Questions and answers.

When did this take place in the current timeline?

This fanfic is based after the battle with madara with a twist. The twist being events before and after are slightly different.

In the first battle with madara, he was being pushed back and his attempt at the infinite tsukiyomi failed. So he fled.

A little while later, perhaps 3-4 months, he resurfaced at full power, due to the massive amount of shinobi loss in the previous battle, the allied forces started to lose, killing off main and supporting characters one by one. Very little were alive and those who were were too weak from injuries to help, which left it down to naruto/kurama to fight him off.

Madara, in his frustration, began a self destruct Ninjutsu that killed him while kurama took the attack to protect naruto. Madaras jutsu wiped out the lanscapes, leaving a very abandoned and desolate land. It was narutos job to navigate this world in search for the six paths seal which may (or may not but did in this case) allow the person sacrificed for it another chance at their regrets.

Like a space/time seal.

Any more questions, review or send a message, I'll get on it.

A wish granted

The moment Naruto awoke, his body jolted in awareness of unknown, but painfully familiar sensations surrounding his body. Sensations that once were. Steadying his breathing and relaxing his muscles, he kept his eyes carefully closed and just… felt.

They were the tingle and perception of a word he could only describe as 'soft'. Under his hands, his legs and head, supporting his weight was such featherlight softness that easily guided his movement as he twitched his index finger into the cushioned material.

I know this feeling, he cautiously mused. But he doubted himself. Because such things no longer existed in this world. The feeling he had, what it was, was a bed.

He recalled, with some strain and a pang of pain to his temples, his last memory. Of the seal in the ruins, that lay sedately atop of the sand of the Sunagakure village that had caved itself in. Of the pain until the very breath he uttered and the… somewhat blurred memory of an older looking man reaching for him.

The sound of birds chirping met his ears over resonance of distant voices. Voices. People. Alive. A small breeze dusted his face as he sucked in a sharp breath at the coolness of the wind that ruffled a few strands of his hair onto his forehead.

It's not hot. This place. It isn't where a was before, he thought with trepidation.

The smell of cooking, meat, wafted into his nostrils. Food. There was food here! He swallowed, though his previous aching, ticklish throat no longer reacted as it had before, but was well lubricated. As if it had never happened, as if it could possibly be a bad dream.

'This is either my relief, or my one chance', he thought calmly. He reigned in the feelings that were crashing around inside of him like a tidal wave of emotion that threatened to spill over and give him false hope. He gently, slowly, grasped the duvet like material in his hands, trailing a thumb over the long lost material, relishing in the feeling of smoothness that met the pads of his fingertips instead of the calloused feeling he had grown used to over the years.

And he opened his eyes.

His vision was bleary and unfocused, his eyelids refusing to open properly as if they were swollen shut. He blinked. Once, Twice. His eyes started to focus and after a couple of minutes, he was looking up at pure whiteness. He stared at the colour trying to make sense of his surroundings. His body and mind felt sluggish, as if he had been on a long, long journey without rest.

Well, i guess that parts true.

He rolled his head to the right of him. What met his eyes took his breath away.

He was looking out over a room. Not any room. HIS room. His room from when he was a kid. The solitary apartment he had lived in for the first 14 years of his life. The wooden floors and the solid wooden table in the centre, surrounded by sitting cushions. The kitchen that ran parallel, separated only by a counter cutting off three quarters of the entrance, with two accompanying stools. The storage cabinet and drawers towards the left hand side against the wall and a map of the shinobi world next to it. The 'Uzumaki Naruto for Hokage!' poster he had inked onto a scrap scroll when he was 8, hanging over the kitchen counter.

He lifted his somewhat aching body into a sitting position and looked down. He looked at his hands. They were smaller, far less signs of straining work and scars. Childish. He glanced at the green frog patterned material of the clothing he was wearing. He remembered this, his heart cried as his already wide eyes grew wider.

Something wet hit his hands as his eyes grew mysteriously blurry. He blinked and found several drops of water on his hand.

"Eh..?"

Reaching both hands up to his face, he felt the rivulets of tears fall from his face, more specifically, his eyes. He was crying.

He bit down on his lower lip as pent up, unused anguish silently poured out of him. His pain. For every memory of a loved one dying, seeing comrades die in his arms, unable to save them, unable to stop anything. Unable to help.

Small but quiet sobs left his mouth unwillingly. His now smaller frame, racked with tremors as he cried. Cried for his past. For his friends, for the shinobi world. But more importantly, he cried for his future. His new future. His new chance to save everyone.

He rubbed at his eyes with the balls of his fists and urged the tears to stop. Urged the cries to quiet, the shaking to cease. His thoughts went to his saviour and good friend. The one who had allowed this to happen and froze. Was he here in this life? Would he have the memories too?

Naruto closed his eyes and allowed his mind to take him where he wanted. To the entrance of that room where his friend slept. To the cage he kept him in.

He was standing in front of the the red stone, chakra infused pillars that dripped with condensation and joined the small puddles lying on the floor. The seal, fully intact, in its place on the lock of the enclosure that was Kurama's home for numerous years of his life.

One large red eye popped open behind the cage bars. Bared teeth came to join it as the other eye united the pair and focused on him, rage flaring red chakra swirls around the great beasts body. A low but powerful voice rumbled out.

"You found your own way here? I'm surprised. What do you want, lowly human?"

The fox glared at him but all Naruto could do was drop his head slightly as shivers of remembrance rippled over him. Tears, once more, fell down his cheeks, but silently, contained this time. He walked forward, casually at an even gait to where the seal lay in sight. He would use his knowledge in his past life in this one. He would relieve his friend as much as he believed his current, perhaps twelve year old body, could withstand alongside his current will and comprehension of his abilities and Kurama's powers.

He stopped in front of the seal. He watched as his friends eyes widened fractionally before narrowing at him.

"Who are you?" the fox growled.

So at least he can sense the difference, if he can't remember what i do. Naruto looked up at his saviour, showing his face to him. The fox looked as much taken aback as he possibly could at the sight of the tears that free flowed down his face. Yeah, benefits of his wish were already beginning, he had never once Kurama react like that, he thought amusedly.

Locking his eyes with the other pair, Naruto smiled a melancholy but genuine smile at the fox as he reached forward his left hand and placed it on the seal, sending chakra to the points of his fingers. His eyes were shining as he said;

"I'm home, Kurama".

Naruto flicked his wrist to the right hand side, altering the strength of the seal. The inked lines, one at a time, withdrew, moving like a snake over the others, rearranging in a different combination according to the strength Naruto took out of it.

Giving him a small smile, he withdrew his hand, turned around and walked away, back towards the entrance of the room before regaining consciousness. He opened his eyes to the sight of his room that would never again look so boring to his previous self. He drank the sight in with a small smile and sigh of relief.

He had been bracing himself for the onslaught of chakra as the kyuubi attempted to escape his container, but found nothing. He hadn't even tried, or moved from what his senses had told him. he chuckled gently. No doubt he was either shocked or very, very confused. But for one, Kurama had never been stupid. Therefore his friend must be pondering how he knew his name without asking him as well as numerous other small factors.

He wished he had a photo of kurama looking that surprised at his tears. Perhaps he should've cried more near his friend when he had the chance in the past. But he had never wanted to burden his unchosen prisoner.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a note left by his younger self. 'Graduation today! Make sure you get up!'.

So he really was back to his twelve year old self. And what's more, back to the day of his academy graduation. The memories took him back. They were happy memories, if singed with sadness. Now he had a chance to relive it all. To change everything to go well.

He wouldn't be the idiotic self he had been before the war had matured him. He had things to do. People to see. Like Sandaime hokage. Indeed, if he had one person that needed to know the future that Konoha faced, then he would entrust his knowledge to the old man.

And this time, he would make sure he didn't die.

Naruto slipped sideways to drop his feet to the boards of the floor, bracing his hands and wrists against the mattress in an attempt to get up, when a scratching sound met his ears. Surprised, he looked down at the hand nearest his pillows when a familiar but slightly unwelcome sight met his eyes.

He was looking down at something that shouldn't exist in the current timeline. He reached for the picture hesitatingly and lifted it towards his eyes.

It was a picture of him surrounded by the teams 7, 8, 9, 10 as well as his friends from the multiple other villages that surrounded the Land of Fire. It had been taken a little before their final fight with a constantly escaping Madara. He looked down at the picture, downcast and traced the smiling faces with the tip of his index finger. A steady sorrow filling his heart.

He had kept this picture within his breast pocket after watching them die, one by one. Attacks he had sustained had damaged and singed the edges of the picture, but was otherwise in perfect condition and every face fully recognisable.

No, this picture shouldn't exist. But he was glad that it did. It would not only serve as proof to Hiruzen Sarutobi should his words not be enough, but also as a reminder. This is what would happen if he screwed up his chance. He would re-watch them die once more. He had a feeling that he wouldn't get the opportunity to come back a second time.

His eyes blazed in determination as he kept a tight hold on this picture he held. He would do it this time even if it cost him his life. He refused to watch them die again.

His jaw set, he stood and got his current body ready for the ceremony that would commence. This time, it would be different. There would be changes and however hard he had to push to get them, he will have them in the end. They were relying on him. All of them were.

He opened the door and left.

—

Hinata took notice the moment Naruto stepped through the door. Her heart leapt up into her throat at the sight of him and the gentle warmth of a blush crept up onto her cheeks. His eyes had merely glanced over hers and yet he had her in a state of disarray.

She wondered if he would always have this kind of effect on her. Even in the distant future.

She had heard that he, despite failing the graduation test, which had made her upset, had earned his hitai after a incident had happened and Naruto had helped. Not much else was said about the incident but she didn't care, she got to see him again and perhaps, she hoped, even be on the same team..!

But the minute she had calmed down a little more, she noticed everything that was off about him. Her father would be proud perhaps that she had noticed this quickly how different, inside and out, he was. But maybe not. Not her.

Naruto had entered the room wearing simple black pants, black wraps towards the mid-calf or ankle area and two, double parted kunai holders strapped to his thighs over red wraps. A black sleeveless jacket was over a three-quarter sleeved mesh shirt. Red wraps were on each bicep, just above the elbow and loosely wrapped around his neck. Black ankle height sandals finished off his look that would have had Hinata swooning if not for the expression and mood that followed him.

He looked dangerous.

His expression was perfectly neutral. The mirror image of her fathers and cousins, Neji. It was the expression that was expected from her in her family's presence. The mood around him was tense, still and screamed at her, 'Don't come near me!'.

She watched, frozen, as he walked past her seat, up the steps next to her to sit down at the very back, right hand row that was always empty. She couldn't tear her eyes away though out of the corners, she had seen that everyone else had stopped what they were doing to look too.

'It's like he's a completely different person', she thought worriedly.

His eyes met hers a fraction once more, and, before she could turn back around fast enough, observed that the happy, care-free, sea blue eyes she had always loved, had gone. In their place were eyes a shade darker, void of light and flickered with brief but intense emotion that Hinata hadn't enough time to decipher, but knew it wasn't anything positive.

Her heart was thumping harshly against her ribcage and she dropped her head, letting her hair cover her face. She felt flushed but not the type of blush that she usually felt around Naruto. Her fingers fidgeted, pressing against the tips of the other as she thought;

'Was this really her Naruto-kun?'.

—

Naruto was glad his younger self at least had the sense to buy some more neutral clothing than his bright orange tracksuit. At least he had matured as he'd grown, for now though, it was a sight for sore eyes.

He'd need clothing that could merge into his surroundings more than those which could get him spotted immediately. It's a wonder how he didn't manage to die before.

He trekked on, moving in this smaller body was confusing and throwing his mind off, more used to longer limbs to move on.

Arriving at the academy, he opened the sliding door that lead to his previous, or rather, current academy classroom and braced himself, wilfully pushing away any misleading emotion as he looked on the younger forms of his once dead comrades. He ensured his expression was as blank as possible despite the painful pounding of his heart as he caught the eyes of them all, one at a time. Then he met hers.

It's a wonder he had been so stupidly naive as a child, the blush was as obvious as any evidence he had witnessed. He quickly looked away before the emotional dam within him threatened to burst, but not before he had seen her expression freeze up and change.

Perhaps his older mind was showing things on his features that he had no control over. He clenched his teeth and carried on up the steps to the last row before sitting down and resting his head against his arms, on top of the desk he sat at.

No amount of preparing would've been enough to look at their faces once more before his mind flashed their faces at their final moments.

He swallowed hard at the stubborn ball in the back of his throat.

—

Shikamaru, like the others in class, had watched as Naruto Uzumaki walked through the room to the back of the class. He admitted he had been mildly surprised when this new persona on an otherwise familiar character had entered, along with the tension with him.

His eyes were sharp, concentrated on Naruto. Because he felt he was missing something. No, he felt he was missing everything. Everything about this change should have come at a complete shock, as the others were. Instead, his mind only recognised mild surprise, as if he should've expected it or already known it.

His eyes narrowed and eyebrow furrowed. He couldn't come up with a single decent theory as to why this was.

He'd never been so stumped as to reasons behind something as much as he was now. It couldn't explain the reason he felt like this. But there was something bothering him about Naruto much more than it should.

"Oi, is that Naruto?' Choji whispered next to him. He'd even stopped eating his chips to stare as he'd come through.

"Yeah…" he responded, distracted by the thoughts racing in his head. There was silence for a couple of minutes, before Kiba chipped in.

"I'm gonna go ask him why he's trying to act so cool for, idiot Uzumaki", he joked, but the uncertainty was evident in his voice.

He rose from his seat before Shikamaru hissed and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down.

"Oi, what gives?!", Kiba growled, rubbing his arm softly.

"Can't you tell, Baka! He's practically shouting for us not come near! Read the mood a little more." Shikamaru growled back at them. Choji and Kiba looked at him in worried surprise, but said nothing more. He looked back over to the blonde, eyes scanning critically over him.

He didn't know what it was right now, but he'll find out.

How troublesome.

—

So heres the second, i couldn't help but let the words flow out of me, they wanted to be written. -_-

There may be little mistakes here and there, the keyboard keeps jamming and i'm not gonna bother to stop and fix it.

If you have an questions so far, PM me.

NOTE: just wanted to let you know, Naruto was close to his 18th birthday before the world was destroyed He was looking for the seal for just over two years, therefore his mentality would be that of a 20 year old.

IcePhoenix1811