Prompt: time travel, fix it, wedlock, he falls first, love travel throughtime, technology involved.

POV: dual/first person (first try)

Timeline 1: Neji is dead. 7 years after fourth shinobi world war.

Timeline 2: After time travel. Shippuden after time skip, Sakura 16, Neji 17. (Hanabi 15, adjustment for the plot. War happened in Neji 19, I adjust a bit for the marriage age to be legitimate)

Author Note: If ASM is my old IP rewrite, this is the new story. All battles and war will be mention vaguely, not in detail.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! For my plot, I'm making young marriages feel natural and legit in the shinobi world. Marrying young with parental consent usually happens between 16-18. Without it, the age is typically 18-21.

Prologue-The Volunteer

The Fourth Shinobi War left deep scars that never quite healed. It's been seven years, but the memories of those we lost still linger heavily in my heart—people like Jiraiya-sama, the Third Hokage, Asuma-sensei, and Neji. The aftermath of the Uchiha massacre was a heavy burden for all of us, but Jiraiya and Neji's sacrificed hit Naruto especially hard. They were his mentors and friends, people he looked up to with unwavering respect. Losing Neji hit him especially hard; this was someone who had given his life to save him and Hinata during the war. He took it all to heart, feeling like he owed Neji a debt he could never truly repay.

I've lost count of how many times Naruto used Edo Tensei to bring Neji back for just a brief reunion. He couldn't summon Jiraiya-sama because his body was never recovered, a lingering pain that stayed with him. But with Neji, it was different. He grabbed it as a chance to see his friend again even he can't hear his voice. But each time Naruto resorted to this forbidden jutsu, it was like seeing him break a little more inside as I chastise him for using such dangerous techniques. To him, it wasn't just about breaking the rules; it was about holding onto the memory of his friend in the only way he could.

Naruto didn't let go of the hope that things could be different. He spent years researching the feasibility of traveling through time that seemed impossible at first glance. He wasn't trying to alter our universe but rather hoped that somewhere else—in another timeline—his fallen camrades could live on. It was both admirable and heartrending.

I'll never forget the day his experiment finally worked. Standing in the lab with Hinata beside me, I watched her cry tears of joy mixed with sorrow as she realized what this meant—not just for her cousin but for all of us who mourned him still. In another universe, there was hope and perhaps even a chance at redemption and reunion.

We were all gathered in this cramped room, trying to figure out who would be the brave soul to take on the mission. As I sat in that crowded room, a sense of calm washed over me. The decision was made—it would be me going on the mission. Naruto, being the Hokage, was obviously out of the running. He couldn't just up and leave his responsibilities. And Hinata? Well, she had her hands full with Boruto and Himawari. Honestly, sending them back in time would just be a risk. Seeing Neji again would stir up emotions; they might accidentally spill details about the future and disrupt the whole time travel fuinjutsu.

Shikamaru seemed like the perfect candidate—his strategic mind would be invaluable—but the genius had just married Ino. I couldn't imagine my best friend dealing with his absence or worse, a life without her husband.

So, I stepped up to volunteer for this time-travel mission. Someone had to do it, and why not me? It's a chance to save those who were lost in the war and maybe ease a bit of Naruto's guilt along the way. Plus, it's a chance for me to ponder Neji's sacrifice—a true testament to his bravery and nobility.

Nara gave me his thanks before we even started, confident in my ability to rescue his sensei. Before departure, I had to ensure mastery over the space-time ninjutsu and its accompanying fuinjutsu—necessary technique for staying put in that timeline without being yanked back prematurely.

Everyone from the team chimed in with reminders and warnings—they're a cautious bunch—but I'm ready. It's not like I'm planning on staying there forever or anything—just a year-long stint in another timeline before returning home. I've totally got this under control!

With everything set, there was nothing left but to make it happen.

Armed with a quirky device to contact my original timeline and a trusty handbook filled with Naruto's scribbles, I set off on what was supposed to be an epic journey. Let's just say the time warp process wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped.

After a few failed attempts—I found myself smack in the middle of the First Shinobi World War at one point—until we finally got it right. Or rather, almost right. Instead of landing back seven years ago like we planned, I wound up ten years back, bumping into my 16-year-old self's place in time. Not exactly where my team aimed to be—our goal was to land in the middle of the war to prevent all those casualties—but it's fine. An extra three years to tweak events couldn't hurt. This leap gives me more time to work my magic, tweak events, and hopefully steer things toward a better outcome as the resident time bearer. More time equals more chances to make a difference, right? Can't really complain about that.

But here's where things get really interesting—and by interesting, I mean embarrassing. My grand entrance wasn't exactly subtle or dignified as I landed smack dab in Naruto's old house bathroom while he was taking a shower. Yup, fully clothed and soaking wet amidst all that steam. Naturally, my first instinct was to punch a startled and very naked Jinchuriki right out of his own bathroom window, making an unceremonious exit onto the street.

Not my finest moment, but nothing that couldn't be smoothed over with some ramen at Ichiraku's. A few apologies and a half-baked excuse about why I suddenly appeared kept everything from getting too weird between us. Turns out Naruto had just returned from training with Jiraiya-sama, so at least this little mishap happened at an interesting point in our lives. All in all, not the most graceful start to my mission, but it felt like old times again.

Time travel really messes with my head, especially when I'm teenage Haruno Sakura trying to balance saving the future with surviving high school all over again. Here I am, tossed back into the past, juggling my life as a Chunin medic and trying to piece together a grand strategy to avoid disaster. It's a strange mix of reliving old memories and feeling the constant pressure to accomplish what I came here for.

I've been stuck in this throwback for three months now, scouring every inch of Konoha for Jonin Hyuuga Neji. No luck yet. I can't exactly go around asking people without raising suspicions—I've got to keep my future knowledge on the down-low. So there I am, trying to track his whereabouts as subtly as possible. His knack for being elusive is seriously frustrating—he's either never around or always out on missions, avoiding me like I'm some kind of bad cold. It's like trying to spot a rare bird that really doesn't want to be seen.

The little contacting device buzzed quietly in my sling bag—a handy gadget with a three-year battery life that gives me a bit of a deadline. Trying to casually bump into Neji has become something of a side quest in this journey. How hard could it be to find one guy in Konoha? It's driving me nuts—curiosity mixed with impatience is not a good look for anyone.

If fate wasn't going to help us meet by chance, then I'd have to create the opportunity myself. The annual medical checkups for all shinobi came through as my saving grace—a routine task I never paid much attention to suddenly became my golden opportunity. Never before had I fought so hard, elbowing my way past other medics for something as mundane as checkup assignments. But there I was, going all-in over Hyuuga Neji's checkup slot like it was Black Friday and he was the last flat-screen TV!

The sideways glances from other medics ranged from incredulous amusement to mild concern for my sanity—or maybe they thought I'd finally moved on from Uchiha Sasuke at last. But honestly? This wasn't about romance—it was about righting wrongs.

Then came the day I'd been waiting for—the appointment when I'd meet the man again after his death. It was monumental in its own way. As his footsteps echoed down the hallway towards me, anticipation bubbled beneath my calm facade. This was it—the moment where yesterday meets today head-on. This wasn't just any checkup; it's not every day you reunite with someone who's both part of your past and technically still part of your future. As he reached the door to my office, every moment stretched out in anticipation.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing Hyuuga Neji in all his stern glory, with a focused gaze and unreadable expression intact as ever. His great long hair cascaded over his shoulders, and his white eyes held stories untold. It hit me all over again why this mattered so much; seeing him alive and well emphasized how precious these overlapping timelines could be—and just how determined I was not to waste this chance to change things for good.

End Note: Here is the setting for the story. The idea has been on my mind for a while.

I've plotted about 30 chapters in advance, I hope you like the concept.

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