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: 9091
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: 24/07/09
Completed on: 28/11/09
Chapter Last Revised on: 12/12/09
Chapter Six
"Attention to medical staff! Attention to all medical staff! Incoming Code Red alert! All ANBU emergency personnel to return to their stations immediately!" the PA system in the Konoha General Hospital blared rudely amongst the myriad hallways of the medical facility, jarring the hospital body into action. What had been a quiet, idle evening quickly degenerated into a hectic night as medic-nin and doctors alike scrambled to save the lives of the squad of ANBU that had just been rushed into the emergency bay.
Four different teams of medics hurried out to receive their patients, all fully equipped with the tools of their trade, well prepared and standing by for an incident such as this. They dispersed efficiently, each group attached to a member of the ANBU, the healer-in-charge personally attending to the Captain himself. Those in the Black Ops were always given preferential medical treatment; it was one of the advantages that came with their very dangerous occupation. After all, they were a highly skilled, powerful, combative force that very much aided Konoha's defense, taking dangerous, highly sensitive missions for the village's intelligence networks as well as her internal and external security. Therefore it was imperative that their survival came first, that priority medical aid was given to the ANBU whenever they required it.
Still, it was quite rare that an entire ANBU team would return heavily injured. The fact that this particular team was missing a member was duly noted but not commented on.
The masked ANBU Captain managed to wave away the healer-in-charge even though he was obviously favoring his right side, indicating broken ribs or more. Instead, Inu-san drew out what was obviously a sealing scroll from his vest and proceeded to unseal what looked like a huge hunk of ice on the ground before him. Upon closer observation, the medic-nin scattered around him were stunned to see the vague outline of another Konoha ANBU encased within the thick chunk of frozen water.
The dog-masked ANBU proceeded to direct the medic's attention to his subordinate, incidentally, the shortest member on his team.
"Prepare your strongest anti-venom," Inu-san's voice was muffled but no less commanding. "We had an encounter with the S-class nukenin Orochimaru. My teammate was run through by his Kusanagi no Tsurugi."
It was the barest description of the events that had occurred less than a few hours ago, one that the taichou saw fit to report in order to give the medic-nin a better picture of what they were dealing with. The venom that coated the legendary Kusanagi was amongst the strongest and most deadly poisons known to Man, a bizarre cocktail of neurotoxins and hemotoxins that caused rapid organ degeneration and irreparable damage to the nervous system and brain. If Uchiha Itachi was to survive his mortal injuries, then he was going to need all the help he could get, as swiftly as possible.
A small explosion of shocked flurry occurred amongst the medic-nin at the news that this team had met Orochimaru and survived to tell the tale. The head medic was not so easily rattled though. Yakushi Yoroi pointed to the block of ice that encased the youngest member of the team from head to toe, and whereas the other healers wondered how it was possible to even save someone who was obviously dead and frozen into a giant cube of ice, the Chief Medical Officer of the Konoha Medical Unit Squad called forth a group of male orderlies to heft the slippery, cold slab of ice and human onto a gurney.
Leaving the remaining ANBU to the care of the two groups of competent medic-nin, Yoroi gestured for ANBU Captain Hatake to follow him as he started shouting orders for an operating theatre to be prepared, alongside with other unusually used machines like the temperature controlled blood warming apparatus.
"Do you have any internal injuries?" the experienced medic fired out to the silver-haired taichou the moment he had the nurses and other related medical staff scrambling to do his bidding.
The ANBU Captain wearily lifted his mask from his face and slipped it to rest unobtrusively on the side of his head instead. The tension on the face of twenty year old Hatake Kakashi was not difficult to see. He shook his head in negative reply, and managed to keep up with the rapid pace the healer was setting as they trailed behind the gurney his frozen subordinate was currently lying on.
"My injuries are not life threatening," Kakashi stated to the medic and, not so coincidentally, ANBU's consultant healer. "What are the chances of his survival, Yakushi-san?"
"Not very high. But then again, considering the boy should have been dead hours ago, not very high is better than nothing," the healer replied bluntly. "Kusanagi's venom is legendary for quickly killing all its victims, after all. Who made the suggestion of putting him under?"
Kakashi looked tensed as he stared ahead at his young, comatose Uchiha subordinate.
"He suggested it himself. We were too far from Konoha when Orochimaru initiated the encounter, and he would have died within the next fifteen minutes with the amount of venom coursing through his system." Yoroi nodded in agreement; even through the thick layer of ice he could see the terrible extent of damage that the young Uchiha had taken from Kusanagi.
Kakashi continued briskly. "He noted that theoretically, he would have a better chance of survival—slim—but better than nothing, if we could induce clinical death via hypothermia. It would buy us at least two hours, more than enough time to return to Konoha to seek advanced medical aid. It was the last resort, for he mentioned that it was possible that he would not survive this."
Yoroi nodded once again.
"You are right," the head healer muttered, even as a nurse rushed up to pass the man the patient file before retreating just as quickly. "In any other circumstances, I would have greatly disapproved of this method. However, inducing clinical death is the only way to reduce the rate of injury accumulation; Kusanagi's venom cannot do further damage if Uchiha's system comes to a complete standstill. As it is now, the only problem I foresee is if he can be resuscitated back to life." The medic-nin frowned.
"I cannot believe you had him encased in a block of ice, of all things. The only cases of recorded clinical death survived at temperatures near zero degrees Celsius were all that of animals, for crying out loud. If he survives this, then it will truly be a miracle for the record books."
The taichou's expression tightened visibly, even from behind his cloth mask. Kakashi could still see in his mind's eye Itachi's pale, tensed features as he hoarsely gave his permission for his Captain to envelop him in ice. The twelve year old boy was bleeding profusely from the Kusanagi-inflicted wound on his chest, his face taut from the agony of the venom eating away at him from the insides, and it had taken precious minutes for his body temperature to lower and for him to succumb to the deadly effects of intensive hypothermia. The ice had managed to stopper the rapid blood flow, and the moment Itachi ceased breathing, Kakashi had made sure to encase the Uchiha completely in thick ice, until it was as if the young ANBU was suspended in a coffin of transparent, slightly blue-tinted solid. Then he had sealed the entire mass, ice and human, into the scroll normally reserved for bringing the dead bodies of missing-nin back to Konoha for identification and forensic investigation, before returning swiftly to the village with the rest of the team.
The other two members of his squad, Ondori and Yagi, had not escaped the encounter with Orochimaru unscathed either. Like himself, they only had minimal direct contact with the snake Sannin, separated from each other and kept busy by a deadly combination of huge serpentine summons as well as high powered solid clones as the nukenin himself took on the youngest member of their team. It was a phenomenon in itself that not only had Itachi survived the fight against Orochimaru (barely), he had also somehow managed to drive off the rogue Sannin by himself, in the process severing the missing-nin's left hand and returning the legendary Kusanagi Long Sword back into Leaf's possession, but at the near cost of his own life.
Orochimaru's interest in Itachi was troubling, and what a big mess this mission had turned out to be. It was supposed to be a routine border patrol that was anything but. Everything had gone to hell before they even got to complete a circuit around the territory they were supposed to cover, the entire team would probably be out of commission for a month at least, and of course Hokage-sama and Shousui-sama were going to be demanding detailed reports for this incident. Not to mention, if Itachi did not survive this, Kakashi had no doubt that his clan was going to hold him solely responsible. The Uchiha elders were already gunning for him for his possession of Obito's Sharingan; god only knew that they would be baying for his blood if their precious heir died on his watch as well.
Kakashi fought the urge to groan in dismay; his ribs hurt like hell when he tried to breathe and speak properly as it was, there was no need to further aggravate his injuries without due cause.
Itachi, you better come back to life, damn brat, the Hatake Captain thought irritably at his stoic, young subordinate, if you die and leave me to the mercy of those bloodthirsty clan members of yours, I swear I will cheerfully desecrate your corpse.
Almost as if Yakushi-san had heard the ANBU taichou's less than amiable thoughts towards his hapless teammate, the Chief Medical Officer spoke again.
"I think the boy has a good chance of survival, if his willpower is as strong as you have implied," Yoroi commented. Truly, to be willingly frozen alive, limbs and entire body locked and restrained by a thick slab of immovable ice and not panic with claustrophobia and thanatophobia spoke of a great strength of mind for the young Uchiha. The boy had been willing to die just for that slim chance to live, and if that powerful drive wasn't enough for him to pull through this, then Yoroi had no idea what else would. Now, it was up to the medical staff to work their magic, to carefully make sure that the ANBU team's painstaking efforts to preserve the body of their teammate would not go to waste.
"I'm going to have to replace his entire blood supply; Kusanagi's venom has most probably contaminated his entire system as it is. A fresh source of blood will make it less likely for his internal organs to fail before the anti-venom can work, and hopefully, the likelihood of him going into extensive anaphylactic shock during surgery will lessen as well," the genius doctor mumbled to himself in deep thought.
"…and I will need to lower the temperature of the new blood supply to match the cooled body temperature, switch out the tainted blood with the new one, then use the temperature controlled blood warming apparatus to slowly raise the body temp until I can restart his heart with the electric defibrillator without the risk of cardiac arrest. The other healers can start to work on his other injuries at the same time, and I will need to make sure that ventricular fibrillation and arrhythmia do not occur…"
Kakashi was quickly lost in the midst of complex medical terms that he didn't understand and didn't really care to understand, though at last, Yakushi Yoroi blinked from his self-induced stupor and stared owlishly at the ANBU Captain who had been standing beside him outside the operating theatre the entire while. He gave the silver-haired young man a politely quizzical smile.
"Why are you still standing around, Hatake taichou? Do you need me to hold your hand and walk you to the nearest available healer for treatment?"
The medic's silver glasses glinted in a seriously disturbing manner, even as his kindly smile did not waver. There and then, Kakashi was abruptly reminded of just why this man was so feared even amongst the ANBU ranks. Yakushi-san had the strangest ability to make shivers crawl up and down the spine of even the most hardened ANBU, and warily, the ANBU Captain shook his head. Yakushi's smile widened genially, even as the look in his eyes was one of immense irritation. "Oh, no? Then scoot; I will be busy with your subordinate as it is. Go get yourself checked over, and Hatake taichou?"
"…Yes, Yakushi-san?"
The frame of the healer's glasses gleamed with extra warning, and the man himself gave Kakashi an extra-strength beam. Inner Kakashi whimpered a little. "If you try to run off before my medic-nin gives you the go ahead, I will make you very sorry, is that clear?"
Caught in the full blast of the infamous 'Yakushi charm,' the poor Copy-nin could only nod and agree obediently.
"Of course, Yakushi-san."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, the God of Shinobi, was not having a good day. And it wasn't even noontime yet.
At the age of sixty-two, the Third was getting a bit too old to carry on his duties as the Fire Shadow of Konoha, but then again, nobody had ever said that life was fair. If so, then both himself and his ANBU Commander would have retired years ago, leaving the combined headaches of paperwork and dealing with the unceasing demands of the village council to their younger counterparts. But Minato had went and sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi into his own son, and Suigyouku had died defending Konoha from the Nine Tails' attack, and like bright, falling comets blazing their way across the midnight skies, so dazzling and vibrant for but a brief moment in time, they were gone as quickly as they had appeared, leaving nothing but fading memories and a bitter taste in the mouths of those who had been left behind.
And those left behind had no choice but to pick up the broken pieces of those who had gone before them, regret and thoughts of 'what ifs' weighing heavily in their hearts. But now was no time to think of the past, reminiscence of a life that could have been. No, Sarutobi had the present to address, his precious village to consider, his nin to watch out for.
At the moment, it was the latter that had him most concerned.
The Sandaime Hokage was quietly simmering to himself as he read and reread the latest report that had been passed onto his desk, a migraine starting to gather at his temples as his eyes burned holes into the deceptively innocent parchments lying on the desk before him.
"I heard that you were looking for me, Sarutobi," the aged, gravelly voice that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere did not seem to startle Sarutobi at all.
No, the Third merely transferred his withered glare from the paperwork to his grizzled-looking ANBU Commander.
"Kokkai, what's the meaning of this?"
The old man who had entered the Hokage's Office was hardly intimidated by the Third's cantankerous tone. He scowled back slightly.
"What do you mean, 'what's the meaning of this?'" Kokkai demanded. "Your treacherous student is up to his pedophilic ways again, that's what. Hatake Kakashi reported that he went right after my young apprentice like a shark scenting fresh blood, but it seemed that young Itachi had proved to be more than a handful for him."
Akikaze's sense of pride in his ANBU protégé was unmistakable, though Sarutobi had to admit grudgingly that his old friend had every right to gloat. Uchiha Itachi was probably the only twelve year old in this world who could take on Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin and walk away alive, even if barely so.
Sarutobi refrained from pinching his nose at what he deemed to be Kokkai's deliberate obtuseness.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," the Third frowned disapprovingly. "You just handed in your recommendation to promote Uchiha Itachi to the rank of ANBU Captain. Are you out of your damn mind, Kokkai? He's only a twelve year old boy!!"
By the end of the tirade, the Sandaime was undeniably furious. Fortunately, the ANBU Commander took it calmly, or there would be more than just pressured intent flying around the large office. The subject of the young Uchiha had been a sore point of contention between the two old men for the past year or so; Sarutobi just didn't agree with the way Kokkai was pushing Itachi to quickly adapt to the type of dangerous, high-ranking missions that only his best ANBU would undertake, but Kokkai was more than confident that his young apprentice was up to the task. This time was no different.
Frankly, the aged ANBU shousui was sick and tired of going through this argument with his Hokage time and again. He understood that Sarutobi felt some measure of guilt towards the young tensai, had felt partially responsible for somehow landing the boy in this situation due to his inability to lend his support in the Uchiha clan's complicated state of affairs. Privately, Kokkai just thought that his old friend was being ridiculous. What else could he do, after all, in the face of a council of elders who refused to see that their decision was doing more harm than good? And of course, like all Hokage, both past and present, Sarutobi simply worried too much, especially when it came to his precious village and nin. It was a trait that had both helped and hindered the Third in various points of his career as a nin and, subsequently, Hokage, though this time around, Akikaze was certain that all the hesitant pussyfooting was not helping matters any.
"Come now, Saru," Kokkai replied calmly at last, a direct contrast to his old friend's agitated demeanor. "We both know that the boy hasn't been a child since he accepted his hitai-ite. You are years too late if you are trying to protect him like you would your three year old grandson. Uchiha Itachi is extremely gifted and well-trained, a valuable soldier for Konoha. Considering his impressive record of successful missions in the past year alone, not to mention this recent run-in with your ex-student, I'd say that he has more than earned this promotion."
The Commander's reasoning was logical and sound, obviously well thought out, but still, the Third shook his head, unconvinced.
"I will not agree to this, Kokkai. He is simply too young to undertake this sort of responsibility."
"Is he really?" The ANBU shousui challenged mildly. "He severed Orochimaru's left hand and brought Kusanagi back into our possession, something that neither you nor I could have boasted of at his age. My apprentice has the sort of talent that most can only dream about, and that is only the beginning of what he can truly achieve. Talent like Itachi's is rare to surface and should not be wasted."
Sarutobi scowled. "Listen to yourself, Kokkai! You speak as if the boy is nothing more than a mere pawn to be used and maneuvered about as you please! How is what you are doing now any different from Danzo and his living weapons?"
Akikaze's age worn features tightened slightly at the unjust comparison to Root's leader, and the old man started to get angry himself. The ANBU Commander forcibly kept a lid on his own volatile temper, thankfully, and only narrowed his hawk-like green eyes at his old friend.
"My apprentice has much more to offer than those mindless imbeciles that Danzo is so interested in cultivating. He is shaping up to be a tactical genius both in and out of the field, and will only continue to grow to become a valuable ally, Sarutobi. Am I wrong in wanting to help the boy achieve this small bit of recognition that his clan is so desperate to gain from him?"
The Third really did not appreciate what Kokkai was so thinly implying. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Kokkai," he chided gently.
In return, the grizzled ANBU shousui barked out a harsh laugh. He looked at his Hokage with genuine mirth. "Then it's a good thing that the boy is already neck deep in the deepest pit of hell there is already, isn't it?"
Once again, Sarutobi was hardly amused that his own Commander thought of his ANBU forces in such a negative light.
"Kokkai…" he muttered warningly, only for the Akikaze to unconcernedly wave his hand to dispel the tension between the two old men. The look of amusement in Kokkai's face disappeared quickly.
"Itachi is more than capable," the reddish-gray-haired elder cut in calmly, surely. "I have faith in the ability of my apprentice, so don't you underestimate him like that foolish ex-student of yours. That miserable whelp Orochimaru sure did pay dearly for his mistake, didn't he?"
The Sandaime frowned at his friend's proud tone. "That may be so, but young Itachi has been mortally wounded as well, or did you forget?"
Shockingly enough, Akikaze grinned savagely in reply, almost as if dementedly delighted that the Third had brought up this particular subject. "Oh yes, the boy was declared clinically dead for at least two hours before they brought him back to life. Kakashi reported that Itachi was the one who came up with the unorthodox suggestion to preserve his body by completely ceasing his bodily functions, and he was also the one who made the decision to put himself under. That move was probably what saved his life from Kusanagi's deadly venom."
The Commander's grin widened. "To be able to think and function so well even when skewered messily through the chest and badly poisoned by Kusanagi speaks well for the boy's mental fortitude and willpower, don't you think? He possesses the very traits we look for in a Captain, and this recent incident has only greatly exemplified his abilities."
Sarutobi did not have to be a genius to tell where this conversation was going, what with Kokkai singing his protégé's praises like a songbird. The Hokage scowled harder.
"You are right," he conceded most ungraciously at last. "However, we do not turn children into ANBU, let alone Captains, unless absolutely necessary. It's bad enough that I allowed you to assimilate Uchiha Itachi into ANBU even when we were clearly not at war, what more are you pushing for? Remember that the boy has only been in active duty for a year, and even Kakashi-kun has taken three years to gain his captaincy. I don't believe that Itachi is ready yet; impressive abilities or not, he is not fully matured and his mental development-"
"His mental state is perfectly fine, I will have you know," Akikaze cut in a tad coolly, mildly insulted that Sarutobi would insinuate that one of his best ANBU might be of unsound mind. "I would never have taken him in the first place, let alone put him under this much pressure to perform, if he had been a potential head case. Tch, why do you think only Jiraiya was let into ANBU Intelligence amongst your three prodigious students?"
Sarutobi flinched inwardly at the barely-veiled implication, especially since Akikaze had been right all along. Out of his three students, only Jiraiya was still actively serving Konoha. Tsunade was gone with the wind, and the last of the Sannin had simply…defected altogether.
"Touché, old friend," the Third muttered, somewhat saddened by his own failures as a teacher. "Orochimaru really has been my greatest mistake…"
The redheaded old man watched his friend wallow in his self-pity for a brief moment. "Yes, he was," Kokkai agreed bluntly and readily, seeing no need to beat around the bush and cater to the Third's 'tender sensibilities.' "And now, that ex-student of yours is probably going to target my student out of sheer principle alone, once he realizes that Itachi is alive and has not died from his attack, so excuse me if I'm being overly zealous in pushing for the boy's promotion."
Sarutobi knew that once again, Kokkai had a valid point. Orochimaru had always hated to lose, even as a child, and there was no doubt that he would be out for blood the next time he saw Itachi. The Third's seemingly frail shoulders drooped, almost as if unable to bear the heavy responsibilities heaped on him any longer, and had Akikaze been younger, he would have pitied the other man for the position he was in. But the ANBU shousui was easily just as aged, and after what he had gone through in life, it was difficult to give sympathy to his Hokage. After all, Sarutobi still had his sons and daughters, and even a grandchild too, to boot. Compared to himself, the last living member of his dying clan, Kokkai reckoned that he was probably a lot more pitiful—not that he had any intention of succumbing to feelings of self-pity and bouts of moroseness. There was much for him to do still, and Akikaze had no time to waste on useless emotions.
"Alright, you win," the Third remarked heavily at last. He gave his old friend a disgruntled stare, though. "However, if anything goes wrong with young Itachi, I will hold you solely responsible."
Kokkai merely inclined his head in agreement, gracious now that his Hokage had seen things his way. "That's fair enough."
Sarutobi hesitated, then could not resist meddling. "I'd like the boy to go through a full psychiatric evaluation first, to ascertain that he is indeed up to the task."
"Pshaw," Kokkai puffed out unconcernedly. "Go right ahead. I have compiled an entire cupboard of psych reports on Itachi from the very moment he entered ANBU. Your physician is more than welcome to come over to the ANBU Headquarters to browse through the files if need be."
The Sandaime's eyes widened slightly at his Commander's admission, and then narrowed them just as quickly as realization dawned. The Hokage gave the ANBU shousui a flat look. "You have been planning this for a long time, haven't you, Kokkai?"
The grizzled-looking redhead did not bother to deny. "Longer. Try from the very beginning," Akikaze answered calmly, unperturbed by the dirty look his old friend was giving him. "You made me give my word to do right by this boy after all, and you should know by now that I don't do things halfway, my friend."
The conversation was obviously tapering to an end, and the aged ANBU Commander bowed formally in respect to his leader, turned and started out of Sarutobi's office. He paused halfway, though.
"Just so you know, Saru, I will train Itachi to the best of my abilities, as promised. He will surpass all the others before him; he will be your lance and your shield to be deployed any way you wish, for the good of this village," the old man's tone was faintly sardonic, especially when it came to the last portion of his sentence. The Sandaime Hokage watched the proud but slightly aged stooped back of his ANBU Commander with something akin to sad understanding in his eyes.
"Then my duty will be done."
No more.
The shrill ring of the noon bell in Konoha's Ninja Academy marked recess time, the one period that most, if not all, of the young students looked forward to in between the monotonous humdrum of historical lectures and theoretical discussions. The first years were the quickest to empty from the classrooms, small feet working double time as the children fled outside towards freedom, if only for a brief half an hour or so. They were followed closely by their senpai, the second and the third years, everyone eager to escape to the school courtyard for a quick bento lunch lovingly packed by family and some playtime with fellow friends before having to head back to their studies again. The fourth to seventh year students were allotted a slightly later lunchtime slot to prevent overcrowding and unpleasant incidents like bullying from occurring too often on the school grounds, and there was always a sensei stationed in the courtyard during break time to ensure that nothing untoward happened amongst the children.
Seven-year old Haruno Sakura sat on the bench by the side of the Academy building, her lunch bag on her lap as she watched her schoolmates running around the play area in what looked like a mass scale game of extreme tag. Ino-chan had skipped over earlier to ask if she wanted to join in, but Sakura had shook her head at her friend and declined the offer. She knew she wasn't the most athletic person in school, in fact, her physical abilities were one of the worst amongst her fellow classmates and that was something that greatly embarrassed and dismayed the young girl. Even Sensei said so. She preferred other pursuits like reading and studying anyway, though she couldn't deny that it looked like her friends were having great fun. Sakura sighed wistfully.
"You look stupid."
The flat, derisive tone that sounded beside her on the bench did not seem to surprise or upset Sakura. The pink-haired girl was used to such verbal abuse by now, and had already figured out a way to deal with the seemingly unpleasant individual. Without a word, the pink-haired girl's instinctive reaction was to reach into her paper bag, draw out an okaka-flavored onigiri that she had reserved for this particular situation, and proceed to stuff it right into the big mouth of one Uchiha Sasuke.
There was a brief choking sound as the young, spiky-haired Uchiha hacked beside her like a cat with a major hairball, but the angelic-looking pink-haired girl didn't even blink or look the boy's way, instead propping her elbows on her skinny legs and resting her chin on her palms and staring longingly at the other playing children instead.
At long last, Uchiha Sasuke managed to dislodge the ridiculously huge rice ball from his mouth, coughing up a fit and turning bright red in the face with anger. He waved the onigiri before the girl in a distinctly agitated manner.
"Oi!" the sullen-faced seven-year old squawked out with outrage. "That's the fifteenth time you tried to kill me this week, you crazy girl!!"
Sakura didn't reply, too desensitized by her friend's rude comments to bother much. Not surprisingly, Sasuke had a grumpy, abrasive personality that he did not bother to hide once one got to know him. Unfortunately for him, that sulky, brooding, spoilt-brat temperament seemed to have earned him quite a bit of adoration from the 'icky girls' in his class. Sakura seemed to be one of the few who were immune to the young Uchiha's special brand of 'charm,' though, and therefore that made her an acceptable person to hang around with, not that Sasuke had any choice in the matter.
That was because Sakura was also the only person in the whole school who could control Uzumaki Naruto whenever he was on one of his pranking episodes, and Sasuke was growing quite tired of being on the receiving end of the blonde's unending spree of practical jokes. It had taken him awhile (and being strung up a tree by his underpants) before he finally wised up to the fact that the blonde idiot was a lot less likely to misbehave around his precious 'Sakura-chan.' If he stuck close to the pink-haired girl, then Sasuke would, by default, be spared from the blonde's reign of terror. Speaking of which…
"Where's the dob- Naruto?" the young Uchiha corrected himself midway. Sakura might seem uncharacteristically listless today, but if there was one thing that could get her all fired up—and scarily aggressive, it would be disrespecting her friends within her range of hearing. Once again, it had taken Sasuke being brained on the head a few times by various items that Sakura had found her hands on before he wised up and learned to pick his words carefully, though of course, the fact that Naruto received the same treatment easily made his pride smart less at being kicked around by a girl.
Sensei's comment about Sakura's physical ability or lack thereof was grossly inaccurate and just as misleading. The pink-haired girl could hit harder than any boy he knew when riled, and once again, he knew that from multiple personal experience, all thanks to a shared adulation, and subsequently, a one-sided rivalry for the attention of his nii-san, Uchiha Itachi. Granted, Sakura had no problem sharing the Uchiha heir; rather, it was Sasuke who had trouble grasping the idea of sharing his brother's sorely limited spare time with two other children his age. The pink-haired girl was already more than happy enough to stay near the older boy whenever he visited even as he further divided his attention between the two rowdier boys, but there was just something about Sakura's closeness with his ani that simply irked Sasuke to no end, which of course resulted in the jealous young boy's rude antics meant to upset the girl.
Poor Sakura had endured the rash of insults and name calling for a grand total of two months before she promptly lost her temper and the then six-year old Sasuke found his dirty mouth jammed full with a large rice ball, therein heralding the beginning of two children's bizarre like/hate relationship that would last through the rest of their lives. It took a bit of trial and error on the young girl's part before she finally hit jackpot in the form of Sasuke's secret weakness—omusubi with delicious okaka stuffing—which she would shove into Uchiha frère's potty mouth with unerring accuracy whenever he was being meaner than he usually was.
Needless to say, the rest was history.
Sakura sighed again, this time in exasperation.
"Naruto is being punished. He super glued Iruka-sensei to his chair earlier on. Baka."
Sasuke snorted under his breath, but said nothing more. The young Uchiha slouched on the seat beside the girl and started to munch on the onigiri in his hand distractedly. It wasn't as if he could do anything else with it, and it was really too good to be thrown away, as usual, though he certainly hadn't appreciated Sakura's violent delivery methods. Couldn't she be a bit gentler like the other girls?
A mental image of a simpering and adoringly worshipful Sakura appeared in the seven year old's mind, and an appalled Sasuke recoiled inwardly with horror. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Sakura didn't act like a girl—perhaps she was secretly a guy?
The young Uchiha scowled, finding it difficult to wrap his mind around the possibility of a pink-haired boy before he snapped out of that ridiculous train of thought.
Argh. Girls were so complicated. He would never understand them.
"Ne, Sasuke," the young girl in question spoke up then. She had recently quit adding the '-kun' suffix to both her male friends, mostly due to the fact that Sasuke's rapidly growing fanbase of fangirls in their class were really scary when provoked and Sasuke himself really wasn't much help in that department. The poor boy was scared stiff of his overzealous admirers and often had to be rescued by either Naruto or herself in the form of retaliating, often downright embarrassing, pranks and/or excuses, respectively. Unfortunately, only Sakura was in the same class as Sasuke; Naruto was three semesters ahead of them and was almost always in one form of trouble or another, which meant that Sasuke was more often than not stuck with Sakura for company.
"What?" the younger Uchiha replied grouchily after awhile.
"Is Itachi-kun back from his mission yet?" Sakura asked, finally shifting her attention over to the boy to give him an earnest stare. Sasuke scowled.
"Why do I have to tell you anything?" he mumbled huffily in reply. "It's none of your business."
Sakura frowned slightly at that. She hadn't heard from Itachi-kun for a few weeks already, which was pretty unusual since he always came to her at least once every fortnight. It didn't matter where she was; he always found her. The fact that he was nearly a week overdue made the young girl feel strangely anxious and restless. He had never been irregular in his visits, and in the two years that she had known him, she had come to the simple realization that Itachi-kun was not the type to break his promises, even if it was an unspoken one shared between the two of them.
"…something happened, didn't it?"
Seven-year old Sasuke froze briefly mid-chew at the solemn question. Then the young boy quickly swallowed and took another huge bite of his omusubi to keep from speaking. He turned his face pointedly away from the girl, only to snap his head back just as quickly with a fierce glower when he was poked in the side.
"What happened?" Sakura sounded a bit more urgent now, worried. "What happened to Itachi-kun?"
The next few minutes occurred in a blur, but Sasuke quickly found himself with his hands full in the form of a panicked girl and it also didn't take long before she tried to shake some answers out of him, literally. It was one of those moments where the young Uchiha dearly wished that their sensei was present if only to see just how wrong he was in his assessment of sweet little Sakura-chan's physical abilities; the pink-haired girl was terrifyingly strong and at the moment, she had her hands on his shoulders and was whipping him back and forth like a rag doll.
The members of the Official Sasuke Fanclub would have greatly disapproved of this abuse of their idol had they seen what was going on right now, but fortunately for Sakura, there were none present at the moment. The Sakura of the past would have been mortified by her rude actions but the Sakura of the present was simply too worried to care.
"Oi!! Stop shaking me!!" Sasuke bellowed through rattling teeth, starting to get a bit miffed himself. He really didn't understand the strange bond between his aniki and Sakura, and he liked it even less. His Nii-san was his after all, even though Itachi obviously seemed to welcome Sakura's company. It wasn't even as if they both did anything interesting when put together; the pink-haired girl would be speaking about anything and everything that caught her attention, and his brother would just listen, and occasionally provide some input of his own. It all seemed downright boring to Sasuke, and he resented that he and his aniki could be off doing much more interesting things, but no, Itachi preferred to stay with Sakura and keep her company.
It was not to say that his older brother was neglecting him in favor of Sakura, it was just that Sasuke would very much have preferred the undivided attention of his awesome sibling.
The young boy was clearly taking brotherly love to a whole new level, but then again, Sakura's relationship with his ani was certainly just as strange, if not stranger.
"Alright, alright!! Nii-san got hurt on a mission!" the raven-haired boy hollered in an effort to be heard, and sure enough, Sakura stopped.
"Hurt?" the young girl echoed, her unbelievably green eyes wide with anxiety. Itachi-kun hardly got injured on missions; how was that possible? "How bad is it? Is it very bad?"
Sakura looked like she was about to cry, and an alarmed Sasuke quickly answered her.
"Nii-san is still in the hospital," he muttered. "The medic-nin says that he can't go home yet, but he isn't in danger anymore."
"I want to visit him," Sakura blurted out immediately.
"What? No way," Sasuke scowled. "You are not even family. Stay out of this."
The pink-haired girl furrowed her brows. "Sasuke…" she trailed off slowly, almost pleadingly. The young boy glared, unmoved.
"No. Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind," Sasuke declared obstinately.
Sakura did not reply. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze onto her lap, momentarily lost in contemplation.
"I will make you more omusubi," she offered at last.
For awhile, there was no answer from the young Uchiha.
Then, a grudging reply.
"…Alright. But they had better be okaka-flavored!!"
A few hours later, the seven-year old girl crept cautiously into the special ward that housed Itachi-kun. The pair of faceless, utterly still ANBU guards that stood watch at the doorway intimidated her, but she forged on determinedly and showed them the visitor pass that Sasuke had procured reluctantly for her at the nurses' station. It seemed that the young boy's sulky charm was just too adorable even for the adults, and the mortified Uchiha had to endure being pinched on both cheeks by the cooing nurse matron before he could beat a hasty retreat and shove the piece of paper at Sakura.
"You owe me a lifetime of rice balls for this," the boy had growled, his normally pale face unnaturally red from embarrassment and abuse, but Sakura was too grateful to take offence at his ornery tone. She would have hugged him if she could, but doubted that Sasuke would appreciate it very much. With a happy yelp of thanks, the girl turned and ran off immediately in search of Itachi's room, and ten minutes later, she was carefully prying the door open and slipping through the narrow gap as quietly as she could, painstakingly trying her best not to disturb the patient resting in there.
She was still breathing quite heavily from her mad dash up several flights of stairs when she crept quietly towards the lone bed that was situated in the middle of the spacious room. Several machines surrounded the bed and her eyes were bright with worried curiosity as she tried to comprehend the picture spread before her as quickly as she could.
What she saw quickly made her slow and pause with upset bewilderment—when Sasuke had mentioned that his older brother was hospitalized, he had clearly glossed over the extent of physical damage that Itachi had suffered.
The twelve year old tensai was laid flat on the bed, bandages swathed across his chest and abdomen and hooked up to a dizzying array of catheters and machines. Lying unconscious and unmoving on the sterile hospital bed, he looked nothing like the self-possessed and quietly confident Itachi-kun that she had always known. With his hair unbound and his sharp, noble features even paler and more haggard than ever, he looked so vulnerable and helpless that something in her chest squeezed with distress.
The young girl did not fully understand why it hurt so much to see her Itachi-kun like this, only that she was certain he was in great pain and there wasn't anything she could do to help him at all. He had always been there for her for as long as she remembered, and in her own way, she had always tried so hard to return the quiet, firm support that he had lent her unfailingly. But she was only a seven year old child, and even though she was quite intelligent and resourceful, she was still five years younger than this boy whom she had always looked up to, and at the age of twelve, he was already a formidable member of the ANBU forces, a combat genius of the highest degree, one that had not been seen in Konoha for the last fifty years.
She was but only an Academy student, and it wasn't surprising at all that there really wasn't much aid she could offer him. He had always seemed so stressed and sad, and this time around, seeing him at his weakest only served to drive home the point that she was utterly useless to him, this boy who was her closest, most important friend.
Sakura stood silently by the bed, powerless, her head hanging down and her bangs shadowing her eyes, her shoulders quivering slightly as she clenched her fists and fought not to cry. Still, her nose tingled with the familiar onset of tears and her vision blurred pathetically despite her efforts. She swiped clumsily at the emerging tears with the back of her hand, but it took only one look at the Uchiha heir before she started to whimper quietly all over again.
The young girl felt her breath hitch with increasing upset and knew that she was about to start sniffling noisily soon. The sensible, thoughtful child started to back slowly away from the bed, intending to leave before she could awaken Itachi, but before she could do so, she felt a hand rest gently on her head.
Sakura looked up quickly, her eyes red rimmed.
The raven-haired boy was already awake, and he was watching her with so much weariness in his wan gaze that it made her heart hurt even worse.
"Don't cry," he told her simply, quietly.
The sound of his familiar voice, albeit slightly hoarse, only made the tears roll down her face even faster than before, and she shook her head wordlessly and directed her gaze to the floor, simply unable to fulfill his request. He didn't allow her to stay in that miserable state for long, though. Cold, slender fingers touched her damp cheek carefully, before sliding down to her chin to tilt her gaze back to his.
She looked so abjectly miserable, her large green eyes swimming with tears that overflowed quickly the more she looked at him.
"You are hurt…!" she mumbled thickly through her upset, and voicing out the obvious only seemed to make her even more agitated. Her trembling lips were pulled down in an unhappy grimace and she was starting to hiccup from the intensity of her tears, and he watched her try so hard to stop crying and fail miserably in the end.
At last, the raven-haired boy removed his hand from her and pushed his blanket to a corner, revealing a small space on the bed by his uninjured side.
"Come here," he instructed softly, and the amount of trust she had in him was evident when she climbed onto the mattress without hesitation, carefully making sure not to tangle up any of the narrow tubes that were connected to him. He helped her as best as he could, and the moment she was settled on the mattress beside him, she reached for him instantly, curling into his side like a small, needy, baby animal, her small, childish hands holding onto him carefully as she turned her face into his shoulder and continued to cry quietly.
He did not ask her to stop this time, merely closed his eyes and curled his arm around her slender shoulders, allowing her to vent her worries for him in the only way she knew how. He stroked her hair, awkwardly at first, then gradually settling into a gentle rhythm that worked to soothe both himself and Sakura. Eventually, her tears abated, and she was sniffling softly against him, still quite upset.
"I don't ever want you to be hurt," she fretted in a near inaudible whisper, but he heard her plea all the same.
He couldn't promise her that and not lie at the same time, and so he merely changed the subject. "I'm a lot better already," he assured her in his usual quiet manner. She said nothing, merely tightened her fingers against the sleeve of his hospital gown, and silence lapsed between them.
Then, she spoke, soft and haltingly, but slowly returning to her usual self.
"…Sasuke didn't want me to visit you at first. I had to promise to make him his favorite rice balls before he brought me here." The young girl looked at her friend to gauge his reaction, and when he appeared to be listening, she continued, encouraged. "But Sasuke let the nurse pinch his cheeks in order to get a pass for me though, so I will make him whatever he wants from now on. Naruto wanted to come too, but he had detention because he glued Iruka-sensei to his chair this morning."
Itachi appeared mildly piqued. "…Glued?" he echoed curiously.
Sakura nodded, a familiar flicker of vivacity slowly returning to her bright verdant eyes. "Iruka-sensei was waddling down the hallway with the chair stuck to his behind, and Naruto was running in front of him howling with laughter the entire way. Almost everyone in school saw. It was quite funny, but Naruto's getting into more and more trouble all the time, that baka. Last week, he put a small snake in Ino-chan's bag and poor Ino-chan was so angry. She smacked him good though."
The one-sided conversation continued more or less along that vein. In muted tones, Sakura would talk about the little, mundane happenings that had occurred in her life recently, small things that had caught her attention or roused her interest, and share them with Itachi. She did not require his input, nor did she try to pry for any details of his dangerous mission. His assignments had always seemed to be the source of his unhappiness, and she wanted nothing more than to take away that bleak look in his eyes and fill it with the gentle warmth she knew he was capable of.
Sakura didn't always succeed, but she never stopped trying.
As the visit went on, the young girl also tried her best not to fuss over his injuries, and was thoughtful enough not to expect too many replies from him. He was wounded still, and had already expanded enough precious energy for her. She was grateful enough to be able to see him today, and if the only thing she could do for him would be to entertain him as best as she could with the many small stories of her life, then she was only too glad to do exactly that.
Eventually though, Sakura ran out of topics to talk about and the conversation slowly dried up. Itachi didn't seem to mind, and the resulting silence that fell over them both was one that was comfortable and peaceful.
"Can I…stay, just for a little while more?" Sakura asked almost shyly after taking a brief moment to gather her courage.
Dark eyes flickered over to hers, and she looked so very earnest and pleading that the older boy easily gave in.
"For awhile," the raven-haired ANBU agreed quietly. It would be at least another two hours before the nurse came to check up on him, and as long as no one saw her with him, their secret would be safe. It was a risky move, but it was one he was willing to make just for that little more time with her. It was apparent that his desire was fully reciprocated, for Sakura all but lit up with happiness, and after a softly uttered 'thank you,' she settled beside him quietly and tried to make herself as unobtrusive to his rest as possible. He was still running his fingers through her hair idly, and the repetitive gesture felt so good to the young girl that it wasn't long before her eyelids were drooping and she was starting to nod off.
Itachi was aware that she was falling asleep, but made no move to rouse her. She smelled of sunshine and innocence, and not for the first time, having her nearby calmed him, and it was no surprise that he was reluctant to give up any opportunity to be in her company for a slightly longer period of time.
"Itachi-kun?" she murmured sleepily then, looking at him with a drowsy expression before closing her eyes.
"Yes?"
"I'm so glad you came back," she whispered with quiet conviction, and in response, he turned his head slightly and rested his chin on the top of her head, his usually tensed form slowly relaxing. The boy closed his eyes, a rare sense of contentment stealing over him.
"Aa. I know."
Nearly an hour later, a certain pink-haired young girl crept out quietly from the same ward that she had hurried anxiously into earlier, but now in a visibly better mood and a happier disposition. The two masked ANBU guards that stood sentry by Itachi-kun's door didn't alarm her as much, and pleased to have spent some time with her friend, even if they had napped away a good portion of it, Sakura failed to pay attention to where she was going and promptly ran into someone who had been walking down the hallway as well.
The impact wasn't hard enough to cause her any injury or send her tumbling to the ground, but it was enough to cause the stranger to drop her basket, the fruits within it scattering haphazardly onto the floor.
Sakura was aghast. "I'm sorry!" the little girl called out with sincere remorse as she quickly bent down to pick up the fallen fruits. "I didn't see you!!"
"It's alright, there's no harm done." The slender, statuesque woman knelt down to help Sakura retrieve the apples and oranges on the floor, and together, they quickly made short work of the task.
"I'm really sorry," Sakura apologized contritely as she handed the last of the fruits to the lady. She was really beautiful, and had such a kind, serene expression on her face, and the little girl felt really bad for bruising her fruit.
The elegant-looking woman got to her feet gracefully, a small, tranquil smile on her face. Her hair was long; soft, even strands of pure jet black that fell over her shoulders and rested against the small of her waist. Her complexion was lily white, her facial features delicate and doll-like. The lady looked just like a Japanese Hime, and the young girl blurted out her thoughts, much to the woman's amusement.
The older female hid her soft, chime-like chuckles behind her hand, and shook her head lightly. "No, child. I'm not a princess," she informed Sakura, her dark eyes twinkling with gentle laughter. "What's your name, little one?"
Sakura bowed politely, hastily remembering the lessons on courtesy that her mother had taught her.
"Hajimemashite! My name is Haruno Sakura, Madam."
The matured, dark-haired beauty smiled maternally at the delightfully polite young girl.
"Well, my name is Mikoto, and it's nice to meet you, young Sakura-chan."
::tsuzuku::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Thank goodness! I actually managed to deliver this chapter on time, as promised! As usual, all credit goes to my wonderful beta for her speedy editing, so fall onto your knees and worship her awesomeness!!
Once again, my sincerest apologies for making your guys wait so long for this installment!
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Now, onto the actual notes for this chapter.
According to the manga, Itachi severed Orochimaru's hand when the latter tried to steal his body to gain the Sharingan. That happened when Itachi was in Akatsuki, but obviously, I altered the timeline slightly and brought it forward instead, using that as a reason to promote Itachi to ANBU captaincy. Compared to the actual scenario in the manga, he is younger and has lesser experience when fighting Orochimaru. As such, I felt that it would be more realistic if Itachi became mortally injured even if he had succeeded in driving off the snake Sannin, though he also managed to return Kusanagi to Konoha's possession, an event that in reality does not happen in the series.
I know this may sound redundant to most of you, but I'm just clearing things up so that it's less confusing for everyone.
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By the way, I'm not sure if Kusanagi is actually layered with snake venom. There's no mention of such a thing anywhere online, but I thought it would be quite a dangerous weapon if it was true.
For those who don't know, neurotoxins acts especially on nerve cells, causing paralysis and damage to nervous tissues. Hemotoxins destroy red blood cells, disrupt blood clotting and can also cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage.
Both types of toxins can be found in the venoms of certain deadly snakes in the world.
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Next, there really is such a thing known as hypothermia during clinical death (and I'm not pulling that out of my behind this time, I swear).
For humans, this particular condition of clinical death can be survived for as long as over one hour at temperatures below twenty degrees Celsius. That basically means that even if a person is no longer breathing and at the same time, his or her heart is also no longer beating (aka cardiac arrest), as long as his or her core body temperature is below twenty degrees Celsius, he or she stands a significantly higher chance of being resuscitated back to life without any negative repercussions to his or her health. In fact, there are actual recorded cases of this medical phenomenon from different parts of the world; aren't our bodies just incredibly awesome?
I know; you guys are probably thinking, 'Isn't paws just incredibly, disturbingly nerdy?'
Oh well, geekiness aside, those who are interested can always look up the wonderful Wikipedia for more information!
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And yes, Yakushi Yoroi is my OC, sort of. Like my beta has already guessed, he is the foster parent of Yakushi Kabuto.
I don't think Kishimoto has provided many details about Kabuto's father, other than the fact that he was the Chief Medical Officer of the Konoha Medical Unit Squad. So I had to give him a name, and I chose Yoroi. It basically translates to 'armor,' which I had lamely derived from the translation of Kabuto, which means 'helmet of armor.'
I'm not really certain of Yoroi's personality as well, and so I just gave it my own spin. I hope you readers like him!
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According to the official Naruto Databook, Sasuke has a weakness for okaka-flavored onigiri/omusubi, and so I guess I grabbed that and sort of ran away with it, haha.
I figured that the young Uchiha would resent Sakura for stealing the attention of his brother, though the two would eventually find a proper outlet to resolve their discontentment with each other. The onigiri just factored in somehow, and for those who are wondering how a seven year old can make rice balls, well, don't. Onigiri are quite easy to make and I'm assuming that since Sakura was forced by circumstances to be more independent than most children her age, she would also have no difficulties making something as simple as rice balls for herself.
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Sakura is still quite weak physically compared to most of her classmates. She's incredibly smart though, just not very strong yet. That will change eventually, but she's certainly no super ninja kid and will have to work doubly hard for whatever abilities she will gain in the future.
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Because Sakura is only seven years old in this chapter, she is still quite a crybaby, and hasn't really learned how to hide her emotions yet. Compared to the original series' version of Sakura, there aren't as many reasons for her to be upset anymore in CP-verse, and she has become more confident of herself too, though I believe that when truly distressed, she will still express her sadness in the way most young children do—cry.
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As for Itachi and Sakura sharing a bed together, well, I will emphasize again that it's purely platonic. Sakura sees Itachi as her most precious friend and trusts him implicitly. Obviously, she is also equally important to him, and there really isn't anything perverted in their innocent, needy dependence on each other, definitely not at this stage of their relationship, and most definitely not at their current respective ages!
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Last but not least, thank you all so much for your understanding and warm support!!! You guys really encourage me more than you know!
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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!
--paws