Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Credit: The Keeper of Worlds, for helping put this story together.

Naruto opened his eyes, as he sat up, gasping for air. "W-What the fuck just...?" He grabbed his head, feeling it throb painfully.

"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan, I just-" He looked over in shock to see that Sakura wasn't there. To be specific, nothing was there.

He looked around, seeing he was sitting in the black void. His eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness, as he looked down. "So, I'm back here, huh?..."

"That's correct, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened, as he looked over to see a large fox walk over to him from the shadows. "Kurama!" He then looked around. "Where's Kyuubi?..."

The blonde couldn't see Kurama's face, but he heard the fox growl. "Not here... He became a part of me not long after you left."

The blonde rubbed his eyes as he looked around. "It's even darker than before... I can't even see your face." He then looked back up at Kurama. "Why... Is it so dark?"

Kurama sat down, staring down the blonde. "Why are you asking me that?... You know the answer."

Naruto looked down, not sure what to say in response. "I... I do?..."

"Of course, you do."

The blonde looked over in shock, to see a silhouette standing in the distance. The only thing Naruto could make out, was a demonic red aura surrounding it.

He turned back to Kurama, his eyes completely widened. "W-What is that, Kurama...?"

Kurama grunted, as he looked at the silhouette, as it walked closer to them. "You shouldn't be playing dumb, Kit... You know better than I do, who that is."

"He's you."

Once the figure got closer, Naruto was finally able to make him out. It was him, when he was sixteen. The only difference being, his hair was a bit more wild, and his eyes were black with yellow pupils. The figure sighed, as he shook his head. "It's kind of sad that he's still acting like this, I mean I told him just before you brought him here..."

The blonde stepped back, trembling as he looked at himself, wide-eyed. "N-No... You are NOT me!"

The figure looked at himself, then chuckled lowly. "You sure? I sure look like it, and feel like it..."

Kurama looked down at the trembling blonde, his eyes showing no emotion. "Naruto... You know why he's here..."

He then looked up at Kurama, his eyes still widened. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! This fucker just showed up right before I..." He was frozen in place, as looked down, biting his lip.

"Before I had the affair with Sakura-chan..."

The figure ran a hand through his hair, letting out a low whistle. "Yup. That was a doozy."

Naruto's eyes sharpened, as he turned toward the figure. "SHUT UP! It was your fault this all happened to begin with!"

Both Kurama and the figure looked at Naruto in confusion, before the figure scoffed. "Man... He seriously isn't getting it."

Kurama shook his head, as he looked at the figure. "Doesn't surprise me that he wouldn't... He wasn't aware of anything that happened..."

The figure then smirked, as he walked toward Naruto. "Remember when I said that you created me? Well, it's true..." His eyes widened, as he gave a crazed grin. "You made me! You are the reason why I'm here!"

Naruto grabbed his head, as he looked down. "No! I couldn't have..."

The figure only cackled at Naruto's rejections. "Of course you could have! You created me, before your insanity could overtake you... In the very back of your mind, you knew... You knew that it was only a matter of time before you would be driven past your breaking point, and fall to insanity!" He then narrowed his eyes. "So, you made me... As a crutch. Something to lean on, if things went to far, you would hold me responsible!"

Naruto's pupils shrank, as he looked back at the figure. "N-No... You don't mean..."

The figure grabbed Naruto by his shoulders, smirking all the while. "I'm glad to see that you're finally catching on! The murders, the affair with Sakura, breaking Hinata's heart, all of it! YOU DID THEM ALL OF YOUR OWN VOLITION!"

Time had practically frozen for the blonde, as he stared at the figure in utter horror. Tears began to run down the blonde's face, as he trembled in shock.

"Well, I'll leave the rest to you, Kurama!" With that, the figure vanished into the darkness, laughing all the while.

Naruto fell to his knees, trembling as tears ran down his face, then hit the ground. "I... I would never... I could never..."

Kurama looked down at the grief-stricken blonde, and sighed lowly. "Naruto..."

The blonde turned toward the fox. "Y...Yea- AH!" He got a hit to the side by Kurama's large tail, sending him skidding along the floor.

Once he stopped, he looked up at the fox. "W-What the hell was that for!"

Kurama growled, as he glared down at Naruto. "I've had enough..." The blonde only stared, causing the fox to get even more aggravated. "I am SICK of you wallowing in your own FUCKING PITY!"

His eyes narrowed, piercing the blonde's soul. "You messed up... People. Make. MISTAKES! Normally, I'd agree that you would never do things like that. But, you weren't exactly yourself, now were you!" He then shook his head. "It doesn't matter how much you tell yourself you would never do that... You will still have to live with the guilt of your actions, for the rest of your life..."

His tails swayed, as the blonde stayed silent. "Even when you pick the world, you won't remember why, but you'll know the consequences of such actions... In a way, this will help better yourself."

Naruto looked down, eyes widened. "W...What am I... Supposed to do then?..."

The blonde jumped, when Kurama's tails slammed against the ground. "YOU MUST CHOOSE!" He bared his teeth, as he roared in anger. "You think this is supposed to be easy? A choice that will completely change your life, and destroy another? IT'S NOT EASY! And rather than taking this seriously, you are acting like a FUCKING CHILD BY ATTEMPTING TO PUSH AWAY YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES!"

Naruto stared at the large fox, not sure what to say. "I..."

Kurama sat down, as his anger subsided. "...I will give you some time to think things over... If you choose a world, you must give me your reasons for it... But, I have one warning." His eyes began to glow, as he gritted his teeth. "If you choose a world that you made fewer mistakes in, like pressing a fucking reset button for your mistakes, and that being your reason... Then I will kill you, for you would most certainly NOT be the Uzumaki Naruto that I've grown to respect... No, you would be a rat... And rats need to be disposed of."

Naruto stayed silent, then gave a slow nod as Kurama turned away, and walked into the shadows. Naruto stared down at the floor, as he was alone in the darkness.

He thought about everything he had experience up until this point. The lives he had destroyed.

'Those men, who were only doing what they were told...'

He then closed his eyes, as he bit his lip.

'Hinata... That same worlds Sakura-chan...'

The blonde clenched his fists, as he punched the ground. "DAMMIT! WHY IS THIS SO HARD!" He then closed his eyes, as he gritted his teeth. "I know that I love Sakura-chan! That much is clear! But... Why am I so hesitant on giving up the other world!"

"Because you feel as though she deserves better."

Naruto's eyes opened in shock, as he looked over. "W-Who?..."

He sees another sixteen version of himself walk out of the shadows, only... He looked exactly like how he did, rather than the figure from before. "Well, I'm you! I guess...?" He then gave a half-smile, as he tried to piece it together. "Well, more like the you from your past... It's complicated."

Naruto groaned, as he rubbed his eyes. "Did my insanity make you, too?..."

Young Naruto chuckled slightly, as he folded his arms. "Maybe."

The ANBU garbed blonde sat up, as he looked at his younger self. "So... What did you mean by that?..."

The younger blonde smiled slightly, as he looked up at the dark void around them. "I know how you feel... You feel she deserves better than you, especially after what you've done."

He then turned toward his older self, his face showing sadness. "You secretly want to stay in the other world... As self punishment, by living out your mistakes."

Naruto looked at his younger self in surprise, before looking down. He didn't like to admit it, but... "You're right... She does deserve better. So much more..." He then gave a sad smile toward the other blonde. "Why not spend the rest of my days... In the world where I fucked everything up?..."

"That's awfully selfish, don't you think?"

The blonde blinked at what his younger self said. "E-Eh?"

The Young Naruto shook his head, as he looked at his older self. "The hell are you playing at? You think you're some amazing guy, by choosing to live out the rest of your life in pain as a sort of punishment?"

The blonde looked at his younger self, wide-eyed, before looking to the side. "N-No... I just... I deserve it! Don't I?..."

The orange and black wearing blonde shrugged, as he closed his eyes. "Well, sure ya do. You fucked up pretty bad. But, just because you deserve it, that doesn't mean that those actions aren't selfish."

He then pointed toward his older self. "You're telling me that, just because you deserve punishment, that you should just give up an entire world? That's not exactly a justifiable, or understandable reason."

The sixteen year old then smiled, as he rubbed his nose. "Look at it from a true perspective... What world do you care about?... Who do you care about?... So much so, that you strived an entire life time for? So much so, that even NOW you still don't feel like you're good enough?"

The older Naruto looked at his younger self in surprise. The words that Kakashi told him began to ring in his mind.

"Sometimes... Even things that seem impossible to get... Are worth fighting, and struggling for."

Slowly, a smile began to build on his face, he had forgotten what it had been like to be young. "You're right..."

The young Naruto gave his fox-like grin, as he folded his arms behind his head. "Aren't I always?" With that, he faded away, leaving the blonde alone once again.

He slowly stood up, resolve burning through him again, as he turned toward the darkness. "Oi! Kurama!"

The large fox walked out of the darkness, and into the blonde's view. "What is it?"

Naruto smirked, as he stared down the demon. "I have your answer..."

Kurama's eyes fully opened, as he sat down. "Ho? Very well then. Tell me, Kit."

The blonde shook his head, as he looked down. "It was all so clear... Everything pointed toward this decision... But I chose to ignore it."

He then looked back up at the fox. "I wanted to run away... Rather than truly face my problems, or learn to live with them... I just wanted to use them, as a way to not face the truth..."

"I don't deserve anything."

Kurama raised an eyebrow to this, he wasn't expecting to hear this at all. "Oh?"

The blonde nodded, as he looked toward the black void. "Yeah... Sakura-chan... The title of Hokage, the acknowledgement... All of it." A small smile then crept up on his face. "But, that doesn't mean that I can't fight for it..."

Kurama looked down at the boy in surprise, as Naruto's smile got slightly bigger. "My alternate self may have everything I could possibly desire, but... He didn't truly earn any of it... He didn't grow into the shinobi you, or anyone could truly respect."

Naruto then put his hand to his chest. "I haven't either... But I'm not about to just give up! I'm not about to act like a child for not getting the things I've yearned my entire life for!"

Kurama growled, as his tails swayed. "Oh yeah? You sure?"

Naruto then laughed. "You know me well enough, I've worked my entire life for those things... Hell, I fought in a WAR and I still don't think I'm ready!"

He then looked down sadly. "I'm not the man that Konohagakure needs yet... I'm not the man who Sakura-chan deserves yet..." The blonde then looked back at Kurama, determination in his eyes. "If I have to work and strive for the rest of my life, then so be it... As long as I know that I tried, it'll all be worth it!"

Naruto then uttered one last sentence. "I choose Sakura-chan..."

Kurama stared at Naruto, rather surprised by the answer that was given to him. He then sighed, as he smirked toward the boy. "I see..." A glow began to surround them, as the darkness, slowly turned to light.

"Good answer, Kit..."

So many feels in this chapter!

Well, this is it guys! One more chapter to go, the Epilogue!

Laters.