Here's a summary for my mobile users out there:
Naruto winds up in the past, probably because of Hashirama cells or magic portals or something. Whatever. The cause isn't important.
The only thing that really matters is that when given a chance to make a change for the better, he'll reach out and grab at it with whatever he's got, potential future consequences be damned.
(basically your typical sort of time travel fix-it semi-crackfic. Begins during stage 2 of the Chunin exams)
Ever since he'd been trapped in the hospital sometime post fourth shinobi war, he had taken a liking to napping just about anywhere but a hospital bed.
Perhaps that's why when Naruto woke up in the branches of a tree it wasn't particularly surprising, though what was more surprising was that Sakura hadn't hunted him down yet and given him a knock on the head for being such an 'active' patient.
Hey, maybe it's because of how paranoid the doctors were about his new arm. They really didn't have to trap him in here just because of that.
Naruto sighed, staring at the leaf dappled morning sunlight on his long-term hospital outfit. It wasn't exactly one of those terrible open backed ones, thankfully, or else he would have really started a riot by now. Orange would've been nice but it'd probably look bad to demand something like that right when the doctors and nurses were this busy. He liked standing out, but not like that.
His recently attached prosthetic arm hung lazily in the breeze; it felt so bizarre feeling something through an arm that clearly didn't feel like it belonged, but his favorite pink-haired medic nin told him he would eventually get used to it.
Really, there wasn't any good reason he had to stay in the hospital. She mentioned something about "side effects" or "potential rejection," but seeing as there hadn't been any changes since it got slapped on, it was probably gonna be fine. Rewrapping the bandages so often was getting rather annoying.
Yawning lazily, he grumbled to no one in particular and rolled off the branch as if it were his bed. "Guess it's time to get breakfast."
His first warning that something was off was that the people in the general vicinity of the hospital courtyard startled, almost as if they were shocked at seeing someone fall out of a tree. It was weird, yes, but not enough to warrant any anything beyond passing confusion.
However, what did catch his attention was that the building itself.
Suspiciously, the thing was way too old looking to have been built so recently, with the destruction of the village and whatnot. In fact, he specifically recalled seeing it in this state the last time jiji made him get a checkup, which was… over four years ago.
He shook his head and walked inside. Maybe there were some side effects after all. He should probably get that checked out.
"Hey, do you know where Haruno Sakura is?" he asked the nearest nurse.
The nurse shrugged and gave a polite apology. Naruto stared in shock.
"Sakura. H-a-r-u-n-o. S-a-k-u-r-a," he spelled. "The best medic nin here?"
"I'm afraid that none of our most highly credentialed staff here go by that name," he replied in his best customer service voice. "Are you sure she works here?"
Naruto gave him an incredulous look. "You know what? Fine, I'll go ask the front desk."
Turns out, none of them had any idea either. Huh.
Huh?
No way. The student of the legendary Tsunade, the best healer in Konoha's history? The one who took charge of this very hospital during Pain's attack? This was beyond suspicious.
"Hey, you do know who I am, right?"
"Unfortunately, I can't recall anybody who looks like you, though hardly anyone around here has blond hair quite as bright as yours," said the receptionist. "Has anyone ever told you you look like the Yondaime?"
Naruto blinked. That wasn't the response he was expecting. He prepared to open his mouth and ask even more questions but felt a tug in his stomach area.
Seeing the dull yellowish tint of the water and the darkness surrounding him quickly told him what had happened.
"Kurama! I was just gonna say something," he complained peevishly.
The Kyuubi's undulating tails swished around a little bit faster with that statement. "We have bigger things to worry about, idiot. Haven't you noticed that something is strange here?"
"Uh-huh. It's almost like everyone just forgotten stuff they shouldn't have."
"Leave it to you to make things sound as silly as possible," Kurama grunted, though not without some measure of amusement. "I have talked to some of my siblings and none of them seem to remember what had happened in the past few years."
"Not even the juubi?"
"Not even the juubi."
Naruto huffed. "Guess I should try to find someone I know. They might have answers."
His eyes opened to the sight a nurse by his side, staring at his vitals and taking notes. Promptly, he swung his feet over the bed's edge. When did he get here?
The nurse turned around at the noise, and have apparently anticipated the question, started explaining. "You suddenly lost consciousness. It was surprising, but there didn't seem to be any actual issue so you were simply relocated here.
Passing out in the middle of the lobby would definitely be a cause for concern, Naruto noted duly. That was weird, though. He had never done that before the previous times he visited his mindscape.
"Excuse me, sir, are you listening?"
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking."
"Thinking, really? I don't seem to recall you ever doing that."
"Hah? I'll have you know that I… uh..."
"Sir, are you feeling alright?"
Naruto could feel Kurama grinning like the asshole he was and gave his belly a mental punch. Not that it would do anything. If he could just talk like this then temporarily dragging him under was completely unnecessary.
"Of course I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be?"
The nurse hid her disbelieving expression and said, "I don't know, collapsing without warning sure doesn't mean anything."
"Nice, kid."
This time, Naruto had the wherewithal to cry his indignation mentally.
"And another thing," remarked the nurse. "That prosthetic-"
Naruto paused, listening curiously.
"-It's like nothing the doctors here have ever seen! Where did you get it?"
"...What?" he said, getting more confused by the minute. "I literally got it here. In this Hospital."
The nurse stared at him harder. "That's very doubtful. If you did, there would undoubtedly be records of you doing so. I apologise, but whatever this model is, it has not been officially approved and for now, we must detain you until we confirm it is safe for human use."
He gaped at her.
"Additionally, if deemed safe, we may need you to sign some consent forms as well. This could represent a massive leap in prosthetic technology if all goes well."
In one fluid motion, she adjusted her glasses and took out a pen tucked behind her ear.
"To begin, what is your name?"
Naruto didn't want to parrot his confusion again, and instead opted to do exactly that. "I don't get it. Why's everyone pretending they don't know me?"
"That's… well, it's awfully bold of you to assume everyone knows your name," stated the nurse, eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Naruto, you should probably leave."
"Huh? Why?"
"I think I understand our situation better now. I'll explain later. Don't tell them your name."
He gave the kyuubi a curt nod, looked at the window, and pointed frantically over the nurse's shoulder.
"Ah! What's that!?"
The nurse looked behind her, and having seen nothing but a closed door, turned back to see a newly opened window and a now vacated bed. Dashing to the window, she spotted a fast- moving speck disappear behind some buildings.
"Wait, isn't this is the third floor?" she asked herself.
Elsewhere, a grumpy teen could be seen walking nonchalantly through a shopping district. Nothing better to loose a tail then to go through a crowd. It might not have been a good idea to come here, actually. Why did people keep throwing him weird looks?
"Look at what you're wearing, kid. Tell me it doesn't look strange."
Naruto tilted his head. "What are you talking about? I look perfectly - oh."
Anyone wearing a conspicuously hospital patient-like outfit would definitely stand out like a sore thumb. In fact, seeing from the point of view of a passerby, he'd look quite a bit like some sort of hospital escapee.
Time to dash, then.
The matter was as simple as slipping into a random alley and darting up onto a roof. Out of sight, out of mind. That sounds like something Shikamaru would probably say and make it sound a lot smarter.
"I would say to go back to your apartment and change into something more respectable, but that would seem to be impossible."
"Are you dissing my fashion choice?" Naruto shouted accusingly.
Kurama gave him a slightly annoyed glance. "Yes and no, don't get yourself into a snit, kit."
"Hey, that rhymes! I didn't know you did that on purpose."
The kyuubi's ear twitched. "What on earth prompted you to conceive an assumption like that?"
"I dunno, you seemed too haughty for that sort of stuff."
"We're getting off topic."
"You started it."
"You look like you're talking to yourself in public again."
Naruto slapped his hands over his mouth and whipped his head around in an attempt to find any onlookers. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any.
"You scared me! Now what were we talking about again?"
With a long suffering sigh, Kurama began explaining. "You know how right after the war, despite many casualties, most were riding the high of the battle's end, right?"
"Yep."
"The general ambient negativity in the air is the same as how it was before all the major destructive conflict you recently faced. It's at the baseline set for most of your life."
"So?"
"Isn't it suspicious? The old buildings of your past and how nobody seems to recognize you? All the clues I have seen so far seem to point at a highly improbable conclusion."
"That is-?"
"We're in the past."
Naruto froze, then slipped into his mindscape and walked right up to Kurama. With a comically soothing (and oddly insulting) tone, he patted the giant fox on the nose.
"There, there, just take a nap and it'll be all right."
Now it was Kurama's turn to roar indignantly. "Are you and idiot? Are you calling me delusional?"
"Hush hush, it's almost like you're speaking in bold letters every time you talk," he replied with the same goofy, unchanged expression.
The ninetails thrashed his tails in agitation. "This is no time to make jokes! Gather information on what time we're in! Dismissed!"
Dropped back into his normal plane of consciousness, he found himself crumpled awkwardly on the roof.
"That's pretty crazy," he said. "But I get the feeling you're probably right. I'm heading to Ichiraku's!"
If it were possible, Naruto was sure his roommate would have given him a solid whack to the head. He was giving off some very irritated vibes and some appeasement was in order. "I'm just going there to gather some information! Information! People talk stuff at food stands, right?"
No answer. He probably didn't feel like responding, probably.
Now that his next course of action had been settled, his feet traced their way to Ichiraku's with ease. He'd never been good at holding a henge for long periods of time, so nabbed a bandana from the stand of a shopkeeper he never liked, tied it around his head, and hoped it would be a good enough disguise for the time being.
Just as he set foot in the restaurant, he reached into his pockets. Ninja headband, check. Pack of tissues, check. A single coin he picked up off the ground, check. Gama-chan…
He emptied out his pockets.
Gone. Gama-chan wasn't there.
Damn it! Did he leave it in the future?
Defeatedly, he dragged himself to the nearest seat and slumped down in it, head resting on the counter. An echo of a laugh told him that Kurama's appetite for his misery had been sated.
"Welcome!"
Naruto turned his head sadly to Teuchi, head still down. "Don't even bother, I forgot to bring my wallet."
Well, he came anyway, so he might as well listen to the conversation here. However, that turned out to be mildly useless as most of the patrons were just complaining about their jobs and such. Maybe if he were a bit smarter and could read into things a bit more, it would be more informative, but now, it felt as if he just came here to torture his empty stomach.
Teuchi looked like he was on the verge of handing handing him a free bowl, but since he wasn't the unjust scourge of the village and also not a malnourished little kid anymore, his business demeanor was preventing him from actually doing so.
It was then that he felt a slight tap on his shoulder.
He shot up and looked at who it was, and to his surprise, he saw a familiar scarred ninja looking down on him in concern.
"Iruka-sensei?"
The man in question lifted his hand, confusion evident on his face.
"Excuse me, but do I know you?"
"Good going."
"Ah, I… uh-" Naruto stuttered. "Naruto told me about you!"
Iruka's face immediately lit up. "He did? You're friends with him?"
"Kinda?"
"Alright, I have to treat you now! What do you want?"
"Uh, a miso ramen?" He would feel bad asking for extra pork while lying to his old teacher, even if his empty stomach was telling him he'd need way more later.
"Got it. Hey! Teuchi, two miso ramen! One with extra pork!"
Naruto started and stared. Iruka had a knowing smile on his face. "I'd know that sort of expression anywhere. You wanted extra, didn't you?"
Blinking, he grinned right back. Seemed like he got caught.
"So, what brought you here?" Iruka wasn't really the type to eat out too often, so seeing the man here without him seemed a bit strange.
"Ah, well I guess I'm just a little worried about him right now."
"Huh? Why?"
Two bowls of steaming hot ramen were placed right in front of them. He could feel the drool building up and quickly began slurping it up with gusto. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Iruka begin to crack up a bit.
"Ha! Even when I come here I get reminded about him in a completely different way than I expected. You eat just like him!"
Naruto paused over his halfway empty bowl. "I do?" he asked. Did he really not change his eating habits over the years?
"Yeah," he replied, watching him polishing off the rest of the ramen.
"I have to say, you look identical to him, just a few years older," he trailed off, "You even got the whisker marks! It's almost like-"
Naruto did not like where he was going with this.
"-like you're a sibling or family member of his."
He could hear Kurama roaring with belly-deep laughter. Shooting him a mental dirty look, he tried to get back on topic. "Maybe, but why did you say you were worried about him?"
Man, it was weird referring to himself as if they weren't the same person.
"He's taking the Chunin Exam right now. It would be odd not to be concerned."
Naruto placed his bowl down with more force than necessary. "Which part?" he asked.
At the sudden tension, Iruka frowned a bit. "The second part, probably the most dangerous segment."
"I'm sorry but I gotta go! Right now! Thanks for the meal!"
He got up to leave, but Iruka looked hesitant to let him run off.
"Wait a moment!" he exclaimed, grabbing Naruto's right forearm. "You haven't even told me your na-"
Pop!
Iruka was just left standing there with all arm and no person, the bandages wrapped around the prosthetic now unraveling into a pile on the floor.
Notes:
Here we go again. This isn't going to be a particularly long fic nor is it going to be especially creative, but I hope some of you will enjoy it.
I could've sworn I had a lot more to say, but as soon as I sit down to type it out I seem to forget everything? Oh well