Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sakura thought herself to be a smart person. She was the student of Senju Tsunade, the Legendary Sanin and 5th Hokage, and the infamous Copy Ninja Kakashi of the Sharingan. However, she still had no idea what was going on.

One minute she was fighting on the battlefield as one of the last people alive, she was sitting at the familiar desks with the sounds of young genin(?) in the background.

Sakura slowly blinks her eyes open. No. This has to be fake, she thinks, staring at the loud young Uzumaki Naruto standing a couple desks in front of her. There’s no way that this is real…right?

She flared her chakra in an attempt to disrupt the genjutsu. Nothing happened though, and she scowled. Sakura felt eyes on her, and she turned to make eye contact with the 12-year-old version of Nara Shikamaru.

He gives her a look as if to ask ‘what are you doing?’ Sakura fixes her face into a smile, and sends him a look in response that says ‘just playing around’

She turns back to the front of the room, eyes locked on Naruto as he shows off his Hitai-Ate to their disbelieving classmates. ‘Did Naruto send her here?’ She couldn’t remember the things leading up to her being 12-years-old again, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had to do something with a certain Uzumaki and Uchiha. The last thing she remembered was fighting by their side, fallen comrades surrounding them.

At this thought, her mood darkens again. If this really isn’t a genjutsu and they found a way to time travel… then I can save people. Sakura lightens up, and starts to mentally make a list.

The first thing I need to change that I can has to be Naruto and Sasuke. I know how much Sasuke loves Itachi, even now. And Naruto can become so powerful, as long as Kakashi-sensei doesn’t neglect us again…

Sakura mentally winces. For how much she loves her sensei, he wasn’t always the best. I also need to become stronger. Sakura clenches her fist. I’m so weak right now. But i’ll change that. I’ll get stronger. For myself, my team, and everyone else!

Sakura didn’t notice when Iruka-sensei came in and started announcing teams. She startled out of her mind when she heard the voice of Naruto.

“Sakura, did you hear that? We’re on a Team together!” Naruto grins at Sakura, and she can’t help but throw a small smile back his way. ‘I didn’t know I missed how much louder he used to be.’

Iruka-sensei lets out a sigh, his pointer finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. “Naruto, please refrain from talking until I’ve finished announcing all the teams.” Naruto pouts, turning back to face the front. “The last person on Team 7 is Sasuke Uchiha.”

“WHAT?! But I don’t want to be on a team with Sasuke-teme!” Naruto exclaims glaring at the Uchiha who glares back. Iruka-sensei lets out an angry huff as Sakura lets out a small giggle. “Naruto.” He says sternly, and Naruto looks down. He mumbles a short “Sorry.” then goes back to glaring at Sasuke.

“Now, on Team 8 is…” Sakura toons out their sensei, already knowing every Team. Instead, she starts thinking about what to do when Kakashi-sensei comes to get their team. Should I go get supplies during lunch, or wait until after Kakashi-sensei tells us about the bell test?

However, she didn’t get time to decide as Iruka-sensei released them for lunch. Sakura lets out a sigh, getting up and ready to leave when Naruto approaches her.

“Hey, Sakura! Since we’re in the same group we should eat lunch together!” Sakura takes a second to think, before an idea forms in her head. “That’s not a bad idea, Naruto! Let’s get Sasuke-kun too. We can do some team bonding.”

She turns and runs towards where she sees Sasuke walking away. “Sakura-chan, wait up!” Sakura ignores Naruto for the time, yelling after Sasuke. “Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!”

She stops in front of Sasuke as he turns around, signature scowl on his face. “What do you want?” he asks, glaring as Naruto runs up behind her. Sakura stands up straight, determination in her eyes. Helping Naruto and Sasuke also means helping their relationship.

With this in mind, she grabs both boys by the wrists and starts dragging them. “H-hey!” Naruto exclaims, fighting against her. Sasuke also tries to escape her grip, but is unable to. “What do you think your doing?” He says, still trying to pull away.

“We’re all going to have Team lunch.” She says, walking towards where she remembered Ichiraku to be. “Why? We’re not even a Team yet!” Naruto says, though he’s given up trying to escape her.

Sakura spins on her heel and releases the boy's wrists. “Thinking like that’s never going to make us an actual team! We’re shinobi now Naruto, and we need to start acting like it. The most important thing for a shinobi is knowing how to be a team with their comrades!”

She watches as multiple emotions flash through both the boys eyes. Finally, Sasuke lets out a small sigh. “Fine. I guess.. You’re somehow right. But this won’t become a regular thing.” He glares at Naruto and Sakura, but starts walking either way.

Naruto jerks moving to follow him. “I don’t mind eating with you whenever you want Sakura!” Sakura smiles and walks after her boys. Good, they’re already getting along better than they were the first month we were a Team.

Maybe I actually can fix everything.

❁

Sakura sits at the end of the three person desk, a difference from what had happened in the past (or was it the future now?) She watches as Naruto puts the eraser in the doorway. He grumbles about how “You shouldn't be late on your first day.” Whereas Naruto was complaining, Sasuke just sat with his chin resting on his hands.

Why does he even do that? Your hands aren't anywhere close to any weapons, Sakura couldn’t help but think. She lets out a sigh, and was just about to tell Naruto to quit when the door to the classroom opens.

All three of their eyes widen, taking in their new sensei. Yes, Sakura already knew what he looked like. But the last time she saw him was…

No. Don’t think about that. You’re gonna change it and save him. Save all of them. With a look of steel, Sakura stands up and screams in unison with Naruto “You’re late!”

“Mah,” and Kami how she missed her sensei’s voice. “My first impression of you lot… You’re interesting. Meet me on the roof.” And with that, he’s gone in a whirl of wind and leaves.

“Wow.” She hears Naruto say. “Our sensei seems like a dick…” Sakura lets out a giggle and she can see Sasuke's lip go up, almost like a smile.

“While what are we waiting for? Hurry up, you two!” Naruto starts running out the door. Not one for being shown up, Sasuke immediately runs after him. Sakura lets out a sigh. Can’t wait to see their rivalry.

Sakura chases after them, and gets to the roof panting with her hands on her knees. “I hate being weak.” She mutters, moving to go sit down by Sasuke.

“Hm. Took you all less than five minutes. Color me… amused. Now, we’re going to introduce ourselves. I’ll go first. My name is Hatake Kakashi. That’s all you really need to know about me.” Sakura raised her hand before Kakashi could start another sentence.

“Sensei, it’s not very good for you to expect us to tell you things about us if you won’t also exchange information.” She lets out a huff and crosses her arms. “It’s quiet unfair sensei. I understand we’re not supposed to give info away so easily, but if we’re gonna be a team we need to know things about each other.”

Kakashi gives Sakura a slight glare, but she doesn’t back down. She returns the glare, and Kakashi eventually lets out a sigh. Sakura grins in victory.

“Fine. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like dogs and eggplants and dislike people who don’t care about their friends. My goal for the future is to train you three into fine shinobi. You can go next, Pinkie.”

A glare once again takes over Sakura’s face. “My name is Haruno Sakura. I like sweets and learning about medical ninjutsu. I dislike people who betray their friends and put peoples lives unnecessarily in danger. My goal is to become a better kunoichi than Tsunade Senju.”

Kakashi watches Sakura with a look that most people wouldn’t be able to decipher. Sakura however knew that he was surprised. Hell, she’d be surprised considering her Academy file probably talked about how much of a fangirl she was. Sakura turns and looks expectantly at Sasuke instead of giving Kakashi any reaction.

Sasuke scowls at her. “My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don’t like anything. My goal is to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone.” Sakura lets out an internal sigh. Of course one team dinner wouldn’t let him loosen up enough.

“Is it my turn?” Naruto asks excitedly, and doesn’t wait for an answer before talking. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and I hate the amount of time it takes to make ramen. My goal is to become Hokage!”

Sakura watches as Kakashi stands up and scans over the group “Mah, you’re a lively bunch. Meet at training ground 7 at 0700. There you three will be taking your actual genin exam.”

Naruto raises his hand at this. “Sensei, what do you mean actual exam? We already passed our genin exam!” Kakashi shakes his head. “It may be true that you passed the genin exams, but each Jounin-sensei gets to test their genin however they want.”

Kakashi pulls out two familiar bells, and Sakura gets a sense of deja vu. “My test is that you have to take these bells from me. It’s a survival test, and goes from 0700 to 1200. Oh, and don’t eat breakfast tomorrow. You’ll just throw it up.”

With this, he once again disappears in a whirl of leaves. Sakura lets out a sigh, standing up and brushing off her dress. I’ll have to get new clothes and also cut my hair…

“Well I’m off to go get ready. See you boys tomorrow!” Not waiting for an answer, Sakura starts running towards the shinobi market. I won’t let anything hold me back. Not others, and sure as hell not myself.

Chapter Text

Sakura woke up early, earlier then even her parents. She wasn't ready to face them. It had been years since she last saw them. She didn't want to admit it, but she also felt their deaths were… less important now. She loved her parents and always would, but thinking back on it they weren't the most supportive of her career.

She lets out a sigh and continues to walk through the shinobi district. She had cut her hair last night, which was one of the reasons she left so early. She didn’t want her mother freaking out over it. Sakura had also already gotten more and newer weapons, expanding her weapons by 10x the original amount.

Sakura had also gotten new clothes. She’d decided to keep a little red in her palette as it was her favorite color. Her new outfit consisted of a qipao similar to what she wore in the war with a fishnet top underneath, a dark green belt wrapped around her waist, chakra fortified fingerless gloves, shorts that went to the top of her knee, and shinobi issued sandals. The outfit had darker colors, and gave Sakura nostalgia.

During the war, things were hard to get. They struggled with food and water, so there wasn’t much time to think about clothing. But one day when Sakura had her old top ripped right through the vest, Ino had offered to make her a new shirt with some access material they had.

Sakura lets out another sigh. There’s no time to think about that! She reminds herself. You’re changing it. You may not have that relationship with Ino anymore, but she’ll be alive.

Sakura suddenly stops, realising she had already gotten to the training ground. Huh, Naruto and Sasuke aren’t here yet. She took a minute to ponder what to do, then shrugged and put down her bag. Might as well stretch and start strength training.

She took off her weapons pouches and started the training regime that Tsunade had started on, and let out groans of suffering as she went through it. God, I really didn’t exercise enough as a kid. Sakura was so focused she didn’t notice when Sasuke entered the field. She continued on until she moved to stand up fully and stretch again. It was then that she noticed Sasuke, who was standing at the entrance of the field with a look of shock on his face. (Of course he didn’t show his shock so visibly, but Sakura had known him for years and could pick out emotions from the tiniest twitch.)

“Oh, hey Sasuke-kun! How long have you been here?” She asked, walking over to get a quick drink of water. Sasuke replies with a simple “Hn.” and goes to sit against a tree. Sakura takes this as an ‘I don’t know’ and opens up a scroll she had bought from a shop earlier. They sit in silence for a bit before Sasuke asks “What were you doing?”

Sakura glances at him before returning to going through her scroll. “Training. That’s what we’re here to do, isn’t it?” “Hn.” is all she gets in reply. An awkward tension fills in between them before Sakura lets out a sigh. She stands up and walks in front of Sasuke.

“Spar with me.” Sasuke opens his eyes and looks at her like she’s crazy. “Are you crazy? Why would I do that?” Sakura rolls her eyes and places a hand on her hip. “Because I need practice and you need entertainment.” He scoffs at her and looks the other way. Sakura lets out another sigh.

“Look, I’m guessing you listened to Kakashi-sensei and didn’t eat breakfast?” Sasuke doesn’t give her a verbal answer, but his eyes flicker back towards her. “Well that was a stupid thing to do. You’ll be starving by the time he gets here and you need the energy for the exam. And it just so happens that I have an extra bento with me. So, if you spar with me, you can have it.”

She watches as he silently contemplates. “What’s in the bento?” Sakura mentally pumps her fist in the air, counting this as a win. “I have one with rice, grilled fish, and tomatoes. So are you in?”

Sasuke glares at her and lets out a huff. “Fine. But I’m going to spar for long. We don’t know when Kakashi-sensei will get here.” She lets out a snort at this. “You know Kakashi-sensei is notorious for being super late, right?” She walks away giggling, turning around just enough to catch the look of enragement on Sasuke’s face.

❁

Surprisingly, Sakura and Sasuke had been able to spar for a good hour before he called an end. Granted, Sasuke won most of the rounds due to Sakura’s stupid little body. She had been able to one up him once though, and she took that as a win considering she’d never been able to beat Sasuke in a spar at this age before.

Unsurprisingly, the minute they sit down Naruto bursts into the training ground talking 10 miles an hour about some reason he was late. He stopped after noticing the absence of a certain sensei. “Hey, where’s Kakashi-sensei?” “Obviously not here, dobe.” This gets Naruto riled up, and he stomps towards Sasuke with a glare.

“No shit teme! I didn’t ask if he was- hey Sakura, you cut your hair! And outfit!” Naruto beamed at her, and came to stand in front of her. For some reason, Sakura starts to anxiously twirl her hair. “Um, I didn’t want it getting ruined on a mission so I cut it at home.”

“It’s short. Super short. I think Sasuke’s hair is longer than yours right now.” Sakura looks towards Sasuke, and imagines the back of his hair sitting down flat. “You’re probably right.” See, Sakura hadn’t cut her hair like she originally did. Instead of her haircut the landed on her shoulders, her hair now resembled Sasuke's in a sense. She still had her bangs, but the back of her hair was cut in a jagged a-line.

“Is that… a bad thing?” Even though Sakura didn't care what other people thought, Naruto and Sasuke were different. She valued their opinions. Of course it's not likeot like she would wear a wig or get extensions if they said no. It was just…nice to care about something as small as appearance instead of a death raging war.

“I think you look cool, Sakura-chan! You kinda look like a boy with your hair like that. Which could help you on missions!” Naruto smiles, and Sakura can’t help but smile back. “It would be easier for infiltration.” Naruto nods at this. She looks towards Sasuke hesitantly. “Sasuke-kun?”

He doesn’t look at her, but responds with a “Hn.” Stupid Uchiha’s. Sakura still smiles at this before she grabs a bento from her bag and holds it up to Naruto. “I brought extra bentos in case you didn’t eat breakfast.”

Naruto looks at her confused. “But Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat.” Sakura scoffs at this, but puts on a gentler face when Naruto’s mood dims. “That’s because Kakashi-sensei is stupid. He knows we’ll need energy and nutrients to beat him today. That’s why he told us not to eat, so we’d be at a bigger disadvantage.”

Sakura drops the bento into Naruto’s hand, not waiting for an answer. “Eat. I have the sneaking suspicion that Kakashi-sensei will be here soon.” Naruto stares down at the bento, before sitting next to Sakura with a grin. “Itadakimasu!” And Naruto immediately starts digging in.

Of course, Sakura knew more things than Naruto and Sasuke knew. She knew that they’d pass despite their initial poor teamwork, which she hopes to change. She knows the secrets they both have, and she know that Kakashi-sensei was sitting in the trees across from the trio for the past hour. She’d been here for about 5 hours, which meant they’d be starting soon.

Sakura put away her scroll, noticing that Naruto had already finished the bento. She takes it out of his hands and puts it back in her bag before Kakashi suddenly appears before them.

“You’re late!” All three of the genin scream. Kakashi eye smiles at them. “Mah, I told you guys to be here by 0700. I never said I’d be here now did I?” It’s so Kakashi that Sakura almost lets out a laugh, but covers it up with a huff. “If you’re gonna be a good sensei then you need to actually be a sensei.”

Kakashi looks at her, before looking to the sky. “I’m only your sensei if you pass my exam.” Sakura walks up to him, standing confidently when she says “Why do you doubt us? You don’t know us. You don’t know what we’re capable of, what we can and can’t do. You don’t know anything. You have no right to decide if we’ll pass your exam or not. I’ll tell you this though, we will pass it. And then you’ll have to be our sensei.”

Sakura can see the way his eye studies, and the emotions going through it. Good, let him think about that. When he knows us, he’ll know we’ll never back down from a challenge. “Sakura-chan’s right! We’ll pass your exam and you’ll teach us super cool jutsu's!” Sakura smiles, glad to know even now she’s backed up by her boys. Even though Sasuke didn’t verbalize his response like Naruto, she knew he agreed.

“Well, let's start then if you’re so sure. You have until noon to take the two bells from me. If you don’t take a bell from me, you’re getting sent back to the academy. You’ll have 5 minutes to plan.” Before anyone could get a word in, Kakahi once again vanished.

“Dammit. Why can’t he just stay for more than 1 second?!” Naruto grabs at his hair, now mumbling about how stupid their sensei was. Sakura let out a sigh. She’d been doing that a lot lately.

“Here’s the plan guys.” Both of the boys turn towards her, and she’s cut off by Sasuke. “Wait.” he says, crossing his arms. “Why should we listen to you? You’re you.” She glares at him and walks up to him. Looking down on him, she says “I’m the top Kuniochi of our class. My scores were higher than yours. You may think you’re all that Sasuke, but you only beat me in the physical aspect. I’m smarter. If we want to beat Kakashi-sensei, we need my mind. Not just yours.”

Her and Sasuke stare at each other for a few seconds, before he scoffs and looks away. Sakura grins at this, and backs away. “Okay, now here’s actually the plan.”

❁

Sakura knew they could beat Kakashi. Of course, he probably thought that she did, but that’s not the point of the exam. This exam was about teamwork, not necessarily winning. Winning was just a bonus for them, and they were gonna do it.

Sakura sits in a bush with her chakra concealed, waiting for her cue. Hopefully this took them less than an hour to do, considering she was feeling hungry again. She watches as 20 Naruto's burst onto the training ground and start attacking Kakashi. It seems he didn’t expect this, but he still started to destroy every single one.

As Kakashi was distracted, he hadn’t noticed Sasuke rushing behind him until it was almost too late. As Sasuke threw multiple shuriken and kunai at him, Kakashi dodged them and kicked him back. Sasuke flew multiple meters, letting out a groan.

Sakura winces in sympathy. Sadly since she wasn’t even close to the boys in physical strength, they’d be taking the brunt of Kakashi. Sasuke recovered fast, and went to join Naruto in their taijutsu battle. She watched as the boys got thrown, kicked, and punched around the training ground. She felt Sasuke flare his chakra.

Sakura let out a giggle and formed the hand seals needed, then mentally called out Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!

It was kind of ironic, considering this is what Kakashi had used during Sakura’s first genin exam. She keeps her chakra as suppressed as she can as she reaches up out of the earth and grabs Kakashi’s ankles. She smirks with satisfaction as surprise once again flickers on Kakashi’s face. With all her strength, she pulls Kakashi into the earth neck deep.

She pops out next to Naruto and gives him a fist bump. She then drops the bell she retrieved into Sasuke’s hand, who had come up next to them. “That’s it sensei. We win.” Kakashi looks at the trio boredly. “Mah, but I still have a bell.” Naruto grins at this and holds up his own bell.

“No you don’t! I got it off of you during our fight and replaced it with one Sakura-chan had bought! So now you have to teach us sensei.” Sakura looks at her teammates with pride on her face. “Hm.” The trio watches as Kakashi turns into a log, and Sakura whips around to see him reading a book on a rock. She doesn’t have to look at the book to know it’s Icha Icha.

“Congrats, you three pass. The point of this exam wasn’t to beat me, even though you three managed to do so. The point was teamwork. In the shinobi world, those who don’t follow the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Naruto, you led the attack. At first I thought you would act alone, but then Sasuke came and you two worked in tandem. If this was supposed to be a 2 man team, I would’ve passed you on that. But it’s not. Sakura, I’m guessing that you had come up with the plan seeing as Sasuke had flared his chakra before you attacked. Congrats, Team 7 is now officially all genin.”

The three took a minute to process that, as it was the most words some of them had heard from him. Naruto is the first to break the silence, letting out a whoop and jumping around. Sakura lets out a laugh at this, and even sees Sasuke’s lip twitch into a small smile.

She notices Kakashi looking at them, and knows that he’s seeing his old team in them. “Okay okay, calm down. Now, I want you three to meet on the bridge at 0900 tomorrow. Then, we’ll talk about getting you guys started on training.” “Wait!” Naruto interrupts him. “You’re gonna be there on time this time, right?”

Kakashi eyes smiles at them. “Mah, we’ll see how I feel.” And with that, he’s gone in a whirl of leaves and wind once again. The newly established Team 7 stand there, and then let out a groan in unison. Yep, this was their life now. And Sakura wouldn’t replace it with anything.

Chapter Text

Hey guys! Sorry for not uploading for a month... I've been participating in a fast with my church and was fasting from media. Sadly, this included ao3. But! I'm back now and should be uploading the real chapter 3 in the next week. Also, expect some inconsistent chapter posting until March. I made it into my school musical, and rehearsal has been crazy. Thank you for supporting this story!!!

Chapter Text

Sakura forgot how much she hated D-rank missions. When she had started studying under Lady Tsunade, she barely took any D-ranks. She had become a chunin when she was 14, more than a year after she started being taught. After becoming chunin, D-ranks weren’t that common. But being a genin again, Kakashi-sensei had them doing multiple D-ranks every day.

“Ugh, why can’t we just do cool missions?” Naruto exclaims, dropping the bag he had been hauling. They were currently helping a civilian move into their new house. Sakura lets out a sigh as she wipes the sweat from her forehead. Hopefully we graduate to chunin during the first exam this year…

“Because Naruto,” she says as she sets down her box and moves to go grab another one. “We’re the underdogs. If you don’t want to be doing civilian chores then you’re going to have to graduate to chunin.” She hears as Sasuke lets out a grunt, and she turns to see his signature scowl on his face. “Just because we’re the underdogs doesn’t make the fact we’re doing civilian work any better.

Sakura lets out a sigh. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days. “Let's just get the final crates so we can go train.” Neither of the boys argue with her, and they quickly finish the job just in time for Kakashi-sensei to appear.

“Mah, it seems you three completed all the D-ranks for the day.” “That means we get to go, right sensei?” Kakashi looks at the three of them and they shiver. Oh no. “Actually, you guys are going to do training with Team 10.” Sakura pales at this. She hadn’t talked to Shikamaru since the last day at the academy, and the last time she talked to Ino… Sakura shakes her head and focuses on what Kakashi is saying. “We’re going to be doing a team competition. It’ll be all three of you versus all three of them. Whichever team loses, their sensei will pay for all of their dinners. So, you brats better win this.”

The three genin look at each other as a grin takes over their faces. “Of course we’re gonna win, Sensei!” Naruto announces with his usual enthusiasm, fists pumping in the air.

Sasuke snorts. “As long as we don’t let Naruto do all the planning, we’ll be fine.”

“Hey!” Naruto glares, but it’s half-hearted. Even he knows Sasuke has a point.

Sakura brushes dirt from her skirt and sighs again. A match against Team 10? That meant facing Ino. And Shikamaru. And Choji. They hadn’t sparred since they were kids. Well, since Team 10 were kids. The last time Sakura saw them in battle…

She lets out a small shudder, before grinning at their sensei. “Yeah, don’t underestimate us sensei. Of course we’re going to win.”

Kakashi’s single visible eye crinkles in amusement as he waves lazily toward the training fields. “They’re already waiting. Let’s not hold them up.”
—
The sun hung low in the sky by the time they reached Training Field 7. Team 10 stood in the center clearing, Ino twirling a kunai between her fingers like she was born to do it, Shikamaru lying flat on the grass and staring up at the clouds, and Choji popping another handful of chips into his mouth.

“You’re late,” Ino said, the moment they arrived. Her eyes flicked to Sakura, and the air between them instantly tensed. “Figures you’d keep us waiting.”

Sakura didn’t bite. She just stepped forward with calm precision. “Didn’t realize we were on your schedule, Ino-pig.”

Shikamaru groaned from the ground. “Can we just get this over with? This whole thing is such a drag.”

Choji nodded, brushing crumbs off his shirt. “What’s the competition, anyway?”

Kakashi appeared behind both teams, joined moments later by Asuma, both who were looking amused at the growing tension.

“The rules are simple,” Kakashi said, holding up a single finger. “Capture the flag. Each team hides a flag somewhere on the field and the first team to retrieve the opponent’s and return it to their starting point wins.”

“And we get free dinner if we win,” Naruto reminded everyone, beaming.

“Don’t forget,” Asuma added with a smirk. “That goes for both sides. So you brats better fight like you mean it, because I know you’re starving..”
Asuma tossed a red flag to Team 10. Kakashi tossed a blue one to his team.

“You have five minutes to hide it,” Kakashi said. “Then the game begins.”
—
They split up, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto vanishing into the treeline to discuss their plan.

“Okay, so where should we hide the flag?” Naruto asked. “Someplace super secret, right? Like up in a tree or under a rock or—”

“No,” Sakura cut him off. “They’ll expect those places. We need somewhere unexpected. Something that looks too obvious to check.”

Sasuke nodded slowly. “Beneath the bridge near the stream. There’s a hollow under the planks. We wrap it in chakra thread so we can pull it in if someone gets close.”

“Perfect,” Sakura said, and for a second, their teamwork felt seamless—easy, like the old days.
—
Five minutes later, the forest echoed with the sounds of battle.

Sakura ducked beneath a kunai as it whizzed past her ear, Ino chasing her through the trees. “Still hiding behind the boys, Forehead?”

“I don’t need anyone to beat you, Ino,” Sakura snapped, dodging to the left and launching a fist toward the girl. Ino blocked, but stumbled, and Sakura surged forward, determination blazing in her eyes.

Elsewhere, Naruto was facing off against Choji, laughing even as he dodged a rolling boulder of meat tank fury. Meanwhile Sasuke had disappeared entirely—classic Uchiha.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, stood at the edge of the battlefield, fingers already forming a seal. His shadow flickered out toward Sakura but stopped after hearing Ino's voice scream, “THE FLAG! THEY’VE GOT OUR FLAG!”

From the treeline, Sasuke emerged, calm as ever, the red cloth held tightly in one hand.

“About time,” Shikamaru muttered.

“Go, Sasuke!” Sakura shouted. She leapt in front of Shikamaru’s shadow, breaking his line of sight as Sasuke dashed for the return point.
Naruto was already cheering before Sasuke even crossed the boundary.

“In your faces!” he shouted, pointing at Team 10 with both hands.

Ino scowled, breathless. “How…?”

Shikamaru sighed. “We never even saw him move.”

Choji just shrugged. “I’m still hungry.”

Kakashi clapped his hands together. “Looks like dinner’s on you, Asuma.”

Asuma exhaled a long breath of smoke and scratched the back of his head. “Figures. Alright, brats. Let’s eat.”

The two teams start walking towards Ichiraku, due to Naruto’s insistence. Sakura trailed behind the group, walking beside Sasuke. “Nice work out there,” she said quietly.

He gave her a sideways glance. “You too.”

She allowed herself a small smile. Sakura knew things wouldn’t be as smooth as they were in the future - and could the future even be considered smooth sailing? – but at least Sasuke was warming up to her now.
–
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting warm gold over the rooftops of Konoha, laughter drifted through the village streets from a long table outside Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto was already on his third bowl, Choji not far behind, and even Ino was cracking a smile between bites.

Sakura sat quietly at the end of the bench, chopsticks in hand, but barely picking at her food. She felt it before she saw him—Shikamaru sliding into the empty seat next to her, arms folded, an unreadable gaze fixed on his face.

“Something on your mind?” she asked, not looking up.

“You could say that.” She glanced at him, met his eyes for a heartbeat, then turned back to her bowl.

“You’re different,” Shikamaru said simply.

Sakura paused, her chopsticks hovering in the air. “…Excuse me?”

“You’re not the same girl who graduated with us. Not really.”

Sakura put her chopsticks down, slow and deliberate. “People change.”

Shikamaru leaned forward, eyes sharp. “Not that much. Not this fast.” The volume of the others' conversation faded into background noise, Sakura’s mind fixating on Shikamaru.

“You know how I think. You’ve seen how I observe people. I notice things.” His voice was quiet, but insistent. “You don’t hesitate. You fight like someone who’s seen real battle—like a chunin, not a genin. You knew to block my shadow jutsu before it even reached you. And your strategy during the flag match?” He gave a small shake of his head. “Not just smart. It was experienced.”

Sakura’s pulse quickened, but she kept her expression neutral. ‘There’s no way he knows. He can’t.’ “Then there’s your medical skills,” he added. “You bandaged Naruto's arm last week using a compression wrap I’ve only seen in field medics trained by the best.” He was getting too close. Too accurate. Too close too close too close-

“I’ve been training,” she said flatly. “Kakashi-sensei—”

“Kakashi-sensei hasn’t taught you that yet,” Shikamaru interrupted, tone almost bored, but his eyes never left hers. “So either you have a secret sensei, or there’s more going on than you’re saying.”

Sakura's knuckles whitened in her lap. She couldn’t look at Shikamaru. She knew that even a glance would give away everything. Sakura was never good at keeping secrets from her boys, including Shikamaru. “What’s your point, Shikamaru?”

“My point,” he said, voice low, “is that you’re not being honest. Not with us. Not with anyone.” ‘Not with me’ was left unspoken, but Sakura could hear it clear as day. The words hit harder than she expected. She felt the sting of truth in them—but also the weight of everything she couldn’t say.

“I’m not trying to expose you,” he continued. “I just need to know one thing.”

Sakura blinked, forcing her expression to be calm. “…What?”

“Whatever changed you—does it put the village in danger?” The question hit her like a punch from Tsunade. She looked up at him, and for a moment, her carefully built wall cracked. The look in her eyes was older than it had any right to be. Sadder. Tired. Shikamaru’s eyes grew upon seeing this.

“No,” she said softly. “I would never let it.” Shikamaru studied her for a long time, the tension between them humming like wire. Finally, he leaned back with a sigh.

“And if this changes?.” Sakura holds eye contact with him for a second, studying his face.

“I’ll tell you.”

Shikamaru gives her a nod. There’s a glint in his eye that shows he’s satisfied by this, and Sakura can’t help but smile at this. ‘You always did like a good victory, didn’t you?’
“You know where to find me when you do.” He moves to get up but stops. “Sakura, you know you can come to me for more than information, right?” Sakura softens at this.

“Of course, Shikamaru.” He hesitates a couple of seconds, nods his head, then leaves the restaurant. Sakura lets out a small sigh of relief.

‘I want to tell you. You don’t know how much I want to tell you Shikamaru. I just can’t. Not yet, at least. Maybe one day, when I've finally figured out how to keep everyone safe...'

Chapter Text

Sometimes it was easy to forget Sakura was here to change a messed up future. Doing missions with her boys, training with them or independently, or even just lounging around.

It was easy to forget, so much so that Sakura hadn’t been back home in days due to living in this euphoric past. The minute she walked into her childhood house, she heard the scrapping of chairs and the rush of footsteps.

“Sakura! Where have you been?! You haven’t been home in 3 days. We’ve been worried sick!” Sakura’s mother grabs her face with her hands to examine her face. Sakura grabs her mothers wrists and pulls her hands off of her face.

“I’m fine mom. I’ve been busy with missions, that’s all.” At this remark, a sharp glint passes through her parents' eyes.

“You know,” her father starts, earning him a curious look from Sakura. “We think it might be better if you stop all this playing Sakura. We entertained you at first, but being a shinobi is dangerous!”

Her mother nods along as horror starts to overtake Sakura’s face. “We love you, and we only want the best for you, dear. The only reason you were allowed to join the academy was because we thought you’d find a nice husband. But now you’re cutting your hair, changing your clothes, and you’re never home! We can’t let this go on.”

Sakura looks between her parents. This hadn’t happened in the past (future? God she didn’t know-). ‘Why is this happening now?’ she thought. ‘They didn’t like me being a kunoichi in the last timeline, but they never openly spoke out against it…’

“But mom, dad,” she tries to reason. “I’m becoming a kunoichi to help the village! I want to be able to protect everyone I care about.”

Her father’s expression hardens. “You’re a child, Sakura. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You say you want to protect others, but what about us? What about protecting yourself?”

“I am protecting myself,” Sakura replies, voice rising. “That’s why I’m training. That’s why I’m out there risking everything—because I know what could happen if I don’t!”

Her mother’s eyes flash with worry, her voice shrill. “Listen to yourself! This isn’t who you are. You used to care about your appearance, your studies, your future. Now it’s all about throwing yourself into fights and running around with those two boys! Do you even remember the kind of girl you were?”

Sakura’s fists clench. “I remember. I also remember how helpless I felt when everything went to hell.”

The words escape before she can stop them. Her parents blink. Her father steps forward, his face creasing. “What do you mean by that?”

She hesitates. Time travel. Alternate futures. Death and war. There was no way they’d believe her, even if she told them everything.

“I’ve seen what happens when no one steps up,” she finally says. “And I won’t be that person again. I won’t sit around waiting for others to fix things while I watch people I love die.”

Her mother gasps. Her father’s expression shifts from confusion to something colder.

“That’s not normal talk, Sakura. I don’t know what kind of things those ninja have put in your head, but this isn’t healthy. You need to come back home and think about what really matters.”

“I am thinking about what matters!” Sakura yells. “You just don’t understand!”

“No,” her father says, voice low. “We don’t. And maybe we never will. But this stops now. You can’t keep living like this. If you won’t choose a different path... then you won’t do it from under our roof.”

There it was. The line. The one she hadn’t thought they’d ever draw.

Her breath catches. She looks at her mother, hoping—praying—for something, anything, that might soften the blow. Her mother just looks away, refusing to meet Sakura’s eyes.

“You should pack your things,” her father says, his voice hollow now. “We’ll give you a few hours.”

–
The door shuts behind her like a final verdict. Sakura stares at the wooden frame for a long moment, her bag slung over one shoulder, the other strap half-dragging along the ground. Her fists ache from how tightly she’d been clenching them.

It’s not like she hadn’t known this timeline would come with consequences. The Butterfly Effect, right? Tiny changes blooming into something bigger. But this—this hadn’t even been a ripple in her memories.

She takes a slow, steady breath.

The sun’s beginning to rise, washing the village in a deep, gold light. She doesn’t have a destination in mind—her feet move on instinct, carrying her toward higher ground, until she finds herself beneath the Hokage Monument, just where she’d always gone when she needed to think.

It’s quieter here. Safer, somehow. Like the stone faces are watching over her. Guiding her. She can imagine the face not yet carved onto the mountain.

“I didn’t think it would hurt this much,” she says out loud, to no one in particular. She doesn’t cry. She wants to. Her eyes sting, and her throat is raw, but she doesn’t let the tears fall.

Sakura knows worse pain than this. She remembers the bodies, the chaos. She remembers Tsunade's death, Kakashi’s. She remembers fire, blood, the unbearable silence of the world after the war ended and everyone had lost too much.

She wipes her face with the back of her hand anyway, just in case some fell through.

“Sakura?”

She startles slightly at the voice and turns to see Naruto standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, eyes wide with concern. Sasuke trails behind him, silent as always, but there’s something softer in his gaze than usual.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asks, trying to keep her voice steady.

Naruto shrugs as he walks over and plops down beside her. “You weren’t at training so Kakashi-sensei sent us to find you. Said something about this being training enough. Did you at least eat something?

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“Liar,” Naruto replies, lacking his trademark grin. “You look like hell.”

Sasuke settles on her other side, arms loosely crossed. “Something happened.”

Sakura looks away, out over the rooftops, where the sky was bluer than she remembered when she had sat down–a couple hours must have passed. She doesn’t answer right away.

“My parents kicked me out,” she says finally. Her voice sounds hollow–calm even–just like how it was after…

Naruto’s head snaps toward her. “What? Why?!”

“They don’t understand why I’m doing this. Why I have to do this.” She exhales slowly. “They said I’m not the same girl I used to be. And they’re right. I’m not. But I thought they could… I thought they would at least still love me.”

There's silence after that. Heavy and fragile. The kind that feels like it might shatter if anyone breathes too loud.

“That’s their mistake,” Sasuke says at last. Sakura turns to look at him, startled. He’s staring ahead, not meeting her eyes. “You’re stronger now, and maybe they didn’t like that. But that’s their fault if they didn’t see how much better you’ve been.”

Sakura blinks. “Even if it means I lost them?”

“You didn’t lose anything,” Naruto mutters. “They gave up on you. That’s different.”

His voice trembles a little. Sakura glances at him and sees the same look he wore after Jiraiya died—anger and grief coiled tight, trying to pretend it was all okay.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“Don’t be,” Naruto says. “I’ve never had parents. I used to wish I did… but hearing what they said to you? What they did? I think you’re better off without them holding you back.”

She gives him a sad smile. “It’s not that simple, though I wish it was.”

“I know,” he says. “But… you’ve got us. You’ve got Kakashi-sensei. You even have everyone from the other teams!”

Sasuke doesn’t speak, but he shifts slightly closer, just enough that their shoulders touch. Sakura leans into him a little, trying to find the best comfort she can.

“You’re not alone,” Naruto adds. “Even if the world turns against you—we won’t. I promise.”

Sakura lowers her head, a breath catching in her throat. For the first time all day, something inside her begins to ease. Not heal, not yet—but soften. Like a sword being sheathed, just for a moment.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she admits quietly. “Things are changing so fast, too quickly. I’m…” Scared is what she doesn’t say, but the two boys pick up on the words left behind.

“We’ll face it together,” Naruto says. “All of it.”

She looks between the two of them—Naruto, fierce and unyielding; Sasuke, silent but steady—and nods, her voice barely a whisper.

“Okay.”

The three of them sit there in silence as Konoha begins to fully wake up. The weight of the past presses against the present, the future curling quietly beneath their feet.