Sakura back in time ❦ (Naruto BIT fanfic)

5

When she woke up again, she looked at the clock beside her to see that it was well past noon.
She sat up, determined to walk this time. Like she'd done many times before, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and placed her feet on the floor. She readied herself to push herself up and did so after a count of three. She stood for a second and then took a step. She fell.

Instead of Itachi being there to catch her and put her back to bed, this time she hit the floor with a hollow thud. She bit back a cry in frustration and pain and forced herself up, leaning on the bed for support. She released her hold on the bed and stood again. She took a step, and then another, and then another. She continued taking the slow steps, smiling in pride and satisfaction.

Itachi came into the doorway, a look of worry on his face. "Are you alright, Sakura-san? I heard a thud and..." Then, he noticed her baby-like steps and he smiled.

"Itachi-san," she said, walking toward him, her arms outstretched, "I can walk, Itachi-san!" Then, just before she made it to him, she tripped over her own feet and fell into Itachi's arms. She giggled and hugged Itachi who hugged back.

"Do you feel well enough to walk into the kitchen?" Itachi asked, setting her back onto her feet. "I'm sure everybody would love to see you up and about."

She nodded and started to take her steps once again. Itachi followed her, making sure to be ready to catch her if her legs gave out. She made it right to the doorway to the kitchen when she gave out and fell, Itachi there to catch her.

"Sakura-san!" exclaimed Mikoto, sounding shocked. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded happily. "I walked all the way here!"

Sasuke shouted out a cheer and Mikoto gave an approving glance while she told Sakura that she'd done a good job. Itachi helped her walk to the table and sat down beside her. Sakura could see from the corner of her eye that Mikoto had an eye on her and she was smirking quite devilishly. It made her feel sort of uneasy.

"It's great to see you up and about," Itachi told her. "It's been almost a week; I'm surprised it took so long for you to get better."

"Well, she had been unconscious for about a week," Mikoto stated. "All that time without food or water could really take a toll on a person. Not to mention her amnesia could have had a part in it."

Itachi nodded in agreement. "True enough."

"Does this mean you'll take me around the village?" Sakura changed the subject excitedly.

Itachi chuckled and answered, "Maybe tomorrow. This must've been a long day, what with Ibiki-san coming for you and you getting the strength in your legs back."

Sakura pouted for a few moments but forgot all about it when Sasuke said that he was going on a field trip to Hokage tower. "Hokage tower?" asked Sakura. "What's that?"

"Hokage is the greatest shinobi in the village," Itachi answered. "And Hokage tower is where his offices are."

"I can't wait!" exclaimed Sasuke. "We're leaving tomorrow at six AM and we'll be back by about noon!"

"I know!" Sakura exclaimed, nearly making Itachi fall out of his chair in surprise, "I'll walk Sasuke-kun to this Hokage tower and I'll pick him up, too!"

"But you don't know your way back," Mikoto replied. "Not to mention all those shady characters out and about these days. You could get mugged."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Sakura said. "I mean, what are the chances of me being mugged when there are so many shinobi around?"

"Do you know what shinobi are?" asked Itachi, smirking ever-so-slightly.

"No idea," answered Sakura, smiling sheepishly, "But I'm guessing they're good guys?"

He chuckled and told Mikoto, "She has a point... the village is crawling with shinobi these days, if she gets attacked, at least one of them should help her. Unfortunately, Father is making me do extra training tomorrow, so I won't be able to be with her, but somebody will."

Mikoto nodded reluctantly, dropping the subject.

"I'll be fine, I know it," Sakura stated.

"God, I'm stupid," Sakura whispered to herself as she walked through the hustling-and-bustling village all by her lonesome, totally and completely lost. "I could've sworn Sasuke-kun and I came from this way." There she was, in a short, pink skirt and a low cut pink shirt, looking like she couldn't find her nose if she tried.

"Lost, little lady?" a male voice asked from behind her, hoping to find somebody she would be able to recognize as a shinobi.

"Yeah," she answered, turning to see a group of men that seemed to have a thug-like appearance.

These must be those shady characters Mikoto-san was talking about, she thought, taking a step back.

"Come with us, we'll show you the way," one of the men said.

Ignoring her first thought, she decided they must not be all bad if they were deciding to help her and she nodded, following the group in another direction.

It took about five minutes for her to realize she hadn't told them her destination and she didn't fail to point that out. The men looked at one another, and then looked at her, a devious smirk adorning each of their faces.

She didn't like those looks... not one bit.

She took a step back to get out of there and find another way to get home, but one of the men lunged at her and she turned and ran away as fast as she could, which wasn't fast since she'd just learned to walk the day before.

It was easy for the men to catch up to her and force her to the ground. She tried to fight back but her already weak muscles were beginning to give out and she found herself powerless to stop whatever it was they were planning to do to her.

"Don't you think you should pick on somebody your own size?" an indifferent voice asked from somewhere behind Sakura, where she couldn't see him.

"H-Hatake-san," stammered one of the men. "We were just-"

"Ganging up on Sakura-san," this Hatake person cut-in, "Who can barely even walk let alone defend herself?"

"W-We didn't know," another one of the thugs replied. "We thought she was just some girl and..."

"And that makes it alright?" Hatake's voice became harsh and threatening.

"C-C'mon, Guys," another of the guys stammered, getting to his feet with his friends and running off. "Let's get outta here!"

Sakura sat up with a little bit of difficulty, her body quacking out of both fear and fatigue. I never should've gotten out of bed today.

The man she assumed was Hatake walked up to her and crouched beside her. "You're okay, Sakura-san, those idiots won't be bothering you or anybody else for a while." This Hatake person seemed like he would be handsome. He had seemingly untameable silver hair held up to seem gravity-defying by a headband thing she'd seen Itachi wear once in a while. His face was covered from below the eyes down to his collar bone by a mask of fabric and the odd headband covered one eye, the other eye a deep black colour.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, still shaking like mad.

"I'm comrades with Itachi-san," answered Hatake. "Oh, and I was one of the ANBU that was with Ibiki when they took you from the Uchiha residence. The name's Hatake Kakashi."

"Well, Hatake-san-"

"You can just call me Kakashi, Sakura."

"Kakashi," she tested out the name without the title and found that she very much liked it. "Thank you so much for helping me."

He nodded. "Now, let's get you back to Mikoto-chan before she worries that pretty little head off." He scooped Sakura up in his arms and carried her toward the Uchiha compound.

Maybe coming out today wasn't such a bad idea... she thought, looking up into the one visible eye that belonged to her saviour.