A/N: If you're curious, Sakura is fifteen years old is about to turn sixteen soon when this fic takes place. If the age bothers you, you can just imagine that she is eighteen years old. The age doesn't really matter to the interactions between the characters, but it is necessary to her legal situation. That is to say, Sakura doesn't necessarily have the emotional maturity of a 15 year old. For someone to manage in her situation like she does, I'd pin her around 19-21. But for the sake of the plot she'll be 15.

Chapter 4

Mercy

Sakura felt herself grow more curious by the minute that she spent in Itachi's company. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke she listened with full interest. Though he didn't speak much, he was undoubtedly very attentive and observed his environment, including Sakura, with so subtle observation that you would miss it at first glance.

There was something more to him, something underneath the polite façade…

True to his word, they had left for one of the Konoha malls in the area and shopped their hearts out. Or rather, she had gone wild. Though maybe going wild was an overstatement. Itachi had to goad her into buying dresses and clothes, convincing her that she just really needed a 100 % silk shirt. She couldn't help be stingy with money. It was just who she was. She looked at Itachi. While it was strangely domestic to see such a tall man carrying dozens of bags from the woman clothing department Sakura couldn't help but smile about her situation.

They were on their last store when Sakura noticed someone go still in the crowd. She looked in their direction and she herself froze. Pale indigo eyes stared at her solemnly.

…Is that?

Hinata's blue hair fell over her shoulders like cascading rain in the dark. For once she was well dressed and her clothes weren't as baggy as usual. Hinata seemed to stare deep into her soul asking her a question. She wondered what the bluette was thinking.

"Why did you leave without telling me?"

Sakura fought internally with herself. Itachi snapped her out of her trance when he asked.

"Who is that, Sakura-san?" His voice was even.

She was startled but suppressed it just as quickly as it came. Hinata's eyes traced over Itachi like a hawk and he, unabashed, stared back. Sakura shook her guilt off and pulled slightly on his black sweater, tugging him in the opposite direction.

"No one. Let's just go. "There was an edge in her tone that she couldn't conceal from the raven haired man behind her.

Itachi dropped the subject.

-

They had spent around 233,440 yen at the mall. Sakura had never held so much money. They had numerous bags and by the end of their trip they had filled the car with furniture and clothes.

Sakura was on the verge of having a panic attack. She felt so conflicted that she wanted to dig herself into a hole in the ground and scream. On one hand she was terrified of the money she had spent, did she use it for the right purposes? Should she rather have saved it instead of spending it? If she spent 230 thousand yen in one day, it couldn't have been well spent, right?

Her instincts told her, no, yelled at her that this was just wrong. Nothing good could come of spending so much money in one single day. Buyers regret laid heavy upon her but Itachi didn't seem bothered at all by the expenditure.

On the other hand she was thrilled by all the things she had aquired. She now owned a pot! And a pan! She had never felt so rich in her life. She had dinnerware. Dishes and bowls too. She had bought a cheap set of tables and chairs.

Then came the all the clothes and makeup, oh the clothes! She had shoes too. It was such an extreme feeling to be torn between those two opposing forces.

When they had finally hauled the last of the day's cargo inside Sakura's apartment, Itachi leaned on the doorframe and gave her a curious look. He wanted to say something, she could sense it, but he didn't go ahead. Sakura decided to take the fall.

"I just want to thank you for everything you have done today for me, Uchi-… Itachi-san." And with that she bowed so deeply that she reached 90 ° angle.

"Please rise, Sakura-san. It was no trouble." He murmured thoughtfully.

She smiled at him and his eyes twinkled back at her like stars.

"I also wanted to let you know that your teacher will arrive to meet you in the following days, his name is Kakashi Hatake." He added as an afterthought.

And with that they said their goodbyes and Sakura gently shut the door after him. What an enjoyable man, she thought.

-

It was around noon two days later when another man knocked on her door. She wore her new yellow short sleeved dress and went to answer the knock.

The door revealed a man slightly older than Itachi, his most identifying feature was the mask he wore, covering the lower half of his face. Sakura felt wary, why would a masked stranger knock on her door? He had silver grey hair that seemed to rebel against gravity, striking into the air at odd angles.
Unless…

She looked to his half open bag and saw a collection of study books. Of course, it was the teacher.

He was a built man, not as lithe and graceful in movements as Itachi, but attractive nonetheless.

"Yo." He replied, his eyes zoning lazily in on her. She was taken aback by his nonchalant behavior, but marched on.

"Hello. You must be Kakashi-sensei. I am Sakura Haruno." She bowed lightly.

He only nodded back and Sakura fought the urge to grimace. He looked at the inside of the apartment and then back at her, expectant.

Oh.

"Sorry, please come in." She moved aside when his form slid past her. He was so… masculine.

"Mahh…. Well Sakura-chan, do you have any notebooks?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

She nodded enthusiastically and went to one of the cabinets in the kitchen to fetch some notebooks and pens.

While she stretched to the cabinet she gave the man behind her a discreet glance. He had spread himself over her kitchen counter, hunched, and watched her bluntly. Sakura could feel her cheeks heat up.

"You're a cute little thing, Sakura-chan." His voice was relaxed, as if he was simply making an observation. She took it as a cue to be careful, but there was no need to get defensive. Not yet. Would he ask her for a …"session"?

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." She said a bit coldly, putting emphasis on their student-teacher relationship.

"How old?"

"Fifteen years old, though I'm turning sixteen in two weeks." She said meekly.

"And what education have you finished so far?" He drawled as he opened his bag and brought up some books.

"Uh…Well I finished middle school. I didn't finish the first semester in high school and dropped out."

"Hmm… " He mumbled as he opened a book about algebra.

"Okay… Well, here's what we're going to do. For the first two weeks we are going to focus on your math skills and your vocabulary. Then your process skills and reading comprehension. And while this is all happening you have to read three chapters per week in a book of your choice from this list."

He pulled out a small crunched up piece of paper with books to select.

"What is this one about?" She asked and pointed at the title.

"Lord of the flies? It's about a flock of boys who are stranded on an island and have to make their own community to survive until they are rescued. "

"… That seems interesting, can I check it out?" She asked hesitantly. The idea of survival appealed to her. It was a competition that every animal and human knew.

"Sure. I'll bring it by on my next trip. Now I want to see what foundation you have in algebra so I think we are going to start you off on practice 1.1 and see how that goes… "

Sakura's heart dropped when she read the title of practice 1.1.

"Multi-..Variable Expressions…?" She mumbled confusedly and looked to Kakashi which promptly looked into the air. Wasn't he going to help her?

He pushed the algebra book in her direction.

"The most useful skill you learn in life Sakura is how to save yourself. Use your resources to solve your problems. I'm not going to help you until you fail at understanding this yourself. This goes for all your practices." He looked at straight into her eyes as if he had said something profound.

Sakura wanted to punch him in the head. Was he just too lazy to teach her?! Her cheeks burned hot and she grabbed the book and started reading. She wasn't going to be made into a fool.

The rest of the afternoon passed like that, her reading and solving equations gingerly, sometimes hitting a figurative wall and Kakashi reluctantly helping her. He seemed hell bent on only telling her just enough for her to figure it out for herself.

Kakashi… He had standards for her. He expected her to solve those equations on her own. While she had disliked it at first she felt the compelling urge to impress him. He left her with the algebra book to practice at home along with the promise of fetching her the Lord of the Flies novel she asked for.

"Also… Sakura-chan. We need to talk." Her head turned in his direction as he was standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" She asked, somehow timid even after all their interactions and her dumb questions, that she berated herself for having to ask him.

"The Uchiha Clan has started talking. They've noticed that someone moved in here. It's time for us to establish your cover."

She turned scarlet and wondered if Kakashi knew the real reason she was here, his eyes seemed to think so. How demeaning.

"The official story is that your parents died in a car accident and I am your kind and self-sacrificing god father who will give you temporary shelter until you get on your feet. " He said, completely serious and morose.

Sakura couldn't help the snort that escaped her and she saw his eyes crinkle in delight. He chuckled back at her.

"I'm leaving you with a file on the details of the "accident", your background and so forth. Please memorize it." And without another word he turned and left.

-

Sakura stared at the screen on her phone, an instant message from Sasuke had arrived to her inbox. Dismay and trepidation creeping up to her spine, she clicked "open".

"Shower and be ready for a pickup"

Closing her phone with the flick of her thumb, she stood aloofly in the living room. The phone slid from her hand accidentally and hit the floor with a resounding noise. She looked at it haltingly and turned around.

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the showerhead. It poured cold at the start but Sakura undressed anyway and stepped into the tub. No matter if it was freezing. Sakura could barely feel anything as it was. She turned to the mirror and her face stared back, the palest she had ever seen.

She dragged the shower on. Putting soap all over her body sluggishly, the shampoo in her hair. Anything to prolong the inevitable. She was going to be naked, in front of Sasuke. Again. She shivered and fought the overwhelming urge to break something. She couldn't do it. She had to find a way out of this situation.

I'm so bloated. She thought, staring at the mirror and drying her hair off. She had two biscuits with Kakashi a couple of hours ago and it was definitely showing. She scowled. Would it kill her to have a bit of self-control? She just wanted a bit of success in her life. She couldn't do that if she was gorging herself on sweets all the time. She hated how out of control she felt.

It already so hard to face Sasuke already and she wanted to do it while she was fat? He'd probably comment on it. He loved to mock her body, tell her how lucky she was to have him fuck her since no other man would ever touch her willingly.

She grit her teeth and crouched in front of the toilet, her towel holding back her hair. Carefully she slid her middle and index finger down her throat, then jabbing them into the soft flesh of her throat. She coughed a bit, gave her throat time to adjust, and then repeated the action.

It was at this point where she felt a touch of nausea and she stepped up the beat of her fingers, sliding against her teeth, ripping a bit of skin open as she did so. The puke came predictably and she managed to draw her fingers from her mouth in time as the first small batch fell into the toilet.

Well, that's just the coffee. Not the biscuits.

She continued and stuck her fingers deep into her oropharynx. She wouldn't be satisfied until it all came out.

Afterwards she sat on the bathroom floor. Sakura had made sure her teeth were clean and her breath smelled of mint. She wasn't keen on repeating the water bottle incident. In fact, she didn't want to go at all. She didn't want to meet him again. She didn't want to have sex with him, let alone touch him. Her breathing got more frantic.

She was wearing a black dress with sleeves. It wasn't one of her new fancy ones since she couldn't be too sure if Sasuke would ruin her clothes just for the fun of it. She had her hair in a bun, to make it harder for him to grab her hair and manipulate her as easily.

She put on a bit of perfume to make sure that he wouldn't recognize that she had just been purging.

She didn't wear makeup, since she knew it would undoubtedly run off as soon as they started.

A knock on the door signaled his arrival. But there was something strange about it. It was unusually weak compared to Sasuke. But surely this had to be the one to pick her up?

When she opened the door, she came face to face with a small twelve year old-ish girl.

"Uh… Hello." Sakura greeted the child in a confused manner. Was she lost? The small girl was wearing black and had red glasses. Her hair was pitch black, reminding her of Sasuke. The trait that seemed most familiar to her was her stubborn scowl, the one Sasuke often wore.

"Hi. You're supposed to come with me. So come!" She sneered.

Woah, she's grumpy.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at the child who paid her no mind and turned around to the car that was waiting for them. There was a chaperone in the car, most likely a servant.

This was her "pick up"? A rude little girl?

She followed the angry dwarf and sat into the backseat with her. The driver, a middle aged man who seemed awfully tired ignored her and hit the gas. Sakura hurried to put on her seatbelt. She looked over to the girl.

"Aren't you going to put on your seatbelt?" She asked sternly.

The girl looked at her like she had murdered a puppy. She looked back at the driver who whipped his head around and glared at the child.

"Sarada-sama! Please put your seatbelt on!" He all but growled.

Sarada rumbled like she was an angry volcano and put her seatbelt on. She pouted as she did so and shot Sakura a snide glance.

"Where are you taking me?" Sakura asked in a conversational tone.

The answer didn't come from the driver, but from Sarada.

"To my brother, he's always making me do this boring stuff. Like getting him this and that, doing the dishes, fetching you cause you don't know your way around the compound…"

Was her brother Sasuke?

"-and like I said, we even have a maid who does the dishes, but I have to. Because it "builds character". Pfff. And you! Can't you just use google maps? Do you people even know that I'm on the final chapter of Twilight? I don't have time for this!"

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, this tiny human was just so mad and it was funny seeing her cute form continue to whine. She giggled loudly and Sarada instantly went silent and focused her attention on her.

"… A-Are you laughing at me?" She said in an accusatory tone.

"I'm laughing with you. " She continued smiling.

Sarada blushed, huffed and turned to the window so she didn't have to face Sakura.

"It's not funny…" She mumbled and Sakura didn't have the heart to tease the girl more.

The car came to a stop in front of a large white mansion and Sakura had to control her emotions in order to not huff like the child besides her. Of course Sasuke the mighty lived in a mansion.

"Are you coming?" Sarada asked and held her door open. Sakura took a breath and stepped out.

A/N. No, Sakura did not have a child and not realize it. Rather artistic liberty was at work. But you can see that she is already taking a liking to Sarada. More info in later chapters.
Ps. From now on all currency will be in yen, to max immersion.