Preventing The Inevitable

Chapter 3

It had been sometime during the fifth year of the war. They were sitting around a campfire, long after the sun had set and all the other shinobi had gone to rest. It must've been on one of the weekly 'bonding evenings' Sai and Naruto had started.

-

"Hey, Sakura?" Naruto asked while throwing a rather large branch into the fire. The flame flickered for a bit, struggling to breathe under the dense wood. Luckily, Naruto hadn't quite managed to smother it, and soon enough, the branch caught fire as well. Sakura's face warmed up as the flame flared with more intensity.

"Mh-m?" She looked up from the soldier pills she was working on, wondering if she should comment on Naruto almost putting out their campfire. She decided otherwise upon seeing the contemplating look on his face.

"Do you think–" He went quiet. The quiet hissing and sizzling of the fire filled the silence and Sakura waited.

Sasuke, who had been watching her work on the soldier pills for lack of other entertainment , also glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "Why so quiet? That's quite unusual behavior coming from an airhead."

"I'm not an airhead!" Naruto retorted. "It's just—I don't know... I'm just... uh...pondering." He finished lamely.

Sasuke snorted. "Pondering?"

Sai chuckled from the other side of the campfire. "You? Thinking? That's a first." Naruto shot him a glare.

Sakura put her materials away and faced Naruto. Apparently, being the most emotionally intelligent person here besides the Uzumaki himself, meant having to take the wheel during these kinds of situations. "So, what is it? Just say whatever comes to mind." Upon seeing him still look slightly unsure, she followed up with, "After all that time spent together, it would be a shame if I didn't understand the thought process of an idiot like you." Though it came out rather harsh, Naruto should know that she meant well.

The blonde took a deep breath. "Do you think that..." He began once more. "That we could–... go... back and fix all of this?" Naruto's usually loud voice was barely a whisper towards the end.

For a moment, the only noise any of them could hear was the soft crackling of the campfire. It was silent, in the dead of the night. Then, Sakura sighed. "Naruto... you know time travel isn't possible."

"Why, though?" He asked, his voice disappointed.

"It just isn't possible. Don't you remember what we learned in the Academy? The laws of nature are not for humans to break. Time travel is a myth."

"What about Edo Tensei? It lets us talk to dead people. I mean, think about it. There's already one jutsu that breaks the laws of nature." Naruto sat up straighter, his own voice gaining a bit more conviction. "And– me and Sasuke, we talked to the Sage of Six Paths! He was also considered just a myth. Why can't time travel be possible then?"

Sakura was stunned speechless. Did he... actually think it was possible? Time travel?

"Look, Naruto," She tried once again. "It doesn't work like that. And—alright, let's say it is possible," Naruto perked up at that as he leaned in with a determined look in his eyes, almost as if daring her to try to find something against him

Sakura wasn't deterred. "Even then, we can't just... invent time travel because we want to. There's so much research that goes into something like that. Do you really think we'd have time for that? During a war?"

He visibly deflated. It was quiet once more. Naruto's next words carried none of his earlier resolve. "But– if you could, would you?"

"Fix this mess?" Had he really just asked her that? "Of fucking course I would!" Sakura leaned back and looked at the stars glowering down at them. Her eyes threatened to close. It was too late for this.