Sakura sinks to the floor.

This is conversation she should probably be sitting through. Shisui joins her, cross-legged and sprawling to accommodate his longer legs around hers. There's not a lot of space.

Okay, Sakura thinks, it's easier to tell the truth than to lie, sometimes.

"Mikoto-san told my parents that she thinks I'm being abused and now I can't play with my friends or go to the library on my own." Sakura says sadly.

"Are you being abused?" Shisui demands, a sharp flare of outrage in his chakra.

"No! Of course not!" She huffs, frustrated.

"Mikoto isn't a fool. Why would she think that if nothing's going on?"

"Because… well, because… she's seen me get upset a few times…"

"You still can't lie to save your life. Firefly, please. I need you to be honest with me now. I promise I won't get mad, and I definitely won't tell anyone." Shisui ducks his head to make eye contact with her. He looks very serious for once.

"I can't explain because I don't understand it." Sakura says quietly, looking at the floor, breaking his gaze. "I really don't. It…" She takes a deep breath. Is she really doing this? Shisui is kind, Shisui cares, and she has never, ever dreamed about him. He might be a friend, an enemy, he might leave Konoha like Sasuke or hurt someone like Itachi. Shisui is the definition of a wild card. But… he saved her from activating a dangerous jutsu. He kept her from spilling secrets when it didn't benefit him in the slightest. He's taught her without expecting anything in return.

Sakura slowly takes out one of the paper bombs Shisui once gave to her. She cracks it open and examines the contents. Hundreds of fragile petals are packed inside.

Shisui is looking at her, an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

"Sakura." He says her name for the first time since they met. "Please, be honest with me."

"I have dreams." Sakura says, not looking up from the paper bomb. Her heart is racing and she feels cold all over. She's so, so scared. "Of things that are going to happen. Before they happen. I saw Naruto in the park. I saw the man spit at him. And I did nothing. Then, it really did happen right in front of me, just like I dreamed it, and this time, I stopped it. I helped Naruto. I changed something. I've seen so many things, Shisui-kun. I've seen Naruto and Ino-chan die. I know Naruto is something called a 'kyuubi jinchuuriki,' and that one day the whole village will love him even though they think he's a monster right now. I've seen Sasuke leave me and break my heart. I've seen him hurt me. I've seen so many things and I don't… I don't understand them."

She tips the paper bomb up and lets some of the petals spill out. They float lazily to the floor. "It's like I can see my future in bits and pieces," She catches one of the petals, "It's never in order and sometimes it doesn't make sense at all. I've seen things that are going to happen in a few days, and other things in years and years to come."

Shisui's mouth opens and closes several times, like he's trying to come up with something to say. His eyes are wide. He shakes his head, dazed. "Firefly… I thought you were going to tell me about some evil guy… someone I could fight, something I could stop. This… this is insane."

Sakura flinches, "You think I'm crazy?"

Shisui doesn't even hesitate to reply, "No. You shouldn't know that about Naruto, and I know there's not a single person in the village who would've told you that. Not even your own parents. You aren't insane, the situation is. I – I don't… I don't know how to fix this. I… how can I keep you safe when I couldn't even… not even Itachi… what should I do?" He mutters, pacing up and down the shrine. His hands are in his hair, tugging it until it sticks up wildly.

"Okay," He whirls around, pointing at her, "How does it work? I want to test it out. What have you dreamed about me?"

Sakura freezes, staring back at him. Her mouth feels glued shut.

Shisui's eyes widen a fraction, then he laughs, a dark, bitter thing. "Oho. It's like that, is it? If you don't see someone's future, maybe they don't have a future, huh? That's… haha… it doesn't matter. This isn't about me. Tell me what you've seen about Itachi."

Sakura digs her fingernails into her palms. "I haven't seen anything about him."

"Liar." He grins. His chakra is swirling in a constant torment of anxiety and grief. Sakura can hardly bear it. "Tell me about him, please."

"I – I guess it's one of the reason's Mikoto-san misunderstood. She saw me react to Itachi-san, when I dreamed about him for the first time." Sakura takes a deep breath and lets her grip relax, the pain from her nails vanishing. "I saw him fighting Kakashi-san. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds and he looked older, maybe ten years or so. His eyes were red. He wasn't sparring with him. I was really, really scared. He – "

"What did his hitae-ate look like?" Shisui asks tonelessly, his gaze steady on her face. His chakra is like a focused point.

Sakura thinks about it. He wore it across his forehead, like many shinobi did, but there was something…

"Oh! It had a scratch across it! Through the symbol!" Sakura says eagerly, hoping it was the right answer.

Shisui slumps, covering his face with his hand.

He turns away.

"Shisui-kun?"

He's silent for a very long time. His shoulders are shaking. "O-okay, Firefly. Enough about Itachi, for now."

"Is he going to be bad, Shisui-kun?" Sakura presses. From what she has seen, Itachi's family loves him and has no idea that he might grow up wrong. He seemed kind when she talked with him, too. The only real worrying sign was the edge of darkness he had when facing down Ami. His anger was unsettling.

"He might… he might do something bad." Shisui murmurs, his eyes distant.

"So, you want to stop him."

"No, I want to save him." He corrects, poking her forehead. "But, I may have to leave that up to you, my little student. If your dreams really are visions, it seems significant that I'm not in any of them. I don't know how Itachi would fare without me. The Uchiha clan is so secluded and isolationist, it doesn't tolerate any outside ideas or anything that might not benefit the family. Itachi wasn't made for that life. Being the perfect son is already killing him. He needs a friend. Someone to keep him from whatever path he's on at the moment. And who better than you, someone who can see every path?"

"He scares me, Shisui-kun." Sakura confesses, her voice watery.

Shisui wraps his arms around her, "I'm sorry, Firefly. But whatever you saw about Itachi was years into the future, right? In the same way that we aren't who we used to be, we aren't who we will be either. Itachi's not that person yet. You have to look at him as he is now, as hard as that might be."

They don't say anything for a while, just holding on to each other. The only sound in the tiny shrine is their breathing, like a quiet, rhythmic breeze.

"Shall I tell you about who Itachi is now?" Shisui asks gently.

Sakura nods, burying her face in Shisui's shoulder.

"He pretends to be stoic and serious, but he can't hide the fact that he's a kid. He loves sweets. Dango's his favourite. He's only nine but he's already miles ahead of every shinobi his age. He's naturally gifted, sure, but a lot of his abilities come from hard work. He's always pushed himself far too hard. Probably because his dad's such a – uh, mean person – who's always pressuring him to be the best. He loves his little brother more than anything. Who knows why, Sasu-chan's such a little brat. Just kidding, don't glare at me! So, Itachi's a pretty great kid. He's… he's my best friend. He means a lot to me." Shisui finishes with a deep sigh, his arms tightening around her.

"He can't be a Monster," Sakura says sternly, ignoring the tears in her eyes, "He's too old. And he's no fun. But I'll be his friend anyway, okay? So, don't be sad. I don't like it when you're sad. You should always be happy."

"Thanks, Firefly." Shisui says quietly. She can hear the smile in his voice. "I'll try, for you."

"You talk about how Itachi and I are really young, but so are you, Shisui-kun. You need to have fun too. Not just when we're playing shinobi, okay?"

"Ah. I guess I better change the course I'm on, too. Who knows if it'll do any good, but it's worth trying. Okay. No more just playing the fool. It's always nice to play down to people's expectations, right?" Shisui laughs, with the first real curl of mirth in his chakra since they entered the shrine.

"I don't know what you mean, Shisui-kun."

"Oh, just that I'm not going to try to meet impossible standards anymore. If I'm the village idiot, it'll take some of the focus off Itachi. They'll all be far too busy shaking their heads over me to coo over his success. And he'll look better without having to kill himself working too hard, because I'll look so terrible by comparison. Do you know, Firefly, one of my Academy Teachers once said I had 'deplorable skills in strategy?' I'll show him. That old fart. You shouldn't call people that, though."

"Okay, Shisui-kun."

"Such a good kid. You know, this explains so much about you. The way you talk, act, how much you know – and don't know – and the reason you were so upset after seeing Sasu-chan at the park. I gave him a sternly-worded lecture about that, did you know? It's good to keep him on his toes, so I won't apologise. Your 'dreams' sound an awful lot like visions of the future. It's possible that you've developed a kekkei genkai. It might be the first of its kind, or there might have been others like you, secretly altering the course of the future. Phew. Just the idea of it is… phew. Normally, kekkei genkai are passed down through families, though there have been cases of just one person activating one. Like the Shodaime Hokage. Your parents are chuunin, right? Stands to reason that they don't secretly have the power to change the world."

Shisui let out a wild laugh, sounding rather giddy. "Oho, Firefly. The things you're gonna do. I always knew you were special and that you were gonna be great, but this is beyond anything I imagined for you. But… remember when I told you never to tell anyone you can heal? And I just got why you can do that, wow. Well, this is like that, but a thousand times worse. Do not EVER tell ANYONE about your dreams. Ever. There are people in the village who would do bad things if they knew. To you and everyone you care about. Right now, it seems like Mikoto's theory of abuse is working in your favour. Lucky you. Stick to it. Now, let's get planning. I need you to teach me how to read your code, so I can understand your notes. We can pass messages along that only you and I can read."

"It's a secret." Sakura pouts, folding her arms.

"You and I have no secrets," Shisui says, unimpressed, "We are open books. You like books, right? So, c'mon. Gimme your secret code. Stop being so stingy. I could crack it myself, but I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

Sakura lightly hits his knee, sulking. "I made it up all by myself. It took ages. But, I didn't burn the code because you stopped me, so I guess you can have it. You have to keep it safe, though. Or I'll get mad."

"The horror." Shisui rolls his eyes.

"I can be scary when I'm angry! I can punch mountains and then they go boom!"

Shisui pauses. "Well. That's. Okay, that's mildly terrifying. And somehow, I feel very proud. You're gonna build bridges with that sweet personality of yours, and then destroy them with your bare hands. Tell me about everything you've dreamed yourself doing. Every technique you can perform. If you don't know the name, just describe it."

Sakura sat with Shisui for half an hour, talking at length about the things she had seen herself doing. He listened to her stories of caving in men's ribs with one strike without flinching, and seemed impressed by her tales of bringing people back from the brink of death with healing.

"Okay, half of these techniques belong to Tsunade – " Shisui said finally, after listening intently to everything Sakura had to say.

(Tsunade-shishou is like the older, more bitter version of herself. She's still everything Sakura wants to be, and more. She was the first person to give Sakura a chance. To look at her and see something beyond her weak, current self. She saw potential.)

"Was that a dream?" Shisui asks, eyes narrowing at her.

Sakura nods, a little dazed by the wave of fondness and gratitude she had felt for Tsunade.

"It isn't hugely noticeable. You clearly lost focus and gazed into the distance, but it just looked like you were daydreaming. I'm guessing it wasn't a particularly traumatising vision."

"I called her Tsunade-shishou." Sakura informs him.

Shisui grins, "Knew it. There's no chance you could have learned any of this without her tutelage. She was one of the Sannin, some of the best shinobi of their time. She left Konoha before you were born. If she teaches you, she must come back at some point. That's some good news, at least. It's going to be pretty difficult seeing you for a while, until the rumours about your abuse die down. Itachi's in guard dog mode and his mother won't be much better. I'm going to have fun explaining this little sojourn to them."

"Sojourn means break or rest." Sakura informs him.

"Thanks for letting me know."

"This wasn't restful." Sakura sticks her tongue out at him.

Shisui laughs, and does the same, then his tongue turns purple and wobbles around goofily. Sakura falls about laughing.

Then, his tongue goes back to normal but his eyes are red and –

(A single red eye, streaming with tears. "Live, Sakura.")

Sakura gasps, reeling back.

"Oh! Sorry, Firefly! It was just a little genjutsu, I thought it'd be funny!" Shisui says frantically.

"Why are your eyes red, Shisui-kun?" Sakura asks faintly. She's seen eyes like that before in her dreams, spinning and spinning sickeningly until she's dizzy with regret and fear.

"What did you see?" Shisui's chakra pulls right back. Sakura's learned that people do that instinctively to protect themselves, as if they're awaiting a blow.

"Someone with red eyes, crying. They told me to live."

Shisui sucks in a breath. "Good advice," He says, pained, "I hope I never give it. My eyes are red, Firefly, because that's my kekkei genkai. The gift of the Uchiha. Sharingan."

(Red eyes burning through unfamiliar chakra, so intensely potent that it hangs around him in clouds. "Who did that to you, Sakura?")

Sakura shivers.

"The Sharingan improves vision immeasurably," Shisui pokes her forehead again with unerring precision, despite her attempts to dodge, "Hence why I noticed you dream again just now."

"I think it was Sasuke. He was really, really angry. He said, 'who did that to you?' His eyes were like yours."

"Interesting. So, your dreams can be triggered by speech. I said 'Sharingan' and you had a vision of Sasuke using his, at a particularly upsetting moment. As your sensei, I'm giving you an assignment. Try to focus on a certain person or thing. See if you can force a specific vision. If you could get even a small amount of control over your power, it could be very useful for you."

"I tried that once. I tried to see Naruto. I think I fell asleep and had a real dream. He died. I don't want to do that again." Sakura says imploringly.

"Okay, Firefly. Have you ever had a bad dream about your mother?"

Sakura shakes her head, sniffing.

"Try to have a dream about her this week. Do your best, kiddo. Also, can you sense when a dream's about to come or does it happen randomly?"

"Sometimes I get a warning. It's like… a nostalgic feeling. It comes over me really suddenly."

"Great! Whenever you feel that, bite your tongue. Not hard, just enough to ground yourself. Hopefully, it'll help mask your body language when you dream in front of people." Shisui says knowledgeably.

Sakura tries to practice sneakily, biting her tongue when he's not looking. "Ow!" She cries, covering her mouth with her hands. "Owowowow." She sticks her tongue out and fans it, as if that'll help.

"Too hard." Shisui says sympathetically. "Silly. Do not heal that. You still have the chakra reserves of a one-legged kitten, even if you have the kekkei genkai of a Kage."

"I'm not gonna be a Kage," Sakura says indignantly, lisping a little through her sore tongue, "Naruto is! I've seen how much the village loves him one day. And I'm going to be his best friend because he won't forget me, even when he's really important and has lots of other friends."

Shisui picks up a handful of the fallen petals and throws them at her face. "Stop being cute! You being adorable and trying to befriend strangers is what got you into this mess in the first place. Do you know how hard it is to lie to Hatake Kakashi?"

"Yep." Sakura says, matter-of-fact.

"You're a know-it-all of new and interesting proportions, huh. I like it. Well, Kakashi looked like he was going to skewer me when I admitted to hurting you by accident. Which isn't even true!"

"It is if you look at it sideways," Sakura says, tilting her head, "Kakashi-sensei always says to look beneath the underneath."

Shisui freezes, a delighted grin blooming on his face. "Kakashi… sensei?!"

"Oh yeah. He's the leader of Team Seven. That's me, Naruto and Sasuke."

"Sensei?! The Hokage gives Hatake Kakashi his own genin team? Aaaaand I can't even tell anyone. Great. And Sasu-chan's on your team? That'll make it easier for Itachi to worry about the both of you at the same time."

"You wanted me to be friends with Itachi-san, right? So, how do I make him like me?" Sakura asks.

Shisui gives a wry grin. "You're already well on your way there. Just be yourself. Remind him he's a kid. Break down his walls. But not with your fists, okay? You're going to have monstrous strength someday."

"Do you think if I try really hard, I can pick up really big dogs?"

"Sakura, no."

xxxxxxxx

Shisui walks Sakura to Sasuke's house in the Uchiha Compound.

It's huge.

Sakura stares up at it in awe. They could fit three of her house in there!

"When I'm older I'm gonna live with Naruto in a house just like this and we're gonna have a dog and some fish." Sakura tells him very seriously.

"Can I visit?" Shisui smiles down at her.

"Sure, whenever you want. I can cook. I'll make your favourite. But you have to take your shoes off, because it takes a long time to clean the floor when there's so much of it."

"You make a good point. What do you – "

"Shisui." Itachi says from behind them, his voice somehow polite yet seething in rage.

"Itachi! Look what I found! A lost child!" Shisui points at Sakura, beaming. "And I delivered her all the way here, too."

"You stole her." Itachi says bluntly. "And now she has missed lunch. Okaa-san is furious. Sasuke was very upset. You and I are going to spar, right now."

Shisui raises his hands slightly, his grin turning manic, "Uh, right now? I've got a… a very important mission. With the Daimyo. Right now. Bye bye!"

He vanishes before Itachi can take a step.

Sakura stares sadly at the empty space he used to fill. She wanted to talk more with him. He was the only one who understood.

"Sakura-san," Itachi says softly, "I hope you're still hungry. Okaa-san has made a spread of food, since she didn't know what you like. If you come over more often, you can tell her your favourites and she will make them for you."

Right. She was supposed to be making friends with Itachi now.

"Thank you." She says sweetly, smiling at him unreservedly. She feels a slight pleased hum in his chakra. "I'm very hungry. Shisui-kun and I took a walk and we talked about lots of things."

"What sort of things?"

Sakura makes herself frown. "Well, everyone thinks I'm upset all the time, but I think I'm okay. He wanted to know if anyone was making me upset. He made lots of jokes."

"That… certainly sounds like Shisui. Would you like to come inside?" Itachi asks politely.

Remind him he's a kid, Shisui said.

"Okay!" She chirps, taking his hand. She feels it startle in hers, like a wild animal spooked by a loud noise. "Let's play shinobi, Itachi-san!"

Itachi doesn't move a muscle for a long moment. Then, his hand grips hers and all of a sudden he's holding her hand, rather than the other way around.

"Lunch first," He says firmly, "Then… you and Sasuke can play and I will watch."

He starts walking towards the house.

Sakura refuses to budge.

He looks back at her, confused, when she fails to follow along behind him.

"I want you to play, Itachi-san. You helped me when Ami was being mean. I can do all sorts of things, but when people are being mean, I just… I can't do anything. And I hate feeling helpless more than anything. You helped me, so I want us to be friends." Sakura says solemnly, surprised to find it was true.

She was grateful to him for what he did. Her kekkei genkai might have given her a huge advantage over the other kids, but deep down she was still that shy little girl who couldn't handle conflict. Itachi had cut through Ami's words like they were nothing, when to Sakura, they were everything.

Itachi studies her. The lines beneath his eyes make him look older than he is. Shisui has the same, but they're more like her father's laughter lines. They just make him look more alive. Itachi always looks tired, right down to the bone.

"You told me to be good, once. What did you mean?" He asks.

Sakura thinks about it. She can hardly tell him the truth, that she saw him hurting Kakashi and that she was frightened of him.

Then again, sometimes it's easier to tell the truth than make up a lie.

"Shisui-kun told me about you. He said you like dango and sweets and that Sasuke's your favourite person in the world. I know you're very strong and you work hard, but that's not all you are, or all you can do. You can be a kid again. I can help. I'll show you all my toys and books and puzzles, and I'll teach you how to play games with me and my friends – that includes Sasuke, too! – and you can be better than great, you can be good. Like everyone else."

Naruto has shown her that she can blend in. She has the luxury of appearing normal. Naruto doesn't. Neither does Itachi. But she can help with that.

Itachi stares at her. His face is completely blank but his chakra is fluctuating with emotions, rapidly shifting with each one. Surprise – happiness – confusion – suspicion – hope.

"Lunch first," He says again, his voice a little hoarse, "Then… we'll see what comes next."


Hello again.

I would've updated earlier, but I was busy graduating :) I am now the proud owner of a Master's degree. The ceremony was cool, no one fell over and I shook hands with a local celebrity.

In other news, Itachi is suspicious yet also heartbreakingly hopeful in the face of Sakura's aggressive friendship.

So the Shisui-Sakura convo was SUPER long. I hope you guys liked it, because it was a long time coming. Sakura FINALLY told someone! She forgot to mention a few things (Kabuto is going to betray her, she can sense emotions through chakra and also she's seen herself die, not just Ino and Naruto. Also *coughs* Konoha gets destroyed *coughs*) Shisui assumed Sakura has a kekkei genkai because it actually kind of makes sense, unlike the whole time travel thing. That'd NEVER happen.

Shisui finds out he's probably going to die and his instinct is BUT IS ITACHI OKAY?

No Monsters in this chapter, but they're well on their way. It's taking two chapters for Sakura to finally get that food from Mikoto.

Btw THANK YOU SO MUCH for the HUUUUUGE response to the summons question. You guys are the BEST.

Speaking of questions, when exactly did Orochimaru leave Konoha? The timeline is a little iffy. Also, I know 'chibi' is a cute word for little, but is there a big equivalent? Like a nickname for a bigger version? I'm thinking of Sailor Moon, with Usagi and Chibiusa, but I can't remember anything useful. (I'm tired of mentally referring to older Sakura from the dreams as older Sakura or future Sakura.)

Thank you for each and every comment. They really do keep me writing. There's just no motivation like getting a long comment!

Who will Sakura befriend next? THE SUN?

Quick poll for fun: Who are your LEAST favourite Naruto characters?

Pick as many as you like, and feel free to rant about them.