Malachite

Sakura feels warm and safe, she fell asleep with three out of five chakra signatures of her boys all around her, and she knows she's going to wake up well-rested. She loves it. It doesn’t matter that one of them hasn't been born yet and that she doesn’t know Kakashi at this point in time, but their presence has never failed to make her feel safe.

So, the baby rosette snuggles into the warm bedding and lets her mind and soul relax, falling into her biological infant nature.

“What are you doing you pink-haired pest?” a deep and painfully familiar voice growls out.

Emerald eyes snap open and blink owlishly at the sea of red and scarlet orange. With all the energy her baby body can mold, she flips onto her stomach and stares at the large eye watching her. 

Let it be said, no matter how old Sakura’s soul is, her brain is at best, working on one-year-old power, maybe two if she concentrates.

So, she feels entirely justified by the childlike glee she feels when seeing the demon plushie.

Her soul knows this being. Knows him as well as she knows her boys. Her tongue is too short to form words, but her head all but shouts, again she is a child with child instincts-

KU-CHAN!

The glaring eye widens for some reason and the violent growling all but halted as she crawls spastically toward the bijū. 

Ku-chan~! Ku-chan~!

Kurama stares hard at the pink pest crawling toward him in glee. He can hear her thoughts perfectly. This is his domain and he brought her here after she had come into his presence with chakra similar to Hashirama. He was going to ignore it mainly because his host had an iron will. But then she came closer and touched him.

That blast of chakra, outside of feeling like mokuton, felt and tasted like father. So much so, that he nearly cried at the sensation. He had yet to meet someone so like his father and he couldn’t help but drag the pink welp into his domain. Thankfully, Kushina was not paying attention and she wouldn’t any time soon. If what was happening outside was what he thought it was (He had seen and felt many Harunos find their soulmates in the past. That powerful surge is unforgettable).

Now he was curious for a whole new reason, after centuries of being called a monster, he had yet to meet a soul who was happy to see him outside of his annoying siblings. Yet here was this pink whelp, chanting some nonsense that couldn’t possibly be a shortened version of his name since he would never give it to a human. 

He bared his teeth at the bubbly and happy human child,“Do you know me, human whelp?”

His lone eye that is watching her, takes in her halt, she is extremely fast at crawling despite her young age, he notices. He watches, not at all amused, as she stares at him with those big green eyes and he represses a shiver at the all-seeing capabilities of it.

His mind rings with her singular thought that Ku-chan is Ku-chan. My friend!

And her mind then blasts him with images- no memories. She is slightly older and walks with a blond boy who looks remarkably like Kushina and Minato. Her being nearly an adult, fighting alongside the same boy against foes. Many clips ranging from her being a little teen to a young adult. Berating the blonde, teasing his spectral appearance, fighting alongside. Not being used, but working together. He sees himself grumpily supplying her with chakra on more than one occasion. One clip of the pink-haired brat in front of him, the blond child, and the newborn Uchiha standing in front of him and his siblings. He and the blonde child with fists bumped together. The final clip is of his father talking to the Uchiha brat and pressing a hand on the pink-haired girl's head. She is deathly pale and blood dribbles from all corners of her face. The Uchiha looks beside himself with worry and fear, but resigned. He touches her forehead, a single teardrop falls onto her forehead. His father's mouth moves, saying words Kurama cannot hear but can read. His eyes were not exactly pitying but with some degree of understanding as a white light enveloped the pink-haired woman.

He hadn’t even realized that while he had spaced out, taking in the memories, the pink human baby had finally managed to crawl to him and was gripping the fur around his snout. She is trembling and he can make out the faint sniffle of what he knows to be an onset of tears.

Ku-chan is Ku-chan. Ku-Kurama. An old friend and comrade.

The baby voice mellows out into an older one, a mature one. The pink baby turns her head to look at him in his one visible eye. She is standing, just barely, clinging to him like her life depends on it. Her eyes are the same omniscent emeralds, but there is grief now overflowing. 

Kurama stares at this human baby. He doesn’t like humans. Hates them in fact, but according to the onslaught of memories, she had become his friend in her original world. Comrade in arms against his bat-shit crazy grandmother. She was close to the reincarnation of Indra and Asura and his siblings. She had died protecting Indra and his father rewarded her with a new life, where she could possibly use her knowledge for a better future if she so chose. 

He knows her name, Indra and Asura had said it countless times with varying degrees of affection. He heard her name countless times in the last few weeks and this past hour alone. 

But he wants to ask her. She, a mortal by all means and powers, stood toe to toe to help do something god reincarnates and their siblings struggled to do. She might do it again in this world too, if he judged her stubbornness and desire to protect right. 

“What is your name, kit?”His tone is no longer abrasive or hostile. He knows she means no harm. His father sent this pure soul here for redemption and recompense for her continued selfless actions. She was now his to protect. His siblings would see the same thing should she ever meet them again.

Her eyes are glossy and watery, and her lip wobbles. She must sense his change in mood and clutches him closer. Trying to meld with him. A purr tumbles out of him in comfort for this kit. HIS kit.

Her baby lips part as if to speak but no coherent sound comes out. At least not as clear as the thought in her head as she makes eye contact with him again. 

Sakura. Haruno Sakura.

Her smile is a wobbly thing as she gives him her name. Kurama can only close his eyes in acceptance and relax his hold on her mind, releasing her back to her domain.