Hello everyone! I've had this idea for a long time now and I've finally been able to put it to paper! I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you.
Where one ends, another begins!
During the fourth shinobi world war Obito temporarily became the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki and faces off against the combined power of Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke successfully weaken Obito giving them the chance to free the tailed beasts from their prison. Gaara retrieves Shukaku and Bee and Gyuki (eight-tails) were reunited as well. At the same time Naruto was able to pull all of the other tailed beasts out.
In his weakened state Obito falls under the control of Black Zetsu who forces him to revive Madara. Madara then summons the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body and attempts to seal all of the tailed beasts inside of it. Naruto, Gaara and Bee refuse to let the tailed beasts be captured again and find a way to keep them from being sealed completely. Madara successfully seals 99% of the tailed beasts chakra giving him enough power to continue with the plan. The remaining 1% from each tailed beast are their very core, leaving them severely weakened. Naruto seals the weakened tailed beasts inside of him together with Kurama. Gaara and Bee do the same with their own tailed beast.
Madara Uchiha activates the Infinite Tsukuyomi trapping almost everybody inside a dream-like genjutsu while being held captive inside of the chakra tree. Black Zetsu then uses itself and Madara Uchiha as a medium to revive Kaguya Otsutsuki. Naruto having only 1% of the tailed beast chakra realizes how he doesn't stand a chance against Kaguya. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura decide to flee while Kaguya is getting used to her revived body.
Stopping by the chakra tree they manage to free several dozens of people that are part of the Allied Shinobi Forces. With their small group they decide to hide from Kaguya during the night. As the morning comes the moon is no longer an issue and they organize a rescue mission to free more of their captured brothers and sisters from the chakra tree.
Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto together with the now slightly recovered tailed beasts inside of him, successfully hold Kaguya's attention while Sakura and those they had freed last night free a large group of Allied Shinobi forces. Eventually they are forced to withdraw as Kaguya is still too powerful for Sasuke, Kakashi, Naruto and the sealed tailed beasts that are still recovering to defeat.
Kaguya, realizing that she can't fight Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi AND stop the others from freeing more shinobi decides to rebuild the army of white Zetsu.
And so every night when the sun sets, the moon rises to trap all those that are exposed in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. And every day when the sun rises to chase away the moon, the Shinobi rebellion fights against the white Zetsu army at the roots of the chakra tree. Fighting and dying while trying to free as many as they can while their most powerful Shinobi keep Kaguya occupied.
Day after day, week after week, until eventually everyone at the chakra tree has been freed. But at a heavy price, many have died trying to free their allies, fighting against the white Zetsu as well as fighting against Kaguya herself.
Now Kaguya hunts those that roam her world freely with her white Zetsu army, seeking to eradicate every last one of them. The Rebel Shinobi Forces previously known as the Allied Shinobi Forces are forced to run and hide, using guerilla tactics to fight the unimaginably powerful Kaguya and her vast white Zetsu army.
And so time passes, as our heroes try to survive! Year after year, until seventeen years later our story begins!
Chapter 1: Naruto the messiah!
Underground bunker/17 years after the start of the 4th shinobi world war.
*fwiiiiiiii-BOOM* Naruto tries to hold himself upright against one of the tunnel walls as the ground shakes. He knows that up above his fellow rebels are fighting against the white Zetsu trying to break into the bunker. Paper bombs are no doubt exploding everywhere up above but only those that come close shake the underground bunker.
Dust and dirt fall down on his head from in between the cracks in the tunnel ceiling. Naruto manages to pull himself up on his feet as the lights swinging back and forth above his head stop flickering. The light reveals a 33 year old Naruto Uzumaki. Fully grown into a man, when he was young and fresh out of the academy he was smaller than everyone else, but now he stood a head taller than everyone else.
Racing through the tunnels towards his destination he came upon the living quarters of those that couldn't fight. Wounded shinobi or regular civilians were sitting against the side of the stronger, longer and wider tunnel. At first no one took notice of him as he came around the corner.
But the moment he set foot inside of the hallway people recognized him immediately and those closest to him rushed to stand up and get closer to him, one of which was a wounded shinobi who had lost and eye and a leg on the battle field. Naruto recognized the man, having seen him on the battle field before.
As the man struggled to get up, pulling himself up by his wooden crutch. The old civilian man that sat beside him helped him up. "Thank you…" he thanked the elderly man that smiled at him through his white beard.
Now fully standing at attention the Shinobi greeted Naruto with a salute, saying "Commander Uzumaki!"
Naruto walked over for a moment and returned the salute, before replying "How are you feeling soldier?"
"I'm feeling much better commander, thank you! Say the word and I could be back on the front lines in a moment's notice!" the wounded shinobi responded. Naruto knew already that this man was unable to fight, even though he offered and the front line was in desperate need of reinforcements.
It was his presence that pushed the man's morale to the point where as long as he could still draw breath he had the will to keep fighting, no matter how injured he was.
"That won't be necessary soldier. Rest up and recover from your wounds for now!" Naruto replied as he moved on, hearing the man's reluctant reply of "Yes, commander."
As Naruto moved forward through the tunnel the people crowded around him without blocking his path. All of them sticking out their arms and hands to touch him for a mere instant as the called out his name.
*Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama!*
Mournful, hopeful, cheerful, painful, begging. The different tones in their voices as they called for their messiah, their savior, hero, liberator, protector, their guardian angel! And as they touched him in the hopes of having his holy presence rain down on them he returned as many of them as he could.
Grabbing their hands, caressing their arms, wiping away tears, ruffling his fingers through the hairs of children that came to see their hero! But no matter where he looked he couldn't find a single person that wasn't dressed in rags, except for the wounded shinobi amongst them. No matter where he looked he couldn't find anyone who wasn't skin and bones.
As he neared the end of the hallway he turned around and looked at them all with a warming smile upon his face. looking around he found an empty woven basket next to a pregnant woman that couldn't stand up because of her already very swollen stomach. by his estimates she would probably give birth within the next 5 days.
He leaned down next to her, placing a hand on the basket he looked at her before saying, "Excuse me, would it be alright for me to borrow this for a moment?" the woman looked at him in wonder, blinking several times. "Yes, of course Naruto-sama! If you want it it's yours!" she said as two children walked over to stand next to her. The oldest was a boy, 7 years old by what he could see, brown spiky hair. The other was a girl, around 4 year old holding a worn out teddy bear while sucking on her thumb and had blond curly hair.
The boy was only wearing some handmade pants that he seemed to be growing out of. The girl was wearing a dirty gray dress that no doubt used to be white. Neither the boy or girl were wearing anything on their feet. The pregnant woman had long straight black hair which made Naruto think that the children all had different fathers, seeing as how they both did resemble their mother.
Naruto took the basket before taking the lid off and opening one of the pockets on his jounin/chuunin flak vests. Pulling out a ration bar he placed the bar inside the basket and made several handseals, too fast for anyone to see, muttering under his breath so no-one could hear him, "Shadow Food Clone Technique" in an instant the basket was filled to the brim with ration bars.
Using his Shinobi skills he had removed the original ration bar from the basket without anyone knowing. Immediately people started bursting out in tears and praise for their savior. But none acted selfishly or greedy. Instead a man stepped forward and took the basket from Naruto saying his thanks before moving through the hallway handing out ration bars to everyone.
*Boom! Rumble! Crash!*
Another explosion sounded out causing the entire underground complex to shake. Unfortunately things kept getting worse from there as daylight could be seen at the other side of the hallway where Naruto originally came from. The enemy had breached through their defenses and into their stronghold!
People momentarily started to panic before Naruto jumped into action creating several shadow clones, all of which used chakra to move across the ceiling and walls to make it to the other side to stall the enemy.
In the meantime the original drew the people's attention, saying "Everybody! Please remain calm and move further into the tunnels! Stick together, don't push or pull! I promise I won't allow them to get anywhere close to you! Trust in me! Today is not our last day! This is not where we fail! We will continue to fight! We will endure and come through this stronger than ever!" Naruto guided the people down the hall to his right. While at the same time trying to keep their morale up.
It worked! People were helping each other to their feet and allowed the weak to lean on them as they guided them deeper into the tunnels.
When the last ones made it out and into the tunnel to his right he threw several kunai with exploding tags attached into the tunnel in front of him. The explosive tags went off collapsing the tunnel, thereby cutting the enemy off from the injured and non-combatants.
Glancing back at the people in the right tunnel he gave a weak smile before rushing down the left tunnel heading to the war-room. As he rounded another corner he thought how useless his actions were in the end.
Having used the shadow clone technique for as long as he did, he was able to master it and improve upon the technique. The ration bars wouldn't explode into clouds of smoke when they would sink their teeth into them, not even when they chewed on it or swallowed it. Naruto had found a way to make inanimate objects last for hours without disappearing into smoke. For an hour or three those people will feel like they had had something to eat.
At least if they survived that long…
After that the food inside their stomach's would disappear without giving them any kind of nourishment.
He could not feed them, only temporary give them the illusion of being full. He'd made sure that there were at least two bars for each person.
Underground bunker/War-room/2 minutes ago.
Shikamaru Nara was leaning over the round table in the middle of the hectic war-room, looking at a map of what used to be the elemental nations. The map, however, was a current version of the continent and no longer held any symbols indicating any of the shinobi villages or borders separating the nations. 17 years of war left its mark on the landscape. Mountains destroyed, rivers redirected, forests disintegrated. 17 years of battle between two god-like beings, Naruto and Kaguya!
The only thing of importance on the map were the positions of their military units, their bases and the current location of Kaguya and her forces based on the information they could gather through the use of espionage, deduction or even desperate guess work.
*sigh* "Troublesome…" Shikamaru said as he looked around the room. Everywhere people were running back and forth others were discussing possible counter strategies or were communicating with their units on the front lines relaying orders and information. One such man suddenly spoke up, loud enough to be heard over all the others in the room, "The enemy has breached through the fourth squadron's perimeter! …and they are closing in on our location fast!"
Silence spread across the room as all heads turned towards him.
Taking a deep breath of air, and combing his fingers through his hair he attempted to calm himself.
'This is it then! Our last safe haven. The last of Orochimaru's underground bases has fallen.' Shikamaru thought.
For the past 8 years the rebellion had been using Orochimaru's hidden bases all over the elemental nations as their headquarters. Ever since they found the first one the rebellion had been able to properly fight back against Kaguya and her forces.
These bases were essential to the rebellion, as they allowed the rebellion the provide shelter to the civilian population. They needed the civilians, without them they wouldn't have any food or clothes or weapons to fight with. The problem was that things had become so bad that many decided that being trapped inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi was better than being free and having to slave away every day for the shinobi population. Many deserted and simply allowed themselves to be caught by the Infinite Tsukuyomi once the moon rose at night.
(Sounds kind of like the Matrix! Doesn't it? That wasn't my intention but the more I write the more I realize how similar it is.)
5 years ago the rebellion was on the brink of civil war as the civilians wanted to rise up against the shinobi and overthrow them. Hoping that if they handed them over to Kaguya, she would allow the civilians to live freely under her rule. The only reason that didn't happen was because of Naruto. Back then Naruto was still just a soldier. Fighting on the front lines against Zetsu and Kaguya whenever he was ordered to do so.
Back then Naruto was able to calm the people down with one of his speeches. The lit a fire in their hearts and souls, granting them the will of fire. Later that night Naruto convinced Shikamaru to put a lockdown on the base while he went out by himself. Nobody was allowed to leave the base until Naruto returned.
Three days later an army of shadow clones came back carrying food and water as well as medicines and all kinds of tools the rebellion needed to be able to take care of itself. Sakura was finally able to properly treat her sick and injured patients.
Sakura had become head of the medical ward after Tsunade and Shizune died in battle.
Naruto had saved the rebellion a hundred times over from being destroyed, it's the reason people saw him as the messiah! When he was around he made you feel that we could win this war! That no matter what happened, in the end… they would be the ones to come out on top. Naruto's very existence is the only reason the rebellion lasted as long as it did. Without him they would have all died long ago.
After his return Naruto became more than he already was before. From hero to messiah and so Shikamaru decided to name him the supreme commander of the rebellion.
The days and weeks after Naruto's installment as supreme commander were the best moments the rebellion had ever seen. The Shinobi fought ten times harder than ever before, the people worked ten times harder than ever before. Morale had never been higher! They even managed to hurt, ACTUALLY HURT, Kaguya to the point where she was forced to withdraw. It was their greatest victory.
But when Kaguya returned she was furious, Naruto became seriously injured and many of their strongest shinobi as well as closest friends died that day. Fleeing with the injured Naruto the rebellion was forced to lay low for a while. It took months before Naruto regained consciousness and in the meantime the rebellion had fallen further into decay.
Shikamaru looked to the left of the room where he could see a very old white dog laying silently on a pillow. 'Akamaru…' Shikamaru thought sadly as he observed the once lively Inuzuka hound. Kiba was one of their friends that had died in battle. Ever since Akamaru had lost most of his will to fight, instead he mourned the death of his owner. Once again the only person to make a difference was Naruto.
Only Naruto could get Akamaru to liven up again. He probably felt like it was his duty to take care of Akamaru after Kiba died. Shikamaru did as well of course but Naruto was the only one Akamaru would react to.
Thinking of Kiba, reminded Shikamaru of all of their other friends that died. Neji was the first to go, sacrificing himself to save Naruto and Hinata.
Kakashi and Gai died 15 years ago, Rock Lee followed soon after!
Shino died 12 years ago after being separated from his squad and surrounded by the enemy!
Sasuke died fighting Kaguya 8 years ago, she got a lucky shot and it killed him almost instantaneously! Before he died he was able to provide them with the location of one of Orochimaru's hidden bases.
Chouji, Tsunade and Shizune all died to give the rebellion time to evacuate from one of their bases around 7 years ago.
Kiba died 5 years ago when Naruto got wounded in battle trying to keep Kaguya from killing Naruto off.
Many others of their friends in Konoha and other villages died during the years as well. Gaara and Bee died entrusting Naruto with their Tailed beasts.
It was at this moment in Shikamaru's thoughts that the door to the war room violently swung open. Everyone in the room froze as they looked towards the door, expecting the enemy to come barging into the room.
Instead it was Naruto who came crashing into the room. Almost immediately he started giving out orders, saying "The base has been compromised! I'm ordering the immediate evacuation of the entire base! Have all units that are still battling on the surface retreat to "Zion"!"
"Yes, commander!" the room responded as the ones in charge of communication relayed the orders to those in the field. The generals serving under Naruto and Shikamaru turned to leave the room to help evacuate the civilians and wounded towards "Zion".
"Naruto?! What are you doing?! We can't just abandon the base without a fight! If there is even a small chance of pushing the enemy back we must take it! This is our last stronghold! We must make a stand!" Shikamaru tried to reason with his long-time friend and superior.
"There is no hope for those that stay here! This base will fall no matter what we do…" Naruto responded.
"But…" Shikamaru began, only to be cut off by Naruto, saying "…and even if we could, it no longer matters anyway."
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.
A moment of silence as Naruto turned to look at his second in command, giving him a smile which Shikamaru had not seen for a long time.
"It's ready. I finished it just a short while ago." Naruto informed his best friend with his prankster grin on his face.
Shikamaru looked confused at first until realization hit him and confusion turned into disbelief. "No way! Are you telling me that you actually got it to work?!" Shikamaru asked.
"You know that there is no way we can test it to make sure! But I believe it's ready and we should try it right now!" Naruto responded.
Looking into his friends eyes for any sign of hesitation or doubt, Shikamaru made his decision when he found nothing but confidence on Naruto's face. "Very well! I'll give the orders!" Shikamaru said as he clasped Naruto's hand and shook it firmly!
"I'll make sure everything is ready while you gather the others!" Naruto said as he turned away. "Meet me in the room at the end of the hall on the lowest level!" Naruto shouted back before disappearing out the door. *bark!* Akamaru slipped through the door before it closed, padding after Naruto.
Underground bunker Lowest level/Hallway/8 minutes later.
Shikamaru had gathered all of their remaining friends throughout the base, fighting their way through as they made their way down to the lowest level of the base.
"Shikamaru! Hold on! What's going on?! Where are we going? Shouldn't we be helping with the evacuation?" Ino yelled as she followed behind here exhausted teammate from back in the good old days.
"Yeah, Shikamaru! What the hell is going on?! We have a right to know!" Tenten demanded.
"I agree! You can't just order me to abandon my patients without an explanation like you did! Those people could die without my medical attention!" Sakura complained.
"Everyone! Please, calm down! Shikamaru wouldn't have gathered all of us together like this for no good reason!" Hinata tried to defend her husband's now only living male friend with the exception of Akamaru.
"Wait! Where is Naruto?!" Tenten asked when she noticed the only missing member of their group. "Shouldn't he be here as well?!" She asked.
"Naruto is already waiting for us at our destination." Shikamaru lazily informed them.
"Cut the bullshit Shikamaru! If you don't tell us what's going on right now I'm going to…" Ino threatened as she started to lose her patience.
"Troublesome… I guess we're far enough away for me to explain." Shikamaru sighed.
Taking a deep breath Shikamaru started his explanation, saying "I can't precisely remember when, but several years ago Naruto and I had a hypothetical conversation about the future of this war and what would be needed to win it. I'll remind you that all of this was hypothetical and I didn't take it very seriously, but somehow we came to the conclusion that defeat was inevitable! That was when I decided that I had enough with the somber mood and said "unless we could go back in time!". However Naruto didn't laugh, instead he looked at me and said, "That's it! that's how we'll fix everything! Not just this war but all the other stuff too!". I thought he'd gone insane at first but that's when Naruto explained to me that it might be possible! Back then Naruto had just started taking up the art of sealing."
"Oh, I remember that! That was when Naruto just couldn't shut up about how awesome sealing was and went around talking to everyone about sealing!" Ino interjected.
"Oh yeah! I had to kick him out of the medical ward several times because he kept getting in my way!" Sakura said.
"It was very annoying when he kept reading those scrolls at night when I just wanted to sleep!" Hinata joined the conversation. "He refused to put those scrolls away, I had to distract him with my body just to get him into bed!" Hinata further explained.
"AS I WAS SAYING!" Shikamaru raised his voice, getting their attention and stopping any girl talk before it could start!
"…Back then Naruto was just a beginner, but he told me about what is written on every scroll for beginners to the art of sealing, "The only limit to what seals can do is the limit of your imagination!". In other words if you can think it you can do it with seals if you have the skills needed. And so we decided to work out a plan on what this seal would need to work, who we would send back and many other things. In the end we came to the conclusion that a seal like that would need a lot of chakra to power it and that only one person could be sent back in time!" Shikamaru explained.
"Shikamaru…! …are you saying what I think you're saying?!" Tenten asked.
"Yes! I decided that all of us that remained would sacrifice ourselves so we can send Naruto back in time to stop all of this from ever happening!" Shikamaru explained.
"And he agreed to that?!" Sakura asked.
"Not at first, but I was able to convince him that he was the only one that could do it! Just think about it! If we could send only one person back in time to stop all of this! Which one of us would you choose?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically.
*silence*
'Naruto, he's the only one that can do it!' Ino thought.
'Naruto, because he never gives up!' Sakura thought.
'Naruto, there is no better choice!' Tenten thought.
'Naruto, because it would give him the opportunity to be happy!' Hinata thought.
*silence*
The four women remained silent alone with their thoughts, the only sound heard were their rapid footfalls.
After some time Shikamaru twisted his neck to glance at their expressions, knowing that they all thought of Naruto he spoke, "Exactly! And that's why we are here! 10 minutes ago Naruto arrived into the war-room and ordered a full evacuation after which he informed me that he had succeeded in finishing the seal he's been working on for so long."
"So we're giving up on this war just like that?! We're giving in to Kaguya and betting our entire future and the future of the rebellion on a last resort effort?!" Tenten demanded angrily.
"Tenten!" Shikamaru yelled. "THIS is ALL we have left! THIS is our ONLY hope for VICTORY! Even if we escaped right now, even if all of us who survived up to now made it back safely to "ZION" our last home, our last stand… we would only be delaying the inevitable! We can no longer win this war!" Shikamaru explained, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"…only prevent it from ever happening in the first place." Shikamaru whispered, but loud enough for the others to hear.
"Come on, Naruto is waiting for us!" He said.
Underground bunker Lowest level/Sealing room/moments later.
Naruto was sitting on his hands and knees, looking over the large seal painted onto the ground when he heard the sound of a door opening behind him.
Akamaru was lying to the side sleeping when to sound of the door woke him up. Opening his eyes and raising his head he tried to see who was entering. A low growling noise coming up from his throat as he prepared to defend Naruto from any enemy intruders that would dare enter.
Sweat rolling down his brow, Naruto jerked his head over towards the door before wiping away the sweat from his eyes. Smudges of black ink smeared all over his face and hands.
This was the scene Shikamaru and the others came face-to-face with after entering the room.
"Naruto…? I thought you said it was finished?" Shikamaru asked, seeing Naruto working inside of the large circle of seals. He also took notice of the twelve smaller ring like seals attached to it on the outside like numbers on a clock. Each one big enough for a person to stand in.
"It is…!" Naruto responded as the others filed into the room. "…I was just running a final check. You know…! In the unlikely case I might have made a mistake." Naruto finished as he got up on his feet and made his way over to them, carefully so as not to disturb any of his work.
"Mistake?! Whoa! You haven't tested it?!" Tenten hysterically screamed at the two of them.
"No time! Besides… how do you suggest we test it? And on who? This thing takes up a lot of chakra just to send one man through! It also erases itself after the entire process is completed! So we don't get a second chance at this!" Naruto explained. "I thought you would explain everything?" Naruto asked looking at Shikamaru.
"I didn't have enough time to explain everything, only the basics!" Shikamaru sighed. "Besides, you never told me the seal would erase itself." Shikamaru stated expecting an explanation.
"Yeah! I know we didn't discuss this part of the seal but I came up with the idea while working on it over the months, I didn't even take any notes on this. What you see here is the only evidence in existence! This way nobody will be able to use it against us later! We can't risk this falling into the hands of Kaguya of anyone else!" Naruto explained.
"Troublesome! But I guess that makes sense!" Shikamaru responded as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Naruto-kun… please…" Hinata begged looking at him. Her eyes twinkling like stars as he saw the sadness in them.
"I'm sorry I never told you, but I couldn't risk any information from getting out about this. It would have caused chaos and rioting amongst our rebellion, and Kaguya, who would have known how she'd react?!" Naruto apologized and explained.
"I understand!" Hinata said looking down, wiping her tears away before looking back at him with a smile.
"Stop! I can't believe we are doing this! Sending someone back in time to stop all this from happening in the first place!" Ino said. "Do you know how that sounds? It's completely insane!" Ino continued before pointing at Naruto, saying "You are trying to do something that no-one has ever done before, something that should be impossible!" Ino argued feelings like the only sane person in the room.
"No-one as far as we know of, and I can assure you that it IS possible!" Naruto replied.
"Naruto, I just need to know one thing!" Sakura said. "Will this work?!"
Naruto looked her straight in the eyes before nodding, saying "Yes!"
"Then I'm in! What do you need me to do?!" Sakura asked.
"In a minute! First I need to make sure you understand how this works and if you really want to do this." Naruto said.
"In five minutes we are all going to step into one of the twelve rings around the seal, think of them like the numbers on a clock with the one closest to the door being number twelve. That one is mine! Do NOT enter any of the rings except the one I'm going to assign you, do you understand?" Naruto paused as he looked each one of them in the eyes to make sure they understood.
After getting their affirming nods, Naruto continued his explanation "Good! Now… when you step into the circle you will be trapped into a force field that is meant to stop anyone from entering or leaving that ring! When everyone has taken their place I will activate the seal, which will drain you of every drop of chakra which will be used to power the different phases of the seal itself. The first phase is creating the time portal, the second phase is to maintain the seal until EVERYTHING that HAS to pass through the portal has ACTUALLY passed through!" Naruto said emphasising certain words in his last sentence that Shikamaru found strange though decided not to dwell upon it, against his better judgement.
"It's important that you all understand that being drained of your chakra will kill you! You will not survive this process..." Naruto said sadly with great pain in his voice. "So if you any of you don't want to go through with this, you don't have to. I won't force you. So if that's the case just tell me now and I'll activate the seals self-destruct function right now and we'll all just pretend this never happened!" Naruto offered, though it sounded more like he was begging one of them to say they didn't want to go through with it.
Naruto's gaze lingered a bit longer upon Ino and Tenten seeing as they had voiced their uncertainties earlier. But his offer was quickly turned down by Tenten's confident glare and Ino's outburst of "What?! Just because I'm uncertain about all of this doesn't mean I'm going to pussy out! I'm a kunoichi for crying out loud! I just wanted everyone to realize how crazy this all sounds! I mean like... SERIOUSLY! WE ARE SENDING Naruto BACK IN TIME!"
"So you're on board with this Ino-Pig?" Sakura asked smiling
"If Naruto and Shikamaru say that we've already lost and this is the only way to even have a chance at defeating that Kaguya-bitch and bringing back all of our friends, ... the yeah! I'm on board with this billboard brow!" Ino replied smiling back.
"I see..." Naruto said dejectedly.
"Naruto, I know it isn't easy for you to accept that we will be sacrificing our lives to send you back. But you're the only one that can do this and this is our last resort." Shikamaru said putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder to comfort his friend. "And i'm sorry to say this, but we are all more than willing to give up our lives for you and none of us is going to back out. So you have no excuses to back out either. Like it or not we ARE going to go through with this." Shikamaru said sternly knowing that his friend was having a case of cold feet.
"Heh! Yeah! I guess you're right." Naruto said as he pulled himself back together. "Okay! Where was I?" Naruto asked.
"Phase two, maintaining the portal!" Tenten reminded the blond seal-master.
"Right! Phase two... after which comes phase three! During phase three I will summon the Shinigami who will separate my soul from my body. Once my soul and body are separated the Shinigami will send my soul through the portal which will send my soul back in time. Once my soul arrives in the past it will merge with my past self during which all of my memories will be available to my younger self. So basically I'm taking my current memories and storing them in an younger earlier version of myself. It would be just like suddenly waking up and realizing I'm back in the past. I'll still remember everything up to the point of leaving my body in this point in time." Naruto paused trying to see if everyone was still with him so far.
"What will you do once you're back in the past? How will you know what you need to do to stop all this from happening?" Sakura asked.
"Don't worry! Shikamaru and I have worked out a plan concerning certain events that are the key in stopping all this! We've both memorized it in its entirety so I wouldn't forget. You DO still remember everything right?!" Naruto explained before asking Shikamaru.
"Yeah, I memorized it together with Naruto so I could interrogate him on it later. We went over it and I personally made sure that Naruto knows what to do in each and every situation. So I still remember, not that I really have to mind you, I'm not the one going back here!" Shikamaru responded.
"I know, I was just asking because you made me go over it like a thousand times before you were satisfied. If I had to go through all that trouble to remember it all than you better not forget the plan yourself, is all I'm saying!" Naruto laughed.
"Now! Once I'm through the portal, it will shut down and the last phase will make sure that the seal erases itself! At which point you will be fully drained of all of your chakra and collapse... and die!" Naruto finished.
"Okay we understand! Now... where do you want me?!" Ino asked impatiently trying to hide her nervousness.
"What about Akamaru?" Hinata asked, looking at the old greying dog laying lazily in the corner of the room. Akamaru was panting happily, observing all the friendly humans that Kiba considered part of his pack before he died and left him to find a new partner. Naruto was a great partner, but he wasn't Kiba. He could never be Kiba.
"I can't take him with me and he also can't help powering the seal, his chakra could possibly disrupt the entire seal so i can't risk it." Naruto said sadly.
"But we can't just abandon him like this! He'll starve to death!" Hinata protested. "Akamaru is a smart dog, he'll find a way to survive somehow. Besides, if this works it won't matter either way because this reality will simply be erased and replaced by the new one. This Akamaru won't exist anymore and the new one won't even remember that Kiba died. We are basically forcing everyone to start over without knowing that they've done this before. I'll be the only one with my memories of this timeline intact!" Naruto explained.
"I still don't feel right about this." Hinata stated. "The alternative would be to grab a kunai and put him out of his misery, is that what you want?!" Naruto asked slightly angry. "No! Of course not! I could never do something like that to Akamaru-kun, how could you even say that?!" Hinata asked as she threw her arms around Akamaru's neck protectively, hugging her last teammate goodbye.
Akamaru replied by nuzzling into her before giving two short licks at her face as a sign of affection.
"Good then we're ready to start then I take it?" Naruto asked.
"I'm sorry, yes I'm ready." Hinata replied, letting go of Akamaru and going over to hug and kiss her husband goodbye for the last time.
"I love you!" She said. "I love you two!" Naruto replied before letting go of his wife.
"Okay! Let's do this! Hinata, you are over in ring number two over there! The one that's clockwise from the one next to mine!" Naruto pointed out to her. "Next is Ino on number four! Just leave one ring between you and Hinata. Then is Shikamaru directly opposite of myself in number six!" Naruto continued down the list.
"Tenten, you are in ring number eight followed by Sakura in number ten! And finally myself in number twelve.
Underground bunker Lowest level/Sealing room/moments later.
With everyone now ready to take their positions Naruto was able to get things started. Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten and Sakura were standing in a circle around the seal, looking at Naruto waiting for him to give them the signal to step into their rings.
Taking note that the others were ready and awaiting his signal, Naruto nodded before stepping into the number twelve ring. The others followed his example as the stepped into their own rings. The rings lighting up with energy as they registered their presence when the first foot came down, followed by a barrier being erected around each person as soon as both feet were planted firmly into their respective rings.
"Okay! We've all entered the seal, there is no turning back now!" Naruto said a slight nervous trembling in his voice. Looking at his hands he noticed they were shaking.
Akamaru was watching the process happening and started barking and nervously jumping around the seal as it lit up. Jumping forward before backing off short of entering the seal itself. It would seem that Akamaru was smart enough to realize that something strange was happening which was also of great importance apparently.
Hesitating about whether or not he should jump in there to help or stand back so he wouldn't get in the way. It was very confusing to him so he started whining alarming Hinata to the dog's inner conflict.
"Akamaru. Don't worry. It's okay. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be just fine." Hinata smiled at the confused creature attempting to comfort the poor thing.
"Yeah! Don't you worry Akamaru! Everything is going to be just fine!" Naruto said smiling.
Shikamaru immediately recognized that smile as did everybody else. It's the smile he had when he was up to something. Their suspicions were proven correct when he continued, saying "Tell you what Akamaru… how would you like to see Kiba again? Wouldn't you like that?" Naruto asked Akamaru.
Akamaru merely tilted his head slightly to the side trying to make sense of what Naruto was saying.
"Naruto~~? What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked getting a bad feeling about this.
Naruto completely ignored her as he kept talking to Akamaru, saying "What's wrong? Don't you want to see Kiba again?" Naruto asked.
This time Akamaru seemed to understand Naruto as he enthusiastically started barking and jumping as if he was a young pup once more.
"Naruto! Explain!" Shikamaru yelled demanding his attention.
"Naruto-kun? What's going on? What aren't you telling us?" Hinata asked just as curious and confused about all of this.
"I'm sorry guys! But I'm not going back to the past." Naruto calmly explained. "Naruto! You can't be serious?! Now?! You choose NOW of all times to change your mind?! After all the work you've put into this seal of yours? After all our planning, after all we had to go through to prepare ourselves for this very moment?!" Shikamaru yelled angrily.
"Calm down Shikamaru. I'm not going to throw all of this to the wind and waste all of our hard work." Naruto said, calming down the raging Nara. "You see Shikamaru I've been doing some thinking about this plan we came up with and I found a major flaw that we didn't account for…" Naruto began while starting to make hand seals.
"Oh yeah?! What's that?!" Shikamaru asked still annoyed with Naruto's attitude but no longer in a rage.
"Improvement…" Naruto stated simply. "You see Shikamaru, even if I were to go back in time there is no way for me to end up stronger this time around. No matter what I do I will never end up more powerful than I was in this timeline during the exact moments. Why? Well that's simple really, it's because I already trained as hard as I could, whenever I could in THIS timeline!" Naruto explained.
"Which means that…" Naruto began before being interrupted by Shikamaru who finally caught up with Naruto's thought process. "Which means that you won't have the strength or skill necessary to overcome the obstacles you couldn't overcome in this timeline." Shikamaru said eyes wide in realization.
"Correct! So instead I adjusted the time travel seal to send ALL of YOU back in time instead of ME." Naruto explained.
"WHAT?!" all of the girls present shouted. "Just think about it, I already trained as hard as I could I this time line, there is no way for me to improve upon my life in terms of becoming more powerful faster than I did this time. You guys on the other hand… if I were to send you all back there are tons of ways for all of you to improve, hundreds of ways to become stronger!" Naruto explained, having finished the first set of hand seals summoning a swirling portal in the center of the seal that seemed to be sucking everything in.
"I need to act fast! The Tailed Beasts can only keep the portal open for a couple of minutes!" Naruto said, gritting his teeth as the seal tried to drain him of his chakra to keep the time travel jutsu going. However, all nine of the tailed beasts now sealed inside of Naruto had agreed to use their chakra to maintain the seal so Naruto could use his own to perform the next part of his own adjusted plan.
Reaching into his vest, Naruto swiped some blood over two separate seals, retrieving the Shinigami's mask and a tanto. Placing the mask on his face, Naruto's friends watched as the Shinigami/Death reaper appeared behind Naruto. Naruto quickly placed the tanto into the mouth of his mask and bit down onto the handle before spreading his arms, synchronizing his body with that of the Shinigami.
Once synchronized the two reached for the tanto removing it from between their teeth. From here on out Naruto and the Shinigami fought against each other in a battle of willpower as the Shinigami attempted to cut his stomach while Naruto tried to redirect the tanto towards his left chest, attempting to place the blade in a favorable position to plunge it into his heart and therefore the Shinigami's heart.
They both struggled for almost an entire minute before Naruto won out in the end and plunged the blade into his own chest making the Shinigami go limp as if losing all control over his own body.
"Narutooo!" Hinata screamed as she watched her husband stab himself through his heart. "I'm okay, Hinata-chan! I just need a second." Naruto made out through the gurgling of his lungs filling with blood.
After a couple of seconds of silence in which everyone was powerless to do anything but watch, Naruto pulled himself together and made a dozen handseals before clasping his hands together fingers intertwined. "Forbidden Jutsu! Shinigami soul call!" Naruto yelled out the technique. Behind him the body of the Shinigami had followed his exact movements and allowed Naruto to call upon the souls of those that had already died through him, for only the Shinigami was allowed to interact with the souls of the dead.
Having forced the Shinigami to perform the soul call jutsu, six blueish flames appeared in the six remaining rings. Slowly over the timespan of about thirty seconds the flames took on the forms of their deceased friends. Kiba's form, though slightly transparent appeared in the ring at one o'clock, in between Naruto and Hinata.
To Hinata's left appeared the form of Shino in number three. In between Ino and Shikamaru, in ring number five Chouji took form. Followed by Rock Lee in number seven and Neji in number nine on either side of Tenten.
Sakura baring witness to the appearance of all their deceased friends hopefully turned to her left. Tears gathering in her eyes as they threatened to fall at the appearance of the one she still loved, Sasuke.
"Naruto? What's going on? I thought… I thought I was dead?" Sasuke asked confused.
"You were…" Naruto simply replied.
"Then how…?" Sasuke wanted to ask but was distracted by the scene playing out around him. All those that had been brought back seemed to be confused at where they were and how they got here. Those that were still alive broke out into tears at the sight of their long lost team members.
With team 8/Kiba, Hinata and Shino.
"Akamaru?" Kiba asked as the Nin-dog barked happily at the sight of his partner. "Calm down boy! What's wrong with you? You're acting like we've been separated for months!" Kiba tried to calm down his life-long partner.
"Try years. Perhaps you should take a closer look at yourself, Kiba." Shino said to him after having examined his own body closely.
"What are you talking about?! I feel fine! I feel…" Kiba said before pausing. "I don't feel anything! Aaaah! What the hell! What's going on?!" Kiba panicked as he took notice of his condition.
*sob sob sob*
The sound of a woman crying drew Kiba out of his panicked state as he, for the first time since arriving, noticed that Hinata was standing to his left trapped in a force-field. Taking a second to calm down he noticed that Hinata was crying and tears were falling down from her cheeks.
"Hinata! What happened?! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Don't tell me Kaguya managed to capture you?!" Kiba rambled as he mumbled curses under his breath at the damn demon bitch.
"No, it isn't like that you idiot!" Hinata said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Idiot?!" Kiba said as her outburst confused him.
"Hold on! Is that Shino?! That's not possible! you're supposed to be dead! You died 7 years ago." Kiba exclaimed.
"I guess that goes for you as well then." Shino replied stating coming to the conclusion that they were both dead.
"Just shut up for a minute! You've only been back for less than a minute and you're already bickering like you used to!" Hinata shouted out.
"Kiba-kun… Shino-kun didn't die 7 years ago. He died 12 years ago. You've been dead for 5 whole years! And Akamaru has been very depressed all that time." Hinata explained.
"From the difference in our physical appearance I presume that you are still alive then, Hinata?" Shino inquired to his observation.
"Yes Shino-kun. I am and I think you'll be happy to know that I'm happily married to Naruto-kun for several years now." Hinata smiled as she blinked tears of joy from her eyes.
"Congratulations, even though my life came to an abrupt end and I don't remember the exact circumstances of my death, I'm happy that you and Uzumaki-san were finally able to get married!" Shino stated, honestly happy for her.
"Don't say it like that, you bastard! You'll make her feel bad!" Kiba yelled at his teammate. "By the way, Hinata… if I'm really dead then why am I here?" Kiba asked.
"I two would like to know why we are here." Shino inquired.
"Well…" Hinata began.
With team 10/Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru.
"Huh? Huh? Huh? What's going on? Where am I? How did I get here?" Chouji asked as he looked around. "Ino?! Is that you?! What happened to you?! And why are you crying?" Chouji asked as saw her.
"Oh my god! Chouji?! Is that really you?" Ino couldn't believe her eyes as she started crying at the sight of her deceased team-mate.
"Yes, of course it's me! Who else do you know that looks just like this?!" Chouji asked with a laugh. "But enough about me, what about you? how did you get so old?" Chouji asked.
"I'm not old, you big-boned lug! I'm only thirty-three!" Ino yelled still trying to stop the waterworks from flowing freely.
"Chouji…" Shikamaru said, making Chouji turn around to look at his best friend since they were little.
"Shikamaru…?!" Chouji asked, not believing his eyes. "Shikamaru what's going on? You're the guy that always knows everything, so… care to get me up to speed on things?" Chouji asked, having total faith in his friend.
"Chouji… you've been dead for 7 years." Shikamaru said.
"…Seriously?" Chouji asked.
"Seriously." Shikamaru said.
"No wonder I feel like I'm starving!" Chouji said taking the entire thing rather well.
"Chouji, you idiot! You don't have a stomach so how can you even be hungry?!" Ino joked still wiping away the never ending tears. "Naruto, let me out! I want to hug Chouji!" Ino screamed as she pushed against the force-field trying to get to her team-mate which she missed like hell over the years. And now that he was standing/floating right there this stupid barrier was getting in her way.
Ino continued ramming her fists against the barrier while screaming for Naruto to let her out.
Unfortunately Naruto completely ignored her as he was busy with his own team.
With team 9/Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji.
"YOU STUPID IDIOTS!" Tenten screamed the moment both of her team-mates had fully manifested themselves making both of them jump up in fright. "I'M GOING TO CASTRATE BOTH OF YOU! YOU HEAR ME?!"
After getting over the original shock of being yelled at, Neji and Rock Lee turned towards her as they lifted their ghost hands off of their ghost ears. Now standing between them was a furious and older version of their team-mate Tenten.
"Tenten?" Rock Lee asked not believing his eyes.
"No! That's impossible! It's a trick! Don't listen to her, Lee. It's obvious she's just an illusion." Neji said to Lee as he tried to think of the most logical answer of what he was seeing.
"ILLUSION?! 16 years and that's all you have to say?! That I'm not even REAL?!" Tenten yelled angrily before her rage started to subside and tears started welling up in her eyes.
"You guys are assholes! I hate you! I hate you both!" Tenten screamed.
"Tenten! That is very un-youthful of you! What would Gai-sensei say about that?!" Lee stated disappointed in his team-mates unreasonable anger towards them. (unreasonable in his opinion!)
"You guys abandoned me!" Tenten screamed back at them making their eyes grow wide. "You guys went and just died on me! Just like that! First Neji goes and dies and then Gai-sensei dies!" Tenten screamed and cried as she sagged to the floor where she wrapped her arms around her legs and buries her face into her knees.
"Gai-sensei is dead?!" Neji asked unbelievingly. "GAI-SENSEI! I WILL AVENGE YOU!" Lee screamed.
"SHUT UP!" Tenten screamed at Lee. "You are all dead! You all died! All of you abandoned me! Gai-sensei was only dead for 3 days and then you went and died as well! You left me all alone! I've been fighting out there, all alone for 14 years!" Tenten screamed, making them both realize how much she must have been going through.
Amongst all the "Konoha twelve", her team-mates and sensei had been amongst the first to die, leaving her without anyone from team 9 for almost 14 years.
Right now, Neji and Lee silently watched as Tenten cried. Feeling like assholes for leaving her all on her own so early on in the struggle against Kaguya.
With team 7/Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto.
"Naruto? What's going on? I thought… I thought I was dead?" Sasuke asked confused.
"You were…" Naruto simply replied.
"Then how…?" Sasuke wanted to ask but was distracted by the scene playing out around him.
"Sasuke-kun…" a female voice came from his right. Seeing Sakura standing there trapped in a barrier, her palms pressed against it as if she were looking at him through a window.
"Sakura, is that…?" Sasuke couldn't finish his sentence. "What's going on here? Where are we? Where is Kaguya?" Sasuke asked.
"Sasuke-kun… it's okay. Everything is going to be okay. You're safe now. You're back now." Sakura said as she looked at the one person she had loved and lost.
"Sakura… please… just tell me what's going on." Sasuke spoke politely but he was losing his patience fast.
"I'm afraid there is no time for a full explanation." Naruto interrupted before puking up blood followed by a short coughing fit and ending with spitting blood onto the floor. "I'm running out of time here so I'm going to have to make this short." Naruto said.
Underground bunker Lowest level/Sealing room/after each team conversation.
"Okay everybody listen up!" Naruto yelled at through the room, drawing everyone's attention.
"I don't have much time so I'm going to make this short! In a few moments you are all going to wake up as your younger selves! When you wake up the first thing I want all of you to do is gather at Yakiniku Q at 2 o'clock in the afternoon! I don't care how you get there, just make sure you get there! If everything goes according to plan then Shikamaru will explain the rest. If you are the only one to show up then the time of arrival is most likely different for every one of you and not everyone will have synced up with their past selves yet. If that is the case than you will have to try to make contact with each other using a passphrase! One of you will ask "Have you heard there was a full moon last night?" The appropriate response is "Yes I've also heard that the moon is made out of cheese!"." Naruto explained as he had another coughing fit.
"Naruto!" Hinata said worriedly.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Naruto waved her off. "Now let's go over this quickly one last time! Everyone say it with me! the passphrase is "Have you heard there was a full moon last night?" and the reply is "Yes I've also heard that the moon is made out of cheese!"." Naruto spoke as the others in the room mumbled the two sentences with him.
"Again!" Naruto said as he repeated the two sentences. The others repeated with him clearer this time. "Have you heard there was a full moon last night?" "Yes I've also heard that the moon is made out of cheese!"
"Louder!" Naruto shouted.
"Have you heard there was a full moon last night?" "Yes I've also heard that the moon is made out of cheese!"
"Good, that's all… good luck to you all!" Naruto said before going through 36 handseals as fast as he could, however the loss of all that blood severely slowed him down, allowing his friends to see just how pale his hands and fingers were and how close to deaths door he now stood.
Of those that had died, nobody knew what was going on, but what they did know was that Naruto would not survive this. So in respect of their friend they simply watched in silence as he sacrificed himself to do whatever it was he was trying to do.
"Forbidden technique! Time-Space sealing art! Resetting destiny!" Naruto weakly spoke as he slammed both palms into the floor. A current of chakra moved through a maze of seal-lines to one of the middle parts of the seal. From there the chakra moved to the five rings holding Naruto's still living friends.
Once the chakra made it all the way to them, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten and Sakura all experienced a moment of extreme pain as a lethal voltage of lightning coursed through their bodies, killing them in less than a second.
Their bodies dropped dead to the floor, shocking those that had already been dead but before they could turn on Naruto for his actions, their friends souls rose from their corpses leaving Naruto as the only living being in the room, with the exception of Akamaru.
The next moment eleven of the twelve barriers deactivated exposing all eleven souls to the pulling force of the portal which sucked them all in before collapsing in on itself.
The final barrier holding Naruto deactivated causing Naruto to fall face down onto the stone floor. Everything was going dark as Naruto struggled to keep his eyes open. He needed to make certain of one last thing before he died. He couldn't allow himself to die before making sure that the seal destroyed itself as it was supposed to.
He grinned in satisfactory as he witnessed the ink starting to gather in the center in one big pool, leaving nothing behind of smears or smudges from which someone could recreate the seal. Once the ink was all gathered together it caught fire and would continue to burn to the last drop.
In his last moments Naruto was glad to be able to feel Akamaru nudging against him as the ninja dog worried about him.
'Don't worry Akamaru soon this world will be gone and you won't remember a thing about any of this.' Naruto thought before taking his final breath.
End chapter 1: Naruto the messiah!
It's done!
This is supposed to be a one chapter story, but if I get a lot of follows and reviews I might do a second chapter about the Kaguya and her army breaking into the seal chamber to find Naruto dead and the Konoha Eleven arriving in the past! Back into their young bodies.
I'm not planning on making this an entire story but if someone wants to I would gladly allow them to write a continuation of this! In fact I would love to know how someone would take it from here!
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