"So, Mister 'I'm Too Good to Have Faith in my Superiors,' are you ready to see just what I have planned for you?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "...Fine."
Kimura took a breath and slipped his book into a pouch. "Perhaps it was because Obito was involved. You considered my training exercise to be lazy rather than effective. Was it because you just didn't feel like watching your teammate?"
"It was because you were doing absolutely nothing."
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, my naïve little friend. I was doing something, and that something is what you were being tested on."
Kakashi frowned beneath his mask.
"...Observation."
The frown dropped.
Kimura cleared his throat and continued. "A shinobi must perform his mission to the very best of his ability. You believe this, correct? Well, that is also true of training exercises. I told you to watch Sasuke train your goggle-clad friend, and perhaps you did. But likely not enough. I'm doubting you saw everything you should have seen. And I'm going to determine that now."
Holding his hands before him in the seal of the ram, Kimura was silent as he vanished in a puff of smoke. When Kakashi's vision cleared, Kimura was gone.
Instead, Obito stood there.
"I'm Obito," Kimura said simply, his voice a perfect mimicry of the young Uchiha, "and you are Sasuke. We are going to perform the match that we just finished observing; every move, every blow, every mistake, every success. And we are not leaving this clearing until it is perfect."
Kakashi's eyes went wide.
Kimura-Obito smirked. "Bet you wish you'd paid more attention now, don't you?"
The chuunin's only response was a deep breath.
"Well, Sasuke? Come at me."
Her training done for the day (Rin had had a previous engagement that she couldn't break), Sakura decided to wander the village for a while. If asked, she may have said that it was simply further training, noting every detail of change that she could find.
She was just plain curious.
The first major change she noted was that she kept expecting a summons from Tsunade at any moment. The Fifth was a highly unpredictable woman, and held meetings at some of the strangest times.
It took Sakura a while to remind herself that her sensei wasn't here. At this time, Tsunade was nowhere near Konoha, and likely wouldn't agree to train her even if she begged.
The Tsunade of this time wasn't even a ninja.
Not anymore.
Not yet.
The people walking the streets – even the few she actually recognized – looked alien to her. Of course they would. But it was still surreal, and Sakura couldn't really wrap her mind around the idea yet.
A few of the more extroverted villagers waved to her, and she waved back. A few of the more respectful villagers bowed to her, and she blushed.
She stopped walking when she came up to a building she couldn't remember ever having seen, even in her early childhood. It was an imposing structure, to be sure, but the one thing Sakura locked her eyes on was the instantly recognizable symbol atop the sign that named the establishment.
The Uchiha fan.
It was the headquarters for the Konoha Military Police Force.
"This...is it..." she whispered, awestruck.
The building where the best of Konoha had held the law together. A group of shinobi more respected (and feared) than even the ANBU. Soldiers of legend.
The Hidden Leaf's trump card.
She began walking forward, entranced.
It...really was the past...
It hadn't hit her until this. Even seeing the future Yondaime and his team hadn't done it. Seeing her teacher, her commander, as a child no older than she, hadn't done it.
But this...this was history.
She bumped into the woman without even seeing her.
She landed on her back, and her hitai-ate fell from its place atop her head to where most shinobi wore it, across her forehead.
When she stood, it fell farther, to where her commander wore it, across her eye.
Lifting the headband, she reached behind her head and tightened it, setting it into its proper place.
The black-haired woman smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice you there."
"No, no, I'm the one who should apologize," Sakura said quickly. "I...wasn't paying attention."
"Who's this, Mikoto?"
"Hm?" the woman murmured, glancing back as another woman approached from behind. "Oh, I bumped into her."
The other woman, holding a squalling baby in her arms, grunted. "Will you take this little monster for a minute?"
The woman named Mikoto took the baby from her companion. "Are you causing your aunt trouble again, little one?"
The baby, a boy, giggled. "No!" he declared. "No twubble! No' fwum me!"
"Oh, not from you, huh?"
Sakura smiled, chuckling slightly. "He's so cute."
Mikoto adjusted herself so that the baby was situated on her hip. "Yes, he can be very sweet when he wants to be. Sometimes, though...You need to leave poor Auntie alone now, you understand?"
Sakura's smile widened. Tickling the baby's chin (he wasn't a baby, actually; he looked around two years old), she asked, "What's your name, sweetie?"
The baby grinned and proclaimed:
"Itachi!"
Sakura's heart skipped three beats.
Her hand dropped, suddenly deadweight.
Her skin went pale.
Mikoto raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Is something wrong?"
"I...s-sorry. I just...I...know someone named I-Itachi...he...looks kinda like him. Just a...little surprised, is all. It's nice to meet you, Itachi-chan. I'm Sakura."
"Hi, Sakuwa!" Itachi said.
"Well, well, aren't you being social today?" Mikoto asked.
"Kaachan!" Itachi said excitedly. "Sakuwa pwetty!"
Sakura, despite her shock and revulsion, couldn't help but blush. She forced a smile back on her face. "T-Thank you very much, Itachi-chan. And you're...very handsome yourself."
"Tank you!"
Mikoto smiled. "Very good, Itachi. That was very polite."
"Po—wite," Itachi repeated with added emphasis, nodding for good measure.
"You're...welcome."
Bowing, Sakura said, "It was...an honor meeting you, Uchiha-sama. I'm sorry again for bumping into you."
Mikoto smiled at the woman who was, apparently, her sister. "Hear that? 'Uchiha-sama,' she says. No need for such formality, Sakura-san. We're both kunoichi, after all. It was nice meeting you, too."
She kept her head down.
The other woman frowned. "Wait...Sakura? Yamada Sakura?"
It took her a moment to remember that yes, that was her name for now. She looked up. "Yes, madam. I'm Yamada Sakura."
"Oh! So you're the young lady Obi-kun was talking about today!"
"Obi...Obito-san?"
"Yes, yes. He mentioned meeting you today. Jiraiya-sama brought you here, didn't he?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I can only imagine why..."
Sakura chuckled. "Yes, well...I don't intend to let him do anything...although he surely has something planned."
"Well, you be careful around him...it seems Obi-kun wasn't kidding."
"Hm?"
"Oh, oh, nothing. Don't mind me. You must need to be getting somewhere. Come on, Mikoto. We'd better be heading back."
"Sure."
"Goodbye," Sakura said.
As she turned to leave, she heard the as-of-yet unnamed Uchiha - Obito's mother, probably - say, "She is cute. I think Obi-kun might be getting another crush."
"Now, now," Mikoto said, "I wouldn't count out Rin-chan just yet. She's a sweet girl, and you know how boys are about their first loves. Obito-kun really does like her quite a lot."
The two women continued talking, but Sakura heard none of it.
She could hardly believe what had just happened.
Her blood ran cold.
Looking down at her hand, Sakura honestly expected it to be bleeding. She had...had...touched him! She had spoken to him! Had...had...
"Oh, God..."
Hugging herself, she started walking back the way she had come. She needed to be away. She needed to think. What would she do? What should she say? To Sasuke? Oh, God, what would Sasuke think? What would he do? How would he...what would he...how would...oh, no...
It wasn't often that Haruno Sakura honestly lost control of herself. But this...this was...
"Gotta give credit to your sensei for that one," Jiraiya said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Quite an effective training exercise."
Naruto agreed. "Ka—er, I mean, Kimura-sensei's good at that stuff. You think it'll work, though?"
"Kakashi's a smart kid," the sannin said. "He'll get it eventually. But it'll be a long while. Getting dark already. He'll probably be out there all night."
Naruto sympathized. He knew how much it sucked to train at night. And fighting against somebody? Sheesh...especially somebody older and stronger than you?
He shuddered.
They passed Sasuke, standing by himself while he surveyed the townspeople still walking the streets. When he noticed them, he silently began following them.
"How was your first day training a chuunin, O Prodigal Son?" Jiraiya wondered.
"...Better than I expected."
"You say that grudgingly."
"I didn't say it was good...just better than I expected."
"What'd ya do?" Naruto asked.
"I fought him."
"That it?"
"Basically."
"Well, that couldn't've been too bad."
"So you say."
"So...what? Obito suck or something?"
"No...but he's not what I expected. A chuunin...I figured on more of a challenge."
"Well, maybe our standards for chuunin aren't as high at this point in time," Jiraiya said mockingly. "So sorry that it didn't meet your expectations."
"Tch."
"Much as I don't want to admit it, kid," Jiraiya said seriously, "you're better than a lot of ninja your age. Not to mention you've the distinct advantage of being able to use the sharingan against a member of a clan whose entire strength as shinobi revolve around it...something Obito is conspicuously lacking as of now."
Sasuke scowled. "You act as though we are incompetent without the sharingan. Uchiha shinobi aren't so weak as that."
"Perhaps not, but regardless of that, Obito's entire training regimen at the moment revolves around acquiring the sharingan, therefore his skills are...somewhat lacking."
"Nh."
They didn't speak again until they happened across Sakura, who looked extremely distracted. Naruto called out his usual enthusiastic greeting, and instead of ignoring him, or snapping at him to quiet down, or even waving to Sasuke, she simply lifted her head up.
When she noticed Sasuke looking at her, Sakura's face paled considerably, and she bit her lip. "O-Oh..." she murmured softly, giggling nervously, "S-S-Sasuke-kun. Naruto. T-There you guys are."
Sasuke grunted an acknowledgement.
"Um..." She licked her lips nervously as they approached. "So...how'd your training with Obito-san go, Sasuke-kun?"
"Could have been worse."
"O-Oh. That's good. Um...how about you, Naruto?"
"Awesome! I—hey, Sakura-chan? You look kinda sick. You okay?"
"Um...no, I'm not...sick. Um, Naruto, could I talk to you a minute?"
Sasuke and Jiraiya glanced at each other.
"I-I, uh...I've been wondering something...about...kage bunshin...and, you know...who better to ask, right?"
Sasuke seemed to accept that.
Jiraiya didn't. "Oh, I don't know, Sakura, how about the one who's been around for fifty years! I've been studying and using more techniques than you—"
"You don't use that technique, Jiraiya-sama. Naruto does. A lot. And that's what I want to ask him about."
"Uh...sure, Sakura-chan. What's up?"
"Um...well...I..."
Jiraiya frowned. "Apparently this is meant to be private. She keeps looking at us. C'mon, Mister Sharingan. Let's go check on that lazy-ass commander of yours."
Sasuke looked at the man oddly for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever."
They left Naruto and Sakura alone.
Once alone, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the shoulders. "Naruto! I saw him! I met him! Oh, God, what do we do?!"
"Uh...met...him? Him who?"
Sputtering, she finally choked out, "I-Itachi! I saw him!!"
Eyes widening slightly, Naruto's face slackened. "Oh. Him. Well, what'd you do?"
"I...I...what could I do?! I...said hello! He was with his mother, a-and...and...he...he called me 'pwetty!' Pwetty!"
Cracking a smirk, Naruto snickered. "Hope you thanked him."
"...Huh?! Wha...Naruto, this is Itachi! The...the biggest criminal Konoha's ever seen since...since...!"
"Orochimaru?"
"Yeah!"
"Sakura-chan, why're you getting so worked up about this? Wasn't he, like, thirteen when he did that? How old did he look when you saw him?"
"Um...two...-ish."
"Well, see? It ain't gonna be another eleven years before he goes bad."
"But...Naruto! I...we know it's going to happen!"
"Yeah, but like I said before, how we gonna prove it? If he called you—" here he snickered again, "—pwetty, I'm sure he's not exactly...mean-spirited. Yet. No one's gonna believe us. They'll throw us out."
"But...but what about Sandaime-sama!? We could tell him! Jiraiya-sama could explain the jutsu, and...and..."
"And Old Man Hokage won't do a damn thing. Eleven years, Sakura-chan. Lots can happen in eleven years. He'll wanna wait it out. Maybe he'll watch Itachi closer, but—"
"Wouldn't that be enough?!"
"Maybe. I dunno. The Uchiha clan was huge, remember? Strongest we had. He killed 'em all. By himself."
"But...didn't he do it at night?!"
"Exactly. When everybody was sleeping. Nobody kept an eye on him. You think Old Man Hokage's gonna keep tabs on him for eleven years? Security ain't gonna be tight enough. And we can't kill him now. We'd be killed. Then what? The Uchiha clan's saved? Sure, but I don't wanna sacrifice myself and my friends for strangers...not if I can avoid it."
"So...so...what do we do, then?!"
"Said it yourself, Sakura-chan. He called you pretty. He likes you. Make friends."
Mouth opening in shock, Sakura couldn't form a reply for a long, long moment.
"You...you're saying" she finally said, "...we stop him from killing Sasuke-kun's family...not by talking to the village...but by talking to him?"
"Sure. Why not? Kids're impressionable."
"But...but..."
"I know. You're thinking of the Itachi we know. The criminal. The murderer. How could we make friends with a guy like that?"
She nodded weakly.
"How could we stomach being all nice to the guy who ruined Sasuke's life? The guy evil enough to kill his own family just 'cuz he could? He's a cold-blooded psycho. He deserves to die. Why not just kill him?"
Another nod.
"Sakura-chan, I learned a lot about psychos in the time I been a ninja. Big thing I figured out is they ain't just born like that. Something makes 'em snap. People can't be born evil, but they sure's hell can learn it. And just like how something makes 'em go cold, something else can make 'em come back."
"How...how can you...?"
"Zabuza. Gaara. Temari. Kankurou. Neji."
Sakura would later think on just how often Naruto had managed to stun her into complete silence in the past few days.
"Gaara especially," Naruto went on. "He was freakin' nutzoid. 'I exist to kill everyone other than me.' He told me that. Me 'n Shikamaru. Can't get much crazier. He was tryin' to kill Fuzzy-Brows when he was in the hospital.
"But 'member what happened when me, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and Neji went after Sasuke? Fuzzy-Brows came to help us out, and when things went bad, who came to help him? Gaara."
She did remember.
"First impressions're hard to forget. Damn hard. I know it's gonna be tough keeping the Itachi we know from popping up in our heads when we see him here. But he isn't that guy. He's a kid. And if we work at it, I think we can stop him from turning into that guy."
"...Only you..."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"...O-Only you would look at this and...and come up with such a...simple, preposterous, ridiculous, impossible, brilliant idea."
A grin spread on the blonde's face. "Really? Brilliant?"
"I...I...don't know how you..."
"Heh...brilliant. Seriously? Wow."
"We can do this...if...if we just..."
"Sure we can."
Naruto clapped his teammate on the shoulder, and for once she didn't yell at him for touching her. "Not only are we gonna do it, we're gonna convince Sasuke to do it, too. Much as he's gonna hate it."
"We...are?"
"Sure!"
Sakura had thought for the longest time that Naruto's steadfast confidence in himself was simple bravado. That he had no idea what he was getting into when he dove headlong into danger.
She was beginning to rethink that assumption.
Maybe...Naruto did know what he was getting into when he dove headlong into danger...he just didn't care.
And maybe that wasn't bravado...
Maybe that was courage.
Maybe...Naruto's dream to become Hokage wasn't just a dream.
Maybe it was his calling.
Maybe a man who would make friends with an enemy rather than executing him was the sort of man who should lead a village.
Or maybe I'm just going nuts...
Looking at Naruto now, Sakura couldn't help but draw a correlation between him and Minato. They looked similar, they acted similarly, they had that same steadfast confidence...
And look at what Minato had ended up doing.
It felt strange, to have an epiphany like this. The more she thought, the more she realized just how much Naruto had done. How much he had been able to do that no one else could have.
He had faith in people.
He believed in people.
Even the enemy.
"Let's...go find Sasuke-kun and Jiraiya-sama," Sakura suggested, and Naruto agreed with a grin and a nod.
As they walked, she gripped his hand, squeezed gently, and said, "Thank you."
Looking at her, Naruto grinned again. "We're a team, Sakura-chan. No need to thank me."
Sakura smiled. Was it really that simple?
Apparently, Naruto thought it was.
We're a team...
Her smile widened.
Then...
Wait a second...
The smile vanished.
...Obito thinks I'm cute?
As a strong supporter of NaruHina, it shames me to admit that this tale may become NaruSaku in the future. I say future because...c'mon. They're twelve. Give 'em a couple years. But from the look of it, the story's leading me in that direction. That's the strange thing about my work. I can never draw out an outline for anything. Most of my best ideas come while I'm writing others, and if I'm trying to follow a rigid guideline, it just messes me up.
Sorry if that disappoints you. Those of you who don't like Sakura...well, neither did I. Story's changing my perspective. Maybe it'll do the same for you. I dunno. If it doesn't, then I hope you'll still be able to enjoy the story despite possible developments. And remember that, too. Possible. I don't know if it'll happen.
And so the plot thickens, ne? I've got myself quite a few little things going on that'll grow in the future, don't I? This should be fun.
'Til next time, all. Hope you enjoyed it.