Title: cabbage patch
Author: paws-bells
Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85
Characters/Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi
Type: Continuous (InComplete)
Genre: Romance/General/Humor
Word Count: 9833
Theme: LJ Community, 50-shinobi theme #23, cabbage patch
Rating: M (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older)
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.
Summary: Non-massacre AU. Their story began long before anyone could realize it. The story of a little pink-haired girl child, and a stoic young boy.
Created on: 30/06/09
Completed on: 08/07/09
Chapter Last Revised on: 11/07/09
Chapter Four
A few days later marked the very first time Haruno Sakura met Uzumaki Naruto.
The small, golden-haired boy had the most beautiful, soulful blue eyes that the little pink-haired girl had ever seen, as well as a set of cute whiskers that looked as if they had been painted on his rounded, cherubic cheeks. He looked to be around her age, and was dressed in a cheerful orange jumpsuit that seemed downright incongruent to his personality.
When little Sakura saw the other child hovering uncertainly in the background of the park, half hiding behind a thick tree trunk and peeking at her shyly, he looked so sad and lonely that it made her feel sad as well.
The young girl hesitated briefly before she clambered to her feet and slowly approached the blonde child. She paused with confusion when he looked at her with something akin to panic in his eyes, his hands gripping the bark of the tree so tightly that they nearly turned white from the pressure. The other boy seemed scared of her, and Sakura could not imagine why.
She stopped a few meters away from the wary blonde, and tilted her head curiously. She had not expected any children to be here at this time of the day. It was only mid morning and most of her friends only came down to the park in the late afternoon, accompanied by their parents or guardians. Still, Sakura brightened at the thought of a new playmate.
"Do you wanna play together?" she asked hopefully.
The boy, who had looked all but ready to scramble up the tree to get away from her, froze in surprise. Stunned blue eyes met her inquisitive ones before the painfully shy blonde 'eep-ed' and hid his face behind the tree again.
Sakura appeared slightly bewildered, not to mention a bit hurt, by the boy's adverse reaction towards her. The pink-haired girl looked down on the ground and fiddled with her hands, biting her lip with uncertainty. "It's okay if you don't want to," she burst out quickly, not noticing the small blonde head that peered out bashfully from behind the tree. "I will just keep to one corner and you can play on the playground if you want to."
For a moment or so, there was a small, uneasy silence as both children waited with trepidation for the other to speak. Little Sakura gave up first. She sighed, her small shoulders hunching with dejection as she prepared to turn back and make good on her promise. It was obvious that the whiskered boy did not seem to like her, and as much as the pink-haired child wanted to befriend him, even she knew that wouldn't work if he did not want to be her friend.
"W-wait!" the anxious, childish voice rang out before Sakura could turn away. Emerald eyes widened slightly with hope when she heard the boy cry out, and she raised her head to meet his sad blue gaze. He was starting to look a bit scared again.
"A-anou sa, do you…like…foxes?" the little blonde asked hesitantly.
Sakura blinked innocently at the strange question. "Huh?" she asked eloquently at last, confused. "Foxes?"
The blonde looked down at his feet in shame. "The people here call me 'that damn fox,'" he parroted without comprehension of the meaning. He further confided in a small voice. "And they really don't like foxes."
He lifted his panicked eyes to meet hers again, as he blurted out quickly. "I will leave if you don't want me here, but please don't hurt me. I will go; I promise I will!"
Sakura crinkled her brow slightly. He sounded very much like herself before she met her best friend, Ino, and something in his cowed, beaten behavior made her feel very sad for him. This cute golden-haired boy didn't have Ino-chan to set him straight, and she would have been just like him too, if she hadn't met Ino. After that realization, the young pink-haired girl child did not think, she just reacted.
Sakura drew herself to her full height just like the way she remembered Ino-chan always did when she was being bossy, and placed her hands on her hips. She frowned at the upset looking boy and readied her most demanding, loud tone. "Are you a bad person?" she asked with childish authority.
He looked alarmed, and then shook his head so hard that Sakura almost worried it might fall off his shoulders. "No! I'm not. I'm really not!! I have never hurt anyone…" His frantic denial filtered to a soft, dejected whisper. "I am a parentless monster, though, that's what they always tell me…"
Emerald eyes widened slightly with silent commiseration. "I don't have my Otou-san as well," she confided quietly, momentarily subdued. "Kaa-san always said that he was a hero, though. Maybe your parents were heroes too?"
Hurting blue eyes looked to her with hopeful desperation as the little blonde all but clung to her words.
"R-really?" he asked in a small, uneven tone, his voice wobbly, tears clouding his vision when she nodded, her belief shining in her deep green gaze. With the sole exception of Hokage-jiji, no one, let alone a complete stranger like her, had ever bothered to speak to him with such kindness before, and the affection-starved blonde-haired boy found his wary reservations, both instinctive and learned, eroding away quickly when it came to this earnest pink-haired girl. Taking the chance that she might suddenly turn around and belittle and sneer at him just like the other kids often did, he started to sniffle and allowed her to see the tears rolling down his cheeks as he cried for a bit.
It was an event worth crying for, the little blonde thought happily, compared to all those helpless, bitter tears that he had wept when he was all alone and nobody cared.
Here was someone who believed in him. She believed in him. He had parents too, Hokage-jiji had told him, and now her as well. Maybe they hadn't abandoned him because they did not want him; maybe they really did love him very much, it was just that they couldn't be here for him when he needed them so much.
The little five year old boy cried harder, much to Sakura's alarm.
"H-hey!!" Sakura blurted out anxiously, instinctively moving the last few steps towards the sobbing blonde before awkwardly petting his head. His bright, golden hair was soft like a puppy's fur, the little girl thought as she stroked the boy's messy hair some more. "I'm sorry if I made you sad. Please don't cry! I will be very sad too!"
"No…" The little boy child wiped roughly at his eyes and gave her a genuine, albeit somewhat watery smile. "I'm not sad; I'm very happy!" He looked at her with painful hope. "I have never had a friend before. Will you…will you be my friend? P-please?"
She would never guess how much courage it took for him to ask, just like she would never guess how many times he had been rejected in the past, never guess just how badly he had been ill-treated. It would not be until quite a few years later, when they were all older, that she would finally learn the truth about this young, vulnerable boy who would eventually become one of her most cherished friends.
For now, she beamed at him, a large, returning smile for new friendship and beginnings.
"Okay! What's your name? Mine's Sakura. Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you," she giggled at the adult-like introduction.
The little blonde gave her another sweet, shy smile in return.
"Hello, I'm…Uzumaki Naruto. Can I call you Sakura-chan?"
Itachi-chan did not like his mistress' new friend.
There was something about the whiskered boy that greatly offended the little weasel, and he wanted nothing to do with Naruto, much to the blonde's disappointment. Itachi-chan made it a habit to hide from him and absolutely refused to be petted by the little boy, until at last, Naruto gave up. Sakura had scolded her naughty pet something fierce; Naruto had been a really nice playmate, always giving in to her and eager to please, and the young girl could not imagine why Itachi-chan would dislike him so much.
"S'alright," Naruto muttered morosely as he sat in the sandbox beside her and stuck a finger into the sand. "A lot of people don't like me. I'm used to it."
Sakura gave one last frown to her weasel that was, as usual, flopping full length on the sand on her other side, before turning to Naruto. "Itachi-chan doesn't like new people," she explained with childish logic. "If you come to the park more often, he will like you more!"
The brightest blue eyes looked to her with stunned joy. "You want me to come here again?" Naruto asked in an uncertain whisper, almost as if disbelieving.
Sakura nodded.
"If you want to," she affirmed happily. "You can meet Ino-chan too, and she will be your friend as well and we can all play together! That'd be fun, don't you think?"
Fun? It would be like a dream come true for Naruto. The smile that he sported now was so much larger and brighter compared to the small, tentative one earlier, and the young blonde nodded fervently.
"I will come here every day!" the boy promised eagerly. "I will be good and I will not be annoying and I will do whatever you want me to do, Sakura-chan!!"
The pink-haired girl child giggled at her friend's earnest reaction. She reached out and flicked Naruto on the nose, her laughter escalating when the boy went slightly cross-eyed whilst trying to follow her movements.
"Naruto-kun no baka!" the little pink-haired girl chided lightheartedly. "You must be happy, that's all you ever have to do!!"
The blonde boy found that he could not speak; he had truly been prepared to do whatever it took to please his one and only friend. He nodded again, his head bobbing up and down with such mad frequency that Sakura started to giggle again.
From then on, Uzumaki Naruto, Konohagakure's Jinchuuriki, would forever associate the sound of Sakura's carefree laughter with the connotations of joy and unconditional acceptance.
It was the beginning of a friendship that would last a lifetime.
Five-year old Uchiha Sasuke scowled, his brows knitted together as he pouted at his ani.
"Nii-san, are you going to train me today?" the young boy demanded as he put himself obstinately in his brother's way. "You promised that you would!"
Itachi watched his otouto briefly before he finally replied.
"Come, Sasuke," the ten-year old spoke with quiet confidence, beckoning his sibling to him. Sasuke's frown cleared quickly to be replaced by growing excitement as he obeyed eagerly, his pale features alight with happiness at finally getting his way as he followed after his aniki. He fumbled briefly with his sandals as they both sat on the raised wooden platform outside the house to put on their footwear, but Itachi waited patiently for him to complete his task. At last, little Sasuke clambered down the traditional elevated flooring with the ungraceful gait of a young child before running up to his adored Nii-san, his small hand reaching up to his ani's to clasp trustingly onto the older boy as they walked out of the large clan complex together.
"Where are we going? Are we visiting the training grounds?" Dark eyes were bright and lively as the young child all but skipped alongside his older brother, and Itachi smiled inwardly at his otouto's youthful exuberance. He did not provide an answer to the boy's impatient questions, though, merely led Sasuke through their village and at last, they reached the less populous section of Konoha.
The raven-haired Chuunin brought his younger brother into the small, out of the way park that had become his frequent area of visit of sorts in the past few months, though before they could venture into the quiet, peaceful area filled with lush greenery and tall trees with wide, generous branches that provided cooling shade, they were interrupted by the swift arrival of a messenger.
The nin carried the insignia of the Uchiha clan, and with little preamble, he came up to Itachi and started to speak quietly to the older boy. Sasuke merely looked inquisitively around him for a brief moment before turning his gaze back to his brother.
The nin was quick to relay the message, and once done, he turned on his heel and retreated swiftly from the brothers, leaping back up to the tree branches and disappearing with discreetness. Little Sasuke gazed curiously at his ani.
"Nii-san?"
Itachi gazed down at Sasuke, the earlier hint of warmth on his face nowhere in sight, his expression completely blank and devoid of emotions as he looked upon the innocent face of his otouto. Sasuke absolutely hated it when his brother looked like that, as it never meant well. "I have been summoned by the clan elders, little brother, and I have to answer their call. If you follow this path and walk further ahead, you will find a play area. Wait for me there, Sasuke; I will be back soon."
Before the younger Uchiha could loudly protest his brother's abrupt abandonment, those onyx eyes so much like his warmed imperceptibly, and he was promptly poked in the forehead in a way that made him screw his face up in a grumpy scowl. "Nii-san!!" the young boy protested, clutching his forehead as he grimaced. He was already five! Why did his Nii-san always have to treat him like a baby?!!
Itachi glanced at his otouto briefly, a rare, amused expression flitting past his pale face. "Be good," he instructed quietly, before he turned out of the park and headed off swiftly. Sasuke stared after him until he disappeared from sight, and at last, the youngest Uchiha started to walk slowly towards the playground that his brother had told him about.
The play area was very small, the swings and seesaws old and faded. There was also a sandbox tucked in one corner, and there were two children playing in it, but Sasuke ignored them. Instead, he skulked towards one of the swings and climbed on petulantly. His feet dangled in the air as he glowered down at it; his brother was such a meanie, leaving him here all alone in the park. This was the fault of those stupid old bag elders in the council! If they weren't always calling for Nii-san to do this and do that, then Nii-san would have more time to spend with him!! And his brother would be helping him with all sorts of awesome training right now, the raven-haired boy pouted unhappily as he slowly swung back and forth on the old swing.
His resentful line of thoughts continued for the next few minutes or so, at least until the loud pitter patter of feet roused him from his unhappy contemplation. A scruffy looking blonde stood before him, and just a few paces behind the boy was a little pink-haired girl who was staring curiously at him as well. He recognized them both as the two children whom he had seen playing in the sandbox. He frowned slightly at them, clearly not in a good mood.
"I'm not getting off the swing," he declared grouchily before anyone could say a thing. "I got here first."
The golden haired boy scrunched up his face at the hostile tone before drawing out a finger and pointing it at the chicken-haired kid.
"Pffft. No one wants to sit on that sissy swing of yours!" the blonde yelled out in a high, childish tone. "We wanted to ask if you wanna play together. Sakura-chan said that you looked unhappy."
The pink-haired girl must be 'Sakura-chan,' and she was right. He was unhappy, but that was none of their business. Sasuke stiffened and scowled harder, taking grave offense to the other boy for some reason or another. It might have something to do with the fact that he had just implied that Sasuke was a sissy. The young Uchiha stuck his nose in the air the way he often saw his father do with those bad Hyuuga.
"Go away. I don't play with ci-vi-lians," the boy muttered pompously, although he nearly mangled that last, adult-ish word that he had barely learned a few days ago.
Sasuke looked smug when the loud blonde's eyes nearly crossed themselves as he tried to figure out what he meant. At last, the golden-haired boy turned to his slightly frowning partner and asked in a loud whisper. "What's fuzzy-hair talking about?"
In the few weeks that he had known Sakura-chan, Uzumaki Naruto had learned that his friend was the smartest girl he knew, and although she was also the only girl he knew, Naruto understood with an intrinsic knowledge that Sakura was his most awesome friend.
Of course, she was also his only friend, but still…
Sasuke looked completely offended by the nickname. The five-year old Uchiha quickly lost his composure and glared at the rude boy. "Oi!"
Sakura looked at bit hurt by the dark-haired boy's disdainful remark. "He means that we are not ninjas, Naruto-kun," the little girl replied softly.
Naruto took grave offense to that.
"That's not true! I'm going to become the best ninja in the village! Everyone is going to have to respect me then!! Dattebayo!!" the blonde cried out fiercely as he pointed to the skies. He glanced back briefly at Sakura-chan's dejected mannerism, and bright blue eyes honed into a fierce glare as he glowered at the horrid chicken-haired boy. "And I haven't seen ya in the 'cademy before, you are not a ninja!"
Sasuke glared back.
"You are a liar!" the boy accused angrily as he hopped down from his swing in his growing temper. "You are too young to be in the Academy! Otou-sama said that I can only enter next year, when I turn six!! You are too young to get into the Academy, liar!!"
The little scrawny blonde folded his arms, starting to get angry as well. "I'm not a liar! I have been studying hard in the Ninja Academy for the past three months!" Naruto lifted three of his fingers to prove his point, before he continued. "And I'm five too, you- you fuzzy-hair!!"
Sasuke turned a dark shade of red, whereas Sakura looked between the two boys uncertainly.
"Naruto-kun…you are in the Ninja Academy?" she asked slowly, surprised. The blonde had never mentioned such a thing before, but then again, Sakura had only known Naruto for a grand total of two weeks. Her new friend was loud and lively once he got out of his shy, reticent shell, and he had the wildest imagination ever—the interesting games and stories that he had thought up were like nothing she had heard of before, and she had enjoyed herself greatly whilst playing with him. Naruto wasn't the smartest in the adult sense, but the little girl understood instinctively that there was something about the earnest, creative golden-haired boy that made him a genius in his own right, but perhaps just not in the conventional way.
Still, despite what she had learned about him to the very best of her five-year old abilities, there were still quite a lot of things that she did not know.
The whiskered child felt his irritation melt away quickly and grinned bashfully at his precious friend instead, completely ignoring the other angry boy currently glowering at him. He scratched his head, smiling at Sakura until his eyes were closed in a squint. "Ehehehe, Sakura-chan, I told ya that I was gonna be the greatest ninja, right? Hokage-jiji let me attend the Academy early! Sensei doesn't like me very much, but I think if Sakura-chan joined too, Sensei will love Sakura-chan because Sakura-chan is so smart!"
Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "I can enter too?"
Naruto nodded quickly, but before he could say more, the Uchiha behind him demanded.
"How?"
Sasuke was none too pleased to be ignored, and his surly tone indicated as much. Unfortunately for him, Naruto, young as he was, was already beginning to pick up the best ways to be annoying, especially when it came to pushing the buttons of this Uchiha whom he had just met.
The blonde turned back and stuck his tongue out at the other boy, much to the latter's shock. He even brought a finger to his eyelid and pulled it down insultingly. "Bleah! I'm not gonna tell ya! You made Sakura-chan sad, bad fuzzy-hair! C'mon, Sakura-chan, let's go back to the sandbox and leave girly boy here with his sissy swing!"
By now, young Sasuke was so angry that his fists were tightly clenched together and his small, cute face was twisted in a horrible scowl. He looked rather red, too, and little Sakura stared at the angry boy tentatively.
"You can come with us if you want," she offered.
Sasuke turned away and glared at the surrounding foliage stubbornly, choosing not to dignify the little girl with an answer. The pink-haired child felt her face fall with disappointment when the dark-haired boy ignored her, and Naruto tugged encouragingly at her hand
"Awh, Sakura-chan, why d'ya have to ask him along too? He's annoying!" the little blonde whined as he continued to coax his friend back to the sandbox, and it took all of the Uchiha's five-year old control not to run over and box the boy in the ears.
Sasuke snapped his head back and glared daggers at the two retreating figures, the golden-haired one in particular. How dare that…stupid Naruto boy call him names?! He had no right! Sasuke was an Uchiha, while the boy was probably some no-name commoner who was also a liar!! If there was anyone who should be name calling, it should be him!
And of course, the fact that he was stewing all alone in his anger whereas the other two children were happily playing a short distance away only made the young Uchiha madder. It was not fair that they were enjoying themselves when he was being miserable, and at last, the sulking raven-haired boy skulked over to the sandbox.
Besides, it looked like they were having fun, and he had always hated being ignored the most.
Bright blue eyes looked up at his approach. "Hah! So ya finally wanna play now, fuzzy-hair?"
"Don't call me that. My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the snooty boy corrected with a fierce scowl. He hunkered down at the edge of the sandbox, observing with dark eyes what they were doing. He frowned again. It looked like they were just playing with dirt, making shapes and patterns and little structures that made no sense whatsoever. This was supposed to be fun?!
"Keh! I will call you whatever I want! S'not like you can stop me or anything," the blonde paused briefly to give the offended Uchiha a toothy grin before he slipped in the hated nickname once more. "Fuzzy-hair."
Little Sasuke was quickly getting agitated again, and it showed in the way his pale features were starting to turn bright red all over again. The young pink-haired child quickly intervened, instinctively playing the role of peacemaker, interrupting before the two boys could start a fight.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun. My name is Sakura, and this is Naruto-kun."
Sasuke ignored that. He had heard as much earlier, though he had no intention of calling the golden-haired brat by name.
"Dobe." There wasn't quite enough of an insulting ring to it due to the fact that the speaker's voice was that of a young child, though Naruto stiffened and Sakura's eyes widened at the bad word.
"What did you just call me?" Naruto glared, all hint of playfulness gone.
Sasuke had heard his older cousins taunting the village children with that word before, and though he knew that it was impolite, it didn't stop him from repeating the rude word again. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked challengingly at the other young boy.
"You are nothing but a dobe."
Conditioned from years of verbal abuse from people whom he had never even known, it was no surprise that the little blonde reacted badly to the name calling.
"Teme!!"
Young Sakura could only blink in shock as an orange blur leapt to his feet and proceeded to fly across the sandbox and into the Uchiha boy. There was a muffled 'oomph' as both boys went tumbling to the ground, and before long, sounds of a fierce tussle began as the two kids started to brawl. Grunts and angry name calling ensued as the boys rolled around on the floor and gave as good as they got; Naruto angry at being belittled, Sasuke furious that he was being treated with such callous regard. Despite being smaller in build and scrawnier than the better fed Uchiha, Naruto appeared to be winning. His experience out in the streets had taught him to fight dirty, whereas the coddled second son of the Uchiha clan head had never even fought in his entire five years of life.
In other words, Sasuke was getting his ass handed to him by the young blonde, though he was trying his best to keep up and return the other boy's aggression, both growling and snapping like a pair of puppies.
Naruto was almost certain that he would win this fight. He was about to rub this Sasuke's face in the dirt and at the same time give him a noogie when what seemed like an endless torrent of sand was poured onto him and his opponent, causing both to protest loudly and sputter. The two boys separated quickly, but not fast enough to escape the hard bonk on their heads via the heavy application of a plastic shovel.
Sakura stood before the two of them, her hands on her hips and a large frown marring her angelic features. "No fighting," she commanded fiercely, her deep green eyes glowing with consternation as she started to wave the bright red plastic shovel at the both of them.
"But Sakura-chan," a ruffled looking Naruto protested. "The teme was- ow!!" Another smack on his head quickly put a stop to the name calling.
"He has a name, Naruto-kun," the young girl looked a bit displeased. "I was sad when the other children called me an ugly freak. I think Sasuke-kun doesn't like to be called bad names either."
The little blonde was outraged, but not for the reason that Sakura would have thought.
"Who called you a freak?!" the little boy yelled with anger. Nobody was allowed to call his best friend names unless they were looking for a fight with him!
Sakura blinked at the furious blonde. Then, she shook her head slowly, and turned her attention to the other scowling boy.
"You hit me," he accused, sounding almost surprised. The little girl stared at the dark-haired boy. At the moment, he looked just as rumpled as her blonde friend, and more than a bit disgruntled too. For some reason, the boy's grumpy demeanor tickled her insides; he reminded her of a ruffled cockatoo that she had seen once in a pet shop.
"I will do it again if you fight with Naruto-kun," she told him seriously. "And no more name calling."
She sounded like she was scolding him, and Uchiha Sasuke looked at this small bit of a girl with something akin to irritation in his dark gaze.
"But he started it!" the raven-haired boy could not help but accuse grouchily, even as he climbed to his feet, crossed his arms petulantly before his chest, and glared at the stupid blonde. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke wisely refrained from the name calling this time around. He wasn't scared of the hard, plastic shovel the puny pink-haired girl was waving around, of course, even though it did hurt to be beaten over the head by her. He was just…yes, he was just above such silly acts, like Otou-sama always said he had to be.
Not to mention, he was pretty sure that the crazy blonde had just cheated at their fight; he just didn't know how the other boy had done it, that's all!
Sakura frowned again. "Naruto-kun won't do it again. Right, Naruto-kun?" There was a terrifying promise in that sweet lilt of her young voice that was somehow incongruent with her large, innocent looking emerald eyes, and both boys were instinctively wary of her. Naruto nodded quickly, obediently. He had never heard Sakura-chan speak like this before, and because he had also never seen what the kind, sweet little girl was capable of when truly angry, he was only perfectly eager to please his friend. Sasuke, on the other hand, just had no wish to be smacked upside the head by the girl again. It was bad enough that he would have lost to that…Naruto if not for her interference; the last thing he wanted was to get beat by a girl too.
"I'm not playing with any of you," he muttered at last. "You are all boring. I'm going back to the swing. Don't bother me."
"Oh yeah?! Then go back to your sissy swing, te- uh, fuzzy-hair! It's not like you are very fun yourself!" little Naruto corrected hastily mid yell, giving a quick glance to his pink-haired friend. Sakura looked a bit disappointed that the sullen Uchiha wanted nothing to do with them, though; it would have been fun to have another person play with them, and she watched as the other boy turned and started to walk away.
She was distracted when Itachi-chan, who had been roused awake from his nap by all the racket, skittered soundlessly over to her and proceeded to make his way up to his usual perch on her shoulder. Naruto noticed as well, and the whiskered boy folded his arms across his chest and turned away from the offending Uchiha, looking as disdainful as his cute features could allow before he got bored and grinned at Sakura instead.
"Hey! Itachi-chan is awake! C'mon Sakura-chan, let's just forget about fuzzy over there and play with Itachi-chan instead!"
The young Sasuke was still within hearing distance as he stalked away, and not surprisingly, he turned around sharply when he heard the 'magic' word.
Imagine the Uchiha's appalled expression when he realized just what his adored brother's namesake was.
A tiny little black furry rodent-like creature, with a small, pointed face, long quivering whiskers, and shining black button eyes.
It was undeniably cute.
And it responded to his ani's name, cuddling up affectionately to the pink-haired little girl who looked so sweet and nice and pretty that Sasuke wanted to puke.
Argh. Girls.
Before the young Uchiha knew what he was doing, he was marching back towards the two children again, and both of them looked at him as he neared, his personal thundercloud hovering above him as he scowled at them once more.
"Whaddya want now, fuzzy?" Naruto demanded then. Little Sasuke ignored the rude blonde, and focused his eyes on the small weasel currently perched on the little girl's shoulder.
"What did you just call it?"
Sakura frowned slightly. Her hand came up to stroke Itachi-chan, and the little weasel butted his head against her fingers, at the same time watching the familiar-looking dark-haired boy with suspicious eyes. "His name is Itachi-chan."
Sasuke's scowl would have looked downright ferocious now if not for the fact that his pale face was scrunched up in a distinctly adorable manner that quickly made Naruto snicker. When the raven-haired boy transferred his glare over to the blonde, the whiskered child looked away quickly and tried to appear innocent. Sasuke returned his attention to Sakura after a bit.
"Change that name," the young Uchiha demanded. "Your pet cannot be called Itachi."
Sakura tipped her head slightly to the side. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "Itachi-chan has always been Itachi-chan!"
"Yeah, and why must she listen to you, huh? You never listened to her when she talked to you!" Naruto shot back argumentatively.
Young Sasuke was sorely tempted to stomp his feet angrily and demand his way. What was wrong with these two people? Couldn't they see that he was an Uchiha? They were supposed to agree with whatever he said!
"That animal is not worthy of that name!" the boy declared righteously.
The other two children stared at him with something akin to disbelief on their faces. There was a brief silence as everyone contemplated Sasuke's absurd remark.
Then, Itachi-chan chittered, breaking the silence as he started to scratch at the back of his ear with a forepaw without a care in the world. Naruto could not help himself. He burst into laughter, loud irritating laughter, or so Sasuke felt.
"It's not funny," the young boy growled, face red as a tomato as he looked about as threatening as a limp noodle. Not surprisingly, the blonde who was starting to become Sasuke's Public Enemy Number One was hardly inclined to agree with him, if the volume of his guffaws were to be of any indication. "Shut up!"
"Sakura-chan, maybe you should change Itachi-chan's name to Sasuke-chan, eh? Or maybe fuzzy-chan?" the blonde was giggling madly with laughter, though the boy standing beside him was not amused. Oh, he was not amused at all.
The little pink-haired girl looked at her mischievous friend with childish exasperation, but gave up when he grinned unrepentantly at her. She looked to the raven-haired Uchiha instead.
"Why do you want me to change Itachi-chan's name?" she asked curiously, a bit surprised when the other child almost cringed at the mention of her pet weasel.
Truly, to have his awesome aniki compared to a puny woodland critter was an insult to Sasuke's sense of hero worship.
"Because that is my Nii-san's name, that's why," the young boy muttered resentfully.
"…your Nii-san's…name?" the angelic-looking little girl repeated slowly, even as realization slowly occurred. The little girl started to beam happily at the young Uchiha. "Itachi-kun is your Nii-san!"
She sounded thrilled to learn that he was related to Itachi-kun. She really liked the nin-san who had saved her and Itachi-chan so long ago; although the older boy didn't talk much, he had always listened to her chatter. He was never mean to her either, and there was just something about him that made her want to make him happy.
Itachi-kun always seemed so sad to her, and Sakura-chan wondered why that was so.
"…Itachi-kun?" Sasuke echoed as well, his own frown deepening. "You can't call him that," the boy protested unhappily. Who was this irritating little girl and why did she have to sound so close to his Nii-san? She had no right!!
"Eh?! I know!! What about Itachi-nii? I can call him Itachi-nii too!"
Sasuke was quickly getting angry again.
"No! You can't call him that either!" the young boy lost his temper at last and let out an unbecoming bellow. "He's not your Nii-san!!"
"Anou sa, anou sa," little Naruto interrupted the outburst, as if he had not heard the impressive display of the Uchiha's vocal abilities. "Who's this Itachi-kun?" Not to be out done, he continued innocently, "Ne, ne, can I call him Itachi-nii too?"
There was a brief silence as the poor Uchiha turned a shade of dark puce that spoke of yet another impending tantrum to come.
"No. You. Can't!!!! He's not your brother!! He's mine!! You can't have him! Argh!!!! I hate you all!"
Not more than half an hour later, the boys were busy getting involved in an impromptu competition of 'who-could-swing-the-highest,' not paying attention to anyone other than each other. For someone who had empathetically proclaimed earlier to hate his new playmates, Uchiha Sasuke seemed to have temporarily forgotten about his impassioned declaration in favor of trying to outdo his infuriating blonde rival. There was just something about the whiskered boy that irritated Sasuke something fierce, and there was no way he would allow himself to lose to the other boy again.
Especially not when that Naruto no baka had just called him a 'sissy girly boy' right to his face. Again. Then, there was the other horrid nickname—
"Hahahaha! I'm winning, fuzzy!! Try to keep up!!" the golden-haired boy boasted as he swooshed past him then. Five-year old Sasuke felt his face scrunch up with displeasure as he glared at Naruto. He quickly renewed his efforts and swung harder, trying his best to emulate the blonde's actions, pumping his short little legs just the way Naruto had done to gain momentum even as the boy beside him oscillated up and down and forward and back like a crazy, out of control pendulum.
"Woohoo!!" young Naruto howled and laughed joyously, his wild blonde locks waving around his mischievous, fox-like face as he grinned with such carefree happiness that his pink-haired friend could not help but giggle at his glee. "Look at me, Sakura-chan!! I'm flying!!"
Sasuke scowled. How on earth was he swinging so high up without anyone pushing him from behind?! This was not so fun anymore now that he was on the losing end of this contest.
"You are cheating!!" the little raven-haired Uchiha accused the boy beside him as he still tried to reach the heights that Naruto was currently at, but with slower success. "I bet I would win you if my Nii-san is here to push me!!"
At that comment, Naruto's face fell slightly. He scowled as well.
"I'm not cheating, ya stupid fuzzy!" the blonde retorted loudly before lowering his voice to a mutter. "When you have no one to push you, you just have to learn how to do it yourself. Baka."
Sasuke did not know how to reply to Naruto's answer. He looked confused for a brief moment, and then he turned away, glowering at nothing in particular. Naruto looked away as well, his eyes finally lighting upon Sakura, who was happy enough to sit on the nearest bench tucked away at the corner of the play area, some distance from the swing set, a familiar, worn-looking book open on her lap and pet weasel curled against the side of her neck
"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan, you wanna have a go too?" the blonde asked loudly, his voice varying in volume as he swung back and forth on the swing. He was more than willing to give up his place on the swing if Sakura-chan wanted a turn on it. The pink-haired girl child shook her head slightly though, careful not to jar her pet awake.
"Itachi-chan is napping, and I don't want to wake him up," little Sakura explained. She cocked her head slightly and observed the way Naruto's dark-haired neighbor was struggling with gaining momentum on the swing. "Why don't you teach Sasuke-kun instead? He looks like he needs your help."
Sasuke turned even redder from a combination of his physical exertion and stung pride. "I don't want his help," the young Uchiha muttered stubbornly with a scowl. "Leave me alone and let me figure this out!"
The golden-haired child shrugged; it wasn't as if he was particularly eager to teach that stuck up fuzzy-hair. Only Sakura-chan's insistence on getting along with this rude, grouchy and unwilling playmate prevented him from actively making fun of the proud, sullen boy; getting him all ruffled up sure was a terribly simple and hilarious thing to do, though.
But Sakura-chan had said no, and Naruto was more than willing to obey his friend's every wishes. She had never made many demands of him, and he was determined to repay her friendship with everything he had, to eagerly show her that she had not made a mistake when she had decided to put her faith and belief in him. So if she wanted him to be 'buddy buddy' with the irritable Uchiha, then Naruto would be more than happy to do so.
So, the young blonde started to demonstrate to his other new playmate (like it or not) the sequence of actions he used, even though he did grumble a bit about it. A part of him resented that he had to share his hard-earned knowledge with the bad-tempered and demanding fuzzy-hair; no one had ever wanted to push him on the swing and he had to learn by himself, when there was no one in the play area, by trial and error, before he finally got the hang of soaring through the air, finally felt the simple rush of pleasure that other children his age took for granted.
But even then, five-year old Naruto's happiness at his small achievement had been quickly marred by the fact that there was no one to share his accomplishment with. No one had looked at him with amused acknowledgement, no one had looked at him with pride, no one had looked at him at all. He had always been alone, and too young to understand why that particular portion of his small chest always seemed to ache so bad sometimes.
But now, he had a precious friend in the form of one pink-haired Sakura-chan, and somehow, it also didn't feel so bad to show Sasuke how to use the swing set, especially when the other boy was playing close attention to him, even if he was trying his hardest not to be so obvious about it.
Rude or not, Uchiha Sasuke was the first boy his age to see him as something of a useful individual, even if grudgingly and momentarily, and that felt…nice, too. Not as nice as being allowed to be Sakura-chan's friend, of course, but still, it was much, much better than how most of the village treated him. For one who was still as little as Naruto was, he was a surprisingly accurate judge in character. But then again, his way of life meant that he had no choice but to pick up that ability. Quickly.
The young boy could tell that the Uchiha wasn't being purposely mean or nasty towards him. No, Sasuke seemed to be more of a grouch in general who just didn't seem to like a lot of people by sheer principle alone. Naruto just happened to be in that long list of people for the moment, and it spoke badly about the young blonde's life so far when that particular bit of knowledge made him feel so much better.
At least, he wasn't being purposely singled out this time around, and just for that alone, Uchiha Sasuke was already head and shoulders above most people in that aspect.
Maybe fuzzy-hair wasn't so bad after all.
Within a few minutes, Sasuke had pretty much gotten the hang of the swing. The young, raven-haired boy was so pleased that he was almost grinning as he easily gained the heights that had been previously denied to him, and he let out his own whoop of childish joy at having accomplished something that he had always depended on his Nii-san for. Even though he hadn't received the training he wanted, he had at least learned something new today.
"Oi, why are you still picking up so slow?" a now familiar voice rang out authoritatively, but never tauntingly, beside him. "Hurry up, slowpoke!"
"I'm not slow!" Sasuke scowled in protest and pumped his legs more vigorously in order to speed up some. He had been carefully listening to the two children as they talked to each other around him for the past hour or so, briefly interspersed by the pink-haired girl's tentative, yet determined, efforts to include him, as well as the whiskered boy's brash and rude demeanor as he never failed to needle Sasuke to form some sort of reaction. The young Uchiha wasn't being very participatory; in fact, he was downright unenthusiastic to be honest, though he was also reluctantly impressed by the practical way Naruto did things and talked, thinking almost like an…adult. He had never seen anyone his age who acted like this small golden-haired child before, and even this Sakura was quite…different, as well.
They didn't squabble or scream unnecessarily or fight amongst each other like the other children he knew; there was no hair pulling, no one was boasting about their newest toy or ganging up on the younger ones at every chance, and really, Sasuke was not used to this different environment at all. No one was trying to make him do anything he didn't want to here, and at the same time, even though this Sakura and Naruto didn't seem to understand that he belonged to the great Uchiha clan, they were surprisingly not-so-boring to hang around with.
Not that he would ever admit thinking that way about his current two playmates, of course.
Sasuke swung harder and then peeked over to the side to see how Naruto was doing. His cherubic, childish face filled with smugness when he decided that he was finally on par with the smaller boy.
Hah! Take that!!
It was then that Uchiha Itachi made his appearance in the vicinity of the play area, the young Chuunin looking older than his actual age of ten years as his paler than usual appearance and slightly strained features became more obvious as he neared the three children. For those who were aware of his duties and burdens that had been placed on his young shoulders, it wasn't hard to see that the boy was struggling under the immense pressure that he had been expected to carry. His clan accepted only perfection from their prodigious heir, and not many outsiders saw beyond the genius and implacable facade of the young tensai. He was practically worshipped by the civilian villagers, his undeniable talents recognized and acknowledged by his fellow ninjas, and it was no wonder that he always felt as if he was being examined for his worth, silently suffocating under the weight of the cold eyes that rested upon him, the men and women of his clan who dictated every detail of his life.
Today was no different.
"…in light of your astounding performance in the Chuunin exams, the ANBU Commander has expressed an interest in recruiting you into the program…"
"…this is an excellent opportunity for our clan to ingratiate ourselves within the Hokage's private task force…"
"…you will be one of the youngest ANBU recruits to be initiated within the Black Ops, the small percentage that has been handpicked by the Commander himself..."
"…this is a mark of honor for our clan, you must understand the significance…"
"…we have provided the Commander with a positive reply and as always, your parents have been persuaded to give their consent as well. You will join ANBU effectively from tomorrow onwards, and will be housed in a separate, undisclosed facility as a trainee for the next six months…"
"…your objectives are clear; as our heir apparent, you are not to dishonor the clan in any way. You are to become an official member of the Black Ops as quickly as possible, just as you are to rise amongst the ranks swiftly thereafter. You will become nothing but the best of the best, the Third's right hand in every way…"
"…you will bring glory back to the clan…"
"Is that clear, Itachi?"
What else could he do other than to wordlessly agree? There wasn't a choice in this matter, not for him. Never for him. It didn't matter that he hated confrontations, that it was a pipe dream of his to be left in peace, what he thought didn't matter at all. The very moment he was born into this clan, he was destined to be their pride, the deadly ornamental weapon to be proudly displayed to the rest of the world.
The bitterness that roiled within him made him feel almost sick, and not for the first time, Itachi almost wished that he had been born to a normal family.
One in which his mother didn't have to steal into his room in the middle of the night when she thought him fast asleep in his bed, just to tell him in such heartaching and tender tones how proud she was of him, things that she would never dare—or be allowed—to say to him anywhere else. One in which his father didn't have to constantly fight against the clan elders who stood against him in their unanimous intention to wean his eldest son from his family, perpetually torn between his duties as a clan leader, and his strong paternal instincts as a father.
A life in which he could just be himself, and still be loved unconditionally by his family.
But young as he was, he was also realistically aware that such hopeless wishes were impossible. However, the trappings of youth were hard to shed, and so were the innocuous dreams and hopes that he had clung stubbornly to, no matter how hard the elders had tried to rid him of them. He was only ten years old.
And he did not know now, not yet, but his subsequent entry into the Black Ops would completely kill off what little of his innocence that was left.
"Itachi-kun?"
The soft, childlike and girlish voice told him that he had been spotted, as well as the identity of the one who had seen him first. Slowly, he turned his head slightly to the left and saw the little pink-haired girl who was sitting quietly on one side of the bench just meters away from him. A pure, joyous smile wreathed her heart-shaped face as she greeted him with the warmest of welcomes, her deep green eyes that was large on her small face soft with heartfelt happiness as she did nothing to hide her delight at his unexpected presence.
She was waving to him, but carefully, trying her best not to jostle the living pelt of pure jet black wrapped sleepily against the side of her neck, and automatically, his legs brought him to her. Without a word, he lowered himself beside her quietly, and he took a brief moment to locate his otouto. He was briefly surprised to see that the normally reticent Sasuke seemed to have struck up a friendly rivalry of sorts with Uzumaki Naruto, the village's pariah, and not-so-coincidentally, Konoha's Jinchuuriki. Both young boys looked a bit scruffy, but they were so focused on trying to outdo each other that they had not noticed him yet.
Sasuke's behavior was quite unexpected; his younger brother normally took a long time warming up to other people, but it seemed that he was doing quite well with young Uzumaki. Itachi had half anticipated a large tantrum from the younger boy upon his return, certain that Sasuke would not be happy to be so abruptly left to his own devices by him, but his assumption proved to be inaccurate this time around.
And perhaps, with the distraction of a new friend, Sasuke would not grow to resent his older brother as much for his forced absence for the next half a year or so.
Itachi's eyes darkened slightly at the reminder, but broke away from his thoughts when the girl beside him started to speak.
"Itachi-kun?" Sakura's sweet, tentative voice interrupted gently, asking for his attention. He turned to her at last, and met her solemn verdant gaze with his own. The pink-haired child had been reading her book again when he had arrived on the scene, but now the beloved book lay forgotten on her lap as she focused her entire attention on him instead. Her large almond eyes studied him for a brief moment with surprising intensity, a small frown starting to crease her forehead the longer she stared at him.
"You are sad," she observed at last, the genuine concern in her young voice apparent. She sidled nearer to his side, and pressed against him with familiarity as she tipped her head back slightly to look at him better. "Why are you sad again, Itachi-kun?"
Her simple, childlike question came out in an anxious, earnest tone, her worry on his behalf obvious by the way she had instinctively moved nearer to him in order to establish physical contact, to offer some semblance of comfort.
He flinched inwardly at her query, even as his pale face smoothed out completely to become blank and unreadable. His instinctual response was to deny her observation; he was certain that he had schooled his expression even prior to entering the park, how could she still read his emotions…?
"Your eyes…" she paused, frowning again as she struggled to put to words to what she was seeing. "…they look like they want to cry."
Her bewildered, quiet reply made him freeze. He was watching her in a slightly sharper manner now, studying her just as she had him earlier. She didn't seem to notice though, and raised up a small hand from her lap and reached out slowly towards him, stretching her little fingers out almost as if she was trying to touch his face, an expression of mesmerized inquisitiveness and childish concern displayed prominently on her delicate, elfin features as she held his stare with her own large, innocent ones. At last, her tiny fingertips brushed against the side of his cheekbone then, soft and fleeting like a butterfly's wings, and surprisingly enough, he did not move out of her range when he could have very easily avoided her touch should he desire it to be so.
Instead, the young Chuunin stilled completely and allowed the little one to awkwardly pat his cheek as she tried to offer him some measure of comfort, instinctively seeking to lessen the unspoken torment in the dark gaze of the raven-haired youth.
He never took his eyes off her.
Little Sakura-chan did not seem to mind the attention, though. She smiled at him, a small, hopeful smile that felt like the gentlest rays of the sunshine on his cold, numbed soul, before she lowered her hand and started to bring it back to rest on her lap.
Her eyes widened curiously with surprise when his hand reached out suddenly and snatched hold of her before she could even pull away completely. Despite his quick reaction, the older boy was painstakingly careful with his handling of the young girl child; his longer fingers wrapped themselves protectively against her smaller, babyish ones, not too tight, but not too loose either. He held on to her with a firm grip that belied his quiet desperation for any form of human contact at the moment, and the little girl did not resist. She tilted her head curiously like a little kitten and observed the way his hand intertwined with hers, and to her credit, there was not a hint of fear to be found in those guileless green eyes of hers.
The Uchiha heir wanted to look away from the little girl who was slowly but surely soothing his despairing, turbulent emotions with her sweet, open presence, mortified that he was being so weak, wanted to look away, to pretend that he wasn't clinging on to this little girl like a lifeline, but he couldn't. His hold on her tightened imperceptibly, and she looked at him again.
It took everything he had not to flinch visibly from her gaze in shame, even as his insides quivered and roiled anxiously in a way that made him feel almost sick.
But the look she gave him held no recrimination whatsoever, nor was there any disgust or disappointment in those clear emerald depths. She wasn't judging him for his actions. With the strength of her five-year old self, she squeezed his hand back to the best of her abilities. She gave him a tiny, shy smile.
"Don't be sad anymore, Itachi-kun," she told him in a serious, yet sweetly childish tone. "Or I will be sad too, okay?"
He really didn't know what he was doing anymore when it came to this little girl child, and he couldn't seem to make himself let go of her hand either. Not yet.
She was looking at him with those expectant eyes filled with such gentle trust, though, and just like that, whatever it was that had been coiling so tightly within him started to loosen slowly, allowing him to breathe properly again.
He still did not trust himself to speak, and merely jerked his head down once in agreement. She seemed to understand what he was trying to tell her, and her large emerald eyes started to shine with an inner light.
In that very instant, the bond that had began to form between them became even stronger, slowly but surely entwining together this pale-faced, perpetually stressed heir of the great Uchiha clan and the little pink-haired civilian girl child whom he had somehow known innately from the beginning was special to him.
And it was at that same moment that the raven-haired boy finally decided to stop questioning just what it was about little Sakura that drew him to her like a moth to a flame.
The quiet youth closed his eyes briefly, and felt more of his anxiety melt away. His helpless frustration and unhappiness at his clan was slowly fading away in the face of Sakura's innocent company, and for once, he decided to ignore the sheer repercussions of what he had just done—letting this little girl into his life. There was something about her, he did not know what, perhaps it was what she represented, that soothed his troubled mind. Perhaps that was the reason why he had kept returning to look upon her, initially attracted to her against his will, and truth to be told, he was so weary—and desperate—that he no longer cared to deny the calming effect she had on him. There would be hell to pay if it ever got out that he had a weakness in the form of a small five year old girl, but by now, it mattered little to the raven-haired youth.
The people around him already saw him as a bit strange and unsettling, what harm would a little more discrimination do? At least, this time around, he would have something he wanted, and he would do whatever it took to keep her. It was a fair trade, the way he saw it. She clearly needed attention, and he needed her.
If he was to be drafted into ANBU against his will, then let his weakness for this little girl be the only thing he asked for in exchange.
The distant chatter of voices coming from the swing set alerted him to the fact that his presence had finally been spotted, and even as Sasuke and his new friend started to approach the bench to greet him, he did not let go of Sakura's hand. But that was alright.
The little pink-haired girl beside him did not let go, either.
::tsuzuku::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Well, I think this is the longest installment that I have ever written, so please forgive me and my beta if we have missed any grammar and/or spelling mistakes.
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At the moment, Itachi-chan does not like Naruto for a very good reason. Naruto smells of fox, and I kid you not, I did some research and found out that foxes are the predators of weasels. So until Naruto proves himself harmless and Itachi-chan learns to get over his instinctual wariness of the young blonde, he's not going to have any luck trying to play with Sakura's little pet.
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I know it's a bit clichéd to write a kiddy!Team Seven encounter, but I find myself wondering just how things could change had these three met each other pre-Academy, if they could strike up a friendship of sorts prior to their entry to Ninja Preschool. Well, I'm going to try with CP anyways, so we will see where this goes.
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Naruto might appear a bit bipolar in this chapter. He was scared and timid at the beginning and became more brash and loud at the end. That was done on purpose. My theory is that Naruto's behavior, from loud orange attire to noisy, mischievous attitude, was something that stemmed from his desperate need for attention. A coping mechanism, if you will, from suffering from a lifelong period of social isolation.
As you can see, he was afraid of getting hurt in the beginning, but the moment Sakura gave him a chance, he recovered quickly and gained his exuberant and loud, extreme behavior. It's almost as if he was trying to keep his friend's attention on him at all times, doing everything he could to gain her approval, to ensure that he would not risk losing her friendship.
I think it sounds bad, but then again, I doubt that canon!Naruto had ever had it easy in life.
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At the same time, CP!Sakura and Naruto might seem a bit more matured in both action and speech when compared to Sasuke, but that's mainly due to a marked difference in family backgrounds. As of now, Sakura and Naruto are more independent compared to Sasuke, who as the son of the Uchiha clan head, is quite protected and sheltered from the outside world.
By the way, I hope that five-year old Sasuke did not come off as particularly strange. I actually went back to Chapter 402 of the manga to do a bit of research on Sasuke's character pre-massacre, when he was still quite young. I feel that he was quite the little spoilt child, thanks to his mother's coddling and the fact that he was born the second son, and therefore was not pressured as badly as his older brother. His clan was rich and prestigious, so it's no surprise that he's petulant and insists on demanding his way. Well, at least for now.
On an unrelated note, I have also noted some discrepancies in Chapter 402 of the manga.
Well, we all know that Itachi is five to six years older than Sasuke, and that he became Genin at seven, gained the Sharingan at eight, made Chuunin at ten, and became ANBU Captain at twelve. Yet, in Chapter 402, he was still in the Academy despite looking so much older than the average seven-year old, and I don't know, Sasuke sure looked and acted terribly advanced for a two-year old to me as well. Did anyone else notice what I noticed?
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As for the matter of the Uchiha clan, well…it's complicated. I'm trying to write Fugaku and Mikoto in a different light this time around, and let's just say that if the Hokage's will can be subverted by his council members, who's to say that it cannot happen to the clan heads as well?
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I'm not really sure just when Itachi joined ANBU in canon-verse, but for CP, he will enter the Black Ops a month or so after his Chuunin exams. That gives him a more realistic timeline to progress within the ranks of ANBU, I think. Six months in training, another six as a rookie recruit, one year as a fully functional member in an ANBU team, and then followed by promotion to ANBU Captain.
Sounds plausible, right?
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Last but not least, I hope Itachi wasn't too OOC here. After all, I figured that if I was the peace-loving and non-confrontational type and was only ten years old, I would freak out too if my family's shipping me off to ANBU boot camp.
But hey, that's just only my humble opinion.
By the way, if the notion of Itachi 'freaking out' offends you terribly, you are welcome to pretend not to read this last portion!
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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!
--paws
