Naruto woke up with a massive headache and groaned in pain. She reached out to rub the ache away, but it didn't soothe the throbbing in the slightest. She frowned at the sensation. What was going on? Why was her head hurting so much?

Also, what was that brightness? It was only worsening the pain! She slammed her eyelids shut, face contorting in discomfort and confusion.

What had happened? She was sure she hadn't had a drink last night, nor had she taken a blow to the head. So why was it hurting so much?

Thoughts muddled, the blonde scrambled to her feet, but unlike her expectations, she immediately lost her balance, falling bottom first onto the ground with a wince.

Fuck, her body hurt! Also, what was that foreign feeling coming from her limbs? She was sure they weren't this short the last time she moved them. It was as if she was a kid again.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped wide open, pain momentarily forgotten, and she immediately turned her cerulean blue orbs to her arms. Her eyes widened, stretching to their limits as she gaped at the sight in front of her:

What the- her arms were way too short! Also, what was with those small, fragile-looking fingers connected to her soft palm, free of all the calluses she had gained from her decades of shinobi training?

Her eyes swept her body, and the findings were the same: her body was way too small to be a 26-year-old like her (now) previous one had been.

A curse slipped past her lips, and if Sakura were near, she would have definitely gotten a blow to the head for that.

"Fucking hell."

Her mind blanked for a few seconds before thoughts started appearing in record-speed, only worsening her already throbbing head.

Why was she in a kid's body? Was this body even her own? And where was she anyway?

Raising her head, she was met with green. Green grass, green plants, green trees... Now that she thought about it, it looked quite similar to the forest outside Konoha, didn't it?

She shook her head at the thought. That was impossible. She had watched the forest burn to ashes with her own eyes during the battle against Uchiha Madara.

Madara. The word made memories swarm her head, making her hold it with a groan. Going through them, her eyes widened, everything finally clicking in place.

Right! She was fighting Madara! At least, she had been, along with Sasuke, for around a decade, until the raven had been pierced in the chest by he had taken a blow meant for her. She remembered it crystal clear, watching the life leave her friend's eyes as the Uchiha ancestor had chuckled ruthlessly, all because she had been distracted.

It was all her fault. She was the reason Sasuke was dead now.

Naruto shook her head, a silent tear running down her cheek despite her attempts to suppress it, mourning the loss of her best friend, her rival, the one person who had understood her the most.

There was no time to be depressed. What had happened next?

From what she remembered, which wasn't a lot, it had been a blur: she had used the Hiraishin no Jutsu to attack the man in a fit of rage and suddenly, the mark had shone brightly, brighter than she had ever seen it shine. Then all she remembered was pain, as her body felt like it was being ripped apart forcefully.

Had the seal malfunctioned? Or maybe she had overloaded the seal with chakra in her fury. She knew she had used that one kunai too many times, but it had been a memento of her father, one he himself had used in battle, and one she had modified to fit herself.

She wanted to snack herself for her stupidity, but now wasn't the time for it. A malfunctioning space-time jutsu could cause many things, and she hoped whatever had happened, it was one of the milder ones.

Naruto sighed as she stared at her childish body, probably aged around seven or eight, but before she could think more on the subject, her eyes got glued on her stomach, and she breathed in a shaky gasp.

Kurama! What about Kurama? Was he alright?

Immediately entering her subconscious, she rushed through the white corridors that were once shaped as sewers, before coming to an abrupt stop in front of a familiar place.

Naruto took in a breath of relief as her eyes met those of her furry friend's, who looked very much irritated behind the bars of her seal.

Speaking of which, why was that there? She had broken the seal long ago, enabling Kurama the freedom he had craved years ago.

Approaching the bars, she raised her hand to touch the seal, ready to rip it apart, but was stopped by Kurama addressing her.

"Don't. I'm the one that locked the seal."

Naruto snapped around in confusion, hand frozen where it was.

"What? Why?" she asked, lowering her hand and moving towards the fox, going through the large gaps within the bars before stopping in front of him.

Kurama's large crimson eyes gazed at her with an emotion she was quite familiar with: bitterness.

The fox let out a whiff of annoyance before he started explaining.

"The second you stopped using the Hiraishin, I felt myself being ripped apart. I do not know why, but if I hadn't acted quickly, I probably would have ceased existing a second later."

Naruto scowled. That was a good reason, alright. She sighed as she rested her head on her hand, exhausted from her previous mental assault of memories and confusion.

"Any theories? I have one, but I'd rather hear yours first," she told her now-tenant and the fox nodded.

"The only reason that could happen is if I am not supposed to exist. Meaning, there is another me." He let her figure out the rest, and the female nodded in understanding. That was her idea as well.

"Right. Time travel," she muttered, then suddenly started letting out a string of curses, much to the demon fox's amusement.

After she let out her frustration, meaning punching the bars of the cage multiple times, cursing until she ran out of words, and screaming in anger, she composed herself and turned back to her friend, a grim look in her face.

"This is bad," she muttered, hands rushing through her hair, a nervous tick of hers she only showed in front of those she trusted. "If I continue to exist here, the future might change!"

Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a way of going back, then?" he asked, voice laced with sarcasm, causing the blonde to scowl at him.

"This isn't funny, Kurama! If I change even the tiniest bit, the me in the future might not even exist! My friends might not exist!" She cried out, voice filled with desperation.

Kurama sighed, then pressed one of his huge paws on the girl, and slammed her onto the ground with enough force to snap her out of her upcoming panic attack.

"Calm down, kit. There might be another possibility," he told the blonde, making her whip her head to him.

"What?" she let out in confusion, making the fox scowl in annoyance. He hated how dense she could be for the strangest of things, especially when she was overwhelmed with emotions.

"Kit, you are aware that the Hiraishin no Jutsu is a space-time technique, correct?" he asked, and Naruto nodded with irritation evident on her face. That much was obvious. "A space-time technique does not only affect time but has the possibility of affecting dimensions as well."

Naruto scrunched up her face in annoyance.

"I know that!" she snapped, having been learning about Fuuinjutsu for around two decades. That was basic knowledge in space-time theory, one she knew by heart since before she had become a Genin.

Then, her eyes widened, what the fox had said finally settling in.

"Wait, you mean-" Kurama groaned at the idiotic look on her face.

"I really do not understand how you didn't realise sooner," he muttered, or whined if you asked Naruto-but Kurama did not whine, he wasn't a toddler, he was thousands of years old- though the sound was quite deep coming from his humongous body, and echoing throughout the mindscape. "It is actually a much larger possibility for you to have travelled through dimensions. I do not think travelling through time in your own dimension is possible in the first place. Although, time is a difficult concept, and I have never heard of anyone succeeding to travel through time in the first place, so I do not know if it is possible."

Naruto had scrambled out from beneath his humongous paw as he was saying that, dusting herself off even if it weren't possible to get dirty in her mindscape.

She let out a frustrated growl at the implications of the fox's comment.

"So, I've either travelled to another dimension where another me exists, or I've gone back through time where another holder of another you exists." She then scratched her cheeks in annoyance, the whisker-like scars on them having faded slightly, not that she had realised the fact yet. "Or maybe, I've travelled to another dimension where I have yet to be born! Gah, how can I return back if I don't even know where or when I am?"

She threw her arms into the air in anger, while the other contemplated what was said.

A startling thought appeared in the Kyuubi no Kitsune's head, and his eyes focused upon the frustrated blonde girl once again.

"Naruto," he called out, and said female immediately turned to him, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He never called her by the name. Ever. "Are you sure you want to return to your old world?"

She was just about to answer when the question truly sunk in, and the words died out. Did she want to go back?

Thinking back, not much had been left to live for in her previous world. Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and all the others had long perished. Even if she did go back, only Madara awaited.

Did she really desire that? Nothing and nobody was waiting for her there. Not anymore.

Seeing reality sink in on the blonde made Kurama let out a breath of relief. Alright, now that the girl understood what was going on, the time to make plans came.

Minutes later, Naruto raised her head, eyes flaming with determination, and Kurama definitely didn't feel thankful that she was back. Definitely.

The girl clenched her fist firmly.

Wherever she was, whenever she was, she would make sure that the past-or future, it had gotten confusing at this point- didn't happen again.

This time, she would protect her friends. She would make sure none of them died again.

Because she was Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, Nanadaime Hokage of Konoha, although the village had already perished by the time she had taken the title, and the Most Unpredictable Ninja of Konoha!

And Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto never went back on her word.