Title: Crisis Reverted: Another Side, Another Story.
Series: Naruto
Rating: T
Genres: Drama, sorta-angst, adventure, romance.
Warnings: Crack, swearing, shounen-ai, shojou-ai, het, time bending.
Verse: Canon Redeux.

DHC: And more side-story backdrops that will hopefully help you all understand when I mention certain things within the actual storyline of Crisis Reverted.

Naruto flopped back onto the grass, placing his arms behind his head to pillow it and gazed at the clouds.

Sakura lowered herself gently to the ground beside him to his right and Sasuke took his place on the blond's left.

"Y'know," Naruto began. "I miss Sai right now."

Both of his teammates blinked. They hadn't even really thought much about the future people yet.

"...Yeah, it is kind of quiet without him and Yamato-sensei." Sakura agreed after another moment.

"Hn, I'm fairly certain I could do without my clone's antics in trying to cop a feel." Sasuke replied wryly.

At that, his two friends broke out into pure laughter at the memory of Sai chasing Sasuke around, trying to feel him up, claiming that it was for reasearch purposes, which only made Naruto laugh more and exclaim that Sai and Jiraiya should have made an illustrated Icha Icha together.

"Oh come now," Naruto replied with a snort. "He's not your clone. He's more lively than you, teme!"

Sakura was giggling into her hand.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Maybe I'll talk to Baa-chan and Jii-chan about Danzou soon..." Naruto murmured. "We may be able to get Sai sooner, and it wouldn't be hard to get Yamato-sensei."

Sakura made a thoughtful sound. "Won't this mess up the future too much?" She asked.

"We've already fucked it to hell," Sasuke replied dryly. "What's a little more?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "If you say so."

Naruto laughed. "I didn't mean at this very moment, but I believe the sooner we get Sai away from Danzou and ROOT, the less he'll be of a machine. You saw how bad it was when his emotional barriers were unsealed again, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded seriously and Sasuke frowned a little at the memory. His fists clenched subtly. "I'll kill Orochimaru and Kabuto both this time," He murmured darkly. "I'm not going to let the fourth great war start again."

Naruto reached over and placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder in silent support. "We won't let what happened last time happen in this timeline," He answered.

Sakura nodded. "Right. We've got time to prepare and be ready to counter all of the Akatsuki and Madara, as well as Orochimaru and Kabuto."

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "You know... Call me crazy, but I've actually been thinking of offering myself to the Akatsuki for a while."

"What?" Sakura screeched and Sasuke's head snapped over with narrowed eyes at the blond.

"They can't extract Kurama from me, now that he's free; I have nothing to worry about. I was thinking along the lines of me knocking some sense into Pein and Konan. Since they're considered the God and Angel, they'd be reliable assets in helping us take out Madara." Naruto replied.

"And the others? How do you expect to get out of there alive, you idiot." Sasuke countered.

"Sasori no Akasuna is not evil," Sakura replied. "I'm pretty sure if we could get through to him, too, then his partner Deidara would follow him. That blond was pretty clingy..." She trailed off, thinking back to a particular memory.

"That still leaves Kakuzu, Hidan, Zetsu, and Kisame and the two girl Akatsuki members Kurama told me about." Naruto replied thoughtfully.

"Kisame would not be a problem," Sasuke replied. "I'm sure if Itachi and I went, we'd be able to either sway his mind or at least subdue him."

"That would still be troublesome because of how powerful Kakuzu and Hidan are when they cooperate. Zetsu is not much of a problem, either." Sakura replied. Naruto nodded seriously, thinking. "Still, that's more than half the Akatsuki right there."

"I can't believe we're even discussing the option of letting you go to the Akatsuki head on." Sasuke replied.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "As I said, they can't take Kurama from me, and more importantly, since we know what they're capable of, we can easily get out alive."

"I'm still not thrilled with the notion of just waltzing up to their base and handing you over, baka!" Sakura replied.

Naruto nodded. "I know. It's just a thought I've had. I didn't say I was gonna do it." He responded.

They lapsed into silence for a long while, a light breeze blowing by, refreshing the three as they relaxed there in the grass.

"So, Naruto," Sakura finally asked.

"Mm? What is it, Sakura-chan?" He replied, looking over at her.

"Well, um..." She didn't look at him as she asked. "How did you really bring your father back?"

Naruto sighed quietly. "I begged the Reaper to release him after I promised to let him reside within my body with me to learn the ways of a mortal if he'd teach me the knowledge of the world beyond mortals and their power."

Sasuke's brow ticked a little. "You made a deal with a demon?"

Naruto shook his head. "The Reaper isn't a demon. Why does everyone call beings from beyond our realm, 'demons'? He's already explained to me the difference in beings. He's a Shinigami in true form; a fallen tenshi, his job of the world beyond is to foster the souls of the dead that have made deals with him."

"It just..." Sasuke looked away. "It reminds me of the deal Shikamaru made, that's all."

It wasn't a secret to the other two how hurt Sasuke had been when the former Shikamaru had told him what the Shadow Demon had taken in exchange for power. He'd taken part of his humanity in exchange for some of the power the Shadow Demon held, making Shikamaru half-way immortal and he'd gained a significant increase of power with his shadow techniques and abilities.

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's not like that at all. We're like a symbiotic entity. He resides within my mind and has been teaching me about his powers and the powers of the other entities beyond our world while I've been asleep. Because of his power, I've gained similarities to a Kekkei Genkai."

Sasuke's brow rose. "Really."

"I've got something like a doujutsu where I can see the residual auras of the dead, sometimes actually seeing the spectral beings. I can hear them, too. So far, all I can really do is detect the lifeforce within beings. We haven't been working much on that yet. He wants me to understand the basics first before trying anything else."

Sakura looked a little thoughtful. "That's reminded me, why aren't your eyes...?"

Naruto looked at her with a grim smile. "Because they weren't my real eyes. When we reverted back, I lost my doujutsu because they weren't my real eyes. Sasuke's, they are Itachi's eyes, but because of his bloodline and the Sharingan being in it, the time-travel allowed him to keep his eyes. The Reaper explained this to me when I asked."

"Oh," Sakura replied. "So that's why I didn't have the Branch seal or my Byakugan?"

"Exactly why. They were not on your person when you were born." Naruto replied.

"Makes sense," Sasuke replied.

"Getting back onto my prior thought: Naruto, does your father know? About us being from the future?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Naruto replied. "He's in my body, remember? He has all of my memories in there, too. Not just his own."

"So...is he okay with everything?"

"He's... He feels really guilty." Naruto replied, frowning with sadness. "But I already told him I forgave him. I just..." He sighed heavilly.

Sakura laid down on the grass and rolled onto her side, pillowing her head on Naruto's chest. "It's okay, we know why you did. You're so kind, Naruto. You deserve so much more than what this world can give you, I think. You should be a tenshi."

Naruto laughed. "I don't think I'd be cut out for one, really. I have my flaws, too."

Sasuke snorted. "Got that right."

"Shut up, you. I don't see you being perfect, either."

"I'm more perfect than you, dobe."

"Yeah, pull the other one. My one leg's getting too long." Naruto replied.

Sakura laughed, draping her arm around Naruto's torso and hugged him tightly. "But really, we're here for you. I know it must be hard for you to walk alone without those you love with all your heart, but maybe this time around, you're meant for more."

Naruto was quiet for a long time before smiling a little. "Maybe," He agreed.

"So what should we do for the rest of the day?" Sasuke finally asked. "Kakashi's with your dad and Jiraiya, and Mom's at the exams, overseeing the genin."

Sakura made a humming sound. "Well, we've still got a few hours before everyone arrives for training, so... Hm..."

"Want to meet the Reaper?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," Sasuke replied.

Sakura nodded in response.

"Alright. Let's head into the forest, we don't need people seeing him. They may freak out, especially since the villagers are still suspicious of me after bringing dad back." Naruto sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, I can understand. Let's go!" Sakura replied as she pushed away from Naruto and stood up, stretching.

Her two male teammates stood as well and they made their way into the forest to meet with the entity that now resided within Naruto.

TBC

DHC: ...I crack up at the Sai thing, still. Seriously. But other than that, I hope the rest of you enjoy this.