The Kunoichi That Slid Through Time

Chapter One

Questions, yes?

Sasuke was shocked, even after all he had been through this had to be the worst. At the moment Konohagakure was burning as the invasion continued. 'It wasn't supposed to be like this', he thought, 'We were supposed to have a lasting peace. After all that the dope has worked for, his damn kid had to betray us to men that refused to accept a peaceful world.'

His heart wrenched as he spotted Sakura holding the man she actually loved and had hurt by pushing him away and onto that thrice-damned Hyuga. Clenching his fists he ran up to the scene in front of him.

"Sakura, we don't have much time. You know what to do right?"

"I do but...Naruto, I can't leave him like this. Sasuke, I just can't," the woman with pink hair cried still holding the limp form of the Seventh and possibly last Hokage.

"Don't worry, I...I'll take care of him. They won't have him, I promise. Now hurry we're running out of time!" he yelled as he began to activate his Sharingan eyes manifesting a wormhole behind the woman.

"What about him?" Sakura asked, "Did you take care of that little fuck? Sasuke, he better be dead for what he did to his father and mother. Where the hell is he and where is Himawari?!"

"Don't worry, Boruto is dead, Sarada took him down after he tried to take her eyes. He's nothing but ash by now. Hima-chan is MIA and presumed dead, she was last seen with Hanabi and Konohamaru near the academy helping Iruka, Udon and Moegi."

"What about Lady Tsunade and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Dead, those last explosions were them using suicide moves, I watched sensei take out about fifty of those bastards when his chakra ran low. Lady Fifth lost it when Shizune was killed. That pig was carrying an explosive bundle towards the main force, it should be getting there..." KRACKBOOOOOM! " about now. Sorry, Sakura, that's the last of our leaders, the rest of the Konoha 11 were killed in their sleep by that traitorous bastard, I should've seen that he had an accident while training while I was teaching him."

"I know, I knew something was wrong with him when Sarada said he mentioned that he hated his dad the first time because Naruto sent a Kage Bunshin to some party. Ungrateful little bastard was always whining about how hard his life was because Naruto took his job seriously and was never home. At least he had parents, his father had no one until us."

I know, but that's water under the bridge. We all had a feeling that things were going too well, that's why he made this jutsu, so one of us has a chance to escape. He...loved you, so did I at one time, that's why you're the one that goes back. Can you do this Sakura? You have your mission orders now go, hurry woman! Kurama isn't going to last much longer and we need him to power the jutsu!"

As he mentioned the fox it appeared next to Naruto's body and placed his muzzle on its former host's lap as Sakura still refused to let him go, the once great beast was now the size of a border collie and if not for the expression and whines of pain would be considered cute. Sakura reached out and stroked its head trying to comfort it and to Sasuke's surprise no harm was being done to her unlike the last time had seen her in contact to that kind of chakra but said nothing as she opened her mouth as she stood up as the fox continued its vigil,

"I need to know Sasuke-kun, isn't there any way for us to go back together?" the man shook his head as another explosion rocked the village, it seemed that the academy was now gone and the Hokage tower was billowing oily black smoke, "Are...are really you okay with this?"

"Yes! I should never have taken you from him. He deserved better, he...Sakura, he deserves you. Remember, Kurama will be with you until you can make the transfer. Our daughter just used her flames and that was confirmation that we lost Iruka and the others. Sarada's been acting Hokage the minute Naruto was killed and she has given you probably her first and only orders as acting Hokage and you have my own as Sasaukage. Take this with you, it's a letter from Konohamaru to his grandfather, it should help you validate your story and make it easier for the old man to help you...and him" with that Sasuke handed his former wife a sealed scroll before speaking again, "Hime, even if I could go with you I couldn't, we didn't tell you everything concerning this jutsu, the caster forfeits his life for it to work. Go now, make him happy!"

With that Sakura found herself pushed into the wormhole. As she watched the opening collapse she heard her husband yell out "Amaterasu!" as the black fire engulfed the body of Uzumaki Naruto, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.

After that, he activated the sealing array that he stood on. She watched in amazement as Kurama's red chakra slammed into him, powering the jutsu before the remainder that held the fox's conscious leaped into the seal hidden in the palm of her hand. Just as the portal closed she gasped as she saw her ex-husband topple onto the burning body of his best friend dead from the suicide technique required to power the jutsu. After that, the window closed and everything went from grey to black.

Before she passed out she heard a voice from long ago, "Don't worry little vixen, he's alive and healthy where we're going."

"Kurama?"

"Yes, remember, when we get back you need to find him and place your palm onto his seal. When you do that I'll be able to merge with my other half and that will help him control not only his chakra but his emotions and help him concentrate. I need you to help him learn what was denied him by those poor excuses for teachers. He needs to learn the Kage Bunshin as well, teach that to him first. Now my little kit, sleep."

With that Sakura fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. When she awoke she found herself where she had been, on top of Minato's head. Looking around she saw that there were only four faces on the mount and looking over the village she confirmed that it was the one she grew up in. As she stirred she checked to see if her equipment had made it back with her, it was all there including her mask in its pouch. She then felt pain coursing through her body. Acting on instinct alone she flared her chakra in a coded pattern known only to ANBU. With that action, she passed out only to wake looking into the mask of a cat-faced ANBU. Gathering her strength she reached slowly into her vest and pulled out a mission scroll,

"Ne..need help, Konoha has fallen, my Hokage has fallen. Please, give this to Lord Third, the Fox...the Fox is in danger from within, I need...need...need to protect him. Need to protect Naru..." the effort to speak was too much and the woman passed out once more.

Waking a third time she felt warm blankets and a soft mattress under her. Looking around the room she smiled to herself, she was in the ANBU wing of Konoha's general hospital. As she inhaled deeply her nose twitched at the smell of smoke, smoke she hadn't smelled since she was a twelve-year-old Kunoichi. As she turned to see the owner of the pipe emitting the sweetly smelling acrid smoke she smiled.

"Lord Third," she nearly sighed in relief, "I was sent here on a mission of extreme importance, one issued by my Hokage and Sasaukage."

"Your Hokage young lady? I find that I'm at a disadvantage and don't understand," Sarutobi Hiruzen replied. Just then Neko, the ANBu with the cat mask leaned in and handed the Hokage a small scroll. Opening it and reading the contents the old man took Sakura's hand and looked over the scroll once more, this time noticing the encoded script in the header and foot of the message.

"I understand Lord Third, there is a scroll with a blood seal that I'm to deliver directly to you, it's in the inside pocket of my vest. There's a blood seal on it coded to the Sarutobi family only, that may help you understand things. A second supplementary mission scroll should be with it, you should find your answers in those." Sakura answered as she grasped his hand tightly into hers. To the casual viewer, it looked to be a young woman seeking comfort from her elder. In reality, she was tapping an ANBU code onto his hand, "Danger, ROOT has infiltrated your most trusted. Danzo seeks the villages most powerful weapon for himself. Mission instructions in a scroll will tell all who are compromised. They need to be eliminated before we can move on with my reason for being here."

Hiruzen nodded and tapped a confirmation code to Sakura in return before taking possession of the scrolls. Opening the one with the blood seal he nearly dropped in in shock. The contents bringing tears to his eyes,

Hey Gramps,

I never thought that I would write another letter to you in my life after what had happened all those years ago but here I am doing just that. Let me explain, if you're reading this then big sister Sakura was ordered to make the jump and all is lost. Naruto came up with a jutsu that can send one person back to your time in order to ensure things go differently for us in the future. As I said, Naruto came up with this jutsu but it needs to have an Uchiha open the portal and Kurama, the Kyuubi, power the thing. Naruto thinks that Sakura only has his orders to make the changes from the shadows, what he doesn't know is this, she has other orders that take a higher priority than what he issued as the Seventh Hokage. The first set of orders are from Naruto's Supporting Shadow, Uchiha Sasuke. The final set of orders are from me, the Eighth Hokage in Waiting, Sarutobi Konohamaru. Naruto Oyabun made it official when I turned twenty-five and had trained my own genin team. So, I suppose that I should tell you what she's been ordered to do,

1-Return to the past and work from the shadows and eliminate any threats to our home and future. That includes the termination of Orochimaru, Danzo, and any other threat. That's from the Boss, Naruto.

2-Ensure the safety, education, and health, both mental and physical, or Uzumaki Naruto. Should it be necessary she is to remove him from the village and train him in a secret location known only to her and those of us in this timeline. Naruto is not to be trained by Hatake Kakashi as we suspect that he has harbored ill feelings towards the Boss due to the loss of his sensei. He is also to be trained in his father's techniques by Lord Jiraiya as soon as he is deemed ready. Sakura is also ordered to do all she can to be allowed to adopt the Boss as soon as possible. No offense Gramps but a lot was hidden from you concerning Naruto's treatment in the village, including Naruto himself. This set of orders comes from Uchiha Sasuke, the Bosses Shadow.

3-My mission to Sakura is this, she is to protect Naruto's heart at all costs. We found a contract hidden in the archives that confirms that the betrothal of Naruto and Sakura but it was suppressed when she became obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke and began to abuse the Boss while in the academy. Her parents decided that to enforce the agreement would cause Naruto undue heartbreak as Sakura was rejecting him nearly every day. Now, however, there is a chance to change things for the better. Please find that scroll, it will help Naruto know that he is loved more than he is now.

Gramps, I don't know what else to say to you but this, I miss you and I took your death very hard. Naruto and later Sakura helped me get through your loss and I'm thankful that they did. I hope in some way we can keep you alive a little longer than last time. I never was able to tell you this when I was an annoying brat that was always trying to take the hat but I can tell you now, I love you and I'm grateful for all you did for me. Please let Sakura complete her missions and help her all you can. She loves Naruto, that much we all could see and will give him the best care that she can give.

I hope that someday I and Naruto can give you the retirement you so richly deserve. I'm proud to be the village's Honorable Grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru

Eighth Hokage of Konoha.

Hiruzen frowned at the scroll, finding out that you're dead like that has that effect on a person. Picking up the other scroll he read the mission given to her by her Hokage. He smiled at seeing Naruto's name on the document as the boy had finally achieved one of his dreams. Going over the bullet points he found that most of them were doable, the question was, however, what to do with the girl. Looking around he took stock of those around him before looking at the young woman in the bed.

"Did Kono's letter answer some of your questions as to what I'm doing here?" she asked.

Sarutobi nodded before speaking, "ANBU! Leave us, this girl is of no danger but a returning operative, one Minato had sent out. Neko, stay for a moment."

The cat masked agent knelt in front of her leader, "Your orders my lord?"

"It seems that the darkness has overtaken some of our own. Ensure that those on this list have an honorable death in service of the village."

"As you wish my lord," was all that was spoken in return before the agent vanished.

Sakura waited to speak as Hiruzen turned his attention towards her, "Now young lady, you have something to tell me, yes?"

"Yes my lord, much to tell you and so little time," Sakura answered as she launched into her story. She told of his death and Tsunade's time as his successor and her leading the village in the last war they fought. He learned of Kakashi becoming the sixth leader of the village before Naruto took the reins. He also learned of the loss of Jiraiya and Sasuke's betrayal and later redemption. He learned all including Naruto's betrayal and death at the hands of his son and the razing of Konohagakure by the traitor's conspirators. The last spots of joy he had were learning that not only his grandson but Sasuke's daughter had avenged their leader and Sarada was acting as Hokage for the time being. The old man donned a soft smile as an Uchiha had finally become Hokage no matter the circumstances Naruto had placed his trust in that clan for at least a short while.

Sighing he looked at Sakura and spoke again, "So, it seems that you were given a very complicated mission. Do you need help with any of it?"

"Yes, any help would be welcome. Outside of what Naruto ordered I first need to pass the other half of Kurama's chakra as well as his 'being', his essence, for lack of a better word to Naruto. I can do that by placing this seal," at that she held up her palm, "onto the one on his belly. Next, I need to give this timeline's Sasuke his older counterparts memories. That task is very important as it will prevent him from betraying the village and his friends, it will also bring him out of his brooding and solitary lifestyle, it will also pass on the orders issued solely to him. Once Sasuke came home and realized the extent of the damage he had done to Naruto he took it on himself to advise and protect our blond idiot with his life.

He failed in this however and this is his attempt to make things right. As you can see the mission to return his memories to his younger self were issued by the Sasaukage, the Supporting Shadow. That was Sasuke-kun, he set up a spy network that surpassed Jiraiya-sama's and set up an internal security group that filled the vacuum that ROOT's destruction left. Don't worry, Naruto was always kept in the loop and had full overview and authority over it."

"I see, is that all Sakura? And the other missions you were given?"

"Yes, I'm to give my own younger self my memories and teach Naruto all that he was not taught in the academy. As you now know, the teachers refuse to teach him anything, not even the basics. Only Umino Iruka will try to reach out to him next year but by then it'll be too late. Naruto will stop listening and trusting the academy teachers. I intend to remedy that error."

"That's very admirable but I have one last question, what will happen to you? After you pass your memories on what will happen?"

"I don't know. It's possible that I will fade away like a specter or I may drop dead. Sasuke and Kurama stated that I may continue living for a long time. If that's the case I have a request."

"What's that?"

Before she answered Sakura closed her eyes in concentration before her hair darkened into a deep red. Hiruzen's eyes popped out as he realized that this was no ordinary henge, "H...how? I mean...it's..."

"I know huh?" Sakura replied with a smirk, "Believe it or not Naruto came up with this. He was never taught how to make a henge, the teachers tossed him out of the classroom on that day. Did you know that when we all started the academy that he was a very serious student? He was so much like his father according to my parents who were friends with Minato. He was so quiet and withdrawn and when I first met him he was so, so fierce. Bullies were making fun of me and he took them all down and declared that he was going to be my husband and always protect me.

"I was so thrilled that a boy liked me that I told my new friend Ino. That was a mistake, she told me that nobody liked Naruto and that anyone that was his friend was not allowed to be friends with the other kids, but she says we never had that talk. So...the next time I saw him I told him to go away, that I hated him. It...I broke his heart but he never left my side, even when I started chasing Sasuke-kun he never left me. Anyway, Naruto came up with his own version of the henge, all you have to do is force your chakra into your body or the parts you want to change as you envision the changes and it makes the change at the cellular level. It can't be detected. Naruto came up with a version called the Sexy No Jutsu and stops being Naruto and becomes Naruko, a female version of himself. A...complete...version, well once he found out what makes a girl a girl, that is" with that Sakura blushed, "Only then was the transformation was totally complete."

"That's amazing, and Naruto came up with this?" Sakura nodded her head, "and he taught you this technique?"

"Yes, as well as your grandson Konohamaru and his friends Moegi and Udon but that's years away. I know what you're thinking and yes, we did have our fun together to relieve stress but as you now know we never had our happy ending. I intend to change that as well. As for my request, should I live on I wish to be known as Uzumaki Kitaru."

"Whirlpool's Future is it? Well, it's fitting I guess seeing from where you've come from but why take his name?"

"He was in the process of divorcing his wife, Hyuga Hinata. I and Sasuke had already split up and with Sasuke and Hinata's blessing, we began to date. Had that little bastard that his wife gave him not betrayed us and his father we would have been married as soon as the paperwork was done. Once everything was explained to the village at large that both he and Hinata were not happy and in a marriage solely for the kids, they were understanding. Especially for Naruto as they all remembered how he had grown up and how loudly he had always proclaimed his love for me. However, that brat of his already hated his father for selfish reasons and this was the last straw. You know the rest. Naruto was my husband in all but ceremony so I intend to take his name as my own and ensure my younger self does the same.

That's the mission Konohamaru gave me, I need to get my younger self to accept and love Naruto before we graduate. On that day the contract comes into force, Naruto and I will be considered married from that point on. The contract was hidden away at my parent's request because I was so into Sasuke had I been told about it I'm sure I would've done all I could to hurt Naruto, possibly even cheating on him. Look, I was a stupid girl back then but...I learned the hard way about losing something special. When I finally confessed my love to him he had reached the point that he was sure I was just using him to get Sasuke back into my life. He rejected me, told me that he hated those the lied to themselves. After that, he stopped trusting me, stopped being in love with me. That's what hurt the most, not having him love me. He ended up with Hinata and me with Sasuke. By then Sasuke was all I had left and Hinata, well, she never loved him. She just was in love with the idea of loving him, their marriage was a disaster and...the less I say about her the better. It took Naruto and me nearly fifteen years to make up for our mistake and just as we were to start our life together, his son betrayed and killed him. This time, however, this time, I'm going to make sure that he's loved, by myself as his adopted mother and by my younger self as his lover. I plan on stacking the deck in his favor."

"You're that determined are you? We then, as of now the village welcomes you back from your last mission Kitaru and you will be assigned to Naruto's protection detail. In fact, you'll be introduced to him in the next few days as a lost retainer of his mothers, is that acceptable to you?"

"Yes my lord, it is!" Sakura, now renamed Kitaru squealed as she hugged the old man.

"It's fine lady Uzumaki, it's fine. Now rest, I believe that you have a meeting with two old friends?"

"I do, I plan on getting to it in the morning, thank you, for him."

Two days later Sakura had been introduced as Uzumaki Kitaru, a retainer of Uzumaki Kushina's that had been sent on a long term mission by Minato to gather intelligence on the civil war taking place in Mist. Since Sakura was a confidante of Tsunade's and adviser to Naruto as well as a friend to Mei Terumi she had intimate knowledge of what actually happened during that bloody time. Passing on what she knew of up to the current time she was then welcomed back into Konoha's forces.

The only thing she and Sasuke nor Kurama hadn't counted on was her old or in this case, future sensei, Hatake Kakashi. Of course, the man would be suspicious, she thought after the tense introduction to him, he was Minato's student and on Kushina's protection detail. Not to mention that he was thought of as part of their family and had been very excited that he would have a little brother in Naruto. All those dreams had been blown to bits by Kurama's attack though and the once proud man was a shadow of himself. That was why Kitaru had come to a decision.

Walking up to the taciturn man she stood by him at the memorial stone and after a moments prayer she reached out and touched her for all intents and purposes, in-laws names. Kakashi noticed the action and looked at her with a practiced eye. Nodding to her he turned back to the stone and retreated back into his thoughts. That was until this...impudent girl, a little older than he was broke the silence,

"I know what you're thinking Hatake-san, that I'm not worthy of the name Uzumaki nor am I a part of Lady Kushina's life. I assure you, I am and I am on a mission given to me by my Hokage to ensure the safety of Konoha's future Hokage. One they don't know they have...yet."

"And just who are you Kitaru-chan? Who is this future Hokage that you speak of?" the man asked.

"He's the one person that should never have been abandoned yet you have done just that," Kitaru answered with venom in her voice, " After all, isn't it you that's said 'Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandoned their comrades, friends, and family are lower than scum'? You know who he is Kakashi-sensei, you know exactly who he is."

Kakashi felt as if he'd been kicked in the gut, but what confused him was the girl calling him sensei. He's never taught anyone resembling her yet alone pass a single genin team.

"You seem to know more than a few state secrets and claim to know me as a teacher, but I don't know you and have never taught anyone like you in my life."

"Don't you? Let me refresh your memories," Sakura told him as she held his face in her hands as she activated a jutsu that Ino had in her life taught her long ago. The memories slammed into the man like one of Minato's rasengans. When it was over the man fell to his knees and sobbed. All of his failures, past, present, and future were revealed to him and his biggest was his neglect of his little brother and his first female student in front of him. As he tried to form the words to apologize Sakura waved him off,

"Save it Baka-sensei, I know how sorry you are and how much you'll come to hate yourself later on, but, that can change starting today. However, we will find a more suitable jonin sensei for Naruto when the time comes. As you've seen, you didn't do that stellar a job. I will, however, let you into his life, I think it will be therapeutic for both of you, don't you agree? Come on, we have work to do, the villagers are on one of their fox hunts. I have my Hokage to save," before she started off she turned back to face the man and in the sweetest voice he had ever heard she gave a warning, "One last thing, you breathe a word of this to anyone and the first thing I'll do is burn your books, then I'll kill you...slowly. You coming, Inu-san?"

As she took off she placed the pink fox ANBU mask on her face, Kitsune was now on the job. Placing his own dog mask on his face Inu joined the red-haired woman racing back to the village. Taking to the rooftops they followed the sounds of a large fight only it wasn't a fight but a mob, beating on a young boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes. Eyes that were filled with tears of pain and fear. Sakura swore as she caught sight of her younger self cowering in a corner of the alley where Naruto was being beaten.

Kitaru remembered this day, it was the day he had saved her from a beating by a group of boys that were trying to impress a very spoiled girl and her friends. When Naruto arrived to save her Ami ran to the nearest shop and called out that Naruto had gone crazy and was beating up her friends for no reason at all. That had kicked up a hornet's nest as the shopkeepers and their customers rushed after the boy like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Inu was sickened as he saw a jonin and several chunins and genins using kunai and ninjato on the child.

Before he could act Kitsune had jumped into the fray and cut down the offending ninja with her own sword as well as killing the few civilians wielding their own weapons on the boy. The crowd was stunned into inaction, this was a first for them and the surviving jonin. ANBU would usually wait until their anger was spent and then move in to disperse the crowd, sometimes the Hokage would show up and scold the offenders before letting them go about their business. This time, however, he was less than happy upon his arrival. He had been warned by the elder Sakura that the next time Naruto was assaulted the perpetrators would be terminated with extreme prejudice. Naruto, he had been reminded, was a very important person to the village, not only was he protecting it from the Kyuubi but as Minato and Kushina's son he was the leader of not only two clans, he was Uzugakure royalty as well. Should the fire lord become aware of his mistreatment he would see Konoha and it's inhabitants all burned.

Sighing he looked at the sole surviving jonin before opening his throat with a kunai, "I've given you all warning after warning that this boy was not to be harmed. I had hoped that at some point you would have listened to me and the others that watch over him. You've not and you've forced my hand in this. From this day forward any transgression upon this boy will be met with execution. You only have yourselves to blame. ANBU, take these...people to Ibiki and Anko, tell them I said to have fun."

Turning to the boy in Kitsune's arms he stroked his hair as he's done many times before, the boy just looked at him with swollen and tear stained eyes and spoke, "Jijii, why? Why do they hate me? All I did was try to protect Sakura-chan and they started beating me. Why can't anyone love me for once? Why?" after that, the boy broke down in sobs.

Young Sakura walked up and tentatively took his hand, "You have one person Naruto, you have me. What would I do if I didn't have you around huh?"

The boy tried to answer but the shock of his injuries had finally caught up with him and he passed out. While Inu stood by and watched in silence, he'd never seen such a vicious attack in defense of someone like that short of a war and it was made worse as he knew that the sweet little girl holding Naruto's hand was the one that would grow up to do such a thing. Kitsune looked at the girl before turning to Inu,

"Take her with us, she needs to be at least seen by a Yamanaka for mental trauma. Girl, your name, now!"

"S..Sakura, Haruno Sakura ANBU-san."

"Sakura is it? Fine, the boy seems to like you so it might be good if he has at least one friend to comfort him. Besides, I need to talk to you, to find out just what happened. Inu, we leave now."

In less than five minutes the small group was met in the admitting area by the Hokage. Kitsune ignored the yells and stares as she pushed her way into the hospital's ER. Placing her charge on the gurney she looked around and smiled, one of her old mentors was standing nearby looking at Naruto with great concern before rushing to his side to begin treating him.

Kitsune then asked if Yamada Yoshi was attending today, when she was informed that he was she ordered that he brought to the ER at once. Young Sakura recognized the name, it was the doctor employed by her clan and was a trusted friend of her parents. She had overheard them one evening talking about Naruto and he is commissioned to take care of the boy anytime he was sick or injured. Her parents and her entire clan tried their best to support Naruto from the shadows the best they could. When her mother found out that shops, including those run by the clan, were overcharging the boy for food and basic needs things happened. The first thing was that clan members that were found to be guilty of this found themselves first talking to the Hokage and then to Ibiki and Anko. The next was she ordered a Haruno clan circle in orange be placed by the front and back entrances to show Naruto, who is fond of orange, these places were welcoming of him and they were safe havens. It had taken time to gain the child's trust but in those few stores he was treated just like everybody else and that was what he wanted the most, to feel normal.

That this Kitsune knew about him meant something. She wasn't like the other ANBU she'd seen around Naruto as she seemed to genuinely care for him. Somehow she felt jealous at the woman's actions and attention she paid the boy but at the same time happy that at least one more person accepted him. She continued to stay by Naruto's side standing at the end of the table he had been placed on and ran her fingers through his hair. She watched the masked woman go-between ordering the medical personnel around and fussing over the boy. Sakura just watched amazed with the older woman's commanding presence and skill in dealing with people, something she was unable to do because of her shyness, only Naruto and her new friend Ino was able to bring her out of her shell.

Once Kitsune was finished with her charge she turned to the pink haired girl. Motioning for her to follow she entered a private office, in the future this would become her own but that was for later. Once the door had closed privacy seals flared into life as the ANBU agent removed her mask. Another round of seals the woman's hair changed from red to pink and her forehead seemed to slightly enlarge as a diamond tattoo appeared in the exact center. The older female smiled as her younger counterpart gasped,

"Questions, yes?"

A/N:

So, questions, I guess the big one is, WTF is a Sasaukage?! Well, this is taken from Narutopedia, the first section of Sasuke's page near the end is this description...

" and being happily redeemed by Naruto, Sasuke decides to return to Konoha and dedicates his life to help protect the village and its inhabitants becoming referred to as the "Supporting Kage" (支う影, Sasaukage, Literally meaning: Supporting Shadow)."

So, I hope this explains things so I don't have to put up with guest reviews telling me how to write my story. As many know, I don't like Sasuke as he is written in both canon and in most fan stories but, I do like how much a person can use his academy personality to build on. Can I make him a prick with a mean streak? Sure, but so can anybody. The trick is to take that uncaring prick and make him a caring prick. Yeah, he still calls Naruto an idiot but in his mind, he's earned that right and nobody else better try it. Now, the second I read the above line from that website I was like 'Yeah! This is exactly how I want Sasuke to be and in this story that' how I want him to end up being. Any more and it'll spoil the story but I promise to do my best, believe it!

Next is this, since this is basically redux of a story with the same name, by me, I tried to expand on a few things, first is the letter to Hiruzen by Konohamaru. Someone commented on the original that the Third was too trusting of Sakura and mentioned that a letter from his grandson would make things go smoother. I also made a few dialogue changes here and there but not many. The last thing was deciding to leave the mob scene in place. I know it's a worn out trope by now and he wasn't physically abused in canon but the scene was needed to show the danger Naruto was in by the villagers but to his body and his mind. The other option was to have Future Sakura and Kakashi intervene as Sakura tries to revive Naruto after a suicide attempt due to the pressure of being shunned, ignored or called names within earshot. I think that that kind of isolation would've eventually broken Naruto no matter how strong he was and it would've been devastating to younger Sakura if she had found him either bleeding out, hanging from the ceiling or unresponsive from an overdose. I think it would've had a domino effect on her and others that cared for the boy so the 'safest' route to take was the classic mob one. Am I happy using it? No, but there's not much else. Hopefully, I can add and improve the next chapter before I get the third one posted.

Take Care