I had some free time and spare inspiration.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The next day, Rue missed school again. Sakura felt disappointed she couldn't follow her to find out where she was, but unlike Rue, people would notice if she missed school too much.

She was just chatting with her friend when she heard someone call her name, "Uchiha-san"

Sakura turned away from her conversation with Ririya-chan to see Takuya-kun approaching her from across the field. Immediately she blushed and panicked.

"Um…hello" she said awkwardly, shuffling her feet back and forth, her face flushed. Takuya stood before her; Sakura didn't want to look up.

"Uchiha-san, why didn't you come like we said?" he asked, frowning "I waited for you for ages, then I went to find your brother, he said you went home."

"Sorry" she mumbled, looking down "I was…busy" busy stalking someone. But she didn't want to admit that.

"Is this you rejecting me" he asked bravely and Sakura looked up "No, that's not it, I really was busy!"

He perked up and smiled "So then…it's a yes? You'll go out with me?"

Sakura scuffed her shoes "I don't know?" she admitted "If I like you, that is. But I don't 'not' like you. I just…don't think I 'like-like' you, you know. So what I guess I'm saying is, no, I'm sorry Takuya-kun. You seem really nice, but I don't think I'm thinking about things like that now."

It had been exiting to receive a love letter and confession, but watching Rue rush about had made Sakura realise she had more important things to deal with than love. Like passing her exams, proving herself to her father, getting to the bottom of Rue's strange behaviour and dealing with her older brother who was still ignoring her. And to be honestly Sasuke was right, she didn't like Takuya-kun that much to come before all the other things.

He glared "No, are you serious"

"Um…yes?" she said. Why was he angry, wasn't she clear enough? Sakura had watched thousands of girls confess to her big brothers and whenever they said no, the girls always just went away. She nodded once more to prove her point "I'm sorry, maybe we can be friends?"

"No, you'll be sorry" he said and walked away, bumping her shoulder in the process.

Sakura rubbed her shoulder and stared quizingly after him. Ino came up behind her and frowned "What was that all about?"

"I told Takuya-kun I didn't want to be his girlfriend."

"Huh!" Ino gaped "Why! He's really good-looking, not as good as your brother of course, but still pretty good."

"Yeah, but I don't know him very well. And if I don't know him, then how can I know if I like him?"

Ino sighed and patted Sakura on her head as they began to make their way into class "Sakura, have you ever liked anyone before?"

Sakura shook her head "Not really."

"Not even the kids in your complex, big clans like the Uchiha are always arranging inter-marriages so it wouldn't be too weird to have a crush on a cousin or something?"

"No" Sakura said, pausing to kick a stone "The other kids in my clan…never liked me much. I'm a bit different, so it's always been just me and my brothers." She smiled "But I didn't mind much, Itachi and Sasuke love me enough for millions of clan members. They've always had my back; I don't think I can love anyone as much as I do them, especially Itachi-Nii."

"Sakura! I told you already, loving a boy and loving your brother are two different things entirely. You wouldn't want to kiss your brother, would you?"

Sakura made a face "I wouldn't want to kiss anyone" she said petulantly. Then it seemed she'd spotted Naruto and her bother as she ran forward to greet them, leaving Ino behind with her hands on her hips.

"That Sakura" she said, shaking her head "She's such a little kid."

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Several weeks later Sakura had found a few things out about Rue. Firstly, she was actually a year older then all of them at 10 instead of 9, second, she was one of the top students in nearly all her subjects, doing better than even Sasuke in some lessons. She was outstanding at gen-jutsu and it was rumoured she might graduate earlier than the rest. She also had LOTS of part time jobs using various ages of Transformation-jutsu.

Sakura couldn't understand how it was possible for her to achieve such high grades and do all those jobs.

Everyone thought she was cold, but she was actually just…separate. She didn't like to interact with other people beyond what was necessary. While this kind of personality might be bothersome to most, Sakura realised she didn't considering she'd already become very accustomed to Sasuke and Itachi's introverted personalities.

But all these things told her what was different about Rue, it didn't say Why. And Sakura felt the 'why' was necessary to getting through to her. Rue was the kind of person you had to work to befriend.

Everyone thought she was Crazy for trying so hard to be friends with Rue, some had even petitioned Sasuke to talk some sense into her. Of course, Sasuke just grunted and told them to 'bugger off and let Sakura do what she wanted'.

She'd tried to ask Itachi-Nii's advice but he was almost never home anymore and when he was, he wouldn't spend any time with her.

Sakura sat on the back porch of her house and sulked as she quietly cleaned her Kunai. Itachi had apparently retuned last night and when she was at school, gone on another extended mission. It was infuriating.

Why, why wouldn't he talk to her anymore or hug her anymore. Didn't he like her? Had she done something? Sakura couldn't imagine not having her brother's love, they meant more to her then even Okaa-sama.

She sniffed, and wiped her eyes, struggling to keep the tears in.

"Hey Sakura-chan, is your brother home?" a voice spoke from behind her and Sakura looked up to see Shisui, Itachi's best friend standing over her. She sniffed again and wiped her eyes shyly.

Shisui was alright, he didn't tease her or bully her like the other clan members, but they didn't talk much either. He was Itachi's friend, not hers and even when he came round he usually never had much time to deal with her.

"Hello Shisui Onii-san" she said politely, bowing her head.

She expected him to ruffle her hair and leave, but instead to her surprise he sat down beside her and offered her a piece of chocolate "Here, I brought it over for you Big Brother, but it seems he took another mission."

Sakura sniffed again, feeling the stress build up now she as really thinking about it. A few tears rolled down her cheeks even as she tried to hold them in, would she ever stop being such a cry-baby?

Shisui seemed flustered, being quit used to grown up girls crying, but not so much little girls, he wasn't sure what to do. "Uh…" he tried to offer her the chocolate again but she shook her head.

He looked around, hoping Mikoto-sama would come out of the house or someone, anyone, would materialise from out of the blue to deal with the crying child. When it seemed that wouldn't happen, he sighed and patter her on the head "Uh, there, there. Why don't you tell Cousin Shisui what's wrong? Come on, Uchiha don't cry?" and prayed it wasn't because of something he did.

If he'd made Itachi's precious, overprotected little sister cry, then he would surely pulverise him. It was just that simple.

She shook her head "N-no, I-I'm not crying!" she sniffed "I'm not a cry-baby"

Despite his best effort, he couldn't help but smirk "I think you'll find you are crying crybaby-chan"

"I'm not crying" she said stubbornly "It's just…Itachi-nii never spends any time with me anymore. He's never here, and what if it's because of something I did? I DONT WANT NII-SAMA TO HATE MEEEEEE!" She wailed the last part, bursting out into tears.

'Not crying my arse' Shisui thought, Sasuke better not come home, Shisui just wasn't in the mood to deal with on crying child and one furious child.

"I'm sure you're just over thinking it" he said "You know how much Itachi cares about you and your bother, you mean everything to him" quite literally everything.

"R-really?" she sniffed, quietening down.

"Really" he said, relieved "So why don't you take a big breath, and tell me what's bothering you, come on. You're nine years old already and still crying?"

She wiped her eyes "I wasn't crying."

"Sure you weren't."

And then she told him. Apparently, Itachi's sister-complex worked both ways, if Sakura's brother-complex had anything to say about it. Shisui wasn't that surprised, Sakura wasn't well received in the clan, it made sense she'd cling to her brothers when they took such great care of her.

That Itachi was too busy to spend time with her upset her so much made some sense. But it was the other things she told him about that was weird. Itachi apparently avoided touching her, talking to her, or even just holding her. He was distant and cautious and reluctant to get in any way close.

None of this made any sense to Shisui who know her bother well, and knew Itachi quite literally doted on his siblings. Even with his busy schedule he never treated Sasuke as he did Sakura.

But Shisui chose not to mention this as he didn't want her start crying again. So instead he patted her head "Don't worry, I'm sure he's just busy. You know he's on the list to become ANBU in a few years, the schedules really busy. Mabey he's just tired."

"But..." she trailed off, biting her lip and looking down. Shisui couldn't help but admit that was kinda cute. He hadn't realised, since he generally liked to stay out of clan politics and Sakura was a big clan political issue sometimes with everyone wary of her. But looking at her now, she was kinda sweet.

"You're a big girl now Sakura, almost 10 years old, pretty soon you'll be graduating the academy and making your own path as a Kunoichi. You shouldn't depend so much on your brothers like this; you should show them you can do it all on you own."

She was quote, then nodded "Mabey you're right, maybe I've been monopolising him too much. Do you think if I left Itachi nii alone more, he'd be nicer to me again?" she asked, looking up at him with big green eyes.

'Kawaii' he thought and smiled "Yeah, and tell you what, I'll even keep it a secret that you were crying just be nice, because I'm awesome"

She elbowed him in the shoulder, revealing herself to be a little spitfire as well as a cry-baby "I wasn't crying"

XX-xx-XX-xx-XX-xx-XX-xx-XX

Sakura felt a little better after talking with Shisui. He was much nicer than shed expected, but then again, he was Itachi's best friend, so of course he was nice.

A few weeks later and School went on a short week break, so Sakura didn't have much to do.

Sasuke was usually busy either training, or trying to keep Naruto from causing too much mayhem. Ino and the other girls were off being girly somewhere and recently; Sakura didn't feel up to joining them. She didn't feel girly, and she didn't fit in. Rather than awkwardly try to adding to a conversation on nail polish and hair accessories she usually trained, studied or wondered around the village looking for Rue.

She'd quit one of her previous jobs and with that her whole schedule changed. Sakura really wished she could get through to the surly girl.

She wondered into the bookshop and began flicking though a novel when she heard children taunting and calling from outside. Curiously, she looked outside.

A few kids were laughing and taunting two little girls. The one with long black hair and blue eyes was crouched on the ground while the second one, nearly identical but with shorter black hair stood over hair defensively, they looked about seven years old.

"Go away" one of the little girls sniffed quietly, trying to protect what was obviously her twin sister.

"You go away" an older boy jeered "My Mama said we shouldn't talk to you cause you're an orphan, that means your parents don't want you!"

"No" he exclaimed "My Okaa-san and Otou-san are dead, Nee-sama told me so! They loved us lots and lots but they had to go to heaven!"

"You calling my Mama a liar ugly Orphan-girl" he jeered and pushed her, as the other kids began changing 'Yume's and Orphan, Yume's and Orphan."

Something burned inside Sakura as she was suddenly transported to years ago, in the Uchiha compound, when that little girl being jeered and bullied was her.

Ad felt furious "HEY!" she cried, dropping her novel instantly and ran over to the kids "You leave those girls alone!"

They looked up and seeing her coming all ran away, leaving the two little girls behind. Sakura fumed "Those rotten brats" she spat and looked down at the girls "You ok?"

She sniffed, and tried to hold back their tears, much the same as Sakura had only a few days ago when she'd been crying over her brother only these girls were seven and they were crying over something much worse than their brother not paying attention to them.

She bit her lip and bent down to pat their head like Shisui had done hers "Its ok, they are liars. Because being an Orphan doesn't mean you're parents don't love you, and you're both really pretty. Come on, don't cry"

They wiped their tears and smiled. Sakura felt her heart constrict 'Soo cute' she thought. "What are your names?"

"I'm Yu—" the little one with the long hair began, but her older sister shushed her "Nee-sama said not to talk to strangers" she scolded.

"But she's wearing Ninja clothes like Nee-sama" the little one argued, "and she's nice."

So their sister went to the Ninja Academy?

"It's alright, I might be a stranger, but I promise I'm not bad. I don't really know how to prove it though."

"Demo…" the little one trailed off.

"How about I tell you my name first, then I won't be a stranger anymore?" Sakura suggested "I'm Uchiha Sakura, I'm nine years old and I go to the Ninja academy. What about you guys?"

"I'm Yumi" the little one with long hair said. "I'm Yume" the older one added reluctantly, still a little wary.

"Yume and Yumi, they're really pretty names. Were you going home?" she asked.

At this the girls sniffed and looked sad and Sakura quickly said "Hey, its ok, m not…."

"Usually Nee-sama comes to pick us up from school" Yume said.

"But today we thought we'd go home on our own, so she would have to bother cause she'd really busy all the time. But we…we…" she sniffed.

"You…got lost?" Sakura suggested.

They nodded.

"Well that's not problem" she smiled "If you tell me your address, I can take you home?"

And so the little girls gave Sakura their address. Luckily she knew where that was and was able to guide them home. They were so cute. After they initial shyness wore off both girls revealed they to be bubbly and cheerful children.

Their home was on the opposite side of town, way away from the Uchiha compound in one of the poorer neighbourhoods. But as they walked through the streets all the vendors called out "Hello Yume, you sister not with you today?" to which they would reply in unison "No".

Their home was pretty; it was a mix of western and eastern style and probably one of the better off homes in the neighbourhood. When Sakura knocked the door, a boy around eight years old opened it with an adorable tree year old girl toddler on his hip and a scowl that could have matched Sasuke's perfectly "What do you want?"

"Seto Nii-sama" the girls called, rushing up to him. His eyes widened "Yume? Yumi? What are you doing here, Nee-sama went to go pick you up from school?"

"We wanted to go home by our self and surprise her, but we got lost" Yume said.

"But Sakura Onee-sama helped us come back!" Yumi said happily, hugging Sakura's side.

The boy Seto looked up; he had lighter brown hair and familiar violet eyes. "Well…you better come in then, Sister will want to thank you."

"Oh no" Sakura said, holing up her hands "It's alright, I…" but Yume was already tugging on her sleeve.

"Please Onee-sama" she said with wide blue eyes and suddenly, Sakura understood why her older brothers had never been able to refuse her anything when she gave them the same look.

Inside the house was tidy and quaint, with several rooms and a garden. Three more little boys were playing on the porch and to Sakura ultimate surprise, the boys were triplets.

That made one, two three…plus Seto and the baby who was obviously his sister from the similar purple eyes…that made seven siblings!

The boys paid her little attention as Yume scrambled off to get Sakura some tea, when she returned Sakura sipped the drink and spluttered. "Yume, did you make this?" she asked in surprise.

"Yup" said the little girl said proudly "Nee-sama says I make the best tea."

The best tea was the understatement of the century, Sakura couldn't remember the last time she had such excellent tea. It was even more delicious then what they served at the teahouse her parents often visited.

Sakura sat sipping her tea while she listened to the twins chattering and the three boys playing outside and thought about how different the house felt from her own.

Sure it was much smaller, and obviously less well off, but it was so loud and bustling and warm. The complete opposite from the quite Uchiha household where it was rare if anyone was actually home.

'This is…nice' she though.

Suddenly her was a slam of the front door and Seto's voice exclaiming "Sister!"

Then to Sakura's utter surprise, the person she least expected to see came rushing into the room exclaiming "Yume! Yumi!"

The little girls rushed into their sister's arms as she knelt down to check over them for injured. When she saw they were ok, she bopped them both on the head "What were you thinking!" she exclaimed with more emotion then Sakura had ever seen her have before Do you know how worried I was!"

"We just didn't want to bother you anymore" Yume sniffed.

"I'll be the judge of when and how you're bothering me, you just do as your told." She said firmly.

Then she looked up, blinked in surprise and or the first time, remembered Sakura's name "U-Uchiha-san? What are you—"

Sakura smiled awkwardly "Uh…Hello Rue-chan"

Well, Sakura thought, at least this explained the rumour of Asahina Rue smacking kids on the head.

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Thank you to all the people who are still reading this fic and to all the new readers who have just joined, you reviews and reads mean a lot to me J

I've half written the next chapter so it should be out soon.