15Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This is just for fun and not for profit.
Summary: An attack by an old enemy leads Naruto and his family on a new adventure. Part of the Dreams Universe Futurefic NaruSaku
Author's note: It's recommended to read the first two stories from the Dream Universe so this won't confuse you. For those of you who've been waiting for this, it took a long time to get it the way I wanted it. This will be an epic.
"What" speaking
'What' thinking
"What" Jutsu spoken
Scattered Dreams
A pair of tired green eyes opened slightly as Uzumaki Sakura realized her husband was no longer in bed with her. She found his shadowed form in the dim light beside their bed. He was wearing his white trench coat with the orange flames at the bottom, similar to the one his father, the Yondaime, was famous for wearing. On the back of the trench coat was the kanji for family. Under the trench coat, he was wearing blue sweatpants and a green t-shirt.
"What is it dear?" her tired whisper demanded to know why her slumber was being interrupted.
"Just need to check something out downstairs. Nothing to worry about," his own whisper did little to calm her, since his state of dress showed that he was thinking something was wrong. The seals in that jacket held more surprises than Kankuro's puppets, and the house's master security seal as well. Sakura rolled out of bed silently and grabbed her own white jacket with red flames, the same shade as her old genin outfit, and pulled it over her pajamas. By the time she'd turned around, Naruto was already gone.
"Oh, he is going to get it for not waiting." With narrowed eyes, the Uzumaki matriarch stalked silently down the hall after her over-protective husband. He could take an explosive note going off in his face without fliching, but the thought of his family getting hurt set him off like a firecracker. 'Some Hokage,' her indignation kept building with each step.
As she walked, Sakura noticed that two of the middle kids' doors were open though the lights were still out. Probably down in the kitchen getting a midnight snack, as was their habit after a hard day. 'Though they have different definitions of hard.' Sakura thought with a smile.
Her oldest son Arashi was very physical and enjoyed talking with people, especially the young ladies. Her middle daughter Kora was an introverted thinker whose only passion was reading. They didn't get along very well when left alone, but would be tolerant when they were with family or they both had food in front of them. Sakura thanked whatever deity gave those two their father's focus when it came to eating. Their midnight food raids were the only times they got along by themselves.
Halfway down the steps Sakura heard quiet voices in the living room and took slower, quieter steps so she could hear what was being said. She made out someone with a gruff voice saying Naruto's name followed by maniacal laughter. At the same moment she sensed a huge spike of chakra, Sakura clearly heard her husband cry out "No!" and felt his chakra spike as well. Less than a second later, she was thrown against the wall as a wave of energy blindsided her and she collapse to the ground with a groan. She picked herself up shakily, and felt something pull at her, like a current of water or a strong wind. A bright flash of rainbow lights was followed by darkness as she lost consciousness.
She became aware of people shouting, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Their voices sounded muffled for some reason. It felt like she was being moved, but Sakura had no idea where she was going or who was taking her there. Blackness claimed her again.
When the medic ninja awoke the second time she took stock of her body.
It felt numb and her eyes wouldn't open.
Her chakra system felt like Hinata went to town on it.
She realized that her hearing was fine and could hear her own labored breathing.
Couldn't get an accurate read on anything else, so it was time for the medic to begin healing herself.
Getting breathing under control was her first priority. Deep breaths in and out with increasing control until Sakura felt her breath smoothly flow through her body.
After that she got her chakra to focus on the medic portion of the Uzumaki family seal located on her abdomen, activating as much as she could, hoping the stored medical chakra would start restoring her body to full capacity. The feeling of soothing healing chakra trickled out and helped return feeling to her body.
She could now feel that her hands and feet were bound, not uncomfortably, to the bed. Either she was in enemy hands or she was considered a danger to those taking care of her. Though the IV in her right arm suggested that they, whoever they were, wanted her alive.
Eventually she pried her eyelids back and surveyed where she was. Her first thought suggested hospital due to the bare white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic confirmed this hypothesis. Her green eyes looked around as best they could with her body still immobile. More bare white surfaces and a curtain separating her from half the room gave further credence that she was in a hospital room. The part that made the Chief Medic Ninja (CMN) of the Village Hidden in the Leaves fearful was that this didn't look like any room in her hospital, which she knew as well as her own home. So that meant she'd somehow been taken out of her house and transported to another village. 'How long was I unconscious?'
"Ah, you're awake. Maybe now we can get some answers," a familiar voice came from the direction of the foot of her bed but sense her neck muscles weren't cooperating, she couldn't see who it was. Muted footsteps could be heard and dark hair came into view followed by a smiling and surprisingly familiar face. It took Sakura a moment to realize she was looking at Shizune. She realized that her problem identifying the longtime family friend came from the fact that the traces of gray in her hair and the wrinkles on her face were gone. This puzzled Sakura because Shizune never struck her as a vain person who would use a genjutsu to disguise her age.
Her immediate thought was that she was caught in a type of Genjutsu, perhaps making her think she was safe by showing a friendly face. With most of her attention of recovery, Sakura hadn't been able to check her surroundings for danger. Even now when she tried to find it, whatever Genjutsu was being used eluded her detection. Her genjutsu sense must still be down, along with most of her motor control.
"Sorry about the restraints, but until we know who you are we have to take precautions. Since the invasion we've really had to tighten security around the whole village, especially people who appear of nowhere wearing pajamas and that trench coat."
Sakura heard a catch in young-Shizune's voice at the last part and wondered what it meant. The mention of an invasion also seemed odd since nobody had invaded another country in 8 years, after Cloud's failed attempt at taking over the Mist Village. The more Sakura thought, the more things failed to add up. Unfortunately, her body was still unable to ask a simple question, so she decided to just be silent and learn what she could. The seal was still pumping out steadily increasing amounts of healing chakra, and by her estimate, she should be able to talk within a minute or two. Hopefully then she could get some answers from this pseudo-Shizune.
The door opened and Sakura received another shock as her former teacher Tsunade of the Sannin proudly strode into view, exactly as she had been when Sakura had asked for training. Her pink eyebrows came together as she felt a bit insulted that whoever did this would make such an obvious mistake. Tsunade had been gone for ten years, and given the public nature of her funeral, no one should have made this amateurish error. The analytical part of her mind kept saying this was an illusion while the more intuitive side of argued that this was her old teacher.
Again, she believed this inner conflict was due to the trauma she was recovering from.
Sakura felt a nudge to her shoulder and realized that the false Tsunade and Shizune were trying to get her attention. She could feel her muscles begin to twitch and hoped that her jaw would recover soon so she could talk with them. Once they were sure she was paying attention, Tsunade began speaking.
"Welcome to Konoha. I'm Tsunade and this is Shizune my assistant. I have some questions for you when you feel ready to answer them."
Eyes closed, Sakura checked to see if her mouth was working and when she found that it did, bit down hard on her lower lip while suppressing her chakra to almost nothing. 'If that didn't dispel the Genjutsu, then something other than an enemy capture is going on here.' As she slowly opened her eyes, Tsunade and Shizune were still there and were looking at her like she was insane.
"What was that all about?" Tsunade's commanding voice brought back memories Sakura couldn't afford to indulge in at the moment. Blinking back tears of pain and loss, Sakura just shook her head and didn't say anything. Tsunade didn't look happy with that answer and repeated the question, this time with more force and authority.
Sakura still didn't respond, consumed by this maddening confusion. 'What is going on? This shouldn't be possible, but I know that this isn't Genjutsu.' Looking at the apparently real Tsunade getting angrier by the second, Sakura decided that getting on the short tempered woman's good side would be best for now.
"Sorry about that," Sakura croaked out, "Can I get some water, please?"
"Here," Shizune produced a glass of water from a desk near the bed.
"Thank you." After wetting her mouth Sakura tried again. "I'll try to answer your question now."
"Thank you," Tsunade's tone held more than a little sarcasm and irritation. "First off, I want to know where you came from. As Shinzune said, you just seemed to pop out of nowhere."
Sakura took a calming breath, "I am from Konoha, and the last thing I remember was that I was going to help my husband with some trouble and then I ended up here."
Tsunade looked puzzled and asked her next question, "Who was your husband?"
Deciding that names might complicate matters, Sakura responded,"The Hokage."
Now Tsunade looked intrigued, and turned to Shizune and whispered something to Shizune. All Sakura could make out was "old pervert" and assumed that she was talking about Jiraiya, as her Tsunade often referred to him as such. Shizune rushed out of the room, wasting no time completing whatever task her sensei gave her.
Once Shizune was gone, Sakura noticed that Tsunade was smiling, and it wasn't her nice smile. This was the "Oh $#$&, I'm going to die!" smile. The still weak kunoichi prayed she wasn't the target of said smile.
"One last question then you can rest; you wouldn't happen to have a blond, blued eyed son would you?" Tsunade's voice was now smothered in enough sugar and honey to make Choji gag.
Sakura couldn't keep the surprise off of her face and responded that she did. Tsunade smirked and thanked her and left a very confused woman to wonder how the older woman knew about Arashi.
After regaining all her body control, Sakura began to focus her senses to see what was going on outside. She easily picked up the panicked voices of medical ninja saying something about how skinny someone looked now. Sakura guessed that someone decided to starve themselves to get a thinner body and neglected their health. It didn't happen too often, but when it did it wasn't pretty.
Later, she heard about a seriously injured genin who had lost a lot of blood. Something about the order of those two patients was nagging at her mind. Some half forgotten story someone had told her. She just couldn't remember what it was about.
Realization came when someone said something to the effect that it was the demon brat's fault the Uchiha left.
She had gone back to when Sasuke defected to the Sound Village! She wasn't sure how it had happened exactly but she was in the past, and Naruto and Sasuke were probably fighting right now in the Valley of the End.
The restraints could do little to keep her here with her strength returned and her trench coat was easily summoned to her hand (one of Naruto's special touches to the attire). Sakura half flew in the direction that the Sound Four had taken and was forced to stop.
Apparently the fight was already over because down on the trail was a chibi version of her husband, half dragging half carrying his best friend/rival back to the village. He was bloodied and his clothes were torn, but he still had that same big grin on his tanned face.
Sakura hid in the trees, far enough not to be seen but close enough to act in it was needed. She noticed with a smile that her younger self was waiting at the gate to welcome her teammates home. This was different than what she remembered, but it certainly was a pleasant change.
Her smile turned to a horrified gasp as her younger self viciously slapped the younger Naruto, making him drop his human luggage. The older Sakura didn't know what was happening, why was her younger self doing that to Naruto? And why didn't she remember any of this? Wasn't this her past?
As the older version of Haruno Sakura was shocked by these new developments, the younger one slapped Naruto again. The sound brought the displaced mother back to reality and she felt those maternal instincts start screaming.
Her eyes narrowed as her counterpart raised her hand to slap her whiskered teammate yet again.
'I don't think so.'
A/N: Well, there's the start of another story. Please let me know what you think.
I will also be starting another story soon, an AU entitled, "The Legend of the Winged Fox."