Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
A/N: and here's the next chapter.
(Shadow) Peers out from behind a wall, sees mob of angry readers and ducks behind it again
Chapter One
(Three days later)
Sasuke stood, with the rest of the rookies and the sand siblings, at the funeral site. He looked around at all of the people gathered and then he turned his attention back towards Tsunade.
"Uzumaki Naruto was a ninja unlike any other. He had the ability to make friends and allies, by just being him. He could make anyone believe that nothing was impossible as long as you believed in yourself," The Godamie began. "Every single one of us was changed by his presence in some way. He was a wonderful ninja, but to some of us, no, to most of us he was family and he will be missed greatly." The Godamie finished her speech and backed away from the casket as everyone else came and said their goodbyes to Naruto.
Sasuke was one of the last ones to approach the casket. He walked up to it and stared down into his best friends face. "Forever dobe, remember your promise," he said placing a white rose in the casket.
Sakura paced back and forth through the halls of the library. She was waiting impatiently for Shikamaru to get there with the others. The last week had been hell on the village. Everyone was affected by Naruto's death. That's why she decided something had to be done. There had to be a way to change what had happened. She had the time-traveling jutsu that her best friend gave her and she wondered if there was a way to complete it in time to bring him back. That's where Shikamaru came in. The Nara genius must know something about the jutsu.
A few minutes later Shikamaru showed up with Neji and Sasuke right behind him. They saw Sakura pacing and walked up to the medic Nin.
"So what was the reason you wanted to see me?" Shikamaru asked.
"I need your help. Naruto gave me a jutsu that might be able to change what had happened, but I think it might need some more work," she explained and then she described the jutsu. When she was done Shikamaru had a thoughtful look on his face.
"It can be done, but the only problem is the jutsu is forbidden. You'd get into a hell of a lot of trouble with Tsunade-sama."
"I know, but if it works…" she left the rest of the sentence unfinished.
Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome." But he took out a scroll and sat down at one of the tables. Sasuke, Sakura, and Neji followed. "The basics of the jutsu are simple; we just need to figure out exactly how far back we need to go. The main reason the jutsu is considered forbidden is that it takes a hell of a lot of chakra, enough to kill a person if they did it alone," He explained. The other three nodded. "But if the three of us did it together, the risks are a lot lower."
"Who said it was going to be just the three of you?" a voice remarked from behind them. Sakura turned to see Kiba and the rest of the Rookies standing there. It was Kiba that had spoken.
Shikamaru sighed again and redid the calculations. "I stand corrected. If all eleven of us perform the jutsu, there are hardly any risks at all."
Sakura nodded, and then turned towards the others. "We cannot let anyone else know about the jutsu or our plans." She then turned back towards Shikamaru and asked, "When do you want to do this?"
Shikamaru closed his eyes, thinking. "It's best that we do this as soon as possible. That way we can hopefully pull this off without anyone finding out."
"We could do this tomorrow morning, before everyone is awake." Hinata suggested quietly. She had gotten over most of her shyness thanks to her friendship with Naruto, but she was still soft spoken.
"Sounds great," Sakura replied. The rest of the rookies nodded agreeing as well. "Early tomorrow it is."
The next morning appeared quiet as Sakura and Hinata waited for the others to arrive. The two girls were already standing outside of Konoha's main gates. A bark from Akumaru signaled the arrival of Kiba, and Shino was with him. The next to arrive were Sasuke, Neji and Shikamaru. Within five minutes the entire Rookie eleven was there.
Shikamaru turned and headed off into the forest, followed by the others, who were right behind him. Shikamaru finally stopped at the edge of the forest and turned towards the others. "This should be good enough," he said, and then he pulled out a sealed scroll. "The hand signs for this jutsu are pretty complicated. So I'll explain them first before we perform the jutsu."
"What's the jutsu called?" Kiba asked.
"Shadow Art; Time Manipulation Jutsu," Sakura answered.
"Shadow art? Sounds like something Naruto would use." Shino observed quietly.
Sakura turned to the bug user and answered, "That's because Naruto came up with the idea." The others looked at her confused, so she continued to explain, "Naruto thought that knowing a time-travel jutsu might be useful so he asked me to help him come up with an idea of how one might work. The jutsu was almost finished, but Naruto got called out on his mission. He gave it to me to hold onto, and to see if I could find a way to finish it."
The clearing grew silent, as everyone tried to process the new information.
Hinata was the one to break the silence, "Do you think Naruto came up with that idea because he knew he wouldn't return from his mission?"
Sakura spun towards the Hyuuga heiress and demanded, "What makes you think that?"
"Think about it, Naruto comes up with the idea to create a time-travel jutsu right before he gets called out on a solo mission, which he happens to die on. That jutsu, he asks you to create with him and then leave in the village with you."
Sakura was about to remark, but decided against it. She did have a point. Had Naruto known that he wouldn't make it back from this mission? And then there was that conversation between him and the cloaked figure. What did he say to Naruto and what was Naruto's reply? Sakura shook her head; shaking those thoughts from her mind.
Shikamaru cleared his throat drawing everyone's attention. "How we got the jutsu and who came up with it doesn't matter. What matters is; are we still going through with this or not?" Everyone nodded. So Shikamaru continued, "Then you need to pay attention. The hand signs are as follows."
Fifteen minutes later the Rookie eleven stood ready. They had the hand signs down now they were ready to do this. Eleven pairs of hands moved through the complicated hand signs in sync, with the last sign they shouted together:
"Shadow Art; Time Manipulation Jutsu!"
A bright flash of light lit up the forest. When the light disappeared the clearing was empty. The Konoha ninjas were gone. Only Kami knew where… or when.
A/N; I know another cliff hanger. Don't you just love them? Read and review. Ja Ne.