Disclaimer: I do not own any rights or claims to Naruto.

Canon Divergence: Time Travel, changing the timeline. It starts very close to the beginning of Naruto Shippuden.

Warning: Naruto will be slightly 'feminized' however that does not mean that he is any less amazing. Also, Naruto is still himself, and that 'feminized' until far later.

Stubborn as he was, even he should have listened at this particular juncture. His adamancy to be better than his rival had bought him this close to certain death, and now because of this situation, he was compelled to have a good long argument with himself on the logistics of that particular judgment. Mostly because even if Sasuke somehow found out about his very idiotic stunt of supposed bravery would he even care? No, he had left the village two years ago for the very reason that he didn't care anymore.

Now his foolhardy plan had landed him into this plight. A plight where, he was in the conundrum of having no clue to his position in relation to the village, and the fact that his and Kyuubi's Chakra felt near to completely burnt out. If this was not a bad situation Naruto didn't know what was.

Fortunately, he was at least partly sure that he was still within the Land of Fire, unfortunately, the Land of Fire was the second largest Shinobi Nation, and finding your way around it was difficult when you didn't know your bearings as he now didn't.

The forest surrounding him even felt different than anything he ever felt from the trees within the Land of Fire, which was strange for a number of reasons. Firstly he had no idea at any point in his life that the trees could feel strange, and second because he had lived here for fourteen years -barring the two years he had spent with Pervy Sage- so this was not only interesting to him but also downright terrifying. He could try to find the nearest town, then hopefully get directions to the Hidden Leaf. Yes, that would have to be his game plan at this point.

He turned in a randomized direction and began walking. For as long as he had a semblance of a plan he could deal with this.

When he had been a Genin within team seven his biggest fear other than ghosts had been getting lost while separated from his team. He'd never actually admitted that to himself until now, mostly because he was ashamed of the fact that something so small could strike so much fear into him.

When he'd first woken up to find himself in the situation he had been on the very borderline of a panic attack, he was quite lucky he had managed to calm himself before that happened.

There was no doubt in his mind that should he had panicked he would have been killed, he was in ground foreign to him, and undoubtedly there were enemy ninja's just waiting to strike.

He was very fortunate he hadn't been killed while he was unconscious. Many ninjas would have taken the chance to take out the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki if they found him asleep within the forest without any sort of protection around him.

Even the Villagers would have taken the opportunity, regardless of the small chance of him waking.

They would have slashed his throat, a thought that made him shudder with the honesty of it all.

Had he been more coherent he wouldn't have even considered thinking such a depressing thought, as it was he was only about thirty percent aware of his surroundings, his thoughts were not going to be as monitored as they usually were. His very Chakra pathways hurt.

The sound of a crack on wood drew his attention quicker than many would expect, having had many attempts upon on his life within the last two years -and his very early childhood- he was actually quite adapt to focusing on his surroundings.

Really the crack could have been anything, but he cast his eyes towards the sound regardless he didn't want to be caught unaware after all, even if he didn't have any chakra, well if it came down to it he could use a bit of Kyuubi's.

He felt a spark of shock at the sight of someone actually standing upon a tree branch on his right, and looming over him. Acting on his shock he jumped back as quickly as he could, just as he landed a kunai was implanted where his feet had been just moments ago.

So this man did mean to fight him. He had never been more glad for Kyuubi's vast Chakra replenishing speed. Although it was risky to use Kyuubi's Chakra in the face of an unknown enemy, he didn't want to give them information on just who he was by using such a potent Chakra as the foxes, after all, it was quite recognizable.

The man jumped down, and Naruto only had a moment to register the fact that he was wearing Shinobi armor, something that was more irritating than he'd like to let on.

Originally he was hoping he would be able to knock out this man with Taijutsu as to not show off his distinctive Chakra signature. It seemed that would no longer be an option.

He drew his lips into a small snarl, he didn't like the odds of this fight, he also didn't like the fact that he could recognize the man's face, not to mention his forehead protector was clearly from Konoha. Damn, another assassination attempt?

The last time there had been an assassination attempt upon him, he had only just been outside of Konoha's borders, returning from a village, and he'd drawn them back into the village to get them off his back. It was illegal to attack him within the Village after all. However now he didn't even know the direction the village, nor did he have much Chakra at his disposal, he was in a very bad situation.

He would have to-

A moment of clarity struck his mind, there was at least one thing he could do that was plausible, as fighting this man wasn't, they didn't just hand out that armor for anyone, clearly this man was very powerful.

There was only one option for him to survive at the moment, he would have to be very careful, it was very risky, yet it wasn't impossible for him.

Jiraiya had managed to teach him the Fourth's Flying Thunder God Technique, well he had managed to partially teach him it anyway.

He had yet to be able to travel long distances, and he couldn't use seals to move yet, but if he threw the special kunai as hard as he could, he would be able to go pretty far. More importantly, it didn't cost him much Chakra, he would be able to use it at least three times with the amount he had stored, hopefully, that would be enough.

The man charged him, a kunai in his hand, a scowl on upon his face, and Naruto acted.

He drew the Hiraishin kunai out from his pouch quickly, as the man slashed at him, he caught it with his kunai, and the distinct bang rang through his arm, before he jumped back quickly, and threw the kunai in midair. Praying mentally that this would work.

Not waiting to hear the distinctive 'chuck' of it embedding into wood, he formed half a tiger hand sign and gathered the necessary chakra at a speed that would make Yellow Flash himself proud.

Then split it.

The technique made him gasp as he landed. Yet he knew he didn't have time to waste, he was only a throwing distance away from his enemy.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan No Jutsu!"

He threw the Hiraishin kunai straight into the air, and split his chakra as fast as he could, yet he only just managed to dodge the deadly amount of water that had flown at him. The feeling of warm water spraying ever so gently on his ankles unsettled him greatly, as he grabbed the kunai and flipped forwards just as fast as he could to land on the nearest tree trunk.

Looking up, the man had landed just opposite to him upon a tree branch once more, they were both on opposite ends of a large field within the forest. The blond felt destabilization settle in, his chakra wearing thin. His grasp upon the tree near slipped, and he had to focus hard to figure out what the silver-haired man was saying.

"Give up now boy, you have little Chakra and certainly no chance of winning against me." The man's voice was deep, and forceful, not to mention groading. For but a moment Naruto's mind pictured Kakashi in the man's place. Of course, he was less than illuded by the simple hallucination. It was obvious this was not Kakashi, and his mind would not fool him into thinking otherwise. Not to mention the simple fact that the man did not have a lazy drawl in his voice, which rather convinced him.

It did, however, convince him to screw all previous caution, and use the foxes chakra to fight the man. Probably his least smart move so far, yet the man had insulted his ability, and that was something he could never stand, regardless of how dangerous the opponent was.

Also, rather unknowingly the armor-clad shinobi had given him information as well, for it was now made obvious to him that he was most certainly not a Sensory Type. If he was he would have sensed the Kyuubi just beneath his own trickling Chakra. Funny because the man had clearly been trying to play that he was a Sensory-type by the jab about his Chakra.

"You, are going down Dattebayo!" He pocketed his kunai and formed his specialized Clone Seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two shadow clones formed beside him, and he charged, savoring the man's surprised glanced, as the man jumped backward.

"How do you know of that technique!" The yell from the man sort of shocked him mentally, and he drew back against his own instinct. Every Konoha Shinobi was aware that this was his signature technique besides the Rasengan.

He met the man's gaze with a glare, was this man even from Konoha? Or- or was something else going on here? He stared at the man closer, focusing on his face more now as he had the chance. The man was clearly awaiting a response, and since they had both stalled neither were expecting the other to attack at this point.

Wait-

This man, he looked like the Second Hokage! That's where he recognized him, the man had a portrait on the wall within the Hokage Tower! That- wasn't possible was it?!

'What the hell is going on here?!'

A burning sensation burned through his mind's cells quicker than a lightning technique ever could, he clutched his head harshly blood on the tips of his fingers, as he felt his eyes abruptly close, he watched the man's eyes widen as his grip upon the tree he was previously balanced upon slip, and a scream left his lip louder than he'd ever before hear himself make.

"YOU IDIOT! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The instantaneous roar of Kyuubi's deep growling voice gave him no time for illusions as to just where he was. Sure enough, as he opened up his eyes, he found himself ankle deep in swamp green oil like water and facing the large golden cage that made up Kyuubi's prison.

"AS IF I KNOW YOU BASTARD FOX! YOU PROBABLY KNOW MORE THAN I DO!" Kyuubi tsked, and he felt his anger rise again, with it the instinctive urge to bang his head forcefully against one of the towering gray walls around him.

"YES, I DO YOU GAKI! IT IS NOT SOMETHING I THOUGHT I'D EVEN HAVE TO CONSIDER AS A POSSIBILITY! UNPREDICTABLE NINJA INDEED!" The groan that arose within his throat was there, but he near that was he to learn anything about their current predicament he would have to remain silent.

In order to sedate his curiosity at the very least. Let alone figure out why he was meeting the Nidaime of all people in the forest! "YOU HAVE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO SOMEHOW SEND US TO THE PAST! HOW I DON'T KNOW, BUT I HAVE A FEELING THAT IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT SPIRE OF CHAKRA YOU FOUND AND TOUCHED, TOUCHED! IN THE FOREST, HOW YOU COULD BE SO STUPID AS TO TOUCH AN UNKNOWN CHAKRA FORMATION WITHOUT ANY SORT OF INFORMATION ON IT IS BEYOND EVEN MY COMPREHENSION!-"

"WAIT A SECOND HERE! THE PAST! YOU'RE SERIOUSLY SAYING THAT WE'VE TIME TRAVELED! HOW?-"

"I JUST STATED I DID NOT KNOW YOU IDIOT!" He had to cover his ears for a moment at just how loud that particular roar had been. Yet the full implications of what the old fox had just said seemed to smack into him at the same time the gust of the wind the roar produced did. Perhaps that had been the foxes plan all along, his thoughts didn't linger on that idea for long, he was far more concerned with other things.

"BUT THAT MEANS- WE CAN GO BACK CAN'T WE?!" Kyuubi snorted, and settled his snout on his front paws, laying down in front of the blond sixteen-year-old, with a look both of trepidation and intrigue.

"I SINCERELY DOUBT IT GAKI." That was in no way what Naruto wanted to hear. For as much as he hated the fox sealed within him, he could recognize that the ancient fox had far more knowledge than he did, on, well on everything. The weight of it all made him collapse in front of the cage on his knees, he was very unsure of just how to deal with this.

"BUT-THAT-I, WHAT ABOUT PERVY-SAGE, KAKASHI, IRUKA-SENSEI, SAKURA, BAA-CHAN….SASUKE… I WON'T EVER SEE THEM AGAIN…" The dread that filled him at his own sentence filled every fiber of his being, something that was surprising to him considering he thought that there wasn't any room for any other emotions in his body besides the misery he was feeling. "NO, NO, THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY! KYUUBI, YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE LYING YOU STUPID FOX!" The large demon sighed loudly, but he didn't do anything other than that, he didn't even walk back into the shadows of the cage as he normally would have.

"I'm afraid there really isn't gaki." No roar nearly broke his eardrums, and Naruto found himself looking up, even with the fresh tears trailing down his cheeks, making him look pathetic.

"There has to be… no, no, NO!"

"NO!" He shoot up from the bed, the sheets around him were far loose and fell from his form, and unto the floor.

Looking around him, he could easily recognize the fact that he was not in his house, nor was he in the hospital.

He was in some unknown place, the walls around him were plain, and made from simple green wood paneling, the floors were much the same.

There were no clues as to where he was from his immediate surroundings then. He might as well have stayed in the forest. Then again he had no idea how he had gotten here, he couldn't have possibly traveled anywhere while conversing with Kyuubi. So where was he? Not only that but why hadn't the Nidaime killed him? Considering his determination to do so, one would think the man would have done what he set out to do, the guy was famous for doing just that after all.

"Oh, your awake, good." The groan that left him as he turned his head was honestly inevitable. The sharp intake of breath he drew as he saw just who had spoken to him was also inevitable as it were, for although he had seen the Nidaime he was not expecting to meet the Shodai. At all, not only that but the fact that the Shodai was here made him realize that he was further back in time than he had first thought.

"Shodai-sama." The automatic respectful response left him quickly, his hoarse voice was something he had only been partially expecting. Screaming as he did before he had blacked out, his voice was going to be at least a little torn up. Still for it to be this gravely was a slight shock to his system.

He sat up, back straightening, as he looked at the very shocked face of the Shodai Hokage, He had longer hair then Naruto had been expecting, and the warm aura the man produced was also a bit of a revelation for him. Tsunade had always said that the man was one of the warmest people you could meet, kindhearted and all that.

She had said that he reminded her of her grandfather at times.

"Hm… You are very young aren't you?" Naruto ignored the part of his brain that told him that was actually kind of insulting, the last person he wanted to disrespect was the Shodai Hokage, he was called the 'God of Shinobi' which was intimidating enough to strike fear into him without anything else said.

"I'm sixteen." Simple, nothing else for him to say. Still his mind was less than stated knowing that the man would inevitably start to ask far more intruding questions. At which point he would be in quite the bind, what was he going to say exactly? Telling the truth didn't seem to be much of an option, but then again lying would only cause him trouble further on down the line.

"So young! Why, if I was your age I certainly wouldn't be challenging Tobirama to a fight!" A booming laugh surrounded him, and the pure joy he felt from the action shocked him, he hadn't felt so much happiness in a room at one time, he also found himself struck with the desire to join in. He held back. Although he was sure his relief from hearing such a happy laugh showed on his face, a thought that he wasn't particularly fond of. Shinobi were supposed to keep their emotions hidden, after all, that was something Jiraiya had tried especially hard to install within him.

The laugh died down, and instead of the stern expression the blond had been expecting he was met with a small smile that made the man before him look extremely young.

"What is your name child?" Desire to recoil from the man sprung upon him so abruptly, it shocked even himself. Bind indeed, just what was he too says now? Cold sweat rose up on his palms, and he found himself staring at near everything and anything within the room, everything that is, but the kind man in front of him. He had never enjoyed lying and now was no different.

He sighed, even he was forced to admit that it was a sigh of self-defeat. Even if he did manage to pull off a lie, he would hate himself for it, and inevitably he would blurt out his true identity, even if this man had no idea who 'Uzumaki Naruto' was that didn't mean that he should tell him everything about himself.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Brown floorboards were suddenly very intriguing to his eyes.

"Uzumaki? You're very far from home aren't you? You also don't have the distinctive Red-hair…" Fear gripped his gut like Tsunade had just punched him, what was he going to do if the Hokage didn't believe him?

"I- I have my father's hair." Did he? He didn't know, his parents were still a mystery to him, and once more he cursed Jiraiya for keeping that information from him. "At least I think I must…" He didn't mean to say that.

"You think? Are you an orphan?" This was not a conversation he had ever imagined himself having with, well any previous Hokage, it was both far too personal, and austere a concept for him. He couldn't bring himself to answer, and instead he stared at the floorboards, he didn't like being reminded of that small fact.

"Oh, I see-"

"I don't even remember traveling here. I just remember that my own clan… They hate me." He was resigned to the fact that this was strictly the truth, at least in every sense that counted. Konoha was his clan, and they did indeed hate him, and it wasn't as if he did actually remember traveling here. Whether that was the Hokage Tower -which is where he was, he knew that now- or how he somehow traveled to the past. Either or he wasn't sure how exactly he had landed in this situation.

"Oh you poor child." Naruto's head snapped up on that, the crack resounding throughout his spine.

"How do you know I'm not lying?" It was rather suspicious that the man would buy it right off the bat. The only person Naruto had ever met with the uncanny ability to know if someone was lying or not was Kakashi, and even then he was never completely sure. This Shodai seemed sure in all of his movements words and expressions, even the lift of a finger was never wasted.

"Chakra pulsates strongly when someone is lying, similar to the way your heart does. Your Chakra stayed steady with every breath, every word, and every movement you made. You'll find it's very helpful when you're the Hokage!" Marily, the grin the man bore, was bright enough to light the room, and Naruto lets himself join in this time.

"Speaking of Chakra, how are you? You were quite near death when Tobirama brought you here." So that's what had happened, but why on earth would the man bring him here after trying to kill him?

"Ah, Shodai-sama, why did Tobirama-sama bring me here anyway? Wasn't he trying to kill me?" The man looked astounded for a moment, and Naruto felt a strange sense of confusion at the expression. It morphed rather quickly, however, into something far more benign.

It took Naruto but a moment to figure out why, but then the strong tang of a powerful Chakra wrapped around his being. It like it was trying to actually choke him.

Then the door opened, and Naruto was faced with the owner of said Chakra, standing there calmly, and he stared directly at Naruto. The blond felt as if it were Sasuke staring at him once more. It brought his mind to a halt.