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Chapter Text

She knew it was too late once she saw the blinding light coming her way. What was there left to do? Stopping those two was impossible at this point, so she only had three choices left. Let Sasuke and Naruto kill her in hopes they’d realize that their feud was meaningless, let Sasuke and Naruto kill each other, or utilize that jutsu. Logically, the latter was the way to go; it involved no killing, but there was such a large margin for error, Sakura couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Realizing she had hardly two seconds left before she would die, she acted on instinct. Her hands flew through the signs without even thinking, the seals on her body illuminating as the jutsu was put into action. 

“You two are such idiots!” She exclaimed as she finished the final hand-sign. “Look what I had to do to fix your mistakes!”

She clenched her eyes shut, awaiting pain. If the jutsu didn’t work, she would be doubly impaled by a rasengan and a chidori; if the jutsu did work, she would likely experience pain similar in caliber minus her death. 

The pain hit. It felt like every cell in her body was being individually ripped to shreds, reassembled, then destroyed again. It was so blinding and so incapacitating, she couldn’t even tell if she was screaming. After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to subside. She regained feeling in her limbs and quickly realized that she had survived. That meant-oh god. Sakura paled as she realized the implications of her success. After the horror she had seen in the past month, from the death of those close to her, to the horribly mutilated bodies on the battlefield, she knew facing her peers again was going to be difficult.

She sat up in her bed, scanning the room. A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she recognized the pink and red wallpaper she had as a child. As she rolled out of bed, she also realized how much smaller and weaker she was. Since her main purpose now was to alter the future and stop Sasuke, she would have to train like crazy to make up for her nearly emaciated state. She rummaged through her wardrobe, picking out the clothes she wore when she was twelve, cringing at the impracticality and childness qualities. Sighing deeply, she changed into them. Before she left the room, she remembered what important thing was happening today. She was going to be assigned a team. 

This means that I can start off on a better foot with Sasuke! She realized, grinning at her epiphone. Maybe if I don’t seem like a total fangirl, he’ll appreciate team seven more. 

Sakura began to formulate her new plan. Step one, she decided, was her physical appearance. Since she had woken up earlier than she needed to, she took the extra time to cut her flowy pink hair and change into a more practical outfit. Feeling satisfied with her new look, she dashed out of her house, trying not to let her mother see her. 

“I’m leaving now mom!” Sakura announced once she had reached the door, relishing the fact that she could address her mother in such a carefree way, “It’s my first day of being a genin, remember!”

“Have a good day honey,” Mebuki started before stepping into the front hallway, “Sakura your hair!” By the time she had made her exclamation, Sakura was far out the door.

Sakura took a deep breath before entering the academy. She braced herself for the tsunami of memories that would surely follow seeing her friends again. As hard as she tried to push the scenes of their grisly deaths to the back of her mind, they always found a way to resurface. Sakura was positive that seeing them as carefree children would force the memories straight to the front of her mind so she simply braced herself for impact. 

“I got here before you billboard-brow!” A familiar high-pitched voice greeted her, “Looks like I get to sit next to Sasuke now!”

Sakura couldn’t help but smile when she saw her best-friend/enemy standing in front of her, alive. “Are you sure Sasuke wants to be fawned over?” Sakura replied, shooting Ino a quizzical look, “We’re ninja now. That means that we should act like one… Ino-pig.” Sakura tagged on for good measure.

“What’s wrong with you? Also why on earth did you cut your hair?”

“Long hair is impractical.” Sakura stated simply. She really wanted to rekindle her friendship with the Yamanaka, but she was having a hard time acting the proper way. She felt as if she had been through hell and back, making acting like a preteen girl very difficult for her. While Sakura had been lost in thought, she had failed to notice the odd stares she had been receiving from her classmates; especially Sasuke.
Sakura looked at the Uchiha and felt shivers down her spine. Though she didn’t want to admit it, the boy was still attractive to her. The longer she looked at him, the more complicated feelings raced through her body. She felt love, fear, sadness, nostalgia, and anger all in the few seconds she had been reunited with Sasuke.

“What are you staring at?” She quickly retorted, trying not to sound angry, but merely curious.

As she expected, Sasuke looked away as if nothing had happened. 

“Sakura-chan!” An overtly bright voice called, “You’re kinda different now, but I still think you’re awesome. Wanna sit next to me?”

Sakura realized that she could improve the team seven dynamic if she acted kind to Naruto. Not to mention, the boy had become one of her best friends.

“Sure Naruto.” She replied, sliding into the booth next to him. “Are you excited to find out what team you’re on?”

“Hell yeah I am!” He exclaimed, “I hope we’re on the same team. Then I can always protect you!”

“Thank you Naruto, but I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. I do hope we’re on the same team though!”

“You’re really awesome Sakura-chan. Wanna get some ramen with me tonight?”

“I’ll run it past my parents.” Sakura cringed at the fact that she’d have to speak to her parents like they hadn’t died in front of her eyes a few days ago.

Naruto grinned happily again and bent in to whisper something into Sakura’s ear. “I hope we’re not on the same team as Sasuke-teme, he seems really annoying.” 

Sakura did nothing but laugh. In all reality, she wasn’t sure how to respond. Though it was true that she wanted to love Sasuke, the horrible crimes he had committed made her feel rather uneasy. But this wasn’t the Sasuke she knew before. Sure he was still a moody, emo kid, but he wasn’t a murderer yet. Sakura decided that her main goal was to make sure Sasuke was never consumed by darkness.

Sakura sat on the roof with her new genin team. This time, she was going to make a good impression with her sensei, and be sure to not come off as a fangirl.

“So before we get started, tell me about yourself. Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies.” Kakashi-sensei instructed.

“You seem shady, you go first.” Naruto gave Kakashi a suspicious look. 

“Okay, my name is Kakashi. I like some things and dislike others. As for my dreams, I’d rather not tell you. I suppose I don’t have any hobbies.”

“You only told us your name!” Sakura and Naruto exclaimed in unison.

“You go first.” Kakashi ignored the previous comment and pointed to Naruto. 

“My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and I dislike the three minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. My hobby is playing pranks and I want to be the best Hokage ever!”

Kakashi pointed to Sakura.

“My name is Haruno Sakura. I like to read about medical ninjutsu and I like to train. I dislike… well, evil people. My goal is to save someone from succumbing to the darkness. And I suppose my hobby is trying different sweets.” Sakura worried that she had said too much when Sasuke looked at her with a surprised expression. 

The files that Iruka had on her seemed completely different. Kakashi thought quizzically. She was made out to be a complete fangirl with a decent amount of intelligence but nearly no shinobi skills. 

“You’re so awesome Sakura-chan!” Naruto exclaimed. He whipped out a kunai and made a cut in his hand, “Can you heal this for me?”

“Naruto!” Sakura chastised, “Why did you do that? I’ll heal you though, just don’t do that again.”

Sakura brought her hands to Naruto’s, channeling soft chakra into the wound. It took far more effort than Sakura was used to, but her hands began to glow a light green as the cut on Naruto’s hand stitched itself back together.

“Whoah.” Naruto’s eyes glimmered with awe, “That was really freaking cool.”

“Anyway,” Kakashi cleared his throat, “On with the introductions.”

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don’t like anything and I dislike a lot of things. My dream wouldn’t be called a dream because I will make it a reality. I will avenge my clan and kill a certain someone.”

Kakashi expected no less from the Uchiha. In fact, the two boys on the team seemed to follow Iruka’s reports exactly, making Sakura stand out even more. Not to mention, her knowledge of medical ninjutsu far surpassed the capabilities of a fresh genin; the last medical prodigy had been Tsunade, and even she learned medical ninjutsu at about chunin. Kakashi decided to look into Sakura’s sudden improvement in skill.

“Now that we know each other, meet me at the training grounds at 6:00 A.M, sharp. You will be doing a survival test with a 66% fail rate. Remember to not eat breakfast. If you do, you’ll puke.”

Sakura wandered home, lost in thought. She realized that she needed to have a set of goals if she wanted to change anything for the better; that was why she was in the past anyway. 

Saving Sasuke has to be my top priority. She thought, nodding to herself. If he doesn’t give in to the curse of hatred, the entire war can be avoided. In order to do that though, I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t get branded by Orochimaru. If that somehow works out, I’ll find Tsunade and have her train me further. Sakura shuddered as she remembered the day that Tsunade threw herself in front of the barrage of incoming kunai in order to protect her and Naruto. She had told them that they were the last hopes of Konoha, and that they would have to do everything in their power to save their people. Unfortunately, Naruto died the following day. 

Sakura wiped away the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and kept walking towards her house. Being in the past made her remember just how much she loved Sasuke, and how much his approval meant to her. Just his surprised eyes when she mentioned her goal had sent her heart fluttering, and the blood rushing to her head. While she was deep in thought, she didn’t notice the aforementioned Uchiha approach her. 

“Sakura.” He said, walking beside her, “You’re different.”

“What do you mean Sasuke?” She asked, trying to sound genuinely confused and also trying to conceal her surprise.

“You seem to possess skills you didn’t have before.” 

Sakura racked her mind, trying to find some appropriate reason for why she would have kept her prodigious medical talents secret. “I always had the skills Sasuke, you just never cared to notice.” She spat out, instantly regretting her sudden wave of anger.

Sasuke looked taken aback by her uncharacteristic behavior. “I noticed enough.” He replied nonchalantly, “You’re different.”

“M-maybe I was just getting tired of you never acknowledging me.” Sakura was regretting every word that came out of her mouth, yet she did nothing to stop the flow of probably detrimental sentences. “I know I was an annoying fangirl but-but I tried. If you had told me-just once-that you were looking into getting stronger instead and not looking for girls instead of crushing my heart and brushing me off, maybe I wouldn’t have been so clingy. You know what? You’re annoying Sasuke.” Sakura realized how much their situations had changed. 

Sasuke looked at Sakura with big, confused eyes. What is wrong with her? He thought, discreetly checking for disturbances in her chakra. When he found none, he simply frowned to himself and walked away, acting aloof and unaffected. 

Sakura tried to put her painful past behind her and start this new life over, using her memories to guide her, not haunt her, but she was having trouble treating her peers the way she was supposed to. Especially Sasuke. She was well aware that she still harbored feelings for him, but she couldn’t shake the terrible memories of his chidori aimed at her chest, or the look of hatred in her eyes when he looked at her. Sakura shuddered and set her mind on formulating a plan for the following day. 

Content with her strategy, she climbed into her sickly pink bed and fell asleep.

Sasuke was looking at her with deep contempt. His eyes were a deep crimson, adorned with a six-sided black star in the center. His look alone made Sakura feel as if he was uttering a string of disparaging comments though his mouth never once moved from its hateful smirk. 

“You’re weak.” He sneered, finally speaking, “You’re weak now, and you will always be weak.”

Sakura wanted to break down and cry. She knew she was weaker than Sasuke, but was all of her hard training really for naught? Was she still that cowering, pathetic, little girl? “I may not be as strong as you,” Sakura started, trying to keep her voice steady, “but I assure you that I am not weak. I can crush boulders with my pinky and I can heal virtually any wound. Not to mention, I have something you don’t.”

Sasuke smirked again, “Now what would that be?” 

“I have friends! And I have bonds that make me stronger!” Sakura exclaimed confidently, “When you forsook your bonds for blind revenge, you lost the potential to be truly strong!”

“You still believe the crap that Konoha shoves down your throat? In order to be strong, you can not let pathetic bonds get in the way. That is why you’re weak.”

“You’re wrong!” Sakura cried, smashing the ground with her foot, “You’re so blinded by revenge, that you can’t see how Naruto, the loser has become stronger than you by fighting for the people he loves.”

Sasuke shot Sakura a slightly surprised look, “I don’t believe you.” He replied simply, sending his chidori stream right at Sakura’s chest. 

If Sakura had looked away any sooner, she wouldn’t have noticed the look of regret that flashed over Sasuke’s face when he thought that Sakura would be killed. The look was subtle, but Sakura knew Sasuke well. She knew what he felt. 

Realizing that she was in a memory, Sakura waited for Kakashi to swoop in and bring her to safety like he had before, but she didn’t see the telltale mop of white hair. Panic was beginning to set in when she realized that it was too late for her to dodge. The blinding blue light crackled menacingly as it came closer to her, ready to impale her. The jutsu was getting closer and closer, soon she could feel the heat, her hair was standing on end, it was mere millimeters away…

Sakura’s eyes flew open. She was twisted in the sheets of her bed, still a genin. Blinking several times, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was 6:05, a perfectly decent time to wake up. Sliding off her bed, she walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. When she looked in the mirror, her still-round, rosy, preteen face gazed back at her, devoid of any scars or signs of suffering. Though she understood that the face gazing back at her was her own, she couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t fit. Though she was in the form of a young, happy girl who had never seen war, she was plagued by the images of war and suffering. She figured that nightmares would continue to be a regular occurrence as they had been previously, but she was good at blocking them out. 

Putting all of those thoughts behind her, she dressed for the day and decided to go to the training grounds before her teammates arrived and long, long before Kakashi even bothered to show up. 

The training ground was empty as expected. Sakura shivered slightly in the cool morning wind and began to run laps to mitigate the cold. While she ran, she focused solely on the feeling of her muscles working to propel her forwards and the way her short hair fluttered like a flag in the wind. Once she was sufficiently warm, she began to test her strength. She could tell that her seal of one hundred healings was laying dormant in her, not taking its position in the center of her large forehead; hopefully, she would not need to call upon that seal as it would completely blow her cover. 

Thankfully, she was stronger than she had been as a genin in her previous life. Her memories and expertise had remained the same, but her physical strength and chakra reserves were abysmal. Thankfully, she could kill two birds with one stone by doing vigorous physical training. Knowing that she had about thirty minutes until her teammates arrived, she stretched her muscles and polished her plan for the bell test. 

It was obvious that Sasuke would be completely averse to working with either her or Naruto. Especially after their not-so-pleasant exchange the previous day. It would take a good deal of convincing to get Sasuke to even consider going along with her plan. Naruto, on the other hand, would be gung-ho for working with Sakura but would completely refuse if he had to work with Sasuke. All in all, she would have to state an extremely convincing and moving case if she wanted to get anything done. She could also let everything play out the exact same way as they had before, but she wanted to make things better. Especially between her and Sasuke; she obviously hadn’t been going to well though. 

She could feel Sasuke’s presence approaching the training grounds. She smiled to herself, realizing how small his chakra reserves were now compared to his in the future. He truly was so much younger. She decided that now would be a good time to apologize for their feud.

  “Hey Sasuke,” she started, unintentionally dropping the suffix, “I’m sorry about yesterday. I suppose I was just getting fed up. I promise I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way of our team dynamic anymore since teamwork is what makes a team great. Without cooperation, teams would be nothing.” Sakura tried to hint at the fact that they’d need to work together during the test and she really hoped that Sasuke would catch the drift. 

“It’s okay.” Sasuke replied, surprising Sakura with something more than a monosyllabic grunt, “I-I suppose I was a bit harsh before.” Sasuke’s last sentence came out as a whisper.

Sakura’s eyes lit up with happiness. Sasuke just apologized to me! She thought giddily. That means our relationship is already stronger! Unbeknownst to her, she would be really valuing their blossoming friendship in the not-so-far future.

Chapter Text

The two sat together in an almost comfortable silence until Naruto came gallivanting into the training ground. 

“Hi Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!” He said enthusiastically, “Where’s Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hmmm, going from the fact that he was close to three hours late yesterday, I can assume that he won’t be much earlier.” Sakura surmised, putting on the façade of someone who didn’t know everything about Kakashi. “We should do some team exercises in the meantime. You know, help boost our cooperation.”

“Sure Sakura-chan!” Naruto agreed happily, “As long as the teme doesn’t act like such an asshole.”

“Naruto.” Sakura reprimanded, “Sasuke’s on our team, we have to work with him.”

“Naruto will just hold me back.” Sasuke muttered, “I’ll work with Sakura, but not the dobe.”

“The entire point of being on a team together is to be able to work with each other!” Sakura exclaimed, glaring at Sasuke, “We’ll never be a good team if we can’t get along. Now we need to put our petty differences aside and work together, goddamnit!”

Sasuke and Naruto looked taken aback at Sakura’s sudden, uncharacteristic outburst.

“You’re right Sakura-chan.” Naruto apologized, “I’ll work with the teme if you think it will boost our teamwork.”

“Hn.” Sasuke agreed. Well, at least Sakura thought he agreed, he tended to be rather ambiguous some times.

“Now that we’ve come to a consensus, we need to think about what we could possibly be doing for this test.” Sakura figured that blurting out every aspect and moral of the bell test would be mighty suspicious, so she decided to just hint at it and hope her teammates caught on. “As I’ve been saying earlier, Konoha’s strongest asset is its fierce camaraderie and powerful teams. Take the sannin for instance. They were practically unbeatable because they knew each other inside out and knew how each one of their teammates would react.”

“Okay, but we hardly know anything about each other.” Sasuke crossed his arms, “Especially you Sakura, what else are you hiding?”

“I thought we put that argument behind us.” Sakura sighed, “Whatever, the point is, my fighting style relies heavily on close combat and chakra control. If I am going to be able to fight efficiently, I will need to get close to the enemy. I also am a healer.”

“That’s a contradiction.” Sasuke stated, “Healers always go in the back, but you insist on being in the front. It doesn’t make sense.”

“When I was studying the sannin, I noticed that even though Tsunade was a healer, she was often on the front-line. Since I pretty much copied her style, I think it’s appropriate for me to follow her battle strategies.”

“Does that mean we’re going to follow the strategies of the other two sannin?” Sasuke raised his eyebrow, “If so, how would you know which one of us corresponds with the other?”

Sakura took a deep breath. If she mentioned Orochimaru now, she might be able to warn Sasuke about his evil ways, but he may also become curious and turn to Orochimaru sooner. Stuck in a deadlock, Sakura hoped that Sasuke wouldn’t turn on her. “I think you should copy Orochimaru.” Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly, “Mind you, I don’t think you’re a thing like that evil bastard. In fact, I hope no one ever goes to seek him out. I know this must sound weird, but Sasuke, promise me you’ll never consider him as a sensei.”

Sasuke looked at Sakura with deep confusion. She had been so strange recently, but he liked it. He liked the way she no longer obsessed over him and the way that she took her studies seriously. Out of all of the people in his graduating class, he found himself the closest to Sakura at this point. Her newly found seriousness paired with her viridity complimented his personality well; not that he’d ever admit it of course. No, he’d stay indifferent, but ask if she wanted to be his training partner. That was definitely the right course of action. But still, why on earth would she suspect him of having anything to do with the missing nin Orochimaru? “Sakura, why would I have anything to do with Orochimaru?”

“Just promise me.” Sakura said seriously, gazing sternly into Sasuke’s onyx eyes, “Promise me you’ll never affiliate yourself with him.”

Sasuke looked at Sakura uneasily, “I promise.” He conceded, unsure of why Sakura seemed so afraid when she had made him promise. What did she have to do with the evil sannin?

“As for you Naruto,” Sakura switched back to her jovial disposition, “I think you should copy Jiraiya. You know, we could be the next sannin!”

“Hell yeah!” Naruto grinned with the intensity of a thousand suns, “If I’m as strong as them, I’ll be sure to become the Hokage! Just watch.”

“Don’t forget about us.” Sakura reminded him, placing a hand affectionately on his shoulder, “Sasuke can be head of ANBU and I can be the head of the hospital.”

Sasuke frowned. He didn’t care about becoming ANBU. All he needed to do was to avenge his brother and he knew he would do anything to get the chance. 

“Oi teme,” Naruto poked Sasuke, “Whatcha brooding about? Don’t you want to be ANBU?”

Sasuke scowled and turned away, crossing his arms.

“I think he’s got more mood swings than girls when it’s their time of the month.” Naruto whispered to Sakura.

She looked at the blond exasperatedly and gave him a light knock on the head for good measure. “ You can’t make period jokes.” She pointed an accusing finger at him, “Do you know how terrible it is to bleed for an entire week ?”

Naruto shuddered at the image and fierce glare. “Sorry Sakura-chan…” he apologized, inching away from her. 

Kakashi finally showed up. He was more than two hours late and team seven had run out of ways to spend their time.

“You’re late!” Sakura and Naruto exclaimed indignantly.

Kakashi rubbed his neck, “Sorry, there was a black cat in my way so-”

“Liar!” The two genin yelled again.

“Anyway,” Kakashi brushed off their previous comment, “Let me explain the test.”

The three genin looked at Kakashi with rapt attention, ready to face whatever challenge was thrown at them.

Kakashi held up a pair of silver bells. “This test is called the bell test. The objective is to take a bell from me. If you do not succeed, you will be sent back to the academy.”

Sakura knew why there were only two bells, but she decided to ask Kakashi for good measure. “There are only two bells sensei.” Sakura started, feigning worry, “Does that mean that one of us will fail for sure?”

“You’re sharp.” Kakashi commended the pink-haired girl, “Anyway, Sakura is correct. One of you will fail for sure. Now, you have until noon to complete the test. If you fail to get a bell within the time restraint, you will not get lunch. If you are to have the slightest chance of getting a bell, you will have to come at me with the intent to kill.”

Naruto took the end of Kakashi’s sentence as a signal to start, resulting in him attacking the jonin head on.

“I haven’t said start yet.” Kakashi sighed, poofing out of existence. 

Sakura leapt back into the trees, deciding to follow her previous strategy to a point. Masking her chakra, she hid in a thick group of bushes, slowly making her way towards Sasuke. She could sense the Uchiha’s chakra well from where she was; his chakra signature was so obvious, she’d have to remind him to mask it when they rendezvoused. 

“Sasuke.” She whispered, sliding next to him, “Remember to mask your chakra. It’s too obvious. Also, once Naruto’s done blowing off steam, let’s attack together.”

“But you heard Kakashi.” Sasuke crossed his arms defiantly, “One of us is going to fail for sure. Since Naruto is the weak link, we should leave him.”

“I told you this before.” Sakura clenched her teeth, “Konoha’s strongest asset is teamwork. Also, have you ever seen a two man team? No. The point of this test is to prove that we can work together despite the boundaries we’re given.”

“I don’t know how you came to that conclusion, but I’ll trust you.” Sasuke capitulated, “If it turns out that you were wrong and we are all sent back to the academy, I’ll never forgive you.” Sasuke shot Sakura a serious look. 

Sakura knew he wasn’t lying in the least. Sasuke wouldn’t be able to kill Itachi if he had to repeat academy classes. Not to mention, it would be a great disgrace to the Uchiha and himself. Keeping all of that in mind, Sakura looked sternly at Sasuke. “I understand.” She assured, her eyes never leaving his, “Now that you have decided to trust me, let’s find Naruto.”

Naruto had finally finished attacking Kakashi and had retreated into the bushes. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto was far more willing to go with Sakura’s plan.

“Okay.” Sakura started, masking her chakra to the best of her abilities, “First thing’s first.” She looked at Sasuke, “You and Naruto will start to attack Kakashi together. I advise having Naruto make a ton of shadow clones and transform a few into Sasuke. Maybe that will throw Kakashi off slightly.” Sakura knew that Kakashi wouldn’t be fooled by a measly prank like that, but it sounded like a genin level strategy. “Once you have successfully preoccupied sensei, I’ll sneak in and grab the bells. After I get them, I’ll hand them to you two so that we all can successfully ‘get the bells’.”

The two boys nodded in understanding. 

“Don’t mess up Dobe.” Sasuke hissed, running into the clearing with Naruto. 

Sakura watched their fight transpire, happy that the two were at least semi-capable of working together. As she expected, Kakashi saw right through their prank and dispelled Naruto’s clones in mere seconds. Now it was just the two boys trying desperately to hold their own against a jonin.  Just as Sasuke and Naruto were beginning to tire out, Sakura leaped into the clearing silently. She flew past Kakashi, grabbing the bells in one swift motion and rolling gracefully onto the ground. She quickly handed the bells to her two teammates and smiled at Kakashi.

“We all got the bells sensei!” She said sweetly.

“No.” Kakashi’s face turned deadly, “I said that one of you would be sent back to the academy. Now I think you should choose. Perhaps Naruto because he’s an idiot? Or Sasuke because he was the most reluctant to work as a team? Or maybe even Sakura because she lacks strength?”

“I do not!” Sakura exclaimed indignantly, striking the ground. The dirt around her cracked slightly. I’m a lot weaker than I was before. She thought, discreetly massaging her sore fist. 

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow for a split second, “Anyway, who would you choose?”

“I’ll go.” Naruto muttered, “I know I’ll just hold back the team.”

“No Naruto.” Sakura shook her head, “You want to become the Hokage and you can’t do that if you’re still in the Academy, I’ll go back.”

Sasuke didn’t want to say anything. Why would he go back to the Academy? Out of all his teammates he was by far the strongest and he couldn’t kill Itachi while still in the Academy. But Sakura did insist that this test was about teamwork and though he had no real reason, he trusted her. “I’ll go.” He said, forcing the words through his clenched teeth.

Kakashi’s face lit up. “You all pass.” He stated simply, “Now our first mission is tomorrow.”

Sakura sighed in relief. That played out differently than it did last time. She thought worriedly. I hope I didn’t change too much…

Sasuke grabbed Sakura’s wrist before she left the training ground. “That was too close.” He growled, looking deep into her viridian eyes.

“Well we passed didn’t we?” She matched his gaze, “Can you think of any better strategy?”

Sasuke wanted to be furious at her for putting his shinobi career on the line, but her newfound confidence made him more intrigued than mad. Unsure of what to do, he decided to walk with her. 

“Don’t you live in the other direction?” Sakura inquired. Of course, she wanted Sasuke to walk with her, but she would like to know why he was being so companionable. 

“I have to go to the grocery store.” Sasuke stated. That was a lie. Sasuke thought. Sakura doesn’t know that though.

Sakura knew he was lying. The quickest way to get to the grocery store, and the route that Sasuke usually used (no need to know how she knew that) was also in the opposite direction, but Sakura found no problem with playing along. “Okay! Well I have to pick up some groceries too, so we can go together.”

“Hn.”

Sakura frowned. She thought Sasuke had moved passed monosyllabic grunts, but she supposed she was wrong.

They walked into the cool store, both gazing at the lists they had written. Sakura stole a glance at Sasuke’s list and desperately tried to stifle a giggle. Of course it’s blank. He didn’t even intend to go shopping. It would have been better if he just didn’t pull it out in the first place. She thought smiling to herself.

She met Sasuke at the checkout line, giggling once more at the continents of his shopping basket. There were at least twelve tomatoes. 

“Sasuke,” Sakura started, “I hope your entire diet doesn’t just consist of tomatoes.”

Sasuke’s face turned the color of the aforementioned fruit. “Of course not.” He insisted, “I’m a ninja, I must have a healthy diet.” 

Sakura nodded, smirking slightly. 

The two walked out of the store in a happy silence. Well, at least Sakura was happy, as for Sasuke, you could never really tell. 

Sasuke ended up walking Sakura back to her house.

“Thanks Sasuke.” Sakura shot him a sweet smile, “You really didn’t have to.”

Sasuke shrugged, shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk towards the Uchiha district. 

Sakura watched the Uchiha crest on his back getting smaller and smaller, infinitely thankful that he was just going home and not leaving her again.

Chapter Text

Sakura spent the next few days testing her strength. Her seal had just reached full capacity before she had travelled back in time and she thankfully still had it laying dormant in her forehead with all of the chakra inside it. As much as she wanted to awaken the seal and have access to all of that chakra, she knew it would raise too much suspicion, so she’d just have to suffer with her abysmal chakra reserves until then. She wasn’t disappointed with the progression of her strength, but she really wished that she had started training earlier in her life. If she had focussed on strength instead of Sasuke, she would have been on par with the boys in her first life, but alas, she could not change the past. 

She made her way to the training field where she was supposed to meet Kakashi and the rest of team seven. Today, she was a good hour early so that she could warm up by herself. Once she got to the training ground, she saw a bright green blur fly through the trees, crushing branches as it went. Recognizing the viridian comet as Rock Lee, Sakura waited for him to slow down. The bushy-browed ninja finally came to a halt, allowing Sakura to run over. 

“Wow!” She exclaimed, “I’ve never seen someone move so fast! Not to mention, it seems as if you weren’t even using chakra. That’s incredible!”

Lee visibly brightened, “You are a shining cherry blossom that steals my breath and pierces my heart! Your compliment has made me want to run 5,000 laps around Konoha in joy! See, I was born without the ability to harness ninjutsu, but I persisted using the power of youth and hard work!”

Sakura decided that striking a friendship with Lee would be extremely beneficial since she’d be able to train with him and receive enthusiastic compliments all the time. “I’d be so happy if we could train together.” Sakura smiled brightly, “I too am a ninja, and I really want to improve my strength.”

“I’d be honored to train with you, my gorgeous flower!” Lee struck a dramatic pose, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

“I’m sorry Lee.” Sakura patted the boy’s shoulder, “I just really need to focus on my training right now.” Of course it would be rude for her to just downright say ‘you’re a nice guy, but I don’t really like your looks and though you’re my friend, you’re a bit too “youthful” to be hot’, so she bent the truth a bit (or completely).

“It’s okay Sakura-chan! I shall attempt to court you again in the future.”

Sakura shifted uncomfortably on her feet, “O-okay Lee… Now, why don’t we get to training?”

“Ah yes! Though I have already warmed up, I will warm up again with you! Since you are new to the training regimen, let’s only run fifteen laps around the village.”

Sakura nodded, remembering that the village was not particularly small. In any way, shape, or form. God, this warm up would be hell.

Sakura doubted she’d be able to make it home. After the torture her body had gone through, she could barely move her pinky-toe, much less walk halfway across the village. Realizing that she could alleviate some of the pain, she sent soothing healing chakra into her sore muscles. Sighing in relief, she pushed herself off the ground and made it home. 

Her house was strangely quiet. Usually, her parents would be bustling around, preparing dinner or sitting at the table and having an animated discussion, but none of the lights were on. Sakura flicked the lightswitch to see a completely deserted kitchen. She turned her head to the fridge and sighed in relief. Her parents had left a note. 

Dear Sakura,

We will be off on a trip for about two weeks. There is a very enthusiastic seller in     

the land of hot springs. There are groceries in the fridge.

Love you,

Mama and Papa

Sakura smiled at the letter and folded it up. She prepared a quick (but hearty) dinner and eagerly dug in. After she finished her meal, she took a nice warm shower to wash all of the sweat and grime off her body.

Morning came far too early. Despite healing her muscles, she still felt like she’d been run over by a truck multiple times. Scratch that. She’d been assaulted by the entire Akimichi clan using the human boulder jutsu. In short, everything hurt. Sakura groaned and pushed herself out of bed. 

All of this suffering is for the greater good. She assured herself, sending another wave of healing chakra down her body. That was a bad idea. She concluded. Since her chakra reserves were so abysmal, using medical ninjutsu drained her very quickly; she couldn’t afford to be low on chakra now, she had a mission!

Groaning again, she got dressed, pulling on a mesh top, red vest, and a pair of black shorts. Noting that she was already late, she grabbed an apple and sprinted to the training grounds. 

Damn it. She cursed, I’m later than Naruto. My past self would always be the earliest so that I could have one-on-one time with Sasuke.

“You’re late.” Sasuke stated, “You’re usually early.”

Damn it, he caught on. “Sorry, I was training late last night and I was more tired than usual.” She decided not to lie.

“Training for what?” Sasuke looked at Sakura suspiciously. Though he liked her hardworking persona, he doubted that it was permanent. She had changed too much; she was practically a different person.

“I wasn’t training for anything other than getting stronger.” She insisted, trying not to be shaken by Sasuke’s piercing stare, “I was just working on taijutsu and strength training.”

“Hn.”

Back to grunts again. Had Sakura done something wrong? Brushing that thought aside, she decided that she should be productive with her time. “I’d give Kakashi-sensei a couple hours. We should train by ourselves.”

“Sounds great Sakura-chan!” Naruto exclaimed, finally arriving, “What will we do? Who’s gonna lead us?”

Sasuke crossed his arms. “Since I-”

“I think we should all teach something we’re good at.” Sakura interrupted, earning a frustrated ‘humph’ from Sasuke. 

Obviously miffed by Sakura’s interruption, Sasuke decided to shoot down her idea. “Since we have a mission, we shouldn’t waste unnecessary chakra.”

“I agree, but if we work on stamina, Naruto’s specialty, taijutsu, your specialty, and chakra control, my specialty, we won’t waste any chakra.” Sakura argued.

“What about chakra control?” Sasuke shot back, “That uses chakra.”

“It doesn’t use excess chakra if you do it right.” Sakura smirked. “Now Naruto, wanna start?”

“Sure Sakura-chan!” He replied enthusiastically, looking ebullient as ever. 

Her teammates proved to be decent senseis. Well, Naruto wasn’t particularly good at teaching, but he wasn’t as bad as Sakura had initially suspected. Though he had no idea of how to explain running for hours and burning up massive amounts of chakra without tiring out. In fact, he didn’t do any teaching really; he just made Sasuke feel better about himself when he mentioned that he only had that much stamina because of something that he couldn’t control. When he mentioned that, Sakura knew that Sasuke felt reassured that Naruto wasn’t just incredibly strong and subsequently better than him, no, it was something about him that made him more resilient, not his own hard work. Though it was somewhat reassuring, Sasuke was still frustrated. All he wanted was to unconditionally be the strongest yet not be held back by his team. 

Sakura noticed Sasuke brooding in the corner of the training field. Though it was not abnormal for the Uchiha, she really wanted to improve her relationship with him. Since she knew that he hated people doting on him, she decided to act as if she didn’t know that he was obviously brooding and sulking about something. 

“Sasuke,” she started nonchalantly, “if you ever find time, do you want to train or something?”

Sasuke turned to look at her. Sakura braced herself for a death glare or some kind of belittling look, but Sasuke looked merely interested. “Sure.” He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.

“Wait!” Sakura called after his receding back, “When should we train?”

“Meet me at training ground three tonight at eight.” Sasuke didn’t turn his head to look at Sakura and kept walking home. 

Deciding to deem that encounter as a success, Sakura too started to walk home. 

Sakura hated silence. Her house seemed too large and far too quiet, making Sakura feel extremely uncomfortable. She shuffled around the house, making dinner and as much noise as possible. To help mitigate the silence, she put on some of the sappy romance records that her father had bought though she despised them with a passion. Anything to make her feel less alone. After living through the war, Sakura would have thought that she had acclimated herself to silence, but that was obviously not the case. After the weeks she spent wandering around the decimated cities, healing the sparse survivors, she realized that she had just become used to the discomfort; not acclimated to it.

Cringing at the thick, whiny voice of the singer, Sakura continued to prepare dinner. Since her parents were travelling merchants, she was used to cooking for herself while her parents were away on jobs; that didn’t make her feel any less lonely though. 

After at least thirty minutes of cooking and cleaning, she found herself humming along to the songs. Though she still grimaced at every sappy vocal slide and every pleading iteration of ‘I love you’, it kept her mind off of her parents' absence. For some reason, their trip seemed so spontaneous and unsettling. Though it had been a while since the world was safe enough for them to travel for work, Sakura remembered that they tended to announce their departure date over dinner. This time, they hadn’t mentioned anything. Placing her paranoia in the back of her mind, she decided to trek over to the library for some evening studying. 

The librarian greeted Sakura warmly. Even before she became a ninja, Sakura had spent inordinate amounts of time in the library, devouring book after book. To this day, she found comfort in the library’s warm ambience and rich aroma of books. Making her way into the shinobi section of the library, she saw someone she would never fathom to even consider entering the library. Hunched over a thick reference book was Naruto, his blue eyes squinting in obvious confusion.

“Hey Naruto!” Sakura greeted, sliding into a seat across the table from him, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah!” Naruto replied, looking up from his book, “This is my first time at the library! I’ve never really been good at understanding words, so studying is really hard.”

“I’d be happy to help you.” Sakura offered, glancing at the title of the book Naruto had chosen. “Oh I know this book. ‘Konoha history A-Z’ is great for learning about particular events in Konoha’s history. Is there anything in particular you were looking for?”

Naruto visibly paled. His usual ebullient demeanor was replaced with a terrified apprehensiveness that reminded Sakura of the myriad of orphaned children during the war. “I don’t want you to hate me Sakura-chan.” He murmured, looking away from the kunoichi, “I’ve just really loved how nice you’ve been to me recently and I don’t want that to change. I’m afraid that if I tell you what I’m looking for, you’ll ask why, then I’ll have to tell you something I’m afraid to tell you.”

Sakura wanted to grab Naruto and squeeze him while reminding him that she would always view him as a cheerful hero and that the Kyuubi did not define him at all. Realizing that doing what she wanted would make Naruto mighty suspicious, she decided to take a different approach. “Naruto,” she began, her voice soft and comforting, “I realize that I was a bit of an asshole towards you before and I’m really sorry. I’ve recently realized that I’m a kunoichi, not a annoying teenage girl. I’ve also realized that you aren’t stupid or annoying or disgusting; instead, I think you’re an amazing person and you have so much potential. Nothing you tell me now will stop me from thinking that. I promise Naruto.”

Naruto’s eyes began to fill with tears. For the first time in his life, someone was treating him like a person, and a good one at that. Overcome with emotion, Naruto forgot all about the negative connotations of telling Sakura about the Kyuubi. Little did he know, of course, that she was more knowledgeable in the subject than himself. “When I was born, something-a monster I guess, was sealed in me. Old-man Hokage told me that it was called the Kyuubi and that it was a village secret. Oh crap. That means I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Shit, shit, shit. Please don’t tell anyone Sakura-chan.”

Sakura stifled a giggle. “It’s okay Naruto, I figured as much.”

Naruto looked at her incredulously, “You mean… you knew?”

“When you mentioned that there was something about you that gave you extra stamina, I kinda put two and two together. The history scrolls say that the yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away and saved the village. Though they never explicitly said that Kyuubi was sealed in a kid, I’d heard rumors going around the village.” Sakura caught herself before she said ‘your father’ instead of ‘the yondaime’.

“And you don’t hate me?” Naruto’s blue eyes were wide and sad, making Sakura’s heart break into pieces. 

“Of course not!” Sakura glanced at the clock. Noticing that she had less than five minutes to meet Sasuke, she jumped out of her chair, “I gotta train! Sorry we weren’t able to work a lot on understanding the book. Maybe next time?” Sakura waved goodbye to her teammate and sprinted to the training grounds.

Chapter Text

“You’re late.” Sasuke stated with annoyance, “I thought we settled on eight.”

“Sorry, I ran into Naruto at the library.” Sakura apologized, knowing wholeheartedly that Sasuke would still be mad. 

“Hn.” Sasuke grunted, beginning to stretch. 

Sakura quickly followed in suite, touching her toes with ease. Once she was sufficiently stretched out, she began to jog around the forest. Every two minutes or so, she’d run in a different style. She had been running for at least fifteen minutes when she was hit with a disgustingly familiar presence. It hit her like a wave, forcing her to stop running. For some reason, she couldn’t put a finger on to whom the presence belonged, but she did know that it made her feel really nauseous. Sasuke seemed to notice her discomfort and stopped beside her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked brusquely, obviously angry that she had interrupted his warm-up.

“You should leave.” She forced out, wrapping her thin arms around her stomach, “I-I don’t know what’s going on, but you should leave.”

“Why?” Sasuke glared at her as if she were a stupid schoolgirl, “What’s wrong with you?” 

Sakura mustered up as fierce of a glare as she possibly could. “Just leave.” She growled, pushing the Uchiha away. 

Sasuke stumbled backwards, not expecting a chakra infused push. He looked at Sakura with deep content and walked away.

By the time Sasuke had left, the feeling had subsided. Sakura lowered herself to the ground, resting her back on a tall tree. In her current, confused state, she couldn’t remember where she had felt that presence, nor did she want to. The only thing she knew about the sinister aura was that Sasuke could not be anywhere near it. Of course, if Sakura was in her right mind, she would instantly know to whom the presence belonged, but at the moment, she probably wouldn’t be able to recognize it if it was dancing naked in her soup bowl. Taking several shuddery breaths, she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Once her heartbeat had reverted to a normal rate, she decided that it was about time to go home.

Sasuke hated being confused. It made him feel stupid and the last thing Sasuke wanted to feel was stupid. Being confused about Sakura, though, made him even angrier. She was the girl that wore her feelings on her sleeve and practically announced every emotion and desire she had. Since she’d changed Sasuke hadn’t been able to read her. She’s so annoying! Sasuke thought, clenching his teeth. She had been annoying before, but in a different way. Before she was clingy, weak, and emotional. Now she was cryptic and suddenly stronger. There was no way she could have gotten that much stronger in the course of a day! There must be something wrong. But that wasn’t the problem now was it? No, he had just been forced out of the training grounds by Sakura who seemed to be suddenly sick. Maybe she was taking chakra enhancing steroids? Sasuke had heard that they had negative side effects. But no, that couldn’t be it. Sakura made it seem like there was some kind of ghost or monster in that forest. One that was particularly dangerous, but only to him. Or maybe it was dangerous for both of them, but Sakura wanted to save him? God, that would be totally out of character for Sakura. She was the one that required protection. Naruto had spoken to Sasuke about how their duty was to protect Sakura at all costs. Of course, Sasuke thought that was pathetic. She was a shinobi, she should pull her own weight! Just because she was a girl didn’t mean she deserved special treatment and two personal bodyguards. In the Uchiha household, you were required to be an elite shinobi regardless of your gender. Ugh! Sasuke’s mind was wandering. He still hadn’t answered the real question. Why was he just forced out of the training grounds? Nothing made sense and Sasuke was frustrated. Frustrated that he didn’t understand Sakura, frustrated that she was catching up to him in strength, and frustrated that he was spending his time thinking about Sakura and not his revenge. Clenching her fists, he stomped off to the training ground, ignoring Sakura’s warning to steer clear of it. 

All Sakura could do was lie down. She didn’t have the presence of mind to mull over the recent happenings or wonder why it affected her the way it did, but she did have the ability to lie on her bed and cry, remembering her past comrades. 

It was so stupid of me to think that I would be able to throw myself back in time and not have any mental fallout. She thought bitterly, curling up into a fetal ball. She knew of many shinobi who had suffered from acute PTSD and been forced to leave the ninja lifestyle; thankfully, she knew her case was not quite as serious, but nevertheless, she felt mentally drained and thoroughly overwhelmed. 

A fresh round of tears came pouring down her face when she remembered her last conversation with Kakashi-sensei. He had been bed-ridden after a near fatal battle with Madara, and was in the process of dying. 

“Sakura” He croaked out, his mismatched eyes barely open, “Thank you for being the smartest one on your team. T-tell Naruto to bring Sasuke back for me.”

Sakura grabbed his gloved hand and squeezed it tightly. Every time Kakashi took another labored breath, Sakura felt her world spin a little faster. With much effort, Kakashi managed one last eye crinkle before taking a final, shallow intake of breath. Sakura’s hands glowed bright, bright green as she tried futilely to return the life to her sensei. Though she knew that Kakashi was already dead, she poured more and more chakra into her hands, her body shaking. Though she felt unfathomable sorrow, her eyes remained painfully dry. It was as if she had used up all of her tears throughout the war; now her eyes were dry and she couldn’t feel the relief one experiences after crying. Taking deep, panting breaths, she stumbled out of the medical tent, disregarding the black spots that invaded her vision. She was able to walk a few more feet before she feel gracelessly to her knees, still hyperventilating. The hot, sun-baked ground burned her hands as she began to sink towards the ground. Her conscious was fading quickly and she did nothing to stay awake. She embraced the darkness of unconsciousness, falling gratefully into its depths. 

Now, Sakura was happy that she was able to cry. Finally, she felt like she was able to let go of some of the painful feelings bundled up in her. Having the chance to restart was a blessing and a curse in the sense that she held the great responsibility of ‘making sure the world doesn’t get fucked up again’  but she also got to enjoy the good times he had with her teammates a second time. This time, she’d appreciate it more. 

Though she felt like a substantial weight had been lifted off her chest, she knew that she didn’t feel up to leaving her bed or thinking about the recent happenings in a strictly clinical manner. Accepting that she needed time to relax and think of simply nothing, she made herself comfortable in bed and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths.

Kakashi was suspicious. Well, he had been suspicious since his team took the bell test. They were incredible, yes, but one of the members just stuck out like a sore thumb. He expected the boys to have a lot of potential because of who they were, but this girl from a civilian family seemed to be even more promising. First of all, she was a complete medical prodigy which was completely unheard of since there was no one she’d be able to learn from without getting it marked on her record. The hospital was so tight that they would have taken detailed notes on who tutored her and her progress. Since there were no such records, Kakashi could assume that she got outside help. The only outside help though would be Tsunade and she hadn’t been seen near the village for years. Of course, Kakashi could just be blowing things out of proportion and assuming that because she was civilian born, her skills were highly unlikely, but Kakashi believed that he was onto something. Not to mention, Sakura had extreme chakra masking abilities. If he wasn’t the elite jonin and ex-anbu member Kakashi Hatake, he probably wouldn’t have been able to detect her during the bell test. That could have just been luck on her part since he wasn’t paying much attention to her, but honestly, Kakashi didn’t know. What he did know was that he needed to confront her in the least conspicuous way possible. First, though, he’d confer with another trusted jonin. 

“Yo.” Kakashi slid into the booth across from Kurenai, interrupting her doodling, “I knew I’d find you here.”

“Hey Kakashi.” She replied, folding the sheet of paper and placing it into one of the pockets of her flack vest, “I was just planning out some scenes for the new genjutsu I’m thinking of. Anyway, you never eat with me unless you want something. What is it this time?”

“I just wanted to talk to you.” Kakashi crinkled his only visible eye, “I’ll dare you to take Asuma on a date later.”

With that last phrase, Kurenai’s face turned the color of her crimson eyes. “W-what did you want to talk about?” She stuttered, regaining her composure. 

“See, one of the members of my genin team is well… interesting.”

“If it’s the Uchiha, I’ve already told all the academy professors that just because the Yuuhi are distant relatives of the Uchiha, doesn’t mean I can take him in or teach him Uchiha stuff.” Kurenai groaned, rolling her eyes.

“Actually, it’s about Sakura Haruno.” Kakashi replied, chuckling at Kurenai’s exasperated outburst.

“Hmm, the girl?” She looked confused, “If I remember her files correctly, she was pretty average other than being highly intelligent and having a huge crush on Sasuke. Why do you need to talk about her?”

“It’s just that she’s almost the opposite of what’s stated on the files.”

Kurenai cocked her head in confusion.

“She’s suddenly a medical prodigy, her chakra masking skills surpass most chunin, she doesn’t seem to be infatuated with Sasuke, but her intelligence seems to be the same.” Kakashi sighed heavily, “Could it be that she was hiding her skills prior?”

“But why would she?” 

“I honestly don’t know. Perhaps it could be to gain the Uchiha’s attention. Some girls believe the misconception of ‘boys won’t like you if you’re strong and don’t need protection’.”

Kakashi considered Kurenai’s idea. “I suppose that explains some things, but how did she acquire her skill in the first place?”

“Did her files say she was exceptional in any area?”

“They stated that she had the best chakra control and memory in the class.”

“I suppose that would make material very easy for her to learn. Honestly, she’s a confusing case.”

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll talk to her.”

Chapter Text

Sakura had a strange feeling of expectancy. Throughout the entire day, she had felt like something was going to happen, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. It seemed mighty important, but at the same time she was inherently worried about it. Getting increasingly frustrated, she checked the calendar in the library. 

That’s it! She grinned at her epiphany. The mission to the waves is supposed to be tomorrow. After getting over the initial excitement of shaking the feeling of expectancy, the gravitas of the situation finally sunk in. Though the mission was an important turning point for her team, she worried that some of the changes she made would affect the outcome. What if Sasuke actually died this time? Or what if he didn’t activate his sharingan. That actually wouldn’t be a terrible thing… Sakura chuckled to herself. Still, she shook her head. Sasuke had to come to terms with his sharingan and the darkness that came along with it; hiding it would be futile. 

Putting those worries behind her, she made her way out of the library, arms full of scrolls. 

“Sakura-chan?” The librarian called before she left, “If you see your blond teammate, Naruto was it? Tell him to return the book he checked out. He’s about a week and a half late.”

“Will do!” Sakura replied, opening the double doors of the library and walking down the warm Konoha streets. 

Crossing his arms defiantly, Naruto put on the strongest pout he could. 

“This is freaking BORING!” He whined, pulling the last weed out of the garden, “We’re really strong Kakashi-sensei, let us go on a cooler mission!”

“Finish this up and we’ll think about it.” Kakashi replied nonchalantly, returning to his orange Icha-Icha book. 

“Hey, teme,” Naruto whispered to the Uchiha, “I bet I can pull up these weeds before you can.”

Sasuke snorted, “Dobe. You wish.”

The two shot each other a competitive glare and began to pull out the weeds at a rapid pace. 

“Make sure you don’t pick the-” Sakura started, before realizing that they had indeed, picked weeds and plants alike. “Idiots!” She exclaimed, looking at the pulled up flowers. “We’re going to get in so much trouble…”

“Shit.” Naruto hissed, “It was the teme’s fault!”

“You initiated it, dobe!” Sasuke retorted.

“You didn’t have to go along with it Sasuke.” Sakura clucked her tongue, “And it was really immature of you to initiate a fight like that Naruto. Also, return your library books.”

Sasuke glared at the pink haired girl while Naruto looked at his feet ashamedly.

“I’m sorry Sakura-chan. I’ll also go to the library as soon as possible.” Naruto muttered, “Teme!” He whispered, “Apologize!”

Sasuke just shot the two of them a dirty look and turned his back. 

“That bastard.” Naruto muttered and Sakura couldn’t help but agree with him.

“Sasuke!” She called, jogging to catch up with him. “You can’t do something wrong then expect everyone to just be okay with it. You’re being worse than Naruto!”

That obviously struck a nerve in the Uchiha. “Worse than Naruto?” He growled, “That pathetic idiot will never be better than me at anything.”

Sakura shook her head disapprovingly, “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Sasuke was already frustrated with Sakura and now she was just rubbing salt on the wound. It was obvious that he was the strongest member of team seven, and she had no right to underestimate him; especially by saying that the weakest member, Naruto, would surpass him? Bullshit. 

Before Sasuke could deliver a scathing remark, Kakashi came ambling into the garden. 

“I can’t believe you messed up a simple gardening mission…” Kakashi sighed, “I don’t know, that harder mission Naruto requested might be a bit much for you guys.”

“I’m sorry Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto bowed dramatically, “It was the dobe’s fault!”

Sasuke looked downright murderous. At this point, Sakura expected Sasuke to attack everyone on the team; thankfully, he was still a genin and not his future, psychopathic, self.

“Alright you three.” Kakashi instructed, “Clean up this mess before the landlady comes back. If it looks good, I’ll consider asking the Hokage for a harder mission.”

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Naruto still requested the mission to the wave. 

“Fine Naruto.” The Hokage capitulated, “I’ll send in the escort.”

“Is it gonna be a princess?!” Naruto bounced on his feet excitedly, his eyes glued to the door.

A few seconds later, a stout man came wobbling through the door, clutching a bottle of sake. 

“You sent a bunch of brats to protect me?” The drunk man slurred, “Konoha’s really not living up to its reputation.”

Seemingly unaffected, the Hokage introduced the escort. “This is Tazuna.” He announced, “He is a master bridge-builder from the Land of Waves. Your job is to escort him home.” 

“Who’s the short one with the stupid face?” Tazuna asked, looking at Naruto.

“Haha, Sasuke, you just got dissed!” Naruto chuckled before realizing that he was, indeed, the shortest. “Why you…” He growled, attempting to launch himself at the bridge-builder. 

“You can’t kill the person you’re supposed to protect.” Kakashi sighed, holding Naruto back. “Let’s get going. Before we leave though, I’d like to have a word with Sakura.”

Sakura froze. God I hope he’s not suspicious. She thought, her palms already sweating. 

Kakashi motioned for Sakura to join him in the hallway. “So,” he began, smiling in order to lull Sakura into a false sense of security, “I just wanted to talk a bit about your file.”

Sakura tried her best to look unfazed despite her pounding heart. “Sure sensei!” She said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

“You may or may not know this, but your file from the academy differs greatly from your current attitude and skill set.”

Sakura nodded her head thoughtfully, looking merely concerned. 

“Do you know why that may be?” 

Sakura’s mind was running at a mile-a-minute, trying to formulate possible excuses. Remembering the excuse she had used several days ago with Sasuke, she realized that she only needed to tweak it slightly in order to convince Kakashi. “See,” she started, “when I was in the academy, I really, really liked Sasuke.” Sakura managed to force a blush on her face. “Since then, I kinda got over it, but during the academy days, I thought he wouldn’t like me if I was strong. Guys like it when they have to protect girls, right? Anyway, I hid a lot of my talent and made myself seem really weak. Now that I’m in a team, I understand I need to pull my weight. Don’t worry, I won’t be hiding my strength anymore.”

“I see.” Kakashi nodded his head. Kurenai had been right. “Still, you haven’t told me how you learned medical ninjutsu.”

Shit. Sakura thought, wracking her mind for another excuse. “I was really interested in it, you see, so I checked out some books from the library. It turns out I have a knack for it, so I kept going.”

“You learned medical ninjutsu from mere library books?” Kakashi looked at Sakura incredulously, raising his visible eyebrow.

“Yep!” Sakura replied with fake cheer. 

“Alright…” Kakashi began with blatant uncertainty, “Let’s go join up with the boys.”

Naruto cheered upon leaving the village for the first time, the same way he did in Sakura’s previous life. 

“The day’s beautiful, we get a C class mission, this is perfect!” Naruto gushed, practically skipping.

“Shut up.” Sasuke commanded without a hint of happiness, “We’re on a mission to protect someone, not have a picnic.”

“I like that one.” Tazuna nodded approvingly at Sasuke, “He has his priorities straight.”

“Hmph.” Naruto pouted, “That teme’s nothing special. When I become Hokage, I’ll prove to everyone how much stronger I am ya know!”

“I bet you will.” Sakura butted Naruto’s shoulder affectionately, half to encourage him and half to put Sasuke in his place. 

The group walked through the Konoha forests happily, their guard completely down. 

“A puddle.” Sakura muttered, hoping to spark awareness in her teammates. “That’s strange, when was the last time it rained again?”

“Protect the bridge builder!” Kakashi exclaimed before getting chopped to pieces by a pair of metal chains. 

Though Sakura knew he was pretending, the bloody heap of flesh on the ground was still disgusting. 

“K-Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto cried, wholeheartedly believing that his sensei died. 

“We still have to protect Tazuna, Naruto!” Sakura replied with fake panic in her voice. 

Sasuke quickly took the initiative, shielding Naruto from the two ninja. Cracking her knuckles, Sakura joined into the fray. She knew that it was a bad idea to go full ‘Tsunade’s badass pupil’ on the poor chunin, but she decided to pack a little extra into her punch. Soaring down from a tree, she slammed her chakra infused fist into one of the ninja’s backs, causing the ground to crack around his fallen body. She sighed happily once she noticed that Sasuke had successfully taken down the second ninja. 

“We defeated the enemy, but what about Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura briefly stared at the sun so that her eyes would water. 

With a dramatic ‘poof’, Kakashi appeared in front of the genin. 

“You’re alive!” Sakura cried with excitement, “Thank goodness!”

“Sakura, Sasuke, very good job.” Kakashi commended, “That was a very impressive display of strength Sakura. Naruto, I didn’t expect you to freeze up like that.”

Naruto clenched his teeth and looked down at the wound on his hand. 

“It’s probably poisoned Naruto.” Sakura said worriedly.

Instead of offering Sakura his hand to be healed, Naruto whipped out a kunai and stuck it into the wound. “I’m not going to give up!” He announced, “Because that is my ninja way!” 

A smile blossomed on Sakura’s face when she realized that Naruto hadn’t changed too much. “Naruto, I’m so glad you’ve realized your nindo, but if you lose anymore blood you could-”

“Die.” Kakashi interrupted, making sure Naruto was sufficiently scared. Though he was glad that his pupil was growing up, he wanted for him to know that a ninja couldn’t just stick a kunai in his hand in the middle of a mission. He had to have some decorum.

“Sakura heal me!!” Naruto cried dramatically, thrusting his bleeding hand in front of Sakura’s face. 

“God Naruto, I’m going to get tons of healing practice with you on my team…” Sakura sighed, channeling healing chakra into the wound. After she was finished, she began to feel strangely woozy. Quickly, her vision began to fade and everything sounded so far away. Grasping at what felt like nothingness, she felt herself fall backwards and completely lose consciousness. 

“Is she awake yet?!” Naruto knelt down by the unconscious girl, his eyes wild with worry, “Did I do that? Did I hurt Sakura-chan?”

“It’s your fault.” Sasuke hissed, “You’re stupidity made her overuse her chakra and now she’s a dead-weight.”

As if on cue, Sakura pushed herself up with wobbly arms. “Who’s a dead-weight again?” She asked, smirking at the Uchiha, “Sorry about that guys. I must’ve overused my chakra with that punch and the healing. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Sakura really hoped she wasn’t lying to herself. If she remembered correctly Zabuza would be popping up in about thirty minutes, so she had to get her shit together.

“A few minutes?” Sasuke scoffed, “I thought you were a medic. You’re going to need at least an hour.”

“Don’t underestimate me Sasuke.” She replied, making her way to her feet, noting how much her knees wobbled. Slowly, she staggered over to a fallen log and sat down. 

“I’m just going to drink some water, then we can hit the road-”

A mist fell over the clearing, bringing a terrifying, dark killing intent with it. Even with the experience of a neo-sannin, Sakura was scared. Not because she’d have to face Zabuza, but because he was early. Really early.

Chapter Text

“Naruto!” Sakura exclaimed, “Where is Kakashi-sensei?!”

“H-he went to go talk with Tazuna.” Naruto replied, his voice thick with worry, “What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know.” Sakura replied semi-earnestly, “Get Sasuke. Make sure to not stray far from me. We can’t get separated.”

“It feels like death!” Naruto held tightly to a kunai, his knuckles turning white.

“It’s called a killing intent.” Sakura tried to keep her voice steady, “Most high-class ninja are capable of producing one. Don’t worry though, I promise to protect both you and Sasuke. Go! Get Sasuke!”

Naruto looked frantically through the mist, finally finding Sasuke, frozen in fear, kunai aimed for his own chest.

“Sasuke!” Naruto called, running over to his petrified friend. The Uchiha looked about ready to take his own life if it meant escaping the mist. “What the fuck are you doing?!” With a powerful lurch, Naruto yanked the kunai out of Sasuke’s quivering hand. “Stop being a fucking baby and help us fight whoever is trying to kill us!”

For once, Sasuke was devoid of a scathing remark. He looked so vulnerable and scared, as if he was being reminded of something that had happened to him long ago. 

“You’re never this much of a wussy.” Naruto shook Sasuke’s shoulders, “What is wrong with you?”

Sasuke couldn’t open his mouth to form words in case he’d vomit. He could barely hear Naruto’s concerned voice over the sound of blood rushing through his head and the images of his murdered family flashing through his eyes. The last time he’d felt a killing intent this strong was on that night. The night he lost everything. 

“Sasuke?” Naruto’s voice was more soothing now, “Come on, Sakura’s waiting for us. She promised she’d protect us. Don’t worry, okay?”

No. That’s not what Sasuke wanted. He didn’t want someone’s damn protection! He wanted to be capable of protecting himself, yet he couldn’t. Here he was, shaking like a newborn, unable to move his terrified body or form a single word. Sasuke was so mad at himself. Naruto was able to withstand the killing intent with ease; in fact, he brushed it off as if it wasn’t even there. But he, the self-proclaimed ‘strongest member of team seven’, was acting like a frightened little puppy. It wasn’t fair! Using his rage to fuel his movement, he stood up straighter. 

“Thank god Sasuke, now let’s go find Sakura.” Naruto sighed in relief, guiding Sasuke’s shaking legs towards their female teammate.

“There you are!” Sakura sighed in relief upon seeing her two teammates again. “We need to help Kakashi-sensei right now! The enemy confronted him and he can’t fight the enemy off plus protect Tazuna at the same time!”

“On it Sakura-chan!” Naruto announced confidently, “Do you have a plan?”

“How would I? I don’t know what the enemy is capable of!” Sakura lied through her teeth. Still, she wouldn’t hold all of her information from her teammates, instead she’d release it when the knowledge she had was plausible. “Sasuke, Naruto, let’s go!”

Sasuke forced his fear to the back of his mind, running numbly alongside his teammates. Yes, he was still afraid, how could he not be, but he was more frustrated; all he wanted was strength, and lately, he had been feeling weaker than ever! Still, he grit his teeth and rushed into battle like a proper shinobi. He refused to be worse than Naruto ever again. 

Sakura wanted to sigh in relief when she saw Kakashi more than holding his own against Zabuza. The scene was similar to the one in her previous life, but still, something struck her as off. She could sense Haku’s chakra, but it wasn’t located in the trees or the clearing behind her as it had been before. Instead it was located closely behind Zabuza, masked well, but not unnoticeable. It could just be paranoia and Haku would move later on in the battle, but it still rubbed Sakura the wrong way; she wanted to slap herself. Getting worked up by the positioning of a ninja when they had shown up thirty minutes to an hour early? Ridiculous. Shaking her head, she jumped into battle mode.
“Sasuke, guard the bridge builder!” She commanded, running towards Kakashi and Zabuza, kunai in hand. “Naruto, back me up!”

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Sasuke spat, obviously miffed that he would have to guard Tazuna instead of fight. 

“I’ve got a plan!” Sakura insisted, running towards the fight. 

Kakashi was currently dominating a hand-to-hand battle. He threw punch after punch, ducking gracefully under Zabuza’s quick movements. Sakura gasped as a punch connected with Zabuza’s face. Reeling back from the impact, a small line of blood dribbled out of his mouth, suggesting shattered teeth. Kakashi didn’t waste a moment. Before Zabuza could retaliate, he rotated his body and landed a solid roundhouse kick right at Zabuza’s ribs. Of course, one kick was not enough to finish the missing-nin. He jumped back towards the river, weaving rapid fire hand-signs. A titanic wave of water rose from the river, razing the plants and undergrowth as it barreled towards Team seven. Sakura clenched her teeth as she gazed at the incipient wave, absolutely unsure of how to counter it. Unfortunately, her chakra affinity was earth and though she had learned water jutsu, her current body didn’t have the chakra. Breathing a sigh of relief, she noticed Kakashi weaving the same hand signs in hope to cancel out the jutsu. 

Fine mist sprayed down on the genin as Zabuza was pushed backwards by the force of Kakashi’s wave. It was strange really. Before, Zabuza had put up more of a fight, but now, he looked pathetic compared to Kakashi. Flashing his crimson eye, Kakashi copied Zabuza’s jutsus so quickly it looked as if he was predicting the future. Fear and frustration grew evident in the missing-nin’s eyes as he realized that he was outmatched. Still, Sakura was afraid. The fight was going so differently than it had previously. Zabuza wasn’t supposed to be getting his ass kicked, and Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to learn to work as a team. 

“Sakura, what was your plan?” Sasuke implored, still shielding Tazuna. 

“I don’t think it’ll be of use…” Sakura looked worriedly at the battle, “From what I’ve heard of Zabuza, he’s supposed to be a lot stronger. Does he seem wounded to you?”

“No.” Sasuke raised a single eyebrow. “He just seems like an average jonin that doesn’t stand a chance against Kakashi of the Sharingan.”

“But he’s one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist!” She insisted, still not letting her guard down, “He should be stronger!” 

Sasuke looked at her with anger and confusion, “Why are you mad that Kakashi’s winning? Do you want to die?”

“No!” Sakura shook her head defiantly, “I-it’s just-” she sighed, “shannaro. I don’t know.”

Naruto looked back at her, “Should we help Kakashi out, or should we just sit back and watch him kick ass?” He asked. 

“It looks like Kakashi’s got this.” Sakura sighed, growing more worried by the second. 

She was right, within minutes, Kakashi had Zabuza pinned to a tree and half-unconscious, his kunai about to slit the missing-nin’s throat. Before he could finish the job, he was forced backwards. A large hunk of ice barreled towards him, hitting him square in the chest. Thankfully, he wasn’t severely injured, but he was definitely surprised. A figure emerged from behind the trees, scooping up Zabuza’s limp body; Sakura didn’t know if she was thankful or not, but the boy who had saved Zabuza was indeed Haku. Nevermind, she wasn’t thankful. Instead of pretending to be a hunter-nin, Haku burst in and saved Zabuza as an ally. 

“What are you doing?!” Sasuke demanded, brandishing his kunai.

“He was foolish.” Haku stated in his soft, raspy voice, “He has not been well, yet he insisted on rushing into a fight.” With that final message, he disappeared in a cloud of snow, taking Zabuza with him. 

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Sakura thought. This is so different. What’s even going on?! How could my minimal changes influence the future already?! “What just happened?” Sakura muttered, glancing worriedly at her teammates. 

“Now that’s a question for the ages Sakura-” Kakashi’s eyes rolled backwards as his fell forwards, his knees buckling. 

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke rushed over to Kakashi and caught him before he fell, grunting as he supported the unconscious man’s weight. 

“What happened to Kakashi-sensei?!” Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide with panic, “Is it poison?! Is he…” he paused dramatically, “Dead?!”

“No Naruto.” Sakura sighed, “He overused his chakra. From what I’ve heard, the sharingan is rather draining.”

“How do you know about the sharingan?” Sasuke questioned, his voice low and menacing. 

“There are plenty of reference books in the library. It’s not difficult information to come across.” Sakura assured Sasuke, looking slightly exasperated. “Now let’s get Tazuna to the land of waves. I have a feeling our mission won’t be done there though.”

“Hn.” Sasuke agreed. Or at least Sakura thought he agreed; he never made sense anyway. 

Tazuna’s daughter, Tsunami, was the equivalent of a saint. The minute she saw the three genin carrying the burden of their unconscious sensei, she took him off their hands and provided them with well-needed and well-deserved refreshments. 

“My goodness!” She exclaimed, looking at their dirty, tired state, “What on earth happened ?”

“We ran into one of Gato’s hired henchmen, Zabuza.” Tazuna sighed, running his fingers through his sparse hair, “If only building this bridge wasn’t so goddamn hard.”

Sakura cringed at the forlorn looks on Tsunami and Tazuna’s face. Their village was severely impoverished and their only hope lay in the new bridge; of course they weren’t just able to build it without problems. “Is there anything we can do for you, Tsunami?” Sakura offered, smiling kindly at the woman, “We’d really love to help in any way we can.”

“Oh I couldn’t impose such things on you.” Tsunami shook her head, playing the role of ‘good hostess’ perfectly. 

“Please, we insist.”

“Yeah, ya know!” Naruto added, his spiky hair bouncing as he nodded. 

Tsunami sighed in resignation, “I suppose you three could run to the market for me. I’ll give you a list.” The woman stood up quickly from her chair and hurried to grab a loose sheet of paper. After quickly jotting something down, she handed the folded note to Sakura. “Thank you so much.” She said sincerely, “I really hope your sensei will be okay.”

“I’m sure he will!” Naruto assured, skipping out of the house with the rest of his team. 

“We haven’t talked about this enough,” Sasuke started, “so what happened with Zabuza? Who was the masked figure?”

“An ally of his.” Sakura speculated, “It’s strange though. He was wearing a hunter-nin mask, yet he didn’t try to act like a hunter-nin at all!”

“That’s true.” Sasuke nodded thoughtfully, “Perhaps he was expecting to utilize his disguise, but he deemed it useless?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Sakura groaned. “It just...rubs me the wrong way.”

“Hn.”

The town was genuinely dilapidated. The small houses were riddled with holey roofs and cracking walls while the selection of food was frankly pitiful. Sakura gazed guiltily at the knobbly knees and painfully visible ribs of the children begging on the streets; begging from whom, Sakura was unsure, but it was still depressing nonetheless. She stifled a gasp when she saw a young girl limping down the street with a black and purple bruise covering the entirety of her lower leg. Overcome with the need to assist the girl, she ran over. 

“May I help you?” She asked, her voice soft and kind.

The girl backed away suspiciously, her body tense. 

“I promise, I’m just going to heal your leg. Nothing more.” Sakura insisted, motioning for the girl to sit beside her. 

The girl complied. 

“What’s your name?” Sakura asked, her hand glowing with a soft green light. 

“Amara.” The girl whispered, staring intently at Sakura’s hands as they knit the fractured bone back together. Once the bone was fixed, the bruise faded completely, leaving Amara’s leg merely dirty. “Th-thank you.” She gazed at Sakura with deep admiration. “That was amazing.”

“I’m glad I could help.” Sakura helped Amara to her feet and watched her as she skipped away. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sasuke ran over to Sakura, “You’re going to attract a crowd and both you and I know you don’t have enough chakra to heal everyone in this town.”

“No, not all at a time, but throughout our stay, I can try.” Sakura retorted, crossing her arms. 

“How do you know we’ll be staying that long?”

“Look at the state Kakashi-sensei’s in. Do you really think we’ll be going anywhere any time soon?” Sakura looked smugly at Sasuke and turned to the small crowd she had attracted. Villagers young and old had gathered in a small clump around the bench she had been previously sitting at. Slowly, an old woman approached her, cradling an infected arm. 

“Thank you so much for healing Amara.” He bowed respectfully and Sakura was taken-aback. Wasn’t she supposed to bow? “I would really appreciate it if you could heal my arm. We don’t really have a doctor here.”

“Of course.” Sakura agreed, “Please sit here.”

“Sakura-” Sasuke started.

“I’m fine Sasuke!” Sakura insisted, “Herd these people into some semblance of a line would you?”

Sasuke didn’t like being ordered around, but he somehow didn’t feel angry at Sakura. Strangely enough, he admired her actions despite the fact that he was annoyed with her at the moment. Or was he? Was it that he was annoyed with himself, but needed to find a receptacle? Sasuke shook his head, as if to clear the thoughts from his mind. Sighing at his uncharacteristic behavior, he made sure the villagers were as organized as possible. It was so strange; he felt a warm feeling in his stomach when he watched Sakura help people. In fact, he too wanted to aid the needy. He blinked several times at his realization. Somehow in the trauma of his childhood, he forgot the joy he felt when he was able to help people. Still driven by this awakening, he walked over to Sakura. 

“Can I help?” He asked monotonously. 

Sakura tossed him a roll of bandages. “If I heal someone with a broken bone, wrap the appendage so that the healed bone doesn’t get jostled.”

“Hn.” Sasuke grabbed the bandages and forced back a strange urge to smile.

Chapter Text

Sakura had helped at least two dozen villagers in the past hour and was definitely feeling the strain. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow once I get some rest and replenish my chakra.” She announced, motioning for the crowd to disperse, “Do come back.”

The villagers smiled at the young girl and quickly left the clearing. Soon, Sakura was left alone with Sasuke. 

“Where’d Naruto get to?” Sakura asked, rolling her neck in relaxing circles. 

“I sent him to get the groceries for Tsunami.” Sasuke replied, using far more words than Sakura expected. “I figured he’d just get in the way here.”

Sakura chuckled lightheartedly, “You might be right about that. Let’s go get him.”

Sasuke nodded and led Sakura to the small market stands. 

“Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!” Naruto exclaimed, hurrying over to his teammates with many bags in hand. “There you are! I got the groceries.”

“I’ve noticed.” Sakura smiled, grabbing a bag from Naruto’s hands, easing his burden. “Let’s head back to Tazuna’s. Kakashi may have woken up.”

“He better have!” Naruto nodded to himself, “He can’t sleep forever.”

“That’s called death dobe.” Sasuke replied, “Kakashi is certainly not dead.”

“Why do you never call him Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura implored, realizing she never got the answer to that question. “You only call him Kakashi, it’s weird.”

Sasuke look taken off-guard. It was strange, he didn’t really know himself. Devoid of a proper response, he merely shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. 

“You’re supposed to answer a girl’s questions, teme!” Naruto reprimanded, “It hurts their feelings if you don’t ya know.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not right next to you idiot!” Sakura chastised, knocking Naruto on the head, “And my feelings don’t get hurt that easily. Not to say you should ignore my questions, but answer them ‘cause you’re a good person, not ‘cause I’m a girl. Shannaro!”

“Sorry Sakura-chan.” Naruto apologized, “Still teme, answer her question!”

Sasuke looked forward blankly, actively ignoring Naruto’s whiny voice. He refused to answer any question he didn’t want to answer; and his will would stay strong. 

“Eh, whatever.” Sakura capitulated, “I’ll find out one day Sasuke Uchiha.” She vowed, “Even if it’s when we’re both 100 years old! I swear I’ll never leave you alone until you tell me.”

The prospect of Sakura remaining by his side until he was old made Sasuke strangely happy. Maybe it was the remaining joy from helping those people, but Sasuke was in a suspiciously good mood; not that he’d let his teammates notice of course.

Tsunami greeted the three warmly, placing hot tea and snacks on the table. Sakura accepted the food gratefully and devoured the cookies in minutes. 

“Thank you Tsunami-san!” She smiled at the woman between ravenous bites, “This is really delicious.”

“I agree!” Naruto exclaimed, shoving a full cookie into his mouth. “Best I’ve had in ages.”

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, taking small dainty bites of the cookies, followed by elegant sips of tea. Obviously the son of a clan head. 

“You eat like a princess, teme.” Naruto pointed out, grinning maliciously, “You act all tough and shit, but when you eat, you look like a hoity-toity royal lady!”

Sakura almost spat out her tea, knowing that Naruto was 100% correct. “He’s not wrong Sasuke.” She chuckled, watching the Uchiha’s face turn the color of his favorite food.

“I’ll kill you dobe.” He growled, standing up from the table. 

“I’d like to see you try.” Naruto taunted, rising from his seat as well. 

“If you’re gonna fight, do it outside!” Sakura warned, herding the angry boys out the door. “Thank you for the snacks!” She called behind her as she led her teammates into the forest.

“Go ahead.” She motioned towards them, “Duke it out. Now there’s nothing for you to destroy except trees.”

“Y-you’re going to let us fight?” Naruto looked at Sakura suspiciously, “I thought you hated it.”

“I do.” Sakura agreed, “Go ahead though. It’s better to let your anger out on each other rather than holding it up and eventually killing a bunch of people because you’re so angry.” 

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully and eventually nodded. “Sounds good by me Sakura-chan. Let’s go teme.”

“You’re on, dobe.” Sasuke replied, sliding into a fighting stance.

The two boys circled each other menacingly, sending glares and smirks every few seconds. 

“You gonna hit me or are you just gonna circle around me like a coward teme?” Naruto goaded the Uchiha. “Or are you just scared I’m gonna beat you?”

“In your dreams dobe.” Sasuke smirked, making a jab for Naruto’s face. 

Naruto was too slow to jump completely out of the way, but was able to miss the brunt of the hit. Sasuke’s fist grazed Naruto’s cheekbone, leaving the latter open for a roundhouse-kick to the ribs. This time, Naruto jumped out of the way, leaping onto Sasuke from above, leg outstretched. 

Sakura wanted to yell tips at Naruto, realizing how poor his fighting techniques were. He was only able to keep up with Sasuke because of his ridiculous resilience. If he was forced to rely on his wits or skill, he’d be creamed. Getting antsy watching the boys fight, Sakura realized that she didn’t need to sit on the sidelines. She had become so used to letting the boys do whatever while she cheered them on uselessly because they were so out of her league. They weren’t any more. Not by a long shot. 

“I’m joining in!” She announced proudly, cracking her knuckles.

“Are you sure Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked, looking worriedly at the girl. 

“Sure as hell.” Sakura replied, jumping into the fray. “And I’m not going easy on you two.”

“I’d expect no less.” Sasuke stated, surprising himself and Sakura.

Sakura followed Sasuke’s movements expertly, dodging his punches and blocking his kicks. She loved the added challenge of Naruto’s spontaneity and did her best to predict his next move. 

In the spur of the moment, she ducked to the ground and thrust the edge of her palm into the back of Sasuke’s knee, causing him to stumble forward. Utilizing that momentum, she jumped behind him and pushed him into the unassuming Naruto, knocking both of them over. 

“I win!” Sakura chuckled, smiling at the fallen heap of Sasuke and Naruto.

“That was a cheap move.” Sasuke shook his head. 

“No move is cheap as long as it gets its desired effect!” Sakura laughed again, reveling in her victory. 

“Let’s go back to Tsunami’s.” Naruto suggested, visibly proud of Sakura. 

Sakura didn’t know what she did to deserve a friend like Naruto. His unconditional, brotherly love was more than she could ever ask for and his unrelenting optimism brightened even her darkest days. She praised every god and being above for giving her the chance to see Naruto in his purest, happiest state again.

Sakura was happy to see Kakashi awake and sitting at the dinner table. 

“You woke up!” She exclaimed happily, sliding onto a cushion on the opposite side of the table. “How do you feel?”

“Aren’t you quite the young medic.” Kakashi chuckled. “I’m fine Sakura-chan. I’ve had worse.”

“Any pain in the head, bones, or muscles?” Sakura inquired, disregarding Kakashi’s assurance that he was fine.

“No, no.” Kakashi shook his head, his one visible eye crinkling. “I told you already. I’m fine.”

“She won’t take no for an answer.” Sasuke entered the conversation, smirking at his female teammate. “She’ll probably just bug you until you say that you have a faint pain in you pinky toe.”

Kakashi looked surprised to say the least. “That’s the only time I’ve ever heard you say anything remotely comical.” He stared intently at the Uchiha. “Are you feeling okay?”

Sasuke wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Yes, he was physically okay. He was also mentally okay; more so, strangely, than he had ever been. His cold, broken façade was slowly melting, and he couldn’t deny that he liked it. Ever since his teammates made it obvious how much they cared for him, especially Sakura, he suddenly felt so open. With the openness though, he could feel the repressed painful memories of his childhood seeping through the cracks in his hard exterior. It was so strange, but he wanted to speak to someone. Then he remembered something. At the time, he hadn’t cared much, but now he did. Who on earth would Sakura want to save from succumbing to darkness? She was the privileged, civilian-born, only child who had never experienced any serious hardships in her thirteen years of living. Perhaps, if Sasuke bribed Sakura with his painful past (it was for information, not because he wanted to get stuff off his chest), she’d tell him about the strange someone. 

“Meet me in the forest tonight.” Sasuke stated, retiring to his shared bedroom. 

Sakura looked confusedly at Sasuke but shrugged off the feeling. He was a strange person, no doubt. Recently she had been wondering why she hadn’t mentioned the fact that she was a time traveler to anyone. On the surface, it seemed to be the intelligent thing to do, especially if she told the Hokage; he would be able to protect her and take all of the necessary precautions in order to avoid the terrible future she had suffered through. Still, she wanted people to treat her like a thirteen year-old again. Since she’d travelled back, a weight had been lifted off of her chest. Suddenly she was allowed to have fun and laugh and the world didn’t suck. Also, if she told the Hokage about her future, he’d be suspicious of Sasuke; though Sakura knew it would probably be the best if someone kept tabs on the Uchiha, she just wanted him to be happy more than anything else. That’s all she ever wanted. Sakura smiled contentedly to herself and walked into the kitchen. 

“Do you need any help with dinner?” She asked Tsunami, happily inhaling the aroma of steamy miso soup. 

“Not now, Sakura-chan, but I’d love help with the dishes. Unless you’ve got plans for tonight.” Tsunami smiled, ruffling the girl’s hair affectionately. 

“I’m going on a-a walk tonight!” She ad libbed, “Yes a walk! So I’ll just do the dishes really fast. Yep.”

“It’s the Uchiha boy isn’t it?” Tsunami goaded, glancing suggestively at Sakura, “I see the way you look at him.”

“Oh, no no no!” Sakura waved her hands in front of her face in a flustered manner. “I’m genuinely just going for a walk! Really!”

“Sure Sakura-chan.” Tsunami winked at her before turning back to the steaming pot. 

“On an unrelated note,” Sakura started, changing the subject, “you should have Naruto tend to your garden. He’s got a real green thumb.”

“That silly, impulsive boy?” Tsunami giggled.

“That’s the one.”

“I would have never expected. I’ll take your advice though.” 

Sakura smiled at Tsunami and made her way to her bedroom, passing Sasuke on the way. Somehow, in all of her years of knowing Sasuke, she’d never really seen what he did when he wasn’t with his teammates. Surreptitiously, she snuck a glance into Sasuke’s room; upon seeing him, head resting on his fist, staring blankly at the wall, Sakura wasn’t sure if she should feel sad or confused. Sasuke wasn’t doing anything . He looked so empty and cold, Sakura could feel the aura from where she stood. She wanted to stand there and decode him, perform a thorough dialysis of his expression and position; he was such an enigma and Sakura was entranced. Before she could begin to unpack the labyrinth of confusion that was Sasuke, she heard a bright, familiar voice. 

“Whatcha doing Sakura-chan?” Naruto inquired, his voice bubbly.

Sakura hid her surprise well. “Just heading to my bedroom. What have you been up to?”

“Well…” He began sheepishly, “You know those books you told me to return?”

Sakura raised her eyebrow, knowing what Naruto was going to say.

“Well I forgot to return them. Well, I didn’t forget, but it just takes me so long to read them ya know! I need extra time!”

“You can renew them Naruto.” Sakura sighed, patting the Uzumaki on the back. “It’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t know. How ‘bout I help you understand them?”

“That sounds fabulous!” Naruto exclaimed, leading Sakura to the living room.

Naruto placed Konoha History A-Z on the table in front of him, opening to the page he was on. “Well, there are some words I don’t know, and sometimes the letters just move around on the page. It’s weird.”

“No one ever helped you with this in the academy?” Sakura asked incredulously. Naruto shook his head. “That’s terrible!”

“I dunno…” Naruto shrugged apprehensively, “The only teacher that paid any attention to me was Iruka-sensei.”

“Well, I’m going to help you now.” Sakura announced. “Can you read this page aloud to me?”

“Okay. Konoha was… founded by Hashirama Senju and his friend Madara Uchiha. P-previously?” Naruto glanced at Sakura, silently asking if he pronounced the word correctly. Sakura nodded. “Previously, Hashirama and Madara were members of enemy clans and fought often. After they both suffered...serious losses, they banded together and founded Konoha. Unfortunately, Madara defected? What does that mean, Sakura-chan?”

“It means to abandon something or turn against it.” Sakura replied, “In this case Madara turned against the village.”

“Oh, thanks!” Naruto smiled, “Hashirama… confronted Madara and fought him, emerging successful. He was then viewed as the God of Shinobi.”

“That was really good Naruto!” Sakura commended. “Though this history book is slightly sparse when it comes to details. Try to read as much of it as you can, but don’t be afraid to ask me about things you don’t understand.”

“I sure will Sakura-sensei!” Naruto chuckled, grinning at Sakura with bright blue eyes.

“Don’t call me that.” Sakura gave Naruto an affectionate push. “I like Sakura-chan a lot better.”

“Okay then, Sakura-chan. Imma go read!”

“You do that Naruto.” Sakura skipped back to her room, savoring her good mood. If she remembered correctly, she had spent the entirety of the wave mission in fear in her past life; this was a good change. Hopefully, the rest of her new life would go just as well.

Chapter Text

Sakura gazed confusedly at the text in front of her. At the moment, she was attempting to learn some new jutsu since she had never been particularly proficient in elemental styles in her past life. Now, she realized why; for some reason, Sakura couldn’t follow the logic behind the jutsus. How was she supposed to combine her two chakra natures if they were so different in character? Water was free and flowing, while earth was rigid and strong; independently, Sakura knew how to utilize the two, but together? That was a completely different kettle of fish. Thoroughly fed up, she slammed her book onto the desk and stood up, deciding to blow off some steam.

The forest outside Tazuna’s house was sprawling and green, casting comforting shadows on the soft, grassy floor. A cool breeze caressed the tall trees and combed its gentle fingers through Sakura’s hair; taking deep breaths, Sakura contemplated her plans for the future. 

At the moment, Sakura didn’t want to change anything too drastically in fear that she’d change more than she already had. Since Zabuza already seemed weaker and had come earlier, Sakura worried about what that would mean for the future. Still, she needed to make some changes; the chunin exams, for instance, required a lot of editing. Whatever happened, Sakura could not allow for Sasuke to get the curse mark from Orochimaru. Worst case scenario, Sakura would intercept the attack and contract the curse mark herself. That was only if she couldn’t prevent it in any other way. Hopefully, she would never have to come to that.

Minutes passed in silence as Sakura relaxed against a tall tree, breathing deeply. Happily, she fiddled with several blades of grass, twisting and braiding them into ornate shapes and patterns. Still, she didn’t speak, reveling in the quiet peacefulness of the forest.

Once the sun had begun to set, Sakura pushed herself to her feet and made her way back to Tazuna’s home. Her stomach emitted a low rumble, informing her that it was time for dinner. A giddiness bubbled in the pit of her stomach when she remembered her upcoming meeting with Sasuke; what prompted the Uchiha to want to speak with her, she was unsure, but she was excited nonetheless. During these times, she almost missed her obnoxious inner voice, reciting romantic fantasies and swooning at Sasuke’s every move. Still, she had killed off that voice long ago so that she could focus on more serious matters. Obviously, it hadn’t returned when she traveled back in time.

Tsunami welcomed Sakura happily and ushered her into the kitchen when the rest of her team was sitting. 

“Hi Sakura-chan!” Naruto greeted bouncing in his seat. “While you were gone, I finished a whole chapter of Konoha History A-Z!”

“That’s great Naruto!” Sakura congratulated her friend. “What was it about?”

“I was reading about the third shinobi war.” He tapped his chin pensively. “The book talked about the battles and how even the genin and chunin had to fight! That’s pretty messed up, right?”

“Yeah.” Sakura agreed solemnly, remembering how children had to fight in the fourth shinobi war as well. 

“Anyway, the war seemed hella scary ‘cause people were dying all the time and you never knew when you’d be attacked.”

“That is how war works.” Sakura nodded, her voice laden with a gravitas far too heavy for her current age. 

“You seem to know a lot about war.” Kakashi added with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“I’ve read about it.” Sakura replied nonchalantly, “I read a lot about it because it terrifies me and I want to know what to avoid.”

Kakashi’s sole visible eye crinkled as he patted Sakura on the head. “You’re too young to be thinking about things like this. Be happier.”

Kakashi didn’t like when Sakura was serious or when she addressed real issues. That was supposed to be the job of the boys, while she sat innocently behind them. He knew it was a terrible thing to think, but he didn’t want Sakura to be strong enough or have enough potential to become a first-rate shinobi; one that would serve on the front lines. She was far too fragile for that kind of dirty work. Or was Rin too fragile? Was Kakashi projecting his old feelings about his teammate on Sakura? Probably, but it made Kakashi feel better, so he wasn’t going to stop.

As if reading his mind, Sakura piped-up. “If Naruto or Sasuke were to say what I said, you’d delve into an in depth discussion with them, wouldn’t you?” She sent an accusatory look at her sensei, which was reciprocated with absolute blankness.

“Do you think so lowly of me, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi replied, somewhat monotonously. 

Sakura didn’t answer, but she got the information she needed. Of course Kakashi thought she was too fragile to understand serious business or real shinobi issues; she hadn’t done a great job proving that she was strong enough in her past life or earlier years. A pathetic fangirl clad in an impractical pink dress wasn’t your first candidate for the front lines.

Hoping to break the tension, Tsunami came bustling out of the kitchen with a large platter of food in her hands. 

“I hope you’re hungry!” She announced, setting the platter down on the table. “I wasn’t sure what food you’d like, so I made a bit of everything.” She turned to the hallway. “Inari! It’s time for dinner!”

The young boy came sulking down the hall, flopping dramatically onto a chair. The fact that the boy was simply angsty had slipped Sakura’s mind as she had only remembered his braver, sweeter side. Now, she was annoyed by him. Suddenly, the significance of a certain question popped into Sakura’s head; turning towards a picture sitting atop a cabinet, she looked at Tsunami questioningly. 

“It seems like part of that picture was ripped off.” She pointed out. “Why?”

“Ah.” Tsunami quickly donned a forlorn look. “He was Inari’s father… in a sense.” She paused and sighed sadly. “He was the hero of this village.”

“There are no heroes.” Inari snarked. “Even you ninja can’t do anything. You’re just pretending.”

“Hey!” Naruto interjected. “We’re totally gonna be heroes! You’re just a baby and a coward if you don’t think you situation can be fixed. Believe it!”

Tears of anger began to pour down Inari’s face. Glaring one last time at Naruto, he stormed from the table and out of the kitchen. 

“I’m so sorry for Naruto’s behavior.” Kakashi quickly apologized. “I suppose Inari just hit on a bit of a touchy subject for him.”

“I’m still here you know.” Naruto hissed, crossing his arms.

“It’s okay.” Tazuna’s consoled. “Really, I think he needed someone to tell him as much.”     

“The dinner was delicious Tsunami-san.” Sakura smiled sweetly at the woman. “I’ll handle the dishes.”

“You’re such a sweet girl.” Tsunami purred, handing Sakura her plate. “You really don’t have to you know.”

“It’s the least I can do. You’ve been so very hospitable.”

Placing the dishes in the sink, Sakura began to wipe the grime off of them with a sponge. The upcoming meeting with Sasuke lurked in the back of her mind, sending butterflies into her stomach. He was so different than his past self, Sakura couldn’t help but feel as if she had done something wrong. Of course, she knew that he was in a mentally better place, but change was always a difficult pill to swallow; time travel was a hard pill to swallow as well, but that one was so absurdly big it was easier to lose in its own incredulity. Quickly, she finished washing the dishes, dried her hands on the checkered tea towel adjacent to the sink, and hurried out the door into the forest to the side of the house. A smile blossomed on her face when she sensed Sasuke’s tell-tale chakra a couple hundred feet away.

“You came.” Sasuke stated, acknowledging her existence.

“I did.” Sakura shuffled on her feet uncomfortably, “So, uh… what’d you call me here for?”

Sasuke motioned for her to sit on the log beside him. Apprehensively, Sakura lowered her body next to him, keeping a healthy distance. “You said something, a while ago.” He began, looking unfazed. “Something about you not allowing someone to fall into the darkness. Who was that?”

Sakura cursed her bad planning. She didn’t have any answer for that question other than explaining her entire complicated scenario to Sasuke and that was certainly not the route she would like to take. “I-it’s really not important.” Sakura insisted, looking away from Sasuke’s harsh gaze.

“If I tell you about my past, will you tell me about whatever the hell is going on?” Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned backwards in attempt to appear not-caring.

Sakura grinned. Sasuke was finally opening up to her; whatever his intentions may be, she wasn’t going to pass up this offer. “Sure.” She agreed. “You have to start though.”

“Well, you know of the Uchiha massacre.” Sasuke looked down at his feet uncomfortably for a second before meeting Sakura’s gaze. “My brother killed my family.”

Sakura nodded. Of course she already knew that; everyone did. She let out in inaudible sigh, hoping that she’d actually hear some new information. 

“And I really l-loved my brother before the incident.” Sasuke stumbled over the word ‘love’ as if it were foreign to him. “That’s essentially it.”

Sakura wanted press him for more, but she knew that Sasuke had opened up substantially. Though she didn’t receive any new information, she didn’t expect Sasuke to recount every emotion he ever had. In fact, Sasuke was taking large steps in the direction of ‘actual friend’.

“Now it's your turn.” Sasuke looked at her imploringly. “Who is this person you’re trying to ‘save’?”

“He’s a-a…” Sakura hesitated. “An old friend.”

“From when? It’s not like you’ve been around for a particularly long amount of time.”

“When I was younger and into when I was in the Academy,” Sakura lied, making up a story as she went, “there was this guy who would teach me things and uh, act like a friend. He had an interest in forbidden jutsus but at the time I, uh, I couldn’t do anything about it. Now I want to find him and stop him.”

Sasuke nodded slowly. “We’re similar.”

“I suppose we are.” Sakura agreed.

Chapter Text

The silence between the two quickly became awkward; Sakura giggled uncomfortably as she would have done when she was younger. 

“What’s funny?” Sasuke implored.

“It’s nothing, really!” Sakura shook her head with embarrassment. “It’s just a thing I do to break awkward silences. Not to say that the awkward silence was your fault, of course! It’s just a subconscious thing I do; I could have initiated the silence!”

Sasuke looked at her with a single eyebrow raised. She was rambling nervously as she tended to do. Still, Sasuke didn’t find it as annoying as he used to; now he understood Sakura’s reasons for rambling. She didn’t do it because she wanted to talk that much and irritate him, no she did it for the same reason that he blocked people out. She did it because she didn’t know how to get through to a person. “We should go back.” Sasuke stated dryly. He didn’t want to convey too much emotion, as always. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sakura agreed. “Let’s go then.” Pushing herself to her feet, she followed Sasuke through the dark forest and back towards Tazuna’s house. 

Naruto waited patiently at the steps of the house. There were very few things he hated more than being left out; especially by his two best friends. Would it have killed them to invite him? Even if they’d yell at him he’d be happy; as long as he wasn’t lonely. Still, Naruto refused to be sad. He would take this in stride and be ebullient and happy. Wallowing in sorrow achieves nothing.

Naruto spotted two incipient figures. Plastering his best smile on his face, he jogged towards them.

“Teme, Sakura-chan!” He exclaimed, “What’s up? What were you guys doing?”

“Nothing much, Naruto.” Sakura brushed off his question, “We should all get to bed though. It’s pretty late. I hear Kakashi-sensei has something in store for us tomorrow.”

“I was thinking we could talk ab-” Naruto started.

Sasuke was having none of it. He had done enough talking to last him a lifetime. “Let’s just go to bed Naruto.”

“Yeah. Okay then. I’ll see you all tomorrow then.” He muttered, trodding dejectedly back to his room. Mentioning the topic to Sasuke and Sakura the following day would be useless, Naruto was sure; quickly, he deemed that the best solution was to completely forget about the event. 

Sakura woke up the next morning, far more tired than she would have hoped. Groggily, she made her way to the kitchen where Naruto was fully passed out, his head on the table. 

“Naruto,” Sakura muttered, poking her friend lightly, “wake up. We have to eat.”

“Go away…” Naruto whined, hiding his head in-between his arms, “I don’t wanna wake up!”

“If you wake up now, you’ll be up before Sasuke.” Sakura goaded, sitting down next to Naruto.

Naruto’s head popped up abruptly. “I’m up! I’m up! You can vouch for me Sakura-chan, right?!”

“Of course Naruto. Now let’s eat breakfast.”

“Haha, I can rub this in Sasuke-teme’s face for all of eternity! I’m more punctual than him! This is amazing!”

“It’s incredible how quickly you perk up…” Sakura chuckled to herself. 

Sasuke entered the room several minutes later, fully dressed. 

“Teme! I was up before you!” Naruto exclaimed, pointing his finger at Sasuke, “Sakura-chan can totally vouch for me!”

“I don’t care.” Sasuke shrugged, sitting on the opposite side of the table. “Get serious. We’re training today so that we can put up a fight when Zabuza comes back.”

“I don’t know man, Kakashi pretty much whooped his ass the first time.” Naruto shrugged his shoulders. “It’s his little teammate we gotta worry about ya know.”

“You can’t let your guard down.” Sasuke chided, glaring at Naruto, “You have to take this seriously .”

“Woah man, I am. I’m just saying, our chances look good.”

“You never actually know the chances!” Sasuke spat, his sharingan flashing for a second.

“Calm down!” Sakura exclaimed, meeting Sasuke’s gaze, “I agree that we can’t let our guard down, but that doesn’t mean you can lose your everloving shit!”

“I thought you understood.” Sasuke shook his head and looked down at his food.

“I-” Sakura stopped herself, “whatever. Look, we have to get along. We’re a team!”

“Stop trying to always fix things, Sakura.” Sasuke mumbled, “It’s not your job.”

“God every time I think I get somewhere with you, you find a way to make things worse! I’m sorry for everything that happened, but you can’t use that as an excuse to act like an asshole. Especially not towards the people that care about you.”

“What did I just say?” Sasuke didn’t spare Sakura a look. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Sakura groaned and dug into her breakfast. 

“Oh you’re already up?” Kakashi shuffled into the dining room and sat right next to Sasuke. “Boy, do I have a lot in store for you today!”

“Good.” Sakura grinned, “I hope it’s hard.”

“Well you don’t have to over-exert yourself Sakura-chan.” Kakashi said, wrinkling his one visible eye. 

“What if I want to, sensei?” Sakura retorted, gritting her teeth.

“Well, I suppose I can’t stop you, but really, there’s no need.”

“Can you please take me as seriously as you take the boys?”

Kakashi looked taken-aback. “Are you sure you want that?”

“I’m incredibly sure.”

Kakashi nodded slowly, “Fine. You’re going to train the exact same way the boys will.”

Kakashi leaned on his crutch and pointed at the trees in front of him. “You will be climbing trees.”

“Psh, that’s easy!” Naruto exclaimed, “I climbed trees all the time in the academy when I was running away from kids who wanted to hurt me!”

“That is incredibly sad to hear, Naruto.” Sakura sighed, shaking her head, “Your academy years were pretty rough, huh?”

“Uh, I guess?” Naruto replied.

“Anyway,” Kakashi interrupted, “You will be climbing these trees without your hands. With only chakra.”

“Oh.” Naruto moved close to Sakura, “Can you explain chakra to me, Sakura-chan?” he whispered.

Quickly, Sakura gave Naruto an explanation. 

“Thanks!”

“Go! Try it!” Kakashi commanded.

Immediately, Sasuke ran at the tree, getting up about three feet before falling back to the ground. Of course, he landed with cat-like grace. Next, Naruto tried, forgetting to plant his foot on the bark and just running face first into the tree. Sakura sighed and tried it for herself. It was easy, as she expected. She made her way up the tree slowly, making sure she didn’t look too comfortable. 

“This is pretty easy, sensei!” She grinned, sitting on the top branch. 

“Ah, would you look at that.” Kakashi pointed out, his excitement far from convincing. “Sakura-chan is the best at chakra-control. Well, you can go back to Tazuna’s now. You’ve outdone the boys.”

“Kakashi-sensei, you knew I’d be able to do this.” Sakura accused, “I’m not going home. Teach me the next step.”

“This isn’t like you to act so assertive.” Kakashi raised his eyebrow, eyeing Sakura suspiciously.

“You’ve been my sensei for only a few months. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot more about me.”

Chapter Text

“I’ll learn a lot about you?” Kakashi half-chuckled, “Okay then. I’ll be sure to look out for that.”

Sakura opened her mouth to call-out Kakashi’s patronizing tone, but quickly closed it, not wanting to start a fight. 

“So you want to learn the next step?” Kakashi implored, ignoring the boys as they tumbled from the tall trees.

“Yes.” Sakura stated confidently, “I want to get ahead.”

“You’re already much stronger than I expected.” Kakashi sighed, “Why do you feel the need to try even harder?”

“Because I have people to protect, Kakashi!” Sakura exclaimed angrily.

“You dropped the suffix, Sakura-chan.” Kakashi looked at Sakura suspiciously, his eye shooting metaphorical lasers at her, “Was it a Freudian slip?”

“W-what do you even mean?” Sakura fumbled over her words, panic beginning to set in, “I just got...overwhelmed.”

“Alright…” Kakashi gave her one more skeptical look before turning back to the boys in the trees. Without sparing Sakura a look he spoke to her. “If you feel the need to advance, walk on water.”

“So, no instruction?” Sakura implored, her voice dripping with annoyance, “I’ll just...learn myself?”

She got no reply. Letting out a sigh, she walked over to the small pond by the trees. Of course, she knew conceptually how to walk on water. She’d gone over many drills and fallen into a myriad of lakes, but with her body in the state that it was in, walking on water without difficulty was a tall order. Thankfully, she wasn’t supposed to get it down on the first try; exceeding in the difficult skill of water-walking on her first try would be unfathomable. She doubted an Uchiha could succeed on their first try. Before she could take a stab at the technique, Sasuke approached her.

“Hey, what’s up?” She started, surprised that it was Sasuke talking to her and not Naruto.

“How did you get up the tree so easily?” He looked at Sakura confusedly, scanning her from head to toe.

Sakura looked at Sasuke skeptically. She decided that Sasuke didn’t understand that you couldn’t completely dismiss someone and insult them then ask for their help disrespectfully hours later. Sakura was sure someone had taught him basic manners at some point, since he was part of the Uchiha head family; apparently, he’d forgotten them all. “It’s all a balance, you see.” Sakura started, “If you release too much chakra into your feet, you will break the bark of the tree and fall off. If you don’t release enough, you won’t make a connection. You have to find the midpoint between the two where your weight is supported and you have the perfect amount of contact with the tree. Naruto will likely be the worst at it because he has so much chakra. The more chakra, the harder it is to control.”

“That’s why it’s so easy for you.” Sasuke noted.

“Rude, but I’m not going to deny it. I have a feeling that your chakra control could be very good if you work at it. You should consider learning healing jutsu.”

“Me? A healer?” Sasuke scoffed, “I’m meant for the front lines of battle.”

“Don’t be so closed-minded.” Sakura chided Sasuke, “Think about Lady Tsunade. Because of her mitotic regeneration jutsu, she can fight in the front lines and heal. Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

“Tsunade is your inspiration. I’ll find my own.” Sasuke replied, shooting down Sakura’s idea without hesitation.

“Who said we can’t share a role model? Think about how useful healing jutsu could be. You could save your teammates' lives.”

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a lack of words. He would never say this to Sakura’s face, but healing jutsu was for the weak . It was for those who stayed behind in battle and cried. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he believed that healing jutsu was for women. Sure Tsunade was strong, but she was an exception. Sasuke wasn’t sure if he was talented enough in chakra control to become an exception. 

“I know what you’re thinking.” Sakura said, breaking Sasuke out of his reverie, “You think healing jutsu is for women.”

Sasuke was taken aback for a moment before he tried to fake a scoff. “I would never-”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. The idea that women are weak healers is a concept that society feeds everyone. In reality, society is afraid of what will happen when women are given equal opportunities. As much as they beg to differ, they know, somewhere deep inside them, that women can do just as much if not more than a man.”

“Sure, whatever, I don’t doubt it.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, “By saying that I thought healing jutsu was for women, you were putting words in my mouth.”

“Oh, was I?” Sakura implored, staring at him straight in the eye, “I guess I just misunderstood your patronizing look. Anyway, go tell what I told you about chakra control to Naruto. He needs the extra help.”

“Why would I do that?” Sasuke looked incredulously at Sakura.

“Because, no matter how threatened you feel by Naruto, this isn’t a competition. We’re a team, and for us to function well, we all need the same opportunities and we need to support each other.”

“Tch.” Sasuke huffed, walking back towards the trees. Sakura was sure he would relay the information to Naruto, though. Despite Sasuke’s indifferent façade, Sakura knew that if there was one thing Sasuke cared about, it was the strength of team seven.

Sighing, Sakura began to walk towards the water. Carefully, she placed her dominant left foot onto the waves. The foot bobbed nicely on top, though she could tell that she would not be able to hold her weight. Noticing Kakashi’s watchful eye, she decided that she should get a good fail in so that she wouldn’t seem to suspicious. Bracing her body for the icy-cold plunge, she put all of her weight onto her left foot and promptly fell into the pond. Shivering, she stepped onto the shore and took off her flowy, red dress, leaving only her tank-top underneath. Sakura steadied her breath and took another stab at water walking. This time, she didn’t fail deliberately. She stayed atop the water’s surface for about three seconds before losing control and toppling into the pond once again. Finally acknowledging Sakura’s serious attempt, Kakashi ambled over to the pond. 

“Looking damp, Sakura-chan.” He joked, “I must say, I’m impressed with how quickly you’ve caught on to the concept of water-walking.”

“I’ve read about it.” Sakura stated, and she wasn’t lying. As a genin, she read books on every jutsu she could imagine. Regrettably, she never attempted to put any of her myriad book-smarts to practical use until she received a nasty wake-up call in the form of Sasuke’s untimely departure.

“Yes, but let me give you some pointers.”

Sakura listened on attentively, re-learning a lesson she had learned years ago. She remembered all the tips and all of the advice. Sakura didn’t have any problems fundamentally . What she needed to work on was executing a skill she had mastered in a lighter, weaker, smaller body. “Thank you Kakashi-sensei.” Sakura said sincerely.

Smiling at her sensei, she stepped on the water again, taking her current body weight and chakra amount into account. Since her chakra level was so abysmal at the moment, concentrating it was actually easier than she had expected. Carefully, she took several tentative steps across the surface of the water. Precariously, she was able to walk well into the middle of the small lake before plunging into the (still frigid!) water. Her body was not as pathetic as she had initially thought. Sakura was beginning to realize how little advantage she took of her physical skills as a genin. Yes, she wasn’t particularly buff, and yes, her chakra reserves were small, but she had brimming potential that she never tapped until too late. No. It wasn’t that she neglected to tap into it, it’s that her senseis and peers neglected to encourage her. She was taught to be the girl on the sidelines. Her weakness was encouraged . Sakura wouldn’t deny that she could have taken her improvement into her own hands with the right motivation, but her male peers didn’t have to. They were taught to be strong and their improvement was encouraged. For Sakura, improvement was strange. A woman who possessed confidence in their own skill was viewed as arrogant and odd . It was the reason that Tsunade harbored the ill will of so many.

Sakura swam back to the shore and wrung the excess water from her hair. She focused her mind on the task at hand again and stepped onto the surface. The waves undulated gently below Sakura’s sandaled foot, creating a touch of imbalance. Acknowledging this, she adjusted her body to the constant movement of the water, following it instead of fighting it. Relaxing her body and only expending the exact amount of chakra necessary, she walked across the lake, breathing in rhythm with the ebb and flow of the gentle waves. With grace, she walked across the entire lake. If she hadn’t already achieved this, Sakura would be jumping for joy. In fact, she probably should to keep up her inconspicuity.

“Kakashi-sensei!” She exclaimed with well-feigned excitement, “Did you see that? I walked across the entire lake!”

“Do it again.” Kakashi insisted, turning towards her.

With a firm nod, Sakura walked across again, retaining her poise. “See?” She grinned, “I told you I could do it.”

Kakashi nodded, “I am impressed.” With that, he turned back to Naruto and Sasuke. 

Despite his seeming dismissal of her achievements, Sakura was pleased. At the moment, she knew that Kakashi’s reaction was actually incredibly emotive. He was probably reconsidering her after her display; oh yes, Sakura was pleased.

Chapter Text

Sakura couldn’t fall asleep. She knew that team seven would have to fight Zabuza the next day and her nerves were keeping her awake. For what felt like hours, she tossed and turned, clenching and unclenching her muscles. Finally, she drifted off into a light, fitful sleep.

Her dreams were riddled with memories of the final war. Quickly, her mind drifted to the moment in which she learned the jutsu that had landed her in this precarious position. 

Tsunade grit her teeth, preparing to explain the complicated jutsu to her pupil. 

“Sakura, I’m so sorry to place this burden on you.” She preceded her lesson with a statement of sincere regret, “You are the only one I can trust with this.”

Sakura nodded in solemn agreement. “Let’s skip the formalities, please. I need to learn the jutsu and paint the seals. Who knows when the need for this will arise?”

“Anytime,” Tsunade whispered, her words stopping in her throat. “I should have killed him.”

“That snake will die soon,” Sakura spat, adjusting her loose clothing to better cover her lean figure. In all reality, she was becoming rather thin due to the rationing of goods. Trade and import was not an option in the current political climate, giving the Konoha farmers the sole responsibility of feeding the entire village. No, they were not prepared nor was there enough food. 

“You know basic fuinjutsu, correct?” Tsunade began to mix the ink for the seals, stirring the small pot with a thin, gilded paintbrush. 

Sakura nodded. “Basic seals and summoning methods.”

“Good enough,” Tsunade sighed through clenched teeth, “If this goes wrong, please forgive me.”

“Do not worry about my life,” Sakura kept her gaze on the floor, refusing to display any form of weakness or sadness. She had cried enough already for a lifetime. 

Forming several hand-signs, Tsunade began to paint seals onto Sakura’s body with needle-point accuracy. Her hands possessed all of the steadiness characteristic of a surgeon and her body remained still, yet not rigid. Quickly, Sakura was covered from head to toe in curving, spiraling calligraphy. 

“Now it’s your turn.” Tsunade placed the brush back in the ink, letting out a long awaited sigh, “Perform the hand-signs I taught you.”

Closing her eyes for concentration, Sakura formed a ram sign, focusing her chakra. Once she was emanating a blue light, her hands flew the rest of the signs with well-practiced perfection. The seals on her body lit up in a dull light and faded into her skin. Overcome with a wave of exhaustion, she collapsed to her knees, panting.

“Breathe.” Sakura heard Tsunade somewhere far away-or very close; she was unsure. “Breathe Sakura!” 

Finally steadying her breath, the world came back into focus. Drained of every ounce of energy, Sakura lay supine on the floor gazing blankly at the ceiling. 

“When do I use it?” She gasped out.

“When all hope is lost.”

It was the early morning when Sakura jolted awake. Her muscles ached from the workout yesterday and her chakra reserves were not quite full as of yet. Regardless, she had no time for recovery. She was going to fight today. Her dream had reminded her that she was in this timeline to fix the world, not to have as little impact as possible. It was time for her to start changing things. 

Sakura walked confidently into the dining room, fully dressed, her kunai pouch filled to the rim with as many sharp projectiles as she could possibly fit. 

“Good morning,” She announced, taking a seat on a cushion, “How did you sleep, Tsunami?”

“Well, thank you!” Tsunami replied, her voice sweet and crisp, “I made soup.”

“Thank you,” Sakura said gratefully, accepting the steaming bowl that Tsunami was holding in front of her face. 

“I hear your training was quite intense yesterday.” Tsunami began to make small talk, still bustling about in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Sakura agreed between greedy sips, “Kakashi really didn’t hold back.”

“You know, I always wanted to be a ninja.” Tsunami muttered, almost to herself.

“Why didn’t you?”

“My family didn’t have the money and I was expected to keep the house and care for my siblings.”

“Oh.” Sakura grimaced, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be!” Tsunami chuckled, “I don’t mind this life! It’s just great to see such powerful young shinobi these days. Makes me happy.”

Sakura chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m glad.”

A few minutes later, Sasuke entered the kitchen, his shoulders lacking the characteristic tension that Sakura had become accustomed to.

“You slept well?” Sakura deduced, shooting him a gentle smile.

“Hn.” Sasuke sat down next to her, accepting a bowl of miso soup, “Do you know what Kakashi is going to have us do today?”

“I think we’re guarding the bridge for real.”

“I’m glad we’re finally getting back to our real job.”

Sakura nodded uncomfortably. Though she wasn’t afraid of changing too much now, she was worried that the slightest change in the timeline could kill Sasuke for good this time. He hovered on the line between life and death the last time he fought Haku; Sakura was unsure if he was stronger this time, given Sasuke’s closed nature. She truly had no idea what he had in store. 

“Where’s Naruto?” Sasuke finally broke the tension that was manifesting in the silence. 

“He seemed pretty beat by the time we got back yesterday. It may be a bit before he wakes up,” Sakura shrugged, knowing full well that Naruto would show up at the last moment. Scratch that, she expected Naruto to show up. With the uncharacteristic behavior of Haku, Sakura was reduced to mere speculation. 

“Of course. Typical of the dobe,” Sasuke huffed, taking small, elegant sips of his soup. 

“He’s motivated, I’ll give him that.” Sakura nodded, thinking fondly of Naruto. For all of his idiosyncrasies, he truly was an extraordinary ninja.

Sasuke huffed again, far too proud to give Naruto any credit, even where credit was deserved. “We can begin the job without him.”

“I suppose we can,” Sakura agreed, hoping against all hope that this timeline was similar enough to give her this. 

Incipient dread stewed and boiled in Sakura’s stomach. Every moment on the bridge brought her closer to the fight with Zabuza. So much remained in the air; the fight could be easier, perhaps, or it could be catastrophic. Either way would change the timeline enough for her to be entering events blind.

“What’s wrong?” Sasuke frowned, looking at Sakura analytically. “You’ve gone pale.”

“Oh, I guess I have,” Sakura chuckled uncomfortably. “I genuinely don’t know why.”
“Are you nervous for the mission today?” Sasuke continued to probe.

“I suppose,” Sakura admitted. “The man we met on our way here, Zabuza, he worries me. He’s a missing-nin and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Shouldn’t he be stronger?”

“Shouldn’t you be grateful that he isn’t?” Sasuke scowled at Sakura; he was growing suspicious.

“Yes, of course! I feel that he may have been holding back on our first encounter.”

Sasuke nodded knowingly. “That is possible,” he mused. “Why would he? If he had the chance to wipe us all out, why not do it as early as possible?”

“I have no idea,” Sakura groaned. “We must prepare for the worst though!”

“Who’s to say he’ll even show up today? He may arrive now. Or tomorrow. We always have to be prepared. As a ninja, you should know that.”

“Don’t patronize me, Sasuke!” Sakura chastised. “I know full well that we must always be vigilant, but doesn’t today sound like the perfect time to strike? Tazuna and his men are on the bridge, alone. Plus, if Zabuza really is everything that I’ve heard he is, the only person he’d have trouble with is Kakashi and I believe that Zabuza is willing to fight Kakashi. Not to mention the fake hunter-nin that acts as his ally! The opportunity is just too perfect.”

“You didn’t refer to Kakshi as ‘sensei’.” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.

“You must be rubbing off on me,” Sakura dismissed. “Anyway, you must agree that this instance is opportune!”

“I suppose.” Suspicion did not leave Sasuke’s face. “If we really are to be prepared for an attack, we should leave now. Without Naruto.”

Sakura sighed, “Yeah, yeah. Get Kakashi-sensei.”

Kakashi ushered Tazuna, Sasuke, and Sakura to the bridge, his demeanor surprisingly relaxed. As soon as they arrived, though, they discovered that the workers had been attacked. 

“Someone has been here!” Sakura cried, reaching for a kunai in her pouch. 

As soon as she uttered those words, a thick mist engulfed the bridge. The same one that team seven encountered earlier. This time, Sasuke stayed calm, taking deep breaths to ease his pounding heart. The killing intent was strong and overwhelming, but Sasuke made sure not to panic. 

“Sakura!” Kakashi ordered, “Protect Tazuna!”

“Yes sensei!” 

Before Sakura could get to Tazuna’s side, two figures manifested in the fog. 

“Kakashi of the sharingan,” Zabuza growled. “We meet again.”

Sakura noticed the strength that Zabuza held in his stance. He did not seem as defenseless as he had when team seven encountered him a few days prior. By his side stood the ever loyal Haku, his mask hiding his gentle facial features. 

“I don’t intend to make this meeting long,” Kakashi replied, his tone casual. “See, my genin and I have this mission we were assigned and I think we’d all appreciate it if we could get home sooner than later.”

Zabuza snarled and gripped the almost comically large sword at his waist. If Sakura did not know the destructive capabilities of the sword when wielded correctly, she would have laughed at the prospect of someone swinging it around, unable to hold the weight properly. 

“Look,” Kakashi sighed, “we don’t have to be so violent here. If you just let our friend Tazuna build the bridge and you don’t hurt him, I don’t have to hurt you.”

Tazuna frowned from his protected space behind Sakura. “You can see what this monster did to my workers,” he hissed. “He deserves to be hurt.”

“I wouldn’t be so loud,” Sakura chastised, widening her stance and tightening the grip around her kunai as Zabuza turned to look at her. 

“That’s not very nice of you, Kakashi,” Zabuza chuckled. “Leaving a defenseless little girl to guard the bridge-builder puts her in quite a bit of danger.”

“She is a ninja,” Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling. “No one on my team is defenseless . Well it seems like you aren’t backing down. Sasuke, you can take Haku all to yourself. Sakura, you know what to do.”

Sakura frowned to herself. Of course she was still stuck guarding Tazuna. Even though she had exhibited improved skill, Kakashi hadn’t seen enough to allow her to fight on the front lines with Sasuke. 

Sasuke leapt into action, throwing several rapid-fire shuriken at Haku. The boy calmly avoided the projectiles, hopping from one foot to the next, landing soundlessly. Sasuke is lightning fast even without his sharingan, ducking and parrying every single one of Haku’s blows. In such a situation, Sasuke would expect his opponent to grow frustrated after not landing a single blow, but Haku was unphased. And Sakura knew why. Ducking under a vicious kunai, Haku jumped backwards gracefully and began to weave complex hand-signs. Sasuke’s eyes grew in confusion. He could not identify the incipient jutsu nor could he discern Haku’s chakra nature. He was sensing water, but something about his chakra was off; Sasuke couldn’t put a finger on it. 

“Makyō hyōshō,” Haku announces, his voice oddly calm for someone casting an incredibly rare jutsu. 

Sakura was pushed back by the force of large ice mirrors manifesting. Crouching into a battle stance, she decided to take no time before going to rescue Sasuke. She took a stabilizing breath before gathering chakra into her fist and throwing a punch at the ice wall. 

It’s just ice, she thought in the moments before impact. It’s gotta break somehow. 

As soon as her fist made contact with the ice, Sakura was thrown back by the force of the impact. Once she clambered to her feet, she noticed that she hadn’t even made a dent. 

“You’ve got to defeat him from the inside!” Sakura called to Sasuke from her limited vantage point outside the ice cage. 

“I know that!” Sasuke’s voice sounded pained. 

Sakura wanted nothing more than to run into the enclosement and help Sasuke, but she couldn’t leave Tazuna unguarded. She stood anxiously in front of Tazuna, finally deciding to do Sasuke a favor. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and peered through the thin gap between two ice plates. If she was careful and stealthy, she could hit Haku with a kunai before he even noticed it coming. Sure, this maneuver didn’t work in her past life, but if she channeled a little more chakra into the kunai to add speed, she may find her mark yet. 

Haku caught the kunai yet again. “If I had seen that even half a second later, you would have hit me,” he said loudly enough to be heard through thick sheets of ice. “I am impressed.”

Suddenly, Sakura sensed a presence behind her; one that certainly did not belong to Tazuna. 

“Tazuna, get in front of me!” Sakura exclaimed, striking the ground where Tazuna once stood as soon as the man was out of her way. 

Zabuza leapt onto stable ground, narrowly avoiding Sakura’s punch. 

“You’re quite a bit stronger than you look, little girl,” Zabuza chuckled, his tone patronizing. 

“Looks can be deceiving,” Sakura huffed, sweeping her foot at Zabuza’s legs. 

The missing nin dodged the attack gracefully and swung his sword in a vicious arc towards Sakura’s head. Spur of the moment, Sakura slapped her palms around the blade, stopping it from cutting through her cranium. This bought her enough time to roll out of the way, Zabuza’s sword hitting the ground in a violent crunch. Zabuza attacked again, his sword whizzing past Sakura’s ear as she barely dodged another attack. Before Zabuza could slice at her again, she slid close to Zabuza’s abdomen and punched him right in the solar-plexus. The missing nin was sent flying backwards, but he caught himself before he hit the ground. 

As soon as he was standing again, Kakashi appeared behind him, landing a solid roundhouse kick. Sakura sighed in relief, knowing that Zabuza was in good hands. She turned back to the ice prison, nearly cheering in joy to see Naruto slide inside the walls. 

Sakura could vaguely make out Sasuke and Naruto arguing quietly. A good sign, she surmised. Finally, she could make out the sound of air moving quickly and feet hitting the ground in a perfect, lightning fast rhythm. Whatever had happened with Sasuke and Naruto had allowed Sasuke to awaken his sharingan. 

Still, Sakura was conflicted. Yes, it was necessary for Sasuke to awaken his sharingan as part of his personal growth, but knowing how much pain it gave him made Sakura’s heart ache. But there was nothing she could do about it now. 

Sakura stood by Tazuna, her eyes darting from side to side. Last time, Zabuza had attacked her at about this time–right after Sasuke realized his sharingan. But then again, Zabuza had already attacked. Perhaps everything was just happening sooner now. Before Sakura could dwell even more on the implications of time travel, an animalistic scream resounded from the ice prison. Yet again, Sakura sighed in relief. Everything that had to happen during this fight happened. 

Naruto sent Haku flying through one of the mirrors, the prison finally broken. On the ground in the center was Sasuke, supine and unmoving. Hardening her emotions, Sakura turned away from Sasuke’s body and jumped away from Haku, grabbing Tazuna by the wrist as she did. 

Naruto stood by Haku, poised to strike again, but noticed that the boy’s face had been revealed. 

“You’re the pretty one I saw in the forest,” Naruto gasped.

“I’m nothing but a broken tool,” Haku muttered, his raspy voice full of pain. “Kill me now, as I am no longer of use to Zabuza.”

“Stop with the emo crap!” Naruto insisted. “Beating yourself up over losing once is for–well–losers.”

Haku shook his head and indulged Naruto in his incredibly tragic life story. Why he felt like the heat of battle was a good time to rattle off about his suffering was beyond Sakura. Grabbing Tazuna again, she rushed to Sasuke’s side. Hastily, Sakura checked for Sasuke’s pulse, relieved to find it slow but certainly there. Placing steady hands over Sasuke’s abdomen, she began to channel healing chakra into every burst capillary and pierced muscle. It was slow work, but it would save his life. Though Sasuke survived without emergency medical care the previous time, Sakura had a feeling that his wounds were worse this time. 

As Sakura was about to finish healing Sasuke, she saw Haku run towards Kakashi and Zabuza. Sakura knew exactly what was about to happen. Without taking a moment for consideration, she pursued Haku, throwing him out of the way right as Kakashi’s chidori was plunged into Zabuza’s chest. The missing nin’s body froze, his muscles tensing, then he fell backwards, dead. 

“No!” Haku screamed, falling to his knees by Zabuza’s body. “Why did you do that? It was my job to protect him, and you–” He broke into sobs.

“You deserve to live,” Sakura consoled, her voice low. “You’re so young and you’re on the wrong path. Zabuza’s killed so many already, but you have a chance to redeem yourself.”

In the background, Sasuke stumbled to his feet, slowly making his way over to the commotion. 

Haku shook his head in grief, still sobbing over Zabuza’s body. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered to himself and the corpse. “I’m sorry.”

Sakura found herself overcome with panic. Prior to this moment, her changes had been small, almost negligible. Now, she truly changed the course of the next few years. There was no telling what would happen after this.

Chapter Text

Sakura stood, frozen in place. The implications of her actions had finally sunk in; she was responsible for a major change in the timeline. Haku would stay alive. Sakura’s heart was pounding relentlessly in her chest as she tried to come up with a plan of action. Now that Haku remained alive, what should she do? Turn him in to the Hokage so that he may have a better life? Just leave him here and let him do whatever he wants? 

“Sakura.” Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder, making Sakura jump in surprise. Sasuke looked at the ground, his hands shoved firmly in his pockets. He was visibly uncomfortable. “Thanks for saving me,” he mumbled.

“Of course,” Sakura smiled, pushing her panicked thoughts to the back of her mind. “You’re my teammate and my friend, of course I’m going to save you.”

Sasuke nodded, choosing not to offer a verbal response. Yes, he understood that it was Sakura’s duty as his teammate and as the healer on the team to save him, but what really surprised him was how Sakura referred to him as a friend. Before, when asked what their relationship was, Sasuke would know immediately that it was one sided infatuation. Sakura was head-over-heels in love with him and Sasuke couldn’t care less. Now, Sakura herself referred to their relationship as one of mutual respect, a friendship. Sasuke nodded to himself, he could reciprocate a friendship. 

“That was crazy,” Naruto moaned, interrupting Sasuke’s moment of contemplation and Sakura’s moment of panic. “Haku and Zabuza were both crazy strong. Do you think they’ll promote us to jonin once we get back to the village?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Naruto,” Sasuke groaned. “We barely did anything, you know. 

“Why are you getting mad at me for being hopeful? If we did get promoted, I’d become Hokage in no time! I could be the youngest Hokage ever.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “No one’s ever going to get appointed Hokage at thirteen. That just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Now we’ll have time to chat on the way back,” Kakashi started, reaching for a kunai, “but we’re not done quite yet.”

At the start of the bridge stood Gato in front of countless henchmen. “I see that Zabuza failed his mission,” he snarled. “I thought I’d be taking him out plus all of you, but it looks like I’ve got an easier job.”

Before Gato and his men could even advance, Haku began to take them out, blasting shards of ice at groups of at least three. Only moments later, Gato was the only one standing. 

“This was your fault,” Haku growled. “If you hadn’t decided to side with that terrible ninja, Zabuza would have been in better shape. He wouldn’t be dead right now.”

“L-leave me alone and you can still get the money I promised!” Gato squeaked, backing away from Haku. 

“I don’t care about the goddamn money.” With that, Haku stabbed Gato through with a kunai, pulling the knife out merely seconds after stabbing the man. 

Sakura frowned in confusion. Haku spoke of a ‘terrible ninja’, but there had only been Haku and Zabuza in her past life. Then it hit her; neither she nor Tsunade had been particularly secretive about the time travel jutsu. They hadn’t set a sound muffling jutsu on the door nor had they even considered closing the blinds. For a woman who had fought in and survived two wars, Tsunade was surprisingly careless. Perhaps she was under the impression that the world was already going to end, or perhaps in her haste to perform the jutsu, she neglected to take necessary precautions. Either way, anyone could have their discussion and though the particular jutsu that Sakura performed was rare and incredibly difficult, it was no kekkei-genkai. Any Uchiha or Hyuga could identify it right away; but Sakura knew that Madara was dead and Madara and the strange man, Tobi were one in the same. Not to mention, no Hyuga would betray the leaf village to such an extent. Regardless, Sakura was now afraid that someone could have followed her back in time, and with the horrible presence she sensed back at the training grounds, the prospects were beginning to be more likely. 

“Alright, team,” Kakashi sighed. “This mission has escalated into way more than I expected and I think we should go home before anything else happens. We got rid of the people threatening Tazuna, all’s good.” Hastily, Kakashi began to herd the genin and Tazuna in the direction of Tazuna’s home before turning to Haku. “I advise you come with us. We’ll bring you back to village then deal with you from there.”

The boy looked resigned to his fate and followed sadly, surely expecting to spend the rest of his life in captivity in the leaf village. 

Sakura fell behind the group to stand next to Haku. “I’ll put a good word in for you with the Hokage,” she whispered to him. “I don’t think you’ll get away scott-free, but I can make sure you don’t suffer too much.”

Haku nodded in subtle gratitude and looked away in favor of staring blankly at the horizon. He’s always been a weird kid . Sakura surmised.

The trip back to Konoha was slower than Sakura remembered. Kakashi insisted that Sasuke not take the trees after his little near-death experience and no one was feeling particularly energetic. Though Sakura hadn’t suffered any major blows, she was generally drained from the chakra she expended fighting Zabuza and healing Sasuke. Being young again was such a hassle! Even with the extra work she had put in, she felt painfully drained after every skirmish. 

Sakura looked over to Haku, noting his pained features. He never looked particularly happy, but the death of Zabuza seemed to hit him really hard. It made Sakura worry about her choice; was choosing to save Haku’s life truly the best idea? In her past life, they died together, moving on to whatever lies beyond life as a pair. Was Sakura right to separate them? But there was nothing she could do now except for mull over the moral implications of her actions. 

“Hey Haku,” she started infusing friendliness into her tone. “You mentioned a ‘terrible ninja’ that Gato sided with. Can you tell me anything about him?”

“I don’t see why this concerns you,” he began quietly, “but he went by the name of Tobi. I never really saw his face.”

Sakura’s heart seemed to stop for a moment. That was impossible! Madara was dead, and of course, Tobi was too. Naruto had killed Madara with her help, she saw it happen. Not only that, but his body was sealed away for good in case anyone got the terrible idea of reincarnating him using edo tensei. It must have been another Tobi, there was no way a sealed-away, dead man followed Sakura into the future. 

“You look worried,” Haku noted. “Do you know the man I spoke of?”

Sakura quickly shook her head. “I’m just–tired is all. That battle was pretty draining.”

“I’m pooped too, Sakura.” Naruto decided to join the conversation. “I think we should get some ramen as a team once we get back to the village in order to celebrate an A-rank mission. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“I may take you up on that, I’m starving!” Sakura placed her hands on her stomach for emphasis. “I think Sasuke should go home and get some rest, though. I did my best healing him, but nothing fixes your body better than a good night’s sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Sasuke replied pointedly. “I’m not dead, am I now?”

“Well, you could’ve been!” 

“But I’m not. So don’t worry about me.”

“Wait, so are you saying that you want to get ramen with us?” Naruto butted in, grinning from ear to ear.

“No,” Sasuke said definitively. “I was just telling Sakura that I don’t need to be treated like a child. I’m going to go home as soon as we get back to the village.”

“Oh, you’re no fun!” Naruto whined. “Well, Sakura and I will get ramen without you and we’ll call it a date!”

“We will not be calling it a date, Naruto.”

“Fine, we will be calling it ‘eating ramen’!”

Sakura had never been happier to see the large, red gates of Konoha. As usual, Izumo and Kotetsu were dozing on duty, earning a quick clap on the back of the head from Kakashi. 

“Now, I know all of you want to rest after our…” Kakashi paused, “adventure. But before you can do that, we need to report to the Hokage, not only about the mission, but about our little friend here.” He gestured towards Haku who looked detached and dejected.

“But I wanna eat ramen !” Naruto whined, throwing his head back. 

“And you can, Naruto. Just wait until we’re done talking with the Hokage.”

“That old man is already stalking us with his creepy ball. He already knows what happened,” Naruto mumbled, shuffling his feet on the ground. 

Merely minutes later, team seven stood in front of the Hokage looking worse for wear and quite exhausted. 

“It looks like the mission didn’t go as expected,” said Hiruzen. “Do you care to fill me in on the details?”

Kakashi sighed. “The mission went wrong about two hours in and we’ve been gone for how long now? Five days? Anyway, two chunin attacked us about halfway to the Land of Waves. We dealt with them, but decided to finish escorting Tazuna to the village instead of turning back there. There was a whole dramatic monologue on the ethics of being a ninja, it was intense. We ran into one of the seven ninja swordsmen, Zabuza–”

“And you didn’t turn back?” Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. 

“We were being ambushed, plus we were only fifteen minutes away from the Land of Waves, it wouldn’t have made sense to turn back. Especially since we thought that the mission would end there. To be honest, I don’t remember how we got to the Wave. Anyone care to fill the Hokage in?”

“Kakashi-sensei doesn’t remember how we got to the wave because he passed out after our fight with Zabuza,” Sakura said, continuing the story for Kakashi. “He overused his sharingan during the fight. Kakashi would have beat him, but Haku, the boy we have here, saved Zabuza’s life and they both escaped. After that, we laid low in Wave, waiting for Kakashi to get better.”

“And why didn’t you leave immediately after Kakashi recovered?” 

“I can take over from here,” Kakashi offered. “See, we figured we’d protect the bridge for one day, and leaving Tazuna defenseless against one of the seven ninja swordsmen didn’t sit well on our conscious. Of course, the day we decided to protect the bridge, we were ambushed. Sasuke almost died, but he’s fine now, and we brought home Haku.”

Hiruzen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had sent the team on the simplest C-rank mission he could find and yet, it managed to turn into something incredibly dangerous and confusing. What was he supposed to expect with Naruto and Sasuke on the same team? 

“Leave Haku with me and you can all be on your way,” Hiruzen said, beckoning for Kakashi to leave Haku by his desk. “You can come and pick up your pay for the mission tomorrow after I figure out how much you are owed for your troubles. After all this, Kakashi, I owe you at least a bottle of sake.”

“That would be much appreciated.” Kakashi’s eye crinkled in a smile as he led Haku to the Hokage.

“One last thing, Lord Hokage,” Sakura piped up before leaving with her team. “None of this was Haku’s fault, he didn’t have a choice in any of this.”

“Thank you, Sakura,” said Hiruzen. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Right before Sakura could leave the building and meet up with Naruto for well-deserved ramen, she was stopped by Kakashi. Again. This time, she wasn’t as nervous. She had managed to dodge his suspicion in their previous encounters and she hadn’t done anything particularly suspicious since their last ‘friendly chat’. 

“Sakura,” Kakashi started, his smile guileless. “If I could have a quick word with you?”

“Yeah, totally sensei!” Sakura replied enthusiastically, following Kakashi outside. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Look, I’ll cut to the chase.” Kakashi dropped the smile. “I know you’re hiding something from me, Sakura. You seem to know a little too much and the amount you’ve improved since you’ve graduated just isn’t plausible.”

If Sakura wasn’t nervous before, she sure was now. She knew that Kakashi was hell-bent on getting an answer out of her; obviously, her previous evasions were not effective enough and now she had to do something. “What do you mean ‘my improvement isn’t plausible’?” Sakura exclaimed indignantly. If she couldn’t give Kakashi an explanation, she sure could act defiant and call out his mistakes in instructing her. Anything to distract from the fact that she was not who she claimed to be. 

“You know what I mean, Sakura. From what you exhibited in the academy, there’s no way you learned medical ninjutsu and such precise chakra control in so little time. You do understand how difficult medical ninjutsu is, right?”

“Of course I know how hard medical ninjutsu is, I learned it! And I’ve told you already, sensei, I wasn’t showing my full potential back then.”

“Sakura, you don’t understand. What I’m saying is that there is no way you could have learned everything you know from books alone. You’re a smart girl, but you’re a terrible liar. You’re hiding something, Sakura.”

Sakura was beginning to panic. This time, Kakashi was suspicious and he wasn’t letting it go. He was going to press the issue until he got an answer. Sakura sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She had no choice but to tell Kakashi. If she was going to tell anyone, it would be him anyway. Kakashi was trustworthy and had a keen sense of judgement and morality. Everything would be fine if he knew. At least, that’s what Sakura was telling herself. “Fine, I’ll tell you the truth,” she said honestly.

“Good. Start talking.”

“I know this is going to sound absolutely insane, but I don’t know how else to phrase it. I’m not from this timeline.” As soon as Sakura uttered those words, the absurdity sunk in. It made far more sense to say that she was a jonin level ninja posing as a genin in an attempt to take over the leaf village than to claim to be a time-traveller from an apocalyptic future. “I was sent back in time to fix things so that the world wouldn’t fall into chaos as it did in my previous life.”

Kakashi blinked several times before rubbing his temples in exasperation. “So I’m stuck training a team with the vessel of a raging demon, a traumatized kid who’s prone to violent outbreaks, and now a goddamn time-traveller?”

Sakura chuckled uncomfortably, “I guess so.”

“That aside, you’re going to need to fill me in on how you gained the skills you have now, and what exactly happens in this chaotic future of yours.”

Sakura nodded. She knew that Kakashi was trustworthy enough to hear the information. What worried her was what he’d do with the knowledge that Sasuke would go rogue. Knowing Kakashi, he would make absolutely certain that Sasuke did not defect from Konoha. If he told the Hokage, who knew what kind of scrutiny Sasuke would be under. It wasn’t fair to a boy who hadn’t done anything wrong yet; Sakura decided to omit that particular part of her future for Sasuke’s sake. 

“I think we should find somewhere to sit down,” Sakura said, leading Kakashi to a park. “This is a long story. I’m surprised you believe me.”

“I had my suspicions about something like this,” Kakashi shrugged. “Like I said, you’re a bright girl, but not a good liar. No one can learn medical ninjutsu without training, your fighting style is far too similar to Tsunade’s, you seemed to expect everything that happened during the mission in the wave, and you hold yourself like a young adult, not a preteen. From that, I could have assumed that you were using some kind of transformation jutsu to pose as a genin, but I didn’t sense anything.”

Sakura sighed. She was far less subtle than she thought. “You actually got one thing wrong. I did not expect everything that happened during our last mission. Things have started to change and I won’t always be able to anticipate the outcome. It really worries me.”

“Just stop beating around the bush and explain to me why you’re back here.”

“I know this is going to sound absurd, but everything was the fault of Madara Uchiha–”

“But he’s dead,” Kakashi interrupted, raising an eyebrow. 

“No, he isn’t. Somehow, he managed to extend his lifespan, adopted the pseudonym, Tobi, and he formed a group of incredibly dangerous missing ninja called the Akatsuki. I’m sure you’ve heard of some of the members, since one of them was the one and only Itachi Uchiha.”

“I figured as much,” Kakashi sighed. “I knew he was part of some organization and it was only a matter of time before I pinned down which one.”

“Orochimaru was part of this organization too, though his fidelity towards the Akatsuki was often questioned. Once Madara began his plan to extract the tailed beasts from the jinchuuriki and summon the ten-tails, all of the ninja villages were thrown into war. We fought Madara for a long time, somehow fending off the looming threat of world-destruction via ten-tails for several years. Finally Naruto and Sasuke, who both became very powerful, used the extent of their skill to kill the already weakened Madara and we thought that we had won. But the war left such a toll on the village that we were in no state to defend ourselves once Orochimaru and the entirety of the Sound Village besieged Konoha. Lady Tsunade, who was the Hokage at the time and my mentor, entrusted me with this jutsu so that I may fix the timeline and save everyone from facing extinction.”

Sakura knew that she was leaving out significant details by omitting Sasuke’s little power spree. In fact, even though Sasuke helped defeat Madara, he did so only so that the leaf village would be preserved so that he could destroy it with his own hands. When he came to destroy the village with Orochimaru, though, Naruto was ready to sacrifice his life to end Sasuke’s. And that is when Sakura knew that she had to use the jutsu. 

Kakashi nodded slowly, processing the information. “You have told me quite a lot, Sakura,” he said pensively. “Now when exactly does all of this happen?”

“In about four years,” Sakura replied, her gaze pointed towards the ground. 

“And how do we prevent it?”

“I’m working on that right now. Until I have a solid plan, I suggest that we make sure that the sound village can not participate in the chunin exams. It is lead by Orochimaru, and they tried to overthrow the leaf village in my past life.”

“You didn’t mention that in your summary.”

“Believe it or not, given the incredibly catastrophic events that follow, a little invasion isn’t the biggest issue.” Sakura didn’t admit that that particular invasion led to Sasuke’s defection, but it was certainly the reason she was so adamant about preventing the Sound from coming near Konoha.

“Well if it isn’t that big a deal, why spend time stopping it?”

“Because, important people died and if it’s preventable, why let people die in front of our eyes?”

“Haven’t you developed a good moral compass?” Kakashi chuckled. “You didn’t mention much about yourself. You said that Naruto and Sasuke became very powerful. What about you?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t tell you,” Sakura chuckled. “I can’t tell you everything about the future. It just–it doesn’t feel right. You should get to experience some stuff first time around, you know? But for the record, pay more attention to your female student.”

With that, Sakura hurried off to Ichiraku’s. She knew that Kakashi would have more questions but given the sheer amount of information she thrust upon him, he’d need at least a few hours to mull it over. And Sakura was hoping to take that short respite to eat ramen and take a shower; god, after everything she’d been through in the past month, she deserved it.

“What took you so long?!” Naruto crossed his arms tightly around his chest, scowling at Sakura.

“I got caught up by Kakashi-sensei, sorry,” Sakura apologized. “You know him, always asking questions.”

“I waited for you, ya know. I didn’t even order,” Naruto announced proudly. 

“Thank you for waiting! Well, I’m here now, so let’s eat.”

Before Naruto could place his certainly long and expensive order, Sasuke came through the cloth overhang in the front of the restaurant. 

“What are you doing here, teme?” Naruto asked accusingly. “You said you weren’t going to come!”

“I got hungry,” Sasuke shrugged. “Plus, my fridge is empty and I plan on going shopping tomorrow.”

Naruto scowled in response and began his order of not one, but three bowls of chashu ramen (with extra pork). Sakura followed with her simple order of miso ramen, and Sasuke ordered the same. 

Sakura inhaled the heavenly aroma of her ramen and dug in, taking ravenous bites. But not as ravenous as Naruto, who had nearly finished his first bowl in the first few minutes of receiving it. 

“So uh,” he mumbled between bites, “anyone wanna take the bill on this? My wallet’s empty.”

“So you invite us to ramen, hoping that you’ll score a free meal?” Sakura asked sweetly, tightening the grip on her chopsticks. 

“Kinda, yeah! Do you wanna pay?”

“No, Naruto, I don’t want to.”

Naruto’s face dropped. “But if you don’t, teme won’t either and then–”

“I don’t want to, but I will,” Sakura interrupted, taking pity on Naruto’s sad, kicked-puppy look. 

As soon as the team finished their ramen, Sakura placed several bills on the counter and thanked Teuchi. In all honesty, Sakura believed that Teuchi was the most trustworthy and patient person in the entirety of Konoha. He dealt with Naruto’s buffoonery for nearly twenty years without complaining or kicking the boy out of his shop. Teuchi truly was a saint.

“Sakura,” Sasuke called as they were leaving the shop. “Could I ask you something?”

Sakura was first impressed by Sasuke’s good-manners. She expected something more abrasive, but it seemed as if Sasuke was changing for the better. But after the initial feeling of content, she was exasperated. Why was it that everyone always needed to pull her aside for a minute? Everything that involved her had to be done in confidence, didn’t it?

“Yeah, of course,” Sakura said good-naturedly. Sasuke talking to her in the first place was special. There was no need to ruin it by her personal peeves. 

“I’ve been thinking–” he started, shifting uncomfortably.

Sakura knew already that Sasuke would either be saying something kind or requesting assistance. 

“I’ve been thinking about what you said about medical ninjutsu,” he finally spat out.

“Yeah, about learning it. I stand by what I said. You’d be well suited!”

“So, could you teach me?”

Sakura’s eyebrows shot up. That was the last thing she expected to hear from Sasuke. “Of course!” She exclaimed. “Any time you want! I’d be more than happy.”

“Tomorrow at 3. We have the day off anyway.”

With that, Sasuke walked off towards the Uchiha complex. For all of the worries of this life, Sakura had to be thankful for the new Sasuke.

Chapter Text

When Sakura returned home after dinner, she was surprisingly calm. Though she suffered a moment of panic on the bridge, she had recovered well from the incident and remained together. In fact, the most stressful part about returning to the village wasn’t the sudden memories of the terrifying fight on the bridge, but her doting parents. 

“Sakura, sweetie!” Mebuki pulled Sakura into a rib-crushing embrace as soon as she walked through the front door. “I don’t know what that crazy sensei of yours was thinking! You’re in no way ready for an A-rank mission.”

“Well, we finished it, didn’t we?” She gave her mother a sweet smile. Sakura couldn’t recall how she reacted when she returned home the first time. She probably sobbed about Sasuke’s near-death into her mother’s shoulder a bit. 

“My goodness,” Mebuki said, shaking her head. “You seem so calm. You know when I went on my first scary mission, I was a mess for days after!”

“It wasn’t a ‘scary mission’, mom, it was a mission that taught all of us about the deceit of clients.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re in real ninja mode. Now go upstairs and clean up. You’re a mess!”

Sakura obliged and padded up the carpeted steps of her house. Her room remained the way she had left it, painfully pink and incredibly unprofessional. She didn’t have one drawer for scrolls or anywhere to sharpen or repair her ninja tools. Yet another thing that she’d have to fix. 

Without wasting a second, Sakura hopped into the shower, washing off days of grime from her skin. She always found showering the best time to think, especially if she had a lot on her mind. 

Now that she had revealed herself to Kakashi, something she was surprisingly willing to do, she actually had to make a plan. Sure, she had decided that “save Sasuke from succumbing to the darkness” was a priority, but that was mostly a personal thing. Now, she really needed to think of ways to avoid impending doom. 

There was always the option to find Tobi, hunt him down, and kill him now, but the village simply didn’t have enough firepower. The only way they were able to bring Madara down the first time was thanks to Sasuke’s rinnegan, susanoo, and eternal mangekyou sharingan plus Naruto’s nine-tails sage mode combo. It was ridiculous how powerful the two of them became. It was as if the universe decided that all of the power would go to those two and everyone else in their generation would be left with scraps. 

Not to say that Sakura’s power was measly–no, it was quite formidable! She just couldn’t destroy a continent with one glance. A mountain, maybe. A nation, certainly not.

Even before she could solidify a way to take down Tobi, she worried about Kakashi. She shoved a lot of information on him earlier, a lot of which seemed nearly impossible. She knew that Kakashi was just giving her space for now and allowing himself to think about the future a bit, but Sakura wanted to follow up with him. She needed to make sure he didn’t make any decisions that would harm Naruto or Sasuke in the long run. 

Sakura groaned. Now that Sasuke wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, he may be even more attracted to Orochimaru, especially if Kabuto was with him. Sakura needed to make sure that he learned medical ninjutsu the right and ethical way. Not the I-don’t-mind-human-sacrifices-as-long-as-I-learn-something approach by which Kabuto was so intrigued. As long as Sakura taught him at first, he’d be fine, she was sure. 

Sakura stepped out of the shower and into her steamy bathroom. The hair that she had cut on graduation day was beginning to grow out; it fell right at her shoulders now. As much as she aesthetically liked the look of her hair this length, she knew that it served no practical purpose and she would have to cut it soon.

Sakura woke up painfully early the next morning. Glancing at the clock beside her bed, she noticed that it was barely 5:00. Despite the early hour and the fact that she barely felt rested, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. She rolled out of bed messily, her short pink hair forming a frizzy halo around her head. 

Despite the fantasies that she held in the academy, kunoichi did not wake gracefully. They were not always ready for the coming day, their bodies trained well to snap in and out of sleep with a moment’s notice. In all of Sakura’s years of being a ninja, she never found early morning shifts easy, especially since all of her ninja experience fell in her teenage years. As a medic, she had read all about the extensive amounts of sleep adolescents required to grow and live healthily. Ninja never fulfilled their sleep quota. In the days of the war, Sakura would be lucky to squeeze in five hours of sleep and every time she had to wake up, she would have to throw herself off of her cot in order to become at least semi-conscious. 

Now, as a weak thirteen year old, Sakura was even more bleary eyed and exhausted. And as much as she physically wished she could fall back asleep, her mind had other ideas. 

All night, her mind had been running wild about her decision to tell Kakashi everything.  It truly was her fault for showing off too much in fights and not hiding her identity enough. For all of her stealth and infiltration training, she was no good at impersonating herself. In the moment–though she may have suffered a momentary lack of judgement–she couldn’t see any harm in alerting Kakashi to the dangers to come. In fact, she was just overwhelmed by his intensity and his hell-bent attitude towards getting an answer. Sakura still retained a fervent need for approval from Kakashi, even after years of dealing with his antics, and even after his death. Now she was thirteen again, with her preteen hormones running wild, forced to make very adult decisions. 

Sakura made up her mind. Kakashi was certainly up at this hour, as she was fairly certain that Kakashi didn’t really sleep, and she needed to speak to him immediately. Dressing quickly, she slipped soundlessly out the window and took to the roofs. 

Sakura pounded on the door of Kakashi’s quaint apartment. She only had to stand out in the cold morning air for a few moments before Kakashi opened the door, still in his shuriken pajamas. 

“You do know that it’s 5:15 in the morning, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi mumbled.

“I need to talk to you,” Sakura insisted, trying to stifle a giggle as she saw Kakashi’s pajama pants.

“And you couldn’t have waited until the sun rose?” Kakashi groaned. “Oh forget it, come in.”

Kakashi led Sakura into a small living room and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. 

“Tea?” He was already putting the kettle on the stove.

For someone as lazy and crude as Kakashi, his apartment was immaculate. It seemed as if no one even lived in it. 

“I think we need to talk about our plan for the future,” Sakura said, gratefully accepting tea from Kakashi.

“I agree. In fact, I have quite a few questions.”

Sakura hummed, noncommittal, “I’ll answer what I can.”

“How did you even go back in time? I’ve never heard of a time travel jutsu.”

She sighed. “The jutsu, in theory, is not wildly complicated. It's kind of like a reverse summoning jutsu that links you to yourself in a point in time and inserts your mind into that form. In a way, you trade in your current body for your old one, but keep your consciousness.”

“Do you keep your chakra?” Kakashi was silently scanning Sakura’s body for anomalies.

“No.” Sakura shook her head. “I’m definitely stuck with genin level chakra. It sucks. Going back to the jutsu, though. If I manage to survive up to the point when the jutsu was cast in this timeline, everything kind of resets and I’ll be sent back to wherever I was when I originally cast the jutsu. Except, all of the changes that I made will still apply and my original timeline will essentially be erased. If I die before then, my original timeline will keep on going and this timeline will be erased.”

Kakashi nodded slowly. “How did Lady Tsunade even get her hands on a jutsu like this?”

“It was some ancient and sacred Senju secret, I think,” Sakura shrugged. “Lady Tsunade never really spared me the details.”

“Of course you wouldn’t waste time explaining how you got your hands on a certainly illegal jutsu if the world was about to end.”

“I mean, the world may not have ended, but Konoha certainly would have,” Sakura chuckled uncomfortably. “Orochimaru and Sasuke were about five hours away from levelling the village before Naruto and I got involved. If I hadn’t performed the jutsu when I did, Orochimaru would have destroyed Konoha by the end of the day and every inhabitant would have been dead.”

“Sounds grim,” Kakashi agreed. “Now, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. You said that the first step is avoiding an attempted invasion by Otogakure and Sunagakure?”

“Yeah,” Sakura nodded, considering how much she should tell Kakashi about the future event. “It was all Orochimaru’s arrangement, so if we don’t allow Oto to participate in the chunin exams, and ban them outright from entering the village, we may be able to avoid the invasion.”

“See, as good as that sounds, how can I ask the Hokage to ban Otogakure without explaining this entire…scenario?”

“Otogakure is already quite suspicious. I’m sure you could dig up enough incriminating evidence about them in a few days,” Sakura said, knowing fully well that a ninja village just popping up out of nowhere was already something the Hokage should look into. “I’d look into reports of missing people around the area. That will probably pan out to something.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Sakura-chan.” Kakashi smiled sweetly at her. “You know, it’s very hard for me to treat you like anything but a cute little genin.”

“As much as that personally bothers me,” Sakura started, grinning amicably nonetheless, “I think it’s best for both of us if you treat me like you would if I wasn’t a time-traveller. I trust you know not to tell anyone.”

“Of course,” Kakashi agreed. “I was an ANBU operative. Now run along and do genin things. I have to get ready for the day, though I wish I could have gotten in a few more hours of sleep…”

“I know you weren’t sleeping,” Sakura countered. 

“Fine, fine, just run along now, my cute little genin.”

Sakura arrived at team seven’s normal training ground at 2:45, figuring that she could warm up a bit before Sasuke arrived. Only moments after sitting down to stretch, Sasuke came ambling into the field, his hands shoved firmly into his pockets. 

“Oh, you’re early,” Sakura remarked, popping up from her stretches.

“So are you,” Sasuke replied. “We should start now since we’re both here.”

“Sounds good.” Sakura dug a scroll out of her pouch. “Usually, you have to read tons of books on medical ninjutsu before you can even start performing it. I’ll try to find the books I studied in the library, then I’ll give them to you. Until then, we can just talk about medical ninjutsu conceptually.”

“Can’t I just copy it with my sharingan?” 

Sakura opened her mouth to retort before realizing that Sasuke did indeed have a point. She had never thought of the possibility of just copying something like healing ninjutsu. In fact, she wasn’t sure if it would even work, given that it was less of a ninjutsu and more of a chakra manipulation. Uchiha were never medics, since their skills served the front lines far better, so Sakura couldn’t think of any examples to prove or disprove Sasuke’s point. 

“I suppose we could try, but I don’t want something to go wrong,” Sakura said hesitantly.

“What could go wrong? Either I do it or I don’t,” Sasuke insisted.

“You could burst the capillaries and blood vessels in your attempt.” Sakura listed the possibilities off on her fingers. “You could tear the muscle, rip the skin more, and perhaps even break the bone. That’s if your chakra control is too rough, which I suspect it is.”

Sasuke scowled. “That’s because I have chakra,” he murmured. “What if I’m not healing something. What if I’m just making the healing chakra appear around my hands?”

Sakura sighed in capitulation. “Fine, I’ll channel healing chakra into my hands and you can try to copy it. Let’s see how this goes.”

Focusing chakra into her hands was instinctual for Sakura, in merely seconds, her hands were enveloped in a soothing green light. Sasuke watched her intently, his sharingan blazing as he copied the technique. 

“Focus your chakra with a ram seal before you try it,” Sakura suggested, letting the light fade from her hands.

Sasuke nodded in agreement and closed his eyes tightly. Sakura could feel the chakra coursing through his body as he focused. Though Sakura’s sensing abilities were far from exceptional, she could feel a harshness to Sasuke’s chakra that would not be conducive to healing. Sasuke thrust his hands out in front of him and channeled the focused chakra into his hands. Immediately, he winced in pain as the blue chakra burned his hands.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Sakura chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

Sasuke just glared at her. “I noticed,” he hissed. “Now fix my hands.”

As Sakura healed Sasuke, she noticed how he observed intently again, sharingan active. Before she could finish soothing the burns, Sasuke wrenched his hands away.

“Could I try to finish healing them?” He was already placing one hand over the other.

“That sounds like a bad idea,” Sakura insisted, pushing his hand away. “Medics never heal themselves. It’s not safe.”

“You’re always saying it’s ‘not safe’,” Sasuke scoffed. “Just let me try something, I’m sure my constitution is enough to handle some basic medical ninjutsu.”

Sakura frowned. “I know you think that medical ninjutsu is easy and the coward’s route, but it takes a lot of skill. Why do you even want to learn it anyway?”

“I don’t think it’s the coward’s route,” Sasuke insisted. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, unsure about his intentions. “You just make it seem so easy.” He finally admitted, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Sakura was surprised to hear that from Sasuke, though she was constantly impressed by his improved social skills these past few months. “Thanks,” she mumbled, fighting the blush that was beginning to stain her cheeks. “But really. Why do you want to learn how to heal?”

If it was possible, Sasuke managed to look even more uncomfortable. “When we were on the bridge, Naruto got hurt,” he mumbled, hands firmly in his pockets. “I don’t know what happened, but the injuries went away when he got mad. But before that, I thought he was going to die in front of me. I thought he was going to die protecting me.” The last sentence came out as a whisper.

“I’m sorry,” Sakura murmured. She didn’t know that Sasuke cared so much about Naruto.

“I never want to feel as useless as I did during that fight,” Sasuke continued quietly. “If I had known medical ninjutsu, I could have saved Naruto and then we both could have defeated Haku together. Instead, he had some kind of crazy powerup and I was left feeling useless.”

“That’s–” Sakura started, nodding slowly, “a perfectly valid reason, Sasuke. Honorable, even. In that case, I’ll definitely help you, you just need to promise me that you’ll be cooperative.”

“Fine, but you can’t treat me like a child.”

“I won’t,” Sakura chuckled. “Sorry if I came off as condescending.” 

Sasuke shrugged, as if to brush off the apology. “How do I start?”

Sakura sighed. Though she had learned medical ninjutsu thoroughly, studying it until her knowledge rivalled Tsunade’s, teaching was another issue entirely. In all honesty, she had never been particularly proficient in teaching, given her penchant for growing frustrated at incompetent young children. That mixed with the war were two of the three defining factors that decided why she didn’t take up a genin team once she became a jonin, the third being the fact that her jonin status was a field promotion. She never really got to be a real jonin of Konoha thanks to constant warfare.

“Well, as I said earlier, I had to read quite a few texts on human anatomy and the chakra system. In order to heal someone, you need to know how they work.”

“I’ve already read about anatomy,” Sasuke said. “In order to know how to kill someone, you need to know how they work.”

Sakura looked taken-aback. Though Sasuke was a fighter through and through, he was rarely so violent in his speech. 

“The anatomical knowledge required for medical ninjutsu far surpasses academy-level texts.”

“Tch.” Sasuke shook his head. “I didn’t read the pathetic, dumbed-down textbooks the academy gave us. Everything I know about anatomy comes from the texts in the Uchiha archive.”

It was strange for Sasuke to speak so openly about his resources, especially if it pertained to his late family. 

“If you think you’re so well versed, I’ll give you a little test,” Sakura suggested, smiling playfully. “I need some time to write it up, but come to my house in an hour and we’ll see if you’ve really learned everything necessary for healing.”

Chapter Text

It was only after Sakura arrived at her house that she realized she never actually told Sasuke where she lived. She then remembered, though, how Sasuke had walked her home after their first practice and her worries were alleviated. 

Sakura was well aware of Sasuke’s intelligence when it came to everything, really. Though she was more booksmart than him, and often surpassed him when it came to written tests and conceptual assessments, Sasuke was far from ignorant. He believed in being a well-rounded shinobi, relying on intelligence and physical strength. It was a very effective philosophy, and contributed to his prowess on the battlefield. In her previous life, Sasuke had forsaken some of his academic drive in order to obtain raw power and Sakura liked to think that it contributed to his convoluted sense of morals at the end of his brief life. 

Grabbing paper from her father’s office, Sakura began to jot down test questions. Though she wished she had a good anatomy book for reference, her memory of the human body was impeccable, and would more than suffice in this situation. And although she wanted to make the questions difficult enough to stump Sasuke and put him in his place for a little bit, she knew that she had to assume to position of a teacher, not a petty teammate. Yet again, Sakura was reminded why she should never be the sensei of a genin team. 

Finally, Sakura finished drafting the test. She glanced over it, making sure that her handwriting was perfectly legible and that each diagram was drawn with the precision necessary to assess the human body. Smiling to herself, she took pride in her sketches of the chakra system. They almost perfectly resembled the diagrams found in texts. Now, all she had to do was wait for Sasuke.

Sasuke knocked on Sakura’s door, politely resisting the urge to enter through the seemingly defenseless windows. Windows that certainly should be reinforced with booby-traps, given that Sakura was a ninja. Sasuke had set traps and alarms all throughout the Uchiha complex. Since he was living on such a sprawling piece of land alone, it was of utmost importance that he make sure he was safe. And even though he knew that Itachi would never be caught by simple booby-traps, he was able to trick himself into a false sense of security. 

Sakura opened the door, already exuding her typical enthusiasm. Though Sasuke found her surprisingly jaded for a preteen girl–especially one with so little real-world experience–he had come to appreciate some of her optimism. Of course, it didn’t reach the ludicrous levels of Naruto’s demeanor, but coupled with well-deserved cynicism, Sakura’s personality was quite conducive to a good ninja. 

“So, did you write the test?” Sasuke started, waiting for Sakura to invite him into her house.

“Of course.” Sakura’s smile was slightly mischievous. “Come on in. You can take my little test on the table.”

Sasuke made his way through the doorway, taking his shoes off in the front hallway. There were family photos covering both of the walls; photos of Sakura’s parents’ wedding, pictures of Sakura as a baby, happy family photos, and some worn, black-and-white photos of what Sasuke could only assume were Sakura’s grandparents. It was a perfect family house, and where Sasuke expected to feel anger, he only felt emptiness. 

Sakura slapped the test down on the table. “You have thirty minutes to complete this,” she announced. “It contains all the anatomy you need to know in order to start learning medical ninjutsu. It’s in no way everything you’ll need to know in order to heal someone.”

“Aright, just let me take the test,” Sasuke insisted, sitting down at the table and all but snatching the pen from Sakura’s hand. 

“I’ll be upstairs in my room, fixing some traps. No cheating.”

“I won’t have to.”

Sasuke wished he had studied more. There were certain intricacies of the human body that Sasuke had never considered, though they were certainly pertinent to both healing and fighting. So, with great effort and extreme mental strain, Sasuke filled out the questions on the exam, knowing fully well that some of his answers were merely scratching the surface of what knowledge was required in order to heal the body. 

“I’m done, Sakura!” He called from the kitchen. 

For some reason, he felt incredibly hesitant towards venturing further into Sakura’s house without permission. Perhaps it was just basic etiquette. 

“Coming!” Sakura jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen, taking the test from Sasuke’s outstretched hand. “I’ll put some tea on and we can chat about medical ninjutsu while I grade this. It will only take a few minutes.”

Sasuke nodded, not moving from his spot at the table.

“So, do you have any questions?” Sakura asked while bustling about the kitchen, placing the kettle on the stove. 

“How did you learn medical ninjutsu?”

At this point in her elaborate lie of a life, Sakura was more than ready to offer yet another fib. Luckily, Sasuke was not quite as astute as Kakashi and she could get away with more. 

“My old friend, the one I’m trying to save, taught me some of it,” Sakura lied easily. Though Kakashi knew that the only medical ninja capable of teaching such high-level skills was Tsunade Senju, Sasuke had no such knowledge. “And the rest I taught myself. I read about it a lot and spent pretty much all of my academy time honing my skills. The same way you did with your fire and shuriken ninjutsu.”

Sasuke took well to the imbedded compliment, smirking slightly when Sakura mentioned his devotion to the ninja arts. His pleasure in being complimented erased any suspicion he could have harbored towards Sakura’s enigmatic “childhood friend”. 

“Alright, Sasuke,” Sakura started, “I’m done grading the test.”

She handed the sheet back to Sasuke, careful not to show anything in her face. Sasuke snatched the test from her hands and looked straight to the mark on the top of the page. His face dropped for a second before he looked up hesitantly. 

“Well, I passed ,” he muttered. 

“You did well!” Sakura insisted. “An 85% is actually quite impressive for someone who’s never formally studied anatomy before.”

“But it’s a B.”

“Don’t think of this in letter grades, think of it more along the lines of: you possess 85% of the anatomical knowledge necessary to learn medical ninjutsu.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“It really is. I’m the teacher here, aren’t I?”

“But I’ve never done this badly.”

“Look, do you want to learn medical ninjutsu or not?” Sakura interrupted Sasuke’s spiral into self pity. He truly was a prodigy; he’d never gotten worse than an ‘A’ in his life.

“I do,” Sasuke insisted. He looked down to the table and wrung his hands. “I’m just…disappointed in myself.”

“Look, we don’t have time for self-pity. You’re not going to get everything on the first try when it comes to healing. You’re going to fail and you’re going to get used to it. I’ll be honest with you, my chakra control is better than yours and I struggled a lot. This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Tch.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, obviously too prideful to accept Sakura’s terms. “Just start teaching me.”

“I was planning on doing that. Come with me to the market.”

Sasuke followed Sakura, growing irritated by her lack of an explanation and her quick steps. Why were they going shopping when Sasuke should be learning medical ninjutsu? Sometimes Sasuke was under the impression that Sakura did things specifically to annoy him; he also realized how volatile his opinions on Sakura were. Finally Sakura stopped her near-jog and leaned over the fish stall. 

“Hello Takahashi-san!” She greeted amicably. “I’m going to need all of your freshest fish.”

The vendor laughed heartily. “You want all of my best fish? Or just a few.”

“All of them, thank you.”

“Are you planning on feeding the entire Akimichi clan?” he teased, already bagging the fish.

“Oh no, I’d need even more to do that,” Sakura said, her tone good-natured. “I actually need these for training.”

Takahashi continued the playful banter. “Training for an eating competition?”

“I’m a ninja, Takahashi-san,” Sakura chuckled. “I don’t need any training. I’m always ravenous.”

Takahashi handed Sakura the bulging bag, putting his palm forward for payment. Sakura placed the money in his hand and grabbed Sasuke’s wrist, effectively dragging him back to the house. 

“What do we need fish for?” Sasuke leaned against the doorway of the kitchen, gazing disinterestedly at Sakura while she lined the table with newspaper. 

“You’re going to bring them back to life,” she replied with an air of nonchalance. “The quicker you can figure it out, the better. Fish get harder to revive the longer they’ve been dead.”

“But you haven’t actually taught me anything,” he snipped.

“I saw you copying medical ninjutsu in action. You at least have a feel for how the chakra should be manipulated. Also, your anatomical knowledge is good enough to figure out how to fix a fish.”

“I don’t even know how to start.”

“I’ll do the first one, and you can try after me.”

Sakura placed the dead fish on a scroll and moved through the well-practiced motions slowly, so that Sasuke could easily follow. Placing her hands over the carcass, she let the healing chakra flow into the flesh, repairing the internal damage and finally jolting the fish with life. It began to flap helplessly on the scroll before its second life petered out and it died again. 

“Don’t worry about all the fish,” Sakura chuckled. “I’m going to give them to people in the poorer districts for free. No wasting here.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Sasuke scoffed, preparing a scroll and a fish for himself. 

Without as much as stopping to think, Sasuke channeled healing chakra into the carcass. Sakura had to admit that she was impressed. This time around, Sasuke had managed to produce the tell-tale green color that defined healing chakra, revealing that he understood the ninjutsu aspect of medical ninjutsu. He did not understand the chakra control aspect. Only seconds after he placed his hands on the fish, the entire carcass exploded, splattering guts and raw flesh all over Sakura’s kitchen. 

“Chakra control!” Sakura explained, wiping fish sludge off her face. “You can’t force medical ninjutsu!”

Sasuke spat out a wad of raw fish onto the heavily stained newspaper. “Let me try again.”

Sakura took a tentative look at the state of her kitchen. Saying it was merely ‘a mess’ was an extreme understandment. At this point, it didn’t matter if Sasuke tried again. Even with the same result, she’d still be scrubbing the entire kitchen down.

“Alright, but remember to be gentle,” she sighed, placing another fish on the scroll. “Looks like one family won’t be getting a good fish dinner.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and began again. This time he eased into the healing, probing through the corpse with healing chakra before he attempted anything. 

“I can feel things breaking,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “It’s doing the opposite of what I want.”

“That’s because you’re forcing it,” Sakura explained calmly. “Be gentle and precise. You need to focus on every little repair you’re doing.”

Sasuke nodded and reverted his concentration to healing. He took a deep breath and let the stress fall from his shoulders as he continued to breathe life into the fish. 

“I can’t feel anything in it anymore.”

“Let me check what happened.” Sakura moved next to Sasuke, quickly scanning the fish. She chuckled. “Hand me your kunai.”

Sasuke did so hesitantly. Once the knife was in her hand, Sakura cut a clean incision down its body. As soon as she moved her hand away, viscous sludge poured out from the cut. 

“You liquidated its insides,” Sakura pointed out, carefully rolling the carcass in the scroll and placing it in the trash can. “You were more careful than last time, but you’re not using the healing chakra to heal . I think it’s part of a fundamental misunderstanding. You only know chakra as a means to destroy. Whether it manifests in your fire ninjutsu or in any other ninjutsu you know, your aim is to manipulate it in the most deadly way possible. That is not the case for medical ninjutsu. Though the green chakra is, by default, more gentle than normal chakra, it still has the same inherent properties. If you manipulate it with a desire to maim, you will still maim. You need to alter your mindset completely.”

Sasuke was growing irritated. Despite his hardest efforts, healing wasn’t coming easily to him. In fact, he wasn’t merely struggling, he was failing miserably. And there was nothing that Sasuke hated more than failure. 

“Hand me another fish,” he insisted, his fists clenched.

“Anger and healing don’t mix,” Sakura demurred, shooting Sasuke a worried look. “Why don’t we take a second to recap and then you can try again?”

“You said it yourself. It only gets harder as time passes. I need to figure this out when the fish are fresh.”

Sakura looked at Sasuke sheepishly. “I exaggerated a little to give you some incentive. The fish is already dead. It’s not going to get much dead-er until rot sets in.”

“You lied to me?” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Woah woah! No need to take it that seriously. I just wanted you to have a little push going into it. It really isn’t serious at all.”

“I don’t like being lied to.”

“You understand how absurd you sound, right?” Sakura’s lips twitched upwards. “I just exaggerated the state of a fish . I didn’t hold any life changing secrets from you.” The fact that Sakura indeed was holding life changing secrets from Sasuke at the moment weighed on her conscience. Not to mention, Sasuke’s over-the-top reaction to something as inconsequential as fish-rotting patterns made Sakura nervous for the hypothetical day when Sasuke found out about Sakura’s situation. She could only hope that everything went smoothly and that Sasuke would never have to know. 

“Fine.” Sasuke’s face was contorted into a frown. “What do we need to recap about?”

“You need to calm down and change your attitude a little,” Sakura said, attempting to soothe Sasuke’s seething rage. “Healing is gentle and precise. You have to want to help people. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. You can’t force medical ninjutsu. ”

Sasuke grit his teeth, but let out a soothing breath quickly afterwards. “Did you ever have trouble with wanting to help people?” His voice was tentative, and Sakura knew that the vulnerability he was showing was conducive to medical ninjutsu.

“To be perfectly honest,” Sakura started, careful not to lay her hand on any fish sludge, “I didn’t. But that’s because I wasn’t trained to kill like you were. I wasn’t really trained for anything, being civilian born.”

“Clans can be a curse.” Sasuke’s tone was lamenting, which differed greatly from the barely restrained contempt he usually conveyed while speaking about his clan. 

“I know they can,” Sakura soothed. “But it helps to be taken seriously. Now that you’re calm, do you want to try again?”

Sasuke nodded confidently and placed a fish in front of him again. His brow creased in concentration as he bent over the table and channelled chakra into his hands. Sakura began to scan Sasuke’s chakra, almost cheering aloud when she noticed the gentle flow of medical ninjutsu. Sweat was beginning to gather on Sasuke’s forehead as he continued to concentrate, but Sakura knew that his effort wouldn’t be in vain this time. 

Painstakingly, Sasuke breathed life back into the fish. For a few seconds, it flapped on the table before its life petered out. Sasuke staggered backwards, knocking over a chair as he fell. Before Sasuke’s head hit the sharp edge of a coffee table, Sakura caught him, helping him onto the couch. 

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” She chuckled, handing Sasuke his unfinished mug of tea. 

“But I have more chakra than you,” Sasuke mumbled between heavy breaths.

“You do, but I know how not to waste my chakra while healing. Any decent ninja in a half a mile radius would have felt the chakra spike that you emanted while healing that fish. In all reality, you needed about a tenth of what you used.”

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment, drinking greedily from the mug. 

“I think we should call it a day,” Sakura advised, grimacing as she looked at the state of the kitchen. “I don’t need you out cold on the kitchen floor.”

Sasuke’s lack of pushback was testament to his exhaustion as he merely nodded in agreement and pushed himself weakly off the couch. 

“I’ll drop some books off at your house for you to study,” Sakura called as Sasuke left her house.

After two hours of dealing with Sasuke’s moods, all Sakura wanted was to curl up with a good book, but given the state of her kitchen, she knew such luxuries were beyond her.

Chapter Text

The librarian, Fumiro, had come to expect the funny, pink-haired genin–Sakura was her name–that frequented his place of work. She always had the most peculiar book-requests, punctuated by mundane adventure novels that her peers enjoyed. All in all, she was incredibly abnormal yet normal at the same time, a fun puzzle for Fumiro to spend his time working out. 

One particular sunny Saturday, Sakura marched into the library with her typical sense of purpose and belonging. She always walked around the library as if she knew exactly what she was looking for, yet she still requested Fumiro’s assistance every single time. Fumiro sat at his desk, brimming with anticipation to hear what fun title Sakura would request this time; maybe it would be another book of Senju clan techniques, or maybe this would be another tragic memoir of the Uchiha clan, or maybe even, she’d be looking for the sequel of the new adventure novel, The Reign of Raiko . 

Sakura slumped onto the chair in front of Fumiro’s desk dramatically, sinking into its cushions. 

“I need a romance novel,” she requested simply. “I’ve been reading too much heavy material lately. From the historical texts I’ve been scanning to The Reign of Raiko , which is really quite dark, I’ve been overburdened with–well–heavy stuff. I need something sappy.”

Fumiro raised an eyebrow in amusement. Sakura’s little rant was quite dramatic for a thirteen year old. Truly, how burdened could she be? Then, Fumiro remembered Sakura’s concerningly tragic reading list and rescinded his previous thought. 

“Hmm.” Fumiro tapped his chin thoughtfully. Personally, he was a real romance fan, though he’d never admit it to any of his peers. Some of his favorites were a tad too raunchy for someone of Sakura’s delicate age, but some of the sappier (and in his opinion, better) novels were perfect for a romantic teenager. “Have you considered Bonds across the Battlefield ?”

“Why does every book you recommend for me have an alliterated title?” Sakura muttered under her breath, watching as Fumiro fumbled around the back shelves, looking for the aforementioned book. 

“Don’t blame me, blame the author!” Fumiro insisted, placing the hefty book on his desk. “Now, I’ve really come to love this book. And the male lead is so dreamy . My boyfriend is always teasing me, saying that I love a book character more than I love him.”

“You’re a librarian,” Sakura shrugged. “You probably do.”

“Hey!” Fumiro exclaimed, feigning offense. “You take that back. I love my boyfriend very much, thank you.”

“Are you sure he really exists?” Sakura teased. “You’ve never told me his name.”

“That’s because Konoha is small and I don’t want a pesky little genin bothering him.”

“Yeah sure. Because he definitely exists.”

“Anyway,” Fumiro sighed, changing the topic, “you’ve got a month with this book. Come and talk to me about it once you’re done. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“And before I leave, I need one more book.” Sakura’s tone was serious now. “I know that I’ve exhausted all the genin-available books on the Uchiha clan, but there’s some information I need to find. I’m taking the chunin exams soon, so could you just let me into the chunin section for five minutes?” Actually, Sakura was not sure if she’d be taking the chunin exams at all, given the changes that she made to the timeline. But she needed this information if she was going to actually save the world.

Fumiro let out a sad sigh. “Look kid, I don’t know what your fascination with the Uchiha is about, or why you really need information on them, but I want to warn you. Getting wrapped up with that clan is dangerous. I know there’s only one boy left, but who knows what could happen to him or what he could do to you.”

“Sasuke’s on my team. I know him far better than you do,” Sakura insisted. “I trust him, so that should be enough. And I need this information for his benefit. I’m just trying to help my team like any good shinobi.”

Fumiro shook his head. “You know, when I was a little older than you are now, I was head-over-heels in love with Itachi Uchiha.” Fumiro let his name ring out in the empty library for a few seconds before continuing his story. “His mom was a friend of my mom, though they weren’t wildly close, given that my family was civilian. Still, I followed this boy around for years, professing my love for him at every turn and insisting that he wouldn’t dishonor his family by dating me. Not that I knew anything about that, of course. He was a sweet boy, you know? He never really turned me down. He always replied with something along the lines of ‘I’m so busy with training right now, maybe we can talk again after I get back from my mission’. And that would happen after every single mission he took until finally he told me that he ‘didn’t like people that way’. I understood that. And not even a year later, he killed his whole family.”

Sakura sat unmoving at Fumiro’s story. She didn’t know anyone alive except for Kakashi who had such a close connection to Itachi Uchiha. Paired with her past knowledge, every account she received of the man made less and less sense. How could someone as sweet and gentle as Itachi become a mass murderer? That paired with Sasuke’s incoherent claims of ‘Konoha being responsible for Itachi’s sacrifice’ in the days before Sasuke died formed a convoluted web of truths. 

“Now, I know you love the Uchiha teammate of yours,” Fumiro continued. “And I bet you harbor some feelings for him as well. But be safe around him. He might turn out like his older brother. Now, you can look in the chunin section for exactly five minutes and no more. And if anyone hears about this, I could lose my job, so don’t go telling any other genin.”

“I won’t, I promise,” Sakura said solidly, hurrying off to the chunin section while Fumiro turned a blind eye. 

Sakura took the roofs home, her bag weighed down by heavy books she had taken from the chunin section. Since she wasn’t a registered chunin, she couldn’t check out the texts she wanted to read, so Fumiro had to ignore literal theft. Sakura had seen these titles in her previous life, though she had never taken the time to read them, given that her real issues with the Uchiha started long after she would have been meandering about the chunin section of the library. Still, she couldn’t sneak into the jonin section, so what she stole would have to do. 

Sneaking in through the window of her bedroom, she placed her bag onto her bed before buckling down and reading. Her allight onto the carpeted floor was met with a blood-curdling scream from her mother, who was putting laundry away in Sakura’s drawers. 

“Sakura!” Her mother chastised, turning abruptly to face her daughter. “Can you please just use the door like a normal person?!”

“I’m sorry, mom!” Sakura assured, putting her hands in the air. “Since I was already taking the roofs, I figured that coming in through the window would be more efficient.”

“You ninja and your absurd ‘practicality’,” Mebuki huffed, putting the last shirt in Sakura’s drawer. “I swear, when you’re at home, you need to act like a normal person. Don’t become that eccentric sensei of yours.”

Sakura chuckled at the mention of Kakashi’s idiosyncrasies. “Okay mom, I promise I won’t become like Kakashi-sensei.”

“Now since you’re such a big ninja now, jumping on roofs and all that, can you at least do your own laundry?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry mom,” Sakura sighed, relieved that her mom hadn’t asked about what books she got from the library. 

Mebuki rested the empty laundry hamper on her hip and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura alone to read her books. The first memoir she wanted to scan was a recount in the form of journal entries of an old senju soldier. She had married an Uchiha man before the days of their deadly feud and she wrote a short recount of their relationship and its eventual descent into hatred. Sakura cracked open the aged book, running her finger down the yellowed pages. The writing was eloquent and archaic, evidence of an educated young woman. 

The first few entries bordered on sappy; the soldier, Himiko, seemed to be head over heels in love with this branch-family Uchiha man, Daisuke. From Himiko’s descriptions, Daisuke was not extremely strong or extremely bright, but he treated Himiko with love and admiration; Sakura could see the appeal. 

One early entry stood out to Sakura. Himiko’s comments on the Uchiha clan’s system of succession and rule were quite degrading. 

Instead of dining with my family, as I often do, I opted for a short walk by myself this morning, the memoir read. As I entered the Uchiha compound, which remained orderly, quite unlike the bustling quality of Senju land, I encountered a young man selling wares. I decided to converse with him, as I was quite bored and I did not want to return home quite yet. He was called Daisuke. He spoke well, far better than I would expect of a simple merchant. His dress was proper too. I found that strange. 

We spoke for longer than my mother would consider proper, and perhaps I indulged him with an excess of personal information. Regardless, I found that despite his lowly profession, he was a first cousin of the Uchiha heir. Perhaps I am partial to the system of the Senju family, and perhaps I am only partial to the Senju because it has favored me, but I found this particular aspect of the Uchiha system absurd. How could one tied so closely to the main family work as a merchant? I learned that the only members of the Uchiha clan with privileged occupations were those of the main family. Everyone else was left with far less honorable professions. Though they could fight for the clan, they could never advance in the ranks. 

I will be visiting Daisuke’s stand again. I have taken an interest in the man. 

Sakura read over the entry closely, noting how little the Uchiha clan had changed over the centuries. So much pressure was put on the main family; everything was left to the heirs. Perhaps Itachi cracked under the pressure. 

Sakura decided that part of her mission would be understanding Itachi’s fall; with that, she could find a way to save Sasuke and even a way to bring Itachi back to the village. Yes, Sakura knew that he was a murderer, but the details of the event did not sit well with her. Before that night, Itachi was known as a fierce pacifist; how could so much change in a matter of days? Sakura needed to find out and her best sources lay in Kakashi and Fumiro.

Shaking her head, Sakura turned to the end of the memoir, deciding to read some of the final entries. Himiko had lost the composure she held in the first entry. She no longer wrote in a clinical manner, recounting each moment exactly as she experienced it. The last few entries were hysterical, and though Daisuke hadn’t died, Himiko seemed to be in mourning. 

It’s the eyes! Himiko seemed to cry. Daisuke will not tell me what happened that day, that loathed day, the day I first saw those eyes. I never knew Daisuke to be cruel. I did not fall in love with a cruel man. He struck me for the first time yesterday. I am stronger than him. I have bested him in combat many times. I am the soldier out of the two of us.

I didn’t see his fist coming. And when I looked to see his face, his eyes were blood red with something spinning in them. I know of the sharingan and I’ve seen the three tomoe before, but this was different. Daisuke’s face was contorted in rage; for the first time since I’ve known this sweet, sentimental man, I was afraid of him. 

I now fear Daisuke’s rage. I fear his fist. Because though I know that I could defeat him in combat, I could never harm him. Still, it seems that he doesn’t hold the same sentiment. 

My days are now uncertain, all because of Daisuke’s god forsaken eyes. I don’t know what happened on that day, but I will find out. I yearn for the sweet man I once knew.

Sakura was about to tear through the next entry in search for the details of the day Himiko spoke of, but she was interrupted by the telltale spike of Naruto’s chakra at the door. Hastily, she hid the book under her bed along with the other ones she took from the library. 

“Naruto!” She exclaimed cheerfully, opening the door for him. “What are you here for?”

“Kakashi-sensei sent me,” he replied, grabbing Sakura’s hand. “He wants the team to meet up. He’s got something to tell us, apparently.”

Sakura had a strong suspicion about the topic of the meeting. She could only hope, though, that Kakashi had managed to dig enough incriminating evidence against Otogakure. 

Kakashi greeted the genin from his seat on a low tree branch. He didn’t look too worried, in fact, his eye was closed in a form of a smile. 

“Now,” he started, digging through his satchel and pulling out several sheets of paper, “as much as I love teasing you for being helpless little genin, I know that it can’t last forever. I’m not totally sure if you’re ready for these chunin exams. In fact, I’m pretty sure you won’t pass, but I think it will be a good learning experience for all of you. So here, sign these papers and turn them in by next week. Good luck, but don’t expect much!”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi as he grabbed the papers. “Which genin are stronger than us?” He challenged. “We could beat everyone in our graduating class, and I don’t think the other genin in the village are much better.”

Kakashi chuckled, looking at Sasuke with a patronizing gaze. “You think rather highly of yourself, don’t you? Well, to be honest, I don’t know if you could beat all of the genin in your graduating class, Sasuke. You may have won the fancy little moniker of ‘top rookie’, but as you’ve probably observed from your teammates, standings in the academy mean nothing.”

“That’s why I said we .” Sasuke retorted. “Team seven could defeat the other genin, no problem.”

Kakashi’s face spread into a smile. “Look at that,” he cooed. “Sasuke’s becoming a real team player. I’m impressed. Still, I don’t think you’re going to pass. There are strong genin in every village, and they all have their own ‘team seven’. Who knows how you compare to them?”

Sasuke did not take well to Kakashi’s condescending attitude. He shot Kakashi one last glare before turning to his teammates. “Well, are you guys ready to turn in the forms?” 

“I don’t know Sasuke…” Sakura said hesitantly. “We’re fresh out of the academy, you know. And though you and Naruto possess pretty impressive skills. I don’t want to hold you guys back.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Even you know that you’re not the weak link. Don’t use that as an excuse for cowardice.”

Sakura’s eyes widened at Sasuke’s response. “I’m sorry for that, but I’m still worried. You must have heard the stories about the chunin exams. People die in them, Sasuke.”

“And people survive and become chunin as well.” Sasuke shrugged off Sakura’s plead. “If Kakashi could pass when he was only six years old and if my brother–” Sasuke clenched his jaw, “if Itachi was promoted when he was ten, we can definitely do it now.”

Sakura knew that as soon as Sasuke brought Itachi into the conversation, backing out was not an option. Sasuke was hell-bent on becoming a chunin; he yearned for a way to prove his worth to his family, even if they weren’t physically there to accept him. Sasuke knew what his father would have wanted. 

“Alright,” Sakura agreed, she placed a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, yet he didn’t flinch away. “Pass me a pen then.”

Chapter Text

If Sakura could not convince her teammates to skip out on the chunin exams, she knew that she would have to formulate a watertight plan to keep Sasuke out of Orochimaru’s clutches instead. Though she hoped that Kakashi managed to convince the Hokage into banning Otogakure, she could not rely on that. She knew that even in her old timeline, she could not have taken on Orochimaru alone–that snake had as many lives as a cat and a bottomless well of jutsus to draw from. Not to mention, he knew Sakura’s fighting style better than nearly anyone thanks to his familiarity with Tsunade. Now, Sakura had disadvantage after disadvantage. In fact, her only hope was that Orochimaru would so severely underestimate her that she would be able to land one good blow. 

There had to be another way around her predicament. Of course, she could push Sasuke out of the way and take the curse mark herself, though that would introduce so many new variables that she very well could make this timeline worse. Another option would be to seek out Tsunade early and hope that she could figure out a way to undo the curse mark, though yet again, Sakura could not rely on that being successful. 

Sakura felt as if she were in an impossible situation. By preventing just this event, she could turn the entire timeline for the better, but out of everything she had faced in her past life, Orochimaru grabbing hold of Sasuke felt the most inevitable. She needed an outside perspective, but she was not ready to divulge information on Sasuke’s fall into darkness yet. With a huff, she decided to speak with Kakashi, regardless of whether she could tell the whole truth or not. Some help would be better than none. 

Despite the late hour, Sakura could see light seeping through Kakashi’s curtains. Of course he was not asleep. Before she knocked on the door, she sent a wave of chakra to probe around her in case of any traps. Nodding to herself as she detected none, she knocked firmly on the front door. Kakashi took his sweet time answering it, finally greeting Sakura with a tired sigh. 

“Come on in,” he said, though he sounded awfully miffed about it. “I was just getting to the good part in my book.”

“You can get back to that garbage in a bit,” Sakura replied, her voice curt. “We have some slightly more important matters to discuss.”

Kakashi muttered something under his breath and motioned for Sakura to take a seat on the couch while he busied himself in the sparse kitchen. “Tea?” he offered, putting the kettle on to boil.

Sakura nodded, knowing that she wasn’t planning on sleeping much that night and any amount of caffeine would help. 

“Right, so you’re here about the chunin exams, I assume?” Kakashi grabbed two ceramic cups from his cupboard, holding them up to the light to check for dirt. 

Sakura took a steadying breath, her mind already running at a mile a minute. “Yes,” she started. “Before I explain my worries, I need to know, did you manage to convince the Hokage to prohibit Otogakure from the exams?”

“I did,” Kakashi said, a glint of pride shining in his one visible eye. “I looked into missing people in the area as you suggested and man, did a lot come up. Did you know that more than one hundred children have gone missing in the last seven years alone? I brought that up to the Hokage and he agreed that there was likely something suspicious lurking under the surface in that village. I did not bring up Orochimaru, of course, but I have a feeling that he was suspecting that that old snake had something to do with Otogakure. Honestly, it’s embarrassing that we did not pick up on Oto as a potential threat in your past life. It has Orochimaru’s rank scent all over it.”

Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief. Though that revelation did not eliminate the prospect of Orochimaru’s appearance in the chunin exams, it certainly made it less likely. 

“That’s great news,” she said, accepting a cup of tea from Kakashi. “Now, that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear, though. I doubt Orochimaru is going to take Otogakure’s ban in stride, and knowing him he’s figuring out another way to weasel into the village as we speak.”

Kakashi grabbed his own cup of tea and took a seat on the couch adjacent to Sakura. “I agree. The best way to prevent Orochimaru from showing up is to inform the Hokage of his intentions.” 

Unfortunately, Sakura knew that Kakashi was right. It was dreadfully difficult to protect a village while going behind the leader’s back. Still, she did not know how to explain Orochimaru’s intentions without revealing an awful lot about herself and her situation.

Sakura narrowed her eyes in concentration. “You’re right, but revealing that would be risky. How could we possibly explain how I, a genin, and not a particularly spectacular one at that, got my hands on information regarding Konoha’s most notorious missing-nin?”

“Who said I’d tell the Hokage where I got the intel from?” 

Sakura nearly slapped her palm to her head. She had been so worried about betraying her true identity that she failed to notice the simple path in front of her. 

Kakashi took notice of her expression, his eye crinkling as he continued. “I just spent the last week or so doing a deep dive into Otogakure’s politics and history. I could easily tell the Hokage that I found some evidence that Orochimaru was involved and that his reason for entering that village in the chunin exams was to invade Konoha. Honestly, it’s the least unlikely thing I could possibly tell him.”

“Okay, then what information are you going to present to the Hokage?” Sakura pushed his argument, challenging it as if she were an interrogator. It had to be flawless.

“Easy, there’s an extensive lab system underneath the village and there have been numerous reports of inhuman monsters wandering the surrounding woods.”

“How on good Earth did you not pick up on this last time around?” Sakura exclaimed, incredulous. “Did you even bother to do a background check on the village before allowing them into Konoha’s walls?”

“Well, there was not going to be a background check until I did my quick investigation,” Kakashi replied, his features turning slightly sheepish. “Now that you mention it, that would have been incredibly irresponsible of the Hokage.”

Sakura nodded, a seed of doubt growing in her mind. “Too irresponsible,” she muttered. “Hokage-sama may be getting old, but this is too much of a slip.”

Kakashi’s composure turned icy. “What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing too sinister.” Sakura paused for a moment. “Hokage-sama always had too much of a soft-spot for Orochimaru, didn’t he?”

“Well yes, he was Orochimaru’s teacher after all.” Kakashi’s tone was cautious as he tried to predict where Sakura was going with her comment. 

“And you said that you thought that Hokage-sama suspected Orochimaru’s involvement with Otogakure? If that’s true, then I think it may be a possibility that he still believes that he can either defeat Orochimaru by luring him into the village or that he can convince him to return to Konoha as a loyal shinobi this time around.”

“Neither of those possibilities make any sense.” Kakashi shook his head. “Hokage-sama couldn’t defeat Orochimaru decades ago. What would make him think that he could do it now with him older and weaker and Orochimaru stronger? And your second idea is absurd. The Hokage is a soft man at times but he’s not a naïve child.”

Sakura nodded, acknowledging Kakashi’s rebuttal. “I agree. Neither of those options make much sense. But if it’s not either, then why was the Hokage so negligent to all of this?”

Kakashi stayed silent for a moment, his expression calculating. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “This worries me. What exactly happened in your time since Otogakure was allowed to participate in the exams?”

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek in frustration. She knew that it would be best to explain the entire scenario to Kakashi, curse mark and all, but from there, he would ask so many questions about Sasuke that Sakura would be forced to reveal how evil he became. Another lie of omission. She couldn’t keep doing this. 

Schooling her face into indifference, she began to explain an abridged version of the Otogakure invasion. “As I mentioned before, Orochimaru managed to infiltrate the village. I believe he arrived with the Otogakure ninja, but during the third round of the exam, he assumed the Kazekage’s appearance and attacked the Hokage. He had killed the Kazekage a while before the invasion. With Otogakure present, he had his army at his disposal and besieged the village. From what I heard, Hokage-sama challenged him one-on-one and unfortunately died in the effort.”

“Ah.” A flash of sadness passed over Kakashi’s features. Losing the Hokage was without a doubt a hard blow. 

“Oh, and I nearly forgot.” Sakura continued with her recount. “Orochimaru was successful in part because of Otogakure’s presence but also because he tricked Sunagakure into attacking Konoha in tandem with him.”

“That was quite an important detail, Sakura.” Kakashi took a moment to think. “We need to prevent the Kazekage’s assassination. If I understand correctly, if we keep the Kazekage alive and achieve amicable relations with Sunagakure, Orochimaru’s plan will fail.”

“As far as I’m aware, you’re completely correct. Though, I will not lie, that sounds nearly impossible.”

“It’s not impossible.” Kakashi’s voice possessed full confidence. “I will make sure the Hokage warns Sunagakure. This invasion will fail.”

“Yes, but you predicting this entire situation with Orochimaru and Sunagakure is incredibly suspicious. Where will you say you got the information from?”

Kakashi paused for a moment. “There is one person outside of the village who would know what Orochimaru is up to.”

Sakura furrowed her brows in thought. “Tsunade-shishou?” That was the only person she could think of who would possess that kind of information, but even that seemed implausible given how little Tsunade cared about the village at this point in time. 

Kakashi shook his head but did not provide an answer. 

“Look, I’ve given you tons of information about things that I really should have kept secret,” Sakura challenged. “You can tell me this.”

“The one man is Itachi Uchiha,” Kakashi stated. “I will tell you no more on the subject so don’t ask. What’s important is that the Hokage will be warned and subsequently, the Kazekage will be warned too.”

Sakura’s eyes widened at Itachi’s name. The more she looked into Konoha’s politics, the more Itachi appeared and less she realized she knew about him. Her suspicions surrounding the man were only growing and though she knew she could not interrogate Kakashi about him at the moment, she would eventually. For all she knew, there were two Itachi Uchihas. The first was the one she was only beginning to learn about thanks to information from Fumiro and Kakashi: a quiet, polite young man with incredible skill and a seemingly good heart; the second was a brutal mass murderer with a love for nothing but torture and blood. Though her portrait of him was far from complete, she did not believe that he was wholly one or the other. There was something she was missing–something substantial. 

Sakura brought her racing thoughts back to the more pressing matter at hand: the chunin exams. “I’m trusting you with this, Kakashi-sensei,” she said. “There is so little room for failure here.”

“I know.” Kakashi’s expression was dead-serious. “This is a mission. I don’t fail missions.”

Sakura nodded in acknowledgement. “We’ve got training tomorrow morning, huh. I should probably head home and try to squeeze in at least a few hours of sleep.”

Kakashi’s demeanor quickly switched back to its usual nonchalance. “Yeah, you probably should,” he said, grabbing Sakura’s cup. “You teenagers need plenty of rest.”

“Thank you for your help, Kakashi-sensei.” As Sakura closed the door behind her, she let out a breath of relief in the chilly night. Kakashi’s help really had proven invaluable. 

Sakura spent the few days before the first exam training with her team. Kakashi doubled down on group formation exercises, constantly testing their teamwork. To Sakura’s pleasant surprise, her teammates took to the exercises in stride, constantly finding new ways to back each other up. Naruto even slowed down and listened to Sakura’s suggestions during mock battles sometimes.

In between training sessions, Sakura continued to teach Sasuke medical ninjutsu, though he was beginning to hit a wall. For some reason, Sasuke could not bring himself to heal live tissue. Each time he tried to heal a small scratch, Sakura could sense his chakra coiling in on itself, forming an abrasive mass. 

  “Sasuke, stop.” Sakura pulled her scratched hand away from Sasuke’s grasp as he tried and failed to summon healing chakra for the fifth time in a row. “What is your intention here?”

Sasuke grit his teeth. “To heal , obviously.”

“You are not channelling that intent into your chakra.” Sakura quickly healed the scratch she had gotten from training earlier in the day on her hand. “Remember how you healed the fish? That is the intention you want. Not anger and not destruction.”

“This is different from the fish,” Sasuke said, his voice strained. 

Sakura raised an eyebrow. She understood now that Sasuke was facing a sort of mental block; she only needed to understand the root so that he could move on. “Could you expand on that?” she asked, looking merely curious.

Sasuke seemed to flounder for a moment as he attempted to gather his thoughts. He allowed several moments of silence to pass before his face regained its typical apathy. “I’d rather not,” he stated simply. “I need time to think about it so we should take a break for now. I’m not mastering this before the chunin exams so we should just start up again afterwards.”

Sakura agreed with him to a point. He was not going to master medical-ninjutsu in the two days before the first exam. In fact, he would not be anywhere close to being even a field medic by that date. Still, Sasuke did not often give up that quickly. 

“That makes sense,” she started, packing up her healing supplies. “I sure hope you aren’t planning on quitting, though. It took me years to even get adequate with medical ninjutsu. You’ve got to be patient with this.”

“I know.” To Sakura’s surprise, Sasuke did not appear frustrated. “I’m not quitting. We just need to focus on getting through the chunin exams right now and I know that you can heal plenty well for the both of us. We can get back to this as soon as we get promoted to chunin.”

Sakura lit up with the embedded compliment. “You’re pretty confident that we’ll pass, huh.”

“Yeah, of course we will.” Sasuke’s lips curled into a small smile. “We’re pretty damn good.” 

The building in which the first exam was to be administered buzzed with nervous energy. Sakura stood close to the two other Konoha genin teams from her year, listening passively as they quizzed each other on basic ninja knowledge. The first exam was supposed to be a paper test, though none of the genin suspected that it was more than just a display of written knowledge. 

Naruto inched closer to her, bringing his face to her ear. 

“Hey, Sakura-chan?” he whispered. “You don’t think I’m gonna fail this, right?”

Sakura grinned in response, gently elbowing him in the ribs. “No way. You’re gonna be the future Hokage, right? You’ve got this in the bag.”

Naruto’s back immediately straightened with pride as his face flushed. Grabbing onto Sakura and Sasuke’s wrists, he pulled them both towards their exam room. 

“Come on, guys!” he said, leading them up a set of stairs. “We should be the first ones there!”

Sasuke’s eyes grew slightly in surprise. He agreed with Naruto, though he was tempted to check for a genjutsu in case a punctual imposter was impersonating his typically tardy teammate. 

Sakura thought to check for a genjutsu before Sasuke, though. 

“Wait, guys,” she said, digging her heels into the ground to stop Naruto from pulling her along. “Someone cast a genjutsu on this floor. We’re about to go into the wrong room.”

Sasuke quickly raised his arm in a ram sign and sent a pulse of chakra through his body, releasing the genjutsu’s hold on his mind. As he looked around, he noticed that they were on the wrong floor entirely. Turning back towards the stairwell, he motioned for Sakura and Naruto to follow him. 

Sakura nodded in acknowledgment, following behind him with her hand on her kunai holster. She had no reason to expect an ambush during the first exam, but she could never be too careful. 

Sasuke entered the correct exam room first, settling in a corner of the room to wait until the proctor assigned them seats. 

“I hope you all studied for this,” Sasuke said, his voice a whisper as more teams filed in. “It’s not going to be anything like that Academy crap.”

Naruto visibly paled, but maintained his cheerful attitude. “Yeah no problem, Sasuke,” he replied, making no effort to lower his volume. “Sakura made me read that boring ass history book so I know everything we need to know about Konoha.”

Sasuke assumed an expression of pleasant surprise. He knew that Sakura would not make Naruto waste his time on some poorly written childrens’ history. Maybe Naruto was more prepared than he had expected. 

Sakura opened her mouth to contribute to the conversation but snapped it closed as she heard a fight break out on the other side of the room. Throwing her arm in front of Naruto, she wordlessly told him to stay where he was and observe from afar. A vine of worry clenched at her chest; last time the team of Otogakure ninja had staged a fight in order to paint Kabuto as a victim. Yet, as she investigated the commotion from her spot across the room, she could not spot his white hair in the fray. In fact, as she looked closer, she realized that it was merely a fight between Konoha ninjas. Unsurprisingly, Kiba had managed to anger Neji Hyuuga and was seconds away from unleashing Akamaru on him. 

Sasuke made a move to join the fray, but Sakura grabbed his wrist. 

“Wait,” she muttered. “We don’t want to get caught up in petty fighting this early. You know how brutal the second and third exams are. We don’t need to give anyone more of a reason to kill us.”

Sasuke could not argue with Sakura’s reasoning. Frowning, he turned back to his team, easing his arm out of Sakura’s grip. 

Just as the fight escalated to an all-out brawl, the proctor, Ibiki Morino, strode through the front door, bringing the fight to an abrupt stop. As he walked by the genin gathered in the back of the classroom, Sakura could see them flinch at his imposing stature. Ibiki stood in the front of the room, a stack of papers in hand. Not a single genin dared to speak, the room filled with tense silence. 

“Take your seats.” Ibiki’s voice boomed through the room. 

Within seconds, everyone was seated, facing forward. 

“My name is Ibiki Morino,” he announced, scanning the room as he began the instructions. “I will be your proctor for the first exam. This exam will consist of ten written questions. You have an hour to complete the first nine and you will receive the tenth once that time is up. You may, under no circumstances, cheat. If you are caught doing so, you will be immediately disqualified.” 

He waited a moment in the front of the room before passing out the exams. As soon as everyone had received a test, he took a seat at the desk in the front of the room. “You may begin.”

Sakura looked down at her test and sighed. She knew that the purpose of the first nine questions was to cheat without getting caught, but she had been able to complete the exam without cheating in her past life. Reading over the questions again, she realized how absurd they were. In all of her years as a shinobi, she had not once had to solve a differential equation or use an integral. Calculus really did not come up often when you were fighting for your life. Regardless, she could technically complete the exam, and she knew that Sasuke would be cheating off of her soon, so she began to solve the problems. 

About fifteen minutes into the exam, she sensed a sharingan watching her. Good. Sasuke had figured it out. She moved her pencil up to the top of her exam and quickly scribbled out a note. 

These are all correct so far , she wrote, knowing that Sasuke would see it. 

Though she could not get confirmation that Sasuke received her message, she continued to sense his sharingan. Unfortunately, she had no way to help Naruto cheat from her position in the room, but she had confidence in his sheer stubbornness; he was not going to give up. 

She was, as expected, correct. At the end of the hour, Ibiki rose from his seat to collect the papers, ignoring the looks of terror on most of the students' faces. Before Ibiki announced the final question, he announced the names of the genin who had been caught cheating. Sakura watched their shameful walk out of the classroom, their teammates full of rage. 

Ibiki cleared his throat. “Now, we move onto our final question.” 

He paused for effect, allowing tension in the room to build. 

“If you answer this question correctly, you pass. If you fail to do so, not only will you fail the exam, but you will never be able to take the chunin exams again. If you wish to forfeit now, please raise your hand.”

Sakura kept her eyes trained on Naruto, hoping that her changes to this timeline would not result in Naruto forfeiting this time around. Instead, he did not as much as flinch. As several other genin in the room raised their hands and exited, Naruto kept his eyes trained forward, exuding confidence. 

Ibiki waited a moment longer, letting the shinobi stew in discomfort. 

“Has everyone made their choice?” 

The remaining ninja nodded, the tension in the room palpable.

“Good. The final question is: you all pass.”

Naruto cried out in astonishment, turning his head to face his teammates. His eyes glinted with glee. 

“You see that guys?” He got up from his seat and hurried over to where Sakura and Sasuke were sitting. “We totally killed it!”

“Yes we did!” Sakura exclaimed, pleased that at least one thing had gone right so far. “I had no doubts, honestly.”

“I don’t know, Sakura-chan.” Naruto lowered his voice and leaned in closer to his teammates. “I didn’t actually uh...answer any of the questions on the written part so I was pretty worried for a bit there.”

To Sakura’s surprise, Sasuke managed a small smile. “Honestly, I copied all of Sakura’s answers,” he admitted. “I just didn’t get caught. That was the point I think.”

Sakura’s smile grew as Sasuke openly admitted to a failing of his. “Yeah, information gathering was the main objective,” she agreed. “Though it wasn’t technically impossible to answer the questions.”

“Yeah, well you’re a genius, Sakura-chan, so it doesn’t count.”

Sakura thanked Naruto with a nod. With a light punch in the shoulder, she turned to him. “I wouldn’t sell yourself out, honestly,” she said. “You’re not stupid.”

Sakura did not think it was possible for Naruto to look more thrilled, but his eyes managed to widen to a comically large size. “You’re the best, you know that?” 

Just as Sakura was about to respond, a figure came hurtling through the window, shattering the glass. With Anko’s entrance, the second exam started as quickly as the first one ended. Now, Sakura began to feel nervous. The second exam would test her and Kakashi’s plan. If all went well, Sasuke would not receive the curse mark and the Sandaime would remain alive. Konoha would be in a far better position than it had been at that time in her past life, yet her success was far from guaranteed. Orochimaru consistently lived up to his name as the snake. He would do anything in his power to slip into Konoha and steal Sasuke away. 

Sakura had no more time to worry, though. Anko stood in front of the remaining genin, a dango stick between her teeth. 

“The second exam starts now,” she announced with a sinister grin. “You will all follow me to the Forest of Death.”

“Why would they call it that?” Naruto muttered to Sakura, grimacing. “That’s an awful name.”

“It’s an awful forest from what I’ve heard,” she replied. “Real scary.”

Naruto shuddered, but followed Anko and the rest of the genin. High, metal fences surrounded the thick copse of trees that defined the Forest of Death, or the forty-fourth training ground. From her vantage point outside the forest, she could not see deeper than about 100 feet before shadows consumed the landscape. 

As soon as all of the participants had arrived at the forest, Anko cleared her throat to catch their attention. 

“I hope you all enjoyed the easy section of these exams,” she said. She had a reputation for slight sadism, especially when it came to her relationships with her students. By the look on her face, it was obvious how she earned that reputation. “From here on out, you will start dying. For the second exam, each team will receive a scroll–either heaven or earth. As I’m sure you can guess, your objective is to collect one of each and make it back to the tower at the far side of the forest before the five day limit is up. Whatever you do, don’t open the scrolls until you reach the tower. The instructions are simple enough, so I won’t bother taking questions. Yes, you can use lethal force, so I’m going to have you all sign a waiver before you grab your scrolls so that Konoha won’t be legally liable for your deaths or whatever. Now, line up, get your scroll, sign your waiver, and be prepared to fight for your lives.”

Before Sakura got in line with her teammates, she scanned the mass of genin, keeping an eye out for any of Orochimaru’s allies. She saw none of the previous culprits, though the kusagakure kunoichi whose body Orochimaru had stolen was present. Sakura could not detect any strange chakra from her, though she knew that it did not disqualify Orochimaru’s potential presence. That snake knew how to disguise himself. For the moment, though, things were looking better. Scanning the area one final time, she tucked herself behind Naruto and got in line. 

Signing the waiver this time around felt pointless instead of daunting. She had already given up her body and life to Konoha in the most literal sense of the phrase. Why should she care who was legally liable for her potential death when she was already willing to lay down her life for the village? 

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto turned in their waivers and received the scroll. For the time being, Sakura slipped it in her pouch, putting a little effort into stealth, but allowing anyone clever enough to see. She knew that it would not stay in that pouch for long. 

Sakura took a moment to regroup with the rest of team seven at their assigned gate. 

“I have an idea for a barebones plan,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I say we stick to this to the best of our abilities and take on unknown variables together. First of all, we need to get through this as quickly as possible. I say we grab an earth scroll off the weakest team we can find and then get to the tower immediately. There is no glory in this part of the exam; we can show off in the third round.”

Sasuke took a moment to digest her plan. On first impression, he found it the cowards route, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. They were here to pass the exam, not to take out every team that entered. Not to mention, finishing quickly would seem quite impressive. 

“That sounds like a fair plan,” Sasuke agreed. “We should disguise our scroll in some way, though.”

“I’ve already cast a genjutsu on one of the blank scrolls in my pouch.” Sakura motioned to the grey pouch at her hip. “It should look exactly like ours. As for the real one, I’m going to trust you with it.”

Sasuke took the real scroll from her, tucking it deep in his own pouch.

“Now Naruto, how do you feel about the plan?” Sakura noticed his slightly glazed-over eyes and decided to pull him back into the conversation. 

Naruto jolted back into reality. “Right…” He looked sheepishly at her. “You’re gonna have to repeat that real quick, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura sighed and shook her head, but began to explain again anyway. “We’re gonna get an earth scroll as soon as possible then book it to the tower. Got it?”

“Sounds good to me!” 

Just a moment later, Anko’s voice rang out over the loudspeaker announcing the beginning of the second exam. Immediately, Sakura led Naruto and Sasuke through the gate, doing her best to mask their chakra as they headed in a straight line for the tower. If Sakura remembered correctly, running straight from the entrance to the tower without disruption should take about an hour on its own. About half an hour into the exam, Naruto stopped. 

“Hey guys,” he said, looking embarrassed. “I kinda gotta pee. You think we could take a break?”

Sasuke groaned, eyes still alert to his surroundings. “I guess, but you need to be quick.”

“Thanks Sasuke.” Naruto turned to find a spot to pee before Sakura stopped him. 

“You can go right here,” she said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “We can't risk getting separated right now. I don’t care that it’s gross.”

Naruto shrugged. “I was only moving for you, Sakura-chan, so whatever you want.” 

As soon as Naruto finished, Sakura took off again, making sure her teammates were close to her. Merely minutes later, she alighted on a branch and held her hand up. 

“There’s a takigakure team about 200 feet to the west right now,” she told Sasuke and Naruto. “I’m masking all of our chakra right now so I know they haven’t noticed us. I saw them briefly when we were signing waivers and I know for a fact that they have an earth scroll. Are you guys ready to do this?”

Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded in unison, readying their weapons. As soon as the three hit the ground, they immediately initiated combat with one member of the team, taking full advantage of the element of surprise. The shinobi Sakura found herself fighting yelped in surprise as she landed right in front of them, a punch leveled right for their solar-plexus. They managed to contort themself out of the way in time for Sakura’s fist to fly by their abdomen, but Sakura did not allow herself to fall off-balance. Pivoting on her heel, she reached into her kunai pouch and released three kunai. The takigakure shinobi pulled out a short blade and deflected two of the three knives, ducking out of the way of the third. As soon as Sakura’s kunai were out of the way, they rushed forward, slashing at Sakura with their blade. Sakura moved forward as well, shortening the distance and slamming her palm into the shinobi’s forearm. They cried out in pain as their bones cracked and their blade clattered to the ground. They had obviously been taught well, though, and jumped backwards before Sakura could land another hit, but not before Sakura grabbed their blade for herself. With their dominant arm out of commission, they were unable to form hand signs effectively. Sakura closed some of the distance between them, but stopped about ten feet away. Stolen blade still in hand, she slammed her foot into the ground, a shock wave rippling outwards. The shinobi was immediately knocked off their balance, hands flailing for purchase. In that moment, Sakura closed the rest of the distance, her fist slamming square into their solar-plexus. The takigakure shinobi did not move. Sakura knew they were not dead, but they were certainly too wounded to continue fighting. For good measure, she placed her hand on their temple and sent a wave of chakra through their brain, making sure that they would remain unconscious for at least another hour. What happened to them in the forest was not her problem. 

Sasuke found himself struggling a bit more with the shinobi he was fighting, her suiton proving tricky against Sasuke’s katon. Regardless, Sasuke was significantly faster than her, even without his sharingan. He dodged her senbon with ease, ducking in front of her and attempting to sweep at her legs. She managed to avoid his kick, though, rolling out of the way. From a crouch, she ran through several hand signs and placed her thumb and index finger to her mouth. A powerful jet of water barrelled towards Sasuke, and though he managed to side-step the brunt of it, part of the jet grazed his upper-arm, ripping through his sleeve and a few layers of skin. He clenched his teeth in pain and activated his sharingan, closing the distance between himself and the kunoichi in mere seconds. With his sharingan active, he managed to land a solid round-house kick on her abdomen, pushing her back several feet. Using that momentum, he grabbed her wrist and wrenched her body over his shoulder in an attempt to throw her to the ground. At the last minute, she twisted in Sasuke’s grip and rolled out of the throw, re-entering a crouch. Sasuke gave her no time to prepare another jutsu. In a burst of speed, he appeared in front of her, raising his leg above her head and bringing it down in a vicious arc. He heard an unpleasant crack as she crumpled to the ground. Like Sakura, he took precautions so that she would not be able to escape, binding her arms and legs in spare wire he found in his pack. 

Naruto ultimately had the easiest time with his enemy, thanks to a lucky match up. He seemed to be against the team’s healer, who had little training in close combat. Naruto raised his hands in the hand sign for a kage bunshin jutsu; twenty Narutos appeared in a puff of smoke, surrounding the healer as he tried to run off to a safer point where he could use his bow and arrows. As soon as Naruto had the healer surrounded, his clones pummelled him with a series of messy kicks and blows, stealing the bow from his hands. The real Naruto jumped into the fray, grabbing the bow and slamming it over the medic’s head. He froze for a moment before collapsing in a heap on the ground. Naruto called off his clones and immediately dropped to the ground next to him, rooting through his pack. 

“I’ve got the scroll!” He announced, brandishing an earth scroll in his grasp. “Though I feel kinda bad for this guy. I messed him up good.”

Sakura walked over to Naruto and the fallen medic, scanning him quickly. “He’ll be fine probably,” she shrugged. “But now we’ve gotten both scrolls. Let’s waste no time getting to the tower. I trust we still have chakra left over?”

Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded, looking no worse for wear. 

“You should keep that scroll, Sakura,” Sasuke suggested. “That way, if we’re attacked, there’s a chance we’ll only lose one.”

“Good point,” Sakura replied, tucking the scroll into her pack and disguising it as a blank scroll with a simple genjutsu. “Let’s go.” 

She took to the trees again with Sasuke and Naruto not far behind. If she was remembering correctly, they had only about thirty minutes left before they arrived at the tower. Though the record Gaara’s team had set in Sakura’s past life had been 97 minutes, her team was going to get pretty close to that if all went well from here. 

Team seven made good time through the trees, their chakra masked effectively enough not to alert any other teams they passed. As they got closer to the tower, the forest got thicker, light completely obstructed by the tightly knit canopy. Sakura could still see well in front of her, but much was obscured by shadow. They were so close to being safe, surrounded by high-ranking jonin and ANBU members. 

They were so close when Sakura felt the sickening presence of Orochimaru’s chakra. She immediately wanted to stop on the branch and fell the entire tree with one strike. How, after all the precautions she had taken, did Orochimaru still find a way into the village? She stopped on the next branch and held up her hand. 

“We need to stop,” she hissed. “I can sense a really terrible chakra signature. I’m sure you guys feel that too.”

Sasuke took a moment to scan the area and immediately winced. Whoever was nearby was absurdly strong. Far too strong to be in the chunin exams. 

“What is that?” he muttered beneath his breath. 

“I don’t know.” Sakura was lying, but it hardly mattered. They would all find out in no time. 

She held her breath, focusing even harder on masking all three of their chakra signatures, though she knew that even her best effort would not be enough to throw Orochimaru off their trail. 

A mere moment later, she felt a pressure on her ankle. Whipping her head to the side to see what it was, she was pulled from the branch with a yelp by a massive, white snake. Sasuke and Naruto immediately jumped after her, their eyes widening with terror. 

The snake slammed Sakura into the ground, her breath forced out of her lungs by the impact. Orochimaru’s sickening presence grew stronger and soon she could hear footsteps coming from further in the forest. She forced herself to her feet, managing to control her breathing. 

“Stay behind me,” she ordered, her teeth bared. 

As expected, Orochimaru sauntered into the opening, completely undisguised. His long black hair fell right below his shoulders and his snake-like eyes were accentuated with thick eyeliner. 

“Who are you?” Sasuke’s voice was barely above a whisper. 

Orochimaru laughed, his voice cutting like a knife through the silence of the forest. “Are you saying that you don’t recognize me, little Sasuke? What do they teach in Konoha’s history classes these days?”

Sasuke’s eyes grew in recognition as he finally matched the face to the chapters on the Sanin he had studied. 

“Orochimaru,” he spat. “How the hell are you even here?”

“Your security is slightly better than I expected, but Amegakure entered so many cute little genin this year. It was so easy to kill one off and enter the village with the rest.” Orochimaru picked up the white snake from the ground, allowing it to slither around his arm and up his sleeve. “I am sure you all know that you are no match for me, so I advise you to give me what I want without a struggle.”

“What do you want with us?” Sasuke pushed forward, standing in line with Sakura. 

“What do I want?” Orochimaru laughed again, more shrill this time. “I want you.”

Sasuke’s body immediately tensed with fear and he took one step back. He knew that he was no match for Orochimaru. That much was a fact. But he wasn’t going to just let the monster take him. Not without a fight. 

Sasuke’s sharingan blazed to life, his face contorted in a snarl. Stepping fully in front of Sakura now, he ran through the signs for his fireball jutsu, a massive wall of flame extending from his lips and enveloping Orochimaru. When the fire died down seconds later, Orochimaru stood, completely unscathed. 

“That was just embarrassing, Sasuke.” Orochimaru’s expression was entirely condescending. “Give up.”

Sakura knew she had little time before Orochimaru left Sasuke with his “parting gift”. She just needed to prevent that one thing. Hurrying in front of Sasuke, she leaped into the air and slammed her fist into the ground right in front of Orochimaru. He did not move, expecting nothing from a pink-haired, civilian-born kunoichi. That was a mistake. The ground cracked and split, the dirt beneath Orochimaru’s feet giving away as a crater formed. Sakura wasted no time, readying a kick charged with just as much destructive chakra. But Orochimaru did not fall for the same trick twice. With a grunt of effort, he grabbed her ankle, slamming her into the ground in front of him. 

“Not bad,” he mused before summoning a snake to bind her arms and legs. “But certainly not good enough.”

Naruto watched the battle from afar for a moment, his eyes growing in terror as he saw Orochimaru kick his teammates around without breaking a sweat. The terror grew in his core, morphing into anger as the fight continued. The anger ate away at him, hot, unadulterated, and blinding. How dare that monster get close to his friends like that. How dare he hurt his friends. Naruto’s vision faded into a burning white as his body moved seemingly on its own inexorably towards Orochimaru. 

From her spot struggling on the ground, Sakura could swear she saw fear pass across Orochimaru’s face for a moment. She craned her neck as far as she could watching as Naruto charged towards him, surrounding in bubbling, red chakra. This could only end poorly. 

Naruto swung a clawed fist at Orochimaru, snagging the hem of his tunic. The chakra he exuded burned so hot that Sakura could feel it on her face from the ground. The snakes Orochimaru summoned to restrain Naruto burned away in an instant, falling to the ground in charred ropes. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, stepping back for a moment to unsheathe his sword. As soon as Kusanagi was unsheathed, the tide of the fight turned again. Orochimaru swung at Naruto, the blade slicing cleanly through the chakra and into Naruto’s shoulder. He hissed and let out a guttural growl. In a graceful two-step motion, Orochimaru stepped in front of Naruto, landing a solid kick in his stomach. He flew backwards several feet, his back slamming into the trunk of a tree. As he slid to the ground, the chakra surrounding him dissipated and he did not move from his slumped position. 

Sakura writhed in her restrained position. The only way she could pose a challenge to Orochimaru would be if she released her Yin seal. Yet, that was not an option Sakura could act on. In the grand scheme of her mission, that would potentially ruin the rest of her future and she could not allow that to happen. But she could not allow Sasuke to be taken by Orochimaru either. Channeling a pulse of abrasive chakra into her legs, she cut the snakes binding her apart and she jumped to her feet. She could feel the Yin seal lying dormant in her forehead. Tears of frustration pricked at the corners of her eyes as she raised her hand in a ram sign. It had to be done. 

Just as she was about to release the seal, she heard the unmistakable call of crows, and countless at that. She froze for a moment as hundreds of crows materialized between Sasuke and Orochimaru, a figure emerging from the mass of black. 

Itachi Uchiha stood in front of Orochimaru, his sharingan blazing. Sakura noticed, though, that he did not possess the three tomoe she was familiar with, but a completely different pattern altogether. Orochimaru appeared genuinely frightened now. 

“I will not allow you to go through with this,” Itachi said, his voice completely level.

In an instant, Orochimaru was consumed by black flames. His tunic burned away and Sakura could see his skin begin to sag and melt. Itachi turned his head towards the genin, a small trail of blood escaping his left eye. His expression was utterly unreadable, though Sakura could swear she sensed some fondness.

As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared in the same flock of crows, Orochimaru disappearing with him. 

Sakura stood stock still in shock.

Chapter Text

A spike of chakra brought Sakura back to the present. She could feel pure murderous energy emanating from a few feet behind her. She turned her head slowly to see Sasuke seething with anger, red sharingan glowing in the low light. 

“Where did he go?” He growled. “I’m going to kill him.” 

Sakura grimaced, her shoulder throbbing in pain. Orochimaru had dislocated it when he threw her to the ground. Looking past Sasuke, she saw Naruto still collapsed at the base of the tree. He was going to need her help.  

“Sasuke, wait,” she told him, trying to soothe his raging anger. 

The intensity of his chakra only grew. “Don’t you dare tell me to wait.” His eyes were trained on Sakura. “I swore revenge and now I’m going to kill him.”

“I’m not trying to get in the way of your revenge!” Sakura exclaimed, inching closer to Sasuke. “I’m telling you to wait because Naruto is hurt and Itachi has completely disappeared. I can’t sense him at all. Can you?”

Sakura felt Sasuke’s intensity falter for a moment as he tried to detect any lingering signs of Itachi’s presence. He obviously came up empty. Sasuke’s eyes flickered back to black, though Sakura could swear they were glassier than usual. As if she were confronting a frightened animal, she continued forwards. Gently, she rested her hand on his in a motion of commiseration. Sasuke did not swat her hand away. Instead, Sakura could sense the anger seeping out of his face and the tension leaving his shoulders, his eyes even glassier now. He allowed himself to lean into the moment of vulnerability. 

“He saved me,” he choked out, his hand shaking in Sakura’s grasp. “Why the fuck would he save me?”

Sakura had to admit, she had nothing close to an answer to that question. In fact, she was just as confused as Sasuke. Itachi had done nothing of the sort in her past life. Aside from sparing Sasuke’s life as a child, he seemed to be either completely dismissive of Sasuke’s existence or outright murderous. He had never shown concern for his well being. It was becoming glaringly obvious to her that she needed to learn about who Itachi Uchiha really was. Devoid of an answer, Sakura squeezed his hand before letting go and hurrying over to Naruto. She desperately needed to heal her own wounds before the preliminaries, but she did not have enough chakra to tend to both herself and Naruto. Leaning over his slumped body, she raised her good arm to his chest and began to channel healing chakra into his body. 

As soon as she finished, his eyes fluttered open, visibly disoriented. 

“Sakura-chan?” he mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position. “You’re okay?”

She watched his eyes as he spoke. Despite the disorientation, he did not seem to be concussed. “Yeah, I’m just fine. We both are.” 

Naruto managed a tired smile. “Good. What happened?”

Right. Naruto had been unconscious for the latter half of the fight and had no way to know what transpired. As difficult as it was for her to explain, she could not leave Naruto in the dark. Sneaking a glance back at Sasuke, who had taken a seat on a log in the clearing, his expression still anguished, she began to explain. “Well, Sasuke and I weren’t doing all that great with Orochimaru, but at the last moment, someone appeared and summoned these black flames that enveloped Orochimaru and then disappeared with him in tow.”

Naruto blinked several times, trying to parse the information. “Who did that?”

Sakura hesitated. It barely felt real. “Itachi Uchiha,” she said finally. “Sasuke’s brother.”

Naruto’s eyes grew wide, his jaw slack. Despite his shock, he said nothing, understanding that he would be treading a very thin line in doing so. 

“We need to get to the tower.” Sakura looked at both of her teammates. “The Hokage needs to know about this immediately.”

Naruto nodded, rising to his feet with a surprising amount of ease. As Sakura tried to climb to her feet again, her vision went black for a moment and she staggered, trying to stay standing. After a moment, her vision returned and she regained her balance. 

“Are you hurt?” Sasuke asked, standing beside Naruto and Sakura now. He made no effort to hide his emotional turmoil.

Sakura sighed. “My shoulder is dislocated, but other than that I’m just low on chakra. I should be able to make it to the tower just fine, though. We’re close.”

Sasuke nodded, collecting fallen kunai and double checking that his scroll was still in place. 

“You can lean on me, Sakura-chan,” Naruto offered, taking her good arm and wrapping it over his shoulder. “I feel just fine now.”

Sakura thanked Naruto with a small smile and the three genin took to the trees again. She tried for a moment to mask her and her teammates' chakra, but was immediately met with a dizzy spell. They were just going to have to rely on good luck getting them to the tower without incident. 

The universe at least gave them that. About fifteen minutes after they took to the trees for the final time, the tower came into view, no more than 1000 feet ahead of them. 

“Wait,” Sasuke instructed. “There’s definitely going to be teams waiting to ambush us if we get close.”

“Well then what do we do?” Naruto scrunched up his face in thought. “We can’t fight all that great right now and we need to get to the tower.”

“Sakura, can you still mask our chakra?” Sasuke did not look hopeful.

Sakura grimaced and focused on her chakra levels. “I can do one better, though I’m not going to be able to maintain it for more than forty five seconds or so. I can cast a genjutsu on us, rendering us invisible. We’re going to need to run as fast as we possibly can, though.”

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and nodded. 

“You can run, then?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at how she clutched her left arm.

“It’ll jostle my shoulder and hurt like hell, but I can do it.” She nodded to show her conviction and began the hand signs. 

As soon as she had cast the genjutsu, her vision started to fade into black at the edges. Forty five seconds was beginning to look like a stretch. 

“Go!” she hissed, jumping off the branch right behind Naruto and Sasuke and breaking into a dead sprint.

If any hidden genin teams noticed team seven barrelling towards the tower, they did not react in time. With Sasuke in the lead and Sakura in tow, they sprinted through the open field. Merely seconds in, Sakura lost sensation in her legs, but they kept moving on instinct, propelling her forward. A wave of exhaustion rolled over her and she felt the genjutsu flicker for a moment, but she immediately doubled down on her concentration, drawing slightly from the chakra in her muscles. Shinobi had been trained from the first day in the Academy to never use more chakra than the amount readily available in one’s core, but high level shinobi learned that certain situations required that rule to be broken. Of course, poor chakra control could result in drawing from the chakra in one’s heart or other vital organs which would lead to a quick, yet painful, death. Sakura never needed to worry about chakra control. To her, manipulating chakra was as second nature as an artist wielding a paintbrush or a musician with their instrument. Even in her weak, young form, she had no issue with control. 

The façade grew closer, open doors inviting her into their embrace. Sakura pushed herself forward for the last hundred feet, ignoring how her muscles screamed in protest at her exertion. As soon as the three genin entered the tower, Sakura released the genjutsu, though she was not sure how much of it was voluntary and how much was her body being physically incapable of keeping it up. Her vision began to narrow as the black on the edges creeped closer and closer to the center. With the last vestiges of her consciousness, she handed Sasuke the scroll in her pack and instructed him to open them both at the same time. 

As soon as Sasuke unfurled the scrolls, his voice sounded awfully far away. Sakura’s vision surrendered to the looming darkness and she felt herself fall away into nothingness. 

When Sakura awoke, it was morning. Someone had moved her into a bed and had been kind enough to take off her sandals before tucking her in, though her clothes and hair were still caked in grime. With bleary eyes, she scanned the room. Judging by the view from the window, she was still in the tower. Konoha had evidently set up rooms for teams that finished early and needed somewhere to stay until the five day limit expired. Sakura surmised that there was limited space, though, as there were three beds in one room: one for each of her teammates, though both the other beds appeared empty. 

As Sakura rose to her feet, she was pleased to find that she didn’t feel much worse for wear. Someone had reset her shoulder, and though they were obviously no medical ninja, they had done a fairly proficient job of it. Opening the door at the front of the room, she peered into the hallway, spotting Naruto’s telltale mop of blond hair in the stairwell. 

“Naruto!” she called, striding through the hallway to meet him. “Have you and Sasuke reported back to the Hokage yet?”

Naruto whipped around, grinning to see Sakura unharmed. “We talked to Kakashi-sensei a bit since he’s here now,” he said, “but he wanted to wait for you to wake up so that we could give the Hokage a complete picture of the story.”

Sakura replied with a nod. Kakashi was right to wait for her to wake up before going to the Hokage. Not to mention, she and Kakashi had plenty to discuss with the current developments. 

“Where is Kakashi?” she asked Naruto, peering down the stairwell. “We should meet up with him now. Is Sasuke with him?”

Naruto nodded, his brows furrowing. “Yeah, they’re both downstairs. I was just going down there. Sasuke’s not doing too great, though. I don’t think he slept at all last night.”

Understandable. Sasuke’s hate for Itachi ran like blood through his veins, powering his every move and choice. He depended on that rage for motivation. Sakura feared that without his rage, his purpose would bleed out too. In her past life, Sasuke had killed Itachi in the culmination of his revenge, yet he did not lose his rage. After Itachi’s death, it reformed like a blade in a fire, changing from blind hate for the man who killed his family to unadulterated anger towards his own village. Yet Sakura believed that in order for Sasuke to be truly at peace, he needed another driving factor–something else that kept him going after his rage petered out. Perhaps Itachi’s sudden new pertinence could lend itself to that. 

Sakura followed Naruto down the stairwell and into the ground floor where Sasuke and Kakashi sat in the sparse lounge. Sasuke, facing Kakashi, on a threadbare couch, his back hunched and his elbows resting on his thighs. Sakura made her way to the lounge, sitting next to Kakashi so that she could face Sasuke. 

“Sorry for passing out back there,” she said, apologizing both to her teammates and to Kakashi, who had to wait for her to wake up. “I got a bit reckless with my chakra usage.”

“Why are you apologizing, Sakura-chan?” Naruto took a seat on the same couch as Sasuke, but left ample room between them. “You totally saved our asses back there.”

Sakura thanked Naruto with a small grin before letting her face fall into seriousness. “Now that I’m awake, though, we need to report what happened in the forest,” she said, looking to Kakashi for confirmation. 

“I agree.” Kakashi let out a deep breath, worry bleeding into his features. “Sasuke and Naruto gave me a brief rundown of what happened, but I’m not sure I fully understand. Are you telling me that Itachi Uchiha not only snuck into the village, but took Orochimaru away with him?”

Sakura nodded, noticing how Sasuke flinched at his brother’s name. “Yes,” she concurred. “He also lit Orochimaru on fire, but I’ve never seen flames like that before. They were completely controlled and black in color.”

Kakashi’s visible eye widened. “Amaterasu.” His voice was barely above a whisper. He continued at a normal volume. “I called for the Hokage already. He was planning on arriving at the end of the second exam, already, but he should be here any minute now. I really don’t even know where to start with all of this.”

“Well we certainly need to up village security now that Orochimaru has snuck in,” Sakura offered. “Though I’m unsure of his status now, he did say that he came to the village for Sasuke.”

Kakashi thought for a moment before nodding his head. “That makes sense, unfortunately. Orochimaru has always wanted to master every jutsu, and what better way to do that than with a sharingan?”

Though Sakura still felt guilty about not disclosing information on Orochimaru’s motivations earlier, she was glad that Kakashi caught on almost immediately. 

“Do you think that creepy-ass snake man is still alive, though?” Naruto shuddered just thinking about him. “Sakura said that Itachi lit him on fire and ran away.”

“We have no way to be sure,” Kakashi sighed. “Orochimaru is notoriously hard to kill, though. Trust me, many shinobi have tried.”

Naruto crossed his arms in frustration and lapsed into a tense silence. 

No one spoke for nearly a minute before Sasuke took a shaky breath. “Why did he do that?” he implored, asking the same question he had asked in the forest–one that no one had an answer to. 

Kakashi’s face dropped, sadness overtaking his worry. “Can I say something about him?” He looked to Sasuke for confirmation, acknowledging his small nod and continuing. “I knew Itachi when he was younger. I knew him pretty well actually since we were ANBU together. If there was one thing he never enjoyed, it was killing. That’s why–that’s why that night surprised so many of us. What I’m trying to say here is that there is something going on with him beyond what we can see.”

Yet again, Kakashi came to the exact same conclusion as Sakura, and she couldn’t be happier with her teacher for it. 

Sasuke did not share the same sentiment. His shoulders tensed as Kakashi provided his insight on Itachi.

“He killed everyone I loved,” Sasuke forced out through gritted teeth. “And he did it all just to prove that he fucking could and then left me all alone with nobody . Now he shows up for thirty goddamn seconds just to remind me that he’s still stronger than I’ll ever be. He only wants me alive so that he can continue to torment me. That’s why he stopped Orochimaru, isn’t it.”

“Maybe it is,” Kakashi conceded. “But there is definitely something strange going on here. For now, I just need to make sure that you three stay safe.”

“Safe?” Sasuke spat. “I don’t need to stay safe. I need Itachi dead by my hand. I will never be free from this hell until his body is nothing but ash.”

“You can’t kill Itachi.” Kakashi conveyed no emotion with his statement. “Not to mention, you can’t find him. I don’t believe he has ever been located while in hiding.”

Before Sasuke could reply to Kakashi with seething anger, Sakura interrupted. 

“So, not a single search party has been successful in bringing him back to the village?” she asked, unsurprised by Itachi’s evasive prowess.

Kakashi paused for a moment. “Actually, I don’t believe a single search party has been sent to track him down.” 

That made no sense. Itachi was not only a missing-nin, but a mass murderer. It was Konoha’s duty to bring him to justice. And from what she had heard, he was an incredible shinobi–second to none–but a whole group of high-ranking ANBU should be able to at least incapacitate him. He was not a god. 

Even Sasuke seemed to understand the issue in Kakashi’s statement as the anger on his face morphed into confusion. 

“Doesn’t the Hokage have to at least try to apprehend every single missing-nin?” Sakura implored, realizing that she was getting dangerously close to discovering some hidden truth. “And with Itachi being an incredibly dangerous rogue ninja, I would expect him to be a top-priority for ANBU search parties.”

“That is the protocol,” Kakashi said slowly. “And I agree. He should have been a higher priority.”

Sasuke scoffed. “So are you telling me that the village was too incompetent to go after him? They just let him get away with what he did?”

Kakashi opened his mouth to elaborate, but as soon as he did so, the Hokage entered the open gates of the tower, making his way over to the lounge. 

“We’ll recap later,” Kakashi said, his voice full of its typical nonchalance. He rose from the couch and bowed in front of the Hokage, motioning for his students to do the same. 

The Hokage motioned for them to rise. “Your sensei called me here,” he said, brows already knit in worry. “I hear something concerning occurred during the second exam? If you would not mind, I would like a summary.”

Sakura glanced at her teammates, wordlessly informing them that she would take this. “We ran into no issues until about half-way to the tower,” she began. “At that point, we all felt a foul chakra signature and were pulled into combat by Orochimaru, who claimed that he had ambushed a group of Amegakure genin, murdered one, and infiltrated under that cover. Additionally, he claimed that his reason for entering the village was for Sasuke. He did not elaborate on that. We tried our best to engage him in combat, but were wildly out-classed until Itachi Uchiha appeared in a flock of crows and lit Orochimaru on fire. I believe Kakashi-sensei called that particular flame the ‘amaterasu’. They both disappeared without a trace.”

Sakura caught a flash of panic in the Hokage’s features as he processed Sakura’s recount. 

“I feared something like this would happen,” he muttered. “But I’m afraid that we are in a position of uncertainty now. Orochimaru very well may be dead, though I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to that conclusion.”

“I came to the same conclusion,” Kakashi concurred. “Though I am not entirely sure how to proceed while protecting my cute little genin, here.”

The Hokage managed a smile. “For now, we will proceed with the exams and allow the second round to finish. As of now, I believe the third round will occur as well, but we will certainly up our security. It seems as if none of you genin were seriously injured?”

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke shook their heads. 

“Good.” The Hokage let out a sigh. “Well, I will stay here for the remainder of the exam. I wish you all the best as the chunin exams progress. I hear you are all proving yourselves as quite formidable.”

Sakura watched as the Hokage walked off, climbing the stairway to meet Anko in the observation room. As soon as he was out of sight and earshot, Kakashi slouched down into the couch, a groan escaping his lips. 

“No one told me being a jonin instructor was going to be this complicated,” he muttered. “Alright, alright. I’ve heard from Anko that there’s going to be a preliminary round at the end of the second exam since there’s panning out to be too many successful teams going into the third exam. Why don’t you all focus on that and then we’ll discuss our plans after?”

Sasuke seemed to ready an argument, but Naruto interrupted before he managed to get a word out.

“Whoah so we get to fight people one-on-one?” Naruto’s face lit up. “That’s so cool!”

“I’m sure you’re going to do great, Naruto,” Sakura said, hoping to diffuse some of the tension. “I think this is a great opportunity for us to show off a bit.”

Even Sasuke seemed to agree with that, though his demeanor had somewhat reverted to how he was before Sakura got him to open up. She did not take it personally, though. Itachi’s appearance was nothing short of traumatic and Sasuke would need time to work through it. Hopefully, she could guide him ultimately in the right path. 

The three days before the preliminaries passed without incident. Sakura could sense an increased ANBU presence in the tower and surrounding forest, and Kakashi looked far more on-edge than his usual careless disposition would suggest, but the added security did its work. 

At the dawn of the fifth day, the tower gates slammed closed and the successful genin gathered in the main hall. Sakura was pleased to see that all three of the Konoha rookie teams along with Lee’s team passed the second exam as they did in her previous life. From her quick scan of the shinobi gathered in the room, a Takigakure had taken the spot occupied by the Otogakure team in her past. 

Anko stood in front of the mass of genin, inspecting them all from head to toe. The crease of worry beside her eyes did not go amiss to Sakura, though. Given her previous relationship with Orochimaru, she was likely just as on-edge–if not more–as Kakashi. 

“There are far more of you left alive than I expected,” she mused, doing a quick head count. “That being said, not all of you can progress to the third round so we’re going to have to cut the numbers a bit.”

A low groan resounded from the mass of genin. Many of them had only arrived in the past few hours and were exhausted to the bone. Preliminaries so soon after the second exam seemed like nothing short of torture. In fact, Sakura had no idea how she even put up a fight last time around. 

“If you’re going to complain like that, you can forfeit right now.” Anko rolled her eyes as the genin reached a silence. “Good. Now follow me. We will announce the matchups once everyone has gotten settled in the arena. We encourage you to watch your peers fight. If you pass these preliminaries, you will be continuing to the finals and you will want to know your opponent.”

Sakura stayed close to her teammates, making her way to the arena. As they walked, Shikamaru tapped on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“When did you guys get to the tower?” he whispered. “We didn’t see you once.”

Sasuke shrugged. “Four days ago.” He allowed a bit of smugness to bleed into his features. “We were efficient.”

Shikamaru donned a look of surprise. He knew that team seven was strong–some may even say unfairly stacked, given Naruto’s quickly developing skill–but completing the second exam that quickly was something that not even Shikamaru would have expected. He nodded slowly, impressed, and fell back to rejoin the rest of his team. 

Team seven sat together in the spectator stands of the arena, waiting for Anko to announce the first matchup. A man stood in the corner of the arena, leaning against a wall. Sakura could tell from his messy hair, defined eye-bags, and katana that he was Hayate Gekko, who would hopefully remain alive this time around. Anko whispered a few words to him, waited for his confirmation, and exited the arena. Hayate stepped into the center and prepared to make an announcement. Before he could begin talking, he broke into a coughing fit. Sakura raised an eyebrow. He really ought to get that checked out. 

Finally, he cleared his throat one last time and started again. “Our first match will be between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Please–” he began to cough again. “Please enter the ring.”

Sakura rose from her seat. She should not have a problem with Ino this time around, though she would have to keep some of her strength in check. She did not want to show off too much in front of so many ninja as well as–she noticed a telltale figure on the far side of the stands–the Hokage. 

“You’re totally gonna win, Sakura-chan!” Naruto exclaimed, affectionately punching her on the shoulder. “You show her what team seven’s made of!”

“Thanks Naruto.” She grinned back at him. “I’ll make this as cool as possible.”

Sasuke offered her a nod of approval, which was as much as she would expect from him. 

Checking that her weapons were in place, Sakura entered the ring, offering Ino a smile. Ino scoffed at her motion and flipped her long ponytail. 

“You’re looking confident,” she said. “I’m not going easy on you just because we used to be friends, you know.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” Sakura cracked her knuckles. “This is the chunin exams, not the Academy classroom. I’m here to be serious, nothing else.”

“Good. Because I’m not messing around.”

Hayate took Ino’s statement as a cue to begin the match. He stepped in front of them and briefly ran over the rules. As soon as the two kunoichi gave their confirmation, he began the match and leaped out of the ring. 

Sakura knew that the most important thing for her to do was to keep moving. Ino couldn’t use her shintenshin jutsu if she couldn’t pin Sakura down in one spot. She began the match by throwing three kunai at Ino, watching as she dodged them effectively. Remaining light on her feet, Sakura rushed forwards to close the distance between the two. With a small hop she kicked at Ino’s ribs; she did not bother to power the move with extra chakra since she was not ready to reveal that card yet. Her kick connected with Ino’s forearms as she blocked the move, taking a step back to regain balance. Sakura pressed on, dropping to the ground to kick Ino’s feet out. Ino barely made it over, the tip of her left sandal catching on Sakura’s calf for a moment. 

“Come on, Ino,” Sakura goaded. “I know you’re better than this.”

Ino’s lips turned into a snarl. “I was just getting warmed up,” she hissed, flipping backwards out of Sakura’s range. 

Sakura knew not to stay in place for too long. Just as Ino began to catch her breath, Sakura charged towards her again, planning to end the match as quickly as possible. She levelled a punch at Ino’s stomach, which Ino managed to block though Sakura saw her wince as her forearm made contact with her fist. Sakura stepped forward again, slamming her foot into the ground, the move charged with extra chakra. The floor beneath Ino crumbled and she quickly lost her footing. Without wasting a second, Sakura grabbed hold of Ino’s wrist and threw her to the ground, pinning both of her hands with her left arm and holding a kunai to her throat with her right. 

Hayate appeared in the ring again, standing behind Sakura. 

“The first match has been concluded,” he announced. “Sakura Haruno wins.” Immediately, he broke into another fit of coughing. 

Cheers broke out in the stands, the loudest, of course, coming from team seven’s section. Her heart filled with happiness to see Sasuke pump his fist in the air for a second alongside Naruto. 

Sakura released her pressure on Ino’s body, letting her wrists go and tucking her kunai back into its holster. As she rose to her feet, she held out her hand for Ino in a motion of good-will. Ino did not take it. 

“What the hell happened to you, Sakura?” she muttered, staggering to her feet. 

Sakura could swear that she saw tears pricking at the edges of Ino’s eyes–tears of jealousy. In her past life, they had been evenly matched for most of their careers as shinobi, Sakura only pulling ahead in the last year or so. Sakura recognized her frustration. She was not supposed to outdo Ino by that large of a margin, especially not in front of her teammates and graduating classmates. Sakura also knew that Ino still believed that Sakura owed her for her kindness when they were young. Showing her up so completely during the chunin exams was certainly not the payment Ino wanted. Sakura hoped she would take this moment in stride and perhaps double down on her training afterwards. There was nothing like a good rivalry to get shinobi to improve. 

Sakura did not bother with answering, choosing instead to collect the rest of her fallen kunai and make her way back up to the spectator stands where Naruto was still cheering. She slipped back into her seat, reciprocating Naruto’s rib crushing hug with enthusiasm. She felt some vindication in progressing to the third round of the chunin exams this time around. As much as she hated to admit it, it felt awfully good to be one of the best shinobi in her peer group. 

“That was so cool!” Naruto exclaimed, his mouth agape. “You just ran in there and landed tons of hits! Then you broke the ground! You’re so strong…”

“Thanks, Naruto!” she replied. “You better look that cool when it's your turn.” 

“You know I will!”

Sasuke caught her attention with a hand on her shoulder. “Good job,” he said, the beginnings of a smile on his lips. “Your taijutsu is pretty impressive.”

Sakura nearly did a double-take. Compliments from Sasuke were as rare as seeing Kakashi read anything but an Icha Icha book. She took the unique moment in stride though, her face lighting up in a smile. 

“Thanks, Sasuke,” she replied, her voice completely genuine. “We’ll have to spar together more so I can learn some of your forms.”

Sasuke took well to the implied compliment, his half-smile growing. He replied to Sakura’s proposal with a low hum, which Sakura assumed was a confirmation, but she could never be completely sure. Perhaps Itachi’s appearance didn’t take as much of a toll on Sasuke as she had expected. 

“Great job, Sakura-chan!” Kakashi interrupted, as if he had just remembered that he was still technically Sakura’s jonin instructor despite the fact that he knew her true identity. “You really are shaping up to be quite the impressive kunoichi.”

Sakura nearly started laughing at Kakashi’s comment, but she managed a proud smile instead. 

“Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!” she said. “I think the next round is going to start soon.” 

Kakashi nodded in agreement, relaxing back into his seat. Sakura could swear that he was beginning to take a nap. 

Hayate’s voice rang out from the arena, announcing the next match between Sasuke and a Takigakure ninja named Asuka. The shinobi had a short stature and thick red hair that fell to her shoulders, a naginata strapped to her back. She held herself with pride, unfazed by the fact that she was about to fight the only Uchiha left in Konoha. 

“I hear she’s quite the prodigy back in Takigakure,” Kakashi muttered to Sakura and Naruto. “We’ll see how she compares to Konoha’s own.”

Sasuke stood in the arena, hands tucked into the pockets of his shorts. He appeared uninterested, but Sakura knew he was analyzing his opponent. As soon as Hayate announced the beginning of the match, he leapt backwards, releasing a barrage of kunai as he did so. Asuka dodged the blades while moving barely an inch from her spot. Pointing her naginata forward, she charged Sasuke, her movement a blur. Sasuke dodged the attack, stepping to the right, and retaliated with a kick to her side. She drew the naginata to her side, the pole creating a barrier between her abdomen and Sasuke’s foot. With a shove, she tried to throw Sasuke off his balance, but he leaped backwards, landing in a crouch. 

His lips curled up incrementally. Asuka was a formidable opponent. Before she could charge again, Sasuke ran through the hand-signs for fireball jutsu, releasing a massive ball of flame that enveloped half the arena. As the flames dissipated, Asuka emerged from the glow, patting out a small spark on her left sleeve, but otherwise completely unscathed. 

Sasuke surmised that she could fend off his fire attacks, but could not move while doing so. Charging again, he released another barrage of kunai, engaging in taijutsu once again. By keeping Asuka at close range, he figured he could avoid the most deadly aspect of the naginata. Still, Asuka’s taijutsu skills did not pale in comparison to Sasuke’s. She blocked each blow, successfully landing a roundhouse kick on his left side. Sasuke stifled a gasp at the pain that shot through his ribs. She was stronger than she looked. 

Finally, Sasuke activated his sharingan, Asuka’s movements slowing as the world adopted a red hue. She seemed to notice the change in Sasuke’s eye color; jumping back, she formed a few hand signs and readied her naginata again. 

Thanks to his activated sharingan, Sasuke recognized the jutsu as a chakra barrier–a thin shield around her body that would protect against any taijutsu, blade, or even select ninjutsu attacks. 

Asuka charged again, even quicker this time. Sasuke deflected the pole of the naginata with his kunai, but the steel snapped in his effort. Her weapon had to be enhanced in some way. For a split second, Asuka’s eyes met Sasuke’s, her body tensing as she realized the implication of that action. It was often said that once you saw a sharingan, the fight was over, though any genjutsu specialist would argue. Asuka seemed to fall into that category. Just as Sasuke began to grab hold of her mind, bringing her chakra system under his control, the chakra barrier surrounding Asuka expanded, throwing Sasuke from her side and to the ground. 

His head slammed against the stone floor, stars dancing in front of his eyes for a moment. In the few seconds of disorientation, Asuka leaped into the air, naginata poised downwards as she prepared to skewer him. Sasuke rolled out of the way just in time, her naginata striking the stone instead. He staggered to his feet, his head throbbing and performed another fireball jutsu from point blank range this time. As expected, Asuka prevented the flames from consuming her, but Sasuke saw her standing stock still, hand raised in a ram sign as she concentrated. He did not wait for the flames to dissipate. He rushed towards her, his last kunai in hand and waited for her chakra barrier to drop the second after she successfully fended off the flames. In one swift movement, he grappled her, his back on her knee and the tip of his kunai pointed at her back. 

Hayate entered the ring again. “The second round has been concluded,” he announced. “Sasuke Uchiha is the winner.”

Sasuke moved his knee from Asuka’s back, getting shakily to his feet. The cheers from the stands sounded abrasive to his overly-sensitive ears. Raising his hand to his temple, he felt a bit of wetness just below his hairline. 

“That was very impressive,” Asuka told him. That was the first time he had heard her speak. “Best of luck in the third round.”

Sasuke nodded at her words of congratulation, disorientation preventing him from opening his mouth. Slowly, he made his way back to the spectator stands, sinking down into his seat. 

“Oh he’s definitely got a concussion.” 

Sasuke heard a familiar voice beside him, though it took him several seconds to process that it was in fact Sakura.

“Hey Sasuke?” Sakura said, tapping him on the shoulder. “Look at me for a second. I’m gonna fix your head.”

Sasuke turned to face her, the movement sending a shot of pain through his skull. As soon as Sakura raised her hand to his temple, though, he felt the pain fade away, cool healing chakra knitting his injuries back together. 

“She got you good, huh?” Sakura chuckled, moving her hands to his side so that she could heal his ribs. “That’s three broken ribs right there with one kick.” 

Sasuke’s world came back into focus as he saw his teammates grinning at him like idiots. 

“That was pretty badass, Sasuke,” Naruto said, patting him on the back just a little too hard. “I’ve gotta say the fire looked hella cool.”

Sasuke smirked at Naruto’s compliment. Despite the fact that he emerged victorious, he was nearly positive that Asuka had managed to hurt him far more than he had her, though if they were not in the chunin exam preliminaries, he would have killed her in the end. 

“Yeah, great job, Sasuke!” Sakura congratulated as soon as she had finished healing his wounds. “You figured out the weakness in her chakra barrier so quickly, it was crazy!”

Sasuke’s shoulders straightened with pride as he turned his attention back to the arena. Hayate called for the beginning of the next match between Shino and a Takigakure ninja from the same team as Asuka. Shino had graduated from the Academy second to only Sasuke; Sasuke expected Shino to win his round, especially given how the Takigakure shinobi’s legs seemed to quiver as he stood.

Sasuke’s assumption was correct. The match barely lasted a minute. As it turned out, the Takigakure shinobi was deathly afraid of bugs and forfeited as soon as Shino revealed some of his insects. 

Sakura was pleased to see that despite Otogakure’s absence from the chunin exams, the preliminaries proceeded effectively as they had before. Naruto managed to defeat Kiba by using crude but effective methods; Temari defeated Tenten; Gaara nearly murdered Lee as Neji nearly murdered Hinata, the former stopped only by Kakashi intervening as he had before; both Kankuro and Shikamaru won their respective matches, and the third Takigakure ninja defeated Choji, earning herself a spot in the finals and replacing the spot Dosu occupied in Sakura’s past life. 

Upon reflection, Sakura found that the chunin exams went better than she could have hoped, save Itachi’s appearance. Sasuke did not receive Orochimaru’s curse mark, no Otogakure ninja entered, and the same Konohagakure ninja proceeded to the final as before. With the addition of Sakura, of course. 

When the final match came to a close, Anko stood in the middle of the arena to address the genin again. 

“Great, that’s done with,” she said, glancing down at her clipboard. “Progressing to the final round will be: Sakura Haruno of Konohagakure, Sasuke Uchiha of Konohagakure, Shino Aburame of Konohagakure, Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure, Temari of Sunagakure, Gaara of Sunagakure, Neji Hyuuga of Konohagakure, Kankuro of Sunagakure, Shikamaru Nara of Konohagakure, and Kaori Ando of Takigakure.”

The genin teams in the stands took a moment to pat their successful teammates on the back. 

“The matchups for the first bracket will be as follows: Sakura Haruno versus Kankuro, Sasuke Uchiha versus Gaara, Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga, Temari versus Shikamaru Nara, and Shino Aburame versus Kaori Ando.”

Sakura grinned to herself. She had a bit of a specialty in fighting puppet masters, and assuming that Kankuro had no reason to forfeit this time around, she would certainly have some fun in her match. What did worry her, though, was the bracket. If both she and Sasuke were successful in their first fight, they would be pit against each other. Sakura would be lying if she claimed that the prospect didn’t scare her.

Chapter Text

Kakashi gave Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto two days of rest following the end of the second round, deciding to throw them into preparation for the final round after they fully replenished their chakra. 

For the first time since Sakura arrived in the past, she allowed herself a moment of respite. She held onto the days of rest greedily, sleeping in nearly until noon and taking time to fully nourish her growing body. She felt her chakra reserves replenish, only then realizing that they had not been full since she arrived. She had pushed herself so hard every day, throwing herself into training regimens that far exceeded her body’s skill level, and insisting that she perform constantly at her peak. She had been running herself dry and she had barely even noticed. 

When she took time to glance at herself in the mirror, she saw how the child-like innocence she had noticed on her first day in the past had begun to fade away. She had been in this body barely a month, but the muscles of her upper-arms were already more defined, her hands harder. Of course Kakashi had caught onto her situation. She held herself with the confidence of a jonin, her back straight and shoulders square. As her eyes met her own in the mirror, she saw the eyes of someone who had held a body as its heart stopped, either by her hands, or in a failed attempt at healing. There was not a trace of childhood left in them. 

If there was one thing that Konoha excelled at, it was choking the child out of their shinobi. From Kakashi to Itachi, Konoha constantly churned out child-assassins, their ledgers dripping with blood before their thirteenth birthday. Even in peacetime, shinobi barely had time to be children, their years at the Academy haunted by the promise of violence and murder as soon as they graduated. And Sakura knew well that there was no escaping the horrors of the shinobi world. She did not take her role as a shinobi seriously while she was in the Academy, and the apathy came back to bite her tenfold as soon as she was forced to face the realities of life as a kunoichi. 

Itachi’s fall, emerging suspicions notwithstanding, was ultimately unsurprising. How could someone, thrust in the world of assassins and politics and blood while still a child, hold onto any modicum of sanity? During the Fourth Ninja War, Sakura often felt herself slipping, her mind giving into despair, and she was sixteen then. Regardless, her days of rest were coming to a close, and she would have to begin focusing both on her own training and her plan for the future in earnest shortly. 

Kakashi gathered team seven at their typical training ground, arriving only fifteen minutes late. He leaned his weight heavily on a training pole, fiddling with a kunai as he waited for the genin to get settled. 

“Well, congratulations to the three of you for advancing to the finals,” he said finally, his visible eye crinkling in a smile. “I have to say I’m surprised.” 

Sasuke frowned, offended that Kakashi expected any less of him and his team. 

“Since you are all progressing to the finals, we need to start a strict training regimen now. Usually, I would assign each of you someone to work under, but since the entire team is progressing and you are all on a similar level, the majority of the training will be done in a group.”

“So it’s only you training us, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto interrupted, a whine bleeding into his voice. 

“I’m hurt by your tone, Naruto, but no. I’m bringing in one other shinobi to give me a hand with you unruly bunch.”

“Who?!” Naruto’s eyes lit up. “The Hokage? The best ninja ever? Hashirama Senju?”

Kakashi paused for a minute and Sakura imagined his lips quirking upwards in a smile. “Hashirama Senju? He’s long dead, Naruto.”

Naruto shrugged, still grinning. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe he got better though.”

“You can’t get better after you die.” Sasuke shoved a sharp elbow into Naruto’s side. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Naruto yelped, his hand flying to his ribs. “Hey! I was just saying that since he was such a crazy good ninja maybe he was immortal! That’s not that crazy!”

Sakura stifled a chuckle. It wasn’t that crazy, incidentally, but for the purpose of this point in the timeline, reincarnated ninja should by all means be impossible. 

Kakashi cleared his throat, regaining the genin’s attention. 

“Right, so the other shinobi should be here any minute now. I expect you all to be on your best behavior.”

Sasuke shot Naruto a warning glare. He did not want his childlike attitude interfering with the new sensei’s opinion of him as a shinobi. Sasuke needed to prove his worth both in training and in the final round; at this point in the chunin exams, he would be beyond disappointed with himself if he did not win the promotion. 

Sakura sensed another chakra signature approaching a few minutes after Kakashi spoke. As the shinobi came into sight, she was unsurprised to see an unruly mass of white hair pushed back by a horned headband. He scowled as he approached team seven, squinting against the sunlight. He was almost certainly hungover. 

“Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, meet Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin.” Kakashi extended his arm in introduction. 

“Damn, they really are little kids, huh?” Jiraiya scanned the three from head to toe, his scowl deepening. “Why am I here, again?”

Naruto perked up, seemingly unaffected by Jiraiya’s ornery attitude. “We’re the coolest genin team in Konoha and we’re all going to the chunin exam finals so we need super special training!” He bounced on the balls of his feet as he explained. 

“Wow, he really is exactly what I expected,” Jiraiya muttered to Kakashi, certainly not quiet enough to evade any of the genin’s ears. 

“Yeah, I sure am!” Naruto took the comment wholeheartedly as a complement. “Name’s Naruto Uzumaki and–”

“I know, kid.” Jiraiya waved his hand to cut Naruto off. “Since I have no choice here, apparently, let’s get into it. Go around and give me your name and what you specialize in. Then we’ll spar.”

He looked at Sasuke first, who gazed back up at him, uninterested.
“I’m Sasuke Uchiha. I specialize in frontline fighting, especially taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, and katon. I have the sharingan, of course.”

Jiraiya nodded, unsurprised by Sasuke’s answer and moved onto Sakura. 

“I’m Sakura Haruno,” she said, taking a moment to prepare the rest of her answer. “I specialize in close combat, especially taijutsu. I have an affinity for genjutsu and doton and I am also a healer.”

“Close combat and a healer?” Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, passing judgement on Sakura for the second time. “That doesn’t make that much sense.”

“Come on, Jiraiya-sensei.” Sakura’s face broke into a mischievous grin. “You should know better than anyone that it can be done.”

He appeared taken-aback for a moment before he nodded slowly. “I’ll just have to see how you fight in our spar. Now you introduce yourself, brat.” He pointed to Naruto. “You’re the last one.”

“You said you already knew who I was!” Naruto countered. “But since you asked again, I’m Naruto Uzumaki and I specialize in…well…” he paused, deep in thought. “I mean, I can make bunshin? And um…I can hit things?”

“I can’t believe this kid made it all the way to the chunin exam finals fresh out of the academy,” Jiraiya grumbled. “Alright, that’s enough for introductions. Let’s fight.”

Jiraiya jumped backwards, his hands poised in front of him as he adopted a fighting stance. He waited for the genin to make the first move, watching intently as they traded glances. 

Sasuke made the first move, releasing a barrage of perfectly aimed shuriken. Unsurprisingly, the blades made no contact with Jiraiya as he stepped out of their trajectory with ease. Sakura leaped into the fray after Sasuke, slamming her fist into the ground in front of Jiraiya. The dirt fragmented under her hand, robbing both Sasuke and Jiraiya of stable ground. They both leaped back, steadying themselves outside of the wide radius of the crater. Sakura had used that same move countless times in the past few months, and it had the same effect each time. Would anyone ever learn? 

Jiraiya’s eyes widened behind his messy hair, an impressed look passing over his features. Naruto took the lull in battle as a cue to join in, creating countless kage bunshin and charging without rhyme or reason. Despite the crude tactic, Naruto’s attack provided the perfect distraction for Sakura and Sasuke to prepare genjutsu and ninjutsu respectively. 

Despite their best efforts, none of the genin managed to land a hit on Jiraiya, the sannin constantly evading or blocking their attacks. Sakura was glad for it, in all honesty. Jiraiya’s untouchability helped instill respect for him in Sasuke and Naruto, and though Sakura performed well, her attacks fell in the range of a particularly talented chunin, which was exactly what she wanted to convey.  

Jiraiya stopped the match with a wave of his hand. He took a minute to pass judgement on team seven yet again. He really was quite good at the ‘reading people with his eyes’ maneuver. 

“Not bad,” he said. Sakura had a feeling that it was high praise coming from him. “But honestly, none of you have anything flashy. Sakura, you can hit things pretty well–in fact you remind me of someone, but you probably already know that, Sasuke you can move fast, and Naruto…well you sure are a lot. All of that is good and fine, but you need a big signature jutsu: something that really deals a lot of damage.”

Sakura was suddenly aware of the yin seal lying dormant in her forehead. She had been so close to revealing it–mere seconds away from blowing any semblance of cover she had managed to maintain, and all over a matter that was, in the grand scheme of things, almost almost unimportant. Mulling over the fact that she had nearly ruined her entire mission in a moment of emotion, she could feel her hands tingle as if she were standing at the edge of a cliff. She worried terribly for the future now; if that prompted her to nearly blow her cover, how would she react to an invasion or to Sasuke getting kidnapped? The mission comes first . She let that mantra wash over her, dulling the tingling in her fingers. It was the first thing shinobi learned in the academy, and it was often the last thing they thought. The mission always comes first. 

“Hey, Sakura-chan?” Naruto’s voice cut through her thoughts. “You’re spacing out. Jiraiya-sensei was asking about our chakra natures.”

Sakura refocused her eyes, managing an embarrassed smile. “Oh! I’m a natural earth type as I mentioned before, though I think I have some proficiency with water as well.”

Jiraiya chuckled. “Yeah I think learning some doton jutsus will complement your style well.”

Sakura nodded in agreement, turning her attention back in full to the training session. At that moment, Kakashi ambled over to join the discussion, revealing that he had, in fact, been paying attention. 

“As it turns out,” he started, tucking his Icha Icha book into his pocket, “I have an idea for new jutsus to teach Sasuke and Sakura. I’ve got a lightning style jutsu in mind for Sasuke, and I’ve got some genjutsu ideas for Sakura. I think Naruto would benefit more under your tutelage in this particular instance.”

Jiraiya groaned, but ultimately capitulated to Kakashi’s request. Naruto deserved one-on-one attention, though Sakura worried that Sasuke would grow jealous and perhaps harbor ill-will towards her. She was interfering in his training with Kakashi, after all. Though, as Sakura glanced over to Sasuke, his expression was perfectly impassive. For Sasuke, that was as close to a resting smile as he could get.

Jiraiya instructed Naruto to meet him in front of the hot springs for his training session the day after he agreed to train him. Naruto was unsure why he had chosen such an unconventional location, but he assumed it had something to do with some kind of emotional training that would no doubt make him both incredibly buff and incredibly wise. 

When he finally spotted Jiraiya, though, his dreams of entering the chunin exam finals as an enlightened sage were dashed. Jiraiya was crouched precariously by the walls of the hot springs, his face all but pressed against the wooden panelling as he tried to peek inside.     

“Hey, old man!” Naruto stomped over to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jiraiya snapped his head to Naruto and glared, rising to his feet and brushing the dirt off of his pants. 

“None of your business, brat,” he huffed. “Great, you’re here now. Your chakra control sucks. We should work on that.”

“Hey! My chakra control is great! I can use so much chakra!” Naruto placed his hands on his hips. 

“That’s not what chakra control is,” Jiraiya groaned, rolling his eyes. “And that’s my point exactly. Your chakra control sucks because you can use so much chakra. It’s insane actually, the amount you have at your disposal. Between being an Uzumaki, and the…roommate you’ve got inside you, you’ve got more chakra than most ANBU and you’re only thirteen.”

Naruto visibly darkened at the mention of the kyuubi. Ever since he had become aware of what lay sealed inside of him, he wanted nothing more than to get rid of it. Forget any advantages it may have, be it extra chakra or stamina. He didn’t want to be hated all the time. Not everyone who knew about the kyuubi hated him, of course. Sakura didn’t and Kakashi-sensei didn’t either, but they were outliers. And as for his other friends, Naruto had no idea how they would change once they truly knew who he was. 

Jiraiya seemed to notice Naruto’s change in demeanor. Frowning, he bent down to make eye contact with him. 

“What’s bothering you, kiddo?” He asked. Though Naruto was completely unaware, he was technically his godfather, and he owed it to Minato to assume that title every now and then. 

“Who sealed the kyuubi in me?” Naruto responded to Jiraiya with a question, his face still twisted into a pout.

Oh, Naruto was treading on some thin ice. “You surely know already,” he said, trying not to betray his concern. “It was the Yondaime. He, of course, died in the process.”

Naruto nodded. Jiraiya was right; that was not new information. “Why me?” 

The brat was onto something. Sure, the fact that Naruto was the Yondaime's son wasn’t the best kept secret in Konoha. There’s only so much you can do when the kid is the spitting image of his father, but technically, Jiraiya was not allowed to divulge that information without the Hokage’s permission. 

“It’s complicated, but if you really must know, your mother was the former kyuubi jinchuuriki, and it really has to be sealed in an Uzumaki.” That should assuage his curiosity for now. 

“A history book I read said that the Yondaime’s wife died in the attack as well.” Naruto was not going to back off from the subject. “Who was she?”

At this rate, Jiraiya would have to start telling real lies, not just lies of omission. Obviously, Naruto had a theory and he wanted an answer and in all honesty, Jiraiya wanted to tell him the truth. He wanted to tell him about who his parents truly were and what they meant to the village. Naruto deserved the truth, no doubt, but he would still be going directly against the will of the Hokage. 

“What are you trying to get at, kid?” Jiraiya hoped the twinge of a threat in his tone would deter Naruto from continuing down his path of questioning.

Naruto’s eyes were glued to his feet. “I think you know what I’m getting at. Who were my parents?”

There it was. Jiraiya could refuse to answer, of course, and Naruto would have no way of getting it out of him. That method would do nothing but raise more suspicion, though. If the identity of Naruto’s parents was not some massive secret, why was Jiraiya withholding the information? Not to mention, it was so hard to refuse the kid, who had grown up a shunned orphan, an integral piece of information on his family. He really was the spitting image of Minato, shock of blond hair and all. His smile was Kushina’s through and through, though. Jiraiya sighed. He deserved to know that. It’s what Minato and Kushina would have wanted. 

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” Jiraiya eased himself down onto a bench and motioned for Naruto to join him. Naruto eyed him warily, but took a seat, eyes full of expectancy. “Now, this is technically a village secret, so you can’t be going around and shouting this from the rooftops, but as I’m sure you guessed, your parents were the Yondaime and his wife: Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.” 

Naruto’s brows shot upwards as his theory was confirmed. The truth was completely overwhelming. He was the Yondaime’s son and yet he grew up shunned by the village and left with nothing; how was that fair? How could someone as good as the Yondaime seal a monster in his own son? Tears pricked at the corners of Naruto’s eyes as he tried to pinpoint what he felt. He was undoubtedly sad; he finally knew who his parents were and which made them real, concrete people, and that much easier to miss. Yet, he could also not deny his anger; he had said it over and over again, but it simply was not fair. So much of what he had to go through should not have happened and would not have happened if the Yondaime did not seal the kyuubi in his own son. 

“I know this is hard, kiddo.” Jiraiya sounded genuinely sympathetic. “And I bet you’re at least a little mad at your old man.”

Naruto nodded, gaze still fixed on the ground. 

“I’m not going to tell you not to be. What happened to you sucks and there’s no use in denying it. Not to mention, it’s not like I helped much with that, and I’m sorry. Your parents made me your godfather but I haven’t really been great with living up to that role.”

“You’re a sucky godfather,” Naruto muttered, his tone far more sorrowful than angry.

Jiraiya mustered an uncomfortable smile. “Yeah. I know. I could…um…I could tell you a bit about them if you wanted?”

Naruto looked up, his eyes almost comically large. “That’d be nice,” he whispered. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard a bit about your old man from history books and school and all that, but I bet no one told you that he was an incredible cook. Both his parents owned a restaurant and he grew up in front of the stove. When he wasn’t busy with shinobi (and eventually Hokage) duties, he would whip up the most amazing dinners. I mean four-course, gourmet stuff. And when your mom was pregnant with you, he would make her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. Really, he made sure that everything went right for Kushina while she was pregnant. It was pretty sickeningly adorable. 

“And your mother, well, she was nothing short of incredible. Her chakra reserves were unmatched and she had such a fiery spirit, everyone in the village adored her. She beat your dad up pretty good when they were both in school together, did you know that?”

Naruto’s lip trembled as he held back tears. “What did she look like?” he whispered. He had seen Minato in textbooks, novels, and especially on the Hokage monument for years, but he had never seen his mother. 

“She was kind of short,” Jiraiya said, tapping his finger to his chin in thought. “But she had bright red hair that went down to her knees. Red hair is a typical Uzumaki thing. Kids used to tease her about her hair when she was younger, but she’d just beat them up. She had just as much stamina as you do. You know, I could do you one better than a description. I think I have her old genin photo lying around somewhere, so I could bring it to our next training session.”

“Really?” Naruto’s face shone with awe. “That’d be nice.”

“Yeah, you got it kid.” With a sigh, Jiraiya rose to his feet. “Now that we’ve had that chat, we should get into training. I’m gonna make sure you know how to manage that roommate you’ve got there, okay?”

Naruto nodded firmly, wiping his damp eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. 

“I still don’t forgive my old man,” he said, a stubborn look in his eye. 

“I know. You don’t have to.” 

Sakura met Kakashi at his home the evening after her first day of genjutsu training. Kakashi had not allowed her to slack off, leaving her drained of chakra and somewhat irritable. Regardless, she did not have time to lose. 

She did not bother to check for traps this time, opening the door and checking that the silencing seals were active only after she had crossed the threshold. 

“I see you’re making yourself comfortable,” Kakashi quipped, ambling into the kitchen. 

“We don’t have time for small talk,” Sakura said, easing herself down on the couch. She consciously stopped herself from sighing in relief as she took weight off her sore legs.

“Alright, alright. It’s always all business with you.” Kakashi continued to prod at her as he made himself comfortable in the small sitting area. “What fun new plan are you proposing? There’s only so much we can do now that Itachi’s involved.”

“We need to find out exactly what happened in the Uchiha Massacre.” Her tone left no room for argument. “We need the details of the situation leading up to it and the Hokage’s formal response. Only then will we actually understand Itachi’s motives.”

Kakashi seemed to hold back a groan. “I fail to see how this has anything to do with Orochimaru,” he said, hoping to lead Sakura back onto the path he had in mind.

“Both you and I agree that there is something unsettling about Itachi’s situation. Orochimaru is ostensibly in his custody, so understanding Itachi’s motives behind intervening has everything to do with him, actually.”

“How do you propose we come across this information, exactly?” The fact that Kakashi did not deny suspicions surrounding the Uchiha Massacre spoke volumes.

Sakura paused. She trusted Kakashi, but what she was about to suggest would certainly toe the limits of that trust. 

“We are going to need to find the Hokage’s official documents on the event. I mean everything that was not released to the public.”

Kakashi visibly tensed, which, for a shinobi, suggested a serious reaction. 

“Sakura, that’s treason. Breaking into the Hokage’s files and seeking out classified documents? At best, you’d lose your hitaite; at worst, you’d get executed.”

Sakura was well aware of the potential punishments of what she intended to do. The only time she had gone into the Hokage’s files was well into the Fourth Ninja War when security was nearly nonexistent and she was the Hokage’s protegé. That particular instance had resulted in no consequences, but she had still acknowledged the weight of her actions. Now, the Hokage’s security was functioning as it was supposed to, but Sakura was no idiot. She would not have proposed the plan unless she was confident that she could succeed, and she certainly was. 

“I am aware of the potential consequences,” she said. “But I have no intention of getting caught, and I am confident that I will not. I know the Hokage’s guard rotations and I know exactly where the least secure entrances are.” 

Kakashi did not look convinced. “Say you make it into the document storage without getting intercepted,” he pressed. “What then? Will you steal the physical file?”           

“That was where I was hoping you’d come in.” Sakura maintained confidence, hoping not to deter Kakashi too much from what she had planned. “With a sharingan and its eidetic memory, we could make a perfect copy. We would leave the original, of course, but we would have a perfect replica for us to read. And I know it’s sealed with a chakra seal, but conveniently, breaking and repairing those is essentially the only fuinjutsu I’m proficient at.”

Kakashi waited a moment in silence after Sakura finished before shaking his head. “This is far too dangerous. You would be putting too many people at risk here, not to mention risking your entire personal mission. If you are caught, you will be found out immediately, and I don’t think you’d be able to pass a Yamanaka interrogation without completely revealing yourself. Every time people meddle with Uchiha affairs, people get hurt, Sakura. Orochimaru is with Itachi now and is most likely dead, so I say we go hands-off until something else comes up.”

Sakura knew that tone well, and she knew Kakashi would not cede. It was inconvenient for him not to be involved, yes, but it didn’t make her plan impossible. She had never been fully confident that Kakashi would say yes, not after his personal relationships to the Uchiha and their clan. Though she would never say it aloud, she believed that Kakashi was still deeply wounded by the massacre and by Itachi’s betrayal. If she remembered correctly, they had been friends. She expected him to be apprehensive about scrutinizing the Uchiha clan, and was honestly unsurprised that he was likely too afraid of reopening old wounds to perform the investigation. The fact that Kakashi had not cracked already after all of the psychological blows his ninja career dealt him over the years was a sheer miracle. 

“Fine,” she sighed, knowing that lying to Kakashi had historically gone poorly for her. Regardless, she couldn’t tell the whole truth now. “I see your point, but I’m not happy about it. I’ll back off for now.”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, but ultimately nodded. He did not completely trust her agreement to back off, but she was no longer attempting to bring him into it and that had been what worried him most. 

“Now, do you need anything else?” he asked wearily. “I’m sure you’re at least a little tired after training today.”

Sakura nodded and slowly rose from the couch, her legs aching from the effort. “We’ll talk later,” she said on her way out of the apartment. “There are, of course, many other important things to go over.”

Stepping out into the cool evening air, she turned to her backup plan, though arguably, it was better than her first. She needed to find Naruto and Sasuke.

Of course, Sakura had no trouble locating them the following day. Both of them spent most of their days either at the training grounds, in the areas surrounding, or at their homes. That particular morning, they were found at the first option. 

“Hey Sakura-chan!” Naruto called from a comfortable patch of grass. “What are you doing here?”

Sasuke looked up from where he was practicing his shurikenjutsu though it seemed more like busywork to fend off boredom than genuine training. When Sasuke found the time to be bored, Sakura was unsure. Kakashi had them on a strict training regimen that consumed most of the waking day, but it seemed like Sasuke had very little life outside the shinobi arts, so even the few hours of free time between grueling training sessions became empty time. 

“Hey, Naruto.” She made her way over to the boys. “I was looking for you guys. I’ve got something serious to discuss.”

That caught Sasuke’s attention. Within a few seconds, he had packed up his shuriken and was beside Naruto, ready to hear what might be discussed. 

Naruto perked up as well, pushing himself into a sitting position. “Ooh, cool. What’s it about?”

Sakura glanced around her surroundings, checking for ANBU officers that she already knew were nearby. “We can’t talk here,” she said in a low whisper. “Someone could overhear. Why don’t we go to my place? My parents are off on a trip for work and I have plenty of silencing seals.” 

Naruto and Sasuke shared a knowing look at Sakura’s comment. The presence of silencing seals suggested something genuinely confidential, and both of them began to understand the direction in which Sakura was going. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Sasuke set off in the direction of Sakura’s house before Sakura even started walking. 

She held back a chuckle and followed behind him, keeping up with the quick pace he set. Sasuke stopped at the stoop of Sakura’s door, allowing her to walk in front and unlock it. As soon as all three genin were inside, she closed the door behind her and activated the silencing seals she had placed throughout the house a few days after she arrived in the past. 

Sasuke scanned the parlor, checking for any potential weaknesses in security. He was pleased to find none, and took a seat on her couch, legs crossed politely. It would have been better-mannered of him to wait for Sakura to tell him to take a seat, but he had been to her home before and she was his peer. Of course, none of the manners he had been taught throughout his childhood were particularly important around Naruto, the idiot, and Sakura, the simple civilian girl. 

“Alright,” Sakura said, making herself comfortable on her couch, her elbows resting on her knees as she leaned forward. “I’m sure you guys have guessed what I want to talk about.”

Sasuke nodded, his gaze expressionless. “Itachi,” he stated, providing no elaboration.

Sakura nodded in agreement, pausing for a moment as she planned her words. Sasuke took her silence as an invitation to begin speaking, though.

“We need to find the files on the massacre,” he said without any prompting.

Well that was awfully convenient. Sakura had prepared herself to try and convince Sasuke, as she had been under the impression he would at least contradict her somewhat. She had not planned in the slightest for Sasuke to propose what she had in mind, but it certainly saved her some steps. 

“I completely agree,” she concurred, masking her surprise. “I’m sure we can all tell that there’s something wrong with the village’s response to all of it.”

Sasuke nodded, his expression dark. “I say we find the files, find out what’s going on, then we find Itachi and kill him. I’ve asked the Hokage about that night before and he’s never given me the full truth, I can tell.”

Sakura nearly responded to the last part of Sasuke’s proposal, a rebuttal prepared, but she backed off at the last moment. Sasuke would want to kill Itachi regardless of what they discovered and it was not her place to try and stop him. Nothing they found in the Hokage’s files could excuse Itachi’s actions, though it might help corroborate Sakura’s personal view of him. Perhaps Sasuke’s attitude around his revenge would change upon getting whatever truth they were looking for, but Sakura did not want to deny him his anger here. 

Naruto looked up, making a move to join the conversation. “Yeah, I just found out that the village has tons of secrets,” he concurred. “Like, there are certain things that no one’s allowed to talk about at all, so it makes sense that this might be one of those things.”

Sakura had a feeling she knew what secrets Naruto was referring to, though she was surprised that he had found out about his family so early. Not to mention, he hadn’t even told her about his discovery. Hopefully, that change would ultimately be for the better; Sakura had no reason to think otherwise yet, given that Naruto still seemed perfectly sane and his bubbly personality had not faltered. That was an issue for another time. 

“How do we get to the files?” Sasuke asked, bringing the discussion back on track. “There’s going to be tons of ANBU security.”

“I’ve been thinking about this, and I have an idea,” Sakura said. “I looked into the security at the Hokage tower a bit ago, and I found out that on weekend nights, there is only jonin security and they’re really only scanning for non-Konoha shinobi chakra signatures, so we won’t activate their radar. I will mask our chakra signatures as well, of course, but that’s extra security for us. There is also an unguarded window on the south-side of the document library that’s only unguarded during the particular period of time when there’s only jonin security, so we can get in through there if we walk up the walls. Once we get into the library, we shouldn’t be in there for more than a few minutes, or we risk getting caught by the guards stationed in the hallway outside.

“We will need to find the file immediately, but I’m pretty sure I can figure out how the library is organized quickly. Once we have it, I’m going to break the chakra seal and you’re going to copy it exactly with your sharingan, Sasuke. I’ll reseal it and we’ll leave the same way we came. During all of this, Naruto, you will make a shadow clone that will go to the front and start talking to the jonin on guard as a distraction. I’m sure you can make an excuse to want to go into the Hokage tower for some reason.”

“How the hell do you know all this about the security around the tower?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 

“I did my research before I came up with this plan.” Sakura shrugged. She sounded confident enough that Sasuke did not question further. Of all of the pieces of information that she only knew thanks to the time travel jutsu, knowledge of the Hokage tower security patterns was not particularly hard to come by. In fact, Naruto probably already knew what she did, thanks to all the pranks he pulled back in the Academy.  

“The plan sounds good,” Sasuke started, slightly apprehensive. “We absolutely can not get caught, though. We could lose our titles as ninja if we do.”

Of course Sasuke was more worried about losing his shinobi status than of potential imprisonment or execution. 

Sakura nodded in agreement. “We could also be imprisoned,” she offered, watching as worry grew on Naruto’s features. 

“I’ve broken into the Hokage tower tons of times,” Naruto admitted. “And nothing ever happened when I got caught.”

“I’m assuming you weren’t seeking out confidential documents, dumbass.” Sasuke kicked at Naruto’s shin. 

“But if we do get caught, why don’t I just say that I wanted to pull a prank in the document room and I dragged you guys along with me?” Naruto offered, his expression perfectly innocent.

“That’s actually a great suggestion,” Sakura said, impressed. “The Hokage would let you get away with literally anything. He might be a bit more strict now that you’re a real shinobi, but I doubt you’d get anything more than an angry talking-to.”

“Sure, but what about you and me?” Sasuke sounded unconvinced. “He barely even knows who you are, Sakura.”

“Exactly. I’m a no-named civilian-born kunoichi. He’s not going to assume that I’m committing treason, he’s going to assume that I had a moment of poor judgement and ran along with Naruto on one of his pranks. As for you, I think he’ll just be happy to see that you have friends. I doubt he would strip the last Uchiha of his hitaite over a poorly thought-out prank.”

“Konoha’s got some serious security and discipline issues,” Sasuke muttered under his breath. “Regardless, we need to do our absolute best not to get caught. Relying on the Hokage’s good will has to be our absolute last resort.”

“Whoah, this is like…a real spy mission,” Naruto said, grinning to himself.

“It is very real,” Sakura agreed. “We’ve got to take it completely seriously.”

Naruto sensed the edge in her tone and dropped his smile. Despite popular belief, he did know how to take things seriously when necessary. 

“We’re going to need to get the whole weekend off,” Sasuke said, bringing the discussion back on track yet again. “And it’s not like we can just ask Kakashi.”

They certainly could not do that. If Kakashi caught wind of what they were planning, he would be simply irate with Sakura. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Sakura offered. “Friday’s training is all three of us. One of us has to push themself to mild chakra exhaustion. If someone passes out, Kakashi will have to give us the weekend off. I’m pretty sure it’s shinobi policy or something.”

“Who volunteers?” Naruto looked from Sasuke to Sakura. 

“Can’t be me,” Sakura said, shrugging. “I need to do all the chakra masking and I need to break the seal, so I have to be completely rested come the weekend. Plus, I’m going to be the one healing whoever passes out. Can’t be you either Naruto. I don’t think it’s physically possible for you to run out of chakra.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely got to be Sasuke.” Naruto adopted a somewhat sadistic grin. “Just use your sharingan a little too much before training and you’ll be out in no time!”

Sasuke glared at Naruto. As much as he hated to admit it, he was right. He had been on the brink of collapse during the past few training sessions due to overusing his sharingan, so pushing himself over that edge would not be difficult. 

“Fine, but you need to heal me completely, Sakura,” he grumbled. “I need to copy the document as well, so I can’t be low on chakra when we go to the tower.”

“Yeah, of course.” Sakura waved her hand in dismissal. “It’s my duty as a healer to do my absolute best all the time and all that.”

Sasuke scoffed, leaning back into the couch. “Alright. We have a plan. This better go well.”

“You know it will!” Naruto said with full confidence. “Now let’s prepare to get you knocked out at training tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Sasuke spent four hours practicing his genjutsu and the chidori before training. For every second his sharingan stayed activated, his chakra reserves plummeted, leaving him light headed by the time he arrived at the training ground. Despite the sheer difficulty of training his sharingan without breaks, he felt tangible improvement from the session and now that Kakashi had shown him the chidori, he could sense true power at his fingertips. The bite of the lightning reminded him that he was not just a genin, but a lethal shinobi. He could stop hearts with a hand, and soon his hand would plunge through Itachi’s chest in retribution for everything he had taken away from him. The thought was enough to incite some feeling in him–a clawing sense of expectancy coupled with ever-present fear. But if the mission was successful, he would get answers on his brother’s motives and the precipitating events and more motivation to go through with his revenge. After that, he may finally have peace of mind again; he might even be able to sleep through the night without seeing a red sky and warm blood dripping down screen doors. It was all so close. 

Kakashi was relatively punctual again, arriving at the training field after only ten minutes. He glanced at the genin before explaining the day’s work. If he noticed the exhausted pallor of Sasuke’s face, he did not comment. 

“Good morning!” he said, though the cheerfulness of the statement felt far more performative than genuine. “We’re going to try something new today, though one of us already knows quite a bit about this particular technique. Today, you will be learning the basics of chakra enhanced strength.”

From a logistical point of view, Sasuke could not be more lucky. Without perfect chakra control, learning chakra enhanced strength was quite draining since students often expended far more chakra than necessary the first few times. From a more personal viewpoint, he was dreading the lesson. He barely had enough chakra to make a fireball; he would be on the ground in less than an hour. 

“What should I do then, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked, inconspicuously observing Sasuke from beside him. “Not to sound arrogant, but I don’t really think I need to go over the basics.”

“That is why I was hoping that you would help me teach.” Kakashi’s eye crinkled into a smile. “You can work with Sasuke and I will help Naruto. I have a feeling that he will need my assistance more.”

“Hey!” Naruto exclaimed, indignant. “I am so much cooler than Sasuke! I don’t need extra help.”

“You need extra help because you have far more chakra than Sasuke and this technique requires precise control.” Kakashi ignored Sasuke’s withering glare. 

“Oh yeah. That makes sense.” 

Kakashi took suspicion to Naruto’s sudden sobering, but did not bother commenting. It was unlike him not to jump on an opportunity to rib at Sasuke, and Kakashi had set him up perfectly. One incident was hardly enough to worry about, but Kakashi was ever-vigilant about changes in his genin’s attitudes–especially after Sakura. 

“Well, let’s get to it then.” Kakashi motioned for Sasuke and Sakura to go off to a corner of the field while he stayed put with Naruto. “Sasuke, Sakura, I’m here if you two have questions.”

Sakura nodded for both her and Sasuke and led him to an open patch of grass at the edge of the field. She took a moment to assess Sasuke’s condition, an eyebrow raising in suspicion as she noticed truly how low his chakra reserves were.
“I didn’t expect you to go that far,” she mused, her voice quiet, but not quite a whisper. Kakashi couldn’t hear them from this far away, anyway. 

“I just did what you asked,” he scoffed. “We should get started. I don’t want Kakashi to get suspicious.”

“Oh I doubt Kakashi would be suspicious if he saw me trying to talk to you. He still thinks I have that ridiculous crush on you.” That was, of course, a bit of a lie, but Sakura would not pass up an opportunity to tease Sasuke. 

“And you don’t?” Sasuke asked before he could stop himself. A blush crept onto his cheeks as soon as the words left his mouth.

Sakura froze. There was no way she would answer that question right then. To steal Sasuke’s words, though they had been the bane of her existence for years: she had no time for frivolous things like relationships at the moment. 

“Right, so chakra enhanced strength,” she said, evading the question expertly. “The control behind it is similar to medical ninjutsu, though I think this is going to be more up your alley. It’s precise chakra control, sure, but the chakra is purely destructive in nature.” 

Sasuke seemed content to ignore the previous awkward exchange and nodded, listening attentively. 

“Here, I’ll show you an example that doesn’t involve me breaking your bones or the ground beneath your feet.” Sakura stood at arms length away, pressing her palm to Sasuke’s shoulder. “If I pushed you right now, you’d easily be able to stay standing, right?”

Sasuke nodded and Sakura proved him correct by pushing at his shoulder using only her muscle’s strength. Sasuke did not move an inch. 

“But with chakra enhanced strength, I can reinforce my muscles and add more power. If I remember correctly, a common misconception is that you only need to reinforce the part of the body that does the action, for example, my hand. But if you think about that from an anatomical perspective, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Enforcing your body needs to be like a vector. There’s direction involved and magnitude. For a push, I would begin in the small of my back and send the chakra through that muscle down through my hand. I continue past that, though, and that’s where the magnitude comes in. You can modify the force of the strike by deciding exactly how far you want the vector of chakra to go. For example, if I stop my chakra about an inch past your shoulder, that is as far as you will go.”

Sakura pushed Sasuke again and Sasuke’s shoulder moved back an inch, despite his solid stance. 

“Of course, size, weight, and strength come in to play when you’re figuring out how far you can move a person, but in battle, there’s rarely a precise calculation. You send your chakra as far as possible and hope that the opponent goes that far.”

Sasuke nodded, comprehension clear on his face. 

“I can try now,” he said, eyeing Sakura’s shoulder in thought. 

“I would suggest that you just try channeling chakra into your muscles first, but we already covered that concept with medical ninjutsu, so you can give it a try.” Sakura let her hand drop. “Remember that you need precise chakra control. If you use the same amount you did with the fish, you’re going to be on the floor in a second.” 

Sasuke all but rolled his eyes and placed his left hand on Sakura’s shoulder, pausing as he took a moment to concentrate. Sakura could sense his chakra concentrating in the small of his back, beginning as a tight knot and slowly unravelling down the muscle. By the time Sasuke pushed, though, the chakra did not make it to his hand and Sakura did not as much as budge. 

Sakura made a move to comment on his form, but Sasuke adjusted his stance and tried again, collecting more chakra in his back this time. The vector travelled down the muscle and through his palm, petering out centimeters past his skin. Sakura felt her shoulder move the smallest amount, but she had to wonder if she let it move that distance. When she looked up at Sasuke’s face, she saw that any residual color had drained from his features, sweat beginning to bead at his forehead. He was at his limit. 

“Okay Sasuke, let’s recap,” she said, stepping back so that his arm would fall to his side. 

“Wait.” Sasuke took a steadying breath. “I’ve almost got it.”

That was a bit of a stretch, Sakura thought. He was conceptually close, but it would take him several more trial and error attempts before he actually succeeded in moving her. Even as the prodigy he was, this particular sector of ninjutsu was not his specialty, and not something he should expect to excel in on the first try. Regardless, Sakura did need him unconscious by the end of the training session, and if he wanted to get that over with as soon as possible, she was not going to stop him. 

Sakura sensed Sasuke’s chakra spike, reaching a level that surpassed the amount she thought he had at the moment. The spike travelled down his muscle rapidly, gathering in his hand, but not passing through the skin. Sasuke retracted his hand with a gasp, red welts visible on his palm. A chakra burn. Sakura moved to grab his hand, but his knees had already buckled, eyes rolling backwards as he collapsed. Sakura shifted her weight forward, wrapping an arm around his back and catching him before his head hit the ground. He had certainly overdone it. She instructed him to push himself to mild chakra exhaustion, not send himself into a dead faint. 

“Kakashi!” she called, waving her hand to flag him over. “Sasuke collapsed!”

Kakashi ran through the hand signs for a shunshin and appeared beside Sakura within seconds, Naruto still at the other side of the field as he jogged over to the commotion. 

“Chakra exhaustion,” Kakashi said, leaning over Sasuke’s unconscious body. “I noticed that he was low on chakra this morning, but I thought he knew his limits.” 

“I told him that chakra enhanced strength requires fine control,” Sakura said, sounding perfectly irked. “I only let him actually try it because he’s had good control in the past.”

Kakashi sighed and carded a hand through his hair. “Since Sasuke has managed to exhaust himself so completely, I need to give you three the weekend off so that he can recover. I would send him to the hospital, but I trust that you can heal him, Sakura? I know how much he hates the place.”

Kakashi’s consideration was strangely touching, as irresponsible as it may seem. Not to mention, it played well into their plan. It would be incredibly difficult to break into the Hokage tower if Sasuke was confined to the hospital. 

“Yeah, I can heal him.” Sakura settled on her knees, sending probes of healing chakra through Sasuke’s body before she got to work. 

That idiot had dipped into the chakra in his muscles. What part of “mild chakra exhaustion” did he not understand? Sakura knew for a fact that he did not have precise enough control to reliably dip into those reserves without potentially throwing himself into multiple organ failure. He was lucky this time, but he had run one hell of a risk. 

Sakura’s hands hovered over Sasuke’s core, glowing green with healing chakra. Slowly, she coaxed his body into restoring the chakra he lost, feeling the well in his core replenish. She moved next to the slight damage in his muscles, repairing any tears and probing for further damage, pleased to find none. At that point, Sasuke began to stir, his face still drained of any color. He groaned as he opened his eyes, too tired to push himself into a sitting position. Though he felt significantly less terrible than he did in the moments before his collapse, his head was still pounding and he could not shake the leaden weight in his limbs. Complete chakra exhaustion was awful and he had forgotten the toll it took. 

“That was reckless,” Sakura said, taking his burned hand and enveloping it in healing chakra. “You could have done some real damage.”

Sasuke did not ready a sharp comeback, testament to his exhaustion. Instead, he waited for Sakura to finish healing his hand before attempting to push himself into a sitting position. His arms wobbled under his weight, but with Sakura’s help, he managed to sit up and take a few sips of water. 

“I trust that our favorite medic here will give you a good talking to,” Kakashi said, squatting down to reach Sasuke’s level. “But I expected better from you. I thought you knew your own limits.”

Sasuke had the sense to look chagrined, a grimace passing over his face. He took another slow sip of water and a steadying breath before accepting Sakura’s arm and struggling to his feet. 

“I’ll take him back to his apartment and fix up whatever else he needs.” Sakura hoisted his arm over her shoulder and began to walk away from the training grounds. “You can come, Naruto. I could use an extra hand getting him there.”

As soon as Sakura and Naruto arrived at Sasuke’s apartment and deposited him on his bed, Sakura took a seat at the foot and carded a hand through her hair. 

“What the hell was that?” She raised her hands for emphasis. “I said mild chakra exhaustion, not digging into the reserves in your muscles, possibly causing multiple organ failure, dead faint chakra exhaustion! You could’ve landed yourself in the hospital!”

Sasuke scoffed and refused to meet Sakura’s gaze. 

“You said that we needed the weekend off and I got you that, didn’t I?” he countered, assuming his typical look of arrogance. 

“Must I reiterate: mild chakra exhaustion. You could have compromised the whole mission with a stunt like that.”

“Just shut up.” Sasuke’s tone was sharp, inviting no argument. “We got the weekend off like we wanted. Now I just need to rest tonight and we can go to the tower tomorrow evening.”

“And you’re sure that you will be well-rested enough to use your sharingan tomorrow?” Sakura raised a suspicious eyebrow, pursing her lips. 

“Did I not just say so?” Sasuke shot Sakura and Naruto a glare, wordlessly expressing his will for them to leave. 

“Fine.” Sakura rose from the foot of Sasuke’s bed, smoothing the white comforter beneath her. “Naruto and I are going to go out for ramen and we’ll drop some off here on our way back. I know you’ve got nothing in the fridge and you need something with a lot of nutrients.”

Sasuke conceded with a simple nod and leaned back into his pillows, waiting for Naruto and Sakura to leave. As soon as the two genin exited Sasuke’s apartment building, Naruto turned to Sakura, full of expectancy. 

“So we’re really getting ramen?” he asked, already walking in the direction of Ichiraku. Despite him asking the question, he wasn’t giving Sakura much of a choice.

“Yeah of course,” Sakura said, following behind him. “Why would I say that if we weren’t actually going?”

Naruto shrugged, clasping his hands at the back of his head. He made the familiar trek to the ramen stand in comfortable silence, which Sakura had come to learn was not quite as unexpected from Naruto as she had previously thought. 

When they arrived at Ichiraku, Naruto took a seat at the middle stool and flashed Teuchi a brilliant grin, ordering his typical three miso ramen without as much as a single word. Sakura took a second to deliberate, flipping through the sticky menu mindlessly. Though her gaze was fixed on the menu, she sensed Naruto’s demeanor shift towards discomfort. 

“What’s up, Naruto?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

“Whoah, how did you know something was wrong?” Naruto began to work through his first bowl of ramen, noodles hanging out of his mouth. 

Sakura shrugged, finally placing her order even though Naruto had already received his. “You just kind of know those things with good friends.”

Naruto’s face lit up, but he sobered as he remembered what he wanted to tell Sakura. 

“I found out some stuff about my family,” he admitted. It was an unspoken truth that there was no risk of revealing confidential shinobi secrets at Ichiraku. The owner was firmly neutral and would sooner challenge Madara Uchiha to a duel than betray Konoha. 

Sakura had been wondering when Naruto would tell her. Putting on her best listening face, she nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, gratefully accepting her bowl of ramen from Teuchi. 

“Well, it’s technically a village secret,” Naruto admitted, a sheepish grin passing over his face. “But I’ve already told you one already so it doesn’t matter, right?”

“It’s up to you Naruto, but I’m pretty good at guessing these things so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Maybe she should have taken that time to instill some ideas of confidentiality in Naruto, but she knew that they wouldn’t stick. 

Naruto nodded. “Yeah you’re really smart so you probably already know. Anyway, my dad was the Yondaime.”

Sakura was taken aback, not by the knowledge, but by the delivery of the line. She appreciated Naruto’s bluntness; it certainly got the point across, but she had expected at least some beating around the bush. 

“I guessed as much,” Sakura said, keeping her attitude genial. 

“Yeah I guessed too. It’s pretty fucked up though, isn’t it? My old man sealed that rude-ass fox in me!”

Sakura nodded solemnly. “Definitely. But you seem to be taking it well?”

“Yeah, because I found out that my mom was really, really cool! Jiraiya-sensei showed me a picture of her the other day and she had bright red hair and she was super strong. I guess that’s where I get it.”

“I bet!” Sakura took a bite of her ramen, making sure to finish it before it got cold. “She seems like she was quite the powerful kunoichi.”

Naruto made a sound of approval. “She was! And guess what? Jiraiya-sensei showed me her genin team photo and she was on the same team as Sasuke’s mom apparently!”

Now, that was new news to Sakura. She had never learned much about Sasuke’s family, given his intense reluctance to as much as admit their existence outside of his plans for revenge. She was not even aware that Sasuke’s mother had been a ninja, though it would have been a fair assumption given that the Uchiha had been the most prominent shinobi clan for generations. 

“Wait, really?” Sakura widened her eyes in surprise. 

“Yeah, crazy isn’t it? Jiraiya-sensei told me to ask Sasuke if I wanted to know more, but that feels like a bad idea.”

“Definitely. I don’t think we want to piss him off even more.” 

Naruto and Sakura maintained idle conversation as they finished their ramen, ordering an extra bowl to-go just before they left. 

“I can drop it off at Sasuke’s on my way home,” Naruto offered, cradling the to-go bag as if it were a child. “I’ll leave it with the receptionist lady at the front desk.”

“Great, thanks Naruto. Don’t eat it on your way and I’ll see you at my place at 3pm sharp. Do not be late.”

“You sound scary when you talk like that, Sakura-chan.” He grinned nonetheless. “But yeah, yeah, I won’t be late. I’ll even leave my house early .”

“Perfect.”

All three members of team seven gathered in Sakura’s comfortable living room, an air of nervousness filling the room. They had about two hours until the sun set and the optimal time for their mission arrived. That meant that they had two hours to prepare before Sakura led Naruto and Sasuke into the most dangerous mission of their shinobi careers thus far. 

“We all understand our parts, right?” Sakura asked, blank scroll and other essential tools splayed out on her coffee table. “This has to be airtight.”

Naruto and Sasuke nodded, their jaws set in determination. 

“I will copy the document with my sharingan immediately upon entry, which should take about two minutes,” Sasuke said, running through the steps systematically. “As soon as it is copied, I will keep watch at the front door as Sakura reseals the scroll. Once it is resealed, we will both escape out the window and meet Naruto in the alley one thousand feet to the west of the tower.” 

“Exactly.” Sakura crossed one leg over the other and leaned back into the couch. “My breaking and resealing the scroll will leave a faint residual chakra signature that will decrease exponentially over the course of two days, but assuming that we do our jobs correctly, there will be no reason for anyone to check that particular document for meddling. Both the breaking and the resealing should only take about fifteen seconds each if it goes as it did in practice, so we likely won’t lose time there. Ideally, we will spend four minutes maximum in document storage which falls in the window of time when the hallway guard is on the other end of the hallway.”

“And the guard should be kinda distracted right?” Naruto added. “Because I’ll send a kage bunshin to the front of the tower asking if I can grab a packet of instant ramen that I left in old man Hokage’s office.”

“Correct. The guard should be distracted, and the likelihood of them forgetting to guard document storage completely is higher than on a typical day since there are only jonin guards tonight, not ANBU.”

“Good.” Sasuke checked his kunai pouch quickly, the tension in his shoulders not going unnoticed. 

Not only did he need to go through with an undoubtedly difficult mission, but he was putting himself in a situation to discover a truth he might not want to know. The Hokage must have had some semblance of a reason to hide all of the details of the Uchiha Massacre from Sasuke, the sole survivor. Though clawing curiosity convinced him that he wanted to know the truth, he could not completely ignore the quiet voice of worry warning him of the pain of reality. Regardless, Sasuke neatly pushed down his conflicting emotions and focused on the task at hand, as was the way of any good shinobi. 

Sakura kept busy for the next two hours, checking and re-checking their equipment, running through the logistics of her jutsu, and planning for any possible mishap. She did not lie when she said that the plan needed to be airtight and she would do her absolute best to make that a reality. 

As soon as the sun fully set, Sakura rose to her feet, tying her hair back in a tight ponytail. 

“It’s time to go,” she announced, packing her tools with the utmost care. “We are all completely ready, right?”

Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded in affirmation, both as ready as they could possibly be. Sakura felt her stomach churn in nervousness, a feeling she thought she had gotten over in her past life, but had begun to make appearances now that she was thirteen again. Wordlessly, she led her teammates out of her house and towards the Hokage Tower, masking their chakra as soon as the building was in view. From a quick scan, she was pleased to see that the guard rotation was exactly as she had expected, the window into document storage perfectly unguarded. She looked at Naruto and nodded firmly, signalling for him to begin his portion of the mission. Without missing a beat, Naruto put his hands together and created one perfect shadow clone that headed in the direction of the main entrance. 

Sakura and Sasuke stood at the foot of the tower, glancing up its sheer face at the dark window into which they would climb. With a moment of extra concentration, Sakura doubled down on masking her and Sasuke’s chakra, eliminating any chance that a guard would so much as bat an eye their way. Sakura wanted to waste no more time. With a steadying breath, she took one confident step towards the tower and began her ascent, perfect chakra control allowing her to scale its face as easily as if it were a paved street. She sensed Sasuke behind her, steadily ascending though she knew that it was far more difficult for him. 

She reached the window in under a minute. Lifting herself onto the lip of the windowsill, she pulled out a kunai and soundlessly undid the lock. In one swift motion, she opened the window and entered document storage, ducking into a roll to break her fall and mask any sound from the impact. Sasuke followed close behind her, copying her motions perfectly and closing the window without as much as a thump. 

Sakura knew exactly where the document was thanks to the time she spent here in her past life, though she had never taken the time to read it. In the past, it had felt like an invasion on Sasuke’s privacy to read about the worst day of his life, and she had harbored no suspicion around the event until recently. Now, she hurried over to the familiar corner, the label titled “Uchiha” catching her eye immediately. She motioned for Sasuke to come to her side, his sharingan already blazing. Sakura lifted the scroll with careful fingers, taking a deep breath as she readied the hand signs to break the seal. Closing her eyes in concentration, she focused both on executing the jutsu and masking both of their chakra signatures so that the spike of both an active sharingan and a chakra-consuming fuinjutsu did not alert any shinobi nearby. 

She bit back a hiss as she felt a trace amount of chakra sneak through her suppression, but the seal broke all the same. She handed the scroll to Sasuke, hoping her gaze imparted the appropriate feeling of urgency. Sasuke unfurled it quickly, scanning each page in mere seconds. Sakura knew that he had not comprehended the words yet, and likely would not until he transcribed it when he returned to Sakura’s home. Sasuke’s current lack of comprehension saved him and Sakura from the danger of him being overcome by emotion. Until he wrote the words with his own hand, they were merely arbitrary shapes in his mind. 

Turning over the last page, Sasuke carefully rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Sakura, his eyes fading back to black. She doubled down on her concentration again, resealing the scroll perfectly and sliding it back into its place. Sasuke caught her hand before she pulled it away, gloved hand rotating her wrist so that the seal on the scroll sat slightly more to the right. He had memorized the position as soon as he saw it. Sakura waited a moment to take inventory of their task, pleased to find that they had accomplished everything. Soundlessly, she threaded through the labyrinthine shelves and lifted herself back onto the windowsill, her kunai already turning the lock. Just as the window eased open, she felt a strong chakra presence merely feet outside the door, one that she could not quite recognize. She motioned for Sasuke to follow after her, conveying the urgency of the situation wordlessly. Sasuke’s eyes widened in worry as he vaulted himself out the window after Sakura, closing the window behind him and quickly pressing himself to the side of the tower wall. Sakura shot him a worried look, but suppressed their chakra presence into near nothingness and began her descent down the wall. Sasuke followed, his breath as silent as his footsteps. 

As soon as Sakura’s foot landed on the ground, she ran through the hand signs for a shunshin jutsu, not willing to risk being seen in the few seconds it would take to reach the alleyway. Sasuke did the same, his body materializing beside hers only seconds afterward. Naruto was waiting for them as planned, crouched on top of a wooden crate. Sakura let her shoulders fall as she took a second to catch her breath. The mix of stress and high concentration was incredibly draining though she had successfully executed the mission. She did not dare speak until they were far from the tower, so she motioned for Sasuke and Naruto to follow her out of the alleyway, taking the backroads back to her house.  

As soon as she passed the threshold of her house and activated the silencing seals, she threw off her sandals and fell onto the soft cushions of her couch. 

“That was fucking terrifying,” she admitted, undoing her ponytail and running a hand through her hair. 

Sasuke nodded in agreement, easing himself down on the opposite couch. 

“It went well though, right?” Naruto asked, joining Sasuke. “Things went fine on my side. I bothered the guards for a bit and they didn’t seem to mind too much.”

Sakura nodded slowly. “We got what we wanted,” she said. “I sensed a presence right outside the door just as we were leaving, but I don’t think the person went inside. I couldn’t recognize who it was, but it was definitely a Konoha ninja.”

“We would have been pursued if we were noticed,” Sasuke added, reaching for the empty scroll on the coffee table. He wanted to get started with the transcription as soon as possible. 

“I agree. I think we’re safe.” Sakura took a steadying breath. “You can transcribe the report now, Sasuke. If you’re ready, of course.”

Sasuke did not reply, but reached for the brush beside the scroll and began to write, his sharingan active. Sakura and Naruto watched as his neat strokes filled the page, each line perfectly straight. As soon as Sasuke put the brush down, he turned back to the first page to read it for himself. Sakura stepped behind him so that she could read over his shoulder, her heart pounding in anticipation for what she would see. 

An Official Recount of the Uchiha Massacre, as Reported by Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage:

Event Details and Resulting Conditions:

On the evening of January 1st, 127 M.E, Itachi Uchiha (ANBU commander, # 012110 ) massacred the Uchiha Clan, of which he was the heir. The massacre lasted three hours and resulted in no survivors save the perpetrator himself and his seven year old brother, Sasuke Uchiha, who was left in a state of mental crisis. It is suspected that Sasuke Uchiha was subjected to a torture genjutsu cast by Itachi given evidence gleaned by Inoichi Yamanaka, Yamanaka clan head. Sasuke Uchiha will be placed in the custody of the village as he has no viable living guardians. For follow up on Sasuke Uchiha’s condition see MOCS 87. The current whereabouts of Itachi Uchiha are unknown, as he fled immediately after the event. 

The massacre additionally decimated the Konoha police force, which had been run entirely by the Uchiha clan. There has been a motion passed by the Council of Elders that calls for ANBU to fill that vacancy, effective immediately. 

Precipitating Events:

To combat rising hostilities from the Uchiha clan, which the Five Elders had been informed would result in a coup d’état, Danzo Shimura exercised his executive control over Konoha’s ANBU agents and ordered former commander, Itachi Uchiha (#012110), to completely eradicate the Uchiha clan on December 25th, 126 M.E. Itachi Uchiha did not complete his mission in full, leaving Sasuke Uchiha alive (see Event Details and Resulting Conditions). In accordance with document H-130, Danzo Shimura did not seek the Hokage’s consent before passing his order. 

At the request of a unanimous majority vote of the Council of Elders, passed on January 2nd, 127 M.E, information on the precipitating events will be kept confidential, clearance granted only to those present when the decision was made.

Itachi Uchiha fled the village after the massacre as ordered by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, but will not legally be seen as a missing ninja, as decreed by the Hokage, confirmed by a majority vote from the Council of Elders. No ANBU search parties are to be sent after him, but he will be referred to as a missing ninja by all shinobi ranked underneath the Council of Elders. 

In response to Danzo Shimura’s actions, the Hokage ordered ROOT to be disbanded, effective immediately. Majority vote from the Council of Elders is not necessary for this action, as outlined in H-72. In addition, the Hokage has ordered for Danzo Shimura’s formal removal from the Council of Elders, also effective immediately. Majority vote is not necessary for this action either, as outlined in H-72.

Confidentiality Statement:

The events precipitating the massacre on January 1st, 127 M.E are considered by the Hokage as classified. Access, as mentioned in Precipitating Events, to these details, is reserved exclusively for those present when the decision was made. No Konoha shinobi ranking below the Council of Elders may read the official statement. Failure to comply with the Confidentiality Statement will result in punishments outlined in P-174, under the header of Treason. 

Signed,

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage

Danzo Shimura, Former Elder

Homura Mitokado, Elder

Koharu Utatane, Elder

Sasuke’s hands shook as he turned over the last page, his eyes caught on the lines of signatures at the bottom of the page. Sakura did not dare speak, her entire view of the shinobi world nearly turned on its head. She could sense Sasuke’s sharingan blazing from her spot behind his back and she wondered if the shock of the truth was enough to activate the next stage of sharingan that she had seen briefly in the days before she performed her jutsu. 

“He couldn’t kill me,” Sasuke finally mumbled, the words sounding far more anguished than livid. “He lied that night. He lied like he always fucking did. He loved the village so fucking much that he would ruin his life and my life and my whole fucking family just so that motherfucker Danzo could get what he wanted!”

Sasuke’s voice grew into a bellowing yell, crimson eyes brimming with tears as he threw down the copied scroll. 

“And he did this all for a village that hated his people so much that they’d rather see them all choking on their own blood than solve a problem with words. No, not the village. It was all him.” Sasuke’s expression turned murderous, a killing intent emanating from his shaking form. “It was all Danzo. You read that document. He gave the order and he did it behind the Hokage’s back. He refused to go any other route than a complete massacre. He killed my fucking family and blamed it all on the one person who loved peace too much to stand up to him! You have no idea what he made Itachi do! He made Itachi, the person who never fucking ate meat , into someone the entire village blindly hates. He made me want to kill my own brother! I wanted to kill Itachi more than I wanted to live. That was all I ever thought. Every single thing I’ve done since that day has been for the sole purpose of finding Itachi and running my hand through his chest and finding his heart and squeezing the life out of it. But he never had a fucking choice! Not when Danzo could get whatever he wanted. All he ever did was kill the Uchiha. That’s all he lives for and that’s all he will do. And now I’m going to kill him. I’m going to find Itachi too and give him Danzo’s fucking head. Then I can restore his honor.”

Sakura all but gaped at Sasuke’s response. She had not planned for the possibility of Sasuke’s entire life purpose turning on a dime. She had not previously fathomed Itachi truly being redeemable, nor had she known how deep the corruption in Konoha ran. It was undeniable that Itachi had committed serious moral transgressions, but was murder not in the job description of a shinobi? The entire purpose of being a shinobi was to listen to the orders of your Hokage or Village Elders and murder those who you were told to kill. No argument, no hesitance, and no questioning. How different was it, truly, if that target was one’s family and not the family of someone in a far-off village who you would likely never meet? She had been right. The official document did corroborate her personal view of Itachi Uchiha. He was not a wholly evil man, but instead someone who had been deeply wronged. 

“Sasuke…” she said, completely unsure of how to respond.

Sasuke’s eyes flashed an angry red again. “Don’t try to fucking stop me,” he hissed. “I know you will. But it’s what Danzo deserves. After everything he did to my family, I need him dead .”

“No.” Sakura shook her head, her face set with grave seriousness. “No, I’m not going to stop you. Wouldn’t dream of it. I want to help you.”

Not only did Danzo’s actions abhor her, but she knew that his death and the redemption of Itachi Uchiha would help her cause immensely. With Itachi back in the village, the Akatsuki would be missing one of their strongest members. Additionally, Itachi would be able to give the Hokage inside information on the organization so that Konoha could stop them before they even got close to collecting all of the tailed beasts. Ideally, Itachi’s presence would prevent the entire Fourth Shinobi War. Not to mention, now Sasuke had truly no reason to ever seek out Orochimaru. He had no curse mark and no overwhelming urge to become strong enough to kill Itachi. In fact, if Sasuke could be convinced to ally with Itachi, he could achieve his goal of revenge without the threat of going on a crazed hunt for power. 

“I’m in too,” Naruto added, a rare look of seriousness passing over his features. “You’re right. This Danzo dude is completely fucked up. That’s not how shinobi are supposed to be! We’re supposed to protect our people, not kill them for no reason. Old man Hokage should’ve had him killed instead of just firing him or whatever.”

“I don’t think we can kill Danzo on our own yet, though,” Sakura said, treading in dangerous waters as she posed a threat to Sasuke’s plan. “He was a member of the Council of Elders for a reason so he’s quite formidable. Not to mention, the whole village deserves to know about what he did and what he hid from everyone. I say we take these exams, become chunin, and then immediately take a mission out of the village. From there, we find Itachi and then we can expose Danzo completely and you can kill him, Sasuke. Maybe with Itachi’s help if you want.”

Sasuke took a moment to weigh her words, completely aware that they went against the plan he created for himself in a moment of rage. Still, Sakura was right. He could not kill Danzo now, not without getting caught in the process and getting executed. And as much as it hurt to acknowledge, he wanted to see Itachi again. Now that he knew everything, he finally allowed himself to feel the conflicting emotion of hating his brother, yet still loving him unconditionally. He could never fully forgive Itachi–the death of his entire family was simply inexcusable–but he wanted to talk to him more than anything. All Sasuke wanted was to see his brother for the first time in seven years, and Sakura’s proposed plan lent itself right to that yearning. 

“I see your point,” he conceded, sharingan still burning in rage. “We complete the chunin exams and leave immediately. I won’t stand being in the same village as him any longer than that.”

“Of course.” Sakura slowly moved towards Sasuke with the same apprehensiveness as the day in the forest. She let her hand brush against his and wrapped his hand in hers. With a squeeze she made sure was not chakra-enhanced, she met his gaze. Looking straight into an active sharingan was always dangerous. If the shinobi did not have good control over their emotions (which Sasuke likely did not at the moment), you could be pulled into a genjutsu in the blink of an eye. But by meeting Sasuke’s gaze, Sakura hoped that he would understand that it was a display of intense trust. 

“I’m sorry, Sasuke,” she said, knowing that it was not nearly enough. She could barely fathom what Sasuke must have been feeling, knowing that his entire life view had been inverted. 

Sasuke swallowed, anguish visible on his face. He said nothing, but allowed his shoulders to relax, which was more than enough for Sakura. 

“Not to break up the moment or anything,” Naruto said with a goofy smile, “but are we gonna tell Kakashi-sensei about all of this?”

Sakura let Sasuke’s hand go and placed her hands on her hips. “We need to,” she replied. “We’re going to have to explain how we came across the information and all that, but Kakashi-sensei’s pretty trustworthy and all of this is far too important not to tell him.”

Sasuke and Naruto nodded, and Sakura noticed that Sasuke’s eyes had faded back to black. 

“And Sasuke?” Naruto said, poking at Sasuke’s shin with his toe. “You know we’ll always back you up, right? Me and Sakura–we’ve always got you. That’s why we’re the coolest team in Konoha.”

Sasuke froze, and Sakura could swear that he wasn’t even breathing. A moment of stunned silence passed and finally he took a deep breath. He said nothing, but merely nodded, the hardness of his expression softening for a second.

Chapter Text

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura chose the day before the final round to tell Kakashi about their discovery. They had spent the days since their mission throwing themselves into training with a new fervor, fully aware that succeeding in the final round was mandatory for their goals. Each member of team seven had made tangible progress over the training period, each of their chakra reserves growing steadily, and their mastery over certain techniques blossoming as the date of the final came into view. Sakura recognized Naruto and Sasuke’s growth as similar to how it had been in her first life: undoubtedly impressive but all in the realms of possible. Her improvement, on the other hand, surprised herself. She had been told since that she had a natural genjutsu ability since her academy days, but she had never thought to truly test her propensity for the technique; that had obviously been a mistake, since she found herself breaking through Sasuke’s sharingan genjutsus without too much effort only a few weeks into her training. On top of being able to break through genjutsus, the illusions she cast became more and more vivid, even eliciting full body reactions from the victims, as demonstrated by an unexpecting Shikamaru during one joint training session. Her genjutsu of drowning left him choking on air for minutes after she dispelled it, earning her notoriety as “that scary-ass kunoichi who turns off your lungs” among her peers. Sakura had to admit that her newly garnered reputation felt good.  

The genin of team seven stuck around for an extra few minutes after their last training session, sharing knowing glances with each other as they came to terms with the seriousness of what they were about to admit to. 

“Can we talk to you, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked, careful not to let nervousness bleed into her voice. “It’s very important.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, suspicion mounting. “Yeah, of course,” he said, each word carefully placed. “What about?”

“We need to go somewhere else,” Sasuke said, joining the conversation. “Somewhere with silencing seals, preferably.”

That elicited more of a reaction from Kakashi, his features betraying some surprise. 

“My apartment is perfectly secure,” he offered. “Why don’t we chat there?”

The three genin nodded, following Kakashi out of the training grounds and into the village. As they walked, Kakashi shot Sakura a suspicious glance, figuring that she was at least marginally responsible for whatever he was about to get involved in. Sakura’s expression remained perfectly innocent; Sasuke had been the one to suggest stealing the document, after all. 

Kakashi opened his apartment door for the three genin with a sarcastic flourish. He did not bother readying the kettle nor did he offer any food; instead, he sank into the cushions of his couch and motioned for the genin to start talking. Suddenly, his grey hair was not the only thing making him appear old beyond his years. 

“We know about what happened with my brother,” Sasuke stated, cutting to the chase. He had not referred to Itachi as his brother since the night he lost everything, and Kakashi quickly caught on to that detail. 

“May I ask how?” Kakashi asked, knowing fully well what had happened. He trained a glare on Sakura’s blank face. 

“It was my idea.” Sasuke shrugged, a look of pride passing over his features. “I wanted to find the official file on the Uchiha Massacre and then Sakura, Naruto, and I came up with a plan to do so together.”

Sakura wordlessly thanked Sasuke for taking responsibility for their actions. Whether he was doing it out of courtesy for Sakura or because he wanted to take credit, she was unsure, but it certainly took her out of some hot water. 

Kakashi clearly did not expect for Sasuke to be the driving force behind their little treasonous mission, though it did make sense. Finding the file on the Uchiha Massacre affected Sasuke the most, with Sakura close behind by nature of her being a time traveller. Kakashi could only imagine how the truth would affect Sakura’s plans for the future. That being said, he did not know the truth, his own speculations notwithstanding. As angry as he was at Sakura for allowing her teammates to go through with something so reckless, he was curious. He would chew them out after he learned the truth. 

“And what did you find?” Kakashi asked wearily. “I assume you didn’t just steal the scroll?”

“Of course not,” Sasuke huffed, reaching into the pouch at his beltline. He grabbed a scroll and tossed it to Kakashi, who caught it perfectly. “Read it for yourself. It’s not the original, it’s–”

“A copy you made with your sharingan,” Kakashi interrupted, taking his time unfurling the scroll. “Even you three aren’t stupid enough to take an original document.”

Sasuke shot Kakashi a withering glare. He had expected him to be at least a little impressed by their infiltration abilities. What they had done far surpassed genin level, after all. 

Kakashi finally finished unfurling the scroll, frowning at the three genin one last time before he began to read. He flipped through the pages with care, taking in each word and making sure not to miss any pertinent detail. The genin waited in silence as Kakashi read through the document, the tension in the room palpable. Finally, he flipped back to the first page, rerolling the scroll and setting it down on his coffee table. 

“I always wondered what Danzo did to get removed from the Council of Elders,” Kakashi mused, the rage in his eyes not going unnoticed. “But this is an unfortunate discovery to say the least.”

“My brother was innocent .” Sasuke leaned forward from his position on the couch, chakra flaring for a moment. “Danzo used him as nothing but a tool and then made him suffer for the rest of his life for it.”

“That is true.” Kakashi looked even more exhausted. “I can’t say I’m surprised, though. Itachi’s actions were nothing short of shocking and Danzo has always left a bad taste in my mouth. I truly am sorry about this, Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s rage deepend. “I’m going to kill Danzo,” he announced with the same confidence he possessed when he declared his life goal on the day genin teams were assigned. 

Kakashi sighed. “You’ve moved on from Itachi, then?” He knew he would be hitting a nerve, prodding at Sasuke like that, but Kakashi could not see a reality in which a thirteen-year-old killing Danzo Shimura was plausible. Well, unless that thirteen-year-old was Itachi Uchiha, of course, but Sasuke had proven time and time again that he was not his brother. 

“I’m going to restore my brother’s honor.” Sasuke left no room for rebuttal. “After everything the village has done to him, he deserves to be known as the hero he is.”

“I’m sure he does,” Kakashi said dismissively. “But I believe that an assassination of one of Konoha’s foremost political figures may be a bit above your skill level at the moment.”

“I’m not doing it alone and I’m willing to bide my time but I swear on my honor as a Konoha shinobi that Danzo will die by my hand.”

Kakashi had heard a similar speech from Sasuke merely months ago, filled with the same blind rage and naïve ambition. His mention of teamwork was new, and perhaps helpful for his cause, but certainly not enough to make his dream anything near a plausible goal. He knew that Sasuke would not listen to reason, but his willingness to “bide his time” assured Kakashi that he would not be beginning his suicide mission any time in the near future. He would deal with the fallout of the vengeful Uchiha later. 

“Well, what are you going to do about this, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura implored, sending Kakashi a knowing glance. 

“What can I do? I can rest easy now knowing that Orochimaru is dead, though. If anyone could kill that snake, it’s Itachi, and since he obviously loves Sasuke more than anything, I’m sure he finished Orochimaru off as soon as he possibly could. Look. Every village has its dark secrets and in this case, revealing them would be far more harmful than letting them rest. I know it’s not fair, Sasuke, and I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do. Maybe when you become a higher ranking shinobi, you can pay Itachi a visit, but besides that, there is nothing I can do.”

Sasuke looked ready to argue, but Naruto interrupted instead, a self-righteous glare pointed at Kakashi.

“That sounds like bullshit, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto argued. “Just because talking about the bad shit that happens in the village is uncomfortable doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it. All of this stuff with the Uchiha is really messed up and we should do something about it. Old man Hokage should tell everybody about what Danzo did because what he did was wrong . When I’m Hokage, I’m not gonna hide things just because they’re hard to talk about, you know. I bet all those fancy, high up, ninja dudes are just scared of talking about this because it’ll make them look bad. But that sucks for them because if they hadn’t let it happen in the first place, they wouldn’t have to worry about looking bad! The village is going to be so much better when I’m the Hokage, just you watch.”

Sakura did not doubt that in the slightest. Naruto was undeniably compassionate and he cared deeply for everyone in the village. Assuming Sakura’s mission was successful, she hoped it would culminate in Naruto realizing his dream and assuming the position of Hokage (and the stupid hat).  

“As much as I appreciate your wide eyed naiveté, Naruto,” Kakashi drawled, “there truly is nothing I can do. Come back and talk to me when you’re chunin.”

Naruto’s frown deepened, but even he knew that there was no use in arguing with someone so staunchly attached to their own perspective. 

“I will come back as a chunin, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto promised, sticking out a hand as if he were making an oath. “Sakura, Sasuke, and I will all become chunin and then we’ll show you how much better we’ll make the village. We’re gonna do the right thing, you better believe it.”

Sakura could not hide her small smile at Naruto’s proclamation. It was a bit naïve, perhaps, but more than anything, it was motivational and heartwarming. As much as she wanted Kakashi’s complete support in her plans for the future, she knew that she could still succeed with him more on the sidelines. What mattered was that she weed out the deceit in Konoha and prevent the Akatsuki’s rise to power. Regardless of who stood with her when she did so, she needed it done. The mission comes first.  

“That being said,” Kakashi added, his tone noticeably lighter, “best of luck in the final round tomorrow. You have all improved quite a bit.” 

Naruto and Sasuke offered begrudging nods of appreciation, their anger with Kakashi still present. 

“Now, you three better never pull a stunt like that again. What you did was treason and you’re beyond lucky that I did not report you to the Hokage immediately. Go get a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you at the arena tomorrow. Sakura, if you wouldn’t mind, could you stay back a minute?”

Sasuke and Naruto shot Sakura a suspicious glance, worried that she would have to take the brunt of the punishment for their actions. That being said, Kakashi did often talk to Sakura one-on-one when there was nothing for her to be in trouble for. Slowly, the two boys backed out of Kakashi’s apartment, keeping an eye on their sensei until the door clicked closed in front of them.

As soon as Sasuke and Naruto were out of sight and earshot, Kakashi sank deeper into the cushions of his couch, carding a hand through his hair. 

“Sakura, you told me you were going to drop all of this for now,” he said, his tone dangerously low. “You have no idea what could have happened if you three had gotten caught.”

“It was a calculated risk,” Sakura insisted. “A risk nonetheless, I know, but my calculations were right. And look at what we’ve uncovered! We have a real opportunity to change Konoha for the better, and that’s all my mission has ever been. Just by getting Itachi back, I can stop the entire Fourth Shinobi War. We can nip the Akatsuki in the bud. No one has to die this time.”

Kakashi sighed, falling deeper into the couch. “That sounds fantastic, it really does. But you have no idea of the scope of Danzo’s influence. Sandaime-sama may be the Hokage in name, but if Danzo as much as moves a finger, the whole village moves with him. I worry that we can not destroy him without destroying Konoha too.”

Sakura weighed Kakashi’s words for a moment, finding that they did indeed have merit. If Danzo could get away with ordering the eradication of Konoha’s foremost clan with nothing but a slap on the wrist and a scowl, there was no saying what he would do to anyone he viewed as a threat to his control. 

“We will just have to be careful.” Sakura offered a confident smile. “We don’t have to act immediately, but if we bide our time and make the right choices, we can dispose of Danzo while making the village stronger simultaneously. Like extracting a poison from someone’s brain.”

“Thank you for the analogy,” Kakashi grimaced. “Your idea of “careful” better be more thought out than your plan to figure out the secret behind the Uchiha Massacre. If you insist that this is the only surefire way to save the future, you have my support, but know that I’m still worried. And watch out for Sasuke, will you? He’s got a lot thrown on him in a very short period of time.”

“You know I will, Kakashi-sensei. I’ve been teaching him medical ninjutsu too, so that should help his mental state some. Look, I’m sorry for going behind your back and thank you for offering your help. We really are going to do good.”

“I very much hope so, Sakura-chan.” His visible eye crinkled in a smile. “Good luck in the final round tomorrow. I have no doubt that you will do well.”

The stands of the arena were still empty by the time team seven arrived, several other genin arriving at the same time. The early genin were ushered beneath the arena into a waiting room furnished with worn grey couches, pitchers of water, a first-aid station, and sparring mats on the floor. There were only five total competitors in the waiting room when Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura arrived, none willing to engage in small-talk as they struggled with raging nerves. Strangely, Shikamaru was one of the early competitors, though Sakura guessed that his mother shoved him out of the door without letting him laze about in the morning. 

“All three of you made it this far, huh?” he asked Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, sounding so disinterested that Sakura nearly didn’t bother with an answer. 

“Yeah, and we all plan to make it all the way to the end,” Sakura said, grinning. “We’re going to be the first in our graduating class to make chunin, just you watch.”

“I’m sure you all will.” Shikamaru yawned, easing himself down onto one of the couches, wincing as it revealed itself as harder than it looked. “This whole competition is so troublesome.”

“You could have dropped out ages ago if you really hated it so much,” Sasuke pointed out, beginning to stretch. “There have been several opportunities.”

“Yeah, but my mom would’ve killed me. She doesn’t like it when I give up on things just because they’re too troublesome. She says it makes me lazy, but why bother wasting my energy on something that doesn’t matter?”

“I’m fairly certain that promotion opportunities matter for shinobi,” Sakura countered, knowing that no amount of common sense would shake the laziness from the Nara.  

“As I said: troublesome.” Shikamaru let his head fall backwards, resting on the edge of the couch. Slowly, his eyes drooped closed and he fell into a light doze. How he was even able to fathom sleeping with the final exam so close, Sakura had no idea. 

She took a steadying breath, centering her chakra and focusing on the task ahead. Slowly, she began to go through her stretching routine, standing with her legs at shoulder-width apart on the training mat. She felt her muscles loosen as she leaned into familiar stretches with well-practiced grace. She dedicated all of her focus to her body and movements, tuning out any conversations in the waiting room. Her focus remained unbroken until she heard the telltale rasp of Naruto’s voice resonating through the room.

“Jiraiya-sensei told me about you!” he exclaimed. 

Sakura tuned back into her surroundings and turned to face Naruto. He stood in the center of the waiting room pointing a finger at a newly arrived genin. As Sakura traced his finger’s trajectory with her eyes, she found that her gaze landed on a short head of red hair. Gaara. This could not end well. 

“What is there to tell?” Gaara replied, his tone already threatening. 

“He told me that we’ve both got shit sealed in us! We’re the same in that way, isn’t that cool?”

I may have already failed my mission , Sakura thought bitterly. At this rate, Naruto’s going to die right here in the middle of the waiting room. 

“Are you mocking me?” 

Sakura cringed against the killing intent Gaara emanated. Every genin in the room seemed to sense the change in atmosphere, slowly stepping backwards towards the walls. Gaara had already gained notoriety in Konoha for his bloodlust and no one wanted to die before their match even started. 

“Why would I mock you?” Naruto appeared perfectly innocent. “I’ve just never met anyone who also had a…” He hesitated with the word. “A monster, I guess, sealed inside them. It’s nice to finally meet someone who gets me, y’know?”

“I do not get you.” The killing intent increased in intensity. Several genin grew pale with nausea as they backed closer into the wall. “And you obviously do not understand me. If you truly knew what I went through, you would not act as stupid as you do.”

“Rude!” Naruto shrugged off the insult, though. “I mean, I went through some shit myself. People were really mean to me when I was younger. I think someone tried to set me on fire a couple times at the orphanage, actually, so that was pretty messed up. I’m all good now though. Wanna be friends?”

Sakura began to pray to a god she did not believe in. Jiraiya informing Naruto of his parentage early had consequences Sakura did not prepare for. She glanced over to Sasuke and shared a terrified look with him before turning back to her silent prayers. 

“I don’t need friends.” A tendril of sand snaked out of Gaara’s gourd. “Everyone hates me, so I will just hate them back. Even my father hates me. He sealed a monster in me and tried to have me killed. What use do I have for weak “friends”?” 

Sakura wondered if Tsunade had the time travel jutsu scroll on hand at this point in time. 

“Damn dude, that sucks,” Naruto replied genuinely. “My old man sealed the fox thing in me too, so I get you. Not the attempted murder part though. He died before I met him, so y’know. Anyway, I don’t hate you!”

“You should.”

“Nah, I really shouldn’t. I get it, you’re messed up because your life sucked, but I can’t really blame you for that. Anyway, that brings me to my point. I don’t hate you and honestly, I think you could be a pretty cool dude and we could be friends. Now, that being said, please don’t mess up my other friend too much in your round.”

Sakura met Sasuke’s gaze again, watching as his face lost even more color. If Sasuke was not utterly terrified, he might have had the mind to be angry at Naruto or at least embarrassed that he had asked Gaara to effectively go easy on him. 

“Why do you care for your teammate?” More sand slipped out of Gaara’s gourd, gathering protectively around his small form. “If he knows that you have a demon sealed inside you, shouldn’t he hate you and you him? Why would you care if I killed him?”

“Because he’s my friend and I don’t want him to die?” Naruto broke into a carefree chuckle. “And honestly, I don’t know if he knew about the whole demon-nine-tailed-fox thing until now actually. Huh. Hey Sasuke, you don’t hate me, right?”

Sasuke managed to pale even more as Gaara’s gaze turned to him. With the suffocating killing intent, he had barely had the time to process what Naruto revealed. In all honesty, it was not wildly surprising, since he had assumed that there was something different about Naruto from the start. If he were to put a finger on his current emotion (something he was loath to do), he would certainly not choose hate. Naruto’s revelation left him conflicted, yes; in fact, there was a lot he would have to unpack at a less life-threatening time, but overwhelmingly, he felt relieved: relieved that any fields in which Naruto was superior was not because of greater talent or harder work, but because of an outside influence. The moments on Tazuna’s bridge and in the Forest of Death had not been Naruto, but something else inside of him. He would have to mull over the revelation later, but Sasuke could confidently say that he did not hate Naruto despite all of his faults. It was comforting to know. 

“I don’t hate you,” Sasuke finally forced out, still looking utterly terrified. 

Gaara stilled for a moment, his sand receding somewhat. Perhaps Naruto really had opened his eyes. 

“Your words mean nothing to me,” Gaara said, though Sakura could sense something off about his tone. “If not for the upcoming competition, I would have killed you. You are lucky.”

“Whatever!” Naruto shrugged. “You haven’t seen the last of me, though, so don’t worry. And think about what I said, will you?” 

With that, Naruto turned his back to Gaara and jauntily made his way over to his teammates, acting as if he had not just faced near death.    

“Eh, well I tried, Sasuke,” he said, clapping Sasuke hard on the back. “And I’m glad you don’t hate me!” Naruto sobered. “I’m really glad, actually. I was kinda scared that it’d change stuff. I mean, Sakura was really, really cool about it, but you never know.”

Sasuke took a moment to recover from his shock, the color returning to his face. “I never asked you to get involved in my match like that,” he hissed, slapping Naruto’s hand off his shoulder. “I have everything handled. And why would I hate you? There are far larger issues to deal with that you having something sealed in you or whatever. We’re shinobi. We work with our teammates no matter what.”

Sakura hid a look of surprise at Sasuke’s response. It was strangely reminiscent of Naruto’s Will-of-Fire-driven monologues and ultimately out of character for Sasuke. Regardless, it was a welcome sentiment so Sakura could not complain. 

“Yeah, that’s the spirit, Sasuke!” Naruto’s face lit up. “Anyway, I just didn’t want to see you ending up as a puddle in the middle of the arena, y’know? But I’m sure you’ll win anyway, it was just a precaution.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes in lieu of a response and glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. “Your match is pretty soon, Sakura,” he told her. “Are you ready?”

Sakura cracked her knuckles and grinned. “You know I am,” she said, crossing her arm across her chest and stretching it. “Kankuro’s a puppet master, and those things are made of wood. Perfect for crushing.” 

Sasuke’s lips curved into a small smile. “Good luck.” 

Sakura bit back a grin at that and gave both Naruto and Sasuke a pat on their shoulders. “I’m going to go to the main hallway. You both better kick ass in your matches too.”

“You know I will!” Naruto exclaimed, waving to her as she walked off. “You’re gonna kill it!” 

The arena erupted in cheers for the first match of the final round, ninja and civilians alike gathered in the stands. Sakura stepped confidently onto the packed-sand floor of the arena, flashing a smile to the spectators. She was not nearly as well-known as some of the other ninja in the exam, clanless and civilian-born as she was, but she was still a proud Konoha shinobi. To her relief, she saw Hayate leaning against the far wall of the arena, eye-bags as pronounced as ever. With Hayate and Haku alive in this timeline, she added two points to her mental “improvements” scoreboard.

Kankuro’s entrance was significantly less well-received. He had the disadvantage of being on foreign land, of course, and the only Sunagakure inhabitants in attendance were the families of competing shinobi and their own Kazekage. Regardless, the Konoha spectators clapped respectfully upon his arrival, dying down as soon as he stepped into the center of the arena. 

Hayate pushed himself off of the wall, clearing his throat to prevent a coughing fit. Ambling to the center of the arena, he motioned for the crowds to quiet down. A lull fell over the stadium as the screen suspended just above the Hokage’s and Kazekage’s box lit up. Strangely, Sakura could not see the Hokage’s telltale hat. Sakura and Kankuro’s names filled the screen, the symbol of their respective villages projected just below the names. 

“Before we begin, I just received a message from the village elders,” Hayate announced. “The Hokage is currently caught up with urgent business and will be slightly late to the final. He wishes all participating good luck and says that he will arrive as soon as possible. Today’s first match will be between Sakura Haruno of Konohagakure and Kankuro of Sunagakure. As long as the attack remains in the arena, all jutsu are fair game. The match ends when someone concedes, is incapacited, dies, or is deemed unable to continue fighting. Any questions?”

Both Kankuro and Sakura shook their heads, but Sakura felt suspicion begin to stew in her gut. There had been nothing that warranted the Hokage arriving late to the chunin exam finals in her past life even though there had been a far greater threat in the village at the time. It could be nothing, she told herself. The Hokage could be deciding what to do about Itachi, or perhaps it had something to do with Haku. There had been enough changes in this timeline for the Hokage’s absence to be perfectly benign. Still, Sakura could not shake her worry. Nothing ever went that well for her, after all.

“Good. You may begin.” Hayate’s statement broke her from her spiral, reminding her that she was standing in the middle of the chunin exams arena. 

Hayate leapt out of the center of the arena, taking a seat in the row dedicated for jonin senseis and assistant proctors. 

Before Hayate had even announced the start, Sakura scanned Kankuro’s chakra signature, checking to see if the boy in front of her was flesh and blood or a wooden imposter. It was the latter. Kankuro had switched places with the puppet on his back as he had done in the preliminary rounds, but Sakura would not fall for his trick as the Takigakure ninja had before. 

As soon as the match began, Sakura body-flickered behind Kankuro, levelling a punch at the “puppet” strapped to his back. He responded just in time, throwing his body to the right and out of the way of Sakura’s fist. Her knuckles grazed right by the bandages that wrapped the “puppet”, her fingers making contact with something that was undoubtedly human flesh. Sakura followed Kankuro’s movement, seamlessly stepping to the right and grabbing hold of one of the bandages. With a tug, she leaped backwards, unwinding the “puppet” and revealing Kankuro’s undeniably human form. He scowled as he was revealed, settling into a defensive stance. 

“You’re better than you look,” he hissed, fingers poised as he controlled the no longer disguised puppet. 

“I get that a lot.” Sakura grinned and charged Kankuro, releasing a barrage of kunai. 

The puppet deflected each of Sakura’s blades, the dull thud of metal against wood resonating within the arena. All eight legs of the puppet extended outwards from its body, sharp tips pointed towards Sakura. With precise movements of his fingers, Kankuro sent the puppet towards Sakura, blades slicing wildly. 

The puppet was fast, Sakura could not lie. Not to mention, her reaction time was slightly slower in this body, so she was forced into the defensive as she blocked the puppet’s relentless blades. The onslaught continued for nearly two minutes, Sakura’s defense perfect but taxing. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Kankuro flex his index finger, her attention drawn to the puppet’s head. In the span of a mere second, the puppet’s mouth gaped open, a barrage of senbon flying from the opening. Sakura rolled to the left, throwing her body out of the senbon’s trajectory, but as she ducked into a roll, her left arm stayed extended just a moment too long, the tip of one senbon grazing the skin below her elbow. If she had not been focused on each of the needles, she would not have even noticed the tiny scratch, but knowing Sunagakure shinobi, one scratch could be a fatal wound. 

Kankuro’s lips turned up in a smug smile. “We might as well call the match now, don’t you think?” he said, motioning towards Sakura’s arm with his free hand. 

It was Sakura’s turn to be smug. Taking advantage of the moment Kankuro took to gloat, she placed her finger on the wound, the digit glowing with green chakra. Carefully, she extracted the trace amount of poison in her arm, pleased to see that it had not spread into her bloodstream. 

“You can call it if you want to,” she replied, flying towards Kankuro’s puppet with a side-kick. 

The puppet jerked to the side, though three of the limbs did not escape unharmed. As Sakura landed, she crushed the three arms under her foot and pivoted to face Kankuro. She revelled in his look of surprise, continuing with her attack. Drawing her own kunai, she closed the distance between her and the puppet, attacking with a combination of well placed slashes and chakra-infused strikes. Though Kankuro managed to evade the majority of Sakura’s devastating hits, the puppet was beginning to show wear a few minutes into her attack. 

Varying from her typical slash-hit combination, Sakura pushed herself off the ground and vaulted over the head of the puppet, landing a few feet in front of Kankuro. In one fluid motion, she lifted her leg in an arc above her head, slamming it down on Kankuro’s outstretched arm. The resounding crack of his ulna shattering under her heel echoed throughout the arena. A few groans broke out in the stands and Kankuro bit back a yelp of pain. 

In the brief moment of respite Sakura took to appreciate her handiwork, Kankuro flexed the fingers of his uninjured hand, drawing his puppet forwards, blade pointed at Sakura’s back. Sakura noticed the blade levelled at her abdomen just a second too late, its tip imbedding itself just above her hip. She felt hot blood ooze from the wound and saturate the back of her shirt, dripping down her back. She hissed out a curse at the biting pain that erupted in her back, but wasted no time yanking out the offending appendage and slamming her fist into the puppet, shattering it into countless wooden shards. 

Kankuro’s eyes widened in surprise and pain as he leapt backwards in retreat, giving Sakura just enough time to close her wound with a quick burst of healing chakra. Luckily, that particular blade had not been poisoned. If it had been, the match may have ended right there; extracting poison from that deep a wound was far more intensive than a measly scratch. 

Despite the shattered puppet on the floor of the arena, Kankuro was not weaponless. Ignoring the searing pain in his left arm, he raised his right one and animated his second puppet. Sakura vaguely recognized this one from her past life; if her memory served her correctly, this particular puppet could spit clouds of poison, something that would immediately end the match if she found herself enveloped by it. She had been careful not to show-off until this point (perhaps too careful, given the wound in her back), but she could finally afford to pull out some stops. 

She charged the new puppet, immediately engaging in a fierce taijutsu battle. Even with one arm, Kankuro’s control was impeccable, and the puppet ducked and weaved through most of Sakura’s attacks. One solid punch hit the chest of the puppet though, cracking the wood and collapsing the chest in on itself. At that moment, Sakura wove several rapid-fire hand-signs and made dead eye-contact with Kankuro. For non-Uchiha genjutsu users, eye-contact was not necessary for casting illusions, but the fear that came from meeting your enemies gaze always helped make genjutsu more vivid. 

Sakura’s genjutsu was far more subtle than the one she levelled on Shikamaru a week prior. At first, all she did was change Kankuro’s perspective slightly, placing herself six inches further to the right than she was. Carefully, she increased the intensity of the genjutsu, tricking Kankuro into believing that his hits were still in range of Sakura’s body. From an outside perspective, one would see Kankuro fighting an invisible enemy slightly to Sakura’s side. She eased Kankuro’s mind further into the genjutsu, her slow and meticulous approach preventing him from catching onto the deception. At the end of the minute, Sakura’s real body crouched in the far corner of the arena while Kankuro continued his battle with an illusionary foe, the puppet facing him. Sakura made the genjutsu version of herself open for a poison attack. Kankuro took the bait perfectly, tugging a chakra string with his ring finger and dropping the jaw of his puppet, a noxious cloud of purple spewing from the unhinged mouth. 

Sakura kept her claws in Kankuro’s mind for an extra second, smirking at his confusion as he suddenly found that he couldn’t breathe. As soon as she dropped the illusion, Hayate re-entered the arena, staying close to the walls to avoid the cloud of poison. Inhaling any of that certainly would not help his chronic cough. He waited for Kankuro to sink to his knees as he wheezed and clutched at his throat before raising a hand to call the match. 

“That concludes the first match,” Hayate announced. “Sakura Haruno is the winner and will advance to the next bracket.”

Cheers broke out in the stands, even louder than they had been during the preliminaries. Sakura could not see Naruto or Sasuke, since they were both in the waiting area, but she knew that they were cheering for her too. A glance at the Hokage’s box revealed that he was still absent. Sakura’s worry grew. Whatever was keeping the Hokage from attending had to be serious; with the Kazekage in attendance, it was poor diplomatic manners to be absent, and given the fraught relationship with Sunagakure, the Hokage should have known better than to commit a social faux-pas. He would arrive, though, Sakura assured herself. It would all be fine. 

She managed a proud smile and walked out of the arena, watching as Kankuro’s sensei, Baki, hurried towards his collapsed form, antidote in hand. As soon as Sakura passed the threshold into the waiting area, she was met with a rib-crushing hug from Naruto. The hug, unfortunately, put an awful lot of pressure on the barely-healed wound in her back, sending a jolt of pain radiating outwards. She shoved Naruto off with a yelp, her hand flying to the wound. 

“Thank you for the hug, but I have a stab wound back there,” she said, smiling through the pain. “I’ll fix it up in a second.”

“Oh shit I’m so sorry Sakura-chan!” Naruto’s eyes grew in horror. “But you were amazing ! The way you made him poison himself at the end? So cool! And then how you crushed his puppet thing in one hit right after getting stabbed? You’re definitely the most awesome ninja here!”

“I don’t know, I see a pretty cool one right in front of me.” Sakura punched Naruto’s shoulder affectionately. “Now your match is next! Go show us all how cool you are!”

“I will!” Naruto began to make his way towards the main hallway, tightening his hitaite around his head. “I’m gonna show that asshole Neji just how badass us clanless people are.”

“Get his ass!” Sakura watched Naruto disappear into the hallway, letting out a tired sigh as soon as he was out of view. 

Slowly, she made her way over to the first-aid station, hoping that there would be another medic-nin there so that she wouldn’t have to heal her own wounds in an already chakra-deprived state. Not only was there a medic-nin on duty, but Sasuke was also present, turning to her immediately as she entered. 

“What took you so long?” He grabbed her forearm and pulled her to the small cot in the corner of the first-aid station. “You need to get that wound checked out.”

Sakura blinked several times, thoroughly taken aback. Mother-hen Sasuke was entirely new to her–not necessarily unwelcome–but almost unfathomable. The Sasuke of her past cared for his teammates in the sense that he did not want them injured and holding the team back, but nothing past that. Pushing her shock aside, she eased herself onto the cot and smiled at the medic-nin who was prepping his supplies. 

“I ran into Naruto when I came in,” she explained, taking off her shirt at the request of the medic. “Since his match is next, I had to wish him luck, of course. Speaking of, once I get this all healed up, I’m going to go out and watch.”

Sasuke nodded, watching intently as the medic-nin enveloped Sakura’s back in soothing healing chakra. “Good job, by the way.” Sasuke uttered the sentence as if it were the most difficult set of words in the world. “Your fight was very impressive.”

“Thanks Sasuke,” she said, tugging her shirt back on now that her back was healed. “That really means a lot.”

Sasuke offered a small smile and waited for her to get to her feet before walking out of the first-aid station. 

“Want to go watch Naruto?” Sakura asked, already making her way to the hallway. “Unless you want to warm up more before your match?”

Sasuke shrugged, following Sakura nonetheless. “I’m as ready as I will be. Not to mention, Naruto would lose it if we didn’t watch him.” 

Sakura chuckled and stepped into the hallway, leaning on the railing beside the window looking out on the arena. Sasuke settled down beside her, a comfortable distance away, his eyes fixed on the match. 

Naruto’s match had already begun and the arena floor was already littered with weapons and holes from jutsu. Neji’s face appeared impassive as he gracefully ducked and blocked Naruto’s unpredictable attacks. His hands were poised in front of his body, his fluid movements resembling those of a dancer. For the first few minutes, he markedly ignored Naruto’s prodding comments, refusing to engage when Naruto accused him of being a “stuck-up little brat who only cares about himself and isn’t all that better than anyone else”. 

“God, what an asshole,” Sasuke remarked, shaking his head as Neji finally caved and lobbed a sharp insult at Naruto along with several well-placed jyuuken blows.

Sakura stopped herself from muttering something along the lines of “kunai calling the shuriken sharp” and nodded in agreement instead. 

As the fight progressed, Neji appeared to gain the upper-hand, more and more of his blows striking true. In true Naruto fashion, he did not seem fazed, opting instead for more erratic attacks and more shadow clones. The chakra reserves in that kid were absolutely insane. Naruto’s unrelenting stamina began to wear away at Neji’s perfect defense, his strikes becoming less lethal as time went on; still, he held onto the upper-hand in a death grip, making sure Naruto remained on the offensive. 

A gasp resounded in the stadium as Neji landed a definitive hit, his palm striking squarely on Naruto’s sternum. Anyone with a marginal knowledge of the Hyuuga would know that a hit like that meant cardiac arrest. Without immediate medical treatment, Naruto would die. Sakura saw Sasuke raise his eyebrows almost imperceptibly. Like her, he knew that the match was not over. With a sharp pop , Naruto’s shadow clone dissipated. 

In a burst of dirt and dust, Naruto, enveloped in the kyuubi’s chakra, broke through the stadium floor, fist crashing into Neji’s exposed jaw. Neji flew backwards, crumpling unceremoniously to the ground. Before Hayate could call the match, Naruto indulged Neji in a monologue about the values of shinobi and the shortcomings of “fate”. 

“That concludes the second match,” Hayate announced, unable to stifle his paroxysm of coughing this time. “Naruto Uzumaki is the winner.”

Sakura broke out in enthusiastic cheers, pumping her fist into the air. The crowd in the arena did the same, erupting in joy for the second Konoha victory in a row. Naruto practically skipped out of the arena, a massive grin plastered onto his face. He hurried into the hallway, spotting Sakura and Sasuke immediately and throwing his arms around them. Sakura reciprocated the hug with the same enthusiasm, careful not to crush Naruto’s ribs. Sasuke tensed immediately, grimacing at the contact. Slowly, he patted Naruto’s shoulder and shoved his arm off of him. 

“Did you guys see that?” Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet. After the amount of chakra he spent during the match, he should not be standing, but Naruto was never one for normal human restrictions. “I won!”

“Yeah, and you looked awesome!” Sakura replied, matching his energy. “You totally showed Neji what us clanless people are made of!” 

“Good job, idiot,” Sasuke muttered, grimacing as if complimenting Naruto brought him physical pain. 

“Whoah, Sasuke just complimented me,” Naruto said, his grin turning smug. “I must be dreaming.”

“Tch. Don’t let it get to your head.”

“I definitely will! Good luck on your match, Sasuke. Hope you don’t die!” 

Sakura shuddered. Unfortunately, that was a very real possibility given Gaara’s homicidal tendencies. As much as she didn’t want Sasuke to die, she wanted his match to occur without interruption. If she could get through the chunin exams without a disaster, she could confidently say that this timeline was better than her last. 

As Sasuke made his way through the hallway and into the arena, Sakura snuck another glance at the Hokage’s box. He was still absent. That could not be good. If he just arrived before the first round of matches was over, she would be placated. Unfortunately, that prospect was looking more and more unlikely. 

Both Sakura and Naruto rested by the observation window, watching as Sasuke entered the arena, a cacophony of cheers following his arrival. As the last Uchiha and a prodigy in his own right, he was a celebrity among the younger generation of Konoha inhabitants. Gaara’s entrance was met with bated breaths and tense silence, on the other hand. Everyone was terrified of him and no one bothered hiding the fact. Sasuke exuded confidence as he readied himself for the match, back straight and eyes fixed forwards. 

Naruto prodded Sakura’s shoulder with his elbow, a worried look on his face. 

“I hope Sasuke doesn’t get too hurt,” he muttered. “I don’t hate Gaara or anything, but that dude can be scary.”

Sakura nodded, watching intently as Hayate began the match. “I’m a little worried too, but this is Sasuke we’re talking about. He’s going to be just fine.”

Naruto grinned, though Sakura could tell that he was trying to convince himself. “Yeah. He’s got this.”

The weeks of training obviously paid off. Sasuke moved so fast that Sakura could barely track his attacks. Just like in her previous life, Sasuke was faster than Gaara’s sand shield, forcing him onto the defensive. Sakura could swear, though, that Gaara hesitated a second before attempting some of his more lethal moves. Perhaps Naruto had more of an effect on him than she had previously thought. More and more sand filled the air, circling Gaara, but Sasuke continued his relentless attack. Within minutes, Gaara had surrounded himself in a sphere of course, rotating sand. Sasuke paused his attack, analyzing the situation in front of him. His eyes flashed red, three tomoe spinning dizzyingly as he flexed his left hand. 

The air in the arena shifted and Sakura could feel the hairs on the back of her head stand on end. Energy gathered around Sasuke’s hand, the air surrounding it beginning to crackle. Within seconds, lightning consumed his fist, a screeching sound filling the arena as he took a step back to charge. Sakura paled upon seeing Sasuke, eyes blood red and chidori active. She knew that the attack was not pointed anywhere near her, but she could not shake the memory of his hand flying towards her heart, the tendrils of lightning singing her shirt, the smell of ozone–

Sakura heaved in a steadying breath, centering herself and focusing on the present match. The shrill cry of the chidori got louder as Sasuke charged Gaara’s sphere of sand. The sound became deafening when Sasuke’s hand made contact with the sand, forcing Sakura and Naruto to slap their palms to their ears. A thick cloud of sand filled the arena, obscuring the match and a complete silence consumed the arena and stands alike. The silence was broken with a deafening scream–the scream of a person this time, not the chidori. When the sand settled, Gaara’s sand sphere had fallen completely. Sasuke’s arm was still outstretched, locked in a death grip with Gaara’s forearm which was dripping with blood, the wound an oozing, charred mess. Sasuke had managed to do more damage this time around. Gaara was still screaming when Sasuke pulled his hand away, his eyes glued to the wound on his arm. 

Sakura grimaced at the grisly scene. Gaara was bona fide unhinged, but that was not particularly surprising. She worried far more about what would happen next. The chunin exams had not progressed this far in her past life. 

Sasuke took advantage of the moment of chaos, closing the distance between him and Gaara and placing his kunai at his throat. Immediately, the atmosphere in the arena changed again, a thick, demonic killing intent spreading from Gaara. Sakura noticed movement from the VIP box and her heart stopped for a moment. Before she could begin to spiral into worry, the Kazekage leapt from the box and alighted in the arena, separating Sasuke and Gaara and holding up his hands to pause the match. 

“I apologize for the intervention, but I believe this match is over,” he announced, eyeing Gaara warily as the boy’s eyes began to change color. “You may announce Sasuke Uchiha the winner, but for the sake of both of our villages, this match must end now.”

Sakura’s jaw fell slack. Rasa’s intervention was far more surprising than the prospect of Orochimaru still staging an attack, and yet it had just occurred. Ultimately, Sakura considered it a positive change as Sasuke won his match and Gaara did not unleash the Ichibi on an entire stadium full of Konoha citizens. Still, it was such a stark change from the events in her original timeline that she could not help but feel utterly blindsighted. Then again, she had never actually met the real Rasa, so she could not truly tell if this was out of character for him. Schooling her face into an expression of mere surprise, she watched as Hayate called the match for Sasuke and Rasa disappeared with Gaara in a plume of black sand. 

Sasuke exited the arena looking absolutely bewildered and at least a little angry. 

“What the fuck was that?” he muttered, joining Naruto and Sakura by the window. “One minute we’re fighting and the next, his dad jumps in and disappears with him.”

“I have absolutely no clue,” Sakura admitted, just as lost as Sasuke. “Congratulations on the win, though.”

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement, thoroughly distracted by his own thought processes. He was happy about the victory, of course, but the circumstances were so strange that he couldn’t fully enjoy it. He soothed his conscience by reminding himself that he would have won the match fair and square if not for the Kazekage’s interference. He had his kunai to Gaara’s jugular, after all. 

Naruto looked strangely pensive as he leaned against the railing of the observation window. 

“Good job, Sasuke,” he managed, a far-away look in his eyes. 

“What’s up, Naruto?” Sakura asked, catching on to his demeanor. They were all helplessly confused. 

“I’m worried about Gaara,” he admitted. “He said that his dad was an asshole and now I’m worried about what he’ll do to him.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Sakura was quite unsure, actually. “You saw what I saw. Gaara was losing control, and it’s good that someone stepped in. It’s all going to be okay.”

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura lapsed into a pensive silence, waiting for the next match to start. Sakura could finally say that the chunin exams were going better in this timeline. 

Of course, the universe loved proving her wrong. Before Shikamaru and Temari could enter the arena, Hayate stood in the center for another announcement. 

“I have received another announcement from the village elders,” he said, his voice tight with emotion. Sakura’s heart sank. “The Hokage has been killed.”

Chapter Text

A thick silence fell over the arena, no one daring to even breathe. How was anyone even supposed to respond to that kind of announcement? The Hokage was old, yes, and he had technically abdicated his position more than a decade prior, but he was still considered the symbol of Konoha–a symbol of strength. For the Hokage to fall so…unceremoniously felt like a punch to the gut of every Konoha citizen. And for him to be killed as well? On home turf with nothing leading up to the event? Every single person in the arena was utterly blindsighted as they realized that Konoha was falling into an incredibly precarious position. Their walls were open, defenses down. There were foreign ninja inside their stronghold and they were missing their leader. Konoha lay prone, soft underbelly exposed for the entire shinobi world to see; all someone needed to do was bring down the kunai and the strongest shinobi nation on the continent would fall. 

Hayate pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and scanned it, beginning a second announcement. His hands shook as he held the sheet, face just as white. 

“Danzo Shimura found the body and has ordered the Chunin Exams to stop,” he said. A dumbfounded silence still consumed the spectators. “No one is to leave the arena and we have ANBU stationed at every entrance. In a brief investigation performed by Danzo Shimura, he discovered that not only was the Hokage killed, but files in his document storage were tampered with. All shinobi in the village, foreign and citizens alike, will be subjected to a mind-walk performed by Inoichi Yamanaka in order to determine the culprit. That is all I have been asked to announce.”

Hayate folded the paper and slipped it back into his pocket, walking numbly back to the stands. Sakura could feel her heart pounding in her throat. She could say without a shadow of a doubt that Danzo killed the Hokage. There was no denying it. The more she contemplated her conclusion, the more sense it made. In her past life, Danzo had been accused of fraternizing with Orochimaru and that snake had made it into the village far too easily last time. Given that Danzo’s life goal was to seize the position of Hokage and finally control Konoha in the light instead of the shadows, it made a terrifying amount of sense that he would allow Orochimaru to kill the one man in his way. He had been so close to getting his way, too. In Sakura’s past life, he had gotten as far as to be named the Hokage before he was murdered. Murdered by Sasuke. Sakura stifled a gasp as she finally put the pieces together. Sasuke had known about Itachi and Danzo and Konoha’s secrets, and in his half-crazed state, of course he had turned against the village. It all made too much sense. 

Now Danzo was going to get exactly what he wanted and he had an endless amount of shinobi to pin the blame on. The Kazekage was right in the stands, and with Konoha and Sunagakure’s fraught relationship, he was the perfect candidate for the blame. But that missed an important detail. Danzo had gone out of his way to specifically mention someone tampering with the Hokage’s official documents, which meant that the presence Sakura had felt while escaping was none other than Danzo himself. He had sensed the residual chakra signature on the scroll and proceeded to wait weeks until the best moment for him to reveal his knowledge. He knew exactly what Sakura found and exactly what would come of it. 

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura could not get through a Yamanaka interrogation without being found out. The information on their infiltration sat ripe for the picking in their minds and none of them could stop a Yamanaka master from reaping it. Kakashi was far from safe as well. He was complicit in treason, and as a jonin sensei, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were his responsibility. It was his duty to instil in them the laws of shinobi, and turning a blind eye to their crimes certainly went against that duty. 

That begged the question of “why”, though. Why would Danzo want to pin the blame of a literal assassination on three genin? Especially when two were so important to the village? No matter how hard Sakura tried to understand, she came up empty. Danzo’s true motives managed to escape her. Danzo could, of course, lie, and say that the Kazekage was responsible for both the assassination and tampering with the Hokage’s documents, but Sakura could not be sure. All she knew was that her entire team was in deep, deep shit along with the entirety of Konoha. It was only a matter of time before Danzo named himself Hokage and began to rule Konoha like the cold-blooded killer he was. The shinobi world would be plunged into war, she knew it. 

Sakura’s vision swam in front of her, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the railing in an attempt not to collapse to her knees. How cruel of the universe to give her a fleeting taste of hope just to rip it away. 

“Sakura!” A hand on her wrist wrenched her from her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. 

“We’ve got to find Kakashi and get out of here,” Sasuke said, his grip on her wrist almost painful. “If we don’t, we’re totally fucked.”

Sasuke was completely right. They had only one choice. Leave the village. They could find Itachi then and return with all of the information and reinforcements necessary for overthrowing Danzo but if they stayed in Konoha a minute longer, they would either die or be subjected to whatever Danzo deemed a fit punishment which was likely the worse option. 

Naruto stood close by Sasuke, obviously in agreement with his plan. Noticing Sakura’s expression of understanding, Sasuke pointed his head to the left and set off running towards the jonin stand. Sasuke nearly crashed into Kakashi halfway through the hallway; it seemed as if he had the same idea.

“I see you three understand what we have to do,” Kakashi said, voice devoid of emotion. “I suspect Danzo will arrive any moment now, so this is our best chance to escape.”

“What happened to old man Hokage?” Naruto wailed, eyes bright with tears. “How did someone kill him?”

“We can’t know for sure,” Kakashi replied, leading the genin through the hallway and towards a back exit. It would still certainly be guarded by ANBU, but they would cross that bridge when they got to it. “But I have a sinking suspicion. I’ll explain once we’re safer.”

“It was him, wasn’t it,” Sasuke muttered, careful not to say the name of the perpetrator in such a public setting. “And now he’s going to have free reign to do whatever he wants.”

Kakashi nodded and continued towards the exit. Sakura could sense anger radiating off of him, though she could not tell if it was directed towards Danzo or her. Anger towards her was completely warranted, she thought, biting the inside of her cheek. Thanks to her, Kakashi and her teammates would become missing-nin during what would arguably become Konoha’s most politically fraught period. She had come back in time to fix Konoha, but she had just done it a significant amount of harm. Perhaps Tsunade made an error in choosing her, but then again, what other choice did she have? 

Kakashi led team seven to the back exit, approaching it with all the confidence of someone who should be there. 

“Hey, Kakashi,” the ANBU on duty said, stance relaxed. He obviously did not expect to be ambushed by someone he considered a friend. “This is all so fucked up, huh. No one’s telling us what happened.”

“Hello, Raidou,” Kakashi replied, perfectly calm. “And I agree. Could you do me a quick favor?”

“Yeah sure. What do you need?” 

In one fluid motion, Kakashi’s hand swept his hitaite upwards, revealing his sharingan, tomoe swirling in a dizzying pattern. Raidou’s demeanor changed almost imperceptibly, his shoulders sagging and eyes losing focus as he fell under Kakashi’s genjutsu. Raidou was no amature, though, so Kakashi knew the illusion would not hold long, regardless of how skilled the execution was. Kakashi flexed his fingers, wordlessly telling the genin to go . They quickly complied, slipping through the back exit, Sakura masking their chakra for good measure though she knew it would do little against ANBU. 

Sakura sprinted faster than she ever had, her legs burning as they pumped relentlessly against the packed earth of the street. She turned up her senses, taking in as much information from her surroundings as possible. ANBU had noticed their escape, but only two followed in active pursuit, no doubt confused about why the most loyal Konoha jonin was making a break for the edge of the village with his three genin in tow. 

A kunai flew by Sakura’s ear, her breath catching as she watched it strike the ground. Her heart began to pound faster as she realized that the ANBU were moving on to lethal force; one wrong move would spell her death or imprisonment. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi was beside her, his hand wrapping around her upper-arm. Before she could as much as open her mouth, the world folded in on itself, fading into darkness and blossoming open a few seconds later. 

Sakura’s legs could not catch her as the world rematerialized and she tripped forward, sprawling out on the forest floor. The forest. They had made it out of the village. Sasuke and Naruto lay on the ground beside her, their chests heaving with pants as they tried to catch their breath. Kakashi stood just behind her, his eyes closed. Whatever jutsu he used to get them out of the village seemed incredibly taxing. 

“We’re not safe yet,” he said, blinking his eyes open and motioning for the genin to get to their feet. “We’re still within a day from the village and that means that we can be found. If we can get to the edge of Fire Country, then we can rest. Get up.” 

None of the genin said a word, rising to their feet and immediately taking to the trees. The repetitive nature of each foot hitting the bark and pushing off with a burst of chakra soothed Sakura’s pounding heart as she just focused on the next step. And then the next. And then one after that. She willed her mind into silence, ignoring her conscience’s wailing screams accusing her of ruining Konoha and reminding her of her worthlessness. She entered into a dangerous zen. She was barely aware of her surroundings–just enough to move through the trees without falling–and her mind was blissfully, blissfully blank. If she was in any state to mull over her situation, she might have wondered if she was finally cracking. 

Sasuke’s thoughts were reeling, on the other hand. His vision blurred with crimson as frothing hate overcame him. In a strange way, the feeling was comforting. He knew hatred far better than he knew anything else. Hatred drove him. It gave him purpose. And now his purpose was clearer than ever–clearer even than it had been when he swore to murder Itachi. He was going to rip Danzo limb from limb. He would ask Itachi to teach him that awful torture genjutsu and he would trap Danzo in there forever as he was repeatedly stabbed over and over and Sasuke would watch his blood pool on the floor until there was nothing left to give. Sasuke did not usually love killing despite his proclivity towards it. Usually, murdering someone he did not know, or barely knew, left him with a sour taste in his mouth and an overwhelming fear that he was becoming exactly what he hated so much. But Danzo deserved death and so much worse. Every new piece of information Sasuke learned about him just fanned the flames of his hate. 

No one dared speak as they travelled through the dense trees of fire country, the fear of ANBU hot on their trail far too prevalent. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi flew through the forest, their pace unrelenting as the sun inched further and further down the horizon. Soon, the entire forest was shrouded in low light, sparse golden rays penetrating the canopy above their heads. Only Kakashi truly registered the impact of his actions as he fled the village to which he had sworn his undying fealty. The day he received his hitaite–the first time he held the cool metal in his small, five-year-old hands–he had recited an oath to do everything in his power to protect his village and his Hokage. He had offered his life and honor for the village, swearing to only cease his duties in death. Though his actions appeared a betrayal of that oath on the surface, Kakashi knew he was continuing to uphold his promise in full. Everything he did was to serve his Hokages: Sandaime-sama and Minato-sensei. He had failed Minato once before and he swore on his honor he would never do it again. If that meant living as a fugitive, so be it. Itachi had done the same, had he not?

Bitterly, Kakashi wondered if when he eventually returned to Konoha, he would face the same reception his father had before him. Would the village shame and denounce him, branding him a traitor and a coward all for doing his best to protect those he held dear? And would he meet the same sad fate as the White Fang of the Leaf? Would he turn his own chidori against himself, unable to go on when his honor had been so thoroughly tarnished? In that moment, he did not believe it was a possibility, but a nagging voice in the back of his head poked and prodded at his resolution. 

But all of that was pointless now. In the present, he was on the run with three genin–rather two genin and an undeniably distraught jonin-time-traveller. He needed to protect them first and figure out how to restore Konoha second and if Sakura’s recount of the future was correct, there were quite a few enemies lurking outside the confines of Konoha’s walls–enemies that wanted Sasuke and Naruto’s blood in particular. 

The sun had retreated completely below the horizon by the time the four shinobi came to a stop, the moon shining directly overhead. The empty silence continued, each of the genin staring blankly forward at the trees in front of them. 

“We can rest here for the night,” Kakashi said, dropping from a branch to the grass below. “I trust you all have some supplies with you?”

Naruto was the first to nod, fishing a few storage scrolls out of the pouch secured to his thigh. He joined Kakashi on the ground, unfurling a scroll and producing a sleeping mat which he laid out in front of him. Sasuke jumped down next to Naruto, pulling out a scroll of his own and doing the same. Three pairs of eyes turned to Sakura, worry evident in all of them. 

“Hey Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, sounding as if he were speaking to a frightened animal. “Wanna set up for the night?”

That was enough. Sakura allowed the numbness in her mind to wash away, revealing only the anguish and anger. With well-practiced ease, she shoved down her distress and packaged it away: something to deal with at a later time. She was a shinobi before anything else, and that meant that she did not falter. She had a mission that relied on her being sound in body and mind and she needed to succeed regardless of any setbacks. For the umpteenth time since she returned back in time, she let a familiar mantra wash over her: the mission comes first .

“Yeah, sorry Naruto.” Sakura willed stability into her tone and alighted on the ground beside her teammates. “It’s probably too risky to make a fire.”

“It is,” Kakashi concurred. With a sigh, he lowered himself onto his sleeping mat. “Before we all turn in for the night, why don’t we go over the sticky situation we’re in?”

Naruto took initiative yet again, wringing his hands, his eyes fixed on the ground. “I’m scared,” he admitted. “We’re missing nin now, aren’t we?”

“Yes, Naruto. And given the time of our departure, we will likely be accused of having a hand in the Hokage’s assassination.” Kakashi was careful not to betray any of his worry, instead laying out the situation simply.

Naruto’s breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening. “But that makes no sense! Why would anyone think we killed the Hokage? Sasuke, Sakura, and I are just genin and you…you’re super loyal and the Hokage loved you! It just doesn’t make sense.”

“You’re correct to a point. We are some of the least likely suspects if you look at this with an unbiased eye, but you forget who is in charge of Konoha now. Danzo doesn’t care for you or Sasuke or Sakura or me like Sandaime-sama did. In fact, I’d wager a guess that he outright despises Sasuke and I know for a fact that he doesn’t particularly like me. I have made it clear on several occasions that our ideals do not match. Konoha is not the village we all knew anymore. Everything will be very, very different with Danzo in power, and it will be much more dangerous.”

“So we kill him.” Sasuke’s words dripped with malice, his glowing sharingan visible in the low light. “We find my brother and we kill Danzo and expose his crimes to the whole village. We can take out the other elders too while we’re at it.”

Kakashi shook his head. “You’re treading in dangerous waters now, Sasuke. Exposing his crimes is not a terrible idea, I will admit, but it will take time and care. Not to mention, it is far harder for us to do when we are on the run. We are not completely alienated from the village, though; the genjutsu I placed on Raidou provided information on our situation and on Danzo. I trust him fully and I know he will inform other trusted ninja, but we can not just run into the village, kunai brandished, and attempt to murder Danzo.”

“I agree with Sasuke,” Sakura said, finally entering the discussion. Danzo had revealed himself as the root of the poison in Konoha, and he was finally rearing his ugly head. She could not improve the village until he was disposed of and his stain on the village was thoroughly cleansed. “It is clear that Danzo killed the Hokage, likely to further his own political goals. Not only does he have the blood of the entire Uchiha clan on his hands, but he has now added the blood of Konoha’s leader to that collection. When we all took our oaths as shinobi, did we not swear to do everything in our abilities to protect Konoha and the Land of Fire? To fulfil that duty, Danzo must die, and if word gets out to the other jonin of his crimes, we will have plenty of allies.”

“Must I remind you three that your meddling in village secrets is exactly what landed us in this position?” That sentence alone rendered the genin silent. As painful as it was to admit, Kakashi was not entirely wrong. Danzo was undeniably to blame for the Hokage’s death, but arguably, team seven’s–in particular, Sakura’s–actions directly led to that event. Danzo used their infiltration into the Hokage’s document storage as a catalyst for his assassination plan–for his coup, rather.   

Naruto slammed his palm on the ground, meeting Kakashi’s gaze through the darkness. “Bull shit !” he exclaimed. “We just found out about some messed up stuff in Konoha’s history that Danzo and all those stupid old people were trying to hide because what they did was evil . It’s not our fault that they fucked up so bad Danzo had to kill old man Hokage so that he wouldn’t expose himself as evil to the entire village. And if I remember that document right, didn’t Danzo do exactly the thing he killed the Uchiha for? That’s what a coup is, right? He overthrew the Hokage so by his screwed up logic, we should totally kill him for it!”

Sakura’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Naruto’s proclamation was exceptionally astute and presented damning evidence against Danzo. The hypocrisy of his actions was blatant, and he would topple easily when exposed. She just needed to find a way to do it. Three genin were hardly a reliable source and they had no way to reveal their knowledge without admitting to committing a crime. Itachi, on the other hand, proved the key yet again. He could give a firsthand testimony, and in all honesty, the truth made far more sense than the lie Danzo fabricated. She just needed to find him and that feat in itself was near impossible. Itachi would not be found if he did not want to be, and she had little idea of where he would be at this point in time. Wait. In the chaos surrounding the chunin exams, she had forgotten what transpired shortly after the exams in her past life; Itachi had entered the village with his Akatsuki partner, Kisame, and had attempted to kidnap Naruto! That meant that he would be near the village shortly, yet her team could not go near the village without risking capture. They would have to meet Itachi near the border. 

Kakashi sighed, reeling Sakura’s thoughts back to the present. “We still have no proof that Danzo is culpable for the Hokage’s death,” he said, countering Naruto’s earlier proclamation. “It makes sense and I would be surprised if it isn’t true, but we have nothing near damning. Speculation isn’t enough to build a case out of.”

“We need to find Itachi.” Sasuke shut the argument down with a simple statement, the tomoe of his sharingan still spinning in lazy circles. 

“I have to admit, I do agree with Sasuke here,” Kakashi capitulated. “Unfortunately, finding him will be no easy task.” 

Sakura sensed that Kakashi had targeted his statement at her: an unspoken request for information on his whereabouts. She had information to give him, incidentally, but she couldn’t reveal it in front of Naruto and Sasuke. There was no plausible way for her to know where Itachi would be in a few short weeks. 

Kakashi seemed to understand the situation, sighing again and lowering himself down on his sleeping mat. “We can discuss that in the morning. We’ve all had quite a stressful day. I’ll take the first watch.”

The genin wordlessly agreed, each knowing the watch rotation from plenty of overnight missions.

A subtle flicker of chakra woke Sakura from her light doze. Slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position, careful not to jostle the boys next to her. Though she could not make out his features in the dark, she could see Kakashi sitting up as well, facing her. Without as much as rustling the grass beneath his sleeping mat, Kakashi rose to his feet and began to walk away from the campsite, wordlessly instructing Sakura to follow him. Sakura complied, slipping away from her teammates with careful motions and hurrying through the dark. As soon as they were far enough away from Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi sighed. 

“We’re in an unfortunate position,” he chuckled, though the sound was devoid of any amusement. 

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, ignoring the guilt stewing in her stomach. “Yeah,” she replied. “I know how we can find Itachi, though.”

Kakashi hummed in acknowledgement. “That’s good. You mentioned that he was part of some organization–the Akatsuki, was it? How can we be sure that he will willingly come with us if he’s loyal to another group?”

Kakashi posed a fair question and one to which Sakura could not give a completely confident answer. Still, if Itachi had remained loyal to Konoha as the document claimed, there was no way that he was truly a member of an organization that strove to destroy all hidden villages. She had to hope that he was a double agent and willing to leave his post in the Akatsuki so that he could save Konoha. She was relying on an unstable amount of assumption, but she had little other choice. 

“I highly doubt he’s truly loyal to the Akatsuki,” Sakura countered. “Just look at the lengths he went through to execute Konoha’s will. I doubt after all that he’d just turn on a dime, especially not when he obviously wants to protect Sasuke more than anything.”

“Sakura, I know you are not as young as you look, but must I remind you that taking risks like this often has consequences? I would have thought that was obvious given the current state of Konoha and our current missing-nin status, but I’ll remind you just in case.”

“I’m well aware, thank you,” Sakura said, careful not to let irritation bleed into her voice. “But we have no other choice. If we want to save Konoha, we need Itachi’s help. There is no other path we can take. If I remember correctly from my past life, Itachi will arrive in Konoha in two weeks with his partner, Kisame Hoshigake. Since we can’t get near Konoha, I say we meet them at the Amegakure border in four days.”

“I really hope this doesn’t end in another death.” 

With that, Kakashi head back to the campsite, his hands in his pockets. As always, he looked perfectly nonchalant. Sakura followed behind him, keeping a healthy distance. In four days, she would come face to face with Itachi Uchiha, a ninja she had feared most of her life, but had only just come to view with a certain reverence. She worried for Sasuke the most. She had no idea how he would react to seeing his brother, eyes unclouded by hate. 

Carefully, she lowered herself back down onto her sleeping mat, letting sleep wash over her, the steady sounds of Naruto and Sasuke’s breathing comforting her. 

Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi packed up the campsite by dawn, eating a quick breakfast of simple rations before taking to the trees. 

“We are headed towards Itachi now,” Kakashi announced a few minutes into the day’s travels. “I believe he will be at the Amegakure border shortly, so we will meet him there.”

Sasuke’s composure turned icy. “How do you know that?” he asked.

“I still pick up rumors from ANBU,” Kakashi replied easily. The answer did not make a terrible amount of sense to anyone who understood the workings of ANBU or what information they would have access to, but Sasuke was not one of those people. “ANBU’s been keeping close tabs on him after the incident during the second round, so I picked up on some of the investigation. I’m not one hundred percent sure, though, but it’s the best info we’ve got.”

Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out a well-loved orange book. As he leaped from branch to branch, he flipped through the pages, though Sakura could not tell if he was actually reading it or not. 

“Did you know that Jiraiya-sensei writes those nasty books?” Naruto adopted a look of disgust. “Apparently he’s super strong or whatever but I think he’s mostly just a creepy old man.”

“Jiraiya of the sannin?” Sasuke countered, disbelieving. “You’ve got to be even dumber than you look to think that the Toad Sage writes porn in his spare time.”

“No, Naruto’s right.” Kakashi looked up from his book, his eye crinkling in a lazy smile. “Jiraiya is the esteemed author of Icha Icha Paradise, which is erotica , thank you.”

Naruto shot Sasuke a smug look as he stuck out his tongue.

Sasuke’s expression turned blank and he nearly tripped over the branch in front of him. “What’s next, you tell me that Tsunade-hime is a drunkard gambler or something?” he grumbled. 

“Impressive guess!” Kakashi ruffled Sasuke’s hair, earning him a withering glare. “She is just that!”

“God, what happened to the sannin?” Sakura could swear that she saw the beginnings of a smile tugging at Sasuke’s lips. 

“Ninja life’s hard?” she offered, shrugging. “I mean, they’re all still ridiculously strong. They’re just…eccentric now.”

“Eccentric is a funny way to say batshit insane.”

Kakashi gasped, adopting a theatrical tone. “A joke from our grisled avenger, Sasuke? We must have been transported into an alternate dimension!”

“We’ll just be the next sannin,” Naruto said as if it was just a common-sense statement. “And we won’t be as weird! Well, at least Sakura-chan and I won’t. I can’t make any promises for Sasuke.”

“Oh so I’m the weird one? Unlike you, who dresses like a traffic cone, has an unhealthy relationship with ramen, and has maybe half a brain cell on a good day?”

“Watch it, asshole! At least I don’t think I’m so much better than everyone else because I’ve got no emotions other than “stick-up-my-ass” and anger! As soon as we get to wherever we’re going, I’m gonna kick your ass!”

Despite the harsh words, both boys were grinning as they lobbed insults at each other. Sakura allowed herself to take pride in the relationship her team had formed; at this point in her past life, Naruto and Sasuke were mere weeks away from their first real battle, in which Sasuke had nearly killed Naruto. Friendly arguments were worlds and worlds better than pure hatred. 

“Don’t leave me out of all the fun,” Sakura chuckled. “If you’re going to beat each other up, I want an opportunity to get in a few good hits!”

“Yeah of course, Sakura-chan!” Naruto said. “As long as you help me fight that bastard!”

“Yeah, you’d need the help, idiot.” Sasuke adopted a self-satisfied smirk which grew as Naruto sputtered out a retort. 

Sakura flipped her hair. “I’m not helping anyone. I’ll take you both out by myself.”

“I’d love to see you try.” The gleam in Sasuke’s eyes suggested that he did, indeed, want to see her try. Since the chunin exams, he had come to view Sakura as an equal and as someone who challenged him, something he never would have done in Sakura’s past life. It was almost enough to make the stress of saving the world worth it. 

Team seven maintained playful banter for the next few hours–a stark contrast from the shell-shocked silence that plagued their escape from Konoha. If Naruto and Sasuke had come to terms with the fact that they were missing-nin, they were handling it surprisingly well. Sakura suspected that Sasuke’s good mood had something to do with the anticipation of seeing his brother again. Though she knew he was at least somewhat conflicted, he had not seen any family since the day of the massacre.

Kakashi stopped them right outside the border town, waiting for them all to gather on the branch opposite him. 

“Luckily, the small town we’re about to enter is unaffiliated with both Fire Country and Rain Country, so we are not fugitives there,” he said, noticing as Naruto flinched at the title. “That being said, we can not draw any attention to ourselves in case anyone from Konoha happens to be nearby. I trust you all remember how to disguise yourselves as civilians from your Academy studies?”

The three genin nodded. They had gone through extensive classes on how to carry themselves and properly mask their chakra in order to appear civilian. They also created a whole other identity for undercover missions that they needed to flesh out completely–name, age, hometown, interests, and personality. Shinobi typically did not need to adopt their alternate persona until well into chunin or jonin careers, but team seven was anything but typical. 

“Itachi is not due to arrive for another three days, so we will have to lay low until then,” Kakashi instructed, untying his hitaite and carefully placing it in his pouch. “Why don’t we all get disguised and then we’ll enter the town.”

Sakura quickly complied, untying her own hitaite and pulling out a scroll containing her civilian clothing. In the Academy, she had chosen the persona of a young scholar, travelling through the continent in order to learn more about literature and history. She was careful to cover her hair completely, as her instructors had told her from day one that the bright pink was a dead giveaway. She fastened a heavy traveler's cloak around her shoulders and tucked her pouches and scrolls into a leather messenger back which she slung over her shoulder. She concealed several kunai on her person, though, as a good shinobi was never completely unarmed. As a final touch, she placed a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on her nose, her disguise complete. 

She turned to her teammates, taking in their disguises and remembering each of their personas. Each genin was required to memorize their teammates’ and sensei’s civilian caricatures upon being assigned a team. Sasuke assumed the appearance of a young farmhand, half of his hair tied back in a short, scraggly ponytail. He wore simple, loose clothing and held his supplies in a canvas pack; he changed his composure so that he appeared laid-back and uncaring. Sasuke was quite a good actor, Sakura noted. 

Kakashi donned the appearance of a photojournalist, stark white hair dyed brown by some quick jutsu (notably not a henge, since that was far too detectable). He pulled out a comb and began to smooth his hair down, parting it down the middle. He kept his mask on, but placed dark contacts in both eyes to obscure his sharingan and plastered fake purple tattoos on his face to hide his scar. How he was able to insert contacts without a sink or mirror near, Sakura was unsure but impressed nonetheless. 

And Naruto…well, Naruto had not made any move to change his appearance, still standing on the tree branch in his obnoxious orange jacket. 

“Don’t you have a civilian disguise, idiot?” Sasuke hissed, changing back to his typical demeanor. “You can’t go into town looking like that. We’ll get spotted as ninja immediately.”

“Yeah, I think I missed that day in the Academy,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “I could just do my sexy jutsu–”

Sakura raised her hand to stop Naruto. “Absolutely not,” she said, leaving no room for argument. “You have some civilian clothing stored in a scroll, right?”

Naruto nodded and pulled the scroll out from his pack, handing it to Sakura.

“Good. Let’s see it.”

Sakura unfurled the scroll, placing her hand on the center and sending a burst of chakra through the ink. A pile of clothes poofed into existence atop the scroll, unfolded and wrinkled. Sakura lay out each article of clothing side-by-side, noticing that it was entirely peasant clothing–similar to what Sasuke was wearing. 

“Alright Naruto, listen up.” Sakura put on her best teacher-face. “You and Sasuke grew up together on the same farm. You’re a farmhand. That’s all you need to remember. Other than that, you can act the same as long as you mask your chakra to appear civilian. Got it?”

“Yeah, that sounds easy!” Naruto began to change into the clothes resting on the scroll, pulling a loose peasant-shirt over his head. “Do I get a new name?”

“You really did miss the entire lesson on infiltration didn’t you, idiot,” Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. “Why’d you nod when Kakashi asked if we knew what we were doing, then? Of course you need a new name.”

Naruto lit up, thrilled by the prospect of a glorified play-pretend. “Call me Menma, then!”

Something about that felt terribly familiar to Sakura, but she pushed the feeling away and nodded instead. “I’m Hanako,” she offered. “I wasn’t going to give my whole backstory since we’re all already supposed to know it, but I’m assuming Naruto might need a refresher.”

Naruto nodded cheerily and waited for Sakura to continue explaining.

“Right, so I’m a young scholar studying literature and history. I’m on a voyage right now to broaden the scope of my knowledge. On said voyage, I ran across Kakashi, who’ll introduce himself in a second, and he offered to help me get to know the area better, since he’s a photojournalist. Both of us recently encountered Sasuke and you, Naruto, while wandering around Fire Country. You both are travelling together before you need to start up work in earnest. We all got along so now we’re travelling together. Makes sense?”

Naruto nodded. “Weird that the bastard and I are all chummy, though. We should be mortal enemies or something.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow, offering Naruto an innocent smile. “Are you telling me that you’re not friends?” 

“Yeah, Naruto,” Sasuke added, goading him on, “after all the times I’ve saved your ass, you don’t even consider me your friend?”

Naruto’s jaw fell slack before he broke into a blinding grin. “Sasuke just admitted to being my friend!” he exclaimed. “Did you guys hear that? Maybe the bastard does have feelings!”

“Way to ruin the fun, asshole,” Sasuke grumbled, looking away. “Anyway, for now, I’m Jiro. As Sakura mentioned, I’m a farmhand, but I’m travelling right now.”

“Now that you kids have gotten all of that sorted out, I’m Sukea,” Kakashi explained. “Travelling photojournalist and currently, Sakura’s–or Hanako’s, rather–escort.”

Yet again, Sakura could swear that she’d seen Kakashi’s civilian persona before, though there had been something different about it. She shook her head as if to clear the thought and focused on the mission at hand instead. 

“Let’s go into the town,” Kakashi said, hopping off the tree branch and making his way into the village, his steps terribly loud as he walked through the grassy floor. 

Sakura grew impressed by her team’s infiltration abilities. While in public, Sasuke perfectly embodied the relaxed energy of a young farmhand, a gentle smile on his face more often than not. During the first day, Naruto consistently looked at Sasuke with looks of mounting horror as he performed in character, but by the second day, Naruto started to play along as well. Sakura had a blast adopting an air of scholarship and pretension, constantly explaining mundane concepts to Sasuke in public and watching him struggle to stay in character. Kakashi took pictures. He did not speak much. 

They all shared one large room at the inn which surprised the receptionist the day they requested it. Sakura had assured her that she (or Hanako, rather), had no taste for men and that her travel companions were very respectful. The receptionist remained suspicious, but gave them the room regardless, making sure that there were three futons–two for Sakura and Kakashi, and one for Naruto and Sasuke to share. Naruto and Sasuke pretended not to despise that arrangement.

On the third day of their stay, the members of team seven convened in their room right at nightfall, all full from a good, hearty dinner. Sasuke eased himself onto one of the futons, undoing the ponytail in his hair and combing his fingers through it. 

“He’ll be here tomorrow, right?” he asked, a strange calm in his tone.

“As far as I’m aware, yes,” Kakashi concurred, “though if he doesn’t arrive tomorrow, it doesn’t mean that he won’t show up at all. I’m operating on rumors, after all.”

Sasuke nodded, his shoulders rising and falling in a steadying breath. “Alright.”

“It’s all gonna be fine,” Naruto said, giving Sasuke a signature grin. “We’re all here too, so we’ll make sure nothing bad happens.”

Sasuke nodded his head again in a wordless “thank you”. There was little else to say. 

Sakura began her nighttime routine, folding her cloak and placing it on the arm of a chair. She let her hair fall to her shoulders as she undid the wrap, sighing as it hung loose from her head. Her teammates got ready for bed in a comfortable silence, each individually nervous for the following day. 

As soon as everyone had changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth, Kakashi shuffled to the front of the room and turned off the lights, lowering himself onto his futon and falling asleep in minutes. Sakura lay supine in the dark, arms limp by her side. She could hear Sasuke breathing from across the room, the pattern just a touch too fast for him to be asleep. She could not remember when she finally drifted into unconsciousness, but Sasuke remained awake as long as she did. 

She awoke at the crack of dawn, rubbing the heels of her hands to her eyes to wipe away the sleep. Kakashi was already awake, shuffling around the room as he combed his hair and readied his bag for the day. Sakura watched as he packed the simple camera bag chock full with weapons, exploding tags, and smoke bombs. He very well may have been the most dangerous cameraman in Fire and Rain Country. 

Blinking residual exhaustion away, she rose slowly from her futon, folding the blankets as soon as she got to her feet. She nodded to Kakashi as a greeting and continued cleaning up her sleeping space. Within minutes, Sasuke awoke and began readying himself for the day, tension evident in his shoulders. 

“Where should we look for him?” Sakura asked, packing her messenger bag. “I have no idea where he would even be.”

“A tea room,” Kakashi and Sasuke said in near-unison. 

Sasuke drew in an awkward breath and looked down at the floor. “He used to spend most of his free time at the teahouse in the Uchiha complex when we were younger.”

Sakura smiled, attempting to comfort Sasuke in any way she could. “We’ll check there first, then.” 

Finding Itachi was almost too easy. Like clockwork, team seven spotted a pair of cloaked shinobi sitting at a corner table in the only teahouse in the village, large straw hats obscuring their faces. Sakura knew that if Itachi did not want to be found, he would not have been, so he obviously felt that he had something to gain from this encounter. She could only hope that he didn’t turn to violence before they even had the opportunity to explain themselves. 

Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi cautiously crossed the threshold of the teahouse, asking the woman standing in the front for a four-person table. She pointed them to a table slightly behind Itachi and his partner and turned back to the front. Sakura could see Sasuke’s hand trembling almost imperceptibly as it rested beside his body. He was not angry this time, but terrified. Itachi’s chakra was masked masterfully, registering as nothing but the signature of a random civilian. Sakura snuck a glance at him from her vantage point at the table, watching as he took a small sip of tea, thin, nimble fingers wrapped around the cup. He knew they were there, of course, but he would never make the first move. 

Several excruciating minutes passed in complete silence. The woman from the front had placed four cups of tea on their table that had since gone untouched, each member of team seven too preoccupied by the man merely a few feet away from them. 

“Fuck this,” Sasuke finally muttered, slamming his hands on the table and rising to his feet.

Naruto’s eyes grew in terror as he tried to reach for Sasuke’s wrist in an attempt to pull him back into his seat. Sasuke just wrenched his arm away and marched over to Itachi’s table, the tremor in his limbs only increasing. In the blink of an eye, Itachi stood, observing Sasuke from behind. Sasuke whirled around, sharingan eyes filled with terror. 

“My foolish little brother,” Itachi mused, taking off his hat and revealing his long, black hair. It shined under the yellow lights of the teahouse, impeccably cared for; that was quite strange for an S-class rogue ninja. “I see you’ve sought me out. You surely don’t think you can kill me now, do you? And recruiting the help of your little friends is quite the coward’s route, don’t you think?”

Itachi’s words rankled as they always did–or rather, as they had since the night of the massacre. But Sasuke willed away the remnants of his burning hatred. Itachi was only playing a part, after all. 

“I’m not here to kill you,” Sasuke stated, careful not to let his voice shake. 

“Have you given up so quickly? Come to terms with the fact that you will never equal me? No matter. I have no need for you right now, but you have brought the objective of my mission right into my hands.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in confusion. He had no idea what Itachi was talking about. “No, I’m not here to kill you because I know why the massacre happened.” Sasuke took a step towards Itachi, ignoring the low-level killing intent that radiated lazily from his form, as if Sasuke was not worth the real thing. “I know why you did what you did.”

Itachi never showed surprise. No matter what information was thrown at him, he took the words in stride and with a perfectly neutral expression. He knew his ability to remain unfazed in even the most unexpected situations gave him an edge over enemies, leading them to believe that he knew everything before it was even revealed. Itachi did not show surprise, but if one paid an exceptional amount of attention to his expression, they might say that his eyes widened. 

“Kisame,” he said, catching the attention of the other cloaked form. “I will meet you back at the inn.”

The cloaked man nodded in acknowledgement and disappeared in a small cloud of mist. Sasuke suddenly found that the tea room was empty save his teammates. It was just them and Itachi.

Chapter Text

Sasuke had not noticed the teahouse empty out, but he found himself alone with his teammates and his brother nonetheless. Itachi’s killing intent dissipated completely, leaving a thick silence in its wake. He seemed to pause for a moment, weighing his words. Sasuke had never known Itachi to hesitate. 

“What did you find?” He said finally, his voice quiet but betraying no other emotion. 

Fighting against every instinct telling him to step back and cower, Sasuke stood tall, maintaining perfect eye-contact with Itachi. He would not hurt him. His eyes would not turn red and twist into three terrible blades, trapping him in a nightmare until Sasuke did not know what was reality and what was his brother’s creation. Sasuke’s teammates were behind him. He was safe. 

“We found the official document,” Sasuke said, reaching for the scroll in his bag that contained the copy. “We know that you acted under Danzo’s orders. You had no choice.”

Itachi took the scroll from him, his fingers brushing against his brother’s hand for just a second. In one fluid motion, he unfurled it, scanning the document with unreadable eyes. 

“I will admit, I did not expect you to find out.” Itachi let out a wry chuckle, but there was no humor to it. “I did not expect you to forgive me, either.”

“I don’t forgive you,” Sasuke countered, an edge evident in his voice. “I can’t forgive you, even if I know that you had no other choice but I don’t–” Sasuke clenched his fist as he tried to form his words. “I don’t blame you. And I don’t hate you anymore.”

Sasuke knew wholly and completely that Itachi acted under Danzo’s orders; he knew that Itachi had no other choice, lest the Uchiha go through with their coup, but reasoning and strategy meant nothing when Itachi had killed his entire family. He did not know if Itachi’s choice to spare him was done out of compassion or out of sheer inability to hurt his little brother, but it was not the mercy Itachi thought it was. Itachi had left Sasuke with less than nothing–no family, no friends, and blocks and blocks of bloody ghosts. He had left Sasuke to watch while ANBU gathered the bodies–left Sasuke to watch and desperately wish he could have built them a pyre. 

Whether he meant it or not, Itachi had killed Sasuke that night. He had killed the happy little boy who practically worshipped his brother, leaving someone else–someone far angrier–in his wake. Sasuke did not lie when he said that he no longer hated his brother, but he could never love him the same way. Itachi would forever be a man who was willing to murder his flesh and blood, and there was no forgiveness for such a transgression. 

“Good.” Itachi dipped his head in a slow nod. “I do not deserve your forgiveness nor would I ever want it. I can not allow you to hate Konoha, though. I would readily give my life for peace and I can say without a doubt that Konoha is our best chance at that–”

“I don’t hate Konoha.” Sasuke surprised himself by cutting Itachi off. He would never have dared to interrupt his brother before. “Konoha didn’t make you do what you did. Danzo did, and so I hate him . I hate him even more now that he killed the Hokage. It was never Konoha or the Will of Fire that killed the Uchiha, but one power-hungry man.”

Itachi blinked. Since the day he fled Konoha at thirteen years old, hands covered in his clanmates’ blood, he had imagined his confrontation with Sasuke countless times. In those scenarios, he always imagined two pairs of burning, spinning eyes and a boy who had fully grown into all his terrifying potential. He imagined snarled words of hatred that cut him to his core–condemning him and describing the painful consequences of his crimes. In some masochistic way, Itachi yearned for that confrontation; he wanted someone to finally lay out his actions in full and deliver the consequences. Sasuke would get his revenge against his terrible, cruel brother and Itachi would get his release. 

But in all of his imagined scenarios, Sasuke had been alone and much older. Itachi prided himself in the ability to think flawlessly on his feet–to create plans and backup plans in a split second–but he was at a loss. Sasuke had managed to peel back the layers of his lies and he had managed to do so while retaining humanity and compassion; perhaps Itachi hadn’t lost his brother to the Curse of Hatred just yet.

Sasuke was right to hate Danzo. That weasley old man had always been jealous of the Uchiha and their bloodline as well as the Sandaime and his power. Hearing that he had killed Sandaime-sama was distressing, but not surprising; in fact, Itachi was half-surprised he had not done so sooner. If Itachi had the stomach for revenge as he believed his brother did, he might have killed Danzo himself for his hatred and jealousy. Allowing Orochimaru into the village and putting Sasuke’s safety on the line was a transgression Itachi could never forget, though he believed that his intervention during the chunin exams may have been the catalyst for Sasuke’s discovery. In mere minutes, the plan he constructed the day of the massacre fell to pieces in front of him. He could not work as a double agent for Konoha if it was run by Danzo (as he suspected it was, or would be shortly), and he could not leave Sasuke now that he knew the truth. 

Yet, Itachi felt as if the universe had granted him a gift he did not deserve. He had a chance to stand beside his brother–the one person he loved more than anything in the world–again. After everything he had done, how did he deserve this taste of possible happiness? 

Itachi exhaled a slow and deliberate breath. “You’ve grown, Sasuke.” In more ways than one , he thought as well, but that went unsaid.  

Something in Sasuke’s posture shifted, as if he simultaneously relaxed and puffed up with pride. He had never wanted to hate Itachi and only then did he realize that his desire for revenge diametrically opposed his true sentiments. It terrified him how easily he was able to change his perspective. 

“Will you come with us?” Sasuke asked with a softness Sakura had never heard before. “We need all the help we can get in saving Konoha.”

“My duty has always been to the Will of Fire,” Itachi agreed. “I have been on an…alternate mission these past few years, but I believe the circumstances have changed so that I might have to adjust my priorities. I believe joining you will be the most beneficial for Konoha, so I will.”

 At that, Naruto leapt from the table. He had been waiting with bated breath as Sasuke and Itachi had their reunion, but Naruto finally deemed it safe enough to insert himself into the conversation. 

“Awesome!” Naruto exclaimed, stepping beside Sasuke and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “We’re totally gonna save Konoha now that you’re helping us! Sasuke said that you’re hella strong.”

“And you must be Naruto Uzumaki.” Itachi nodded in acknowledgement. “Are you my brother’s friend?”

“Yep, best friend and rival.” Naruto’s grin grew. “He’s real lucky that I’m around since I’m always saving him and all that.”

Sasuke shot him a glare, though he seemed far more embarrassed than enraged. 

Best friend . Itachi had not expected Sasuke to connect with his peers; in fact, it had been another source of guilt for him. He had been under the impression that his actions broke Sasuke enough that he was unable to bond with any of his peers, much less form meaningful friendships. Sasuke pleasantly surprised him yet again. 

“Why don’t you introduce me to the rest of your team?” Itachi motioned towards Sakura and Kakashi who were still seated at their table. 

Sakura stood first, making her way to Sasuke. “I’m Sakura Haruno,” she said, bowing to show respect for a shinobi far greater than herself. “I am a genin of Konohagakure.” 

Well, she was technically a missing-nin at the moment, but she hardly had time to get into semantics. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sakura.” Itachi could sense powerful chakra from the girl; it was good to see that Konoha was producing strong kunoichi. “And I am already acquaintanced with your jonin sensei.” He turned to face Kakashi who had finally risen from his seat. “Kakashi-senpai.” 

“I would argue that you outrank me, but I have no idea if that’s true or not,” Kakashi said, moving to join the conversation. “You have my gratitude for helping us in this…unfortunate situation.”

“I am only upholding my oath to Konoha,” Itachi assured. “That being said, I should clear up my situation with my partner. If you would excuse me, I will come and find you four shortly.”

With that, Itachi disappeared, leaving no trace behind him. An awestruck silence clung to team seven. Despite everything that had happened in the past month, recruiting a rogue ninja to help save Konoha from a power-hungry dictator still managed to clock fairly high on the “absolutely insane moments” scale. 

“I missed him,” Sasuke admitted, his gaze fixed forward. “It’s weird.”

Sakura nodded. Everything from the moment Sasuke and Itachi had begun talking felt surreal, but she knew that it really did happen. Though every day since the end of the Wave mission had deviated more and more from the series of events she knew, she had always had at least some basis of comparison. Now, she was truly in the dark. She knew nothing of this present–she did not know what Itachi was like, what Sasuke would be like in his brother’s presence, what would happen to Konoha ruled by Danzo, or what Itachi’s defection from the Akatsuki would mean. She might as well be living this life for the first time. Having Itachi on her side provided her comfort, though. He was well renowned for his genius, and she desperately hoped that he would be able to help in her mission to save the world when her own expertise came up short. 

“He seems nice,” Sakura finally said, knowing that nothing she said would be quite right in this situation. 

“He’s taller.” Sasuke continued to stare indefinitely off into the distance. “He looks a lot more like my mom now.”

There was certainly no responding to that. Sakura managed an awkward nod and met Naruto’s gaze from behind Sasuke’s back, sharing a somewhat panicked look of confusion. 

“Hey Sasuke,” Naruto said, a surprising amount of levity in his voice. “Did you know that our moms were on the same genin team?”

“That’s nice,” Sasuke replied. 

It seemed that despite the lack of violence or anger, a single conversation with Itachi still managed to break Sasuke Uchiha. This time, though, Sakura could admit that it was kind of funny. 

Itachi appeared in the doorway of his room at the inn, the space shrouded in mid-afternoon shadow. Kisame sat at the desk in the corner, his back facing Itachi and his sword propped up against the chair. He idly sharpened his kunai over the desk, ignoring Itachi’s entrance. He knew he was there, of course, but he made no move to greet him. 

“I don’t believe I will be continuing on with you,” Itachi stated simply, remaining in the doorway. “Something else has come up.”

“You wouldn’t tell me what was happening if I asked, would you?” Kisame replied, swivelling in his chair to face Itachi, sharp teeth visible in his smirk. 

Itachi remained perfectly still, the only evidence that he was in fact alive and not a statue coming from the soft rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed. “It does not concern you.”

“None of your shit ever does.” Kisame shrugged. “That’s why I don’t pry. So you’re just up and leaving? We still have to get the Kyuubi brat.”

“We were never going to succeed in that and I had ulterior motives for visiting Konoha in the first place.”

Kisame snorted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs in front of him. “You’re real fucking cryptic, you know that?” 

Itachi merely raised his eyebrows and waited for Kisame to continue. Thus was the nature of their relationship: Itachi would offer a sentence or two and Kisame would carry the rest. That way, every word Itachi spoke was perfectly deliberate. 

“Whatever, it’s not like I can stop you.” Kisame threw up his hands in mock-surrender. “Pein-sama’s not gonna be happy, though.”

“It is not Pein-sama I need to worry about,” Itachi replied. 

Kisame knew that Itachi was referring to the true leader of the Akatsuki: a masked man named Tobi who he had only met on select occasions. Kisame was no sensor, but he knew that the man packed plenty of punch beneath his idiotic façade and he had no intention of finding out just how much. He had noticed something off about the enigmatic leader in the past month or so, but he could not put a definitive finger on it–something to do with his demeanor becoming hostile more often than not. But Itachi’s insubordination was not his problem. The Akatsuki formed two man cells for combat purposes, not so that they could babysit each other. If Kisame reported that Itachi defected, then that was on Itachi’s head, not his.  

“Like I said, whatever. This is your problem, not mine.” Kisame swivelled on his chair again, turning back to his kunai. “If they send me out to kill you, I’m not holding back by the way.” 

Itachi began to undo the clasps of his Akatsuki cloak, letting it fall off of his shoulders and into a heap on the ground. “I would not expect you to,” he replied. 

Itachi would not have worried about the Akatsuki pursuing him if he was on his own; his evasion tactics were second to none, and he knew exactly how to disappear if need be. Now that he was with his brother and two other genin, though, he was far more conspicuous. Regardless, his duty was to protect Sasuke and he would do that no matter what. If any Akatsuki member did go after him, they would never be able to land a finger on his brother; he would not allow it. 

Itachi would be lying if he said he did not fear Tobi–or Madara, rather’s–backlash. He was hardly the most important member of the Akatsuki–he was probably one of if not the strongest, but each other member was terribly formidable in their own right. The title of most important surely went to Pein, then Nagato (though one really should combine those two), then Konan. Itachi was a useful pawn and he had done his fair share of recruitment, but he had already done what Madara wanted on the day of the massacre. He had only joined his organization afterwards as a double agent, after all.

“Have fun running around with your kid brother and his friends, I guess. Though I’d think he’d be way more pissed at you since you–oh you know–killed his entire fucking family.” Kisame waved his hand as a dismissal. “And I hope you don’t keel over too quick when you’re with them. I’ve heard you hacking up a lung in the middle of the night, you know?”     

“I appreciate you looking out for my health, but I assure you that I will be fine.” Earlier in the year, Itachi might have been telling the truth when he said that, but as time went on and his condition only worsened, he could not be sure. He had visited a local doctor in Grass Country a few months ago, but apparently his condition far eclipsed the doctor’s expertise. He still clung onto the hope that his health would reach a low point and then he would begin to recover, but he was beginning to worry about exactly how low the vertex of his health would be. 

Suddenly, he began to care about his health far more. Before the events of earlier that day, the prospect of his body slowly failing on him was frustrating, but not nearly as terrifying as it should have been. His willingness to die spoke uncomfortably to his mental state, but none of that was new to him. His will to live revolved around the prospect of Sasuke killing him one day and not much else. Now, that prospect was not a possibility and he suddenly had something tangible to fight for. It was a strange feeling after years and years of numbness, but he would have to deal with it later. 

Stepping over his fallen cloak, Itachi made his way to his bedside, gathering the few belongings he brought with him on his travels. With a quick spike of chakra, he sealed them into a scroll and tucked the scroll into the pouch at his hip. His fingers rested on the cool metal of his hitaite for a moment, tracing the deep, ugly scratch down the center. With gentle fingers, he undid the knot in the back of his head and tucked his hitaite into his pouch. A strange wave of relief washed over him as he realized he no longer had to display a sign of rogue betrayal. It had always been ironic: the most loyal Konoha shinobi walking around with a symbol of treason plastered to his forehead, but Itachi’s shinobi career was nothing but painful irony, was it not? 

With all of his possessions packed, Itachi turned back towards the doorway. Before he could leave, his eyes caught on his cloak on the floor. He had always hated clothing on the floor and messes in general. In one graceful movement, he picked up the cloak and folded it into a neat square, placing it on the dresser to the right of the door. He turned his head to face Kisame, offering him a nod as a goodbye, and stepped into the hallway of the inn, disappearing in a small puff of crow feathers.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a knock on the door of her room. She had not sensed anyone approaching and her sensing had been on high alert since she fled Konoha. That presence–or lack thereof–immediately informed her of who was standing outside. 

“Oh cool, Itachi’s here!” Naruto announced, skipping to the door and throwing it open. 

Sakura knew that Naruto had no proof of who was behind the door besides his own assumption, but he had luckily been right this time; it would have been much worse if someone evil, say Madara or Danzo or something, was waiting for an invitation inside instead. 

Itachi stood right outside the door, long hair splayed over his right shoulder, a simple silver necklace resting on his collarbone. He was missing his black and red Akatsuki cloak as well as his ruined Konoha hitaite. If he was not so visibly an Uchiha shinobi, his clothing would make him look more like a commoner than anything else. 

Naruto threw his arm out in a dramatic motion of hospitality. “Welcome to our humble abode!” He waited a few seconds for Itachi to cross the threshold before closing the door behind him. “Great, you can just come in. I was worried I was gonna have to invite you in or something since you look like a vampire.”   

Itachi’s eyebrows rose slightly, the beginnings of a smile on his lips. Between his often red eyes, black hair, pale complexion, and painted-black nails, he supposed that Naruto did, in fact, have a point. 

“I apologize for ruining your comfort, but since my former partner knows that we are all in this town, we should probably leave,” he said, standing stiffly in the front of the hotel room. 

His composure greatly contrasted from Kakashi’s own, who was sprawled out on a couch, his Icha Icha book resting face-down on his chest. He had shed his jonin vest and heavy shirt, revealing just his high-neck tank top beneath. 

“Yo, Itachi,” he said, closing his book and pushing himself into a more presentable sitting position. “You make a fair point.” He turned to the three genin, eye crinkling in a smile. “Alright kiddos, let’s pack up and hit the road!”

Naruto groaned, throwing his head back. “Aw man, Kakashi-sensei! This place is so nice .”

“It’ll be less nice when that creepy shark dude from before is trying to eat you, idiot,” Sasuke countered, packing up his belongings. He did not acknowledge Itachi’s arrival past a brief glance in his direction. It made sense, of course. There was so much to unpack between the two brothers. “Should we stay disguised as civilians?”

“I don’t personally see the need,” Sakura offered, undoing her hair-wrap. “If we’re not going to be staying in a town or anything, there isn’t really any point in wasting our effort on disguises.”

Kakashi patted Sakura on the head. “As usual, our Sakura-chan is right. We can discuss our plans with Itachi as we travel.” 

Naruto crossed his arms, his face falling into a pout. “This sucks. All I want is a good bowl of Ichiraku ramen, but no we’re stupid missing nin all because that Danzo dude is batshit insane.”

Itachi actually smiled this time, though one could also describe the expression as a slight quirk of his lips. Uchiha were not terribly expressive. 

“Sorry nii-san, Naruto’s an idiot,” Sasuke grumbled, smacking Naruto on the back of the head. 

Naruto yelped and aimed a sharp kick to Sasuke’s shin. Sasuke neatly stepped out of the way and stuck his tongue out at Naruto. Itachi’s smile grew into something that could be considered both passable and human. Some warm thing grew in his chest, and he was happy to find that it was not an incipient coughing fit. It had been so long since he’d seen Sasuke, and even when he had caught peeks of his brother through the eyes of his crows, Sasuke had never been happy like this. He truly owed so much to Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi for taking care of his brother where he failed; they had done so much more than he ever could have. 

“Don’t worry Sasuke,” Itachi said, sounding terribly fond. “I appreciate his optimism. It’s quite refreshing.”

“Yeah, loser, I’m refreshing!” Naruto announced, chest puffing up with pride. “Your brother said so himself.”

Sakura chuckled at the scene, pride filling her chest. Her team was happy . Despite the fact that they were all missing nin and Konoha was about to go to absolute shit, they weren’t hateful, sad messes as they had been at this point in her past life. Sasuke wasn’t filled with jealous rage, exacerbated by the curse mark on his shoulder that gorged itself on his anger, Naruto was not filled with the existential fear of losing his best friend, and Sakura–well, her differences went without saying. 

Just as Sakura was about to join in the boy’s bickering, Pakkun appeared beside Kakashi in a puff of smoke. 

“Hey boss,” he said, wagging his tail as Kakashi reached for a dog treat. “I got some updates from Konoha. You’re not gonna like this.”

Kakashi handed Pakkun the treat and sighed, running a tired hand through his hair. “Yeah, not surprised. What’s up?”

“Danzo’s the “interim” Hokage at the moment.” Somehow, Pakkun managed to convey quotation marks around “interim” without having hands to make the gesture. “He’s trying to pin the blame on the Kazekage from what I’ve heard, but Rasa’s not taking the bait. Wind Country is so poor right now that they really can’t afford a war, and I know Rasa’s trying to avoid that to the best of his abilities. Danzo’s crafted a whole crazy story about you though, boss. Something about you being allied with Itachi from the start and always having it out for Konoha or some shit. I was talking to Asuma and he says that Danzo’s just a few days away from bringing up the whole Rin thing and twisting it against you. Given that most jonin know about that scenario, I doubt it’ll go too well though.”

Pakkun turned his head to look at Itachi behind him and made a motion with his head that Sakura interpreted as a shrug. 

“You’re right,” Kakashi sighed. “I don’t like this.”  

“You’ve all got plenty of allies, though, so that’s good. Raidou spread the information to a good portion of jonin after everyone got their mandatory mind-walk. You’re lucky that Danzo made sure all of the guards at the stadium got investigated before they arrived or else you might have put Raidou in some trouble. The only problem is that they can’t really overthrow Danzo or anything since he’s got a lot of ANBU wrapped around his finger. Plus, they need another Hokage ready to go so that they can convince the civilians to stand with them.”

“Has Danzo revealed how Sandaime-sama died?” Sakura asked, grimacing as Pakkun revealed the state of Konoha. “Because if he hasn’t, people will probably be pretty suspicious of him.”

Pakkun let out a short bark that Sakura assumed was a sigh. “Yeah, he hasn’t told the public how Sandaime-sama died and I’m not sure if he’s told any shinobi either. I really don’t think anyone likes him all that much, but people sure are scared shitless. Plus, the Council of Elders seems to be pretty much entirely on his side.”

Kakashi groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Maybe Sasuke was right. The only way to get rid of Danzo at this point was to run into Konoha and kill him. Right, and the Council of Elders. They should probably die too. 

“Oh and another thing. There’s been rumors going around about Danzo using “a new tactic” on the Kazekage if he continues to play the pacifist card. I think he really wants to go to war with Suna but I really have no clue what he’s talking about.”

Itachi drew in a sharp breath. “Kotoamatsukami,” he muttered, his thumb rubbing one of the metal circles on his necklace. 

“No way.” Kakashi ogled at Itachi, his jaw going slack. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Itachi shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. The topic he had just broached obviously brought him much anguish. 

“What are you two talking about?” Sasuke implored. Itachi’s display of emotion troubled him. 

“I did not kill Shisui,” Itachi said, his voice barely above a whisper. I never could have , he thought. “The night before his death was announced, he met me at the cliff above the Naka. He was missing an eye. He told me that Danzo had stolen it from him. See, Shisui’s sharingan gave him the ability to cast a very powerful genjutsu called Kotoamatsukami which would implant a suggestion in someone’s mind. It would leave no trace and it was unbreakable, so he had planned to use it on my father, Fugaku, in order to stop the coup. For some reason or another, Danzo did not trust him and stole his eye.” 

Itachi paused and let his eyes fall closed for a moment. After a steadying breath, he reopened them. 

“He knew that as long as he lived, Danzo would go after him in search of his other eye, so he gave it to me and cast himself off the side of the cliff. Danzo has his other eye, and thus has the ability to cast Kotoamatsukami. What Pakkun was suggesting is that Danzo plans to use that jutsu on the Kazekage so that he declares war. With Sunagakure as weak as it is, Konoha will almost certainly win and Danzo will gain that territory.”

Pressure built behind Sasuke’s eyes but he could not tell if it was due to his sharingan wanting to manifest or incipient tears. He remembered Itachi’s face the day Shisui’s death was announced. Itachi had looked exhausted for weeks before that day for reasons that Sasuke was only then beginning to understand, but Itachi had looked utterly dead when his father mentioned Shusui’s death at the breakfast table. Itachi had always been so good at maintaining a mask of indifference; he only let it drop around two people: Sasuke and Shisui, but there was no other word to describe the look on Itachi’s face other than anguish. That was not the expression of a killer, but of someone who had just watched their best friend die. His outbreak later that day made even more sense as well. Of course he was furious at anyone who accused him of killing Shisui for some petty reason. 

Sasuke knew that his sharingan was active at this point. Hot rage clawed at him as he thought about truly how much Danzo had taken away from him. There had been a way out for Itachi; if Shisui had succeeded in using the Kotoamatsukami, then Itachi never would have had to go through with his mission. But Danzo just hated the Uchiha that much. Sasuke had so much to hate Danzo for and he could not wait for the opportunity to finally kill that evil man.  

A gentle hand on his shoulder broke him from his thoughts. He threw his head to the side to see who stood behind him, his gaze meeting Sakura’s. She did not flinch away from his blazing sharingan; not only was she adept enough with genjutsu that she could break out of whatever Sasuke cast on her, but she trusted him not to hurt her. That, Sakura decided, was major character growth on both her and Sasuke’s part. 

“I know you’re mad, Sasuke,” she said, a snarl on her lips. “But we’re going to kill that bastard, I promise.”

Sasuke let his sharingan fade away, his breathing evening out. “Yeah, we will,” he said, a furious edge to his tone. “And you can get your revenge too, nii-san.”

Itachi froze at that, his calm composure catching for just a second. “I do not seek revenge,” he said simply. “I will help you deliver justice to Konoha, but I will not seek revenge for myself. I suggest you do the same.”

Itachi’s words cut with the same infuriating calmness as they had when Sasuke first confronted him in the teahouse. Itachi knew something Sasuke didn’t and instead of explaining it, he vaguely alluded to it and its consequences without indulging Sasuke in any of the details. That approach might have been acceptable when Sasuke was six, but it certainly was not now. He was a shinobi, for god’s sake and he was fully involved in this mission to save Konoha. He should have all the details so that he could help .

Still, Sasuke was not the same impulsive child he had been merely a few months ago. He would get the information out of Itachi, but he knew that the present was not a good time to do so. He would just wait. 

“Is that all you’ve got to share with the class, Pakkun, or do you have more bombs to drop on us?” Kakashi asked, leaning wearily back into the cushions of the couch. 

“That’s it for now, boss,” Pakkun said. He jumped up onto the couch and pushed his head into Kakashi’s hand as a request for head scritches. 

Kakashi obliged and offered Pakkun another treat once his ears had been thoroughly scritched. “Thanks for keeping us in the loop.”

“You know it.” Pakkun jumped down onto the floor, waiting for Kakashi to release the summon. “It’s crazy out here, y’know. Stay safe.”

All five shinobi in the room nodded and Pakkun disappeared in another puff of smoke. 

“Well on that cheerful note, we should get going,” Kakashi announced with a humourless chuckle. 

The three genin plus Itachi nodded and grabbed their bags, turning to the window in their room. It would them no good to walk through the front door undisguised and exiting through a window was second nature for any good shinobi. 

Kakashi slipped out first, Itachi following close behind. All five shinobi fell into a synchronized rhythm as they leapt from roof to roof through the village, heading for the Eastern border. Sakura made sure to mask her and her teammate’s chakra, but she noticed that Itachi’s was not even detectable. Likely only the best sensor in the Five Nations could notice his presence, and even that was a stretch. Itachi managed to be overwhelmingly intimidating without as much as saying a word or flexing a flashy jutsu; his talent lay in subtlety and he had it down to a tee. 

The five shinobi slipped soundlessly out of the village, trees thickening around them as they returned to the dense Fire Country forests. Orange light filtered through the leaves as evening began to fall, Sakura’s teammates bathed in an almost holy glow. As they travelled to the nearest clearing, Sakura began to hear the trickle of a river, its babble getting louder as she continued forward. Densely packed trees opened up to a simple meadow, revealing soft grass adorned with bright flowers. The river Sakura had heard snaked through the meadow; its water was perfectly clear and despite its thinness, the river seemed deep. 

Kakashi leaped down from the trees, casting his gaze around the area to make sure they were all truly alone. Pleased, he set his pack on the ground and began to set up camp. 

“We’ll stay here for tonight,” he said, motioning for the rest of the shinobi to join him. “We’ll have to keep moving, so this is only temporary. Naruto, Sasuke, why don’t you two go get firewood?”

The two boys nodded in agreement and set off back into the forest. 

“Now, how are you handling all this, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi asked, lowering himself into a cross-legged position on the grass. “We sure do have a lot ahead of us.”

Sakura understood Kakashi’s words as a prompt for them to discuss future plans hidden behind the façade of a concerned sensei. Taking a seat facing Kakashi, she took a sip from her water bottle and sighed. 

“I’m fine, I guess,” she said. “I already miss Konoha and I never told my parents where I was going, so I’m sure they’re super worried. Not to mention, with whatever rumors Danzo and his allies are throwing around, they might even think that I’ve gone evil.”

Sakura was genuinely concerned about her parents. Not only were they left in Konoha with a power-hungry dictator in control, but they might be considered dangers to the village solely due to their association with her. She would never forgive herself if they got hurt because of her. 

“I would assure you that it will all be fine, but I know you’re too smart to believe that.” Kakashi’s eye crinkled into a smile. “But we will do our best to make everything better. As long as we have support in the village, we can still ouste Danzo.”

Sakura nodded. “I’m glad we have the support of a lot of jonin. On top of that, we’ll have the support of their genin teams by extension, and I know my peers pack a lot of punch.”

The “burst into Konoha and take Danzo out” method was beginning to appeal to Kakashi more and more every coming day. 

Sakura looked away from Kakashi and turned to face behind her. Itachi stood a few feet away, gazing at the river, his expression inscrutable. 

“Itachi-san?” Sakura asked, catching Itachi’s attention. “May I ask you a question?”

Itachi nodded his head and lowered himself into a kneeling position so that he could see Sakura eye to eye. 

“What happened to Orochimaru? We saw you disappear with him and you’d lit him on fire–Kakashi called it amaterasu. I’ve heard that he is notoriously difficult to kill, but did you succeed?”

“I burned every inch of his body,” Itachi told her, expression perfectly impassive despite his violent words. “My flames can not be extinguished by anything but my own will and I let them burn until there was nothing left. If he is still alive after that, I would be impressed.”

Sakura took that as a yes. If anyone could kill Orochimaru, it would be Itachi. In a split second, his composure shifted, his chest spasming as he forced down a cough. His shoulders (they were far narrower than Sakura had imagined) shook, but he eventually suppressed the paroxysm and straightened his back. 

“I apologize.” His voice was a touch rougher than it had been a moment ago. “I believe I picked up a cold on my travels but I should be fine.”

“I can take a look at it if you’d like,” Sakura offered, noticing how his cough seemed far more violent than one of a simple cold. Not to mention, he had no other noticeable symptoms. “I’m a healer. I think Kakashi-sensei can attest that I’m pretty good at what I do.”

“She’s an absolute prodigy,” Kakashi concurred. “Haven’t seen better since Tsunade-hime herself.”

Itachi politely shook his head. “Thank you for your offer, but I wouldn’t want to worry you with a simple cold. I am impressed that you are a healer when you are so young, though. Shinobi typically specialize when they become chunin, and even then very few are talented enough to continue in the field, but I’m sure you know that already.”

Sakura bowed her head, a flush rising on her cheeks. Acknowledgement always felt good. “That really means a lot, Itachi-san,” she said. “Thank you. And I’ve been teaching Sasuke a bit as well. He’s generally well-suited for medical-ninjutsu.”

Itachi’s lips curled upwards. “I’m very happy to hear that. I don’t believe there have been many Uchiha medics and medical-ninjutsu is an invaluable skill to have.”

At that moment, two voices rose from the far side of the forest, both cheerfully bickering. 

“We got wood, guys!” Naruto called, heaving an armful of firewood above his head. “And I got more than Sasuke!”

“Yeah, just because you used kage bunshin, idiot,” Sasuke retorted, kicking at Naruto’s shin. 

“Hey! You’re gonna make me drop my stuff!” Naruto hopped to the left and dropped his firewood in the middle of the campsite, wiping sweat off his brow with his jacket cuff. 

“Alright, thanks you two,” Kakashi said, waving his hand to cut off their bickering. “Let’s get the fire started so we can eat and then go to bed. We’re starting up training again tomorrow. Can’t have you all getting out of shape.” He turned to Itachi who was still sitting a little ways away from Sakura. “Would you mind helping me with the training? Sakura’s shaping up to be quite the genjutsu specialist and Sasuke’s Sasuke, of course.”

Itachi gazed at the three genin, his expression betraying none of his internal turmoil. He owed Sasuke so many years of training after every single instance of a forehead poke and a muttered “maybe later Sasuke”. Still, he worried about what would happen if they sparred; after the night of the massacre, could he move violently around Sasuke without reminding him of the terrible crimes Itachi committed? 

“Would you like my help?” he asked, remembering that communication was, in fact, a possibility. 

“That’d be nice, nii-san,” Sasuke, who had eased himself down next to Sakura, said. “If you want to, of course.”

Well, that was that. Itachi would do his best. “Then I will.” 

Sasuke’s eyes widened; it was so similar to the look he had given Itachi when he promised to train with him years and years ago. Sasuke had lost much of his wide-eyed admiration, but he could still feel unconditional love. What had Itachi ever done to deserve that? 

He watched team seven interact over dinner, trading playful banter and joking with each other. It warmed Itachi’s heart to see that his brother had achieved something he never had at that age: a group of friends. He had Shisui, sure, and he loved him more than anyone in the world except Sasuke, but they had both been so burdened that they barely had the time to joke around and be children. Unconsciously, his hand rested on his necklace again. 

Sasuke spotted Itachi sitting near the bank of the river, his form illuminated only by the soft light of the moon. He sat perfectly still, only his hair rustling in the gentle breeze. 

“You can come sit,” he said though he had not once turned to look at who was approaching. 

Sasuke obliged, padding through the soft grass and settling down next to Itachi. He maintained a comfortable distance and gazed at the rippling water in front of him. 

“Why’d you lie to me that night?” Sasuke asked and Itachi could hear the raw vulnerability in his voice. 

Another lie sat ready on Itachi’s tongue. He had so many stories he could spin to get Sasuke to hate him, and for so long, he would have done exactly that. But now, the truth had been laid out plain and Sasuke deserved to know the details. 

“I needed you to hate me,” he said. It was a simple statement, but his words were so very heavy. “I had hoped that you would train with the purpose of killing me in mind until the day you finally surpassed me. Then you could achieve justice for our clan.”

The anguish on Sasuke’s face disappeared, anger emerging in its wake. “That’s fucking stupid,” he hissed. “You wanted me to kill you to fulfil some bullshit suicidal fantasy when I should’ve been focusing my anger on the person actually responsible for my family’s death!” His demeanor shifted again. “I would have gone with you if you’d told me the truth that night, you know? I would have followed you anywhere.”

Itachi let his eyes fall shut, the rest of his expression perfectly neutral. “That’s why I could not tell you the truth. You were only safe in Konoha.”

“You would have let me kill you, though,” Sasuke said, his voice shaking. “And I never would have known the truth.”

“I’m sorry, Sasuke.” Itachi let out a long exhale. “I truly am sorry.”

“I don’t know if I can accept that. I know you’re sorry, but…it’s just a lot. I promise I’ll get revenge for you though. I promise I’ll kill Danzo.”

“Save Konoha and uphold the Will of Fire. I support you completely in that. But revenge has only ever hurt. It only brings more pain.” 

Finally, Sasuke would get the answer he wanted earlier that day. 

“What do you mean by that?” he asked. “Doesn’t revenge make things even?”

Itachi shook his head gently, his eyes still closed. “What do you know of the Curse of Hatred?”

“Does it have something to do with what Shisui called “Uchiha-brand madness?””

Itachi let out a humourless chuckle. “Yes, that is what he was referring to. Us Uchiha–we feel too much. We feel love stronger than anyone else and that is beautiful, but we also hate so deeply. Some have said that it is a curse of the sharingan, that all Uchiha will eventually succumb to blinding hatred that eats away at everything else in their life. I do not believe that it is an absolute. But I know that both of us need to be far more vigilant given our direct relation to Madara through Mother–”

“Through Mother?” Sasuke interrupted, choosing to address the rest of Itachi’s explanation later. “I thought the head family bloodline came through Father.”

“Father had brown hair?” Itachi sounded genuinely perplexed, as if he could not fathom how Sasuke had not figured out that detail before. “As I was saying, we can not let hatred blind us, lest we lose sight of what we hold dear, so I warn you against seeking revenge.”

Sasuke nodded slowly, his thoughts going back to the moments of blinding hatred he had experienced at mentions of Itachi and more recently, at mentions of Danzo. The feeling was intoxicating and blissfully numbing. He desperately hoped that it was not too late for him to step off that path of hatred. 

“So you’re really going to help train us?” Sasuke asked, shifting the conversation away from his worries. 

“I will.” Itachi reached out two fingers as if he was going to poke Sasuke’s forehead, but rotated his hand in the last second, cupping Sasuke’s cheek instead. “I promise.”

Chapter Text

Danzo’s office was dark. He had chosen a room deep in the bowels of the Hokage Tower’s basement as a commitment to his role as the Shadow Hokage; the environment needed to fit the occupation, after all. He had no windows nor any mode of glancing out at the outside world and the only light in the space came from the feeble orange glow of an ancient overhead lamp. Despite the bleak environment, Danzo’s office was impeccably guarded by countless wards and seals. In Minato Namikaze’s brief tenure as Hokage, Danzo had specially requested unbreakable security seals that warned him of any approaching chakra signature as soon as the person was within jutsu range. They worked perfectly. Not even Shisui Uchiha–the prodigy whose skills had proven so wonderfully useful–could evade the sensing capabilities of those seals and Danzo was perfectly confident that no one ever would. 

Even after his soft-hearted contemporary, Hiruzen’s, death, Danzo remained in his office. He would venture up to the official Hokage’s office on occasion to make formal announcements, but the picture windows and more-often-than-not open door would never fit his needs. So for most hours of the day, Danzo resided in his office, ruling Konoha as it always should have been: with an unrelenting iron fist. 

Just as on any typical day, Danzo only sensed the chakra signatures of his ROOT agents milling around the lower levels of the Hokage Tower and nothing else. That, though, failed to explain the incipient figure opposite his desk, a curved mask manifesting just before his eyes. As a well-trained shinobi, Danzo did not flinch, his hand instead flying to the scroll beneath his desk that alerted his ROOT agents of danger. 

“I would recommend against that,” the figure said, body fully manifested. 

A man stood before Danzo, clad in a long black cloak, his stance relaxed. An unruly mess of black hair was visible from behind his curved, orange mask which revealed only one eye. 

“We both want the same thing, I assure you.” The man remained perfectly still, waiting for Danzo to move his hand from the warning scroll. “I assisted Itachi in the Uchiha Massacre, after all.” 

Danzo did move at that, clasping both his hands and placing them on his desk as a motion of good-will. 

“Ah, so the boy was assisted after all,” Danzo mused. As a shinobi, conversation was just another battlefield and betraying emotion with your voice left yourself open for an attack. Danzo was a master of both the physical shinobi arts as well as the psychological. He left no openings. “Then you too are an Uchiha, are you not?”

Danzo’s disdain for the Uchiha was no secret. He subscribed to his sensei’s view on their capricious and proud nature and he believed that his decision to order the Uchiha Massacre was one of the better things he had done for Konoha. That being said, he was not above using Uchiha as pawns; once they were dedicated enough to a cause, Danzo could twist them in any way he wanted, as made evident by both Itachi and Shisui. He was able to manipulate Shisui’s absolute adoration of Itachi perfectly and he gained his most powerful weapon from it. Itachi had been more difficult and continued to prove so as time went on. His love for Sasuke had been both a point of manipulation as well as a point of danger for Danzo. Now with Sasuke out of the village, Danzo could not be sure of the control he had over Itachi. This new man might have to be his next Uchiha pawn. 

“I am sure you are wondering who I am,” the man said, beginning to pace slowly in front of Danzo. 

Danzo crinkled his visible eye in some semblance of a smile. “If you wanted me to know, you would tell me,” he replied. “If you did not want me to know, I would simply find out myself.”

“You are quite confident.” The man’s tone seemed to humor Danzo. “I am Madara Uchiha. I suspect that may change some of your plans with me.”

Danzo frowned. Madara Uchiha was long, long dead–a fact that Danzo was particularly pleased about. He had been the root of Uchiha madness, after all. But the shinobi arts were an ever-growing field and surely someone as awfully powerful as Madara could find a way to extend his lifespan. That being said, his entire persona could be a bluff. Masquerading as Madara Uchiha was bold to the point of being ludicrous, but its absurdity made it genius. Regardless of if the man was Madara or not, he had already managed to do something Danzo had previously considered impossible: get through his seals undetected. The man was, without a doubt, powerful. 

“If you truly are Madara Uchiha, then you must know that we don’t see eye-to-eye,” Danzo said, considering triggering his warning seal again. “My duty is to Konoha as the Senju intended.”

“Both you and I know that you aren’t telling the truth,” Madara chuckled. “Konoha as ruled by the Senju is Hashirama’s Konoha, or better yet for you, Hiruzen’s Konoha, and we both know what you thought of the man. No, you and I see far more eye-to-eye than you’d think. We both want strength for the village and nothing more. We both know that pathetic hopes for peace mean nothing but weakness. Why else do you think I supported the Uchiha Massacre? They were a liability and needed to be disposed of.”

Danzo knew that Madara could easily be lying to him. He had no reason to trust an Uchiha. Still, Madara had assisted in the Uchiha Massacre, which at least united them on one common cause. 

“What did you come here to ask me?” Danzo decided to cut to the chase. As entertaining as it was to trade enigmatic phrases with Madara Uchiha, Danzo wanted to know what the man sought.

“I believe we may have both lost a pawn in Itachi Uchiha,” he stated. “He defected from my organization and has joined his brother who seems to have escaped Konoha.”

Danzo raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Sasuke Uchiha is currently out of the village with his genin team and sensei. They all know far too much about the Uchiha Massacre and the secrets surrounding it and are likely too dangerous to be allowed back into the village. I had planned to have them all killed.”

“You’d never succeed now that Itachi is with them. I came to offer you an alternative to sending your ANBU on a suicide mission. Instead of killing the three genin, Kakashi of the Sharingan, and Itachi Uchiha, I suggest you allow me to capture Sasuke. I have plans for the boy and I can promise him to you as a pawn as well. I know you can use Kotoamatsukami to bend him to your will.”

“If you can promise me Sasuke as a pawn, you are insinuating that our ideals align. If you truly are Madara Uchiha, you surely want to see the village burn.”

“Don’t be simple.” Madara waved off Danzo’s statement with a flick of his hand. “I never wanted to see Konoha burn, I simply wanted a strong Konoha unlike Hashirama.”

“Yes, that is what you claim, but others have labelled your dispute with Hashirama as more of a lover’s quarrel than anything else.”

That had been a low blow, Danzo knew. He was not incorrect; it was well established that Madara and Hashirama had been romantically involved prior to their falling out, but trivializing their final epic battle served only to irritate Madara. 

Madara exhaled in something Danzo might consider a chuckle. “Do you accept my offer or not?” he said, bringing them back on topic. “I am not trying to interfere with your rule.”

Danzo knew that both he and Madara were most likely lying through their teeth in an attempt to manipulate the other. That being said, Danzo sorely wanted Sasuke as a pawn, especially after Itachi’s possible betrayal. With Sasuke in his clutches, he could control Itachi, the jinchuuriki, and likely Kakashi. As much as he despised the Uchiha, he needed them as weapons. If Danzo was anything at all, he was a master at backing out of agreements that no longer benefited him. This man would not take advantage of him regardless of his identity. 

“Do what you will,” Danzo replied with a dismissive wave. “All I ask for is my end in the bargain.”

“And that I will give you.” Madara’s chakra signature began to flicker, as if he was losing corporeality. “And a word of advice: kill the genin girl on Sasuke’s team. I know that she is far more trouble than she looks.”

With that, Madara disappeared without a trace, leaving Danzo once again alone in his office.  

Sakura found Itachi already ready for the day by the time she awoke; he sat cross-legged by the river, eyes shut in meditation. He had coiled his hair into a tight bun at the nape of his neck in order to keep cool in the hot summer sun. Sakura readied herself soundlessly behind him, not wanting to interrupt his moment of mindfulness. She had incredible respect for shinobi who trained their minds as well as their bodies: it always made more human fighters, if that phrase was not too much of an oxymoron. 

Itachi noticed her presence, of course. He did not so much as turn his head, but Sakura sensed his chakra shift from something perfectly still to its typical ebb and flow. 

“Good morning, Sakura,” he said, still facing the river. “I see none of your teammates are awake yet.”

“I’ve always been an early riser,” Sakura replied easily. It was a lie, of course, but she could not explain to Itachi that she was physically incapable of waking up past dawn thanks to years of fighting in a war. 

Itachi nodded in acknowledgement, slowly rising to his feet. He ambled towards the center of their campsite and reached for his water bottle, taking a quick swig. 

“I hear you have an aptitude for genjutsu?” Itachi’s gaze was perfectly neutral. He seemed to simply observe Sakura without passing any form of judgement. His eyes were on her, yes, but everything about his thoughts remained inscrutable. 

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been told,” Sakura said, smiling. “I didn’t start working on genjutsu until recently, but I would say it’s come fairly easily to me.”

“Good. I will help you improve, then.” Itachi glanced to his left, spotting movement from the circle of sleeping bags. Sasuke had just woken up. “Long range, precise attacks like genjutsu are incredibly useful for those of us who lack massive chakra reserves and they are still quite lethal in battle. My mother apparently took full advantage of genjutsu’s deadlier side in the Third Shinobi War.”

“Mom fought in the war?” Sasuke asked, joining the conversation now that he was fully awake. “All she ever told me was that she was a jonin at some point.”

Itachi’s lips curled into a small smile. “Yes, mother did fight up until she became pregnant with me. In fact, she was labelled the strongest Uchiha in the Konoha army during her service.”

“ Mom ?!” Sasuke gawked at Itachi. He knew his mother had been a fairly good shinobi at least; she had been able to teach him shurikenjutsu, after all, but he knew nothing of her true prowess. He had grown up thinking that his father held all the Uchiha strength and that his mother was wonderful, kind, beautiful, and loving. 

“I believe the elders requested that she keep her shinobi reputation on the downlow as soon as she became a mother, so I doubt you’d find much unless you did extensive research on the individual battles in the war.”

“Damn, Mom was a lot different than I thought,” Sasuke muttered, a dark shadow passing over his face for a moment. 

Itachi knew when to stop. His and Sasuke’s family was obviously an incredibly sensitive topic for the both of them and he did not want to push the topic so much that Sasuke had an outburst. Though he would never show it, speaking about his parents–especially his mother–hurt Itachi as well. It hurt him so deeply, he could not begin to articulate it. Though he had harbored secret resentment for his father from a young age, that infinitesimal amount of anger did nothing to ameliorate the crushing guilt he felt for plunging his tanto into his father’s beating heart. His mother’s death, on the other hand, had brought him to the brink of utter despair. She had been the one to teach him how to use genjutsu; she had been the one to assist in his sharingan training; she had shown him support where his father never would have dared. But Kushina’s death drove her to hatred of Konoha and left Itachi with no choice; he had barely been able to look at his mother that night without vomiting. 

“Thank you for offering to train me though, Itachi-san,” Sakura said, interrupting Itachi’s spiral. “It’s a real privilege to learn from the best genjutsu user in the world.”

Itachi nodded his head at that and turned back to the campsite, watching as Kakashi ambled over to join him. 

“I’d wake Naruto up, but he looks so comfortable,” Kakashi said, motioning to Naruto’s sleeping bag. “We don’t need to pack up and leave until later today, anyway.”

Sasuke shook his head in mock-exasperation. “That idiot’s gonna miss breakfast and then he’s gonna complain about being hungry until lunch,” he said.

Sakura nodded in agreement. “Well you can wake him up if you want to, but I’m not interrupting his beauty sleep.” 

A malicious grin came over Sasuke’s features. “Hey Sakura, can you give me your water bottle?”

“Oh he’s gonna kill you.” Sakura handed Sasuke her water bottle without hesitation. 

“I’d love to see him try.”

“It’ll be good training, at least,” Kakashi sighed, reaching into his pack for breakfast rations. As much as he wanted a nice, hot breakfast, he knew that such luxuries were well beyond him. Life as a shinobi during peacetime had spoiled him. 

A high-pitched shriek resonated through the clearing. Naruto threw his sleeping bag off of himself and leapt to his feet, immediately lunging at Sasuke. Sakura hurried over, her laughs loud enough to be considered a cackle. 

“I’m gonna fucking–” Naruto was interrupted by a quick swipe to his head which he barely managed to dodge. 

“Come on Naruto, you’ve gotta stay alert!” Sakura instructed, sweeping at his feet with her leg. “A shinobi is always aware of their surroundings!”

“Oh come on! Not you too, Sakura-chan!” Naruto leapt back and raised his hands, crossing his fingers in the hand-sign for the kage-bunshin jutsu. Countless clones appeared beside him in a puff of smoke, each of them lunging for either Sakura or Sasuke. Sakura ducked and weaved beneath Naruto’s erratic attacks, dispatching as many clones as she could. Pivoting on her heel, she came face-to-face with Sasuke. With a smirk, she levelled a side kick at his abdomen. Sasuke stumbled out of the way just in time, eyes widening in surprise.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, ramming his elbow into one of Naruto’s clones. “Whose side are you on?”

“Every shinobi for themself!” Sakura chuckled, reaching for Sasuke’s wrist. She managed to grab the edge of his sleeve, but it was just enough. With a quick tug, she pulled him towards her and flipped him over her shoulder sending his body flying behind her. 

Sasuke rotated enough in the air to fall vaguely on his feet, though he had to roll upon landing to ease the impact. As he rose to his feet, Sakura caught the signature red glare of his sharingan, though he was grinning all the same. Sakura met Sasuke’s gaze for just a second too long; immediately, she felt her chakra flow stutter, as if a foreign force had grabbed hold of it. Her surroundings changed almost imperceptibly, and if she were any other shinobi, she likely would not have noticed. Breathing to center herself, she spiked her chakra flow, throwing off Sasuke’s control with ease. 

“Come on, you’re going to have to try harder than that,” she teased, spinning around to dispatch another one of Naruto’s clones. “I’m no genjutsu amateur.”

“It was worth a try,” Sasuke grumbled. In the blink of an eye, he rushed towards Sakura, his movements blurring with speed. Sakura barely had time to deflect the blow to her abdomen, but she stepped to the left at the last second. Regaining her balance, she jumped backwards and readied hand-signs for one of the few earth-style jutsus she knew. With his sharingan active, though, Sasuke saw the move coming moments before Sakura even executed it. He vaulted himself forwards, leaping well out of the range of the rapidly sinking earth. Quicker than Sakura could even see, Sasuke was in front of her, engaging her in a fierce taijutsu battle. The two danced around each other, limbs flying with pinpoint precision as they managed to strike glancing blows on their opponent, but nothing solid. Several minutes passed with the two locked in a fierce spar; Naruto had stepped back to watch, jaw slack in amazement. 

“Alright, that’s enough, you two,” Kakashi said, waving his hand to signal the end of the spar. “Can’t have you tired out before we even officially start training.”

Sasuke and Sakura leaped backwards, putting a few feet of space between them before they flashed a quick unison sign and relaxed their posture. Itachi came to join Kakashi from his spot at the center of the campsite, a look of contentment on his face. 

“I’m impressed,” he said and every word sounded perfectly sincere. “You all show immense amounts of promise.” 

Sakura heard Sasuke’s breath catch.

“And you, Sasuke,” Itachi continued. “You’ve shown quite a mastery of the sharingan. I could not be more proud of you.” 

Itachi was not quick to impress. He was not adverse to showing his pride, unlike his father had been, but he did not dole out compliments like some of the Academy teachers. Sasuke had received compliments from Itachi before, though they had often been small and far-between. His brother was not only impressed by him, but he was proud . It nearly brought Sasuke to tears. 

“I believe I promised to train you, did I not?” Itachi ambled over to the three genin. “Do you have any suggestions for me, Kakashi-senpai?”

Kakashi waved his hand to dismiss Itachi’s formality. “Please, just call me Kakashi,” he said. “You’re so big now, the ‘senpai’ sounds weird. As for advice: I’d say you take Sasuke and Sakura and I’ll take Naruto. Naruto, I know that Jiraiya briefly introduced you to the rasengan, so I should probably finish teaching it to you since we don’t have contact with him right now.”

“Aw man, I kinda miss Ero-Sennin,” Naruto whined. “Even though he was weird and a little mean.”

“Once we deal with all this, I’ll be sure to find him again,” Kakashi assured. “He’s obligated to train you at least a little and all that.”

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms. “Yeah since he’s my shitty godfather, he should do at least that.” 

“I’m sure he will. Now Naruto, come with me. I’m going to teach you a really powerful jutsu.”

Naruto pumped his fist in the air and jogged after Kakashi. “Hell yeah! Suck it, Sasuke!”

Sasuke just shook his head and turned towards Itachi, a look of expectancy in his eyes. Itachi stood in a relaxed stance, his hands resting on his hips as he looked at Sasuke and Sakura with an inscrutable gaze. 

“I have a good sense of both of your taijutsu abilities now,” he said. “You are both in very good shape for shinobi of your age, so I think I will work with you both on ninjutsu, genjutsu, and in Sasuke’s case, dojutsu. By working on your genjutsu, we can also train Sasuke’s sharingan, thus feeding two birds with one bun.”

“Isn’t the saying “kill two birds with one stone”?” Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Itachi exhaled in a quiet chuckle. “Yes, but why would you ever want to kill a bird? They are such beautiful creatures.”

Sasuke shrugged and awaited further instructions. He had forgotten a lot of Itachi’s idiosyncrasies, but he found them particularly endearing now. 

“Right, so I suggest that you two engage in a genjutsu versus sharingan spar. Sakura, you will have to get creative with your genjutsu if you want to get past Sasuke’s sharingan, and Sasuke, you will work on both your attentiveness with the sharingan as well as your stamina. Do you two have any questions?”

Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads, stepping back to begin their spar. As soon as they flashed a unison sign, Sasuke’s eyes glinted red, three tomoe spinning in dizzying circles. Sakura was careful not to meet his eyes, her gaze fixed firmly on his feet and the muscles in his legs. She danced around him for a moment before turning her back for a second so that Sasuke could not see her run through hand-signs. Despite the near-prescience of the sharingan, it did no good if you could not see what your opponent was doing. Hand-signs completed, she pivoted on her heel to face Sasuke. With a spike of chakra, she completed her jutsu, disappearing into the earth below her. Sasuke dropped into a defensive stance, turning his head as his sharingan did its best to detect Sakura’s presence. He knew that the sharingan could see through some obstructions, but a thick layer of earth was too much for Sasuke’s yet to be fully mastered eyes. 

Several seconds of tense silence passed as Sasuke continued to scan his surroundings, sharingan straining in an attempt to identify Sakura’s chakra. The meadow seemed perfectly still, the only signatures coming from Itachi and Naruto and Kakashi who were standing far away. Suddenly, he sensed a presence right beneath his left ankle. He knew that Sakura was merely centimeters away from him, but he managed to stumble backwards just quick enough that Sakura could not grab his ankle. Fully emerged from the earth, Sakura pulled her fist back and levelled a punch right at Sasuke’s face. Sasuke stifled a gasp of surprise and ducked underneath her fist, hearing as the speed displaced the air above his head. If it had hit, he knew his entire face would have collapsed in the impact. 

“I thought nii-san said that this was a genjutsu and dojutsu battle,” Sasuke said, ducking into a roll to put space between him and Sakura. 

“He did,” Sakura agreed, meeting his gaze for less than a second. 

Sasuke furrowed his brow in confusion before paying attention to his chakra flow. It had been disrupted, but so slightly that he would not have noticed it unless he specifically checked. Sakura was subtle. He could not even tell what Sakura had changed about his surroundings. With a flare of chakra, he tried to disrupt Sakura’s genjutsu, but she held on strong. 

The two engaged in a battle of wills, with Sasuke desperately trying to free his mind from Sakura’s control while she tried to maintain her hold on his consciousness. 

“That’s enough,” Itachi said, stepping between Sasuke and Sakura. “I have a good sense of what to work on, now.”

Sakura nodded and released her genjutsu. Sasuke’s vision swam for a second as he came back to reality. With Sakura’s genjutsu dispelled, he found that she had completely mirrored the meadow, though she had obviously done it so gradually that he hadn’t noticed the changes. 

“I would argue that you starting your genjutsu before the match had officially started was cheating, Sakura, but I will give you credit for your ingenuity,” Itachi commended. “That being said, if you can find a way to truly get genjutsu through a sharingan, you will become one of the best non-Uchiha genjutsu users there are.”

Sakura knew that “non-Uchiha genjutsu users” meant everyone but Itachi and Sasuke, so earning that title meant she would be quite formidable. Itachi nodded to himself before raising his hands in the sign for the kage bunshin jutsu. 

“One of my clones will continue to work on genjutsu with Sakura,” he said, a picture-perfect replica of himself stepping towards Sakura. “And I will go train Sasuke’s sharingan near the river. Any questions?”

Both Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads again. Itachi seemed to ask for questions a lot during training, as if he had often been in a situation where someone did not understand his instructions. 

“Good.” The real Itachi walked off with Sasuke, leaving Sakura with the clone. “Would you mind if I show you an example of a genjutsu?” 

Sakura’s breath caught for a moment. She was torn between wide-eyed excitement towards witnessing the work of the foremost genjutsu user on the continent and underlying fear of Itachi’s sheer power. She knew that he wouldn’t hurt her–or at least she desperately hoped so. Itachi had proven himself to be incredibly kind and peace-oriented since she met him, but the knowledge that he had killed his entire clan did not leave her easily. Regardless, she knew that he was only trying to help her improve her genjutsu abilities. 

“Of course,” she replied with far more confidence than she felt. 

Before she could continue, she noticed a slight tug at her chakra system–something so subtle that she was only able to identify it due to her mastery of her own chakra. Itachi had already placed the genjutsu. She raised her hand in a ram seal and flared her chakra, but found that the genjutsu held strong. If she did not already know that she was in an illusion, she might have assumed that Itachi had not cast anything on her since she was unable to break through anything. Crouching down into a defensive stance, she scanned her surroundings, attempting to pick up on a difference. Once she identified something, the illusion would be that much easier to break out of. 

But everything was right. The smooth wood of her kitchen table cooled her fingertips as she waited for her mother to enter the dining room with a pitcher of iced tea. A gentle summer breeze wafted in through the window bringing–nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sakura clung to that discrepancy; she knew the smell of summer and she knew that despite the perfection of every other aspect, she could break out of the genjutsu with that. 

As she gathered her thoughts and focused on the hole in the illusion, everything began to feel wrong. What was she doing in her dining room? Had she not been in the middle of a clearing deep in the Fire Country forests merely seconds ago? Nothing about the illusion was right yet it had felt perfect. Her mind continued to peel back the layers of illusion as she slowly wrenched her chakra system back into her control. With one final spike of chakra, the last layer fell away and Sakura was left to stumble backwards into the bags near the center of the campsite. 

Her footing failed her and the ground grew closer, her hands flailing for purchase among the soft canvas of her teammates’ bags. She hit the ground with an unceremonious thud, something hard lodged behind her back. As she pushed herself into a crouch, she reached for the item beneath her, brandishing a small pill-bottle. She knew those pills. They were incredibly powerful cough suppressants and were only prescribed to those with acute respiratory illnesses. Before she could read the prescription or dosage, Itachi was in front of her and the bottle was suddenly out of her hands. He pressed a finger to his lips in order to silence her. 

“We can discuss that at a later date,” he stated, leaving no room for argument. “We will continue our training now.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise. She had no desire to challenge Itachi, though she was quite worried for his health. What he had was no simple cold; no doctor prescribed something as powerful as that to someone with a cold. From what she could glean from the size of the pills in the bottle, Itachi had been prescribed a high dosage. A cold weight settled in Sakura’s stomach. Itachi could be dying. She would confront him later, she told herself. 

Instead of bringing up the issue of the pill-bottle, Sakura merely nodded and rose to her feet, shaking off the disorientation of the genjutsu. 

“Tell me what you learned from my genjutsu,” Itachi instructed as if there had been no interruption at all. “How was it different from the ones that you have learned to perform?” 

Sakura turned her thoughts back to the genjutsu. It had truly been incredible. Itachi wove a nearly impenetrable web of deception and she knew he had barely put any effort into it. For him, that had been a low-level genjutsu he threw around as a teaching opportunity. She paled upon thinking about what his higher-level illusions looked like. 

“You didn’t just alter the image of my surroundings,” she said, remembering the feeling of complete normalcy she had while in the illusion. “You altered my entire perception of where I should be and what I should want to see. I fully believed that I was in my dining room at home and that it was where I was supposed to be. The only failing in the illusion was the fact that the summer air had no scent.”

Itachi nodded. “Good. Genjutsu clouds the senses. Often, we use it just to alter the target’s vision by showing them a scene that does not match their reality. Simple genjutsus like that are faulty as any other sense will conflict with the visual input and the target can easily break through. A good genjutsu targets as many senses as possible in order to create an environment and a feeling. The feeling can convince the target of normalcy or of comfort which deters them from breaking free of the illusion. As for the senses, it is easy to manipulate sight and sound. Touch is harder, but doable if you are adept at genjutsu. Taste and smell are incredibly difficult. Often, genjutsu specialists who can replicate tastes and smells are relegated to only those senses in genjutsu as managing the other three is far too difficult. I did not bother to include smell in my genjutsu and that is how you broke free–that was quite ingenious, by the way. If need be, though, I am more than capable of manipulating all five senses.”

The last sentence sounded like a boast, but Sakura knew that it was merely a simple truth from Itachi. No one else on the continent could cast genjutsu with the ease that Itachi did. He was notorious for altering his enemy’s perceptions entirely, trapping them in an illusory world that they could not help but break free of. On occasion, the sheer fear of his illusions stopped hearts. His power was a deadly one. 

“I think I understand,” Sakura replied. “How should I go about targeting multiple senses at once? I have successfully convinced people that they are drowning, but I was really only manipulating sight and touch. If I could get them to smell the salty air and taste the sea water, I could possibly drown someone on land.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow. “You want to know how to kill someone with an illusion alone?”

Phrased that way, her question sounded heartless and cruel, but she was a shinobi, was she not? Murder was the job description and it did her no good to beat around the bush. She already paid back the blood she spilled by being a healer. It was more than Itachi could say, after all. 

“I do,” Sakura concurred. “I am a medic, so I know the human body inside and out. I know exactly what to target to kill someone. If I could fully trick someone’s mind into thinking that their heart stopped, would that kill them?”

Itachi thought for a moment. “As much as it hurts me to teach a technique like this, I understand your point. I’m sure you know better than I, but humans have no conscious control over the beating of their heart. That being said, genjutsu can influence the subconscious though not easily. I encourage you to reflect on whether you want that power or not, then we can talk about the plausibility of the technique.”

Itachi’s words weighed heavily on Sakura. If her question abhorred even Itachi Uchiha–clan killer Itachi–what was she getting herself into? Yes, the idea of killing someone with just a thought was terrible, but was it truly worse than the destructive capabilities of Naruto and Sasuke from her timeline? Sasuke’s mangekyou had nearly the same abilities, after all. 

“I will think about it.” Sakura dipped her head in acknowledgement. “But I do have another question. You know very little about me. How did you create an illusion that was so specific to my memories?”

Itachi’s lips curled upwards at that. “Those were not your memories,” he said. “If you think back on it now, you will find that you were not sitting at your own dining room table, but mine from my childhood. A good genjutsu can convince you completely that something entirely wrong is right.”

Sakura imagined the table again. She could remember the cool wood, but it had been far lower than her own, hadn’t it. Her parents had not opted for a traditional dining room while designing their home; her mother wanted a taller table with raised chairs because she had seen the design once on a merchant trip to another continent. Yet the room she remembered from the illusion had been perfectly traditional with a low table and four cushions surrounding it. She could even remember the rub of a tatami mat below her foot. That had not been her dining room in the slightest, yet in the moment she could have sworn that it was. 

“That is terrifying,” Sakura admitted, shaking her head. “I have so much to learn.”

Itachi nodded. “You have all the potential you need. Not to mention, you have far more knowledge than I would expect from someone your age.”

Sakura nearly tensed at that. She could not tell if Itachi's tone was one of suspicion or of mere speculation; she did know, though, that he was a genius, and that she could not risk carelessness in her façade as a thirteen year old around him. She had already presented herself as serious and intelligent, but she knew that she could not show off any more skill than she already had. 

“Thank you,” she replied, offering Itachi a gentle smile. 

Before Itachi could continue in his lesson, Sakura heard Sasuke’s voice carry over the meadow. He sounded utterly terrified, his voice cracking as exclaimed. 

“Get away from me!” Sakura heard Sasuke cry. 

Itachi’s shadow clone disappeared in a dull poof, leaving Sakura alone in the center of the clearing. She hesitated for a moment before racing towards the site of the sound, already suspecting what had happened. As she expected, Sasuke stood in a crouch a few feet away from Itachi, his sharingan burning red, tomoe spinning. Itachi faced him, brow creased in concern, though he made no move to approach. 

“Sasuke, please,” Itachi murmured, still rooted to the spot. “I am not going to hurt you.”

Sasuke’s chakra spiked dangerously, the tomoe of his sharingan spinning even faster. Sakura did not dare make eye-contact. Several moments of tense silence passed before the tomoe in Sasuke’s eyes slowed to a languid crawl and eventually faded back into black. He fell heavily back into a sitting position, his head resting on his knees. After he struggled to control his erratic breathing, he lifted his head and pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes.

A quiet sigh escaped him. “Fuck.” 

Itachi looked once more at Sasuke before heaving in an unsteady breath and walking away. Sakura could swear that she saw his shoulders shaking slightly. 

“I think I know what happened; you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Sakura said, easing herself down beside Sasuke. “I’m sorry we made you do this all so soon.”

“It was just as soon as he activated his sharingan,” Sasuke muttered, curling tighter into himself. “It’s like I could feel the killing intent again.” 

Sakura could hear anguish raw in Sasuke’s voice. Seven years may have been more than half of his life, but it did little to erase the sheer trauma of Itachi’s actions. Despite a few days of reconciliation, Sasuke could not unlearn years of fear towards his brother, no matter how much he wanted to. 

“I don’t want to be scared of him,” Sasuke continued, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “And he looked like he felt so bad too. I just–” Sasuke let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know what to do.”

Sakura nodded, taking everything in. As much as she appreciated Sasuke’s willingness to confide in her, she had to admit that she was a bit out of her depth here. 

“You can take your time, you know that?” she said. “No one expects you to get used to all of this immediately. Naruto and I will do whatever we can to help you, okay? Just say that word.”

Sasuke nodded, exhaling again and rising to his feet. “I’m going to train on my own a bit,” he said, wandering over to the bank of the river. 

Sakura let him go, watching as he began to run through katas, his eyes closed in concentration. 

Sakura did not see Itachi for the rest of the afternoon. Without him there, she decided to practice chakra control exercises; they were mind-numbing in their simplicity and perfect for reflecting. Just as the sun began to inch below the horizon, Itachi reappeared, meeting Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto in the center of the clearing. He looked perfectly impassive, his expression a paragon of neutrality. 

“I was going to have us find a new campsite today,” Kakashi said, rolling his shoulders in slow circles, “but we should be fine for another night and I’m too tired. Who wants to get firewood?”

“I can go,” Itachi offered, noticing how Naruto’s eyes drooped with exhaustion. 

“I’ll come as well,” Sakura said, already moving to follow. She had important questions to ask Itachi, after all. 

“Alright, have fun then,” Kakashi said, shooing the two off towards the forest. 

As soon as Itachi and Sakura were out of earshot of the rest of their companions, Itachi sighed. 

“I know why you came,” he said, an uncharacteristic weariness to his tone. “Before we speak, you need to swear that you will tell no one about this. I can not risk Sasuke finding out.”

Sakura had heard similar requests from many ill shinobi in her time. No shinobi wanted to admit to sickness. As long as she could heal Itachi, she would not breach confidentiality.

“I promise,” she replied earnestly. “Now, what exactly is wrong?”

Chapter Text

Itachi could not often afford a day of respite. Between grueling missions and his father’s crushing expectations, he found himself in a constant state of movement and work. Less frequent than a day off, though, was him taking a sick-day. He knew perfectly well that he was only human, despite what others may say while muttering in awe at his achievements, but he could not help but feel lazy at spending the day in bed. 

It was nothing more than a nasty flu, his mother had told him, but it was enough to leave him bedridden for a couple of days. He had declined his mother’s offer to call in the clan doctor since what was the point in bothering an already busy man with something as simple as a flu? He knew he would recover in due time; the waiting would just be irritating. 

As he lay in bed contemplating the nature of his sick-day, he tried his best to ignore the dull throb in his temples as well as how much it hurt to draw a breath. He had no other symptoms of a flu: no fever, no muscle aches, and no nausea, but he hesitated to describe his sickness as a cold given the severity of his cough. Regardless, it would pass soon, as all simple illnesses did, and he would be once again thrust into the world of unrelenting work. 

A gentle knock on his door brought Itachi back to the present. 

“Come in,” he said quietly enough that his voice didn’t rasp. 

Shisui popped his head in through the door and, seeing that Itachi was alone, crossed the threshold, sliding the door shut behind him. 

“Wow, looks like the great Itachi Uchiha is human after all,” he teased, taking a seat at the foot of Itachi’s futon. “You look downright consumptive.” 

Itachi shot Shisui a weak glare. He was willing to let his guard down with Shisui. He didn’t feel safe enough to do so with anyone else. 

“It’ll go away in another day or so,” Itachi said, waving his hand in dismissal. “Until then, I guess I’ll just have to put up with your teasing?”

“The teasing is chronic, hate to break it to you. There’s no cure.”

“Only cure is to kill you, I guess,” Itachi grumbled, lips curving in a playful smile. 

Shisui raised an eyebrow. “You wish you could even get close. In the weak, fragile state you’re in now, you wouldn’t last a second.” For good measure, he tousled Itachi’s hair.

Itachi’s hand flew up to his head, immediately moving to smooth it back down. He only allowed himself vanity with his hair and Mikoto and Shisui often joked that he woke up so early every morning so that he could spend a good half hour brushing his long, silky locks in the mirror. 

“Anyway, your dad’s making me come into the police station today so I’ve got to run.” Shisui rose slowly from the foot of the futon. “I know Mikoto-oba’s out tonight, so I’ll drop off some soup later.”

Itachi nodded in thanks and leaned back into the pillows, letting his eyes fall closed. 

The flu went away in a matter of days, as Itachi had expected, though he noticed a lingering tightness in his lungs which he attributed to a particularly stubborn cough. But the flu came back the next winter, and the winter after that, and every following winter, leading Itachi to believe he just had a propensity for nasty coughs. The pattern remained the same–three days of a terrible cough once a year–until one particular mission in Kusa when the illness came on suddenly and did not dissipate. 

Itachi did not bother recounting his entire reverie to Sakura, opting only to include the important details. 

“I used to catch a yearly cough consistently when I was younger,” he told her. “It never lasted more than a few days, though I believe it got slightly worse each year. That was not a problem. About a year ago, I spent a winter in Kusagakure with my old partner and the cough came back suddenly and did not fade. It has consistently worsened since then and no village doctors I have seen have been able to do anything. I do not expect you to be able to heal me, but I truly do appreciate your willingness to do so.”

Sakura frowned. Itachi had no reason to believe that she would be better than any simple village doctor, but the dig at her skill level still rankled nonetheless. She had no doubt that she would be able to heal anything thrown at her in her original timeline–especially if she could use her mitotic regeneration jutsu. Now, it was a completely different story. Even if she conceptually knew how to heal Itachi, there was no promise that she would have the chakra to do so. And even if she did, how suspicious would it be for her to perform an incredibly high-level procedure at the ripe old age of thirteen? A “prodigy” status could only excuse so much. 

“I will do my best, I can promise you that,” Sakura replied. “Do you think we have time for a preliminary examination right now?”

“We can’t take too long, but that should be fine,” Itachi said. 

“Right. First of all, have you been coughing up any blood?”

Itachi bit back a grimace. That had been what worried him most. Not only were his coughs painful and wracking, but he had been coughing up increasingly significant amounts of blood in the past few months–enough to leave him dizzy afterwards. 

He nodded in response. “It has gotten worse lately.”

Sakura’s frown deepened. “That’s not great to hear.” She took a moment to tie her hair up and scanned Itachi from head to toe. “Would you mind if I probed your chest with healing chakra quickly?”
Itachi nodded and stood still. Sakura barely came up to his shoulder but she moved with the confidence of an experienced medic. The incongruity was not lost on Itachi. 

Sakura’s hands glowed green with healing chakra as she probed his lungs and the surrounding cavity, her attention focused on the tissue and alveoli. His lungs were damaged, there was no denying it. She let the green light fade away as her arms dropped back to her sides. 

“Okay,” she started, taking a moment to formulate her response. “Your lungs are fairly damaged. Nothing irreversible, I don’t think, but you must be in a significant amount of discomfort. I can’t diagnose anything yet since I haven’t run any tests, but the damage pattern seems to match that of tuberculosis. I’m surprised the village doctors didn’t just jump on a tuberculosis diagnosis.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow in an uncharacteristic display of emotion. “Tuberculosis is contagious, is it not?”

“Yeah, it is. Contagious through airborne particulates. You said you’ve been experiencing symptoms for a year though, right? Has anyone around you developed similar symptoms?”

Itachi shook his head. “I have kept fairly close quarters with Kisame Hoshigake since my inception in the Akatsuki and he has displayed no signs of illness.”

Sakura took a moment to ruminate on Itachi’s response. “Strange,” she finally said. “There is a possibility that you developed a particular, non-transmissible strand. That’s why doctors always say to only take the prescribed amount of antibiotics. Bacteria’s adaptive immunity is never a good thing. But I’m sure you knew that already.”

“If I got the disease, how could the strand be non-transmissible?” 

“Mutations can happen after infection,” Sakura offered. “As the bacteria replicate, there is always a possibility for mutations in the copying of genetic material, so this particular strain very well could have developed in your own body.”

“You are incredibly knowledgeable for someone so young.” Itachi’s tone was complimentary, but Sakura did not miss the underlying hint of suspicion. 

“I knew that I wanted to specialize in medical ninjutsu from a young age,” Sakura replied, the lie sitting readily on her tongue. “So I’ve been studying the field since I started the Academy.”

Itachi nodded, seemingly content to let the topic slip away for the time being. “What tests do you need to run?” he asked. 

“A blood test would be the most useful,” Sakura replied. She knew well how careful kekkei-genkai possessers were with their genetic material, as evident with the Hyuuga. Sakura knew that as one of two remaining Uchiha, Itachi would likely be particularly inclined to protect anything that could possibly be used in an experiment. Still, if she was to discern the root of Itachi’s illness, she had little other choice.

“I understand,” Itachi nodded, his brow creasing as he ruminated on Sakura’s words. “You may not be aware, but offering up genetic material is quite a risky thing for someone with a kekkei genkai, especially one as powerful as the sharingan.”

Sakura’s first reaction was to be mildly offended. Of course she knew that. She was no idiot. No, she reminded herself. You are not an incredibly knowledgeable jonin anymore. Itachi had absolutely no reason to believe that she knew the next thing about the Uchiha, especially since the entire clan save himself and Sasuke had been wiped out when she was only seven.

Sakura merely nodded, her eyes widening in mock-realization. “Oh, I see,” she said. “If you aren’t comfortable giving blood, I can try and think of another method.”

Itachi shook his head. “This will be the most effective way, right?”

Sakura nodded in response, conveying certainty in her gaze. 

“Since that is the case, I will just have to trust you. I hope I do not come to regret this, Sakura.”

Something about Itachi’s words cut Sakura to her core. They were perfectly simple and reasonable, but the precision with which he uttered each word made his sentences feel like incantations–there was a permanence to them. 

“I will do my best to make sure it doesn’t come to that,” Sakura replied, bowing her head. “We should probably head back now, right?”

Itachi nodded and at that moment, a shadow clone flickered into being beside him, holding an armful of firewood. Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t even seen him create the clone, much less noticed it go off to look for wood. 

Itachi and his clone set off in the direction of the campsite, Sakura following closely behind. Shadows obscured the forest as evening continued to fall, and though Itachi seemed to have no issue navigating through the darkness, Sakura had to stay vigilant in order to avoid gnarly roots that weaved through the soil.

By the time the two arrived at the campsite, the sun had almost completely retreated behind the horizon, casting only a few feeble rays of orange light onto the open meadow. Itachi’s gaze lingered on the river for an extra moment, his hand rising to his necklace: a motion that Sakura was beginning to notice Itachi did quite frequently. 

“What’s so interesting about the river?” she asked. Her teammates turned their heads towards her voice, all of them now waiting for Itachi’s response as well. 

“It’s a northern branch of the Naka,” he stated simply, setting the firewood down in the center of the campsite so that Kakashi could start the fire for their dinner.

The implications of Itachi’s statement were lost on all but Kakashi and Sasuke, their brows rising incrementally. A shadow passed over Sasuke’s features again; he was still somewhat shaken from the events of earlier that day, and Itachi’s lachrymosity did nothing to help his mood. 

“So are we gonna storm Konoha and totally beat Danzo up?” Naruto said, punching the air for effect. “That’s what we’re gonna do, right?”

Kakashi let out a weary sigh. “As much as I want to tell you not to be so crude, effectively, yes. That is what we’re going to do.”

Naruto threw his arms up in celebration. “Oh hell yeah! That bastard’ll never even see us coming! We’ll just run in there and BAM! My shadow clones’ll punch his dumb face in and then I’ll become the next Hokage!”

Kakashi held up his hand to stop Naruto’s rant. “I said effectively , Naruto.” The boy deflated. “Our plan is to get rid of Danzo, yes, but we will also be employing tact. Before we can even step foot in the village, we need to know who will take up the mantle of Hokage, and no, Naruto–” Naruto promptly closed his mouth. “You are too young, plus you do not possess the skillset necessary for restoring Konoha after a period of massive unrest. We need someone experienced.”

“How about Lady Tsunade?” Sakura offered, an innocent smile on her lips. “She was the Sandaime’s student, after all.”

“Or Pervy Sage!” Naruto recovered quickly from his brief disappointment in not being promised the mantle of Hokage at the age of thirteen. “He was also Old Man Hokage’s student.”

Kakashi shook his head. “Jiraiya-sama would never do it. He’s far too nomadic for a job like that. Tsunade-hime, on the other hand, is not a bad candidate.”

“If I’m not mistaken, isn’t Tsunade-hime currently on a grand tour of every bar and casino in Fire Country?” Itachi asked, shaking his head disapprovingly. “I’m not sure if she’s really in the best condition to rule a nation.”

“Oh she certainly isn’t, but she’s our best bet at the moment.” Kakashi pushed the heel of his palm into his forehead, groaning. “I can’t think of a universe in which she’d say yes when we ask, though.”

“I think mentioning that Danzo is about to turn Konoha into a military state might be incentive enough to light a bit of a fire under her,” Sakura replied. “But it’s not like I’ve ever met her, so I don’t really know what would or wouldn’t motivate her.”

Sakura noticed how Kakashi’s breath caught for a second as he bit back a laugh. If their situation was not so dire, it would be utterly hilarious. Sakura had so many opportunities to make perfect jokes, hindered only by her apprehension towards screwing up the timeline permanently. 

“You may have a point, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi agreed. “Tsunade-hime is our best option now, and we may as well find her. Even if we can’t convince her to take up the mantle of Hokage, we may get a good ally.” Kakashi paused for a moment. “If not for your whole…situation, Itachi, I always thought you would make a fine Hokage.”

The tone of the conversation quickly changed from light to deathly still. As always, Itachi simply looked sad. 

“You are very kind, Kakashi,” he replied, offering no more commentary on Kakashi’s statement. 

Sasuke’s frown deepened. 

“Anyway, we should leave after we finish our dinner,” Kakashi suggested, hoping to salvage the conversation. “I sent Pakkun to gather information on Tsunade-hime’s whereabouts a little while ago in case we decided on her as a candidate and he found that she was last spotted in a small town right at the Kusa border. Hopefully the town is unaffiliated with any hidden village.”

The shinobi nodded in acknowledgement and began their meal in silence. Sakura took the moment of silence to contemplate Itachi’s condition. She had offered to run a blood test which would certainly help her discern the cause of his disease, but she had no lab or any facility in which to perform the test. She had done blood tests in the field before, doing her best to create a sterile environment and scanning the sample with chakra, but it was never as precise. That being said, there was no chance she could get into a hospital any time soon, so field medicine would be her best bet. Hopefully, she would find Tsunade soon. Two medics were always better than one, and Itachi would surely trust Tsunade’s medical prowess. 

She hoped that Itachi’s condition was as simple as a strange strain of tuberculosis. Though the disease was troublesome and at times fatal, she had treated many cases of it and knew that at this point in the development of medical ninjutsu, it was perfectly curable. She also hoped that her suspicion of a non-transmissible strand was correct as well. As much as she appreciated Itachi’s presence on her mission, it did no one any good to have a disease vector spreading pathogens everywhere. 

Wasting away from an unknown respiratory disease would be a terribly inane way for Itachi Uchiha to die. Now that Sasuke finally got some family back, Sakura would do her absolute best to make sure he didn’t lose that so quickly after. 

“We should continue our medical ninjutsu training,” Sasuke suggested, breaking the silence. “It might be harder now since we’re travelling, but I don’t want to forget things.”

“Yeah, we can definitely work on stuff,” Sakura replied, giddy that Sasuke was truly committed to learning medical ninjutsu. Judging from the slight widening of Itachi’s eyes, he shared a similar sentiment. “You were stuck on healing live tissue, right?”

Sasuke nodded, brows creased as he admitted to a shortcoming. 

“We’ll work it out,” Sakura said, waving her hand in reassurance. “Plus, once we find Tsunade-hime, she might be able to help you.”

“And help you too,” Sasuke replied. “You can’t possibly know everything that Tsunade-hime knows about medical ninjutsu. I’m sure there’s things she can teach you.”

Sakura grinned sheepishly. In her previous timeline, she had effectively learned everything that Tsunade had to teach, but now, she was not supposed to have even met the legendary sannin. Ideally, Tsunade would have plenty to teach her. 

“Of course!” Sakura chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Aw man, I feel like I’m missing out on the super cool medical ninjutsu club,” Naruto whined. “Could you teach me too, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura sighed and lay a commiserating hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “It takes very fine chakra control, unfortunately,” she said, watching as Naruto visibly deflated. “Still, I can teach you first-aid! There’s a lot of medical stuff you can do without the ninjutsu part!”

Naruto nodded and let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess that’ll have to do,” he said. “Can you do medical ninjutsu, Itachi?”

Itachi turned to face Naruto, the hints of a smile on his lips. “I can not,” he said. It was a bit of a lie; he had copied medical ninjutsu techniques with his sharingan on several occasions, he just had never found the opportunity to use them. In his line of work, he was only ever tasked with killing, and his partners were always self-sufficient enough not to need someone to swoop in and heal them. Similarly, Itachi rarely hurt himself on missions, so he saw little need for healing jutsu. 

“See, you don’t need to know medical ninjutsu to be cool!” Naruto announced. “It kinda is the coolest jutsu ever though, second only to the rasengan because that one’s awesome . I mean, using jutsu to fix people is totally the coolest thing ever.”

Sakura found Naruto’s opinion incredibly refreshing. Given how much medical ninjutsu was often looked down on as either the coward’s route or a something relegated just for women and subsequently inferior, she did not hear people sing its praises often. She found that incredibly ironic given how many lives had been saved throughout shinobi history thanks to the skills of a proficient medic. Not all the glory in battle lay in those who landed the killing blow. Was it not just as important to ensure that your comrades lived to see another day? 

“It is quite an amazing technique,” Itachi agreed. “Shinobi who learn to be medics are some of the bravest of them all.”

Sakura’s chest swelled with pride. Despite all of the trials and tribulations of this timeline, she could not deny that she was getting a copious amount of validation as a ninja. She had never been seen as the best or bravest in her past life, as she was constantly coming in behind her prodigious teammates, but now, she was a prodigy in her own right. She wondered how the final round of the chunin exams would have gone if they had not been interrupted. Could she have won the showcase battles? She yearned slightly for another chance at time travel: a chance to try one more time, except with the experience of two lifetimes. Maybe she could do even better then. 

The five shinobi finished their dinner just as the sun completely sank behind the horizon, bright moon and twinkling stars lighting up the clear summer night. 

“We should head out,” Kakashi suggested, gathering his pack and putting out the fire. “If we leave now, we can reach a border town before morning.”

The other shinobi nodded in assent and gathered their own supplies, taking to the trees and flying through the darkness. 

Describing the situation between most shinobi and the Konoha government as tumultuous would be a terrible understatement. The majority of high-ranking jonin held poorly-disguised disdain for the acting Hokage, though they knew their power to do anything about him was incredibly limited. Dead-eyed ROOT agents patrolled the streets at all hours of the day, attentive for any sign of disobedience. Arrest numbers had skyrocketed, and most of the T&I department members had been replaced by Danzo’s underlings. Many prominent members of the department had chosen to resign instead, unwilling to perform the terrible acts Danzo instructed. 

Between resigned government officials and disgruntled jonin formed underground resistance movements. They were mostly inactive–still in the planning stages–but their intention was strong. 

In the basement of a small restaurant in the civilian district of Konoha, Kurenai Yuuhi led a meeting, running through all of the information she had gathered since the Sandaime’s unfortunate death.  

“I’m sure we all know what happened to Sandaime-sama,” she said, disdain evident in her voice. “And we now all know about the awful things Danzo’s done in the shadows. Thanks for the intel, Raidou.” 

The former ANBU operative gave her a sharp nod. He had written up everything Kakashi showed him and shared the intel with every trusted jonin he knew. Danzo’s damning involvement in the Uchiha massacre was now common knowledge amongst Konoha’s resistance. Still, simply knowing such information was incredibly dangerous, so Inoichi Yamanaka had carefully gone through every jonin’s mind and placed a seal on the information so that no Yamanaka performing a mind-walk could access it. The process had taken weeks and had nearly sent Inoichi into chakra shock, but his work was invaluable. Danzo could not know the extent of their knowledge. 

“I have gotten a few updates from Kakashi and his team in their travels,” Kurenai continued. “They’ve found Itachi Uchiha and have recruited him for the cause.” 

Several shinobi let out whoops of joy. Having Itachi Uchiha on their side increased their chances of success significantly, especially now that he was confirmed to be good and not a mad mass-murderer.  

“I just got a message from Kakashi’s ninken, Pakkun, today that they plan to locate Tsunade-hime in hopes that she will be willing to take up the mantle of Hokage. If they can do that, then we can begin our counterattack.” 

Anko Mitarashi placed her cup of sake onto the table with a loud thud. “Look, I’m a huge fan of the lady, but she’s been pretty fucked up since the war,” she replied, earning a few noises of assent from other present shinobi. “We need a backup plan in case she just wants to keep drowning her sorrows in bad bets and sake.”

“I’ll report that concern back to Kakashi as soon as Pakkun stops by again,” Kurenai replied. “Though, those visits may be less frequent now that the ROOT members are beginning to scan the village for foreign chakra signatures.”

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Anko groaned. “This is worse than those lame-ass shinobi dystopian novels you read as a teenager. What happened to the tried and true shinobi method of just hitting your problems real hard until they go away?”

“Trust me, I’d bite Danzo’s head off if I had the chance,” Hana Inuzuka grumbled, taking a swig of her sake. “Once we launch our counterattack, actually, make sure to work that into the plan.”

Anko raised her eyebrows, smirking at Hana. “Damn, you’re hot when you get pissed,” she said. 

“Now is certainly not the time, Anko,” Kurenai chastised. “Now if we could get back to the pressing issue here?”

“Yeah, yeah, as if I don’t see you eye-fucking Asuma every chance you get,” Anko grumbled, turning back to her sake. 

Kurenai’s face matched the shade of her eyes. “A-as I was saying,” she sputtered, “communication with Kakashi and his team is going to be more sparse now, even though now’s when we need it most. We’ll have to be even more vigilant. Anyone have anything to report?”

“I think Danzo’s starting to guess how much I hate his guts,” Anko added. “The last two missions he sent me on were labelled as A-rank but they were definitely pushing S-rank and he sent me with two of the most incompetent ROOT members I’ve ever seen in my life. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s trying to get rid of me silently.”

Kurenai furrowed her brow. “That’s not good to hear at all. If that happens again, mention a possible misfiling of missions to Homura or Koharu. Their involvement might make Danzo back off.”

“Yeah and if it doesn’t?”

“You might have to go rogue until we get this all sorted out if you want to survive.”

A heavy silence settled over the room. No one wanted to consider the ever-looming possibility of having to escape the village to avoid death. If Danzo truly did suspect them of opposition, he would have them executed, regardless of how poorly it reflected on the village. Every shinobi in the room was at risk of incurring Danzo’s wrath. 

“We’ve got to end this.” Hana let her head fall backwards, long hair spilling over the back of her chair. “The longer he’s in charge, the worse things are going to get. I’m sure we all know how close we are to war with Suna.”

“Once Kakashi and his kids get Tsunade-hime, then we can get everything in action.” Kurenai tried not to let her tone betray her worry, but she knew some bled through regardless. 

Hana nodded apprehensively, her hand slipping into Anko’s for comfort. “And how are your genin, Kurenai?”

Kurenai relaxed at the easier topic. “They’re handling this as well as they can. They’re all a little jealous of team seven, of course, but they’re as on-board with the rebellion as any of us. In fact, I think all of this might have radicalized Kiba.”

“Oh please elaborate,” Hana chuckled.

“I overheard Kiba and Hinata talking yesterday about the state of Konoha and Kiba was really talking passionately about overthrowing the council of elders and switching into a democratic system where everyone, including the civilians, votes for the Hokage and all that. These kids are looking for change.”

“Damn, your mom’s gonna be so proud, Hana,” Anko chuckled. “Kiba’s really a quintessential Inuzuka, huh.”

“Speaking of, I noticed that Tsume-san couldn’t make it today,” Kurenai said. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, she’s all good,” Hana replied. “She’s out on a mission today and tomorrow, but she should be back soon. From what she told me about it, it’s nothing suspicious.”

“Good good. We’re going to need to rally the clan heads pretty soon, so we’ll need her presence. I don’t think we should have much trouble with anyone but the Hyuuga, but Hinata, Neji, and I can try to work that out.”

“Real funny how you’re just the liaison between all the dojutsu clans now,” Anko noted. “And the Yuuhi just have funky looking eyes. No powers or anything.”

“I’m barely a liaison for the Uchiha. Other than Sandaime-sama asking me if I knew anything about the sharingan right after the massacre, which I don’t by the way, I’ve only dealt with Sasuke a few times. The whole thing is that the Yuuhi and the Uchiha might be distant relatives, but we likely just aren’t.”

“Yeah whatever. Red eyes and more red eyes. Plus, you do genjutsu.” 

Kurenai conceded that point to Anko. The primary distinction between her and an Uchiha, though, was the fact that she was not moody and mildly terrifying. 

“Before we adjourn this meeting, does anyone else have anything to add?” 

The room remained silent for a moment before someone seated in the back gasped. 

“There’s a ROOT agent about two minutes from the door,” Yakeru, a jonin chakra sensor announced. “She’s headed this way.”

“Everyone shunshin away now ,” Kurenai ordered. “If you leave now, you won’t leave a trace. I can handle this.” 

The shinobi in the room nodded in assent and raised their hands in the sign for a shunshin. Within seconds, the room was empty. Kurenai grabbed Hana’s half-full cup of sake from the table and made her way up to the main dining hall, taking a seat at a corner table. Seconds later, the ROOT member came through the door of the restaurant, bringing a tense silence in her wake. 

“Kurenai Yuuhi,” she said, walking straight towards Kurenai’s table. 

“Yes?” she replied, her posture perfectly relaxed, hands resting under the table. “Do you need something?”

“There have been reports of several shinobi entering this restaurant. Where are they?” 

Kurenai cocked her head to one side and quickly ran through the hand-signs for a layered genjutsu. A look of docile confusion passed over the ROOT agent’s face as she fell victim to the genjutsu. 

“Right. I was just going,” she mumbled, turning out towards the door. She tripped over her feet as she passed through the threshold, but disappeared into the night, leaving Kurenai once again alone in the restaurant. Leaving a large wad of money on her table for the owner, she raised her hands in the signs for a shunshin and disappeared from the restaurant. 

The five travelling shinobi quickly donned their civilian disguises before entering a small town on the Amegakure-Konoha border. They had a few days of travelling left before they reached Kusagakure, but they needed somewhere to rest before setting off again. 

The genin found themselves falling easily back into their civilian personas, stances relaxed and chakra masked. Itachi adopted a disguise as well, posing as a scholar just like Sakura. Something about the persona suited him perfectly–well enough that Sakura believed he may have been a scholar in another life. 

Kakashi led them to the front desk of a small, homey inn, his eyes crinkling in a warm smile. 

“If we could have two rooms, that would be wonderful,” he said, reaching into his messenger bag for his wallet. “Two beds in each.”

The innkeeper nodded, flipping through the logbook to see what rooms were free. 

“You’d prefer two next to each other, correct?” He asked, glancing up at Kakashi from above the rim of his thin glasses. 

“Yes, that’d be best. Gotta keep an eye on these rowdy kids here.” 

Naruto kicked at Kakashi’s shin, but the older shinobi easily sidestepped it, placing a handful of coins on the counter and grabbing two keys. He handed one set to Sakura and pocketed the second, bowing his head towards the innkeeper and setting off towards the stairwell. 

“I know we’re not spending inordinate amounts of money or anything,” Sakura said as she made her way to her room, “but do you worry that we’re going to run out if we keep staying in inns and all that?”

Kakashi merely shrugged. “I’ve been taking A and S class missions since I was barely in the double digits and I don’t really buy much,” he said. “Plus, I bring all my savings with me everywhere.”

Sakura made a sound of confusion. “How is that a good idea? What if someone steals your scroll with literally all your money in it? What then?”

“No one’s stolen the scroll yet.” He shrugged and stopped in front of the door of his room. “Anyway, Itachi and I will take this room and you, Sasuke, and Naruto will take the other one. Sakura gets a bed to herself.”

Sasuke shot Kakashi a withering glare and then turned it on Naruto. 

“You better remember to shower, loser,” he hissed, hand on the doorknob. 

Naruto scoffed, hands on his hips. “I’m more worried about you getting all your nasty emo germs on me.” 

“It’s only one night, you two,” Kakashi sighed, entering his room with Itachi in tow. “Don’t murder each other.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them, I promise,” Sakura assured, herding the two boys into the room. 

Kakashi closed the door quietly behind him and Itachi, his shoulders relaxing once he was out of the presence of the genin. 

“You’re lucky you never had to take on a genin team, you know that?” he said, readying himself for bed. “Kids are a real hassle.”

Itachi hummed in agreement, pulling the hair tie out of his hair and undoing the simple ponytail. He reached into his bag for a comb and began to meticulously comb through his hair in front of the small vanity. 

“How old are you now?” Kakashi asked, trying to hold a conversation with the terribly taciturn ninja. “I’ll be honest, you’ve always seemed like an old man to me.”

“Eighteen,” Itachi replied. “Sasuke is five years younger than me.”

“Oh so you’re almost all grown up now,” Kakashi mused, falling heavily onto his bed. “Not that you haven’t always been a grown up, of course. Anyway, any fun things happen on your travels? Meet any pretty girls?”

“No.” Itachi shrugged off his travelling cloak and made his way to the ensuite bathroom to brush his teeth. 

“You’re still not much of a conversationalist,” Kakashi grumbled. 

“So I’ve been told.”

The two lapsed into silence as Kakashi lay atop the blankets on his bed, gaze fixed at the plain ceiling. He had faced countless challenges in his shinobi career as well as his fair share of bizarre scenarios, but somehow the past few months managed to eclipse all his past experiences in sheer absurdity. Here he was, in a tiny, unaffiliated border town right between Konoha and Amegakure, sharing a room with likely the strongest shinobi he knew, who, until a few weeks ago, he believed to be a mad mass-murderer. Konoha was on the brink of ruin and his best chance of saving the village he loved so much lay in the hands of one volatile, drunken gambler. Right. And one of his lovely genin was a time traveller. Somehow, that particular detail had become more commonplace than anything else he was dealing with. 

Itachi finished in the bathroom, turning off the light and closing the door behind him. As he settled down on the soft bed, he let his eyes fall closed. He did not expect to sleep much–he rarely did–but going through the motions served to rejuvenate his body somewhat. 

“Hana’s been taking care of Shiro, by the way,” Kakashi muttered after turning off the lights in the room. He wondered if Itachi even remembered his childhood dog after everything that he had gone through. When Kakashi went to the Uchiha compound to clean up the blocks and blocks of corpses, he had half-expected to find Shiro dead too. But Itachi had not wasted his time with a dog, and instead left Shiro to curl up, whining, next to Sasuke’s trembling body until help arrived. 

“I am glad,” Itachi replied simply. As much as each reminder of his horrible deeds hurt him, he took a twisted pleasure in each time someone brought up the massacre. He needed to be reminded of what he did–he needed to be held accountable constantly. If he was ever allowed to forget his actions, he would have truly fallen into the pits of deplority. 

As he lay in the dark inn, his mind wandered back to his old acquaintance, Fumiro. He wondered what the boy–no man, now–thought of him after everything. Fumiro had been so smitten with Itachi; Itachi’s actions must have hurt him deeply. Another person for whom Itachi would have to atone. 

Itachi allowed himself to doze off, Kakashi’s slow breathing soothing his own. It hurt to breathe nowadays, though not unbearably so. Itachi wondered when he had gotten so old. 

He jerked awake not long after to a sickening presence in the adjacent room. Leaden dread coiled in his gut. No one else was awake, according to their languid chakra signatures, but Sasuke was in terrible danger.

Chapter Text

Itachi leapt from his bed in mere seconds, his hands flying through the familiar signs for a shunshin jutsu. Panic squeezed at his chest; when was the last time he felt like this? Not on the night of the massacre, no, that had been numbingly painful. The night on the waterfall, though–now that moment filled Itachi with similar panic. 

As soon as his body materialized in Sasuke’s room, he flew into motion, the familiar weight of shuriken resting between his fingers. His sharingan flared into existence, the three swirling tomoe twisting into curved blades. His new vision illuminated the room in perfect clarity, yet he could not ignore the searing pain that tugged at the back of his eyes. 

“You were quick as I expected, Itachi-kun,” a masked man said, his hand resting over Sasuke’s sleeping form. Both Naruto and Sakura lay supine and unconscious: victims of a strong genjutsu. 

Itachi flicked a kunai at the masked man’s throat, the blade moving too fast to see. The man jerked to the left, allowing the kunai to graze past the side of his mask and imbed itself in the far wall with a dull thud. 

“Quick indeed,” he mused, voice full of sick amusement. “But I know how to take my precautions, and I am afraid I will be needing your little brother. There is nothing you can do about that, unfortunately.”

Murderous energy emanated from Itachi’s form as his eyes glowed crimson. Black flames blossomed from the floor around the masked man, curling upwards as they attempted to consume him, but they found no purchase as they licked through empty air. 

The incorporeal figure of the masked man chuckled, flickering to the other side of Sasuke. “A valiant effort, but you should know better than to disrespect your ancestors like that.”

With a flare of chakra, Itachi extinguished the amaterasu, a line of blood trickling from his eye down his face. “Let Sasuke go, Madara,” he said, readying another kunai. 

Madara chuckled again, his gaze falling back to Sasuke. “Now, you know well that I can’t do that, but I am not foolish enough to fight you outright, Itachi, so I will be taking my leave. Your presence is making my job quite a bit harder. I would have liked to take the girl too, but there’s only so much I can do with limited time. It’s quite a shame that you had to leave the Akatsuki, by the way. We were all so certain that you were undyingly loyal.” 

Just as Itachi released another barrage of kunai, careful to avoid Sakura and Naruto’s sleeping forms, Kakashi burst through the door, weapons drawn. 

Madara dodged each of Itachi’s kunai, though the strain was evident in his movements. A sudden spike of chakra radiated from his form as his one visible eye morphed in form. He turned his gaze again to Sasuke whose body disappeared into thin air. 

Itachi’s killing intent grew into something suffocating as he released yet another barrage of kunai and rushed towards Madara. His limbs flew in an imperceptibly fast flurry of blows, which Madara struggled to dodge. Whatever he had done to Sasuke seemed to take a toll on him. His sharingan glowed in the dark room as he continued to track Madara’s movements. Kakashi leapt into action as well, running through the hand-signs for a lightning jutsu. Madara narrowly ducked under a crackling bolt of lightning, allowing it to ignite the wall behind him. 

An angry red silhouette outlined his frame as he continued to fend off both Kakashi and Itachi. Itachi stepped forward again, the dry heat from the open fire breathing warm on his face. His sharingan began to spin again in a dizzying pinwheel. 

“I have no time for your tsukuyomi today,” Madara said, careful not to meet Itachi’s gaze. “I got what I came here for. It’s quite a shame to find myself on opposite sides of you like this, Itachi. You could have been so useful.” 

Just as Madara raised his right hand in a sign, Sakura jolted awake, having finally broken through the genjutsu. Within the blink of an eye, she palmed a kunai, vaulted herself upwards and slashed down, cutting clean through Madara’s left hand. He staggered backwards, crying out in pain and surprise.

“You always have been trouble, haven’t you,” Madara spat, a one-eyed glare burning into Sakura.

Itachi seized the moment of confusion to rush forwards again, kunai aimed right at Madara’s chest. Just as the tip dug into his flesh, his body lost corporeality again and he vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a bloody hand in his wake. 

Sakura let her kunai fall from her hand, the blood from the blade pooling on the ground. “Where is Sasuke?” Her voice shook with emotion as she fervently scanned the room for any sign of him. “Where did he go?” 

Itachi opened his mouth to respond, but instead staggered backwards, more blood trickling from his left eye. His eyes flickered back to black and rolled up into his head as he collapsed in a heap to the ground.  

“We need to leave immediately,” Kakashi said in a monotone. Raising his hand in a quick hand-sign, he summoned a water jutsu to extinguish the flames that continued to lick at the thin wood of the walls. 

“We need to find Sasuke!” Sakura cried. “That man–the masked one–Madara, he took him! We can’t waste any time!”

Kakashi shook his head, leaning down to check on Itachi’s unconscious form. “We can’t do anything with Itachi in the state he is in. And that man was not Madara Uchiha, that I can promise you.”

Sakura took a step back, eyes widening with surprise. “What are you talking about?!” Her voice rose in volume. “We can’t just abandon Sasuke to some psychopath! And I know for a fact that the man was Madara Uchiha. He said as much in my past life!”

“Well, he lied.” Kakashi wrapped an arm around Itachi’s torso, heaving his weight onto his shoulder. “Pick up Naruto. Don’t bother waking him up until we’re safe. We’re leaving.” 

Sakura’s eyes grew wider. “What are you talking about?! We can’t just let Sasuke die!” 

Kakashi grasped Sakura’s upper-arm with his free hand, his grip deathly tight. “Do you think we have any choice?” 

“Kakashi–”

“Don’t argue with me.” Kakashi’s grip tightened. “If you want the rest of us to survive, we need to leave now. You know as well as I do that Itachi is not well.”

Sakura grit her teeth and wrenched her arm from Kakashi’s hold. “Fine. We leave now, but we will find Sasuke as soon as I heal Itachi.”

Sakura heaved Naruto’s body over her shoulder and followed Kakashi out the gaping hole in the wall and into the night. Her heart hammered relentlessly at her chest as she replayed the few moments she remembered since waking up. 

Sasuke had been gone by the time she opened her eyes, leaving nothing but an indent in the futon. Sasuke was not there, but both Itachi and Kakashi were. They should have been able to protect him. Two of the strongest ninja on the planet were together in a room and they could not prevent one man from stealing Sasuke away. That couldn’t be right . Yes, Itachi was ill–the damage in his lungs was testament to a great deal of pain and suffering–but he was supposed to be better than this. He single-handedly murdered his entire clan at thirteen and yet he could not even save his little brother five years later. Fury burned in Sakura. Kakashi and Itachi had failed and subsequently jeopardized her entire mission. 

Anger at others for failing her was a funny feeling for Sakura. Self-loathing had always consumed her: she had always been the weak link; she had been the one to let the enemy get away; she had been in need of saving. But now others relied on her competence, her strength. As good as it felt to be the strong one, it was also a burden and deeply infuriating. 

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Sakura asked Kakashi. Her voice was cool, all malice hidden behind rigid composure. 

“There is little I could do against a jutsu that bends space itself,” Kakashi replied, his answer simple yet revealing. His failure had a different cause. 

Sakura bit back a scoff. “There is no use in lying to me! I know the abilities of your mangekyou. You could have bent space to your will if you so chose!”

Kakashi shook his head and adjusted Itachi’s weight on his shoulder. So he did have to resort to the power of the mangekyou in his future, after all. He had hoped that he would never have to use such an ability; he had hoped that he would never have to see the life leaving Rin’s eyes again, as he inevitably would have to as soon as he activated the mangekyou. 

“Madara Uchiha was not known to be able to use kamui,” Kakashi replied, gaze fixed forwards as he flew through the trees. 

Sakura narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

She was met with tense silence. 

“I know you said that you didn’t think the masked man was Madara, but that’s not a compelling argument. Using the kamui does not discredit his identity; he has had decades to learn jutsu. Who’s to say that the kamui was not one he added to his arsenal?”

Kakashi shook his head. “You don’t understand how the mangekyou works.” 

As simple as his sentence was, it cut Sakura to her core. Despite years of building up her own self-confidence, Kakashi still knew how to rip it away in mere seconds. Sakura found herself appalled at how much weight Kakashi’s approval held. 

Taking a second to compose herself, she recovered with a quick retort. “Then explain it to me. There are three sharingan users on this team, two of which have the mangekyou. For us to be an effective team, I should know the extent of everyone’s abilities.”

“There is only so much I can tell you. Its very existence should be a clan secret, after all.” 

“The Uchiha clan is two people. Who knows, it may be one now, but if it is not, we have a duty to protect Sasuke, and to do that, I need to know everything about his captor. Let’s not let formalities override saving someone’s life.”

Kakashi’s jaw clenched. A moment of silence passed before he began to speak. “As I’m sure you know, the mangekyou is an advanced form of the sharingan. Each wielder of the technique receives certain abilities upon unlocking it. Itachi, as I’m sure you know, can summon black flames, or amaterasu as well as cast the Tsukuyomi genjutsu. Some receive two abilities–one in each eye–while others receive one. Each technique is unique to the eye, though there are a few abilities that all mangekyou wielders share. Do you understand why this masked man would not be able to learn the kamui now?”

Sakura shook her head slowly. The statement alone made sense, but something else contradicted. “You said that each technique is unique to the eye, yet both you and the masked man can use the kamui. What are you suggesting?”

“You’re quicker than this, Sakura.”

Sakura knew that Kakashi truly was on-edge. He was not easy to anger and he rarely ever became malicious with his students. The enmity of his response was clear testament to the painful revelation to come. 

Sakura let out a steadying breath. “Obito Uchiha is long dead. Are you saying that someone stole his second eye?”

“I am saying that the masked man is Obito Uchiha. I knew it from the moment he used his mangekyou.”

“No. That can’t be possible,” Sakura muttered. “No, no. In my old timeline, there was a masked man but that was Madara and we killed him. I saw his face. I saw Naruto and Sasuke plunge their hands into his chest.”

“How do you know that he and the masked man were one in the same? Did you ever confirm it?”

Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but found herself at a loss. There had been a distinct difference between the “Tobi” she met a few months before the beginning of the war and the Madara she and her teammates fought. Kakashi was right. She had never seen Tobi’s face, save the one visible eye beneath his mask. She had believed that the one-eyed mask was designed to hide Madara’s rinnegan, but if Kakashi’s theory truly was correct, then the mask served to obfuscate an empty socket instead of an ultimate dojutsu. 

The masked man’s–Sakura was still unsure of what name to call him–final statement began to make more sense. If Tobi, or Obito as Kakashi so claimed, truly did remain alive in her past timeline, then he could have been the one to follow her back in time. It certainly explained the drastic changes to her timeline even before she had made a distinctive change herself; and no one but an Uchiha with the mangekyou sharingan could copy an incredibly advanced spatiotemporal jutsu like the one Sakura used. He knew exactly who she was. As simple as the explanation seemed, it filled Sakura with even more dread. This timeline, regardless of how hard she had tried to salvage it, was beginning to crumble into chaos. Perhaps such a fall was inevitable: some sick, entropic destiny that refused those precious to her happiness. Perhaps her fate was beyond saving. She had heard a saying back in her Academy days that “to be a shinobi was to lose” and though she had dismissed it as pessimistic drivel, she was beginning to understand its merit. Not only was it wholly true, it underlined a basic principle about the life of the shinobi. Kakashi knew it well and so did Itachi. Sakura was one in a long, long line of strong shinobi who came to understand that tragedy in their life was inevitable. 

Kakashi’s curt voice broke Sakura from her thoughts. “I’m going to take your silence as you understanding the merit of what I explained,” he said, slowing to a stop atop a branch. “Let’s rest here. We’re not far from where Tsunade-hime was last spotted.” 

Rumors of unrest reached Danzo’s office. He was no idiot; he knew that the shinobi loyal to Hiruzen took poorly to his new station, but he had hoped that simple fear-mongering and threats of violence would quell their rage enough for him to retire them quietly. He had hoped that he would not have to put down an attempted revolution so soon, though. He had been doing his best at eliminating the major threats to his power: Anko Mitarashi, Kurenai Yuuhi, and many other jonin of that particular faction, but clearly he was not moving fast enough. If he allowed their angry resistance to gain enough traction, he may lose his hard-earned station yet. 

Tapping his pen on the edge of his desk, he glanced down at the stack of mission files he had organized earlier that day. Sending problem shinobi out on life-threatening missions with near-zero success rates was easily his favorite method of deposition, yet it had not brokered nearly enough success. Anko had met every single one of his deadly missions with a toothy, vicious smile and returned both on-time and successful despite the sheer incompetence of the shinobi he sent with her. Hana, Tsume, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai found the same infuriating success. Danzo knew that the longer this went on without a single one of them dying, the more likely they were to bring up the strange nature of their missions with the council, and Danzo was not quite ready to dispose of the council members yet. 

With the unrest from the jonin and their genin, Danzo found furthering his personal goals incredibly difficult. His attempts at going to war with Suna had been met with only failure thus far; war required an agreement of hate from both sides for some inane reason, and with Rasa unwilling to enter a battle he knew would end in loss, there was little Danzo could do. He could simply invade, of course, but such a move would paint Konoha as warmongering and barbaric instead of the pinnacle of shinobi excellence and he could not have that. If Rasa did not rise to the challenge of war soon, Danzo would have no chance but to use his last resort tool. 

One of the chakra sensing scrolls on his wall began to glow a dull blue. Danzo neatly filed away his mission papers and crossed his hands on his desk, awaiting the visitor. Several moments later, three sharp knocks rang out through his office. 

“Come in,” he announced, gaze fixed on the door. 

Kurenai Yuuhi swung the door open, crossing the threshold without hesitation. She stopped a few feet in front of his desk and bent down in a stiff bow. 

“Danzo-sama,” she said, making sure that each formality was accounted for. 

“To what do I owe this pleasure,” Danzo replied, a smile tugging at his cheeks. 

He found it nearly humorous how easy it would be to dispose of Kurenai at that moment. She was strong, yes, but her genjutsu were all but useless against his sharingan, and she would never expect him to use such a technique. Her sudden disappearance would raise questions, of course, but he would have no problem quelling the rumors with a few more threats and one grandiose speech. Killing Kurenai would be a last resort, but Danzo found the ease with which he would be able to do it comforting. 

“I was hoping to inquire about a few of my past missions, Danzo-sama,” Kurenai said, her expression guileless. “I believe the last few missions I was sent on may have been classified incorrectly. I understand that there is inevitably going to be some rough patches as you adjust to the mantle of Hokage, and I know that Sandaime-sama, may he rest in peace, was not always the most organized man, but I was hoping that by bringing this to your attention, my comrades and I may avoid more dangerous situations.” 

Kurenai knew well that she was toeing the line between bluntness and insubordination, but her rage was difficult to stifle. Before Danzo could respond, she continued. 

“I’m sure you want proof of my claim. Rest assured that I did not come empty handed. Here, I have copies of my mission reports and the instructions I was given. I have also written up detailed descriptions of my teammates' performances on the past few missions. It’s quite exciting to see how many new jonin Konoha suddenly has. I don’t believe I have been on a mission with a jonin I recognize in quite a bit of time. Might I ask when the jonin exams were held? It seems as if I missed them.”

Danzo’s expression did not change, the bland smile remaining on his lips. “I will take your complaint into consideration,” he said, taking the stack of papers from Kurenai and stashing them neatly in his desk drawer, clearly never to be touched again. “As for the jonin exams, I have instituted a new promotion system which I believe will be more effective than the archaic trials we had in the past. But you are a jonin already, are you not? So there is nothing for you to worry about.”

“Of course not, Danzo-sama,” Kurenai replied, her tone remaining perfectly professional. “I just could not help but be surprised when not a single jonin was informed of the change in protocol. But then again, perhaps I missed it.”

Danzo waved his hand in a dismissive motion. “If that is all you wanted, you may leave now. I trust you left me with everything you deemed important?”

“Yes, of course.” Kurenai offered a cordial nod before she turned towards the door. “I just hope that we can sort this all out quickly. I’d hate to have to take my complaint to the council when I could easily just settle it with you.” 

With that, Kurenai turned her back to Danzo and made her way to the office door. Danzo’s hand moved imperceptibly towards his kunai, but before he could fling the projectile, Kurenai disappeared in a cloud of smoke: a shadow clone. Danzo clenched his jaw, his hand falling back to his side. It heartened him to see that Kurenai was not a complete fool; she did not dare enter enemy territory without an escape strategy, yet Danzo was now left to tie up loose ends. Kurenai had offered him an ultimatum: she had evidence of incorrectly classified missions that she planned to bring to the council and an obvious, deep-rooted suspicion of him. Who knows what else she knew. Leaving her and her compatriots alive would be far too dangerous. 

Of course, Danzo understood that killing off one’s subordinates was never a sign of a great leader, but such steps were necessary if he was to bring about a truly great Konoha. The council would bend to his will within reason; he had to make sure that they remained on his side. 

With a deep exhale, he leaned back into his seat, eye falling shut. The weak, sentimental roots of Hiruzen’s Konoha ran so deep. Purging them would take far more work than Danzo had hoped. 

His musings were yet again disrupted by a spike of chakra, though this one evaded his sensors. He immediately knew to whom the presence belonged. As he expected, a swirling, orange mask manifested before him, though splatters of blood riddled its glossy surface. As the body came into full corporeality, Danzo could not ignore the slow, dripping stream of blood that came from his left arm and pooled on the concrete floor. 

Madara spoke with a voice full of levity despite his bloody wound. “I got the boy,” he said. “It was far easier than I expected, too. Itachi is dying quicker than I thought.” 

“You’ve lost a hand,” Danzo replied, motioning to the dripping stump that was just visible from beneath Madara’s saturated sleeve. “I can’t help but be surprised to see that you actually bleed.”

Madara let out a dry chuckle. “Though I far eclipse you in skill, I am only human. The girl has proven to be trouble yet again.” He motioned to his left side. “I should have Sasuke kill her.”

“You are very confident that you can control him.” Danzo raised an eyebrow. Uchiha were not only capricious in nature, but stubborn. Madara’s identity as an Uchiha only blinded him from seeing both his and Sasuke’s true nature. 

“And you are very confident for someone who was not able to tell the difference between a shadow clone and someone of flesh and blood.” 

Danzo’s jaw tightened in poorly masked anger. Madara took his silence as a cue to continue. 

“I will have no trouble with Sasuke, that I can assure you. The larger, more pressing issue is Sasuke’s friends coming after him. I doubt any attempts at retrieval would be successful, but they will certainly be a pain to deal with.”

“And what of my side of the bargain?” Danzo finally got in a word. 

“What about it? I intend to keep my word; you will have Sasuke once I am done with him, and trust me, him spending some time with me will only be helping you in the long run. No one can bend an Uchiha to their will like one of their own.”

Danzo paused for a moment, weighing Madara’s words. “Do what you must.”

With that, Madara disappeared from the office, the blood he had dripped on the floor somehow disappearing with him. Quite a shame , Danzo thought. Uchiha genetic material would be useful . 

Sakura leapt into motion as soon as Kakashi lay Itachi down on the grass. Naruto lay supine beside him; neither Sakura nor Kakashi dared wake him up while there was still work to be done. He would only add to the chaos around them and Sakura needed a calm environment if she was to heal Itachi successfully. 

“Was he this ill in your past timeline?” Kakashi asked, looking at Itachi with a worried glance. “His pulse is incredibly feeble and he’s lost all color in his face.”

Sakura shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t think we really interacted at all in my past life,” she said, beginning to probe Itachi’s body with healing chakra. “All I know is that he was alive and well enough until a few years from now which is more than I can say about this Itachi.”

Her preliminary scan revealed far more damage than she had seen only a few days prior. Scar tissue riddled Itachi’s lungs and blood pooled in his chest cavity. Left untreated for a few more days, he would begin to drown in his own blood. A bitter voice in the back of Sakura’s mind pointed out the dramatic irony of Itachi’s greatest foe being his own blood, but she silenced that train of thought as she turned her focus back to his condition. 

Though the damage patterns had once seemed reminiscent of tuberculosis, Sakura was no longer sure. His lungs themselves seemed to be malfunctioning; it did not seem as if there was any bacterial infection. As she continued to probe the soft tissues of his chest with healing chakra, she began to suspect either something genetic or something viral. Respiratory viruses were incredibly common and easy to contract, yet always transmissible and whatever afflicted Itachi was not contagious. Not only had Itachi never infected anyone during the span of his illness, medical ninjutsu had a particular propensity for identifying pathogens, especially those that were airborne or transmitted through bodily fluids and Sakura noticed none of that. 

Sakura recalled how Itachi mentioned frequent coughs in his youth; he had attributed them to a propensity for catching a nasty bug during the winter months, but that particular detail bolstered Sakura’s hypothesis of a genetic disorder. Itachi could easily have this disease while Sasuke did not if the particular ailment was recessive. As long as Sasuke possessed a dominant allele, he was safe. That being said, the whole concept of Itachi having a genetic disorder was merely a hypothesis and Sakura did not have the means to evaluate Itachi for any genetic abnormalities while in the middle of the forest. The best she could do was to treat his symptoms and buy him time until she could treat his disease as a whole. 

“Can you tell what’s wrong with him?” Kakashi asked, watching Sakura evaluate Itachi from a distance. Though his tone was casual, Sakura did not miss the worry that laced his words. 

“Not completely, but I have ruled a few things out,” Sakura replied, tying her hair back and sanitizing her hands. “I’m fairly certain I can stabilize him until we find Tsunde, though.”

Kakashi nodded and let Sakura return to her work, not daring to move closer. Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, gathering herself. As soon as she steadied her breath and her hands, she let her eyes open and began the healing process. Such a procedure would never have been easy, but with no medical tools and the ever-present risk of infection given the fact that she was sitting in the middle of the forest, the procedure was more arduous than ever. 

She knew that she had to drain Itachi’s lung cavity of blood first, but with him unconscious, she had to be particularly careful not to choke him while she did so. With meticulous, slow movements, she drew the stagnant blood from his chest out of his body; within a few minutes, it formed a sickly red orb above his torso. Careful not to drop it on Itachi, Sakura dispelled the blood into the grass, watching as it dyed the soil. 

Itachi’s chest spasmed shortly after, his eyes flying open to display just the whites of his eyes as he writhed on the ground. Sakura’s hands glowed a brighter green as she tried to heal the rest of the damage through his flailing. She was met with no success. 

“Kakashi, hold him down!” she exclaimed, trapping his wrists beneath her palms. 

Kakashi rushed over, taking her place atop Itachi’s writhing form. Sakura allowed the green chakra to fade from her hands as she placed a firm hand on Itachi’s forehead and began to administer CPR. As she continued her compressions, she noticed the strain leaving Kakashi’s limbs. Itachi was no longer fighting against his hold. As Sakura waited to begin the CPR again, she saw Itachi’s chest slowly rise and fall, though his breaths stuttered. 

“Alright, I think I’ve got it now,” Sakura told Kakashi through heavy breaths. 

Her hands glowed green with healing chakra again as she went back to repairing the extensive damage to Itachi’s lungs. His lungs were not only damaged, but other parts of his body had begun to suffer from a lack of oxygen. He truly had been dying. Sakura could feel herself coming to the dregs of her chakra reserves as she continued to heal Itachi. Such a procedure would have been difficult in her past life, sure, but all well within the realms of possible. Now, she was not sure if she could finish it without passing out. 

The green of her healing chakra grew in intensity as she drew on the chakra in her muscles. She could feel the damaged tissues in Itachi’s body repairing themselves and she was nearly there–just a few seconds left. Her began to tunnel at the edges, but she could sense Itachi’s breathing stabilizing. He was going to make it. Several excruciating minutes passed, but finally, all of the damage was healed. Sakura let her hands fall from Itachi’s torso and to her side, heavy as deadweights. 

Kakashi said something to her from further away, but the sound travelled as if she were underwater. A heavy calm passed over her and she allowed herself to give into the exhaustion and fall backwards onto the cool grass. 

She came to some time later in the same spot. As she regained her bearings, she found that she could not ignore the blood-chilling, irate presence that she knew so well. The Kyuubi was angry.

Chapter Text

White hot pain lanced through Sasuke’s head before he had even opened his eyes. Consciousness came onto him in a raging tidal wave, wrestling him from the languid stupor that had been genjutsu. It was a shame, really; the genjutsu had been more than pleasant, showing him tranquil scenes from his childhood. He had been immersed in the sweet breeze of spring afternoons spent with his mother and Itachi and his present situation was a far cry from that bliss. The skin of his eyelids glowed from the dull light in whatever room he was in. He was well aware that he was no longer in the inn in which he had fallen asleep; what he did not know was how bad his situation truly was. Knowing that Itachi had been in the adjacent room provided some comfort; Itachi was too powerful to let something completely awful happen to Sasuke. 

“You’re up,” a voice that Sasuke didn’t recognize said. 

The noise grate at his head as if he was concussed. Perhaps he was; he had no recollection of anything past falling asleep in a far-too-small bed beside Naruto and he was certainly not there anymore. Bracing himself against the light, he opened his eyes a crack, revealing a simple, dimly lit room. He lay supine on a hard mattress, gaze fixed at the smooth concrete of the ceiling. Everything in the room was gray or beige except for the man standing in the doorway. The bright orange of his mask contrasted from the rest of his surroundings such that he looked completely out of place in a room that by all means should be his domain. 

“I know you don’t feel particularly well,” the man said, waving a dismissive hand. “Dimensional travel is never easy on the body.” 

Sasuke’s heart began to beat faster at that, exacerbating the sourness of his stomach. He had only heard of spatiotemporal jutsu in theory; they were supposed to be something of fiction, not something that could actually be performed. Ignoring the general feeling of sickness that consumed him, he forced himself upright, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress. The abrupt motion proved too much for him. As soon as he came to a sitting position, the room began to spin in dizzying circles. The sourness of his stomach grew into bone-deep nausea and within seconds, black dots riddled his vision. The next thing he knew, he was doubled over on the side of the mattress, vomiting onto the floor. His throat burned by the time his stomach was empty and a throbbing headache replaced the nausea. 

The masked man had not moved from his position in the doorway. Though Sasuke could not see his face past one visible, dark eye, he suspected that he looked merely inquisitive. 

“We’ll have to get you cleaned up,” he said. Strangely, his tone was devoid of any malice or anything negative. If anything, he sounded kind. 

Sasuke fought back a whimper as he tried to regain his bearings. He wanted nothing more than to be strong in this situation–to be the stoic, strong shinobi he was trained to be. He wanted to force down his feeling of sickness, spring to his feet, and demand that the masked man return him to his teammates. He wanted that more than anything, but his head hurt so much that he could barely see and the room would not stop spinning; he had never felt so ill in his life. 

The masked man was next to him though Sasuke had not seen him move. He grasped Sasuke’s upper arm in a firm but undeniably gentle grip, single visible eye fixed on him. 

“Come on then,” he said, helping Sasuke to his feet. 

Sasuke wanted to fight against him, but his knees buckled as soon as he rose from the mattress; he was completely at the masked man’s will and there was nothing he could do about it. He found himself stumbling out of the dimly lit room and into an even darker corridor, his surroundings still spinning. The masked man remained steady against Sasuke’s deadweight and continued down the corridor and to a nondescript door. He pushed it open and helped Sasuke to a seat at a table in the middle of the room. 

“I apologize, but this is the most comfortable place aside from your room,” he said, standing a few feet away from the table. “It will be clean soon and you can go back.”

“Who are you?” Sasuke slurred, struggling to hold his head up. 

He could not sense any chakra signatures in his state of disorientation, but he knew that wherever he was, his teammates were nowhere near. Something about the man felt inexplicably familiar, but Sasuke’s thoughts sounded as if they were underwater, moving with the same sluggish speed as someone running through strong waves. He wondered how long it would take for the disorientation to rub off; perhaps he had been poisoned on top of undergoing interdimensional travel. Sakura would be able to tell him more once she found him. 

“I am Madara Uchiha,” the man told him, holding a glass of water. 

Sasuke had not seen him get the glass nor did he see any sink or place to get water in the room. The man set the glass down on the table and stepped back to his position a comfortable distance away. 

The quiet murmurings of Sasuke’s mind came to an abrupt stop. What the man told him could not be right. Madara Uchiha was dead. Sasuke had grown up on stories about him and all of them were told definitively in the past tense. Madara was a man of a time long gone–a legend with a lasting legacy. He could not be the strange man offering Sasuke water and holding him somewhere he did not recognize. Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but the man raised a hand to stop him. 

“You poor boy.” He shook his head in pity. “Drink that and rest a little more. You will feel better after. Then we can talk.”

Sasuke reached for the glass of water, bringing the cool rim to his lips. His head still felt as if it was full of cotton and it grew heavier each second; he had no idea where he was and much less idea why some man pretending to be Madara Uchiha was speaking to him. Before he took a sip of the water, his Academy training kicked in. He was never to eat or drink anything offered by a potential enemy. Instead, he let the water moisten his lips but not pass further. Just as he placed the glass back on the table, the weight of his cloudy head grew too much to bear and he pitched forwards onto the table, the room fading away into darkness. 

Itachi had known his death was near when he started seeing Shisui. The other man’s presence was subtle at first; Itachi would see his soft gaze in the eyes of random strangers, or he would swear Shisui was calling out for him from some unknown spot. As time passed though, Itachi saw him more clearly. He would wake up in the middle of the night, drenched to the bone in cold sweat to Shisui sitting at the foot of his bed and when his vision would fade into darkness as he coughed and coughed, he could see Shisui clear as day, whispering words of comfort to him. 

As Itachi’s vision continued to fail, Shisui’s image remained the only thing untouched by encroaching darkness. Perhaps it was fate delivering more painful irony to his tragic life, he thought. Though everything in his world faded around him as his sharingan stole his vision, he could never stop seeing the one person he failed the most. 

He had hoped to hold onto his health and vision for longer, but Orochimaru’s appearance and subsequent fallout in the Akatsuki had resulted in Itachi overusing his mangekyou a few too many times. Each time he let his eyes morph into those terrible twisting blades, he felt his body rot from the inside, the blooming flowers of his youth and strength wilting into blood-red soil. Where he once felt strength coursing through his limbs, he only felt dull, aching pain. Often as a child, those around him told him that he had never truly been young–that he had come out of the womb old beyond his years; that observation had moved from emotional to somatic. His body was dying–crumbling around him–and he was barely even eighteen.

Though he knew that the illness in his lungs did not come from his kekkei genkai, he also knew well that each use of the mangekyou only worsened his condition as it put more and more strain on his body. More painful irony. Shisui had given him that terrible power after all and now it was going to lead to a bloody, pitiful end. 

Before Sasuke found him, Itachi found himself courting death. He had wished to stay alive only so that Sasuke could kill him. No other reason. The looming threat of his mortality–of eternity with Shisui, with his mother–had not acted as a threat but as a promise of salvation. He suddenly could no longer entertain that urge. Now present in Sasuke’s life again, he had a duty to his brother to protect him and to stay alive for him, yet he feared that he would have to break yet another promise and betray Sasuke one last time. 

In the period following Sasuke’s abduction, Itachi saw Shisui again. He knew that he was not conscious; he knew that he was dying, but Shisui sat before him at the bank of the Naka, feet submerged in its cool, languid flow. He tipped his head back towards the sky, revealing the gentle curve of his neck, eyes closed. He looked unburdened and peaceful; Itachi could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen that expression on Shisui’s face. 

Itachi moved towards Shisui, taking a seat beside him. Slowly, he unbuckled his sandals and plunged his aching feet into the cool water. 

“I failed him again,” he told Shisui, his own gaze fixed at the river in front of him. He did not have to specify who he was talking about. Shisui would understand. 

“You have never failed anyone,” Shisui responded. He did not move to look at Itachi, choosing instead to keep his face pointed towards the sky and his eyes closed. “The universe has failed you once again. You tried your best and that is all that matters. Sasuke is not gone forever. You can still save him.”

Itachi shook his head. In the back of his mind, he knew that the conversation could not be real–that some hyperactive part of his mind was fabricating Shisui’s voice and creating dialogue from memories. But that kernel of rationality did not matter to him. Every moment with Shisui, fabricated or not, was a blessing and a treasure. 

“I should be better than this,” Itachi said, his teeth clenching. “I am better than this. I am rotting away more and more every day. How can I save Sasuke like this?” 

Shisui let his head fall forwards, his long lashes parting as his eyes opened. “I can’t tell you how you’ll do it, but I know you will. You, Itachi Uchiha, have never failed in all the time I’ve known you.” 

Itachi shook his head again, more forcefully this time. “You know I did that night. I failed you and Mother and Sasuke. I had hoped that Sasuke getting revenge would provide some atonement, but now I do not know what to do.”

Shisui exhaled a sharp breath and turned to face Itachi, placing his hands beside Itachi’s. “You’ve always been so ridiculously self-deprecating, you know that?”

Itachi could not meet his gaze. 

“You place the blame for everything on yourself all the time. What next? You decide that you alone are responsible for the Curse of Hatred? You have not failed anyone. The village failed you so many times over. They failed our family and our family failed us. You and I were left to pick up the scraps and look where that left us. Dead and dying.”

Shisui jabbed his finger at Itachi’s chest, but the digit simply passed straight through. Itachi could not tell which one of them was the ghost. 

“I know you can not hold any rage in that beautiful bleeding heart of yours, but maybe you should. Hate Danzo for what he did to me. Hate Madara for taking Sasuke and for supporting the massacre. I know I can not ask this of you, but perhaps you should even hate Konoha for everything it has done to you.”

Itachi wanted to. He wanted to curse and despise everyone who had wronged him more than anything in the world, but he knew where that would lead. He could feel the dormant core of rage and hatred that would overcome him if he were to give in as countless Uchiha had before him. Itachi knew his strength; he was the strongest Uchiha since Madara himself. It went without argument. If he were to answer the call of his blood and lose himself to rage, his destruction would know no bounds.     

“You know as well as I do that I can’t do that,” Itachi told him, letting his eyes fall closed. “You could never either.”

Shisui let out a humorless chuckle. “It was worth the try.”

The two lapsed into an empty silence. Itachi could hear Shisui’s breathing over the quiet sound of the river. It hurt. 

“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it,” Shisui continued, “how the fate of the Uchiha was left in the hands of two people who were the least like what the rest of the clan stood for. Our loyalty to Konoha truly knew no bounds, did it? Or I suppose it’s “knows no bounds” for you, isn’t it.”

“It likely won’t be for long,” Itachi said. The statement was simple. It was a fact.

“I think the universe has different plans for you,” Shisui said with a shrug. 

He motioned for Itachi to lay down in the grass and rotated himself so that he could rest his head on top of Itachi’s chest. Itachi feared that he would simply pass through his body again, but for a reason that he could not comprehend, Itachi’s bony chest supported the weight of Shisui’s head. 

His body was warm; it should not have been. It should have been cold and wet and clammy, but somehow, Shisui felt alive. The grass around him seemed greener, as if his life force was so vibrant it spread into the nature around him. What Itachi would have given for that to be reality. 

As the two lay together in silence as they had countless times before, the weight of Shisui’s head grew and grew until the pressure against Itachi’s sternum was physically painful. 

“I believe I will have to say goodbye for now,” Shisui muttered. 

The weight on Itachi’s chest turned into sharp compressions and soon he found himself on the floor of the forest, his chest aching as if bruised. Shisui’s absence left another aching in his chest. As always, their time together had been far too short. 

“You’re awake,” a voice said. 

Itachi slowly turned his head towards the sound; Kakashi offered him a smile and settled down beside him on the grass, motioning his head towards another figure on the ground. Sakura lay less than a foot from him, her chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. 

“She saved you,” Kakashi said. “She’ll be out for a bit now though. The procedure took a lot out of her.”

“I owe her my thanks,” Itachi replied. For the first time in months, his lungs felt clear and despite the dull ache of his bruised ribs (likely from some form of resuscitation, he figured), it did not hurt to breathe. All in all, he felt more alive than he had in ages. 

“How do you feel?” Kakashi asked, his one visible eye scanning Itachi’s supine form. 

Slowly, Itachi pushed himself into a sitting position, pleased to find that his joints did not ache as they usually did. “Far better.” He took a few more deep breaths, reveling in how his chest rose and fell without stuttering. 

In one fluid motion, he rose to his feet. “Once Sakura awakes, we need to leave. I must find Sasuke.”

Kakashi’s brow furrowed. “How will we even find him?”

“The man used the kamui, did he not?” Itachi gathered his belongings and paced through the clearing as if he had not been convulsing on the ground mere minutes before. “You should be able to trace the signal, so to speak.”

“You’re no longer calling him Madara,” Kakashi noted, eyes narrowing further with suspicion. 

Itachi shook his head. “I was a fool. I should have suspected that this man was merely posing as Madara back when he assisted me in the Uchiha massacre, but I was not…” He paused. “I was not in the right headspace at the time and several details passed me by. Regardless, his use of Kamui was more than telling. I’m sure you caught on as well.”

Kakashi sighed, carding a tired hand through his hair. “Obito Uchiha is alive, yes.” 

A pregnant silence stretched out between the two. Kakashi moved to continue speaking, but a noise from a few feet away stopped him. From where he had been lying comfortably among the rest of the team’s belongings, Naruto woke up, groggily pushing himself into a sitting position. 

“Huh? Where are we?” he asked, looking around the clearing. His lips turned downwards in a frown. “What happened to Sakura? Where’s Sasuke?”

Kakashi caught a visible flinch from Itachi, though his expression remained perfectly neutral. 

“You must be quite disoriented,” Itachi said, making no move to step closer to Naruto. “But I will try to explain our situation to the best of my abilities. I ask that you remain calm.”

Naruto rose to his feet, looking around more fervently now. “What are you talking about?! Where is Sasuke?”

Itachi raised his palm to stop Naruto’s train of questioning. “I said I would explain. Please be patient.” He waited a moment to make sure Naruto was listening. “You have been in a genjutsu for the past ten hours or so. We were ambushed at the inn by…someone posing as Madara Uchiha. He took Sasuke–”

Naruto let out a gasp. “He what?!”

Itachi’s jaw clenched at Naruto’s outburst. Guilt for allowing for Sasuke’s abduction ate away at him, but he would not let himself drop his cool façade. He needed stability if he was to save Sasuke. Despair had never done him any good. 

“I asked for your patience,” Itachi said, tone bordering on terse. “I will get Sasuke back. I will do whatever it takes. That, I can promise you.”

Naruto shook his head, eyes wide and glistening with tears of anger. “Are you fucking telling me that neither you or Kakashi-sensei was able to protect Sasuke?! And what happened to Sakura, huh? How do you know that Sasuke’s not dead and it’s all your fault?!”

Itachi inhaled a sharp breath, but let his eyes fall closed for a moment as he regained his composure. “I was injured while trying to prevent Sasuke from being taken,” Itachi said. It was not untrue, but instead a lie of omission. “Sakura, thankfully, healed me and now she is resting. And as I said, I will bring Sasuke back.”

Naruto shook his head again, more emphatically this time. Something in his eyes seemed to change and Itachi could sense a deep, nauseating fury seep into the surroundings. Unconsciously, he took a step back; very few things forced Itachi onto the defensive, but he was no god. He feared the terrible power of the Kyuubi just as much as any sane shinobi. 

“Naruto, please calm down,” he said, bringing his sharingan just to the point of activation. “Nothing good can come of this rage.”

“You don’t fucking get it!” Naruto cried, a deep, gravelly bass entering his voice. “Sasuke might be dead and we’re just sitting here! You just let him get taken!” 

“I understand your anger and I am sorry–”

“You don’t get to be fucking sorry! You were supposed to protect him! You’re supposed to be strong like that!”

Kakashi took a step towards Naruto, his chakra flaring. 

“Naruto…” he warned. He understood that the given situation sat precariously on the edge of a precipice. One wrong move and Naruto may give into the sweet fury of the Kyuubi; one wrong move and Kakashi may be forced into the same dilemma and subsequent deal with the Shinigami as his sensei.  

Naruto let out a terrible sound that Kakashi would describe as a whimper if not for the demonic edge to his voice. “This is your fault too, Kakashi-sensei!” 

Kakashi drew in a slow breath, this mind resurfacing memories of the seal he would need to use in order to suppress the Kyuubi. Itachi’s sharingan offered another, perhaps more dangerous option. With the mangekyou, Itachi should have some modicum of control over the Kyuubi, though given his fragile state after the procedure and the simple fact that there were few things in the world more difficult than controlling a tailed beast with the raw power of a dojutsu, his prospects did not appear good. 

Kakashi focused his gaze on Naruto, wincing at how his pupils had morphed into a vertical slit. He spoke slowly and calmly, enunciating each word. 

“Naruto, I need you to calm down,” he instructed. “If you do not, people are going to get hurt. Look at Sakura over there. If you lose control, we may not be able to stop you from hurting her.”

“Yeah, because you can’t stop jack shit!” Bubbling, red chakra began to condense around Naruto’s form. 

The sheer sinister power of the chakra signature brought Kakashi to the verge of nausea. He looked over to Itachi, whose gaze was fixed on Naruto, his stance relaxed, but clearly at-the-ready. Itachi understood the options at hand regardless of the toll it would have on his health. 

Kakashi made one last sound of warning before stepping back towards Itachi, taking in a deep breath. 

“We need to get Sakura out of harm's way,” Kakashi told Itachi, eyeing Sakura’s unconscious form. “I don’t know how to de-escalate this without just letting Naruto tire himself out and we can’t put Sakura in danger when she can’t defend herself.”

Itachi replied with a sharp nod. Just as he raised his hands in the signs for shunshin, a bubbling red tendril of scalding chakra shot directly towards his chest. With a movement that lacked Itachi’s typical grace, he feigned to the right, the Kyuubi’s chakra singing the edge of his shirt. Fumes of burning fabric permeated his senses, compounding with the suffocating aura of the Kyuubi’s chakra. Itachi let his eyes fall closed for a moment and reopened them a moment later, his vision clear with the sharingan. Naruto, enveloped by the Kyuubi’s power, seemed to cower for a moment at the sight of Itachi’s dojutsu. The image of a third tail flickered in and out of corporeality.

Kakashi seized the moment of hesitation to attempt a shunshin towards Sakura, but Naruto met his attempt with the same indescribably fast strike, his teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. Kakashi ducked beneath the strike, retreating to Itachi’s side.

“Naruto, you’re going to hurt Sakura!” Kakashi exclaimed, motioning to where Sakura lay. “If we are to save Sasuke, we can’t handle another setback.”

Kakashi’s pleas fell on deaf ears as the chakra surrounding Naruto only grew in fiery intensity, the third tail coming into full focus. 

Kakashi drew in a sharp breath. “We can’t let him release another tail,” he hissed. “There’s little hope of us containing him at that point.”

Itachi replied with a nod and let his eyes fall closed once again. When he opened them, the three tomoe in his eyes had morphed into three curved blades. Kakashi noticed how tension seemed to gather in his shoulders; the mangekyou clearly brought him physical pain. With three deliberate steps, Itachi placed himself in front of Naruto, gaze fixed perfectly on the vertical slits that were Naruto’s pupils. 

Naruto shuddered under Itachi’s gaze, his chakra fluctuating like a flame as he fought against Itachi’s control. Kakashi dared to look away from the two for a moment, turning towards Sakura’s form on the ground. She stirred slightly, her eyes inching open. Within seconds, she seemed to process her situation, her shoulders tensing in realization. Relying heavily on a nearby tree, Sakura rose to her feet, head spinning, but mind set. She saw Itachi fighting for control over the Kyuubi; he seemed to have the upper-hand, but the effort clearly strained him. 

Drawing in a deep breath, she released small amounts of her own chakra–just enough for Naruto to sense her presence. “Naruto!” she exclaimed. “Come on, we’ve got to find Sasuke!”

Sakura’s voice seemed to do what neither Kakashi’s nor Itachi’s could. The bubbling chakra surrounding Naruto came to a standstill for a moment and the third tail began to flicker.

Itachi seized the moment of stillness and increased the intensity of his mangekyou, finally securing a solid handhold on Naruto’s psyche. The Kyuubi’s bubbling chakra expanded into a blinding sphere of sheer power for a mere second before dissipating into absolute nothingness, leaving Naruto on the soft grass, covered in raw red burns. 

Itachi staggered backwards for a moment, a thick line of blood seeping from his left eye. With a heavy inhale of breath, he steadied himself, gingerly wiping the blood off of his face. 

“There goes my hard work,” Sakura muttered, knowing fully well how the mangekyou damaged Itachi’s still-fragile body. 

Gritting her teeth, she hurried over to Naruto’s body, ignoring the throbbing in her head from chakra exhaustion. With her current chakra level, she knew that she could do little to heal Naruto without potentially damaging her own chakra systems. Regardless, she couldn’t leave him to suffer. As soon as she kneeled down beside him, he writhed and whimpered on the ground; his burns oozed pale red fluid, clearly irritated by the grass and the fabric of his clothes. 

“Do either of you have any salves?” Sakura asked, glancing over her shoulder to Itachi and Kakashi who seemed to be muttering quietly to each other. “I want to heal him as much as I can without using medical ninjutsu. I’ll finish the job in a few hours after I’ve replenished more chakra.”

Kakashi nodded and hurried over to his bags. He rummaged through the black canvas for a moment, pulling out several jars and inspecting them by holding them up to the rays of sun that filtered through the trees. He lingered on an oblong jar with a pale green tint, rotating it in his hands before cracking the lid open and sniffing its contents. With a small nod of approval, he made his way back to Sakura and handed the jar, his gaze lingering on Naruto, a glint of sadness in his features. 

“This should cool the burns,” he said, crouching beside Sakura for an additional moment. “We really need to find Tsunade now if we are to help anyone.”

Sakura nodded in contemplation. “But Sasuke’s condition is time sensitive. The longer he stays away, the more he could be hurt or brainwashed or anything. I–we can’t afford to lose him.”

“You said yourself that you were only stabilizing Itachi until we found Tsunade,” Kakashi insisted. “I agree. We must rescue Sasuke, but we can’t let Itachi’s health fail more when we will need him at his absolute best in order to best Obito. I’m sorry, but we must be strategic.”

Sakura scoffed and shook her head. So often did Kakashi relegate her to the traits of “emotional” and “irrational”.  

“I am trying to save the world, Kakashi,” she said, words dripping with saccharine sweetness. “And though I know you struggle with reconciling your view of me as a naïve little genin with the fact that I have lived nearly as many years as you, that does not stop the fact that I have a deep knowledge of one potential future. I know who can and will greatly impact our future. I know, more than you, most likely, what certain people are and will be capable of. We can not lose Sasuke right now when it matters the most.”

Kakashi inhaled as if he were about to respond, but took a moment to measure his words instead. “Do you not think that Tsunade’s presence will help us save Sasuke?” he replied. “I’d think you’d value your teacher more.”

Sakura bit back a scathing retort, opting instead to steady her breathing and continue rationally. “If we conclude that Tsunade would be on our way to Sasuke, we can find her first. If we would have to go significantly out of our way and risk Sasuke’s wellbeing, we will find her after.”

“Fine,” Kakashi replied easily. “Rest, regain your chakra, heal Naruto, then we leave.”

Sakura nodded in agreement, noting how the sun had begun to set below the line of the trees. She could barely ignore how exhaustion ate at her, clouding the edges of her thoughts. She had eaten nothing since waking up after her collapse and her stomach screamed in protest at the lack of nourishment. Too tired to prepare a real meal, she rummaged through her supplies for a few ration bars and half a soldier pill; she knew of the negative side effects of soldier pills well, but certain situations called for a minor sacrifice. 

Itachi sat cross-legged beside his bags, eyes gently closed. Whether he was sleeping or meditating, Sakura could not tell. His chakra seemed to flow in a languid cycle, glowing with a gentle warmth. Unlike Sasuke’s volatile, hot chakra, Itachi’s seemed at peace; from the little Sakura knew of him, she could not help but be surprised. Itachi managed to maintain a completely serene, rational composure, but he could not mask his anguish. It manifested in the way he spoke and in the deep tear troughs beneath his eyes, yet never in his chakra. Sakura had to commend him for that.

Quietly, as not to disturb Itachi, she unfurled her sleeping roll a comfortable distance away from Itachi and eased herself down for a rest. Kakashi had moved Naruto gently onto his own sleeping roll and though he did not look peaceful, he did not appear to be in abject anguish. It would have to do until Sakura regained her chakra. Just as Sakura let her eyes fall closed, Itachi’s quiet voice broke through the silence. 

“I never got the chance to thank you for healing me,” he said, eyes still closed. “Your prowess with medical ninjutsu truly is impressive. I have never heard of anyone with your skill at such a young age.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” Sakura replied, careful not to reveal too much. “Though I can’t say I healed you completely. I’m sure that when we find Tsunade-hime she will be able to address the problem at the root. Just out of curiosity, did anyone in your family suffer from a similar affliction?”

Itachi took a moment to contemplate Sakura’s question, his eyes now open. “Neither of my parents did to the best of my knowledge,” he said. “Though my mother’s sister died quite young of some illness. I was barely five at the time, so I don’t know what afflicted her exactly.” He paused for a moment. “By nature of the Uchiha clan being…close, there were more than enough hereditary afflictions to go around.” 

Sakura merely nodded. Old, powerful clans tended to have similar problems. The Yamanaka had only started marrying consistently outside their clan after more members of a certain generation found themselves plagued with hemophilia than not. For nearly a decade, the Yamanakas feared having boys given their increased risk of contracting hemophilia. Even after they expanded their gene pool, the disease still made its rounds around the clan and Sakura knew how relieved Inoichi was to find that Ino was both female and safe from the disease. 

“Well, regardless of if you know of any relatives that suffered from a similar disease, I have reason to believe that whatever you have is genetic,” Sakura told him. “If it’s any consolation, it’s certainly not contagious.”

Itachi merely nodded. “As long as Sasuke is safe from it, I do not care.” He ran a tired hand through his long hair. “We need to leave as soon as you and Naruto have recovered. I will find him if it kills me.”

Sasuke awoke again in the same dull room, his head considerably clearer. The musty odor of dust hung in stagnant air, convincing him that he was underground somewhere. His clothes had been replaced with a simple white cotton robe tied loosely around his chest and matching pants. Whoever held him in the room had stripped him of all of his weapons and his hitaite. Still, he still had access to his chakra, which seemed like either an oversight of massive proportions or an assertion that Sasuke did not hold a candle in terms of skill as compared to his captor. 

Sasuke took a moment to recall everything that had happened since the night at the inn, but found that his memories seemed to fade away into hazy nothingness. Without much difficulty, he made his way to the door, placing his ear on the wood, and after hearing nothing, turned the handle. 

A masked man stood directly outside the door, clad in a long black robe that obscured his form completely. Sasuke fought back the urge to yelp, his hand flying to his thigh, though he knew that his kunai was nowhere to be found. 

“You’re up,” the man said. 

Sasuke could not even tell if he was breathing.

“I have much to tell you.”

Chapter Text

Sasuke all but held his breath as he stood face-to-face with the masked man before him. Something in the back of his mind suggested familiarity, but with the time between his abduction and the present moment so hazy in his memory, he could summon no concrete details. 

Sasuke straightened his back, tipping his head upwards to look the man in the eyes–or singular eye. 

“What do you want from me?” He knew his words were brazen for his position–he could sense an incredibly strong chakra from the man in front of him, after all–but if the man really wanted Sasuke dead, he would have already succeeded. The man clearly wanted something from him. 

The man before him chuckled: a humorless, breathy sound. “I can assure you that I will be offering you far more than you can give to me,” he said, and Sasuke imagined that his mouth, though obscured by a mask, curled into a wry smile. 

Bristling with frustration from being given such a non-answer, Sasuke continued to push. 

“Who even are you?” he demanded, bringing his sharingan just to the point of activation.

Without as much as a warning, a sickening pain lanced through his head, forcing him to his knees. He could feel the familiar tug on his chakra system of a genjutsu, but he could not break free of it, the illusion taking complete hold over his mind. The man wasted no time planting images in Sasuke’s mind, focusing only on the intense sensation of pain–pain so debilitating that Sasuke could not begin to conceptualize the sensation. Everything around him faded from existence, hurt his only reality; time ceased to exist as well, leaving nothing but a fresh hell. 

As suddenly as it began, the pain disappeared, and Sasuke found himself curled in a fetal position on the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around his head. Slowly, he untangled his limbs, trying to ignore how they shook with the effort. 

The masked man offered him a hand to help him to his feet. Sasuke hesitated before taking it, blanching at the sudden change in demeanor, but feared angering the man enough that he complied and took the hand. Once Sasuke was standing, though he had to lean heavily on the door frame, the masked man began to speak again. 

“You shouldn’t talk to the founder of your clan like that,” the man said, perfectly nonchalant. 

Sasuke’s eyes immediately narrowed in disbelief. 

“And you’re going to have to learn how to mask your emotions better than that.” The man placed his hands on his hips in an incredibly uncharacteristic movement. “You’re a shinobi. You can’t let everyone know exactly what you’re thinking just by looking at your face.”

“Who are you?” Sasuke asked again, his voice barely above a whisper. To be the founder of the Uchiha would imply that the man before Sasuke was Madara Uchiha and as powerful as he seemed, Madara Uchiha was dead. So much of the Uchiha’s existence depended on that fact. 

“Come on, you’re a smart boy,” the man who definitely could not be Madara Uchiha said. “I am Madara Uchiha and your several-times-great-grandfather.”

“But you–”

“But I died ,” he mocked, and Sasuke could imagine a toothy grin. “Clearly, I did not. You’ll understand why in due time.”

Sasuke unconsciously took a step back. He could not help but feel as if a rug had been pulled from under him; just the previous day, he had been happy. A rogue shinobi, perhaps, but surrounded by his family: Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and finally, Itachi. For the first time since that terrible day seven years ago, Sasuke had felt as if he belonged; the suffocating burn of hatred in his chest had eased, leaving a pleasant warmth in its wake. But now he was alone again–alone and dreadfully confused. 

“Before you ask why you’re here or another inane question like that, I will tell you that I have taken you in because I am going to make you what an Uchiha should be. I will teach you everything your pathetic village hid from you and you will be far greater for it.”

Sasuke bit back a scathing retort, the sharp pain of Madara’s genjutsu still fresh in his memory. 

“Where am I?” he ventured to ask, shifting his weight onto his own two feet so that he was no longer leaning on the doorframe. 

“You wouldn’t recognize the name if I told you,” Madara said. “It is somewhere of great importance to our clan, though.”

Sasuke bristled at Madara referring to the Uchiha clan as something they shared. Where had he been when Danzo ordered the Uchiha’s destruction? Where had he been in the aftermath when Sasuke was all alone and Itachi, barely thirteen, was left to flee and stare at his blood soaked hands knowing that his life had been irreparably changed? Simply put, Sasuke resented the man before him.

After a moment of silence Madara spoke again in the same tone one would use to talk about the weather. “Your friends won’t find you here.”

Something heavy grew in the pit of Sasuke’s stomach. He didn’t want to die. And more than that, he didn’t want the fate worse than death that Madara surely would inflict on him. Madara’s words continued to echo in him; how would his friends find him? His brother’s power may have seemed endless to his seven-year-old self—he even believed it endless a mere few months ago—but now he knew that Itachi was in fact fallible. He hadn’t been able to save Sasuke from the situation he was now in. Sasuke could not stave off the bitter voice in the back of his mind condemning Itachi for a display of weakness. 

“It’s such a shame what happened to your brother,” Madara said, continuing in his incongruously light tone. “Manipulating a poor naïve child like that to fulfill the village’s perverted wishes? The absolute pit of depravity, if I do say so myself.”

Sasuke wanted to point out the clear hypocrisy in Madara’s statement. Was he not also manipulating—or trying to manipulate—Sasuke as well? 

“The village didn’t manipulate Itachi,” Sasuke retorted, deciding to simply disagree with what Madara said instead of going for a personal attack. “Danzo did. If not for Danzo, none of it would have happened.”

“Oh, you poor, brainwashed boy,” Madara crooned. “You know, Hiruzen isn’t around anymore to give you a little pat on the shoulder for defending his reprehensible ‘Will of Fire’. You don’t have to keep kissing his boots. They’re nothing but ash now, as they should be. 

“No Hokage has ever wanted anything but our demise, Sasuke. You should know that by now. Hashirama tried to kill me; he surely thought that he did, anyway. He pretended to support the Uchiha, but really, he couldn’t stand to see us strong. Tobirama, at least, didn’t try to hide his disdain. If given the opportunity, Tobirama would have done what Itachi did with his own two hands; nothing in life would have brought him more joy. It was him that cast us out into the outskirts. It was him that fostered the greatest mistrust of our people. Then there was pathetic little Hiruzen. There is so little to say about that failure. He failed the Uchiha, he failed his own genin team. Speaking his name alone is a waste of breath.”

Rage grew in Sasuke’s chest as Madara continued his tirade against the Hokage. The man before him may have founded his clan, but Madara was nothing but a bitter old man. How dare he disrespect the great shinobi who upheld the strength of Konoha? How dare he, when the greatest thing he ever did was fall at the hands of Hashirama. How dare he, when the Uchiha continued to ache with disappointment from his failure decades after he supposedly died. Madara may have been the founder of their clan, but in many ways, he was the Uchiha’s greatest shame.  

“And finally, there was Minato,” Madara continued. “Your parents may have thought he was the Uchiha’s salvation—that he would finally offer the Uchiha the respect we deserved, all because he was such good friends with Mikoto—but your parents were blind. Minato was no different than those before him. That’s why I had to kill him.”

Sasuke’s face contorted in a snarl. It was one thing to baselessly slander the previous Hokage, but to fraudulently take credit for Minato-sama’s death? Simply reprehensible. 

“Minato died in the Kyuubi attack,” Sasuke insisted. “It’s well known that he sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi away. There were witnesses.”

Madara let out a breathy laugh. “The more you speak, the more you reveal your ignorance. Who do you think released the Kyuubi? All the Uchiha hated the village for blaming us for releasing and controlling the Kyuubi, but the village wasn’t necessarily wrong, were they?”

Fear of the pain Madara could inflict on him vanished in a second as Sasuke’s rage grew. “That’s fucking stupid,” he forced through clenched teeth. “If the Kyuubi attack never happened, my family probably wouldn’t have died. How could you?”

Madara let a moment of silence pass and Sasuke's shoulders tensed, awaiting pain. None came. 

“You truly know nothing,” he said, following his words with a humorless chuckle. “Nothing at all.” 

Madara left Sasuke alone in the windowless room once again, the door closing with a definitive click behind him. Sasuke refused to acknowledge the panic that rose in his chest as he surveyed his surroundings. He could not fathom what Madara would do to him if he tried to escape—he could not even fathom what Madara would do to him if he tried to leave the room. Already, Sasuke could feel the walls begin to close in on him, the room inexorably contracting, threatening to strangle his breath away. He needed to let his team know where he was, let them know that he was alive, but he had no idea how. Sasuke rarely found himself feeling helpless, yet he could pretend to be nothing else at that moment.

Sakura awoke a little before dawn to Itachi already packed and ready for travel. He had already lost some of the healthy glow in his cheeks from Sakura’s healing, the rosy tone replaced with ashen gauntness. Sakura wanted to attribute it to the stress of losing his brother, but she knew that the brief use of his mangekyou had undone effectively all of her healing. She was plugging holes in the dam that was Itachi’s feeble health. Kakashi stood a few feet from Kakashi, pondering a map. He sensed Sakura’s presence without looking up and addressed her from where he stood. 

“According to Pakkun, Tsunade hasn’t left the town on the Kusa border where she was last spotted,” Kakashi said, pointing to the town on the map. It appeared to be a day's travel away. “He mentioned something about her going on a multi-day bender and needing to recover for a couple days before heading out. If we leave now, we can hopefully get to her on the better end of her hangover.”

“And Sasuke?” Itachi said what Sakura was thinking. It pleased her to know that both their priorities lay in the same place, though given the lengths Itachi had historically been willing to go in order to ensure Sasuke’s safety, she couldn’t be sure that having the same priorities as Itachi in this instance was necessarily a good thing. 

“I’ve got to find out where he is first,” Kakashi said, packing the map away. “I can’t promise I’ll be successful.”

“You will.” Itachi’s tone left no room for argument. 

Kakashi winced at the response and turned to Naruto’s sleeping form. He prodded his shoulder gently, careful not to jostle any of the healed but still tender burns. Naruto awoke with a groan, rolling onto his back before slowly sitting up. He took a minute to process his surroundings and the preceding events. His face darkened with guilt. 

“I didn’t hurt Sakura-chan, right?” he whispered to Kakashi, wringing his hands as he did so. 

Kakashi shook his head. “Luckily, we all emerged completely unharmed. Except for you.”

Naruto sighed in relief, but frowned again a moment after. “And Sasuke’s really gone?”

“We’re about to find him,” Itachi assured, interrupting Kakashi and Naruto’s moment. “We will find him.”

Something in Itachi’s tone burned with purpose. It was enough to frighten Sakura with its pure conviction. She knew then that anyone who stood between Itachi and his brother would burn until they were nothing but fine ash. 

“I’ve never tried to do something like this before,” Kakashi admitted. “I don’t even know if it will work.”

Naruto cocked his head to one side. “Something like what?” he asked.

Kakashi paused. To reveal the ability of his mangekyou would be to reveal a clan secret. He fought back a sarcastic chuckle. What were clan secrets anymore, anyway. Uchiha clan business had fully wormed its way into every crevice of Konoha politics, something Madara surely would have wanted. What harm would come of explaining the kamui?

“It’s a sharingan thing,” Kakashi told Naruto. “I have the eye of the person who abducted Sasuke and he used his other eye to teleport away, so I should be able to track the signal.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “What the fuck?” 

“My sentiment exactly,” Kakashi sighed. “Regardless, I need to try if we’re going to find Sasuke.”

“If my understanding of the kamui is correct, you both share a liminal space of sorts, right?” Itachi asked. “And there should be some trace of Obito’s location in said space?”

“Wait, Obito?” Naruto’s eyes narrowed further. “Like your dead teammate?”

Kakashi sighed. “Not dead, apparently. But yes. Obito Uchiha.”

“What the fuck.”

Kakashi nodded sagely and turned to Itachi, eyes tired. “If I’m getting this right—and Tsukuyomi bless me that I am—” Kakashi hoped the Uchiha gods would accept his small prayer, “tracing Obito’s signal should be something like going into a room and feeling which lightbulb is still warm. There are infinite paths one can take from the kamui dimension, but I think Obito’s particular path should still have…a trace, so to speak.”

Kakashi hoped it wasn’t too obvious that he was completely talking out of his ass. Though he could not for the life of him decipher Itachi’s facial expressions, Sakura and Naruto seemed to buy what he was putting down. 

No one spoke after Kakashi finished his explanation. Their silence alone implored him to get on with it already. Itachi’s soul-penetrating stare certainly did. With a weary sigh, Kakashi uncovered his eye, sucking in a breath at the immediate chakra drain. If he was still standing by the end of this, it would be a sheer miracle. Half of him wanted to remind Itachi and Sakura that they were to find Tsunade first if she was on the way to Sasuke, but with Itachi as on-edge as he was, Kakashi did not want to risk pushing him further. Angering Itachi was never a worry—he was clearly not prone to such whims—but there were many worse things than anger. 

Continued silence implored Kakashi further, and he steeled himself for the pain of the mangekyou. With a burst of chakra behind his eye, he summoned forth the mangekyou, the world shifting into dizzying focus as he did so. Pain stabbed at his temples, shooting through his ocular nerves and dispersing throughout the left side of his face. He would describe the pain as blinding, but in all reality, it was quite the opposite. He ran through the hand signs for kamui, the world pitching violently to the left as he phased into a new plane. Kakashi had not a moment of blurred vision as he entered the kamui dimension; crisp, monotonous gray spanned out in all directions as far as the eye could see. Naively, it seemed as if nothing existed in that plane at all—as if he had found himself in a true vacuum. But much could exist beyond what the eye could see, and the powers of the sharingan allowed Kakashi to perceive things far beyond the abilities of typical senses. The very air in the kamui dimension rippled with chakra, power flowing in languid oscillations throughout the seemingly never ending space. It did not fall in uniform waves, though, and that was exactly what Kakashi wanted to find. Chakra seemed to collect in certain places, as if that location would glow a deeper red under a thermographic camera. The differences in concentration were infinitesimal for the most part—likely remnants from some great Uchiha ancestor who had access to the kamui dimension. Kakashi wondered if this ancient Uchiha looked down on an outsider wielding their power kindly. 

Kakashi was at once overwhelmed by the dimension he found himself in. He could sense countless traces of dimensional travel, chakra clusters surrounding him, each individually drawing his attention. He knew, though, that the ones he had felt thus far were ancient and fading. He would know a recent one when he felt it. He could only hope that he would be able to differentiate Obito’s chakra cluster from the one Kakashi left the last time he used dimensional travel. His head spun as he continued to scan the ceaseless gray around him, but he willed the world into focus as he attempted to focus not on the infinitesimal, but the broad. Dimensional travel took so much chakra, the trace must be massive; but finding this trace proved just as difficult as observing a star as you stood in the heart of it. The trace was massive, yes, but its grandeur surrounded Kakashi on all sides. He would have to manipulate the space around him such that he was scaled to this trace of chakra; he needed to match its grandeur. Such a task seemed laughably impossible. How could Kakashi increase his own scale simply by force of will? As always, the conceptual answer came to Kakashi first; he understood chakra theory well enough to understand how it must be done, but he lacked the practical ability to apply said knowledge. Kakashi had found himself in this exact situation many times before, and it always ended in chakra exhaustion, injury, and varying levels of success. Chakra exhaustion was not an option, as he needed to leave the kamui dimension, a feat that required a sizable amount of his already relatively small reserves. He needed to enact his plan with accuracy and effectiveness. And he was already running out of time. 

Steadying his breathing once again, he began old meditation techniques Minato had taught him nearly twenty years prior. He felt his chakra coils relax, his pulse slowing and body relaxing. In his state of tranquility, he let his mind wander away from the small chakra clusters, his focus fixing on something larger as if he were floating up higher and higher. The smaller clusters began to twinkle away, no longer perceivable given the scope of Kakashi’s sensing. As the clusters blinked out, Kakashi noticed something coalescing before him, something infinitely larger than the clusters he had seen before. Instinct told him that was it, so he reached out a hand to sense from where the signature had come. 

Images of the forest outside Konoha flashed before Kakashi’s eyes, finally focusing in on an inconspicuous opening beside a cave. He bit back a bitter gasp; he knew that stretch of forest too well, and he knew the cave even better; he no longer had any inkling of a doubt that the masked man was Obito Uchiha. But Kakashi couldn’t face him yet. After a decade of grief and guilt, he could not bring himself to meet the gaze of the boy who sacrificed his life for him–or at least did something of the sort.

What Obito wanted with Sasuke eluded him; more than that, it hurt Kakashi how insignificant he was to Obito. Obito hadn’t as much as acknowledged his presence during their confrontation, speaking only to Itachi, and then, bizarrely enough, to Sakura. Was he so unimportant now that his genin student–a civilian-born teenage girl–merited more of a reaction? Kakashi couldn’t face Obito. He was being beyond selfish, he knew. To jeopardize Sasuke’s already precarious position to avoid the guilt and fear that surrounded seeing Obito would be incredibly irresponsible; it would be antithetical to his shinobi principles, but Kakashi was going to do it. Only he knew Sasuke’s location. No one could contest him if he said that Tsunade was on the way to Sasuke; all he would have to deal with would be amending his lie, and if there was one thing with which he had copious experience, that would be it. 

With a spike of chakra, Kakashi broke free from the kamui dimension, the world coming crashing down on him as he found himself once again in the forest. His vision spun for a moment, the disorientation of dimensional travel taking its toll, but slowly, the spinning came to a stop and Kakashi regained his bearings. 

“I found him,” he said, nonchalant as always. “He’s being kept in Kusagakure, which makes sense if you really think about it.”

Sakura wanted to note that it did not make all that much sense. If Orochimaru was holding Sasuke, then sure, Kusagakure would be the obvious answer, but that snake was dead and disintegrated. She had not been aware of any connection between the masked man and Kusagakure; but then again, Kakashi did technically know this man better than she, so perhaps he knew something regarding this particular connection that evaded her. 

“And you’re completely positive?” Itachi’s sharingan processed in a lazy circle as he interrogated Kakashi. 

Kakashi had never felt luckier that the sharingan did not give the bearer the ability to detect lies. Regardless, Itachi had a knack for reading people even without his dojutsu. Kakashi would have to be careful. 

“It was a massive chakra cluster,” he replied. “It had to be recent, and the location seems to be an underground hideout tucked into a secluded cave. Feels pretty right to me.”

Itachi took a moment to weigh Kakashi’s words then nodded. “I’m trusting you.”

Kakashi fought down a grimace. Nothing good had ever come from lying to Itachi Uchiha, but he decided that he had no choice. He needed Tsunade first, and logically, Itachi needed to be in his best health to rescue Sasuke effectively. He was doing a service to the entire team with this little white lie. 

“So Tsunade-sama is on our way to Sasuke it seems,” Itachi said. If that realization disappointed him, his voice did not betray the sentiment. 

Kakashi nodded and leaned over to pack up his bag. “We should leave immediately to get to her as soon as possible. That way we waste no time finding Sasuke.”

“Of course.” Itachi looked to Naruto and Sakura, imploring them to pack up with a look alone. 

As much as social cues typically evaded Naruto, he noticed the intensity of Itachi’s gaze and began packing up his tattered backpack. 

Itachi turned to Sakura. “Perhaps you should finish healing Naruto before we leave.”

Sakura knew that Naruto’s wounds had surely healed by now. The fact that they had not disappeared by the time he awoke spoke to the initial severity. Still, Itachi had no way to know of Sakura’s knowledge on this subject, so she nodded at Itachi’s request and made her way over to Naruto. 

Hands already glowing with healing chakra, she waved her fingers in front of him. “Alright, lift up your shirt for me,” she instructed. 

Naruto gasped, a grin overtaking his features. “Aren’t you supposed to buy me dinner first?” he exclaimed, complying nonetheless. 

“Don’t be a dumbass. Healing the oozing pus on your back has to be the least romantic thing that’s ever happened to anybody.” 

And yet, looking at Naruto’s back, Sakura found nothing but smooth skin and a too-well-defined spine. She feigned a look of surprise.
“Huh, I guess I did a better job healing you than I thought? Well, you’re fine, so we might as well get going.”

Itachi appeared unfazed by Naruto’s preternatural healing abilities, as he should be. As a now-former member of the Akatsuki, he had been well briefed on Jinchuuriki’s capabilities. What he was not sure of, though, is the extent of the genin’s knowledge on the subject. Naruto’s jinchuuriki identity was a village secret, after all. 

With that, the four shinobi took to the trees, Kakashi leading them at a quick pace, his conscience weighed down only slightly by his lies.

Chapter Text

Kurenai chose to take the streets on her way back from the Hokage Tower, deliberately making eye-contact with each prowling ROOT member. She did not fear them and she did not fear Danzo; she could only hope that after her confrontation, he was beginning to fear her. Logically, he had only a few plausible next steps. He could ignore her confrontation and continue in his quiet war of attrition against her cohort of jonin; he could assassinate her and handle the consequences through extreme force; he could even begin a smear campaign of sorts against her in hopes to turn her allies against her. She hoped for the last option, as Danzo remained blissfully unaware of the jonins’ knowledge. Regardless, she would have to become more vigilant. Danzo knew she was a threat. 

Kurenai meticulously deactivated each of the traps protecting her small apartment before turning her key and stepping into the foyer. The inside was an immediate respite from the stuffy, hot humidity of Konoha’s summer; she wiped a few beads of sweat off her brow and made her way to the living room. Asuma greeted her from a slouched position on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table and a cigarette hanging from his lips. 

“I told you no smoking inside,” she chastised, more out of principle and less out of expectation that he would actually listen. “All this smoking is going to kill you someday.”

Asuma let out a humorless chuckle. “I think I’ve got a few more imminent threats at the moment. What happened with Danzo?”

Kurenai eased herself down on the couch beside Asuma, her shoulder resting gently against his. “I confronted him about the misclassed missions and the strange influx of new jonin. He dismissed my concerns, as expected, claiming that he’d “look into it”. I can’t be sure, but I have reasonable suspicion he was ready to assassinate me in that room. I think the only thing stopping him was the fact that I sent a shadow clone.”

“Do you think he recognized that?”

Kurenai shrugged. “I can’t be sure. I deactivated it as soon as the conversation was over, so I didn’t give him time to react. It seemed for a moment that he was reaching for something under his desk, but I don’t really know.  

Asuma tensed. “Shit. He might want to finish the job, then.”

“Maybe, but this was always a threat. I’m just going to have to be more vigilant. As will everyone else. I worry about the kids, honestly.”

“Genin are easy targets, yeah, but relatively unimportant when it comes to Danzo’s plans. Then again, it was those fucking crazy kids in Team Seven that unearthed all this information, anyway.”

Kurenai nodded, her thoughts returning to a conversation she had with Kakashi months ago. “You know, I feel like we really haven’t taken enough time to think about how insane that all was. Like, really think about it. This group of three genin suspected something about the Uchiha massacre, successfully broke into the document library, and replicated a relatively high-level chakra seal. That’s not only way above the level of a genin technically, but also theoretically. How did they even get the idea to do that in the first place?”

Asuma appeared unfazed by Kurenai’s suspicion. “It’s a little implausible, I guess, but if anyone was going to be suspicious of the conditions around the Uchiha massacre, it would be Sasuke. Not to mention, Itachi’s surprise appearance at the chunin exams was surely enough to get those kids thinking. But anyway, I don’t really know what you’re getting at here past the fact that those kids are kinda impressive.”

Kurenai lingered on her previous conversation with Kakashi. He had noticed something different about one of his genin–the clanless, scrawny little girl. “See, if Sasuke had spearheaded these plans, I’d be with you, but from what I gleaned from Pakkun’s reports, it was Sakura who came up with all of this.”

“Oh come on, Kurenai. You’re the last person I’d expect to be underestimating Sakura like that. Hasn’t she proved herself to be just as formidable, if not more, than her teammates?”

“That’s exactly it!” Kurenai hesitated, unsure of how to express her suspicion. She wasn’t even sure of what she suspected, but something felt wrong. “She’s shown such immense talent for a genin! So much I don’t even know where it’s coming from. Look, I worked with her when she was a kid, okay. She was always a bright little girl, but she never showed any kind of initiative or any real drive to be a shinobi. Not to mention, I never saw her show any interest whatsoever in medical ninjutsu or chakra-induced strength, or any of Tsunade’s other techniques. And she would have had to start developing these skills years ago in her kunoichi classes if she were to plausibly have the ability she does now. All I’m saying is that, something’s not adding up.”

Asuma furrowed his brow further. “What are you getting at? Are you trying to say that Sakura’s some kind of imposter or something?”

Kurenai hesitated again. “No, no, I’m not saying that,” she insisted. “I don’t even know what I’m trying to get at, this has just been nagging at me.”

Asuma sighed, taking his cigarette from his lips and putting it out on the ashtray that sat on the coffee table. He placed a gentle hand on Kurenai’s shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. “I see where you’re coming from, and I don’t think you’re being irrational or anything, but I don’t think dwelling on this is worth our time. Sakura and her team very well may save Konoha. They’ve certainly done their job already in unearthing deep-rooted corruption. It’s just up to us now to help them make Konoha the village it was meant to be, okay? Then we can linger on the details.”

Leaning into Asuma’s touch, Kurenai nodded slowly. She could only hope that ignoring this little nagging detail didn’t cause greater problems down the line. She feared that the situation before her could not handle any more complications. 

“You’re right,” she said. “Danzo is our number one problem right now, and all we can do is help Team Seven take him down.”

“You’re doing a great job of it already,” Asuma assured. “I don’t think there’s another jonin in the entire village who has taken on the leadership and organizational role you have.”

“I can only hope it’s enough.” 

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they sat, leaned against each other on the couch. Asuma let his eyes drift closed, one arm wrapped around Kurenai’s shoulder; he rubbed gentle circles into the small of her back, noting the tension that gathered between her shoulder blades. He worried moments like these would become more sparse; perhaps, if all plans failed, moments like these would cease entirely. But he could not predict the future, so there was no use in dreading something that may not come to pass; instead, he pulled Kurenai closer and waited until her breathing evened out to a slow, tired rhythm. 

The two were awoken from their nap by a pop and a puff of smoke on the coffee table. Kurenai’s eyes flew open and met the lazy stare of Pakkun, who waddled over to the couch, expecting ear scratches for his services.

“Shit hit the fan again, guys,” he said, rolling onto his back to show off his belly. 

Asuma grimaced and began giving Pakkun the scratches he requested. “Great, we’ve never heard that before.”

“Nah, it’s real bad this time. Sasuke got kidnapped.”

“Fucking hell.” 

Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose, unsure of how to even begin unpacking the news. 

“By whom?” she asked, sure that Danzo would be implicated in some way.

“So that’s the thing. You guys remember Obito Uchiha?”

Kurenai could not have expected any name less. Of course she remembered Obito Uchiha; they had attended the academy together, taken the chunin exams together, and fought in the Third Shinobi War together. She remembered the day Kakashi and his team returned with the news that Obito had died and without his body. She remembered the series of tragedies that followed Kakashi like a vengeful specter after his death. But notably, the most important trait in all of her memories of Obito Uchiha was that he had died–suddenly, tragically, and young–but died nonetheless. To her knowledge, there was little harm a corpse could do.

“Yes, of course I remember him,” she replied. “But I also remember that he has been dead for almost twenty years.” 

Pakkun adopted an expression recognizable as a grimace. “Yeah, so he isn’t actually. And he’s masquerading as Madara, which is also an insane choice since he’s also dead, but who am I to judge? Anyway, he kidnapped Sasuke at the last inn we stayed at and neither Kakashi or Itachi could stop him.”

“And you’re positive it was Obito?”

“Yeah, he’s got the kamui, which only someone with Obito’s eyes can have. Plus he’s missing one, and we all know where that one went.”

Asuma took the moment of shock as an opportunity to join the conversation. “Wait, I don’t get it. First of all, we were all pretty certain Obito died all those years ago. I mean, sure, Kakashi didn’t bring back a body, but from what I remember, the kid got crushed by a massive boulder. You don’t really come back from that one. And if he’s been alive all this time, what has he been doing? Why didn’t he come back to the village? There was a whole massacre of his people and he just ignored it? I really don’t get it.”

“We’re as lost as you are, except for the massacre part, though that’s a whole other can of worms,” Pakkun said. “But the good thing is that since it’s Obito we’re talking about, boss has some weird connection to his eye and since he escaped by teleporting through the special sharingan dimension or whatever–please don’t ask, I don’t get it either–boss was able to track him down.”

Kurenai sighed in relief. “So you know Sasuke’s whereabouts?”

“Yeah, we’re headed there after we meet up with Tsunade-hime. She’s gotta patch Itachi up and shit. But I’m telling you guys all this not just because we’re keeping you in the loop, but because we might also need help getting Sasuke back. We have no idea how powerful Obito really is now, or what kind of backup he’s got. All we do know is that he’s effectively leading the Akatsuki so he’s got some real powerful shinobi on his side.”

Kurenai thought back to her recent conversation with Danzo. This could either be exactly what he wanted–she would be out of his hair and out of his village–or it could be the exact opposite. If he didn’t know her whereabouts, she could pose even more of a threat.    

“It’s going to be difficult for us to leave Konoha right now. I’m already on Danzo’s radar as a potential threat, and that of course implicates all the other jonin and our genin teams. Not to say helping you is impossible, it’s just going to have to take careful planning. If we do this correctly, we can rescue Sasuke, dispose of Danzo, and instate Tsunade in swift succession.” 

“This leaves the issue of the Akatsuki and increasing tensions with Sunagakure unaccounted for, though.” 

Kurenai took a moment to consider Asuma’s interjection. Hopefully, disposing of Danzo in the near enough future would prevent the issue with Sunagakure from boiling over; she had enough confidence in Tsunade’s ability to reason with Rasa. Rather, she had enough confidence in Rasa’s fear of entering a war he knew he could not win. Of course, the rising tensions of the past month had left Suna scrambling to beef up their military in case a war did break out, but a month was not nearly enough time to make up for decades of military inferiority. As they stood currently, Suna would lose in an all-out war, and that knowledge placated Kurenai somewhat. As for the Akatsuki, Kurenai still considered them an enigma. From what she had gathered in Kakashi’s previous few reports, the man who kidnapped Sasuke–Obito Uchiha, ostensibly, though that still made little to no sense–was the standing leader of the Akatsuki (though there seemed to be some uncertainty in his exact role). With that in mind, best case scenario, saving Sasuke and disposing of Obito would cripple the Akatsuki enough that they would no longer be an issue. Or at least, without leadership, they would need time to regroup and recover before posing a threat again. 

“But what is the Akatsuki’s real goal again?” Kurenai questioned. Despite hearing Itachi’s explanation secondhand, she could not really grasp the central purpose behind the organization.

“I have to admit, it’s confused me too,” Asuma said, shaking his head. “They’re rounding up the jinchuuriki, sure, but why?”

Pakkun made a movement that passed as a shrug. “Even Itachi wasn’t sure about that. I don’t know, seems like that part’s under wraps but, hey. If we stop them from getting the jinchuuriki then they definitely can’t go ahead and do the rest of the plan, right? No clue why Obito took Sasuke then instead of Naruto.”

“I don’t know, it just doesn’t make enough sense for me to feel secure.” Kurenai shook her head. “But yes, I see what you mean when you say that disposing of Danzo will solve at least the vast majority of our problems. Asuma and I will have to discuss with the other jonin before we decide whether to leave the village or not.”

“Makes sense,” Pakkun said. “If that’s everything, I should report back to the boss. Looks like we all got a lot of shit on our plates right now. I’ll be back if anything new happens, but let’s hope you don’t see me for a while.”

Kurenai gave him one more scratch behind the ear for good measure. “Thanks Pakkun. Tell your boss to stay safe, okay?”

With that, Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke and Kurenai was left to bury her head in her hands. 

Sasuke awoke in total darkness as he had for the past few days. Of course, darkness proved no inconvenience for him as soon as he activated his sharingan; since training for the chuunin exams, he found that activating it did not strain him nearly as much as it had before. But his increased strength did not excite him as it would before; now, living under the fear of how Madara would use him, Sasuke dreaded the extent of his own power. He had not seen the man since the day he awoke in his prison, but the short interaction was enough to tell him that his future held nothing good. Isolation never bothered Sasuke before–he preferred time alone, especially after the massacre; but now, he was not only alone, but completely isolated from the outside world. He had seemingly free reign of the bunker, but in the few days he had been trapped down there, he had failed to find a single window or other exit. It seemed as if the only way to escape the stronghold was to phase through the concrete walls–something that seemed unspeakably difficult, but not necessarily beyond Madara’s capabilities. It was, though, beyond Sasuke’s; and even worse, to his knowledge, it was beyond the capabilities of any of his allies. 

Sasuke began what had become his daily routine. Rising from his stiff cot in the corner, he made his way out of the dingy cell he called his bedroom and settled down in the kitchen. As always, he found just enough simple food in the refrigerator (what was a refrigerator doing in an isolated stone bunker, anyway, and what use did a dead man have for food?). He ate in silence, brainstorming escape plans; and just like all the previous days spent in this cell, he drew a blank on how to free himself. If he couldn’t find any exit, even killing Madara wouldn’t save him. He needed someone to rescue him, as much as he hated to admit it. 

This morning was not one that Sasuke spent alone in silence, though. Just as he was finishing his simple breakfast, a figure appeared in the doorway. As always, he could not hear Madara approaching, nor could he sense his chakra signature before it appeared. It seemed as if one moment Sasuke was looking down at the table and the next Madara stood before him. 

“We are going to train today,” he told Sasuke, tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. 

“Train for what?” Sasuke no longer feared retaliation for stubbornness. Since the first day, he had not experienced any more pain from Madara, regardless of his insolence.

“Your sharingan is pitiful as it is now. It’ll do me no good. We need to fix that.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, leaning backwards out of subconscious apprehension. “What good could I possibly do for you?”

“If you can’t figure it out now, you will soon.” Madara stepped beside him and grabbed his arm. 

Though Sasuke flinched, he made no move to jerk his arm out of Madara’s grasp, knowing fully well that while verbal insolence might be safe, any form of physical rebellion would be met with swift, painful retaliation. 

“We’re going now.” 

Madara walked him out of the kitchen and down the hallway, the grip on his arm firm but not painful. The two walked through the shadowy hallways and into an equally dark and musty room. The ceilings were expansive–far less claustrophobic than the rest of the cave system in which Sasuke found himself–but suffocating nonetheless. 

Madara let go of Sasuke’s arm, shoving him across the room. “Show me your chidori,” he instructed. “Quickly. I need to see that you can do it at will.”

Sasuke scowled, but complied, the three tomoe of his sharingan spinning in a dizzying circle as a shrill chirping echoed off the walls of the cave. Crackling lightning enveloped his hand and he charged forwards, the tendrils of electricity dancing towards Madara. Just as Sasuke was about to plunge his hand through Madara’s heart–and he made no effort to change the course of his strike–Madara’s form became intangible and Sasuke passed clean through the space that his body had just inhabited. 

Sasuke stopped his charge, stumbling back around to face Madara, who was seemingly corporeal once again. He made no effort to hide his scowl as Madara stood passively before him. 

“Good enough,” Madara said. “Your form is messy and you waste a frankly absurd amount of chakra, but I expected nothing more from you.” 

Sasuke continued to scowl, but wasted no effort on a response. Instead, he was met with something being thrown at him. He reached out on-instinct to catch it, and looked down to find a sheathed chokuto in his grasp. 

“I think this will work best on him,” Madara mused.

Sasuke opened his mouth to ask who Madara was talking about, but knew already that he would receive only a non-answer. Instead, he took a moment to unsheathe the chokuto, observing his reflection in the well-polished blade. He looked haggard, though he didn’t feel particularly physically ill. Perhaps it was the shadowy lighting doing him no favors, but he looked somehow paler than he had before as well. Imprisonment was not a good look on him. 

“Enough admiring yourself,” Madara chided. “Let’s get to work.”

Sakura, Kakashi, Itachi, and Naruto traveled in as much silence as Naruto could bear. Something heavy lay in the air around them–the weight of Sasuke’s absence, perhaps, or even the knowledge that their lives as Konoha shinobi were falling apart at the seams. Sakura, personally, felt nothing but dread at her upcoming encounter. She knew that finding Tsunade was essential for their mission, but she couldn’t help but fear Tsunade’s insight into her true identity. Tsunade would know immediately that her medical ninjutsu skill was far above anything she could have achieved on her own; worse than that, she would recognize Sakura’s fighting style immediately. No one in the Five Great Nations but Tsunade herself could have taught Sakura that exact method of chakra enhanced strength. She almost thought it wisest to confront Tsunade on her own so that she could explain her situation on her own terms instead of risking exposing her identity to Naruto and Itachi. But fear was overpowering rationality, and her current plan was simply to do her best to hide her skills until absolutely necessary. 

The four shinobi continued to travel through the bright forests of the Land of Fire with Kakashi wordlessly in the lead. After a few hours of travel, Kakashi stopped, motioning for the other three to stop behind him. 

“We’re here,” he said motioning with his head towards the small village that sprawled out before them. “Under any other circumstances, I’d say we should disguise ourselves, but I honestly see no point now if we’re trying to find Tsunade-hime anyway. Take off your hitaites, though. Let’s not be idiots.”

“Thank god, I hate those stupid-ass costumes,” Naruto sighed, looking to Sakura and Itachi for confirmation. 

He was met instead with blank stares; the two were clearly preoccupied with other issues. 

“Right, so I’m glad to see that we’re all so present at an important time,” Kakashi said, clearing his throat. 

Both Itachi and Sakura snapped back to reality. Itachi offered Kakashi an apologetic nod and Sakura gave an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Right, yes, sorry Kakashi-sensei,” she said. “Lot’s to think about, you know.”

“I’m sure there is, Sakura.” Kakashi flashed her a warning look of sorts. “But we all have to be on our highest alert today, don’t we?”

Sakura nodded again. “Yes, of course. So to the bar?”

Kakashi carded a tired hand through his hair. “I was going to suggest something more subtle, but who cares for tact anymore these days, I guess. Yeah, let’s just go to the bar. If Tsunade-hime’s going to tell us to fuck off, we might as well get it over with as soon as possible.”

Kakashi leaped down from the tree branch on which he had perched and began to amble into town. It was not particularly difficult to locate the bar, since with such a small population, there was only one building that garnered any attention at this point in the early evening. He walked through the swinging double doors and offered a friendly wave to the bartender. The bartender looked the four shinobi up and down, recognizing them as travelers, but ushered them in regardless. Perhaps they weren’t as obviously shinobi as Sakura initially expected. A quick scan of the small bar revealed Tsunade hunched over a table in the corner with her apprentice, Shizune, sitting across from her, looking tired, but not worried. Tsunade nursed a cup of sake, several empty bottles scattered about on the table. 

“Let’s get this over with then,” Kakashi sighed, motioning for the other three to join him as he approached Tsunade’s table. 

“Hey, Tsunade-hime,” he said, waving from a comfortable distance. “Sorry to bother you while you seem to be having such a wonderful evening.”

Tsunade scowled and scanned Kakashi up and down before moving on to inspect Itachi, Sakura, and Naruto beside him. Her scowl quickly turned into utter bewilderment as her gaze focused on Itachi. 

“What the everloving fuck is going on here?” she said, her words slurred from the alcohol. “It’s annoying enough to have Kakashi here, but what could you, Itachi, possibly be doing here? Do you have a fucking death wish? Why are you two suddenly all buddy-buddy? Did I finally fucking die?”

Shizune too recoiled at Itachi’s presence. “What is he doing here,” she hissed, hand inching towards the concealed kunai she certainly kept on her person. 

“Whoah whoah, calm down,” Kakashi raised a hand to stop Shizune and motioned for everyone to quiet down. “There’s a lot to discuss here it seems, so if you would all do us a favor and stop trying to murder us, we can discuss the issue at hand like civilized shinobi.”

“Yeah, Itachi doesn’t suck, actually!” Naruto interjected.

Kakashi sighed, but nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Naruto. Very insightful. But yes, this whole situation is very complicated, as Tsunade-hime would well know.”

Kakashi eased himself down onto a seat at the adjacent table, beckoning Itachi, Sakura, and Naruto to join him.

“I take it you heard the news about Sandaime-sama, Tsunade-hime?” 

Tsunade paused, sobering slightly. “No, I haven’t.”

“Ah, well that complicates things. He’s dead. We have reason to believe Danzo killed him.”

Tsunade placed her sake cup on the table with a gingerness Kakashi did not expect. “It was only a matter of time,” she muttered, her gaze focusing on something awfully far away. “I think I understand why Itachi’s here, now.”

“Well I don’t,” Shizune hissed. “What use could we possibly have of that murderer?”

Itachi did not appear offended. In fact, he appeared nothing at all, his expression perfectly passive. Really, the vitriol felt good in a strange way; in all reality, he wanted more disdain, especially from those of his generation. It would only be right. 

“Itachi didn’t murder the Uchiha of his own volition,” Kakashi explained. “Actually, Itachi, don’t let me speak for you. You can explain yourself however you want.”

Itachi shook his head. “Thank you, but I will let you go ahead.”

What a coward he was. He should have had the strength to explain his own failings, especially when the explanation would absolve him of the majority of his culpability. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t admit to being so utterly manipulated–to being such a good dog of the village that he was able to do the unthinkable just because he was asked. Itachi could agree that Danzo was deplorable, but he couldn’t pin the fate of the Uchiha on Danzo alone. His cowardice and susceptibility spelled his family’s doom just as well. 

Kakashi shrugged at Itachi’s secession. “Yeah sure. Anyway, Danzo forced his hand all those years ago. He was given an ultimatum: the village kills every single Uchiha, or Itachi does it and gets to save his brother. And the poor kind-hearted thirteen year old made the only decision he felt he could.” 

Shizune’s glare softened as she began to reconcile Itachi’s situation. Itachi wished that he could get the vitriol back. He did not want to be pitied. He did something deplorable, and he should be deplored for it. He didn’t want absolution from these inane explanations.  

Kakashi let the implications of his story settle before returning to the immediate issue at hand. “All this is to say that Danzo is going to destroy Konoha. The entire village is besieged by him and his ROOT agents currently and we have reason to believe that he is going to start wiping out our jonin allies very soon. We need to save Konoha.” 

Something in Tsunade’s eyes softened for a moment before he turned back to her cup of sake. “You’re right, you do need to save Konoha. So you best get on it.”

“We need your help if we want to really dispose of Danzo and restabilize Konoha.”

“You’re Kakashi of the Sharingan and you’ve got Itachi Uchiha with you now. You don’t need a pathetic old woman who only ever fucks things up worse. Now fuck off and go deal with your problems.” 

Naruto rose from his seat, scrambling around the table to get up in Tsunade’s face. “Sasuke’s gonna die because of you!” he said. “You could actually help people, but you decide not to because you’re a sad old lady who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but yourself!”

Tsunade slammed her cup on the table. “Get this brat out of my face before I tell the whole bar who you are. Leave. Me. Alone.”