Author's Note: I haven't proof read this chapter as much as I would like because I was eager to get it out. If you notice any spelling/grammar mistakes, feel free to mention it in your review. I will be editing them out as they are found.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

The city passed by in a blur a colors. Restaurants, stores, and other random buildings blended together in Naruto's peripheral vision. He was headed towards his apartment complex. His head was still spinning from his briefing with the Third Hokage.

"No father is referenced on Sarada's birth certificate. And because her mother passed years ago, we may never know who he was."

Naruto nodded in understanding. That was not uncommon for orphans. He didn't know who either of his parent were. Most of his life, he simply assumed they'd died in the Kyuubi attack.

"But this assault against Sarada has brought some startling information to light. She awakened a bloodline limit called the sharingan."

"The sharingan?" Naruto's face scrunched up a bit in confusion. Why did that sound familiar? He must have learned about it at the academy or something.

"It's a doujutsu, unique to the Uchiha clan."

Naruto blinked owlishly. The Uchiha clan?

Naruto was unsure what to do with the information. He knew very little about the Uchiha clan, except for the fact that they were massacred about five years ago. And, as far as he knew, Sasuke was the only survivor. Growing up in the orphanage was probably the only reason she was alive today. As twisted as it sounds, Sarada was lucky.

The orphanage… Naruto's face became hard. He never thought the day would come when he would think someone was lucky for growing up there. The place held a lot of unpleasant memories for the blond. He couldn't blame Sarada for running away.

His apartment building came into view. It was an old, yellow building that was in desperate need of a paint job. He landed on the fire escape. The rusted metal frame creaked and groaned in protest at the sudden weight. Naruto ignored its lamenting, and climbed in through his window.

The second his feet hit the floor Naruto began undressing. He pulled some clean clothes out of his closet and got dressed. It felt good to be out of the scrubs and in his regular outfit.

The flashing alarm clock by his bed told Naruto it was 6:36 pm. Naruto grabbed his bag and began unceremoniously shoving things inside.

Underwear, Check. Spare shirt, check. Pants, check… Naruto went through a mental check list as he packed to ensure he didn't forget something. He tossed a couple ramen cups into his bag for good measure and zipped it shut.

As Naruto walked back to the kitchen, the dried blood on his floor caught his eye. For a second it startled him – he had forgotten it was there. Sarada's footprints were dried into the carmine substance. Little imprints outlined in bright red. The thought of her almost bleeding out made his stomach churn uneasily.

She could have died. The realization smacked into him like a sledge hammer. She could have died in my apartment. It was a macabre, unwelcome though. But he couldn't just shake it.

If she hadn't gotten the hospital in time…

Naruto thoughts drifted back to the sight of Sarada in her hospital bed. She'd looked so… afraid? That wasn't the right word. On edge? It was like she expected something bad to happen at any moment. He felt a pang of sadness when he recognized it. It was a feeling Naruto knew well; the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to fall, and being powerless to stop it. He hated that feeling, and he hated seeing it on her face.

Naruto stepped into his bathroom to get the last few things he needed. It took the fluorescent bulb a few seconds of flickering to fully turn on and illuminate his little bathroom. Pale blue tiles lined the floor and walls, the grout in between them tinged a brownish-yellow from years of neglect.

A cheap mirror hung over his sink. A layer of filth clung its surface, which was speckled with the occasional fleck of spit and toothpaste.

What a mess… The realization was followed quickly by embarrassment. Sarada had been in his apartment! Shit, Sakura had been to his apartment too! Luckily, neither had seen his bathroom. That being said, the rest of his apartment wasn't exactly "clean" either. He grabbed his toothbrush and flipped the light off.

Naruto zipped his pack up and slung it over his shoulder before forming a one-handed ram seal. Three clones popped into existence simultaneously. No words were exchanged between their maker and the clones, but they knew why he'd summoned them.

"Aw man, I hate cleaning." One clone whined, its face scrunched into an unhappy scowl.

"Yeah, but what if Sarada or Sakura visit? Do you want them to be grossed out by our apartment?" Another clone countered.

The first clone hung its head in defeat. Naruto smirked. It was weird, watching himself argue with himself.

"Just get the place presentable guys." Naruto ordered. His clones nodded in affirmation. One even gave a mock salute.

Naruto climbed out the window and began roof hopping towards the hospital. As he ran, his thoughts went back to Sarada.

Rinha Sarada…

He'd never heard of the Rinha family. And Sarada? What an unusual name. Who would name their daughter salad? Then again, Naruto could be considered short for narutomaki. Which was a ramen topping…

Maybe he shouldn't talk about weird names.

Speaking of ramen, Naruto hadn't eaten all day. His stomach rumbled in disapproval. Without a second thought, he altered his course. It had been too long since he'd had a nice, hot bowl of Ichiraku ramen.

Sasuke was pissed. It had taken twice as long to catch that god damn cat without Naruto. As much as he hated to admit it, the blonde's shadow clone technique was useful as hell.

Fucking demon cat. Sasuke griped to himself. This type of mission should take him three minutes, not three hours. Therein lied the source of his pissed off attitude.

He was weak. Or at least, weaker than he should be. But instead of using his valuable time to train, he was stuck doing stupid D-rank missions. Sasuke understood the concept of the D-rank mission, and why it played an integral role inside of the village, so when his team got stuck doing them for a while he didn't complain.

Annoyed? Yes. Complain? No. Whining was below an Uchiha.

Everyone had to do them, and they (supposedly) were good preparation for more difficult missions. That being said, he'd assumed that by now he would have done at least one or two C-rank missions. Since becoming a genin all they'd done were D-ranks and team building exercises. It pissed him off.

It also annoyed Sasuke that Naruto got out of the Tora mission. Kakashi made the announcement that morning. Naruto would be doing an alternate assignment, part of which included working on his chakra control, which was severely lacking.

Sasuke smirked. Severely lacking. Those were the words Kakashi-sensei had used. While Sasuke was annoyed the blond didn't have to partake in the mission, he still felt a sense of pleasure at the thought that it was because Naruto needed remedial training. Sure, D-rank missions sucked. But they were still missions.

Sasuke turned his attention to the scroll in front of him. It was a C-rank raiton ninjutsu scroll, one Kakashi had given him. After wasting his day on D-rank missions, and hearing that Naruto was doing extra training, Sasuke demanded he get the chance to learn something new. His sensei, surprisingly, caved. This scroll was the result.

Raiton: Raiju Tsuiga (Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang). While it was just a C-rank ninjutsu, Sasuke recognized its potential. Any lightning ninjutsu had the power to be devastating if used correctly. For this particular technique, lightning chakra was focused into the users hand and manipulated to form the shape of a wolf. The wolf remained connected to the users hand by its tail. So long as the connection remained, the wolf could be controlled by the user. The wolf's tail could stretch a great distance (depending on the users proficiency with the technique), which allowed it to be used as a close, mid, or long range technique.

Kakashi had demonstrated it for him, and Sasuke was impressed. That being said, he'd had zero luck with the technique so far. He was able to get the lightning chakra to manifest in his hand, but was unable to manipulate it any further.

Kakashi told him to expect it to take several weeks to learn the technique, and a month or more to fully master it, at his current level. That pissed Sasuke off even further. If he could just activate his sharingan, he'd be able to copy the jutsu in moments.

Sasuke tried again. He sped through the hand seals with practiced perfection, and willed his chakra to form a current in his left hand. Raiton chakra flashed into life. This time however, instead of the regular white-blue color he'd been seeing, the raiton chakra took on a pure white color. It was the same color Kakashi's technique had been.

He willed the chakra to jump from his hand and take shape. A small, erratic bolt of white lightning arced from his hand. It shot forward a few feet, the front taking a vaguely animal-like shape, before the chakra dissipated into nothing.

Sasuke fell to his knees, panting in exhaustion. He was out of chakra. Still, he couldn't stop the smirk that tugged at his lips. A few weeks? Ha! It was only day one and look at how far he'd progressed. He might not have the sharingan yet, but he wasn't called a prodigy for nothing.

Absently, he wondered how Sakura was doing with the genjutsu Kakashi had given her. After Sasuke's demand was rewarded with a technique, Sakura had begged for one as well. She was rewarded with a C-rank genjutsu.

Uwasawosure Bakage, or Speak of the Devil, no jutsu. It was a genjutsu that was activated by the sound of the user's voice. It allowed the caster to inspire emotions in their target. Different emotions could be inspired depending on the user's intention. Fear, hate, love, cowardice, and so on. It was easier to strengthen or enhance an emotion an opponent was already feeling, and if done correctly, the victim might never realize they were under a genjutsu at all. Such a subtle genjutsu could be deadly as a support technique.

Sasuke knew firsthand how dangerous genjutsu could be. If Sakura could master a few powerful ones, she would become an infinitely more useful teammate.

Now if only they could do something about Naruto.

Sarada was alone. It was relatively quiet in her room, save for the ambient sounds of the hospital. The subtle beeping of machines and indistinct chatter of nurses and doctors passing by her door sounded far away.

The hospital was very different than what she was used to. It seemed almost alien. The equipment, although similar to what she'd seen her mother use, was bulky and older looking. The large corded phone and box TV served as outdated reminders that she was trapped in a time not her own.

She was no one. She had no friends and no family. Hell, she barely had any acquaintances! Everyone who ever knew her, the real her anyway, was gone. Even though her mother was still alive, the Sakura of this time wasn't her mother. Just like the Naruto of this time wasn't the Seventh. None of them knew her, and she didn't know them. All of her friends – Himiwari, Chocho, Mitsuki, Boruto – they didn't exist anymore. The time line was probably so fucked up by now, they might never get to exist.

Sarada rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to look at her room anymore – it was too familiar and foreign all at the same time. She felt like she was trapped in a dream, and she wanted desperately to wake up. She wanted to have breakfast with her mother, or play ninja with Bolt, like they did when they were kids. She wanted to be able to cry into the Sevenths shoulder and just forget all this ever happened.

But she couldn't. This was her life now.

Being alone with her thoughts made everything worse. She had no idea when Naruto would be back, but she couldn't just lay in silence and wait.

After several minutes of feeling sorry for herself, Sarada sat up. She needed a distraction. She crawled to the edge of her bed and flicked on the old box TV. White static glowed on the screen.

She frowned and flicked though the channels. Static, static, different color static, and more static. Did television shows not exist yet? Then why bother having a TV at all?

The big VCR on top of the TV caught her attention. If they had a VCR, then they must have some movies stashed somewhere. She pulled the stand's drawers open, rifling through them in search of something to watch. She found a couple tapes stacked inside. She grabbed a random one and read the title.

Princess Gale and The Seven Colored Rainbow, Part 1. The cover had a young woman at the forefront. In the background two armies were clashing, and a rainbow stretched over both warring sides. It looked like one of those crappy civilian made movies that glorified ninja battles. The ones she'd seen in the past were horrible. The worst, or funniest, part was how obvious it was that the directors knew nothing about how chakra worked.

Still, it was better than nothing. She popped the tape in and hit the play button. The static flashed to black, and then the film started to play. Sarada lay back down, happy to have something to fill the silence.

It wasn't that bad. Some of the acting was a bit overdone here and there, but Princess Gale was pretty well portrayed. Before she knew it, she was 50 minutes into the movie.

"Shishimaru! We have to unleash the power of our seven-color chakra!"

"No princess, it is too dangerous! Stand back!"

"This is my responsibility! I cannot abandon you here!"

Sarada was so into the movie, she didn't even notice Naruto's arrival until —

"Hey! I love this movie!"

The exclamation jarred Sarada back to reality. Her head whipped to the left in surprise.

Orange. That's what jumped out at her first. Naruto's outfit was very orange. She'd always known the seventh had a fondness for the color, but this was taking it a bit far. His outfit just screamed, 'I'm over here! Use me for target practice!'

"Have you gotten to the part where they use their rainbow chakra to fight Mao?"

Sarada shook her head no. Naruto shot her a grin, and she couldn't help but smile in return.

"I'm guessing you really like orange?" Sarada's question surprised even herself. Who was she to question Nanadaime's taste in clothing?

He's not the Hokage yet. She reminded herself. Besides, they had to find something to talk about. This could be a good icebreaker.

"What—oh my outfit you mean? Heh, yeah, I guess. I got this on sale from the Ninja supply store. It was 90% off, can you believe it!"

Sarada could believe it. What she couldn't believe is that a Ninja supply store had carried it in the first place. It spoke volumes to Naruto's strength, or resilience, that he'd survived all those years wearing such a bright color.

It's probably at least reinforced clothing. Sarada wagered. If he bought it at a Ninja supply store, most of their outfits had unique properties of some kind. Fire resistance or increased durability, things of that nature. Too bad it was so bright.

She watched as Naruto let his pack fall gracelessly to the floor, and placed a nondescript white bag on her bedside table. From it, he pulled out two containers with the logo for Ichiraku's Ramen on the side.

"Hungry?" The blond held out a container towards her. She accepted it. She wasn't the biggest ramen fan, but she had to admit it smelled pretty good.

"Thanks."

Naruto had turned his attention back to the movie, so Sarada followed suit. She smiled to herself. Being around Naruto was comforting, in a way. She suddenly felt more relaxed than she had all day.

Naruto was laying on a cot on the floor. He had suspicions that the nurse brought him a jacked up one on purpose. It felt like it was full of rocks or something. Whatever, he'd slept on worse.

After the movie he'd talked with Sarada for a while. Well, if he was being honest, he did most of the talking. Naruto talked a lot when he was nervous. He hated awkward silences, so he figured the best way to avoid an awkward silence was to talk a whole lot. May not be the best logic, but it had worked pretty well for him so far.

That's not to say Sarada didn't talk, it's just that Naruto definitely controlled the conversation. He learned pretty quickly that Sarada didn't like talking about her past. She never came out and said it, but Naruto could tell she felt uncomfortable whenever he asked her about it. He understood what that was like, so he steered clear of that topic.

Naruto enjoyed learning more about the girl. He'd found out she loved reading, dango and sweets, and that her favorite colors were red and black. He had to admit, he felt a little unsure about his orange outfit after the way she'd questioned it. Was orange not a cool color? He always assumed it was a super cool outfit since he'd bought it from a Ninja supply store. Maybe there was a reason he was able to get it so cheaply?

Naruto really wanted to impress her. He didn't have many friends his own age, let alone pretty girls. He contemplated using some of his savings to get a new red and black outfit. He'd managed to save quite a bit with all the D-rank missions they'd been doing. His expenses were minimal, and he still got a stipend from the Hokage every week.

Was it lame to dress differently to try an impress a girl? Would it be too obvious? What if she noticed and called him out on it?

"Are you still awake?" Sarada's whisper pulled Naruto from his thoughts.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Earlier, when the Third was here, you said you wanted to be Hokage?"

"Yeah." Naruto repeated. He rolled onto his side to get more comfortable. He was now facing her bed. Sarada must have been on the other side, because he couldn't really see her from him angle on the floor.

"Why?"

Sarada's question surprised him. It was innocent. She wasn't bashing his dream, or laughing at him, she just wanted to know why. Naruto's knee-jerk reaction was to spout off some spiel about being recognized, or becoming the strongest, but he hesitated. Something about the honest curiosity in her voice made him stop and think about it. She wasn't being skeptical. She was just genuinely interested.

So Naruto wanted to give her a genuine response. Becoming Hokage was something he'd always dreamed of. But why? Why Hokage? He could have chosen any number of dreams, made any number of goals, why that one specifically?

Naruto thought back to his time at the orphanage. Those were dark days. The workers never physically abused him, no one ever hit or kicked him, but the emotional and verbal abuse was constant. The feeling of being hated, truly hated, is not something a child should experience. It was hard on him. Most days, Naruto had no one to turn to for comfort or support.

Up until he started the academy, Naruto's only real friend was the Hokage. The only good memories he had from that part of his life were of the Old Man's visits. Those were the only times Naruto really felt loved.

He remembered the frightened look on the caregivers' faces when Sarutobi stormed the orphanage. A sea of white-masked ANBU followed the Old Man, like a miniature army. Or at least that's how he remembered it. It was one of the best days of his young life. It was the day the Hokage found out what was really going on in that hell-hole. He took Naruto out, gave him his own apartment, and made sure he had everything he needed. Groceries were delivered regularly, and he was given a weekly allowance. ANBU stopped in on a daily basis to make sure he okay. They would often stay and play games with him.

That was a definite turning point in his life. He owed the Old Man more than he could ever repay.

Naruto couldn't count the number of times the Third would drop by and visit. Naruto knew how busy the Hokage was, so those visits made Naruto feel extra special. It was a little known fact that Sarutobi couldn't cook, so on those occasions the Old Man would make one of the few dishes he could cook without burning; ramen. When he thought about it, the Third was the closest thing Naruto had to a father.

"I guess it's because of the Old Man. Growing up, I didn't really have anyone. The only person who was nice to me was the Hokage. It might sound silly, but he made me feel like my life mattered…" Naruto trailed off. In his mind, the word Hokage seemed almost synonymous with superhero.

"I want to be able to do that. To become the strongest, so I can protect everyone, especially the people who can't protect themselves. That's why, someday, I will be Hokage."

Sarada was quiet. To be honest, she was caught off guard by his answer. No one her age really knew what Naruto's childhood had been like – he never talked about it, and they certainly didn't teach it in school – but it didn't sound like it wasn't a very good one.

His words stirred something inside her. She wanted to help him. The Nanadaime had done so much for her, and now she had a chance to return the favor.

She'd learned a lot about how Naruto's techniques worked from training with Bolt and Konohamaru. Combine that with what she'd learned in school, and what the Nanadaime had told her himself, and she had a pretty good grasp the types of techniques that suited Naruto best. She couldn't teach him anything directly, but she could definitely steer him in the right direction.

First, she'd have to find out what he already knew for techniques. That was information she could only get from Naruto. She hoped young-Naruto was more open to bragging about his power than old-Naruto was.

She would not be disappointed.

"I think you'll be a good Hokage." Sarada said. She rolled over, onto the side of her bed facing Naruto, so she could look at him. His had a surprised look on his face. She guessed he didn't expect her to say that.

"I bet you already know a ton of powerful ninjutsu." She said with a smile. It was bait.

"Well, I mostly know the academy jutsu. But there is one really cool jutsu I know." By now Naruto was sitting up, all hints of sleepiness gone from his face. "It's a really cool forbidden technique!" he exclaimed.

"It's called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! It lets me make solid clones of myself." To demonstrate, he threw his hands into the ram sign. A hollow pop and 7 clones appeared in random positions around the room. They all flashed Sarada a big grin and a thumbs up before disappearing.

So he didn't know the rasengan, fuinjutsu, futon jutsu, or any of his other famous techniques? Sarada must have gone back to the beginning of his genin career, she realized. She understood how shadow clones worked pretty well because of her regular bouts with Bolt.

"That's so cool! What can you do with them?" Sarada mimicked his enthusiasm. She didn't have to try too hard. It was impressive he could make seven shadow clones so easily at such a young age, but she could sense his chakra reserves and knew that he could easily make a whole lot more.

"Well, they are pretty great in battle. I usually make a bunch so I can outnumber and swarm the enemy!" Naruto emphasized the last word by punching a closed fist into the palm of his other hand.

It sounded like he didn't understand the true power of the technique. That surprised her. Who would teach him a forbidden jutsu without fully explaining its properties? And how could she explain how it worked, without revealing that she knew how it worked?

Perhaps she could feign awe? Pretend to be super impressed and lead him to the correct conclusion?

"That must be super useful for training."

Naruto shot her a puzzled look. It was kind of cute, she thought. She felt her cheek flush red and hoped he didn't notice.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Maybe I misunderstood. I assumed you that would keep all their memories when they pop. You don't?"

Naruto thought for a second. The clones he'd left at his apartment popped a while back. He could remembered their bickering as they cleaned.

"I guess I do." Naruto admitted thoughtfully. He'd never really noticed that part of the technique. But how would that help with his training?

"That's so cool!" Sarada exclaimed, in mock awe. "You must be able to train so fast! I can't imagine how easy it would be to learn a jutsu when you can make a ton of clones to help out!" Sarada noticed a look of understanding fill Naruto's face. She felt a sense of pride that she was able to help him learn that useful piece of information.

The next day.

"Good morning my youthful students! Are you sufficiently prepared for our mission!?"

Normally, Tenten could deal with her sensei's exuberant attitude just fine. But it was 5:00 AM, and she was not a morning person.

"Gai-sensei, why are we here so early? We aren't even leaving the village until 8:00!" Tenten hoped he wasn't going to try and cram a morning training session in. The last thing she wanted was to start their mission already exhausted.

"I spent yesterday afternoon filling out these requests and getting them approved." Gai handed each of them a piece of paper as he spoke. Tenten looked at hers. It was a SF (Standard Form) 345. In other words, a messenger bird request form. It already bore a stamp of approval.

She understood immediately. You would never guess it by looking at him, but Gai was a master strategist. The jonin thought of everything, and wanted to be prepared for every possible outcome. This request form would enable her to pick up a messenger bird scroll. The scroll, when used, would summon one of Konoha's many trained messenger birds.

In case we encounter trouble. Tenten acknowledged, nodding in approval. Not a bad idea. She was sure Neji and Lee had similar request forms for other supplies Gai thought may prove pertinent.

A lazier jonin might have forgone the paper work, as it was a lot of trouble to go through for a simple C-rank mission. You could call Gai many things, but lazy was not one of them.

"Pick up the supplies specified on your respective forms. Then report to training ground 132. I will bring breakfast, and fully brief you on the mission at hand."

Although he could be a major pain in her butt sometimes, Tenten was glad to have a sensei like Gai.

"Break!"

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait guys. Between college and work, I've been very busy. The good news is the next chapter is like 85-90% done. Just working on a couple scenes.

Thank you for your patience! Please drop a review!