WARNING - Slight gore/death themes later on this chapter

Soft raindrops tapped on her window, but Sakura kept her focus on her notebook, updating her list.

It was not her

usual

list, which she used to study the timeline and the events she 'd have to change over and over, but rather the one she used to record the progress Itachi and Shisui were making in their medical ninjutsu studies.

Both had exemplary control over their chakra, so the Mystical Palm Technique had taken only about a week for them to perfect, and due to their Sharingan, they could memorize the entirety of every book and scroll she provided them with. With Shisui 's jonin clearance, they were even able to get more advanced ones that she had no problem breezing through, as that knowledge had already been etched into her skull by Tsunade 's teachings, and once again, their dojutsu proved more than sufficient with assisting their studies.

That was also part of the problem.

Both Shisui and Itachi relied heavily on their Sharingan, which, of course, allowed them to retain all the necessary information effortlessly, but it did little to help with the application and actually knowing how fast to act or properly identify injuries, what process to follow in different environments, et cetera. In other words, it was useless in scenarios that weren 't outlined in text.

So, she was writing down pointers for tackling that, even and for using more unconventional methods to test their response time in high-alert situations. It wasn 't the most orthodox method, but she 'd have to hurt herself or try to deliberately

not

avoid injuries during their spars, just so they could work on actual living humans, on a comrade.

Her shisho would have had her head for this if she were here.

Sakura couldn 't help chuckling at the thought. Kami, she missed Tsunade, she missed Shizune-senpai, she missed

everyone

, and even the knowledge that they would one day meet again could do nothing to ease her heartache.

Yes, they would meet again; but Sakura would be the only one to actually know them. She 'd be the only one to remember all the years they'd spent together. The laughter they had shared, the tears and sweat and blood they had shed in each other 's company, during spars, on lazy evenings, over a bottle of sake, or during the Fourth War.

It was the same with Naruto and Ino and Sasuke and everyone else. They were her friends, her makeshift family, almost, and they were the same people she used to know, but at the same time they simply weren 't.

And that fucking hurt. Because she 'd give anything to talk to Naruto about this whole madness, or cry in Ino 's arms without looking like a crazy person, find Kakashi in one of his hiding spots and just sit with him, silently, until the moment his hand would land on her head and she 'd feel better, without even a word spoken. Even hearing Sai call her

ugly

would just be such a relief.

Her bedcovers rustled when Ino shifted, and Sakura held her breath as a cup still full of hot chocolate swayed as her friend tossed around. Thankfully, she didn 't wake up, and aside from some soft murmuring in her sleep, Ino made no other noise.

They'd had fun that night, eating snacks and talking about being the best kunoichi in history, but Sakura only had about twenty minutes before she 'd have to leave her best friend with a clone and go meet up with Shisui to check on Danzo 's hideout, like they had been doing every few days for the past month.

They still hadn 't gone inside, but they had witnessed multiple ROOT agents coming in and out. With Shisui there, she was a lot more comfortable playing detective from the shadows, and they were trying to come up with plans for how to infiltrate the base. They could use Sakura 's idea of altering their chakra, but neither of them was certain they could maintain the ruse for long. There was also the unknown factor of what lay beyond the entrance, and as frustrating as it was for them both, they had decided to simply watch and gather as much information as they could from the outside for the time being.

Hiding her notebook away, she headed to the bathroom, where a copy of her came into existence, before sneaking back into her bed. Sakura put on a warm cloak and hopped out of the window. Sparing a pulse of chakra, she made sure no one was around, and then she was on her way to meet Shisui.

Kiba and Naruto were at it again, trying to push each other's buttons more and more with their silly competitions. A memory of Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei popped into Sakura 's mind, and she almost wanted to cry, or at least yell a little.

They were all at Choji 's house and Sakura was ready to swear up and down to the Sage that she had never tasted anything better than his mother 's cookies. Even her favorite anmitsu and dango couldn 't compare. Sasuke, of course, had only had half of one, and had and dropped the other half in Sakura's grabby hands.

'So, we 're all going to the winter festival together, right? '

Shikamaru only muttered a 'what a drag ' in response to Ino 's exuberant question, but Sakura nodded with fervor. The winter and spring festivals had always been her favorite, even though she did enjoy the fireworks during the summer festival as well. Omisoka was all about celebrating the future on the last day of the year. And then, of course, came Shogatsu, when she 'd wake up early to watch the first sunrise of the year ' in her later years, she 'd stay out with Ino all night until the sun had risen fully ' and visit the shrine with her family.

Yes, she was looking forward to experiencing the winter festival with her friends. Apparently, most of them thought the same; even Sasuke agreed to meet them early so they could play and peruse the various stalls, and Shikamaru, despite his nonchalant fa 'ade, had a glint to his eyes as they made plans for their evening.

As they were walking away from the Akimichi compound, Ino made Sakura promise to shop for kimono together, and naturally, Sakura couldn 't refuse. She knew her mother would love to accompany them as well, and Ino was beyond excited for a friend-date and a day full of shopping.

'Ino-pig will never change, will she? '

'It 's nice though, having this constant in our life, isn 't it? '

Inner cackled, shaking her head,

'I guess we can 't complain about that. '

Sakura found herself walking down the street with Naruto and Sasuke in tow. And, of course, ANBU.

Genma was on Naruto guard that day, and to her utter surprise, so was Kakashi-sensei. It had been a few months since she had sensed him around the village, and she couldn 't help but feel bad for him. She knew about his history in ANBU before his days with Team 7, but even so, how little time did the man spend inside the village? A few days? A couple weeks? She could only hope so, even though a small part of her

knew

it most certainly was less than that.

She also didn 't know what to think of him being on Naruto 's guard. Sakura was well aware of Kakashi 's opinion on his sensei 's kid, the fact that he wanted but couldn 't be around him. Due to shame, sadness, and above all, due to orders. He had told her during the war, when Sakura had been just

so very done

with everything, and had wanted her questions answered.

Was the Sandaime a sadist, or Kakashi a masochist? Was he seriously okay with having to observe Minato-sama 's son from a distance?

She wanted to ask him, and even if a small part of her heart would never forgive him for not even doing the bare minimum in regards to her training during their days as a team ' but who was she kidding? She never had pushed herself either, chasing after Sasuke, content with lagging behind the boys,

useless

, always the

weak link

' ' ' she wanted to hug him, tell him that people cared about him, make him promise to take better care of himself.

But she couldn 't and likely wouldn 't be able to do that for years to come.

As they walked through the village towards her neighborhood, she tried to ignore the sideways glances they were getting and the whispers directed towards Naruto. She was used to that, but by now, people were also used to Sakura all but attacking anyone who dared look at her friend the wrong way, so thankfully no one did.

What she wasn 't expecting, however, was for some of those whispers to be directed towards

Sasuke

. More specifically, towards his status as an Uchiha. Confusion rose in her mind, and even Inner didn 't have the slightest idea of what was going on. Had this been the case

before

? No, people had always treated him politely as the last Uchiha, to the point of occasionally sucking up to him.

Was it one of the changes she had unwittingly created by landing back in time, or simply something she had failed to notice up until now? She tried to remember her walks through the village with Shisui or Itachi, and yes, maybe that had been nervousness and mistrust in people's stares towards them as well.

Things weren 't so different in her neighborhood. Sure, people there were warming up to Naruto, greeting him like normal, but the moment they caught sight of the crest on Sasuke 's back, they appeared more guarded.

Well, that was weird. She 'd have to do some research.

Her father opened the door, directing a beaming smile at the three children. 'Just in time, chipmunks, kaa-chan and I came home early to make lunch! ' He ushered them all inside, helping with their coats. 'Do your parents know you 're here, Sasuke-kun? '

'Yes, I told kaa-san I would spend some time with Naruto and Sakura, so she won 't be worried if don 't show up for lunch. ' As an afterthought, he bowed slightly, the tips of his ears turning red, 'I 'm sorry for the intrusion, I should have informed you before coming. '

Her father's booming laughter bounced around the room, and even Sakura snickered. 'What absolute nonsense you are sputtering out, Sasuke-kun! You can come by anytime, hear that, young man? ' Ruffling Sasuke 's hair, Kizashi sent them to wash their hands, 'Our door will always be open to you, just like it is for Naru-kun and Sa-chan. '

'Sakura is your daughter ' ' Sasuke 's eyebrows were pinched together, and Sakura could barely hold in her laughter. Naruto was outright laughing at Sasuke.

'Yes, and you and all her friends are just as good as our kids too. Now, wash up and come help set the table. '

Once her dad was back in the kitchen, they heard him and her mother chuckling, and Sakura finally cracked. Lacing her hands with both Sasuke 's and Naruto 's, she led them to the bathroom.

'My parents always wanted a big family, and I 'm afraid now you 're a part of it. '

Naruto smiled and rubbed his hands until he could blow the soap bubbles at them, 'Your parents are the best, 'ttebayo! Sometimes I wish I could live with you all the time. '

'Why don 't they adopt Naruto? ' Sasuke asked her. 'I mean, dobe does sleep here some nights and your mom buys him clothes and all that. It 's not like Naruto has parents in that house he lives in now. '

As Naruto 's grin diminished into a frown, Sakura 's heart clenched, and she embraced them both. 'I don 't know. I think they want to, but they can 't, ' she tried to shrug, but it was difficult while she held them. 'I 'd love for Naruto to be my brother officially, but that 's not something I can achieve, since I 'm just a kid. '

They both nodded, but she knew that look on Sasuke 's face. 'Why, though? Naruto 's an orphan, so why can 't he be adopted? '

Sakura wanted to come clean and say it was something that the Hokage and the Council would probably never approve of, but Genma and Kakashi were listening and sharing that knowledge would get her in trouble. Maybe this whole discussion would get them in trouble. Perhaps she should invest in some soundproof seals.

'I 'm not sure, Sasuke, ' she said instead, and miraculously, he dropped the matter. Naruto 's mood had turned sour, though, and her mother noticed as soon as they entered the kitchen.

She bent down to offer a kiss to all three of them and directed them to help her husband. She whispered something to Naruto before letting him go, and as if the sun had peeked from behind heavy clouds, his expression cleared, and he zoomed around them all. Sakura guessed that her mother must have promised him ramen for dinner.

'Okay, my little troublemakers, how about we go outside after lunch? We could do some target practice! ' Kizashi offered.

They all agreed and inhaled their food to the sound of her parents' laughter.

Sweaty and freezing, they made their way back inside, long after the sun had set. Their training sessions with her father were obviously a lot less overwhelming than the ones Sakura had with Shisui-nii and Itachi-kun, but he had spent this one teaching Naruto how to hold a kunai correctly and Sasuke how to throw two and three shuriken at once. Of course, she had tried to throw hers lightly and not hit every single bullseye her father had drawn.

Sakura had never been great with blades, but Shisui was teaching her how to fight with a tanto, and since her father had said it was one of his skills, she had pestered him to teach her. He was apprehensive, wanting to stick to blunt-edged kunai, but he had finally given in today and started showing her some katas.

Sasuke was enthralled by Kizashi 's sword skills and, even though her father wouldn't allow them anywhere near real weapons, he lit up like a firework when the man said he 'd bring some wooden swords out so they could practice.

They then settled down on the porch, where Kizashi taught them about meditation, something both Sakura and Sasuke knew how to do but Naruto had never heard of.

'So, Sa-chan has explained a thing or two about chakra, right? ' with their nod, he went on: 'Chakra is energy that circulates in your Chakra Pathway System, and by moulding it, you can cast jutsu, walk on buildings, trees and water, weave illusions, and do even more you 'll learn at the Academy about, and from your jonin sensei later on. '

'We can walk on water?! ' Naruto had exclaimed them, equally confused and amazed.

'With enough practice and control, we will be able to, eventually, ' Sakura had answered for her father, earning a proud smile from him.

He nodded, 'Precisely. It 's not something you can do right now, though, mainly because your chakra hasn 't been moulded properly yet, and also because most children lack the appropriate control. This is why I wanted to tell you about meditation. '

'Meditation helps mainly with developing our spiritual energy, right? The Yin release, while training out bodies helps with Yang release. '

'That is correct, Sasuke-kun. Meditating and physical exercise help expand one 's reserves, your chakra capacity. What's most important for you is to be able to manipulate your chakra, because even if you could mould the correct amount of chakra, without proper manipulation your jutsu won't be effective. And meditation helps a lot with that too. '

'So, we me-di-tate and work out to build more chakra and, like, make our, um... chakra tanks bigger, right? And meditation helps with control. Okay, got that! ' Naruto said, and wow, he got the gist of the lesson faster than Sakura would have ever expected. But then again, Naruto had never been an idiot, he just couldn 't concentrate while he studied. Verbal and interactive stimulation worked best for him.

Sakura hummed and looked at her father, 'Should we meditate now? '

'How do we do that? '

'Seriously, dobe? '

Haruno Kizashi merely gave an amused sigh and helped them with their posture. Sakura was worried about Naruto. He normally couldn 't keep still for long and meditation was something that had never seemed to appeal to him, until his training with Jiraya-sama. She only hoped he was motivated enough to give this a chance. Kami knew how much it would help with controlling the Kyubi 's chakra in the future.

'Now, close your eyes and try to relax. Take a deep breath, hold, and then exhale. Repeat as many times as you can before you feel truly relaxed. '

There was a small pause, and Sakura found herself already in a deep state of meditation. She was only vaguely aware of her father 's voice telling them to visualize the energy inside them. Her focus was on her pathways, and through them, to the innermost pool of her chakra, her reserves. They had grown significantly, but were still nowhere near their previous glory.

That was fine,

for now

; after all, she didn 't want to raise too many eyebrows or invite too many questions. Even if people came to think of her as a prodigy, she couldn 't possibly brush the amount of chakra in her body off as part of that, not as a civilian-born child with fledgling dreams of being a shinobi.

Her reserves were actively growing, though, and the pathways her time-jump had burned had returned back to normal by now. She could perform medical ninjutsu procedures and even a few low-rank elemental techniques without problems, but her chakra levels nonetheless kept diminishing faster than she 'd have liked after casting only a handful of jutsu.

She was certain it was more than her friends could do at this age. Of course, they didn 't have a time limit to get their skills back to full capacity.

At Naruto 's nudge, she opened her eyes, noticing that her father, Sasuke and Naruto had been talking for a while before she'd become aware of her surroundings. Naruto was first to the shower after Sasuke and Sakura lost their rock-paper-scissors round.

'Sasuke-kun, you can stay the night, dear. I sent a message to your mother and she said it 's fine. You can get a pair of pajamas from Naruto 's closet. '

'Thank you, Mebuki-oba-san. '

Sakura filled three glasses with juice and passed one to Sasuke. She had found that drinking something sweet after meditation helped when she 'd normally feel faint. Obviously, it hadn't been a long session, but she didn 't know how often Sasuke practiced meditation, and Naruto, well, she was pretty sure this had been his first time.

'Kaa-chan, we 'll be in my room, okay? ' With her nod, the two youngsters trotted up the stairs, walking carefully so as not to spill their drinks.

Sasuke settled on the end of her bed, sipping from his glass, while Sakura went to rummage through Naruto 's clothes. Her parents had bought him even more clothes for the winter. She finally found a pair of green pajama pants with a shuriken pattern and a plain cotton shirt with the same design, and brought them over to Sasuke.

'Sorry, but you 'll have to search for underwear by yourself. '

Sasuke almost choked on his apple juice, 'Sakura! '

She only chuckled at his embarrassment and made herself comfortable on her pillows. Naruto, after all, usually took his sweet time bathing and playing with the rubber ducky and frogs while soaking in the tub.

'Want to tell me what's got you in such a sour mood? ' she asked him after setting her empty glass down.

Sasuke looked affronted, 'I 'm not in a

sour

mood, ' he denied.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled him to lie down beside her, 'Don 't lie to me. You don 't have to tell me if you don 't want to talk about it, but I 'm worried. '

'It 's nothing, ' he persisted, and they both stared at her ceiling in silence. After a full two minutes ' yes, she had counted ' he let out a loud sigh and opened his mouth. 'It 's just that I always ask nii-san and otou-san to help me out and they never have time for me. But Kizashi-oji did, and none of us had to ask. '

'Sasuke, your father is a very busy man, and you know that Itachi-kun has many missions in and out of the village. '

'Yeah, I do know, ' he turned to look at her with wide onyx eyes, so honest in his hurt. 'But can 't they just spend an hour with me? My dad wants me to know the clan 's fireball jutsu, but he doesn 't ever teach me. And sure, aniki has helped me with my aim, but most of the time he just tells me

'sorry, maybe next time, '

when I ask him to train or play, or just spend some time with me. '

His grumbles were whispers by this point, hurried and filled with grievous resignation, and not for the first time, Sakura felt like scum from getting to train and spend so much time with Itachi, while Sasuke couldn't.

'It 's so hard to please my otou-san. He wants me to be just as good at everything as nii-san is, but I 'm not as strong, I 'm not as smart, and I try, Sakura, I do, but I 'm just not as good as him and otou-san won 't care about me as long as I 'm so... so mediocre. '

She moved quickly, sitting up straight and pulling Sasuke up as well, 'You are

not

mediocre! Listen to what the hell you 're saying! ' Sakura was keeping her voice low, but she couldn 't conceal the heat in her words. 'Sasuke, you 're

five

, and yes, I know Itachi graduated when he was noticeably young, but you are not your brother! You are Uchiha Sasuke and you 'll find your strengths at your own pace, okay? You 'll grow strong on your own terms and you 'll have my help if you want it, but you can 't live in Itachi 's shadow. '

'But he 's ' '

'He 's a prodigy, yes, he 's brilliant and strong and one day you 'll be too. Don 't try to push yourself just because you want to be like your brother. Again, you 're not him. And if Fugaku-san can 't accept that, then that's not

your

problem. Every single person walks their own path in life. It 's great to have goals and yes, you can aspire to be as good as he is, but it 's gotta be on your terms, Sasuke. Not your father 's, not mine, not anyone 's but

your own

. '

Taking a deep breath, she held his hand and offered him a smile, 'I believe that one day you 'll be amazing. You and Naruto and every single one of us will be great and people will recognize our worth. We just have to be patient and train hard, but we can 't allow others ' expectations to dictate our lives. We should follow our own path, don't you think? '

It took a while to get an answer out of him. Sasuke was struggling, she could see that. He was mulling over her words inside his head, and at long last, his eyes turned glassy and he had to look away, but he did squeeze her hand back.

'Yeah, ' he agreed, his voice small and raspy, 'I think I like that. '

She hummed, content with their talk. Sasuke wouldn 't feel comfortable with all this so easily, but she had made him think about things in more depth. It would take a while to build his confidence in his own strength, but she knew he 'd manage to chart his own course and make his family and himself proud, in time.

'I think I want to paint my room green, ' she blurted out all of a sudden, and Sasuke whipped his head around. He blinked at her and she watched as he fell back, his body shaking violently with laughter.

Once he pulled himself together, he levelled her with a mocking glare, 'You 're

so

weird. '

'So I 've been told, ' she scoffed, then punched his arm playfully.

Then, in a steady, serious voice, he spoke up: 'I will become the Chief of the Police Force one day, and you said you 'd help. '

She nodded, 'Of course. I will always support and help you in any way you need, Sasuke. One day, Naruto will be Hokage and you 'll be the strongest Head the Force has ever had. '

'And you 'll be the best medic in Konoha. No, I 'm sure you can be the best in the whole Shinobi World. '

And oh,

fuck

this little Sasuke. She was crying and smiling and it alarmed him, but he kept the proud smirk on his face, and Sakura felt like she was twelve again, wanting, needing, more than anything, to prove herself. To him, to Naruto, to sensei and Ino and the whole wide world.

That was how Naruto found them. He threw himself at Sasuke, thinking he'd upset her, but when Sakura explained what had happened, Naruto, the vessel, the monster, the annoying idiot, the boy who shone as bright as the sun, her friend, her brother, had only one thing to say.

'Well, of course the teme 's right, Sakura-chan. You will be the best medic and I 'll beat up everyone who says otherwise, dattebayo! '

It was as if a weight left her body then. Her boys believed in her and Sakura finally, finally felt like she was home.

(Trigger warning)

Sakura was alone. The air around her felt cold, cruel. She was scared, and she had to find someone, but she was alone. So, she ran, and she didn 't care that her footsteps left cavernous echoes behind.

She was in a dark hallway and there were rooms ' no, cells ' around her, with bars keeping people in and... were they dead? She walked closer, closing her hand around the freezing steel. Their chests were rising; okay, they were alive. But... those were kids,

she

was a kid. Desperately, she tried fumbling with the lock, but nothing worked.

Her feet trudged on, further down the corridor, and then something caught her attention. It was a sketchpad, ink spilling over it and on the ground, turning everything black; the smell filled her lungs.

'Sai! ' she yelled once she noticed who was slumped inside that cell. 'Sai, wake up. I 'll get you out, please, just get up! '

She tried the lock, and she caught the bars, ready to bend them, snap them in half, but they wouldn 't budge. 'Sai, please, it 's

me

, it 's Sakura! Get up, I need to get you away from here! '

Sai wasn 't listening. Belatedly, she realized that he wasn 't sleeping. His chest wasn 't rising, and Sai had always been pale, but never, never

this

pale, like he was '

'

Sai

! ' her wails travelled through the hallway, resounding in the empty space around her. 'Kami, no, no, no, no, no '

please

, please don 't be dead. I came! I 'm here for you ' '

A voice overlapped with her own sobs. 'You 're

late

. ' She could feel the hairs on her neck and spine stand up. She spun around, searching for whoever had spoken. She screamed at them to show themselves, but only a snicker reached her ears. 'Tch, tch, tch. Let 's see if you 'll be quick enough to find the rest. '

'The rest? What are you talking about? Who else is here? '

No answer came, and she turned back to Sai. She tried again to break through the bars, heal him. She couldn 't leave him there, she couldn 't '

She heard her name being called. And again. 'Naruto? Naruto, where are you? ' she looked away and into the darkness, and then back at Sai. 'I 'm coming back, I won 't leave without you, I promise! '

Again, she ran, looking through the cells lining the walls, some empty, others occupied. She made sure the prisoners were alive, then ran further down the hall. Soon, she came across another cell, and couldn 't push back the bile rising in her mouth. She retched on the ground, on herself. The odor was vile, blood marred the walls, and there was no life inside.

Only Kakashi. His throat was slit, and he was lying in a pool of his own blood. His eye, the left one, his Sharingan, was missing. His eye socket was empty and bleeding. Sakura's mouth opened in a silent scream, and she couldn 't take it; her legs gave out.

Sakura tried to reach him, medical chakra already burning green around her hand, but he was so far away. 'Sen ' sensei, please, ' she whimpered and sobbed, but she couldn 't reach him. She couldn't reach anyone. Then Naruto called for her again, and she steeled herself, and moved. He was dead. Kakashi-sensei was

deaddeaddead

.

'Naruto! ' she cried. Her throat was on fire from the screams and the vomit. Her legs wobbled, but she kept running, and then finally,

finally

, she found Naruto. She threw herself against the bars, trying to tear them apart. 'Naruto, come on! '

'I 'm sorry Sakura-chan, ' she heard him say, and she felt the air getting sucked out of her lungs. Blood was running from his mouth, and he was looking at her, but his eyelids fell and opened and fell again.

'Please, Naruto, I can heal you, just come closer, you can do it ' '

He tried, but the moment he moved a gut-wrenching scream left his lips, and he fell to the ground, breathing hard.

'No! ' Again and again she struck the bars, the wall. Damnit, what had happened to her monstrous strength? She should have been able to smash through all this with ease! 'Naruto, just ' just try to come closer. We need to get out! '

'I can 't, ' he coughed. More blood fell on the dirty floor, and he seemed to be in so much pain, could barely even hold his head up. 'Sasuke. Sakura-chan ' find Sasuke and then run. '

Shaking her head, she let her tears stream down her face, 'I 'm not leaving you, Naruto. '

'Please, you need to ' to get out. ' More blood, more blood, and she let an unhuman yell out, filled with grief and rage.

'I 'm not... leaving you, just stay with me, okay? If I can reach you, I 'll heal you and ' '

But Naruto was smiling,

redredred

was pooling around his mouth and his eyes were open, but they weren 't looking at her. 'Naruto? ' he didn 't answer, and she knew he never would again.

'No! Come

on

, ' her palms were raw, the skin there blistering, but the bars just wouldn 't give way. 'Shit, this can 't be happening. Naruto, wake up! '

The same laughter echoed around her, 'Tic-toc. Tic-toc. '

She had to find Sasuke, but Naruto '

A pained cry then rose from the distance, and her body moved on its own again. She reached another cell, and Sasuke was in there, but his limbs were terribly twisted, broken irreparably. So was his head, and Sakura screamed. She fell. She heard her wrist snapping from how hard she was banging on the steel.

Sasuke was dead. He wasn 't breathing. Naruto was dead, he wasn 't answering. Kakashi-sensei was dead. Sai was '

Sakura was losing her mind. The voice was taunting her, telling her they weren 't the only ones. She couldn 't move, she felt hollow, she felt like

she

was dead.

Then she heard Shisui, and like a spring, she was on her feet.

Something pale caught her eye, and it was Ino,

dead

, her beautiful hair spilling through the cell bars. Shikamaru was in the next one, decapitated by one clean slice. Then Kiba, Choji, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten, her parents, everyone she knew, everyone she loved was in a cell. Dead.

She was numb, but her body was still moving. She heard something in her head, but she couldn 't process what it was. Everyone was dead and she was moving. Suddenly, she heard the ring of sword strikes, the slashing of flesh, and the air around her tasted metallic. Then she saw them.

Itachi and Shisui. Each clutched an elegant sword in one hand and gently held his cousin with the other. Their blades had sunk into their chests, right where their hearts were supposed to be.

She wanted to scream, but the voice behind her was telling her to just watch. 'Be very careful of what you wish for,

Sa-ku-ra-chan

. Do tell, how do you feel now? '

Then he laughed again when her knees gave out. She tried to crawl to them, to Shisui and Itachi, she needed to heal them, they couldn 't die. There was so much blood already, but Shisui was still breathing '

I will not lose him.

'Oh, no, no, no. ' Something cold and sharp touched her neck. 'You stay right here. '

She was going to die too. But... did she care?

She found that she did.

She couldn't die while Shisui at least still lived, and needed her.

She felt the sword come up and swing down, ready to slice her open and '

(okay, it's safe from here)

Sakura woke up gulping lungfuls of freezing air, her face wet with tears and Inner was chanting inside her mind to

'wake up, wake up, wake up! '

'Shit, ' she breathed out. Her hands were trembling as she pushed her hair back.

'Oh, Outer, what the hell was that? I couldn 't even pull you out until the last minute. '

Sakura looked around, making sure she was in her room. Her pajamas were drenched in sweat and her sheets were hopelessly tangled, but everything was okay.

'I 'm fine, Inner. Thank you, ' she whispered, pulling the covers off of herself.

Inner scoffed,

'Fine my ass. That was some serious shit. '

She made her way to Naruto 's room and quietly opened the door to peek inside. Sasuke and Naruto were both sleeping soundly, their little chests rising and falling, Naruto 's light snoring drowning out Sasuke 's soft breaths, but they were here, and they were safe and well. Feeling her heartbeat ease up, Sakura closed the door and made to check on her parents. They were fine. Her father had an arm around her mother 's waist, and they were both

alive

.

'Only a nightmare. I just need some air and I 'll be okay. '

'Whatever you say. '

Returning to her bedroom, she opened her window, letting a gust of wind enter her room. It wasn 't enough, and she climbed out, sticking her bare feet to the wall. She reached the roof and sat, looking at the dark sky. She couldn 't see the stars or the moon, obscured as they were by heavy clouds, but she didn 't mind. Sitting in the dark felt better now.

Her mind drifted back to her nightmare over and over again, and Sakura had to rely on Inner to pull her back to reality. She had never appreciated Inner more, she thought. Her breaths weren 't steady, and she was aware, but calming down was something quite out of her reach '

like Sai and Naruto and

'

The atmosphere around her shifted and she was no longer alone on her roof.

'Shit. '

'Shit. '

Before her, she could see the porcelain masks and the ANBU uniforms, and how

stupid

was she to forget they were on guard near her house?

'Hey, you okay there? Sakura... was it? ' the ANBU ' Genma ' asked, and he took a step closer, slightly bending over her.

Sakura could only stare.

Why now of all times?

And then Genma spoke again, repeating his question as he extended his hand towards her.

She was on her feet, fingers searching for a weapon pouch that wasn 't there, eyes dancing from one masked face to the other. Both men stilled; slowly, Genma rose and took a step back. With his hands were raised in front of him, and he addressed her again:

'Calm down, Sakura-chan. Can I call you that? We won 't hurt you, we just wanted to see if you were okay. '

Kakashi had yet to speak, and was she crazy to want to run to him and bury her head to his chest, just to hear if his heart was beating? But he was here, she could never mistake his chakra and that absurd, gravity-defying silver hair '

'It 's cold out here and you 've got nothing on you, ' Genma continued, but Sakura couldn 't find her voice. She was fine, she just needed a minute alone. She wanted to tell them.

Genma tried to take another step forward, but suddenly Kakashi 's hand was holding him back. 'Your name is Haruno Sakura. It 's sometime after two in the morning and we 're on your house 's roof. We are not a threat. '

Sakura blinked at him as he repeated those words. 'I am not having a panic attack, ' she finally said when he was done.

'Are you sure? '

'Shut up! '

'I was just surprised when you showed up. You 're, '

Genma, Shizune 's boyfriend. You gave me my first whiskey shot when I was fifteen, at Shizune 's birthday party. Kakashi-sensei. My sensei from Team 7, my comrade, my friend.

'ANBU, ' she said instead.

'And how do you know that? ' Ah, same old Kakashi. Always suspicious of everyone and everything.

Sakura finally willed her body to return to her previous position, and sat back down, staring at the sky. 'Naruto talks about the masks. I know that shinobi of your rank serve the village from the shadows and guard the Hokage. Naruto, too. I 've seen you, or at least some of your colleagues, around as well. '

She could sense their chakra relaxing at her explanation, and Genma spoke up again: 'Is that so? '

She hummed, 'I remember your mask, ANBU-san. Thank you for protecting Naruto. Not every single one of you does, you know. Next time, I 'll buy you some dango. '

'Ah, that 's ' not necessary. Thanks, though, kid. '

'What do you mean, not every one of us does? '

Sakura finally looked up at them. 'No, I do owe you my gratitude, ANBU-san. You 'll get your dango, ' she told Genma, then turned to face Kakashi. 'Some of you have leapt down to stop people from hurting my friend, but others have not, and I had to ' '

'Kick some ass. ' She wasn 't sure, but Genma sounded like he was smirking under the mask.

She nodded, 'I had to. Since his guards, or whatever you are, didn 't, I had to interfere. I know it 's not right and if I were a full-fledged shinobi it 'd be illegal to attack civilians, but those people were hurting Naruto. '

Genma and Kakashi exchanged a look. Their chakra was rumbling in anger. Pleased, Sakura patted the spot beside her. Genma took her up on her offer, 'So, he 's a good friend, huh? '

'More like a brother, really, ' she shrugged, watching what few lights were left on in the civilian district. 'I don 't like how people treat him. Sasuke and I, well, the rest of our friends too, made a promise to keep Naruto safe. '

'Oh, ' Kakashi shifted his weight to his other leg, but didn 't let his guard down. 'Why? '

'I don 't know. For me, it 's something I 'd do for all my friends, and later my teammates. Also, it 's unfair. He 's just a kid and he hasn 't done anything wrong, except for pulling some pranks here and there, but I made sure he went to apologize to the people he pranked. They still don 't treat him any better. '

Kakashi was unnaturally still, and Genma merely nodded in agreement. Finally, her sensei (ex-sensei, future sensei?) sat down as well. 'Big words coming out of your mouth. '

Tilting her head, she threw him a questioning look, and then it clicked. 'Oh, about wanting to keep my friends and teammates safe? Well, isn 't that something all people should want anyway? I think I 'd hate myself if I ever let my precious people get hurt. I 'd never just turn my back and leave them when they are in need. That would make me the worst kind of person alive. '

She knew she was taking his words and regurgitating them with twists, but she couldn 't afford to be too obvious, even if, in some way, she wanted him to know that, yes, they were

his

words,

his

nindo. The one he had adopted from his best friend, after Obito had... left him.

If Genma heard the sharp breath Kakashi took, he didn 't comment on it. Instead, he turned to her and slowly placed his hand on her shoulder. 'Kid aren 't you cold? What are you doing out here, anyway? '

Sakura didn 't flinch and didn 't remove his hand. It was warm. 'I had a nightmare. Everyone I love died and I couldn 't do anything. Or... almost everyone. One of my best friends was still alive, and I wanted to heal him, but then I was attacked and I couldn't help him. '

'Outer, stop! '

But she didn 't, because it felt good to speak to Kakashi again. Sure, she couldn 't hug him, or tell him he had been in her dream as well, or how much she 'd missed him, or that he had died right before she had come back in time, but he was here now. And Genma was nice. He was a good man, he never treated Naruto unjustly, and he loved Shizune.

'They were in, um... trapped in those cells, and I couldn 't open them. I tried to reach them but they were too far away, and then there was this man, laughing because I was too late and everyone except my last friend was dead, and he was going to cut me down before I could heal him. '

She felt tears fall down her face and was quick to wipe them away, 'But it was just a bad dream. The worst, but kaa-chan and otou-chan are okay and Naruto and Sasuke are sleeping, probably dreaming of ramen and tomatoes. I just needed some air, so I came up here. '

Sakura saw them exchanging looks again, and

hell

, Kakashi was definitely thinking that he wasn 't equipped to comfort a crying five-year-old girl. Not that he was equipped to deal with a crying seventeen-year-old, either, but regardless...

'Do you have these nightmares often, Sakura-chan? You still haven't told me if it 's okay to call you that. '

Sakura cracked a smile that turned into a smirk when she answered. 'You know, I won 't ask how you do know my name in the first place. It 's quite rude that you do know it while you haven 't introduced yourself, but I 'm guessing you 're wearing masks because you can 't really reveal your identity. So yeah, call me whatever you want, but from now you 're 'Dango ', cause I 'm buying you dango soon. '

'Hey, I 'm Kuma and this is Inu, ' he all but whined.

'Nope, you 're Dango and he is Raiton-nin. '

Genma pulled back, 'Why is he Raiton-nin? '

'Have you seen his hair? It 's like he was hit by lightning. ' Well, it was because of his chakra nature and his Chidori, but Genma didn't need to know that. He was too busy doubling over with laughter, anyway.

Kakashi sighed, his shoulders slumped, but just as quickly, his stare was back on her. 'You still haven 't answered his question, kid. '

That was a great way to bring down the mood. 'Not as bad. But I am afraid that the people I love will get hurt, so I guess it translates to my dreams? '

'You 're getting really good at bullshitting people you know? '

Sakura mentally scoffed,

'I don 't like lying. Especially to Kaka-sensei. '

'It 's not like you can tell him. '

She thought about that,

'Well ' '

'No, definitely not. His mental state is probably laughable right now. Imagine what would happen if he were to find out the truth, like, the

entire

truth. He's not Shisui, Outer. '

'You 're not wrong, '

Sakura agreed,

'maybe when we 're part of Team 7 again. '

She heard her sensei 's voice, undeniably younger, but laced with a hint of suspicion once more. 'How exactly did you manage to come up here? '

'Oh, I walked up, from my window. '

'You walked up? Aren 't you five? ' Genma questioned, just as Kakashi started speaking.

'That 's quite an advanced chakra control exercise. I don 't think you 're enrolled in the Academy yet. '

'Careful, Outer. '

Sakura blinked innocently at them. 'Yes, I am five, I 'm starting in the Academy this coming spring, and yes, I am aware that it 's an advanced chakra technique for someone my age. I simply saw Itachi-kun and Shisui-nii walking on trees and walls and I wanted to do that. I fell and hurt myself many times, ' she pouted for emphasis there, 'and then Shisui-nii scolded me, but taught me how to do it. He says I have surprisingly good chakra control. '

'You ' you 're talking about Uchiha Shisui and Itachi? '

She nodded, 'You know them? 'Tachi-kun is Sasuke 's nii-san and Shisui 's my onii-chan. Well, not really, but I don 't have an older brother and he doesn 't have siblings, so he 's my family now, you know. '

'You just, what? Adopted him, and he adopted you? ' Genma asked, and Sakura almost felt bad for the confusion she was causing.

'Well, not officially, his clan would never let me do that, ' was that a snort from Kakashi? 'and he can 't adopt me because I have my parents here, but he 's still my nii-chan. '

Genma laughed and Kakashi scoffed, 'I don 't think it works like that, kid. '

'Of course it does. Family doesn 't end with blood. Sometimes, we make our own families. I mean, you too, if you don 't have siblings, I can be your imouto and you can be my brothers, ' then she brought her hand under her chin, 'But I don 't really know you, do I? Well, it doesn 't matter, you 're good people. '

'That 's a na 've assumption, ' Kakashi countered.

Sakura only shrugged, 'Is it? You protect my little brother and you 're up here with me. You wanted to check up on me and you don 't get paid to do that, do you? But it didn 't stop you from making sure I 'm alright. That 's good in my books, and you, Dango-san, you get brownie points for protecting Naruto. I 'm sorry, Raiton-nin, but I haven 't seen you do that yet, so maybe next time. '

'That 's a really odd way of thinking, Sakura-chan. We might be murderers, for all you know. '

She couldn 't help but give Genma a deadpan look that she was sure Kakashi had on his face as well. 'You 're shinobi, and

ANBU

on top of that. I 'm pretty sure you 've killed someone at some point. '

'Well, exactly! '

Sakura shook her head, 'It 'd be hypocritical to rule you out as a bad person because of that. In a few months, I 'll be training to be like you, after all. I 'd rather be a medic-nin, but I know I 'll have to kill in order to keep myself and my team safe, to protect my village and everyone living in Konoha. So, if you 're doing it for the same reasons, I don 't necessarily have enough evidence to prove you are not good people. '

'Your thinking process is ' interesting, to say the least. '

'People tell me I 'm mature for my age, ' she said to Kakashi, 'maybe it 's because I like being around old people. They tell great stories. '

Genma shook his head and got up, lifting Sakura with him. 'That 's all great, but you 're shivering. Now go back to bed, and if you have another nightmare, just call for us, okay? '

'

See

? That 's what I mean! ' she beamed at them, 'Anyway, I think you 're right, I should go inside, but please say hi next time you 're around to keep an eye on Naruto. '

Kakashi rose as well, 'That might be difficult. '

'Tell you what. I 'll buy you dango too if you wave at me. '

'Okay, pinky. Now go to sleep before I toss you back in through your window. '