Minato stabbed a Flying Thunder God kunai into the oculus of the Ryūmyaku's control formation, sealing it with a layered Four Symbols Seal. Glancing over his shoulder, he let out a sigh of relief: everyone appeared unharmed. In hindsight, it might have been fine to wait a moment longer before sealing the Ryūmyaku… but no, this was doubtless for the best.
"Dad!"
The two Narutos raced along the narrow walkway towards the control formation, each determined to reach their father first… while doing their best not to brush against each other. A few steps behind, Sakura trudged after them, staring down at her hands; her whole body had begun to glow faintly, just like the two Narutos ahead…
"With Anrokuzan and Mukade dead and the sealing formula in place, the pendulum of time has begun to swing back," explained Minato, the expert on space-time ninjutsu. "The time has come for you three to return to your own eras."
"B-b-but dad!" Naruto Prime stammered. "There's so many things I wanted to ask you, and tell you… it's not fair, the other me knew all along, but that selfish bastard kept it to himself…"
Minato smiled gently.
"Unfortunately, it's time to go," he said.
Queen Sēramu's face fell.
"I suppose it's for the best," she said mournfully. "I'm sure my daughter will be saddened to see you leave as well…"
"Well, I say that all's well that ends well; you still have each other, and your subjects," Sakura said brightly. "Of course, without the Ryūmyaku's power and Anrokuzan's puppets, I'm not sure you'll be able to remain here, but… I'm sure you'll manage perfectly well without them."
"Mhh, that's right," Sēramu said, blushing slightly. "Thank you… all of you. I'll remember you fondly for your brave—"
"About that," Minato interjected. He glanced over his shoulder as Shibi staggered closer, Chōza leaning on his shoulder. "We can't risk altering the timeline, so it would be best if I sealed everyone's memories right now."
Sakura pulled a face. She had already had her memories sealed once, and that had been once too often, thank you very much.
"That's fine by me, but don't drag the three of us into your jutsu, okay?" she said, planting her hands on her hips. "We're from the future, remember? Us knowing the past won't make a difference to our present."
The white glow about Sakura's and the two Narutos' bodies intensified.
"Naruto," Sakura said quickly. "There's something I have to tell you… you too, Naruto."
She whispered something in the two Narutos' ear, one after the other.
"I'll see you all in twenty years, then… or perhaps not," Minato said, his smile fading as the three vanished before his eyes. "Right, I can't believe I almost forgot to seal Sāra's memories, too…"
…
The timestream:
And so, Sakura's journey in the past came to an end, though her voyage through time was not over just yet. She had only a little further to go before finding her way home. This time, as she drifted towards the future along the river of time, she remained awake, her consciousness safeguarded by the System's protection.
"Woah…"
Before her stretched a vast, radiant tree, its infinite branches spreading out like reverse tributaries from the great trunk of the river of time— a psychedelic, rainbow-coloured current that carried her swiftly through the dark void of space-time. As she watched the kaleidoscopic stream around her, she thought she glimpsed two orange lights drifting beside her; one after another, they veered away from her branch. Sakura closed her eyes, gazing sideways through time with her mind's eye.
…
The Sacred Timeline, a month from now, in what appears to be construction site:
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"Damn it, Naruto, what have you done to me!?" Sakura roared, grinding her sandalled heel into the crown of his head as he kowtowed abjectly at her feet. One after another, pink lumps sprouted atop one another, forming a tottering tower on his scalp. "Ever since we came back from Lōran, you haven't stopped prattling on about time travel and parallel worlds and Sakura‑chans with enormous breasts— and now look atme! This is the third bra I've ruined in a month! What am I supposed to wear for the rest of the day, huh!?"
Sakura yanked open her doctor's lab coat, revealing that she was now unmistakeably well‑endowed. Not yet on Tsunade's level, but her breasts were still respectably large on her slender frame, straining to burst free from her dress, noticeable even through her makeshift chest bindings. F‑cups, at the very least. She was bustier than Ino and Hinata!
"I already told you, ya know!" Naruto protested. "I met another version of you in the past, and she told me she had awakened a unique Kekkei Genkai when she was twelve! She said that in her world, she was even stronger than Granny Tsunade! You must have finally awakened your hidden potential, Sakura-chan! This is a good thing!"
"As if, shannarooo!" Sakura retorted, adding yet another lump to Naruto's head with a stomp of her foot. "I know you slipped me some kind of drug, and…"
Sakura bent close and murmured in Naruto's ear.
"If you could fetch me some more, that'd be splendid— but don't breathe a word to that cow Ino, even if she asks," she said, a wicked grin curling her lips. "With a pair as fine as these, Sasuke'll be back before you know it… nyehehehe."
"But Sakura-channn!" Naruto whined.
Sakura straightened up, thrusting out her brand-new chest proudly. She picked up the wooden planks she had dropped to properly kick Naruto's butt, and she heaved them onto her shoulder, winking at him.
"Come on, hero!" she said cheerily. "The village won't rebuild itself, you know! Time to get back to work!"
Naruto sprang to his feet and hurried after her, his heart burning with determination. The other Sakura's advice still echoed in his mind: keep at it. On the outside, Sakura was headstrong, knowing precisely what she wanted— and where love was concerned, especially Sasuke's, this was no different. Yet deep down, she was a pushover, the type of hopeless woman who would allow the man she loved to walk all over her.
So, if Naruto kept patiently chipping away at Sakura's frosty exterior and showed her his better side, then perhaps one day, he would reach her heart. One day, Naruto's and Sasuke's importance in her heart would perfectly balance each other out, and it would be up to him to seize his place in her heart… because even though she did not know it yet, she loved him too.
…
The timestream:
"Sorry, Kishimoto-sensei, I might have ruined the Sacred Timeline," Sakura said, clapping her hands together in an apologetic prayer, "but you shouldn't listen to your editors all the time, you know? Male readers only send fan mail when they're mad about something, don't you know?"
A man's rationale goes something like this: if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Which meant that Naruto and Sakura shippers went largely unnoticed by the author.
Sakura glanced to the other bead of orange light travelling alongside her.
…
The Darkest Timeline, a month from now:
Naruto knocked at Sakura's bedroom door.
No response came.
"I'm back from Mt Myōboku," he said tentatively. "I'm sorry I left you alone for so long. I must have worried you, huh? Have you heard? Pervy Sage… is dead."
Silence.
"I told you this story before I left, yeah? About that time I went back in time and met another me… and another you? She was really strong, ya know? Wasn't afraid of a single thing, ya know?" Naruto pressed on. "Anyway, I thought if I got Sage Mode just like her, I'd be able to save the ones I loved too, but… it was already too late for Pervy Sage… but it's not too late to save you."
In this timeline, Jiraiya had perished during his mission in Amegakure, and word of his death had only just reached Naruto a few days before. Yet having witnessed Sakura's Sage Mode a month earlier, he had already wangled an invitation to Mount Myōboku by asking around and subsequently returned.
As a result, Naruto had successfully become an Honoured Sage a month in advance!
"Well, if you won't come out, I suppose you'll just have to miss out on all the fun outside your door," Naruto said nonchalantly, shrugging even though Sakura couldn't see him. "Harem Jutsu!"
The air outside Sakura's bedroom was soon filled with lustful moans and suggestive sounds.
Inside her room, Sakura paused as she went to shovel a handful of crisps into her mouth, and she pricked up her ears. What were those sounds? Intrigued, she lumbered heavily to the door and peeked outside through the keyhole… and blood spurted out of her nose.
"What do you think you're doing outside a maiden's door!?" Sakura shouted, slamming the door open. "Narutooo!"
"Sakura-chwan!" the blond-haired bimbos cooed. "You finally… came… out… of… your, er…"
Naruto's voices trailed off as one as he and his Shadow Clones goggled at the sight before them. Sakura's chest had grown absurdly huge, sagging down to her waist, but so had the rest of her! What, was she planning to marry into the Akimichi clan or something!?
"S-stop staring," Sakura said blushing slightly, retreating behind her door to hide her rolls. "I know I've gained a little weight… it's just that… after what happened, I-I… I didn't want to be pretty any more… but then I got carried away…"
"Y-you're still plenty pretty!" Naruto said hurriedly, recovering from his shock. "I'll always love you, no matter what you look like, ya know!"
The advice parallel Sakura had given Naruto was simple: tempt her into coming out on her own, using his own feminine wiles. After what she'd been through, the last thing she wanted to see, the other Sakura reasoned, was yet another man. But if he could bring her back to her old self, her phobia would soon fade.
However, at that point, most importantly… he would have to keep her alive.
"You… really think I'm still pretty?" Sakura groaned. "You're lying…"
"Sakura-chan will always be the most beautiful girl in the world in my eyes," Naruto declared, thumping his bulging, Transformed chest. "Believe it!"
"Then… prove it to me," Sakura answered bashfully, taking him by the hand.
And before he knew it, Naruto was dragged into Sakura's bedroom. Yet, unbeknownst to him, a solitary figure in fancy black-and-red, cloud-patterned robes hovered high in the sky above Konoha, standing upon the air as though it were solid ground, ready to cock-block him…
"This world shall know pain…"
…
The timestream:
Akimichi chakra was simply a ticking time bomb! What would happen to her when she got older and her metabolism slowed!? Look at what had happened to that other Sakura, and she was still young, shannarooo!
"Right, that's quite enough of that," Sakura said, turning away with a grimace as Darkest Timeline Naruto and her former self started stripping— just in time to miss the massacre about to unfold. "Looks like my past self really let herself go, huh… System, make a note: I need to get rid of my Akimichi breast chakra and give it to Ino as soon as possible!"
[Beep.]