Author's Notes: Not much longer before this story comes to a close. Team 7 will get back to the Leaf and with the Chunin Exams they'll mark their very first change in history!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Darkness. Pitch black darkness.
Naruto stood there, in the middle of... well, the darkness.
It was cold. Very cold.
Silence. Not a sound from anywhere. He was pretty sure he couldn't even hear his thoughts.
The darkness shifted. The ground altered from darkness to a battlefield.
He looked around as he processed this change and noticed he was in some sort of... crater.
Around the crater he could make out the remains of the Hidden Leaf Village. Still nothing could be heard.
Naruto took a few steps forward when two shadows formed in fromt of him.
He stopped.
"It's about time we were on our way... Nine Tails." said the taller shadow with spiky hair and what looked like a cloak with a high collar.
"Wait... the Nine Tails?" Naruto wondered aloud as he lifted his shirt to see that the seal on his stomach was still intact. He sighed.
"What is this?"
"You bastard! I'll kill you for everything you've done!" another shadow shouted. It looked like it was pinned to the ground. It also sounded awfully familiar for some reason.
"So full of hot air. You can't even answer a simple question! It's over." the cloaked shadow replied.
"I don't get it. What does this mean?" Naruto asked. Then he heard footsteps. He turned to look at the direction of the sound and saw another figure with long hair running towards the other two. She lunged forward and attacked the tall shadow, only for him to jump back, avoiding the strike.
"Who is she?"
"Reinforcements?" the tall shadow wondered as he stood up.
"I won't let you hurt Naruto-kun any longer!" the woman shouted.
"What! Me?" Naruto looked at the shadow pinned to the ground as he realized it was him.
"Why did you come out here?! Just run! You can't win!" Shadow Naruto yelled at the woman in warning.
"I know." she answered timidly. Naruto's eyes widened at the voice he heard.
"Hi-Hinata..." he said.
"What are you talking about!? Hinata, don't just jump in here and throw your life away like this!"
"No... I'm here because I want to be. This time, I am going to save you Naruto-kun."
"Just what is happening here?" Naruto screamed out in frustration from not understanding anything of the situation in front of him.
"I was always crying and giving up before I even began. I made so many wrong turns in my life I lost count along the way. But... you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto." Shadow Hinata said to Shadow Naruto.
"I don't need to hear this..." Naruto shut his ears with his hands and closed his eyes.
"I always chased after you-"
"No good. I can still hear everything!" Naruto shook his desperately.
"-wanting to catch up to you... to walk with you side by side..."
"I know damn it!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.
"I want to be at your side, I always did."
"No..."
"You changed me, Naruto-kun..."
"No, no, no..."
"Your smile saved me..."
"This is too much..."
"That's why... I'm not afraid to die if it means I can protect you, Naruto-kun!"
"Hinata. Stop, please... I already know. I feel the same..."
Naruto felt awful. To throw his mistakes right in his face was too much...
The shadow Hinata turned her head and stared directly at the original Naruto, taking him completely by surprise. He gasped and focused on her intently.
"Because, I... I love you Naruto-kun."
Naruto felt a pain in his chest. A pain he never felt before. It was like ripping out his heart and crushing it in front of his face. How blind he had been. If all it took for him to realize what he had been missing out for nearly 4 years was a trip to the future, he would have done it a hell of a lot sooner. If he had someone that showed him complete trust, care, comfort, friendship, love while growing up... he wouldn't have been the same. He would have more reasons to try, to never give up, to live knowing that someone out there cared for him... How blind he had been indeed...
XXXXXXXX
"Hinata..." Naruto said in his sleep.
"Should we let him sleep?" Hinata asked her husband looking at Naruto's sleeping form.
"Nah, he has to get up. It's almost noon!" Older Naruto answered.
"But he looks so peaceful..."
XXXXXXXX
Naruto was watching the fight between Hinata and that shadow. He snorted. This was no fight. This was an onslaught! That cloaked figure evaded Hinata's every strike and countered with ones that he had never seen before. He never even touched her directly! He would just dodge everything and when she got too close for comfort, he would just push her away without lifting more than a finger.
"Not yet..." Shadow Hinata, having twisted her ankle, crawled to the pinned-down Naruto with everything she had left.
It hurt to watch. But what could he do?
The Shadow Naruto looked down in defeat. He couldn't stand seeing Hinata like this. Somehow, he knew that it wouldn't hurt as much if it was anyone else. Even Sakura... but he didn't know why...
"I know why..." Naruto said dryly.
"Hinata, please don't come any closer. Just... stay down." the shadow said as the cloaked figure stared at Shadow Hinata in confusion.
"Why? Why would someone as weak as you... try to resist?"
Shadow Hinata made it to Shadow Naruto and, with all of her remaining strength, grabbed the rod that pinned his hands to the ground and pulled but it was hopeless. Naruto watched as she shuddered and lost all of her strength the second she toutched the rod.
"When you know... you'll only die?" the tall shadow asked.
Hinata looked up to see Naruto staring directly into her eyes as their gazes locked. Then, with a voice weaker than a whisper she answered...
"Because... I... never give up. And I never... go back on my word. That... is my nindo... My Ninja Way!" she smiled.
As Shadow Naruto stared at her smiling face, it seemed as if time had slowed down. One second, he was looking at the girl that had come to his aid when no-one else did, then another she was high above the ground. The cloaked shadow brought his hand down and Hinata was slammed, full force, to the ground. He grabbed one of those sharp, black rods and...
XXXXXXXX
"HINATA!"
Naruto woke up drenched in sweat, panting heavily. He then realized-
"Naruto, what happened?" Older Naruto sat at the edge of the bed next to Hinata, who was watching at the scene with worry.
"Just had a nightmare. It's nothing."
"You kept saying my name in your sleep." Hinata informed.
"I don't think it's nothing Naruto. Remember, if there's anyone you can truly talk to, that's me." Older Naruto reassured his younger self.
"Yeah, I know. But still... It felt so real. Almost like a memory."
Older Naruto gulped. Both Hinata and Naruto noticed.
"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"
"I was doing some research on the Time Travel scroll yesterday and... uh..."
"Come on, out with it!" Naruto snapped.
"It looks like we're merging."
XXXXXXXX
Sasuke, Sakura, Sarada, Older Sakura and Older Sasuke were having breakfast. Sarada didn't have to go to the Academy because it was Saturday so, Sakura had prepared a bigger breakfast than usual. Not that anyone minded. Sarada was talking to her mother, telling her all about her progress in the Academy so far as Older Sasuke listened. Not being in the Leaf except for a few special occasions, he realized he had missed a lot of things. Meanwhile, Sakura was studying Sasuke intently. Sure, they were pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend by now but... his behavior changed just as he learned about their future family. She did NOT want a forced relationship.
"Uhm, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke turned to look at Sakura.
"What is it?"
"See, I-I was wondering... um, are we like... b-boyfriend and g-girlfriend now?"
"Damn! The nervousness is getting to me." Sakura thought.
"I guess so."
"Oh. Ok."
Sasuke turned his attention back to his plate.
"Uhm, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke sighed.
"What now Sakura?"
"Do you like me."
Sasuke choked.
"W-What are you rambling about now?" he asked. Sarada, Older Sasuke and Older Sakura noticed the commotion and listened intently.
"You see, I've noticed that you started behaving differently towards me exactly after you learned of our family. I don't want to force you into a relationship." Sakura stated looking down.
Sasuke sighed again.
"Sakura."
She raised her head to look at him.
"You're being annoying."
Older Sasuke stiffled a laugh and Older Sakura elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow!" he complained.
"Suck it up." she answered.
"Oh I see." said Sakura, all her doubts and fears now pretty much confirmed.
"But...-"
"Huh?" she looked up again.
"I like it."
Sakura looked dumbfounded. She did not expect this at all.
"Sure, you can be annoying sometimes but it adds to the mix. Plus, the only thing I used to hate more than Itachi was the fangirls. And I can clearly see you're not one of them. Otherwise he wouldn't be here." he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Older Sasuke.
"You're brash, outgoing, tough and bossy. But you are also calm, collected and also gentle when you want to. It's like a mystery I yearn to solve but just can't. That is what interests me in you. And that is also the reason I am okay with us being more than teammates..." he finished and leaned closer to her face.
Sakura was overwhelmed. She knew better than anyone that Sasuke didn't say anything he didn't mean. And that was enough to put her at ease. She leaned closer to him as well and just as they were about to close the gap between them...
"Ewww gross!" Sarada made gagging noises and ran off to her room.
XXXXXXXX
"Wha-What do you mean 'merging'?" Naruto asked.
"As certain events between two alike timelines unfold, and the events of one timelime get closer alike to one-another, the timelines merge in time, resulting in the absorption of one personality by another." Older Naruto explained.
"You said what now?"
"Look... Take the Chunin Exams as an example. The memories and experiences I've aquired during my Chunin Exams will be merged with your memories and experiences when that specific event has occurred in both timelines. Eventually, they will become one and there will be no diffirances between the two timelines. It's the same reason I can't remember myself time-traveling and meeting my future self."
Naruto took a few minutes to process this before speaking.
"So you're saying that you don't remember yourself traveling to the future because this timeline has merged with another. And now, when we get back, ours will be merged with yours in turn?"
"Yup, pretty much." he grinned nervously.
"Naruto-kun, what will happen to us?" Hinata asked.
"Oh, as their timeline progresses and follows events we've been through, there won't be a diffirance. In time, they will have the exact memories and skills as us and one day they won't remember traveling to the future at all. Then, they will meet Team 7 from the past again and the cycle will begin all over again."
"Hmm, makes sense... I guess." Hinata nodded.
"So do I tell Sasuke and Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Wouldn't matter. In the end it's still the same. The only diffirance is you can change your future however you like. How knows, maybe when I time-traveled, I did something that resulted in me and Hinata getting together and in an alternate timeline, me and Sakura are together and Sasuke is dead." Older Naruto shrugged.
"Okaaay. I'm just gonna go back to sleep and think about this." Naruto said.
"Oh and Naruto..."
"What's up?" he asked.
"That nightmare of yours, I think I know what it is. I think... the merging has already started and what you saw was indeed a memory. My memory."
"If that was indeed a memory, I'll do anything takes to prevent it from happening again..." Naruto thought as he crawled under his bedsheets once more.
"Things will change! I promise. And I never break a promise! Just like you, Hinata..."
I hope you liked the chapter :)
Anyway,
Andrew... out!