Wisdom of Chance: An Evil Awakens: Preface#1


A Jutsu, A Headache, and A Challenge!

For the sake of Memories


~ Forenote ~

This story begins a few hours after Shikamaru's match in the Chunin exam finals ended. While the audience waits for Kakashi and Sasuke to arrive.

This is a Spin off of my story Wisdom of Chance. The first three chapters are going to be the same so if you have read them skip to #4 That is when the change begins.


It all started… with a jutsu… well, the implementation of a jutsu… and of course some prick getting special treatment because he's some big important bloodline survivor.

The previous match of the first round in the tournament had ended almost four hours ago. Since then, everybody had been put on hold for the precious Uchiha. The blond shinobi ground his teeth as he watched the spectators slowly thinning.

Enough was enough. The Uchiha had been given special treatment for the last time if he could do anything about it. If the old man refused to settle this and move on with the rest of the matches, then Naruto would publicly prank him. Right here, right now, to give the spectators a good show.

Heading up to the Hokage's stand, the single kage bunshin knew his job. Ask the old man to move on, and if denied… as the boss expected he would be. Then disperse…. Not that big a prank… except for the massive amount of water he had drank after being created, which was still sloshing around in his belly.

The plan was, he dispels and the water gets left behind to splash the Hokage... vaguely, the bunshin wondered if maybe learning that freak Zabuza's water bunshin would have been worth begging Kakashi-sensei for it. He knew the man had copied it, but then, he didn't seem all that interested in his other students.

Finally at the kage box, the bunshin nodded to the Chunin guards, "Hey, mind if I ask the old- I mean the Hokage-sama, about my teammate's match." Looking at each other, the Chunin obviously considered turning him away. But of course, the fact he was on the same team as the boy they were all waiting on, made the final decision. He was let through.

Having already heard his voice, both kage were looking in his direction, as he entered the seating area reserved just for them. "Naruto, that was a good match you put on, I hope that your showing in the next round is as successful."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." The old man just raised an eyebrow as the exam participant gave a polite bow. "I would like to offer a minor excuse for my teammate. Our sensei is well known for his chronic lateness... And it seems Sasuke may have began to take after him."

While Naruto wanted the teme to be disqualified, simply whining about it would make him look like the idiot. And this bunshin, was not an idiot.

Well, not as big of one as his original was anyway...

He was well aware of how important it was to act correctly in front of the other kage. That was part of the reason his prank would be so successful. If he had any chance at this, he had to place the old man in a position where he, and this village by relation, would be embarrassed by the Uchiha's behavior.

"I won't apologize for it, It's not my place to do so. But that's how it is, and I firmly believe that our Sensei will not concern himself with the issue unless an example is made. I understand many people have come out to see this fight more than any of the rest of the matches, but punctuality is vital for a shinobi, and if Sensei has passed his habits to my teammate, who already suffers from an inflated ego, then our team will never advance as a whole."

The Hokage was quite surprised to say the least. Not only was Naruto displaying manners he'd not possessed to the Hokage's knowledge, he had also used a logic that, while minorly petty, was irrefutable.

And, he correctly used the word punctuality….

That was a larger surprise than the rest of it.

All together though, the kage felt he had little choice. This matter being proposed as it was, Sarutobi would lose face if he didn't take action to discipline the Uchiha. Not that he hadn't already considered it.

"Very well," The kage gestured to the guard at the entrance of their seating booth, "Chunin, have the proctor announce that if Sasuke isn't here in the next five minutes his match is forfeit."

The Chunin guard bowed and began to leave, "And inform the proctor that even if he is here before then, he has still lost consideration for promotion. This match will only be to evaluate his opponent."

"Hai, it shall be as you command Hokage-sama," and with that, the Chunin vanished in a blur of motion, appearing in the arena next to the proctor.

It worked! The bunshin could barely contain his surprise. The old man had caved almost immediately! And, he didn't even have to prank his adoptive grandfather. The excited chakra construct now only needed to head back, and let the boss know. Making a bow, he began his exit.

Then, the Kazekage spoke up. His voice, was eerily familiar. "Hokage-dono, if perhaps, the Uchiha is disqualified, then maybe we could pit him against my Gaara once he has won the last of the matches?"

Okay, so the bunshin never claimed his boss was that smart, and he probably shouldn't have been so insulted by that comment. Things might have turned out different, if the orange clad copy had just swallowed his pride and continue to leave. But he was still slightly unnerved by the voice, and furthermore, the creep had just counted out all of his friends as well as the boss. "Forgive me, Kazekage-sama, I wouldn't wish to contradict you. However you shouldn't underestimate the boss so easily, he's completely recovered from his match, and I think Gaara might have a harder time against him than you're expecting."

"The boss?" The Hokage's eyebrow raised slightly, and the Kazekage's eyes widened sharply. Oops! He had slipped. The jig was up. He was a clone and he had just given that fact away.

"Your Genin would send a simple clone to discuss such issues with you?" The masked Kage chuckled.

Smooth as ever, the old man had an answer, "Of course, he certainly would, he is an expert at the jutsu, as he displayed earlier." The Hokage gave a grin. "I have it on good authority that the boy's clones can last longer than even one of my own. In fact, the one time he attempted to test the sheer number of kage bunshin he could create, his sensei lost count at 300 square meters of forest covered."

That silenced the Kazekage. And it helped that it was even true. The bunshin recalled his time in the forest with Iruka and Mizuki. There had been way more clones back then, than he'd ever made since… And that had only been moments after he'd gotten it right for the very first time. The construct wondered exactly how many the boss could make now?

The Hokage hadn't, of course, mentioned that this was his academy sensei and not the Jonin Kakashi. And the words 'of forrest' implied that he had been up and down the trees... Which he wasn't. But it made a great impression on the chagrined creep.

It was then, that they were interrupted by a commotion on the arena floor, as just before the disqualification, his sensei and teammate arrived. They weren't told of the earlier decision about the promotion, but were told they had almost forfeit the match.

"Well bunshin-san, there is your teammate. Why don't you entertain us with your observations of the match." The chilled invitation from the Kazekage's whispering voice made the bunshin gulp, the blond jutsu was unsure how to decline. The Hokage had just said he might last way longer than he had intended to.

His decision was made for him, when before he could even reply, the Hokage voiced his agreement. "That sounds like an excellent idea Naruto. Come, stand beside me and tell me your view of your teammates abilities."

Crap! He was stuck up here! If he got dispelled the prank would be set off even after he'd gotten what the boss wanted! Of course they wanted him to talk about that jerk. When did anyone want to talk about someone else, he'd gladly explain everything he knew about Sakura-chan, or even Shikamaru.

"I dunno Hokage-sama, sensei has been training him for a whole month since I last saw him… he might even surprise me."

The masked Kage leaned forware his voice giving the clone a slimy feeling with the amused tone highlighting it. "Oh, a whole month since you saw him? The Uchiha boy must have gotten much stronger since then, receiving personal instruction for all that time." The Hokage even nodded his agreement at what the freak with the creepy voice said. Was it just the bunshin, or did the Kazekage sound a little too interested?

Turning to back to the shadow clone the old man displayed one of the reasons the boss liked him so much. "And what training did your sensei give you that month, I wonder? You've clearly been trained quite well for you last match."

"Well, he was a little focused on Sasuke, so he asked Ebisu-sempai to show me how to water walk." Naruto's copy wasn't sure he could call the man sensei, except that calling him a closet pervert would ruin all the manners he had shown.

The Hokage frowned at this. He knew exactly how long Ebisu had taught the boy, because the man was back to his regular routine the very next day.

"So it took you a whole month to learn a simple chakra control exercise?" The Kazekage sounded bewildered, obviously doubting his earlier boasts.

But the bunshin was quick to reply, to maintain his dignity, that it only took 2-3 hours. Which only a second or so after he had replied, the idiot realized may have been a mistake, because it prompted the Kazekage to again ask about his training that month.

Naruto's clone knew he couldn't mention the Kyuubi, not to this creep. Besides wasn't it like some big huge target on his back if he did? Of course, telling them he spent the entire time watching an old pervert peep at the hot springs was out of the question too.

The bunshin had no choice, and quickly lied, "Well after that, I kinda didn't have anything else to work on, so I just trained on my chakra control." Reaching his hand behind him to rub the back of his head, the bunshin gave a nervous laugh. It was true! Sort of... He was learning to control that other chakra Ero-Sanin taught him to access...

The Hokage was slightly shocked, he had known that Jiraiya had taught the boy to use the toad summons, but surely that wasn't the only other thing he'd learned. Naruto's performance in the arena displayed much more growth since his bout in the preliminaries.

"Well that is certainly a surprise," Began the veiled kage, "One would think you'd be able to ask for more instruction. Perhaps, if you earn your promotion today, you could request an apprenticeship?"

The Kazekage leaned in towards the genin once more, "Find a sensei who'll truly value your abilities. It happens commonly enough, you might convince a Jonin to take you under their wing and use that great potential you have pouring out of you."

Kuso! that guy was freaking him out! The Uzumaki jutsu was certain he knew that voice from somewhere! But where? Who had he met recently that was as weird as this guy?

"You might give the Mitarashi girl a try, I hear she's single… as in doesn't have a Genin team," The clone saw the look of amusement on the two elders when he reacted to the memory of the crazy snake lady. Yeah she kind of fit with the creepy factor... But that wasn't her voice.

"Of course, if I were you," The Kazekage continued, "I'd be on the lookout for your Hokage's own student. The one who trained the Yondaime, if he could teach you, then a boy of your talents would be a shoo-in for the godaime."

At this the Hokage interrupted them, "Yes, one could only imagine the things he could have done with such an expertise in the bunshin arts. But I'm afraid we are missing the important match we've been waiting for."

Down in the arena, Sasuke's kunai had been deflected by the sand, and he was now running towards the redhead, vanishing from the bunshin sight, and reappearing the same way Lee had in the preliminaries. It was wrong! The way Sasuke was able to simply copy the technique, hitting the Genin with his lions barrage.

The Uchiha fought with speed that the Genin copy couldn't even see. What the clone could see was his original, sitting there in the stands, completely shocked. Once again, the Uchiha had pulled leaps ahead of him.

And then, when the genius could no longer get to the bloodlusting jinchuriki, the clone saw the worst possible act of favoritism his sensei had committed thus far. His signature jutsu, the one he used in wave when the demon of the bloody mist had first attacked them, the jutsu he said was his only original jutsu, was now in the hands of the Uchiha-teme.

Sure, the bunshin didn't expect it to go to his boss. But he had expected the man to have at least taught him something, before he taught Sasuke that one. It was a lethal killing jutsu, the very same one that had ended Haku's life.

And he'd just given it to Sasuke, while ignoring his other students.

The clone felt a tidal wave of jealousy. Not just for the boss, but also for Sakura-chan. She was alone in the fact that she hadn't made it to the finals. Now the clone wondered if their sensei even saw her when he left, or had she just been spending this whole month at home or out with friends?

A blood curdling scream roused the clone from his inner turmoil Sasuke's new jutsu landed and hurt Gaara. The wounded Genin lashed out with an arm made of hyperdense sand. Throwing the Uchiha across the arena to painfully hit the wall on the other side.

0o0o0

As he came into existence, the new bunshin was unsure of what had happened next. All he knew was the old man had demanded his predecessor make a new clone and here he was. The older half of their chakra burst, having been flung bodily by the Hokage at the Kazekage. And with that, his once forgotten prank was issued to the robed figure, who was now soaking wet.

Realizing his surroundings, the clone stepped between the two kage, they had moved to the roof of the next building that had been behind them.

"fufufufu," With that laugh coming from the robes of the esteemed kage, the bunshin now knew who's voice that sounded like!

The Hokage was already moving to fight, his robes had vanished and in their place was the armor of a seasoned warrior. "Kazekage-dono, we need not resort to such measures, any disagreeme—"

"Hey old man, he's not the Kazekage at all," There was no time in battle to act all respectful and shit, that guy wasn't even the one he was putting on a show for! "He's that snake freak Genin that attacked Sasuke in the forest."

The third flinched. That the Genin…No, the bunshin of a Genin, had realized this before him… how long had the boy known, how many of those strange attempts at manners had been meant to tell him? The Sandaime reflected.

"The boy is right, sensei," That voice, Hiruzen was much too aware of just what was coming now. "I really should confess, when I put the Five Elements Seal on you boy, I never thought you would be able to overcome the unbalance it caused."

The Hokage sucked back a gasp at the implications. The progress Naruto displayed while training completely on his own, was in spiteof his chakra being unbalanced!

The fake Kazekage continued to giggle as he tossed his robes aside. "Yet you still managed to improve, even though your chakra was actively being disrupted. I am impressed. It makes me wonder if perhaps my choice in Sasuke-kun was premature." Again, someone chose Sasuke-teme over him…. What a fucking surprise!

Thinking back, the bunshin could only guess that the seal the snake freak mentioned, was what beat him in the forest… Wait didn't' the pervert do something to make his chakra relax? Was he fixing that?

With a growl, the Sandaime pulled the chakra construct behind him. "Orochimaru, whatever your intentions towards the boy, you will not see them fulfilled. Today I correct the mistake I made when I let you leave."

0o0o0

The original Naruto was not aware of his clone's situation, not even aware that the clone was still there.

He knew the prank had not been needed, as a Chunin came from the Kage Booth to talk to the proctor. He just assumed the clone had gone somewhere safe to dispel.

What he was aware of, was that his teammate, the one he had been so jealous of only moments ago, had been caught.

During the match, he had been slammed against the arena wall. That had to hurt, and that was when Shika had woken him from the genjutsu that covered everything. Quickly reaching Sasuke the orange clad Genin tried to help him up… he regretted that.

The Uchiha had almost hit him when he got close. And so the four of them followed the injured sand Genin out into the forest. They were just about to attack when Sasuke fell, clutching at his neck. Of course, that just happened to be when Gaara turned to attack them back.

And when his emo-ego-ness was about to dodge the redhead's sand claws, some freaky fire ink spread from his neck, around his face and down his arm.

The Great Uchiha Genius fell right off the tree branch entirely, dropping like a sack of rice. Sakura-chan had tried to catch him, but the only result was that her arm had been broken by the sand claw as it knocked her out of the way and took hold the Uchiha.

Challenging Gaara, the blond jinchuriki charged as much chakra as he could into his body. He was going to have to move fast.

Then to his surprise, the claw holding Sasuke to the tree trunk split apart. Leaving a grip on Sasuke, while the arm retracted back to the sand covered Genin. Clasping his hands together, Naruto swore he would be the one to protect everybody. He would save them all. And so the Genin created his army of clones, getting a gasp from the chick who had brought Gaara out here.

The tanuki boy demon thing, then turned back to the pinkette and laughed.

"When I have beaten you I will feed both of your precious teammates to mother right in front of you!" The sand had completely covered the Genin now, leaving only his feet sticking out. With the wave of his sand fist, he launched a sand missile at Naruto's free teammate. She wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. It broke through the clones who tried to shield her. And the impact knocked her out of her perch where she landed awkwardly on her ankle, crying out when her leg gave a snap. Attacking the sand tanuki with all he had, the determined Genin drew on another source of strength. Furious that Sakura-chan had been hurt, and terrified that the suna-demon was targeting her.

0o0o0

The clone couldn't believe it. He was fighting in a battle royal between the third, and his evil student Orochimaru, plus two other Hokage!

He had almost immediately been shoved aside to remain intact, but feeling his original pull on the Kyuubi's chakra helped make up his mind, the boss was out there fighting, he should be fighting too. While he was being completely ignored by all parties in the battle he was safe. However, he wanted to help the old man, so he picked up the nearest piece of rubble and threw it at the evil Sanin.

The Hokage barked a laugh as the shingle beaned the man's head while he was monologuing. The serpentine shinobi hadn't even realized the ceramic projectile had been thrown until it hit him. Well, that's what you get for ignoring a clone of the next Hokage, isn't it?

The kage quickly pulled him out of the area, before it erupted into a churning pit of dust.

Once they had a lead away from the others, the elder shinobi quickly showed him a few hand signs and told him that the new jutsu would multiply anything he threw. While it was possible, and more effective to only use one seal for the jutsu, The Professor of ninjutsu had intentionally given the clone the full set of seals. This way the construct wouldn't need to try it more than a couple times to perform the jutsu with adequate results. He gave a demonstration of the jutsu by sending a single kunai the reanimated 2nd Hokage, and with the jutsu it became dozens.

"It'll copy anything I throw?" The clone didn't have any kunai with him, so he would need to throw junk from the battle.

"Yes, Naruto, anything. Now I don't know how much chakra you have left, but try to keep at least one of them distracted for me would you?"

"hai hai," The bunshin used the jutsu, slowly pulling trace amounts of the fox's chakra into him as he did so. One roof tile, became ten solid chunks of twisted ceramic, A chunk of stone from the broken roof became a dozen equally deformed chunks of rock.

This new jutsu was almost exactly like his full clone jutsu, while it required less chakra, it also only needed to be solid to work, so the details were not as taxing as his Shadow Clone.

Still, the Bunshin didn't start using real shinobi tools until he had tried the jutsu numerous times, and once he had it down, the kunai he managed to swipe from the battle, became a volley of blades sent at the Sanin.

His first attempts had done little to affect the nukenin, but when he began to send sharp tools it finally got his attention.

The snake bastard finally noticed him. So when the Sanin caught one of his kunai the bunshin used all the fox chakra he had gathered to create Eight more of himself before the pale man killed him with a flick of his wrist. Luckily the others had bolted the moment of their creation.

The bunshin were alive, they had been created to bombard the living Sanin, as the Hokage found a way to beat the …. other, two... er... Hokage.

Each of them took a distant position around the battle so all of them wouldn't be killed of by any hit that could beat one of them. As long as they were spread out, they could keep replenishing their number. So the clones fought.

At least four of them at any time, were targeting the Sanin. One or two of them would always cast some projectiles into the old man's fight. As the fight went on, one of their number had finally saved up enough fox chakra to make a new clone, who then attempted to break out. It didn't work. The wall seemed to be made of purple fire.

Luckily, the old man looked like he was winning. He had beaten them back twice now. But the dead shinobi reformed from the dust and came at him again. Each time they did, the old man had to abandon the jutsu he was trying to do.

Soon the third Hokage had them both reforming, and the old man went for a different jutsu. Quickly signing the hand seals that the clone knew so well… Giving the blond construct an idea.

"Hey old man, wait a second I got an idea!" He shouted, nodding to another who jumped at the two reforming masses of earth crumbs, the bunshin split into four of himself each one grabbing the reforming kage they were next to, and running with them. Strait into the wall of chakra fire.

With the Hokage dust not fully reformed it was easy to shove their remains into the wall. Especially when the two clone holding each mass of reforming jutsu were willing to burn with them.

At that same time the four targeting the Sanin opened up with all they had, which, after the several times he had used it, was only limited by the amount of chakra they put into the jutsu. While he had only been an annoyance with the few kunai and shingles he had been sending at the Sanin, when the clones started sending projectiles by the hundreds, the Sanin decided to end his interference.

And the last clone, the one who had continued to pull on the fox's chakra, raced toward the hesitant village leader.

The Hokage had almost expected what was to come from the Genin's Idea. Realizing what the boy intended to do, he decided to give the Genin the chance he deserved. So much of the boy's life had already been squandered because of the poor judgements the elderly village leader had made. It was time for him to trust, that Naruto could follow through on his boast. The Hokage allowed his arm to be taken and jumped when the boy finally took it.

Grasping the outstretched arm of the waiting Hokage, and throwing him up in the air, the bunshin used the seals for shadow clone projectile jutsu, ending it with the seal of his own full kage bunshin jutsu instead of the final replication seal.

It worked! Creating a Shadow Hokage Clone Jutsu! Now that there were seven of the old man, each with plenty of chakra in them, he had the advantage. As the seven kage landed, the two justu made shinobi reentered the battle. The Sanin had easily taken out the other bunshin without the man's sensei to keep his attention off of them. But it was too late for the traitor.

Having seen what the clone had just done, the Sanin could only stare wide eyed as the many Hokage attacked with none of the hesitation that held the third's startled predecessors in place. It was Impossible! Was this what his sensei had meant when he said the boy was a genius with the clone jutsu!? The spared a single look at the remaining clone and sent his silent message of all his thoughts and memories, out to his hidden contingency. There was little possibility this body would escape alive.

The one remaining shadow clone who had performed the impossible jutsu watched, as the man who had taken care of the boss all of his life, used some jutsu to rip the chakra out of the two jutsu kage. And then again, out of the Snake Sanin.

With the battle over, the old man fell to his knees. The massive purple wall of fire around them collapsed, and the several ninja who had seen the battle gathered to help, rushing towards the fading Hokage to provide what medical aide they could. The six Hokage clones, seeing the end of the battle, burst.

In the end, there was nothing to be done. The gathered Iryonin could only bare witness.

With the knowledge that he had so much to make up to the boy who had fought beside him, and that his time would soon pass as his jutsu ended and his soul was devoured.

The Hokage considered the sheer audacity of the jutsu the boy had just used. Naurto was going to become a great shinobi... as long as this old man, ensured nothing held the boy back any longer.

Reaching out and grabbing the arm of the nearest medic-nin the Hokage sucked in his breath for his last and final words.

"As my last act, as Hokage, I grant Naruto Uzumaki a battlefield promotion to Chunin, and declare that his heritage and all his parent's assets are to be released to him. He is to be apprenticed officially to Jiraiya—," The old man stopped, gasping for breath. It seemed he knew he couldn't get any more out, and in a harsh voice, he ended his life with the words, "So I decree."

Toppling forward, the elder shinobi died with a smile on his face.

The clone couldn't believe it, his parents… he was going to know who they were. And then he realized what else had just happened. The old man was dead!

Then, the sole remaining clone felt it. Pain! The Boss had been hurt! The fox's chakra, which had sustained him, was drawn out of the construct by the original, and he dispelled.

0o0o0

Almost 80 years of information, of memories, of life, bombarded Naruto's mind when the Six Sandaime Bunshin Burst. The pain it caused, brought the Genin to his knees within the sand of the beast he climbed.

It was then, that the first truly agonizing wound of many to be dealt that day, was inflicted upon him, the sickening crunch of his legs being crushed echoed through the tree's as his cry of pain overshadowed it.

The blood pouring from his ears, left him deaf to the sounds of his screams, while he began choking on the blood from his nose. His head felt like it would explode, this pain was beyond what he had ever felt. Added to it, was the screaming in his legs.

One thing made it through the haze of pain, save her! Sakura-chan was hurt, and in danger. He had to save her! Reaching his hands out towards the sleeping vessel, Naruto grasped his sash. Sand swirling from around the boy wrapped over the leaf-nin's arms, almost covering them completely to the shoulder, while his shredded legs were suddenly yanked inwards. Pulling him from the redhead hang out of the demon's face.

When the blond leaf vessel's grip wasn't broken, the sand tightened crushing his arms, and covering the Genin in even more of his own blood.

Still, Naruto pulled, he pulled with his very chakra, calling on the Kyuubi once more, to help him reach his destination. And finally, with one last surge of will power, The blood soaked shinobi slammed his blond locks into the sleeping face of the Ichibi Vessel. The result was another sickening crunch, as the boy's nose broke, and he awoke with a scream of pain.

The sand demon's towering form crackled and exploded in a flood of sand. While Gaara landed safely on his sand, the leaf ninja wasn't so lucky. The burst of sand had blasted his upper body out, while still holding the remains of his legs deeper in its layers. Causing him to flip over end, when he finally was released a fraction of a second later.

With no limbs to guide or even cushion his fall, Naruto landed head first into the hard ground, his neck at a crooked angle. His head split, and from it dark red blood and other fluids gushed in fountains.

Yet, the boy struggled. The rest of his body finally falling to the ground, leaving the Genin face down. Slowly the the bloody blond head turned upwards. Reaching out with the Kyuubi's chakra, the crippled leaf-nin pulled himself towards the terrified suna jinchuuriki. The red arms of chakra, resembled a liquid mist of blood, even more so with the amount pouring from the Genin they dragged. A trail formed behind him, as he ever so gradually made his way in the Ichibi Demon Vessel's direction.

The pinkette nearly vomited at the sight of what could only be demonic blood reaching out and dragging a mangled corpse, with four torn, shredded and crushed limbs dangling behind it, as small strips of flesh tore completely off when they passed over rougher parts of the ground. What was he? Nothing could live after all that!

As the sand fell away from the Uchiha, Sakura tried to catch him with her one good arm. He was awake at least. Seeing the horrific form of their teammate, Sasuke shoved his useless teammate out of the way and began to climb down from the tree, sprinting to intercept the enemy moving in the dobe's direction.

Naruto spoke, telling Gaara of how close they were, of how he could have been the same way as the suna-nin was now, of how his friends had saved him from the pain of being alone. He was nearly to the whimpering redhead when a form appeared in front of him.

"Get away from my brother!" Was the only warning the bloodied boy got before her massive fan swung under and up, catching his face and bunting him into the nearest tree, where he crumpled in a heap. The blond kunoichi gathered her brother and began to run, even as she did she heard it.

"Sasuke-kun! Just leave him, we need to get you to the hospital!"

"We can't! Not after all he just did for us! He-" and the Uchiha's words were cut off as the kunoichi pulled him off balance.

"I don't care about him! He can go ahead and die already."

After hearing the few things she had from the Genin she'd intercepted, Temari knew exactly how crushing those words were. If he lived, he wouldn't live long.

0o0o0

"Please live," the fox begged his prison. The boy could live if he only willed it, the brain damage was minor, and most of the other damage could easily be repaired over time.

But the brat just didn't want to live. All of those memories from his Hokage bunshin jutsu had overloaded his meager brains, but not fried them completely. And the bash on the head could be fixed as easily as the broken neck.

But the prisoner couldn't do any of it. The Kyuubi no Yoku, greatest of his family, was held at bay by the seal containing him. He could normally heal the boy without the seal interfering because the boy wanted to be healed.

This time was much different, this time Naruto didn't want to survive! Even as the boy died, a stronger will took hold. The elderly shinobi stepped up to the gate of his cage.

"I know what is wrong, and I know you wish to live as much as I want him to." The Sandaime began.

"How are you even in the seal you old monkey?" The man was dead, the demon's chakra within the bunshin had felt the shinobi's life be devoured by the death god.

"I am not me.. heehee, as it were." Came his almost giggled reply! "I am in fact, a copy of me, made with Naruto-kun's chakra, I can only assume that the reason I didn't pass onto my Original, is in part because of the origin of the chakra used to create me, and the fact my original self is dead, although I may still have been sent to him even then, had he not sealed himself into the belly of the Death God."

Dimly, the collective will of the six Hokage Bunshin regretted dispelling. If he had lasted past his original body's demise, he may have been able to correct many of the things he was leaving unfinished.

"For those reasons, I believe my mind was carried with the rest of Naruto's chakra, back into him. As to why I am still self-aware and not simply a group of memories... It may be that his mind has suffered such a trauma, that it isn't capable of absorbing me as of yet."

In truth the Hokage's will knew that his time was limited, and while he could, he wanted to improve the boy's chances, so he had already begun sorting his own memories. A quick experiment with the Uchiha disaster had already proven to him that he was capable of erasing the memories he was formed out of.

"We need to act quickly. So long as I will it, your chakra can be moved from the seal, just as if it were Naruto willing it. But, I doubt very much that I will remain after the damage is repaired. So our first priority is to erase all traces of his desire to die. Then, once his will to live is restored, it will be up to you to repair his physical body. During that time, I must ensure, with the remaining moments of my awareness, that he is not burdened by the worst of my nightmares."

And so, The Third Hokage, and The Nine Tailed Demon Fox, worked hand in hand. And our Hero was Reborn….


~ Note ~

Course of diversion from canon:

Naruto gets the Hokage to disqualify Sasuke if he's not there; Kakashi brings him there just in time... earlier than in canon; Sasuke hadn't saved up that extra hour's worth of chakra for him to make the chidori a second time; When he used it, his hand was stuck in the sand, and unlike in canon he couldn't use it again to escape; He was thrown into the wall; His resulting pain caused the curse seal to spread faster; Trying to fight the further spread seal as he did in canon, made Sasuke fall off the tree branch; Because he was falling, Sasuke was caught in Gaara's claws instead of Sakura; Gaara targeted Sakura to make Naruto angry; Naruto received the memories from his clones causing major brain damage; His resulting pause allowed Gaara's sand to grab him... leading to his arms and legs being crushed in turn; Having no usable limbs Naruto drew out more of the fox chakra; Sakura, seeing the demonic arms drag Naruto's mangled corpse, lead her to telling Sasuke to just let him die.

Orochimaru WAS devoured by the death god! He still exists because of the copies he placed in Anko and Sasuke's Heaven's Curse Seal.

Naruto's 3rd Hokage clones only gave him the memories because the 3rd was dead and seal into the death god. Otherwise the chakra would have simply been lost... torn between two targets and not returning to either. Because of that, he will NOT be able to repeat the process.

Beaning a monologuing villain; It helps that Orochimaru had been completely ignoring the clone. He hadn't even realized that the clone was even willing to fight.

Naruto Learning the Shadow Clone Projectile Jutsu:

Naruto learned the Shadow Clone jutsu in only a few hours right? And I'm going to assume that making a full human body with mind and shape and movable features is much more complex than a kunai or shingle. And after learning that and using it for months! Naruto also learned to tree and water walk, As well as learning to channel and direct the Kyuubi's chakra, increasing his chakra control exponentially. After that I would assume it would only take one or two tries for ANY shinobi.

Things Naruto won't remember:

The end of the battles that just took place.

The Uchiha Plot,

Anything concerning Sakura, from before his memories are restored.

The private times between the third and his wife,

The worst and bloodiest scenes in the war,

And anything before the third made Chunin, because that was just too long ago. Naruto won't even be able to remember the actual promotion, he just knows that all his memories are from Chunin and up.

It will be a few chapters before I reach the part where "Tenten's Ulterior Motive Challenge" comes in.


Most items in all my Naruto fan-fictions will be based off of T8: Retroversion's timeline. Many of these details will be universal across them all.

Meaning any mission or OC, or other major details will be included, based on their background and trigger events.

{This will not include Kurenai's conspiracy or Hinata's abuse}


While T8: Retroversion will be my main Fic, Five others are on my list to work on at the moment: LATE Naruto: Life After the Ends; Uzumaki: A Lone Fox; The Thousand Ninja; Village Hidden in Plain Sight; and Wisdom of Chance. Descriptions on profile.