A Different Beginning

Disclaimer: I, same as all of the other Naruto fanfic authors here in this site do not own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Hinata and Masashi Kishimoto. Any other reference used in this little piece of literary of mine is owned by their perspective writers and artists.

There is also a very important author's note on the end of the chapter which is almost a must to read.

Authors note: Please read

Before all, I would like to tell that this is my first fanfiction as well as English is the 3rd language I've learned so I hope that the readers would not be too hard on my grammar. I am also still a student, A college student but a student nonetheless, This means that I have still much to learn about how the world works, this leads to the fact that I may be overlooking factors that may have made the story better or worse or my writing may be too immature for the taste of more experienced individuals.

Nevertheless I will try my best to satisfy not only myself but also the readers especially.

This fanfic's beginning is also based on a few fanfic's combined. The titles of which I do not remember (kindly please enlighten me if you have an idea of their titles so I can reference it here) so please don't flame me for copying or plagiarism.

This is also a time travel fics with a 'very' slightly different approach than the others.

Speech- "Naruto, where are you going?"

Thoughts- 'I wonder where Naruto is going'

(Bold letters mean serious business or bijuu stuff, pretty sure you guys know how this works already)

Prologue: A tragic end, the start of a different beginning.

7 years ago, I fought Kaguya with those who I consider my best friends, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi -sensei. I'd have thought we would win and end all this madness but no, I was wrong. I didn't take into account that she would be so convicted in her quest for power, that she wouldn't be underestimating us, that she would be doing all she could do and especially. She would be making Kakashi-sensei and Sakura as hostages when we finally weakened and cornered her on our dimension. Of course it was Sasuke who decided that sacrifices must be made, but not without a moment of inner turmoil. That was what I wanted to believe. I was too shocked to stop Sasuke as he was already on his way to her when he said. "Do you really think that will stop me from killing you?" I prepared to stop him, but I was too late.

I thought it would be over but no. Sasuke froze when Kaguya used Sakura and Kakashi-sensei as meat shield and he hit them, too much blood poured from their bodies. Sakura seemed to mumble something but it was too silent and far even from my enhanced hearing. I saw shock was written in Sasuke's face after seemingly hearing what she said. His Susano was already gone due to exhaustion and now his guard was way too open. It was enough for Kaguya to make a move and attack Sasuke. She picked up a blade from the dozens littering on the floor obviously owned by one of the many ninjas trapped in the Eternal Tsukiyomi, she was too weak already to make a new one from her bone nor could she muster to teleport otherwise wouldn't have to resort to this dirty tactic. The blade she picked up was then pushed to Sasuke's stomach bringing forth a lot of blood.

This event brought forth even more shock to my already numbing mind but at the same time jolted me awake thus; I sprinted towards the falling form of Sasuke, unbridled rage in my face, and my Ashura sage of the six path mode flaring even when exhausted due to adrenaline. Kaguya was fast to leap away unable to fly with the little energy left in her.

I made a clone with what little energy I have left to watch out for Kaguya. I can't give her another chance to hurt us more. I then held Sasuke on the back then while I was sitting to give his back something to lean on.

"Sasuke, why?" I couldn't stop the tear that fell from my eye.

He started to sob. "I knew I could do it, sacrifice them. But she….she". He closed his eyes for a bit, tears forming from his eyes then they started to fall as droplets before he opened his eyes again and continued speaking.

"She smiled and said she loved me. It...'sobs'...it, it was the same face she made to stop me from leaving the village and the same one she made when we were older and said I should return. I don't know how but the face she made. It looked like the same face Kaa-san used to make when she said she loves me. The same face Tou-san makes when I do something to make him happy. The same smile Nii-san makes before he flicks my forehead. I...I didn't know what to do then. The memories I once cherished surfaced and were in my eyes for a few fleeting seconds". There was a melancholic look in his smiling face now.

"Sasuke speak later, we should be finding ways to heal you. I can't lose you right after losing Sakura and Kakashi-sensei; I don't know what I would do without anybody left with me". I was frantically looking left and right now for a miracle to help Sasuke but stopped when I heard him speak.

"Heh". He chuckled, gurgling a bit of blood before continuing.

"Funny how I'm now just realizing how important you are and should be to me Naruto...Don't bother, don't promise to heal me, I know there's no way now, it's futile. The last thing I want you to do is breaking your Nindo, So don't promise and make me believe you can because I'll probably fall for it now".

Tears were streaming in my face now. My Sage of six path aura gone for adrenaline was the only thing powering it. Sometime during the battle, Kaguya did something to sever my connection to Kurama. She was able to stop our mental connection but not the energy he was giving me, it was only later on when I realized that the energy from Kurama I was using was not directly coursing from him but was what was already combined with my own and so I didn't realize that it was limited before there was too little left. I tried entering my mindscape but it was a futile attempt

"Darn, if I still had Kurama help I could give you a bit of chakra to heal". I shouted to no one in particular.

"Naruto" He called. His voice was quiet and almost a whisper so I almost didn't pick it up after my shout. "If...if...If I had another chance, I'll definitely want to be your brother". His eyes then lost their light signifying his depart.

"No!". I didn't know how long I screamed or how long I was looking at the dead bodies of my comrades after crying when Kaguya called out to me.

"You!I'll kill you" I prepared myself before dashing to strike her and kill her in anyway.

I never noticed that she was already fully healed nor how she did it so I never even bothered to think how it happened.

"You think you can defeat me in that pitiful state". She easily avoided my attacks and flew to a distance without striking me.

"Be happy that I will no longer be pursuing you, you can keep the fox, it's not like you can still be in contact with him, and I no longer need nor want it. Knowing that you are living your life hiding behind your tails, grieving the loss of your friends is enough for me. Be gone, or I might change my mind. Don't worry; I'll be sure to manipulate the moon so that it won't affect you. After all what's the sense of making you suffer if you can get all you even want in an empty dream".

She wasn't laughing nor grinning but her face did not hide her amusement to my current state.

I wanted to kill her, punch her, break her and destroy her for what she did, but I know there's no way for me to be able to do that now. I need to recover and get my connection to Kurama back to even stand a chance of beating her. It took all four of us to corner her, and now. I'm the only man left not under the Illusion. The future looks grim, and I hold the last candle of hope. But I'll keep hold of that candle and alight all others, but first. I need to run away and hide.

That was 7 years ago. Now I am alone then with no one to be seen inside the room of a decrepit lab. There was nobody I'd see if I exited this room nor can there be anyone else seen from a kilometer radius, the nearest town was at least a mile away, there was no reason to neither stay nor visit there, everyone was already hit by infinite Tsukiyomi. I already tried my best doing anything to disrupt the effects of the moon's eye plan even for just a single person. It seems that the connection made using the moon was so strong that even covering or breaking the contact with moonlight doesn't have any effect at all, that and all the various stuffs I did.

It took me 7 years after my confrontation of Kaguya to finally restore my connection to Kurama. I activated the seal I added to my stomach and finally entered my mindscape.

Upon entering my mindscape, Kurama instantly greeted me.

"Naruto, I'm sorry to say this but it seems that you do not have much time. I'm sure you've seen what is happening to the people of the world. It requires at least 10 years gathering all the chakra and transferring it to Kaguya. All of the people would be like shrivelled raisins by then. From what little glimpses I saw in your mind, it was already 7 years, that's only 3 years and there is no certainty whether Kaguya would wait for that 10 years before going after you. ". The bijuu said to me right after I was able to reconnect to him.

"7 years of not seeing me and that's what you say first, not even a hello or hi?"

I chuckled a bit. Funny that just when something good happens, another problem emerges. Well, it's not like I'm expecting myself to live on solitude this till the end of my Uzumaki lifespan. I'd probably be mad long before that happens.

"You don't understand. The Shinju really does want all of its power back. I'd bet that Kaguya would be overpowered by the Juubi's will by then. You can't have all the chakra of the world forced to be on a single container for a long time. The Juubi is the "will of the world". One day it's going to find a way to return things to where they belong, and now that it sees humanity as a threat. There will be no way you'll have another chance to walk on the surface." He said it with absolute seriousness that I was forced to ponder on the words he just said.

"What do you suggest I do then huh, I did my best, and I've been roaming around all the elemental nations learning all sorts of jutsu's I could possibly learn. I've been researching knowledge on how the inner workings of chakra work. Yin release? Yang release? Bloodlines? Chakra Theories? Fuinjutsu? I've seen them, learned them and tried to use them to free them from Kaguya's grasp. Heck I'm probably the smartest man alive now with all the things inside my head. The shadow clone jutsu really is a boon. I don't even understand why I can still remember most of the things I learned; I should probably be a vegetable head with all the information present inside my brain now". I wasn't really mad at him but my voice clearly held an aggressive edge on shouldn't it? All that's been happening around lately is trouble after trouble stacking like the never ending paperwork of a Kage. I felt like I was born to just to receive all the problems of the world, I know it isn't but lately I've been having too much depressing thoughts due to my solace.

"We both know you aren't the smartest person Naruto, not now not before ". Kurama said in a straight face.

We stared eye to eye for minute there. Not blinking even once. 'Did he just mock me?' I thought after a minute of silence.

"Oh great, humanity is nearing its end. And here I am. Alone with probably the only sane creature conscious .''I sure as hell don't consider Kaguya sane'. Said creature still has the time to mock my intelligence even while rushing me to create a solution to all this mess like it's as simple as making a shadow clone". I said after my mind started to boot again after it froze due to his dry joke.

The Kyuubi sighed and answered me in a lighter tone. "I just thought that you should get a break after all of this mess, and what's best to relieve you other than a joke about your intelligence?"

We stood there in silence for a while after that. We were inside my mindscape then so I looked around it for changes, clues or even traps that Kaguya may have left. You can't live in hiding from a monster without learning to be cautious each moment even during a break. By the looks of it, everything seems to be on place and the same as before he was 'cut off' from me. Apparently she was only able to suppress my connection to Kurama by preventing me from entering my mindscape and somehow she also made Kurama enter a semi comma state preventing him from aiding me with his chakra. How she did this? I don't know or even remember, it's been years after all. I didn't even discover how she was able fully heal herself during that time I was holding the dying body of Sasuke. I also found it strange that Kurama was not acting the way he was before but that's probably because of the situation at hand.

With how Kurama was acting and talking. He was probably semi-conscious during our 'separation' too. He seems to have an idea of what I've seen and learned though it is clearly incomplete otherwise this talk would not go this way. Or so I think, I've been running through deductions for a while now. I don't have anybody to assist or tell me about things for a while now so I have been doing things my way. My vocabulary really did get a level up after learning a lot of things.

After an unknown amount of time looking around and standing. I finally decided to speak to him. "So, what do I do now? Do you perhaps have one idea?" I said that casually hoping that he has another idea that seems safer than what I've already prepared for.

"Yes". He said. He didn't seem to be planning to say more so I did my deductions and sighed after finding a possible conclusion.

"Let me guess, it's hard to do, Requires Fuinjutsu, a great sacrifice and I cannot make a mistake or else I'll die right? "His eyes widened after each guess I said.

'Sigh. It looks like his idea is the same as mine. This plan is too risky but it's the only one I have left the fact that there is a huge chance of it not going right is another thing to consider too' I thought.

"How?" He really seems to be surprised that I could think that far or advanced even with all the recent events going on.

'Tsk looks like he really does underestimate my intellect. Can't fault him, I probably wouldn't be able to think this far if it wasn't for the circumstances. 'Sigh again', Even my own mind sees myself on a lower standard'.

"Years of hiding in Solitude's, and looking for a seemingly impossible answer to a seemingly impossible question can give you a boost to how you perceive things". I finally replied to his inquiry.

"I guess you do, this probably means you already know what I'm talking about"

"Time Travel. With the present broken, the future blurry. The only thing left is the past" I answered.

"That is correct but this time travel is with a twist"

"A twist? Isn't the sacrifice, the complex Fuinjutsu and the ritual stuff the twist you're talking about?"

"No, I'm afraid I can't tell you what the twist is until the method is executed. Which leads me to the question? If you knew time travel was the best answer to this problem, why didn't you do the preparations to it nor tell me immediately?"

"Who said I didn't do the preparations?" I retorted.

"Then why did you get mad at me when I told you about what's going to happen to these people?"

"I had thought you would have another solution, one with lesser risk involved"

He raised an invisible brow and looked around the area outside my mindscape and in the real world.

I was on one of Orochimaru's bases on the land of rice paddings, inside the room that is Square shaped, 10 meters long and wide as the technique required. I did find it strange that Orochimaru had a specific room of this size. Scrolls, brushes, ink, plants, bones of unknown origin, blood, fur and various things of which name's I already forgot littered on the around the room and a strange Fuinjutsu pattern on the center of the it. Only the best Fuinjutsu masters would probably be able to decipher it, I bet Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't even have an inkling of what this Fuinjutsu is. After all he was only able to reach a level 4 Master Rank in the art of Fuinjutsu.

During my travels I learned that there are 7 ranks of Fuinjutsu mastery. Each rank with 4 levels depicting how close you are to achieving the next rank. There was a Fuinjutsu technique to be used that scans your mind to properly know what level you were in order that you would know what actual rank and level you actually are so that one might limit themselves to creating seals that are lower tier or same level that they are so as to prevent errors, failure and worst death. Fuinjutsu while having a great potential for greatness also has a great potential for destruction not only for the enemies but also one's self. After all a wrong stroke of your paintbrush is enough to destroy any part of your body.

The 7 ranks of Fuinjutsu I learned were:

rank: This rank is basically just mastering your calligraphy by practicing the most basic seals using plain ink to prevent probable destruction. Mastering this is a must as anyone who practices Fuinjutsu must have a perfect calligraphy. There shall be no error in Fuinjutsu as the slightest mistake can make a big difference in what might happen. One does not make any working seal here but its requirements. While you do memorize the simplest kinds of Fuinjutsu

Before moving to next rank involves mastering the basic principles of Fuinjutsu. Sai himself is sure to be at level 4 of this rank even if he doesn't practice Fuinjutsu.

rank: As the name implies, this rank requires one a mentor. Nobody, I repeat, nobody should practice Fuinjutsu without a mentor. Fuinjutsu is not doodling. It's the art of finding the loopholes of physics and bending reality. This rank allows one to make a basic storage seal and explosive notes. The Mentor obviously should be at least a Master Rank as he will be teaching you more advanced principles of Fuinjutsu and its methods.

rank: Entering level 1 of this rank means you already have what it takes to start tinkering with reality. Although you can't invent your own seals here as you still do not have sufficient knowledge. You should be able to replicate and tinker with some seals here. This is the rank where you are able to make the explosive tags and storage seals in your body though limited and make most kind of seals that are sold in Shinobi equipment stores.

4th. Master rank: This rank means you've mastered all there is to know about the basic and semi complex principles of Fuinjutsu. Well, only those things that can be taught though. There are things that one must discover on their own. After all there is a saying that states "A true master is an eternal student". One who has entered this rank must be at least aware of how the purest form of elements and chemicals work alone and in collaboration or mixture which means alchemy(a/n: chemical science and not FMA alchemy) as it is greatly linked to the principles of the how the world works. This rank means you can make more advanced stuff alone such as chakra suppression seals, Chakra Absorbing seals (With varied natures), Training Seals (Weight and Resistance) and Barrier seals. A combat type Fuinjutsu specialist is a force you must be cautious of when in battle. As I stated, Jiraiya-sensei was at Level4 in here while Kakashi-sensei was at level 1 Sarutobi-Jiji was only level 2 in this rank.

5th. Voyager Rank: The name implies that you are already prepared to find new ways of utilizing Fuinjutsu which are not taught or discovered yet by anybody. There is a huge boundary between a level1 voyager rank to a level4 master rank. Orochimaru himself should have been only a level 4 master rank but forced his way through here by including his twisted ways that should not have been.

In the end his curse mark seal both of heaven and earth were never "perfect" in the principles of Fuinjutsu. There are far too many Restrictions, Requirements and Drawbacks that could have been removed had he truly been a voyager rank. I can proudly say that my Father, Minato "The yellow flash" was at this rank with the Hiraishin as proof. An example of a seal made a voyager rank fuin specialist is the caged bird seal, which itself is considered to be a high level even for this rank. It's method of creation has been passed through Hyuuga elders with them not even entering this rank.

6th. Grandmaster Rank: No creature is all knowing. While being a grandmaster doesn't mean that you know all seals that exist including individual creations or unique seals. Those in this rank will be capable of identifying what most seals can do, its purpose and even its limitation and requirements. Those high levelled in this rank can also recreate almost all individual creations or unique seals (such as Hiraishin) given enough time even without any help. While Uzushio was still standing, Becoming Uzukage or leader of the village requires them to be at least level 1 of this rank. So far there have been only 19 individuals known to be at this level 13 of those were Uzumaki which includes me, who is currently at Level.3 as the FuinRank Scanner showed. Of course there could be those not known in this rank but getting to this rank paints a large target on your back as most of those who reach this rank reached it due to their never ending pursuit to devising new and unique ways of creating seals thus making them widely known.

7th. Seal Sage Rank: This is the epitome of Fuinjutsu ranking. It is known that there has been only one who was said to attain this rank. His name was long forgotten or probably, he never revealed it. The only reason he is still known to exist was due to his works. Though his works were passed down and learned by a lot of people. Even the Grandmaster Ranks were never able to grasp the knowledge of how he was able to create such seals. Some of his works were; The reaper death seal, a seal which creates a contract to the Shinigami to bind another creature for the cost of one's own soul; The summoning contracts(any) that allows the human to bind himself to the realm of the summons and call out these creatures with only chakra as a medium and especially; The Void Gate seal that allows one to enter an empty dimension to temporarily escape ones connection to time and delay aging, this one was the basis of a storage seal before it was lost, though the storage seal was never able to store a living being while putting them on a stasis like the original does perfectly but merely slow the time by a bit. The void gate was a lost Fuinjutsu like many of his other works. The FuinRank Scanner seal was also made by this person.

After Kurama looked around, seemingly looking for any mistake to my work. He looked at me in the mind's eye and said.

"You did a good job, I won't ask how you were able to find and learn this Fuinjutsu which is already branching out of its area and leaning more on Rituals. This is one of that SealSage's lost Fuinjutsu so you probably had a hard time preparing it. I'm sure of the fact that you don't really know the inner workings of this ritual".

"You are right; the only thing I am sure of is that this ritual can take me back in time." I said. Admitting my lack of information about the rituals inner workings.

"Ikagura's Return Ritual. That's this rituals name. I don't know why he named this based on a woman. After all, it was confirmed that he was a man so this clearly isn't his name. I found it on the Uzukage's vault in Uzushio. The raiders if our land wasn't even able to make a dent on the vault due to the 6th rank seals surrounding it. The ritual itself was not found inside the vault but written around it entwined with the other seals to protect the vault. I was inspecting the seals protecting the vault to open it when I noticed some unrelated seals entwined on it, Strangely enough, those seals weren't affecting the security seals in any way, truly magnificent that sage was. I couldn't even muster to think of a way of how he did it, so I decided to research its true purpose." I paused a bit before continuing.

"When I was able to replicate the seal on a scroll using plain ink. I tried using chakra infused ink on the highest grade scroll to see its effect. The scroll glowed and enveloped me in a binding light. When the light died down. I was inside a room with seals glowing around its walls. The room was perfectly square and was about 10 meters on all sides with a glowing circle platform seemingly floating in the middle. I saw no doors nor any form of exit so I started getting worried. But then the Platform Glowed and a figure came out of it and touched me in the head. There was a blinding light again after that and I was back to where I was before getting teleported". I let Kurama digest the information first for a few moments.

"When I returned then. I already know all I need to know to perform the ritual and even its name as well as it's a ritual that can take me back in time. Although I never learned how it can do so. I know it was a stroke of luck that I stumbled upon that knowledge but if there's one thing I've got a lot of, then its luck. Perhaps the SealSage was an Uzumaki and thought that one of his descendants will be in the need of such technique? After all, the vault itself was told to be older than the first Uzukage". I stayed silent after that signalling that my story was over.

"Indeed you were lucky to find it and early at that. The Four keys of this ritual make it sure that they only one can be found each year with the seals carved on each of them so it would have taken us too long to make it had you not found it before you released me. The Rikudou Sennin told me alone without my siblings about this ritual. He said it was taught to him by a mysterious person who said that there may come a time the world would need it. After a time when my father was finally able to learn to control chakra, He realized that, that mysterious man seems to possess and was capable of using a strange kind of chakra even though he seems to be older than his mother Kaguya, which should have been theoretically impossible. As it was Kaguya who was the reason of the widespread beginning of chakra manipulation. Furthermore this man's energy reserves seem to be higher and more potent than Kaguya at her prime to" Kurama said his side of the story.

There was a long pause.

"I see, that is strange indeed. Regardless, I shouldn't be delaying this anymore. It's inevitable. Kurama, Let's do this". I made up my mind and walked to the center of the Seal.

Right now I felt despair, loneliness, grievance and a lot of other emotions stir inside me as look at the mirror on the wall which was part of the ritual. The ritual said that there must be a mirror where I can see my face before executing the ritual. Gone was the goofy and optimistic aura I had when I was younger and still too naive. Now as I look at myself, all I see is a broken man with jaded eyes.

The only reason I'm still living and not giving up to suicide is a sliver of hope I have that makes me believe that I still have a chance to make things right and this is it.

The Ashura sage mode cloak flickered into life, formed a ram seal, focused a lot of chakra to my foot, started to chant unintelligible words all the while, the random objects littering around the room started to float and spin around me. The seals glowed magnificent bluish for a while before the Objects started to move so fast till they were only blurry things spinning around me now. The seals started to turn white in glow while the mirror previously on the wall stopped following the rhythmic spinning of the other objects and started to suddenly float towards my face till it was touching the tip of my nose.

The light was too bright to look at now as I felt myself exit my physical body. I smiled. It seems that the Ritual was a success.

When I opened my eyes again I was in a familiar place. The color white was prominent and everywhere and just as I expected, A figure in while robes and horns protruding in his head was there waiting for me.

"It seems that we meet again Naruto" He started.

I smiled "Nice to see you again JiJi".

"It is a sad thing that we meet in this circumstance yet I am glad that you found a way, I believe the path you take next would be better"

'Heh, Figures he would be up to date like always' I thought before speaking.

"Hey JiJi, I just noticed. How come I know that I know there should have been a sacrifice for this ritual but I didn't pay it yet? I mean of course my life is the sacrifice but you can hardly call it a sacrifice. You see, of course I'm dead in that realm I left but it's a given, after all how can I be there if I'm to go to the past so it should hardly be a sacrifice" It seems that I still retained a bit of my childish actions even after all this time. The way I talked to him even with all his serious and calm aura was like that of a child talking to an adult.

"Time does do wonders to the perceptions of a child; you grew up to be a smart person Naruto. Yes you are right. Your life wasn't the sacrifice and neither is it Kurama's so you should not fret" He answered.

"But then, what's supposed to be the sacrifice?" There was a pit growing in my stomach then.

"Your memories" there was a long pause after he said that.

"What! How am I supposed to change anything if I go back the same way I did? What's the purpose of these all if I can't even change a thing or save anybody? If I can't change fate then I'd rather die here than experience all that sadness again" My voice was almost shouting, not due to anger but due to shock and surprise.

"Do not fret, while I did say that you would be sacrificing your memories. I never what those memories would be nor did I state that your knowledge and wisdom would be taken away" He let me calm down a bit first before continuing. "It is impossible for you to challenge fate and thus you should change your mind-set first"

"Huh? What does that mean? If I am going to change what is supposed to happen then how am I not challenging fate?"

"What happened" He asked.

My eyes grew wide. Of course they never happened nor are they supposed to happen, it's what time travel is supposed to be about. To go back to where things haven't happened yet and follow a different path.

"You see, fate is a fickle thing. Not one of us knows what it truly is. What I do believe is that it is the result of our actions, provided that they were allowed to happen. Through your memories I believe that you have told the person named Neji that you would not allow fate to dictate your action and that you would win against him, yet how are you so sure that you were not fated to win against him when he himself do not know the inner workings of fate? You yourself are a living example of fate as you are the 'child of prophecy' who was meant to lead the world to either destruction or peace."

His words strung a chord in me. Of course he is right, I was telling myself that I'd make my own fate yet I said that I would not follow fate. Funny how I never really thought what fate is and how it really works. It is of no consequence now. As long as I do what I know that is right then I shouldn't bother thinking about that fate stuff, it would only complicate stuff.

"It would seem that you have realized something" He called out. I never really noticed that I was spacing out in front of him.

Speaking of spacing out "Uh JiJi, Do you know where Kurama is right now?"

"Yes" He didn't seem to be planning on continuing. 'Ughhh, now I know where Kurama got that quirk'

"This are of the limbo is a space that exists especially for those who are about to travel in time, Of course time is of no relevance here but individuality is a great factor to entering here. In your dimension, you may be together with Kurama yet be separate at the same time. But here you cannot. You have prepared the requirements for your travel, but have you thought of his in account?"

My eyes widened once more. "I never thought of that, Dang that fox. Why didn't he tell me?"

"While Kaguya did tell you that he would be letting you free without Kurama, I doubt it would be the same if he was conscious. Kurama already knew of it that is why he never told you for you would be sure to take action and it might lead to your failure" He tried to placate me.

"It will be a hard journey; you will start again without Kurama. The ritual will only allow you to travel back until when you were at the age of ten, four years before your graduation I believe (a/n remember that characters and events of this years are 2 years older or more advanced than in cannon) Now I will tell you of the sacrifices you will be giving before going back so be attentive for the only memory left about those that you will forget will be the knowledge that you forgot about something.

"Hai!" I said with conviction. ' This is the last time I'll remember them, next time all ill know is that I forgot about something but not what I forgot, So this was the twist Kurama said to me' I summarized.

"You will retain your knowledge to the techniques you learned but not completely. Some you will remember nearly all there is needed to perform it, others you will only remember the names of them but you will always remember where you have learnt the technique but you will never remember when you learned them. This involves all arts such Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and such but excludes Fuinjutsu"

"I see, so does it mean that I would remember all about Fuinjutsu or I would forget all about it?" I hoped that it was the former than the latter.

I could feel his smile but strangely enough I couldn't see it on his face.

"You will be retaining all knowledge of Fuinjutsu with the exception of the Ritual which you have just performed though you might have to retrain yourself in your return for your younger self did not have such finesse and skill in calligraphy. The door to the ritual which is what you found in Uzushio will also no longer be present there once you return but it still will exist in that timeline though in a different place that even I myself do not know. Remember that the first requirement to find it is that you must not be looking for it or a variant of it which you had before and as you will be forgetting about it, you will have another chance to find it. I doubt you would, you will remember that you travelled through time but not how and you will eventually learn that the only way you did it is with Fuinjutsu. With that knowledge, you will seek it, time may let you forget about your search for it but the imprint of your search for it will be in your memory and thus deprive you of it"

"I see, you it means I will have a chance to find it but not truly, but this also means that the others might be able to use it now that it is no longer protected in Uzushio!" I felt nervousness after realization hit me.

"Do you truly believe it would be found easily with its first requirement being the lack of knowledge against it? It will of course be transported into a place just as protected as Uzushio. I am sure of the fact that you are afraid that Orochimaru might find it, that will be nigh impossible as he was searching already for it or a variant of the ritual when you were still an infant. Since you will be transported at the age of 10, then there is nothing to worry about. The knowledge is not sentient but the door to it is for a part of the door is interlaced with the soul of the SealSage, it is also the figure which you saw in the Square dimension which is also the first of the four keys, the rest you already know"

"The second key or keys were the Rinnegan, Sharinggan, Byakugan and Tenseigan placed in the four corners of the room, That Toneri guy from the moon wasn't affected by the Infinite Tsukiyomi but actually visited Kaguya a year after I found the other three eyes one way or another. Thinking we could defeat Kaguya. I tried to team up with him to defeat Kaguya but he underestimated Kaguya and went by himself. Of course he got beat up and Kaguya just left her to rot. I was fast to retrieve his eyes." I told the Rikudou Sennin even though I already know that he knows of it.

"The third keys were sixteen different summoning contracts placed in a certain pattern on the room, Seems like the realm of the summons were affected by the Infinite Tsukiyomi too." Now I realized why I was telling him of things he was sure to know of already. It wasn't for him but for me, it was my last chance to reminisce about the things I went through and I was subconsciously doing it through the form of storytelling.

"The fourth or final key was a figment of what was supposed to happen. Huh, now I see. A figment of the future to be sacrificed at the present to attain the past. A future, something that is bound or supposed to happen or exist. There was probably another way to provide it but the only thing I found was an unborn baby, a pregnant mother to be precise. I wonder who the luck guy the Mizukage did it with, that guy sure was lucky. The other people already when I was searching for the final key and only those with high jounin reserves and higher were left. I'm very sorry for the Mizukage but she was the only one I found out after probing every woman alive left with a medical jutsu for identifying a pregnant woman" I know I was speaking random things already but the Sage seem to be knowledgeable of the reason why I do so.

"Continuing with our topic, the next sacrifice after your knowledge of techniques is the Knowledge of the future events. You will remember that you went back to the past to change a horrible future but not the events that lead to it happening"

'I see, this means my knowledge about things that already happened at the past during my ten year age will be retained'. I nodded to him before he continued.

"The next will be your memories about people, your interactions, relations and connections to them. You will however in a way remember the type of person they were before the reset. You will know of Sasuke Uchiha's way of thinking, the infatuation that the Hinata Hyuuga had in you, the mental prowess of Nara Shikamaru and even about those who you haven't met in that timeline but you learned during your last, This way you will have another chance to introduce yourself to them in another way you fit that may be correct"

'These sacrifices don't seem to be that extreme; I should have a good start then even without Kurama at my side'

"Now that I have told you of the sacrifices then we shall start with the final portion of the ritual. Come closer and I will put my arm to your head, you should start to feel dizzy and lose consciousness by the end of it. When you wake up, you will be back to your ten year old body. Good luck young Naruto; you are sure to need it"

I walked closer to him. Just as he said. I started to lose consciousness. "You will receive a gift from me as it was my responsibility to bring peace to the world yet I burdened you, the gift shall be near perfect memory so you shall find it easy to utilize the Shadow Clone jutsu its great potential. Farewell young Naruto, may the river of time and the wheel of fate be your guardians" He said beforedarkness took over me.

(10 year old Naruto's Apartment)

Young Naruto blearily opened his eyes, it seems that his body was exhausted in who knows what he did during the previous day.

He stood up and walked to his bathroom, random objects and trash littered the floor around him as he made his way. After reaching the bathroom he looked upon the mirror, face brimming with great conviction.

"I may not know what happened but this time. I'll do it, this time I won't let the world go to ruin, and I'll save everyone! Believe it".

He then walked to his bedroom again and started to change into his only available cloth other than his sleeping pyjamas, his ever lively orange jumpsuit. Upon changing his outfit, he walked towards a training ground of the academy, the only place he was currently allowed to train.

A short while after he left his house and locked his door forgetting about his bedroom window open, a masked individual entered, seemingly looking around his apartment for something new or suspicious.

"Hmmm, there doesn't seem to be anything new here to trigger a change, I wonder what's gotten to him to say those words" The masked individual walked down a bit when he stepped upon a book on the floor, he picked it up and opened it, reading a few lines here and there.

"'Ikagura's Return', a strange title for a children story it seems". He continued "What would you do if you were given the ability to return to where it all began, to where things didn't happen yet. Follow the tragic story of a woman who lived through a catastrophe and decided to go back to where it all began, to where the man of his love was still alive. A battle for the journey to the past, a quest for true love. EH! I didn't think ten year old kids like stuffs like these" The masked man put the item to his pocket.

He looked around the other items littering around the floor.

"I doubt there are any stories like this one here, Hehe! I'm pretty sure Naruto wouldn't notice a single one missing. It's not like he actively reads. Besides there is probably some steamy scenes here and he's not old enough to appreciate them" He giggled perversely.

The doorknob clicked fast and the door opened suddenly revealing a panting Naruto.

'huff, huff' He was panting as he looked inside the house.

"Crap I forgot to close the window!" Naruto exclaimed but stopped on track when he saw a masked man looking at him in alarm.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked without actually meaning it. He knew this man but as he doesn't remember his interactions on his past. He was cautious, a ninja isn't supposed to lower his guard against the unknown after all.

'Darn, I got too distracted' the masked man thought. "Hehe, I got lost to the road of life?" He scratched his hair knowing that this was going to get to get to the Hokage and look badly on his record.

-Chapter End-

SUPER ULTRA MEGA VERY NECESSARY AUTHORS NOTES:

I will be writing rules or principles of how the fanfic will work here and thus one must read with utmost attention so that they may not be confused as well as they may enjoy the story more for they will understand it on a better sense. There is no ranking and thus the order is random.

Some of these may seem within common sense though.

Principle/Rule#

1: No OC's:

As stated, there will be no original characters from me.

Any characters not in Naruto franchise are OC's but rather, reference from other sources such as anime, manga, books or TV series. I will be giving the source of such references to prevent confusion and provide clarity to readers.

All of these characters are to be rebuffed and reworked which means that their power levels, skills, abilities and sometimes personalities will be made so that they will fit into the Narutoverse

(Ex. has a bloodline that allows him to convert his body into the properties of rubber but it's not a devil fruit. GrayFullbuster has the Hyoton (Ice Release) Bloodline. KilluaZoldyck has either an lightning chakra nature or has the Storm Release...you know the rest).The purpose of this is to allow the readers to easily make up and remember all the characters of this fanfic into their minds eye thus making reading easier(and that I'm not fond of OC's, though I do not hate them)

2: No heavy romance and most certainly No Smut/Lemon:

Heavy romance means the main plot involving the (main) characters dating, kissing or doing other couple stuff. This as written will not be inside this story as I myself am not inclined too much on this area and may only compromise the story, though Light romance will be present but only so subtle that you might not even notice it.

Absolutely no Smut/Lemon! I'm sorry for those who might be hoping to read this but I cannot think of myself writing those scenes especially with myself being single. I consider sex a mutual bond only to be shared by married couple thus I deprive myself of such (no offense to those who might be offended though. Each of us has our own beliefs and morals).

3: Most characters age are increased by 2 years:

This is so that there won't be 6 year olds speaking deep philosophical stuff (though sometimes happen in real life) or thinking about true love (ironically a kids love is purer in a way) which would be too weird for me to write.

This means that Kakashi made genin at 8(orig.6) itachi was anbu at 15(orig.13 if I'm right), Sasuke was 8(orig.6) during the massacre, Hinata was 5(orig.3) during the failed kidnap event, and Naruto's class graduates at 14 but still starts to school at 6 so as to further cement the notion that they are more matured when they come out of the academy program.

4: Our Reality is different than theirs:

This means the fanfic's physics or principles do not all out agree on ours obviously. I mean who of us can have a giant beast inside our bellies? Control elements on our own, enter minds, etc... so why not just believe that their world have a different common sense to reduce the headaches that some people feel when they feel that something makes absolutely no sense. What I mean is if that lava is unable to melt ice here then so be it. There is no need to be so critical on how it should work. It works and that's that. I'm not going to be making way too absurd phenomenon's (in Narutoverse sense) happen but I just thought that it would be best to remind the readers.

5. Narutoverse characters are remade:

This means that you should not expect them to be the same level as the anime. They would either be stronger or weaker depending on circumstances. (Ex. Ten Ten knows more complex Fuinjutsu due to some contact and increased interest with it at an earlier age, Shikamaru has more chakra capacity due to his mother being strict to his training). This will also lead to them at times knowing techniques or methods the otherwise do not have in the manga or anime.

6: There's more than what was in the anime about techniques or methods:

Some things like Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu are not too elaborated in the series and so I will be adding my own touch to it. There will also be new Ninjutsu or so that was not present in the series but is here which is common for every fanfic out there.

7: History is the same otherwise it isn't:

Other than the characters age being 2 years higher, all of the pre-Naruto academy graduation events should otherwise be based on the manga or anime. Any past event I write differently will then be considered as this fanfic's history or should I say an AU event.

8: I won't elaborate much on how the characters dress:

I'm not too good at describing those and it's one of the reasons why I use references instead of OC's so that I don't need to think out some new outfit for anybody.

9: Most techniques if not all are to be written in English format:

This is subject to change. Most will be written like how they are normally written as such as Rasengan instead of spiralling sphere, Shiki Fuin, Hiraishin etc... You may notice that most of those that got translated are those techniques like Wind style: Great Breakthrough instead of Fuuton Daibakufu which sounds better in English.

10: Please review using accounts otherwise I may not be able to answer your questions or requests.

11: There may be more to come( This includes the chapters and rules)

R & R