I Do Not Own Naruto
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Budding Darknesses
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After having tucked Sakura in her bed Kakashi wearily walked out of her room to find one of his ANBU men sitting there. The lack of a distinctive mask told him it was Sai, just the young man he'd have called to watch Sakura since Sasuke was unavalible at this moment in time.
"Captain," Sai greeted him with a nod.
"Sai," Kakashi nodded as his subordinate removed his mask and set it on the table.
"The Hokage sent me with summons, the Haruno Family is currently speaking with him about the pinkette," Sai informed him as he presented the formal summons.
"Sai, I'm going to have Sasuke here within two hours, you two are to stay here with her even after she wakes and keep her here. I don't want her out in the village; I'll speak with Tsunade about getting her out of her hospital duties," Kakashi said as he stood up.
"Yes Captain," he nodded.
"And Sai, not a word of the Haruno Family to her," Kakashi said firmly. He wanted to know what the hell was going on before he had to deal with Sakura being hysterical about this again. Also, he wanted to know if Sasuke was right in telling him that the Haruno Family was all pink and green like his kid was. Also, he was going to hear their side of the story before he dismissed them and told them to stay the hell away from his kid; because Sakura was his daughter. She was his ward. She had been his responsibility for fifteen years, and that hadn't changed, nor was he letting it change. That kid was the center of his world and the light in his dark life.
"Yes Captain," Sai nodded.
"Good. And Sai, do not rile Sakura up about this matter," Kakashi ordered knowing the former Root member would unintentionally rile her up when she woke again and had to deal with this. It was part of the reason Kakashi's first stop was going to be the Uchiha compound to have Sasuke come and sit guard over Sakura with Sai while he dealt with the Hokage and the Haruno family. He was bringing Tsunade along for reinforcements on his side of this fight.
Leaving the house he hurried to the Uchiha compound and found Sasuke walking out.
"Sas!" the toddler shouted after him.
"No, stay," Sasuke ordered and looked to him.
"I see Isamu is attached to you," Kakashi commented as he remembered the days when he had to use his skills to escape the toddler trio who would run after him.
"Aa, I was just heading over, how is she?" Sasuke asked as he picked up the toddler.
"Sleeping, you and Sai are to keep her in the house until I come back with more information, do not bring up the Haruno Family with her at all," Kakashi ordered.
"Aa," Sasuke nodded.
"Isamu!" they both looked Izumi who came jogging after her son with a swollen belly. "I'm so sorry about him, he's turning out like his uncle," Izumi shot a pointed look at Sasuke which had Kakashi smirking a bit. "How's Sakura?"
"Sleeping, I'm going to go get Tsunade and see what all of this is about," Kakashi said.
"Alright, oh, Itachi is going with you, he wants to understand this," Izumi said. Kakashi nodded as he looked at his retired ANBU teammate walking up.
"Alright," he said and then he ran off as Sasuke darted off towards his house.
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Sasuke entered Kakashi's house, dropped his go bag and nodded to Sai as he looked through Kakashi's selection of books, tossing one to Sai he grabbed one for himself as they both sat in silence at the kitchen table. Sasuke was trying really hard not to panic about what those six other pinkettes meant.
But it was hard not to think about them when he could remember the resemblance they had all held to Sakura, and he could remember his childhood with Sakura and remembered everything they had been through for the past eighteen years.
Hatake Sakura had been his first real friend ever.
The dobe had been his second. But Sakura had been the first.
She had dragged him along with her everywhere, he had beaten up bullies who picked on her, they had celebrated every birthday together and every holiday. They had gone to every festival together since they were kids, and most of the days when they didn't have the dobe around to think up trouble for them to get into, she had just simply enjoyed the peace with him. There were very few memories in his life that didn't involve Sakura in one way or another, and in many of those memories she was a centeral part of his life.
These Harunos threatened that and he didn't like it as he glared at the book he was reading. He didn't like the threat to the pinkette, especially after that kiss. He had questions about what that could mean for them as they were in new unknown territory with that kiss; which had been his own fault, but it changed everything. And a part of him, the part of him that did not really pursue relationships, was genuinely curious about where that could go. The sound of the door cracking open had his and Sai's heads snapping up as they looked to the pinkette who emerged from her room in a large men's t-shirt. He recognized that shirt, and it had his eyes narrowing on her pale, trembling form with messy hair and long exposed legs.
"Thief," he blatantly stated which had her watery green eyes widening before she looked down at the shirt.
"Please, you have a million shirts identical to this one," she snapped as she folded her arms under her breasts.
"Aa, but you're a thief," he pointed out.
"As if," she argued.
"You look nice, even if you are still ugly, Ugly," Sai smiled and she gave a watery laugh as she stumbled over to the chair and fell onto it as she sat there with them and he and Sai worked at keeping her from breaking when the door was slammed open.
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted and she burst into tears then.
"Way to go dobe, you made her cry," Sasuke grumbled.
"N-No he didn't," she sobbed as Naruto ran around the table and hugged her. Sasuke didn't counter this as Naruto just held her.
"They're not taking her! They don't get to have her! I'm not letting them," Naruto snapped.
"Aa," he agreed.
"I agree," Sai nodded and Sakura just sobbed hysterically.
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Itachi stood there in the Hokage's office with his arms folded as he glared at the blonde and the pink man who were shouting obscenities at the Hokage, Tsunade and Kakashi about the Leaf having stolen their daughter and he was annoyed.
For as long as Itachi had known Kakashi; really known the man, not the teammate of the late Uchiha Obito, but the man who would babysit his little brother and trained Sasuke, he had never once thought ill of Kakahsi. If anything, the jonin was close to being a saint in his patience for handling his ANBU responsibilities, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and keeping up with them and all the trouble they got into repeatedly. And this was before the massacre which had been right after losing their mother when Sasuke had been at his most difficult as a toddler who hated all of them.
Tsunade roared back at the Haruno family, and Kakashi swore at them and Itachi stood there silently assessing the situation.
It was a very serious situation at the moment.
It didn't help that everyone in the village knew the story of how Kakashi had obtained his pinkette ward; for when she had been a toddler she had told anyone within hearing distance that Kakashi had saved her and adopted her. Kakashi had even explained repeatedly he had found the kid and she had just followed him home like a stray puppy and he had adopted her because clearly no one had been looking for her. No one in the Land of Fire had been missing a pinkette toddler at the time.
Itachi knew this because he had asked his former captain about it a few times.
Now, he was listening to the Harunos accusing Kakashi of having stolen their daughter and never returning her after the ransom had been paid.
To say Itachi was beyond annoyed was an understatement as he stood there glaring at the blonde and pinkette who were trying to argue to have Sakura back in their family to marry her off to some shinobi in the Cloud because their alliance with the Leaf was over. They would go to the Village Hidden in the Cloud rather than the Leaf.
"Hatake Sakura is staying here," he finally snapped sharply slicing through all the voices which had every set of eyes on him. "She is a jonin of the Leaf, a member of the ANBU, a respected healer and a jinchūriki of the Leaf. She stays here. Also, if you try to take her, you will have the wrath of the Uchiha clan behind such an atrocity."
"The Uchiha are extinct," the blonde woman snapped and he felt his eyes bleed red as the tomoe formed again.
"Just because there are only two of us with active Sharingans now does not mean we are extinct, and my brother will not allow you to take his fiancé," Itachi stated which had Kakashi giving him the look he would deem closest to gaping for the silver jonin. Itachi shook his head to tell the elder that they would discuss this later, but for now his only concern was keeping Sakura in the Leaf. Marrying her to Sasuke would ensure his brother had a suitable wife, and it would keep Sakura in the village. Also, Sakura was probably the only woman he tolerated or even liked; it was difficult to tell with Sasuke.
"Yes, she's betrothed to the younger brother of the Uchiha survivors," the Hokage said quickly backing him.
"She's what!?" the blonde roared.
"She is engaged."
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"We could run away! I'm certain Fukasaku will love having you up with them!" Naruto declared.
"That may be the stupidest thing you've ever said, dobe," Sasuke replied flatly.
"We could always say she's on a classified ANBU mission and take her to Suna," Sai suggested.
"No," Sasuke stated.
"Why not!?" Both Sai and Naruto whines.
"I am not sending her to Suna alone," Sasuke snapped. Which had Sakura staring at her lap. Part of her wondered if this was just a part of his normal protective behavior or if this was because of the kiss. The latter seemed unlikely to her, but it was something she was wondering about as she sat there trying to calm her mind, the ancient buried memories, and keep herself together. The last thing she wanted to do was break down and scream, cry, and beg never to go back to the pinkettes.
Something about them had triggered some of her worst memories and she didn't like it as she sat there just trying to keep it together.
A large hand rest on her knee under the table which rouse her out of her darkness as she stared at the man's hand. It was Sasuke's and it was large compared to her knee as she stared at it. Then she looked up to see the three young men still arguing about what they should be doing and she found herself relaxing a little bit. She was loved. She was cared for. She was protected.
And something in her whispered that was more than the pinkettes had ever done for her as she sat there relaxing and listening.
"Well, what if she got married?" Sai proposed.
"And who'd marry Sakura?" Naruto demanded.
Sakura slid a look over to Sasuke who was sitting there impassively and felt her heart sink.
"I would," Sasuke finally said which had all three of them staring at him.
He shrugged.
"You would marry me?" she asked dubiously.
That's all for now folks!
Enjoy Blooming in Darkness! =)
