Pure Innocence

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

O O O

She didn't know it then, but he had lost someone dearly that day.

He was sitting quietly by himself in the open field, picking blades of grass and shredding them into tiny, thin little pieces that blew away gracefully on the wind. From where she stood, hidden behind one of the massive oak trees circling the meadow, she could see the defeated slump of his shoulders shake every so slightly as if the wind was blowing him away instead of his shredded grass.

And she knew without a shadow of a doubt that the boy was crying.

She had seen boys cry before, but never like this. Usually they would cry openly and loudly after being pushed off the swings or scratching their knees in the dirt. Kiba had cried earlier that day, howling loudly in pain with fat wet tears streaming down his flushed cheeks because he had toppled off the Big Kids' slide.

Iruka-sensei had warned him not to get on it, Kiba never listened.

But this boy wasn't crying like Kiba, he was crying like something had truly broken his heart. She didn't understand how that could be, but she knew it fit. This boy had been hurt in ways she couldn't even imagine and it was confusing and painful all at the same time.

She remembered that whenever she was sad, her mommy and daddy would always hug her and give her kisses to make it better. Sometimes, they would even give her a warm glass of milk with honey to make it better on the inside too.

But, looking around, she couldn't see a mommy and a daddy to give warm glasses of honey-milk to this boy, no hugs and kisses either. He was alone.

That wouldn't do, she decided. Everyone who cries needs something to make it better.

Since there wasn't any way for her to get a glass of milk, she crouched down and carefully (the way Ino had taught her) picked a ivory coloured flower with yellow specks from the rich earth.

That's a White Iris, Sakura. She nodded to herself, agreeing with her inner voice gravely. Ino would be proud if she knew Sakura had named a flower without any help.

She would tell her later.

She petted the petals gently with a smile on her lips. It wasn't a glass of warm honey-milk, but it would do.

The boy's back stiffened when she got close, and she watched him roughly wipe his eyes with his arm before turning to look at her with a narrowed, suspicious eye. She was shocked to see he had bandages wrapped around his head, covering his left eye from the world. The bandages seemed to make his wild, silver hair even more unkempt.

She stopped and twisted her fingers nervously in her shirt tail.

"Uhm...hello," she said softly, smiling shyly.

The boy blinked but didn't reply. Instead, he turned back around and crossed his arms over his raised knees, resting his chin on them. She frowned worriedly. Couldn't he talk?

Feeling even more compassion for the poor boy, she stepped closer and sat down next to him on the side of his exposed eye, close enough that her elbow brushed his side. He didn't move away, so she supposed it was alright.

The flower waved gracefully in her little hand when she looked at it. Biting her lip, she stretched out her arm with the flower and offered it to the boy nervously. When he didn't take it, she 'harrumphed' grumpily and raised herself to her knees to pry his fingers back and force them to clutch the stem of the flower.

"It's not warm honey-milk, but it's close enough." She smiled triumphantly when he didn't drop it. "My mommy said that flowers are a good way to...to..." she furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to remember what exactly her mommy had said, but then shrugged and sat back on her bottom next to the boy when she couldn't remember. "To make you happy, I think."

The boy gave her a bemused glance and looked at the flower. Again, he said nothing, but he nodded his thanks and to her that was just as good as speaking.

"Why are you sad?" she asked.

The boy ignored her.

"Ino told me boys aren't supposta get sad. 'They should be big and strong like Daddy', is what she said."

The boy shrugged and looked at the flower again.

"I think boys can be sad though," she sighed and gazed up at him, smiling apologetically when his single dark eye turned to her. "Everyone gets sad sometimes. Only there needs to be someone else there with them so's they don't get too sad."

"What do you want?"

She stared at the boy in shock, surprised that he could talk after all. "I-I was...I mean, I just..." Suddenly, she knew how Hinata felt when it was her turn to be called to the front of the class and all attention was directed on her. "You can't be sad," she mumbled lamely, cheeks flushing a dusty rose. "It's...it's not good to be sad."

He 'hmm'-ed and twirled the flower in his fingers. "What if I deserve to be sad?" he asked softly, and she wondered if he was talking to her or to the wind.

Deciding it was to her, she said, "No one deserves to be sad."

It was quiet after that, and he looked as if he was seriously contemplating her answer. The wind blew a few leaves past them and she watched him follow their path with his eye as they were forced away and out of sight. Even then, he continued to stare out into the nothing, a deeply troubled look on his young face.

Mommy always kisses Daddy when he's sad...

The boy sat frozen in place as she pressed her warm lips to his cheek, one hand clutched onto his arm to keep herself steady. She wrapped her thin little arms around his neck and whispered, "Don't be sad, it's gonna be okay."

When she pulled away, a light blush coloured the bridge of the boy's nose and he kept his eye averted to the flower clutched in his hand.

She smiled happily. "I hafta go now, before mommy gets worried." She stood and dusted the seat of her pants. Before she left, however, she crouched back down in front of the boy and reached out a hand, stroking the side of his face like her mommy did for her daddy when she wanted him to smile.

"You can be happy now. I made it better." Her smile widened into a grin when the boy's mask worn over the lower half of his face twitched and she could see the faint outline of his lips lifting at the corners.

She didn't know it then, but as she walked away, the sad boy watched her with his one dark eye, lightened (if only a little) by the compassion and comfort she had given him. Somehow, the pain he carried didn't seem so heavy anymore.

A/N: The beauty of fanfiction is you can tweak the ages a bit ;D Obviously this takes place after Obito kicks the bucket (may he rest in peace), and during Sakura's little flower training with Ino and the other kunoichi. I haven't been able to find ONE fic centering around Kakashi and Sakura being little kids and I thought the idea was immensely adorable. Hence this little...monster. :D I hope you guys enjoyed! Please review!