Waking up in the middle of a side alley, Sarada Uchiha couldn't remember how she ended up there. At the current moment, she couldn't see as the world around her seemed quite blurry. She touched her face and noticed that her glasses were gone. Her eyes squinted as she tried using her sensory ability to find where her glasses were. After she had lost her glasses when she was 7, she made sure to make it a habit of infusing chakra into her glasses so she would always find them, no matter where they are at any distance.
Fortunately, she was able to sense where they were. Pulling herself up, squinting her eyes more, and trying to see through the various blurry objects that she could see, she reached down and grabbed her glasses, put them on her face, and noticed that they were a little dusty. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a special fabric to help clean her glasses. After a few wipes, she was able to see the world more clearly, and she instantly regretted being able to see what she had previously laid on.
A large amount of garbage. Her eyebrow was twitching as she tried to not think about what could be in that garbage, and she immediately started quickly backing away from the trash and out of the alley. Then she started looking around to see where exactly she was and how she ended up in that alley.
Walking around, she noticed how everything didn't look familiar to her, yet the atmosphere and the look of the people told her that she was still in fire country. At least that was something for her to go on, but the lack of anything that appeared to be modern, she couldn't help but notice the way shopkeepers had open displays for someone to easily nab an item if someone happened to be quick enough, or what she had seen in the exchange of coins instead of the standardized Shinobi notes.
As she continued walking around, looking at everything that seemed odd and even out of date, at least from her point of view, it was only when she looked up at a large mountain face that had four familiar faces that it immediately caused her brain to brick.
"Hokage Rock?!" she managed to say to herself in between her confusion at the sight of the famed Shinobi that had led the village of Konoha, including her idol Naruto, who seemed to be absent along with the previous two Hokages. No Kakashi, no Tsunade, just the first, second, third, and fourth Hokage.
She immediately wreaked the Ram seal and channeled the chakra through her body to strengthen her mind, as well as disrupted the chakra flow within her eyes, ears, and other senses, just to make sure that she wasn't under some illusion proven by what she could still see even after repeating the process again and again until she had no choice but to accept the fact that she was somewhere in the past.
She turned her back to the Hokage rocks and immediately reinforced the chakra in her legs. She jumped high enough over some rooftops and headed straight for one of the various training grounds to give herself a moment to think about what she could remember.
It had taken her at least half an hour to do some mental gymnastics in her mind, trying to piece together how she ended up here. The first thing that she remembered was her surprise, excitement, and joy at seeing her father, who had been gone for such a long time. The last time he was around, she barely even started to walk and speak words. Her joy and excitement of seeing him again was the critical moment that led to the Awakening her clan's famous and infamous power, the Sharingan. Her small feat made him pause for a second, but only for a second. His only response was to advise her to be wary of her eyes, then turned his back on her and left.
From there, her mother tried to console her while she teared up and ran away. She didn't want to be comforted by her mother, who sang praises about her father, saying how great and powerful he was and how he was wandering the different lands trying to keep the bad guys away. There was only one person she wanted comfort from, and that person was Naruto. Despite Boruto complaining about how his father never had time to spend with him and his sister and mother, if he had any sense, he would try to visit the Hokage's office and see how difficult being a Hokage is and how the leaves are the greatest. the orange Hokage had to use at least four, if not five, clones just to get through an hour's worth of work before reaching the point of collapse.
A pile of paperwork was the first thing she saw when she entered Hokage Naruto's office. He was about to give her his usual greeting before noticing the upset expression on her face and the still-flowing tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. He did not ask what had happened; rather, he dropped everything and came to her, opened up his arms, and she immediately buried her face in an orange jacket and let out her tears until all she was doing was hiccuping at the end of her little downpour.
It was only then that he asked what had happened, and she explained everything—how her father just came, said a few things, then turned his back on her and proceeded to go wherever he was heading. After her explanation, Naruto saw fit to end his day of mountains of paperwork and walked her through the old part of Konoha. He didn't say anything; he just walked next to her. Only the birds chirping in the air broke the silence. Along with seeing the old memorial statues and historical depictions of the previous Hokage in their feats, it was a place that she loved to go to, a place that she wanted to go with her father too. Yet, Hokage Naruto was fulfilling the role that her father was leaving empty. He promised her that he would talk to her father, even if he had to send a nine-tailed fox-infused Giant Rasengan. It made her laugh just a bit at the thought of her father having to face the enraged and fully powered Hokage Naruto, which made her feel a little better. Then he promised her if she ever felt upset or lonely to come to him, that no matter how busy he was, he was more than willing to listen to her if she needed someone to pour her heart out to without feeling bad about it.
She had silently nodded and accepted his offer, but she doubted that she would constantly bust down his door for every little thing that had upset her. She had her own pride and her own inner strength, but she may visit from time to time, at least in her mind, just to be close to someone who at least cared about something a little more than just her mother could provide for her.
When it came time for her to be escorted home, that's when it happened—some pale as chalk man with multiple eyes just opening up all over his head, demanding she accompany him. Naruto disagreed upon his request. That's when the fighting ensued between a nine-tail partially empowered Naruto, who was facing off with the Pale Man, whose eyes immediately turned into Sharingan, along with all the eyes on the man's head. It was only an instant of a second before he had appeared before her reaching out almost to grab her, only for a punch from Naruto to send the pale, multiple-eyed freak flying. After that, the Pale Man weaved some intricate hand signs before everything became so bright that she could swear that she was being bathed in the light of the sun and then darkness.
"Is that what he did? Did he use some sort of weird space-time Jutsu?" She thought out loud while she recalled everything that would have happened to cause her to be at this point in time. She sat down and began to grab a stick and start randomly drawing a number of things that almost seemed like childish scribbles, but in reality they were the various jutsus and other related techniques that she had heard of over the years growing up and listening to the legends of the various Shinobi. They had unusual abilities, with only one coming to mind. The fourth Hokage of the Leaf was the only one who knew anything about Space Time Jutsu, the creator of the Rōmaji Ajitsu. that only he could perform, and two others, except for those two who could perform, would have to synchronize their chakras and can only teleport themselves and one another, and even they didn't fully understand the Jutsu, unlike the fourth.
She had considered trying to sneak into the forbidden section of the Hokage's library. Try to find that technique if it was recorded and see whether or not she could come up with some alternate version that will allow her to travel through time. But as soon as the thought came, she immediately began scraping that idea along with what she was scribbling out on the ground. "It would take me decades just to figure out the basics of how to manipulate space and time, Jutsu. At that point, I should just wait things out." She threw her hands up in the air, began holding her head in her hands, and let out a growl of frustration. It was almost like the world was punishing her for some unnamed transgression that she had committed. Her father was unreactive and unresponsive to her very presence and what she could do. Her mother seemed to sing nothing but his praises and saw no fault in him, and the only man that had shown her any fatherly affection was someone who already had children of his own and someone who shouldn't even concern himself with the likes of her when running an entire Village, yet he sacrificed that small bit of time and acted less of a Hokage rather he acted as doting parent that was looking after an upset child. And now she was somewhere in the past, when exactly she didn't know, and how she was going to deal with being separated from the few friends that she had and the one person that had genuinely cared for her.
"It's so unfair," she cursed as she threw the stick like a dart, moving at fast speed until a thud sounded along with pain yell.
The sound of someone letting out a pain Yelp and now seeing and hearing bushes being ruffled Sarada was immediately on guard with a kunai, which she immediately pulled from her small pouched with a slight twirl before having it in the reverse grip with her body poised to strike at anyone who would be a threat.
What came out of the bushes was the most unlikely, as a person, that she would have ever seen a boy with an orange jacket and pants with spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and three whisker marks on each cheek.
"Hey, that hurts," he whined while rubbing his forehead from the sudden flying stick that had struck him in the spot that he was intensely rubbing and no doubt would start to swell up into a bump. The only reason he was here was because, in fact, he wanted to blow off some steam after failing the academy test to become a Shinobi. but apparently someone else seems to have chosen this spot to blow off steam too.
Again, her brain had immediately bricked on whom she was looking at—a younger version of the sixth Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki was the war hero of the fourth Shinobi War, and she had struck him with a stick. She shook her head as she rebooted her brain and focused on the boy before her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. If you don't mind, I could help with that." She quickly approached and raised her right hand after she had stuffed her kunai back in her pouch.
He was surprised and confused. Someone apologized to him and even offered to help remedy the pain they inflicted upon him. Sure, whatever entries he got from bullies and adults, they always healed quickly and never truly lasted long, but never has anyone actually offered to help undo the pain that they had caused him. He was about to ask how she was going to do that, only for his face to be enveloped with green chakra as he could feel her hand pushing aside his that was rubbing his forehead, and he felt a tingling warmth on his bruised forehead, only for the stinging sensation to completely fade twice as fast compared to how it would normally heal on its own.
"There again, sorry about the stick." Her cheeks were a little pink at her little mistake, but she immediately got control of her little embarrassment.
placing his hand back onto his forehead, no stinging, no bump, he was completely healed. "Wow, that's amazing. Can you teach me how to do that?" He spoke very quickly and very loudly, like an excitable puppy..
This was far from what she imagined of Naruto; she knew he was warm, kind, and wise, similar to the younger version, who had a very sunny disposition and was very hyper. "I don't know if it would be possible to teach you," she said, smiling at him while racing two hands and taking a step back from the hyperactive future Hokage.
The joyful, happy expression he had immediately flipped at hearing her words as his head hung low, and if anyone could imagine, a storm cloud formed over his head, and rain began to pour over him. "It's one of those complicated techniques, isn't it?" he asked, and he stated that even if she did give him the answer, he already knew that it was going to be a very complicated technique that probably required him to have skills that he was sorely lacking.
"It requires a great deal of chakra control and chakra compatibility with the human body; a lot of it requires intensive study and practice; one cannot simply use this technique lightly." She explained, feeling terrible about bringing Naruto down when she had first learned how to use medical Jutsu. Her mother had emphasized the dangers of using this form of ninjutsu. The same hand that could be used to heal can also kill. Kabuto was the only medical-nin that came to mind and was one of the only ones that have truly weaponized Healing medical ninjutsu in a way in a way that no one could ever imagine.
Naruto's depression over the fact that he wouldn't be able to learn such a useful technique had darkened dramatically for that instant before he threw his head up and clapped his cheeks. "Well, it sucks, but surely there are other things I could learn or try out; after all, I'm the next Hokage." He pumped his fist in the air with a high-spirited smile on his face.
During his proclamation, she giggled a bit at the silliness he was putting on just to fend off the little depression he had. When she calmed down, it seemed that her little giggle fit was misunderstood by the expression on his face that didn't look jovial anymore. His brother looked disheartened. "I wasn't laughing at you; I was laughing at the silly pose you made, honestly." Her own expression changed into one of concern as she quickly explained her little giggle fit.
After hearing her explanation that she wasn't laughing at him but rather at his silly pose he put on, he set his mood to neutral. He tried to figure out this girl who was being generally nice and having a conversation with him, something that he wasn't used to. At least the four types of conversation that often revolve around the use of idiots or physical violence are those of his generation, and on occasion, adults are more of the former than the latter. "Do you think I could be Hokage one day?" wanting to engage her opinion, anyone else that he would ask the question would say it would be either impossible or he would be too stupid or weak to even consider having such a position.
Her expression remained kind and warm as she took several steps forward and placed both hands on his shoulders. "I believe you will become Hokage one day, strong, wise, and admired by everyone, and there will not be a person who will not know your name upon first meeting you as the orange legend."
Stars formed in his eyes just imagining himself wearing the Hokage hat and everyone singing his praises, acknowledging him, and respecting him as a member of the Village, not some troublesome prankster or someone that the village despised for some unknown reason, no matter how many times he asked Gigi for the reasons why the village hated him. He couldn't help but pull away and try rubbing his eyes, muttering about dirt as he tried to make sure that the pretty girl didn't think of him as weak or start tearing up from the kind words she had given. soon enough he quickly recovered and had that familiar Fox smile that he would always have for years to come. " of course I will be Hokage just believe it!" he pumped his fist.
"Well, before you become Hokage, you need to at least learn a few tricks, and it's fortunate that I have more than just my healing skills." As soon as she said that, Naruto's attention was fully on her, making it difficult for her to put on the fighting stance that her mother had shown her many times. She perfectly replicated it, though it was a little more problematic with her future idol focused on her. "I'm going to show you a few fighting moves, so even if you suck at basic ninjutsu, you can still kick everyone's asses," she said with confidence, making a 'come here' gesture with one hand while her other made a fist.
Seeing the fighting stance the girl had put up, the blonde was quite hesitant to fight the only girl who had been nice to him besides Ayame. "Are you sure? I don't want to—" he was unable to finish his sentence as the girl moved crazy fast, her fist speeding toward his head. Thanks to his instinctive reaction, he managed to avoid that quick blow from her right fist.
"If you were about to say you don't want to hurt me because I'm a girl, then I might have to give you a few bruises to prove otherwise that I am more than capable of hurting you," her eyes shone sinisterly as she began cracking her knuckles.
His first instinct was telling him to run from the pretty girl who had now turned very scary, yet her encouraging words and the kindness she had shown kept him from running away. So instead, he took up a fighting stance and prepared for her next move, readying his own counter. "I wasn't going to say that exactly, but I think I'm more than willing to fight you now," he said, despite the little fear in him telling him he shouldn't challenge her. Yet the determination and the will of fire burned brightly in his sky-blue eyes.
Her smirk widened as she took one step forward and started flying toward the orange-wearing blonde at high speed, her fist cocked back, ready to deliver another knockout punch.
Half an hour later...
Naruto had swollen cheeks and a few bruised arms and ribs. Despite the healing he had received for the surface-level injuries, the rest still stung. "You're really strong! I think you might be the strongest kunoichi of our generation."
Her chest swelled with pride, and the warmth in her belly made her cheeks blush at his praise. If only he knew that her mother would have had that title if it weren't for the fact that she time-traveled to this point in time. "Well, for an upcoming shinobi, you performed well; though you need to work on more than just simply taking someone's attacks. You need to deliver your own. Even if you have to fight dirty, it's not bad either." She put on a pseudo-fighting position and delivered some punches to an imaginary enemy before relaxing her stance.
He made mental notes of her words and the movement of her fists. Sure, he would have to modify them for his preferred style, but maybe it would be enough to take that Uchiha prodigy down a peg or two—at least to the point where he stops insulting him and drops that stupid scowl. "Thank you for showing me a thing or two," he said while rubbing the sides of his bruised arms before straightening himself up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto." He extended a hand toward the pretty girl.
She was hesitant at first to introduce herself as Uchiha Sarada. To her knowledge, most, if not all, Uchiha didn't survive the great tragedy that happened during her father's youth. But there were a few, according to all the history books, and some claimed to have Uchiha blood after the tragedy. Within seconds of Naruto introducing himself, she came to a quick decision and simply rolled with the punches, as her mother often did in these complicated situations. "My name is Uchiha Sarada." She took a few steps forward, clapped her hand with his, and shook a surprised Naruto's hand.
"What?!" he exclaimed as he took a couple of steps back. He was just thinking about the only other Uchiha in the village, and now here was another Uchiha in front of him. "I thought Sasuke was the only Uchiha?!" he said out loud. Naruto tried to mentally compare the pretty girl with the red glasses and matching kimono, with her warm, kind presence, to the mopey, emo, cold, and detached Sasuke.
"Yes, I am a Uchiha—possibly the only daughter of the Uchiha Clan," she simply replied. She couldn't help but tilt her head in curiosity at the various expressions he was making, no doubt trying to figure out the difference between the only Uchiha he knew and her.
"Are you sure you are an Uchiha? The only other Uchiha is... well, he's very emo and acts like he's cool as ice," he asked, stating his thoughts as he continued to compare the two, trying to determine if she was truly an Uchiha. He preferred this girl over the only other male Uchiha in the village.
She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Yes, I am a Uchiha. My father was one, but my mother wasn't. Hence the reason I wear glasses—half-blood Uchiha have weaker eyes," she answered, adding the reason for her glasses in case he wondered why. As far as anyone knew, many, if not all, Uchiha members had strong vision, with the exception of a few members of the clan from the distant past, according to what she had read in the few surviving clan records she discovered on her own, along with what was left of the sacred Uchiha rock that had been pulverized.
He absorbed this information despite everyone criticized him as an idiot when he really wanted to focus. There was no one who dedicated themselves like he did when he put his mind to it. Before he could even inquire for more information about Sarada, a very loud grumbling sound emanated from his stomach. Immediately, he flushed in embarrassment and began rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, I guess after that spar, I'm a little hungry," the blonde said, very embarrassed.
She had to bite her cheek in an effort to prevent herself from outright laughing at the embarrassed expression that she saw on his face—an image that she would most likely never forget, one she would probably never see of the older version of him. "Well, you trained hard; it would be expected of a great ninja to get hungry after such an intense spar," she spoke in the prim and proper tone of voice that a trainer would often give to one of their students, making sure to raise her head high. The haughtiness she was pretending to exhibit completely faltered when her own growling stomach announced its emptiness. This time, it was her turn to feel embarrassed with flushed cheeks.
Much like her, he had to stifle his own laughter, but he did have a foxy grin across his face. "It seems like sensei is a little hungry as well," he opined in his own comical, polite way of speaking that one should use when addressing a sensei—something he didn't even do for Old Man Hokage. "Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen and feast like the gods," he stated, suggesting the best place for them to fill their bellies.
She couldn't lie; she was interested in what the original Ichiraku Ramen would look like before it became a five-star restaurant. Seeing the original proprietor in his prime had her intrigued, and lest she forget, she had earned herself some money from the D-rank missions that she had already completed. It was in that moment that she paused for a second regarding her money. Yes, she had some, but it was paper money, and if her history proved to be correct, many of the villages in this time still used coins. The daimyos and nobles were the only ones who used alternative currencies such as paper or lines of credit, and the few coins that she did have were dated from her time. If she tried to use them, she could get herself in trouble for possibly counterfeiting or revealing the fact that she was from the future—something that she did not want to reveal to anyone, especially Naruto. Leading to the next embarrassing thing that she would have to ask the young version of her idol, "Umm, Naruto, I would like to go with you, but I'm broke," she admitted. If her cheeks were red before, they were doing an excellent imitation of a tomato now.
Instead of her looking funny at the embarrassed flush on her face, the blonde found her a little cute despite the shame he could see regarding her lack of funds. Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket, pulled out Gama-chan, popped open the frog wallet, and looked at the number of coins, doing some fast calculations. "All right, I got enough for myself and you. Let's go," he said, closing up his wallet and keeping that sunny attitude and warm smile on his face, even as he took the lead toward the famed ramen stand.
Despite the burning in her cheeks from embarrassment and something else, she couldn't help but feel warmth coming from her young idol. It was the type of warmth that she wanted to feel in the presence of her dad—someone she barely even knew. But this time around, she at least got to know the younger version of him. Even what she had already picked up from her idol sounded quite similar to the present version of her dad. Switching her thoughts away from the future where she was from, she focused on her new present and looked around at the village and the various old buildings that would most likely receive multiple renovations had it been in her time. There were even still antennas for the few upper-class households that could probably afford the smallest bit of luxury technologies that were available in this current era.
Between Naruto leading and Sarada's curious eyes wandering around, it did not take the two long to reach the famed ramen stand. The orange-wearing blonde was quick to sit in his favorite seat and pulled out the correct amount of ramen for himself along with some additional coins for Sarada.
"Surprising to see you here this early, Naruto, unless you're here to eat your sorrows away. And who's this?" Teuchi spoke as he glanced over at the girl sitting next to Naruto. She looked similar to an Uchiha he often saw wandering through the village whenever the raven-haired boy was around, yet she had a similar appearance to another person in the village he had seen as well—the pink-haired girl wearing a red kimono. The only difference was that the girl's kimono looked more utilitarian in design rather than being stylish.
"Oh, this is Uchiha Sarada. She helped me spar earlier, so I'm treating her to lunch," the blonde quickly explained, then turned and gave the girl his trademark smile again.
She had been about to introduce herself, but since Naruto had beaten her to the punch, she simply bowed her head in greeting. "It's nice to meet you, sir," she managed to say through the small embarrassment of her abrupt introduction. After that, she looked around and noticed how the ramen shop was drastically different from the one she remembered. It wasn't as big as the one from her time, but it still gave off that homey feeling whenever she visited.
Teuchi's eyes widened in surprise as he observed the girl for a brief moment, taking small mental notes about the few characteristics he could discern. She had the Uchiha hair color, and if he was not mistaken, she looked similar to Mikoto. What threw it off was the red glasses; he had never heard of an Uchiha that had poor eyesight. "Well, I thought all the Uchiha were gone. You must have been outside the village when it happened…" His words weren't directed at her but rather him thinking out loud before switching his focus back to Naruto. "The usual?" he asked, only to receive a reaffirming nod and a thumbs-up.
She knew what he meant. To her knowledge, the Uchiha tragedy happened not too long ago, leaving only two Uchiha left—her father and uncle. "I would like the same as what Naruto is having." She answered the unspoken question about what she would want.
Nodding his head, Teuchi went to the kitchen portion of his shop and began cooking up some fresh bowls of pork ramen. When he was done, he placed the steaming bowls in front of the two for their enjoyment.
Naruto did not waste a single moment, as he had already split his chopsticks and began scarfing down the noodles like there was no tomorrow. As for Sarada, she ate at a more leisurely pace, making an effort not to choke. Apparently, the blonde fell into the problem she was trying to avoid, as he began beating his chest. She gave him a firm back slap, successfully dislodging that small bit of food that had managed to go into his windpipe before going into the correct tube. Within minutes, they both finished their meals.
"Ichiraku Ramen makes food fit for the gods," he complimented the restaurant and its proprietor, earning a chuckle from the owner.
"It's definitely filling," she added as she placed her chopsticks at the rim of the bowl.
When they finally left the restaurant, the evening birds began sounding their call as the color of the sky became washed with yellows and oranges as the sun began to set. "Man, the day is ending too quickly," the energetic blonde complained.
A lot like him, she found it disappointing, but the day had already begun to end. She was actually interested in seeing some of the old buildings from this time, maybe even finding the old shrines of the Uzumaki and the Uchiha that might still be intact despite their possible neglect compared to how both were practically ruins in her time. "It can't be helped; when you're enjoying yourself, time moves faster compared to how grueling a day could be, only making it feel slower," she said sympathetically to the disappointed blonde.
He shook his head in denial, wanting the day to last a little longer. It's not every day that a girl would actually treat him nicely and even spar with him. Even in the end, he got his ass kicked. Hell, she enjoyed ramen just as he did, and it also helped that she looked a lot cuter than Sakura, especially with those red glasses of hers. "This sucks! The one good thing about this rotten day is now over," he continued to whine a bit, but he straightened himself up and clapped his cheeks, forcing himself from being a whiner into the ninja persona he wanted to be as he looked at the slightly amused Uchiha girl, who was giving him a warm smile.
Again, she felt sympathetic to his complaints, and it was far better than that of Boruto's whining. Pushing the memory of the other blonde that she had to deal with aside, she made the fist gesture and extended a pinky. "Let's make a promise to meet each other again tomorrow. We should have a lot more fun then when we have a small more time." She had a soft smile on her face, waiting for him to accept her promise.
For the first time ever, Naruto felt as if his stomach was fluttering, and it wasn't because he was hungry or had eaten something well past the expiration date. He looked at the hand in the promise gesture, one he had seen too often with other children making such promises—something that no one had offered him, such a sacred gesture. Even if it was just a childish thing, for him, it meant more. Swallowing a bit, he extended his own right hand and hesitantly wrapped his pinky around hers. There was a slight shake of both their hands, and as soon as the silent promise was made, her finger disconnected from his. He looked at his pinky for a brief moment and felt genuine happiness. Fortunately, he hold back the waterworks; he didn't want to put on display the emotions he felt in front of this kind-hearted girl. "I promise I'll try to find you. I'll show you my favorite pranking spots and what I like to do to the Anbu whenever I find their new hideouts." He squeeze shut his eyes tight in order to hide the fact that he was fighting tears of joy from the happiness he felt while putting on a big dopey grin.
She couldn't help but laugh at his antics. She reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm looking forward to seeing that. Until we meet again, but I think I might end up finding you before you find me," she said cryptically as she pulled her hand from his shoulder and then lightly tapped him on the forehead. He gave her a confused expression at the sudden, odd playful gesture.
The two spent at least a few minutes longer together before splitting apart. The blonde returned to his lonely apartment, leaving the only female Uchiha to focus on what she needed to do next.
Jumping onto some rooftops, thanks to her enhanced chakra control amplifying the strength in her legs, she quickly moved toward the Hokage building. She had a brief understanding of the current happenings of this era. Sometime ago, before Naruto was born, the Third Ninja War had only recently ended, and yet there were still records of small skirmishes from rogue ninjas attacking small settlements or, on rare occasions, attacking one of the main villages in the Elemental Nations. The last thing she needed was to be declared a rogue ninja who managed to infiltrate the Leaf; hopefully, the S-rank amount of information that she currently had about the future would prove the validity of her origins.
Finally reaching the entrance, she entered the reception area of the Hokage building. There was a clerk looking through some paperwork on her desk, paying little mind to the slowly approaching young kunoichi. The clearing of one's throat got the attention of the desk clerk, a woman who put down her paperwork and looked at the girl standing before her desk.
"May I help you, dear?" the clerk asked, wondering what this child would want. By the looks of the girl's attire, she was a kunoichi; the only thing that was missing was her headband.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and when Sarada opened them, her Sharingan eyes revealed themselves, with the single tomoe in both eyes beginning to spin. "You will take me to the Hokage immediately, and once you are done, you'll return and forget everything you have seen of me from this point onwards," Sarada commanded the woman, seeing how she was completely enthralled by the small bit of genjutsu that she was able to exude with just her eyes.
The receptionist's eyes immediately became glassy and dull; her expression was blank as soon as she succumbed to the visual prowess of the Sharingan. Doing as commanded, she got up and led the young Uchiha to where she needed to go, all while saying nothing and focusing on the individual task she was given. Meanwhile, the one following her couldn't help but glance at the various things that looked similar to the Hokage building of her time. The only differences were the windows and the way the lighting was in the building.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking at the latest book that his former student had published. While it appeared that he was reading smut, as most would believe—which was half true—what was really going on was that he was decoding the latest reports regarding one of his other students, Orochimaru, and his current whereabouts. This included the proxies that Itachi was filtering through Jiraiya's proxy spies. So far, both reports did not speak ill of any issues or problems that might have reared their ugly heads either within the Land of Fire or elsewhere.
The sliding sound of the door to his office broke him from his intel reading, and on occasion, from reading the distracting colorful literature of his student's creative ways of pleasing the various women featured in this volume. He gazed upon his receptionist. "Is there something wrong?" he questioned. The woman had a blank expression on her face and dull eyes, and instead of answering him, she simply turned and left, leaving behind a girl who looked no older than the various students from the academy who would have already been assigned their headbands and teams. "Now, who are you?" he asked the mysterious girl, who had a striking resemblance to an Uchiha.
"Greetings, Lord Third. Who I am is simple enough: I am Uchiha Sarada." She bowed her head respectfully after stepping into the office and closing the door behind her. When she raised her head, she could see how stunned Lord Third was at her proclamation of being an Uchiha. She wasn't wearing the clan symbol on her red kimono only because she didn't want to attract attention while she was spending time with Lord 7.
He blinked a few times before checking his pipe and sampling the small lingering vapors of smoke that were coming from it, making sure he hadn't gotten a bad form of tobacco or something else, before redirecting his focus back onto the girl before him. She was standing at a good distance away but close enough for conversation to still be had between them. "How is it that you are here? Except for two, the others have been slain?" His question was more of a demand. As much as he hated the massacre that had happened to such an old clan that served as the pillars that had built this village, he understood the necessity, even though he would have preferred Shisui's plan to rewrite the thoughts and memories of all the adults while leaving him room to convince the council to return the Uchiha to their prominent position within the village and put suspicions to rest.
She flinched at the high tone of his question, but it was understandable; she was an anomaly, and there should be no other Uchiha other than her father and uncle. Recomposing herself, she gave him a determined look, ready to reveal much, but before she revealed anything, she had to make sure that no other person knew of this information. "I will tell you, Hokage-sama, but it's S-rank. I also recommend a member of the Yamanaka clan to verify all that I will say and reveal to be true," she stated calmly, waiting for the Hokage's response.
The old man narrowed his eyes slightly. He may not be as great as a century ninja like the Lord Second, but he could still sense the power level of other shinobi. Given what he could sense, the girl had lowered her chakra to the point that if he attacked her now, she would not be able to react in time or even infuse enough chakra to escape. If anything, the wolf had revealed its stomach, and it was up to him to decide whether to stab it or pet it. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh before opening them again and lightly slapping his hand onto his desk. A small intricate summoning seal appeared, and when he removed his hand, a small monkey holding chimes looked up at the summoner.
"Big Brother Hiruzen, you summoned me?!" The little monkey let out a playful chirp, began lightly clapping his little chimes, and did a hop dance on one foot and hand while also making happy monkey noises.
This was not the monkey he was hoping to summon, though; he had been trying to get a messenger monkey. But beggars can't be choosers—at least he didn't have to deal with toads. "Momo, enough of your childish antics! I have a message to give to the head of the Yamanaka clan to come here immediately," he managed to speak over the loud noises the monkey was making. It seemed that his gruff words stopped the chiming ape, who froze in place before giving a firm nod and disappearing in a puff of smoke.
After that, the two in the office remained silent. This also gave the Hokage a moment to examine the girl's face, and he was briefly reminded of Mikoto and a few other female Uchiha members he had seen over the years in his youth. Some he had actually dated before finding his true love. The girl was definitely an Uchiha; even if he hadn't really seen the crimson eyes that she possessed, there was no doubt that she had used them on his receptionist. This was something he would have to create countermeasures for in order to prevent a second infiltration using the Sharingan.
As she looked upon his features, she couldn't help but find Lord Third looking a little more refined in comparison to his stone-face carving. Of course, comparing the two, there were notable differences, such as the lines near his eyes and the mole on his nose. Then again, the monument had been repaired a few times, and the one doing the repairs probably felt that the Third Hokage didn't need those little individual traits.
The two remained silent for the next twenty minutes as they looked at each other. Then, Inoichi walked into the office through the main door, trying to jam his pinky into his ear to soothe the ringing that the little monkey had caused with its loud banging. What made matters worse was that he was about to become quite intimate with his lovely wife when that insufferable beast appeared.
"What's the urgent call, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi said, sounding annoyed as he tried to soothe his ears.
As soon as the person he wanted in his office appeared, the Hokage immediately slammed his hand down again, creating another seal. This time, it would seal the room off from any eavesdroppers, even his ANBU bodyguards who were hiding outside, making it impossible for them to see or listen. As an additional measure, no one could enter or leave the designated space within his office in the event that this girl, who claimed to be an Uchiha, wasn't some sort of ruse crafted by either Orochimaru or other enemies of Konoha. "I summoned you here to do a mind scan of this child to confirm the validity of whatever she says next and to find any deception or false memories," he explained, outlining the reason why he had summoned one of the prime heads of the Interrogation Corps. By the looks of their expressions, they immediately pushed aside their own annoyance and pain in their ears to focus on the only other occupant in the room.
Had she not been so thoroughly trained by her mother and others, she would have felt nervous or even overwhelmed at receiving such attention from two legendary shinobi—one a legendary Hokage and the other a hero of the last ninja war. But she would not falter; she would not crumble. She took a deep breath and readied herself to reveal her origins and some details of the future that she could disclose without altering anything.
about half an hour later
both men were dumbfounded at the story that had just been told. It sounded too outlandish to be true, yet the most outlandish of things were often not lies but strange truths that the mind would try to reject. Without even commanding him, Inoichi had already gone into the girl's head. She seemed to only flinch slightly at the sudden intrusion, but she remained still and relaxed. Moments later, he watched the man return to himself.
"What she speaks of is the truth; she's from the future—fifteen years to be precise," he informed his Hokage while also dwelling on some knowledge he had obtained, such as seeing his grandson and how beautiful his daughter had become, looking like a spitting image of his beloved wife if his wife had his hair and eye color. The only thing that diminished his joyous feelings at seeing the children of his comrades and their grandchildren was the man who had married his daughter. He would credit the boy for teaching his grandson the obscure ninja art, but his instincts as a father told him to find this boy and gut him, no matter how skilled a ninja he was. This was his daughter, and at her current age, it made those instincts even more intense—at least she hadn't gone after the Uchiha boy.
Returning his focus back to the current situation, he looked towards the Hokage. "I'm going inside my head and deleting the memories from my mind. This is definitely an S-rank secret; I believe no one should know of this, not even the successor to the Hokage position," he advised his Hokage as he performed a number of hand signs to do the reverse body swap and sent his consciousness into his own mind to begin the process of removing the memories, dreading the outcome of deleting the information in his head.
the Hokage immediately began dumping what was left of his tobacco from his smoking pipe into the trash and simply placed his hand over his face, dealing with the current headache caused by the dangerous information the girl had—or had yet to reveal—which was currently being deleted for the safety of the village and possibly the rest of the world. "Here I thought that just within another half-decade from now, I could retire when I finally convinced Tsunade to take on the position of Hokage, or have Kakashi do so in the event the former refuses," he complained softly before running his hand down his face and through the silver hairs of his chin beard. He then directed his tired eyes toward the one girl who could either spell the doom of the ninja world with her knowledge or possibly change the course of the current timeline of events.
"Just to let you know, I will never harm the village. I would sooner die than betray the Leaf," she declared with all the passion she could muster in her young body, as well as within the fiery depths of her dark eyes.
One thing the old man could definitely see was the girl's will of fire burning brightly, just as passionately as most Uchiha who had said the same and had even paid the ultimate price in the last Shinobi Wars. "Just tell me, what do you plan on doing now that you are in the past? I do not believe I have sufficient knowledge or skill to send you into the future, even with Tobirama's notes on space-time manipulation ninjutsu."
It would be unsurprising that the Third Hokage would know how to utilize space-time manipulation jutsu; only one person had gained mastery over it, and that was the Lord Fourth. As for the question that was posed, it took her a moment to think. Her original ideas of her future were to become the next Hokage in an effort to prove herself more than just Sasuke's daughter, to become a great ninja on her own merits rather than getting whatever she wanted just because she was both an Uchiha and the daughter of Naruto's best friend. "I am uncertain of what I should do from this point on, but I will say this: I will help and assist as best I can, especially for Naruto." Her future may be uncertain, but at least she was certain of this: she would keep her promise and meet him tomorrow, starting to get to know the young future Hokage better than she thought she could in her original time.
Stroking his silver beard for a brief moment, the old man thought about the energetic blonde whom he considered another grandchild of his—something he truly wanted to do officially, but the civilian council and Danzo made such things impossible. as he already know that the boy was pretty lonely. "Do you know Naruto in this time?" he questioned cautiously. He knew that this girl posed no harm, but he still wanted to understand her intentions toward the future Hokage and his honorary grandson.
"He's the first person I have come across in this time, and he seemed rather lonely. I spent time with him and sparred with him; he isn't that great," she said, trying not to smile at how Naruto's fighting technique needed a little more polish. What he lacked in finesse, he made up for in stamina and power.
It was then he noticed that the girl had a bit of a blush—the type of blush he had seen on many young students gazing upon those they had a deep crush on. Something he had seen many times.
Reaching toward his bottom drawer, he pulled out one of the many copies of keys to the apartment complex he had purchased after all the rooms became vacant when Naruto had moved in. Figuring that the only ones who would live next to the "demon child," as most civilians often called the boy, would be self righteous villagers forcing him to eliminate the possibilities of harm delivered upon him by said vengeful villagers by taking away their ability to gain access. Sure, it would cost him a fortune to buy the complex, but at least he made sure Naruto wouldn't be harassed too much in his own home. "I will take you to an apartment complex; this key will go to your new home. Do not worry about rent or anything of that nature. I will start a stipend for you until you find your place in this time. If you desire it, I can enroll you as a ninja since you are already skilled enough. With your eyes, it would not be out of the question if I signed the documents myself regarding your capabilities." On the last part, he smirked, knowing that the archivists within the Ninja Academy would be trying their best to create a file for the girl. With it being an S-rank order, it would make the paperwork he had to deal with look like a mercy compared to what they would have to go through to falsify a number of records under his command, just to silence those who would be too curious and had immediate access to said records.
She blinked, and her eyes became bright. She thought she would have to ask for housing in this world, or head over to the old Uchiha compound, and try to take refuge there. She walked over and reached for the key before another thought occurred to her. "I have money from my time; I don't think it would be wise to hold on to it." Pulling her hand away from the key she was about to grab, she pulled out her wallet, which was fox-themed, and popped it open, showing the Hokage its contents.
"That will be problematic. I will do the necessary calculations for the currency you have on your person and try to convert it to some value in our time, though most of it will be sealed away so no one would find evidence of the future," he stated as he took the fox wallet while still presenting the key, which the girl had taken. After that, he unsealed the office, and immediately his bodyguards entered as if they had been teleported into the space. He raised his hands to prevent them from doing anything hasty before silently dismissing them.
With the bodyguards dismissed, the Hokage began leading his new charge toward her new apartment, leaving behind a still mind-locked Inoichi, who was busy clearing out his mind. It would be an hour later before he returned, confused and with a mind splitting headache, as he looked around, trying to determine why he was in the Hokage's office and feeling a sudden urge to disembowel a boy with black hair, black eyes, and pale white skin.
The Hokage was most generous to the young Uchiha girl, helping her gather all the essentials, such as toiletries, groceries, and anything else she needed for her new apartment, all while they continued walking in the direction of the building. When she saw the complex, she couldn't help but notice that it seemed a bit worn down, as if the owner wasn't keeping it up. She glanced at the Hokage, who seemed to have a smirk on his face. Part of her wanted to question what he was smirking about, but today was already tiring, and she was quite eager to turn in for the night. She gave her farewells to the Hokage, thanking him a few more times before heading up to her apartment. So far, it was quite big for just herself, but not big enough to hold more than one person. She wondered if her dad had to live in places like this or if he stayed in the old compound; who knew?
Changing out of her red kimono into comfortable night clothes, she prepared herself for bed and went to sleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring. She woke up to the jarring sound of the alarm clock going off from her neighbor's apartment, hearing them immediately smack the noisy contraption with a loud thud. She let out a sigh, figuring that she would end up with a noisy neighbor. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before grabbing her glasses and putting them on. After that, she got herself ready for the day. After her breakfast and teeth brushing, she stepped out of her apartment wearing a black sleeveless kimono with gray shorts and some matching armbands. She made sure to style her hair exactly how she liked it before heading out the door. She let out a yawn and stretched her arms, popping a few joints.
Her neighbor's door burst open, and out came a familiar blonde trying to hastily zip up his jacket before immediately freezing, with a piece of toast in his mouth, staring with those sky-blue eyes of his at the girl he had been rushing to meet, only to find her just outside of the apartment.
His jaw became slack in surprise as the toast he had been trying to eat started to fall out of his mouth, and it was about to hit the ground before he immediately caught it.
Far off in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was watching the antics that were about to start between his favorite blonde-haired ninja and the Uchiha daughter of the future, curious to see how she would change things for him.
BTC
Hello, my fellow readers! This story, I know, is not the first of many stories that have been written regarding time travel in Naruto, but this one is rather special to me. The idea came from an old fanfic that has not continued for the last ten years since it was published in 2015. I thought to go ahead and revive the concept in my own creative way. I hope everyone here enjoys the story. Also, this will reveal much to our girl of the future, and hopefully, she finds new ambitions to aspire to while helping the future Seventh Hokage on his path to greatness.