Set Post Naruto Gaiden.

Previous Chapter Summary: After being taken back to her future, Sarada's bracelet prompts her to change time-points. She learns about her uncle's death, and the two of them part on good terms. Sarada anticipates returning home.

A/N: Incoming longest chapter of the story... I didn't want to break the flow apart LOL. This chapter is largely inspired by my oneshot called "Home"! Lots of things will be similar if not the same. I just switched it up a bit to tailor to this story.

Canon with Sasuke Shinden. Enjoy!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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Journey Back In Time

Rewind IV: Home

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Sarada peered skeptically at the scenery around her. Much to her dismay, it wasn't really what she expected. She had arrived in the midst of a rocky road along a flat plateau of land surrounded by an abundance of trees along the distance. She was rather confused, as the area gave no clue on where she had landed.

And the joyful part was, it was raining. Spit-hard rain in the middle of nowhere. Who knows where the people or buildings were. Nevertheless, her first instinct was to find her way back to the Leaf Village. As hard as that was going to be, she decided to try her best to ignore how wet her clothes had already gotten from standing in the same spot for only a few seconds. So, she started to run as fast as she could.

It wasn't long before nearly half an hour had passed, and she still wasn't getting anywhere remotely acceptable for her to take cover. Honestly, at this point, screw finding the village. It was cold, she was hungry, and her body was practically getting numb. She couldn't even feel herself running anymore, and it seemed like the scenery hadn't even changed no matter how hard she did. If she didn't come across anything soon, she was afraid she'd die before she would make it back home.

Suddenly, she felt a slight presence of chakra storming up from behind her. She must've failed to notice it sooner, but it didn't have a nice aura.

Just when she managed to turn her head around, she widened her eyes as her peripheral vision caught sight of someone right behind her, a giant fist in the air ready to knock her out. Summoning up all the energy she had despite her current condition, she twisted herself around and dodged their attack, jumping into the air and landing smoothly on the rocky road with a thud.

She kept a considerable distance, taking note of the unfamiliar man in front of her. He was a rather large individual, probably two times her size, and for some reason he had a defiant look on his face.

"Who are you!?" She waited for an answer. Just then, a devious smirk crept up on the man's face, and she realized that he wasn't finished. Suddenly, she took notice of someone else standing at a distance behind her. When she looked back, it was a thinner man with bad hair, and he already had his hands in a configuration. Shit.

"Next target, captured." The thin man said, earning a nod of approval from the wider man, though her attention was fixed on the more recent enemy.

Sarada let out a tiny gasp from surprise. In nearly half a second, her entire body was wrapped in a long chakra rope that extended from the ground underneath the man to up her body.

She could feel him tightening onto the rope, which only made her weaker in combination from the numbness of the cold and how tired she was. Her head was starting to spin as she felt like her total body circulation and chakra storage were being cut off and drained. Shit, I can't-

However, just when she felt like she was going to give in, a rapid figure had raced by her face in the blink of an eye, going from one place to the next in a flash. Sarada blinked multiple times, trying to get her vision in tact. The next thing she knew, the two men were on the ground, screaming and clutching the wet dirt of the earth.

"N-No! NO! HELP!" One of them screamed, although she ran her gaze at the two of them again, only to see that nothing was wrong with them. "I-It's him." The other one said.

Sarada felt the chakra rope release itself around her until it dissipated completely. To her curiosity, she turned to the side to see "him". And to her surprise, her jaw was left wide open to see her father standing before her.

Suddenly, she knew that she was definitely not home. She knew because his hair wasn't as long as the way she remembered it, and although he still had his long bangs that covered half of his face, the rest of his hair was still spiky in the back and didn't reach his shoulders. His facial features also looked slightly younger. The one familiar thing was that he was dressed in all black with the same long cape he always wore, though his clothes were of a different pair.

No doubt, this was another time-point.

It then occurred to her. He did look much older than when he was going crazy at the bridge. Either he was still insane, or this had to be post-war. And judging by the way he saved her.. She'd like to guess it was the latter.

Things made a lot more sense now. Sarada glanced over at the struggling two men once more, noting that her father was making his way towards the two of them. He had probably put them under a morbid Genjutsu.

At that moment, the raven-haired man lugged their bodies with a single grip of his hand around their collars, his strength surprising the Uchiha heiress. He turned his head around slightly and glanced at Sarada from the side, his crimson eyes locking in with her dark orbs.

"Be careful." He said. "These two are renown criminals for targeting girls like you."

"T-Thanks." Sarada didn't know what else to say. Honestly speaking, half of her was still cautious, and the other half was really happy.

Just then, Sasuke began to walk, taking the body of the two criminals with him. As he got further, Sarada peered around herself, then at her wet clothes. The rain had started to settle down a bit, but it wasn't enough for her to keep walking wherever she was walking. Not to mention the fact that it was also getting darker, and the trees were making shadows that began to spook her out. So, instinctively, she started to follow Sasuke from behind.

The raven-haired man noticed this of course, and shifted his eyes to the side. He didn't turn his head to look at the strange girl behind him. He stopped in his tracks for a second, and realized that she had also stopped. Once he started walking again, so did she. This went on for several moments, until finally, he gave a tiny sigh and shifted around to face her.

Sarada let out a tiny gasp, startled at her dad's sudden attention on her.

"Do you need something from me?" Sasuke asked cooly.

"N-No." He shifted his gaze to look her up and down, noticing that her clothes were soaking wet and that she was shivering like no tomorrow. He also realized that she was wearing a Leaf Village headband.

To Sarada's surprise, the next thing he did was that he swung off his cape from his shoulders, revealing himself in only a black long sleeve shirt and a black tapered pants. He dropped the two criminals from his hands and walked over to shove his cape at her. Reluctantly, she took it from his hands and stared at him as if she didn't know what to do with it.

Sasuke closed his eyes, almost as if he was annoyed. "Wear it and come."

Sarada gave a small nod, her heart pounding. She threw the cape around herself, ignoring the fact that it was too big for her tiny shoulders, and followed her father closely from behind.

After disposing of the two criminals at the village police, Sarada had confirmed for a second time that they indeed were not in Konoha. The houses were more simple and looked rather old, and there didn't seem to be many villagers around. She didn't even see the large wall of Hokage faces. Nevertheless, the two of them continued to walk. This time, Sarada found herself pacing along a narrow abandoned pathway alongside a tiny stream. The rain finally stopped, creating a gross mucky noise whenever she took her steps along the dirt path.

She walked with her dad in total silence, much like how she did during her first time-point when he was a Genin. For some reason, she had to try harder to conceal her identity whenever she was with him, maybe because she felt like he was way harder to connect to as a stranger. She wanted to question as to why his conversational skills hadn't improved at all, but then she remembered that this is what made her dad, her dad.

But still, why was he here in this town instead of the Leaf Village?

"I'm Sarada." She started, speaking in a loud, confident tone. She realized they didn't even introduce themselves. Props to her dad for staying in his business, right?

The raven-haired man simply turned his gaze to stare at her, and she gave him a look as if he had no choice to answer. Finally, he was defeated by the silence. "Sasuke."

"Are you from this town?"

"I'm just travelling."

She didn't remember her dad going on any travels, except for important missions in which he would leave her and her mother for several weeks. But the fact that she managed to come here meant that, obviously, she hadn't been born yet. Not to forget about how young he still looked.

From here on out, she figured this was a good opportunity to attempt more conversation. But just when she opened her mouth to speak, she noticed that they came to a stop right in front of a small cottage house with a dusty, red roof. She turned to look at the raven-haired man, who was already walking towards the door. "Do you live here?"

"For the time being." He said, much to her confusion. She watched as he reached towards the doorknob and opened the door slowly, stepping a single foot inside before he was greeted by a cheery old voice shouting from inside the house. "Welcome back, Sasuke-san!"

Sarada followed him from behind, closing the door on her way in. Her eyes immediately caught sight of a brightly lit home, a tiny living room present on her left side with a blazing fireplace set. The walls were decorated with picture frames and unique artworks, and there were lots of pottery scattered around for decoration. It seemed to be way cozier than her own home, much to her envy.

Suddenly, a tiny old woman appeared from what seemed like the kitchen doorway and trotted herself over to the two of them still standing at the door. After seeing Sarada with the help of her squinty eyes, she adopted a rather excited look on her face. "Oh! And who do we have here?"

"Sarada." The Uchiha heiress introduced herself once more, giving the tiny obaa-saan a smile.

"Call me Miho!" The grandma said as she slowly observed the features of her new visitor. "Oh my. You have such beautiful black locks! A relative of Sasuke-san, perhaps?"

The Uchiha heiress gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. Sasuke just stared at her with a blank expression, observing their chatty observation. "No, we just met earlier on.. He saved me from a crisis."

"Going off hunting the criminals again!?" Miho darted her attention to the raven-haired boy, who stood looking as apathetic as ever, but slightly flinched at the grandma's loud voice. "Really! You should enjoy your time here in the Land of Waves while you can! Go to the market! Visit more restaurants! Meet some women!"

The Land of Waves? Sarada pondered. So this is where this place was. It was strange for her father to have business here. To the best of her knowledge, the Land of Waves didn't even have a hidden village. Maybe they were seeking assistance from Konoha at the moment.

She continued to watch as Sasuke simply closed his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, letting Miho drag on and point fingers at him the way a mom would lecture their child. "I told you I'm doing what I'm supposed to, obaa-san." The raven-haired man finally replied, giving in to the the grandma's gimmick.

"You're too busy of a ninja! Though everyone is very appreciate of your efforts, Sasuke-san, please enjoy yourself more!"

He must be staying here for the time being after the war, for some reason. Miho turned to look at her new company, suddenly remembering that she was just standing there awkwardly.

"Sorry, Sarada-chan. You look rather drenched, come sit by the fire! I'm just about to prepare dinner, but I'm missing a few things so I'm going to head out and grab some more stuff." Miho scattered herself over to the nearby chair beside the door, which had a shopping basket lined with a cloth. Sasuke simply gave a nod and turned himself around towards the living room.

"Thank you, Miho-san. Be safe!" Sarada exclaimed as she reached to open the door for her on her way out.

"Thanks, Sarada-chan." Miho stepped out the door, but peered back inside and cupped her mouth with one of her hands. "Goodbye Sasuke-san!" Although she heard no reply, she knew he heard him and was acknowledging it.

Suddenly, to Sarada's surprise, Miho stared back at her and her expression completely changed from happy-go-lucky to immediately very serious with furrowed eyebrows. "Get him out of here."

"Hah!?" Sarada exclaimed loudly, but was quickly shushed down by the elderly woman.

"It's true that I'm very grateful to Sasuke-san keeping our village safe," She started. "I offered him my place to stay while he's here in the Land of Waves. But he HAS to go! Did you know that ever since the war ended, he hasn't been back at this own village for almost three years? Three years! Konoha's own hero!"

She shouldn't really be surprised, although she was. Sarada knew her father liked to travel a lot; he took on missions in any form when it comes to doing something for his village. But she had no idea there was such a long time gap between when the war ended and him being.. home. She figured this was why Itachi told her to ask her father about this herself.

"You're from the leaf village, aren't you?" Miho glanced over at the shiny leaf headband on Sarada's forehead. "Take him back with you! I'll be damned if there aren't people waiting for him back at home. That boy should be back where his loved ones are!"

Mom. The Uchiha heiress narrowed her eyes at the thought of her mother, her grief-stricken face that she probably wore every single night when no one was around. Sarada pondered at Miho's request. If she were to convince him to go back home, they definitely wouldn't be going together. But it was still worth the shot. After all, she herself was the proof that he eventually went back, right?

"I-I'll see what I can do."

She watched as the tiny woman gave a nod and walked off into the distance. After waving her off, she made her way back into the tiny house. Looking over to her left, she saw as Sasuke lounged on the side of the crackling fire, drying himself off from the wetness of the weather. Taking a deep breath, she took a spot near him, but not quite next to him.

The two of them sat in familiar silence once again, but this time, Sarada had an excuse to talk. "You're from Konoha as well?"

He had assumed Miho told her. She's always had a big mouth. "I haven't been back for awhile.. and I assume you're going to ask me when I'm planning to go back." He's been getting that a lot, and not just from the chatty grandma he stayed with.

"W-Well" Sarada stuttered, being caught off guard. "I'm sure you have your reasons."

"I don't know when I'm going to go back. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't be returning, after all."

"Why not? You're a hero that saved everybody during the war. You deserve to be back where you belong."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Is that what they call me? A hero?"

"Well, yeah, that's what you become when you basically saved the entire Shinobi nation from being nonexistent."

"Then, did you know I tried to kill them, too?"

Sarada turned silent. She took it as a rhetorical question, but was unsure because he was staring at her as if he was expecting an answer. Finally he gave up, and adopted an expression of defeat. She assumed this was the other half of the grey area where she was unsure of her father's side of things.

"I tried to kill them. My best friends." Sasuke began to play images of the blonde, the pink-haired girl, and all of the comrades he had left behind. "Everyone. That doesn't sound all that heroic to me, no matter how many good deeds I do to redeem what I've costed the village. That's why I'm hesitant on going back."

The Uchiha heiress didn't take this as a shock. After all, she already knew about the dark past of the Uchiha. She even experienced it first-hand when her own father laid his hands on her throat. It became all the more clear as to why he was in the land of waves. He wasn't going around doing volunteer charity-work because he was just that of a kind, philanderous soul. No, Uchiha Sasuke was on a journey of redemption to try and make up for all destruction he sent towards the people he loved.

"You betrayed your village and you hurt a lot of people. With every good deed you do from now on, you'll be reminded of why you never bothered to do it before." Sasuke barely flinched at her words, knowing it all too well. "But you have done good for yourself, for everybody. There aren't people waiting for you back at home for nothing. You created those bonds with them, those who risked almost their entire life so far trying to save you. And guess what? They're probably waiting for you everyday to come back home despite your sins, because that's what having bonds do to people. They make them love."

The two of them sat for a moment as Sasuke let the stranger's words sink into him. Suddenly, Sarada felt like she might have blabbered too much on a matter that according to him, didn't concern her, especially when she was unsure of the details. However, it was inevitable that a pink-haired girl managed to pop up in his mind once again. More specifically, he remembered something that was sent to him a few days back, but never had the heart to crack open.

Instead of giving the Uchiha heiress some kind of reaction, he reached over behind him to the small side table beside Miho-san's wooden rocking chair. Sarada watched as he grasped a small envelope back into his hands, holding it with such delicacy and staring at it as if it held the deepest darkest secrets of the world.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. It's from my teammate." The Uchiha heiress instinctively scooted over towards her father, earning no reaction of protest as she glanced beside his shoulder at the dirt-ridden envelope. To her surprise, she recognized the printing on the front and the detailed texture of the paper. She had seen her mother write to her father countless times whenever he was away from home, some of in which she would hand-deliver the mail to the Hokage himself to send via special forces.

This was definitely from her mother. Sasuke, too, knew it was from the pink-haired girl waiting for him back at Konoha. He knew, but he couldn't bring himself to even touch something that she had also touched. He remembered all too well the countless times she confessed her love to him, to try and make him stay, and the many times where he turned his back on her.

A wave of urgency rushed over the Uchiha heiress as she darted her head towards Sasuke, annoyed with his hesitancy. "Open it."

The raven-haired man took surprise at the sudden intensity of Sarada's gaze, which dared him to do otherwise. Usually, he wouldn't take this from a complete stranger, but he accepted this as an excuse to finally uncover what he had been hiding from himself for the past few days. Slowly but surely, he nicked open the letter's seal and slid out a piece of not-so-white paper that looked like it had been blotted a hundred times by a pen.

Almost immediately, Sasuke sent an alarming glare towards his future daughter, which she took as a sign of leaving him with the privacy of the letter. In response, she quickly darted her gaze away and focused on the blazing fire beside them.

He took awhile with its contents. Her eyes constantly travelled back towards her father, noting how serious he looked while carefully scanning the words. He really has been through a lot, more than she knew. He deserved to be back where he belonged. There wasn't much for her to change in this time-point anyway, after all, he did end up going back to Konoha. Where else could her parents have had se-

Gross! Sarada exclaimed in her head, her face making an expression out of disgust. Sasuke seemed to notice this. He was raising an eyebrow at the strange gestures she was making while staring at the fireplace. He assumed she must've gotten bored of waiting and had to entertain herself somehow.

"I'm finished." He said, folding the letter back in place while the Uchiha heiress darted her curious attention back to him. "What was it? Was it from your girlfriend?"

"Something like that."

Sarada beamed. "See? I told you people don't forget bonds easily. Especially when it comes to people they love."

"I don't understand her." He pondered way too many times about how someone could still say they loved him, even after everything he's done. And especially how he almost killed her, right then and there.

"You don't have to." Sarada interrupted, earning back her father's attention from his dazed out expression. "All you need to do is understand yourself." She knew what kind of love her mother had to offer him, and by the looks of it, he knew as well.

"When did you fall in love with her?"

"Somewhere along the way."

"Oh, come on! There has to be a story." Despite what came out of her mouth, she figured that the history between her mother and father were probably a lot more extensive than she'd thought. It'd take a lot more than one evening to cover it all.

"When I left Konoha almost a decade ago," He started, "She made me question for a mere second whether I really should have left or not. That's when I knew I probably had feelings for her."

After earning no response, he looked over at Sarada, who had just been staring at him with her mouth hung half-open. She swore she could have seen a small blush tinge her father's cheeks as he looked away, which only made her chuckle. Really, she absolutely adored the moments where he'd show his tender love towards her mother. For a ninja as strong and as noble as he is, it really is something to be amused about.

"So if you do," Sarada spoke, emphasizing the last word, ".. Go back, that is. Are you going to be with her?"

"If I do," Sasuke repeated, copying her tone. ".. Then we'll see about it."

The Uchiha heiress felt a slight disappointment, unsatisfied with her father's resolve. She kept her gaze on him as he soon began to stand himself up from his sitting position, stretching his neck from side to side to release the tension in his muscles. "However, I do have plans to restore my clan." He said, giving her a faint, subtle smile that was enough to make her emotions stir again.

They let the sound of the rain take over the silence of the room, in accompaniment of a large wave of thunder growling in the sky. But it didn't make them flinch, not in the slightest bit. Sasuke turned his head towards the window, observing the loud noise. "The storm is starting again."

"I hope Miho-san is okay.."

"Believe it or not, that woman is almost invincible." Sasuke nearly shuddered at the thought of Miho-san being literally, unbreakable. Though she appeared as almost 90 years old, she acted like she was 15. It was uncanny. Sarada watched as her father started towards the kitchen, not looking back at her as he paused at the doorway. "Stay here for the night until the rain settles."

The next morning, Sarada woke up from an intense burning sensation on her wrist. She realized she had been groaning with pain in her sleep, and it wasn't until she laid awake that she realized the bracelet had been nipping at her skin like before. On top of that, she hadn't noticed how tired she was for some reason, especially with everything going on in the time-points.

She figured it was time for her to go, and something inside her gut told her that this was the last place she'd be before she landed back at home.

I'll have to give proper goodbyes to Miho-san and Dad. She thought about the amazing meal Miho had prepared for the three of them last night, and the look of misery on her father's face when she kept stuffing more food on his plate even though he couldn't shove anything down anymore.

After assembling her things and putting her clothes on, she made her way into the kitchen, admiring the bright rays of light that shone from the windowsill of the sink where the elderly woman stood. She was busy washing a few dishes when she heard footsteps creeping up from behind her, causing her to turn around and greet Sarada with a smile. "Sarada-chan! Oh, I hope you had a good sleep last night. We have plenty of leftovers from yesterday, please have some for breakfast if you'd like!"

"Miho-san.." The Uchiha heiress returned her smile, but grasped at her wrist to cover her torn skin. "Thank you for everything, really. Your food was amazing, and I'd definitely come back to visit if I could.. but it's time for me to get back to Konoha."

A look of disappointment spread across Miho's face, but she soon replaced it again with her sweet smile that made her eyes wrinkle. "Oh, geez. I was hoping you'd stay a bit longer, Sarada-chan. But I suppose you have things to do as well."

Immediately, Sarada bursted herself over to the elderly woman, surprising her with a hug on the side that made her drop the utensils she had been washing into the sink.

"Take care, Miho-san." She said, burying her face into her soft clothes. Miho gave a long, amused chuckle at Sarada's sudden expression of emotion. "You too, Sarada-chan. Really, though! If I knew you were leaving sooner, I would've told Sasuke-san to wait for you!"

Immediately, the Uchiha heiress froze and quickly shot her head up to look at the elderly woman. "What?"

"We didn't want to wake you while you were sleeping.. But Sasuke-san decided to go home today."

"When?"

"Erm.. He left around 20 minutes ago perhaps?"

That was enough time. She had nearly around 20 minutes to find him to bid proper goodbye before the bracelet would warn her again. In an instant, she gave one last goodbye to the elderly woman and the next thing she knew, her feet took her racing out the door. She paid little attention to her surroundings, though the sky took on a beautiful vivid blue color without a single cloud in sight, and the leaves swayed back and forth from the tiny breeze enveloping the early morning air.

As she ran further, she thought about the fact that her own journey was about to end as well. Never in her wildest imagination would she have thought that one trip to an old storage room could lead her to an adventure of this extent, where she would find herself uncovering exactly what she had been looking for. From meeting her Genin parents to Itachi, she had absolutely no regrets.

When she returned back to her own Konoha, the first thing she was going to do was see her parents. Then she was going to take a nice, warm bath in the comfort of her own house and possibly look for Boruto, and then-

Suddenly, she caught sight of a raven-haired man walking in the distance, his dark cape swaying side to side in the same rhythm as the leaves around them. She paused in her tracks, taking steady breaths to regain her composure. Just then, she opened her mouth to yell, but no words came out of her grinning expression.

She simply stood, watching her fathers back as he took every single step with great accuracy and pride. He looked strong and confident, and she didn't need to see his face for confirmation. "SASUKE!" She shouted, finally, allowing her voice to echo through the wind. "TELL EVERYBODY I SAY HELLO, OKAY?!"

The raven-haired man stopped in his tracks at the sudden voice reaching his ears, but he didn't turn around to meet it's owner. Instead, he couldn't resist the grin displaying itself on the corners of his mouth, a smile that he had only showed to the pink-haired girl waiting for him back at home. Thank you, Sarada.

The Uchiha heiress watched as her father began walking again, but this time slowly raised a hand in the air as he waved her goodbye, giving her reassurance that she was heard. As his figure gradually became smaller and then disappeared in the distance, she couldn't help but feel a warm sensation inside her chest.

Forget the crazy, blood-driven person she met earlier on. This was the father she knew and loved.

It wasn't long before the warm feeling travelled to her wrist, but she knew that this wasn't a friendly one. She looked down at her arm, but to her surprise, her skin hadn't been nearly as torn as it was earlier. In fact, it was a lot better than before.

Suddenly, she let out a little gasp as she started to feel a new sensation taking over her body, covering her all over. It wasn't the wind from the outside, neither the one that usually brought her back to the white space. Instead, she found that she was glowing. Every edge of her was radiating with a bright yellow light, and never throughout her entire journey had she felt more revitalized. Sarada smiled, knowing all too well what was happening.

"Race you back home, dad."