Naruto 1. You

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Running Up That Hill

Prologue

Pain. It wrapped itself around her in an unwanted caress. It held onto every limb, every pore, and every muscle as if she had been stretched and twisted, compressed and confined, and generally pushed to the brink of exhaustion. It was the deep ebbing pain that even gripped her mind, not the sharp acute pain of a particular injury. Rather something old and new at the same time, an all-encompassing ache that almost eluded description entirely.

Trees. Clouds. The blurred forms slowly came to recognition as her eyes adjusted to the sudden light. She groggily waved a deceptively delicate hand about in front of her vision testing each figure individually. Everything looked hazy to her weary eyes, as if she had just woken from an unneeded midday nap, synapses firing sluggishly. A darkness clinging to the edges of her vision refused to give up its hold.

Wild life. Shouting. Metal clanging. Sounds of nearby battle caused her to snap to attention, the shinobi and medic within her battling for control. The midday laze dispersing instantly, she was up and pulled taut like a band ready to snap, pushing the lingering pain and darkness to the back of her mind.

Wind. Branches. She was running before she registered it, bare feet pushing off the cluttered ground with purpose. Carelessly leaving bloodied tracks as the sticks and rocks tore into the normally protected flesh, more important matters were at hand.

Chakra. It electrified the air and stung her nose and lungs, the battle ground was seeped in it, the smell clawed at her subconscious. She could remember that the aroma always accompanied a certain jutsu however she couldn't quite put a name to it. As she neared the fight the elemental force adhered to her skin, raising gooseflesh and hairs on the back of her neck.

She didn't think, just reacted. As soon as she entered the cave she unconsciously registered the markings on the headbands, there was no time to asses any situations or let her sometimes overly logical mind take matters into hand. Before the enemy registered her entrance she was dashing across the cramped space flooding her limbs with chakra and pushing a boy to the side. Grunting with exertion and mild pain she punched upwards allowing her enhanced strength shatter the large stone falling towards her into harmless pieces. She raised herself, unfolding from the semi crouched position she had been forced to take and looked at the three stunned shinobi before her assessing any damage.

She blinked. Once. Twice. Another time just to be sure, and shook her head violently. Pink locks swayed with the movement as she transitioned from battle ready kunoichi to a state of strained confusion. The darkness that had been threatening to swallow her vision encroached ever more yet she could clearly see the unmistakable silver mop of hair and masked face. Nothing made sense and she hopped it had merely been the odd exhaustion that was causing her to see this vision.

He was dead, she and what remained of her team had buried him only weeks ago. She was sure of it, felt it within every fiber of her being. Yet here he was, looking years younger than herself and staring right back at her with dropped eyes that sung of as much confusion as hers. She slumped forward as the slinking blackness closed in more, barely registering a flash of yellow light and uttered one exhausted word.

"Sensei?"


	2. If I Only Could Make A Deal With God

Chapter 1: If I Only Could Make A Deal with God

The earth was blackened and obliterated. A maelstrom of ache and fury ragged on and in the center loomed two figures. One stood tall and imposing, a swirled mask revealing nothing. His very aura rang of malevolence and loathing towards the perceived worms before him. He looked fatigued and bloodied but not overly injured, his large gunbai lay discarded among the jagged rubble, snapped in two from a particularly powerful blow. Facing him was a man in a long crimson coat. Where the former could be described as dark this young shinobi would be light. His sunny yellow hair jutted up every which way with reckless abandon, a whiskered face sat set in steely determination, red rimmed eyes narrowed in defiance. He too looked drained and battered, fighting with all his might to simply stand before his enemy in boldness.

Sakura Haruno looked upon the destruction that lay in front of her. The ground had been upturned in multiple locations from her chakra laden kicks and punches combined with the efforts of the other jutsus that her teammates had cast. Bodies were scattered about, both friend and foe. Her fingers almost itched to help the remaining dying, the healer within her very core almost weeping in sorrow at the situation. She wished to aid, to patch up her many allies, but he had needed her. She simply had no more chakra to give. So drained was she that she couldn't even extract herself from the hold some faceless minion seized her in.

She felt herself slump in defeat as she listlessly watched the pair converse and combat. Naruto was tiring, that much was obvious by the fact that the yellowed eyes of sage mode were back to being the bright clear blue she knew so well. His dodges were becoming less evasive and more stumbling luck yet he still fought proudly, her weary lips curled into a grin as he yelled some inane and peaceful desire towards his opponent. She steeled herself for the coming blow from her captor, happy that her last thought and sight could be of the golden shinobi that she cared for so much.

The blow never came, the kunai she had heard sliding out of the nameless nin's pouch never sliced through her throat, instead she felt a sudden loosening of grip and splash of blood as the sharp instrument found a home within his own neck. She twisted out of the dead man's grip to look behind her as a shadow snaked along the ground towards its bleeding owner, dropping on all fours to do so.

"Shikamaru?" the question was breathy as she took in his ragged appearance, jounin vest torn and hanging off a limp arm. The man in question collapsed to the ground, one hand unclasping the lifeless fingers of the other in deactivation of his trademark technique. His short breaths stirring his unbound black hair as he gave her a slight nod. A large bloodstain spread over the sagging shoulder with alarming speed as she crawled as fast as she could to his now prone body. "Hold on Shika" she grunted coming up next to him, lifting a muddy hand towards him. Soft green light emanated from the offered appendage before sputtering out. She tried twice more, the glow flickering less and less with each attempt. "I'm so sorry," she cried "damn it," she growled punching the ground fruitlessly.

"Sakura," he spoke weakly using his good hand to gently cover her dirty one "it's alright." And then he smiled with such resigned serenity she almost believed it herself. She knew that deep down he really was content with not surviving, the blow he had taken was too close to his heart and she was simply to useless to repair it. He had lost more than most in the war, his family, his team, and just days ago the woman he was in love with. Survivors' guilt weighed heavily on the normally lazy tactician, and she found herself wishing fervently that whatever awaited him beyond was no more troublesome than a shoji match with his loved ones.

She gave him what she hoped wasn't a pitying smile in return and dug into the breast pocket of his flak jacket slowly. Pulling out a rumpled rectangular packet and lighter she flipped the lid off and fished out a single cigarette that looked a little worse for wear. She lit the small vice and placed it in his good hand with a teary smile. No more words were to be said as he slowly lifted it to his mouth and closed his drowsy eyes.

Sakura turned away and struggled to her feet, stumbling as she did so. Her eyes narrowed in grim determination as she sluggishly strode forward towards the two power house opponents. Digging in her medic pouch she produced a small scroll, swiping a hand across a large laceration to her thigh in doing so. She placed the now bloodied hand upon the roll activating a seal in doing so. A small flash followed as she now gripped a familiar tonto, the other hand reaching for a half broken energy ration, her soldier pills having run out long ago. She choked the pill down grimacing at the taste while doing so, adrenaline started coursing throughout her limbs without the added benefits of chakra.

Limping towards the epicenter of the combat she held the arm with the weapon out ready, watching the jitters from the ration recede as the adrenaline started to even out. She felt energized but not entirely renewed, the haze of pain only being blocked by the chemicals. As the malaise retreated her limp became less prominent, her slow gait slowly becoming more of a frenzied dash. She may not be able to reinforce her punches with the vibrant green energy she normally relied on but she was resolute to be of some use to her friend, the boy she had waited too long to fall for, the one who she now loved from afar.

She ran up the hill and lept towards the enemies turned back futilely with only half her normal speed and a fraction of the strength, intent to do nothing more than distract the monster of a man. Her breath caught as both she and the tonto held before her seamlessly phased through the should-be-solid body before her. She staggered and attempted to regain her balance as Naruto shouted her name in concern. He dashed forwards in an attempt to punch the Uchiha what he was preoccupied with swatting her away like a pest. The blow was solid and to her chest, sending her already unbalanced form tumbling down the knoll.

She groaned as she came to a stop, slowly pushing herself up with her feeble arms and wiping away a trickle of blood that leaked from her lips. Naruto was bellowing in rage, spewing comments towards his dark opponent that were too fast to follow, as he quickly executed frenzied taijutsu, all of which were blocked by his much calmer opponent. He jumped back from his failed onslaught and began swirling bright blue chakra to his hand.

Time slowed.

The seconds turned to hours as she watched him charge forwards, clones sent before him. As the masked nin single handedly dispatched the two copies he began creating seals with the other hand. Narutos arm was outstretched, his face set in a confident sneer as he firmly believed this to be the final blow, and it was with that look that she realized the truth.

The angry red chakra that was slowly bubbling up was making him inattentive, he hadn't seen the hand signs his opponent was making and wouldn't be able to dodge whatever impending attack the man was orchestrating.

Time stopped.

Naruto was weakened and while his assault seemed to be a last ditch effort she knew him well enough to know he still had more fight to give in him. She however was bloodied and broken, chakra-less and relying on already failing borrowed power, nothing but inadequate and in the way at this point.

A bloodied hand slid up her torn shirt, reaching for a patch of flesh irritated and raised from a recent tattoo. Before she had a chance to doubt herself she prayed to Kami that her design worked and transferred her last remaining iota of Chakra into a seal that was inked onto her side.

Time flew.

She felt her entire being shift and compress, like she was being pulled through a narrow tube. It was instantaneous and yet felt like forever all in the same moment and she vaguely wondered if she left behind a pink flash.

Suddenly she was staring into impossibly blue eyes widened in utter disbelief and dread, his extended arm with the jutsu only moments from impacting her now standing form, the momentum too much to stop the trajectory. The unknown jutsu collided forcibly with her back as she was still feeling the effects of her technique, the strength causing her to cough, more lifeblood flowing from her lips.

Narutos hand and rasengan slammed into her with the power of a mighty gale. She looked towards her chest where she expected gore and pain and given the devastated look upon his face he clearly anticipated the same. A strangled gasp echoed behind her followed by gurgles as the imposing shadow collapsed to the ground. She registered no pain, no viscera or any damage upon her body from the jutsu, yet Naruto stood with his arm plainly impaling her. She reached up to grab the arm for support, her knees giving out from exhaustion, only to have her hand pass right through the appendage. Before either could utter a word a sudden light emanated from her abdomen, right where the seal was located.

She closed her eyes at the sudden flash and knew no more.


	3. You Don't Want To Hurt Me

Chapter 2: You don't want to hurt me

She felt slight jostling and wind rushing by her face as she blearily came to. She languidly opened her eyes to see copious amounts of blond hair and night sky, her limbs dangling uselessly as she was carried on the owners back. She could hear three sets of lighter feet dutifully following the man holding her as she attempted to recall what had transpired.

Bleary images of her and Naruto facing off against an unknown man believed to be Madara floated to the forefront of her mind. She blinked and attempted to focus blurred eyes on the form carrying her. The telltale blond spikes set her at ease as she let herself surrender to the fatigue that so easily claimed her form, a small breathy sigh of "Naruto," passing her lips.

She awoke to a chilled ground and a dying fire this time, the exhaustion and severe chakra depletion leaving her as weak and vulnerable as a babe. She attempted to slowly stretch her arms to relieve tension only to quietly hiss in failure and discomfort, not willing to try and use her chakra to alleviate the pain that blossomed from what she suspected was a cracked rib she settled for sluggishly cradling her midsection. She peered into the dim moonlight to see three shadowy forms slumbering on the other side of the glowing embers.

Soft shuffling reached her ears from a rock set slightly off from the fire. A shadowed figure had sprung to combat readiness at her gentle movements, the flickering light from the flames illuminating blond hair and a green vest. 'Odd, he must have ruined his clothes' she thought vaguely wondering why he stood so tensely as if awaiting her to make the first move. She started adjusting herself to attempt to sit up when he suddenly grabbed for glinting metal.

"Don't," the word was spoken softly yet with immense command. Sakura recoiled as if burned, making a small noise of discomfort at the abrupt movement. Unwilling tears starting to gather as she could hear the three unknown figures slowly come to wakefulness. His voice was deeper, more serious and it retained none of the wonderfully sunny tones he seemed to reserve only for her. 'He must just be exhausted,' she reasoned with herself squinting into the darkness to see if he was injured. The small flickers of light refused to allow for any visible damage to be seen. She shook her head as if to disperse any cobwebs yet couldn't seem to find any answer or reason for her current placement, injury, or situation.

"Naruto, what happened?"

-xxxxx-

He cast a wary eye onto the slumbering form of his new traveling companion. She was petal haired, unusual yet not entirely impossible for a shinobi, and pale skinned, at least he believed her to be, her uniform and bruises leaving little unblemished flesh to discern a true color. His brow quirked slightly when he took in her aforementioned uniform, not dissimilar to his own only with a skirt instead of the normal long pants many seemed to prefer, not many young shinobi her age would willingly wear the standard war fatigues older jonin and chunnin sported often. It was however the symbol upon the metal plate adorning her headband that had him most curious, to his knowledge no village simply used the symbol for shinobi.

His eyes flicked quickly towards his students when he noticed the near silent movements of the unknown woman waking. They remained blissfully unaware and asleep as she hissed in pain and he made a quick mental note to reprimand them later. He was standing at the ready before he had even really comprehended the action, his original plan to remain non-threatening out the window with his long ingrained training. The girl made to sit up and he unconsciously reached for an ever present kunai.

"Don't," he almost visibly sighed when she recoiled, angered at himself for the poor delivery, he had only meant for her to refrain from injuring herself more after all. The slight woman recovered quickly and seemed to peer into the darkness towards his form almost in familiarity, her eyes searching longingly for a clue to the current predicament. She shook her head slightly and almost deflated before finally giving into something.

"Naruto," she called to him voice full of concern and confusion, "what happened?" her eyes shining viridian and watery in the low light of the fire. He faltered, unsure of how to answer the heavy question all the while attempting to recall who the Naruto might be and why she seemed to believe it was him. His young students were shaking of sleep now standing to late attention as if waiting for an order, each had a weapon held loosely in hand.

The wind quickly picked up across the small field they had camped in that night, almost as if the weather itself could feel the apprehension of the situation. In retaliation the embers of the fire pit grew to a mighty blaze, unwilling to yield to the forces of nature. The girls face became clearer now in the new light, her lips forming a small gasp as her eyes hardened turning from grass meadows to sharpened emeralds. "You," she clambered to her feet, bare toes digging into the soft earth for traction, "are not Naruto." He quietly admired her fortitude, knowing that she must be in immense pain, as she was suddenly crouched into a battle stance. "Who are you?" the question floated along the breeze filled to the brim with venom.

He quickly held his hands into a surrender, side eyeing his unit to do what they must to appear non-threatening. "We are leaf shinobi, we mean you no harm," he sighed internally, this had not gone to plan at all. "I found you collapsed next to my team, they told me you had saved them so I had my field medic return the favor," he watched her shrewdly as she seemed to retreat into herself either weighing options or attempting to remember certain moments.

She seemed to notice his team now, the three teens who stood of to the side somewhat awkwardly. Her eyes quickly locked onto his jonin, the one who held himself overconfidently despite now having bandaged covering the half of his face that remained unmasked. His unmistakable hair ruffled slightly in the breeze as he seemed to stand straighter under the scrutiny. Her jade eyes quickly passed over the other two before turning to him sharply, her face a carefully controlled mask. "Shinobi san, may I ask your name?" her voice sounded subdued, no longer leaking hostility.

He shuffled stiffly, "I've seen your headband, even if I don't recognize your village I'm sure you know as well as I that is prohibited," at his words he felt as if she was cracking slowly, the once unreadable mask slipping away to reveal something else entirely.

"Please," she pleaded, voice almost quivering. "I won't do a thing to endanger you or your team just tell me your name," he wondered why it was so important for her to know, even academy students had more control than she was showing.

He relented slightly, if only to attempt to keep some semblance of his political training intact. "I am known as 'The Yellow Flash' to those outside of my village," the words had the opposite effect on the kunoichi as he had wished. The mask had broken, shattered as emotions flickered across her face, they finally ended as rage clouded her eyes at the half answered question.

She drew herself to her full height quickly reaching to grab something from the inner pockets of her regulation vest. Each member of his team tensed and balanced on the balls of their feet ready to attack. A metal plate was quickly thrown to his feet, the leaf symbol glinting in the firelight. "I am Sakura Haruno jonin of Konoha, you will tell me your name," she spoke quickly and desperately, as if afraid of the reply.

"Minato Namikaze"

-xxxxx-

During peacetime when not on missions most shinobi preferred to either train or act as if they had some minutia of normality within their lives. Some would make a way of life out of consistently pushing their bodies to the very limits by consistent exercise like Rock Lee or his ever eccentric teacher Might Guy. Others however wished to concentrate more on the mundane outside of the uniform, Ino Yamanaka for example and working in her family flower shop and waxing lyrical about a new boy toy of the week.

Each shinobi had a different way to cope with the darkest sides of their career. The only thing they all had in common was a trait inherently ingrained into each one from the earliest lessons in the academy. To keep secrets. The secrets kept would always manifest in diverse ways. In the case of the blonde flower arranger while she would go on about a different male every week she kept the true apple of her eye close to her heart. Sometimes it would be a physical secret like the ever present mask upon the face of jonin commander Kakashi Hatake.

War time was vastly different. While camped out on the open battlefield secrets were widely shared over dying fires. The phenomenon was never truly explored but the general consensus was that humans innately want to be remembered. What good were mysteries of the past when you could be splayed out dying in a pool of your own lifeblood the next day? It was this general thinking that led to many stories being swapped during meal times, though the famous mask was never removed.

Sakura prided herself on her eidetic memory, during the beginning days of war she collected stories, puzzle pieces to solve the mysteries that were her comrades. She knew that Neji Hyuuga fondly remembers and recalls elaborate tea parties he and his younger cousin Hinata Hyuuga used to have during summer afternoons, where he developed a sweet tooth that was near uncontrollable. She knew that shortly after the debacle that was their first chunnin exam Shikamaru Nara and Temari of the sand played a game of shoji in which she nearly won because Shikamaru was so flustered from his father insinuating that they were together.

She recalled the darker more unfortunate stories as well. The origin of Kakashi's sharingan eye always weighed heavy on her heart, the pain and sorrow felt by the young team burrowing deeper as she mentally replayed the tale so essential to her one time sensei.

The only conversation that remained more imprinted into her soul than the failed mission was one she had with the one bright soul in the middle of the darkness that was war.

"_Sakura," he had begun far more serious than she was used to "I found out who my dad was a while ago. It was back during the invasion. Did you know he was the Forth?" he had rambled on not really waiting for her to reply. "I knew I was destined to be Hokage, it even runs in my blood." He had smiled at her brightly then and she had felt her hear swell with affection and the stirrings of love. "I have a new dream now to you know? I don't just want to be Hokage anymore, I want to be a Hokage my dad would be proud of" she remembered him wandering off, the heavy mood dissipating as he muttered on about needing to find some good ramen and wondering if he should change his last name to Namikaze after the war. _

-xxxxx-

"Sensei I've rewrapped all of her bandages and applied more salve, she didn't really react I think she might be in shock," a timid voice slipped along the edges of her consciousness. "Actually," the female voice spoke more assuredly "it is in my medical opinion that she is suffering from shock." Sakura paid the voice no attention as the owner continued to flutter about checking and rechecking this and that as if to back up her claim.

"Whoa Rin you almost sounded like a real medic right then" this time it was the voice of a male, he sounded like he was afflicted with the same perpetual happiness Naruto seemed to carry around. Her fingers slightly twitched at the voice, willing themselves to form a fist and enact her usual punishment for comments like those. However in her numbed state they did no more than spasm.

"Baka I am a real medic," the female chastised quietly yet confidentially, a small slapping sound followed the statement. A quiet groan trailed from the bright male. "Oh, did I hit you too hard Obito? I'm sorry I was only trying to be silly," she apologized profusely, regret lingering on every syllable.

'Do you think if I treated you this way things would have been different Naruto?' she wondered languidly, thinking back to all of the apologies left unsaid, all of the senseless injuries she dealt out to him.

She knew was awake, her eyes were open yet she felt unseeing. Colors and blurs were floating within her view yet she simply couldn't seem to put them together to form scenes. Memories of a bloody battle clashing with waking in a low lit field. She was struggling to place everything in the right order.

'This simply makes no sense, it cannot be happening' she concluded finally. The undeniable effects of her untested seal and the masked nins jutsu unraveling before her.

Her mind was reeling, attempting to process to much at once and she was left feeling as if she were tethered to a pole in a windstorm, simply fighting to hold on.

"Rin don't fall for his act, he is just playing you to get attention," a familiar yet wholly unfamiliar voice called out next. It was cold and jagged yet not as deep and sluggish as she was used to. She yearned to reach out to him for guidance yet held her tongue, forcing herself to remember he was now years younger than her, little more than a child.

She needed to sort things out, everything was a clutter, jumbled thoughts and factoids floating to the surface without coherence. Her years of helping her shishou with filling paperwork and organizing old dusty rooms aiding in the retrieval of the knowledge.

Team 3, leader Minato Namikaze. Members Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha. Team active for 4 years.

A cave, a collapse and a missing eye.

Sakuras frame jolted suddenly, her eyes widened as the missing pieces seemed to drift together into some semblance of a timeline. Soft whispers touched her mind, Kakashis low voice recounting the horrible truth of his adolescent team as they huddled together for warmth by the fire one particularly brutal night. The harsh lessons he learned only after failing as a leader. The gift from a dying friend that turned him into the force that he was known to be.

Eyes focused she turned to study the silver haired shinobi, once again taking in his appearance paying special attention to the fresh bandages over his left eye and the small rip in his mask that was below it. Bandages that she was now sure didn't in fact hide a coveted Sharingan eye.

'The cave,' she recollected, allowing herself to fully sink into the previously broken memory. 'I pushed him out of the way, he was supposed to be crushed.' Her eyes traveled towards the exuberant Uchiha who seemed to be gearing up to enter a verbal battle with his lazy eyed rival. 'I saved his life, albeit unknowingly. I changed his path and so far there are no unforeseen consequences.'

She struggled to her feet, locking eyes with the blond hero of her village. Steely determination oozed from every pore as she braced herself on her good leg. "Namikaze-san, I thank you for the medical care," she started quietly yet unwavering paying close mind to the now tensed forms before her, " though I have to ask for one more favor. Please take me back to Konoha with you. I am aware I can't make it in the state I am in." she concluded looking towards the soon to be Hokage hopefully.

He in return gave a small grin, on so similar yet entirely unlike Naruto that she felt her breath and her balance falter at the vivid reminder. "I think we can manage that." She returned his smile in thanks, quietly settling down by the blazing embers to regain her strength for the journey ahead.

'I can change everything.'


	4. Want To Hear About The Deal I'm MAking

Chapter 3: Want To Hear About the Deal I'm Making?

_The light from her candles threatened to blow out with every harsh gust of wind that rocked her tent flaps. Sakura gave a small hiss of pain when she pricked her finger with a needle at a particularly dark moment. With a momentary glow of the pale rhombus on her forehead the small puncture knit itself back together before even a droplet of blood could fall. She glanced over to the tree trunk she had dragged next to her small cot to use as a table, eyes cautiously scanning the worn scrolls weighed down by rocks. Her hand stilled at her study of the notes quickly adjusting before she continued to stich a tiny pattern into a seemingly endless sea of red. _

_She languidly turned her head towards the flaps of her tent as she head steps approaching, too uniformly spaced to be Narutos erratic walk. She let her chakra leak along the dirt until it sensed the presence just outside the canvas. "Come on in Sai," she quietly spoke before he could fully pause his movements. The pale ex-root member slid inside quickly keeping most of the gale from entering her tiny space. He shot her a small but genuine smile as he gently shook his inky hair as if to rid it of the rain that had drenched him earlier. "What brings you here?" she asked looking back down to the small seal she had been sewing as he gracefully sunk to the empty cot across from her, one used for any nin who may need overnight supervision but were safe enough to move. _

"_I am attempting to hide from Yamanaka-san," he spoke evenly still working on inserting emotions into his daily life. She spared him a questioning glance and he continued without preamble. "I believe I have unintentionally sent her a 'signal'," small air quotes were even thrown into the air at the word. "and she is insistent on sharing evening meal with me." _

_Sakura exhaled softly in quiet amusement while tying a small knot in the red thread. "Well Sai I'm sorry to inform you but you will need to hide much better from her then, I imagine she'll be here soon demanding my help hunt you down." He gave an almost unnoticeable slump at her words. _

"_Very well Hag, I will attempt to find somewhere else." He stood to leave only to come closer and inspect the careful stitch work she had just completed "I was unaware you were skilled in embroidery." she smiled in thanks at the small compliment. "Why do you have Naruto-sans coat though?" _

"_Well he seemed so sad when it caught on a rock and ripped yesterday," she started failing to mention that she had in fact sent a small amount of chakra tremoring along the ground to purposefully create the offending jagged stone "so I offered to sew it back up for him." _

_He stared at her quizzically "That is not where it had been torn though." _

_Her body froze for a mere fraction of a second as she frantically attempted to come up with some sort of half-truth that didn't reveal the danger of the seals she was working with. "That's true, I've already finished mending it so I decided to add a design that is meant to bring good luck." She hoped he believed the quick thought deception. _

_He nodded and seemed to file the small bit of information away. "Well it is very esthetically pleasing," his head tilted minutely to the side listening for something far away. "I must take my leave now, Yamanaka-san is quickly coming this way" he stated moving towards the back of her tent. _

"_Sai," he stilled his movements awaiting for her to continue "Don't tell anyone about this please." She gestured towards the embroidered fabric. "I don't want to be up all night doing these for everyone now." She once again fibbed to the ink-master. _

"_I understand." She could hear small rustles of cloth as he slunk under the back portion of her tent. When she felt he was far enough away to not become suspicious she let a small exhalation of air out in relief. Explaining the meaning and use of the seal to the emotionally stunted nin had not been high on her list of activities that night. Gently setting the long overcoat to the side she started rolling up the assorted scrolls sparing a slight grimace for the lewdly drawn woman in the upper right hand corner. _

'_I guess Jiraiya would even draw on his own important notes if the inspiration struck' she pretended not to notice the portraits similarity to her shishou as she turned to pull together a pile of her own findings on the research, a detailed drawing of a distinctive three pronged kunai taking up most of one page. 'I'll just need to get a bit more ink then I can mix it with my chakra and start applying the tattoo' having stashed away all of her studies she sank towards her cot once again picking up the scarlet coat. She fingered the barely noticeable seal that was a mirror copy of the one used for the yellow flash's famous Hiraishin no Jutsu happy with the result. _

_Hearing angry stomps in the direction of her temporary home she quickly dropped the fabric. A svelte blonde crashed into tent allowing rain and wind to gust in and almost extinguish her lights. "Hey Forehead have you seen that socially awkward teammate of yours lately, we are supposed to sit together for dinner and I'm getting hungry" Ino Yamanaka ranted quickly her long ponytail fluttering about as she angrily placed her hands on her hips. _

_Sakura sighed quietly. "Sorry Pig I haven't seen him all day"_

-xxxxx-

Rin Nohara was studious and observant, she was always near the top of her classes in academy despite her lacking physical abilities. Sure her taijutsu was laughable at best but she could easily solve logic puzzles quicker than anyone who wasn't her silver haired teammate. Within her small team she was well known as the source of emotional empathy as well, finding it all too easy to care for any injured soul that may wander across her path. It was because of these specific character traits that she couldn't seem to pull her focus away from the mysterious petal haired kunoichi who sat opposite her.

She had been secretly stealing glances at the woman's (for that is what she was to Rin who was only a tender fourteen years of age) face filing away each flicker of emotion that passed across it. Her observations had started when she awoke to the conversation between the Nin and her sensei and she mentally remarked that the woman had an utter lack of control of her emotions, a very bad trait for any successful shinobi. That had been more than an hour ago and now she sat near the fire making an almost mental checklist of the things she had noticed. Sakura (who she had revealed herself to be in what seemed to be a fit if defiance) had two headbands yet neither were scratched through. So she wasn't visibly a missing nin yet that didn't rule out her being a possible spy, this was a time of war after all. Yet Rin felt that this brash emotional woman wouldn't quite be able to keep a life of secrecy required of an infiltrator.

She had been severely injured and chakra depleted to the point that it had taken Rin (who believed she was a rather decent medic) several days to heal her almost completely. That in itself wasn't entirely odd as it was like she recalled earlier a time of war. What was odd was that on top of the injuries she seemed to be almost malnourished, the shinobi of Konoha were always sent on short enough missions and with enough supplies to never encounter possible hunger issues. Perhaps she had been a captive who recently escaped, 'No' Rin gave herself a tiny shake, none of her injuries seemed to be that of a prisoner of war.

Finally there had been the myriad of emotions she displayed within the short amount of time she had been conscious. Obito quickly gave her a questioning glance as she sighed audibly. This mysterious woman was like one giant puzzle that only had patches solved, Rin knew once she could complete the framework everything would then fall into place. Who was this woman who could exhibit such ferocity one moment and seemingly utter despair and confusion the next? How could she then pull herself from an almost catatonic state of shock and become so suddenly determined?

Most importantly why did she look at Minato and Kakashi with near fondness when no one knew who she was?

They had been sitting in near silence letting the warmth from the fire caress their skin waiting for the sun to rise when Obito finally seemed to give into the curiosity that had been cloaking her entire team. "So Haruno-san what were you doing near that cave earlier?" Rin noticed that the woman's eyes quickly widened in momentary surprise and gave her loud teammate a gentle nudge to the ribs. He in turn fidgeted in nervousness and continued "I mean not that I'm not totally thankful for you saving my life and all, because I totally am. I just thought we were the only team in the area"

Rin observed that the pink haired woman's hand reached to rub a purple diamond on her forehead, a trait that she noticed she seemed to do often, before she let her shoulders drop with a sigh and began to spin her tale.

-xxxxx-

To say Sakura was quite shocked when introductions had been made would have been quite an understatement, aside from looks the ebony haired boy was nothing like the Uchihas she had known, in fact his easy going temperament reminded her of another sunny boy all to painfully. She almost smiled wistfully at him before his inquisitive questions weight fully sunk into her. She had been too busy making plans to alter her war-torn future that she hadn't thought of an excuse for her current presence let alone one that would be believable enough to fool the two very famous shinobi in front of her.

She reached a pale hand towards her forehead and rubbed the space where her Yin seal resided, a bad habit that developed after it first appeared during the early days of the war. Soon enough people often knew that the small tick meant she was overstressed and learned to beware. She offhandedly remembered that during the last large battle she had used the seals effects and internally grumbled to herself about her body being unable to self-heal without it, that explained why the young medic had needed to take so long her heal her body.

Sakura drug her eyes from the overactive genin to the blond soon to be Hokage. She let out a small sigh as her shoulders sagged and hopped she was convincing. "I was returning from a solo mission that was several leagues north of here and my designated path back had a large group of enemies so I went off in a direction that I thought had no active combat." She shrugged in a hopefully nonchalant way when she finished, fervently hoping that in the given situation less would be more."

Minato's eyes narrowed a fraction at her story as he gave his insight "You were very wounded why would you willingly rush to the sounds of combat when you knew it would most likely be our enemies?" he eyed her prompting her to continue.

She knew well enough to know that the truth would be best for her answer "I'm a medic, it comes naturally. I was going to hang back until I saw the leaf symbol on your team here." She slowly allowed a tiny trickle of chakra flow towards her hands, lighting up her fingertips with an almost eerie green glow in the firelight. She had spoken the truth too, it was too ingrained into her by now to just leave the sounds of battle alone. She didn't want to mention however that when she woke up she had no idea she had somehow been thrown many years into her own past and simply thought it was one of her allies in trouble.

She watched as the suspicion grew on the Namikaze's face and deflated nearly crumpling into herself. Her arrival was just too convenient, even for her, and she knew that no amount of storytelling would convince this man that she was not the enemy and she was obviously only left alive out of good will for saving his students.

"You don't believe me, that's fine I understand." She started her voice dripping in defeat "Just know that I would never harm any citizen of Konoha, but I need to get to the village and I need to speak to the Hokage right away," she continued holding up a hand to stop the blond who was ready to interrupt "I know I will need to be interrogated and I don't care, you could even blindfold me and take me to the village in chains if you have to. Just get me there please." She pleaded to him finally unable to mince words anymore before wincing at the thought that she just offered to be bound and blinded for what was sure to be a very uncomfortable journey.

She looked towards Minato hopefully as he shot her a smile that was so similar that she almost felt her mind blank. "Well I don't think that will be necessary, get some rest we'll leave at sun up"

Sakura finally felt herself relax for the first time in a long while.

-xxxxx-

Inoichi Yamanaka had been having a surprisingly peaceful day. His morning had started off with a lovely surprise from his wife of his favorite onigiri for breakfast, it was quickly followed by finding that the intelligence division had restocked the coffee in the break room to his preferred brand. He had poured the perfect combination of sugar and cream on his first try and was able to enjoy several small conversations with is coworkers as he languidly made his way towards his mostly empty desk. He had only had three small piles of simple paperwork and two of them had been completed with relative ease with only a small interruption from the realtor agreeing to meet him later in the afternoon about a vacant florist shop. As he was sitting down to enjoy the homemade bento his wife had lovingly prepared for him he mused about just how rare days like this were in a time of war.

Yes he had been having a suspiciously pleasant day, which had been rudely interrupted by a curt ANBU requesting his presence in an interrogation room and rushing him mid bite to said room where an unknown pink haired young woman stared at him with uncomfortable amounts of familiarity.

He studied the woman while silently biding his wonderfully serene day goodbye. She was young, looked to be around sixteen or seventeen and sat oddly calm for someone who was currently cuffed to a chair with thick chakra suppressing straps. she turned her head towards him and greeted him with a cordial "Hello Yamanaka-san," he tried not to react to the recognition from her, even though she was unknown to him didn't mean she couldn't put contextual clues together, his family did have rather peculiar pupil-less eyes. He carefully schooled his features into the bland expressionless mask that all interrogators were expected to don and quickly skimmed his eyes over the brief missive he had been handed by the black ops agent.

**Name: Sakura Haruno**

**Cause for Questioning: Subject was found by Jonin Sensei Minato Namikaze unconscious and wearing an unrecognized headband. Had previously assisted in the rescue of Namikaze-sans team. Upon regaining consciousness claimed to be a shinobi of Konohagakure and produced a separate hitai-ate with the leaf symbol and demanded to be taken to the Hokage. Has cooperated with all procedures and offered to be bound upon return journey. Has shown no hostility. Treat with suspicion. **

She had sat patiently while he took in the information and he gave a small sigh as he began to ask the questions out of formality. "You claim to be a citizen of Konoha may I have your name and identification number?"

He noted the deep breath she took before she started "My name is Sakura Haruno, Jonin of Konohagakure. Identification number 012601. Please I need to speak…" he held up a hand to silence her before she could continue, noticing that she seemed to be becoming agitated.

He recalled the family name she had given and knew that Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno were the only shinobi registered to Konoha and even then they had been first generation and had no family left. He didn't know where this woman got her information from but they were obviously very inept and had not done any study, the id number she had given was telling enough, it was simply far off of any used numbers to be reasonable. He decided to continue on with the questioning before resorting to any special techniques.

"Why did you save Obito Uchiha?"

"He was an ally," she answered softly offering no other explanation.

"Why did you demand to see the Hokage?" He questioned knowing with every passing moment that he would soon need to use his family's famed jutsu.

She seemed to be gaining more confidence in herself as her back straitened and her jade green eyes gained a glint of determination before she answered. "I have important information concerning the safety of the village. I need to speak to him and I need to speak to him alone."

At her last sentence he tensed quickly and returned her look of determination with one of incredulousness. Before him was a slip of a girl entirely untrusted by every official to know about her and demanding to see the village's leader all alone. Before him was a very, very poor infiltrator. A woman who claimed to be from a family that had just started setting roots in Konoha and gave a shinobi identification number that shouldn't be reached in nearly a decade. Her hair was several shades lighter than the pale magenta of the Haruno she claimed relation to nor did she share his blue eyes. A stray thought flitted through his mind, on that a certain Nara would most definitely use to further humiliate him at a later date if he were to ever find out. 'Could she be?' he minutely shook his head and didn't allow himself any further thought on the subject and instead set down his paperwork leveling her with a hard stare.

"That is not going to happen," at his harsh tone and words the girl started to interrupt citing claims of being trustworthy yet he continued over her exclamations "We will obviously get nowhere like this." He concluded before he let his hands shape themselves into familiar signs.

She started struggling against the bonds at her wrists and he could hear the wooden chair groaning from the exertion. "No, please just listen to me, just trust me. You can't do this." She begged him voice rising in volume as he finished the final symbol. He heeded her no mind as he calmly finished the interrogation technique.

"Saiko Denshin no jutsu"

He shifted through her memories, not yet viewing anything yet looking (more like sensing) for the ones that she was trying to hide the most. He quickly sensed it, a memory being pulled deep within the recesses of her mind, enclosed so tight it felt as if there were mental chains holding it shut. He reached to prod at it when he suddenly felt a presence.

"You don't want to do that" a shockingly loud voice called from his left. He turned to face the owner and was met with a faint white outlined form against the blackness of his victims mind scape. He easily recognized her as a monochrome version of Sakura Haruno.

His eyebrow perked up just the smallest bit, "Bloodline?" he watched as the figure gave a simple nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

"Something like that," she retorted back casually, she called to him again as he began to once more reach for the memory. "I'm serious, not that one." He ignored her almost teasing warning and continued to work at the mental bindings, he felt a non-physical click as the memory was suddenly open for him to see.

He looked out from her eyes, watched as if he were her and not a passenger along for the ride, and saw death. Around two dozen bodies littered a surprisingly intact landscape and he felt his vessel move quickly as if looking for someone in particular while background voices assessed the status of the figures. She choked back a sob as a single form came into view and he felt her drop to her knees before it. Pale blonde hair spread among a young woman's form like some macabre halo as pupil-less blue eyes gazed unseeingly into a grey sky. He glanced towards her forehead protector and noticed that it had the same symbol for "Shinobi" that his container had. He braced himself, slightly thankful that he could see anything within his subject's vision and not just what she was focusing on, and looked towards the name embroidered onto the dead kunoichis vest. 'Yamanaka' stood out amidst the mud and blood and he felt his blood run cold, his clan was not the largest so he knew everyone within it and yet he could not recognize the unknown woman.

He forced himself to pay attention to the surrounding noises as Sakura broke down over his unnaturally pale clanswoman. He could hear medical jargon rattled off between what he presumed to be the med-nins as they pronounced someone named 'Akamichi' deceased and felt himself spiral down into confusion. "Haruno-san!" his field of view suddenly changed as he felt her whip around to the voice "We got a live one" suddenly his body was running towards another prone shinobi.

This figure was propped up against a tree with a decapitated corpse next to him, a forgotten blade lying between the two. His features were drawn in exhaustion and even then he reminded Inoichi of his teammate so much that his heart skipped a beat. He was wounded, not fatally so but enough to render him nearly immobile and looking towards him, Sakura, with such despair. Hands glowed a soothing green as they started roaming his body and he gestured with a flick of a wrist towards the headless body. "I got him Sakura, I got him." Inoichi could feel her lips pull back into a watery smile in return as she continued to heal the man.

He felt the memory fade, pulled out by the odd outlined figure he met before. As soon as he was back to the inky blackness of his captive's mindscape he whirled towards her, eyes hardening in near rage. "Who was she?" the inner Sakura merely shook her head sadly and pointed towards another memory, silently urging him towards it.

This one was different, it was sunny outside and he could tell he was smaller, a child even. He felt her giggle and skip along until she stopped before a building, looking around he noticed that it was the very same florist shop he was scheduled to look at later in the day, only instead of empty it was filled with vibrant flowers and wonderful smells wafted from the open door. A small girl gave a happy cry of "Sakura" and ran from inside the shop and he felt his breath catch. A child around eight turned the corner and she was obviously the younger version of the woman from the last memory. Her face was split by a happy grin as she skid to a stop in front of him. "It's about time you got here, come on it's almost closing time" he felt her grab his vessels hand and drag her inside the beautiful if not slightly humid shop.

"Ino?" he felt frozen, that was the name he and his wife had chosen if they were to ever have a girl, he could remember the discussion over a small table as he tried to convince her that Inojin, after his father, would be a perfect name for a girl as well as a boy. He almost felt reality shatter around him as the owner of the voice came into view. His new wife looked as beautiful as ever and he teared up as the small blonde girl ran into her arms for a hug.

Today had started out so wonderfully too.

-xxxxx-

Sakura shifted in her seat 'Out of discomfort not fear' she told herself and rubbed her wrists with calming green energies. She was thankful that Inoichi had removed the chakra binding leather cuffs and had replaced them with loose metal ones instead, for appearances sake. Smoke swirled about in ephemeral shapes as the Hokage leveled a steely gaze at her, he had pulled out his pipe and tobacco around halfway through her story after the Yamanaka had assured him that she was speaking truth. "How?" His voice was gravelly with age even though he was less wrinkled than he was during her time and she felt a little guilty that perhaps she may be adding stress lines to him with each word.

"Honestly I'm not sure. The enemy had been using a lot of techniques that had to have been bending space and time. Attacks that should have hit him would glide right through as if he were a ghost. I had used the Hirashin in an attempt to save a comrade." At the incredulous look from the old man she sighed and slowly lifted her shirt gently tapping the tattoo that was spread along her side. "It's a modification of Namikaze-sans. I obviously don't have the chakra to go flashing around like he does and this one is tied to only one object. I infused chakra into the ink I used and continued to store some in the seal itself. It was only a one time use thing, a suicide technique if you will" Well it would have been suicide if the clash hadn't sent her spiraling throughout time and space itself.

"Impressive." The Hokage muttered while she tried to ignore the pitying look in both of the men's eyes. She had spent hours during the war working on it, studying the scrolls left behind to Naruto and using her above average intelligence to suss out the details that she would need to change to make it work for her. She remembered with painful clarity the first time she had attempted the unaltered jutsu, could still recall each and every tearful word that Shizune yelled at her as she worked diligently to patch up Sakura's twisted internal organs. She knew deep down that she had the control to pull off the famous technique but needed something to circumvent her less than stellar chakra levels, something she had overcome before with the Yin seal proudly emblazoned on her forehead, which led to the bastardized seal permanently inscribed into her side.

She mentally shook herself from her internal train of though and took a deep breath before continuing, "Anyway I think that due to the combined nature of the two Justus it created some sort of temporal fold. Now I'm here." She finished lamely with a defeated shrug wishing she had some other explanation other than the one that currently held the position of Occam's razor.

Sarutobi leaned forwards slowly and gently set down his pipe before settling back with his arms crossed in front of him. "Why tell me this? Why put yourself through interrogation and possible imprisonment for being a spy?"

She gave a quick grimace, she had known that it was a gamble but she honestly had no other choice."I need your help and I'm an awful liar. I knew I couldn't come up with some plausible tale and still get cooperation"

The look of pity was back with full force as he gently steeped his fingers together. She tried her hardest to not get angered at the look from the old man, she knew he was always a bit of a bleeding heart. "I'm sorry then. I really am, but I think it may be impossible to return you to your proper time."

Sakura knew that very well, she wasn't praised for her intelligence for nothing, in fact she had spent most of the journey home thinking and making plans. That didn't stop the ache in her chest though when he so bluntly laid the verdict on the table. Instead of letting the already known news effect her she stood to attention, shoulders back and steely determination glinting in her jade orbs and silently said goodbye to her dearest teammate. "You misunderstood me Hokage-sama. I don't want to go home. There is nothing left for me there. I need your help in preventing that future from happening. I'm going to change it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure seemed to age before her eyes as he motioned for both her and Inoichi to sit down, he had obviously decided to help and Sakura knew that with his assistance many things would change. The didn't call him The Professor for nothing. "Very well then Haruno-san, please tell me everything."


	5. But See How Deep The Bullet Lies

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for the nice reviews.

Secondly I would like to ask for your opinions and ideas, I have a few blank spots in the story that I would love to incorporate everyone's suggestions into. I have both the ending chapter and epilogue pre-written so as long as it will still fit into the eventual ending I would love to include it.

-xxxxx-

Chapter 4: But See How Deep The Bullet Lies

"_Do you think he'll ever believe you?" The girl with cornflower eyes asked looking sadly at her female counterpart as they sat on a broken log beside a dying fire. She watched as the girl (no, she mentally corrected, woman) languidly looked from her still too full plate and stare into the embers as smoke and wind slowly shifted her pink locks. Beryl eyes, eyes that now were so dulled by strife locked with her own and she was momentarily taken aback by the sheer melancholy held within them. _

"_No Ino, I don't think he will."_

-xxxxx-

Her father used to regale stories to her in the dark of night, his voice quiet yet almost bouncing off the walls of her room making everything seem more epic and grand than it would otherwise. He was a wonderful storyteller, he knew the perfect moment to pitch his voice just right or the best spot to take a pregnant pause to let the tension build. It was probably because of his soft enthusiasm that she drank in every word he spilled and committed them to memory. She could remember tales with both heroes and heroines alike, ones where the samurai in beautifully created armor would need to be rescued by the once thought delicate princess or ones where the shinobi clothed in darkness would repel him and his lady love down a building to avoid detection.

He wanted her to know she could be anything she wished, that females could in fact be powerful within their own right, could be the heroes but also instilling the knowledge that she could be saved as well, that it didn't make her any less of a person to accept help. His stories were wonderful lessons that he would weave into the quiet air of her room at bedtime, always full of adventure and heroism. They never bored her, there was never a dull moment and because of that she glared down at the scrolls before her. The logistical side to being a heroine was turning out to be quite the drag.

Sakura jotted down another date range after cross referencing the large expanded calendar at her side. While she took pride in her memory it was nowhere near eidetic enough to memorize dates that she had only caught in passing while organizing the old storage rooms. She gave a drawn out sigh and leaned back in her chair working her fingers through wet locks tempting them to dry faster. After her exhaustingly long discussion with the Hokage she had been led to a diplomat's suite where she promptly discarded her thoroughly disgusting cloths and set out to enjoy a wonderfully long shower. She could never bring herself to repeat the overly girly squeal of delight that had escaped her when she had exited the steaming bathroom to find a standard blue uniform waiting for her, minus the flak jacket of course. She winced when her wandering fingers hit a snag in her hair and decided to abandon the effort. Leaning forward once again she searched through the calendar before finding a certain date.

One year. She had roughly one year before the attack.

A knock sounded. The sharp rap of knuckles against wood echoed throughout her temporary residence and startling her out of her contemplative silence. She mentally chided herself for allowing her mind to wander to a point that she could be surprised before quickly going over and opening the heavy door.

A shock of silver (never to be called gray) hair and a single dark eye greeted her vision before she felt her eyes drawn to the fresh bandages that covered where another eye should have been. "Hatake-san" she felt her lips twist oddly around the words, wished whole heartedly she could instead call out 'Kakashi-sensei' as she used to. "Come on in, is there something you needed?"

The surly teen stalked slowly past the threshold before leveling her with an inquisitive look. "I don't know you." She nodded in the affirmative before allowing him to continue. "Why did you call me Sensei when we first met?"

'Shit' she felt her entire being stiffen for the smallest fraction of a moment before forcing her muscles to adapt a loose non-defensive stance hoping her face hadn't betrayed her momentary panic. She forced a sheepish chuckle before answering. "Caught that did you?" his single eye caught hers in an accusatory glare. "You look an awful lot like your father," she gave a shrug at the statement inwardly apologizing because she knew how much he truly hated that statement.

He cut her off in anger before she could continue "I know that! Everyone knows that. What does that have to do with anything?" she physically flinched at the angst coming from the young teen. Sure he had been rather cold and non-responsive towards her on the trip back to Konoha but this was the first time she could truly feel that he was nothing like the sensei she grew to care for so much.

She took a deep breath before continuing, waging war with herself about whether or not she should continue this farce she had started. "Sakumo Hatake was my sensei for a time," the lie won out. "I was very young and it wasn't for long but long enough that I could certainly remember what he looked like." As she finished she turned and attempted to nonchalantly gather the scrolls she had been writing in, sure they had been in code but shinobi could never be too cautious. Done gathering scrolls she turned towards her former sensei expectantly, collected and prepared for anymore verbal attacks.

The scene before her was one unexpected. All the fire and rage had left the boy and in his place stood a young man with a carefully constructed mask of cool indifference. The gaze that only moments ago had betrayed his true inner turmoil now only held calculated hostility. "You're lying." He started, calmly yet with confidence resembling the battle hardened shinobi she knew. "You lied to Minato-sensei as well. I'm sure you even lied to the interrogators and I know you lied to the Hokage. I don't know what you are hiding and I don't know what you did to make everyone trust you but know this, I will find out" he disappeared in a small poof of smoke as he finished leaving her staring at the spot he had just vacated.

She gave a long sigh and sat back at the table intent on finishing up her preliminary work. As shaking hands fought to unroll the scrolls she tried to even her suddenly unsteady breath. After several unsuccessful attempts she gave up and instead dropped her head into her trembling hands and let the tears that had been rising loose. Quiet sobs lingered in the room as her shoulders quaked with the onslaught of emotions. He was so young, so cold and different. She knew of his past, how the mission she just inadvertently saved had forever changed his young psyche, yet she had never known how aloof and frigid he was before. Her heart gave a momentary stop when she understood what she had done with one single act and hoped beyond hope that now that the Uchiha was still alive and in her former sensei's life he could find a way to melt the barrier that he had built up around him and turn into the great man she knew at the end.

A twisting thought wormed its way in as her tears seemed to slow, reminding her of the one thing in the past she had already changed. A great shuddering breath left her as she remembered her mission, the work she was doing only moments before the encounter that had left her in tears. Everything around her suddenly felt vividly dissimilar, the villagers outside more cautious and on edge as she remembered this was not her time, nor her home. This was a village reeling from a war, and she knew that not only would the landscape be different so would the people. No one knew who she was, she had no allies aside from the tentative truce she held with the Hokage and Inoichi and even then that was based upon them believing her.

She had no mother to comfort her when things were too confusing or hard, no father to tell her some tale that would end in victory and boost her spirits. She had no friends to distract her, to lift her up and support her. She had no team, no sensei, and no shishou.

Most of all she had no Naruto.

Strange as it may be it was only then, then when her brain finally registered the loss of that great shining light in her life that she felt her breath leave her before she finally succumbed to the enormity of the situation and wept.

-xxxxx-

_ The fourth great shinobi war was supposed to be relatively quick. It was a joining of all the great nations to protect their world against a common enemy. Thousands of shinobi all at their prime all giving everything, even their life, for a greater good. How foolish they were. In the bitter twilight of the first night after the all-out battle started they mourned both their dead and the previously dead that they were forced to defeat. Emotions were running in two polar opposites as some seemed elated at the supposed victory while others were in fragile states of melancholy, all were just glad to have a moments rest after the intense battles of the day. That fateful day was the only one in which the Allied Shinobi forces stood together against a singular enemy. _

_ It wasn't until the dawn of the new day that they would understand the true motives of the masked man when he had retreated the night before. The rising of the sun brought messengers from each of the hidden villages with horrifying news of homes being burned to the ground, civilians slaughtered in their sleep by rogue nin, and utter devastation. The united forces were in shock. Each shinobi had left home, had marched off to fight an unknown enemy to defend and protect their villages from the very thing that they had unwittingly let in with their absence. _

_As the shinobi of each nation returned home to pick up the shattered pieces their enemy gathered his forces, first starting with traitors and rogue ninja from across all the lands. Soon he moved on to the smaller villages, good men and women who were forced to join his fight for fear of their loved ones lives. His reach was great and his power was awe inspiring and soon any unaligned village was in his grasp. With their villages razed to the ground and guerilla tactics the Allied forces found themselves at a disadvantage despite the larger numbers they held. _

_Days turned to weeks and weeks to months and soon the war that was supposed to be an all-out battle front against one man became a true great shinobi war. A bloody senseless war that claimed far too many lives._

-xxxxx-

Retirement was going to have to wait. A long suffering sigh rushed past his lips as he deflated, weary and aging bones slumping in premature defeat. Hearing the misplaced kunoichis outline of the kyuubi attack had been one thing but seeing her surprisingly detailed notes and timeline for the future was another horror entirely. He looked towards the aforementioned woman taking in her battled hardened eyes, ones shared by so many Shinobi, and found himself believing every word on the scroll.

"Are you positive that Orrochimaru doesn't steal the jutsu until he leave the village?" He queried heart sinking with the knowledge of what his student would one day do. Hiruzen felt a small flicker of hope die when the woman in front of him shook her head 'no' she wasn't sure. "Inoichi go retrieve the forbidden scroll at once. Do not let anyone else handle it." His command was given grimly, at least he could hope that they could burn of the horrid jutsu that was his former predecessor's creation. As soon as the blond left the room he quickly replaced the seal of silence on the doors, so that not even his guards could listen in.

The blond Yamanaka left quickly with a stubborn set of his shoulders seen on many shinobi when they receive a mission. He felt a glimmer of calm in knowing that one of his most trusted was on the case. "Hokage-sama," his pink haired companion started, in a voice so timid and downtrodden that the calm was suddenly replaced by trepidation "Has the medical ninja named Dan been killed in action yet?" He could see a hopeful gleam in her eyes as she asked the question and felt the sting of it personally.

"Unfortunately yes, only a week ago in fact. Tsunade has already made plans to leave the village now that the Treaty has been signed." He watched her sink inwards at the answer as a lone tear fell from her eye and she whispered what seemed to be 'too late' to herself. "May I ask how you came to know of him?" he asked kindly, at least in a way that tempered the steely undertones that always came out when anything involved his former students.

"Tsunade-sama was my mentor," The pinkette before him started, "she spoke fondly of him. I guess it was too naive to hope that I could save everyone," she stopped and he let the moment hang as he noticed the distracted gleam in her eyes. One he knew so very well that was a sure sign of someone reliving a painful moment.

"Sakura," he felt himself start, almost before he had even really considered he wanted the truth. "You said she died," he paused making sure he had her attention fully before proceeding. "How?" the question lingered in the air threatening to pull the poor girl back down into those horrible memories she had just escaped and he felt himself ache for her.

She was quiet at first, he watched as she fought for a way to start, searching for the right words and he felt horrid and curious and as taught as a band waiting for the answer. "She died the way she lived." His brow furrowed as he waved her on to continue. "She was helping in the medic tents one night, she shouldn't have been but no one told her what to do. A boy was brought in, Konohamaru," he felt his lips twinge in a smile at the name. It was one he and his wife had thought about before naming his second son Asuma. "He was only a Genin, and he wasn't even supposed to be on the battlefield but he was one of the only survivors from the village and had nowhere else to go. He was helping hand out meals to one of the units when they were ambushed," he watched as she sniffled, allowing her to take her time with a painful memory.

"I was working on some Jonin I never knew, elbow deep in the middle of his chest doing something I can't even remember now. All I remember was Konohamaru's face, it was so white and sallow and there was blood everywhere, he had this gaping stomach wound. The kind you know is irreparable with a glance, one of those moments when you grieve right away because you know they are soon to die" Hiruzen felt his stomach clench, knowing before she finished her tale what had happened yet let her continue anyway, let her release the heavy weight drenched over her shoulders.

"The tent went silent, he was the youngest casualty since the village had been destroyed, and it was like a loss of hope. Then Tsunade came storming over," Sakura took a pause then and he looked on as a small quirk of her mouth gave way to a bubble of tearful laughter. "She was so furious, not at what had happened but because we had all just kind of stopped, and you should have seen it she only had one ponytail, the other was free and whipping around her head as she commanded us around. She decided that he was her patient, leaving this poor Jonin to stich up his own leg, and ripped a tent pole out of the ground in her rush to get him moved to the back." All signs of laughter were gone now, he watched on with rapt attention as only the tears remained.

"It was a rough night for all of us, the ambush had left many grievously injured and we were all mostly out of chakra so it was mostly triage and slow healings. We worked all through the night and it wasn't until early morning that they steady stream of wounded stopped. It was only then that I realized I hadn't seen her the rest of the night. I remember walking to the back, to pay my respects to the boy, who we were all so sure had passed in the night when instead I saw her kneeling over top of him. Her hair was free and splayed all out, some sticking to her face and when I went to shake her awake she was so cold. She looked old, older than I had seen in a long time and I remember the moment that I realized the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders wasn't because of her breathing it was because of her rising and falling with every breath Konohamaru took." Sakura gave a quivering sigh, the tears now drying leaving only tracks behind.

"She had simply given her all, continuing to heal him until all of her chakra had been depleted and then some, sacrificing herself for the younger generation." She concluded as both he and Sakura stiffened and looked towards the door, sensing the chakra approaching from the outer hallway. He used the momentary distraction to attempt to gather his thoughts and recover from the tale she had woven. If he hadn't believed her before he would now as she spoke of Tsunade with such confidence and in a way that could never be anything but truth.

Inoichi entered the room swiftly, replacing the seal of silence that broke when he opened the door second naturedly, before handing over a large and ornate scroll. "I couldn't see any signs of tampering, but we both know that he wouldn't leave any." The blond stated, glancing towards the drying tear tracks on the kunoichis face and choosing not to comment. Hiruzen noticed him shift slightly towards the girl in a near fatherly fashion but hold himself back moments later. Turning his attention back to the absurdly large scroll he found the spot he was looking for before uttering a small Katon jutsu before burning the section of scroll to ash.

"Now there is no use lingering over what if's, for now let us assume we have stopped any progress towards the Impure World jutsu." He started looking towards Sakura's tired and slumped form. "I think that is enough for tonight, we will meet tomorrow and go over some more of these incidents but for now I think we should go over your cover story." He watched as her apple green eyes locked onto his, surprised and still slightly lingering in the future, or past as it may be.

"I hadn't thought of one Hokage-sama," she began, and he had assumed as much. "I'm not good at deception so I wasn't really thinking this far. I was mostly worried about getting you the information on the Kyuubi attack and the war."

"Well I believe that it would be prudent to keep you around in case any new information comes about. I also believe that with a promising new student and a few favors I could convince Tsunade to remain in this village." He watched her smile then, a new life coming into her eyes at his words. "Of course we will have to remain with the mission details you gave to Namikaze-san yesterday, but I'm sure with enough paperwork I could make it believable."

"Inoichi," he paused watching the man's attention snap to him "I'll need you to work on arrangements for an apartment and paperwork for a work transfer to the hospital. I assume working as a medic again will be alright with you?" he looked towards her, watched as her pink locks bounced about as she nodded enthusiastically. "Very well, Inoichi will lead you back to the diplomat's quarters for the night. We will see you tomorrow Sakura Haruno, Jonin of Konohagakure." He concluded, watching her rise and give him a deep bow of appreciation, and gave her a small nod in return as both shinobi left the room, one feeling lighter at new prospects and one looking grim at the thought of more paperwork.

Once the door latched shut Hiruzen felt his shoulders slump, the weight now a palpable feeling upon his form. He steeped his fingers together, leaning forward into a position of thought before fidgeting and running his hands through his short hair, glad for once that he was already going grey because he was sure to have several more hairs to add to the collection of greys from the conversation today. He shuffled around papers listlessly for a few moments, unable to fully focus on anything at hand before he gave a huff and pulled his lower most desk drawer with a bang. Pulling out a false bottom he reached further into the drawer and grabbed a hidden sake bottle as well as a sake set. After pouring out two small cups of the top shelf liquor he toasted to his only female student, mourning her as if she were dead in the present and not this strange future he had learned about today. Downing his small cupful quickly he relished the distraction the burn provided as it slid down his throat.

'Tonight,' he decided 'tonight is a good night to spend late at the office' with that final decision made Hiruzen Sarutobi finished his bottle of sake in silence before enjoying a nice long smoke.

-xxxxx-

She walked with Inoichi in a strangely companionable silence back to her temporary quarters. It was odd, although he was taller than her, not by much just a noticeable amount, she still felt as if he loomed over her, an impressive yet kind figure she knew as a child. It was so very trying to associate this man with anything other than the father of her best friend, yet she tried, she attempted to make small talk before yet everything came out stilted and awkward without the buffer of Ino between the two of them. It didn't help that she could feel a nervous energy consistently leaking out from him, not one that spoke of discomfort but more of him holding back from jumping at her with a barrage of questions about his and his family's future. He paused in his trek and she steeled herself thinking that this was when his curiosity would finally tumble forth unfettered.

"Sakura," he began, laying a comforting hand on her rigid shoulder, "If you don't think you are ready to work in the hospital we will all understand. Yesterday after our meeting my wife, Midori, and I put down a payment on a flower shop. I'm sure that we will need help around the store at some point, and I know Midori would just love you. She would tell you that you were as colorful as her blossoms." The words tumbled out and Sakura felt herself take a sharp inhale of breath, remembering vividly when Ino's mother had in fact gone on about how she was as colorful as the flowers in the shop one day.

She gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you Yamanaka-san, but I feel that I can help the most at the hospital, I'm sure there will be plenty of wounded from the war." She wasn't sure if she could handle it though, she didn't know what memories it would coax up from the earlier days of the war, when there was enough of them to actually have a medical core, to actually have designated tents with medics who did nothing but heal. Back before everyday became a fight for survival, a fight to find food and shelter.

The Yamanaka spoke up again as they reached the door, "Call me Inoichi, after all I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming weeks." He said with an infectious grin. "Anyways I'll pick you up around noon tomorrow to go look for a more permanent place, the Hokage is giving you a stipend until we get you settled into a position long enough for you to bring in some money of your own." With that he gave her a friendly if slightly awkward pat on the head, still testing the waters of the odd friendship before leaving back down the long empty hallway.

Once the door was shut she trotted back over to the bed, sitting down beside another change of clothes that had been left in her absence, and let herself think for a few moments. She had backing from the Hokage, actual help and support and an ear to listen to her blather on about changing things for the better. It was a strangely freeing feeling for the monstrousness of the mission she had taken on. What's more is she had the fledgling beginnings to a plan an actual footpath to follow and she wasn't wandering around in the dark anymore.

She also had a friend. Inoichi wasn't a replacement for her friendship with Ino, he never could be, yet she welcomed his companionship all the same. She stripped off her shoes and lay back in the too soft bed thinking that maybe she wouldn't be as alone as she thought.

Thinking that maybe this could all actually work out for the better.


	6. There's A Thunder In Our Hearts

Chapter 5: There's a Thunder in Our Hearts

A/N: I know in the previous chapter I stated that Dan had died during the third war and to me it made since because when Tsunade travels she takes on Shizune (which was Dan's niece) as an apprentice so I figured that Shizune would have at least been genin age. However while looking up a random piece of information I found that she lost Dan during the second war, so I am very sorry for the historical inaccuracy but as it is a plot point I'm going to go ahead and leave it be. Besides she would have been 37-38 during the third war and the anime always made any male that was between the ages of 25-45 similar so Dan very well could have been that old. Sorry for the ramble and once again very sorry for the inaccuracy.

-xxxxx-

_The tattered fabric that once resembled a tent flap fluttered as an oddly pale hand moved to pull it back. She watched as Sai entered her tent that was once a well-kept clinic, the ex-root agent cautiously stepping around a patch of dirt that seemed to be stained crimson. Her vibrant hair was hanging over her eyes, dirt and sweat caking the strands yet she felt to drained and exhausted to move it. Instead she settled for shifting her slumped form towards the artist. "I'm sorry," he said, pausing awkwardly "I believe that is what you say in this situation" _

_She trembled, giving a quiet thanks, before spinning on her stool back towards the desk. The seat wasn't so much as an actual stool as it was a trunk that had been brought in and cut into a usable shape, something she had only been afforded because of her medic status. Leaning forwards she held her head in her hands, elbows propped onto the equally crude desk, and gave a great sigh. Moments before he had come into her space she had just had two Chunnin remove the body of her close friend Tenten. In the end it hadn't mattered how tirelessly she tended to the brunette the poor working conditions and non-sterility of the tent made treating poisons a near impossible task. The weapons mistress had already been healed of visible wounds when she came in, the skin of her upper thigh now sporting a long scar that ran from hip to knee, yet the black treads that lead away from it and the rapidly rising fever spoke another tune. _

_She shook herself from her reverie turning her attention back to the man with dark eyes in front of her. "Sai, I don't mean to be rude but I'm really tired, and I don't want to talk about Tenten right now, was there something you needed?" she asked of him, fatigue dripping off every word she spoke. She felt so very powerless and small, as if she would crumble in on herself at a moment's notice. Yet in a deeper part of herself she felt utterly senseless, this hadn't been the first loss in the war. It was nothing more than another in a never-ending string of deaths that rocked the ever shrinking leaf forces. Sakura gathered herself, promising that she would mourn later in solitude, another death was sure to follow and as long as it wasn't Naruto she was certain to persevere. _

_He stalked over to her, ever silent as his training dictated, before dropping a tiny canister in front of her. "I brought the rest of the ink you requested, I don't have much extra that hasn't already been infused with my Chakra so it will have to be enough." He spoke emotionlessly, however she could detect the slightest hint of interest. "The jar is specially designed to transfer the chakra to the ink, just infuse however much you will need into it then it will be ready." She nodded attentively as he gave her the directions, a tiny subconscious part of her mind admiring the elegant script on the container. A pale hand reached in front of her, grabbing the carelessly left paper lying just to the right of where he had dropped the ink. _

"_This is the same symbol you stitched into Dickless's coat." He started leveling a dark eye at her. "Hag…Sakura I know a seal when I see one. I have kept silent about how I feel but I know what something dangerous looks like. Will you tell me what you are doing so that I can help?" he paused before continuing tentatively "That is what a team does right?"_

_She found herself smiling despite the melancholy atmosphere of the camp. "Yeah Sai, that is what a team does," She stated giving him a gentle pat on the arm as encouragement. "And I'll tell you all about it some other time, but right now it is just an experiment." She concluded before shoo-ing him out the door so that she could finally get some much needed rest. Sakura never did keep her promise to him, she never saw him alive again. _

-xxxxx-

Showers, Sakura decided, were a gift form kami himself. After the years of living out of tents she found herself showering more than once a day, leisurely taking all of the hot water and making up for all of the lost time. They, along with the clean clothes that kept getting dropped off by ANBU, had to be one of the few things that kept Sakura slightly grounded. Kept reminding her that she wasn't hallucinating on the battlefield.

She was exiting the bathroom after her shower when a knock came at her door, well a knock was being charitable. The sound more resembled a small battering ram attempting to kick the wood from its hinges. The part of her brain that still believed itself to be on the battlefield bristled, fingers clenching into fists with a small blue glow dancing across her knuckles and her chakra slithering along the ground to feel for who could be on the other side.

The chakra was familiar and so very angry, a feeling she knew so acutely well that she found herself running to the door and ripping it open, breath hitching and holding herself back from wrapping the woman beyond the threshold into her arms. Honeyed eyes glared and tore her down as Sakura stood there, letting a small puddle form from her wet hair. The calculating gaze finally lingered on the amethyst rhombus that was emblazoned on the pinkettes forehead, one that so closely mirrored her own.

"I guess the old man isn't crazy after all," the words were snarled and slightly slurred in a way that lead Sakura to believe that her alcohol tolerance wasn't quite what she was used to. Sakura blanched, this Tsunade Senju was so visually familiar yet filled with hate and vitriol that had been tempered over time. "Follow me" the blonde commanded harshly before stalking back down the empty hallway as Sakura rushed to slip on her sandals falling so easily back into the role of a student that it seemed time hadn't passed at all.

As they trekked through the village in the mid-morning sun she took a chance to really observe her former mentor, her illusion of youth keeping her looks virtually unchanged from when she knew the woman however subtle differences lingered, screaming to the pinkettes medic side that she was stressed. The long blonde locks that Sakura always felt envious of showed signs of breakage and brittleness, as if she had suffered malnutrition, something she was sure her own pink strands revealed as well, and the illusion couldn't quite cover the dark bags that sagged underneath her honey eyes, eyes that lacked the warmth that Sakura knew so well.

"Tsunade-sama," the honorific slipped out, a relic of a time long passed, as Sakura attempted to break the chilly and awkward silence. The Senju in front of her stopped and whipped around so violently she left small cracks in the pavement where she stood.

"Don't," Tsunade started, spiting such venom that Sakura felt the need to hide. "Call me that. I don't know what sort of nonsense got into me but I would never be as foolhardy as to accept a position where the mere ambition was a death sentence" She turned back around leading the way once more and giving a nearly patronizing wave to the younger woman to follow, the rage slowly leaving her tense shoulders. "Not to mention you will give away your alibi in a heartbeat if anyone with half a decent I.Q. were to hear you. No, you need to refer to me as shishou or sensei, I don't care for either so it is your choice really, but only if you can prove to me you deserve it." With her final words she stopped and Sakura got a good look at where her former, well not so former, teacher had lead her.

The training grounds looked smaller than what she was used to, which only made sense as she remembered them being part of the large area decimated by the Kyuubi attack. They were the only two there, which would normally be odd but she had an inkling that the Hokage might have had something to do with it. "A spar?" Sakura asked, barely hiding the excitement in her voice. At the blondes nod of confirmation she let the delight bubble forth as a wide smile nearly split her face in twain. Oh she hadn't had a spar in years, and even longer since having one with her mentor. In times of war a friendly fight was a luxury that no one could afford, too devastated by the very real battle for their lives they dealt with every day.

As she walked a fair distance from the older woman she longed for her soft leather gloves, yet sadly both those and her armored boots had never been returned since the day she arrived in Konoha and found the military blues waiting for her. Instead she simply settled for giving both sets of knuckles a good crack and relaxing into a combat ready position. "I want to see what you know, so don't you dare hold back on me." Tsunade called across the clearing while she removed her green outer coat and tossing it behind her, mindless of where it may land.

Knowing that while she had no chance of beating the golden haired woman in her prime she would enjoy every moment of this fight. The two of them stood ready, both studying the other waiting for the first strike, as the wind gently blew through the quiet training ground. Sakura almost felt sorry for the earth users who would be commissioned to have to fix the clearing as she knew the destruction would be impressive. It was an eerie calm before the storm.

"I wouldn't dream of it Shishou" she replied back with a smirk, she gave her fist one last flex flooding the chakra pathways with such tightly wound chakra that they nearly glowed blue, before dashing towards the Senju. They were the same speed, hitting each other's fist at the same time and an utter cacophony of noise followed from the shockwave that ensued. Trees were nearly ripped from their roots and the flaps of wings filled the air as all birds in the vicinity quickly evacuated. They both leapt backwards and Sakura drank in the look of mild shock and admiration the Tsunade graced her with.

The pause was brief, both women moving at the slightest twitch of the other, before the two engaged in a taijutsu battle that caused such a clamor that Sakura was sure patrols should be on their way soon. Each punch was dodged, each kick met with a diffusion of force that nearly nullified the monstrous strength that they both contained. Due to the nature of the style that Sakura learned the battle wasn't flashy, not at the moment at least, something that could easily be followed with the human eyes. They both preferred to use their brute force over speed and as such most shinobi would likely underestimate them. Yet to the two it was still a flurry of moments as the battle became all encompassing.

The earth rippled as Sakura's fist impacted the earth, the blonde having dodged a particularly powerful chakra enforced punch by twisting in a way that her impressive bosom should not have allowed and jumping high into the air. Sakura in turn quickly threw herself to the left, rolling along the ground as a nasty heel drop shattered the ground where she once was. She swiftly diverted chakra to the soles of her feet as she ran across the now jagged landscape towards the nearest tree.

Giving the sannin a quick grin she gave a mighty heave and ripped the tree from the ground before tossing it towards her as if it were a mere garden shrub. Using the fraction of a second where she would be obscured by the flying foliage Sakura replaced herself with a clone, before jumping up and attaching her feet to the tree. Knowing that the blond had a tendency to dodge upwards Sakura made sure to stay hidden within the shadow of the tree until the moment before it would have struck the woman. She leapt up swinging one glowing fist in a wide arc and sending an unsuspecting Tsunade tumbling away from an impact to the shoulder.

Cheering erupted from the sidelines as Sakura cursed herself for not realizing that shinobi had been attracted to the noise of fighting. Her intense concentration and quickly developing comfort in the village had dulled her battle senses. She almost instinctively looked at the smattering of ninja attempting to find a face or two she might recognize, her apple green eyes locking onto the spikes of golden hair that was so similar her body yearned to run to him. Pain blossomed along her ribs as her momentary lapse in attention earned her a swift kick to the side. She felt bones crunch and gravity take over as she jumped away, her light panting turning to heavy wheezing.

Promptly switching the nature of her chakra to that of the healing variety she pressed a brightly glowing green hand to the injured side, eyes hardened by determination staring holes into a pair of honeyed eyes that displayed both satisfaction and amusement. "Sakura," she felt her stance shift from protective and combat ready to one of relaxation at the tone in her shishou's voice "I think we have given them enough of a show for now." Sakura found herself nodding in agreement before a grin split her face, despite all of her years studying under the legendary woman she had never been able to fight her on quite so even ground and she felt accomplished in a way she had never known before.

"We should go talk somewhere quieter" Tsunade said quickly retrieving her overcoat and Sakura found herself following the busty woman back towards the village. She vaguely registered the shouting voice of a young Might Gai challenging an equally young Kakashi, who now sported his headband pulled down over his missing eye despite the bandages still poking out underneath, to a spar.

The tense atmosphere from before had cooled into one of quiet comfort, Sakura following her mentor along silently as if time had not passed. Happy villagers waved and gave shouts of greetings to the blonde as they went down roads and alleyways that looked familiar yet just different enough to leave Sakura confused. She felt as if she were looking at a painting she knew so well only to finally realize that it had been mirrored. 'It's odd' she mused to herself, 'I always forget that shishou was famous for more than sucking at gambling before she became the Hokage'.

Soon enough she found herself following Tsunade up a short staircase into an apartment building that she was sure didn't exist in her time. It was a rather nice building, one that obviously cost a bit to maintain with pale neutral tones and wide clean hallways. 'Must have been destroyed in the attack' she thought to herself somberly, a tiny childish portion of her mind put out that it wasn't around when she was looking for apartments. As they entered the sannins personal home Sakura was eerily reminded that the woman was due to leave the village. The place was bare, what little personal effects Tsunade intended on traveling with were stacked neatly in a corner near a backpack and sealing scroll.

"Tsunade-sama", Sakura started flinching slightly at the look the other woman gave her for the title "Now that we are alone can I ask you a question?" Blonde pigtails bounced in agreement as Sakura leaned awkwardly against the countertop that led to a pass-through kitchen. "Why did you ask me to spar? I thought you had a phobia of blood at this point in time?" the kunoichi asked, grimacing at the rather blunt question.

"I assumed, correctly might I add, that if I had taken on an apprentice who had achieved the Yin seal I would have taught them my fighting technique. Since we both use a combat style that emphasizes breaking bones and bruises there was an unlikely chance of blood." Tsunade answered walking over and folding her legs beneath her to busy herself with the small pile of belongings. Sakura felt mild exasperation with herself for not coming to that conclusion on her own. What good did an analytical mind do when she simply didn't think to use it?

The future Hokage proudly produced a plain sake set from her gear, one that looked simple yet elegant and Sakura easily recognized it as the worn and well-loved set that Tsunade had used in her time. She recalled a slightly hazy memory of a night filled with one too many cups of the liquor that the blonde mentioned it had belonged to Dan. Sakura felt a stab of sympathy for the woman who was now digging around for a bottle of the clear spirit, having forgotten with the early morning excitement from the spar just how much emotional pain she must be in.

"I've decided that there would be no other explanation for your certain set of skills so I'll have to claim you as an apprentice." Tsunade started and the green eyed girl felt a lightness in her heart at the news. "Sarutobi has decided that your alibi is that you were undercover in the enemy's medical core and that you had been my student long before the war." Sakura nodded along as the woman spoke.

"How will that explain my absence from the academy?" she found herself asking, attempting to find any flaw to fix.

The blonde gave a scoff before answering, "I don't know how different it is in the future but now we can fast track any student who shows promise in a certain area. The paperwork that the old man is working on states that you excelled in chakra control from a young age and were foisted off onto me." Sakura blinked owlishly at the blonde as she spoke. Sure she knew it had been done during the war, however she thought it rare, Itachi and Kakashi being the exception rather than the rule. However after the psychological studies had been done they decided to eliminate the process entirely requiring all students to attend the academy until twelve. That is unless you were in root which was being entirely done without the Hokage's knowledge.

"We just ended a war," Tsunade continued, "literally signed the treaty papers a few days ago, people are going to be suspicious of anyone new. The best thing we can do for you is make everything seem legitimate and that you were never really in society's eye to begin with." She punctuated the small speech by pouring herself a tiny cup of sake.

Sakura felt herself piecing together the bits of information, building up the past that she had never lived so that she could be more believable. Despite her horrid acting skills she had confidence in the man who was known as the Professor's abilities to make her life seem real in a time of distrust. "So what now?" she felt herself asking, "Do we just go to the hospital tomorrow and act as if I've belonged there the whole time?"

"We?" Tsunade gave a sharp laugh, one that sounded almost cruel. "There is no we, you were undercover two nations over remember? No one will know who you are. Tomorrow _you_ will go to the hospital with a reference letter from me, work your way up the ladder to earn your place, and stay under the radar."

Sakura balked at the statement, rage slowly flooding her system at the implication. "Wait, you are still leaving? After everything he told you was going to happen and you are still leaving?" Sakura hissed out, attempting to keep her voice from carrying in her anger. "If the Kyuubi does attack do you know how many people you could save?" she finished clenching a fist at her side in an effort to contain herself. 'Do you know how much I need you around right now?' she thought to herself.

Tsunade was in front of her in a moment, eyes flashing with so much fury Sakura felt herself wilt under the glare. "Don't assume that just because you knew me before you know how I am now," the fair-haired woman started. "Arrangements have been made and I would have left this kami-forsaken place the moment I watched the love of my life die if I could of but borders were closed. The old man has already summoned Jiraiya back to the village so your precious fox attack probably won't even happen." The wrath that flamed before slowly cooled, tempering into a sarcastic indifference as the busty woman retreated back to her bottle of liquor. "Besides I've already taken on an apprentice, one that I actually get to train, not just say I have."

"Now," Tsunade continued, "I purged my system of alcohol earlier so I could have a clear head for our fight. So if you'd kindly get out I'd like to feel drunk again." Sakura nodded to the request silently, remaining quiet as to process the information before leaving. She took one last look at the broken woman hunched over the sake set of her dead lover before shutting the door.

-xxxxx-

_Her head was in her hands, shoulders quaking with every inhale, and yet he couldn't bring himself to lay a hand on that shaking frame. Naruto steeled himself, taking a deep breath and taking that last step towards her hunched form. He knew her pain well, that sharp all-encompassing ache that reeked of an era that is now over, just like how he felt when the toad sannins death was a pain that was all too new. Yet while he knew she was in emotional agony he found himself struggling for the words, because while Tsunade may have been closer to the woman in front of him, nearly a mother, he too was close to the blonde. He grimaced, how do you comfort someone when you yourself can't but help to feel hopeless as well?_

_He found himself plopping down on the flat jut of earth that she no doubt coaxed from the ground with her talented fist. He shifted one knee, the one that was so close to hers they nearly touched, until it gently met hers, a silent hello of sorts. Slowly, painstakingly slowly she shifted her hands away from the pink tresses and tilted her head upwards until her striking beryl eyes met his own sad blue ones. He felt his breath leave in one sharp exhale as he fully took in how devastated she looked, how fragile and unlike the strong warrior woman he knew she was. _

'_This is what loss does' he thought to himself. It had taken a woman so powerful she could reduce a mountain to rubble with her pinkie and reduced her to something that resembled the wreckage itself. A small quivering mess of what she once was. He cursed the unfortunate situation that had led to the death of their Hokage, even if the title was no more than a formality with no village to lead, a damned if you do damned if you don't issue that led to a great loss of hope with either outcome. Konohamaru was the future of the remnants of the village, yet Tsunade was this great shining beacon of hope and healing, one who had lead the troops with such clarity, sobriety, and ferocity that they actually believed in a victory. _

"_Oh Naruto," she rasped, voice hoarse from grief, "I should have healed him. It should have been me." He had no verbal response, only an arm snaking around and over her small figure until it rested on the opposite arm, pulling her closer in an awkward one armed hug. _

_He had no words to assuage her guilt because despite his love for her, one that never ceased despite his wavering feelings the day of her false confession, he wasn't sure she was wrong. _

-xxxxx-

"Unmeiko?" Sakura questioned, staring at the thick file in her hands incredulously. "Don't you think that's a little telling?" she continued looking towards the blond lounging in one of the chairs next to the table.

Inoichi Yamanaka had arrived at noon sharp and upon her opening the door handed off the folder before collapsing into the aforementioned chair with a groan of satisfaction and exhaustion. "Not if you are a refugee from whirlpool." He retorted back, voice sluggish with fatigue. "Which according to all of the paperwork I spent all night filing you are."

She hummed at him in agreeance, having reached that part of her history. "This is all very thorough, but what about Namikaze's team, and the paperwork when I was brought in? They all have my true last name." she asked, watching warily as the man draped over her furniture fought to stay awake.

He gave a great yawn before replying "That was a little tricky but he managed to work into the paperwork that it was a Mission name, since you were so deep undercover that's the only name that appeared on any paperwork. That wasn't your name for when you were undercover but I don't think that one's been documented. It's actually a pretty foolproof plan, he even had me filling everything in the correct times in the archives, and aged the paper appropriately." Inoichi gave a quick shudder and a pat at his long ponytail before continuing. "I think I may still have some cobwebs in my hair."

Sakura giggled at that, now that she wasn't viewing him as an authority figure she could really see the similarity in personalities that he and Ino shared. A thought flashed to the forefront of her mind, giving her pause. 'I think that's the first time I've laughed since I've been here' her mind quickly switched gears as her stomach gave a small twinge in hunger.

"Well I'll look over this but right now I'm hungry. I don't suppose you'd mind treating me to lunch?" she asked the blue-eyed man shyly, ashamed at her lack of money. He in turn languidly stood up in a way that made it seem as if he was peeling himself away from the cushiony seat before tossing her a small knapsack that had been clipped to the bottom of his flak jacket.

"I would normally take you up on that offer," he started before being interrupted by another yawn. "But I was up all night helping the Hokage get you sorted and I need to go crash. Thankfully he gave me the day off." He finished as she followed him as he trekked out the door and down the hall, before giving him a small wave when they went their separate ways.

She looked into the pouch and found that the Hokage had been surprisingly generous, aside from enough coins and paper money to keep her well feed for a week or so she found a small slip of paper that looked to be a receipt from a bank account. Apparently he had made an account and a deposit that would be a payment fit for the mission she had supposedly been on. A smile crept upon her face as she wiggled her bare toes, vowing that after she found some food a replacement pair of combat knee high boots would be the first purchase on her list.

As she walked towards the city center her stomach gave another twinge in hunger, this time accompanied by an audible growl in protest now that the smells from the surrounding restaurants assaulted her senses. Looking around she couldn't find anything that seemed to fit into her cravings, her feet almost moved on their own down a path that she knew by heart and she found herself hoping beyond hope that the old man would still be in the same place.

A particular scent wafted towards her as she neared her intended destination and she felt a warmth envelope her. Her feet stopped just shy of the ramen restaurant that she knew so well from the years of being forced there by her teammate. Ichiraku was unchanged, as if by her time it had never aged at all, except for the owner was on his own and several age lines younger.

She found herself in a seat ordering a bowl of lovingly homemade noodles with a pork miso broth before she could really think, only stopping long enough to keep herself from asking him for the usual. Her wait was relatively short and once she finally had her first sip of ramen she couldn't hold back the groan of pleasure.

"It's great isn't it?" A voice startled Sakura before she quickly turned in her seat towards the owner of the voice. "Must be your first time, I don't recognize you and I'm here every day. Best ramen in town I say." The woman beside her concluded before asking the man for another bowl. Sakura nearly dropped her spoon as she took her in. Long red hair, kind blue eyes, and a beautiful face greeted her and Sakura froze as the information processed.

From the description Naruto had given her long ago she could only assume that this woman was Kushina Uzumaki, his mother.


	7. Let's Exchange the Experience

A/N: Some spelling mistakes slipped past me. I'm sorry, I don't have a beta and will try to correct any I find. Please review.

Chapter 6: Let's Exchange the Experience

'This is a dream' she reasoned with herself. An altogether cruel dream but a dream none the less. The sky was too blue and the grass too soft between her bare toes yet she gave a great sigh of relief and leaned back onto her elbows determined to enjoy the heartbreakingly pleasant vision around her.

Directly behind her in a position mirroring her own was Shikamaru, eyes to the sky and looking at peace with the world. Choji was beside him unpacking an impressively large picnic basket that had been no doubt provided by his mother while Ino sat to his opposite neatly braiding impossibly long corn silk hair. Asuma was standing away from his team, casting a lengthy shadow and reaching one strong arm to wrap around a pregnant Kurenai.

The genjutsu user's team lounged underneath a beautiful tree, Kiba was leaned against his giant companion Akamaru as if he were a great pillow and Shino was within the great leafy branches inspecting some insect. Hinata sat daintily and in a luxurious kimono, looking like the princess she might as well have been, slender fingers folding beautifully patterned paper into tiny cranes that circled her graceful form.

Off in the distance Lee and Gai danced around each other with incredibly fluid strikes while Neji and Tenten sat to the side fingers laced together. The pale eyes of the Hyuuga gazed at the weapon mistress in a way that was contradictory to his normal stoic tendencies as she silently flung glinting projectiles towards the two men fighting. The two men dodged the kunai with unparalleled expertise sending her matching grins of gratitude.

The trio of sand siblings watched the spar from the sidelines, Gaara in particular with a look of admiration in his eyes for the speed of the battle. Temari was languidly using her fan as a prop to keep herself up as she flicked heavily lidded eyes over towards the lazy Nara and Kankuro was sitting cross-legged mindlessly tinkering with a small human shaped puppet.

Yamato was in front of her cheerily showing off by coaxing a large table of wood from the ground as Sai's inky form was seated upon an already made stool with his paintbrush making broad strokes across a large scroll, a smile upon his face that was so small and content that Sakura could only call it true.

Her heart beat a surprisingly steady rhythm as she spied the two dark haired Uchiha brothers enjoying a friendly shuriken competition in a grove to the side covered in targets. She felt a tugging sense of self satisfaction at the absence of flutters or uneven breath when she saw deep eyes glance her way.

The buxom form of her shishou led a burdened Jiraiya towards the now formed table and placed a single sake bottle down while he unloaded the box full of the liquor. Her honeyed eyes gave his cheery ones a warm glance before they sat to enjoy the spar still taking place a little ways away.

Her silver haired sensei was perched high within the branches of a tree nearby, quickly devouring a new book in his fitly series. His two eyes alight with joy as they eagerly drank in the words on the crisp pages. Beneath him a permanently teenaged Obito and Rin leaned up upon each other, supporting the other with their weight, eyes closed in gentle slumber.

Sakura pushed herself to her feet as she glanced the brilliant coloring of the family walking up the path towards the training ground turned picnic area. A smile broke across her face as she waved towards the blond savior. Naruto returned her friendly gesture before he came to a stop at the lovely wooden table, his parents flanking him both protectively and proudly.

The flutter that she was so happy to have remained absent when she gazed upon the lithe form of Sasuke smacked her with full force as she gazed into the unbearably blue eyes of her teammate. A grin stretched across his face as he took in the sights before him and he looked so unbelievably joyful that she felt the staccato beats of her heart threaten to overtake her.

It was only then, when she moved towards him, that she noticed the utter silence within the clearing. Though there were birds in the perfect blue sky they were soundless and all around her were friends and comrades enjoying it in perfect muteness. It was as if the eerily flawless day was waiting on her to make the first sound.

She took two great strides before she was in front of him, holding her shoulders back in defiance and gazing into his eyes with determination. She felt the wind blow her too long hair in a gentle caress as she tried to choose her words carefully.

"I'm going to make this happen," she started, as those beautiful eyes bored into her unflinchingly. "Someday this will be real and we will have everyone we loved around us. I swear it to you." She finished her promise and looked towards him hopefully for his reply, not sure if he would speak or not, knowing this was all a product of her own making.

"Oh Sakura," the vision of Naruto in front of her started, sounding sad and condescending all at once. "How do I know this isn't another lie of yours?" The clipped beat of her heart stopped entirely as she felt the air leave her lungs in one great whoosh at his words. His once happy face was twisted into a sneer directed solely towards her, eyes tinged in an awful red.

He started laughing, a deep booming thing that sounded monstrous to her ears as she watched the perfect day turn to ashes. Tears clouded her vision as she took in the horrific visage of her own making, a stormy barren wasteland with broken bodies littering the ground unendingly and those she knew at the very forefront of the massive field of carcasses.

Shikamaru's once calm and serene gaze towards the sky was now blank as a nearly crumpled cigarette hung from his lips and a stain bloomed across his chest. Choji's body was near him, littered with kunai and Ino's splayed form was even nearer still, pupiless eyes looking unendingly into the dark sky, a glinting ninja wire wrapped around her slim neck like a necklace with ruby drops dripping downwards. Asuma lye to the side, a crimson patch blossoming from his heart in nearly the same way as his lazy charges as Kurenai was curled inwards arms protectively wrapped around a small and still child.

Kiba was draped over his partner, the poor hounds white fur now a sticky red and Shino's body was burned almost beyond recognition with a pair of dark sunglasses melting into his bubbling skin. Hinata was a graceful kneeling princess, a jagged short spear protruding through her pale neck holding her in a macabre position.

Gai and Lee were both a pile of bone and muscle, bodies torn apart from the inside out from the opening of too many gates. Tenten's corpse was pale and glistening with rapidly drying sweat as Neji lye protectively over her, a great hole in the center of his chest weeping gore.

Gaara was surrounded by a halo of sand with his smaller gourd shattered into pieces and his dark rimmed eyes closed for the first time in many years. Temari figure was next to him, arms still cradling her large battle fan with her head separated and a good three paces behind and Kankuro's body was as broken and awkward as his puppets without strings.

Yamato was pale, gaunt, and still and simply drained of all life while Sai lye next to him. A great slash bisected him from shoulder to hip and crimson tarnished his nearly parchment white skin like a great blemish upon an ink painting.

A pale corpse with silky black hair lye peacefully and she realized that though she could see the elder Uchiha the younger was nowhere to be found. He was a specter that had all but haunted her thought out the past years of her life.

Jiraiya was a wet dripping form toppled to the side like a great tree having been felled and Tsunade was a cold and wrinkled shadow of the beauty she had illusioned herself to be for so long, her strong arms draped sloppily over the white haired man next to her.

Next was Kakashi, mask still perfectly in place yet headband missing and blood streaming from his borrowed eye. A rarely used tanto clutched in his dead man's grip in a last moment of fruitless defense. His pack lye around him, alive but silent and morose in grieving as a bloodied and crushed Obito reached a still arm blindly for the form of Rin even though he had passed on himself. The smell of burning ozone wafted around the petite body of the brunette as Sakura remembered how she had come to die, a hole punched right through her small chest, edge burned from electricity.

Minato was wrapped protectively around Kushina, her bright cherry locks splayed out in a great red sheet and Sakura felt herself drop to her knees as the waves of anguish washed over her. She looked towards the boy, no man, still standing in front of her. His normally jovial expression was clouded over in hatred and anger as he looked at her in disgust, like she was no better than pond scum beneath his feet.

Sakura felt so small and the smells assaulting her made her want to retch but she held on, wanting to plead to the man who she loved that it was true, she really could make it better. She wanted to make all of the promises she could, anything to make the dreadful visions in front of her go away. Anything to keep her from seeing the terrible truth of what was her existence. She was one of the only ones left, a series of coincidences and right time right places keeping her alive rather than her own strength.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything to make it stop but found that though she moved her lips no sound escaped. No pleading could stop the horrible nightmare that she knew had once been real. Crying reached her ears and she searched for the source before realizing it had come from her. Great racking sobs escaped her as she dug her fingers into the ground as if to grab purchase.

'It wasn't a lie,' she wanted to say. 'I never lied,' she wished she could plead. 'I really do love you.' She stopped sobbing to scream only to find herself choking and gargling on slick lifeblood as the would-be savior of the shinobi world thrust a swiftly swirling rasengan into her chest.

Sakura felt herself jolt awake, sitting up strait and taking deep gasping breaths. A cold sweat prickled at the hair on her arms and she ran towards the bathroom as the nausea from the nightmare threatened to overtake her. After quickly voiding the entire contents of her stomach, which consisted mostly of ramen, she made her way back to the bed. Sitting with her back pressed against the headboard and knees drawn up to her chest she glanced over towards the bright numbers glowing unnaturally bright in the dark of her room.

The bright red digits read 3:27 am and she gave a long shuddering sigh. She knew no more sleep would be had tonight.

-xxxxx-

"_That was so unbelievably reckless," the demure woman with chin length black hair chastised her patient after she was done wrestling all of her internal organs back into the correct order. To be fair the damage hadn't really been that bad it had simply felt as if it were so. Sakura gave her a shy smile half in return for the patch job half because she was glad to not taste blood in her mouth anymore. _

"_I know, but I think I've figured it out now." She stated, not shrinking into herself at the harsh glare Shizune sent her way. "I don't have the chakra available without my seal to do it completely but if I supplement it with a seal on me rather than a full jutsu I should be able to do my modified technique." She finished with enthusiasm, eyeing her friends slumped shoulders warily. _

_The black eyed poison mistress took a defeated breath. "I understand," she stopped for an instant before continuing, mustering the courage for her comment. "Sakura I just can't handle seeing you that close to death anymore. We've already lost her," Shizune took a momentary breath unable to say the name of her mentor. "And we can't lose you too. Even if you think it's for the greater good." _

"_I'm not that important," Sakura started, "I'm no more important than anyone we have lost already." She was cut off from continuing by Shizunes voice. _

"_But you are," her voice wavered fleetingly "Tsunade may have been my mentor but you were her true apprentice. You were to succeed her. You inherited her strength and her seal and you were going to be in charge of the hospital." Shizune spoke without jealousy or spite only confidence. "You were going to do so many great things Sakura, and this damn war has ruined it all for everyone." _

_Sakura could only offer her a small smile in return, unable to voice the emotions filtering through her. Instead she cheerfully hopped off of the small cot she had been sitting on and started organizing what little medical supplies they had with forced liveliness. _

-xxxxx-

The hospital looked so strange to her. As if she was looking at a black and white photograph when she had only seen it in color. It wasn't dirty, or worn per say, just seemed to be aged in a way. The paint was a strange tan that she knew must have been popular at the time and she could see that the filing system was different. Sakura leaned back into the reception desk and took a long deep breath. 'This is what I needed,' she thought as she took in the scene around her.

The hustle and bustle of the Konoha hospital had been her refuge before they had left the village for war and she was finally starting to feel slightly grounded. As if she was finally grasping at the straws of what her life used to be. The smells of antiseptic and sounds of shifting papers acted like rose tinted glasses, blinding her to all of those differences that stood out before and she felt herself almost slipping into her role from before.

The calm that had descended over her shattered like gleaming glass as she caught site of her would be guide. The differences that she had fooled herself into ignoring stood out in sharp contrast. It was no longer a paint color that was wrong but entire layouts, and she couldn't recognize a single person working the reception desk. She knew that shortly before she had started working in the hospital it had undergone an entire renovation and it had never been clearer until the moment she saw the purple stripes on the young girls face.

Rin Nohara was looking at her with these big doe eyes full of admiration and she felt her feet nearly move on their own. She wanted to run, avoid all of this wrongness and this Chunnin girl that was looking at her like she was the brightest star in the sky.

"Haruno-san," the young medic started before correcting herself. "I'm sorry I meant Unmeiko-san I'll be your guide to the hospital today." Rin finished speaking with formality and clarity. Sakura felt herself give a small noise of acceptance, not quite trusting her voice as the brunette started leading her around.

She attempted to look interested as teen showed her around, hoped that her face portrayed one of excitement and welcoming of new knowledge but she couldn't help but see the scene changing in front of her. Rins voice filtered into the background, becoming a mere murmur, easily ignorable, as she prattled on about the building she was touring. The halls became brighter and the faces of passerby's slowly shifted into ones she knew as if it were some strange double exposure from a camera. She almost followed the ghostly voice of Tsunade barking orders from the E.R. but stopped herself once she realized it was all in her head.

"Unmeiko-san" a voice called to her, so very far away, and she felt no need to reply. That wasn't her, she didn't know anybody by that name and yet that timid voice repeated it in her general direction begging for attention. "Unmeiko-san" it was more urgent now, demanding her reply and she felt the foggy vision of her beloved hospital morph and snap into startling lucidity.

She slowly turned her gaze towards the small hand resting on her arm, astounded that she hadn't instinctively reacted with violence due to how deep within her own mind she had been. Those doe eyes were staring at her again, almost annoying in their kindness and she forced herself to unclench her jaw. "I'm sorry, I kind of lost myself for a moment there. The layout of this hospital is very similar to the one I was undercover in." Sakura said, letting the lie roll of her tongue with a finesse she was sure she didn't really contain.

Sakura clenched her fist as those brown eyes turned sad, emanating an unnamable emotion and a pity that she simply didn't care to have directed at her. The change was momentary though as nearly instantaneously they lit up with a cheer Sakura could only hope to feel. "Well as I was saying our last stop will be the staff lounge where Yubina-sensei is waiting for us." At the brunette's words Sakura gave a small start, Yubina Kenko had been someone she had worked with before.

Once they reached the aforementioned room a petit woman with a kind face, honey brown hair, and delicate healer's hands greeted her. Her middle aged face held far less worries and wrinkles than the one that Sakura knew when she worked with her during the twilight years of the medic's life. She tucked back a strand of hair that was blissfully free of the dull grey Sakura was used to seeing and gave her such a gentle smile the pinkette couldn't resist giving a sincere one back.

"Unmeiko-san, nice to meet you." Yubina spoke with a soft voice, one used to many years of maternal care and Sakura remembered that she had several children and grandchildren.

Sakura interrupted her before she could continue further. "Please, just call me Sakura." She was sick of hearing that false name and didn't know how much longer she could handle it. 'I'll need to get used to it.' She thought to herself inwardly grimacing. 'It's mine now.'

The elder medic continued unperturbed. "Very well, Sakura-san. We are currently experiencing an overflow of paperwork from all of the wounded from the war. I'll have Rin show you our organization then that'll be your monster to tackle." She gave a nod of acquiescence at Yubina's words and withheld a groan.

'Well,' the pinkette thought to herself glibly, 'Tsunade did say I'd be starting at the bottom.'

-xxxxx-

Obito Uchiha gazed lovingly at the Chunnin girl next to him as he munched on a sticky sweat treat. She was recounting her day to him, going on about the strange pink haired woman that had saved his life yet he couldn't distract himself from the lovely violet stripes across her cheeks that he wanted to gently run his fingers over as he cupped her face. A wet plop of dango sliding off of a stick and landing in his lap shook him out of his dazed distraction as Rin stopped her story and gave a light giggle at his current situation. Quickly grabbing a napkin from the counter behind them he cleaned up the mess and waited for her to continue.

"It was strange thought, at one point she got this really faraway look in her eyes and didn't even hear me calling her name." Rin recalled, before lowering her voice into a near silent whisper. "I wonder if she has trauma from her time as a spy."

Obito shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Honestly I wouldn't care if she thought the moon was a secret base for a family of rabbits, that move she did with those boulders was wicked awesome and saved me. I owe her my life and then some." He finished, dark eyes once again lingering on the girl next to him.

"You're right," she said before she licked a bit of tacky syrup from the corner of her lip "besides I guess it is kind of cool that she is so secretive." Her brown eyes glanced towards a small clock hanging on the wall of the treat stand they had been eating at. "Oh, we are almost late for our meeting with sensei." With that Rin hopped up and started off towards the training fields.

Obito tried not to watch her backside as she left, but in his attempts to pointedly look away he didn't notice the small child running in front of him with a handful of dango sticks. Turning to follow her he stepped off of his stool and right into the kid, sending the little boy to the ground and the syrupy sweet smearing all over his clothes.

After buying the kid some more dango he looked down at his now sticky clothes and knew that he was going to have to change. Obito gave a small sigh of disappointment knowing that no one was going to believe this excuse before pulling down his goggles and jumping across rooftops at full speed. He just knew he was going to be late now.

-xxxxx-

Sakura was beginning to really understand where Ino got her sadistic streak. After her unbearably boring shift at the hospital she had followed Inoichi through the city fully expecting to see a few small apartments only to find herself inside the very one she had been admiring the day before. He had given a grin as he swung the door to a now empty place open and she walked in slowly taking in the layout of the space once again.

The walls were a lovely pale yellow that bounced the natural light from the large window around the empty area. The living space consisted of a large living room and dining room that led towards a well equipped kitchen, to the left a short hallway led to undoubtedly a bedroom and bath while a small closet was on the right next to the door. It was very obvious that this apartment had cost a pretty bit of coin even in this time and was very influenced by the modern tendencies of the age.

"You realize there is now way I can afford someplace that Tsunade was renting right?" she glowered at him and he gave her a cheery finger wag in return.

"Tsk, tsk" he started and she was really starting to regret seeing the similarities in the two Yamanakas. "Didn't I tell you that the Hokage was giving you a stipend? Not that that matters anyways, Tsunade owns this unit and said you could stay here while she was gone." Sakura felt herself gaping at the blonds words. Tsunade hadn't seemed too fond of her last they spoke.

Despite the sannin's frosty attitude towards her when they last parted ways she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, slipping off her boots at the door she made her way towards the kitchen before digging into the empty drawers.

"The place is already empty, I double checked earlier so I doubt you'll find anything interesting." Inoichi stated walking over and leaning one elbow on the small counter that separated the living area from the kitchen. Pointedly ignoring the man she continued her search until she found her prize.

Pulling a long forgotten bottle of sake from deep within the cabinets Sakura turned towards her new friend ignoring his surprised eyebrows and took a long drink from the bottle. "I know her well enough to know that she always forgot where she stashed this stuff, there was bound to be some in this place somewhere." Sakura reasoned, mentally chiding herself for drinking the alcohol so impolitely but she was still adjusting to the situation and this was taking the edge off, as long as she didn't descend into full blown alcoholic status like her mentor she'd be fine.

"Anyways," she started pining down her companion with a green eyed stare. "This brings up a whole other set of problems. I was hoping to find a furnished place and now I'm going to have to figure out how to get a whole apartment taken care of." She knew he had stated she would be receiving money from the village but it wouldn't really be enough to buy her an entire homes worth of things, clothes, and furniture.

Inoichi's pupil-less blue eyes crinkled in delight as his lips raised in a happy smile and she suddenly was hit with a wave of nostalgia so intense she felt as if she was drowning in front of the man who was reminding her so very much of her best friend. "Already taken care of. Tsunade had all of her things put into storage instead of sold and said you can use those too." He stated happily before holding up a single finger. "Except one thing, she said you'll need a new bed. Something about not wanting to know what that pervert would write in his books if he ever found out another woman had slept in hers." As he finished Sakura felt a small bubble of absurdity burst forward.

The small giggle that had started quickly devolved into all out laughter as she thought over the sentence. It really would be just like Jiraiya to use something so literal as influence on his filthy stories. Inoichi fixed her with a questioning glance before she waved him off with a mumbled "You'd have to know him to understand." His blond ponytail gave a quick bounce as he nodded in acceptance.

"Anyways I had a team sent over to get her furniture and kitchen things out of storage before I came to get you, they should be here anytime." As he finished she felt a familiar sense of dread pool deep within her stomach quickly recalling an offhanded comment Rin said about having to do some small missions after her shift today.

"Inoichi," she started, exerting force to keep her voice level and unflustered. "Which team did you get?" It may seem like an overreaction yet she could feel the first dredges of panic seeping into her at the thought of seeing her sensei so young and cold again and the man that so fiercely reminded her of her blue eyed teammate.

Before he could answer a sharp rap from the door came upon the companionable quiet the two had been enjoying. He walked towards the door to see who it may have been and threw a reply over his shoulder. "I got Minato's team, I figured since you've met them already it'd be a bit better."

As she watched a blond Jonin and his team bring in box after box while two members traded barbs with each other about Obito's lateness she came upon a decision. While Ino may have had a sadistic streak a mile wide Inoichi's was twice as extensive and worse yet it was completely unintentional.

-xxxxx-

"You want me to what?" Sakura shouted, she felt her body tense up in apprehension before she jumped to her feet and paced in front of the large rich mahogany desk.

The Hokage looked at her warily before repeating himself. "I want you to join ANBU." She treaded back towards his desk and plopped back into her chair, the nervous energy having worked itself from her system. After having settled into her new lodging and letting Inoichi get back to his wife she was greeted by an unknown mask and told to meet the village's leader. Being the generally rule abiding shinobi she was she found herself in the old man's office just as the sun was setting over the horizon expecting to go over some of the information she had given him previously. What she did not expect however was being told to join the prestigious black ops program when she had only been in the village a matter of days.

"Why?" she asked, elongating the word as one would when they didn't trust what the answer would be. He shuffled the a large stack of paperwork around, some written in her hand some in his before finding the sheet he was looking for. She knew her eyes held some frostiness towards the man at the sudden request of her, it was honestly something she never saw herself doing before the war, and tried to soften her gaze. She knew whatever reason he would come up with was for the best.

"If we are going to disband Root I'm going to need someone on the inside. The only way you will catch Danzo's attention is," he stopped immediately, holding a hand aloft towards her in an effort to keep her from speaking as well. She heard the knock on the heavy office door and understood the need for caution. Hiruzen gave a soft "Come in" towards the entry and lost some of his stiffness when a young teen that looked uncomfortably familiar came in holding a bag that looked to be take-away, and enough for two people at that.

Dark eyes regarded her warily before turning towards the Hokage speaking to him in a rather careless tone. "Kaa-san wants to know if you'll be home tonight." A jolt shook her at his words and voice and she looked towards the mystery person once more, aging him and adding facial hair. He looked to be around fourteen and had the unevenly pitched voice of a boy in the midst of puberty. The contextual clues finally added up and she realized that the boy standing in front of her was Asuma Sarutobi. She found herself giving him a kind head nod and warm smile before his father answered his query.

Hiruzen glanced towards the clock on the wall and back towards his paperwork before responding. "Tell her I won't be too long," he said standing up to walk his son out. "Thank you for the delivery, I know it was on short notice." At his words the teen gave a quick humph and nearly skulked towards the door, only giving an over the shoulder wave as acceptance before leaving.

Sakura quickly dug into the offered food, having been called to the meeting before she had a chance to buy some groceries. She recalled now the strained relationship with his father that Asuma once told her and Ino about long ago during a mission with him that involved the Twelve Guardian Ninja. She wished she could tell Hiruzen that their relationship did finally smooth but was unsure of how to broach the subject.

"As I was saying," he picked back up after enjoying a few bites of his meal. "Being in ANBU is the most efficient way of putting yourself on Danzo's radar. It shows that you are trusted by the village and a capable shinobi on your own merits." He finished looking towards her and plucking a perfectly cooked piece of meat from his plate waiting for her response.

She glanced down towards her own take-away contemplatively, she knew that the best way to incriminate Danzo was to gain his trust and the best way to gain his trust was to be appealing enough to enter his organization. "I understand your thoughts, and it makes sense in a way, but I just worry about the timing. Won't he think it's too convenient?" she asked accidentally spearing a piece of beef on her chopstick with more force than necessary.

"Nonsense," he started, placing his food to the side for the time being. "As long as we wait a week or so it'll just look as if you came back from a very extensive high stress undercover assignment and found working a shift at the hospital to be too mundane for you anymore." He paused and took a moment to glance out of the windows before continuing. "Sadly it is something that is seen often. Anyway I am confident in the work Inoichi and I have done to make your backstory believable, you should have an ironclad persona."

She nodded to him, somewhat mollified by his response. It would make sense, and she knew that with him at the helm of all of the ANBU registration and testing she would be a shoe in. She also probably wouldn't be taking many dangerous operations if he played the mission desk properly. With a great huff of resignation she gave him the answer he had been wanting all night. "Alright, I'll do it."

With the next steps in their plan set in motion they spent a good hour or so going over details and nuances before she was finally released just as the dun dipped under the horizon. As she walked through the village admiring its beauty of the twilight glow she shuffled the small scroll from hand to hand thoughtlessly. Within the scroll was a standard registration form for the black ops that she was to fill out within the coming few weeks and yet it felt as if it were such a heavy weight.

She tried to distract herself from the situation at hand, even if only for a moment. She slowed her pace to a stroll, observing the shinobi and civilians she passed as if they were characters in some stage show. She still thought of them as those that lived in the past, like she was a mere visitor to their homes. It was an oddity that despite her growing friendships she still felt like the outsider and she knew with time it would stop, but only when she could accept the truth. From now on this wasn't the past, she was now officially in the history books of her time, and her timeline had been so monumentally changed the moment she appeared here that it very well didn't exist anymore.

'This is my home now.' she thought, sending it clanging around her head and hearing it echo within as if she yelled it in a cave. It was a realization she hadn't quite admitted to herself dispute the knowledge she couldn't get back to her own time period. She could never have her friends back as friends. With the new age difference imposed upon them she would be more of a mentor than a companion.

'Maybe when this is all said and done I can get a job at the academy' she mused. It would be a nice position, something well suited to her academic mind, and she would be able to still see all of the shinobi she grew up with. It would be an easy occupation that was for sure, one far away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital and much calmer than being sent on mission after mission out of the village.

A fleeting thought danced across her mind, one that sent a momentary shiver of panic through her body. What would happen when she was born? She shook the question away, her mind was thick with difficulties to tackle as it was and that was something she simply didn't have the answer to.


	8. Be Running Up That Road

A/N: Please remember to review. I have most of everything set into a timeline but would love for anyone's input on something they might want to see. If workable I will gladly try to add it in as long as it isn't against the story I'm trying to tell. Also please just review so I know if this is decent or not, I've not gotten much feedback so I don't know what everyone's feelings are.

Chapter 7: Be Running Up That Road

It had been several mind-numbingly boring days of filing before she had a break in her routine. Just as the suns first rays attempted to peak out from the horizon on her first day away from the monotonous tedium of the hospital she woke up, stretching the aches from sleeping on a sofa away and quickly prepared a cup of steaming tea. Plodding back to her couch with her drink she pondered what she would do with her free time. With the end of the war and somewhat peace throughout the lands missions were hard to come by and Sakura felt herself thinking that the Hokage had been right. She was definitely already bored of her day to day and knew that others would be too, and ANBU received the highest mission loads. She drummed her fingers along the side of the cup absentmindedly, without anyone to spend her days with she could certainly see the appeal that the black ops held for some.

A knock shook her from her thoughts, the bang repeating twice more at her door. With soft grumbles of wondering who it would be this early and internal thankfulness for something to distract her she trudged towards the threshold, warm tea still within her hands. Swinging open her door she tried to keep her eyes passive as opposed to embarrassingly happy at seeing Inoichi Yamanaka on the other side. "Morning," she greeted, peering at him questioningly over the rim of her mug of caffeine.

He smiled jovially at her, and she noticed that his normally crisp Jonin uniform was replaced with one that was worn and damaged. Old mud and bloodstains alike littered the standard blues and patches in the elbows had been worn away, he carried two kunai holsters instead of the usual one and his long blond locks were doubled up within his hair tie. All in all he presented a rather unmistakable image of someone ready for a rough morning of training. "I heard from a friend that you were planning on applying for ANBU." He started and she held back a scoff, the aforementioned friend was most assuredly Sarutobi. "So I figured after spending all of your time in that stuffy hospital you could use some sparing to get you all refreshed."

'I'm not too sure I like this trend of people showing up to my place and dragging me out to fight' she thought belatedly, looking down towards the simple leggings and oversized top she had taken to wearing for sleeping. She didn't have many clothing options as of yet, having only had the time to buy some easy to wear separates and aprons for her days at the hospital, and looking at the state of his training outfit she figured she would need something easily replaceable. "Sure," she replied, having realized that in her internal thought she left him standing rather awkwardly in her doorway waiting for a response. "Just let me go change and I'll head over with you."

She waved him in, gesturing towards her sofa and almost missed the cry of 'here' as he tossed her the second weapons pouch he had with him. The move sent a small stab of pain towards her already abused heart, it was something so reminiscent of the times where Ino would come over to drag her out and lob some new accessory that she thought Sakura needed towards her. A few minutes passed before she joined him in the living room again, clad in the standard blue shirt and pants she had been given upon arrival, the sleeves rolled up revealing the supple leather gloves and pants tucked into her new sturdy boots she had splurged on.

She slipped a small elastic band from her wrist to her candy floss hair in an effort to keep the locks that had been allowed to grow too long in check before they were both out of the door and racing across rooftops in companionable silence.

As they touched down in a different training ground from the one she dueled Tsunade in she observed the two new men that had been waiting for her. Both were in similar age to Inoichi, mid 20's, and very obviously the heirs to the Nara and Akimichi clans.

Shikaku Nara stood leaning against a tree in a very relaxed pose that she had seen on his son many a times. Two long scars reached across his face at this right cheek and temple, still puckered and freshly healed. She noticed he was wearing the dear skin coat she had only seen him in a few times before, it looked less torn and ragged and she remembered that Shikamaru told her he stopped wearing it because his mother threatened to burn it for how shabby it had become.

Whereas Shikaku looked so infuriatingly similar to his son Choza Akimichi however looked so very different. It wasn't a physical difference that stood out to her, sure his facial markings were not the same as Choji's and his hair was a deeper striking red as compared to her friends light brown but it was the way he carried himself that set him apart. Where Choji's kind and gentle nature was paired with crippling self-doubt his father's very same calm being radiated with a confidence and wisdom that made him seem to be a mountain next to the boulder that was his son.

Introductions were made and she did her best to feign ignorance at the names of the two men. For once she didn't falter when she gave her false name, not used to it per se but more accepting of it with time. "Sakura is going to be applying for ANBU soon," Inoichi started, having been directing the introductions. "I figured that the three of us could get her into shape." She looked towards him incredulously, (she didn't need to "get into shape" thank you very much), before feeling a sense of dread take over her. Up until know she had been hoping that they would be fighting on teams of two or in two separate one on one battles but now she knew differently .

He was making her fight Ino-Shika-Cho. That asshole was throwing her to the wolves and smiling about it, she noticed with a growing rage. While Sakura had a very well developing friendship with Inoichi she was not above thinking of ways to torture the man, and oh could she think of the ways.

They may be a legendary trio, but she was the student of a Hokage and while she knew for sure they wouldn't be beat by her alone she was going to try her damnedest to give them the a fight worthy of their time.

Moving so that she was standing opposite the three she quickly performed several stretches to limber up, Inoichi doing the same while the other two thirds of his team stood by obviously having done so before they arrived. Feeling sufficiently stretched she settled herself into a ready stance, eyeing her opponents. All three stood relaxed, Shikaku carrying himself with a slump even in battle and Choza keeping a firm yet light grip on his Bo staff. She tried to reason with herself that this wasn't an awful idea, but it wasn't quite sticking. She knew how this formation worked despite never having fought against it and Inoichi was the only one who would know she was aware of it.

Taking split seconds to analyze the terrain she noticed that they had settled on a thickly treed field, heavily shaded and without any wide open spaces for her to flourish in. she realized with a belated thought that Shikaku must have made the choice and had possibly been one of the ones in the crowd from her fight with Tsunade. She wouldn't be able to crack the earth as she was used to, she needed it to stay flat so she could easily track the trajectory of the Nara's winding shadows.

She slid one foot back behind her, poised for speed rather than brute strength and gave one last tug to the leather gloves before quickly creating a clone of herself. At some point along the way Naruto had managed to teach her how to make shadow clones but she could only ever force one into existence, and even then it was a gamble depending on her chakra levels. She reached down within herself, dredging up old genjutsu tactics that had been long buried to make way for the chakra infused taijutsu she had been relying on since the war started.

Both her and her copy dashed towards the opposing nin who were happy to let her make the first move, the two Sakura's weaving in-between each other, her clone in front. Each time her clone passed in front of her she made another hand sign, quickly drawing up the chakra required to create a passing illusion and waited until the exact moment her duplicate jumped high and brought one leg down towards the earth in an impressive arc to execute her plan. Instead of truly cracking the earth apart she instead let the deception take over, creating a temporary genjutsu of the ground exploding and dust filling the sky.

Quickly weaving another set of signs she felt herself melt into the earth, because a shadow user needed light to control his creations and there was no light underground. Knowing that her trick wouldn't last long she moved rapidly as if swimming in the dirt before tightly coiling her chakra inwards, and bursting out of the ground, her control aiding in leaving a small hole rather than a massive wound in the earth. There were no surprised shouts at her reveal, her foes being too high classed to fall for such wiles, instead they each simply leapt away with moments to spare, she noted that despite Shikaku's lazy nature he was the quickest to move, his body all wiry and build for speed.

There was no more time for observation as she was suddenly thrown on the defensive, her clone having been dispatched while she was underground. The sham of a battle quickly turned into her spending as much time in the air as possible, darting around flightily to avoid both Shikaku's shadows and Inoichi's jutsu. Choza was her main adversary, both his size and reach keeping her on point and she let a swing of his staff get a little too close before jumping up and using it as if it were a springboard.

Twisting high in the air she let several of the borrowed kunai fly, and quickly grimaced when one of them was caught by a black tendril and thrown back towards her, nicking her upper arm. As she dropped back to the ground in a crouch she could see that the portion of Choza's staff she had jumped off of was now a pile of shards and splinters and was agitated at herself swiftly pulling all of her channeled chakra away from her extremities. It was wasted energy and too much force for a friendly spar, she needed to get it together.

Only during the war one on one battles were a rarity and the sudden experience of fighting against the odds was throwing her back into that dark place where every day was a bitter struggle to survive. She sucked in a deep breathe, willing the red haze that was creeping towards her consciousness to retreat, and focused the chakra back into her hands, making sure to lessen the flow to a near trickle.

She gave a small nod towards the three men who had given her a moment to compose herself before dashing forwards again, taking long strides and small leaps to avoid the shadows that she knew deep down were moving at a fraction of their regular speed. She threw a wide punch towards the Akimichi, and was met evenly with one of his enlarged hands before hoping back and sending a kick towards his armored midsection.

The clang of the metal echoed throughout the field as he was twisted from the force of the impact, instead of faltering he used the borrowed momentum to swing back around, the non-shattered end of his staff cracking her across the face. Crimson bloomed across her vision and that battle frenzy she had been keeping a tight hold on flooded her awaiting limbs.

The training field that had been beautiful in all of its wooded glory suddenly turned into the desolate wasteland that she was so used to. Her adversaries faces melting off to reveal unknown enemies who desired nothing more than her death. Gone was her control and she was suddenly a whirling dervish of fury and desperation. It was no longer a spar, she was once again on the killing fields tearing her way through foes with a selfless abandon and these three in front of her were only another step in the long bloody road towards peace.

She heard someone yell her name, except it wasn't a voice she recognized as one of the few left alive so she let it wash over her uselessly. Except it kept echoing around in her head, repeating over and over with a sense of urgency and she suddenly went still, unwillingly rooted to the spot and unable to move to defend herself. She felt the fight leave her and for a dark truthful moment welcomed the end.

"SAKURA!" the voice finally cut through her battle haze and she felt the ugly vermillion recede from her vision and felt herself go slack. Only she didn't drop to the ground, her body stood upright and rigid, with inky tendrils of shadow twisting up her legs and Inoichi's hands firmly grasping her shaking shoulders. Her vision cleared enough that she could focus on his face that was close to hers, enough that she could see the subtle green tint to his eyes that made his different from Ino's. They held a worried frenzied look and she immediately felt all of the scattered minutes and pieces snap into place, the small bits of information that had penetrated her craze forming a real picture.

A happy sob escaped her when she realized she was no longer in that dark place and she felt the black twists recede before collapsing like a broken doll with no one to support her. Inoichi was giving her a look that clearly stated they would be speaking later about her mental state while Shikaku was eyeing her like a puzzle to solve. Choza looked pained but not unfriendly as she spotted the awkward bend in his arm that she was positive she caused.

She felt a stab of guilt and quickly made her way towards the large man, a calming green light enveloping her hands and a blossom of affection in her heart when he didn't flinch away from her hand. She sank to the ground, bringing him with her and proceeded to infuse his system with her healing energies. No words where said as she worked on Choza's arm, instead a silence lingered in the air, not one that begged to be broken but one that spoke of a calm companionship and ability to speak without sound that she longed to have with her own team.

-xxxxx-

Shikaku Nara was well known for his intelligence. He also was well known to be quite lazy but happily relied on his intellect to circumvent the downside of his personality. He equally known for his penchant for puzzles and the pink haired woman in front of him was shaping up to be a rather intriguing enigma indeed. He watched as she soothed away his teammate's pain and wondered if he had seen her around the village before the very public fight with her mentor.

Inoichi had said she had returned from a long undercover op, yet he couldn't recall seeing her anywhere before the war had started, and with her rather unconventional hair color she would have been noticeable. Her burgeoning friendship with his teammate was also a questionable development. While he trusted the blond to be faithful to his wife he still couldn't help but wonder where the two had met. Still the Yamanaka had asked them for a favor, as odd and unprompted as it may be, and over the years the three of them had made a point to stop counting the favors between them and just help each other out.

So he had found himself in training field six way too early in the morning with more questions than answers. His fist thoughts when Inoichi and the pinkette had shown up was that she was shorter than he expected. Younger too. With all the accolades that had been laid upon her name in the recent days he would have thought her to be closer to their age as opposed to the not quite adult that she was.

The start of the spar went well, she fought with thought and took time to think things through before acting. Her first moves were strategic, and in a way that made him question how much she knew of the trio, yet she could only be firmly placed in lower Jonin ranks. It wasn't until the mid-point of the session when she turned into a being of wild fists and uncalculated moves. There was a strange gleam that had completely taken over her eyes as she fought that both he and Inoichi knew well to be signs of lingering trauma.

Once she mindlessly snapped Choza's arm the blond started yelling for her franticly to no avail and he had to resort to trapping her with his jutsu.

She recovered quickly after that, he could really commend her for it. Which brought him here, watching as she healed the damage as well as she caused it. He knew that she was expecting some sort of reprimand for losing herself but Inoichi had already sent him a piercing glace that encouraged him to gloss over the incident.

He settled himself down next to her, recounting every moment of the battle in picture perfect detail, analyzing her every move and calculating where she could improve.

"Well to start stealth is not your strong suit." He said, and filled away a look that told him she wasn't keen on the idea of black ops at all. "But your control is above standard and you have a very solid taijutsu base." He stopped, humming to himself for a moment and trying to find a way to say what he had to with as few words as possible.

"As far as I can tell ANBU should be easily achievable with some work. I imagine…" he was cut off by a sudden explosion of flame and chakra that lit up the mid-morning sky. It was near enough that they felt the blast of hot air hit them head on as they all looked towards the source.

They were all on their feet within a moment, starting towards the road that led to the nearby training fields when he held back for a second to shoot a look towards Choza, giving him a quick nod for the man to turn back towards the village and find some backup. While his arm may be not in pain anymore he was not ready for a full on fight if need be.

Running full tilt towards the scene he made sure to keep sneaking the pink haired conundrum glances, careful to make sure she could contain herself when they saw what was on the other side of the tree line.

They broke through the foliage and both Inoichi and Sakura who were a step ahead of him immediately went towards the two small bodies that were lying prone within the inferno of trees. He quickly gathered chakra deep within himself, prepping for a jutsu that was unusual for him but not unfamiliar. He felt his chakra peak, swirling like eddies within himself and allowed the torrent of water to bubble up and escape from his mouth. The flames weren't gone but they had certainly died down to more manageable levels and he noticed that Inoichi had brought his charge back towards the relative safety, a young girl of ten with deep purple hair that was well known for her mischief.

Sakura who had disappeared into the blaze came darting back, a still brown haired boy cradled in her sooty arms. One blue sleeve had been ripped from her shirt and gently wrapped around his mouth and nose to ward off smoke damage and her pink locks were slightly singed and smelling of burnt hair.

She had dropped to her knees, hands once more glowing that soft green before the reinforcements had arrived, eyes clear of that gleam he had seen before. Amidst the sounds of water jutsu's shouted from around his ears caught a small sniffle.

Turning back towards the now conscious girl he did his best to recall her name. Anko Mitarashi floated to the forefront of his mind and he bent towards her in his most disarming way possible and with a soft non accusatory voice asked "What happened here?"

The sniffle turned to outright tears and he cursed himself and all women kind for being so troublesome. "I was trying to do this cool jutsu that I saw at school, but I think I did it wrong and all of a sudden fire was everywhere and" the girl sniffled and he found himself impressed with her abilities to accidentally create this inferno. "and" she repeated the tears dissolving into entire sobs "is Hayate going to be ok?"

He looked back towards the woman who held herself with such confidence that was missing during their spar, she was so assuredly healing the small boys ails that he felt the gnawing suspicions melt away. Sure, she was a paradox, virtually unknown until a few days ago, but she was so open and easy to read he no longer felt threatened by her presence.

In fact he almost looked forwards to training with her again.

-xxxxx-

Sakura was tending to her young charge again, smiling at him as she checked his charts from the end of the hospital bed. "Well Hayate it looks like we worked quick enough that you won't have any lasting damage ok?" she chirped, careful to not be too loud knowing that she wasn't technically allowed to do much medic work within the hospital yet.

The brunette nodded back at her silently, his throat too raw to speak just yet. He looked passingly familiar, like she had met him for a day and never knew him again. Sakura wasn't sure she had known him in the future, he would have been in that awkward age group between her and her sensei's and even then with how extensive his smoke inhalation had been at the scene of the accident she was sure he would have had lasting health problems if he had initially survived.

Sakura gave him a smile and a wink before sneaking out of the room and retreating back towards her horrifying closet of files. Fingering the singed edges of her pink locks she gave her nose a small wrinkle, the smell of burning hair still lingered around her and she wished she had been able to take a shower before work, however the incident had squashed that idea. She studiously ignored the small child that was attempting to sneak through the hallways out of sight. Her candy floss hair tended to attract young kids and she thought nothing of it, just assuming that he was a little boy playing at ninja. 'Although,' the thought ran across her mindscape fleetingly, 'for a kid he's really good.'

She had noticed him earlier when she arrived at the hospital with Hayate, he arrived just moments after her and had been just not there enough for her to not get a good glimpse of him to get any features. Instead she had been content to let him trail after her as if he was her own personal shadow. That had however been hours ago and she was somewhat sick of feeling his slightly nervous energy from outside the windowless room she had been sorting.

The pinkette turned on her heel, a bit faster and harsher than intended and gave the seemingly empty hallway a good stare, her gaze catching a shadow on the ground at a turn off. She could feel the child's tightly constrained chakra, a sign of someone attempting too but not quite hiding it. Giving a slight huff she let her posture slump into one that was more disarming than her usual confidant stance. "I know you are there." Sakura started, green eyes never leaving the corner she knew her follower was hiding behind. "Please come out now."

A small figure peeked out before fully coming around the wall and she felt her heart plummet to her toes as she could finally take in the black hair and black eyes of the child that now stood only a few paces away from her. Tiny stress lines could already be seen underneath his impossibly dark orbs that already looked so much older than the four some odd years old she knew him to be. She quelled the instincts beaten into her to run at the sight of the older version of the boy and gave her best smile, forcing one hand to stop quivering long enough to reach out and beckon him closer.

Itachi Uchiha stood before her, looking for all the world like a normal little boy and so heartbreakingly similar to his younger brother that she was sure if she would crack from the surreal-ness this right here would be the moment. She knew of the truth of the massacre, she knew that it had all been an order and he had only been a very dedicated soldier yet she couldn't keep herself from feeling that initial deep seated fear from the legend that he was before the truth had been revealed.

"Hi there," Sakura started, doing her best to keep her tones light and calm. "Is there a reason that you have been following me all morning?"

He walked towards her assuredly, lacking any of the common uncertainties of a child his age and she was fiercely reminded that he was a fully functioning shinobi even at such a young age, and that along with the sad look in his eyes made her heart clench at the implication. He had probably already seen death at this point. Had probably been the cause of it even.

She was startled when he stopped in front of her and gave a deep formal bow, yet she was even more shocked when he spoke, his voice so childlike and even though she consciously knew it would be for some reason that pitch was so surprising to her. "I saw you heal that boy today in the training fields." She felt herself nodding at his words encouraging him to continue, pink locks bouncing at the movement. "I don't want to hurt people anymore. I know that it is my job but I don't like it."

Sakura nearly grabbed the boy by his shoulders to embrace him. His words were so broken and sad and the confirmation that he had in fact taken part in the war at his age nearly shattered her. He looked her dead in the eye, red spinning wildly not from anger or willingness to harm but from sheer determination activating the coveted technique. In those eyes she saw a desire for peace.

"Shinobi-san I have a request of you."

-xxxxx-

"Are you sure you will have the time for this?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the woman across his desk. He had gotten rather used to seeing Sakura in his office these past few days yet was immensely surprised when she had all but barged in earlier with a young Uchiha trailing after her as if she were a mother duck and he a duckling. Then again his surprise had been easily eclipsed when she started talking, demanding that her young follower be made her student in Tsunade's healing arts. She leaned into her words with an authority that told him what she couldn't say. She felt this was the correct course of action and he felt himself acquiescing to her request.

He watched as she shot the boy another look, one that had lingering traces of pity, before answering him. "I'll make time." She spoke with that same steely resolve as she did when they first made and he resigned himself to many tedious discussions and fights with the Uchiha clan head over the matter. Itachi was the pride and joy of the clan, the youngest to activate the Sharingan and he knew that Fugaku would not easily yield to his prize tool becoming a medic, let alone the student to someone without a well-known name.

His gaze found the boys dark eyes, ones that had been so lifeless before shining with a new light and found himself uttering the very words that would seal his fate. "Very well, I will do what I can." The pinkettes face lit up at his decree, and she and the Uchiha quickly wished their farewells before leaving, a certain spring in both of their steps that was lacking before.

'Kami-sama,' Hiruzen prayed silently eyes tilted towards the ceiling 'is this a test? If so please grant me the strength to see this through.'


	9. So Much Hate For The Ones We Love

A/N: First off I want to say thank you for the wonderful reviews. It makes me really glad to see so many people enjoy a story of mine and makes me feel guilty when I don't get a chapter out quick enough. Secondly I want to address a certain review. Someone finally mentioned the title and chapter titles. Yes this is named after the song Running up that Hill by Kate Bush, however the version that inspired the story was done by Track and Field. I'd advise a listen, I just feel that the tone fits a bit better.

Also I would like to take a moment to point out that any of the flashbacks in italics don't follow a rigid timeline. They are simply little viewpoints into the background for the story. One may be in a later chapter and take place before one in an earlier chapter. That being said I will always try to include a little hint as to who is left alive and what not.

Sorry for the ramble. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: So Much Hate For the Ones We Love

"No?" the question slipped past her lips, dribbling down until it settled low in her abdomen like a rock. Misery swirled in eddies within her as she thought of the look upon Itachi's face and the meaning of the word. She looked the patriarch of the Uchiha family dead in the eyes and felt the gloom morph into indignation. "Your son has given more for his village than most people decades older than him. Kami-sama, he has killed to protect someone before he even left the academy and you don't have the decency to let him leave this hellish profession." Sakura looked from the imposing clan head towards the only other person in the office, Hiruzen, who was seated and looking on with carefully masked features.

Fugaku Uchiha stared towards her stoically refusing to rise to her ire. "He is a child. He does not yet know what he wants." His distain colored the carefully measured words, raising her hackles even more.

"He is a human being." She started, louder than intended but unable to hold in the rage. She was suddenly struck with the feeling of relief that the subject of their discussion turned verbal battle was not in the room. "And he deserves to be able to make his own choices."

Her opponent raised one dark eyebrow in response to her words. "What do you know of raising a child?"

She clenched her fists tighter, willing them to stop quivering in anger before replying, her words little more than a violent hiss "I know that if my four year old child," she paused adding emphasis on the word, "was waking every night in terror and believing himself to be a heartless murderer I would put an end to whatever caused that." She felt a moment of glee when she saw that her words had an effect on the statue of a man.

"Itachi is the heir to the clan." Fugaku ground out, his speech no longer cautiously controlled, slivers of irritation seeping through. "He is a prodigy and I will not let him waste his skill on becoming some non-combat medic. Even if for some reason I were to allow him this heinous travesty I would not let him be trained by some lowborn nobody who does filing at the local hospital." Sakura felt a fire alight in her, an inferno of rage that wished for nothing more than to obliterate the man who spoke the words. As she opened her mouth to retort to his scathing remarks he continued on. "You are nothing more than a little girl riding on the coat tails of your disgraced mentor and unworthy to teach my son anything."

Her heart beat a shuddered rhythm as she fought herself for words and her flames were tempered by the ensuing silence. A feeling that was equal parts humiliation and anger enveloped her and stole her voice as she watched helplessly as the oppressive and bitter force that was Fugaku Uchiha strode from the room. She was vividly aware that she had stood toe to toe with the second politically strongest man in all of Konoha and lost.

Disappointment swelled within her, like a great crescendo to a dramatic piece of music and she found herself rushing out of the room. "I need to punch something," she called to the Hokage as she left, slurring the words together in her hurry to say them before her voice broke.

The village was a swirl of colors as she found herself racing to the nearest training ground and praying to a Kami she wasn't sure was listening that it was empty. Dropping from the trees she found herself in a familiar clearing, obviously some earth users had been by to fix the ground but the tree that she had uprooted to throw towards Tsunade was still laying on its side towards one edge of the field. A new addition had been made though, a simple wooden training post that now stood proudly from the whole that had been left by the formerly mentioned trees roots.

Taking a deep breath she walked towards the post, forcing the chakra that had slowly accumulated from her agitation on her way over out of her fists. Sakura planted her feet shoulder width apart, and adopted a rigid stance so very unlike her usual one before quickly punching the wood and uttering a quiet "One" underneath her breath. She felt her rosy hair shift in the breeze and nonsensically thought that it was time for a cut. "Two" After her time in the forest a life time ago she never let it get past a certain length, the desire to do so squashed like so many childhood hopes. "Three" It turned out Sasuke never cared about the condition of a girl's hair anyway. "Four….."

-xxxxx-

_It was humid that day. The kind of heat that made her feel dirty and sweaty right out of the shower. Aside from the unnatural temperature something felt….off. Everyone was more on edge than usual yet no one could really understand why and yet no one spoke of if for fear of bringing about unintended consequences. It was only around dinner time when she was leaving the medic tents that tensions rose to unparalleled degrees. As she strode towards her campfire of choice that evening she could hear the whispers and feel the gazes that followed her. A tiny paranoia creeped upon her as she was too tired to squash it. Channeling a tiny fraction of chakra towards her ears she strained to hear someone's conversation. _

"_She doesn't look like she knows yet." Her gaze swept towards the two kunoichis at the words. It wasn't said with pity or malice, just a neutral observation and she noticed they were both from the former water village, the designs of their standard uniform giving away their nationality. She grit her teeth, knowing that the innocent sentence would gnaw at her until she sought clarification. _

_Striding over to the two she looked towards the speaker, a kind looking kunoichi with pale lilac hair and eyes that were far too young for the battlefield. "What don't I know?" she asked, doing her best to keep her cadence light and non-threatening. The two girls looked towards each other, obviously uncomfortable with the thought of telling her and she felt the need to prompt again. "Please tell me."_

_The companion of the girl with lavender locks gave a short sigh and refused to meet her eyes. "You should go find your teammate." It was a simple suggestion, not said unkindly and yet she felt her heart sink to her toes before dashing away from the two women. _

'_Naruto' she thought, and the name sounded strained even in her head. Something must have happened to Naruto and they never told her. Rationalization finally kicked in when she had finally reached the large tent in the middle of the enourmous camp. It was the main command base for the kages and since Tsunade had passed Naruto now held the mantle he desired all his life. If he had been injured in some way they would have brought him to her, she was the commander of the medic division, it was procedure._

_She took a calming breath and reached for the flap of canvas with a shuddering hand, pausing before she could grip the green material. She sent a small jolt of chakra into the ground and felt it slither along as it sensed the chakra of those inside the building. She could feel Kakashi with his deep and slow moving yet eager flows and Hinata who somehow managed to give off an air of grace and lightness with just the feel of her chakra. She could detect Shikamaru towards the back, his as always felt ever swirling, always searching and ready. It was a feeling that was at complete odds with the ever lazy persona he was keen to adopt. _

_There were two that she could recognize in the sense that she had once passed them on the street once or twice and of course Naruto. Ever since he had come to an agreement with the Kyuubi his chakra always felt as bright and sunny as he looked and she took pleasure in the warmth that radiated from it. _

_The remaining essence struck a chord within her, a great dissonance as her heart and mind conflicted over the feelings the cold chakra brought up within her and she took an unsteady gasp at the knowledge of who stood on the other side of the flimsy wall. _

_Uchiha Sasuke had returned and all she could feel was a relief. A relief that Naruto might finally be finished with the consuming quest to bring their teammate back into the fold. She tried to conjure up affection or joy but any tendrils of positive feelings were shot through with mounting irritation. _

_Once more she took a deep breath and once more she reached for the flap of the tent this time with a hand devoid of shaking before striding inwards confidently. All eyes had been turned her way before she had even entered, waiting patiently for her arrival, Sakura knew she wasn't being stealthy nor had she intended to. Everyone seemed to wait in uneasy silence, as if the entire meeting was on pause simply for her reaction. _

_Kakashi and the Nara were at the back, relaxed in basic wooden chairs and to the side were the pair of vaguely recognizable shinobi. Looking closer she took in the red and ginger hair and recalled the names Karin and Jugo. In the middle of the area stood Naruto, grinning for all the world to see and Hinata at his side looking every bit like the battle ready princess Sakura knew she was. Yet it was the dark figure at the center of the group that commanded her attention so violently. _

_He stood so confidently and unapologetically that she felt a rage blossom from within her. Taking three quick steps forwards she swung a leather encased fist strait towards his unsuspecting face and sending him crashing onto his backside before she had even registered the movements herself. Chaotic movement erupted around her, almost everyone was now on their feet and Jugo was now holding a screaming banshee named Karin back. _

_As her initial attack was entirely unplanned she had no idea what she had meant to do next so she settled for simply offering him a hand. However the Uchiha being himself simply ignored her peace offering and gave an annoyed grunt as he pulled himself to his feet before rubbing at the now reddened spot on his cheek. She was suddenly struck with the relief that she had at least made sure to not channel any chakra when she punched him. _

"_Welcome back," She uttered and was astonished at herself for the lack of venom or doting inflection that would have otherwise colored her words. It was as if every negative feeling had built itself up into the one attack and now she felt an acute emptiness of any remaining scorn. Sakura's mind suddenly came alive with the awareness that she now felt nothing more than an odd emotionless detachment for Sasuke._

_It was a haunting moment when she took in the picture they had made. She and Naruto had their dear Sasuke back after years of chasing him, Naruto was leading the closest thing to a village left, and Hinata had finally found the strength to stand beside him as an equal and partner. It was as if all of the fairytale wishes of naive young children had suddenly come true. Yet she couldn't be happy, because she no longer felt any stirrings of affection for the ebon headed vigilante returned. Because she fervently wished with all her heart that she was the one beside the boy with the yellow hair. _

'_But,' she smiled grimly at the scene before her, a false grin that stretched her lips too wide and never reached her eyes, 'this isn't a world where fairytales can come true anymore.'_

_-xxxxx-_

Many strange things were happening within the walls of his beloved village. Minato Namikaze was no fool, he knew very well that his home was undergoing a drastic change so soon after a war. Yet while most of it was the return of joy and stabilities to the civilian's lives that was bringing about a difference in the lives of the shinobi he could tell well enough that there were some machinations going on behind the scenes.

For starters before his historic mission Sarutobi had all but promised him the position of Hokage as soon as the treaties were signed. Yet now that things had calmed somewhat any discussion of the change in regime were stalled with cryptic brush offs.

He had a nagging feeling that it was all to do with the pink haired woman his team had picked up on their way back from the bridge a few weeks ago. That hunch had only been reinforced when he had been called to the Hokage's office a few minutes ago and told to search out said woman.

"Sakura is applying for ANBU." He recalled the old man saying. "I would appreciate it if you were to give her some training on speed and stealth." The request had set off alarm bells in his head. Why would a woman who came back from a deep undercover mission need training for stealth.

It was also wholly out of character for Hiruzen to put so much effort into getting someone into the black ops, it was a general rule that anyone applying would get a trainer by their own merit. Yet here he was having been given a command by his superior to do so, one that had even been given as a mission by the end.

It was maddeningly confusing and he felt a personal paradox of whether or not to trust the strangely colored kunoichi. On one hand everything she did had rung of suspicion from the moment they had met, and this new revelation even more so. On the other she had the complete trust of his village's leader and she had selflessly thrown herself in the way of danger save his team, a team of people she had never met.

He was taking his time, heading towards the training grounds as Sarutobi had suggested, hoping to sort out the quagmire that was his current thought processes. He followed a hunch and traveled towards the field he believed her to be in, and ran into unexpected company. Taking in the scene before him he quietly dropped to the ground next to his companion, folding his long legs at the knee with a small sigh.

Sakura Unmeiko was across the clearing, methodically punching into a post that he knew was brand new. The wooden pillar was being whittled down by her actions, a large groove having been formed from her repetition. The control she was exhibiting and the blood that was dripping from her knuckles told him that this was not a matter of training.

"Sensei?" he looked down towards the owner of the voice. Rin's brown eyes were questioning and she looked as if she had been sitting there for a while. He gave a gentle hum in answer and she continued her speaking. "I was looking for a spot to train and I saw her here, I figured I could ask her about what we had talked about, but," Rin stopped and turned back towards the pink haired woman beating her fists into bark. "She looked so sad and angry. I figured it'd be best to let her just…be." She finished, waving a hand noncommittedly at the final word.

He glanced down towards the top of her brunette head, slightly shocked for her emotional maturity, and not for the first time. Out of all of his students Rin, with her kind heart and soulful eyes, was probably the least suited to being a kunoichi yet she was excelling at it. Turning his attention back towards the woman who had stopped her hits to take of the tattered scraps of leather that were once her gloves he found himself asking a question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "How long has she been at this?"

"A few hours," the Chunnin girl started before standing up from her seated position and taking care to smooth out the wrinkles in her overskirt. He turned a questioning eye towards her, wondering why she had stuck around for so long. "I just didn't think she should be alone. I'm going to go find Obito and Kakashi for lunch. See you later sensei!" he gave her a quick wave as she raced off to retrieve her teammates.

He took a long breath as he stood and let his shoulders slump, as if willing the tension coiled up within them to dissipate. Striding towards the woman he forced a jovial "Hey Sakura-chan!" in greeting, hoping for the honorific to elicit some sort of reaction to drag her from her anger.

She spun toward him with wild searching eyes and the corners of her lips tilting up in the ghost of a grin before catching sight of him and deflating entirely. "You're not him" she whispered but the words still carried enough that he picked them up clearly and felt a sudden guilt at having unintentionally caused that moment of painful joy. He mentally filed the information away, thinking it may have something to do with when she mistakenly called him Naruto those few weeks ago.

Her jade eyes held a new sadness to them and he felt himself stumbling for words to explain why he was here. "So, um." He started before pulling himself together. "The Hokage said you could use some help with training for ANBU." He paused awkwardly letting his sentence linger in the air when she didn't give a response.

"Please tell me that wasn't your attempt at training" He attempted to joke but could tell that it had fallen flat by the small glare she now sent his way.

She gave a disappointed sigh and took a seat on the ground and started gently healing her bloodied and swollen knuckles. "No that wasn't training." She stopped and switched to her other hand. "I don't really know that that was. I was just so angry."

He joined her on the ground, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, leaning back on his elbows. "Want to talk about it?"

-xxxxx-

"Want to talk about it?"

She flexed her fingers at his question, testing the mobility of the newly healed flesh, before responding. "Are all the Uchiha as condescending and pompous as Fugaku?"

He gave a small laugh at that, one that was deep and pleasing and nothing like the loud obnoxious bellows that Naruto was so well known for. "No, he's just a special brand of snobbish. Then again my only true experience of dealing with that whole clan is with Obito, and well, he's not exactly what I would call a traditional Uchiha." His joke caused a small chuckle out of the both of them and she felt some tension leave her body.

"His son came to me yesterday and asked if I could train him as a medic." She started before looking towards him to see if he had any outward reactions. Seeing none she decided to continue her ordeal. "He was livid, said he couldn't have some nobody training his son."

She could hear him give a quick hiss in sympathy before he gave her a reply. "Well I guess you'll just have to prove to him that he should be proud to have you train his son." She scoffed at his advice. It was easier said than done.

"I don't think that will ever happen. He thinks I'm some child relying on the glory of my mentor to get me through." She started, before stopping and thinking to herself. In all honesty that was all she had ever done. She was well known only because of the merits of those around her. First she was the student of the Copy nin, then it was the teammate of the rookie of the year and the demon child. After Sasuke left it was because of his betrayal to the village. She had only really begun to stand on her own when she was training with Tsunade and even then she relied on her shishou's name to open doors for her and not her own abilities. Even during the war she was seen as the second coming as the slug princess. Sakura sighed, as much as it pained her to admit it Mr. Stick-up-the-ass Uchiha was probably right.

"Besides," she continued, forcing her thoughts back towards the previous track "I don't think he'd agree to it if I were Tsunade herself. He wants his son to be used as a weapon for the village rather than an aid to the people within it." She refused to allow herself more than a moment to wallow in the unfairness that was Itachi's current situation.

The blond man next to her made an exaggerated sign of contemplating something before he made a move to speak. "Well then the answer is obvious. You need to take on a different student and show him what he's missing out on." She turned a shred eye towards him at his words, a knot forming that told her she knew exactly what he was alluding to. "I believe my darling student Rin would be perfect."

Sakura felt herself snort. The way he spoke was so similar to how Kakashi would occasionally heap praise onto them that she could easily see where her sensei had learned his teaching styles. Aside from that she found the idea somewhat appealing, the girl already almost worshiped the ground she walked on if the way she looked at Sakura the past couple of days was anything to tell by. "Was this whole conversation a way for you to pester me to teach your student?" she asked honestly.

"No," he replied before shrugging. "But she wanted me to ask you and I felt the timing was right. Can't fault me for it can you?" his response elicited a real giggle from her and she came upon the sudden realization that the more time she spent with the man the easier it was for her to differentiate him from his son.

The pain of loss that she had initially felt every time she looked at him had dulled considerably. She no longer saw the ghost of a man she had loved dearly and instead now saw him for what he truly was, Minato Namikaze her friend and now trainer. She stood up slowly and dusted off her leggings as she did so, watching as he did the same.

"So how about we get to training?" he asked, seamlessly moving the conversation forward instead of lingering on the unanswered question regarding his charge.

A calm breeze wafted through the field, blowing the grass and causing her pink locks to tangle about in front of her face. "Sure, but first I think I need to do something about my hair, it's starting to drive me insane." She grumbled as she moved to sweep the errant strands behind her ears.

He gave her a long look as if he were considering something before replying. "You should come with me, I know someone who can cut that for you." She gave a quick reply in the positive with a thanks before they started on their way. "You'll love her, she always cuts my hair and Kakashi's as well."

A strange sense of dread settled within her as she looked towards his askew and uneven hair. Thinking to Kakashi's gravity defying hair had her regretting the decision even more but she decided that this was a great bridge of friendship she didn't feel like burning just yet.

As they trekked through the village to an unknown to her destination they fell into an easy chatter. She marveled at how comfortable she was with this man who didn't know her secret and she had really only met a couple of times. Her he was taking her in and implanting her into his daily life like it meant nothing and she knew that to him it probably didn't. He was Naruto's father after all and he had the same natural charisma that oozed from her blond teammate.

As they came close to a random intersection she felt the unnatural need to stop. He was doing all of this for her and what had she offered in return? Nothing, she hadn't even given him the decency of an answer on if she would train Rin or not. She felt as if she couldn't go any further without giving him some sort of sign of her gratitude. "Hey Minato-san," he stopped and turned back towards her questioningly at her suddenly too serious tone. She took a small breath and continued on "I don't know how much free time I'll have, but I would be honored to teach Rin a thing or two."

The satisfied grin he shot her was bright enough that she knew the commitment was worth it. Teaching an already graduated Chunnin would certainly be easier than a small child not yet out of the academy so she wasn't sure why she was so worried about it. Besides this would keep the girl safe inside the village for a couple of months at least, something she was starting to really be happy of because she couldn't quite remember how Rin had died.

It was only a few more minutes of companionable silence before they reached their journey's end and she followed him up some stairs towards a small apartment. As he made a small seal with his left hand she realized that the place they were at was his own and felt slightly uncomfortable as they entered until she heard him give a call into the home. "Kushina, I've brought company."

She took a moment to think about the situation. If he had brought her here for a haircut that lead to obvious reasoning that it was going to be Kushina doing the cutting. Kushina who had hair so long it had obviously never been trimmed. Looking again at Minato's wild hair and thinking back to Karin, the only other red headed Uzumaki she knew, and her eccentric hairstyle she realized two things. Firstly, it must be a universal trait among all Uzumaki that they cannot cut hair well at all and secondly, she was bound to come out of this seriously regretting it.

Before she could turn back and flee from the scene an excited yell from the hallway sealed her fate.

"Ramen Girl!"

-xxxxx-

"_How can you be so calm about this?" he raged at her and she could feel the air cool around them. She felt her self flinch at his accusatory tone and refused to rise to his pain filled tirade. "We finally have him back and now he's leaving again and it's all for nothing." He continued and she reigned in the urge to embrace him as hot tears started dripping from his red eyes. _

_It had only been a month or two since Sasuke had shown back up in their lives yet to her it had felt like a near eternity. In that short time Naruto had taken it upon himself to push her and Sasuke together in a vain attempt to kindle a relationship between them. He felt that since he was happily engaged to Hinata the two of them should be as happy together as he was. She tried to dredge up the long buried feelings of affection for the Uchiha yet had achieved nothing more than a few silent and tense dinners together before the two had informed Naruto that it simply was not going to happen. _

_Now the former avenger had taken it upon himself to travel the lands to find a way to defeat their enemies. He had claimed that it was because he no longer felt as if he belonged with an organized village, and she knew from the dark glares consistently sent his way that most of the forces didn't want him around as well. _

_To be honest with herself she felt relieved when he made the announcement, she no longer had to attempt to continue this farce of comradery for Naruto. _

_Naruto however was taking the news especially hard, considering it was a mere week ago that he had lost Hinata. After watching his fiancé sacrifice herself for her younger sister and his finally returned best friend leave he was feeling particularly defeated. She understood, so she did the one thing she knew she could do for him in his time of need. _

_Sakura let him pour his rage and frustration at her in his own personal way of grieving. She sat unflinchingly loyal as he yelled and spat vitriol towards her that she knew deep down he didn't mean. _

"_Can't you love him now? Make him stay? Or were your declarations of love just more lies all along?"_

_She stayed with him when he finally collapsed and let himself mourn his losses. She held him when he cried about how she shouldn't let the love of her life go away like he did and she thought to herself about how she wasn't going to. Sakura had promised long ago that she would do anything within her power to make sure that he survives this war. _


	10. It Doesn't Hurt Me

A/N: I'm so very sorry for the long wait. I had all but the last bit of this chapter written when my husband updated my computer. Something got messed up and I lost everything. I also had the last chapter and the epilogue saved as well that I lost. It was a bit of a blow to the internal muse, so after taking a short break I've attempted to type this up to the standard I demand.

Once again, sorry for making all of my dear readers wait this long. Anyways enjoy another chapter of RUTH

Chapter 9: It Doesn't Hurt Me

_It was a rare moment in the middle of unsurmountable conflict that they were able to enjoy a meal together. Sakura trotted towards the group circled around one of the many campfires that dotted the dirt field that once was a peaceful clearing. Laughter was flittering through the air and she felt a smile tug at her tired lips. Kiba was telling some asinine story while gesturing wildly, his pointed teeth glinting off the flickering flames from the wide grin he was sporting. _

_They had just scored their first major victory and everyone was filled with hope and courage, it left the spirits in the camp considerably higher than they had been in weeks. For once campfire conversations littered the air instead of quiet and tense discussions of the dwindling resources which had caused rationing as of late. _

_As she came upon the group known as the Konoha 11, plus a few more they had picked up over the years, she nodded thankfully at Shino who had shifted to allow her some room. She was seated directly across from Naruto, who in turn was seated next to Hinata, the Hyuuga princess who was bound to be found at his side ever since her love confession so long ago. The amber fire light was giving her a pretty glow and Sakura once again felt as if she paled in comparison to the pearl eyed girl's beauty._

"_Just you wait, once this whole war is over they'll be begging me to be Hokage" The blond Uzumaki yelled, punctuating his declaration with a fist thrust towards the sky. However, the movement caused his tray to slip and fall, splashing stew at everyone's feet and Sakura had to stifle the tiny giggle at his suddenly sullen look. _

_A smattering of laughter erupted from the group yet she was concentrated on Naruto's face. She wished she could make him smile again, to be as happy as he was moments before because that is what they all needed at this time. Sakura smiled, and knew the perfect joke to lighten his spirits. "Oh Naruto, the only thing they will be begging you for is to finally take the chunnin exam." _

"_Yeah, I guess you're right." He agreed grimly and she could have sworn that her words were said in jest and yet the cutting glares that were suddenly set her way from her companions told her otherwise. Sakura grimaced, the man across from her had gone from sad to broken and it was solely from her misguided choices. "Man," he whined looking back towards the wasted food "I'm still hungry,"_

_Sakura saw it as an opportunity to make amends for her poor comment and stood to offer her blond teammate her untouched meal. "Here Naruto, have mine." Her mouth was open, yet the sounds didn't seem to pass her lips. Instead it was Hinata who uttered the words, quietly and calmly towards Naruto while she gently pressed her bowl into his hands. The grateful smile he sent her way was so blindingly bright that Sakura felt her heart plummet. _

_Now standing awkwardly with all eyes on her Sakura felt the need to escape, "Umm," she spoke quietly shuffling her feet and searching for an excuse, "I've got work to do." She declared as she wandered away from the group. The sudden tense atmosphere of her creating seemed to evaporate with her leaving and she no longer felt as if she had any appetite. _

_Shoving her uneaten meal into the hands of some random shinobi she couldn't get the image of Naruto grinning so happily at Hinata out of her mind. The heiress always seemed to have the right thing to say or do, she always knew how to make him feel confident and like he could take on the world. _

_Sakura glanced back towards the group and caught the sight of milky pale fingers intertwined with his tanned ones and felt the tears gather at the corners of her eyes. Rushing herself until she made it back to her tent she collapsed onto her knees once she reached solitude. _

_Simply put Hinata was everything for him that she kept trying, and failing to be. Sakura gave a great shuddering breath, tamping down the sob that wished to come with it and rationalized with herself that if Hinata was what would make him happy that was who he belonged with. _

_Hinata spent plenty of years pining after the sunny boy and was always polite and kind to him, where Sakura only foolishly acknowledged her feelings within the past year or so, and even then had always been borderline rude and cruel to him. It was only fair that the gentle girl had a chance with the boy of her dreams, she had more than earned her love._

_Sakura had plenty of experience loving someone from afar. She could do it again, and if she kept telling herself that it didn't hurt she would eventually believe it, right?_

-xxxxx-

Sakura plucked another overcooked noodle from her tray and dangled it thoughtfully in front of her eyes. She wasn't hungry per se, although the medic within her recognized the need for steady sustenance, more bored really.

Her life had fallen into a comfortable albeit not easy rhythm. She spent the days at the hospital, slowly working her way up the totem pole until she was allowed on regular rotations, which gave her opportunities to train her new apprentice Rin. She was thankful that she had been paired up with the young brunette because after her somewhat rash decision to teach her she suddenly found herself floundering for a time when she could.

After her shift and on her off days she was sliding between training partners with a ferocity that would have made Lee proud. It was either team training with the Ino-Shika-Cho men, or stealth and speed training with Minato, and on the rare occasions that he was free Hiruzen would attempt to remedy her horrible deception skills.

Needless to say she kept herself busy. Having already submitted the ANBU application forms she found herself in a waiting game that she didn't quite know the rules to, which compounded with her freak trip through time and personal mission to avert one of the biggest tragedies to befall the fire nation left her feeling unnerved.

So lost in thought was she that she didn't even notice the crane masked operative appear within the dull employee lounge. She was so startled at the small cough he gave to get her attention that the precarious noodle dropped from her chopsticks and landed within her lap. Biting back a groan at the possible stain she turned her attention towards the agent.

Her apathetic mood suddenly disappeared only to be replaced with nervous energy when the black clad figure wordlessly produced a scroll for her before dashing off to wherever he may be needed. Shaking fingers worked to unroll the paper as she wondered anxiously if this was the news she had been waiting for.

Sakura's hopes were quickly dashed when the non-descript paper instead was only a summons to meat Sarutobi whenever she was first available. Looking back down to her bland lunch and thinking of how slow today had been she made the immediate decision to toss the offending noodles in the trash and take off towards the tower through the nearest window.

Both the Hokage tower and the hospital were in the heart of the village so her journey had been relatively quick and uneventful, after having been in the past for a few weeks she was no longer constantly surprised by anything that may be changed, or unchanged as well. Due to her somewhat constant presence within the administrative building no one saw fit to question her or hassle her as she jogged up the large ramp that circled the inside of the building.

Sliding to a stop in front of the two large red doors she eyed the guards questioningly. One was the crane faced man who delivered the message and the other had very recognizable spikes of blond hair peeking out from behind his colorful owl mask and she knew from how he held himself that it was Minato.

As soon as the doors closed behind her and she saw that it was only her and the Hokage in the room gave him a joking glare while pointing her thumb over her shoulder back towards the hallway. "You know, it's not nice to put my coach on guard duty while I'm working on ANBU training." She chided flippantly, yet her upbeat nature quickly disappeared when she saw the morose and serious look upon Sarutobi's face.

She zeroed in on the open files littering his desk, four papers with headshots of four different people and instantly recognized them as shinobi files. As she sank into the chair across from his desk she watched as he scrawled a large M.I.A. on the furthest left one while pushing the others off to the side.

"Today I received word that one of our chunnin teams came across a previously unknown s-ranked enemy while on a simple delivery mission." The professor started, his tone heavy with loss and she quickly racked her brain for any prior knowledge of such a mission only to come up blank.

"I'm sorry Hokage, I don't remember anything about that," she said, scanning the pictures to see if it was anyone she may have recognized.

He gave a gentle hum at her comment before nodding to himself, "I thought not, this is one of those cases where it would have been buried pretty deep." He started before pushing the files closer to her so she could get a better look at them. "The jonin leader and two of the chunnin were found dead at the site. This last chunnin however is the one that concerns me. He was never found and is now listed as M.I.A" Hiruzen concluded and paused waiting for her reaction.

As Sakura looked closer at the file of the missing shinobi she felt as if the air was sucked from the room. Dark black hair tied in a top knot and even darker eyes graced a face with very obvious family features. She didn't even have to look at the last name to know the implications of what she just read. Uchiha Hidari was listed as missing in action, presumed dead but unconfirmed.

One of the reasons that tensions ran so high between the Uchiha and the rest of the village after the Kyuubi attack was because everyone believed that the sharingan could control the mystical beast. Yet at the time of the attack all Uchiha had been accounted for within the village. Sakura realized with a start that she may be looking at the face that caused the nine tailed fox to rampage throughout her precious village.

"Did he?" her voice shook at the question that she was unable to finish.

The Hokage nodded gravely, knowing what she was attempting to ask. "Yes, he had a fully developed sharingan."

-xxxxx-

Sakura found herself waking to a rap at her door and a paper stuck to her cheek. She sat up, unfolding herself from the slumped over positon she had been in all night and gave a mighty stretch, while peeling the file from her face. As she was leaving Sarutobi's office last night he offered the missive to her, as well as a cryptic message of 'Tomorrow'.

She had stayed up late into the early hours of morning, studying any information about Uchiha Hidari she had available even going so far as to let imaginary scenarios run rampant throughout her mind in an attempt to explain his eventual betrayal.

What she ended up hypothesizing was that within the ranks of geniuses that the proud Uchiha clan produced Hidari was mediocre. He had done well enough to reach chunnin at a reasonable age, eleven, and had unlocked the sharingan at fourteen but his paperwork and track record led to the same place. She could read between the lines well enough to know that he would never advance beyond being a career chunnin.

She was reminded of Fugaku's rage at the suggestion that his son became a healer and how he raved about Uchiha's and their talents and knew that within the clan Hidari must have been under extreme pressure.

And criticism.

She could only guess as to what had happened but the most likely scenario was that he had simply snapped. Or he was possibly tempted with the same promises of unfathomable power that Sasuke had fallen prey to so long ago.

The knock at her door repeated and she shook herself from her reverie, taking a moment to attempt to tame her now wild hair, and quickly made her way to answer.

As she swung the door open she was greeted by the owl masked ANBU that she was now sure was Minato with one hand poised to knock again. Without saying a word, he moved his hand and in one smooth motion produced a plain and unassuming scroll. She instantly perked up at the movement and grabbed the offering and asked a question she knew he was not allowed to answer.

"Is this it?" she queried, and had to restrain an overly feminine squeal of delight when all he offered her in return was a very reassuring wink before he suddenly disappeared with a telltale yellow flash.

As giddy as she was at the knowledge of what was contained within the parcel she made sure to close her door before nearly skipping back over to her table turned bed for the night. She fidgeted with the edges as she contemplated the true meaning beyond the paper.

Yes, this undoubtedly contained information regarding her ANBU exam, and given Minato's wink it was to be positive, but it also represented a very important step forward in one of her plans. Being part of the elite black ops would allow her to travel more freely should the need arise as well as gain the attention of Danzo, someone she was bound and determined to put a stop to before he corrupted anymore shinobi to his emotionless ways.

Unable to keep herself still she hopped up and began pacing the small length of her apartment before ripping into the scroll.

The message was brief and free of flowery words. All it contained were simple instructions stating a location and to be prepared for a three-day absence starting tomorrow.

Her pacing stumbled to a halt. 'Great', she thought sourly, dreading the conversation she was bound to have. 'Yubina-san hates non-excused absences.'

-xxxxx-

Inoichi was tense, his muscles were held uncomfortably taut yet he couldn't convince himself to relax. He was standing in front of _her_ door, the door to the girl who had come into his life and thrown it upside down. He and Sakura had become close friends and though he knew that it was mostly based upon a future relationship she had with his daughter he was unbearably worried that his actions would end that.

Instead of wallowing in the guilt of an action he had yet to perform he instead forced a wide grin on his face as he knocked a bit too harshly on her door.

The happiness and excitement that shone in her eyes when she answered made him want to turn tail and run.

'Grow a pair.' He chided himself mentally as he crossed her threshold, holding a lot a bottle of expensive sake for her to see. "I hear there is call for celebration," he called out with false jubilation before helping himself to her kitchen and pulling down two small sake cups.

She joined him at the counter with a look of mild insecurity upon her face. "There are no guarantees I'll even pass the exam yet." He waved an arm over exaggeratedly at her words, as if he were flapping them out of the air and felt a real grin creep up at her tiny giggle.

"Nonsense, you could do this even without the Hokage pulling strings." He declared while pushing one of the now filled glasses in her direction. She raised the ceramic to her lips and he felt his stomach drop to the floor before she stopped just shy of drinking.

"Really?" she questioned one last time, and he found that he couldn't quite make his lips work so instead he gave her a silent nod in the affirmative. He felt himself exhale a sigh of something unknown as she once more raised the cup and downed the liquid inside with one large gulp.

The change in her mood was instant as she immediately detected that something was not right and he was thankful that he requested the additional paralytic to be included, having known she would probably purge herself of the sleeping agent before it had a chance to work otherwise.

She turned now furious eyes towards him and he felt himself wither from her glare all the while pleading for forgiveness with his eyes.

"This is…" she started before her words turned into a slurred jumble and he quickly moved to grab the sake cup that dropped from her now lose fingers.

As her body began to sag against the countertop he wrapped an arm around her small waist and gently lowered her to the ground. "I'm sorry" He whispered repeatedly to her, hoping beyond hope that when everything was said and done she would be able to forgive him, because when a shinobi trusted someone it was with their life, and something such as this could shatter that trust irreparably. He was sure to meet her frenzied panicked eyes and did his best to silently convey that this wouldn't hurt her.

The sleeping agent finally took effect and she drifted off yet he found himself waiting on the cold kitchen floor for the ANBU corps to pick up their newest recruit.

-xxxxx-

There was an annoying chirp repeating in her ear. It was a noise that all native to Fire grew up knowing well. Many nights camping in the wilderness would both start and end with falling asleep to and waking to the unending noise of the crickets that permeated the forests.

Her heavy eyelids snapped open immediately upon the realization. Beryl green eyes focused on the offending insect that was creating its repeated melody in front of her prone body. The first shift of her now awakened body startled it enough that before she was pushing herself up it was halfway across the small clearing she was lying in.

She was groggy, yet not overly so as she could feel the memories and puzzle pieces snapping together, and blissfully not sore. Giving herself a quick pat down she found that she was in the clothes she had been in before Inoichi had dosed her sake, but she had no weapons on her person, even her usual hidden senbon in case of emergency was missing.

The oversized and densely packed flora was so recognizable that she immediately came to the conclusion that she had been dumped within the forest of death. Pushing down the mild panic that always crept up when she remembered the hellish second task that took place within these very trees she forced herself to refocus.

A flash of light glinted off of a kunai that was pierced into the ground tip first, a single word was scrawled across the tiny slip of paper hanging by a ribbon that had been tied around the ring end of the blade.

'Survive'

It made sense in a way, she realized, that this would be the true beginning to her exam. ANBU were well known for doing things on their own terms and she supposed this fit right in with the rhetoric. What kind of exercise would it be if she arrived packed to the gills with all the supplies needed for weeks?

She circulated a tiny bit of chakra to her ears, enhancing both her hearing range and ability before she finally stood. Careful to not make too much noise she waited in place patiently, keeping on her toes at the first moment's notice of an enemy.

A barely there sound of someone landing on a branch drew her eyes up. There, within the trees was a single black clad figure with a blank white mask. A single gloved finger pointed down towards the kunai and she allowed herself a fraction of a moment to glance in the direction of the blade. The nin was still and she realized with a jolt that nothing would start until she picked up the kunai.

The paper tag waved tauntingly in the miniscule breeze and she gave a small nod of reassurance to herself before she dived towards the blade. Tucking her knees under she executed a combat roll, yanking the knife from the ground as she passed by before using a bit of chakra to push off the ground and take to the trees.

'Well,' she thought to herself as the nin raced towards her now moving form, a kunai of its own at the ready, 'at least this is something I'm used to'

-xxxxx-

_The fire roared to life and she executed a minor fire justu, one of the only flame based ones to have residence in her repertoire. Giving a slight grimace at her future meal she fixed the skewered squirrels over the blaze to cook. It would be sustenance but she had never quite developed a taste for the small animal. _

"_Squirrels?" her companion asked in a joking tone, "Oh kami, if that's what you are cooking for dinner I really am going to die out here." She fixed him with a silent glare and proceeded to tend to the cooking animals._

_Ordinarily a team wouldn't risk using a fire this deep within enemy territory but winter was swiftly closing in and she knew that her patient would need the nutrients provided by meat, that and resources were so scarce back at basecamp that they didn't have any extra rations other than ones to last them the duration of the mission. _

_Looking across the flickering blaze towards Kankuro's bare sweat streaked face she couldn't help but reminisce over the series of unfortunate events that led to the current situation. _

_What was supposed to be a simple mission to deliver some sensitive information to their allies' in stone had ended up in a frantic dash through enemy territory on their way back when they inadvertently ran into a large group of rouge shinobi. Finally having enough of the chase Sakura and her team, Kankuro and Ryoko decided to make one last stand. _

_They were faring well until the Suna nin had been blindsided by a nasty water jutsu that crushed both his legs. After finally dispatching the rest of the enemies Sakura healed what she could of Kankuro's injuries but the damage had been intense and it would take several days until he could be safely moved. They had decided to make camp while Ryoko had returned to the village for assistance. _

_Sakura's eyes flickered over to the braces she had created out of large sticks and torn strips from her medic skirt that were used to set his legs and she remembered his wail when the jutsu had struck and broken both of them. She couldn't seem to get the image of his legs askew as if they were like those of his puppets out of her mind. _

_A cough tore her from her reminiscing and she realized that she never responded to his jibe. Swiftly grabbing a canteen, she made her way over to his form and forced a small smile on her face. _

"_Don't worry. I'll get us out of here alive." _

_They spent three days in the wilderness living off of the land and the small amount of resources they had on them. She fended off attacks from both wildlife and rouges alike and managed to heal his legs enough for him to be moved. _

_The damage was too intensive for him to remain a shinobi and after they were returned to the basecamp that was serving as the frontlines she made sure to see him off as he was transported to the rag tag collection of tents and simple buildings that the civilians were calling a village. _

_It wasn't until she returned from her next mission that she learned his caravan had been attacked, and although he was able to fend off several of the rouge ninjas using his puppeteering skills his lack of mobility was eventually his undoing and he did not survive._

-xxxxx-

Sakura wrapped her chakra around herself in a genjutsu that both cloaked her chakra and her form as she hid beneath the edge of the water. The group of four ANBU passed by without taking notice of her as they headed for the decoy camp she had set up late last night. Although both her and the 'enemy' were taking care to keep everything nonlethal she was feeling decidedly beat up and exhausted.

She had spent over 48 hours now hiding, running, and fighting her way out of the constant slew of situations that this damn test had been putting her in and despite Inoichi's earlier words of encouragement she felt as if any moment she would give up and essentially wash out of the exam.

She still had yet to figure out if she was the only recruit being tested or if there were more hidden within the gates of the forest. She was torn between hoping she was the only one, because she knew she had not been putting on a very good show, and hoping that there were others around her that would fail.

Sensing no enemy chakra around her she pulled herself from the water and the reeds, spitting one of the straw like plants that she had been using to breathe out as she did so. She gave her wet candy floss hair a squeeze to rid it of excess water and dreaded the coming nightfall, knowing that if she wasn't dry before sunset she would be chilled to the bone.

Sakura gave a sigh as she jumped into the trees and hid herself within the foliage to plan her next move. During the later days of the war situations similar to this were frighteningly common and she had become somewhat adept at them. However, her time in the past, a past that was sinking ever deeper into peace she found that she had become soft. Despite all of her training to become stronger she had become mentally weaker, losing the edge she had gained over the years.

As it was it was only just past noon on the third day and she was felling as worn down as if it were a week in. she recalled that the paperwork had said to prepare for a three-day absence and welcomed the end that would be coming soon.

She had already found herself a steady supply of water and food was easier to scrounge up than she thought, she had been lashing herself to the trees with vines for sleep although she hadn't actually rested at all. Yet despite her survival so far she couldn't help but feel as if it wasn't enough, as if there was some sort of final test she needed to pass yet she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

She was shaken from the thoughts by numerous chakra signatures closing in on her location. Unlike the last small groups these nin felt no need to conceal their energies, instead let them leak free with killing intent to match.

"Shit" she exhaled underneath her breath she took off through the trees, pumping chakra through her legs as they pushed off each limb with enough force to propel her forwards, leaving small splinters behind. There was no hiding this time, they knew exactly where she was and it had become a bitter chase that forced her to rely on speed rather than subtlety.

As she veered off the strait course she had been taking another group closed in on the side she had dashed to. Skidding in a way that made one ankle twist awkwardly she pivoted and dashed into the opposite direction coming upon the startling realization that this wasn't a chase.

They were herding her.

The shadows that crisscrossed the forest started to lessen, the light getting brighter and she thought that maybe they were leading her to the edge, back to the gates where the originally entered for the second part of her chunnin exam. She bit back a gasp as her injured ankle twinged from the exertion and tried her best to recall the mental map she had created earlier during the survival exercise.

She finally gave into the groan as she figured it out, they were not leading her to the edge of the forest but to the heart of it. No sooner than she came upon her conclusion did she have to slide to a stop and drop from the trees because she had arrived at the large stone tower in the middle of the forbidden training ground.

Her followers stayed within the shadows of the trees, not coming down but looming threateningly and she took a moment to brush a glowing green hand across her ankle and foot to heal the damage.

Glancing back towards the expectant shinobi, the sea of blank masks peeking out from the trees that were slightly unnerving, she turned towards the ancient tower. Squaring her shoulders and standing tall she took a quick measure of her chakra levels. She was low, but it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

Placing a look of utmost determination upon her face she knew she must be prepared for anything, and in that moment she felt as if she could handle it.

Her steps echoed off the high ceilings as she walked through the former temple heading for the large center room that had served as a stage for her most embarrassing battle ever, yet it was also one that looking back upon she felt a measure of pride in. While she may have only fought the battle with Ino to a draw it was the first time she fought with the true determination that had seen her into her later years.

She stopped right before the entrance to the oversized room and swore to herself that whatever happened the room that she failed to become a chunnin in would be the room she became an ANBU agent in.

Blond hair caught her attention first when she entered the room. Minato stood in the center of the arena and it was the first time she had seen him in his black and white uniform without the colorful owl mask that always accompanied it.

He was looking up at her and gave her the tiniest of smiles before schooling his face back into the expected impassive façade. Yet in that small grin she felt the air disappear from the room. Without his mask and from far away Sakura fully believed that for a moment she was looking at his son. She felt her heart ache for a moment as she wondered how things had gone to hell so fast.

ANBU was one of Naruto's dreams, it should have been him welcoming her to the final test, with a grin so big he couldn't hide it and Sasuke at his side.

Sakura gave herself a mental shake, she was doing this so that he could have those opportunities and she needed to get her head in the game here. As she walked closer to the edge of the upper level she could feel the entrance of dozens of shinobi as they quietly slid into the viewer area to observe.

Taking a deep breath, she closed the gap between her and the railings before jumping down to the ground to meet Minato. He was holding himself at the ready and she knew that this would be one last fight, one that if he were to go against her giving his all she would undoubtedly lose.

"Sakura," he greeted with a small head nod. She could tell he was hiding his emotions for the sake of the exam. "Just give it your all." He stated as he flipped one kunai into position and she mirrored his movements.

'Just give it your all' she echoed his comment within her thoughts. 'I don't need to win. I just need to show what I can do' she confirmed, reading underneath the underneath like all shinobi were taught to do.

She would just treat it as if it were a spare with the blond, and try her best to ignore the spectators. A sudden grin split across her face, if they wanted a show that was one thing she could give.

With her free hand she quickly lifted two fingers in front of her face, making the signal for battle and waiting until he did the same. The moment both of their arms dropped she gathered chakra into her right leg, giving the ground a large stomp and forcing a chunk of stone to fly upwards into the air. Without a moment's hesitation so followed it up by forcing extra chakra to her arm as well, punching the stone and shattering it, sending the shrapnel flying towards Minato.

Using the distraction she had created and him taking the time to shield himself she did a quick flash step behind him, sweeping her leg low in an effort to knock him off his feet.

He retaliated by jumping over her leg and pushing himself into the air in a backflip away from her. She took a moment to read his movements. 'Good' she thought to herself 'It looks like he won't be using the thunder god technique' she was relieved at the observation; it would make things slightly easier.

She pitched her kunai towards him, weaving hand signs the moment the metal left her hands, unwilling to lose her advantage of being on the offensive. As she finished her last sign a thick fog fell upon the arena, not a true one like Zabuza had used so long ago but a genjutsu replica of her own making, and she quickly made two clones and substituted herself with the kunai that had been deflected.

Her fist lit up with chakra, glowing ominously within the fog and she dashed towards her opponent, landing a solid hit to his ribs. She felt his white armor stress and crack beneath her blow and before she could celebrate she felt him swing around, and an elbow colliding with her bent back. She was forced downward from the force of the movement where her nose met his raised and waiting knee.

The snap from her face and the immediate blood flow let her know that it was definitely broken. She stumbled back gathering her wits about her and watched as he grasped his hopefully broken rib with a grimace.

Her calculated offensive maneuvers ended there however as the spectacle turned into a flurry of fists and kicks from both her and Minato. Both were landing the blows however she still could tell there was a chasm of a skill gap between them.

Taking advantage of a rare opening she feigned a punch only to turn downwards and crack the stone from underneath him. Once more using the rubble as a distraction she stopped to heal her nose enough to stop the blood, dulling the pain to a lingering but manageable ache.

Spying a large boulder dislodged from the ground quaking punch she decided to repeat a tactic that had worked before. Taking a quick flash step towards the stone she circulated chakra into one arm and flung it towards Minato, as soon as the rock left her fingertips she was chasing after it, keeping within the shadow of the stone jumped over it at the last moment, bringing a chakra laden leg down on top of her blond opponent's head. She felt her gravity shift as the Minato she was attacking disappeared into a puff of smoke and stumbled to regain her lost balance.

'Damnit' she thought as she quickly pivoted around feeling the familiar buildup of chakra that would always accompany Narutos rasengan, and spun around to see Minato across the room with a bright blue ball of swirling energy in his hand. Her eyes went wide as she tried desperately to ignore the image of Naruto that her brain superimposed over her blond mentor.

She knew this was it, that last ditch effort to show her skills and she only had enough chakra to pull off one big move. Flashing through hand signs she rarely used she dug deep, pulling all of the chakra from her usual reserves and dipping into the well that was behind her seal.

As he raced forward with the Rasengan in his hand she finished the last sign sending a giant dragon made of earth and stone meeting him head on.

She knew she couldn't defeat him, yet she never intended to. Satisfied with her show Sakura fell to her knees chakra depletion finally taking its toll. She wasn't in pain, despite all of the toil the past few days she never truly felt hurt. She was simply drained, it took almost all of her remaining energy but she managed to pull a confident and pleased grin onto her face.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Angst