At the tender age of six, Haruno Sakura was sure of three things: one) bullies were buffoons who were not worth the dirt underneath her shoe, two) she desperately wanted to be a ninja above all else, and three) Uchiha Sasuke was the nicest boy she ever met.

At the tender age of seven, Haruno Sakura learned her three truest loves: one) her home, her Konoha, which she loved for the quiet snowfalls of its winter, the gentle breezes of its spring, chirping cicadas in its summers, and the somber stillness of its autumns, two) the dango dumplings from a certain stand on the other side of the village, which she loved for their gentle yet sweet taste and three) Uchiha Sasuke, who she loved with a ferocity which she should not be capable of at her age, but she was certain she would hold it to her last breath.

At the tender age of eight, Haruno Sakura learned there were three things in her life which she needed to protect above all else: one) her beloved village, two) her parents, who loved her unconditionally, and three) Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who protected her first, the boy who she loved, the boy who lost everything.

She held these truths close to her heart, all throughout her schooling and all the way up to the day of her graduation from the Ninja Academy. She continued to hold them the day after her graduation from the academy, and she expected to carry them further still.

Sakura stood before her mirror and impatiently tugged at her hair, unwilling as it was to remain neatly in its braid. Umino-sensei would finally be announcing the genin team assignments, and she was beyond nervous. She knew that no matter what, she had to be on Sasuke's team, it was all she worked towards for all four of her years at the academy.

Sakura worried her lip, thinking that perhaps her gambit of letting Yamanaka win top kunoichi was a mistake after all. She quickly dismissed the thought, knowing that the village hasn't split the Ino-Shika-Cho team for five generations for good reason, and that the Hokage valued team balance too much to put another heavy hitter on a team with the rookie of the year. Sakura made sure to know the tradition well, she constantly badgered jonin that made the mistake of hanging around the library for too long for information. According to them, the rookie of the year was always paired with the one with the highest written scores and the lowest overall physical scores. She did the right thing in devoting more time to the books, she had to believe that. Yes, she was sure of it.

Her eyes wandered from her reflection and she smiled fondly at the photo that she lovingly tacked on the upper corner of her mirror. She sees her own bright smile alongside Sasuke's more subdued expression. She knows for certain that she ordered two prints of the photo, but she seemed to have misplaced the other copy. How very convenient for Sasuke, who claimed he knew nothing of it. She strode out of her bedroom, the heaviness on her shoulders slightly lighter.

Her thoughts circled back to team assignments as she made her way down to the kitchen. She tugged at her headband she tied around her neck, the fabric uncomfortable against her skin, the only uncertainty left was the final slot. She kept her suspicions that their final teammate would be none other than Uzumaki Naruto, who Sasuke hated with such disproportionate passion, to herself. She didn't want to bother Sasuke with her half baked speculations that would just put him in a mood. It didn't seem worth it to acknowledge that as sure as he and Sakura would be on a team together, Uzumaki would be right there with them.

But then Uzumaki went and failed the final exam, so who else would the village assign with the last Uchiha and a civilian-born?

On her way out, she stepped into her kitchen to grab a quick breakfast for herself and Sasuke. She ran through all the names of those who graduated in her class, frustrated to find that she could not imagine any of the other students being put on a team with her and Sasuke. Other than Yamanaka's team, there were three other notable students: Hyuuga-san, Aburame, and Inuzuka. Aburame was a definite no, he was always just behind her for written scores and Hyuuga was even less likely to be chosen. Her father had a lot of sway on the council and there was no way he was going to stand for her being on the same team as an Uchiha. Apparently, clan rivalry between the two still ran strong, even when there was barely any blood running at all on one side.

"Perhaps Inuzuka-san?" Sakura mumbled against her knuckles as she contemplated an insidious bunch of grapes as if they were personally responsible for Uzumaki's failure.

She slammed the fridge door shut, fed up with the dead end she cornered herself into. There was nothing for it now, the Hokage must have made the decision hours ago by now.

The house was empty, her parents already left hours prior to tend to their shop, so she left the curtains closed. It was a shame she could not see her parents one last time before receiving her headband, but they all shared a rambunctious dinner with Sasuke the night before. Her father embarrassingly broken out his bottle of sake he'd been saving for the occasion, and it only took two cups for him to loudly blubber how proud he was. Mebuki, who fixed her husband with a stare of contemptuous embarrassment, was not as understanding as Sasuke, who indulgently nodded at appropriate times during Kizashi's bawled ramblings.

As soon as they finished eating, Mebuki dragged the sobbing "useless, brainless drunkard" upstairs and kindly told the two not to let the moron damper the celebration. The two shrugged at each other before putting on a movie which even the next morning Sakura could not remember the name of.

At some point during the movie, Sakura peeked up from the large plush like creature napping on the screen to look up at Sasuke, whose arm she possessively clutched close to her chest. Feeling her eyes on him, Sasuke looked down and tilted his head in tacit question, eyes narrowed in concern, though the rest of his face did not betray anything else.

She asked him softly, as the television hummed a gentle tune, if he was scared.

Sasuke sat silently for a moment, staring into her eyes, before his eyes fixated on one of the awful doilies her mother set on the coffee table in deep thought. She waited patiently.

When he finally spoke a whispered affirmation, with his voice faltering in a way that cracked her heart, Sakura shifted from her perch. She stood her knees on the sofa, before leaning down to wrap herself around him, settling herself in the crook of his neck.

He stilled and regarded her wordlessly, until she softly breathed, "me too."

Her words sunk into his skin and she heard his breath hitch in his throat. He then settled them to sink further into the sofa, wrapping an arm around her and resting his chin on her shoulder, quietly breathing in the apple scented shampoo she knew he liked.

She did not know how long they sat there on the sofa, but she remembered being soothed to sleep his sturdiness underneath her and the gentle rocking of each breath he took. She woke up in her bed that morning a little disoriented, though not surprised. She felt a little guilty that she let herself fall asleep and that Sasuke ended up going home without her being able to even wish him a proper goodnight.

She rested her hand on the fridge door, almost in a silent apology for her early abuse, thinking of Sasuke trudging home to his bare, utilitarian living quarters to retire alone as his last night as a civilian. Her teeth bit her lip again, and she clenched at the two sensible portions of breakfast her mother left out for them.

Before she could be lost in her thoughts again, she shook her head slightly, knowing that Sasuke was already outside waiting for her. Despite herself, she stopped at her front door and discreetly opened it just a crack, lingering at the doorstep for a moment, unsurprised to see Sasuke tapping his sandals out next to her mailbox. Through the sliver between the door and doorjamb she reverently drank in his serene profile studying in the flowers her father tended to near the gate. She watched as he let out a silent sigh and gently thumbed the red carnation standing tall among the sea of its white brethren.

She still remembered the way her father pouted petulantly at the red flower blooming irreverently, it swayed lightly in the springtime breeze, unbothered by the man's frustrated wails of disappointment. Sakura was long used to her father's emotional outbursts so she felt mostly indifferent to his frustrated gesturing at the lone crimson flower. She liked flowers as much as anyone else, but it seemed silly to try to control the way they looked when they serve no actual purpose. Once she saw Sasuke smile fondly at the aberration though, she inexplicably felt a great love towards the glorified weed.

Suddenly not wanting to dally any longer, she yanked the door open to barrel towards him, barely skidding to a stop in front of the boy to squeak out a cheerful greeting.

Sasuke, for his part, nodded solemnly, with a hint of a smile resting near his eyes, Sakura brightened all the more for it. He then expectantly held out his arm for her, waiting for her to grab and clutch at it as she always did so they can set out for the day. Deciding to tease him a little bit, Sakura held up the two boxes with their breakfast apologetically, not even flinching when abruptly snatched them and cradled them in his other arm. He huffed shook his outstretched arm at her again.

As Sakura giggled into his elbow, she tried to ignore the foreboding twist that lodged at the base of her throat. Today, she and Sasuke would be given their first team assignment, and fulfill their part in protecting the village. She knew that they chose a path of danger and death, the thought sunk the stone further down to her belly. She walked in silence for a little longer, trying to free herself from her reverie, but ultimately failing in her endeavor.

To her surprise, Sasuke slid his arm out of her grasp, but before she could pout he clumsily slotted his fingers alongside hers, refusing to look her in the eye. Sakura gaped at him for a moment, before giving him a wide toothy grin. Sasuke harrumphed and pretended not to notice the heat tickling his ears.

Hand in hand, they ambled their way to the academy, Sakura chattering about how she was excited to learn more advanced chakra applications from an actual jonin. Sasuke hummed and nodded in seemingly indifferent agreement, holding on to his arm, Sakura could tell he was shaking with barely contained excitement.