The present is the product of the past, change the past and a different future will occur, the ripples of one small change spreading with time to encompass the entire world.

For example: What could happen if a certain villain took action two years earlier than planned, a time when our protagonist, less jaded by the hatred of his village is more open minded and receptive to new ideas?

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Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage, known as the god of shinobi, student of two hokage, and teacher of three of konoha's greatest warriors looked solemnly at the at the sunny-haired, unusually quiet ten year old sitting opposite him. Not for the first time, and likely not for the last, he cursed the boy's teacher, Mizuki, and the ultimate cause of the night's events. The traitor had made a bid for the scroll of sealing, a repository of the most powerful and dangerous techniques ever developed by the village's greatest minds, and while he had been stopped, by the child in front of him no less, he had let slip a certain S-class secret that he had not intended for the boy to learn of until his graduation.

And so here he was, sitting in his office in front of the saviour of his beloved village and desperately trying to find a way to gently explain to a boy he considered a second grandson why he had the most powerful demon in the world resting in his stomach.

Before he could begin, Naruto spoke up. "So, uh old man, is what Mizuki-teme said true?" "Am I really the" he swallowed "the fox?" "No" the elderly leader swiftly replied, knowing he could at least lay that fear to rest "you are not the fox, just the same as the prison cell holding your former teacher is not Mizuki. You are what are called by experts a 'jinchuuriki' a human prison for a tailed beast, made possible by seals"

Naruto perked up at this, some of the brightness returning to his eyes as he asked with obvious interest "seals? I think Iruka-sensei talked about them a couple of times, what are they?" The third smiled, glad of the shift in topic to one of scholarly interest, a rare occurrence with Naruto. He knew, despite the reports from the academy of the boy's academic failings, that Naruto could be a good student, great even, with his nigh-limitless stamina and enthusiasm. He was simply incapable of concentrating on something he was disinterested in, a fact many teachers took advantage of to discourage his progress. When motivated to learn and provided with a topic he had interest in, he could learn at an incredible rate, as proved by his acquisition of the kage bushin technique from the scroll.

"The sealing arts are one of the most obscure and difficult to master branch of techniques in the shinobi arts, I myself am competent at them, but both my old student Jiraya, and his student, the Fourth Hokage, are the masters at them, capable of incredible feats such as sealing tailed beasts and creating techniques like the hiraishin, the Fourths strongest technique, which made him nearly unbeatable. It was the reason why he is still considered the strongest shinobi ever."

Naruto was gobsmacked. He came into this office wondering if he was a monster, despite Iruka's reassurances and now he was hearing about this secret shinobi art, which was so powerful it could defeat the biju, beings stronger that any shinobi could ever be. And the Fourth, his Idol, his hero, his dream was a master at these seals! There was no question about it in Naruto's mind. He wanted to become the hokage, and surpass all the others, if these seals could make him even half as strong as the greatest of the hokage, then the time would be well spent. His mind made up, he raised his head from his thoughts and asked the old man "how do I learn?"