A/N

Please don't hate me for not focusing on one story. I just can't, m8.

Chapter 1—A chance to fix the past

Madara was dead. He was truly dead, and yet, it didn't matter. No one else was there to share in the victory. The only ones there to witness the final defeat of the greatest Uchiha were the reanimated Tobirama Senju, and Orochimaru of all people. Naruko hardly thought that they counted.

So there she was now, staring absently at the body of her foe, wondering what she would do next, after taking some time to recover emotionally, of course. Her body would be fine, thanks to her Uzumaki blood and Kurama inside of her, but her mind couldn't ever be the same again. She had no friends left and no future, not even the Byakugan eye Hinata had given her with her dying breath could see what she would do.

In the mindscape shared by all Biju and their Jinchuriki she stared into the mad eye of the giant fox before her. "Kurama what do we do now?" she quietly asked her partner; maybe he had an idea of what she should do.

"Well you could free me and let yourself die" he suggested, as if it were so simple of a task.

Naruko sighed, she really had been thinking of doing that. "No, I don't want to die yet. Something's telling me it's not my time."

"And all the times you nearly died against the Akatsuki didn't tell you that you weren't going to die yet?" Kurama chuckled slightly.

"I suppose you're right," she conceded. "I would try the time travel seal so I can just fix everything, but it doesn't work."

"You and I may not be smart enough to figure out some damn seal, but our two allies here might. They are considered genius's after all," he reminded her.

Naruko blinked, not having thought of that, before exiting the shared mental plain and shouting at the two men who were standing a distance off "What do the two of you know about time travel?"

-0-

It had been several hours, and Naruko was growing incredibly impatient. Not that she had ever been the most patient person to begin with, and added to the anger that had been growing within her over the past few years, well, to say the least it made Kurama happy. She was considering, at the moment, that in fact since men were useless, she'd just finish the damn seal herself; though her rational self told her that she couldn't, and that was why she needed help in the first place. She was abruptly woken from her thoughts when Tobirama came over to her and announced that "The seal is ready." It was about damn time for that too. She had been waiting for far too long.

She stood up and walked over to where an intricate seal had been drawn into the ground, spiraling out for several feet. She began to try to decipher it for herself as Tobirama explained how the seal worked. It was far beyond her comprehension, which was extremely aggravating to her, but as she was listening to the former Hokage wrap up his explanation, Naruko realized the flaw in the seal. "It's not going to work," she said flatly.

"Oh, so you figured it out, did you? I didn't think that you'd be able to." Naruko restrained herself from beating the shit out of Orochimaru for his remark, and was it ever tempting.

"Yes it's true," Tobirama nodded, "the seal can only send someone back mentally to their true past. Any attempt at sending the body will cause the body and mind sent back to deteriorate within a matter of hours due to the paradox of there being two of you in one place. You won't be able to stop any of this happening to the true you, but we can change some of the essence of the you we send you back to. Anything that happened to you will also happen to other you, and the end result will be the same as now, unless you change it."

"Well I can't just send my mind back," Naruko thought out loud, "and I guess it doesn't really matter anymore because I can't save myself." And for once she truly was disappointed. She really didn't know what to do now since her only chance to fix what would happen to her.

"You truly are a disappointment, Naruko Uzumaki," the voice of Kurama boomed in her head. "How many times do you think that you stood here and didn't go back to save yourself because it wasn't truly yourself. How selfish can you be? The Naruko I know always helped the ones she cared about to the best she could. And even though she failed, she never gave up. We are friends, Naruko, and though I'll kill you one day, for now I'll give you a chance to make the right choice."

The giant fox's words really struck her. They had always worked together just because they had to in order to stop the Akatsuki from taking over all the Bijuu, as well the fact that the Kyuubi really enjoyed all her rage and hatred. "Wow that's really out of character for you, you big softy," she muttered, "but you're right. Right about that I should save this other version of me. But you're still wrong about me not being selfish. I did everything we've done together out of selfishness."

To that, Kurama could only snort in amusement.

Before the shinobi by Naruko's side could begin to try to change her mind, she informed them "I changed my mind. I'm going to save this other me and her friends, because I couldn't save them before."

Not seeming very confused about her sudden change of mind, Tobirama nodded and said "Very well then, we shall begin."

-0-

Naruko was inside a seal, and while that had happened before, none of them were like this one. It was like a tunnel, with a rotating chakra wall that seemed to rotate both slower than mountains grew and faster than a bolt of lightning. It was frightening, but the strangest part of her was that bolts of the strange chakra had hit her when the seal first activated, and now she was staring at her own body. She had changed a lot over the years too. Her once tan skin was white with the scars from her own chakra that had become more corrosive as her anger grew and she became closer to the fox. Her short, spiky, blond hair had been grown out to reach her mid back. She kept most of it in a loose braid but had ninja wire where it divided when she used Kurama's chakra. Her bangs gathered on the right side of her face.

Her left eye, the visible one, was no longer the same after many years. Once a bright blue, it was now a bright purple, with the pupil being stretched to more resemble the fox's. Her ears were also influenced by the fox, becoming more pointed, and her canines also had become nearly fangs. Her right eye was the white Byakugan that Hinata had given her before she died, which she covered with a black eye-patch. Naruko had lost her own eye to a stray senbon. Though she looked more like the fox, her whisker marks had oddly faded, though they did show up when she drew on Kurama's chakra. Kurama said it was probably because her chakra had become more like his. Missing having some kind of mark on her face, she had painted red marks under her eyes that went out to her ears and down the side of her face. Though based on Jiraiya's paint, Naruko's made it so that more chakra was naturally sent to her eyes, making it easier to see and break genjutsu, not used to summon toads.

She had made several modifications to the outfit that she wore too. She switched out her black headband for a red one like Sakura had worn. She wore a sleeveless black shirt with an orange stripe at the base of its high collar, along with looser fitting grey pants that stopped at just around her knees. She had tied a red obi around her waist. Under that she wore a mesh bodysuit, for protection as well as for channeling a chakra shroud made of her own chakra, she had also wrapped the visible parts of her arms and legs in grey camouflage bandages. Instead of the usual flak jacket worn by Konoha shinobi, she instead wore the one worn by the ANBU, though it was a lighter grey than the ones worn by the assassination unit. Her gloves were also long and light grey, but they only had armor on the back of the hands, as on the wrists she had orange scrolls that she used to summon weapons. She wore black ninja sandals, though they were even shorter than usual to provide her with a greater range in movement and flexibility. She also was wearing a brown reinforced trench coat that she mainly used to blend in, as it cast a subtle genjutsu that would make civilians and weaker shinobi simply overlook her. It was also full of pockets, which any shinobi would find useful. She had slung her katana over her shoulder; it was a simple looking blade, with a simple black scabbard and hilt, and the blade looked average, though it was very strong and sharp, and could channel even Kurama's chakra without being destroyed.

The chakra of the tunnel was beginning to destroy her body, and Naruko began swimming over to her body and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was back in her body, and all she felt was intense pain. She felt as if her entire body was just going to fade away, and though the chakra was burning it, Kurama was healing her even quicker. So she just floated through the tunnel and tried to tune out the pain. As if sensing an end, the chakra in the tunnel began to flare, and Naruko grit her teeth as the pain grew more intense, before it reached its crescendo, and there was a sudden flash of blinding light, and she was unceremoniously dumped in a forest clearing. Feeling light-headed and nearly completely drained of chakra, she realized with a start that all of the trees in a fifty foot radius had been blown back, probably by a burst of chakra, and if that was the case, than more likely than not there were a squad of ANBU on the way to capture her. She felt Kurama's chakra working its way towards her eyes, and he activated her Byakugan, and she saw on the mountain the faces of the first four Hokage, and on top of the Hokage tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself. To Naruko, it seemed as if the elderly shinobi was looking directly at her, and with a shudder, she deactivated the Byakugan. She took a deep breath to make up her mind to go to Konoha and show herself to the Hokage, but before she could, she fell over, and the last thing she saw was a squad of ANBU looking at her, and their leader giving handsigns.

-0-

Naruko woke up in a dungeon, and outside it, a dark-haired man with scars on his face was talking to a short old man in a funny red and white outfit. He was saying "…her DNA matches up with nearly exactly with the-" He cut off before he was finished speaking as he noticed that she had woken up, but before he could say anything to her she passed out again, letting her dead tiredness take over her.

-0-

She woke up again and the same old man was outside of her cell, though this time he was with a blond man with a ponytail. "…severe chakra depletion and her mind is scrambled. Concussed maybe. We're not sure, not until she wakes up and we can get inside her mind," he was saying.

"I see," the old man nodded. "Not only that, but she has the Kyuubi's chakra and a Byakugan…"

She passed out again.

-0-

This time Naruko woke up feeling very refreshed. She noticed the IV in her arm, and thought about taking it out, but decided against it. She tried to get her bearings about her, still feeling very confused and disorientated. She thought and tried to remember what had happened. She had defeated Madara, and travelled back in time to fix everything. It was Kurama who had convinced her to do it. Kurama! Where was he? She could feel his chakra inside of her but she couldn't contact him. She couldn't get her own chakra either. They had probably put a seal on her, thinking that she was dangerous. It was then that she also realized that she was very naked, with only a bedsheet to cover her, and that her eyepatch was gone, for all the world to see her Byakugan. None of her equipment was in the room, though she had expected that.

She heard a set of footsteps, and a second later she saw the blond man from before, who she now realized was Inoichi Yamanaka. Last she had seen the man, he had died protecting his daughter from a nasty sound attack used by the Otogakure shinobi. She steeled herself not only for this confrontation, but for the ones she knew were going to happen in the future. "Well, you're awake. We need to have a talk." Inoichi's voice wasn't cold or intimidating, but rather matter-of-fact. He made a hand seal, and a clone poofed into existence, before running down the hallway and only half a minute later returning with the old Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Now, why don't you tell us who you are, my dear," Hiruzen commanded. Her once grandfather figure's voice was warm and full of mirth, but it contained a steel that would show itself if she resisted.

Seeing no use in lying, as both of the shinobi in front of her would be able to tell very quickly, she said "My name is Naruko Uzumaki, I'm a time traveler from the future."

If he was surprised by this answer at hall, the old Hokage didn't show it. Years of experience would make either of them difficult to read. "Okay then, can you tell me how and why you came back from the future?"

"I came back through the use of a seal that I was working on. Orochimaru and the reanimated Tobirama Senju helped me complete it," she informed them. She knew about where about in time she had landed by the man's reaction. He grew a scowl and Naruko began to understand that she had landed about where she had wanted to. "I did it because everyone I knew, all of my friends were dead. I wanted to go back and stop everything from happening. But it couldn't work so I'm helping me, who's also not me. It's the best I can do." Here some of her emotions began to leak through her voice.

Hiruzen's face softened a bit. "So I'm dead then, when you come from?"

"Yes," Naruko bit back her emotions, "you both are."

Neither shinobi outwardly reacted to that, Hiruzen just continued with "Okay, can you tell me why the Kyuubi is sealed in you and not Naruto, as it should be? And why your right eye is a Byakugan?"

"Wait, Naruto? The me here is a boy?" Naruko wasn't exactly pleased with this information. Saving him would be harder. Boys were stupid, after all. Well that, and she had a feeling that the male version of herself would have even less self-control than she did

"Yes," Hiruzen seemed amused by her response, though she was unsure if he really felt that way. "Now would you answer the question please?"

"As I said before," Naruko reminded them, "I am Naruto, kind of. The Kyuubi was sealed in me when I was a baby, as I assume it was Naruto. I've carried him with me all my life. And I got this eye from a friend when she died. She wanted her visual prowess to remain with Konoha rather than fall in enemy hands."

"I see," Hiruzen hummed. "What do you think Inoichi?"

"I couldn't detect any lies from her. She's telling the truth," the man responded.

"Very well, you may leave us, and tell Shikaku she's trustworthy," Hiruzen dismissed his subordinate.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Inochi confirmed before returning down the hallway from which he came.

Hiruzen sighed after Inoichi left, dropping his tough facade. "You aren't a spy are you? If you are, you're pretty bad at it."

Naruko felt a bubble of irritation rise up in her. "Yeah well, lying's never been my strong suit Jiji."

Hiruzen allowed himself a smile. "That it isn't, Naruko-chan. Are you going to tell me all what happened?"

Naruko took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I can't, not because I don't want to, but because our enemies might grow suspicious, they're smarter than we think, after all. I'll tell you when the time comes." Though, she was truly thinking how she didn't want to break the old man's heart, or her own for that matter.

"Very well. For the next two months I want you to think about what to do as best as you can. You can train and integrate yourself into the forces too, but I don't want you to make them suspect you. After that time, I'll be sending you on missions."

"Why two months?" Naruko had to ask.

"Why that's because you graduate in two months," Hiruzen responded with a grin, but his face quickly turned serious. "You're going to need an alias. Your name is practically the same."

"Right." Naruko thought for a second. "How about Itamiko Shiokaze? I think it seems appropriate. I'm also going to need a cover story."

"How old are you, Naruko-chan?" Hiruzen asked, multiple thoughts clearly running through his mind.

"I'm twenty," Naruko told him. Usually she'd get mad when people asked questions like that, as they generally came from people like Jiraiya, but she knew that he was trying to give her a cover story.

"You were a war orphan, from the Third Great War, you entered Konoha, didn't make many friends, and graduated early," Hiruzen told her. "Your Genin team was killed and you were allowed a special exception to make Chunin without taking the exams. You were assigned some special missions before the Uchiha massacre, and since you've been following Itachi Uchiha, but returned when you were almost compromised."

"That's pretty intense, I don't think many people will believe it," Naruko said.

"It's not out of the realm of the impossible," said Hiruzen, "just don't allow anyone to even guess that there's another truth, Itamiko. I'll tell Shikaku and Inoichi that that's what happened, and if anyone questions them about you, your cover won't be blown. It won't be good if Danzo were to find out that you're from the future." And with that he touched her forehead, and removed the seal that she had been trying to find. "Now," Hiruzen continued, "your new apartment will be in the same building on that of Naruto Uzumaki. Your room will be on the same floor as his. I will pay for it until you start doing missions."

"Right," said Naruko, "but I'm going to need some clothes. I'm not going to go out there naked." She didn't miss the blush that grew over the old man's face, and her irritation grew even more. She had forgotten that he was a pervert.

-0-

Minutes later Naruko, now Itamiko, was wearing a red dress and her old black eyepatch as she was walking over towards her apartment. It had been a while since she had lived in a building and had neighbors and such, it would take her a little while to get used to it of course. She was staying just a few doors down from Naruto, she wanted to keep an eye on him, but also have a bit of distance from him. Not surprisingly, no one else was on the same floor as they were. This was the time back when she was hated just for being a jinchuriki.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see a few furnishings in her apartment already. She had a fridge and an oven, she had a couch, a bookshelf, and a bed. She was also surprised to see her things laid out on the counter, as well as her new shinobi ID. It was good that Hiruzen had gotten her a new one; her old one wasn't even valid yet.

Itamiko's stomach startled her by growling loudly, and she realized that she hadn't eaten in the past few days, so of course she'd be hungry. Upon inspection of the fridge and cupboards, she learned that she didn't have any food, so she decided that she'd just go get ramen at Ichiraku's just down the street. There was also a high chance that she'd meet Naruto, which she wanted to get out of the way.

She was right, of course. As she walked up to her old favorite place, she saw a familiar pair of orange clothed legs dangling from the seat. She at herself a couple of seats down from Naruto and ordered a bowl of miso ramen. Itamiko couldn't even remember the last time she had ramen, and she hoped it would be as good as she remembered.

"Never seen you here before," Teuchi observed. "You just get in to Konoha?"

"Kind of," she responded. She was having a hard time not looking at Naruto. He looked almost the same as she did at that age, of course, but what she was really watching was how he was eating his ramen. Bowl after bowl, faster than an Akamichi could eat. It was kind of gross, actually. "I've been on a mission the last couple of years and I never had a chance to eat here before that. Thought I'd give it a try."

"Well," Teuchi smiled, "always happy to have a new customer."

As expected, before he could ask her something else, Naruto burst in excitedly. "A mission? Are you a ninja? I'm a ninja too, and I'm the strongest ever, believe it!"

"Naruto, don't ask the poor lady so many questions," Ayame scolded him, as she gave Itamiko her bowl of ramen.

"Yes, I'm a ninja," she told the excited kid. "My mission is top-secret, of course. And I think the Hokage is stronger than you."

Naruto's face lit up. "Well of course he's stronger than me, he has to protect the whole village. Everyone looks up to him because he's the strongest. That's why I'm gonna be Hokage too, so then everybody will have to recognize me!" he exclaimed.

Itamiko ate some of her ramen before responding. "Well kid, if you want to be Hokage, you're going to have become a Genin first."

Naruto nodded. "I know, I'm gonna pass the academy this time because I can't give up. Hey what's your name? I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Itamiko grinned. "At least you have the manners to introduce yourself first," she said. "I'm Itamiko Shiokaze. Naruto, huh? I must be your new neighbor?"

"You're my neighbor?" Naruto was ecstatic, and it kind of made her sad. "Oh, wait, I have to go. See you later, Itamiko-san."

"Bye, kid," Naruko said, as she finished her ramen.

"Hey, Itamiko-san, can I ask you to do something?" Teuchi asked with a serious look on his face.

"Sure what it is it?" She was sure that this was something to do with Naruto. Teuchi had always been there for her, and more than likely it was the same way for Naruto. The ramen stand owner had been that way until the he died.

Teuchi sighed. "Can you look out for him?" he asked. "A lot of people hate him for no reason, he's a good kid. Sometimes they break into his apartment and attack him. Usually the ninja get involved and stop it, but not often enough. You're his neighbor, can you make sure that he's okay?"

"Yeah," Itamiko smiled, "I can do that." With that she paid for her food before running up to Naruto who, was currently walking towards the center of town. "Hey, you going to the academy?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "I don't really want to go, but Iruka-sensei says that if I skip anymore days, they'll have to expel me."

"Iruka-sensei?" she asked. This day really was giving her a lot of hard memories.

"Yeah," he nodded. "He yells a lot at me, but he also yells a lot at other people too. He's nicer to me than most of the other teachers."

"That's good," she said. "You should listen to him, you won't become Hokage if you don't go to class. You learn a lot of good things there too." She was quoting Iruka, something he'd said that she'd never forgotten.

"Okay." Naruto sounded unsure, but she was sure that he'd listen to her. "Thanks, Itamiko-san."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off. "Drop the 'san,' would you kid? It's making me feel too old."

"Sure," Naruto said brightly. "Thanks, Itamiko. Bye." And with that, he walked into the academy.

Itamiko sighed, she felt the young kid already growing on her. Though, to be fair, he was her. And with a groan, she walked off towards the market; she needed to get groceries as she didn't have any food. "Hey Kurama," she asked her tenant, "did you get a read on the you inside of him?"

"Yeah," he grunted, "I'm dormant inside of the seal. If I remember correctly, I will be until he first accesses my chakra."

"Good," she said. "We won't have to worry about him sensing you until then."

"Yeah," the demon responded, "I'll be fine, but what about you? Can you handle all this?"

"I don't know," she responded truthfully. Her heart was already heavy and it was only going to get worse from here.

A/N:

Hey yeah umm I got motivated to right a time travel story so I started doing that. Worry not, I'm still working on chapter 2 of Purpose, it's just not being very cooperative. Also, I'm almost ready to continue with New Experiences. I just have problems being motivated is all.

11/1/16:

I've gone back and made some changes, mostly in grammar and such, though some of what you saw was based on suggestions by gunner brat.