A/N: I'm having my book published next year and I'm really nervous about it. So, I decided to post something online before my book release and try to calm my nerves. Any form of feedback, comment or criticism is very much appreciated. If you can, please point out all the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes you can find. I haven't watched NARUTO in a while as I have been too busy with school, my book and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, so I'm only writing the stuff that I can vaguely remember, or – if possible and when I have the time – I'd try to write while I watch the episodes. If there are any mistakes or fact mix-ups in my fic that are different from cannon, I would very much appreciate it if you could point those out as well. I want to keep this as close to canon as possible. (Though - if you can - please ignore the fact that Tobi and Uchiha Madara are two completely different people. They have to be the same person for my fic to work.) I'll do my best to keep all characters in character and not let anyone get too OOC – if that happens please inform me. Thank you.

Warnings: Slight OOC, spoilers and possible grammatical errors.

Summary: This is a dream, right? There's absolutely no way that all of this can be real, right? Yeah. There are five heads on the Hokage Monument. Not four. And Sandaime-jii-chan's been dead for years now, everyone knows that. There is absolutely no way he could've... is there? Time-travel's supposed to be impossible, isn't it? And the impossible is all that Uzumaki Naruto has ever done and – most likely – has done once more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I'm just borrowing its characters. Please don't sue.

Hope you enjoy!

Nami

XxX

Rewind, Relive, Return

CHAPTER 1 – Re-enter: Uzumaki Naruto! What the Hell is Going On, Kurama?

XxX

"NARUTO!"

"You guys, run! I'll buy as much time for you as I can! Just GO!"

Their screams…

"I already lost Sasuke-kun and Sai… I won't to let you take Naruto away from me too!"

"I've always believed in you, Naruto-kun… always…"

Their tears…

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you… all those years ago… But I'm here now… Sorry it took me… so long, Naruto… Minato-sensei…"

"The only person who gets to kill him is me! His blood is mine to take! I refuse to let you, or anyone else, hurt him!"

Their blood…

Inside a small room, a twelve-year-old spiky haired blond can be seen sitting on his bed staring wide-eyed at his small smooth hands. Hands which – the last time he checked – had been bigger, rougher, filled with old scars and new wounds, and covered in his best friend's blood.

The war, Madara, Konoha's destruction…

The boy looked out the window and glanced at a mountain that had the carved faces of four of his village's leaders. He could feel panic, sadness and confusion welling up in his chest, just waiting to burst out any second from now.

Don't tell me it was all just a…

A single tear rolled down the boy's scarred cheek as he choked on a great lump in his throat and he thought of all the friends and allies he had lost.

…dream.

XxX

Uchiha Sasuke, a dark haired boy with equally dark eyes, had woken up that morning with a sense of… what was it? Dread? Anticipation? Nervousness? He wasn't sure, but whatever it was, he doesn't like it. He felt like something important was about to happen and that he was going to be a big part of it.

He couldn't help but remember the dream he had had last night. He'd dreamed that he was standing in a field of ash and blood. There were people – most of them being shinobi if the hitai-ate that they all wore was any indication – fighting and dying all around him. He was standing next to a man wearing some kind of mask that only allowed his mismatched eyes to be seen.

The man was looming over two people – a boy and a girl – who seemed to be only a few years older than Sasuke was. The boy's bright blond hair and big blue tear-filled eyes reminded Sasuke too much of a certain blond classmate of his. The boy was holding on to the dark-haired girl who had been lying down in his lap.

While the boy was bleeding and wounded himself, the girl seemed to be in a much worse condition. Her long hair was caked in – what Sasuke assumed to be – her own blood and her eyes dull and lifeless. She had a small smile frozen on her lips and even with the gaping wound in her stomach, the girl looked happy and peaceful, like a huge burden had just been lifted from her shoulders.

This was where Sasuke's memory of the dream started to fade. He remembered that the mask-wearing man and the blond boy – without keeping his sad eyes off of the girl – had exchanged a few words with each other. Sasuke couldn't remember exactly what happened next. But what he did remember was jumping in between the strange man and the two teens just as the man was about to thrust some kind of jutsu towards the boy.

Sasuke remembered taking the hit for the blond and he remembered feeling the man's hand penetrate his back and slice cleanly through his torso. He remembered seeing the blonde's eyes widen in shock and confusion before he yelled out his name in desperation.

"SASUKE!"

The voice had been filled with such anguish and helplessness. He hated hearing such a familiar sound filled with so much pain.

The man behind him had said something to him and Sasuke had glared at him heatedly before saying something venomous and hateful back at his mask-covered face. The man then, swiftly pulled his hand out of his chest, causing Sasuke to grimace in pain before his senses started to fail him and everything began turning black. Sasuke remembered saying something to the blond – before everything disappeared and he woke up from his dream.

"Sorry…"

It took Sasuke a while before he realized that it had all been a dream and that he was not dying from a wound in his chest. But that was before he let out a panicked filled cry in his big apartment that he was sure had woken up a couple of his neighbors. And what made it worse was the name that he had yelled out in the morning light.

"Naruto!"

He had thought long and hard about the dream and what it could all possibly mean. What was all that fighting about? And those people… The blond was definitely Naruto – no doubt about that – but then, who were the other two?

Sasuke sighed. He had a very great urge to take a leaf out of one of his classmates' book and grumble, "Troublesome" under his breath. Right now, Sasuke was staring out the window of his classroom, waiting for his teacher to return with his wayward blond classmate and continue with the lesson.

His teacher had just finished taking their attendance that morning when the man had looked out the window. The man's skin had gone extremely pale, his eyes widened greatly, his mouth hung wide open in disbelief before he gave a very loud yelp. His students had been surprised by the unexpected noise and they all looked out the window in the general direction their teacher's eyes were directed at. If you thought that the teacher's reaction had been comical, then you could only imagine everyone else's reaction at seeing three of their once dull rock-colored Hokages look so colorful and bright in the morning sun.

It didn't take anyone too long to guess who the culprit was.

Their teacher had paused briefly to growl, "Naruto!" lowly before yelling at his class and ordering them to stay inside the classroom. He quickly jumped out the window and ran on the roof tops towards the colorful faces of their Hokages.

From their classroom window, Sasuke could see many black dots chasing a smaller orange dot around the village. This orange dot was non-other than the very person who had defaced three of their village leaders and is currently the only student who wasn't in his class at the moment. The village idiot, class clown and Sasuke's own 'rival', Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as the image of his ramen-obsessed, orange-loving blond classmate entered his thoughts. "That idiot."

In the row behind him, all the girls of his class, including a long-pink-haired girl blushed and swooned at how cool the black-haired boy in front of them sounded just now. Sasuke-kun, the pink-haired girl thought. You're so cool!

XxX

This is a dream. It has to be. If it was a genjutsu, then it would have all disappeared the moment he'd used, "Kai!" to dispel it that morning. And the only possible explanation left was: this is all just a dream!

Yes, it was possible that this was just some super strong, impossible-to-break Uchiha genjutsu that Madara was using on him, but he was really hoping that it wasn't.

Or this could also be what people call the 'reliving all your memories before you die' thing that he had heard so much about during the war and he was probably lying in a pool of his own blood somewhere in the ruins of the real Konoha, just waiting for the shinigami to swoop in and take his soul.

He hoped that it wasn't that either.

There was a third theory. One that he had not allowed himself to think of since he had woken up that morning in favor of squashing the high hopes that were building up in the back of his mind. High hopes that he was sure were going to get squashed as soon as the dream ended.

He had tried talking to Kurama about it, but the idea was quickly shot down the moment he entered his mindscape to find the giant nine-tailed demon fox sleeping like a log.

He had taken a quick shower, but not before checking his reflection in the cracked mirror that hung on his bathroom wall. Even knowing that he was twelve-years-old now, he was still thoroughly shocked to see the face of a young blond boy staring back at him. He'd been pleasantly surprised to note that the baby fat in his cheeks and the shape of his round eyes made him look more like his mother even with his father's bright and unique coloring.

He had opened his closet that morning and was almost disappointed to find his old orange and blue jumpsuit waiting for him in there. He had forgotten the fact that he hadn't gotten his black and orange jumpsuit until after his old one had been torn to shreds during his training with Ero-sennin. Though he greatly missed his old jumpsuit, he liked his black and orange one more. In the end he settled with wearing the blue and orange jumpsuit with the jacket unzipped – revealing the black shit he wore underneath – and his green goggles (He definitely missed those!) hung around his neck – letting his unruly spiky hair fall in a mess on top of his head and over his eyes.

He had checked the small calendar that he kept in his room and realized that he still attended the academy in this time and that he was late for class. Then he had studied the date more closely and remembered this being the day that he had creatively vandalized the Hokage Monument. After that, he had decided to just go with the flow and take out the few paint buckets he had remembered gathering a few nights before and proceeded to run to the Hokage Monument instead of using Hiraishin to get there like he had been used to doing lately, because of the simple fact that he didn't know what Hiraishin was at this age.

He had painted the faces of the famed Hokages with a face-splitting grin on his face. Oh how he had missed pulling such childish pranks! The war had never given him – or anyone – much time to just relax and goof off. But now, without the threat of an attack looming over his shoulder, he was more than happy to paint the Shodaime's lips a bright red color – if only to spite the man for not making sure that Madara stayed dead after their fight at the Valley of the End and leaving the job for him to finish.

After he was done with the first three heads, the boy hesitated when time came to give the Yondaime a paint job. This man was his father after all, and he had been his greatest idol for as long as the boy could remember. He had never felt any spite towards the man – even after knowing that he had sealed a grumpy old fox demon inside of his stomach. Though – begrudgingly – he silently admitted that he had been angry at the man after finding out that he was his father, but the feeling quickly disappeared after he gave the man a quick knuckle-sandwich to the gut – something that he still held pride in himself for.

In the end, he decided to leave his dad's big head alone and just wait for the two Chunin – who he later found out to be Kotetsu and Izumo – to come along and start the chase.

XxX

Iruka Umino had woken up that morning with a great sense of foreboding. Cold shivers had been running up and down his spine all day. Every time he saw anything orange or anyone with blond hair, he would get this unimaginable sense of unease.

Something's not right, he had thought as he made his way to the academy. He glanced at the Hokage Monument and let his eyes rest on the face of the Yondaime Hokage before continuing his thoughts. I just can't figure out what.

When he entered his class, he couldn't help but notice the more peaceful atmosphere and the lack of orange bouncing off the walls. Naruto's not here. He let his eyes roam the classroom in search of his favorite blond student before coming to the conclusion of Naruto just skipping as always. He's probably pulling some prank or raising hell somewhere in the village. I'll just go look for him later, the scarred man decided.

While taking the class attendance, Iruka felt the worry for his ramen-loving student build up inside of him. Naruto had failed the exam three times already. And while he knew that Naruto was great and that the boy could do just about anything he put his mind to, he couldn't help but think that maybe…

Then, he looked out of the classroom window and nearly had a heart-attack.

All worry he previously felt for his student flew down the drain – anger, exasperation and annoyance quickly replacing them. His thoughts quickly turning from, 'What am I going to do? How can I help him?' to, 'Naruto! You are so dead!' in less than a heartbeat.

He had given a short order to the rest of his students to stay in class before he quickly jumped out of the window and over the rooftops towards the Hokage Monument.

He saw Naruto being chased by two of his fellow Chunin before the boy quickly lost them by hiding himself against a wooden fence.

"He he," Iruka heard him chuckle. "That was too easy, 'ttebayo!"

Iruka took in a deep breath before yelling out: "Oi, Naruto!"

Instead of jumping out of his skin like Iruka had expected him too, Naruto just stood there and blinked for a few seconds before turning around to face Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei…?" the boy asked with a small amount of uncertainty. Iruka took a moment to study his student a little closer.

Naruto had gone slightly pale when he heard Iruka called his name – though it was hard to tell with the dark tone of the boy's skin. The blond had said his sensei's name a little hesitantly like he wasn't sure what he was seeing was real. And his eyes…

Iruka noted that Naruto's eyes were darker that usual – they looked more haunted. Naruto was looking at Iruka like he was seeing the man through a dream. He looked like he was afraid to come any closer to Iruka, like the boy's eyes were seeing him yet his mind was seeing someone else, like he thought that Iruka would disappear any second now and leave him behind.

Iruka grew slightly worried at this. Naruto looked so sad and shocked. What happened to him?

"Naruto," Iruka started uncertainly, "are you al-?"

The question died in his throat when Naruto suddenly yelled: "Iruka-sensei!" and swiftly pounced on the shocked man.

"Eh?"

XxX

It's really you! Naruto thought as his body shook with unshed tears. He had been so shocked to hear that voice call out him name – the first time he had heard his name being said in this strange dream. The boy had been so happy; he had almost forgotten that this was a dream in the first place. It's really you! You're alive! Iruka-sensei…

XxX

"Iruka-sensei…is… He's… He can't be…!" The blond teen shook his head in denial as he kept muttering incoherent words under his breath. "No..no, no, no…Iruka-sensei can't be…No…"

"Sorry…Naruto…" Killer B said without his usual enthusiasm.

It was one of the rare breaks they could get from the war. Madara and Kabuto had retreated momentarily and had gone off to god-knows-where. Everyone was using this pause in battle to its fullest. The shinobi were regrouping, recuperating, reloading their arsenal and regaining their strengths. The wounded were getting the necessary treatment. And the dead were being carried away from the battlefield and burned as they didn't want the chance of Kabuto getting his dirty hands on them and use Edo Tensei on their loved ones.

About an hour before, B had been fighting a horde Zetsus with a few shinobi from Kumo and Konoha backing him up – with Iruka being a part of the small team. In the end, they had managed to destroy at least three quarters of the Zetsus before Madara called the retreat and as the smoke and dust from their battle cleared, B was sad to note that three of their comrades had died – one Kumo nin and two Konoha nin – and that one more was fatally wounded – Iruka.

Iruka had lost a lot of blood from a wound he had obtained in the fight. B had ran back as fast as he could with the dying Iruka on his back while the others dealt with the dead bodies. He knew how much Iruka meant to Naruto. From what he heard this man had been the very first person who had seen Naruto for who he is and not for the demon inside of him. Being a Jinchuuriki himself, B knew of the pain of being hated and ignored and he knew that to a Jinchuuriki, to have someone acknowledge you for who you are, is the greatest gift they could ever ask for.

He had only recently realized this, but – at some point – the brat had wormed his way into B's heart. Naruto was doing all he could to end this war and to keep his friends and family safe. The least B could do was help him protect a few of his precious people.

"B-san," Iruka muttered through a shaky breath. "T-tell Naruto t-that… I…"

"B-bakayaro! Konoyaro!" B growled at the dying man, ignoring how his voice broke a little at the beginning. "If ya got somethin' to say to the brat, then ya should tell it to him ya-self!" You could tell how grave the situation was by B's lack of rap and rhyme.

Iruka chuckled humorlessly. "I'm afraid… I won't b-be able… t-to do that." Then, as B turned his head to look at him, Iruka looked at the Jinchuuriki straight into the eyes and said in a cracked voice, "Please."

B abruptly stopped and set the man down carefully on the blood-soaked ground. "What do ya want me to say to him?"

"T-tell him… t-that I'm…"

Now, an hour later, Iruka's body had been burned along with the others. Naruto had returned to the base just in time to see it turn to ash. He didn't even get to say goodbye…

"He wanted me to tell ya that he was proud of ya, kid…" B said as he stared into Naruto's blue tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry… I wasn't-"

"No," Naruto said softly. "It's fine, Octopops. You did everything you could… Thanks."

XxX

Naruto had been quiet and passive to the world around him for three whole days. It was only with the pain of Tsunade and Sakura's fists instantaneously slamming on top of Naruto's head that got the blond back on his feet. And just in time for Madara's next attack as well.

"Eh?"

Naruto was pulled out of the shadow of his past (or is it his future now?) by Iruka's voice. Iruka-sensei's voice, Naruto thought with unhidden glee. I thought I'd never get to hear it ever again.

"Naruto?" Iruka said uncertainly as he pulled his student away to get a closer look at the boy's face. "Are you alright? Your eyes are getting red…"

Naruto shook his head, a grin threatening to split his face in half. "I'm fine, dattebayo!" he exclaimed loudly to Iruka as he rubbed the back of his head with a smile. He had suddenly remembered where and when he was. In this time, Iruka was still alive and Naruto was still the man's favorite knuckleheaded student. He wasn't a hero in this time, not yet anyway. Besides, there was nothing to get all teary-eyed about. This was all just a dream, right? Iruka-sensei was dead. Naruto had seen the body burn with his very eyes. This can't be real…

So, as before, the boy had decided to just 'go with the flow' and continue with the charade he had put up since this morning. "By the way," Naruto said to his teacher, "what are you doing here Iruka-sensei?"

At this, Iruka was reminded of what he had been doing up until that point and a scowl quickly latched itself onto his scared face. "The question is…" the teacher said in a low voice, causing Naruto to shiver and wonder how he could possibly have missed that dangerous voice. "What the hell are you doing out of class, Naruto?"

"Eh he heh," Naruto chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head just as he did a few seconds ago. "W-well you see… Iruka-sensei…" at this the blond boy glanced at the work of art he had been working on this morning causing his teacher to do the same.

A vein visibly popped on Iruka's forehead.

Naruto gulped.

I am so dead, 'ttebayo…

XxX

"Listen, Naruto," Iruka said to his blond student after he had tied the boy up and somehow managed to drag him to class – albeit kicking and screaming as they went. "You've failed the last exam and the exam before that. You should be spending your time studying and practicing your ninjutsu and taijutsu instead of fooling around."

Naruto had stopped paying attention to Iruka the moment they had stepped into the classroom. He was too busy occupying himself with the dark memories of his past to listen to anything his sensei said. He had frozen like a statue when he had entered the classroom and seen all the younger faces of his – dead – comrades.

Nara Shikamaru…

Died protecting Yuuhi Kurenai who had somehow managed to sneak away from Konohagakure to fight in the war after leaving her child in the hands of Konohamaru and his team. His last words had been that he didn't want little Hiruzen – Kurenai and Asuma's son – to grow up without both of his parents.

Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and his dog, Akamaru…

They had died after taking out at least a hundred Zetsus in a two-plus-a-dog-against-two-hundred fight. They all had fought together until the bitter end. Naruto had watched from his own battle not far away as Shino destroyed fifteen Zetsus at once in a fit of rage after Kiba and Akamaru's fall before he too took his final breath – dying from extreme chakra exhaustion.

Akimichi Chouji…

He ran headfirst into battle, stricken with grief after hearing of his best friend's death. From what Naruto had heard, it had taken at least two dozen Zetsus to pin the large Akimichi down before Sasuke stepped in with the chidori that had swiftly ended Chouji's life.

Yamanaka Ino…

She had stepped in between Uchiha Madara himself and her so called 'rival' before anyone could even think of stopping her. Her last words to Sakura had been that this was the first – and last – time she'd admitted defeat to anyone, but she was glad that it was Sakura who she had lost to.

Haruno Sakura…

Died in a battle against Yakushi Kabuto – who had been aiming a poisoned kunai at her last surviving teammate – and had made sure to have taken the snake-freak to the next world with her.

Hyuuga Hinata…

She had stood between a stray jutsu and Naruto which turned out to be the last mistake she had ever made. Hinata's last wish had been to receive a kiss from her beloved Naruto-kun, something the blond had gladly granted for her. The girl had been so happy; she died with a small smile on her face.

And lastly...Uchiha Sasuke…

Naruto wasn't sure what to think of his best friend and rival. He had stepped in between Naruto and Madara and taken a chidori for the blond. Only to ruin the moment afterwards by stating heatedly to his immortal ancestor that no one else but him was allowed to kill Naruto. But then, he had smiled at Naruto and had said that he was sorry. But, for what? Was he sorry for leaving? Was he sorry for all the hurtful words he had said to Naruto? Had he saved the blond because of the simple fact that he really does care about his friend? Or was it something else entirely different?

By now, Iruka had finally taken notice of Naruto's lack of attention towards his teacher. The students could almost hear their teacher's patience break with a 'SNAP!'

Fine, then. If that's how you're going to be like…

Iruka pointed a finger towards the rest of his students and barked out, "Alright! We're going to have a review test on the Henge no Jutsu! Those who have already passed will have to line up as well!"

"WHAT?"

The students – including all of Naruto's future comrades who he had fought with and (in one case) against in the war – turned to direct a heated glare towards their blond classmate.

Naruto sighed in defeat. Oh, you cannot be serious, 'ttebayo.

XxX

"Haruno Sakura, you're up next!" Iruka called from the front of the class facing his lined up students.

"Haruno Sakura going!" the pink haired girl said as she walked up in front of the class and positioned her finger into the necessary seal. "Henge!" and transformed herself into an exact copy of their teacher – scar, flak jacket and all.

"OK," Iruka said approvingly as he wrote something down on his clipboard.

"I did it!" Sakura giggled, hopping with glee. Her subconscious – also known as Inner Sakura – pumped a fist yelling, 'Shannaro!' The girl then turned towards her not-so-secret crush, Uchiha Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun! Did you see?"

"Alright, next," Iruka said quickly when he saw the glares the other girls of the class were directing towards Sakura. "Uchiha Sasuke!" he called out.

Said boy walked up to the front of the class and "Henge!" another Umino Iruka stood in his place. Most of the girls swooned at how great their 'amazingly talented Sasuke-kun' was.

"Good," Iruka commented as he wrote something else on his clipboard.

Naruto watched as Sasuke made his way back in line with the rest of the class. If this wasn't a dream and that it really was just some kind of genjutsu, then he would like to give a big round of applause to its weilder. The guy had gotten Sakura's younger, squeakier voice down perfectly and Sasuke's holier-than-thou smirk look so much like the real deal, it almost seemed creepy.

"This sucks," Naruto heard Shikamaru suddenly grumble from his left.

"This is all your fault, Naruto," Ino said spitefully to the blond boy from his right side.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said distractedly. "Whatever." He stepped in front of the class and got into position.

From the line of students, a girl known as Hyuuga Hinata, with short dark-blue hair pressed two of her fingers nervously together as she cheered Naruto on silently from the side lines. Do your best, Naruto-kun.

Said boy had just found himself faced with a new dilemma. Naruto remembered what happened next. (Oh, he remembered perfectly.) But now, what was he going to do? Should he do what he did before? Or would it be better for him to show everyone just how awesome he was and do the perfect Henge?

"Hurry up, Usaratonkachi," Sasuke said from the side. "What's taking you so long? Is it really that hard for you to do a simple Henge?"

Most of the students snickered at this.

That did it. Naruto's mind was made up. I'm a kid again, right? Naruto thought with a sly grin. So, I might as well act like it!

"Henge!" Oiroke no Jutsu: New Version!

There was a puff of smoke and once that had cleared away, a curvy and busty long-haired blond girl wearing a revealing purple devil's outfit could be seen lying on the floor in an extremely seductive pose in front of Iruka and the rest of the class.

"So~" the girl purred at the teacher. "What do you think, I-ru-ka-sen-sei~?"

Iruka had nothing to say to that. He couldn't say anything, for the man had already passed out from extreme blood loss through his nose.

Though, he wasn't the only one who was affected by Naruto's jutsu. Most of the boys in the class had turned redder than Sasuke's favorite fruit. (A/N: Yes, the tomato is a fruit.) Some could even be seen trying – more like failing – to hide their obvious nose-bleeds.

The girls on the other hand, looked more than ready to murder someone – a certain blond ramen-obsessed someone to be exact. Even Hinata looked appalled.

"Naruto!" one of the girls growled dangerously.

Said boy – who had turned back into his rightful gender and was currently laughing his ass off at his teacher's unfortunate predicament – abruptly stopped his laughter and immediately wiped the grin off his face. He gulped as he very slowly turned back to stare at the furious females behind him.

Why me, 'ttebayo?

XxX

"You're not going home until all the paint has come off, Naruto!" Iruka yelled down at his student from on top of the Shodaime's head as he watched the blond scrub the paint off of the surface of the rock.

"Yeah," Naruto grumbled, hiding a wince as pain from one of the bruises on his face that he had gotten from the girls was stretched from moving his mouth. (He had silently reminded himself to thank Kurama for granting him his super-human healing abilities.) In truth, he was glad to spend some quality time with his favorite academy teacher – even if most of that time is spent with Iruka scolding and yelling at him. "I don't care, 'ttebayo. No one's waiting for me at home anyway." In the previous time-line, those words had been said with unhidden contempt, disappointment and sadness, now Naruto said it like it was nothing more than a simple statement of fact.

This worried his teacher greatly. He was afraid that he might have upset the boy, so he thought of a way to cheer him up a bit. "Naruto," Iruka called to the blond.

"What is it, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked as he looked up at his teacher curiously.

"Well, I was thinking," Iruka said with faked non-nonchalance. "If you want to and somehow manage to clean that up before dinner, I'll promise to treat you to ramen later."

Naruto's face brightened immediately. "Alright! Ramen!" he yelled from the top of his lungs. Though, on the inside, the blond gave a disappointed sigh. Too bad I can't use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and just make the clones do all the work. This sucks, 'ttebayo...

XxX

At night, Naruto and his teacher could be found eating – or in Naruto's case, inhaling – ramen at their favorite ramen stall, Ichiraku's Ramen.

Naruto was trying his best to eat as slowly as he could and savor the magnificent taste of his salty meal. Though, he was doing a horrible job at restraining himself. But, Naruto couldn't help it! In his defense, he was very hungry from the manual labor he had been forced to do (It didn't matter that it was his own fault in the first place, 'ttebayo!) and he never had enough time to just sit down and eat his favorite food during the war. And ramen just taste so good – the fact that it's free and Iruka-sensei's the one paying for it just makes it more delicious.

"Naruto..." Iruka said from next to him.

"Hmphf?" the blond muttered through a mouthful of noodles.

"Why did you paint the Hokage Monument?" Iruka asked his favorite student. "You do know who the Hokages are, don't you?"

"Of course I do, 'ttebayo," Naruto said as he finished his third helping of the night. "The Hokages, the Kage leaders of Konohagakure no Sato," the boy said, not noticing the melancholy look he suddenly gotten in his blue eyes. But, Iruka noticed and he was confused. What could Naruto possibly be thinking to get such an expression on his young face?

"The Shodaime Hokage," Naruto continued, "our village's first Hokage. His clan, together with the Uchiha Clan, had founded the village about a-hundred-or-so years ago. The second Hokage, the Nidaime Hokage, had been the First's younger brother. And Sandaime-jii-chan is Konoha's Third Hokage. And the Yondaime Hokage..." Naruto's voice had grown quiet and his eyes had been caught in the shadow of the bangs on his forehead, making the young boy seem older than he really was. He's my father, Naruto wanted to say. But, he refrained himself. Instead, the blond said: "He was a hero who'd died protecting the village exactly twelve years ago, right?"

Iruka blinked incredulously at his knuckle-headed blond student. "R-right." Well, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. Naruto had talked about becoming Hokage for as long as Iruka had known him. And, as Iruka had told Naruto during many of his classes where he had caught the boy sleeping in the middle of one of his lessons, a good leader has to know the history of his village and of its people.

Shaking off his shock, Iruka asked Naruto the question that had been bothering him since this morning. "Then, why did you-?" But he was abruptly stopped by his student – who, unknown to the man, had already heard the same question before.

"Because," Naruto said as he looked resolutely at his teacher, "I'm gonna be Hokage someday! I'll be the best damn Hokage anyone's ever seen, 'ttebayo!" At this Naruto jerked his thumb towards his chest for necessary – in his point of view – effect. "And once I'm Hokage, I'll do whatever it takes to protect this village and its people! Dattebayo!"

And I'll make them proud, dattebayo! Naruto added in his head as he thought of Sandaime-jii-chan, Tsunade-baa-chan, Ero-sennin, Kakashi-sensei... Tou-chan and Kaa-chan... Once this stupid dream is over, I'll win this stupid war, become Hokage and make them all proud of me... Then, he slowly added: If I'm not dead already, of course...

Iruka was greatly impressed. He had always thought that Naruto was aiming to become Hokage to get recognition from the villagers who had always despised him. But, it seems that his most unpredictable student had managed to surprise him yet again.

"So, Naruto, I'm curious," Iruka began another question, "why didn't you paint the Yondaime's head? Not that I'm complaining or anything," the man added quickly. "But, like I said, I'm just curious. Did you not have enough time to finish the job before those two Chunin started chasing after you?"

"No, that's not it," Naruto denied. "I had plenty of time, 'ttebayo."

"Then, why?"

"That, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said as he leaned closer to his scarred teacher, "is a secret, 'ttebayo!"

"Meany," Iruka snorted at the boy playfully.

"By the way, sensei," Naruto said a little hesitantly. "I have a little favor to ask you."

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Ano sa, ano sa, can I," the blond said as he held out his empty ramen bowl to the man, "have another bowl?"

XxX

"You fail!"

And Naruto didn't expect anything less. Though, he was still a little disappointed. I'm a seventeen-year-old Genin and – arguably – one of the most powerful shinobi in history. It's been five years since my last exam and I still can do a stinking normal bunshin. This is so humiliating, 'ttebayo!

"Iruka-sensei," a white-haired man sitting next to Iruka stated, "hand-seals were near-perfect and technically, he did replicate. Maybe we can pass him..."

Oh man, Naruto grumbled in his mind. Thanks to the new power he had gained from Kurama after his training on Island Turtle with Octopops, Naruto could almost see all of the hate and disgust Mizuki had for him rolling off of the man's shoulders. That smile is so fake, I feel like I want to barf just by looking at it. How can I not have noticed that as a kid? Hmm... I guess all that time spent with that stupid Sai-teme and all of his fake smiles had its advantages.

"Mizuki-sensei," Iruka slowly protested. "Everyone else was able to create at least three bunshin. But Naruto only produced one that will merely be a nuisance in a real fight."

From the corner of his blue eyes, Naruto glanced at his flattened sick-looking bunshin. The boy grimaced. He couldn't help but silently agree with Iruka on that one.

"I'm afraid I cannot pass him," Iruka continued.

Naruto sighed in defeat.

Though, on the inside, the blond Uzumaki boy was doing a victory dance. I can't wait to beat up that Mizuki-teme again, 'ttebayo!

XxX

So far, everything was going just as it did before. Naruto had failed the exam – though he was still slightly annoyed about the failed bunshin – and Mizuki had approached him and told him about the Shodaime's Scroll of Seals. Everything was going almost the exact same way as it did the last time. And right now, Naruto was just lying down on his old bed, waiting for night to fall before going to the Hokage Tower to steal the scroll once more.

Naruto took this time to think about the predicament he had found himself in. This dream was taking quite a long time to end. Not that he was complaining – it couldn't hurt for him to have a small break in reality every once in a while – but he was anxious to wake up and rejoin the world of the living.

Naruto wanted to know how the war was going. Now that he had defeated and – finally – killed Madara, had the war ended already? And what of his – living – friends and allies? Were they okay? Gaara and Octopops were still alive, right? And – hopefully – so was Tsunade-baa-chan.

He wondered how much time had actually passed while had been in this dream. A day? A month? A year? Or maybe none at all?

Ah, whatever. The boy finally decided that he wouldn't brood over the matter too much. (He was afraid that any amount of brooding – no matter how little – would be harmful towards his usually bright personality and possibly turn him into a certain revenge-obsessed Uchiha he knows all too well.)

No matter how much he hoped for it, there was absolutely no way for him to know of the outcome of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War short of being woken up from this realistic dream – which was impossible for him to do o his own. He had tried pinching himself, hitting his head against a wall, and just about everything else short of suicide – which he wasn't stupid enough to try out. It seemed as if he would need to wake up on his own or wait for somebody to wake himself up later. So, until then, the only thing left for him to do now, was wait.

XxX

Drip… Drip… Drip…

That sound… Naruto very slowly opened his eyes and looked down at himself. He noticed that he seemed taller than he was five minutes ago, so he can only conclude that he had gone back to his original age, height and size. He looked around and found himself in a large chamber with dirty water flooding its floors. The chamber was very familiar to the blond. He didn't even have to turn around to know that there was a giant fox demon imprisoned in the seal his father had created looming behind him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the fox acknowledged the boy in that deep voice of his.

Said boy slowly turned around and rested his bright blue eyes on the fox's bloody red ones. "Kurama," he said back, slightly surprised. Was this the Kurama from the dream or was it his Kurama coming to wake him up?

XxX

Kurama looked closely at the boy in front of him. He remembered clearly, how only a few years ago, that very same boy had come to him – though quivering with fear – asking him to 'pay his rent' and handover some of his powerful chakra to him. He remembered seeing the boy's mulish stubbornness – so much like his mother before him – and his unbreakable will and determination shine brightly in his big blue eyes – it was the same expression his father had held in his blue eyes the night that man had confronted him.

Now, look at him. It was almost funny how different this young man in front of him was from the small boy that he was not even a decade ago.

This was it. If Kurama had had any doubts before, they were completely gone now. This was the one that the old man had prophesized about. This young man was going to be the one who would lead him and his siblings down the right path. It was because of this human, Kurama had finally known what true power was.

And it is because of this very same human, Kurama knows that when his time came, he would stay by the boy's side and die with him without any regrets.

XxX

"It's good to see you again, 'ttebayo," Naruto greeted as he turned his body around and stepped closer to the fox's cage. "Did you come here to wake me up or something?"

"Wake you up?" the fox parroted with a lifted brow.

"You know," Naruto said as he waved a hand vaguely around him, "from this dream or genjutsu or whatever the hell it is."

"You think that this is all just a dream?" Kurama inquired.

"Or a genjutsu," Naruto repeated. "I mean, what else can it be? I may be an idiot, but I'm not that stupid, 'ttebayo. Iruka-sensei, Sasuke and the others are dead. And I was seventeen, the last time I checked, not twelve."

"No, you have it all wrong," Kurama said as he stared straight into Naruto's eyes. "This is no illusion. All of this is real."

"W-what?" Naruto stuttered in surprise. Okay, now he was confused. What the hell is that stupid fox trying to say? That all of that was…

"Tell me, gaki," – Kurama ignored the indignant yelp from the boy – "what is the last thing you remember before this 'dream' started?"

"The last thing…" Naruto mumbled under his breath once he had gotten over the nickname Kurama gave him. His eyes suddenly widened. "I remember Sasuke dying," he said slowly in a soft voice. "Then, I remember fighting Madara. He managed to hit me with the chidori and I got him in the gut with a Rasenshuriken. And then… well, I don't remember exactly what had happened after that, 'ttebayo."

"I'll tell you what happened," the demon said. "You almost died. That's what happened."

Naruto waited for the Kyuubi continue. He had a feeling that there was going to be more to the story than that.

"Unlike the Uchiha brat, Madara had managed land his chidori right on target. He completely destroyed your heart and most of your left lung as well. It was a miracle that I managed to keep you alive for as long as I did.

"While you were knocked out and bleeding to death, my siblings and I held a little meeting. While it is true that we did win the war, almost everything and everyone had been destroyed at that point – most of the surviving humans couldn't even see the point in living anymore. So, we had decided that it would be best if we did something about it."

"So?" Naruto asked slowly when Kurama had stopped talking for a certain amount of time. "What did you guys do?" the blond asked, though he knew the answer already.

"We decided," the fox said, "to clean up the mess that those damned Uchihas had made before it all even started. In other words," he paused for dramatic effect, "my siblings and I used the power of the Tailed-Beasts to turn back time."

"W-what?" Naruto yelped in disbelief. "H-how? That's impossible, 'ttebayo… r-right?"

"Having a powerful demon sealed inside of your stomach is also supposedly 'impossible'," Kurama reminded the boy. "And the same goes for mastering the Rasengan in a week as well as defeating that Rinnegan user, and yet you have managed to do all of those things and more. If a puny human like you could do the impossible and live to tell the tale, I don't see why powerful thousand-year-old demons such as my siblings and I cannot."

"So, it's true then," Naruto said, still in shock. "We really did travel back in time. We really are in the past. Then, that means that everyone is… they're really…"

Even after spending the last two days thinking that all of it was a dream and denying that any of it was actually real, something somewhere at the back of Naruto's mind knew that all that the Kyuubi had said was true. He really was in the past and everyone…

Everyone's alive… Naruto's thoughts had turned from shock, to confusion to unimaginable blinding happiness. They're all alive, 'ttebayo! Sasuke, Sakura, Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin, everyone… They're alive! Dattebayo!

"No, we did not travel back in time," the Kyuubi corrected.

"What?" Naruto asked his bijuu incredulously. "But you just said that y-"

"I said," the demon spoke, "that my sibling and I turned back time. We did not travel."

And Naruto was confused…again. "Explain," the blond shinobi demanded.

"We used our power to turn back time," he said. "Right now, the things and the people that you see are not the past-selves of your fallen comrades, in fact they are the exact same people. When we used our powers, we brought your friends back to life and made them younger. And since we wanted everything to be exactly the same as it was in the original timeline, we used our powers to erase their memories as well."

"So," Naruto interrupted before the fox demon could continue. "If they don't remember anything, then how come I can?" Then, he quickly added, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, 'ttebayo."

Kurama – very much used to Naruto's antics – did not let himself get annoyed by the human's interruption. "You do now," he clarified. "While we did not have much chakra left after the war, my siblings and I still had more than enough to turn time almost twenty years back. We returned to the night of my attack on Konoha, to be exact. I returned with the intent of letting myself be sealed inside of you once more, therefore retuning your previous memories to you, but when Madara got a hold of me after extracted me from Kushina, his control over my mind made me forget about my mission and all of the things I had to go through to get there. It was only less than a year ago that I finally remembered my goal and proceeded with disrupting the effects of our powers on you and returning your previous memories to you, little by little."

"Ano sa, ano sa," Naruto said slowly. "So, does that mean that I can still use most of my powers like before, you know, seeing as all you guys did was make me young again and wipe out my memories?"

"Not quite," Kurama said. "As I mentioned earlier, we returned you and your friends to your younger bodies and as a result, all of your previous abilities and skills are back to as they were before as well."

Naruto looked greatly disappointed at this.

"Do not fret," The Kyuubi said, noticing Naruto's childish pout. "You could always recover them, because although your bodies have been reduced in age, they still hold the experience and power they once had before, so it should make relearning your previous skills easier for you. And the same goes for everyone else."

Naruto thought over this. Although it was – in Shikamaru's words – 'troublesome' to train really hard just to regain the powers he had had before, it sounded like a small price to pay if it could help him become stronger in order to protect his friends as he had failed to do once before. "So," he turned to his demon, "if I could get my memories back, does the same count for the others?"

"In time, they shall also have their memories returned to them, just as you had," said Kurama. "But time is something that we do not have much of. We will need as many allies helping us in this as possible. This is why my siblings and I had decided to leave it to you to return their memories to them and their Jinchuuriki."

"How?" Naruto asked. "And what exactly is 'this' thing that we're trying to do anyway, 'ttebayo?"

"We – well, mostly you," Kurama said, "are going to prevent the destruction of the shinobi world. And as much as I know you want to, this is something that you cannot do alone, gaki. You will need your friends' help. And right now, the only way I can see that they would willingly help you, is if they were your friends as they once were before and the only way for that to happen is if they had their previous memories returned to them. The last thing that my siblings and I want is for the world that the old man had worked so hard to create to be faced with the destructive future it previously had." He didn't have to elaborate on who the 'old man' he was referring to was. Naruto knew perfectly well who the bijuu was talking about. "And as for the other humans' memories, as far as I can see, there are two ways for them to retrieve their previous memories. One, they can wait for their memories to return to them, which I estimate would take any of them at least a few years to achieve, and even then they will only get glimpses of it in the form of visions, dreams or a sense of unease or - as you humans call it - dej avu as you had before."

At this, Naruto raised a questioning blond eyebrow at the demon.

Kurama sighed. "In this timeline, your consciousness does not know of my existence yet. So, every time I used my demonic chakra to return your memories to you, your chakra coils would automatically push it back before most of it could fully reach your subconscious. As a result, I only had enough power to return a few bits and pieces of your previous memories to you one at a time. Though you may not remember this, in the past months, you had been having dreams and visions of your past life. You would sometimes confuse your past and your future and do and say things that only your future-self would do and say, such as thinking that the Sandaime is already dead and that the Uchiha brat had already left your village. It had gotten you a couple of confused looks and a few whispers, but – thankfully – most had shrugged it off as one of your more complicated antics or pranks."

Naruto was about to ask more on the subject but the Kyuubi had continued with his previous explanation before a sound could even escape the blonde's mouth.u

"The second way the humans can have their memories returned to them is by having the ones who had erased their memories – in this case, it is either me or any one of my siblings – speed up the process for them, as I had done for you."

"But, even if you can somehow get yourself sealed inside of them and hack into their brains like you did to me, it would still take months for their memories to fully return." Naruto was stumped. How the hell were they going to do this? "And like you said, we don't have that kind of time, 'ttebayo!"

"There is no need for that," the Kyuubi said. "You can just channel my chakra to your skin and transfer it to your comrades to disrupt the jutsu we had used on them and since they aren't used to having demonic chakra such as mine flowing inside of them, their chakra coils won't reject my chakra like yours have. So, I estimate that it shall take them less than an hour for their memories to return."

"And what about the ones whose chakra coils are used to having demonic chakra in them? Like the other Jinchuuriki, 'ttebayo. Won't their chakra try to reject yours like mine did?"

"They will, but I've already talked to my siblings about this and they had agreed to leave an opening for my chakra to flow through when we have inserted it in inside of their Jinchuuriki. It should drain quite a bit of my chakra, but I think that sacrificing a little bit of chakra should be for the best in the long run, don't you?"

"But I still don't get it!" Naruto yelled. God, this was so confusing! Time-travel, memory wipe, Madara stillI being alive! That's just too much to take in all at once. He needs more time. He needs to think on this. He needs to know… "Why me? Why not Octopops or Gaara? They were still alive then, I was already dying! Why was I chosen to do this instead of one of them?" the boy demanded.

The Kyuubi sighed. He had a feeling this would happen. They might as well get it over with sooner or later. "A few days after my siblings and I were created," Kurama said slowly, as he recalled his last moments with his only father figure. Naruto culd tell that whatever Kurama was saying to him was important, so calmed himself down enough to shut up and listen to what was being said – even if all he wanted to do was scream and yell at the demon and his brothers and sisters for cheating him of his death and the opportunity at eternal peace. "The old man told us straight to our faces that he was dying and that there wasn't a single damned thing we could do about it," the fox said bitterly.

"He told us that no matter what happens, the nine of us would always be together, even when we're separated. And that one day, we would all become one…" Here, Kurama's voice grew soft with melancholy. "He said that one day we would be one again with different names and different forms than the ones we posses right now. That we would all be led down the right path when the time comes for us to know what true power is."

Kurama's red eyes looked directly into Naruto crystal blue ones as he said with conviction, "We believe that the one the old man had talked about that day was you Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto's eyes widened. He had never heard Kurama talk about his creator before. And to hear such sadness in his voice, it was clear to anyone who was listening that the demon misses his first Jinchuuriki greatly. But still… "How do you know? How can you be so sure?" the blond asked uncertainly.

"We're not sure," the Kyuubi said with a shake of his head. "We just know… We believe… And, gaki, if there's one thing that I've learned from being stuck inside of your head for almost two decades, it's that the only way you can be sure of something is to believe that it is true. And my siblings and I believe in you."

Kurama's eyes turned soft as he saw the uncertainty still lingering on the boy face. "Gaki," he said kindly – which would have given the Uzumaki boy a heart-attack if he hadn't remembered how serious and sober the situation was. "If you're not going to do this for me or my brothers and sisters, then you can at least do it for your friends. Do it for your family and for your people. You promised yourself that you would always protect them and keep them safe, didn't you?"

Naruto slowly nodded.

"Then what's stopping you?"

"It's just like you said!" the boy snapped at the demon. "These are my friends! My family, 'ttebayo! The entire shinobi world is counting on me here! If it was just my ass on the line, then I wouldn't even think twice about doing something this reckless, but they…" Then, all of the boy's sadness, his anger, the stress that the many years as a shinobi had brought, all of the emotions the boy had tried to hide finally showed themselves and burst oout of him in a stream of tears. Naruto was sick and tired of people always looking up to him and counting on him to be the hero and save the day. Hadn't he done enough already? What more do they want from him? He doesn't… "I don't want to lose them again…" he sobbed.

"And you wont't" said the Kyuubi firmly. "You will protect them and keep the safe just as you promised!" the fox reassured. "And Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word!"

Naruto's eyes widened. Damnit! The stupid fox was right. Once he gave his word to something, it would take all the forces of hell and more to make him break it.

He was Uzumaki Naruto, after all. He was the son of Konoha's Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. He was the – future – Orange Hokage of Konoha, 'ttebayo. He was the Great Toad Sage of the Sannin's apprentice. But most of all, he was the Number One Unpredictable, Hyperactive, Knuckleheaded Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, Uzumaki Naruto! Dattebayo! He…!

Naruto paused as he realized where his thoughts were headed. His tears hadn't stopped flowing from his eyes and he still had his doubts, but… He looked at the giant red fox looming over him behind its prison and gave a small smile. If the stupid old fox thought that he could do it, then why couldn't he?

Naruto gave a slight chuckle. It was weird. Back then, the demon would take any chance he was given to use his dark thoughts against him and try to take over his body. But, now it was him who was reassuring and comforting him over something as silly as self-doubt. Naruto's light chuckles turned into barks of laughter. Oh god! What the hell was he thinking? He was Uzumaki Naruto! The amazing and the impossible was all he had ever done and would – apparently – continue doing! After all that he'd done, after all that he'd been through, to doubt himself now was just stupid, 'ttebayo – even for an idiot like him!

"Hey, gaki," Kurama growled at the blond when he saw the boy in front of him giggling like a fresh-out-of-the-academy kunoichi. "What's so funny? Did you finally lose your non-existent sanity or something?"

"No, no," Naruto chuckled as he swiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "I'm fine, 'ttebayo," he reassured the skeptical demon. He looked at Kurama with the determined spark he had had in his eyes countless of times before.

Ah, Kurama thought with realization. He's back.

"Thanks, Kurama," Naruto said sincerely. "I really needed that."

"Whatever," the Kyuubi grumbled with false annoyance. "Just don't let it happen again. My siblings and I didn't turn back time just to waste it on giving you stupid pep-talks about things that you should already know about."

Naruto nodded, his infamous shit-eating grin threatening to split his face in half. He took a good look at the Kyuubi's tired face. It was obvious to him – someone who had spent years having the giant fox live inside of his head – that there was something troubling the great demon. "There's more." It wasn't a question, just a simple state of fact.

"Yes," Kurama said with a weary sigh. "As you know, to turn back time as we did, it means going against the natural order of things and breaking almost every sacred rule of the universe. What we had done had angered the gods, greatly. We almost failed, which would have resulted with the destruction of the world."

"But you didn't." Another statement of fact.

"No," the Kyuubi said. "Instead, we succeeded… but with a price…"

"Which is?" Naruto asked.

"A bargain… a deal made with the Shinigami."

"What did he ask from you guys?"

The demon hesitated, but – nonetheless – he answered the question. "In return of allowing us to carry on with our plan, as soon as we have succeeded in our quest to defeat Uchiha Madara and prevent the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Shinigami wished for the soul of Uzumaki Naruto as payment."

Kurama waited patiently for the outburst that he was so sure would inevitably come. But, it seemed that the young blond will surprise him once more.

"Ano sa, ano sa, in other words, as soon as Madara drops dead…so will I?" Naruto said slowly as he looked at Kurama for clarification. "And instead of going to the afterlife – or wherever the hell dead people go after they die – my soul will wind up in the hands of the Shinigami like my father's did?"

"M-more or less," Kurama said carefully, suspicious of how calmly the boy was taking the news of his inevitable death.

"Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, 'ttebayo," Naruto said with an accepting smile. "If giving up my soul means I get a chance at saving everyone, then I think that there's absolutely nothing to worry about." At this, the blonde's smile grew wider. "And besides, this way, I get to see my Tou-chan again and maybe spend the rest of eternity bonding with him inside of the Shinigami's stomach. The world knows that we never had enough of that!"

The great demon sighed. This kid, he thought as he looked at Naruto's cheerful expression. He's unbelievable.

"Very well," Kurama said. "If you really are serious about this, then I would like you to know that you have the support of all of the great bijuu's behind you. And when the time comes, and the Shinigami arrives to collect your soul, just know that you would not be alone in that either, for I have every attention of following you to the bitter end."

"Ano sa, ano sa, what are you talking about, Kurama?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Kurama smirked. "Well, you didn't think that I'd actually let you face the Shinigami alone, did you, gaki? Whether you like it or not, I'm going to be there with you. Mostly because when the Yondaime sealed me inside of you, your father had every intention of leaving you as my last Jinchuuriki. Since the night of your birth, our two souls have been connected as one through the Shiki Fujin. So, in other words, if you die, then so will I." Here, Kurama smirk grew wider and deadlier. "Besides, I've got a bone to pick with that cursed Shinigami and I'd be damned if I'm not allowed the opportunity to give him a piece of my mind."

Naruto laughed nervously at the Killing Intent he could sense in the demon's eyes. He was just glad that it wasn't directed at him this time.

"Now," Kurama stated once he had finished planning his justified revenge on the God of Death. "We do not have much time. You would have to start now, if you ever want to regain your previous skills and abilities. And I would suggest you start with relearning the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu when you steal the Shodaime's Scroll of Seals tonight."

"Right." A pause. Realization set in. Realization turned into utter disbelief and horror. "Oh no! Mizuki! The Scroll! I completely forgot about it, 'ttebayo!"

Kurama sighed.

Unbelievable, the demon fox grumbled in his thoughts. Why am I the one stuck with Jinchuuriki who are always dumber than the ones before them?

XxX

"Naruto," Iruka growled dangerously as he loomed over his blond student who was currently lying on the ground with Scroll of Seals laid down next to him.

The boy sat up and rubbed the back of his head with a light chuckle – a habit that he could never grow out of, even when he was older. Naruto stood up and strapped the giant scroll onto his back when his teacher had backed up to give him the space needed. "Oh man," the blond said with disappointment. "I got caught already. I only managed to learn one technique, 'ttebayo."

It was then, that Iruka took in – with great surprise – the worn-out and exhausted state his student was in. He practiced here, the Chunin thought, until he was all worn-out?

The truth was that it only took Naruto half-an-hour to relearn the Kage Bunshin technique. He had then learned how to tap into Kyuubi Mode in his much younger body, which took him about an hour – give or take a few minutes. The rest of the time he had was spent learning how to concentrate Kurama's chakra into his finger-tips – under kurama's tutelage – and how to release it to his target for when he need to return his friends memories back to them.

Not that Iruka needed to know that, of course.

"Ano sa, ano sa," Naruto said excitedly. "I'm going to show you the awesome jutsu that I learned, and once you see what I can do, you're going to have to let me graduate, right?"

Iruka just stared at the boy in disbelief. "Huh? Who told you that?"

"Mizuki-sensei, dattebayo!" Naruto said loud and clear to make sure that Iruka heard him properly. The boy then proceeded to turn around and gave his teacher a good look at the scroll he was carrying. "He was the one who'd told me about this place and this scroll, 'ttebayo!"

Iruka's face had gone three shades paler in the space of one second. He couldn't believe it. Mizuki did what…?

Naruto's blue eyes widened when he sensed the malevolent presence behind his teacher. Then, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He's here. "Iruka-sensei, look out!"

Iruka gasped when his felt his – surprisingly strong – student push him until he was at least five feet away from where he was previously standing. From his position on the ground, Iruka saw the barrage of kunai being thrown at his student. Though most of them missed – since they were initially meant for a bigger target – a couple of them still managed to stab his student in his left thigh and right shoulder while a few more kept the boy trapped by imbedding themselves in his orange clothes and to the wooden wall of the shed he was leaning against. Thankfully, none of them had damaged the scroll strapped onto the boy's back.

He was horrified to see the blood flowing out of his student's wounds. The feeling intensified a hundred-fold when he saw his fellow academy teacher with a few large shuriken strapped to his back grinning with satisfaction on top of one of the many trees in the area.

"Mizuki!" Iruka yelled hatefully at the other Chunin.

"I'm surprised you managed to find the brat and got here before I did," the white-haired man said without keeping his hateful eyes off of the wounded twelve-year-old. "Naruto," the traitor called to the blond. "Hand over the scroll to me."

"Don't Naruto!" Iruka yelled at the boy. "You can't let Mizuki have the scroll! That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden techniques! Mizuki used you so he could get a hold of it!"

Naruto – who had been busying himself with taking out the kunai from his clothes – just stared defiantly at his white-haired teacher. "I'll give the scroll to you," he gasped as he pulled out the kunai from his shoulder, "as soon as hell freeze over!" He gritted his teeth painfully as he quickly pulled out the kunai that had buried itself in his thigh. Damn! Even with his fast healing, the wounds still hurt like hell, dattebayo!

"Naruto," Mizuki said with a false smile. "Iruka is just afraid of you possessing that."

"Shut up, Mizuki!" Iruka growled at the other man. "Don't listen to him, Naruto!"

Mizuki chuckled darkly. "He's the one you shouldn't be listening to, Naruto. Iruka is lying to you. He always has been. They all have. But now, it is time for you to know the truth."

"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka yelled desperately.

"A rule was created after a certain incident that happened about twelve years ago," Mizuki said as he looked at Naruto, not wanting to miss the look on the poor boy's face when the truth is finally revealed.

"Stop, Mizuki!" Iruka yelled in vain.

Ignoring the brown-haired man, Mizuki continued. "The rule is that no one is allowed to tell you that you, Uzumaki Naruto are the demon fox, the Kyuubi no Yoko who had attacked this village twelve years ago and killed most of the villagers including Iruka's parents."

"Shut up!" Iruka yelled as he closed his eyes shut. He couldn't bring himself to see the look on his favorite student's face at knowing the truth behind the villagers' biased hatred towards him.

"You've been deceived by the village people your whole life. Didn't you think it was weird for everyone to hate you so much? How they would shun you and despise you for just existing?" Mizuki laughed maniacally at the desperation in Iruka's face and the dark expression that had invaded Naruto's. "That's why you would never be accepted in this village! Even Iruka-!"

But Mizuki was never given the chance to finish his sentence. He was too surprised by the laughter that was bursting through the blond Jinchuuriki - who until this point had stayed silent. Even Iruka seemed shocked at this. "That's it! Haha ha haha! That's the big secret you were talking about!" the boy laughed gleefully.

Naruto's happy smile had left both Iruka and Mizuki flabbergasted.

What the hell is wrong with this kid? Mizuki wondered.

"If that's such a huge secret," Naruto chuckled with mirth, "then Konoha must be the worst shinobi village ever, 'ttebayo! I mean, what kind of sorry excuse for a shinobi village can't even keep a secret like that from one of its own villagers?" He wiped a small tear that had run down his face, as he silently hoped that his acting skills were enough to fool both Mizuki and Iruka-sensei. He found that plastering a smile on his face and laughing like a maniac was a more effective approach than acting shocked to hear something he had already known about. Thank goodness that his wounds had finally healed, or else all that laughing would have been very painful. "The villagers haven't really been that subtle about the reason why they hate me, 'ttebayo," he said as he looked straight into Mizuki's eyes. "I may be an idiot, but I'm not deaf! You think I couldn't hear all the insults they threw at me? 'Kyuubi-brat,' 'Demon spawn,'" Naruto listed off. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they meant, 'ttebayo!"

Then, Naruto looked at Iruka with a kind and forgiving smile. "And I don't care about any of it. I may be a demon and I may be a monster, but that doesn't change the fact that I am Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato!" Then, he narrowed his eyes and glared heatedly at Mizuki. "And you," he pointed a finger at the traitor, "are going down!"

"Talk while you can!" Mizuki growled once he had gotten over his shock. "I can finish off a kid like you in a flash!"

"Just try it, you bastard," the blond said with a smirk as he positioned his fingers in a cross-like seal. "Whatever you do, I'll give it back to you a thousand-fold!"

"Try it if you can!" Mizuki took out a giant shuriken from behind him and threw it at Naruto. "Take this, you demon!"

"Naruto, look out!" Iruka yelled as he got up to stop the giant shuriken that was racing towards his student.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Poof.

"What the-?" Iruka gasped as orange suddenly assaulted his vision.

In a single second the entire clearing was suddenly filled with hundreds and hundreds of Narutos. The giant shuriken was stopped in mid-air by two clones as the original crossed his arms in front of his chest and a smug expression invaded his face.

No way… Iruka thought in amazement. He actually managed to perform a high-class, forbidden kinjutsu straight from the Scroll of Seals itself. And if what Naruto said was true, then he only had a few hours to learn and master it. This boy, the man thought fondly, he's amazing.

"What's the matter?" one of the clones taunted the panicking white-haired man.

"Come and get us, 'ttebayo!" another clone yelled from the trees.

"Give us your best shot!"

"What did you say about finishing 'a kid like me' off in a flash?"

"Dattebayo!"

Mizuki fell to the ground as he stared wide-eyed at the orange clad boys surrounding him.

"Well, if you're not coming to us…" one of the clones stated.

"…Then we'll just come to you, 'ttebayo!" another finished with a shout.

The clones charged.

Mizuki's unmanly screams could be heard all night by anyone within a five mile radius of the clearing – which unfortunately weren't that many people.

XxX

Naruto chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand as he looked at Mizuki's battered, bruised and bloodied body lying on the dirt. "I might have overdone it a little, 'ttebayo." Then, he turned to his favorite academy teacher and gave him a once over to make sure that the man was safe and unscathed. "Are you hurt, Iruka-sensei?"

"Am I…?" Iruka said incredulously. Naruto was the one who got stabbed with multiple kunai and was just told (not much of) a secret that could possibly change his life forever and the boy was asking if he was hurt? Like I said, Iruka thought exasperatedly. This boy is amazing.

Iruka chuckled before he burst out in loud laughter – shocking Naruto a little in the process – and sat down on the ground leaning against one of the many trees in the clearing. He is amazing. Suddenly, Naruto's dream of surpassing all of the previous Hokage doesn't seem so impossible.

Iruka continued chuckling before he beckoned Naruto to come over to him. "Naruto," the teacher said. "Come over here for a second. There's something I want to give you."

Naruto – knowing exactly what it was Iruka-sensei wanted to give him – walked over to the man with a wide grin.

"Close your eyes," Iruka commanded.

Naruto followed his command gladly.

And then… "OW!" Naruto rubbed the bump on his head as he valiantly – and unsuccessfully – held back his tears of pain. "That hurt, 'ttebayo!" he yelled as he scowled at his teacher. "What the hell was that for, Iruka-sensei?"

"FOR BENG AN IDIOT! And for getting yourself hurt, you irresponsible brat!" Iruka yelled back, spit spraying from his mouth. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down – slightly. "Now close your eyes again."

"I don't think I want to, 'ttebayo," Naruto said as he continued rubbing the huge bump on his head and eyed Iruka warily.

"Naruto," Iruka growled in warning.

"Fine," the blond grumbled.

A couple of minutes later…

"Sensei, are you done yet?"

"Alright, open your eyes."

Naruto did just that. His blue eyes opened to the image of his scarred teacher smiling proudly with Naruo's green goggles held in his hand.

"Congratulations, Naruto," Iruka said, his smile never faltering. "You are now officially a real Konoha shinobi."

Naruto just stared at him in disbelief. Even after going through this exact same event once before, the seventeen-turned-twelve-year-old boy couldn't help the pride and happiness he could feel welling up inside of him just waiting to burst.

"Alright, now why don't we get ourselves cleaned up? Then, we can celebrate your graduation at... hmm… Ichiraku's perhaps?"

"I…Iru-k-ka…sen-" the boy sobbed as crystal tears ran down his scarred cheeks. "Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he tackled his teacher into the tree the man was leaning against.

Iruka just chuckled as he pat the boy's back and sat back as he let the boy hug him with all his might.

I won't let you down this time, sensei, Naruto vowed silently. I'll wear this hitai-ate proudly and save everyone. That's a promise, 'ttebayo…

I won't lose you again…

XxX

In another part of the village, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was using the Toumegane no Jutsu to watch the heart-felt scene through his crystal ball.

"Naruto…" he murmured as he gazed at his old friend's only son worriedly.

Unknown to said blond, the Sandaime had seen everything he had done in the clearing while Iruka and the other shinobi of the village had been worriedly searching for him. He had seen Naruto not only learn and master the Kage Bunshin technique, but the old man had seen him practicing with his Kyuubi Mode as well.

What was that teachnique? Hiruzen asked himself as he racked his brain for any jutsu that he knew that covered its user in a shroud of chakra that resembled golden flames such as the one 'Naruto' had used before. If that really is Naruto…

XxX

A/N: I'll try to update as soon as I can – hopefully before the month ends – I promise! Until then, tell me what you think. Love it? Like it? Hate it? It bores you out? Tell me!

Recommended fic of the chapter: Just Fight Already! by Sarah1281 – one-shot, a Naruto Fanfic.