FIXING WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, otherwise it wouldn't be contradicting itself all the time, from the coupling to trying to have Gaiden trying to fix daddy issues that Naruto and Sasuke are providing to their kids.
Hey folks, it's me and while I respect the NaruHina, SasuSaku couplings, at least in fanfiction, the canon I still need convincing on considering that it was more of a rush job and more for the fans, especially how it was done in the movie. In some ways, if Kishimoto wanted Naruto with Hinata, he should have gave her a more permanent role instead of small, out of the blue moments where she gives Naruto a little moral boost thats just more bits and pieces that never got to grow. Plus, he made Sakura a bit ungrateful and unapologetic when it comes to past because she never admits to being wrong about the reasons why she rejected him in the past about why he was an orphan after learning the truth about who his parents were and what were to happen if Sakura were to find out the truth about what really happened at the bench when Sasuke had a sudden change in personality.
As for Kishimoto himself, I think he just picked the route that would make the most money, especially when it came to deciding which fans would be the most pleased, while trying to use the epilogue, movies and Gaiden as a way to convince people why the canon coupling belong together, even though he keeps throwing curveballs saying otherwise. Plus, in some ways, I think he is still making Naruto pay for his troubled past through his son by having trouble balancing work and family, even though it was because of the village's bigotry that he is pretty much learning how family works through trial and error instead of from experience. Or to put it simply, after all the dirty little secrets that got revealed by the end of the series, with all that drama, no wonder why Naruto and most of Konoha started off missed up, it's because too many people are paying for the dark choices of others.
Sorry, I'm ranting here. Let's just say I like a good story, where the constant things they were hinting for the ending to be, especially with the couples, and really hate it when they pull off a last change, like with Naruto, with all the fillers, all the little, not really needed surprises during the entire war and how the couplings seem to not match the hints that were laid out earlier on. Just makes me wonder if Kishimoto is an indecisive bastard or a greedy one that wants to make the most money by pleasing the right fans, or if somebody else twisted his arm on how to end it.
Anyway, this one shot has the things I think should have been added into the series before it ended, like if Kishimoto intended to pair Sakura with Sasuke, then he should have Sakura at least apologize for what she thought of Naruto when they were in the academy and how she treated him throughout the years. This takes place after the Sarada arc.
It was another sunny day in Konoha and right now a group of old friends were having a nice lunch. These people are Hinata Uzumaki, Sakura Uchiha (I swear, I never thought in a million years that I would add that name to any of my stories, even if it is canon), Ino, Tenten, Temari Nara and Karui Akimichi, along with Mebuki Haruno, Kurenai Yuri and Tsunade, being the mothers with the most experience, although Tsunade still dreads being called a great grandma by a pair of kids of a certain blonde hokage. Friends enjoying the peace as wives of great men and mothers of the next generation of ninja. Right now, since the kids are at the academy, or on a mission, this was a good enough to catch up on everything.
Right now Sakura is just finishing her story, "And even though our family is closer than ever, Sasuke still refuses to show me any affection." She said.
"You didn't by any chance do the whole lean over and pucker your lips out, did you?" Ino asked. When Sakura's face started to match her hair, the rest of the table broke out laughing at how predictable she was, acting like a little schoolgirl waiting to be kissed by the class stud. When everybody calmed down, "So did anything else happen?"
"Yeah, Naruto made us sign an official birth certificate for Sarada," Sakura said, sounding a little agitated, "He wanted to make sure that not only Sarada was happy, but also so that there isn't any lose ends that would come back to haunt us."
"And what's wrong with that Sakura?" Karui asked, "Don't you want something like an official birth certificate so she has something to be proud of?"
"Yeah forehead, you make it seem like you weren't planning on telling anybody at all." Ino said, only to notice that her friend had a guilty look on her face, "Don't tell me, if Sarada didn't run off, you were just going to keep us in the dark, even if it costs Naruto his job?"
"No, I would have told everyone when the time felt right." Sakura said, trying to defend herself, until she caught the last part, "What do you mean by if it costs Naruto his job?" She asked, "You sound like him, like I'm taking advantage of his friendship."
"Well, that's because in a way, you are." Hinata said, catching people off guard considering that she is mainly the shy, selfless member of their group who never wants to see anybody hurt, or cause them to become hurt, "While Naruto has moved on somewhat completely from his love for you, the one thing that makes him truly sad is that even though he has Sai visiting him, out of all the teams that came from our generation, his team, the ones he started off with, don't seem as close as they used to be."
"What do you mean, we still talk." Sakura said, and everybody could tell she is trying to defend herself.
"Saying hi and waving your hand doesn't count as talking, especially when you're trying so hard not to be near him for so long." Hinata said, "Every time we try to have a big get together with everyone, especially when Naruto is around, you always refuse to come." When Sakura had a look that seemed like she was slapped across the face, "At first I wasn't sure if you were still angry because Naruto asked you if you were planning to go back to your med-nin duties, or asking you if you ever filed an official Birth Certificate for Sarada, yet after you told us what has happened recently, I wonder if it's guilt because you chose to keep him in the dark about everything, even though you used to be teammates, or if your pride is still sore because tried to be both a Hokage and friend. Either way, you have been hurting Naruto far worse than that confession in Iron, by reminding him what life was like before you became a team, when most of the village treated him like a plague because of the Kyubi, and when you first started as a team, when you thought all he was good for was getting in the way of you and Sasuke." This caused Sakura to flinch since that was always one of the lines she used to berate Naruto with whenever he tried to cheer her up
This was when Tsunade decided to speak up, "Something you need to remember Sakura is that some actions tend to come with a long payment plan, and sometimes we end up repeating our own little history through our actions." She said, "While Naruto might have gained tons of respect from within the village, and throughout the world, there are still those who want to take him out, especially ever since Kakashi fired the advisors and had them replaced, wither they liked it or not. Even though time finally caught up with those old buzzards, their supporters are still on the prowl to destroy him, mainly politically, and if any of them picked up what went on before your little adventure, what do you think were to happen to Naruto and his reputation?" She asked, getting Sakura to look down, having a good idea, "They would say that he was an incompetent leader because he couldn't get the people that he was on a team with, his so called friends, the people he calls his family, to do what they need to do and that they don't seem to respect him in the slightest bit because they think he isn't worthy of their time."
"But that's not true; Sasuke and I do care about him." Sakura said, "Why would something like a birth certificate bring Naruto down."
"It's not just the birth certificate Sakura," Ino said, speaking from her experience as a clan head, "It's also what you do that might be considered a threat to Konoha." She started to explain, "Since you and Kakashi are probably the closet people to Naruto, just behind his family, your actions and choices can be reflected on him. By keeping the secret of Sarada being born in Oto, a nation that we still have a shaky alliance with due to Orochimaru and Sasuke, people would say you purposely risked giving a bloodline to what might still be considered an enemy nation, and the fact that he lets you off the hook for keeping such secrets from him, along with how you treat him, all they have to say is that he still has feelings for you and that you're still taking advantage of him."
"Which was one of the reasons why I tried to break you completely of your fan girl habits, so that you won't end up regretting anything that will haunt you for the rest of your life." Tsunade said, "I should know since I'm still regretting some of things I did, or didn't do, like paying for sending Naruto to prison for finding a leak, which cost him the life of a friend he met there," She looked down, remembering the look of betrayal on Naruto's face when she let him get taken, or the sad look after explaining the reason why, when he told her about Ryuzetsu, "Or how I never got the chance, or even bothered taking the chance, to treat Jiraiya like a friend instead of a perverted nuisance."
Everyone couldn't help but feel sad at what Tsunade said, especially that last part. While she wasn't a fan-girl like Sakura and Ino were, like Ino, since she was the Senju Princess, she grew up acting like a spoiled brat who wasn't afraid to take advantage of anybody, especially with her grandfather who spoiled her to no end, and passed on his love for gambling, along with his luck. When the Sannin started off as Team 7, she still acted like a brat because she thought titles meant everything and with Jiraiya being the dead-last, he would be beneath her. Even along the way, when he grew to become the strongest, most loyal shinobi when compared to them, she never bothered to look past the pervert part of him and see the person she should have seen since day one.
Not wanting the atmosphere to get any more depressing, Ino decided to have everybody share what is going on with their families, or lives. Sakura didn't pay much attention, she was thinking about her past, and some of the choices she made, along with the consequences that came with most of them. Back then, she felt she was in the right, although she could remember the disappointed looks on her parent's faces, especially when it came to Naruto. Now, she has been questioning everything in her life that involved her, Naruto and Sasuke.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Ino asked, "So Hinata is Boruto still having daddy issues?"
Hinata gave a small sigh, "Yes, and it seems to keep getting worse by the second." She said, "When Naruto was still a jonin, it was better because he was able to make time for us, even though he was sent to maintain the peace in the world, while also still learning how to be a father from scratch. Ever since he became Hokage, everything started to fall apart because Boruto has to share his father with the rest of the village." She then gives a sad sigh, "And to make things worse, not only does Boruto feel like he is in his father's shadow because of him being the hero and Hokage, but also, there are a few villagers who still hate Naruto enough to call our children demon spawn, and me . . ." She stopped there, not wanting to finish that line.
And she didn't need to because after they gasp, they couldn't help but feel disappointed at the people who, even after a few decades, just can't let the past go, especially when they have been proven wrong about everything they believe is the truth. And to pass it on to kids who are also the grandchildren of their greatest hero just show how big a hypocrites they are.
Tsunade felt the most disappointed, not only because of her sensei's lack of action to keep this village from going too far into their hate, but also their own ignorance because they use their own hate to blind them to the things in front of their eyes. And to add a little salt to the wound, according to Onoki, there are still people who have an axe to grind with Minato to where a small few who want to take out his decedents as justice for the deaths of their families.
A small smile started to appear on Hinata's face, "Although I can't help but feel like history might be repeating through our children, Sakura." She said, catching said person by surprise, "I mean since Sarada tends to follow Boruto around, tends to spend a lot of time with him, it would almost seem like a repeat from our class."
Everybody picked up on this, especially Ino since she can relate more, "Yeah, with him being a prodigy, rookie of the year, the Hokage's son, "She said, "Like mother, like daughter, they might prefer to marry the top of the food chain instead of the bottom."
"Hey! I wasn't that bad!" Sakura yelled out, not liking the idea of her and her daughter pretty much being called gold diggers or status climbers, or even too picky about who they socialize with, "I hung out with Naruto."
"Before or after Sasuke left?" Mebuki asked, causing her daughter to flinch on the spot. While most parents hate to make themselves out to be the bad guy, especially if their own child is grown up and having a family of their own, Mebuki being no different, while at the same time, can't stand it when their children start making choices without realizing the damage they can cause, to themselves or those around them, or how they tend to miss more things that are under their noses that by the time they start noticing things, they end up realizing that the world can move on without them. While a small part of her still wished that it was Naruto that Sakura married, don't get her wrong, she still loved her granddaughter, and accepted Sasuke even though she would like to stick a boot up his ass just to get an emotional response, right now, she can no longer take it when it comes to how her daughter has been treating her best friend's son. "I can remember the times when you always gave Sasuke nothing but good compliments while trying hard to make Naruto sound like he didn't have the right exist. I can even remember watching you attack Naruto whenever he did a nice deed for you, only because he wasn't Sasuke and you didn't want to ruin your reputation, no matter how small it was. It became worse when you became a genin, when you decided to treat ninja life like a romance novel instead of taking it serious considering how hard you tried to give Sasuke credit for other people's hard work while at the same time never allowing yourself to get stronger, which is why Naruto was stronger than you back then."
Sakura was going through mixed emotions. On one hand, she felt extreme guilt for her actions involving Naruto, especially now when people started to point out how the past was somehow repeating itself with her choices. On the other hand, she felt her pride was being bruised from the uncalled for attacks just because she chose to keep a few secrets that wouldn't hurt anybody, especially the deadlast who got lucky on winning the Hokage position from her husband. The last one, Sakura was wondering where that part came from, especially since it was knocked out of her during her training with Tsunade, both figuratively and literally.
Tenten looked at Sakura and couldn't help but sense what was going on in Sakura's mind. "Look Sakura, I'm pretty sure a small part of you is glad that you've made your dreams come true, marrying and having a family with the rookie of the year instead of the deadlast, even if he's a kage's son, yet you both keep forgetting that it was because of others in the village that made sure they become that way, even though most of the village were hoping that Naruto never graduates the academy." She said, "Along with how they were brought up, which can also be seen with your guy's children."
"You mean how Boruto is treated with the utmost respect by most of the village while Naruto was treated like he shouldn't even be alive for just being born during the kyubi attack?" Ino asked, "Just like some people still hold a grudge against Sasuke for betraying their trust."
"Exactly what I mean." Tenten answered, "Did any of you, especially the former fan girls, ever noticed the main reason why Naruto was at the bottom of the class for three years?" When Sakura and Ino started to think, while Hinata had a sad look, meaning that she knows way more than anybody at the table, "Or how is it that for somebody that is supposed to be so dumb is able to prank most of the village and come up with things on the spot that not even Shikamaru couldn't think of?"
The two were still thinking, finally trying to think about what they've known about Naruto in the past, especially now that they know who his parents were. After about a minute, Ino's eyes shot out wide, "Because he's really a genius that wasn't allowed to reach his full potential."
"But if Naruto looked mostly like the Fourth, why didn't the villagers notice?" Sakura asked, "Was their hate for the Kyubi really that bad."
Tsunade decided to step in, "Actually their hate for Kyubi was half of it, and the other is that a lot of people noticed the similarities between Naruto and Minato, but instead of acknowledging it, their hate was deep enough to where they felt insulted enough to believe that the Kyubi has transformed into a mini Minato in order to remind them on who was responsible for the death of Minato and their loved ones." She said, with a small sigh, "And even with what little help Naruto had from Hiruzen-Sensei, the ramen people and whatever Iruka can provide, thanks to the idiotic villagers and egotistical elders, by sabotaging Naruto and playing favorites with Sasuke, they pretty much neglected everyone in between to where everything that has happened to the village, along with the deaths, caused by invasions and war are pretty much their own fault."
Kurenai decided to speak up, "This is why we, as senseis, try hard to make sure that our students don't end up making a mistake that would haunt them the same way ours still haunt us." She then to Sakura, as if predicting when she was about to shoot her mouth off, "And yes I admit, I'm no better, especially when it comes to Naruto and judging him based off of what I hear or read, or because of the kyubi or the fact that he is a boy, that I didn't want him anywhere near Hinata because he would become a prevented man." She looked down a bit, "But like everyone else, Naruto, along with Hinata, opened my eyes and made realize how ignorant I was not letting go of my own prejudice, especially if I don't want Mirai to become as gullible as me." She then turned towards her former student, "So Hinata, I take it that you were able to fix most of the scars that Naruto had to grow up with?"
This shocked Sakura because while she knew that Naruto's life started to get a bit better when he became a ninja, and went from bad to good really quick after he defeated Pain, she didn't know that Naruto still had scars to deal with. Sure, he still has a couple of physical scars that even the Kyubi couldn't fix, but she didn't know he had scars that nobody can see unless actually looking.
"Just the ones caused by the villagers and our class before the exams." Hinata said, "Right now I'm still trying to fix the damages Sakura caused him over the years."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, "I know that I was inconsiderate when it came to Naruto's feelings towards me or whenever he wanted to spend time training or dating, but how bad could I have been?"
"How about making it seem like everything he did was bad or perverted?" Hinata asked, "Like how every time he felt he said or done something wrong, he would brace himself to get punched?" Causing Sakura to flinch after thinking back about the petty reason behind her punches towards his head, "Or how things that should feel natural like hugging somebody you care about, feels more like he is crossing a line like he is being a pervert," This caused Sakura to flinch again because some of those things she considered perverted when done by Naruto she would have accepted if done by Sasuke, "Or the fact that he's afraid that all of his hard work, all the credit he received, especially things that were never given to him in the past, would be given to his friend and he would go back to being the village pariah." Now Sakura was feeling beyond worse considering how often she gave Sasuke credit for everything, especially with Gaara, and how long it took to convince everybody that it was her denial that lead them to think that Sasuke was the main hero of the Sand/Sound Invasion, which in turn, helped keep Naruto a genin for so many years.
"Yeah forehead, especially thanking him for igniting your passions for love when he changed into Sasuke on team integration day." Ino said, "Although I'm pretty sure Hinata is grateful that you never once considered giving Naruto a chance at becoming more than a friend." When Sakura looked at her like she was delusional, "What?"
"What do you mean by Naruto changing into Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
"You mean after all these years, you still haven't figured it out Sakura?" Temari asked, before deciding to give Sakura a harder look at the things she either ignored or refuse to acknowledge, "Okay from what Shikamaru told me, Sasuke was a major ass during the academy right?" Getting a nod from the people that knew him better, although Sakura was fighting the urge to start swinging to defend her husband's honor, "And the one thing he was seriously lacking back then was communication and social skills, especially when it came to you two, right?" Getting another nod, "So back then, which one of your teammates gave you the most compliments and which one gave you the most brush offs? And which one could have most likely given you a nice complement?"
After thinking back to that day, finally getting a good look at the Sasuke she almost kissed back then and the one that chewed her out for bringing up a sensitive topic, her face went red with anger after finally putting two and two together, especially after thinking about the question that was ask and who it was about. "That sneaky bastard, I'm going to kill him, even if he is the Hokage." Sakura said, "Why would he do such a thing?"
"So he can fix whatever flaws you found offensive and fix them to where you would give him the same chance you were hoping Sasuke would give you." Hinata said, "I don't suppose you can recall what you said about him during that time?"
This caused Sakura's anger to fizzle out completely, replaced with guilt on a whole new level. After telling them what was said, "So basically you didn't know what was wrong with him either and just went with what you thought of him as a person?" Karui asked, making Sakura feel like a bigger idiot then what Naruto ever was when it was put that way, "Out of curiosity, why didn't you give him a chance all those years ago to at least try to see if he was a right fit for you? Why did you give him a fake love confession if only to say throw him aside down the road?" Mainly asking everything that she has never considered, especially the ones she thought she was doing out of kindness without thinking about the consequences included, especially when she convinced Naruto that his love for her was just a crush, even though tends to point out the similarities with her love for Sasuke. Karui through in a couple of what ifs, one that really got her attention, "What if Sasuke turned you down again before he left on his redemption journey? Would you still keep your distance from Naruto just so that he can get what he thinks he deserves or actually wake up and see if you have any love for him?"
Now this woke up the little doubts she had every once in a while when it came to her marriage. Sakura loves her family dearly, yet she couldn't help but feel envious whenever she sees Naruto and Hinata, Ino and Sai and a lot of her friends with families and observing on how close they are when compared to hers. Sure Sasuke cares about his family, he just hides it too well and he is more closer with his own daughter then his wife. That's where the irony tends to bite her in the butt, because she has this image of the perfect family and everybody was living it but her, including Naruto whom she first assumed would never find somebody to care about him when she was a kid.
This is when Mebuki decided to step in for the final touch, "Sakura, sweetie, we're not trying to be mean or make you feel bad that you might do something terrible, like breakup your family." She said, "We're trying to get you to stop making mistakes that seem to build up one right after the other only for them to keep blowing up in your face sooner or later. What happened recently is a testament of that." Seeing that her daughter was looking a bit depressed, "I know you mean will and trying to make things right on your own, yet at the same time, you end up sacrificing too many things that should never have been, like people's trust and keeping your distance from those you developed such close bonds with that you end up missing out on more things than you realize. You need to start making amends now because out of all your friends, Naruto will be the only one outliving all of you and the last thing I'm sure you don't want haunting him for at least a century is how one of his closest friends, the ones that were like the first family he ever knew, treated him like they never left the academy or before the chunin exams." When she got up to leave, she decided to keep the part about how her and Kizashi were hoping to marry Naruto instead of Sasuke to themselves, not wanting to say something that would be like the straw on the camel's back.
When everybody else left to where it was just Hinata and Sakura, the latter decided to ask something that she caught Hinata saying, "What did you mean when you said Naruto didn't move on completely from me? Does he still have a crush on me?"
"Just the same kind you had with Sasuke over the years." Hinata answered, before giving a small sigh, noticing the look on Sakura's face that said she wasn't sure how to reply to that, "What Naruto had for you was real love. All the abuse he let you get away with, all the times he risked his life to protect you, always sacrifices everything, including happiness, for you, that's an indication of somebody who loves you with every fiber of their being. A crush, especially a fan girl crush, would just sit idly by and expect their 'love' to come out on top and try to defend him from reality whenever the real world comes knocking." This caused Sakura to flinch at the memories of her own uselessness during the early days of Team 7, "While Naruto 'admitted' to having only a crush on you, I'm pretty sure that was more for your benefit since he knew that the only boy you would have on your mind is Sasuke, even after all of the things he has done for you." She then decided to intercept Sakura before she jumped to the wrong conclusions, "Don't get me wrong, Naruto loves me plenty, especially after I helped him repair his heart that he ended up giving to me in return, but there will always be a piece that will never stop loving you, even to the end of time." Seeing how Sakura is busy absorbing all of what she learned to day, Hinata decided to take her leave, before getting the last say in, "And Ino was right, I am grateful that your one-mindedness kept you from noticing a great thing that was right under nose, because I was able to bring out the best in Naruto while you pretty much let your temper do the talking for too long."
Being the last there, Sakura decided to leave before somebody decided to ask if she wanted to order anything else to have. Walking in no particular direction, she was thinking about the wakeup call that her mother, mentor and friends have given her about what she has been doing to a boy she always promised not to hurt in anyway, but still do out of reflex. While a part of her kept telling her not to keep secrets from Naruto, she just ignored it, mainly because she was too busy learning how to raise a child by herself, she pretty much forgot all about it, and when Naruto tried to get her to do the right thing, she took it the wrong way, which in turn, caused her to ignore him like he didn't exist, which was worse than it was back in the academy when she tried to force him to disappear completely so that way her reputation won't get ruined. Before, it was just the ignorance of youth, but now, she didn't really have a reason, more like her fan-girl pride came back and didn't find it necessary to tell Naruto anything, expecting him to just let things go, and everything will be alright. After being reminded that she was not only an adult, but also a mother and right now she was still repairing the trust she lost from her daughter for refusing to give her the full truth about her birth. Plus, she is feeling afraid what were to happen if she told Sarada about how her mother didn't really fully start her ninja career, along with the full history of her, Sasuke, Team 7 and all the dark parts involved. To put it simply, she can no longer hide or deny the truth any longer.
Looking up, she noticed that she was outside of the Hokage Tower. Realizing that fate has guided her feet to where she needs to be: Here fixing broken bridges that she herself broke and trying to make sure the rest of her life come with fewer regrets. With a few deep breathes, she stepped inside to settle some unfinished business.
After meeting with Naruto, the rest of the day was spent catching up on things and rebuilding a foundation towards an old friendship.
Will here is my latest fic. Right now this was a way to getting rid of some steam and letting go of some emotions involving on how the canon ended, and how Gaiden is being done, just needed to write it out so that I don't go bonkers over the whole deal, plus it was missing up my concentration when it comes writing. Sorry about there not being a full conversation between Naruto and Sakura, but by the time I've reached the ending, I ran out of steam, and the conversation itself would feel more like I'm repeating myself, while also trying to fill in a bunch of gaps involving Naruto's daughter and a bunch of other things. Anyway, if I offend anybody in anyway, sorry about that, but I'm not sorry about how I write things, so any flames will be ignored. Read and Review.