She had been thinking a lot. Often she would gaze into nothingness for minutes at a time, only to be startled by Naruto who would wave his hand in front of her face. Even Sasuke sent her odd looks every now and then. Sakura simply couldn't help it - the deaths of so many she new was still fresh in her mind, and she was nervous about her enormous task. It didn't help that she had to talk with her dead teammate and teacher and a teammate who had betrayed her (no, them) beyond forgiveness.

The kunoichi stared at her teacher (who was asleep) across the room. One thing was for sure, she was happy she was making a change. She regretted how weak and unhelpful she was before. But she knew that which each change she made, she was affecting the future. What if things turned for the worse? She took a deep breath, calming herself from her daunting thoughts. No, she was here to prevent that.

"Sakura, I'm going to have to explain a few things about this jutsu to you," said Tsunade, staring into the determined eyes of her apprentice. She felt horrible, entrusting such a big responsibility to a mere 16 year-old girl. She shook her head. No, this was Sakura she was talking about. She was strong. She massaged her temples, frowning as she struggled to remember all the details of the jutsu she had created.

"Hai!" Sakura stood unwaveringly, clenching her fists.

"First and foremost, we will be able to contact each other. I'll tell you how when you're about to go. This is only possible because nothing will change in the present time even if you have made changes in the past time. Only when I perform the proper jutsu to complete this, the two times will merge and you will be brought back to the future."

"TEME!" Naruto's shouts could be heard outside. Sakura snickered - she remembered the loudmouth's antics all too well. She then continued to recall her beloved shishou's words.

Sakura nodded. "But... shishou, wouldn't that mean you too will -"

Tsunade smiled. "I'm not done yet, Sakura. You are right, after I complete the jutsu I will no longer remember the old past. This is why I have entrusted this task to you and only you; I have a favor to ask of you while you are in the past time."

"Aa... yes, shishou?" Sakura replied, trying to process the information her master had just told her.

"After you ensure he is safe, I will need you to find Shizune and I. Depending on the circumstances I may or may not have to be Hokage; anyway, you will need to give us this scroll - " she handed Sakura a blood red scroll - "once I read it, I will understand everything."

Seeing Sakura's disbelief, she continued, "You see, this jutsu of mine was invented a few years before I was chosen as Godaime. I made sure there was a way I could remember everything in case someone else used my jutsu. In the scroll is a message I have written to myself explaining the circumstances, and, in case I forget," she snorted, as if it were impossible, "some instructions on how to activate the remembering jutsu."

"I understand." Sakura smiled, although it was somewhat forced.

Naruto glared at his reflection one of the few clear ponds that could be found in the Land of the Waves. He clenched his jaw before throwing a heavy pebble into the water, breaking his reflection. The jinchuuriki then proceeded to kick the dirt in front of him.

He was decent ninja - maybe not as smart or good as Sasuke-teme or Sakura-chan, but he knew that one day his hard work would pay off and he would be Hokage.

At least, until he had met Zabuza, and that hunter-nin... who was obviously around his age.

Just the thought of that masked female (or male?) made him want to throw a kunai at something. His age, and practically ANBU...

He felt so... behind. And knowing that both his teammates were better than him did nothing to help his situation.

"We're wasting time..." he growled, kicking the ground so hard a cloud of dust erupted in front of his face.

"So you've noticed." A low voice rung through the silence, startling Naruto.

"Wha- who's there!" Naruto brandished a kunai, spinning around to find the lone Uchiha leaning against a tree.

"Me, you dobe."

"Oh please, I knew you were there! I was just testing you."

"..." Sasuke stared coldly for a moment before continuing, "We need to train."

"My thoughts exactly!" yelled Naruto, glad someone - even the teme - understood him.

"NARUTO, SASUKE! COME OVER HERE, I THINK KAKASHI'S AWAKE!" Sakura's shouts alerted the two genin. They grinned - or at least, Naruto grinned while Sasuke smirked.

It was time to have some proper training.

"Nice to see you too, Sakura," muttered Kakashi sarcastically as Sakura bellowed for the two boys of Team 7. Noticing that he had spoke, she stuck her tongue out. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but they made me promised I would call for them as soon as you woke up." The pinkette grinned.

"I see. So, Sakura... about yesterday..."

"Two days ago, you mean," she corrected.

"Has it really been that long?" the jounin sighed. "Anyway, about two days ago..."

"Nevermind that, sensei." Sakura frowned, both because she had more important matters to discuss and she wanted to avert the subject. "It's just a hunch, but... I think Zabuza's still alive."

Hatake Kakashi's eye widened for a fraction of a second before it returned to normal. "No wonder..."

"No wonder?" Inwardly, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had not doubted her.

"I felt something was wrong. So, why do you think so, Sakura?"

"Well..." she paused, to make her seem more believeable (and not like she knew it all along). "Hunter-nin are supposed to deal with all missing-nin straightaway to make absolute sure that they are all dealt with, right?"

"Right."

"But that... er... lady, she took him away. Why did she?"

For a moment or two, Kakashi was quiet. But soon she received a retort, "She may have not been a hunter-nin."

"That's... what I thought." She faked a long, semi-afraid sigh.

"That was quite clever of you, Sakura. I wouldn't have expected any of my students to be about to figure that out. Speaking of which... Sakura, you -"

"SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, grinning wildly. "You're awake!"

"Ah yes, Naruto, it seems so." Kakashi answered good-naturedly. "Who couldn't be, with such a loud child on a team..." he muttered as an after-thought. Sakura giggled.

"Well, kids, I have some pressing matters to discuss with you." The white-haired ninja nodded to the bridge builder and his daughter, a woman in her late twenties, who had entered the room upon hearing the commotion. "It seems like Zabuza is alive."

"WHAT!" yelled Tazuna. His daughter, Tsunami, gasped.

Kakashi nodded, before looking at the orange-clad and blue-clad boys. They both looked overjoyed.

So they're actually happy about this news... heh. He mused.

"Yes. The hunter-nin that caught them showed rather strange behaviour. First he/she did not deal with Zabuza immediately, which was unlike what other hunter-nin would have done. Secondly, she managed to pierce him in an area that is sometimes used to temporarily stop the heart of a man. It is for these two reasons that I assume Zabuza is still out there somehwere."

"Y-you're overreacting!" Tazuna sounded nervous. He fidgeted with his beer bottle.

"It is our job to do so. And besides, we are most likely right."

"Don't worry, old man!" barked Naruto in glee. "We'll take care of him, with some training from Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke did not say anything - which most likely meant that he, too, wanted to train with the jounin.

"Hmph," snorted Tazuna.

"No you won't!" yelled a young child's voice. It was a small, thin boy dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls, and a bucket hat - all of which looked rather soiled.

The youth startled the group, eliciting a sharp "Inari! Don't say that!" from Tsunami. She sighed, placing her dainty palm on the skinny child's shoulder. "Inari, go to your room," she muttered, placing emphasis on each word.

Crossing his arms, Inari, presumably the bridge builder's grandchild, fled the room in near-tears.

"Who was he?" asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow. Sakura closed her lids shut. She remembered the boy very well, and, for a moment, the rosette was glad she had chosen for Haku to take the swordsman's body away. Inari would not have overcome his problems if it weren't for a certain Uzumaki Naruto, and so she hoped for a repeat of last time's events.

"Forgive him, he's my son, Inari. His father was killed in an accident related to the bridge... and since then, he's been very dejected."

Silence filled the room as thoughts of the young child filled everyone's thoughts.

After a few moments, Kakashi said, "We should start training. If you boys - and Sakura - want to be able to take on the Hidden Swordsman of the Mist, Zabuza, we should begin now."

"Hai!"

Hatake Kakashi brought the three genin to a patch of tall, shady trees. They had thick, pristine straight trunks with an occasional branch or two protruding out of the end.

"Today we are going to learn about some chakra control," he lectured. Seeing the looks on Naruto and Sasuke's faces, he sighed. "Despite what you might think, this can actually improve your jutsus and also make it easier to learn other jutsus... so pay attention!"

He slowly hobbled towards the base of a tree and began walking up. Naruto gaped at his teacher, his jaw wide open.

Soon, Kakashi had reached a thick branch. He was standing on the underside of the branch like a bat hanging from its feet like it was the most natural thing on earth.

"I want you guys to accomplish this," he said, smiling beneath his mask.

When he was met with silence, he continued, "What you are basically doing is focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet, where it is the hardest to focus since it is the farthest away from your chi. By doing so, you can climb up this tree without difficulty. Try it."

Sakura rolled her eyes, a wave of nostalgia washing over her as she was the first to walk over to the lofty trees that awaited them. It had been ages since she had gone back to the basics, and now that she was finally here, she felt a bit giddy. Back in her academy days, she had always strived for perfection. When she did worse than say, Ino, in something such as flower arranging, she had always wanted to restart the day so that she could fix her mistakes and prove to Ino she wasn't worthless.

Staring at the unwavering tree, she grinned.

Let's do this.

Cha!

She walked up the tree, making she she went as slowly as she could as to not arouse suspicion from her rather intelligent teacher. It did not feel out of the ordinary; in fact, felt as if she was walking on normal ground.

Meanwhile, the boys of Team 7 were struggling with their task. Sasuke's tree beared several burns where his feet had hit the bark. Naruto's tree, on the other hand, looked perfectly normal.

I see, the Uchiha mused. Too much chakra, and the bark will scorch. But too little chakra... He glanced at Naruto, who had landed on his buttocks. And you won't be able to stay on the tree, either. This is quite tricky...

"You can do it, guys!" yelled Sakura, sucessfully catching the attention of the remaining members of the team.

"W-woah, Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto in awe. "You did it!"

"Yup!" She giggled, as childishly as she could.

"Well, well, well..." Kakashi looked thoughtfully at the pink-haired adolescent sitting on top of a high branch several meters above. Well, at least this is something I anticipated. After all, her report did mention a pretty high level of chakra control.

"It looks like someone could become the Hokage at this rate, eh?" Kakashi teased. Naruto gasped in horror, before quickly attempting to take on the tree placed innocently in front of him again.

Twenty minutes later, neither Naruto or Sasuke had made much noteworthy progress. Time and time they tried again, until Naruto finally ceased his attempts.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Is he giving up already?

Scratching his head in anxiety, the fox-faced blonde walked towards Sakura (who by now had leapt off the tree and was seated on the ground, watching Naruto and Sasuke's attempts amusedly). A foolish grin was plastered on his face.

"So, er, Sakura-chan..." He beckoned for her to come closer. She nodded. He whispered in her ear, "Could you tell me how you did it?" Sakura smirked, before answering, "Sure thing, Naruto."

So he's already caught on about using teamwork. This boy is a fast learner. The silver-haired jounin regarded the exchange with a lazy eye.

"So you see," Sakura whispered, "Pretend you're filling a bowl of dry ramen with hot water. The water that is being let out is like your chakra." Pointing to the variety of burn marks on the tree, she continued, "So far you've been using either too much or too little chakra, so your bowl of ramen is too watery or too salty." Naruto nodded in comprehension, grinning. "You want to use just the right amount of chakra so that the ramen tastes just right, got it?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed cheekily. "Thanks Sakura-chan, that was so easy to explain!" Snickering, Naruto returned to his tree. Time to beat Sasuke!

Sakura smiled in amusement. She had barely explained anything at all... but then, knowing Naruto, he was chock full of surprises.

"Hey, Sakura." Kakashi had caught the rosette's attention.

"Hai, sensei?"

"Seeing as you have nothing to do now, would you like to go and guard Tazuna for the rest of the day? I don't think Naruto and Sasuke will be ready any time soon."

"Well, actually, sensei..." she paused. "...Could you... teach me something else? You see, I want to do more training too."

"I see. Well then... meet me at the river near Tazuna-san's house."

"Sakura." It was Kakashi. Sakura had just finished a training session with Rock Lee.

"Aa! Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura grinned. "What brings you here?" She had not spoken with Kakashi-sensei for a while since she had become the Fifth's apprentice.

"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry." His eyes had a regretful glint to it. He looked away.

"Huh? What for?" The pinkette raised her eyebrows. "Last time I checked, it was I who owed you money for ramen, not the other way around!"

"No, I mean... about your training."

"My.. training?"

"You see... ever since the Chuunin Exams - no. I mean... ever since you've been my student, I haven't been teaching you very well at all. So, I just wanted to apologize. I spent more time teaching Sasuke and Naruto then I've taught you... I've neglected you. I didn't mean to do that."

"Oh.." Sakura stared at her former teacher, awestruck. She had never blamed him for "neglecting her," as he put it, but for him to say it outright like this...

"Thank you, sensei." She chirped, smiling contentedly at her teacher.

"R-really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yup! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have become the person I was today!"

"Well then... Thank you, Sakura." The silver-haired ex-ANBU grinned.

"No problem."