Chapter 1: Hearing Them

A/N: I apologize for spelling and grammatical errors.

Sakura rubbed at her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears as she sniffled slightly. She was scared and confused, but mostly scared. Why did those kids say mean things to her? Why did they tease her? What did she ever do to them? She had just asked to play! They didn't have to be big meanies and pick on her! Frowning, the little girl looked into a small stream and caught her reflection. A girl with wide, red-rimmed emerald eyes looked back at her...

"Ew! Look at your eyes! They're the color of puke!"

She had short pink hair-

"Pink hair? Who has pink hair? Freak!"

-with bangs that covered her forehead.

"Look at that forehead! It's huge!"

She was dressed in a black sweater and light tan colored capri pants with dark brown sandals.

"Hey! Where you going Billboard brow?! Didn't you say you wanted to play?"

However, because she ran into her forest, each sleeve of her sweater now had three rips on the biceps. Her pants were dirty from tripping, and a small cut was on her ankle. She frowned, her mother was going to get mad! She had told her to be careful and to not get dirty before she ran off to play with other kids! Now it was ruined...and her mom was going to yell at her...and her father is going to shake his head...and...and...and...

Sakura began to cry again. She raised her hands, furiously wiping them away, but more only took their places. Eventually, she just gave up and fell to her knees, crying loudly. She was sobbing so loud that she almost didn't hear someone speak to her.

"Hey! Hey! Don't cry!"

Curiosity easily replaced Sakura's need to cry at the sound of the voice. Slowly, while she rubbed at her eyes, she turned around. There was no one. Her brow furrowed, was she imagining things? Maybe she didn't actually hear a voice? She pouted. No, she was sure she heard someone! She just couldn't see them!

"H-Hello?" she called out, a bit hesistant.

"See, see! I told you she would stop crying!"

Sakura frowned, turning her head from side to side. She could hear the person, but why couldn't she see him?

"She stopped? ...how interesting."

Another new person! He sounded old. Older than her father. Like her grandpa!

"W-Who's there?!" she said aloud, getting onto her feet.

"Is she speaking to us?"

A third person! This one a woman... She sounded like her mother, but younger.

"Impossible," the person that sounded like Sakura's grandfather said, "She can't hear us."

Sakura felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment and anger. "I so can hear you, Oji-san!"

"Ha! I was right! She can hear us, she can hear us!" the first voice, the one that sounded like a little boy, declared happily. "She's the one! She's the one we've been waiting for!"

"Nonsense!" Oji-san shouted, "No one has ever heard us speak!"

"Now, now, remember of the Haruno family? They once had the ability to do so," the woman said softly.

A look of confusion appeared on Sakura's face. Did these people know of her family? Were they friends of Okaa-san? Otou-san?

"Hmm... Little girl," Oji-san said, "What is your name?"

Sakura bit down on her lower lip, afraid to answer. She didn't even know who she was talking to, and her father told her to never talk to strangers!

"Answer, girl!"

Sakura's lower lip began to tremble and her eyes began to glow with fresh unshed tears.

"Stop that! You're scaring the poor child!" the woman chided. Sakura could hear Oji-san grumble something, but her attention was on the woman as she spoke with a smile in her voice. "I'm sorry, child. He's just a little grumpy...but can you please tell us your name?"

"M-My father t-told me to n-not talk to s-strangers..." Sakura squeaked out, gaze dropping down to the ground.

"You're talking to us now, aren't you, brat? So what difference will it make if you tell us your name?"

Sakura's eyes snapped upward, glowing with anger as she glared viciously at the tree in front of her. No, she did not know where the old man was. His voice, like the nice lady and boy, seemed to be everywhere, but she had to glare at something. It was just unfortunate for the tree to be right in front of her.

"Oji-san, you're a big boo-boo head!"

A stunned silence filled the air.

"What?"

Sakura watched in amazement when the leaves of the tall tree before her rustled. There was no wind blowing, and none of the other trees moved... She tilted her head to the side, weird. Then, she felt a small splash of water at the back of her ankles. Turning around, she eyed the stream that seemed to be sparkling now, despite there being no sun.

"She called you a boo-boo head!" the boy laughed.

"Quiet, you little brat!"

A soft breeze suddenly appeared, rustling Sakura's hair. It felt warm and soothing, making the pink haired child close her eyes and smile.

"Don't worry, child, we're not here to hurt you," the woman began speaking.

"Speak for yourself," the old man muttered.

"So, please, tell us your name."

"O-OK," Sakura stuttered out, deciding that she liked the nice lady. "I-I'm Sakura H-Haruno."

"Ha, old man! I was right! I was right! In your face!"

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt her feet get wet. She tilted her head. Why was she getting wet? She wasn't even touching the water. Curiously, she crouched down and reached her hand out to skim her fingers on the stream's surface. She was surprised when the boy suddenly let out a laugh.

"Hey! That tickles!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Sakura shouted, pulling her hand away from the water.

She heard the old man huff. "Hasn't anyone taught you manners, Haruno?"

"I-I said I was s-sorry!" she defended, standing up. She whirled around to face the tree again. "A-And besides! It's rude t-that you're all not s-showing your faces!"

"Who's doing what now?" Sakura watched as the tree's leaves began to rustle again. "Stupid brat! We've been in front of you all along! It's not my fault you're not smart enough to figure it out!"

"W-What?" Sakura's eyes went wide, while her mouth fell open into an 'o'. "B-But you're a tree!"

"And I'm a stream of water!" the little boy declared cheerfully from behind her.

"Sakura-chan," the woman spoke, and once again, little Sakura felt a breeze wrap around her. She even giggled as it tickled her skin. "You're a very special child with an amazing gift, and because of this gift, you can talk to us when others cannot."

It took a few moments for Sakura to register the breeze's words, and once she did, a wide grin broke across her face. "That's so cool! So I can talk to trees and stuff!"

"Yes..." the wind whipped around her, stronger, making her spin a little to face a few flowers several feet away. "Trees, water, wind, flowers...you can talk to the earth, Sakura-chan. You can hear nature's voices."

Sakura nodded as she directed her grin at the flowers. "Hi yellow flower-san! White flower-san!"

No reply.

She pouted a little, "How come they're not talking to me!"

Water sprinkled against her skin as the boy laughed. "Not yet, Sakura-chan! Not yet! You're not strong enough yet!"

She turned her head toward the stream, cocking her head to the side. "Not...strong enough?"

"What the little water brat means, girl," she turned her head toward the old man-tree, "You're still very young. You haven't unlocked your gift...not yet."

Sakura pursed her lips. "What do you mean Oji-san?"

The leaves rustled again, but lightly this time. "When you unlock your gift, you'll hear everything..." The leaves stopped rustling. "But be careful, Sakura-hime. You must learn to control it and your mind. If you cannot, then you will go mad."

"Go mad?" Sakura questioned, "Why would I get mad?"

"Such a young child..."

"Enough of this," the wind began to blow, and Sakura swore she could feel fingers running through her hair. "Why were you crying, Sakura-chan?"

The change of topic made Sakura frown, her eyes dropping to her feet as she kicked at the ground. The tree's words completely forgotten.

"Well, at the park, there were these meanies-"

Later on in the day, when the sun began to set, I returned to the park. Both my mother and father were there, shouting my name as they looked for me. The second they saw me, they ran over, my father scooping me up in his arms to hug me tightly. My mother was crying, her hands patting all over my body asking if I was OK. It took several minutes until they finally calmed down, and then began to scold me for disappearing into the forest. I didn't care though. I was too happy. I had finally made friends!

"There's Mizu-kun, a small stream... Moku-oji-san, he's a really big tree! Oh, and Kaze-san, a breeze!"

The stream, tree, and breeze didn't have names. They told me they had no need for such titles, because they are all parts of the earth, so why change their true names? So, I called them what they are - water, wood, and wind. My parents laughed, thinking that they were my new imaginary friends. It was a typical thing for a four year old.

As time passed, I continued to visit my first three friends. Nevermind that they were just a stream, a tree, and a breeze. Except, Kaze-san disappeared one day.

"Moku-oji-san, Mizu-kun, where's Kaze-san?" a five year old Sakura questioned, turning around. She expected air to suddenly whirl around her like it has for the past three months when she came. When it didn't happen though, she became worried.

"Kaze-san isn't here anymore, Sakura-chan!" Mizu-kun shouted. Sakura walked over to the small stream and crouched down. Instantly, water showered her feet in greeting, and she couldn't help, but smile a little. "She had to leave!"

Her smile disappeared, replaced by a frown.

"How come she had to leave?"

"It's in her nature, Sakura-hime."

Sakura looked over her shoulder, back at the tall tree directly behind her. After realizing that Sakura was truly a Haruno, and with the "special gift," as they put it, the tree took calling her 'princess.' Little Sakura asked why he called her that a few weeks back, and his only answer was that she was the "true Haruno heir," which didn't make any sense to her. How could she be air? She was obviously a little girl.

"What do you mean, Oji-san?" she questioned softly, eyes wide.

"Kaze-san is wind, correct?"

She blinked. "Yes."

"And there's always wind blowing throughout the lands, right?"

Another blink. "Yes?"

"Sakura-chan! Kaze-san went traveling!" Mizu-kun shouted impatiently. "She always comes and goes!"

"Really?" Sakura's brow furrowed. She didn't really understand what they were talking about, but she at least got the point: Kaze-san was gone. "Will she come back?"

"One day," Moku-oji-san answered, "But that may be for a long time, Sakura-hime."

Sakura frowned at the possibility that she wouldn't see - well, hear - Kaze-san for a while, but her attention was quickly redirected by Mizu-kun.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Let's play!"

More time passed, and I soon began to hear more than just Moku-oji-san and Mizu-kun's voices. Different trees, winds, and sources of water. They were never the same, and they were always saying something. Early in the morning, late into the night - there was rarely a moment of peace, and I began to loose sleep. I had a headache on a daily basis, and it only got worse.

Near my sixth birthday, I didn't just hear trees, water, and winds... I began to hear the voices of fires from cooking stoves, or rocks around the road. They were everywhere and constantly whispering into my ears. My parents began to worry when I was losing sleep, and, in their eyes, was always speaking to my imaginary friends. They took me to the hospital, but none of the doctors could help me. They couldn't find anything wrong with me, and whenever I would tell them that "it's the trees" or "close the windows! The wind keeps talking!", they thought I was insane. I ended up as a mental case and was admitted to the hospital for an indefinite amount of time.

The only one that could help me was Moku-oji-san.

I didn't know this at the time, but Moku-oji-san was really old. More than a few centuries. He commented once that he spoke to one of the last people from my family who had the gift. I didn't think much of it back then, but when I was seven, and I had managed to escape the hospital, I ran to Moku-oji-san. I was vaguely aware that the little stream I knew as "Mizu-kun" wasn't there anymore (I would later find out from Moku-oji-san that he had dried up during the summer, while I was in the hospital). I was too busy crying and begging Moku-oji san to help me.

"The voices won't stop, Moku!" It was the first time I didn't use a title with his name, but I didn't care. The shouts and whispers wouldn't stop! "Please help me! I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do!"

"Sakura-hime..." his voice sounded sad and tired, "I will help you. First, close your eyes."

She closed her eyes.

"Picture walls. A lot of them."

"W-Walls?" she stuttered out, swallowing dryly, but did as she was told. In her mind, where it was dark and filled with jumbles of words, dark grey walls shot up. They were tall, disappearing up into the darkness of her mind. The voices became quiet, soft.

"Now, create something...something or someone that will hold up these walls."

"Something or someone...?" Sakura questioned, who had finally stopped crying.

"You are still very young, Sakura-hime. You will not be able to protect yourself alone. This is how your ancestors protected themselves from going mad."

Sakura nodded, and because she was in a hurry and didn't really know what to think of, she imagined herself. Another Sakura who was black and white with the kanji for "Inner Sakura" marked on her forehead.

"Cha!" Inner Sakura shouted with a wide grin, "Don't worry! I'll protect us!"

Sakura sighed when it became quiet. She could still hear the voices, but they were muffled whispers now, and if she concentrated hard enough, everything would become silent.

"Moku-oji-san! It worked! It worked!" Sakura shouted, running up to the tall tree.

She didn't get a respond.

"Moku-oji-san?" Sakura frowned, brow furrowing. Then, her eyes went wide. She blocked - what did Kaze-san called it? - Nature's voices! Does that include Moku-oji-san's voice! Panicking, she placed a small hand on the tree's bark. She concentrated on its rough wood, ears straining. "Moku-oji-san?"

"...I'm here, Sakura-hime"

She sighed, relieved. "I was worried I blocked Moku-oji-san's voice too!"

"You did, hime, but that's OK, you can hear me now..." he said quietly, "With your shield up, you must concentrate to hear the voices of Nature. However, there may be times when some will break through the shield...and that is because they are shouting... Listen to them hime, because they will be warning you."

Sakura frowned at how tired the tree sounded in her mind, "Moku-oji-san, are you alright?"

"I am, hime... Winter is coming, however...and I will be asleep for a while..."

"Oh...Ok..." she said softly and turned her head. Her brow furrowed. "Where did Mizu-kun go?"

Not too long after creating my "shield," I was released from the hospital. I stopped talking to my "imaginary friends," and was able to rest without waking up to whispering. My parents were relieved, but that did not last long. I soon decided that I wanted to become a kunoichi and entered the Shinobi Academy. After Moku-oji-san had taught how to control my voices, I asked him about the people he knew that had my gift.

He told me tales of all the ones that he knew, and they all beared my family name. He told me how they were strong and used the gift to listen to Nature's voices to their advantages. Some were good, and used the gift to protect themselves and others. Some were bad, using the gift to learn secrets that they could use against others. A few were civilians, but most were shinobi and kunoichi.

"Listen to me, Sakura-hime," Moku-oji-san had said, "This gift granted on your family is also known as a kekkai genkai."

"Like the sharingan?" I had asked, thinking about the Uchiha boy in class.

"Yes, but it cannot be used as a weapon like the Sharingan." There was a smile in his voice, "Like the Kekkai genkai of the Yamanaka Clan-"

Sakura thought of her best friend. The girl with long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Ino Yamanaka.

"-your kekkai genkai can gather information, but it is much stronger. Any information gathered is unlimited and never false. We, the voices of Nature, will tell you anything of anyone, whether from the past or now. We are a source of unlimited information for you to use. You just have to listen."

Once I understood what Moku meant, I began to learn from Nature. They told me of jutsu that they had witnessed being used; effective methods to train; the correct way to hold and throw a kunai or shurriken; different ways of taijutsu - they told and taught me anything I desired. Soon, I became one of the top students in my class. RIght next to Sasuke Uchiha.

They also told me of things that I did not ask for, which eventually put me in an odd situation...

"Sakura-chan," Sakura's mother crouched down to her height and placed a hand on her head. "How did you know the Sasaki-san's are splitting up? I didn't tell you anything."

An eight year old Sakura smiled widely, "Iwa-san in front of Sasaki-san's porch told me!" The rounded rock in the front of her neighor's house came to mind. That thing always had stories to tell little Sakura, and a lot of them were funny to hear.

Her mother frowned. "And when you found out that Yuki-chan down the road was going to runaway?"

"Mizu-san in Yuki's backyard said so," she answered, referring to the large fountain in the older boy's backyard.

"When the Watanabe's house was on fire in the middle of the night?"

"Kaze-kun told me." A strong wind blew on that night.

"Who broke into the Takashi's house last week?"

"Ao-hana-sans told me." The blue flower bed in the Takashi's front yard.

"That Suki-chan was pregnant?"

"Akai-hana-san in Suki-onee-san's room." The red flower on Suki's bedroom windowsill.

"Enough with those lies!"

Both Sakura and her mother turned around to see Sakura's father standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He was glaring at his daughter, his eyes never leaving her small form as he walked into the living and sat on the couch.

"The rock told you? The water? Wind? The flowers?" his eyes narrowed, "What kind of gibberish are you speaking?"

"Honey!" Sakura's mother shouted, standing up to glare at her husband. "Don't talk to Sakura like that!"

"Do you know what the village is saying about her?!" he shouted, pointing a finger at the little girl, "That she's a demon child! There's a rumor that she's being influenced by the Kyuubi!"

"W-W-What?" her mother looked horrified, "That's nonsense!"

Sakura frowned. Who's the Kyuubi?

"Well, what are they supposed to think when our child knows things she shouldn't?" her father hissed, eyes burning with fury. "Business is going down because of these rumors!"

Sakura's mother looked at him in disgust. "Is this why you're so mad? Because of your business?"

"No, I'm mad, because something is wrong with our daughter!" Sakura's father roared, getting up onto his feet. That's when Sakura noticed the beer bottle held tightly in his left hand, and so did her mother.

"Love, you're not thinking straight..." she whispered, a bit afraid. "You're drunk-"

"Shut up! You're thinking it too!" he accused, his eyes darting between his wife and daughter. Then, abruptly, the burning anger in his gaze extinguished as his shoulders slumped. He fell back onto the sofa, head dropping back, and when he spoke, his voice was all, but a whisper that filled the tense air. "What are we to do? ...our daughter is a demon."

"Our daughter is not a demon!" her mother screamed, "She's not! She's not...she's not..." Sakura watched as she dropped to her knees and began to cry into her hands.

"O-Okaa-san?" Sakura muttered under her breath as she approached the older woman, reaching out. The moment her fingers touched bright red hair, however, an arm lashed out, and the little girl found herself on the floor. Her mother was still crying, but this time, instead of words of denial, it was broken words of acceptance and desperate hope.

"Oh Kami...did I...did I give birth to a monster? ...Please don't be so...let my daughter be normal...let her be normal..."

Sakura felt her heart drop into her stomach, and without a word, got up and ran out of her house.

On that night, I didn't return home. Instead, I stayed within the forest at a park, surrounded by nature. It was comforting, knowing that I was not truly alone, but I wasn't listening to any of their voices. I didn't want to speak or hear anything. I just wanted silence, and that's what I got...until the sun disappeared, and a full moon had risen.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Sakura groaned in her sleep, rolling onto her side where she laid on the forest ground, right under a tree (Moku-oji-san).

"Hurry! Wake up!"

"Stop him! Stop him!"

"It was wrong! They shouldn't had made him-!"

"WAKE UP!"

Emerald eyes snapped wide open when a surge of wind slammed into Sakura. It made her head scratch into the bark of her tree-shelter, and caused her to gasp for air. Fortunately, the wind didn't last long, and disappeared within a second.

"W-What?" Sakura mumbled, slowly getting up onto her feet. She rubbed her eyes. Dirt had gotten into them. "What was that for, Kaze-san..?" she questioned, sleepily.

"Hurry! Hurry! He's-"

"Near here! Toward the front gate!"

"He knocked out the guards!"

"Stop him!"

"Speak to him!"

"He's not alone!"

"Horrible people!"

"They made him!"

"SAVE HIM!"

"GO!"

The trees around Sakura began to rustle loudly, and the wind began to blow, pushing her into a certain direction.

"Sakura-hime..."

"Moku-oji-san?" Sakura questioned as she took a few stumbling steps forward, "What's going on?" She tried to focus on his voice and block out the others, but found it was difficult. More difficult than it should be.

"Remember, what I said, Sakura-hime? We only break through your shield when there is danger..."

Those words snapped her awake. Fully alert now, Sakura's head darted from left to right, trying to resist the wind that was pushing her. "T-Then what do I do, Moku-oji-san?!" she shouted, confused and scared. She was only eight years old.

"Listen."

Sakura took a deep breath, and for the first time since her shield was made, dropped it. In her mind, she could see Inner Sakura grinning widely with her arms spread out as whispers and shouts began to fill her head.

"Straight!"

"At the gates!"

"No guards-"

"-unconscious-"

"-we'll lead you-"

"-trees-"

"-trust us!"

"HURRY!"

She jumped into the trees, and then shot forward. Sakura had never done this before - traveling through the trees, jumping from one branch to the next. The teachers at the Acadamy said they would learn it when they were older, when their legs were a bit longer. It wasn't impossible to learn it now, but it was more difficult; more dangerous. If you didn't correctly calculate the length from one branch to the next, if you jumped too far, didn't jump far enough, didn't jump off correctly, or even landed correctly - any of it could result in serious injuries, or worse, death. Sakura had taken the warning to heart, and decided to wait until they would learn. When there was a teacher underneath her, ready to catch her in case she fell.

At the moment, however, Sakura didn't need to worry about falling.

The trees and wind helped her. There was more to her gift than what Moku had told her.

Whenever she didn't jump the right length; whenever she landed wrong; whenever she jumped off wrong - the trees' branches would bend to ensure she always had a branch to land on, that she landed perfectly, and leaped off just as good. The wind would blow harder, from behind or in front, so that her jumps would lengthen or shorten accordingly. She didn't have to watch her footing, she didn't have to worry, and soon, in a matter of minutes, she was outside of the village. Soon, she saw someone in sight, ahead of her. Soon, she caught up, and when he finally stopped, so did she.

Out of breath, panting heavily, she leaned against a tree for support. She was exhausted. Black dots began to appear in her vision, and her head was spinning. The voices were becoming blurred, softening, disappearing, but there was one she could hear clearly. A voice of a wind that was heavy with the scent of copper. Sakura scrunched her nose slightly at the smell.

"Tell him, you know, hime." The wind's voice was deep, a man, but still young. A teenage boy, perhaps? "Tell him that he is not to blame. That you will help him. That you will watch over his younger brother. Tell him...to not give up hope."

Forcing herself to move, Sakura stood up straight. Her breathing slowed, but still came out as soft pants, and she stared at the boy in front of her once he turned around. He was older than her, a teenager. He had long, jet black hair that was pulled into a ponytail at the base of his head with bangs framing his face. His eyes - Sakura flinched - were blood red with three black tomoes. Beneath them were long tear ducts, and it only pronounced his tired state. His clothes... Sakura swallowed dryly, his clothes were soaked with blood, some of it staining the skin on his arms and a bit of his face. Was this the coppery scent she smelt in the wind?

"Who are you?" the boy asked, his voice strained. He eyed her cautiously and took in her slightly battered appearance. Her short pink hair was a mess. Clothes were wrinkled, covered in dirt and tears. She also had a light cut on her left cheek, but it seemed to go unnoticed by her as she gave him a small tired smile. He was taken back by this.

"Sakura...Sakura Haruno," she said softly. The boy would have not heard her had a soft breeze not carried her words to his ears. "And you...?"

He did not give an answer...

...but the wind did.

"Itachi Uchiha."

"Hurry! They're coming!"

"Not enough time!"

"Itachi...Uchiha..." she tested the name on her tongue, and when the boy's eyes narrowed, she knew it truly was his name. She raised her hands, a sign that said she meant no harm. "I just want...to talk...Uchiha-san."

It took a moment, but he gave a curt nod. "Speak then."

Sakura nodded back, and began to say what the wind told her. "I know...what happened, Uchiha-san."

Itachi stiffened, but other than that, did not do anything else. Staying silent.

"...and..." Sakura paused, trying to sort out her thoughts and words, "...and, it's not your fault."

"What would you know?" Itachi snarled, unable to bite back his retort. Who was this little girl? And how did she know? How could she know anything?

Sakura shook her head, and because she did not know how to answer the question, she continued on with her message. "I will help you...I will watch over your younger brother, but on one condition."

Itachi's hands were itching to knock the girl out (not harm, he had no reason to). He was in a rush. Soon, platoons of ANBU would be on his tail, and he needed to put as much space as he could before they moved, but then, the girl had mentioned his brother. His younger brother who was precious, who he dearly loved. The one person he would do anything to protect. Even if it meant going rogue...and she was offering to protect him? But how could a little girl do such a thing? By the looks of it, she was Sasuke's age. So how...?

He doubted the pink haired girl. He even showed it as he stared at her with disbelief, but she only smiled at him. She seemed...confident. Itachi mulled over his words, debating on whether or not she could trust him. She did manage to catch up to him, which was a difficult task for even shinobi his age to do. She also said she knew, which made him question how. Or maybe she was lying? Maybe all of this was pure luck, and she was trying to lull him to safety?

Itachi came to a decision when he sensed several chakra signature coming from the direction of Konoha. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, but nodded.

"Very well...and what is...this condition?"

"Do not give up hope."

Once he agreed, Itachi left. I did the same, and disappeared into the forest, heading back to Konoha. The trees and wind had told me it was best to not be caught by the ANBU, and so, led me back to my village, revealing a secret entrance on the east side that no one in the present time knew about. They also led me home, where my parents were waiting.

I didn't get there until sunrise, and when I did, they pulled me into their arms, squeezing me and planting kisses on my tired face. They apologized for what they said, assured me that they did not think I was a demon and loved me. That all those people could just "mind their own business" because I was their precious daughter. It made me happy. I was truly relieved, but I decided to not make them worry. I decided that whatever I found out, whatever I was told by the voices of Nature, I would keep the information to myself...unless it was needed. Inner Sakura agreed with me.

Later on, three days after my decision, I went to Moku-oji-san, and told him what had happened. I asked him about Itachi Uchiha, and why I had to go after him. At the time, when he told me the story, I didn't really get it, and only understood one thing: Itachi Uchiha wasn't entirely bad.

I then asked Moku how the trees and wind had helped me, but that afterwards, I was really tired.

"When you want nature to bend to your will, you must use your energy, hime," he explained, "At the same time, if you allow it, then Nature will use your own energy to move on its own. Like the trees and winds did to assist you in your chase after Itachi Uchiha. That is why you were exhausted. The energy you have determines the limit of the second power of your kekkai genkai."

When he spoke his next words, it sounded like he was grinning.

"You are becoming very strong, very fast, Sakura-hime. Just rememer...

...Listen."

A/N: Sakura's range of age in this chapter: 4-8 years old.

Thanks for reading! Please review!