Authors Note: I really want to thank you all for the follows and reviews! You are all great and I appreciate you all reading. Your reviews really let me know how you're all feeling about the story, and it gives me extra motivation. Continue to keep it up you are all awesome!
"Three kids, I have three kids and you fail to mention it?!" Sakura yelled, she was incredibly mad at her blonde friend. The fact that Ino didn't mention the full number of children Naruto and herself had was unrelentingly frustrating to the pinkett. Sakura grabbed her hair in frustration, her face was red with both anger and embarrassment.
Ino hadn't been in the room for five minutes before Sakura let her have it. Somehow she sensed this was coming but she never calculated it would be this bad.
Ino weakly smiled as she held her hands up in defense of her actions. She was sorry she hadn't mentioned it to her pink haired friend but she had good reason to. It made the blonde feel worse that she found her friend's outburst funnier than she otherwise should have.
"You made me look so stupid in front of him!" Sakura cried as she fell back onto her hospital bed in frustration. She was acting like a pissed off teenager and she didn't care. The interaction with Naruto from the other night had been very enjoyable. However before Sakura fell asleep she told herself Ino would hear from her the next day.
"I think you're overreacting to this whole thing, I didn't feel it was my place to mention that kind of information. Plus he told you and everything worked out for the best. This all really seems like a win, win to me," Ino said, giving her friend a bright awkward smile.
Sakura quickly shot her head up and looked at her friend, irritation oozing from her face.
"You're being so lackadaisical about this whole thing and it's really annoying," Sakura huffed as she blew a few strands of hair out of her face. It was official, Sakura was throwing a temper tantrum. She had her arms folded and wouldn't look at Ino.
After a few minutes of silence passed Ino started to get annoyed with the whole matter. It wasn't her fault that she found out about the kids, Naruto was partly to blame as well. Ino took this opportunity to throw flames on the fire, annoyed with both Uzumaki's. Naruto was too dense to shut up and Sakura was being a crying schoolgirl about the whole situation. Ino was not going to be blamed for having her good intentions flipped on her to seem bad.
"It's not my fault you two are a bunch of rabbits going at it whenever you can! One kid wasn't good enough for ya was it? No, you two had to go and put a three man squad together!" Ino shot back, crossing her arms and turning her face away from Sakura defensively. Now she was being childish, yet, Ino didn't care. It didn't matter how many years went by Sakura and herself would always bicker.
Sakura turned redder than she and Ino thought was humanly possible. She quickly grabbed a pillow from the bed and screamed into it, flailing her feet in the process.
"I'm not even the one that helped make those children!" Sakura yelled, she figured her face was hot enough to cook an egg off of it at this point.
Ino pointed an accusatory finger at Sakura. "One of ya, or another of ya, you're all the same!" The blonde shot back with a sarcasm laced voice. Just as they were about to go at each other's necks a knock came from the hospital door.
Both women quickly regained their composure, or at least as much as they could. Sakura was now even more embarrassed that someone might have heard them. "Come in," Sakura groaned, failing to hide her irritation with the person's untimely entrance.
The door slowly opened revealing a very scared looking male nurse.
"What?!" Both females barked at the same time.
The medic winced, staring at Sakura and then Ino then Sakura again. He quickly bowed at the pinkett before speaking.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your um conversation Sakura-sam, bu-but your guests are here," The nurse stuttered as he looked down, not daring to make eye contact with the pinkett.
"Fine," Sakura grumbled standing up from the bed preparing for her company to enter. However before the frightened nurse could escape, Ino told him they needed ten minutes.
The young man nodded quickly before all but running out of the room. Sakura looked at Ino with a questioning look before the blonde smiled.
"Look, I'm sorry about all of this, but Naruto needed to tell you about the kids, not me," Ino stated, trying to find common ground.
Sakura was about to launch her rebuttal but Ino cut her off.
"Listen we need to get you ready to get out of here. So you'll need to put on an appearance of normalcy. That means you're gonna need to put on your normal clothes,"
"My clothes?" Sakura asked with Curiosity.
Ino smugly pointed to the wrapped up clothes resting on the chair in the room. In Sakura's fury at Ino the pinkett had failed to notice the blonde bring in the wrapped up attire. Ino snatched the bag up and shoved it in Sakura's face. Sakura examined the white paper wrapped clothes before slowly accepting the wardrobe. Ino watched as Sakura opened up the paper revealing the attire.
XXXXXXXXXX
Sakura examined herself in the mirror and took a deep breath before exiting the bathroom.
"Now would you look at that, you look fantastic!" Ino sang, taking in Sakura's appearance.
Sakura kept fidgeting from side to side as she examined herself in the mirror of the hospital room. She was wearing a maroon sleeveless, turtle neck dress. The greatest intrigue in the dress was its asymmetrical hem, falling midway down one leg while it was cropped high on her left leg.
On her legs she wore tan pants that went a bit past her knees, and on the longer side of the dress in it's front she wore the Haruno family crest. However, on the inside of the crest was the Uzumaki family crest. She stared at the crest for a long time. She couldn't help but think; it was the perfect blending of Naruto and herself. Usually she wouldn't bat an eye at the Uzumaki clan's crest. After all the vast majority of ninja in the village sported the crest out of respect. Yet, now it was about more than just respect, she herself was an Uzumaki.
She had to shake herself at the thought of being married to Naruto. There was no time for that, she had to make sure her outfit was up to standard. Ino had shown Sakura a limited number of pictures from her in this time. In almost every picture she was wearing her hair up, with her bangs expertly parted in the front.
The pinkett figured she would keep that same style for the sake of familiarity. On her feet she wore black heels similar to that of Tsunade's, and on her arms she sported long black compression sleeves. The sleeves ran from the base of her shoulders to the bottom of her wrists.
"Do you really think I look like her?" Sakura asked, biting her lip. The medic couldn't help the feeling of nervousness that shook her.
"Well she is you, and you've seen the pictures, you look exactly like you would in this time. So stop being nervous, you are the strongest kunoichi in the village at this time and even in your time, have faith in yourself!" Ino grinned, giving Sakura a playful flick on the shoulder.
Sakura and Ino began to engage in a conversation about Ino being so nonchalant when there was a knock at the door. Sakura began to feel nervous, she didn't know if she looked right, and a bigger part of her didn't know if she could do this. The pinkett couldn't remember being this nervous in a long time. Yet, Ino's reassurance helped boost her confidence.
"Come in," Ino smiled, giving her friend a positive thumbs up. Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat as she observed who her visitors were. In came Shikamaru, Sai, Tsunade and Naruto. They all smiled kindly at Sakura as they filtered into the room. The pinkett couldn't help but notice that Naruto's eyes lingered a bit longer on her. However, he wore an unreadable expression on his face.
She quickly snapped herself out of the trance she was in brushing off the awkward exchange. Sakura quickly turned her attention towards her other friends. Sai looked mostly the same except he no longer wore the jacket that showed off his midsection. However, Sakura did notice that his smile was genuine and not forced or fake.
Shikamaru on the other hand looked like the spitting image of his late father. He was dressed in a long black one piece outfit with a large tan jacket draped over it. Sakura couldn't help but think that his goatee suited him perfectly. Tsunade on the other hand looked the same as usual, except she sported small reading glasses. Naruto however, was dressed in what Sakura could only assume was his regular Hokage attire, cloak and all.
"Sakura-chan you clean up well," Naruto lightheartedly commented. The blonde Hokage had his hands in his pockets and was leaning against the wall of the room facing her. He had such a calm demeanor, Sakura couldn't help but blush from his gaze.
"Thanks," Sakura replied softly, avoiding his gaze, her cheeks had a small hint of red to them.
The room became awkwardly silent, the tension between the blonde Hokage and Sakura was palpable. Shikamaru cleared his throat to break the silence in the room before beginning to speak.
"Obviously we are here because we are doing a general assessment on your case. It's better to clear the air now and set parameters going forward. The Nara sighed, pulling out a cigarette only to have Ino smack it out of his hand. "Troublesome," was all he muttered as he gestured towards Tsunade.
The older woman rolled her eyes before speaking. "After compiling your initial brain activity chart with a new one I can say that it has somewhat stabilized. There are still irregularities in the synapses firing of your brain cells however, we see no reason to keep you in the hospital any longer. I will however recommend that we keep an eye on your neurological activity," The old Hokage stated with her arms crossed.
Naruto then nodded at Sai and he spoke up. "We have had Ambu watching you from a distance since we knew of your situation. As of today the team will no longer continue to monitor you. Furthermore, we will be depending on you to be a responsible Konoha shinobi." Sai said, giving Sakura a knowing nod as he finished speaking.
Naruto pushed himself off the wall before he spoke again. "Looking into your situation more we have uncovered you are from a slightly different timeline than the one we are currently in now. There are variations in your memory from what Ino could tell in her assessment. We're not sure exactly how you got here, however, we think it's safe to say that it's going to take the combined power of me and Sasuke to get you back to where you came from.
Sakura took this opportunity to speak up. "Are you sure that you can get me back?"
Naruto nodded at what she was saying before he continued. "We are confident in our ability to figure this situation out. Yet, I would say that it's going to take some time. Sasuke is at least six months out from the village at this point so your stay is going to be longer than we initially thought. The best thing we can do right now is ask for your patience until he gets back." The blonde said as he finished speaking.
"Six months," Sakura said to no one in particular. She had a look of worry on her face that she couldn't shake. She had never expected that it would take that long for her to get back to her time. Furthermore, she didn't quite grasp how this was a different timeline from hers.
"If Ino was in my head then she should know about the ancient city me and Sasuke-kun fought in, did you check it?" Sakura asked with hope in her voice.
Sai quickly interjected. "After sending scouts out on a reconnaissance mission we could thoroughly say there is no city in existence there anymore. Yet, the team did discover a rather large crater where we believe the city used to be," Sai finished giving Sakura the best reassuring look he could.
"Look, right now we don't want to get bogged down in the little details. As your friend and the Hokage of the village I promise we will return you to your time. We will use the full capabilities of the leaf to make sure that's a reality," Naruto smiled, the look he gave Sakura for some reason reassured her that everything was going to be ok.
Ino took this time to lighten the mood in the room.
"On a lighter note today is the day that you get out of the hospital! So we wanted to give you a quick rundown on a few…parameters," Ino smiled giving her friend a funny look.
Once again Sakura could not help but feel a bit annoyed with Ino's upbeat attitude. Sakura was almost positive sneaky sneaky side of Ino enjoyed all of this.
XXXXXXXXXX
This is not what she pictured getting out of the hospital would be like. The village higher-ups found it appropriate for her to stay with her parents. However, it had been a week and she was about to pull her hair out. Don't get Sakura wrong she loved her parents, but it seemed almost 14 years just made them more annoying. Her father was always complaining about his back, while her mother excessively shadowed her throughout the house. For god sake she couldn't even leave the house without her mother's interference.
Looking back on it she couldn't help but think this was somehow Naruto's fault. "Of all the places he could have placed me," Sakura thought to herself. Naturally she was under the impression she would be staying at Ino's house. However, she was sadly mistaken, the worst part was Ino was called out on a mission that was to last at least a week. Naturally she thought that Naruto would replace her, but apparently he was too busy.
The day he dropped her off at her parents house was the last day he saw her. They had came up with the backstory that Sakura had some memory loss on a mission and that it would be great if her parents would look after her for a few weeks. Sakura thought she would just help her father and mother in their family bakery. They weren't getting any younger so the extra help was useful. Plus it seemed like the perfect thing to keep her mind busy.
However, it had been a week and Sakura felt like she was about to lose her mind. She didn't know how many more of her fathers corny jokes or her mothers overbearing personality she could take. She and her mother had just got home from another grueling day of work, which consisted of her parents ordering her around all day.
She plopped down on her parents living room couch and let out a deep breath. Her eyes naturally gravitated around the room looking for subtle differences from the past. She had been so focused on keeping busy she failed to realize the subtle changes in her parents house.
Sakura's attention immediately locked to her parents' bookcase where there happen to be a lot of family pictures. She walked to the bookcase slowly taking in all the pictures she saw. Her last few days had been such a whirlwind she hadn't even noticed the pictures. A lot of the photos were just of her from her childhood, but there were a few in newer frames that caught her eye. Sakura felt a blush heat up her face as she took the frame in her hands and examined the photo.
It appeared to be a picture of Naruto and herself's wedding day. Naruto had on a black kimono and wore the silliest grin she had ever seen plastered on his face. Sakura on the other hand had on a white kimono with pink accents. She couldn't help but think her hair looked amazing, accented by a beautiful white flower. The pinkett set the picture back as she looked to the next frame but before she could examine it her mother interrupted.
Haruno Mebuki walked into the room giving her daughter a sad smile. "You know you've had that same look on your face since you've been here. I know me and your father aren't the most exciting company in the world, but geez," The older woman teased with a silly expression on her face.
Sakura softly smiled at her mother. "I'm sorry mom I just feel kinda lost here as of late. Sakura admitted
"Look why don't you wash up and we'll go for a walk?" The older Haruno asked, giving her daughter a wink.
Truth be told Sakura really didn't want to. She was tired and hungry, all she wanted to do was eat and go to bed. But she knew her mother was persistent and wouldn't stop bugging her until she submitted. Begrudgingly, Sakura agreed to tag along with her mother on an expedition throughout the village. The pink haired medic quickly went upstairs to clean up and put on a fresh set of clothes. She then patiently waited for her mother by the front door.
As she waited she remembered Sasuke surprising her with a kiss on the doorstep. The memory brought a blush to Sakura's face. Looking back on it Sakura's mother and father didn't care for the dark haired man. However, they did begrudgingly tolerate Sakura having a relationship with him. The criticism only seemed to get worse when Naruto came around. Her mother always insisted that Naruto was the better of the two men.
Sakura accused her mother of favoritism because Naruto was the village hero. Yet, Mebuki always said it was because she could tell who Sakura really loved. Looking back on the memory made Sakura roll her eyes, she always felt her mother was too critical of her decisions, and it seemed that was still a common theme in the future.
"I told your father we were going out," Sakura's mother said as she came down the stairs. The older gray and blonde haired woman had changed into her normal civilian attire. Sakura couldn't help but give her mom a warm smile.
If she did say so herself her mother was aging very gracefully. Yes there were wrinkles but her skin had a warm glow to it and overall she had a certain confidence about her. Truth be told, Sakura always looked up to her mother. The only problem was that they were too much alike, and that likeness made for the butting of heads from time to time.
"Where are we off to?" The young pinkett questioned as they stepped out of the house.
"Well, I figured we would just walk around the village and catch up. It's not very often I get to see you, you're always extremely busy. So while I do hate that you have memory loss it has some benefits," Sakura's mother winked as they strolled through the village streets.
Their walk was silent for what seemed like the longest time before Sakura decided to speak up.
"So I don't get to see you that often do I?" Sakura asked, giving her mother a sad smile.
Mebuki gave her daughter a soft smile in return. "You're the head of the hospital, and you are a mother and wife. Plus me and your father aren't ready to retire yet. So if you break it down, both of us are too busy to see each other every day. Even so, we always see each other for the holidays and festivals,"
Sakura's eyes got big at her mother's words. "I'm the head of the hospital?" Sakura's line of questioning stopped the older woman in her tracks.
"Well, I wasn't supposed to let you know that," Mebuki said with a facetious smile.
After the admission from her mother it all made sense to Sakura. The hospital staff were walking on eggshells around Sakura because she was their boss. She figured it only made sense that the staff felt uncomfortable around her.
Sakura let out a deep sigh, she was tired of being kept in the dark about everything going on. She wasn't a child, if she was going to be stuck in this time then they could fill her in on her role and responsibilities.
"Naruto and Ino forgot to mention all of that to me I guess. I am also assuming you took some of the family photos down because of my memory loss?" Sakura questioned, with irritation and sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Don't be too hard on Naruto-kun, with you out of the picture for so long he's had to do so much more. I'm quite proud of my son-in-law if I'm honest with you. Even so, yes, I dragged your father to the library and read up on amnesia, we thought it would be best if we left some pictures off the shelves in the house,"
"Your son-in-law?" Sakura quietly questioned. The way her mother spoke of Naruto with such pride in her voice made Sakura shudder. Also, It had never even occurred to Sakura that Naruto was pulling extra weight while she had been incapacitated. After all they did have three children and he was the Hokage. Looking back on it she realized he was probably under a great deal of stress.
The pair slowly began to walk again. Sakura's mother knew that her daughter needed time to process it all so they walked in silence. As they walked Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the technology that the village embraced. There were giant screens for advertising and village announcements. Sakura's mother began to explain how the village modernized through the help of the Rokudaime and Nanadaime Hokages. However, she made it clear that the modernization had tripled under Naruto who wholeheartedly embraced Technology.
"So Naruto has done all this? Whoever would've thought he would be so effective," Sakura said, taking in all the sights before her. Mebuki and Sakura had found a bench on a bridge over a man made river that had been constructed for the importing and exporting of goods.
"Come on Sakura, you have to give your husband some credit," Mebuki smiled at her daughter giving her a nudge in the ribs.
"He's not my husband mom!" Sakura yelled this loud enough so that her mother got the point, but also so other people couldn't hear her. The pinkett's face was red and Mebuki could see the frustration in her daughter's eyes. The sudden outburst had definitely caught the older woman off guard.
"I'm tired of people saying he's my husband, I don't even remember marrying him. To me he's just Naruto, nothing more and nothing less. We weren't even dating in my ti… from what I can remember. Furthermore, your son-in-law just keeps me in the dark about everything anyway,'' Sakura finished her rant and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.
She almost let it slip that she was from a different timeline. Even so, she managed to pull it together at the last minute and not give herself away. The last thing she needed to do was make her mother hyperventilate out in public.
After a decent amount of time Mebuki responded to her child. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you don't remember getting married, and I'm sure this whole thing is frustrating for you," Sakura's mother gave her a sad look. It pained her mother that she couldn't do anything to help her child.
"No, I'm sorry mom, all of this is just frustrating for me. I can't remember any of this," Sakura said, gesturing to the technologically new village she was surrounded in.
Before Sakura Could speak again her mother put a knowing hand on Sakura's knee. The older woman softly shook her head. Sakura knew at that point she didn't have to say anything else because her mother understood.
After people watching and taking in the scenery for a while Mebuki stood from the bench causing Sakura to follow. "Why don't we get some ice cream? I know this great little place that set up shop a few years ago," The older woman stated as she started walking away with Sakura quickly following her.
"Ice cream before dinner mom, you're a rebel,"
"Well it's only because you're thirty and have amnesia," Mebuki joked with her daughter. They made small talk as the two sought out cold treats.
This Sakura mochi ice cream was good, the pinkett thought as she and her mother walked home. The street lights were on and the nightlife was bustling at this point. Sakura silently observed everybody passing by and thought to herself the village must have doubled in size. There was just so much she didn't know, and even more she was oblivious to. Even more than that she felt useless, she had a family and important job, yet here she was working in her old family bakery with her parents.
Sakura was snapped out of her train of thought by her mother's Exhaling. The pinkett looked up to see that they had returned home. It seemed almost natural that as soon as the two hit their doorstep Sakura began to feel sleepy. The pair Silently took their shoes off and walked upstairs to their respective bedrooms. However, before her mother closed the door she looked back at Sakura.
"I want you to take some time off from the bakery. You may be in your 30s now but I'm still your mother. Amnesia or not, I can still tell when you're upset," Mebuki gave Sakura a sympathetic look before her expression switched to that of determination.
"You working in the bakery is not doing you any good, I've seen this in just a few days of you living with us. You need to remember who Sakura Uzumaki truly is, and as much as me and your father like having you around, your presence is needed elsewhere," Her mother gave her a soft smile before closing her door.
Sakura stood at the entrance to her room dumbfounded for a few moments before replying to the now shut door. "Well what does that mean?" The pinkett placed her head in her hand in frustration.
"It means go see Naruto!" Mebuki yelled in irritation from behind her bedroom door.
"Wait what!?" A startled Kizashi Haruno yelled, the man had been woken from his slumber by all the noise.
"Oh go to sleep Kizashi," Sakura's mother yelled at her father.
"But I was asleep," The redhead man wined.
Sakura rolled her eyes before closing her door to the sound of her parents new round of bickering.
She changed into her night clothes and before she knew it her head hit the pillow. Yet, even as she fell asleep her mother's words rang repeatedly in her head. "Go see Naruto,"
XXXXXXXXXX
The next morning she couldn't help but feel nervous about her whole situation. For once she listened to her mother, she was on her way to see Naruto. However, she could count more than a handful of times she almost turned around and went back home. She didn't know why but the thought of seeing the blonde gave her stomach butterflies. As she walked she didn't know if the villagers were giving her strange looks because of who she was, or because of her nervous demeanor. Sakura calculated it was probably somewhere in the middle.
As she approached the Hokage's tower There seemed to be some new type of technological checkpoint. Regular working civilians and shinobi alike slipped through a dozen little electronic gates. They would swipe a card and the tiny plastic gates would split apart for the person to walk through.
This motion seemed to be seamless and monotonous. There were only a few guards who mindlessly looked to be going through their normal routines. Now Sakura Didn't have one of those cards like everybody else, but she figured maybe the gates would work for her. She smoothly and calmly tried to walk through the gate only to be denied by the clear pieces of plastic.
A few people glanced at her as they passed the checkpoint. The pinkett's irritation grew as no one tried to help her. She once again bumped into the gates only this time an annoying little alarm sounded. It was at this point Sakura became very annoyed with the gates, and the guards who were just staring at her.
Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to shoot daggers at the person who was trying to rush her. However, Sakura immediately felt guilty when she saw it was a young chunin.
"M-My Lady can I help you get through the gate?" The young ninja shuddered, Sakura's gaze was running a chill down his spine.
The medic didn't immediately respond as she studied the young man for a moment. She then looked over to the guards station where the ninja from earlier now seem to be cowering in fear as well. Sakura realized the look on her face was probably not a friendly one. She quickly snapped herself out of the angry trance she was in, she tried her best to replace her angered face with a happy one. Yet, she landed somewhere in the middle between anger and happiness, this gave her a somewhat comedic look.
"That would be lovely," Sakura said, putting on the best smile she could muster.
The young ninja quickly pulled out an ID badge from his vest and scanned it on a tiny black pad. Immediately there was a flash of greenlight from the pad and the gates opened for Sakura.
"Is there anything else I can do for you lady Sakura-san?" The young ninja asked, Sakura could tell the young man wanted to get away from the situation as quickly as possible.
Sakura quickly shook her head. "Thank you very much, it seems I have misplaced my ID card," The young man nodded at Sakura as she awkwardly walked away.
Even the layout of the Hokage's tower changed. It took way longer for Sakura to find Naruto's office than she wanted to admit. Even so, she reached the Hokage's office and stood outside the door for a moment. She eventually knocked on the door softly before she was told to enter the room.
Upon opening the door she did not see the blonde haired man she was looking for. Instead she saw Shikamaru and Kakashi-sensei standing at the Hokage's desk looking over some papers. Even the office of the Hokage seemed to have changed. There was a lot of technology that Sakura was unfamiliar with around the office. However, she was relieved to see the stacks of papers scattered everywhere. "At least some things stayed the same after all," she thought to herself.
"Ahh Sakura, good to see you're up and about it, I read up on your situation. I've been traveling, so today was my first day back in the village," Kakashi said with the same board expression as always. Sakura was glad to see that somethings in the village had not changed. Her sensei honestly looked almost the same, except you could see the beginnings of crows feet in his eyes.
"Good to see you to Sensei," Sakura said smiling back at her old master.
"If you're looking for naruto he's working from home today," Shikamaru said, already knowing what the pinkett was here for. The Nara rubbed the back of his head and gave Sakura an awkward look. Shikamaru was never particularly good at all the emotional touchy-feely stuff, and the look that Sakura was giving him made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"Great, The only problem is I don't know where his home is," Sakura said with a dejected look on her face. It had taken a lot of courage for her to even come this far. Now they were telling her that her journey was for nothing.
"I guess I'll just stop by another time," Sakura said, in a depressed tone as she moved back towards the door ready to leave.
"I'll show you where it is," Kakashi said as he moved towards the door with Sakura.
"Shikamaru we will finish this discussion another day when Naruto is around," Kakashi said, the Nara lazily nodded at the silver haired man.
Sakura quickly followed her old master out of the office silently wondering which way they were headed.
They walked in silence until they were out of the tower. People kept stopping to bow at Kakashi, he however just gave a small friendly wave to all he came across. When they reached the streets they headed towards the newer residential part of the village.
"So, how are you doing with all of this? Traveling to this time and then seeing all of this must not be too comforting," Kakashi curiously asked, eyeing Sakura out of the corner of his eye.
"Considering everything this is less than a perfect experience. Yet, if I had to look on the positive I would say everybody is happy," Sakura summarized it the best way she could.
"What about you, are you happy?" Kakashi questioned as they rounded a corner.
"I'm lost Sensei, utterly and completely lost. Still, I'm trying to get through at the best I can," Sakura said with Emotion dripping from her words. However, she took a deep breath and continued walking. She had to keep reminding herself that moping was going to get her nowhere. Yes, since she's been in the future there were times she felt like crying. Yet, Sakura understood there were bigger things to deal with.
"Well knowing your history there's probably only one person who can solve your problems," Sakura's old teacher smiled through his mask. Sakura was about to criticize her sensei four assuming Naruto could fix any problem she had. Still, she decided to let it go and just enjoy her Sensei's company. This was honestly one of the first interactions she had that made her feel like she wasn't in the future.
They continued walking and making small talk as they did. Kakashi told Sakura about his vacation to the famous coed Hot Springs in the land of spring. Sakura lectured him about being a pervert and needing to set a better example for the young ninja of the village.
Kakashi pretended to sulk for a good leg of their walk. However, Sakura quickly realized they had come to a stop. Kakashi gestured his head to the house in front of them.
It was definitely in the newer part of the village. However she wouldn't say it was a crazy large mansion. The house was surrounded by a tall size stone gate that fenced in the yard. The residence looked to be about three stories tall, but it also had different sections to it. The different shaped sections brought the whole structure together to give it a charming appeal. On the outside of the wooden gate door was a painted Uzumaki family crest.
"Well here we are, do you want me to go inside with you?" Kakashi asked as he opened the gate entrance for Sakura. The old Hokage was studying his students' body language hard.
"I'll be fine Sensei," Sakura said, bowing her head to her old master before moving up the Stone pathway to the front door. The pinkett stood at the doorstep for what seemed like forever. To make matters worse Kakashi left a bit too soon for her liking.
Sakura took a deep breath before Quietly knocking on the door. After what seemed like a decade she figured no one heard the subtle knock. So this time she decided to knock a little louder however mid-knock the door swung open. At first she didn't see anybody but then she looked down and saw a young distinctively red haired boy.
"Mom!" The redhead boy shouted with emotion as he enveloped Sakura in a bone crushing hug. A tear ran down his face as he hugged her.
Sakura was left speechless, she didn't know what to do about the situation. It was like a paralysis had gone over her body and she couldn't react one way or another. Deep down she yelled at herself to hug the boy back however, she just stood there motionless. To add to her predicament the way the boy was hugging made it so she couldn't move. She began to think she might have to use chakra to eventually pull the boy off of her.
Her heart started to beat incredibly fast and she had to force herself to calm down. This was just too much for her. She did want to meet her children, call it a maternal instinct or whatever. However, this was too much, too fast, especially for a first meeting. She was on the verge of passing out when she finally saw the person who she had been searching for the whole day.
There was a staircase not far from the front door of the house, and at the top of the stairs was the blonde Hokage. He had a face of bewilderment, it was almost as if he saw a ghost.
"Sa...Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, it took him a moment to fully grasp the situation at hand. The blonde's eyes locked with that of Sakura's, he then looked down at the red haired boy hugging Sakura. He sent her a pleading look telling her nonverbally to calm down.
It took every ounce of willpower in her body to calm herself. Truth be told, the exchange taking place between Sakura and the redhead boy was probably one of the most one-sided hugs in the history of Konoha. Sakura had been around kids that was no problem, but this boy was hugging her with such intensity. This was something she had never felt before. The love radiating off of the boy onto her scared the pinkett. She was scared for a multitude of reasons but maybe the biggest one was she didn't know how to reciprocate this love.
"Mom please don't leave us like that again," the boy said, as he loosened his grip on Sakura only to tighten it again after he was done speaking.
Naruto quickly hurried down the stairs to the two. When he reached them he slowly crouched down and put his hand on the boy's head.
"Arashi, I need to speak to your mother in private, I know she just got home but it's very important," Naruto explained as he ruffled the boy's hair.
The redhead poked his head out to look at his father and slowly nodded. Reluctantly he let go of Sakura and stood back wiping his eyes. This allowed Sakura to get a better look at him. He had red hair like Naruto's mother or at least what Sakura had seen from pictures. However, it surprised Sakura that he inherited her emerald eyes.
When she first figured out that she had three children with Naruto she picture them all looking identical to him. Granted if you slapped blonde hair on this child he would look extremely similar to his father. Yet, even though his eyes were green they still pierced her soul like the blue orbs of his father and sister. He was sporting a blue and yellow zip up shirt. The blue was on the top half and the yellow was on the bottom half. On his legs he had tan cargo shorts with blue sandals on his feet.
Thinking about it, Sakura couldn't help but think he didn't look that old, maybe seven or eight years of age. It pained Sakura to see that the little guy was so sad about her being absent from his life. She knew she had no control over that and there was nothing she could do about it. Yet, all the same it still hurt her heart immensely.
"listen why don't you give us a little bit of time and then I'll call you down? You can show your mom your graduation photos from primary school," At his father's coaxing the boy's face beamed with pride and excitement.
"Ok I'll get all the pictures together, but don't take to long dad!" Arashi yelled gleefully before jetting up the stairs.
However, something made him stop halfway up the staircase. He slowly turned and looked at Sakura. The pinkett shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. It was almost like the boy was contemplating something about Sakura in his head. He stood there momentarily tilting his head to the side examining his mother. Needless to say it didn't take long for the boy to shake his head almost as if he was dismissing something. He quickly smiled at his mother, and ran up the stairs to his room.
After the boy was gone the blonde Hokage let out a deep sigh of relief.
"I'm so sorry about all that Sakura-chan. I really was careless today, I should have sensed you coming," Naruto apologized, fearing he might have emotionally scarred Sakura for the rest of her life.
The pinkett however just stood motionless, she was still in a daze from the encounter with the young Uzumaki.
"Sakura-chan are you sure that you're ok?" The blonde asked with a worry laced voice. He quickly closed the space between them and put his hand on her forehead. When the blonde didn't feel a fever he cupped her cheek, and turned her head so that she was looking him in the eyes. This caused her to blush and pull away from him. Naruto looked a little bit dejected by Sakura's actions but quickly shook it off.
"Sit, I need to sit down," Sakura slowly and quietly replied, she averted her gaze from Naruto's at all cost.
He didn't say anything but more so motioned her to the living area off of the kitchen. They were too comfy looking armchairs separated by a coffee table. Adjacent to the chairs was a bigger couch.
"Here please sit," Naruto said, gesturing towards the armchair.
Sakura Immediately and graciously accepted the blonde's invitation to sit. She quickly slouched down in the chair and brought her hand to her forehead. Naruto sat across from her in the other armchair. Sakura couldn't help but notice Naruto was leaning forward in the chair with worry plastered all over his face.
He wanted to make sure she was calm before they talked so they sat in silence for a great deal of time. After patiently waiting Naruto looked at Sakura who was still avoiding his eyes and asked a question.
"How did you figure out where we live, did your mom say something? Not that I'm Upset or anything, I… just wasn't expecting a visit from you today is all," Naruto explained his sudden surprise at the visit.
"Well I went to your office at the Hokage tower first, but you weren't there. Then I saw Kakashi-sensei and Shikamaru and they told me you were working from home. So Kakashi-sensei showed me where you live. I...I didn't interrupt something important did I?" Sakura asked, feeling embarrassed that she showed up unannounced.
"Not at all I was just looking over some boring paperwork," The blonde smiled putting His hands up defensively.
"I'm sorry I don't want you to think any of this is your fault. I didn't realize coming here that I might run into one of your, I….I mean our, children," Sakura was stumbling over her words but was trying as hard as she could not to embarrass herself in front of this future version of Naruto.
"Honestly it's fine, I've been working a couple of days out of the week here. It honestly helps when it comes to taking care of the kids and making sure the little squirts eat," The blonde chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You can work from home?" Sakura questioned, giving Naruto a curious look.
"Yeah, I can work anywhere there's a computer and telephone. Even so, I would say I do about ninety percent of my work from the tower,"
Sakura only nodded, not bothering to say anything. She was still a little shaken up from the events earlier. Even so, she wasn't going to beat around the bush. The pinkett was determined to show Naruto she was strong and not some helpless child. The only problem was she wasn't completely sure of how to start the conversation. This troublesome rut left the two sitting in silence for quite some time.
"So...red hair huh?" Sakura said with an awkward smile in tone to match.
However her comment seemed to have entertained Naruto.
"I know right? When we found out we were pregnant it never crossed our minds that the baby would have red hair. I can say looking back on it we should have had some insight, given my mother and your father.
Sakura had heard everything Naruto had said. Nonetheless, the only thing her mind could focus on was her carrying Naruto's child. Yet Sakura quickly realized where her mind was taking her and snapped herself out of it. That was a rabbit hole she was not willing to go down, especially not in front of her blonde teammate.
"Is he...is he the youngest?" Sakura inquired fearing there might be a blonde one-year-old lurking around the corner somewhere.
"Oh he's the youngest, I distinctly remember you telling me that if we were having any more children they were going to have to come out of me," The blonde shuttered remembering the conversation Sakura and him had after Arashi was born.
The current fear stricken face Naruto modeled made Sakura giggle, this sign didn't slip by the blonde Hokage either. The young Hokage figured he might as well try and loosen her up with a little comedy.
"Don't worry though, you did promise to be the doctor that delivered our fourth child if it ever happened," Naruto grinned, as Sakura busted out into laughter.
For some reason the picture of Naruto on a hospital bed in stirrups wouldn't exit Sakura's mind. Seeing Sakura laugh so naturally made Naruto laugh as well. The pair took a minute to let themselves calm down before they continued their conversation.
"Look, I'm sorry all this happened today. I'll make up a good excuse for him. I don't want you to feel pressured into meeting him when you're not ready," Naruto reassured her, giving her a soft smile and understanding eyes.
Sakura mulled it over for a while, the easy thing to do was to leave and not face the music. However, the pinkett was stronger than that. She knew she owed that boy her time, and she wasn't prepared to just run out on him. Frankly deep down she knew she owed herself as well. Regardless of the version of Sakura she knew that was still her child, and she had a responsibility.
"Arashi is his name?" The pink haired medic asked with a soft smile. If she were honest with herself she had to admit she really did like that name.
Naruto only nodded in conformation while studying Sakura's face. It was almost as if he was searching for an answer in her eyes.
"I'd really like to meet him, but first why don't you tell me a little more about him?" Sakura smiled at Naruto as she realized she was surprisingly eager to learn more about her youngest child.
Naruto gave Sakura his trademarked grin, and she could only think to herself she missed that smile, and she missed her friend.
Ending Authors Note: Well here's another chapter for the books everyone, I hope you all enjoyed it. As for the Story goes I had a question about how the story would go in regards to the Canon vs Narusaku fandom. My answer to that would be it's going to be somewhere in the middle. I don't wanna harp on that too much because you will all see what I mean shortly. Anyway I want to thank you all again for reading, don't forget to follow and review! Till next time, peace and love!