A week after the festivities and Tsunade's instauration as Hokage, Sakura finally mustered up the courage to speak to her mentor. Or was it ex-mentor? Future mentor? God time travel was confusing. She went to her bedroom and took the scroll disguised as a pen. Then after giving herself a pep-talk she went to the Hokage tower. She made her way up the stairs and walked to the door. After a deep breath, she knocked. Once she got a "Come in" from Tsunade, she entered.

The Slug Princess was sitting behind the table, mountains of paperwork surrounding her and a half empty sake bottle was sitting in the corner. Shizune was nowhere to be seen, but the ANBU guards were still there. Sakura entered the room with purpose, head held high and keeping eye contact with Tsunade, just as she taught her. She didn't give Tsunade a change to ask her why she was here, as she told her they needed to talk, alone. Sending a meaningful glance to the shadows. The last Senju understood and waved her guards away, before activating the privacy seals.

"Alright, I have this place completely secure. Speak. What does a genin want with me?"

Sakura took a deep breath and undid the transformation jutsu she had on the scroll. Tsunade's eyes widened as she recognized it. "I, Haruno Sakura, chūnin of Konohagakure no Sato, registration number 012601, under the Godaime Hokage's orders, have come to the past to prevent a large number of tragedies from happening, after our village was destroyed by Pain, also known as Nagato Uzumaki, the leader of the Akatsuki. My orders were to immediately report to you once you have come to the village."

Tsunade hummed. "I see...May I see the scroll?"

Sakura nodded and gave it to the blonde woman. The moment that Tsunade unfurled the scroll, it crumbled to dust in her hands and the Hokage slumped forward. The pinkette panicked and ran to her aid but before she could touch her, Tsunade caught her wrist. Brown eyes locked onto panicked green and the Slug Princess smiled.

"Sakura...good job, my apprentice."

Sakura let out a gasp of surprise and felt her heart soar. There was no way- "Ts-Tsunade-shishō? Y-you remember me?"

The Hokage smiled. "Yes Sakura. There was a small chance you could bring someone else with you if they read it, but I didn't know if it was truly possible. Yet here I am. I remember everything that has happened, or should I say will happen? Fuck, this shit is confusing."

Sakura felt moisture prick her eyes, without a warning, she launched herself at the woman with a cry of "Shishō!"

Tsunade laughed as she hugged her apprentice, letting her cry on her shoulder. She kept the genin in a tight hug and allowed her to let it all out. To finally make peace with what was and could have been, to finally lift part of the burden that was placed on her shoulders. And once she was done, Tsunade wiped the tears from her apprentice's eyes and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm proud of you Sakura. I do not know what you've achieved yet, but I trust it was a job well done. However, I would like to hear about it. So, report!"

Sakura straightened her spine and nodded. "Yes ma'am. I have arrived in the past, a month before my graduation test. I successfully infiltrated the academy and-"

...

Sakura left the Hokage tower with a skip in her step. After everything that went wrong, she could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. She reported everything to Tsunade and the two discussed what they will do going further. Since the Godaime had a much broader understanding to the political climate, she decided to secretly aid the revolution in Kiri, hoping that when Mei Terumi becomes Mizukage, they could foster good relationships between their villages. It was going to be hard work, but Tsunade was gearing up to pick up Hiruzen's slack. Of course, first she had to bring the village from the brink of collapse, the invasion had hit Konoha pretty hard, but they had time. The Godaime Mizukage did not take seat until a year and a half later, so if Tsunade managed to restore the village in 6 months, which she will, she did it last time too, everything will go according to plan.

As for Sakura herself, she just had to keep doing what she did before, keep an eye on team 7 and their friends, try to make them stronger and foster good relationships. She and Tsunade decided to weave a story about how, Sakura met her on a trip to Kawa no Kuni when she was traveling with her merchant parents. Sakura would have been about 8 when it supposedly happened and she managed to impress Tsunade with her chakra control and impressive memory. Since then, the Slug Princess would have trained her in secret via scrolls delivered by Lady Katsuyu. The reason why she didn't display her skills in the academy was because Tsunade asked her to, as she didn't want Sarutobi to use the girl to get to Tsunade. It was fool proof. However now that Tsunade was Hokage, Sakura didn't have to hide anything anymore. So if she wanted to, she could tell her team.

Well, Naruto and Kakashi actually, Sasuke was about to find out in a few minutes, as Sakura left to hunt him down and bring him to the Hokage tower. Reaching his apartment building, Sakura took a step on the wall and followed his chakra signature to his kitchen window. Arriving at the third floor, Sakura peered inside and saw Sasuke grilling some fish, with a grin she knocked on the glass. Sasuke jolted and almost dropped the olive oil he was holding, looking to the side he saw Sakura waving at him. With a roll of his eyes, he went and opened the window for her so she could jump in.

"Y'know normal people use the door." said Sasuke, going back to the stove.

"Yeah, but that's boring. Besides you use windows just as much as I do."

Sasuke shrugged. "Kakashi rubbed off on us."

Sakura took a seat at his kitchen table. "That he did. What are you making?"

"Grilled salmon with spicy tomato sauce. Do you have something to tell me, or did you just come here to pester me more about my wrist?"

"If you hadn't broke it, I wouldn't have had to."

"I told you, it wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. But I didn't come here just to make fun of you, Tsunade wants you at the tower. It's not urgent though, so you can finish cooking first."

Sasuke furrowed his brows as he opened the fridge. "Is it a mission? Also would you like something to eat too, I have extra fish."

"Sure, I would love some, give me a knife I can help you finish faster. And no, it's not a mission, Tsunade just needs to talk to you. Can't tell you about what though. Not...not here."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but did not comment, he handed Sakura a knife and together they worked on the fish and the sauce. They finished cooking by 1pm and by 1 and a half they were on their way to the tower. Entering the office, Tsunade greeted them and waved away her ANBU guards, before activating the privacy seals.

"My apprentice told me she informed you what happened to Itachi."

"Apprentice? Also how do you know that?"

"Who do you think told her, brat? I may have been gone from the village but I still kept in contact with Hiruzen-sensei and Jiraiya from time to time. As about Sakura, I'm sure she can inform you later about her apprenticeship. Now I need to ask you what do you and your brother want to do?"

"What we want to do?"

"Yes. From my understanding, he is stuck playing spy for Hiruzen-sensei, but sensei is dead and I'm Hokage. If he wants to come back to the village, I can grant him an official pardon and expose everything behind the massacre. But only if he wants that."

"W-why...why would you do that?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. This village has been declining under the Sandaime's rule, and I'm here to fix that. And what better way to start than to right the wrong that has befallen the Uchiha clan. Of course, I'll need your brother's permission for that. If he wants to keep being a spy, I can't stop him, nor do I wish to risk his safety by doing something prematurely. Do you have a way to contact him?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, he has crow that follows me around, I can send encoded messages to him with its help."

"Alright, ask him what he wants to do. And Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

The Godaime rose from her seat and bowed. "As Hokage you have my deepest apologies about what happened. Hiruzen-sensei should have never let something like this happen, you and your clan deserved better. I promise I'll do my best to right the wrongs of this village, and hope you remain loyal to Konoha despite all that has happened. Regardless of what your brother's answer is, I will request for a cenotaph to be made in your clan's honor. It is not enough to right the injustice endured, and it is not enough to compensate for your loss, but they at least deserved to be remembered. Once again, I appologise on the village's behalf."

Sasuke looked at Tsunade with wide eyes, nobody, no one at all, not even the Sandaime had apologised to him about what happened. They only offered unwanted pity and sympathy. This had to be the first person that acknowledged, like really acknowledged what happened in the massacre. And Sasuke was grateful, greatful and really touched. Whether she knew it or not, Tsunade earned his respect as Hokage.

"Godaime-sama, thank you. I look forward to serving under you."

Tsunade rose and smiled at him. "And I look forward to having you in my ranks."

"I'll make sure to send a message to my brother tonight. And if I can make a request, could you plant an Ume tree behind the cenotaph? It was my mother's favourite."

Tsunade let out a surprised laugh. "Of course, that is the least I can, is there anything else I can do? If you want to have hand in the design, you're free to do so."

"I'll think about it, do you need me for anything else?"

"No you're free to go." with that dismissal, Sakura and Sasuke left the office. The pinkette watched her companion closely as they walked down the hallway.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?"

Sasuke continued to look ahead, but smiled. "Yeah, for the first time in a long while, I am."