A/N: Hi guys...Here is my newest offering to you. This fic is a Naruto/Sakura. In the near future, I will be working on a Itachi/Sakura and a Gaara/Sakura. However, I think that Naruto/Sakura will be my first love, with Gaara in a very close second. Let me make it clear that I am not a Sasuke hater. But, like my IY fics, I've got to have a jerk, so Sasuke is it.
I don't own Naruto or his gang. Nor, do I own the song 1000 words, by Jade and Sweetbox. If you wish to hear the song, you can hear it on FFX-2.
I hope that you enjoy this ride. Please read and review. Also, for those who don't know, but read Kogasangel's fics on the adult site, I am the same author. I just don't want to be accused of stealing my own stuff. It's happened before, and thankfully, I can laugh about it now.
"To be hokage...that is my dream!"Closing her eyes, the familiar words echoed throughout her brain, teasing her with the hope that they once held for her. But, when she opened her eyes, she could seethe proof that his words did not come to pass, and he, like so many others, died in the great war. In fact, he had died in her arms.
She had not wanted the title. In fact, she had informed the elders of the village that she would not accept it, but her words fell on deaf ears. When she was announced as the new leader for the village, the crowd cheered, and whistled, and she could not help but feel that it should have been him standing in her place.
He was the one who had wanted this.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a soft knock on her door. Turning, she called for the person to enter and watched as her two most trusted advisers walked into her office. Raising her eyebrow, she watched as the shorter of the two take a seat before her desk, and waited patiently for her to sit down.
When she nodded, her adviser asked, "So, you have made up your mind, then?"
"I know that you think that I am being foolish, and I can't say that you are not right." She admitted, her tone soft. "But, what if it works? What if I can prevent the tragedy that claimed so many of our sons and daughters?"
"Don't you mean, what if you could prevent the death of your beloved?" The taller adviser asked, his tone blunt. "Let's just come out and say what you are really planning, shall we. You are doing this to get your lover back, and getting the others back is just a bonus."
The first adviser chuckled, "So, all of this in the name of true love?"
Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked over to the balcony. "I can't help but think that things would not have turned out the way they did if he were alive." She murmured. "He was the best that this village had to offer, and should have been the hokage. After all, it was his dream."
"And the dream of many other young ninja." The first adviser said. "However, death is a fact of life, my lady, and you have done a very good job of leading this village. Do not discount all that you have done. To do so would be an insult to you, and to his memory. He believed in you, and he loved you, as much as you loved him."
Biting her lip, she turned her eyes to his portrait, and felt the familiar tears beginning to form. She felt the taller of the two move closer to her, and then felt the large hand on her shoulder.
"If you are going to do this, then do it." He said, "But make sure that you can handle the consequences. Things might not change for the better."
Her first adviser stood up. "Indeed. We may not become allies, or friends. You need to consider all of your options before performing this jutsu. It is, after all, considered the most forbidden for a good reason."
"When I go through with this, you will protect my body and younger self?" She asked, and let out a sigh of relief when her companions nodded. "Good. I want you to place my body in suspended animation. This way, my younger self will not awaken and freak out. You don't need a panicked hokage running around, even if it is me."
The two before her nodded again and then turned to the door. However, the shorter one turned and quietly asked, "When will you do it?"
Squaring her shoulders, she firmly said, "Tonight. I will begin when the moon is at its zenith in the sky. I trust that the two of you can take control while I am busy."
The taller one laughed and nodded. "Don't you worry about us. Just make sure that you fix whatever you think needs fixing. I'm behind you all the way."
"As am I." The shorter one said. "I trust you in your decision. Take care of your business, and remember that we believe in you...and in him."
When she was finally alone, she turned and closed her eyes. 'Oh, please." She thought, 'Please help me make things better. I can't do this alone anymore. I'm tired of watching those that I love die. Please, hokages, be with me on this night and see me through this task. With any luck, it will be his face, beside yours, on the monument rather than mine.'
Taking in a deep breath, she sat back down and waited. Now, it was all about time. She could only pray that the jutsu worked.
Sakura watched with narrowed eyes as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai fought. When it finally came to blows, she bit her lip in order to restrain herself from screaming at them in an attempt to break them up.
Kakashi finally grew tired of the yelling, and finally ordered all of them, her included, to do several exercises in hopes that they would be so tired that they wouldn't want to fight.
The boys quickly turned the exercises into a contest and had all three of them, well...Sai merely did it just to provoke the other two, going at their exercises as fast as they could. She didn't even try to keep up, and when she was finally done, she was so tired that she fell to the ground, her legs too unsteady to hold her up.
"So," Kakashi asked, his eye never leaving his book, "Had enough?"
The boys were silent, though she knew that they had now engaged in a glaring contest, and she nodded at her team leader. The older man dropped down and walked over to her, and knelt down beside her.
"Are you alright, Sakura?" He asked, his tone soft, though concerned. When she nodded, he ruffled her hair, much to her displeasure, gave her an eye crinkle, and then went over to talk to the boys.
Shaking her head, she looked up into the night's sky and grinned. The moon was at its highest point, and it was so beautiful.
Standing up, she wobbled a few moments, and was suddenly hit with a strong wave of nausea. She groaned, and caught the attention of her teammates when she began to wretch.
"Uh, Sakura?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide. "You're not going to puke, right?"
"The hag probably needs to rest from all that exercise." Sai said, his tone bored. "It's clear that she doesn't get much exercise."
Naruto turned his eyes onto his new teammate and snapped, "Don't talk about Sakura like that, you weirdo."
Sai was about to reply, but Kakashi's sharp voice snapped, "Knock it off." Turning to Sakura, he said, "Why don't you sit down and relax. If you were not feeling well, you should have told me."
Sasuke snorted. "And, you would have told her to exercise at a slower pace." He muttered, and returned the glare that his former sensei shot him.
Smiling weakly, she said, "I'll be ok. I just have to lie down."
She took two steps towards her bedroll, and then felt her body go numb. She knew that she was going to pass out, but could not tell her teammates, and so, all she could do was hope for a landing that did not humiliate her.
When Sakura fell to the ground, Naruto was the first one to her, and he cradled her head in his lap.
"What in the hell is wrong with her?" He demanded, his tone curt. "Why did she pass out?"
Sasuke lifted an eyebrow and shrugged, "Do we look like medics to you?" He snapped.
Kakashi quickly checked her pulse, and found it to be strong. Sighing, he lifted his head and softly said, "I think that she has been pushing herself too hard. Let's get her into her sleeping bag, and in the morning, we will return to the village."
Naruto nodded and glared at Sai when he offered to carry her. There was no way he was letting that penis-obsessed freak near his best friend. Besides, Sakura once told him that Sai's smile scared her. He had to admit, it was pretty spooky.
After he settled her for the night, it was agreed that they, too, would go to bed, and get an early start in the morning. It would be in Sakura's best interest if she were looked over by the hokage, herself.
It didn't take long for the three young men to fall asleep, nor did it take very long for the older man, who sat in a tree, to doze off, his beloved book in his hand.
It was well after midnight when Sakura's eyes opened, her expression confused. Slowly, she turned her head and found that she was staring over at the one person she had hoped to see and had to save.
The jutsu worked. It worked and now, her younger self's mind was in her body, under the protection of her two closest friends.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she studied Naruto's handsome face, and she remembered how he looked the day he died in her arms. He was just as handsome now, as he had been then.
Slowly, she sat up and took a look around, her eyes narrowing when they fell on Sasuke's prone form. Sensing that he was not a threat, at least not now, she turned to look at Sai, and smiled fondly. He, before he, too, had died, had become close to her heart, and she had cried for a week when he was ripped from her.
Moving out of her bedroll, she caught sight of Kakashi, and she could not help but lose a soft sob from her throat. His death, besides Naruto's, had been one of the hardest she had handled. The day she said goodbye to him, was the day she had become the sixth hokage. Her coronation had been bathed in blood, and so had her reign.
But, she was here, and now, she could defend them. She knew all of the jutsus, and the techniques that she would need to protect them with.
She would not allow her home, or her loved ones to be lost to the will of a woman, who was worse than Orochimaru and the Akatski combined. She would kill the traitor, if need be, and she would do it with a smile on her face.
But, for tonight, she would watch over them, and she would allow herself to believe that this was the start of a better future. She had to. She could not allow the horror of her future to be repeated, and she would find a way to make sure that Naruto achieved his dream, even if it meant sacrificing all that she had achieved in the future.
This plight was worth it. And so, the woman, who was now within her younger self, watched over those she had called family with a smile on her face. It was good to be home.
So, that bitch who dared call herself the sixth hokage had used the forbidden jutsu and returned to a time when her younger self could not defend against a mental attack.
Well, what's good for the goose, is good for the gander.
Of course, she had known that the foolish woman would attempt this jutsu. It was clear in her actions, and now, her body was being protected in the hokage tower, guarded by those two fools she chose to keep at her side.
What a joke! As if she'd allow that pathetic whore to alter time, just so she could have her precious Naruto back.
That fool wasn't fit to lead anybody, let alone the village, and she would see to it that this time, she was the one gifted with the title of hokage, and when she was, she would banish Uzamaki Sakura far away. Or, she'd just kill her and make things much more simple.
Yes, she liked that idea.
Now, all she had to do was get used to her younger body. That was going to take some getting use to. She had forgotten what it was like when she was a kid, and though she was strong, she wasn't strong enough to take on the hokage, at least not like this.
No, she'd have to be very careful. It would take some time, but she was pretty sure that she could come up with something worthwhile.
After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and wars couldn't be started in a day, either. But, this time, she'd make sure that all who opposed her would die, and if she was lucky, the sixth hokage would fall, too.
Smiling happily, she snuggled deep into her covers and sighed. Oh, yes. This time around, she wasn't going to make the same mistakes she did as she did when she was younger. She was older, wiser, and more powerful. She'd make Naruto and Sakura pay for falling in love, and leaving her to nurse a broken heart.
After all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.