"Sarada, are you okay?!"

Mom bursts into my room, startling me. I bolt upright and look to my alarm clock… Which reads 8:03pm. I guess I had fallen asleep after coming home from Ichiraku.

"Yeah," I take my glasses off and rub my eyes wearily. "What's going on?"

"The woods are almost completely destroyed. Konohamaru was looking everywhere for you. He said you were over there with the rest of your team earlier today, but they left once it started raining, and said you didn't go with them," She clasps her hand to her chest and sighs as she slumps onto my bed, next to me. "I was so worried that you were injured. Were you there when it happened?"

"It was no big deal," I slipped my glasses back on and looked away, avoiding her prying eyes. "It was a wicked storm, but I was able to get out okay and came back here."

"Naruto told me that you were with him," Her hand is on my knee now, which sends a shiver up my spine, stiffening my back. It was a gentle gesture, like a spider that was catching me in a web of lies. "That it was his rasengan that took down the trees?"

"Well there was that, too. He was helping me train and we got a big carried away," I smile nervously at her and make eye contact to try to convince her, but her jade eyes penetrate through my soul.

"Sarada, I'm not a fool. This isn't new to me. I saw that storm centered on the woods; I know that is your father's kirin technique."

I'm silent. I have nothing more to say. My eyes fixate on my feet, shuffling on the floor.

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know."

"What exactly happened?"

"I don't know!" I stand up and cover my face with my hands, wiping away hot tears.

Mom exhales deeply and stands up beside me, embracing me. Her warmth and her smell is so comforting. I can't help but fall forward into her body, releasing my emotions. She pets my hair and lets the topic go. "I'm just so glad you're safe, Sarada."

I fell asleep in my mother's bed that night. We watched a movie together, and I pried a bit on her relationship growing up with Naruto. I could tell she was a bit confused on my sudden curiosity.

She said when our Hokage was younger, he was a huge troublemaker and an idiot.

"More so than Boruto?"

"Yeah, way more than Boruto."

He grew up with neither of his parents around. He always wanted to be the Hokage. And he always wore obnoxiously orange clothing.

..

"Were he and Hinata-san always close?"

"Ah, no, actually," Mom put her finger to her chin, thinking back. "Hinata always had deep feelings for Naruto, but he was clueless. They hardly ever spoke until they were adults. Haha, Naruto had this weird crush on me, actually."

"On you?!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't interested. He wasn't my type. Your father had my attention from the first moment I saw him!"

"Okay, okay. But did you ever go on a date with Naruto-sama?"

Her face went red. "We did, but things never worked out. They worked out how they were supposed to, and that's what matters."

"Hmm. Okay."

"I can tell you more about your father and I."

"No, that's fine," I sat back in her bed, content with the answers I had gotten from her. She gave me a strange look, and flipped the movie back on.

..

I knew my mother wouldn't divulge any more juicy details about her past with Naruto. And I don't think Naruto would share that with me, either. I thought more about the strange dreams I had, where I had gone back in time to witness events… But were they dreams? Or were they more? I had to find out.

She left for work at the hospital early, about 7am. I had a few hours before I had to meet up with my team; ugh. I was not looking forward to that after yesterday's events.

First, I created a simple clone, and practiced my shapeshifting technique to turn the clone into something small… a mouse. The result wasn't perfect. The mouse was a bit lumpy, a bit disturbed looking, but it would do.

Second, try to get my mouse clone into my parents' locked storage room, and have it turn back into a clone and unlock the door. That didn't work; the mouse was too big to fit under the door. In fact, the door was so close to the ground, I couldn't think of anything that would fit. The mouse clone vanished into smoke.

Perhaps I could try to turn a kitchen knife into a key shape that would fit? I doubt that would work, I'm no magician; and besides, mom would probably lose it if she noticed any of her fancy cutlery missing.

I decide to try my hand at shapeshifting again. I figure, if I transform myself temporarily into an insect, I could fit through the keyhole and get inside. The insect of choice was a bee.

I focused my handsigns and my chakra carefully, and in a pouf of smoke, became a bee. Flying was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated, and some of my legs were disproportionate, but it was enough to get me through the keyhole. At least most of the way.

One of my legs were dragging through the keyhole, distracting me enough for me to lose my focus and my chakra to cease providing for the technique any longer. Within seconds I am myself again, successfully in the storage room, minus my pointer finger on one arm which is stuck firmly in the keyhole.

I quickly stifle my scream and tug my arm to get my finger free. I could feel it starting to come loose, and bit my lip through the pain tugging again with more force.

It frees, and I lose my balance backwards into an old bookcase. Books scatter on and around me, large amounts of dust creating something like a smokescreen around me. I cough and sputter and peek at the book titles, but there is nothing interesting. So I put them back and continue snooping.

My fingers trace along my father's desk; strong, sturdy expensive wood. It's a waste for furniture as beautiful as this to be hidden in this desolate room. Inside are more scrolls, none that I can decipher. There is a small drawer that is locked, but it opens with some wiggling and tampering. There is a large, thin scroll inside. Of course I open it.

It's Uchiha genealogy; a giant family tree that went back for generations among generations. The only name I recognize is my father's. He has a brother?! Is he alive, or is he dead? Do I have cousins? Is he cold and harsh like my father? I knew that my grandparents were deceased, but mom had never told me how.

Uchiha Itachi. I run my fingers over the ink ridges and close my eyes, trying to visualize him. Suddenly, I can. It's clear. His hair is dark, like mine, and longer than father's. He has fair skin and pronounced facial features near his cheeks and nose. His face seems solemn like father's, but it forms a smile the longer I stare. He also dawns the metal plate of the Hidden Leaf, but it is has a deep scratch through the middle that looks intentional. Could this mean he was a traitor? Is that why he has never been spoken of?

I snap open my eyes. Directly in front of me is an old wall mirror that echoes my reflection back at me, and I see that my eyes aren't my own; they are that of the sharingan.