Setting

2137, the year every child in this world knows by heart. This was the year when earth was lost for future generations. The Great Disaster of 2137, they call it, took place on the twentieth of March when the terrorist organisation Akatsuki deployed five atomic bombs. One bomb for each kingdom – they had not been very subtle in symbolism.

At the time the five great kingdoms were at peace – a hard won peace that was balanced upon the edge of a blade. The political relationships between nations could be called chilly at best, but the long wars for territory were still fresh in their memories and somehow the five leaders unanimously agreed that a future war should be avoided at all costs.

From 2120 until 2130 the kingdoms skirmished and battled for territory and dominance until the leaders, albeit reluctantly, sat down and signed a peace treaty. The economy was in shambles, the people were starving, tired and were demanding for the next generation of children to look up into the sky and see the endless big blue, not the shadow of an enemy plane.

Of course, despite their best efforts, such idle dreams were rarely sustainable.

At precisely 10:50 AM on the twentieth of March Konoha military received an anonymous warning. It was quickly broadcasted to the other four governments, the message was simple: 'Leave the planet, get as many people out as you can. Akatsuki is launching a nuclear attack in an hour.'

Why the Akatsuki even issued a warning is still debated. Perhaps they were hoping to cause more panic this way? It made no sense, but in the wake of a catastrophe, it was the last thing on anyone's mind.

There weren't enough space ships to evacuate the entire human population. Never had anyone anticipated such a situation – it was beyond comprehension that someone would try to destroy the planet in such a manner. It was a desperate scramble to muster enough supplies to sustain the rescued population until they reached the outer colony.

The first ones to be evacuated were prominent families, leaders, councillors, scientists and other irreplaceable personnel who took it upon themselves to bring along as much data about anything and everything for future generations.

Leaderships were faced with one of the most difficult decision in history – how to pick the civilian families who'd get to board the shuttles? Of the civilian population, nearly eighty percent were left behind simply because the nations lacked time and room. Kirigakure never even broadcasted the news to their civilians, well aware that the intel would simply cause mass hysteria and would make evacuation efforts more difficult. Civilian families were picked at random to escape, as if their names were pulled out from a hat.

Those few who survived the explosion died soon of radiation poisoning, thirst or hunger. A slow passing, filled with desperation and mistrust towards kin.

The organisation Akatsuki escaped before anyone could pinpoint their location or even place the blame. They disappeared as abruptly as they had emerged from the shadows. The biggest hostile organisation, armed with weapons and a hidden purpose, had vanished into thin air.

Video footage of Akatsuki troops planting the bombs were released about a year later, when each kingdom had settled in at their colonies. Scholars did notice that this was the first time an entire population switched planets. A grand historical event, they called it – sterile and emotionless. Science didn't seek to please the listeners, falling back to the comforts of objectivity to shield them from judgement.

The other planet, Eden they called it, and the pre-established colonies were probably the only thing that saved mankind from total annihilation.

Eden – a planet that was comfortable enough to inhabit. It took years to cover necessary areas with machinery to create the atmosphere suited for humans and even longer to rebuild entire cities. All this under the watchful eye of a lavender moon that shone bright.

The kingdom of Konoha had risen to be the leading fraction with the most powerful galactic fleet and the largest population. Only thanks to their scientists and soldiers was life mildly comfortable, despite the depressing truth that weighted on everyone's hearts. True enough – there was no famine, clean water wasn't hard to come by and trade blossomed between Kingdoms and colonies alike.

The constant reminder of the past were the defects infants from certain family lineages suffered. Despite the best efforts of medical personnel, it was impossible to save everyone from the effects of radiation. Even with all the genetic treatments in the world, it was impossible to undo the damage caused by the Akatsuki.

Chapter 1: Homecoming

"At the end of the day, it isn't where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I'm going and never have been before."

― Warsan Shire

Year 2188, March

Years had passed since Naoko's last visit to Earth, if the planet could even be called that. She had only visited earth three times in total, once as a rookie, the other two times she was a teacher, and each visit was met with a constantly decreasing enthusiasm from her part.

There was nothing left of the place except for ruins and radiation. Pillars of glorious buildings that once were, famous battlegrounds and grand statues, old government halls - everything was still standing, but it didn't erase the knowledge that it was all an illusion. Radiation was an invisible, silent killer.

The water was polluted, the soil was infertile and the skies wept for the beauty that once adorned that planet. Naoko had only seen pictures of what Earth looked like before the Great Disaster of 2137, when the terrorist organisation Akatsuki deployed atomic bombs across the globe.

All the technological advancements of their age, yet no one had accomplished the small feat of travelling back in time. Perhaps the Great Disaster could even be prevented…

What an unoriginal name…Naoko had noticed with a growing distaste that historians had not worried about artistic value when naming the famed wars and events.

Such a boring name for one of the most intriguing, and tragic, events of the century. Carried out by the Akatsuki, nonetheless.

Akatsuki was leaded from the shadows, carrying out occasional terrorist attacks here and there. When or where was the organisation born, or even who belonged to it was a mystery. Sometime after the Disaster, the Akatsuki vanished as they always did. Konoha Intel assured the public that they were still restlessly looking for the Akatsuki and trying to unravel the truth about the situation, but the fact remained that the matter was ancient, any evidence that remained on earth was beyond reach and the members of the Akatsuki were probably dead by now. Not to mention that they had more pressing matters.

Dealing with the Akatsuki was something those above Naoko's station dealt with. Way-way higher in the secretive ranks of ANBU.

Naoko was deployed to earth because the branch of Konoha Intel that's responsible for monitoring earth had picked up shocking readings. They believed to have discovered a new bomb, either planter there during recent years or it had been there for years, remaining undetonated. The council, with the Hokage at the very front, wanted answers, 'Every news channel has been informed, so don't you dare come back empty handed!' said the Hokage herself.

Naoko didn't particularly care about the reasoning behind the mission. All she wanted was to cast her eyes on earth again out of some masochistic addiction. Despite the depressing desolation the important landmarks still remained and there was still greenery here and there. She wanted to breathe the air without a helmet constricting her, but unless she was ready to face radiation poisoning, it was an impossible dream.

Each time she headed there, Naoko felt a tingling anticipation. She was waiting for something, but for what?

The soldier was sitting on the window panel, her forehead resting against the cool window, eyes fixed on the third planet. Even from this distance it wasn't hard to discern exactly where the nuclear bombs had exploded. They were still about an hour or so from landing, plenty of time to get things in order.

The government promised that the atmosphere on the colonies is nearly identical to what is used to be on earth, but some of the oldest members would still grunt and call the man-made atmosphere toxic, that it doesn't even compare to what earth was.

What a fine planet it must've been, she found herself musing.

What a sterile word…fine. A planet completely desolated because of human greed? Fine.

She jumped when she felt someone grab her shoulder, interrupting her pondering.

"Scared of going back?" asked the masked man, dressed in a slightly wrinkled uniform. It was a strange contrast to Naoko, whose military uniform was spotless and freshly ironed, the Konoha military badge proudly shining on her chest.

She visible relaxed after recognising her fellow teammate, lowering her hands back to her lap with fists unclenched.

"Not really…Or, well I don't know really," she admitted, shaking her head at the jumble of words. It made absolutely no sense.

"I mean," she began her second attempt, turning her body towards Kakashi, "I wasn't born here, I didn't survive the Disaster. All that I've seen are archive pictures and the small glimpses we've caught during our visits, so there's no real attachment involved. It's just a very sad planet that fell victim to the human ego."

Kakashi sighed, ruffling the scientist's hair and sitting himself down opposite of her, "Human ego is a mild way to put it. The Akatsuki merely wanted terror, escaping the full effects of the blast themselves. What was the point if they didn't stay to enjoy the show?"

What was the point indeed? There had to be more to it than just a mere sadistic plot to wreak havoc and destruction. Unless the leader just went insane and decided "You know what would be hilarious?"

"They only had that chance because while the five kingdoms were engaged in petty skirmishes, the Akatsuki had time to assemble resources and become stronger than they had ever been."

Naoko felt how her whole body flared up at the chance of possible debate. She had spent years analysing past events, trying to make sense of what happened. There were too many contradictions to just blindly swallow what the government told the general public.

Why would the Akatsuki make the planet completely inhabitable? None of it had ever made any sense to her. People called her a conspiracy theorist, but she didn't budge. The attack was too random, without motive, it was completely different from how they usually operated. She had published several papers on the subject online, causing her to earn the reputation as the Akatsuki fanatic.

"Shouldn't you be reading a book about defusing bombs, lady scientist?" teased the superior, easily shifting the subject.

Naoko rolled her eyes, "You put too little faith in me. We'll see how it goes, but I thought maybe letting one of our recruits have a shot. Sasuke perhaps, he seems level-headed enough."

It was clear that the mention of the recruit's name made him feel uncomfortable about something and Naoko was quick to catch the change in demeanour, despite Kakashi's habit of masking his thoughts. They had been on too many assignments together to remain strangers, "What is it that you're not telling me?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering, "I was looking through the team's personal histories, since you never bother to do it. Mostly there's nothing worth mentioning, but there is something that the remaining Uchiha have been trying hard to cover up."

Naoko snorted, "What? Does he have an incredibly ugly brother that they hide away in the basement? There's a reason why I don't snoop info about them, I don't want to have any prejudice against them. It's not laziness."

Kakashi sighed, "I think you will want to read Sasuke's personal file. He has a brother, Itachi, who joined the Akatsuki a few years back when he was thirteen and Sasuke barely a child."

The silence that ensued was tense. Naoko could feel that her mouth was hanging open, but the muscles in her jaw had decided not to operate anymore. It took her longer than she dared to admit to form a coherent response. She had expected any other piece of information, except for this.

"But…they have been completely inactive, gone from the face of earth! Just…How did a teenage boy muster up the resources to find them when five governments haven't been able to do it?" she sputtered, eyes blinking rapidly in excitement. Kakashi's confession had ignited a flame inside her.

Kakashi shrugged, supressing the grin that was threatening to slip on his face, "No idea, I'm trying to look into it, but Fugaku still holds some power. Probably covering it up to ensure a future for Sasuke."

That drew a snort from Naoko, "That explains why Fugaku went absolutely bonkers. This is probably the only sane thing he has ever done, selfish, but still sane. Actually…When we head back I'll have to dig up several years' worth of newspapers…" Her voice trailed off and the woman's eyes glassed over for a moment, but the cloudiness disappeared abruptly when she sprung back into action.

Naoko pushed herself up from the windowsill, the metal hadn't warmed under her. The soldier's departure would've been swift hadn't Kakashi grabbed her wrist, "Naoko," he warned her with a knowing smile, "you will not go hound Sasuke with your questions. I'll mail you his file later." He said amicably, already anticipating Naoko's plans.

"I don't want it," she replied sternly, referring to the file. Naoko firmly believed that their personal history shouldn't cloud her judgement when it came time to assign the rookies, hence her apprehension of looking through their personal histories.

"Then don't open it, I'll mail it to you anyway. A test of your willpower, so to say." Kakashi pretended to be nonchalant about the situation, but she could see that he was smiling through the mask.

"Yeah-yeah, want to make a bet or something?" she retorted cheekily, hands resting on her hips.

When he didn't reply she grabbed his wrist to look at the man's watch, "Shall we go?" she suggested. He didn't even flinch away from her hold, the motion was so natural. Naoko didn't carry a watch herself as she had the habit of losing them.

Kakashi sighed and plopped his legs up on the ledge, "I think you can handle them just fine. Just brief them on the situation and try to educate them, you know, the usual." He said finally, shuffling on the cold surface in a more comfortable position.

Naoko tried to smack him, but the soldier's reflexes were too quick and he deflected her blow easily. "You are so busy reading those perverted books that you refuse to take this seriously! This is an actual responsibility on our shoulders." she snapped at the man, fuming.

Truthfully, Kakashi was responsible at times. He pretended not to care in the eye of the public, but there were moments when he shared his true brilliance, something Naoko could never master. She had proven to be too strict for that.

Kakashi patted her on the shoulder in a compassionate manner, "I want to finish it before we reach earth. Wouldn't want to blow us up just because I'm distracted, left wondering how this book ends."

One excuse after another. Naoko rolled her eyes, already used to his antics.

As if on cue he pulled out a copy of said paperback and tuned out Naoko's various vocal protests at his actions.

"Sakura-chan, guess who I am!" shouted the blonde and jumped up onto the kitchen counter. He mustered an exaggerated frown and pouted, "The Akatsuki is an organisation with a profound cultural significance, and they must harbour some profound meaning."

The pink haired girl groaned and got up, grabbing her yoghurt before Naruto could knock it on the floor.

"Get off the counter before you get caught! Instructor Shimotsuki should be here soon!" she hissed at Naruto, obviously not amused by the gimmick and glanced around quickly as if the redhead in question would suddenly materialise behind her.

Suddenly the door was slammed open and in stepped Naoko, her hands placed on her hips, red hair whipped around her face. "Recruit Uzumaki, I am surprised that you can pronounce such complicated words without stuttering." She proclaimed with a large grin plastered on her face, announcing her presence to everyone in the room.

Sakura seemed more embarrassed than Naruto himself who crossed his arms, "Are you calling me stupid, Shimotsuki?" he demanded, the challenge clear in his tone and body language.

Naoko's eyes involuntarily darted to Sasuke sitting behind a table farther away. Despite acting bored, she could tell that he was listening the exchange, most likely holding back the urge to roll his eyes. Somehow this team had a lot of animosity - Sakura seemingly disliked Naruto while Sasuke disliked everything.

She turned back to Naruto and sighed tiredly, "Uzumaki, don't make me assign you to cleaning duty again. Get off the counter with your dirty soles, wipe it and all is forgiven. It was spotless the last time I cleaned it."

The pair engaged in a staring competition before Naruto decided that giving the counter a quick wipe was more appealing than scrubbing the floor for the entire trip back to Eden.

Naoko grabbed the lunch she had made earlier from the fridge and sat down behind the counter across from Naruto.

Sakura had used the commotion as a chance to slip away and sit closer to Sasuke, but her ideal of a private lunch with Sasuke was ruined when Naoko waved them over. The trio sat across her and she studied them carefully. Which one of them would drop out? Which branch will the remaining choose?

"Alright, since Kakashi is reading his porn somewhere, I'll give you an overview of today's task.

Supposedly there is a bomb still on earth. We don't know if it was planted during the Disaster or later or if it even is a bomb, could be nothing, either way we have to defuse it. No need to cause any more damage to our precious earth. Now, my question to you. What makes this mission possibly dangerous? Besides the obvious radiation risk and so on."

Naruto was the first to speak up, "Will we be defusing it?" he asked eagerly, always the first to leap into action.

"If you can answer the question, then I'll think about letting you defuse it," promised Naoko with an amused glint in her eyes. The new recruits were her favourites, completely innocent and so willing to put themselves to good use to impress their superiors.

She chewed on her steamed rice while her little minions pondered on something that seemed so obvious to the young soldier. Naoko was fairly sure that Sasuke knew the answer - his passiveness will be his downfall in Intel.

Thoughts of Sasuke made the earlier conversation with Kakashi emerge from her memory. A part of her couldn't help but wonder if that's why the young Uchiha chose to enlist in the military, to track down his brother?

After another fifteen seconds Sakura brightened up, "The age of the bomb."

A pleased smile crossed Naoko's face and the girl was visibly proud. It took Sakura a bit longer than she would've liked, but they were all still newbies. Sakura was extremely bright, but she seemed to hold herself back for Sasuke. Always aiming to impress him instead of using her full potential.

Naruto on the other hand, while lacking smarts, made it up with dedication and practice. Naoko found him extremely talented, but the blonde just needed the right push and the right teacher for his true potential to manifest.

"Ten points to the pink haired donna, if you can elaborate why. A bomb, when mishandled, will still explode despite its age."

This time Sasuke cut in without hesitating, his mature tone cutting the air like daggers, "The Disaster era bombs, while simply built, are most likely damaged by now, making them more unpredictable and unstable."

Sakura didn't even seem mad that he stole her chance of practice, another mistake. Instead the green eyes were filled with daydreams. They were just rookies and Naoko had no plans of dying young so there was no guarantee that the three would even get to touch the bomb before it was defused.

Sasuke's dark eyes were fixed at Naoko's plain brown ones and she knew that he was wondering.

Sasuke was wondering about how much she knew, meaning that Kakashi might have confronted him some way about his brother, blatantly ignoring his own advice, or Sasuke figured it all out on his own. He was an exceptionally bright child, so Naoko wouldn't put it past him, but the boy's social skill were lacking at best of days. If Sasuke could prove that he is best at what he does, then Intel wouldn't give two shits about his personality…most of the time.

Konoha military had three main branches: Intelligence, Military and Medical. Kakashi and Naoko were both hovering somewhere between Intel and Military. It happened often that people were in two branches. Naoko saw it as an opportunity to get out of the labs and actually do some field work.

"Uzumaki, what date is it?" Naoko asked suddenly.

Naruto shrugged, but Sakura checked her watch dutifully, "Nineteenth of March." She said.

Naoko snorted, "Well isn't it ironic…" she mused.

Just one day until the anniversary of the Disaster.

This was no time for idle dreaming. Whatever melancholy or worry shadowed the instructor's face was gone by now.

"Alright, recruits, suit up. Lecture is over, I hope you are ready. We'll be landing on home sweet home soon!" Naoko declared.

The trio were so young they had never even been on earth. Naruto and Sakura were visibly excited, while Sasuke was…most likely very good at hiding it. Now all she had to do was to make sure that all three would come back without any radiation damage.

Well hello again! I haven't updated anything for a very long time. I just started university and it has been super hectic and busy for me and during the summer I was mostly working. I am still updating Bite me!...it seems reviewing the chapters might take me longer than it took to actually write the thing! UPDATE: Or not, I've managed to work through 10 chapters in 3 days. I'm hoping to finish the reviewing by the end of next week and then I can truly focus on this.

I was just looking through my folders and I stumbled upon a half-written first chapter. At first I couldn't even remember the original idea behind this, but as I continued to write I found myself liking the idea of a dystopian future Narutoverse.

Lilyholics