Author's Note: Hi people of the world! Thanks for reading my fanfic! As a fair warning to you all, I do NOT read the manga and am, therefore, NOT up-to-date on what exactly goes down between Sasuke and Itachi. Nor do I know what Sasuke decides to do after killing his brother. This fanfic, and all that happens in it, are purely created from my imagination! Another warning: Sasuke may seem a little Out Of Character for some of you. I'm letting you know now, that I wrote him this way because, in all honesty, I am a big sucker for the loving, caring and protective kind of Sasuke. Anyway, that should be it! Read on fellow fanfic fans! I hope you enjoy what I've created!
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The Life of the Child

Part One: The Finding of the Child

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Chapter One: And So It Begins…

A late summer afternoon found three young jounin resting in the comfort of a forest's shade. The three appeared to be resting from a long journey and anyone passing by could see that they needed the relaxation. All of them bore signs of exertion and fatigue that were easily spotted by any outsider.

The pink-headed one was massaging her large forehead as if fighting of a much unwanted, and painful migraine; the handsome male across from her had his eyes closed and sat in a position that made an onlooker assume he was in a state of meditation; the blond next to him was fidgeting like crazy and would wince and hiss if he moved his left wrist too much. Bandages showed that it was somehow wounded. Despite his body's warnings of 'That hurts!' the blond momentarily forgot about his injury as he leaned back on both his wrists only to jump up while hissing in pain.

"Ow!" While cradling his injured wrist, the blonde began to curse everything that brought him to this moment in time. "Damn that stupid mission! Damn that stupid ninja! Damn that stupid kunai! Damn that stupid rock! Damn that -"

"The mission wasn't that bad dobe. Stop complaining." interrupted the other male.

His friend's intrusion on his damning rant only aggravated the already less-than-cheery man. "Bite me Sasuke! If anyone needs to shut up it's you! Talking is out of your character!!!"

Now both men were aggravated. "You wanna say that again loser?"

Hoping to nip the inevitable argument in the bud, the kunoichi spoke up. "Give it a rest you two. I have a headache and I -"

The female's protest went unheard. "You want me to say it again?! I'll say it a thousand times over if you want!! Bite. Me."

"Don't test me Naruto."

"Why? Cause you'll go all Chidori Nagashi on my ass if I do? C'mon teme! What're you gonna do?"

Growling under her breath, the kunoichi tried to amend peace again. "None of this is necessary guys. Konoha is just a few miles away and if we just -"

"I'll do more than Chidori unless you shut the hell up!"

"Y'know, no one ever said that you had to listen to my rant anyway jerk!! So why don't you shut yourears and make both of us happy?!"

"Stop this right now; I'm warning the both of you…."

Unfortunately, Sakura Haruno's warning fell on deaf ears as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki continued their petty, little argument. Neither of them noticed the increasingly dark aura that surrounded their kunoichi teammate until it was too late.

BAM!

WHACK!

Cries of protest rang out from both shinobi as they caressed the newly formed bumps on each of their heads but the medic-nin had had enough of listening.

"SHUT UP!!!!!"

Both males immediately ceased all communication and watched in slight fear as their pink-haired comrade exploded into a frustrated rant.

"I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH THE BOTH OF YOU AND ALL OF YOUR CHILDISH CRAP!!!! IF YOU TWO SO MUCH AS THINK ANOTHER WORD AGAINST EACH OTHER, I SWEAR TO THE GODS AND ALL THAT IS HOLY, I WILL USE EACH AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY I GET TO MAKE YOUR LIVES AS MISERABLE AS HELL!!!!!"

Huffing and puffing, Sakura watched her teammates blink at her. She could practically hear their thoughts of 'Is she sane?' and/or 'Scarytemperscarytemperscarytemper…' as if they spoke them aloud.

Sighing, the young Haruno pinched the bridge of her nose and spoke again; in a much more controlled voice, "Look… it's obvious that this mission has stressed all three of us out… let's just… I don't know… stop at the next town and take a break? Konoha doesn't expect us back for another two days anyway."

Not daring to go against the woman who was named Mission Leader – and who had super-strength to boot - the two men hastily agreed and soon the three jounin set off at a brisk pace through the tree tops.

Not a single word was spoken in the twelve minutes it took for the small party to come across a town.

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Sakura sighed in pure bliss. She felt as though she were on cloud nine as she soaked in the town's local hot springs. Surely there was nothing that could make her feel as content and divine as she did at that moment. Not a single thing. Sadly, she realized that she had already been in the springs for close to twenty-eight minutes. Her teammates were probably already done with their bath and waiting for her.

'Well,' reasoned the twenty year old, 'two more minutes aren't going to kill anybody.'

Happy with her resolution, Sakura sank into the steaming waters and memories of Sasuke's return began to swim to the forefront of her mind.

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Sasuke had finally returned to Konoha at the age of seventeen after killing both Orochimaru and Itachi. He entered the gates in a state of severe injury and was sent to Sakura at the hospital for immediate care. The shock of seeing him after so long had numbed her into healing him quickly, efficiently, and flawlessly. She had kept her eyes trained on his face during the procedure; as if ensuring herself that there wasn't any genjutsu or trickery that had somehow altered physical characteristics on her patient. Once he was without blood or scar the ANBU had come to bring him to Tsunade for questioning and sentencing. Before they dragged him away though, he had grabbed her wrist, looked into her jade orbs and simply said, "Sakura, thank you." The memories attached to that phrase drove her to take the rest of the day off and lock herself in her apartment - far away from the rest of the world.

She had remained like that for the next few days. She didn't give any response when Naruto came pounding on her door telling her about Sasuke and his (rather light) punishment, or when Ino knocked and demanded and audience with her best friend to make sure she was alright, or when Kakashi appeared to offer little trips to various food stands, or when Sai had tried to coax her out to shut Naruto up. She just sat in a corner of her apartment, hugging the picture of Team 7 close to her heart.

On the morning of her fifth day of isolation an unexpected voice traveled through her locked door. A smooth, deep, and commanding voice called out, "Sakura." It wasn't even questioning whether she was there or not. It was demanding entrance. Sakura gripped her beloved picture closer to her chest. The time for tears had come and passed a couple days ago and she was currently content to remain in a frozen, blank state. But then he had to visit. Why, oh why, did he let anyone convince him to come here? How? Didn't anyone realize that he was the reason she was locked up? Still, the need to see him had become… urgent.

Sakura surprised herself by replying to Sasuke's call. Her voice was hoarse from lack of use so it took her a few tries to choke out, "Spare key in the plant in the lobby." She heard mumbles on the other side of the door and footsteps eventually faded only to return moments later. Sakura didn't even look up when her door's lock clicked and her top three guys entered her apartment. Kakashi was the first to spot her in the unlit room.

"Oh, Sakura…" he had said. His comment directed Naruto's attention to her huddled form as well and he ran straight to her side asking if she was alright and if she had been eating at all. She was so, so, so thin. But his concerns went unheard; Sakura only had eyes for the third male that had stumbled through her doorway. Sasuke was there, in her apartment. He was there. This was proof that she hadn't imagined him those days ago in the hospital. Overwhelming relief rushed through her system and her grip on the picture frame loosened considerably; so much so that the three shinobi's attention was immediately drawn to it.

"Sakura-chan, what's that?"

Still ignoring Naruto, Sakura reached out her stiff arms towards Sasuke – like an infant begging to be picked up - beckoning him to come closer. Surprised, and a little cautious, Sasuke carefully made his way over until he was crouching beside her, opposite of Naruto. Hesitantly, she ran her tense hands over him; over his hands, his arms, his shoulders, his face, his hair. She couldn't believe he was real, he hadn't even shown any signs of protest as she continued tracing his features. Naruto and Kakashi had both remained silent throughout the ordeal and gave a small start as Sakura flung herself at Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his neck and weeping and laughing all at once. Caught by surprise, Sasuke had to throw his arms behind him to prevent falling on his back. Before any other action could be taken Sakura pulled back from Sasuke, cupped his face with her hands, and somehow managed to speak through her hysterical break down.

"Don't you dare try to put me through that again, you pathetic excuse for a man! If you so much as think about leaving us a second time, I promise that you won't get far with two broken legs. I should give you the beating of your life for coming back like it was all no big deal but I'm just… I'm so glad that you're home!" Her bright smile and ecstatic tone betrayed any threats that she spoke. Impatiently brushing his bangs away from his taken aback expression she planted a kiss on his forehead before she trapped him in a tight hug once again.

Kakashi smiled and shuffled from one foot to the other when he randomly stated, "I'll just go order some take-out ramen for us then. Be right back!"

His vanishing poof reminded Sakura of her other guest and she completely removed herself from Sasuke only to repeat a similar routine with Naruto. When she pulled back from him she lunged forward and grabbed each of them with one arm in a desperate three-way hug. She was still crying and laughing uncontrollably as she continued to babble unintelligible nonsense. Over her shoulders, her two teammates shared glances. They both knew that they never wanted to see Sakura like this again. They didn't need to be medical ninjas to know that isolating oneself, refusing to eat for days, and then breaking out into a thousand different emotions all at once was not healthy. Just as Kakashi walked through the door with a large ramen delivery, the two men formed an unspoken pact; they would protect this fragile teammate of theirs. Never again would she suffer like this – they would both make sure of it.

Sakura had only pried her arms off of them when she saw that Kakashi was back. She proceeded to stand and tackle him in a similar embrace albeit clumsily. Luckily the ramen was saved by Naruto while Kakashi laughed, smoothed her hair and brought her down to a calm state of mind. They ate their early lunch right there on Sakura's apartment floor with a blanket underneath them to serve as a sort of picnic blanket. The room was full of cheer as jokes and jabs were tossed back and forth between the four ninja. It seemed as though the smiles/smirks on all four of their faces would never leave. Naruto and Sakura both ate nine bowls each while Kakashi and Sasuke were satisfied with their single helping of noodles. Kakashi laughed as Sakura licked her lips after finishing her final bowl.

"Looks like I guessed right at ordering twenty bowls huh?"

"You sure were!!" came two very happy responses from two very full teenagers.

Kakashi laughed again. He hadn't even realized how deeply he missed his little Team 7. Even though Sasuke had left a gaping hole in the make-shift family when he left, it didn't seem to matter. In fact, as the four of them sat there eating ramen, it felt as though the hole had completely ceased to exist. Or perhaps it was never really there. It was difficult to tell with the current mood that filled the room. Everything had just… fallen into place… just like the way it was when they were all much younger.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto's voice interrupted Kakashi's train of thought. "What were you holding when we first came in?"

"Oh, that?" Curious as much as Naruto was Kakashi trained his eye on her gentle smile as she reached behind her to obtain the fallen object. She brought it in front of her and flipped it around so that we could see it. We all softened our expressions at the photo of our old genin team.

"Sakura-chan…"

She turned it around to face her again and hugged it to her chest, tightly closing her eyes in the process. "I was remembering… all of our little adventures… the missions, the camping, the training, the hanging out… and I was so worried that… that I'd never have that again…"

A slightly nostalgic mood fell upon them then and they all lapsed into silence, each remembering adventures of their own. So deep was their reminiscence that they all jumped as a loud knock came from the closed door. A commanding voice accompanied the knock.

"Sakura Haruno? If you are present, it is the ANBU. Please open the door."

Confused as to why the ANBU would be at her door, Sakura rose from her position on the floor only to sway from fatigue.

"Easy." soothed a low voice as a pair of hands steadied her. Sasuke carefully set the pinkette back on the floor and proceeded to open the door himself.

The single ANBU officer on the other side was taken by surprise, "Sasuke Uchiha??"

"Sakura Haruno is unable to answer your summons at the present time. Is there something you require of her?"

"Not of her," the ANBU glanced beyond Sasuke's shoulder and spotted the make-shift picnic that the team had made along with the people seated on the floor. "Kakashi Hatake?"

Kakashi didn't move from his comfortable position against the wall as he replied, "Yes? What is it?"

"Hokage-sama requires your presence in her office as soon as possible."

"Oh? What for?"

"A mission. The details will be discussed in her Lady's office."

"Hmm…" Kakashi looked at his former students. Sasuke was looking at him expectantly; he was even holding the door open for him to pass through. Naruto was shooting him a curious glance as though trying to figure out what the jounin was thinking. Sakura wasn't looking at him at all. She only gripped her photo harder and ducked her head. Kakashi's expression softened again. She didn't want him to leave yet. He sighed. Well, if she didn't want him gone, he wouldn't go.

His mind made up, Kakashi turned to the ANBU and gave a smile and a small hand wave. "No thanks." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sakura look up at him.

The ANBU was once again surprised but managed to keep his cool. "I'm afraid that Hokage-sama's summon was not an invitation."

"Then tell her I'm taking a personal day." Kakashi chuckled as he pictured Tsunade's reaction to his response, "The gods know that I need one."

The officer took in a deep breath. "I understand that the four of you have time to catch up on -"

"Oh, then you understand perfectly well why I'm taking the day off! I trust you, then, to explain to Hokage-sama why I cannot accept this mission and that she'll have to find someone else."

The ANBU paused as if unsure what to do about the situation. Eventually he said, "Don't be surprised if I come back." and left in a show of smoke. This left the three teens to stare at their former mentor with questions shining in their eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura was the first to speak, "Why did you do that?"

"Well I can't leave you three alone in this apartment without adult supervision. You are at that age after all. Naruto and Sasuke are in that one-track-hormonal-mind mode and I wouldn't want to come back from a mission to find pink-haired Uchiha brats or green-eyed Uzumaki juniors running loose amok Konoha."

"Kakashi-sensei!!" rang out three separate protests. Kakashi only laughed.

The three men ended up staying the night after a casual dinner at a near by diner. While Kakashi claimed Sakura's bed, the other three created a kind of nest made up of blankets and pillows thrown together in a pile.

It was well past midnight when the team's pillow fight - which mostly consisted of the three ganging up on Sasuke, forcing him to either participate or be smothered - subsided and Kakashi watched all three of his former students fall victim to sleep; not unlike a father watching his own children as they dreamt.

For the next hour he just lay there, watching the three of them cuddled against each other with Sakura in the middle. He felt peaceful watching them. Then he noticed that the girl gripped one of her boys' hands in each of hers. Kakashi sighed. Sakura had truly fallen apart at the seams when their team had fallen short one member; but all was forgiven and all the wrongs seemed to have been put right.

Kakashi let out a small chuckle as Naruto rolled away from the other two and promptly fell off of their make-shift bed. To make up for the lost heat, Sakura snuggled closer to Sasuke who seemed to instinctively wrap his free arm around her waist. Kakashi sighed. He was growing old. He was already watching his little Sakura fall in love all over again.

'Well, I can't say that he won't take care of you.' Kakashi watched the snuggling couple for a short while longer before closing his eyes to drift off.

'You were an idiot for leaving her once Sasuke; be sure you don't do it a second time.' Aw, cripes. He really was growing old.

And with that last thought, Kakashi too, fell victim to the callings of a good-night's rest.

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"SAKURA-CHAN!!! ARE YOU DONE YET?!?!" a loud voice broke Sakura away from her trip down Memory Lane. Sakura sighed and prayed for patience. Must Naruto insist on disturbing her Sakura-Only Time? She had only taken half an hour.

"I'll be right out Naruto!!" she called back. Pulling herself from the soothing waters she began to recall which injuries were non-lethal when dealt to the human body. Sakura chuckled to herself as she dressed in black shorts and red t-shirt. Zipping up her jounin vest and strapping on her weapon pouches completed her outfit as she stepped out to the main lobby to put on her knee-high boots. As she expected, Sasuke and Naruto were there waiting for her.

"Hey guys! Were you waiting long?"

"Nah! Teme here takes about as long as you do."

"Shut up, you loser. You were enjoying the springs as much as I was."

"Psh! Yeah, okay! Whatever, creep."

Sakura laughed at their brotherly interaction. "That's enough, boys. We came here to relax, remember?"

"Yeah, well tell that to emotionless here." Naruto jabbed his thumb in Sasuke's direction.

"How 'bout I tell it to the hyperactive knucklehead who couldn't sit still if his life depended on it?"

"Hey! I could sit still if ramen was on the line!" Sakura laughed. She didn't doubt the blond for a second.

Naruto smiled at her before he grabbed both her and his best friend's arm and dragged them towards the front door. "C'mon, let's get out of here!" Ignoring the sighs and eye rolls from his teammates, Naruto threw open the door and dragged the two away from the bath house only to freeze in his tracks after a few steps. His teammates sensed trouble and immediately stiffened into defensive positions.

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

The ninja spoke only one word, "Smoke."

Sakura was confused. Smoke? "Naruto wha-"

Sasuke answered her question before she finished asking it. "To the east Sakura."

Following both her teammates gazes, the kunoichi turned her eyes to face east and saw a large, black cloud rising from the ground. She could hear faint yells and screams coming from the same direction. Her medic inside of her kicked in and she broke away from her teammates, running towards the column of black that could only mean one thing; fire.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan, it's not safe!"

She turned her head back to her comrades and explained, "Someone could be hurt! I have to help them!" before bolting off towards the distant burning building.

"Don't!"

"Sakura-chan!"

When she refused to listen, her teammates chased after her with only one second thought: what exactly were they getting themselves into?

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Author's Note: And that wraps up Chapter One! Thanks for reading guys! Feel free to review but don't feel guilty if you don't! And if you DO decide to review, please don't feel guilty to tell me where I can work on my writing skills! I want to hear all of your thoughts; good and bad!