An altered vers of chapter 1 - 11/4/2020

He could feel the drain on his reserves, completing that Jutsu had taken a lot out of him, even more so out of Kurama who now lay within the seal gathering what remaining chakra he had left.

The fourth shinobi war had razed the village to the ground. The bloody, broken remains of what remained of the Leaf's shinobi expanded over a mass of rubble. The pungent smell of blood, lingered in the air, sticking to his clothing and ingrained itself into his memory. To his left was Shikamaru Nara, his chief strategist, and the only living being left under his command.

Naruto Uzumaki, the kyuubi jinchuuriki and Rokudaime Hokage was dying, and he knew it. A fate, to take the ideology of the hyuga he had long abandoned the beliefs, that had been unavoidable against a man of Uchiha Madara's caliber. Above him, the sky thundered, rain pouring down as the heavens cried outin agony.

"It was an honour to serve under your command Hokage-Sama."

His eyes welled with tears.

"Shikamaru... thank you" A choked sob escaped his lips, unable to comprehend that it was truly over, everything that he had fought for, the days that he had suffered, taking every hit and blow in a path to become stronger for his precious people, gone in a blink of an eye.

It was well known that a single death could affect an entire platoon of soldiers. When Tsunade fell, a domino affect had set into play, other kages faltered before attacking, fear spreading through their veins like cancer, anxiety causing a madness they couldn't escape from. But they payed for their fear with their lives. Akatsuki's attacks had been relentless, jutsus relentlessly tore down the hidden villages, the opposition leaving destruction and chaos behind.

He could feel his breathing slowing down, the tightness of his chest enhancing the pain from the wounds littered on his body, regardless of him being an Uzumaki blessed with healing factors and an extraordinary life force even he could not cheat death.

From the monsters of history it was known that humans did not respond well to death counts, especially if they were to high to comprehend. One death can immobilise a nation, thousands of death leaving a lasting impression, to be used for good or bad intentions. Konoha lost their will to live , their Will of Fire had diminished, leaving only a small flickering flame.

But he would never regret for a second the sacrifices that he had made. Would never taint the memory of the shinobi who had layed their lives down for him, to protect him. He would miss the chatter of children as they raced down the streets,the kings of Konoha, he would miss his friends, their beautiful smiles a ray of light whenever his found himself clueless of how he should move on but especially he would miss the warmth that they radiated.

"How pathetic! I wont after all this time be disgraced like this, you wont die Uzumaki, you'll go back and keep the promise you made me." Kurama growled from inside his and Naruto's shared mind space.

"How can you feel compassion for me now Kurama? There's nothing left if you wish for me to take the seal off then so be it," a sharp pain grasped his neck sending him into a coughing fit, yet he continued,"I stand by my words, I will not deny you your freedom."

"The useless emotions that dirty my heart are covered with dust, but you are the first to show me the understanding that each of my vessels have lacked, and so I will present to you a Jutsu which will enable you to stop this mayhem from happening"

He couldn't help the curiosity that had arose, he knew very well what the fox was talking about, but knew the dangers. Messing with the laws of space-time ninjutsu was dangerous, the ways that it could affect the universe was endless, but he was desperate. He mulled the idea over in his head before inquiring the opinion of Nara genius.

"I... it's a Jutsu from a demon created my the Sage of Six Paths, it must warrant some safety... it also seems to be are only choice left."

That it was.

"Do it." He told Kurama.

With no choices left, only a barren wasteland greeting him with each blink of his eyes, was there any risks left?

He had little time to think as chakra exploded from deep within the seal, ruining the landscape as pain filled screams filled the air only to disappear, leaving behind nothing behind.

A cough shuddered through his body. Blood stained hands gripped his abdomen in agony, the phantom pain of a kunai lay lodged between his ribs, a fierce attack he had once not been able to deflect, the helplessness of a time long forgotten, creeping up and threatening to swallow him . Naruto wondered if this was how he would die, cripples amongst the wreckage of a battle long lost,from when they had first been targeted. A humourless chuckle escaped his throat, everything had seemed worthless, all the agonising days he spent striving for their acceptance only to be thrown into a war in which he unprepared for the demons he would face. Something akin to mirth flashed in his eyes. Demons. For years he had been tormented by Kurama's presence, only for the fox to become his only living ally.

Pulled out of the murky depths of his mind, icey blue eyes slowly opened, white fluffy clouds painted on a cerulean sky greeted him. His breath hitched, they were back. A feeling of immense joy rushed through him, he could make it all better, he could save all of them of the fate that awaited them.

But firstly, he had to wake up the lazy Nara beside him.

"Shika!" The hyper blonde bounced over to his friend, "You lazy ass Nara get up, the jutsu worked!"

A groan left his lips as Shikamaru sat up, eyes peering over at Naruto in his orange jumpsuit and adjusted to his now chibi body.

He sat in utter bewilderment, how had they managed such a feat? It went against the laws of nature, he hadn't expected it to work, he anticipated death, one that he had so badly craved.

A vibrant smile maid its way onto Naruto's face, "We did it did!" As happy as they were, the now had to think logically, they had no clue as to whether or not their abilities had returned with them, and if they had, how would they hide then from their teammates? Their chakra signatures were still the same, but this would create problems, their jonin sensei's were very observant. Years of running while fighting for their lives left happiness sparse, sheer willpower and bullheaded determination replaced with a tactical mind merciless in its venture for safety.

"Judging by that, and the fact that are control has stayed so have our abilities, although our muscle memory has gone meaning that we will have to train."

The Nara's assessment was quick and thorough, urgency in his voice,they needed to get out of the training grounds lest the anbu patrols find them. Doubtlessly, they knew that there had been a rather significant surge of chakra resulting from their escapade to the future, antagonising the battle ready shinobi would be fruitless and instead would place the under unwanted scrutiny.

Looking at their appearance, they were lacking their forehead protectors meaning that they had not yet graduated, as an active shinobi they had rarely taken them off as they had no reason to.

Presenting them with yet another problem, with Naruto's previous control being abysmal and having graduated on a whim, because of convenient luck, hiding their newfound abilities from the future would prove fatal if not dealt with correctly. Konoha built it's reputation as a ruthless village, the strongest contender amongst hidden villages, from their genin to their anbu, no simple foolish excuse would work in their stead, seals would have to be drawn up and mistakes would not be tolerated.

All in all, extremely troublesome

Night however had now descended upon them, it was time to leave.

Somberly walking out onto the main roads, well lit and protected, their paths diverge, Naruto's taking him eastwards, home to the red light district and Shikamaru's taking him West towards the clan compounds,a short farewell had them parting ways, a look of exhaustion painting their features.

A restless sleep, spent with the ghosts of his past? Or was it the future? torturing him in the depths of dreams, a grasping,grappling phantom pain gripping him. Unable to run or hide or esca-

Blue eyes shot open, the cracks spreading across his room the only solace in the desolate room. Sunlight shone through his small window, the only source of heat in the bare house. The night had not aged well, he had tossed and turned in his bed hoping to sleep only to be plagued with memories assaulting him from every corner of his mind.

The ever present fear of being being trapped once more in the disdainful genjutsu, watching as the moon turned a frightening red, left his sleep fitful and agonising on his mind.

Every time his eyes closed, the sight of mangled bodies haunted him. The dark black oblivion had been replaced with crimson blood, the sound of anguished screams echoing in his ears.

A lone sigh escaped his mouth as he approached the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once ready, he began a slow walk towards the academy, anxiety flooding his veins with every step.He was late, the slow pace of his walk had ensured so, but even with the stalling, he found himself unprepared as the academy's doors loomed into view.

He wasn't prepared, wasn't ready to see the team he had fought with side by side as children, naive children unaware of the danger that lay ahead in their shinobi career.

He wanted to keep his love safe and would do anything to keep them safe. He tried to forget how everything around him everything became tainted, unlike Tsunade he didn't need a cursed necklace, his mere presence was enough. Now with his second chance he had to been braver and with a deep breath he steel his nerves and swung the door open, a fake grip on his face and his eyes shut tight.

"GUESS WHO GRADUATED, THE FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA BELIEVE IT."

Snickers erupted around him, some sneering at the thought of him graduating, believing that he had stolen the forehead protector as they had seen him fail the exam the day before. "Maa Naruto don't be so troublesome, get out of my way" Sticking his tongue out at the lazy preteen, he made his way to the row of desks.

Oh yeah.

Don't sit next to Sasuke,he remembered, there was no need to have a repeat of that incident. While he was all for joking around and sticking to the script, there was no need for rather disturbing "affections" as the boy's fangirls would have loved to describe it. He shuddered in dismay at the thought.

" EVERYONE SIT DOWN! I'm going to announce your teams, pay attention as I won't repeat myself."

Iruka's voice echoed in the classroom causing conversations to come to an abrupt halt, students eager to find out their teams. Naruto however had let his attention drift, more than half the teams wouldn't make it, most would drop out of them program all together. He did not feel the need to listen to something that was not relevant to him. No matter if he managed to change what laid ahead, some people, some children, could not adhere to the demands of the shinobi lifestyle, false illusions of being saved from assassins and treated like princesses would be shattered the moment their jounin sensei failed them. They would flee, unable to deal with the harsh reality, a option he was not fortunate enough to have.

"...team 7 Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." A loud screech caught his attention, he noticed Ino protesting about Sakura being placed with Sasuke, causing him to sigh once more. For the Yamanaka it should have been expected that tradition would be followed and she would be placed with the Akimichi along with a Nara. But peace had lead to the villages slacking genins graduating older and less prepared for warfare,with delusions set in place and an attitude that would get them killed.

Now he knew that the world,the time that they had left, was now against them. Unbeknownst to them,there was a field of predators waiting to attack their prey,to tear their aspirations to shreds and introduce them to the cruel world of being a ninja.

His heart hurt,as he remembered,Sakura's body left mutilated by Obito's hand,Choji unable to breath due to over working his body,Ino dying at the hands of Kabuto.His breathing was speeding up, he needed to get his thoughts under control. Looking up he realised amidst his breakdown everyone had left the classroom leaving team 7 behind.

He watched as Sasuke sat alone in the corner isolating himself, ignoring Sakura who was eagerly trying to start a conversation. He tried to reign in the hate that had latched onto him as he lay his eyes on the avenger, the foolish arrogance he had would lead to his death and many others.

Many had hoped that when Itachi had died Sasuke would return to the village having fulfilled his goal, but no he had run off with a group of missing nin, attempting to destroy Konoha. But his efforts were fruitless, his old comrades had long turned their backs on him and had attacked mercilessly, watching gleefully as he bled out.

Would it do any good to try and save Sasuke this time around? If he couldn't change within the short amount of time between now and the chunin exams, the consequences remained unspoken between the two survivors.

Sasuke would have to die.

Whilst in no way could they begin to play God, they had to realise that for Konoha they would m to pick the lesser of many evils. One death that would save thousands.

But nothing could commence until the true acceptance of their status. Waiting in the classroom continued at a torturing pace, allowing him to come to the conclusion that he would not prank Kakashi again,it'd benefit no one to have a headache caused by the kunoichi's screeching and subsequently give his sensei with a bad impression. Distantly he wondered, if Naruto had been more skilled would Kakashi have tried harder? Would he have been less inclined to disregard him? He shook his head of the thoughts,it wouldn't do him any good to feel bitter about events that now no longer happened, he would not tarnish the image of the admirable sensei who had died saving him.

But he felt as if someone had gripped his neck tight, cutting off his air flow when Kakashi stepped into the room, one eye curved into an eye smile, causing emotions he had tried to repress came spilling out like a tidal wave.

"Maa my first impression of you, is that you all seem disappointing."

The silver haired jonin made his way into the room, eyes examining the graduates in front of him. The last Uchiha stood with an arrogant look on his assessing him, before ultimately dismissing him. A foolish assessment by an equally foolish boy.

"Why don't we make our way to the roof and get to know each other?"

The genin slowly filed out of the room, Naruto contemplated walking up the wall to make things easier, but shook his head,if Kakashi became suspicious no doubt would be go running to the Hokage, sticking to the facade it was.

The three sat down on the staircase, Sakura in the middle with Naruto to her left, and Sasuke to her right.

"Sensei... why don't you go first? So we know what to say?"

"Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have few likes and dislikes, and I have no intention of telling you my dreams, now pinky why don't you start."

Sakura glared at the nickname but continued regardless, "I'm Sakura Haruno! I like Sasuke, I hate Ino and Naruto and ummm I don't know what my dreams are yet."

Naruto hoped he had been able to keep the disappointment off of his face. His pink haired teammate had been better company when she had grown. Training with Tsunade had caused her skills to flourish and had successfully broken her out of her fangirl ways, it was a pity that she was back to this reduced state.

Meanwhile Kakashi sighed, the standards of genin were decreasing everyday, it seemed as if kunoichis were less focused on becoming capable shinobi and more intent on finding the perfect 'husband'.

"Maa ok then, broody why don't you go next?"

Mirroring his teammate's previous expression, Sasuke replied, " I am Sasuke Uchiha, I have littles likes and dislikes, my dream... no ambition is to kill a certain man."

Naruto sighed, an ambition that would get him killed, Sasuke had been blinded by a lust for power and was deemed a hopeless case. Giving up on him was one of the hardest things that he done, but his lifestyle hadn't allowed him to mope for long, reluctantly he had moved on.

"Well then, lastly we have sunshine!"

Smiling brightly at the same, Naruto being his introduction.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ramen and Iruka sensei, I dislike people who hurt their precious people and my dream is to protect the people that I love by being Hokage!"

Kakashi gave him a final eye smile before explaining their test, which in turn had caused Sakura to shriek and Sasuke to gain a look of annoyance. He himself pretended to pale although he knew what it would entail.

Changing the bell test would not amount to much so he decided to let things play out as normal, however he needed to sort out what would happen during the chuunin exams.

Taking a page out of Shikamaru's book, things would be such a drag.