1.

It was not well known that Sakura Haruno loved sci-fi.

Of course, it wasn't overly surprising to anyone who knew the girl. Sakura devoured books like oxygen. Both the librarians at the civilian and shinobi libraries knew her by sight and there were always at least three books stacked by her bed. Her tastes varied: romances to gossip about with her peers, history to ace her tests at the Academy, and a random assortment of others to impress any adult who thought to quiz her about an obscure subject.

But her true love, the books she reached for when her spirit was low, was sci fi .

If asked, she would deny it viciously. Sci-fi novels were for kids. Or losers like Naruto. But secretly her heart thrilled at the adventures of the brave and beautiful kunoichi who battled monsters from the other side of the moon, mastered long lost jutsu to save their villages, or travelled through space and time to save their loved ones.

Time travel fascinated her. Sakura loved the mental challenge of untangling time paradoxes or analyzing just when and how she would nudge the course of the universe to fix everything. At the tender age of 8 and a half, she was already full of regrets and spent long, rainy afternoons sprawled on her bed thinking how she would go back and reset her life if she ever could.

But Sakura was a practical ninja as well as an imaginative one; she set up a failsafe for her time travelling future self. First, she mentally chose a book at random from her shelf; this would be the drop point. If Sakura ever needed to contact herself, she would write a message on the last page and sign it with a flower.

Having decided this, Sakura assigned the location and the signature to two separate parts of her memory, just in case T&I would ever go looking. This compartmentalization was another skill she learned from her reading; as often as the brave and beautiful kunoichis risked everything to travel back in time, they were just as likely to be caught by brooding and handsome T&I specialists with dark pasts who may or may not be time travellers themselves.

She was just being practical after all.

The years passed and Sakura more or less forgot her plan. Maybe once or twice a year, she would flip through the Travelling book which survived her frequent culling of the library, but the pages remained blank. Still, the possibility that she would one day find a message brought a smile to her face even if her belief faded as the realities of the Academy caught up to her.

Graduation came, passed, and left Sakura unsure if it was the best or worse day of her life. Best, because she had not only graduated at the top of her class and but had also been placed on a Genin team with Sasuke, while Ino was stuck with her family's configuration. Worse, because her team also included Naruto who was annoying, loud, and constantly asking her out on dates.

The next day, Sakura revised her assessment: it was the worst. Her Sensei was insane!

Completely insane, Sakura decided as she slumped into her house after their first day of training and that stupid, confusing, pointless bell test. Should be locked up, she amended as she showered the sweat and dust from the day down the drain. Or at least not allowed near kids, she concluded as she slumped down on her bed.

To her right were a history text, a book of classical poetry, and one of her favorite time travel stories. There was no question of which one she was going to read first. It had been too long, too frustrating a day to spend learning something new. But her hand hesitated over the text. A memory clicked in her brain.

Checking to make sure the house was quiet; Sakura closed the drapes on her window and went over to her book shelf. By now, she no longer expected to find anything, but the possibility always thrilled her. It was her graduation day, after all. A pivotal moment in her life if there ever was one. Smiling to herself, she opened her book to the back page.

Her scream echoed through the house.

. . . . . . . . .

"Sakura!" Her mother appeared in her doorway- chakra flaring and kunai out-but Sakura sat on the floor looking stunned but unharmed. "What is wrong?"

"Ah- nothing." Sakura glanced at her quickly and stood up. Mebuki noticed that her hands were clasped behind her back and her legs a little shaky. "I was frustrated. By my team. And thought yelling would help."

"Did it?" Mebuki cast a quick genjutsu detection seal, but there didn't appear to be any foreign chakra in the room. Whatever was bothering her daughter didn't appear to be ninja in origin.

"Not really," Sakura confessed. "But thanks for checking?"

Mebuki relaxed slightly and offered her daughter a smile. Sakura was a genin now; legally an adult in their society and Mebuki had been younger than twelve when she first assumed such responsibility. It was time to trust that if Sakura needed help, she knew how to ask for it.

"Genin teams aren't forever," Mebuki consoled sympathetically, "Pass your Chunin test and try to get along with them for time being." A pained look crossed Sakura's face and Mebuki laughed. "Come down for dinner soon. I'm want to see you before I head to the boarder."

"Yep." Sakura agreed. When her mother shut the door, Sakura collapsed back onto the bed and looked at her book. On the back page a note was written that she had no memory of writing.

Go on a Date with Naruto

It was signed with a flower.

II.

"Hey-hey- Sakura-chan. Will you go on a date with me today?"

"Ok."

It was difficult to tell who was more surprised by the response: the girl who agreed, the boy who asked, or the boy who was eavesdropping. No, that was a stupid question. Of course, Sasuke looked the least surprised. He usually looked the least of any emotion.

"Whaaaa! You mean it? Really? Really?" Naruto was staring at her like she had grown two heads and even Sasuke was focusing on her with more interest than he had ever shown. If the first agreement had been an accident, Sakura couldn't back down now. Not with Sasuke was actually looking at her. Instead, she scratched her cheek embarrassedly.

"Ah, yeah? I guess. I mean, we finished all our missions and I don't have anywhere to be tonight." Her mother had left for a mission of border patrol and her father wasn't back from tending the messenger hawks until tomorrow. Sakura, though used to coming home to an empty house, wasn't especially keen to head home.

Also the message. The damn message that had been playing in her mind all night and all day. Did she really send that to herself? And why? And why Naruto of all people?

"Wahooo!" Naruto cheered and punched the air. His smile looked like it was about to split his face in half. She had never seen him so excited- not even when he showed up after graduation sporting his new forehead protector. Sakura's smile grew a little strained. This is exactly what she didn't want from a date- the shouting, the cheering, the-

Well, actually. It was a little gratifying to make someone so excited with a simple yes. Especially after the numerous cold rebuffs from Sasuke.

"Really? You're not joking? You're serious?" Naruto looked like he couldn't believe his luck. "This is the best day ever! Believe it! Can we get ramen? I know the best ramen place in the whole city! You'll love it. It's the best!"

Naruto didn't shut up or stop jumping around once as they made their way from the training grounds to Ichiraku's Ramen stand. People actually peered out their windows as they passed. Sakura had to remind herself that she was an intelligent girl and probably a more intelligent woman, so this date idea from the future had to be smart. Right? And not a total end to all her social standing in the city?

Her embarrassment was slightly alleviated by Sasuke who slunk along behind them- affecting, in that way cats had, that he just happened to be travelling to get ramen and it was a complete coincidence that he sat down on Sakura's other side once they reached the stand. No one had invited him, of course, but Inner Sakura cheered at the idea that it was almost like she was having a date with Sasuke!

"Hey! Hey! Teuchi!" Naruto was bouncing on his seat as he wriggled his forehead protector at the man standing behind the counter. "I'm on a date!"

"Oh?" The man's eyes traveled from Sakura, who was completely red-faced, to Sasuke, who stared straight ahead as if it were pure coincidence that he had chosen the seat right next to his teammates. "Why don't you introduce them, Naruto?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "This is Sakura Haruno- she's the top kunoichi of our year and the smartest and prettiest person I know. And that te-"

"That's Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura interrupted before Naruto could say something that might cause Sasuke to get up and leave. "He's also part of our team."

"Oh, you're teammates?" Teuchi smiled at them more broadly.

"Yeah! Team seven! We're the best team! Believe it!" Naruto struck his famous pose and Sakura wilted a little inside. How was it possible for him to have so much energy? What had her future self been thinking?

"And Teuchi- Sakura's is on me! But not te-"

"Naruto, it's ok." Sakura cut in again, "I have money." Her mother had left her dinner money on the counter when she woke up this morning. It would be more than enough to buy a bowl of ramen. She was unprepared for when Naruto turned to her, eyes tragic.

"Eh? But Sakura-chan- you said it was a date."

Sakura flushed and waved her hand quickly- more interested in preventing a flood of tears than in listening to what came out of her mouth. "You can pay next time."

"Next time?" The transformation was instantaneous. Suddenly, everything was alright in Naruto's world again- better in fact. His mood swings were giving Sakura emotional whiplash. "Alright! That's a plan. You're the best Sakura-chan!"

The rest of the meal went smoothly. Naruto suggested the miso-veggie ramen for her since he noticed that her lunches were mostly meatless at the academy. Sakura wasn't actually that fond of vegetables. It had been her attempt to win at the diet competition with Ino, but she wasn't about to admit that in front of Sasuke.

Actually, it was sort of astounding how much attention Naruto had paid to her. Inhaling his ramen apparently didn't hinder his conversation skills because he happily alternated between regaling Teuchi with stories of how awesome Sakura was from the academy, declaring that this was the best day ever, and shooting dirty looks at Sasuke, who ignored the entire one-sided conversation.

"Hey- hey Sakura!" Sakura glanced over from fishing the last bits of noodle from her bowl. "What's your dreams? You never answered when Kakashi-sensei asked that first day!"

"Uh…" Sakura's mind went blank. Of course, her dream was to one day marry Sasuke, but she couldn't exactly say that when the boy who asked her on a date and offered to pay for her meal was staring at her with such bright eyes. Even Inner Sakura knew better than that. She could feel Sasuke's glance over at her while she hesitated. "I guess become the best kunoichi ever and beat Ino-pig once and for all?"

Behind her Sasuke grunted in what might, if she really wished it, be approval. In front of her, Naruto cheered excitedly and gave her a thumbs up.

"You can totally do it, Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks! You can do it too!" she replied automatically.

"Eh! You really think so?"

Belatedly, Sakura remembered that his dream was to become Hokage. But she had committed herself too far. "Uh. Sure! You have lots of energy," she hazarded a guess, "And you're really cheerful. That has to be useful for diplomacy."

It was, essentially, a lie- but Naruto seemed to buy it wholeheartedly. He flushed and rubbed the back of his neck while laughing awkwardly.

"Well, I need to get going home." Sakura pulled out her purse and counted out the appropriate change before Naruto could protest. But he seemed to think that letting her pay for her ramen now meant another date in the future so he just waved enthusiastically as she headed out. Sasuke stayed in his seat and only raised a hand as she walked home.

Pity. She hoped he would walk her home.

A/N: Updated 12/17/17