TSNW

Naruto couldn't wait for class to get out. He was mad he had to sit through all of this for another six months, but at least this time he had friends.

"Yo Nar, you do the homework for Tozen-sensei?" He groaned as Kotetsu plopped down next to him.

Izumo sighed, while shaking his head, "You wouldn't have to ask if you just did the homework yourself Ko." He said as he sat between them.

"Look, you're the brains, I'm the brawn. That's the deal."

"If I'm the brains, why are you asking Naruto for the homework?"

"Oi Iz! Full name? What the fuck, keep me out of your relationship problems!" Izumo's face went red as he sputtered out,

"W-What! Don't say that!"

"Iz will never return my feelings. He literally forced me to be a lady's man." Kotetsu said, looking far off into the distance. And of course Naruto couldn't miss out on the perfect opportunity to mess with his friend.

"How does that work?"

"Huh?"

"I mean since you have no ladies, how are you a lady's man?"

Izumo quickly yanked Kotetsu back before he could pumble Naruto to the ground. Naruto shot his friends a grin as he leaned back on the bench and threw a paper ball at Kotetsu's head.

Naruto had gotten used to this life. The past month has been like a bowl of miso ramen. Every day was better than the last. Naruto finally had a home, a family. It was better than he could have imagined, and while he lived alone with Kushina there was never a day where he felt alone.

He spent his mornings cooking breakfast with Kushina. There was one time where he was in charge of frying potatoes, and now he was banned from all things potato related.

Then he would go to school and hang out with his new friend Ko and Iz. Which was crazy, seeing as how the two were inseparable, Naruto wasn't sure if he was going to fit in their close circle but here he was. The class had already begun calling them a thurple.

After class he would train with Team Seven at training grounds three. Some nights would end in ramen while most nights the two were at the Namikaze residence eating dinner with Kakashi and Minato, the rest of the team would show up some nights. And every Sunday they spent the evenings with Mikoto-obachan, Fugaku-ojisan and Itachi-ototo.

To say he was happy was an understatement. He finally found a place where he belonged, a place that wanted him.

The only downfall about being here were the dreams. Or nightmares if he were being honest. Death haunted him every night. At first he thought it was just that- dreams. But they seemed real. He was seeing the future or the past- whichever way he looked at it.

Obito and Rin. And while he knew Obito wasn't in the future he always thought he died that night with the rest of the Uchihas. He was wrong.

And he was scared shitless, he had no idea when the Fourth would come into office. He needed to act fast, before Obito died. He knew how they all died, he just didn't know when. But he knew he couldn't wait on the Fourth. So he needed a plan.

Jiji was his obvious choice. He'd spent a month in this place and he has yet to see the man. If he were being honest he was scared that the only person that he thought of as family in his previous life wouldn't remember him in this one.

So he avoided him. He went as far as skipping class the day Jiji was giving his presentation. But it was time to face his fears.

And then there was the problem where he literally felt sick. It started two weeks ago, his stomach would start burning. It felt like he was on fire, and he was hearing that voice again, more often.

He kept trying to ignore it, but Shina-neechan was feeling sick also. So it could be a bug going around. He never really got sick before and it really sucked. It was kinda weird because he only really felt sick around Shina-neechan.

He still couldn't make a clone!

"Ok! Try one more time, Naruto! This time copy me!" Obito said as he went through the hand signs one more time.

"Gahhh I can't get it!"

"Here, let's adjust your chakra!" Rin called running up to him, "Try latching onto 10 percent, and use that instead of using half!"

"Tch, he can't get it, why are you wasting your time."

"Bakashi! If you're not encouraging then be quiet!" Obito wiped back around to him and grabbed his hands, "Ok I'm going to make another clone while holding your hands so you can feel how I'm doing it!" Obito loved having someone he could help, he always wanted a younger brother, but Kakashi never needed help with anything but Naruto was so eager to learn! And Naruto never made him feel dumb!

"Ok! Let's do it Obinii!"

Summoning chakra to his hands he went through the signs again and a clone appeared. Naruto gasped before summoning chakra to his hands and went through the seals. "Damn it!" he shouted as another useless clone appeared. "Why can't I get it?!" He slammed his fist into the nearest tree before angrily making his way back to Obito. "Let's try again!"

"Hold on, umm maybe it's the approach we're talking about. Let's try a different way."

"He has too much chakra and he doesn't know how to control it." Kakashi grumbled while making his way to the three of them.

"That's the problem! Why are we trying to make him control it?" Rin said while grabbing Naruto's hands, "Try summoning two clones!"

"Ehhhh I can't summon one, but you want me to try two, dattebayo?!"

"You're summoning a lot of chakra into your clones, and it overdrives them. So I think if you start off summoning more than one, it'll get easier to summon less!"

"That makes no sense Rin." Kakashi muttered dryly before turning to Naruto, "Try it."

"Oh my ramen! Is the great Kakashi Hatake encouraging me of his own free will?" Naruto pressed his hand to his chest and feigned passing out.

"That was a big word, did you learn it in the dictionary?"

Obito hit him upside the head before turning to Naruto, "You got this lil bro! Focus on two clones!"

Naruto sighed before closing his eyes and bringing his hands up. He never got it before, not in his previous life nor in this one, and he's been working on it for weeks! It was embarrassing, at first he could blame it on the fact that no one helped him, but now he had the best teaching him and he still couldn't figure it out. There was a reason he was called dead last in another life. He wasn't smart, Shina-neechan was still teaching him words and he still felt stupid.

He wanted to be a ninja, yet he needed to know this stuff if he wished to move up the ranks. But no matter how hard he tried he still fell behind everyone else. He wanted to be great like his parents, and he couldn't even understand seals. But he would! As long as they never gave up on him, he wouldn't either! He was Naruto Uzumaki, and he was going to save his family!

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Naruto! Naruto, open your eyes!" He slowly opened his eyes and gasped. It didn't work but his clones looked better than before!

"I almost got it!"

"Yeah! I knew you could-

"Ooo try summoning more!"

"No, more could kill him. Two's dangerous as is."

"Awww Bakashi cares!"

"I can do it!" Naruto called before getting back in position and going through the hand signs again.

"He can do what?" Minato asked, walking over to the group with Kushina in tow.

"Multi-

"NOTHING!" Naruto called while slapping his hand over Obito's mouth. "Nothing, we were just practicing the clone technique!" He shot his parents a grin as they came beside him. His body grew hot- suffocatingly hot.

"How is that coming?" Kushina ruffled his hair before laying her hand on his shoulder.

"It's going great dattebayo! I'll have it figured out in no time! AHK" Naruto squirmed as Kushina pinched his cheek.

"Don't act like you have to do it all alone. We're here dattenbane!" A pained expression appeared on her face as she quickly pulled away from him and took a few steps back until she stood besides Kakashi. Naruto hated how he instantly felt relieved and his body cooled.

"We'll be going over some new jutsus!" Minato passed them all a scroll, and Naruto eagerly opened his. "Me and Kushina will be over here, don't hesitate to ask for help!"

"You want me to meditate?!" Naruto frowned as he read through the scroll again.

"Yes, you need to learn how to control your chakra." Minato picked up a leaf before setting it unto his head. "This leaf is to never blow off your head. When it can stay on your head for three hours, then you can learn a new jutsu." Naruto groaned as he moved to the tree before sitting down.

"You got this lil bro! Just focus!" As much as he loved Obito, the boy could be really optimistic. There was no way in hell he could meditate for three hours!

"If you all learn your jutsu before night, we'll go on a C rank tomorrow morning."

"A or B would better suit me."

"Thanks Minato-sensei! I won't let you down!"

"Let's do our best!"

Naruto meanwhile stared at Minato eyes wide. They couldn't- it was too soon! He wasn't ready.

"Da… Minato!" Naruto quickly shook his head as he ran over to Minato, "You're leaving the village? You just came from one the other day!" He couldn't protect Obito if Minato kept sending him on missions! They all needed time and no matter what Minato said, Naruto wasn't ok with Obito dying if there was something he could do to fix it.

Minato smiled before setting his hand on his shoulder, "I'll be back before you notice. It'll give you time to practice your chakra control."

"No! Ju-just stay-

"We'll be fine, Naruto." He worriedly bit his lip as he nodded. Minato would not let anything happen to them...

TSNW

"You've been anxious all day." Kushina popped down on the chair across from Naruto. Ever since he learned that Team 7 were going on a mission he's been moody. He trained all last night against her wishes- Kakashi ended up staying with him, and he didn't come home till almost midnight. "Ya know sometimes it helps to talk about it."

Naruto stuffed his face into the couch as he mumbled out some nonsense she couldn't hear. She bit her lip as she watched him scream into the couch cushion. She wanted to go near him, to hold him- it was easy to tell he wasn't used to physical touch, he flinched from her for the longest. But she physically couldn't go near him. 10 feet was great but she could handle 6 feet. Anything else and the fox would act up. She wasn't sure why the fox grew aggressive, her seals were intact- she tripled checked and had Minato check, it was fine. However, the fox wanted Naruto. And at first she thought it was trying to hurt him but no, the fox wanted Naruto for some odd reason.

There were many theories running in her and Minato's head but it wasn't anything she was ready to deal with right now.

If it were just her in pain she would go to Naruto no problem. But she saw the way he looked when she was near and how relieved he looked when she was far. So she sat on the couch- close, but not to close- and watched him stress out over something he wasn't telling her. She wanted to help, but she wasn't sure how.

"It's nothin'." He grumbled into the couch and she rolled her eyes while throwing a pillow at his back.

"It's not nothing dattenbane! Stop acting like a brat and tell me!" She crossed her arms. She swore Naruto was going to be the death of her.

"I can't explain it. I just have a bad feeling." Naruto pulled up from the couch and started playing with his goggles. "I think they should take time off- Team 7, all of them."

"You want to join them on their missions?" She brought her legs up to rest on the chair as she stared at him.

"Yes and no. I'd prefer for them to stay, but I'd feel comfortable if I was with them, I guess." He idly wiped his goggles on his pants before glancing back at her. "Would you die for this village?"

"Yes." She said without hesitating. This village hosted Minato and her friends. She'd die for them, no question.

"Even if… even if it meant everyone you love dying?"

"Well you're still alive aren't you." She held eye contact with him for a minute, showing how serious she was before she grinned and threw herself onto the couch with him and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his cheeks until he squirmed and started laughing. Kushina smiled as she gently placed a kiss on his forehead. "Ya know, it's late. If they aren't back yet they probably won't get back till morning." She pulled away and pushed him off the couch. "Take a shower and go to bed!" Naruto groaned as he shot her a smile before making his way to the shower.

She played with the hem of he shirt until she heard the water starting and then quickly pressed a hand to her stomach. "Oi fox you better stop." She muttered.

Naruto was worried they were going to die. And had her guess been correct- Naruto knew they were going to die. But she refused to believe anything, Naruto had come from a different village- despite the fact he wore the Uzumaki sign on his orange jacket, and came here as a civilian- despite the fact of him knowing the basics to Konoha's Academy and fighting style (even if it weren't good.) Naruto wasn't an Uzumaki- despite the fact that Tozen-sensei had called him Naruto Uzumaki the day she enrolled him in class and Naruto had laughed it off.

And then there was the fact that three days into his stay he asked her to show him how to break a big genjutsu, to which he had her practice on him and he looked very relieved to see it didn't "break".

But those were all semantics and Naruto was just a regular 12 year old. Speaking of 12 year old- Naruto's birthday was coming up in three days. The big 13! She was so excited! Obito had helped her and Minato plan everything- and by that she meant Obito planned everything and had them buy everything- so she helped!

She grabbed the nearest scroll before flipping it open. She had an hour to kill before she had to go to bed and be uncomfortable for the next 9 hours. She had slept on the couch the first time the fox started acting up and the look on Naruto's face had made her never do it again. He thought he did something wrong and was apologizing the entire day, on top of that he cleaned the entire house up and continuously asked her if she was ok.

So a few hours of discomfort was the price to pay to never get that reaction from the boy again.

She tried not to think of Naruto's past, and how he grew up alone. She hated stories like that, especially if her theory was correct. Villages weren't doing anybody a favor. Turning children into weapons wasn't how you made good, loyal ninjas. She firmly believed victims had every right to turn vengeful. Bullies were one thing but Kages were another. Bullies tended to be children who didn't know better, Kages on the other hand knew exactly what they were doing and continued anyway.

Once she knew Naruto was out of the shower and dressed she made herself tea and quietly drank it. She knew he wouldn't fall asleep until she was in the bed so she quickly washed the cup before going to bed.

"Goodnight Naruchan." Kissing his sleepy head she gently rubbed his hair until his breaths grew even.

"Night ka." Was his mumbled response and Kushina smiled. Every now and then Naruto would call her that when he was half asleep.

When she was sure he was asleep she rolled over to the furthest side of the bed and silently counted until the sun rose.

"Good morning!" Minato called as Kushina stepped into the kitchen. The bags under her eyes were more pronounced as she flipped him off before pooping into the seat at the table. Smiling Minato placed a cup of tea infront of her before bending down and lifting her shirt up. She was too tired to swat him away as she raised the cups to her lips.

Minato inspected the seal before sending his chakra into her until she sighed in content.

"Thanks."

"I'd ask how your sleep was but I know the answer." He shot her a concerned smile as she rolled her eyes. "Let me keep Naruto for a while."

"You have Kakashi." She leaned forward until her head rested on his shoulder. He instantly wrapped his arm around her and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I'd say let's switch but Kakashi likes his own bed." He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "It's fine. Let me borrow him for the next few weeks. Have some quality guy time."

She pulled back until she was looking him in the eyes. Biting her lip she slowly nodded her head. "Only if he wants."

"Of course he wants to spend time with me- I'm his father after all." He didn't dodge the hit that came towards his face.

"Stop saying that!" She hissed as she looked back to the room where Naruto slept.

"Stop saying the truth? Ok-" he quickly lifted his right arm to the air, his left still rested on her back. "But I figured something out."

"I don't care-

"I think you do!" He grinned at her before switching his arms, "I figured you're too tired to actually stop me from speaking, finally. My seal grows warmer when Naruto's around." He laid his palm out for her to see. "Not that I'm ready to try anything. It's good we know how he came."

She sighed before leaning back on him. "We don't know Naruto is connected to your seal."

"Except the fact that he keeps his palm bandages from us. Also we need to talk about him being the jinchuriki."

"I'm the jinchuriki." She mumbled, her voice grew soft and in a moment her soft snores were heard. Minato sighed as he hoisted her up. It was dawn and he knew in a few hours Naruto would be awake and would be sad if she didn't wake with him.

With that Minato moved them both to the couch so she could get an hour of sleep before Naruto woke.

If Naruto was from the future, he would (if time was congruent) have been missing for a month. That couldn't be good, no Kage would like their jinchuuriki being gone that long with no insight. He would need to figure out how to get word to them. It made sense to go back to that tree, it still had his chakra rooted to the stem.

Treading his fingers through Kushina's hair he smiled as he leaned his head onto hers. The next hour was peaceful as he slept beside Kushina and moved her back to her bed before Naruto woke.

After checking on Kakashi he made his way to the tree. He sensed his chakra and peeled the bark off until his seal was resting neatly on the wood. Minato grabbed his kunai before leaking it with his chakra and blood he wrote into the tree and smiled. With a quick seal the bark reappeared on the tree, admiring his handiwork he made his way to the Hokage Tower to turn in his mission report.

TSNW

A/N: Thank you everyone whos read and reviewed, I love yall so much! There was a guest review and I want to let you know that yeah... Kakashi's a little OOC but at the same time I feel like hes not. In canon we seen Kakashi through everyone else, and there was never a time for us to solely focus on Kakashi personal problems because Sasuke and Naruto were the main focus. And going into shippuden we seen more of Kakashi and what he went through and we kind of ignore the fact that the Third literally pulled Kakashi out of ANBU because the boy was waiting to die or going to get himself killed- or the fact that Kakashi really had no ties to the Leaf Village any more (sans for Gai- and even then Kakashi just tolerated at that point). So to me, this story is just focusing on Kakashi being stuck in the grief and not knowing how to move on, when he feels like he doesn't deserve to move on.

Now as yall can tell, Minato and Kushina know that Naruto is from the future and while they know he has to go back to the future at some point, they don't want him to leave because of the hardships Naruto faces (That being Naruto not having any family back in his time). With that saying, they are doing everything they can to prepare him to live in a world without him, and as much as they would love to teach him more jutsu's Naruto has a lot to learn- academic wise, strategy wise and basic fighting wise. Also Naruto has been in this universe for ONE month!

My favorite part is officially the bromamce between Obito and Naruto. I would have loved to see Obito be Narutos brother figure growing up!

Thank you for the read loves! I'll try to get more chapters poster this summer!