The Hokage was gathering intelligence of some movement from an unknown attacker making his way towards Konoha. The report that alarmed him was from an ANBU that died a few hours ago. He had suffered massive blood loss and was only able to get inside the gates of Konoha to deliver the blood-soaked intel. The missive said that a shinobi with unknown skills had slaughtered a group of sentries and was seen wearing an orange mask. The ANBU team sent to investigate the death of the sentries was ambushed and killed. One of his most trusted ANBU guards had made a run towards Konoha to warn them of what was coming.
Shikaku had read the intel and figured that Obito was getting prepared to make his move. He had been working on plans upon plans with the information that Itachi and Sakura had provided. There were a lot of things that worried Shikaku about one of the members of the Akatsuki known as Zetsu… there was something in his gut that told him that he was more dangerous than the others and because they now knew that Black Zetsu was the will of Kaguya, and not truly Madara. Shikaku had been working with the most skilled shinobi who specialized in seals to come up with a way to prevent him from summoning her.
Itachi and Shisui had completed their part in getting the majority of the clan under the influence of Shisui's Sharingan, but there were still some opposition left. Fugaku was one of them; he couldn't understand the gradual change in the minds of his clansmen. Some of the previous supporters of the coup were even suggesting that the village elders might be more inclined to listen to Uchiha concerns if they approached things differently. Since Itachi was still being kept 'in the dark' about Shisui's apparent suicide, Fugaku had no choice but to keep things quiet and not make a fuss until he could figure out what was happening.
Another alarming development was that Itachi reported that he had met with the masked shinobi two days ago and it seemed that the mystery ninja was irate about something and was rambling on to Itachi, not making sense about what he wanted. Itachi seemed to have calmed him down and had convinced him that everything was still going to plan and he was indeed going to help him seek revenge on the clan, but couldn't get the masked man to settle on a specific date. Itachi reported that Shisui had been watching them from the shadows and was not able to capture him in a genjutsu. They both felt that they would have to confront Obito head on if they were going to succeed.
Sitting in his office, Sarutobi sighed and took a long drag from his pipe as he considered what was to come. There was a knock on the door and Danzo walked in. Sarutobi greeted him and said, "How are you doing Danzo? What brings you to my office?" The other man limped up to the desk and said, "Have you given some thought about the Uchiha problem that we are dealing with?"
The elderly shinobi said, "I have. I refuse to harm any clan from OUR village. There has to be another way!" Danzo sneered at the man and said, "I do have ways… you just refuse to see reason on what the future might hold if those Uchiha are left to wallow in their hate. You are weak and have always been easy on those that should be punished."
This made Sarutobi stand and meet the lone eye of the bandaged man, "Do you think that you could do a better job? That you have the interest of the Leaf at heart, or are you so darkened by your hate to see that what you propose is wrong in every sense?" Danzo glared and turned to leave while muttering, "We will see how effective your leadership is…"
The Hokage summoned Itachi and within a few minutes, the young Uchiha heir was in his office, a knee bent and head bowed awaiting his leader's orders. "Itachi…. son, get up…" Itachi did as he was told and Sarutobi continued, "Danzo will make his move soon… Get with Shikaku about the other intel that we received… I think we will be having our hands full in the next couple of days." Itachi nodded and said, "Should I increase the ANBU to your residence?" The older shinobi said, "No… I am fine, but do send someone over to my grandson's home. I want him watched at all times." Itachi bowed and said, "It will be done."
Itachi left without saying another word, he went directly to the ANBU tower and dispatched the guards to Konohamaru's house. His next destination was evident in his heart… he was going to see her.
As he approached the park where he knew she would be, he saw that his mother and Sasuke were walking there as well. Itachi hid his chakra signature and then expanded his senses to see if anyone else was tailing him. When no one else was, he hid in some of the surrounding trees to watch what his mother was doing with Sasuke.
Sakura had been teaching Naruto how to properly gather chakra to a specific body part, such as their feet when they climbed surfaces against gravity. Kakashi had been sitting down reading a book nearby and there was a group of children playing in the background. Sakura had noticed that her younger version was playing amongst the children and at first was concerned that meeting her younger self would rip open time, or something like that, but Kakashi convinced her that if that would have been true, it would have happened the instant that she was within the same time/space continuum.
Sakura hadn't approached her younger self yet, she wanted little Sakura to realize that making friends and overcoming the teasing that caused her to have many body image issues was important in her self-development. She didn't want it forced upon her and would wait and see if little Sakura made the choice herself.
Naruto concentrated on his chakra control, but suddenly felt a pair of eyes on him, it felt weird and was about to mention it to Sakura when he noticed Sasuke coming over with a lady who had a kind look in her eye. Sasuke introduced his mother to Kakashi and Sakura, which they returned with a respectful bow. Mikoto then looked at the young blond child before her and approached him and said, "Are you Naruto-kun?"
Naruto nodded but didn't say anything. Mikoto had seen the hesitation in speaking with an adult written all over his face. She continued, "Hello, my name is Mikoto Uchiha. I am Sasuke's mom. He has been telling me all about your trainings. I wanted to tell you that I am very happy that my son found a friend in which he can have a friendly rivalry with. I know that the both of you will grow in your ninja ways together."
Naruto didn't know what to say and instead bowed his head and said, "It was very nice to meet you Uchiha-san" She knelt and with a gentle hand cupped his chin so that she could take a good look at the boy that was cursed by all as the Jinchuriki of the village. He had the same lost eyes that Shisui did when he came to her door dragged in by her eldest son.
She looked into Naruto's eyes and could see the perfect mix of Kushina and Minato. Her eyes stung a bit at the thought of her friend's son growing up alone and she felt extremely guilty for taking so long to have the courage to go up to the boy and offer some motherly comfort.
He noticed the moisture in her eyes and Naruto said, "Uchiha-san, are you ok?" She smiled warmly at him and said, "Naruto… I am sorry it has taken me this long, but I knew your parent's well…" Naruto stared at her, a spark of hope blossomed in his small heart. She saw this in his eyes and whispered, "Son… you will always be welcomed in my home. I know that you want to know more about them and… and I hope that you can forgive me for taking this long to do this…" She hugged him and said, "Your mom was a dear friend of mine and her death affected me a lot… I'm sorry for abandoning the child of someone I saw as a sister." She felt some tears on her shoulder which turned into sobs and then into cries. The young boy hugged her fiercely, as if he was hugging his own mother. He whispered, "Please… tell me more."
Mikoto said, "Child, first take me to where you are living now. I want to see where you live and make sure that you have everything that you need. I mean… if that is ok with your sensei, I don't want to disturb your training." Sakura shook her head and said, "No Uchiha-san, right now Naruto-kun needs you more than he needs us. Please go ahead and don't worry about us."
Sasuke turned to his mother and said, "Hey mom do you think that Naruto can come over and spend the night with us since we are going to miss training today?" She patted his head and said, "If that is something that Naruto-kun wishes, I have no problem with it." Naruto beamed and said, "Thank you Uchiha-san..." Mikoto replied, "Please Naruto-kun, you can call me Auntie if you would like."
She took Naruto's hand and Sasuke's and walked towards Naruto's home answering all the questions that Naruto could think of.
Sakura smiled and went to sit next to Kakashi. He looked up from his book and said, "So… how do you think the mission is going?" She said, "With Naruto and Sasuke?... I think it's going great, I think those two will have an even stronger bond now." Kakashi knew that she was still thinking about something so he turned his book down on his knee to save his place and looked at her, "What is bothering you?"
She looked back and said, "I want my younger self to develop as well, I don't want her feeling like she is being left behind…" Kakashi answered, "But they haven't even started in the Academy… we still have time left." She thought about it and wondered if she would have to watch her younger self suffer through her long-lasting crush and not see her ninja way.
Speaking of crushes… Itachi made his way over to where they were. She lightly blushed and Kakashi rolled his eyes. Kakashi lazily stretched his arms and placed one over her shoulders. Itachi was about to say something but Kakashi tapped his chin and said, "Uh, uh, brat… we are in public and right now you can't do anything about this…" He leaned over and placed a chaste masked kiss on Sakura's cheek.
Itachi's hands balled into fists and Sakura's eyebrow twitched in frustration. Itachi felt a chakra spike and then looked around and whispered, "I felt someone looking at us just now. Did you feel it too?" Kakashi nodded and quietly said, "I have been trying to get a feel from where it was coming from. I felt it when Sakura was training Naruto as well… It might be Obito…"
Itachi said, "I will inform the Hokage and alert Shikaku." With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi kept his arm over her shoulder and leaned down and whispered, "Play along…" She nodded and then felt his other hand grab hers as he brought it up to his masked lips. He said in a normal voice, "My sweet, let's go home for now, I can't wait to get you all alone." Sakura brought her hand to cover her face as she whispered, "Laying it kinda thick there huh, Kakashi." He then jokingly said, "Come now, don't be shy… show me how much you love me my dear."
Sakura moved her hand away from her face and laid her head on his shoulder and curled up next to him. She gently played with the edge of his shirt and almost gritted through her teeth, "If Itachi doesn't kill you by the end of this mission, I might." She had a smile on her face and Kakashi paled underneath his mask. He was unsure if she was serious or not. They got up and went back to Kakashi's house in a somewhat tense silence.
Once they got inside Kakashi let go of her hand and said, "Look Sakura you need to just admit it and tell him how you feel." She looked down and said, "But I have no experience in this sort of stuff…" Kakashi sighed and said, "It looks like he likes you already, so… just confess to him. You guys know that I'm just giving him a hard time while we keep our cover up. These last few days have made me really appreciate you as a close friend… I will only say this once and don't you dare repeat any of this to anyone else…"
He paused and she looked right at him as he continued, "Don't become someone you are not because of your past, live in the now and don't lose hope in what's in front of you. It seemed to me that my older version must have had feelings for you because of what you all went through together… and it looked like it took him a very long time to figure it out. I don't want that for myself now… After all this is said and done, I want my friends to be happy… but most of all I don't want to be alone anymore. If I ever find love, I won't waste my opportunity, so neither should you."
Sakura was moved by his words and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in deeply as he whispered, "Thank you for showing me my way." She pulled back and moved the hair that had fallen over his face. She said, "No matter what time or dimension, I will never leave my friends, you taught me that and for that reason you will always have a special place in my heart." He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.
They both did not see the mismatched eyes that were fuming with anger at the sight of their embrace. The masked shinobi had it with his once traitorous teammate. If Kakashi had taken Rin away, Obito was going to pay him in full in the same way. It was only a matter of time.
A/N: Thank you for all the love I'm receiving with each review/follow/favorite/PM and another add to a second Community page. It really means a lot to me!
I went to the Imagine Dragons concert last night and I am so happy today and inspired to continue writing because of all the good vibes from their music. I hope some of you have noticed that each chapter title is the name of a song from some of my favorite artists. I have the next chapter written and in editing so I shouldn't skip another day from updating just because of my work schedule. Love you all!