Note: edited slightly 8/28/07

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me. If I was, I would've pointed out the obvious Yondy-is-Naruto's-father fact looong ago. EDIT: Well, what do you know, he finally did. Yay!

A/N: This is my first story on so please be nice. And give it a chance. I'll try to have chapters updated once every week, though I can't make any promises.

Summary: AU, Time Travel fic. While sparring after the Kakuzu/Hidan battle, Kakashi and Naruto are suddenly thrown back in time to a year before the Kyuubi attacked. Not only that, but they're have somehow merged into one in the process.

Key(quote marks ARE important)

thoughts

'Naruto speaking'

'Kakashi speaking'

'Kyuubi speaking'

Second Chances

Chapter 1: What Happened to Us!

The first thing he noticed when he started to return to consciousness was the splitting headache. The second thing was the smell of disinfectant that hospitals alone seemed to possess. Slowly opening his eyes, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the white ceiling. And I just got out of the hospital, too. He sighed.

"How on earth did I get here anyway?" he muttered to himself. "Last thing I remember, I was sparring with..." But when he tried to say the name, it came out as a garbled mess of sounds. He blinked. Huh? He tried again, with the same results. With a sinking suspicion in the pit of his stomach, he tried a different approach.

'Naruto?'

'Kakashi-sensei?'

There was complete silence for a full minute. Suddenly, he shot up in bed, shouting, "What the hell are you doing in my head!" Only to double over in pain as a sudden dizzy spell hit him, which did not help his headache at all. Once the pain had subsided to a manageable level, he let go of his head and sat up straight.

Looking at his (their?) Hands, Naruto/Kakashi came to a sudden realisation. Shooting out of bed, they went over to the mirror in the corner, barely holding back a yell of shock at their reflection.

Looking back at them was a face that was both familiar, yet unfamiliar. Spiky, golden-blond hair with silver tips framed a slightly tan face (paler than Naruto's, but darker than Kakashi's) that appeared to be about twenty years old. The three whisker marks that had been on Naruto's face practically since birth were also on each cheek. There was even a faint scar over the left eye.

It was their eyes that were most shocking though. For the most part, both eyes were Naruto's blue; but around the pupils, which were slits like a fox's, the color changed to Kakashi's eye colors. The right had a circle of dark grey, while the left was red, even though it obviously wasn't a sharingan anymore.

Naruto/Kakashi stared at their reflection in shock for a few minutes, unable to say anything. Naruto, surprisingly, was the first to break out of his shock.

'What the-? Kakashi-sensei, what happened to us!'

'Well, by the looks of things, I'd say we've merged into a single body.'

'Yeah, I noticed, but how?'

'How should I know?'

'You're supposed to be the genius!'

'While that's true, that doesn't mean-'

'SILENCE!'

Naruto/Kakashi jumped at the sudden voice roaring in their mind. Slightly nervous now, Kakashi said the first thing that came to mind. 'Naruto, is that who I think it is?'

'Yeah, that's the stupid fox.'

'...Right.'

'I said silence!'

Being met with the desired silence, Kyuubi said what he wanted to say.

'You two have more to worry about than simply sharing the same body. Take a good look out the window and you'll see what I mean. That or a calendar.'

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto/Kakashi said aloud.

'Just do it. When you've done that and realized what it means, come see me, for we have much to talk about.' They could practically hear the grin on the Kyuubi's face when he said that, just before 'leaving'.

Naruto/Kakashi sighed, before turning towards the window. "Might as well do what he said. No harm in looking out the window." he muttered.

Pulling back the curtains, they could see that the sun had risen about half an hour ago at most. Naruto groaned.

'This is an unholy hour to be wide awake.'

'Stop complaining. I know you've gotten up earlier than this before in order to train.'

'Doesn't mean I like it. I'm not like Gai-sensei or Lee.'

'For which I am grateful, cause I probably would've killed myself by now if you were. One Gai is enough. Two is even worse. Three would just be torture.'

Looking over the buildings of Konoha, they couldn't immediately see anything amiss. There was the academy, the Hokage's office, the Hokage Monument...

Wait a minute...

Naruto/Kakashi turned his head back towards the mountain so fast, his neck hurt; but he didn't care, simply staring in shock at the monument. He rubbed his eyes hard, but nothing changed. Rubbing them again, he sent his along the line of Hokage faces. There was the Shodaime, followed by the Nidaime, Then the Sandaime...But when they looked where the Yondaime and the Godaime should've been, there was nothing but blank stone.

Kakashi suddenly understood what Kyuubi meant when he said they had bigger problems to deal with. And he didn't like them. But Naruto, apparently, didn't understand.

'Kakashi-sensei, how...how can this be possible? Why are there only three heads, when there should be five? The only way that could've happened is if...'

Kakashi sighed. 'But that's precisely what happened. We've gone back in time. I don't know how. I don't know why. But there's no other explanation. It can explain why we are the way we are now, as well. There obviously can't be two Hatake Kakashis or Uzumaki Narutos wandering around, after all. The main question is though, how far back have we gone?'

Looking around the hospital room, he spotted what he was looking for by the door. Darting over quickly, Naruto/Kakashi snatched the calendar off the wall, nearly ripping it in half in the process, and looked at the date marked on it. Only to, once again, stare in complete shock.

Backing up slowly, he sat back down on the bed, shock slowly turning into sadness (from Kakashi), mixed with confusion (from Naruto). The year on the calendar showed that they were about 17 years in the past, a little over a year before the Kyuubi attacked. Naruto had to admit, he was a little worried and confused about Kakashi's reaction to the date. Now that he'd gotten over initial shock that they were in the past, Naruto was starting to realize that they could change everything, especially since the nine-tails hadn't attacked yet. And if he figured that out, Kakashi definitely did, so Naruto couldn't understand why the jounin was acting like his best friend had died.

'Kakashi-sensei? What's the matter?'

Kakashi was silent for a moment. He sighed, speaking aloud. "Two weeks. Just two weeks. Why couldn't we have woken up just two weeks earlier? Why?"

'Sensei...? What happened, exactly?'

Kakashi didn't respond for a few minutes. Just as Naruto was starting to think that he wouldn't even answer, he replied mentally this time.

'Nearly two weeks ago, today, I had my first mission as a jounin; team leader, in fact. My team was the same team I had when I was a student under the Yondaime; Uchiha Obito and Takahashi Rin.'

Naruto started slightly at the first name. Uchiha...could this Obito guy be the same one who gave Kakashi -sensei his sharingan? Turning his attention back to Kakashi, he listened closely, realizing that this tale wasn't going to end well.

The tale was quick and to the point. Apparently, the team had been ambused by Rock ninjas while on the mission, resulting in one of the team members, Rin, being captured. When the other two went to rescue her, one of the ninjas activated a jutsu that caused the cave they were in to collaspe, crushing Obito after he pushed Kakashi out of the way of a boulder. He survived long enough to give Kakashi his Sharingan eye, to replace the one he lost earlier, and tell the other two to run.

When Kakashi finished, there was silence between the two ninjas. Naruto, feeling slightly guilty now for his earlier thoughts, broke the silence.

'So that's why...you were hoping that we could've had a chance to change what happened on that mission.'

He nodded. 'Yeah.'

The two were quiet again for a moment before Naruto said, 'We should probably go see what the stupid fox has to say about this. He did say to come see him after we figured it out. He might be able to explain how this happened.'

'What? Oh, yeah...' Kakashi groaned. 'Do we really have to go see the demon, though? Despite the fact that Kakashi was 'speaking' in his normal bored tone, Naruto could sense the nervousness coming from the man. Which he didn't blame him for. Kakashi had been there when the fox attacked, could remember completely just how destructive the demon could be. In fact, he had probably been one of those on the front lines, being a jounin, even though he had only been a young teenager at the time. That night still probably gave many shinobi nightmares occasionally. Kakashi was most likely no exception. Unfortunately, they didn't really have a choice in the matter. If they didn't go willingly, the fox would make them come. Naruto told the jounin this, who groaned again.

'Although, now I'm really worried. If the nine-tails can force us...'

'Don't worry about the state of the seal. He can only do that when I, or should I say, we go to sleep or become unconscious.'

'Right...' Even though Kakashi still had some misgivings about seeing the Kyuubi no Kitsune face to face for the first time in sixteen years,he knew they really didn't have much choice. 'So, how exactly do you visit the Kyuubi willingly anyway?'

'Just leave it to me.'

Getting up, Naruto put the calendar back on the wall, then closed the curtains before getting back in bed. In case anybody came in later, he wanted to make it look like he hadn't woken up yet.

Closing his eyes, he went into a meditative state, just as Jiraiya had taught him in an effort to control the fox's chakra. The Kyuubi's seal was essentially a deep part of his mind, and meditating was the fastest way to get there voluntarily.

Opening his eyes, Naruto saw the now familiar sewer-like tunnels. Standing next to him was Kakashi, (Naruto felt a sense of relief that they had their own bodies while in the seal) who was looking around in interest and slight surprise. Before he could voice the obvious question on his mind, Naruto said to him; "Yes, this is what the seal looks like. Always has. No idea if it could be changed into something else. Never really tried yet." Naruto looked at his sensei. "So, you ready for this?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, letting it out in a short burst. "As I'll ever be. I certainly don't like it, but you had a point. The Kyuubi may know how this happened, maybe even a way to reverse it. He is a thousands year old demon, after all. He's bound to know something, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted us here." Gesturing down the tunnel, he said. "Well, lead the way."

Naruto nodded, before stepping in the direction of the demon fox's cage, Kakashi following half a step behind.

Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Constructive critism would be appreciated.