Bonds Through Time
Summary: Takes place shortly after Naruto The Last.
Using a time-traveling artifact left behind by the Otsutsuki clan, Sakura goes back in time — intent to prevent the Uchiha massacre and reduce the casualties from the Fourth Great Ninja War. She hopes that she'll be able to find twenty year old Kakashi from the past and that he'll believe her and help her.
The newly appointed Sixth Hokage Kakashi races after Sakura to stop her. Anbu Kakashi of the past wouldn't be swayed by a cute green-eyed, pink haired kunoichi. He can only hope that if she does find his past self— that he doesn't kill her.
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Chapter One
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The war ended two years ago and life had settled into a relative peace for Konoha. Or at least, it had until the moon almost crashed to the planet. They'd managed to stop another deranged celestial being and Hinata finally gave Naruto that damned scarf.
"You seem pleased with yourself," Ino murmured.
Sakura nodded. They'd been sharing coffee and pastries together at the cafe near the hospital. Ino now spent most of her time with the Intelligence Division, while Sakura kept busy at the hospital. This meeting was her first test to see if she was ready for her mission. Ino had trained under Ibiki for years now. If Sakura could lie to her best friend, then she'd be able to lie to save herself as the circumstances arose.
"Well, it's my first solo mission outside of the hospital. Mostly, there's been an unusual illness — and I've been able to trace the source of origin — so I'm going to check it out."
"But won't you get the illness?" Ino asked.
Sakura tapped the seal on her forehead. "Not with my Creation Rebirth activated. Whatever damage I'm exposed to I'll just heal instantaneous."
Ino rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It's just, this doesn't seem like something Hokage Kakashi would sign off on. He's rather protective of you."
It's true, he'd saved her life on a number of occasions— even created a Susanoo with the dying power of his friend's Sharingan eyes. Though, to be fair, she'd healed him from the point of death a few times. "It's fine, he won't even know I'm gone."
Ino leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. "Wait. Is this an officially sanctioned mission, Sakura?"
"Well, the Hospital Director signed off on it," Sakura hedged.
"You're the Hospital Director," Ino pointed out.
"Indeed." Sakura slid an envelop towards Ino. It was addressed to Kakashi. "If you can give that to Shikamaru to give to Kakashi — after I'm gone."
"Is this some elaborate ploy to chase after Sasuke?" Ino asked, taking the envelop and placing it inside her bag. "It's been a few years, Sakura."
"This is not about him," Sakura spat, annoyed that even her best friend thought everything she did was centered around her old crush. Though, to be honest, he was part of the reason for her mission. She laid a few bills on the table. "I'll see you around, Ino. You take care."
Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. Ino laid a few bills on the table as well and stood. "Why don't I go with you? We can get Sai. We've been a three-man team before. We passed the Chunin Exams together, Sakura."
"It's just a day trip, Ino. Don't concern yourself," Sakura said, trying to smile reassuringly.
Ino pulled Sakura into a hug. "I don't believe you. What's in this letter?"
Damn. She failed the first part of the mission — pull a fast one over Ino. Sakura pulled back and smiled. "Don't be too hard on Sai. He's learning and he's a sweet guy." She slung her pack over her shoulders and then covered up with her cold weather cloak. "See you." She held her hand up casually as she walked away a few meters and then leapt up to the rooftops. The cave she sought was a half day's distance towards the sea. She should be able to make it before Kakashi might send anyone to stop her. Or before Naruto realized she left without him.
She'd read about the artifact — it belonged to the Otsutsuki — a time traveling turtle that lived in a cave to the south where the Uzumaki clan hailed. It had been an obscure reference in a travel journal from a medic that lived long ago— hundreds of years before the founding of Konoha.
Maybe it was a foolish idea, but maybe she could change things? So many of her friends had been hurt unnecessarily — so many dead because of one man's greed. She'd been helping Master Tsunade with paperwork when she came across the confidential file about Danzo— he'd caused the Akatsuki to shift into a terrorist organization, he'd arranged the Uchiha massacre, he'd tortured countless youth —like Sai. And while she didn't think she could save Naruto's parents — she had to pick one point in history — maybe she could make sure he was adopted into a family and cared for?
As she ran, she felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She'd started the process to create mental health clinics to help repair the psyches of traumatized children — but this was a chance to prevent the trauma to begin with in her closest friends. It wasn't until Obito had transported her and Naruto into a parallel world that she realized how hard it was to be an orphan. She'd been such a know-it-all as a girl. Who was she? A clan-less kunoichi with a high IQ? Her friends had sacrificed so much — maybe, just maybe they didn't need to.
Hours later, she'd found herself in Naruto's ancestral home. It was a haunted landscape — war and floods had obliterated its former glory. She concentrated her chakra and laid her palm on the ground, mapping out the area. "Found you."
The turtle wasn't far. She was confident in her plan. She even knew the perfect point in history to emerge. Fourteen years ago — she'd have to steer clear of her six year old self, but since she'd have been a first year at the academy it wouldn't be too hard.
She just needed to make contact with a certain shinobi and make sure he believed her. How hard could it be to convince him?
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OoO
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"Please, tell me you brought a bottle of sake," Kakashi said by way of greeting when his office door opened. He rubbed his forehead and looked up to see Shikamaru striding inside — one of his two assistants. The other as probably at the hospital splitting the duties of directorship with his favorite student.
"Lord Hokage." Shikamaru's normally bored tone carried an edge of trepidation. Instead of a mountain of paperwork, he carried a single envelop.
"What's that?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the pale yellow envelop was extended towards him. He recognized the neat print. He snatched the envelop and ripped it open. He stood so quickly his chair toppled over behind him. He ripped off his Hokage robe and tossed it over the fall chair, his dark blue fatigue pants and black long sleeve shirt and mask revealed underneath. "Get Naruto and have him follow after me."
Without another word Kakashi Hatake, The Sixth Hokage, leapt out of his own office in hot pursuit of his pink haired teammate. Flashbacks of the last battle raced to his mind. How many times had he snatched her away from certain death?
If she succeeded she'd find no allies. Worse yet, she might be lost forever.
He'd memorized the letter and ran through it in his mind once more in his desperate quest to reach her before it was too late.
"Dear Kakashi Sensei,
I came across the knowledge of an artifact of the Otsutsuki that allows for time travel. The documentation had been encoded in a fairly complicated cypher but I pieced it together. If this succeeds, maybe you will have new memories. Better yet, I'll be back before you even finish reading this letter. I'm traveling back to Konoha — before the Uchiha massacre. I'll find you, I remember you were in Anbu at that time, I'm hoping I can convince the younger version of you to help me. Maybe Yamato or even Itachi Uchiha. Too many people died because we were ill prepared and too many people suffered under Danzo's dark reign. I don't know if this artifact is a one-time use or if I'll be able to return.
You have all sacrificed so much — it's my turn to try to make things better.
Have Faith in our Bonds, Sakura."
"Fool," Kakashi muttered under his breath. Did she not know about the Butterfly effect? She'd scored perfectly on the written Chunin exam when she was twelve — she was obviously a genius. So why was she being so stupid? His hands clenched at his sides and he hurried. She had a good head start.
"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto called out, catching up to him while running at breakneck speed. "Sai is on his way. He says he can make a Super Beast to fly us there that will be faster."
Kakashi nodded, but didn't speak. He was too angry and too worried. He looked up as the shadow from Sai's trio of Super Beast giant birds flew overhead. He jumped onto the back of the nearest one and Naruto did the same.
"Where is she going, Kakashi?" Naruto called out.
"The Land of Whirlpools! She's found a way to travel back into the past," Kakashi explained.
"Really? Wow!" Naruto laughed. He'd transformed into Sage Mode, his pupils crosses and his eyes outlined in orange. "That's pretty awesome!"
"No, Naruto. It's not awesome." Kakashi narrowed his eyes and tried to scan the path before them. How much of a head start did she have? "She won't have any allies where she's going. She's going to get herself killed!"
"I see her!" Naruto pointed into the distance. Sure enough, their pink-haired teammate just entered a cave and disappeared from sight.
They traveled in silence and as soon as they neared the cave, all three leapt off the Super Beasts. Kakashi landed easily on his feet and started running immediately. "Sakura!" He arrived just in time to see Sakura smile sadly at him before vanishing, the turtle falling to the ground where her feet had just been.
"Sakura!" Kakashi shouted again, plucking the turtle and examining it. It radiated heat. "Where is she?"
Naruto and Sai were at his side moments later.
The turtle blinked its eyes slowly and looked past Kakashi to Naruto, recognizing his Toad Sage mode. "Katsuyu's summoner requested my services."
"Yes, she's our friend. Where did she go?" Naruto asked.
The turtle looked back at Kakashi. "This one should know."
"Can she come back? You're still here, does she need you to come back?" Kakashi demanded.
The turtle blinked again. "I am there as well." It closed its eyes and felt like an inanimate statue. The heat dissipated and it was freezing cold stone in his hands.
Naruto bounced between his feet anxious. "What do we do, Sensei?"
Kakashi closed his eyes. He didn't have any memories of Sakura in the past. If she succeeded, would he be altered now? Her faith in him was absolute, but she didn't know him from fourteen years ago. Twenty-year old Kakashi was a completely different man than the teammate Sakura knew. He tried to swallow past the lump forming in his throat. He could only pray that he wouldn't kill her.
"She'll be okay, right? If she finds you in the past — you'll help her?" Naruto asked.
"Let's hope that I'm not the one she finds first," Kakashi warned. Would she find him before or after he'd been brainwashed by Danzo? Would she be there when Yamato was sent to assassinate him? Would she find him before or after he'd made the attempt on the Third Hokage's life?
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A/N; I had originally thought to post this only on AO3, but I still like FFN. The format is so easy to read. Since it is apparently KakaSaku week/month whatever excuse it is that's allowing so much wonderful content to be posted these past few days...he's my favorite ongoing project with my OTP. (Though I enjoy Sakura with any of the guys on Team 7 TBH. So, if Kakashi x Sakura are you're thing too- then I hope you enjoy this newest project of mine!
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Also, I randomly capitalize certain words. Please excuse me.