Chapter Text
Hinata (26)
“If you could return to the past, what would you do?”
The question lingered in the classroom longer than I expected.
Rows of small faces stared back at me—wide-eyed, curious, untouched by the weight of time or regret.
“Class,” I said gently, smiling, “does anyone want to share their answer?”
“Sensei, can we really go back?”
“Sensei, what about going to the future instead?”
“Sensei, can you send me back to yesterday so I won’t steal my mom’s coins for candy and get spanked?”
“Sensei, can we just play? We can’t return to the past anyway.”
Soft laughter filled the room.
“Alright, class—one by one—”
A knock interrupted me.
I turned to see Naruto-kun leaning against the doorway, one hand raised in greeting, the other casually pointing at the clock. That familiar grin hadn’t changed, even after all these years.
“Oh,” I said, glancing at the time. “It’s lunch already. That question will be your assignment instead. Class dismissed.”
“Thank you, Sensei!” they chorused, rushing out in a flurry of footsteps and laughter.
When the room finally fell quiet, I gathered my things and walked toward him.
“How long have you been there?” I asked.
“Just when you asked that question,” he replied, chuckling.
“That takes me back,” he said thoughtfully. “Remember when Iruka-sensei asked us who we’d want to be with if the world ended tomorrow?”
I smiled. “You’re right. They’re both impossible what if questions.”
⸻
We ate lunch together at home, sunlight spilling gently through the windows.
That was when my gaze drifted to the framed picture on the wall.
Team Seven.
Frozen in a moment that would never exist again.
“But Naruto-kun,” I asked quietly, turning to him, “if I asked you that question… what would your answer be?”
“Huh?” He blinked. “What question?”
“What would you do if you were given a chance to return to the past?”
He went silent, rubbing the back of his neck. “I never really thought about it, y’know.”
Then he smiled.
“Maybe I’d protect more people,” he said. “Especially the ones I couldn’t protect before. So the sadness of many could be replaced with happiness.”
His eyes met mine. “How about you?”
“Me?” I whispered.
My gaze returned to the picture, lingering on the pink-haired woman smiling brightly from within the frame—alive only in memory.
I smiled carefully.
“Then I would protect you and your happiness…” I said softly. “So you’ll be able to do that.”
____________________
Tomorrow marks ten years since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
…And ten years since Sakura Haruno died.
Every year, the day before the memorial, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven spend the entire day at her grave. It is their way of remembering—of keeping her close.
I stayed behind.
I stood quietly in front of the picture frames lining our living room wall.
Moments that felt too precious to be ordinary.
Our first date.
Our first trip together.
Our wedding photo.
Then my eyes shifted to the other side.
Friends. Laughter. Shared memories.
And at the center—Team Seven.
I touched the frame, my fingers pausing over Sakura-san’s smiling face.
Just like every year.
Just like every time.
“I wish I could’ve saved you,” I whispered.
The silence did not answer.
⸻
That afternoon, exhaustion weighed heavier than usual. I lay down on the couch and let my eyes close.
⸻
Light.
Too bright.
I opened my eyes, shielding them instinctively.
‘…Wasn’t I asleep?’
I pinched myself.
No pain.
‘Ah… I am dreaming.’
“No, you’re not.”
I gasped and turned around.
A woman stood before me, bathed in light. Golden hair flowed freely, white garments traced with gold. She hovered slightly above the ground, her presence overwhelming yet gentle.
‘A beautiful goddess,’ I thought.
She laughed softly. “Thank you.”
My breath caught.
‘Did I say that out loud?’
“No,” she replied calmly. “I hear thoughts.”
Heat rushed to my face. ‘That’s—’
“It’s alright,” she said kindly. “You won’t be here for long.”
“Here?” I echoed.
“The space in between,” she explained. “Neither for the living nor the dead. Neither nothing nor everything.”
My heart pounded.
“Then are you—”
“You may think of me as the one who watches over such things,” she said.
She studied me quietly.
“Once every few centuries, someone reaches this place,” she continued. “Not because they are special—but because they are willing to lose everything.”
Her gaze softened.
“You have carried a wish for ten years.”
My breath trembled.
“A wish born from regret, love, and sacrifice.”
“You mean…” My voice faltered.
“Yes,” she said gently. “Your wish to return to the past.”
“I can?” I whispered.
“You can,” she replied. “But every wish demands a price.”
My hands clenched.
“And that is?”
“If you return to the past and change it,” she said, “the world will adjust accordingly.”
She looked at me, eyes unwavering.
“Everything that exists now—every memory, every bond, every moment—will be erased. The future you know will cease to exist, replaced by a new one born from your choice.”
Understanding crashed over me.
“It seems you already understand,” she said quietly. “So I will ask you only once.”
“Will you still go?”
I had asked myself this type of question countless times over the years. In silence. In tears. In guilt.
And every time, my answer was the same.
If it meant saving Sakura-san.
If it meant sparing Naruto-kun from the grief that haunted him for years.
If it meant protecting his happiness—even if it was no longer with me. Then—
“I will,” I said.
My voice did not shake.
____________________
It wasn’t what I expected.
I did not return as my younger self.
I returned as a soul.
I hovered quietly, watching the girl I once was standing outside the Hyuuga clan tent, moments after the meeting regarding our role in the war.
I recognized the expression on her face immediately.
Others believed I was disappointed—upset that I had not been chosen to lead the clan forces. But I remembered the truth far too clearly.
I had only one hope that day.
To be strong enough to protect the people Naruto-kun and I love.
…And yet, in the end, I failed to protect one of them.
My gaze shifted.
She entered her assigned tent, and without hesitation, I followed—instinct overpowering reason. I waved my hand in front of her face, panic rising in my chest.
Nothing.
Of course.
I had forgotten.
I was a soul now—unseen, unheard.
I froze, realization crashing down on me like a wall.
“So this was the obstacle.”
I tried again, reaching out blindly, my fingers brushing against the wooden table inside the tent.
To my surprise, I felt it.
“…Huh?” I murmured.
I picked up a kunai. Solid. Real.
“Weird selective permission,” I said faintly, a ghost of humor surfacing despite everything.
Before I could test more, I heard a familiar voice calling out.
“Hinata-sama.”
Ah.
Right.
This was the moment Neji-nii-san spoke to me about Father’s decision. I remembered how long that conversation lasted—how afterward, Hanabi would corner me with questions.
“That will take a while,” I remembered.
When my younger self finally stepped out of the tent, I wasted no time.
I rushed to the table, my movements frantic now.
I sat, grabbed a pen and paper, and pressed the tip down.
It wrote.
My breath hitched.
So this was it.
____________________
Hinata (16)
I entered my tent after my conversation with Neji-nii-san and Hanabi.
The first thing that caught my eye was a pen and a folded sheet of paper resting neatly on the table.
‘…I was certain I hadn’t left those there.’
Tilting my head in confusion, I walked closer.
Then I saw the handwriting.
It was mine.
⸻
Hinata,
It feels strange to write to myself—my younger self, to be precise—but I suppose I don’t have a choice.
Oh, right. I should introduce myself first.
Hello, Hinata. I am the twenty-six years old Hinata Hyuuga. Yes… you… ten years from now.
You might doubt this, so I will tell you something only we know.
At home, in the second-to-last drawer of your cabinet is a white box tied with a golden ribbon. Inside is Naruto-kun’s old red scarf—from that snowy day.
That should be enough.
Now, I will explain the purpose of this letter.
I will get straight to the point.
Tomorrow—on the very first day of the war—Sakura-san dies.
⸻
The war raged endlessly around us.
Explosions shook the earth. The air burned with chakra, dust, and fear.
We were moving—pushing forward—toward Naruto-kun’s location.
When we reached him, my breath caught.
He was on his knees, hands pressed into the ground, shoulders shaking as he struggled just to stay upright.
Naruto-kun.
Without hesitation, I rushed to his side, deflecting the wooden attacks aimed at him.
But then—a second strike followed.
Precise. Lethal.
Instinct screamed at me to move—to step forward and shield him with my body—
But the letter surged into my mind.
⸻
That night, when we reunite with Naruto-kun at the center of the battlefield…
After you deflect the first attack, a pinpoint strike will follow.
You will move to protect Naruto-kun.
And Sakura-san—who arrives moments later—will sacrifice herself to save you both.
⸻
I froze.
Only for a few seconds.
But my body felt rooted to the ground.
⸻
That moment leads to her death.
And her death becomes the beginning of years of misery for the people we love.
So now, Hinata—my younger self—I will give you a choice.
Even though I already know what you will do.
Still… I want you to decide for yourself.
What will you do?
Oh, right.
Do you know what’s in the heart of Naruto-kun?
⸻
The battlefield blurred.
The letter burned inside my mind.
And then—I saw her.
Pink hair. Determined eyes.
Sakura-san rushed forward, exactly as the letter said. No fear. No hesitation.
Only the need to protect.
A faint smile touched my lips.
‘So this is the moment.’
Right as she reached Naruto-kun, I moved.
Not out of instinct.
Not out of panic.
But because I had already lived the life that followed.
I stepped in front of them both, arms spread wide.
“HINATA!”
Pain exploded through my back—sharp, burning, absolute.
Of course, I knew what’s in his heart. I had spent years watching his back, after all. I could see it so clearly—his smile, his friends beside him, Team Seven together… and, if the world is kind, the one he truly loves at his side.
My legs gave out, but before I could fall, warm arms caught me.
Naruto-kun.
My body began to grow cold, yet he was so warm it almost hurt.
I smiled.
‘If I had more time… would this moment change?’
No.
I pushed the thought away.
‘Being able to protect them both… this is enough.’
With what little strength I had left, I lifted my gaze.
Naruto-kun’s face was twisted with panic and disbelief, his hands trembling as he held me.
I tried to smile wider—to reassure him.
“It’s… alright.”
‘It’s alright… but if parallel universes truly exist…’
‘I hope there is at least one where all of us lived happily together.’
____________________
Hinata (26)
“I knew you would do that.”
I smiled softly.
“I am you, after all.”
Before I could watch any longer, something pulled me away.
The world twisted.
I was falling—endlessly.
⸻
I woke up on the couch.
The present.
“…But how?”
The world was supposed to adjust.
I lifted my hands.
They were becoming transparent.
The room blurred at the edges, fading in and out.
‘So this is it.’
I glanced at the clock.
6:00 p.m.
Naruto-kun would be on his way home.
I ran.
Through streets I knew by heart.
Through a world already letting me go.
Then I found him—standing beneath a lone streetlight.
“Hinata?” he asked gently. “I was just about to head home.”
I couldn’t answer.
I only stared—memorizing every line of his face, every expression I would soon lose.
Then I smiled and ran into his arms, wrapping myself around him, holding him as tightly as I could.
Just for a moment.
Then I pulled back enough to look at him and spoke—afraid time would steal my voice.
“Naruto-kun… thank you for letting me experience being loved by you.”
“I was happy. Every moment.”
“You might forget all of this—but I’ll carry it with me.”
“I hope you live the life you truly deserve.”
“Not a life born from comfort…”
“But one you can truly love.”
“Hinata… what’s happening?” His voice cracked. “Why are you disappearing?”
I smiled.
I rose onto my toes and kissed him softly.
“I love you, Naruto-kun.”
The world spun.
Light swallowed everything.
I’m giving you back the life you were meant to have.
Though…
it was never mine to begin with.
____________________
END