Chapter 2: The Beginning

When Naruto awoke, he felt a sharp wind whipping at his face. He opened his eyes to see the world below him; it was nothing like the world he had left behind. Gone were the black streaks and decimated villages. Everything was intact.

Green and blue stretched for as far as the eye could see. It was like a beautiful patchwork quilt, the ones he had always admired from a distance but never owned. His fingers instinctively reached for purchase on something, anything, but were met with no resistance.

Confident that his life-long companion would assist him at any time, he relaxed and decided to take in the view. From the tall vast green forests of Hi no Kuni to the endless yellow sand of Kaze no Kuni and the deep blue waters of Mizu no Kuni, this world was beautiful. A soft smile consumed his face as he got lost in pleasant memories of his and his friends' adventures.

Quickly, the lush forests became closer and closer. His eyes widened, Kurama had not yet said anything, had not moved to protect him. Now 10km from the earth, he was traveling far too fast to have any chance of survival. He had heard stories of miracles, villagers swept up in tornadoes and thrown hundreds of miles an hour into the ground that still survived. He was shit out of luck, though, having had plenty of miracles in his life up until this point.

Now panicked, he pulled on Kurama's chakra but found nothing. His hand scooped into the water but it all poured out of his open fingers. 'Kurama!' he screamed in his mind as he hurtled towards the ground. All he received in response was silence.

He closed his eyes and braced for an impact on the hard dewy ground. It never came. His body seemed to float, the screaming voices whirled around him, bringing him to rest gently on the earth's crust. "Shhhhh," they whispered, then all at once like a murder of crows, they screamed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

The 23 year-old broken man took in his surroundings. A quick pulse of chakra later and he determined that he was approximately 210 km due West from Konoha. Arching backwards, his bones cracked appreciatively, the fall had taken quite the toll on his body even though he was saved by the souls.

His hand stretched out unbeknownst to him, and laid itself on the bark of a nearby oak. The pads of his fingers traced the lines appreciatively, lovingly, as if caressing a lover. Oh how he had missed trees that had no chance of being Zetsu. He gazed upwards into the green canopy above. Light spilled through the leaves above him, speckling the shaded ground with vivid color.

He wished for a moment of rest, a moment to enjoy the world around him, but there was no time to lose. He didn't know what time he had been placed in, what 'Paths', as Kurama called them, he must change. There were so many decisions, seemingly trivial, that had created his Path in time. So many things had to be changed, he needed to know where to start.

Taking to the trees, he began his approach to Konoha, determined to figure out what time he had ended up in. The wind whipped around his face, pleasantly this time. The cool breeze caressed his sun-kissed skin, coursing through his clothes, leaving the bedraggled articles light and airy.

'Kurama', he nudged his favorite travel companion. No response yet again. The lack of his constant co-pilot gave him pause. Stopping in his tracks, he settled into a tree and created several shadow clones to keep watch. Into his mindscape he went, searching for his friend.

Everything was a mess. Trees were uprooted and a storm roared above the meadow that he had created. "Kurama!"He screamed over the strong wind and rain. His eyes darted around the clearing, trying to locate the giant demon that had always resided here. Still, no luck. The air around him seemed to get colder by the second. He could not even consider wasting chakra on keeping warm or dry, so he decided to take the only alternative path; shelter.

Quickly, he searched for refuge. A large hollow tree stood stark in the distance and he moved to take sanctuary within it. Peering into the dark with chakra enhanced eyes, he spotted a very small chakra signature which seemed like Kurama's, but also not at all his.

He pushed onward towards the strange signature, pushing out a sense of calm. His enhanced vision revealed a small fox kit, the red fur around its shoulders pricked up in fear; a small growl erupted from its throat, though it seemed more a purr than anything threatening.

'Who are you, where is Father, where are my siblings?' it snarled.

"K-Kurama?" he intoned, shocked by the once almighty nine-tails that was reduced into this small kit. Just in case, he checked the number of tails. 1-2-3...9...9 tails. It was definitely Kurama. A small Kurama but Kurama nonetheless. This must be why he was so hesitant, he thought. Kurama was nothing if not straight-forward and his avoidance of the topic was telling.

'Who. ? Why do you know my name, human?' the small creature seemed to glow with anger. Definitely Kurama, he chuckled inwardly. He stretched a hand outward in a calming manner. "I will not hurt you, I am a friend. I know your father, the Sage of Six Paths. I am a descendant of his. We were stuck in a bad Path. You placed us back in time so that we could make the correct decisions to end up on a better Path," he reassured the small beast.

'I would not help a human,' Kurama scoffed.

"Aah but you did. How else would you be here, with me? You are sealed inside me, we are in my mindscape," the man replied with a smirk.

'Very well, you shall release me then. As the Kyuubi no Youko I demand it of you. Free me and I shall let you live,' the tiny being threatened his prison, completely ignoring anything related to the jutsu that he supposedly used.

"How about we come to an agreement? You help me and I'll help you," he offered up for consideration.

'What sort of agreement?' The Kyuubi narrowed his blazing red eyes.

"You help me fix the Path and I'll set you free,'"he replied with an easy smile. All he had to do was win back his friend through sheer perseverance. "As a sign of good faith, I'll partially free you, allowing you to come and go from the seal as you please," he added, not mentioning the fact that he could pull the Kyuubi back into the seal with ease if he were to get out of control. The nine-tails seemed to consider this proposal before nodding his blood-red head.

'I accept your proposition small human.'

He rolled his eyes, replying, "you're not so big yourself, short-stack. At least I'm fully grown."

'Do not call me such insolent names. Bow before your master!' Kurama growled in fury.

A burst of laughter came out of his mouth, the first in several years. "Look at yourself, you're a kit," he chuckled.

Slowly, the Kyuubi looked down at his tiny red paws. His red eyes flashed in anger. 'What have you done to me? I demand you turn me back.'

He snorted in laughter again. "You used some jutsu... the Jikan idō, and now you're little, there's nothing I can do to fix it."

'It would appear you are telling the truth. Do you know the year?'

"Not yet. I was just on my way to Konoha."

'Well get a move on,' the beast retorted.

"Aye aye, captain," he mockingly saluted with a wink. This was the best he had felt in years. The demon rolled his eyes in response before moving to the mouth of the tree, his feet unsteady on such short legs.

The storm appeared to have stopped. The clouds had dispersed, birds sang again. Flowers opened their delicate pink and purple petals towards the glowing sun. Fresh green leaves blew gently in the breeze, showering the cool earth below them with droplets of water.

He wouldn't fail this time. This was his new beginning.

AN: The chapters will gradually get longer, I'm just getting back into writing again. It's been a while for me so I'm trying to get back into the groove. Chapters also won't come out this quickly in the future, I'm just very invested right now lol.

To the commenter who asked about KakaNaru, you have your messages off lol. It will be a bit of both. I'm unsure if I will be writing any smut right now so it's not terribly relevant currently. I believe in a good give and take, though, so it will definitely be both.