Second Chance

Chapter One

It was hazy, smoky in the ruins of a once great village of Konoha. Demolished buildings where still smoldering and there was no movement anywhere in the wreckage.

There was however one survivor, he was sitting still on top of a disfigured face that was carved into the side of the mountain side overlooking the destroyed village. He was sitting in the only face left on the side; the fourth one was damaged during the assault. The other five faces, the three to the left of the man and the two that where to his right, where completely gone. Just rubble and rocks left at the bottom of the cliffs.

"Dad," muttered the man sitting there. "I failed, I couldn't protect anyone, not a single one of them." The man looked down at the stone face that he was sitting on, "I guess compared to you I was a shitty Kage. You gave your life and saved them all before, where as I, I'm the only one left they are all gone."

The blonde mans face fell into his hands, "I lost them all," he murmured and then looked up to the sky. The rolling, dark clouds threatened to bring a rain that has not come. Much like his tears have always been close, but never came, even when his say his wife's body.

He could almost see her blushing face in the clouds, "Hinata-hime, I'm sorry but it looks like that my promise for our life together has been broken."

The blond saw her face replaced with another, "Sasuke, you teme, I hope that you are burning in hell for this."

In his minds eye he could see the group calling them selves 'hawk' infiltrate the village, forces of missing nin flanked them and Sasuke leading them, creating an opening for them with his position from inside the village.

Though he was not there for the battle, he 'saw' his friend's deaths. In a long sting of images they all fell to his blade. Sakura-chan, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Sai. He didn't want to close his eyes as they kept coming up there. Fuzzy-brows, Shino, Tenten, Shikamaru, Neji. He couldn't stop seeing it all happen; even when he blinked he saw them. Tsunade-Obachan, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Shizune-neechan, Konohamaru, and Hinata-hime. Every damn time he closed his eyes he saw it.

"I know you where wronged, teme. I know what they did to your clan." He said tears finally starting to fall and the first drops of rain hit his face. "But it wasn't the village that did it!" he screamed at the clouds. "The Uchiha did it to them selves, so why?" he gasped for breath, "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE EVERYTHING!? And then you forced me to kill you in the end." He said, "and what was it all for?"

"Hokage-sama." There was a sudden voice from behind him. The blond made no sign that he heard anything. The person spoke again, "Naruto are you listening?"

Naruto didn't turn, but responded. "Hello Gaara," he said thickly.

"Why did you not answer me the first time, Naruto?" the Kazekage asked, walking over to his friend.

Naruto was silent for a moment, his eyes not leaving the ruins that was his village. "You called me Hokage; I shouldn't be called that anymore. Gaara you know what it means to be a Kage." He sighed, "I failed. I have failed as the support and protection that was required of me. Everyone is gone except me, now what kind of Kage is that?"

Gaara sat down next to him, "you where not here, Naruto. You can't be everywhere, you where doing the other aspect of you job."

"Don't," Naruto started. "Don't try to justify it. Now even that is finished. Konoha was the place that, that idea came from." He looked at his friend, "we were the driving force behind the massive alliance, and now that too is gone." Gaara made no response and Naruto continued. "It was Sasuke."

"I know, and I am very sorry that he did this," Gaara replied.

"He came back to the village of his own choosing, years ago. I was blind to it; I refused to see what he was. I was just s happy then my best friend, my brother was back in the village." He paused for a moment, but continued with Gaara listening intently. "There where suspicions about him, but I looked past them as it was Uchiha Itachi who planted it into my head of the possibility that Sasuke's loyalties could be shifted." He looked up at the sky again, "in retrospect I should have at least taken what he said into consideration. I didn't and this is the result," he said nodding to the village.

Gaara was silent as normal and Naruto continued. "I lost everything, and I was forced to take out the man I thought of as my brother." Naruto said all of this quickly, as though it would be less unpleasant to do so, but when he was done his head fell back into his hands unable to say any more.

Gaara stood and spoke softly, "Again I am sorry Naruto. I can tell that you need quite a bit of time." He turned to leave, "I request that you come to Suna with us, for the time being. I will have Temari and Kankuro wait to escort you, they will check on you in a little while."

Naruto hardly felt himself nodding his head, and as it was Gaara still almost didn't catch it. He sat there for a few minutes until he felt Gaara's Chakra signature nearing the broken gates.

His had snapped up suddenly, and he spoke softly to his already gone fellow Kage. "I'm sorry Gaara, I know that you care, but…but I'm sorry you may think of me as a coward, but there is nothing left for me anymore." He said this pulling a tri-pronged kunai from his side pouch. "Nothing at all," he repeated holding the blade to his wrist. He was so numb he didn't even feel it slice into him.

"Why the hell did you do that, you stupid brat?" Roared a deep, guttural voice from inside Naruto's own head. The voice was becoming frantic, as the blood was escaping faster than he could heal his vessel. The boy would be dead from blood loss soon. "Damn it kid, I am not supposed to die like this. What the hell gives you the right to chose like this?"

He got no response; the great fox spirit could feel his host slipping away. They were being separated, and the Kyuubi knew that with out a living host he was just a form of Chakra and would dissipate and die like a weak mortal. In his final moments the fox began to curse the fact that he would die in a place like this. Hell that he would die at all was infuriating. "If only there was more time to heal the…"

The demon paused and then grinned. "that's it then, it is the only way. Hey brat you damn well better be thankful to me for this."

The fox began to glow, the red fur was turning white and blinding. In a flash he vanished from behind the bars. Naruto's last sight was two pairs of feet approaching him, fast, before everything went black.

There was a blinding flash of light, it illuminated the entire village. The shinobi and the civilians of the village all looked up to where the flash of light came from. After the lot of them blinked the spots from their eyes, they saw…nothing. There was absolutely nothing there.

In the heart of the village stood a large tower, in the center of room was a group of people. They where gathered around a table, and on the table was a small bundle of pads, on top of which lay a crying infant.

The onlookers saw a circular seal appear on the child's stomach. It glowed a deep red hue, before turning to black and then, fading away completely. Once it faded the baby stopped crying and seemed to fall asleep.

Of the people around the table there was a kindly looking old man, his hair white as his robes. His normally bright eyes began to grow misty as he tried to hide this.

Another man there was younger than the first, late 30's by the look of him. He was a tall powerfully built man with long, spiky white hair. Two red lines, one starting under each of his eyes, ran down his face. He leaned over the child, not even trying to hide the tear sliding down his cheek.

Jiriaya gently placed his hand on the baby's abdomen and the black design reappeared on the child. He pulled his hand from the still sleeping baby, and he examined the seal. Nodding once, he straitened up and, in a strained cracking voice, said to the older man, "Sensei, the sealing seems to have been successful."

There where four other people in the room, two of them where just as old as the white robed old man, Sarutobi. They sat in the shadows and looked impassive, the male of the pair wore thin glasses, and he looked over them as Jiriaya examined the seal.

The female of the pair had her graying hair tied in a bun on top of her head; she also wore a neutral expression, betraying no emotion.

There was a man there who had a sadden look in his eyes. He had long black hair which fell neatly down his back, and was dressing in elegant robes. He surveyed the child with his very light colored, almost white eyes. "What happens to the boy?" he asked Sarutobi.

The Hokage spoke, "First we must be absolutely sure that the sealing took place as planned." He turned to the last person in the room, a young man with white, gravity-defying hair. The man was masked and for his head band over his left eye. "Kakashi?"

"Hai, Sarutobi-sama?" replied the young man with a slight tremble to his voice.

"I need you to find Yamanaka Inoichi, and bring him to this office. His services are required."

"Hai," the young Jonin said simply and vanished from the office in a burst of smoke.

The man with long black hair looked down at the sleeping baby, "so this is truly Minato's son?" he phrased the question to no one in particular.

Sarutobi answered, "Yes Hiashi, that is Naruto. However that bit of information will not leave this office."

The Hyuuga clan leader glanced at the Hokage, "that is understandable; Minato had a lot of enemies. Hokage-sama you still have not answered my first question. What will happen to him?"

Sarutobi shook his head, "only time will tell that. Minato's wish was that he be regarded as a hero in the village."

"Fat chance," muttered Jiriaya.

The thirds eyes snapped to his old student, "what does that mean, Jiriaya?"

Jiriaya sighed, "I wish he be seen as a hero as well, but Sensei, think about it. He is an orphan now, if no one else knows that he is Minato's son…" he paused. "You know what will happen, he will be an outcast, and he will be feared in this village. I mean he has a demon sealed inside of him, how the hell do you think the people will act. They will see him as the demon itself, you don't need to be a fortune teller to see that."

"Lord Jiriaya makes a valid point, Hokage-sama," said Hiashi. "Though anyone with half a brain can tell you that a jail is not its prisoner. That fact that the demon is still among us will cause people to overlook that rational thought."

"Well it's the lesser of two evils isn't it?" asked the old man. "On the one hand, the people of the village can shun him. On the other hand his father's enemies could find out, and hunt him down before his is able to defend himself."

"I'm not sure we can even hide who his father is," smiled Jiriaya. "The little gaki looks just like Minato, the only difference is those marks on his cheeks."

At this moment there was two puffs of smoke that happened in the office, when it cleared it revealed two Jonin, one being Kakashi. The other man was tall; he had long blond hair that was tied in a pony-tail which trailed down his back. The mans cloths were dirty and torn in several places; he had the ruffled look of a battle weary solider.

"Inoichi," greeted the Hokage. "I am happy that you where able to come so quickly, I have a request for you."

Yamanaka Inoichi bowed respectfully, "Sandaime-sama, of course. How may I assist you?"

"We have need of you special skills, in order to check on the Yondaime's seal to make absolutely sure that all went according to plan." Sarutobi said, motioning to the blonde baby.

Inoichi looked over at the baby, "so this is the child that was used?"

Jiriaya nodded, "Yes this is the boy that Minato chose to seal the demon into. Now I have checked, and the seal is in place. What wee need is for you to enter the boys mind and be sure that there is an occupant in the seal."

Inoichi nodded, he walked over to Naruto and placed his hands into a seal. Holding his palms toward the boy he said, "Mind transfer jutsu." His body went limp and before he hit the floor, was caught by Jiriaya and placed into a chair.

"Hey gaki, wake up." Said a deep voice barking at a blonde man who was lying in front of the bars of the massive cage which contained the voice. "Are you listening, you little bastard? Wake the hell up."

Naruto shifted and slowly rose to his feet. "What the hell do you want you stupid fox?"

"Stupid fox!?" roared the voice, "Who the fuck are you calling stupid, you damned coward?"

"What's going on?" Naruto mumbled, "What happened?"

"What happened?" repeated the fox. "You must still be disoriented from the transfer." The fox looked up suddenly, past the man in front of him. "It seems that we have a visitor."

Inoichi was standing there in the mind of this newborn child. It was a complex maze, and it was dark and dreary. He looked to see a large pair of angry, red eyes. They where behind a cage, it seemed that the Kyuubi was indeed sealed as planned. What the Yamanaka was not expecting, was seeing a very familiar man there, another blond man. "Minato-san?" he whispered.

Naruto was becoming more aware, he shook his head to clear the fuzziness. He looked up at the Kyuubi, who was looking past him. Naruto turned his head and saw that there was another person standing there. "Yamanaka-san? What are you doing here?" he shifted his head to the ground, "I must be dead then but why is Ino's father here?"

Inoichi was taken aback, "what's going on here?" He could see that the other blonde was not Minato, though he looked very similar to him. "My wife is pregnant, we know it will be a girl and named her Ino, how did you know that?"

Naruto snapped his head back to the other man, "wait, what?"

"If you two would like I can explain what happened here." Growled the Kyuubi.

Naruto nodded, and sat down in front of the cage. Inoichi was still standing completely lost as to what was happening.

"First, brat I will explain why you are here then you can explain to the Yamanaka who can relay to the others and you can figure out what needs to be done," Spoke the fox. "When you died we where starting to separate, I had no body to inhabit as your life was drifting away. After I was ripped from my original body I am now a creature of pure chakra. Where we to be separated I would dissipate and die."

"So what happened?" asked Naruto. "And does it have to do with why Yamanaka-san didn't recognize me and," looking back at the man. "Why he looks younger."

The Kyuubi nodded, "it does, you see when you died our spirits where separated, at that point I was able to cast an ancient Jutsu. Which brought our memories back to the point in which we where joined."

"So we traveled back in time?" Naruto said taken aback.

"No our body is gone, only our memories went back and we merged with our past selves. And the time that you father sealed me into you."

"Your father?" Inoichi spoke up, shocked but seeing it made sense. "You are Minato's son?"

Naruto nodded, "yes." Turning to the Kyuubi, "I want to thank you, fox. This could prove to be the chance I need to save the village." He sighed and turned back to Inoichi, "there is something that has happened and this information I will need you to relay to the third."

"What do you mean?" asked the Yamanaka.

Naruto started to explain, "I guess in about eight years time from now and event will take place that will lead to the total destruction of the village, I would like to speak with the old man myself but it seems that my body is still that of a baby so that would happen yet."

Inoichi nodded, "what should I tell him?"

"Tell him that this village will face total destruction by one of its own. I was named the Rokudamie and failed to protect the village. I lose everyone, all my friends where gone. My wife Hinata was dead, and I was forced to kill my best friend for it. But this time around I think that steps can be taken to prevent it."

After the finished Inoichi canceled the Jutsu, waking up in the office he relayed the information that he was told. When he was done all of them where shocked at the news.

"Now we need to figure out what is to happen with him," said Hiashi. "My wife will be pleased when it happens. After all her and Minato's wife talked about setting my unborn daughter and Naruto up. So it really happens."

"Well that is one more thing that we must keep to ourselves." Sarutobi said, "If they are meant for that they will find each other. That being said what will we do with him? After all the boy is a Kage in a baby's body."

Hiashi spoke again, "I would like to have him brought into the Hyuuga clan, and there he can be protected."

Inoichi shook his head, "I respectfully disagree, Haishi-sama."

"What do you mean?"

"Where you not going to tell me that this is Minato's son?" Inoichi said. "If that bit of information is kept from everyone he will be treated unfairly. Minato was a friend of mine, Hiashi do you think that the Hyuuga elders would accept him, not knowing who he is?"

Haishi said nothing seeing the mans point.

"What do you mean, Inoichi?" asked Sarutobi.

Inoichi sighed, "I would like to talk with my wife first, but I wish to 'adopt' him until his body is able to be what it was in the future."

Authors note: please review I hope you like this one