Do over

Author's notes: This is my very first fan fiction, so please be considerate and if any mistakes are found, just point them out and I'll correct them. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

This story does not have any romantic pairing.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.

The river of time is mighty yet very delicate, it does not pause neither does it rewind, it only moves forward. Relentlessly. Continuously. Uncaringly. But when someone tries to breach this powerful river, what will happen? Will it pause in its relentless course or will it try to banish the very existence of that certain someone? Only time will tell….

Chapter 1

The rain kept falling. It came down in torrents, almost like a curtain of water descending from the heavens. Some would say it looked beautiful but a certain young blonde disagreed as he gazed down upon the graves of friends.

Some say that rain are the tears of angels mourning for the loss of good beings from face of earth but as Naruto Uzumaki cried , he wondered if their grief would come close to the grief he was feeling. He didn't think so.

Cerulean eyes dulled by grief shifted to stare at the battlefield; Naruto shuddered as he took in the sight of the blood soaked ground and quickly averted his eyes and found himself once again staring at the graves. As his gaze went over each grave, the image of each of his friend, bloody and in pain, appeared in his mind.

Tears welled in his eyes once again but before he could break down, he deliberately turned away and retraced his steps to meet his only 2 surviving friends- Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara.

As he walked, his thoughts wandered to the past events – 3 months back the 5 nations had stood together to defeat Madara . They battled hard and long and 2 days back they had won. But the cost of that victory was too high. All his precious bonds had perished. His beloved village was now no more. Only the 3 of them survived. Now he no longer knew what to do. He had never expected victory to be so…..empty.

Naruto stopped in front of a cave and stepped inside. Inside a fire crackled and his 2 friends sat around it.

Both of them looked up as he entered

"Where have you been, dobe?" the raven head asked, concern evident in his obsidian eyes.

"Relax Sasuke, at least give him a chance to explain himself" Shika drawled.

Naruto didn't reply instead sat down near Sasuke, closed his eyes and leaned on his shoulder. Though he could not see Sasuke's face, Naruto felt the tension leave the was proved right when Sasuke sighed

"Damn it! Naruto, don't scare us like that"

"Yeah" Shika chimed in "you were supposed to be back hours ago, what took you so long? And…" the Nara hesitated but continued "did you speak to kurama?"

Instead of answering, Naruto opened his eyes and observed his friends. both shika and sasuke looked drained which was natural considering the war but apart from that they seemed fine, at least that's what most people would say but naruto was not 'most people' and could easily see that the pain of loss and grief was etched into their eyes and souls.

Naruto took a deep breath and straightened, then replied, his voice soft

"Yes, yes I did"

Both his friends stilled, momentarily forgetting about the former part of their question.

"And he said that he can perform the jutsu"

He paused to see what effect his word would have.

Sasuke drew in a sharp breath and his skin became paler, if such a thing was possible, his mouth hung open unceremoniously. Shika, on the other hand, on hearing this sat up abruptly, thus hitting his head on the low ceiling.

Despite himself naruto giggled, for which he immediately received a smack on the head from Sasuke.

"Ow! What was that for?" naruto whined, rubbing his head.

"For being a callous idiot" came the reply. Shika just sighed and grinned.

The light atmosphere shattered when Naruto stopped grinning and spoke in a serious voice

"Kurama says he can perform it provided we don't have ANY doubts about it at all "

Seeing his friend's puzzled expressions, Naruto held up his hand.

"I think it will be better if I let Kurama explain" he said.

Sasuke and Shika nodded, closed their eye and sat in a meditation pose.

Naruto placed a hand on each of his friend's shoulder and closed his eyes.

In a moment, he was in his mind's landscape. The landscape resembled a beautiful valley with a vast multitude of flowers, a calm lake flowed by and the air had a scent of crushed pines. In the centre stood a solitary elm tree swaying to the notes of an untold melody.

It was under this tree that the 3 of them saw the ancient appeared to be resting.

"Kurama" Naruto's voice pierced the stillness "we're here"

Kurama opened one of his eyes and rumbled

"Back so soon? I thought you were going to stand in the rain and stare at your friend's remains for at least another day"

Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment as his friends looked at him enquiringly.

"After talking with furball here, there was just so much to think about …..so I went there to clear my head "Naruto finished sheepishly.

"And to brood" the kitsune helpfully added.

"Shut up, damn it!"Naruto growled

"Naruto "Shika started before the bickering could escalate any further "You don't have to look for excuses to visit our friends, you can do so anytime"

"Yeah, just don't do so for long uninterrupted time periods, or I'll skewer you" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto smiled and was about to say something when Kurama interrupted him:

"Brat, aren't you here for something or did you have a random urge to have a party with me?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and was about to retort back when Sasuke butted in

"We really don't have time for your bickering, dobe"

"Fine" Naruto said grouchily" furball, tell them that we have a chance to save our friends ….by travelling through time"