Original Summary: He was a Jinchuuriki who was murdered by his best friend. But Fate has other plans, and Naruto wakes up in his five year old body. KakaNaru Yaoi
New Summary: After his death in the Valley of the End, Naruto wakes up in his five year old body and the ideals and responsibilities of his father's clan fall upon his shoulders as he becomes the bearer of the impossible Yochigan. As his mind threatens to break under the strain of the legacy of the Kazama clan, his only hope in salvation lies in the hands of the one person he pushes away due to his overwhelming love for them. Can Kakashi get close in time to preserve Naruto's deteriorating sanity? KakaNaru Yaoi
A/N: Ok, in this chapter, things will get a little complicated and confusing. Firstly, to show the strain that the Yochigan is putting on Naruto, I'll be writing several different versions of visions that Naruto sees at once while simultaneously writing what is happening punctuated with the vision that best matches and predicts what is taking place in the metaphysical world.
Chapter 12: Inside the Forest of Death
Anko was faintly surprised to find that 27 teams were still in the room. Either the kids were braver than they had thought, or they were pretty stupid, or Ibiki had been too soft on them. Or, she thought, noticing the distracted look on the man's face, it could be because something is distracting him.
"All right brats! I'm Mitarashi Anko, the second Examiner! Meet me at Training Area 44 in one hour!"
Naruto shrugged and stood up with the other genin and waved at Haku who smiled back before leaving with Sakura and Sasuke.
Anko turned toward Ibiki and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"The Oracle has returned to Konoha," was his response.
Naruto stood lightly at the gate, his eyes a pale shade of lilac while a golden seven pronged star rotated slowly.
He turned toward Sasuke and Sakura and said, "We'll travel high and silent. Humans rarely look up; we can use that to our advantage."
Sasuke raised and eyebrow and nodded. He couldn't really argue with Naruto's logic at this point, although he was somewhat suspicious of the sudden change in the blonde's attitude.
Haku watched Team 7 as Naruto's eyes changed as he searched time for the best possible route through the forest. He reached out tentatively and Naruto turned toward him.
"What is it Haku?"
The question drew the attention of the other members of Team seven onto the chunnin. Haku grimaced, then said, "What did you do to Ibiki-san?"
Naruto smiled. "Nothing that hasn't been done before. Don't worry about it."
Just then, Anko yelled, "Hajime!"
And several bells rang and the gates opened. The genin vanished into the forest leaving Haku to stare after them…
Naruto paused once in the cover of the trees, and swiftly performed Kage bushin and henge and thirty copies of Team 7 materialized, and he sent them out in different directions. He left, easily catching up with his teammates.
Somewhere in the forest, Orochimaru growled as he found that the team he had cornered were once again, Kage Bushin.
"Damn it all to hell," he snarled. "How many of those decoys are there?! This is the tenth set in the past twelve hours!"
Naruto was on watch while the rest of Team 7 slept. The brush around the camp rustled, and three Kage Bushin slipped into the camp, each one setting down two pairs of scrolls before vanishing in puffs of smoke. Naruto carefully stored the scrolls away, and placed a heaven and an earth scroll in front of Sasuke before leaning against a tree.
Naruto's eyes twitched as his senses picked up a sudden surge of chakra…
---…and a gust of wind blew through the clearing. Naruto sent out several wires to hold Team 7 in place, to keep them from being blown away. He himself glued himself to the ground with chakra. A fist flew into his gut and he was thrown back, and his head hit a tree with a sickening crack…---
…and he found himself flinging out wires attached to shuriken and kunai to bind his team, preventing them from being blown away…
---…and he channeled chakra to his feet, but was too late, and he was blown away. Once he landed, he was devoured by a snake and he quickly performed Kage Bushin to destroy the snake…---
…and quickly formed a bushin in the trees and performed Kawarimi with it…
---…only to find himself face to face with…---
…"Kabuto-san?"
---…Kabuto who smiled, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. "Hello Naruto-kun…" he said…---
---…and Naruto felt a kick connect with his abdomen and was thrown back into the clearing where Orochimaru had confronted Sasuke and Sakura. The snake sannin looked down at Naruto who had landed at his feet…---
Kabuto smiled faintly, "Are you all right, Naruto-kun?" he asked reaching down…
---…to pull out a kunai which he raised into the air, a malicious smile on his face…---
---…before several kunai shot from the trees and blood splattered Naruto's face as Orochimaru stumbled back…---
…to pull Naruto to his feet.
"Ah… I'm sorry," Naruto said urgently, "But I need to get back to my team and make sure that they're all alright…"
---…Orochimaru jerked and Anko and several ANBU swooped down to grab Team 7 and shot away with them…---
---…Anko stood over several bodies flipping through papers, Kotestu, Izumo, and Duo at her side… "Send the ANBU into the forest…" she said…---
…Kabuto smiled understandingly. "I see. Be careful then, Naruto-kun…"
"Aa… Arigato.." Naruto said, and leapt away through the trees…
---…The Sandaime stood at the window of the Hokage Tower, smoking his pipe and watching as the children played below…---
---…Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma making bets with the other jounin sensei from Konoha about which teams would make it out of the Forest of Death…---
---…Orochimaru marked Sasuke and left. Several minutes later, Naruto arrived, ragged and wounded, his clothes ripped and covered in more than a little blood…---
"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" he said. "I'm sorry I took so long to get back, I was a bit disoriented after I landed, and I came as quickly as I could without getting lost or caught in another team's traps…"
Naruto rubbed his temples as…
---…Why are you doing this Kazekage-dono?!"---
…the Sandaime explained that too many people had passed, and due to time constrainst preliminary matches must be held. Behind him…
---…A young blonde man laughed. "Jiraiya-sensei got caught doing his 'research' again, that's all…" Sandaime smiled fondly. "Is that so, Arashi?" he said, "and I suppose you had nothing to do with Jiraiya's getting caught?"---
…Ibiki frowned. He said softly into his headset, "Look at your student Kakashi."
"I know," Kakashi answered softly. "He's loosing control of the Yochigan…"
"The question now stands," Anko murmured, "which member of Team 7 should we worry more about? Uchiha, who was marked by Orochimaru's cursed seal, or Uzumaki, who is now the Oracle?"
"We watch for both," Kakashi said, "Sensei once told me that a rogue Oracle can cause just as much damage, if not more, than a compromised shinobi…"