In Between Haruno's Memory

[5]

  What Itachi wanted more in the world then anything was to sleep. Yes, the Uchiha heir wanted one thing and that one thing was his bed. Unfortunately for him he had just been promoted to chunin. Now most ninja would be celebrating this achievement, but instead he dreaded it. To most ninja this meant getting closer to a higher ranked status. True this was the same for him only he now had the elders breathing down at his neck now for a jounin promotion.

'It can't be helped...' He said to himself as he continued his walk to the library. That was where his new chunin block would be meeting up. He wondered absentmindedly if he could stop for a small treat but decided not to. It wouldn't do him no good to be late.

With that thought in mind he flickered to his destination.

........

When Itachi entered the library he was greeted with cool air which he gladly accepted. He quickly tuned the feeling out, and turned to look at the clock.

'Hm, ten minutes early.' He thought as he slowly paced down to the meeting area. His squad leader had told him to meet the team in section one of the library in the historical area.

As he walked he noticed how little chunin their were around the library. He wondered if maybe they were on break or even just on vacation. He received his answer as he walked into the history section to see at least six chunin playing cards.

'It would seem that they are on break.' He said to himself as he ignored the light chatter and instead looked around the room. It was obvious this was where the chunin came on breaks. With a vending machine and a small fridge in the middle of the room it wasn't so hard to guess.

But aside from that Itachi turned his attention to something more interesting. The pink haired child sitting in the corner of the room near the window, surrounded by a small pile of books. Books that a child shouldn't even be able to read nor comprehend of. For heaven sakes Sasuke still reads picture books.

So Itachi was quickly intrigued by the girl. From what he could tell she was about five or six, three feet tall give or take. Her features were quiet.... abnormal so to speak. She had pastel pink hair and large green eyes which seemed weren't the norm in Konoha. He wasn't sure why but something about the child threw him off. He just wasn't sure what it was.

"Tachi-chan, you made it!"

Itachi was roughly thrown out of his thought as he sidestepped an unwanted hug from his very interesting older cousin. Shisui Uchiha.

Now Shisui was a strange case. He was born into the clan himself and had all the Uchiha looks. The dark hair and pitch black eyes. Yes, Shisui may have looked like an Uchiha but he certainly didn't act as one. He was more of an odd ball when compared to other clan members because of his endless energy. But Itachi didn't mind that at all. If anything he found it refreshing to have someone who didn't act like a stick was too far shoved up their...

"Tachi-chan! Earth to Tachi. How's it going? Feel good about your promotion?" Shisui bombarded him with questions as Itachi just stared at his cousin. He of all people should know what promotion meant.

"Eh, not so much then. Don't worry bout it. The only thing the elders will push is marriage and Anbu. Don't sweat it now." He said as he looked over at the direction where Itachi had been looking before sending Itachi a devious stare.

"Sooooooo," Shisui began using his most annoying of voice as he looked at the rosette."Does my little cousin have a crush?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow in question before deciding this was an unwanted conversation and tuned out his cousin's rambling. Instead he opted to think about his future, which in his case wasn't looking bright.

Suddenly a light startled squeak caught his attention and pulled him out of his thoughts. It was seem the pink haired girl had tried taking one too many book and now lay face first on the carpet floor.

Itachi almost smiled at the sight of the child as he bent down to help her retrieve her books. Her face was tinted in light red of embarrassment as she fumbled to create a sentence while standing up.

"T-thank you sir."She said quickly as she bowed her head in respect, and accepted the small pile of books in his hands. Itachi discretely glanced at the clock before speaking.

"Where are you going?"He asked softly as he glanced at the book cover. 'Beginners guide to medicine.' She seemed interested in medicine. Perhaps she wished to be a civilian doctor or a medic nin maybe?

"To my mom. She should be here to pick me up." She said in a rushed voice as she stacked another book over the medical book and gave a nervous smile.

"Ah, well then I wish you luck with your studies." He mumbled as she walked off before giving him a small smile which he returned with a nod.

As he turned around he found Shisui smirking broadly as he spoke.

"Soooooooo, is it a crush or not Tachi-kun?

.......

Sakura almost cursed as she slipped over air and landed flat on the ground. She quickly reached to pick up her fallen books only to notice that another hand had reached for her books as well. That other hand belonged to no other than Itachi Uchiha. Child prodigy and supposedly genocide committing crazy ninja in the future.

'Ah, isn't this just fucking lovely.'

Commented Inner as Sakura raced to cover up her Charka elemental book with a beginners medicine book. It wouldn't do to have any Uchiha breathing down her neck, after all she had borrowed that certain elemental book from the Jounin sector of the library.

'Che, borrowed? We're very funny aren't we? Asked Inner in a sarcastic tone.

'Shut it and let me concentrate.' Sakura mumbled in her head as she finally managed to balance herself up. Her body was so in need of physical conditioning.

"T-thank you sir."She said quietly while adding a stutter as she bowed her head. She didn't even need to act embarrassed to pull off her blushing face. Sheesh, she hadn't even meant to fall.

"Where are you going?"He asked her softly as she placed the last of her fallen books over her medicine book.

"To my mom. She should be here to pick me up." She answered in a slightly rushed and nervous voice. After all even though she knew Itachi hadn't gone rouge on his own accord, she still found it nerve wrecking to be around him. He had taken down her Sensei whilst simultaneously fighting three other Jounin as well.

"Ah, well then I wish you luck with your studies." He mumbled politely as she nodded and left as quick as she had tripped. She didn't stop until she was at the children's area of the library. From there she quickly stuffed the elemental book in her bag, and went off to check everything else out.

It was time to go to the academy.

........

Sakura looked up at the large building in front of her. She wondered if she should follow her old path or make a new one. She knew for sure she didn't want to draw attention. She supposed that she'd keep her head low, be polite, and everything would come into place.

With that out of the way she took her first step into the building. Only to fall on her arse as a blur of sun like blonde rushed away from her. She sighed in aggravation as she dusted herself off.

"Only Naruto." She mumbled quietly as she continued on.
......

Playingbomboxs out⚡️