As their sensei left them in smoke, Naruto couldn't help but snort at the display that their future sensei just gave them. Sure, this may have been scary when he was a genin, but he was Naruto Uzumaki, not some Genin. Okay, he was technically always a Genin, but he was on the vanguard of the fight against Obito, then Madara, then Kaguya. The thought of his Kakashi-sensei, the man who had saved him and fought alongside him as comrades, even scaring him was laughable. However, clearly his snort seemed a little more out of turn then he had expected.
"What was that for?" Sakura asked, pushing him a little. Naruto felt sheepish and peeved at the same time. Sure, he had made multiple mistakes in the conversation (perhaps Kakashi-sensei already knew that something wrong was going on) but he really couldn't help it.
"Sorry Sakura-chan, but what was I supposed to do huh? He was kinda being stupid," said the blonde jinchuriki. Sakura stared at him with a deadpan, while Sasuke breathed out in clear annoyance.
"And in your stupidity, Kakashi-sensei is incredibly suspicious of us," said Sasuke. Naruto's annoyance grew.
"Don't think I didn't see the shitty situation you got yourself with Kakashi-sensei before you got here!" said Naruto. Despite his calm demeanor, Naruto could practically feel Sasuke's annoyance rising.
"Don't think I didn't hear that snort towards the end. You might've tried to control it, but that failed miserably," said the black haired Uchiha. Naruto was going to speak back, when Sakura bonked his and Sasuke's head together, before speaking through gritted teeth.
"I don't think you two understand the gravity of the situation we're in right now," she said. "We might be back in time. The first thing we need to do is to wait for Naruto's shadow clone to pop in order to assess the state of Konoha right now," she said. As if on cue, a wealth of information popped into Naruto's head. As he examined his memories, Naruto realized one thing.
"Nothing has changed," he said. "This can't be the Infinite Tsukuyomi, because this is my old genin life, no parents, no friends and no nothing," he said, a sadness washing over him at the reminder. He felt Sakura's arms wrap around him in a comforting hug and, despite the lack of a change in his face, he could see the anger and annoyance in Sasuke's eyes dissipate in an instant.
"It's fine Naruto," said Sakura, a comforting tone to her voice. "Because if this isn't the Infinite Tsukuyomi, then there's only one other option to consider," she said, taking her arms off of Naruto, and adopting a serious face. "Time Travel."
The words hung in the air as Naruto truly considered the ramification of a statement such as that. If they had truly gone back through time then that meant that the leaf village was still as innocent as the days of his schooling. Kaguya hadn't nearly destroyed the entirety of the world, Madara and Obito hadn't summoned the Juubi, Pain hadn't destroyed the leaf village, the Akatsuki hadn't caused so much of the pain that the Konoha 12 had gone through in the months up to the 4th Great Shinobi war and Orochimaru hadn't killed the Third Hokage.
So many things hadn't happened yet. So many things, so little time.
"We need to kill Danzo," said Sasuke. Right, he was still alive as well.
Sakura nodded her head and started to speak again.
"Ya, you're right Sasuke, but there are more important things Sasuke." The Uchiha's head snapped to her his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and 6-Tomoe Rinnegan glowing ominously. Sakura's face went into a mix of a deadpan and fear.
"I get where you're coming from Sasuke, but Danzo isn't an immediate threat. He isn't really doing anything right now. And going after Danzo when we have no idea where he even is a bad idea," Sasuke's eyes bled back from its Mangekyou state to its 3-Tomoe state, a sign of his calming anger, but he still didn't seem convinced.
"Then what do we do concerning him, huh? Danzo must die, the stupid hell hole has to die," Sasuke said. Finally, Naruto butted into the conversation, an idea popping into his head.
"Danzo isn't really doing anything right now. Sasuke, I understand how much you want to kill him," he said. Sasuke stared at him with a raised eyebrow and Naruto had to shake himself off. "Trust me, I do. My parents died because of Akatsuki and Madara, remember? Orochimaru killed the only person I grew up with. But we need to wait for them to come to us, or the village will start getting suspicious of us. More than it already is," Sasuke finally conceded, 3-Tomoe Sharingan finally fading away into his coal black eyes. "So what, we just wait for him to come out in the open?" he asked. Sakura nodded.
"From what you told of me, Danzo's biggest weakness is his greed. He took Shisui Uchiha's eyes as fast as he could and immediately went for the seat of Hokage when Tsunade-shisou seemed like she was about to die. We'll wait for the Hokage seat to become open. Danzo will come out of his little hole when the spot is open, and then we will kill him," said Sakura. Sasuke grumbled a little, giving Naruto the time to ask another question.
"So do we just let the Akatsuki come to us?" he asked. Sakura frowned at that.
"The difference between Danzo and the Akatsuki is that Danzo isn't really a threat right now, as much as we have to kill him, both as a threat and the monster he is. Unlike Danzo, the Akatsuki is an active threat. He can't let them get a hold of the Bijuu and get Madara resurrected," she said. Sasuke frowned at this.
"There's a slight problem with your idea though. The only reason why the 5 great nations came together in peace was because of the war," said Sasuke, looking over at Naruto. "Wasn't that Naruto's idea? As counterintuitive as it sounded, the 4th Great Shinobi War really did bring peace to the world." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "And what do you care about peace, huh?" he asked. The sorrow in Sasuke's eyes betrayed his stony exterior, and that's when Naruto put the pieces together.
Itachi.
Sasuke wasn't lying when he said that he liked very few things, but one of them was Itachi. From the few hours that Naruto had spent with Itachi, it was obvious to the man that Itachi was unflinchingly loyal to Konoha, a champion of peace. Sasuke had obviously felt at least a little guilty at the path that he had gone on, especially because he had done the exact opposite that Itachi had so diligently tried to bring to the leaf. Naruto's eyes softened as Sasuke spoke.
"I…" but Naruto cut him off. "Actually, never mind. I understand," he said. Sasuke stopped, grateful for Naruto's understanding. Sakura started again.
"We'll deal with the Akatsuki and Danzo when we actually have to. For now, the biggest problem we have to deal with is Orochimaru. How do we deal with him?" she asked. Naruto looked straight at Sakura with a deadpan.
"We capture him. I thought that was obvious," he said. Sakura's face went into a deadpan.
"That's it?" Sasuke's face went into a deadpan as well.
"The only differences between capturing and not capturing Orochimaru are good. The Third Hokage lives, and with Orochimaru alive, we still have someone to perform the Edo Tensei on the previous 3 Hokage," he said. Sakura examined the information and nodded, before speaking.
"Ok, so as of now, we let the problems come to us and try to fix as many things as possible. As soon as the 5 great Shinobi nations have united, we kick into overdrive and try to save as many people as possible. On top of that, we try to put a stop to Obito's plans as fast as possible. However, if we find a way to unite the 5 great nations far before the Kage summit, we will shift our plans closer. Is this clear?" she asked.
Sasuke and Naruto entered a solemn state, clearly thinking about what was happening, before they nodded. Afterwards, silence hung in the air, as if there was nothing else to do. Naruto then spoke, as if there was anything to say.
"So, what do we do now?" Naruto asked. Team 7 all looked at each other with varying levels of confusion before Sakura came up with another solution.
"Do you all want to come back to my house? For lunch?" she asked. Team seven all looked at each other, Sasuke momentarily thought on the idea and Naruto scrunched up before the both of them nodded.
The newly formed Team Seven stood outside of Sakura's house, Sakura ringing the doorbell, Naruto right next to her and Sasuke right behind the both of them. Truth be told, the black haired genin had no idea why he was even here, why he decided to stay with the both of his teammates despite the immense temptation to simply leave them and murder the entirety of the council. Sasuke wanted to feel the little shit's blood dripping through his fingers. Oh, the satisfaction he would feel when the flesh, blood and bone of that pathetic filth of a councilor lie beneath his feet.
And yet, he was here. Adhering not only to Itachi's wishes for his life. Adhering to the wishes of Naruto and Sakura. Adhering to the bullshit Will of Fire that the Hokages had told him about. What was forcing him to stay? However, before he could reason through his unexplainable stay with his teammates, the door opened, and he was faced with the surprise of Sakura's parents. The people that he had barely bothered to even meet. Not like they mattered anyway.
"Oh Sakura! How has your day been! And who are your friends?" they asked. Sasuke could feel Sakura plastering a smile in front of them, her chakra fluctuating with emotion that she obviously hadn't felt in a while. Sasuke's stony gaze couldn't help but soften at that realization. He himself had dreamt of seeing his parents again, and understood the tears that were growing underneath that plastered smile.
"I'm fine, my Genin team and I are just a little hungry though!" she said. Sakura's parents looked at the two of them, a flash of fear at the sight of Naruto and then the fake smile that he hated so much at the sight of him.
"Oh, come in you two! We're cooking up some lunch right now, we'd be welcome to have you two in!" Naruto flashed that bright smile that he was so accustomed to and Sasuke saw fit to simply nod as he walked in. As he came in, he saw Naruto sniffing at the air, prompting him to do so. Hmm, Udon. Thankfully enough, it wasn't Ramen. At Least he wouldn't have to hear Naruto burping every 2 seconds after he finished a bowl. He had no idea how he did it.
"Sasuke, Naruto. You two should come upstairs…" Her words were cut short when Sakura's dad looked at her with a stern face. Sasuke rolled her eyes and watched as Sakura rolled her eyes as well. Naruto on the other hand blushed.
"Dad, they are my teammates, nothing other than that, okay?" her dad conceded, and Sasuke looked on and Sakura motioned to the both of them to come upstairs. Sasuke followed Naruto upstairs and into a room that he'd laid eyes on for the first time.
As soon as you walked in you saw a bed that was certainly too big for a twelve year old. To his right was the bathroom, and to his left a dresser drawer. Right past that was a balcony window to the morning sky, and blues and whites and browns. Sakura sat down on the bed, and Naruto sat on a chair he pulled up that was hidden behind the dresser. Sasuke, noticing a chair right behind him, pulled it up and sat on it. Staring at the two of his teammates in silence. After the incredibly active lifestyle of the 4th Great Shinobi war, he had no idea what he even wanted to do. The awkward silence only exacerbated that. Many thoughts bounced around in his head. He wanted to fight Naruto, to prove to him after all this time that he was right. He wanted to take back Konoha for Itachi.
What surprised him most was that he was scared. Despite the fact that he is among the strongest shinobi of all time right now, he was terrified. For what reason though, was honestly beyond him. Unfortunately though, he wasn't masking his emotions well enough though, because when Naruto looked at him, he smiled sadly.
"It's fine Sasuke. I understand that you're scared, but we've all made mistakes. You'll be fine," he said. Sasuke finally understood why he was so scared. Despite the fact that he had decided to stay with his team for now, he finally realized what he had known the entire time. This village was a reminder of the people he had wronged. Sasuke pretended like he didn't care though.
"Ya, it doesn't matter," he said. Sakura breathed out a sigh and spoke.
"If you say so," she said. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stared at her
"What exactly do you mean by that, huh?" Sakura looked at him with slight annoyance.
"Sasuke, we're not idiots. We've known you since you were 12," but before she could finish, Sasuke interrupted her.
"You've known me properly for a few months at most…" he said.
"Oh, and do you think anyone else knows you any better?" said Sakura before standing up.
"Itachi knew me better…" said Sasuke, a sneer curling on his face.
"And Itachi is on the other side of the country right now, with a decaying pair of eyes. The point isn't that we haven't known you for a long time, the point is that we know you well," said Sakura, still staring straight at his face. Sasuke could tell that it was taking a lot of confidence to stand up to him. Sasuke conceded, giving Sakura the chance to speak.
"I don't think you understand something Sasuke. We're all in this together," she said.
"In this together? The only thing I need to do is kill Danzo and save Itachi. I don't need to chase after your delusions of saving the world," said Sasuke. It was then that Sakura seemed to lose all reason, and a look of fury entered her face.
"Delusion? Are you an idiot Sasuke? What about this seems like a delusion to you? If you don't remember, you still have the Rinnegan and your Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, I still have my Strength of a Hundred seal, and Naruto still has the Nine-Tails' chakra. If we play our cards right this is most certainly not a delusion."
Sasuke scowled at that. "And all of that strength didn't help us the last time did it?" It was at this point that Naruto entered the conversation.
"Sasuke, I feel like you're just making excuses at this point. Do you seriously expect me to believe that you and I can't defeat the Akatsuki? Or Pain? Or hell, even Madara? No, I don't." Naruto then leaned in at Sasuke.
"So tell me, what exactly are you thinking right now?" Sasuke shrunk just a little as Naruto's words cut deep into his soul. He had forgotten just how easy it was for Naruto to do that. Then again, Naruto's words brought an important question to the forefront of his mind.
Why exactly did he not want to work with Team 7?
Sasuke looked deep into himself, trying his absolute hardest to find the answer. But even as he tried his hardest to come up with an answer, he couldn't
