"Can you hear them? The one's you've killed? I can. They're always whispering in the back of my mind, condemning me for the things I've done." -Sakura Haruno

      Sakura watched the rain fall, her emerald eyes reflecting the stormy gray sky on the other side of the window. She was five, and still found pleasure in the simpler things like rain. She sighed, and put her chin in her hands. It was late, and she should go to bed. But she didn't move. She watched two drops race each other down the pane of glass, and silently cheered them on. She was asleep before either of them hit the sill.

      Sometime later, she woke with a start as a clap of thunder reverberated through her home. The world was dark, the only sound being the patter of rain on the roof. She crept down the hall toward her bedroom, careful not to disturb her parents, who were sleeping peacefully. A foul odor gutted her senses, and she came to a dead halt.

      Suddenly the sound of rain became menacing, and every shadow seemed out of place. Curiously, she padded into her parents room, and when neither of them stirred, flipped on the light.

      She gaped at the sight before her, trying to process, and at the same time block it out. There was no blood. No sign of an attacker. But her parents were undoubtedly dead, their faces twisted in expressions of immense pain. Their sheets were coiled around them, and the pillows were scratched open and shedding feathers.

      Sakura stared in utter shock. There was no way this was real. It was a trick. It was a dream. It was a nightmare. There was no strange smell coming off the mangled bodies. There was no bodies to begin with. There was no death. There was not. There was not. There was not.

       But there was. There was a vile stench. There were two bodies in her parents' bed. There was a girl, standing in the sound of rain, staring at the corpses of her own parents.

       Sakura ran. She ran out of the room that would never leave her memory. She ran out of the house that would never be the same. She ran through the rain, every drop like a needle piercing her skin. She ran until she could run no longer, and collapsed to her knees in front of the place her subconscious had directed her to.

       Tears mixed with the rain, and she wiped them away furiously. She would not cry, for there was no reason to. She would wake up, and it would be morning, and her mother would be making breakfast. She would not cry. Not over a bad dream.

      "Sakura?" A familiar voice asked. She looked up at the worried face of Itachi Uchiha. He was leaning over her, an umbrella keeping the rain at bay.

      She shook her head mutely and scrambled backwards. No need to tell. It's just a bad dream. She wondered why she hadn't woken up yet.

      "Sakura?" Itachi asked again, now looking quite concerned.

      Her hand slipped, and she fell into a puddle. It was wet, and cold, and then she knew. Not a dream.

      Then she really began to cry.

      Itachi ran to the girl, picked her up, and wrapped his arms around her. She continued to sob into his shoulder, and he tried to formulate a plan. He should take her home, but he had no idea where she lived. Indeed, he only knew her name because she was always coming by when he was on duty, and sometimes brought him dango. He decided to take her home with him. His mother would know what to do. He positioned the umbrella above them, turned, and marched home.

      "Itachi, welcome ho-" Mikoto Uchiha caught sight of Sakura and raised an eyebrow. 

      Itachi realized she had fallen asleep on the walk, and sighed. 

      "Who is that?" Mikoto asked.

      Itachi put a finger to his mouth and lay Sakura down on a cushion on the floor. "Her name's Sakura Haruno." He whispered when he was sure she hadn't woken up. "I found her crying in the street on my way home."

      Mikoto looked at the girl with a new curiosity. "Why did you bring her here then? Won't her parents be worried?"

      Itachi scowled. "Hn. It's midnight. I wasn't going to go from door to door asking if anyone was missing a five year old."

      Mikoto's eyes softened, and she nodded. "She can stay the night, I suppose. I'll set something up for her."

      Itachi smiled imperceptibly. "I'll go notify the Hokage. Let him know we have a possibly missing girl." He made a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

      Mikoto unrolled a spare cot on the floor in Sasuke's room, and gently transferred the cotton-candy-haired girl. Then she waited for Itachi to come home, but he never did.

      Dawn broke over Konoha, and lightened the Uchiha compound. It poured into the room where two five year olds lay sleeping, and brushed the hair of Mikoto, who had eventually gone to bed.

      Only then did Itachi return, wearily slumping into a seat at the kitchen table. His eyes were troubled; it had been an eventful night.

      Fifteen minutes later, Mikoto rose to make her husband his morning kohi, and found the Uchiha heir sleeping with his head resting on his arm. She smiled at him softly; this was one of the rare moments when she saw her twelve year old son. Sure, she saw him every day, but he was always withdrawn and reserved. He was never her little boy. Come to think of it, she wondered if she had ever heard him speak so many sentences as he had last night. Maybe this little mystery child would be good for him.

      Itachi was awake by the time the kohi was ready, but he remained silent. That wasn't unlike him, it was the heaviness in the silence that worried her.

      He sipped his kohi slowly, fingers clasped around the mug. His mind was still spinning with the events of the night before, everything he had learned about little Sakura bouncing around inside his head.

      He was truly unhappy, and Mikoto could tell. That worried her more than everything else. She couldn't remember the last time Itachi had shown any sort of emotion.

      "Where were you?" She decided to ask.

      Itachi glanced at her, then back at his mug. "At her house." He saw a flash of pink in the corner of his eye, and turned to see Sakura rubbing her eyes and yawning.

      She saw Itachi, and stumbled sleepily toward him. "'Tachi-san. Where..." She paused to yawn. "...am I?" She scrambled into his lap, and he stared at her in shock.

      She must not remember. His hand stroked her head subconsciously while he thought about what to do. The autopsy results of her parents flashed before his eyes. She was the only one who could tell them anything, but she was only five. Could he really put her through this?

      He looked down to find her gulping his kohi, the warm brown liquid dripping from her chin.

      No. He couldn't tell her. When she remembered, they would deal with it then. But for now, he would let her enjoy the last few minutes of her childhood. She was too young to have this burden, younger even than he had been. 

      This girl would be different than him, he hoped. He would make sure she did not become one of Danzo's emotionless puppets. He would rather die than have that happen to her.

Author's Note ~ Yay! The next chapter is finished! Took me a bit to figure out what would happen, but here it is! 

Btw, kohi is basically coffee. Just so you know.

Comment on what you think should happen to Sakura, or just give feedback of any kind (I love hearing from you all!). 

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Killercocopuff. Welcome to Wattpad buddy!

Don't forget to vote! You are all amazing people!

-Aka