Sakura was, in a few words, utterly mentally exhausted. After her 'talk ' with Shisui, he had let her go find her parents on her own, obviously needing some time to process what he had learned, seen, experienced. She and her parents had dropped Naruto off at the orphanage, and any other day, she would have fought tooth and nail for him to stay over at their house, but she needed to do some thinking of her own, without distractions.

She couldn 't shake off the look Shisui had had on his face once they had exited her mindscape, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Itachi must have noticed that something was off because of his cousin 's absence and her plastic smiles, but knew better than to bring it to attention in front of everyone else, so he accepted the excuse she had half-heartedly thrown his way.

When they returned home '

home

, where she usually felt so safe and warm, but now only felt numb ' she hugged her parents and went straight to her room. She let her jacket slip to the floor and unceremoniously fell on the bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes.

Hours passed; Sakura stared and stared and stared at her ceiling, now bathed in darkness. Her thoughts swirled with what-ifs and what the consequences of exposing the truth to Shisui could be. Would the future change unpredictably from now on? Would that moment of unstable emotional judgment lead to ruin? But then, if she were to prevent as many events as she was aiming to, the future

would

change. That was the whole point, wasn 't it? After all, neither her shisho nor the other four Hokage had specifically warned her not to tell anyone about the future. And Sakura knew she could never complete this mission on her own. She was bound to need help, and who had helped her more than Shisui so far?

She had heard her parents entering their room a while ago, and she expanded her senses, feeling their chakra moving sluggishly as they slept. She knew she was supposed to try and get some sleep too, but she just couldn 't. Not when she didn 't know if she had done the right thing, or doomed herself. She was lost.

She sat up with a start, peering through her window when she felt a familiar signature reaching her house. She waited, body tense and mind tangled, until Shisui 's unruly curls came into view. He was quiet as he slid the latch open and slipped inside. He stood still then, the light of the moon draining the colors from his person. They stared at each other for a heartbeat, before Sakura moved and patted the space next to her.

'I don 't know whether I expected you to come sooner, or never at all, ' she whispered, mindful of her sleeping parents, once he had made himself comfortable on top of her bed covers.

Shisui let out a deep breath, 'I 've been trying to make sense of all, ' he vaguely motioned towards her, '

this

. Truth is, if you hadn 't shown me your memories, I 'd think you 're crazy. '

'I wouldn't blame you if you did. '

Thick silence fell between them, and Sakura kept twirling Ino's red ribbon between her fingers. She didn 't know what to say. She wanted Shisui to come to terms with everything in whatever way was most comfortable for him, so she waited for him to speak first.

And he did. 'We should go to the Hokage. '

Sakura hummed, 'That was one of my first thoughts as well, after I landed back here, but Shisui-nii, you have to understand that this is an

insanely

delicate and complicated matter. I have no idea if the Hokage is under Shimura's control or not, or if he has personally approved any of his criminal operations. Going to him without knowing where exactly he stands could put me in danger and get me killed, not to mention, I don 't know what kind of changes will occur if more people become aware of... everything. '

'Why did you tell me, then? ' Ah, that was the question, truly. Why indeed?

'Honestly? I don 't know, ' she hated how her voice faltered, but Shisui could understand this wasn 't easy for her to admit. He always did. 'Maybe because I never met you in my ' um, past, my original time. '

'Never? I mean, yes, I didn 't see myself in those memories you showed me, but I thought ' '

She shook her head, 'No. I don 't remember ever meeting you. I had only ever heard of your moniker, and that you died during the Uchiha Massacre, or even before that? I 'm not sure. '

Sakura saw him flinching at the mention of his Clan 's demise, and immediately bit her lip.

'It won 't happen this time around, Shisui. I 'll do everything I can to prevent that. '

There was a cavernous roughness to his voice when he next spoke: 'Do you know how it happened? I mean, besides Itachi ' '

'No. I only know what Sasuke told me, and a few things I heard around the village. But ' '

'But? '

She was uncertain. It was a theory she had latched onto when she had come across some documents while running an errand for the Godaime and from the scarce pieces of information Naruto had provided, but then the war happened, and she never questioned further for the whole truth.

'I think, ' she started slowly, 'that there might be a lot more to it than what was made public knowledge. I can 't bring myself to believe that Itachi-kun simply snapped and killed everyone, not after I came to know him. '

Shisui's gaze was marred by grief, and Sakura didn 't dare to look away. 'You think that someone else did it and Itachi took the blame? '

'Or he was ordered? Blackmailed? Maybe even brainwashed, if a strong enough genjutsu user managed to get to him, ' she supplied, unsure. She really hoped she was wrong about this. 'I really don 't know, but it makes no sense otherwise. I know Itachi cares about his family and your Clan a lot. '

'But his loyalty lies with the village first, and he's not invulnerable. He may be a genius, but Konoha has plenty of shinobi of superior caliber. If Shimura or the Hokage got a hold of him to ensure he would... do this, he wouldn't have been able to fight them off, ' he whispered, and Sakura 's eyes widened.

Please, please let it not be that!

'Danzo, ' Sakura, pieces falling into place. Her brain was a hazy maze. 'That was who you're trying to protect me from, right? You know about ROOT. Has he approached

you

? '

She heard a shaky breath leave him and he pushed a hand through his hair, 'And Itachi. More than once. '

'I have to kill him, or at least let the clans and the village know about what that man is doing behind everyone's backs! ' Some part of Sakura always turned livid when it came to him. The mere mention of his deeds never failed to leave her shaking with ill-concealed disgust.

Heavy hands gripped her shoulders, 'You will do no such thing. Not on your own, ' he told her sternly, but Sakura shook him off.

'And what do you expect me to do? My friend is in one of his underground cells, along with so many other children, getting

conditioned

not to feel or think anything that vulture doesn't want him to, getting

forcefully stripped

of his free will! The bastard tried to kill the Sandaime and my shisho! If what we suspect is true, and he is behind the massacre, do you seriously think I 'll just sit back and not do anything?! '

'I 'm not saying that, Sakura-chan, but we 'll need to plan our moves against him carefully. He 's a powerful man and has a literal army at his beck and call. '

Sakura blinked slowly, anger evaporating all at once, '

We

? ' she asked incredulously.

'Yes, we, ' he said with a kind smile. 'You can 't seriously believe I 'd let you handle all this craziness alone, right, imouto? ' Shisui paused and his eyes twinkled teasingly in the pale moonlight, 'or should I say, onee-chan? '

She laughed then. Quietly, but genuinely. By the Sage, how, just

how

had she been so lucky in this new life? When tears started to pool in her eyes, she rubbed them away.

'You really mean it, don 't you? ' At his nod, she continued: 'Alright, but the moment I detect danger, you stop, Shisui. '

He wanted to argue, she could tell, but Sakura had already lost too much, too many. She didn't give him the chance to. 'Listen, you saw what happened, didn 't you? I honestly can 't tell if the final War can be prevented as most of what led up to it was already set in motion before we were even born, but the things we can change will put both of us at great risk. '

He hummed in agreement and turned around, examining the stack of books and notes beside her bed. 'The most immediate threat is Danzo, I presume? ' he finally asked, and Sakura nodded.

'What I'm planning is to start within the village first, and, in accordance with my original timeline, work on the most pressing matters. Konoha is corrupt, mainly because of Danzo and the other Elders, I 'd say. I believe they knew of his plans, even if he may have kept some of the more damning details from them. '

'Can we be absolutely sure that they had something to do with the ' the massacre? '

She shrugged, letting another heavy sigh out. 'I 've been trying to follow him to get more information on ROOT. As I said, I don 't think Itachi could just turn serial killer out of nowhere, and I know you agree. My gut right now is telling me that we are onto something. '

Kami, she wanted to throw up!

'But ' '

A loud hoot sounded from outside her window then, silencing them both.

'Just a fucking owl, '

Inner grumbled, but Shisui and Sakura had visibly tensed. She reached out with her chakra, and, when she found nothing alarming, turned back to Shisui.

He looked her right in the eye, face grim. 'I think I should take up Danzo 's offer. '

'

What

?! ' she all but screamed.

A hand came to rest on her head, and Shisui continued talking, calm and collected. 'Sakura-chan, I could get the information we need. If I can prove what you claim about ROOT and the possible involvement of Danzo with my clan 's downfall, we could bring the evidence to the Clan Heads and the Hokage, and at least get the man arrested. If not, then we try something else. '

She stared at him, half-horrified, half-exasperated. And she'd thought he was supposed to be a prodigy! 'You

idiot

! Don 't you think

I

had the same stupid idea at first? I could probably walk around the village ranting about my genius status and land myself in ROOT 's basement by next month! '

She huffed when he adamantly shot down her proposal.

'Yeah, cause it 's so much

more

ludicrous than his! '

'I have my clan 's name to back me up, Sakura-chan. '

Silence fell then. Sakura couldn 't deny that she was indeed handicapped in this regard, but that would mean willingly dumping Shisui in Danzo 's clutches, and that was out of the question. Knowing Shisui though, he would just go ahead and do whatever he felt was right, without even telling her.

'Let 's think about it some more, okay? It won 't be easy, even for you, so we need time to plan. '

Thankfully, he didn 't oppose her suggestion. 'Explain to me about the other stuff. Like the Akatsuki our little Itachi joined. '

That was how dawn found them, Sakura retelling everything she hadn 't shown him in her memories, down to the last gruesome detail, until her voice was hoarse and her eyes wet. And when she started hyperventilating whilst recounting all the deaths she would gladly forget about, or shaking with panic as she told him she was afraid of the ripples in time she had inevitably caused by revealing the truth to him, Shisui simply held her tight, combing her hair with gentle fingers.

The Haruno living room looked only barely recognizable. Colorful balloons were floating all around, a huge

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY! '

banner was pinned to the living room wall, obscuring most of the paintings and posters that hung on it, while the cardboard toads Ino and her mother had helped Sakura make graced the surface of every single piece of furniture. And if they looked a bit like Gamabunta and Gamakichi, well, no one knew to comment on it.

Per her father 's suggestion, there was also a wall with pinned balloons filled with candy and small toys, ready to be popped with plastic shuriken. That was bound to keep the boys busy all afternoon.

'I think my brain is malfunctioning from all this orange, ' Ino grumbled, but kept on filling the bowls with snacks.

Sakura couldn't argue with that statement. But her parents, aware of how much Naruto loved the color, had combed through every shop in the village to find decorations that would match the birthday boy's questionable taste, and had refused to compromise on that.

A snort sounded from behind them, and then Shikamaru spoke: 'When is Sasuke planning to bring Naruto over? We 've been here for an hour already. '

'You 're here to help us, idiot! So stop moaning and get these to the living room. '

'Do you have to be so loud, Ino? '

Ino whipped her head around, snarling, 'Do you want to find out how much

louder

I can get? '

Shikamaru did the smart thing and took the bowl Sakura handed him, muttering under his breath about 'troublesome girls and parties '. Choji, Sage bless his soul, was helping Sakura 's parents with the decorations without so much as a comment. He looked rather enthusiastic, actually, and Sakura was glad. The young Akimichi had started coming out of his shell around them lately, cracking jokes with Naruto and even Kiba ' who had been hanging with them for the past couple of days ' and even got into the petty competitions the boys held ' to establish their dominance, Shisui had once said, cracking up at their antics.

Sakura smiled and hummed along with the song coming from that device her father had brought from Kumo. Turning to Ino, she caught her shoulder and squeezed, 'Thanks for helping out, Ino-chan. '

'Of course, Sakura-chan! You know I love parties! ' she chirped with a wide grin. 'But I hate to admit that the lazy bum is right. Sake-chan and Naruto are kinda late. '

Sakura shook her head, 'Nah, it 's good. Besides, we 're still not done with everything." To prove her statement, she pointed at the assortment of snacks and drinks they had yet to move to the living room.

Right then, the doorbell rang. 'It must be Kiba, ' Sakura simply said, having sensed him already, and seconds later his voice carried from the hall.

The smirk on Ino 's face was as pretty as it was alarming. 'Good, let 's get him to move all these! '

And

that

. That was why Ino had always been her best friend, even when they had been rivals.

After Kiba ' who had apparently just been dropped off by his sister ' was saddled with balancing the bowls on his forearms and Choji helped the girls with the drinks, they all settled in the living room. The adults could be heard talking out in the backyard, where Sakura's parents had set a table with more food and drinks.

Meaning, they had already opened a bottle of the berry wine her father had imported from Kaze no Kuni. Sakura once again cursed her current body. The dark-red wine, with its strong, earthy aroma and fruity undertones, was one of her favorites. When Gaara had become Kazekage, he'd started sending bottles of it to Tsunade regularly, who in turn had shared them with her two apprentices.

'Yes, yes, good times, but you ain 't having a drop. '

'Shut it, Inner! '

Had anyone told her, before today, that four Clan Heads and their wives would be casually chilling in her house along with her parents for the Jinchuriki 's birthday, she would probably label them as a moron. But alas, not only were Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza and their wives in her back yard, but so was Uchiha Fugaku, merrily drinking his wine and appreciating Mebuki 's cheese rolls, while Mikoto was busy engaging the other women in conversation.

Mid-conversation with Shikamaru about whether she should bring the shogi board out to play a couple of rounds, Sakura's senses picked up on the skillfully concealed chakra signatures of two ANBU agents. They could probably predict where the boys were heading, as their charge frequented her house more than any other location in the area.

'You know, we 've always been good with chakra, but I 'm starting to think we 're some kind of sensor type in this new timeline. '

Sakura hid a snort,

'It 's just honed skills from the War, but I 've become better since I 've started practicing senjutsu. '

Inner hummed and shrugged her shoulders, fading to the back of her mind.

She stood up and went to inform her parents of Naruto 's approach so they could make their way inside. The rest of the adults merely watched from their seats as their kids picked up confetti poppers that erupted in colorful showers when the two boys walked inside.

A loud chorus of

'Happy birthday, Naruto! '

rang out, and the tears that started streaming down the boy 's face were quickly soaked up by Sakura 's shirt once she leapt forward to hug him with all her might, followed by the others. Even Shikamaru clapped a hand on his shoulder as he mumbled his wishes.

Mebuki walked out with a cake she had baked herself and urged Naruto to blow out all the candles. He did it in one breath, and Kizashi 's laugher was followed by his exclamation of

'That was the most powerful wind jutsu! ' which led to more laughter.

They sliced the cake, and after the adults moved out of the house, the games started. Predictably, a competition began on who could pop the most balloons with the toy shuriken, and Naruto started opening his presents with a good amount of dampness on his cheeks, but the sunny smile he wore was the biggest Sakura had seen in this time so far.

'So, any problems along the way? ' she whispered to Sasuke as they filled their neon orange cups with more apple juice.

He turned pouty for a second. 'Lots of glares, some rocks thrown our way, a few threats, but we took the back alleys you showed me, so nothing really happened. I might have used the glitter bomb when someone started chasing us, but you won 't tell my father, right? '

She smiled at how damn precious little Sasuke was and boldly kissed his cheek, rendering him tomato-red. 'You did amazing, Sasuke. Thank you for being with Naruto today, and I promise not to breathe a word to Fugaku-san, ' teasingly, she went on: 'I wish I could have seen all that glitter fly around. '

He looked smug for a moment, and his blush receded to just the tops of his ears. Then he turned to Sakura and held her sleeve tightly when she made a move to walk away.

'Sakura, ' he glanced at Naruto, who was stuffing his face with cake alongside Kiba and Choji. There was no mirth in his eyes, though. No, at that moment he reminded Sakura of a Sasuke from so far away, not the power-hungry boy who had left her and attacked her, nor his earlier, brooding self, but the one Sakura had seen maybe once or twice, when they had still been a team. He was curious and mad and sad all at the same time.

'Why do they treat him like that? They call him a monster and demon, but Naruto ' ' his eyebrows furrowed further, and she wanted nothing more than to hug him, 'he 's an idiot, okay, and loud and sometimes annoying, but he 's not

bad

! '

For a moment, she turned to watch Naruto as well, before taking Sasuke 's hand. 'Naruto is not bad. It 's not right, how they hurt, attack and ignore him, it 's not fair. But sometimes people are afraid of what they can 't understand, so they act on their spite. '

'Why Naruto, though? '

Oh, Sasuke, I can 't tell you.

With a sigh, she smiled again, 'I don 't know, but it doesn 't matter. What matters is that it 's wrong, and I, for one, hate seeing him being treated like that. As his friends, we should be there for him, don 't you think? '

He nodded, a determined look on his face, 'I 'll stop anyone who tries to do that, I promise, and one day I 'll be the Head of the Police and no one will ever be so mean to Naruto, or anyone else! '

Pride, warm and fluttering, filled her chest. That 's what Sasuke should have been,

would have been

if his life hadn 't been ruined. If his clan wasn 't killed. If he hadn 't chosen vengeance and hate to guide his lonely existence.

'This is what Sasuke will be if we have a say in it! '

'That 's an exceptionally beautiful and inspiring dream to have, Sasuke, and I believe you 'll achieve it one day. I will help you in any way I can. I promise. '

His cheeks reddened again, but he kept his gaze steady. 'Thank you, Sakura. '

Later that night, Shisui and Itachi came by the Haruno house to wish Naruto a happy birthday, after their shifts at the Police Department had ended. Apparently, they both helped around on days they didn 't have missions.

After everyone else left, Sakura guided Naruto upstairs to show him her present while her parents cleaned downstairs. He was giddy with excitement and kept on thanking Sakura, because

'I 'm sure it was Sakura-chan 's idea, dattebayo! '

When they walked past her room, she watched as his face scrunched up in confusion, and it only intensified as she opened the door next to hers and pushed him inside. The sun had sunk beneath the horizon hours ago, so Sakura turned the lights on and simply waited for his reaction.

Naruto looked around the room, once, twice, before glancing at her. 'I don 't get it, Saku-chan. What 's going on? '

She smiled and grabbed his shoulders from behind, leading him towards the bed, next to a green frog plush, almost as tall as him. On the nightstand beside it, there was a photo of the pair of them that her mother had snapped at some point during the summer, both of them soaking wet after having dumped water balloons on each other in their backyard, and another one of the two of them with Sasuke. Mikoto had taken that one and given Mebuki a couple copies.

'It 's your room, Naruto, ' she said, and gave him some time to process her words. He simply stood there, bug-eyed, but she went on: 'You sleep over quite a lot at our house, so we thought that you should have your own room. Tou-chan helped me paint and kaa-san and I picked some of the decorations out, but you can redecorate it however you like. '

He did a double take. His gaze lingered on the bed, the enormous frog, the pictures, the closet behind them, and lastly on her. 'You 're ' you 're not pulling a prank on me? ' she shook her head with a smile and rushed to hold him tight when a sob escaped him. Another came, and another.

'You 're already part of our family, Naruto, whether my parents can legally adopt you or not, so you 'll always have a place in our home, whenever you want to, with us. '

Sakura helped him sit on the striped grey-and-orange covers. 'Family? ' he whispered incredulously, and Sakura 's heart broke in half.

It 's all you ever wanted, huh, Naruto? For people to love you, hold you, treat you like you belong.

A family.

I made you a promise when I left you in that cave. Now, I've found you again and I 'll never leave you. I have too much to make up for when it comes to you, so let me start here.

'Yes, ' she whispered in his ear, hiding her own tears in his hair.

And if the ANBU wanted to report back to the Hokage and the Council, she didn 't care. Damn them and their bullshit treatment of this precious, incredible boy. She 'd treat Naruto like a brother and her mother would feed him warm food as her father told him lame stories, and they would all love him. And one day she 'd talk to him about his real parents, but until then, she would be his family, his shield, his friend, and whatever else he needed her to be.

Yes, fixing the world couldn't wait; she 'd have to train and shed tears and blood and sweat every single day and night for the foreseeable future. But first, she would right the wrongs done to her precious people.