So I've had this story in my notebook for a while now and just found it today when I was cleaning my closet. It's not complete but I know everything that's going to happen so hopefully no massive brain malfunctions while I'm writing. At first I was going to wait to put this up, but I'm going to be moving pretty soon and I might forget about the notebook sooooo- here it is. Hope you enjoy! Please review!

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1: New Mission

The village of Konoha was in ruins. Smoke filled the sky and bodies littered the streets. The once beautiful village was now only shattered remains of the war. Merely two months ago the village had still stood strong. Now it was empty. The only structure still standing was the grand Hokage mountain. Worn and crumbling, the faces of past leaders stared out at their broken home, cracks littering their faces, giving the stone a heavy, grieving feeling.

"Sorry dad," a voice croaked from atop the stone heads. "I failed you. I failed everyone." His once blond hair was matted with blood and his light blue eyes filled with unshed tears. A bitter smile twisted his lips. "As expected of a demon."

At the edge of his senses, he could feel familiar presences making their way towards the village.

"But don't worry," he laughed, coughing up blood. "I know they can fix it."

"Naruto!" a frantic voice called. Pounding footsteps sounded near him. They stopped only a few short feet away and he could hear their breath hitch painfully.

"Oh no," Sakura gasped, taking in the mangled body of her dear friend. Rushing forward she fell to her knees and pulsed healing chakra into her hands. They had all made it this far, how could she let him leave them now?

"I-I found him!" she cried, praying the others would hear her past her sobs. "Oh Naruto, what have you done?"

Naruto smiled up at her warmly but didn't say anything. He needed to save his strength for what was to come.

Soon enough, the rest of his remaining friends surrounded him, panic and worry etched on their faces. The dull ache that always followed when he noticed the empty places of people who should be there but would never appear again hit him just as hard as it always did.

Hinata sobbed brokenly as she spotted the large hole in his chest. It was to close to his heart. Even the Kyuubi would have a difficult problem healing such a wound. Ino hugged her tightly, whether to comfort Hinata or herself she didn't know.

"Oi," Kiba said shakily. "What'd you do this time you idiot?"

Naruto chuckled before coughing harshly, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Dobe," Sasuke hissed angrily. "Who the hell said you could go off on your own?"

Shino stared down at him blankly, but Naruto recognized the furrow between his brows. The bug user was angry, but pain was just as evident.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, kneeling down next to his fallen leader.

"Sorry guys, but it had to be done," Naruto whispered.

"Why?" Sakura choked. "Why did you go alone?!"

He wanted to wipe away the tears on her face, he really did. However with one hand preparing a seal for something supposedly impossible and the other lying somewhere around the village it was hard to muster up the strength to do anything really.

"Because," Naruto replied, determination flashing through his eyes, "I had to make sure he wouldn't follow you."

His friends looked confused but Shikamaru leaned forward.

"I knew it," he muttered. Naruto blinked up at him. "I knew you were planning something."

The smile returned, a mischievous tint tilting one corner of his mouth higher than the other. "Should've known you would have noticed, no matter how hard I tried. I assume Sasuke had a feeling as well?"

The others glanced at the raven-haired man only to receive a non-committal shrug.

"I thought so."

"N-Naruto," Hinata swallowed, attempting to stem her tears. It had been a long time since her stutter had made an appearance. "What do you m-mean by follow?"

Naruto closed his eyes. This was it. After months of careful planning, it was finally time to set his plan into motion.

"I am sending you on a mission," he remarked, opening his eyes to stare at them solemnly. "Sakura, stop. It won't work."

The pinkette glared at him angrily.

"Don't waste you're chakra. I'm still not one hundred percent sure how this will affect you. You have seen wounds like this in the past, you know what will happen."

She frowned uncertainly but did not move her hands.

"Please," he pleaded. "I might not be able to go through with it if I think it will hurt one of you."

"But-"

"Please."

She looked him in the eye, noting the familiar steel glint. Whatever he was planning it was big. After a long moment of hesitation she slowly pulled her hands away.

"Thank you," he sighed, ignoring how it had suddenly become harder to breath. "All of you come closer, we have to do this quickly."

"Do what?" Kiba questioned. He kneeled down with the others around the blond.

Naruto took a deep breath, pushing the pain away. "For the last few months I've been trying to find a way to defeat Madara." They listened intently, causing him to smile. "In my search I found various types of time manipulation jutsu. As you know, those were Madara's main techniques so I decided to study those more closely. During my studies I found various amounts of incomplete seals. These seals are the reason I came here today.

He paused, rolling his head to look over the destroyed village.

"Even if we managed to kill Madara and win the war nothing would really change. The war has gone on for to long. It has destroyed everything."

The remaining Konoha twelve stared sadly at his desolate face. They knew it was true. To much had been taken away.

"But," Naruto's voice sharpened as he turned back to look at them with a smile. "I found a way to fix it. To fix everything."

"What?" Ino whispered.

"I decided to send you all back. To stop what has happened."

"I don't understand," Hinata frowned. "Send us back where?"

"To a time when everything was okay."

Shikamaru stared at him incredulously. "You mean time travel."

The others looked equally shocked.

"That's," Kiba started. "That's impossible!"

"Anything is possible, dog-breath."

"Oi!"

"But Naruto," Ino cut in, stopping the potential argument. "If it was possible, wouldn't someone have already done it?"

"Others have tried," he responded. "The massive amount of incomplete seals is proof of that."

"Then what makes you think you can do it dobe?" Sasuke's question was more curious than anything else. Ever since the man's return he had never truly questioned Naruto's abilities though he mocked him relentlessly nonetheless.

A smirk twisted Naruto's lips. "I just so happen to have more resources than they did." They all thought of the demon residing in their blond Kage. "Unfortunately," he sighed, "the same could be said for Madara."

"And that's why you-" Sakura began.

"And that's why I had to kill him before you left."

"Naruto," Shino spoke up, his bugs shifting uneasily. "The way you have been speaking is rather confusing. You are planning on coming with us are you not?"

He smiled sadly at them. This would be the hard part. "No."

Surprisingly it was Sasuke who snapped first.

"What do you mean no, usuratonkachi?!" He barely stopped himself from punching the moron in the face. "You're leaving us to fix this shit by ourselves!? It's you're plan, don't shove it onto others."

"I'm sorry, but I-"

"Bull shit," Shikamaru snapped. The others jumped. They hadn't heard him this angry since they lost Chouji three years ago. "You think we haven't noticed? How you blame yourself for everything that's happened? How you torture yourself needlessly? You think you can just go die and everything will be okay?"

"Shika," Naruto whispered, his eyes wide and face pale.

"No!" he barked. "Stop pitying yourself! Do you think we would follow you so honestly if we believed any of this was your fault? I know you are smarter than you would have us believe but you're still a hopeless moron. This is a dangerous plan. We might even end up making things worse. We need a leader, and that can only be you. None of us have studied seals like you have and something might go wrong. Don't give us hope when you are planning on destroying it in the end."

Sakura brushed the hair out of Naruto's face, revealing vulnerable blue eyes.

"We all love you Naruto, and we would follow you through anything. We need you and you need us. We can't do this without you."

"But," Naruto croaked. "All those people who died, and the village, was all because I was not strong enough. None of that would have happened if-"

"If Madara wasn't bat shit insane," Kiba fumed. "He killed everyone, not you."

Ino reached out and placed a gently hand on his scarred cheek. "You did everything you could, Naruto. You've given everything to this village. No one blames you for what happened, except yourself."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. There had been so many times were he could have killed Madara, but had failed because he was not strong enough. All the pain, all the death, it was exactly what he had always feared. For years he had been hated, and resented for pain he had not caused. AS a child he had been told that one day he would destroy everything around him.

And it happened. His dream to be Hokage, the one he barreled toward with stubborn determination and will, had been reached and he had started to believe that maybe he wasn't the monster people claimed him to be. Hokages were protectors. They defended their village and their loved ones with everything they had. Naruto had finally believed that he had pushed past all those cruel prophecies, only for his village to be burned to the ground not even a month later. He protected nothing.

He had failed.

And yet his friends were trying to convince him it was not his fault. Why didn't they blame him? Why didn't they see him how everyone else had? What was so important about him that made them follow him so blindly into every situation?

"We will not leave you behind, do you know why?" Shino spoke, pushing his glasses up with his forefinger. Naruto looked up at him curiously. "Just as my bugs are connected to one another, so to are we all connected. We are family, though not by blood, just as my bugs are. Family leaves no one behind."

Oh. Naruto had always believed them to be family, but he had never dared to believe the sentiment would be returned. He closed his eyes, wondering what he would think if one of them were in his position. An ironic smile made its way onto his face.

"I would be pissed," he thought in amusement. "If they tried to stay behind."

But still…

"I'm dying," Naruto sighed, feeling even weaker than before. "When I send you back, I can't send your bodies. That was one part of the seal even I couldn't complete. What I will be using is your memories, your experiences. They will be reversed in time to the you of the past. I made this seal specifically with only six people in mind. With how injured I am, I have no idea when I would be sent back. It could be completely pointless, and I might not even remember anything. It could mess up the seal some how!"

"It is worth it," Hinata smiled warmly. "Having you with us, no matter what the cost, will always be worth it."

Tears pricked his eyes for the first time in years.

"Guys… I .."

Sasuke snorted. "Just do it dobe. You're wasting time."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Way to ruin the moment, teme." Closing his eyes he focused on his remaining chakra. The group's eyes widened as a complicated seal began to appear on his body.

The seal wavered, before slithering along his body and down his remaining arm, swirling together into a ball that looked shockingly familiar to the Rasengan.

"Place your hands on the seal," Naruto choked out shakily. His already deathly pale skin went whiter and his partially healed wounds ripped open.

They quickly put their hands on the spiraling black orb, not wanting to prolong his pain.

A pulse of chakra traveled through their bodies as the sphere began to turn white.

"If I don't regain my memories," Naruto wheezed, "do not allow me to ruin this chance."

"Naruto-" Sakura started.

"No!" he barked harshly, his chest heaving. "I have already failed once. I can't afford to make the same mistake."

Before they could reply the seal burst burst into light, expanding to surround them.

"Good luck," Naruto smiled as they felt their eyes begin to close. The last thing they saw before everything went dark was his sad smile as a single tear slid down his face. "…and I'm sorry."

Alrighty, first chapter done! I like how this turned out, but any constructive criticism would be welcome. Please review! Flames will be ignored.