After Naruto and Sasuke settled the chaos caused by Uchiha Shin, the aftermath unfolded much like in the original timeline.
Shin and his cloned children were brought back to Konoha and placed in Kabuto's orphanage.
Sarada confirmed that Sakura was her biological mother, resolved her misunderstanding with Sasuke, and reunited with her father.
The Uchiha Shin incident ended on a happy note.
At Konoha's gates, Sasuke was saying goodbye to his wife and daughter before departing again to investigate whether the Ōtsutsuki threat had truly vanished.
"Dad, when will you come back next time?" Sarada asked reluctantly.
Seeing the expectation in her eyes, Sasuke's heart softened.
He stepped forward, pulled her into a hug, then held her small shoulders and looked into her teary face.
"Don't make that expression, Sarada," he said gently.
She bit her lip, looking even more upset.
Tap.
Sasuke raised two fingers, imitating Itachi, and poked her forehead.
"Eh?"
With her eyes wide in surprise, she heard him say softly,
"See you next time."
The Uchiha forehead poke really was unbeatable.
In an instant, it scattered all the gloom in Sarada's heart.
"Ah!"
She touched her forehead, tears of joy in her eyes, and turned to show off to her mother.
"Mom! Dad poked my forehead! I'm so happy!"
Sakura blushed and smiled.
She walked up and handed Sasuke a lovingly prepared bento.
"Here… eat it while it's still warm."
"Okay."
Sasuke took it—and immediately met Sakura's smoldering gaze.
She knew she couldn't force him to stay.
So she deployed the Haruno family's secret technique: the Killer Stare.
Legend said her mother used it whenever her father went on business trips—and he'd always stay one more night.
After marriage, Sakura practiced in front of mirrors countless nights.
Today, she finally unleashed it.
"…?"
Sarada looked back and forth between her parents in confusion.
She was still too young to understand adult signals.
"Uh…"
Under Sakura's shy, hopeful gaze, Sasuke froze.
Then suddenly turned around.
"Well then, I'm going!"
What?! Failed?!
Sakura's heart sank.
Was my technique not strong enough?
She clenched her fists.
"Damn it! I'll get it all back next time!"
In the original timeline, "next time" came a week later.
On that trip, Sasuke would explore Kaguya's city, find her secret scrolls in a snowy temple, and clash with Momoshiki and Kinshiki—cutting off Kinshiki's horn.
It laid the groundwork for the Chūnin Exam disaster.
But now…
Akira's raid on the corpse repository created a divergence.
"Sasuke."
Naruto, wearing his Hokage cloak, leaned against the gate and called out.
"Why not stay and spend some time with your family first?"
Sasuke paused.
He saw Naruto signal him with his eyes and understood.
"…Alright. I'll leave a bit later."
Sarada immediately spun in circles.
"Yay! Dad's staying!"
Thank you, Boruto's dad! My favorite Hokage!
Sakura maintained her ladylike smile.
Inside, cherry blossoms were exploding.
Even the trauma of punching their mortgaged house down vanished.
She thought Naruto was helping her.
Thankful, she thought,
Naruto, nice! After all these years, you still get me!
Sasuke turned back.
"Sakura, Sarada, go home first. I'll be back soon."
Suppressing her joy, Sakura replied generously,
"Mm~ okay! No rush! You two haven't caught up in ages!"
"Go eat Ichiraku Ramen before coming home!"
Mother and daughter left happily.
Watching them go, Sasuke hung the bento at his waist.
His smile faded.
Naruto wouldn't stop him for nothing.
"What happened?"
Naruto took out a kraft-paper folder.
"Last night, the corpse repository was breached. Madara's body was stolen."
"The culprit is Uchiha Akira."
"This is Shikamaru's report."
Sasuke frowned deeply.
"First Uchiha Shin, now Uchiha Akira."
"Is it Uchiha comeback season or something?"
He took the folder with one hand and untied it with his teeth.
Naruto said calmly,
"He's not that strong. Probably weaker than Shin."
"I wasn't going to bother you."
"But Shikamaru thought it'd be safer if we discussed it."
"Let's talk over Ichiraku."
Sasuke spread the documents.
The first half was Akira's background.
The second half was his old letters.
His Sharingan scanned page after page.
Until—
He saw the letter mentioning "Ōtsutsuki Isshiki" and "Kara."
His expression changed instantly.
He clenched the paper.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke pulled the letter out, reread it carefully, and handed it over.
"Why wasn't this mentioned in the reports?"
Naruto sighed.
"I only learned about this just now."
"Shikamaru thinks Akira fabricated it."
"Remember that meeting you held with the Five Kage?"
"When you speculated about other Ōtsutsuki after Kaguya?"
"Too many people knew. It might've leaked."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"That's possible."
Naruto continued,
"What matters now is why Akira took Madara's body."
"With your sealing jutsu, he shouldn't succeed easily."
Buzz!
Sasuke's Rinnegan suddenly glowed.
His face changed.
"!!!"
"What is it?!"
"No ramen tonight."
"Huh?"
"The sealing curse is gone."
"And the space mark I placed with my Rinnegan."
"What?! Seriously?!"
Sasuke crushed the folder.
"That mark is like my father's Flying Thunder God seal."
"It shouldn't be removable."
"There are only two possibilities."
"Either Akira can use Yin-Yang Release…"
"Or he has other unknown methods."
Naruto's face darkened.
"This is serious."
Sasuke reasoned calmly.
"Madara's body has probably been exposed."
"If it's just for research, fine."
"His Rinnegan was already gone."
"But if it's for Edo Tensei…"
"That's dangerous."
"The scrolls were destroyed after the war."
"Only Orochimaru and Kabuto should know it."
"Kabuto's under our watch."
"We just met Orochimaru today—he cooperated fully."
Sasuke's eyes turned cold.
"Akira has underworld ties."
"Orochimaru does too."
"He's our best lead."
Whoosh.
Black flames incinerated the documents.
Ash drifted into the night.
A black space portal opened.
"Naruto."
"You're probably not going home tonight."
"Yeah. I left a shadow clone at the office."
"Let's hope…"
"This is all a false alarm."
…
Staring at the figure standing inside the coffin…
Madara let out a long, complicated sigh.
"Never thought we'd meet like this…"
"Obito."