Summary: AU. The war is won but at a terrible cost. Now the Rokudaime and his most faithful ANBU captain are traveling back to the past to save the future.
SasuNaru: OOC!ness: Time-Travel: Mentions of torture, violence, dark themes
Disclaimer: All rights belong to respective owners
Chapter One
His village was gone.
A shuddering sob left the blond Rokudaime's face as he stared down at the rubble that was once his beloved village. He paid no mind to the blood staining his bronzed skin and sun-kissed blond hair, nor the many lacerations marring his torso and back. All he could see was his beloved home, the village he'd sworn to protect, burning at the base of what was once Hokage Mountain.
Beside him, a tall pale-skinned man watched on, his heart clenching as his Kage screamed and sobbed in anguish, onyx eyes soft.
"Hokage-sama." He murmured and the blond looked up at him with desperate blue hues.
"It's all gone, 'suke! W-what am I going to do? What good is a Kage with no village to protect?"
The raven sighed softly and kneeled beside him.
"We can stop this."
"How?" Naruto asked brokenly.
Sasuke smiled.
"The Yarinaoshimasu no jutsu that you and Shikamaru were working on at the beginning of the war. With the juubi chakra and my own chakra we should be able to pull it off. We'd be able to keep our power, memories, and techniques, but our bodies will merge with that of our past selves."
The blond nodded slowly, a small glimmer of hope in his gaze.
He and Shikamaru had created the Yarinaoshimasu no jutsu at the beginning of the war after a night of lamenting the loss of their mentors. They had created it as a way to go back and save the lives of Asuma and Jiraiya but before they could test it Tsunade had found out and forbidden them from using it.
At this moment however, he had no other choice.
"What do you think, Kurama-tousan?"
A deep rumbling sigh left his surrogate father figure. "Do it, Kit. We have nothing more to lose and everything to gain should it go right."
Naruto nodded at Sasuke and in unison they began to flash through the hand signs necessary for the jutsu to work. Then in a bright flash of light…they were gone.
Beep
Beep
Be- crash!
Naruto snarled angrily as he slammed his fist into the annoying ringing contraption beside him, his blue eyes flashing a dangerous violet. Sitting up, he turned to wake Sasuke in the sleeping bag beside his only to freeze as he took in his surroundings.
He was lying on a springy mattress in his old apartment which had been burned down when he was thirteen courtesy of the villagers, a result of his failure to bring back Sasuke the first time. Ramen cups littered the floor, along with rusted weapons and dirty clothes, his beloved nightcap lying on his lamp and his hiate sitting on the dresser. He looked down at his hands.
Small, almost dainty appendages covered in callouses from training with sharper-than normal nails. They were smaller than he remembered them being, no longer the hands of a twenty-five year old war veteran, but those of a young child only eleven or so in age.
It had worked.
A hysterical giggle left him, tears welling in his eyes as relief engulfed him.
It had worked! Everyone was alive and well, his village thriving and bustling just outside his window. It didn't even matter to him that he was no longer Hokage or that at this current point in time most of his precious people either hated him or denied he even existed. They were all alive and safe.
His blues eyes darkened.
And they would stay that way.
Team assignments.
For Sasuke it seemed only right that Naruto's jutsu had brought them back to the day they became part of Team Seven, the day they began their life as shinobi. Now as he sat their waiting for the arrival of his master and his Kage he found himself fighting a smile.
This was a second chance for them, especially his master and he would make it count. Their comrades, their friends would live this time, if only to save the blond from grieving the loss again.
"What are you doing here, baka? This class is graduates only."
Kiba's taunt broke him from his thoughts and he turned his onyx gaze to the small, blonde in the door way smirking.
"If you haven't noticed Kiba. I am a graduate." He replied jerking a thumb at the hiate resting on his forehead.
Kiba rolled his eyes, snorting at the younger boy's words before turning back to his one-sided conversation with Shino. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him then turned and made his way up the stairs taking a seat beside Sasuke.
For a moment, he just looked around him. Then he smiled.
"The Yarinaoshimasu worked. Look at them. They are alive and it's so beautiful." He murmured softly and although the smile on his lips never fell, Sasuke could hear the pure agony in his voice.
The Uchiha nodded slightly, watching as Ino and Sakura came bursting through the door arguing.
"They will live, Naruto-sama. This, I swear to you. We will save them."
Naruto smiled at him, but said nothing.
Sakura and Ino approached him, glaring angrily.
"Naruto-baka, leave Sasuke-kun alone!" They screeched at him, moving to drag him from the chair only to be stopped by their crush, who grabbed their wrists before they could touch him.
"Leave him alone."
Everyone stared at the Uchiha heir in shock. Sasuke Uchiha was not known for defending anyone, so focused on his revenge that he usually ignored people in general. In addition to this, Uchiha was well known for his rivalry with Naruto, so to see him defending the class dobe was extremely shocking.
Naruto placed a gentle hand on his friend's wrist and shook his head sadly. Scowling the raven released the two girls and turned to face the front of the room with an annoyed grunt, ignoring the stares of his classmates, while his master sighed.
For a while no one spoke, staring at the two supposed rivals confused. Since when were those two civil with each other, especially to the point of Sasuke listening to Naruto of all people? Luckily, Iruka arrived before, moving everyone's attention from the two shinobi.
For a moment he just stared at them. Then he spoke in a gentle, but firm voice.
"Today marks the first step of your journey as Shinobi," He began. "Today you are genin, the lowest ranking shinobi in the village. Over time you may rank up, you will grow stronger and more aware of the world around you. You will find yourself suffering betrayals and failure, creating bonds and triumphs. Your ally may become your enemy," –Sasuke's jaw clenched in reminder of his own betrayal-"and your enemy will become your friend. However today, today is the day that you take your first step into the world of shinobi and I commend you all for making it here."
The gathered genin clapped and he smiled at them before raising his hand to silence them.
"Now, I will be announcing your teams. Teams are structured with based on the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and the specialization in mind for that team. The teams are as follows. Team one..."
Sasuke sighed, tuning out the team assignments as he already knew how it was going to go. Instead he glanced at his master, who was listening with rapt attention, soulful hues glazed with unshed tears. He tapped him gently.
"Are you alright?" He murmured nearly inaudibly and the younger man nodded.
"I'm fine. Just…trying to assimilate." Naruto replied, smiling as Iruka finally reached their team.
"Team seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke, under Hatake Kakashi."
They would do things right this time. This time Konoha would survive, no matter what they had to do to make sure it did so.
TBC…
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