6 Flying Thunder God Technique!

Once again, the Academy's results were out, and as Sakura expected, Naruto's lack of mastery in the regular 'Clone Jutsu' (which made fakes of the user which can't be interacted with unlike Shadow Clones) lead to him failing to qualify as a Gennin.

The wheels of time started turning and the strings of fate were grasping at the familiar. The youth who was betrayed by his hard work was in despair, and it was much more than anything felt before... It was at his lowest point did a certain teacher found him.

"Naruto, I have a special test for you." From afar hidden in the trees, Sakura watched as Mizuki, a man holding a giant shuriken on his back, baited her childhood friend into stealing a particular scroll that hid many classified Ninjutsu of the village.

She couldn't directly interfere in this matter, as without some suffering, a person wouldn't grow or learn, and might eventually end up doing things they regretted. She knew Naruto's stubborn Will of Fire well, but also knew he was tested by many hardships before becoming the 'Lord Seventh' everyone of the future could put their hopes in.

She had no plans to 'coddle' him and turn him into someone who could barely live up his legends.

Her eyes watched as Naruto stole the Hidden Leaf's most precious Ninjutsu Scroll and sat down somewhere he felt comfortable in the forest to secretly learn a new technique. A smile formed on the pink-haired girl's face as she heard what Naruto was muttering as he searched the scroll.

"This year is awesome…! I can learn any Ninjutsu I want? Eh, a lot of these are too complicated. What about a different kind of Clone Technique. Oh! What's this? 'Shadow Clones'?! Count me in on it! A Hokage HAS TO have this..." It looks like there was a reason Naruto didn't learn anything other than this signature Jhonin level technique of his.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Argh!" The yellow-haired youth was shocked that he did a few barrel rolls forward after hearing her.

"Sakura… Why are you here?" Mizuki had told him that this was a special test just for him... and of course the swindler made sure to tell the knucklehead not to tell anyone else about it. It wasn't that Naruto was brainless, it was blind faith he had in his teachers of the Academy that lead him to be conned so badly despite his wit.

"I was walking about and happened to see you trying to learn a new Ninjutsu, can I learn one as well? If you want, I can even help you learn that 'Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu' you're looking at much faster." She offered kindly, which made the knucklehead extremely excited! Deciding not to sweat the small stuff, he let her in on his secret examination. He became loose-lipped in an instant.

As she helped him out by giving pointers, Sakura also took the time to use her photographic memory to memorise as many techniques she could. She might possess many Jutsu from collecting them over the years, but seeing this scroll was a first.

"With this, I can definitely pass the exam!" He quickly learnt the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu faster than he did in the original timeline with her help. In fact, he even learnt the 'Wind Clone Detonation Jutsu' from Sakura after learning that he could fuse his Shadow Clones with his basic mastery over Wind Release through her guidance.

"...Why are you helping me out so much?" Although Naruto might be an idiot most the time, he wasn't completely hopeless. There was a reason why this foolish knucklehead ninja grew up into someone who could achieve his impossible dream.

"Because I like you."

"Sakura!" Naruto lunged at her to give her a hug great big hug, which was easily dodged by her as she clarified her statement. It was only after speaking did she realise she misspoke.

"I mean as a friend. Don't friends help each other when they're in need? In fact, your results are from your own effort. Even though I can teach you about Jutsu and Chakra Control, I can't exactly use the techniques you learnt as well." These words made the knucklehead a little disappointed considering how she was easily brushing off his feelings.

However, he couldn't understand why her words seemed to cause him to feel ecstatic on the inside.

"You're the first to say that, ya know."

"Don't forget Sasuke as well. He might be grumpy on the outside, but he's still got a good heart underneath."

"What's so good about Sasuke! I'm way more awesome! Just watch, I'll beat him with Shadow Clones next time we meet!"

"Yes yes, go ahead." She let him indulged him with a smile. Not holding any contempt for the youth who had yet to gain any achievements.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Iruka finally caught up to Naruto by following his tracks and found both his knucklehead student and his best student. The reaction the naive kid had despite having stolen the 1st Hokage's Secret Scroll clued him in that something is amiss.

"Sensei, behind you!" Sakura shouted, which quickly caused him to dodge as throwing weapons were flying his way. His eyes flared up in anger as he saw Mizuki's dastardly smile, finally letting him connect the dots.

"Mizuki! Are you planning to betray the Hidden Leaf?!"

"Naruto, don't listen to his nonsense and hand me the scroll! Iruka is planning to betray the Hidden Leaf!" The sinister swindler pretended to be on the side of righteousness as he baited Naruto into acting against his saviour. After all, the young boy had yet to realise the person protecting him had always been the scarred teacher who saw him as a surrogate son. Mizuki also spoke these words to sow distrust into the group so that they couldn't work together against him in a head-on battle.

His experience showed with this one line alone...

The orange-clothed youth was confused at what was going on and couldn't react as Mizuki secretly aimed his giant shuriken in his direction while feigning the action of wanting to take Iruka down by himself. The giant spinning projectile weapon was released, but before it could land on its intended target, a figure jumped out to shield him.

'Naruto is innocent. I won't let him die!' Iruka braced himself for impact just like in the last timeline, only to hear a strange sound of the projectile being stopped behind him instead. He turned around to see Sakura had single-handedly grabbed the shuriken... quite literally, and stopped it in midair before it could tear into his jacket.

"You guys seem pretty close to that Demon Fox!

Hehehe, Iruka, even your parents died in that tragedy years ago. Don't you hate that monster who holds that beast in his stomach? And little girl, you are a talented ninja, don't you want to become my apprentice and leave this weak village that's destined to be destroyed?" He once again tried to sow discord in them while taking out a blade.

Naruto finally found a part of the answer as to why he was isolated his whole life… yet the answer only served to bring him pain rather than catharsis. He could already vaguely guess that the seal on his stomach, the reason he was an orphan, and everyone's hate, was all connected one way or another… but hearing it made him fall into the greatest depths of despair as he looked at Iruka.

"Naruto, don't listen to him! No matter what he says, you and the beast that destroyed the village are different! I believe in you!" He shook the boy out of his trance, only to find that instead of crying out of emotion at his words, he pushed him away in mistrust.

"Naruto." However, no matter how much he tried to find faults in himself and say that it was his fault alone, a soft voice resounded in his ears as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. His eyes focused on the pink-haired girl who looked at him with clear eyes.

"Didn't I say I'm here? Even if a tailed beast is sealed inside you, has your dream changed?" These simple words finally calmed him down as realised that he had been mistaken. In his heart, there was a small grain of doubt of whether he could become a Hokage, but after remembering how he was still able to make friends despite being termed a 'Monster', he realised that the only thing stopping him from achieving it was himself!

"Thanks…" And most of all, that he wasn't alone...

"Friends don't need those formalities, just go kick his butt!" She lightly smacked the knucklehead on his back after he recovered his senses, causing him to step the closest to the swindler. The teacher behind them wanted to help, but was shocked by the next scene! Even Mizuki, the person who saw Naruto as nothing more than a defenceless child, wasn't able to keep his cool or even think of new schemes after seeing what happened next.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto put his hands together into a seal before replicating himself into not one, not two, but hundreds of clones that seemed to all be carbon copies of the real thing! A teasing smile was plastered across their faces as they all spoke up with vigour, combining 'his shouts' into a loud and intimidating taunt:

"You want a fight, then come at us!" They spoke in unison before lunging at the Jonnin who was petrified in horror. This wasn't the Shadow Clone Jutsu! He was absolutely sure that no one could make this many Shadow Clones, but he didn't understand Naruto's chakra condition. How could anyone match up to a guy who could naturally access part of a tailed beast's reserves?

Sakura watched on with a happy expression as the Naruto she knew finally came into existence. The gutsy ninja who would be able to surprise even those who were more powerful than him! The only thing to do now was to deal with the aftermath, she knew that even though Naruto might be recognised as a Gennin, she was sure to get into something complicated after all was said and done.

"Naruto learnt the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, but what had you learned, Sakura Haruno?" Although the bright student before him saved his life, the loyalty Iruka had to the Hidden Leaf made him take her situation seriously, with eyes sharp as blades...

"I think it was called the 'Flying Thunder God Technique'." These words felt like a explosion in his mind, way more shocking than Naruto learning how to use Shadow Clones! He didn't know what to do since she had learnt a Kage level Ninjutsu.

It was an S-Class Jutsu which was supposed to have a learning curb much higher than any other.

"Orders have come to 'invite' Sakura Haruno to meet the Hokage. Lord Third has already gotten news of what happened here." An Anbu appeared behind him, leaving him no choice but to go along with his words. He could only hope and plead on Sakura's behalf should the village take any drastic measures against her. Though hopefully the most they'd do is seal her memories of the Jutsu.

The pink-haired girl followed the man on her own accord without so much as questioning the Anbu on why they arrived so late. After all, there was never a time when the 'secret police' actually did anything useful even in the future...

Once she got to where the wrinkly old Hokage was standing, she unconsciously kneeled as it had been a long time since she had actually been able to see the Third Hokage's face. The old man only thought that it was the gravity of the situation that caused her to act in a 'scared' manner, not knowing that she was extremely familiar with him.

"You have learnt the Flying Thunder God Technique as a Gennin? Is that really the truth?" He couldn't help but look at the green-eyes girl before him and feel that she would definitely be unable to stop herself from becoming part of the the Anbu if others were to know of this information. Even if she didn't want to, 'that man' would drag her in...

Danzō would probably not treat her well considering that such a technique would be useless in the hands of a mere Gennin. If she was to be captured and interrogated, wouldn't other villages find out the secrets to the signature Jutsu of the Yellow Flash? Leaving her mind intact wasn't a decision someone like a Hokage should be doing.

However, the old man knew mercy... Unlike the Kage before him, he was a lot 'softer' on kids.

"I'll make as exception. I don't know how much of the Flying Thunder God's Formula Seal you have learnt, but I hereby order you to keep the fact you know this Jutsu a secret until becoming a Jonnin."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." She instantly agreed without much surprise. She knew that the Hokage had known of her positive influence on Naruto, which was why he decided to keep this a secret.

The fact that she was a bright student of Iruka and how her family were ordinary people of the village also made him certain that she wouldn't betray the village. In fact, she couldn't even if she tried.

"Thank you for letting me off so easily."

"You may leave now." Although Hiruzen was like a grandfather to Naruto, he was still the Third Hokage to everyone else. His stern and strict demeanour hiding the gentleness of his own Will of Fire... She hoped he'd live a lot longer this time.

Sakura found that the aftermath seemed to go much smoother than she thought it would, which was probably due to the Hokage having a soft spot for Naruto, the son of the Fourth Hokage. This would probably make it even more likely that she will be paired up to with Naruto, just like the previous Team 7 of her timeline.

"Sakura! I have a headband now! Look! I will become the greatest Hokage in history! believe it!"

"Oh, I do." She muttered while thinking about the plans she was making to intervene in the prophesy that would cause Sasuke and Naruto to battle for the first time. This time, there was no way she'd let Orochimaru have his way, and though she didn't know if she could change Sasuke's decision, she could definitely cause that slithery guy a headache!

Don't underestimate a girl from the future!