This is an eventual SasukexSakura. Rated M for descriptions of violence and language. Very little graphic sexual content.

The story is accurate up to chapter 238 of the manga and contains spoilers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

Flashback

"Sakura, it was nice to have you accompany me tonight," Naruto said, not even looking at her. Sakura sighed in defeat. She knew it; he was trying to be another Sasuke. It was attractive when she was thirteen...but certainly not now. She liked Naruto as he was; why couldn't he understand that?

He started walking off to his own house. "Wait!" Sakura growled, her fists clenching. Naruto nonchalantly stopped. "No, look at me," she demanded. The man slowly turned around.

"Do you really think I like this?" she asked incredulously. "It was cute when we were younger, but for god's sake, Naruto! I'm almost eighteen! I've gotten past that." She huffed in frustration. "It's time that you got past it, too."

Then she walked away.

This was the day, Sakura reflected. Kenji was now two years old. The boy cooed in her arms, and she placed a wet, sloppy kiss on his forehead. Ino smiled down at the boy she considered a nephew.

"He's absolutely adorable."

Kenji had started to walk and babble. Sakura got quite a bit of exercise, not anything strenuous, of course. Kenji just ran around the house all day, really. It was more frustrating than anything else, but Sakura wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey," Ino chirped. "Have you and Naruto made up yet?" Sakura shook her head sadly, tickling her son and causing him to giggle madly.

"Mama!" he screeched in glee, placing an open mouthed kiss on her cheek.

"He's...being moody. He's acting EXACTLY like Sasuke, except worse. I can't fathom why he thought this was a good idea."

"Mama, cake?" Kenji asked, his wide eyes glimmering innocently at her. Sakura sighed in resignation.

"Fine, fine!" Sakura beamed at her son. He'd only had two tantrums today; so far, so good.

Over the past few months, Sakura had done a few odd jobs around ANBU. She'd be the replacement member or the emergency medic. Each time, she'd leave Kenji in Ino's capable hands. She looked fondly at her son, but her face turned grim. Tomorrow, they'd be meeting their new team. That meant she would have to spend less and less time with Kenji. She'd probably have to enroll him in a daycare. Excited as she was at the aspect of meeting her team, she dreaded how the people would treat the son of a traitor.

She grimaced.

Sakura arrived early at the training grounds and was surprised to see another shinobi there. He had dark inky eyes which were currently skimming the pages of a rather thick book. Sakura peeked at the title. It was called, "The Science of Friendship."

Sakura nearly rolled her eyes. People really read books like that? It seemed a bit ridiculous, but hey, she couldn't really judge. She had once read a book instructing her how to catch the man of her dreams. It didn't work out so well.

"Are you..." she started to ask, but when the man looked up at her, she gasped. The resemblance was uncanny. This boy looked like Sasuke. Smiling at her, he closed his book and extended his hand. Sakura got unpleasant chills from the smile. It was so...

"Hello, are you Haruno Sakura-san? I am Sai," he introduced himself, the eerie smile still on his face. Sakura tentatively took his hand and shook it.

"Yes, I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you." She tried to smile, but it seemed impossible. His was so chilling.

"My book says when one tries to make friends, they should assign them a nickname."

"Sai, that really isn't necessary," she said with a weary look on her face, waving the suggestion off.

"I guess my plan of naming you 'Ugly' won't work out so well."

Sakura just sighed. Earlier in her life, she probably would have exploded in anger, but now, it just seemed unnecessary and dangerous. After all, she was going to have to work with this man, and it wouldn't do to make him have negative feelings towards her.

"Are you the only one here so far?" she asked instead.

"I believe so," Sai told her, the smile still present on his face. Then the two of them sat quietly for a while, not paying the other any attention. Soon enough, Sakura felt a presence coming towards her and stood, awaiting the other member of their team.

It was a fairly young woman with tangled, dark hair that went down to her bottom. She looked fairly normal, besides the fact that she was dirty and slightly greasy. Suddenly, Sakura recognized her. It was the woman from a couple years ago who had saved her from the would-be molesters.

"Yo," she drawled, yawning loudly. "I'm Jin. I'm your captain." She looked at Sai and Sakura. "Who's missing?"

"Naruto," Sakura replied, feeling her chest tighten a bit. They were still uncomfortable with each other, and she had no idea how to remedy it. Of course, she took some fault in it but really! Naruto shouldn't have acted so immaturely.

Jin shrugged. "That's cool." She then sat and began to braid her dirty, tangled hair. "Let's get started anyway. Introduce ourselves. Get to know each other better." She pointed at Sakura. "You. Start."

Sakura nodded. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm eighteen, and I have a son named Kenji, who turned two yesterday. Kakashi was my sensei when I was a genin."

"Hatake?" asked Jin. Sakura gave a curt nod. Jin then turned to Sai. "Your turn."

"I am called Sai. I am transferring from another unit. I am attempting to learn about friendship."

"Cool. Okay, it's five past. Where's this Naturo-"

"Naruto," corrected Sakura.

"Right. Naruto."

Speaking of the devil, Naruto came jogging over the hill, sweating profusely. "Sorry!" he bellowed, quickening his pace. He finally reached the group. "I had to run a quick errand for Ero-"

"Whatever." Jin cut him off. "Are you Natoru?"

"Naruto," he said, scowling at her.

"Right. Well, Naruto, it's your turn to share about yourself."

"Are you serious?"

She gave him a frustrated look. "Of course I am. Sit your dumb ass down."

He begrudgingly obeyed and said a couple things about himself. Sai smiled at Naruto and said something about how the hyperactive boy didn't have a penis. Naruto filled up with rage and started yelling, and the two soon got in a fist fight. Neither Jin or Sakura bothered to stop them.

"Hey, Sakura," Jin said, picking her nose. "Can I use your shower?"

Sakura had allowed her new team captain to use her shower and was now searching for clothes for the young woman to wear. At first, she was wary of letting Jin into her home, but Jin had been perfectly respectful so some of Sakura's worry went away.

Picking out a pair of shorts and a long shirt, Sakura pondered for a moment. Did Jin have anywhere to stay? It didn't seem as if she was taking baths regularly, and her clothes were all frayed. A thought then came to Sakura, but she tried to ignore it. There was no way she'd let a complete stranger into her home. She wasn't sure if Kenji would be safe or not. Sakura tried to will her nagging voice away. However, the idea was already ever present in her mind and would not go away so easily.

Exiting the bathroom stark naked, Jin thanked Sakura for her hospitality. "Where are my clothes?" she asked, looking around the room. Sakura pushed a new pair at her.

"I threw them away...they were all ripped up and gross. Take these," she offered, knowing her captain couldn't refuse them.

"Gee, that's really fucking nice of you," Jin said sincerely, pulling the shirt over her shoulders. Sakura fidgeted with her fingers. No, it wasn't a good idea. But still... Jin seemed like she hadn't had a secure place to stay for two years! This was a way Sakura could repay her. Inhaling deeply, Sakura made up her mind.

"Jin, um, Taichou do you...do you have a place to stay?" Sakura asked.

Jin smirked. "Not really, but it's not a big deal. I can stay at my sister's sometimes."

Sakura bit down on her lip. "Well, if you're looking for a place," she exhaled, "you're welcome here."

Jin looked at Sakura as if she had grown two heads. "You high?" she finally asked, causing Sakura to scowl. Jin laughed at the angered Sakura and shook her head, putting on pants. "Nah, I wouldn't want to cause trouble. Thanks for offering, Sakura."

The next day, they were assigned a mission. It was to retrieve a kidnapped yakuza's daughter. Naruto had complained that it should be a more dangerous mission, but Jin had snapped at him, telling him to be grateful that he was on ANBU at all.

"Sakura, if anything happens, stay hidden and out of sight," their captain instructed the medic. "Sai, if you need to, get Sakura outta there. She's the only medic we have here. Naruto, you stick with me."

"Why?" he hissed.

"Because if I stick you and Sakura together, you two are going to get all lovey-dovey with each other. At least, you will try." Naruto grumbled underneath his breath, but Jin ignored it.

"All right, let's go."

The four of them climbed up to the air vents and were disappointed to find that they were too big to fit in it. "What should we do?" Naruto asked, glaring at Jin. The group thought for a while.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed softly. "We could transform into small animals, like mice. Then we would fit in there no problem. Jin smiled.

"That's pretty smart." She turned to Sai. "Send some of your thingies in there to find which path we should be taking." Thingies? Sai took out a sketch book.

"This is no time to be doodling," Naruto whined. Sakura too was confused. What was he doing? Moments later, they realized. Ten inked in mice seemed to float off the page and scatter into the vents, squeaking quietly. Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground.

"What the hell is that?" he spat, so utterly baffled that his head seemed as if it were about to explode.

"Sai draws on his sketchbook and came make things come out of them," Jin explained too simply.

"Wha- how-"

"Enough," Jin shushed him. "You're a ninja, so be quiet." With a frown on his face, Naruto obeyed, uttering "bitch" before completely falling silent.

Sai's painted helpers came back and quickly relayed to the group which path they should take. Sakura and her team transformed into little mice themselves, crawling on the ground with their guides. Spotting their target, Naruto informed the rest of the group, and they quickly crawled out of the air vent. The girl was sleeping, oblivious to her saviors. Swiftly, they dropped their henge, and Sakura deemed it appropriate to gently shake the girl awake.

"Honey, it's time to wake up." The girl slowly opened her eyes and almost screamed until she saw the insignia on Sakura's headband. She almost cried tears of happiness and buried her face in Sakura's chest, clinging to her. Naruto scoffed. For the daughter of a gang leader, she wasn't very brave. Then again, she was about eight years old. "We're going to take you home," Sakura cooed, embracing the girl tightly. Jin and Sai looked at her in awe, a smile coming to her captain's face.

With great pleasure, they realized that the girl was able to fit in the air vent. They transformed yet again and guided her out, instructing her not to make any noise. The mission had ended up being fairly uneventful, but Sakura thought that to be all right. She didn't need their first mission to be stress packed. The whole way home, the girl had not let go of Sakura's hand once. Sakura ended up having to carry her.

"Hey," Sakura said to her captain, finally tired of holding the girl. "Will you take her?"

"Sure." Jin outstretched her arms and took the girl from Sakura. "You're great with kids," she complimented.

"Well, it's something that came to me after becoming a mother," Sakura giggled. Jin, under her mask, smiled.

"Y'know what? I will take you up on your offer."

When they had arrived at the village, Naruto and Sai bickered incessantly. Sakura beamed. Naruto was back to being his old self. That comforted her.

Later, he took her aside and apologized for his behavior from their date. Sakura responded by pulling him down for a kiss.

"Kenji!" Sakura's mother exclaimed, rushing to her grandson. Kenji flew into her arms.

"Grandma, I missed you!"

"I missed you more!" she exclaimed, nuzzling him. "Grandpa's waiting to see you! He has a gift for you!"

Kenji's eyes brightened. He quickly dashed inside, as quickly as a three year old could.

Sakura chuckled lightly and had a seat with her mother. "Mom, how's it been going?"

"I've been really good, honey. I've heard some...rumors, though." Sakura's brows furrowed.

"What rumors?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with this, but you've been stringing two people along from what I've heard. A chip off the old block," Mrs. Haruno said proudly.

"Wh-what?" Sakura stammered, turning red. "Who?"

"Well, that girl you're living with and Naruto!"

Sakura choked on her own spit. Then she burst out laughing.

"Mother," she chortled. "Jin and I are just good friends. I'm with Naruto, not Jin. God, I've told her time and time again not to tell people that we were lesbian mothers."

Mrs. Haruno's eyes softened. "Well, I suppose it's best that you aren't a chip off the old block."

"What are you saying, Mom?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Naruto fiddled with the ring in his pocket. It was their anniversary, and most of all, he was planning to propose tonight. Jin had tried to warn him off it, but it wasn't like he'd listen to that bitch. She didn't have the right to order him around and shouldn't have been hanging around Sakura.

"Naruto, why are you sweating so much?"

"Um, it's nothing!" he replied, his face turning red.

Sakura cocked a brow at him. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine, baby." The rest of the night was filled with idle chatter, Sakura patting his arm every couple of minutes. God, it was disgusting how nervous he was. At the end of their dinner, Naruto gathered up all his courage, grabbed the ring and-

"Sakura!" Ino burst into the restaurant, blood dripping down her face. Sakura immediately stood up and offered a friendly hand. "No, no. It's not me," she said, swatting Sakura's hands away. "It's your apartment. It's on fire."

Sakura blanched. Kenji had still been inside.

Upon seeing her three year old son, Sakura burst into tears. He was safe, asleep in Jin's arms. "Oh, God," Sakura sobbed. She embraced Jin and her son tightly. "Thank god you were home." She kissed her son's cheek, taking him from her roommate. "So what happened?" she asked. "Did you leave the stove on or what?"

Jin pursed her lips. "Sakura, give the brat to Ino. We need to talk." Sakura refused at first, but then Jin ORDERED her to give Kenji to Ino. Pulling Sakura aside, she whispered in a low voice, "That fire wasn't an accident."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Somebody set our damn apartment on fire," Jin rephrased, her eyes hardening. "Somebody's trying to kill Kenji."

Sakura suddenly felt very faint. "You need to stay with me, Sakura!" Jin bit out. "Your son's life is at stake here." The room spinning, Sakura forced herself to nod and stay conscious.

"Why are they doing it?"

"Because he's got Sasuke's blood in 'im." Jin threw her hair over her shoulder. "As you know, I'm a foreigner. Before I even got to Konoha, I heard rumors of you and Kenji, though he wasn't born at the time. The topic of the Sharingan often came up." Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Lotsa people are after those Sharingan eyes. One guy I'm sure you know is that pedo Orochimaru."

Sakura snarled. "Don't remind me."

"Another is-" Jin paused. "Y'know what? He's probably dead anyway, so don't worry about it."

Sakura bit down on her bottom lip and looked to Kenji. They were in so much danger. It was all Sasuke's damn fault. Well, no. It was her fault, too. She should have insisted that they use protection, but she had gotten so stupid...no, she shouldn't have thought like that. She would do it all over again if it meant keeping Kenji.

For the next year, there were various more assassination/kidnap attempts, but luckily, Sakura caught it before they were actually executed. Now, she was more worried about Kenji making friends.

Kenji felt a tear fall down his face.

"You're a loser," the bigger child said, he was probably around twelve years old. A twelve year old picking on a four and a half year old...well, that was just plain cowardly. "That's what my dad said." His friend snickered, agreeing with that statement.

Kenji's lip quivered, trying to hold back tears. If anything, it just made it worse.

"He said that you don't have a dad, that you're just a little bastard."

"Yo," Jin said, towering over the children. The bully just sneered at her. However, his quaking knees betrayed his fear. His friend scampered off at the sight of the tall woman. "Whatcha doing, kiddo?"

"N-nothing."

"Yeah, it's none of your business, lady," the bully shouted, trying to appear cool.

Jin smirked. "You think you're tough shit, don't you, kid?"

"I am t-tough shit."

"Yeah?" Jin took a step, and the bully fell backwards, gasping in fear. "Beat it, punk!"

The child obliged, running home. Jin sighed and turned to Kenji. He was still bawling.

"Hey, kid. Stop crying." Kenji didn't. Frowning, Jin kneeled down to Kenji's height. "Hey, he was an asshole anyway. You don't need to cry over a douche like him."

"Mommy said you weren't supposed to talk like that."

"Well, Mommy knows I'm still going to talk like this." Jin looked him in the eye, ruffling his red hair.

"Oi, lemme tell you something." Kenji was still crying, but nonetheless, he was listening. "The next time somebody does that to you, you slug him in the face, okay?"

"But mommy said-"

"Forget what mommy said!" Jin growled. "She doesn't know shit about this." Well, Jin knew that Sakura did, but it wasn't quite the same for boys. "Listen, you gotta make them respect you, okay? Do whatever you need to do to get them to stop bothering you. If it means you gotta kick 'em in the nads, then so be it; don't overdo it, though. That's the last thing I'm gonna tell you."

"Why is that?" With a sad face, Jin told him.

"I'm gonna leave soon."

"Does Mommy know?"

"Nope, but Auntie Tsunade does. I'm goin' far, far away, but in return, nobody's gonna bother you or your mom anymore," Jin replied. Kenji found this confusing, but he found a lot of things confusing at this age. "Can you keep that a secret?" Kenji blinked. "On a man's honor?"

The boy grinned. "On a man's honor." They hooked pinkies and promised.

- "I hear you're leaving, bitch," Naruto sneered. For the first time, Jin sneered back at him.

"Yeah, bet you're happy."

"More than you can imagine," he said, a wicked smile on his face. "You won't be able to get in between me and Sakura anymore."

Jin just maliciously smirked. "Please," she said. "Don't flatter yourself. I have no interest in your relationship with her."

"Where are you going?"

"Away."

"Where?"

"Far away."

"Y'know, I've never liked you." Naruto stepped closer. "In fact, one could say that I hate you."

"Am I supposed to be surprised by this news?" she asked.

"I know who you are, where you're going, and I'm not afraid to tell people."

"Go ahead. I dare you."

Naruto swallowed. Obviously his threats did nothing to faze the older woman. "Is that all?" she asked. The man just growled.

"Just leave already." When she left, Naruto became Hokage, and there really was no more Jin in between him and Sakura. Sakura was devastated that Jin had left without telling her, but Naruto tried to use this to his advantage. He offered to take care of Kenji, do the groceries, found the new member for their team...he tried to propose yet again.

Sakura rejected him. He still didn't know why.

Present time

Torino had finally found the brat. Sakura's clone was nowhere in sight. Somehow Kenji had managed to get rid of it. She was practically walking down memory lane at the moment, remembering how she had had to comfort him two years ago as well. Scowling, she made her presence known.

"Hey, kiddo!" Kenji jumped when he heard her voice. He had been running wearily, dirt smudged all over his pants. "Your mom's worried, let's go back home."

"No!" he pouted. "She lied to me."

"About what?"

"About my dad!" Torino sighed.

"Listen-"

"Auntie Jin, " Kenji cried. "Why'd you leave?"

"Hey, kiddo. Let's not call me that." The Mizukage kneeled down to his height. "Hey, I had to. If I didn't, your mom and you wouldn't have been safe."

"Why couldn't YOU be my dad?"

She didn't know how to answer that. She stammered, "Well, Kenji. I'd need a dick and shit." Flustered, she shook her head. "Anyway, that's not the point. Your mom never thought you'd meet your dad. She hoped you wouldn't. He's not the nicest guy. It really was to keep you safe." She took him in her arms. "Your mom loves you, okay? She makes a lot of mistakes, but she really just wants you to be safe and happy." Kenji looked at her.

"Really?"

"Yup." She ruffled his dark hair. "Now let's go home. Uncle Itachi wants to go fishing with you."

"Okay!" he chirped, clearly excited for the excursion. "Auntie Jin, are you sure you can't be my dad?"

"One hundred percent."

God, guys. I'm so sorry for taking so long. That's the end of the Flashbacks. Mostly. Sorry, it may seem OC-centric at the end, but it's important to a subplot that I'm trying to work in here that will involve Naruto and Hinata a lot.

Now here's a sneak peek for the next chapter!

Sakura, trying to break through the weight of her chains, cringed at the sudden pain of lifting her son. Only a few more inches! Kenji clawed at the exit, trying to get a firm grip on the window ledge. His fingers were becoming raw and bloody, but Sakura knew this was the only way her son could be safe. Kenji finally got a grasp of the ledge and hoisted himself up with a grunt. "Mommy, are you going to be okay? I don't want to leave you, I don't!" he sniffled.

Sakura, with tears in her eyes, smiled as warmly as she could, trying to reassure her son. "Yeah, Mommy's going to be okay. You just find someone who can help you, okay?" A tear trickled down her cheek, and a violent sob tore its way out of her lungs." She stroked her son's cheek as best as she could. "I love you, baby," she whispered. "I love you so much."

Kenji's cheeks reddened, and he began to cry. "I love you too, Mommy." Sakura smiled at her son once more. "Now go! Run!" Kenji nodded and did as he was told.

Even after her son was long gone, Sakura had not moved her hand. She could still feel his soft cheek there.