Sakura

by lilac haze

AU. Non-Canon. Time Travel. Please see inside for full warnings. Cross posted on Ao3. On his deathbed he was granted eternal peace and place to rest for all of time. Of course that was not appealing to him. Ever unpredictable to the end he had a counter offer. One that the Sage had to consider. In which Sakura's going to have a rough time. A really rough time.

1. Part One: Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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A/N:

Hello Reader,

Back again. And this one is different. I wanted to challenge myself and try something different. This is purely Sakura-centric. Only a couple of places it is not - when it was unavoidable. So no insights really in what the other characters are doing while Sakura is doing her thing.

I want to be upfront, this story is dark. The darkest I've written. It explores some very, very adult themes which may not be suitable for certain audiences. No graphic descriptions but definitely trigger warnings for child abuse, child neglect, violence, self-harm, thoughts of suicide, sexual assault, sexual coercion. The whole notion that your body is not your own in pursuit for the greater good.

Sakura is not going to have a fun time. Like at all. But I do believe this is a good story. It will be 13 chapters long (long chapters). This story named itself. I wanted to call it Collateral Damage on the Path to Happy Endings when I started but it wanted to be called Sakura. I hope you see why as it unfolds. Hope you stick around!

Some notes:

Thoughts are in italics and unless otherwise stated are almost always Sakura's. Inner Sakura's thoughts/speech are in italics and bold -always.

Okay that's it. Hope you're ready!

~L.H.

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Part One: Arrival

He spent nearly the entirety of his conscious life - from the beginning of what he remembered - either in or yearning for the light. He was the dark secret, the yellow-haired and whiskered reminder of the greatest tragedy to date. He was the reason the beloved Yellow Flash was taken from them all. He was what remained of his father's legacy. And for that reason - even if he himself did not understand it at the time - he spurred the shadows. He refused to be tucked away into a poorly run orphanage. He faced the light. He committed his acts for all to see.

In the light he painted the Hokage Monument, defacing it as they called it. But it was they who defaced the ultimate sacrifice made by their young Yondaime and the previous vessel for the strongest of the tailed beasts. The one that was imported across an ocean and stretch of land into this Village Hidden in the Leaves. They were the ones that forgot it all.

He forged his own path in the light when none was provided to him. He built bonds and relationships. It started with his lazy raven-haired friend - his first and truest friend - and it quickly extended to the boy who always had his hand in a bag of chips - the only son and heir of the man who had led the mom that chased him down, seeking his head as retribution for an act that condemned him. One he had no control of. For he did not ask to be born. He did not choose his circumstances. If he did, why would he ask to be born to parents who decided dying together was better than one of them living to raise him? Why would he be born to parents who died?

The last Uchiha had been his biggest test. He took everything he had to give. He was the moon to his sun. He took, took, and took. Basking in his light until it warmed his cold blood, never satiated. It was never enough. But it was also true that he understood him the most. He was the most like him that kept him from giving up. Sasuke was what he could have easily been if he did not have his parents to guide and support him from the inside with their own chakra. If he did not have their light shining a path for him, preventing him from straying. Sasuke came around and just like that, he realized there was no one left that saw him with the same eyes that surrounded his childhood.

Slowly and slowly in the light his circle grew. He saw his influence. He mattered to people. Young, old, and everything in between. People listened when he talked. People looked up to him. People looked at him. Maybe they saw less of the demon and more of his father's face as he aged. All he saw was his mother's face when he looked in the mirror. Her love was all around him. He was born at night, in the shadows but he found his place in the light.

It was where he belonged.

It was fitting or perhaps ironic that his end would be like the beginning, in the dark. Naruto sighed slowly. He felt the strain that the very simple action left on his old and tattered body. His time was coming to a rapidly approaching end. This is never how he imagined it to go. He always thought - especially in the peak of his youth - he would go down in a blaze of glory, in the heart of a battle surrounded by blood, adrenaline, and split-second decisions that lead to a lifetime of regret and consequences at worst. He was sure he would die in the war. And he had. But she saved him. Just like all those times before.

It was the older he got he realized that was simply not his fate - it was hers. To die young. His fate was to die old. Alone. His Uzumaki blood ensured he outlived all of his friends from his year. Smoking caught up to Shika. Cholesterol to Choji. Old age to Sasuke. Heart failure to Gaara.

He had survived the extraction a decade ago, just like his mother had. No one expected it. But no one could truly be upset that their heart-felt and tear-filled goodbyes had gone to waste. He had once again defied the odds and surprised them all. They had laughed, drank, and ate ramen and joked that the next time they thought it was getting close, they would just say remember all the stuff that was said on that day. He was not going to get two send-offs. He was just asking for too much. Greedy they jokingly called him.

Naruto closed his eyes - not that it made all the difference. He sat completely still. Just waiting. Old age forced him to become more patient. He had no other choice. Complaining incessantly about what he could not control was more Sasuke's style than his. He was an insufferable old man. Naruto felt bad for his family. The guy died as he lived, a total Class A asshole. The room was stuffy. He could hear the mechanical whirl of the humidifier. His oldest grandchild - Hana - fancied herself to be a medic. She did not let him turn the damn thing off even if it disrupted his sleep. She had told him to consider it to be white nose. He did not get the concept. But like he strived for in his life, to maintain the peace he did not argue or fight with his headstrong granddaughter. A quality she got from him.

He tapped a wrinkly, bent-with-arthritis finger against his folded hand over his chest as he waited. And waited. His room where his body was was dark but the inside of his mind's eye was bright with hues of white and yellow. Warm. like the backdrop when he met his parents for the first time. He looked down at his hands, they were strong. They were that of many decades before. Naruto smiled. He was in orange. What else?

"Is there supposed to be a path or something, 'ttebayo?" He cupped his hands over his mouth and screamed into the expanse. He grinned from ear to ear, hands firmly on his hips.

"Not so loud, Kid," a deep voice answered in ample irritation. As old as time itself.

Naruto whirled around. His cobalt eyes - as expansive as the blue sky - widened. "Super Gramps!"

The sage held up his hand. "Don't."

Naruto's lips pulled to the side. He lowered his arms slowly, dramatically. "Fine," he crossed his arms. "I didn't want to give you a hug anyway."

The sage sighed long and deep. "You haven't changed." The levitating being narrowed his eyes. "Quite literally. Why are you in your teenage body?"

The boy was no more than seventeen. Said boy shrugged. "Don't you control this place?"

"We're inside your mind, Naruto." The sage contained all the patience in the world proven by the fact that he did not slam his palm to his forehead.

Naruto scratched his head. "I guess this is the most comfortable?" He curled his fists. "This is what I looked like when we first met." His eyes sparkled at the recollection.

"I suppose it is fitting," the corner of the Sage's mouth tugged into a ghost of a smirk. "This is the face that saved the world."

Naruto grinned.

"Naruto," the being's face became a solemn mask. It had Nartuto straightening and his eyes focusing, making him appear very much older than his facade implied. The large staff rested across the Sage's lap. The pads of his thumbs and middle fingers were pressed together with his palms facing up. "It is time."

"I know that," Naruto huffed. He looked around. "Kind of a letdown with the welcoming committee if I'm being honest. I was expecting to see all my friends waiting around for me." Amongst others. The absence of one particular head of hair was felt greater than the rest. It had been so long. Much too long.

"Your friends are all in various stages of their next life, their next form. The ones you knew of are gone." The being's voice did not contain any inclination of offense at the teen's off-handed statement which could have easily been considered as rude. He knew exactly who he was dealing with.

"I see," Naruto pulled at the neckline of his jacket. He was suddenly feeling overheated. "So that's where I'm going? My next life?"

The Sage blinked slowly at him. "No."

"So then what? I spend forever here with you?"

"Yes."

Naruto blanched. "Listen, Super Gramps as tempting as that sounds," his eyes darted around the barren scape, "I don't think either of us wants that-"

"Naruto," the Sage barked. The blond clamped his mouth closed for a few moments of sweet, peaceful, silence. A reprieve for the Sage's ears. "You saved the world. As your reward, you will exit the cycle of reincarnation - the cycle of life and death, the cycle of struggle - to spend the rest of your time as a higher, elevated being. Becoming one with the universe and all the life that is contained therein." He held out his arms wide and tilted his head back slightly. His deep, ancient voice echoed. A powerful hum vibrated in the air.

Prolonged silence was not the response either of them were expecting. The Sage's face becomes less than impressed at the blank look being directed at him. Typical. It was simply not good enough for the blond pain-in-the-ass. The sage counted to three as he mentally prepared himself for what no doubt was to come. Humans were quite literally the worst. Followed closely by children of any kind, rank, or creed.

"Sasuke has already chosen to join us. He is with the rest of the Gods. It is now your turn. There will be balance once more. Come back to your eternal home, Naruto." The sage swept his arms towards his center. Naruto did not move to take his hand. The little shit.

The blond crossed his arms and the Sage was not quite sure if it was out of defiance or simply habit.

"It doesn't sound like I have much of a choice," the old man in the body of a teen grumbled with petulance.

The Sage paused to remain in control of his composure. "No one can force you, Naruto. You have to be willing to leave the cycle and come home. But if you chose not to," the Sage frowned, "and I cannot see a reason why you would not want to…no one has ever chosen not to." His lips were a colorless line. "I don't know why I said all that to you just now, it will probably only encourage you to say no." He sighed in preemptive defeat.

"Well…" the blond smiled sheepishly. "What happens if I say no?" He brought his hands together. "Hypothetically," his smile grew brighter in brilliance.

The Sage rolled his eyes, not falling for the charming act for not even a second. "Sasuke would be forced to come back into the cycle since you are in the cycle and you will be set forth in your new life. You will have no recollection of your past life. And you will be forced to start it again. Collect enough karma or good and we will have this discussion again maybe in five hundred years. Or when you save the world again, whichever comes first." He explained without enthusiasm in a tone dangerously close to exasperation. He felt a prick in the middle of his forehead which could only mean a headache was about to take root and ruin his day. And the headache had a name.

"Interesting." Naruto held his chin in his hands, thinking.

The Sage felt his endless patience being tested. Really tested. "Keep in mind you can come back as a bug."

Naruto blinked. "After saving the world?" He scowled. "That hardly seems right."

"For making me put up with this," the Sage countered. He might not be human but even he was not spared from the grips of pettiness. There was a gleam in Naruto's eye that did not sit right with him. He was much too old to be fooled into trusting the man before him when he wore that face. "Speak freely, Naruto. What are you thinking?"

Naruto looked down at his hands. "I'm thinking about the first time I held my son in my hands. About how I felt then…," his voice trailed off just as his expression became much too earnest. Naruto swallowed thickly, a lump of emotion collecting in the middle of his throat. All the memories hit him at once everything from his son's first steps to holding his first grandchild. It was nearly powerful enough to clear him off his feet and onto his back.

The Sage did not miss a single flicker of emotion. He could almost see the thoughts in Naruto's head. "Time only moves one way."

Naruto lowered his arms slowly, gently, as if there was a newborn between them. He looked up at the Sage without traces of duality on his person. "You'll figure something out."

This time the Sage did not bother with appearances. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly. His hand - the one not attached to his face - curled around his bent knee. He shook his head.

"Just to be clear," the Sage glared at the eighty-something-year-old grandpa in the body of a seventeen-year-old. "You are aware that you are giving up an eternity of peace for one life?"

Naruto grinned. "Yup!" He brought both his hands behind his head, cradling it. Not a care in the damn world to be had.

"And you have no qualms about overriding Sasuke's wishes?" The Sage droned slowly with no hope whatsoever that anything he would say could possibly change Naruto's mind.

"The Bastard will get over it," Naruto said with little to no consideration. "Besides, it's about time that he deals with the consequences of my decisions and actions, force once. It would only make it right."

"Fair enough." The Sage could not argue with that. "Any conditions?"

"Just one." Naruto's eyes held him in place with unshakable resolve. The same resolve that saved the fate of the whole world.

He need not say it. The Sage knew. He read it from Naruto's heart. It had colored the space.

"Ready?" He asked.

Naruto curled his fists. He nodded.

A light whiter than white, brighter than the sun filled everything until there was nothing.

---

Where am I?

Her tears made it next to impossible to see anything beyond a blurry collection of color. She pulled her knees closer to her tiny frame. Her chin rested over them. Her arms wrapped around her legs as tightly as possible. Her sniffles and shaking were involuntary. She could not control them even if she desperately wanted to not be seen. Small. She wanted to be smaller than small.

What's happening?

All she saw and heard were legs going by. Feet and legs that was her vantage of the world. Everything from below the knee. They did not seem to notice her and she was both thankful and disheartened by that fact. She needed help but she did not know how to go about finding it. She did not even know what help looked like right now, what form of it she needed.

She was alone. She was scared. And she did not even know how she got here. She did not even know where 'here' was.

Kaachan? Tochan?

She called out to them with her mind and heart because her voice would never cooperate. Her small hands curled until she could not feel her fingers anymore. Why were they not here?

Maybe we should move? Go look for them.

No. A stern voice called out. A voice much more confident than her own.

Remember what Kaachan and Tochan taught you. If you're ever lost…

Stay where you are. She finished the thought in her head. She closed her eyes and sniffled, wiping her nose with the ends of her red sleeve. Her eyes felt dry from all the crying. Rubbing did not help.

That's right. They'll find you.

She nodded her head. The voice in her head made her feel less alone. She lowered her big forehead against her knees. She blinked slowly, the tears kept coming just as the feet kept moving. She lost track and count of just how many at least three different times.

Her stomach growled but she remained hidden away. Her parents would find her. Because that is what parents did. They were there for their children. Right?

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden presence of something warm and wet against her forearm. She jerked back further into the crevice of the fruit stand trying to get away, her head hitting the wood above her, painfully. Ruby-red apples fell around her as she crawled out from underneath the structure. The dirt pricked her soft palms and agitated her knees. Her jade eyes widened just as her heart restarted. Pink hair fell over her forehead, obscuring her view just enough.

It moved into a crouch with its rear in the air, its curled tailing wagging quickly like a flag in the wind. It let out a high-pitched yip before it jumped on her. She landed on her back from its weight. A smooth pink tongue reached out to lick the salt from her face. She was too petrified to do anything about it. Her wide eyes stared up at the sky in a panic.

Help!

"Korumaru!" A high-pitched voice shrieked. Human this time. Tiny hands curled around the furry waist. A girl with brown hair - wild - and a dark red bandana around her neck yanked the black and white puppy off of her by the collar roughly. "You can't just run off like that!" She scolded the squirming ninken-in-training that was in the air, just eye level with her irate brown eyes. The pup looked thoroughly and properly abashed. His tail hung between his legs and his head was bowed forward. He refused to make eye contact with the girl.

"My stall!" A man with a shiny bald head and dark, tanned skin on a wiry frame came from inside the shop. He looked at the two girls. One still on her back with her eyes pink and green, her face littered with remains of tears and saliva, and the other dangling a dog from an extended arm. "Just who is going to pay for all this?" He demanded in a fluster.

Tsume pushed her lips to the side. "I will." She puffed her chest. Tucking Korumaru under her arm, pinned to her side. "I'm taking 'sponsability for Koru-kun's actions." She declared with confidence. "Please send the bill to the Inuzuka Clan."

The man blinked. "Don't think I won't." He wagged his finger before bending down to collect the apples muttering incoherently to himself about clans and shinobi running amuck. Hands moved to help him with his quest.

Tsume looked at the girl still on her back like some kind of turtle that needed help to be right-side up again. She did not even try to move. Tsume leaned forward and frowned down at the ground, peering into her startled eyes.

"Pink," Tsume noted with a curled lip.

Sakura flinched at the sight of the puppy and the girl. Korumaru's tongue was sticking out as he panted. His tail wagged from side to side, hitting Tsume in the back with every swing.

"Hiya," Tsume's grin was large. "I'm Tsume and this is my partner Korumaru, you can call him Koru." She held out her hand.

Sakura blinked at the fingers being wiggled in her direction. Tsume did not give her a choice. She grabbed Sakura's wrist and hauled her up. The pinkette blinked. Tsume shook her arm aggressively.

"What's your name?" She blinked with an expectation of an answer because everything else could be forgone but not an introduction.

Sakura frowned. She opened her mouth to speak. "I don't know," she said in a small voice.

xXx

She kicked her feet on the cot back and forth as she held the small brown plush between her hands, his back legs were standing on her lap. She moved her head from side to side as she played with the toy. Her belly was full. She was no longer thirsty. She was in different clothes. They felt clean and warm. She raised her big eyes to the large windows all in front of her. She could hear the voices talking distinctly but the words were not making sense to her brain.

It's about you.

What do they want?

They are wondering where you came from. What you're doing here. Where your Kaachan and Tochan are.

Do you think they can help us find them?

Maybe.

The Pretty Lady was nice. The one that gave me the toy.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at the blond, she looked away in a flush when she met a pair of warm honey-colored eyes. She looked down at her toy. Her cheeks were red at being caught.

It's an ugly bear. But I like him.

The plush with big round red eyes and toffee-colored fur, was the only thing that got her to stop crying once the Inuzuka girl was sent home after she had ventured to the Hokage Tower with Sakura clasping onto her for dear life.

Do you know what Kaachan's and Tochan's grown-up names are?

No.

Do you remember what they look like?

No.

Do we have a Kaachan and Tochan?

She stopped playing as the thought occurred to her. Fear started to grip her again.

Everyone has a Kaachan and Tochan. Stop being a baby. They'll find you.

You don't have to be so mean.

She pouted as she looked over again at the four adults. There was a short man with a funny red and white hat. He seemed important. When he talked they all listened to him. There was a really tall man with white hair. He made her tummy feel funny when he looked at her. But not in a bad way. Not in the way the one with long black hair made her feel. She did not like to look at him. He was scary. And then there was the Pretty Lady with the yellow hair who gave her the toy,

Kuu-kun; because his eyes were red. Sakura crushed him to her chest. It made him feel better. To be hugged. So she hugged him. Tight. Maybe he would be her partner like Korumaru-kun was for that Tsume girl. Kuu-kun did not move but at least he did not slobber all over her either.

The voices stopped murmuring. Sakura heard heels clicking towards her. The Pretty Lady was walking. She set Kuu-kun down in her lap. Pretty Lady leaned forward with her hands on her knees. Her face was at eye level with Sakura.

"Hey there, kiddo," she smiled.

"Hi," Sakura said shyly. Her face flushed with heat from the attention. She lowered her eyes.

"Do you remember anything else?" Tsunade asked Sakura with a gentle voice, low and predictable. "Anything at all about your Kaachan or Tochan? Or maybe your name?"

Sakura shook her head. She hugged Kuu-kun to her chest once again.

"That's okay," Tsunade assured her.

"Did you find my Kaachan and Tochan?" Sakura asked slowly. It took a lot of courage for her to ask. But she had to know.

"Not yet," Tsunade tried to keep her expression sunny and bright for the sake of the child.

"Why not?" Her bottom lip trembled.

"Konoha is a big place," Tsunade brought her hand to Sakura's shoulder. "We'll find them."

"I can try to draw the picture again!" Panic compelled her to speak. "I can try really, really, really hard this time to remember!" She pleaded.

Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek as she recalled the level of distress the girl went into when she could not even pick up a crayon to start filling in a stick woman and man with colors for hair and eyes. The tears and hysterics were bad enough to tell her the girl was very traumatized.

"We can try the picture again later," Tsunade placated her. "Do you want more pudding?" Her eyes darted to the wrappers and empty containers on top of the bedside table.

Sakura shook her head. "I want Tochan and Kaachan."

"I know, sweetie." Tsunade's smile was impacted by the confusion on Sakura's face. "Why don't you try taking a nap, hm?" She offered brightly.

Sakura rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I'm not tired."

Tsunade chuckled. "Okay," she rose to pick up the edge of the folded sheet. "But why don't you try? Maybe your Kaachan and Tochan will be here by the time you wake up?"

"Okay," she shimmed under the covers. She tucked Kuu-kun to her chin. She fell asleep to Tsunade running her painted hands through her hair and humming a soft tune.

xXx

Her parents were not there when she woke up. Instead, she and the pretty lady went for a walk. It was nice. Sakura's hand was small in Tsunade's. She was not scared of getting lost because Pretty Lady told her to hold on tight. And she did. Kuu-kun was curled into her chest. Sakura did her best to ignore the eyes and the faces that stared at them. The Pretty Lady bought her treats and snacks before taking her to the park. She munched happily on her dango while the Pretty Lady stared at her.

"Kiddo?" Tsunade's eyes never left her small face.

"Yes?" Sakura looked up at her, legs extended out over the wooden bench.

"While we wait for your Kaachan and Tochan to find you, you can't stay at the hospital." Tsunade broached the topic with as much tact as she could. "You know the place you were when we first met? When I checked if you were hurt with the green glowing hand?"

"Chakra." Sakura nodded.

"That's right. You're so smart for remembering." Tsunade's smile was more grimace but Sakura was too young to take it for anything other than face value. The girl bolstered at the praise.

"It felt nice," Sakura concluded, chirping happily at finally having done something good. "It was scary in the beginning."

"You did so well. You were very brave." Tsunade tapped her fingernails against the paper cup containing matcha tea. The breeze moved through their hair. Sakura was swimming in her clothes. A long-sleeved navy shirt and brown pants. Tsunade brushed away the hair from her face so that it would not stick to the dango that Sakura was trying to eat. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I can't stay at the hospital," Sakura repeated. "While I wait for my Tochan and Kaachan."

"That's right," Tsunade lowered her eyes. She cleared her throat pushing down the emotion that she was not expecting to be there. She was a shinobi. She addressed death and loss. This should be nothing but it twisted her stomach all the same. "You'll be staying in a place with other children. Children like you who are waiting for their Tochans and Kaachans."

Sakura frowned. Worry flashed across the clear, reflective, open surface of her large eyes. "How will they find me?"

"The same way as before," Tsunade explained patiently. "With an address."

Sakura's frown deepened. She did not fully understand the concept but she decided to trust Pretty Lady. She was nice. But the knot of worry continued to eat away at her.

"How long?" She looked up at Tsunade with big, concerned eyes. "For how long do I have to stay there?"

Tsunade hesitated. "I don't know. It could be for a very short time or a little longer."

Sakura went very quiet. She traced a line on the curve of Kuu-kun's head with a contemplative expression.

"Kiddo?"

Why can't I stay with you if it's only for a little while? She wanted to ask but she was not brave enough and the voice in her head who was brave enough could not talk for her.

"Okay," she said in a small voice, speaking to Kuu-kun.

"Okay." Tsunade patted her on the head in a hollow gesture.

She would learn that the situation was not for a 'very short time'. She lost count of how many sleeps it was. It was more than thirty. A lot more. Osono-san, a stern woman with more pepper in her hair than salt, was more interested in maintaining the volume level than fairness. Sakura would come to learn that the orphanage was not all that different from prison. The boys and girls were separated, only a chain link fence and the occasional errant voice screaming in the hall on the way to being punished in the 'silence space' - a cabinet near the bathrooms, it was always damp and cold, and the sound of the drip, drip of the faucet was the only source of company - the reminded them that the other sex existed in the brick walls somewhere. They had a different handler, an overworked young man. There were at least six boys.

She was one of four girls. The three were an established trio. It did not take her long to pinpoint the leader, a girl with purple hair and dark eyes. The others followed her around to the point that they were scared to even have a thought that was not cleared by Ami. And Ami knew this.

They - the girls - slept in a large drafty room with cots, a total of fifteen. Sakura had counted. The trio slept close together along the row of windows. She had not worked up the courage to go sleep close to them. She picked a cot that was towards the middle of the room. Kuu-kun was her source of comfort. She whispered to him at night about when Kaachan and Tochan would come to take them away into their own house. And more often than not, that was the only time she used her voice all day. And he would listen. Kuu-kun was a very good listener.

The Pretty Lady visited a handful of times. Her answer to Sakura's question was always the same. They had not found her Tochan or Kaachan yet. Osono-san gave her a name other than 'girl', or 'kiddo' which was 'Mina'. Short for minashingo - orphan. But she did not know that until later. She thought Mina sounded kind of pretty, plus its meaning was more welcoming and encompassing than the actual atmosphere of the orphanage.

Sakura peered up at the ceiling. The moonbeams streamed into the windows. She could hear the girls giggling, heads huddled as they talked quietly in hushed voices. It was past bedtime. But Osono-san would only check if they spoke loudly enough. They all knew that. She crushed Kuu-kun to her chest. His soft fibers poked her chin. She wrinkled her nose.

What's going to happen to me? If Kaachan and Tochan never find me?

Go to sleep. Sakura.

Sakura sighed. Why do you always call me that?

I don't know. It just feels right.

The four-year-old blinked slowly. She rubbed her feet together under the blanket.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. She could not help but smile.

Go to sleep fast, Sakura. Wednesday will be here before you know it.

Okay.

She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side away from the girls she had no idea how to get close enough to befriend.

---

Her jade eyes were determined as she held the two pieces of white clover in her hands. Her eyes darted to the plushie that was sitting by her ankle. He had a white clover on top of his head. His red eyes made of plastic looked at her blankly.

"I'm going to get it, Kuu-kun." She huffed at the judgment of his gaze. "I'm going to make them like me. With presents! Like in the book when Mako gave Ichi chocolates." She frowned. "I don't have money so this will have to do."

She twisted the stem three times around the other flower, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she concentrated. "Almost got it!" She worked out slowly. "There!" Her eyes glittered only for them to darken with disappointment when the flower slipped out becoming two distinct entities again. "How come?!" She groaned.

"You have to use longer stems."

Sakura blinked. She looked sideways at the plush who had not moved. "Kuu-kun?" She asked pensively, timidly. The voice was not Inner's. It was the voice of a boy.

Her answer came in the form of a chuckle. Sakura wiped her head and gasped. She saw a boy with hair as yellow as the crayon she always used to draw the sun in the corner of her pictures. His eyes were as blue as the sky. He blinked. He was alive.

Sakura's hands dropped the flowers, she curled away from him on instinct. She watched wordlessly as he crouched before her. He moved his fingers all the way down the stem before he picked the flower from the patch of clover, Sakura's eyes tracked each of his movements. There was a wet snapping sound as it broke. He repeated the process. She watched with mute fascination and morbid curiosity as he twisted the two white clovers together.

"See?" He smiled and tilted his head as he twirled the flowers by one of the stems proving they were in fact that they were connected.

Magic!

She blinked owlishly at him.

The boy's eyes wandered over to the plush by her foot. "Does that make sense, Kuu-kun or do I need to show you one more time?"

Sakura felt her face heat up. "Who are you?" She demanded.

The boy blinked slowly, caught off guard by the sudden and aggressive change in her stance.

"Osono-sans says it's bad to talk to strangers!" She pointed at him in accusation.

Minato frowned. "Everyone is a stranger until you talk to them." He stated matter-of-factly. "And that usually applied only to adults. I'm a kid. I can't be a stranger."

Sakura frowned at the half-smile on his face. She wanted to remember the lesson on stranger danger that Osono-san gave them every time they left the orphanage. She scanned her eyes and found the woman knitting on the bench yards away. By the time she made it back to the boy's face seconds had passed but he was still looking at her, holding out the linked flowers.

"My name is Minato." He brought his palm to his chest to gesture to his person, not deterred by her silence and completely flabbergasted expression. "Namikaze Minato."

He seems nice.

Sakura's lips pulled into a mild pout. Inner did not acknowledge her comment so maybe he was okay. "Thanks," she reached for the flowers carefully and slowly. "How did you know Kuu-kun's name?" She finally brought her eyes back to his.

"You come here every week. You only talk to Kuu-kun and not the girls you come with. The ones with purple, red, and brown hair." Minato explained with his hands on his knees. "I saw you last week and the week before that too."

Sakura nodded her head because lying is bad and like he said, he was a kid. Kids were not supposed to be scary. "Every Wednesday." She furrowed her brow. "Are you a Mina too?"

Minato cocked his head to the side, eyes full of open curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Your name," she scratched her cheek as she felt her bravery start to recede. Her gaze fell on his sandals. They seemed new and they fit. They were not too big or too small. "Do you have a Kaachan and a Tochan?"

Minato paused. "I have an Okaasan." His eyes became less light as something darker marred their hue like weighed-down clouds. "I don't know what happened to my Otosan."

"Oh," Sakura ran her hands along the clover as something swirled in her stomach. "Do you live in a house?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah with my Okaasan."

"Do you come to the park every Wednesday too?" She looked up at him. Wednesdays were her favorite days because they went to the library after the park and she got to pick out a book. She liked the ones with pictures the best.

"Every day," Minato grinned. "Okaasan likes to talk with her friend." He turned his head to look at his mother who was sitting on a bench laughing.

"Wow. Lucky," she said with traces of jealousy.

"What's your name?"

Sakura hesitated. She had to think about and the voice in her head was quiet. "Sakura," she said uncertainly. "I think," she added, unable to look him in the face because what kind of person did not know their own name?

Minato frowned but he did not say anything. The corners of his mouth twitched before settling on a more neutral set. He pointed to the brown plushie. "And I've already met Kuu-kun."

Sakura giggled into her hand. "He's my bear."

This time Minato's frown was large and had staying potential. "Kuu-kun isn't a bear, he's a loris."

"What?" Sakura blinked at him. "That sounds made up." Her voice was colored in defensiveness. He was her bear, she ought to know what he was.

"He's a loris. Loris is part of the primate family." Minato continued. He looked at Sakura as if she sprouted a second head. The expression she spared him was not all that different and he felt himself get defensive. "They have them at the zoo. The Konoha Zoo. A whole exhibit. They sell the same plushies there."

Sakura blinked slowly. Three times in a row.

Minato's face flushed. He started to jumble and stumble over his words. "A zoo is where you can go to see all kinds of animals. They live in exhibits and…and…even the ones that don't usually live here in Konoha…like elephants." He brought his stretched arm to his nose and began to move it up and down trying to mimic the motion of an elephant's trunk. "They have these long noses called trunks and they use them to suck up water and do all kinds of things…and…I'm not making it up." Minato's face was as red as Sakura's shirt. "I'm not," he said adamantly at the totally zoned-out look on her face.

"You're a liar!" Sakura stood up abruptly, scoping Kuu-kun up and to her chest.

"What?" Minato blinked in confusion.

"We talked and you're still really strange," she shouted as she ran away from him in a blur of pink and red. She left him dazed and confused, blinking in the spot she had just been.

"What?" He asked the air incredulously.

---

Two pairs of hands worked diligently to twist the daisies - Sakura made a split-second decision that daisies were prettier than clover - into flower chains.

"Why do you want to be their friend so badly if all they do is ignore you?" Minato asked with a pout on his face, he looked up at her, sneaking a glance while she worked with concentration set in her small features.

"I'm not good at talking," Sakura said with a shrug, distractedly.

"What do you mean? We're talking right now." Minato countered as he brought yet another flower to add to the chain.

"You don't count," Sakura clicked her tongue.

Minato's hands stopped moving. He blinked at her, not quite sure what to feel. He needed more information if he was to be offended or not. "Huh?"

"You're a boy!" Sakura said with a sigh and an eye roll. "You're simple."

He was definitely offended. "What's wrong with simple?"

"Nothing!" Sakura snapped. "Girls are different. Since I'm shy and not good at talking, the necklaces will help show them I'm serious. I just have to make more of an effort," Sakura explained with a hum. "That's why daisies; they are more girlie and prettier than the other white flowers and they will look nice in Ami-chan's dark hair." She gushed as she pictured it. "Like stars in the sky!"

Minato looked far from convinced. "It shouldn't be hard to make friends."

"It is for shy people," she grumbled. "Like it was for you," she squinted as she regarded him. "That's why you waited so long to come down from your tree."

Minato felt his face heat up. He was beginning to regret telling her that he watched the world from the trees. "Not everyone is nice." He looked away from her.

"Are you going to help me or not?" She asked with exasperation and a glare.

"I am," Minato chuckled as he held up the connected flowers for emphasis. "Did you finish the book you got last week from the library?"

Sakura nodded her head. She was a third of the way done with the first chain. She ran her fingers along the flowers, gently.

"Who taught you how to read?" Minato asked without looking up from his task. He was nearly halfway done with the would-be necklace in his small hands.

"No one," Sakura blew her hair from her eyes with a puff of air. "One day the words started to make sense. I didn't have to pretend anymore."

Minato gaped at her. "You're amazing, Sakura-chan."

Sakura's cheeks turned as pink as her hair almost instantly. "No I'm not," she shook her head. "Who taught you? Your Okaasan?"

"Yeah, she reads to me every night. That's how I learned. I followed along with her voice and her finger," he felt a little dumb to have to admit that. But that was how he learned.

"That sounds nice," Sakura sighed. "Sometimes I don't know how to say the words so I just make it up."

"Just ask me next time, make a list. I'll tell you." He could always ask his Okaasan if he got stuck too.

"Did you talk to the really smart boy? The one always playing that game by himself?" Sakura asked him almost gently, not wanting his mood to turn sour or down.

"No," Minato huffed. "He's really serious and quiet. He's always so focused. I don't want to bother him."

"So are you," Sakura encouraged. "You have that in common. And you had no problems bothering me and look what happened," she giggled sweetly as she rained down daisies around them.

"That was different," Minato shook his head as he insisted, shaking the thoughts free of Shikaku and his Go board from his mind. "You don't count."

Sakura made a humming sound of agreement. "Maybe next time you see him you can teach him something too so that way it won't feel like you're bothering him."

"Maybe," he commented noncommittally.

Little hands moved to twist and bind stems together forming joints where there previously was nothing but lines. Knots. If they pulled too tight, they risked snapping them - as Sakura had mutilated more than a handful of poor daisies and Minato failed to not snicker every time even when she threatened to get really, really, really mad at him - but if not pulled tight enough the daisies would slip right out of the where they were placed. Sakura tried not to scratch her face with her pollen-filled fingers - Minato would remind her sternly - and she would pout but ultimately heed his warning because the last time she was crying tears without even feeling sad.

The bees buzzed. The birds sang. And Sakura hummed. Minato smiled. The sun was warm and the work was honest. The progress could be seen in real time. Sakura was getting faster the more daisies she knotted together. She even got to the point where she did not need as long of stems - because she thought they were ugly even though Minato asked how the plainest part of a flower could be ugly when it was literally connected to the prettiest part (Sakura's counterpoint was: that it just is) - so she could add more flowers per chain without the length becoming something to ridicule. She did not have to remind him to only pick the prettiest flowers (the best ones!) more than once because he was a good listener and he followed directions really, really well.

"Okay," she clapped her hands with a sense of accomplishment. "All done with mine!"

"Me too," Minato said as he put it over the one that was already on the ground. "Just one more right?"

"Yep!" She said happily. "Unless you want one?" She tilted her head to the side, her jade eyes regarding him expectantly.

He thought about it. "Okay, but only if I can make you one."

Sakura smiled prettily at him. All Minato could do in response was stare as his tummy danced.

"Um," she raised her voice an octave from her previous attempt. As the previous attempt was not heard because they did not stop talking they did not even look in her direction. "Ami-chan?," Sakura waited for the girl with the purple hair to look at her. The pinkette smiled shyly. "I made these flower chains for you." She pleased them on the cot that they were sitting on.

"Did you hear something?" Ami raised her head and looked around. Directly past Sakura.

"No," Fuki shook her redhead. "Nothing."

Kasumi nodded her head. "Me neither."

"Must have been the wind," Ami shrugged. "Fuki-chan why do you have grass and weeds on your bed?"

"Ew," Fuki grabbed the flower chains and flung them to the ground. "How did those get there?"

Sakura's face heated up in shame as she watched her and Minato-kun's hard work litter the floor.

"Must have been the annoying wind again," Kasumi sneered with her hands on her hips. "So annoying."

"It doesn't matter. It's gone now," Ami flipped her hair over her shoulder - the longer side. "Which is good because I don't like looking at ugly things."

Don't run away, Sakura. Stand up for yourself. Tell them you worked hard on that.

Sakura flinched as all three pairs of eyes looked at her. What the voice in her head was saying sounded impossible. Sakura's bottom lip started to tremble. She let out a squeak before she turned on her heel and ran for her cot. She buried her face in the covers. Holding Kuu-kun to her chest while pressing her other hand to her ear to drown out their cruel laughter. She curled into a small ball, her tears soaked her thin sheets. Her sniffles only added to their cackling delight.

---

She heard his footsteps coming towards her, with her back pressed up against the bark of the tree that he had no doubt been watching her all these minutes. He never came down from the safety the crisscrossed branches that overlapped provided him. It was his preferred vantage, perch, to take in the world. Like he was watching over everything.

Sakura crushed her fists to her eyes but it did nothing to stop the tears. She was not allowed to cry in the orphanage. Osono-san had put her in the Silence Space for that very reason. She had berated her long and sternly about how she was using her tears as a manipulation tactic. She was too upset at being yelled at to ask what 'manipulation' and 'tactic' even meant. It had to be something bad judging from Osono-san's harsh reaction. So out of necessity, she did not cry. Only at night, with her back turned to the trio that slept together near the windows, did she cry under her covers. Her silent tears and lurching shoulders did not disrupt anyone's sleep other than her own.

But now, in the open when no one was watching - no one other than him watching - she was allowed to cry. She did not mean to or even want to cry but she could not help it. As the voices screeched in exuberance and joy all around her she was reminded rather starkly just how alone she was.

She heard the grass crumples over her sniffles and loud breaths. She felt his shoulder brush up against hers as he came to sit down next to her. His back pressed against the very trunk of the tree she used. She continued to cry and he continued to maintain his silence even though the distance was no more. It was only when she felt something soft touch her kneecap that she turned her head, dropped her hands, and looked at him. A white folded-up square was being offered.

"For your nose," Minato said gently.

Sakura sniffled. She took the handkerchief and used it to sop up the snot that was starting to touch the top of her lip. If she was even a modicum less upset she would have called him weird for having such a thing on hand. Sometimes she wondered if he was an adult trapped in a little kid's body. He was so strange.

But so nice.

"Did they not like your present?" Minato did not look at her and for that she was thankful. Because for some reason she did not like the idea of crying in front of him. "Is that why you're upset?" His soft voice mingled with the wind perfectly becoming nearly indistinguishable as his words caressed her tear-stained face.

Sakura shook her head, glumly.

Minato frowned. "Why are you all alone? Where's Kuu-kun?"

Her answer came in the form of a loud sob and more tears. Minato panicked. He began to search his pockets for anything that could help rectify his grave mistake. He was empty-handed and he felt so bad. It took no less time than required to count to thirty before she calmed down enough to work out words.

"Kuu-kun is gone," Sakura lamented. She dabbed at her eyes. The whites became red and the green glistened like mirrors, he caught reflections of himself in her eyes.

"Gone?"

"I can't find him anywhere!" Sakura held up her arms over her head. "I looked and I looked!"

"Okay, okay. He's gone." Minato's hands moved up and down as he tried to get her to calm down. She was growing more and more upset. And that made something happen in his own tummy. "Did you ask Osono-san if she's seen him? Or the other girls?"

He was not prepared for the heartbroken look on her face at his query. He wondered if he was truly helping or only serving to make her hurt even more than she had been prior to when he decided he could not take it anymore.

"Osono-san said it's my fault. That I probably forgot him somewhere. But I would never forget him, I wouldn't do that, ever! He's my friend. I wouldn't leave him behind! I didn't lose him! I went to bed and I had him and when I woke up he was gone!" Sakura's voice broke towards the end. The strain of remaining coherent was taking it out of her.

"He was a gift from Pretty Lady. And even if Pretty Lady doesn't visit me anymore and even if Tochan and Kaachan are not trying to find me anymore and even if I was having a lot of fun and even if I was busy and even if I was…" Sakura inhaled a big breath for she forgot to breathe as she entered her frantic tirade to present her case. "I would never ever forget about Kuu-kun. I would never lose him! He's special to me. I didn't-"

"I know, Sakura-chan," Minato cut off another blabbering of words. "You didn't forget him."

"He's my friend," she said brokenly.

"I know," he repeated solemnly. "You would never lose him. He's your friend. He's important."

Sakura dabbed at her eyes. "Osono-san said I can't even borrow books anymore because I'll just lose them." She continued to share her grievances. "She said I'm not 'sponsible enough." Disappointment directed at herself was evident to him even then at the tender age of four. "She called me carless," Sakura whispered heartbrokenly at the label and the implications that it carried.

"She's wrong," Minato said with a firmness that surprised even him. Sakura blinked jade orbs surrounded by a shade of pink, that was all wrong, in surprise. "You can borrow my books. I'll bring you my favorite next time."

"Why?" Her small mouth asked.

"Because you're not careless. And books make you happy," he smiled bright and wide.

Her tears stopped flowing almost instantly. She sniffled. "Okay," she said in a small voice, trying not to get her hopes up because it really hurt when people forgot their promises.

"You want to be a shinobi?" She asked him with big eyes as she pushed her wisps of soft pink hair out from obscuring her vision.

"I do," Minato stated in his calm voice. The very voice that made her question if he was a kid at all. He regarded his hand with a solemn expression. "I'll be joining The Academy in the fall." The age to enroll was five, he would be five and nearly nine months by the time classes started.

"The Academy." She leaned back on her hands and stared up at the sky through the canopy of branches and leaves. "Is that where you learn to be a shinobi?"

"Yeah," Minato plucked a dandelion from the ground. He held it carefully, curling his hand to protect the easily influenced white wispy fuzz from scattering all around by a soft gale of wind. "I want to protect my home and everyone I care about."

The magnitude of his statement while not completely understood by her was not entirely lost. She stared at him in a stunned stupor. It was hard for her to picture the gentle boy - he checked for bugs before he even took a step, she had witnessed him cupping his hands around a ladybug and moving it to a higher leaf before he climbed down the tree he was in on his way to her - doing as he said. She did not know much but even she knew shinobi carried themselves differently than the rest of the population. The man with the funny hat, the man with white hair, the man with black hair that made her feel uneasy, and the pretty lady were different from Osono-san. They were shinobi.

Home. It was but a concept to her. She wondered what home was to her. The orphanage? Because that did not seem like a home worth protecting. She did not like it there. It was dark, cold, quiet, and dreary. It was lonely. And that did not feel like home. She did not want it to be her home. Or was the sentiment more general? Was home Konoha? Konoha felt like home. For moments when she was at peace in the library or at the park. Her eyes found his face. He wore a look of contemplation as he held the dandelion with a determination to not let it be anything other than whole.

"Maybe I can join The Academy too! I can learn to be a shinobi too." She exclaimed with eyes sparkling at the thought of it all. She felt herself faltering, the shards of confidence she had gathered enough to speak what she thought out loud, at the very expression on his face. His slightly parted lips and widened eyes had her feeling so small.

"You can't," Minato answered in a voice that sounded as far away as his reach was. They were not the same.

"Oh," she turned her head before dipping it. Her bangs completely covered her eyes. She was seconds away from crying. Something she did not think shinobi did.

"You can go to The Academy to learn to be kunoichi."

She lifted her head and stared at him with features frozen in place by surprise. He was smiling warmly at her, eyes closed and wind tousling his spiky yellow locks.

"Kunoichi?" She asked. Testing the way the word felt on her tongue. It felt heavy like it was important. Something strong.

He nodded his head. "Like Pretty Lady."

She watched wordlessly as he brought the dandelion between them.

"Let's make a wish that we both get into The Academy together, okay?"

All she could do was nod mutely as he counted to three signaling for her to blow. She watched the dandelion seeds flutter in the wind through her curtain of pink strands. His eyes never left her face.

---

Sakura hummed to herself happily as she hugged the large hardcover book to her chest. There was a drawing of a forest backdrop with bright green trees and the night sky and a little girl in a big puffy dress. She clambered up to her cot to start to tuck into her new book. She did not notice the eyes watching her until she had even cracked open the page.

"Hey, Sakura," a voice pulled her away before she could read the very first character in front of her.

Sakura's mouth hung open slightly as she raised her eyes to the face that belonged to the voice. Her pointer finger kept her place on the page.

"Where did you get that ribbon?" Ami asked her with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Ribbon?" Sakura's right hand went immediately to the red ribbon in her hair. She was a little frazzled that Ami even knew her name. Not after how she reacted the last time Sakura tried to talk to her when she gave them all their presents that she had handmade for them with Minato-kun's help. It did not help that Kasumi and Fuki were both glaring at her. Sakura's initial reaction was to shrink into herself.

Answer the question, Sakura. Inner encouraged her.

"My friend gave it to me," Sakura said with a small, timid smile.

"Your friend?" Fuki asked with a frown. "Since when do you have a friend?"

"I met him at the park!" She answered brightly. "His name is Minato-kun! He's really nice."

Sakura's excitement was met with narrowed eyes and scoffs of disbelief.

"Liar!"

Sakura leaned back at the sudden finger that was pointed in her face.

"Yeah just like with the toy you lost!" Kasumi jumped in quickly to support Fuki's statement.

"I'm not a lair!" Sakura bolstered. She flipped to the first cover page of the book. "See?" She pointed to the right corner.

The girls wore varying degrees of dubious features all communicating that it meant nothing to them.

"It says, N. Minato." Sakura enlightened them. "Minato-kun!" She presented her evidence.

"I don't believe you," Ami said brashly. "Why would Minato-kun give you his book and a ribbon?"

"Because he saw how sad I was with Kuu-kun being gone! He gave it to me last week, the book," Sakura tried to explain but she was so worked up that she stumbled over her words. She took a breath to try to collect herself. "He's my friend. And since Osono-san won't let me get books anymore from the library, he let me borrow his favorite: The Hime and the Pea!"

"Why would his favorite book be about a Hime? He's a boy." Fuki asked with a snort and crossed arms.

"Boys can like Himes too!" Sakura countered.

"Why did he give you the ribbon?" Ami asked.

Sakura paused. Her face turned red as she recalled the look on Minato's face when he gave it to her. "He said he thought it would help with my bangs. They made it hard to see sometimes. They got in my way." She had nearly tripped last week and cut her knee on a root that was above ground.

Kasumi pushed her large puffy orange hair from her face before crossing her arms. "You don't get it do you?" She sneered.

"Get what?" Sakura asked with clear confusion.

Fuki laughed into her hand. Her spiky red hair was styled wildly around her. "Whoever gave you that ribbon wasn't your friend."

But Minato-kun is my friend…right?

Now, the pinkette was very confused and her features reflected that.

"How sad," Ami frowned. She wore a genuine look of concern on her face. "Sakura-chan," her bottom lip pulled into a pout. "The person who gave you the ribbon did it as a joke."

"A joke?" She looked at the three faces.

Fuki and Kasumi nodded their heads in tandem as if they shared a single thought. Ami continued to wear an expression of concern as she regarded the pink-haired girl. "They were making fun of you. They tricked you into showing off your forehead."

"My forehead?" Sakura covered it with her hand without thinking.

"Yeah, because it's so big." Fuki giggled not kindly. She pointed for good measure. "And the ribbon just makes it look even bigger."

"Really?" Sakura's eyes widened.

"Really." Kasumi's hands were on her hips. "And it's red."

The trio exchanged looks at Sakura's silence.

"Pink and red clash!" Fuki jeered at her as she leaned forward. "Don't you even know that much?"

But I like red. Minato-kun said it looked nice.

"You should stop wearing it, Sakura-chan." Ami put forth the notion into the air and to Sakura's ears. "If you don't want to be made fun of by anyone else who sees you. They might call you Forehead-Girl or something. It looks ugly."

"The pink freak!" Kasumi looked proud of herself for thinking up the moniker. "So ugly," she cooed.

Sakura wanted to cover her ears and run away but they were surrounding her and they claimed that they were trying to help.

"Ami-chan!" Fuki spoke up. "The ribbon would look so much prettier in your hair. Don't you think, Sakura?" Her big brown eyes captured Sakura's unsure ones in her gaze. "That would be a much better present than those stupid weeds."

"Yeah!" Kasumi said with enthusiasm. "The ribbon would look really nice in your purple hair, Ami. Your hair is so much prettier than Sakura's and ours. And you have a normal-sized forehead."

"Well," Ami smiled as she thought about it. "Now that you mention it, red is a good color with purple." She turned back to Sakura. "What do you say, Sakura-chan? You want us to be friends right?"

Don't do it!

"Um," Sakura began unsurely. "It was a gift…" she said with hesitation.

"It was a prank." Kasumi corrected her harshly. "Just give it up. It would match Ami-chan's skirt perfectly."

Ami twirled in her ankle-length red skirt. "Don't you agree, Sakura-chan?" The right side of her lips was slightly higher up as she smiled unevenly. "Unless you think your hair is prettier than mine?"

Sakura blinked as the snickers and comments of 'as if' reached her ears. "I-I-I"

"Stop being such a baby, Sakura," Fuki said with a scowl. "It looks terrible on you." She chuckled as a dark gleam crossed her eyes. "Unless you want us to call you Ugly-Forehead-Girl."

"No," Sakura shook her head. With shaking fingers, she undid the bow that Minato had tied and held the ribbon out for Ami. "Please take it, Ami-chan. It will look really nice in your hair." Her bangs brushed her lashes making her blink a lot.

"I know." Ami snatched the ribbon with a smirk.

Sakura watched as she braided it into the long side of her hair. The girls gushed and showered Ami with praises.

"Doesn't it look so much better in my hair, Sakura-chan?" Ami asked her.

Sakura swallowed at the three pairs of eyes looking at her expectantly. "Y-yes." She answered in a small voice. The trio smiled.

"We're friends now, Sakura-chan." Ami grinned at her. "Don't look so sad."

Sakura forced a smile she did not quite feel on her lips.

"You can sleep next to us now," Ami skipped off to her cot and the other two followed closely at her heels.

Sakura rose to her feet. She tucked the large book under her arm and followed after them with a knot in her stomach.

---

She kept scanning the trees for him and with each time her eyes made the sweeping arch the knot in her stomach grew tighter and tighter making it harder and harder to breathe deeply. It was almost time for them to go back and she had not seen him once. Not a flash of yellow or white, not even the sound of his voice. Her jade orbs landed on the blonde-haired woman sitting on the bench knitting with a soft smile on her face. His Okaasan was here so he had to be here.

Where are you, Minato-kun? Her eyes scanned the canopies of lush green in all various saturations. Why won't you come down?

"Sakura-chan!" Ami called through cupped hands causing the pink-haired girl to flinch. She turned her attention to the girl with the red ribbon in her purple hair. "Are you coming or what?" She asked irritably.

"C-coming!" Sakura shook her head and ran off in the direction the trio was standing waiting for her. She did not look back over her shoulder. Had she done so, she would have seen a head of sunshine-yellow hair peeking through the green leaves, standing with his palm flat against the trunk of the tree. He wore a frown on his serious little face.

Sakura brought the cookie - her favorite part of the day - to her fingers with every intention of biting into it with gusto. A throat clearing had her stopping just midway. Her eyes glittered and her mouth hung open. She was being stared at by three judgment-filled faces.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Fuki asked her impatiently.

"No?" Sakura said after taking some time to deliberate it.

"Sakura-chan you're such a pig!" Kasumi laughed unkindly.

"What?" The pinkette frowned. She set down the cookie on her tray, it was chocolate-chip. Her favorite.

"You need to share your cookie!" Fuki told her.

"But you didn't share yours," she pointed out in an unconfident voice.

"We take turns," Kasumi huffed. "It's your turn to share."

"But you said that last time and last time before that and the time before that!" She did not want to share. She wanted to eat her cookie.

"You joined the group late," Ami reminded her churlishly. "If you want to stay you have to share your desserts. We're just making it fair. Friends share!"

It was true. Osono-san had said that and even the books she had read said that friends shared. But this did not feel fair. They always shared her dessert and she never got any at all.

What should I do? I don't want to sit alone anymore. And I don't want to be a pig.

Inner did not offer advice. Sakura looked at the cookie with longing. She sighed and held it out.

"Okay," she handed it to Ami. She watched as the girl split it into four pieces. She took two of them. She gave one each to Fuki and Kasumi. Sakura wondered when the day came that she would get to eat her cookie again.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty." Sakura sang softly to herself, crouched into a knee-high patch of flowers. The willowy leaves tickled as the wind caused them to sway.

"You're by yourself."

She did not turn around to look at him even as her heart jumped a little. She could hear the judgment in his voice. He was very deliberate with his feelings. Unlike her.

"I'm not," Sakura countered. She curled her fist around a pink flower with soft petals and a big yellow center filled to the brim with pollen. "I'm just getting something for them."

"For who, Sakura-chan? For your friends?" His voice twisted as he emphasized the last word making it clear what he thought of the whole thing. He had been watching them. How they ignored Sakura for the majority of their time only to show interest when they needed something. Minato crossed his arms. Her shoulders were set in a line of neutrality in her navy top.

Sakura did not say anything because every time she tried to work something past her throat, her stomach clamped down so tightly that it made it impossible for anything heavier than air to pass through. Because it felt so different when Minato called her Sakura-chan than when Ami did. So, so different and she did not understand why. Maybe it was because of what her friends said, how Minato was not a friend of hers at all.

"What happened to your ribbon?"

"Minato-kun!" A high-pitched voice called out causing both of them to turn. Sakura was on her feet, clutching a cosmic flower to her chest in a too-tight grip.

The blond's cobalt eyes moved from face to face quickly and with disinterest. He saw Sakura come to stand next to him from the peripherals of his eyes.

"Hi!" Ami waved at him with enthusiasm. She flipped her hair over her shoulder - the longer side which happened to be the side woven with the red ribbon. Minato's eyes narrowed slightly in recognition.

"Why do you have Sakura's ribbon?" He demanded.

Ami blinked a couple of times. Fuki and Kasumi exchanged uneasy looks at the firmness in the usually mild-mannered boy who kept to himself.

"I-I…," Ami stammered as she took a step back. "Sakura-chan gave it to me!" She pointed at the pinkette.

Minato turned to regard the girl who was staring at the ground with hunched shoulders and a dowed head. Her bangs hung towards the dirt.

"Is that true, Sakura-chan?" He asked her slowly.

The pinkette raised her head only to nod it once, not looking him anywhere remotely in the eye.

Minato felt something start to fill him. It originated from the pit of his stomach. "Why?" He asked her in a small voice, forgetting about the three pairs of eyes staring at him with trepidation.

"It looks prettier in Ami-chan's hair," Sakura murmured. "The ribbon is pretty. So it would look best in pretty hair, not ugly hair like mine. It suits Ami-chan's hair and forehead."

Minato's lips tugged and committed to a frown. He reached out to brush her bangs from her eyes. Sakura's eyes widened.

"I think it looked prettiest in your hair, Sakura-chan." Minato smiled at her with the warmth of the spring sun. "Because you have the prettiest hair and forehead I've ever seen." He lowered his arm back to his side.

Sakura forgot to breathe as she beamed at him. Everything and everyone else melted away.

Help me! She begged someone anyone to do just that.

She kicked up her legs in a panic but her arms were held firmly at her sides. She felt the full weight of her restraints. Fuki's and Kasumi's faces were clamped in lines of strain as they kept her down. The gag in her mouth - a sock - prevented Sakura from calling out for help. It was so far in her mouth that she gagged a little bit. She could taste vomit in the back of her throat. She believed that she would choke on it. Tears rained down, dripping into her ears. Her face was red.

She saw Ami climb on top of her. Sitting on her stomach, making it hard for Sakura to breathe. The metal in her hands glistened in the moonlight. She clicked the blades twice menacingly. The act of intimidation worked. Sakura stopped struggling.

Please. She begged her with large, tear-irritated eyes that were red around her jade irises.

Ami smirked cruelly. Sakura closed her eyes as she felt the cold brush of the metal against her scalp and her hair being pulled away to the point that it was almost painful. The first snip had her heart stopping completely in her chest.

xXx

She bit into her bottom lip with her top row of teeth until it bled all to keep the sounds building up in her throat contained. She did not want to be sent back to the Silence Space after surviving her last stint there.

"I don't understand why you're crying now," Osono-san uttered testily as she grabbed the uneven, hacked strands that remained on Sakura's head from the haircut that Ami had given her. "You are nothing but trouble, Mina. I've had nothing but problems since you walked through those doors."

I'm sorry. She wanted to say but it took all of her efforts to keep her sobs stifled. She flinched at the sound of the scissors closing over a strand of pink hair. It dusted the ground like powder.

"What a mess, I have half the mind to let you deal with the consequences of your actions!" The woman's sharp tongue continued to lash directly into Sakura's consciousness, leaving marks that she would never be able to see or reach but always be aware of.

Keep your mouth shut. Don't make more trouble for yourself.

She sniffled. She knew Osono-san would not believe her even if she had the words to describe her ordeal and she really did not. It was three against one. They all had the same story, that Sakura stole Osono-san's scissors from her office - where none of the girls were to go - and decided to cut her hair to match Ami's hairstyle because she was jealous of how pretty Ami's hair was only to start crying when Sakura ended up cutting off too much. Osono-san had believed the lie and that made it to the truth. It did not matter to her that it was Fuki who stole the scissors and how the redhead and girl with the orange afro had held her down after shoving a sock in her mouth for Ami to "fix Sakura's hair." That had no place in the discussion.

Osono-san had been so livid at the sight of Sakura's tear-stained face, pink hair clumps on the ground, and the bald patches in her head that she promptly hauled the girl off to the Silence Space giving her a massive earful in the process. Sakura had over six hours to think about what she had done. She was left with a heavy bladder and a spider bite on her foot that itched for her ordeal. Only for Osono-san to try to salvage what she could.

"That's the best I can do." Osono gave her once over with her hands on her hips. She clicked her tongue. "I hope you learned your lesson, young lady."

Sakura raised her hands to her head. She nearly cried out at how short her hair was. It barely covered her scalp.

"Now go back to your cot." Osono pointed her finger to the door with a glower.

Sakura tucked her chin to her chest, unable to stand the withering rays being directed towards her from Osono-san's dark, dark eyes. She swayed slightly as she walked back to where Osono-san had instructed her. She ignored the giggles and snickers from the trio as they watched her across the hall. The not-so-quite utterances of 'Cry Baby Sakura' or 'Big Forehead' burned her ears.

It was not until she got back to her cot that she fell to her knees and let out a broken wail. Cotton littered the thin breathable futon mattress. A lone plastic red eye stared blankly at her by her pillow.

"Kuu-kun," she whispered brokenly, speaking for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours.

The following Wednesday she did not stray far from Osono-san. She stayed affixed to the wooden bench with her head bowed and her hands folded in her lap. Her legs did not make it past the edge of the bench, her back was pressed against the backrest. She dared not look up, much less look for him. Because if she could see him, he most definitely could see her and she did not want that.

The sound of knitting needles clicking reached her ears and Osono turned the page of her book.

It doesn't look that bad. Inner tried to console her just as Inner had been doing all week. And Just like all week, Sakura did not acknowledge the voice in her head.

"What a darling little boy, so well-behaved," a voice called out.

Sakura felt tears prick in the back of her eyes. She bowed her head even more. Hands curling around her too-big shirt.

"She's a girl but thank you," Osono said after smacking her lips loudly.

"Oh," the voice held hesitation. "I see now." The pair of feet scurried away leaving just Sakura and Osono on the bench as the three other girls played loudly, unabashed as the sound of their laughter rang in Sakura's ears like the clear taunts they were.

---

Today is going to be a good day.

Sakura curled her hands through her hair, tucking it behind her ears. Hair that just brushed against her chin. Sakura rolled her shoulders back. She smoothed out her red shirt, adamant to make the best first impression she could. Today was an important day for her. Today was the first day of the rest of her life. If she worked hard and graduated from The Academy, she could move out of the orphanage. She could be someone other than Sakura-No-Last-Name.

She inhaled deeply through her nose and crossed the wooden awning that hung overhead and contained the insignia that represented who she was and who she wanted to be. If she worked hard and focused, she would have the honor of wearing that insignia across her forehead. Home.

She walked to the classroom that she knew she was to report to '103'. She was early, nearly all the seats were empty. She felt his blue eyes on her. He had sat up at the sight of her, becoming alert. He hovered over his seat nervously as if not sure what to do with himself. Sakura walked across the room, ignoring him completely. She picked the seat closest to the blackboard in the front row and she sat down, with her hands folded over the desk. She could feel him boring a hole in the back of her head but she did not turn around.

It was when she heard the clapping of nails against the wooden floors that a familiar feeling filled her. A loud singular bark had all the bones in her body rattling. Her heart stopped as the black and white blur raced to her. His pink tongue licked the side of her face.

Sakura's eyes locked with a pair of brown eyes. She smiled timidly. She received a grin with sharp canines in response.

---

"Pinkie come quickly!" Tsume grabbed her hand and yanked her down the hall.

"What's going on?" Sakura raced behind her, nearly breathless. Korumaru's tail slapped against her calves as she ran. She had to keep her eyes on her feet otherwise she risked tripping over either Tsume or her ninken.

"Red is going crazy right now!" Tsume grinned, not bothering to look back. "Out of my way, Akimichi!" She barked at Choza who was eating chips in the middle of the hallway not bothering anyone other than Tsume. He let out a gasp and flattened himself against the wall. Sakura shot him an apologetic look over her shoulder as they whizzed past him.

"The new girl?" Sakura asked with a furrowed brow. "Kushina?"

"That's the one. She's wailing on three guys right now." Tsume's teeth flashed as her eyes narrowed in excitement. "And she's totally winning."

"Why?" Sakura turned her body to avoid slamming into the corner that Tsume cut too close to the wall. She just got here yesterday. When did she find the time to start trouble?

"Dunno, Pinkie. Pick up your feet, you're slowing us down," Tsume huffed. The hallway was just about to end.

Sakura let out a sound of frustration as she did her best to keep up with the frantic pace of her brown-haired friend. She could see a crowd formed up at the end where the hall led out to the courtyard. There was cheering and voices talking excitedly. Tsume's grip tightened around her wrist, Sakura could feel her long nails biting into her skin. Tsume did not bother apologizing as she shoved her way through the bodies. She left that for Sakura to utter in a small squeaky voice as she tried her best not to make eye contact as she was pushed harshly into bony ends like elbows and shoulders. Korumaru ran between gaps left by any open legs he found.

"Whoa," the words left Sakura's lips as Tsume finally came to a standstill.

Red hair wild and untamed, connected to a round face almost as red. She was straddling a boy with brown hair. Her knees were in the dirt. Her hand curled around his yellow shirt. Her violet eyes were narrowed and hard. Her fist connected with the side of his face. Sakura could see a stream of spit leave the boy's mouth as his whole head turned in the opposite direction.

"Say that again, 'bane! Say that again about my hair!" She screeched in a voice that was pure rage and power.

"They made fun of her hair," Tsume barked out a laugh. "Idiots."

"She's amazing," Sakura added breathlessly. Her eyes were wide with marvel and admiration.

Kushina was a force. She was a blur of red and rage, a whirlwind of strength and conviction. She was everything Sakura was not.

She's so strong.

Sakura's eyes wandered to the two boys who were picking themselves up from the ground. They helped each other scramble to their feet before they ran away, leaving their accomplice in her clutches.

Kushina was everything.

"What did you call me?!" She demanded answers. The boy groaned weakly, wetly in her grasp. She raised him to her face. "U-zu-ma-ki," she stressed each syllable. "Remember the name punk, I'm going to be Hokage." She shoved him harshly to the ground. He did not catch himself as he landed flat on his back. She dusted her hands. Her purple eyes scanned the faces that all stared at her. "Anyone else want a piece?" Her hands found her hips as she put forth her challenge.

Wow.

Sakura froze when she felt the heat of her violet eyes on her. She looked away out of instinct.

Kushina pointed a finger. They all followed the path it led. "My face is going to be on that mountain!" She declared with determination that could not be reduced even if it was scooped away by the spoonful. She had oceans worth of it.

Sakura believed her. And judging by the way a pair of cobalt eyes were looking at Kushina - only looking at her - she was not the only one. Sakura's stomach clenched when she saw a smile break across Minato's lips as he stared at the red-haired Uzumaki. The high that Kushina had taken her to, all came crashing down in a heartbeat.

Painfully.

---

Why won't they just leave me alone?

Sakura ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Her pink hair streaked behind her. Her breath was coming in ragged and fast. She needed to put as much distance between her and the feet that were after her.

Climb a tree! Use chakra.

I've never done that before! She answered the voice in her head in panic.

Just try.

Sakura slowed down just enough as she came to the clearing, to avoid hitting the tree at full speed.

Just like the lesson said. Picture the chakra in your body. Feel it move.

Sakura concentrated as best as she could, she ran to the tree. She grabbed onto a low branch and planted the sole of her foot against it.

I got it! Her eyes widened as she felt herself stick to the tree.

Climb!

She pulled her other leg from the ground and tried to get traction. She let out an exclaim of pain as she felt her hair being pulled back. She was roughly pulled away. Her hands immediately went to the one around her hair, scratching.

"Let go!" Sakura struggled.

"Not so tough now that you don't have your big scary bodyguard with dog breath with you, are you?" Ami jeered as she twisted her hand in Sakura's hair which was past her shoulders now.

Fight back!

There's three of them and only one of me!

Thanks for the math lesson kid but stop making excuses! Do something. Inner roared in her head so loudly that Sakura involuntarily clenched her teeth.

She swung her legs for Ami's shin. "Let go of me!" She let her body weight carry her forward.

Ami let go. Sakura stumbled and fell to her knees. She could feel her skin split open as she caught herself from hitting the ground with the heel of her palms. Her clumsy display earned her a round of jeers and mocking laughter.

"And she thinks she can be a kunoichi," Ami laughed as she shook her head. "Pathetic."

Sakura felt her tears prick in her eyes. Her knees and hands hurt. The gravel mixed in with her sweat dug into the cuts painfully. The first tear dripped off her nose.

"Cry Baby Sakura." Fuki curled her fists toward her eyes and twisted animatedly in her mocking. "Doing what she does best."

Kasumi snickered. "At it again, Sakura-chan?"

Why can't I be brave? Why can't I be strong? Like her…like Kushina?

Get up!

She tried to clamber to her feet but her limbs were not cooperating and that only seemed to anger the voice in her head all the more.

Ami leaned forward, her red ribbon shone in the light. "You should just quit before you get yourself killed, Forehead-Girl. We're only looking out for you. You're not cut out for this life."

Get up, Sakura. Get on your feet.

"Yeah, you're an embarrassment to girls everywhere." Fuki piled on in her nasally voice. "You're weak."

Sakura!

The pinkette swayed as she stood on her feet. She could hear voices murmuring all around her. More tears continued to come out of her eyes to further the humiliating display of her weakness. She was nothing like Kushina. No wonder Minato-kun never looked at her like that and smiled. His eyes never held admiration for her. And why should they? She was as Ami said: pathetic.

"Your big forehead isn't going to help you out in the field," Kasumi reminded her obnoxiously. "Top scores on written tests mean nothing."

"Do you even know how to hold a kunai?" Ami flipped her hair over her shoulder and asked haughtily. "Or is your plan to have Dog Breath and her mutt protect you?"

Be quiet!

More laughter. She heard more voices joining in, considerably more voices. That seemed to bolster Ami and the gang.

"You're so weak that even someone as nice as Minato-kun can't stand your guts." Fuki twisted the kunai that Ami had stabbed in Sakura's back with that statement.

Sakura's hand curled into a tight fist.

"You're so pathetic that not even your parents came back for you, Forehead!" Kasumi laughed. "At least we know our parents are dead. Yours probably didn't even want you!"

Enough!

"Leave me alone!" She snapped.

The ground became silent. Sakura breathed heavily, shoulders shaking as the adrenaline muted the pain caused by her knuckles meeting the trunk of a large oak tree. Her back was to the faces that either led to her ridicule or witnessed it.

There was a groan and the sound so loud that most did not know what to register it as. The ground shook and rumbled. Dust kicked up to their noses. Leaves rustled angrily, almost hissing at being disturbed. They stood muted in shock as the large tree snapped in half and fell back. None were more shocked than Sakura herself. She took a step back and looked at her right hand, her torn-open knuckles in a state of stunned stupefaction.

Did I do that?

She turned her hand slowly, not believing for a second what just happened.

"Y-y-you're a freak!" Ami stuttered. She took steps backward until she ran into Fuki who had lost all color in her face.

A freak? She blinked slowly not registering the fact that Ami and her mindless minions had cleared the area or the fact that the crowd was gaping at her with real fear and unease set in their posture.

Not a freak. Inner said adamantly. Power. You're powerful.

She furrowed her brow. She did not quite believe that either.

"Sakura!"

She felt her shoulders being shaken.

"What did you do?" Tsume's eyes were wide and wild like her hair, without direction or structure.

"I don't know," Sakura whispered.

Tsume took in her mangled hand. It was swelling up and turning purple. "I think you broke something…" she looked over her shoulder at the toppled-over tree. She gulped loudly. "In your hand I mean."

"I don't feel it." Sakura frowned.

"Come on, we need to have the nurse take a look at you." Tsume turned her around by the shoulder and grabbed her by the left wrist. Korumaru was at their heels as Tsume tugged her along.

Sakura's eyes never left her hand so she missed the pair of cobalt orbs that were focused on her, intently.

---

There was something about him that kept drawing in her eye. Maybe it was the unique shape of his hair, wild and unapologetic in its natural glory. Maybe it was not the shape - five distinctive sections that almost resembled the petals of the flower she was named after - but the color. Not pink and not red but somewhere in between. Maybe magenta? Maybe it was his towering stature. He was taller than most of the boys of their year. She did not quite know what it was about the perfectly ordinary - as far she could tell, he was towards the bottom of the class in terms of well, everything - son of civilians who kept pulling her back in.

Sakura bit down on the riceball she was eating with a contemplative look on her face. Kizashi was talking loudly - very one-sided from the look of clear disinterest on the group of faces he was trying to gain traction with - as he rubbed the back of his head.

He's having a hard time making friends. Her lips pulled into a frown as the trio of boys stalked off at the punchline of the joke being delivered less than successfully. She saw the way Kizashi's shoulders slumped.

The joke wasn't that bad. She put down her half-eaten rice ball, suddenly losing her appetite.

Go talk to him if you feel that strongly.

No way! She was much too shy for that. Sakura lowered her face into her palm. Kizashi had found another group of boys to approach. One had black hair gathered into a short ponytail, the other had long sandy-blond hair also in a ponytail and the last had brown hair - not in a ponytail.

She watched with interest as Kizashi drew breath into his lungs and said the punchline. His face was that of an exuberant child waiting for praise. Much too open and much too hopeful. Sakura, unbeknownst to her, held her breath. Only to release it when the brunette - the Akimichi - let out a hearty laugh. She relaxed as she resumed eating her lunch with a soft smile on her lips.

She did not know what it was about Haruno Kizashi that drew out her protective side. A side she did not even know that she had.

She never did punch a tree in half again even when she spent an afternoon trying and trying. All she managed to do was break her hand. Again. One earful from the nurse was enough to discourage her from trying again. But the benefit was that Ami and company did not bother her again. Not at The Academy and not at the orphanage.

She gnawed on her bottom lip, not unlike a rodent gnawing through wire, in her anxiety.

Maybe this is a bad idea.

You brought it all this way with you, you might as well.

But won't it be super weird?

You won't know unless you try.

Sakura wanted to groan. She settled for hiding her face behind the hardcover book in her hands. She tapped her forehead against the edge of the equally large book as the events of today played in her mind over and over again like a highlight reel.

I can't believe he graduated two years early.

Can't you? He's always been different.

She hummed in agreement. She knew he was different since the day she met him, somewhere deep down. The sun was beginning to set and with it, her resolve was crumbling.

This is dumb. I'm going back to the orphanage.

She lowered the book and whirled around. Her eyes widened and a squeak left her lips, a sound of pure surprise.

"How did you find me?" She demanded with a red face burning in embarrassment.

"I'll always find you, Sakura-chan." Minato smiled easily at her as if they had not spent the past five years operating as no more than two strangers in the same class.

He's so weird.

She swallowed heavily and ignored Inner. "Congratulations on your graduation," she addressed the blades of grass near his standard-issue ninja sandals. He was a Genin as of tomorrow.

"Thank you." His blue eyes took in her reluctant stance. His eyes settled on a familiar back cover that she held. His face spoke the unspoken question.

"This is for you." She handed him the book, with her arms extended as far as they would go. "I don't know when I'll see you again and I wanted to give it back to you." She clarified at the presence of confusion on his face.

"Keep it," Minato gently pushed it back towards her. "Consider it a gift from me to you."

"That's not how graduation presents work," she mumbled mostly to herself, as she tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear, flushed at the length his attention had settled on her.

He chuckled. "Well, it would make me happy if you kept it."

"Okay," she said in a small voice, bringing the book to her chest and hugging it close. "Thank you."

"Did you like it?" He asked casually. His lips were set in a half-smile as if not sure if they wanted to commit to the whole thing.

"Um…," she tucked her bottom lip under her top teeth. "It got me through some things." It brought comfort when comfort was hard to come by.

"I'm glad it could help." He patted the back of his head in a nervous action. He grimaced. "Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for." She lowered her gaze to between their feet. The wind kicked her hair towards him while blowing his blond locks behind his ears.

"See you around, Sakura-chan."

She dared not read into his voice and all it contained. Her throat went dry as she watched him slowly turn around. A panic rose in her.

"Wait!" She took a step forward, her hand reaching for his shoulder but her sense of self-preservation and fear of rejection became a barrier that prevented her from straightening her elbow. She swallowed audibly, the words died in her dry, dry, dry throat.

Be careful, please.

He looked over his shoulder at her. His eyes crinkled before closing. His lips pulled into a full smile. "Don't worry about me, Sakura-chan."

The leaves rustled around her.

He might as well have kicked her in the chest. He left her disoriented and gasping for breath.

---

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