Notes: What. No. I DID NOT MEAN TO UNLOAD ALL OF THIS ANGST. WHY. I SKIPPED KAKASHI BECAUSE ANGST.

I CAN'T ESCAPE IT.

(p.s. thanks for all of the reviews and favs/follows!)

IV.

She doesn't know how she ended up here.

By 'here', she means the past - only it's now her present, and she isn't even a she anymore.

(Unbidden, her hand flies to her short, white hair.)

She'd been content, in the version of the world that will now exist only in her memories. And if not that, then she'd been alright, thanks because they'd fought and fought and fought, and they'd won the war against Madara and old beliefs and hatred. Naruto had prevailed, Sasuke had come back, Kakashi had overcome his demons, and Team 7 had finally, finally been whole again.

And then, they weren't.

Sasuke had been in self-imposed exile. Naruto had had the weight of more than one village on his shoulders and a romance to pursue. Kakashi had taken on the mantle of Hokage and all of the duties and time-consumption that came with it. Sai had become infatuated with her once best friend, and Yamato had become busier than ever with rebuilding. And she... She'd been stuck waiting on a love with no foundation or cause and no real expectation of reciprocation. It had seemed, to her, that her team members had all moved forward without her again when she'd worked so, so hard to catch up to them.

Then, one day, she'd woken up as Haruno Byakuran, and everyone else had seemed so very young and fragile. The male genitalia had embarrassed her, at first, but she couldn't have possibly become a med-nin if the human body - no matter the gender - bothered her. She quickly became accustomed to the new identity, but in the privacy of her thoughts, Sakura lived on. (Because if she never existed, never breathed and lived and laughed and loved, then, what had been the point?)

And she had her boys back. Naruto was just as she remembered - lively and loud and bright. Sasuke, on the other hand, was most certainly not the 'cool, mysterious, dark' crush she had known; instead, he was (not just, never just) a lonely, intelligent little child, and upon seeing his tiny face, she felt none of the despairing 'love' of her unmade future, but an overwhelming fondness - for both of them, for all of her friends-turned-children.

When Naruto was causing more of a scene than usual, when Sasuke secretly preened under the attention of someone he deemed strong, when Ino (rather unexpectedly) began avidly seeking out her attention, when Kiba used Akamaru as an excuse to get out of doing homework, when Shikamaru fell asleep in class, when Chouji not-so-subtly began snacking during a lesson, when Hinata also not-so-subtly watched Naruto, when Shino asked and answered his own questions, she could only grin helplessly. These are the people she loves, all around her; what more does she need?

Eventually, the novelty of time travel fades, and she begins to plan. What had gone wrong last time? (She resists the urge to write Everything.) What could she possibly change? Team 7 was a trouble magnet; even she can admit that much. That wouldn't stop her from making sure that her team remains the same, however. She writes down a list - careful to use codewords even if she's sure her civilian parents wouldn't understand and no one would snoop through her bedroom - and takes a moment to study her handiwork.

1. Make sure family is the same.

2. Slap Kei-kun if he tries to leave again.

3. Slap Kei-kun anyway because that boy has too much angst.

4. Take care of enemies.

Perfect.

End Notes: Here's the DL with Byakuran. Sorry there aren't any interactions, but at least you have her/his side of the story. I decided to use 'her' when writing Byakuran's POV since I don't think that even in this bizarre situation someone could change their gender identity so easily. Also, Ino having a crush on him/her is Suzululu4moe's idea. I might throw in an Ino POV at some point since this is apparently a thing.

This fic won't have any pairings, but since I'm attempting to draw from canon, Past Naruto/Hinata will probably continue to be referenced, as will, perhaps, Sasuke/Sakura.