Shikamaru (three hours from the Land of Waves)
One of Team Ten's first few Genin mission was completed and they were heading back to Konoha. Shikamaru was next to Sarutobi Asuma while Choji and Ino were behind them as they leapt from tree to tree. The mission was a simple D-rank mission – repairing a fence and helping to build two grain storage elevators at a village three hours West of Konoha. While Ino was talking lovingly about how handsome the farmhands were back at the farm, Choji was eating a bag of potato chips while leaping from one tree to another, and Asuma looked directly ahead in concentration – probably thinking about his report to the Hokage thought Shikamaru. As for the aforementioned Shikamaru, he was wishing that he could just simply lie on a bed of soft grass and watch the clouds float by overhead.
Glancing up at the wisps of cloud floated high above as he leapt off another branch, Shikamaru sighed before his eyes drifted down towards the gently swaying branches that were spread out as far as the eye could see.
"Can't we just take a break, Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru drawled glancing back at Asuma chuckling while Ino screeched behind him, and Choji simply laughed.
"We just took a break, you lazy ass!" Ino yelled out.
"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru uttered before looking away from Asuma and back towards the front. Before he could say that they only took a break five hours ago and that he wanted another one so that he could take a nap, the Nara heir stopped on a branch. He felt as if his whole body was going numb before a feeling of extreme heat travelled from his head to his two feet. Shikamaru felt nauseated as he grabbed the tree trunk, he then closed his eyes as he felt a sharp sting – as if he was being stabbed hundreds of times all over his body resulting in his face twisting in pain before he yelled out, "aarrgh!"
Shikamaru turned and leaned his back to the trunk as Asuma and the others stopped came to a stop, with Asuma standing across from him with a look of worry painted on his face. Shikamaru felt a hand on his shoulder as he screamed once again as memories of a time that no longer existed permeated through his mind, a mind that felt as if it was burning.
Ino, not believing that there was something really wrong with Shikamaru, stopped on the Branch of the opposite tree, raised her fist into the air and exclaimed, "now you're what? Pretending to be in pain? Of all the stupid things to…"
"ARRRGH!" Shikamaru yelled out once again in pain as he brought his hands to the side of his head.
"Shika?" Choji asked in concern from the branch next to Ino while Asuma crouched down on the branch where Shikamaru was located; his hand still on the boy's shoulder.
"Shikamaru?" HE felt Asuma place his hand on his shoulder while his eyes were closed shut as memories and experiences from another time continued taking over his very being. "Shikamaru!" Asuma's voice was far away as the Shadow user snapped his eyes open and remembered missions; missions that were yet to be undertaken after the one they had just completed. Shikamaru remembered the Chuunin exams, he remembered everything that happened from that fateful day until the Fourth Great War; he recalled the moment everything had gone dark after looking up at the Infinite Tsukuyomi activated by the reflection of Madara's Sharingan on the moon.
And now, he was staring at Asuma. His dead Sensei.
"A… Asuma?"
Shikamaru then turned his head and looked over at Ino and then at Choji – the two of them were back in their twelve year old bodies. 'H… How?' he thought looking back at Asuma before recalled the older man lying bleed on the ground and older versions of himself, Ino, and Choji surrounding him after the battle with Kakuzu and Hidan. Shikamaru's mind was processing the information he knew – that the infinite Tsukuyomi was the ultimate genjutsu, that it was meant to place people in a dreamworld where their desires would be their perfect dream, 'but is… is this a dream? Will a person under the Ultimate Tsukuyomi know that they are in a dream state?'
"Shikamaru?" a concerned Asuma asked.
The boy's mind was working overtime trying to make sense of what he was seeing, "Asuma? Is… is that you?" He saw Asuma furrow his eyebrows in confusion as Shikamaru brought his hands up to his eyes and then put them down by either side. He stared at Asuma, and then once again at Ino and Choji before looking back at Asuma, 'we're not supposed to know that we're in a genjutsu dream. It's meant to be a perfect dream so… so we shouldn't know about it, right?'
For the first time in a long time, Shikamaru couldn't think, 'if this isn't a dream then… then what is this?'
"Shika? Are you okay? You look a little pale," Choji noted squinting at Shikamaru while he chewed his potato chips.
'Does Choji know this is a dream? Is he pretending? How about Ino? Do the both of them realize hat they could be in a dream or…'
"Arrgh!" Shikamaru screamed again as a new memory formed in his mind – one of Naruto and Sakura holding onto each other's hands.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" Shikamaru knew that this memory was something he shouldn't have – mainly because it never happened. It was as if he was staring at the two of them in a blue and white streaked tunnel, listening to what they were saying and one part surprised him.
"What matters is that we're here… right now… here, going back in time," he saw and heard Sakura speak, "we are here, and I can tell you that I love you." There were more things he heard and saw before Sakura and Naruto were screaming as they were falling down towards Earth. Shikamaru remembered flying past them towards a bridge before levelling off and then flying towards a town, and then over rivers and mangrove swamps, over forests, roads, another few small villages, and then then into another patch of forest until he could swear he was flying towards himself.
"Shikamaru!" Asuma yelled out.
Shikamaru snapped his eyes open and stared into the orbs looking back at him. The shadow genius remembered everything now, and the sight of his dead Sensei – now alive – threatened to bring tears to his eyes.
'Dad, if.. if this is the past, then dad's alive too,' Shikamaru thought before his eyes shifted towards Ino, 'Inoichi-san too. The two of them are alive. Everyone who died in the war would be alive. How? How is this possible? How am I in the past? What does Naruto and Sakura have anything to do with this?'
Shikamaru took in a deep breath, and then another, and another. He remembered the town he was 'flying' past when Naruto and Sakura were falling through the sky… it was one he and Team Ten had visited soon after the Sand-Sound invasion; the Land of Waves.
"Shikamaru?" Asuma gently shook his shoulder.
"Hey, Shikamaru," Ino said, concern now in her voice as she guessed that Shikamaru wasn't joking, "are you alright? You're kinda scaring us."
"Uh huh," Choji nodded his head.
"Sorry," Shikamaru whispered shaking his head as he stood up straight. He turned to Asuma and asked, "there's something that I need to tell you. But… but there's a good chance you won't believe me. So… I would like to ask for a detour."
"A detour?" Asuma asked while trying to wrack his brain for reasons why Shikamaru, the laziest Ninja in the recent graduating class, would need to ask for a detour, "to where?"
"The Land of Waves," was the reply much to Asuma's surprise.
"Why?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru wanted to tell Asuma then and there that he was from the future, that somehow, no matter how impossible it sounded, he travelled back in time. He wanted to tell his Sensei and his friends that he didn't know how and why, nor could he even explain the reasoning behind seeing Naruto and Sakura in that strange tunnel. But he couldn't, at least not without Asuma, Ino, and Choji thinking he was crazy.
'This isn't a dream,' Shikamaru reminded himself with a sense of relief that he wasn't trapped in a genjutsu dream world; but the truth still brought about so many questions into his mind. Questions that he hoped Naruto and Sakura would be able to answer, 'what the hell happened?'
Shikamaru then sighed before saying, "I can't tell you now, but the proof that supports what I do have to tell you is there. And…" Shikamaru glanced at his teammates and then back at his Sensei, "and what I have to say is something that… well… I don't know how Ino and Choji would take it."
"What's going on?" Ino asked, slightly miffed at hearing Shikamaru being slightly distrustful of her and Choji.
"Yea," Choji asked, a little hurt, "Shika, what's going on?"
"This have anything to do with this…" Asuma tried to come up with a word in reference to what just happened to Shikamaru, "incident?"
"It does," Shikamaru nodded his head while scratching his cheek, "I know I'd normally say that this is troublesome, and it is. But the proof of what I need to say is there. And if it's not, then I'll gladly see a doctor when we get back to Konoha."
Asuma rubbed his chin while Shikamaru was looking up at him. There was something in the boy's body language that seemed to have changed within the last minute or so ever since he yelled out in pain. He looked into the Genin's eyes and noticed something different too, but it was something he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Please, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru said putting his hands into the pockets on either side of his trousers, "I need to do this for my peace of mind too. If there's nothing there, if what I…" He shook his head as he recalled he and his team coming to Sakura's aid during the Second stage of the Chuunin Exams, "no, I know what proof exists in the Land of Waves. Once I show you the proof, I'll tell you why I asked us to go there."
"Shikamaru, I need to know what…"
"Can we speak in private?" Shikamaru asked, already understanding that he would have to convince Asuma somehow that he wasn't crazy. And the only way he knew how was to reveal information that the Jonin sensei knew; information that no current Genin would know. Shikamaru looked up at the man who was staring back down at him for a few more seconds before he nodded his head. Asuma then looked over his shoulders, both times asking Ino and Choji to move on to the fourth tree in either direction before crouching down on the branch and facing Shikamaru.
Once they were away, Asuma nodded his head, indicating towards Shikamaru to say what he wanted to say.
"I know about Naruto, I know he is a Jinchuriki," and immediately Asuma's expression became hard. He was very aware that none of the Genin knew about the Kyuubi locked up inside the blonde, the Sandaime's law made sure of that fact. So for Shikamaru to know something that was an S-Class secret was no joke – it meant that there was a leak somewhere or Naruto himself revealed the truth to his student, "there is a reason why I know, and it's not what you think."
"What you… Shikamaru, this is a…"
"I know it's a secret," Shikamaru whispered while he glanced at the distant figures of Ino and Choji before looking back at Asuma, "I don't know how, I don't know why, but somehow I've… well, not me… at least not the physical me…"
"Shika…" Asuma was about to interrupt before his student said something that stopped him. The fact was that Asuma was going to tell Shikamaru to they would be leaving for Konoha, that the two of them would have to talk to the Hokage about who it was that revealed Naruto's secret. But all that was pushed aside when Shikamaru said something that he thought was unbelievable.
"I'm from the future… well, somehow my spirit, I guess, was sent back to the past," Shikamaru said while Asuma released a breath. He was about to stand up when the Shadow User continued, "Asuma-sensei, about five years from now, we'll be in the Fourth Great Shinobi War."
Asuma furrowed his eyebrows towards his student.
"It was a war to protect the remaining Jinchuriki," Shikamaru whispered to a surprised Asuma, "and it became a war to…"
"Two remaining Jinchuriki?" Asuma asked, "Shika…"
"The Eight-tails and… and Naruto," Shikamaru whispered shaking his head before remembering the point in time that his father died, "we lost so many ninja, Sensei. We lost you before the war, then during the war we lost so many Konoha ninja… including Inoichi-san and dad."
Asuma stared into the eyes that were staring back at him. They were eyes that had seen things that he knew no Genin would have seen in this era of relative peace. Asuma then glanced at Shikamaru's body language – and it was different as well, it was more confident… more assure of himself. He thought to himself that it was impossible, that what Shikamaru was telling him was not possible… he mentally told himself that there was no time-travel jutsu.
'Then why would he be adamant about heading for the Land of Waves,' Asuma thought to himself. He frowned before asking, "why do we need to go to there?"
"I don't know why… but I think I… or maybe my spirit… or something… saw the Naruto and Sakura that I know…"
"They would be about seventeen if what you're telling me is true," Asuma pipped in.
"It is true," Shikamaru nodded his head while continuing to glance around at his teammates before looking back at Asuma, "I saw them… I saw them falling… and… and they were falling towards the bridge." Shikamaru then sighed, "Sensei, if what I saw what I know I saw… then the Naruto and Sakura I know, or should know, in the future are here. They are in the Land of Waves… they are the proof that what I'm telling you is the truth."
Asuma didn't know how to feel. A part of him wanted to get back to Konoha and have his genius student checked out by the psychiatrists in the Intelligence Department. But the other part wanted Shikamaru to prove to him that what he was saying was true. He was hoping that in the event that what Shikamaru said wasn't true, then Asuma could help the boy realize that it would be beneficial to have Inoichi 'walk' through his mind so that they could determine where and how he had thoughts of a fictional war in his mind. Then there was also the question of how he knew that Naruto was the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki, 'we need to know where the leak is coming from. Dad made that law to protect the poor kid, and if someone's been whispering in the Genins ears that Naruto was the Kyuubi's container, then there could be a problem.'
"Well?" Shikamaru asked.
'But what if he's right,' Asuma thought an impossible thought as he looked down at his student, 'what if…' but Asuma didn't want to finish that thought. He kept on thinking to himself that Shikamaru was wrong, that there was no way his spirit travelled back in time from the future, 'there's just no way.' Asuma continued to stare at the quizzical look coming back at him from Shikamaru, and he came to a decision that he hoped he wouldn't regret. He was going to give the genius a chance to prove himself.
"The Hokage's going to want to know why we're going on this detour," Asuma sighed.
"You'll come up with something after you see Naruto and Sakura, Sensei," Shikamaru said before they took off towards the Land of Waves.
Sakura (Older)
"Sakura-chan!"
The last thing Sakura remembered was seeing Kakashi and Team Seven's younger selves looking down at her and the older Naruto in surprise. And then she remembered her heavy eyelids closing before she was covered in darkness.
"Sakura-chan!"
Sakura felt hands on her shoulder shaking her lightly. Suddenly, she realized that she wasn't feeling tired, in fact she didn't feel as if her body was so heavy. Slowly, but surely, Sakura opened her eyes to find a pair of deep blue orbs on a concerned face framed by bright blonde hair looking down at her.
"Naruto?" she whispered as the Jinchuriki smiled before standing up while offering a hand towards her. Sakura lifted her left arm, she was surprised that she could still move it, and then grasped the offered hand before Naruto slowly pulled her up to her feet. Once she was standing, Naruto let go of her hand, while Sakura asked, "Where are we?" as she looked around at the dimly lit space behind Naruto – that's all it was, a wide never-ending space where the floor was a reddish brown and the sky, if it could be described that, was dark blue in colour.
As she was about to turn her head towards the right, out of the corner of her eyes she saw a huge hulking mass of red.
"Sakura-chan," Sakura shifted her eyes back to the front towards Naruto, "how are you here?"
"What…?" Sakura began turning her head to the right again, she wanted to see what that red mass was – there was a feeling from within her that made her tremble in fear, and at the same time, there was another part of her that remained calm and curious. She just needed to know what that mass was. As her head turned, she then felt a hand on her right cheek, she felt her head gently being turned towards the left and back onto Naruto's concerned expression.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke gently, however Sakura could see worry painted on his face, "I… I'm afraid of what you'll think of me if you see him."
"Who?" Sakura asked before recalling something he said earlier. She then narrowed her eyes, "and what do you mean how am I here? This is a dream? I'm unconscious and…"
"You're in my mindscape," Naruto interjected, and Sakura opened her eyes wide in surprise, "I went unconscious and then I came here… I mean I always come here when I'm unconscious, and when I need to come here. And now I find you here and… and…" Naruto then looked away in what looked like shame to Sakura, "and… and you shouldn't be here."
"I brought her here, brat," and Sakura stiffened at hearing that gruff voice coming from her right side, "when she shared her chakra with ours, all of our chakra's were connected, Naruto. And since the two of you are holding hands… which is so sickeningly mushy that it woke me up from my nap… she appeared in this mindscape after I pulled her in."
"That wasn't your call, Kurama," Naruto turned his head towards Sakura's right side before he frowned at that red mass she had caught out of the corner of her eyes before Naruto turned her head away. Sakura saw the frown vanish before a look of sadness took over as he turned his head towards Sakura once again, "I didn't want you to see…"
"I already know you're a Jinchuriki, baka," Sakura said shaking her head as Naruto's hand remained on her cheek. 'Don't move your hand away, Naruto, it's warm,' she thought while she whispered, "I know about the Kyuubi… I mean Kurama-sama."
"It's different actually seeing him," Naruto whispered, his hand remained on her cheek preventing her from looking at the source of the gruff voice coming from her right side.
"Naruto," Sakura placed a hand over the one on her cheek, "what I told you about loving you is true. And I meant loving every part of you, even…" Sakura nodded sideways at Kurama, "him."
"Gah!" Kurama scoffed, "this is sickening."
Sakura turned to her right with her left fist in the air as she exclaimed, "Hey! baka-sama, can't you just take a compliment!?" at Kurama who was lying down on the floor with his large head on his front paws.
Sakura was panting as she lowered her fist while glaring at the closed eyes of the Kyuubi. She stared at the head, which dwarfed her body, and then her eyes scanned all over its furry exterior before focusing on the tails that lay on the floor. Sensing that she was being watched, Sakura kept her fear deep within as she turned her head towards a single eye looking back at her just as Naruto stood next to her. And suddenly Sakura felt terrified as her body started to tremble, 'I just called the Kyuubi a baka.' And Sakura gulped.
"Baka-sama?" Kurama growledas he lifted his lips to show off a row of razor sharp teeth, "Baka-sama? A child just called the most powerful of all the Bijuu a baka-sama?"
"Kurama!" Naruto narrowed his eyes before he turned towards Sakura how had her eyes wide open while her left hand was on her chest, and her body shaking like a leaf, "Saku…"
And then Kurama closed his eyes and chuckled; surprising both Sakura and Naruto.
"At least Pinky there knows respect," Kurama crowed opening his eyes and stared at Sakura, and then at Naruto, "you brat, where's the 'sama' when you address me? Huh? You are reckless, have no respect, and so you are a baka."
"You wanted to shred me to pieces whenever I met you!" Naruto yelled while pointing at the giant fox.
"It was to build character," Kurama countered as a fresh verbal tirade from Naruto began while Sakura looked on perplexed.
'This is the Kyuubi,' Sakura thought staring at the fox, 'the embodiment of hatred and destruction that was set upon Konoha years ago.' Sakura then shifted her gaze to Naruto who rushed in front of Kurama's eye yelling at him while she was deep in thought, 'and here he is… I can't feel hatred coming from him, and this fear is my own. I can overcome it.' Sakura then turned her eyes towards Naruto, 'this is your other power, Naruto. You help calm the hatred in others.'
Sakura then sighed before asking the question that had just come into her mind.
"Kurama-sama," Sakura yelled out over Naruto's yells. The latter stopped, glared at Kurama, and then walked back to Sakura who continued speaking at a normal tone, "why did you pull me here into Naruto's mindscape?"
"So that the three of us could speak," Kurama said, his eye shifting towards Sakura, "once the both of you held your hands, I was able to make the connection and pull you here. You know where we are, Pinky?"
"The past," Sakura said before she shifted her gaze towards Naruto who asked if she was sure. Sakura nodded her head before saying that she passed out, "I tried to stay conscious as much as possible but once I saw Kakashi sensei and our younger selves, I knew we were in the past. The Land of Waves to be more precise."
"Oh," Naruto spoke while mentally counting the years they travelled. He was certain that the Land of Waves mission was about five years ago; if they travelled six years back in time, then their younger selves would be in the last years of the academy, "I thought we were going to be sent back six years?"
"Obviously something went wrong with the Jutsu," Kurama said.
"Before I passed out, I left a message for Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told Kurama and then turned towards Naruto who was next to her, "I told him… well… I told him that we couldn't get back to Konoha."
"Why?" a surprised Naruto said as Sakura sat down on the floor, "Sakura chan, we should be…"
"We're unconscious right now, Naruto," Sakura said as Naruto sighed before he sat down next to her, the both of them in front of the Kyuubi, "we don't know when we'll regain consciousness and…"
"Naruto will regain consciousness first, Pinky," Kurama said shifting his open eye towards Naruto, and then towards Sakura, "and it will be a few hours from now. His Chakra's already starting to replenish thanks to the boost from you," Kurama blinked before continuing, "it will take a lot longer for you though. But this connection between us will only last a few minutes more, whatever you want to say will have to be said before Kakashi pries apart your hands."
"Naruto," Sakura, her mind racing to figure out a plan, said looking back at the blonde, "listen to me. When you wake up, we need to leave as soon as possible." Sakura could see that Naruto was about to interrupt her, but she hurriedly continued, her hands on his shoulders, "listen to me. The promise you made to me is over… it doesn't exist anymore. Instead, promise me that you will do what I ask you to do until I wake up. I'm asking you this because we need to preserve the timeline as much as possible for the next three months."
"Sakura…"
"Promise me," Sakura said looking at Naruto before looking at Kurama and then back at Naruto, "if anyone finds out about us… especially Konoha, then you know what will happen."
"But…"
"Danzo's still the leader of Root," Sakura said, and Naruto immediately understood. It was after the fall of Root and its leader that Tsunade and the inner circle of advisors discovered what the man had been up to – he was so arrogant in believing he was untouchable that he kept impeccable records of actions taken without the Hokage's approval. And both Sakura and Naruto had been included on some of the debriefing about his actions that led to civil war in Amegakure followed by the events that led to Nagato twisting what Akatsuki stood for after Yahiko's death, "you know he'll want whatever we have in our heads. And if we go to Konoha now, then that's what will happen. He will screw up the timeline beyond recognition."
She then took a deep breath and continued, "I know its just the beginnings of a plan, we'll need to talk more about it after we leave. But for now, you need to tell Kakashi-sensei why we can't return to Konoha, and remember to ask him to tell our younger selves to keep us a secret. He'll have to make a report to the Sandaime after this mission, tell him to leave us out because that report will be seen by the elders, and Danzo is one of the elders. We cannot have him come after us. Maybe we tell him some parts of the future, particularly the war."
"What about Madara and Obito?"
"I don't know," Sakura shook her head, "if we tell him that information now, I'm afraid that he'll take us back to Konoha anyway so that we could talk to the Sandaime."
"And that's a bad thing?" Naruto asked with a quizzical look on his face.
Sakura sighed before slowly nodding her head, surprising Naruto. "We don't talk to him right now, Naruto. I was thinking that after I wake up, we'll leave to search for Tsunade -sama," Sakura continued to say as she raised her hands up when she sensed Naruto about to respond, "if we go back, and if Danzo somehow discovers that we're planning to bring Tsunade-sama back so that she could take over from Sandaime-sama… then I'm afraid the traitor will send Root to search for her before we can find her."
"And their job would be to kill her," Naruto frowned.
"Yea, I mean she'll make it hard… but enough Root members attacking her could tire her out enough for someone to get a lucky shot," Sakura said before she shrugged, "of course she'd have destroyed most of Root first before she fell… but we cannot have Danzo find out about us. Who knows, maybe Danzo himself will accompany his army. And if Kakashi-sensei brings us back after you tell him that Obito is alive…?"
Naruto nodded his head when he imagined Kakashi begging the Sandaime to let him find Obito, "I get it."
"Tsunade-sama won't believe us, but I know you can convince her," Sakura confidently said.
Naruto winced as he recalled what happened the last time he and Jiraiya went on a search for Tsunade after the Sand-Sound invasion. At least back then he had Jiraiya, a man that Tsunade knew and trusted, but now it was just him and Sakura heading out to search for her. At that thought of searching for the female Sannin, Naruto had no idea where to begin except for Tanzaku Town since that was where he and Jiraiya met her.
"It's gonna take something else to convince old granny but…" Naruto then smirked when he heard a growl emanate from Sakura's throat. He knew how much she hated her mentor being called anything other than 'Tsunade-sama', but he wasn't smirking at the thought of pushing her buttons. He was smirking at the fact that Sakura was the very proof they needed, "you're the proof, Sakura-chan."
"Huh?"
"The seal on your forehead," Naruto pointed out as Sakura brought her left hand up and covered the seal with it, "you're the only one who has that seal other than Granny."
"I guess you're right," Sakura said shaking her head before continuing, "and you too, Naruto. You change people, you know. You're going to be important in convincing her too."
Naruto nodded his head before asking, "now what?"
"When you wake up, tell…. Oh wait… talk to Kakashi. Tell him that we can't go back to Konoha yet…" Naruto nodded his head as Sakura spoke, "Just tell him that we need to search for someone…"
"And I don't tell him who we're searching for," Naruto wanted clarification.
"No," Sakura shook her head, "just that the person we're searching for would be an asset to Konoha. And then, as quickly as possible, get us out of here," Sakura said locking onto Naruto's eyes, "Oh, don't use your Nine Tails Mode in case Obito or Zetsu can sense you," Sakura hurriedly continued, "and oh, once again, remember to tell Kakashi not to report this, tell him we'll be back in Konoha in three months."
"Three months, but…"
"We're losing the connection, brats," Kurama said.
"Naruto," Sakura leaned into his ear, "tell Kakashi this," before she whispered words that she hoped would mean something to Kakashi as an explanation for why she and Naruto need to leave the Land of Waves.
As Sakura whispered, Naruto nodded his head before turning around towards a slowly vanishing Sakura.
"Sakura… you…" Naruto was reaching out for the pink haired girl as she started to fade away, "you know I can't remember something so long, and…"
"You can," Sakura whispered before she looked down at her hands which were fading in and out before looking back up at Naruto, "I feel as if I'm being pulled back."
"Pinky," Kurama held out a paw in the shape of a fist towards her while Naruto stared at Sakura in surprise as he repeated what Sakura wanted to relay to Kakashi in his mind, "whatever else you want to tell the idiot…"
"Hey!" Naruto yelped.
"… I'll tell him after you fade away."
Sakura stared at the red fur covered, rolled up paw and then at the surprised Naruto. She then looked back at the single eye of the Kyuubi looking back at her and nodded her head. She balled her right hand into a fist, raised her arm, and bumped her fist with Kurama's. Once her skin touched red fur, she felt her thoughts of their current situation transferring into Kurama's mind. A second later, Sakura stumbled back, and it was Naruto's intervention that prevented her from falling onto the ground.
"Kurama!" Naruto yelled at his partner, "what did you do?"
"Nothing," Kurama said laying his paw on the floor and then laying his head down, "I have what she needs to tell you, Naruto."
"Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke with concern in his voice as he held up the pink haired medic whose legs were slightly trembling, "are you okay?"
"Yea," Sakura whispered looking back at Naruto while feeling herself fading away, "tell Kakashi what I told you."
"I'll tell him, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, reminding himself what the message was, as Sakura smiled; her image fading away as Kakashi, in the real world, had only one more interlocked set of fingers to part so that he could take them to Tazuna's home one at a time.
"And listen to Kurama-sama," Sakura told the blonde in the latter's mindscape, "All I have are some ideas about our current situation. We can discuss it after we leave the Land of Waves, and I wake up."
Naruto nodded his head.
"Thank you, Naruto," Sakura whispered.
When Sakura was almost completely faded away, the blonde leaned forward quickly and said, "you have a charming forehead, and I want to kiss it." He couldn't believe he said that as his face reddened. He saw Sakura' eyebrows furrowing in confusion before they widened in realization just as she vanished before he shook his head and lay down on the floor of his mindscape.
Back in the real world, Kakashi was standing up in his feet, his back to the crowd while Sakura and Sasuke were next to him. In the meantime, Naruto was distracting Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami. Just as Kakashi was about to leave, he saw a tear fall down the teen Sakura's left cheek face before the three of them heard a low whisper escape her lips, as if she was talking in a dream, "Naruto… baka… should… should… have…"
"Okay," Kakashi said surprised, while Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other with perplexed expressions, and then back at the younger Naruto who was laughing and rubbing his head while joking with Tazuna and his family a few meters away. The two Genin then looked at the older Naruto while Kakashi shook his head.
"I'll be back," Kakashi then shunshined away leaving Sakura and Sasuke.
"Ummm…. Saksuke-kun?" Sakura whispered looking at the teen Naruto, "where are you? I mean the older you?"
"That's a question we'll have to ask them," Sasuke whispered nodding down at the teens lying on the ground.
Naruto (Older)
"Real manly, brat," Kurama sarcastically said before chuckling with his head laying on his front paws, "tell the girl you love that an important part of her life was actually you in disguise just as she faded away from your sub-consciousness. Brat, you are going to die."
"Shut up," Naruto sighed looking up at the dark blue ceiling of his mindscape.
He then snapped his head towards Kurama with a look of worry, "wait, what do you mean I'm going to die?"
"Oh, nothing, I just enjoy you squirming a little," Kurama smirked while his eyes remained closed. 'You idiot, that stunt you pulled when you were pretending to be the Uchiha was the one reason why she fell so hard for him. I absorbed her memories and her emotions, I know how she felt then, and I can only guess how she is going to feel when she wakes up… which is why I know that she is going to beat you up a little bit.'
Naruto frowned and narrowed his eyes at Kurama before shaking his head and looking back up at the ceiling, "I don't get it though. We wait three months?" Naruto frowned as he stared straight up and continued speaking, "so many things can happen between now and then. We should go back to Konoha and change things immediately, or…"
"The future's already been changed with us being in the past," Kurama summarized what Sakura had told him for the few seconds they were connected, "if we change too many things now too fast without some kind of thought into our actions, then it could go all out of control."
"But…," Naruto said.
"Naruto, why do you think Pinky wants to wait?"
"I don't know," Naruto replied before he groaned and then sat up with an exasperated look on his face.
Naruto rubbed his chin and thought about everything that happened between the end of the Land of Waves mission to three months in the future. 'Ummm,' he thought, 'few D Rank missions, two more C rank missions, and then another four D Ranks missions and then the Chuunin…' Naruto snapped his fingers and turned towards Kurama before exclaiming, "the Chuunin exams!" Naruto then wondered aloud, "but why would it be… I mean even if we waited, then why three months? I mean the exams start one and a half months from now and then there's the month-long training session…" it's here that Naruto trailed off as he comes to a realization, again, before going on a tangent, "the stuff that happens during the finals."
"You're getting there, kid," Kurama chuckled, "and….?"
"I defeat Neji," Naruto whispered as he thought about what happens after that to the Hyuuga genius, "after that defeat he changes. He's nicer to Hinata, even helps her train. And that would make her become a stronger Ninja."
"That's one, there's something else," Kurama said while Naruto was deep in thought.
"Then there's Sakura's match against Ino in the preliminaries… I mean the both of them lose but that was a really good fight.." Naruto whispered, "and they start fixing their friendship after that." Naruto then looked over at Kurama who knowingly looked back at him, "then Gaara… my fight with Gaara. He goes tailed beast mode and I… I stop him. And after… after that…" Naruto realized as his eyes went wider, "we became friends after that. Close friends. He becomes the Kazekage and… and…"
"Relations between Konoha and Suna become stronger as a result," Kurama said, "but you forgot one thing Naruto."
"I don't think so," Naruto replied rubbing the back of his head as he tried to recall if he missed anything.
"Your defeat of Neji changes how the village sees you; and your defeat of Shukaku cemented that opinion," Kurama said as Naruto looked away and thought about how many people had changed their opinions of him after news spread that he was the one who beat Shukaku. "the bonds you build with your fellow Genin get stronger and stronger as the months go on from now. The bond are cemented from the preliminaries and onwards. You change the Hyuuga brats, you change the Suna brats; there's a lot more changes that happen to you and because of you… most for the better."
"Things changed," Naruto whispered as he recalled the glares from a few storekeepers even after he defeated Pain; some even refused help from his Kage Bunshins while even more people welcomed it, "not as many people hated me."
"That's why Pinky wants to wait, she wants your chibi self to have the same opportunities you did," Kurama said.
"But if we don't do anything now, then Sasuke gets the curse mark, Hinata's nearly killed by Neji, Bushy Brows gets badly injured. So many other bad things happen and…" Naruto said shaking his head, "how can I… we… do that?"
"That's something you have to discuss with Pinky when she gets up," Kurama said before sighing, "now you better think of a contingency plan in case the Slug Princess thinks that you or Pinky are crazy."
"Yeah," Naruto whispered nodding his head as his mind looked back to the look of surprise on Sakura's face. And a nervous smile formed on his face as he thought about the punch that was sure to come his way when she woke up, 'but why would she be angry at me?' Naruto then sighed as he lay back on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. Suddenly, he had a thought enter his mind, "Kurama?"
"What?"
"Did you see anything else when she told you her thoughts?"
Kurama was about to close his eyes when Naruto asked him that question. It was true that he was able to close off his thoughts to Sakura when she gave him the information to relay to Naruto - mostly so that she doesn't go insane from all the thoughts in his own mind. However, Kurama did glance at all of her memories and thoughts since they were open to him. He knew exactly how she felt about Naruto, 'I can tell you that she will not hurt you again, Naruto. But that was then, after hearing what you just told her? Oh, I'm going to enjoy the aftermath just a little bit.'
"Ask her when you wake up, brat," Kurama said.
"I know in my gut that she was telling me the truth earlier about her feelings for me."
"And your point?"
"In the land of Iron, my gut told me that she was lying. But… I don't know, Kurama. She said she lied. I said that she lied, and she said that she lied… but…." Naruto then lay back down and frowned while staring at Kurama's open eyes, "did she lie to me back then? Was I wrong? Did she mean what she said? Did she lie when she said she loved me? Did she lie when she said that she lied?"
"Bah, you humans and your need for gratification," Kurama sneered, "what does the past matter now, brat? She loves you now, why bring up that day? Move on. Anyway, it's not as if my answer will change anything that happened. Get some rest, you'll need it. Baka."
"But…."
"Instead of going back to thinking about that day, try to come up with a reason why you didn't tell Pinky that you were the 'Sasuke' who wanted to kiss her forehead."
"What does day have to do with anything? You were the one who said don't think about the past!" Naruto pointed at Kurama, "stupid Fox!"
Kurama then huffed before laughing cheekily, "Oh I'm really, really going to enjoy what's coming next."
"Anyway, I already told her that it was me."
"You did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too!"
"You stupid boy, you did not!"
"I.." Naruto brought his left finger to his chin and looked away from Kurama deep in thought wondering if he told Sakura the truth about transforming temporarily into Sasuke, "I… think I did." Naruto heard Kurama sigh while thinking out loud, "no, I did. I… I think I told her…"
Slowly, Naruto's eyes widened in realization; he didn't tell her. 'But that shouldn't be a problem, it was a compliment. Why'd she want to get angry with me?'
"Ummm…. Kurama?" Naruto turned his head towards the Kyuubi and asked, "why would she be angry?"
"I'll leave you to think about that, brat," Kurama said closing his eyes.
Naruto sighed as he leaned back onto the ground, "it was a compliment, why would Sakura-chan be angry?" Naruto then closed his eyes and let the darkness of sleep take him, 'nah, she wouldn't be angry at me.'
Sakura (Older)
Sakura felt a gentle breeze brush past her cheeks while her hair was blowing towards her right. Her eyes were closed as tears flowed down her cheeks at hearing the last thing that Naruto said before everything went dark, and then she felt a gentle warm breeze. Opening her eyes slowly, Sakura stared at hazy shapes, caused by the tears in her eyes, all around her before she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. Her vision slowly clearing, she found herself sitting on the same bench the day of their Genin assignment, an hour before meeting Kakashi for the first time.
Her throat was dry as she recalled what Naruto said earlier. "You have a charming forehead, I want to kiss it."
And fresh tears fell down her cheeks before she wiped her eyes again. A part of her was telling herself that no, it wasn't Naruto who said that… it was Sasuke and Naruto somehow found out. But another part of Sakura, the one that grew to know the blonde well over the years following Sasuke's defection suspected that it was a lie – the version of Sasuke who told her those simple words was really Naruto.
"Why, Naruto?" Sakura whispered shaking her head as she leaned forward and cried again, "did… did you… did you prank me because you…. Did you prank me because…" Sakura couldn't even finish what she wanted to ask, because it hurt to find out the answer – did he prank her for the sake of pranking her, or did he prank her just to steal a kiss.
It was that very declaration years ago, by the boy Sakura thought was Sasuke, that showed her there was a loving and romantic side to the future avenger. Sure she had an immense crush on the boy despite being shown no romantic love in return from him, it was those very words that solidified her crush into a love that permeated her entire body, mind, and soul. It was those words that had her tell Sasuke that she loved him the night he left Konoha because she knew that there was a part of him that loved her - there had to be; especially since he was the one who said those words acknowledging her, the words that showed Sakura that he loved her forehead, a feature of her body that she didn't like. A feature that everyone made fun of – except for Sasuke.
'And Naruto,' Sakura realized as tears travelled down her cheek.
Because it was Naruto said those very words that solidified her love for Sasuke.
It was those words that came back to her when she found herself at the Konaha gates crying like a fool and blubbering… no, begging, Naruto to bring Sasuke back. It was those very words that had Sakura force Naruto to make that promise of a lifetime.
That fateful promise that changed their lives forever.
Sakura got up off the bench, pulled her head back, and screamed out loud as she thought about how she felt emotionally the time when they encountered Sasuke once again after Naruto's two and a half-year trip. She pulled her arm back and then slammed it into the ground while screaming, her throat raw, as she thought about how she was nearly about to kill Sasuke under the Samurai Bridge nearly a year later.
It was just as she was about to stab Sasuke with her poisoned kunai that those damn words came back into her mind. Words that told her Sasuke still had some love for her somewhere deep inside him. It was that love for Sasuke that stayed her hand. It was that hesitation that nearly killed her when Sasuke was about to slam his chidori charged hand through her chest.
'I failed my duty… those words were my weakness… I am my own weakness.'
And it was Naruto who saved her. The very same Naruto she had lied to earlier that day about loving him. The very same Naruto who acknowledged her. The vary same Naruto who loved her; the very same Naruto she was angry with right now.
"Damn you, Naruto!" Sakura slammed her fist into the shattered ground again before leaping up into an unaffected area and then slamming her fist into the ground once again, "damn you!" She cried as the ground shattered once again.
Sakura leapt to another untouched section and fell to her knees crying as she thought about how she yelled at Sasuke back in the Land of Iron that she still loved him. It was those words about her forehead, those stupid words, that crossed her mind once again. She thought to herself that the man in front of them, the man who admitted to wanting to kill Naruto, to burning Konoha, to nearly killing his own comrade, still had good in him. Of course, he had to have good in him… he was the one who acknowledged her… who loved her.
"Did you mean what you said, Naruto," Sakura whispered to herself as she went down on both knees on the shattered ground as dirt and debris fell back to earth, "did you mean what you said that time? Or was it just a prank? A cruel prank?"
As Sakura remained on her knees, she remembered staring in surprise at 'Sasuke' after he said those fateful words years ago. Words that transformed her crush and obsession of him to love. She recalled closing her eyes and waiting for 'Sasuke' to kiss her. But the kiss never came. Opening her eyes, Sakura recalled seeing him running away before disappearing around a corner. Sakura remembered blushing before hearing the sound of footsteps from behind her. Turning her head, she saw Sasuke walking towards her from the other direction.
"Sakura, have you seen Naruto?"
Sakura, the older Sakura, screamed out again as she moved forward until she was on all fours, her hands on the broken ground, her fingers curling into the dirt. She told herself that the one who asked if she had seen Naruto was the real Sasuke.
'I was so.. so much in love that… that I didn't realize that… that Sasuke-kun… that he walked up to me from the opposite direction,' Sakura suddenly felt tired as she lay down on her side, the dirt staining her torn Chuunin undershirt, "I should have realized something was wrong… I should have but… but I was blinded, wasn't I?" Sakura imagined what could have happened if Naruto had revealed himself as the one who complimented her, "Why didn't you tell me, Naruto? Why did you watch me make a fool out of… out of myself and…" Sakura closed her eyes and cried out in sorrow mixed with rage, "why didn't you tell me?!"
And all Sakura could do was sob.
Back in the real world, Kakashi lay the older Sakura down onto the brown coloured mat on the floor on one of the bedrooms in Tazuna's home. He was about to leave to retrieve the unconscious Naruto when he noticed a tear gathering at the edge of her closed eyelids before falling down the side of her cheek.
"Sakura." Kakashi whispered.
"Why… Naruto… why?" Sakura mumbled. Kakashi looked down at her before sighing and then moving out towards the bridge once again. He needed answers, and hoped he would get them when the older versions of two of his students woke up.
Kakashi
Kakashi knew that there was a lot more out in the world to see and do, but one thing he never expected to see were older versions of his cute little Genin… well, two of his cute little Genin - Naruto and Sakura - falling out of the sky. It had been nearly two and a half hours since the two of them landed close to the unfinished section of the bridge; and to anyone else, the two of them looked like bloodied pieces of torn body parts thanks to a genjutsu activated by Kakashi when he was bringing the two of them to Tazuna's home.
Tazuna gave the people a readied excuse, as instructed by Kakashi, that what they had seen was a Jutsu gone wrong. And given the 'bloodied body parts' genjutsu thrown over the two unconscious bodies by Kakashi, people would not be asking anything. Instead, he now had to field questions from his Genin team, particularly Naruto and Sakura; the former pointing out to Sakura that the two of them are destined to be together given that they were holding hands, and Sakura telling Naruto in no uncertain terms that she would never date him even if he were the last man on Earth.
At that, Kakashi sighed before reminding himself to tell Sakura to apologize to Naruto; the three Genin were now in the other room eating a snack with Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari. As for the Copy Ninja himself, he was perched on a wooden railing on the balcony that faced out towards the water. He had his orange covered 'Icha Icha Paradise' book out, but his eyes weren't reading the words on the page… instead his thoughts were away.
After bringing the two bodies into Tazuna's home, he told everyone… including his team… to go to the next room while he ran tests using his Sharingan. Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who spoke first saying that he had a right to be in the room since he needed to know why the older version of himself wasn't there. But Kakashi was adamant that the others leave. Once he was alone, Kakashi lifted his headband off his left eye and made sure that the two unconscious bodies were not any elaborate genjutsu; which they were not. And they were not any transformation jutsu, nor were they blood clones.
'Why would any enemy of Konoha work so hard to create adult versions of children who are… well… nobodies,' Kakashi thought to himself back a couple of hours ago. It was still the same thought running through his mind, and that was only because the alternative was something that was supposed to be impossible.
But the impossible was something that brought two of his students, as adults, lying in the room while he was trying to read a book. Kakashi glanced at the older Naruto, and then at the older Sakura whose tears had stopped falling onto the mat, and then back at the older Naruto once again.
There was certainly evidence that the two were from the future – one such evidence was that the older Sakura inferred she knew Naruto's parentage, which he believed was the main reason why she told him not to bring them back to Konoha. At least not yet. Kakashi was lucky that the young Sakura and Sasuke didn't catch the name Older Sakura whispered, or else he would be having a hard time explaining why an older Sakura happened to know that nickname if, and when, either Sakura or Sasuke managed to do some research of their own.
'And then there's what the two of them are wearing,' Kakashi thought glancing over at the two older Sakura and Naruto, 'Sakura's wearing a Chuunin undershirt with injuries on her arms and scrapes on her face. And the older Naruto has on a ripped jacket, scrapes on his face and hands.
His eyes looked away from the two older teens and focused on the words on the current page of the book he was reading, 'but what could have been so bad that they travelled back in time from the future? How bad could the future be?'
Tsunade
As Kakashi thought about what could have happened in the future for two of his students to travel back in time, two figures had finished running on the water next to the incomplete bridge before making it to land. The two of them then continued running, the blonde woman in a green overcoat leading the young woman with black hair, as they continued on – stopping once to ask a woman in a nearly empty shop about the location of Tazuna the Bridge Builder. Once the blonde was told of where the man lived, she took off once again while the exhausted young woman behind her took a deep breath before following her mentor and mother-figure.
"Tsunade-sama!" she cried out, "you still haven't told me why we're here. And who is this Tazuna person?"
Senju Tsunade, AKA the Legendary Sucker, AKA the Slug Princess, AKA the Godaime Hokage, AKA the last of the Sannin, heard what her apprentice had said. But she ignored it. Her concentration was on the memories that appeared in her mind just after she pulled the handle on the jackpot machine in the one of the many gambling establishments in a nearby town two hours away from the Land of Waves. She remembered letting out a scream of pain before she tumbled off her chair and onto the dirty floor as Shizune, her apprentice, rushed towards her with Tonton in her arms. When Tsunade opened her eyes again, her mind was filled with memories… memories that she knew she should not have, and then she remembered 'seeing' Naruto and Sakura in the blue and white tunnel.
She heard what Sakura said – "Time-travel."
And then they were falling through the air while she felt herself flying through the Land of Waves. She flew and flew until she felt drawn towards a town familiar to her. She flew through that town until she flew through a building and then through the walls of a busy casino. She felt herself flying through bodies and machines towards a blonde-haired figure in a green overcoat with a familiar dark-haired apprentice standing next to her holding a pet pig.
And then she fell.
And then she remembered.
As Tsunade ran towards Tazuna's home, she remembered the pull she had towards this place once her memories were fully integrated into her very self. Getting back to her feet after flying into her own body, Tsunade stood back up… and then ordered Shizune to collect all their things.
"We have a trip to make," Tsunade had said before turning around and walking away from the jackpot winnings that were pouring out of the machine. After Shizune collected the winnings, she ran after Tsunade calling out for her with Tonton in her arms.
And now, after hours of non-stop running, the two panting females and a worried pet pig, were at a wooden door.
"Tsunade-sama," Shizune panted as she leaned against the outside wall near the door, "why… why are… are we here? You… you said it was imp… important."
"It is," Tsunade answered before she knocked on the door, "and I need for you to believe me, Shizune." Tsunade continued to knock on the door, and then stepped back when it was opened by a dark-haired woman. The Slug Princess nodded her head before saying, "is Kakashi still here?"
The woman speechlessly stared at the buxom woman with a look of confusion on her face.
"Is Kakashi here?" Tsunade repeated, this time with a stern expression on her face.
Tsunami nodded her head while the look of confusion remained on her face.
"I need to talk to him," Tsunade said, "tell him it's about Naruto and Sakura."
TBC