Chapter 4

Gambles

Outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop – With Naruto's clone and Sakura – 0417 hours

"Do all of the clan-owned properties have sealing barriers that prohibit people outside of the clan from using Shunshin?" Cloneruto complained. He'd been abruptly stopped about one hundred meters away from his destination, and it wasn't due to chakra-related issues. He was surprised by the level of security that seemed to be present here, especially since he'd taken Kabuto's criticisms of Konoha security to heart. Hmm. Maybe his childhood pranks had had some effect on some of the major clans after all.

But it was still absurd for him to run into a barrier that far away from a flower shop.

"I never cared enough to find out," Sakura said, walking through the alleyways with her otōto's Kage Bunshin. "But this...this is ridiculous. Inoichi-san must be very paranoid."

"Who can blame him? We're ninja, Nēchan. We're all supposed to nurture a healthy growth of paranoia. But yes, this is ridiculous. It's like…" The clone trailed off, unable to think of a reason why Inoichi would go to these lengths.

"Well, he was overprotective of Ino when we were still kids. Kept calling her 'his little princess' and other adorable stuff. I can only assume there was a legitimate threat to her even back then. Most likely from someone formerly in their clan." Huh. That had totally slipped his mind. There weren't many clans in Konoha that hadn't exiled someone at least once in their history. The problem was he often couldn't identify the exiles since those clans also tended to strike the exile from every record that would prove they once existed. Also, Naruto still had a moral aversion to the very idea of throwing someone out of a family, which might explain why he didn't think of it before.

"It's definitely within the realm of possibility. If so, it may also be an advantage to us if he's already gone to these lengths for her."

"Agreed." Both surrogate family members let it be paused there for a few moments as they continued walking at a leisurely pace, absorbing the details of their surroundings. Konoha was unusually quiet at night. Well, at least this part of Konoha was. Having a nearby major clan whose members possessed the ability to destroy one's mind with ease would be a major deterrent to crime. The two wondered if the Yamanaka had taken up any major part of the role the Uchiha once had in policing Konoha.

It pained Naruto to realize how limited his knowledge of the Yamanaka Clan was. The civil war between Konoha and the Fire Capital nearly wiped out the Yamanaka Clan. Worse, a lot of important scrolls related to clan policies had been destroyed in the war. With so many important records missing and with Ino being one of the only survivors, Naruto had not been able to gather an adequate amount of knowledge on Ino's clan during his Hokage training or therapy sessions. He acknowledged it as a significant chink in his plan to reform the world. But he would adapt, depending on what his inner circle's investigations discovered.

"I never encountered this problem, though," Sakura spoke up. "My family was always welcome at Inoichi's place no matter what time it was, so my dad had no problems doing what you tried to do."

"Ya know, Nēchan, I never once heard you talk about your parents. You also rejected me when I wanted to visit them after we escaped from the Gentei Tsukuyomi."

"Naruto, I think it was for the best that you didn't. They wouldn't have approved of you no matter what. At least, my dad wouldn't have."

For some reason, that set off a red light in the clone's head. "Why wouldn't he? What was his occupation?"

Sakura's head sunk in guilt, realizing with that question she'd neglected to tell her surrogate little brother something that could screw up the entire plan, but still unaware of why she had this aversion towards discussing her family. "He's in the Anbu."

Cloneruto's face contorted in anger. That was a major fucking complication Sakura just brought up. "And why did you never tell me this until now?" he demanded, roughly grabbing Sakura's wrist and bringing her to a stop.

"I didn't like my parents at all, dammit!" Sakura yelled way too loud. Again, she struggled to rein herself in and not hit the clone. "Neither one of them ever really talked with me about their lives! They were also very cold and strict, demanding the best from me and never praising me for my achievements, and they were distant a lot, and...and…"

"Yes, Sakura?" The clone's anger was only increasing, but he noticed something was very wrong with the boss's sister. It was simply not like her to abruptly stop.

Then, she gripped her head and screamed, more loudly than he'd ever heard her scream before. Her face scrunched up and contorted into a look that was painful just to watch happen.

"What the hell is happening to you, Sakura!?"

"Get...me...to Ino...now!" Sakura gasped, struggling against whatever it was that was inflicting this pain on her. She had by now collapsed onto the ground, blood leaking out from her nose.

Cloneruto was conflicted as he lifted her into his arms and started running double-time towards his destination. He couldn't take her to the hospital since that would raise unanswerable questions about why he and Sakura were awake and running through the village at that hour, and why Sakura looked like she was suffering a major stroke. Plus, she had specifically told him to get her to Ino.

The cogs in his mind were turning at high speed as he kept running, leading him to hop on board a very dark train of thought. Was it that the reason Sakura never talked about her parents...was because she couldn't? Was her current condition the result of a juinjutsu activation to punish her attempt to do so? And if that was the case, were her parents allied with Danzō?

The clone let out a string of curses that would have made Hidan and Tayuya blush as he barged into the flower shop, triggering an alarm. Less than five seconds later, he was faced with Ino's father, Yamanaka Inoichi, who wore a stern look on his face as he moved to confront the intruder.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you to the Torture and Interrogation Department right now," Inoichi said. The clan head was in no mood to be toyed with.

Cloneruto, noting the look on Inoichi's face, knew he had no choice but to make a gamble. Inoichi was proficient enough in the mental arts that he would know what was going on with Sakura as well as how to fix it. But that meant Inoichi would also see all of Sakura's memories of the future. If Inoichi was in on Hiruzen's conspiracy, or was simply too loyal to his Hokage to be swayed by the knowledge of the Sandaime's betrayal of Naruto, it was game over for the time travelers. They would all have to attempt to flee Konoha and retake their home at a later date, if that was the case.

"My reason is right in my fucking arms!" Cloneruto yelled. "Sakura-chan is hurt really bad and she told me to get her to you right away!"

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"

"I think her parents may have used a juinjutsu on her."

Inoichi's eyes widened. Naruto wouldn't know it yet, but Inoichi already knew everything that made this situation problematic. "Follow me. We have to act quickly to disable the seal and minimize the damage to our friend." The clone did as instructed, dropping down through a trapdoor with the unconscious Sakura still in his arms, but noticed that Inoichi had said our friend, not your friend. Did that mean…?

"Before you question that show I put on back there, Naruto-san, I already know about your plan."

Oh, shit, the clone thought.

"The time travel jutsu you used sent you back fifteen years, correct?" Inoichi continued. The clone hesitantly nodded, knowing he had no choice but to play along now that the boss and his inner circle were caught. "I was reading my daughter's mind and was about to stop when a flood of memories entered, memories which could not be explained any other way."

"Why the hell were you doing that to Ino? Shouldn't you ask for permission first?"

"Unfortunately, that is not how the Yamanaka Clan works. If you're in my clan and want to keep a secret, your mental defenses have to be unbeatable and constantly active."

The clone's eyes widened. "And if she was asleep, her defenses would be completely down unless she's trained enough to maintain them at all times."

"Exactly. They reactivated a few seconds after the memories appeared, but a few seconds was all the time I needed to learn the important things from the memory of your war council prior to activating the time travel jutsu. And what I learned about Hokage-sama...disgusts me, for lack of a better word." Inoichi stopped halfway through the underground corridor to kick open a door, revealing a room that Naruto assumed was used for very secret mind operations. As they entered the room, the clone allowed himself to relax a little. There was absolutely no doubt that the Yamanaka patriarch had just taken Naruto's side.

"It's probably treason for this room to be down here, ya know," Cloneruto commented while carefully laying Sakura down on the operating table in the center of the room.

"If that's so, then the crime was not mine," Inoichi replied. "It was furnished by someone we exiled from the clan, but if my suspicions are right, he joined up with ROOT either right after the banishment, or had been working for the Foundation before I banished him."

"Who?"

"His name is Fū, and he's distinguished by his orange hair. The only reason you even have this name is due to my personal observation of his training. He was a rarity among Yamanaka in that he had the ability to use Shintenshin to possess and control puppets, and could use them to bypass the risks of the standard Shintenshin. However, that ability was a product of his fascination with juinjutsu, and was the reason for his fall from grace in the clan."

Cloneruto's expression hardened. "You were far too lenient when you chose to exile rather than execute him, Inoichi," he said, dropping the honorific to further the point that he was very displeased with the Yamanaka patriarch.

"Unfortunately, it's impossible for a Yamanaka to get away with murder. At the time, my clansmen hoped ROOT would give him an acceptable purpose, but now I know otherwise." Both Inoichi and the Naruto clone shrugged. "Can you wait outside the room now?"

The clone shook his head. "Even if you don't need my fūinjutsu knowledge, you or Ino may need to use me as a chakra battery depending on how long it takes to fix Sakura-nēchan's mind."

Inoichi blinked. "Just how much chakra do you have, Naruto-san?"

"More than most Jōnin in the village. And by the way, I'm a Kage Bunshin, and I was given about a fourth of the boss's maximum."

Were it not for the urgency of the situation, Inoichi would have gawked at Cloneruto's statement while he continued to set up the room for this mental procedure. "And why isn't the original here?" he wondered.

"At this hour? Are you kidding? He needs sleep, and I don't think Hinata's gonna let him get out of bed anytime soon."

Inoichi chuckled, both at the recognition of the shy Hyūga's crush and the severe risk Naruto took by entering her bedroom. "Can you send another Kage Bunshin to wake up my daughter?"

"Already did," was the reply from said Kage Bunshin who was supporting a teary-eyed Ino as they walked into the room.

"Ino, you need to pull yourself together, at least for now," the first clone said. "I know how much it hurts to see your dad again after he died, but right now, Sakura-nēchan needs your help."

I died? Inoichi managed not to ask; he'd only looked at the plan and hadn't the time to delve further into the despair that would have awaited him inside Ino's mind. That would certainly explain a lot.

"It's just so hard, Naruto-sama," Ino said.

"I know."

"Naruto-sama?" Inoichi asked, not realizing he'd spoken aloud.

"Less talking, more fixing up Forehead!" Ino yelled. Inoichi nodded at that as the first clone commanded the second to transfer all his chakra into the father-daughter duo. They were going to need it.


Inside Sakura's mindscape – With Ino and Inoichi

"And I thought Naruto's mind was the most fucked up out of all of us," Ino groaned as she focused on regaining her faculties.

"Watch your mouth, Ino-chan," Inoichi warned her. She was right, though—Sakura's mind was fucked up. There were numerous shards of glass, representing recently shattered memories, levitating over a thick layer of pink haze covering the surface of the mindscape. Just what on earth happened to Sakura when she triggered the juinjutsu?

While Inoichi navigated through the desolate scenery, Ino was sorting through the shards, hands glowing with a green aura as she attempted to repair the shattered memories. The elder Yamanaka was in awe at the skill and determination his daughter was displaying. Had she surpassed him in the future? And if so, to what degree?

"It's so sad," Ino blurted out, unable to stop herself from starting a miniature rant. "Even with fifteen extra years of life experience, I still don't understand how someone can have this done to their own daughter…"

"The world is full of monsters disguised under human skin," Inoichi pointed out, needlessly. "Even we have problems pinpointing them before they can do the unthinkable."

"Because we'd be seen as abusing our power if we tried, right?" Ino's father nodded. "I have no such reservations anymore, Tōsan. My only restraint is caution. Naruto-sama and I both know we have enemies in the village that remain hidden, and I'm not talking about the Foundation; we know Danzō's subversive faction can never be anything but an enemy of our new world order. To us, they are not hidden at all. What I refer to when I mention hidden enemies are strictly the enemies we can't yet identify. Until now, Kizashi and Mebuki were among that group. My main role in Naruto-sama's plan is to do what you won't do, Tōsan, and weed out these threats before they can act."

"I...see," Inoichi said. His daughter was absolutely correct in her accusations: he wouldn't go as far as she just said she would. It was a clear abuse of power, and the elder Yamanaka knew what happened to those who committed that offense. For Ino to outright state it was a necessary evil for the position she was in, would mean her future had degenerated into something he didn't want to imagine was possible. Already Inoichi dreaded the inevitable conversation in which his little princess would spill all the beans on his lap. About how he died, and about any and all future horrors which played their part in turning Ino into who she was now. And even then...would he ever be able to reconcile the differences between the Ino of yesterday and the Ino of tomorrow?

Abruptly, both members of the father-daughter duo were frozen in place by a wave of raw malice emanating from the core construct in Sakura's mindscape. Ino and Inoichi struggled to turn their heads to face the black obelisk that emerged next to them, but once they did, they recognized the seal patterns immediately. It was undoubtedly a creation of the banished Yamanaka.

"Who dares trespass in my mind?" Inner Sakura yelled as her form emerged from the cursed construct. "Oh, it's you, Ino-pig," she spat out with great disgust after recognizing the young Yamanaka. "Let me guess: you're here to stop me from taking Sasuke-kun for myself."

"You've got some serious issues, bitch!" Ino shot back. "I can't believe you would go this far to hurt my best friend and ruin her life!"

"How touching," Inner sarcastically commented. "Poor little piggy is still caught up in her sad little delusions."

"The only one I see here who's deluded is you!"

"Don't waste words on that abomination, Hime," Inoichi told Ino. "While you were busy getting into a catfight, I noticed a major flaw in the juinjutsu which created Inner Sakura that has resulted in the corruption of its primary directive. If you're going to do any talking..."

"...then do it with my fists," Ino finished. "Very good, Tōsan. I've been asking myself all morning just how long I'd have to wait to give someone a therapeutic ass-kicking." Inoichi's eyebrow twitched at his daughter's choice words. No, he definitely wasn't going to be able to reconcile the Ino of his kinder yesterdays with the Ino of the desolate tomorrows, at least not for a very long time.

"Big mistake!" Inner Sakura yelled. "Little pigs need to learn not to walk right into the slaughterhouse!" In the span of a few seconds, the construct grew to ten times her original size and started her attack.

So much for using my fists, Ino thought. Ah well, same principle still applies. "Suiton: Suitun!" she cried out, forming a ball of water in her outstretched palms and launching it at Inner. Mindscapes were truly a wonderful thing in that some of the physical rules of the outside world didn't apply. Accessing the necessary water supply was as simple as thinking about it, even if it wasn't her own mindscape she was fighting in. The water shield made contact with Inner's enlarged fist just in time to block the Okashō that would have done serious damage to her mind if it had connected.

"Ino, be careful!" Inoichi called out.

"I'll be fine, Tōsan. Just focus on dismantling that juinjutsu." Ino's voice was shaky, however; she may have had more experience than her father, but she hadn't expected Inner Sakura to replicate Sakura's entire moveset so rapidly. It's a really good thing Naruto's clone gave us so much chakra before we performed the Shintenshin and is still around to monitor us and make sure things don't get REALLY bad in here. I still need to end this as quickly as possible, but I can't use Shinbōkōshin no Jutsu against Inner Sakura without causing brain damage to Sakura. Gah! What the hell am I supposed to do to take that Inner bitch down?

"Either get out of my head or die!" Inner screeched, unleashing a second Okashō right after Ino barely blocked the first one. This time, Ino was able to dodge, but the entire mindscape shook upon impact, causing her to wobble and nearly fall face-first; a fatal mistake if she'd let that happen. Instinctively, Ino felt that Inner Sakura was causing more damage to Sakura's mind than Ino herself would if she used her kinjutsu. The problem Ino faced was, everything Inner Sakura did could be reversed; whereas if Ino used her kinjutsu for a quick finish, the damage would be permanent. She could not risk that.

C'mon, Ino, THINK! "Kioku Sōki: Zanzō!" Ino cried out, this time using a hologram to dodge the third consecutive Okashō from Inner. Activating her ultimate technique gave her amazing clarity, boosting her ability to absorb and retain information and making it much easier to read her adversary's movements. And she was not impressed with Inner Sakura. Inner fought way too much like an untrained brawler...like the old Naruto and Sakura once fought in the original timeline. Ino smirked. It was time to have a little bit of fun with this overgrown manifestation of Billboard Brow's worst traits.

Of course, it didn't hurt that several the techniques she'd use to infuriate and immobilize Inner were once taught to her by a certain Boar-masked ANBU member during the Hi no Kuni civil war.

"Oi, Billboard Brow!" Ino taunted.

"Ready to get slaughtered, little piglet?" Inner yelled.

"The only one here who's going to the slaughterhouse is you and your overgrown forehead! Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!" Ino wasted no time in establishing dominance over the enemy construct. In the mindscape, techniques could be executed as fast as they came to mind, and with the memory recall technique active, it was very fast. Going through the three needed hand seals faster than humanly possible in the real world, Ino slammed her palms onto the ground, causing it to start rupturing. A few seconds later, the shaken ground started to spiral in on itself. Due to her monstrous size as well as her inferior will, Inner Sakura found herself unable to avoid the attack. Ino couldn't bury her completely, but for the moment, her feet were trapped, rendering her immobile. It was sufficient for her to execute the rest of her plan.

"Tōsan, I'm going to need you to use a Katon technique soon!" Ino called out to Inoichi. "I won't be able to fully immobilize Inner without your help!"

"Don't you know any Katon?" Inoichi asked.

"No. Both me and Sakura have Doton and Suiton affinities, and any Katon above a D-rank isn't possible for either of us."

"Got it." Inoichi tensed up a bit. He himself wasn't particularly proficient with Fire manipulation, but he did know one technique that could be applied here. From the look in Ino's eyes, he devised that she had trained alongside some of the same Anbu members he frequently worked with and had picked up most of her Doton techniques from them. Having devised that, he had a good idea of what his daughter's plan was. It would have been far more effective if he'd had said ANBU alongside him in the mindscape to help immobilize the enemy construct, but what he had would still work.

"You'd better let me out of here right now, pig!" Inner Sakura roared, the venom in her voice permeating the entire surroundings.

"Maybe I'd consider it if you learned some fucking manners, Billboard! Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi!" Ino conjured an opening above the menacing figure of Inner. Continuing to exert her will over Sakura's mindscape, Ino was able to eliminate the charge period of the jutsu. Inner found herself completely soaked in a thick layer of mud, further hindering her movement. However, she was already resisting Ino's assault. Inner was starting to force one of her feet free from the trap she was caught in. That gave Ino and Inoichi a window of only a few seconds to finish the trap. If Inner was allowed to finish escaping, the Yamanakas would be in major trouble.

"Now, Tōsan! That thing won't stay trapped much longer!"

"Right! Katon: Gōka Hitsukidan!" Inoichi called out, forming the Dog and Horse hand seals. Within moments, a large fireball was shot out from the elder Yamanaka's mouth. Normally, the chosen technique would have required significant preparation time due to the dozens of explosive tags contained within the fireball. However, while battling inside this mindscape, Inoichi's sheer willpower allowed him to conjure the tags immediately.

The result of contact with the mud-soaked Inner Sakura was spectacular. As the construct was unable to get herself free from the earthen trap created by Ino in time, she was instantly engulfed in fiery shrapnel. The mud layer covering her body started cooking from the intense heat, which was amplified by a barrier seal Ino threw up upon impact to contain the explosion.

Inner was screeching like never before, forcing Ino to cover her ears as the sound pressure brought her to her knees. During their childhood in the original timeline, Ino had once overheard a couple of bullies from the academy claim Sakura was a banshee when she yelled at them. At the time, Ino thought they were just exaggerating. However, Inner was living up to their accusation right now. Ino could only imagine the pain the construct was feeling as it was literally cooked alive.

The process took about three minutes to complete. When it finished, Inner Sakura had been almost completely transformed into a giant ceramic figurine.

From his position, Inoichi noted that the assault he unleashed on Inner had transferred to the juinjutsu which created her. It was now badly damaged. Removing it outright should have been easy now.

That is, if it was possible to remove this particular seal without causing Sakura sufficient mental trauma to break it completely. With Sakura's current state of mind, that was actually impossible. The fragmentation of her memories brought on by the juinjutsu's activation obviously had not been damaging enough, and judging by the damage—which Ino had gone back to repairing—it would likely be a long time before another traumatic event with that potential could take place. And only if Sakura was conscious of the battle and participating in it would they have the power to finish off the construct.

But even if it could be removed...would it actually be desirable to do so? And could it be done without consequence? Inoichi wondered how the Haruno parents and their co-conspirators in ROOT would react if they checked up on Sakura's mind and discovered that the cursed seal they placed on her was gone. It would certainly not be good news for Sakura if they discovered the seal was gone and she had free access to the memory that had been sealed in the first place. Plus, Inner Sakura was originally supposed to be useful.

No, Inoichi couldn't attempt to remove the seal without consequence. But he could repair it, make it serve its intended function...but still make it work against the traitors who applied it to Sakura. But even if he did, it was still a cursed seal. There was no surefire way to know his modifications wouldn't backfire on him.

"Ino-chan," Inoichi said, "how skilled are you in fūinjutsu?"

"I have some knowledge on the matter, Tōsan," Ino replied, surprising herself with how humble she sounded. "I'm not a sealmaster by any means, but Naruto-sama taught me everything he could on the subject."

"I hope you learned enough, Hime. We're going to have to completely rewrite the current seal on Sakura-chan. I've completed my analysis of the juinjutsu that was placed on her. It's a memory seal, and it was placed on her when she was seven. Sakura-chan must have overheard or discovered something at that age that her parents couldn't afford to have get out. However, they couldn't have the memory erased because doing so at that age would have damaged her mind and greatly hindered her mental development, so they resorted to using a seal."

"I see." Ino was equal parts curious and furious. She wanted—no, needed—to find out just what her best friend had learned that could drive her parents towards taking this extreme measure. But she also could not get away from the anger that consumed her, knowing this extreme measure had been taken against Sakura.

"The 'Inner Sakura' construct was created by the seal. It was supposed to be strictly a defensive measure to help protect her from interrogation. Inner Sakura's mere presence would combat mental intrusion from enemies who captured her, and would help her resist torture by taking over when the stress on her mind became too great to handle.

"However, Kizashi and Mebuki must have wanted Sakura-chan to take after them, so they requested the addition of a behavioral modifier to the seal that would encourage her to become a fanatic, so they could mold her into accepting their entire belief structure."

"That would be what caused her fangirl streak in the Academy," Ino observed.

"And that modifier also corrupted the construct's primary directive," Inoichi added. "The seal fed off her crush on Sasuke and transformed it into an obsession. Because of it, her talents as a kunoichi became almost nonexistent. Instead of training Sakura-chan, her parents just gave up on her altogether. No longer able to shape her at will, they simply settled on her being out of the way."

"Damn them." Ino was seething with malicious thoughts directed at Kizashi and Mebuki. "Damn them straight to hell!"

"They'll meet that end in due time, daughter. Don't go seeking out a fight right now. You won't win." Ino reluctantly nodded at her father's order. "Now rein in your emotions and help me get to work. We have to make sure all of the memories Sakura-chan has of your future are sealed away so securely that ROOT cannot even try to access them."

"Sure, Tōsan, but can I ask one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Can we replace the current behavioral modifier on the seal with a new one before we re-apply it to seal away all of Sakura-chan's memories of the future? I know we have to seal her memories away for the sake of the plan, but she wouldn't forgive us if we also sealed away the emotions she developed in the future. And I really don't want to lose her for that long, Tōsan. Whatever has happened between me and Sakura-chan, she's still one of my closest friends."

"I don't know, Hime. Are you skilled enough to apply it correctly?"

Ino hesitated for a few seconds, going over her memories of interrogating prisoners from the Lightning Capital captured when Kumo rose up against their country's Daimyō. In three instances, she had been required to place a seal on the prisoners after retrieving their memories to seal those memories away. Each time she did, she'd been forced to design the seal to alter the prisoner's thought processes, restricting their ability to feel specific emotions. Ino hadn't liked it one bit, but recognized that it had been necessary. It also would not have been possible if Naruto had not been right there with her at Hōzukijō, teaching her the intricacies of fūinjutsu.

Ino had only been deployed to assist Kumo that one time, but in the eight weeks she'd spent assisting Godaime Raikage Darui and his inner circle, she had taken full advantage of the opportunity to learn everything she could from them. Granted, the bulk of that time was spent with Naruto, advancing her knowledge in fūinjutsu, but she'd managed to jumpstart her water manipulation training and learned a great deal on the subject with Darui personally supervising her training. During that time, Ino began to notice that she was absorbing and retaining information at an incredible rate. Later, she realized that she was beginning to develop a completely new technique. Ino's constant use of the Yamanaka clan arts made her realize it was possible to use her chakra to rewire her own brain, leading to the eventual creation of her ultimate mental ninjutsu, the Kioku Sōki no Jutsu, magnifying her memory retention ability many times over. Ino's progression in fūinjutsu was greatly accelerated from that point on. No, she was not a sealmaster, but then again, it was very rare for someone not of Uzumaki descent to have that much proficiency in fūinjutsu. She had probably gotten fairly close to Jiraiya's level, though. If any Yamanaka was capable of pulling this off, it was her.

"Yes, I should be."

"Then let's hurry and get started."


Back in the real world – Two hours later

Cloneruto was pacing around the room. None of the others had shown any signs of waking up yet, causing him to grow frantic. Each time one of the Yamanakas twitched, it almost made him explode in panic. His creator had seen a Yamanaka die from the mental defenses of a person he'd used Shintenshin on, and the memory of that incident still gave Naruto an occasional nightmare. If the same thing happened to Ino or Inoichi, it would be a major blow to his psyche and to The Plan.

Each time they relaxed after twitching, the clone could not stop himself from letting out a sigh. He was a nervous wreck. Half of his thoughts were temptations to force his comrades out of Sakura-nēchan's mind before they got their minds destroyed. That he didn't succumb to those thoughts showed he had invested an immense amount of trust in them.

But with such a strong bond came an equally strong fear that the bond would be broken.

The relief the clone felt when the Yamanakas' eyes opened, signifying the return of mind to body, was immeasurable.

"Ino! Inoichi-san!" Cloneruto called out. "Is Sakura-nēchan going to be okay?" Immediately, both of their faces took on a worried expression, and the clone's spirit sank. Had the operation gone wrong...?

"Naruto-san," Inoichi began, "the damage to Sakura-chan's mind was severe. As you suspected, there was a juinjutsu placed on her that triggered during your late night walk, when you asked her about her parents. Ino-chan was able to repair the damage. However, we discovered a few things that are of grave concern.

"The construct we call 'Inner Sakura' was created by the juinjutsu that was used to seal away a memory from when she was seven. In this memory, Sakura-chan overheard her parents discussing an S-rank mission given to Kizashi-san. Even though the memory was sealed, it has still deteriorated, so for the time being, we haven't been able to discern any further details. However, Ino-chan copied the memory before we sealed it away again, and said she won't stop examining it until she can recall the missing details."

"I see." Whatever it was, the clone knew had to have been very threatening to the Haruno parents if it was exposed.

"Inner Sakura was created for three reasons. First, to provide Sakura-chan with a means to resist torture and interrogation if she was captured by enemy ninja. Second, to stop Sakura-chan or anyone else besides the seal's creator from attempting to unlock the seal and gain access to the memory. The reason the seal was applied in the first place was because any effort to erase the memory outright would have caused permanent damage to her mind at that age, preventing her from developing correctly as she grew older.

"However, it is the third reason for being that created the problem. Wanting to ensure that Sakura-chan followed in their footsteps, her parents requested that a behavioral modifier be added to the seal. As you're aware, Naruto-san, it is possible to use certain seals to affect a person's mind, influencing their thoughts, restricting their ability to feel emotions, and so on. It was Kizashi-san and Mebuki-san's intent to use Inner Sakura to encourage Sakura-chan to become a devout follower of their political belief structure."

"But Fū screwed up when he wrote that part of the cursed seal," Cloneruto observed.

"You have no idea, Naruto-sama," Ino said. "Billboard Brow's feelings for Sasuke were, at least to a certain extent, unnatural. We know she used to genuinely love him, but most, if not all of her fanatic obsession with the Uchiha was either influenced or created by Inner. Screwed up doesn't even begin to describe how bad the seal was, in both concept and execution. If the modifier had been applied correctly, we would've had no choice but to kill Sakura, as she would be completely lost to us."

"That bad?" Cloneruto asked, his face looking crestfallen.

"That bad," Ino replied, confirming his fear. "We couldn't remove the seal. All we could do was correct its programming. I'm sorry, Naruto, but your nē-chan isn't going to be with us for a while."

"I understand." Ino flinched at the tone of the clone's voice. It was only used whenever Naruto lost someone important to him. "Inoichi-san, could you...leave the room for a few minutes, please? I need to talk with your daughter alone. Once I'm done, I'll dispel, and you can go back to your business."

"Okay, Naruto-san," Inoichi said. "You have five minutes. I wish I could give you more time, but we have to move very quickly now." He then left the room, leaving his daughter and Naruto's clone to their private conversation.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," Ino said, pulling the clone into her arms and holding him tightly.

"Don't apologize, Ino. This isn't your fault."

"You're not the only one at fault here. I should have done something to find out how bad our Sakura problem was before we came back to the past."

"Let's not worry about that right now, okay? Let's just figure out what we're gonna do until we can get rid of the seal." Ino nodded, but also sighed at Cloneruto. She didn't like Naruto's habit of drowning himself in work or training to avoid dealing with his emotional problems.

"How will Sakura-nēchan be affected now that her memories of the future are sealed behind the juinjutsu?" Cloneruto asked.

"It's too early to tell, Naruto-sama." The clone frowned at her use of that honorific. He would have preferred -kun over -sama, but the original learned a long time ago that it didn't sound right coming from Ino's mouth. (Actually, he felt that Hinata's voice was the only one that made Naruto-kun sound right.) "Tōsan and I were forced to repair the old seal instead of replacing it with a new one. We think the seal is stable now, but it was still risky to add the new modifiers at all. It would be in all of our best interests if we removed her from as much of her old life as possible."

"How? Won't that raise alarms?"

"Tōsan's going to have to report this to Hokage-sama either this evening or tomorrow morning. If he plays his cards right, we can get Sakura emancipated as soon as she registers as a ninja. Her parents will probably be glad to have her out of the house. But team assignments are still going to be a problem." She was referring to the tradition of putting the Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi, and Dead Last on the same team. "If she can still function as a kunoichi, there's no valid medical reason Tōsan can give that can alter the teams. We can't let Sakura stay on Team Seven, Naruto. We can't take the risk that she'll regress back into her old self."

"I think I have a plan for that. When the boss sent me to fetch Sakura-nēchan for help running an emergency errand, he sent another clone to disable the Sandaime's crystal ball, reducing his ability to spy on me. That clone did a little extra snooping around while he was in the office and found copies of all our report cards. Turns out, Hinata's a lot closer to being the Top Kunoichi than we thought."

"Oh?"

"The problem is, even if Hinata gets a perfect score, Sakura-nēchan would have to bomb the written portion of the test."

"Oh..." Ino let her thoughts trail off. No matter how Inoichi presented his case, Sakura getting a less-than-perfect score would undoubtedly raise suspicions. But if her performance didn't suffer today, she would end up on Team Seven, just like last time, and being around Sasuke might make her slip back into fangirl mode. The question was, could they afford to risk sacrificing Sakura just to stay under Sarutobi's radar? Or did they have to risk being found out before they were ready to purge the Sandaime's regime from Konoha?

"There has to be another way, Naruto. If we do this, we could be putting a target on Hinata's back too quickly for us to adapt to."

"I can't think of one right now," Cloneruto said. "I don't think we have enough time to come up with an alternative, either. If we go with this, would you be able to get away with interfering with her during the written portion?"

"Hmm…" Ino dropped silent for a few seconds, making the clone worry. Like with Sakura, he didn't always trust the Yamanaka whenever she actually had to take time to think. "Gah! How did that space my mind? I wouldn't have to do so during the exam, Naruto. I'll talk to Sakura about this as soon as she wakes up and see how much the repaired seal is affecting her. If I can get her to buy into your gamble, we can explain it as a side-effect of the juinjutsu activation when Dad is questioned about it. There may not be a medical reason to keep Sakura off of Team Seven if she remains Top Kunoichi, but there is one for her to bomb the exam."

"A-ha!" Cloneruto was sporting his trademark idiot grin again. Ino briefly wondered what was wrong with him; she'd never seen that grin since the Fourth Shinobi War, and yet he'd now donned it twice since resolving to come back in time. Ino was no stranger to underestimating the intensity of Naruto's feelings, and wondered if she had done so yet again. Had the mere thought of being able to realize his second chance with Hinata already done more to heal him than Ino, as his counselor and confidante, ever could…?

"Sorry...I guess I overreacted a bit there, nē?" the clone asked, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Not at all, Naruto. It's a good thing that you can still do that without faking it. The less you actually have to act, the less suspicion you'll attract and the more time we'll have to execute your plan."

"Right." He was just about to make the seal to dispel himself before Ino grabbed his left wrist. "Ino, I really need to be going now."

"I know, but I'm not letting you dispel without sending my memories back to Naruto as well. Kioku Tensō no Jutsu," she said, pushing her chakra imprint into the clone's nervous system and causing him to faint from memory overload once the transfer was complete. Ino sighed at the reaction and punched the unconscious clone in the gut to force him to dispel.


Hyūga Compound (Hinata's bedroom)

Naruto was jolted awake by the memory transfer from the clone he'd sent on that errand with Sakura. His blood ran cold with the memories—both the clone's and Ino's—sent to him by that clone. Two things had already gone wrong on their very first day back in the past.

First, Inoichi already knew everything, making him the second person outside of Naruto's inner circle to learn of their journey across time. It was apparently custom in the Yamanaka Clan to frequently use their mental ninjutsu on one another to read each other's minds, and it was most often done when their mental shields were down, without the consent of the person whose mind was read. Ino, his most important ally, had suddenly turned into an S-rank security breach. The only good news about this revelation was that Inoichi had chosen to side with Naruto after reading his daughter's mind in her sleep. Whether that would hold true for the rest of the clan remained to be seen. Inoichi had promised to help Ino train so she could strengthen her mental shields even further and be able to maintain them indefinitely, so that, at least, was a plus. Still, Ino—and Inoichi as well—had to be extremely careful now. Ino might also have to seal her own memories, removing herself from The Plan altogether until the full allegiance of the Yamanaka Clan was secured.

And second, Ino and Inoichi had inferred from the episode with Sakura that Kizashi and Mebuki were fanatics loyal to Danzō. Both of Sakura's parents had a long if not quite accomplished history in the shinobi corps, but Kizashi was still serving in Danzō's ROOT faction of ANBU and Inoichi had alleged that Kizashi was one of the best ninja in the ranks of the ANBU. He also alleged that Kizashi and Mebuki adamantly refused to train Sakura, and had written their daughter off as a lost cause when a side effect of the juinjutsu they applied to her caused their fanaticism to manifest itself in her obsession with Sasuke.

Needless to say, Naruto was pissed. Somewhere in his gut, he'd known that no matter what was done about Sakura, she would end up creating a problem. He couldn't help being angry at her, even if the incident wasn't her fault this time. He was angry beyond words at her parents for having this done to her. But he recognized he was most angry at himself for this incredible error in judgment that damned near cost him everything.

Like Ino, this incident made Sakura an S-rank security breach. Inoichi and Ino had been forced to repair the cursed seal and seal all of Sakura's memories of the future behind it, but had managed to replace the old behavioral modifier with one that would allow Sakura's future attitudes to override the directives of the Inner Sakura persona, allowing her to not regress back into a Sasuke fangirl. They'd also let Sakura keep her knowledge of Shōsen Jutsu by implanting a false memory to explain how she knew it, and they'd let her keep the few genjutsu she'd learned in the original timeline so Kurenai would be more able to ease into the idea of having her on Team Eight instead of Hinata, but everything else was locked away until such time as both Kizashi and Mebuki were eliminated, along with the rest of ROOT.

Naruto warmed up a little when he realized the implications of that last part. At first, he'd thought it would be necessary to keep the original teams unchanged because any effort to change them would result in raising major red flags to the Sandaime's regime. Now, there was a legitimate medical excuse for Sakura doing worse than perfect on the written portion. It would still raise a red flag, but it would be easy for Inoichi to use it to drive a wedge between Hiruzen and Danzō, which would make his mission in this timeline much easier. More importantly, it meant Hinata had an actual chance to be on his team! It would do wonders for a budding relationship with Hinata if they could get her assigned to Team Seven. And Naruto, being who he was, would have no problems with keeping an eye on Sasuke while also nurturing his bond with Hinata.

Naruto focused his gaze on the pajama-clad sleeping beauty who had him locked in an iron grip. Somehow they'd rolled over during his two hours of sleep—which Naruto thought was the best sleep he'd ever had—and ended up with Hinata using him as a pillow. Not that he minded. As long as she was comfortable, that was all that mattered.

Softly, hesitantly, Naruto stroked one of Hinata's cheeks and flicked one of her strands of midnight blue hair. He was rewarded with a hmmmm as Hinata unconsciously snuggled closer to him. Naruto was enamored by how cute she and her behavior was.

"Naruto-kun is such a soft little snuggly," Hinata said in her sleep. Naruto's eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat. He didn't know whether to be amused or mortified by the nickname his soul mate gave him.

Kurama wasn't helping matters any, either: "Snuggly? Snuggly!? Bwahahahahaha! Your mate is a real laugh riot, kōzō!" the bijū roared, snickering the whole time.

"You're just jealous you're not snuggly like me," Naruto retorted, sticking his tongue out before conjuring a giant muzzle over Kurama's snout. The Kyūbi's head crashed into the sewer floor from the ridiculous weight of the accursed contraption. "Now be a good little kit and shut up. I prefer to have peace and quiet in my snuggle sessions."

I will get you back for this, snuggly gaki, Kurama thought, knowing that Naruto had shut off their telepathic link.

Meanwhile, Naruto was busy thinking of how to gather his own blackmail material. And was failing miserably at that self-appointed task. But who could blame him, now that he could add snuggly to his list of titles?

Wait a tic...yes, that was exactly what he was going to do. Naruto smirked. He wasn't the only one who could get teased over being snuggly.

"How snuggly am I, Hinata?" Naruto whispered into her ear.

"Very snuggly," Hinata replied, still asleep.

"Well, I think you're more snuggly than me."

"Silly Naruto-kun." Hinata giggled. Then she realized something. Her dream felt a little too real, and her pillow was a little too firm, and...did it smell like ramen? And was her pillow talking? And why did it sound like...like...

Hinata's eyes snapped open.

And were it not for the silencing seals placed on her room, her scream would have woken up half of Konoha.

"N-N-N-Naruto-k-k-kun? W-W-What a-are y-you d-d-doing h-here?"

"Calm down, Hinata!" Naruto was panicking even more than she was. "Your father asked you if you were okay with bringing me here, remember?"

Hinata, of course, did not remember, at least not at first. She was too busy hyperventilating as most of the blood in her delicate body rushed to her head, turning it one of the brightest shades of red Naruto had ever seen. Overload was imminent.

"Breathe, Hinata. Just breathe," Naruto said in a softer tone. This time, she was able to listen and do as her crush asked. After about ten deep breaths, Hinata's panicking stopped and her blush receded, though not completely. "That's better. Now, do you remember what happened before we went to sleep together?"

"I...I had the strangest d-dream," Hinata said. "I...I dreamt t-that Otōsama came in here and a-apologized to me f-for everything b-bad he d-did to m-me, and t-then..." She gulped. Naruto-kun was here, so... "It wa-wasn't a dream, wa-was it?"

"If it was, we're both dreaming," Naruto agreed. "I'm sorry for breaking down on you like that, Hinata. I'm also sorry for scaring you so bad."

"Don't apologize, Naruto-kun. It isn't a b-bad thing to cry sometimes. What's really bad is if you k-keep it all bottled up in-inside."

Naruto gently rested his right hand on Hinata's shoulder, earning a quiet gasp and a slight deepening of her blush. "Thanks for letting me come here, Hinata. You have no idea how much I needed to see you this morning."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Hinata's gaze fell to her lap, where she was poking her index fingers together—a nervous habit Naruto remembered well. "Anō, Naruto-kun...could you tell me what your n-nightmare was about?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable with telling you right now."

"Oh..." Hinata felt dejected after hearing that. Naruto picked up on her mood shift right away and scrambled to placate her.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Hinata. It's just that it's something very personal and I...well. You know I've always lived alone, right?" Hinata nodded. "I...don't really know how to open up to others that well. I mean, sure I have a few friends, but they're not all that close to me. I'm not used to having someone I can really talk to about whatever's troubling me, ya know?" It wasn't really a lie. Even Ino's mental therapy sessions in the future he'd escaped from had been very unproductive at times.

Hinata nodded again, but this time said, "You can always c-come to me whenever you need to, Naruto-kun."

"I know, Hinata. But that might not be as easy as it sounds."

"W-What do you m-mean?"

Naruto sighed and took a deep breath. This was the moment when everything would start to change for them. "Earlier this morning, before I came to visit you, I snuck into the Hokage's office and learned a lot of terrible secrets that were being kept from us. We've been used and lied to our entire lives, Hinata. Almost everyone in the village has."

"Is...is it about the...the..."

"Kyūbi?" Naruto questioned. Hinata hesitantly nodded. "How did you know I have Kyūbi sealed inside me?" he asked, inwardly panicking. Rather than answer, Hinata froze up, deathly afraid that Naruto would turn away from her, or worse, report her for breaking the Sandaime's Law.

Naruto may not have had the ability to sense emotions anymore, but it was painfully obvious from the way Hinata's body stiffened and her face paled that she was crippled by fear. He needed to fix that. "You're not in trouble, Hinata," he said in his softest voice. "I found out before coming here, so you can't get in trouble for talking to me about it, alright?"

"A-Are y-y-you s-sure?" Hinata stuttered, still reacting badly to Naruto's learning her knowledge of this earth-shaking secret.

"Absolutely sure, believe it." It didn't do much to make Hinata relax. Naruto sighed. What the hell had he been thinking, bringing up his furry friend like that? Sure, he needed Hinata to know the Sandaime had betrayed them, but discussing his condition of containing a sentient weapon of mass destruction in their first actual conversation from her point of view was not the way to go about this! "Uh, you don't have to tell me right now, okay? I mean, it doesn't look like you're comfortable with this topic, so can we come back to it later? Just nod if you understand and agree." It took Hinata a few seconds for the words to sink in, but she nodded. Inwardly, she was both relieved and disappointed that Naruto-kun chose to put it off for a later time.

"Anyway, Kyūbi is actually the least of our problems right now. I'm still trying to sort everything out, but right now I believe that we can't trust the Sandaime at all. If he even suspects we might be seeing each other like this, he might take action against us, and that would be really bad."

Hinata was trembling from this revelation. Naruto's referring to the Sandaime by his title instead of the more affectionate "Old Man"/"Jiji" he'd always called him only made his serious tone scare her more. "But w-w-why would H-Hokage-sama d-do that?"

"I don't know, Hinata, at least not yet." I wish I could tell you everything, but right now you're not emotionally ready to share my burdens. "But what I do know is that right now, there's only a few people in Konoha you can trust. Aside from me, your father, and Tokuma-san, I think you can trust Inoichi-san and Kakashi-sensei, and maybe Ino and Shino, but almost everyone else could turn against us."

"I don't understand..."

"I know." Naruto drew Hinata in for a hug, making her gasp, but also making her trembling subside a little. "Once I've got myself all sorted out, I promise I'll tell you everything, okay, Hinata?"

"O-Okay," and with that, Hinata let herself snuggle into Naruto's embrace. Normally, she would have been far too shy to even consider doing such a bold thing, but it has been an extraordinary morning with some very disturbing things said to her, and right now she needed some comforting, which Naruto-kun was more than willing to provide.

"But this doesn't mean we can't see each other at all, Hinata. It just means we have to be very careful about meeting up, ya know?"

Hinata gasped at the possible implications of those words. Her blush returned in full force. "Y-You m-mean like a...a..."

"A secret romance?" Naruto suggested, realizing too late he was being careless with his words. Hinata gasped again, blushing even more, and Naruto could tell from the deepening of her blush that she was about to start hyperventilating again if he didn't soothe her. "Breathe, Hinata. You don't have my permission to faint yet."

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata said, taking more deep breaths.

"Don't apologize, Hinata. I know this is a lot for you to take in." She nodded. "But as for your question, no, at least not yet. It's way too risky for us to pursue that kind of relationship right now. But that shouldn't stop us from training together in secret whenever we can, as long as we make sure no one other than the ones we trust know about it, right? So, uh, would you like to do that, Hinata? Start training with me, that is?" Again, Hinata was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. She'd wanted Naruto-kun to ask her to be his girlfriend, but knew she couldn't handle the question if he'd asked, nor believe him if he'd asked. Besides, between his crush on Sakura-san (which she didn't know he didn't have anymore) and what he told her this morning, it simply wasn't possible. But she couldn't lose hope! Naruto-kun still wanted to see her and spend time with her, so she still had a chance!

Don't faint, Hinata. Naruto-kun hasn't given you permission to faint, so DO NOT FAINT! "H-Hai!" Hinata said with enthusiasm. Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on Naruto.

"Whoa, Hinata, could you let go a little, please?" Naruto asked, his voice raspy. "I'm having trouble breathing here." On cue, Hinata shot out of his lap, blushing up a storm and muttering unintelligible apologies. "Hey, calm down! I'm not mad at you. You're just really strong, is all."

"No I'm not," Hinata muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

"I s-said I'm not s-strong," she insisted.

"Bullshit." Hinata turned away from him, not wanting to hear his harsh voice, so Naruto placed both his hands on her face and turned her back around to face him, making her gasp. "Hinata, look at me and listen. You are strong, no matter what anyone tries to say or do to convince you otherwise. I know your father sees it, and I know I see it, and I know your cousin and little sister will see it soon, so why does it matter if no one else wants to see it?"

"B-But..."

"No buts, Hinata. I can't accept that you don't see the strength I see each time I look into your eyes. Look deep inside yourself and see what I see, and for God's sake, Hinata, stop putting yourself down! You're a lot stronger than everyone else wants you to believe. I'll keep saying it as many times as you need to hear it. And we've already agreed that I'll come over and train with you whenever I can, so we'll both get even stronger. And one day, after we've trained ourselves into the ground, we'll both become so strong that we won't have to hide from anyone. Does that sound good to you?"

Naruto grew worried when Hinata didn't answer. He tried prodding her, but she still didn't respond. After twenty seconds, he heard her start crying. "Hinata? What's wrong?"

"T-This...this can't be r-r-real," Hinata sobbed. Naruto was taken aback; he had made a mistake he didn't think himself capable of making. He had underestimated her emotional fragility.

"Huh? Why not?"

"If you were r-really N-Naruto-kun, you w-wouldn't be h-h-here. You'd s-still be ch-chasing S-Sakura-san, and you w-w-wouldn't even..."

Hinata was cut off with a gasp when Naruto pulled her back into his lap, kissing her softly on her forehead while using his thumbs to gently wipe her tears away. Luckily, the idea of fainting didn't even cross her mind. Were it real, she'd have fainted many times over by now, but then again, if it was a dream, why would she be crying? Naruto-kun seemed to know she was asking herself this, and wrapped his arms around her, beckoning her to relax and accept it. Maybe, just maybe, this dream was real after all...

"Hinata," Naruto said, "I'm done chasing Sakura. You're the only girl whose existence I want to acknowledge like that. I'll stay with you, and only you, for as long as you'll have me. That's my promise of a lifetime to you." With that, he had gone fully past the point of no return, and knowingly went against what he'd said about it being too dangerous for a relationship between them. He knew Hinata could easily interpret what he just promised as a marriage proposal, which was ironic considering the words Hiashi said to him prior to his entering the compound, and choose to reject him. And if she did, he didn't know what he would do with himself. But there wasn't a single ounce of his being that wasn't screaming out for Hinata to stay with him. He needed her, and he needed her to know how strong that need was.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata gasped. This was far too good to be real, and yet he'd used those words, and she knew from watching him all the time that once he promised something, he would do everything in his power to keep that promise. He hadn't said he loves her, but his words and comforting actions told her he felt something strong towards her; strong enough that he really was going to give her a chance, and find out if he could love her. Hinata felt the slight traces of uncertainty and doubt Naruto-kun couldn't quite conceal from his voice...which she interpreted to mean he wasn't fully sure of what he felt. Hinata didn't know this wasn't true, that he was hopelessly in love with her, but it was easier for her to come to this conclusion, because she wasn't confident enough in her own feelings to know for sure that what she felt for Naruto-kun was love. But with her Naruto-kun here to help and guide her, she knew she would be confident enough, one day.

What once would have been the hardest thing to say suddenly became very easy for her. "Hai, Naruto-kun. I want nothing more than to have you with me," she finally said, without stuttering.

Naruto momentarily lost control of himself when he heard her answer. "Arigatō!" he yelled excitedly, jumping off the bed and doing a happy dance with Hinata still in his arms. Hinata was giggling without restraint.

"You're...hehe...w-welcome, Naruto-kun, but could you...hehe...p-please put me down now?" she asked, having trouble catching her breath between giggles. Naruto reluctantly complied; he didn't ever want to let go of her.

"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, don't ever forget what I said. I might not be able to do everything I just said I would, at least not right away, but I will figure it out somehow, because I don't go back on my word."

"I know, and I won't," Hinata replied, still feeling a bit of the surge of confidence Naruto gave her.

"Good." Wistfully, Naruto stared at the open window and watched the sky as night gave way to the sunrise. "Uh...should I be leaving? It's almost dawn now, and I don't think anyone here besides you, Tokuma-san or your father would be too thrilled with me being here, ya know?"

"Normally I would ask you to s-stay for br-breakfast despite that, Naruto-kun, but with e-everything you s-said...yes, I think it would be b-best if you left now, b-before the rest of the clan wakes up. But if y-you'd like, I could b-bring you something at the Academy?"

"That would be great, Hinata! I'll see you there soon!" Naruto finally moved towards the window to take his leave, but he still had one more thing he needed to say. "Oh, Hinata?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"Don't hold back on the exams today. I know how hard you've worked at the Academy, but I also know you can do even better. I think it would help us out a lot if we ended up on the same team when we graduate from the Academy, ya know? It would make it a lot easier for us to train together if we didn't have to do it all in secret. And I really want to be on the same team as you, Hinata. Believe it." Naruto could say nothing more, as he'd stayed far too long. He turned himself invisible with the Tōton Jutsu and jumped out Hinata's window.

Hinata was thoroughly in shock. Even with the bad things Naruto-kun warned her about, today was officially the best day of her life. Naruto-kun had got Otōsama to turn over a new leaf and mend the rift in their family. Then, he'd defied all authority in Konoha by coming to her in the dusk (albeit at Otōsama's request), seeking her out for comfort, and to comfort her. And if that wasn't enough, he'd offered to help her train, and wanted her to be on his team when they graduated from the academy! He'd even promised to give up on Sakura and be with her instead! To top it all off, he'd kissed her! It was too much to take in. Hinata knew she should have been more suspicious of Naruto-kun, but she was simply too happy right now to care. All that mattered to Hinata at this moment in time was that her Naruto-kun had finally seen her and was going to help her fight to make all of her dreams come true.

Naruto-kun...I won't let you down was Hinata's last coherent thought as the bliss of the moment finally overwhelmed her, causing her to faint onto her bed.


Technique List for Chapter 4:

Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi: Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop

Doton: Retsudo Tenshō: Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm

Gentei Tsukuyomi: Limited Moon Reader

Katon: Gōka Hitsukidan: Fire Release: Great Fire Incendiary Bullet. The user releases from their mouth a large bullet-shaped mass of fire that has a dense accumulation of explosive tags hidden within. These tags ignite from within the fire and cause an intense explosion of flaming shrapnel resulting in widespread damage and can easily overwhelm a target who is caught within the blast range of this technique.

Kioku Sōki: Zanzō: Memory Recall: Afterimage. The extension of Ino's Memory Recall Technique that allows Ino to create holograms of herself to avoid getting struck by enemy attacks.

Okashō: Cherry Blossom Impact

Shinbōkōshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Assault Technique. Derived from the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, this uses Ino's chakra to assault the target's mind directly. Depending on the intensity of the attack, it can cause serious, potentially irreversible brain damage, or even kill the target by triggering an aneurysm.

Shōsen Jutsu: Mystical Palm Technique

Suiton: Suitun: Water Release: Water Shield

A/N: I'm not particularly happy with that fight scene inside Sakura's mindscape, but it was my first…

I also must apologize for the delay in posting the chapter as well as the content. Three particular reviewers (one unfortunately being a guest) have pointed out stuff in their reviews and via PM that has forced me to push the graduation exams back a chapter. Yes, I really did just turn the first chapter of the original into five chapters in my rewrite. Next chapter will be the actual exams along with the Mizuki incident. Rest assured that things will be different.

My two excuses for taking longer than desirable with this chapter are a massive case of writer's block and losing my phone temporarily because my family's bank account was hacked last month.

Hopefully I've made the last scene in this chapter...ahem, snuggly enough to make up for this?

Okay, now for the reasons for this end-of-chapter A/N. From now on, I will try to keep all A/Ns posted at the end of the chapter, rather than the beginning. Warning: there may be spoilers for the manga included, so read at your own risk.

First, I feel the need to reply to two specific reviewers:

- Flickering Moon (Guest): If you continue to follow this story, I would ask that you make an account so I can respond to you via PM. I don't like acknowledging guest reviews, and doing so is potentially problematic anyway, as you can see from the absurd length of my reply.

Most of your criticisms seem to be of the time travel genre itself, rather than with this specific story. However, I will address your review as though your issue was with the story rather than the genre.

Yes, Naruto's biggest personal reason for going back in time IS to get his second chance with Hinata. Yes, he will be aware that initiating a romance too early will put the target on her back sooner than he might be able to adapt to; however, he had to go to her anyway so that she would at least be aware of the danger to her and Naruto from within Konoha's walls. It would be worse for Hinata if Naruto didn't tell her what he could afford to tell her, as soon as he could afford to. Sadly, this meant the potential romantic implications in the scene at the end of this chapter were unavoidable. You have to realize that pre-time skip Hinata is emotionally fragile and needs to be reassured that she can overcome her turmoil, and the only way Naruto knew how to reassure her was to make that promise to stay with her as long as she's willing to have him. I will reveal, however, that Hinata will start to grow suspicious of Naruto, at least until he decides the time is right to trust her completely.

About your Gary Stu comment...would you care to elaborate? How is it Gary Stu if Naruto knows his plans have flaws and that he'll have to adapt to compensate? If you'd read Chapter 2, you would have noted that Kurama pointed out the original plan WILL fall apart, and it has already started to do so here. No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, and I hope the Sakura incident in this chapter has done an adequate job of demonstrating that, if only to a currently limited degree. Feel free to speculate about the potential implications of this to your satisfaction. Now, if you're talking about Naruto's speech patterns and maturity demonstrated in the first three chapters, keep in mind that the story begins post-canon, and even the epilogue of the Naruto manga shows that the titular character has gained wisdom in adulthood. Why is it so much of a stretch that he would have a higher degree of maturity here than he did in his portrayal in Shippūden, especially since he has suffered losses in An Uzumaki Scorned that he hasn't suffered in the manga canon? The real stretch would be if he was still genuinely the idiot he is portrayed as in most of the canon. But if his speech patterns still sound off, would you care to point out where and how he feels OOC for a more jaded version of himself?

Back to the romance issue...aside from the very real Sarutobi problem presented in my story's plot, what is your personal beef with a potential pre-time skip romance between Naruto and Hinata? Keep in mind the very important cultural differences between the Naruto world and the modern Western world. Naruto's setting is based off the Sengoku (Warring States) period of Japan; due to the shorter average lifespan of those times, one would be expected to find a wife and have children sooner than we, in this day and age, consider morally acceptable. Due to the various technologies included in Naruto, however, I consider the real time setting to be post-apocalyptic, but it is still primarily an Eastern-based culture. Plus, children are being trained to kill the enemies of their village from a young age. This would cause the children to mature more rapidly than they normally would in Western society. This would also mean that a preteen romance, while it may be to your personal distaste, would not be morally unacceptable in the Naruto world. Again, Naruto is aware of what would happen if he gets caught, but if protecting Hinata from his enemies means becoming more than just her friend as he trains with her to help both her and himself get stronger, he wouldn't try to avoid that level of development. Naruto believes that attempting to keep her at a distance until he knows he's strong enough to protect her without fail carries the risk of making him lose her again, but in a way that's more painful than having watched her die the first time around.

Your words about defining it as a preteen romance don't truly apply to Naruto in the time travel genre. Naruto IS NOT thinking like a preteen when it comes to Hinata. He's looking at Hinata through the lens of a man who loved Hinata in his and her totality. So you'll have to understand how this opportunity for a second chance can be overwhelming for him. And if he was absolutely confident in his ability to protect her, he'd probably declare his love from the top of the Hokage Monument.

But there are other major reasons besides saving Hinata and taking revenge against Sarutobi - a revenge Naruto knows full well he might not be able to fully achieve, at least not in the sense of "actually killing the Sandaime himself" - that motivate his decision to travel back in time. Yes, Naruto could have reformed the shinobi world in his future, BUT, as the story progresses, if you continue reading, you'll continue to see mentions of this post-canon timeline that make staying in said timeline less and less desirable, and I don't just mean the fact that I did not disband ROOT after Danzō's death in this AU. The Fourth Shinobi War really messed up Naruto's entire world and nearly destroyed it, something Kishimoto has no plans whatsoever to explore now that the manga is over. Kaguya has a confirmed planet-buster ability, so would it be unreasonable to expect that the Shin: Jukai Kōtan that Madara used to ensnare the entire world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi is potentially a continent-buster?

Also, I've already stated in Chapter 1 and reiterated in Chapter 3 that the Fire Daimyō attempted to economically cripple Konoha in this story's future timeline, forcing Kakashi to declare war on the Fire Capital. And of course the economic sanctions against Suna by their Wind Daimyō happened in canon. The problems created by the Daimyō and their power over the nations they govern are one major example of what Naruto wants to rectify. And this Naruto, as Kurama mentioned in Chapter 2, is wise enough to recognize that no matter how powerful he becomes, he cannot achieve his ambitions alone. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken anyone else back with him.

As far as the control exercises go...ask yourself this. Of the three options Naruto has - a. successfully performing the Bunshin no Jutsu to graduate properly; b. failing to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and being forced to let Mizuki tell him to steal the Scroll of Seals again, knowing full well that what he's doing is a capital offense; or c. performing the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu without a believable cover story for how he knows it - which two of those three do you think would set off the bigger alarms? In canon, the only reason Naruto got away with stealing the scroll is because he genuinely did not know that what he did was wrong, which led to him being forgiven. The same CANNOT be said in the redo here, and Sarutobi would be well within his power as Hokage to have Naruto sentenced to death if Naruto stole the scroll again.

I can't answer your other questions unless you make an account and PM me, because they would potentially spoil too much of the plot for the rest of my readers.

But I do appreciate your constructive criticism. If you find you can't read this fic any longer, I completely understand and I wish you good luck in the rest of your endeavors.

- Circle of Phoenix: Your whining does not deserve to be acknowledged. You do not deserve the insignificant amount of time I'm consuming by typing this up, but oh well. You have no case against me. This fic has not violated the Terms of Service in any way. The only ToS violation that has occurred here is you flaming me, which, by the way, I have reported, and I WILL report you again each time you flame me if you continue to flame me just because you don't like that I rightfully criticized one of your fics. And guess what? Due to your persistent whining, your "respect" means nothing to me. And might I also point out that by disrespecting me for writing this story, you also disrespect everyone else who has ever used the plot point of "the main hero/heroine is betrayed and goes back in time to correct the mistake", INCLUDING The Gallant Toad Sage, whose work inspired this fic. So I strongly suggest you back off.

Second, I have a poll for readers to make the aftermath of the exams more interesting. At first, I was going to have the teams stay the same as canon for one main reason: to try and keep the target off Hinata's back as long as possible. However, I believe that Hinata would have been a far better fit for Team 7 than Sakura, and the authors I've spoken to agree. Plus, when the target does get put on her back, Naruto would be in a better position to protect her if he's her teammate.

The question for the rest of you is, would you rather have Teams 7 and 8 remain unchanged, or do you want Hinata to overtake Sakura as Top Kunoichi and get onto Team 7 with Naruto? Whichever one wins out, will affect the immediate plot, up to and including the Land of Waves and Hidden Waterfall arcs. Also be aware that if the majority votes to have Hinata overtake Sakura, it WILL raise red flags to Konoha's administration.

Third, I'm currently working on a timeline for the events of the futureverse in An Uzumaki Scorned, but am waiting to post it to my profile until we know what happens in Naruto 7: The Last. For the record, my feels are NOT ready for this movie.

And last, the epilogue of Naruto has brought up a possible side pairing issue for this fic. Well, I know I'm very late saying this, but the main pairing of this story, NaruHina, IS CANON. (And it feels so good to say that.) So are ShikaTema and Sai x Ino. Chōji x Karui and Kiba x Tamaki came out of left field, but there's no reason I can see at this time not to imply them even if I might not be able to develop them. However, regardless of whether or not I kill Sasuke, SasuSaku will NOT be one of the pairings in An Uzumaki Scorned. If Sasuke lives, he won't be paired with Karin or Haku either.

Anyway, enjoy. Also, *does a happy dance because my beta reader Solvdrage added this story to hinatasgreatestfan's C2, NaruHina Puritans*

Next chapter: It's All in the Eyes. Ino trolls the Academy Exams while Shino...has a major anger management problem.