Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Caretaker

1

The Boy and The Girl

The first time he met her, he thought she was dazzling.

Itachi's loyalty for Konoha ran deep. The very first time that Itachi made a life-changing decision, he had gone against his clan in favour of his village. He was a child that only knew war, and he did not want to see or take part in another war—especially one between his beloved family and his beloved village.

When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the village elders pointed their fingers at the Uchiha clan. They believed that the clan unleashed the beast as a form of revenge for their ancestors who were slighted by the First Hokage. Unfairly wronged, the clan spent the next four years from then on to plan a coup d'état in order to overthrow the village.

At the time, Itachi had successfully been promoted to captain rank within the ANBU at the tender age of thirteen. As a result, Fugaku encouraged him to take advantage of his newly achieved status to spy on confidential village matters that only the eyes of an ANBU captain could have access to.

However, Itachi didn't see eye-to-eye with his father. A civil war was not needed, he had reasoned. He knew that it was wrong, even if they had been wronged.

Fortunately, his mother also disagreed with his father's views. Several days after Fugaku's attempt to persuade him to act as a spy, Mikoto pulled him to the side and away from prying ears. "Itachi-chan," She said, "I want you to report this foolishness to the Third Hokage. Your father's choice of actions is wrong, and the clan must be stopped." She smiled tenderly and gently squeezed his shoulders. "The deaths of others is not needed to regain the honor that we lost. The clan will learn and cope eventually."

And report to the Third Hokage, he did.

Upon hearing the Uchiha's plan to revolt, the village elders were furious. They suggested purging the Uchiha clan. The Third Hokage on the other hand, had a different idea. "No," Sarutobi had said, a twinge of remorse in his old eyes. "It is my fault for turning a blind eye all these years. We will negotiate with them."

As a result, Fugaku was given a seat in the Hokage's circle of counselors along with full privileges to confidential matters. Not only that, but a new building had been built for the police corps that Fugaku led. The building was designated as their new headquarters, much bigger and better than the last in terms of equipment and training space. Satisfied, Fugaku decided to call off the coup despite protests from the Uchiha clan elders.

Two years had passed since the ordeal, but he would once in a while find himself reminiscing. Despite going against his father, Itachi was content and void of regrets. He knew that following his mother's orders along with following his own conscience was the right thing to do. Itachi believed that if he were suddenly thrust into a similar situation again, he had no doubts that he would still choose what was right.

"Itachi-chan!"

At the sound of his mother's voice calling for him from within their household, fifteen year old Itachi snapped out of his reverie. He straightened up from his crouching position and turned towards the entryway that led to the inside of his house. He had been doing projectile training in their very own backyard, which was just as massive in size as their house.

Despite being an ANBU captain at such a very young age, he knew that he lacked in certain areas compared to his seniors, who had been in the business longer than him—perhaps even years before he was born. The thought of being a burden to his team brought an unsettling feeling of disappointment, despite the fact that he had not once been a burden for them. Not yet at least. Thus, after coming home from a two week long mission, the little Uchiha captain had gone straight to their backyard in order to further improve his abilities, his desire to protect his family and home overcoming his exhaustion.

"Itachi-chan!" Mikoto called again, from where she stood at the entryway. "Can you run an errand for me?"

Itachi nodded. "What is the errand, kaa-san?"

Delighted, Mikoto clapped her hands. "I need you to drop by Haruno-san's bakery and pick up Sasu-chan's birthday cake. Can you do that for me?" She smiled sheepishly, "I would go myself, but I'm a little behind with all the cooking I'm doing."

Ah. His cherished little brother's tenth birthday was today and the party was scheduled for tonight. He had pushed his team on their journey back home without any breaks for this very reason. They would never know though.

Itachi smiled lightly, "Of course."

"Do you know where it is?" She asked.

He hummed while racking his memory for the address of the renowned bakery. Despite Mikoto frequently ordering cakes and other confections from there, he had only been there once while accompanying her for Sasuke's first birthday. After that, he'd simply been too busy with his duties to go along with her on her errands. "I believe it is located east of the marketplace."

"That's right," Mikoto grinned. "It's a few shops down from Kawahiro-san's tea shop, in case you get lost and can't find it."

A quiet huff escaped from Itachi. "I will be able to find it without any problems." He said softly, confidence flashing in his eyes.

"Great!" Mikoto clapped her hands again and then turned around to make her way back into the house. "Take your time, okay Itachi-chan?" She called from over her shoulder. "Today's your only day off in a long time, so don't rush yourself."

"Yes, kaa-san."

The marketplace was located at the heart of the village, accessible to civilian and shinobi alike. Heeding his mother's words, Itachi decided to walk to the market instead of traveling on rooftops. As much as he hated to admit it, his mother was right. He actually had been overworking himself, and he was very grateful for her advice. His mother always knew what was best for him, and he was thankful for that.

An hour later, Itachi stopped in front of a large red gate with a sign perched at the top, indicating that he had arrived at the marketplace. From what he could see, it was as busy as ever, as shoppers bustled around and vendors advertised their stores with sale signs and enthusiastic shouting. Itachi's lips pursed as he stepped past the gate, quickly reminded of why he rarely visited the market, especially during peak hours. 'Too noisy.'

'Bakery, bakery.' He chanted in his mind, eyes moving left and right from one store to another, in search of the popular establishment. After ten minutes of searching, he spotted a tiny shop with a green banner hanging from the fascia of the roof. 'Kawahiro-san's tea shop.' He recognized. Itachi's pace quickened as he walked past the tea shop. The young captain turned the corner. After passing four more shops, he finally arrived at his destination.

Sakura Bakery.

That's what it was called. The large, light pink rectangular banner had 'Sakura Bakery' inscribed in the middle with white paint. The bottom of the signage was scalloped, giving it a very cute and delicate look.

Itachi's mouth began to water as he looked through the window panels. He saw rows and rows of both traditional and modern confections, from decadent cakes to bite-sized sweets, all of which were trapped behind their own glass display cases. Swallowing the pool of saliva, he inched towards the door.

Upon opening it, a wave of relaxation overcame his body as the sweet smell of pastries filled his nostrils. A small smile crept up his face. 'I wonder if I have enough money to buy a few slices of cake for myself. The mochi looks good too. Do they have dango too?' He made a mental list of what he would buy for himself as he waded past a number of customers towards the counter. Then he began to formulate a plan on how to hide them from Sasuke. He loved his younger brother, but he definitely would not share his sweets.

"G-Good afternoon!"

Snapping out of reverie, Itachi blinked. Slowly, he craned his neck to look over the counter, only to meet a pair of beautiful and bright orbs—the unusual colour of malachite. Standing tip-toed behind the counter, was a tiny girl with a head full of equally unusual pink hair. Eyebrows raised, he stared at the child, who in turn, stared right back at him.

A few strands of her bangs fell to her face. She brushed them out of the way with a swipe of her hand, curling the locks behind her ear. Despite wearing a hair clip, it didn't seem to do much for her. Nervously, the child smiled at him. "Good afternoon..." She repeated, slower and quieter than her rushed outburst a minute ago, her lips jutting out in a pout.

"Hello," He greeted, watching as her cheeks turned a deep shade of red. The edges of his lips curled a little, amusement dancing in his eyes. If he remembered right, the girl in front of him was also his brother's classmate in the academy.

The child let out a soft squeak before she managed out, "How may I help you?"

Itachi's lips parted a little, and a quiet "ah" escaped. Remembering the purpose of his visit, he straightened his posture and cleared his throat. "I am here to pick up a special order," He paused. "I believe it is under the name of Uchiha Mikoto."

The pink-haired child nodded in understanding. "Please wait a moment. I'll go get it for you."

Itachi nodded and watched as she popped her head behind the red drapery that separated the front of the store to the back of the store. "Papa, we have a pick up for Uchiha Mikoto-sama." After chattering with her father, she shuffled back with a navy coloured box in her hands, wrapped in red ribbons and complete with a tag designed and cut in the Uchiha clan emblem.

"Here you go!" The girl gingerly lifted the box up towards him.

In turn, Itachi carefully took the box off of her hands. "Thank you." He murmured, the edges of his lips curling upwards slightly.

"Um," She fiddled with her fingers. "Today is Sasuke-kun's birthday right?"

Itachi blinked. "That is correct," He nodded.

"Please tell him," She stammered, "I said happy birthday!"

It pleased him to know that Sasuke's classmates cared about his birthday. "I will pass your message to him." Itachi smiled, reaching over the counter to pat her head. "What is your name?"

"My name is Sakura," She beamed. "Haruno Sakura!"

Itachi's hand faltered mid-pat as he gazed at her in wonder, the world seemingly stopping while he did so. Never before had he ever seen such a dazzling, innocent smile. It was a smile that did not know the evils of the world, and the cruelty of war. It was pure and it was simply beautiful.

As the young captain watched her, he began to contemplate. Perhaps... if the Uchiha coup had been a success, such a smile would not exist.

From then on, Itachi's loyalty for Konoha grew again as another reason—and another person—to protect was added onto his credo.

The second time he met her, he told her to smile.

Itachi had just returned to the village from another successful two-week long mission. It was a simple mission really, that even a chuunin could have carried out. But seeing as he was the one assigned to it, he concluded that it was a mission of high importance. He would not question it.

The sun was now setting, staining the sky with vivid orange and red hues. The young captain was now on his way back to the Uchiha compound, a paper bag sealed with a cute sticker tucked safely in one arm. Itachi frowned as he gently rubbed his stomach, rumbling with hunger. 'Perhaps I should take a shortcut,' He mused. He really wanted to get home so that he could eat the delightful confections he had just bought. He pumped strength into his legs and leaped upwards, landing on top of a nearby house.

A gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks as he dashed from rooftop to rooftop. It was peaceful and he quite liked it, in more ways than one. It was then that a flicker of pink appeared from the corner of his eye. Itachi blinked and stopped in his tracks, turning towards the direction that the flicker had come from. But what he saw was a group of kids huddled together at a nearby park. 'What are they doing?' Itachi's eyes narrowed. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a tiny blob of cotton candy pink at the center of the group of kids. 'The bakery girl,' Itachi realized.

Situated on the ground and surrounded by boys and girls of different sizes and ages, was a teary-eyed Sakura. After a couple taunts and giggles, one of the boys grinned as he lifted his hand to strike down at her.

At that, Itachi quickly descended from the rooftop he was perched on and landed right behind the boy. With his free hand, Itachi grabbed the boy's arm before the strike landed on Sakura. "What are you doing?" Itachi demanded, his dark eyes glaring down on the boy and the rest of the group.

Surprised by his sudden appearance, the children screamed. Upon recognizing his identity, they screamed once more, a pitch higher than before. The boy that Itachi held captive yanked his appendage away. Both Itachi and Sakura watched as the children scrambled out of the park one by one.

Itachi turned to the sniffling pinkette, who was still planted on the ground. Silence dawned them, with the occasional sniffling peeping out of her. Itachi felt awkward, having no idea what to do for the first time in his life. Saving her was one thing, but how did one comfort a weeping girl?

"Are you okay?" He slowly asked her.

However she didn't reply right away, continuing to sniffle on. After a pregnant silence, she finally nodded. "I'm fine," Sakura rubbed her palms against her wet cheeks. "This happens all the time," She mumbled.

Itachi frowned. Was the bakery girl being bullied by her classmates?

The teen knelt down in front of her. Upon further inspection, he noticed that her knees were grazed. "Did they push you?"

Silence overcame them again. Sakura bit her lip before she slowly nodded. "They always push me. Then they tell me that I can't become a kunoichi," Her fingers combed through her long locks as she mumbled the next words. "Because I have ugly pink hair and a big fat billboard brow."

Itachi blinked. Reaching his free hand towards her, he swept her bangs to the side to get a better look at her face. Certainly her forehead was a little bit bigger than average, but it wasn't as colossal as she made it out to be. It was unique and had a charm to it—just like her hair. "That is foolish," Itachi snorted. "One can become a kunoichi, even if they have pink hair and a slightly bigger than average forehead."

Sakura perked up. "You think I can become a kunoichi?"

Itachi blinked at her change of temperament and slowly nodded. "That is up to you, and how far you are willing to go." He softly replied, his hand now helping her straighten out her hair. He couldn't help but also notice how soft her hair felt against his fingers despite being disorganized from her fall. "Perhaps you will become a wonderful kunoichi in the future."

He frowned again as he remembered the lacerations on her knees. "You cannot go home like that," He mused. Looking around the park, he spotted a large water fountain nearby. He gingerly placed the paper bag on the ground and inched closer to Sakura. Without any warning, he tucked one arm under her legs and looped his other arm around her waist. After remembering to grab his bag with the hand that was around her waist, he lifted her up.

"Um?!" Sakura gasped. For fear of falling, her tiny hands quickly clung to his shirt.

As he silently treaded towards the fountain, he took note of how light she was. "Do you like dango?" He suddenly asked.

"Yes?" Sakura blinked, slightly confused by his sudden inquiry. "Yes… I do."

Itachi hummed in approval. Reaching the fountain, he gently set her down on the edge of the stone basin before his attention settled down onto the bag in his hand. Sakura watched him curiously as he gingerly peeled off the sticker that sealed the paper bag. Once the opening was free, he pulled out a set of mitarashi dango, packaged neatly in a plastic container. Sakura blinked several times as she leaned in to get a better look. Realizing that there was more than one container in the bag, she looked up at him in surprise.

In turn, Itachi's obsidian eyes crinkled as he opened the container he had taken out. He pulled out a skewer of the sweet and saucy delicacy and extended it towards her as an offering. When she didn't take it from him, he tilted his head to the side. "Take it," He urged.

"I shouldn't," She pouted. "Mama said I shouldn't accept things from strangers."

Itachi's lips parted as he stared at her, absolutely perplexed at her words. "We are not complete strangers for you to warrant that," He frowned in dismay. They had already exchanged words with each other when they had first met many weeks ago. Even now, despite it being their second meeting, he had saved her and was conversing with her.

Sakura's lips twisted as she thought about it.

Itachi was once again amused, having abandoned his bewilderedness to observe her constantly changing expressions. Why she was being bullied, he could never understand. She was like a breath of fresh wind compared to the people he was used to being around, and he could see that she was quite intelligent too.

"You're right," She sulked, an even bigger pout than before appearing on her features. "I'm sorry."

"Hn. I will forgive you if you take the dango."

A small smile escaped from her as she reached out and accepted the dango from him, not forgetting to thank him too.

Closing the container and putting it back into its bag, Itachi remembered his purpose for bringing her to the fountain. After carefully setting the bag on the ground, Itachi dug into his pouch for a few seconds and pulled out a few band-aids. His mother had insisted that he kept them on hand, in case of an emergency. Truth be told, he never had any use for them. They were decorated with bright colors and ridiculous mascots of different shapes and sizes. In short, they were simply silly and not befitting of his image as the Uchiha clan heir.

He diligently peeled the plastic pieces off of one band-aid and gently patted it onto her left knee. Then he did the same thing for her right knee. Upon finishing, Itachi let out a quiet huff of satisfaction. "There," He murmured. "All better."

Sakura giggled as she bit into her dango. "Thank you." She grinned, eyeing her bandaids in admiration.

Itachi blinked, his eyebrows raised in mild surprise. A small smile crept onto his features as he remembered the silent vow he made on the day of Sasuke's tenth birthday. "You have a lovely smile," He softly said, reaching to pat her head. "You're better off smiling instead of crying."

The third time he met her, he played with her hair.

When Itachi detected that the Forest of Death had been breached, he was filled with worry for his little brother. His ANBU squad had been one of several that was dispatched to observe the genin partaking in the exam and to provide security around the general area. Considering how vast the exam stage was, along with the number of genin inside the forest, Itachi had decided it would be best that his unit break off to cover more area in order to protect the participants, but also to track down the intruder.

Itachi glanced at his cousin before the two prepared to split from each other. "Shisui."

"Go on," Shisui replied, nodding in understanding, "We'll meet up after."

"Aa."

Honing in on Sasuke's chakra, Itachi sped up until he arrived at the scene. His eyes darkened with displeasure as he digested the situation. Off in the near distance was both Sasuke and Naruto, fighting off a Grass ninja. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the peculiar Grass ninja that gave off an aura that didn't quite sit well with him.

Hearing a shriek to his right, Itachi's attention diverted, only to see a flurry of familiar pink locks tumbling loosely like leaves in the air. Behind the flurry was Sakura, the ends of her hair messily cropped below her chin. Itachi watched as her dazed chartreuse eyes slowly closed. When she opened them again, they shimmered with a ferocity that he had never seen in her before.

"Get off of me!" Sakura roared. She flipped the kunai in her hand to thrust it behind her, piercing the stomach of the female Sound-nin that held her captive. As the girl screamed and hunched over from the pain, Sakura shoved the girl a distance away before throwing more kunai at her. When the enemy didn't get up anymore, a shaky sigh escaped her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out in concern, too preoccupied with what was happening in front of him to properly look at her.

The pinkette quickly pushed herself up from the ground, intending to run towards her teammates. "I'm fine!" She yelled back. However, her trek was cut short by a third Sound-nin that had appeared behind her. Sakura turned around in surprise and gasped. Kunai in hand, the Sound-nin raised his arm and struck down at her.

Before Sakura could even utter a sound, Itachi had appeared beside her. He quickly reached for the Sound-nin's wrist before the strike landed and squeezed as tight as he could. The man's face contorted as he howled from the pain, immediately letting go of his kunai. Without another word, Itachi unceremoniously casted the man to the side a large distance away from them.

Itachi turned towards her and silently stared at her. In turn, Sakura stared back in wonder at the enigmatic ANBU man with the porcelain cat mask. Before anything could be said between them, an eerie presence made itself known as an enormous snake appeared from the ground. Attention snapping back to where Sasuke and Naruto were, Itachi growled as he finally recognized the unpleasant chakra signature radiating from the Grass-nin the two genin had been fighting. He quickly disappeared from Sakura's side as fast as he had appeared, only to appear once more in front of a bewildered Sasuke and Naruto.

"Aniki?" Sasuke squinted, confusion evident in his newly awakened sharingan orbs as he recognized his elder brother's chakra signature.

Upon seeing his little brother wield their clan doujutsu, Itachi felt a sense of pride well up in him. However, now was not the time to coddle his little brother. "Leave," He ordered, his own sharingan-laced irises glaring down at the intruding man in front of them.

"What the fu–" Naruto began to shout.

Sensing the severity of the situation and knowing that his brother wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, Sasuke slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth and dragged his teammate down to where Sakura was.

After driving away the intruder and meeting up with Shisui, Itachi had immediately gone towards the central tower to find his younger brother and his teammates. Taking off his mask, he gazed over the railing and scanned the bottom floor that was currently littered with frazzled genin. Eventually his inky orbs landed on a certain pinkette sitting near the wall, with a blonde girl sitting right behind her. Itachi silently watched as the ends of Sakura's locks were snipped at and straightened out by her friend.

"I wonder where Sasuke-chan is," Shisui mused as he pushed his ANBU mask to the side of his head. He stretched his arms upwards and yawned. Noticing a kunoichi that had been dopily eyeing them nearby, he sent her a charming smile and a wave, to which she responded by fainting.

"Hn."

Compared to his cousin, Itachi did not pay much attention to the swooning females around them. Instead, he was much more focused on the girl from the bakery. His eyes traveled downwards, his lips thinning as he took in the damages dealt to her ivory skin. As he observed, he was quickly reminded of their meeting in the park two years previous. Without another word, he leapt over the railing and disappeared.

"Eh?" Shisui's eyes widened as he rushed to look over the railing. "Wait–Itachi?!"

Sakura looked up in surprise as Itachi appeared in front of her. She blinked several times as she gaped at him, ignoring the spluttering Ino behind her and the clang of the scissors that the blonde had dropped.

They stared at each other, uncaring of the watchful eyes and whispers around them. Meanwhile, having just returned from the lavatory, Sasuke held Naruto back as they curiously watched the interaction a few distances away with the rest of the crowd.

Eventually, Sakura looked away and broke the silence. "If you're looking for Sasuke-kun, he went to th–"

"Are you okay?" He murmured, cutting off her blabber.

Malachite eyes snapped back on him. After another period of stillness, Sakura's lips began to move, soundlessly opening and closing again and again as she tried to figure out what to say. Eventually she gave up. Eyes casted downwards in half mast, she began to chew on her bottom lip. Her shoulders sagged as shame washed over her.

Itachi's eyes softened as he settled down in front of her. He dug into his pockets and pulled out a tin of salve and band-aids. Without another word, he opened the tin and dipped his finger in, coating it with the medicinal balm before lightly applying it into the lacerations on her right knee. When he was done, he peeled back the plastic covers of one bandaid and smoothed the bandaid on her knee. Then he moved onto her left knee.

Sakura eyed the familiar silly bandaid as a tiny smile crept onto her face. As she watched him continue his ministrations, she mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He inquired softly, gently patting the bandaid onto her. Despite asking, he knew what she meant. As if he expected it, he was met with silence again. He looked up and locked eyes with her, before reaching to pat her head.

"I am not upset," He began slowly, "And I am also not disappointed in you."

He knew that she had tried her best to free herself from her captors, and he knew that she had tried her best to lighten her weight on her team. Remembering the way her eyes shimmered like a jewel with tenacity and ferocity, Itachi knew that she would eventually grow up to be a stronger and more confident shinobi. She would bloom.

Itachi's hand traveled south to gently grasp at her short locks. "Will you grow it back out?" He inquired, recalling how she last had her hair.

"No," Sakura frowned. "They'll just get in the way again. It's ugly anyways." She bit out, unaware of the indirect insult she had made at Ino, who was still sitting behind her with arms crossed as she stared holes into the back of the pinkette's head.

"A shame," He hummed, carefully and gently twisting the bubblegum threads between his fingers. "I quite liked it."

A/N: I've had this idea sitting in my drafts for over a year, and I finally decided to take the risk and see where it will lead me.

I tried to make tiny Itachi not too cute... But I think he's cute anyways.

This first chapter is meant to be short and sweet to introduce the non-massacre, along with how Itachi came to be interested in Sakura's existence when they were little and how they interacted despite only meeting three times. The age difference between the two is five years (just like in the canon) so by the end of this chapter, Sakura is 12 and Itachi is 17.

May 2020: Hello! I have been sucked into the vortex again for an unknown period of time. A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of people unearthed my fics and I kept getting emails for an entire week about them. I was really surprised! And then I found myself binging on fanfics again ahaha...

It's been 3 years since I've last updated, and coming back to it I'm revamping the current chapters (1-3) and will try my best to continue with the story and hopefully finish it. The changes aren't too drastic; I've just gone over grammar and plot holes, along with adding new bits and pieces to close the holes. Overall, everything should hopefully make more sense now compared to... before. HAHA.

Please R&R! It'll feed me and bring me joy as I read what others think of my stories :)!