The sun was just rising when Sakura eventually showed up, running as fast as she could into the Nara Forest. Itachi was waiting at the base of a large, gnarled oak tree. She stopped when she reached him, panting.

"You're late, Sakura." Itachi said coldly.

"Sorry, sensei! My mum woke up when I snuck out of bed; I had to wait for her to fall asleep." Sakura explained.

Itachi grunted in acceptance of her excuse and jerked his head towards the tree behind him, "Can you climb this?"

Sakura's large eyes scanned the tree's bulk. She looked down at herself. "No, sensei. I'm too small."

"Wrong," Itachi said, "Size doesn't account for anything in the ninja world. Tell me, can you pump chakra to your feet?"

"Yes." Sakura said without hesitation.

"Do it. Put one foot on the tree like this," He demonstrated, "And walk up."

"Aren't you going to show me how?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I've told you what to do. You don't need me to hold your hand and help you climb a tree. Do it."

Sakura frowned, intelligent eyes measuring the tree's width and length. She looked at her tiny feet.

She concentrated, pushing all of her chakra down to her feet. They throbbed in response to the sudden chakra overload.

"Well done." Itachi said with a slight smile. Sakura had caught on quicker than he expected, "Now climb."

Her foot looked silly when she placed it on the tree, but she followed through, picturing her feet sticking to the bark with her chakra. The transition from ground to tree happened smoothly. Sakura simply walked up the tree.

Itachi's smile grew.

"Like this?" She asked, turning around to face Itachi, both feet firmly glued to the tree.

"Yes. You learn quickly. Keep it up." Itachi frowned suddenly, "I wonder… what subjects are you best at in your school?"

"Genjutsu and academic." Sakura said, "My chakra control is good and I'm the best in my class when it comes to learning."

"Better than that Sasuke boy you talked about before?" Itachi asked carefully.

"I guess." Sakura shrugged.

"Right. Sakura. I need you to do something for me. I need you to talk to a woman named Yuhi Kurenai. She's a genjutsu expert. I believe she was promoted to jounin recently. Ask her to tutor you in genjustu. I can help you learn how to dispel genjutsu, but the type of genjutsu I use is too difficult for you to learn at the moment." Itachi said. Kurenai had been a chuunin when he knew her, but he had always admired her genjutsu capabilities. Sakura could learn well from her.

"OK." Sakura nodded obediently.

"I will focus on improving your stamina and your taijutsu. How are you in one-to-one combat?"

Sakura blushed. "Bad. Very bad."

"I see. Then we will begin with the basics." Itachi said leniently.

Sakura looked relieved.

"Hit me." Itachi said.

"Sensei?" Sakura said, puzzled.

Itachi did not repeat himself.

Sakura set her face in a determined frown and charged.

She was on the floor in seconds.

Itachi had barely moved, and yet she was sprawled on the ground.

Sakura fought the urge to cry when her wounds began to sting.

"Good." Itachi said tonelessly.

She pushed herself up off the ground, determined not to give up. If she became a strong ninja, Sasuke would like her. That was what she had promised herself.

Even at six years old, Sakura's stamina was awful. A few minutes of sparring had her panting for breath.

"Stop." Itachi finally commanded.

Sakura lurched to a halt.

"Sakura, is there anything that drives you to fight?" Itachi asked. Without something to aim for, Sakura would never really reach her full potential. Itachi himself had nothing driving him to fight. He hated every battle and hoped it would be over as quickly as possible. His pacifist nature made it almost impossible to be a ninja.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered, wiping her face.

Itachi closed his eyes. He rarely lost his composure, but seeing this girl care so much about his poor little brother was… emotive.

"And why do you like him so much?" Itachi asked.

"He is alone, like me." Sakura said, almost as though she was talking to herself. Her smile was wistful.

Itachi's stomach clenched.

"Picture his face when you fight. Pretend you are fighting each battle to protect him." Itachi said.

Sakura nodded, her little face grim.

Itachi smiled. He knew what would get Sakura fired up to fight.

He cast a genjutsu, a weak illusory technique that any genin could see through.

Suddenly, Sasuke tottered up to them. He was covered with cuts and bruises, his face desperate with fear.

"Sakura-chan!" Sasuke cried, staggering, "Please – please help me!"

Sakura gritted her teeth.

She raised her hands, "Kai!" She shouted.

Itachi blinked, taken aback. Sakura had seen through his technique and had repelled it.

Sakura's face screwed up in effort, her eyebrows drawing sharply together, her jaw clenched.

Itachi's sharp eyes caught sight of the illusion flickering into place.

Sakura was attempting to recreate the jutsu Itachi had used against her, from memory, from scratch, having never done it before. At six years old. Perhaps Itachi truly had stumbled upon another genius.

Sasuke flickered into view, a perfect mirror image of the illusion Itachi had created. Itachi stared at the bleeding, desperate vision of his little brother, and broke the genjutsu abruptly.

Sakura panted and fell, exhausted. Itachi caught her easily.

"I didn't tell you to repel my jutsu, or to recreate it." Itachi said sternly, "But, well done. Who taught you how to do that?"

She looked up at him with a wide, smug grin, "I did. I read a book and it should you how to do it."

So, she was self-taught. The sooner she went to go see Yuhi the better. Her genjutsu skills could be even more advanced than he had suspected.

"A girl spoke to me today." Sakura said suddenly, beaming.

"What?" Itachi frowned. What had that got to do with anything?

"She said I shouldn't hide my forehead with my fringe. She said I should show it off. Then I wouldn't be bullied anymore."

What awful advice, Itachi thought to himself. Sakura's forehead was average-sized, but showing it off would just give the bullies more material to mock Sakura with.

"Talk to Yuhi, Sakura. She'll help you." Itachi said wearily. He wasn't the person to go to when you had emotional problems. He was a thirteen year old mass murderer.

"OK! Um, sensei… is it alright if I tell my mummy where I go when I come to train with you? She'll get worried if I don't…" Sakura mumbled.

"No," Itachi said sharply. Sakura may not see him for the murderer he is but her mother certainly would, "Tell her you are with a friend."

Sakura peeked up at him through the pink strands of hair covering her eyes and said shyly, "Are you my friend, sensei?"

Itachi felt amused. How wonderful it would be, to be thirteen and to have friends! How amazing to be a genin, going on missions with friends, coming home to a welcoming family, not living on the run, bearing the burden of your village's hatred.

"I'm your teacher, Sakura. I'm just here to help you." Itachi said, ignoring the melancholic tone colouring his words. He felt the loneliness then all too keenly – the knowledge that his new home was a hideout for criminals and his new family were monsters.

Sakura mulled that over for a while and then looked up, her eyes bright and intelligent, "Why are you teaching me, sensei?"

To keep you alive and give Sasuke some of the happiness I robbed from him, Itachi thought.

"I sensed that you had potential, Sakura. I didn't want to see it going to waste." Itachi said. It wasn't exactly a lie, though he hadn't truly noticed her potential until she reversed his genjutsu.

It made Sakura smile though, "Thank you, sensei!"

Itachi looked at the sun with a calculating eye, "You should be able to find Yuhi now. She'll most likely be on a mission, but you should still ask around the village for her."

"OK!" Sakura agreed brightly.

She set off at a run and then hesitated. She turned back and hugged Itachi quickly around the waist. Itachi froze.

"Thank you for believing in me, sensei." Sakura said quietly. She released him and ran off.

Itachi breathed out sharply when she left. She reminded him of Sasuke so much… her fawning adoration, her easy displays of affection, her wide, proud grins…

He climbed a tree easily and sat down on a thick branch, wiping away the excess leaves and moss. It was dangerous, visiting Konoha so much, but how could he stop? He could just ensure that Sakura had enough skill to defend herself, and then he would be back to full concentration, able to do his duty to his village.

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Sakura ran through the village. She stood out from the crowd with her pink hair and the many cuts and bruises adorning her skin. She didn't care about the pain that running brought her. She had a sensei! Her very own sensei!

She skidded and came to a halt when she saw a few jounin hanging around the ramen shop.

"Excuse me, please, is there, do you know…" Sakura stammered, mixing up her words. There were three jounin and they were all staring at her.

"What is it, young one? Are you lost? Are you in need of assistance from Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey?" A very large man in green boomed at her, his eyebrows alarmingly large and his teeth abnormally shiny.

Sakura shrank away from him in fear.

"You're scaring the poor girl, Gai." The single woman amongst the three of them scolded. She was very beautiful, her dark hair fell in waves and her eyes were piercingly red.

"What's up?" The last man asked. His face was covered by a dark mask and his hair was silver, like an old man, despite his voice's obvious youth.

"I… I… Do you know where Yuhi Kurenai-san is?" Sakura managed to say despite her embarrassment from having grown-ups stare at her.

The two men looked at the woman they were with.

"That's me," Kurenai said seriously, "Did someone have a message for me?"

"P-Please train me in genjutsu!" Sakura cried out.

Kurenai blinked, "What? I'm not a sensei yet. I can't train you."

"But… but you're the best in the village." Sakura said, despairing. If she returned to her sensei without Kurenai's training, would he be disappointed in her?

"Who said that?" Kurenai asked sharply.

The masked man scratched his head, puzzled.

"Everyone says it." Sakura said, lying smoothly. Her sensei may not approve of using such underhand tactics in order to secure Kurenai's help, but it was all Sakura could do. Especially when the large green man with the eyebrows kept grinning at her.

"They do?" Kurenai's eyebrows shot up. She looked as though she was trying to supress her pleasure at the compliment.

The masked man coughed, "It doesn't matter how good your teacher is, kid. You're only what, five, six? Genjutsu is complicated. You have to have excellent chakra control and high intelligence."

"That's true. I'm sorry, I'd teach you if you could – " Kurenai began to say before she was interrupted.

Sakura's hands formed the seal she had watched her sensei make.

The masked man pulled down his mask slightly, revealing both eyes. One of them was scarred, and blood red.

Kurenai walked over to them. She was a perfect copy of the real thing, only a slight waver in her appearance where Sakura had not quite got her eyes right.

"Wow." Kurenai said, eyes wide. She put her hand out to touch her clone. Her hand when through it, "It's not a clone, just an illusion. But a clever one! Who on earth taught you that?"

The pupil in the masked man's red eye began to spin around as he stared at Sakura.

"I read it in a book!" Sakura said defensively.

"You taught yourself how to project perfect illusions?" Kurenai said flatly, "At your age?"

Sakura nodded firmly.

"Well, I admire your resolve, seeking genjutsu training at such a young age. I might be able to pass on some techniques to you."

"Really?" Sakura said, beaming.

"I'll be hard." Kurenai warned.

"I don't mind!" Sakura said sincerely.

"I think she can handle it." The masked man said, his red eye still focused on Sakura's face suspiciously.

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Sakura was returning to the Nara forest to see her sensei when something caught her eye.

Sasuke was walking down the street, alone.

She allowed herself a second to watch his progress. She smiled brightly. Sasuke was so cool!

"Sa-sasuke-kun!" She said suddenly, jumping in front of him.

He froze. She smiled encouragingly at him. He glared at her, "What do you want?" He spat.

Her smile wavered slightly, "I made you something, Sasuke-kun!" She pulled out the bento and offered it to him.

He barely glanced at it. He walked around her, ignoring the outstretched bento.

"Sasuke-kun…" She mumbled, "I- I made you –"

"I heard you before." He said coldly, "Why did you make me a bento?"

She blushed, "Because, because I love you, Sasuke-kun!"

"You don't even know me." Sasuke said harshly.

Sakura lowered the bento.

He walked off, hands in his pockets.

Sakura was left standing alone in the street, clutching the bento.

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Itachi sat in the tree, contemplating his burden. He had killed his own family in the name of a village that despised him. He had to sneak into the village these days. He wondered, yet again, if he had made the right choice. He had left Sasuke alone with no family. Sakura was his last chance to make things right.

He heard a rustle in the bushes to his left and he had a kunai in his hand before he knew it.

But it was only Sakura, pushing her way noisily through the bushes. Itachi made a note to teach her about stealth.

He dropped down from the tree.

Sakura was wearing a new red bow, tying back her hair and revealing her forehead. It was obvious she had been crying, her eyes were red and sore-looking.

"Did she teach you?" He asked in a low voice.

"Yes." Sakura nodded.

"Good. Why have you been crying?"

Sakura rubbed at her face with a scowl.

"I made Sasuke a bento. But he didn't want it! I told him I love him and he said I didn't even know him. I don't like him anymore." Sakura said childishly.

Itachi sighed. He shouldn't have expected Sakura's love for Sasuke to last. But he had hoped.

"I'll build up your stamina and your strength. I don't live in this village, so don't expect me to be here whenever. I will summon a crow and have it come to your window when I am in the village. When that happens, come to this forest. I will continue to train you." Itachi said. Sakura might not be able to offer Sasuke love, but if she stayed alive, Itachi was certain she would affect Sasuke for the better.

After knowing Sakura for such a short time, he did not want to return to Konoha and find only a grave, a sad relic to mark a wasted life.

He would train this little girl and keep her alive in this cruel village.

This is essentially a filler chapter. It had to be done, sadly. A few things in this chapter should be useful later on! The next chapter has a timeskip, Sakura will be twelve and Itachi will be about 17-18. Itachi technically should only have been twelve when Sakura was six, but he was thirteen when he murdered his family, so… I got confused XD Sorry. Wow, he looked like he was in his twenties when he killed the Uchihas, I was amazed to find out he was only thirteen!

Quick poll for fun: Should Sakura keep her crush on Sasuke?

A) Yes, it will add more tension.

B) Maybe, not sure.

C) No, make her dislike him.

D) Other! Let me know!