Title- And I you

By- Envo

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter 1

And I you

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The academy days...

It all started on that day.

He was walking down the pathway to the academy thinking of things he would do that afternoon with time on his hands, and training was the first thing that came in mind.

But before he was able to detour to the smaller path leading way to the training grounds, his keen ear picked up a soft sobbing that halted him in mid-step. Curiosity took over before he could and he found himself moving towards the origin of the distressing sound.

His footsteps slowed to a stop as he took in the scenery before him. To his right was the ever familiar academy which he once attended in a short amount of time; to his left, was the small playground where, he had often waited his little brother to greet him with a hug and a big smile as he walked his little sibling back home.

Though the sun was still high up, the playground was emptied of screaming and running children. All except for one.

He narrowed his eyes before moving towards the lone, hunched figure on the ground cautiously. As he came closer, he found himself staring at a little pink haired girl with her face buried deep within her thin arms, that were hooked around her knees. Her body shook and heaved as her breath came wheezing in and out along each sob.

"Please leave me alone," came a tiny whisper when he stepped foot into the sandy ground of the playground and stopped before the girl.

When she heard no reply, her head jerked up and two watery emerald pools looked deep into his obsidian ones. "Aren't you going to laugh at me?"

Hearing nothing in return, the girl in front of him looked at him first then sneaked a quick glance out of the corner of her eye before adding another wave of shudder to her already trembling body.

He followed her eyes and saw a small dirt path leading into the nearby trees, but as his eyes made their way back to the girl, he saw dots of red staining the sandy floor of the playground. Then it all made sense when he took a closer look her. Face dirtied, her knees and hands were cut, possible from attempting to break a fall; the sandy surface of the ground itself told a similar story as it was roughly disturbed.

Just as his attentions refocused on the girl, he found her peering at him with curious eyes through her fingertips after having calmed down a bit. He finally took the cue and spoke to break the soon-to-be uncomfortable silence.

"You are bleeding." His tone was impassive as he gazed down at her, whose eyes swept through all her injuries and took it all in with acceptance.

Wordlessly, he bent down and lifted her up in his arms and started towards the hospital.

"I'll take you to the hospital."

"You are nice, different from all of them. Thank you, eh…?''

"…Uchiha Itachi."

A small giggle erupted from her. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

Upon hearing the way she addressed him, he stiffened.

"You don't like 'Uchiha-san', Uchiha-san?"

He blinked, then regained his normal stoic façade and ignored her question; even he, himself didn't know the answer to that touchy question either. "Yours?"

Beaming, the girl in his hands gave him a teary smile and replied softly. "Haruno Sakura."

Showing emotions such as tears was uncommon among his clan, even missions alike, it showed only one's weakness; yet Sakura's smile reached him like no other. It was… innocent. It was foreign to him, the word innocent. Born and raised in a clan like his, he was anything but. He couldn't quite understand this sudden feeling, nor could he explain the sudden twist in his chest.

The rest of the journey was made in silence.

A wave of cool air rushed towards the pair as they walked into the pearly white hospital of Konoha.

"Take care, Haruno-san," he muttered before handing Sakura to a blushing nurse who came rushing by and took Sakura from his arms.

Waving back, the little pink hair girl shouted, "Thank you again, Itachi-san."

His lips curled the slightest at her intelligence. It seems he had found himself an interesting little thing.

Standing beside her bed, he looked down at her sleeping form.

It had been months after that incident and for unknown reasons, he couldn't stop himself from visiting the playground just to watch her whenever he didn't have a mission at hand.

Seeing her came running toward him sparked an unknown feeling inside him that he had never felt before. And before he knew it, he was attached to this little girl.

Having just gotten back from a two week long mission, he craved her cheerfulness more than he would ever admit. She made him felt complete.

Slipping silently through her unlocked window, he landed into her room to find her soundly asleep.

Lying in her bed with her pink hair sprayed across the pillow, she looked much too young and fragile to take on the duties of a shinobi; yet he knew she would be enrolled in the academy soon.

Her ability on taking everything in a stride amazed him; for a little girl such as her, her intellects was on par with that of an adult's.

But he couldn't deny the similarities between the two of them. In some ways, she was very much like him in his younger years. They were outcasts among their age group, no matter how much they tried to please them. Him, being a genius and she, being different from others –or so they think.

"You are the only one that bothered to talk to me, Itachi-san. Everyone else just laughed at me and my forehead."

It was a sunny afternoon, and while on the way back to the Uchiha district from his mission, he stopped by the playground beside the academy, as usual.

"I don't see anything wrong."

He found her sitting on the swing with her legs swung freely, alone.

She swept away her bangs and pointed to her uncovered forehead. "See, it's huge. They call me ugly because of it."

Finding himself almost unable to resist the urge to chuckle, he bent down and patted her on the head. "It's foolish to allow such things get to you."

She swept her hand again, and pink locks flew back down once more. "You are the only person who cared." Droplets of tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.

He said nothing as he reached over and wiped away the trials of tears on her porcelain face.

Her shocked face turned towards his. "Are you not well, Itachi-san?" Her voice laced with worry and she stood up from the swing.

Was it really strange for him to act this way?

With a hand tagged on his white vest, she made him bend down to near eye level before she tiptoed and gently touched her forehead to his. Her green eyes stared wide into his with concern, he gave a soft chuckle. Such innocent, naïve mind…

Perhaps…

A sudden change of wind caught his attention and he placed Sakura behind him in a flash. His eyes scanned the surrounding trees, and then moments later, an ANBU emerged slowly from their left.

Deadpanned, he turned towards the ANBU silently with his blazing red orbs, trademark of the Uchiha clan. Silently, he waited.

"Uchiha-san, the Hokage requests your presence at his office immediately."

He nodded curtly at the man and dismissed him before giving his attention to the pair of hands tagging softly on his uniform from his back.

"Are you going on a mission again?"

"Yes."

"Be safe."

Lifting his brows, he looked at the girl with slight curiosity.

"I don't like Itachi-san getting hurt on missions. Please be careful." Sakura pulled a face, and immediately, he knew she was recalling a memory of him being hospitalized for an entire week.

He ruffled her hair. "It's foolish for a little girl like you to worry such trifle things."

She smiled then. "I worry, Itachi-san. It means I care."

A surge of warmth filled him fully when those words hit him, and he carried the sensation with him to his next mission.

She was the only one who said those words to him and meant it other than his mother.

Ever since the word 'genius' was branded on him when he was a mere child, his life had never been the same.

He was forced to spend hours after hours, days after days to train like a true genius would. Never had his father loosen the tight leash he placed on his own son. He was the 'pride of the clan', his father often said, and he was to make the clan proud.

When others of his age were enjoying their carefree child play, he was out with missions after missions in the name of protecting the village; staining his hands with stranger's blood ever since they day he graduated from the academy.

It wasn't long before he rose to the rank of ANBU.

With the price paid by his youth, he had never experience what it was like to be normal. What it was like to be an innocent child knowing nothing of the world; far from the tainted blood and the stench of death.

'Normal', he thought mockingly. It was the one thing that he couldn't have.

People of the same age as him looked at him with awe and admiration while older people talk of him behind his back with fear and disgust. He knew it all. He had impressed both sides, yet belonged to none.

He was alone. His accomplishments build barriers after barriers, separating him from the two worlds.

Not even his family could offer the comfort he sought the most. Everyone expected him to do things most people couldn't do at his age, yet no one looked at him for what he was. He was always Uchiha Itachi and never just Itachi.

"I worry, Itachi-san. It means I care."

Only her.

The pink haired figure stirred and caught his wayward attention.

Bending down, he covered her small form with blankets.

"It means I care."

"And I you, Sakura."

A/N: This is a re-write of the previous version And I you. I've decided to link up all of the one-shots I've written so far for Itasaku under one story. So far, I've estimated the chapters to be around 4-5 shots, so it shouldn't change unless my muse kicked in again, which... well we'll see. I haven't quite finish some of the later pieces yet, so we'll see how it turns out. Also, there will be a decent amount of time skip between each chapter (in years) but don't worry, this is not a collection of one-shots. All will be under one plot line.

Also, thank you readers for your feedbacks on the previous version; it was, after all my first fanfiction and I suppose no one is perfect one the first try. Some changes are noted and I've went back to make those changes. Hope you like it!

Reviews and constructive criticisms are greatly welcome !

Envo 8/24