Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. If it were mine we would have seen the Team 7 in ANBU.
Chapter 3: The monsters.
A few months later.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Itachi asked with a twinge of excitement in his voice. For untrained ears he still looked controlled and emotionless, but Sakura knew better, he was so expectant as she was.
"More than ready." She screamed and jumped with excitement. The next day would be the first day at the Konoha Ninjas Academy where she would meet the partners who would go to missions with her when they became genin, where she would learn a lot about the world and the life of a shinobi and where she would put into practice all that Itachi taught in the last months.
She had learned to throw shurikens, defend herself from attacks using a kunai, learned to meditate to improve chakra control, she almost managed to climb the tree once, to see the pride in Itachi's eyes was priceless.
"Sasuke will be there." Itachi murmured as he sat beneath a tree leaning against the trunk.
Itachi had talked about his little brother a few times, making Sakura fill him with questions he was happy to answer. Sakura could see the brightness in his eyes and how much love and pride Itachi had for his brother, but he also saw a small glimmer of longing when he told his father's rules and forbidding him to train the boy. She knew how much Itachi wanted Sasuke to have freedom like she had. Sakura knew in her heart that she would do anything to see Itachi happy, so she promised herself that she would approach Sasuke.
"We will be friends." Sakura said with conviction as she sat down next to Itachi resting her head on his chest, she sighed with satisfaction as he put an arm around her shoulders bringing her closer. 'It's good to have him around.'
"Meet me here tomorrow after your day at the Academy." Itachi said.
Sakura had long since become accustomed to his phrases that looked like demands rather than requests. "Yes, Tachi." She said a little sleepy.
He stroked her pink hair and waited until she fell asleep so he could take her home and lay her on the bed, as he used to do whenever the training took all her energy. He got used to it, got used to her presence. 'It's good to have her around.'
The next day Sakura woke up early, dressed in black shorts and a green dressing gown, put on the boots, after eating breakfast and feeding Kuro, she placed shurikens and kunais in a bag tied at the waist and ran the streets toward the Academy.
On the way to the Academy she bumped into someone, falling on the floor abruptly. She got up irritably and wiped the dirt from her shorts, turning to the person in question ready to give a piece of her mind when she saw a blond little boy who seemed to be the same age that her. Looking at the shadow that covered the little boy before her, she realized that he did not bump into her, he was thrown into her by one of the citizens.
Seeing the scene in front of her, a adult man bullying a boy who could barely defend himself, Sakura redirected all the anger she was feeling about the fall, to that man and the other adults who were around them not moving a muscle to defend the boy being insulted.
'Sakura, always use your strength to protect those who can't protect themselves. So you will be propagating the peace'. Itachi's words echoed in her mind and she found herself in front of the boy lying on the floor, standing between him and the merchant who was attacking him with a broom. "What is your problem? Why are you hurting an innocent child?" She screamed irritated, grateful to see the man lower the raised hand, ready to strike the helpless boy.
"He's not an innocent child, kid. He's a monster." The man grunted.
Sakura narrowed the eyes to the all adults. "The only monster I see here, is you." She said through gritted teeth. Ignoring the adults looking at her with obvious indignation, Sakura turned to the boy, ignoring the murmurings and protests, She hold out her hand to him with a smile. She waited for him to take her hand, but was surprised when the blond boy stood up and ran away from the crowd.
Sakura ran after him, reaching him easily and saw him as he was with a desolate face sitting on a swing in front of the Academy.
"Hey, why did you run away?" Sakura asked irritably and before he answered she released all the anger she was feeling. "I was defending you. What's the problem with you? Not even a 'thank-you'?! And you still leave me with my hand out like an idiot in front of all those people."
"I didn't ask you to defend me." He said in a defeated tone without looking into her eyes.
Itachi said she needed to control her impulses and analyze the situation before drawing conclusions. With that thought she sighed and let all the anger disappear slowly, kneeling before him, forcing him to look into her eyes. "I defended you because it was the right thing to do." She watched as he gasped at this statement and his blue eyes flashed with tears that ran down his cheeks like rivers. For the first time she noticed that he had marks that reminded her of cat mustaches. "It's okay, that man was a brute." She said trying to make him stop crying. "Hm, I'm Haruno Sakura."
He did not say anything for few minutes, but realizing she would not go anywhere he sighed. "You didn't hear them, I'm a monster. You need to stay away from me."
She tilted the head in confusion. "The only thing that I see, is a blond boy with blue eyes and scared." She said smirked.
"I'm not scared." He said indignantly, drying his eyes with the forearm.
Sakura laughed, she wanted some reaction from him that was not sadness and that's exactly what she got.
He pouted for her. "Why are you laughing?"
"Your reaction." She said and smiled even more. She got up and pulled him off the swing. "You're going to the Ninja Academy?"
The boy nodded and let her guide him inside the building.
When they passed through the gates he gave up resisting. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto" He said in a low voice. "Thank you, Sakura-chan." Naruto waited for some response from her, but did not come. The strange girl with colorful hair and beautiful eyes kept walking and pulling him with her. She did not look at him, but the grip on his hand grew stronger and somehow he knew she was smiling.
Sakura entered the room dragging Naruto by the hand and realized that they were receiving glances from other children. She did her best to ignore, if there was one thing she knew well, it was bullying. They passed by the children who were on the way and sat side by side at a four seat table.
After a few minutes she noticed that there was a boy one chair after hers. She watched as he was isolated in the corner, looking out the window, he had a blue high-necked T-shirt that was exactly like the ones Itachi wore. "Sasuke?" She did not realize what she had said out loud until the boy focused his gaze on her.
"Do you know him, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, making her look at him.
She denied with the head. "But we can meet him soon and be friends, what do you think?" She suggested sweetly.
"I don't think anyone here, besides you, wants to be near me." Naruto said sadly.
Sakura opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, he continued. "But it does not matter, because I came to the Academy to be the best shinobi this village has ever seen, and I'm going to become the Hokage one day. Believe in me!" Sakura watched as his smile grew with every word he added in the speech and in the end she caught herself smiling after he gave her the most radiant smile she had ever seen.
The boy on the other side watched as the pair next to him. He heard every word they exchanged and felt bad for the blond boy because surely his big brother would be the next Hokage. But he felt something warm his chest when that girl said they could be friends. He ignored the unfamiliar feeling and focused on the sensei who was entering the room at that moment.
The day turned out too fast for Sakura's taste, but she was excited to run to the cabin and tell Itachi everything. She said goodbye to Naruto who thanked her for the thousandth time for having defended him and for staying with him during class.
She watched Naruto disappear in the streets and ran toward the forest. Sakura was not surprised when she entered the cabin and saw that Itachi was already there, waiting for her. She walked into the cabin and lay beside him leaning her head on the same pillow where his head was. She saw the corner of his mouth rise a little, almost imperceptible. That gesture was what she needed to know he was interested in all the things that happened to her during the day.
She told him all about how she met Naruto and saw how his face twisted with something she could not figure out. When she said that the citizens called Naruto a monster and she questioned Itachi about it, knowing that he would know the reason, because she learned that Itachi knew everything about anything. He replied in a slightly less calm voice than it usually was. "You need to keep it a secret, Saku-chan."
When she nodded, he continued. "The citizens treat Uzumaki like that because he has something sealed inside of him." He took a deep breath and turned away so he could look at her better. "Do you know about the bijuus?" He asked uncertainly for the first time she'd met him.
She blinked a few times and found it odd how he was showing more emotion than he usually did. She thought this was a really valuable secret. "I read about it once, has a legend about a Sage of Six Paths, but I don't remember much about it." She said biting the lip in concentration.
He smiled and pulled a few strands of hair that fell over her eyes as she also turned sideways to face him. "You're a very smart girl, Saku-chan." He smiled even more when he saw a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. "These bijuus were sealed in people so that they could be controlled by the Hidden Villages where they reside, then-"
She interrupted him before he could finish. "Naruto has one of those monsters sealed in him." She said and sat up abruptly, putting a hand over her mouth to hide the shock that this information caused.
Itachi sat down beside her, not surprised that she understood even before he explained, she was a little genius in his eyes. "That's a secret, Saku-chan. You can't tell to Uzumaki, even if you approach him." He said it in a kind but firm tone.
She nodded and promised herself that she would not allow people to hurt Naruto for something he did not even know he had inside.
"Don't let that take up too much space on your little head." He said trying to get her thoughts off the complicated things.
"It's all right." She sighed and looked at him again. "I think I met Sasuke-kun." She changed the subject, doing his expression gained a little more joy. He inclined the head, indicating her to continue.
"I didn't talk with him... He was in the corner all the time, but I promise I'll get close to him tomorrow." She declared with conviction.
He nodded and lay down again, enjoying the little bit of peace he had. She lay beside him again and they fell into a comfortable silence.
After an hour of rest he remembered that he should go home to hear everything about Sasuke's day too. He sat up and realizing she was sleeping.
He stood, holding her in his arms as he smiled to himself. 'She always does this.'
Sakura woke up the next day in her bed, undisturbed knowing that Itachi had left her after probably falling asleep in the cabin. She rose rubbing the sleep from her eyes and saw a glimmer of red from the corner of the eyes. She sat down and reached for the red ribbon on the nightstand, and only a small paper fixed on the ribbon.
For you
-I
She smiled and pressed the red ribbon tightly to her chest. "Thank you, Tachi." She whispered happily