Malachite

Despite the emotional whirlwind she had just been through with Kurama and the last memory she had no recollection of with The Sage and Sasuke-kun, Sakura is still well-rested. Kurama believed her. Accepted her. Purred for her. 

So she is more than a little confused when she wakes up, not on the comforting bosom of her mother or on the stomach of Kushina, but in the arms of an absolutely FUCKING adorable five-year-old Uchiha Itachi. 

Oh, my sage! He’s so CUTE! Sakura is not ashamed to admit she squealed. 

Taking in his shoulder-length ebony hair, charcoal eyes, and mild stress lines, she knows it’s Itachi who’s holding her. His chakra smells like a campfire after a rain shower and she loves it. She does nothing to stop the giggling her baby body has decided to grace this soon-to-be legend of a man with. His eyes widen at the sound and one of his hands comes closer to her face, possibly her cheek, before she grabs the index finger. A baby instinct she is not in control of.

A legend who remains loyal and in the light. She growls. She refuses to let the Uchiha Massacre happen in this new life. And she knows it’s possible if she keeps Minato alive and Kurama from escaping. 

Which he seemed less likely to do, or the rampage part at least. I just need to keep an eye out for Obito. 

“Mebuki-baa-san.. Something is wrong with Sakura-san. She is.. awake but laughing.” Itachi’s face is blank but his eyes betray his concern and that makes Sakura giggle harder. 

Who calls a baby ‘-san’? Sakura is cackling at the socially awkward prodigy.

Another face pops into her field of view, and this one she does not recognize. Though his hair reminds her of Obito if a little bit. 

He has stress lines too but his grin is wide, infectious, and true. His eyes glitter like a cat as he watches her amused.

“Baa-chan! Can I hold Sacchan too? She’s adorable. Tachi-chan can go back to holding Sasu-chan!” He calls out over his shoulder. There is chuckling and a callback, “Of course Shisui-kun. You remember how I showed Itachi-chan how to hold her?”

Her mama, she realizes, before she snorts. They’re fighting to hold her. That’s so fucking adorable.

Her giggling intensifies. Itachi’s face is slowly becoming concerned, “Baa-san… please help!”

Her nii-chan is the one who answers, “She’s fine, Itachi-chan. She’s giggling because she likes you. That’s impressive since she usually just stares or sleeps when she meets strangers.”

That tidbit of knowledge seems to make the young prodigy calm down and hold her closer to his chest, but Shisui is reaching out to take her. The two boys are now in a glaring contest. Sakura wants to cackle some more. One confirmation from her father and Itachi feels more comfortab-

Wait. Shisui? As in Shunshin no Shisui?! Sakura stops giggling and stares at the boy to be sacrificed for Danzō’s evil plot. 

Not on my fucking watch, She growls in her head. Sakura has stopped giggling but is now stretching her arms out to the older prodigy. 

Shisui beams at her and raises his brow at Itachi, obviously feeling triumphant. The adults are quiet and she can feel their eyes on her. She gets it, the last two people she demanded to hold her, got a blast of her chakra. Granted, she now has a confident theory that the chakra, while primarily hers, had bits of the Sage of Six Paths in it and she’s willing to bet all her future earnings from missions that whatever she had dispelled was some sort of blessing or whatever. Meant to help not harm. To guide not control.

Shisui finally gets a hold of her and he holds her out, head tilted to the side as he grins at her. Sakura tilts her head with him, a gummy grin on her own face. She sticks a fist in her mouth and dribbles. He coos.

She’s cuddled to his chest and her head rests on his shoulder beside his neck.

Nothing happens, and the adults seem to sense that and go back to their dinner. She can still feel fleeting glances every now and then. She dozes off as her brother, Shisui, and Itachi sit on the engawa facing the large backyard. His signature reminds her of a thunderstorm on summer’s hottest day.

“She’s adorable Kaede!” He whispers in glee, mindful of his voice. He recognizes her smoothening chakra signature as she falls asleep. 

Itachi nods, his face solemn, “She is. But Sasuke is cuter.”

Shisui grins indulgently at his baby cousin, ever so serious. Kaede, his once-upon-a-time classmate, glares at Itachi, “Your brother is cute. But no one is cuter than Sacchan!”

Shisui chuckles quietly as the brothers begin to argue about whose sibling is cuter.

All the while, Sakura never, not once, noticed that her father and Mikoto were sitting extremely close together. Shoulders touching. Both were red-eyed from crying. A new sense of comradery (platonic) between them.