Sakura knew why her parents decided to go on a trip. They felt really guilty about what they did to Sakura. They felt more guilty then last time because she could've died from the snow storm if the Uchiha boys hadn't found her.

She briefly wondered what the Uchiha were doing outside in the middle of a snowstorm. Well, whatever it was, she'll find out sooner or later. Maybe I could stop the Uchiha massacre too? It would stop Sasuke's years of pain and suffering. But then Sakura remembered the massacre would happen in this year and she couldn't stop the massacre but little did she know she already stopped it.

Somewhere with the Uchiha clan…..

Fugaku looked at his clan as he told them he scraped the plan on taking over Konoha. He saw utter relief wash over many of their faces. But some were outright mad. He was going to kill one extremely foul mouthed man when his son, Itachi stepped in. "Father is right. Did you not think that this could create a war? We could take over Konoha and make in potentially easy for other nations to attack and invade. Also while there are chances of a rioting within Konoha, we could lose alliances with other countries because we forcibly took Konoha. Not to mention those countries could try to kill us all off so Konoha can go back to being stable. This is probably the best choice".

Itachi finished speaking and got looks of awe from everyone. Even his father was baffled by how much his son had thought it through. Secretly, Itachi was happy, if he could call it that. He didn't really want to kill his whole clan and leave Sasuke hateful and vengeful. Itachi knew that he owed it all to a certain pink haired girl who had softened his father up. He knew that if they proceeded with the plan, Sakura would be killed along with many other civilians and if by some chance they saved her, she would hate them.

Itachi didn't want to see Sakura get hurt and wanted to protect her. He felt pained when she announced she was leaving for a whole year. Wait. Itachi did not feel sad. He was Itachi, jounin rank and nearly Anbu.

Still, she would be back in time to start the Academy with Sasuke. Itachi could help her out with some techniques…

Itachi looked up as a person walked to him. His eyes narrowed. Uchiha Tobi was quiet awkward but something about him made Itachi weary.

Itachi had slight suspicions about him. Itachi didn't think he would do anything bad. Hopefully...

Back with Sakura four days later and just entering Suna…

"Identity please and state your reason for coming here" the sand ninja said to Sakura's parents as they stood just outside of Suna.

"We're here traveling and we are the Haruno family. Here is a civilian pass" Sakura's mother showed him confidently. After he let them in, Sakura's parents checked into a hotel and told Sakura she could play outside but not to wander too far. She had to also be back before nightfall.

Geez, they treat us like a child! Inner screamed, infuriated.

Well, um inner, we kind of are now that were in my five year old body (remember a year past while she waited for the right time to tell her parents about ninja school at Christmas) Sakura told her.

Sakura made her way to the park and found a small boy just sitting on the swings. He was looking enviously at the group of children who were playing a distance away from him. They never once turned their heads in his direction and Sakura had the sudden image of Naruto when he was all alone.

Then Sakura finally realised this might be Gaara. Yes, he does look like him with the red hair and all. But what's with the teddy bear? Wait, I should check his eyes for the back rings around them and his kanji for love on his head.

OMG, he looks so cute when he is younger! Especially with the teddy bear. Hey outer, let's go say hi!

Sakura, taking her inner's advice, walked up to him. Gaara looked at her with shocked eyes but didn't say anything. He kept sitting and was waiting for when she would turn around and say he was an ugly, scary monster-"Hello, I'm Sakura! What's your name?" she asked him. Gaara's mouth hanged opened a bit and stared at her shocked.

But then he pulled himself together and thought that she was new to Suna. Once she found out who he was she would run away like all the rest. Still, he couldn't help but whisper his name to her. "…Gaara…" he said. Sakura smiled at him and asked if he would like to play a game or show her around the area. Gaara didn't know why but he nodded and was even more surprised when she grabbed his hand and Shukaku's sand didn't react to her.

It looked like she was the one leading him but she asked him questions from time to time and he answered quietly, still unable to believe somebody was talking friendly to him. But Gaara knew it would not last long. As he saw one sand shinobi, who was exceptionally mean to Gaara, come towards them he knew the pink haired girl would discover his secret.

"Hey girl, you must be new here right? Look, stay away from that. He's a monster and will kill you. Leave him before he gets angry." People who were standing nearby looked at Gaara and ran away, already knowing he was a monster. All Gaara could think of was 'please don't leave me all alone. Please don't leave me'.

He was waiting for the girl to scream at him; waiting for her to run away and leave him like all the rest. "Are you a monster Gaara?" Sakura asks him, as the shinobi grins and walks off, leaving them the only two on the now deserted street.

Gaara looks up at her but he couldn't read her face. "Yes….When I was born…they put Shukaku in me and I'm possessed by him". Gaara really hated admitting it but he had to tell the girl the truth. She needs to know that he was a monster so she can run off and be safe. He closed his eyes and looked down.

"No, you're not a monster" the girl said, making him stare at her. Sakura was smiling at him and grabbed his hand and put it to his heart. "You're a human with a human heart. Don't ever let people say you're a monster when you're not. Let's be friends Gaara!" Sakura said. Sakura just couldn't help it. She hated seeing Naruto all alone and Gaara was despised for the same thing.

If she could make him feel less alone by becoming his friend she would do that, even if it meant changing the future. Gaara's mouth was hanging open a bit but he slowly nodded and Sakura took his hand again and they walked around more before Sakura left to go home.

She told Gaara to meet her at the park tomorrow and Sakura left in the direction of the hotel. As Sakura walked to the hotel it started to rain and Sakura thought it would be about time she should have been at the hotel but she couldn't be lost. She cast three shadow clones and they all spilt up, walking in other directions and Sakura continued forward.

Sakura stopped when she sensed a civilian behind her. Sakura turned around and saw a drunk civilian walking towards her, with an empty bottle in his hands. He staggered towards her and kneeled down at her level.

"H-Hello girllyyyyyy." He slurred, alcohol pouring off his breath.

Sakura was glaring at him. She could beat the crap out of him but she didn't want to draw attention to herself by flaring up her chakra.

So instead she turned around and ran away, as it got darker. She turned into a side street and cursed inside her head as it was a dead end. The man laughed drunkenly behind her. She turned around and he began unzipping his pants. Sakura realised what he was trying to do and inner was screaming.

Oh hell no! We aren't having some crazy drunk take our virginity. We are so going to kill him, right Sakura?

Sakura didn't answer and instead was focusing on the man and that was slowly coming closer to her. Should she fight him and risk her identity exposed to not only the sand village but to Konoha?

Yes, we aren't losing our virginity!

Sakura was just about to use her chakra when she sensed somebody's chakra coming towards her. She sighed inside her head but the chakra signal was still far away so Sakura was on her own until then. The man was slowly coming towards her now with only his boxers on and Sakura was looking for any solution other than beating him into hell.

As he reached for her, Sakura struggled out of his grip, but it didn't do much good as without chakra she was using her normal strength which wasn't very high as she was only five years old. He dragged her towards him and started ripping off her clothes. He was half way ripping off her t-shirt when finally Sakura's saviour came. The man, in one swift motion, shot a kunai at the drunk and the drunk keeled over, dead.

The person, who was wearing a black cloak, came towards Sakura and picked her up. She didn't see his face but she could tell he was only a little older than her. She remembered sand ninja became genin at 9 or 12 and this boy looked around 13. Obviously a ninja then. He carried her back to his home which was small but quiet cosy. He took off his cloak and Sakura's breath caught. It was Sasori of the Red Sands. His red hair was still short and as he stared at Sakura, he held out his hand for her to take. Timidly and sort of worried, she took his hand and he led her to a bathroom.

He turned on the bath and put a towel on a bathroom rack. Sakura was a bit sceptical at what he did next but remembering she was only in a five year old body, let him help her undress. He didn't say anything when he took off her clothes, only picked her up and put her gently into the bath. Sakura studied him curiously for a moment.

He still looked as talkative as ever by not saying anything but looked younger than his puppet body. Then, with a jolt, Sakura realised that he probably didn't create his puppet body yet. "Have a wash and then I'll help dry you up" he said and left out the bathroom door, leaving it open so he could see when she was done.

Sakura did enjoy her bath but was a little worried about if her parents were frantically searching for her. Luckily, that was shortly solved when she felt one of her clones disappear. Two of her clones had found the hotel and one of them disappeared, giving the information to Sakura, while the other acted as her (when the clones poof out of existence, all the knowledge they gained goes back to the original).

Happy that Sakura didn't need to worry anymore, she pulled herself out of the bath where suddenly Sasori was waiting for her. Sakura gave him a timid smile and she was amazed he returned her smile, even if only a little. He dried her up and then gave her some of his clothes as her t-shirt was ripped in half and her pants were ripped.

"You shouldn't have been out all by yourself, little girl. You're too young to wander by yourself. What were your parents thinking?" he asked her. Sakura looked at him as he grabbed her hand and led her to a kitchen. He made her a sandwich and he watched her eat. "You are really kind, mister" Sakura said, munching on her food. He gave a small chuckle at that.

"I'm Sasori and I should be the one to say you are kind. You accepted that boy even though he is a monster."

Sakura looked up at Sasori and told him Gaara wasn't a monster. Sasori just smiled and patted her head. He told her to go to sleep after leading her to another bedroom. Once in the bed, Sakura nearly died when he got in too. But in her head she kept repeating she was in a five year old body and she knew that she was right.

He probably just thought she needed the comfort. Anyway Sakura fell asleep and when she woke up she realised she was snuggled to Sasori's chest, holding his shirt with her small hands. She blushed but quickly hid it as he looked down at her. Luckily he didn't see her blush or she would have been really embarrassed. Somehow she thought he needed comfort too. Sakura remembered he didn't have any parents and he might see Sakura as a young sister.

But then she remembered her parents and told him she had to go home. Sakura thought he looked reluctant, maybe even sad but that was impossible right? He was already planning to be a 'to be criminal' who she would kill in the future. There was no way he was sad because she was going away.

However he grabbed her hand and the two of them walked to the hotel Sakura had said she was staying at. Once there she was about to thank him when he kissed her forehead. Kissed. Her. Forehead. This time Sakura really did blush like mad and it must have looked like a kid reaction because he smirked and then handed her a small hand sized wooden puppet. The puppet looked exactly like Sakura, only it was smaller.

He smiled at her amazed expression and then left the girl there, heading out of the sand village.

FLASHBACK:

Originally he was heading out the village when he sensed a girl running away and a man following. He was going to leave them but something pulled him to the girl. Once he saw the man trying to rape the small five year old girl, he actually lost his temper and killed him in one blow. He decided he'll become a missing-nin tomorrow and helped the girl.

When he took her back to his home, he led her to the bathroom and started the water up in the bath. He thought she looked so delicate with her cute pink hair and beautiful emerald eyes. He helped her take her clothes off, noticing at first how hesitant she was. He didn't blame her. She was nearly raped and her poor five year old mind probably couldn't understand what the man wanted off her.

He left her to have a bath and told her he'll help her dry up. There was something about this small being that made him feel less alone. Maybe it was because she accepted that boy monster for what he was? Or maybe it was because she looked so innocent? Whatever it was, he decided to make a puppet just like her. He made a small sized puppet for the girl.

Once finished he saw the little girl coming out the bath and helped her dry off. Once he fed and put her in bed he joined her. Usually he wasn't this comfortable with people, especially strangers but he liked this girl. He kind of thought she would be like what a younger sister would be. Cute and innocent.

When he took her to the sand hotel the next day, he was a little more than sad and displeased. He wanted to take her with him. He really liked the child but then remembered that she was only five and the path he was going down was a bloody one. So he handed her the puppet and smiled at her look of awe. He was glad somebody appreciated his work of art.

Then he left her standing outside the hotel and he left the village, cutting his headband, showing he was deserting his village. He headed for a certain place where he was told to meet the Akatsuki as he would be joining them. He hated keeping people waiting but he guessed for his 'little sister' he would. Then Sasori thought he hadn't even asked her name…


If you're wondering why I stopped the Uchiha Massacre, it's because I obviously can't live without Shisui or Itachi! And also, it bothers me how in the anime, the Uchiha clan hadn't even considered the fact that it might start a war with other countries, or that revolts and coups might occur after taking Konoha by force.


Me: Wow. I wonder how much I've changed things. But they will all have a deeper meaning for the future of the story!

Sakura: Hey Mearad, why didn't Sasori kill me?! I mean, he SAVED me!

Me: Well, he is still young and hasn't joined Akatsuki yet!

Sasori: hn. But I will still join them. I hate to keep people waiting.

Sakura: Gah! Wait, so you're still joining Akatsuki?

Sasori: Yep.

Me: By the way...Where's Sasuke and Naruto?

Sasuke: *shouts from far away* NARUTO! I'LL KILL YOU!

Naruto: *runs and hides behind Mearad*

Everyone else: ?

*Sasuke comes in with chicken feathers all over him and a few chickens running behind him*

Sasuke: Where. Is. He?

Me: *Picks up Naruto and chucks him to Sasuke.*

Naruto: No, Mearad! You traitor!

Orochimaru: Did somebody say traitor?

Me: Nope. Anyway, see you next time!