Chapter Text
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Summers in the land of fire have always been hot and unforgiving, perhaps not as hot as those in the land of wind, but in Konoha the humidity paired with heat can bring anyone who’s not used to it to their knees.
It’s the middle of June and Kushina is six months pregnant.
She’d been living in Konoha for twenty years,
so the kunoichi had thought she was used to the dreadful weather by now.
But now with her pregnancy symptoms, she really misses the cold ocean surrounding Uzushiogakure.
The redhead was just wandering through the streets, she’d thought it would be a good idea to go out and maybe even buy some dango for Mikoto.
The Uchiha matriarch had it even worse.
At eight and a half months pregnant, she was unable to even leave her compound.
But no matter how much Kushina loved her friend,
she really regretted all her decisions now.
She was sweaty, and irritated and her feet hurt too!
So when she spotted the red hair of one Sakura Haruno in a tea house across the street it took her no more than a few seconds to enter said store and plop down in the chair across from Mebuki.
When Sakura was born with red hair her father wasn’t the only one to demand a DNA test.
Konoha’s council was all too eager to have another Uzumaki at their mercy, so was Kushina -for different reasons though-.
However, most had lost interest as it became obvious that the girl was just born with a peculiar hair color.
The Uzumaki had been a bit disappointed,
but adored the child nonetheless.
She’d decided if little Sakura had ties to the Hokage and his wife she surely wouldn’t get bullied for her red hair! After all Kushina knew best how cruel kids could be.
So there she was, sitting across from a very tired looking Mebuki and curiously staring Sakura.
“Mebuki-san, how are you? It’s lovely to see you and Sakura here. Has she grown again? Gosh, I really hope my baby is going to be just as cute!”
“Hello Kushina-sama, we’re both doing great, thank you for asking.”
Kushina had always been a bit loud, perhaps even overwhelming at times,
and she knew that.
So when she realized Mebuki absolutely did not have the energy for a conversation she was a bit sad.
After all, she’d hoped to be able to look at the cute redhead across from her for a while longer.
But as a kunoichi, the woman was a quick thinker,
so she’d already decided on a new path of action.
“You seem a bit tired.
Say, how about you go home and take a nap while I take care of little Sakura.”
Mebuki was all too quick to decline with the little energy she had left,
but Kushina was a quite headstrong person.
“Oh please Mebuki-san! You know I would never hurt the child, and I need to get used to spending time with babies anyways.”
She’d said, one hand protectively draped over her belly.
Begrudgingly Mebuki had given Sakura to her,
you can’t really decline when the Hokage’s wife is the one to make the request.
Besides, she did need that nap.
Giddily Kushina left the store,
Sakura protectively pressed against her chest.
The girl had a full head of red hair,
though it was still quite short.
And one thing Kushina absolutely adored about the child was how much she loved the kunoichis hair.
Children, especially baby’s didnt lie after all,
and Sakuras happy face was just proof of how stupid everyone who’d bullied her for her hair was!
As soon as Kushina had picked her up,
Sakura had been playing with her hair, giggling and babbling happily.
Now however the woman needed to figure out what to do next.
Surely it couldnt be good for a baby to stay out in this heat for too long.
Kakashi was following her as her ANBU guard today and one of the main reasons she’d gone out in the first place had been for him to get some fresh air.
So going home simply wouldn’t do.
Deciding she’d wanted to bring Mikoto some dango anyways, Kushina turned around to walk towards the Uchiha compound.
Most of the Uchiha were by now used to seeing her walk through their compound,
Sakura however got some curious stares.
The baby, -Kushina realized- was a bit shy around others,
she’d turned her head against the woman, seemingly trying to hide from onlookers.
The Kunoichi smiled fondly, she’d also been a bit shy in her childhood years.
Once they arrived, Mikoto had been quick to usher them in, swooning over how cute Sakura looked.
The girl had taken a few minutes to get used to Mikoto, and start her usual bubbling, but once she did there was no stopping her.
The two pregnant woman laughed as Sakura did her utmost to integrate herself into their conversation.
“Where’d you leave Itachi-kun? I was looking forward to seeing him.”
Kushina pouted.
“Oh he should be home any time now, he and Fugaku were out training. You know how boys are.”
Kushina did, Minato and Kakashi also trained whenever they somehow could.
A few short minutes later Fugaku had come in, Itachi following behind him.
The man gruffly nodded at Kushina,
gave his wife a quick kiss to the cheek,
and disappeared upstairs ,not before glaring at little Sakura though who -curiously enough- wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the man.
Itachi had entered just as quietly,
bowing to Kushina and mumbling a quick greeting before trying -and failing- to disappear into his room.
Kushina had realized his intention immediately and quickly got up from the seat at the Uchihas kitchen table.
Because today she had a way to make him stay.
“Itachi-kun, this is Sakura.”
She held the baby right in front of his face.
“Isn’t she just the cutest?”
Kushina could already see Itachis will to leave falter. Everyone knew the little Uchiha had a soft spot for babies.
She grinned before destroying his final reserve.
“Would you like to hold her? You can bottle feed her while me and your mom make dinner.”
Itachi gave her a quick nod before taking the girl and her bottle, sitting down at the table.
************
Sakura was quite happy about being fed, greedily drinking the milk as a small smile graced Itachis lips.
Mikoto quickly snapped a picture of them, making use of Itachis occupied state.
Once Sakura was done she just stared at the young boy for a few awkward seconds,
well awkward for Itachi.
Sakura was seemingly entranced by him,
and Kushina was giggling somewhere behind
them.
And then -in Itachis opinion- faster than any ninja, Sakura pulled at his hair,
loosening the hair tie enough for it to fall to the floor.
He could hear his mom gasp, and Kushina pulling out a camera as Sakura started happily giggling once more, now playing with Itachis hair.
And the worst part?
She was so cute that Itachi couldn’t even do anything about it.
And so, for the next months Sakura would spend at least every third day with the Uchiha’s
-when he was born even Sasuke- or with Kushina and occasionally minato, exploring the village.
Until October 10th.
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It was late in the night when Kushina got contractions, even later when she’d left to give birth, and almost morning when Naruto was born and then,
at five am on October 10th the Kyuubi was released
and Kushina knew she would die.
*************
Kakashi had been tasked by Minato to help the civilians evacuate,
he wanted to fight too,
to protect his only remaining family.
But Minato was the hokage,
and he’d have to stick to the rules.
Kushina had been there so often that Kakashi knew his way to Mebuki’s house,
he could hear the wailing child and knew Kushina would never forgive him if he didn’t help her.
The house was completely destroyed,
half of the roof gone, the other half threatening to fall too.
He quickly entered, searching for the little toddler.
He finally found Sakura on the first floor in her crib, Mebuki was no where to be seen but he could smell blood.
Picking up the little red head, he rushed towards the kitchen where the smell came from.
Mebuki had been impaled by the roof.
Cursing, Kakashi left the house,
the baby still crying in his arms.
The Uchiha compound was close by and he was sure that Mikoto would have left Itachi behind to take care of his baby brother.
Quickly he decided to just drop Sakura off with him.
However, as he entered the compound he froze,
the Uchiha were all there.
Why weren’t they fighting?
“Kakashi!” Mikoto called out to him, she’d been somewhere in the back with Fugaku, seemingly fighting.
Everyone in the compound seemed confused,
and now he was too.
“Why aren’t you out fighting? Isn’t it the Uchiha’s job to protect the civilians?”
Fugaku answered now.
“We were told not to leave by an ANBU.”
Kakashis eyes narrowed,
Minato would never send out such ridiculous orders, especially not in a dire situation like this one,
he voiced those thoughts out loud.
“I told you so!”
Mikoto almost screamed
“Our Hokage would never come up with such ridiculous orders! Im leaving”
Within seconds Mikoto was gone,
probably off to save civilians.
Fugaku barked out orders at his clan, telling everyone else to follow his wife and save lives.
Kakashi left Sakura with Itachi,
-sure that nothing would happen to her now-
before heading back out to protect his village.
The Uchiha saved many lives that night,
Kakashi even more, indirectly even those the Uchiha saved.
But it wasn’t enough, because Sakura was now an Orphan and he had lost everything that still mattered.
On October 10th Naruto Uzumaki was born and both his parents, just as many other civilians and shinobi died. Leaving him and many other children orphaned, even more traumatised.