This story contains sensitive and adult themes. Reader discretion is advised.


The night of the nine-tailed fox attack.

Minato and Kushina had just got impaled by a claw trying to protect their newborn son. Their son, who wasn't even an hour old yet, was going to be burdened by a life of a Jinchuuriki. Not only that, but he was also going to be an orphan by the looks of things.

Minato was ready to do the hand seals for the death reaper seal when a blinding light appeared. The next thing he knew, he was falling, no longer held by the claw in his chest. His last thoughts were, 'I didn't do the Jutsu. Where did the fox go, and what happened.'

When Naruto regained consciousness, he was looking at the ceiling of Hokage's office. 'hey Kurama, are you there?' he asked his friend and lifetime companion.

'What do you want, brat?' said the fox. Naruto smiled as he knew their plan worked. They time traveled. However, he was confused about what happened and why he ended up in an infant body where his father was sealing a fox in him. The plan was to go back to when he was 12 years old and hopefully before graduation to have enough time to fix everything.

He was thinking about the seal and the things that might have caused his predicament. The seal was a collaboration. They came up with the idea when they knew they had lost and were only racing against time during the war.

At first, it was just a wish, but as the idea was mentioned repeatedly, Naruto, Tobirama, and Minato decided to pursue the idea seriously. They messed with the concept of Hiraishin and how to use the space-time Jutsu to go back in time.

When they were stuck, Orochimaru helped by using Edo-Tensei to bring Mito and Kushina for extra help. The collaboration of five seal masters and the support of Obito and Orochimaru finally came to fruition.

The idea had a few key factors. Firstly, the Hiraishin was the part responsible for reversing the time. When Orochimaru pointed out that simply sending someone back in time will erase their memories, the solution came from the Kamui.

By using Kamui, they could create a temporal dimension to preserve the soul, and as for the part to fuse the soul into the younger body, Orochimaru found the solution. When the idea was complete, everyone started to work on their parts and things they needed to focus on, while Naruto went back to the front lines with others to buy the seal masters enough time.

The number of Shinobis was falling rapidly. Less than a hundred Shinobi remained when they were finally done with the seal. The only ones surviving from rookie 9 were Naruto and Shikamaru. Everyone else was dead.

The only ones that they knew from the past and were still alive were Gaara and Killer B. Everyone else died protecting each other during those ten years. The only reason those two were alive was because of their respective Bijuu.

The seal was finally ready. The plan was to send Naruto to the past. While Naruto was against it at first and wanted someone else to be chosen, he finally gave in after long debates. He was the one with the most chakra and the only one to make the trip safely.

Before leaving, Gaara and Killer Bee each gave him a fist bump and sealed a bit of their Bijuu in him by doing so. While Naruto had a bit of all Bijuu in him from when they first started fighting, these memories were newer from the only remaining Bijuus.

When he was done with his goodbyes, he went to the last person who was Orochimaru. He helped everyone from the beginning of the war to repent for his actions, yet there was a deep sadness in his heart and regret for the things he could have done.

During the war, he and Naruto became close by sharing memories of Jiraiya and talking about life and their views. As time passed, they grew a sense of comradeship and understanding and enjoyed each other's company.

While they were still working on the seal, he came to Naruto one day. "I have a request to make." He said. Naruto nodded his head for him to go on. "I want you to take a part of my soul as well when you make the trip."

"Why do you want that," Naruto said, tilting his head slightly.

"You know of my mistakes. If there is a chance for me to change those, I want to take it. Plus, it would help if you had allies you could trust when you go back. We both know that you can't quite tell anyone else about the future. It would be best to keep the timeline as close as possible to the original one. By giving you a part of my soul, I can regain my memories of this timeline and eliminate the enemies more efficiently. I also have access to the outside of the village and can gather better resources." He said thoughtfully.

"and how are you going to seal your soul inside me?" Naruto asked.

"I am going to give you a curse mark." He said. Naruto looked shocked, to say the least. "It is not the same one I usually use. I've been working on a unique seal, and while the base is the same, it doesn't have the side effects. It will only transfer my soul into your body, similar to a Jinchuuriki's seal, but it is only meant to be temporary. Once we are in proximity, my past self will sense it and be drawn to it. By touching you, the seal will activate, and my soul will take over the body." He said.

Naruto knew the lost and sad look in Orochimaru's eyes. It was the same one he had whenever he thought about his friends. "OK, I agree. You can use the seal, but when do you want to use it?" he said.

"Just before making the trip should work the best, as there are still things I can do." He said. After more debate about the details and working on the seal, the plan was finalized.

So here there were, standing in front of each other. They have decided that the best place for the seal would be the back of his neck, similar to Sasuke since clothing would cover the seal while using chakra, and as for the other times, it would be invisible.

Naruto bore his neck for him and tilted his head to the side. Orochimaru got closer and held his shoulder with one hand while moving his long hair to the side with the other one. He gave Naruto an apologetic look before biting in his shoulder.

Naruto made a small noise as the small seal burned into his skin as he lowered Orochimaru's lifeless body to the ground. His father came close and checked on the seal and gave him a nod.

Naruto then proceeded to strip off his clothing and lay down in the middle of the seal where Tobirama and Minato drew the last parts on his body, which were responsible for the merging of his soul, while others began to charge the seal with chakra.

As Naruto began to review his memories, many things could've gone wrong with the seal. It was the first time anyone had done something of this magnitude, so there wasn't any way to find a correct answer.

When he finally convinced himself that this only allowed him to fix more of the past, he finally noticed the pain he was in. his body felt like it was on fire, all his body ached, and there was a burning sensation in his stomach.

'Kurama, what is wrong with me?' he asked the fox.

'it's all the excess chakra from me being fully sealed inside of you. There was a reason only half of me was sealed within you the first time. Even Kushina had problems when I was sealed within her, and she was 11 and a full Uzumaki. My chakra is not the only problem. When we time traveled, some of our future chakra merged with your body, so there is even more excess chakra within you. As we speak, I'm using all my healing powers to keep your body from exploding.' He said.

'What should I do? It's not like I can use chakra in this body! I'm not even sure if my chakra pathways are formed yet' Naruto asked, panicking.

'There is nothing you can do, brat. Just try to stay calm and sleep as much as you can; I do my best to numb the pain. You should be fine in a few months.' The fox grumbled.

The prospect of having to bear the pain for a few months didn't sound reassuring, but during the decade-long war, Naruto has gone through much worse. His thought brought him to the three years he was held prisoner by Madara and the things he did to him.

No matter what Naruto did, he couldn't get those feeling out of his thoughts. It was not only the pain. Once Madara found out that it takes more than pain to break his will, he began to break his spirit.

When he was rescued by Sasuke and the rest of his friends, he still suffered from PTSD and nightmares regularly after years of support. He was brought to the present by a sudden noise from the door.

Hiruzen Sarutobi walked over to his crib. After seeing that he was awake, he picked him up. "I'm sorry for what you must go through, my boy. You are a true hero." He said. He looked into Naruto's eyes which showed an understanding which should be impossible from a kid who wasn't even a day old.

As if on cue Naruto's stomach grumbled, and he made a protesting noise. Hiruzen laughed at the baby and ordered one of his ANBU to ready a baby bottle. After eating, Naruto went back to sleep.

Hiruzen went through some of the night's reports as he got ready for the council meeting. He asked the bear masked ANBU to watch over the sleeping Naruto and left for the council when the time came.

The meeting was a true nightmare. after the initial reports about casualties, the property, and other damages, it was time to address the main issues, which were the death of the Yondaime and Sandaime taking back the position of the Hokage.

There wasn't any objection to the position of the Hokage since there weren't any other candidates, but then there was time to address the issue of what happened to the fox.

When Sandaime told them about the Jinchuuriki, there was an immediate uproar about what should be done with him. Thankfully the civilian council was already dismissed.

At first, many clans volunteered to raise and train the Jinchuuriki. It soon became apparent that such an act would disrupt the balance between the clans, so the idea was dismissed.

Then came the idea of handing him to the orphanage, but when the Sandaime told them about the chakra, he was emitting uncontrolled chakra and the chance that it could harm civilians, and then reassuring everyone that the seal was, in fact, stable and Jiraiya was going to be in the village soon and double-check the seal, and the only reason that it was happening was probably due to the vast amounts of chakra and the not formed pathways.

That was when Danzo came up with the solution of handing the Jinchuuriki to the ROOT for training. While Hiruzen was against it, it was the idea that got the most support from clan heads.

The only compromise he came up with was that he should be given detailed reports about his development and be allowed to visit him frequently. They came to a deal after working on other details like forbidding Danzo from emotional conditioning and putting a seal on him.

While Hiruzen knew he could prevent this from happening by reviling the identity of Naruto to the council, he also knew that Danzo would retaliate by reviling his identity to the village and making Naruto's life harder.

It was not time to strike yet. When the time came, they would get him back. But for now, he really had no other options. He went to his office to find Jiraiya already there.

He was holding the sleeping Naruto to his chest while silently crying. He didn't notice his sensei coming until he put a hand on his shoulder. "They are gone, sensei. What am I supposed to do?" he said, sobbing.

"Jiraiya, there are some things you should know." Sarutobi said. He explained the night's events in detail and the fate chosen for Naruto. After a long argument about why Jiraiya couldn't raise Naruto, he finally got around to checking on the seal.

He confirmed Hiruzen's idea that the seal was intact and that the excess chakra should burn away with time. He also suggested that a medic must always stand by, and in case Naruto's body couldn't handle the chakra, they must use chakra transfer to get rid of some of the chakra.