–Let's leave, please. I can't hold this any longer –Hinata said, sobbing, while extending her hand towards her husband as if asking for the turtle.

Naruto understood the mannerism, pulled the turtle out of his pocket and gave it to his wife. When Hinata tried to activate it, the turtle didn't respond. She tried again and again and again until the device, exhausted, left his shell. In that moment, everything around them froze in time. The turtle said:

–I can't take you back because there's nowhere to go back to. You both are death in that future you want to go back to. This battle will go on for years. You didn't win here. Shinobis are still fighting.

–What... –Naruto said, in awe.

–What do you mean? –Hinata completed.

–Yes. That's the new reality you've created. And I can't take you back because your bodies are already set in stone.

–Please, is there any way we can change it all back to how it was? That can't be the world we created. We are not monsters... –Naruto screamed.

–We killed our comrades by changing the past... We are responsible... And we couldn't even keep alive those we wanted to save. And more shinobis and comrades are dying because of what we created. That can't.... No... Please, is there any way for things to go back to how they were? Bring back our friends? Our world?

–You made your first mistake when you tried to bring the dead back. Your life before this travel, that is to say, what you see as your future, is actually your past, and someone who's already dead in the past can't coexist with the living; their clock has already ended and it can't be forced to be kept ticking. The same does not apply to those who had died due to your recklessness. As I said, the life you were living is your past, and this is your present, so the clocks of the comrades that died here for the first time have stopped clicking now and they are part of the past too. Meaning, the alterations you've already made to the world you live in won't change. And one of the consequences of those alterations is the fact that you both are going to die soon as well. In fact, is a matter of minutes before you and everything you knew and created in your past-future cease to exists.

–Please, I beg you, there most be a way to correct all this mistakes. If it's a life for a life, I'll happily give mine, but please, turn the world back to how it was –Hinata said, hoping something could be done before their world doomed itself forever.

–Since you don't exist in this alternative future anymore, but I know you two are valuable, I'll get both your lives in exchange for the world you had. Nonetheless... there is a trick: you will remember everything you did here, but, in your minds, it will be as if it was a nightmare, which will make each of you run away from the other... your lives, then, won't be the same. That's the price to pay.

–You mean, she's not going to be my family? And I'm even gonna run away from her? And we are not gonna have kids? –Naruto asked, with a voice that, the more words it said, the more cracked it sound.

–Yes. You won't find each other; therefore, your kids won't exist ... and neither of you will be happy.

–Yes. We'll pay the price...

–Hina... Why? Wait... There's gotta be another solution. I can't. I don't want to lose you. My life without you, without the kids, is not complete... My life... Please, Hina...

–Naruto... We need to fix the mistakes we've made, even at the expenses of our own happiness. We can't let others die and not have the lifes they deserve just because of the mistakes we made. If we have to pay by being miserable, we must. We owe it to everyone we ruined. There is no other solution. Or do we want that awful future to be the world shinobis live in? Weren't we fighting to create a better world?

–No, I do want our world back! But not at the expenses of us...

Hinata needed to hold herself together to go through with the plan. She decided to hug and kiss her husband for the last time and said:

–It's what we need to do. You also know, in your heart, that it is the right choice.

Naruto was disarmed by those words; he knew he agreed with his wife. He just replied:

–I love you, Hina... in this world or any other, be sure I love you.

–I love you too, honey. Always.

After their goodbyes, they decided to give in to the turtle. The turtle made one last warning:

–Taking you is not easy... or fast. It will take a while. In the meantime, you'll see the life you would've had in this world that you created. If you want to retrieve from the deal because you actually like the life you'd have, just lift your right hand.

Naruto and Hinata said thanks and closed their eyes, waiting.

Hinata started seeing something that looked like her memories, but she didn't recognise them as such. She knew she was seeing the life she would've had in that world. Surprisingly for her, Naruto had kept his promise: since Neji was dead and Team 7 needed a byakugan user, Hinata, being the best at it, was the chosen one to fight alongside that team. Fighting together all those battles eventually had made her and Naruto closer, until one day he declared his feelings to her. They had, also to Hinata's surprise, three kids, and Boruto would sometimes accompany them to missions. She realised that her life in that alternative world would be much better than the one that was expecting her in their original future... Even in between fights, she seemed happy and loved... The life waiting for her wasn't going to be like that... She wanted to raised her hand, but she remembered all her comrades dying because of her, and stayed still.

Naruto also saw the memories of the life he would've had in that world. Sasuke going back to the village to fight with the shinobis the now known as Eternal War; him fighting alongside his team and Hinata; him realising his feelings for her and eventually declaring his love ... When he saw that, he couldn't help it but to shout:

–I knew I'd find my way to her!

He saw their happy life together, even in the middle of the war... three beautiful kids... Naruto was so happy experiencing all of those memories, but then... he realised that that life wasn't real... that he was going to be miserable and sad and unhappy to pay for trying to change the past. And his heart sank. He didn't raise his hand, though. He knew it was all his fault. And it pained him that he had dragged his wife into that mess.