(A\N: I can't believe I forgot to post Naruto's birthday fic back in October. I just found it in my folders today. Whatever, happy-very-fucking-late-birthday-Naruto!)
On the 10th of October, Sakura was peacefully knitting on her front porch. After Kushina came to her for a checkup 9 months ago, Sakura's life brightened with the knowledge that her favourite blonde was finally getting delivered into this world. Now on the peaceful night that Kushina was in labour, Sakura calmly awaited the news that the little sunshine boy has come. She was completely unbothered by this as she knew the Nine-Tails attack won't happen as Rin was alive and Obito still very much loyal to the village.
Speaking of her student, the only reason why Sakura wasn't with her adopted daughter right now was because Rin was handling the delivery. The pinkette knew Kushina was on good hands so she chose not to come to the secret birthplace. No point in crowding everyone for no reason.
Sakura smiled content as she finished her gift to Naruto. It was a cute orange beanie with an embroidered ramen bowl and chopsticks. She ran her fingers over it before putting it on the pile of orange knitted articles she made. She sweatdropped as she realized how many things she made. Oh well, more things for Naruto to enjoy. She quickly picked them up and packed them in a gift bag.
Nothing could ruin this night.
...
At 10pm a loud roar ended up proving Sakura wrong. The medic rose from her sleep in panic, grabbed and fastened her weapon pouch around her hip and dashed outside in her light pink sleeping gown. She arrived in the compound center and found her clanmates gathering. In the distance she saw the Nine-Tailed Fox rampaging in the village. She hasn't seen the furry beast since Kumo sent it on a rampage back when the village was first founded.
No. No no no no! Why is the fox out? This shouldn't have happened this time around! Who did this?! Sakura scowled with anger as she looked at the Bijū.
"You have to be shitting me..."
"I'm afraid not, Sakura-san." said a voice approaching her. She looked back and saw Fugaku approaching. "The Nine-Tailed Fox Demon has attacked the village."
Sakura clicked her teeth in frustration. "Something must have gone wrong..."
"So it seems."
"What are your orders Fugaku-chan?"
"None."
"Excuse me?"
"We were given orders not to engage."
"And you're planning to listen to these bullshit orders?" Fugaku looked taken aback by the elder's words but didn't have the chance to respond as Sakura continued. "Fugaku, there is currently a 10 ton fox rampaging in our village, killing citizens right and left, and you dare tell me you'd rather sit behind and wait it out? Not only that, but in case you haven't noticed, said fox has red Sharingans for eyes. How do you think this will reflect on our clan if the Uchiha don't show up?"
Fugaku looked as if he had been slapped. Then he took a deep breath and called out to the clan. "All shinobi over the age of 20, gather around and help with the evacuation, those over 30 follow me. We need to protect our village!"
"Yes sir!"
"Mikoto, go help with the evacuation, me and Sakura-san will go help with the Fox Demon." his wife compiled without saying a word. Then he turned around and addressed the medic. "Sakura-san, you might want to go change."
In response she merely snorted. "With an enemy this big? I doubt any armour could help much. Let's go."
...
The Uchiha shinobi arrived at the fox just in time to hear the Sandaimes give out their orders. They spread out to help contain the fox demon. Sakura jumped high in the air and punched the fox in the shoulder but it barely moved him away. All of the shinobi helped keep it busy before the Adamantine Staff pushed it outside the village. Then they all charged at it in hopes of containing it. It was a mess.
Sakura picked up a huge tree and threw it at the fox with a roar. He merely swiped it away with his tail before charging a Bijūdama. All of the shinobi present gasped. There was no way they could dodge an attack of that scale. Suddenly a huge toad was summoned and flattened the fox. The Chief Toad Gamabunta held the giant fox down while Minato teleported it away. They looked in the distance and saw a blinding light.
"There's no way we can reach him in time." said Torifu.
"You, maybe not. But you forget, I was a close friend to Nidaime Senju." said Sakura, before showing them her left wrist. There on the bracelet on her wrist stood a seal the Sandaimes haven't seen in over 20 years. "Me and Fugaku will go help deal with the Nine-Tails, the rest of you try to get there as soon as possible."
And with that, she and Fugaku were gone.
...
The duo were teleported at Kushina's feet, as the hairclip she wore held the same seal. Sakura slapped Minato's hands from the Snake seal and gave him a hard glare. "If you think about sacrificing yourself one more time, I'll make sure to gut you myself."
Minato startled at this before spluttering. "B-but-...Sakura-san, the Nine-Tails-"
"I know. I have a plan. Fugaku-chan, use your sharingan and try to keep the fox down for as long as possible. Kushina-chan, I know this puts a strain on you, but I need you to help keep the fox down. Minato, you have 30 minutes to figure out a way to seal the fox." said Sakura.
"What happens if I don't find a way before then?"
"Then I'll use the Shiki Fūjin." The three shinobi looked at her with wide eyes. "Oh don't make that face, I'm old and way past my time. If this is how I shall die, then I'm fine with it. Now then, let's get started, time is wasting."
They all nodded, Kushina tightened the chains while Fugaku put the fox under his control. Minato summoned a toad it and told it to give his kunai to Jiraiya before Reverse Summoning the man. The Sannin sputtered as he saw the Nine-Tailed Fox kneeling like an obedient puppy.
"We have to devise a seal that will allow me to seal it in Naruto without killing me or my son." said Minato.
Jiraiya nodded and got to work. It took them exactly 29 minutes and 15 seconds, Sakura counted, to devise a seal. Once they were done, Fugaku released his hold on the fox and Sakura released her seal in order to share her chakra and stabilize Kushina. They performed the sealing and waited with baited breaths to see if it will hold. After that, Sakura performed a jutsu that simultaneously healed and transferred 3 quarters of her chakra to Kushina in order to prevent her death. Once it was done, Sakura's regeneration jutsu disappeared and the hands on Kushina's shoulders became old and brittle.
"S-Sakura-san, y-you're-" said a disbelieving Jiraiya.
"Old." The kunoichi's voice sounded scratchy, her frame was slim and showing bone, face marred with wrinkles and hair white as snow. "Yes I knew this would happen when I performed the jutsu. I devised it a long time ago, in case something like this might happen."
"Ba-chan?" said Kushina quietly as she turned around before taking the old woman's hand and lowering her to the ground.
"Oh don't make that face Kushina-chan, I won't die. I have enough chakra just for that. Although, I would appreciate some help getting to the hospital." said Sakura as she smiled.
...
Minato ended up teleporting Sakura and Kushina to Rin. The young girl looked at her mentor in horror before shoving 3 soldier pills in her mouth. Once her chakra was replenished, Sakura summoned Lady Katsuyu to use Katsuyu: Mōryōjika and help any of the wounded. On top of the largest slug's head, Sakura looked on at her village with sadness. Everywhere she looked, broken buildings stood and the stench of death was prominent in the air. Sakura noticed an ANBU helping a small family to the makeshift medic camp she and Rin had made. Once he passed the family to a med-nin she called out to it.
”You there, Wolf.” The ANBU turned around to face the founder. ”Set out to the Land of Snow and find Tsunade Senju. Tell her to return to the village, effective immediately.”
”Yes Uchiha-sama.” was all the ANBU said before they shunshined away. Once he was gone, Sakura returned to directing the medics.
...
Two days later, the clans of Konoha, Minato, Sakura and the council of elders met to discuss the situation of the village. The pinkette stood between Fugaku and Shibi and listened to Danzo discuss the relocation of clans for a swifter recovery. When he got to the Uchiha clan, Sakura realized exactly what was up.
”Danzo-san, this...relocation plan of yours seems rather unnecessary. Not that many clan compounds were hit by the Nine-Tails and relocating them would only hinder our ability to help civilians and clanless shinobi alike that need suport. On top of all of this, as Fugaku has just said, moving the Uchiha clan to the edge of the village will interfere with the ability of the Konoha Military Police to help with emergencies. You cannot tell me you plan to force the ANBU to chase purse snatchers, right?” said Sakura with slight amusement in her voice, before turning to her clan head. ”No offense, Fugaku.”
Fugaku shook his head with a slight smirk to his lips. ”None taken, Sakura-sama. After all-” he turned his head and looked Danzo straight in the eye. ”that is one of the many duties the KMP has to this village.”
”And if this isn't enough for you, Danzo-san, may I remind you that the Uchiha clan is one of the founding clans of this village and part of the four noble clans? Even suggesting to relocate it from the place it had stood on for the last hundred years is insulting and an affront to this village.” added Sakura.
Danzo merely glared at the pink haired woman before answering. ”Of course you would say that, Sakura-sama. Considering who the perpetrator of this attack was.”
Sakura narrowed her eyes at Danzo. ”What is that supposed to mean?”
”Minato has confirmed to us that the one who attacked Kushina Uzumaki and unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox upon our village identified herself as Uchiha Sarada.” Sakura's eyes widened at the revelation but before she could say anything, Danzo continued. ”Paired with the sharingans it possessed, it's very easy assume the Uchiha clan, or rather you, have been behind the attack, Sakura-sama.”
Sakura rose and slammed her hands on the table. ”That is preposterous, Danzo! My daughter has been dead for over 15 years! You were there at her funeral, you saw the remains of her body, it would have been impossible for her to be here the night of the attack! Not only is this an affront to me, its an affront to my clan!”
”If the Uchiha are so loyal, why were they late the night of the attack?” snarled Homura.
Fugaku was the one to answer. ”My clan was originally ordered not to engage. We decided to ignore said orders due to worry for our village.” and because Sakura would have snapped his neck if he didn't, but he wasn't gonna say that. ”I doubt you are in any position to question our place in the attack, Homura-san.” added Fugaku, referencing the fact that Homura, Danzo and Koharu hadn't been seen during the attack.
”That is enough.” said Minato, silencing everyone. ”Sakura-sama is right. Uchiha Sarada has been dead for many years and we have no way of knowing if the masked woman was lying or not. As for the fact that she possessed the Uchiha kekkei genkai, we have no proof that the Uchiha clan was involved in anyway. Saying so is nothing more than baseless accusation and discrimination. As for the relocation plans, I will yet again agree with Sakura-sama. Doing so will only waste time and resources. Instead, I formally ask the clans that they lend their clanmates to help with the rebuilding of the village.”
All of the clans sent their approval and Sakura sent a smug look Danzo's way. Not this time you filthy maggot.
...
A few weeks later, Sakura finally found a free day from the hospital work and made her way to the Uzumaki-Namikaze house with her bag of knitted gifts. She knocked softly on the front door and was met with a slightly exhausted Minato. She had to hold in a snort as she noticed the baby vomit on his shirt.
”Parenting's being a little hard on you isn't it, blondie. Need any help?” asked Sakura.
”Please.” said Minato before letting her in. ”Kushina needed a break so I offered to take care of Naruto while she sleeps. I fed him already but he ended up puking eveything.”
Sakura hummed as she neared a sleeping baby Naruto on the couch. So cute! ”Have you burped him after you fed him?”
”Burp-” said Minato before slapping his forehead. ”I forgot to burp him.”
Sakura giggled at the man's misfortune before picking up one of the milk bottles on the table. ”Don't worry, it happens sometimes. But Naruto does still need to get some food into his system. How about I feed him while you go take a shower and change?”
”Thank you Sakura-san. I owe you one.”
”Yes, yes I'm the best. Now get out of here daddy-man. You stink.” After Minato left, Sakura picked up baby Naruto, who was awake by that point and stared into his bright blue eyes with love.
I promise this time, you'll get the childhood you deserve Naruto.