Twenty years after the Fourth Shinobi War, Uzumaki Himawari was returning from a solo mission, her first one since she had just recently been promoted to Chunin. The rank was bestowed on her by her father Uzumaki Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage. He had promoted her after a modest showing in the most recent Chunin Exams. She didn't win her match, but she displayed the resourcefulness of an experienced shinobi, and it helped that the Hokage happened to be her father. Her brother Boruto had grown more and more distant from her as of late. He had already moved out after attaining the rank of Jonin. She rarely saw him as all his time was devoted to missions and training.

As she tree hopped towards Konoha, Himawari saw several plumes of smoke rising in the distance. That can't be good, she thought. She increased her pace and came upon the burning ruin that was now the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sprawling cityscape was on fire, and the street was filled with bodies that appeared to be victims of lightning jutsu.

I need to find Father.

As she raced through the street, she came upon a monstrous chakra source that was familiar to her in more than one way. It felt like her brother and father combined into one being. Turning a corner, she found a bloody Boruto wearing a sliced up Jonin uniform.

"Nii-san! What has happened? Where are Father and Mother?" asked Himawari.

Boruto grinned crazily. "Oh, it's you, imouto. Haha," replied her brother in a mocking tone. "It's funny you should ask that. Dad is right here," He pointed to his stomach. "I don't know where Mom is. She probably killed herself since she's so weak without him. It's not like she could ever get him to take care of us when we needed him. She just waited for him like a servant."

"What are you on about Nii-san? What do you mean Father is inside you?" Himawari could feel a tightening in her chest. She knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"I absorbed his power along with the Kyuubi. He never saw it coming. He still thought of me as his stupid son who would continue to endure everything. Endure his ass never being around when we were kids. Endure having to take the Chunin Exams three times to get promoted when your father is the Hokage. Endure never getting a Genin team because he thinks I'm not mature enough to be a good sensei. Endure Sarada leaving me because she thinks I'm not mature enough to be a good boyfriend. Endure, endure, endure. It's like everything about my life was a big joke at my expense and I have to endure the laughter. It's so humiliating and pathetic. I've had it with that shit! I'm taking what I want from now on."

"I can't believe you Nii-san! This can't be real..."

Himawari fell to her knees in despair, hands gripping the asphalt of the street. It was hot to the touch due to the nearby burning buildings. I doubt I can even get away from him when he's like this... Am I going to die?

She knew that she would be no match for Boruto even without him having stolen their father's power. She was a support ninja who mainly used genjutsu and her ability as a sensor.

"Too bad, imouto. It is real. Don't worry, though. I'm not going to kill you. You're one of the few who never patronized me after all. But I'd better not see you in this city again. Go somewhere and make a life for yourself," replied Boruto coldly. He then flashed away.

Himawari looked around frantically, trying to sense Boruto's location. Instead, she sensed someone else. It was Boruto's old sensei, Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't look injured, so she figured that her brother must not have been able to find him.

"Uchiha-san! Boruto is-" she called out.

"I know," interrupted Sasuke. "Let's get out of here."

He grabbed Himawari and took off away from Konoha, heading towards the Land of Water.

/

The two shinobi arrived in a forested glade. The ground was painted in a complicated seal array that was glowing. The raven-haired man stared at Himawari with an expression like he was in deep thought.

The bluenette asked, "Why take me here, Uchiha-san? He wasn't interested in killing me anyway. I didn't need to be saved! I just wanted to find the bodies of my father and mother assuming Boruto even left anything behind. I still can't believe they're gone... Everyone is gone..." Her eyes were moist.

"I can believe it. I stopped mentoring Boruto because I could tell he was turning out just like me. No, even worse than me. It's ironic that Rokudaime-sama focused on training me only for me to fall to the darkness and now I did the same with your brother who had the same destiny," stated the Uchiha.

"Why did no one notice he was dangerous? I know Father seems untouchable but he's just a man... I once incapacitated him at the age of five and I'm not even a very good ninja..."

"I never heard about that," replied Sasuke. He laughed bitterly. "I tried to talk to Naruto about him, but he never was willing to hurt even his enemy. How could I expect him to treat his own son as a serious threat? And no one thought I was dangerous, either... Having status in the village lets you get away with a lot of things."

The half-Hyuga kunoichi remained silent, looking away from the Uchiha with a sad expression. She wiped her tears away with her hand.

What on earth do I do now, she thought.

"Listen, Himawari-san right? Do you want to save your father?"

"What?"

"Do you want to save your father? Just your father. I doubt we can fix things for your brother or your mother. And you will probably forsake yourself in the process. I don't know exactly what will happen."

"Forsake myself...?"

"Just answer. I won't explain unless you agree."

"I loved my father very much, and any Leaf ninja would sacrifice themselves for the Hokage... My answer has to be yes."

"Very well. I have made preparations for a time travel jutsu. I was going to use it to save my clan from destruction, but I have determined that it doesn't go back far enough. In my calculations it can send the user 25 years in the past. And there's another problem."

"Another problem?"

"The jutsu uses up so much chakra that I would arrive either too exhausted to do anything or dead. So I can't use it on myself. But I can send you."

"I don't know how I would stop Boruto from turning out the way he did..."

"There's no way to be sure you can. I leave it up to you but I would not recommend it. I would do something that is sure to work: eliminate Boruto."

"You want me to kill my own brother when he's still innocent and helpless? I don't think I can... I haven't even killed anyone before."

"You don't have to kill him. Preventing him from ever being born would work just as well. Listen to me. When Boruto began his attack I went to activate the jutsu. I was lucky to find you. I was going to try it myself and just hope that I arrived alive and managed to recover from the exhaustion. But we're running out of time. Soon the seals will start to erode and I don't know what the result of that will be. It could create an explosion large enough to destroy this forest or something even worse than that. We need to use it and send you back right now."

The Uchiha started flashing through hand signs. He continued to speak.

"The jutsu requires 403 hand signs... I hope you come up with a plan before I finish."

"I have no idea what to do! How would I stop my mother from giving birth to Boruto? She would never fall out of love with my father. There is nothing more impossible on this planet!" replied a frustrated Himawari. She then thought to ask something. "What will happen to me if I manage to change the future?"

"If you manipulate events so that Uzumaki Himawari will never be born, I'm pretty sure that you will immediately cease to exist. But that doesn't matter, because you will almost certainly cease to exist in any case. Interacting with your parents in any significant way is likely to affect the time of your conception at least slightly, meaning that the specific Himawari that you are will never come to be. You need to complete the mission before that happens," answered the Uchiha.

"Complete the mission?! This is absurd. You're saying that as soon as I do anything to alter the events that led to my birth at all, I'm going to disappear? How will I even know if it worked?"

"It's likely that your soul will still pass on to the next world, since you will have existed in the new timeline as well. After I send you back, I'll probably spend another year recreating the jutsu and send myself to that time as well. I just want to see my brother again, even if I can't interact with him. There's nothing left for me here," said a somber Sasuke. "I guess we will meet in the Pure Land if everything works out."

"Tell me, what would you do?"

"Well, I always thought my biggest mistake was when I abandoned the village because it hurt my teammates. However, I came to realize that they were hurt after my return, as well... I would try to make things better for them. Hadn't you noticed that your father was rarely very happy?"

Himawari thought back to her childhood.

Naruto and Hinata were talking while Himawari read a book in the living room.

"Did you reply to Sasuke-san's letter yet?" Hinata asked.

"No, I'm going to do that today. He said he's not coming back to Konoha for a while. He's such a loner," Naruto laughed.

"Want to take a bento with you?" Hinata smiled at Naruto.

"Nah, I have cup ramen at the office. Thanks, though, Hinata..."

"Just let me know if you need anything. I love you, Naruto."

With that, Hinata walked away.

Naruto stood in the same spot for a while as if contemplating something. He had a wistful expression on his face. Himawari looked over at him.

"What's wrong, Father?" she asked.

Naruto looked at her holding the large book and smiled. "Nothing, Hima-chan. I have to go to work. You just stay where you are and keep being cute." Naruto then flashed away.

"Well... I sometimes got the impression that he had lost something that was important to him. But I never managed to figure out what that was or how to help him, and he never wanted to talk about it. Are you saying you found out what it was? What was it? Tell me!" Himawari demanded.

"We're out of time, Himawari." Sasuke finished the sequence with a dragon seal and poked her in the stomach with his two pinky fingers. "Figure out how to unite heaven and earth. That will definitely get rid of Boruto. Good luck."

Himawari was left with the image of a smirking Sasuke as the world faded to black.

/

She reappeared in the same glade with the sealing array missing. The forest seemed more dense than it had been, although it was the same time of day.

Unite heaven and earth...? What could he possibly mean by that?

She started to make her way towards Konoha. When she arrived, she noticed that the Hokage mountain only had four faces on it. Well, it definitely worked. I'd better figure out what's going on in this time, she thought. She applied a basic Henge since a female Hyuga with whisker marks would quickly draw suspicion. She appeared as a normal civilian.

I guess I should go to the Shinobi Academy, that's probably where Father and Mother are if Uchiha-san was right about the time.

When she arrived at the Academy, she was met with the young versions of her father and Sasuke. Her father suddenly ambushed the raven and tied him up. He ran off and applied his own Henge to look like the Uchiha.

Very strange behavior, the bluenette thought. My father used to be like this?

She followed him to an area containing a bench where a young girl with pink hair was sitting. Is that Sakura-san...? Uchiha-san's wife? Naruto approached under the guise of Sasuke. Sakura looked excited at the sight of him.

"You have a wide and charming forehead, it makes me want to kiss it."

So Father liked Sakura-san at this age.

Sakura cycled through a wide variety of emotions as the two continued their conversation. They nearly kissed until Naruto suddenly ran away clutching his stomach. Then the young Sasuke seemed to return.

"Byakugan," Himawari intoned. She examined the outer layer, not finding that a Henge was active. That's the real Uchiha-san...

The true Sasuke and Sakura exchanged words that quickly left the pinkette in a depressive state.

She had been so excited to talk to him... What a bizarre sequence of events...

The world began to fade to black again. What's going on...?

/

Himawari woke up in the same spot. What happened just now...? Small details in the environment were different as though a decent amount of time had passed. She decided to look around Konoha. She wandered around for some time. Villagers were discussing the disappearance of Uchiha Sasuke. She eventually heard a commotion at the village gates and went to investigate, finding a gathering of familiar Genin shinobi. Naruto and the future wife of Uchiha were both present, along with a young version of Nara-san, her father's advisor, and Inuzuka-san, her mother's former teammate. Sakura was in tears.

"I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand..." said Naruto to Sakura with a strange smile on his face.

"Thank you... Naruto..." replied the crying pinkette.

"Don't worry! I'll bring him back! It's my promise of a lifetime!" said Naruto, outstretching a thumb.

That's the pose Lee-san often uses... I've never seen Father do it before, mused Himawari.

"Hey Naruto! You sure you can keep that promise?" asked the upbeat Inuzuka.

"Heh. I won't take back my words. That's my ninja way!" Naruto said. The shinobi apart from Sakura departed as a group.

He did end up keeping the promise... But he's...

The world around her started to fade away once again.

Ugh, the bluenette thought. I guess this is an issue with the jutsu since I'm not supposed to be here. I can only appear for a short period of time.

/

She woke up in the same spot again. She felt a cold breeze against her face. Feels like winter... There were now five faces of the Hokage present on the mountain. It was nearly dusk.

Could it be that even more time passed this time? I should try to locate my mother, perhaps her devotion isn't as strong as I believe it to be...

Himawari went to the Hyuga estate. There she found a young version of her mother as well as Inuzuka-san standing outside the gate, along with a healthy looking Akamaru. The dog ninja was grinning hopefully at her mother.

"Ne, Hinata, how about we go on a date?" he asked.

"I don't know about that, Kiba-kun... I'm waiting for Naruto-kun to return." Hinata replied.

"But he's been gone for a year and a half!" I'm losing more and more time. I need to figure something out quickly. "He's going to be gone for at least another year! It's just a date, Hinata. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage. I promise it'll be fun."

"I don't think so Kiba-kun. I'm sorry, but I only see you as a friend..."

"It's not like Naruto will ever ask you on a date anyway! He's never going to look at you the way he looks at Sakura! Damn it! He barely even knows you exist, Hinata!"

"I can't change the one I love, Kiba-kun. I really am sorry," Hinata answered. She genuinely did look sorry. Himawari began to feel tired.

Mother was always a kind person, but this sounds hopeless. I'm too late to change her mind... Father, though... it's not too late for him. I need to wait for the right moment, she thought as she let herself go to sleep.

/

It's getting very hard to predict how long I will be present after each time skip, Himawari thought as she opened her eyes.

She noticed she was standing in a large crater. It covered most of the village grounds. She sensed an inordinate amount of powerful chakra in the air, some of which felt like it had belonged to Naruto. People had accumulated in tight groups to treat the wounded or make shelter. The crater was mostly empty aside from those.

Whoa, what's going on here? The village was destroyed...? Is this the attack of the Akatsuki leader Mother told me about once? This was when she first told him how she felt about him...

Himawari looked around, but she wasn't able to find her father. She did manage to find her mother in an area where medics were healing people. Sakura was tending to her mother with a pained expression on her face. The shinobi gathered around Hinata were discussing the sacrifice she had made against the Akatsuki leader. It was said that it was done out of love for the boy that would become her father in the future.

Looks like I missed it... That was something that I wanted to see. I don't understand why Father waited so long to respond.

She noticed the face Sakura was making as she was healing Hinata. It looked like she wasn't comfortable with the subject.

She seems unhappy at the thought of my mother's declaration to him... Is it that she doesn't like her? No, that doesn't make any sense... She was a kind, shy girl...

Himawari silently observed for some time. Most people were talking about how great Naruto was to have destroyed the six Pain bodies. Eventually, Naruto returned to the elated village. Everyone moved to greet him.

"Welcome home!"

"You're a hero, Naruto!"

"Thank you!"

"We believed in you!"

Everyone acknowledges him... Himawari thought and smiled. She heard her mother softly weeping in the crowd. Sakura arrived and walked up to Naruto.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto said.

"You're always so rash, dummy!" Sakura replied as she suddenly punched him. She then hugged him close to her. "Thank you..."

Everyone was smiling at the sight of the pink-haired medic embracing their hero. Himawari looked off to the side at the young version of her mother.

Even she's smiling... I think I understand now why he waited so long to respond to my mother's confession.

Himawari continued to observe the joyous scene as she slowly lost consciousness, her sight going dark.

/

Himawari woke up in the newly reconstructed village.

How much time has passed now?, she wondered.

Anyway, this must have been what Uchiha-san was referring to. Perhaps the sense of loss I felt from my father was Sakura-san...? But I don't understand... She was starting to return his feelings. How did they end up with my mother and Uchiha-san...? Inuzuka-san was absolutely right. There's no way my father would have looked at my mother if Sakura-san was there... She meant the world to him. Did he never tell her that? That's just too sad...

The village had a somber atmosphere and no strong chakra signatures were present in it. She didn't sense any residual signatures either, so no shinobi had been present for quite some time.

Everyone must be fighting in the Fourth War.

She headed off in a direction where she could sense thousands of strong chakra sources. They were quite far away from Konoha. I hope I don't miss my chance...

After traveling for some time, she found someone who she recognized as a young Kazekage Gaara. He was floating on his sand. She applied a genjutsu to make herself mostly invisible and followed him from a distance.

This is the best lead I have for now.

She noticed a passed out kunoichi on the ground a hundred feet away, but she didn't have time to investigate without losing track of Gaara.

Gaara came upon an unconscious Naruto and picked him up. He looked to be near death and Gaara was distraught. Himawari continued to follow Gaara as he controlled his sand to carry Naruto, operating as a makeshift platform.

I wonder what Uchiha-san was doing at this time? He was the only other person with chakra as massive as my father's. But I can't sense him, either... Did he get badly wounded, too?

Gaara and the incapacitated Naruto located a group of medical ninjas, Sakura being among them. None of them seemed to have much chakra remaining. Himawari saw a panicked Sakura scramble to attend to Naruto on top of Gaara's sand.

What was supposed to happen after this...? I remember something about Yondaime-jii-sama saving him during the war.

"What did they do to Naruto?!" Sakura shouted her question at Gaara.

"Just come! Stop complaining! I'll explain later!" He snapped impatiently at Sakura.

The two raced off on the sand with Naruto in tow. Himawari continued to follow them, but it was quite difficult with how fast they were going. She applied chakra to her ears so she could hear what they were saying.

"Hold on! You mustn't lose! You're strong!" implored Sakura to the dying Naruto.

Sakura was trying to use the Mystical Palm Technique to save Naruto, but it wasn't at all effective.

"You'll... You'll definitely survive! Damn, my chakra is... Why...? Why isn't medical ninjutsu working?!" asked the worried Sakura.

"It's because they removed the Kyuubi from him," Gaara answered.

Himawari recalled a conversation she had with her father when she was just starting to go to the Academy.

"What's up Hima-chan? You look like you want to ask me something," said Naruto.

"You and Kurama-san are friends now, right?" asked Himawari.

"Of course we are! He always helps me. I'd be a goner by now if it wasn't for him!"

"So why not let him out of the seal, Father? Since you know he won't hurt anyone... It must be rough for him, being stuck inside you and not being able to run around. He's a fox, right?" Himawari smiled thinking about the great fox traveling around the nations.

"Hima-chan..." Naruto was silent for a few moments. He looked at Himawari seriously. "A jinchuuriki who is separated from their bijuu... will die."

Himawari began to cry. "Father! I'm sorry! I'm so stupid! Forget I said anything..."

"Don't cry, Hima-chan... I'm not upset." He patted the small girl on the head. "Kurama is fine with waiting... We're partners."

Himawari started to feel tense as she started to wonder about the future she was a part of.

How on earth did he survive...? Was he just that strong, like Sakura-san said?

"There's a way to save him. We have to get to the Fourth Hokage," Gaara explained. "The Kyuubi told me. I know of no other way to save Naruto!"

"How long until we get there?"

"It's still a few kilometers."

Yondaime-jii-sama is that far away?! He's not breathing at all...

The increasingly desperate Sakura sliced into Naruto's side with a chakra scalpel and started to reach inside his chest.

"As long as I'm here, I won't let you die so easily!" Sakura proclaimed as she started to force air into his lungs. Himawari observed with her Byakugan.

His heart... She's the one who...

"I'm speeding up!" Gaara warned Sakura. They raced off towards the Fourth.

I can't keep up anymore... Himawari thought and collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

Himawari had known that her father was seriously injured in the war. But she never knew what the former Haruno-san had done. She would never have imagined it this way.

I never knew she was such an amazing medical ninja... She was determined to move every rule of life and death for him despite being almost out of chakra... And she succeeded. She literally held his heart in her hands... Was it ever really my destiny to exist?

Suddenly she felt herself falling unconscious.

Damn it! When I wake up, it might be too late to do anything...

/

Himawari woke up again to see no one around. Many cocoons with chakra signatures inside were scattered around the terrain.

Infinite Tsukuyomi...? Looks like the war is still on. Maybe it's not an amount of time but instead notable events in the timeline that could be changed...? Maybe Uchiha-san pre-programmed the jutsu? Who the hell knows? I can't take much more of this. The periods that I am unconscious for obviously do not replenish my strength or chakra as sleeping would. I'm exhausted and don't have very much chakra left, she thought.

She sensed five active chakra sources in the distance and headed towards them.

It was the newly reassembled Team 7 along with a horned old man. That's... the Sage of Six Paths...? Sakura looked like she had been crying, while Sasuke was looking at her disdainfully. Fortunately, Himawari still had her genjutsu active from the previous time. I'm like a bug in this situation... They would have to be looking for me. Luckily, everyone is supposed to be asleep so they have no reason to.

"But, Sasuke-kun! I still love you! If I still have a place in that heart of yours, don't go... If we're together again, I'm sure we can go back to those days..." Sakura pleaded to Sasuke.

Those words... So this was where it went wrong... Why did she have to say that? Himawari looked over at Naruto.

You weren't awake to see how she fought to save you... You're going to let Uchiha-san occupy her heart unopposed...? Father... you'll come to regret it.

"You're... such an annoyance," replied the Uchiha.

Sakura suddenly fell unconscious for seemingly no reason.

"What the hell! You didn't need to cast the genjutsu on Sakura-chan!" complained Naruto.

"Well, she'd just come after us. This saves time," replied Sasuke.

"Sakura really wanted to save you this whole time," said Kakashi.

"Was she having fun daydreaming about love? I don't see what she likes about me and I'm not interested in her at all," Sasuke replied. It seems like Uchiha-san is against it too. Did my father give her up for a man who doesn't love her? If that's the case, that's terribly depressing...

Team 7 continued to argue with each other. After some time, Naruto and Sasuke left in the direction of the Valley of the End. The unconscious Sakura remained along with Kakashi and the Sage.

So Sakura-san remains knocked out from that dumb genjutsu... Is she still dreaming of Uchiha-san...? Why? She's just not that close with him. What is it about Uchiha-san? He's handsome at this age, but she doesn't seem like a shallow person... What did he ever do for her? The incident when I first arrived in the past... Is she that sentimental? It was just a stupid lie... It should have been obvious that it wasn't actually Uchiha-san who had said that to her. But maybe she just really wanted it to be him? She's really stubborn... I can't think of anything else. That has to be the key... I first appeared at that time for a reason, or maybe it was just fate... I'll have to get close to her. Rokudaime-sama and the Sage will sense me easily... But there's not going to be a better opportunity. The war is almost over and if I fall asleep again, my parents could already be married when I wake up. If I don't disappear, I'll at least know that I failed, and I could simply explain who I am. Even that should suffice to make it so that Boruto will never be born... But I want Father to be happy even if I'm never going to be a part of his life. Sorry, Mother... I hope you can fall in love with someone else. Maybe you'll still have a child named Himawari...? I hope so...

Himawari decided to make her move. Running up to Sakura while invisible, she knelt next to her and touched her face, pushing Yin natured chakra into her.

Sakura was put into a genjutsu dream.

12-year-old Sakura was sitting on the bench once again. She gazed at the warm-eyed boy with raven hair that was approaching her.

This was when... Me and Sasuke-kun... Sakura thought.

"You have a wide and charming forehead..." Spoke the boy as his image began to distort. He slowly turned into Naruto. "It makes me want to kiss it... -ttebayo"

Sakura had a look of shock on her face. "That is something Naruto would say..." she mumbled to herself.

Naruto... That was you...? I had thought Sasuke-kun... God, I'm such a fool... I'm so sorry, Naruto... I'll fix everything. Just wait for me, Naruto!

In the real world Kakashi at once stiffened in surprise. "Did you sense that, Rikudou-sama? Someone else is here," he asked.

"I did, but whoever it was is gone now. How strange..." remarked the Sage.

Kakashi examined Sakura's sleeping face. "What could she possibly be dreaming of to make her smile at a time like this...?"

Himawari started to feel light-headed. She couldn't control her chakra to maintain the genjutsu anymore. Then she could no longer feel her chakra at all.

She realized she couldn't feel the ground underneath her, nor could she hear the sounds of her father and Sasuke fighting in the distance.

It must have worked... Nii-san has no future anymore... and neither do I.

Her vision immediately went dark instead of fading away.

I hope you'll be smiling with Sakura-san, Father... I wanted to see you smile more... when we were all together as a family... I guess... I was never destined to see it... It... must have been... my cursed Hyuga blood...

Himawari at last fell into oblivion.

/

Later, outside the Konoha gates, the redeemed Sasuke was saying goodbye to Sakura and Kakashi.

"I need to see it for myself... How the world looks," Sasuke said.

"But are you going to be alright, Sasuke-kun? You went crazy the last time you were off by yourself... Maybe me and Naruto should go with you?" asked Sakura.

"Hn. No, I'll be fine... Just look after the Dobe for me. See you later, Sakura."

"Goodbye, Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke walked off away from Konoha. Out of sight of the Konoha gates, he ran into Naruto. He returned Sasuke's old Leaf forehead protector to him.

"Here, I'm returning this." Naruto said.

"I'll save it for when we really settle things between us... By the way, now would be a good time to tell Sakura how you feel," replied Sasuke with a smirk.

"What? You know she only loves you, Teme..."

"Hn... You can believe that if you want. It makes no difference to me, Dobe..."

"Teme!"

But Naruto felt hopeful for some reason...

/

Several years had passed and Naruto was becoming Hokage today. Sakura was helping him prepare for the ceremony.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. Remember how I wanted to kiss your forehead as Sasuke?" Naruto said.

Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, that really had me fooled... It was so sweet of you to try to make me feel better about myself, though. I was so insecure at that age..."

"But what made you realize it was me after all that time had already passed? I know I never told you... Did Teme tell you?"

"No, actually... I don't know what it was. I guess subconsciously I realized it had to be you because you became my best friend while Sasuke-kun just thought I was annoying? Haha."

"Well, I'm glad you did... I didn't know how to tell you I loved you when it seemed like you were so stuck on the Teme..."

"I think I always loved you, Naruto. It would have come out eventually."

"I love you too, Sakura-chan."

/

Many more years passed. Himawari was sleeping in Limbo, unable to pass on to the Pure Land because she had no connections with anyone that had passed on who could accompany her. A yellow-haired figure materialized. It was Uzumaki Naruto, appearing as he did at the age of 17 again. He grinned.

"So this is the afterlife? It's pretty empty. I wish Sakura-chan was here with me... I miss her already."

/

In the Pure Land, Naruto's parents were talking with Kakashi, who had passed on eighteen years ago.

"Why isn't Naruto here yet? Didn't you go look for him after he died, Kakashi-kun?" asked Kushina.

"Well, the thing about that is..." replied Kakashi.

Naruto and Kakashi have met up at the entrance of Limbo.

"Naruto, you need to come with me to pass on to the Pure Land now. Your parents and everyone else are there..." Kakashi said.

"Is Sakura-chan there?" Naruto asked.

"No, of course not... she's not dead yet."

"I'm waiting for Sakura-chan. Come back and get us when she shows up."

"We can just get her separately..."

"I don't want her to be alone when she gets here. I'm going to wait for Sakura-chan."

Kakashi sighed. "Okay, Naruto... See you later."

"So that's how it is... Kushina and I didn't have to worry about that," Minato said, taking Kushina's hand in his, both of them smiling at the thought of finally getting to see Naruto again.

/

Himawari felt something tugging at her spirit and woke up. She saw her father waiting at the entrance to Limbo with a calm smile on his face.

Father! I haven't seen him in so long... Did he have a happy life with Sakura-san? Did they have a daughter together? Was she anything like me...? she wondered as she ran up to him.

Naruto looked at her with interest. She started to speak.

"Hi, I'm-"

Both Naruto and Himawari were surprised when Uchiha Sasuke suddenly appeared and took her by the arm.

"Teme, you're dead? The doctors said you were still really healthy for your age... What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Hn. Don't worry about me yet, Dobe," said Sasuke before flashing away with Himawari. Naruto looked perplexed but didn't try to follow.

"You're... the Uchiha-san of my original timeline?" Himawari asked.

"Yes. I see you completed the mission. You did well," Sasuke said with a real smile on his face. His expression turned serious again. "Himawari. I have to ask that you keep what happened a secret. I want him to be completely content with his life. I owe it to him after everything."

"You're right... he deserves to be happy. Then... can you take me to the Pure Land? I want to try and find Neji-oji-san... I always wanted to meet him..."

"Of course... and thank you, Himawari."

/

A year later, Sakura finally arrived. She appeared in her 17 year old form.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you're finally here!" said Naruto before kissing her on the forehead.

"You were waiting for me, Naruto? That's just like you," replied a beaming Sakura.

"I'd never leave without you, Sakura-chan."

"I hope you don't want to wait for Shina and Hanami too... We would be here a long time in that case and it's pretty boring here."

"Hey, did Sasuke-teme die? I saw him here for a second and then he disappeared."

"That's weird... Sasuke-kun was definitely still alive, Naruto. There's no way he could have been here..."

"Yeah... Oh well. We can ask him when we see him again. Let's go, Sakura-chan!"