Chapter One: He's a wonderful guy

Sakura was sitting at a small bridge waiting for the others to show up. She waved her feet back and forth as they dangled off the bridge and thought again about having Naruto on her team. She sighed when she remembered how he embarrassed her in front of the Hokage. "This is all wrong, I wish Naruto was never born!" She felt something change, as if the world stopped moving. A warm glow filled the bridge for a moment, and suddenly the Fourth Hokage was sitting next to her.

Sakura gaped in awe. "H-Hokage-sama! But you're dead!" The figure next to her smiled warmly, and he spoke to her without talking. "You see me as the one called the Yellow Flash? How curious, but rest assured that I am not him." He looked around for a bit, then continued. "I was sent here because you made a wish, and it just so happens that Upper Management feels that you deserve one request. To what end or for what reason I know not."

Sakura looked down at that. Wishing someone out of existence was a terrible wish. The being next to her smiled. "Relax, you have final say on your wish. I can offer a glimpse into the future to show you what life would be like with your wish. It would hardly be a reward if we gave you something you'd grow to regret!"

He made a gesture and the water below them showed a field of sand and rubble."What's that?" The being frowned. "That my girl, is Konoha without its champion." Sakura flinched at that, who knew Naruto would be so important?

Sakura slumped into her hands, and frowned. "What if Naruto was on another team?" The being waved his hand, and four different images showed up. None of them were good. She sighed. "Why can't anything be simple?" The being's smile turned impish, but he said nothing.

Sakura put on her thinking cap, and an interesting idea came to her. "How about if Naruto was born a girl? Surely he'd ask me out less, and the kunoichi training will beat some manners into him!" The being raised an eyebrow, and waved his hand. The image that showed up was Naruto and Sasuke making out. "Ugh!" The being smirked as he waved it away.

"What if I don't make a wish?" The being waved his hand. All that was there was a smouldering crater. Sakura frowned, she would not let that happen. There had to be a way. "What would Naruto say about this? He deserves to know this as well because it involves him anyway!"

The being next to her glowed for a bit, and seemed to space out. "My superiors agree, I will summon him at once." He waved his hand and Naruto appeared on the bridge. "Hey Sakura! What's the Fourth doing here, isn't he...You know, dead?"

After hearing the explanations, Naruto sat down next to Sakura. "You wanted it so that I was never born?" The being shook his head. "Don't be sad Naruto, people say stuff they don't mean all the time." Sakura stood up. "No, don't trivialize it. I wished for it, and fully believed it at the time. And for that I am truly sorry Naruto."

Warmth and light filled the bridge. "It looks like you earned another wish!" Sakura groaned, but then she got an idea. "I wish I knew the wish that would have the best outcome!" The being smiled harder than ever. "You already do." She thought back on the various outcomes he showed her. "Would girl Naruto stop it from happening?" The being waved his hand through several scenes, and didn't come up with any of Konoha's destruction. "Apparently, or at least Naruto being a girl would somehow stop it from happening." Sakura frowned. "But how could such a small change make such a large difference?"

The being quirked an eyebrow. "Small? You do realize that any change to such a central figure as the Champion of Konoha is significant. I mean sure changing his gender is simple enough, but that change leads to more changes, which in turn lead to more changes... It may be a 'small' change, but it has huge consequences." Naruto looked him straight in the eye, and the being look a bit disturbed by it. "But it would protect my precious people, right?" The being looked grave, but nodded his head.

Naruto looked out over the unmoving expanse of the village he calls home, and thought of those he held dear. He looked back at the being and smiled. "Do it.." Sakura looked at Naruto for a while, and understood completely why this boy above all others is the one who would be champion.

She looked at the being, and nodded. The bridge then filled with light once more, and at that moment the whole world knew. Just for a second, that something important had happened.