AN: So... the uchiha massacre is happening. It's been a time skip of three years, and I'm sorry about that but it's necessary. I want to get the story moving so that we actually get to Team Seven, the whole premise of this story. But I'm trying not to rush the massacre because I think it's a really important part.

Which is why... this is part 1. More parts coming soon, I'm guessing probably 3 at this point, but everything is tentative.

Also, turns out my info on the Hyuuga kidnapping is really out of whack. Thanks to the Dragonbard who pointed out that it actually happened when she was three. Sorry for the confusion guys! But yeah. In this story it happens when she's five because I've already written this much and it was really important for that to happen so... yeah.

Hope you enjoy this chapter guys x


The Uchiha Massacre - I


Naruto

Naruto's knowledge of time travel has always been limited.

It was never talked about much in his past life – it had always been accepted as impossible and thus never pondered on much. His only exposure of it had been when Sakura had had a brief obsession with some guy researching it.

He failed, she got over it, and it was never spoken of again.

But when she did speak about it, he remembered one thing she emphasised clearly – it was keep the past as it is.

She must have said it so many times that even Sasuke remembered it.

Except… he's not here for things to end the way they did. He's here to change things. And if he's to change things, he needs a voice. A voice that will at least be considered in a serious manner.

And he's got plans. Plans which involve the Hokage trusting his rational judgement without question. And the first step to that is actually doing well in school – well enough that the Hokage will see beyond prankster and to future Hokage.

Future Sakura would definitely scold him for doing this but it's only temporary. After all, he's got three years to get back to dead last so that he can get into Team 7. And that is of utmost importance.

Iruka clears his throat.

The class continues to mumble.

Pointedly, Iruka pulls out a set of certificates and waves them. Immediately the class silences and Iruka grins. Naruto notices with approval that he's a lot more comfortable teaching now. He seems to have found his niche – Azumi-sensei had retired last year, leaving all the teaching to Iruka. Without the pressure of the authority figure judging him, Iruka is fast becoming the teacher Naruto knew and loved.

The only damper on that thought is that, if he remembers correctly, next year will be the year Mizuki started teaching – the chuunin who was supposed to take Azumi's position was an Uchiha and he had been killed in the massacre.

But that won't happen this time around, not if he can help it.

"Alright then guys," Iruka says, a small smile on his face. Even Kiba is sitting in rapt attention, eyeing the certificates in his hands, even if he looks like he's going to burst from the tension. "Are you ready for the end of term prizes?"

Naruto grins just as Kiba finally bursts, whooping up in his seat. "You bet!"

Iruka smiles fondly before clearing his thought. Kiba immediately sits to attention.

"Now," Iruka says dramatically, eyes glinting. "Please keep your applause to the end. I know it's the last day of school but we've still got ten minutes left of class. And none of you are leaving until all the certificates have been handed out, so please remain silent until the end."

He picks up the first certificate. The whole class leans forward in anticipation. "Most enthusiastic goes to… Inuzuka Kiba."

Kiba cheers, jumping out of his seat. Akamaru crawls out of his hoodie and bounds forwards, licking Iruka on the leg. Iruka hands him his certificate and Kiba proudly takes his position in front of the class.

Iruka picks up the next certificate.

"Biggest brain goes to… Haruno Sakura."

Sakura blushes and goes up quickly to accept the award. Behind her, Ami and a few other civilian girls snicker.

"Big forehead," they giggle.

Naruto rolls his eyes. Really? They have no idea how insignificant their comments are. Sakura has moved mountains – literally and figuratively. She saved the life of the Kazekage's brother at fifteen, replenish the chakra supplies of armies at seventeen. She was part of the legendary Team Seven dattebayo!

But this Sakura looks down and immediately Naruto is brought down from his high. No. This Sakura is a vulnerable one. This Sakura is the old one, one not yet scarred by Orochimaru and Sasuke-

Naruto freezes.

If he changes things – if he makes them for Sasuke, is he destroying Sakura in the process? The Sakura he knows?

"I can't think like that," he hisses quietly. In the front row, Uchiha Sasuke tenses minutely. Sakura's smile becomes strained.

Naruto shakes his head, ridding himself of his thoughts. He must think of the better goal for the future – for the future-

"Most improved goes to…" Iruka announces loudly, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto snaps up to attention and pushes his thoughts of Sakura and Sasuke away from his mind. He was never good at thinking of those sort of things anyway – that had always been Sakura's thing. She'd probably know what to do in his situation.

But Iruka is still waiting for his flamboyant reaction so Naruto grins and cheers, ambling up proudly to accept his award.

The other children in his class look surprised at his achievement but Sasuke is staring at him calculatingly. Next to him, Sakura shuffles away to keep her distance from him.

Naruto fights the hurt which suddenly stabs his heart. She can't help it at this age, he tells himself, her parents have been feeding her lies.

Iruka pulls out the last certificate and Naruto snaps his attention away from Sakura, grateful for the distraction.

"Best achiever goes to…"

Naruto leans forward expectantly – he might even have a chance at this. He's been training immensely, readying himself to stop the massacre. Hell, even Ebisu is impressed. This award would definitely raise his credibility, help him to show that his ideas are worth considering. Then hopefully he can influence the Hokage – just only if he can beat the Uchiha second son-

"-Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto deflates. Sasuke eyes him, smirks, and goes up to accept his award in thundering applause.

Kami. Even as a kid he still manages to be annoying in that Sasuke way of his.

The class continues to cheer and Iruka eyes the clock, painstakingly waiting out the last few seconds before the hand ticks to 2:30 – officially signifying the end of class.

Next to him, Sasuke shifts uncomfortably.

But Naruto can't help but smile. Sakura's on his left. Sasuke's on his right.

This is the beginning of Team Seven.

"Class dismissed," Iruka calls up through the ruckus.

Naruto's smile curves up into a rambunctious grin.

"Yes!" he calls, pumping his fist into the air. Next to him, Sasuke rolls his eyes and turns to meet his Uchiha cousin. Sakura quickly scampers back down to Hinata and the two girl huddle together, away from the other girls of the class.

Naruto smiles softly. Sakura's got Hinata this time around which is different, but perhaps his encounter with Hinata had had more drastic effects than he'd imagined. Who knew? After all, Sakura had always mentioned the intricacies of time travel and the ripple effect and other stuff like that he didn't remember. Sakura is doing fine which means it's time to focus on Sasuke.

Naruto breaks away from the throng of Academy students eager for the holidays and out into the courtyard.

The massacre is to occur in around three months but to his knowledge the orders were not officially given until the week before. Had Danzou already come up with the idea?

Naruto bites his lip. He can't quite remember but it doesn't matter. He's implementing counter measures either way.

His control has gotten a lot better – not enough, definitely, for the leaf twirling exercise, but it's more than he could've hoped for last time around.

Constant training is his goal this time around, a leaf he's taken from Lee and Gai, actually. But he's refrained from anything too drastic – weights, he's heard, hinder your development at such a young age so he's stuck to the simply stretching his limits chakra wise.

He uses Sakura's technique to quickly break away from the courtyard and to the Hokage's tower. Nobody bats an eyelid – they're too used to ninja shunshin'ing everywhere that an extra blur raises no eyes.

Just to be careful though, he stops in the middle of Konoha Markets like always, camouflaging himself between the legs of the bustle of people.

Reorientating himself, he walks leisurely to the Hokage tower. This time the receptionist doesn't even bat an eyelid as he enters – he's been coming and going from the tower numerous of times this year.

Except this is the day his grand plan is going to be put into action.

First off, he makes his way down to the library under the stairs. He'd saved enough money by the time he was six to by a muffler for the entrance. This way, he wouldn't have to keep on breaking and replacing the potted plants in the reception.

In fact, that also might be why the receptionist is friendlier to him now, Naruto thinks absent-mindedly.

The books from the library had proved to be good help, but nothing had come up which he didn't already know. It had provided good insights however into child-training – that was where he had gotten the information of the weights. Without them, he could have seriously injured himself.

He has the last of his books with him today, slung in his backpack.

Naruto quickly opens the hidden hatch and jumps down into the hallways, picking up the torch. This should be his last journey down here – he's already pretty much exhumed all of the resources already.

Three years had really exhausted this library – he hasn't been down here in a while too. The last time he'd come down was to pick up scrolls on laws governing Konoha to see if he could find any loopholes in regards to sending people on missions – one of his ideas had been to send Itachi off on an impromptu mission during the time the massacre was to occur. Hopefully that would stuff up the plans a bit, enough for the Hokage to figure out a way to stop it. But that ended up turning into a dead end. He wouldn't be able to go unless the Hokage passed his mission and the chances of that happening were least to none.

But it is a loose end he needs to tie up – Ebisu had gotten suspicious from all the political and administrative questions he had been asking him. All he needs to do now is put those scrolls back and then he'd need to move onto bigger things.

Namely, stopping the massacre from happening. Once that is done and dusted, he'll go back to being dead last – and Team 7 would rise again.

Naruto quickly sets the books back into the library and pulls out some ink from his bag. Then, he goes to the door and draws the old seal, destroying any signs of his presence. He won't need this library again, although it is a sadness to see it go. It's been almost his second home with all the time he's spent in it. But it has served him well – he's probably a solid fifteen-year-old Naruto power level now, in some aspects.

Naruto sighs, running back to the entrance. He's been slacking off in his training lately – after his research into the massacre, he'd found out that stopping it occurring had been a lot less heroic ninja-power-wham! And a lot more… politics.

He skids to a halt in front of the entrance and places the torch back in its position, refuelling it quickly. Sakura would have been better at this, he thinks with a sigh. If she'd come back she'd know how to stop the massacre, how to sweet talk the elders or somewhat. That was why she was the best at her job.

Naruto pauses just before the entrance, thinking back solemnly to Team 7. While he and Sasuke had always been seen as the front men of Team 7, Sakura had always been powerful in a subtle way. And without her, they would've been nothing. And Sasuke-

Well. Sasuke is a whole other story.

Naruto shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. He jumps up and takes the muffler from the entrance, erasing the last sign of his presence. He'd considered wiping fingerprints and the like, but the chances of someone snooping here were as low as Kakashi revealing his face.

Naruto dusts himself off and casually walks back into the reception. Now that that's done, he has to begin the delicate political mission.

Making his steps quiet – but not too quiet for an eight year old – Naruto walks up the stairs to the Hokage's office.

He's been talking to the old-man a lot lately – some have been intelligent, philosophical discussions, others small hints into the Uchiha's doings. But this will be the most important meeting – the suggestion of an idea which will hopefully set the course of the future onto a different path.

Naruto pauses suspiciously outside the office. It's starkly silent which means that either Sarutobi is away, or he is discussing matters delicate enough to warrant sound-proofing jutsu. Both which spell trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto raises a fist and knocks.

There's continued silence on the other side and Naruto thinks – maybe old man really is away – but then the door swings open.

Danzou looks across before his eyes slowly travel downwards. Finally, they meet eight-year-old Naruto's.

Inwardly, Naruto curses.

"Naruto?" Sarutobi calls from inside.

"Yes," Naruto says softly, heart hammering in his chest. His hands are clamming up and his mind is whirling at a thousand miles an hour. Does Danzou know about his meetings with the Hokage? Does he know what they've been talking about? He'd tried to weave in the details through casual conversation, as to appear inconspicuous, but what if Sarutobi had taken that to mean that the things he said weren't classified?

In the end, it all came down to does Danzou know?

"Naruto?" Sarutobi calls again, "Come in."

"Yes sir," Naruto says meekly. Danzou steps back from the door and Naruto scuttles in quickly, head bowed.

Sarutobi smiles at him as he enters.

"Hello Naruto," he says kindly, "I hear this is your last day at school. How have things been in the Academy?"

Naruto shoots a nervous glance at Danzou. The elder has shut the door and is currently rifling through some of the Hokage's files, looking casual.

Naruto shivers. What is he still doing here?

He turns back to the Hokage, quickly plastering on a smile. "Good," he says quickly, throat bobbing. "I got the most improved award."

Sarutobi smiles widely. "That's wonderful Naruto."

"Mhm," Naruto nods, continuing to bob his head as he licks his lips nervously. Then, his eyes quickly dart to Danzou.

"Don't worry about me," Danzou suddenly says, snapping a file shut. It echoes through the room with a load bang and Naruto would've jumped if not for the numerous wars under his belt. "I'm just doing some file work. The paper ninja are quite behind lately."

His tone is way too friendly. Naruto is immediately on guard but Sarutobi is still smiling at him expectantly.

"Yeah. I'm… I'm good. Except I… I'm finding some of the new work hard," Naruto says slowly. He has to proceed with his plan but kami help him he's going to drag it out. Tensions are too delicate to mess up the planning, especially since his previous meetings have been building up to this meeting. He just needs to drag it out long enough that Danzou leaves. "I… think my class rank will drop soon."

"To dead last again?" Sarutobi jokes.

Naruto smiles wanly. That is the plan, yes. He's just setting it up early. Once the massacre is over he doesn't need to keep in anyone's good graces.

"How's Sasuke by the way?" Sarutobi asks, his tone perfectly casual. "You always talk about him."

Well yes, Naruto thinks, that's cause I'm trying to feed you updates on how the Uchiha clan is going, as well as surreptitiously suggesting other courses of action. But I can't do that when he's here.

Naruto begins to cough awkwardly, trying to avoid answering. The room sits in stifling tension before Danzou stands up and turns to the door.

"I'll be going now," he says quietly. "Goodbye Hokage-sama."

"Good-bye," Sarutobi answers cordially.

Danzou walks out of the room, silently shutting the door behind him. Naruto lets out a small breath of relief.

"So?" Sarutobi prompts.

"He's restless – well, I mean, he always is. His cousin is too. I reckon there's something going on in the Uchiha," Naruto says casually. His voice is loud again, as in persona, recovered now that Danzou's gone.

"I see," Sarutobi nods slowly.

"But I mean, I can see why they feel that way," Naruto says, pushing himself up to sit on the Hokage's desk. That had been one of Ebisu's lessons actually – when negotiating, a false sense of intimacy helps to loosen the other party.

"You know, Iruka-sensei mentioned the other day-" he did nothing of the sort, but Sarutobi didn't know that "-that there weren't a lot of Uchiha in ANBU corps. They're all in the Military Police Brigade or something like that."

"Military Police Force," Sarutobi corrects quietly.

"Yeah. That. And I thought it must suck to be so disconnected from your fellow ninja. I mean, it doesn't really foster good friendships right?"

"Mm," Sarutobi hums non-committedly.

"I think it would just make things a lot better if the Uchiha got to connect more with the rest of us eh? Like maybe something like a swap over of commanders or somethin' like that! Ooh wait! Or maybe you could get them to supervise the Konoha Spring Festival this time instead of the ANBU – that way they could connect more with the civilians!"

Sarutobi smiles softly. "That's quite a good idea Naruto but I'm afraid logistically, the Uchiha aren't equipped enough to deal with such a responsibility."

"But you haven't given them a chance!" Naruto points out. "This shows them that you trust them with a piece of national security, you trust that they are skilled enough to handle responsibility. It shows that you see them as part of Konoha's defence force!"

Sarutobi leans back speculatively.

"Think about it," Naruto says evenly, trying to make sure his tone is perfect. The Hokage may be relaxed around him, but he's still the Hokage .If he senses he's being manipulated…

Naruto shakes his head and continues. "Even though the Festival will be full of civilians, it will also be full of ninja. And no one in their right mind would attack a space so filled with Konoha's trained operatives. The risk is minimal."

Sarutobi leans back in his seat. "This is… an interesting idea, Naruto. It has potential."

Naruto nods fervently.

"Go now. I will think on it." Sarutobi eyes Naruto carefully. "Do me a favour will you, and keep an eye on Sasuke for me?"

Naruto smiles, his heart rate finally slowing. It is completed. "I will."

Sarutobi raises a hand and dismisses him. Suppressing a grin, Naruto jumps off the desk.

He's done it. He's proposed the idea and hopefully that, along with the other ideas he's been surreptitiously putting forward every meeting, will let tensions between the Uchiha and Konoha simmer down so that a massacre isn't necessary.

But now that he's addressed things from the official side, he has to address things from the Uchiha side. Which means he should try to find Itachi.

Except the Uchiha heir is known to be notoriously hard to find, either on ANBU missions or doing dastardly Uchiha business. He would have to be vigilant, and look carefully.

No. First, he should find Ebisu. His meeting with the Hokage has run late and no doubt his instructor is mad.

Ebisu gets mad quite easily, Naruto thinks.

He swings open the door – and Danzou stands right outside.

Naruto freezes.

Had he been listening in? Had he heard his suggestions? Had he just drawn attention to himself from the commander of ANBU Root? And knowing Sakura, that was a position not to be trifled with.

"If you'll excuse me Naruto," Danzou says carefully, "I need to talk to the Hokage. I forgot to discuss something with him."

Naruto nods robotically, not trusting himself to say anything. He steps to the side and Danzou walks calmly into the office.

Mechanically, he closes the door behind him.

"Danzou!" he hears Sarutobi exclaim in surprise. "You're back."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Danzou says measuredly.

"That boy…" Naruto's eyes widen but then a sound barrier jutsu hits the wall and nothing else can be heard.

Slowly, Naruto lets go of the doorknob. Did Danzou see him as a possible threat now?

It'd be best to steer clear of the office whenever he's around. Naruto shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. He's done all he can for today, and he still needs to see Ebisu.


Sasuke

Is that a… rock? With holes? For eyes? Where had he seen that before?

Sasuke pauses, adjusting the strap of his bag as he eyes the strange phenomenon in front of him. These children are infringing on his path home and usually he'd just pull clan crap and get them to scram but it all looks so familiar…

That's right. Konohamaru and his friends – Naruto's little army of followers.

Which means...

Sasuke looks up.

Yep. That's Naruto, with some tall guy in glasses. And they're heading this way.

So… time to get out of here.

Sasuke turns back around, side-stepping the cardboard rock. His parents are expecting him home anyway. Naruto can go do his training with glasses guy.

Except… Naruto had gotten the award for most improved. Sasuke frowns. Had he gotten that last time around? He can't actually remember. His whole childhood had been so tinted with the massacre and Itachi that he can't actually remember any of the mundane things which happened.

But there would be no point spying on the blonde anyway. He should just get out of here.

Steeling himself, Sasuke continues his walk back to the compound, shoulders squared. He won't look back.

Today had been his last day at the Academy before the three week break, which also means it's also his last opportunity to inconspicuously carry out his plan.

He had been extra conversationalist lately and his chosen topics had been so revealing that Elder Mako had taken to eating with the main family just so he could listen to Sasuke's 'stories'.

Itachi however, always seemed suspicious of his actions. But lately his older brother hadn't been paying too much attention, luckily, so Sasuke's subtle manipulations continued to go on unnoticed.

Sasuke sighs. Admittedly though, his plan does go against Itachi's values, but his older brother is too self-sacrificial for his own good. What Sasuke is planning to do – that will benefit them all in the long run. Sure, the Uchiha were at fault in their own way, however nothing they did justified the drastic actions Danzou – that bloody bastard – took to neutralise the 'threat'.

Speaking of which, he still needs to find the bloody headquarters of Root. And he's been looking for three bloody years. This place is the epitome of well-protected. Times like this he could really use Sakura. Except she'd never agree to do it anyway.

Sasuke sighs again and shakes his head, ridding his thoughts of his other team mates. He reaches the compound and the gate guards let him in wordlessly.

His father is probably anticipating his return in the dining room. His mother is probably waiting there too, but for different reasons. She just wants to keep herself informed though he knows she disapproves of the information he is 'unknowingly' feeding his clan. And Itachi? He's probably off doing something for the Hokage.

Pity, Sasuke thinks humourlessly, because the Hokage was so invested in his one informant within the Uchiha that he failed to see the other happenings. They thought that just because Itachi was clan heir he knew everything. But he didn't.

No.

Sasuke knew everything.

Sasuke pauses outside the entrance to the dining room and tests his senses. There seems to be… three people inside? Maybe four?

No. Three.

Sasuke opens the door to the dining room.

"I'm home," he says.

His father looks up from the newspaper. His mother is baking something – biscuits? Elder Mako is huddled in the corner reading one of the Uchiha clan scrolls. This time Shisui is here too, twirling a kunai around his finger as he watches Mikoto prepare the biscuits.

Damn. There was four people.

"Hey Sasuke," Shisui greets. In a flash, he tosses the kunai. Sasuke narrows his eyes and raises a hand, snatching the kunai mid-air.

"Shisui," he greets.

"How was the Academy Sasuke?" his father asks.

"It was alright," he says levelly. "But I overheard the teachers talking in the staffroom about us."

"Oh?" Elder Mako says, not looking up from his scroll. The whole family continues their charade of casualness. "What did they say?"

"They said that the Uchiha were good-for-nothing, and that someone… I forgot his name… Dan-something? I dunno. Something 'bout how we should be careful. Very careful."

Elder Mako's fingers curl tighter around the scroll. Mikoto hisses as she burns herself on the hot oven tray.

Shisui turns his eyes to Sasuke, watching him calculating.

"And you heard this… from Academy teachers?"

"Yep," Sasuke says innocently. Usually his family are too engrossed in the new information to pick out the flaws in his story but Shisui has always been too smart for his own good.

"Interesting," his cousin says, nodding slowly. Then he turns around sharply and leaves.

"Where are you going?" Elder Mako calls.

"I need to talk to Itachi," Shisui calls back before disappearing.

Sasuke eyes the door with narrowed eyes. Talk to Itachi? Is Shisui…

No. Itachi's the only Hokage informant in the clan. Except Shisui does seem to be also exempt from the famed Curse of Hatred, like his brother. Perhaps he was just going to tell Itachi how his own brother perpetuated the curse of hatred. But he can't think too much on Shisui – he needs to concentrate on stopping the massacre of his family.

"Anyway, I was training with Kiba too" -lie- "and I heard his parents talking 'bout how the Uchiha were getting more and more suspicious."

"Really?" Elder Mako says slowly, fingers tightening even further.

"Yep," Sasuke says. "Not that it's my business or anything, but could you guys act a bit less suspicious? It's bad for my popularity."

It says a lot for how immersed the others are in their own thoughts that they don't even acknowledge the absurdity of Sasuke's words. But as long as his warning has gotten through, his mission is complete.

The Uchiha have been getting more reckless, and if this keeps going on the massacre will have more and more grounds to proceed.

"I'll be going now," Sasuke announces to the silent room.

Receiving no response, he leaves. It's time to tackle things from the other side. Now that he's got the Uchiha more hateful but hopefully less bloody obvious, he needs to get to Danzou.

After all, at this stage the Hokage and his brother and all the 'good and righteous' people of the world have no idea that a massacre is even a possibility. Only Danzou in that sick little head of his could entertain such a thought. Kami Root was messed up. Funny how Sakura ended up there though, cleaning up the loose ends Danzou left in his wake, trying to rehabilitate all the Root ANBU. She, the most innocent of the team, ended up being corrupted by Root mentality.

Sasuke shakes his head, walking back out of the compound again. The two gate guards seem unfazed at his abrupt departure.

He needs to find Root but so far his methods had been completely ineffective.

He'd started off looking for a particular person – Kabuto to be exact, but he was as elusive as a snake. So he'd tried to settle for second best, with the one known as 'Sai' who replaced him in the team.

God he hated that kid.

But unfortunately Sai too, was nowhere to be found. Sai probably wasn't even his name.

Which meant that he'd now had to settle for third choice.

And third choice was… pretty shit.

He knew vaguely, having heard once or twice from Naruto or Sakura about an epic battle which had occurred during the Fourth Shinobi World war. It was one between Shino and his relative, who was Root.

So he knows that in Root, there is an Aburame.

He also knows that Shino had found out during this battle that his cousin had known a Yamanaka.

So he knows that in Root, there's an Aburame and a Yamanaka.

And that is, in essence, all he has to go off on.

Unless he wants to reattempt following ninja. But he knows from last time's spectacular failure that that would never work. He isn't good enough at hiding his presence. He'd be detected in an instant, even if he's gotten his speed up to scratch.

He supposes he could pull the big guns and ask his parents but that would draw way too much attention to him. Perhaps it'd be better just tagging along to Itachi?

Surely his brother was a better option than finding an elusive Yamanaka/Aburame.

But then again, it's his brother. At his full power, would he have beaten Itachi? He's not sure about things like this anymore. Itachi's genius is obvious, and it's a genius unparalleled.

No. Tailing Itachi would be even worse.

But recently, the Hokage has been much more accommodating to the Uchiha. According to the various reports he'd gone through after the massacre a lifetime ago, none of this had happened, but it's for the best, he supposes. After all, with Konoha reaching out a friendly hand the Uchiha are bound by social conforms to follow with one.

As to why these new changes were occurring, Sasuke had no idea. But then again, the ripple effect of his return must have somehow jolted things around. Hopefully though, with Konoha seeming a bit friendlier, issues can be... resolved would be impossible but… suppressed. Suppressed to a degree so that a massacre is unneeded.

Yes.

That would work.

But as it is… he should see Ino.

Unfortunately.

But surely, she'd be easier to wheedle information from than Shino. Even at eight years old that guy is creepy.


Sakura

"Forehead-girl!" Ami calls.

Sakura sighs, adjusting the ribbon over her forehead. It feels constricting, tight and scratchy. She's looking forward to the day she'll finally get her hitai-ite – new and clean, blood-free.

That'll be the day.

"You can't hide your forehead with that ribbon, you know, no matter how hard you try!"

Sakura resists the urge to roll her eyes. Around them, adults jostle this way and that, looking at the produce displayed in Konoha Markets.

"It's so big I can see it anyway! Nothing can hide it!"

Wow. These girls really aren't that creative in their insults. Even Sasuke can do better and he has the emotional capacity of a rock.

Oh Sasuke.

Funnily enough, now when she thinks of him there's no bubble of hatred to go along. Her hate has subsided, mellowed, strangely. As much as his actions did change the world, she's had eight years to mull over it, and she doesn't think she hates him as much now. After all, the Sasuke now is a cute and innocent one.

And she's come back to change things. So Future Sasuke will never, ever happen.

"It's as big as an elephant!" Ami adds as an afterthought.

Sakura sighs, placing a hand on her forehead, feeling her chakra reserves. Her Strength of One Hundred Seal has been growing quite substantially which is good. Hopefully she'll be able to tap into some of it soon – but knowing what's to happen, she still has to save a large chunk for when Kabuto causes the armies to lose their chakra. But she's got years till that.

"Forehead-girl!" Ami calls again.

Really? Please. She's saved Ami's little hide more times than she can count. Indirectly of course, but Team 7 has saved Konoha many many times.

But this girl is determined, Sakura'll give her that. After all, she's followed her into Konoha Markets to lecture her.

"Sasuke-kun!" she suddenly hears.

Sakura turns around. Ino – when did she get here? – pushes her way through the crowd and latches onto Sasuke's arm. The boy is surprisingly mellow. Then again, his family hasn't been killed yet.

"Sasuke!" Ami squeaks, abandoning her attack on Sakura to race to where Ino and Sasuke are. Sasuke glances in their direction, scowls, and quickly walks away. Ino scampers after him.

Sakura sighs, turning away from them. She has other things to worry about.

She looks down at her watch. Hinata's still not here yet – maybe she's with Naruto? She'd heard that the shy girl had made friends somewhat with him, which is strange as it didn't happen last time around. But she supposes her influence has somehow caused this. Not that it was catastrophic in any way – in fact, it might be for the better, now that Naruto has someone.

She's fine with it, as long as Hinata makes no effort to introduce her mutual friends. While she has made mental preparations in facing the younger versions of her two teammates, she's not sure if she's quite ready enough, especially in such unfamiliar territory. Sakura takes comfort in the known, and anything different from before in relation to the two most prominent people in her life is quite outside her comfort zone.

Sakura has been maintaining her comfortable spot as the middle-ranked kunoichi – both she and the Hyuuga elders thought it to be the best in remaining inconspicuous. They had decided she'd be best as a hidden bodyguard – one only they knew about. Of course she had also pushed for that too in an effort to keep the past as predictable as possible. In fact, even Hinata doesn't know of her designation as her 'bodyguard', but they've become firm friends anyway.

Except… something had been stirring up lately. The original contract she had with the elders detailed that her role would end after two years. Sakura had agreed – after all, two years training could make a world of difference – look at Naruto. But at the beginning of this year, the Hyuuga had suddenly renewed her contract for another two and there had been murmurings of some trouble.

Of course the Uchiha massacre is on its way. Three months to the day, if Sakura remembers correctly. Sasuke is beginning to act a bit strange, but she can't blame him as the tensions that are no doubt running through his clan at the moment. That doesn't stop him from being comfortably top of the class though.

She glances over at Sasuke. Him and Ino are talking, Ino much louder than he. They seem to have lost Ami in the crowd.

"…my cousin!" she hears Ino say. Sasuke smiles.

Sakura rolls her eyes and turns away, instead thinking to her other teammate. Strangely, Naruto has been shooting up the rankings. She doesn't quite remember if this happened last time – she'd never paid much attention to him as a kid – but recently he's begun to get worse and worse. It looks as if he's heading towards dead last again, so maybe it had happened last time.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura swivels around. Hinata waves at her through the crowds, quickly zig-zagging between the civilians before halting to a stop in front of her, face a healthy red.

"Am I late?"

"No," Sakura fibs, "I was just early. You wanna head back now?"

"Sure," Hinata grins.

This is the holiday schedule they planned – now that school's over they'll both meet in the afternoons to head back to her compound. Hinata will complete a training session with her father and her sister while Sakura reports to the elders.

"So," Sakura asks, linking her arms with the heiress. "Who were you with just then? Naruto?"

Hinata blushes. "No, no. Of course not. I was just at the park, collecting some flowers."

Sakura's eyes flittered to her backpack. "That's right. You like to press flowers don't you?"

"Yeah," Hinata smiles softly, "They remind me of okaa-san."

Sakura nods sympathetically. She supposes she's always been extremely lucky considering that both of her parents are still alive – were, in fact, even in her old life. Even through the war, she had managed to keep them safe. It was a fact, she knew, which tormented her two teammates, but she cared too much for her parents to let it bother her.

"How's Hanabi?" Sakura asks, turning her mind away from her past life.

"She's very good," Hinata says happily. "Even though she's only two, father says she has great potential."

"That's nice," Sakura echoes.

The two arrive at the gates. The two gate-keepers shoot Sakura a stern glare before letting them in. She doesn't think they've ever forgiven her for besting them – it must've been a blow to their egos. But they can't do anything to her now. She's under Hyuuga elder protection.

Sakura walks Hinata over to the family dojo. Hiashi gives her a nod and Hanabi looks up at her with wide eyes.

"How long?" Sakura asks.

"An hour," Hiashi replies.

Sakura nods and slides the dojo door shut before making her familiar way down the halls to the meeting room. Hinata thinks she's just waiting in the reception but the meeting room is only a few turns away – close enough to rush back for pretences in case of an emergency.

She's just rounded the last corner when a figure steps forward – a Hyuuga jounin.

"Wait here," she says, holding a hand up. "The elders are busy."

Sakura scoots to a stop in front of her. Biting her lip, she rocks on her feet and peeks around the jounin's waist.

The meeting room door is closed – it's in use – and she can sense many people inside. There's no sound-proofing jutsu but she supposes that someone inside has their byakugan switched on, watching for any suspicious activity.

Curiouser and curiouser.

What could they be discussing? Did this have anything to do with why they renewed protection for Hinata for another two years?

Sakura bites her lip and ponders a risky move.

She's always been adept at chakra control jutsu which means that if she tried she might be able to listen to what they were saying. But she's in a compound full of byakugan users – she'd need a complex web of jutsu. Would it be worth it?

This close to the massacre? Yes.

Sakura takes a deep breath and begins the first layer. She keeps her breathing steady, trying to appear unfazed to the jounin in front of her. Luckily, she doesn't have her byakugan switched on. But Sakura has no doubt someone, maybe all, have it on in the meeting room.

She weaves a layer of chakra over herself, imitating her normal flow of chakra. It's a technique much more complicated than a normal chakra suppression and one which requires much more control – it simulated a normal person, rather than making one disappear.

Sakura lets out a shaky breath. Now that her cloak is established, she needs to keep her hold on it as she directs chakra to her ears. That's two missions she needs to concentrate on at once – this will be a true test of whether or not she's built her skills up to the level they once were.

Cautiously, Sakura sends chakra to her ears and listens.

"…this is serious news Arumi."

"I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying – are we sure."

"…yes. We are very sure. Our Uchiha informant is adamant. This is happening."

"But it's just absurd! I mean, everyone knows that the Uchiha are planning a rebellion. Everyone knows about the hate! But you're saying that not only has the hate gotten stronger, the Uchiha are now pretending that nothing's wrong? I thought the whole premise of their rebellion was to act rebellious so that the Hokage knows they're unhappy with the way things are. Why are they suddenly hiding? Unless the Hokage has been threatening action."

"Even if the Hokage was threatening action the Uchiha wouldn't know about it. So how do they know?"

"But we're not even sure if the Hokage is still threatening action! Relationships are becoming much more amicable. On the surface, at least. The Hokage is getting soft. He's becoming careless, thinking that the Uchiha have no power, while the whole lot of them are growing more and more hateful and rebellious. They've just gotten better at hiding it! Like I've said many times already."

"So. What are we going to do about it?"

"Here are evacuation plans in case war does break out. Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama are first priority. Branch will need to escort them, and Sakura will be there in case they act out. Good foresight there Juu. Her renewed contract did come in handy. Hiashi-"

The wave of shock fractures her jutsu and Sakura barely stops herself from stumbling back.

"This is absurd," she whispers frantically. The jounin shoots her a look. "My leg keeps on cramping," Sakura adds quickly, but her mind is whirling.

The Uchiha have somehow tricked the Hokage into thinking that nothing is wrong? They've become mellow, and quiet?

That must mean they're planning something. But the Hokage can't do nothing. Why are both sides this time around so different? Has her appearance changed that many things?

Then she has to fix it. The massacre must go ahead. It stops a civil war for bloody sake. The Uchiha are planning a rebellion, and the Hokage is getting tricked by their façade.

No.

Maybe the Hyuuga have gotten things wrong. She'll have to investigate on her own. She can't act impulsively – look how far that ended up getting Sasuke. But they seem confident it's going to happen – they have bloody evacuation plans already. Sakura steadies herself, chewing her lip in thought. She has to be very careful, especially in times as tender as these.

Finally, the door to the meeting room opens. Nine other elders file out and the Hyuuga jounin leaves with them. Finally, Hoshiko pokes his head out.

"Sakura," he says quietly, "Come on in."


AN: Wow. So. Naruto's part was huge. It turned out to be half this whole chapter! Hope you guys don't mind. And as you may have noticed I messed up the orders for the characters, and this will probably continue to happen to work plot-wise. I want the right people to be in the right places at the right times. In terms of Team 7, I know the three seem really disconnected now, but things will start culminating once they get forced together.

Anyway, big kisses to all the reviewers: AnimeLover3232, curious viewer, thestorymaker2, wingofpain, SugoiAuthorToBe, Insidious Person, Lonely Athena and the Dragonbard.

Hope you enjoyed and please review xx