Author's Note: Everyone get your beating sticks ready…
Chapter 5: New Home
"OH GOD, IT HURTS!" The young Genin cried out as Sakura twisted her surgical tools deeper into his shoulder muscles, trying to find the last piece of shrapnel.
"OH MOMMA! PLEASE MOMMA, MAKE IT STOP!" The Genin cried out as Sakura ignored his pleas and continued to work without anesthetic. Meanwhile, the only two Operating Room nurses that Sakura had to work with held the poor boy down as Sakura cut into his tendons.
Sakura cursed to herself. She had brought this on herself 4 days ago when she had deemed him to be low priority. It was just an exploding kunai shrapnel. The boy would be in pain and would most likely lose his arm, but he would live if he survived the siege. Then one nurse came rushing inside the OR to report that the kunai shrapnel Sakura had deemed a low priority had been laced with poison. With several fragments lodging themselves into his torso through his shoulder, so amputating his arm was off the table.
It had been 6 days since the siege of the Leaf began and the casualties had been pouring in ever since. Sakura could not even remember the last time she had slept, or stopped to eat, or even sat down. She had just been popping Military Ration Pellets like mints to replenish her chakra after every other surgery. It wasn't even that she was the only remaining surgeon in the Leaf. There were dozens of surgeons, both civilian and ninja core, who were busy working in the hospital and in the field hospital that was set up over in the village's central park. But with Lady Tsunade and Shizune both deceased, the burden of the greatest medical kunoichi in the world fell unopposed onto Sakura's shoulders.
Now she just had to treat thousands of critically injured patients with no anesthetic, no more chakra pills, and bandages made from old mattress stuffing.
"I'M GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA DIE!" The Genin cried, his cheeks stained with tears.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE YOU BIG BABY!" Sakura snapped, making the two nurses look at her in shock. Normally, Sakura might have been embarrassed by her outburst, but she had had it. The whole world was going to Hell. She was getting no sleep. And to top it all off, somewhere along the chaotic and every shifting front lines, her teammates were fighting for the fate of the free world while she was stuck in here prolonging the inevitable.
Thankfully, her outburst managed to shut the blubbering kid up long enough for Sakura to slip out the last sliver of poisoned kunai.
"Got it." Sakura declared as she tossed the metal shard into the bowl with the rest of them.
"Sew him up. Stick him with the rest of the recovering patients." Sakura ordered the two nurses as she yanked her surgical mask off of her head. The straps had been digging into the back of her ears for hours. To the point that they actually chafed. "I'm going on break."
Neither one of the nurses dared object to Sakura's decision. She had after all been performing surgeries for 24 hours straight with a three-hour nap to break up her previous round of 24 straight hours of surgery. Yet the wounded just kept on coming.
'They're doing this on purpose.' Sakura thought as she headed out of the OR and washed her hands clean of the caked on sweat from all the disposable gloves she had to wear. 'They wound our troops and don't capture them. So that they come back here and we get overwhelmed to the point that our entire medical division breaks down.'
She had to hand it to Sasuke. He was one twisted fucking genius.
Although, Sakura couldn't give all the credit to Sasuke. The pinked haired medic was certain that Sasuke's own Head Medic Karin had something to do with this plan as well. It wouldn't surprise the Second Slug Sannin. Karin could always be trusted to come up with a new poison every other month that would keep Sakura up for days while she tried to devise a cure and a nulling agent. It was like a high aggressive, highly lethal bake off. Karin would cook up a new poison recipe and Sakura would cook up an antidote to counter it. The winner was decided if this poison killed more or less ninjas than last time.
Sakura walked out of the OR prep room and headed down the hallways where every conceivable space was filled to the brim with the dead and the dying. Men and women from ages 12-50 filled the rooms with moans and cries of agony. Ever since the Leaf's walls had fallen every ninja from the greenest Genin to the retired Jounin had been called into service. They all knew what this last battle meant. Their extermination.
So many lives being snuffed out, so many still flickering like candles in the wind. Sakura's heart had long since shattered.
Flashforward…
As Sakura sat awake in her hospital bed, the sound of all of her closest friends lightly snoring after they had finally managed to fall asleep. Their gentle breathing was soothing to her, yet thinking about all the nurses she left behind, all the patients she had left unattended to, she couldn't make herself feel worthy of sleep.
'Looks like you win, Karin.' Sakura thought to herself before she heard the mattress opposite of her squeaking. The rest of the Konoha 11 that were accounted for had already fallen asleep, and she knew just by which mattress squeaked who was up.
Sakura turned her head to confirm her guess. A short, spiky blond haired boy walked over to hospital window and slid the glass panel open. For a second Sakura thought that Naruto was going to leap out and escape the hospital like he always used to whenever she would admit him and force him to stay in bed after he had pushed himself too far. But instead, Naruto took a seat on the open window and stared out towards the village's night lights in the distance.
"Naruto?" Sakura whispered, not even certain that she had said his name aloud at all, but Naruto immediately turned to face her.
"Sakura-chan? Sorry, did I wake you?" Naruto whispered back. It always lightened Sakura's heart to hear him continue to use his old pet name for her. Even after he had given up on her.
"No…truth be told I hadn't even fallen asleep yet." Sakura whispered as she drew back her covers and let her tired aching feet touch the ice-cold hospital tile floors.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" Naruto said as Sakura walked carefully over to him, making sure not to disturb the others.
"Every time I try, I keep thinking about the siege." Sakura admitted. No need to be vague since they both knew that Naruto understood perfectly what she was going through.
"For me it's the fighting in the streets." Naruto elaborated.
"All those surgeries." Sakura said.
Naruto nodded.
"It doesn't seem real." Sakura added. "Like everything we went through a few days ago was a dream. Or where we are right now is a dream. That if I go to sleep then I'll wake up and be back as a 22 year old performing surgeries in the middle of a warzone. Or I won't and I'll realize that the last ten years of my life were the dream. And I don't know which is scarier." Sakura admitted as she leaned against the glass window, pressing her aching temple to the cool glass.
"I know what you mean. But the real scary part is that both worlds are real." Naruto said as the late-night winds of spring blew past his face and entered the room, clearing out the stink of high grade cleaning fluid.
"So then I really did leave all those injured patients to die under my care." Sakura whispered as her fist tightened. She felt like a disgrace to all the medical professionals that came before her. She wasn't worthy of any of the training her master Tsunade had given her.
'You were going to abandon them when you wanted to sacrifice your life to send Naruto-kun back in time, remember?' Inner Sakura pointed out.
'I did it because I thought that our timeline would change in an instant. We would complete the jutsu and the Leaf would completely change. No more war, no more wounded ninjas, it would be peace.' Sakura rationed to herself.
'Yes, and we would have lost our chance to finally be with Naruto-kun once and for all.' Inner thought bitterly.
'He doesn't love me like that anymore.'
'Only because you were lying to yourself the first time you confessed to him! You wouldn't be lying anymore!' Inner shrieked.
'He deserves better and he has more important things to think about besides my crush on him.' Sakura sadly thought to herself.
'And what about us? Don't we deserve better? After all the shit we've gone through, don't we get to be selfish? Or is happiness only allowed to those who have suffered enough?'
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto repeated, snapping Sakura out of her mental conversation.
"Huh, sorry, what was that?" Sakura asked.
"I said that it's not your fault." Naruto repeated. "You couldn't have known that this jutsu would send you back too. And I know for a fact that you did everything in your power to help those people."
"And how do you know that?" Sakura asked with her exhausted voice.
"Because I know you, Sakura-chan. There is no one else I know more dedicated to helping people than you." Naruto smiled, making Sakura think it was daytime for an instant. She looked down to try and hide her blush.
"Thanks, Naruto. You always know how to cheer me up." Sakura smiled back.
"Hey, what are best friends for?" Naruto asked.
"Treating you to Ramen?" Sakura responded, using their old joke between them.
"Exactly."
The two of them shared a chuckle. Making sure not to wake anyone else up. Once their laughter was silent they just let themselves sit and stand quietly together. Neither one of them wanting to break up this nice moment.
Sakura's eyes drifted out towards the black silhouette of the village's apartment district. Where every so often you could see bedroom lights going out as one night owl after another finally decided to give in to the Sandman. One light however looked peculiar to Sakura and she couldn't place why until to recognized that familiar flicker and noticed the black smoke rising above it, blotting out the stars directly above it.
"An apartment fire?" Sakura wondered aloud.
"Yes. Specifically, mine." Naruto stated with absolute certainty.
Sakura looked at him with a degree of alarm and confusion. "How can you tell?"
"I can sense all the hatred amassing around the fire. People crying out for blood. Wanting Kurama and me to burn in Hell. And most of them mourning the loss of their loved ones from twelve years ago." Naruto explained. Ever since he had completed his Sage training and mastered Kurama's chakra he could automatically sense malicious intentions from nearly 10 miles around. It almost scared Sakura sometimes of how godlike Naruto had become over the years. But it had certainly proved invaluable over the years in countering sneak attacks and ambushes. She could even count on one hand how many times Naruto had personally saved her life with that specific power.
"Don't tell me this actually happened six months before we graduated." Sakura asked, wanting to run out to the angry mob and curb stomp all of them against the pavement. Intentions that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.
"No. I think this has more to do with Sasuke. A few people think it's tragic that a boy like the Uchiha who endured such misery in his life as losing his entire clan would now be driven out of the village by that crazy demon brat and his friends." Naruto stated.
Sakura gritted her teeth, trying to control her anger. Leave it up to the ignorant demon hating villagers to put Sakura in a bad mood. "After Pain and the 4th War…for a time at least, I actually forgot how nasty the villagers used to treat you." Sakura admitted.
"So did I." Naruto lied. He would never forget, but that was the whole point of forgiving, wasn't it?
"I just want to run down there and beat some senses into those damn villagers. How dare they treat an innocent child the way they did. No matter who or what they lost it doesn't make it right." Sakura said bitterly.
"That's what I love about you, Sakura-chan. You would take on the pain of all the world if it meant lifting the burden of others." Naruto said with a smile. Yet Sakura did not return this smile.
'You love me, yet you will not love me. That's great, Naruto. Really great.' Sakura thought bitterly.
"Well, I think I can fall asleep now. Thanks for the talk, Naruto." Sakura said.
"Glad to help. I think I'll stay up a little later." Naruto said.
"Just be sure to get some rest. We have a long day of picking up everyone's stuff tomorrow." Sakura reminded him.
"I will." Naruto said as Sakura headed back to her bed and slipped under the thin hospital blankets.
"Good night, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered from over at the window.
"Good night, Naruto-kun." Sakura yawned without thinking.
"I swear to the Sage I will get you two together if it is the last thing I do." Ino muttered to Sakura so softly that only the pinked haired medic could hear it. Sakura just ignored her and let her mind drift off to the first chance of blissful sleep she had had in months.
The next morning, the Konoha 10 had been escorted by a team of ANBU to their various homes to pick up everything they would need to move in to their new base of operations.
First stop, their leader, Naruto's apartment.
Kiba kicked over an upright piece of charcoal and watched it crumbled beneath his sandal.
"Sage of Six Paths, and I thought your apartment as a shithole before." Kiba declared as he and the rest of the Konoha 10 stood in the smoldering remains of Naruto's apartment complex.
Not satisfied with just burning down Naruto's unit, the angry mob felt the need to purify the entire apartment structure with flames while the poor families that lived inside had to scramble to safe what few precious belongings they could. They were all off crying down on the side of the roads, sitting next to all of their remaining worldly possessions while 10 Academy Students shifted through ash three stories above the street.
"Not funny, Kiba." Ino said she stepped over what once was Naruto's dinner table. By the grace of whatever architectural genius designed this building back during the earliest days of the Leaf, the fire had spread to all floors and yet the actual floors remained intact enough to walk upon.
"Just trying to lighten the mood." Kiba said as he walked through the bathroom walls to join Shino outside the apartment. Where the bug user was keeping an eye on the street incase another mob of demon haters showed up for an afterparty.
"Save your jokes for when we are in your room trying to salvage your things that haven't been spray painted by your cousins after they discovered that you are a demon lover." Shino said bluntly.
"Low blow, Shino." Kiba said. He never liked talking about his family's deep seated hatred for Naruto and Kurama. Mostly because that night that Kurama was under Obito's control, Kiba's father and half of his clan was wiped out. Even after the 4th Shinobi War, when Naruto had saved the entire ninja world, Kiba's mother still wouldn't have his named mentioned at the dinner table. No matter how much of the clan had seen the error of their ways. Now all of that was gone and they were back to square one.
"You're lucky that your clan is so understanding. You never had to be ostracized for standing up for your friend."
"My clan understands better than any other what it is like to be shunned and feared for what you contain in your own body. Something you never had a choice about to begin with." Shino said, referring to his clan's tradition to turn infants into hives for the clan's beetles. One of Shino's first ever memories was feeling the sensation of having a 100,000 insects crawling around underneath his skin.
"Yup. Still glad I'm not a member though." Kiba said, earning an agreeing yip from Akamaru who was busy resting atop Kiba's head.
"Fair enough." Shino said.
As they were talking, Naruto, Choji, and Sakura were all finishing prying the open the fused metal hatch the 3rd Hokage had installed for Naruto after the first time his apartment was burned down.
"One…two…THREE!" Naruto cried, as one, all three of them yanked at the metal panel until it finally peeled open.
"HaHA! Got you, you son of a bitch!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped down into the secret compartment.
"What have you got?" Shikamaru asked from his supervisor position compete with lit cigarette.
"I've got my lockbox." Naruto said as he hoisted out a small, white, beat up looking box and placed it on the ground.
"Sakura-chan, you want to open that? The combination is 12-34-68." Naruto said as he ducked down to grab some more of his precious possessions.
Sakura knelt down and entered the combination. It opened with a satisfying click to treasures that weren't satisfying at all. Inside, Sakura found a wooden toy kunai, a dirty orange rag that Sakura could see had been written on with black marker that read BLANKY, and a test from their 3rd Year in the Academy that Naruto had managed to score an A+ on. It was all so pathetic that Sakura wanted to cry. These were Naruto's treasures worth saving from a fire.
"Good news, guys, I have two week's worth of fresh orange jackets down here. One for each of us if you want." Naruto joked.
"Hell no! We are going to the store and finding you an all-black jacket like you wore back in our timeline. I'm sick of looking at that ugly ass winter jacket." Ino declared.
"Personally, I'd settle for the mix of black and orange jacket you wore when you came back to the Leaf. Now that one was a classic." Sakura said as she carefully folded the wooden kunai into the blanket and then the blanket around the A+ test.
"How about we worry about Naruto's fashion sense later?" Shikamaru recommended. Do you at least have your essential clothes?"
"Yeah, I've got close toed shoes." Naruto listed off as plopped the boots out of his secret compartment and onto what used to be his carpet. "Ten pairs of socks to go with them, enough boxers to last me through to laundry day, some T-shirts I'm pretty sure will still fit me, a few shorts to go along with that, this pair of skinny jeans that I don't know where they came from…" Naruto dug in deep. "And these pair of novelty glasses with fake mustache built in, in case we need to go incognito."
The Saku-Shika-Cho trio snickered when they saw Naruto raise his head up with those ridiculous toy glasses on.
"Oh, and something even better…" Naruto said as he ducked back into his treasure trove one last time. All eyes turned on him before he leapt out of his hole and held up golden paperback covers of his secret stash of nudie magazines.
"PlayNinja? You glorious bastard!" Kiba cried out when he spotted the cover depicting a scantily dressed women with fishnet stockings and a kunai belt wrapped tightly around her thigh. She sat on her sides as she licked the handle of kunai while she held the blade between her painted nails.
Sakura then immediately snatched the dirty magazines out of Naruto upraised hand and tossed them carelessly over the balcony to the streets below.
"Damn it, Sakura!" Naruto cried. "Do you know what I had to go through to acquire that collection?"
"No, and I don't care." Sakura said bluntly.
"Sakura, seriously!" Kiba whined. "We have to go through puberty again. Do you really expect us to do that without porn?"
"I don't care what you expect. I'm not living in a dorm with pornography." Sakura stated firmly.
"Yeah! If you want to look at beautiful woman, then you'll have to look at us!" Ino declared as she stuck a sexy pose.
"Pig!" Sakura growled.
"What? We're all 22 years old, mentally. It's just physically that's the problem." Ino argued.
"Ino, this isn't going to be a university dorm. We aren't going to be spending our time at the base running around and screwing." Shikamaru lectured.
"Why not? Lee and Tenten are gonna be doing that!" Ino whined.
"Lee and Tenten are going to be doing what?" Tenten shouted from the streets below. Everyone ran over to the sides to see that Lee and Tenten had returned from her father's metal shop, hopefully with enough sealing scrolls to carry all of their stuff.
"Having sex, duh." Ino said bluntly.
"Keep dreaming your perverse dreams, Yamanaka." Tenten called out with a blush.
"Oh come on…I know you two are both 13 now, but surely the old urges will kick back in and…" Ino paused as she noticed their reactions. "Oh my God…it can't be. You two have never had sex?"
"So what?!" Tenten sputtered.
"So you two have been together for four years and I just assumed…" Ino said.
"Tenten wants to wait until marriage and I want what Tenten wants." Lee stated firmly, coming to his girlfriend's rescue.
"So you mean to tell me all those times we all gave you two the private rooms during the stake-outs, you weren't bumping uglies in there?" Ino snickered.
"No! But we certainly appreciated not having to listen to your snoring, Pig." Tenten said, pissing Ino off. Only Forehead got to call Ino, Pig.
"I do not snore." Ino snarled.
"Yes you do." The Saku-Shika-Cho trio answered as one.
"Like a fat little piggy." Sakura added.
"Forehead…" Ino growled as she shared a hated stare down with the best friend and rival.
"Did you get everything you needed?" Naruto asked Lee and Tenten.
"Yup." Tenten said as she tossed the blond a storage scroll, who caught it 3 stories into the air.
"I've got all we need. Although I daresay you won't be needing more than one."
"Yeah. Hey, speaking of which. Do either of you want identical orange and blue jackets? I've got 14 that will probably go to waste." Naruto jokingly offered.
"Hmmm…." Lee hummed as he seriously contemplated this. "I'd love one."
Tenten looked at Lee, but then shrugged her shoulders. "I supposed I'll take one too." She said. "Heck, if the whole saving the future thing doesn't pan out, we could always form a band."
Naruto snickered. "I didn't think of that. I'll just grab them all now."
"You do that." Tenten said. "Oh and head's up. We ran into Hinata on our way here, but she stopped at a nearby baker to buy cinnamon rolls."
"Oh man, I hope she'll bring back enough for everyone." Kiba said.
"She did." Hinata replied as she walked up to them on the street. "Good Lord, what happened to Naruto-kun's apartment!"
"Oh you should have been here, Hinata. We were having this huge bonfire to celebrate all the good times Naruto has had with his old apartment. One thing led to another and…"
"Kiba." Ino growled.
"Okay, I'm kidding. What really happened was there was this huge spider…"
"Kiba!" Sakura growled.
"Guys, seriously. You don't need to tip toe around me about this. I've got no love for this shitty apartment. I'm laughing right along with Kiba." Naruto said as he leapt off of his balcony and landed right next to Hinata and her box of baked goods. "Now this right here, smells like it is worth crying over." Naruto declared as he inhaled the heavenly scent.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun. Dig in." Hinata said as she opened the box to reveal it to jampacked with cinnamon rolls cut up into bite-sized chunks.
"Don't you usually get these whole?" Naruto asked.
"I now prefer them this way." Hinata smiled as she plucked one of the cinnamon bites and popped it into her mouth. Her face scrunched up in sweet gooey bliss. "Mmmm…"
Naruto followed suit and popped two bites into his gob. "Delicious." Naruto sighed.
Sakura growled at their interaction before she jumped down to join them. She ate one of the cinnamon bites and lost her will to stay annoyed immediately. They were just too good.
Soon everyone else joined in and the Konoha 10 found themselves sitting on the sidewalk with a nearly empty box of cinnamon bites passing between them and sticky fingers.
"So Hinata, what did your father have to say to you?" Ino asked. Hiashi being the reason that Hinata had to visit her home first. Hinata licked her fingers clean before answering.
"He told me that he was uncomfortable with the thought of me living so close to other boys, but he was also proud of me that I was finally bringing honor to the clan by joining our "special ANBU training."" Hinata said before she took a sip of her orange juice. "He also said he loved me."
Sakura paused mid sip of her coffee. "He did? Well that's…nice…"
"It is…" Hinata said as she leaned forward to hug her legs. "I think he said that he loved me once before in our previous timeline. Right before he died of throat cancer."
Everyone paused in moment of silence for Hinata's sake. Her father's death had been sudden and devastating for Hinata in the early days of the 5th War. And it had ruined any chances Hinata and Naruto had of convincing the Hyuga Clan Elders to change their ways, which ended up costing the entire Shinobi Alliance very dearly.
Hinata soon found her lap being filled by Akamaru as the white furred puppy tried to cheer up the Hyuga princess by cuddling with her. Hinata cracked a smile as she started scratching Akamaru behind the ears, feeling his soft fur.
"But hey, that's why we're all back here right?" Ino said. "I mean we didn't plan on it. But that's why we're here. We're gonna do things right this time around. We're going to get your dad to quit smoking. Get the main clan to join with the branch clan. And then we are gonna save the world."
Hinata rubbed her eyes and all of the Konoha 11 looked on with smiles. "Believe it." Hinata smiled.
"Oh my God, that's so lame, Hinata." Naruto stated.
"Seriously." Sakura added, and the whole group burst out laughing.
"Screw you both." Hinata exclaimed, earning even more laughs among the group, even from the Hyuga heiress.
The Konoha 10 all sat around and chatted for a bit, enjoying their cinnamon rolls and each other's company. Relaxing together for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.
As they were relaxing, up on the highest rooftops, out of sight, two men stood over the crowd of kids and observed them. One of them a giant of a man with a lion's mane of white hair, dressed as a hermit sage in red and dull green, with a metal headband on his forehead that bore the kanji symbol for Oil on its front. The other man wore the standard Jounin outfit with his own inclusion of a facemask that covered everything from his eyes down. And his left eye was even covered by his Leaf headband like an eyepatch. The Sage smiled down at the children, specifically at Naruto. While the Jounin pretended to be disinterested by staring at his little orange book.
"So it's just as the Old Man said, Naruto has actually managed to make some friends." The Sage smirked.
"So it would appear…" The masked Jounin said as he turned a page, making the Sage look over at him.
"Hey, I know my book is impossible to put down, but I can tell that you aren't reading it." The Sage stated.
"Apologies, Lord Jiraiya, my thoughts are preoccupied." The Jounin admitted.
"Like how are you supposed to make up to your Jounin-sensei and his wife for leaving their son to fend for himself all these years?" Jiraiya said bluntly. "Eh, Kakashi?"
Kakashi looked up from his book titled Make-Out Paradise to stare down its author. "I was here in the Leaf fending off the worst of his attackers."
"And my spy network was making sure that no one who noticed the similarities between my godson's looks and a certain beloved Hokage's looks, ever got to express those thoughts with any of Minato's enemies." Jiraiya stated. "Not to mention the fact that I funded that damn apartment for the boy and all the food in his belly for all these years."
"It still doesn't feel like enough, does it?" Kakashi asked, only because he knew.
"No, it doesn't…" Jiraiya said bitterly. "I should have taken him with me. Raised him up as a real Godfather would. But I was too arrogant and cowardly to take on the responsibility. Figuring that the Leaf could raise him if I just foot the bill." Jiraiya's chakra began to rise. "I failed him."
Kakashi looked up from his book towards Naruto who was laughing along with his friends at a joke one of them had made. "No, you didn't. By all rights, he should have turned out a lot worse."
"Is that supposed to make it better?" Jiraiya asked before shaking his head. "I didn't come back to the Leaf to have a pity party with you."
"I figured as much." Kakashi said as he returned to his book.
"The Third summoned me back, saying that there was an emergency. What he ended up telling me I almost didn't believe." Jiraiya stated.
"Something you're going to share with me?" Kakashi asked as he turned another page.
"Lord Third is probably going to summon you very soon to explain it to you, so you might as well know now." Jiraiya said. "Those ten down there, including Naruto, are all time travelers from ten years in the future.
Kakashi stopped his fake reading and looked up at Jiraiya with his one uncovered eye.
"I didn't believe it either at first, but the kids managed to convince the Hokage and I've never known Lord Hiruzen to be an easily deceived man." Jiraiya argued.
"Not easily deceived, the point being that he could still be deceived." Kakashi pointed out.
"True." Jiraiya admitted as Naruto suddenly looked up, directly at Jiraiya and Kakashi.
None of them said a word as the rest of Naruto's friends took notice of him staring and followed his eye line to the two infamous Leaf veterans. They all looked surprised but it was Naruto who finally raised his hand up to give a weak wave at the two shinobi.
'This kid might be the real deal. No Genin should be able to sense me.' Jiraiya thought as he waved back nervously.
"It's him… it's really him…" Naruto said to himself, overheard by all his friends.
No one said a word, they all knew how important the Toad Sannin was to Naruto. He was the closest thing Naruto ever had to a father figure. He trained Naruto for three years when they were out traveling the world together. He had also sacrificed himself fighting the figurehead leader of the Akatsuki; Pain. Whom Naruto later defeated to save the Leaf village and avenge his master.
'Kit, you okay?' Kurama asked when he noticed that Naruto hadn't stopped waving.
'Yeah…yeah, I'm good.' Naruto thought as he smiled at Jiraiya, alive and well. The Toad Sage and the Copy Cat ninja then flash-stepped out of sight, but Naruto didn't seem to mind.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked, curious as to why the blond seemed to turn so happy on a dime.
"In all the stuff that's gone on, I almost forgot that Pervy Sage was alive." Naruto laughed. "Maybe this new timeline won't be so bad after all."
Sakura smirked. Leave it to Naruto to find the bright side of things. "Yeah, I think you're right."
"I would hope it's not all doom and gloom for us. I think I speak for everyone when I say we could use a vacation." Ino stated, which made everyone mummer in agreement.
Naruto stood up and stretched his short adolescent legs, raising up his arms to the sun.
"Well if these are the few moments that we have left before we get down to saving the world then I am going—
'To grab some ramen?' Sakura guessed.
-to grab some Ichiraku's Ramen." Naruto declared.
No one dared tease the man for his ramen obsession…this time. After watching Ichiraku's being destroyed after the first night of the siege. Well, there were just some things you let a man have.
"Yeah, I need to grab my stuff from my house too." Kiba declared, hoisting Akamaru off of the ground and plopped him back onto his head. The rest of the gang all muttered agreements of their own and just as easily as they came together they all split up to get their stuff for their new living quarters.
Sakura held her breath as she stood outside the tiny two-story apartment that was once her home.
Correction, it was her home. Back when she was a Chunin. After the 4th War had ended one of Lady Tsunade's last acts as Hokage was to approve Sakura and many of her friends to the rank of Jounin. That very day Sakura and Ino had gotten together and put a down payment on that cute little apartment they had talked about in the shopping district of the Leaf. It was so nice to get a place of her own with some actual freedom, even if that meant putting up with Ino bringing Sai home at every opportunity.
Sakura had to take a moment to shake off the heebie-jeebies from remembering the all the awkward mornings that had occurred whenever Sai slept over.
How it was possible that his milky white ass was even paler in his bathing suit area still gave Sakura nightmares.
Without thinking, Sakura knocked on her own door before remembering her younger self kept her house key in her pocket. The front door swung open to an empty home. To Sakura's right was a tiny living room with a love seat and couch surrounding a messy coffee table stacked with magazines, with a gas fireplace further to the right surrounded by family photos. In the back of the open room was a kitchen faintly smelling of Sakura's mother's cooking. To the left of the kitchen there was a dark hallway that led to a few rooms for storage, laundry, and the backyard. And finally, there was the stairs that Sakura could head directly up if she hugged the wall on her left, leading up to the bedrooms on the second floor.
"Mom? Dad?" Sakura called out, to no response. Only the sensation of a draft breezing through the house.
Sakura reached for her gloves before remembering that she didn't have them. She tightened her fists instead, ready for anything. After checking to make sure that all the windows and backdoor on the 1st floor were secured, Sakura scurried up the staircase. Her imagination probably getting the better of her, but she had to be certain.
From the top of the stairs the 2nd floor led into an L shaped hallway with doors to her bedroom, the guest bedroom, the main bathroom, and the master bedroom. The door was opened just a crack, light from the window poured out into the hallway. Sakura didn't like this one bit.
She burst through the door to spot an empty bedroom with the window shut but unlocked. Her chakra sensing wasn't world renounced, but Sakura could easily pick up the chakra trail of the ANBU agent who had just slipped out of her house.
'Probably looking for some dirt on me. Where is the trust?' Sakura thought before relaxing her guard. She proceeded to turn on some lights in her house to turn the creepiness down to a dull roar and headed into her room to pack. Upon entering her bedroom, she spotted a note laying on her nightstand.
Sakura,
Just wanted to remind you that we will be gone until the 7th at your father's business conference. Some premade dinners are waiting for you in the fridge. Just heat them up by following the instructions written on the containers. Be sure to brush your teeth and go to bed on time. We'll see you in a few days.
Love Mom
'Oh right, Mom and Dad went on a business trip around this time, didn't they?' Sakura asked herself.
'Seems like it. So much for having to beg the to let you go to the base with everyone.' Inner thought.
'One less argument I didn't feel like having today anyway.' Sakura thought as she carefully placed the note back on her nightstand. In truth, another part of her was sincerely hoping that she could see her parents right now. She hadn't seen their faces in over a year, ever since she convinced them to move to the neutral country of Wave for the remainder of the war.
'It's okay… They're alive and safe. No one is out to hurt them.' Inner reassured.
'No, they are not. Not while Sasuke remains at large.' Sakura sniffed, feeling her exhausting slipping through the cracks.
'Hey, Sasuke has better things to do than threaten your parents. He and the rest of our enemies are weak right now. Too weak to be a threat. They won't be attacking anyone anytime soon.'
'For now.' Sakura emphasized. She put those thoughts to one side for now and proceeded to strip her closet of all of her clothes she could fit into storage scrolls. What followed was a whole lot of…
'Oh my Sage, I thought I lost this shirt…'
'You're kidding, I used to wear this?'
'Now this is cute…'
Inside of a half an hour, Sakura was all packed and ready to go. All that was left to decide was if she should take her bedroom pillow with her or not. It was a tiny thing, but Sakura just preferred thin pillows over thick ones.
'Screw it. I'm gonna be living there for Sage knows how long. Go for comfort.' Sakura thought as she picked up her main bed pillow, revealing a tiny pink journal hidden underneath.
'My diary? I forgot all about that thing.' Sakura thought as she sat back down on her bed and cracked it open.
Dear Diary,
Today, I got an A+ on my Ninjutsu Pop Quiz. Ino-Pig looked so jealous.
Sakura smirked. Dull and typical, but what could you expect from a young girl's diary entry?
She turned the page to the next day.
Dear Dairy,
Today Sasuke-kun gave me a pencil when mine broke! He's so awesome and handsome.
Sakura gagged when she read that. 'The hell was wrong with me?' She thought.
She turned the page.
Dear Diary,
Today, Sasuke-kun looked my way during class! He's so handsome!
Sakura cringed at all the little hearts she had drawn around Sasuke's name. Followed by her rewriting her name as Sakura Uchiha and Sakura Haruno Uchiha over and over again.
'Gag me...' Inner said in disgust of being reminded of that time.
'If I could meet my younger self I would backhand her.' Sakura agreed.
'Well, you are your younger self, technically.' Inner pointed out.
'Whatever.' Sakura thought before turning the page. Hoping to find some other entry that didn't involve Sasuke so that she might cleanse her palate.
Dear Diary,
Naruto is such a jerk! He picked another fight with Sasuke-kun and hurt him! How dare that little idiot hurt Sasuke-kun! It's no wonder he has no friends or family. Who would want THAT around them?
Sakura's blood froze. Over the years, she had developed a kind of defensive nature concerning Naruto, defending him from any assholes that would talk behind his back. Even years after he saved the village from Pain there were always one or two civilians who couldn't let go of their prejudices. But to read this kind of talk from Sakura's own handwriting, it relit some old and shameful memories for the pink medic.
He's such a loser and a nobody. I just wish that Sasuke-kun would swoop in one day and kill that jerk for me. Then carry me off to the sunset... The journal continued on the next page. Complete with a little drawing of Sakura and Sasuke arm in arm with dozens of hearts over their heads while Naruto lay below their feet with his head chopped off of his body.
Sakura gripped her diary so hard the pages of her diary started to crumble and grow damp. Without meaning to Sakura was channeling her chakra nature through the pages, something that only should have been possible with chakra paper, but Sakura's rage at her younger self was too great.
How could she…
Possibly…
Have loved…
That bastard?
With each thought, she ripped her diary into more halves, until the whole thing was a mushy pile of pulp. To think she had been so obsessed with him, it was creepy and disgusting. She didn't even want to look in a mirror for fear that she would want to punch her younger self.
Her mind drifted back to the day she had arrived back in time. She was up on one of the higher rows of desks, looking down upon Naruto and Sasuke. At first, she thought she was dead, then when Sasuke tried to attack Naruto her instincts kicked in automatically. Had she not jumped into the fray at that very minute…she didn't want to think of what might have happened. But her younger self…
Sakura took the pile of mush that was once her journal and threw it in her waste paper bin by her bedroom desk. Her younger self might have cheered for Sasuke to kill Naruto. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it infuriated Sakura to even consider it.
She grabbed her storage scroll and left her room in a huff. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as the girl she used to be. So weak and full of herself without anything but some useless book smarts to back it up. And she used to have the gall to talk down to Naruto. She stormed down the steps and slammed the front door behind her as she left her childhood home for the second time.
Sakura caught herself right in the middle of the street and looked back. Her house looked so empty. This wasn't at all how she expected her morning to go. It wasn't supposed to be a bitter goodbye. Sure she expected to argue with her parents, but then again she expected her parents to be there in the first place.
The pink haired time traveler sighed before she went back to lock the door, letting her hand linger on the doorknob before heading off to meet with the others.
'This isn't the end. Save the world for good this time. Then I can come home and live a normal life.' She decided.
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted as soon as Sakura arrived at the designated meeting point. She returned the greeting and the two of them leaned against the nearby wall to wait for the rest of the gang.
"Hey, Naruto." Sakura said listlessly.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What's up? You get into an argument with your folks?"
Sakura shook her head. "No, just…had trouble finding some stuff. Left me frustrated."
Naruto could tell that wasn't the whole truth, but also knew that Sakura preferred not to be prodded every once in a while. "Yeah, we've all been there."
Sakura gave an uneasy smile and leaned up against the wall next to where Naruto was relaxing until the rest of the gang arrived, followed by the 3rd Hokage and his small team of ANBU bodyguards. One with a Walrus mask and the other with a Sparrow mask.
"Follow me." Hiruzen instructed as soon as everyone was gathered together.
To a passing civilian, it looked like your typical average old man in robes leading a gaggle of schoolchildren into a narrow alleyway out of sight. To the ninjas, it didn't look any less shady, but that was because they didn't see the 3rd Hokage trace his finger down a specific spot on the wall, opening up a secret passageway leading underground.
The Konoha 10 followed behind quickly and quietly, memorizing the pathway in the underground maze of tunnels used by the ANBU. The hallways were long, dark, and made of cold, smooth concrete. Exactly the kind of timeless interior decorating the Black Ops ninjas were known for.
"The tunnels have secret entry points scattered all throughout the village. They can only be accessed by those with registered chakra signatures. We shall add all of your chakra signatures in time so that you may enter and exit your base freely." Hiruzen explained.
Naruto and the rest nodded. This was all standard stuff that they knew back in their timeline. That didn't make it any less awesome to hear though.
After a hundred yards of walking, the group arrived at a set of double doors marked with faint writing etched above the doors.
LIVING QUARTERS NUM. 3
"Ah, home sweet home." Naruto declared as he swung open the double doors for everyone to reveal the 50 by 30 foot box they would call home base.
Complete with six metal bunkbeds shoved into a corner, a couple of footlockers beneath them, three fold-up tables, 12 chairs, a portable electric stove sitting atop of mini fridge, and a large ten year old box TV sitting in the corner.
"Well this is depressing." Choji said as he threw his duffle bag onto one of the metal spring mattresses.
"I apologize. I will have the ANBU scavenge mattresses for you all to sleep on tonight. This is all the ANBU could provide on such short notice." Hiruzen apologized.
"Remind me again why we can't keep living with our parents?" Ino asked as she tossed her store scroll containing all her storage scrolls full of clothes onto the head of her bed. "We told the Hokage and we're gonna tell our Jounin-sensei. Let's just tell everyone we care about and sleep in decent beds tonight."
"Too risky that information could leak out. Until we can at least defend ourselves, we'll just have to make do." Shikamaru said as he dropped his stuff onto his bed.
"At least we have a view." Tenten said as she pulled back the curtains on the southern wall to reveal more of the concrete wall.
The ANBU guarding the Hokage snickered to themselves, earning dirty looks from the Hokage.
"Sorry sir. It was a little prank to get back at Naruto after all these years." Walrus snickered. "Didn't think it would actually work."
"Oh yeah, you got me good." Naruto said as he nonchalantly threw his junk onto one of the top bunks.
"I'm the told the bathrooms are back through the western door." Hiruzen pointed to the single door opposite the double door entrance. "There you will find male and female bathrooms with a communal shower. So, work out a schedule for both genders."
"Guess it was too much to expect an underground hot spring what with all these other luxuries." Kiba said as he pulled out a chair and kicked his feet up on one of the tables.
"There is a secret tunnel out through the showers." Hiruzen said, making everyone's childlike side perk up. One by one they crowded into the bathrooms that had the barebones amenities that you would expect from a military bathroom, or "head." The men's and women's bathrooms all had doors at the end of their row of stalls that led to a changing room which led into a white tiled shower room with a dozen showerheads to accommodate all of the occupants at once. Something all the girls but Ino would never agree to.
Hiruzen walked up to the far wall of the shower room and placed his finger along the edge of one of the rectangular tiles, he then traced his finger along the perimeter and then pushed against the tile with his hand all in one swift motion. The wall pivoted without effort, revealing the secret door and the dark tunnel behind it.
"In case of an attack or a fire, this tunnel will lead you to the ANBU tunnels hidden underneath the Leaf village, which will lead you anywhere inside the village or to outside of the village's walls." Hiruzen explained. "Be warned, you cannot open this door from the other side once it is closed. Not without destroying it, of course."
"Of course," Naruto smirked, making Hiruzen smile as well.
"Feel free to decorate it as much as you want, I imagine you'll all be spending plenty of time here." Hiruzen said as he strolled back out to the front door. "If you need anything, come to me directly."
"We need our teachers with us." Shikamaru said.
"I'll have them meet you at the training grounds tomorrow morning after I brief them. I trust you all will know what your next move is by then?"
"Don't worry, Shikamaru will have a plan or two by then. He always does." Naruto praised.
"Amen to that." Choji added.
"Very well. I'll leave you all to it." Hiruzen said as he shut the door behind him.
As soon as the ten of them were all certain that he was gone, they all descended upon their bunker like a team of archeologists combing an excavation site. They looked under their beds, tables, chairs, behind the minifridge. Shino took a kunai out and unscrewed one of the light switches while Kiba checked the lightbulbs. Hinata's Byakugan scanned the walls, occasionally pointing out spots for Choji to punch the weak spots in the drywall. Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino meanwhile each inspected the bathrooms, unscrewing faucets and double checking the tile work. All the while Lee and Tenten kept watch of both exits.
An hour later, the group gathered together at the table to show what they had found. Five listening devices lay on the wooden table in front of them.
"Only five? Either the ANBU were sloppier back in the day or they just can't stop underestimating us." Shikamaru sighed.
"Peace time does turn men lax." Shino pointed out.
"True that, but as soon as we leave the bunker they are going to send guys in with more bugs in more obscure spots." Kiba added.
"Which will quickly turn into a drag." Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, how long would it take you to develop a silencing seal for all of these devices?"
"To not tip anyone off that we're using a silencing seal?" Naruto assumed. "A week? Maybe more if I have to write it from scratch."
"If I just had the chakra to do my Mind Link Jutsu we could avoid all this." Ino grumbled.
"We're ninjas, we adapt to strife." Shikamaru reminded her. "Today at least, I think it is safe enough to talk freely."
Everyone nodded as the Nara heir pulled out a map from his pocket and unwrapped in on top of the disabled listening devices. The ten shinobi gazed upon the map of the world, listing all the different nations large and small that dominated the continent.
"Let's see…" Shikamaru spoke as he traced his finger over the map.
"We've got the Sand village that is in financial decline what with their Daimyo preferring to use the services of Sand's ninja allies over them, plus a crazed Jinchuriki boy occasionally killing anyone for any reason." Shikamaru pointed to the deserts of the Land of Winds east of their home, the Land of Fire.
"The Rock village, also in decline, who openly hate the Leaf after the latest war and their many humiliations by the 4th Hokage's hand." Shikamaru dragged his finger northward from the Sand towards the large rocky region of the Land of Earth.
"The Cloud village, that hates the Leaf for the same reason as Rock, but is financially sound enough that they would never ever consider the need to ally with us." Shikamaru said as he pointed towards the peninsula east of the Land of Earth, known as the Land of Lightning.
"The Land of Iron, where the samurai kill any ninja that steps inside their borders without an invitation." Shikamaru's finger traveled southwest to a smaller nation inside the belt of minor nations.
"The Sound village, where Sasuke is headed and will no doubt find a way to get Orochimaru to help him return to full strength. Along with helping Orochimaru raise up an even bigger army of cut throat thugs turned ninjas and curse mark monsters." Shikamaru's finger moved slightly to the right to the nation bordering the Land of Iron.
"Then there is the Mist village, where Mei Terumi is waging a silent civil war against the 4th Mizukage, the Three Tail's Jinchuriki, which will be made public knowledge in two years following the brainwashed Mizukage's death." Shikamaru's finger traced all the way to the farthest bottom right corner of the map where the large island known as the Land of Water was located.
"Back on the mainland, we have the Rain village, where the Akatsuki are located. Including Pain, Obito, and Black Zetsu." Shikamaru said as his finger landed on a minor nation bordering the Land of Earth, Fire, and Wind.
"Plus, all these different minor ninja nations bordering us that will either join Sasuke like they did before or stay out of the fighting entirely." Shikamaru's finger traced up and along the minor nations that acted as a barrier between the Lands of Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning.
"And finally, closer to home, we have Root. The underground ANBU division run exclusively by Danzo. Who hates the Third Hokage and all who share his ideal of the Will of Fire. And would definitely use our knowledge of the future to his own advantage. Plus, he has one of our own trapped in his ranks. Who could get made and be tortured for it." Shikamaru's finger returned to the second largest nation on the map, the Land of Fire, and to the Leaf village.
"We've certainly got our work cut out for us." Sakura said as they all studied the map.
"Not to mention all the Jinchuriki that need protecting." Naruto added.
"Right." Shikamaru said as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes he had managed to buy at one of the stores thanks to the handy dandy transformation jutsu. He stuck the cigarette in his teeth and lit the tip with some fire nature chakra. Everyone but Ino and Choji coughed when he exhaled the smoke.
"So…" Shikamaru breathed. "Where do we start?"
Author's Note: Sorry this was so late. Finals and then a trip to New York and then working on getting an internship had me drained. And after that I just had to slog through a bad case of writer's block. I'm hoping by posting this chapter and receiving some reviews I can get my mojo back.
(Side note: anyone in the New York area looking for recommendations to a show on Broadway, go see Come From Away. It's a musical about the aftermath of 9/11 that had me and the entire audience laughing, crying, and tapping our feet. That fact that I am giving them free advertising on my fanfiction should highlight how much I loved it. It made me feel so much pride for the Canadian side of my family and it was exactly what I needed after visiting the 9/11 memorial and museum. 10/10 would clap my hands raw again.)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter.