Heya everyone! Thank you all so much for reading this. I love being able to write for you guys. Here you go. Enjoy chapter 23.

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Itachi had been running through the woods, following Sakura's trail when it suddenly cut off, and it was night. When it came to tracking, his Sharingan rivaled the nose of the Inuzaka hounds. It was able to find the smallest trace of a person's trail that was difficult for even the most focused ninja hound. Having not ran into her despite having been out for a few hours was enough to surprise him just a bit.

Itachi had been following Sakura's trail until it went completely dead. 'She must have jumped into the trees and altered her direction.' Itachi figured out in his head within a split second. He jumped into a nearby tree and caught the sight of three trails including a trail that was at an slant in the general direction of the cabin. He summoned three of his own clones and sent them to follow the trails that were left by her clones and went to the nearest town. He'd wait for his clones to report back to him.

The town was in the same direction as her trail was originally heading so he kept going on that path. He snuck into the town by jumping over the wall of a more unpopulated section of town. Men and women continued to walk the street despite the moon being directly above their heads and making its way to the horizon. The pinkette he and his clones were looking for was nowhere in sight and he could find no trace of her chakra in this part of town. Her lodgings were to the east of town and closest to the edge of town.

Itachi made his way to the highest building in town and perched himself, in a crouch, to watch over the town in case she had somehow found her way here. He stayed like this for two hours. When he still hadn't seen her, he decided to rest for an hour to replenish some of his chakra.

…

Sakura woke just before dawn and decided to let the boy sleep a bit longer. She peaked out the window and watched for a moment. She thought she could see someone sitting on the top of a building just barely in sight, so she directed chakra to her eyes. This caused her sight to alter and see further than she normally could. With her binocular like eyes she focused on the figure and could see the person's features.

The sleeping figure had black hair tied into a ponytail. Their eyes were shut, brows furrowed, and deep stress lines above his slender pale pink lips. Had her situation been different, Sakura would have found him handsome and considered him dating material. Itachi had found the town she was in and was within three miles of her. He hadn't seen her so she backed away from the window and woke the boy with her up.

"It's morning." Sakura spoke lightly. "It's time to wake up." She helped sooth him from his restful sleep. He hummed lightly then turned over to face away from her. "Come on, little one." She shook him lightly with her hand on his shoulder.

He groaned in response but opened his eyes this time. Half lidded he looked up with his brown eyes that struck Sakura with a feeling of familiarity. His bed head brown hair told her immediately who he resembled. What perplexed her was that she couldn't recall what his name was. That was strange seeing how it hadn't been so long since she met the man and the impression he held on her. She has found her mind slipping to him as she fell through time and landed in different years. Originally, she thought he was insane but now that she wasn't in her time she wondered if he wasn't so insane after all.

But this boy couldn't be him. She had been 13 when Itachi had come for Naruto resulting in Naruto leaving the village to train with Jiraiya. Now she was 18 and the man who attacked her was no younger than 21 but no older than 25. The boy wouldn't even be 16 within five years.

"Good morning!" The young boy smiled up at her and his stomach growled loudly. He blushed and looked down at his stomach. "Sorry." He apologized.

"Good morning. Let's get you washed up then we can go get something to eat." Sakura led the young boy to the bathroom and helped him wash up. Once all the dried mud and traces of blood were washed off the boy she found he had bruises and cuts of different ages scattered across his skin. After washing the boy she cleaned his clothes the best she could in the sink then used her chakra to dry the clothing so he wouldn't get sick from being in wet clothes. "I'm going to heal these wounds of yours. Alright?" Sakura didn't want to scare him when she channeled her chakra into him as he sat on the bed after having gotten out of the bathroom.

"Really?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, so lay back on the pillows for me and it will be done in a second." Sakura instructed him. He followed what she told him to do immediately. She healed his wounds then directed her chakra into his bones to figure out how old he was. He wasn't 3 like she originally thought. In reality he was an extremely malnourished 6-year-old boy. In five years, he'd only be 11. He wasn't the one who attacked her and Kakashi.

"Woah!" He watched as the bruises on his legs disappeared. The cuts on his arms disappeared just as easily. The boy laughed. "Can you teach me how to do that?" He asked excitedly.

"Maybe when you're older." She rubbed his hair then stood up.

"Awe." He let out sadly.

"You'd have to study really hard before I can teach you this jutsu." Sakura then added, "I will get you a book for you to memorize if you really want to learn." Sakura stretched then motioned for the boy to get up.

"Yay. I wanna be just like you!" He giggled.

'This boy is too cute.' Inner said sighing dreamily.

'Don't go soft on us!' Gagged Pastel as she made faking puking sounds.

'I agree.' Inner almost yelled at her but stopped when she heard the rest of what Sakura was thinking. 'He is so adorable. I wouldn't mind having this cutie around longer.'

'SEE- Wait! What?!' Pastel yelled nearly giving Sakura a headache.

Inner laughed at this. 'HAHA! She agrees with me!' Inner continued to tease Pastel.

"Come on little one. Let's get you something to eat." Sakura chuckled when she heard another growl come from his stomach. "Before we go, I need to do something." Sakura knelt before the boy. "A really mean guy is chasing me. I have to hide my real appearance, but this is still me." Sakura informed the boy with a sweet voice. She brought back her disguise from the night before.

"That's so cool!" He was overjoyed to see how her hair looked almost like his own. It made him wonder if he had a family. "Do you think I have a family?" His smile had faded as he the question fell off his tongue.

"We will find out." She smiled brighter at him and took his hand. They went and got food then went to the information center at the front of the village which was near the entrance of the village and away from Itachi. Their entire walk from the restaurant to the information building of the village had Sakura giggling as the young child was doing a cute dance as he wondered what his family looked like. Did he have siblings? Where they worried about him? Would they let him see Sakura again?

"Good morning, how may we assist you?" Asked the man at the front desk when the women and boy walked through the glass door. The kimono she wore flattered her figure in a rather homely manner and made him remember how his wife loved to wear kimonos similar of the one Sakura was wearing that was a soft yellow and only had a delicate looking, hand embroidered, lily going up the right hip.

"Good morning. I was wondering if you know who this young boy is?" Sakura inquired. The young boy gripped her kimono and held on tight. "I found him wondering the woods on my way here and he has no clue who he is." Sakura informed the man who seemed confused.

"Is he not your relative?" The man asked confusingly.

Sakura shook her head with a sad smile on her lips. "Unfortunately, not." She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"I am not aware of any children being reported as missing. I will check for you. Please sit over there for a moment while I check." He directed her towards the seats to her right and the two went and sat while they waited. "Ma'am?" He called out to her when he came back into the room.

"Yes sir?" Sakura asked politely as she comforted the boy next to her.

"I'm sorry, we do not have a missing child that resembles the boy in question." The man felt bad for not being able to help them. "We do not have any child services in this town but can take him to the orphanage in the next town over if you'd like." He offered. The boy gripped her arm tight.

"I will take him with me. I will see if I can find his family before thinking of sending him there." Sakura brought the boy closer. "Do you know where I can get a map of this village and a regional map as well?"

"Yes, give me one moment I have some right here." He shuffled through the contents of the desk drawer next to him and pulled out the two maps she needed. "Here. On me." He smiled at her, amazed at how kind she was to help the boy find his family. "Please be careful."

"Thank you so much. Have a nice day." They left the building and traveled towards the gate when they came across a bookstore. 'Aoi Mori's finest' was sprawled across the windows in an elegant font. They entered the store and Sakura found a book that covered the basics of learning to use chakra and all the information he'd need to start his studies if he really wished to learn. After purchasing the book she glanced at the maps she had gotten and found out the name of the village they were in was Aoi Mori which translated to Blue Forest. The village of the Blue Forest (青い森の村) was where she was and it was north of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. If she could make it back there she'd be able to get some answers, and maybe some training, from her aunt and uncle.

One more stop was made before they left the village. They stopped by a store to get the boy some clothing, so he had something clean to wear. Then, with the boy in her arms, they left the village as fast as Sakura could run before Itachi could catch them.

"Do you have an idea as to what your name is?" Sakura asked the boy who was holding onto her with his arms wrapped around her neck. His face was buried into her neck with his eyes shut tight. He shook his head 'no'. "I'm sorry, little one." Sakura tried to sooth him.

"C-can you give me a n-name?" He mumbled. Sakura almost missed his question. "Please?" He knew his manners better than most the kids she knew that were his age.

"I can do that." Sakura took a moment to think of a suitable name. She couldn't stop thinking of how he did a cute dance around her after they ate. He had been skipping around her and twirling and he bobbed his head rhythmically, laughing the entire time. Finally, it dawned on her. "How about Haru Maiko?" Sakura proposed. "Haru for spring (since it was currently May) and Maiko for dancing child. I know Maiko is normally a girl name but-"

"I love it!" He pulled his head from her neck where he had it burrowed to kiss her cheek then put it right back. He had a big smile on his face. He was so happy. Sakura worried he may not like Maiko being part of his name, but he accepted it without a second thought.

'Don't get too attached to him. You know what will happen.' Warned Inner.

'I know…' Sakura thought back rather flatly. She was wondering if she had already gotten too attached. Her smile deflated into a flat line. She didn't stop running though, instead she pushed herself further by channeling more chakra into her legs.

A feeling of nausea took her over and panic filled her as she feared what that may have meant. She stopped running and jumped to the ground as she began to feel dizzy. She braced her back against a tree and hugged Haru closer. "Haru…" Sakura's henge slipped away to reveal her pink hair and other features.

"Yeah?" He asked, confused by their sudden stop.

"I may disappear-" Sakura began.

"Why? Please don't leave me! I'll be good! I promise." Tears began to well up in his eyes and he held on tighter.

"I don't want to, but if I do I want you to head in that direction." She held him with one hand and grabbed the maps from her pouch and wrote a message in it. She felt herself beginning to slip away but she didn't release the boy. Her grip grew tighter in an attempt to show him how much she cared. Her grip on the map was nonexistent as she now held the boy with both arms once again.

"Big sister…" He cried out. He suddenly wasn't feeling so well and wanted to tell her, but he passed out before he could. Sakura followed suit, unaware that someone was watching the scene from behind some trees to their left. Someone watched as the woman and child fell further into the past. They landed twelve years prior to when they left. One year after Sakura had been born.

…

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Now that this scene has finally been finished I can answer a question from the comments.

TubbyPusheen: Thank you for commenting. I hate when people get confused by certain pieces of my writings' timelines. Haru is seven years younger than young Sakura but twelve years younger than our eighteen-year-old Sakura. Now that they've fallen through time It drops him where he'll be twenty-three when Sakura first encountered him before she traveled back in time. I hope that makes it less confusing.