Since the day she was born, the Seventh Hokage decided to be a big part of her life. He knew what had caused the likes of Itachi and Sasuke to go through such hard lives, and for such he promised himself to not let the child go through the same.

Problem is, however, this desire of protection started to turn into something else as the girl grew up.

Lord Seventh made sure to help her and support her as much as he could, training included, with her dream of becoming a Hokage, and being the strongest shinobi. He even made sure that she was included in a team with Konohamaru as their mentor, as well as the son of Shikamaru and his own son.

He wanted another strong team 7, which was understandable taking on count he felt nostalgic about something he would never have again. Sasuke died while on a mission outside the village, fighting against an unknown opponent, and the only part of his body that was found, was his head, and even then it was half-eaten. Before him, their mentor, Kakashi, died fighting against the powerful Pain, who at the time was believed to be a god. Sakura had gotten pregnant from Sasuke before he started going out on missions, and if he had to be honest, he was very mad when he found out. Even though he was married with Hinata, he never really went over Sakura. It got to the point where the Seventh visited the Uchiha residence more than his own. Still, most of the time he spent it at his office.

Team 7 didn't take long to start being given rank C or rank B missions, since Naruto wanted them to develop quickly. He also gave Konohamaru the strict instructions to protect the young Uchiha girl over the other two.

Eventually, two years after their graduation, Lord Seventh decided to assign them a Rank A mission. The Chūnin Exams we're getting closer, and he wanted team 7 to be the strongest team competing.

Prior to the mission, the Hokage called the girl he'd practically raised until now that she was thirteen to his office. He received her with a cup of tea, and they talked about her previous missions and how much she had improved. To his surprise, the girl already has the three-tomoe Sharingan, which was great news for the Hokage.

The girl of the short, black hair had developed somewhat of a crush on the Seventh, which can be considered normal considering her age and that he was the most popular and admired figure in the village.

The Hokage mentioned how cute she looked with her current clothing, a sleeveless, red shirt with the symbol of his clan on the back, and a pair of grey shorts that combined with her black long socks and grey sandals. But he wanted to give her a gift. A very special one, actually.

From one of the drawers on his desk, he took the sweater he used, now fixed and restored so it looked new, and handed it over to her. She went crazy, and tried it on. She couldn't believe she was wearing the orange sweater that her hero once wore. She never took it off, and went to hug him. She realised that maybe it wasn't appropriate, but he told her it was fine and he even kissed her forehead.

She finally let go off Lord Seventh, and thanked him again for being so nice. She then asked if she should give the sweater back, but the blonde man said it wasn't necessary and reassured her that it was hers now.

He wished her good luck, and secretly transferred chakra of the Nine-Tails to her so it could intervene to save her, as he knew the mission he assigned them was very hard.

Boruto was of course furious and frustrated when she saw his teammate wearing his father's legendary sweater, but he didn't have time to complain to him directly at the moment, so it would have to be until after the mission. Konohamaru himself was confused towards the decision of his childhood friend of giving her the sweater and not either of his children, but he figured he'd ask after the mission.

By this time, Lord Seventh was sure that marrying that woman was a mistake and that he didn't really loved her. All that was probably a cope mechanism to the fact that Sakura and Sasuke were together. So he decided to make a move. One that everyone would find surprising coming from that man who once was the boy that gave hope to others. Emphasis in once was.

After what probably had been a week, he went back home. He greeted his daughter, whom he did see everyday since he always went to the academy to take her back home. And then he aggressively kissed his wife. Hinata told their daughter to go out and play, while Lord Seventh took her to their room.

Hinata moaned softly as the blonde man kissed her neck and touched every part of her body. However, her face of pleasure and relief since her husband was back, turned into horror since the blue eyes of her husband turned into an orange colour. Before she could do anything, the Seventh broke her neck. And then, the tailed beasts were summoned.

"How convenient," said the Seventh as he looked outside the window and saw five tailed beasts appear on the streets. "An invasion."

He went downstairs and grabbed his daughter to take her to safety. He took her back to the Hokage Tower, and then he informed his guards that his wife had been killed by the invaders.

The Hokage would of course go on to defeat the invaders, but they proved to be stronger than he expected. They were cloaked shinobi, similarly to the Akatsuki, though this time their cloaks were green. However, they soon disappeared, and the village was left with five tailed beasts to stop.

The elite sealing forces of the village worked on sealing the beasts, while the strongest shinobi fought to keep them entertained. The Seventh of course could handle even two beasts at the same time, but he wasn't sure if he was able to fight all of them anymore.

Even then, several important members died, mostly friends of the Hokage. This left him devastated and made him go furious. Kurama had to take control after he killed the Six-tails and Five-tails.

The sealing team finished the job by sealing the last three, and the village had been saved. However, it was left weakened severely both in infrastructure and in Human Resources.

Later that day, Lord Seventh had to fulfill the duties to sign the official casualty list of the invasion.

And he struggled for several minutes after reading it completely. Sai, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Kiba, Chouji. And though reading their names hurt, none hurt as much as the last one. Both for personal and political reasons. The best medical ninja they had, the chief of the hospital of the village and Tsunade's successor. Sakura Haruno had died in battle.

He wondered if what he felt then had ever been experienced before him, since he never heard stories of one last member living to see everyone else die. He wanted revenge, though, and he would make sure he had revenge.

He immediately ordered a worldwide investigation to find out who the cloaked men were, and if they were tied with any village. He wanted revenge, and he would make sure he had revenge.

Then, all that was left was waiting, waiting to inform the girl he ought to protect about the tragedy. He had failed, he just realized he had failed.

A week after, the walls and destroyed buildings were already in advanced stages of their reparation. Not completely fixed, of course, but the reparations had been advancing at a quite fast pace.

A week after, as well, team 7 returned. Or well, just one member came back, actually. The guards alerted the Seventh Hokage of the arrival of the girl, though the man was already aware of her presence. He ordered them to bring her to his office, and once there, the guards were taken out.

The girl had several bruises all over her arms, even a cut on her left cheek. But she, overall, wasn't severely injured since she could still walk and use her arms normally. One peculiar thing, though, was that the pattern of her sharingan, which was still activated, had changed. It was similar to her father's though it had a special detail. It was sort of a combination of the pattern of Sasuke, and the one of Itachi.

She was crying, shocked and destroyed by what she had witnessed. Whatever it was. She ran to hug the blonde man, who remained silent and limited himself to hug her tight. As he was sitting, soon the girl sat on his lap to be more comfortable.

He bit his lip, not being able to tell her what happened a week prior while they were gone. He put his hands over her arms, and with the Nine-tails' chakra, he healed her bruises. Then, he moved his right hand on her cheek, and while he healed the scar she had, he turned her face so their eyes would be in front of each other. The sharingan had finally deactivated, leaving place for the natural color of her eyes: pitch black.

"I see you used my sweater the whole time."

"Of course, Lord Seventh, how could I not use something this valuable?" She replied while wiping her tears.

The blonde man couldn't manage to push any other words outside of his mouth, and just saw the girl who was sitting on his lap, facing him and wearing that sweater he used as a kid. He also couldn't hide his pain from the girl, who noticed how unusually serious he was.

"Did something happen, Seventh?"

"I'm so sorry, Sarada," a tear finally escaped his eyes. "I failed."

"What do you mean...?"

"I failed to protect everyone." What once was a tear, now turned into streams of tears running down his face as he showed the girl the paper.

She read it carefully, being more shocked by every name she read. What cracked her, however, was the name of her mother written at the end of the list. She confirmed the title of the document: 'Casualties during the Tailed-Beasts invasion of Konoha'.

The Hokage hugged the girl from behind, holding her waist, as she cried. The two of them were crying together while hugging.

"I promise you, Sarada, I will protect you at all costs."

Hearing this words coming from none other than the Hokage made the girl gasp out of surprise. "But-"

"I won't be a failure, I refuse to fail again..." The Seventh said.

"You are the strongest shinobi ever, Lord Seventh, I'm sure you will win in the end." She replied, turning around to hug him again, this time even tighter. "I will also protect you at all costs, you are the last thing I have."

"I guess both of us have lost everything..."

The girl saw the expression of the man, seeming dead inside, and she took the chance to kiss him on the cheek. This surprised the Hokage, though he didn't mind it.

"Sarada, stand up please."

She obeyed the orders and stood up. And as she was beckoned to go to the opposite side of the desk, she did so. She looked beautiful with his sweater on, it really fit her perfectly.

"I, the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, officially grant you the rank of jounin for your prowess shown in a high ranked mission."

Sarada was shocked, yet excited about her new shinobi rank. He handed her the green vest, and his tears were finally eased by the sight of the girl putting on the vest.

"If you find it uncomfortable to use my sweater below the vest, feel free to take it away."

"Oh don't worry, Lord Seventh, I'm very comfortable this way."

"And pretty as well." Both of them smiled and laughed a little at the Hokage's comment.

He stood up and walked next to her. He grabbed her by the waist and raised her, as when she was a baby, though now she was heavier than back then.

"Let's help each other so we keep moving forward."

"Of course, Seventh."

"No need to call me Seventh, call me Naruto."

"It's an honor, Naruto." She smiled, and then they just stared at each other while Naruto still hold her on his arms.

"I love you, Sarada." He said, after years of not pronouncing that word, it finally came out of him.

The young girl blushed and looked away. She didn't expect that, but if she had to be honest, she was probably more happy than nervous or surprised. What was true, however, was that her heart was pounding, and the Hokage could feel it.

"I love you too, Sev-" she shook her head as she corrected herself, "Naruto."

Without being too experienced, she got closer to his face while she closed her eyes, clearly looking for his lips. The Hokage laughed softly before following and kissing her. She had never kissed anyone before, so she didn't know what to do when the Seventh's tongue entered her mouth. He noticed this, and figured he would have to teach her another time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do." She said, still blushed and nervous, while the Hokage lowered her back to the ground.

"No need to worry." He said as he grabbed her hand. "What matters is that I got your first kiss." He laughed.

"Am I your woman now, Lord Seventh?" She didn't notice she called him 'Seventh' this time, but he didn't mind it.

"Let's say you are my girlfriend now, Sarada."

In the next year, the two would only grow closer, even obsessed with each other. But just as that went on, the investigation ordered by the Hokage would slowly reveal information related to the invaders. A rebellious group that wanted to achieve a better world, just like Akatsuki, but through the elimination of the traditional Kage system.

You might feel like this is sort of a summary of what happened, and that's what it is. This is just an introduction of sorts.