Chapter FOUR

"WAKE UP!"

Sakura shot up in her bed. She yawned as she rushed out of bed, just about managing to not topple onto the floor as she tried to struggle out of the blankets that had wrapped themselves around her. She toppled towards the door and yanked it open.

"YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Sakura winced at the loud voice. She could see Ibiki standing at the foot of the stairs. She could tell that he wasn't angry or anything, though. Sakura nodded to signal that she had heard before she ran back into her room.

She threw on the clothes Sasuke's mother had insisted to pick up for her. She had decided to tag along on one of their shopping been horrified at the options Naruto and her son had brought up. Ever since, she had insisted on taking care of the girl's clothes shopping. She grabbed the pouch containing all the necessities of the first day, then hopped towards the door.

She stumbled down the stairs, coming to a halt in front of Ibiki, who smirked down at her. He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

"Now, eat breakfast. I believe the Hokage's brat and the Uchiha brat have insisted to come pick you up." He paused. "This is your first day and I'm actually free today so I'll walk you."

Sakura's eyes brightened.

Truth be told, Ibiki didn't seem that busy. He didn't leave that early in the morning, and Sakura often saw him off, and in the evenings, she would go to the T&I department and he would buy her ice cream on the way home. Once in a while, his work did go over time and Sakura ended up falling asleep in Ibiki's office. His chair was comfy, and it wasn't that hard, especially since someone, usually Kotetsu or Izumo, came to check on her, draping blankets over her and leaving snacks in case she was hungry when she woke up.

After Ibiki revealed to Sakura that Minato had given him adoption papers, Sakura had immediately announced that she was going to 'move in' with Ibiki. Ibiki had agreed after a bit, though it was obvious to anyone that he had declined at first only for show.

Sakura gobbled down her breakfast and stood up, about to bring her plates to the sink. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Ibiki glanced at Sakura, who was doing a pretty good job of trying to put her plate in the sink and run to the door, which was impressive, seeing as the two were on completely opposite ends of the house.

Deciding to help her out, he went for the door. Sakura took that chance to run to the sink. Of course, he was greeted by a grinning blond and a smirking Uchiha. Behind them stood the Hokage and his wife, then the Uchiha matriarch and the Uchiha prodigy, Itachi. He heard a crash and hoped that Sakura didn't break anything.

Then, the pinkette was by his side, grinning just as stupidly as the Naruto boy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto's grin widened. "You ready for school?"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. How about you, Sasuke?"

"Of course." Sasuke flicked his head to one side with superiority one could only project with practice.

So, the Uchiha haughtiness had been passed on.

Ibiki inwardly sighed.

"Come on, Sakura-chan." Naruto took Sakura's hand and darted out the house. Sasuke, not to be outdone, grabbed Sakura's other hand.

Ibiki locked up his house then followed them with the rest of the adults.

If there was one thing the two boys were good at, it was treating Sakura like a princess. Though he would never admit it, he felt safe enough with Sakura in their care.


They sat through the talk given by the Hokage to the new students. Ibiki sat scowling in his chair, having forgotten how boring opening ceremonies were. Sakura spent that time scanning all the new students to keep them in her memory for future reference.

Soon after that, they were split into their classes and parents wished their children good luck for their first day. Ibiki ruffle Sakura's hair. "Remember what I taught you?" He asked.

Sakura nodded, and opened her mouth.

Ibiki quickly places a finger over her lips. "You don't have to say it out loud." He said, aware that there were a lot of people around them.

Sakura closed her mouth.

There were a few clan children there, and Ibiki remembered Genma saying that this year, there were a lot of noticeable clan heirs joining the academy.

"Stay with Naruto and Sasuke." Ibiki said. "Don't worry, your teacher, Umino Iruka, has been notified of your situation."

Sakura nodded.

"Have fun." Ibiki was feeling more and more out of character.

Sakura grinned.

"Come on, Sakura!" Sasuke called. Sakura waved at Ibiki one more time before she darted off. Naruto soon joined them.

When the three disappeared into the Academy building, Ibiki turned around, heading towards the T&I department.


Naruto and Sasuke planted Sakura between them in their chosen row. Sakura noted the heirs of the Yamanaka clan, the Nara clan and the Akimichi clan hanging around each other.

Ibiki had told her about the traditional InoShikaCho combination.

Apart from that, the other noticeable people in their class were the Hyuuga clan heiress. There was also a Inuzuka boy with a dog stuffed into his jacket and a boy with a countless number of chakra signature coming from inside his jacket.

She pulled back just a little when she realized that they were bugs.

Their teacher, Umino Iruka joined them just a few seconds later. He smiled reassuringly at the students before he had all of the introduce themselves.

They spent the rest of the day going around the school. Iruka told them about the classes the first years will be attending, such as the most basic of chakra theories and kata. He then showed them all the facilities available in the school.

During lunch, Sasuke and Naruto immediately claimed the bench under a sakura tree. A few other people seemed to have their eyes on that spot, but none of them were stupid enough to oppose the Hokage's son and the second son of the Uchiha head.

Both Naruto and Sasuke knew this, and they took advantage of it without a hint of hesitation.

Sakura, as usual, just went along with them.


Sakura was smart, and that was the only reason she was able to keep up with her classmates, who had one huge advantage compared to her when it came from learning from a board.

Because she couldn't see, she couldn't take notes for later revision. And so, she had to listen to what the teacher was saying.

She had to listen and learn everything in one go.

Sometimes, Naruto and Sasuke would stick with her and go through what they thought would be hard for her.

They would complain when she got all the answers correct, and by the end of the day, the two would be teaming up to try and find a question which Sakura didn't know the answer to.

Once the practicals came up, Sakura knew she would be able to fill in the bits she didn't understand through theory. It would be easier for her too, because she would be able to see the exact movement of muscles and chakra and match her own body movements to match them.


Sakura spent her free time running around with Sasuke and Naruto. During the evening, she would drag them to the T&I department to 'pick up' Ibiki, and then force him to buy them ice cream.

Ibiki's coworkers would watched with badly hidden amusement as Ibiki folded like a deck of cards in front of Sakura.

Some people didn't even bother to try and hide their sadistic glee.

Sakura liked the days Anko stormed into the T&I department the best.

Anko would cackle evilly at Ibiki as Sakura clambered all over him, trying to tell him what she had done in the academy during the morning, before, and after lunch, all at once.

Sakura would then launch herself at Anko and demand that she tell her when kind of 'adventures' 'Anko-sama' had gone on this time.

The first time Ibiki found out exactly what kind of 'stories' Anko had been telling Sakura, he had paled to the point his subordinates worried that he would faint.

"And then the drunk tried to run! He look pathetic, really. he could barely walk straight and he was trying to outrun a bad-ass, awesome kunoichi like Anko-sama over here." Anko smirked down at Sakura's wide eyes, feeling Ibiki's horrified gaze boring into her back. "I caught him in a blink of an eye, and then the bastard pulled out a kunai. Of course, in front of me, it wouldn't have been any different from a tooth pick. And then I just pummeled the fuc-"

Ibiki swooped in, abruptly cutting off Anko's story.

"What the hell?" Anko asked angrily.

"Go corrupt someone else." Ibiki growled. He set Sakura down on the ground.

"But Ibiki~" Sakura whined. "I want to hear about what happened to the bastard that dared to stand up to Anko-sama."

Ibiki paled even more, and he could feel Anko smirking at him.

"If you forget everyone she said, I'll promise to let you eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole week."

Sakura's eyes brightened and she stuck her pinky out.

Ibiki sighed, before crouching and hooking his own around her's.

He would begin training her in the basics of Taijutsu the week after. That should make up for all the calories.


The first two years passed without an issue.

The students learned the history and geography of the Shinobi nations. They also covered the Shinobi rules and listened to talks from veteran ninja. They also went through a lot of theory in preparation for the practical part of their Ninjutsu classes. They were given the short holiday between the last term of the year and first term of the next to learn all the hand signs.

Something Sakura had no problem with, much to her best friends' annoyance.

However, they had come to accept it.

Sakura was just better than them, or so she claimed.

Like every day for the past two years, Naruto and Sasuke came to pick her up in the morning of their first day as third years.

"How've you been, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"We saw her yesterday, Dobe." Sasuke muttered.

"What'd you say-"

Sakura wagged her fingers in front of their faces. "Guys." She then turned to the third person standing outside the house.

Today, it seemed their adult accompaniment would be Itachi, who had just come back from a mission.

"Hello, Itachi-san!" Sakura waved at the older Uchiha, who nodded politely in greeting.

"Ibiki! I'm gonna go now!" She called into the house.

Ibiki appeared at the door, already dressed in his Shinobi attire. "Be careful."

Sakura nodded, and she followed the three males out onto the streets.

"We're finally moving onto fighting!" Naruto exclaimed, leaning back with his arms crossed behind his back. "I can't wait!"

"Neither can I!" Sakura chirped.

"It's the practical stuff, not just fighting." Sasuke said at the same time.

Sakura hummed. "Still. I'll beat up everyone, so you just watch."

"Hey! I'm gonna be strongest!" Naruto interrupted.

"Hn. You wish." Sasuke huffed,

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.

Itachi followed closely being, feeling childishly ignored.

He caught Sakura looking back at him from the corner of her eye and he inwardly winced.

It was hard to remember that this innocent looking girl could see through even the most well concealed feelings and emotions.

His mask of indifference didn't matter, for she could see his face. Instead, she looked right into his soul.

Sakura blinked, then smiled back at him. "Itachi-san? What's the Genin graduation test like?" She asked. Immediately, Naruto and Sasuke turned to him eagerly.

Itachi allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

Yes, she was very interesting indeed.


So, here's chapter five~

Darque: I have some English analysis thing I've got to finish by Sunday...WHICH IS TODAY!

Raven: You always talk about what you're supposed to be going, or what you're doing, or something...

Darque: Well, I think it'll be good to keep people updated on these kinds of things.

Raven:...

Darque: And, besides, I'm trying to list out what I'm supposed to do and stuff.

Raven:...Okay...Good luck, okay? If I remember, you failed your draft thing, right? 14/25?

Darque: Meh.

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