I do not own the Naruto franchise; I merely play with the universe Masashi Kishimoto created. This non-cannon story, however, is all mine.

Sakura was talented.

She was told that she began to walk at five months and that she began to run at six. She was told that at barely sixteen months old, she was channeling chakra through her hands and feet to climb out of her crib.

Sakura was born with the talent of a prodigious shinobi; unfortunately, talent was a double-edged blade.

The world was in constant tension. The Hidden Villages were in perpetual conflict, and although Konoha was not officially at war with any village, there was an unspoken order issued to children who showed unusual physical and chakra prowess. They were to enlist, to serve at the pleasure of their Lord Hokage, to protect their village and secure it for their posterity.

However, if no one knew of Sakura's talent; she wouldn't be expected to enlist.

Her mother, always the pragmatist, told Sakura that her natural talent was to remain a secret.

So, a secret her talent became; fortunately, there were only three people in all Konoha who knew of it. And she, her mother, and her childhood doctor wanted to keep it that way.

Her childhood doctor was under a strict patient-doctor-confidentiality contract and her mother vowed to keep her talent a secret. So, the only person left who could out Sakura was she herself.

The Haruno family was in control of a successful business that processed numerous weapons. As the heiress to a matriarchal merchant family, Sakura knew her first responsibility was to see the business succeed. That meant she had to be present in business deals as a young girl to learn how to make the business succeed. She knew she had no time to enlist.

An added benefit to her talent remaining a secret was she would be underestimated in any physical confrontation; and being underestimated by your enemies was an advantage. Her mother taught her to seize all advantages.

Perhaps, that's why she was in this situation. If she were taught to carefully consider all advantages instead of blindly seizing them, her talent would have been kept between three people for as long as it was necessary.

She, her mother, and her childhood doctor.

And now, Naruto Uzumaki was privy to this secret.

"How- how are you…"

"Quiet, or else they'll hear us."

Sakura had always enjoyed Naruto's loud voice; however, it was not always appropriate for certain situations. Situations such as looking for a library book or trying to hide from a group of angry villagers who were chasing you.

The group of angry, drunken villagers stumbled into the shaded alley. With beer bottles in their hands and their voices louder than they would have been sober, they shoved at each other and squinted into the darkness.

"Where'd the brats go?"

"I thought ya had an eye on 'em!"

Sakura knew that her talent would eventually show itself. She had always hoped that it would come out during a business deal gone wrong, in a fashion that would intimidate enemies and build trust between her family's business and their customers. Or at least when she was too old to be considered for training.

Unfortunately, her talent was not revealed in a timely, grandiose fashion.

Instead, Sakura had scaled the wall of a covered alley and hid from sight while hoisting the town pariah, Uzumaki Naruto, up by the scruff of his faded orange tee-shirt at the young age of four.

"I could'a swore they'd run into here."

"Well, obviously not, ya dipshit."

Never had Sakura been so thankful for directly disobeying her mother's orders to stop using chakra.

The drunken men fidgeted in their place, seemingly torn between wanting to check another alley and taking another minute to look around in case they missed them.

Sakura hoped that they weren't smart enough to be thorough.

"Maybe they ran into the other one."

Sakura almost let out a sigh of relief, but was interrupted when Naruto began to fidget in her hold. She knew that he couldn't be comfortable, that his armpits had to be hurting from the fabric digging into them. But if she were to keep the two of them suspended, he would need to stay still.

She gently shook the scruff of his tee-shirt, hoping that he would get the hint.

He stopped moving.

"Let's check, then."

"Damn it, Shizuku, you shouldn' of lost 'em!"

The drunken men, shoving at each other and grumbling to themselves, left the alley.

The two children didn't breathe for another minute as they waited for the mob to leave; and when it didn't come back, Sakura let out a chuckle in disbelief.

"Naruto, I'm going to jump down now"

"Wait, what? Sak – "

Sakura screwed her eyes shut and released her hold on the wall.

Quickly pulling Naruto up with one hand to get her arm under his knees, she pooled chakra around her knees and ankles, and the two landed with a great thump onto the floor.

Naruto pushed himself out of her hold and Sakura fell to her knees, sweat dripped down the edges her forehead.

She hadn't realized how much chakra and energy it took to hold herself against a wall.

"How'd you do that?!"

Sakura huffed, and with the last of her strength, brought herself back to her feet.

"I held us up with chakra."

"With chakra?! But Sakura, you're a civilian!"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura wiped at a spot of dirt on the sleeve of her festival kimono.

"Yes, I am a civilian. Shinobi aren't the only ones who have chakra."

Averting her eyes from the mess of her kimono, she met Naruto's shocked expression with one of growing dread.

Naruto Uzumaki had the largest mouth of anyone she had ever met.

She wasn't going to be a civilian for long.

She still had to try to keep him quiet; for her mother's sake, for the business's sake. Sakura drew in a breath and managed to finagle her expression into being stern.

"Listen, Naruto, you'll need to keep this a secret."

His shocked expression flickered into a disappointed one before he schooled it blank.

He had misunderstood what she was asking, she realized.

"I didn't mean about the saving thing – Naruto, I like hanging out with you – but you'll need to keep quiet about the whole chakra business. I – my mom needs me at home."

She looked down at her sandal-clad feet and surreptitiously avoided eye contact.

"But, you're amazing!"

Panic began to trickle into her system and she could barely keep the frustration from her tone when she bit out, "Naruto, if other people know I can manipulate my chakra, I'll be forced into enlisting."

"Oh."

She scuffed her toe into the grimy ground and sighed.

"My mom needs me at home, I can't – I just can't leave her alone."

Naruto's sandal-clad feet edged into her field of vision.

"I can keep quiet about it, if, ya know, you really need me to."

Sakura jerked her gaze from the floor back up to Naruto's face.

He looked earnest, at least.

"I really, really need you to keep quiet."

They held each other's gaze until they heard fireworks going off a few seconds later. Looking away, as if embarrassed, Naruto folded his arms behind his head let out a "dattebayo."

Despite her stomach curling with dread, Sakura couldn't help but smile.

"Well, how about we go watch the fireworks, huh? Then we'll have done everything at the festival!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Then, the two were off. Both inconspicuous while they weaved through strangers to find a space to watch the festival fireworks. And as four-year-olds are prone to do, Sakura forgot about her dread for the rest of the night.

However, she was reminded of it early the next day when her mother asked about the dirt staining her kimono.

"I told you to stay away from people who cause trouble."

"I didn't know he'd be trouble, ma'am. Everyone ignores him, so I thought no one would care – "

"Do not act naïve, not to me."

Sakura looked down at her hands. They were as small and fragile-looking as she felt.

"Ma'am, he promised not to tell."

Her mother sighed and Sakura felt her brow furrow.

"Sakura. Look at me."

She obeyed. Her mother sat across from her at the far end of an ornate dining table. She wore a pale grey kimono, her hair was pulled back into a stern bun, and her expression was hauntingly neutral.

She and her mother had a very professional relationship, one that was by no means ordinary or devoid of love, but one that was nonetheless regimented.

Her mother began to groom her as the heiress to the Haruno Merchant Company when she first began to speak and comprehend things; from a young age, Sakura was taught to control her emotions, analyze people for their uses, and to act as a proper lady would.

"When the shinobi come – "

"Naruto promised – "

With a wave of her hand, her mother interrupted her.

"When the shinobi come, you are to do as you are told. Remember, you are a subject of the Lord Hokage therefore you serve at the pleasure of the Lord Hokage."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her mother's mouth tightened around the edges, and for the first time in her memory, Sakura could clearly see stress present in her expression.

"This is the boy that you met the other day, Naruto?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Her mother looked away, her expression weary and drawn.

"I assume he is going to join the academy when he is of age?"

"Yes, ma'am. Do you know of him?"

"Yes."

Sakura waited for her mother to clarify how she knew him, but she didn't; and neither she nor her mother spoke for a while.

Sakura had messed up. She knew it, her mother knew it, and she had a sneaking suspicion that neither of them knew how to handle the mess she got herself into.

"How did the boy find out?"

"We were being chased by a group of men at the Rinne Festival, and I scaled a wall to avoid them."

Drumming her fingers on the fine oak table, her mother turned her weighty gaze back onto Sakura.

"You told me you were accompanying the girl who lives a couple blocks away, what was her name?"

"Yamanaka Ino, ma'am."

"Ah, yes. Ino. Are you even acquaintances with her?"

"No, ma'am. I lied to get permission to go out, I apologize."

"Hn."

Truth be told, Naruto was Sakura's first friend. She found other children her age to be dull, but she very quickly became fond of Naruto and his infectious grin.

They met on a dreary winter day.

Part of Sakura's assigned duties were to pick up groceries from a local grocer and prepare the food for dinner. So, she set out with an umbrella and briskly navigated out of her house and onto the busy street to get to the grocers before it began to rain.

But she never did make it to and back from the grocers in a timely fashion because she became distracted. About thirty feet away from the entrance to the grocery, Sakura noticed the villagers around her stiffen and glare at someone making their way through the busy street.

She speculated that it must be a shinobi who had failed a mission, or the old thief who had been caught stealing goods from the local shops. Yet, to her surprise, it was a small boy with a shock of straw colored hair. His eyes were trained on the ground, and he wore a faded orange tee-shirt and shorts despite the low temperature and the rainclouds overhead. Before he passed Sakura, who had stopped in the street in front of the grocers to watch him, he turned into an ally.

The villager's glares quickly turned into whispers.

"Freak."

"He's not welcomed here, as far as I'm concerned."

She thought that he looked nice enough, and while lost in her thoughts, an older man bumped into her.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Sakura trained her eyes onto the floor in false embarrassment as she transformed into the demure young girl her mother had trained her to be.

"I'm sorry, sir, I was lost in thought."

"It's okay. Try to watch out next time."

She felt the stranger walk away rather than hear, and she quickly looked up to see who she bumped into. The man had bright silver hair and Sakura had the sudden suspicion that people with oddly colored hair were bound to meet each other at some point or another.

Her thoughts quickly turned back onto the blonde boy and she found that she couldn't quite control her curiosity despite her mother's tedious instruction.

Sakura ducked into the crowd and turned into the ally that the boy had a few moments earlier. The ally was dirty and dark and Sakura suddenly felt the irrational fear that the bottom edge of her casual kimono would become stained with grime. Then she would have to explain to her mother what she'd been doing between their house and the grocers.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

The ally was a dead end. It housed the few garbage cans that the shop owners used and nothing more. Yet, she couldn't see the boy.

"Um, if you're still here, I just wanted to say that I like your tee-shirt."

There was no reply. Feeling like a fool, Sakura scuffed the toe of her sandal against the grimy floor and murmured, "well, whoever you are, I hope you have a nice day."

That had done the trick, apparently.

The trashcan furthest from the entrance of the ally shook and fell on its side with loud clattering and a great oomph. Sakura watched on in amusement as the blond boy tried to clamber off his knees and right the trashcan as fast as he could.

"Were ya talking to me?"

He looked at her with wide eyes and she couldn't help but notice that they were wide with… hope?

"Yeah, although it's sort of dirty now."

The boy attempted to wipe traces of trash off the tee-shirt in question, but didn't have much success. Eventually, he gave up and flashed Sakura a wide grin.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya."

She couldn't stop herself from grinning in response if she tried and quickly walked to Naruto, stepping around the misplaced yet righted trashcan, and offered her hand to him in greeting.

"Haruno Sakura, it's nice to meet you as well."

Sakura knew her face had to have lit up when he took her hand because, if it was even possible, he grinned even wider.

"Can I ask why you were in a trashcan?"

His grin wilted a bit and she suddenly wished that she hadn't mentioned it at all. Naruto recovered gracefully and let go of her hand to scratch the back of his head sheepishly, or because he had gotten something from the trashcan stuck in his hair. She wasn't about to ask about that, however.

"I was playing hide and seek?"

Sakura knew it had something to do with avoiding the judgmental villagers glaring at him, but she decided not to comment on that either.

"Sure. I've hidden in some weird places too."

He seemed to relax a bit in relief in response and for that she was immensely grateful. Then, almost comically, he stiffened when a raindrop fell onto his forehead. Giggling, Sakura opened her umbrella and held it out to show him that there was enough space for two. Naruto cautiously moved so she and him were shoulder to shoulder, as if he were expecting her to pull away from him.

"I've got to go to the grocery store, but if you'd wait out front for a bit, you can walk me back to my house afterwards."

"Are you sure?"

He knew that she had seen the other villagers' faces, knew that they looked at him as if he had leprosy. He was offering her a way out.

"Well, of course. We're friends now, right?"

With all the grace of a six-year-old, Naruto quickly nodded and Sakura grinned at him so widely that her eyes shut.

"And if you are still playing hide-and-seek, we can lower the umbrella over our eyes and no one will know it's us."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea."

He sounded grateful and Sakura felt giddy on the high of making her first real friend.

"Well, let's go, then!"

She wrapped a hand around his forearm, lowered her umbrella, and let him out onto the street and towards the grocers.

"I'll be right back. Five minutes, tops."

He nodded and swallowed a bit, but held the umbrella and their spot outside the small shop and near a stand of ripe tomatoes. Sakura rushed inside of the grocers and set to work. She grabbed a paper bag and filled it with chicken, milk, lettuce, peppers, and various spices. She was so absorbed in her task that she almost jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

"Ms. Haruno! It's nice to see you today. Why are you in such a rush?"

The grocer's eldest daughter, Atsuko, always aided Sakura while she shopped; advising her on which spices to try or what vegetables go the best with which meat. Atsuko was kind, but always reported any odd behavior to her mother.

"I have a friend waiting for me outside. He's going to walk me home!"

Atsuko must have sensed her urgency and smiled down at her.

"That's excellent! I'll put the groceries on your tab so we don't have to dilly-dally with counting out the ryo and such."

Sakura smiled widely and held the bag out to the older woman.

"I really appreciate this, I really really do, ma'am."

Atsuko smiled back, quickly wrote down the cost of the groceries, and waved her off.

"Go, he is waiting on you."

Sakura rolled the opening of the bag down, bowed, and tried her best not to run out of the grocers. She would later swear that she could hear Atsuko's chuckling as she made her way to Naruto.

"I'm back! Did ya time me?"

Naruto jumped when she addressed him, but was quick to offer his arm and space under the umbrella.

"Ah, I forgot."

Sakura giggled and took his arm, pulling them shoulder to shoulder.

"Don't worry, there is always next time."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly and followed when Sakura urged him back onto the busy street in the direction of her house.

"Y'know, this reminds me of going to the festival."

The festival had been weighing heavily on her mind. Her mother was requiring her to go with an acquaintance to the upcoming Rinne Festival, and maybe – just maybe – she could convince Naruto to go with her.

"Er… I've never really gone."

Sakura stopped, consequently pulling Naruto to a halt with her.

"What – "

"You need to go with me."

She felt Naruto stiffen and knew she had to press on. If the villagers reacted to him in such casual circumstances, she couldn't imagine what they would do after celebrating the way villagers usually do. She wanted him to enjoy himself. She could keep him out of trouble, she felt sure of it.

So, Sakura thought to herself, this is what friendship felt like.

"It'll be really fun, and I've never been with a friend before so we can have fun together. We can also bring the umbrella and I can buy us lots of desserts and we can play games and – "

She was rambling.

"Ya know what? I think it sounds fun."

Sakura felt like she could fly. She was smiling so wide her cheeks hurt.

"We can talk more about the festival tomorrow, around two, if you want."

Somewhere in the middle of her rambling, she had started towards her house again, and had unconsciously stopped in front of the small entrance to her house. She felt a silly sort of regret that she lived so close to the grocers. Naruto grinned and handed her umbrella back to her.

"I'll be here at two, dattebayo!"

Sakura grinned in response and pushed the umbrella back at him.

"Keep it, just in case it rains tomorrow."

She opened the small, wooden gates and waved to a still-looking Naruto.

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

And as young children do, the two quickly became best friends.

"Ma'am, I know that this could change my training for the business, but developing my talent further could only benefit it."

Her mother's gaze raked over her face, looking for something that Sakura couldn't even begin to guess at.

"I'm sure that you will still be able to own up to your future. Nonetheless, it is also necessary to notify my sister that your cousin may need to be trained."

Sakura suddenly felt cold and felt the heavy weight of disappointment weigh on her shoulders; but she couldn't find it in herself to regret becoming friends with Naruto. Not even when he posed a risk to what she believed was the most important thing in her life.

"I understand, ma'am."

And as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

Her mother stood from her seat and walked around the dining table, her grey kimono brushing the floor with every step she took. She stopped when she reached Sakura.

"Talk only when a response is necessary, treat them respectfully."

Feeling numb, Sakura nodded and stood from her chair, leaving it askew as she and her mother headed towards the front door.

The Haruno household was spacious, walls were lined large windows partially covered by ivy and there were gleaming wooden floors. Its halls seemed to extend in every direction and Sakura like to imagine that the house extended past the bounds of the village.

However, despite her previous belief that the halls of her house went on indefinitely, Sakura felt the hallway connecting the front room to the dining room was too short.

Light filtered in a window above her front door, and for a moment, everything was still.

Then, Sakura flinched; startled back into reality when the doorbell rung once more.

Her mother, with an elegance that she could only hope to inherit one day, opened the door to reveal two shinobi in flak jackets.

"May I help you?"

One of the two, a slender man chewing on a… needle, stepped forward and offered her mother his hand in greeting.

"My name is Genma, and this is my comrade, Ebisu."

Ebisu was stockier than Genma, with dark glasses obscuring his eyes.

Her mother shook his hand and bowed to Ebisu.

"I am pleased to meet you both."

Sakura, remembering her training in etiquette, walked out from behind her mother and bowed to the two in greeting.

She felt their weighty gazes fall onto her as soon as she was in their line of sight.

"We are here to ask if your daughter planned to enroll in the academy when she turns of age."

Her mother straightened her shoulders and Sakura forced herself to meet the gaze of the man with the needle in his mouth.

"I serve at the pleasure of the Lord Hokage."

All the adults paused, even her mother, and Sakura took that as her cue to continue.

"If the Lord Hokage is in need of another kunoichi, then I will enlist."

The needle in the first shinobi's mouth twisted as he scrutinized her and she couldn't help but think, in her green kimono and with her long hair plaited to the side, she looked nothing like a potential kunoichi.

The second shinobi readjusted his dark glasses, stepped forward and knelt in front of Sakura so they were face to face.

"We appreciate that, Haruno Sakura."

She found that the second shinobi, Ebisu, made her nervous. She didn't like that his eyes were hidden behind his dark glasses. She couldn't even begin to guess what he could be thinking.

Ebisu stood and stepped back so that he and his accomplice were shoulder to shoulder, and together, they completely blocked Sakura's view of her front yard. She concluded that they must do that on purpose, blocking out escape routes, to intimidate others.

The first shinobi pulled a packet of paper from the inside of his flak jacket and handed it to her mother.

"These are the registration forms for the Academy. They are to be turned in by the first of the year."

"Of course, we appreciate you taking the time to give them to us personally."

"It was no problem, ma'am."

"If you have any questions on how to prepare for the academy, such as which materials to bring, do not be afraid to visit the Academy's front desk."

"I thank you two again, please have a nice day."

The two nodded and Ebisu turned to leave, but Genma did not. Ebisu paused and looked back curiously at his accomplice and Sakura felt the faint stirrings of fear.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to have a chat with your daughter."

Sakura felt her mother's hand find her shoulder, and absentmindedly thought of how her hand felt warmer than anything she'd ever felt before.

"Of course, you can come in and I can fix tea – "

"Alone. It won't take very long."

Her mother's hand gripped her shoulder tighter, as if she were going to object, and then let go.

Sakura suddenly felt lost when the warmth of her mother's hand left her shoulder.

"Of course."

The two stepped out from her door and Sakura slowly walked with them, flinching just so when her front door closed behind her.

Sakura looked up at the first shinobi, Genma, and felt her feet unconsciously shift into a defensive stance.

Genma grinned.

"Look, we know that you're capable of handling chakra."

She stole a quick look at Ebisu, who seemed to be listening to Genma with interest, and then back at the first shinobi.

"Enlisting might not be your decision, but you do have the choice of when to enter into the academy. You are good enough to start now; hell, you might be good enough to become a genin as of now! But if you want to wait, you can enroll when you are eight years old."

"Is the curriculum standardized?"

Ebisu almost looked gob smacked and Genma, if anything, grinned wider.

"Yes."

"And it doesn't become individualized until I become a genin."

"Yes."

Sakura felt her brow furrow in thought, possibilities and plans raced through her mind at a speed she couldn't keep up with.

"Is it common for pre-academy students to receive help from older shinobi?"

Genma and Ebisu shared a look, one that Sakura couldn't decipher.

"No. Only traditional, shinobi clans train their children before they enter the academy."

Sakura felt the edges of her mouth turn down as her mind raced faster than it had before.

"Informally, could a pre-academy student ask an older shinobi advice?"

"There's no rule against it."

"But are shinobi willing to help students who aren't theirs?"

"Not usually."

"But on the rare occasion, it can happen?"

Genma's mouth quirked, the needle bobbling up and down as it followed his lips.

"I'd guess so."

Sakura nodded absentmindedly and considered the two men for a brief moment.

They were both dressed in traditional jounin garb, the flak jacket and the navy pants, and carried themselves with a sort of ease that Sakura came to associate with men who were confident in their skill.

Genma obviously fought with the needle, senbon her mind helpfully supplied, that he carried in his mouth. He looked as if he'd be skilled with various weapons.

Ebisu looked… like he wasn't specialized in any specific fighting style. An ace of all trades, maybe.

"Do you recommend I enter the academy as soon as possible?"

"I would."

Sakura nodded, still lost in thought.

"I appreciate you letting me know, but if you'd excuse me, I need to discuss this with my mother."

Genma chuckled and Ebisu shifted on his feet, the two were practically in sync when they bid her goodbye.

"No problem."

"See you soon."

As she turned to go to her house, she swore that she heard Genma mutter to Ebisu, "I think we'll see her sooner than we might expect."

When she walked through the front door and into the living room, she noticed the time.

It was two.

Sakura felt something lodge itself in her throat. Naruto wasn't going to show up today.

Her mother had sat down at her side of the table on the dining room table, and Sakura dropped into her seat. For the first time that day, she felt exhausted from the unexpected visit.

"What did they say?"

"They offered to let me into the academy as soon as possible, if I wanted, ma'am."

"Do you want to?"

Sakura laid her hands flat on the table and considered her mother.

She looked tired, drawn, weary.

"I think it will be more beneficial if I wait until I observe different shinobi before I enter the academy, ma'am."

Her mother nodded and squinted at her.

"You have a plan."

It wasn't even a question worth asking.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Will it start tonight?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Will I be eating alone?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Her mother nodded, more to herself than Sakura, and then waved her hand.

"Well then, go if you need to. I'll let you out of your duties for the night."

Sakura got out of her seat, pushed in her chair, and with a "thank you, ma'am," she was off.

She had to find Naruto.