"Hey, where are you all!" a familiar voice yelled in the lobby.
"Him again," Kakashi thought wearily.
"Where'd they put Sasuke, dattebayo!"
Kakashi peeked from the corridor. Naruto pounded the empty reception desk.
"Naruto, quiet! You're in a hospital."
The orange rascal turned, eyes lighting with excitement. He charged at Kakashi full speed.
"It's... uh... that... There's this thing..."
"No need to continue," Kakashi sighed. "You'd have shown up sooner or later, what can you do. I found someone to train you."
Naruto's awed face soured. He squeezed eyes shut and indignantly yelled:
"Hey, why?! You work fine, Kakashi-sensei!"
"I've got business. No time to babysit."
Naruto scowled, arms hugging shoulders, then it hit him.
"Aaa!" he yelled, jabbing finger at sensei. "I see! You're gonna train Sasuke!"
Kakashi sighed wearily.
Where does he get all that energy? This kid'll wake the whole hospital.
"Whoa, don't get mad, Naruto. I found you a better sensei."
"Mm... Who?" Naruto asked sourly.
Kid, sorry, no time to mess with you. Oh, here he is. Right on time.
"Me!" Ebisu's voice rang.
Naruto slowly turned and shrieked again.
"Aaa! The hidden pervert!"
Kakashi was stunned. Ebisu adjusted glasses embarrassedly.
"How rude."
"Ebisu-sensei—hidden pervert?" Kakashi thought dumbfounded. "What's going on?"
"Why?! Why's this guy training me, ttebayo! First, he's weaker than me..."
"What?" Kakashi dumbly repeated.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm telling you, dattebayo! Back then with my Harem Technique..."
Ebisu suddenly tackled Naruto from behind, throttling him to silence.
"Harem Technique...?" Kakashi repeated, thinking: "Gods, what the hell is happening here?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's desperate voice called from behind.
Sakura-chan burst from the stairwell and shoulder-slammed the opposite wall at full speed, not slowing.
"There—Sarada and that Sand guy! Help!"
Kakashi-sensei sobered instantly.
"Room number?"
Sakura named room, floor; sensei vanished instantly.
Naruto, still half-throttled by the hidden pervert, didn't grasp immediately.
"Sarada and that Sand guy," Sakura-chan's panicked voice echoed in head.
He nearly choked. Rasped:
"Let go, ut-ttebayo."
Hidden pervert released. Naruto collapsed to knees but sprang up, chasing Sakura and sensei. He flew stairs, skipping steps. Kakashi-sensei gone; Sakura lagged, her cherry dress flashing ahead.
They raced corridors, burst into room. Sarada lay motionless amid scattered sand. Kakashi-sensei faced Gaara. Fading lightning crackled on his arm. Sand guy heaved, mad bloodshot eyes bulging, hands clutching head. Sand swirled slowly around him.
"Sarada!" Sakura-chan cried, kneeling by body.
She shook her, nearly crying out again:
"Sarada!"
"Sakura, get medics. Now," Kakashi-sensei ordered curtly.
"Hai."
Sakura smeared cheek tears, jumped up, shoved Naruto aside, flew into corridor. Naruto neared Sarada, knelt. Nē-chan's face unnaturally pale, lids closed, blood streaks from eyes smeared cheeks. Glasses on floor.
"Temme!" Naruto yelled, standing. "What'd you do to her?!"
Gaara moved, slowly passing Kakashi-sensei. Still out of it.
"Don't."
"But sensei!" Naruto cried near tears.
"Quiet. I said."
Gaara, exiting, glanced at Naruto sideways, turned away. Sand followed, sucking into gourd mouth.
In blurring world, indistinct face emerged. Sarada blinked rapidly, fighting nearsightedness. Face noticed, took glasses from nightstand; cool frames touched cheeks. World sharpened.
"Shisui," Sarada exhaled.
Not even "Shisui-san." Just "Shisui." No strength for more. She tried moving right arm; muscles stabbed with sharp pain.
Shisui unusually serious. Gaze hard, slightly hostile.
"And what does this mean?" he asked immediately, no recovery time.
Fear gripped her.
"Wh-what..."
Shisui pointed two fingers at his eyes, then hers.
Of course, Mangekyo. What else?
Sarada used Kanren guilt-free; she had justifications. But Shisui eyed her like no excuse justified Mangekyo Sharingan.
"No choice. Gaara would've killed us all: me, Mom, Lee-san."
Shisui smirked unkindly.
"How was it, girl?"
"What?"
"What I forbade. Like it?"
He'd suspected all along thoughts of eye-awakened power tempted her, waiting for excuse.
"Really no choice!" Sarada whined plaintively.
"Like it?" Shisui pressed.
Sarada sighed, surrendered:
"No."
Too painful. And too... stupid. Kanren devoured so much chakra, irrational to use.
"Glad you did. Now not just my ban holds you—common sense too."
Shisui right. One impulse—you're wobbly. Second—retreat, can't fight. Third—chakra exhaustion collapse...
"How long was I out?" Sarada asked quietly.
"Several days."
"Really no choice, Shisui-san... We entered; he loomed over Lee-san, about to kill. Saw us, decided us too. He's crazy, mad..."
Warm tears rolled temples to ears.
"Enough excuses," Shisui cut. "I get it."
Got it, but uns softened. Sarada studied Shisui's frown, realizing she'd never defy him again—his trust priceless.
"Anyone see you?"
"Gaara. Sakura..."
"Everyone?"
"Yes."
He stood, stepped from bed. Sarada tried rising but too weak. Pulled right arm from blanket, horrified: entire arm to shoulder bruised blue-red—no live skin.
"Shisui-san," Sarada pleaded. "Come closer, please. I want to say..."
Shisui eyed doubtfully but approached reluctantly. Every word, gesture, gaze chilled.
"Lee-san. If Mom and I hadn't entered—he'd be dead."
"So?"
Shisui unsurprised.
"He shouldn't die, understand, Shisui-san? In future, he's alive, has son—my classmate. Rock Lee—war hero, he..."
"What war?"
Sarada faltered, stammered confusedly:
"Fourth World..."
Shisui darkened more. Shouldn't have told, but too late. Sarada overcame fluster, continued:
"I mean, world changed. Gaara shouldn't be in Lee-san's room, but was. Everything changed. And I... I don't know what to do now. Scary."
Shisui silent, digesting. Finally:
"Know, Sarada. Think you should forget familiar future."
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly. Like throwing kunai. Say hand trembles. Close to target, small error hits. Step back, tiny few-cm mistake veers trajectory wildly, kunai misses into bushes. Familiar?"
Sarada nodded.
"You're that error. Target—future. Your meddling less noticeable before, girl. But farther time goes, more 'fruits' you'll find. Your future distant, Sarada. Decades away. Stop thinking. World you return to—if at all—definitely not same."
Sarada downcast.
"Gonna go, got business," Shisui announced dryly. "Sakura and Naruto itching to see you. Let them in?"
"Yes, of course..."
He headed door.
Sudden thought struck Sarada.
"Wait, Shisui! Shisui...-san."
He turned.
"One more question."
Sarada long pondered asking elder about agonizing choice, hadn't expected timely in such unpleasant moment.
"Listening."
"One boy. In future, father of my teammate, but... I think he likes me."
Shisui silent.
"Can't reciprocate. Then Boruto and Himawari unborn. But... if world changed so..."
"Sarada," Shisui cut. "Can't help here. Responsibility yours; decision you make alone."
Sarada felt infinitely lonely, first time in days this timeline.
"But know..." Shisui spoke again. "Unlikely your choice, whatever, helps those Boruto and Himawari."
Sarada looked at him with bewilderment and fear.
"Because the future surely changed the moment your boy realized he likes you specifically. And that moment is already in the past. You can't fix anything. At the point of choice, he took a different path, not the one that would lead him to his previous wife and children."
Despair clenched her throat, making it hard to swallow.
"I'm sorry," Shisui added a little more gently.
He pushed the door open and left the ward.
As soon as he appeared in the corridor, the guys waiting on chairs by the ward jumped up.
"How is she?" Naruto asked anxiously.
"She came to," Shisui replied. "You can go in to her."
Naruto swallowed, straightened his suit jacket, and timidly peeked into the ward. Sakura started to follow, throwing hesitant glances at Shisui, but he stopped her.
"Sakura, wait."
"Shisui-san?" she said in surprise.
"Shall we take a walk?"
"Uh, yes, of course."
Shisui walked down the hospital corridor. Sakura folded her hands behind her back, walked beside him, and seemed to be guessing what he would ask about. Perhaps the awkward silence was weighing on her, but Shisui wasn't ready to entertain the girl with meaningless chatter.
"No choice."
As soon as he returned from the mission, he headed to the hospital without fully figuring out what had happened to Sarada. He exchanged a few words with Sakura, but even days later she was in such shock that she couldn't explain anything coherently. All that became clear from her story: Sarada had clashed with a guy from Sand who threatened the charge of Might Guy, and Sakura ran for help and brought her sensei. Hatake Kakashi, who saved Sarada, had missed him, and Shisui hadn't had a chance to track him down yet. And the main thing... The main thing he wanted to clarify first from Sarada herself. He suspected what had caused her massive chakra loss.
That kid from Sand—a genin who would fight Sasuke in the third stage. A genin! Shisui knew Sarada's skills. She would have handled a genin without Mangekyo. Shisui was sure the girl had used Kanren out of curiosity. Foolish, imprudent...
But now he was doubting.
There had been so much guilt in her tear-wet eyes. So she understood what she was getting into. What if there really was no choice, and that guy was truly that dangerous? Then Shisui perfectly understood Sarada. He had done the same thing more than once: resorted to his last trump card to save loved ones and himself. But that's what a trump card is for—no one should know about it. If the enemy underestimates you, you gain an advantage. If your techniques are well-known to everyone, that's very, very bad, because no technique is perfect. Every one, even the most flawless-looking, has a weak spot, and the enemy will definitely find it.
Shisui didn't want Sarada to attract extra attention. If it became known that she possessed Mangekyo Sharingan—there would be problems. A hunt for her would begin. Deadly danger from Danzou's Root, tempting lures from Orochimaru, who dreamed of getting his hands on a Uchiha body. The girl wasn't ready for that, and Shisui doubted he could protect both her and Sasuke from all threats.
They walked farther from the hospital and turned into a deserted grove. Sakura still obediently walked beside him without a word. Shisui scanned the surroundings with his dojutsu and, making sure no one was nearby, said:
"Sakura, please, tell me what happened. With all the details. You've calmed down a bit by now, right?"
The girl nodded and began to speak.
Shisui listened attentively. Sakura told him everything and even more: now he knew what had happened to Guy's charge in the preliminary matches.
Damn. If Sarada couldn't defeat the guy from Sand even with Mangekyo and needed Kakashi's help, then Sasuke had problems. Right now, his daughter was stronger, however that sounded.
"Sakura," Shisui smiled gently. "Did you notice anything unusual about Sarada?"
Sakura thought for a moment and looked away.
"Don't be afraid. Tell me everything you saw."
The girl sighed.
"It seemed like something was wrong with her eyes. Sarada's Sharingan changed, and some strange black pattern appeared, then blood flowed. I still don't understand what I saw."
"Have you told anyone about this?" Shisui asked casually.
"N-no."
Good girl.
"Sakura?"
She looked at him.
Shisui activated his Sharingan and subtly plunged Sakura into genjutsu.
Memories are a shaky thing. For Uchiha, it wasn't that hard to sow disorder in someone else's head: mix real memories with dreams, confuse fantasies and wishes with what actually happened. But few genjutsu users could do such delicate work with the human mind.
Now Sakura wouldn't remember what she saw that day. The real memory of Sarada's Mangekyo shifted somewhere beyond, where fragmentary dream visions dwelt, and its place was taken by a new, artificially created one: ordinary Sharingan, nothing more; no strange patterns, no suspicions.
Sorry, Sarada. I messed with your mother's memories a little.
A straw-colored head appeared in the crack of the half-open door—the Seventh's. He approached the bed and stood beside it, nervously tugging at his orange jacket. As if he didn't know what to say. He just looked at her: now at her face, now at her right hand lying on top of the blanket.
Several times he glanced back at the door, probably hoping Sakura would come in and liven up their awkward meeting, but Sarada saw out of the corner of her eye how Shisui had led Mom away at the very moment Naruto entered the ward.
Letting Naruto in here after that conversation about the future was too cruel of Shisui. Though what did he have to do with it? He didn't know which boy Sarada was talking about, and she had let it happen, automatically replying "of course." Boruto and Himawari, whom, in Shisui's opinion, could no longer be saved. A decision she had to make herself. The Seventh had dropped in like snow on her head. Sarada had just woken up and was trying to mentally cope with the shock, and here he stood over her, looking at her as if blaming himself for everything.
"Nee-chan," Naruto called timidly.
The shaggy hair, the whisker marks on his cheeks, the bewildered, slightly frightened gaze...
She never would have paid attention to him if they really were peers.
But looking into Naruto's blue eyes, Sarada saw not a boy, but the future Hokage. The striking resemblance to that confident, strong man—that was what plucked at the strings of her soul. The man she had considered a second father until recently.
And all of this was wrong.
All the time Sarada lay in the hospital restoring her chakra, she was tormented by guilt. Obsessive thoughts kept creeping into her head.
Sarada didn't think she had done wrong by using Mangekyo. She had saved her life and her friends' lives, and she sincerely didn't understand why Shisui was so angry. Was being dead better? When Shisui made it clear he was angry at her, shamed her, and left, her soul felt empty and bitter. He meant too much to her, and to make peace with him, Sarada was ready to admit fault even if innocent.
However, the quarrel with Shisui occupied a smaller part of her thoughts. A much larger part was taken by the realization: her actions in the past had already changed the future. Not only the future she came from, but also the present where she now lived. The guess that parents and friends' parents might not survive situations where chance had favored them before sparked paranoia in Sarada. And Shisui's words at the end, about Boruto and Himawari. Was a world without Boruto ahead? Let him be annoying, but... he didn't deserve death. No, even more: he deserved life.
Whose fates else had the time travel affected? What about the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, Denki, Sumire, Wasabi, and others?
"...changed the moment your boy realized he likes you specifically. And that moment is already in the past."
Nothing can be fixed? But what if she tried to scare him off, pair him with Hinata, no matter how much it contradicted her own feelings? Sarada imagined Naruto's face, remembered the look when he gazed at her from the bedside.
No. It won't work. If I push him away—maybe he'll lose his light? Get disillusioned with people, friendship, and everything else? Then we won't win the war, and he won't become Hokage. Besides, you can't convince a person in love that he should love someone else. It doesn't work that way.