Sakura Rewind

Written by: KamiNoSakura

Author's Note:This is a story that I thought of during my youthful years in Middle school. I thought that Sakura's role needed a bit more of an impact, so I wrote this story and revised it a number of times, hope you enjoy. There are some of my OCs and a few of the original characters may seem to be a bit OOC, but otherwise I tried to capture their original personalities. On another note, I do plan on making a doujinshi of this story however it will take some time due to my lack of excellent drawing skills. Please bear with me everyone. I do not own Naruto, all rights go to Kishimoto Masashi.

Warning: Main Character Death (Sort of…) & Some Profanity

-Chapter 4-

The Return of Old Friends

Sakura continued her search through the village in the hopes of finding Iruka-sensei. As she searched and searched she noticed the time and decided to meet up with Naruto and Lee.

'Well it's been about an hour, I better meet up with Naruto and Lee. Hopefully they had better luck finding Iruka-sensei than I did.' She sped through the residential area, then the town and finally reached Ichiraku Ramen. She saw Lee and called out to the young boy.

"Lee, any luck?" Lee looked in the direction of the voice.

"Ah Sakura-san" He let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, I could not find Iruka-sensei…how about you?" Sakura shook her head in response. The two stood and let out a sigh. The then wondered what happened to their energetic blonde friend. Their pondering thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two people. One of them was Naruto, and the other was a tall man. He had his brunette hair tied in a high pony-tail, his forehead was adorned with one of Konoha's forehead protectors; which were a sign of being an official shinobi of Konoha. One of his noticeable features was the scar that pierced across the bridge his nose from one side of his face to the other. The man looked at the two children who were in front of him.

'Leave it to Naruto to be able to find Iruka-sensei, I bet he pried him out using some sort of prank….' Sakura thought to herself.

"Naruto-kun, how on earth did you find Iruka-sensei?" Naruto grinned, whereas Iruka looked a bit distraught.

"Well, as it turned out Iruka-sensei was at the academy grading papers like there was no tomorrow. I had a feeling that he wouldn't leave unless I made him."

"Naruto…what did you do?" Sakura raised a brow as she asked a question that she might regret.

"Well…I painted stuff all over the academy walls."

"Naruto!" Both Sakura and Lee couldn't believe that Naruto went so far to drag Iruka-sensei out of the classroom. Sakura's surprise washed over. She knew Naruto well, so hearing what he did didn't surprise her as much as it should. Naruto had a habit of pulling pranks like that when they were still students at the academy.

"I'm sorry about all of this Iruka-sensei." Sakura said as she bowed to the older man.

"Don't worry about it, I promised Naruto that I'd pay for the ramen if he's willing to clean up the entire academy tonight. Well now that we're all here why don't we eat some ramen? I'll pay for both Sakura and Lee as well."

"Ah well, if that's the case then we should help Naruto clean up, it's the least we could do since you're treating us Iruka-sensei." Lee nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I guess that's a fair trade. Now let's eat!"

"Hai!" All three children agreed and the four entered Ichiraku's.

Ichiraku's Ramen:

As the four were in the midst of eating, Iruka decided to start up a conversation.

"To be honest with you kids, I was surprised when Naruto told me that he was meeting up with friends. I've never seen him so happy and excited before." He said with a gentle smile.

'No surprise there, Naruto really didn't have any friends until we graduated from the academy and were sorted into our teams.' Sakura had thought.

"Well actually Sakura-chan was the one who approached me first, we then looked for another person to play and that's when we met Fuzzy-brows." Lee became irritated by the nickname that Naruto gave him.

"Don't call me Fuzzy-brows and more importantly don't make fun of my eyebrows!" Before Naruto was able to say anything else Sakura smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, what was that for?" Rubbing his head as he asked.

"Don't make fun of Lee, especially since he and I will be helping you clean up your mess. It's ok to make fun of your friends, just don't make a habit out of it. Otherwise your head will get in the habit of being hit. Or would you rather have a brutally beaten body?" She asked Naruto while threateningly cracking her knuckles. The Kyuubi-host felt shivers travelling down his spine. But his fears were soon replaced by happiness when he thought about what Sakura had just said.

~It's ok to make fun of friends, just don't make a habit out of it.~ The word "friend" stuck out. He was so happy to finally have friends, he wasn't going to be alone anymore.

'Today's been the best day ever! I get ramen, friends and…' Naruto glanced over at Sakura who looked as happy as he was. '…I met someone like Sakura-chan' His cheeks changed to a light pink color as he thought about the pink-haired kunoichi. Iruka noticed Naruto's change in behavior and was happy to see that his student-to-be has friends that he can enjoy life with.

"Oh Lee, are you ready for the new school year? We're starting in a week so don't forget." Lee went silent for a moment. Sakura and Naruto became worried about the sudden silence of their friend.

"Actually Iruka-sensei….I think I'm going to the academy next year…." Iruka and the other two looked at Lee with shock painted on their faces. "I know this is sudden, but the thing is the children my age always made fun of the fact that I can't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu. I only have my taijutsu to rely on. When I told this to Sakura-san and Naruto-kun they didn't make fun of me, actually they didn't say anything about it. The only thing Naruto-kun remarked about was the thickness of my eyebrows…" Naruto let out a big grin. Lee glared at the Kyuubi vessel. "…which I don't appreciate by the way."

"Darn, you're ruining my fun Fuzzy-brows." The two stared at each other before they broke out in laughter. Sakura and Iruka smiled at how the two boys were enjoying the company of the other.

The four finished their ramen, with Iruka staring depressingly at the emptiness of his wallet. When Naruto is treated to ramen by someone else, he never holds back.

'Poor Iruka-sensei, I kind of feel bad. Seeing as I was the one with the ramen idea…'

"Well it's about time that I get back to those papers. They won't grade themselves. See you kids later, and Naruto make sure you clean up the mess by the end of the week." Iruka then waved at the children. "Stay safe you three!" He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the children by themselves.

"Naruto, why did he say week?" Sakura asked as she peered in Naruto's eyes.

"Ah, well, you see…the mess I made…well let's just say I've made a month's worth of work for us…heh heh heh…AHHHHHH!" As soon as Naruto finished his sentence Sakura made a mad dash and raced after the troublemaker. If there was one thing Sakura never liked about Naruto it was the mess he's left which someone always ended up cleaning for him. That was when Sakura was still in her original time, she's gone through this situation before and there was no way in hell she'll let Naruto repeat history. It was a risk to change history, but there are some things that should, and Naruto's dirty habits are certainly one of them in Sakura's book.

"Naruto! You better clean most of that up, you hear me!"
"But didn't you say that you'll help Sakura-chan?"

"We'll help, not do the job for you!" She then stopped chasing after the blonde prankster. Naruto noticed Sakura's erupted change and wondered what was wrong.

"Sakura-chan? What's the matter?" Before he knew it, Sakura grabbed his arms so that he could not escape.

"Well since I don't feel like chasing you, I'd thought I'd make you come to me." Sakura looked back at Lee. "Come on Lee, Naruto let's do all the cleaning today."

"W-wha today? Sakura-chan that will take all night!"

"Then so be it, and don't complain. You're the reason why we're doing cleaning duty in the first place. So suck it up!"

"H-hai…"

"Besides, don't think of it as a chore. Try thinking that it's a challenge, or training."

"Training?" Both of the boys asked, not understanding what their pink-haired friend was saying.

"Yes training. If we manage to clean up the entire academy by tonight, and do a good job it'll reflect on our speed and efficiency, both of which are necessary traits for shinobi to have." The two young boys nodded in understanding and agreed that it was a good idea to clean the academy in one night.

"Yosh! Let's get cleaning!" Shouted the blonde boy as he raised his fist in the air above. Sakura and Lee's only response was a nod; they raced through the town. Running to the ninja academy, and arrived at their destination.

"It seems that we're not the only ones here." Sakura said as she immediately sensed the presence of others. "Come on out, I know you're hiding!" There was sudden movement in the bushes beside them. Then appeared three young boys, one of them had brown spiky hair, with red (upside down) triangles adorning each cheek. He was accompanied by a small white puppy. Sakura knew that it was the younger Inuzuka Kiba, in her original time he was a fierce shinobi, with an equally fierce temper. Although he has his flaws he makes up for it with his loyalty towards his friends and comrades, always watching their backs. Beside him was a boy with his hair tied up and with a lazy expression, it was obvious that the bored genius was Nara Shikamaru. Behind his was a rather chubby child, instead of triangles on his cheeks like Kiba he had swirls, he appeared to be a bit frightened by Sakura and her companions, it was Akimichi Chouji. This didn't escape Sakura's notice. "Hey you can relax you know, we're not going to do anything to you." She said, attempting to calm with an apologetic face. Chouji looked at the pink-haired girl, his shoulders relaxed and he gave the girl a small smile.

"Hey, who are you guys?" Asked the animal-shinobi, which sounded more like a demand to the ears of Sakura, Lee and Naruto.

"We can ask you guys the same thing! What are you guys doing here?" Shouted the blonde.

Kiba shot back, "Hey! I asked you guys first Shorty!"

"S-shorty? We're the same height!"

Sakura quickly grew impatient with the two boys, she was fairly tempted in sending them both flying across Konoha. However, her rational side knew she shouldn't. "Will you two stop fighting?" Interrupted the future medic.

"This has nothing to do with you forehead!" Sakura merely sighed.

'Why must everyone comment on the size of my forehead…well not like I care anymore, but still this is getting old really fast…' Her thoughts came to an erupt end when she heard Naruto shouting at Kiba.

"Hey! Don't talk to Sakura-chan like that teme!"

"I can talk to her however I want to brat!" As the two were arguing Lee tried to speak with his female companion.

"Sakura-san, I think we should stop them. I mean, I understand how irritated Naruto-kun is but we have to clean the academy tonight."

Sakura whispered back. "I know Lee, don't worry about it. Let me handle these two." Lee just simply nodded his head. Sakura then turned her attention to the boys who were still arguing, she grabbed both of their heads and shoved them into each other. Although she didn't use nearly as much force as she normally does, it was still quite a powerful impact for the two unfortunate boys.

"Sakura-chan, what was that for?" Naruto said as he tried to massage his head that was recovering from the collision.

Sakura stared at her blonde companion for a moment, then opened her mouth to say something. "Sorry about that you two, but I had to stop your senseless bickering. It was driving me crazy. And besides…" She turned to Naruto. "Did you forget why we're here in the first place?" It took a moment for the jinchuuriki's brain to register what Sakura had meant. Then…

"Oh right! We're supposed to clean the academy!" Sakura and Lee both sighed in exasperation.

'Well at least he remembered, even if it took him a while…well that just means he's the same old Naruto as before. Heh, it's funny, he'll be the same idiotic knucklehead in ten or so years, and will be one of the greatest heroes in shinobi history.' "Well now that you know, shall we get to work?"

"Yeah!" Sakura turned to face Kiba "Sorry about this, but we're kind of busy right now. If you want to continue this fight then see us tomorrow."

"Why are you guys cleaning up the academy?" Asked the quiet and lazy Shikamaru who was standing beside his best friend in the back.

"Ah well, Naruto-kun made a bit of a mess and we're here to clean it up." Replied Lee.

"That's the story. We better get started if we want to finish by tonight. Let's go Naruto, Lee." With that the three young shinobi-to-be had left Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji in the dust.

After five grueling hours of cleaning, the trio had finally finished their task. Lee and Naruto found themselves slumping under one of the thick trees that were in front of the academy. Sakura searched the building, double-checking to see if there were any spots they had possibly missed. Since Naruto was the cause of the graffiti she had to be certain, afterall with him involved you can never be too careful. Sakura saw that there were no other places that needed to be fixed she walked to the front of the academy only to find her two clumsy friends sleeping at the base of a tree. She smiled, feeling proud of her companions at what they had accomplished in one night. She approached the two in order to wake them up, as Sakura did Iruka-sensei had appeared in a cloud of smoke. Apparently their teacher had watched over them as the trio diligently worked and scrubbed the academy walls.

"Sakura, we should let them sleep. They've worked hard and they need their rest." Iruka told his young kunoichi student.

"I understand, but we can't let them sleep here they'll only catch a cold." The older man had nodded agreeing that it wouldn't be such a wise idea to let them sleep in such a place.

"Don't worry. I'll carry them both home." He picked the two up, holding each with one arm. Despite his appearance, Iruka-sensei was fairly strong. "Sakura you should go home and rest up as well, I'm sure you're just as tired as these two. Would you like me to take you home as well?" Sakura shook her head. Indeed she was tired but not enough that she needed an escort home.

"Thank you for the offer Iruka-sensei, but I'll be just fine getting home. Besides I'm think you have your hands full, quite literally." She pointed at the children Iruka was holding.

"Ha ha ha I guess you're right. Well I'll take my leave then, be careful on your way home alright?"

"Hai Iruka-sensei. Good night." With that Iruka took a large jump to one of the roofs of the academy and disappeared into the night.

After her sensei left, she made her way back home. A few minutes passed and Sakura had arrived at her house and allowed gravity to take over as she dropped on top of her soft, fluffy bed. Her exhaustion finally kicked in. 'I guess my body isn't used to this amount of work. Looks like I'll be training starting tomorrow…and figuring out what I need to do about the coming events…' Sakura then welcomed sleep, knowing that from this point on she'll have to work her hardest to ensure the happiness of her dear friends and loved ones.

Morning came, as light gleamed through Sakura's bedroom curtains. The young kunoichi dragged herself out of bed, preparing herself for the day. After a few moments the pinkette was ready to go. After saying her good mornings and goodbyes to her parents she left the house, as she was running to the one of the training areas of Konoha she noticed two children in the distance and found them to be Naruto and Lee.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Yelled the excited young Kyuubi-host.

"Good morning Sakura-san" Followed Lee. Sakura couldn't help but give a warm smile to the two boys.

"Good morning Naruto and Lee. What are you two up to?"

"We were waiting for you!" Explained the blonde.

"Waiting for me?"

"Yes, we wanted to play some more games like yesterday."

"Oh well actually I was going to train today." The moment Sakura had said that, her two friends' smiles fell, sadness portrayed on their faces. Sakura had felt a little guilty, until a thought hit her. "Would you two like to train with me? I'm sure it's more fun training together than by myself. What do you say?" Immediately their faces lit up like a fire and nodded in agreement with Sakura's idea. Both of them followed her to the training grounds that will later become the training grounds for team 7. The young future medic felt waves of nostalgia, missing all the memories that she shared with Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. Now with her changing the future, those memories will be hers alone to carry, as she makes new ones with the rest of the world.

After about six or so hours of sparring and practice, they were completely exhausted. Normally this amount of training would be nothing to Sakura, but her body has yet to be conditioned under extreme stress. Meaning she had to start from square one all over again. However her skills and chakra control is still the same as her future self which she was more than grateful for.

"Well that's should be all for today. I'd say we improved quite a bit."

"(huff) (huff) Ye-yeah, you're right Sakura-chan…this was a g-great idea to train." Naruto tried to agree with his foxy grin while catching his breath. Lee on the other hand was just too tired to say anything, but still managed to gather the energy to nod in response.

After a few minutes of resting, the three started to walk over to one of the lakes in Konoha. Apparently Naruto liked to pass by that area at the end of the day, before he goes home. So they decided to walk with him and agreed to make it a tradition after their practices everyday. However, as they were walking Sakura's instincts kicked in, her blood began to rush throughout her body which is the usual result of a dangerous presence in the area. She closed her eyes and allowed her other senses to heighten, she was barely able to hear it but there was definitely someone in the area and they were travelling through the trees.

'Whoever it is they're in a hurry to the lake…wait the lake is right beside the Uchiha compounds!' Before Naruto and Lee opened their mouths to speak Sakura made a mad dash towards the lake.

"Naruto, Lee we got to hurry I think there's an intruder in the village!" The two immediately followed and tried their best to catch up to their female companion. One the way they passed by the young Neji. Without another thought he followed once he knew that it was Sakura who had passed him.

"Hey Haruno where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Why are you following if you don't know what's going on Hyuuga?"

"I wanted another fight, and this time I'll win…" The pinkette had cut him off before he could finish.

"Not right now Hyuuga! There's an intruder in the village and if we don't hurry someone might get hurt…or worse!" Neji's eyes widened a bit at her statement.

"If there's really an intruder than we have to tell one of the more experienced shinobi. There's no way a bunch of academy students can take on a killer shinobi!" Sakura knew Neji was right, but he was only right about himself, Naruto and Lee. She was the exception. She's experienced battles, pain and had too many near-death experiences than she would have liked, but the most important fact was that she survived. No matter the difficulty she made it through, that will never change and it won't today! Growing impatient at Sakura's lack of response he yelled, hoping to get her attention and to get his point across.

"This is SUICIDE! We're just going to get ourselves killed if we don't get the proper help now!" The young kunoichi was quickly getting irritated by Neji's cowardice. She stopped and turn to face the young genius.

"If you're so fucking scared Neji then don't follow! Get the other Chuunin or Jounin if you want but I'm going and nothing you say or do is going to change my mind. Whether you follow or not is up to you, but otherwise shut up and don't bother me!" Neji's mouth shut tight, as did Naruo's and Lee's. Although Sakura wasn't aiming to quiet those two it turned out for the better. She turned and began to run towards the lake once more, increasing her speed to make up for the loss of time. The three boys that followed struggled to catch up to the pinkette, but maintained a close distance.

At the lake there was a small port, it was the only lake on Konoha that wasn't a part of a training ground, which is usually cut off from the general public. Sasuke was sitting at the edge of the port, trying to think of what happened the day before. Mainly about his loss to the young pink-haired girl that gave him a humiliating defeat in front of his older brother. Since then he was too ashamed to face Itachi, the man that he idolizes more than anyone else. The young Uchiha lost his train of thought when he heard a voice in the distance.

"Ah Sasuke, I didn't know you were here!" Called out a young blonde girl with pale blue eyes. Sasuke was not the least bit excited to be discovered by one of the most annoying girls in his age group, the most annoying was definitely Ami. The girl believes she's queen of everyone and has this crazy idea that he, Uchiha Sasuke actually loves her! She's just plain insane.

"Tch, it's only you Ino. Go away, I don't feel like dealing with you or anyone else for that manner." Trying to sound as mean and rude as possible to drive the young girl away.

"Aw, come on don't be like that Sasuke. I'm one of the better girls in your fan club."

"Not much better…" He muttered under his breath.

As the two were engaging in a more or less one-sided conversation, with Ino being the one to do most of the talking a shadow suddenly cast upon the small figures of the children. Sasuke swiftly looked at the sudden visitor. It was a tall muscular man. He wore a mask that covered from his nose down to his neck. His attire was covered with belts of sharpened kunai, the shinobi also carried two broad swords on his back, making an "X". However the weapons were not the things Sasuke and Ino were most afraid of. It was his eyes. The dark eyes this man had were filled with nothing but bloodlust. He stood in front of the two while standing on water, causing small ripples to form at the base of his feet. Even with his mask Sasuke could tell that the man was smiling maliciously at the children, like a predator upon pouncing his unarmed prey. The young Uchiha couldn't move, fear circulated throughout his small body and beside him was Ino who was trembling uncontrollably.

"Well well, looks like I got lucky. Two children to kill today." His voice was rough and deep, adding more to his intimidation. His left hand reached for one of his broad swords, as he was drawing the blade his senses flickered and the shinobi jumped out of the way from a chakra-infused kick that came from above. Although the kick missed its target, it sent a powerful wave that headed straight for the invader. The shinobi jumped above the wave and saw who his unexpected attacker was.

Sasuke's eyes widen considerably as he saw who his savior was. "Sakura?" Said girl took a quick glance back at Sasuke and Ino. Checking for any injuries, to her relief they were unharmed and she brought her attention back to the intruder before her. From the side of the lake Naruto, Lee and Neji had finally caught up with Sakura and ran to Sasuke and Ino's side. At the sight of their arrival The invading Shinobi grinned.

"Well what do we have here? One, two, three, four, five, six children to add to my collection. I've just hit the jackpot!"

Sakura glared at her opponent. "Congratulations, you can count. And as for your prize for hitting the jackpot as you called it. It's a one-way ticket to the pits and to my fist!"

"Hah! As if a child who is probably an academy student could hope to defeat me! I bet you can't even reach me from where you are, while I on the other hand can attack any time I want to." The young pinkette simply smirked at the man.

"Want to bet on it?" Before any of them knew it Sakura had disappeared from sight and reappeared behind the shinobi. She took a quick glance at his forehead protector and saw the symbol for Rain before he swung one of his swords at her. She ducked below the sword and kicked at the rain shinobi's feet, knocking him off balance. He landed on his back as he tried to regain his footing Sakura yelled out for her companions and tossed an object towards them.

"You guys! Light that up! It's a signal flare, use it to grab the attention of any shinobi that are nearby!" 'Although I can beat this guy I can't risk wasting any chakra, not when I have five other people to worry about. And my body's still not used to being put under so much stress. At least with the flare one of the Uchihas or anyone else should be able to help.' Sasuke took the flare from Naruto who had caught it and used one of his fire jutsus. 'Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!' A small fireball flared out of Sasuke's mouth as he lit the flare. 'Please Aniki! I need you!' Praying that his older Anbu-ranked brother would come to his aide.

Sakura saw the flare shoot out a light and streamed upward towards the sky. Then the rain Shinobi released all of his kunai towards the girl. Unfortunately for him Sakura had easily dodged the attack and sent chakra towards her feet. This increased her speed, then with quick precision she punched the shinobi right where his lung was located. Causing him to struggle breathing for air, he was down on his knees while holding his stomach, which made him the perfect height for one of Sakura's kicks. It connected with his left cheek and sent flying towards the edge of the lake. The rain shinobi tried his best to get up, but as he saw his young female opponent approach him slowly, fear took over. He screamed and squirmed for mercy.

"No! Stay away you monster! Please Spare me!" Sakura had stopped where she was. And stood in front of the man.

"Would have done the same if those guys on the port begged for forgiveness?" It was more a rhetorical question. She knew that there was no way that he would show mercy to them, or to herself for that matter if she were in their situation.

"O-of course I would have! I-I was only joking with them!" Her emerald eyes narrowed.

"I know that you're a shinobi and all, but couldn't you tell a less obvious lie?" The rain shinobi turned as pale as snow. At that moment several other people appeared before Sakura, her friends and their attacker. One of them being Itachi, he quickly approached his younger brother.

"Sasuke are you alright?" His face was clam and stoic, hiding all of his emotions from others. He was indeed a true shinobi, one to be feared and for good reason. His younger brother on the other hand wasn't as calm as his older brother.

"A-aniki you came!" He ran up towards his idol and gave a firm hug, hiding his face from public view. 'Poor Sasuke, he must have been terrified. I let my guard down, I should have been more careful about any intruders that might have tried to kidnap or kill Sasuke. Afterall his bloodline makes him a good target for other shinobi.' The older Uchiha glanced back at Sakura who was still in front of the invader. 'She's a lot better than I thought. To think she could take on a B-ranked criminal all by herself. I'm glad she came when she did. Otherwise who knows what could have happened here?' As he was inspecting the surrounding area for any signs of other shinobi, he noticed how exhausted Sakura looked. Then he saw that Naruto and Lee were in the same condition. Itachi released himself from his brother's hug and asked the two injured boys some questions.

"Naruto, Lee can I ask you two a few things?" This grabbed the attention of two said boys and they looked up to make eye contact with the older boy. And nodded, giving him approval to question them. "Well for starters, why are you two and Sakura so worn out?"

"Ah well that's because before we came here we were training. Sakura-chan taught us some cool techniques!"

"I see, well then how did you guys come here at the right time to save Sasuke? Or was it just a coincidence?"

"Actually after our training with Sakura-san the three of us were making our way here since Naruto-kun likes to walk in this area. That's when Sakura-san sensed danger."

What young Lee had said piqued Itachi's interest. 'So her senses are heightened enough to sense an enemy, really impressive for someone who has yet to enroll in the academy to receive official training.'

"Ok, is there anything else you two can tell me?" The two thought for a moment. They didn't believe that they left anything out in particular, until Sasuke interrupted.

"Sakura was the one to give us the signal flare to light, and she beat that guy up with ease." Pointing at the rain shinobi who was still frightened by Sakura. She waited until the other shinobi had him bound and began to carry him off who knows where. Afterwards she ran across the water to meet up with the other children and Itachi. 'So she has knowledge of the flare? I though only offical shinobi were taught about that? How did she know?'

"Are you alright Sasuke?" The young Uchiha gave a silent nod, letting her know that he was fine. Sakura then turned to Ino who was still shaken up from the whole affair. Her lips curved slightly upward, remembering how fearless Ino was when they were younger to see her now as a scared frightened girl was certainly something else. "And you? Are you ok?" Ino quickly glanced at her savior and nodded her head rapidly. "That's good, I guess we're done here Naruto, Lee we should get going now. I think we've spent enough time here as it is." Before the two young boys could respond Itachi approached Sakura.

"Before you three leave is it alright if I ask you a few questions Sakura?" The response didn't come from Sakura herself, but from Naruto, Lee and Sasuke.

"Wait Aniki, we already told you what happened. Asking for her side will only waste time."

"Sakura-chan hasn't kept any secrets from us, so her version wouldn't any different." Added Naruto.

"That would be true. If I was going to ask her about her accounts as to saving you from a rogue ninja, but I'm not asking her about that." Silence and confusion fell upon the group. Until Sakura broke the silence.

"Then I guess you're going to ask me if I had any prior training in combat or tracking shinobi, right?" Itachi was surprised, but he didn't show it. Her guess was right on the money. He was indeed going to question whether she had any experiences in battle before her fights with the rogue ninja and Sasuke.

"That's right. Since you know can you give me an answer?" Itachi became slightly suspicious, not many people can figure out what his thoughts were before he's said them. So how did Sakura, who's a year away from enrolling in the academy, know? There were many unanswered questions roaming through Itachi's brain, but for the time being he just wants his first question answered.

"No, I haven't received any prior training from anyone." Itachi couldn't believe the words that were coming out of the young girl's mouth.

'How is that even possible? To be this skilled and not receive training?' Sakura read what he was thinking, thanks to one of the abilities Futsunushi gave her. So she added to her previous answer.

"I haven't received training from anyone, other than myself."

"Yourself? You mean you taught and practiced by yourself?" She nodded.

"That's right, there' not many people who would take someone my age seriously, especially in ninjutsu. So I had to take control of the situation myself and read on various books about ninjutsu and the history of the shinobi nations. Then apply my learning through rigorous practice, until I've perfected them." Her last comment dumbfounded everyone. Of course she had lied about not receiving training from Tsunade and Kakashi, but she wasn't about to tell them that. How could she, when technically, she has never met them. Itachi was a rather difficult person to convince, Sakura couldn't be any older than 4, there was no way she could be able to accomplish so much at such a young age, unless she's a genius such as himself. The one that would appear once every decade. As Itachi was contemplating about Sakura's situation an idea suddenly sparked in her mind.

"Itachi-sempai?" Bringing the Uchiha genius from his thoughts he responded to the call of the girl.

"Yes Sakura?"

"I have a favor, or rather a request to make."

"A request?" After a few seconds of thinking he gave her a positive response. "If it's anything reasonable then I don't see why not."

"Thank you. My request is to be your student." Silence once again filled the air, then went away as Sasuke made an outburst of disapproval.

"No! Itachi barely has any time to teach me ninjutsu! What makes you think that he'll teach you, someone who isn't family or even an Uchiha?" Sakura's emerald eyes glared at the young boy before she gave her reply.

"It's true that it would make sense if I had the Sharingan or any kekkei genkai like you or Neji over there to be taught by someone who has experience like Itachi-sempai. However that doesn't mean he can't teach other shinobi any techniques. Right now I don't have anyone to teach but myself, and I feel that Itachi-sempai would be the only one to take me seriously since other adults would look down on me for my age and current status as a shinob-in-training. Please Itachi-sempai, this will be first and last request!" The young future medic took a deep bow and kept her head down.

Itachi was indeed the only one of the more experienced shinobi who would acknowledge Sakura's skill and potential. However what Sasuke said also had some bearing, he doesn't spend enough time as it is with the poor kid. And teaching Sakura would only shorten the time they have together as siblings. After a moment, he made his decision.

"I'm sorry Saskura, but I have to put into account what Sasuke said. I don't spend enough time with him as it is and taking on a pupil will only make it worse. If it's any consolation, I would turn down everybody to be my student but I would have loved to have become your mentor. I'm really sorry about this."

Itachi's refusal didn't bother Sakura in the slightest. She was actually testing to see if it was true. That Itachi places Sasuke above all else, and that when he betrayed the village in the future it was to protect the village and Sasuke. However his plan had backfired and in the end Sasuke was out to destroy Konhagakure. The two things he loved the most in the world were put into a never-ending cycle of battle and destruction against one another. Even so, it would have been nice to be taught by someone of his caliber and part of her was interested in knowing the real Itachi. Everyone else on team 7 had knew or met Itachi, everyone except her. This time things will be different, she will no longer be on the sidelines. This time she'll be the one to change the wheel of fate.

"It's alright Itachi-sempai. I sort of figured that you'd place Sasuke above an outsider like me. Thank you for putting my idea into consideration though." She bowed once more and signaled Lee and Naruto to leave. The two followed, along with a rather silent Neji.

This was how Sakura's journey to the past truly began, the return of old friends.