Title: Sunset, Sunrise

Author: ComeTheDawn

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship/Mild Humor/Time Travel

Pairing: Sakura x _

Summary: They say you only live once, but Sakura was being given the chance to go back and live, love, and maybe save those who are important to her. Let the sun set on the past and the sun rise on a new future.

The Copy Cat and the Prodigy

"There's no time left, Sakura. Go now."

Sakura's eyes traveled over Kakashi's broken body. How did it all come to this? Konoha lay in ruins. Naruto was dead as well as Sasuke. Only she remained...well Kakashi still had a few meager moments she thought bitterly. Her charka was almost completely depleted. She only had enough left for one last jutsu but if it were up to her she'd use the last of her charka to try to save the man that she loved more than anything. But it wasn't up to her. This was a decision that they had both consciously made before the destruction of Konoha occurred. Sakura traced her fingers across Kakashi's lips noting how he was struggling to breathe.

"Sakura…" Kakashi forced her name out of his mouth. "I love you."

A tear slid down her face and splashed onto his blood stained shirt. "I love you, too Hatake Kakashi. I'll make it right."

I

There were certain things that were common knowledge. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Haruno Sakura loved Hatake Kakashi. However when 25 year old Haruno Sakura awakened from the jutsu that Kakashi had taught her to find herself in her four year old body that love was momentarily shaken. If she hadn't watched him die once she would have said she wanted to kill him. As it was she was very, very, very unhappy with him. They had discussed sending her back to when she was twelve. Twelve not four. She couldn't even go to the bathroom without her mother checking to see if she made 'doody'. Let's just say that her mother was a bit overprotective.

It really sucked having the mind of a twenty-five year old and being stuck in a four year old body. No, seriously, it sucked. She had never noticed that Shiranui Genma had such a tight ass until she was stuck in the height of a four year old child therefore being eye level with it. If she wasn't madly in love with Hatake Kakashi she would have given the man some serious consideration. Not that she could do anything about it anyway….

Yep, it was certain being a child sucked. She was able to exhibit certain ninja skills but she couldn't do so in front of her parents or anyone for that matter in fear of changing the timeline. She hadn't decided to become a ninja until she was six and it was imperative that she be placed on the team with Sasuke and Naruto—because this time they were going to do this thing right even if it killed her.

For Kakashi…

I

Sakura's parents were going to go ape-shit. She was certain. She managed to give them the slip earlier when she noticed the silver headed jounin walking idly through the market where she had been shopping with her mother. She hadn't been able to not follow him. It wasn't like she didn't know her way home...even though her mother didn't know that, but she'd worry about that later. Right that second she had to keep up with Kakashi. It was proving to be a difficult task while not using charka to speed up her movements. Her legs were rather short and Kakashi was a tall man so needless to say she fell behind.

It was aggravating, frustrating, and beyond irritating. And so….in the end…she used charka and sped up a bit. It wasn't like anyone was paying attention to her anyway. No one noticed little kids except when they were being really bad or really cute. Sakura could honestly admit that she was neither. Okay, maybe she was a little bad, but this particular time it was nothing obvious.

Sakura had almost caught up to him when she suddenly bumped into someone. She should have known that things were going too smoothly to not have some sort of interruption.

"Ouch!" Sakura yelled and glared at whoever got in her way, but her breath was cut short when she realized who she had run into. Automatically, she took a wary step back away from Uchiha Itachi. He wore a dark blue shirt that reminded her of a young Sasuke. She almost smiled at seeing it until she remembered who exactly she was staring at.

Sakura was aware of what Itachi had done and why. Yes, he killed his clan. Yes, he did it under orders from Danzo but that didn't change the fact that he willingly massacred a whole clan full of people. It was his family. It was true that his family was a bunch of corrupt bastards, but you can't chose who your family is nor should you just off them when they go crazy. He could have declined the mission and stayed in the village to raise Sasuke. They obviously knew the man was loyal to Konoha. Had he asked they would have given him that option.

Yes, she was also aware of the whole Madara situation, and perhaps there was no one else strong enough to do it to kill the clan but a pair of Uchiha. Still, maybe had he refused they would have looked at other options—but no, Uchiha Itachi had to go on a happy-go-lucky killing spree and dance in the blood of his kinsmen. Okay, she was being a little harsh, but it was a matter of what's more important. To Sakura Sasuke was more important. Therefore, to put it simply—Sakura didn't like the guy.

So Sakura eyed the future Uchiha clan murderer with distaste that she didn't even bother to hide. Itachi, on the other hand, merely stared at her for a moment or two then quickly surveyed the area. She had a feeling he was looking for her parents, but she had ditched them a long time ago and knew he wasn't going to see them in the crowd. She was going to loose Kakashi if she didn't get going.

"Sorry." Sakura muttered and made an attempt to go around him.

"Where are you parents?" Itachi asked grabbing her arm to keep her from running off which was exactly what she was planning on doing.

Sakura sighed realizing that she wasn't going to get away that easily. Instead, she gazed directly at the soon-to-be derelict Uchiha and surprisingly found herself looking into not the crimson eyes she was accustomed to, but rather a pair of piercing onyx ones. It startled her seeing those eyes that reminded her of a boy that she had loved long ago.

It was then, looking into those eyes, that Sakura realized that Kakashi had deliberately sent her back this far in time. There had been no mix up that landed her in a four year old body. He had taught her this jutsu to send her back with the opportunity to not only stop Sasuke from defecting from the village, but to perhaps save the entire Uchiha clan. He just forgot to mention that little detail to her. Darn that man! The task seemed momentarily daunting, but it was one that she was willing to take and he probably knew that.

Sakura eyed the boy before calculatingly. Uchiha Itachi wasn't a fool, even if he was young. He appeared to be around eight or nine and he was already wearing his ninja headband. The task that she had decided to embark upon would be no easy one. She would have to play this very carefully.

"I don't know." Sakura replied and allowed tears to fill her eyes.

"Stop the tears, little girl. I know they're not real. Why were you following Hatake Kakashi?"

Sakura internally swore. Did he start every conversation with an inquisition? How long had he been watching her, anyway? Had he noticed her using charka? Sakura had a feeling that he'd sense any lie she told him so she decided to give him a bit of truth to throw him off.

"I'm going to marry him."

Itachi's brow rose quizzically and Sakura wondered if he had ever been anything but a serious little boy. Although, Sakura hated being in a four year old body, she sure as hell was going to take advantage of it and this time she was going to have a hell of a lot more fun.

"How old are you?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably at the answer she was about to deliver. She didn't like saying she was a four year old, damn it. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't even say 'damn it'. The last time she had, her mother had tanned her hide—when she finally caught her. Sakura had taken a flying leap over a sofa just to get away from the woman which only served to make her angrier. Her mother was fast. Sakura often wondered why the woman hadn't been a ninja. Nothing could get away from her if she was determined to catch it. Sakura absently rubbed her bottom at the memory. It hurt just thinking about it. Still, she preferred that spanking to the lecture her father had received for using profanity in her presence. That was a killer.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Sakura said crossly and thereby noticed his lips twitched upward in an almost smile and Sakura reluctantly found herself fascinated. Sakura mentally slapped herself. What was it with her, Uchiha men, and those damned smirks?

It was her kryptonite.

"And little girls aren't supposed to wander around without their parents. So, come with me."

Sakura wrenched her captured arm away from him and folded them across her chest. "No. I won't go."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her small frame and made an attempt to grab her—which he did with ease, but Sakura had an ace up her sleeve.

She screamed bloody murder.

"STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!" She yelled over and over again. Unsurprisingly, she drew a crowd. Itachi simply stared at her not letting her go in the least while she pitched a fit. If anything he held her a little tighter while she trashed in his grip. People turned in their direction and whispers about the Uchiha clan heir began circling. No one thought to do anything to stop him much to Sakura's annoyance.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura paused mid-wail when she heard the familiar voice. Sakura looked up into a familiar masked face and had to bite back a grin. Things couldn't have worked out better if she had planned it herself.

"He twied to kidnap me!" Sakura said pointing a finger at Itachi. Itachi's eyes narrowed at her abrupt switch in speech pattern. It was how she talked when she was younger. People seemed to think it was adorable, but she had always hated the way people fawned over her when she spoke and worked hard to pronounce her words correctly. Children notice things like that—or at least Sakura had. Now, on the other hand, she would use the 'cute factor' for all it was worth. Sakura then launched herself at Kakashi, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, and holding on for dear life. Sakura sighed when felt his arms close around her. How long had it been since he had held her in his arms?

"I'll take care of her Itachi." Sakura heard Kakashi murmur. Kakashi turned to walk away and Sakura found herself staring directly into Itachi's eyes. In response, she threw him a look that was decidedly smug and said, "You're a bad, bad boy. Your mommy should spank you."

She didn't bother to look and see what his response to that was although she could imagine it. Sakura bit back a chuckle and instead, Sakura buried her face in Kakashi's neck…and inhaled the scent that she had missed dearly.