And I need that fire just to know that I’m awake - chapter one
Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294807/chapters/35483394
Prologue
They reach their destination three days later. She hurts less, by that point, but she's still nowhere near as healed as Shikamaru is - although he had a medic to help him through it all.
Konoha is... odd. It's different, in some ways, but it really is the same old Konoha Sakura remembers living in for her whole life. It's a Konoha from before Orochimaru's attack, from before Pein's attack, from before Zetsu's attack. It's a Konoha that she almost doesn't remember anymore. From the way Shikamaru catches his breath beside her, settling back on his heels, she knows he feels the same. The sunlight filters through the leaves and falls on them in a way that Sakura's not used too as they watch their village go around its daily life.
"Kotetsu and Izumo are manning the gate," Shikamaru says in Sakura's ear and she snorts. Those two were notorious for letting in people that they probably shouldn't have, but it often turned out okay and most Jounin held a soft spot for the two. Honestly, the aforementioned soft spot is likely 90% of the reason they haven't been demoted yet - that, and their almost supernatural ability with most weapons. Sakura had learned from them, back when their band had been larger, and even she never got to the same level they had been.
(They're our greatest failure, Inner says, deep in her head, and Sakura has to agree.)
"We could probably just walk in," she replies, laughs at his soft laugh, and they share the most honest smile they've had in a while. Neither of them will risk it, though, and they both know it. No one had told them to change what happened if they landed in the past; Naruto hadn't told them what to do; but how could they not, knowing what they know?
It's a self-imposed mission, but regardless, they cannot risk failure. They cannot see their village fall for a third, fourth, fifth time, knowing they could do something about it.
(A mission self-imposed is still a mission, after all.)
"I mean," Shikamaru says, and Sakura tenses, because that's the voice he has when he has an idea that's objectively stupid, but is going to suggest it anyway. "We probably could just walk in - I'm the stereotype of a Nara."
"You're a fucking idiot," she tells him, socks his arm and slings the same arm over his shoulder. Jokingly, she flicks an appraising look up and down his body. "You're too hot to be a Nara."
"Hey!" Shikamaru says, sighs as she snickers at his offence. "Troublesome woman."
"Of course," she agrees amicably, "but we still can't just walk in. My hair's too memorable."
"Henge?" he suggests, and Sakura honestly considers checking for brain damage. Instead, she just looks at him, entirely too aware of the way her thoughts are projected on her face. "Yeah, okay," he says, leaning against her.
"What if," Sakura says slowly, "we tell them the truth?"
Shikamaru's look rivals hers in its deadpan disbelief. "We tell Kotetsu and Izumo that we're time travellers here to stop our village from being destroyed?"
"No," she says, inordinately patient for an amazingly stupid partner - he's a fucking Nara, why is he so idiotic? Boys. "We tell them that we're foreign ninja here to see the Hokage."
"Oh," Shikamaru says, like he's realising something that makes him feel idiotic - good, Inner thinks, all mild guilt and vindictive glee - "That could work."
Sakura sniffs, turns up her nose like Ino used to whenever something didn't go her way and says, "Of course it'll work!" Shikamaru looks at her suspiciously, before bursting into a helpless kind of laughter that makes Sakura feel warm inside. They're alive, and they don't have to worry about being ambushed by half-immortal and never-ending beings, even if they do occasionally have to worry about ambush from other humans.
(And isn't the whole idea of other humans a trip; Sakura's not used to there being anyone outside their small group and Zetsu.)
They're alive, and they can laugh freely like this. Sakura kind of loves it.
"We'll do that then," Shikamaru says, bringing her back into the moment. Sakura wrinkles her nose - she's going to have to smile; to act for this plan, and after this long, she's sure she's pretty rusty - but Shikamaru rests his arm over her shoulders. It's a comforting weight, the feeling of having someone she knows here for her.
When they jump down, she's only partially ready, but that's okay because she has Shikamaru here, has his arm over her shoulder and his Chakra brushing light and easy against her own. Kotetsu and Izumo straighten up as they approach, their hands hovering suspiciously over their weapons. Sakura approves.
"Hey!" She says, as bright as she can make herself be, offering a wave to the two chunin gate guards. "We're here to see the Hokage, is that okay?"
"The Hokage?" Kotetsu says, suspicion in his voice and in his eyes as he glares at them. "What business do you have with the Hokage?"
"Information trade," Shikamaru says easily, a feigned openness shifting how he holds himself. "We have information to offer, and ask only for refuge in return." The two chunin stare suspiciously for a few more seconds before Izumo gives a nod, racing off to - presumably - get someone to escort them in. Sakura settles down against the poles holding up the gate to wait, feeling Shikamaru follow seconds later, leaning up against her side. She almost falls asleep here, in the shade of Konoha's gate with Shikamaru resting against her. It's warm, and shaded, and safe somehow, even in this Konoha that's an old mirror of her own.
Shikamaru nudges her awake when Izumo returns, two ANBU at his side. It isn't at all a vicious awakening, but it is a startling one - she hadn't even realised she'd fallen asleep. That probably says volumes about her comfort levels here; they're alarmingly high and Sakura's going to need to fix that somehow.
Regardless, she climbs to her feet - slowly, no need to appear as a threat - and snaps a quick salute at Kotetsu, who watched over her and Shikamaru as they dozed. Sakura kind of loves him for that, if she didn't kind of love him already. Then she turns, heads towards Shikamaru and the ANBU just ahead, smiling just slightly because she's home, and this time, she's going to save it.
The Hokage's office is just as she remembers it, from before when Sarutobi was in office, when Tsunade was in office, when Kakashi was in office. (When Naruto was in office, although the majority of his leadership was months and months of ninja on the run, fleeing desperately from something none of their three living Hokage could defeat, even working together.) The Sandaime Hokage sits at the desk, long-dead in Sakura's memory and not someone she's overly affected by seeing. Shikamaru isn't so lucky - he sees his teacher in the lines of Sarutobi's face, in the cigar hanging from his lips, and Sakura slings an arm over his shoulders and draws him in. It's a hug, almost, but not quite.
(An undercover hug, Inner whispers. Sakura almost laughs, holds it back with willpower and willpower alone, while Inner, the lucky bitch, laughs at both her own joke and at Sakura herself.)
"So," a long-dead Hokage says, "Foreign ninja with information, asking only shelter? It is understandable that I am curious, even suspicious, is it not?" As he says this, Sakura realises with a dawning horror that they did not plan what they would tell him. From Shikamaru's hurried glance, it is obvious that he feels the same; and Sakura simultaneously breathes a sigh of relief that she is not alone in her idiocy and feels the overwhelming urge to cuff her idiot of a partner around the head - with that glance, the Hokage will trust nothing they tell him without evidence.
He's supposed to be a Nara! Inner wails in despair. Sakura can't help but agree.
"I am presuming you want the truth, Hokage-sama," Sakura starts, speaking as calmly as she can manage. "We offer it freely, and warn that the information shared in this room will be dangerous in the wrong hands." Sarutobi eyes her, but flares his chakra to activate the silencing seals anyway. Shikamaru is giving her a similar look from her side, and she glances at him, exasperated. Thankfully, he seems to get what she means, because he steps forwards and bows just slightly.
"Hokage-sama," he says, "I am Nara Shikamaru and this is my partner, Haruno Sakura."
Woah, Inner says, just coming out with it, are we? Sakura stifles a smile and joins Shikamaru in his bow. The Hokage watches them, calculating, before glancing past them at the two ANBU standing by the door.
Eventually, he says, "Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Sakura are two students attending their last year at the academy this year." The look he gives them is cool, like an iced-over bridge, liable to send them flying into the frozen water below. "You're going to have to try harder than that."
Sakura straightens, looks Sarutobi Hiruzen in the eye, and says, "Shimura Danzo is operating an ANBU cell known as Root, which you ordered disbanded. The Uchiha Massacre was ordered by Danzo, carried out by Uchiha Itachi and covered up by you." One of the two ANBU steps forward, but Shikamaru falls in behind her. His glare is a terrible thing - all Nara glares are, really, because it is not often they make an appearance - and the ANBU member freezes. Sakura continues. "Uzumaki Naruto is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, son of the previous Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina and her husband, Namikaze Minato. Uzumaki Mito was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki before her, as well as the Princess of Uzushisokagure, Konoha's greatest failure and the last known location of Uzumaki Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage of Konoha, as he used the last of his chakra to activate a seal that sent both the head of Konoha's hospital and apprentice to the Godaime Hokage, Haruno Sakura and Jounin Commander Nara Shikamaru back in time." Sakura sucks in a breath, lets it out, and levels her gaze at Sarutobi. He's watching her with less wariness and more shock, which is exactly what she was going for.
Then Shikamaru stops glaring at the ANBU and sidles up by her side. When he opens his mouth to continue, she makes no move to stop him. "They watched all that was left of Konoha fall with its leader, and woke up on Uzushisokagure, ten years in the past."
Short, sweet and effective, Inner comments, audibly pleased.
And it is effective - Sakura watches as Sarutobi Hiruzen's face shifts from shock to pity, from something that could have left them out to something that will get them in.
This is why he's a genius, Inner comments, that undercurrent of smug pleasure still lighting up her voice. Sakura can't help but agree - he really is one; a lazy genius, but a genius nonetheless.
Sarutobi looks at them, silent but pitying; and says, "Tell me about the future." Shikamaru sighs in that way he does when he wants to call something troublesome but can't, and Sakura offers a tight smile.
"That might take a while," she says, "We're not even sure how far back we went."
"I'm reasonably sure it's at least ten years?" Shikamaru offers. Sakura only shrugs, before fixing her eyes on the Hokage.
"You said we're in our last year?" she asks, "When's the genin exams?" Sarutobi looks at her carefully, before apparently deciding she's trustworthy enough for this information.
"Today," he says, and Sakura mentally reclassifies 'trustworthy enough for the information' into 'unable to do anything about it anyway'. Shikamaru frowns, thoughtful, and Sarutobi smirks at them, almost all-powerful and seemingly all-knowing (although they know otherwise). It's no wonder he was called the God of Shinobi.
"Then it is ten years," she says, turning to Shikamaru. "We could fix a lot with a ten year grace period." Sarutobi stares at them, almost glaring as they completely ignore him in favour of considering what they can fix, with this amount of time on their hands.
"We can't help Obito," Shikamaru says, ignoring Sarutobi as he perks up at the name of Kakashi's old teammate, "He was gone for years by this point." Sakura whines, because Obito is the root of like 80% of the world's problems, and fixing that would have been the best way to change the course of history. "I know," Shikamaru says, pats her head like she's a particularly insistent puppy. She snarls, whacks his hand and humphs as he laughs quietly, turning back to the Hokage.
"We'll try to summarise the events the best we can," he tells Sarutobi, "but we may be here for a while."
The Hokage shrugs, leans back in his chair, and says, "I've got nothing to do."
By the time they've finished, Sakura's throat is dry and her voice hoarse. Shikamaru doesn't sound much better, his voice just as hoarse. She feels like she's going to cry, with the way her eyes burn and her throat aches, and she angrily swipes a hand across her eye.
Ninja don't cry, Inner says, but she sounds like she's going to cry too. Sakura doesn't blame her - they lost so much; lost so many, and to tell their story they had to tell of who died. Sarutobi pities them, plainly and openly, his eyes crinkled like he's going to cry too. It's not that much of a surprise - he likely knows the dead better than they do, and they had to tell him that he and those he holds dear would all be falling in the next ten years.
"I'm sorry," Sakura whispers, the words scratching in her throat, "I tried to save them."
Shikamaru's arm wraps around her, pulling her into a hug, and Sarutobi's voice rings through the office. "You did the best you could," he says, kinder than she'd expect from the leader of a village facing unknown ninja - because that's what they are at the moment, unknown ninja, regardless of how much that thought hurts. Then Sarutobi says something else unexpected - something they'd hoped for, desperately, but never thought they'd get; even by telling their story. "Cat and Crow will take you to your new housing in the Jounin apartments," he says, gesturing to the two ANBU who had led them to the Hokage tower in the first place, "You'll be enstated as Jounin of Konoha, under surveillance for the first few weeks, of course."
"Of course," Shikamaru says, inclining his head, "Thank you for your help, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi watches them for a moment, then asks, "What would you like me to put down as your names?"
"Uhm," Sakura says, blankly, "We need names?"
"Oh," Shikamaru says, "Yeah. We need names."
"We'd have to get the Naras on board," Sakura muses, "Because the easiest way to get around us both being able to use the Nara clan techniques is to, well, be Naras."
"Oh no," Shikamaru says, staring at her in horror, "You are not making me tell this shit to my dad."
Sarutobi stares, sighs, and says, "I'll call Shikaku."
Nara Shikaku reacts almost exactly as Sakura expected - with disbelief, followed by a long, drawn-out sigh, and a comment so similar to Shikamaru's favourite saying there's really no question about his friend's Nara heritage. "So," the head of the Nara clan says, turning to them, "Names?"
Shikamaru looks at her, smirks, and says, "Sakura should be Shikamari." Sakura can't help but snort at that - he would give her a name so similar to his own that only a single character makes the difference.
Shikaku nods, the Hokage makes a note, and both look expectantly at Shikamaru. Sakura taps her fingers against her chin, thinking, before she says, "Shikaken."
"Like study?" Shikamaru asks, curious. Sakura smiles, shaking her head.
"Like sharpen. It suits you, I think."
Sarutobi nods in agreement, writing it down. "I'd have to agree."
"Nara Shikamari and Nara Shikaken," Shikaku says, offering a smile, "I'd like to extend a formal invitation to have you stay in our compound."
"It would look a bit weird if we weren't, I think," Sakura offers up, "I don't know all that much about clan things."
"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighs, in a way that definitely means it would seem weird if they didn't stay in the Nara compound, "But then we'll have to find a way to avoid Shikamaru."
Sakura groans, glaring at her partner. "Why'd you have to be such an intelligent kid! He'll figure it out too quickly."
"Why don't we do it this way," Shikaku offers, "You stay at the compound for a while - say, a week or so - and then move into the Jounin Apartments. It is something that happens, even if it's a rather rare occurrence."
"Thank you, Shikaku-san," Sakura says, bowing slightly, "Your help is most appreciated."
Shikaku laughs, ruffles her hair and says, "There's no need to be so polite." He offers a smile, adding, "Politeness is troublesome." The Nara clan head leads them from the Hokage tower, offering a quick goodbye to Sarutobi. "There are a few free houses on the outskirts of the compounds," he tells them, "You'll be staying in one of those. I have to tell you to come to dinner tomorrow night, though - I can only hold Yoshino off for a day, the troublesome woman."
"It's a miracle you can hold her off that long," Shikamaru mutters. Sakura laughs, lightly whacks his arm and leans into him.
"Don't insult your mother," she scolds, curling her arm around his as they arrive at the compound, "It's mean." Shikaku snorts at them, pushing open the gate and leading them to a house that sits quite close to the edge of the compound.
When Shikaku leaves them, he leaves them with the house keys. "Have a good sleep," he says, a wry smile twisting his lips.
Ha, Inner laughs, speaking for the first time in a long time - she'd quieted, after having to talk about what happened in their timeline - sleeping well? When was the last time we slept well?
I think that's why he's smiling like that, Sakura replies quietly, tilting her head onto Shikamaru's shoulder. Outloud, she says, "Thank-you, Shikaku-san."
"Just call me Shikaku," he replies, as he walks off. "Can't be too formal if we're family, after all."
"C'mon, Sakura," Shikamaru says, tugging her inside, "Let's get some sleep."
Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294807/chapters/35483394
Prologue
