Next chapter below! Enjoy.

Team Seven had commandeered Tazuna's dinning room after they returned from the fight, everyone, plus Pakkun, present for the discussion.

Sakura surveyed her teammates.

Uchiha was awake, though looking worse for wear as he sipped a cup of tea. Naruto was laying on his folded arms, staring off into space, and Kakashi-sensei was stroking Pakkun while examining the chip in his hand.

"Well, it looks like technology of some sorts." Kakashi-sensei commented as he rotated it in his fingers.

"Inner said it was a chip, not that I know what that means." Sakura laid her chin on her hand and pulled out Uchiha's chip from her chest bandages.

Inner was right though, Sakura couldn't fell the Burning.

At all.

It was surreal.

Part of her thought she was still in a genjutsu, but no matter how many times she flared her chakra the fiery feeling did not return.

Was she finally free?

'Don't get used to it Sakura, it's temporary at best. Once they find out you are not feeling anything, they will fix the bug. You probably have a couple of months, at most.'

'...'

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth Sakura, but I'm walking a very fine line. If I messed up and something went wrong earlier, it's all over.'

'I thought about it on the way back, and you didn't just withhold the truth from me Inner, you lied to me. You knew I was looking into the incidents! The Burning! I would have trusted what you had to say and not have messed up. Don't you remember who I am?'

'I didn't think you would believe me, and if you didn't trust me then my existence here would be useless. The truth is...complicated.'

'Inner... out of everyone I know, I trusted you, my other half, the most. You think I wouldn't believe you? I shared everything with you I–'

Sakura's throat tightened.

'I can't do this right now.'

'Sakura, you have no idea of the–'

A finger snapped in front her eyes.

"Sakura-chan? Are you back with us?"

She followed the hand to the face that was staring at her in concern.

Kakashi-sensei, he had leaned across the table to get her attention.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Maa, can you answer my question now? Who's Inner?"

"Inner she's... I thought she was a part of me, a voice I heard in my head after my brother–" Sakura took a shaky breath, "but... now I don't think that's the case."

"Brother? You don't have a brother."

Sakura looked at her Sensei, pulling out a folded piece of paper from her chest wraps. Carefully she unfolded it and put it on the table, rotating it so it faced him.

"Yes, yes I did, Haruno Ren."

Naruto and Uchiha ended up leaning over to look at the picture, and after a moment of silence Uchiha turned to her.

"What happened to him?"

"He died in service to Konoha a long time ago, but that photo and this hitai-ate are the only proof of his existence left." Sakura held the metal on her chest. "Only myself and Pakkun remember him."

The ninken hopped up onto the table and crawled into her lap, Sakura stroked his back.

"Kakashi, he used to be on your team. We worked together a lot."

Kakashi-sensei's eye widened as he stared at his ninken.

"Is that so?"

"Yes Sensei, Konoha is compromised, has been for a very long time. No one tends to remember anything."

"Wait, then how come you do Sakura-chan?" Naruto tilted his head.

'Because of me, the only reason you remember is because I am in your head, Sakura. If I wasn't here, you would have grown up thinking you were an only child and very, very different.'

Sakura inhaled sharply.

An only child? Sakura couldn't imagine being an only child.

Just how different would she have turned out?

'I remember... because of you?'

'Yes, it took a lot of effort to get to you, and the price of it... was too high.'

'Inner, what happened?'

'Another time Sakura. That is a conversation for us, and no one else.'

'As long as you tell me the truth.'

Sakura blinked back into awareness and gave a small cough.

"Sorry."

"Were you talking to Inner?" Uchiha asked.

"Yes."

"So back to the previous topic, how does Inner know that this is a chip." Sensei rolled it between his fingers.

'It was made by my people. You can say we are in the middle of a civil war, a difference of ideals.'

'Inner, what are you?'

'Hah, it would be easier if I just told them myself.'

'And how do you plan on doing that?'

'By you giving me control of your body, at least of your limbs.'

'You can control bodies? Like what happened to Haku and Zabuza?'

'Not to that extent, there's a reason he was controlling their corpses Sakura. The chips can only influence behavior, erase memories, and depending on the skill of the controller, implant chips into others. Certain people are easier to do it on than others. Controlling a live person requires them to have a weak will or themselves ceding control.'

'Ok so you want to take control of my arm and write it out?'

'Yes, no harm will come to you, just try not to fight it or it won't work.'

'...fine. Because you helped me remember Ren I will trust you, just this once.'

'And I will die before I break your trust again Sakura. You have my word. Sha?'

'Na'rro.'

.

"Sakura-chan, I'm not sure I like that plan very much."

Sakura pulled out a pen and laid it next to the blank scroll she placed on the table, before returning to her seat.

"It's the easiest way to get answers Sensei. I'm willing to take the risk for the truth."

Sakura double checked her supplies, everything was in order.

She was ready.

'You remember what you have to do?'

'Yes, don't fight it and relax.'

'Ok, I will begin.'

The moment her hand moved by itself, it took all of Sakura's control to not fidget. It was weird, similar to the feeling of overworked muscles twitching after a long workout, a bit uncomfortable but nothing she could really do about it, not if she wanted the truth.

Inner grabbed the pen with Sakura's hand and began to write.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Naruto nearly sprawled on the table to get closer to the hand writing.

Uchiha grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him off the table.

"Don't get so close Dobe, we don't need you messing things up and hurting Sakura."

"Oh, sorry Sakura-chan, I got carried away." He gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head, though immediately afterwards he glared at Uchiha.

Uchiha smirked.

Naruto's face began to change color into a bright red, and he let out a growl.

When Naruto grabbed his collar Sensei picked both of the boys up, separated them, and placed himself in the middle.

Even without the chips the idiots still fought.

Inner placed the pen down.

'I'm done.'

"She's done."

Sensei picked up the scroll and began to read it. After a few moments he placed it back down and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ok, putting aside the whole other dimension, universe stuff, what is this chakra fruit you speak of?"

'The paper.'

Sakura held out her hand for the scroll, and once Sensei handed it over she placed it back on the table and began to write.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and began to read out loud.

"The chakra fruit is a very powerful energy source that comes from the God Tree, we ended up discovering one off of a theory years ago and took it. One fruit can power our technology for a very long time. Hyperdrives, energy weapons, you name it."

Hyperdrives? That's technology Sakura had never heard of.

"But why try to control us Inner?" Sakura asked.

Sakura's hand wrote some more.

"We are at war Sakura, the edge one of those fruits can give us in our intergalactic war is immeasurable. Though, not all of us think we should depend on it. In order to get a chakra fruit we need to feed the God Tree an Ōtsutsuki, and after multiple tries on multiple worlds in different dimensions, the only way to get an Ōtsutsuki to appear is by following a story the Terran's foresaw years ago. Not all of us want to play gods and mettle in other worlds throughout the various planes, it goes against multiple treaties so our planet is divided, and our side is currently loosing. Let's just say the term genocide isn't too far off."

"Terrans, what are those?" Naruto went to grab Sakura's hand and Sensei flicked him away.

"Who is the better question Naruto. A people with the ability to peer into different worlds in other planes, but they have no idea they can do it at all. They think it's all of their own 'creativity' but that isn't the case. There aren't many left, so the Federation has them isolated as a protected species."

"So what, you control us and ruin our lives all for a stupid fruit?" Uchiha hissed out, slamming his hands on the table.

Inner slammed the tip down with aggression and wrote out her next answer, the ink pooling at the end as a statement.

"I am not one of them Uchiha. You would go on to kill your brother and hate yourself if I never made it to Sakura. Don't point your anger at the wrong source."

"Tch."

Uchiha gritted his teeth and looked away.

"How much of this 'story' do you know?" Sakura tapped the scroll.

More scribbling noises echoed around the room.

"Not much I'm afraid, the higher ups were pretty hush hush about it. Stories were on a need-to-know basis and unfortunately the people who control that information now are on the other side. There have been some leaks so I know some of it."

"What's coming up? Can we prepare?"

Sakura looked at her Sensei and saw that he had his sharingan out recording the paper. She wasn't happy to see that, but it made sense to have a copy since she would have too burn the paper one afterwards.

"I just found out about Wave, but what happens next is that the Hokage will die when Sand and Sound invade during the upcoming Chunin Exams, Tsunade will become Hokage, and Uchiha will get bitten by Orochimaru during it and will defect. Some point after that he will kill his brother. At the end an Ōtsutsuki will appear, but that's all I know. My people have a plan to end it, but that requires knowing the whole story first. I'm still looking into it."

'Every time I disappear it's because there is a chance of finding out more information. I wouldn't leave you if I didn't have to Sakura.'

'Hmm, I guess that would explain all of the times you went deeper.'

'Indeed.'

"I take it Wave didn't go as planned which is why your enemies attacked my genin?"

Kakashi-sensei leaned further into his slouch, but there was something about it that made Sakura think he was displeased.

Inner wrote.

"Yes, Kaiza should have died, been dead long before Team Seven even arrived. Gato being caught and killed in the Land of Tea changed things, and when they noticed that Sakura, despite the Burning inflicted on her, was able to change the story, it caused concerns. Hence her kidnapping."

"The Burning? Is that why you would always look uncomfortable around the Dobe?" Uchiha faced her with a surprised look.

"Yes, though I'm not sure why. It affected a lot of things, including you Uchiha. Though, now I'm guessing it has to do with how 'I' acted in this supposed story."

Sakura's hand continued.

"You're right Sakura. This story follows Naruto actually, I guess Uchiha too. You were considered a main character, but honestly in the story you played a supporting role so most thought of you as a side character."

What?

Her? A side character?

"Awesome! See Teme, I am better than you!" Naruto stood and patted himself on the shoulder.

"Tch, she also said it was about me Dobe, don't get too full of yourself."

Sakura snapped.

"Please just shut up for a moment, will you? Inner what did you call me? A side character? I'm a Haruno, it's impossible for me to be a side character!"

'Careful Sakura, you are getting too worked up. You are going to break my hold on you.'

Sakura let out a long slow breath and relaxed.

"Maa Sakura-chan, it's ok. Both you and I can be side characters together."

Yep, Sensei was her favorite.

Inner wrote some more.

"Regardless of how you were viewed in the past, all of Team Seven are main characters, which is why the hold of the Burning is so strong. The question is, what are we going to do now that all of you, excluding Sakura of course, are free from your chips?"

'Is there a chance they will come after us again?'

'Hard to say, since the other key people still have their chips they might try to brute force the story, despite any changes you and your team try to make. I'm still trying to figure out who those key people are. If we aren't careful they may try to re chip you and the boys.'

"Hmm."

Sakura read through the scroll once more.

"Senju Tsunade, I've heard that name before at the hospital, read about her too. 'The best medic in the world'. Maybe... we can bring her back before the Chunin Exams, since I don't think we can stop the invasion. If she can save the Hokage, that could change everything. Besides, she's one of the Sanin right? She should be able to hold off her teammate, Orochimaru, and maybe we could end up convincing him too. What do you think Sensei?" Sakura looked at her teacher.

"I don't know Sakura-chan, Tsunade-sama left Konoha for a reason, and her becoming Hokage in the story was only due to Sandaime-sama being dead. As for Orochimaru, I don't think the risk is worth the possible rewards."

" Ok so we will ignore Orochimaru for now, but Tsunade is still viable. She might change her mind if we tell her the truth, I don't think anyone would like being controlled." Sakura countered.

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei! We should find her and ask her ourselves. There is no way Team Seven will fail." Naruto chimed in and Uchiha nodded.

Sensei sighed.

Sakura's hand moved.

"It's a good idea Kakashi, she's been out of Konoha and unrelated to the story for a while, there is less of a chance that she has been heavily influenced. She would be a good choice, you can't be the only adult besides myself in on it."

"I agree Kakashi, it's a good plan." Pakkun raised his head off of Sakura's lap.

The genins held their breath and stared at Kakashi-sensei in unison.

Sensei rubbed the back of his neck before dragging his hand down the side of his face.

He held up a finger.

"I'm only giving you three one chance, just one. So don't mess it up."

Naruto jumped up out of his chair cheering, while her and Uchiha shared a smile.

It was time to take back their world.

'Sha?'

'Na'rro.'

.

Sakura sat out on the dock, looking out into the sea one last time before their team went back to Konoha. Their first C-rank mission was done, and she was free of the Burning.

For now.

A call in the distance for her name made her get up and return back to the front of the house, where her team and Tazuna's family was waiting.

"Really Sakura, thank you for everything." Tazuna gave a bow at her arrival.

"Yes, Sakura-chan, thank you for bringing my husband back to me." Tsunami bowed, echoing her Father's sentiments.

Sakura glanced at Inari on Kaiza's shoulders.

"I'm just glad it all worked out. If you see or hear anything weird, make sure to come tell us, ok?"

Though now that they had finished the 'story' of Wave Sakura doubted anything else would happen.

"Of course. Oh, before I forget." Tazuna dug through the bag on his shoulder and pulled out a small wooden figurine of a fish.

It was cuter than it had any right to be.

"Thank you, Tazuna."

"It's the least I could do Sakura, made it myself."

Sakura rubbed her finger on the wooden scales, they were smooth and shiny due to the varnish, but it wasn't gaudy in the least. If Tazuna didn't say anything she would of thought he bought it.

"Big Sis!"

Sakura was bombarded by a flying Inari, who had jumped off of his father into her arms for a hug.

He brought his mouth close to her ear and whispered.

"I'm glad I trusted you, thank you for believing in me and saving my Dad, Big Sis."

Sakura squeezed back.

"You're welcome."

.

Sakura and her fellow genin stood outside the gates of Konoha, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to finish checking in the team.

They were home.

Finally.

Too bad she couldn't relax for the rest of the day, Sakura had just received important information, and Yamanaka needed to know. She should take out her chip as well in case the enemy tried something.

"Uchiha, today is Wednesday right?"

He gave a short nod.

"Hn."

And it was the perfect day to do it too, she knew just where Yamanaka was.

"Ok, I need to go find Yamanaka and get her caught up."

There was something Sakura needed her to do.

The truth is out! So we are caught up to AO3 with releases so no more mass updates. Next chapter will be out Sunday August 13th in the afternoon/evening EST. I will be on vacation in the upcoming weeks so I wont have time to write.

Thanks for reading!