Hey everyone, I'm surprised at the reception my last chapter received. It's only been up for a few days at most and already the number of reviews and favorites has taken a huge increase. So far, it seems like there has been a positive reception to this story and I thank all of you for supporting my work. However, a few of the comments I read show that I might have confused a few people so I am going to try and clarify a few of those concerns right here.

1- I did mention that this would be a NaruHina story. However, this pairing will not start for some time (at least not until they have been genin for a few years). With Naruto, he has brought back any feelings he may have developed for Hinata in the previous timeline, but now he is not sure how things will turn out in this timeline. Naruto is not one to force someone to do something, like fall in love with him. As a matter of fact, I won't be bringing Hinata into the story again for some time after this chapter (at least not until later in the academy), though she may make a small appearance occasionally. I am also aware I will have to develop the relationship between the two differently because Naruto does not have the hard life like he did before.

In a way, he is still unsure about his feelings towards Hinata and Sakura and as he said, only time would tell. This is not something that will happen in the next few chapters, this is something that will happen a long time down the road.

2- Naruto's development. I am trying my best to limit his physical development to a more realistic sense. He will advance faster than a normal child because his mind doesn't need to develop as well, but it will be his physical development that limits him. At this point in time, he can do a basic henge (transformation) but that will be it for awhile. The basic henge is one of the simpler jutus and does not require that high of a development of the chakra system to perform.

3- Fan girls. Yes, Naruto will have fan girls. In fact, the fan girls will be used as a tool to strengthen his bond with Sasuke

4- Sasuke. Probably the main thing Naruto will be working on the next few years of his life is building a strong bond with Sasuke, one that Sasuke will not be able to break. If there is one thing about the past that Naruto wants to change, it's this. Sasuke will be truly introduced in the next few chapters and, for the lack of a better term, he will have a lot of screen time as he and Naruto become close friends.

5- Kurama. Yes I know the seal he is in right now seems kind of cruel. After everything he's done, he has a stake in his chest and tails. However, that is just the way Kushina's seal is. This won't change, sadly, until Naruto reveals the truth to his parents (and yes, that moment will come eventually). I am still debating as to whether or not Naruto will have Kurama transferred into him.

6- While Naruto is not a jinchuriki any more he still knows the pains of being one and being alone. Also, the fact that Naruto is the son of the Hokage will not be going to his head. He will remain rather humble in that respect, but he will revive some of his childish behaviour as well.

So, without any more to say for now, here is the next chapter.


Chapter 4: Hyugas

Naruto and Kushina were walking along the street on their way to the Hyuga compound where they had been asked to come and celebrate the third birthday of the clan heir, Hinata. Unfortunately Minato couldn't join them as he had Hokage business to deal with today. Today was the day that Kumo was coming to sign a non-aggression treaty with Konoha, effectively ending the Third Shinobi World War. All the time while walking to the Hyuga's, Naruto was thinking. Something happened today, something important that affected one of his friends in the previous timeline, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Naruto couldn't help but notice the people walking through the village. In his past timeline, they would send him glares of hatred and annoyance, but this time…none of that. Most of the villages turned their heads his way and either smiled at him, waved at him, and even a few greeted him warmly. He had earned his respect near the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, but he had saved the entire village in that timeline. He hadn't done anything yet, at least that no one knows of, in this timeline and it wasn't that he didn't like it, it was just kind of weird to him.

Naruto and Kushina arrived at the Hyuga compound and noticed that the majority of the guests were Hyugas themselves. There were some other people there, but Naruto realized that they had to be important civilians or something along those lines as he couldn't recognize any of them. However, he soon realized that the majority of the people there had a similar brown color to their hair, with the exception of his bright blonde hair, his mother's red hair, and another woman's lavender colored hair. That woman with the lavender hair must have been Hinata's mother as he could not remember anyone else in the village or the Hyuga clan having that hair color, besides Hinata herelf.

Kushina left Naruto in the company of a few other boys around his age, hoping they would become acquainted while she went off to talk to the lavender-haired woman. "Yep, must be Hinata's mother if my mom and her are such good friends" thought Naruto. He turned to face another boy, around his age.

"Hello" the boy said bowing to Naruto. Now things were really getting weird. Someone was actually bowing to him. The boy was obviously Hyuga, possessing the pale eyes that indicated the presence of the Byakugan. He had longer hair that went down to his shoulder blades. His facial expression was kind yet had a slight hint of arrogance that Naruto somehow was familiar with. "It's pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Neji Hyuga."

"Neji!" it came back to Naruto instantly. This was Neji.

*Flashback*

Naruto was standing in the middle of the arena facing Neji. It was the first match of the chunin exam finals…the Genius of the Hyuga clan vs. the Failure. Naruto had just been thrown back when Neji unleashed his Kaiten, a main family jutsu that he had been able to reverse engineer. The next thing he knew was getting hit by another of Neji's reverse engineered moves, the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho.

"I have hit 64 of your tenketsu, you can no longer stand. Stay on your knees before a power that you cannot change and realize your worthlessness. Having your dreams come true through hard work…is an illusion" scoffed Neji.

Naruto struggled, unable to move his body, as he rose to his feet, shocking most people in the stands, and especially Neji. "You should just give up. I have no grudge against you."

"Well I do! Why? Why if you're so strong did you attack Hinata like that, who was trying so hard? Automatically deciding she's a loser? I don't know what the hell happened, but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers…I will never forgive!" declared Naruto.

…A quick explanation later that Naruto was having trouble remembering…

Naruto had managed to clear his chakra network by tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra and had begun to go on the offensive, surprising everyone present with his sudden increase in power.

An explosion followed their next attack, sending the two fighters into the ground, creating a pair of craters. Neji was the first to emerge, only to be socked in the chin as Naruto exploded from the ground beneath him.

Naruto's last words to Neji in that fight were "Stop whining about stupid crap like destiny. It can't be changed, blah blah. After all, you're not a loser like me."

*End Flashback*

There were parts of that memory that Naruto was having a hard time remembering, but one thing was sure, Neji was no longer the ass he once was after that fight. In fact, Naruto had gained a great deal of respect for Neji after Neji decided to change. But there was something different about this Neji. This Neji wasn't an ass, or at least wasn't acting like one. Something must have happened to Neji between now and the chunin exams; however, he couldn't quite recall.

Still, Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little. Neji had once stated that you have to be born to be a Hokage. Naruto was just trying to think of what Neji's reaction would have been if he knew Naruto's dad was in fact a Hokage at the time of their match.

"Hi Neji, I'm Naruto Namikaze" said Naruto, smiling and extending a friendly hand to Naruto.

About an hour passed and Naruto had been playing with Neji, wait…Neji? Playing? Yep, he would need to get his head checked out after this. Regardless, about half an hour later, all the guests had finally arrived and it was time to get started with the party. Hiashi emerged from the house, holding a small Hinata's hand.

Naruto looked over and could see the girl trying to hide behind her father's robes. Even in this timeline, she was still shy. Everyone gathered to great the clan head and heiress and Hiashi went around introducing everyone.

"Hello Kushina-san" Hiashi had come around to Naruto and his mother.

"Hello Hyuga-san" responded Kushina. "Aww, she's so cute." Kushina was trying her best to resist the urge to start pinching Hinata's cheeks, something Naruto had learned to avoid at any costs.

"I thank you for stopping by and bringing Naruto-kun with you" said Hiashi, looking down at the blonde boy who shared a strong resemblance to the current Hokage.

"It was no problem. I'm sorry my husband couldn't stop by, but sadly Hokage business got in the way" said Kushina.

Naruto turned his attention to the little Hinata across from him. She caught his glance and began blushing a little, which however has not picked up by Naruto as he had his eyes closed while smiling.

The following 'party' really wasn't much of a party, just some sort of gathering where the adults were talking to one another and the kids were playing together. Neji, Naruto, and two other boys were playing together, kicking a ball towards one another. The ball was heading towards Naruto until it instantly disappeared. Naruto looked around in surprise, trying to find where it went, looking up to see his dad behind him holding the ball and smiling. He was then bombarded by a few comments of 'Whoa, your dad's the Hokage?' and stuff like that from the boys he was playing with.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. Pleasure of you to drop by" said Hiashi, coming over to greet Minato.

"I just thought I'd stop by after signing the treaty with Kumo" said Minato.

Naruto could feel something in his mind. Something was supposed to happen today regarding Kumo, but he still couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then it finally caught him. One thing he had finally remembered was that Neji always wore something to cover up his forehead, like some kind of scar…or cursed seal! Now Naruto knew what day it was. Today was the day that Kumo would try and kidnap Hinata, only to fail when Hiashi killed the leader of the Kumo ninja. As a result, Hizashi, Neji's dad, would be sacrificed because he was Hiashi's twin and Neji would be condemned to a lonely childhood, plagued by the curse mark that the main branch had used to kill his father. Of course, Neji would realize that Hizashi had sacrificed himself of his own free will, but still…that was tonight. The questions: Should he intervene? Should he try to save Neji's father? began to echo in his head.

As Naruto left the party, he was still thinking on what to do. He 'went to bed' at around 9:00pm, but really just stayed up thinking. Thinking what he should do. The first thing he was asking was should he interfere? Should he try to save Neji's dad?

Now, this was Naruto and for Naruto, the answer was easy. The reason he had come back in time was to better everything. His own life and his friend's life. To ensure that they would survive and be happy…that was the reason he came back. He knew the pain of not having any parents and he finally remembered that it was the death of Neji's father that had caused the Hyuga genius so much pain. There was no way he could let Neji suffer again. His conscience just wouldn't let him. He would act and he would have to act soon as it was already getting late.

Naruto snuck out of the Namikaze estate, making sure to transform himself as he did so. After all, it would draw too much attention to him if everyone saw the Hokage's son running through the village late at night. He had transformed himself into a teenage ninja with a full black body suit that covered every aspect of his body, except his eyes. He tried to hop up onto the roof, but realized his body wasn't in the shape to be leaping across buildings like ninja yet so he settled to just running along the roads and alleys. He reached the Hyuga compound and used as much effort as he could to station himself in a tree, just outside the compound. He knew this was at least Hinata's house as he remembered her coming out of it during the party. Now all he had to do was wait for the Kumo ninja to come.

Not a few minutes later, a masked ninja, most likely the Kumo ninja, emerged from the house, carrying a blanketed bundle that was most likely Hinata. Naruto wanted to wait to act until they were away from the compound so that he wouldn't draw any attention, but he noticed Hiashi coming out of a door, just around the corner. It would only be a matter of seconds before Hiashi and the kidnapper met one another and Hiashi killed the kidnapper. He had to act now. As Naruto jumped down from the tree, Hiashi turned the corner, noticing someone had kidnapped what looked to be his daughter. However, before he could make a move, a black figure tackled the kidnapper and grabbed the blanketed Hinata before she could fall to the ground. He took a quick look into the bundle, seeing that it was in fact Hinata and that she had been woken by this.

Hinata felt as if she was flying through the air until finally coming to a halt as if someone had caught her. She was somehow wrapped up in a blanket until someone peeled away the blanket revealing a masked ninja with cerulean blue eyes. She had seen these eyes before, but she couldn't remember where. However, she could see that there was a hint of relief along with a hint of sadness in them.

Naruto set the bundled Hinata down and unmasked the kidnapper, revealing it to be the head Kumo ninja. It was also around this time that he saw Hiashi run towards him and he began to make his retreat. Naruto backed off, returning to the top of the walls, but hesitating for a moment. Hiashi had not followed him, which he was grateful for. If Hiashi had not been distracted by his daughter lying on the ground and an unconscious Kumo ninja on Hyuga grounds, he would have most certainly pursued Naruto and Naruto would not have been able to get away, considering he had nearly tripped over that tree branch the moment he decided to make his move. He still wasn't used to using this body and found that he was still rather clumsy, yet it was good enough to tackle (more like fall on top of) the Kumo ninja. He turned around, just long enough to see Hiashi signal to one of the guards to go and get the Hokage. Thankfully, he didn't kill the kidnapper.

"Good. That went better than expected. Neji, enjoy your life with your father. I promised you in the other time that I would change the clan and I will keep that promise even here. But hopefully, this will help ease some of your suffering" thought Naruto, before taking off.

Minato was rudely awakened by a knocking on his door and someone shouting 'Hokage-sama'. He gave his wife a quick kiss, before quickly changing into his standard Hokage attire and answering he door. Outside, he saw Hizashi at his door.


"Hokage-sama, come quickly. An incident has occurred at the Hyuga compound. An attempted kidnapping of Hinata-sama by the Kumo head ninja" said Hizashi. With that, Minato took off in the direction of the Hyuga compound.

Naruto was mentally patting himself of the back. He wasn't sure what the outcome would be now that Hyuga Hizashi would live, but that was all that mattered…he wouldn't be the only one with a living parent that should be dead.

The night of the incident, Minato arrived at the Hyuga compound to find the Kumo head ninja restrained and unconscious, but alive. Early the next morning, a letter was sent to the Raikage, demanding an explanation for the attempted kidnapping.

The Raikage responded with the same response he had in the original timeline, that Konoha had unjustifiably attacked a Kumo ninja. The letter he sent was for the Kumo ninja to be returned, alive, to Kumogakure and for Konoha to hand over Hyuga Hiashi as a sort of compensation. However, they didn't count on the interrogation expertise of one Morino Ibiki. Within a day of the incident, Ibiki was able to get a full confession out of the Kumo head ninja, forcing the Raikage to eat his previous demand. The following negotiations resulted in Minato being able to return the head ninja in exchange for a few prisoners that Kumo had captured during the war, including Umino Rakano, Iruka's father. In the original timeline, Iruka's parents had died during the Kyuubi attack, but Naruto's intervention had allowed for Iruka's parents to live. Unfortunately as a result, Iruka's father was captured by Kumo forces about two years later during a skirmish between the two nations. However, this incident basically allowed for Iruka to be reunited with both of his parents.

Now this also got Naruto thinking. This time travel thing was becoming complicated and quick. He already wasn't sure of a few outcomes and now one more thing was added to that list…would Iruka still become Iruka-sensei? The Iruka-sensei who had treated Naruto to ramen every now and then? The Iruka-sensei who basically became a big brother figure to Naruto? Still, regardless of how Iruka would turn out, he felt happy that Iruka would not grow up alone either.

Speaking of Iruka, Naruto was riding along on top of his dad's shoulders one day, wearing the Hokage hat on top of his head for his dad when he spotted a small kitten with a red bow in its ear dash across the street. Chasing the kitten was a group of three genin, one of which just so happened to be Iruka as a 13 year-old genin. Naruto laughed at that. He couldn't believe that was the Iruka who gave him and Team 7 the very same cat mission…oh the irony.

Naruto and Minato arrived at the Hokage Tower. Minato had brought Naruto to work after Naruto had reaffirmed to him that he wanted to be Hokage like his dad. Since Kushina was away on a mission, Jiraiya was doing…well Jiraiya stuff, and Kakashi was who knows where, Minato was stuck watching Naruto for the day. Besides, he figured he would take Naruto to the top of the tower and work on his son's training a little when he got a break.

A knock was heard on the door and in stepped someone Naruto was not intending on seeing until the chunin exams.

"Hokage-sama" the newcomer hissed. A small hint of disrespect and hatred present in his voice.

Naruto's blood boiled and if he had the Kyuubi sealed inside him, there was a very good chance said demon would have been unleashed upon Konoha at this moment. Standing inside the office was the man that had caused Naruto so much suffering and hardship in the previous timeline. The man who took his best friend away from him. The one who had killed the Sandaime in the previous timeline…Orochimaru.


Jutsu

Hakke Rokujuyon Sho:

A taijutsu technique associated with the Gentle Fist style of fighting. This is one of the techniques passed down solely to the main branch that is characterized by 64 near-simultaneous strikes to an opponent's tenketsu.

Users: Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hiashi

Kaiten:

Another taijutsu technique associated with only the main branch of the Hyuga family and the Gentle Fist fighting style. This is considered an ultimate defense where the user simultaneously rotates while unleashing chakra from every tenketsu of their body, creating a dome of chakra to shield them from enemy attacks.

Users: Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hiashi


Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Hoping I did the Hyuga incident in a somewhat realistic mater. At that time, Naruto only really had the henge available to disguise himself. Also, Naruto is still rather clumsy when it comes to fighting in his current 3 year-old body and as such he most likely would have lost a fight against the Kumo jonin if he had confronted him directly. Not to mention Hiashi was just around the corner. As a result, Naruto used the element of surprise and pretty much tackled the ninja into the wall, knocking him out. Because of that, Hiashi didn't kill the Kumo ninja, only restrained him after Naruto had left.

Neji's father is now alive and that will result in Neji's personality changing a little. However, Neji and Hinata won't really appear (with the exception of a slight mention) in the next couple of chapters up until sometime in the late academy years at the very earliest.

Also, in terms of Naruto's past life, I am using the anime as his past, so anything that happened in there I may bring back as some sort of flashback or event (but modified to the new timeline).

Please review/comment.