Naruto was dead. This thought was the only thing that pervaded the consciousness of Haruno Sakura. Pain had killed him, after a long, intense battle between the jinchuuriki and the leader of the Akatsuki. "It's not fair!" she screamed inside her head. "We just got Sasuke back! We were supposed to be a team again!"

After years of training, searching, and chasing, Naruto had finally fulfilled his promise to Sakura. He had gone after Itachi after hearing news of Orochimaru's death, knowing that Sasuke would be making his move soon.

Running into the remains of the battlefield between the two brothers, Naruto had found Sasuke collapsed next to his brother's corpse, with a strange plant-man standing over him. Immediately dispatching clones to chase off the stranger, Naruto had sealed Itachi's corpse into a scroll, and carried Sasuke away.

Sakura had quickly assessed Sasuke's wounds and stabilized him, assuring the worried Naruto that Sasuke would be okay. The entire party consisting of the Konoha 11 had then journeyed back to Konoha.

A relieved Tsunade had met the group at the gates to welcome them back, but before they were 20 feet into the village, they had been accosted by Danzo. He attempted to order Sasuke taken into custody as a missing-nin, before Naruto interfered. The thought brought a choked sob out of Sakura.

Flashback

"Are you nuts!?" Naruto glared at Konoha's War Hawk.

"Not at all young man. The Uchiha deserted Konoha and has brought danger to several members of our Shinobi core, not least of all you, on several occasions." Danzo countered. "He must be imprisoned as a threat to village security."

Naruto spun to look at Tsunade for help. "Unfortunately he has a point Naruto. While he was never declared officially a missing-nin, that was mostly a technicality. But he DID desert, and he DID attack you several times." Sakura had shot her mentor a betrayed look. Tsunade had winced, before continuing. "It's a temporary thing, until we can get Inoichi to mind walk him, and ensure he isn't going to betray us again."

"Baa-chan are you crazy! That's what this bastard wants!" Naruto indicated Danzo. "He prob-"

"Insolent brat! Respect your superiors!" cried Danzo.

"Shut up bastard!" Naruto spat back. "I reserve respect for those who deserve it, and I answer to Kakashi, and the Hokage, in that order." He turned back to Tsunade. "Baa-chan you're the one who told me not to trust this asshole. He probably wants to brainwash him or something!"

Danzo fumed at Naruto's disrespect, but before he could reply, Tsunade spoke again. "Naruto, please calm down. While I agree Danzo should remember he has not authority over the Shinobi core," she shot an annoyed glance at Danzo. "He does have a point. There are protocols we need to follow, and unless you can prove that Sasuke's actions were a benefit to the village, we need to asses him as a threat."

Naruto then looked thoughtful. "Beneficial to the village, like say, hunting down missing-nin?" Naruto asked.

"Bah, there may have been reports that the brat killed Orochimaru, but there is no proof he actually did! He could still be working for Orochimaru as an infiltrator!" Danzo tried to regain the initiative.

Naruto had just smirked in a way that Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto's other friends had long grown wary of. It spoke of a prank incoming. "So just to be clear Baa-chan, if we could prove Sasuke killed Orochimaru, it would keep him out of Danzo's claws?" At Tsunade's wary answering nod, his smirk turned into a full on grin, and drew two scrolls out of his pouch. He seemed to take far too much pleasure from dropping Itachi's corpse and Orochimaru's head at Tsunade's feet. "There, proof of two S-Rank missing-nin kills by Uchiha Sasuke. We located him alongside Itachi's body, and he was in possession of the scroll containing Orochimaru's head. Now Danzo, kindly fuck off!"

And Naruto and Sakura hand carried Sasuke past Danzo's inarticulate sputtering and off to the hospital.

End Flashback

Not long after that, they had learned of Jiraya's death in Amegakure, and Naruto had departed to learn Senjutsu from the Toads. Sasuke had remained behind, with the secret promise between them that he would alert Naruto immediately if the village came under attack. He didn't want anyone else dying in his place.

True to his word, Sasuke had sent word to Naruto the moment Pain had attacked. Arriving in a reverse summon, Naruto and Sasuke had proceeded to come down on the invading Paths of Pain like the wrath of Kami. Of the six paths only one had still been standing after 15 minutes.

Naruto and Sasuke battling back to back had been as terrifying as anyone who knew the pair expected. With the trust they held for one another, they moved without hesitation, attacks moving past one another, or joining together in a random, incomprehensible rhythm only the two of them could perceive. Sakura and Kakashi had supported them from behind, covering their few blind spots, and aiding the civilians they saved, as Team 7 was reborn in a trial of fire.

Then tragedy had struck, as Naruto sacrificed himself to save Sakura.

Flashback

Naruto landed back next to Sasuke as the shriek from his last thrown Rasenshuriken faded away, Sasuke's Susanoo fading into existence around them, intercepting an attack from the Animal Path's Centipede Summon. Sakura crashed down onto the monster's head like a meteor, her fist pulverizing it's exoskeleton and forcing it's summoning to dispel in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto hadn't missed a beat and as he regained his footing he leapt past Sasuke straight towards the Animal Path's body. Seeing him coming the Animal path had prepared a spike to drive through Naruto's chest as he arrived, but a Kage Bunshin popped into existence next to Naruto, and flipped him over the Animal path, before a third Naruto appeared and sent the original towards the Animal Path's back.

Just as the first clone died on the Animal path's metal spike, Naruto smashed a Rasengan into the Animal path's back sending her careening back towards Sasuke. Turning to face the oncoming hostile, Sasuke had neatly fielded her body with a Chidori through the head, destroying the path. Naruto skidded to a halt, and looked at Sasuke. "Just like old times! Except with more badass! Oh and Sakura isn't useless…" Naruto teased.

"Hn," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

"Can it Naruto-baka!" exclaimed an irate Sakura.

Before she could continue to berate him, they all heard a new voice "Bansho Ten'in" and Sakura was yanked backwards and up towards the roof of a building. Naruto saw the direction she was flying, saw the Deva path readying a spike, and acted on autopilot.

Without even thinking about it he knew he would never reach the Deva path in time, nor could he stop Sakura's flight by catching her. So he molded his chakra and triggered a kwarimi with Sakura, taking her place in the air, and with a sickening shlurk found Pain's weapon embedded through his chest, straight through his heart.

End Flashback

Needless to say, Sasuke had reduced that particular path to a fine red mist in a Kirin blast. Sakura continued to sob as she cradled Naruto's head in her lap. There wasn't a hole anymore, she had poured everything she had into healing it, into making Naruto better but he wouldn't wake up. And so she had to admit the he was gone. Sasuke stood mutely over them, unable to process that Naruto, the unpredictable, incomprehensible, brilliant dead last was gone.

He wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulders and held her in an awkward hug, unsure what to do in this situation. "Damnit Naruto, don't you know Sakura needs you! I'm no good at this shit! What happened to always being there for each other! As a team, damnit!" Even as he thought that he felt guilty, knowing he hadn't been there for them like he should have been.

Soon after, other Shinobi began to arrive, standing on rooftops, filling the streets, but keeping a respectful distance from the grieving Team 7. All of them had seen Naruto going toe to toe with Pain, his clones carrying others to safety, and ensuring that none of his comrades died in front of him. The village had finally realized that Naruto was a hero. And universally, the Shinobi bowed their heads in grief for another fallen comrade.

And Sakura remembered his final words, uttered to his team, the ones he considered family.

Flashback

Sakura was kneeling next to Naruto, pouring green medical chakra into the hole in his chest, but it seemed to just dissipate before reaching his skin. "Sakura…" croaked Naruto. He reached out and gently pulled her wrist away. "Bastard's rods are made of a chakra disruptive metal, and he did something to that one. Sent flakes of it spreading out into the wound. Chakra can't heal this. Even the fox is powerless."

Sakura had growled. "Shut it baka. I became a medic to save you and Saskue so let me do my job. I still need to pay you back for that useless comment and I can't do that with you bleeding out!" Even so she felt a tear leak out as her diagnostic jutsu told her he was right.

Naruto coughed painfully, and spat out a globule of blood, and after a second asked, "Sasuke, did we win? Are our comrades safe?"

Sakura had held back a sob, and Sasuke had replied, unwilling even in his head to acknowledge the thickness in his throat. "Yeah, we got them all. All six paths, and the blue haired chick. The real one was a cripple and the elder Ino-Shika-Cho formation brought him down."

Naruto had sighed, and nodded once. "Then it's all good. We protected them, and the rest…the rest is just…just details." He finished tiredly, closed his eyes. And died. Sakura had let out a muffled scream of anguish and tore the metal flakes from the wound, forced the wound to close, but it was too late.

Naruto was gone.

End Flashback

Several Days Later

After the funeral Kakashi hadn't been seen for days, he simply sat at the memorial stone and stared, tears leaking from his only visible eye. Eventually Tsunade had come and forced him to come back to the Hokage compound where she explained that Jiraya had left everything to him and Naruto. But since Naruto was now gone, it was all going to him.

The reminder of his other major loss nearly sent him back over the edge. He was no stranger to loss, and he could have dealt with the loss of either Naruto or Jiraya, but to lose both so close together felt far too much like when he lost Obito, then Rin, and finally Minato. Tsunade had sent him home with a box of Jiraya's things that he had left in her care, and strict orders to be at the hospital for a check in tomorrow morning. Or she would come and find him herself.

Kakashi had gotten home and sat down on his couch, the box left unopened in front of him. After a while his eyes drifted to a pair of pictures that took place of pride on his mantle, the first of himself, Obito, Rin and Minato, while the second depicted an older version of himself, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Despite Naruto's upset image in the picture, Kakashi remembered Naruto's grin, his never say die attitude, and knew that if he saw him sitting there like that, he would kick his ass. So he forced himself to remove the lid of the box, and sort through it. It was mostly old journals of Jiraya's notes on seals, his spy activities, and the like. He even found a manuscript for an unpublished novel of Jiraya's, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Then he found the scroll. Opening it, he saw what looked like a completed seal, but wasn't sure what in the blazes it was supposed to do. He recognized a few elements from Jiraya's notebooks, and using those as references he translated the seal.

Then he rechecked his work, carefully rolled up the scroll, and blurred out of his apartment faster than he had moved in years, clutching the precious scroll to his chest. Sasuke and Sakura needed to see this, because it would change everything.

Literally.

Sakura had taken one look at Kakashi's expression and followed him without a second thought. He looked so hopeful, and she was desperate for something good to happen at that moment. When they arrived at the Uchiha compound Sasuke, who had sensed them coming, opened the door wordlessly and ushered them inside.

Once they were all seated in the sitting room, Kakashi unfurled the scroll. "How familiar are you both with the principals of fuinjutsu, and in particular the Hraishin?"

Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, so Sakura decided to answer. "Fuinjutsu is the art of creating pathways to guide and manipulate chakra outside of direct human control. Typically ink mixed with some kind of organic medium is used as a base," she started. "The Hraishin was a legendary technique created by the Nidaime, and perfected by the Yondaime, utilizing some kind of seal to facilitate instant teleportation to any marked location."

"A textbook answer, and mostly correct." Kakashi replied, excitement leaking into his voice. Sasuke leaned forwards sensing something coming. "Fuinjutsu is, ultimately, the art of manipulating space and time. All seals at some fundamental level, alter the fabric of reality to create pocket dimensions, stretch space between two points, etc. to create the various effects we see from seals." At the word time Sasuke had a sudden suspicion as to where Kakashi was going.

"The Hraishin in particular manipulated space in several ways, creating a duplicate of nearby space time within a pocket dimension, which was then filled with the chakra of the user. This allowed the user to sense anything within that chakra field, giving them an image of nearby surroundings. Additionally, that charge acted a beacon allowing the user to aim the second portion of the technique, which was kept secret by the Nidaime and Yondaime."

Sakura was still confused. "So this seal," she indicated the scroll. "Has something to do with the Hraishin?"

Kakashi nodded enthusiastically. "It has everything to do with the Hraishin. In fact, it IS the Hraishin, with one, itsy-bitsy difference. Instead of manipulating space, it manipulates time." Sasuke nodded slowly, while Sakura's jaw dropped. "Apparently back when Minato found the basics of the Hraishin, he got Jiraiya-sama to help him with it. Jiraya never puzzled out second portion, which is why he could never use the Hraishin, but had the idea of converting the first portion into a time seal. Theoretically this would allow him to move small pockets of space backwards through time."

"Why didn't he use it!" Sakura exclaimed! "He could have prevented the Kyuubi attack! Or later on Orochimaru's attack!"

"He never finished it. Minato came close though. This is a draft that Minato-sensei sent to Jiraya-sama to look over. Minato was working on converting the second portion of the seal, and had succeeded. But the energy costs for sending anything physical back through time were astronomical."

"If it doesn't work, why are you so excited?" asked Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

Kakashi eye smiled. "Because it DOES work. Jiraya-sama, after figuring out that the issue was the physical matter, worked out a way to send a person's consciousness back, rather than their bodies. He never used it because he never had time to develop the last seal he needed to make it workable. A seal which was capable of containing, and distributing senjutsu chakra."

Sasuke touched the cursed seal on his shoulder. "Something Orochimaru did figure out, and gave to me."

Understanding dawned on Sakura. "Sasuke can power the seal. Sasuke can send us back in time. We can save Naruto!" Sakura felt like a great weight had been lifted off her chest.

"Screw that!" said Sasuke. Kakashi and Sakura looked at him in shock and horror. "We do this, we're doing it the way Naruto would." A smirk that reminded them both of Naruto was growing across his face. "As big as we can make it. We go back to the beginning, to the creation of team 7, and we do things right this time."

Sakura thought back, of all the little things Naruto had learned, and stretched into incredible feats, all the times he had done the seemingly impossible with no support. "Whenever Naruto was given an inch, he turned it into a mile." She said warming to the idea. "Imagine what he could have been if we were giving him miles the whole time…"

Sasuke nodded. "We started out as rivals, who wouldn't admit they became friends, and eventually comrades. But this time we'll start out as comrades, right from the beginning." As the two of them looked at Kakashi, he slowly nodded. After all those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash, right?

"…wanna get lunch with me to celebrate us being on the same team?" Naruto asked her with a hopeful expression on his face. Sakura thought back to all the times Naruto had asked her out and she had replied with her fists. All the times he had gone out of his way to make her feel better, the way he had sworn to her to bring Sasuke back to her. And she thought of the way he had always treasured her, and ultimately given his life to save hers.

"Sure Naruto, we can make a date out of it!" The sound of an entire room face faulting was priceless, as was the look of shocked excitement on Naruto's face as she dragged him out of the room. "See you in a while Sasuke!" she called over her shoulder.

Sasuke slowly smirked at his teammate's antics. Yeah, this was gonna be fun…

A/N: I'm back! This was just a plot idea that I wanted to write a start to, if people like it I may write more, not really sure where I was going to go with this yet, so we shall see. Let me know what you think.

Oh and as a side note for those who care, I am working on a rewrite (again) of Kami's Reward. I have way more respect for anyone who can organize a video game fic now. Seriously there is like 400 million things to figure out before you even start.