Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, but it's fun to play with these incredible characters.
Chapter 4: Numb.
Three years later.
"Wait, Sakura-chan." Naruto wept as he tried desperately to reach the pink-haired girl.
"It's a tag game, Naruto. I can't let you catch me." She laughed and kept running.
"It's all right." He kept running and changed the direction. "I'll catch you, duck hair." He shouted at Sasuke who was running and passed for Shikamaru.
"You can try, dead last." Sasuke screamed back seeing Natsu throw the body towards Shikamaru, who mumbled about running games being tiresome and troublesome.
They gathered in the clearing and lay panting on the floor. Listening a few steps everyone looked up at the imposing figure in a black uniform with a light gray vest that approached them.
"Are not you too big for games?" The husky and calm voice questioned.
Sakura sat holding the urge to say that he was better in this game than anyone when he played with her. But she knew better that exposing that side of him to other children, including his younger brother, would not be appreciated by the elite shinobi Uchiha.
"Aniki." Sasuke stood up and wiped the dust off his clothes. "I just joined them because Sakura dragged me." He said pouting.
Itachi gave a half smile that did not even show his teeth and went out of the clearing that was next to the park. He blinked at Sakura imperceptibly to others and jumped into a tree with a sarcastic grin adorning the face when he counted to himself. '1, 2, 3.'
"Anikiiiiii. It's not fair! I don't know how to climb trees." Sasuke screamed as he ran after his older brother who had an even bigger smile on his face.
"Come on, you catch us, Shika-kun." Ino said as she got up, pulling Chouji and the two of them ran again.
Sakura wasted no time pulling Naruto and Kiba away from Shikamaru who was standing up with a mischievous smile on his face.
That night after arriving home, before Itachi could take off the squad's uniform, another shinobi ANBU knocked on the bedroom window summoning him to a meeting at the Hokage Tower.
He sighed and followed the companion out. Lately he always shudders internally every time an ANBU approaches. He knew he was risking acting as a double agent against his own clan, but he had made the right choice according to Shisui.
He tried to convince his father that the Village needed the Uchiha clan, and that only made Fugaku lose himself even more in his thirst for control.
He hoped that Shisui could use the Mangekyou to change his father's mind and the other elders. Itachi wanted to tell Shisui and the Hokage that even manipulating Fugaku's mind would not be enough to calm the entire clan, the damage that mention of a riot would be beneficial to the clan Uchiha had already been made.
All he could do was follow orders and wait patiently for the unfolding of things. At least Sasuke had friends outside the clan, no matter what happened to the Uchiha, he would protect his little brother and if he could not be around Sakura would be. With that thought his mind completely changed for the nine-year-old girl, he was proud of everything she learned from him. He had told her to hide half the skills she had, because if anyone knew how good she was, they would question who she learned, if it came to Fugaku's ears that Itachi was wasting time with a civilian outside the clan, their friendship would be in danger. Not that he would anyway allow his father to stop them from seeing each other or that he did anything against Sakura, but to a shinobi, caution is never too much.
He would protect her from everything, including his father and clan. He would protect Sasuke from everything too. It was because of them that he agreed to pass on information about the riot that the Uchiha was planning for Konoha's council. He would not allow another war to begin. He would not allow the peace that was created at the cost of so many lives with the last war to end because of the foolish ambition of selfish old men.
He allowed all thoughts to leave his mind as he stepped into the room where the council and the Hokage were waiting for him for more information about his clan's plans. 'That will be a long night.'
After a few days without seeing him, Sakura sneaked into the training grounds in the vicinity of the Uchiha District. She approached the place where she was feeling Itachi's chakra. She was hidden for some time until a kunai struck the branch next to her.
"Who's there?" A different voice called, causing Sakura to jump off the branch and walk toward the two figures they were training.
"Saku-chan." Itachi said with a twinge of surprise in his voice. He did not know if the surprise was that she had sneaked in without him noticing or because she was so close to the District where he lived.
"Tachi-kun." She said with a little shyness because of the persistent look of the other boy.
The boy noticed her nervousness and smiled to comfort her. He knew very well how people were intimidated by the simple presence of an Uchiha, but he was very curious about the intimate way she called his friend. "Hey, I'm Shisui." The boy a little older than Itachi said and reached out to her in a polite gesture.
"Oh, I'm Sakura." She said firmly, without breaking eye contact making the boy have a little respect for her. Her handshake was firm too.
"Nice to meet you, Saku-chan." Shisui replied with an even bigger smile, using the nickname Itachi said earlier.
Shisui's play was enough to get Itachi out of his state of surprise. He slapped his friend on the shoulder, surprising both Shisui and Sakura. "It's Sakura for you." Itachi said in the same calm voice as ever.
"Ouch." Shisui grunted in pain and rubbed his aching shoulder. "Easy, man." He murmured. "I'll meet Izumi and say you'll be there soon enough." Shisui said as he walked off the field. "Goodbye Sakura, it was a pleasure to meet the only person who can take a reaction from this guy."
Itachi ignored his friend and turned to Sakura, he sighed and walked towards a tree sitting near the trunk and tapping the place next to him so that she sat there. "I know I've gone for a some days. There's been very things at ANBU, I'm sorry, I promise I'll be sending messages more often."
Sakura sat next to him with a stupefied face. She had never heard Itachi say such a big sentence before, except when he was explaining or teaching something, and he apologized. Itachi never apologized for anything, ever. "What's happening with you?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
Itachi looked into her eyes and smiled genuinely at her. "I'm glad you're here." He said putting his arm around her, bringing her close.
Sakura knew something was bothering him a lot, but he would not say anything to her, or he would not have dodged her question. Then she let him come in and receive all the comfort she knew he needed.
After some time in silence Sakura bit the lip, took a deep breath. "Who is Izumi?" She asked in a low voice causing Itachi to raise his head to meet her eyes.
He gave her a smile that she could not identify. "A clan girl, we met at the academy."
"Hmm." Sakura lowered the head again.
Itachi took a deep breath and pulled Sakura closer into his embrace. "She's not you, Saku-chan."
That phrase was enough to take away that strange weight that had lodged in her stomach. She understood what he meant, as she always understood.
"He's been acting weird lately, Kuro." Sakura grunted at the bird that was sitting on the bed in front of her. She cut another piece of apple with the kunai and gave it to the bird. "You think so too, don't you?!" She questioned and watched as he tilted his head in agreement. "I knew it... I wasn't the only one to see it. He's more tense than usual and his face has fewer expressions than he usually does. Not that he's too expressive anyway."
She sighed and fell back on the bed resting the head on the pillow, feeling the weight of Kuro walking over her toward the apple and now rested in her hand. "Don't even think about it, you crook, half of it is mine." She laughed when he grunted. "Hn, don't be selfish." She bit the apple, completely ignoring the look Kuro was giving. 'How can a bird have an indignant look on his face?' She asked herself. "You're definitely the most special bird in the world."
She stood up abruptly and handed the rest of the apple to him who thanked her putting his little paw of her hand and then returned to the delicious fruit that looked like the most interesting thing. "Do you think if I ask him, he'll tell me what bothers him?" She asked and he give a look that said everything she needed to know. "Yeah, you're right. He's going to say it's classified information." She said the last part in her best imitation of Itachi's voice.
She lay down again with a defeated sigh. "He'll said eventually."
She was wrong. He not only said absolutely nothing as also he went missing for two whole months, leaving only small notes that were sent through Kuro. This left Sakura with a strange feeling in the stomach. Itachi never left her alone for so long. Something big was happening and she was scared.
"He's tired of you." A voice that was not strange that she had not heard for years said in the back of Sakura's mind making her gasp. "You need me. He left you alone for far too long."
"I have Naruto, Ino, Sasuke and the others. I have Kuro." Sakura said in a whisper trying to convince this part that lived inside her that she was not alone.
"You have me too, I'm part of you. The smartest part." Inner Sakura paused and said in a defeated tone. "I miss him, too."
After this statement, she lay on the floor of the cabin and let the tears she was holding for so long flowed down her face. She cried until she fell asleep.
Sakura woke up the next morning in her bed, completely confused as to how she got there. "Itachi?" She asked looking at Kuro standing on the window sill.
The crow's nod was enough for her. She jumped out of bed and walked to Kuro, taking him in a tight hug, ignoring the grunt of protest that came from him, when she brushed the hand she saw that there was a note attached to his neck.
'Forgive me.'
-I
"What the hell does he mean by that?" She screamed desperately and ran to the bathroom to get dressed, not noticing the blood stain on the back of her blouse. She wore a red top, a black shorts, the boots and tied the red ribbon in her hair. Taking one last look at Kuro she ran out the window toward the gates of the district where he lived.
She had never stepped there before, they always met in the cabin or in their training camp. He said it was best to keep away from all the clan clutter. Even so, he showed her how to get there and said exactly where his house was. Knowing exactly where to go she ran through the trees and quickly reached the place where she hoped to find him.
She came down from a tree and landed in front of the gates of the Uchiha District, looking down from the entrance she noticed that there was not much movement inside, nor was there a person in sight. She took a few steps inside when she was stopped by a agent ANBU. She gasped with surprise and cursed in her mind about those sneaky shinobi.
"I'm here to see a friend." She said looking into the man's eyes in front of her. She realized that one eye was the sharingan like Itachi's, but the other was dark. 'How can he activate only one sharingan?' She wondered.
For a moment she saw the man's shoulders tensing and he led her out of the gate. Then he knelt before her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She noticed that he was taller than Itachi and had a gray hair that moved in strange directions. She stopped thinking when she heard the muffled voice on account of the mask say. "There are no more Uchihas, kid."
She looked inside the gates and noticed for the first time various blemishes and puddles of blood scattered around the streets and the walls of the houses. She took a step back trying to keep calm and analyze the situation, but before she could open her mouth to questioned, Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped in front of her. She did not even notice that the agent with gray hair stood behind the Hokage, or that more agents were close to them. At that moment she did not notice anything else.
"Were you friends with one of the children?" Hiruzen asked in the most sympathetic voice he had.
"Itachi." She whispered coming out of a state of stupor. Then she raised her voice. "Itachi... Sasuke, where are they?"
"Were you close to Uchiha Itachi?" An old man with a white band covering one eye asked her directly. She stared at him for a minute realizing that he was not a man she could trust. When he turned to Hiruzen and whispered something low in his ear she said. "No, he's Sasuke-kun's brother, Sasuke-kun and I are friends." She said it with conviction, not letting the nervousness she was feeling to appear.
"Sasuke is in the hospital, you can visit him. I'm going to announce what happened with the Uchiha clan, you and the rest of the village will know soon, child." Hiruzen said in a calm voice.
Sakura nodded and ran away. That man next to the Hokage was spooky. A man who could leave a child to an interrogation and torture officer was not a good thing. She raised the chakra in her ear to hear what he said to the hokage that moment. If she was close to Uchiha Itachi we should subject her to an interrogation with Ibiki. She ran faster as far away from him as she could.
Once again in her short life she thanked Itachi for the training and congratulated herself for the perfect chakra control.
Sakura ran as fast as she could to the hospital, she needed to see if Sasuke was okay. She needed to see Itachi. She was feeling her throat tighten with an uncomfortable knot.
Arriving at Konoha Hospital she jumped in the window where she felt Sasuke's chakra. She walked over to the bed where he was sitting staring at the wall, in a catatonic state.
"Sasuke?" She said cautiously approaching slowly.
"What are you doing here, Sakura? How did you know I was here?" He said in an emotionless voice as he looked at her.
"I'll... It doesn't matter." She said in a whisper and walked to the bed sitting next to him. "What happened, Sasuke?"
"He killed them all, Sakura." He said in a broken voice.
She noticed he was trying to hold tears. There was only a little that a nine-year-old could bear, shinobi or not. If all that blood meant what she thought it meant, then there was a massacre in that district where Sasuke was probably one of the few survivors.
"Who did this, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, putting her hand over his for comfort.
"Itachi." He spat the name and Sakura never saw so much hatred and despair in a single glance before. "Itachi killed the whole clan, he killed my parents, he left me alive because I was nothing to him."
Sakura gritted her teeth and felt her eyes burn with unshed tears. She tried to calm the breathing that suddenly became irregular. "Itachi wouldn't do something like that." She stated with such certainty that she surprised herself. "He is an ANBU, committing murder on the orders of the hokage is the duty of a shinobi, for the good of the village, but hurt his own family, his clan. Itachi would never do that, Sasuke..." She stood with the hand on her chest trying stop the pain that was growing there. "Itachi would never hurt you like that. He loves you more than anything." She declared.
Sasuke looked at her as if she had gone crazy. "He killed my parents, I saw him hovering over their dead bodys, he said that in my face!" He gritted his teeth. "You did not know him, you don't know anything!" He screamed. After a few seconds he calmed down "Go away, Sakura. I want to be alone."
Sakura was too stunned to argue. For a moment she remembered that she had never told Sasuke about her meeting Itachi. She jumped out the window surprising Sasuke with this ability. She ran through the trees toward the secret place in the forest. She put as much chakra as she could muster on her feet, she ran until her calves burned.
Sakura looked around for him, looking at training ground and cabin, reaching the conclusion that he was nowhere to be found. She looked at the blue sky and tried to feel some tranquility with the stillness that was around her.
She felt as if she had lost a piece of her heart from so much it hurt. She dropped to her knees in front to the cabin where they used to laugh and talk about anything. She remembered the silly grin he gave her whenever she could do something he taught. The looks they exchanged as they lay side by side to rest after a long mission. The times he carried her home when she slept in his arms, then she would wake up but pretend to sleep so as not to break the contact even though she knew he knew she was faking it.
She feared that if she closed the eyes she could hear the sound of the laughter he rarely let slip. Then she remembered the note he left her. 'Forgive me.'
"What did you do, Itachi?" She said to herself, not recognizing her own voice. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you trust me?"
She screamed until her throat ached and then she lay down on a ball on the floor and cried desperately.
When she woke up a few hours later it was early afternoon. There was no one to take her home this time, no more silly talk or training, no more Itachi, there was nothing.