Time Braid

17. Explanations

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.

“Don’t ignore me, dumbass. What’s going on?” Sasuke looked like he wasn’t sure if he should be annoyed or worried, and was eying Hinata warily.

Naruto chuckled. “Heh. Crazy thing with a time-space jutsu, Sasuke. All three of us are a few decades older than you’d think. But we’re used to passing as our younger selves, and no one’s going to believe you if you try to report us. Go with the flow and things will work out.”

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and looked us over skeptically. “You don’t look like imposters,” he admitted reluctantly. “Show me something to prove this isn’t a prank.”

Naruto spun up what looked like a Rasengan on his fingertip, but I realized an instant later it was full of wind chakra. He threw it across the clearing with a twitch of his finger, and it shredded one of the trees into confetti.

“Oh, are we showing off?” I asked with a grin. I shifted to fire nature and formed a Flame Rasengan on my fingertip — a tricky little exercise, and I wondered for a moment how many years Naruto had spent training his chakra control to be able to do it. Then I compacted it into a ball the size of a marble, and replaced it with a leaf on a nearby tree. A split-second later it destabilized and blew up, toppling another tree and pelting the area with debris.

“S-rank,” Sasuke observed. “Hnn. Alright, what’s the plan?”

To my surprise, Naruto told Sasuke exactly what was going on. To my complete shock, Sasuke believed him.

“I don’t believe this!” I muttered as we made our way to the forest arena. “Ino never believes me. My parents and Kakashi and the Hokage never believe me. Hell, Sasuke never believes me.”

“You were an obsessive fangirl,” Sasuke pointed out reasonably. “You would have said anything to get my attention.”

“Well, don’t expect any more of that nonsense!” I growled at him. “I’m Naruto’s fiancé now.”

“Hnn.” Sasuke stopped on a tree branch to fish a one-ryo piece out of his pocket, and tossed it to Naruto. The goof stared at it in confusion for a moment, and laughed.

I frowned. “What the hell was that about?”

“I once bet Sasuke that I’d convince you to be my girlfriend someday,” Naruto explained.

“Oh. Heh. I guess you did, didn’t you?” I stopped beside Naruto to kiss him on the cheek. Hinata stopped next to us to do the same, and I took the chance to wrap a handful of shuriken with concealment genjutsu and toss them behind us. Guided by chakra strings, the invisible projectiles wove silently through the trees to where that annoying genjutsu team was getting ready to spring their walk-in-circles-forever trap on us, and struck each of them in the throat with enough force to nearly decapitate them. They collapsed silently, and Hinata grinned at me.

Sasuke frowned, and I noticed he’d activated his Sharingan again. Apparently he’d actually noticed my attack, which impressed me a bit. He took a long look behind us, and caught sight of the splash of blood.

“Do you always kill people that easily?” He asked.

I shrugged, vaguely troubled by the thought that Sasuke of all people thought I was too ruthless. “It’s a time loop. They’ll be back next time around.”

“Hnn.”

It was a very strange loop. I’d grown used to ignoring Sasuke as much as possible, and he was generally happy to return the favor. It had been years since I’d said anything to him beyond a few well-rehearsed lines early in the exam. But it was obvious Naruto had played patterns where he told Sasuke what was happening before, and somehow that changed everything. Instead of the smug, insufferable bastard I was used to, Sasuke was… well, not nice, but not a complete asshole either. He was still reserved, driven, even a bit cold at times. But when I casually took one of those Sound nin apart in the pre-finals he actually smiled at me. When I body flickered back up to balcony and Naruto went down for his own fight he stepped over to speak to me.

“Looks like I shouldn’t have dismissed you,” he admitted. “Too bad you didn’t train seriously before this.”

“Um, yeah,” I agreed uncomfortably. “It would have saved me years of aggravation.”

“Hnn. What did I do?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He turned to look at me. “You keep looking at me like I’m an imposter, and your girlfriend wants to kill me. What did this other version of me do to piss you off so much?”

I sighed, and looked back into the ring. Naruto was fighting Kiba, and taking his time at it. Should I tell him, or not? Well, maybe I’d learn something from his reaction.

“Tsukuyomi,” I said shortly. “Torture and conditioning, probably three or four cycles.”

He stared at me in shock for a moment, and looked away just in time to see Naruto finish off poor Kiba. When Sasuke turned back I realized in surprise that he was furious. “I wouldn’t do that,” he insisted quietly. “Not to anyone, let alone you.”

“That’s why I’m confused,” I admitted. “I’m not sure if my memories are biased, or if you’re actually different than the Sasuke I remember. I’d wondered before if Naruto and me were actually from different alternate worlds, but I’ve never been able to pinpoint any differences between our versions of Konoha.”

“We should compare notes when we have some privacy,” he suggested, his voice still tight. Was he… angry that I’d been hurt? My god, he was.

Sasuke, being protective of me? I had no idea how to respond to that. Fortunately Naruto rejoined us at that point, and I was spared the need to formulate a reply.

We spent some days on the project, but we never found any definite discrepancies. As far as I could tell Sasuke and I remembered the same events from our time together as Team Seven. Naruto’s memory was much spottier than mine, but he freely admitted he didn’t trust himself to have the details right in any event.

“My memory was incredibly bad back then,” he announced when I brought it up. “I’ll help if I can, but I doubt I’ll be any use. Heck, I barely remember our first Tora hunt, let alone the boring stuff.”

Unfortunately we didn’t get a full month to work at it. When Suna noticed their Kage was missing they apparently decided Konoha had assassinated him, and declared war on us. When Sound came in on their side a few days later the fighting got serious, and the final round of the exam was cancelled.

Naruto, Hinata and I met atop the Hokage monument that afternoon to watch Sound’s forces assault the walls of Konoha while half our ninja were at the Suna border.

“I’m guessing the loop will end tonight,” I said. “When something unexpected derails the exam that always triggers a reset, but if I’m alive it tries to wait until I’m asleep.”

Naruto nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen the same thing. The three of us could stop that army easy, but there’s no point if they’ve already cancelled the exam.”

“I’m sorry,” Hinata said contritely. “I didn’t think I’d actually beat him.”

“Don’t worry about it, Hinata,” Naruto reassured her. “We can get back together any time we want now, and it was actually pretty funny.”

“Yes, it’s fine Hinata. We’ll have plenty of time together,” I reassured her. “If this lead on contacting Astoria pans out I should have an answer to share in just a few loops.”

“Good,” Naruto replied. “I’d love to know what’s really going on with this thing. I’ll summon you again in, say, four loops? That’s just a few days for me if I do short ones, so I think I can stand the suspense. If it doesn’t work at first I’ll try again every loop until it does.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed. “You getting all of this, Sasuke?”

There was a sigh from below us, and a shame-faced Sasuke wall-walked up the face of the monument to join us.

“I should have known I couldn’t sneak up on you,” he admitted.

“Me?” I scoffed. “I’m just a chakra sensor. I didn’t spot you until you started up the monument. Hinata, on the other hand…” I trailed off questioningly.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on him all day,” she admitted. “Even in passive mode my Byakugan extends well beyond the city wall.”

Sasuke eyed her nervously. “Right. I guess Naruto’s the only one I might fool in this group.”

Naruto chuckled, and pointed out the pigeons flocking nervously about the area. “Some of those are my clones,” he said. “I always have some watching everyone I care about. What’s up, Sasuke?”

“Take me with you,” he demanded. “You obviously have a way to do it, since you have a copy of the Hyuuga heir with you. You’re going to need my Sharingan to deal with this crazy version of me.”

“I am not going to do what I do for Hinata with you,” I declared. “Even if I still could, that’s much too personal.”

“Hang on,” Naruto said thoughtfully. “You can still do that memory copy thing, right? That might not be a bad idea.”

“Oh, great. Are we starting a collection now?” I grumbled. “What do you think, Hinata?”

“I don’t trust him,” she replied. “But he could be useful. Besides, I remember what it was like to know I was going to go away at the end of the loop if you didn’t copy me. Knowing you won’t be copied would be much worse.”

“Yeah, come on Sakura,” Naruto said. “It isn’t going to hurt you or anything, is it?”

I sighed. “Alright, Naruto, if you insist. But I’m not going to make a habit of restoring him.”

The secure wing of the Hyuuga complex was, without question, the most difficult target I’d ever tried to infiltrate. Located near the center of a sprawling labyrinth of elegant residences inhabited by reclusive ninja with illusion-proof x-ray vision, merely approaching it was a difficult feat. The wards on walls, floor and ceiling prevented most forms of phasing, and those inside the building would raise an alarm the instant they detected non-Hyuuga chakra. The only door was guarded at all times by two Hyuuga chuunin, and locked with a seal that required immense levels of Byakugan mastery to open.

We got it on the first try.

Quietly abducting the clan head’s elder daughter after the written exam was easy, as was dropping her older self into her head. After that I waited for long minutes as the two versions of Hinata discussed the situation. I’d chosen not to follow her in, thinking Hinata was more likely to trust herself than me, so I had no idea what they were saying.

Finally the Hyuuga girl sat up on my bed, and smiled at me. “We’re ready, Sakura.”

“Good. So, she’s alright with helping us?” I asked.

“Of course she was, silly. It’s a chance to help Naruto,” she answered.

I rolled my eyes. “You do know you’re obsessed, right? Wait, what do you mean, ‘was’?”

“Oh, we merged,” she said casually. “You were right, it’s easy to do. I feel saner already.”

I shook my head with a sigh. That wasn’t the plan, but I suppose how she relates to herself is her own business. “Alright, Hinata. Just don’t make a habit of doing that to yourself, ok? I don’t think it’s actually wrong, but I’m not sure how Naruto would take it.”

“Oh. Alright, I won’t. Thank you for warning me.”

She looked so serious I had to stop and hug her. “It’s ok, sweetie, that’s part of my job. Now, let’s see if we can do this.”

I laid my hand on her chest, and stopped her heart. She closed her eyes, and a few seconds later I felt her appear in the garden area of my mindscape. Then I aspected myself, and poured one of me into her body as I restarted her heart.

Her eyes fluttered, and she groaned. “Ow. Am I hallucinating, or… no, it’s these eyes. I’m here, but this body isn’t happy about it and I have no idea what I’m seeing.”

“Just hold on,” I said. “Here I come.”

I stopped my own heart, and released my hold on my body. I spun across space to join my other aspect in the body she wore, and merged with her again. Then I fell back into my mindscape, and invited Hinata to take control of our body again.

“It worked!” She said excitedly. “I’ve got a little bit of chakra shock, but it isn’t bad. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. How are you doing?”

I took stock of myself. “I’m fine, as long as I don’t try to see through your eyes. Did you know your visual cortex isn’t wired anything like a normal person’s?”

“Now you know how I felt in your jungle,” she teased. “Here, I think I can use one of our vision-sharing techniques to give you a useable viewport.”

A viewing portal formed before me, showing a weirdly translucent image of the outside world. The view swung dizzily through space, zooming in and out and spinning around crazily.

“That isn’t much better than the original,” I observed dryly.

She giggled. “Well, I’m not sure if I can squeeze it down any further. That’s just showing my primary attention focus, which is what I had back when I was a genin. These days I run eight or nine viewpoints at once, at least when I’m not concentrating on a divination zone, but I don’t think there’s any sensible way to render the rest in two dimensions. Wait, I remember it used to be hard to integrate moving views, is that a problem for you?”

She was so deliberately clueless I had to laugh.

“Ok, sweetie, you got me. Yes, I’ve always wondered what the world looks like to you, and now I’m amazed you can make sense of it. But you’re not going to convince me you don’t even know what normal vision is like. I know the Byakugan doesn’t activate until a few years after you’re born, and besides you were wearing my body for five weeks a couple of loops ago. So can I please have a view that shows what a normal person would see?”

“Um, no?” She admitted. “I haven’t been able to see like that since I was seven. The first time the demon stuffed me into a normal body I thought I was blind at first, until I remembered how to make sense of just seeing the outsides of things. But I suppose I can fix a secondary focus in front of my face and show you that. Or better yet…”

The view stopped spinning, and settled down into a position above and behind her head. Everything was still weirdly translucent, but the colors were more normal and now I could see both Hinata and her surroundings. That was much better, and I said so, but a minute later I realized it contradicted something I thought I’d understood.

“Wait, I thought the Byakugan was like x-ray vision. What’s this business about viewpoints, and how can you park one behind your head facing towards you?”

“Oh, that’s just misinformation we’ve leaked to confuse out enemies,” Hinata explained. “The truth is the Byakugan gives perfect perception of the entire volume of space-time within range of the user’s chakra, unless you’re born with a blind spot like Neji. Most Hyuuga have a range of a few hundred yards, and then we can view the light hitting the edge of that bubble to get something more like normal vision of things beyond our range. But of course that’s far more information than the human mind can assimilate, so we practice making an imaginary viewpoint that can zoom around in that sea of information and find what we’re looking for. Children start out with a pair of viewpoints located near their eyes, but with practice we learn to manage more of them and put them wherever we want.”

“I see,” I said. “So it’s sort of like having invisible, flying cameras that you can look through. Then what was that about divination zones?”

She slipped out the window and started towards the Hyuuga compound.

“The viewpoints are a beginner’s tool. There are clan techniques that let you actually take in a full understanding of the space immediately around you instead. The range is much smaller, but it lets you understand everything that’s happening at once.”

“Ah, so that’s how you do it. I was wondering how you hit all those snakes so fast. But if you do that, and then flood your brain with chakra to speed up your perception of time…”

“Then you can hit thousands of targets in the blink of an eye,” Hinata confirmed proudly. “Not to mention that I can use a specialized version of body flicker to teleport my limbs where I want them to be instead of moving them normally. All our best jyuuken attacks are built around that concept.”

So that was why I hadn’t heard any sonic booms when she fought Orochimaru, even though she was moving faster than I could. The critical weakness of Body Flicker is the fact that you need a good mental picture of the geometric relationship between your start and end points, and it takes most ninja a few seconds of careful observation and concentration to achieve the necessary level of clarity. I was good enough to do it much faster, but I still had to either see my destination or have it picked out in advance. But a divination zone would give a Hyuuga the necessary information for every point within range, constantly, with no extra attention or effort. No wonder they were so fast! When it looked like they were teleporting around an opponent, it was because they actually were.

I contemplated the implications as Hinata assumed her old, meek demeanor and entered her clan compound. She visited her room briefly, strolled through a side garden, nodded to one of the guards and ambled down a walkway that led past the door to the secure wing. Time to move.

I split into two aspects, and as Hinata nodded pleasantly to the guards each of us flew through the seals of the Mind-Body Switch Technique. The guards froze in place as we possessed them both.

I slapped a Total Paralysis technique on my victim as my other aspect did the same to hers, and Hinata laid her hand on the door. Apparently she’d tortured the details out of her old man at some point, because she opened the lock with the ease of long practice. I released the possessions and snapped back into Hinata’s mindscape, leaving the sentries frozen but unharmed as she stepped through the door and closed it behind us.

Five minutes later she held a strange little device that looked more like some kind of super-advanced technology that an example of divine magic. Hinata flipped it open to reveal a set of numbered buttons and a miniature display panel, which lit up with a welcome message as it played a cheery little tune.

“That thing must have some amazing seal work in it,” I commented as I pulled out Astoria’s card. “Can you see how it works?”

“Actually, I don’t see any chakra in it at all,” Hinata admitted. “Just a battery, a tiny radio and some impossibly miniaturized electronics. I think there’s actually a computer in it, but I can’t imagine how anyone could form billions of microscopic circuits into the surface of a sliver of silicon like that.”

I contemplated the idea for a moment, impressed despite myself. “You know, there’s something really weird about the idea that the kami are more hi-tech than we are. Are you sure this thing works?”

“No, but I know previous clan heads have used it a few times,” Hinata replied. “Supposedly you just press this button, then type the number, and then hold it to your ear and talk into it like a radio set. Do you have the number?”

She pressed buttons as I read off the numbers, since I wouldn’t have been able to see well enough to do it myself with her eyes. Then she held the little device to her ear, and let me take over.

“Office of the Sysadmin, Orion Arm Division. How may I help you?” Came Astoria’s voice from the tiny speaker.

“Astoria? This is Sakura, the girl from the time loop? If this is a good time I can give you that signature you wanted.”

“Sakura? I don’t know anyone named Sakura. Wait, did you say something about a time loop? Hold on, let me check my task list. Ok, yes, I see my notes now. It looks like I did a memory save on myself after we talked, so just give me a moment to do a context load. Hmm. Oh, I see! Yes, hello Sakura, I’m glad you called. Wow, you were right about the loop. If you can sign my report today I can file it almost two weeks before the incident even happens. That’ll put me above quota for the month unless something really crazy goes wrong. Well, I take it you don’t have off-world privileges yet?”

“Um, no?”

“That’s ok,” she reassured me. “Skuld-sama’s pretty cool about letting junior goddesses use the transport system. Let me just run a trace here… ok, I’ve got your location. Wow, one of the dark worlds? No wonder they don’t let you travel, there’s a class two security barrier around your whole sector. Things must be kind of grim over there with no doublet system and the demons running rampant. I don’t even have an address for your local pantheon.”

“I’ve been told it’s much worse than some worlds, but I’ve never known anything else,” I admitted. “Um, is that barrier going to be a problem?”

“Hah. The sysadmins run the multiverse, silly. We’ve got overrides for everything. Ok, I’ve got a lock, barrier bypass is approved, transport request queued… see you in a sec!”

A shower of golden light erupted out of nowhere around us, forming an intricate structure of seals that latched onto my soul and plucked me firmly out of Hinata’s body. I hurriedly merged my aspects as what I guessed must be a summoning pulled me through a void filled with swirling colors, where I somehow had a very definite impression of fast upward motion. Then there was a sharp jerk, and the chain of Hinata’s contract faded into view. Far below me Hinata hung suspended from her collar, and I could feel her choking.

I grabbed the chain with both hands and focused my will, and she vanished. I felt her collapse onto the grass in the heart of my mindscape, and sighed in relief.

Ow, she coughed. That thing ripped me right out of my body.

“Yeah, that was a bit of a mess,” I said. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anything like that. Are you alright?”

I’ll be fine, Hinata reassured me. But I don’t want to distract you. You just concentrate on the kami.

“Right.” I returned my awareness to my surroundings, and frowned. I didn’t really want to visit the kami plane as a ghost, appropriate as it might seem. But I seemed to be fully functional despite my current lack of a body, so maybe I could fix that? There wasn’t any matter around to anchor a transformation or mold into a clone, but that might not be necessary in the spirit world. Everything is supposed to be about intent and willpower and chakra there, after all. So I fixed the pattern of my favorite transformation template firmly in mind, and tried to apply it to myself.

My translucent form wavered, stretched and solidified into the body I’d worn on the mountain. Just in time, too, because an instant later I emerged from the swirling void into a vast, brightly lit room. I was standing on a circular platform decorated with a complex mosaic of what looked like seals, which was connected to several similar platforms by a series of slender ramps and flying bridges. I had a vague impression of high-tech consoles and glowing patterns in the air and impossibly beautiful people floating about, before my attention was diverted by Astoria’s enthusiastic greeting.

“Sakura!” She threw her arms around me in an exuberant hug. “Welcome to the office of the Sysadmin. Wow, you look great! Oh, congratulations on your trial! You must have passed, right?”

I sighed. I didn’t know enough to lie convincingly, so I had to hope the truth would do. “Astoria, I think you misunderstood something. I’m not a goddess, or a candidate, or anything like that. I’m just a mortal who happens to be descended from one of you. I’m sorry, I’m not sure why you thought otherwise.”

She pulled away to stare at me. First at my face, as if I might have marks like hers. Then my eyes, and my chakra, and… something else I couldn’t see. “But…” she began with a frown. Then her eyes suddenly went wide, and she looked furtively around as if to make sure no one was watching us.

“Come with me,” she whispered insistently. “And don’t say anything else about that! Can you fly?”

“No, but I can body flicker,” I answered quietly. “If you don’t want attention, stop looking around. It makes people wonder what you’re hiding.”

She winced, but took my advice. “Alright, follow me,” she whispered, and vanished.

Her mode of transport wasn’t quite the same thing as a ninja’s body flicker, but it was similar enough that I could track her. We landed on a balcony along one wall of the vast room, outside a door with Astoria’s name on it. She opened it and ushered me quickly through, locking it behind her as she followed.

Inside was a space three times the size of the Hokage’s office, containing a desk and several chairs designed by someone who clearly thought crystal was the wave of the future and gravity was merely a quaint affectation. But the seats were luxuriously comfortable, and the walls were covered by so many plants it was like being surrounded by jungle. There was also a large window.

Outside was a city in the clouds. Thousands of islands of wood and water and crystal floated in arrangements so beautiful my breath caught, and my eyes refused to look away. I saw majestic soaring towers and cozy sheltered cottages and happy families everywhere, and for an instant I wanted to live in that place more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.

The window went dark at a frantic wave of Astoria’s hand, and she sank into the chair behind her desk and buried her face in her hands.

“Was that… Heaven?” I asked, still feeling a bit stunned.

“I can’t reveal answers about the afterlife,” Astoria groaned. “I’m sorry, I forgot I’d left the window open. Oh, I am so dead! I brought a mortal into an Yggdrasil control node! Even saints aren’t allowed in here! They’re going to pull my license and send me back to angel of mercy duty. I’ll spend the next hundred years trying to make dying mortals feel better in their final moments or something.”

“Um, maybe no one will notice if we do this quick?” I suggested.

She gave me an incredulous look. “Are you nuts? I’m with the Host of Benevolence, Sakura! I can’t lie, and covering up my mistakes would be even worse. As soon as we’re done I have to go to my boss and tell her exactly what happened, or I’ll be in even bigger trouble when I get caught. I just hope no one else notices, and she decides to keep it quiet, or none of my friends will ever speak to me again.”

“That doesn’t sound very benevolent of them,” I observed.

“Yeah, well, they get demerits and I get demoted. It’s bad all around. But I don’t understand, how can you possibly be a mortal?” She demanded. “You speak the First Tongue, you know your name, your mindscape is a place of power. Darn it, I even tasted your lineage when we exchanged promises. This doesn’t make any sense.”

I sighed. “I don’t know, Astoria. I live in the mortal world, and no one has ever explained anything to me. I didn’t know my true name until you asked me, I think that was actually a side effect of seeing the, what did you call it? The process space? Anyway, I absorbed part of the First Tongue from the demon that was trying to corrupt me, and learned more in that world-crossing mishap, but I still have trouble with it. The Kyuubi told me that being able to aspect myself was a genetic quirk, and I’ve got a few others like being bound by my promises. But I really don’t know what it means.”

She gave me a contemplative look, and typed something on the keyboard that decorated her desk. A holographic display of flickering text appeared in the air before her, and she studied it intently. I tried to make sense of it from the back for a few seconds, until I realized she was paging through it a hundred times faster than I could read. After a moment she typed another command, and an explosion of crystalline spikes and curves that I recognized as a mortal’s system profile appeared in the air next to the display. She studied that for a moment as well, and nodded.

“I think I understand now. Oh, I wish I’d taken the time to read your file before I talked to you! Stopping by for an incident report would have been the perfect excuse to ‘accidentally’ help, but stupid me I completely missed it. But we may be able to salvage this. Would you like to join us?”

I blinked. “What?”

“It says here your world’s local pantheon got wiped out six hundred years ago, and your neighbors are all too hard-pressed to help. But your file confirms your descent from the line of Bishamon, and the rules say you deserve a chance to prove yourself. You have more blood on your hands than most aspirants, but considering where you grew up and the trials you’ve already faced I can’t see anyone holding that against you. It’s a miracle you’ve made it this far. So, would you like to be an angel?”

“You can’t be serious,” I protested. “I’m a ninja, and my chakra isn’t like yours—”

“That’s why I said angel, not goddess,” she interrupted. “Sakura, you’re already light-years ahead of most part-mortal recruits. I didn’t find my name until my last year at goddess academy, and I’m a bit above average. You’re a prodigy. Any of the warrior angel academies would love to have you, and you could probably work your way up to full goddess in under a century if you put your mind to it.”

My head spun. Me, a kami? And not just a lesser one like the spirit animals, but an actual goddess? It was terribly tempting, especially the implication that I could leave all my current troubles behind. I might even be able to live in that city outside the window…

But I didn’t want to live happily ever after alone.

“Is there a rule against going back? Because there are people I can’t just abandon…”

She smiled. “You mean Naruto? The hero of the age? The man Special Ops is hoping will turn back the tide of darkness on your world and open the way for a return of the Hosts? Sakura, they’d send you back to help him the moment you earn your wings, and he’s already a demigod so there’s certainly no problem with the fraternization rules.”

She rose, and came around the desk to take my hands in hers. “Sakura, please. You carry the blood of a proud line of celestials. You belong with us. Say yes, and you can have a life in a place that isn’t dominated by hatred and despair. You can have teachers who understand your powers, and friends who aren’t going to grow old, and missions that are about saving souls instead of protecting a city built on lies. Just let me help you.”

Some nagging instinct in the back of my head was telling me this was too good to be true, but I couldn’t see the catch. It sounded wonderful, and this place had such an air of serene benevolence that I couldn’t help wondering if perhaps they were for real.

“What do I have to do?” I asked.

She smiled in relief. “Not much. Just fill out an aspirant application, and I’ll file it for priority processing. I doubt it will take more than a few minutes to get an acceptance, and then we’ll see if any of the big shots decide to swoop in and snatch you up. If not you’re welcome to stay with me for a few days while we figure out which academy you should apply to.”

She went back to typing at the keyboard, and a slim panel of crystal covered with writing appeared on the desk in front of me. I picked it up and frowned at the odd characters for a moment, before the writing resolved itself into a surprisingly normal-looking application form. Name, age, gender, file number…

“Oh, and you’ll need to let go of that damned soul,” she went on. “I’m sure you meant well, but they don’t allow that sort of thing in the academies.”

I froze. “Excuse me? Do you mean Hinata?”

She tapped a few keys, and nodded. “Yes, that’s her name.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. “What happens to her if I do that?”

Astoria blinked innocently at me. “Why, she goes to one of the Hell planes, of course. What else would we do with a mass murderer? It says here she’s even killed her own family. Really, I don’t know how you can stand to touch a soul that dark.”

I carefully put down the pane of crystal, and stood. “No.”

“What? Why not?” Astoria asked cluelessly. “Sakura, you can’t keep her from facing her judgment forever. I know it hurts to see someone you care for fall, but don’t let your feelings for her keep you from assuming your rightful place.”

“There is no place for me in any organization that would condemn Hinata to the Pit,” I growled, so furious it was all I could do not to snap the little bitch’s neck. “Do you know what they do to mortal souls there? I am not going to abandon the woman I love to an eternity of torture so you can look good to your boss!”

She paled. “Sakura, that wasn’t why… I mean, yes, it would get me out of trouble, but… I was trying to help you!”

“Spare me your kindness. Are you going to keep our agreement?” I asked harshly.

She stepped back as if I’d struck her, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Yes, of course!” She exclaimed. “Sakura, I wasn’t trying to trick you!”

“Sure you weren’t,” I retorted. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you’re the one who told me you can’t lie? I should have known better than to listen at all. Now show me what caused the loop, and I’ll sign your form, and we can be done with each other.”

“A-all right.” She said, and typed another series of commands. “If that’s what you want. Here’s the wish advisory.”

“Wish?” I frowned. “You people go around granting wishes?”

Before she could answer a window formed in the air between us, showing a scene that was both familiar and strange. Konoha, the day after it was destroyed by the invasion. The devastation was even worse than usual, with large stretches of the city burned and flattened in the Kyuubi’s characteristic fashion. A young Naruto, so bruised and battered that anyone without his inhuman toughness would have been dead, sat atop the shattered remains of the Hokage monument looking out over the destruction. But he wasn’t alone. Beside him floated an ageless beauty with ankle-length brown hair wearing a dress no human seamstress could have duplicated, with the marks of a class one goddess on her face.

“Why couldn’t you have come yesterday?” Naruto sobbed. “It’s too late! Everyone’s dead. S-sakura-chan, and Sasuke, and Iruka and Kakashi-sensei, even the old man. They’re all gone! Everything’s gone…”

“I’m sorry, Naruto,” the goddess said sadly. “I don’t control who gets wishes, or when. You could say I’m like a ninja on a delivery mission. All I know is that Heaven has chosen to grant you a wish today.”

Naruto hung his head. “You gave it to the wrong person. I’m an idiot, just ask anyone. I don’t know what to do. There’s nothing I could wish for that will make up for this.”

The goddess laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “May I offer advice?” She asked.

Naruto slumped. “That’s what my precious people were supposed to do, but now…” He choked back another sob. “I just wish we could go back and fix everything.”

The goddess froze in shock. A moment later her head flew back, and a beam of white light shot from her forehead to pierce the heavens. Naruto scrambled back as an aura of the same white power erupted around her.

“Wish granted,” she said, and the scene dissolved into a complex diagram of symbols I didn’t know. I stared at it in shock.

“Fix… everything?” I said numbly. “Everything? What does that mean?”

“Oh, so now you want my help?” Astoria said sullenly. “Are you sure you can trust my answers?”

That brought me back to reality. “No, I suppose I can’t.”

Again, she flinched as if I’d slapped her. How could someone so sneaky be so vulnerable? Was I right to think she’d been setting me up, or was it just a misunderstanding?

“How did I mess this up so badly?” she muttered disconsolately. “I thought I was making a new friend and saving a lost kami at the same time, but now you hate me and I’m going to be stuck in a penal unit for decades.”

It was an obvious ploy if she was trying to manipulate me, but she looked so pitiful I just couldn’t make myself believe it was an act. “I don’t hate you, Astoria,” I sighed. “I just… I’m a ninja. We don’t do trust. I don’t know anything about this place or your people or how anything works, and I don’t have anyone to ask but you. It makes me really paranoid, not knowing what’s going on.”

She hesitated. “It must be very confusing,” she ventured. “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to explain much if you’re going to stay mortal.” She paused, and looked dismayed again. “Oh, no. I told you the fate of a mortal’s soul! I’m in so much trouble!”

“I’m sorry, Astoria. Is there anything I can do?”

“I… can’t suggest anything,” she replied carefully. “I’m terrible at being sneaky anyway. But if I somehow ended up not getting into trouble over this I’d owe you a really massive favor.”

I considered this for a moment. Even a minor goddess wanting to be my friend was a huge opportunity, let alone one owing me a major debt. But this visit had somehow turned into such an incredible fiasco I couldn’t see any way to salvage things. Usually I’d abort the loop and try again at this point, but killing myself when I was already in the spirit world didn’t sound like a smart idea. Although the way that wish was worded, you’d think…

Wait.

It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

I closed my eyes, focusing my imagination on what a complete mess this loop had become and how much I wanted to just try it again. “I want to go back and fix it,” I whispered.

…and found myself back in my bed, at the start of the chuunin exam.