Gravity

Standard disclaimer still applies.

This chapter is Raw... sorry again, and I appologise once again for lateness, i was busy.. No review responces this time... Sorry, anways, the end for this story will probably be anti-climatic. It is comeing up, a few more chapters.

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After receiving several bumps on the head and an earful from Rin, Team Kakashi was once again moving out. To Naruto, it seemed as though every step they took made the atmosphere around them tense even greater. Obito was looking around frantically while trying to hide it, Kakashi was sulking much like the cool person he is, and Rin... Well aside from her pale face Naruto couldn't tell what she was thinking.

The Blond haired missing-nin sighed heavily as they neared the main city. This time he had used his fortified genjutsu to create the illusion of travelling merchants and families, fleeing neighbouring villages to what they deemed safe. This was of course aided by Naruto's handy-dandy Kage Bunshin clones.

"Naruto…." The blond jerked his head upwards to Obito who looked highly uncomfortable as he addressed him.

"Hai, Obito-kun?" Naruto tilted his head to the side as he asked silently what was wrong. Obito flinched.

"It's….n...nothing, never mind." He said hurriedly and continued marching forwards. From what Naruto could remember of the details of Kakashi's mission to stone village, they actually never made it to this point because of Kakashi's eye and had turned back, only to get ambushed at Kannabi bridge. Perhaps Obito was unsure of how to proceed?

'Or maybe he's scared of dying?'

-Or that.-

"I won't let my comrades die; I will do everything within my power to prevent such a thing." Naruto spoke up, coldly, vehemently; causing all 3 ninja's who belonged in the past to jump at the sudden proclamation.

The rest of their trip was taken in silence, they were searched upon entry to Stone Village and ANBU were watching them, but Naruto's demonic jutsu could not be wavered or seen through. They held strong during the week in which they stayed, gathering information when they could, pretending to be a merchant family when they couldn't. The tension that week was only made bearable by Naruto's foolish attempts to take their mind off of it.

He almost felt bad for the prank he was going to pull on them… Almost…

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Tsunade ground her head in frustration while Sandaime looked on it bemusement. Yes indeed, this was a very interesting situation. Although, he shouldn't be surprised, Naruto was the most surprising Ninja in the entire ninja world.

"Let me get this straight…. We already know the effects of… Whatever Naruto did, which is to say, lapses in memory, minor changes in personal memories, but the major things stay the same."

"If what Kakashi and Iruka tell me of the way Kazekage-sama performed the jutsu; then yes, that's what I remember of it."

"Why aren't you still dead then? As far as I'm concerned, your death was pretty major." Godaime spoke through gritted teeth as she puzzled to figure this out. Sandaime merely started to chuckle that annoying chuckle of his while smoking his pipe.

"Well… time travel is tricky like that… major events can change if an even greater event was altered even in the slightest." Tsunade still didn't get it, her eyes narrowed as yet another vein grew in her forehead.

"What's THAT supposed to mean old man?" she roared, slamming her fist down and, unfortunately, breaking her own desk in two. She wasn't in the mood for games.

"If it helps any, my other set of memories indicates Yondaime saving me in the nick of time against Orochimaru at the Chuunin exams…" Sandaime watched as Tsunade paled, stood up and began pacing while ranting to herself about barmy old men.

"Impossible! His soul was taking by the f-ing Shinigami for Christ sakes! You're shitting me old man! Arashi is DEAD! D.E.A.D! dead-dead! Yondaime alive.. pfffft HA! Don't make me laugh you ignoramus-"

"I love you too, Tsunade-ba-ba" Interrupted a smooth, laughing voice from the doorway. Tsunade froze and turned slowly in shock.

"A-arashi…….?" She breathed, and then twitched. "WHO YOU CALLING OLD HAG?"

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"Daichi Kasui no jutsu!" roared out a familiar voice. Up raised a large, thin spike at blinding speeds and impaled the dazed stone ninja straight through the forehead. Naruto didn't pause to puke at his handy work, he was busy as yet another Ninja came across him.

They had been leaving when, as predicted, they were ambushed in their cave just short of the Kannabi Bridge. So far, everything was going as planned, well… at least for him it was.

The blond Gaki ducked out a roundhouse kick and came up swiftly in a reverse elbow strike on his opponent's nose. He bunched up his legs onto the man's chest and shoved off him in a black flip, using his momentum to kick, and kick hard right into the man's jaw, effectively breaking it.

Naruto landed only to feel a stinging pain in his left shoulder. He snarled and turned viciously around, not even going for a kunai and using his claws to tear out the man's throat. He just knew he was going to have nightmares after this, but he couldn't stop now. There were more of them than originally anticipated.

"Sharingan!" he heard somewhere behind him, he turned just in time to see Obito engage one of his fallen opponents who hadn't the sense to stay down. Naruto reached behind him and pulled out the bloody kunai lodged in his shoulder, he threw it at blinding speeds into Obito's opponent's leg, creating an opening for the Uchiha to kick the man in the chest.

But he got up and Naruto narrowed his eyes. The man smirked from the rubble he was standing on, and started a string of long complicated seals. The blond's eyes widened and he gasped.

"SHIT! Get out, NOW!" he roared, grabbing Obito by the arm and running. Unfortunately, the cave was deep and the exit was still a ways away from them when the ceiling started to rain down on them.

"Kakashi!" the silver haired boy paused and looked around, Obito grabbed his team-mate and tossed him into Naruto, who was running towards him, with such force that they knocked into Rin and out the exit.

"OBITO!" Rin screamed. Naruto was wide with shock and pale with dread.

"No… no… NO! NO NO NO NO!" he suddenly started screaming.

Nearby a tree puffed into smoke.

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Obito looked around, wondering how in hell he'd end up in a forest. He walked a little bit and then stopped.

"Is this heaven? Gods, I died didn't I….." Obito collapsed into a heap, unaware of the two figures behind him.

"Hardly." One voice said dryly, but with a hint of humour. Obito didn't even turn around.

"Oh... is this hell then? I wonder what I did to get here." He pondered out loud; he had his back turned so he missed the stifled giggles and grins on the two figure's faces.

"Nope, not there either." Answered a female, it was obvious she was amused.

"Oh… Limbo then?"

"Obito-kun... you're a hopeless idiot." She said, the Uchiha jerked around and gazed goldfish mouthed at her.

"Whaaaaa! Why does an angel look like Sakura-chan?" Obito puzzled, unfortunately, the Angle-Sasuke look-alike nearly peed himself laughing as he doubled over with horse chuckles.

"Obito… you are not dead…" he managed to say after catching his breath.

"Before you ask us any questions, let's just say that after Years of being neglected by Kakashi for training, Naruto is pulling the ultimate prank on him."

"Be glad he's such a good actor." Sasuke added as he went over to pick up the confused uchiha.

"So.. I'm not dead?"

"Yes Obito, you're not dead…"

"You're sure?" Obito inquired toward Sasuke while Sakura was starting to look annoyed.

"Yes!"

"Really? How am I supposed to believe you? You could be the devil in disguise you know!" he pointed rather rudely at them while Sasuke grew a vein and Sakura was starting to look murderous… Gods... was Obito-sempai really such an idiot? Did he have to resemble Naruto so much?

"Ehehehe… I'm kidding guys! I'm not that stupid!" Sasuke growled and smacked him upside down the head while Sakura was thinking something along the lines of: Could have fooled me….

"Anyways, Obito... about Kakashi's eye…" Obito smiled a rare smile.

"I think it'll be cool ya know? We could be like… the copycat duo! So… when do we start?" he bounced from foot to foot in excitement and apprehension. After all, who liked surgery? Sakura and Sasuke smirked.

"When Naruto gives us the signal."

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Naruto sat in a complete daze, staring emptily into the fire.

"…. Wasn't... supposed to happen…." He knew Kakashi and Rin were angry at him, and yet they also pitied him because he had failed his nindo. Naruto kept muttering the same thing over and over under his breath, sometimes falling silent, sometimes talking, but he never talked with them... only to them…Rin felt bad, she'd lost a team-mate and Naruto was blaming himself.

No one said anything. Kannabi Bridge had been destroyed on their way back, and now they were on Konoha's borders, sitting around a camp fire and waiting for night to fall. Kakashi was the first to fall asleep, probably not wanting to stay awake and be forced with reality.

"Gomen…. Gomen gomen gomen…" Naruto repeated in a hoarse and cracked voice. He looked tearfully up at Rin who looked away.

-And the actor of the year award goes too…..!- Naruto thought while keeping his mask firmly in place, watching Rin's actions and reactions.

"It's…. it'll be okay…. I mean... maybe he... got out? Yeah? I mean we didn't… didn't find his body or anything…"

"You're right, we didn't." Rin's head snapped up looking shocked into Naruto's calm voiced, smirking face. Her eyes widened and she gaped for a moment before whispering harshly.

"You didn't?" Naruto nodded and moved to sit beside her. Rin leaned in as Naruto cupped her ear to speak to her.

"Do you have any Chloroform?" Rin jerked back in surprise and looked at him weirdly, confusion written all over her face. Naruto grinned and pointed to Kakashi, then his left eye. For a moment, Rin sat there starring at him before she remembered some of the stories Naruto had told about the older Kakashi.

Copycat Ninja Kakashi, Sharingan Kakashi. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she shared Naruto's deceptively devious look as she nodded. She put her hands together and then put them on the side of her head and leaned into them, indicating sleep.

"I'll… I'll take first watch… Naruto-kun…" she said, attempting sadness. Naruto's shoulders hunched in silently shaking laughter as he moved towards his bed, watching as Rin moved stealthily over to Kakashi with a rag coated in Chloroform.

Now wouldn't he be in for a surprise when he woke up?

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Kakashi groaned as he awoke, his nose felt unusually sensitive and he had a sickly feeling crawling down his throat. Not to mention a splitting headache and his empty eye socked throbbed painfully.

"Sleep well, Temee?"

"Shut it, Obito." Kakashi snapped. There was a tense silence while Kakashi stared stupidly at the one eyed grinning Uchiha. He stared… and stared… and stared…. And stared some more.

"O.. obito!" he gasped. Said boy grinned sheepishly and laughed at his friend's startled expression. It was then, as well, that Kakashi realized something about his vision seemed off; he chalked it off as getting used to being one eyed and rushed over to Obito. He tripped nearly twice as for some reason, his mobility seemed lopsided and his head protested dizzily. However, that didn't stop him as he literally threw himself onto his friend.

Yes, his friend. Kakashi had realized that Obito was indeed his friend, a dear and valued one at that. "You're alive!" he whispered over and over. Now, this might be considered quite a lewd scene if there had been less clothing involved, but rest assured, Kakashi just really valued his friends.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Complained a nearby Rin as she watched her two male team mates embrace each other in a very, very rare show of affection.

"After all, who was it who transplanted that eye? Oh right… that was me! Don't I get a hug?" Rin was pouting, and as she thought, with good reason. She wasn't one to deny Kakashi's good looks, despite his ever present mask.

Said silver haired young Jounin blinked repeatedly in confusion as he disentangled himself from the Uchiha.

"What eye?"

"Obito's eye, into your empty eye socket." Rin explained, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. Kakashi's now mismatched eyes widened.

"N-nani?"

"Kakashi-sensei isn't Kakashi-sensei without that eye…" Sakura spoke for the first time, beside her Naruto and beside him Sasuke as the three of them stood a ways away, watching with amused expressions.

"Besides…" Kakashi turned back to Obito. "We could like… totally be the Copy-cat duo! We'll kick SO much ass!" the dark haired boy pumped his fist into the air, while Kakashi, having swiftly gotten over the shock, merely gave off an unimpressed air. Rin giggled.

"Anyways, we should probably get back now, we're not out of the clear yet." Rin spoke, gathering everyone's things and bagging them. Obito and Kakashi joined in and within moments they were ready to set out again.

They got 5 paces away when they realized their friends weren't accompanying them. Obito frowned, Rin cocked her head to the side and Kakashi (who had opted to hide his sharingan with his forehead protector now) gave a one eyed lidded gaze.

"You coming?" Obito asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"We're sorry, but this is as far as we go now."

"What? Why?" Rin asked. It was Sakura's turn to smile bitterly.

"We have to go home now, and face the music." There was a period of silence before Naruto spoke.

"Hey.. tell… tell my dad I love him, okay? And watch out for him, he's an idiot." He grinned, Causing Kakashi to snort.

"We'll see you again, right?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded.

"For sure, Oji-san!" Naruto waved before in three simultaneous puffs of smoke, they disappeared.

"Uncle? I'm not his Uncle!" Kakashi declared rather loudly as his gaze smouldered the spot Naruto once had been. Secretly however, he was smiling.

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Naruto sighed as he stood in the wheat field they had landed in. He was starring up at the sky serenely with a peaceful expression on his face. Sakura and Sasuke were also sharing this moment, standing side by side. It was a heroic image.

"Everything's going to be okay now." Sakura mumbled, smiling at the clouds.

"Aa…"

"Un…" were the responses.

"Demo…. There's one last battle we have to fight before going home." Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto, the peaceful surroundings shattered as a flock of birds fled the field. Yes, they knew who they had to fight.

Naruto's head snapped down and he stared straight ahead to a pale skinned long red haired figure standing not 20 meters from them, a sickly grin plastered onto his face and a stony cold black gaze boring into them.

"Isn't that right, Orochimaru-kun?"