Neither her or Itachi managed much sleep, it was in part due to the anxiety of waiting for Sasuke to show up, the other was Sarada. She spent much of the night crying, and no matter what Sakura did, Sarada would not stop, she wasn't hungry, she wasn't hot, she wasn't cold, her diaper was not dirty, and Sakura was beyond frustrated.

When Sakura apologized to Itachi for Sarada's crying, he simply responded with "I was not planning on sleeping, and this is one way to stay alert." While he seemed calm about the whole ordeal, she knew he had to be slightly frustrated with Sarada's crying, if she as her mother was ready to cry alongside Sarada, Itachi must be considering running away. She blamed Sasuke for Sarada's crying, he always held her during the night, he would walk around with her in his arm, he got her accustomed to his presence at night, and Sarada was clearly missing him (and Sakura wondered endlessly that night how can a baby have formed a habit already and how did she not notice?).

By the time the sun had risen Sarada had barely closed her eyes, and Sakura felt like she could finally breath in peace, and while Itachi claimed he had not minded the crying, she saw him sigh in relief. Deciding to take advantage of Sarada's silence (also due to Sakura not looking like she was going to argue) Itachi began getting the things ready so that they go into the town. It was after all a fair distance when traveling a civilian speed, and with Sakura's exhaustion he would not doubt if she would fall asleep walking. "We will stay by where I found you two for an hour, afterwards, we will go to the town, we cannot stay here."

As expected, she didn't argue, she nodded her acquiescence, she looked too tired to truly care what he had to say, he felt bad for taking advantage of her in this manner, but he also doubted she would have made this easy on him. After all, when she agreed to go with his plan she seemed to go deep in thought, and he didn't doubt that if she had the energy for it she would have acted out whatever plan she had in mind.

Their walk to the location was a quiet one both too afraid to wake Sarada up, he wondered if that was usually the case with his brother and Sakura when Sarada was sleeping, after all they were both working hard to avoid even stepping on a leaf. He found it amusing how afraid he was of a little girl that could not possibly be more than a month old, even more amusing was the thought of his brother carrying that fear. Once they reached their destination, Sakura seemed to want to say something her hesitation was clearly due to holding Sarada and not wanting to wake her up, so for half an hour Sakura looked like she wanted to say something, and Itachi like he was ready to listen Eventually tired the endless game he approached her and as quietly as he could finally broke the silence, "what's on your mind?"

"Will the crow be enough for him to know? I was thinking we could leave it something so that he could be certain, maybe something of Sarada's, one her socks maybe, or even a-"

"Not many shinobi are associated with crows, this is the safest way, we cannot leave any signs that there is in anyway an infant connected to me." He understood her logic it was a reasonable idea, but he saw her deflate a little when he shot her down.

"What if instead of something to do with Sarada, we leave behind some of my hair? Before you shoot it down, Sasuke knows that the only time I ever saw you face to face was before I defeated Sasori," she emphazied saw since they hadn't technically met then. "I had short hair then, if we leave the crow with some of my hair he'll know I'm with you. The area looks about the same as when Sasuke and I spent the night here, the trees are shorter," She seemed happy with the idea and he too thought it was a good idea until he remembered on small detail.

"Others may pass through the area, I've only ever seen or heard of one ninja with pink hair, you are quite popular for one so young. Pink hair is associated with you, and crows are associated with me, this would not bode well for the you running around in this time." He saw her eyes harden and she was ready to argue, "Did Sasuke use his sharingan to send you here? If he did once he comes here his sharingan would still be activated. He would be able to see chakra, if you infuse a little of your chakra on the crow, and he should be able to make the same connection." If he was honest with himself he knew leaving any sign of Sakura and Sarada was dangerous, but he also knew Sakura was worried, her exhaustion could not hide that.

Itachi knew that Sakura's fear was not unfounded, she was trying to cover all her bases for the sake of Sasuke finding them. The way Sasuke thought, the way he acted, who he was, no one would know Sasuke like his own wife would, or does. Thus, he would give in this time, because the goal was to get Sakura and Sarada back to Sasuke, and they needed to leave no room for doubt when Sasuke showed up as to where they were. "When Sasuke shows up the crow already has instructions to get his attention anyway it can, from there, it will force Sasuke to follow it. Your chakra should stay in its system for two days, if he still has yet to show up, we'll send another one infused with your chakra." What went unsaid was their hope that it would not come to that.

In Sakura's opinion, the hour ended rather soon, she was anxious at the thought of leaving the area, of not being close enough to sense when Sasuke showed, and she was just simply exhausted. She had not had a proper night sleep since before she was pregnant, her pregnancy had made her slightly miserable, Sasuke told her she was "glowing," which had surprised her, but at the time she was sweating, and ended up being offended by it. After giving birth Sarada would wake every two hours hungry, and while she was aware that Sasuke was the one caring for Sarada throughout the night, he couldn't exactly feed her. Still, she would admit that having him be the one after Sarada throughout the night had helped her rest, but not exactly sleep.

Her lack of sleep was likely one of the reasons she was so hard headed over leaving for Konoha, and why Sasuke relented. Now after being here for a little over 24 hours, he she wasn't just physically exhausted but emotionally as well. Itachi was not bad company, he was just company she should not be near, and every minute that passed with here in his presence she wondered if Sasuke would find them. Every time that thought came to mind she shook it off knowing Sasuke would never give up on finding them.

It was two hours since leaving the clearing, and part of him hated the silence when there was so much yet to learn, the other part of him appreciated that Sarada was still sleeping because that little girl had some strong lungs. It had been an exhausting night in which he wondered if Sarada was only calm during the day, but he had also heard Sakura tell Sarada "I know you miss papa," and he concluded his little brother had night duty. Last night it had been easy to tell that Sarada was not alone in missing Sasuke, and the moment Sakura's thoughts were clearly written all over her, from her body language, to her eyes. Deciding it was best to have keep her dark thoughts away he decided to break the silence, "sending you through time would have taken a lot of chakra, he probably needs to recover. If time travel were that easy many would have taken advantage of it by now." Gaining confidence in her reaction to his words he decided to continue, "it is almost better he has yet to show up."

Sakura stopped suddenly, and for a moment he was questioning if he messed up, but then he felt it, there was difference in the air. It was not chakra, it was like a smell, a feeling, just something to be sensed, and it was coming from, nowhere, because as suddenly as it came it vanished. Itachi looked to Sakura, waiting for a confirmation of some kind, a reaction, some sort of order, but instead she seemed unaffected, he decided she was surprised, "I will send a shadow clone to check it."

He was in the process of making the hand signs when Sakura stopped him, "no, he won't be there. It feels different when someone goes through compared to when the portal is open. We shouldn't waste time in getting to the town." Itachi simply nodded, she was no longer against the idea of going to the nearby town, while he would appreciate knowing why he preferred that she was at least going for his idea more willingly. In fact, she was walking faster towards their destination. "I don't know why you're staying behind, but it would be better if we move, we were likely not alone in feeling that. Others will begin to investigate, and we do not have a way of knowing who they will be." Ah, that would be why.


Sasuke was growing more desperate by the hour, he had given himself a chance to rest, to build up his chakra, but no matter how much he tried he could not bring them back, he couldn't even open a portal to where they were, his effort was just wasting chakra. The only thing he concluded is that he could not open the portal without knowing what he was trying to open. Which was even more evidence of how badly he messed up, for what felt like the millionth time he went through the events of the day focusing on his thoughts, on his emotions of that day while trying to open a portal, and suddenly it was there.

As quickly as it appeared it was gone, and he still wasn't sure how he did it, but he knew the reason it vanished was his lack of chakra. The reason the portal closed was his lack of chakra! For once in the past 24 hours he had some hope, something to truly aim for, he would just look for something in common in those two events, and he would not waste his chakra in the slightest, he decided that tonight he would go to his family no matter what.


Itachi knew he was making the trip the longer than necessary, but he didn't want to enter the town with them in broad daylight, but he also couldn't have them stay in the cave for too long either (and he also didn't want to let her have energy to act out whatever plan she had come up with). He decided they would rest, and that those breaks would be long. Entering the town in the cover of darkness was more convenient, but it was also convenient to not stray too far from where he initially found Sakura and Sarada, just in case Sasuke showed up, it would be better for them to return home sooner rather than later. Being so slow in travelling had those conveniences, but as they travelled he could see Sakura's patience slowly dissipating.

To keep her from scolding him (because he could tell she was ready) he decided to play dirty. He remembered every word she had said to him, including that she knew he was sick. She was training under Tsunade (at least in his time), which meant she would be observant, every so often he would shorten his steps just a little, a few minutes after doing that, he would slow his actual pace down, he then made his breathing come in a little louder. With that Sakura's anger towards him vanished, instead there was a silent understanding in her eyes. Itachi almost felt bad for doing this, but he too was exhausted and stressed from Sarada's crying the previous night. While it had been no lie that he had not intended to sleep, Sarada did too good of a job at keeping him awake, if he was a weaker man he would have offered to hold Sarada, or maybe if he was a stronger man?

By the time they reached the town it was already dark, and based on the calculations Sakura did in her head, it should not have taken them so long to arrive even when considering Sarada, and the speed they were walking in, and their exhaustion, it took them too long. At first Sakura thought Itachi was being too considerate of her lack of sleep, of Sarada's hunger, she thought he was spoiling them. She had been watching him slowly, waiting for a chance to scold him about it when she started noticing that his pace would slow down just a little. That's when she remembered that he was sick, and that maybe they were taking so many breaks for his sake. She started to believe this until he began to breath loudly, it was too purposeful, still her frustration faded, and understanding took its place, he is too tired to deal with my anger. She let it go because she knew where it was coming from, and as much as he was faking now, he was truly sick, even if now he felt fine enough to fake it.

They had decided along the way it would be best to separate once they reached the town. Itachi would follow close behind but he would not be in sight, at least not if you didn't know where to look. The problem lay in that when Itachi had sent a shadow clone into the town, the clone had not bothered to look for an inn, for someone so smart how did he overlook this? It was a small town, and within ten minutes she located the inn, before entering she signaled at Itachi.

Sakura was ridiculously nervous requesting a room, she was hoping she would not attract too much attention, but showing up with an infant in your arms in the middle of the night, was bound to leave a mark on his memory. She was hoping the mark would be small, Itachi was going to use his sharingan to remove her from the man's mind, but it wasn't like she would be gone, the memory would just be altered. However, another sharingan could easily retrieve the memory, like Obito's, or a young Sasuke. Which is why they were going to all the trouble, she knew the danger in store for Sarada and herself if she was not careful, and she was in a way putting her daughter in the line of fire. Sakura did not like that at all. In the forest, there had been the option to hide, here in middle of a town, no matter how small she would always be surrounded.

She hated the whole plan, and as she spoke to the man requesting the room, she wondered how she was spending another night in a time that she did not belong in. She hardly registered the man's words, because now that she was in the inn, she felt like her and Itachi were performers at a circus, with depending on who found them first (her Sasuke, his Sasuke, Zetsu and by default Obito) depended the grand finale. Still as she entered her room and laid Sarada on the bed, she could not help but appreciate the irony of her situation, this time's Sakura would love to run into Sasuke, but she was wanted nothing to do with him.

Itachi waited an hour before requesting his own room, the first thing he did was investigate what room number he should request. Once that was done he considered leaving a crow to be on constant patrol of the town, then decided against it for the fear of it drawing to much attention. He hated the situation, Sakura and Sarada were currently in, they were safest with him, but also at higher risk in his presence. Every minute Sakura and Sarada spent in the past was even more dangerous than the last, and already they were going on their second night. Being from the future, being Sasuke's family, being with him, it was having them carry giant targets on their backs. No matter how careful they were being he knew that if Sasuke did not come for her within a week (at the most) the danger they would face would be beyond the protection he could offer them. Not to mention his status as a double agent could be exposed, after all if it came down to deciding, defending and protecting Sakura and Sarada came as the priority.

When he was at the inn he went straight to his room (luckily for him he was able to get a room across Sakura's), but now that they were in the inn, he wondered what came next? Patience was a virtue that he possessed, but this type of waiting game, was too much even for him. He had not spoken to Sakura about the possibility of her and Sarada being stuck here longer than two days, he mentioned it, but it was not something either of them truly wanted to consider. Already he left fake trails, and with Kisame having left already it would make avoiding his Sasuke slightly easier, Zetsu was a different problem that would be more intrigued by the separation.

He could hear Sarada's crying as he approached the room, but if he had been unable to help while being able to be right there in the cave, he doubted he could help now. While he did feel pity on Sakura, the was also something about Sarada's crying that brought him some joy. If he was honest with himself the whole situation was bittersweet; he was able to meet his brother's family. A family he had doubted would ever exist, he had up until meeting them considered the possibility of killing Sasuke, but he doubted he could go through with it. Now he knew his brother needed to live, his brother would redeem himself and he would find the light that he himself took from him. It was that thought that allowed for some peace of mind and Sarada's crying was like music to his ears, it allowed him to dream of a world in which his parents could spoil Sarada, and in a world in which Sasuke would not keep Sarada from him. A world in which he could hold her without shame, it was a simple a dream, but sometimes the most beautiful things were so due to their simplicity not their grandeur.


Itachi and Sakura had agreed that he would close his door loud enough for her to be able to tell where he would be at. However, when it did occur she could barely hear it over Sarada's crying, because her little girl decided that she missed her Papa at night, but during the day the crying was only for hunger, or dirty diaper. At night, it was for Sasuke, and nothing she did was good enough, she even henged into Sasuke! Somehow her not even one month old daughter knew she was not him. The one good thing she had going was that it was a relatively empty inn, and the walls were not paper thin, the only reason she knew where Itachi was because she left her door slightly ajar just to make sure she knew when he arrived.

This was a good sign, it meant that Sarada's presence within the inn could be hidden for some time. She was grateful towards Itachi, and thanked all the gods imaginable that it had been Itachi who found them, still the anxiety she felt at still being in the past, was too much. Her lack of sleep, the frustration she felt towards herself, Sarada's crying for Sasuke (because she too missed him), everything was just so wrong, and Sakura was simply overwhelmed. The only thing that kept Sakura from crying was the knowledge that it would be a total shut down, and Sarada needed her mama.

Itachi only allowed himself to sleep a for a few hours, and while reluctant to wake up, Sarada's crying brought in a wave of guilt, Sakura's exhaustion was worse than his, and if anyone deserved rest, was a new mother. Reluctance to awake was not the same an unwilling too, and thus he got himself ready and went to Sakura's room, if he had thought Sarada's crying was loud echoing through the cave, in the small room Sakura was in, it was somehow worse, almost suffocating. Itachi could see Sakura rocking Sarada back and forth, and humming a song for her, but he doubted Sarada could even hear her mother over her own shrieking.

It took Sakura longer than it should have to notice Itachi was now in her room, though they had agreed to reaunite in her room, she was surprised to discover the time had now come, "I'm sorry, Sarada is not usually like this, normally she just wakes up because of a dirty diaper, or because she is hungry, but…"

"I said this last night, and I will say this as many times as I have too, you have nothing to apologize for. I managed to sleep a for some time. I'm more concerned about you, Sarada will likely tire herself out by morning once more. I will be here until I can't or shouldn't." Sakura felt horrible that she didn't register any of what Itachi said to her, still she smiled at him, though by the look he gave her she could tell he was not fooled, but he was not offended, instead he had a way of being silently understanding, and Sakura wondered if this is what having an older brother was like.

The previous night's incident was repeated, with Sarada crying all night and the only moments of silence being when Sakura was nursing, like the previous night Itachi had a longing in his eyes, he desperately wanted to hold Sarada to not only provide some sort of aid to Sakura, but to simply hold her. It was out of love and respect for his brother that he kept from offering to hold Sarada, he found himself forcing his arm's down more than the previous night. I will not hold Sarada without his consent. Simple words that he repeated, it was easier to say that to himself than to say "you killed her family you have no right." It was strange, how different his love for Sarada was, it was more protective, it was more definitive, more black and white of what was acceptable as opposed to with his brother. He concluded this the moment he realized he had no right to love Sarada, but had no shame about his love for the girl's father. He felt dirty in the presence of Sarada, and Sakura too, he tainted his brother in darkness, and they cleansed him, he took Sasuke's family, Sakura gave him a family. His mind went on for until the sun was rising, giving him more reasons as to why he had no right, it was slowly becoming more difficult to ignore his thoughts, to push them to the back of his mind, and when Sarada was finally asleep he had succeeded in eradicating most of those thoughts. When it finally registered that Sarada was truly asleep he was shameless enough to sigh in relief, he had not been alone, and when he looked to Sakura to apologize for his behaviors she simply smiled at him, but he could tell sleep was not far off for Sakura.


Determination alone could be thanked for finally being where he was certain his wife and daughter were. He said he would arrive that night, and he did, he saved up chakra, he focused on Sakura, thinking only of her, he remembered his feelings at the time it all occurred. He knew it was determination alone, because all he could do upon his arrival was move his head , his limbs felt heavy, and again it was determination that gave him the strength to look up. He could only register that the tree that was across from him looked smaller and that on one of the branches there was a very familiar looking bird, and suddenly he knew no more, he felt his body give in, give up, and everything went black.

By the time he came too he could see the sun was barely rising but he was no longer alone, nor was he free, whoever captured him had tied him to a tree though his bindings were loose. He wondered if he had gone through the portal, after all is surroundings were much the same. Even the crow could have been a fixture of his imagination, maybe he had just fallen asleep? That did not feel right to say, he could feel that his chakra levels were low. "I know you are awake." That voice. Karin?


A/N: I want to apologize if this confuses any readers as to what is new, but the new content is near the end. I just didn't want to give such a small update and since idk when I will be able to update again I decided to have this chapter fixed and complete, but I probably should not have done that. Anyway this is the one time I will combine a chapter before I publish the start of the next one, but this way when I can work on it again, I can just start the new chapter, kind of selfish reasoning, but it gives a sense of a fresh start.