A/N: Wow, it's technically been over a year since I started this fanfic, but I'm not sure if you guys who read it back then noticed that I rewrote the first chapter. So, yes, if you did not know then please read the first chapter again before proceeding with this one. I've improved the writing and in addition to that, an additional scene is added at the end. An important element to the story has been inserted as well. The point of view has also changed and it is no longer solely from Sarada's.

I think that's all the things I need to relay before presenting this chapter so without further ado, I hope you all enjoy!

RETROSPECT

chapter two

Naruto Uzumaki is a weakling.

Those were the words Sasuke Uchiha repeated to himself over and over in that far more superior head of his.

Naruto Uzumaki is nowhere near how strong I am.

He reassured himself as he sat on the branch of a tree and leaned on its sturdy trunk.

Naruto Uzumaki cannot win against me.

He grit his teeth and balled both of his hands into fists, allowing fury to take over his every being.

What have I been doing all this time?

It was all his fault. He had wasted so much time on mundane affairs that he'd forgotten his true mission. He was not an ordinary shinobi. He wasn't like the other shinobi of his age. He was an avenger. It was his goal and mission in life to find and kill Itachi for what he did to his family, his clan. His. Not theirs. The bastard ceased to be his kin the very moment he had pierced his mother with a sword. Sasuke swore he would train long and hard for his revenge. But where has this all taken him? A second-rate to knucklehead Naruto Uzumaki, of all people!

No. Naruto is nowhere near how strong I am.

But had Kakashi not arrived in time to stop their little duel on the hospital rooftop, they'd have killed each other instantly. (Or Sakura, for that matter.) How could Naruto have learned that jutsu? And when? Sasuke didn't recognize the jutsu, but he could at least tell it was as powerful as the Chidori. Or perhaps surpassed it.

No. Naruto is―huh?

The sound of a shrill yelp and the rustling of leaves interrupted the fury-charged thoughts of the Uchiha. Had he only imagined it? He would've easily dismissed it to be a cat, but the 'cat' simply sounded too close to human. He couldn't be wrong. His senses have hardly ever failed him.

He leapt from the branch immediately and surveyed his surroundings for anyone suspicious. The 'cat'―or should he say, the… was it a girl? Sasuke couldn't tell. From where he stood, the person looked like the Grim Reaper―cloaked in a black hood―but at the same time, far from what the Grim Reaper should be: frightening. The figure dangled from the branch of a tree a few feet ahead of Sasuke. It―for lack of knowledge of its gender―wobbled in a pathetic attempt to break free. Sasuke would have allowed himself to spare a moment to chuckle if he wasn't in such a terrible mood.

The Dumb Reaper, Sasuke decided to call it, continued to struggle for several seconds before stopping all together. Sasuke watched in curiosity as the figure carefully slipped off the cloak and fell on the cold hard ground.

And he wasn't sure but… No. .No. It couldn't be.

… Could it?

Sasuke rushed closer, but halted when she seemed motionless. It couldn't have… But then his agile eyes caught even its smallest movement as it slowly sat upright, its back turned to him.

And that was when he saw it.

It was unmistakable. He had been right. His eyes never could fail him and he should not have doubted himself. Right before him, this girl wore the Uchiha crest on her back. An imposter! Only he and Itachi were the remaining Uchiha but Itachi did not wore the crest, which was only right for the scum of a traitor that he was. Only he, Sasuke Uchiha, had the sole right to the mighty fan of red and white! No one else!

The world around Sasuke dimmed instantly. The next thing he knew, his fingers clasped her neck tight in a fit of rage.

How dare she impersonate an Uchiha!

This was certainly not how Sarada envisioned she and her father's reunion. She had been fairly certain that his hands would be wrapped around her… but in a loving embrace and not a strangulation to her death like this was.

Her trembling hands reached for his wrists in a feeble attempt to make her father release his grip, tears forming on the corners of her beautiful dark orbs.

She'd recognized them instantly on the precise moment that they locked eyes. There was a photo on her mother's bedside table of her genin squad: the now Seventh Hokage, the Sixth Hokage, herself, and Sasuke. Sarada had practically memorized every bit of that photo, burned the image of her father in her brain. Every detail she remembered presented themselves right in front of her: the spiky ebony hair and the distinct obsidian eyes of the Uchiha bloodline. It was him! It was really him―her Papa―in the flesh!

Excruciating pain seeped inside of her and every second that passed made breathing more and more difficult. She was going to die. By her own father's hands. Literally. No other death could conceivably be more tragic than hers would be.

Sarada blinked away the blur from the tears welling up from her eyes and forced herself to utter breathlessly, "pa…pa… p-please… stop…"

Shutting her eyes, Sarada anticipated what was to come…

… or maybe not. She carefully peeled her eyes open, vaguely aware of the absence of fingers clasped around her neck, and found herself staring into wide-open pools of black. And for a second, she had thought it was over. But his shocked eyes slowly turned crimson and charged with every bit of anger in his being.

"What did you say?" His voice was low and dangerous.

She didn't close her eyes. Instead, she stared straight into the eyes of the boy in front of her, silently pleading and vaguely aware of the sound of chirping birds.

"Sasuke, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

It happened fast, but it was slow motion for Sarada. The sparkling blue lightning on her father's hand inching closer and closer by the second. Her father's eyes reverting to their original black color and growing wider and wider in shock. She didn't understand at first, but then she noticed a boy tackling his father to the ground.

The lightning bolt on her father's hands hit the ground on impact, making it shake visibly and leaving a large crack.

"Get off me! Hands off, you loser!" She heard her Papa screaming while he struggled to break free from the other boy's hold on him. He had him pinned on the ground by sitting on his back. The boy firmly held his arms down with his own. It was an awkward position to watch, but Sarada understood it was the only way the boy could successfully render her father unable to counter.

"What do you think you're doing, Sasuke?! Why are you hurting her?!" The boy, whose back still faced Sarada, screamed back at Sasuke.

Just then, Sarada heard quick footsteps approaching them. She turned around and there she saw her Mama and Papa's sensei, the Sixth Hokage himself, Kakashi Hatake. Following closely behind him was none other than her mother. She ran immediately to her front, holding out a protective arm before her, tightly gripping a kunai in her free hand. Sarada froze.

The Sixth peeled the boy off Sasuke. The instant he was set free, the Uchiha attempted to charge back at the boy but the Sixth was quick to grip his arms tight, pulling them toward his back. The other boy made no further step.

"Let me go, Kakashi!" Sasuke barked.

"Do any of you want to explain just what is going on here?" Kakashi asked in an authoritative tone.

"I would but I don't know either, sensei." It's the other boy who decided to speak up. "I just saw Sasuke trying to hit that girl over there with Chidori!" He pointed to Sarada when he said this, and that was when Sarada saw his face for the first time. She had seen the blond hair earlier but it was only now that she saw his bright blue eyes and the whiskers on his face. It was no doubt the Seventh Hokage.

"She's an impostor! A spy! A scum in the ninja world!" Sasuke yelled these at the top of his lungs while fighting the Sixth's tight hold on his arms. His voice had gravel. It was not something Sarada would have liked to hear from him.

Her mother's younger self glanced at her then. She doubted her, Sarada could tell. Of course she would believe her future husband. But like Sarada predicted, she was kind enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. She didn't move her arm away. She was going to protect her if the situation called for it. Her display of kindness made Sarada's heart fill up with guilt. She had hurt her mother with her words and here she was, protecting her still. Sure, this was her younger self and she had not yet heard the words she said, but the spitting image made it hard to remember that fact.

Kakashi Hatake turned his head toward her, his expression unreadable. Sakura brought down her arm then, stepping aside to not block her sensei's view.

"And who would you be?" He asked calmly, his tone now polite.

It was scary, if Sarada was being honest. He switched his emotions so easily, in spite of the great contrast between them.

Sarada eyed them all carefully. She saw her father still filled with fury and immediately shifted her eyes to the Seventh, who looked just as unsure as her mother. And then back to the Sixth. Slowly, she began to speak.

"S-Sarada," she said. "Sarada… Uchiha."

Collective gasps and sounds of shock were what Sarada received in response to that. She instead turned her eyes to the ground below, not wanting to meet any of their gazes. Not especially her Papa, who had decided to resume his struggle to break loose and… kill her, probably.

"Hmmm," she heard the Sixth say. She looked up curiously and found him―contrary to what she expected―completely unfazed.

His single visible eye smiled at her. "Would you like to come meet the hokage?"

I already have. Two of them actually, Sarada thought.

The day had been a pretty busy one so far, and it had only been about ten o'clock in the morning. When the Slug Princess, Tsunade Senju arrived at the office of the hokage that morning, the last thing she had expected to hear was that certain two genins had a brawl on the rooftop of Konoha General Hospital. But the most interesting part was that at genin level, they had each used a technique powerful enough to not only merely damage but to actually break a water tank. She could not believe her ears. Or perhaps she could. She had been there when the boy had taken on Kabuto Yakushi.

She had thought that that would be the end of her interesting day, until Shizune came in and told her that Kakashi Hatake was requesting to meet her urgently. She'd been patiently waiting for him to arrive ever since, passing the time by piecing little theories in her head for a reason why the only son of the White Fang of Konoha would request to see her so abruptly.

Her trail of thought was interrupted by the sound of knocks. Tsunade spun around just in time to see Shizune entering gracefully. "Kakashi Hatake is here, Lady Tsunade," she spoke matter-of-factly.

Tsunade nodded and shifted her attention to the unusual bunch stepping into her office. Naruto was first to set foot inside, his expression and demeanor strangely serious. Strange for Naruto, that was. When Tsunade thought 'Naruto', she thought 'stupid hyperactive ninja knucklehead' which was not what she was seeing in that moment. She knew right away, something was up. The girl, Sakura Haruno, followed after him looking visibly nervous. The Uchiha was next… Something was not quite right. He looked mad with fury… very much the opposite of how calm and peaceful he looked lying on the hospital bed. He was awkwardly leaning forward, his arms pulled from behind him. It was only when Tsunade saw Kakashi that things fell into place. Kakashi had been restraining him for some reason. This was far from how Team Seven looked in the genin squad photos she looked through on her first day at the office.

But just when Tsunade thought she'd seen all her guests, another girl stepped into her view. She had short dark hair, wore red thick-frame glasses, and she looked… meek, especially with her head bowed down.

Things were about to get messed up, Tsunade felt.

"And what brings the lot of you here?" She inquired curiously.

"This…" Kakashi pointed his chin toward the unfamiliar girl. "… is Sarada Uchiha."

Tsunade caught his emphasis on 'Uchiha'. And neither did her fast eyes miss how the Uchiha boy's face twisted in greater anger at Kakashi's words. She understood.

The Fifth Hokage requested to be alone with her. Sarada had no idea what was going to happen now. She hadn't the slightest thought of the consequences of being discovered. How would this affect the space-time continuum? Had she just dealt permanent damage to the future she knew? Sarada knew nothing but the fact that she was absolutely terrified.

"So," the hokage spoke from across the room.

Sarada slowly raised her head to meet the lady's eyes. She looked so identical to the Lady Tsunade in her future that Sarada wondered if she was capable of aging.

"The only survivors of the Uchiha Clan Massacre were the brothers Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha…" The hokage uttered matter-of-factly, her chin lazily resting at the palm of her right hand.

"Care to explain yourself?"

Sarada took a deep breath and urged herself to remain calm before she proceeded to explain her situation. She detailed using the time machine in the Konohagakure Museum and how she landed on a tree in this timeline, but is careful not to be specific about her reason for going back. She'd put it at mere 'curiosity', and the Fifth Hokage seemed to have bought it.

The hokage was silent for a few moments, in which Sarada assumed she was processing her story. Sarada patiently awaited her verdict, almost certain that she would be in enormous trouble.

"Well, say you are an Uchiha twenty years from now," She finally began. "I suppose you'd be the offspring of either Uchiha survivor. Am I wrong?"

Sarada nodded carefully.

"Which one?"

"S-Sasuke Uchiha…" Sarada responded, her voice almost trembling.

"Interesting." Tsunade remarked with what sounded like amusement. "And your mother?"

"Sakura… Haruno-Uchiha." She tasted guilt when she uttered her mother's name.

Sarada hesitantly looked up at the hokage, in time to catch her eyebrows rising up in curiosity.

"She's the one with the pink hair, right? On the same team as Naruto and the Uchiha?"

Sarada nodded and for some reason this merited her an interesting reaction from the hokage, who'd hummed a sound of amusement. She muttered something along the lines of 'I had a feeling that would happen' but it wasn't loud enough for Sarada to catch clearly. She inwardly wondered why the Fifth Hokage had not yet known her mother at this point. She concluded that it will have been later when her mother would become her apprentice.

Tsunade rose from her seat and gestured with open arms, an odd smile on her face. It wasn't one of joy or happiness. Sarada couldn't quite place it.

"Alright kid, any more tales from the future? Who's the hokage?"

Sarcasm. That was what her smile meant. The hokage was not taking her seriously. Who was she kidding, anyway? How could anyone possibly believe that she had travelled through time? Even in her future, the feat was still considered an impossibility. What more would it be twenty years in the past?

But what choice did she have now? She needed the Fifth Hokage to believe her.

And then she remembered. There was a way. But it was a risk, she understood it was, and quite a huge one it is. She didn't have a choice anymore, did she? There's no telling what would happen to her in the past if she can't prove her identity. Would they lock her up, use her for scientific experiments like a lab rat? Would she be thrown in jail to rot until her death? Worst of all, she had probably already caused so much damage to the future by staying a few minutes in the past. How much more damage would she cause by staying days, even years?

She had no choice.

"If… If I take you to the future… then, would you believe me?"

Sarada focused her steely stare at the woman who stood before her, showing no such hint of amusement, every bit contrasting the hokage and urging her that she was in fact as serious as she could possibly be.

"How?"

That was all that the Fifth Hokage said in return, sarcasm and amusement now absent from her expression. Sarada held her gaze for a moment more, before touching the antique-looking pendant around her neck. It was then that she finally noticed. The lavaliere was open, evidently damaged with scratches all around. But that was not the problem.

The all-important ruby red hexagonal button at its center is nowhere in sight.

Sarada felt her heart rate increasing rapidly until it was racing and her breathing was getting more shallow and shallow as seconds passed.

The lavaliere was broken. She could no longer go home.

A/N: 2,200 of the words in this chapter have been ready for months, but it took a while for me to add the 600 additional words that would make the chapter ready to be concluded. School has just been busy, on top of other things regarding my hobbies and my career. So I can't really guarantee a fast update rate for this fic, but I will try my best.

Everything has already been planned from start to finish and my current estimate of the number of chapters is only five. That's just my estimation though and it would still depend on how much words I end up putting into certain scenes. My target is an average of 3,000 words per chapter more or less. Is this an 'okay' length for you guys? Is it too much or too little?

Also, I would like to know how I write. Is there anything confusing about my writing style? Am I too wordy, or am I not descriptive enough? What about the direction the story is going? Is my pacing too slow or too fast? Your opinion matters to me and it would help me make the fanfic as enjoyable for you all as possible, so any type of feedback is appreciated!

Lastly, please excuse any inconsistencies you might find in the tenses of verb that I use. I'm writing in the past tense but at times I forget this and slip into the present tense. If you find any of this that I have not corrected, you can let me know too!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapters!