"Hello, Itachi-kun! My name is Sakura, beside me is Inner and the other boy's name is Kimimaro," Sakura introduces herself and the others.

Another silence follows as the four of them contemplate each other.

It is Itachi who breaks the silence soon after when he says, "It's nice to meet you all."

"Am I really in your dream?" The white-haired boy interjects as he directs the question to Sakura.

"Yes…at least that's what Inner tells me. I don't really know how it works but Inner tells me that only those with troubled minds come here to visit me…and hopefully become my friend."

"Troubled minds?" The dark-haired boy, Itachi, queries.

"Yes, Inner says that people who have a bad past will be drawn here where they can take comfort in my dreamscape."

Itachi simply stares at her in deep thought while Kimimaro still looks quite puzzled.

"Now come on! Have a seat and let's get to know each other!" Inner encourages as she reaches out to grab Kimimaro's hand and pulls him down.

Sakura does the same thing to Itachi, who allows himself to be pulled down right next to her.

Once the two boys are seated on the grass, Sakura says, "I'll start first. Hello, My name is Haruno Sakura. My favorite color is red. I love eating syrup-coated anko dumplings and umeboshi. I also love the rain and I want to become super powerful when I grow up like my first ancestor Haruno Akane. Now it's your turn, Kimimaro-kun!"

All eyes turn to the white-haired boy who starts fidgeting on the spot.

"Amm…my name is Kimimaro. I am not sure what my favorite color and food are but I like the color of the leaves during Autumn Season. When I grow up, I - I just want to become of use to Orochimaru-sama and fulfill his dreams," are Kimimaro's answer.

"Who is Orochimaru-sama?" Inner asks Kimimaro.

Sakura looks as Kimimaro hesitates before responding, "He is my Master. He is the one who saved me."

"Orochimaru is also one of the Sannin," Itachi informs them. "He is one of the powerful shinobi out there. Although he defected from Konoha many years ago."

"Is he a good person?" Sakura inquires.

"He is," is Kimimaro's reply with a small smile on his lips. "He is good to me at least. He helps me train to become a better ninja."

"That's good to know, Kimimaro-kun." Sakura tells him.

"It's your turn, Itachi-kun." Inner says brightly.

She watches as Itachi nods his head before he says, "My name is Itachi. My favorite color is blue and my favorite food is cabbage and onigiri with seaweed on it. I also love dango. When I am older, I want to be a ninja who can uphold peace in the Village."

"You both are ninjas?" Sakura asks curiously. "Do you like being a ninja?"

The two boys glance at each other.

"Yes, I like being a ninja. People look up to me for being able to protect the village and its people within it," comes Itachi's response.

"Not all Ninjas have a village to protect though…" Kimimaro points out. "There are some ninjas who are like me, who only want to protect the dreams of the people they care about while some ninjas are plain bloodthirsty killers who only want power."

"That sounds awesome! I want to become a ninja like you both when I grow up!" Sakura exclaims excitedly.

"You can certainly become a ninja, Sakura. How old are you now?" Itachi says to her.

"I'm four!" She responds proudly while showing four fingers.

"Well, you have two more years before you can attend the Ninja Academy and I'm sure you will be able to enter without trouble," Itachi informs her.

"I can't wait for two more years!" Sakura says in dismay.

"What if you two teach us what you have learned so far while you are here?" Inner suggests to the boys. "We can retain everything we have learned from here. The same goes for our body. If we train here in our dreamscape, our body will develop muscles and all that stuff in the real world. So can you please teach us how to become a ninja before we enter the Ninja Academy?"

Both boys stare at them for a long moment before they nod their heads.

"We can do that," Itachi tells them while Kimimaro says, "Yes, of course."

"And in exchange, I will teach you how to make different kinds of origami. I know how to make a paper crane, a frog, a dog and more! How's that sound to you?" Sakura offers enthusiastically.

The two boys look highly amused about her offer but they don't decline it. They simply nod their heads and smile at her.

"Alright. I will start by teaching you how to make origami! Do you both know how to make a paper crane?" Sakura asks the boys.

She watches as the two boys shake their heads.

"Then, I will teach you how to fold a paper crane," She grins at them. "Inner? More paper please."

At her request, Inner simply smiles her toothy smile and says, "As you wish, Sakura-chan."

Thereafter, a paper appears in their hands. Sakura's paper is red while Itachi's and Kimimaro's papers are blue and green respectively.

"Now, you watch how I do it," Sakura tells them while she begins. "The first step is to fold the square diagonally, corner to corner. Repeat the same process again so that it looks like an x on your paper."

The two boys continue to follow her instructions as they, too, fold their papers.

The glade is silent except for the sound of the crackling papers as the three immerse themselves into creating a paper crane.

It takes a whole two minutes where the two boys learned how to fold a paper crane. Sakura and Inner aren't surprised when the two boys do it for their first try.

"You both did it!" Sakura grins at the two boys, who look thoroughly pleased for accomplishing a simple task.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan for teaching us," Kimimaro says, returning her smile. "I now know how to make a paper crane because of you."

"You are welcome, Kimimaro-kun!" Sakura chirps.

"Now, it's our turn to teach you," Itachi states. "Perhaps we can start by chakra control exercise."

"I know what chakra is! Inner tells me all about it. She is really smart!" She says to him.

"That's good then. However, I still need to test your knowledge just to make sure that you know what chakra is. So what have you learned so far regarding chakra?" Itachi asks.

"Chakra is the energy you find in all living things. It is mostly created from two primal energies. The physical and spiritual energy. Chakra is also essential to making even the most basic jutsus. Without chakra, you can't do any jutsu at all or you are dead," is Sakura's response.

"At least she knows the basic knowledge regarding chakra," Kimimaro comments as he smiles at her.

Meanwhile, Itachi simply remarks, "That's good, Sakura. Since you already know what chakra means, I will start by showing you the basic chakra control exercise. The Leaf Concentration Exercise."

Sakura watches as Itachi stands up to venture close towards a tree and pluck leaves from its branches. Itachi then comes back to her and gives her and Inner the leaf.

Both Inner and her accept it without hesitation while they wait for Itachi's next instruction.

"Let us start," Itachi says as he sits down beside her.

Sakura then listens to Itachi as he explains to Inner and her how to feel and mold their chakra, where it will make the leaf stick to their forehead.

"First, you need to sense where your chakra is. Most of the time, it is warm, tingly feeling inside your gut." Itachi informs her.

"Can you feel anything Sakura?" Kimimaro asks.

It takes a while before Sakura can respond, but she does with excitement, "I think I do! I can feel something warm moving inside my body. Like a cycle of energy."

"Good," Kimimaro remarks. "Once you sense your chakra, imagine a spiral and concentrate into moving that warm energy into your forehead where you place the leaf. Make it a tight spiral. Cycle it repeatedly until you can sense the warm energy accumulating in your forehead, where the leaf is. Can you do that Sakura?"

"I will try, Kimimaro-kun."

"And Sakura?" Itachi addresses her soon after.

"Yes?"

"Don't feel bad if you can't do it on your first try alright?" Itachi tells her.

"Ok," Sakura responds, grinning.

However, Sakura doesn't need to worry about failing on her first try because with Inner's and the boys' encouragement, Sakura is able to sense the warm energy inside her and mold it to her will. The same goes for Inner.

In less than a minute, Sakura and Inner are able to stick a leaf to their foreheads to Itachi's and Kimimaro's surprise.

"You did it, Sakura!" Inner pats Sakura's back in her excitement.

"Yes, we did it Inner!" Sakura responds, smiling back at the black and white figure.

"I think you both have excellent chakra control," is Kimimaro's comment while Itachi says, "I believe you will easily get the Tree Climbing and Water Surface Walking too. However, before you can do that, you must continue practicing the Leaf Exercise just to increase your chakra store. And since you are practicing inside your mind, I believe it will only build up your Spiritual Energy. If you want to increase your Physical energy as well, I advise you to train your body hard while you are here or in the real world. Do you want to learn the basic katas of taijutsu?"

"Yes, we want to learn the katas too." Sakura replies. "But you can teach us that next time when you come back here. In the meantime, Inner and I will try to practice the Leaf Concentration Exercise while you can do whatever you want. Or you and Kimimaro can talk to each other while we practice the Leaf Concentration Exercise. Inner? Kindly please give them something to eat while they are here? Perhaps a dango since Itachi likes them?"

"Have you tried eating a dango, Kimimaro-kun?" Inner asks the white-haired boy.

"No, I haven't tried it yet," comes Kimimaro's reply. "Does it taste good?"

"Why don't you try it?" Inner says with a grin and the next thing they all know, both Itachi and Kimimaro have a stick of dango in their hands.

Since they are in Sakura's dreamscape, Inner has perfect control over their environment. She can manifest anything into existence in the dreamscape.

With Sakura and Inner preoccupied with the Leaf Concentration Exercise, the boys spend their time talking and eating their dango.

"This tastes really good. I really like it," Kimimaro remarks as he chews on his dango.

"That's why it is my favorite," Itachi smiles at the white-haired boy.

"I can see that now," is Kimimaro's comment, smiling right back.

Sakura listens as Kimimaro and Itachi continue to talk to each other while she observes Inner from the corner of her eyes, who is currently sticking multiple leaves into her face as time passes by.

"How old are you, Itachi?" Kimimaro asks curiously.

"I'm nine years old. How about you? How old are you?" Itachi asks in return.

"I'm seven years old." Kimimaro responds.

"You are younger than me then. Do you have any siblings, Kimimaro?" Itachi inquires.

"No, I don't have any. How about you? Do you have younger or older siblings?"

"Yes, I have a younger brother named Sasuke. He is the same age as Sakura here."

"It must be nice to have a sibling," Kimimaro remarks, almost sadly.

"Yes, it is…" Itachi says. "So how long have you been training under Orochimaru?"

"I think it's been a year…I'm not so sure."

"Is Orochimaru treating you well?"

"Yes, he does treat me well. Orochimaru-sama is very patient with me even though I sometimes make mistakes during my training."

"That's great to hear…"

"Do you have someone to train with Itachi?"

"Yes, I do. I have my cousin to train with during my free time. His name is Shisui."

"Shunshin no Shisui? That shisui?"

"Yes, him."

"Is he as fast as everyone says he is?"

"Yes, he is. It's hard to beat him when he uses his body flicker during our training."

There is a momentary pause as the two finally finish eating their dango.

"Since Sakura is busy doing her Leaf Concentration Exercise, do you want to spar with me?" Itachi suggests.

"Yes, I would really like that," is Kimimaro's reply.

The two boys stand up and both Inner and Sakura look up in curiosity.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asks.

"We are going to spar, Sakura. If you don't mind that is," Itachi tells her.

"Of course, go right ahead!" She replies.

"We promise we won't go very far," Kimimaro says to her.

"Ok, we will be watching you both from here," Inner says.

The boys nod their heads before they move further out.

"Who do you think will win?" Sakura asks Inner, who grins and says, "Itachi-kun is going to win because he probably has more combat experience since he is older than Kimimaro-kun."

"That seems reasonable," Sakura remarks. "How long do you think they will be here in my dreamscape?"

"For as long as they remain asleep in the real world. If their sleep gets interrupted, they will disappear," Inner informs her.

"Ok," Sakura says. "Let's hope that no one wakes them up. I really want to see how their fight ends."

"Yeah, me too." Inner nods her head in agreement.

Thereafter, both Sakura and Inner watch as the two boys start attacking each other.