It was a gloomy day.

Dark clouds obscured the sun, casting grey light onto the world and dampening Sakura 's mood. She'd had a bad night: nothing but nightmares for all four of the hours she'd managed to sleep. She'd woken up tangled in her bedsheets and gasping for air, quietly trying to hold back her sobs. Sometimes, inevitably, Sakura doubted herself and the mission she had promised to fulfil.

Inner had managed to snap her out of her pitiful state and, reluctantly, Sakura had dragged her body under the freezing spray of her shower, before dutifully plastering on a fake smile to keep her parents appeased over breakfast.

Ordinarily, she would be going to the library and then the dango shop, where she and her friends had made a habit out of meeting up, as the weather was preventing them from visiting the park on a daily basis. To her mother 's surprise, Sakura had opted to stay home with a weak excuse about a headache and wanting to catch some more shut-eye. Mebuki had been worried, but hadn't pushed her daughter. Of course, her worries likely revolved around the prospect of Sakura having had a fight with her friends she'd refused to tell her parents about, and nothing so alarming as a PTSD episode.

Around noon, Sakura had finally pulled herself together enough to start on some light meditation, and later reviewed her notes on Danzo. She didn't have much to go on, but throughout the past two weeks, she had been sneaking back to that cave in order to observe who was coming in and out. In a courageous ' if reckless ' attempt at probing the wards, she had sent a clone, henged into a small, nondescript bird, to enter the cave, only for it to pop out of existence the moment it had reached the seal-generated barrier around it. Sakura had had to run faster than ever before in her life when two masked ROOT agents had predictably rushed out to investigate.

She hadn 't gone back since.

When she felt Naruto 's familiar chakra right outside of her house, she smiled sincerely for the first time that day, and jumped over the couch to let him in. The boy was wearing one of his old shirts, a couple sizes too big for him, but the pants and the jacket he had on were those her mother had bought for him.

'Hey, Naruto! You 're just in time for lunch, ' she greeted him and ushered him inside, gently steering him by the shoulder towards the kitchen.

Naruto started complaining about his trip to the dango shop that morning: only Ino and Choji had been there. Shikamaru hadn 't even opened his eyes when Ino had gone to get him, and Sasuke had stayed home to train with his brother, as Itachi had just come back from a mission.

'Well, that sure was one short mission... '

Sakura thought. Itachi had only been gone for the previous two nights.

Her friend also talked about a boy with

'weird eyes and teeth, smelling like a dog, 'ttebayo '

that had bumped into him.

Kiba

. Sakura hummed as she reheated the food her mom had left and further busied herself with making a spinach salad, to Naruto 's great dismay.

'Sakura-chan, something is wrong, ' the blond told her, wearing the most serious expression she 'd seen on him in this time thus far.

Her shoulders tensed. 'What do you mean, Naruto? What 's wrong? Are you okay? Did someone ' '

But he quickly cut her off with: 'No, something 's wrong with

you

. ' He was observing her, brows furrowed over sky-colored eyes. He sighed and pointed at her with his chopsticks, 'You 're weird today. '

Ah, trust Naruto to figure it out. The boy had always been sharper than anyone ever gave him credit for, especially when it came to the feelings and motivations of those around him. Kurama 's chakra did help with that somewhat, she mused. It was odd for him to say anything outright, though. The Naruto she knew would have just tried to 'make everything better ' with jokes and distractions. Was this a subtle change resulting from her befriending him far sooner than she originally had, and treating him far better?

Maybe, but she couldn 't be sure. She smiled at him.

'Don 't worry, I just didn 't sleep well. ' He didn 't seem to believe her, but he dropped the matter and dutifully dug into his food. 'Now, Naruto, I believe you 're trying to wiggle yourself out of our lessons. '

'But, Sakura-chan ' ' he whined, looking up from his plate, wide-eyed.

'Yep, those are definitely still happening. Now eat up, ' she giggled when he huffed under his breath.

Sakura had been teaching him how to read and write for the past month, being painfully aware that, in her original timeline, no one had helped him even with the basics, besides Iruka-sensei. Maybe she 'd have to treat the man to a couple bowls of ramen for caring about Naruto enough to do that, despite his personal struggles regarding Kurama.

'Well, we first have to meet him in this timeline, idiot. '

'Don 't be so sarcastic, Inner. '

Inner scoffed, but ultimately shut herself up.

They moved to the living room, making diligent use of the flashcards Sakura had made for him. She even managed to keep him focused with stories that were really lessons on Konoha's history, but she made sure to make them sound a little less boring throughout her narrations.

Naruto was paying close attention, especially when she talked about the Yondaime 's feats, and she had to bite her tongue a few too many times in order to keep herself from spilling the beans about Minato-sama being his father. It was then that Sakura remembered Naruto 's birthday was the following week.

From what she knew of

her

Naruto, he would always spend the day in hiding, since the bullying, the beating and the threats would be worse than normal on that day. She had to talk to her parents and Ino, to plan a surprise party for him here at home, and someone would have to stay with him for the duration of the day.

Her musings were cut short when she noticed something in the chakra of the two ANBU who had come with Naruto change. The low and steady humming she could pick out when they were stationed to observe her house shifted as they became more alert, and then she felt it. Another chakra signature was approaching, fast, until it came to a stop right next to the other two, and switched places with one of them.

Her body froze, and she had to remind herself to take deep breaths. She

knew

the person who had just arrived. Of course she did. She could never mistake that strong staccato of thunderbolts slashing through clouds.

'Fucking Hell! '

she screamed inside her head, and Inner heartily agreed with the sentiment.

'So, Kakashi-sensei is on Naruto's guard as well. Hmm ' '

Sakura sighed and went on with her story, vaguely aware of the fact the ANBU operatives had been listening in on her and Naruto's conversation earlier, and that Kakashi-sensei would do so now as well. If Naruto noticed the new addition, he didn 't say anything. He knew about the 'masks ', as he called them, and sometimes, he would talk to some of them, like Genma. Maybe he'd already spoken to Kakashi without Sakura realizing?

When her parents returned, they found the children playing in the small backyard of the Haruno 's residence. Her mother informing them that dinner would be tonkatsu, while her father joined them in the garden, laughing as he ran to catch and tickle them.

When Kizashi couldn 't run any longer due to his bad leg, he picked them both up and they made themselves comfortable on his lap, on top of the damp grass. Naruto asked him to tell them some stories about his childhood, and Kizashi held them closer as he reminisced.

'I was a tall child, and most of the other kids made fun of my pink hair and lanky arms, but I never let that bother me. Since I liked to joke around, I started making friends easily. Well, at least with the neighborhood kids; I can 't say the same for my classmates later on. '

Naruto tilted his head to the side, 'Huh, why not? '

'I was one of the very few civilian-born students in my class, so most of the clan-bred classmates never even bothered with giving me a glance. I was smart and I could handle blades well, which they also found odd for a boy like me, with no shinobi family members and whatnot," he said with a not-so-subtle eyeroll. "I had this one friend, you see ' I don 't remember his name, but his mama was a tailor. His brother, Kouta, was a ninja, and he taught us how to throw shuriken and even fight with swords. Shortly after their mother lost her shop, my friend ' ah, Eiji, that was his name, yes ' well, he got very sick and died. '

At the horrified gasp Naruto made, Kizashi smiled calmly and stroked his hair. 'That happened when we were older and those were hard times, Naruto-kun. We were leaping from one war into the next. Many were left to live in poverty, mostly civilians like us. People perished every day; shinobi died in battle and civilians died on the streets. Some didn 't have enough to eat, to buy medicine or other essentials, ' he paused there and looked at the sky, 'Many died. '

'But you were able to become a shinobi, right, tou-chan? ' Sakura urged him to continue.

He chuckled and nodded, 'You 're right, kiddo. With Kouta 's help I was able to graduate and was placed in a genin team, ' he ruffled both kids' hair then, 'like you will one day. '

'What was your team like? Were you strong? How many people did you beat up? ' Naruto half-yelled, alight with excitement and interest, but Kizashi only laughed harder.

'Oh, kid, my team was great. They were strong, I was just average, but somehow we managed. Ya know, Sasuke 's mother was one of my teammates. Mikoto-chan was the best at shurikenjutsu, still is, I 'm sure. She was the fastest one on our team, too. '

Sakura hummed and tentatively asked, 'What about Hyuga-san? '

'Ah, Hizashi. ' His smile faded as he looked away, at something inscrutable in the distance. Sakura wished they were inside the house then, and alone. The ANBU were still watching and listening, and she didn 't want anyone to learn of her father 's anguish, not even her sensei.

'Hizashi was the strongest. He was kind and clever, and whenever he used the Hyuga's signature taijutsu style in combat, I was in awe of him, of how gracefully he'd move. I would come up with most of our strategies and battle formations, but he was also quite good at that. '

He laughed again, but it was strange, hollow, and even Naruto noticed. 'We didn 't get along at all at first. I mean, who puts a Hyuga and an Uchiha on the same team? Sure, they were civil to each other, but that was it. And neither thought much of me. I was just a civilian the Clan kids were stuck with. But then we became friends. '

'How 'd that happen when you didn 't like each other? '

Sakura was curious too, but stayed quiet.

Kizashi held them tighter when the wind picked up, but didn 't make a move to get inside. He sat silent for a while, thinking, before he spoke again. 'A mission went wrong. We were supposed to deliver some supplies to a border patrol, and we ran into some rogue nin. Our sensei told us to stay back, but there were too many, so we all got caught in the fray. '

Sakura held a snort back. It reminded her too much of the first C-rank Team 7 had gone on.

'Thing is, they started targeting Mikoto-chan for her Sharingan, and then Hizashi for his Byakugan. '

'Shari ' , Byaka-what? '

Sakura placed a finger to Naruto 's mouth, 'They 're the kekkei genkai dojutsu of the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans, I 'll explain another time. Basically, they're their eyes, and can perform jutsu no one else's eyes can. '

Her father looked at her like she had turned into an alien, but he had always known how studious his little Sakura was, so he shrugged his surprise off and went on. 'Yes, well, our opponents were after their funny eyes, but then one actually managed to grab Mikoto-chan, and I saw red. Even Hizashi, who hadn't been too happy to be placed on a team with either of us, joined me in my search for her. We found her fighting off all five of her captors, her restraints reduced to cinders, and helped her take them down and escape. I guess, after that mission, we started appreciating each other more. We talked to each other about our lives, we began hanging out outside of training and missions, and we became friends. '

'But, ' Naruto started again, 'Kizashi-ji-chan is not a shinobi now. '

'No, Naruto-kun, I am not. After our first chunin exams, where Hizashi was the only one to get promoted, my father died, so I had to take over his shop. My mama was also not doing well. I was their only child, and the shop our only source of income. I couldn't feed myself, my mother, and pay the bills for our shop with what genin-level missions paid. It was my duty to them to resign and do what was necessary to prevent my family from falling into poverty. '

'And then? '

The man stood up, dusting himself and both kids off, 'And then, I quit being a shinobi. Technically, I 'm still a genin and still was back then; during the two previous wars, I was sent on certain low-risk missions since manpower was needed. My teammates went on to become jonin and we did stay friends, but they were busy with their missions while I was managing the shop and traveling. We all married and started families of our own, so we couldn 't see each other very often. '

'They are still your team, though, ' Sakura murmured. 'Your precious people. '

'Of course, Sa-chan, ' he said kindly, 'and you both better remember that. Your team is important, and it always will be. You 'll find out when you make genin, I 'm sure. '

Oh, Sakura would never forget. After all, wasn't that what Kakashi-sensei had always tried to drill into their stubborn skulls? For a brief moment, she glanced at the tree where Hatake Kakashi sat, hidden behind his porcelain mask and ANBU outfit. It didn't matter what he wore or hid behind, though ' Sakura could only see her sensei as she knew him, slouching carelessly, yet ready for anything fate threw his way, a man who would rather die than see his team in danger. Would he still be their sensei this time around? Would she, Naruto and Sasuke be Team 7 again?

She could only hope.

Walking through the Uchiha Compound was an unnerving experience, to say the least. It was the second time Sakura had been there; the first had been Sasuke 's birthday back in July, but now, with not just Naruto by her side but her parents as well, the amount of stares thrown their way seemed to have quadrupled.

Little Sasuke was waiting for them halfway to the Head Family's house. He bowed politely to the Haruno parents, got reprimanded by Mebuki for it ( 'Didn 't I tell you not to be so formal, young man? '), and dragged both Naruto and Sakura towards his home. Some of his relatives greeted her parents, and that was when Sakura realized her father must know pretty much everyone in the village in some capacity; a side effect of his trading business. After all, she had seen civilians and shinobi alike visiting their store by the dozen, daily.

'I need to talk to you later, ' she whispered to Sasuke, when Naruto had turned to her parents and she was certain he wasn 't listening.

The young Uchiha 's brows furrowed, and he too kept his voice low, 'What about? '

She threw a glance over her shoulder. 'Naruto 's birthday is next week. We need to plan. '

'Oh! ' a glint of excitement flashed through Sasuke 's eyes. 'Sure, but wouldn 't Yamanaka-chan be better at orga-organizing it? She has fun doing those things. '

'I already talked to her yesterday and she 'll help us. By the way, why don 't you just call her Ino? '

'Because I know she doesn't like it when I call her Yamanaka-chan and she 's annoying, so I wanna annoy her back. '

'Sasuke! ' Sakura chastised. 'She 's your friend. '

He rolled his eyes dismissively, and for a moment Sakura forgot he was only a kid and wanted to smack him. Hard. 'She's still annoying. Not as much as other girls, I guess. You 're both cool. But she never agrees with me and she calls me

Sake-chan.

It 's not funny. '

'Well, Ino-chan is quite stubborn. ' He nodded in agreement right as they reached his house.

Before they could knock, the door opened and Mikoto greeted them with a smile, taking the package Mebuki offered her. It was the highest-quality tea Kizashi had been able to find during his last trip to Cha no Kuni. Her father had also had a bottle of sake imported from Tetsu no Kuni, but he would only present it to the Head of the family, as was customary.

Mikoto led them to the seating room, where her husband was seated on a zabuton. He rose, and Sakura almost took a step back.

She had never met Uchiha Fugaku, but she could understand why Sasuke and even Itachi sometimes got nervous when talking about him. She knew he was the Head of both the Uchiha Clan and the Police Force, and had also heard that he was a powerful shinobi. He had the dark coloring of most Uchiha, and his robes were plain, yet clearly well-maintained. His face was mostly impassive, but Sakura could tell he was frowning ever so slightly. Uchiha Fugaku cut an imposing figure.

Her father seemed to share none of her apprehension, and moved forward as he extended his hand, an ear-splitting grin on his face. 'Fugaku, it has been an awfully long time. '

The Uchiha gave a short grunt and shook Kizashi 's hand firmly, 'Indeed. Please, have a seat, ' then he turned and bowed curtly, 'Mebuki-san. '

'Tch, seriously Fugaku, how many years have we known each other? Just Mebuki is fine. '

They all took their seats on the zabuton laid out on the tatami floor, while Mikoto disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some tea. Mebuki was sulking a little, as Mikoto had forbidden her to help her out, since she was a guest. Naruto snickered at her sour face.

The kids quickly grew bored of the adults' discussions, so they started talking about all the cool jutsu they were going to learn at the Academy. Sakura, not wanting to spoil their fun, simply agreed. She knew they wouldn 't learn shit in the next six years, but she vowed to herself that she 'd help Naruto and even teach Sasuke a few more advanced techniques if he wanted.

She kept an ear out for anything interesting the adults might mention. Her father was telling the Uchiha about his journeys, and they all reminisced a bit about their past and how it had been a while since they had last met up for reasons other than business. Then Fugaku-san lowered his voice, and Sakura had to enhance her hearing with chakra.

'I didn 't know you had adopted Uzumaki. '

Her parents stilled and her mother frowned, but it was her father who answered, 'Not officially, you know Hokage-sama and the Council wouldn 't agree to that. But he spends a lot of time at our house. Sakura thinks of him as a brother, and he 's quite attached to her. '

'Sasu-chan said that Sakura-chan lunged at someone because she saw them hitting Naruto-kun. Itachi also confirmed it. '

Sakura paused at Mikoto 's words, and her heart almost froze in her chest. She hadn 't talked to her parents about that in much depth, and whenever she did happen to mention something of the sort, she always toned it down and sugar-coated the more unpleasant details.

'She did? ' her mother sounded incredulous, but her father 's laughter echoed through the house, 'That 's my girl, ' he said, earning himself a slight smack from his wife.

She chanced a look at them, and found Fugaku-san watching her levelly. Not wanting to give anything up, she simply sent him a gentle yet hesitant smile, and proceeded to break Sasuke and Naruto apart, as they had begun arguing right in front of her.

'Boys, be nice. '

'But, Sakura-chan, ' Naruto whined and pointed his finger at Sasuke, 'he started it, 'ttebayo! '

'Hn, I did not, dobe! You called Katon lame! You can 't even mould your chakra yet. '

'Why you '! '

Sakura bonked them both on the head, 'Hey! If I hear you cursing at each other again, you'll be equally sorry, got it? ' The boys gulped, mumbling apologies. They knew better than to try their luck with her when she was angry.

'Naruto, Katon is a powerful jutsu style, and I assure you it 's not lame, especially if one 's affinity is fire. And Sasuke, it may be true that Naruto can 't mould chakra yet, but he has no one to show him how to do so, ' she sighed and held them both closer. 'Try to be a little more considerate towards each other, will you? '

Sasuke was looking guilty. He was aware that his friend was an orphan and had no one to take care of him and teach him like his family helped him. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed thoughtful.

'Okay, Sakura-chan, you 're right. But, what is aff- affity? '

Sakura chuckled and began her lecture. 'There are five basic chakra natures, namely fire, water, earth, wind and lightning. Most shinobi 's chakra has an affinity, meaning it works best with one of these natures. Let 's say my chakra had an affinity for water. That would mean it would be easier for me to learn, use and control water-based ninjutsu, rather than lightning jutsu. '

'Wow, that 's so cool! '

'So can I use only jutsu that are based on my affinity? ' Sasuke asked, thinking beyond the theoretical part.

Sakura shook her head, but before she got a chance to answer him, another voice took over: 'No, there are many high-rank shinobi who can use multiple chakra natures, although it 's very hard to master more than two, or all five. '

'Nii-san! You 're late! '

Itachi walked into the room and inclined his head towards the adults first, 'I apologize, but my spar with Shisui took longer than I thought it would. '

'It 's fine, 'Tachi-kun, but where is my dear nephew? ' his mother asked him, preparing another cup of tea.

He took a seat between his mother and brother, posture perfect and shoulders straight. 'He stopped by his house to change. ' Sakura beamed at him and he gave her one of his small smiles, 'You started the lessons early, Sakura-chan. I hope Sasuke-chan and Naruto-kun are good students. '

She laughed at the boys' grumbling and nodded, 'They 've been quite attentive, Itachi-kun. You can take over for me now. '

'No, do go on. '

'Ah, okay, where was I? ' she took a sip of her tea, enjoying the nutty taste of the genmaicha. 'Besides the five elemental nature transformations, there are also the Yin Release and Yang Release. Yin is connected to your spiritual energy and Yang to your physical energy. They help with genjutsu and taijutsu, respectively. Then there are combined nature transformations, but that 's a more complex theory. '

'Correct. Yin and Yang are basically why Shinobi can use techniques outside of ninjutsu, ' Itachi praised. 'You 've been studying attentively. '

Naruto laughed at that. 'Oh, yeah, Sakura-chan always has a book in front of her face. She makes me study as well. '

'What 's so bad about that, dobe? '

'Sasuke! ' Sakura chastised before Naruto could retaliate, and both boys shut up.

'Our baby 's a little genius, ' her father commented lightly, and Sakura 's eyes found Itachi 's. A flash of worry passed between them, but Sakura was quick to laugh it off, 'I just like learning stuff, tou-chan. That hardly makes me a genius. '

'You 'll be attending the Academy later this year, Sakura-san? ' the Uchiha patriarch asked and Sakura shook off the sense of dread she felt when his calculating eyes held hers.

'Yes, Uchiha-sama. Naruto and I will be joining the Academy, and we hope to be in Sasuke 's class. '

'I see, ' he said, as if pleased, and it puzzled Sakura. 'Fugaku-san is fine. For both of you, ' he looked at her and Naruto. The boy had behaved well so far, fearing Sasuke 's family's rejection.

They both nodded, and then Naruto spoke, 'Well, I still don 't know if I 'll attend. '

'Don 't worry, Naruto-kun. Kizashi already made an appointment with Hokage-sama. '

Before Naruto had the chance to stand and cheer, Shisui walked into the room with a grin on his face, and Naruto leapt up to him for a hug. They squeezed each other, before Shisui deposited him back down in his seat and ruffled Sasuke 's hair. He greeted the adults with varying levels of respect, knowing that the Haruno didn 't appreciate overly formal displays, and took a seat on Sakura 's zabuton, rearranging her so she was sitting on his lap, much to his uncle 's confusion.

'Hey, little birdie, ' he whispered when everyone else went back to their conversations, 'how 's your leg? '

They'd had a rough taijutsu spar last night that had left Sakura limping on her way home. 'Fine, but still bruised. '

His expression fell then, but Sakura simply melted in his arms. She had never thought of anyone outside Team 7 and her shisho as family, but she had come to view Shisui as an older brother in the months they'd known each other and trained together. Itachi as well, though he was still hesitant to show much affection to anyone besides his brother.

At some point, Mikoto ushered them all into the dining room, where they shared a wonderful meal, before Fugaku-san opened the bottle of sake her father had brought for him. Sakura had half a mind to ask for some as well. Not that she had been a heavy drinker before the war, but with Tsunade being her shisho, well ' she had picked up more than just medical ninjutsu and taijutsu from her.

'You 're supposed to be five! Just wait a few more years until you become a genin and can be considered an adult by village law. '

Inner was right, but there were times when her nightmares were especially bad, or her frustration unbearable, times in which she was ready to kill for a bottle of sake.

After dinner, the Uchiha took them for a stroll in their gardens. Sasuke and Naruto begged Itachi to show them how to throw shuriken and kunai and were quick to drag him to a training post. Shisui stayed behind, and raised Sakura in his arms.

'Kizashi-oji-san, Mebuki-oba-san, can I steal your daughter for a while? ' he asked as he approached them. Sakura had no idea what was going on, but stayed silent, trusting Shisui to handle whatever he had on his mind.

'And why would you need to do that? ' Fugaku asked, suddenly suspicious.

Shisui 's charming smile didn 't falter, 'My cat gave birth a few days ago and I promised Sakura-chan a pet session. '

That wasn 't a lie, but Sakura knew how to look underneath the underneath. It was an excuse, and Shisui wanted to discuss something with her in private, so she played along, 'Yes, please kaa-chan, I want to see the little kitties! '

'Aw, ' her father cooed, 'sure, you can go with Shisui-kun. '

'Darling, ' Mebuki sighed and turned to her daughter. 'You shouldn 't impose on your friend, Sa-chan. '

'But Shisui-nii is fine with it! ' she pouted, and Shisui 's smile turned softer, more genuine.

'It 's really no problem, I assure you, ' he told her mother, and eventually got Mebuki's permission. 'Wanna get on my shoulders, birdie? '

The squeal Sakura let out was more embarrassingly unrehearsed, and she settled high on his shoulders as he started walking at a brisk pace, not bothering to greet any of his relatives on his way to his house, which was just a few buildings away from the Head Family 's.

It was a big house; too big for just one person, and Sakura 's heart sank.

'So, I 'm Shisui-nii now? ' he asked when they made it to the front door.

Mentally slapping herself, she peered at him shyly, 'N-not if you don 't like it? '

He gently removed her from his person and let her down. Sakura was certain her face was the same shade as her hair, which seemed to amuse Shisui; he chuckled and petted the top of her head. His hand stilled, then, and he squatted so they were eye-level.

His soft expression threw Sakura off, but not as much as the words that followed: 'Why would I not like it, imouto? '

She beamed up to him, ignoring the moisture in her eyes, and offered her hand, which he took in his. They did see the kittens. They were tiny and all bundled around their mother, who graciously allowed them to pet them.

'What did you want to talk about? ' she asked him while gently holding one of the little balls of fur.

He hummed, probably pleased she had picked up on his true intentions. 'I 've been thinking about some things, Sakura-chan, and they don 't make much sense. '

Now she was intrigued. 'Such as? '

'Look, I know you 're bright, a genius like Itachi, and I 'm not too surprised by your progress, but... ' he sighed then, and Sakura 's lungs seemed to malfunction when he levelled her with a serious look.

'But, Sakura-chan, you 're not just knowledgeable or blessed with good instincts. You 're very mature for your age, but you try to hide it and hide it well, and sometimes when we spar, you fight like you know what you 're doing, like you 've done it... many times before. '

'Shit! '

'Tell him. Just tell him the truth, Outer! '

Shisui moved closer, 'I know you don 't have field experience because I did some research after the first time I saw you and no, don 't look at me like that. You couldn 't expect me to trust you as soon as we met, surely? '

Well, he had a point. 'No respectable shinobi would. '

'Exactly. So, you are unnaturally observant, and you take in whatever you hear and see like a sponge, but still ' Even with your control, Sakura-chan, a five-year-old could never perform medical ninjutsu like you do, or break trees in half after reading about it in a book, for that matter. Not even Itachi was that proficient at your age. '

Sakura 's mind was swimming.

'Inner, what do I do? '

'I gave you my opinion. We can trust Shisui. '

She looked at him, at the gentle worry in his eyes, the grim line of his lips, and she felt the warmth of his hand on her shoulder.

'It 's not that I don 't trust him. He's been nothing but truthful and understanding with me this whole time, but... I 'm just scared of how the future could change if I tell him everything. '

Inner didn 't reply, shutting herself off in her thoughts.

'Shisui-nii, it 's... very complicated, ' she said, knowing he 'd push for more.

He smiled, though, even if it was a little broken. Most of his smiles always were. 'Just know that I 'll listen to everything you wish to tell me. '

Sakura set the sleeping kitten down next to its mother. Her head was buzzing with possibilities. Inner was telling her that she should trust him, trust him with the knowledge of a politically corrupt village, the devastating reality of his Clan 's massacre and his younger cousins' respective betrayals; with Itachi's tragically unacknowledged double-agent status, which had led to his death, and Sasuke's lust for power and descent into insanity, with the fact that he'd left their team to seek power and spend years training and trying to kill his brother, a brother he loved then and loves, trusts and admires more than anyone now.

How could she tell him that? Or the fact that his beloved cousin Itachi had not only been a traitor on paper and a murderer in practice, but a missing nin, toiling under the yoke of a black-and-red cloak, speaking of peace when his comrades killed Jinchuriki and razed villages? And what would the repercussions be if she were to reveal the chaos and carnage the Fourth Shinobi War would bring on? He wouldn 't believe her if she told him of Zetsu and Uchiha Madara and an alien goddess and time-travel and '

'You can

try

. '

The day was coming to an end, the last of the sun 's dying embers spreading out in soft washes of color, painting the side of Shisui's face in gold and red. Sakura was here and so was he, and Inner was right. If she could trust anyone in her life at the moment, it had to be Shisui.

'I know that. But, I warn you, it 's a very long story and... what I 'm about to say will sound insane. You will not believe, you'll think I've lost my mind or that I'm trying to pull some weird trick on you. But please,

please

hear me out first before you try to run away or call for one of your higher-ups, okay? Please. '

He nodded, with a sudden hint of suspicion in his eyes that he concealed expertly.

Sakura took a deep breath.

In, out, ready, set, go

.

'Let 's start with the basics. As you know, I 'm the daughter of Haruno Kizashi and Mebuki. My name is Haruno Sakura, and I am a Konoha chunin, registration number 012601. I come from about twelve years in the future, making me around seventeen. I was chasing eighteen when a seal based on the space-time properties of the Hiraishin zapped me back to this time. '

She paused, leaving a few seconds for the information to sink in. Seeing the incredulous look on his face made her reconsider the whole thing, but she pressed on before he had a chance to say anything.

'I graduated from the Academy at twelve, and was placed on the same team as Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Our jonin sensei was Hatake Kakashi, though I believe he wasn 't too happy about that in the beginning. '

'Wha ' Wait, hold on a minute, Sakura-chan... '

'Shisui, it really is a long and complicated story and I don 't even think you 're gonna believe me, even if I... ' she stopped, the gears in her mind finally snapping into place. 'Activate your Sharingan. '

Now he was even more taken aback, 'What?! '

She smiled at him and pointed at his eyes, 'Your Sharingan. I know you can use it to look inside my mind, not like a Yamanaka can, but I can project some of my memories, and you can make sure that they're real and I 'm not lying. '

'I can 't just use my Sharingan to get inside your mind, ' he bristled, 'I could hurt you ' '

'Believe me, Shisui-nii, I 've had my fair share of experiences with Sharingan users. And I trust you. '

He seemed ridiculously skeptical and was obviously still baffled by her previous words, but he did activate his dojutsu, and Sakura stared into his eyes without so much as a flinch. She felt her surroundings shift and squashed down her brain 's immediate response to take the threat out. She reached back, finding Inner, and merged with her as she waited for Shisui.

His presence didn 't take long to manifest in her mindscape. In there, she was in her true form, her seventeen-year-old, war-torn body.

'Hello again, Shisui-nii. ' It suddenly felt odd to call him that when she was evidently the elder of the two.

He stared, unblinking, 'Sakura-chan? ' she chuckled at his tone, but motioned for him to follow her.

'What I told you is, unfortunately, true, ' and as if to prove it, images ' memories ' of her graduation day and Kakashi 's bell test appeared on the imaginary walls of her mind. She watched as his disbelief morphed into pure shock, but continued: 'What you find out here will inevitably be hard for you to accept and understand, but it is, again, all true. '

'What? How ' How did you even come back in time? How is that even possible? You said it was a seal based on the same principle as the Hiraishin, but ' '

'Have a seat, Shisui-nii. We might as well get comfortable. '