Sakura should have realized nothing would be easy in this life. Sure, she's done a decent amount of tweaking that's resulted in this moment- a moment very, very different from anything she could have imagined. And maybe she should have considered this possibility more growing up. Though, if Sakura was being honest with herself, this was bound to happen. She's even thought to herself before that if she was asked, she'd be honest, especially with her boys, but that was it. She never thought anything past that, and maybe it's because she never wanted to go through this.

It was already a bit defeating, and relieving, when people found out she was not from this timeline originally. She should consider herself lucky the people who found out were all too wise to use the knowledge recklessly. Itachi, Shisui, and Tsunade lifted part of the weight for her when this life started to change from her original one- well, change besides stopping the Uchiha massacre, of course. And that was basically delayed in part. The police station massacre occurred five years later. The Uchiha clan was still severely lacking numbers in this life, despite her efforts. And she would call them her best, but she found herself second guessing everything she's changed in this life.

Three things she didn't regret. One was the fact that Sasuke's family and Shisui were all alive. Itachi wasn't aiding the Akastuki as a double agent for Konoha, Fugaku wasn't vying for power within the village and rather tried to keep it balanced, Mikoto could raise her boys into the fine young men they were, and Shisui's life hasn't been cut short. The Uchiha family. That was something she could never regret.

The second was befriending Naruto earlier. It didn't take missions to admire his determined idiocy, nor the pain of Sasuke leaving to forge the unique bond they had with each other. It was different, of course, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Naruto would always be Naruto. And with him by her side, Sakura never had to fear being alone. The least she could do was shorten the time he had spend by himself.

And the third was never getting into that immature rivalry with Ino over Sasuke. In retrospect, she knew she was wrong for that in her old life. But she had been a child, not one with what felt like an entire lifetime worth of experience guiding her through the early aspects of life. Sure, her and Ino made up and never truly hated each other, but the years wasted over it were more than enough the first time around. Having her constantly in this life helped her keep ahold of her sanity as she readjusted when she first came back.

So, really, she should have prepared for this with them. Sasuke. Naruto. Ino. She should have gone through what she could possibly say to them, especially when Sasuke first started picking apart her actions and words. Now, facing this goodbye before her trip to the Land of Iron, she recognized that mistake.

"You. . . you're. . ." Sasuke struggled to start, which tipped her off immediately that this was not going to be fun. She stayed silent, standing an arms length away from him and looked around. No one was there, she knew. She'd sense them if they were, but the scenery of the lake behind the Uchiha compound proved to be the perfect view to distract herself from the look on Sasuke's face.

She knew it was a bit cowardly on her part, not wanting to see the mix of emotions on Sasuke's face, but it was hard for her to keep her stength otherwise. Confusion, anger, and worry stormed up a turmoil that was just barely reflected in his expression. This Sasuke was better with his emotions, she reminded herself as she watched the morning sun drift upwards into the sky. She should have considered this too.

"You are very confusing," Sasuke said slowly and she nodded, showing her agreement with the statement. There was no use in denying it- she's probably been an impossible equation in Sasuke's head that he's been trying to figure out. "Maybe it's better for me to ask you about it, instead."

And despite her own internal plea for him to not start this conversation an hour before she had to leave, she let out a soft, "You can ask me anything, Sasuke-kun."

"Do you know about an ancient Uchiha justu, one engraved in stone, that can be used as a second chance for current reality?" He responded as soon as she was done speaking.

She nodded, watching the still water rather than the stare she knew was on her.

"Have you ever used it?"

Wordlessly, she nodded again.

Sasuke let out a deep sigh beside her and she willed herself not to look at him. If she did, she'd blurt everything out. Even the things she didn't want anyone to know about. It was bad enough that Shisui knew- though, if anything had to know, Shisui was probably the best person. Still, even he wasn't immune to his anger at the way her original life had gone. Heaven knows how Sasuke would react.

"Why?"

Of course that was his first question. It was only natural. Sakura took a few moments to think about her next words, and with a sad smile, she sat on the edge of the dock.

"I had to save the ones that I love," She answered, her voice more a whisper than anything else. Sasuke heard her, though, and he settled next to her as well. There was still a bit of distance between them. And to Sakura, it felt much farther than the foot actually was.

"You mean Naruto and I," Sasuke corrected and she shrugged.

"Mostly," She agreed but continued as she thought about the fate of the rest of her friends. "I love you both more than anything, but there are others that I'm able to save with this second chance."

"Shisui?" Sasuke questioned and Sakura couldn''t help the laughter that bubbled up.

"It may be hard to believe, Sasuke-kun, but I never knew Shisui-nii in my original life," She told him, finally breaking her internal vow to throw him a smile. "I didn't realize coming back would result in gaining an overprotective brother like him."

"He knows, doesn't he?" Sasuke asked and when she confirmed it, he continued. "And Itachi too, I'm guessing. Do they know what happened in your original life?"

"Itachi-nii knows the parts he's asked specificially about," Sakura started carefully. "Shisui-nii knows much more, but I never told him. He saw pieces of my memories, not all of them, but from what he's admitted to seeing, it sounds like the worst parts of my life. And Sasuke-kun, I'll be honest. . . Shisui-nii knows more than I'd like anyone to know about. My past is my past. Things are already so different from my original life, yet similar. It's hard to explain, but I'll give up information I know if it will have an effect on this life. If it won't affect anything, then I'm not really interested in bringing it to this life."

"But why?" Sasuke pressed and this time, her lips fell into a flat line.

"This is a second chance for everyone else," She said quietly. "But it's also a second chance for me, Sasuke-kun. So much went wrong in my past life. And righting those wrongs is selfish of me, I know, but I'm trying my best. Not telling you and Naruto was for a reason, Sasuke-kun. Part of it was to protect this time. The other part was selfish of me. Telling you would complicate things and it will lead to you asking me questions I don't want to answer. And I don't want to lie to you two, ever. So I'll tell you. And that's. . . an unpredictable scenario I want to avoid when things are still happening. If the knowledge of the past yields any consequences, I'd rather them be at a time that isn't so important like right now. You understand, right, Sasuke-kun?"

He nodded and this time he was the one who found refuge in the view of the lake. "Did I. . . No, that's not. . ."

"I love you, in this life and in my first," Sakura stated firmly, her tone lightening. "And, I'm not one to brag about this sort of thing anymore, but I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual in my old life too. At least, it was mutual to the extent it could be."

"Were we. . .?"

And just like that, her expression turned into a downcast. "No, we. . . we had a very complicated relationship, Sasuke-kun."

He raised an eyebrow. "Like our relationship now isn't complicated?"

She laughed again, though this was more forced than her earlier natural giggling. "Trust me, Sasuke-kun. Even the term barely describes our relationship."

"But Shisui knows?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but quickly closed it as she thought about the words she had said about Shisui's knowledge of her past life. It was like a trick question- he was asking if their relationship was at least part of the worst moments of her life.

"Shisui-nii is just very protective,"Sakura settled on saying and didn't elaborate any further.

"A little too protective," Sasuke huffed. "I get your original life was. . . not great, otherwise you wouldn't be here. And I know I must have done something; I didn't invoke Shisui's wrath for no reason after he used that scroll you created."

"Shikamaru and I created it," Sakura corrected. "My past life was complicated, Sasuke-kun."

"Is it better?" He asked her, finally looking her in the eyes. "This life, I mean. Was it worth it?"

"This life is certainly different and I'm thankful for those changes," She answered. "But. . . Time will tell if it ends up better."

Sasuke nodded, looking back at the lake with a narrowed gaze. "You're still very confusing to me."

Sakura laughed lightly, wondering what her Sasuke might have thought. Certainly, he wouldn't be as calm, but she suspected her Sasuke would also understand. "So you've said."

"You should probably start getting ready to leave," He told her, sparing her a single glance. She'd give anything to know what he was thinking, what thoughts were churning inside his mind.

She nodded, standing up and clasped her hands together nervously. "Are you going to come back with me?"

He shook his head, much to her dismay-- though, she wasn't surprised in the least. "I'm going to stay here for a bit. Tell my mother for me?"

"Of course, Sasuke-kun."

With that, she turned to leave but was stopped by his voice.

"Sakura."

She looked back partially. "Yeah?"

"Be safe, okay?" He requested, not looking back at her. "Shisui and Itachi. . . Just come home. All three of you."

Sakura smiled, letting out an affirmative before she continued along the dock and headed towards the Uchiha head household.

"Imouto, have I mentioned how much I adore you?"

Sakura, unfortunately, recognized the forced sweetness in Shisui's tone. He doesn't use it often with her, truth be told, but she's heard it directed towards Sasuke and Naruto enough times to pick up on it.

At her side, Itachi sighed and glanced towards her from the corner of his eye. "Please do not punch him while we are on the road, Sakura-chan."

"It sounds like he did something to deserve a punch," Sakura responded with a raised eyebrow, resisting the temptation to crack her knuckles.

"How do you know I don't just want to proclaim my absolute adoration for you?"

"Shisui-nii."

He sighed, and in that moment, Itachi and Sakura shared a knowing look.

"I'm not lying when I saw I adore you, imouto," Shisui defends at first, a frown making its way into his face as he continued. "But I saw what happened to the last Hokage on this trip. Danzo is still being held back home; he hasn't gotten out of Fugaku-san's jutsu yet. But that doesn't do anything to deter Obito, right?"

"Right," Sakura agreed, her fingers reaching up to lightly rest on her neck. "Danzo was mostly targeted because of Sasuke-kun. Obito will still want to declare war if his plans haven't changed much from my origins timeline."

"Which is why I think we should tell the other Kage's about your original time," Shisui said carefully and she bit back the reflexive denial that almost fell from her lips.

"We have reached a point where your knowledge could end the war before it truly starts," Itachi considers. "And to keep enemy knowledge from the other Great Nations could be seen as a betrayal."

"And you want to use genjustu to show them my memories so they believe it," Sakura figures out in small voice. "That means telling them Konoha has access to a jutsu like this. And if that gets out. . ."

Her words trail off, a somber understanding settling among the three of them.

"It's probably our best bet," She continues with a deep breath. "It's risky and will undoubtedly make Konoha a target after the war."

"Imouto, it'll make you a target right now," Shisui tells her softly, a light hand reaching behind Itachi's back to rest on her shoulder. "Obito is already interested in you. If he find out about the jutsu. . . He's got the means to use it. And if he taps into your memories, he can redo reality until he wins."

"My father has set up precautions and Shisui cast a genjutsu for anyone who tries to enter the room," Itachi explains. "Even Obito will be caught in it for long enough that my father can subdue him."

"I know it's your clan's jutsu," Sakura starts, her hand moving to where Shisui's is still resting on her shoulder. "But we should destroy it. And lock away those memories for those who know what's inscribed on the stone. That way, after the war, we can create a new stone for future generations incase the worst happens again."

"Locking away memories is tricky," Itachi comments, glancing at Shisui. "Do you think you could manage something like that?"

"For us?" Shisui says before taking a few moments to think it through when Itachi nods. "It shouldn't be too difficult, but for Sakura-chan," He pauses and frowns. "Sakura-chan has two lifetime's worth of memories. It's not just the jutsu that could be dangerous if it got out-- it could also be her original life's memories. I've got no idea how the jutsu has affected her mind-- it could be just as sensitive as her physical state was when she got sent back."

At the reference of her time spent in the hospital because of the damage to her chakra system and brain, Sakura cringed. It wasn't a fun topic to begin with, but the thought of how frail her body was just put a sour taste in her mouth.

"So we should just place a cap on my previous life's memories," Sakura suggests, closing her eyes for a moment as she pictured her Sasuke and Naruto.

She didn't want to not remember them, even if it was only temporary. Because they made her who she is. They are the entire reason she's here and while she knows she'll have this life's Sasuke and Naruto. . . The thought of not remembering the two boys she originally loved more than she thought was possible for a human being broke her heart.

"After the meeting, of course," Sakura clarifies, her fingers tightening on Shisui's hand.

"If anything goes wrong-"

"I trust you, Shisui-nii."