The forth Hokage of Konoha stood in the doorway, the hall light streaming past him. He smiled at Naruto, obviously falling for the well practiced ruse. Shaking his head lightly, he left and Naruto dove in his subconscious, seeking answers. Never once did Genjutsu or any other type of trick cross his mind. The situation was much to real.

Naruto 'landed' in front of the cage with one slight problem. The cage was gone. In it's place was a swirling void of black and blue. A small gasp-turned-whimper sounded behind him, and Naruto turned to see a younger…err, mirror image of himself, right down to the pajama's. the only difference lay in their postures. One confident, one crouched in fear.

Make that two problems.

"umm…hi?" Naruto began.

"Who are you!" the other boy demanded, his voice quavering.

"well…" Naruto began, "I believe I'm you, though I'm not quite sure how…"

"I might be able to explain." Red chakra was forming over Naruto's shoulder, settling into the form of a small fox. "You see, I accidentally pulled you into another dimension." The fox looked a little sheepish. Naruto's face was white.

"Explain." Younger Naruto slipped closer, his curiosity overwhelming, and listened in awe as the small fox explained the healing just that interrupted space-time.

Finally the 'older' Naruto said, "What about him, I mean me."

The fox sighed.. When the jutsu pull at your younger self. You became it, and it had to fit that younger self into the same dimension. Hence, two of you."

Naruto's mind worked fast, figuring it out. "But if we where pulling on him, how come he's inside my mind. And why are we stuck in his dimension?"

"We'll for one, you're older and have the dominate personality. Since only one of you can exist I a dimension, you bodies melded, with your's on top…"The Kyuubi hesitated.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I think we ended up in this dimension because, you simply have less tying you down then he did."

Naruto sighed, "I guess that's true."

A small voice came from the left. "So how do we fix it."

-X-

Naruto lay in 'his' bed, putting the pieces together that the fox had left unspoken. Naruto had always suspected that he was related to the forth. The resemblance was just too uncanny else ways. Now that was confirmed, though he wished it was under less grim circumstances. Together they had been unable to think of a way back. The Kyuubi simply didn't have the power to open another gate, he could only bring a little of his power into this dimension, since even space could only contain so much power and this worlds demon fox had to be here somewhere.

Naruto heard soft talking don the hall and knew he had to get up soon, but he had a slight problem. He had acted as someone else as long as he could remember, even switched characters a few times to help get food or clothing cheaper. Theoretically, this was the same thing with one major difference. He had no idea how to act.

'Kyuubi , I'm…scared.' he thought to the being deep inside his very soul. There was a pause as the fox thought of a reply. It had been 12 long years since that admittance had been spoken.

'You have every right to be, kit.' the kyuubi mental voice was soft, even comforting.

Suddenly defensive Naruto continued, 'It's just that, I have no basis for this act, no experience, no time to…'

A head poked it way around the corner. "So your finally awake, huh son?" the question was full of humor and Naruto gave him a big grin, wiping his thought away in a rush that spoke of years of experience.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, father." he replied in the same ton, secretly glad the 4th had recognized their relationship so naruto didn't have to guess.

"Come on, breakfast is ready sleepyhead!" With that he left, laughing as Naruto suddenly threw back the covers and scrambled out of bed, realizing exactly how hungry he was. He was tempted to get to the table using a jutsu or chakra method, partly to get their faster, partly to check his chakra reserves and control. But he didn't dare.

Following the sounds of conversation, he found several people sitting around a large table, overfilling with food. He quickly dug in, seeming to ignore everyone but discreetly keeping an eye on everyone in case something else was needed of him. But everyone ignored him and naruto quickly started to recognize plenty of them. Some were obviously old friend with the Hokage, but most were on the ninja council. In fact, Naruto noticed, the entire ninja council was here and seemed to being in the middle of a meeting, which Naruto found highly amusing.

Finishing his plate he went into the kitchen and went to the sink. Running on a sort of auto, he found a footstool and stepped over so he could see into the sink. The he scrubbed clean his plate and headed back towards his rooms. Forgetting to replace the stool, he headed back to his room, hearing his father chattering away. He was not to know, that later a housekeeper found the clean plate set aside to dry, or that she mentioned it to his father who dismissed it as Naruto being mature. But that one action would start an avalanche in the Hokage's mind later.

Instead, he went into his room and found a calendar pinned to his wall. Studying it Naruto found the date, since the Kyuubi had told him he had gone back exactly seven years, plus 18 hours or so. On the day Naruto's finger landed on, a big circle was marked with sloppy handwriting in a red pen that said, 'Genjutsu practice Starts today!'

Naruto groaned, he hated genjutsu.

-X-

Gaara stood in front of the Hokage of Konoha. A dead moon hung outside the window, illuminating the office. Kakashi stood beside Gaara, studying the Hokage's face as Gaara finished. The aging man frowned, fingers on his forehead.

"I always wondered if the Biju could manipulate the dimensional barrier. To think that…Well, there's nothing we can do Kakashi, except trust in young Gaara-san here." The Hokage's eyes pierced Gaara. "I'm putting my trust in you, young man. Naruto has been through too much to deserve this."

"I know. And I hate to point this out, Hokage-sama, but there is a very likely chance that Naruto's living a better life here than he could ever get here."

The aged man nodded. "I know, I just hope we can convince him to come back. Despite his impression, some of us really do wish him well. I'm also hoping convincing him won't be that hard, since he's not actually living at all…"

Kakashi frowned, "Hokage-sama?"

"Sorry, it's just that, I've suspected for a long time Naruto wasn't what he seemed. It's probably because I've known him longer than anybody. Anyway, After Gaara's news, I believe that Naruto stopped actually living a long time ago, all he has left is a series of acts…"

Gaara nodded, having had similar thought when he first met Naruto and heard his story.

"Gaara, I'm giving you permission to start the preparations. Tell me if you need anything."

Gaara nodded, then hesitated. If he took the next step, he would be crossing the very thin line a betraying his country, and his father.

As if sensing his thoughts, the aging leader glanced at him. "Is there something else?"

Taking a deep breath Gaara wondered what his new friend would do in this situation. Then he had to smile a little. For all Naruto was a mystery, he was extremely honorable and would no doubt do what had to be done. "Yes, Hokage-sama. It's about the chunin exam's…"

-X-

There it is! Finally up and ready for your eyes!