Chapter 9: Moments
Nawaki hadn't felt this alive since he had taken the position as again, he congratulated himself for the decision of making Itachi his apprentice, he sure had surpassed himself with that one.
The Senju stoppped his musings as he dodged a punch and a kick directed at him. Yup, fighting with them every morning was certainly good for his mood and it helped to keep his restlessness for not doing missions at bay. There was also the fact that the oh-so-responsible Hokage made the boy do some of the paperwork for him heehee!
"Do it faster next time...C'mon kids it's two against one!" he good-natured teased the younger shinobi as he swiftly dodged all of their attacks.
Not waiting to be told twice, Itachi charged at him again, throwing a right punch that had Nawaki responding with one of his own. Both blocked their punches and struggled for an advantge for a while. But then, in a swift move, Itachi let go and flung his right foot towards his opponent's ribs. But Nawaki was not the Hokage for nothing, he easlily caught Itachi's foot and flew him off his feet swinging him in a semi-circle. Itachi took advantage of the momentum and slowly put his hands on the floor to twist and stopped Nawaki's plan to toss him into the air. Instantly, he swung his free foot and flung it into the Hokage's chin.
However, in the place of what should be a man grunting in pain, appeared a block of wood that was incrusted with a few kunai that the other boy apparently had threw.
A Kawarimi Jutsu Itachi cursed internally and – unconsciously – activated his sharingan to look out for the Senju and see through any other optical illusions. But he was instantly soaked by a rapid splash of water. "You know the drill, Itachi-kun. No sharingan if you don't want to be sopping!"
A soft giggle interrupted the man's taunting and the fight altogether.
The three men looked a t each other. How had she managed to stay unnoticed this time?
"I got it"
Sakura was doing her best to stifle the laughter threatening to escape her at seeing Itachi dripping from head to toe. The ever perfect-looking Uchiha was anything but, right then. His hair was all over the place, his ninja headband had dropped over his eyes and his wet clothes made him look funny.
He looks like an old English sheepdog! So, naturally, the almost six-years-old couldn't contain her laughter at witnessing such rare scene.
"What are we laughing at, Sunshine?"
"Eeep!" Sakura jumped a little when the boy suddenly appeared right next to her. But once he saw who he was a big smile splattered in her face "Shisui!" she yelled in glee and ran to hug said boy.
"I can't reprimand you for spying on us if you hug me like that, Sunshine. Not fair" he said taking the little girl in his arms and spinning her around.
Sakura giggled and hugged him harder "But you like my hugs, they make you smile. And I like your smile, Shi-kun!"
"My, my...you'll be quite the heart breaker when you grow up, huh?" Shishui said teasing the little girl and then he paled "Just don't let your dad hearing you say things like that, Sunshine. He might faint or kill me, probably kill me first"
Sakura blinked, not sure how to respond to that or what was wrong with what she had said in the first place. The boy chuckled and gently dropped her to the ground. "Anyway, you know you shouldn't be spying on us, sunshine. In fact, you were supposed to go to class twenty minutes ago with Naruto!" the boy reprimanded.
Sakura just pouted and looked at him with the biggest and shiniest eyes she could muster "I'm sorry, Shi-kun. I just love seeing dad, tachi and you train…you're so awesome!"
"Don't give me that look, Sunshine" he pouted at her as well. "I know you do, but you're going to be late."
"No, I won't" she assured with an innocence-feigned face that a person only makes when they are about to do something devious that they're truly proud of.
"You little minx…I'm not going to take you. I already told you it was a one-time only thing and I already took you three times this week." Shisui said trying to appear unfaltering with his resolution, he even crossed his arms!
But then Sakura looked at him with trembling lips and those damning big teary green – so green and so big – eyes. The thirteen-year-old tried to avoid focusing his gaze on her…he was a skilled ninja for god's sake, he would not let a petit – but so cute – girl who was half his age win again.
Needless to say, it was exactly what he did. Senju Sakura was an adorable little girl who had everyone wrapped around her little finger, himself included. One smile, one pout, one look and she would make anyone do her bidding – heck she even managed to make Itachi fall for her tricks too.
Shisui sighed, resigned to accept the power the little girl had over him. "C'mon hop, before I change my mind, sunshine" he finally said, crunching so she could climb on his back.
"Yay, flicker time!" she celebrated and gave him a peck on the cheek. "you're my favorite, Shi-kun!"
The Uchiha smiled. Yes, she had way too much control over him, but he didn't mind. Not as long as she was happy.
"You were late today, again" was the first thing Neji said to her once she entered the rooftop – their regular spot during breaks and lunch time.
Sakura blushed, how he always managed to sense her without looking – or using his doujutsu – was beyond her. "Only by five minutes, Nej!" she refuted crossing her arms and stomping her way towards him "I wasn't even late, sensei let me in and everything!"
"You should not let tardiness become one of your traits, Sakura" he chastised opening his eyes to look pointedly at her while she sited right next to him.
Her blush deepened. "I'm not!" she rapidly refuted and then after a moment added "…wait, how do you know that? We aren't in the same class" she squinted at him and then saw him twist his nose in that funny only-Neji way he does every time he's been up to something bad. Bingo.
"Oh…don't tell me you used your byakugan to spy on me, again!" she rebuked this time, narrowing her eyes at him. Neji immediately avoided her gaze, deciding to look intently at the floor instead – they both knew his silver eyes tended to reveal too much for his liking – as his cheeks and the tip of his ears turned a very rosy color.
"I did not do such thing." he quickly refused glaring at the floor now and trying – in vain – to stop the blush that didn't seem to want to leave his face "I was merely taking the opportunity to train my kekkai genkai" he said "I happen to be very familiar with your chakra. Naturally, you are the very first thing I look for whenever I activate it."
Her eyes softened at his declaration and the truth behind it. Because even though both knew Neji said that as a mere excuse, it was still far from being a lie. In fact, Sakura was pretty sure she would do the same thing if she had his ability. "…yeah, I guess it is the natural thing to do, Nej" she finally said pinching his cheek tauntingly, though she meant every word. "Thank you" for always taking care of me.
Because it really was the natural thing to do with someone you've been attached at the hip for almost three years.
"Why are breaks so short!" lamented Naruto standing up to go back to the classroom.
"Yeah…what a drag" said Shikamaru with a yawn
"I didn't even finish my dessert!"
"and Akamaru and I didn't run enough laps"
"Well, we could always skip class" proposed the little Nara and – obviously – received excited nods and shout of agreement. "but we need to do it quietly" he added looking pointedly at Naruto and Kiba, alias, the loudest kids of their class and group – perhaps even Konoha.
"Let's do this, dattebayo!"
"Yeah, c'mon Akamaru!"
They all but shouted.
Shikamaru sighed. "Both of you troublesome morons need to shut up or you're going to get us caught before we even begin our escape" Can't they see that even Chouji's being quient, he even stopped eating his dessert!
"Whataya mean? Me and Akamaru are being quiet" Kiba murmured really loudly.
"I didn't say anything about Akamaru" Shikamaru replied with a shrug.
"Yeah, Akamaru's awesome…it's just you that sucks" Naruto snickered. The little dog barked softly but approvingly.
The little Nara sighed again as Chouji started eating again. Not you too Chouj…We can still sneak, as long as Kiba doesn't rise to Naruto's bait.
But, of course, the Inozuka did.
"Not as much as you, though. You suck at stealth" Kiba hissed
"Guys don't fight…" mumbled Chouji between munches looking worriedly at the two boys.
"You both suck at stealth" Shikamaru said boringly and ignored the indignation yelps of his friends. "If you troublesome morons don't keep quiet until we're outside of the academy, this won't work, and we'll have to go back to history lessons."
That made the two boys shut up.
"Okay, now let me think of how we are going to do this" The three boys nodded and waited for Shikamaru's plan. They knew Nara was smart – unlike the rest of their class that just thought of him as the lazy kid – and that they should always listen and stick to his plan. Because if they didn't, things were bound to fail.
"Going to do what exactly?" said someone from behind them.
Shikamaru sighed again, saying goodbye to their escapade. "Troublesome"
"Saku-nee/Sakura" gasped both loudmouths in surprise as Chouji chocked on his food.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at them as she put her hands on her hips. "well?" she asked again, though she knew what they were up to.
"Nothing" mumbled the little Nara and none of the other boys refuted him. The group of four knew that Sakura wouldn't let them skip classes, she was too much of a nerd to allowed them such thing. They could have made a run for it, but they respected – yes, respected not feared! – Sakura too much to make a run like they usually did when Iruka-sensei caught them.
"Good" Sakura said smiling pleasantly. "Race you to the classroom…last one sits next to Sasuke's fangirls!" she screamed as she ran to the academy building.
"You cheater, it's on!" barked Kiba as the rest of the boys followed running as fast as they could – even Shikamaru. None of them wanted to sit next to those girls after all.
Unsurprisingly, Naruto and Kiba were the first ones to arrive – though they were arguing who was technically the very first one because Akamaru arriving first didn't mean that Kiba won. Sakura was the third one, with Chouji and Shikamaru right behind her.
"What a drag" lamented the last boy to arrive, now he wouldn't even get to nap during class seated next to those loud fangirls.
Sakura looked at him with sympathy. "hey…you don't have to sit next to those girls if you don't want to. I only said that to make you run to class" she said putting a hand behind her head and smiling sheepishly.
Shikamaru glared at her without malice. Troublesome girl sure knows what buttons to push to make us do whatever she wants. The little Nara knew he should be mad for being controlled in such a way, but he knew Sakura meant well. Besides he was too preoccupied being impressed with said ability. Because very few people could play him like that without him noticing. Also, he was pretty sure that no one – not even his mother or sensei – could make Chouji and he run to class – of all places. Troublesome girl indeed.
"…besides the two loudmouths are too busy arguing to notice and Chouji and I won't tell, right Chouj?" Sakura continued and winked at said boy.
"Of course, we won't" said the big boy with a gentle smile. He wanted to sit next to his best friend, after all.
Shikamaru smirked not sure if out of relief or excitement. He was relieved because he would be able to sleep through class, but the little Nara was also excited at the prospect of the challenge that Sakura had unwillingly risen.
He would not let himself be played that easily next time, that was a promise.
"What a boring day, dattebayo!" complained Naruto at the end of the day
Sakura smiled, she knew her brother hated history and they didn't have any physical classes today which only made it worse for the little blond. "It wasn't that bad…you won a race against Kiba, right?" she said exiting the academy.
"He did not!" yelled the Inozuka
Sakura sighed when they started arguing once again, with her in the middle. Well, she kind of deserved it for not seeing that coming before saying her comment.
"Tch"
Oh right, now that she remembers...
"Hey, wait Sasuke" she called, and the boy redirected the glare that was aimed at the two loud morons to her. "You're coming with us…Tachi's orders" she quickly added, before the little Uchiha started complaining or accusing her of something.
He glared at her more vehemently. "Don't call him that"
Sakura rolled her eyes smirking. Sasuke was too jealous of Itachi.
"Oi, why do we have to go with Teme again?" complained her little brother, stopping the argument with Kiba to start another one.
"Don't be rude, Naru" she said "just take this as another opportunity to even out your score"
"As if this dobe could beat me"
"I did and will do it again, dattebayo!"
"Tch"
And before Sakura could say anything else, the two boys ran off to her house. "Guess, I'll be on my own today…bye Kiba" she waved at the boy.
"See ya!" he said running towards his mother.
She sighed and resigned herself to walk alone once again.
…
Suddenly, the little Senju heard some fight screams and saw a trail of blood.
Her heart stopped. Something was definitely wrong…. where were her brother and Sasuke?
She rapidly walked towards the track of blood as quietly as possible, eyes peeling for any sign of movement.
But then the sound of shattering glass reached her ears followed by a raucous evil laughter and Sakura ran towards the sound – not giving a damn about being heard.
"Take that, you lil' shit! That's for brainwashing the Hokage!"
The first thing she registered were two middle-aged men looming in an alleyway off to her right. One of them with a broken bottle in hand.
She followed the trace of glass and saw a small huddled figure that seemed to be her brother unconscious full of scrapes and shattered glass
"Get away from him, old filth!" she heard Sasuke yell as he positioned himself in front of Naruto with his fist in front of his face, ready to defend the little Uzumaki from those drunks.
"An' who the fuck r' you?" the other man sneered stumbling to grab the Uchiha by the collar. Sasuke tried to struggle the man hold in vain, tried to punch and kick him, but couldn't do anything. "Fuckin' kid defendin' the demon, you too'll be punished"
"Yeah…look what I'll do to your friend" roared the other one and raised the bottle, the very jagged edges gleaming, as he directed the object with all of his force towards her brother.
"NO!" Sakura shouted running as fast as she could.
Next thing she felt was glass breaking the skin of her shoulders as she stood in front of her brother.
"Sakura!" gasped Sasuke, trying once again to free himself from the other man's hold but failing.
Blood rapidly spilled from the wound, but she didn't care, Naruto was safe and that was all that mattered. She imitated Sasuke position of defense despite the excruciating pain she felt. }
For a second, the man seemed to realize where he was and what he had just done. But a second after. But before that second of consciousness is finished, Sakura makes the most of it.
Without thinking, she drew her fist back and stroke at the man's knee with all the force she could muster and all the anger she was feeling. It buckled under the force of the blow, followd by a shout of pain of the man, who was nearly toppling over. Instantly returning to his rage-possessed attitude, but still not completely recovered to attack her.
"You fuckin bitch…get her!" he ordered at the other man
"We'll take care of you first" mumbled the man holding Sasuke as he threw the Uchiha to the wall to redirect himself towards her. One of his hands tried to grab her shirt, she dodged. But then the other one joined
"Sasuke take Naruto and run!" she desperately shouted before being grabbed. One of the men clutched both of her arms as the other one prepared to hit her. Blood kept flooding from her injury.
"Leave her alone…" Sasuke whispered, zigzagging his way towards her despite not being fully recovered from the hard hit he took against the wall. He tried to punch one of the men, but he was easily shoveled to the floor.
"Sasuke!" she yelled as she tried to throw kicks to free herself.
"Worry about yourself, bitch" mocked the man holding her, restricting her movements even more.
"Yeah…perhaps I'll give you matching shoulders" laughed the other one smashing another bottle against the wall and holding it near her face. "or taint that face"
"Please…leave us alone" cried Sakura, distress finally washing away her prior adrenaline and anger. She had tears around her eyes and her chest was tightening with anguish.
For the first time in her life, Sakura was truly and utterly afraid.
She had fights before, against her classmates and friends. But they weren't anything like this. Even when she faced Kiba, Sasuke or Neji in a spar – overwhelmingly outmatched, of course – she could still control her movements – even if they were weak – and she knew they would never truly hurt her.
Right now, only one thing was certain: these men wanted to hurt them – beginning with her. But she couldn't defend herself or her boys, not with one of the men restricting every move she made with his hold. Sakura was utterly defenseless and vulnerable in front of a very real threat this time.
She couldn't do anything. She was useless.
"Nah…I'm gonna give you a lesson an' enjoy it" he slurred with a revolting cackle
"HELP! PLEASE SOMEBODY, HELP!" Sakura screamed with all the force she had left. It was the only way they would survive this. It was the only way she could save Sasuke and Naruto.
"Shut up dumb bitch!" said her attacker and in a desperate attempt to silence her, he put his free hand around her neck and pressed with enough force to choke her.
She started coughing as the tears she was holding started to roll down her eyes. Her lungs begun to burn for the need of air. She felt her hands shooting out. Trying to weakly grasp the hand of her attacker, to stop him. But she didn't have enough strength to keep them in place or focus to get a grip, her entire body was going numb.
She couldn't stop him…was she going to die? What would happen to Naruto and Sasuke?
Her head became light and buzzing as her brain began to starve from the lack of oxygen. She didn't know how long she'd been chocked for or how long it took someone to black out from being asphyxiated. But she guessed, her time was up as darkness began to creep into the edges of vision.
"Leave her alone!" she heard someone – Sasuke? – shout.
Suddenly, Sakura felt the tension around her neck loosening as well as the hold in her arms and legs. She, automatically, gasped for air, fulfilling her lungs demand. But she couldn't tell immediately what was going on – why hadn't she fell?
She began to lose consciousness as she heard new voices surrounding her and some barks – was she dreaming? She hoped that wasn't the case, she hoped the sounds belonged to rescuers coming to their aid. But she couldn't know for sure…Sasuke and Naruto could still be in danger and Sakura couldn't afford to faint just yet, not until she was sure her boys were safe and sound. She tried to dart her eyes around furiously to prevent the black dots sweeping her consciousness away.
Her breaths became labored as she tried to fight her body shutting down. "It's okay, you are safe now" said someone holding her gently. She realized he was the person that had prevented her from falling.
She didn't recognize the voice, but in a last effort before fainting, she managed to see a ninja band with the symbol of Konoha holding a mop of grey hair.
It was a leaf ninja, they were safe now.
Hell broke loose once the Hokage and the head of the military force a.k.a. the kid's parents found out what had happened to their children.
As soon as they made sure the three kids were healed and out of harm's way, the two very powerful shinobi ran to punish the men that had dared to injure their children. They would have beaten those bastards, but as important authority figures, they could not afford to do so. Instead, they had imprisoned them. Those men were lucky enough to be retired ninja, otherwise their actions could have been labelled as treason to the Village and be exiled from Konoha – attacking the Hokage's kid was no joke, after all.
Meanwhile, the three kids were resting in the Senju compound, being carefully treated by their medics.
Sakura was the first one to wake up. She was in a dazzle, as if she was still dreaming – or rather, having a nightmare. She desperately wanted to move or say something, but she couldn't.
Eventually she managed a gasp. A gasp that burned her lungs. Her body felt weak, as if she had been crushed by a thousand rocks.
Her eyes darted around frantically to recognize something familiar, to see where she was. Where were her boys.
"It's okay, you are safe" said a familiar voice softly touching her arm to prevent her from sitting up.
"Naru, Sasuke?" she asked with a husky voice.
"Right next to you, still resting" Itachi responded motioning towards the two beds to her right. She sighed in relief.
"What happened?" she said, though it came out as a rasp. Her throat was really dry.
Before answering, Itachi slipped an arm behind her shoulder – the one that wasn't damaged – to boost her up with more tenderness than she would ever have thought of a rigid boy as him.
"Here" he then proceeded to hold a cup of water to her lips. She blushed, suddenly feeling too helpless and infantile. She drank the water eagerly, nevertheless.
"My parents?"
"Dealing with the…attackers" he said curtly. For the first time, Sakura noticed that Itachi was mad. His eyes were filled with anger and worry at seeing them in such state, especially when he looked at Sasuke.
"I'm sorry, Tachi" she whispered. She darted her gaze at her joined hands avoiding his gaze. She felt the guilt engulfing her. "I couldn't protect them…I was too weak. I'm really sorry" It's my fault.
She felt the tears start to gather once again in her eyes. This time not out of fear, but out of shame.
"Sakura" called Itachi with a calm but strong voice. "Do not take fault for something you are clearly not responsible for".
Sakura bowed her head, still feeling culpability. "I am her older sister, you know? I should've protected him. But I didn't…I couldn't, and I-I thought I was going to die, that we were all going to die and…"
"It's okay, calm down." He said soothingly rubbing gently circles on her back. "It is not your fault, you did everything you could."
"But it wasn't enough!"
"It was. You called for help and thankfully it came." He said sternly "You are not even six years old, Sakura. There was not much you could have done"
"You would have"
The little Senju only nodded, accepting Itachi's promise but also vowing to become a capable protector soon.
"Did she give any signal of activating the mokuton?"
"No, sir."
"Was the situation not dreadful enough?"
"It was. All the subjects suffered greatly, specially the children of the Hokage"
A scoff. "I guess she is not going to inherit the kekkei genkai"
"Not yet, at least"
"Well, in that case, we shall proceed with the other two subjects. The girl will no longer be our target"
"As you wish, sir"
A/N: I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I was really busy these couple weeks. And I am also sorry for writting this so quickly, I didn0t even had the time to correct it properly (I hope it's okay)
Anyway, please enjy it and tell me what you think about it!
PS: i really need a beta reader
PS2: I'll be correcting this chapter tomorrow (it has a lot of mistakes) but I hope you can still enjoy it
