A/N: Yay, more continuation of One Thing in Common. See, I told you I was going to update much more often now. I hereby promise to update at least once a week, perhaps more often if it takes my fancy. Also, after careful considering and keeping up with the Naruto manga, I've decided that there is noooo way in hell the story I've written so far will be able to remain as close to the original storyline whatsoever. Honestly, after Obito revealed himself, we can all say shit hit the fan. So from here on out, this will officially by an AU. There will still be war, but it will be nothing like the actual war in the actual Naruto manga by Masashi Kishimoto.

'The body was beyond recognition, it could be anybody,' that's what they told her. 'It was Doro, the nominee for sixth Hokage,' that's what Shizune told her. Tsunade believed her; Shizune was one of the best forensic medic-nins and if she said the lump of flesh belonged to Doro, then that lump of flesh was Doro.

And there-in lied the problem; how did a dead man attend the Kage summit all the way in the Land of Iron? Tsunade groaned in frustration; she could feel a headache building. She almost wished she could fall back asleep and that she never woke up to deal with all of these damn problems.

So many many problems and questions. If Doro was killed here, then who went to the Land of Iron? Why did Sakura kill Doro? (Tsunade saw the battlefield. She knew only her pupil could've caused that kind of widespread damage.) Why so viciously; what did Doro do to bring out that kind of rage from the normally sweet hearted girl? (Tsunade shuddered to even think about it, but also felt an insane amount of fury. How dare that monster hurt Sakura?)

But most importantly: where was her daughter, Sakura?

"You were the greatest mom I could've ever asked for."

Those words haunted Tsunade and though a surge of pride and love swelled in her heart, a deep shame also ailed her. 'I was a horrible mother,' the words echoed every time she remembered Sakura's words. What kind of mother exiles her daughter to the cold, harsh outside world? She let the council play with Sakura's life, let the Root organization go after her, and all Tsunade did was stand back and hope she ran fast and far enough.

Why, oh why, did she come back? Sakura deserved better than Konoha ever gave her. Than what Tsunade gave her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It took more effort than should be necessary to turn her head and look out the window, but Tsunade felt like every bone on her body weighed 200lbs each. The sound was that of a hawk tapping its beak against the wood to signal its arrival. There was really no pressing need for her hurry up and greet it.

Tap. Tap. Tap. That didn't make the bird any less impatient.

Sighing, she turned around, resigning herself to read some message -most likely a mission report. But what greeted her sight was not one, but two messenger hawks. There they stood, side by side, one real hawk bearing the Konoha insignia and the other… made entirely out of black ink.

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed. Why was one of Sai's bird here? He was supposed to still be undercover, gathering information on Root. The only reason he'd contact her was if- That was it! Her eyes widened in realization: His mission with Ino! They must've found something!

The eagerness with which she stood up nearly sent the live hawk flying, but its training won out in the end. It watched as the Hokage quickly took the ink bird's message, then (finally) accepted its own message as second thought. The ink bird flew off immediately, but the hawk remained to wait for a reply.

So it watched as the blonde human unfurled both scrolls and laid them out on her desk. She hunched over both, presumably reading but the hawk really couldn't care less. It was a bird.

But then all of a sudden, manicured hands slammed down on wood and the human stood up so fast it sent her chair barreling over. "Shizune!" she screamed with such intensity that the hawk panicked," Emergency meeting now!"

It only took Shizune five minutes to gather the people Tsunade requested, a new personal record for her. (she was quite proud of the fact). Quiet pants escaped her, exhausted from running all around Konoha, as she stood next to Morino Ibiki, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Nara Shikaku. Her eyes were wide as Tsunade read them the report sent by Hatake Kakashi.

"How can this be?" Inoichi was the first to speak, a fair amount of disbelief lacing his voice," Sasuke has killed Danzou? Didn't Haruno Sakura already kill him nearly a year ago?"

Shikaku frowned," He faked his death. But how did Sasuke know that was Danzou?"

It only got worse from there . Tsunade continued to read the report, getting to the part about Sora. "Ryuuketsu?" Inoichi gaped," But Hokage-sama… he died years and years ago, killed by-"

"Uchiha Itachi," Ibiki finished for him, but he hardly seemed surprised. In actuality, could anything surprise Ibiki? He appeared more resigned than surprise, as he closed his eyes and sighed deeply," I always suspected Itachi faked the Chimeiteki's death, but I could never find any proof."

"About Uchiha Itachi…" Tsunade cut in," There's something you should know. He's also still alive-" She didn't get to finish as chaos erupted in her office.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Kiba asked Neji as soon as he spotted the older Jounin in the hallway. He thought it so odd to be called to the Hokage's office with the most urgent of ASAPs, only to see Neji and his team outside her door. Shino and Hinata trailed behind Kiba, but neither team knew what he meant.

Neji shook his head in answer. "No. Tsunade approved of us sneaking Sakura-chan into Konoha."

"But she did kind of kill the sixth Hokage," Kiba pointed out.

TenTen grinned. "I know, isn't Sakura-san amazing? She took out a kage." Neji shot an exasperated look at his teammate," That is not a good thing, TenTen."

Just then, the door opened up and Naruto stuck out his head," Quit dawdling and get in here. You're going to want to hear this." Then he popped back into the office without waiting for them.

All six of them blinked. "Naruto-kun's back?" Hinata commented quietly.

"Didn't he go to the Summit?" Rock Lee wondered.

"C'mon!" TenTen pushed at her two teammates," Let's find out!" After much shoving by the impatient kunoichi, they entered Tsunade's office.

Only to find it already brimming with people. The list of people in the room was endless: Gai, Kakashi, Shikaku, Inoichi, Ibiki, Yamato, Shizune, Naruto, Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and even Chouza turned upon the entrance of six more people. "I don't think I've ever seen so many people crammed in here," Neji thought he heard Ibiki mutter under his breath.

But upon seeing Neji and Hinata walk in, Tsunade seemed to sigh in relief. "Ah, Neji, please ensure that no one is listening outside of this room. Hinata, make sure there are no listening devices."

A moment later and a confirmation, they got to business.

"As of now, the people within this room are to the only ones I trust in this entire village." A few voices spoke up, but she held up a hand to halt any questions. "And," she continued," as such, you have the right to know why, and there are several things you should be aware of."

"But first, what I'm about to say does not leave this room. Am I clear?"

A chorus of affirmations rang out.

"Then I will make this as simple as possible," with a wry smile and folding her hands in front of her, Tsunade announced," Danzou faked his death and was only recently actually killed by Sasuke at the Summit. Sakura, who was exiled for his murder, is now under the protection of Uchiha Itachi, who is not dead, and who is also innocent of the Uchiha Massacre."

There was a distinct thud as Hinata fainted and Kiba was too shocked to catch her in time. Neji, who only barely maintained his impassive face, bent down to pick up his cousin up off the floor, too surprised himself to even glare. Shikamaru just sighed," Troublesome… a wild card right where we don't need one."

Tsunade glanced at Kakashi," Am I forgetting anything?"

"Ryuuketsu."

"Oh right," she tried not to smile and failed, adding," They are also in the company of another supposed 'deceased' S-rank nuke-nin, Chimeiteki Ryuuketsu, who now goes by the name Sora. All three of them have declared war on Akatsuki , and it can be assumed that they are amassing an army. Though where, we can't be sure."

Luckily, the majority of the room's occupants were already privy to some of these secrets and so the ensuing chaos was minimum. It also helped that most of them were in too much shock to yell, instead voicing their questions all at the same time.

"Was Danzou alive this entire time?" Shino asked.

"What do you mean my Sakura-chan is under the protection of Uchiha Itachi?" Rock Lee wailed, half distraught that Sakura had apparently chosen another man and half horrified by who it was," How is he not dead?"

"Who the hell is Chimeiteki Ryuuketsu?" Tenten pondered out loud while she tried to fan Hinata awake.

"Wait a minute!" Kiba was the only one to shout," If Itachi's alive, why didn't Akamaru or I smell him or anyone else on Sakura-chan when we saw her a couple days ago?"

"She was here?!" Then all hell broke loose as Ino heard him. She roared and proceeded to lock the youngest Inuzuka into a vicious headlock, threatening to squeeze until his head popped off. "Why didn't I get to see her?! When were you going to tell me?!"

"I just want to see my best friend!"

"H-hey!" Kiba choked out," I wasn't the only one! Neji saw her too!"

When Ino locked her glare onto him, Neji responded with a look of his own. 'I dare you,' he seemed to be saying with his eyes. She did not try, and released Kiba with a huff. She also may or may not have muttered," I'll kill all you jerks," under her breath.

"Now then," Tsunade attempted to regain control of the conversation, now that the chaos had died down a bit," We must proceed with caution, for not only do we have Akatsuki to worry about, but the Council is more treacherous than we originally assumed."

TenTen blinked," The Council of Elders?"

She was ignored for the most part, as the Hokage was addressing Sai," First things first, with Danzou and Doro decease, Root is finally and officially disbanded and you are now one of my shinobi. You report only to me, do you understand? You've already proven your worth to me and I have no doubt on your loyalty."

Before Sai could reply or thank her, Ino bounded over and wrapped her arms around him enthusiastically. "You're one of us now! Isn't that wonderful, Sai?" He just looked confused.

A few more people congratulated him and Ibiki had to clear his throat to regain their attention. "The Council, Hokage-sama?" he reminded her.

But she instead motioned to Ino and Sai," I think it's time you two tell us all you've learned about the Harunos." She figured it best to get it out of the way and explain the Uchiha history later, that story was much longer anyways.

"The Harunos?" Naruto echoed," What does the Council have to do with Sakura's family?"

"Everything," Tsunade said darkly.

Sai managed to pry himself away from Ino and faced his friend, Naruto. "The Council was originally declared by the first Hokage to be comprised of only Harunos, the clan of Keepers."

"There are only five Harunos left," Ino interjected," Sakura-chan and her family. And Sakura-chan's the heir to the role of Keeper."

" 'Keeper'?" Kakashi repeated, having already heard it twice," That… sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember from where. What does it have to do with Sakura?"

In answer to his question, Sai pulled out an ancient looking scroll from an inner pocket. He unrolled it, revealing a beautiful painting of a cherry blossom tree, the white ring of the Haruno family above it, then an official decree underneath. " Before the Great Ninja wars, the Haruno clan was renounced as a clan of mediators," he explained," Whenever two or more clans would gather to form a truce, it was tradition to always have at least one Haruno present."

"They were peace keepers," Shino murmured, coming to realize the meaning first.

Sai nodded in agreement," Thus the title Keeper."

"But that's not only it," Ino added, then pointed to the cherry blossom tree," This is a 'Keeper's Tree'. They kept more than the peace; legend says they kept lost souls. Whenever someone died in battle, it's said the Keepers would claim their soul and lay it to rest at a very special tree."

Her baby blue eyes glanced up at everyone," They were practically the holy men of the era. And since Konoha was founded by the alliance of powerful clans…"

Her father's own eyes, same shade of blue, widened," Konoha needed the Harunos to forge the alliance, to help keep the peace."

His daughter nodded proudly with a smile," Yup. And since Konoha needed the Harunos, the first Hokage declared that the Council would always be made of Harunos, to advice the Hokage, to lean towards peace and not war."

"So then…" TenTen questioned," Why are the Council Elders right now not Harunos?"

There was an answer ready, which Sai gave her," Around the end of the Nidaime's time as Hokage, the Harunos number began to fall, and the Senjus and Uchihas turned against each other again."

"Then the Third Great Ninja War broke out, and a new Council was created in accordance to that. By the time the Yondaime was chosen, the history of the Keepers was obsolete."

"Sakura is the first Haruno to ever achieve the rank of kunoichi," Shikaku spoke up," And as Tsunade's pupil, she has status. If she were to ever find out that she's the rightful council advisor…" He trailed off, the realization already spreading around the room.

"Sakura-chan has the right to kick those old farts out of office!" Naruto exclaimed.

Shikaku just scratched his chin thoughtfully," If she were to claim her birthright, the current Council would have to denounce her and ultimately fight her in order to keep their power."

"But who would ever side with them against our dear Sakura-chan?" Gai asked.

The answer was simple. "No one. She'd be uncontested."

It all made sense now, and looking back on it, Kakashi finally had the answer to a question that haunted him for months. Why did the Council set Sakura up to be exiled? These questions plagued him day and night, with no answer. Now… he had one. "So they got rid of her…" he finally understood, feeling rage for the ones who did this.

Tsunade nodded; she knew his anger. She felt it too. "Using the same tactic they used to get rid of Itachi and the Uchiha clan. To stop them and her from getting too much power and starting a revolution."

Mama Haruno sat on her porch, same as she did every day. She'd watch the people walking on the street, imagining their names, their lives, guessing where they were headed to and such. It passed the time, and it was fairly easy for her to put herself in their shoes, to imagine who they were and perhaps understand them. The strangers that crossed her street, they did not feel like strangers to her.

Until came the day when someone walked down the street that everyone in the village knew. She recognized him as everyone did, but she also knew him from pictures still residing in her home. In her daughter's old room, that remained untouched to this day; on her mantle where the team portrait sat proudly.

This was an unprecedented occasion though, never before had anyone from her daughter's team come to visit before. She'd never met any of them in person before, and though she wondered years ago, she did not press the issue. Still, it was an odd sight to see Uzumaki Naruto walk slowly up the residential street, hands in his pockets. Eventually, he reached their front gate, and pausing at the fence he asked if he could join her on the porch.

She happily waved him up and patted the spot on the loveseat beside her. Still, he hesitated," Umm… You're Sakura-chan's mom, right?" he asked, and Mama Haruno saw that he was embarrassed. It was understandable; they've never met, and she presumed that he felt a bit ashamed that he'd never bothered to learn about Sakura's family before now. It was probably frightening for him to think of getting to know any family, when he did not have one of his own.

So still smiling, she nodded," I am. Mama Haruno, is what everyone calls me."

He blinked in amazement," You want me to call you Mama Haruno?"

"Everyone does."

"Umm, okay," he accepted with a shrug, then looking up at her bashfully he asked," Has anyone told you about Sakura-chan?"

"I've been told of my daughter's status," she answered serenely," But I know my daughter, and I know she will be alright outside of the village gates."

"Oh…" Naruto fell silent, not entirely sure where to go from here. Mama Haruno eyed him out of the corner of her eye, pondering the reason why he even came today. It had been eleven months since her daughter 'left' the village. Three and a half years since they became part of a team. Something must have happened today in order for him to drag himself all the way out to residential Konoha just to finally meet her.

Perhaps he just needed a bit of nudging. "Have you seen Sakura since she left?" she asked, faintly amused when his head snapped up. His face was wide and expressive, much like her daughters, and Mama Haruno liked how he still held that air of innocence. It was not something she saw in many people, and imagined to rarely exist in shinobi. She hoped he never lost that about him.

"I have," he said in response to her question," Umm, a little bit ago, actually."

Really? That was fortunate, Mama Haruno smiled. Then perhaps he would be able to answer a question that had been plaguing her the entire time her daughter's been away from home. "Did she seem happy to you?"

To her joy, his answer was immediate. "Yes," he nodded, smiling from ear to ear. His smile was like sunshine, she thought. "In fact, when she comes home…" his grin grew wider and she closed her eyes with a smile, appreciating that he said 'when' and not 'if'," …she's going to be bringing home a family of her own."

'A what?!' Mama's eyes snapped open, then furrowed in astonishment. "What?" she gasped.

Naruto's eyes widened, realizing his wording hadn't exactly been the most eloquent. "Oh, no, wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait! Not a family, per se, well… kind of, but not the kind you're thinking of!" he backpedalled," I meant to say that she's found some really good friends that are like family to her. Kind of. There's this really cute little girl that she's sorta adopted, along with her big brother. Then there's this other guy…" he trailed off, turning a little red.

She smiled deviously," Has my daughter finally found a boyfriend?"

He nodded embarrassedly, his face tomato red. She laughed, simply overjoyed that her daughter had finally found someone to love. A part of her feared that Sakura would be too stuck in the past, too in love with that Uchiha boy, to ever move on and be happy. "I'm glad," she hummed contentedly.

Naruto seemed to calm, his entire posture relaxing after the moment they just shared. 'Now's the perfect time,' she thought, then asked," So what brings you here after all these years, Naruto-san?"

And just like that, his smile dimmed until it became a frown. He fell silent, unwilling to voice the reason why he had come. She simply waited; he would tell her eventually, otherwise he would not have come at all. "Is it true?" he suddenly inquired," About the Haruno clan, and its legend, and that you're supposed to be the Council?"

Ahh, so the past had finally come to light. "It is," she told him," We may have fallen into legend, but we still practice our traditions to this day."

"If it's true then…" he furrowed his eyebrows and she thought it amusing how his face showed how hard he was thinking," Why aren't you on the Council? Why let them get away with it for so long?"

It was a sensible enough question, one that she had an answer ready for. "My great great grandparents were the Konoha Council Advisors," she reminisced," But when the wars came, they stepped down in order for others to step forward. We are a clan of peacekeepers, and during war, Konoha needed to be strong and mighty. We were better off elsewhere."

"And after?"

She shrugged," Politics was never the forte of the Haruno clan. So we never bothered fighting for our position back, and we were content to continue being the Keepers." She assumed he'd also learned about the Keepers, so there was no point not mentioning their primary tradition.

He thought for a long moment, then inquired, almost shyly," Are you the Keeper?"

Listen to him, asking if she was 'the Keeper'. A soft smile broke out on her face. "I am," she said vaguely.

A longer moment passed, then he quietly asked," Is the Keeper's tree true too?"

Her smile grew. "Do you wish to see it?" she implored, to which his face turned red but he nodded anyways. "Come along then," she stood up and walked out the yard, him following behind her.

Naruto wasn't sure what to think of the Keeper's tree. He expected it to be a sacred, holy place. Perhaps there would be a temple around it, or some other shrine dedicated to its purpose. In reality, it was none of these things.

He followed Sakura-chan's mom down the street as she quietly led the way. Her pink hair swayed lightly as she walked, only a few shades darker than Sakura's, and Naruto finally understood where Sakura's own light pink hair come from. Idly, he thought it odd that he'd never noticed this other person with this hair color before. Did all Harunos have pink hair?

Finally, they reached a quaint house and Mama Haruno entered the front yard. As they passed through the gate, Naruto noticed the mailbox and the name 'Haruno' painted on the side. This must be Sakura's grandparents' home, he realized.

Mama Haruno followed a stone path on the side of the house, a narrow passageway between this building and the next. A short while later, it opened up into a spacious garden. There were flowers and green grass everywhere, but no tree. No shrine, no little temple, nothing that looked like the painting in the scroll.

"Here," she gestured him over to a corner of the garden. Naruto looked, and saw… a gravestone with just a little circle on it. It was small, he thought, and the freshly dug up ground in front of it even more so. It couldn't have been more than a square foot. Then further beyond the gravestone… he saw it.

"It's just a sapling," he blurted out, surprised to see this tiny little sapling with only a few leaves and even fewer branches. For all he knew, it might not have even been a cherry blossom tree.

Mama smiled knowingly," A few months ago, it was a mere seed."

"But," he thought outloud," I thought it was supposed to be this grand tree. With a shrine and everything, like the picture." He stared at this little tree and its little grave in wonder.

"The previous one was destroyed in Pein's attack."

Oh… Naruto looked down and scratched the back of his head; he never thought of that. Glancing back at the little tree, he realized they must've planted this after the last one was destroyed. He looked back at Sakura-chan's mom in time to see her lay a hand lovingly on the gravestone. "And this is all the shrine we need."

Whatever Naruto may have previously thought the Keeper of Souls would be, it was nothing in comparison to the real thing. Mama Haruno just seemed so… serene and mystical and wise, that he had no problem believing that they had been the holy persons of the past. Would Sakura-chan be just like that when she took over her duties as Keeper?

"Is Sakura-chan really the next Keeper of Lost Souls?" The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Sakura's mom looked up from the gravestone, chuckling. " 'The next Keeper'?" she repeated," I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked," Well, I mean… You're the Keeper right now, so doesn't that make Sakura-chan your heir? That means that one day, she'll be the Keeper."

This time, Mama Haruno laughed, shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid you have it all wrong, Naruto-san," she corrected him," Sakura isn't the next in line for anything."

"Huh?" It only seemed to confuse him more.

"There is no one Keeper of Lost Souls," she explained," We are all Keepers. Every last Haruno." She turned back to the little tree. "Just like there isn't just one Keeper's Tree. There are many scattered across the nations, this is but one of dozens."

...

A/N: I know, I know. I created another OC. But I couldn't help myself, I liked writing Mama Haruno, she's just so nice and 'motherly'. Plus, it's a nice juxtaposition between her and Tsunade, both of whom Sakura considers as mother. They couldn't be more different, but both play a big role in shaping Sakura. Tsunade inspired Sakura's strong side, and Mama Haruno inspired Sakura's compassionate side.

And yeah, we're just going to pretend Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno don't exist. Okay? In this fic, it's Mama and Papa Haruno, with Granny and Gramps Haruno. Because I can.