(His skin is ashen in death. She's seen countless bodies, some with soft, relaxed features, as if asleep or at peace, and others with frozen terror etched on their faces. Naruto doesn't look like he's sleeping.)
Sakura is writing down her latest dream, trying not to let her tears stain the paper, when she hears the noise.
A rattle of rocks against her window.
Some dormant part of Sakura stirs slightly, and she has to ignore the urge to grab the kunai she's not carrying. Her parents are asleep, and she should be too, but she can't shake the feeling of sleep being a luxury she cannot afford.
She goes to her window, pulling back the curtain just enough to cautiously peek through. For a moment, she only sees the horizon blacked out by endless rows of trees and houses cast in shadow, then she looks down and sees the little boy who's growing up just to die.
Naruto jumps up and down when she spots him, waving his arms over his head. His grin is radiant even in the dim light of the moon. It's a hot night with no wind, unusual for Konoha, and his shirt is sticking to him.
Sakura stares at him. He's so incongruous standing in her front garden that it takes her a few seconds to realise he's not a ghost risen from her thoughts. She hurriedly opens her window. Her mother had left it open after tucking her in for the night, and visions of black-clad enemies pouring in through the hole in the house's defences wouldn't leave her until she closed it again. She could cope with the heat.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whisper-shouts from below, his hands cupped around his mouth, "Can you come out to play?"
Sakura has long since made the conclusion that the masked shinobi are following Naruto, for some reason. Hopefully not to hurt him, but she's never dreamed about the Masks and can't say for sure that they're allies. She doesn't like the thought of them hiding in the dark, watching Naruto walk the streets at night.
"Sure!" She whispers back, glad it's not windy for once so she doesn't have to raise her voice and risk waking her parents.
She doesn't hesitate before stepping out of her window and onto the roof below. Her feet slip a little, but she remembers running up the tree and how she had funnelled chakra through her body and down to the soles of her feet, and tries it out now.
Tiles crack under feet and she gasps, wobbling dangerously. Leaves rustle from a nearby tree. Sakura glues her feet down properly and steadies her stance. She doesn't look at the tree. There's still no wind tonight.
"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?!" Naruto calls, forgetting to whisper. Sakura makes huge shushing motions with her arms and nearly loses her balance again. She makes it to the edge of the roof and sits down, legs dangling. The distance between her and the ground seems insurmountable.
"How do I get down?" Sakura asks, trying to keep the panic from her voice.
"I'll catch you!" Naruto says brightly, holding his arms up as if she's about to leap into them any second.
Sakura remembers a time when she could vault over huge obstacles and hit the ground running like it was nothing. Sometimes she left craters when she landed.
This time when she drops to the ground it stays hard and unforgiving and she half-rolls into a heap, pain flaring in her ankles. Naruto gasps her name and falls to his knees next to her –
("No, no, Sakura-chan, please… I can't do this without you." A voice pleading in her ear. At this point, the chakra flooding through her injuries is pure instinct, she can't focus on anything beyond the blood on her hands. It isn't hers.)
Naruto helps her to her feet, his worried eyes glinting with tears. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I should've caught you!"
For once, Sakura isn't crying. She manages a comforting smile for Naruto, ignoring the pain throbbing through her feet, little aftershocks from the impact. "It's okay, Naruto. I shouldn't have jumped. What did you want to play?"
Naruto fidgets, the tears gone as fast they came. "Uhh… guess we can't play Monsters… too loud. And Hide and Seek's no fun with just two playing… We climbed trees already today, so…"
He didn't come to play at all, did he, Sakura thinks, he just doesn't want to be alone.
"Where are you supposed to be right now?" Sakura asks, trying not to sound like her mother.
"The orphanage." Naruto mumbles, shuffling his feet.
He was always at the park, all day every day. There was never anyone with him. No one to stop mean men from hurting him. No parents to love him.
"Do you not like it there?" Sakura asks, heart beating faster.
"Not really. Everybody gets adopted, so they line us up when people come. We have to be all clean and standing up straight. And they come and – and – they never even… I always do everything right, I clean really hard, even behind my ears, I do it 'til it really hurts and it's all red and there's no dirt, there's not, and I stand up the straightest – 'cause I'm the tallest one – and I wait every time but they… they never even look at me. And Kaede-baa-chan just says it's 'cause I didn't clean right. Or stand up straight enough. Everyone else gets to go, even the babies who can't even clean themselves or stand up at all and it's not fair!" Naruto's red in the face by the end of his speech, chest rising and falling rapidly. As angry as he sounds, Sakura knows he's just hurt because his chakra feels like an open wound, ready to gush out at any moment.
"No, it's not fair." Sakura says quietly. It isn't fair that Sakura has two parents who love her very much when Naruto doesn't even have one. No aunts or uncles, grandmothers or grandfathers. Not even any cousins. Sakura would give them to him if she could.
Naruto's lip wobbles. Sakura pulls him into a hug, patting his back the way her mother always does when she's upset. Maybe she can be more than his best friend. Someone to pat his back and wipe his tears. Someone to come to when he's feeling lonely. A safe space she makes just for him. Not a mother, but –
"Naruto, do you want me to be your sister?" Sakura asks, rubbing his back gently. She remembers thinking this about Naruto once, that he was her family and she was his. They were that once. Maybe they could be again.
Naruto pulls back and stares at her, eyes wide. "Huh?"
"I'll leave my house and you leave your orphanage, and we'll build a treehouse in the park and live there." Sakura explains. She can come back for supplies from her house after Shisui's taught her to be sneaky, and this way she can keep a close eye on Naruto and make sure nothing happens to him. "When we're older we'll go to the Academy with Ino and become shinobi. They get paid for missions, so we'd do a lot and get money for a house. What do you think?"
Naruto is staring at her, his mouth hanging open. "Sa-Sakura-chan – I – you can't! You've already got a house and a family, so you can't! You shouldn't throw that away for nothing, Sakura-chan."
"It's not nothing!" Sakura says fiercely, "It's you! I wouldn't be throwing anything away, I'd be getting a brother and that would be the best thing ever, so there!"
Naruto's gaze is searching, his eyes boring into hers. She tries to radiate how sincere she is and how much she wants this.
"We – we could get a dog!" Sakura tries, "A stray! It would live in the treehouse and we could play fetch in the park!"
Naruto almost smiles, shaking his head.
"I could cook dinner! We could have whatever you wanted every day! I'm good at cooking, my mother says – " Sakura shuts her mouth, quick, but she can't take the word back.
"Sakura-chan… I don't want you to live in a treehouse. I want you to live in your house. You should be in bed, all warm and tucked up. With a proper dog and toys and blankets. I – I wish you were my sister. But you're not. So you've got to go home. Like you're s'posed to." Naruto says gently, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Like I'm supposed to?" Sakura glares at him, "I don't have to do anything. I'm a monster, remember? Just like you! I can do what I want, and what I want is to be your family!"
("I could be your family! Please. I'd make sure you were happy every day. If you were to stay with me, you would have no regrets, I swear… I would do anything for you! Please… just stay with me…")
Someone is going to leave her and it's going to break her heart. Even now, she can feel a cold ache in her chest, something that feels both familiar and unfamiliar. She would lie awake at night, her chest weighed down by a single name.
What was it?
Naruto's touch startles her. He's wiping away a tear she didn't know was falling. She swore she wouldn't cry.
"Okay, Sakura-chan," Naruto says patiently, "Let's go build a treehouse."
"And get a dog?" Sakura sniffs.
Naruto takes her hand.
"Sure."
xxxxxxxx
The walk to the park is strange at night. The leaves rarely rustle, the lack of wind leaving the village hushed. It seems as though everyone is asleep. Except for her and Naruto and the Masks trailing behind.
Sakura's eyes are sore. She hates how often she feels this way, how familiar she is with the sting of tears. She's such a baby. Even with her loving mother and father, her big warm house and all of her friends, she still wastes time crying over things she can change. She has to be stronger.
"Hmm… Sakura-chan. Sakura… nee-chan? Sakura-nee? Hmm…" Naruto wonders out loud, tapping his chin with his free hand, the other swinging in Sakura's grip.
"You can call me whatever you want." Sakura promises.
"Hmm… then, how 'bout Saku-baka!" Naruto cracks up, laughing at his own stupid joke.
"Ino-chan calls you Naru-baka already." Sakura points out sweetly.
Naruto deflates a little, "Oh yeah. She's cool, isn't she? I bet she's gonna be really good at being a ninja. She's gonna have to work hard to be better than me, though!" He puffs out his chest proudly.
"She's the coolest," Sakura agrees, "She can help us with our mission, you know. We're gonna keep you out of the orphanage and we'll need someone smart for that."
"We've already got you." Naruto shrugs.
Sakura blushes, shaking her head, "Ino-chan's smarter than me."
Naruto makes a rude noise, "Yeah, right!"
"She is! Anyway, we're gonna need supplies. Once we build the treehouse, I'll get my toothbrush and the spare from hom – uh, from the house – and I'll get you some clothes. Don't make that face, it's not all dresses! I'll get you some pyjamas, and some crayons and paper and some books so we can tell each other stories."
Naruto is quiet for a while. When he speaks, he sounds pensive, "Stories?"
"Yeah! I know a lot, 'cause my – um, I go to the library all the time."
Naruto wrinkles his nose, "Boring."
"No, it's not! There's a world in every book, you know." Sakura lectures him, barely noticing as they turn into the park and there's just a bare stretch of unoccupied grass ahead of them.
"Is there?"
"Uh-huh. Sometimes it's a whole world underwater, and everyone breathes out bubbles and swims like fish. They wear shells in their hair and as jewellery, and they sparkle in the sun that comes down through the sea. The sunlight makes a pattern on everything, like when it goes through leaves and makes shapes on the ground. It's like gold is painted over the whole city – "
Naruto looks captivated, "Gold?"
"Yeah, everywhere, and it's a big city. People have got huge fish tied up to their fences like dogs, 'cause they keep them as pets, and ride them when they get tired. When it's night, like this, the sun goes away and then it's moonlight that shines down on the city, all painted in silver and shimmering like a pearl. Everybody goes to bed and you can see bubbles coming out of the windows where they're snoring."
Naruto laughs. "Books aren't like that, Sakura-nee."
"They are too," Sakura grins, "It's like hundreds of worlds that you can visit whenever you want and if you close your eyes and think about them, you'll be there."
Naruto sits under a tree, pulling Sakura down next to him very gently. He closes his eyes. "I can't see it, Sakura-nee."
"It's night time, so remember it's dark. There's silver-painted windows and roofs. The roads are made of sand. Kids make sculptures out of them all the time. You'd have fun making rude shapes all day. There's no wind, just a constant flow of water. It sounds almost like the wind rustling through the leaves, but softer. Fish swim in through windows and out through doors. They're like birds flying around in the sky. The fish all have really pretty scales, shimmering with a thousand colours. The city's even prettier. You'd love it there, Naruto."
Sakura turns to smile at Naruto. He's fast asleep, his head resting on the tree. His mouth is open and he's softly snoring.
Sakura looks up at the branches above them. She sighs. She doesn't know how to build a treehouse, but she may as well get started while Naruto rests.
A rustle makes her jump to her feet, scanning the darkness around them. One of the Masks is standing right in front of her. She had no idea they weren't alone. Her heart thuds in her chest.
"Time to go home, Sakura-san." The masked figure says quietly.
"No." Sakura clenches her fists.
"It'd be kinder this way." The figure sounds masculine. His mask has a snout, maybe a dog or a horse.
"What, leaving him to wake up alone?"
"We'll take him home." He says, his voice so faint she has to strain to hear it.
"That place is not his home! They don't care about him there, I do! It's not fair!" Sakura stares at him imploringly, silently begging him to understand. She needs Naruto and he needs her. She's going to get strong and protect him and he's going to be a real Kage. No one will ever be mean to him again.
"Who said anything about fair? You can only make do with what you've got, Sakura-san. Naruto's stronger than you think. He may not have much, but you can be sure he'll do everything he can with what he has." The Mask doesn't move an inch, his voice is slow and languorous.
"He's just a boy. He needs a family. I – "
("I can be your family!")
"It's time to go home." The Mask says, a little firmer this time.
Sakura bristles, ready to step forward and give him a piece of her mind.
"It's okay, Sakura-nee." Naruto says sleepily. Sakura jumps, whirling around to look at him. He's rubbing his eyes and yawning. "It's gonna be fine. Go home. We can play in the park another day."
"We weren't playing, Naruto! This is serious! I'm not gonna leave you alone!" Sakura yells.
In a flash, she's in the air, tucked under the Mask's arm. She's too scared to scream. She just clutches his arm, dangling above Naruto.
"It's okay, Sakura-nee," Naruto says kindly, "He won't hurt you. All the mask guys are really nice to me. I think they're the old man's friends. You can go home now."
You can be normal. He said that once, when she was too scared of looking weird to join in. Why does she have so much when he has nothing?
"Let go of me! Who are you?! Why are you even doing this – just let go! – why do you even care? We could be happy, I can look after Naruto! Someone has to!" She feels the man flinch, ever so slightly.
"It was just a game, Sakura-nee." Naruto gives her a brave smile. It looks fractured, all wrong on his face. Like Shisui when he frowns. "You must've known we couldn't play pretend forever."
"I wasn't playing." Sakura whispers.
"I know. Thanks, Sakura-nee!" Naruto grins. It looks better now. "But I'll be just fine, you'll see! When I'm Hokage, I'll buy us a huuuuuge house and we'll get a pond and we'll have some of those fish you were talking about, okay? It'll be great!"
Sakura reaches out for Naruto. She should never have let go of his hand.
"Night, kid. He'll be fine." The Mask says, his voice rumbling through his body into hers.
The last thing she sees is Naruto's smile fading into darkness.
("Please wake up, Naruto, I need you to wake up… I can't do this without you.")
xxxxxxxx
She wakes up, safely tucked in her own bed, and utterly furious.
Who are the Masks? Why has she never dreamed about them? And why do they follow Naruto everywhere? They stepped in when she was going to get hurt, but they let the man spit in Naruto's face in the first place, and in the dream when she didn't help out, they did nothing. Naruto just left the park without a word.
Whoever they are, they're not his family.
Shisui said they could play shinobi today, if she could get out of the house. He'd stressed that she should definitely get her parents' permission first, but if they said no, well… then she could practice being sneaky.
First, she should check the park, see if Naruto's there. If he isn't, she'll just have to beat every bush in the village until she finds one with a Mask in it.
Her mother accepts her story about playing with Ino and her other friends with a happy smile. She is so thrilled that Sakura has real friends. Sakura hopes she never finds out that they're all monsters.
The walk to the park feels funny after the night she spent there. There's people everywhere, getting in the way and trying to ask her where her parents are. If she was a proper shinobi with a hitai-ate, no one would treat her like a little kid.
She looks to the swings first, waiting to hear the traditional 'Sakura-chan!' Nothing. He's not there. And she guesses she's 'Sakura-nee,' now. If he still wants her to be.
She looks around the park, trying to keep her worry off her face. She doesn't want to look like some lost child and have all the parents swarm her. But it's hard not to look concerned when Naruto doesn't appear to be anywhere.
Maybe he climbed a tree? But there's so many… maybe she could try sensing his chakra? But Kakashi had definitely reacted when he felt her searching his chakra. The last thing she wants is to throw away Shisui's advice of blending in by poking everyone in the park's chakra.
"Excuse me? Are you okay, sweetie?" A pleasant voice calls.
Sakura turns to see a woman smiling at her. She's beautiful, with very pale skin and long, black hair reaching her waist. She's sitting on a blanket, with a picnic spread in front of her.
"You look like Shisui-kun." Sakura says stupidly.
The woman raises her eyebrows, "Oh? Are you a friend of his?"
"Yes," Sakura says, "But he's not my best friend. I can't find him. He's always in the park but I don't see him."
"What's your best friend's name? What does he look like?"
"His name is Naruto and he's tanned and has blonde hair and a big smile, with whiskers that go like," Sakura demonstrates, splaying her fingers along her cheeks, "And he's got blue eyes and he likes the swings."
"I see," The woman says. Her smile looks very tender, "Would you like some help looking for him? I've come here with my children, but they're off playing somewhere. Perhaps they're with your friend."
"No," Sakura shakes her head, "They wouldn't play with Naruto. Nobody does."
The woman's smile doesn't change, but Sakura thinks there's something sad about her, sitting alone with a picnic set for three.
"Will you help me, please?" Sakura asks, thinking the lady might just want company, "My name is Haruno Sakura and my parents are – "
"I know your parents," The lady laughs, covering her mouth delicately, "Hello, Sakura-chan. I am Uchiha Mikoto."
"Uchiha like Shisui-kun!" Sakura says.
"Just like Shisui," Mikoto agrees, "He's a cousin, of sorts. It's nice to see he's acting his age, making friends and having fun, not just focusing on his job. I bet you're a very good influence on him."
Sakura beams up at her. She's so nice and pretty… Sakura wants to be like her when she grows up.
"Oh! Here's one of my sons, now." Mikoto stands up and waves.
A little boy with spiky black hair is running over. Sakura watches with a faint smile and then –
"Sasuke!" Mikoto calls.
And.
Sakura's –
No.
("Sasuke-kun!" She sings out, and sees his shoulders droop at the sight of her approach. Doesn't he want to see her?)
("Annoying." He says, that one horrible word packed with more emotion than Sakura has ever heard from him. Loathing.)
("Sakura – You're heavy." He's insulting her but she doesn't care because that's how she knows this isn't an illusion. Sasuke is alive!)
("Sakura… Who did that to you?" His voice sounds just like that vile chakra feels, coated in poison and brimming with hate and even though she's scared out of her mind, there's one traitorous part of her that feels happy because doesn't this mean he cares?)
("Do you know what I want to do?" Sasuke asks, his dark eyes looking right at her for once. Glued to her. She has his complete attention now. Good, she thinks, the weight of the kunai at her hip a solid reminder of her burden, let him see me. "I don't care! I'll follow any order you give me!" She says. She can hardly believe that he's here, looking right at her.)
("Sakura." He's behind her. She didn't even see him move. What is he going to do to her? He hates her. He always has. And then… "Thank you.")
(Naruto doesn't look like he's sleeping.)
"Sakura-chan?" Mikoto says, her voice very far away.
Sakura is shaking all over.
"Is she okay, okaa-san?"
That voice.
His name was Uchiha Sasuke.
She loved him more than life itself.
She can't afford to this time.
HI THERE I UPDATED
God, what a sad chapter. You'll be happy to know I have some fluff and stuff planned out. Plus some comedy, which I will find hilarious because I happen to have the same sense of humour as myself.
Isn't Naruto a sweetheart?
I hope you guys liked this :D Sasuke's intro is the most dramatic, because he's the most dramatic dude in the whole show, always talking about being an avenger and how he's just too cool for friendship and whoa-ho-gotta-get-a-snake-bro. I was the biggest Sasusaku fan when I was a kiddywink. Like, ten years ago. I loved it passionately and tbf, I still like Part 1 Sasusaku, when it's all subtle stuff and subtext and Sasuke's not a huge douchecanoe, but you know. Things change. When he showed up with a massive ribbon tied to his butt I started to change my mind about him.
I keep. Using the ANBU. And then realising. There's no real way to introduce who it is because they wear masks for a reason. Oh, well. Say hello to Masked Man # 3, everyone.
Mikoto seems nice. I'm digging deep for a personality on this one that's more than 'mother,' and 'reason for avenging.' Fanon seems to say she was a good mother, the best she could be considering the circumstances, so I'm gonna swing that way too.
I truly did intend for Sakura to train with Shisui in this chapter, but her almost running away with Naruto took up way more space than intended! Oh well. They'll have to train in the next chapter.
I'm still so frustrated with the clusterfuck that is Naruto's childhood. Why. Why leave him alone? Why let everyone treat him like shit? Even from a calculating, rational point of view it doesn't make sense – if you want to raise human weapons, either go the Winter Soldier route and depersonalise them to the extent that they depend only on you, orrrrrr treat them well, love them, earn their respect and loyalty. Naruto had zero reasons to be loyal to Konoha as a kid. If Iruka hadn't taken that humongous shuriken to the back, then… there might have been trouble.
By the way, is Sakura from a teeny-tiny three-person clan? If not, why does she have a clan symbol? (the white circle thingamajig.) Come on, Kishi. Sakura deserves a cool backstory!
Also, I keep hearing that Sakura's element is earth, so I googled extensively and found… zero canon stuff, because why would Kishi care about giving Sakura a single defining combat trait when he could be giving Sasuke wings and Naruto rainbows for eyes. She's a shinobi, not a child bride waiting for Sasuke to come back for her, Kishi! He can revive his clan with anyone! So, is Sakura earth? I know she punches the earth all the time. Maybe my google fu has finally failed me.
Quick poll for fun: If you lived in the Naruto world, what kind of person would you be?
I would be dead. Probably. I'm super not great at deception or seeing through deception. Though I'm surprisingly feisty in a fight. I want to say I'd like to be a Hyuuga, but their whole clan politics.. yuck. Maybe an Inuzuka? I'd get my own dog. And some bitching face tats. And some killer fangs.