Uzumaki Naruto stood above the rubble staring at the battlefield in agony. Gone. Everything he loved, everyone he loved, gone. The smoke was still softly lingering in the air (strong despite the soft sprinkle of rain that was cleansing the bloodbath) from the aftereffects of Madara's suicidal jutsu, and the constant terrified shouting of his people ceased to exist. The Rokudaime Hokage mourned for the loss of his people, his home.
He closed his eyes and slowly turned his face upwards, the rain mingling with his tears. Naruto dropped to his knees and sobbed.
Do not lose hope, brat, the soft rumble of Kurama's voice resonated within Naruto.
"How can I not?" The Hokage whispered, "Everything we worked for is gone."
There is a slight disturbance towards your left, go. Although the Nine Tails orders were unclear, Naruto heeded them as he trusted Kurama with his life. Not that there was anything left to live for. He got up and looked towards his left. Naruto narrowed his eyes.
The rubble there was moving.
Using his last burst of chakra and ignoring Kurama's Do not waste your chakra, brat!, Naruto threw the three pronged kunai as hard as he could. Within moments, the kunai landed on its target and a yellow flash warped the surrounding air as Naruto disappeared.
The Rokudaime Hokage promptly reappeared where the kunai landed. Naruto grabbed the kunai and was about to throw it again when he felt the tell tail pull of the seal for the Hiraishin and he automatically went on the defensive. Just like his father had advised, Naruto had marked all of his comrades with the seal... While fighting with his enemies, he also marked them to give himself an advantage.
Now, however, he had no idea if the person who was marked was a friend or foe. The pull for the jutsu was strong, but the realization that he may have a companion was the stronger.
"So..." Naruto heard the drawl and the rubble moved more. "Freaking..." a hand shot out from the bottom. "Troublesome." The catchphrase that he was so accustomed to caught his attention more than the hand sticking out from the ground. Naruto's heart leaped in his chest.
So that's why the pull was so strong!
The groan became louder and it sounded as if the person in question was in more pain. Within seconds Naruto was moving the rocks away from the person.
"I got you, Shika! Hang on!" He grunted as the rocks moved. Using sheer strength (Kurama was too tired to do anything but talk) Naruto had his Jounin Commander freed from his prison. Holding his hand out, he pulled Nara Shikamaru out and helped him lean against the boulder that was caging him, the stench of blood strong.
Naruto didn't comment as the cold tip of a kunai touched the back of his neck. He expected Shikamaru to question him, and silently applauded his Jounin Commander for his shrewdness.
"How do I know you're truly Naruto and not an impostor?" The soft tone the Nara used did not surprise him and the Hokage hid his grin. This was the tone Shikamaru used moments before assassinating his prisoners.
"I suppose I'm not surprised you're able to keep me at kunai-point regardless of being trapped in those rocks for Kami knows how long, dattebayo." The Rokudaime Hokage closed his eyes and sighed.
"I don't care what you think," Shikamaru growled and slowly pushed the kunai a little deeper. "Who are you?"
"I should have you killed for attempted assassination of your Hokage, Shika-chan, but I understand the situation to prove myself." C'mon Kurama, I gotta borrow your power just for a moment and you can go back to resting my furry friend.
Naruto promptly changed into his Nine Tails Chakra Cloak and the transformation was enough proof for the Nara as he hurriedly dropped his kunai.
"Forgive me, Lord Hokage."
"Shut up, Shika. Now, prove to me that you are, indeed, my Jounin Commander," Naruto smiled a foxy smile. Because of the sensing abilities that came with Sage Mode and Nine Tails Chakra Cloak, Naruto knew for a fact that this was Shikamaru; he just felt like pulling the Jounin Commander's tail.
"When you appointed me as your Jounin Commander, everyone was shocked as they all had assumed Sasuke would be your right hand." Shikamaru drawled and after seeing the grin on Naruto's face, narrowed his eyes. "But you already knew I was telling the truth about my identity so I didn't need to prove it anyways."
He groaned in pain as he held the side of his chest, "this injury is such a drag."
"I don't know much about medical jutsu, but let's get you healed," Naruto helped the Nara sit down on the ground and get comfortable.
"I was taken out by a reanimation of my Father and Asuma, so I was out of it for a little while. What happened?" Shikamaru questioned and winced as his wound began to heal itself under Naruto's green chakra hands.
"Other than the bloodbath? Madara knew he had no chance of survival with the combined Odama Rasengan and Amaterasu fueled Chidori me and Sasuke were about to hit him with, so he used a suicidal jutsu to take all of us out with him. I told Sasuke to get out of the way, but the idiot didn't listen to me."
"Of course he didn't; now that is punishable by death. Defying a direct order from the Hokage? He's lucky he died in combat," Shikamaru sneered and Naruto barked out a laugh.
"You don't hid your dislike of the Uchiha, do you?" The usage of Sasuke's last name did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru and he mentally noted to ask his Hokage why he disdainfully said Uchiha. But for now, Nara Shikamaru formulated his words carefully.
"He's a traitor to the village and to my Hokage, of course I dislike him," the Jounin Commander emphasized the dislike. "He has no right to act like we'd welcome him back with open arms."
"The thing is, we would've welcome him back," Naruto sighed in regret at his former childishness.
"What changed?" Shikamaru asked in his natural drawl-y tone.
"The concept of priorities," the Hokage replied. "I realized I couldn't prioritize his return to the village over the village itself. He would have been a great asset to the village, yes, but Sasuke was too focused on destroying the village to be of much help."
"Wow, I can't say I'm surprised," Shikamaru grinned. "You truly are the number one unpredictable hyper active ninja. When did this epiphany come to you?"
Naruto smirked. "When I was out there busting ass and pummeling Madara's face in. I remembered the Idiot's words on how he would help me kill Madara and then destroy the entire village." He stopped the flow of green chakra to his hands and sat back. "This is as much as I can do for now, Shika. We have to scrounger for some soldier pills."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Shikamaru took in a deep breath.
"You are my Jounin Commander, I can't have you dying, too." The implications in that sentence silenced both Naruto and Shikamaru. Both men sat in silence, remembering their fallen teammates for what seemed like moments when they heard a panting noise.
In seconds, they both stood up. Although he was woozy, Shikamaru stood tall in front of Naruto, kunai raised.
"Akamaru! There's no one there!" A familiar voice called out in frustration. "What's gotten into you?! I told you they're all gone!" The noise got louder and footsteps were upon them.
"Kiba-kun, it is possible that Akamaru has sniffed someone else in our vicinity! We will do well to follow him!" The unmistakable voice was Rock Lee was heard as well and both men bristled in anger. Who dare pretend to be Rock Lee and Kiba?
Bracing themselves for an enemy, the Jonin Commander and Rokudaime Hokage were shocked to see Kiba, Akamaru, and Rock Lee in front of them.
Recognizing his ANBU subordinate, Shikamaru still did not let his guard down. He had been wary with his Hokage, better safe than sorry. Within seconds, while Naruto had Lee in a choke-hold, Shikamaru trapped Kiba in his Shadow Possession Jutsu and called out "Report!"
"ANBU Codename Beast, registration number 030528, reporting in, Lord Hokage and Jounin Commander, Sir!" Kiba called out and stared Shikamaru straight in the eyes.
"Where is your ANBU tattoo?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.
"On my shoulder, Sir!"
"Where is your pup's tattoo?" Shikamaru was wise to call the Inuzuka's Companion a pup; only the real Kiba would be offended by the term.
"His tattoo is located in place of a collar and he is not a pup, Sir! He is my Companion!" Kiba was still in reporting mode and shouted all of his responses which had Naruto wincing at his loudness.
Shikamaru let Naruto question Lee as Lee was head of Civilian and Shinobi Relations as well as the Taijutsu Specialist.
"What were my last words to you before we left home base?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. Because he had used up the last of his chakra on the Hiraishin and Nine Tails Chakra Cloak, he had to do this the manual way. It would not do well if Lee answered this incorrectly.
"Lord Hokage-sama, you told me 'the will of fire is something that is carried within the next generation. We have to protect them at all costs.'" Lee recounted and his heart pounded at the nervousness he felt at his Hokage's silence.
Naruto knew Lee was correct, but just in case, he asked another question. "What were my words when Tsunade baa-chan died in my arms?"
"Forgive me, Lord Hokage, but that question is invalid. Lady Tsunade did not die in your arms, she died a noble death while in combat." At this, Naruto relaxed his hold on Lee and grinned.
Shikamaru averted his eyes to Naruto and a slight tilt of his Hokage's head had the Jounin Commander releasing the jutsu that kept Kiba captive. Shikamaru panted from the loss of his chakra and he gave the Inuzuka an apologetic smile. "Release. Sorry Kiba, I said to see if you were the real deal."
"That's fine, Shikamaru." Kiba pop his neck. "Man, am I glad to see you two as well. Like I was asking Lee, did you see Madara's insane jutsu?"
At Naruto's and Shikamaru's nod of agreement, Kiba asked the question they all had been wondering. "Now what?"
"What do we do now?" Naruto echoed. "We're the only ones alive in this area." It was silent for a moment, then-
Naruto, what if I told you I had a way to fix all this.
"Shut it Kurama, there is no way to fix this," the Hokage muttered and his companions looked away.
What if I told you I could bring you back before any of this happened so you could fix all you wanted to? The Nine Tails softly proposed.
"What do you mean?" There was hope in Naruto's voice that had Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, and Akamaru looking at him in shock.
A sealing jutsu only known to the Tailed Beasts. I can use it only once to bring you back to the past so you can save all your friends once more.
"Kurama says he can bring us to the past so we can fix everything, but that's not possible, right?" Naruto let out in nervously.
"With what we've seen Madara do, this seems plausible," the Jonin Commander narrowed his eyes. "But is that a risk we're willing to take?"
"We've lost everything as it is, what will this do? It's worth a try," Kiba put in and Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Naruto-kun, we cannot rest until we have tired all options!" Lee chimed in and Naruto made up his mind. If the remainder of his people were in agreement to go back in to the past, as Hokage, he could comply.
"Let's do it, Kurama!"
I've been molding my chakra for a while now. I knew what your answer would be. Hold hands with your comrades, kit.
"Lee, Shika, Kiba, keep Akamaru on you and make a circle!" The Shinobi complied with their Hokage's command with no hesitance. The wind started billowing harder. "Hold hands!"
There was a shining bright light.
"Naruto what the hell is going on?!" Kiba shouted into the void, but clenched his hands.
The sudden bright light blinded them all and with a Hiraishin-like yellow flash, the remaining Shinobi were no more.
I know, I knowwww I need to update The Boys Next Door, but here, have a Naruto.
edited: 12/27/15