Another time travel story?! Read, review, enjoy! x

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto at all ahah
-

Naruto leans heavily on his right side. White bandages bind his right arm tightly and his left arm dangles loosely by his side with faded burns stretching up his forearm. He stands atop the Fourth Hokage's monument head.

Gomen'nasai, otou-san. I couldn't protect Konoha.

The monument is crumbling and the village below him is razed, a shell of its former glory. The once lively streets and buildings are in ruins and the only housing is temporary, located on the outskirts of the village for the few survivors after the war.

There is no future and everyone knows it. The landscape has become a wasteland, the forests burned and blackened. All the Hidden Villages have been decimated. They won the war, but it's an empty victory.

Naruto hates that he's going to live. His friends, comrades, teachers and fellow leaders have died for this cause. Yet there is little to show for it.

Gaki. The deep voice rumbles in his mind and Naruto lets himself be pulled into the mindscape where his foe-turned-friend, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, lives.

"Kurama." Naruto greets the nine-tailed fox.

Naruto, your grief is potent.

Every time Naruto closes his eyes, he sees the faces of everyone who died for this war. He sees the faces of all the comrades he loved and he failed to save. They haunt his every footsteps–sometimes he can still hear their voices, calling out to him. In those moments, he cannot breathe, but then he remembers his duty as Hokage and he must.

"Kurama," Naruto sighs, "I don't have time. There are still survivors to care for."

The fox snorts. Barely. We didn't win, Naruto. We killed a murderer mad man before we could kill the rest of us.

"And what now, Kurama? I have a duty to fulfill," Naruto points out, internally flinching. We didn't kill him soon enough is the only thing Naruto can think. How many lives, precious lives, could have been saved had he been stronger?

I have always admired your unfailing resolve, gaki. Do not blame yourself. This was not meant to be your future, Rokudaime Hokage.

"You're speaking in riddles, Kurama," Naruto frowns. Even the title of 'Hokage' does nothing for Naruto's mood. The title was ruined when Tsunade gave it to him using her dying breaths.

Kurama chuckles deep in his throat. You have changed from the gaki you once were in your genin years. What if I told you you had the chance to return to then?

Naruto's frown turns into confusion, "Time travel? That is a fool's quest."

You sound like Shikamaru-kun. Do not forget who you are, Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. You do the impossible.

Naruto becomes contemplative, "And how would I accomplish this? The Hiraishin utilises a space-time seal, but I've no experience on how to warp it to bend the time continuum itself. It's too long of a jump."

As smart as you are now, Naruto, I miss your genin days. You were such an idiot then. But your heart was big, undeterred.

"Maa, Kurama, is now really the time for nostalgia? The war changed me, as it did everyone," Naruto sighs. He doesn't have time for this. His time is reserved on caring for his survivors, all that remains of his beloved Konoha.

He is the Rokudaime Hokage now after all; he's a leader, not a wide-eyed child.

Everyone is dead. Imagine them alive, Naruto. This is your second chance. I know how to change the seal, gaki. I, or rather we, can do it together. I am a Bijuu; we know things you, humans, do not.

"I cannot leave my village," Naruto responds immediately. Hokage is no longer about acknowledgement anymore, it's about protecting those left to him. But they both notice how he no longer acknowledges time travel as impossible. The jinchuriki and his demon have always been capable of achieving whatever they send their mind out to do.

Terumi Mei. She is the oldest surviving Kage. Send your survivors to her. Tell them you are dying. No one can know of what we intend to do.

Naruto nods slowly, "There are preparations to make."

Hmpf. Go. Do your duty. I will prepare the seal. Come when you are ready.

It is days later before Naruto and Kurama are ready. Naruto rightly called it a fool's quest. But Naruto lives by his promise to protect his comrades, no matter the cost. And this is his chance.

"Kurama, how far will we go back?" Naruto asks, while Kurama coaches him through making the intricate seal, "Impressive seal, by the way."

It's even on even. I told you; Bijuu know more than humans. Hmpf. We are infinitely stronger than you humans, but still our Maker traps us in you.

Naruto chooses to just shake his head in amusement. Kurama has never lost his sense of self importance through the years.

Although, the old sealing masters of Uzushiogakure could probably do this.

"They are dead, fox. Like everyone else," Naruto's voice is flat and the amusement fades.

The fox sighs. The guilt is eating at Naruto. All the hyperactive boy ever strived to do was protect his comrades and he failed. Kurama is more than willing to give the boy this risky, second chance.

Gaki, you need to decide how far to go back. We don't have enough chakra to go back too far. Choose wisely. Kurama decides to focus on the objective and leave emotional therapy to later, not that psychology is the demon fox's specialty anyways.

Naruto narrows his eyes, frozen in thought over the seal, "The week after the Wave mission. That was when Team 7 came together for a short amount of time. It'll be before the Chunin Exams too. We can stop Orochimaru and focus on Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara."

Kurama nods. Naruto's choice is logical. Kurama doesn't want to admit he's a little bit afraid of what's to come. His jailor is surrendering them to time. Eventually, they will just fade from existence. They don't belong in that new timeline. But it's not even that that truly worries Kurama. He doesn't know if Naruto is ready for this. Konoha is buried. It is only ruins now, and soon it will be a relic of history. They are going back to Konoha before the beginning of the end. They will see Konoha in its prime; they will see all of Naruto's comrades alive. They, alone, will shoulder the fate of the world. The Nine-Tailed demon has met his fair share of villains and saviours and he does not know many who could withstand that emotional burden.

Are you ready, gaki?

"Hai."

Prepare yourself.

"Kurama, I am the Rokudaime Hokage. I swore to protect this village. I will do whatever I must for Konoha and my friends."

Naruto activates the seal in his mindscape and it glows blue and red, chakra flaring everywhere. They feel themselves being pulled away, out, out of where they are on the time continuum.

Kurama has always known Naruto was a special boy. It was not until many years of living with his jailor did Kurama realise that Naruto was of the rare breed of Kage.

Naruto, you will change the world one more time. Ganbatte, gaki.

to be continued.