"Naruto, you're up late." Minato smiled, his eyes tired.

"Yea, couldn't sleep, so I wanted to get some air." Naruto grinned and reached up to scratch his head with his bandaged arm…and realized, it wasn't bandaged. Jerking his arm down quickly, he frowned as his eyes darted back and forth. "Uh…I need to go. Leave you two alone to do your mission stuff y'know." Waving, he turned and headed out. Frowning, he wandered off towards an alley. He figured from the way his dad talked, combined with the fact that he couldn't get into his apartment, he probably still lived with his dad and his…mom? Naruto's eyes glassed over at thinking that in this life he grew up with his mom and dad. However, he didn't know where they lived, so he'd need to figure that out.

Kurama, what has changed? Waiting, he frowned. Kurama wasn't answering. Kurama? There was nothing but suddenly, Naruto saw his dad leave, jerking him out of his internal search for the fox. Waiting, he followed Minato home stealthily since Kurama wasn't answering. Right when Minato got to the door, Naruto jogged up. "Hey Dad." Looking up, Minato smiled.

"Forgot your key again?" Ruffling Naruto's hair, he unlocked the door as Naruto shrugged. As the two men walked in, red hair looked up from the couch.

Yawning, Kushina walked over to the two. "It's late." Hugging both men, she stretched, and then yawned again. "Come into the kitchen, I'll fix you some food." Smiling, she turned and headed into the kitchen. Naruto smiled as well, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

Minato chuckled. "I am hungry." Heading into the kitchen, Kushina pulled out some leftovers from the fridge and started heating them up as she hummed quietly. Minato grabbed some juice from the refrigerator and set a glass down for each of the three. Naruto just stared at his dad, blinking a few times. He didn't realize he was smiling until Minato looked up and quirked an eyebrow. "What's up? Why are you so happy? Did you finally decide to ask Sasuke to marry you?"

The smile on Naruto's face fell, as he paled. "N…no, what? Why would I do that?"

Minato and Kushina stared at their son quizzically. Minato may not be a genius like Kakashi or Itachi, but he was very intelligent. Kushina was very intuitive. Both immediately sensed something was off with that question. "Well, I would think because you all had been dating since you were twelve?" He saw his son's face pale even more and it was then that he noticed the little things. The eyes that were years more mature than they were yesterday. The body that was slightly more muscular than yesterday. The smile that was brighter than yesterday. Minato looked at Kushina, who nodded a confirmation of his suspicions.

Kushina came over and kissed her son's forehead, then crouched down before asking softly, "Naruto…who are you?"

Naruto fell off the stool as he tried to stand. "Wha…what?"

Minato smiled and helped his son up. "Sit down." As Naruto sat, Minato turned and pulled the food out, splitting it onto two plates. Setting one in front of his son, he sat down opposite him as Kushina got up and sat down by her husband. "I didn't realize until just now. You look the same. But your eyes…they don't. What happened?" Watching his son, he started to eat.

Naruto wiped a sweaty palm on his pants leg. He was scared his parents would think he was crazy if he told them the truth. However, Naruto was not a good liar in any universe. Sighing, Naruto looked down at the plate and started playing with his food. Taking in a big breath, he let it out. "W…where I'm from, I was born at the expense of both your lives…" Still staring at the plate, Naruto started from the beginning. Telling them about his birth, his life, Kakashi's death (leaving out the part of the unrequited love of the two knuckleheads), and his time jump with Kurama. As Naruto talked, both Minato and Kushina's faces showed a variety of emotions of pain, sadness, pride and pity. Naruto refused to look up through the story, worried about his parent's reactions. Once he finished, his blue eyes peeked up through blond lashes, waiting to see the judgment from Minato and shame from Kushina. Waiting to see what Minato would say. Waiting for the reprimands of the Red Hot Habanero.

What he was not waiting for was for Minato to get up quietly and walk around the table. For Minato…the Hokage…to kneel in front of his son. For the Yellow Flash of Konoha to take Naruto's hands and bow his head. For the Yondaime to whisper, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to bear all of that on yourself." Blue eyes shimmered at his son as the two Namikaze men hugged, Kushina's face tear stained as she watched the two most important men of her life hugging over a past none of them could erase from his memory.

()()()

The three had stayed up late into the night, Minato and Kushina filling Naruto in on what had occurred in this timeline. Minato had remembered the mission where Naruto had come back and saved Obito. Upon Minato meeting back up with his team, the shinobi looked like they had seen a ghost and Rin kept mentioning a shinobi who looked so much like her sensei.

Since Obito never "died", there was never a revenge agenda from Tobi. The nine-tails was never released on the village. The seal did weaken when Naruto was born, but it did not fully break. Kushina healed slower than normal, but she did heal, never to have children again. Kushina was still the jinchurriki; Naruto never held the fox; which explained why Naruto couldn't get an answer from Kurama earlier in the evening.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and the other rookie nine went to the Academy. They graduated and were put on teams. Naruto was under the tutelage of Obito (who had married Rin three years earlier and who was expecting his first child with her) and had Sasuke and Sakura to form Team 7. However, Sakura was not very close to Naruto, since she was in love with Sasuke, but Sasuke chose Naruto. Hinata was still infatuated with Naruto, as he did still protect her from the bullies. He was still a very kind child, with a huge heart. Hinata was still pining for the Uzumaki.

There was never the Akatsuki, never a Fourth Shinobi War, no uniting of the nations. Naruto and Gaara were not friends. Naruto was not Konoha's hero, simply the privileged son of the most beloved Hokage. Tsunade was still raking up gambling debts. Jiraiya was still conducting research and writing novels. Minato had figured out a way to stop the Uchiha massacre with negotiation and mediation with the Uchiha clan, giving the clan some of their wants, while balancing that against the Village's needs. Itachi never became a rogue nin and was still in the ANBU at this time. Unfortunately, Danzo still stole Shisui's eye, and Shisui gave Itachi his other eye before he died. However, since the Uchiha massacre never occurred, Itachi was able to confide in Minato, who took care of Danzo, ironically by his best assassin, Kakashi.

And Kakashi. Kakashi was never a genin teacher. He was ANBU, and he was very good, but he was never known as Friend-Killer Kakashi, or the Copy-Nin. He never had a sharingan. He was next in line to be Hokage, which he was actively avoiding.

"You love him, don't you?" Kushina's voice was soft. Naruto jerked his head up, eyes wide. "You would have to, to do such a momentous thing as a time jump with no guarantees. Not to mention…you are my son and I noticed the change in your posture any time we talked about Kakashi." Naruto hung his head. "Naruto, you need to tell him. He has always hung around here; he and you have always been close. Does he love you romantically? I do not know. But you risked so much; you need to risk just a bit more." Looking up, Naruto knew what his mother said was the truth.

"Okay, okay…but tomorrow."

"Naruto, it is tomorrow." Kushina said as she pointed out the window at the rising sun.

()()()

Waking up later in the morning, the blond's nose smelled something wonderful. Getting up, he followed the aromas to the kitchen where his mother was setting down some pancakes as well as rice and onigiri. Sipping his coffee, Minato looked up and smiled at his son. "Good morning."

"Morning!" Naruto yawned. "I'ma get dressed." Heading up, he went and changed. Coming down, he could suddenly feel the change and he was nervous. He could feel that electricity in the air that he was used to. Stepping into the kitchen, he saw that silver hair sitting down, facing the door.

"Yo, Naruto. Morning." Kakashi said, mask on.

"M…morning." Naruto looked at his mother, who just smiled and hummed, turning back to the stove. Sitting down opposite the silver haired jounin, Naruto had to shake his head. But…wait…if the past didn't happen, was this Kakashi the same Kakashi he fell in love with?

"Want to train later?" Kakashi's voice pulled him out of his reverie. Looking up, Naruto grinned and nodded yes. This would give him some time to make sure of what he was doing. Either way he was going to have to break it off with Sasuke…he just did not feel that way towards him…but he didn't want to confuse his memories of a man who didn't exist anymore with the man in front of him who was changed. Eating breakfast, the four talked as they ate. After breakfast, Kushina shooed the three men out, winking at Naruto as he blushed.

As the two walked towards the training grounds, Naruto was trying to figure out how to figure out Kakashi. Getting to the training grounds, Kakashi pulled out a kunai, twirling it in his fingers. "So, parameters?"

Naruto stripped off his jacket, standing in his mesh shirt. "Hmmm, full out. I wanna see what you have old man."

Smirking, Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I'll show you old."

And so it began.

Twenty minutes later, both men were panting, Naruto having stripped his mesh shirt off. Two muscular bodies sheened with sweat, one pale as the moon, the other bright as the sun faced off on the grounds. As the two men circled each other, eyeing each other up, Kakashi suddenly dropped his kunai, grasping at his neck, letting out a gurgled scream.

Naruto ran over in fright. "Kakashi…Kakashi, let me see!" Pulling the gloved hands away, Naruto saw…nothing. Confused cerulean looked in to steel gray. "What the hell? What's wrong, Kakashi?"

Gasping, Kakashi looked at his hands. Looking up at Naruto, Naruto saw pure, unadulterated fear. "I…Naruto, I felt the blade cutting my throat…I felt myself die."

Naruto just held Kakashi. "W…what do you mean?"

"I…I was in the Hokage Tower, working. You had just got married. I…I don't know how he got in, but…he did, and he cut my head off…but…wait…" Kakashi's eyes went fuzzy…and then the jounin went limp in Naruto's arms.

()()()

Naruto got Kakashi to his mother in record time. He didn't want to take the silverette to the hospital. No, the answers and help he needed only the fox could provide. As he brought Hatake into their home, Kushina gasped. "Naruto! What's going on?"

Laying Kakashi on the couch, putting a pillow under his head, Naruto looked up at his mother. "Mom, I need to talk to Kurama. Please."

"He…he doesn't really talk to me Naruto." Kushina said as she started looking over the jounin.

"Then let me try." Reaching up, he started to touch his mother's head when she slipped to the floor, a menacing voice slipping from Kushina's mouth.

"What, brat? I couldn't sleep with all that chatter." Kurama's voice emanated from Kushina.

"Kurama, please. You and I were friends in that other time. Please, tell me what is wrong with Kakashi. Why did he feel his death in a time he never actually experienced?" Naruto's voice spiked with panic.

A deep, aggravated sigh emanated from his mother. "Idiot. You refused to find out the cost before Weaker Me let you do the time jump. Matter does not just disappear…neither does timelines. While you changed time and stopped that timeline…what happened until you stopped it still occurred. It is possible for Hatake to have residual memories of an alternate lifetime. He's fine, he'll wake up." Kurama's voice sounded aggrieved.

"Thanks Kurama. I really appreciate it." Naruto said genuinely, holding up his fist for a fist bump.

"I can see why Weaker Me would find you…amusing." Kurama said begrudgingly as his mother's fist came up and bumped his.

Kushina looked up, confused. "Th…that had never happened before." She whispered.

Naruto smiled at his mother. "It's okay, Mom. Kurama's really nice; you just have to give him a chance." Smiling, he sat down on the ground, waiting by Kakashi's side, holding his hand. Kushina got up and smiled.

"Well, will he be okay?" Kushina asked, looking over at the silver man lying on her couch.

"Yea, he will be." As Kushina left, Naruto laid his head on the couch and just waited for Kakashi to wake up. When he felt the man start to move, he looked up. Kakashi was staring at him.

"Where are we, Naruto?" His voice was strangled.

"W…what do you remember Kakashi?" Naruto asked carefully.

"Before being killed? Your wedding." Kakashi kept his face neutral.

Naruto sighed and sat up straighter. Starting with the morning after Naruto's wedding, Naruto told Kakashi about what happened after Hatake was killed, about Naruto's deal with Kurama, about Naruto's traveling back in time, and then his snap back to the present, along with the blond's discussion with Kurama via Kushina. Finally, at the end, he kneeled up to where he was eye level with Kakashi.

"Kakashi…why didn't you tell me? I love you, too." Leaning up, he kissed the cloth-covered lips gently as Kakashi's eyes widened.

()()()

Naruto broke up with Sasuke. It was messy. It hurt.

Kakashi never fully regained a clean memory. Memories from the other timeline intertwined and mingled with memories of this world. He would often have to ask Naruto what timeline it was from. Luckily, the memories the two of them made together from that moment on were not tangled up in anything and couldn't be confused.

Kakashi quit trying to avoid becoming Hokage. Now that this Naruto was here and had the experiences he did, both Kakashi and Minato knew that Naruto would become the fifth Hokage, when Minato stepped down. Kakashi was fine with that; he was setting up plans to become an ANBU guard of the next Hokage.

()()()

On their wedding day, Naruto smiled at his husband. Kakashi smiled back. As the two men kissed, their family and friends applauded, Minato and Kushina applauding the loudest from the front row, Kurama grunting his approval in Kushina's head. As the men danced the night away at the reception, sullen onyx eyes watched from behind a mask. As the guests started to leave, the man leapt away into the darkness, towards his teammates. With one last look over his shoulder, he sliced a mark through the Leaf insignia of his headband and tied it back on, putting on the orange swirling mask and never looking back.