Naruto walked into the T&I building behind the cat masked Anbu. All the doors, walls, and corridors looked the same, but she seemed to know where she was going.

A few minutes later Naruto followed her into a room where several people waited for him. The Hokage, Inoichi, and Ibiki all sat or leaned against the wall waiting for him.

Naruto entered the room and the Anbu gently closed door behind him. Three chairs were arranged in a triangular formation in the center of the room. The Hokage and Inoichi sat in two of the chairs and gestured for Naruto to take a seat.

"Neko, stand guard outside and make sure no one enters. Ibiki you will be watching over us and break us out of the jutsu by force if necessary," the Hokage said seriously.

The two gave nods, Neko went outside to stand guard, and Ibiki got in a ready position.

"Inoichi if you'll begin the jutsu we can get this over with."

Inoichi, who had remained quiet this whole time, finally spoke. "Alright, if you'll put a hand on my shoulder Hokage-sama we can begin."

The Hokage did as he was instructed and placed a hand on his shoulder. Inoichi began a string of hand signs as Naruto had a few last thoughts to himself.

The old man seems a lot more serious than usual. Maybe he is still angry about the whole Sasuke thing. I can understand though, I'd be furious at me too.

Naruto flinched as he felt the sudden invasion of his mind, his eyes soon took on a stare that just seemed to look off into space.

(In Naruto's mind)

Naruto opened his eyes slowly as he got his bearings. Looking around he saw the standard rubble and chaos of his mind. He turned around and was greeted with giant powerful steel bars holding the darkness and what lurked in the darkness at bay.

Ominous crimson eyes opened up and an evil smile lined with white sharp teeth appeared as a rough voice spoke out.

"Well if it isn't the useless flesh sack."

Naruto started walking away ignoring the creature as it kept talking.

"What's wrong boy? Are you having girl problems? Let me out for a night and I'll ravage the little bun haired whore. She'll be begging for you…or death once I'm done with her." Kyuubi said with a sick laugh.

Naruto had stopped walking with his back to Kyuubi, he turned around to face him. In his younger form the glare he leveled at Kyuubi wouldn't really affect many, but in his adult form it could probably freeze the sun.

"Kyuubi, you are living on borrowed time. Right now you have a little less than 4 years to live before I and a select few ninja of Konoha forcefully mind rape you to death. Then once your mind is destroyed I will take all your power and use it for myself without any influence from you whatsoever. To top it off there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me, think about that." Naruto retorted coldly.

Kyuubi's growled in response and disappeared into the darkness. The demon had access to all his memories and emotions, so it knew it wasn't a bluff.

Naruto stared into the darkness a little while longer. The same cold expression adorned his face as he turned around and headed towards Inoichi's and the Hokage's position.

Everything he said was true, and Kyuubi knew it. Danzo's greed knew no bounds, but he was also intelligent about how he went about things. The man had wanted the Kyuubi's power at his disposal, and so after years of planning and Jiraiya's help he had developed a method to combat the Kyuubi within Naruto's mind. An enormously complex seal had been created which he couldn't completely remember, but it had given the ninja the edge they needed.

Many Root members had lost their lives battling the Kyuubi within Naruto. Jiraiya, Danzo, and Naruto himself didn't achieve victory unscathed either. If anything, though, it was the one and only thing that Naruto could thank Danzo for.

Naruto appeared in front of the two as they walked down the worn halls.

"Naruto, I assume this appearance reflects your true age?" the Hokage asked while studying the man.

"Yes."

"You truly do resemble your father," he said wearily.

"I don't know what to say," Naruto replied uncomfortably.

"We'll save that for another time," Sarutobi turned to Inoichi, "everything that is discussed in here is an S-class secret punishable by death for high treason. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Inoichi replied in a business like tone.

"Good, now on to business. Naruto I would like to know how Sasuke got away."

Inoichi raised an eyebrow as the Hokage went on. It had just been announced earlier in the day that the boy was dead. It seemed that that was just a cover story though.

Naruto didn't answer right away. He had been expecting this from the beginning, but he wasn't anymore ready for it now than he was before. He decided it would be best to come clean though.

"I had just woken up from being knocked out for 2 days. It wasn't long after I woke up that Sasuke entered the room and made a scene. Sasuke threatened me and I retaliated. I misjudged how far he would go, and before I knew it I was flash fried."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You misjudged him?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"It seems I have misjudged you too then," the Hokage said with a sigh.

Naruto's brow furrowed a little at that. He didn't completely understand where the man was coming from, but that remark had hurt for some reason.

"I don't understand what you mean."

"You said that you were a high jonin in your timeline along with being responsible and patient. Honestly, Naruto, this last mission didn't prove any of that to me. In fact it turned out the worst possible way."

Naruto stood silent as he met Sarutobi's eyes and quickly looked away.

"You used poor judgment by getting into a fight almost immediately after waking up from being knocked out for two days. You let Sasuke provoke you into a fight. Lastly, you underestimated him, a ninja. Someone as experienced as you Naruto should know never to underestimate a ninja." Sarutobi was leaking killing intent in the halls of Naruto's mind as he went on. "Your actions and judgments have forced me to call a lot of the information you have given me into question."

"Hokage-sama," Inoichi interrupted, "Anbu along with the T&I department have found much if not all the information referring to current matters and events to be true."

Inoichi knew he was putting his neck on the line for the man, but he needed a breather. The Hokage didn't know it, but Naruto's mind was actually more of a wreck than the first time he arrived.

"I think the information he gave us will continue to be accurate too, until we make a large difference in history. As for Naruto's actions I don't think it is completely fault."

"Explain," Sarutobi commanded now that Inoichi had his full attention.

"Well, this Naruto has no idea how he got here. He thought he was trapped in a genjutsu by Orochimaru when he first arrived. He said that he should have died. Also none of us know of any type of time traveling jutsu. As far as we know he has replaced the Naruto of this timeline," he explained

"Cut to the chase, Inoichi," Sarutobi said impatiently.

Inoichi started speaking a little quicker, "how did Naruto act before this new Naruto came along?"

"Loud, impulsive, a short fuse…" Sarutobi connected the dots as his eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

Naruto had been listening intently since Inoichi started explaining, "So, you're saying that I'm being influenced by the personality of this timeline's Naruto."

"Well, it's a theory," Inoichi replied.

"Hmm, well that helps your case, if only a little. We will need to learn more about this," Sarutobi declared.

Naruto relaxed a little as the intense atmosphere that had been building up began settling down. Getting pissed off in your head was one thing, but someone else getting pissed off in your head is downright mentally exhausting.

As if the previous atmosphere had never existed. Sarutobi stood calmly with his hands behind his back.

"Naruto, I will give you another chance to prove yourself. I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, I truly do, but another mess up like that and I won't be able to protect you."

Naruto nodded his head, "Thank you, Hokage-sama"

He also now had to thank Inoichi later for saving his ass. He made a mental note to find out his favorite sake. He could give him ramen, but hardly anyone appreciated ramen as much as sake.

After Sarutobi finished speaking he pulled his pipe out loaded it with tobacco and lit it up. He took a few experimental puffs before exhaling a thin stream of smoke.

Naruto and Inoichi stared at the Hokage a little oddly. Neither knew or understood how he had brought the pipe into Naruto's mindscape. After all, the people in here were only mental manifestations of themselves. No equipment or other items could be brought into another person's mind.

"What?" asked Sarutobi.

"Nothing," replied Naruto, "Uhh, is there more we needed to discuss?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. The Anbu reported to me that you began leaking killer intent in the presence of Team 10, more specifically, around Neji and Tenten. Care to explain?"

Naruto actually paled a little at what the Hokage had just said. That was a hell of curveball he hadn't been expecting. He quickly regained his composure though before answering.

"Not really, it is a personal matter."

"Naruto, you were leaking killer intent around my ninja for one reason or another. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but you are a wild card. I can't overlook this I need to know what is going on."

Naruto still seemed hesitant though. What he had with Tenten had only been known about by a few people.

Inoichi decided to try and coax him a little bit more to talk, "Naruto, ever since you came here you have done a lot to help us. Now let us help you. You've only told us about the village's problems and none of your own. It's not safe to keep it all to yourself."

Naruto didn't answer, but stared at the ground in deep thought. Finally he walked to a pile of collapsed wall and took a seat on it. "Fine, but you're gonna wanna take a seat. It's a bit of a long story, so no questions till I'm done."

The two men were actually surprised that Naruto had caved so quickly. They had thought it would take a bit more coaxing, but they hurried to find a place to sit quickly.

"What set me off earlier today was Tenten. She-she used to be my lover in my timeline," Naruto paused for a second before continuing. "I had just turned 14, and Danzo had recently become the Hokage after Sarutobi died fighting Orochimaru, when I met her. She was different from most girls, kind of a tomboy, but still had the feminine charm. At the time I didn't have any feelings for her, but after our first meeting we saw each other more often over time."

Naruto stopped to make sure his audience was still listening. Sarutobi was inhaling from his pipe and his full attention was focused on Naruto. Inoichi was listening intently also, but he seemed to already be going over the facts.

"Right before I turned 16 we considered ourselves a couple, soon after we gave ourselves to each other. For another year everything was going well. Then about 6 months after I turned 17 things started going to hell."

"I had found out from Jiraiya that Tenten had missed some training sessions, ignored reports, and even missed missions to be around me. I didn't ask him how he got the information, but the fact that he told me made me worried enough to investigate. For 2 months I tried to pry the answer out of her of why she did it, but she wouldn't tell me. I thought she was just being stubborn, but Jiraiya eventually helped me and he figured out she was being controlled. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell us what was wrong, but she couldn't. We took her to Inoichi that very day, and found out she had been getting brainwashed for many years, and it was extensive too."

Naruto picked up a random kunai from the ground and began twirling it around his finger. He needed to think a little before going on. The other two understood and gave him time.

Finally after about 30 seconds had passed Naruto through the kunai into the ground and continued the story, "After going through a lot of her belongings we eventually found the cause of it all. You two should know what it is though, right?" Naruto asked the men.

Sarutobi nodded his head gravely, "Yes, it was the ink."

"Yeah…I'll hand it to Danzo that only a mind as sick and twisted as his could come up with such an idea. Jiraiya investigated more and discovered that since Danzo became Hokage he had been having someone leak minute amounts of chakra in the ink sold around the village, and that ink implanted a small suggestion every time someone came in contact with it. It may not affect a person the first or second time, but later down the road, especially a 3 year period, who knows how many people he had in his pocket. As you can imagine when this news swept through the village chaos took over. Suddenly no one could trust each other, and everyone was compromised. The remnants of the Yamanaka clan would spend almost two years curing everybody who was brainwashed."

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly released it. The part he hated was coming up the part tore him apart so much.

"Inoichi, had finally destroyed most of the brainwashing chakra, but the results weren't pretty. She was having a total identity crisis, and when I had gone to see her she had asked that I be kept away."

"Jiraiya later explained to me that she had been brainwashed to get close to me, to get involved with me so Danzo could keep tabs on me. If I ever got out of line then as a last resort he could use a hand seal that would force her to try and kill me. We also speculated that he could do this to a lesser degree with anyone else he had brainwashed. The brainwashing wouldn't have worked unless she liked me a little though, but Jiraiya crushed that hope too. He made it very clear that all her emotions for me were blown out of scale and exaggerated. That the Tenten I loved, that loved me, was an illusion hiding the true Tenten.

"Why Tenten though?" Inoichi asked.

"She was the perfect victim, I suppose," Naruto answered almost casually, "she was young, a fellow ninja, and still close to my age. The chakra infused ink wouldn't work as well on adults, because their minds are fully developed and they have better mental defenses. I never saw Sakura after I turned 14, so she was out. Hinata got the branch seal placed on her, and he knew her family would kill her before letting us get close. Ino being a Yamanaka most likely wouldn't be affected as much, and might have been able to fight it thanks to the Yamanaka's mental fortitude."

"Tenten was an orphan and a weapons mistress. She made hundreds of her own exploding seals and created huge sealing scrolls for her thousands of weapons. Not only would she come in contact with the ink while creating the scrolls, but each time she touched the ink to infuse it with chakra or seal/unseal a weapon the chakra infected her."

"Danzo would be quickly hunted down, but he escaped and soon after Jiraiya would take over as Hokage. Tenten wanted to return to active duty just a week after being released from her brainwashing. Jiraiya gave the okay, because we needed every ninja possible at the time. Before she left she asked me to not pursue her, because what we had had wasn't because of me or her. I was torn apart by her request but I listened. Jiraiya then sent her and her team on a mission they never returned from. It is believed they fought against the member of Akatsuki called Deidara before he self destructed taking them with him."

"So, basically the girl you loved never truly existed?" the Hokage asked with a frown on his face.

Naruto nodded slowly in response.

"This is gonna be a tough one."

A/N: updating early cuz of finals this week, so enjoy.