Sakura hesitated for a few moments, staring blankly at the spot Olivier had just vanished from. How could she have been so stupid? Someone was watching her? And from the Uchiha clan? Who could it possibly be? She felt uneasy as Itachi's face suddenly loomed in the back of her mind.

When she had first arrived back in Konoha, it was true she hadn't stopped to give her plan much thought. She had only acted, impulsively and without thinking that her actions could arise suspicion. Granted it had only been a few days but there was no doubt in her mind that someone of her age should not be behaving as mature and intelligent as she has been. And she knew very well just how brilliant and clever Sasuke's older brother was. If he had caught sight of them training together it was all over for her. Perhaps she could fool her parents and Iruka and even the other children into believing she was just a regular girl but there was no convincing Itachi.

She couldn't reveal that she had come from the future. It was against the set list of rules Olivier had given her. But how else could she explain why she seemed to know everything about everyone and why she acted far beyond her years. Sakura shook her head. Maybe Itachi wasn't even watching her and she was simply acting paranoid. None of that mattered now. She still had people who needed her help. Putting Itachi out of her thoughts for now, she turned and rushed back towards her house.

It was only then that she had remembered her promise of helping Gaara, and she thought of how desperately she wanted to prevent him from suffering of loneliness and hatred throughout his entire childhood. She couldn't let him suffer like that. Not again. No one should ever have live life believing not one person in the world cares for you. She would not let him become a monster who hates the world and lives only to serve himself. He would have friends.

Sakura became so lost in thought while running back towards the village she didn't see the boy in the middle of the road, and so she collided with his back which sent them both sprawling to the ground.

"Ah, I'm so terribly sorry-"Sakura started to say, eyes half closed, frowning from the taste of dirt that had entered her mouth.

"Get off me!" A somewhat familiar voice said, roughly pushing her off and she found herself on the ground again.

"Neji!"

Indeed it was a younger Neji. "How did you know my name? Explain yourself."

Sakura instinctively covered her mouth with her hand. 'Great going Sakura. Trying to keep a low profile and you go and mess up again,' she thought bitterly.

"Oh no! It's just-" she wracked her brain trying to think up a plausible excuse,"I-I'm friends with Hinata Hyuga and you look an awful lot like her. She's mentioned she has a cousin named Neji so when I saw you I figured you were him."

From the way Neji scrutinized her it was easy to tell he wasn't buying her story.

"And why would someone like her mention my name,"he muttered angrily.

"She really looks up to you Neji. I can tell from the way she talks about you. And I've been trying to help her get stronger since she is really shy. But I can tell the person she truly wants to train with is you. Did you guys used to be close?"

"I want nothing to do with the Main Branch. Leave me alone. Her destiny is already set in stone. No amount of training will change those who are weak."

"Do you really believe that?"

He looked away from her, the scowl on his face still present. But she saw something else in his eyes. Pain.

"Fate is something that is decided at birth. I don't want to help her. She is unfit to be a ninja and will always be weak."

Sakura paused, trying to choose her words very carefully. It pained her to know Neji had these thoughts from such a young age. She didn't know the full story behind his Dad's death or what the branches of the Hyuga Clan had to do with his upbringing but she couldn't let him keep living with all these pent up emotions.

"I think you're suffering Neji. I don't know what's happened in your past but you are wrong. You can change who you are. A few years ago I used to be a whiny, useless brat who didn't know what a kunai was, but because of my training and the friendships I've made, I have definitely changed. I'm going to live and strive for my goals. You should do the same. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Neji's expression changed to a confused one as he contemplated what she said. After a few minutes he opened his mouth to reply but when he looked up she had already left. He never even found out her name. Perhaps the death of his father had put him through much more suffering than he should have let it.

He bent down to pick up the kunai that had fallen from his pocket when the pink haired girl crashed into him. Noticing for the first time a lake had been next to him the entire time he slowly walked over to the boardwalk and sat down, frowning when he saw his reflection gazing back at him in the water. He eyed the cursed seal he had been branded with as a small child and splashed the water violently with his hand so he wouldn't have to look at it.

"Father...," he spoke aloud, his voice wavering, "I don't know what to believe anymore."

When Sakura finally reached her house, panting and out of breath, still not entirely used to this small body- she collapsed on the couch and lay there for what seemed like forever until her mom called her to dinner.

"What's wrong Sakura? You seem exhausted today. Are they working you hard at the academy?"

"Not really. Well, I mean yes. It's just my friends and I trained for awhile today. So I'm a little tired."

"It makes me happy to hear you've made so many friends. That's my girl," her father grinned, making Sakura feel embarrass but at the same time grateful her parents were still alive. This time together with them meant so much but they had not been the reason she had come back. There was still so much she had to do. Yet she still couldn't think of a reasonable way to get to the sand village in order to help Gaara. She couldn't even remember if the Leaf and Sand were even on good terms at this moment.

But that wasn't the biggest problem. She couldn't just leave. Her parents would obviously know she was missing and put out a request. And if she also didn't show up at the academy that would be another problem. Sighing in frustration, she rested her head down on the table. Gratefully her parents didn't noticed anything was wrong as they continued to talk about their day to day activities.

She couldn't wait until the Chunin exams to help Gaara. It wouldn't be impossible to help him change his ways but it would be extremely difficulty. And even then only Naruto was the one who had gotten through to him. But she still couldn't let him suffer another five years by himself. Sakura could never possibly imagine what he had gone through but dammit she would do anything to protect her friends.

Getting up she headed for the front door.

"Sakura where are you going? You need to go to bed soon!"

"Don't worry about me mom, I'm just going for a short walk. It helps me think." Without waiting for an answer she ran out the door forgetting to put on a sweatshirt.

Sakura's mother shook her head sadly, " It's nice to see Sakura making friends and having fun but she's been acting so strange lately. She's so serious all the time."

"Maybe we should take her on a vacation so she can let loose for real and have some fun," her Dad suggested, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Back outside, Sakura was pacing back and forth in front of her parents garden, completely oblivious to the outside world. All this planning to leave the village without getting caught was such a heavy weight on her chest. She thought of many ways to go about putting a plan into action but she was clever enough to know they'd all end badly.

A sudden chill came over her body and she sensed someone else's presence. Instinctively she grabbed a shuriken and looked around, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Sakura Haruno."

The hair's on the back of Sakura's neck stood up as she caught sight of pair of bright red Sharingan eyes looking right at her.