Team Kakashi returned, somewhat triumphantly, to Konohagakure after escorting Chiyo and Gaara to Suna.

Rasa welcomed his son home with open arms, not once mentioning how Gaara lost Suna's greatest tactical weapon. He expressed his genuine relief that his son had escaped the situation relatively unharmed. No one knew what to make of a jinchūriki bereft of his bijū -- was this to be considered an affliction of some sort?

They chalked up Gaara's survival to Naruto's intervention -- which was true, to some extent.

As the first jinchūriki was widely known to have hailed from the Uzumaki clan, people had no choice but to awkwardly conclude that the fabled clan of sealing had some secret method to safeguard the life of a jinchūriki during the extraction of their bijū. It was possible, even, that the Uzumaki knew a technique to resuscitate such a victim. Naruto had admitted to having a role in sneaking Gaara out of that place, and Deidara would back up his claim if necessary.

They flew back to Konoha on the Hikōki invented by Naruto, where Kakashi was sent to the hospital by the combined verdict of Sakura and Shizune. Even with no detrimental injury due to the lack of intent to maim or kill, the accumulated damage from the countless wounds he received (as well as the exhaustion) from fighting for three consecutive days against an S-rank missing-nin left Kakashi bedridden despite Sakura's work to patch him up along the way. Naruto's flight pattern had been adjusted according to the condition of the patient on board, much to Sakura's relief, and she had taken care of all of the flesh wounds and the most severe internal injuries that she could treat without the proper facilities.

That left Naruto, Sakura and Sōjirō to go report on their mission in Sunagakure.

The three were greeted by Neko at the door to the Hokage's Office, which opened as the ANBU agent saluted the off-duty Kitsune.

"Just leave the report on the table," Tsunade instructed, sending Neko back with a newly-penned note.

Neko left the room with a bow to the village leader as Sōjirō stepped forward to set a scroll on the desk.

Naruto sensed her making a beeline for the hospital from her chakra signature, and he guessed it included instructions for the medic in charge of healing Kakashi.

"So," Tsunade began, "Team Kakashi is now down to two people. You presently have two choices. One is to disband the team. With your abilities, you can easily be integrated into Konoha's medical and sealing departments. If that doesn't suit your tastes, I'll bet that no team will refuse you. Your respective skills are in tragically low supply in the Konoha of today, and no sensible team will refuse a medic-nin or Uzumaki sealing expert."

Neither Naruto nor Sakura reacted to that proposition, and Tsunade sighed heavily.

"The other option," she continued, "will be a more bumpy route. I will have two shinobi likewise without teams to join you, forming a new four-man unit you will have to learn to work with. In this case, I cannot choose who will become your team member. My authority will only allow me to pick a qualified leader for Team Seven, and the fourth will depend on who is available -- it's all up to luck. You have no freedom of choice in this scenario."

Naruto grinned. "You know which one we'll pick, Tsuna-baa-chan. There's no way Sakura and I will be separated. If we were so easily split up, we wouldn't have formed a three-man team when I returned to Konohagakure."

Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, the TLDR version of the report is: 'We did our job and saved Suna. We fought four members of the Akatsuki to do it. The Kazekage lives, but Suna does not have the Ichibi anymore," summarised Naruto concisely.

Tsunade waved a hand flippantly.

"That doesn't matter. I can check the details in the report you submitted later. Besides, your timely return is indicative that you succeeded in your mission."

Hiruzen, smoking his pipe not-so-discreetly in a corner that could not be seen from the door, piped up, "If I may suggest, how about Sōjirō-kun over there take over Kakashi-kun's mantle as the sensei of Team Seven? They have worked together before, and he's certainly qualified to become the leader of this four-man unit."

Tsunade nodded thoughtfully.

"Sarutobi-sensei's points are valid. What is your opinion, Takamatsu?" she asked the redhead -- a considerate gesture Naruto could not help but appreciate.

If it was up to Hiruzen, Sōjirō would have been assigned to Team Seven regardless of his thoughts on the matter -- simply because the now-former Hokage knew that Sōjirō enjoyed hanging around them.

Sōjirō shook his head, somewhat regretful as he refused, "Unfortunately, that is not convenient for me. My responsibilities as the commander of ANBU will keep me busy for a while. I've had to put them off long enough because of the vacation Sandaime-sama forced on me."

Hiruzen winced, chagrined, at the jab to his conscience (whether intended or not).

Of course, Sōjirō (who had to give up an opportunity to stick to his Master) was even more upset.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Regretfully, Sōjirō was unable to stick with his Master. Thus, Tenzō still ended up being the one enlisted. Sōjirō voluntarily gave this job up to Tenzō, knowing that the man took charge of the same role in the previous timeline. Sōjirō was the one who nominated his subordinate, not that the brunet knew that. Unbeknownst to Kitsune, Tenzō himself felt quite overwhelmed to be stealing the role previously occupied by both Inu-taichō and Kitsune-taichō.

Naruto, however, met Tenzō under such circumstances and noticed that the other's forehead was slightly damp from cold sweat.

"You can call me Yamato-sensei... or just Yamato. Your previous team leaders are currently preoccupied with village secret-level missions and recuperating his health, so I will take charge as the leader of this unit. As such, I'm your direct superior now," said Yamato, or Tenzō, burying his insecurity as deep as possible.

It was only mildly surprising that Tenzō was assigned the same codename of "Yamato" as he had been the last time. Yamato seemed intent to emphasise that he was now their leader -- as if he previously considered himself on equal footing with the two. His self-assessment was hardly inaccurate -- these two individually dwarfed him in power levels where combat ability was concerned. It was also fair that they were of the same standing, considering how the chūnins were direct subordinates of the man Tenzō knew as Inu-taichō, formerly Yamato's superior in ANBU, and even came under Kitsune-taichō's tutelage at one point. It impressed Naruto that Yamato lacked a certain sense of arrogance all too common for a shinobi of his station -- a side effect of the kind of life he has lived thus far.

Now that was something distressing to think about.

Tenzō was a pitiful child. A survivor of Orochimaru's experiments and a failed test subject in one of many projects to imbue children with the late Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton powers, Tenzō never had an easy life. He first tasted freedom when he was found in a laboratory abandoned by Orochimaru. The Konoha-nin brought him, an unlucky orphan and experimental subject who could not even remember his own name, back to the village and gave him a home. He willingly used his implanted kekkei-genkai for the village's sake but never had much of a private life.

"Yamato-sensei, we will be in your care," said Naruto.

"Haruno Sakura reporting!" Sakura dutifully shouted.

Naruto turned to look at his teammate in surprise.

He was not expecting military etiquette from her, but it was undeniable that such an attitude could help Yamato acclimatise to the new setting.

"Why are you keeping quiet?"

Naruto declared, straightening his posture, "Uzumaki Naruto, reporting for duty."

Seeing the two chūnins at attention before him, Yamato almost smiled.

"At ease. Outside the scope of missions, I will be your mentor as Inu-taichō... I mean, senpai had been. I may not be an adequate replacement for senpai, but I'll do my best as the new head of this four-man unit," Yamato informed them.

"If we're still a four-man team," Sakura pointed out, "where is our last member?"

She was sure it would be the person she had in mind -- there was little that changed when it came to important things like this thus far. Even so, it would have been peculiar if she did not note the discrepancy in Yamato's words. Besides, she did not remember if their fourth member had been so tardy in the previous timeline.

"Right. That kid is... a little special. Like me, he was an ANBU agent. However, his current official rank is still that of a chūnin. You don't have to feel intimidated. He might have more experience, but you're the same age," Yamato elaborated, still failing to drop any hints regarding the whereabouts of the aforementioned fourth member.

Sakura's forehead creased.

"Why is it that, with the way he's saying it, he doesn't feel like the Sai we knew at all? Since when did that guy have a proper identity in Konoha?"

Naruto tilted his head as he weighed his words carefully.

"The completeness of his disguise is a sign of his competence in this timeline. It isn't a bad thing for him to have a seemingly clear background. An ANBU agent had the right to withhold some information from their official records, which benefits an ANBU agent from ROOT."

"I know. I'm more confused by how Danzō could loosen his reins on such an important pawn. Even if Sai wasn't the best agent under Danzō's command, which is likely to have remained the case, there's no way he would not try to sink his claws into the Kyūbi jinchūriki without Hiruzen being in a position to stop him."

Naruto repressed a chuckle.

"Danzō isn't a threat. He means the best for Konohagakure, so he won't do anything to harm it. Besides, I've ridden him of his eyes, ears and hands in secret. He is powerless now, though his slaves are still collared and need to be freed at a later time."

Sakura's eye twitched.

Naruto was being cryptic again.

Unfortunately, she did not have a chance to question him further.

Their much-discussed new teammate was here.

Smooth, fair skin and a countenance that somewhat resembled Sasuke's -- one less familiar to the runaway Uchiha might think. The strikingly familiar face set Sakura's heart at ease. The startlingly blank expression that the teenager wore was identical to that of the former ROOT agent she knew in the previous timeline.

It was their teammate, Sai.

Sakura never understood why people found this young man to resemble Sasuke. The disparity between their appearances and personalities was too great for her to comprehend that comparison. To Sakura, that sense of emotional distance was the only remotely similar point between the two men.

"I am 'Sai'. Henceforth, I will be a part of this four-man unit," said the hidden ROOT agent without a trace of emotion, bowing slightly.

It was a brief, curt self-introduction -- almost impolite -- but Yamato took no offence, merely nodding back.

"Welcome. Try to get along. You will be working together from now on," Yamato replied, tossing each of the chūnins an unmarked scroll.

Sakura looked down at the suspiciously featureless scroll, noting that the scroll seemed to hold a trace of chakra -- a telltale sign of the presence of a seal of some sort.

Before she could open her mouth to inquire about the purpose of this scroll -- a habit that stuck to her from her old Academy persona, Yamato winked.

Sakura felt goosebumps rising on her back but was effectively silenced.

"That's the mission the two of you have been pushing for. It's off the record, so remember to burn it. You should take it as a chance to learn each other's skills."

With his part said and done, Yamato left the training grounds with a Shunshin.

Yamato's explanation reminded Sakura of the "schedule", and a sound of realisation escaped her.

"...Oh."

"The Sasuke-exclusive Team 7 meet-and-greet party."

Sakura nodded subconsciously before realising that what she took as her thought was Naruto's telepathic message.

She rapped on the blond's head with chakra-coated knuckles.

"Shut up, Naruto."

Sakura was so distracted that she didn't notice someone else approaching them.

"Naruto-sama," a clear voice uttered, "it is my honour to officially make your acquaintance."

It did not register, for a moment, that those words spoken so cheerfully came from the emotionally-handicapped Sai.

The fact only dawned on her when she realised that Sai, who had joined their bubble before she knew it, was smiling.

And he smiled in a very natural manner.

Sakura almost thought that, despite the caustic words he could speak being unmistakably prominent in her memories, this teenager was pretty.

It then struck her that Sai, of all people, was actually showing respect to Naruto.

Even with the precedence of Neji and company, Sakura was left disconcerted by this strange turn of events.

"This stinks of Naruto's shady background workings," Inner remarked, jolting Sakura back into reality.

Sakura sighed, massaging her temples tiredly.

"You're keeping secrets again, Naruto," she chastised, exasperated.

Naruto knew that Sakura would have given him more than an earful if it was not for how shaken she was at present.

"Greetings, Sakura-dono. My name is Kaien, and you may refer to me as such. I may be inadequate, but I look forward to working with you," greeted Kaien with utmost formality, bowing with proper decorum absent in his address of Yamato.

Sakura almost lost her balance when she saw the emotions in that formerly apathetic gaze.

Kaien was pleased regarding Naruto but irritated by her admonishment of their teammate.

The young man she remembered to resemble a doll more than an actual living puppet was no more, replaced by this expressive individual who cherished the name he had been bestowed...

Sakura gave Naruto a sidelong glance.

Kaien correctly interpreted her expression and, his tone softening, stated, "'Kaien' is the name granted upon me by Naruto-sama. I neither remember the name I was given at birth nor long for the life I led before entering ROOT."

Sakura unthinkingly punched Naruto's shoulder, doing little to no damage.

"Naruto..." she hissed threateningly.

Kaien's brow twitched.

"I know of your importance to Naruto-sama, Sakura-dono. He tolerates your disrespect. Even so, looking at you, I don't think you deserve Naruto-sama's care. You... irritate me."

He also made his displeasure known.

Sakura was floored.

How did such a temperamental person get through ROOT's training?

Whether before or now, she could not help but want to ask. Sai's personality was quite something. She could not even imagine what kind of training could sand away his emotions so thoroughly. And as for his character, Sakura could not help but think that it must have been too strong and survived that conditioning. Why else would Kaien stay just as annoying as before?

Kaien received a forehead flick from the person he was defending.

"It would be strange if she was always professional towards me, Kaien," chuckled Naruto. "If you wish, you too can be more unrestrained with me. I won't find you overly familiar. We've known each other long enough, don't you think?"

"...Understood, Naruto-sama," said Kaien in defeat. "It's my loss, Sakura."

The kunoichi's eye twitched involuntarily.

The difference in attitude was so stark that it would have been harder not to notice it.

Sakura was tempted to tell the guy to revert to using Keigo. It was less demeaning when Kaien had been restricted by formalities. She numbly pondered how he managed to utter her name as if it was an insult.

At least Sai was merely brutally honest with his judgement during the previous timeline. Now, his distinctively opinionated attitude towards her was not that harsh due to the thin veneer of civility he maintained in Naruto's presence. However, the scathing edge to his words seemed almost unintentional.

Which made it all the more mortifying to listen to.

However, the greatest difference was the lack of feigned civility that he had maintained before.

"Would it hurt to be nicer?" Sakura could not bite back her retort.

Kaien spared her a side glance.

"Naruto-sama said to speak comfortably," he explained succinctly.

Sure enough, while still speaking in the polite form (at least where Naruto was concerned), Kaien no longer used formal language.

Then, the finishing blow.

"Why should I be nice to you anyway? You aren't even helpful to Naruto-sama."

"You're just speaking informally at this point, brat," scoffed Sakura, incredulous.

Kaien replied, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion, "I don't see why I should treat you respectfully, Sakura."

Sakura felt her temple pulsing.

To add to her ire, Kaien did not look like he was trying to provoke her. Despite saying her name like an insult, he skimmed over it like it was only natural to do so. He was truly baffled by her outraged reaction to his honest expression of his thoughts -- not at all different from Sai in the previous timeline.

It was almost magical that none of this appeared in his speech when he spoke in Keigo.

Her mind lingering on that topic, Sakura muttered, "That must've been how this little brat got off without having his personality sanded off. He's so impassively neutral when he speaks that it's as if he has no emotion."

"He can hear you," Naruto kindly reminded.

Sakura scowled, compulsively punching the blond on the forehead with enough force to crack an ordinary man's skull in two.

Of course, the one left in pain from the strike was not Naruto but Sakura.

Sakura could have sworn she saw Kaien's eyelid twitch as a fake smile -- too reminiscent of Sai's -- stretched across his face.

"Please cease your assault on Naruto-sama before I am forced to make you," Kaien growled, his eyes flashing.

Sakura belatedly noticed Naruto's hand grasped firmly around Kaien's wrist.

The black-haired shinobi had reacted instantaneously, his hand nigh-instinctively moving to block the attack against Naruto. Despite his swift movement, Naruto was faster. There was no delay as he halted Kaien's attempt to defend him from Sakura, stopping his hand before it could go above Naruto's shoulder. After all, while this level of danger could not inflict harm upon Naruto, it would cause quite a grievous injury to Kaien's hand.

Sakura was forced to reluctantly acknowledge this guy's loyalty if nothing else.

"I'm fine, Kaien," Naruto soothed gently as he released Kaien's wrist, reminding himself to avoid similar attacks in the black-haired teen's presence in the future.

'I should probably avoid receiving any hits from this point onward, what with both Kaien and Gaara behaving like this...' Naruto mused. 'Oh, there was that.'

"You did not stop him when he promised to protect you from danger, Naruto-sama, so this is a consequence you will have to deal with," Matatabi reminded.

'Yugito Nii speaks a lot like you,' Naruto carelessly noted, ignoring her remark.

Matatabi did not press further either, for that was when Naruto felt the communication mark of the jinchūriki burn.

Naruto sighed.

"And so the second falls."

He flashed a wry smile at Sakura.

"Wasn't this your plan?" she replied, unsympathetic.

After all, this was one of the few objectives she had been privy to.

It was a sign that everything was falling into place as Naruto had intended.

Most importantly, Sakura had just discovered that Naruto was hiding much more than she had previously assumed. It was difficult for her to feel bad for her friend when she felt so betrayed. Did Naruto still not trust her? Did he not trust his teammates who followed him back into the past? She knew she would have delayed the execution of these seemingly reckless ideas, but she still could not understand why he did not even give them a hint of what he was working on. Kaien was not wrong -- she was not of much help to Naruto. However, that was only because her fool of a leader refused to include them in anything he deemed dangerous.

Her composure crumbled, her cool expression distorting into a frown.

"Let us... help you," she whispered, her voice cracking.

Sakura's raw desperation silenced any snarky remarks Kaien was tempted to make.

Naruto chuckled numbly. "I'm afraid I never learned how."

Sakura's eyes dimmed, and she cast her gaze towards the ground.

What exactly did they follow Naruto back for, then?

A lightly-tanned hand appeared in her line of sight.

"I'll try, 'Kura," words she never expected to hear rang in the silence. "I'll count on you to help settle the jinchūriki in. As for secrets..."

"I've... more-or-less gotten the Akatsuki on my side, other than Kakuzu. Not as Uchiha Akihiko, but my true identity -- Uzumaki Naruto."

He did not think it was necessary to mention the mastermind of the end of the world, Zetsu, or the pawn, Obito.

"You didn't need to say that so explicitly. It was obvious that this was going to happen. You've been quiet about that side since you discovered how to win Pain over."

"What's wrong with Kakuzu, though?" Kaien voiced Sakura's thoughts, shocking the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Since when did you add Sai to the channel, 'Ruto?!"

Sakura was too shocked that she was shaken out of her daze.

"I didn't. I have another connection with Kaien," Naruto replied. "I just spoke into my private channel with him simultaneously."

"Your question was all but written on your face," Kaien scoffed.

Sakura was surprised -- this guy knew how to read emotions?

"Being raised in ROOT does not mean that I should not be able to identify the emotions of others. If I were that incapable, I would have failed the integration module," Kaien explained, somewhat disdainful.

Sakura could not bring herself to be bothered by Kaien's tone of voice -- it was apparent that he was not completely hostile to her.

"Kakuzu wasn't swayed because he did not care about the state of the world," Naruto explained. "Perhaps he thought the end of the world would earn him more money?"

Or maybe Deidara and Hidan were not very good at convincing others.

'It shouldn't be that. Even Akihiko judged that it wouldn't work,' thought Naruto, shaking the notion away.

"I never knew you to be skilled in mind-reading," Sakura spoke thoughtfully, still mulling over how Kaien figured out her thoughts. "Perhaps your mythical contract...?"

Naruto snorted. "The Komainu clan, reading minds?"

Sakura spluttered, "How could Sai, of all people, contract with those important guardian deities?"

"How could Sakura, of all humans, contract with the powerful phoenixes of legend?" Aoi mimicked with a giggle.

The childlike spirit twirled in midair, dodging Sakura's hands as they reached out to squish his soft cheeks.

"Nevermind, Sai did sacrifice his life to protect us in the previous timeline. Moreso since he's so loyal to Naruto now..." Sakura mumbled to herself.

"My name is Kaien, Sakura," Kaien corrected bluntly, his attitude crushing the guilt that was beginning to well in her heart.

Kaien was beginning to feel terribly similar to Aoi.

"You brat..." Sakura growled, turning to glare at the said teenager.

She was met by an unexpectedly mild expression.

Gentle, almost conciliatory.

These mixed signals were making her head hurt.

Kaien leaned closer, speaking lowly by her ear, "And I don't need your pity."

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Kaien was glad to discover that he had not lived in vain.

At the very least, his alternate self had lived for the moment he could give his life to defend Naruto.

Was that something to feel sad about? It was indeed unfortunate that he could not accompany Naruto, his saviour, on his journey until now, but were they not together now? If Kaien lacked the connection of the past, he would build up their connection in the present.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Not a single word was uttered as two individuals sat on opposite sides of a large crystal table on transparent crystal chairs.

The world seemed to be silent apart from the faint sound of flowing water from the underground river below.

Naruto did not mind this silence.

Sakura was still dazed from Kaien's final statement.

He had heard the words the young man had uttered -- Kaien was hardly trying to be discreet. He knew that Kaien had harboured some envy towards Sakura and Sasuke. He knew that Kaien had always wondered why Naruto had chosen the two of them over him in the other timeline. It was, in fact, a matter that he almost broached many times before. And yet, the time never seemed right.

Now, Sakura had unthinkingly voiced the truth -- that Sai had sacrificed his life to defend Naruto and the rest of their comrades.

Sakura would not know, but that set down the weight in Kaien's heart.

Ever since discovering that Naruto remembered a timeline that he did not remember, an entire lifetime that he had no way of investigating himself, Kaien had buried many worries in his heart.

Naruto did not know what exactly Kaien had feared, but he could hazard a guess.

Kaien must have been scared that he might have been Naruto's enemy.

While Naruto assured him that they were companions and friends, some part of him must have been fearful still that he might have betrayed Naruto's trust in their previous life.

"Thank you, 'Kura."

The blond's warm gratitude broke the silence.

Sakura's head snapped upwards so quickly that the sound resonated throughout the cavern.

"Even if you don't do anything, your being here brings me courage." Naruto cracked a smile. "I don't know what I would have done without you two. I appreciate you, Sakura."

"That..." Sakura heard her own voice quiver, "sounds like a farewell."

Naruto held her gaze for a long moment, then looked down at the warm slice of lemon-hued quartz he was rolling around his palm.

"I won't leave just yet. I love this world too much, and the danger is far from passing," Naruto stated serenely, dodging the unspoken question.

"Not yet, huh?" echoed Sakura, swallowing the bitterness at the back of her tongue.

She did not dare to say that Naruto's existence brought her courage as well.

Sakura felt like she had no place to say such a thing. They needed Naruto. To her and Sasuke, Naruto was their leader -- the centre of their team. They would simply fall apart without him.

There would be no Team 7 without Naruto.

If Naruto had other things he wanted -- needed -- to do, holding him back because of her inane selfishness would be purely immature.

"Come, 'Kura. Let me introduce you to Nii."

Sakura did not comment on the softness in Naruto's voice.

She understood that Naruto must have grown fond of his jinchūriki family -- even if they never knew each other in the previous timeline.

So much and yet so little has changed.

It was dizzying.

On Naruto's whim, Sai was no more -- replaced by the Kaien that she only just met.

Kaien was a stranger, unlike Sai who she had grown closer to by necessity during their days as Team Yamato and later the war.

Sakura still did not know what to make of the harsh, yet thoughtful conduct of her new teammate.

Sakura watched through a fog as Naruto transferred the contents of a scroll to a naked woman's back and placed the quartz he had cradled so carefully on the kanji central to the fūinjutsu matrix.

She watched as the lady awoke, inspecting her new vessel in wonder.

She watched as Yugito Nii, still stark naked, hugged Naruto from behind without shame.

"Nii, this is Haruno Sakura. 'Kura, this is Yugito Nii," she faintly heard Naruto's voice.

Sakura did not know how she responded or if she even greeted the Nibi jinchūriki.

The next thing she knew, she was back at the hideout on Sasuke's favourite couch and staring blankly at Naruto as the blond inked yet another scroll containing the same fūinjutsu matrix as the one that had graced the former Kumo-nin's back.

"Awake now, sleepyhead?" Sakura heard Inner's voice in her head.

She instinctively looked down at Aoi's brooch.

"You weren't responding, so what could I do?" Aoi's voice grumbled back.

"I had a mental breakdown?" Sakura marvelled at the revelation, more awed than worried.

"Not going to thank us for handling your body while you were zoned out?" Inner huffed, audibly relieved.

'Thanks,' Sakura briefly expressed her gratitude, then tapped on the brooch. "Aoi, find me relevant information for my previous condition."

Her excitement fuelled by the new experience was doused when Sakura heard Sasuke's whining through their mental link.

"Kabuto really is making trouble for me."

Sakura could not help but roll her eyes.

"Isn't he just asking for it? At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Kabuto decided to lock him up to avoid all of the trouble," Sakura commented.

Naruto, his concentration on his task broken by Sasuke's telepathic complaint, agreed, "'Suke has been making quite the mess for his supposed allies, and Kabuto had to clean up after him every time."

"He's so narrow-minded. All I did was join their cursed seal experiment once, borrow the original Kusanagi no Tsurugi twice, get Manda to tie himself into a knot thrice, steal the other cursed seal bearers a few times, redecorate the living room, read the forbidden scrolls, accidentally burn down a lab using Amaterasu, switch out Orochimaru's wardrobe, play a few catchy tunes, release a few test subjects..."

"'Suke, I know you're proud of what you've done. Enough bragging."

"I haven't gotten to the best part yet."

"We're not interested in hearing it."

"Hey, you can't speak for 'Ruto! Hokage-sama~ Don't you want more updates on what your favourite spy has been up to in enemy territory?"

"Mind your image, 'Suke. You're breaking character."

"See? He does want to know more! Yesterday-"

Sakura, unable to bear any more of Sasuke's incessant chatter, ground her teeth.

"Well, it seems our dear 'Suke has been replaced today."

Sakura was satisfied by the peaceful silence that followed.

"That ROOT fellow?"

"He was Sai, yes."

Sasuke failed to read between the lines.

"How can such a guy replace me in your hearts? 'Kura, don't say such hurtful words when you don't mean them."

"He's my friend, so don't go insulting him. We'll introduce him to you soon. Just wait patiently for our visit."

"He's not my replacement, right?"

"He is your replacement as much as Yamato-taichō is Kakashi-sensei's."

"A placeholder, then."

Sasuke's gloating voice irked Sakura, but there was nothing she could say to refute that.

"You're fundamentally different people. It would be fair to neither of you to compare the both of you."

"Heard that, 'Kura? I'm still valued."

"Keep telling yourself that, 'Suke."

"What's with your foul mood anyway? Is it that time of the month again?"

"It sounds like you want a beating."

"Calm down, you two. And 'Suke, you can speed things up if you want -- it won't cause any problems. Just call whenever you manage to instigate Orochi-pedo to possess your body."

"Speaking of ROOT, what were we going to do with them?" Sakura asked aloud.

"I'll leave that up to Sasuke, but I've weakened Danzō's hold on them by meddling with some things. The agents should be salvageable," Naruto replied. "It'll be the same as the previous timeline, somewhat."

"Somewhat," Sakura repeated in disbelief.

Naruto shrugged carelessly. "He's still going to kill Danzō, so what's changed?"

"Danzō..." Sakura hesitated. "He... isn't evil, though."

"He has the village's best interests in mind, but I can't allow him to consider humans as tools," Naruto calmly returned. "As a Hokage, I cannot allow such a person to continue mistreating my people."

Sakura looked down, staring dumbly at the ground.

How could Naruto, of all people, love Konohagakure so much?

If there was anyone who deserved to hate this village, it was Naruto.