Naruto was leaving Ichiraku Ramen when the opportunity struck. His apparent soulmate was approaching from the opposite direction, wearing a black winter kimono. Naruto watched him, trying to will his pulse to quicken or any of the other things Master Jiraiya wrote about attraction.

"Uh, hey Neji," he tried to sound cheerful, even as his cheeks grew warm with embarrassment and embarrassment alone. "Listen, can we talk?"

"Hinata is your soulmate." Neji said, in his usual deadpan manner.

"Oh." Oh.

"Yeah."

"I guess that makes more sense," he laughed sheepishly. "Except wait, no it doesn't. Hinata's the head of a whole clan. Doesn't she have to marry a prince or something?"

Neji's stone face finally cracked. "Excuse me, idiot, but didn't you say you were going to change the Hyuuga traditions?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But because I'm from the second house you thought I made more sense than the girl who's been in love with you since the day you met?"

"She what-"

"How arrogant." Neji's pale eyes gazed down at him with something close to disgust.

"I'm sorry man, obviously you're also way out of my league, I just never realised she-"

"You never realised?" Neji scoffed. "You're even stupider than I thought."

"I said I'm sorry." Naruto was floundering. "Hinata's great, you're great, I'm confused as hell but generally on board with what you're saying. It's just…" he tried to think of a word that wouldn't make Neji call him an idiot again. "...new. For me. To be like, loved." He smiled. "I was really happy when the soulmate jutsu worked, you know? I didn't even recognise it was the Hyuuga symbol at first, I was just glad there was someone out there who might want to be with me someday. And if it's Hinata, well then that's even better because we're already friends." He realised it was true; Hinata never seemed to say much, but her actions toward him had always been sincere and kind.

Neji seemed to contemplate it for a moment, before sighing. "You're still an idiot," he said, "but I don't think you'll break Hinata-sama's heart at least."

As if speaking her name had summoned her into existence, Hinata herself came racing around the corner. "Naruto? I have to say something to- Neji!"

"I was just leaving." Neji span on his heel and strode off.

Naruto watched as his true soulmate approached with a serene smile that left him feeling suddenly and uncharacteristically shy.

"Happy Birthday, Hinata." He reached out and brushed the sleeve of her kimono. "Orange really suits you."

"And then what happened?" Tenten's brown eyes were wide with curiosity.

Neji shrugged, taking a delicate sip of his tea. "I don't know. Like I said, I left, and then ran into you."

"I love that Naruto thought it was you the entire time." She laughed. "Driving himself crazy trying to figure out what you even have in common."

"Don't laugh," Neji said, but he had begun to smile in spite of himself. "It means he's a fool who can't see when his real soulmate is staring him in the face. Plus, if he'd approached me sooner I could have saved him the trouble. It's no secret that my jutsu revealed a plain Konoha leaf."

"Hmm, yeah." Tenten's smile turned enigmatic, as if she were enjoying a joke at the world's expense. "Still, this news is a little disappointing."

"Oh?"

"Yep." She swirled the dregs of her tea. "Because you see, I was convinced Hinata was my soulmate."

Neji quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Oh well," she heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I guess it must be some other Hyuuga."

"What?" Neji's usually-sharp brain scrambled to figure out what she was saying. "What does that mean?"

But she simply winked, setting her cup down and walking away.

"Tenten?" Neji called after her as he fumbled with his coin purse. "Wait up. What did you mean just now?"

Another war happened, as it always seemed to do when Kakashi found he had loved ones to lose. His team was only eighteen; still young by shinobi standards, but already fractured by Sasuke's betrayal and Naruto's special training. When they marched out, only he and Sakura remained to represent the original Team 7.

Unlike previous wars, this one united all countries under a single banner. Personal clothing had been replaced with generic fatigues, and even the village symbols on their forehead protectors had been replaced with the all-encompassing shinobi symbol.

But Kakashi noticed, as they rallied and marched and eventually fought, that there were still plenty of ninjas who had refused to abandon their individuality entirely. Some had painstakingly embroidered their family crests on the sleeves of their jackets, while others had simply rolled up their sleeves and drawn it on their arm with a marker. He even caught Chouji taping the Akimichi symbol on the back of his flak vest.

"It's so I can find her," The boy explained, round face turning scarlet. "Or I guess, so she can find me."

On the third day, Kakashi took a kunai to the chest.

It didn't hit anything vital, but he could tell within seconds that the blade had been coated with something. His mouth went dry and his vision turned blurry, and in his last moments of lucidity he turned to a comrade and uttered a single word: medic.

When he next opened his eye he was in a large canvas tent with a drip in his arm and a buzzing in his head.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said.

He sat up a little. "Hey, Sakura. How lucky that of all the medics in the Third Division, I would get to call in on you."

Sakura scoffed. "Not luck. When I heard our great commander had gotten himself injured, I had to drop everything to make sure you pulled through."

"Was there a chance I wouldn't?"

"Not really." Sakura grinned, stepping closer and helping him into a sitting position. "The drug was debilitating, but wouldn't have caused any lasting damage." She began the process of removing his drip. "Still, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a habit out of getting hit by strange projectiles."

"How else am I supposed to find the time to see my favourite student?" Kakashi joked, barely wincing as the needle in his arm was removed.

Sakura gave him a blank look. "I'm neither your favourite nor your student anymore, captain." She placed a cotton ball over the tiny wound. "Keep pressure on that for a second."

Kakashi obeyed, watching as the girl wrapped the used needle in paper. When she turned to throw it in a nearby bin, he spied something white pinned to her shoulder.

"What's that?" he nodded at it. "It looks like a bandage. You hurt?"

Sakura glanced down at the piece of cloth. "Nothing like that. Look closer."

He peered at it. It was a square of white cotton like one might find in a standard med scroll. But someone, presumably Sakura, had drawn on it with a thin red marker.

"It looks like your old shirts," he said, "the design you used to wear."

"It's not a design," Sakura frowned at him, tracing the shape of a circle on her arm. "It's a symbol. My family's symbol."

"Wait." Kakashi reached out to examine the image. Sakura dutifully moved closer, and he caught a whiff of floral green scent that had managed to survive three days on a battlefield. "You have a family crest?"

Sakura looked at him like he was an idiot, and beneath the buzzing like alarm bells in his head he wondered if she was right. "Yes?"

"And it's a maru?"

"It's not a maru like zero." her frown deepened, "it's a ring. The Haruno clan use it to symbolise the cycle of death and rebirth. Whatever is lost in the winter returns in the spring; though not always in the same form."

It wasn't particularly warm in the medical tent, but Kakashi could feel sweat beginning to bead on his brow. He released Sakura's arm and leaned back from her and her floral aroma. "I thought it was just a pretty design you wore. Aren't your parents civilians?"

"They're genin." Her expression was turning deadly, but Kakashi couldn't seem to stop his panicked train of thought now that it had left the station.

"Are there any other members of your family?"

"You mean, aside from my parents?" She paused for a moment. "My grandma is still alive? And I have an uncle, but oh, he's from my mother's side so he's actually a Takenoko." She shrugged self-consciously. "I admit, we're not a very big clan. Why the sudden interest?"

He gave her a pointed look, but her face remained politely blank.

The buzzing in his head grew stronger. All these years believing he was doomed to a life alone, and now it turned out his soulmate was a kid he had known since she was ten. He was grateful he hadn't seen the white ring for what it was when they first met; it would have been unthinkable back then. Even eighteen was a little too young, though it was clear Sakura was going to be something truly special in future. But she couldn't possibly be for him. She'd never once looked at him like that, and considering their history it was hardly surprising. It made sense that she would choose to play dumb for the last two years; the mere thought of saying it aloud, of acknowledging their connected fate in this moment, was mortifying. He couldn't do it either.

He shook his head, unsure if the gnawing in his chest was from disappointment, shame, or the lingering effects of the poison. "No reason, Sakura-chan."