Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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Sakura blew a raspberry on the toddler's tummy causing him to squeal with delight. She beamed at his loud giggles that filled an otherwise cold room.
"Look at your cute smile, my prince." She patted his soft maroon hair with affection.
Gaara squirmed away from her to play with the toys scattered about his room. For most of the day he was cooped up in here to keep him away from the rest of the village. It angered Sakura but even she could not go against the Kazekage's orders.
When her job as medic had concluded the Kazekage promoted her to full time caretaker of his youngest son. He had also set many rules upon her in raising the Jinchuriki. Most rules were about his constant solitude. Gaara was rarely allowed in the presence of his other siblings and never his father.
Gaara ambled back towards her on uncoordinated and stubby legs with his favorite stuffed animal. Sakura gave the stuffed raccoon to him for his first birthday and the boy had latched on to the thing as his favorite. She could read several things about that choice.
The boy raised his arms and made the motion that he wanted to be picked up. Sakura scooped him into her arms and rested him comfortably on her hip before walking the room.
"You should throw that thing away."
Sakura stopped and turned towards the single window in the room. Sitting on the open pane was Gaara's uncle, Yashamaru. He wore combat clothes so she assumed he was fresh from a mission. For the eighteen months Sakura cared for Gaara, his uncle made few appearances and this was the very first time he had spoken to her directly.
A tiny hand grabbed her collar tightly at the appearance of a stranger. Her heart also skipped a beat assuming he was referring to Gaara but the man indicated the stuffed animal with a nod of his head.
She sighed. "He's quite attached to the toy. I don't plan on throwing it out."
Yashamaru jumped down from the window and approached the two. "If the Kazekage finds out-"
"What would he do?" She cut him off. "Why teach the boy to fear what's inside of him?"
Turning her attention to Gaara she placed a kiss to his right temple hoping to quell the dark chakra that was building in his tummy since his uncle appeared. "Right Gaara? You're not afraid of mean old Shukaku, are you?" She cooed.
"Shiku!" He exclaimed and hugged the raccoon to his chest.
The man was baffled at the exchange but once more got hold of his hatred for the little boy that stole his sister's life. "He's a murderer and you treat him like this." He gritted out.
Sakura glared at the man with the protective force of any mother. "He committed no crime. This child had no choice when the village decided to put the one tail in him. He's innocent."
Her serious tone made Gaara bury his face in her neck, sensing the tension in the room and not liking it.
"One day Haruno that boy will kill you. Just wait." He spat out and jumped back through the window.
Sakura watched his retreating figure and thanked every higher power that Gaara's chakra immediately receded to the point it was almost undetectable. She bounced the boy on her hip and praised him for keeping reign over Shukaku.
"Wait until you're an adult Gaara-kun. You will never neeeeed to be good with words. Most people arguuuue with their eyes." She sing-songed.
"Haai!" He responded.
She smiled and kissed his right temple again. Already he was an expert in agreeing to things he didn't understand. He would make a good husband in about twenty years.
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"You."
The person did not raise their voice or attempt to attack her. Smiling, Sakura pulled off her weasel ANBU mask and appeared directly in front of her caller.
"Hello Tenzou." She greeted.
The boy did not smile or greet her back. Instead he reached for the tanto on his back and slid it expertly from the sheath. The familiar sound sent an uncomfortable thrill of anticipation through her body. He still did not attack.
"You chakra saved my life today."
Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Did it? How is that?"
Tenzou held up his right arm to reveal a familiar silver chain. "An ANBU was going to kill me but stopped when he felt the chakra in this bracelet." His eyes flicked to her. "It's the same as your chakra, I can feel it."
Her chakra set him on edge, with it's concealed power and raging depth. She was dangerous beyond the normal ANBU, those he could handle easily enough.
A killing intent suffocated the air between them and forced her to be on guard. He was only ten or so but he held his sword firmly in his hand like he had been a ninja for a decade. The people she was trying to save had made attempts on her life and rightfully so upon the first few meetings before they knew her.
In those instances unconditional warmth and care usually snuffed out any killer intent. Sakura fell to one knee in a non-threatening gesture. "I can remove it now if you want though it seems to be good luck." She grinned at the stoic boy.
Clearly surprised at her dropping to a disadvantageous position, Tenzou took a defensive step back from her, and tightened his hand around the hilt of his weapon.
"Who are you?"
She laughed heartily at the same old question. "Sakura Haruno."
Her kind and honest eyes made him more suspicious but a niggling feeling in his gut told him she was not here to harm. The feeling was one that rarely made an appearance so he quickly dispelled it. Once your guard came down it was game over.
"What do you want with me?" This time his voice shook.
Sakura didn't smile but her honesty shined through her words. "Nothing. I neither want nor expect anything from you. But I've been assigned a mission and I must complete it."
"A mission?" His face remained the same but he seemed to relax. Only a person who lived through work would be calmed by her comment, it reminded her of a boy with silver boy.
With a nod of her head, Sakura indicated for him to holster his weapon before she elaborated. Without any extraneous movement Tenzou put his tanto away and looked at her expectantly. He was better able to school his face when it came to official business and regained complete impassivity.
"I've been assigned as your guardian at the request of the Hokage. The details of this arrangement are written here." Sakura produced a scroll from her weapons pouch and passed it over to his awaiting hand.
Tenzou studiously read the scroll more than one time, looking for any hints of deception or forgery in the words and writing. Technically, she was sure Minato would support her in any endeavor…as soon as he met her. The bond they would have in the future made her feel less guilty about forging his signature after stealing an official mission scroll from the Hokage's office.
Though she was thorough in her methods, her bluff was a dangerous play around someone as skilled as Tenzou but her assurance that he would not find out came from his deep ties to ROOT and Danzou. The fact that he ran into Kakashi who somewhat corroborated her presence also helped her cause.
Tenzou handed the paper back satisfied that it was indeed real. That did not mean he implicitly trusted the pink-haired shinobi. He stared at her with guarded eyes. "Why would the Hokage assign me a caretaker?"
"As you saw in the scroll much of this information is confidential and you present an increased security risk thanks to that jutsu imprinted in your mouth. There is much I cannot tell you." Sakura smiled genuinely at his suddenly sullen face. Typical boy dramatics.
"But what you read is how our relationship will operate. In the way a mentor would, I am to offer you guidance and monitor your growth for however long it's deemed necessary. But you get to decide whether you want or need my help." She explained.
Sakura said her piece and waited patiently for his response. She had struggled to find an appropriate way to enter Tenzou's life and deciding on this approach risked him putting up a wall. Real or otherwise. While she could certainly protect him from the sidelines it made everything incredibly more difficult.
"You should kill me." He responded. In a heart shattering way he rationalized, "I can't protect you or Hokage-sama from Danzo otherwise."
Sakura's eyes widened at his admission and felt the accompanying guilt. The reason Tenzou was under that mad man's control was because of her. The consequence of hating herself was nothing new but failing him hurt deeply. Poor Yamato who lived solely for the sake of others, that had never demanded anything in his life, would not escape the trauma of his brief past.
His timeline was more open for manipulation than actual change. Sakura didn't need to change anything about his life, at least not in any way that would affect the outcome of the future war. Instead, her intentions were to use him to help her in the future. She had to actively trick her mind into thinking that his wellbeing mattered more than winning the war.
"You will never have to protect me. I promise." Sakura ignored the burning in her eyes and held her hand out to him. "So, how about we stick by each other for awhile?"
Teznou stared blankly at her proffered hand and then to her face. Finally after several minutes he silently nodded.
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A/N: Hellloooo! Sorry for the crazy weird update schedule, I've been quite busy. So I wanted to reassure everyone that this is indeed a romance story but it will not exactly start until the next timeline. Also, the rating may change with that future timeline to M for darker content.
