Sakura's POV
4 years later….
Another four years had passed for Sakura. She was no longer a Hikari and was now regarded as a Haruno, a lowly first-generation shinobi of civilian descent. After she stopped the Uchiha Clan massacre, she decided to lay low. She dreamt of her days with her Genin team. Team 7, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake and no name Sakura Haruno. Now that the massacre was no more, Sasuke wouldn't be fuelled by his anger for his selfless elder brother, Sasuke wouldn't leave and their team won't be shattered. More importantly, Itachi Uchiha, the boy she dreamt of for the first 7 years of her life would not be sacrificing himself for the sake of Konoha. Even if he didn't know it, she'd always be there for him, she'd give him everything she had. She didn't know why she felt she needed to, why she felt that she had to make up for the future that could have been his. She knew it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault that she saw these things. So why did she feel like she owed him everything? Why did she willingly want to offer everything that was hers to him. She was unsure of what this feeling was, but she decided not to ponder it as she pushed all her thoughts of him to the back of her mind.
It had been a mere week since the genin teams had been formed and her team has finally taken to the training grounds that Kakashi-sensei had asked them to meet at for the first time since the bell test. Sakura was five minutes early, she decidedly seated herself at the bridge near the fields, waiting patiently for her new teammates to show up. After another five short minutes of waiting, Sasuke was the first to make his appearance. They locked eyes and he grunted in acknowledgement of her presence. Sakura smiled softly in response and greeted him.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun. Did you rest well?" She asked politely and Sasuke simply nodded in response.
"How about you?" he asked stiffly. Sakura knew that he most likely really didn't care if she rested well or not, but the manners were ingrained in him due to his Uchiha heritage.
"Perfectly." She said with a grin, lying through her teeth. But Sasuke didn't need to know that. Sasuke didn't need to know that Sakura usually chose to train throughout the night until the early hours in the morning, only to take a short break and then continue to train again. Sasuke didn't need to know that most of the much-needed rest she got were filled with night terrors and flailing that fit between the bouts of screams. He didn't need to know that by the time she was four she had been diagnosed with severe post traumatic stress disorder that only got worse as the years slipped by. He didn't need to know that on the nights she did sleep, she wished, hoped, prayed, that she wouldn't wake in the morning.
Sakura and Sasuke sat in silence for the next 10 minutes, Sakura opting to meditate and Sasuke opting to brood. They could hear someone in the distance running towards them with heavy footsteps and a clatter of different ornaments. Judging by the weight of the footsteps through the vibrations the earths sends her, it's most likely Naruto. He truly needed to learn how to be less… less loud and obnoxious. If he continued like this and brought his bad habits into a true battle, he'd be killed easily. At least, he'd be killed easily if she wasn't by his side, but she wouldn't let that happen. She doesn't let her comrades die. No matter what, they were a family now.
"Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme!" Naruto's bright yellow hair and boisterous grin came into view. His bright orange jumpsuit fluttered in the wind as he ran toward them. Sakura couldn't help but think that he was loud enough without the atrocious jumpsuit but seeing the smile on his face, she couldn't help but grin childishly back at him. Why was he so goddamn loveable?
"You're late Dobe." It seemed that Naruto like Naruto truly brought out the human in each of us. Even the moodiest pessimistic person lost all sense of his ingrained polite tendencies when Naruto appeared. She'd always wondered how he could do that. How he was instantly able to bring out the best in people with a simple word or action or even with his enthusiasm alone.
"We should start training without Kakashi-sensei. Judging by how late he was for the bell test and our official first team meeting he'll most likely be late today as well." Sakura stated knowing fully well that Kakashi would definitely be late. Every Shinobi had their demons, Kakashi just had a lot more demons than others could viably comprehend. Not that Naruto or Sasuke would ever notice anyways. That was how she liked it though. Their ignorance is bliss and Sakura would do anything to keep it that way.
They took it in turns sparring one another until it was early in the afternoon, three hours after they'd met up and coincidentally when Kakashi finally decided to show up.
"Kakashi-sensei! You're late!" Naruto yelled dramatically whilst pointing at him in annoyance.
"Ah. Sorry, I got lost on the path of life…" Kakashi responded with his usual eye crinkled smile. "I see you all began training before I got here. Good initiative." He said in a bored state of observation.
"We figured you'd be late again." Sakura explained unnecessarily when she suddenly heard Sasuke make some sort of groan like noise that could be linked to irritancy judging by the exasperated look on his face. "Is there something wrong Sasuke-kun?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah teme! What's wrong?" Naruto yelled and Sakura mentally swore that Naruto needed to learn what an inside voice was. She learnt not to speak unless spoken to from a tender age of one, perhaps she needed to incite these teachings on Naruto. Although she hardly thought he'd ever learn, Naruto had a thick brain.
Sasuke sighed incensed, "Mother said she wanted to meet all of you. She said that if I didn't invite all of you to dinner tonight there would be dire consequences for me." Sasuke paused, "even you Kakashi-sensei. Mother said that if you didn't come to dinner too, she'd be incredibly disappointed in you. Sasuke leaned against the base of the tree behind him as if the thought of his team meeting his family was entirely exhausting.
"Well I guess we have no choice then." Kakashi shrugged playfully, "We wouldn't want to disappoint the Uchiha Matriarch, would we now." He said sarcastically.
"No, we wouldn't. Please inform your mother that we'll all be there Sasuke-kun. I wouldn't miss it for the world." She said in confirmation that she would attend.
"Yeah Sasuke-teme! We'll all be there!" And there goes Naruto yelling again. Sasuke's face relaxed as he realised his whole team would be coming and he wouldn't have to face is mother's wrath.
"By the way, you have no missions today, so you're dismissed." And with that, Kakashi vanished in a cloud of white smoke, leaving team 7 behind, who were all beyond irritated by Kakashi's usual antics. However, after a quick last few words and a small wave goodbye, they all went their separate ways.
Several hours later…..
Hours passed and it was now 6pm. Team 7 were meant to be meeting at Sasuke's house at 6.30. Sakura was already dressed and ready to leave. She decided to leave early since it was her first time actually walking into the Uchiha Compound and she wanted to count how long it would take her to get there. It was tedious, she knew that, but it was an old habit she couldn't break.
Sakura looked in her mirror once more before leaving to make sure everything was in place. She wore a blue full-length kimono with pink and green flowers embroidered all over it. Her sash was a light burgundy colour that complemented her hair which she had pinned up effortlessly with a kanzashi to get it out of her face. Looking down at her feet, she slightly glared at the Geta sandals she wore. They were the bane of her existence. Sure, she could walk in them perfectly with grace, but that didn't mean that they didn't hurt like a bitch.
Sighing one last time, she picked up her purse, walked out of her house and locked the door behind her. She turned and headed straight in the direction of the Uchiha Compound struggling to keep her nerves down. Usually meetings such as this don't cause much anxiety for her, but, she was sure Itachi was going to be there and he evoked feelings in her that she never knew existed before him.