Dead Men Tell no Tales

Sakura has been able to see those translucent figures since she was a child. They have been a part of her life since long ago, even as she was a toddler, wading wobbly steps and a shaky smile towards the girl with brown hair, kind eyes, and a soft smile who looks after her in the corner.

She first acknowledges the half-formed spectres are only seen by her when she is three years old and notices something odd.

Nee-chan has blood on her shirt, she thinks worriedly. The last time she fell and her knee bled, it hurt very much, even before Rin-nee healed her wounds. How bad was nee-chan’s wound for there to be so much blood?

“Rin-nee?” She looks up to her big sister who’s the closest thing to family other than her parents who are often away. Touching her shirt, she asks glumly. “Why’s there blood on yer shirt?”

Then Rin jolts, sad and painful and tells her she’s a ghost and only she can see her. That those half-transparent people are ghosts. The revelation shakes her world at its core as she realizes –

“Ghosts?” Sakura’s eyebrows are scrunched up together as she asks, “Why can I see ghosts?”

“I don’t know, Sakura-chan,” Rin says, ruffling her hair. “You’re a very special girl, Sakura-chan. Don’t tell anyone, okay? If bad guys know you can see us, they will make you tell them everything. Ghosts gossip a lot because they’re dead and have no one to talk to. Soon there’ll be many ghosts who come to tell you stories, but don’t tell anyone, alright?”

Sakura nods vigorously. True to her word, more and more ghosts come after rumours of a girl who can see and interact with spirits, information and rumours spreading like wildfire by the dead. 

“Information is useless to us,” a Kiri-nin, Kushimaru, who comes by to meet her and promises to teach her the sword when she grows up says, “We’re dead, and information is completely useless, thus given freely. Like special ghost gossip that crosses the seas. Information from Kumo or Kiri can be heard here within a few hours. When I was alive, I hadn’t thought it could be possible, but now I’m dead, I’ve seen pretty much everything.”

Sakura looks at the man wearing a mask with four wavy lines on the forehead and asks with bright, too curious eyes. “Then are there other people like me? Those that can see you?”

Kushimaru hums nonchalantly. “Maybe. I think I’ve seen a boy from Iron notice me before. Not sure if it’s a trick of the light, or he actually saw me but maybe it’s a Kekkei Genkai.”

Rin looks pleasantly surprised. “Haruno Kekkei Genkai? I’ve heard of it. Everyone does, but no one – not even the Hokage knows what it is. Maybe you’re right.”

(After some research with the help of her friends, she finds out that it is a Kekkei Genkai only achieved by a minority of people in the clan, records in the clan library of the Harunos who hail from the land of Iron. The revelation that the ghosts can’t touch her unless she allows them to is a comforting one, especially with the terrible haunting moans and murmurs outside her room.) 

“They say dead men tell no tales,” Kushimaru huffs in vague amusement, glancing at Rin, “but we tell Sakura-chan the best tales, don’t we?”

Rin replies, chuckling. “What can I say? Harunos break the laws of physics, especially Sakura-chan.”

The ghosts tell her stories. Sometimes when Rin-nee or Kushimaru-san aren’t there, a red-head woman named Kushina comes and tells her stories and watches over her so that the angry ghosts don’t get close. 

She tells her stories of a village hidden in the whirlpools nearby Kiri, where a clan with red hair and a vibrant personality pulled their shit together earlier than any other clan or village and made themselves into Uzushiogakure, making themselves into a legend. They can make barriers with a flick of the finger, seal monsters into humans, and tilt the world on its axis with their existence.

“Kumo and Kiri allied to destroy the village,” Kushina tells her, all while shooting angry pouts and glares at Kushimaru. “We were sister villages with Konoha, but support was killed before they even arrived. Someday, it’ll be nice to see Uzushio flourish again…” She trails off and the story ends there.

Before Kushina-san leaves, probably to find her husband, she asks, “Can you make friends with my son? I died when he was born and he’s all alone because of the Kyuubi. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and don’t tell him about me, okay?”

Sakura nods slowly, processing the entire story. She has never heard of Uzushio before. There’s Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, Konoha, Suna, Yuu, Taki and a few others but she never heard of Uzushio before this. Why didn’t the adults tell them?

She asks Kushimaru and watches his eyebrows disappear into his bangs. His mask is gone now, and sometimes she wonders how he does that, and if ghosts can change their appearances. If Maki-chan from the street across can turn into an adult.

“Who knows?” He answers as Sakura’s shoulders droop in disappointment. He hurriedly explains as though to not disappoint her. “Really, in Kiri everybody knows what Uzushio is. We had a part in invading it after all. In Konoha? Not a clue. Ghosts aren’t bored enough to stalk academy students unless you know them. Which I don’t. And Konoha ghosts hate me enough to withhold information regarding their relatives. Maybe it’s some sort of secret. After all, Uzumaki Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.”

“The jinchuuriki of what?” Sakura confusingly asks and Kushimaru recoils fearfully as Rin glares daggers into his soul almost literally.

“Um, it’s not really my place to say?” He adds with uncertainty, “Just don’t tell anybody, alright? We have to be kept a secret.”

She nods, not really understanding the situation. 

Her name is Haruno Sakura, she is four years old and can see ghosts.

And it is not written in her file.

Kakashi must’ve been blind to not notice the odd little girl who talks to herself in the park, and acts as if she knows too much. Too much is not supposed to be known.

She wasn’t on his radar, not at first. Not until she befriends Naruto, seemingly seeking him out on purpose. 

Kakashi is on his usual Naruto duty when a little girl rounds the corner, close enough to Naruto’s location for it to be strange, but not too far off the main road for it to be suspicious. Her eyes dart around frantically like she’s seen a ghost.

“Kushimaru-san? Rin-nee?” She calls out. Kakashi feels a pang of pain at the reminder of his dead teammate and takes a few deep breaths.

The girl stalks past the next corner, seemingly following something unseen and unheard, walking with caution and stealth he’s seen most civilians lack. 

His suspicions solidify when she whispers cautiously, anger steeped into her tone. “Komori. Why did you bring me here? I’m not supposed to talk to you outside of the house, and there’s someone here. We could both get into trouble for this.” A long pause, then, “You’re an asshole, yeah?”

Komori? There was a Komori in ANBU once, but she died last year. As far as imaginary friends go, this is a first.

“Hello?” The girl says, light padded steps towards Naruto who is curled up in the corner. Who flinches and ducks away from contact. Kakashi’s heart breaks just slightly at the notion, but he can’t do anything. Not without risking the gag order.

(The more feral part of him which considers Naruto a part of the pack wants to snatch him away from all loneliness, despite what the Sandaime thinks. Minato-sensei would be proud and a little exasperated, but Kushina would beam and thank him.)

“Who’r you?” Naruto asks, words illegible and jumbled from unuse. 

“Me? I’m Sakura.” The girl – Sakura is clearly a civilian child, if her hair colour is any indication, she would be the daughter of the Haruno merchants. “What about you?”

“Uzumaki ‘Naruto, dattebayo.” he answers, confused as though why the punches and insults haven’t come yet. No one else waited so long. “Y’ don’t think Imma monster?”

Sakura inches closer to sit leaning on the same wall as Naruto, making sure to keep a few feet’s distance away. “Why? Maki-chan told me you ain’t a monster unless you done bad things, like killin’ people for no reason ‘n being a trai–tor.” She pronounces the last word slowly before turning to Naruto with a scrutinizing gaze. “You look…four,” she decides eventually, nodding. “Like me.”

He looks at her, hope in his eyes. “Does that mean y’ll be my friend?”

“Okay!” 

And thus a friendship was born, and a few more ANBU guards were stationed outside the Haruno family home.