The woods were a busy place this time of year. The wind blew, softly swaying the trees it passed by, and creating the new falling leaves to dance in wild patterns as they descended on the earth of the last remaining section of the Konoha Forest. All the rest of it had been destroyed or defiled by Orochimaru. As the leaves swiveled and twisted down to the earth, the woodland animals moved about, preparing for the winter season ahead. The squirrels gathered their nuts, birds began flocking together to prepare for their long journey. Yet one thing in the forest stayed still. Shockingly still, actually, as it contrasted with the moving background.

A young man wearing a large straw hat sat up against a tree with his head down, seemingly asleep. The young man seemed to be frozen in time forever. He never moved, never seemed to breath, and was the only still thing in the forest.

But suddenly, his head snapped up, instantly alert. He sniffed the air once, and lazily heaved his way up into a standing position. He leaned up against the same tree he had been resting upon moment before, crossed his arms, and again regained his frozen pose.

"You can come out now" he calmly said, no, commanded of the forest around him. When there was no reply, he simply chuckled and continued his relaxed position on his tree.

"I said you can come out. Hurry before I lose my patience with you Itachi!"

Two figures dropped out of the tree behind him, and cautiously approached. Itachi stepped forward. "We've come to offer you a proposition Naruto," said Itachi, as he gave a slight bow, never removing his eyes from Naruto.

Naruto turned and removed his straw hat in a respective manner, finally revealing his appearance. His shocking blonde hair had stayed the same, spiky as ever. He looked to be around 23, but if one looked at his face alone, his eyes would say he was middle aged. His eyes, the same electric blue, had lost something. After seeing so much death and destruction in the one place that he loved and had loved ones, his eyes no longer held the hope that they had contained when he was a young, naïve boy of 13. He was well built, but not exceptionally tall.

But what was most interesting about his appearance was the way he incorporated those who were dear to him to his appearance. His old teacher, Kakashi, had contributed his sense of style to Naruto. Naruto wore a mask over the lower half of his face, and his forehead protector also covered one of his eyes. His forehead protector too, was given to him by a loved one. It was the forehead protector of the late legendary sannin, Jiraiya. From Rock Lee, Naruto's arms were covered by bandages. From Tsunade, her precious necklace hung from his neck. But his most distinct characteristic came from Sasuke.

Sasuke had escaped from Orochimaru's lair, after Orochimaru had attempted to take his body. He returned to Konoha, and after a few conflicts, Naruto and Sasuke had resolved their differences, finally openly regarding each other as brothers and rivals, both pushing the other to be greater. To show this bond, Sasuke had given Naruto something of his that would forever show their bond. One of his Sharingan eyes.

"And what kind of proposition would that be, Itachi?" yawned Naruto, only half interested with this conversation. All he really wanted to do was get back to his well deserved slumber. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for helping Orochimaru invade Konoha."

"Errm, yes, we are very sorry about that…please, hear us out," apologized Kisame quickly.

"Hm, I'm sure you are sorry about helping that snake bastard aren't you? Especially because he betrayed you too in the end, didn't he?" Naruto sighed. "You guys are really cutting into my resting time. But I guess that's unavoidable. Tell me, what do you want?"

"We have come to offer you…"

"Yes, I know, a proposition, now get on with it"

"Well, we….remaining Akatsuki, have found a way to change the very fabric of our world, and we were, ah, hoping you might help us."

"Help you? Explain, and quickly, I don't have all day. Well, not for this conversation at least."

"In essence, we have found a way to change the past and…."

"Change the past?" inquired Naruto, suddenly interested in the conversation. Naruto had lost much in his life. He remembered when all of his friends died. Kakashi, captured and tortured to death by Orochimaru himself. Jiraiya, killed by Kabuto as he tried to slow him down for Naruto to escape. Rock Lee, sacrificing himself by opening the eight celestial gates to defeat the demon snake that Orochimaru had unleashed upon Konoha. Tsunade, killed by a poisoned dagger, poisoned by a drug that only Tsunade herself could have remedied. And Sasuke, dying in the final, desperate battle for Konoha by Naruto's side, vowing that he would always remember Naruto as a brother.

"Yes, change the past," said Itachi, interrupting Naruto's flashback. "The jutsu send the user back through time to the point of his or her choice, allowing him to alter the very past, thus changing the future, for better or for worse."

"And," began Naruto, very curious, "Why exactly do you need MY help?"

"The jutsu requires an enormous amount of chakra, exponential amounts, amounts I can't even dream of. And the only person who has that kind of chakra is you Naruto."

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This is Buddyboy, speaking to you from the future. OOOOOOOh, spooky, right? Well, I just want to give you some insight into the workings of this fic. First of all, the chapters will get longer. Much longer. Second of all, this is a story about redemption. And for one to get redemption, one must fall as well. So don't be surprised to see characters do things that they might not do in canon. There will be Sakura/Sasuke/Kakashi bashing, but the entire theme of this story is the redemption of characters, so please, try to read it through and if you're still not satisfied, THEN you can flame me.

Thanks, future Buddyboy