It had been an odd thing to do, but he had been driven to do so anyway. He had been up early, so it just seemed to make sense to arrive at the Academy early, as well. He had been sitting in the empty classroom, his arms crossed and his head down, for almost an hour before other students began to trickle in. He had been talking mentally with the Kyuubi, who had informed him that it was best not to let anyone else see him apparently talking to himself. His eyes were unfocused and he hardly took notice of the people arriving, though part of it was on purpose. The moment he had heard the door open, it felt as though someone had dumped cold water over him.

These people were all dead. Fully merged consciousness or no, the younger of the two Narutos was still receiving unfamiliar visions from his older self. It had happened a few times already, on the way to the Academy. Each time, it was as if someone had grabbed and squeezed his heart. A burst of sharp, shooting pain went out from his chest each time he saw someone he knew was dead in his older self's timeline. And while the Kyuubi said these visions would fade and wouldn't be as troubling as time passed, that didn't much help him in the present.

He heard the chair drag back next to him and had to suddenly bite back a surge of hatred. Gritting his teeth, Naruto closed his eyes and drew in a slow breath. So many years of rivalry turning to anger and loathing, and he had a chance to try and stop it early this time. That wasn't going to happen if he couldn't keep himself from gutting the Uchiha where he sat, though. With the Kyuubi talking quietly and rapidly, Naruto managed to slow his breathing and bottle up the anger, though he was going to beat the living hell out of some poor tree after the day's lessons were over with. But for now, he could hide it. If nothing else, he was a good actor, and that was prior to his older self arriving.

Just as he was almost fully calmed, arguing in the doorway triggered more visions, and he squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could to try and avoid making noise. Sakura and Ino had arrived, trying to barge into the room at the same time and getting stuck in the door as a result. Just the sound of their voices was bringing back moments that had haunted Naruto's older half for years. Memories good and bad flooded into his mind, perfectly clear, and threatened to cause a nervous reaction. Despite his best attempts, his breathing had gotten ragged, and he was starting to feel sick again.

"Calm down." Said the Kyuubi, its voice rumbling behind the visions. "Open your eyes. Focus on the classroom. Those things haven't happened yet! They will not happen this time! You have to get used to these, as they're likely to be triggered regularly for the next few days. If you have to excuse yourself to be sick so you can get it out of your system, then do it. Don't sit and squirm. Get up."

Naruto did as the Kyuubi said, feeling as if the world around him was spinning wildly. He had to grab ahold of the desk to keep from falling backwards. One hand was up to his face, trying to hide the rising look of panic spreading across it. As quickly as his legs would carry him, Naruto got up the steps and moved toward the door, one hand on the wall. Sakura and Ino had thankfully gotten themselves unstuck in that time, and he passed by them just before reaching the door. The second he caught the familiar scent of flowers in the air, he took off in a dead sprint out the door, not caring what state anyone saw him in. Even when he flew past Iruka in the hall, who turned and called after him, he didn't stop.

Throwing open the door to the bathroom, he barely made it to a sink before the retching began, far worse than what had taken place that morning. Now the memories were coming in without the fuzz and he was left to try and deal with the horrors his older self had had to endure. And while he could make out the Kyuubi's voice, he couldn't make out what the demon fox was saying. His ears were ringing and he was gripping the sink so hard that his knuckles were white. It wasn't until he got a moment to catch his breath that he noticed that Iruka had not only followed after him, but was slowly rubbing his back. Naruto was fully expecting another wave of nausea to wash over him, and prepared for the worst.

The worst, however, did not come. And, very slowly, Naruto managed to get his breathing stabilized once more. Swallowing roughly, he filled his hands up with water and swished it around in his mouth before spitting it out. A few more shaking breaths later, he had filled them with water again, this time to try and soothe his sore throat. Throughout the whole ordeal, Iruka hadn't said anything. He had simply stayed and tried to ease Naruto's pain as best he could, something he was grateful for. As he took a tentative, deep breath, he stood up, leaning against the counter for support.

"Alright?" Asked Iruka, his voice quiet.

"I... I think so..." Naruto said, his voice still quavering slightly. "Thanks..."

"Something not agree with you?" He asked.

"Yeah... something like that." Naruto replied, nodding slowly. Blowing out a long breath, Naruto turned and faced Iruka, as though willing the visions to do something again. But the visions never came, and he tried to bring a weak smile up to hide his emotions. He was sure his instructor didn't believe it for a second - the man had practically raised him, after all. Iruka had taught him to cook so that he could live a bit more independently. He had also instilled a love of gardening in Naruto that the would-be genin found slightly embarrassing. "Shoulda thrown that instant ramen out a few nights ago, I guess..."

Iruka surveyed Naruto's face for a moment before smiling as well. Indeed, he knew the boy far too well to believe his story. But he also knew that trying to pry information out of an unwilling Uzumaki Naruto was next to impossible. He knew that Naruto would talk to him if he needed to get something off his chest, so he let the matter go for the time being. "I believe I'm now late to my own class, however."

"Er... sorry, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, mechanically adding the honorific at the end, something his older self had stopped doing for some time. "I should be okay for the test today. Not like I have anything left in my stomach..."

Smirking, his hand still on Naruto's back, Iruka wheeled him out of the restroom and into the hall. "You don't look like you slept very well, either. Nerves over the test?"

"Part of it, I guess. I WAS feeling slightly better about it before I got sick..." Groused Naruto.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to regain some energy before it's your turn. You studied up on what to do?"

Outright scowling now, Naruto replied, "It's just a clone, I can do it!"

"Your last attempt begs to differ." Stated Iruka.

"There's a difference between being lazy and being talentless, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, his scowl turning into a grin. "As long as I can do as good - or better - than that Uchiha jerk, I'll be happy."

"None of that." Iruka reprimanded. "You know how I feel about you two constantly bickering. I placed you next to each other in the hopes that you'd work out your differences."

"That's like trying to ask a brick wall to be soft." Argued Naruto. "Sasuke's about as open as a rock. If he wasn't trying to act so self-important all the time, he might have some actual friends."

"He's all alone, Naruto. You know how that can be. Only he doesn't have anyone to talk to like you do." Iruka said. "Just try and get along with him, alright? I know it might be difficult, but look on the bright side - the chances of you two passing on and being on the same team are fairly low. One more real test and you'll hopefully move on to the genin exams."

"Yeah... fairly low..." Repeated Naruto under his breath as the two reached the still-open door to the classroom. Iruka left Naruto to head for the front of the class. Naruto, after pausing to look down at Sasuke, started back into the room as well.

"Pressure getting to you, dead last?" Muttered Sasuke, his eyes on some point across the room.

"You wish." Came Naruto's reply as he crossed his arms and lowered his head on the table once more.

As Iruka began speaking, Naruto once more unfocused his eyes so he could have a mental chat with the Kyuubi, who had been quiet ever since he had gotten sick in the bathroom. 'You still paying attention?'

"Of course I am." Rumbled the Kyuubi. "Well done not rising to the Uchiha brat's taunt. He can be moody all he wants. We won't let him get his way this time around."

'You're sure I can do this, right?'

"Of course. You can do far better than a pathetic, regular clone at this point, after all."

'I guess... just not used to having all this information in my head. And I'm still shaky from being sick. That sucked.'

"At least a second reaction wasn't triggered by your teacher."

'Yeah... that was strange. Well, I'm not going to complain. I'm going to be so hungry by the time class lets out... ah crap, then Mizuki-sensei's going to try getting me to swipe the Kage Bunshin scroll for him, isn't he? That's going to delay eating even longer...'

"We assume he'll come to you. Things may play out differently. We are going to have you successfully use a Bunshin, after all. He might not think to tap you for his mission. We could throw the test, of course..."

'I'm not throwing the test.' Naruto stated, watching as the first of the students got up and walked to the front of the room to perform the technique. 'Maybe we seek him out if he doesn't come to us? Would that still work? I could say I got lucky. He'd believe it.'

"Possibly. Best not to worry about it until then, or you'll spend all of your time worrying yourself about future events. It's not healthy. Focus on the here and now and save the future for the future."

'Yeah yeah...'

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Called Iruka.

Naruto tried not to pay attention as the girls of the class started making noise as Sasuke walked up to where Iruka was standing. Effortlessly performing the simple technique, Iruka came to inspect it for a moment before smiling at Sasuke and telling him that it was perfect. With a thumbs up, he sent the Uchiha back to his seat.

"Shame you didn't fail." Muttered Naruto, his voice low. "Your fangirls would fawn over you like a wounded deer."

Sasuke made no effort to reply, choosing instead to lean against the desk and ignore the blond. This was also perfectly fine for Naruto, though he was hoping to at least get some kind of reaction. If he could just covertly instigate a fight, he could vent some aggression and not have everything get pinned on him. That would take some doing, though. And there was still plenty of time before Orochimaru got his fangs on Sasuke. Once Team 7 was formed, Naruto would have a good chance to 'spar' with Sasuke, as he was sure the Uchiha brat was just as eager to get into a fight as he was. The only difference was that Sasuke thought he would win without having to exert himself whatsoever. It was that smugness that Naruto desperately wanted to wipe the floor with.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Called Iruka, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Have fun." Sasuke murmured quietly.

Naruto bit down as hard as he could on his lower lip to keep from attacking his classmate then and there. He had to focus. He couldn't fall to simple little taunts like that. Especially not this early into things. Wincing as he started tasting blood, Naruto scowled as he turned to face the class. A quick scan of them and he closed his eyes. So many faces that shouldn't be there. So many people who still saw him in a poor light. So much lost ground to recover. The weight of what his future self had done was sinking in quickly, and it was leaving a rather heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto said, bringing his hands up. Opening his eyes and glancing to the side, he saw a perfect clone of himself standing there. It was looking back at him with a slightly worried expression. Scowling again, Naruto muttered, "Oh, what do you know?"

"...Huh. Well, that was unexpected. I guess you were telling the truth after all." Iruka said, coming over to inspect the clone. He grinned at Naruto and gave a thumbs up to the boy, who smirked in reply.

Walking back up to his seat, he ignored the stunned looks on the faces of his classmates. A textbook Bunshin was something he could've done in his sleep. Compared to his preferred variety of clone technique, a regular one was nothing. As he sat, crossing his arms back on the desk and lowering his head, he murmured, "Surprised?"

"Everyone gets lucky from time to time, dead last." Sasuke murmured in reply as another student was called down.

"We'll see. We'll see." Naruto said, smirking faintly. "By the way, enjoy your legion swarming you once class is over. I'll be out training."

Sasuke snorted quietly. "I wasn't aware spray painting mountains qualified as 'training.'"

"You're free to tag along. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two." Naruto said.

"Me? Learn something from you? You've been acting stranger than normal today." Sasuke observed.

"No, I've been acting normal. I suppose I'll just have to prove myself to you." Naruto said.

"I really don't care how you act." Sasuke stated.

"You care enough to note when I'm acting 'stranger than normal.' Which is it?" Asked Naruto.

Sasuke didn't reply verbally, choosing to instead glare weakly at Naruto. Naruto simply smirked in response, turning his attention back to Iruka as the final member of the class finished up the test. Mizuki was nowhere to be seen, and Naruto was fairly certain he was waiting outside the classroom. If he did indeed act like he got lucky and baited the soon-to-be traitor, he was sure he could get Mizuki to ask him to steal the Kage Bunshin scroll again. This time would be different. Iruka wasn't going to get hurt because of his stupidity this time. He had a few plans up his sleeve, depending on how things played out once class was over with.

His memories mixed with his older self's again, back to when this 'first' took place. He had made a clone, but it may as well have failed entirely, for all the good it was. He had sat on the swing, trying to ignore the parents talking to their children. He had run off, and Mizuki had found him, putting the idea of stealing the forbidden scroll in his head. He had foolishly listened, and Iruka had ended up seriously injured in the process.

'Hey.' Naruto thought, an idea sparking in the back of his mind.

"No." The Kyuubi declared, knowing what the unasked question was. "We aren't handling Mizuki ourselves. It's too dangerous. Too many people could sense my chakra flowing freely. They'd come for us. If I get sealed away by them again, all of this will have been for nothing. For better or worse, we can't harm Mizuki ourselves. Not beyond what we originally did. He's a pathetic excuse for a ninja, and I'll be guiding you this time. Mizuki won't get the better of anyone."

'Tsk. Fine, ruin all of my fun," groused Naruto, 'but it still seems like it would be a good idea.'

"That's because your older self is gone now. He's left his memories and me behind to help fix things. The Kyuubi in you fused with me almost at once. No point in two of us, after all. You'll remain in control, but I'll be the one running things in here. I'll be pointing you in the right direction."

'Do you know how weird all of this is?" Asked Naruto. 'Ugh... man, between getting sick and trying to think about all of this, I'm tired.'

"Did the flood of memories slow?"

'Yeah... for now." Naruto responded, blowing out an inaudible sigh. 'Seeing Sakura-chan again... hurt. I haven't felt anything like that in my life...'

"It's no surprise. Your older self loved her to the very end. And now here the two of us are, and she's alive again. I'm more surprised that you've kept your cool around the Uchiha brat." Growled the Kyuubi.

'It hasn't been easy. You want to talk about easy ways out. Killing Sasuke would take a major thorn out of my side early. But I guess it's like you said... people would know, huh?'

"Precisely. Even if I did nothing but guide you, lending none of my chakra, it would still be very difficult. We've got to let things play out as closely to the original timeline as we can. If we did kill him now, then what? Uchiha Madara still needs me to achieve his goal. Akatsuki would still set its sights on Konoha. Pain would still come, eventually."

Letting himself glance around the room slowly, Naruto shook his head. 'This sucks.'

"Grit your teeth and bear it, boy. Things aren't going to get any easier. This is a burden you'll have to shoulder alone."

'Alone, save for you, you mean.'

"I can't comprehend things from your perspective. I am, in essence, nothing more than a lost piece of a very large, very destructive weapon. It's only through being sealed that my rage slowly burned away, bit by bit. Most of that had to do with your older self. Out of all of my vessels, he was the only one to converse with me as though I was normal. As time passed, we finally found common ground and started working together. I could cover his blind spots, as it were, and he would simply stay alive. That is what I offer to you, as well, though now I also serve as an advisor. The Rikudou Sennin could have never anticipated such a thing when he split the Juubi..."

'Just getting glimpses of things is hard. Knowing that I have to live through them is worse.'

"Remember that if we do our jobs right, none of those things will happen.'"

'Yeah, but I'm not just talking about the bad memories. When I saw Sakura-chan, a lot of strange memories hit me all at once. It's just that seeing her... seeing her laying there was the strongest of them. Do you think... I could change her mind about me sooner?'

"I doubt it would harm anything. Certainly, having the Haruno girl fawning over the Uchiha brat less would be far more tolerable. Just mind what you say. Today, you've done a good job acting more like your future self."

'I've had a lot to think about.' Naruto responded, getting up from his seat as class came to an end. He silently watched Sakura leave the room, following after Sasuke, before adding, 'I think I need to go somewhere quiet for awhile. If Mizuki will let me. Where the hell was he, anyway? I thought he helped Iruka on the Bunshin test...'

"A question I wish I had the answer for." The Kyuubi said. "I've tried not to linger on it too long. The thought of the timeline already diverging from the one I've lived through is worrying. Perhaps we should hunt him down."

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling, and left the classroom. As he exited, he looked back to the front of the room, where Iruka was watching him. The man probably had more than a few questions of his own, but they would have to wait. Naruto needed to find Mizuki as soon as he could, and he knew that going to Iruka would just delay anything else. Aside from having to lie to his teacher about what was really wrong, he knew it would be a little difficult to explain away everything in a convincing manner.

Thankfully, at least for this one moment in time, fate seemed to give him a free pass. Rounding a corner, Naruto almost collided with Mizuki, who managed to sidestep in time.

"Whoa! Sorry, Naruto, I thought all of the students had left the building already." Said Mizuki, smiling pleasantly down at him.

"Where were you, sensei?" Asked Naruto, forcing his tone to be as normal as his mood would allow. "I thought you were supposed to help Iruka-sensei!"

"Ahh... is he mad?" Asked Mizuki, rubbing the back of his neck and looking apprehensive. "I got waylayed by a friend of mine. I kept trying to get away, but he just wouldn't shut up. Hey, how'd you do, anyway?"

"Nah, he isn't mad. I don't think he is, anyway!" Naruto said. Then, plastering his biggest, fakest grin on his face, he gave Mizuki a double thumbs-up. "Passed with flying colors! Was there ever any doubt?"

Mizuki blinked. "Passed? Really?"

"Hey, hey, don't sound so surprised!" Naruto said, jutting his chin out. "I trained hard, ya know! I was up most of the night practicing!"

Mizuki put his hands up. "Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean anything by it. Hey, since I was absent, would you mind showing me?"

"Now's your chance." Purred the Kyuubi.

"No problem!" Declared Naruto, bringing his hands up. "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone appeared next to him, grinned at Mizuki, and promptly collapsed in a boneless heap to the ground, where it flopped around for a few seconds before dispersing. Naruto stared at it in horror before jerking his gaze back to Mizuki, who looked like he was biting back a grin.

"Passed with flying colors, huh?" Mizuki said. "You sure about that?"

"I did!" Naruto argued. "You can go ask Iruka-sensei right now! I just... used up all my chakra on it, I guess. That's all..."

Mizuki chuckled, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't sound so put-out, Naruto. Believe it or not, when I was your age, I wasn't much better than you are right now."

"Really?"

"Really! Hey, I've got an idea. You want to get stronger, right? I've seen you glaring at Uchiha Sasuke more than a few times this year. Want to learn a trick even he can't pull off?" Asked Mizuki, kneeling down to look Naruto in the eyes.

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "What kind of trick?"

Glancing around to make sure the two were alone in the hallway, Mizuki leaned in and whispered, "The Third has a room in his house where a special scroll is kept. It's got all kinds of techniques written down in it. If you can ahold of that, you'd be able to learn at least one or two things he doesn't know about!"

"The Third's house?" Repeated Naruto. "Wouldn't it be dangerous trying to get to it, though?"

"Do you really think he'd do anything to you if he caught you sneaking around his place?" Asked Mizuki. "You could always bring some paint. That way it would look like you were going to just play another prank on him."

"...How come you're telling me this, Mizuki-sensei?"

"Ah, no reason. Just because you remind me so much of myself, I guess." Said Mizuki, standing back up. "You don't have to, of course. What do you think, though?"

"Well..." Naruto drawled, "I guess I could try to get it."

"Tell you what. I'll up the offer a bit more. You get that scroll and bring it to me and I'll make sure you pass and become a ninja." Mizuki stated.

"What, seriously? This isn't some bad joke, right?"

"Hey, if you can get into the Third's house and swipe his personal property, that alone would prove you're ninja material!" Said Mizuki, grinning again. "I'll wait for you across town, alright? Meet me there just after sundown with the scroll."

"You've got a deal!" Naruto said, grinning. "Gonna go grab something to eat, first! I'm starved!"

"Careful where you're going!" Mizuki called after him.

"Laying it on thick, weren't you?" Chuckled the Kyuubi as Naruto got out of sight from his other teacher.

'He believed it, didn't he?' Naruto responded. 'Things might not be playing out the exact same way, but it's close enough to get by. Why the hell's the old man got that forbidden scroll in his house, anyway? That isn't very smart, is it? Here's this scroll with all kinds of dangerous things in it - let's put it in the den! What? Who does that?'

Snorting, the Kyuubi replied, "Try not to think too hard about it. It's because of his lax security that we'll be able to get to it. Part of me has always wondered if Sarutobi put it there because he was thinking something like this might happen some day. The old man's impossible to read."

'Could be...' Naruto said, pushing the front door open and stepping outside. Wincing as the sun hit him, he grinned up at the sky. 'At least I'll be able to vent some of my frustrations on him, even if it's just with the Kage Bunshin. That reminds me, should probably pick up some ice on the way home. My knuckles are going to need it, if these memories are right. ...This is never going to be normal, is it?'

"Probably not." Admitted the Kyuubi. "Again - try not to think about it too hard. Don't spend your time in the past or the future. Focus on the present and keep your outward appearance as convincing as you can make it."

Sighing, Naruto muttered, "Time travel makes my head hurt."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Look, I'm just curious is all. What the hell is his chin made out of, pure steel?" Naruto griped, throwing himself into a chair in his kitchen and stuffing his right hand into a bowl of ice. Sucking in a harsh breath and swearing at the same time, he continued, "Dammit, this isn't going as well as I'd hoped. Iruka-sensei still got hurt..."

"You aren't used to being short again." Stated the Kyuubi. "Your memories are still interfering with your common sense, I feel."

"I tripped and fell over." Spat Naruto, wincing as he shifted his hand a bit. "If I hadn't fallen, he wouldn't have run over. I guess I should be happy that things still played out like they did in the memory, but I'm not happy about him taking a Fuuma Shuriken to the back again..."

"He'll be making nurses blush for the next two days. I don't think you have to worry about it. And since he saw exactly how much power you can generate when you need to, you're still set to pass." Said the Kyuubi. "Now we just have to hope the teams remain the same."

"Oh god, don't make me start worrying about that." Naruto said, staring up at the light fixture on the ceiling. "The last thing I need is for something to go wrong with that. ...How long is my hand gonna hurt for?"

"It will most likely be fully healed by morning. A side effect of my presence."

"Good." Muttered Naruto. Half-closing his eyes, he added, "...I miss them."

"Who?"

"Everyone. It's one thing to see them alive and well, but I still don't know them yet, technically. And it's gonna be awhile before that happens. I could always try approaching them sooner, but it seems like letting things play out is safer. Being patient isn't exactly my strong suit, you know." Naruto explained. "It's the worst with Sakura, though. This morning was rough. It's gonna be really hard lying my way through life. I mean, let's say I give Sakura and that idiot the method to get the bells easily. Does that change anything? If I said I knew the Third was gonna be killed by Orochimaru during the tournament, would anyone believe me? And if they did, would that change anything? Would someone be able to get up there and stop Orochimaru? And if THAT happened, then what about finding Tsunade? If she isn't around, Sakura won't get trained and would probably end up getting killed by Sasori. If we kill Orochimaru, then what happens to Sasuke? Does he find someone else to follow until he's strong enough to kill Itachi?"

"Breathe, kid." Said the Kyuubi. "It's pointless wondering. When the time feels right, we'll act. And if it doesn't, we won't. It only has to be that difficult. We'll deal with things as they happen. For one thing, we'll end up a lot stronger this time around. We need to see if you can invoke Sage Mode, though, amongst other things."

"Hard to try being at one with nature when I keep seeing dead friends any time I close my eyes. It would just break my concentration." Naruto said. Blowing out a sigh, he continued, "This sucks."

"Your older self trusted that you'd be able to make things work out. You're nothing if not stubborn. If you get frustrated, you can just go to the training grounds and knock down a tree or two. Go training with Rock Lee. That would tire you to the point where you'd not think about it."

"Not wearing green. Not yelling about the springtime of youth." Declared Naruto, lifting his sore hand out of the ice and moving his fingers around. It almost felt like he had cracked something during his Kage Bunshin rush on Mizuki. That it would heal faster than it had any right to didn't much help at that particular moment in time, though. It still felt like someone had dropped a building on his knuckles. "I guess you're right, though. I should try to keep from worrying unless something changes that shouldn't have. That'll be fun. Trying to figure out what happened differently and how we can knock things back on track..."

There was a gruff bark of laughter from the Kyuubi. '"Things will work out somehow. You aren't the only one who wants to get revenge."

"How long do you think it'd be before I could safely use any of the stuff I picked up after I went to train with Jiraiya?" Asked Naruto, tilting his head. "The Rasen-Shuriken, or..."

"The form you took on after sealing me away? I was released, eventually. You will be able to use that ability if you require it. But your body in its current form might not withstand the strain of either of those techniques. Even your older self required a lot of training before he could freely access such things."

"Then we need to start training as soon as my hand heals. Outside of anything we do as Team 7." Naruto said, sticking his hand back into the bowl of ice. Through gritted teeth, he added, "Not letting anyone die this time."

"We will continue with working on your meditation before anything else. If you can't focus, you won't be able to accomplish anything. These memories that we've unfortunately brought back can't keep getting in the way." Said the Kyuubi. "We still have plenty of time before anything of note happens. Until then we will train as much as is reasonable. Perhaps your knew attitude will help change things on its own."

"You think so?" Asked Naruto. "...Not sure I'd want it to happen until I got that meditation stuff worked out... what if Sakura touches my arm and it triggers a bunch of flashbacks?"

"You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough." Groused Naruto. "Come on, I'm trying to cover all the angles here! I don't wanna get sick again. That's what I wanna work on first. Being able to hang out around Sakura without these stupid memories making me feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"One thing at a time. Try to relax and focus on your hand for tonight."

"I won't relax until Team 7 is Team 7 again." Naruto said. "Then I'll let myself relax a bit."

"Fair enough. How's your hand doing?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Naruto asked, sighing. Pushing his chair out, he stood up. Taking the bowl of melting ice over to the sink, he dumped it all out. "All I'm doing is making it hurt and be cold. I think I should just try to get some sleep."

"A wise decision." Said the Kyuubi.

"Yeah... we'll see." Murmured Naruto. "Just hoping my exhaustion's greater than the pain, else I'll never get to sleep."

"Tomorrow, perhaps, we should go out searching for some seeds."

"Seeds?"

"To grow food. The first thing towards fixing your body is to start eating better. Umino Iruka may have helped teach you how to take care of yourself, but your older self was always at ease when he was tending to his plants. He said it helped him be at ease, no matter what was bothering him. He was denied this later in life due to the war. Perhaps it will bring you the same peace it afforded him. I see very little plantlife around here right now."

"Been awhile, I guess. I'll think about it. I guess I should try anything that might help." Naruto said.

Heading up to his room, Naruto changed into his pajamas as quickly as his injured hand would allow, and crawled into bed. "For future reference?"

"Yes?" Responded the Kyuubi.

"Remind me I'm still short before I go doing anything based around height or reach, alright?"

"Duly noted, kid."

Sighing, and trying to get settled in, Naruto couldn't help but glance out the window. Though he couldn't see the moon from where he was, a flicker of a memory washing over him made him glad of that fact. Uchiha Madara... it would be awhile before he would get his chance to properly fight that man, and he needed to be better prepared. He didn't care if his smaller body protested. He was going to get as strong as he needed to be. No more deaths, no more lingering memories, no more feelings of sickness and depression that came with seeing people he barely knew.

It would start the next day, if all went well. From that point on, he just had to go with the flow. If he were in any mood to laugh, he would have at the absurdity of it all.

Eyes closing, Naruto murmured, "And try to keep me from killing Sasuke. Don't think Sakura would like that very much."

"Also duly noted. Get some sleep."

"Working on it."

"Remember - clear your mind. Focus on the blackness of your eyelids. Picture yourself in an empty, quiet field. Nothing but the wind and the sounds of nature. This time will be different. This time, we will not fail. I'll tell you the same thing I told your older self once - I do not like losing. When Uchiha Madara comes, we'll be ready. This time, his soul will be ripped away from the rest of existence."

"Nn..."

The Kyuubi stared out through the bars of the cage it was locked in. With a low growl, it lowered its head. Eyes closing as well, the Kyuubi rumbled, "This time, no one defeats us."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Author's Notes: Oh side projects, why can I not work on you more effortlessly?

So here's chapter 3. As of next chapter, we'll see if the teams remain the same, or if things playing out slightly different has made any sort of impact. Naruto continues to sway between his natural emotions and those of his older self, and the memories passed along will haunt him for years to come.

I need to sit down and do what I normally do with long stories - write out long summaries of each chapter in one long guide to follow. I normally end up having to rewrite those as the story goes and I forgot or add things, but it keeps me focused on where I'm going, so I don't go off track and ramble too long. This chapter, for instance, would've been out far sooner if the last little bit hadn't gotten away from me. With any luck, it won't be so long between chapters this time.

That said, my birthday approaches. Etrian Odyssey 3 may yet devour my soul. Oh, and I'll put this here like I plan to do in the next chapter of Fear Within, my other ongoing story - I have a twitter and a formspring account, just in case there are any questions. Both are in my profile. The twitter account is mostly me ranting about games or writer's block, but update alerts do come out there. So if you have any questions, fire away.

Until next time, boys and girls.