“Well, I don’t want to get you in trouble,” I reassured her. “But, is there anything you can tell me?”
She leaned back in her absurdly comfortable-looking chair, and thought. “Well, I didn’t look at the log, so I guess I can speculate a little. Wishes are interpreted by an AI to make sure they’re all granted fairly, and it can be a little quirky about how it does things. It looks at your thoughts to help make sure it grants what you meant to ask for instead of just what you said, so if you want to know what’s included in ‘everything’ you’ll probably have to ask Naruto.”
“I don’t think he remembers,” I said slowly. “Otherwise he would have mentioned it by now. What about the fact that we’re in different loops, instead of sharing one?”
“That’s really strange, actually,” Astoria said with a frown. “He obviously wanted you with him, and the system usually picks up on things like that. But I don’t see how anything could have interfered with the wish itself, so I’d guess it must go back to what he was thinking at the time.”
I sighed. “Oh well. Um, how about the question of who gets affected? It doesn’t seem to be everyone he cared about back then, or everyone he cares about now either.”
“Wishes are very powerful, but time travel is incredibly expensive and they do have a maximum energy budget. It might be the people he cared about the most at the time, or the ones he cares about the most now, or the people he thinks are supposed to be included. But there’s bound to be a limit on how many people the wish can affect, and it probably isn’t very big.”
“I see.” I had a million more questions, of course, but I could see she couldn’t give me more than a few hints at a time. So I’d have to ask different questions each time through, until I got enough hints to figure it all out…
There was a musical chime from Astoria’s… computer, I suppose it must be, and she glanced at the screen. Then she blinked in surprise. “That’s weird. This message is for you, Sakura.”
She turned the screen so I could read it. There were all sorts of interesting labels and icons in the background, but most of it was a white box containing a few symbols in the First Tongue. It read:
Sakura,
That was a clever move, and I don’t mind you bailing out my junior staff. But don’t push it. The rules are there for a reason.
Skuld
I licked my lips nervously. “Ah, Astoria? Who exactly is Skuld?”
“The Norn of the Future,” she answered, looking a bit nervous herself. “One of the three sister-goddesses who control Fate. She’s also my ultimate boss, and the chief system administrator for the last few centuries. You were thinking about some kind of time travel trick, weren’t you?”
I nodded reluctantly, and she gave me a reproachful look.
“You can fool me that way Sakura, but not the higher kami. Please don’t get us in trouble.”
“I won’t,” I reassured her. “I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway, but I guess she wanted me to know I can’t game the system completely. Don’t worry, the last thing I want is to irritate some upper-level kami who could squash me like a bug. I can figure out the rest on my own.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Well, I’d better send you back soon, but I’m going to do a memory save first. Call me when you figure things out, will you?”
“Easier said than done,” I admitted. “But I’ll work something out. Oh, that reminds me, can I ask you a question about morality? That can’t be secret, can it?”
“You’d be surprised,” she said with an exasperated look. “There’s this big complicated business about mortals needing to understand the truth by finding it themselves instead of just blindly following the dictates of Heaven, but honestly I don’t understand it myself. I’m happy to offer advice if I can, but keep in mind that I’m not infallible. My Yggdrasil connection helps me stay focused on trying to do good, but I make mistakes as often as anyone else.”
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind, but I think you’ll know the answer to this. I was just wondering what the difference between me and Hinata is. I mean, the demon version of me did terrible things, and I merged with her in the end. But everything she and Hinata did was in the loop, so as far as I can tell that means that when we finally get out it will never have happened. So why does any of it count, and if it does why her and not me?”
Astoria gave me a speculative look. “Someone’s been telling you things they aren’t supposed to, haven’t they? Well, it would be against the rules for me to pull your files and explain it in detail, but I can tell you that you’re looking at it the wrong way. We don’t judge people based on what they’ve done, Sakura. We judge them based on what they are. So, for example, we don’t blame you for your demonic aspect’s actions because right now you aren’t a person who would do those things.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “So that means there’s still hope for her in the end, doesn’t it? Thank you, Astoria. I was afraid it might be too late for her.”
“It’s never too late for anyone, Sakura,” she said seriously. “Don’t ever forget that.”
“I’m going to kill that damned fox,” Naruto growled.
The three of us were sitting atop the Hokage monument after the written exam, trading notes and trying to decide what to do next. Obviously my meeting with Astoria had been the first order of business, but Naruto’s reaction surprised me.
“What does he have to do with this?” I asked.
“The seal used to have a defect,” Naruto explained. “Up until about ten years ago I had a problem with the Kyuubi’s chakra leaking out and eating holes in my brain all the time. I’d regenerate, of course, but that’s why my memories from back then are so screwed up.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t I ever notice anything like that? I examined you a lot when I was researching my memory-edit techniques, and… oh. He can feel it when someone does a medical scan on you, can’t he?”
“Got it in one,” Naruto confirmed. “He’s got some kind of chakra sense that gives him a pretty good idea of what’s going on outside his prison. He won’t admit to it, but I’m pretty sure that before I fixed the seal he could push his chakra out and give me a moron attack any time he really wanted to.”
“That would explain a few things,” I admitted. “Great. So you don’t remember any of that, and the Kyuubi isn’t likely to fill us in. Where does that leave us?”
“Perhaps Naruto simply has to feel satisfied with the outcome?” Hinata suggested.
“Yeah, or maybe we all have to get back in one loop first,” Naruto offered. “Any ideas on how to do that?”
“We’re making progress, obviously. By the time you have your next crossover with Sasuke I think we’ll be able to get the rest of us here at the same time. But does that mean I can’t kill him?” I asked.
“Now Sakura, revenge doesn’t solve anything,” Naruto said sanctimoniously. Then he smiled. “You should let Hinata and me help, so we can make it a group bonding thing instead.”
We all laughed.
“This business with Pein concerns me,” Hinata said. “I don’t want to end the loop only to die a few years from now.”
“Good point,” Naruto said. “I might be able to take him, but that won’t help if he kills you two or destroys Konoha along the way. Damn it, I can’t take a chance on going past the end of the exam, can I? I’d never forgive myself if I got one of you killed because I ended the loop before we were ready.”
I traded a glance and a smile with Hinata, and we both leaned in to kiss him on opposite cheeks at the same time.