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"Itachi," Sakura gasped before tripping backwards over her own feet out of pure shock. Why had he followed her to her house? A million thoughts played around in her head as lighthearted chuckle reached her ears, yet she couldn't fathom why Itachi hadn't started interrogating her right away. She remembered him as someone who wasted no time in prying information from people. Sakura knew she had nothing to be worried about in terms of him hurting her, as he was actually a pacifist who had protected Konoha by killing off his own clan before they could overthrow the village in her last life, but still—she feared he would find out the truth about her, thus ruining her plans to change history for the better. If there were ever anyone she would tell about her being from the future, oddly enough her first choice would have been Itachi. Especially if it meant finding a way to prevent the massacre of the entire Uchiha clan.
Unfortunately, Olivier's first rule required her to never tell anyone her time traveling secret. She did not trust Olivier, but she obeyed his orders just in case she really did disappear. No doubt the devious bastard was impatiently waiting for her to screw up so he could interfere and do who knows what. Possibly hurt someone she loves. And all for his own sick entertainment. Grimacing in disgust, Sakura pulled herself out of her thoughts and back to reality.
Sakura slowly wrapped a hand around another shuriken, ready to spring to her feet at any moment in case he dared to try anything. Of course, she could already be trapped in his genjutsu this very instant and not even be aware of it. Sakura hoped that wasn't the case. She couldn't recall seeing a hand signal. She didn't think Itachi would do anything other than question her, especially with them standing not too far away from her house, but she kept a hand placed on the weapon in her pocket anyway, ready to wield it at a moments notice.
But as the Sharingan user finally stepped forward and out of the shadows, the moon illuminating their face, she realized the person standing mere feet away was not Itachi at all. Without lowering her guard, she walked a few inches closer to get a better look. He wore the standard attire of the Uchiha clan, however, he had short, unkempt dark colored hair and a relatively broad nose—quite the opposite of Itachi's well groomed appearance and delicate facial features. Not to mention, he looked a little older than the age Itachi should be right now. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer Sakura burst out, "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
The mysterious boy let out an amused chuckle, confusing her even more."Now why would you think I was Itachi little girl?"
"It-it's just, I'm friends with Sasuke Uchiha! And he's mentioned his older brother Itachi. And you have the Sharingan!So I just...I don't know, sort of assumed you were him..." her voice trailed off, reminding her of a few hours before when she gave the same excuse to Neji.
"Oh I know you two are friends. I was watching you and your little gang earlier. You're a very peculiar girl."
Sakura's fist clenched. "I'll ask again. Who are you? If you don't tell me I'll yell and scream. My parents will come running!"
"Whoah whoah, take an easy there," the older boy grinned sheepishly, raising his hands in defense, hoping to calm her down. "My name is Shisui Uchiha. I'm actually best friends with Itachi. He always asks me to keep an eye on his younger brother when he goes on extended missions with the ANBU. Although I must say, it took me a little longer to find Sasuke today since I almost always find him in his usual training spot in the forest just south of our clan."
"So what do you want with me then?" Sakura asked, still having yet to lower her defenses. She couldn't tell what his motives were, or if he was onto her.
"Well, I don't normally stick around too long, just enough to make sure Sasuke doesn't hurt himself. Sometimes I'll give him some advice and tips since Itachi can't always be there to help him out. Actually, to be honest, Itachi's been acting rather odd lately and he hasn't given Sasuke any of his time at all. Hasn't even confided in me that much about anything..." Here Shisui paused for a few moments as if in deep thought about something.
Sakura's eyes widened and she dropped the shuriken she had been holding, which made a soft noise as it hit the ground, bringing Shisui's attention back to the little girl with pink hair standing in front of him.
"Oh, sorry," Shisui apologized, scratching his head, knowing right away he shouldn't have voiced his inner thoughts about his best friend to someone he hardly knew anything about. He sensed a high amount of intelligence radiating from her, almost on par with Itachi's own brilliance when he was her age.
Sakura kept replaying the words Shisui had said over and over again in her head. 'Itachi's been acting rather odd lately...Itachi's been acting rather odd lately...Itachi's been acting rather odd lately.' "Oh no," she murmured aloud. Did this mean the plan to do away with the Uchiha clan had already been set in motion? Was it already too late to stop the clan from being wiped off the face of the Earth, leaving only young Sasuke to survive and to inevitably embark on his quest of revenge once again? Had Shisui been killed along with everyone else that night? How could Itachi even bring himself to kill his best friend? Even though he slaughtered his own clan for the sake of the village, how was he able to do it?
'It must have tortured him inside,' Sakura thought to herself. 'I can't even begin to imagine all the pain and agony he went through. But I won't let him do it. I will stop it from happening. I won't let Sasuke and Itachi suffer through that again.'
"Anyways," Shisui said, and she directed her attention back to the teenager. "I was quite surprised to find Sasuke training with a group of kids his age, let alone at Shikaku Nara's house. You see, us Uchiha's are, well, how do I put it?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked up at the night sky, as if the stars above could give him the words he was looking for. "My clan has always felt outcasted by the village and so they don't like to open up to the other clans, other people. They basically teach their children to stick together, to not to bother with anyone else, but instead to master their abilities and get stronger. As a whole I can say we are proud and arrogant, and unwilling to befriend others. Now, I love my clan, I really do, but it's time to put the past behind us and move to a brighter future where we can all get along."
He paused again and Sakura thought he must have mistaken the baffled look on her face as proof that she had no idea what he was telling her about. In reality, she knew exactly what Shisui referred to. She just found it hard to believe he flat out told her the truth about their clan, however, he seemed such lost in thought that it almost seemed like he was speaking more to himself than to her. She wondered if he knew of Sasuke's father's coup d'état plan.
"Look Sakura, I know you're still incredibly young and maybe you don't understand everything I'm telling you, but from what I learned after watching you kids train together is that you show a lot of promise as a shinobi. Plus, you gave Sasuke a chance to make friends with people from different clans and it is because of that reason that I trust you. I stopped by the academy afterward to ask Iruka Sensei if he had any idea how this came to be and he relayed to me how he overheard that training together was your idea and how you even included the Uzumaki boy everyone is told to stay away from."
Sakura didn't need to worry about how she worded her next few sentences because she spoke right from the heart. "I don't care what other people say about him. He only pulls pranks because everyone in the village treats him horribly. I can't stand by and watch as he grows up alone without anyone at all to love him. That wouldn't be right. Everybody needs a friend."
Shisui smiled in response and ruffled her hair. "And this is why I feel you are someone I can count on Sakura. You seem to have a way of bringing people together and I came here tonight to tell you to continue doing just that. Someone such as yourself could have a very important role in our village one day. No matter what happens, promise me you will always be there for your friends. "
"I will," she said, then added quickly, "And I promise to never give up on Sasuke or the Uchiha clan!"
"Thank you. I've been wanting to ask Iruka Sensei if there was a teaching position available at the academy. One day I'd like to have my own genin team. Maybe our paths will cross once again someday." Shisui grinned before saluting her and disappearing into the night without a trace.
As Shisui jumped from tree to tree quickly and without sound, Fugaku's plan to overthrow Konoha kept nagging at the back of his mind. He was greatly concerned with the consequences that would follow the clan's actions if they actually went through with it and wanted to prevent it all costs. Very aware of Itachi's position on the matter, Shisui considered confiding in him his own plan to stop the coup d'état. But Itachi had been very secretive lately, hardly talking to anyone, even him, and not showing up to meetings, worrying Shisui greatly and making him wonder if Itachi had a plan of his own.
As Sakura walked back to her house after her encounter with Shisui, she kicked rocks out of the way violently to let her anger out. 'Damn that Olivier,' Sakura cursed mentally. 'So this is what he meant when he told me an Uchiha was keeping their eye on me. I had nothing to worry about the entire time! That bastard tricked me again!'
After a short five minute walk she finally arrived back home and wearily opened the door, discarded her shoes and crawled up the stairs to get to her room.
"Sakura Haruno."
Sakura's eyes went wide as her mother's disappointed voice floated down from atop the stairs. Gulping, she looked up to find her mother standing at the top of the staircase, arms folded across her chest , wearing a frown on her face.
"Sakura, you said you were going for a short walk. Do you know how long it has been? I don't want you out that late at night and especially not by yourself."
"I'm sorry mom. I lost track of time. But to be honest I think I'm more capable of protecting myself than you are."
Her mother sighed, and then smiled, not being one to stay mad at her daughter for very long. "I just want you to be safe Sakura." With that, she bent down and scooped her daughter up in her arms, and carried her to her bedroom, Sakura protesting the entire way.
The next morning in class Sakura found herself being roughly shaken awake by an overexcited Kiba.
"Huh? What?" Sakura asked, eyes half closed, her vision blurry and unfocused after taking a nap during class. It was rather surprising Iruka hadn't hit her over the head with a book to wake her up.
"Slacking off eh Sakura?" Shikamaru smirked without looking at her, more focused on completing the word search puzzle book open in front of him.
"What time is it? What's going on?" she asked, slumping back down in her seat, exhausted from staying up so late.
"It's lunch time!" Choji grinned, his eyes gleaming as he ran off to collect his lunchbox from his locker. Since it was lunch hour, students at the academy were either chatting animatedly and eating lunch, relaxing outside enjoying the nice weather, or they were causing trouble.
"I'm so hungry I could eat Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed, crouching down on all fours, preparing to tackle the hyperactive blonde boy to the ground. Akamaru barked happily in agreement from inside his jacket.
"Well, I'm so hungry I could eat you and Sasuke!" Naruto grinned, raising his arms high above his head, as if this awkward gesture was suitable enough to defend himself from Kiba's attack.
"Well, I'm not nearly hungry enough to be so desperate as to touch either of you with a fork!" Sasuke joked as Kiba jumped on top of Naruto sending both of them crashing to the floor.
"Well, hopefully there will be enough food between all of us so that we won't have to resort to eating each other," Hinata said, sounding worried.
"But if it comes down to it," Kiba said from atop Naruto, pausing for dramatic effect, the blonde struggling beneath his grip, "every man for himself!"
"Don't worry! My mom always packs me extra and I'm willing to share," Choji reassured them good-naturedly.
Sasuke, upset that his brother had been acting distant toward him, but happy to have made some good friends, started to open his own lunch up when three girls he hardly knew approached him at the same time.
"Hi Sasuke!"
"Sasuke! Want to eat lunch with me?"
"I heard you love girls with long hair Sasuke!"
"Hey back off! I was here first!"
"No he's mine!"
The girls were so busy arguing they failed to notice as he silently slipped away, wondering why any guy in his right mind would ever like a girl. They were so weird and annoying!
"Oh Shikamaru! Shikamaru! Do you want to have lunch together?" Sasuke called.
Shikamaru unwillingly turned to look at him, a mulish expression on his face. "Ah, not this crap again."
"I made a special lunch for us to share!" Sasuke said, trying to compose himself and not burst out laughing.
"Sasuke get off me you freak!" Shikamaru spat vehemently.
"Shikamaru, promise me you'll never cut your hair!" The raven-haired boy laughed, harder than he ever had in a long, long time.
On the other side of the room, Naruto had thrown together a makeshift cape and mask and stood addressing a group of kids who weren't paying him any attention at all.
"That's right my loyal subjects! I'm going to be Hokage one day! Me! Me! Me! Bow down before me you fools! Ahahahaha."
"Not this nonsense again," Kiba muttered shaking his head. He patted on Naruto on the back solemnly. "Sorry pal, but you? Hokage? No way! But how about this. I'll be Hokage in your place."
"I think you could be Hokage one day if you really try Naruto," Hinata said, blushing and tapping two fingers together nervously.
"What?" Kiba gasped. "Hinata! What is this? And I thought we were friends!" Kiba clutchrf his stomach, staggered around for a little bit, making sure to ram into Naruto's side as he did so, then fell over on the floor and laid there staring up at the ceiling.
"Kiba! What's wrong? You're not really hurt are you?" Hinata asked, bending down to examine him.
"Ah the pain! Goodbye cruel world!" He shouted dramatically, closing his eyes and letting his limbs go limp.
Naruto stuck out his tongue. "Serves him right. You better believe it!"
Sakura, who had fully woken up after she heard Kiba fall on the floor, started shaking her head and laughing at how silly her friends were. 'If only it had been like this from the beginning,' she thought. 'Instead of everyone keeping to themselves.'
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around to find Sasuke holding up a dango. "Hey Sakura. I keep telling my mom not to pack me these but she always does. Do you want it?"
"Yeah sure. Thanks Sasuke." At the exact moment she reached out to grab it, she felt something hard slam into her back, causing the dango to fly out of Sasuke's hand and the next thing she knew she found herself on top of him, with someone else on top of her.
"Sorry guys," she heard Kiba apologize. "Naruto is an idiot." A heavy weight lifted off her back and for the first time she realized that she and Sasuke were so close there cheeks were touching. She hesitated for a moment, her cheeks turning red, then she quickly removed herself from on top of him and Kiba helped him up. Sasuke awkwardly turned away, scratching at the back of his head, so no one would see him blushing.
At that moment, Iruka Sensei entered the class room to tell everyone they had five minutes left to eat and prepare themselves for the next lesson. Taking an opportunity to to alleviate the uncomfortable silence between her and Sasuke, she walked over to her teacher and said, "Hey Iruke Sensei, what can you tell me about the Sand Village?"
Far, far away from Konoha, a clandestine meeting was being held by a group of unknown and mysterious people.
"What's the plan?" a man asked.
"To eradicate the Leaf Village of their ninja academy population."