Darkest Before Dawn

Fugaku

When Itachi came home early from an A-Class mission, he expected to see his mother at the stove, his father at the dining table, and Sasuke running up to him to give his older brother a big hug. But on this particular day, his mother had gone out shopping, presumably taking Sasuke with her. If those two were out, just exactly where was his father?

Itachi looked around the bedrooms and living room, but found nothing. He walked around the main house and decided to check the large room Fugaku used for meetings with other clan members. Focusing his senses, he pinpointed that his father's chakra was indeed in the meeting room, but there was another chakra signature. A very familiar one. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he slowly covered his chakra until there was no trace, then pressed his ear to the shoji screen that separated him from the two.

"This is your final decision, I presume."

That was his father.

"Yes, Fugaku-sama. I appreciate the offer, but it just isn't for me."

And the other was Sakura.

~

Forty-seven... Forty-eight... Forty-nine...

Sakura was doing push-ups at the usual training grounds. Ibiki had some work to catch up on and couldn't teach her a new lesson, so she settled for basic strength and endurance training.

Fifty... Fifty-one... Fifty-two...

She could be doing plenty more than this, like throwing accuracy or chakra control, but a ninja needed physical strength just as well as everything else. Sweat dampened every inch of her skin and her arms shook in fatigue.

Fifty-three... Fifty-four... Fifty....Five...

Sakura collapsed onto the grass with a sigh. Fifty-five push-ups. It wasn't as much as she planned out, but it should be enough. It's not like she was some over-enthusiastic ball of energy that decided to do a thousand push-ups as training- as if someone like that existed. She hauled herself off of the ground and sighed a second time.

"Sakura Haruno?"

The girl looked to the side to see a black-haired genin walk up to her. She greeted the unknown shinobi with a warm smile and a small wave.

"That's me, Shinobi-san!" exclaimed Sakura, "Do you need me for something?"

"Fugaku-sama is asking for you, and I am to escort you to him."

With really no position to decline, the six year-old gathered her things and followed the genin to the Uchiha compound. Like the first time she came here with Mikoto, she received plenty of curious and pointed stares from the other residents of the compound. Not being an Uchiha or a known shinobi, it was relatively normal for this sort of thing to happen. 

The genin left her at a shoji door somewhere at the back of the main house. Before Sakura could take a step or form some words, she heard a deep voice call from inside.

"You may enter."

The six-year old carefully slid open the door and set foot into the room. Fugaku was kneeling in the center of the room. He motioned to the spot before him, and Sakura took it without question, setting her books beside her. She looked up at the Uchiha head curiously.

"I've heard a lot about you from Mikoto." he began, surveying the small girl with a mildly interested gaze, "And rumors from all over the ANBU syndicate. To my understanding, you are training under Ibiki Morino, the head interrogator. You are also of genin rank, if not higher, at the young age of six. Am I wrong?"

Sakura puffed out her cheeks and looked up in wonder.

"Ibiki Morino is my sensei. I don't really know about the genin rank thing, but I think sensei mentioned something along the lines of that." she answered. Fugaku 'hmmed'.

"I find it intriguing that a high-ranking individual would take on a young girl. But if he did so, you must be different from everyone else. I saw that much when I spotted the chakra string that tied the bouquet you gave to Mikoto. And when I saw the Ja no Kuchi you performed in front of Itachi a few months ago." he said. Sakura hid the smirk that threatened to form on her face.

"I did do that, so is that why you called me her? To tell me how different I am from other six year olds?" she questioned.

"Something along the lines of that." Fugaku replied, "But answer this first: how long will it take you to graduate the academy?"

"Half a year."

She was neither overestimating or underestimating herself. As she had said before, she had snuck into one of the classes. It was boring, unnerving- easy. Fugaku raised a brow in obvious surprise. That would mean beating his son half a year. Though, he shouldn't be surprised at her declaration. Another rumor he had heard was that she went on a mission with Ibiki at the age of five and came back, oddly enough, with a katana and a mysterious scroll- nothing that Ibiki was familiar with.

"If it takes half a year for you to graduate and you join in the second semester, I offer you the backing of the Uchiha clan when you enter the academy."

What?

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds, just trying to digest that information. The backing... of the Uchiha clan? Just to get her to graduate so early? This was simply unreal. The girl furrowed her brow and stared at the floor in deep thought. The head of a clan, especially Fugaku Uchiha, wouldn't just throw out an offer with insane benefits for her and none for the clan-

Ah.

He wanted something in return. Of course. She doubted he would tell her exactly what he wanted until the time came. For now, it was a game where only he knew the rules. Sakura looked back up at those onyx-colored eyes that every Uchiha possessed and gave him a wide grin.

"I will not be entering the academy anytime soon." she said. It was Fugaku's turn to become thoroughly confused.

"I have already planned when I would join the academy, and it's when I turn eight." continued Sakura, "I know it's a little later than usual, but from now, it will give me two years for me to train with Ibiki-sensei and learn as much as I can. After those two years are up, I will take the entrance exam that will land me in the class where my age group is in- Year Two. I will then sit in class for the remaining four years to graduate with my age group."

"Why waste your time when you can graduate in half a year?"

"It's better to be with my peers, you know? That way, there's no additional pressure put on me. And once my genin team turns to chuunin, I can go about and do what I want. I'd rather have people not know me, that way they'll never know what's coming. Don't you think you'd keep a tab on a person if they graduate in half a year, just being seven years old?"

Point taken.

Fugaku couldn't argue with her logic seeing that she was 100% right. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. The girl was very smart, far past his expectations. She turned the game board and planted the winning piece. He glanced at her smiling face.

"This is your final decision, I presume."

"Yes, Fugaku-sama. I appreciate the offer, but it just isn't for me."

He nodded.

"Then farewell, Sakura. I know I'll see you more in the future."

Sakura bowed in respect and popped onto her feet. She swept all the things in her arms, bowed once more, and trotted out of the room. She passed Itachi along the hallway and flashed him a bright grin before heading out of the compound. Fugaku followed soon after and stopped beside his eldest son.

"A dangerous friend you've got there, Itachi. Good luck with that one."

His father walked inside the house. Itachi stared incredulously after him, looked back at the direction Sakura went, then back to direction his father walked off to. He wouldn't admit it, but he was just downright confused.