Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring

is a spin-off and sequel mini-series of the original Naruto manga, set shortly after the final chapter and will focus on Sasuke's daughter, Sarada Uchiha, and the next generation of shinobi in Konohagakure. The mini-series will act as a prelude for the upcoming Naruto film, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, as well as a part of the Naruto Project.

Setting the Stage
As Shino Aburame explains to his class that within one week they'll be going through graduations for genin positions, the majority of the class voices their views on the opportunity. As Sarada Uchiha walks home, she begins to show jealousy over all her classmates getting training from their fathers for the coming graduation with Chōchō Akimichi eating with her father Chōji Akimichi, Inojin Yamanaka getting drawing lessons from his father Sai, and even Boruto playing an expansive game of hide-and-seek with his ever busy father, the Seventh Hokage, coupled with being given a lecture by Shikadai Nara and his father Shikamaru Nara. Seeing all this, Sarada quietly admits she has never seen her own father Sasuke Uchiha in her whole life. Upon returning home and seeing a picture of her parents together, Sarada questions her mother Sakura Haruno on if her father needed glasses like her. However, when Sakura can't give her a straight answer, Sarada openly questions the validity of her parents' marriage causing Sakura to violently lash out for the comment. Collecting herself, Sakura apologises to her daughter but realises her outburst has destroyed their house, much to her horror as apparently this is not the first time Sakura destroyed it as she cries out about a loan she took out, fainting. Dropping off her mother to Shizune, Sarada returns to her house's ruins to collect some valuables. However, as she picks up the picture from before, Sarada makes a horrifying discovery: the picture is fake. Pulling out the larger picture of her father, she sees him with the rest of his team Taka and, to her horror, Karin, a girl with glasses similar to her, causing Sarada to further question the validity of her parents' marriage and, more importantly, her own parentage as well.

All the while, Sasuke appears to be returning to Konoha. After encountering a mysterious boy possessing the Sharingan and wearing the crest of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke sends a hawk back to Konohagakure to contact Naruto about the matter. Meanwhile, Sarada's identity crisis continues as she reveals to Shizune that she knows that there is no record of her birth in Konoha; heavily raising her suspicions on her parentage — which Shizune's evasive demeanour on the topic does not help. In a restaurant, Chōchō complains about her father's excessive eating habits, which her mother, simply ignores. Annoyed that she is being ignored while trying to lose weight, she simply sighs as Sarada appears. Humorously, Chōchō explains to her that she doubts her parents are her real parents. This is challenged by an eavesdropping Mitsuki, who simply states that it was normal for girls at their age to start questioning their identity, angering Chōchō.

Sarada eventually decides to simply find her father herself or ask the Seventh Hokage, about her dilemma. In his office, Naruto sees Sasuke's hawk and realises the situation Sasuke is in and consults Kakashi. Together, they doubt that the boy is an Uchiha survivor, but more likely another one of Orochimaru's experiments. Naruto leaves a shadow clone to run the village with Shikamaru as he heads out to meet Sasuke and Yamato. Sarada, however, secretly hears this and decides to tail him until she realises Chōchō has invited herself along, thinking Sarada is helping her find her "real" parents. Elsewhere, the mysterious boy meets a person cloaked in an Akatsuki mantle, informing him of his brief fight with Sasuke. They both declare they cannot forgive Sasuke for killing his older brother, Itachi, and promise to make him pay.

The Long-Awaited Encounter
Naruto asks Shikamaru to say sorry to Boruto, and heads off to meet with Sasuke. Just as Naruto leaves, Boruto arrives together with Mitsuki, with the intent to bring Naruto his lunch. Sarada offers to help bring the food to Naruto and though he is hesitant at first, Boruto later hands it over to Sarada and she heads off together with Chōchō. Unbeknownst to them, however, the two are being watched by a tiny figure with a single Sharingan eye. At a remote clearing, the mysterious boy Shin, is ordered by his father to capture Sarada. Sarada and Chōchō continue to pursue Naruto to deliver his lunch, to which Naruto notices using Sage Mode and hurries back to them. Stopping momentarily as they catch their breath, Sarada and Chōchō are intruded by Shin. Sarada remarks on his Sharingan as her mother had told her that aside from Sasuke, they were the last of the Uchiha. Shin quickly engages and overwhelms the girls in their brief scuffle, where Naruto intervenes in the end to save them.

Angered by Naruto's appearance, Shin activates his own Mangekyō Sharingan, and using his dōjutsu's abilities, he attacks the three with his kusarigama, only to be be foiled by Naruto. Following the brief skirmish, the strange Sharingan creature appears and urges Shin to retreat, noting that he cannot defeat the Seventh Hokage. Shin agrees, and the creature, with the same Mangekyō pattern as Shin, teleports them away. Deciding it would be safer for the two young girls to stay with him, Naruto allows them to accompany him on his journey. After travelling for an uncertain amount of time, they finally come within range of the rendezvous point and decide to take a break. Too excited to meet her father, Sarada sneaks away from the group and continues onward. While imagining her first encounter with her father, Sarada's intense emotions allow her to awaken the Sharingan. Arriving to the temple, Sarada finally encounters Sasuke and is overwhelmed by her emotions. However, Sasuke, taking a notice of her Sharingan, mistakes her for Shin's comrade and draws his sword, frightening Sarada.

As Sasuke attacks, Sarada calls out to her father and stops his advance. While Sarada sulks at the fact that Sasuke didn't recognise her, Naruto and Chōchō converge on the scene. Sasuke demands an explanation from Naruto as to why he brought along children, which prompts Sarada to reveal that she wanted to ask him about the the identity her biological mother, along with a slew of other questions. Sasuke refuses to answer any of her questions and Sarada storms out of the temple in anger. As Naruto attempts to comfort her, he recalls a meeting of the Five Kage where they discuss an issue revolving Kaguya, the White Zetsu Army, and the possible emergence of a new threat. As Sasuke has taken it upon himself to investigate this matter, Naruto informs Sarada that her father is one of the greatest shinobi alive. Meanwhile, Shin's father meets with his son and several copies of him, proclaiming the revival of the Akatsuki. Teleporting to the temple via the Sharingan creature, Shin and his father attack Sarada, which is countered by Naruto. Sensing danger, Sasuke emerges from the temple and prepares to confront the enemy. Elsewhere, Sakura awakens and begins her journey towards the temple where her family resides.

Reunions and Revelations
The mysterious man immediately guides his weapons towards Sasuke, who easily counters with his sword and proceeds to attack. The enemy manages to block Sasuke's movement while his son also attacks, though Sasuke manages to evade his advancement. Sasuke releases a large fireball at the duo, while the older man uses his son as a shield against the attack. Defeated, the older man commends Sasuke's skills and reveals himself as Shin Uchiha, the same name as his son. While Naruto plans his escape with the children, he is stabbed in the abdomen with Sasuke's sword, which Shin manipulated due to their earlier encounter. With Naruto weakened, Shin's blades hurl towards Sarada, leaving Sasuke with no choice but to jump in front of her and take the blades. As Shin is about to make his next move, Sakura arrives and pummels him into the ground. Reuniting with her family, she begins apologising to Sarada for keeping secrets, to which Sasuke says that she shouldn't be apologising and that the fault lays with him. In the middle of Sasuke's statement, the Sharingan creature teleports Shin and his son back to their base, while Sakura is caught in the middle and dragged in as well. Recovering from the battle, Shin begins to surgically replace his liver with his son's, much to Sakura's disgust.

During the surgery, Shin explains to Sakura that his son was just one of many clones of himself that he created with his own teeth and nerves. After revealing that he was once a test subject of Orochimaru's, he begins to explain his philosophy of how conflict is essential for human evolution and his views of the role of genetics, which Sakura vehemently refutes. Meanwhile, without any leads to go on after Sakura's capture, Naruto's group decide to meet with Orochimaru and ask him what he knows about the situation. After a briefing with Yamato, they enter the hideout and reunite with Orochimaru, Suigetsu, and Jūgo. Without wasting time, Orochimaru explains Shin's history: he was a former experiment whose unique body would accept anything transplanted into it without rejection, which made him the perfect test subject. This resulted in multiple Sharingan being implanted within his body and his right arm being harvested for Danzō Shimura. Eventually, Shin learned about and became fascinated with Itachi Uchiha, leading to him abandoning Orochimaru and taking all but one clone with him. Orochimaru informs the group that the clones are unlike the standard Shadow Clone Technique, and they can only be stopped by being killed.

While changing rooms to inform them where to find Shin, Sarada gets Suigetsu's attention and they sneak away from the rest of the group. In a private location, Sarada requests that Suigetsu do a DNA test to determine if Sakura is her real mother. After comparing DNA from both Sarada and Karin, the test seemingly reveals that Karin is Sarada's real mother, not Sakura. All the while, Naruto found their location and listened to the entire ordeal. While Suigetsu awkwardly exits the situation, Naruto attempts inform Sarada that they must save Sakura from Shin. However, a devastated Sarada, with her Sharingan activated, lashes out at Naruto for lying to her and denounces any relation to Sakura. After calming down from her tirade, Sarada explains to Naruto that since everything she knows has been a lie, she intends on leaving the village and continuing her journey alone. Naruto stops her and attempts to get her to think about her past with Sakura. After reminiscing about their past, Sarada realises that she actually does care about Sakura and decides to help in the mission to save her. Returning to the others, Sasuke reveals that he has learned about the location of Shin's hideout and now they will go to save her. Activating his tomoe Rinnegan and Mangekyō Sharingan, which was previously weakened due to him traveling through Kaguya's dimensions in search of the mysterious enemy, Sasuke manifests his Susanoo to transport everyone to Shin's location. Meanwhile, Shin has completed his surgery and notes that it is his goal to eliminate peace-lovers who are a menace to human evolution. Refuting his statement, Sakura prepares to take him on in combat.