Note: Trying something new, writing style wise. Notice the difference? Anyways I altered my updating schedule to every other Sunday because finals are a thing. Enjoy this, it's long as hell.
Sakura smirked as Itachi ran after her, their hearts pounding from exertion as they neared the great walls of the Uchiha Compound. Urging herself to go faster. Sakura rushed forward into the compound, immediately dodging left to avoid anyone that might be out on the main roads.
The elders of the clan didn't like her being there too much, with her being a civilian and all. She has no business here, they once said to Fugaku when she was over, and Mikoto gripped her shoulder tightly. She was the wife of the Uchiha Clan head, and so she did not speak, but her wavering gaze at Fugaku spoke volumes. 'Get them out,' it said, 'I don't care what they have to say.' Fugaku was always one to follow the whims of his elders, but he knew to not cross his wife. She didn't carry the title of Jounin just because, no matter that she was a housewife as soon as she married, he knew she still trained when she had the time, and knew no one could see her.
She had done so much for Sakura in the short amount of time she had known her, so when she skidded to a halt just before the entryway of the house, she all but threw open the door calling, "I'm back!"
"Welcome back, Sakura!" Mikoto called from the kitchen. By the smell of it, she was cooking fish for dinner, and Sakura was glad her parents gave her permission to stay out for long amounts of time after the first few weeks of her training with Shisui and Itachi. She pulled off her shoes, put on the house slippers - Mikoto swears to Fugaku she never bought them specifically for Sakura - and walks into the kitchen, taking note of the tiny Sasuke on the floor just out of the way of Mikoto's feet.
Just as he reached forward for her legs, Itachi's 'I'm home.' filled the air, and Sasuke shifted his direction to the doorway as Mikoto replied, "Welcome home, Itachi!"
He nodded in her direction and moved to pick Sasuke up, the younger brother all but attaching himself to the elder. Mikoto laughed at Itachi's mild protest as Sasuke yanked tightly on his growing hair before returning to the food cooking on the stove.
Itachi and Sakura left the kitchen for the living room, dragging along Sasuke to keep him out of Mikoto's way - not because he wouldn't let go of Itachi's hair or anything - they plopped down on the couches. Sakura pulled a book off of one of the nearby shelves, and, looking at Itachi as if asking permission, waited for a nod before leaning back and opening up to the first page.
She had made it to chapter three when Mikoto called them back in to set the table. Itachi shuffled past Sakura to place Sasuke in his crib, leaving her alone as she made her way through the dining room and into the kitchen. As soon as she stepped foot into the kitchen, she was overwhelmed by the sight of dishes upon dishes of food. Her wide green eyes made contact with Mikoto's amused black ones.
"I may have gone a bit overboard." She sighed, then brightened up. "Maybe you can take some home to your parents, Sakura! I'm sure they'd love it!" Sakura went to open her mouth in protest, but Mikoto turned to the cupboards and pulled out several stacks of various dishes, placing them on an empty spot on the counter. "Take these and set the table, then come help me bring all of this out." Mikoto ordered, handing Sakura four sets of dinnerware.
Dutifully, Sakura began setting the table, retreating to the kitchen when Itachi stepped in wordlessly and took over. She approached the Uchiha matriarch, who handed her several steaming dishes and told her to place them in the middle of the table, and to be careful to not burn herself. This process was repeated until Fugaku announced his arrival and Mikoto quietly told Sakura to go bring the rest of the food out with Itachi while she went to greet him.
When Fugaku sat down in the dining room, bright pink from the doorway caught his eye. The pink child was back again, he noted, and was likely to stay for dinner again, if the extra table setting said anything.
"Welcome home." Mikoto said, bringing in a plate of food, followed closely by Itachi and Sakura, who were carrying a container of sake and water respectfully. They set their items down onto the table before sitting down.
Dinner that night was less awkward than the first time, though it was quiet with the lack of Shisui's comments. After several minutes of quiet, Mikoto made eye contact with Sakura and waited for her to swallow before asking, "So, Sakura, how's school going?" Sakura grinned, ignoring Fugaku as he turned his full attention to the conversation between the two.
"It's going well! It's a bit boring, but Sensei lets me read whatever I want so I don't really mind."
"Oh, and what kinds of things have you been reading?"
Sakura took another bite of her fish before responding. "Nothing too big, mostly upper level books on Chakra theory. They're quite interesting."
Fugaku swallowed his sake before joining into the conversation. "I hear you are quite advanced for your age. Itachi praises you often." Sakura gave Itachi a questioning stare, to which he responded with a flush of embarrassment. "Are you set to graduate early?"
Sakura thought back to the folders she had borrowed from the teachers desk. They were the student files from their class. Itachi's happened to have less paperwork than hers, but that was because of the required civilian enrollment forms her parents had had to fill out in the beginning of the year. Itachi's file had a stamp across his paperwork. Approved, it said, and Sakura knew it was for early graduation. Her file had no such stamp, instead a small, declined, pressed neatly into the upper leftmost corner.
"Not yet. I am aiming for that though." Fugaku seemed pleased with her answer, but Mikoto seemed confused by her confession.
"You're not graduating yet?" She asked, placing her chopsticks down and facing the pink haired child fully. "Why? You are as good as Itachi, even better in some areas." Fugaku made a slight noise of protest as Mikoto continued. "Do they not see your potential?"
Sakura shifted in her seat, meeting the woman's gaze. "It probably has to do with the fact that I'm civilian. They have no reason to allow me to graduate early."
Fugaku gave his wife a look as she opened her mouth to respond. Don't you dare, it said, Mikoto don't you dare, but Mikoto never listened to him much anyways, and ignored his look as she stared down at Sakura. "If that's the only reason, we can sponsor your graduation. Support from the Uchiha is bound to get you out of there as soon as possible." Fugaku internally groaned at his wife's actions. The amount of paperwork and meeting with the elders he'd have to do was just piling up by the second.
Disregarding thoughts of paperwork, he too set his chopsticks down. "I'll see how many strings I can pull, but I can't promise anything. This is a rare opportunity, you understand." Fugaku stared into wide green eyes.
"I do." Sakura whispered in shock. "Thank you. For everything you have done for me." It may have been just a few meetings after training, and a couple nights of staying for dinner, but Mikoto worked hard to make sure she felt welcome, and it was the greatest thing they could've done for her.
They finished dinner soon after the conversation trailed off back into silence, and Sakura once again carried the dishes to the kitchen to help clean up. Mikoto didn't stop her as she dampened the spare sponge and began scrubbing down the rice bowls.
"I'm glad." She whispered, smiling softly at the girl as she rinsed the bowl she was working on. "I'm glad Itachi has a friend like you." Sakura looked up at Mikoto.
"Did you say something?" She asked, though she had heard every word.
"No. Maybe it was someone outside?"
"Maybe." Sakura agreed, smiling at the bubbles filling the sink as she reached in for another dish.
Sakura reached for the door handle, adjusting the grip she had on Itachi's shoulder. They stumbled in, peeling off their grimy shoes and calling out a "We're back."
Mikoto appeared at the end of the hallway, then, right next to them, wincing as she saw the bruise forming on Itachi's chin, and the fact that Sakura was all but leaning on Itachi. Her instincts took over, and she immediately began moving them towards the living room. Just before she sat them down, Sakura winced as she remembered the amount of dirt she had caked onto her face.
"Um, actually, do you think I could use your shower?"
Mikoto froze, before muttering a quick, wait here, and rushing back out the room. Sakura winced as she removed her grip from Itachi's shoulder and placed weight on her left leg. Her ankle was probably sprained, she guessed, and it might take a bit of work to heal it like she could've in the past. Future? Both? Whatever it was, it was giving Sakura a headache. Or maybe that was just because of how tired she was.
"Here." A stack of cloth was placed in front of Sakura. "Sorry about the wait, we don't have too much in your size. I hope you don't mind." Sakura took the stack, noting the shirt with an embroidered Uchiha crest on the back that sat on top. "It's Itachi's old one. I hope you don't mind." Sakura shook her head.
"It's fine." She looked around. "So, where is the-"
"Follow me." Mikoto took lead, and Sakura was glad she couldn't see the pained face she made when her left foot hit the floor. The Uchiha bathroom was large, with walls decorated with uchiwa mosaics that shone in the light, and pristine white countertops that reflected the uchiwa from the walls. Mikoto took her leave, shutting the door before saying, "You should take a bath. It'll help with the pain of your ankle."
Sakura blinked at the door, then leaned forward to lock it. She peeled her muddy clothes off herself, sitting as she took off her bottoms to avoid falling, then hung them behind the door. The shower was vaguely easy to figure out, and her only issue was figuring out which shampoo to use. There where several bottles, and she judged them all with a careful gaze before selecting a brown bottle and placing a decent amount into her small hand. She lathered it into her hair and took note of how smooth is was after rinsing it. This, she decided, was the secret to the amazing Uchiha hair, not genetics, though they probably played a part.
She shut off the shower and started the bath, panicking when she realized she had nothing to tie her hair back with. She limped towards the stack of things Mikoto gave her, hoping for a small towel to wrap her head, and found a hair clip. Mikoto had thought of everything, it had seemed, down to the last detail.
The warm water surrounded her, welcoming her into the tub as she slipped in, hair pulled up with a black clip. She leaned forward, reaching for her medical chakra as she grasped her left ankle gently. She closed her eyes and focused on healing, on mending what was injured, and, after several minutes, the ankle was healed to a manageable, dull ache. She would still need to be careful, but she wasn't in danger of making it worse. Her head hit the back of the tub as she leaned back, letting herself slip from consciousness.
"Take them to the medical tent. We cannot let them die of something so simple." Tsunade's voice called from below her.
"Yes ma'am." About a dozen tired voices called, their hope not yet drained by the ongoing war.
"Sakura." She turned her head to face her teacher. "Make sure they all come back okay. We need as many medics as possible."
"I'll do my best, Tsunade-shishou."
Her teacher's words rang through her as she pulled another medic from the brute of the attack, shielding him with her own body.
'Keep them alive. Just for now, keep them alive.' She prayed as she threw herself in front of another attack. Blood slipped from multiple wounds as she used her byakugou to keep herself upright as she took attack after attack for her comrades. The healing after each attack took a large chunk of chakra, and eventually, she was running low on chakra. 'Stop', her body screamed as she persisted, all but throwing the other medics out of the way.
"Forehead, duck!" Ino screamed, pulling herself from the rubble. She was one of the assigned medics, and was working on keeping the patients from harm. It was too late though. Sakura moved down slightly, and was hit by a powerful explosion that shook the earth beneath their feet.
Ino ran towards her, tripping over rocks and bodies as she raced to her friend. "Damn it Sakura, don't be dead." She called, throwing herself next to the pink haired medic and forcing healing chakra into her body.
"Ino." Sakura coughed, reaching for Ino's glowing hand. "Don't waste that on me."
Ino was livid. "Waste? WASTE? Sakura don't give me that shit. I'm not wasting it if I'm saving your life!"
"Ino." Sakura frowned, blood spilling from her lips as she pulled Ino's hand in tight. "Ino, it's over."
"NO!" She screamed. "It's not. It's not. I refuse. You are not allowed to die, Sakura."
Sakura took in her friend's frantic gaze, before gazing at the barely standing medical tent. "Neither are they." She coughed, blood pulsing through her fingers and into Ino's lap. "Keep them safe, alright?"
"No. Sakura, don't you dare, don't you dare do this." Sakura lifted a hand to Ino's face, brushing away the tear from her left cheek.
"Take… Care…" Ino watched in horror as Sakura had yet another coughing fit.
"Sakura, no, don't." Ino's voice was little more than quiet sobs. "Sakura don't do this to me."
"Ino-Pig." Sakura's head hit the ground, her eyes shuttering closed.
She bolted upright, the water around her shifting and splashing as she attempted to steady herself. "You're in the Uchiha bathroom," she whispered, the slight slowing of her breathing convincing her to continue. "You were training and got dirty so now you're bathing in the Uchiha bathroom." She stayed in the bath for another few minutes before carefully pulling herself out, convincing herself she was shaking from cold as she dried herself off with the fluffy towel Mikoto had given her.
The pants, she noted, were a bit too long in the leg. She rolled them up and pulled on the Uchiha shirt. Her semi-damp hair twisted awkwardly as she pulled the clip from it. Maybe she could borrow a hairbrush from Mikoto, she thought, keeping her mind distracted to avoid her memories for as long as possible.
Mikoto was in the living room when she left the bathroom, her eyes scanning the pages of the book Sakura had read in her past life. The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. Naruto's namesake, if she recalled correctly. Mikoto caught Sakura's eye and put the book down, gesturing to the empty seat next to her. When she sat down, Mikoto pulled a hairbrush out of nowhere and Sakura nodded, turning around and allowing Mikoto to run the brush through her hair.
She hadn't realized how tired she was after training and healing her ankle, but the scratching from the brush against her scalp sent shivers down her spine and she fought the desire to close her eyes, leaning back ever so slightly against Mikoto and towards the brush. She closed her eyes, her weight all but collapsing against Mikoto's side as she fell asleep.
Mikoto remained as a pillow for another 10 minutes before Itachi entered the room and came to her rescue. "Can you bring her up to the spare room and lay her on the futon. I would, but I can't feel my right side right now." She smiled as Itachi pulled the girl who was almost his height up into his arms and carried her down the hall and to the left.
Mikoto stretched and pulled herself to her feet. She needed to send for Shisui to inform Sakura's parents that she would be staying the night. After all, Shisui had been to her house before, and she didn't want Itachi out so late. Just as she was making her way to the door to pull on her shoes and hunt him down, she sensed two familiar chakra signatures nearing the house. Shisui's and Fugaku's. It saved her a trip, she supposed, but made her wonder. Why were they together? She understood if it was police force business, but this didn't feel like that. Just before they reached the door, she pulled it open, smiling at the two, welcoming her husband before turning to Shisui.
"Go and tell Sakura's parents she's staying here tonight. She fell asleep so she's been moved to the spare room." She ordered, the power behind the words making her miss the authority she had as an active jounin. Shisui looked at Fugaku, who nodded, before turning back to Mikoto and grinning.
"Don't worry Auntie, I got it covered!" He said flickering away.
Mikoto moved out of the doorway and let her husband in before walking to the linen closet for Sakura's bed in the spare room. When she opened the door, several blankets in hand, she had wished she had a camera with her. Itachi was struggling to place down Sakura, as she had a death grip on his shirt collar and no matter the prying he did, he could not get her off. He looked towards his mother, a silent plea for help, but she just quietly placed down the blankets at the end of the futon and mouthed 'good luck' before retreating to her room for the night.
It was empty, Fugaku was no doubt in his study, so she was alone with her thoughts. They jumped around, but focused on the strange interactions between Shisui and Fugaku. Of course, there was a possibility of nothing going on. Just Shisui coming over to say hi and walking and talking with Fugaku on his way. Yet, it was late, and Itachi would've been in bed were it not for Sakura, and he's the only one she could think of Shisui wanting to say hi to. Then there was the fact that they had cut off their conversation immediately as soon as she had swung open the door.
Of course, she thought. Of course something was going on in the Uchiha clan that she didn't know about. She was just the wife of the clan head. No one important. Not like she was a jounin before she got married or anything. Not at all. With that bitter thought, she turned to her side and pulled the covers over her shoulder, closing her eyes before drifting into a dreamless sleep.