Sakura woke up in Itachi's arms, her head swayed to and fro when she supported it herself. The sun was hidden by an array of trees and Sasuke and Naruto were padding around behind them.
"Tachi-san?" she asked, her words slurred together.
Itachi glanced down sharply and his eyes widened. "Are you ok? Sasuke came running to the house."
Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, her mind flashing back to the days events.
"I used too much chakra; I accidentally hurt Iruka-sensei." She said, her eyes fluttering.
Itachi shifted her in his arms; she was much to light for her age. The house had come into view and Itachi entered the compound and snuck around the house to enter through the servant's door. Sasuke and Naruto followed without a sound.
Itachi carried her into her room and he sat dutifully next to her, she sat up and shook her head, the stars finally dispersing from her view.
"I'm so sorry!" Sakura cried she looked over at Sasuke and Naruto an apologetic look on her face.
"I'll repay you by helping you with your homework." She promised.
Itachi sighed and pushed her back into a sitting position. Sakura put her face into her hands and breathed out heavily.
Itachi handed her book bag to her, she took it and flipped it open, she pulled out the days work and handed it to the two boys, Itachi looked over and took the paper. His eyes scanned over the paper quickly, his brow raised in admiration, her handwriting was legible and all but one question was correct.
"Here, you forgot to add the circumference of the inside of the village." Itachi explained pointing out the question.
Sakura looked it over for a second and she smiled sheepishly and fixed the problem. Naruto and Sasuke had their papers out and they were copying the answers Sakura had on her paper.
Itachi cuffed both children on their ears and took Sakura's paper from them.
"You can solve these problems on your own." Itachi said, handing the paper back to Sakura.
"Can she help us at least??!!" Sasuke asked puppy eyes on full blast.
Itachi looked at him and sighed. "She can help but don't ask for answers." He said, standing.
As he exited the room Naruto and Sasuke looked eagerly at Sakura.
And so the tutoring began.
~~ Add imaginary line here (To lazy to edit one in .) ~~
Naruto walked home with Hinata at around 6:30 half an hour before the Uchiha's were to have dinner.
By the end of their 'study' session Naruto only became more confused on reciting the alphabet backwards and Sasuke had moved onto simple multiplication.
Sasuke and Sakura sat in her room, picking up the things that played a key part in disrupting their study time.
"How does he go from p to b? It doesn't make sense." Sasuke said, picking up colored pencils.
"The only letters that make sense in Naruto's head are r-a-m-e-n." Sakura snorted, pulling loose leaf paper into a small pile next to her.
Together they placed all the papers neatly onto one of Sakura's many shelves.
"Oka-san said that dinner is ready." Itachi said from the doorway. Both children jumped up and raced to the kitchen.
Mikoto handed the children a picnic basket and a blanket to Itachi, who had followed them.
"Hokage Mountain is a nice place to picnic at this time of year." She explained as she ushered them out the door.
They spent the rest of that evening watching the sun set, and Itachi taught them a new move from his more advanced class.
Sasuke and Sakura sat on the very edge of the cliff, their small legs kicking against the cold stone.
From behind them they could hear someone screaming their names, Naruto and Hinata came running to them, they to had their own wicker basket balanced in-between them, filled to the brim with sweets.
The basket was filled with tiny pastries and a small thermos of rose hip tea.
Itachi laid back out the blanked and the 5 children all sat at the edge of the mountain watching it set.
~~----------~~
And so, a tradition was born. Every evening for the next 5 years the five of them went to the mountain to eat, rain or snow, sunny or overcast.
~~----------~~
"You can't expect me to believe that Neji-san kissed Tenten-sama!" Sakura exclaimed, sitting across from Hinata, the lavender girls eyes were filled to the brim with joy.
"No joke! He told me himself, and I saw Tenten dancing around." Hinata said leaning back onto her elbows, letting the soft drizzle fall onto her upturned face.
A few feet away Naruto was staring at her and Itachi and Sasuke were laughing, for months now he'd been trying to gain the courage to ask her out.
As lightning lit up the sky Itachi, being 15 grabbed 9 year old Sakura up into his arms and all together the group ran into the shelter of the trees.
As they returned home Sakura beat the boys to the bathroom and therefore gained access to the shower first. As she stripped off the wet clothing, the pick scar on her chest caught her attention, every year on her birthday an immense pain spread through her, starting from the scar it spread through her like wildfire.
And ever year the pain became worse and worse.
After her bath Sakura dressed in her bed clothes and exited the bathroom, Sasuke and Itachi sat in the hallway, teeth chattering, blankets draped over their shoulders.
Itachi ran in first closing the door behind him, locking it.
Sakura sighed and pulled Sasuke into her room; she ran over to his room and grabbed a change of clothing for him. Returning to her room she handed them to him, instructing him to change into them.
After he changed they sat against her only clear wall, over the years she had gained many more books and weapons, most of them bought by herself.
Itachi came into her room 20 minutes later, his long black hair pulled back and brushed until it shone out in her dimly lit room.
Sasuke jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Itachi chuckled and sat next to Sakura. He took her hand in his larger one, always was he touching her like this, occasional strokes of the hair, carrying her places.
These were the touches of a caring older brother.
Itachi had a girlfriend, Sakura had met her. The girl had long blonde hair and her blue eyes were only dim when compared to Naruto. Her name was Morrigan and they had been attending school together for years.
Itachi talked to her about the way school had been going, and Sakura told him about her nervousness regarding the upcoming exams. And she laughed when she told him about Ino's latest tactic at hurting her feelings. They would have talked all night had Mikoto not come around asking for her.
"Sakura, we need to talk in the study." Mikoto said waiting patiently at the door for the little girl.
As they walked through the many halls they stayed in a comfortable silence.
"I have some news regarding your medical training." Mikoto said finally, sipping on a glass of sake.
Sakura leaned forward.
"Are you willing to leave Konaha in order to train?" Mikoto asked.
Sakura sat back for a second the though of leaving home draining her of happiness.
"I am." Sakura said at last, facing Mikoto.
"Then you will depart in a week to Suna, where you will stay for a year to train with Chiyo. You will be staying with the Kazekage and his children. After you've completed that, Tsunade, one of the legendary sannin, has offered to train you for yet another year." Mikoto said, finishing off her glass.
Sakura stood and bowed respectfully, standing she fled the study and ran to her room, tears running silently down her soft cheeks. She ran past Sasuke and Itachi in the kitchen, but even that didn't stop her.
When she ran into her room she placed a 'Jo*' in the tracks so no one could open the door.
She collected her blankets and pillow and ran into her closet and up into the concealed attic, sealing closed the stairs after her.
The spent that night staring up into the heavens, and only a thin sheet of glass in-between her and it.
A 'Jo' is a wooden staff, used in traditional Japanese 'dueling.'
Not to lazy there .........
