Once again, the Academy's results were out, and it was as Sakura expected. Similar events played out.

Naruto's lack of mastery in the most basic clone technique lead to him failing to qualify as a Gennin. 

It was at his lowest point did a certain teacher find him. Giving him a 'special exam' to qualify him.

"Naruto, I have a special test for you." The sly man approached. From afar, Sakura watched as Mizuki-sensei, a man holding a giant shuriken on his back, baited her friend into stealing a particular scroll.

One that hid many classified Jutsu of the village.

She couldn't directly interfere in this matter, as without some suffering, a person wouldn't grow. 

She knew Naruto's 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. Protecting him too much was bad.

It was better to help him when it was really needed.

Her eyes watched as Naruto stole the Hidden Leaf's most precious Ninjutsu Scroll and hid.

He sat down somewhere in a forest to secretly learn a new technique. A smile formed on Sakura's face as she heard what Naruto was muttering. He searched the scroll with a clear mind and heart.

"This year is awesome...! I can learn any Ninjutsu I want? Eh, a lot of these are too complicated. 

What about a kind of Clone Technique... Oh! What's this? 'Shadow Clones'?." It looks like there was a reason Naruto didn't learn super Jutsus other than this Jhonin level signature technique.

Learning a higher level technique required sufficient familiarity and resonances to the skill.

It was similar to how the regular Clone Technique just wasn't meshing well with him, but this one did.

Making learning it easier.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura appeared behind him like a ghost, which scared the youth.

"Argh!" The knucklehead ninja was so shocked, he did a few barrel rolls forward after hearing her.

It was only after recognising her did he calm down.

Turning with a sigh…

"Sakura... Why are you here?" Mizuki had told him that this was a special test mace just for him 

The teacher of course made sure to tell him not to tell anyone else about it. To be on the safe side.

The only reason it worked was because of the position the kid was in. It wasn't that Naruto was brainless, it was blind faith he had in his teachers that lead him to be conned so badly like this.

"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 Technique." Sakura offered kindly, which made the kid extremely excited! 

Deciding not to sweat the small stuff, he let her in on his secret examination. Telling her all about it.

"With this, I can definitely pass the exam!" Naruto quickly learnt the 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.

Though this was still a technique that couldn't be used in battle yet. He wasn't proficient just yet.

"...Why are you helping me so much?" Although the kid was an idiot, he wasn't completely hopeless. 

There was a reason how this little guy grew up into someone who could achieve his impossible dream.

"Because I like you."

"Sakura!" Naruto lunged at her to give her a hug, which was easily dodged by her.

She coughed and clarified her statement.

"I meant as a friend. Don't friends help each other when they are in need? I'm just doing that.

In fact, your results are from your own effort. Even though I can teach you stuff, I can't exactly use the techniques you learnt as well." These words made the knucklehead a little disappointed about it all.

How she was easily brushing off his feelings. 

However, Naruto couldn't understand why her words caused him to feel ecstatic on the inside.

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

"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 my Shadow Clones next time. You'll see!"

"Yes yes, go ahead." She indulged him with a smile. 

Not holding any contempt for the knucklehead ninja, who had yet to gain any achievements.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Iruka finally caught up to Naruto by following his tracks. He found both his worst and best student here. 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. 

Throwing weapons were flying his way. 

His eyes flared up in anger when 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 guy pretended to be on the side of righteousness.

He baited Naruto into acting against his saviour. 

This was also to sow distrust into the group so that they couldn't work together against him.

Using his head rather than brute force.

The best trait of a greater ninja.

The orange-clothed youth was confused at what was going on. He couldn't react when Mizuki secretly aimed his giant shuriken in his direction. It feigned the action of wanting to take Iruka down. 

The spinning projectile released, but before it could land on its intended target, a figure jumped out to shield him.

'Naruto is innocent. I will NEVER let him die like this!' Iruka braced himself for impact.

The scene acted out exactly as she'd heard.

Expect… no one bothered to pretend she even existed, and why would they? She was hiding in the bushes after letting Naruto find his way here. It gave her ample time to Body Flicker to them.

Iruka braced himself for impact… only to hear a strange sound behind him instead. The man turned around... All to see Sakura had single-handedly grabbed the shuriken. She stopped it in midair.

The leaves swayed when the air got disturbed by the impact. She didn't seem to find this difficult.

"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? It's destined to be destroyed!" Mizuki once again tried to sow discord in them. He took out a blade. 

Naruto finally found the answer to why he was isolated his whole life... and the answer only served to bring him pain. 

He could already vaguely guess that the seal on his stomach, the reason he was an orphan, and everyone's hate, was all connected... He fell into the greatest depths of despair.

Especially when he looked at dear old Iruka.

The person he caused the worst tragedies for.

"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!" Iruka shook the boy out of his trance. Now wasn't the time.

This was only to find that instead of crying out of emotions, the kid had pushed him away in mistrust.

"Naruto." However, no matter how the kid tried to find meaning and say that it was his fault alone, a feminine voice resounded in his ears. Naruto felt a hand fall on his shoulder. His eyes focused on the pink-haired girl. She 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? Are you giving up?" 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 thing stopping from achieving it… was himself!

"Thanks..."

"Friends don't need those formalities, just go kick his butt!" Sakura lightly smacked him on his back after seeing him act like himself again, causing him to be the closest target to Mizuki. 

The teacher behind them, Iruka, wanted to help them, 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 any 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.

They all spoke up:

"You want a fight, then come at us!" They spoke in unison before lunging at the Johnin who was petrified in horror. 

This wasn't JUST the Shadow Clone Jutsu! 

The blue-haired teacher 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 access part of a tailed beast's reserves?

'Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu' was initiated.

Sakura watched on with a happy expression. 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 Shadow Clone Jutsu, but what had you learned, Sakura Haruno?" Although the bright student before him saved his life, the loyalty he had to the Hidden Leaf made him take her situation seriously.

"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. S Rank.

"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. 

Iruka could only hope and plead on Sakura's behalf should the village take any drastic measures against her.

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.

"You have learnt the Flying Thunder God Technique as a Gennin?" He couldn't help but look at the girl before him. 'Lord Third' felt that she would definitely be unable to stop herself from becoming part of the the Anbu.

Especially if certain other people were to know of this information.

Danzō would probably not treat her well.

He known 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?

"I'll make an 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 Jhonin."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Sakura 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.

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.

The workings of fate which would eventually 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!